While other people were watching Dawson’s Creek, I was watching The X-Files. (Yes I am bragging; yes I am aware you could have watched both; yes I am a snob.  I will try to tone it down, though.)  This show was formative in so many ways, and it’s held up surprisingly well.  Though it can be jarring …

The X-Files became a cultural phenomenon because of its willingness to go for broke on ideas that, like the truth, were really out there.  The following, in order of air date, are the best examples of that boundary-pushing blended with humor. 1. Jose Chung’s From Outer Space (3×20) Like “Once More, With Feeling” from Buffy …

Is this YA Fantasy? Is it even YA, or fantasy at all, beyond being a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale? I don’t know, and I don’t care, because Geeklies, you have to read this book. The original story features twelve princesses who sneak out each night to go dancing, and the only …

This week’s episode begins with Mars’s abduction from last week, and Usagi’s quick accusation of Chibi-Usagi being behind it all. It’s not really that far-fetched.  Chibi-Usa drops from the sky, and not long after, Rei is taken up by yet more mysterious people who descended from above.  I’d be suspicious too, especially after that same …

Ah, trolls.  They brood under bridges and over 4chan, and now they’ve found another home in pseudo-monarchical France, the setting of Stolen Songbird. Cecile, a budding chanteuse, knows nothing of trolls as she prepares to leave her farm for the big city, to join her mother as a singer for the National Opera.  But her …

UGH FINE.  There’s more Sailor Moon, and I’m inexplicably drawn to it, so prepare yourselves for the next arc, the Dark Moon saga (in the original, Sailor Moon R). When last we left our dubious heroes, a tiny pink-haired girl was pointing a gun at Usagi’s head and demanding the Silver Crystal.  We resume at …

I found this book when looking at examples of query letters. Stefanie Gaither’s was held up as an ideal pitch. I recommend reading the full critique, especially for any would-be writer. The blurb, in her own words: When Cate Benson was twelve, her sister died. Two hours after the funeral, they picked up Violet’s replacement, …

We left off with Usagi facing off again against Queen Metalia, this time in the new and improved regalia of her fully realized Princesshood.  She blasts Metalia with the awakened Silver Crystal, and it has…absolutely no effect.  Well, that’s not true.  It makes Metalia stronger. Given that our entire experience with Metalia has demonstrated that …

Geekly Essential means that something is so good that it deserves to be discussed long after it was released. It may be 10 years old, but it is still worth your time. There is a moment in every tabletop gamer’s life when they realize that the game they’re playing is fundamentally absurd.  This is (hopefully) …

I decided to do these reviews without rating them, since I figured that the show might need some time to find its rhythm, and I didn’t want to damn it (or, by association, its predecessor) by being initially lukewarm.  Last week’s episode proves that I was so very wrong.  It deserved an F-, and if …