Just posting to confirm I am still alive!

I have recently moved and my new digs have a lovely view over the hills. A few days ago I enjoyed watching a kestrel hovering optimistically over a distant field. This morning a very glossy fox scampered past, and at the moment there's a kite getting mobbed in the air by a crow. Given all that's going on in the world, it is nice to have these moments.

In fannish news, I have watched the last UK series of Ghosts. I'm sad the show is gone, but I liked the ending, and for now at least, there is still the US version to keep the spectral jokes going.

For those who enjoy glossy, trashy, ancient Roman shenanigans, I do recommend Domina. Great fun, a good old fashioned romp through the times of Augustus Caesar, or more accurately, the times of Livia Drusilla, his eventual wife, who really ran the show.

Have to admit my reaction was mostly 'Eh', but any finale would struggle to match the euphoric madness that was Tumblr/fandom losing its collective mind on 05 November. That was a fun weekend.

Obviously SPOILERS for the finale, but reccing two happy offerings produced after SPN's final curtain call:

Finale Coda (fic) - 2363 words, canon compliant look at Team Free Will after the credits rolled.

VID: The End of the Movie - yes, someone did a finale (and general SPN nostalgia) vid to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. And, hilariously, it fits perfectly. The show really was a chick flick :)

Tags: fic recs, vid recs

So tonight, after 15 seasons, Supernatural will finally come to an end. Say what you like about it, but to have lasted this long is an achievement. Not sure when we'll get another show that lasts this long. And I will miss it, the last leftovers of the time post-AtS/BtVS and LJ being the place where fandom thrived.

The meltdown on Tumblr these past two weeks has been beautiful. Fingers crossed for a satisfying finale.

So I'll be honest, Thursday was not good day. First day of lockdown V2, hospital bracing itself for 'the second wave', and of course the uncertainty over what would happen with the US election.

Enter SPN, stage left. Episode 18 was due to air Thursday evening. Then there would be a 2 week hiatus before the final finale on 19 November. So those of us still watching were braced for the worst (a hiatus is never heralded with a happy closing scene). Suffice to say I was not sure what I would see come Friday.

What I awoke to... there is no meme or sh*tpost that fully does it justice. It was beautiful. Like everyone else, this year left fandom exhausted. The past 12 hours were clearly what broke the proverbial camel's back. At one point Supernatural was trending on social media ahead of supposed tales of Russia announcing Putin's imminent resignation and key US states potentially flipping blue. When people talk about 'everything being on fire', this is what they mean as fandom went into complete, utter, flaming, beautiful meltdown.

So yes, mark the date. Merlin took Christmas Eve, and now, subject of course to what the final finale actually does, it looks like 05 November will be Supernatural's until further notice :)

So as 2018 draws to a close I feel I echo the sentiments of many if I summarise with 'JFC WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT.' Farewell, 2018, and don't let the door hit you on the way out.

That said, it is good that some things have remained true and constant even now. SPN is heading for its 300th episode. I've seen the remark about who would have seen this show outliving Tumblr. The cast have compared it to a cockroach; apparently Misha Collins plans to retire when the show ends because frankly he's expecting to be 60+ by the time the last credits roll. Like it or loathe it, though, it will be odd when SPN is no longer on the air - it's one of the last shows still going from my early days of fandom.

In terms of new fandom... well alas the football isn't going anywhere. After 2+ years I've just resigned myself to it, hopefully it'll pass as various names start retiring. And of course there's Marvel, although even that will be coming to a close of sorts with End Game as I'm assuming it'll be the last we see of the full original crew with various contracts finally being up.

But! On the upside, I thoroughly enjoyed the new series of Doctor Who. Love the new 'fam' and am looking forward to seeing them again in 2019. Then there was the unexpected gift from a decidedly barely mediocre film when it unexpectedly flattened me with a "blood big ship". God bless AO3 and writers with their "F**k canon! Fixed it!" attitude :) So on that note, LLAP y'all, let's see what we can wrangle from 2019.

So I got around to watching The Punisher. I wasn't expecting much and I surprised myself by how much I wound up really enjoying it. After all the superpowers, capes and talk of other worlds, it was refreshing to instead have a purely human tale.

And on a shallow note, I did appreciate that they had managed to assemble a very aesthetically pleasing cast. Who, on the whole, were also very likeable, who got me attached to the characters I was supposed to be attached to and going 'Booo!' to those I wasn't. So all in all, thumbs up.

( A few more spoiler-y thoughts behind the cut...Collapse )

I've also had a recent cinema flurry. God's Own Country - EXCELLENT - left my heart overfull with chilled, rural feels, and a envy of their knitwear. Also Death of Stalin. Also excellent. Funny, dark, and a little bit scary given how it's based on history. Then on to Thor Ragnarok, which I adored. A fitting close to the Odinsons' trilogy. All hail Waititi. And finally Paddington 2. Daft, silly, adorable, and lovely. I went to see it with the parents, the padre and I wearing our 'Todos somos Peru' scarves. The family of the LB was well pleased, if there had been less people around there may have been some proud scarf waving :)

Yes I enjoyed it.

Tumblr informs me the name for Luke and Danny is Powerfist.

Life is beautiful. Every day is a gift.

Ah yes, because heaven forfend that we not be in the political media spotlight for less than five minutes.

Snap election. Huzzah.

My utterly non-cynical reaction was basically that line from 'The Thick of It': "Well that's a complete disaster, there'll be nothing on tv now for weeks."

Ah, so my initial reaction to having gifs from the latest 'Underworld' instalment pointed out to me was "Yay - happiness!" Who doesn't enjoy seeeing Bradders enjoy himself skulking around in leathers and general vampire garb :)

The problem is that inevitably the Underworld gifs are sandwiched between various 'Merlin' gifsets. The beginning and end.

Christmas eve. You bastards.

Nope. Still not over it.

So I do have thoughts/feelings, quite strong ones, on all that's been going on, however for the moment these are being articulated elsewhere.

Keeping on the shallow front, I have discovered a channel of Grade A crack!films for late night, viewing. One of the latest offerings was a film of aliens vs. vikings (yes, really - Sophia Myles and John Hurt why were you there?!). Tonight's gem has Jean Claude Van Damme as an evil ginger-haired (French) mountie. Yes really. Oh, and also Orlando Jones turned up as a gun wielding arch nemesis. I have no idea what is happening.

In other news. Franz Ferdinand it seems have risen from the doldrums - they've been announced as one of the acts at our local summer festival. I am tempted. It's been a while but I have fond memories of the years of 'Michael' and 'Take Me Out'.

Oh, and the football thing is still on-going. It amuses me that one of the favourite sayings bandied about by the fans (of any team) is: "When I die I want my team to lower my casket into the ground, so they can let me down one last time." They really aren't kidding when they say no-one hates football more than football fans... :)