The state of fannish me
It occurs to me that I haven't been posting as much as I usually do - Twitter's now getting my random thoughts, and RL has been busy and/or stressful on all fronts, so my writing has been slow so far in 2013. I'm hoping we're out of the woods for now, though, so I thought I'd catch up a bit on the various things I've been watching/following. I'm not extremely fannish about all of them, but I still want to squee about them a bit. :) Spoilers for up to the most recent eps.
I've been sharing in other people's squee about this show, but I have to say in my own post: CHRIST I LOVE THIS SHOW. Don't get me wrong, I still love Sherlock, but for very different reasons. I ship John and Sherlock like burning, but I have absolutely no desire to see Joan and Sherlock together, even though I am LOVING the friendship, the way it's being built, and the characterizations of everyone. They've had some well-deserved focus on Gregson and Bell, and the ep with John Hannah - wow (though I'm kind of shocked they let Hannah go full Glasgow on the accent - I'm thinking a lot of North American viewers would have needed subtitles). I like that the show actually features characters of colour without making a big deal of it, and fucks with stereotypes (the most refreshing so far being the sponsor character, who I hope we'll see more of in future). J has now declared Miller his favourite Holmes ever, which is really saying something because he has powerful Jeremy Brett love. :) All in all, this is one of my favourite new shows, period, and it's great to see that it's doing well.
I'm really enjoying it this year, and the scary thing is that alongside my already burning Jessica and Donna love, I am developing a swiftly-growing Louis love. I KNOW, I DON'T GET IT EITHER. The actor is just kicking it out of the park this year with everything he's being given, and I'm really impressed by what they're doing with making him a bit more of a mensch. And I know this is scarybadwrong, but especially after that last ep, I kind of ship Louis and Rachel like whoa. I got sick of Rachel/Mike a long time ago, and I think she'd keep his ass in line, and I think he'd be ridiculously adorable with her (and I think Wendell Pierce, who HELLO I ALSO LOVE THAT HE IS ON THIS SHOW, will be SO FANTASTIC in every interaction he would have with Louis as the potential suitor for his daughter).
Was classic, with some devastatingly funny bits (the "Fizz, buzz, have a banana" exchange was PURE GENIUS). In amongst the hilarity, there was some real character development, particularly for Carolyn and Martin. And for all that Martin got himself a girlfriend this series, there was plenty of Martin/Douglas subtext for writers to play around with. I don't know where the series is going after this (Finnemore doesn't really know either, considering the increasingly restrictive contractual obligations of the cast), but I'm hoping they'll have at least one more ep to tie things up (there has to be a z, after all).
And all of this is now being viewed on the 42" LED smart TV we finally bought Monday night (yes, goodbye to the land of ginormous picture tubes), which is going to take a bit of getting used to. I'm not keen on the way it makes gorgeously filmed tv and movies look like they were done with a crappy videocamera, and I'm not sure there's a way around it, but otoh, I watched the first ep of Dancing on the Edge (holy CRAP, Angel Coulby can SING), and it felt like I was watching a play on stage, with these people literally in my freaking living room. So the jury's still out on it; ideally, I'd like the option to switch from one mode to the other, but I suspect that's not possible. J has fully embraced the new technology, and is doubtless now happily playing endless cute animal YouTube videos as we speak.
In reading, I've been following merlinreversebb, and I just enjoyed Gold and Glory, Heart and Home, a 19th-century Western AU, and A Second Chance, which is kind of a Temeraire-Merlin mashup. Actually, I haven't finished Second Chance yet, but it's looking promising. :) And if you want hot pirate!porn, check out Your Heart Be Also (watch the warnings). :)
As for writing, I am trying to get a couple of longstanding Merlin WIPs kickstarted (having a bit more luck with one than the other, but again, it's been slow), and I started the Lewis/Hathaway Landscaper AU (yes, I know), which is set about the same time as the pilot. And I signed up for
unconventionalcourtship, in which you need to take the summary of a romance novel and use it as the basis for a fic. I've got a few ideas, and would love to get your input! There are two possibilities so far:
1) Lewis/Hathaway, based on this historical romance, which means the summary would be this:
In the shelter of his country cottage, James Hathaway puts pen to paper to create dreams. But curiosity has enticed the prim, well-bred gentleman out of his safe haven-and into Robbie Lewis' dangerous world.
A handsome, tough and tenacious Geordie, he rose from poverty to become lord of London's most exclusive gambling house-a struggle that has left Robbie Lewis fabulously wealthy, but hardened and suspicious. And now duty demands he allow James Hathaway into his world-with his impeccable manners and his infuriating innocence. But here, in a perilous shadow-realm of ever-shifting fortunes, even a proper church deacon can be led into temptation-and a world-weary gambler can be shaken to his cynical core by the power of passion... and the promise of love.
- except I'm going to make it so that Hathaway has a connection to the church (probably Anglican) - he's a deacon or some other layperson - who travels to London to search for the teenaged son of one of the congregation members who's gone missing. He enlists Robbie's help to find him, and in the process there is Love and Shagging and Divers Adventures. :)
2) Merlin/Arthur, based on this contemporary one:
Do you want to know a secret? When Merlin Emrys agrees to do a favour for a friend he doesn’t think he’ll end up at Albion Castle. Stepping into a world dripping with old-school glamour, he and his knock-off Vivienne Westwood boots do not belong. Pretending to be his straight friend’s boyfriend he’s out of his depth enough in a world of champagne, chandeliers and chauffeur-driven cars, the last thing he needs is a crush on returning army Major and heir apparent Arthur Pendragon. But scandal and secrets bubble under the surface of even the best champagne…and dark truths about the Pendragon dynasty are about to be revealed...
So what gets your vote? Or should I do something completely different?
And in other news, Laurence's EP is now out! If you have a few extra quid lying around, it's definitely worth a listen. :)
This entry was also posted on Dreamwidth at http://lamardeuse.dreamwidth.org/1072202.html . Please feel free to comment at either journal.
I've been sharing in other people's squee about this show, but I have to say in my own post: CHRIST I LOVE THIS SHOW. Don't get me wrong, I still love Sherlock, but for very different reasons. I ship John and Sherlock like burning, but I have absolutely no desire to see Joan and Sherlock together, even though I am LOVING the friendship, the way it's being built, and the characterizations of everyone. They've had some well-deserved focus on Gregson and Bell, and the ep with John Hannah - wow (though I'm kind of shocked they let Hannah go full Glasgow on the accent - I'm thinking a lot of North American viewers would have needed subtitles). I like that the show actually features characters of colour without making a big deal of it, and fucks with stereotypes (the most refreshing so far being the sponsor character, who I hope we'll see more of in future). J has now declared Miller his favourite Holmes ever, which is really saying something because he has powerful Jeremy Brett love. :) All in all, this is one of my favourite new shows, period, and it's great to see that it's doing well.
I'm really enjoying it this year, and the scary thing is that alongside my already burning Jessica and Donna love, I am developing a swiftly-growing Louis love. I KNOW, I DON'T GET IT EITHER. The actor is just kicking it out of the park this year with everything he's being given, and I'm really impressed by what they're doing with making him a bit more of a mensch. And I know this is scarybadwrong, but especially after that last ep, I kind of ship Louis and Rachel like whoa. I got sick of Rachel/Mike a long time ago, and I think she'd keep his ass in line, and I think he'd be ridiculously adorable with her (and I think Wendell Pierce, who HELLO I ALSO LOVE THAT HE IS ON THIS SHOW, will be SO FANTASTIC in every interaction he would have with Louis as the potential suitor for his daughter).
Was classic, with some devastatingly funny bits (the "Fizz, buzz, have a banana" exchange was PURE GENIUS). In amongst the hilarity, there was some real character development, particularly for Carolyn and Martin. And for all that Martin got himself a girlfriend this series, there was plenty of Martin/Douglas subtext for writers to play around with. I don't know where the series is going after this (Finnemore doesn't really know either, considering the increasingly restrictive contractual obligations of the cast), but I'm hoping they'll have at least one more ep to tie things up (there has to be a z, after all).
And all of this is now being viewed on the 42" LED smart TV we finally bought Monday night (yes, goodbye to the land of ginormous picture tubes), which is going to take a bit of getting used to. I'm not keen on the way it makes gorgeously filmed tv and movies look like they were done with a crappy videocamera, and I'm not sure there's a way around it, but otoh, I watched the first ep of Dancing on the Edge (holy CRAP, Angel Coulby can SING), and it felt like I was watching a play on stage, with these people literally in my freaking living room. So the jury's still out on it; ideally, I'd like the option to switch from one mode to the other, but I suspect that's not possible. J has fully embraced the new technology, and is doubtless now happily playing endless cute animal YouTube videos as we speak.
In reading, I've been following merlinreversebb, and I just enjoyed Gold and Glory, Heart and Home, a 19th-century Western AU, and A Second Chance, which is kind of a Temeraire-Merlin mashup. Actually, I haven't finished Second Chance yet, but it's looking promising. :) And if you want hot pirate!porn, check out Your Heart Be Also (watch the warnings). :)
As for writing, I am trying to get a couple of longstanding Merlin WIPs kickstarted (having a bit more luck with one than the other, but again, it's been slow), and I started the Lewis/Hathaway Landscaper AU (yes, I know), which is set about the same time as the pilot. And I signed up for
unconventionalcourtship, in which you need to take the summary of a romance novel and use it as the basis for a fic. I've got a few ideas, and would love to get your input! There are two possibilities so far:
1) Lewis/Hathaway, based on this historical romance, which means the summary would be this:
In the shelter of his country cottage, James Hathaway puts pen to paper to create dreams. But curiosity has enticed the prim, well-bred gentleman out of his safe haven-and into Robbie Lewis' dangerous world.
A handsome, tough and tenacious Geordie, he rose from poverty to become lord of London's most exclusive gambling house-a struggle that has left Robbie Lewis fabulously wealthy, but hardened and suspicious. And now duty demands he allow James Hathaway into his world-with his impeccable manners and his infuriating innocence. But here, in a perilous shadow-realm of ever-shifting fortunes, even a proper church deacon can be led into temptation-and a world-weary gambler can be shaken to his cynical core by the power of passion... and the promise of love.
- except I'm going to make it so that Hathaway has a connection to the church (probably Anglican) - he's a deacon or some other layperson - who travels to London to search for the teenaged son of one of the congregation members who's gone missing. He enlists Robbie's help to find him, and in the process there is Love and Shagging and Divers Adventures. :)
2) Merlin/Arthur, based on this contemporary one:
Do you want to know a secret? When Merlin Emrys agrees to do a favour for a friend he doesn’t think he’ll end up at Albion Castle. Stepping into a world dripping with old-school glamour, he and his knock-off Vivienne Westwood boots do not belong. Pretending to be his straight friend’s boyfriend he’s out of his depth enough in a world of champagne, chandeliers and chauffeur-driven cars, the last thing he needs is a crush on returning army Major and heir apparent Arthur Pendragon. But scandal and secrets bubble under the surface of even the best champagne…and dark truths about the Pendragon dynasty are about to be revealed...
So what gets your vote? Or should I do something completely different?
And in other news, Laurence's EP is now out! If you have a few extra quid lying around, it's definitely worth a listen. :)
This entry was also posted on Dreamwidth at http://lamardeuse.dreamwidth.org/1072202.html . Please feel free to comment at either journal.