A Day In The Life

Vid recs

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 17:26:03 GMT

Festivids went online. I can't create vids myself, but I love watching them. Here are some which especially caught my eye this year:

Babylon 5 : I loved all three of this year's B5 vids, but Marching On really is a love letter to the entire show, and I adore it.

Conclave : The Devil you know : in which there is scheming, rise and fall, and gorgeous cinematography. Captures the spirit (and performances) of the movie really well.

Elementary: Read my mind: my favourite incarnations of Holmes and Watson get a superb outing in this one.

Foundation: So it goes: captures the grandeur, the insanity, the messed up parent/mentor/child (protegé) relationships really really well. (No material from the third season used as far as I can tell, if anyone hasn't watched it yet and doesn't want to be spoiled.)

Knives Out Movies: Now you know: Sondheim/Knives Out OTP! Witty and moving take on all three leads, their stories and the connecting elements.

Star Trek: Prodigy: Find your people: which is what our young heroes do so very well in this lovely show - and in this vid.

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End of Fannish Year Meme: 2025

Wed, 31 Dec 2025 15:29:45 GMT

1. Your main fandom of the year?

Still 18th Century history, Prussian-Austrian-Hannoverian-French edition, with the occasional ancient history interlude. Though ancient history might take over as the primary runner next year!

2. Your favorite film watched this year?

It's a race between a surprise "came for one character, remained for all of them" movie, none other than Thunderbolts*, and the superb thriller September 5, which manages among other things to do something Steven Spielberg tried to in one of his movies and does it better.

3. Your favorite book read this year?

This year I am truly spoiled for choices. I both read some books that have been around for a while as well as very recently published ones, and for the most part, enjoyed or even loved most of them. I think it's a race between Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh.

4. Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?

For complicated real life reasons:

5. Your favorite TV show of the year?

While tv had some let downs for me this year - *cough* Strange New Worlds *cough* - it also had some great new discoveries and some lovely continuing faves. I feel I can't answer this question fairly unless I firstly differentiate between "favourite miniseries" and "favourite continuing show", and in the second department "favourite new-to-me- show" and "favourite returning favourite". So: Favourite miniseries - there were several excellent ones, but really, for "took my breath away with each episode and performance, and format, tells a concluded story and THANK GOD DOES NOT APPEAR TO GET AN UNNESSARY SEQUEL": Adolescence . Favourite continuing series familiar to me - look, Andor had a superb conclusion and I really appreciate the scriptwriters on social media doubling down on just who the Evil Empire is in rl these days, but it's not Andor for the simple reason that while I was not upset about the writing for Bix as I've seen other people be, it really wasn't up to the rest of the show's standards. And it's not Wheel of Time, either, even though I went from like to love in this season and still feel like shaking my hand at the injustice of fate because of the cancellation. So: It's Foundation all the way. I loved the third season and will happily say more about why on the January Meme.
Favourite new to me show: Pluribus, aka Vince Gilligan did it again.

6. Your favorite online community of the year?

Still rheinsberg.

7. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?

The play Born with Teeth by Liz Duffy Adams, which I saw in London in August: really intense and clever on stage Shakespeare/Marlow slash fiction, with Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel superb in the roles; delightful in itself, but also, I now have a new playwright to keep an eye on!

8. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?

Strange New Worlds, season 3. Alas.

9. Your fandom boyfriend of the year?

I would never compete with Lois Lane, but this year's Superman is an incredibly endearing version of Clark Kent, and arrived just at the right time.

10. Your fandom girlfriend of the year?

Demerzel from Foundation, and I got two great stories starring her as Yuletide gifts. Runner up: Kleya from Andor, and Juliette Binoche in what just may the definite Penelope performance in The Return .

11. Your biggest squee moment of the year?

( Spoiler for Wake Up, Dead Man ensue: ) Runner-up: ( Spoiler for Demerzel's backstory in Foundation )

12. The most missed of your old fandoms?

I'm missing - and probably I'm employing rosy glasses here - the way media could be discussed without one part of the viewership crying "Woke!" and other crying "betrayal" if their ship of choice doesn't become canon. (Latest example: Stranger Things. Which btw I'm enjoying, but one look at fandom discussion and I ran.)

13. The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?

I'm currently eyeing Severance.

14. Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?

The Vampire Lestat, aka season 3 of Interview with the Vampire. Can't wait to find out what this particular creative team will do with both the present day rock star Lestat frame and the memoirs part, plus unless I'm mistaken it looks like they're already incorporating bits of The Queen of the Damned. And speaking of Anne Rice adaptations, I'm also very curious what Tom Ford will make of her historical (non-supernatural historical) novel Cry to Heaven, starring Nicolas Hoult.

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Yuletide Recs 2

Tue, 30 Dec 2025 14:29:25 GMT

Darth Real Life is still on my heels, but:

Katabasis - R.F. Kuang

Two different and both clever and sensitive explorations of what the aftermath of the novel might have been like for Alice and Peter:

The Next Step

The Raven's Paradox

The Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beagle

In that clear unpeopled space: the Unicorn's long way to her forest. Has the poetry, the beauty and the character growth of the book.

Lord of the Flies - Willliam Golding

I Remember (Don't Worry) : in which Ralph encounters Jack years post novel. Disturbing in the way the book is, yet with some glimpse of hope.

Penny Dreadful

mimics the lampllight's struggle with the dawn: After a night of victory, Vanessa and Hecate, separately, search for their footing. Missing scene from the second season's finale, with both women and Malcolm expertly drawn.

The Radiant Emperor Series - Shelley Parker-Chan

The Calligraphy of Disgrace: in which we get another take on these novels' entertainingly screwed up soulmates relationship, with an AU twist.

Frederician Historical Fiction

Five times Amalie saw Luise, and one time Luisa saw Amalie: in which the "Five Things" format is expertly used to portray the relationship between the Melanie Wilkes of the Hohenzollern court and her sharp-tongued sister-in-law.

Courting the Chamberlain : in which we find out how Frederick the Great's lover got married to the resourceful Caroline Daum.

The Ring of the Nibelung - Wagner

Loyalty only to me: Hagen learns many lessons from his father over the years.

Some Desperate Glory - Emily Tesh

Again two different takes on a novel's aftermath, the first focused on Magnus, the other on Avi, which also doubles a great take on his development across several timelines.

Some Desperate Hope

Salvation from falling into the sea of misguidances

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Yuletide Recs 1

Sat, 27 Dec 2025 15:15:29 GMT

For some Darth Real Life reasons, I had less time than usual during the holidays to delve into the Yuletide archive, but I did have some chances, and here are some early results. ;)

Akhenaten - Glass

The lone and level sands stretch far away: or, Egptian historical fiction. Based on the opera, but can be read without having heard it yet knowing who Akhenaten was. Poetic and intense.

Greek Myths:

Mothers of the Brazen Spear: Andromache and three of her sisters-in-law after the Trojan war. Based on Euripides.

Homophrosyne: Penelope through twenty years.

Born with Teeth:

To Bite the World: in which Will and Kit talk and role play Richard III and Anne Neville. Matches the play really well.

Bride of the Rat God - Hambly :

A closer kinship: the crucial moment from the novel's backstory when Christine shows up in England to whisk Norah away. This is one of my favourite Barbara Hambly novels, and the characterisation of both women is perfect.

Copenhagen - Frayn:

Quantum Game Theory: Four alternate timelines where the Copenhagen meeting never happened, and one where it did. Clever, moving and profound.

Farscape:

Look after the Princess: in which Katralla from s2's Princess trilogy wakes up post- Peacekeeper Wars (there are plot reasons) to find herself in a mad adventure with Aeryn Sun. And Aeryn's baby. And the usual Farscape insanity. Really feels like an episode in the best way, and fleshes out Katralla to boot.

Also, there are still free spots if you want me to ramble on something on the January meme.

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This and that and history

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 18:04:09 GMT

Watched completely on Apple +: Down Cemetery Road, a new series (I would have written miniseries, except I hear there'll be a second season), based on an earlier novel by Slow Horses author Mick Heron. Starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson, both cast somewhat against type and having fun with it. Emma Thompson plays Zoe, a cynical private detective right out of the hard boiled age, if that one had female cynical hard drinking PI's, Ruth Wilson plays Sarah, starting out as somewhat naive, idealistic and disorganized. (I have seen Ruth Wilson in roles where she isn't a brilliant sociopath before! I swear I did! But Alice and Marisa Coulter are just so memorable!) Zoe starts out the story married, to another P.I. who is more the benevolent goodshoe type and whom she has feelings for but cheats on and generally argues a lot with, while Sarah is with a guy hiding total jerkness between a placid facade, but before the pilot is over, neither of these relationships are existent anymore. Both women - who live in Oxford, not London, which is a change, but the action doesn't stay there - through different ways find themselves uncovering the central dastardly plot which unsurprising given the author the show is based on involves fuck-ups by awful government agencies and the attempt to cover this up which leads to an ever higher body count. The Zoe and the Sarah storylines after a brief meeting in the pilot stay apart for half the season, and I was about to complain, but then the second half reunites them and gives me these actresses playing superbly against each other. If I have one complaint, it's that there wasn't really a pay-off for the existence of Talia the new defense secretary. But presumably in the second season?

Started to watch and stopped watching: Gunpowder on Amazon Prime. Look, show, two podcasts managed to turn me around on James VI and I and got me interested in Stuarts beyond the Restoration era, I'm in the market for this ! I'm also with you pointing out Catholics got a truly rough deal in the late Elizabethan and in the James era. But Kit Harrington brooding as Robert Catesby isn't going to cut it, and who does Mark Gatiss as Robert Cecil think he's playing, Shakespeare's Richard III?

Started watching, may or may not continue: The Name of the Rose, new tv version on Disney +. I mean, if there is an early 1980s novel begging for the miniseries treatment, it's absolutely that one, the OG Murders at a Monastery story. I would have thought a mniseries could offer the chance to include a lot more from the novel than the movie was able to, but foolish me, the show creators instead thought they needed some adiditional subplots. Adson now starts out as not really a novice, though he wants to be, because his father wants him with the imperial army instead. That's right, he now has Daddy Issues. (This is where you can tell there must be some American money involved.) William of Baskerville, aka the cleverest Holmes avatar in another setting before House, is played by John Turturro, who doesn't look anymore like the (reddish blonde) William of the book than Sean Connery did but does a decent job playing him. Somewhat unsurprisingly, like the movie, the series beefs up the part of Bernard(o) Gui. Who in the book shows up only in the second half and leaves again long before the big showdown, but Jean-Jacques Annoud already decided he didn't want an evil inquistor going to waste, but apparantly so did the creators of this one, so while Gui still doesn't arrive in the monastery before half point, we see him being evil and fanatical en route in every freaking episode. Did I mention there are new subplots? About which Adson, who is our narrator (voiced as an old man by Peter Davison, omg, that was a nice surprise), can't know?

( More spoilery observations for the first part of the series )

Incidentally, the excellent podcast History of the Germans (currently in its "Fall and Rise of the House of Habsburg" season where the family with the famous chin and lower lip first seemingly hits rock bottom in three generations before young Maximilian marries Marie of Burgundy) did a great episode last year about the actual political and theological background of the rl events The Name of the Rose touches on, hilariously summarized as "Der Kurverein zu Rhens - starring William of Ockham and the cast of the Name of the Rose". You can listen to it or read the transcript here.

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This and that

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 16:53:20 GMT

Got my Yuletide assignment, which is going to be fun - I just have to refresh my canon memories, and it's not a long canon. Also, I just finished the (short) first season of Dark Winds. Now I dimly remember reaidng one of Hillerman's novels decades ago, but only a very few details remained with me - the asking about the clans, for example - which meant that basically I went into this unspoiled. And was v. amused that apparantly Noah Emmerich now gets typecast as an F.B.I agent, though Stan from The Americans and High Pockets here are very different types.

( Spoilers thought it was a solid first season and will continue the show )

Meanwhile, thinking back to ye olde days when shows had 22 episodes per season, I just found this well crafted retroscpective on Six Feet Under, which reminded me of how much I loved and appreciated it:

The Family Tomb: A Six Feet Under Retrospective

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Trailers

Sun, 15 Jun 2025 07:10:32 GMT

Proper Trailer for the third season of Foundation on Apple:

So looking forward to this! (Not least because of all the other depressing cancellation news.)

Teaser traiiler of season 3 of The Diplomat, featuring the next West Wing alumnus:

The Diplomat: more cynical than The West Wing, but still believing in the basic drive of people to actually work for what they see as their couintry's benefit in addition to themselves. Neither universe would allow for the poisonous cesspit currently governing not just the US.

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Of endings in many a universe

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 08:19:06 GMT

This in fannish and rl political matters was not a good past week, but what is anymore, one is tempted to ask. But it wasn't universally bleak, either.

Wheel of Time cancelled: a pity. I was only so so about it in the first season, grew to like it in the second, and was impressed by the third. Where it had felt like starting out on a generic fantasy pattern (heroes called to quest, evil dark overlords and minions wrecking the land), it had truly become its own unique thing. Yes, I could still read the books, but I osmosed that many of the things I liked best about the tv version are in fact different to the books (for example, unless I osmosed wrongly, Rand is the clear main character in the books, while if there is any lead on tv, it's Moraine, Liandrin is a simple Evil McEvil villainess in the book where in the tv version she has backstory and complicated feelings, and "more complicated" is true for other villains as well, Moraine's sister Alvaere (spelling?), wonderfully played by Lindsay Duncan, only exists as a name in the books and her relationship with Moraine not at all, and the books have only same sex subtext where the show has main text, etc.). I wanted to follow this specific version of the tale, and now I won't be able to.

(Also, I'm reminded of how annoying I always found back in the day and sometimes years later when B5 and DS9 were played out against each other; I loved both, and refused to play that game, and interaction with other fans was tricky if you wanted discussions of one only to to come across rants about the other. It's not that I love Rings of Power, but I do like it, and if it was difficult already to come across interesting meta, now there will be additional bile blaming it on a note of "why wasn't this cancelled instead".)

The Mouse channel put up Captain America: Brave New World on its streaming service. I hadn't bothered to see it in the cinema after getting only discouraging noises, and while sometimes I come across media loathed by most which I love or at least like, this wasn't the case here. It had some elements I liked, but simply wasn't very good. I do wonder whether Captain America: The Winter Soldier is for the MCU what Star Trek: Wrath of Khan was for decades for the ST franchise - to wit, the movie most of fandom adores and loves best and which subsequently gets imitated over and over to the detriment of the results because they don't succeed in creating something of equal value and the repeated tropes get less convincing the more they're repeated. In the MCU case, subsequent attempts to combine 70s style political thriller with the superhero formula included the dreadful Secret Invasion which everyone seems to silently agree never to have happened since it's been ignored by the rest of the franchise, and Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which was decidedly mixed in quality and result (though definitely better than Secret Invasion). Some short observations why despite having good actors and some good ideas, Brave New World just didn't stick the landing (imo, as always) in its attempt to recreate Winter Soldier: ( are spoilery. )

Doctor Who ?.08: Reality War: Which felt at times like RTD throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks, at times like (great) trolling, and at times was surprisingly touching giving everything else. ( Spoilery comments await )

***

Peter David the writer died. Back in the 1990s, I loved reading most of his Star Trek novels, especially but by no means exclusively Imzadi and Q-Squared. (I haven't reread them in decades by now, and have no idea whether they would still hold up, but I remember the reading pleasure they gave me, and how they long before the internet provided me with online fanfic showed how a story can enhance and deepen characterisation as given by a tv show.) On the B5 side of things, he contributed two episodes, including Soul Mates in season 2, which is still one of my all time favourites, and in it he created who is definitely my favourite one episode only on Babylon 5 character, Timov. (His B5 books were more of a mixed affair, but this is not the place to repeat my problems with the Centauri trilogy and its (lack of) worldbuilding.) If a writer is able to gift you with characters that remain with you for the rest of your life, that is more than many of us will ever achieve, so, hail and farewell, Peter David.

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Return of the End of Year Meme

Mon, 30 Dec 2024 15:11:42 GMT

1. Your main fandom of the year?

Still 18th Century history, Prussian-Austrian-Hannoverian-French edition, with the occasional ancient history interlude.

2. Your favorite film watched this year?

It's a race between Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Dune II; I think the Apes win, not least I because I continue to be amazed how this rebooted franchise keeps producing intelligent, interesting characters and stories. Also, this was a case (and not the only one) this year where ahead of watching I was severely in doubt this was a good idea (i.e. do we need anything after the Caesar trilogy), and then I saw what they created, and yes, absolutely we do. Noah & Mae is shaping up to be one of the most fascinating relationships of the saga.

3. Your favorite book read this year?

Tie between Shelley Parker-Chan's She who became the Sun and Jo Graham's The Borgia Dove, i.e. history with a touch of fantasy in both cases, in the former using the first Ming Emperor as a template to genderqueer in a fascinating way, and in the second having a pregnant Giulia Farnese be a key player in getting Rodrigo Borgia elected Pope.

4. Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?

And all the variations thereof. An absolute earworm, and thematically essential to the storytelling within the series, to the point where you see this early scene very differently once you know certain things. Coming close: medieval and Renaissance "We didn't start the fire" was a hoot, and set me and the rest of salon filking. (And cahn singing; we're just waiting for mildred_of_midgard to collect the visuals in order to present you with 18th century versions.)

5. Your favorite TV show of the year?

It was a really good year for tv. With DW returning (and what a wild ride it was, with some episodes being amazingly brilliant and some really too silly even for DW) and Discovery finishing (*sob* it was a nice last season, but overall I think the s4 arc would have made for more epic final season one, had they known in advance), plus I really liked the kids' shows, i.e. ST: Prodigy, s2, and currently SW: Skeleton Crew. But seriously, there is no question as to which three are racing to the finish line here - Interview with the Vampire, s2 (sooo good), Shogun and Agatha All Along, of course. (And I'm very happy that not only the former but also Kathryn Hahn in the later just got Golden Globe nominated. Is the later one a first for the MCU?) Again with the scepticism ahead of watching: did we need another adaptation, given the very good 1980s one existed already? (YES, as it turns out.) And who asked for a spin-off focused on a main character who only showed up in a previous Disney show as a villain? (We all should have asked, as it turns out.) AAA is more recent, Interview and Shogun has the one drawback that they decided on its success to do more of it (DO NOT WANT, this is a contained and finished story)...but I think the sheer epicness, the fact a show with lots and lots of subtitled politics set in Renaissance Japan can become a hit, and the fact the novel was first told to me by Dad on a long walk when I was a teen and has remained with me ever makes for a mighty pull... but what's this, it's dark horse candidate Interview racing ahead by virtue of being even better than the first season despite having the less compelling part of the book as its textual source to adapt! IwtV, s2 win!

6. Your favorite online community of the year?

Salon aside, I also participated in an online book club I can't give details about for RL reasons and enjoyed it a lot.

7. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?

Lots and lots of podcasts to listen to, many historical in nature, some sci fi fannish. (Including one about The Rings of Power which proves you can be a Tolkien geek ready with the quotes and love the show.)

8. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?

There wasn't anything I loathed on a Secret Invasion (and SI was last year), but there were a few cases of "I had expected more given the premise" (Domina comes to mind), and some where the execution was fine and I could see what the hype was about but a key component was just wrong (Ripley: Andrew Scott was just too old - as I said in my review, not a problem if they'd adapted literally any other Ripley novel but the first, because his age isn't really important in the other books, but in the first one, him and Dickie being young enough that Dickie's father sending a supposed school mate after Dickie is plausible is literally a plot point), or there's room for improvement (Shardlake: a more subtle soundtrack, please, ditch the monologues, wtf is this making the important black character from the first novel who goes on to become a series regular not black and making two one-off character black instead?).

9. Your fandom boyfriend of the year?

ST: Prodigy's take on Wesley Crusher. I have a soft spot for when an unpopular character is given another shot anyway, but in this case not only did the result feel like a delightful DW crossover, but it was an object lesson of how to do something the third season of ST: Picard messed up big time, i.e. how to use an "old" character in a new show in a way that's more than a cameo and a real character exploration BUT also NOT in a way that negates the "new" characters' stories and agenda.

10. Your fandom girlfriend of the year?

Mariko from Shogun in her latest tv incarnation. I mean, I loved her in the book as well, but this year's show version was fantastic.

11. Your biggest squee moment of the year?

Daniel in the season finale of Interview with the Vampire detonates his bomb of a reveleation, to put it as unspoiilery as possible. I mean, it's a devastating scene, but in an absolutely squee-worthy way.

12. The most missed of your old fandoms?

Depending on Darth Real Life, I may start a Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel: The Series rewatch next year in this very journal.

13. The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?

The Orville, now that Discovery has ended, and my defensive hackles have been lowered.

14. Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?

I hear there will be a miniseries about Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra, featuring Keeley Hawes as Jane. This sounds promising. Will Jane A. fare better than the Bronte sisters in their most recent stage and film biographical outings? I hope so. On a similar historical note, there will be a series about William the Conqueror and Harold of Wessex, called King and Conqueror.

...and I really hope The Return starring Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes will make it to Germany.

Speaking of Memes, the January Meme still has free days if there are topics you want to to ramble about.

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Yuletide Recs (II)

Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:45:59 GMT

My Yuletide recipient has commented, phew. This was a new-to-me person, so unlike the last few years, I had no idea what their reaction would be, and they wrote lovely, detailed feedback. Hooray! Have a few more recs:

A Dangerous Man: Lawrence after Arabia:

Not for this Age by Five: a elegantly written "Five things...." about T.E. Lawrence and Prince (later King) Feisal. (BTW, accessible even if you're unfamiliar with the movie it's invoking, but if you are, remedy that, because it stars a young Ralph Fiennes as Lawrence and a young Siddig el Fadil as Feisal (this was the gig that got him the role of Dr. Bashir on DS9), and they're both superb.

The Expanse:

Fraternization: a Drummer pov on five of her relationships. Excellent.

For All Mankind:

Gimbal Lock In which Margo in s4 tries very hard not to reach conclusions when musing on both Sergei and Irina. Very intense look on Margo's emotional life in the USSR.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell:

The Stars not seen before: post-book tale featuring in addition to our sort-of-heroes the definitely heroic former Stephen Black; the mixture of social awkwardness, humor and magic is wonderfully evocative.

Watership Down:

Blackavar‘s Apprehension: Blackavar backstory, very plausible and a great take on life in Efrafra.

The Wire:

Fairy Tale of Baltimore: in which Stringer Bell is contemplated and contemplates through the years. Intense and superbly written, worthy of the show.

Willow (TV):

The Wizard King of Galladoorn: since this charming tv show was cruelly canceled, we shall never now how Graydon extricates himself from the situation he ends up in in the s1 finale, and this story doesn't say, either, but it provides a lovely take on the likely aftermath, the character, and the ensemble interaction.

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Yuletide Recs (I)

Sat, 28 Dec 2024 14:37:07 GMT

A first few Yuletide recs:

Agatha All Along:

Smart and Powerful: in which Jen encounters Agatha for the first time in the early 20th century. Banter, UST and foiled murderous intentions ensue.

Dune:

Adam's Rib: in which Irulan attempts to interview Paul for her histories between Dune and Dune Messiah. (It works for the Villeneuve movies as well until we get the third one, at least.) Very plausible take on these two and what they do and don't share, having grown up as the first born of great houses with Bene Gesserit training.

The Godfather:

Valediction: Tom Hagen and Connie Corleone after Sonny's death.

Macbeth:

The Future in the Instant: Lady Macbeth makes a choice, which involves talking to her husband at a key point of the narrative.

North and South:

Plum Pudding & Clustered Grapes: Margeret wants to host a Christmas dinner for the workers. No one else thinks this is a good idea...

The Odyssey:

The Hekubiad: In which Hecuba did make it to Ithaka post Troy, and provides us with her own pov on ensuing events.

Roma Sub Rosa Series - Steven Saylor

Sub Rosa: Saylor's take on Lucius Sergius Catilina was for me one of the most captivating elements of the book series, and this short story captures a lot of why, as we get a glimpse on Catilina and Meto shortly before the final battle.

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Return of the January Meme

Wed, 11 Dec 2024 10:32:03 GMT

Pick a date below and give me a topic, and I'll ramble on. I'm good at talking. It can be anything from fandom-related (specific characters, actors, storylines, episodes, which Disney Marvel shows are my faves and why, why the world should give the Julian-Claudians a rest and make a Flavius Josephus/Josef Ben Matthias centric show set in the Flavian era instead, which 18th century ladies need their own series, etc.) to life-related to favorite tea brands to whatever you want.

They will probably be brief, or not, depending on the subject. Also, I reserve the right to decline prompts that I don't feel equipped to meet.

Topics: you can get an idea from my tags/from the stuff I usually ramble about/from things you maybe wish I talked about more but don't. Also, please feel free to check out the 2024 meme, the 2023 January meme, the2022 January meme, the 2021 January Meme, the January Meme: 2020 Edition, the 2019 one, the 2018 meme, the 2017 edition , and the 2016 January meme to see which topics I've written about in past years.

January 1:
January 2: The Return of RDJ and the pivot from Kang to Doom: opinions? (lightofdaye)
January 3: Favourite historical dramas (saturnofthemoon)
January 4: Which biographies would I reccommend? (lirazel)
January 5:
January 6: Star Trek: Discovery (aurumcalendula
January 7: Time Travel Team consisting of historical figures: My Choice (avrelia)
January 8: Which 18th century ladies deserve their own show? (kore)
January 9:
January 10: Comfort Food (ffutures)
January 11: In which aspects would a "For all Mankind"-universe Star Trek differ from ours? (bimo)
January 12: Historical sites in Berlin for those who want to avoid 20th century history (aelle_irene)
January 13: Star Trek: Prodigy - What should a 3rd season be like? (trobadora)
January 14:
January 15: Differences between German and British Culture (watervole)
January 16:
January 17:
January 18:
January 19:
January 20: Babylon 5 Rebooted: How I'd Do It (wychwood)
January 21: Give the Julio-Claudians a rest: Josephus-Centric Flavian series to go! (cahn)
January 22:
January 23:
January 24:
January 25: Roman AU for Babylon 5? (Redfiona)
January 26:
January 27:
January 29:
January 30: My favourite post-Enlightenment Scandinavian Princess (aelle_irene)
January 31

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Candy Hearts alert

Thu, 15 Feb 2024 07:32:35 GMT

candyheartsex has gone live! I received a gift and a treat:

Around the world in 80 Days: A Matter of Propriety, a lovely take on the OT3 from Abigail's pov.

17th Century RPF/ the novel "The King's Touch" by Jude Morgan: The Prince and the Princess' Touch, another lovely combination of three, these ones being Stuart cousins, to wit, future monarchs William and Mary as well as their rebellious cousin Jemmy (aka James Duke of Monmouth), currently spending his exile with them.

Now excuse me while I read the other stories!

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Vids!

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 10:05:19 GMT

festivids , for someone like me who can't vid but loves watching, is a joyful occasion every year, and here are some of my favourites this year:

Around the World in 80 Days

I loved the 2021 miniseries, not least for the mixture of joy, angst, silliness, suspense and presenting me with a genuine OT3; the narrative treats not only each of its three main characters but also their relationships with each other as important, it's not a case of two of them only caring for the third but not for each other, and each of the relationships is different, with every character bringing something different to the overall story as well. *chef's kiss* The two vids, one more intense and one more lighthearted, capture this beautifully:

Tightrope

I'm gonna be (40 000 Miles)

For all Mankind:

An abundance of riches re: one of my new shows! (Now if someone would also vid Foundation....)

Daughters: a great portrait of the women in seasons 1-3. (The other vids all include s4 footage as well.)

Bad Reputation: an ode to Molly Cobb, of course.

I carried this for years: Margo and her legacy. I loved the other Margo vid as well, but this one is my fave, pinging so many of my favourite things abouto Margo's storyline.

Think: Danielle Poole being great in a very different and equally compelling way from Molly.

Robin and Marian

Out with a Bang: A Marian character study. If you don't know the movie, it's from the 1970s, script by James Goldman, aka the same bloke who wrote The Lion in Winter, starring Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn as the aged lovers reunited one more time, and very aware of their mortality. Goldman had the great idea of making Marian the nun of the Robin Hood legends who does the spoilery thing, and then showing us why.

Wheel of Time

Velodrome: White Tower politics and an ensemble portrait of the Aes Sedai and their relationships, both political and personall, with each other. Superb.

best friend: Moraine and Lan, bff. Funny and true at the same time.

Put on a Show Wherein Lanfear enjoys being fabulously evl in a way that reminds me of Servalan in ye olde Blake's 7 days.

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Candy Hearts Exchange Letter

Wed, 03 Jan 2024 14:42:34 GMT

Dear Writer,

this exchange will be a highlight in my Februarly, and I'm very grateful to you for creating something for me in a fandom we share. My prompts are just that, prompts, not absolutes; if you have an idea that doesn't fit with any of them, but features (some of) the characters I asked for, I'll love it with added joyful surprise.

General DNWs:

A/B/O - if you want to write a werewolf AU for any of the canons I nominated, be my guest, but I'm really not into this particular type of story -, infantilisation, golden showers. Character bashing. (If the characters in question canonically loathe someone, you can of course include this, but I think you know the difference between that and having all characters agree about how terrible X is. Rape, unless it's canon and you want to explore how Character Y deals with the aftermath, or something like that.

General likes:

Character exploration, characters helping each other recover from trauma, messed up and/or co-dependent family relationships, witty banter, friendship against the odds, the occasional light moment in a darker story or conversely some serious character stuff thrown into a comedy fic.

Treats: are very welcome.

( Babylon 5 )

( Black Sails )

( For All Mankind )

( Jude Morgan - The King's Touch )

( 16th Century RPF )

( 18th Century RPF )

( Around the World in 80 Days )

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Briefly

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 18:53:41 GMT

There are still free spots on my January meme if you want to read me ramble about the topic of your choice.

Also, have two links:

Hush, Little Baby is a great new Sandman vid, capturing the eeriness mingled with the connections beautifully.

Also, this take on what 'Bigeneration' de facto means in the recent DW special is very sensible and sense-making at the same time. :)

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Trick or treat recs

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 09:06:53 GMT

A selection of stories which caught my eye last night:

Der Erlkönig (the Goethe poem and the Schubert song): Our Father, which is another creepy, awesome ballad. Poetry fanfiction in both senses! It's fabulous, and should be comprehensible even if you don't know the original poem. (BTW, if you don't, but want to know, here is a rendition in German subtitled in English and made specifically for people learning German. And if you are German, here's the flippant short version my Dad cracked me up with in my long ago school days: Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind/ Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind/ Kommt böser Mann, quatscht Papi an, ob er Bubi haben kann/ Papi verneint, Bubi weint, am nächsten Tag ist große Not/ Papi lebendig, Bubi tot.)

Labyrinth: Strangers till now: in which an older Sarah is stuck with a powerless Jareth for a day due to a plot MacGuffin, and it's funny and full of verbal sparring and subtext, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Star Trek: DS9 Crash Landings: in which, en route back from saving Ishka in The Magnificent Ferengi, Quark gets stuck with Brunt of all the people in an archetypical fanfic trope. Extremely well written, and given I have a soft spot for the Ferengi in general and Quark in particular, which isn't a majority opinion in fandom, I am always over the moon when finding Ferengi starring fanfiction of this quality. Quark, Brunt and Ishka are all given terrific dialogue.

Good Omens (TV): Standing right here: which gives us a look as to how the angel Muriel is doing after the end of s2 and lets her befriend Nina in the most adorable way. I'm not wild about Good Omens the way many of my friends are, but I like it, and was charmed by this vignette inspired by the new canon.

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Trick or Treat Letter

Tue, 12 Sep 2023 15:57:26 GMT

Dear Trick or Treater,

we share at least one fandom, which is great, and I’m really grateful to you for writing a trick or treat for me. All the prompts are just suggestions; if you have very different ideas featuring the same central characters, go for them. Also, I enjoy a broad range from fluff to angst, so whatever suits you best works fine with me.

DNW:

- bashing of canon pairings or characters in general. By which I don't mean the characters have to like each and everyone - a great number of those I've nominated can be described as prickly jerks, among other things, and it would be entirely ic for them to say something negative about people they canonically can't stand - but there's a difference between that and the narrative giving me the impression to go along with said opinions.

- Alpha/Beta/Omega scenarios, watersports, infantilisation. Really not my thing, sorry.

Likes:

- flirting/seduction via wordplay and banter (if it works for you with the characters in question)

- for the darker push/pull dynamics: moments of tenderness and understanding in between the fighting/one upman shipping (without abandoning the anger)

- for the pairings, both romantic and non-romantic, that are gentler and harmonious by nature: making it clear each has their own life and agenda as well

- some humor amidst the angst (especially if the character in question displays it in canon)

The question of AUs: depends. "What if this key canon event did not happen?" can lead to great character and dynamics exploration, some of which made it into my specific prompts, but I do want to recognize the characters. Half of those I nominated are from historical canons, and the history is part of the fascination the canon has for me. ) However, if you feel inspired to, say, write Maria Theresa, space captain, and manage to do it in a way that gives me gripping analogues to the historical situations: be my guest!

How much or how little sex: I'm cool with anything you feel comfortable with, from detailed sex to the proverbial fade out after a kiss. Or no sex at all (case in point: several of the non-romantic relationships I nominated), as long as the story explores the emotional dynamics in an intense way.

( Babylon 5 )

( Matthew Shardlake Series )

( 18th Century RPF )

( The Last Kingdom )

( Josephus Trilogy - Lion Feuchtwanger )

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Festivids

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 15:01:49 GMT

Festivids has gone live, and as ever, I'm a fervent admirer of people able to create them. This year's early bunch of favourites:

Andor:

Nameless bodies, unrenemembered rooms : Cassian and Kino centric, intense and dynamic study of the prison arc.

Life during Wartime: Great ensemble vid.

The Expanse:

Solid Wonderful Chrisjen Avasarala/Bobbie Draper vid.

Ghosts (British original):

Til you hold my hand: lovely ensemble vid.

LotR: The Rings of Power

Make them Gold: Elrond/Durin/Disa = OT3!

My Beautiful Laundrette

Friday I'm in Love: That brings back memories, not solely but definitely of the first on screen m/m relationship I ever fell for.

ST: Strange New Worlds

Stronger Together: Love declaration to this crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Twelfth Night

That Strain Again: in which some unknown genius must have tracked down every filmed version of Twelfth Night ever and made a fantastic vid out of them.

The Wheel of Time

Witch: awesome Moiraine character study.

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January Meme: Nostalgia

Sun, 08 Jan 2023 16:55:23 GMT

ratcreature wanted to know whether I'm nostalgic for anything, fannish or otherwise. Well, on a fannish level: ye olde days of livejournal at its peak had fannish interaction and discourse in a frequency and intensity that I don't think other fannish social media (that I participated in) had, generally speaking. If you narrow it down to very specific small circles, well, I've now been enjoying for nearly three years intense debate about a variety of 18th century characters and occasionally some other centuries over at cahn's journal with mildred_of_midgard ,cahn herself, felis, and occasionally some other guests, and that certainly matches anything I experienced in said old lj days. But the difference is that that lj at its best worked on a multifandom level that way.

Now, I enjoy being on Dreamwidth, and of course there are very good reasons to stay away from lj now, which is a fannish ghost town anyway. I'm not on tumblr, though I occasionally check some tumblrs related to my interests. I'm also not on discord. And because I'm quite busy rl, I don't think I could really cope today with the frequency of conversation I had on lj all those years ago in a great many fandoms. But nostalgia is rarely logical anyway.

The other days

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January Meme: How would long dead historical figures react to the rpf written about them?

Mon, 02 Jan 2023 16:07:40 GMT

Which is what davetheanalyzer wants to know. Wellllllll, as Fontane (who wrote some historical rpf and poetry, though mainly contemporary stories) would say, das ist ein weites Feld. Some of them were used to it within their life time and appear to have been very sang froid about it. Case in point: Catherine de' Medici, who is on the record of observing after a particularly extravagant pamphlet about her was printed: The only pity is that the author had not previously applied to me for information, as by his own statement “’it was impossible to fathom the depths of her Florentine deceit’ – and he evidently knows nothing of the events he pretends to discuss. Besides, he left so much out!

Whereas, while we're talking French Queens born in another country, Marie Antoinette would probably mind a lot, not least because the sheer number of outrageous stories (complete with pornographic details) making the rounds about her during her life time contributed to her death, in tne long term. But I think she'd also mind some of the later sympathetic depictions, no matter whether the author chooses Fersen as her One True Love, or one of her female friends like Gabrielle de' Polignac, because having your real or imagined private life complete with quotes from your most personal letters used to entertain the public at large is mortifying if you don't have an emotional skin of an elephant and/or are that type of extrovert. I mean, the woman had already to cope with seven years of marriage as a teenager where everyone and their valet knew she and her husband did not manage to have produce children and speculations as to why (was she frigid? Was he impotent?) were making the rounds not just in Versailles but in all of Europe, until her older brother finally gave her husband The Talk and marital sex plus procreation ensued. I think she probably hoped that at least once she was dead, all the rpf would cease.

Paradoxically, I think a great many historical personalities would mind the better researched fiction more than the more off base stuff precisely because of the letters and diaries factor. For us writers, intensely personal quotable lines in letters are a godsend. But imagine this kind of thing showing up in fiction about yourself! I dare say if the Duke of Wellington had known that the four Bronte children had written stories that started out as RPf starring him and his sons (until the characters developed far away from the originals, and they never had much to do with the real Wellesleys anyway, as Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne had only Blackwood's Magazine and the like to inform them, Wellington simply would have been amused. But Charlotte Bronte herself would turn in her grave and/or set someone's house on fire at the thought that her desperate letters to Monsieur Heger, the Belgian teacher she fell in unrequited love with, would be amply quoted in biographies later, never mind showing up in fiction. (What Emily would think about being paired up with William Weightman in a movie, I have no idea, but I imagine a disdainful snort would be involved.)

Then again, I could be wrong about people not minding the more unlikely and less researched stuff; it all depends on the invidual personality and what they get out of the fiction, I guess. There's the famous story of Elizabeth I., after the Essex disaster which included Essex' people paying Shakespeare's company to restage Richard II, at this point already not a new play anymore, because it includes the deposition of a crowned monarch. Supposedly Elizabeth said "Don't you know I am Richard II?" to her godson later, bitterly referring to that particular detail. (Might not have been godson John Harrington she said it to, might have been someone else, I can't look it up right now, but that's how I remember it.) Leaving aside the historical accuracy of Shakespeare's depiction of Richard II, it's interesting that Elizabeth could see herself in it; whether she thought the entire character was intended as a portrait and agreed, or whether she thought other people (Essex included) saw her as Richard II is debateable.

But most of the VIPs at least (as opposed to people who were not famous within their lifetimes) would be absolutely unsurprised that there was RPF about them. Shakespeare wasn't the only writer depicting previous English history, and Elizabeth would have been aware she, in her turn, would be written about, and not just in a metaphorical way as Gloriana. Frederick the Great's younger brother Heinrich/Henry saw a play starring his brother (as a fictional character) on stage in Paris when he visited the city for the second time, which was only a few years after Frederick's death. Oh, and the 18th century had a craze for producing supposed "memoirs" of recently dead famous celebrities which were actually fiction by someone else - one of the most famous ones were "memoirs" supposedly by the Marquise de Maintenon (mistress and morganatic second wife of Louis XIV), and by Prince Eugene of Savoye (actually written by Charles de Ligne and so successful that the English wiki entry on Eugene still quotes from them as if they were genuine, or at least it did a year ago). Then there were actual memoirs mixing in a good deal of invention intentionally on the part of their authors; looking at you, Voltaire and Friedrich von der Trenck. So no, I don't think the majority of 18th century celebrities would have been surprised that RPF got written, both the more stately and the more outrageous versions. They'd have expected no less.

The other days

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Not just the war was in color

Wed, 14 Dec 2022 14:08:29 GMT

Thinking further on just when the Rembrandt look came into fashion for the majority of historical movies and tv shows, independent of setting - i.e. not just when we're talking WWI movies or stories set in a Benedictine monastery - just when did producers decide to abandon all colours? watervole might be on to something when saying a man in bright primary colours (with or without a hat) instead of a dark leather must have stricken said producers as gay, and they couldn't have that. But in the 1980s, at least those historical movies based in the 18th century are still committed to the full Rokoko colour spectrum - I'm thinking of Amadeus (bless you, Milos Forman, for giving us Punk!Mozart) or Stephen Frears' Dangerous Liasons. And the Jean-Jaques Annaud version of The Name of the Rose has the medieval monastery excuse. But on the other hand, you have young Kenneth Branagh in deliberate visual contrast to Olivier's (very colorful) Henry V going for the Rembrandt look in his Henry V., and not just in the battle scenes, while just a bit later even fluff like Kevin Costner's Robin Hood with no pretensions at historicity (or geography, see Robin notoriously arriving at the beach and making it to Nottinghamshire in a few minutes from there) avoids dressing up the not so Merry Men in Green, and as far as I recall goes for black and white colour schemes with the Sheriff and Marian, too. As for the various Musketeers, sometimes I think a main reason why the Touchstone film has the regiment dissolved right (which like 99% of the movie has no basis in Dumas, let alone history) at the start is that none of the main characters have to wear the mainly blue uniform and its hats right until the big climax. You sort of have to put Richelieu in red in most Musketeer adaptions (it comes with the "Cardinal" territory), but everyone else seems to shy away from anything but black and brown. And look, the Baroque age was not into that. At all.

Tv is slightly less committed to the Rembrandt look in that Rome laudably used the Cinemacitta set decorations for what they were worth and went for a colorful ancient world, up to and including Atia's and Servilia's changing wigs (more Flavian than late Republic, but I don't care! Color!), and The Borgias, whatever else it can be accused of, had fun with a multicolor Renaissance, dress wise. But no dice for the BBC Musketeers, committed to the black and brown look. Speaking of BBC shows, Merlin never pretended to any historical setting and dressed up its version of Camelot colorfully, but not so coincidentally, those Arthurian movies with an eye to claiming some historical background (like the one where Arthur & knights are declared to be Sarmatians) embraced the Rembrandt look.

Basically: during the last three decades, there seems to have been some visual consensus that brown-in-black is where true historical looks are at, and with a few exceptions, lots of colors signal either fairy tales or phoneyness. Also that Tough Guys Don't Wear Hats. I mean, even Versailles the tv show, which does allow color at the court of Louis XIV (and otherwise can't be accused of much history), gives us the flowing locks of Louis and Philippe and most of their entourage without hats. If Amadeus were filmed today, I am very much afraid even Josephinian Vienna and Mozart himself would have less color, fewer wigs, certainly not outrageous wigs, and I shudder to tihnk of the Rembrandtian opera settings...

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That and this

Sat, 02 Apr 2022 08:36:04 GMT

Watched the second season of Bridgerton, which was frothy fun. Of all the (gazillion) things to snap me out of its cheerfully anachronistic universe, though, was various characters going "ugth, but we can't, he's our cousin!" at the prospect of a fourth degree cousin as a potential match. (And no, they didn't grow up with him, none of them had met him before, so there was no closer relation by raising.) Leaving side even the "first cousins = incest" thing is a distinctly modern equation, fourth degree? That feels as likely as the Bennet sisters objecting to Mr. Collins not because of his, well, Mr. Collins-ness, but because he's their cousin. And in the British aristocracy of any fictional or real incarnation, it's probably harder to find someone you don't share at least some ancestors with.

((I mean, I laughed at myself for minding, because Bridgerton never claims to be anything but what it is, but the "4th degree cousin, ew!" thing did what all the string arrangements of Material Girl could not.)

Have some multifandom links:

Interesting discussion of the Spielberg take on WEST SIDE STORY; some arguments I agree with, others I don't, but it's definitely worth reading.

Fire in the front yard: short but to the point take on an AU where Darla got cursed with a soul and Angelus is the one who dies seven episodes into s1 of BTVS; specifically, what then happens in Innocence?

Song of Women: a lovely vid focused on Börte, Genghis Khan's first wife, and her relationship with him, using footage from the 2008 movie "Mongol".

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Recast, Write Out, Replace?

Thu, 24 Mar 2022 16:19:47 GMT

Soooo, any new watchers marathoning B5 are bound to come across a certain event that happens more than once, and a friend of mine just have. This has reminded me that actors for some reason becoming unavailable is of course hardly a B5 only phenomenon. And many a show I've seen deals with it in a variety of ways. Blake's 7 wrote its leading man (and one of the supporting characters) out after two seasons, though it brought him back for two more episodes. Alias responded to Lena Olin not being avalable for season 3 by giving her character a sister to cover for her temporary absence, then brought her back in seasons 4 and 5, though not to the same extent as she'd been present in s2. Farscape killed off a supporting character when the actress had too much trouble with the extensive make-up. JMS switched leads but also tried recast in one case - Na'Toth - which didn't really work out. The last example not withstanding, my own fannish instinct is to wish the show in question would go for a recast - unless the character departure was an intended part of the story, as with Ned Stark in Game of Thrones - because if Ive gotten invested in a story and its characters, I don't want said character's development suddenly cut off because the actor leaves for whichever reason. What do you think?

View Poll: Recast, Write Out, Replace?

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This and that

Tue, 01 Mar 2022 18:37:58 GMT

Sign-ups are open for the unsent_letters_exchange. The tag set is here. I found this to be a low key and stress free exchange last year, since the format - see title - makes it easy to write something plot free if you can't come up with one, so I'll probably join this year as well. Also, two of my tv fandoms of old - Babylon 5 and Alias - are options, as are my new fandoms like Star Trek: Discovery and the usual historical suspects.

The French-German tv network ARTE has put up all the episodes of Servant to the People, the political sitcom which, so newspapers have told me, made Volodymyr Zelensky famous in his comedian days - in the original language, subtitled in German or French, depending where you are - , and I've watched the first three, which strike me simiilar in tone to Armando Iannucci's brand of comedy. Seeing Kyviv as the main location in sunshine, whole and undestroyed is something else again. As are references to Putin and Lukashenko. Funny and sharp so far, with an melancholic rl subtext now.

On the other end of the media scale, Netflix has put up a Vikings spin-off, Vikings: Valhalla. Now I've stopped watching Vikings early in s5, following my policy that if you've reached the stage where consuming something, be it a book or a show, causes you far more annoyance and/or unhappiness than viewing/reading enjoyment, you should opt out instead of making yourself and ongoing fans miserable. But the spin-off so far consists only of eight episodes and is set a century later, so I thought, why not? And found I liked it. Like Vikings, it's none too fuzzy about dates (I'm no expert, but shouldn't Emma of Normandy and this Harald Sugurdson be a generation apart?) , but historical accuracy isn't what you watch it for. Most of the characters made me care about what happens to them, and hey, they include Emma of Normandy, about whom I've been intrigued since she was an off stáge but often referred to presence in Dorothy Dunnett's Macbeth novel King Hereafter! So far, she, played by Laura Berlin, is definitely my favourite. And it cracks me up that David Oakes - who was Juan Borgia in The Borgias, and George of Clarence in The White Queen yet again managed to land one of the shadiest guys of the show, though in complete contrast to Juan and George Godwin is very very competent and not prone to act first, think later. He and Emma are clearly competing for smartest person and best survivor at court, and so far, this is very entertaining to watch. (Also Canute falling for Emma because he can see she's a wily planner? *chef*s kiss*) As for the titular Vikings, Leif Erickson and sister Freydis are that rarity in historical or pseudo historical tv, siblings who neither want to kill or have sex wsith another but are mutual supportive strong allies. (One can tell Michael Hirst is no longer involved with the writing.) They also both get involved with crafty ambitous yet also well intentioned (so far) Harald. Freydis is clearly intended as the metaphorical successor of Lagertha as a warrior woman, but is her own characte, and very satisfyingly gets to do her own avenging when wronged. The mixture of scheming, double crossing and gory battles is about what you'd expect from a Vikings spin-off, and so are the relligious clashes. All in all, it's not must watch tv, but I was entertained, and will watch the next season.

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