I'm currently watching season 2 of Carnival Row - for non-watchers, a fantasy series set in a vaguely Victorian/Edwardian AU with fairies and other mythological beings as refugees/minorities in fantasy!America (or Fantasy!Britain), and incidentally, I do love how the wings of the fairies really feel like an expressive part of their bodies -, and in s2, it turns out that Fantasy!Russia is in the throws of revolution. Where apparantly they went directly from the October Revolution to the Stalinist purges. (Where you can become an Unperson who has never existed overnight.) Guys, thought I, even George Orwell gave it more time in Animal Farm.

(Just as not to give a false impression, the series doesn't glorify fantasy capitaliism, either, not least because the faries, being refugees, get exploited as cheap labor.)

Anyway, this reminded me again that the Anglosphere seems to divide between bad revolutions (the Russian one, and also in most cases of fictionalisation, both in straightforward historical fiction and in fantasy or sci fi analogues, the French Revolution) and good revolutions (aka the American once, and also in the majority of cases the English Civil War one). Except that in sci fi or fantasy analogues, the later is usually not called a revolution, it's called a rebellion. Prominently in Star Wars, but not just there. Whenever someone uses the term "comrade" or "citizen", and it's a narrative product of the Anglosphere, you can bet this revolution will not turn out to be a good one, but it will be called a revolution.

Now I seem to recall that even old Adams and old Jefferson in their letters to each other post reconciliation referred to the event they participated in as "our revolution" - at least they're quoted this way in John Adams -, so it's not like there has always been an abhorrence to the term among native English speakers. (Being not one but a German, I have somewhat different associations with the two terms anyway. "Rebellion" to me implies it didn't succeed in the end, whereas a "Revolution" did succeed.) And of course I noticed that the latest Star Wars tales, most prominently Andor, do make an effort to complicate the Rebellion and show it as something consisting of different factions and starting in different ways from different causes. But it's baked in the premise that you don't have to consider whether or not compromise with the Empire is possible because the Empire is evil, and of course there won't be executions because this is Star Wars (and now it's Disney, too). I still suspect that by and large, English language sci fi and fantasy will continue to signal that Good Revolutions happen against Evil Empires which are uniformly exploitative, that at no point terms like Citizen or Comrade will be used by the good revolutionaries, and that we won't get to see the good revolutionaries as the people in power having to govern thereafter except possibly in a quick epilogue. Notable and glorious exception: The Expanse, tv version (since I haven't read the books), ( which has a spoilery and unusual way of doing things )i.


On another note, two fanfic links in different fandoms:

Babylon 5: Signa Ex Diris: which is a brief yet great AU take featuring a female Londo and Cartagia, and how Londo's fate would have played out then. andraste comes to an amazingly ic and logical solution.

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: So Wide A Sea: Galadriel at two very different and yet related points of her long life.

Readers, I finished the show, which, small quibbles aside, remained top notch impressive. ( Some spoilery thoughts. )

In conclusion, truly a superb sci fi epic from start to finish, and I'm very glad I waatched.

The show continues to be excellent. I'm very impressed of how natural it feels when characters who in the previous seasons were in the background with perhaps two lines, like Drummer, get developed into main characters, while other characters fade in the background for a season (or permanentl?). Reminds me of The Wire. The one character who didn't really work for me was Melba/Clarissa Mao, whose tie to the main story was just too soap operating for me. Speaking of the Maos, otoh in s3 I was ready to complain, oh, come on, you want me to believe Jules-Pierre Mao ( has spoilers ) But no, instead, the series went another way and instead showed that Mao ( spoiled spoilers. )

Lastly, I'm a bit sad Naomi has cut her hair, though it's probably more practical this way, and do not approve of all the beards - the only one who really looks better with one than he would without is Alex. Also, does Burn Gorman ever get to play a non-villainous character after Torchwood? On that shallow note, I shall end these musings on seasons 3 and 4 and am curious what 5 and 6 will have in store.