These last few days I was in Bamberg, pacifying Darth Real Life, and therefore rarely online. I did see both the bad news - Robin Sachs dead (though I first saw him in various minor roles in Babylon 5, it was of course as Ethan Rayne in BTVS that I think of him most; followed by the gloriously over the top evil Warlord Sarris in Galaxy Quest) - and the good (well, for geeky history interested people like yours truly) - the confirmation that those bones in Leicester were indeed those of Richard III. (Though like kalypso, I think he should be buried in York.)

Since the rarewomen ficathon is in its nomination phase, I went and nominated the various ladies from the House of York, hoping for revived interest by the findings. (I really hope someone will do something with Richard's sister Margaret, who had a far better ending than her brothers (whom she loved dearly) - she successfully governed her duchy of Burgundy for her stepdaughter after her husband, the not for nothing thus nicknamed Charles the Rash kicked it, offered a haven for surviving Yorkist loyalists and occasionally made Henry Tudor's life miserable by financing revolts against him. Also she died peacefully in bed.) If you want to do some nominations of your own (which isn't a sign-up for the ficathon itself, so don't worry about that), you can do so here and check the already approved characters here. Incidentally, I also nominated my beloved Agent Abigail Brand from the Marvelverse, comics edition, only to be told someone had already nominated her for Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the tv show. Abigail Brand is in Earth's Mightiest Heroes and nobody told me?



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In other news: I've started to read a highly interesting Doctor Who blog, currently covering the "Wilderness" years, i.e. the time between the show's cancellation in the 80s and its 2005 revival. Among other things, there is a fascinating entry on the feud between Lawrence Miles and Paul Cornell (New Whovians, the later would be the writer of "Father's Day" and "Human Nature/The Family of Blood"), which might be useful to get back to next time someone reminisces of the good old days when fans were more civil to each other. (Well, Cornell was civil. Miles... isn't nicknamed Mad Larry for nothing.) On the brighter side, there is also a fascinating analysis of Queer As Folk (Russel T. Davies' original series from 1999, that is, not the American version), which reminded me of something, because it sums up Our Former Welsh Overlord in totem: Perhaps the funniest and best scene in the entire series is the cut between some strikingly explicit gay sex and Vince watching the end of Episode One of The Pyramids of Mars and rewinding it to quote along with “I bring Sutekh’s gift of death to all humanity.” As if they’re comparable actions. Because, of course, they are. Oh, RTD.

Back in Germany, with several comics read on the plane. I really liked Paul Cornell's Vampire State, a storyarc from his Captain Britain and MI-13 run. (Complete with Doctor Who gag.) Since halfmoon has started, does anyone do an entry for Faiza Hussein? (Cornell's Muslima doctor-turned-superhero.) Love her, love that she's the one who ( does spoilery stuff ) Also, any story where you demonstrate love by ( spoilery stuff )is fine by me, given my fondness for screwed-up family relationships.

In other news, Dollhouse ended like it was for the most part, to wit, massively flawed yet fascinating in everything not involving the main character. The irony is that the whole doll concept is a real showcase for acting skills, as Enver Gjokai as Victor/Tony and Dichen Lachman as Sierra/Priya amply demonstrate in the course of two seasons, and I hope they'll get good jobs after this. (Not a guarantee when you've shown what you can do in a Joss show; see also, Alexis Denisof's non-career post Joss despite his stellar turn as Wesley.) But what got showcased about Eliza Dushku were her painfully limited acting abilities. (Though to be fair her outburst after a ( spoilery event in the finale ) was really well done. But generally speaking I don't think it's a coincidence or just to the cancellation rush that ( spoilery stuff did not demand much of an acting stretch ) Mind you, the writing didn't make either Caroline or Echo more interesting, either. Otoh, cancellation rush fast forwarding developments or not, I do love the storylines for Adelle DeWitt and Topher through said two seasons, and their relationship with each other, which is pretty much unprecedented in Joss Whedon's previous ouevre, which made it so refreshing. (Which isn't to say some of the twists on previous patters didn't work for me as well. For example, I'm torn as to whether ( a spoilery twist was planned from the beginning, but it is ) a good meta self comment. And to use a character from another fandom and another writer, one of these days, if I ever find the time, I might write an Adelle DeWitt/Arvin Sloane compare and contrast, and why they hit my soft spot for smart, competent, manipulative folk who indulge in massive self delusion at the same time. Which I suppose makes Topher darkside!Marshal Flinkman. Either of them would probably fanboy the other and go for that comparison. Though actually in relation to Adelle Topher is Nadia. ( Down to the spoilery element ) Affection for Adelle, Claire Saunders, Topher, Priya/Sierra and Tony/Victor notwithstanding, though, I'm not mourning for the show's cancellation; as an overall narrative, it could never quite decide what it wanted to be, and there are other shows who do not have that problem.

Being Human continues to be eminently watchable. This week's ep really had an OT3 vibe, and was the best Annie episode ever, which I really dig.