Briefly, in between Yuletide readings

Star Trek: Discovery 4.06: ( Spoilery cut for a few remarks )

In other news, my month with the Mouse ended, but not before I saw the Hawkeye finale. ( A few scattered thoughts. )

Lastly: There are still a few days and topics available on the January Meme, if you want me to ramble on, say, which of the Disney Plus series is my favourite, or how if JMS had gotten Doctor Who as a showrunner I'd think he'd done it, not to mention: Hannovers versus Hohenzollern: who wins the 18th Century Dysfunctionality stakes? And what about that AU where William of Orange does adopt young Friedrich Wihelm as he briefly wanted to and thus Britain gets the dubious joy of being ruled by a different German dynasty?

Yuletide Treasure, Part 2

Hamlet:

Old Hamlet's New Groove: AU in which Claudius got the wrong potion and turned his brother into a swan instead of assassinating him. The rest is most definitely not silence.



Mary Reilly - Valerie Martin):

The Mary Reilly Papers: which takes the novel's conceit of being a genuine found Victorian diary, complete with editorial remark at the end, imagines a current day scholar or several reading said diary, and manages to be hilarious.

Penny Dreadful:

A trial all must undergo: the unexpected friendship between the Creature/John Clare and Vanessa was among my favourite elements in s2 and s3, and this shows said relationship growing between them.


Queen's Gambit:

Your past becomes your present if it's always on your mind: Jolene's story, from her own pov.

Liminal Lens: post canon story about Beth (and Benny) which pulls off the trick of making this chess ignoramus who hasn't finished a single game feel like she gets it, and is captivating to read to boot.


Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro:

A spot of bother: does the thing I'd have thought impossible if you asked me: the "two characters with repressed feelings for each other have to pretend being married" trope for Mr. Stevens and Miss Kenton, in a historical plausible and ic feeling, satisfying way. I loved it.


Isaac Asimov - Robot Stories

Training Data: sharp and clever and to the point like Susan Calvin herself, with a great robot problem, an excellent Dr. Calvin and a very sympathetic OC.


Sense8:

Serve me the sky tonight: in which, post show, Rajan decides he should woo Wolfgang properly, because the guy deserves some romance in his life. Kala agrees. Sometimes this reader's heart just wants adorable fluff, and this satisfied the need perfectly.


The Three Musketeers (2011 Anderson Movie):

The second certainty in life: in which we read the various replies of the Royal Tax Office to various movie characters. Hysterical, and makes this entire version worth it.