I did watch A League of Their Own thirty years ago, but virtually the only thing I remember about it is that I liked it, despite not getting baseball (then or now). Not enough to rewatch it, but enough to maintain a good feeling in my memory. So the reason why I watched the new Amazon series was that it had a very good word-of-mouth (virtually speaking) already, which now that I've watched it I have to say I completely agree with. Again, I still don't get baseball. But this is a very good ensemble story, full of characters and relationships it made me care about, both of the romantic and platonic kind. The sheer number of queer character meant they can all be individual and flawed (as opposed to being the only one or two and thus cursed with the burden of exemplary representation), and I was really impressed that the series managed to give us two leads who have storylines and worlds that are mostly separate (they do interweave in meaningful ways, but not often), and that they are mostly separate is part of the point - Max(ine), a black woman, in the 1940s simply lives a very different life from Carson (a white woman), parallels of loving baseball and coming to terms with their sexuality not withstanding.

How the series manages to serve up the tropes associated with the sports story genre - underdog team! - bonding of very different people! - training montage! - eleventh hour crisis that endangers everything! - friendship and joy and finding meaning for yourself hooray! - etc. in a way that feels entirely natural and not by the numbers at all is wonderful, and I thought the series managed to strike (ahem) a good balance between not being grimdark but not pretending 1940s homophobia and danger by the law does not exist, either. In short, I really really liked it, and am glad Amazon Prime delivered it to me.

Better Call Saul:

( A few spoilery links beneath the cut )

Better call Gene?

( Warping Time )

In which we get the Aftermath of Recent Events on the remaining cast.

( Spoilers were having the time of their life )

In which we get an evil cliffhanger but another great character(s) scene of an episode ending.

( Read more... )

In which I'm starting to wonder who in the production team has German connections.

( Read more... )

To quote The Wire: The Game is rigged, man.

( So rigged! )

ffutures asked about the most depressing fandom I enjoy, and why.


Weeeelllll. Not as easy to answer as one might think. A fandom can be depressing because some of the other fans reliably hate on the canon you yourself enjoy and keep going through the same circles of fanwank, after all. Or depression can set in because the creator turns out to have a rotten core. (Mind you, as someone who likes most, though not all of Wagner's operas, I'm hardened against that effect. Between having an awful personality, being an antisemite and having Hitler as a fanboy, Wagner certainly makes the terms "problematic" feel hilariously euphemistic.) But I'm going out on a limb here and shall guess the question aims at the canon content.

Here, again, one has to qualify. I mean, Breaking Bad in theory sounds like a joyless exercise in grimdark - starts with the main character discovering he has cancer and deciding to go into the drug business,, and that's him at his most sympathetic, has meth production as a major plot device, and doesn't hide the awful effect meth addiction has on people;, puts its characters, especially the sidekick who graduates to second main character through hell on a regular basis. And yet, I'd never call the show "depressing", and not just because it's full of black humor; it's full of three dimensional characters one can't help but empathize with, and those who look like they're stereotypes at first reliably will make you want to serve them chicken soup if you're not laughing with them (as opposed to at them). (Well. Perhaps not food that's made of chicken. There's a certain problem with that.) And one can say similar things about its spin-off, Better Call Saul, which has found its own distinct voice and made me love it just as much.

I suppose I'll have to reply with "history". Because let's face it: rarely, if ever, does it offer a happy ending to the people you want to have one, relationships often go just how you don't want them to go, there are way too many similar sounding names in any given period, and it has no sense of a proper plot with clear storylines, proper dramatic climaxes followed by comic relief and/or a relaxing epilogue. Instead, either everything happens all at once or there are interminable dull periods which you nonetheless have to plough through because otherwise you wouldn't understand what's going on. And let's not even mention the attitudes of most chroniclers you have to put up with when you read primary sources. As for whether anyone learns anything that lasts, and proper character development sticks? Err. Sometimes? Not to mention: no matter how many AUs you might write, the people who died in rl still died this same way. So yeah. History it is.

It's also fascinating and bonkers and full of characters and outrageous plot developments I can't get enough of, so I don't believe I'll quit any time soon.

The other days

A friend of mine has just finished the first season of The Borgias, started the next, and it evokes much nostalgia in me to watch her do it, so to speak. Not least because lo and behold, she, like yours truly, is mostly drawn to Rodrigo, Giulia Farnese and Vannozza. One reason why I never was in touch with much of Borgias fandom, save for a few lj friends, was that 98% of it seemed only to care about Cesare/Lucrezia, and the rest about Cesare/Michelotto. (Where I like all characters involved! Just not in the "want to read fanfic and meta about that pairing" way.) Mind you, since the show itself seemed as interested in the "older" generation (not technically true for Giulia, but narratively she gets put there) as I was, this was strictly a fandom, not a source material problem for me.

This, in turn, made me reflect on my other experiences of being fannish about a book/movie/show when not being into the juggernaut pairing and/or fandom fave. Torchwood was certainly one (I was for the most part completely indifferent both to Ianto and Jack/Ianto, and I loved Children of Earth), Battlestar Galactica another (Kara/Lee became one of the few NOTPs I ever had, and while early on I was fine with Roslin/Adama, my growing dislike of Adama made me abhor the pairing as well), and I never got shippy about John/Aeryn in Farscape either. (I had nothing against the pairing! With the exception of s4, I disliked the way they were written there, but thankfully, The Peacekeeper Wars fixed this for me. It's just that I felt never compelled to read or write a single John/Aeryn fanfic in my life.) It does limit the chances for fannish conversation, but depending on the size of the fandom, you do find some others with similar interests sooner or later. Oh, and of course, Breaking Bad, where Skyler became my main character of interest, though there I was lucky in as much as I did find Walt and Jesse compelling - since most of the show is build around them, it would have been a long five years otherwise -, but, again, not in a way that would make me see out fanfiction, - the show had that covered - , whereas I wanted more of Skyler. (And Marie.)

(This is what makes Better Call Saul such a contrasting experience for me - the show and the fandom and yours truly all love Kim Wexler.)

Anyway, back to The Borgias - my friend has written missing scenes ficlets for Giulia Farnese already. These are a lovely distraction in an anxious week for me. Now, back to rl (and Yuletide).

In which lines are crossed, and God knows when we'll get the next season given current circumstances, but gah, Gilligan & Gould, you and your unholy skills in character arcs!

( Wouldn't I? )