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dduane · 2 years

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...Over the course of the afternoon and evening: playing with fire again. This time, looking at replacing the old blue Flame graphics at the MiddleKingdoms.com site with better ones. (Theoretically...)

A little background: For a good while now the Daz Studio digital graphics platform has featured cloud, mist and fire effects that were based on two-dimensional props that looked fairly realistic... as long as you knew how to point them exactly at the camera, or touch up your images in post so as to heighten the reality of the image and conceal what was going on. This early concept image of our local Middle Kingdoms-based fire elemental, Sunspark, would have been typical.

...It was okay, but hardly perfect. But when 2D tools are all you’ve got to work with, you work with them and push their limits as far as they’ll go.

Things have been changing, though. Lately Daz 3D has rolled out a new version of the Daz Studio platform that features so-called volumetric graphics: cloud and smoke imagery that can be generated and managed in three dimensions. Additionally, some new tools that provide three-dimensional takes on older two-dimensional decals and props have become available: like this one, made for work with superheroes. (Guess which ones...)

When those came out I immediately grabbed them and started testing them with an eye to figuring out how to bend them to my own purposes. This I initially did by experimenting on (from The Door Into Fire’s end of the timeline) the most likely suspect.

These flame props are well-made items. They’re rigged even more intricately than human characters’ hands, with a number of “fingers” of flame consisting of easily fifteen joints each; and all those joints have a very wide range of motions, far more involved than something as comparatively simple as a hand. As a result, adjusting them to work correctly with objects in your image can be a pleasure, or a long descent into digital hell, or both.

The amount of trouble you have to go to in dealing with these props is nicely offset by the high quality of the flame effect as compared to what we’ve had to work with before. Which is why I more or less immediately wanted to redo Sunspark’s mane and tail.

This becomes interesting because the props sometimes (not always, don’t ask me why...) insist on being attached to a human character first. And when you move them away from the human character, they then become INCREDIBLY badly behaved and frustrating to work with. But... it’s still doable. (Because what’s perseverance for?...) The next image shows Sunspark’s makeover in the earliest stages of progress.

Once this shaping-and-positioning stage of the process is over, there’ll be much more fine-tuning still to be done. Special effects items like these routinely come to you with the effect turned up too high. To make these flames look at all natural, you have to turn the opacity of the flames waaaaaaaaaay down, and balance against that change the flames’ color settings, their color tones and hues, and their brightness against the ambient lighting. And settings that work on one flame, in one situation, won’t always work on another.

It’s a pain.

That said, some of us are gluttons for punishment. Whlle working on this I remembered that I had another tool in the box that was meant to do semi-volumetric flames around swords.

Granted, these suffer from that earlier-described SFX problem: they’re way too blatant. But since we’ve got a nontrivial number of flaming swords and similar weapons lying around in this series, I thought I might as well give these a try and see if they might offer a less labor-intensive way to deal with this visual trope.

Verdict: easily suborned to use with swords besides the simplistic ones the flames come with... but not terribly adjustable, and the results not really that great looking. Here’s the first test image.

The sweep of the “flame” in this particular pose of Herewiss’s and the sword’s is nice. Unfortunately, the effect itself leaves Khávrinen looking like it’s somehow gotten itself involved with a sheet of Tattoine-sourced cottage cheese.

(sigh) The underlying texture, I think, is the problem: it looks grainy somehow. It took me no more than an hour to edit the color-and-texture file from orange to blue. But its reaction to having its opacity turned down is half-hearted at best. It also doesn’t distribute the light around itself particularly sensitively. As per this further test in a generic medieval setting--

...So I’m going to put that tool aside for the moment, and wait for someone to pop out a volumetric flame tool for the new version of Daz. Meanwhile, as I rework this earlier art for better effects, I see I’m going to wind up falling back on the “superhero flame” for sword work for the time being. An early test before I give it up for the night:

It’s just proof-of-concept right now: a long way yet from the graceful, luxuriant “weed-in-water” waver of blue Fire that I’m looking for. Approximating that is going to take at least a few sessions more. But at least the light distribution on the floor looks better here.

(sigh) It’s the old problem with magic fire, isn’t it? It always looks better in your head.

#Middle Kingdoms #Herewiss #Daz 3D #Daz Studio #Khávrinen

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reelwriter19 · 4 years

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Resurfaced

(Kevin Atwater x Original Female Character)

*Not my gif*

Kevin finds it hard to protect what's his when the past comes back to haunt him and his wife.

Moonlight & ambient noise from the city streets several stories below filled the room. Both of you barely dressed, Kevin’s large muscular frame rested comfortably on top of you in the bed. Having just made love for the first time in weeks, neither one of you wanted to move from this space. He kissed you right above your collarbone, which still managed to make you quiver in all the right places. You gently traced circles along his back and finally decided it was time to break the silence.

“What’s wrong?”

He shifted to place his lips slightly lower on your chest as a distraction. While leaving gentle kisses.. “Everything’s...fine..Bianca..”

Finding it difficult to concentrate and not cave in to another round of passion, you immediately put his head in your hands to get his attention. Motioning for him to move so you could sit up straight, readjusting the sheets over your bare chest as he rolls on to his back, clearly annoyed. Play time was over.

“Kevin, I’m serious. I know something happened. You've been distracted, almost nervous, all week. Then tonight..you were different. I can’t describe it but you know I’m right.”

Kissing your hand, he realized in this moment that honesty with you was the only way. You were his wife after all, the person he loved more than anyone and would do anything to protect. He finally sat up, back towards you, facing the wall. You waited anxiously for words to come out of his mouth.

“It’s Damien. He’s back in Chicago.”

This sentence instantly shot chills down your spine. Kevin turned around to take you in, evaluating your mental state after hearing this news. Tears welling up in your eyes.

“Bianca.”

“How is that possible? I thought...what??”

“He popped up last week. We were working the case. Burgess was under with Upton at this little hole in the wall in Pilsen and he showed up at their meet.

“Did he see her? Is she ok?”

“She’s fine babe. Kim thought she might get made so she dipped out really quickly & let Hailey finish the deal. Voight & I have had a security detail on you ever since.”

You were now panicked and obviously upset that this news was kept from you. “You’ve what?! Don’t you think that’s something I should’ve known?! Oh my God.”

You jump out of bed sheet in tow, now pacing the floor. Kevin, knowing the bombshell he’d just dropped gives you another minute to process before he’s up and off the bed behind you.

Taking your face in his hands, the deepest sincerity in his heart, “B, look at me. I will NEVER let that piece of shit touch you again. Do you hear me? I know I should’ve told you, but I didn’t want you worried, especially without me being here for so long. I gotchu... You’re safe with me.” Kissing your forehead & wiping away your tears.

“I know. I know I am. I just thought this was all over. I don’t want my mess affecting Intelligence. If anything happened to Kim or you because of my past…”

Now sobbing, Kevin wraps you in his reassuring arms, with a steely look of determination to protect his world on his face.

Morning came, and you were startled awake by the sound of Kevin’s phone ringing. You heard the shower running in the next room so you reached to answer it with a groggy hello.

“Hi Hank.”

“Bianca, how you holdin’ up kiddo?”

Hank had become like family to you rather quickly. Your case was special. Damien was a long time predator he and Al had been trying to capture for years. When Hank found you 6 years ago, beaten, bloodied and half conscious, he made it his duty to look after you, especially seeing that you had no relatives in a new city. You were there with him through it all...Justin’s disappearing acts, Al’s passing, which eventually led to you meeting and falling in love with Atwater.

“I thought he was dead. How is he back? Why is he back?”

“I’m doing everything in my power to figure that out, Bianca. Don’t you worry about this ok? We’re gonna get this prick.”

Nothing anyone said could completely reassure you in this moment, but you nodded in agreement anyway.

“Yeah...Kev’s in the shower. I’ll have him call you back.”

You hang up the phone and get out of bed, looking for something to throw on. You find an oversized hoodie of your husbands and a pair of shorts.

You exit the bedroom just as Kevin emerges from the bathroom, towel around his waist.

“Hey...I was gonna wear that today.”

Completely deadpan, “It looks better on me.”

As he walks towards the kitchen to greet you, “You’re right about that. Good morning.”

Attempting to plant a kiss on your cheek, you show zero emotion & continue to prep your cup of tea.

He shakes his head but decides to give you your space and heads to the bedroom to get dressed.

Standing at the threshold of your bedroom door, tea in hand you boldly say, “I want you to put me under.”

Kevin stops in his tracks, as if he’s spotted Bigfoot buying a Venture card on the green line. Pulling his shirt the rest of the way over his head.

“Put you under what??!”

“You know what I mean. Undercover, Kevin. You know I’m part of the reason he’s back in Chicago. He didn’t get what he wanted from me before Voight found me that night. His usual pattern was completely thrown off. I want to help. I need to help catch him.”

Kevin storms passed you in to the living room. You follow.

“HELL NO. Are you joking?! You want us to damn near put you in the hands of the man who almost took you from me, before I got a chance to have you?! Absolutely not.”

You walk towards him softly. Knowing this will be a hard battle to win, you sit in front of him on a chair as he leans against the wall.

“Baby...it’s taken years for me to feel safe in my own skin again. You did that for me. Hank looking after me, leading me to you. This life that we’ve built is the greatest gift I could’ve ever gotten. And now you’re telling me that someone is threatening what we’ve worked to create? I can’t just stand and watch while you guys, my family, puts themselves in harms way for me. I have to do something.

………

A few weeks had gone by and Intelligence still had no leads in their investigation. It was almost as if Damien Charles had never resurfaced...until the team got an alert that a young woman was found dead in an abandoned warehouse, brutally assaulted. They had no real proof, as Damien was very careful, but it was definitely his MO. Kevin was on edge and pissed at you, somehow believing that shutting you out would stop you from getting your way. Knowing your husband wouldn’t budge, you decided to go to Hank to convince him to use you as bait to catch Damien. He reluctantly obliged.

Night fell on the 21st. Upton and Burgess were prepping your phone with a tracking device while Ruzek and Halstead checked weapons and started to vest up. You were nervous, but Kim kept reminding you to take deep breaths. “We’ll be with you the whole time.”

“I know, I just wish Kevin…”

Hailey chimed in, handing you your phone, “Trust me, he’ll come around Bianca. It’s in their nature to want to protect us, but sometimes it’s up to us to take that power back ourselves.”

Kevin was upstairs in the locker room wreaking havoc on anything that wasn’t pinned down. Hank, hearing the commotion from down the hall, rushed in to see who had lost their mind.

“Kevin! Kevin!”

“How could you let her do this man?! I’m her husband! You don’t get to make that kind of decision for her.”

“Neither do you, Kev. This was her choice, do you understand? No matter how much either of us wants to catch this scumbag, she wants him gone a whole lot more. She’s stronger than you think. Now you have a choice. You either hang back, mad at the world or you gear up and back Bianca...back this team.”

Back downstairs, having settled in on the choice you’d made, “Ok, let’s do this.”

As the three of you were headed out of the room to join the others, Kevin walked in. Kim touched his shoulder in an attempt to reassure him as she walked away. You wanted to find solace in his familiar embrace, but you knew it was pointless. The walls were up. He walked towards you and you immediately noticed the tears in his eyes. “Kev…” Grabbing your hand and leaving a kiss on your frontal lobe, he quickly wiped his face and walked out to join the others.

It was a typical undercover mission, except this time, the stakes were much higher. You and Upton walked into the crowded club, dressed as if you were ready to party. The intel the team gathered tracked Damien at this same location several days in a row looking for his next victim. The rest of the team were scattered throughout the room or on surveillance outside the main entrance. This was one of those cases where justice was decided by Voight and his team, no judge or jury necessary.

You spot him almost immediately. Tapping Hailey on the arm, she reports back to the group, “We have eyes on Damien. He’s at the bar talking to a young woman.”

Hailey turns to you and for a moment, you can’t even remember your own name.

“Bianca, you ready? You good?”

“Yes. I’m ready.”

Morphing into a drunken party goer ready to have more fun, you make your way to the bar.

Halstead distracts the woman Damien is speaking to, saving her from imminent danger.

As Damien walks away, pissed that he had to ‘let that one go’ he spots you. A beautiful & familiar face. You’ve changed over the years, but a vulture never forgets its uneaten prey. You’re nervous as hell. More thoughts run through your mind than you can handle at once, but for now, you must push them aside.

No sooner than you spotted him, Damien disappeared into the crowd. You called Kim as a cover while you began to look around. “Hey girlie! I thought you were supposed to meet me tonight? I don’t see you!”

Kim responds on the other line…”Keep talking, Jay is checking the bathroom. He couldn’t have gone far.”

You spot Kevin on the stairwell on the other side of the club. Everything will be fine….

The fire alarm sounds.

Suddenly you feel a sharp pain in your neck.

A look of panic on Kevin’s face in the distance is the last thing you see as the cell phone slips from your hands.

Everything goes BLACK.

Chaos has ensued in the club. The alarm continues to blare, sprinklers shooting out water, and people running in every direction. Voight radios in as he and Ruzek are covering the perimeter, trying to calm down the frantic crowd. “Hailey, talk to me! Is everyone ok in there?!”

Kevin has bolted down the stairs, pushing his way through the crowd as he sees Damien pick you up and drag you out a backdoor. “B!! Bianca!!” It’s as if he’s trying to run in quicksand. As Kevin finally makes it to the back door, Burgess, who isn’t far behind spots your phone on the floor. She blots out after Kevin who is racing to his car. They get in, Kevin, not saying a word, speeding down the block trying not to lose you. Kim radios the team.

“Sarge, Damien has Bianca! We’re headed the wrong way down Parkside Ave in pursuit of a late model gray pick up truck. Tags are Indiana custom DG ...L16. We’re making a right on to George St. now!”

“We’re coming!! Don’t lose them!”

The high speed chase through the streets of Chicago continues as the rest of the team joins Atwater and Burgess. Atwater loses sight of the truck for what seems like an eternity. Ruzek radios Kim… “I just pulled up at the warehouse. I see the truck.”

Kevin picks up speed, gripping the wheel even tighter, “Copy that. Tell him we’re 5 mins out.”

…………………

You begin to come out of your fog. The dark room Damien has you in smells like mildew and death, yet in weird contrast, you’re lying on a mattress with fresh white sheets. Damien, not realizing that you’ve woken up, is in the corner at a table pouring wine and gathering instruments. You scan the room looking for anything to use as a weapon. Fear takes over as he walks towards the bed. You pretend to still be in a daze.

Scanning your body, then touching your face… “Wow. You’re more beautiful than I remember, darling. I’ve been waiting for this chance to be with you again.” He sits you up, started to touch you more, now looking down your shirt.

“Please, don’t…” Before you can get the words out of your mouth, his hand is around your neck. Gasping for air, tears start to stream down your face.

“DON’T act like you don’t want this! Hank Voight stole our chance at happiness years ago. And he thought he had me, but now is our time.”

As Damien leans in to connect his lips with yours, the sound of metal hitting pavement resounds in another area of the warehouse stopping him. He loosens his grip on you allowing just enough time for you to lunge for the bottle of wine and swing it hard against his skull.

“KEVIN!!!!!!” You scream, as you quickly scramble out of Damien’s grip. Racing towards the door, your realize that it’s locked from within. As you begin to pound on the door, Damien slowly starts to move closer to you. “KEVIN!!!! HANK!!! Please...down here!!”

Had the noise you heard a few minutes prior been a false alarm? Did you make a mistake? Damien’s disorientation and head gushing with blood give you time to look around the room for another way out, but nothing. With a newfound burst of energy, he lunges towards you like the madman that he is now pinning you against the wall. You fight him off with every ounce of strength you have.

BOOM!!!!!!

Moments later in true Atwater fashion, the door to your current prison swings open. Without any hesitation, Kevin grabs Damien and tosses him yards across the room. He stands over his exhausted body and begins to pummel his face like a boxing bag. Ruzek rushes in to stop him.

“Kev! Kev! We got him man! We got him.”

Snapping back to reality, Kevin turns his attention back towards you, crouched down near the door crying. Voight and the rest of Intelligence are now in the room. They stand in utter disbelief that this madness has finally come to an end.

Without saying a word, Kevin comes down to your level and begins to gently kiss every inch of your tear-filled face as if there’s healing in his touch….you’ve always known that there is.

You wrap your arms around him as he carefully lifts you up off the floor. You’ve never felt more relieved in all your life.

Voight, clearly broken up at seeing you in this state, puts a hand on Kevins shoulder. “Make sure you get her over to Med. We’ll clean up here.”

Fully leaning on your husband for support, the two of you exit the room.

………………………

Kevin hadn’t left your side since being admitted into the hospital two days ago. He was planted in the chair beside you.

“Do you need anything babe?”

Touching his cheek to reassure him, despite the IV in your arm. “I’m ok, thank you.”

Dr. Halstead walks into the room to check in. “Bianca, we got all of the test results back. The syringe he used to sedate you wasn’t contaminated, and everything else is cleared. You’ll be able to go home today.”

Kevin gets up to shake his hand. “Thank you man. Seriously, thank you.”

“Of course. Bianca take it easy ok? Try to hold off on being a hero for a while.”

With a smile, “I’ll try. Thanks Will”

Will walks out. Voight walks in.

He and Kevin hug.

“Hey Sarge.”

“How’s our patient doing?”

“I get to leave today.”

“Ok! That’s great. Oh look at those balloons.”

Kevin chuckles, “Yeah, everyone stopped by yesterday.”

Voight walks closer to the bed like a proud father and takes your hand. “I’m really proud of your kiddo.” You squeeze his hand in acknowledgement, knowing that for Voight that sentence translated into ‘I love you and I couldn’t bear it if we lost you.’

Voight starts to walk out of the room and Kevin follows.

“Yo Sarge, are we good? You know.”

“He’s gone. Forever this time. Ruzek and I took care of it for you.” With a pat on Kevin’s chest, Voight looks back at you one more time and leaves.

Kevin makes his way back into the room. You sit up a bit, still weak and reach for him.

“Everything ok?”

“Everything’s perfect, B. Everything’s perfect.”

He kisses you as if there’s no one else in the world besides the two of you. His world has been set right once again.

“Let’s get you home.”

#kevinatwaterxreader #kevin atwater x reader #chicagopd #original character #chicago pd x reader #kevin atwater imagine #romance #hank voight #adam ruzek #will halstead #kim burgess #hailey upton #kevin atwater #kevin atwater x original female character #reelwriter19

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douxreviews · 5 years

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American Gods - ‘The Beguiling Man’ Review

"Their whole life they’ve been hearing a story about who you are. And you’re the enemy in that story."

In episode two of its second season, American Gods finds a reason to tell us the tragic story of Shadow's past. And it's... basically one of the less interesting episodes of Daredevil.

That's disappointing.

To be more specific, it's disappointing that they felt the need to devote half an episode to telling us the tragic story of Shadow's teenage years, because the story they tell here is essentially the same 'outsider teen moves to a new town and encounters local bullies' story that we've seen a thousand times before. It's The Karate Kid, in which the role of Mr. Miyagi is played by maternal cancer.

The underlying problem here is that there is just no reason for them to be telling this story to us in the first place, either in the metanarrative or the narrative sense. Mr. Town, played by the always welcome Dean Winters, has Shadow rigged up to a big ominous machine, and mentions Shadow's mom once. That's it. That's all the narrative justification we get for why we're being told this story at this time. Somehow that one mention of his mother inspires him to remember how his mom brought him back from France to live in Brooklyn, and how he got beat up that one time, she started dying of cancer, he got so upset about that that he went right out and beat up the guys that attacked him earlier, then she died and that was that.

And I hate to say it, but just reading that last paragraph gives you pretty much the same experience as watching it play out over twenty odd minutes of this episode's runtime. Which is too bad, because it's not like there isn't a lot of good stuff just waiting to be explored here. Olunike Adeliyi, playing Shadow's Mom – and how telling is it that she never gets identified as more than that – is actually really good when her dialogue stops being a stream of character information and 'deep meditations on the human soul.' Watch the moment when she breaks from doing that to tell Shadow that she's going to stop for drinks with somebody named Jerry, and you witness a revelation. In that moment, she goes from being a mouthpiece for things the scripts wants to have said out loud and becomes an actual, interesting person. And I want to know more about that person, because she honestly sparkled at that moment and you could see why Shadow loved her. But we don't get to see more than a moment or two of that, because the script wants to make sure that we know that she's read Siddhartha.

It feels like a case of a screen writer not trusting the audience to understand the subtext, and this show is above that sort of thing.

Similarly, Shadow is mugged, he gets his CD player back and runs for it. And the Brooklyn cops see a black kid running with a portable CD player and arrest him, either instead of or along with his attempted muggers, it's not entirely clear. That's a huge moment that is way, way too true about America still today, but it gets completely thrown away because Shadow's Mom just wants to talk more about how much light is in him. Honestly, I wish that they'd either explored the more interesting stuff that gets sidelined here, or just told us through dialogue that Shadow's Mom had died of cancer and left it at that, because the story that they chose to tell here just ultimately didn't feel like it had anything in particular to say. I feel like I should add though that Gabriel Darku did a good job with the material he was given, and was believable as a young Shadow Moon.

OK, enough about that, because there's a whole other half to this episode and that's where all the good stuff really was.

When we left our heroes, the restaurant had been shot to Hell, Zorya Vechernyaya was dead, and Shadow had been spirited off into the night via helicopter. Here the show seems to run into a bit of a problem with not knowing what to do with all of the characters currently in play. They deal with the situation by generally having them all disperse in pairs on separate missions, which more or less works. Ifrit the Jinn and Salim ride off to the corn palace to fetch Odin's spear, not to be seen again this week. One can only assume that we'll catch up with them later, and how absolutely adorable was Salim, sitting in the sidecar and beaming at being allowed to come along. You two drive safe, we'll see you, presumably, later in the season. Probably right at the end, I would guess.

Wednesday and Mr. Nancy head off to Cairo, Illinois, although they don't get there this week, and I honestly struggled to remember where they were going every time the action cut back to them. They were basically in a holding pattern while other events got into their proper placement for what's going to happen in Cairo. But damn if it wasn't an enjoyable holding pattern to watch. I would tune in weekly for the road trip adventures of Wednesday and Nancy, even if nothing ever happened besides the two of them bantering. The entire exchange about the bucket of fried chicken, which I will not spoil here if you haven't watched it, was better than 95% of broadcast television.

Shadow, we see, has been hooked up to the previously mentioned big ominous machine, which doesn't actually appear to do anything except hold Ricky Whittle up in a sexy and dramatic way, but I suppose that's a noble enough goal. It would be nice if we ever got any clear indication of what exactly Mr. Town wanted out of the situation. Sometimes it seemed like he was trying to convince Shadow to switch sides and join the new gods, sometimes it seemed like he was trying to get information, and sometimes it seemed like he was simply torturing him for no particular reason. Unfortunately, we're not likely to ever get an explanation, since he appears to be dead either just before or immediately after the end of the episode. Ah, well.

But the real MVP, and the only real reason to ever watch this episode again, is the continuing adventures and burgeoning friendship of Laura Moon and Mad Sweeney. Pablo Schreiber and Emily Browning have great chemistry together, and both excel at playing broken, friendless assholes who make a connection with one another despite both of them trying as hard as they can not to do so. When Sweeney says, 'Is that how you ask for a favor,' you can tell by the look on his face that he'd pretty much die to help Laura and this point, and he'd definitely die before he'd ever admit it. Everything they do together is wonderful and complicated and they're by far the best thing the show has going on that didn't come from the book.

Quotes:

Wednesday: "Mama-Ji, you hear the battle cries. May I count on your blades?" Mama-Ji: "You brought the fight to my doorstep. I have no choice but to resume the lopping of heads, drinking of blood, and liberating of souls. That is, if I can swap my weekend shift with Arjun."

Sweeney: "…And God didn’t f**k up your life. You did a great job of that all by yourself." Laura: "Well, it was my life to f**k up." Sweeney: "Indeed it was. And you f**ked the shit out of it, didn’t ya?"

Bulquis: "Love and war may sit on opposite sides of a coin, but only so they may never meet."

Sweeney: "Last week you could have lifted an entire f**kin’ elephant. Two f**kin' elephants if my nuts are the judge."

Laura: "What do you usually drive, horse and buggy?" Sweeney: "Says the corpse who flipped an ice cream truck."

Bits and Pieces:

-- Apparently Bilquis was supposed to talk the old gods out of joining Wednesday, but didn't try that hard.

-- They showed us that Shadow was on a train early on, then wasted a lot of time having us watch Laura work that exact same information out. That's sloppy plotting.

-- I can only assume that Ricky Whittle was excruciatingly uncomfortable filming this week.

-- What is up with the restaurant owners and staff? They just got shot up and people died, and yet there are no cops on the scene, and the restaurant is somehow still serving pancakes for Sweeney.

-- Technical Boy's search for Media got a little further this week. Going to Times Square was a clever idea to find her what with all the screens. The show is still playing coy on revealing Gillian Anderson's replacement as New Media, though. All in all, that changeover has been very well handled. Looks like we get the reveal of New Media next week. Let's see if they stick the landing.

-- There's no way they could have known this in advance, but it was so very nice to have a respectful and peaceful representation of Islam this week.

-- What does Ifrit think of Salim's prayers and faith? I'd be interested to know.

-- Ricky Whittle is 37, and Young Shadow appeared to be about 17 or thereabouts. That would imply that the Brooklyn segments were taking place around 1999. I really dislike using the World Trade Center as a visual signifier for 'in the past,' by the way. It's a personal thing.

-- We were clumsily shown this week that Shadow doesn't know who his father is and his mother won't tell him. We pretty much all know where that's going, even if they had been remotely subtle about it. Which they were not.

-- Wednesday's eulogy for Betty the car, as he waits for Shadow's train to plow into her on the railroad tracks, is a thing of strange beauty and inexplicable dignity.

-- Seriously though, you need to stand a lot further away than that if a train is about to hit a car. I know this from experience.

-- Sweeney takes Laura through something he refers to as 'The Hoard' to get catch up with Shadow. I'm assuming that that's 'hoard' as in a big collection of treasure. They don't appear to have passed through James McAvoy.

I really hate to say this sort of thing, but the show just hasn't felt the same without Fuller and Green. The strange ambient noise and slow motion shots of fluid in motion are pretty much all gone, the storytelling is significantly more linear, and I really think the show is weaker for the change. But, of course, we're only two episodes in. I really shouldn't judge too much yet.

Two out of four buckets of chicken. Almost entirely due to Laura and Sweeney. Just fastforward to their parts, and assume everything else works out all right.

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water.

#American Gods #Shadow Moon #Mr Wednesday #Laura Moon #Mad Sweeney #American Gods Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews

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eldritchsurveys · 4 years

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583.

What was the brand of your first ever cell phone? >> Kyocera.

What are your 3 favorite internet sites? >> Right now it’s Readcomiconline.to, Longform.org, and MarkManson.net.

Do you have a favorite pair of blue jeans? Describe them. >> No, I have a favourite pair of black jeans, and they’re just... black. Not much to describe.

What profession do you respect? >> I respect all professions, every worker is valuable. I just don’t respect some of the twisted and corrupt Systems that the upper echelon of certain professions create and protect (law enforcement, for example).

Have you ever been the recipient of a practical joke? >> Not to my recollection.

Have you ever ate something you've dropped on the floor, if so what? >> We clean our floors fairly often, so if I drop, like, a cracker on the floor I usually just pick it up and eat it. If I drop a peanut butter toast face down, though, I’m counting that as a loss.

Would you consider being an Uber driver if you needed to make extra money? >> I can’t drive, so.

How do you know when you're in love, what's the main sign? >> I don’t know if that’s ever happened to me.

Have you ever gotten anything autographed, if so by who & what was it? >> Yeah, I’ve had a lot of things autographed by various musicians. I don’t have any of that stuff anymore, though, because I no longer see the point.

Do you prefer Walmart or Target? >> Target.

What do you long for? >> I long for the feeling of connection.

If you could be a personal assistant to anyone, who would it be? >> I don’t want to be anyone’s personal assistant.

What is the most important thing you can do to improve yourself? >> That’s not a question I’m qualified to answer.

What makes it hard for you to keep your focus? >> Ambient noise and motion, usually.

Do you think society has become too PC (politically correct)? >> No.

What tragic love story do you relate to? >> I don’t know, I’ve never thought about it.

Has your intuition or "gut" served you well? >> I’ve also never thought about this.

What's the longest you've ever waited in line for something and what was it? >> I’ve waited overnight for concerts before.

Who is your favorite model? >> I don’t have one.

What have you done that is out of character for you? >> Nothing I’ve done is out-of-character because I’m not a character, I’m a person. If people find my behaviour unpredictable, then it’s by design, and they should revise the way they see me.

Would you rather get a gift card or a gift that someone bought for you? >> Either is fine. Even if I don’t like the gift or end up regifting it or whatever, I still appreciate the gesture.

Who is the most visionary person in your life & how do they inspire you? >> I don’t know.

How do you handle a betrayal? >> I don’t know, I don’t even recall any betrayals I’ve had to handle.

What do you feel strong enough to protest about? >> I don’t really know how to answer this.

What's the biggest blooper you've never lived down? >> *shrug* I live everything down eventually. Everything moves on.

If you owned a restaurant what kind of food do you want to serve? >> ---

What will we find if we look in the bottom of your closet today? >> I don’t have a closet.

What kind of car did you learn how to drive on? >> ---

What is the best thing you have done just because you were told you can't? >> I have no idea. Stay alive and become a person I like, probably.

Have you ever had to go to court or testify and if so what for? >> I’ve been in court, but I’m not explaining that whole situation right now.

Do you believe in karma? >> No.

Are you more worried about doing the things right, or doing the right thing? >> I’m more concerned about just not fucking shit up. That’s good enough for me.

Do you believe in the term "Mother knows best? >> No.

Who is your favorite movie action hero? >> John Wick.

What is one thing you can get in your hometown you can't get elsewhere? >> ---

How important are looks in someone you're in a relationship with? >> Pretty important if it’s a sexual relationship, unimportant for any other kind.

What freedom do you feel is not really free anymore? >> I don’t have an answer for this.

What are you most thankful for? >> My life and my mental health -- even if it’s fragile and unpredictable sometimes, it’s still way better than it could be.

Do you have any favorite talk shows or talk radio programs without music? >> Radiolab is cool.

What was the last book you read? >> The last book I finished was The Lucifer Effect, fucking FINALLY.

What's your favorite online store? >> ---

What band would you love to tour with or be a roadie for? >> I don’t want to be a touring musician or a stage tech in the first place, so...

If you were to throw a message in a bottle into the ocean, it would say? >> I’m not going to do that. It’s a romantic idea and all but at the end of the day that’s just littering.

Do you have common sense or do you think people are lacking in it? >> I don’t believe in common sense.

What's your favorite non-alcoholic drink? >> Jasmine green tea or ginger beer.

How do you feel about thrift shops or flea markets? >> They’re fine? I don’t have any opinions on them.

What do you like to put gravy on? >> Biscuits.

Have you ever gone canoeing/kayaking? >> No.

What one thing in particular makes you feel good about yourself? >> When Can Calah says kind things about me.

What is priceless to you? >> Er, my life and freedom, I guess?

What do you wait for discount sales to buy? >> Anything I can wait to own, that aren’t an immediate need. Like video games.

What is one thing you know about your family history you're proud of? >> ---

What 3 songs will always be found at the top of your playlist? >> Turbo Killer by Carpenter Brut, probably. I don’t know what else. Map Change by Every Time I Die?

What is the craziest thing you've ever done for someone? >> I have no idea. Put up with their shit? That’s pretty crazy if you ask me.

Do you keep a budget? >> No, I don’t have enough expenses to bother keeping track of them in any formal way.

If you could cast a spell on someone what spell would you cast and on who? >> I’d rather not.

What makes you feel rested and refreshed? >> Sleep?

What is the funniest joke you have ever heard about? >> I don’t know.

Who depends on you the most? >> No one depends on me in any significant way.

Could you ever be someone's bodyguard? >> No.

Has one of your biggest fears come true? >> No.

Is there anything about the opposite sex you just don't understand? >> ---

Have you ever let your mom or significant other fight a battle for you? >> I don’t have any battles that I’d want other people to be involved in.

Did you create a checklist for your ideal spouse? If so, what were two things you wanted? >> Hell no.

Have you ever ridden on a subway or train an what did you like about it? >> Yes, I’ve ridden subways and trains a million times. I don’t know what it is about the subway that I like so much (aside from the convenience, which is... kind of dubious anyway if you factor in how underfunded and overtaxed the MTA is), but I do love it.

What song on your playlist gets played the most? >> I’ve discussed that already.

Have you ever received a harsher punishment than you deserved? >> Yeah.

Do you prefer sporty or academic members of the opposite sex? >> ---

Do you have to experience something to fully understand it? >> I personally find that my understanding gains more depth when I actually experience something. That’s not to say I want to experience everything I’m interested in understanding (I don’t want to become a serial killer, for example, no matter how interesting I find the psychology).

Has anyone in your family ever served in the military? >> Yes.

Finish the next line in your style: Roses are red, violets are blue... >> No.

What embarrasses you instantly? >> I have no idea.

Do you think you could be a firefighter, why/why not? >> No. Because I really don’t want to be one.

Do you often read your horoscope? >> No.

What current event are you tired of hearing about? >> I don’t hear about any current events often enough to get tired of it, because I don’t immerse myself in the news.

Are you a daredevil? >> Not really.

What common pitfalls do you find yourself dealing with in your work life? >> ---

Describe your "poker face". >> My resting face is a poker face. People tend to read all kinds of things into it (usually negative things), because I guess they can’t stand a simple blank slate.

What do you think should be censored? >> Oh, I don’t know.

Are you related to anyone famous or historical, if so who? >> Not to my knowledge.

Would you ever donate a kidney to anyone, and who? >> Maybe. That’s not a situation I can actually imagine myself in, so I can’t predict my behaviour.

How do you encourage yourself when you go through hard times? >> I remind myself that I’ve been through hard times before. Go through enough of them and you end up with a pretty intimate knowledge of your own resilience, I’d say.

Have you ever fired a gun? >> No.

Do you think people, including yourself live up to their full potential? >> I don’t believe in this “full potential” shit and I’m tired of hearing about it.

How are you different from most people? >> I don’t know. I assume I’m really not all that different from most people, aside from a few details.

What is the main quality you think makes a great parent? >> The ability to learn from one’s mistakes and understand that you can’t control everything.

What creature do you admire for its ability to adapt? >> Well, humanity, certainly.

How do you feel about GMOs? >> I don’t have any feelings about them as a whole.

Have you ever stayed up for an entire 24 hours, why? >> Yeah. Because I was on drugs.

Who is a female role model in your life? >> ---

What childhood dreams have you neglected? >> ---

How often do you reevaluate your life? >> I don’t really feel the need to “reevaluate my life”. I’m pretty aware of what’s going on in my life on a regular basis.

What's your favorite place just to hang out? >> My bedroom.

What gives you a zest for life? >> A strong survival instinct? I don’t know.

What do you have trouble seeing clearly in your mind? >> I don’t know.

What three things do you think of most of each day? >> I’m not sure what I think about most. I think my thoughts are way too numerous and circumstantial to keep track of in any meaningful way.

Would you travel to space if possible? >> I would love to.

Name a famous person you wouldn't mind for a business partner. >> ---

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