Recs, more Blake's7, tropes meme, and Hugo nomination thoughts
(I have nearly 3 weeks worth of RL updates, most of them low-key, but it just keeps not happening. Have more fannish stuff instead. Now seems like a good time for fun escapism.)
So remember how I mentioned I was having a grand old time following along as two dear friends made progress through the Vlad Taltos/Dragaera books for the first time? An even greater miracle has occurred, and
sysann has actually written fic! For my OTP, no less! Dungeons & Dragons (2.6k, M, Vlad/Morrolan, dungeon sex with post-Issola feelings (!!!); major spoilers for Issola). You can imagine my absolute GLEE at this development! except no, you probably cannot. It is approximately this much glee: :DDDDDDD So, yeah, I love the fic, and all* you Dragaera fans should go and read it. In addition to the Vlad/Morrolan, it also has lovely cameos from Loiosh and Kiera (*except you, Lya; you should first read Issola :) <3))
Actually, I've been meaning to link to a few other things:
My favorite Chocolate Box fic was Exploding Kittens and Other Shuos Shenanigans by
misura (G, 500 words, Mikodez & Zehun)
I also particularly enjoyed in the collection, and think some of y'all might too:
- This Poirot/Hastings fanart (gen) was also super cute: Redeeming Features
- Temeraire-verse fic Heavy the Heart (3.2k, Laurence/Napoleon, canon divergence, Teen) by
misura
And remember Sorting Hat Chats, the awesome HP-inspired sorting system? They now have a podcast (2 episodes so far, Hunger Games and Witcher, with The Good Place coming next. Both of the eps I listened to were really interesting, and made me think in a new way of some of the characters, as well as giving me a refined understanding of the sorting system. Highly recommended if you like sorting things!
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I also finished watching Blake's 7 series 2. Around "Pressure Point" (episode 5), I noticed that I wasn't just letting the episodes wash over me, grinning at the one-liners and goggling at the costumes and facepalming at the special effects (which I feel have gotten a little better? or maybe I just became inured to them...), I was actually full-on invested in the team dynamic and these people's situations. That was also around the time I realized I should probably be doing these writeups episode by episode, because I actually had things to say. (In part I think the things to say aspect is due to the one-off characters becoming more interesting. In series 1, I think Orac's creator was the only person who stood out to me as an actual character, and maaaaybe President Sarkoff, but here, starting with "Horizon" or maybe even "Weapon", for a while there was one interesting person an episode on average, which had been a marked improvement, though sadly it did not last all the way through the season.)
SPOILERS!
"Redemption" -- the one with Liberator's creators. Meh, very much like the series 1 episodes. Really, the remarkable thing about it was that this marks the introduction to the batshit costumes of series 2 XD Avon's leather-and-rivets look is... a Choice, but at least it looks like it might function as, I dunno, some kind of light armor or whatever. Plus maybe Travis gave him ideas. But Blake's sleeves???????
"Shadow" -- I didn't really like this one, except for Cally's role in it, although I can kind of see how opening with people other than the Liberator crew is part of that "other people on screen are also characters" trend that I do like. But the drugs and mafia angle was pretty boring to me, even though Avon got a few good one-liners. Sadly,Avon also got dressed in silver lamé, which is my least favorite look for him so far. I did like Cally's cape dress and new haircut, and I liked that she finally got something to do besides being knocked out or taken hostage, which I'd complained about in my series 1 write-up. (And she made some crab-disk friends, aww! They were actually pretty cute, for bits of glass someone was pushing around the sand...)
"Weapon" -- I am NOT a fan of Travis 2.0 (although I like the show's intimation that he's off.different because Servalan had something done to him -- it feels both perfectly plausible in terms of in-universe worldbuilding and in character for her). I *am* a fan of Servalan's amazing collar. I also quite liked Carnell the psycho-strategist/puppeteer, with his sadly boring chess game and his dynamic with Servalan. And while IMIPAK as a concept is pretty silly, I appreciate the hanging sword of Damocles it introduces (and also Servalan blithely marking everyone while they're not looking, because hey, it could come in handy).
"Horizon" -- this was... an interesting one. I had not expected a 70s sci-fi's take on colonialism, and it's not surprising that it plays oddly to a modern viewer. But I actually quite liked Ro, the way the actor played him. I think it was the previous episode where I started really noticing Blake's tendency towards, uh, limited transparency with his crew, but it was definitely brought to the forefront here, not just in the conversation between Avon and Cally, but even just in what Blake assumes he can ask of people: like, he eventually starts talking when he sees Jenna can't handle any more torture, but only after asking her to bear up under it for rather a long time. I do find it very interesting that Avon goes down to the planet to rescue the others -- AFTER he's confirmed with Orac that his odds on his own would be not stellar but more or less bearable. It seems very in line with the series 1 moment with Blake where Avon backs him after confirming he has a choice in the matter -- I am enjoying this sort of boundary-condition-seeking character trait a lot. And then there's the very interesting moment where Avon gets this very intense look when catching sight of shirtless Blake. I'm just sayin' XD
"Pressure Point" -- wow, this one was something! I'm definitely continuing to notice Blake's high-handedness as leader -- not telling the others his plan until the last minute, then not telling Avon and Vila that the situation has changed DRASTICALLY with Kasabi's forces dead, when summoning them down (they are not exactly blindsided, because they notice his omission, but still). Once again Avon chooses to come along, "for the challenge", after Blake explicitly gives him the choice (apparently he's learned the trick to handling him). The adventure posse stuff on Earth is great, especially the dash across the ~minefield, and that tense moment when Avon falls down in the middle and practically has to leap his way to the others. In general pacing has been getting much more to my taste, and this episode was a high point on that score. And then, of course, it turns out they've come through all that for nothing, and Blake's reaction to that news was great, and to Gan getting killed (although everyone is still very bad at looking dead on this show). I was annoyed that the guys seemed to be having all the action this episode, but then Jenna had to come and rescue them, so I was mollified. And of course there's the Servalan and Travis part of this ep as well, and Servalan's history with Kasabi who knew her as a cadet; I liked Kasabi and I liked their dynamic in the interrogation scenes, and Servalan slapping Travis for even hesitating when Jenna told him to let the others go while holding Servalan hostage. Good stuff all around!
"Trial" -- this was a real odd one. The main thing that struck me was actually how vicious Avon was with Blake over Gan's death; Avon, of course, is always acerbic, but this was definitely punching a man when he's down, and exactly where it hurts. (And while Blake made a number of mistakes in the previous episode, including some pretty egregious choices, I don't think he dragged Gan into anything Gan wouldn't have volunteered for.) I do kind of agree with Avon on the whole thing being a grand gesture of self-pity, though; none of that was necessary. And speaking of Avon, his "all these other people are following you because they're naive idiots, but I am merely choosing to come along for my own very rational reasons" is becoming really funny; in a good way, I mean, like a cat who just happens to have done what you wanted it to, and don't you mistake it for actually paying attention to you. Planetside, with the "parasite" aliens and the eggs and the "ground" opening up to swallow Zil, this was the return of some truly, truly ridiculous special effects, and it was quite odd to see that paired with the serious themes of the episode, Blake's guilt and Travis's trial. On the subject of the latter... *sigh* I really wish we'd gotten Travis 1.0 in this episode, because I just can't take this one seriously, and I would have enjoyed his courtroom scene a lot more with the previous actor, I think. I did like getting to see Servalan manipulating everything, and the politicos pretty powerless to take her down (and the description "she has all the sensitive delicacy of a plasma bolt". And in "walk-on characters who are actual people" category, I quite liked Par, the trooper who'd served with Travis, and got some very nice lines and interactions with Travis and the other guard.
"Killer" -- I liked this one a lot, with the medical drama pacing (and, of course, every sci-fi show needs to have an episode with a scary derelict ship). Avon and Vila together as a buddy duo (and the return of Avon's leather-and-rivets look) was a lot of fun, as was getting to meet someone from Avon's past, and watching Avon be competent in various technical and nefarious ways (and then be insulted that it's insufficiently appreciated:"It just occurred to me, that as the description of a highly sophisticated technological achievement, "Avon's gadget works," seems to lack a certain style."), and Vila getting to be clever with the letter. Definitely very much the sort of banter and complementary competences dynamic that I hoped to find in this show with those two. I also really liked Dr Bellfriar, starting with his willingness to absentminded-scientist-forget Blake's name, and his assistant, and the way they behaved in the crisis. I really was sorry for them when they died, because Bellfriar, at least, felt like a full-fledged character after just the one episode. I mean, the special effects are still pretty terrible, although the plague sores at least looked like an effort, but the pacing and the human factor of the story worked for me very well. It made sense to me that Blake would want to warn the base about the weird derelict ship, but also that others would be skeptical about it. Usually I find it much easier to empathize with Avon than with Blake, but I have to say that I was surprised by Avon's objection to posting a plague beacon -- even if getting Servalan infected might be the most selfishly expedient, but given the pace at which the virus spread, clearly NOT keeping it contained would be a very bad idea on a global scale. I also quite liked the SF premise of this, that the virus only worked on humans who'd been to space and that this was a way of keeping humanity bottled up rather than necessarily exterminating it; I'm going to guess this is not a unique science fictional idea, but I haven't come across it before, and I found it a neat touch. Oh, but, costume note: did everybody need to be wearing quite so much vinyl? They SQUEAKED AUDIBLY when they moved XD
"Hostage" -- a meh one after a group of three that I either really liked or at least really liked aspects of. The highlight is Servalan's fur stole thing with the tails. I did quite like the part that was basically crafty old homesteader sets animal traps for invaders, but of course they couldn't focus on it too much because that would've required special effects. I also enjoyed Vila being his lovable coward self, and the revelation that Avon was trying to feed Travis to Servalan -- although of course he should've been able to predict that Blake would want to go rescue his cousin, so it doesn't seem much of a plan if he cares about not putting the crew of the Liberator in danger. But mostly it felt like a lot of running around for little payoff. And where did that kiss between Blake and Inga come from?
"Countdown" -- I didn't find this plot all that interesting (hmmm, possibly it's Servalan withdrawal?), but it was a nicely Avon-heavy episode, so at least there was that. Although I did find it very surprising that he would toss away a lifeline this easily for the sake of, what? saving a planet? proving a point? It's like he's been picking up a very odd selection of traits from Blake by osmosis -- not keeping people apprised of changes in plan (though, OK, they were on a tight timeline and it's not like there was time for arguing about it, so maybe just as well) and suicidal levels of heroism. At least Vila still has some common sense left. It was neat to learn more about his past, though, and I liked the way Avon acted in the scenes with Del Grant, from facing each other in the beginning to the handshake and nod at the end. I think, though, that in reaching this higher level of my engagement, the show has also raised my expectations, so now I'm actually asking myself plothole-type questions like, if the revolutionaries/mercenaries don't know what each member of their force looks like, why aren't they using passwords or something to avoid exactly the thing that happened, with the Major impersonating one of the "good guys", or Vila being suddenly unable to remember a sequence of two letters and two numbers and getting lost, and things like that.
"Voice from the Past" -- what the hell did I just watch? Why is Vila an idiot these days? Why could nobody in this act in any believable way? The staggering mummy thing -- I have so many questions, but I don't think I want any of them answered. Definitely my least favorite episode of the season so far, and I think probably of the series. Just. What. Even Blake's stupid sleeves make a comeback.
"Gambit" -- alright, that's more like it! Servalan's red dress! (does she only wear non-white things off duty?), and come to think of it, Cally's dress and golden boots. The casino owner in his Mardi Gras get-up, feeding morsels to the other guy in a powdered wig! (I'm assuming the bad French accent and the two guys dressed as sheikhs or whatever were part of Carneval too? but that threw me for a loop at first.) Avon and Vila shenanigans! -- I've been really missing the less altruistic side of Avon in all this planet-saving. Avon getting Orac to shrink itself, Puss-in-Boots style! Just a quarter into the episode, I'd already had more fun out of it than in the previous two combined. The fun slowed down a bit afterwards, but I still got to enjoy the Cally and Jenna staged catfight, Krantor stroking a long-haired white cat, Dr Claw style, and to witness Avon (of all people!) doing a spit-take XD. Like, about 80% of this episode is crack, but it's the good kind of crack! And I quite liked Docholli/Kline, with his late remorse (and I was happy that he got to get away, or at least didn't die -- I hadn't been expecting a happy ending for him), and the barmaid who was helping to hide him; a lot of neat characters this episode on top of the really... colorful ones. I even liked Travis in this better than since any point after the casting change.
"The Keeper" -- Why was any of this necessary? (Gambit was fun crack. This was just tedious, and I mostly played solitaire through it -- that was much more engrossing.)
"Star One" -- whoooaaaa, I did not expect any of this! Not the cliffhanger ending, not the alien threat (I didn't even realize this universe HAD real sentient aliens), not the weird alien goop special effects (not made by kindergarteners for a change! Avon is right, though, they're hard to love). There's lots of interesting character dynamics here, too: I really liked that both Jenna and Blake immediately, separately, realized they had to alert Servalan, and that Servalan moved on it immediately -- I had not expected them to essentially team up with Servalan or at least be fighting on the same side, but, man, I LOVE this trope of enemies coming together to face down a common threat! And ooh, I totally had not seen Travis betraying humanity to alien goo -- damn! (also... is he dead now, or what?) And even before the aliens reveal, I found it really interesting the way Blake speaks about his willingness to incur the deaths that destroying Star One will cause, because if they don't follow through, then all the killing till now will have been just murder (" If we stop now then all we have done is senseless killing and destruction. Without purpose, without reason. We have to win. It's the only way I can be sure that I was right.) -- kind of a creepy sunk cost fallacy there... and Cally asking if they're fanatics and Avon's comments on this. And the wonderful moment between Blake and Avon after Blake has been wounded! and just Avon in general, so many great Avon moments. This was a GOOD ONE!
So, I don't know that I would say series 2 was monotonically better than series 1, but it definitely had the 3-4 episodes I've liked best ("Pressure Point", "Killer", "Star One", and "Gambit") -- but also two episoes I've liked the least, I think: "The Keeper" and "Voice from the Past". And I'm DEFINITELY intrigued about what happens next.
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A while ago this trope meme was going around, and I stole it from half my flist and finally got around to filling it out (complete with a second, shorter set of questions that also popped up somewhere):
Slow burn OR love at first sight: Neither is a particular favorite. In pro fic, I guess I'd rather take slow burn, because I find love at first sight plots silly. In fic, though, if it's a ship I'm already invested in, I don't mind reading love at first sight, and also may not have the patience for slow burn unless it's really well done/an author I trust to deliver the payoff.
Fake dating OR secret dating: Fake dating. I don't like secret dating at all, because it tends to involve lying to people the characters love, or other circumstances I'd rather not have as part of a romantic relationship (e.g. not being free to date who they want). Fake dating, on the other hand, can be a trope I actively enjoy, especially if it's part of an undercover role or something like that -- i.e. has actual plot relevance and isn't something silly like "pretend to be with me so that I have a date to the wedding".
Enemies to lovers OR best friends to lovers: I can enjoy either, but "enemies to lovers" tends to be the dynamic that makes me shippy about a couple. Or antagonists to lovers, or rivals to lovers -- those are also/even more great! (In real life, I definitely prefer the best friends to lovers dynamic, but in fiction, and especially in fanfic, I feel like that tends to be a bit claustrophobic in practice, and I enjoy the zing of enemies-to-lovers more, anyway.)
Oh no there's only one bed OR long distance with correspondence: Only one bed! I like epistolary as a style just fine, but not for romance. I mean, it can be cute (e.g. in that Red, White and Royal Blue book), but one of my favorite things about romantic fic is the spontaneous interplay, and there's less of that in long distance with correspondence. Although if it's a fandom that inclues real-time corresponence with Skype/magic mirrors or whatever, i.e. real time interaction, then that can be fun. But "oh no theres only one bed" is a classic for a reason, and there are a lot of fun spins on it, from enemies having to share a bed for Reasons (hurt/comfort? fake dating?) to forced proximity with mutual pining, and they're all fun.
Fantasy au OR modern au: Modern AU, although this is partly down to the fact that a lot of my favorite fandoms are already fantasy. The thing is, I don't actually like "generic" fantasy AUs that seem to be a thing, like X is a king and Y is a knight, but I do like certain fantasy fusions very much, e.g. Hogwarts AU, or His Dark Materials fusion/daemons, or something that takes a specific magical framework and imposes it on a different canon, like that White Collar Curseworkers AU ikel89> and I were kicking around. But I think this is different from "fantasy AU". On the other side, I genuinely enjoy mundane high school AUs, if they're written well, or workplace AUs (not so much coffee shop, but I'm totally up for a job that actually fits the character personalities -- which in the case of characters I like tends to be things like cop, business mogul, FBI agent, whatever. And if it's a canon that's neither fantasy nor modern to begin with -- i.e. sci-fi -- then I think I prefer modern AUs to fantasy AUs (though, again, fantasy fusions are even better).
Smut OR fluff: Smut. Fluff is OK in small doses, but I have to be in the right mood. I happily read gen, especially in my favorite Yuletide-sized fandoms, but the abundance of well-written smut is one of the wonderful things about fic.
Mutual pining OR domestic bliss: Domestic bliss. There are couples where I can buy mutual pining without thinking the two of them are idiots (e.g. some real thing standing between them and not just poor communication / stupid misunderstanding) and even enjoy it (Course of Honor, whose return as pro fic I'm eagerly looking forward to, was a great example), but this is very often done in a way that makes me like both characters less, especially in original/pro work. So, like, if it's not a pairing I'm already invested in, I'm likely to think they're being idiots. And if it is a pairing I'm already invested in, then I want them to bang already. (Now some authors can pull off mutual pining while they're banging already, and that I tend to like a lot!) Meanwhile, I enjoy reading about happy couples who have figured each other out, so long as there's something going on and it's not just curtainfic.
Alternate universe OR future fic: I'm fine with futurefic, and crave it in some canons that pause on a cliffhanger, but I really, really love AUs, both the alternate universe types and (what I think this question means) the canon-divergence AUs. Exploring those roads not taken is one of my favorite things about reading fic.
One shot OR multi-chapter: One shot. I actively prefer short fics, and seldom read novel-lengths ones.
Kid fic OR road trip fic: I like reading about relationships with canonical kids if they're well done, and am open to reading about the childhood of canonical characters. Magical de-aging can be fun, too. But kidfic as a genre doesn't really appeal to me -- it seems to be after something different. I can really enjoy road trip fic, provied there's some point to it. And, well, road trip in my fandoms is more likely to be "stranded in a spaceship" or "quest for the magical MacGuffin".
Reincarnation OR character death: I don't want to read about character death, so reincarnation by default, even though it's not a trope I actively like.
Arranged marriage OR accidental marriage: Neither particularly, but accidental marriage if I have to pick. I dislike arranged marriage as a trope.
Time travel OR isolated together: Isolated together. I can enjoy time travel in certain cases: if it allows two characters to meet who otherwise could not overlap -- but am not interested in time-travel driven plots.
Neighbors OR roommates: Roommates, I guess, if only for the hundreds of Jim and Bones are roommates at the Academy AOS fics I read. Is neighbors even a thing?
Sci-fi au OR magic au: Sci-fi! I love IN SPACE AUs for both mundane and magical fandoms.
Bodyswap OR genderbend: Genderbend (in the always-that-gender sense) is something I really like in art, but fic can also be fun. Not really interested in bodyswap.
Angst OR crack: Crack. I don't like angst, and I love crack done well.
Apocalyptic OR mundane: I don't think I've ever read apocalyptic AUs, but that sounds depressing. I'd rather go with mundane.
High school romance or middle aged romance: Middle aged romance. People tend to be more sensiblein it, and if they're not, it's kind of cute.
BDSM or vanilla: "Light" BDSM. I actively enjoy BDSM fic (so long as it's not D/s as a lifestyle, or certain more extreme and/or specific things like medical kink), but vanilla is also just fine.
Redemption or corruption: Redemption (though I'm not sure I ever really read a corruption arc; it just doesn't feel like something I'd be interested in thematically)
Vampires or werewolves: Neither. Definitely neither in fic. In pro fic, I'm more willing to read about "shifters" than vampires, but even then wolves tend to be the least interesting ones. Well, with a few exceptions where the characters were so fun, it didn't matter that they were werewolves.
Soulmates or second chances: I strongly dislike soulmates as a trope, so second chances for sure.
Hurt/comfort or romance: Hurt/comfort, but also what does "romance" even mean in this context? Like, one character wooing the other in conventional ways? No thanks.
Rescue fic or working together to defeat X: Working together. Rescue fic very much depends on the character dynamic for me -- there are couples I ship where rescue fic is an active turn-off (Maia/Csevet in The Goblin Emperor fic, for example, where either party rescuing the other is somehow a borderline squick). But I think I pretty much always enjoy "working together to defeat X" fic -- especially as it can provide an excellent reason for two people with a complicated relationship/history to team up (see the "enemies to lovers" answer above :) Plus, that's twice the opportunity for competence kink over what rescue fic offers.
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I'm almost certainly sitting out Hugo voting this year (if the Nebulas are any indication, I'm unlikely to care enough about 90% of the nominees), but my membership from last year still entitles me to nominate, and I'm planning on doing that, sort of lacklusterly.
My current (mostly meh) thoughts:
Novel:
- Ugh, man. I expect A Memory Called Empire will be all over this, and I'm just still really disappointed by its failure to live up to what it could've been.
- After Ten Thousand Doors of January got the Nebula nod, I finally opened the ARC I've had in my possession since September (thanks,
ambyr!) and am currently a third of the way in, and it's pleasant enough, but not really grabbing me
- All the 2019 books I'd been looking forward to got pushed to 2020 or later...
- I guess I'll nominate The Raven Tower? It was not a novel I loved, but I enjoyed the narrator and some of the twists, and at least it pulled off the kind-of-neat thing it was attempting, and I still think about it periodically...
Novella:
- I had not realized, until it showed up on the Nebula shortlist, that Ted Chiang had a new novella out: "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom". I've now read it, and it's going on my ballot! (also, people who've read "And Then There Were (N-One)" and have also read this, I want to talk compare and contrast.
- The October Man by default? is Minor Mage a novella, even?
- I have a copy of To Be Taught, If Fortunate; Hexarchate Stories (Glass Cannon), and the latest Penric. I should, like, read them.
Novelette:
- Thanks to the Nebulas, I learned about and read Sarah Pinsker's "The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye". It's not my sub-genre at all, but I really enjoyed it, and it's going on my list. (Also, it helps me triangulate which Sarah Pinsker stories work for me -- the ones in a modern kind of setting).
Short Story:
- "Truth Plus" -- picked up from the Serpentcast's Strange Horizons bonus episode, and found it unexpectedly compelling (the author's name looked familiar, and turns out I recognize them from "Utopia, LOL" two years ago, which I'd reasonably enjoyed, but I like this story better).
Series:
- File770 list -- I don't see anything that's eligible that I'm DYING to nominate, alas, but
- series I have general positive feelings towards: Alliance-Union (admittedly just on the strength of 40% of Cyteen, but I'm damn impressed by that 40%); Bedlam's Bard (look, elf threesomes in San Francisco, this is totally a nostalgia fandom for me); First Law (it grew on me, what can I say); His Dark Materials (though the current book, which I haven't read, sounds very dodgy); Inda; King's Blades; Modern Faerie Tale (even though I hate the current subseries...); Uglies;
- series I've read: Alex Verus, Elantra, Elemental Logic, Eternal Sky, Kate Daniels, Lady Astronauts, Lady Trent, Mercy Thompson; Monster Hunter; Parasol Protectorate; Shannara (lol XD); Goodkind's nonsense; Valdemar; Arden's Winternight;
- I think I'll end up going First Law, HDM, King's Blades, Uglies, and either Alliance-Union or Inda...
Fan Artist:
- Ariela Housman, who was screwed by last year's Hugo Administrator's call around "public display", and whose response to the problem I really like, because it's the perfect balance of "be the change" and justified spite (I also like her new Lady Trent print)
Pro artist:
- RSR compilation
- Long list: Alyssa Winans, Armando Veve, Chris McGrath, Cliff Nielsen, Galen Dara, Ivan Belikov (I have no desire to read Priory of the Orange Tree, but it's a beautiful cover), John Picacio, Kathleen Jennings, Kuri Huang, Yuko Shimizu
Related work:
- I wish I'd had a chance to see the Worlds of Ursula LeGuin movie (whose eligibility was extended)
- I'm kind of tempted to nominate the Dead Dog Zine (Terri Ash & Ariela Housman)
- and ooh, Fandom wiki suggest The Disappearance of John M. Ford, which I enjoyed as an article and plan to enjoy the fruits of its labor, too
Editor, Short Form
- I thought Navah Wolfe was finally eligible, but no - she needs one more anthology (currently at 3)
- Neil Clarke, in part because I've always enjoyed the compilations of Clarkesworld, and in part for how he handled this
Editor, Long Form:
- File770 list
- I will keep nominating Joe Monti any year he's eligiblefor having edited the only Cat Valente book I have ever found readable
- I had David Pomerico on my list last year because I'd been so impressed by the tightness of The Poppy War; the opposite situation this year
Fancast:
- Serpents!!!
Fanzine:
- Rocket Stack Rank, dammit!
Campbell (or whatever):
- R.F.Kuang is still eligible I think??
- RSR list of eligible (short fiction) authors, which might be more useful to someone than it was to me
Lodestar:
- I should read Deeplight sooner rather than later (or does a UK release not count, I forget?), perhaps? and I have Fireborne sitting in my TBR pile (lol, who am I kidding)
Dramatic Long:
- IMDB list
- Endgame for sure, and, hmm, maybe Far from Home as well?
Dramatic Short:
- IMDB list
- Oh yeah, Good Omens! "Hard Times" (the through-the-ages cold open episode) was my favorite, so going with that
- And Witcher -- I'll go with "Rare Species"
Best graphic story:
- ? nothing I've seen recommended so far has really appealed enough to track down
Semiprozine
- the usual suspects every year anyway
This entry was originally posted at https://hamsterwoman.dreamwidth.org/1122064.html. Comment wherever you prefer (I prefer LJ).
So remember how I mentioned I was having a grand old time following along as two dear friends made progress through the Vlad Taltos/Dragaera books for the first time? An even greater miracle has occurred, and
sysann has actually written fic! For my OTP, no less! Dungeons & Dragons (2.6k, M, Vlad/Morrolan, dungeon sex with post-Issola feelings (!!!); major spoilers for Issola). You can imagine my absolute GLEE at this development! except no, you probably cannot. It is approximately this much glee: :DDDDDDD So, yeah, I love the fic, and all* you Dragaera fans should go and read it. In addition to the Vlad/Morrolan, it also has lovely cameos from Loiosh and Kiera (*except you, Lya; you should first read Issola :) <3))
Actually, I've been meaning to link to a few other things:
My favorite Chocolate Box fic was Exploding Kittens and Other Shuos Shenanigans by
misura (G, 500 words, Mikodez & Zehun)
I also particularly enjoyed in the collection, and think some of y'all might too:
- This Poirot/Hastings fanart (gen) was also super cute: Redeeming Features
- Temeraire-verse fic Heavy the Heart (3.2k, Laurence/Napoleon, canon divergence, Teen) by
misura
And remember Sorting Hat Chats, the awesome HP-inspired sorting system? They now have a podcast (2 episodes so far, Hunger Games and Witcher, with The Good Place coming next. Both of the eps I listened to were really interesting, and made me think in a new way of some of the characters, as well as giving me a refined understanding of the sorting system. Highly recommended if you like sorting things!
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I also finished watching Blake's 7 series 2. Around "Pressure Point" (episode 5), I noticed that I wasn't just letting the episodes wash over me, grinning at the one-liners and goggling at the costumes and facepalming at the special effects (which I feel have gotten a little better? or maybe I just became inured to them...), I was actually full-on invested in the team dynamic and these people's situations. That was also around the time I realized I should probably be doing these writeups episode by episode, because I actually had things to say. (In part I think the things to say aspect is due to the one-off characters becoming more interesting. In series 1, I think Orac's creator was the only person who stood out to me as an actual character, and maaaaybe President Sarkoff, but here, starting with "Horizon" or maybe even "Weapon", for a while there was one interesting person an episode on average, which had been a marked improvement, though sadly it did not last all the way through the season.)
SPOILERS!
"Redemption" -- the one with Liberator's creators. Meh, very much like the series 1 episodes. Really, the remarkable thing about it was that this marks the introduction to the batshit costumes of series 2 XD Avon's leather-and-rivets look is... a Choice, but at least it looks like it might function as, I dunno, some kind of light armor or whatever. Plus maybe Travis gave him ideas. But Blake's sleeves???????
"Shadow" -- I didn't really like this one, except for Cally's role in it, although I can kind of see how opening with people other than the Liberator crew is part of that "other people on screen are also characters" trend that I do like. But the drugs and mafia angle was pretty boring to me, even though Avon got a few good one-liners. Sadly,Avon also got dressed in silver lamé, which is my least favorite look for him so far. I did like Cally's cape dress and new haircut, and I liked that she finally got something to do besides being knocked out or taken hostage, which I'd complained about in my series 1 write-up. (And she made some crab-disk friends, aww! They were actually pretty cute, for bits of glass someone was pushing around the sand...)
"Weapon" -- I am NOT a fan of Travis 2.0 (although I like the show's intimation that he's off.different because Servalan had something done to him -- it feels both perfectly plausible in terms of in-universe worldbuilding and in character for her). I *am* a fan of Servalan's amazing collar. I also quite liked Carnell the psycho-strategist/puppeteer, with his sadly boring chess game and his dynamic with Servalan. And while IMIPAK as a concept is pretty silly, I appreciate the hanging sword of Damocles it introduces (and also Servalan blithely marking everyone while they're not looking, because hey, it could come in handy).
"Horizon" -- this was... an interesting one. I had not expected a 70s sci-fi's take on colonialism, and it's not surprising that it plays oddly to a modern viewer. But I actually quite liked Ro, the way the actor played him. I think it was the previous episode where I started really noticing Blake's tendency towards, uh, limited transparency with his crew, but it was definitely brought to the forefront here, not just in the conversation between Avon and Cally, but even just in what Blake assumes he can ask of people: like, he eventually starts talking when he sees Jenna can't handle any more torture, but only after asking her to bear up under it for rather a long time. I do find it very interesting that Avon goes down to the planet to rescue the others -- AFTER he's confirmed with Orac that his odds on his own would be not stellar but more or less bearable. It seems very in line with the series 1 moment with Blake where Avon backs him after confirming he has a choice in the matter -- I am enjoying this sort of boundary-condition-seeking character trait a lot. And then there's the very interesting moment where Avon gets this very intense look when catching sight of shirtless Blake. I'm just sayin' XD
"Pressure Point" -- wow, this one was something! I'm definitely continuing to notice Blake's high-handedness as leader -- not telling the others his plan until the last minute, then not telling Avon and Vila that the situation has changed DRASTICALLY with Kasabi's forces dead, when summoning them down (they are not exactly blindsided, because they notice his omission, but still). Once again Avon chooses to come along, "for the challenge", after Blake explicitly gives him the choice (apparently he's learned the trick to handling him). The adventure posse stuff on Earth is great, especially the dash across the ~minefield, and that tense moment when Avon falls down in the middle and practically has to leap his way to the others. In general pacing has been getting much more to my taste, and this episode was a high point on that score. And then, of course, it turns out they've come through all that for nothing, and Blake's reaction to that news was great, and to Gan getting killed (although everyone is still very bad at looking dead on this show). I was annoyed that the guys seemed to be having all the action this episode, but then Jenna had to come and rescue them, so I was mollified. And of course there's the Servalan and Travis part of this ep as well, and Servalan's history with Kasabi who knew her as a cadet; I liked Kasabi and I liked their dynamic in the interrogation scenes, and Servalan slapping Travis for even hesitating when Jenna told him to let the others go while holding Servalan hostage. Good stuff all around!
"Trial" -- this was a real odd one. The main thing that struck me was actually how vicious Avon was with Blake over Gan's death; Avon, of course, is always acerbic, but this was definitely punching a man when he's down, and exactly where it hurts. (And while Blake made a number of mistakes in the previous episode, including some pretty egregious choices, I don't think he dragged Gan into anything Gan wouldn't have volunteered for.) I do kind of agree with Avon on the whole thing being a grand gesture of self-pity, though; none of that was necessary. And speaking of Avon, his "all these other people are following you because they're naive idiots, but I am merely choosing to come along for my own very rational reasons" is becoming really funny; in a good way, I mean, like a cat who just happens to have done what you wanted it to, and don't you mistake it for actually paying attention to you. Planetside, with the "parasite" aliens and the eggs and the "ground" opening up to swallow Zil, this was the return of some truly, truly ridiculous special effects, and it was quite odd to see that paired with the serious themes of the episode, Blake's guilt and Travis's trial. On the subject of the latter... *sigh* I really wish we'd gotten Travis 1.0 in this episode, because I just can't take this one seriously, and I would have enjoyed his courtroom scene a lot more with the previous actor, I think. I did like getting to see Servalan manipulating everything, and the politicos pretty powerless to take her down (and the description "she has all the sensitive delicacy of a plasma bolt". And in "walk-on characters who are actual people" category, I quite liked Par, the trooper who'd served with Travis, and got some very nice lines and interactions with Travis and the other guard.
"Killer" -- I liked this one a lot, with the medical drama pacing (and, of course, every sci-fi show needs to have an episode with a scary derelict ship). Avon and Vila together as a buddy duo (and the return of Avon's leather-and-rivets look) was a lot of fun, as was getting to meet someone from Avon's past, and watching Avon be competent in various technical and nefarious ways (and then be insulted that it's insufficiently appreciated:"It just occurred to me, that as the description of a highly sophisticated technological achievement, "Avon's gadget works," seems to lack a certain style."), and Vila getting to be clever with the letter. Definitely very much the sort of banter and complementary competences dynamic that I hoped to find in this show with those two. I also really liked Dr Bellfriar, starting with his willingness to absentminded-scientist-forget Blake's name, and his assistant, and the way they behaved in the crisis. I really was sorry for them when they died, because Bellfriar, at least, felt like a full-fledged character after just the one episode. I mean, the special effects are still pretty terrible, although the plague sores at least looked like an effort, but the pacing and the human factor of the story worked for me very well. It made sense to me that Blake would want to warn the base about the weird derelict ship, but also that others would be skeptical about it. Usually I find it much easier to empathize with Avon than with Blake, but I have to say that I was surprised by Avon's objection to posting a plague beacon -- even if getting Servalan infected might be the most selfishly expedient, but given the pace at which the virus spread, clearly NOT keeping it contained would be a very bad idea on a global scale. I also quite liked the SF premise of this, that the virus only worked on humans who'd been to space and that this was a way of keeping humanity bottled up rather than necessarily exterminating it; I'm going to guess this is not a unique science fictional idea, but I haven't come across it before, and I found it a neat touch. Oh, but, costume note: did everybody need to be wearing quite so much vinyl? They SQUEAKED AUDIBLY when they moved XD
"Hostage" -- a meh one after a group of three that I either really liked or at least really liked aspects of. The highlight is Servalan's fur stole thing with the tails. I did quite like the part that was basically crafty old homesteader sets animal traps for invaders, but of course they couldn't focus on it too much because that would've required special effects. I also enjoyed Vila being his lovable coward self, and the revelation that Avon was trying to feed Travis to Servalan -- although of course he should've been able to predict that Blake would want to go rescue his cousin, so it doesn't seem much of a plan if he cares about not putting the crew of the Liberator in danger. But mostly it felt like a lot of running around for little payoff. And where did that kiss between Blake and Inga come from?
"Countdown" -- I didn't find this plot all that interesting (hmmm, possibly it's Servalan withdrawal?), but it was a nicely Avon-heavy episode, so at least there was that. Although I did find it very surprising that he would toss away a lifeline this easily for the sake of, what? saving a planet? proving a point? It's like he's been picking up a very odd selection of traits from Blake by osmosis -- not keeping people apprised of changes in plan (though, OK, they were on a tight timeline and it's not like there was time for arguing about it, so maybe just as well) and suicidal levels of heroism. At least Vila still has some common sense left. It was neat to learn more about his past, though, and I liked the way Avon acted in the scenes with Del Grant, from facing each other in the beginning to the handshake and nod at the end. I think, though, that in reaching this higher level of my engagement, the show has also raised my expectations, so now I'm actually asking myself plothole-type questions like, if the revolutionaries/mercenaries don't know what each member of their force looks like, why aren't they using passwords or something to avoid exactly the thing that happened, with the Major impersonating one of the "good guys", or Vila being suddenly unable to remember a sequence of two letters and two numbers and getting lost, and things like that.
"Voice from the Past" -- what the hell did I just watch? Why is Vila an idiot these days? Why could nobody in this act in any believable way? The staggering mummy thing -- I have so many questions, but I don't think I want any of them answered. Definitely my least favorite episode of the season so far, and I think probably of the series. Just. What. Even Blake's stupid sleeves make a comeback.
"Gambit" -- alright, that's more like it! Servalan's red dress! (does she only wear non-white things off duty?), and come to think of it, Cally's dress and golden boots. The casino owner in his Mardi Gras get-up, feeding morsels to the other guy in a powdered wig! (I'm assuming the bad French accent and the two guys dressed as sheikhs or whatever were part of Carneval too? but that threw me for a loop at first.) Avon and Vila shenanigans! -- I've been really missing the less altruistic side of Avon in all this planet-saving. Avon getting Orac to shrink itself, Puss-in-Boots style! Just a quarter into the episode, I'd already had more fun out of it than in the previous two combined. The fun slowed down a bit afterwards, but I still got to enjoy the Cally and Jenna staged catfight, Krantor stroking a long-haired white cat, Dr Claw style, and to witness Avon (of all people!) doing a spit-take XD. Like, about 80% of this episode is crack, but it's the good kind of crack! And I quite liked Docholli/Kline, with his late remorse (and I was happy that he got to get away, or at least didn't die -- I hadn't been expecting a happy ending for him), and the barmaid who was helping to hide him; a lot of neat characters this episode on top of the really... colorful ones. I even liked Travis in this better than since any point after the casting change.
"The Keeper" -- Why was any of this necessary? (Gambit was fun crack. This was just tedious, and I mostly played solitaire through it -- that was much more engrossing.)
"Star One" -- whoooaaaa, I did not expect any of this! Not the cliffhanger ending, not the alien threat (I didn't even realize this universe HAD real sentient aliens), not the weird alien goop special effects (not made by kindergarteners for a change! Avon is right, though, they're hard to love). There's lots of interesting character dynamics here, too: I really liked that both Jenna and Blake immediately, separately, realized they had to alert Servalan, and that Servalan moved on it immediately -- I had not expected them to essentially team up with Servalan or at least be fighting on the same side, but, man, I LOVE this trope of enemies coming together to face down a common threat! And ooh, I totally had not seen Travis betraying humanity to alien goo -- damn! (also... is he dead now, or what?) And even before the aliens reveal, I found it really interesting the way Blake speaks about his willingness to incur the deaths that destroying Star One will cause, because if they don't follow through, then all the killing till now will have been just murder (" If we stop now then all we have done is senseless killing and destruction. Without purpose, without reason. We have to win. It's the only way I can be sure that I was right.) -- kind of a creepy sunk cost fallacy there... and Cally asking if they're fanatics and Avon's comments on this. And the wonderful moment between Blake and Avon after Blake has been wounded! and just Avon in general, so many great Avon moments. This was a GOOD ONE!
So, I don't know that I would say series 2 was monotonically better than series 1, but it definitely had the 3-4 episodes I've liked best ("Pressure Point", "Killer", "Star One", and "Gambit") -- but also two episoes I've liked the least, I think: "The Keeper" and "Voice from the Past". And I'm DEFINITELY intrigued about what happens next.
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A while ago this trope meme was going around, and I stole it from half my flist and finally got around to filling it out (complete with a second, shorter set of questions that also popped up somewhere):
Slow burn OR love at first sight: Neither is a particular favorite. In pro fic, I guess I'd rather take slow burn, because I find love at first sight plots silly. In fic, though, if it's a ship I'm already invested in, I don't mind reading love at first sight, and also may not have the patience for slow burn unless it's really well done/an author I trust to deliver the payoff.
Fake dating OR secret dating: Fake dating. I don't like secret dating at all, because it tends to involve lying to people the characters love, or other circumstances I'd rather not have as part of a romantic relationship (e.g. not being free to date who they want). Fake dating, on the other hand, can be a trope I actively enjoy, especially if it's part of an undercover role or something like that -- i.e. has actual plot relevance and isn't something silly like "pretend to be with me so that I have a date to the wedding".
Enemies to lovers OR best friends to lovers: I can enjoy either, but "enemies to lovers" tends to be the dynamic that makes me shippy about a couple. Or antagonists to lovers, or rivals to lovers -- those are also/even more great! (In real life, I definitely prefer the best friends to lovers dynamic, but in fiction, and especially in fanfic, I feel like that tends to be a bit claustrophobic in practice, and I enjoy the zing of enemies-to-lovers more, anyway.)
Oh no there's only one bed OR long distance with correspondence: Only one bed! I like epistolary as a style just fine, but not for romance. I mean, it can be cute (e.g. in that Red, White and Royal Blue book), but one of my favorite things about romantic fic is the spontaneous interplay, and there's less of that in long distance with correspondence. Although if it's a fandom that inclues real-time corresponence with Skype/magic mirrors or whatever, i.e. real time interaction, then that can be fun. But "oh no theres only one bed" is a classic for a reason, and there are a lot of fun spins on it, from enemies having to share a bed for Reasons (hurt/comfort? fake dating?) to forced proximity with mutual pining, and they're all fun.
Fantasy au OR modern au: Modern AU, although this is partly down to the fact that a lot of my favorite fandoms are already fantasy. The thing is, I don't actually like "generic" fantasy AUs that seem to be a thing, like X is a king and Y is a knight, but I do like certain fantasy fusions very much, e.g. Hogwarts AU, or His Dark Materials fusion/daemons, or something that takes a specific magical framework and imposes it on a different canon, like that White Collar Curseworkers AU ikel89> and I were kicking around. But I think this is different from "fantasy AU". On the other side, I genuinely enjoy mundane high school AUs, if they're written well, or workplace AUs (not so much coffee shop, but I'm totally up for a job that actually fits the character personalities -- which in the case of characters I like tends to be things like cop, business mogul, FBI agent, whatever. And if it's a canon that's neither fantasy nor modern to begin with -- i.e. sci-fi -- then I think I prefer modern AUs to fantasy AUs (though, again, fantasy fusions are even better).
Smut OR fluff: Smut. Fluff is OK in small doses, but I have to be in the right mood. I happily read gen, especially in my favorite Yuletide-sized fandoms, but the abundance of well-written smut is one of the wonderful things about fic.
Mutual pining OR domestic bliss: Domestic bliss. There are couples where I can buy mutual pining without thinking the two of them are idiots (e.g. some real thing standing between them and not just poor communication / stupid misunderstanding) and even enjoy it (Course of Honor, whose return as pro fic I'm eagerly looking forward to, was a great example), but this is very often done in a way that makes me like both characters less, especially in original/pro work. So, like, if it's not a pairing I'm already invested in, I'm likely to think they're being idiots. And if it is a pairing I'm already invested in, then I want them to bang already. (Now some authors can pull off mutual pining while they're banging already, and that I tend to like a lot!) Meanwhile, I enjoy reading about happy couples who have figured each other out, so long as there's something going on and it's not just curtainfic.
Alternate universe OR future fic: I'm fine with futurefic, and crave it in some canons that pause on a cliffhanger, but I really, really love AUs, both the alternate universe types and (what I think this question means) the canon-divergence AUs. Exploring those roads not taken is one of my favorite things about reading fic.
One shot OR multi-chapter: One shot. I actively prefer short fics, and seldom read novel-lengths ones.
Kid fic OR road trip fic: I like reading about relationships with canonical kids if they're well done, and am open to reading about the childhood of canonical characters. Magical de-aging can be fun, too. But kidfic as a genre doesn't really appeal to me -- it seems to be after something different. I can really enjoy road trip fic, provied there's some point to it. And, well, road trip in my fandoms is more likely to be "stranded in a spaceship" or "quest for the magical MacGuffin".
Reincarnation OR character death: I don't want to read about character death, so reincarnation by default, even though it's not a trope I actively like.
Arranged marriage OR accidental marriage: Neither particularly, but accidental marriage if I have to pick. I dislike arranged marriage as a trope.
Time travel OR isolated together: Isolated together. I can enjoy time travel in certain cases: if it allows two characters to meet who otherwise could not overlap -- but am not interested in time-travel driven plots.
Neighbors OR roommates: Roommates, I guess, if only for the hundreds of Jim and Bones are roommates at the Academy AOS fics I read. Is neighbors even a thing?
Sci-fi au OR magic au: Sci-fi! I love IN SPACE AUs for both mundane and magical fandoms.
Bodyswap OR genderbend: Genderbend (in the always-that-gender sense) is something I really like in art, but fic can also be fun. Not really interested in bodyswap.
Angst OR crack: Crack. I don't like angst, and I love crack done well.
Apocalyptic OR mundane: I don't think I've ever read apocalyptic AUs, but that sounds depressing. I'd rather go with mundane.
High school romance or middle aged romance: Middle aged romance. People tend to be more sensiblein it, and if they're not, it's kind of cute.
BDSM or vanilla: "Light" BDSM. I actively enjoy BDSM fic (so long as it's not D/s as a lifestyle, or certain more extreme and/or specific things like medical kink), but vanilla is also just fine.
Redemption or corruption: Redemption (though I'm not sure I ever really read a corruption arc; it just doesn't feel like something I'd be interested in thematically)
Vampires or werewolves: Neither. Definitely neither in fic. In pro fic, I'm more willing to read about "shifters" than vampires, but even then wolves tend to be the least interesting ones. Well, with a few exceptions where the characters were so fun, it didn't matter that they were werewolves.
Soulmates or second chances: I strongly dislike soulmates as a trope, so second chances for sure.
Hurt/comfort or romance: Hurt/comfort, but also what does "romance" even mean in this context? Like, one character wooing the other in conventional ways? No thanks.
Rescue fic or working together to defeat X: Working together. Rescue fic very much depends on the character dynamic for me -- there are couples I ship where rescue fic is an active turn-off (Maia/Csevet in The Goblin Emperor fic, for example, where either party rescuing the other is somehow a borderline squick). But I think I pretty much always enjoy "working together to defeat X" fic -- especially as it can provide an excellent reason for two people with a complicated relationship/history to team up (see the "enemies to lovers" answer above :) Plus, that's twice the opportunity for competence kink over what rescue fic offers.
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I'm almost certainly sitting out Hugo voting this year (if the Nebulas are any indication, I'm unlikely to care enough about 90% of the nominees), but my membership from last year still entitles me to nominate, and I'm planning on doing that, sort of lacklusterly.
My current (mostly meh) thoughts:
Novel:
- Ugh, man. I expect A Memory Called Empire will be all over this, and I'm just still really disappointed by its failure to live up to what it could've been.
- After Ten Thousand Doors of January got the Nebula nod, I finally opened the ARC I've had in my possession since September (thanks,
ambyr!) and am currently a third of the way in, and it's pleasant enough, but not really grabbing me
- All the 2019 books I'd been looking forward to got pushed to 2020 or later...
- I guess I'll nominate The Raven Tower? It was not a novel I loved, but I enjoyed the narrator and some of the twists, and at least it pulled off the kind-of-neat thing it was attempting, and I still think about it periodically...
Novella:
- I had not realized, until it showed up on the Nebula shortlist, that Ted Chiang had a new novella out: "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom". I've now read it, and it's going on my ballot! (also, people who've read "And Then There Were (N-One)" and have also read this, I want to talk compare and contrast.
- The October Man by default? is Minor Mage a novella, even?
- I have a copy of To Be Taught, If Fortunate; Hexarchate Stories (Glass Cannon), and the latest Penric. I should, like, read them.
Novelette:
- Thanks to the Nebulas, I learned about and read Sarah Pinsker's "The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye". It's not my sub-genre at all, but I really enjoyed it, and it's going on my list. (Also, it helps me triangulate which Sarah Pinsker stories work for me -- the ones in a modern kind of setting).
Short Story:
- "Truth Plus" -- picked up from the Serpentcast's Strange Horizons bonus episode, and found it unexpectedly compelling (the author's name looked familiar, and turns out I recognize them from "Utopia, LOL" two years ago, which I'd reasonably enjoyed, but I like this story better).
Series:
- File770 list -- I don't see anything that's eligible that I'm DYING to nominate, alas, but
- series I have general positive feelings towards: Alliance-Union (admittedly just on the strength of 40% of Cyteen, but I'm damn impressed by that 40%); Bedlam's Bard (look, elf threesomes in San Francisco, this is totally a nostalgia fandom for me); First Law (it grew on me, what can I say); His Dark Materials (though the current book, which I haven't read, sounds very dodgy); Inda; King's Blades; Modern Faerie Tale (even though I hate the current subseries...); Uglies;
- series I've read: Alex Verus, Elantra, Elemental Logic, Eternal Sky, Kate Daniels, Lady Astronauts, Lady Trent, Mercy Thompson; Monster Hunter; Parasol Protectorate; Shannara (lol XD); Goodkind's nonsense; Valdemar; Arden's Winternight;
- I think I'll end up going First Law, HDM, King's Blades, Uglies, and either Alliance-Union or Inda...
Fan Artist:
- Ariela Housman, who was screwed by last year's Hugo Administrator's call around "public display", and whose response to the problem I really like, because it's the perfect balance of "be the change" and justified spite (I also like her new Lady Trent print)
Pro artist:
- RSR compilation
- Long list: Alyssa Winans, Armando Veve, Chris McGrath, Cliff Nielsen, Galen Dara, Ivan Belikov (I have no desire to read Priory of the Orange Tree, but it's a beautiful cover), John Picacio, Kathleen Jennings, Kuri Huang, Yuko Shimizu
Related work:
- I wish I'd had a chance to see the Worlds of Ursula LeGuin movie (whose eligibility was extended)
- I'm kind of tempted to nominate the Dead Dog Zine (Terri Ash & Ariela Housman)
- and ooh, Fandom wiki suggest The Disappearance of John M. Ford, which I enjoyed as an article and plan to enjoy the fruits of its labor, too
Editor, Short Form
- I thought Navah Wolfe was finally eligible, but no - she needs one more anthology (currently at 3)
- Neil Clarke, in part because I've always enjoyed the compilations of Clarkesworld, and in part for how he handled this
Editor, Long Form:
- File770 list
- I will keep nominating Joe Monti any year he's eligiblefor having edited the only Cat Valente book I have ever found readable
- I had David Pomerico on my list last year because I'd been so impressed by the tightness of The Poppy War; the opposite situation this year
Fancast:
- Serpents!!!
Fanzine:
- Rocket Stack Rank, dammit!
Campbell (or whatever):
- R.F.Kuang is still eligible I think??
- RSR list of eligible (short fiction) authors, which might be more useful to someone than it was to me
Lodestar:
- I should read Deeplight sooner rather than later (or does a UK release not count, I forget?), perhaps? and I have Fireborne sitting in my TBR pile (lol, who am I kidding)
Dramatic Long:
- IMDB list
- Endgame for sure, and, hmm, maybe Far from Home as well?
Dramatic Short:
- IMDB list
- Oh yeah, Good Omens! "Hard Times" (the through-the-ages cold open episode) was my favorite, so going with that
- And Witcher -- I'll go with "Rare Species"
Best graphic story:
- ? nothing I've seen recommended so far has really appealed enough to track down
Semiprozine
- the usual suspects every year anyway
This entry was originally posted at https://hamsterwoman.dreamwidth.org/1122064.html. Comment wherever you prefer (I prefer LJ).