yuletide | Praise! Your! Fandoms! Get others interested!

I suspect the lack of e-book editions is a function of authorial ~~laziness~~ disinterest-- the original Keltiad novels were very likely not written on computer, and since she's now self-publishing all of her work, it would be a not-inconsiderable effort (or non-trivial expense) to set them up for electronic distribution. She's done Kindle-only e-versions of her newer mystery novels (which I have not read and am not much interested in), but that's as good as it gets

That said -- it turns out that there was, in fact, a collection of shorter Keltiad stories released in 2014. Tales of Spiral Castle includes one story reprinted from a Katherine Kurtz-edited Templar-themed anthology, plus one background tale each for Aeron, Gwydion, and Sarah/Sorcha. I am just curious enough to want to hunt that one down.

I agree with you that the Keltiad series would make fantastic video -- although I think I'd go for TV rather than feature film, because the books are dense enough that you could really easily do for them what cable did for Game of Thrones. Unfortunately, history suggests that PKM is not the sort of author who'd be able to let a gaggle of scriptwriters loose in her sandbox without sidewalk-supervising the franchise to death.

Fandom/Canon Name: Diana Winthrop series - Kate Chambers

What's Awesome About It:
First of all: "Kate Chambers" was a pen name; these were actually written by Norma Johnston. Sadly, the Web page I'd bookmarked documenting Johnston's many pen names has poofed off the Web and doesn't seem to have been Waybacked.

This was a 1980s teen-sleuth series -- six skinny paperbacks, rapidly released over about two years -- that did several things that most other teen sleuth series very rarely did.

It didn't marginalize the adults. Where Nancy Drew's father is mostly a background figure, Diana's is a catalyst for some of the plots, an active supporter of Diana's sleuthing, and actually gets an ongoing social life! Moreover, Lydian Sinclair is not merely her father's eventual romantic interest, she's a professional investigative journalist who also becomes a mentor to Diana. And there's a sizeable and well-developed extended family as ensemble cast, with a couple of characters who recur regularly in prominent roles. And yet while adults were readily at hand for support, the teen-aged leads were the primary sleuths and investigators.

It featured sophisticated mystery plots. Johnston dedicated each book to a notable mystery author, and she didn't pick her authors at random. For instance, the book dedicated to Emma Lathen (author of the excellent John Putnam Thatcher mysteries featuring Wall Street investment-banking themes) is in fact a mystery with strong elements of business/financial intrigue. The book featuring Diana working undercover on a TV-miniseries set describes the production realistically on pretty much all levels. And the family Christmas-themed mystery? I don't think I've ever seen another teen sleuth series book go where that one did.

One other thing, which I hadn't thought of as remarkable until reading through some earlier posts in this comment-stream: Diana's cousin Jacintha, who appears in several of the books and helps drive two of the plots -- is blind. And her condition is treated thoughtfully, described carefully and well, and thus defines her character without diminishing it. Which, both for teen sleuth series in general and especially that far back, is extremely unusual.

Where to find:
Sadly, this series went OP very quickly and hasn't had a second life to speak of.

A series list is here on Goodreads; I recommend searching for individual volumes on AbeBooks (or your preferred online vendor) for used copies, which can be had not too expensively.

(This was nominated last year, don't know if it is this year.) More targeted to younger ages, but I enjoy Princeless. A black princess is locked in a tower to be rescued by a knight, but instead she joins forces with her guardian dragon, dons her own sword and armor and sets out to rescue her similarly-captive sisters. As a feminist critique it's pretty broad and on-the-nose but it's great fun.

Edited 2017-09-15 12:04 (UTC)

Fandom/Canon name: Spambots (Anthropomorfic)

What's awesome about it:

I've been getting spam recently for Financial Robot. Financial Robot is an unstoppable financial super-being with endearingly poor grammar. Robot never sleeps. It makes money for you 24/7. Still not a millionaire? The financial robot will make you him! Attention! Financial robot may bring you millions!

Most successful people already use Robot. Do you?

https://pastebin.com/M2hhtnKH for many more...

Fandom/Canon Name: Adam Adamant Lives!
What's awesome about it: 1966-67 UK cult show that is in fact bottled sunshine and adorableness and joy (in b&w). It's an OTT ridiculous BBC adventure series in which Edwardian adventurer Adam Adamant gets frozen in a block of ice by his dastardly nemesis only to be defrosted in the 1960s, where he fights crime in the with-it, modern world with the (mostly unwanted) aid of Georgina Jones and his manservant, Simms.

Basically if 60s Doctor Who and The Avengers had got together and had a love child, this would be it. (Indeed, given that it was created for the BBC by Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert as am Avengers rival, it kind of is). Thanks to burnination, there's sadly only 17 episodes left of it (out on DVD in R2 and all up on YT at the moment.

It ought to be terrible, but it's adorably ridiculous and everybody involved knows it, while the leads have the charm and enthusiasm needed to pull it off. It's BBC-fare, so not on shiny film (think 60s Doctor Who production levels), some of the less attractive attitudes of the time are all too evident in eps3 & 5, but it's an awful lot of fun and if you like any similar old telly, this is a happy-making thing you want in your life.

Adam (Gerald Harper) sports a cape, kills unlikely villains with his swordstick with much relish, and refuses to believe that women can be evil despite the fact that (Georgie aside) he never meets a woman who isn't evil. He gets knocked out and tied up every episode (usually by a charming lady who couldn't possibly be evil). Georgie (Juliet Harmer) is no Emma Peel - she's a young DJ with no spy/action skills, but she won't be left out and is usually much more helpful than Adam will ever admit; her fashion sense couldn't be more swinging Sixties and she's basically adorable. The third main character is Simms (Jack May), Adam's theatrical manservant, who largely tries to stay well out of all this - he prefers dusting, thanks. He also enjoys making up terrible limericks and annoying Georgie.

They're an oddball little found family and together they fight off the most wonderful collection of unlikely villains and their plans to destroy the country with washing powder, funeral scams, lethal ball gowns, or whatever it is this week. It has an exclamation mark in the title and an OTT Bond-esque intro and spreads joy wherever it goes.

Where to find: It's up on YT - Links and Info below:
1. Series up on YouTube
2. Wonderfully OTT Bond-esque theme tune (YT again)
3. Fanvid
4. Adam Adamant Lives! (wiki).

Just picked up a copy of this! :DDDD

Just picked this up for my Nook (for $5.99 even!). :DDD

Ooh, wonderful! They were pretty quick reads for me. I did nom them, so if you finish them (and like them enough) they'll be in the tag set. :D

Fandom/Canon Name: Dracula (TV 1968)
What's awesome about it: Feature length b&w adapation (originally part of ITV's Mystery and Imagination series), starring Denholm Elliott, Corin Redgrave, James Maxwell, Joan Hickson, Bernard Archard, Suzanne Neve & Susan George. It's shaky old b&w telly, yes, but it's also an interesting adaptation, and it's a lot of fun as a launching place for Dracula fic.

In this version, all the action is confined to Whitby, Arthur and Quincy have been dispensed with, while Jonathan (Corin Redgrave) is conflated with Renfield and is 100% overwhelmed by Dracula (sadly Dracula prefers girls if he can get them, poor Jonathan) and the sole strapping Victorian male gent left is Dr Seward... who spends the whole thing fainting under the strain. He's Van Helsing's miner's canary. Van Helsing (Bernard Archard) clearly has history on this supernatural stuff as well as epic fake hair, because Dracula has heard of him. (He's long wished to cross swords with him. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Aha. Ahahaha.)

Meanwhile, Lucy (Susan George) is busy seducing Mina (Suzanne Neve) <3 <3 <3 when she's not making John faint again, and Denholm Elliott's Dracula likes to turn up to dinner parties and troll people. Many flowers get killed; this distresses Dr Seward. It all winds up with Dracula ostensibly defeated, but Mina probably still vampirised and eyeing up Dr Seward's neck, and Jonathan shaken and silent. And then...? Who knows, dear Yuletider, that's the thing.

It's also a great one to be in if you're a minor character - as far as we know, Mr Swales, the three Brides of Dracula, and Mrs Weston (Joan Hickson aka Miss Marple, oh yes) are all still alive when the credits roll.

Where to find: YouTube & Links -
1. The whole thing is up here at YouTube
2. Dracula (1968) (Wiki entry)
3. Reviews:
http://www.gothic.stir.ac.uk/blog/Dracula-1968/
http://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/mystery-and-imagination-dracula-1968.html
Plus: Gifset of Lucy seducing Mina.

I was just coming to pimp it! You sell AAL! better than me though!

Fandom/Canon Name: Henry VI - Shakespeare

What's awesome about it: If you're looking for something to fill a gap as AGOT comes to an end or have run out of Tudor dramas to watch why not give H6 a try? The 'Henry VI' plays come before 'Richard III' & cover Henry VI's turbulent reign in C15th England (and France) from beginning to end. It has lots of big characters including strong, ambitious women taking matters into their own hands. While the characters are pretty awful you can't help caring about them, their families and their crown crazed plans. There are dynastic squabbles that get out of hand, passionate 'ships, witchey-poo goings on, big battles, anarchy, dark humour, scheming, plots and more plots, all round bad behaviour and Richard-not-yet-the-III! And some rather nice bits with Henry VI looking sad as the country slides into bloody conflict as the plays aren't without humanity.

Where to find:
The texts are available online for free and there are various audio and screen adaptations. Full plays available from http://www.folgerdigitaltexts.org/ which claim to be up to date free downloadable texts most of the free online ones are from the C19th

On CD, cassette and audible audio there is the Arkangel edition with David Tennant as Henry VI.

The BBC Shakespeare Collection adaptations from 1983 (dir: Jane Howell) are available seperately on DVD (separately or as part of a complete Shakespeare set). These are the only (near) complete filmed versions and thankfully are pretty good.

This sounds great, but sadly one I wouldn't get through in time for the deadline. Still there's always NYR!

Oh, yay, I hope you enjoy it!

I haven't nominated yet, I was gonna do that today, so if you already have and I now won't, I think we're good? Unless someone else may have also nominated it as Stranger, so idk, maybe we should let them know after all to avoid any possible confusion?

ALSO THESE TWO ARE SO GOOD TOGETHER. SO GOOD. I ship it too, despite being glad the show let them be friends. :D

Gosh, I must have read it half a dozen times. I've met a couple people who have done the walk to Santiago del Compostela and I'm pretty jealous, even though I'm sure the experience is awfully different now! It wasn't until college that I realized it was kind of a young people's Canterbury Tales--there I was in Chaucer class thinking "wait, the Wife of Bath's tale sounds awfully familiar..."

Fandom/Canon Name: Dare (2005 award-winning gay short film)

What's awesome about it: Need a five minute fandom? Well, okay, it's more like 16 minutes. You have sixteen minutes, right? Okay, I admit, I have a THING for Michael Cassidy. I'll watch anything he's in, and that's what drew me to this film. That and the picture.

This picture.

Johnny and Ben in the pool

High school senior Ben secretly lusts after bad boy classmate Johnny. After Ben gives Johnny a ride home one night, the boys end up in Johnny's swimming pool and have an encounter that breaks the rules and blows Ben's mind.

Like I said, it's short, and it's also pretty open-ended. They're working to raise money to make a sequel all these years later, but since it's open-ended NOW, there are so many possibilities! Do they make up? Are they frenemies? Are there second chances? What happens five minutes after they get out of the pool? What happens a week after they get out of the pool? What happens ten years later? Does Johnny ever grow up? Or does he remain a closeted jerk? There's just so much fertile ground, in terms of ficcing. Not to mention . . . well, hotties splashing in a pool.

Where to find: Watch it on YouTube here!

Oh, my gosh, me, too. I've gone on one pilgrimage, and tbh The Ramsay Scallop was part of my inspiration. I feel like actually going to Santiago de Compostela would be amazing. :( I also didn't put together the Canterbury Tales comparison until a lot later, either, lol.

Speaking of young people's Canterbury Tales, one of the Newbery honor books from 2016 is exactly such a thing. It's called The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and their Holy Dog, and while Adam Gidwitz is going for a much different tone than Frances Temple (there are exponentially more farting dragons in The Inquisitor's Tale), he does a marvelous job creating another introduction to medieval life and culture. It was my favourite book of 2016, so I can recommend it whole-heartedly. ♥ I'm not sure I'm going to request it this year, but I've nominated it, just in case I change my mind.

OKAY. HERE WE GO. Saga has been mentioned, and it is indeed excellent, but have a few more.

Lazarus: https://www.comixology.com/Lazarus/comics-series/10378

Nailbiter: https://www.comixology.com/Nailbiter/comics-series/17518

Revival: https://www.comixology.com/Revival/comics-series/8196

Sex Criminals: https://www.comixology.com/Sex-Criminals/comics-series/11424

Trees: https://www.comixology.com/Trees/comics-series/18840

Injection: https://www.comixology.com/Injection/comics-series/41700

The Beauty: https://www.comixology.com/The-Beauty/comics-series/50459

(That said, I'll probably nom one or two of those, and at least Lazarus usually shows up in the tag set, but no idea about the others. They're all excellent though, and maybe if you read any during the coming year, you can put them in next year? ACK SORRY. I might be unhelpful. XD)

Edited 2017-09-15 15:44 (UTC)

Re: availability, the anime is up on crunchyroll too. :D

I've just been re-watching this because I love it so much! Cameron is exactly the messed-up soldier type character that I adore. And I'm still shipping Cameron and Rachel.

This Yuletide, as always, I'm looking for horror recs. Preferably movies, tv shows, and comics.

Oh thank you! I've been in kind of a mood for young people's adventure stories lately so this is good timing. (E.g. after years and years of recommendations I've suddenly decided it's time to read Megan Whalen Turner.)

I vaguely associate The Ramsay Scallop with Monica Furlong's Wise Child and Juniper, too, probably because those three are the only middle-grade novels I know where a character could plausibly mention Pelagius.

Fandom/Canon Name: moneysupermarket he-man commercial

What's awesome about it: He-Man and Skeletor were the antagonists from a cartoon in the 80's (and various things since). An ad agency re-interpreted the final dance number from Dirty Dancing as a 2-minute clip of He-Man and Skeletor dancing together. It's brilliant, and ever-so-slightly slashy.

I wasn't sure whether you would or not, and I just c+p from last year, really! I'm sure you would have pimped it even better. You waz robbed! ;-p

Hee, well, I can tell you I nominated both of them (because I plan on requesting Rachel, and I liked Cameron enough that I figured "why not nominate him too" just in case someone wanted him), so if you're wanting to request them for Yuletide, you'll be able to! I love Cameron too and I don't mind the idea of Cameron/Rachel, I'm just not sure how you'd get to that post-S2, lol. But if you divert S1 in a different direction (such as have Nina actually stick with her "I'm not good with relationships" and push Cameron away, or ship them before the Nina/Hicks thing even has a potential of beginning) then I can see that. I did love how she ran to him in the pilot when he freed her from the Ghost, and how he held his arm out to caution her from approaching Don Wilson's body scene in Anger Management. :) I don't have any real OTPs with this show, I just love all the chars so much.

Praise! Your! Fandoms! Get others interested!

Re: Keltiad - Patricia Kennealy-Morrison

Diana Winthrop series - "Kate Chambers"

Re: Comics Recs

Re: 5 minute fandoms?

Adam Adamant Lives!

no subject

no subject

Re: Dragon's Winter

Dracula (TV 1968)

Re: Adam Adamant Lives!

no subject

no subject

no subject

Re: Stranger (TV, 2017)

Re: The Ramsay Scallop - Frances Temple

Dare (2005 short film)

no subject

Re: Comics Recs

Re: Akatsuki no Yona

Re: Alphas (TV)

Horror Recs

no subject

Re: 5 minute fandoms?

Re: Adam Adamant Lives!

Re: Alphas (TV)