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.

Brushing up on the French Revolution can have some eerie present day chill effects, especially with things like the September Massacres pepared, in hindsight, by a long time of wild conspiracy theories being believed, increasing hysteria in the social media of the day and the utter dehumanisation of anyone not holding one's own views in the respective media. It's all too familiar right now. As is the fact that yes, there's only a tiny percentage of people committing the massacre, but the truly disturbing element are the majority of people doing nothing to stop it and going along with it not so much out of lack of courage but because they partly or completely agree and see it as "necessary" for their own safety.

On a similarly cheerful note, the trailer for the second part of Villeneuve's Dune adaption has been out for few weeks, and I'm looking forward to it; I hope that the casting of Florence Pugh as Irulan means that as in the tv miniseries with Julie Cox, she has an expanded (to the book) role in this adaption. Villeneuve also gets credit for emphasizing in his first movie, and going by the trailer in the second one, how terrified Paul is by his visions of a future in which he wins. But where Herbert is justly given credit for the Dune novels, when taken in totem, deconstructing the Chosen One/Saviour narrative, it's hard how any adaption of Dune, the first novel, could avoid the ending not emphasizing the triumph over any discordant future note. ( Some spoilery musings ensue )

On to something unironically more cheering: by and large, I very much prefer reading/listening to and writing about media I feel positive about to talking in detail about media I dislike and/or that didn't work for me. There are exceptions, obviously - see the post about just why I think Secret Invasion failed so badly - but with so much "here's why this person/book/movie/tv show sucks" going around, I always perk up when finding enthusiasm instead. So imagine my delight when discovering the YouTube channel CinemaWins. I might not agree with all the examples the Vidder picks to praise, but I sure as hell enjoyed watching the praise much more than I would have any take down. The latest film he did is an old favourite of mine: Everything Great about The Prestige.

And lastly: speaking as someone who likes Good Omens (both the novel and the adaption(s)) fine without loving it, them, my first thought when watching s2 wasn't what you might think but: just how many of his family members did David Tennant manage to get into this series, and why no Georgia?

Back in Munich, where I have the chance to watch movies on the big screen (with masks etc.) in the original language: to be specific, the latest take on Dune. Aka Villeneuve filming the first part of the first, original novel. When a Dune unspoiled teenager sitting behind me realised this once the movie was over, she gasped in disbelief: "But they can't stop THERE!" Her mother told her she could always read the book instead of waiting a few years for the sequel. :)

( Fear is the mind killer )

5 favorite/least favorite royal characters

I'm going with "least favorite" this time, and also with characters in the sense of fictional characters, which unfortunately excludes fictionalized versions of real people (like Shakespeare's kings, or various folk from Tudor era novels) as well.

1.) King Robert from G.R.R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice/Game of Thrones. Seeing him incarnated on tv and reading queenofthorns' well-deserved rant about him just reminded me of this. Robert is criminally irresponsible, full of self-pity and it feels like he's getting indulged by the narrative because he's described most often through the pov of his boyhood bff who has a nostalgia-coloured opinion about him.

2.) Siegfried (alternate name versions: Sigurd, Sigfrid), son of the King of Xanten, to be found in the Nibelungenlied, Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung and various other versions of his tale. Takes part in the deception of a queen (or Valkyrie, depending on the version of the tale) which results in her marriage against her will. In opera version, is relentlessly cheerful tenor except for the sequence after he killed his stepfather and possibly most annoying person in the entire Ring cycle. Definitely responsible for the bloody demise of a dragon, which gave him invulnerability (except for that one bit on the shoulder). Somehow, fighting other people while being invulnerable gives him a reputation as a hero instead as someone with an unfair advantage. Which brings me to the next guy.

3.) Achilles, son of King Peleus. Popular as half of a canon slash couple but not with me. Like Siegfried, invulnerable except for one bit of his skin, and famous as a butcher. Drags enemies around city gates for their families to see. Really good at sulking in tents when deprived of slave girls (not on account of the slave girls, on account of his own status being insuffiently acknowledged) at the expense of comrades' lives. Seems to have gained intelligence after death, as tells Odysseus during the later's visit in the underworld that he'd rather be a living farmer than a dead king. Tough luck, Achilles. I'm sure so would the people you killed or who got killed thanks to you.

4.) Agamemnon, King of Mycenae. And let's not forget about this charmer. After killing Clytaimnestra's previous husband and first child (well, in one version of the tale) he sacrifices their oldest daughter Iphigenia for good wind after having pissed off the goddess Artemis. Is as good at sulking as Achiilles and as guilty of this impacting the Greek war conduct. Is somehow surprised when his wife kills him nonetheless. Gets one of my favourite mythological characters, Cassandra, killed on that occasion, for had he not taken her as his slave Clytaimnestra and Aigisthos would not have bothered.

5.) Paul Atreides from Dune. Son of a duke, true, but given he ends up Emperor, he still qualifies as a royal character. You know, I like his mother. I like his father. His sister I find tragic and fascinating. I like his lover, and his wife. I like his children. But Paul? Yes, being a prophetic messiah and result of genetic breeding sucks, but the self pity is still overwhelming, and you know what, nobody asked you to lead a galaxy wide crusade and then leave everyone else with the resulting mess while you bugger off. One of my least favourite Chosen Ones of all time.

...in haste, brought on by a busy day.


Dune:

Filigree Window takes place during the "Children of Dune" era, a Jessica pov, and the Jessica and Irulan interaction especially I found so very well done and poignant.


Doctor Who:

There is an Old School Episodes Love Meme , in which you can rave about any of the Old Who eps you've enjoyed, and share the squee.

New Who Companions meeting Old Who Companions is something that should happen more often, but that's why we have talented fellow fans. futuresoon drew Jack Harkness meeting Jamie McCrimmon. Behold! (And yeah, that's how it would go...)

Most people who'd be interested have probably read this already, but just in case they haven't: versaphile compiled a chronology of the Master, complete with score card (from which we learn it's a dead heat between the two Time Lords, Jo scores, and poor Nyssa is the true loser of the game).

Hardly Moving Yet is a great Ace portrait, capturing her, the relationship with the Doctor and the "feel" of her episodes wonderfully well.