☆❀☆

I finally finished watching Babylon 5.

I feel kind of like the last handful episodes were one big long drawn-out finale. It works okay when you're watching them one after another, but I wonder how it would have played out when it first came out.

There are some things that I feel like... Ehh. The stuff with the Drakh was not tied up as much as I would have liked. I found myself thinking, "What next?" and then... sudden 20-year jump? Augh. But. Anyway.

I'm really glad that I ended up deciding to watch the whole series. There were some parts of the series that I thought were better than others, some seasons that I liked more than others (though of course now that I'm actually thinking of it, I can't put my finger on specifics) but overall I had a really enjoyable time with it.

Part of me wants to rewatch from the beginning, since I have a feeling that many things from the earlier parts will feel much different when I know what happens later. But, there are so many things on my to-do list, I think I'll save that for another time. I do have access to the movies, though, so I'll watch those.

Londo and G'kar are, as Tik described it, "Something Else. The most situationship of all time". Man, I just find those two and the mess going on between them so very compelling.

I mentioned at one point (or maybe it was just to Tik) that Londo reminds me of Prince Yu from Nirvana in Fire, at least in a few small but significant ways. Mostly related to making horrible decisions out of ambitious/selfishness/etc and then continuing to make horrible decisions even when it bites him in the ass. But if Prince Yu is the personification of "The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math", Londo seems to eventually notice the calculation errors and make some correcting entries in the accounts, though not enough to make it balance properly. ...I think I'm running a little too far with this metaphor.

Apparently I ended up with mister "In purple, I'm stunning" as my B5 blorbo. Quite a surprise that I would become so attached to the embodiment of "It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me". (Then again, see above re: Prince Yu.) G'kar is more my typical type - though, I suppose he and Londo are kind of a package deal, considering how he and Londo are so entwined. (Speaking of which, everything re: "Where he goes, I go" is just. Let me sit here a bit with that. Yeahh.)

I feel like I should have more concrete thoughts (or, like, any at all) but frankly my brain is mush right now, so I'll end it here.

Fandom-wise, I have no idea what I might desire - aside from works that explore alien worldbuilding, for any/all of the alien races, which I found myself enjoying in canon but wanting more of in general. (Well, and also anything with well-characterised Londo and/or G'kar.) Whether I will set aside time to go poking around for fic remains to be seen, though.

Current status: Finished up to b5s2e8.

+ At one point while watching s1 of b5, I briefly watched the French dub just for kicks. But now while snailing my way through s2, I have noticed that Babylon Cinq is not included on the discs. Perhaps only s1 was dubbed into French? A mystery. Cannot speak on the quality of the dub of course, because I do not speak French, but anyway. An observation.

+ Have found that Lennier's grown on me a bit. Possibly because of some of the S1 episodes he was in. IDK I just find myself thinking "Oh, it's Lennier! Hi!"

+ Londo continues to be amuse me and be terribly grating at the same time. IDK. He inspires a lot of reactions.

+ That one bit where Ivanova helps Delenn with her hair was cute. Like. Very cute. I enjoyed that.

+ I see I have reached the "halfassed shipping" point in my experience of this series. And by that I mean "I have no intention to write this, and probably would not seek it out, but I am enjoying entertaining the thought of it for the span of five minutes or so". Idk. Ivanova/Delenn, Ivanova/Talia, Delenn/Sheridan apparently, etc etc etc. [/waves hand vaguely] Not feeling seriously intense about anything, but yes, enjoyable for a bit. I guess one good scene can be enough to make me want to consider something.

+ idk. I have no brains. And no further commentary. Except that b5 + a halfway decent pinot grigio is an A+++ combination.

Whoo! We're going to be getting a third season of Good Omens! (Details, such as they are)

Considering s2 was such a cliffhanger, I'm really happy that we'll get a third to wrap it up - and also that it won't get stretched further than that.

My current wishlist:

- Some kind of resolution to the drama that was set up in s2. Will s3 stick the landing? Well, I hope so! But whether or not the ending is executed well, I just want, like, a proper ending.
- A little Beelzebub/Gabriel. As a treat. Man, they don't even need to be involved in the actual plot; I'd be happy with just an update on what they're up to. It doesn't have to be much. Just a bite-sized amount. You can do a lot with a few minutes.
- Some kind of nice conclusion for Muriel. I don't really have any idea what that might entail, but considering the setup, I doubt we've seen the last of them. It's just, there's something about them that simultaneously makes me go "Oh noooo" and "You're adorable". I want to pinch their cheeks.

...And that's about it, honestly. This is one of those canons where it's like, I enjoy it, but I'm not super invested. It's kind of nice to feel so casual about something!

Watched the second season of Good Omens last night. (Well, did two episodes previous night, and then yesterday just... kept going.)

( GO2 spoilers )

Every time I see the abbreviation OFMD, I misread it as Our Flag Means Dog.

Our Flag Means... Dog?

Dog!AU?

Okay then!

(I still haven't watched Our Flag Means Death. I'll get around to it eventually.)

So, I had assumed that the adaptation of Stephen King's The Outsider was a movie, but it's actually a 9-episode HBO series. Whoops! That was a surprise when I went to pick up my library holds. Anyway, I've been watching it on and off over the past couple of weeks; if I weren't so short on time, I would have gone through it much more quickly.

I will say, I'm rather glad that it's actually a series - a lot of stuff happens in this novel, and I don't know if it would work as well if it were broken down to a movie-length story.

Like the novel, this isn't one to pick up if you don't enjoy procedurals. The police/mystery/investigative angle is already there in the premise, and it doesn't go away here.

There are a lot of changes, but in general I found the adaptation choices interesting rather than annoying. Partly this is because I'm not overly attached to the narrative/characters in the novel, but also because the lack of straight-up retread kept it fresh.

Holly Gibney was my favourite character in the novel, and I really liked her here too. She's played by Cynthia Erivo, who I haven't seen in anything before - guess I might need to seek out some of her other work. TV!Holly is quite different from book!Holly, especially in terms of vibe - TV!Holly comes across as more grounded and confident, to me. Still a very unusual person, but more sure of herself than book!Holly.

There was one thing that I feel kind of mixed about - ( Continued, spoilery )

After looking up information about this series, I see that a second season was scripted, though the series was not renewed. I find it surprising that a second season was planned. There isn't anywhere to go after this; the book is done. (Unless King wrote/planned a sequel that I don't know about - always possible.) I suppose there could always be something with Ralph and Holly teaming up to investigate another crime that turns out to be something weird, but I don't know if that works for me.

Overall impression: I enjoyed both the novel and the series; the series isn't a strict retread, and that kept things interesting. Holly was great. Both book and tv adaptation are enjoyable on their own merits.

One thing that the novel does better than the series, though, is that the horror is much scarier in the book! A lot of the scenes that I found pretty creepy or viscerally unpleasant weren't as effective in visual form. Possibly this is because a lot of it was relying on kind of existential, figurative stuff that's hard to get across in a visual format.

☆ Wishing a blessed solstice to everyone, etc etc etc. I forgot all about it until this evening, per usual. (I'd probably remember these dates better if I were more plugged in to the pagan community, but that is... a subject for another day.) Anyway, I'm very much looking forward to the return of the sun, even if it's going to be rather, uh, incremental.

☆ My car was experiencing some issues, so I took it in. Surprise, it's going to require some costly repair! And another battery change. I wish I could say I'm shocked, but my car is a hunk of junk the kind of vehicle that would probably do perfectly fine somewhere warm like, I dunno, Calgary, but really doesn't handle our extreme weather very well.

☆ No response from my beta reader on that FTH fic. Starting to wonder if they haven't been checking that particular email. I'm beginning to feel the desire to just throw the thing on Ao3 and then edit it later if they ever do respond.

☆ I feel like my tumblr dash is conspiring to make me watch Columbo. Except it's just Tik posting a lot of it, so it's a one-man plot. If I had more time, he would have succeeded. ;V

☆ Just saw the trailer for The Tragedy of Macbeth. I had not heard about this until now! I'm super interested! It looks really artsy.

Ahh, finished with season 3 of Poldark.

- Just when I thought George Warleggan couldn't get more cartoonishly evil... he did. WELL.
- Not going to lie though, I did feel halfway bad for him during that one moment when he was acting genuinely remorseful about something. (Too bad he had to go and ruin it by being his usual self in his next scene.)
- The costumes in this show continue to be Very Enjoyable.
- You know, I didn't like Caroline much when she first showed up - it seemed like she was being set up to be a female version of George - but after her growth/development etc since then, I like her a lot. I'm glad we keep seeing more of her.
- Everything to do with Rowella and the Vicar made my eyebrows lift right up to my hairline. Just. What.
- I see Ross Poldark continues to be cartoonishly moral (the better to oppose George's cartoonish evilness) while also continuing to make terrible decisions in his personal life. This guy is kind of a mess.
- Demelza should magically become ruler of Cornwall, or at least Truro & area. She's the only person with her head screwed on properly.

...Anyway. Much drama, such popcorn.gif, wow. I don't know what on earth I'm going to do when I'm finished with this series. (Watch the whole thing over again! ...No. Maybe?)

A Valdemar TV adaptation is in the works? Of the Last Herald Mage trilogy? Apparently!

My inner teenager is in tears from joy, and present me is just sitting here surprised.

It'll likely be a while before anything actually comes of this, but still. I'm excited! It'll most likely be sparkly glorious trash. Honestly, if it isn't sparkly glorious trash, I'll be disappointed. Bring on the popcorn.

Love how they just went straight for the Last Herald Mage. Turn everything right up to 11 with Vanyel. Bless.

(All the better for me, since I haven't actually read most of the Valdemar books. The local library only had a few - luckily, this set included.)

Man, this trilogy meant so much to teenage me. And... honestly, when I re-read it a few years ago, I still enjoyed it, even if I could admit that it wasn't actually very good. Even now, there's just something about it that appeals to my deepest, shiniest desires. Embarrassing though it is, there are some elements/aesthetic choices that I look at in my current writing and recognize "Ah, right, that came from the Vanyel books". (And also the Bardic Voices books, but that's neither here nor there.)

The big question, though: who the hell should be cast as Vanyel?! It would be hella hard to find someone pretty enough to play him. In some discussions I've seen, people were suggesting that various Cdrama actors might be most likely to have the right look, and... honestly, I see what they mean, there. I could dig that. (But who?)

The fandom for The Terror has been talking about an upcoming series, The North Water. Trailer just dropped! Age of sail? I'm in!

It's an adaptation of a novel of the same title by Ian McGuire, which I haven't read (but the library has it, so maybe I'll check it out).

Looks like it's mostly murder and survival stuff. Fun! Nothing supernatural, but like a lot of people who loved The Terror, it was the boats and such that mainly drew me in, so we're all good. Looking forward to this one, though it'll probably be a good while before I see it.