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.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea:

The Vast Unknown: in which Professor Arronax decides to stay on board the Nautilus. Really does feel like a possible alternate ending of the original novel, witch both Arronax' and Nemo's voices spot-on.

Versailles:

I never got around to writing a review of the third season, which I didn't enjoy nearly as much as the first two, not even on a crack soap opera history level, but one of the hands down undiminished bright spots was the show creating a credible OT3 out of its versions of Philippe d'Orleans, the Chevalier de Lorraine and Liselotte of the Palatinate. Not surprisingly, I loved the immensely enjoyable takes this year's Yuletide delivered on the golden trio:

Letters from Liselotte: If Versailles had ever done a Christmas special, this would have been it.

I prefer a pleasant vice: another great take on the trio from Liselotte's pov, this one with Louis.

The Seven Swans (the fairy tale):

Swan Song: the younger brother with the swan wing, after.

The Favourite:

Lady of the Bedchamber: Sarah and Abigail, sparring. Gloriously in the spirit of the movie.

The Goldfinch (the book, I haven't seen the movie):

How do you celebrate:

Boris and Theo, as intense and as messed up as ever.

James Asher mystery series - Barbara Hambly:

Unfortunate son: delivers all one loves this book series for - the three main characters rescuing each other, intense emotions between all three, minor vampire murder mystery, political scheming - and writes Lydia, James and Don Simon very very well indeed.

19th Century RPF:

Cor Cordium: Mary Shelley pov, covering the time between the Haunted Summer and the aftermath of Shelley's death. Among other things, it delivers a credible threesome with Byron, which I'm not that easy to sell on to because the relationship between Mary and Byron was always somewhat prickly (though they respected each other a lot), but this works for me. Though it's actually just one part of a greater story, covering Mary's development during those years, and it presents a very convincing version of her that doesn't ignore the edges (or the way her marriage was falling apart near the end).