End of Fannish Year Meme
1. Your main fandom of the year?
As in previous years, I remain a multifandom woman. An old fandom I got somewhat back into was Star Wars, but not due to The Force Awakens, due to finally marathoning The Clone Wars. Of shows with an open, not yet concluded canon, I continue to love The Americans, Better Call Saul and Bates Motel, but Black Sails is probably the one I feel most intensely for. However, due to tumblr aversion, I’m not exactly in the fandom, as not many Black Sails fans seem to be on dw or lj.
2. Your favourite film watched this year?
Slash. I watched it at the Munich Film Festival in summer, attended the Q & A with the director, and have not changed my impression, which was: I loved and adored this movie. It filled me with joy the same way Galaxy Quest did for a lot of similar reasons. Currently, there are some people badmouthing it on the internet, usually people who haven’t watched it, and that irks me the way it always does when people shit on something you love, especially at a time when fandom is my escape from the horrors of the real world. But such is life, and thankfully the movie will still be there when the haters have moved on to the next subject.
3. Your favourite book read this year?
I read a lot of non fiction this year, the most impressive of which was probably The Pigeon Tunnel by John Le Carré. But the one I loved best was probably fiction, to wit, Oath Bound by Jo Graham and Melissa Scott. Oh, and I did a reread of the Angelique series I’d loved as a child and teen, and enjoyed those novels as much as ever.
4. Your favourite TV show of the year?
See above: Black Sails, which had a fantastic third season and keeps getting better and better. I’m ready to get my heart broken by the fourth and final season, and am confident it will be done in a narratively satisfying way. Incidentally, all my shows except for Elementary had great seasons in 2016, and I didn’t give up any the way I did in 2015.
5. Your favourite online fandom community of the year?
Still
the_americans.
6. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
Very unexpectedly, this was Class, the Doctor Who spin-off which premiered this fall. As far as DW spin-offs are concerned, Torchwood had had a very rocky first season, and while I adored The Sarah Jane Adventures, I went into it because of Sarah Jane, and all the Class characters were new, so I had no idea what to expect. Certainly not the strong first season and ensemble-tastic tale I got. Go show! May you get many seasons more.
7. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
None so great that it drove me to abandon the show, but Elementary’s fourth season, with the exception of the Paul Cornell episode, had been a let down, and season 5 alas hasn’t pulled off the season 3 trick yet of coming back strong. It’s still enjoyable, though.
8. Your TV boyfriend of the year?
In terms of “who would I actually date”, still pre-Saul Jimmy McGill. In terms of “whose ongoing adventures was I most emotionally invested in” , John Silver. In terms of “who would I definitely not date, not even for a one night stand, but good lord, am I emotionally invested, as evidenced by the fact I’ve been writing him again: Anakin Skywalker, human disaster extraordinaire. I had never lost my fondness for Anakin, of course, but The Clone Wars brought back the urge to write him in a big fashion.
9. Your TV girlfriend of the year?
Kim Wexler from Better Call Saul was the core of the second season and a Queen among women, and I adore her, I completely fell for Ahsoka from The Clone Wars, but this year, there can only be one choice (not least due to what happened): Norma Bates, the most doomed mother ever, antiheroine of my heart, so flawed, so passionate, so human, so capable of utter joy and utter rage.
10. Your biggest squee moment of the year?
It’s a tie between John Silver deciding the way to win James Flint’s respect is to tell him Silver has managed to screw him over re: the Urca gold while they’re en route to some shark fighting, and that this tactic works, in Black Sails 3.03., and Norma Bates in Bates Motel 4.06. responding to perceived blackmail with one of her extraordinary raw emotional outbursts, laying her past wide open, and the thought to be blackmailer instead actually repairing her window while the guy she was sure she’d lose by this honesty instead responds with “Where are we going?” Which is the most romantic line you’ll ever hear on this show, in context.
11. The most missed of your old fandoms?
Class made me nostalgic for Buffy. But not for the ship wars. Good lord, not for the ship wars. Also, Highlander.
12. The fandom you haven’t tried yet, but want to?
Mr. Robot, with the eternal “if I find the time” disclaimer.
13. Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?
Black Sails season 4, American Gods the tv series, and Arrival, of which I have heard very good things but which I haven’t managed to watch yet. I hope it’ll stick around in the cinemas until I can.
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1209131.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
As in previous years, I remain a multifandom woman. An old fandom I got somewhat back into was Star Wars, but not due to The Force Awakens, due to finally marathoning The Clone Wars. Of shows with an open, not yet concluded canon, I continue to love The Americans, Better Call Saul and Bates Motel, but Black Sails is probably the one I feel most intensely for. However, due to tumblr aversion, I’m not exactly in the fandom, as not many Black Sails fans seem to be on dw or lj.
2. Your favourite film watched this year?
Slash. I watched it at the Munich Film Festival in summer, attended the Q & A with the director, and have not changed my impression, which was: I loved and adored this movie. It filled me with joy the same way Galaxy Quest did for a lot of similar reasons. Currently, there are some people badmouthing it on the internet, usually people who haven’t watched it, and that irks me the way it always does when people shit on something you love, especially at a time when fandom is my escape from the horrors of the real world. But such is life, and thankfully the movie will still be there when the haters have moved on to the next subject.
3. Your favourite book read this year?
I read a lot of non fiction this year, the most impressive of which was probably The Pigeon Tunnel by John Le Carré. But the one I loved best was probably fiction, to wit, Oath Bound by Jo Graham and Melissa Scott. Oh, and I did a reread of the Angelique series I’d loved as a child and teen, and enjoyed those novels as much as ever.
4. Your favourite TV show of the year?
See above: Black Sails, which had a fantastic third season and keeps getting better and better. I’m ready to get my heart broken by the fourth and final season, and am confident it will be done in a narratively satisfying way. Incidentally, all my shows except for Elementary had great seasons in 2016, and I didn’t give up any the way I did in 2015.
5. Your favourite online fandom community of the year?
Still
the_americans.
6. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
Very unexpectedly, this was Class, the Doctor Who spin-off which premiered this fall. As far as DW spin-offs are concerned, Torchwood had had a very rocky first season, and while I adored The Sarah Jane Adventures, I went into it because of Sarah Jane, and all the Class characters were new, so I had no idea what to expect. Certainly not the strong first season and ensemble-tastic tale I got. Go show! May you get many seasons more.
7. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
None so great that it drove me to abandon the show, but Elementary’s fourth season, with the exception of the Paul Cornell episode, had been a let down, and season 5 alas hasn’t pulled off the season 3 trick yet of coming back strong. It’s still enjoyable, though.
8. Your TV boyfriend of the year?
In terms of “who would I actually date”, still pre-Saul Jimmy McGill. In terms of “whose ongoing adventures was I most emotionally invested in” , John Silver. In terms of “who would I definitely not date, not even for a one night stand, but good lord, am I emotionally invested, as evidenced by the fact I’ve been writing him again: Anakin Skywalker, human disaster extraordinaire. I had never lost my fondness for Anakin, of course, but The Clone Wars brought back the urge to write him in a big fashion.
9. Your TV girlfriend of the year?
Kim Wexler from Better Call Saul was the core of the second season and a Queen among women, and I adore her, I completely fell for Ahsoka from The Clone Wars, but this year, there can only be one choice (not least due to what happened): Norma Bates, the most doomed mother ever, antiheroine of my heart, so flawed, so passionate, so human, so capable of utter joy and utter rage.
10. Your biggest squee moment of the year?
It’s a tie between John Silver deciding the way to win James Flint’s respect is to tell him Silver has managed to screw him over re: the Urca gold while they’re en route to some shark fighting, and that this tactic works, in Black Sails 3.03., and Norma Bates in Bates Motel 4.06. responding to perceived blackmail with one of her extraordinary raw emotional outbursts, laying her past wide open, and the thought to be blackmailer instead actually repairing her window while the guy she was sure she’d lose by this honesty instead responds with “Where are we going?” Which is the most romantic line you’ll ever hear on this show, in context.
11. The most missed of your old fandoms?
Class made me nostalgic for Buffy. But not for the ship wars. Good lord, not for the ship wars. Also, Highlander.
12. The fandom you haven’t tried yet, but want to?
Mr. Robot, with the eternal “if I find the time” disclaimer.
13. Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?
Black Sails season 4, American Gods the tv series, and Arrival, of which I have heard very good things but which I haven’t managed to watch yet. I hope it’ll stick around in the cinemas until I can.
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1209131.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.