They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with young adult author Jaime Questell, whose name you may recognize from Spec Chic contributor Nicole Taft’s glowing review of her debut novel, By a Charm and a Curse.
What does Jaime Questell love when she’s not writing about magical carnivals? Spoiler alert: the best part of watching The Magicians, a winter soldier, sneaky games, ethereal fan art, and a “joyous, sparkling best version of one’s self.” Curious? Read on for more!
There’s this bit in Neil Gaiman’s American Gods where Shadow says that one of the things he loved most about his wife Laura was how if she tasted something particularly good, she’d always make you taste it, too, to share in the experience with her. And that feeling, that need to share in such a precise way, oh, I know that feeling. So when I found out I was going to get to write a Favorite Things post for Speculative Chic, I was just a teensy bit excited.
Let’s get started!
Photo Credit: Miller Mobley/SYFY
Favorite Friendship: My first favorite thing is the so-wrong-it’s-right friendship between Margo and Eliot from The Magicians. I liked the two of them well enough when I read the books, but there’s just something about how they’re written for the television show that took them from kind of interesting to I-would-watch-their-reality-TV-show-for-six-days-straight-if-I-could. Some of it is definitely the actors; Hale Appleman with his sad puppy eyes and perfect Patrick Swayze impersonation and Summer Bishil’s ability to deliver a deadpan one-liner are off-the-charts amazing. Not to mention the crackling dialogue the two share. They are my heart’s one true BroTP, and the best part of the show. That said, I’m only caught up through season two, so if something horrible happens to drive a wedge between them in season three, don’t tell me! Or maybe, do tell me, so I can spare myself the pain.
Character and Actor: And along the same lines of actors doing amazing jobs of bringing characters to life, another favorite thing is the Winter Soldier in the Marvel cinematic universe. Okay now, I’m going to get especially geeky here. First of all, Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier’s story is just a serious gut punch to the feels. But, BUT what takes it to the next level is Sebastian Stan’s portrayal of our wounded, brainwashed assassin. All anyone has to do to be impressed with Stan’s acting is watch his work in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I mean, the man has most of his face covered for a good chunk of the film and minimal lines. But what really drove home the fact that 1) Stan really gets his character, and 2) I am super nerdy for the Winter Soldier, is this one moment in the latest trailer for Avengers: Infinity War. It’s towards the end, when Captain America, Black Panther, Okoye, Black Widow and the Winter Soldier are running toward the screen. All of our other heroes are straight-backed, shoulders squared. But Stan runs like a completely different person. His shoulders are rounded and down, like he’s making himself the smallest target possible, or like he’s trying to stay hidden. His head is ducked down, but his gaze is locked on his target. He moves not like a hero, but like someone trained to kill in the night, which is exactly how he was trained. I think that with a lesser actor, we wouldn’t get that; we’d see someone eager to be like Chris Evans or Chadwick Boseman. But that’s not the character. The fact that Stan gets that is awesome.
Game: Okay, so moving onto something that isn’t TV or movie related, another one of my favorites is a board/card game called Secret Hitler. A friend introduced me to this a couple months ago, and I swear, I thought I could read people, but CLEARLY I CANNOT. So in the game, the players are divided into two teams – Liberals and Fascists. There are always more Liberals than Fascists, but only the Fascists know who each other are. It’s up to them to lie and be generally sneaky in order to advance their agenda. I’ve had the chance to play both sides, and it is incredibly fun to try to sleuth things out and/or pretend to be a Liberal when I’m really not. It hits a little close to home in this day and age, but man is it fun.
Fan Artist: I love fanart, plain and simple. And my favorite fan artist, hands down, is Charlie Bowater. I discovered her work via Tumblr, where I saw her digital paintings based off Sarah J. Maas’ books. Bowater has an amazing eye for detail and texture, and there’s just something about her pieces that have a gauzy, ethereal feel to them. It feels like you’re looking at a dream. Her original works are stunning as well. There’s a piece called “The Old Astronomer” that features a woman who seems to be plucking a star from the sky. The colors are muted, but the whole thing still feels rich. I really want to get a large-scale piece of hers some day.
Fantasy Creature: Look, I think that in any given day, I probably think about or reference unicorns at least five times. I have a unicorn hand puppet on my desk at work. I have fuzzy unicorn slippers in my closet. And, thanks to my best friend’s recent birthday party, I have a metallic rainbow-colored unicorn horn headband in my purse. I was never the girl who had to have a pony growing up, but had you offered me a unicorn…well, that I might have taken you up on. It’s not that I think of them as these noble, magnificent creatures. Mostly I love them because to me, they’re sort of the embodiment of the joyous, sparkling best version of one’s self. So if we ever meet and I call you a unicorn, please know that I think you’re flat-out awesome.
Jaime Questell is a writer and graphic designer from Houston, Texas. She has also been a bookseller, a professional knitter, a semi-professional baker, and an administrative assistant. None of these jobs involved wrangling corgis, which is quite sad. She lives in the ‘burbs with her husband, children, and pets.
What a fun list! Thank you for sharing!
I have to say, every image I see from the Magicians makes me want to watch it. Then I read about it and start to have doubts again. But it looks like a beautiful show.
It’s SO GOOD. (Don’t bother with the books.)