1740 and All That

1. Your main fandom of the year?

Still 18th Century history, Prussian-Austrian-Hannoverian-French edition, with the occasional ancient history interlude. Though ancient history might take over as the primary runner next year!

2. Your favorite film watched this year?

It's a race between a surprise "came for one character, remained for all of them" movie, none other than Thunderbolts*, and the superb thriller September 5, which manages among other things to do something Steven Spielberg tried to in one of his movies and does it better.


3. Your favorite book read this year?

This year I am truly spoiled for choices. I both read some books that have been around for a while as well as very recently published ones, and for the most part, enjoyed or even loved most of them. I think it's a race between Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh.


4. Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?

For complicated real life reasons:





5. Your favorite TV show of the year?

While tv had some let downs for me this year - *cough* Strange New Worlds *cough* - it also had some great new discoveries and some lovely continuing faves. I feel I can't answer this question fairly unless I firstly differentiate between "favourite miniseries" and "favourite continuing show", and in the second department "favourite new-to-me- show" and "favourite returning favourite". So: Favourite miniseries - there were several excellent ones, but really, for "took my breath away with each episode and performance, and format, tells a concluded story and THANK GOD DOES NOT APPEAR TO GET AN UNNESSARY SEQUEL": Adolescence . Favourite continuing series familiar to me - look, Andor had a superb conclusion and I really appreciate the scriptwriters on social media doubling down on just who the Evil Empire is in rl these days, but it's not Andor for the simple reason that while I was not upset about the writing for Bix as I've seen other people be, it really wasn't up to the rest of the show's standards. And it's not Wheel of Time, either, even though I went from like to love in this season and still feel like shaking my hand at the injustice of fate because of the cancellation. So: It's Foundation all the way. I loved the third season and will happily say more about why on the January Meme.
Favourite new to me show: Pluribus, aka Vince Gilligan did it again.


6. Your favorite online community of the year?

Still rheinsberg.


7. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?

The play Born with Teeth by Liz Duffy Adams, which I saw in London in August: really intense and clever on stage Shakespeare/Marlow slash fiction, with Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel superb in the roles; delightful in itself, but also, I now have a new playwright to keep an eye on!

8. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?

Strange New Worlds, season 3. Alas.

9. Your fandom boyfriend of the year?

I would never compete with Lois Lane, but this year's Superman is an incredibly endearing version of Clark Kent, and arrived just at the right time.

10. Your fandom girlfriend of the year?

Demerzel from Foundation, and I got two great stories starring her as Yuletide gifts. Runner up: Kleya from Andor, and Juliette Binoche in what just may the definite Penelope performance in The Return .

11. Your biggest squee moment of the year?

( Spoiler for Wake Up, Dead Man ensue: ) Runner-up: ( Spoiler for Demerzel's backstory in Foundation )


12. The most missed of your old fandoms?

I'm missing - and probably I'm employing rosy glasses here - the way media could be discussed without one part of the viewership crying "Woke!" and other crying "betrayal" if their ship of choice doesn't become canon. (Latest example: Stranger Things. Which btw I'm enjoying, but one look at fandom discussion and I ran.)

13. The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?

I'm currently eyeing Severance.


14. Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?

The Vampire Lestat, aka season 3 of Interview with the Vampire. Can't wait to find out what this particular creative team will do with both the present day rock star Lestat frame and the memoirs part, plus unless I'm mistaken it looks like they're already incorporating bits of The Queen of the Damned. And speaking of Anne Rice adaptations, I'm also very curious what Tom Ford will make of her historical (non-supernatural historical) novel Cry to Heaven, starring Nicolas Hoult.

For some Darth Real Life reasons, I had less time than usual during the holidays to delve into the Yuletide archive, but I did have some chances, and here are some early results. ;)



Akhenaten - Glass

The lone and level sands stretch far away: or, Egptian historical fiction. Based on the opera, but can be read without having heard it yet knowing who Akhenaten was. Poetic and intense.


Greek Myths:

Mothers of the Brazen Spear: Andromache and three of her sisters-in-law after the Trojan war. Based on Euripides.

Homophrosyne: Penelope through twenty years.


Born with Teeth:

To Bite the World: in which Will and Kit talk and role play Richard III and Anne Neville. Matches the play really well.



Bride of the Rat God - Hambly :

A closer kinship: the crucial moment from the novel's backstory when Christine shows up in England to whisk Norah away. This is one of my favourite Barbara Hambly novels, and the characterisation of both women is perfect.


Copenhagen - Frayn:

Quantum Game Theory: Four alternate timelines where the Copenhagen meeting never happened, and one where it did. Clever, moving and profound.


Farscape:

Look after the Princess: in which Katralla from s2's Princess trilogy wakes up post- Peacekeeper Wars (there are plot reasons) to find herself in a mad adventure with Aeryn Sun. And Aeryn's baby. And the usual Farscape insanity. Really feels like an episode in the best way, and fleshes out Katralla to boot.


Also, there are still free spots if you want me to ramble on something on the January meme.

What a great thing to wake up to in my part of the world - the Yuletide archive is open! (Usually here in Germany it's noon before that happens.) Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, and peaceful holidays for everyone. I will do my annual pic spam later, but for now, here are the two lovely Foundation stories I got, both Demerzel-centric, the former from her pov, the second from Cleon XXIV's - last season's Day, in other words - , and both superb in their characterisations.

Remembrance (3416 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Foundation (TV 2021)
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Characters: Demerzel (Foundation TV 2021), Hari Seldon, Cleon XXIV
Additional Tags: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, mix of book and tv series canon
Summary:

Demerzel wanted to scream back at him, to explain how this was all his fault, Cleon the First damning them all to this nightmare fate that none of them could escape.

But she said nothing, and walked away. Like she always did.

standard deviation (4805 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Foundation (TV 2021)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Cleon XXIV & Demerzel (Foundation TV 2021)
Characters: Cleon XXIV (Foundation TV 2021), Demerzel (Foundation TV 2021)
Additional Tags: Character Study, Artificial Intelligence, Complicated Relationships, Mother-Son Relationship, Loyalty, Yuletide 2025, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

He can’t get a rise out of her, and can never push hard enough that she pushes back. Human mothers eventually raise their voices, yell back, get upset. You can fling hurtful words at a human mother. But as far as he can tell, it never lands with Demerzel; there’s no heart there to twist the knife into.

(Relationship study for what slowly went wrong between Cleon XXIV and Demerzel. Spoilers for all of season 3.)

In which Buffy Summers already knew that the hardest thing in this world is how to live in it, Carol.

( Spoilers have to choose between the girl and the world )

In which someone becomes Sheherazade, but is it Zosia or is it Carol?

( Spoilers go on the charm offensive )