End of Year Meme
1. Your main fandom of the year?
Still 18th Century history, Prussian-Austrian-Hannoverian-French edition, with the occasional ancient history interlude.
2. Your favorite film watched this year?
It's a race between Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Dune II; I think the Apes win, not least I because I continue to be amazed how this rebooted franchise keeps producing intelligent, interesting characters and stories. Also, this was a case (and not the only one) this year where ahead of watching I was severely in doubt this was a good idea (i.e. do we need anything after the Caesar trilogy), and then I saw what they created, and yes, absolutely we do. Noah & Mae is shaping up to be one of the most fascinating relationships of the saga.
3. Your favorite book read this year?
Tie between Shelley Parker-Chan's She who became the Sun and Jo Graham's The Borgia Dove, i.e. history with a touch of fantasy in both cases, in the former using the first Ming Emperor as a template to genderqueer in a fascinating way, and in the second having a pregnant Giulia Farnese be a key player in getting Rodrigo Borgia elected Pope.
4. Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?
And all the variations thereof. An absolute earworm, and thematically essential to the storytelling within the series, to the point where you see this early scene very differently once you know certain things. Coming close: medieval and Renaissance "We didn't start the fire" was a hoot, and set me and the rest of salon filking. (And cahn singing; we're just waiting for mildred_of_midgard to collect the visuals in order to present you with 18th century versions.)
5. Your favorite TV show of the year?
It was a really good year for tv. With DW returning (and what a wild ride it was, with some episodes being amazingly brilliant and some really too silly even for DW) and Discovery finishing (*sob* it was a nice last season, but overall I think the s4 arc would have made for more epic final season one, had they known in advance), plus I really liked the kids' shows, i.e. ST: Prodigy, s2, and currently SW: Skeleton Crew. But seriously, there is no question as to which three are racing to the finish line here - Interview with the Vampire, s2 (sooo good), Shogun and Agatha All Along, of course. (And I'm very happy that not only the former but also Kathryn Hahn in the later just got Golden Globe nominated. Is the later one a first for the MCU?) Again with the scepticism ahead of watching: did we need another adaptation, given the very good 1980s one existed already? (YES, as it turns out.) And who asked for a spin-off focused on a main character who only showed up in a previous Disney show as a villain? (We all should have asked, as it turns out.) AAA is more recent, Interview and Shogun has the one drawback that they decided on its success to do more of it (DO NOT WANT, this is a contained and finished story)...but I think the sheer epicness, the fact a show with lots and lots of subtitled politics set in Renaissance Japan can become a hit, and the fact the novel was first told to me by Dad on a long walk when I was a teen and has remained with me ever makes for a mighty pull... but what's this, it's dark horse candidate Interview racing ahead by virtue of being even better than the first season despite having the less compelling part of the book as its textual source to adapt! IwtV, s2 win!
6. Your favorite online community of the year?
Salon aside, I also participated in an online book club I can't give details about for RL reasons and enjoyed it a lot.
7. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
Lots and lots of podcasts to listen to, many historical in nature, some sci fi fannish. (Including one about The Rings of Power which proves you can be a Tolkien geek ready with the quotes and love the show.)
8. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
There wasn't anything I loathed on a Secret Invasion (and SI was last year), but there were a few cases of "I had expected more given the premise" (Domina comes to mind), and some where the execution was fine and I could see what the hype was about but a key component was just wrong (Ripley: Andrew Scott was just too old - as I said in my review, not a problem if they'd adapted literally any other Ripley novel but the first, because his age isn't really important in the other books, but in the first one, him and Dickie being young enough that Dickie's father sending a supposed school mate after Dickie is plausible is literally a plot point), or there's room for improvement (Shardlake: a more subtle soundtrack, please, ditch the monologues, wtf is this making the important black character from the first novel who goes on to become a series regular not black and making two one-off character black instead?).
9. Your fandom boyfriend of the year?
ST: Prodigy's take on Wesley Crusher. I have a soft spot for when an unpopular character is given another shot anyway, but in this case not only did the result feel like a delightful DW crossover, but it was an object lesson of how to do something the third season of ST: Picard messed up big time, i.e. how to use an "old" character in a new show in a way that's more than a cameo and a real character exploration BUT also NOT in a way that negates the "new" characters' stories and agenda.
10. Your fandom girlfriend of the year?
Mariko from Shogun in her latest tv incarnation. I mean, I loved her in the book as well, but this year's show version was fantastic.
11. Your biggest squee moment of the year?
Daniel in the season finale of Interview with the Vampire detonates his bomb of a reveleation, to put it as unspoiilery as possible. I mean, it's a devastating scene, but in an absolutely squee-worthy way.
12. The most missed of your old fandoms?
Depending on Darth Real Life, I may start a Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel: The Series rewatch next year in this very journal.
13. The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
The Orville, now that Discovery has ended, and my defensive hackles have been lowered.
14. Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?
I hear there will be a miniseries about Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra, featuring Keeley Hawes as Jane. This sounds promising. Will Jane A. fare better than the Bronte sisters in their most recent stage and film biographical outings? I hope so. On a similar historical note, there will be a series about William the Conqueror and Harold of Wessex, called King and Conqueror.
...and I really hope The Return starring Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes will make it to Germany.
Speaking of Memes, the January Meme still has free days if there are topics you want to to ramble about.
Still 18th Century history, Prussian-Austrian-Hannoverian-French edition, with the occasional ancient history interlude.
2. Your favorite film watched this year?
It's a race between Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Dune II; I think the Apes win, not least I because I continue to be amazed how this rebooted franchise keeps producing intelligent, interesting characters and stories. Also, this was a case (and not the only one) this year where ahead of watching I was severely in doubt this was a good idea (i.e. do we need anything after the Caesar trilogy), and then I saw what they created, and yes, absolutely we do. Noah & Mae is shaping up to be one of the most fascinating relationships of the saga.
3. Your favorite book read this year?
Tie between Shelley Parker-Chan's She who became the Sun and Jo Graham's The Borgia Dove, i.e. history with a touch of fantasy in both cases, in the former using the first Ming Emperor as a template to genderqueer in a fascinating way, and in the second having a pregnant Giulia Farnese be a key player in getting Rodrigo Borgia elected Pope.
4. Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?
Click to viewAnd all the variations thereof. An absolute earworm, and thematically essential to the storytelling within the series, to the point where you see this early scene very differently once you know certain things. Coming close: medieval and Renaissance "We didn't start the fire" was a hoot, and set me and the rest of salon filking. (And cahn singing; we're just waiting for mildred_of_midgard to collect the visuals in order to present you with 18th century versions.)
5. Your favorite TV show of the year?
It was a really good year for tv. With DW returning (and what a wild ride it was, with some episodes being amazingly brilliant and some really too silly even for DW) and Discovery finishing (*sob* it was a nice last season, but overall I think the s4 arc would have made for more epic final season one, had they known in advance), plus I really liked the kids' shows, i.e. ST: Prodigy, s2, and currently SW: Skeleton Crew. But seriously, there is no question as to which three are racing to the finish line here - Interview with the Vampire, s2 (sooo good), Shogun and Agatha All Along, of course. (And I'm very happy that not only the former but also Kathryn Hahn in the later just got Golden Globe nominated. Is the later one a first for the MCU?) Again with the scepticism ahead of watching: did we need another adaptation, given the very good 1980s one existed already? (YES, as it turns out.) And who asked for a spin-off focused on a main character who only showed up in a previous Disney show as a villain? (We all should have asked, as it turns out.) AAA is more recent, Interview and Shogun has the one drawback that they decided on its success to do more of it (DO NOT WANT, this is a contained and finished story)...but I think the sheer epicness, the fact a show with lots and lots of subtitled politics set in Renaissance Japan can become a hit, and the fact the novel was first told to me by Dad on a long walk when I was a teen and has remained with me ever makes for a mighty pull... but what's this, it's dark horse candidate Interview racing ahead by virtue of being even better than the first season despite having the less compelling part of the book as its textual source to adapt! IwtV, s2 win!
6. Your favorite online community of the year?
Salon aside, I also participated in an online book club I can't give details about for RL reasons and enjoyed it a lot.
7. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
Lots and lots of podcasts to listen to, many historical in nature, some sci fi fannish. (Including one about The Rings of Power which proves you can be a Tolkien geek ready with the quotes and love the show.)
8. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
There wasn't anything I loathed on a Secret Invasion (and SI was last year), but there were a few cases of "I had expected more given the premise" (Domina comes to mind), and some where the execution was fine and I could see what the hype was about but a key component was just wrong (Ripley: Andrew Scott was just too old - as I said in my review, not a problem if they'd adapted literally any other Ripley novel but the first, because his age isn't really important in the other books, but in the first one, him and Dickie being young enough that Dickie's father sending a supposed school mate after Dickie is plausible is literally a plot point), or there's room for improvement (Shardlake: a more subtle soundtrack, please, ditch the monologues, wtf is this making the important black character from the first novel who goes on to become a series regular not black and making two one-off character black instead?).
9. Your fandom boyfriend of the year?
ST: Prodigy's take on Wesley Crusher. I have a soft spot for when an unpopular character is given another shot anyway, but in this case not only did the result feel like a delightful DW crossover, but it was an object lesson of how to do something the third season of ST: Picard messed up big time, i.e. how to use an "old" character in a new show in a way that's more than a cameo and a real character exploration BUT also NOT in a way that negates the "new" characters' stories and agenda.
10. Your fandom girlfriend of the year?
Mariko from Shogun in her latest tv incarnation. I mean, I loved her in the book as well, but this year's show version was fantastic.
11. Your biggest squee moment of the year?
Daniel in the season finale of Interview with the Vampire detonates his bomb of a reveleation, to put it as unspoiilery as possible. I mean, it's a devastating scene, but in an absolutely squee-worthy way.
12. The most missed of your old fandoms?
Depending on Darth Real Life, I may start a Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel: The Series rewatch next year in this very journal.
13. The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
The Orville, now that Discovery has ended, and my defensive hackles have been lowered.
14. Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?
I hear there will be a miniseries about Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra, featuring Keeley Hawes as Jane. This sounds promising. Will Jane A. fare better than the Bronte sisters in their most recent stage and film biographical outings? I hope so. On a similar historical note, there will be a series about William the Conqueror and Harold of Wessex, called King and Conqueror.
...and I really hope The Return starring Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes will make it to Germany.
Speaking of Memes, the January Meme still has free days if there are topics you want to to ramble about.