end of the year fannish meme
Dec. 31st, 2013 05:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kindkitGrabbed from sineala. And I know I still owe people answers on the December meme. Forthcoming, I swear!
1. Your main fandom of the year?
Still the "world wars megafandom," although I feel like I'm running out of good fictional fandoms within it. But 2014 is the centenary of the start of the First World War, so I'm hoping for some good documentaries and maybe, if I'm lucky, a drama.
2. Your favorite film you watched this year?
Lawrence of Arabia. (Nobody said it had to be a new film or a film I watched for the first time!) I made a special 100-mile round trip to see the 50th anniversary screening. It was the second time in my life I've seen it on the big screen--the first time was when I was a student in Paris, in 1989, when I saw the newly restored and remastered version--and it really is amazing to see that gorgeous cinematography as it was meant to be seen. Lawrence of Arabia has been my favorite film since I was a teenager, despite its historical and political failings. It's the last gasp of the epic, and in some ways an anti-epic, an epic that undermines itself. We're suspicious of epics now (and with good reason), so I don't think a film like this can ever be made again.
3. Your favorite book read this year?
Looking back at my "books" tag, I can see that this was the year of re-reading for me. I've been having a hard time finding new books that appeal, and often I just don't feel able to trust a book not to disappoint me, so I go back to those books from which I know what to expect. But of the things I read for the first time this year, here are two favorites.
Fiction: London Falling, by Paul Cornell. Urban fantasy as it should be (whch is to say fantasy about cities rather than paranormal romance), with a genuinely creative and interesting take on magic, a strong plot, and great characters, one of whom is gay. I recommend this highly, but I'd note that there is a not-inconsiderable amount of horrifying violence, which isn't graphically described but isn't flinched away from, either.
Non-fiction: A Minority, by Gordon Westwood. This was first published in 1960, in support of the Wolfenden Commission's recommendation that male/male sex be decriminalized in Britain. Westwood (a pseudonym for Michael Schofield, a sociologist and gay rights activist) makes a remarkably pro-gay argument considering the time, and also--this is the bit I love--lets his gay male subjects speak for themselves sometimes by quoting their stories and opinions in their own words. For that alone it's a wonderful bit of queer men's history. There's more about the book here if you're interested.
4. Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?
I don't buy a lot of new music anymore, and I can't remember if I bought Frightened Rabbit's Midnight Organ Fight this year or last year. Anyway, it's pretty awesome.
5. Your favorite TV show of the year?
I finally watched Community this year and loved it, with reservations (e.g. the treatment of Britta, the more and more problematic way the show has dealt with Abed's possibly being on the autism spectrum, the whole existence of Pierce). At its best it's more creative than anything I've seen in ages; and even when it's far from its best, as in season 4, it's still mostly enjoyable.
6. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
Welcome to Night Vale, I guess? I'm not especially fannish about it, in the sense of desperately wanting fic, but I like it. And if somebody could point me to the good fic, the fic that has the feel of canon and isn't just "Cecil and Carlos wuv each other so much with their Twoo Twoo Wuv" that would be good. (I love Cecil and Carlos. I love that their relationship is canonical and that one of the major new fantasy fandoms has a gay man as its lead character. And I would love to read stories about their relationship that aren't pure schmoop, that are also still about Night Vale, that don't forget that Night Vale is fucked up and Cecil a lot of the time is fucked up along with it.)
7. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
The Doctor Who 50th anniversary special. I tried to go into it with low expectations, but then there was the mini webisode with Paul McGann and I got all excited. Alas, the special was very much in the mode of current Doctor Who, which has alienated me so much that I don't even watch regularly anymore. The show deserved better for its 50th birthday.
8. Your fandom boyfriend of the year?
This one's stumping me a bit. If I think about fandoms that were new/new to me this year, I can't think of anyone I really love, and if I think about all my fandoms, I have too many choices. I guess I'll go with the Eighth Doctor, who counts as "of this year" due to the webisode (which has got me re-reading the Eighth Doctor Adventures, always a nice experience). He's brilliant and pretty and kind of broken, in the EDAs at least, and that is a combination I can't resist.
9. Your fandom girlfriend of the year?
Hmmm. How about Phryne Fisher's friend Dr. Elizabeth "Mac" Macmillan? In the books--I haven't seen the show--she routinely wears male clothes and, as an honorary gentleman, is a member of the Blue Cat Club, Melbourne's swankiest and most private club for gay men. (It's a little unclear why she'd want to be, since at other points in the books she's identified as a lesbian, but consistency is not the books' strong suit.) Dr. Mac is pretty damn cool, and she and I would at least have an interest in fine menswear in common!
10. Your biggest squee moment of the year?
Learning that there is a revised edition of The Wooden Horse. Which is not the expurgated version, but rather a later expansion and revision that deletes some fictional incidents and adds in things that couldn't be mentioned, for security reasons, when the book was first published. Yes, this is highly obscure and geeky, but it wasn't a squee-tastic year for me fannishly. I was disappointed by Doctor Who, Iron Man 3 and Thor 2, outraged by Star Trek: Into Darkness, and not entirely happy with series 4 of Cabin Pressure.
Runner up: Thomas Nightingale being badass in Broken Homes. I had some issues with the book, mainly with That Spoilery Spoiler, but Thomas was great. And still completely readable as gay! Long may it last.
11. The most missed of your old fandoms?
When I leave a fandom I'm usually done with it, in the sense that I've run out of things I want to explore. I had some twinges of nostalgia this year for due South, maybe because it felt more like the fandom grew away from me than I grew away from it. Ray/Ray, which I do not ship at all, started to be a big thing, and there was a very late and very muted skirmish in the Ray Wars. Also, there was some fannish-personal stuff happening with me that wasn't fun at all. So I miss it a bit, although probably not enough to go back.
12. The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
I dunno. Anybody want to try and lure me into something? It will probably need to be a British fandom for me to take a serious interest.
13. Your biggest fan anticipations for the coming year?
Days of Future Past. I await this with keen desire that it be good and not fuck up, either in storytelling ways or by messing up Erik's character or the Charles/Erik relationship. This movie could go so, so wrong, and that scares me.
Also: the new and presumably final series of Sherlock and the last episode of Cabin Pressure.
sineala. And I know I still owe people answers on the December meme. Forthcoming, I swear!1. Your main fandom of the year?
Still the "world wars megafandom," although I feel like I'm running out of good fictional fandoms within it. But 2014 is the centenary of the start of the First World War, so I'm hoping for some good documentaries and maybe, if I'm lucky, a drama.
2. Your favorite film you watched this year?
Lawrence of Arabia. (Nobody said it had to be a new film or a film I watched for the first time!) I made a special 100-mile round trip to see the 50th anniversary screening. It was the second time in my life I've seen it on the big screen--the first time was when I was a student in Paris, in 1989, when I saw the newly restored and remastered version--and it really is amazing to see that gorgeous cinematography as it was meant to be seen. Lawrence of Arabia has been my favorite film since I was a teenager, despite its historical and political failings. It's the last gasp of the epic, and in some ways an anti-epic, an epic that undermines itself. We're suspicious of epics now (and with good reason), so I don't think a film like this can ever be made again.
3. Your favorite book read this year?
Looking back at my "books" tag, I can see that this was the year of re-reading for me. I've been having a hard time finding new books that appeal, and often I just don't feel able to trust a book not to disappoint me, so I go back to those books from which I know what to expect. But of the things I read for the first time this year, here are two favorites.
Fiction: London Falling, by Paul Cornell. Urban fantasy as it should be (whch is to say fantasy about cities rather than paranormal romance), with a genuinely creative and interesting take on magic, a strong plot, and great characters, one of whom is gay. I recommend this highly, but I'd note that there is a not-inconsiderable amount of horrifying violence, which isn't graphically described but isn't flinched away from, either.
Non-fiction: A Minority, by Gordon Westwood. This was first published in 1960, in support of the Wolfenden Commission's recommendation that male/male sex be decriminalized in Britain. Westwood (a pseudonym for Michael Schofield, a sociologist and gay rights activist) makes a remarkably pro-gay argument considering the time, and also--this is the bit I love--lets his gay male subjects speak for themselves sometimes by quoting their stories and opinions in their own words. For that alone it's a wonderful bit of queer men's history. There's more about the book here if you're interested.
4. Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?
I don't buy a lot of new music anymore, and I can't remember if I bought Frightened Rabbit's Midnight Organ Fight this year or last year. Anyway, it's pretty awesome.
5. Your favorite TV show of the year?
I finally watched Community this year and loved it, with reservations (e.g. the treatment of Britta, the more and more problematic way the show has dealt with Abed's possibly being on the autism spectrum, the whole existence of Pierce). At its best it's more creative than anything I've seen in ages; and even when it's far from its best, as in season 4, it's still mostly enjoyable.
6. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
Welcome to Night Vale, I guess? I'm not especially fannish about it, in the sense of desperately wanting fic, but I like it. And if somebody could point me to the good fic, the fic that has the feel of canon and isn't just "Cecil and Carlos wuv each other so much with their Twoo Twoo Wuv" that would be good. (I love Cecil and Carlos. I love that their relationship is canonical and that one of the major new fantasy fandoms has a gay man as its lead character. And I would love to read stories about their relationship that aren't pure schmoop, that are also still about Night Vale, that don't forget that Night Vale is fucked up and Cecil a lot of the time is fucked up along with it.)
7. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
The Doctor Who 50th anniversary special. I tried to go into it with low expectations, but then there was the mini webisode with Paul McGann and I got all excited. Alas, the special was very much in the mode of current Doctor Who, which has alienated me so much that I don't even watch regularly anymore. The show deserved better for its 50th birthday.
8. Your fandom boyfriend of the year?
This one's stumping me a bit. If I think about fandoms that were new/new to me this year, I can't think of anyone I really love, and if I think about all my fandoms, I have too many choices. I guess I'll go with the Eighth Doctor, who counts as "of this year" due to the webisode (which has got me re-reading the Eighth Doctor Adventures, always a nice experience). He's brilliant and pretty and kind of broken, in the EDAs at least, and that is a combination I can't resist.
9. Your fandom girlfriend of the year?
Hmmm. How about Phryne Fisher's friend Dr. Elizabeth "Mac" Macmillan? In the books--I haven't seen the show--she routinely wears male clothes and, as an honorary gentleman, is a member of the Blue Cat Club, Melbourne's swankiest and most private club for gay men. (It's a little unclear why she'd want to be, since at other points in the books she's identified as a lesbian, but consistency is not the books' strong suit.) Dr. Mac is pretty damn cool, and she and I would at least have an interest in fine menswear in common!
10. Your biggest squee moment of the year?
Learning that there is a revised edition of The Wooden Horse. Which is not the expurgated version, but rather a later expansion and revision that deletes some fictional incidents and adds in things that couldn't be mentioned, for security reasons, when the book was first published. Yes, this is highly obscure and geeky, but it wasn't a squee-tastic year for me fannishly. I was disappointed by Doctor Who, Iron Man 3 and Thor 2, outraged by Star Trek: Into Darkness, and not entirely happy with series 4 of Cabin Pressure.
Runner up: Thomas Nightingale being badass in Broken Homes. I had some issues with the book, mainly with That Spoilery Spoiler, but Thomas was great. And still completely readable as gay! Long may it last.
11. The most missed of your old fandoms?
When I leave a fandom I'm usually done with it, in the sense that I've run out of things I want to explore. I had some twinges of nostalgia this year for due South, maybe because it felt more like the fandom grew away from me than I grew away from it. Ray/Ray, which I do not ship at all, started to be a big thing, and there was a very late and very muted skirmish in the Ray Wars. Also, there was some fannish-personal stuff happening with me that wasn't fun at all. So I miss it a bit, although probably not enough to go back.
12. The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
I dunno. Anybody want to try and lure me into something? It will probably need to be a British fandom for me to take a serious interest.
13. Your biggest fan anticipations for the coming year?
Days of Future Past. I await this with keen desire that it be good and not fuck up, either in storytelling ways or by messing up Erik's character or the Charles/Erik relationship. This movie could go so, so wrong, and that scares me.
Also: the new and presumably final series of Sherlock and the last episode of Cabin Pressure.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-01 01:05 am (UTC)And don't watch Time of the Doctor. It's nowhere near as good as Day of the Doctor and I had major objections to the gratuitous Christmasness of it. A turkey lunch would have been enough.
Have you seen the Beiderbecke series or the Jeeves ones (Fry and Laurie are brilliant as Jeeves and Wooster, Fry especially) or A Very Peculiar Practice? None of them are war, but oh! Private Schultz is: another favourite of mine. There's also Over Here which I missed the second part of years ago due to a recording mix-up and haven't yet managed to get hold of.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-01 01:17 am (UTC)I should probably give the Jeeves series another try. I love the books, but I didn't like the show when I first saw it, but I've warmed more to Fry and Laurie since then.
I'd never heard of the Beiderbecke series until about a week ago, but then some secondhand box sets turned up in the store where I work--it's a funny coincidence considering you're reccing it to me now. At the moment my ability to acquire any British TV except very recent stuff is limited, but I hope that will change eventually. Thanks for the recs!
no subject
Date: 2014-01-01 02:49 am (UTC)I think you'll really enjoy the Beiderbecke series with its eccentric characters, and I hope you managed to grab the DVDs. The other series are up to the same high and quietly odd standard.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-05 04:57 am (UTC)And I should also rec Auf Wiedershehen, Pet. I love this. There are 4 series, and I see also some specials I don't think I've seen. The first two series are my favourites; the first is set mainly in Germany, the second in Spain. They were made long enough ago that there are war references and characters who were in it (I recall an RAF pilot).
no subject
Date: 2014-01-09 11:34 pm (UTC)Auf Wiedersehen, Pet sounds interesting. I'll try to watch it once I am again able to acquire shows easily.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-01 03:23 am (UTC)If you run out of world wars fandoms, maybe you could try Antarctic explorers? Lots of male bonding in extreme environments around the same time period. Ernest Shackleton in particular, as it's the centenary of his expedition from now to 2016.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-09 11:31 pm (UTC)