Aug. 19th, 2025 04:21 pm

London Theatre Watching III

selenak: (Richard III. by Vexana_Sky)
[personal profile] selenak
No, still not the Marlowe/Shakespeare one, that’s on tonight. Instead, two plays I had on my list as maybes, but not musts, hence only bought the tickets on the day and therefore cheaper. :)

Charing Cross Theatre: The Daughter of Time

By playwright named M. Kilburg Reedy, based on Josephine Tey’s novel of the same name which three quarters of a century ago stroke a mighty blow for Richard III in hte public imagination. Background here for people who haven’t read it: Josephine Tey wrote this as the last and most unusual of her series starring her detective, Inspector Alan Grant, who in the novel, which takes place then-contemporary to its publication in the late 1940s/early 1950s (pre Elizabeth II’s coronation at any rate, her father is still on the throne), fights off the boredom of many weeks in the hospital by getting interested in Richard IIII and deciding to solve the mystery of the Princes in the Tower. More Background: Josephine Tey was a pseudonym for Scottish Author Elizabeth MacIntosh, who also was a playwright under the alias Gordon Daviot. Her most famous historical play was probably Richard of Bordeaux, about that other controversional Plantagenet royal named Richard, Richard II., which she wrote after having seen young John Gielgud play Shakespeareas Richard III. It was a smash hit and contributed to making John G a star. However, The Daughter of Time is a novel, by its very premise is confined to one hospital room and a lot of thinking about history, some of which, granted, presented via arguments with other people, but a lot also via thoughts and musings about text excerpts, and I was really curious how someone would manage to dramatize it in a way that works on stage.

Spoilers still aren’t sure whether truth is the daughter of time… )

The Other Palace: Saving Mozart.

It’s London, it’s theatre, there had to be at least one musical. In my case, a new one by Charli Eglington, which feels a bit like someone on Tumblr after watching Amadeus decided they wanted to write prequel fanfiction with a feminist slant, focused on the women. Which means that while we’re following Mozart’s life story from Wunderkind to early death, in the first half of the musical Nannerl has a claim to being the main character and in the second half Constanze. It’s about as historical as Amadeus (meaning it uses some facts with a lot of fictionalisiation), with a lot of laudable #JusticeforNannerl and #ConstanzeRules sentiment.

How the women in his life saved Mozart )

All in all: not a must, but if you want a new musical where everyone sings soulfully in Steampunk Rokoko costumes, go for it.
Aug. 18th, 2025 01:08 pm

The Disaster Days, by Rebecca Behrens

rachelmanija: (Books: old)
[personal profile] rachelmanija


13-year-old Hannah, who lives on a tiny island off Seattle, is excited for her first babysitting job. Then a giant earthquake hits, cutting the island off from the mainland... and leaving Hannah alone in charge of two kids in a devastated landscape.

Hannah is not having a good day. She was recently diagnosed with asthma, forcing her to drop out of soccer and always carry an inhaler. Her best friend Neha, a soccer star, is now hanging out more with another soccer girl than with Hannah. Hannah forgets to bring her inhaler with her to school, and her mom doesn't turn around the car to get it as Hannah is desperate not to be late. When she arrives for her babysitting job after school, minus her inhaler (no doubt looming ominously on the mantelpiece at home, along with Chekhov's gun), she gets in a huge fight with Neha over text and the girls say they no longer want to be friends...

...just as a giant earthquake hits! Hannah gets her charges, Zoe and Oscar, to huddle under a table (along with their guinea pig) and no one is injured. But the windows break, the house is trashed, and the power, internet, and phones go out. The house is somewhat remote, an all-day walk from the next house. What to do?

Hannah is a pretty realistic 13-year-old. She's generally sensible, but makes some mistakes which are understandable under the circumstances, but have huge repercussions. She enlists the kids to help her search for her phone in the wreckage of the house, and Zoe immediately is severely cut on broken glass. The kids freak out because their mom (along with Hannah's) is on the mainland, and Hannah calms them down by lying that she got a text from their mom saying that she's fine and is coming soon. The next morning, she lets Oscar play on some home playground equipment. Hannah checks the surrounding area, but doesn't check the equipment itself. It's damaged and breaks, and Oscar breaks his leg. So by day one, Hannah is having asthma attacks without her inhaler, Zoe has one arm out of commission, Oscar is totally immobilized, and there's no adults within reach.

Well - this is a HUGE improvement on Trapped. It's well-written and gripping, the events all make sense, and the characterization is fine. It was clearly intended to teach kids what can happen during a big earthquake and how to stay as safe as possible, and the information presented on that is all good.

But - you knew there was a but - as an enjoyable work of children's disaster/survival literature, it falls short of the standards of the old classic Hatchet and the excellent newer series I Survived.

The basic problem with this book is that it has a very narrow emotional range. For the entire book, Hannah is miserable, guilty over her friend breakup and the kids getting hurt, worried about her parents, and desperately trying to keep it together. The kids get hurt so seriously so early on that they never have any fun. Even when Hannah tries to feed them S'Mores to cheer them up, nobody actually likes them because they're not melted!

The I Survived books have much more variety of emotional states and incidents, as typically the actual disaster doesn't happen until at least one-third of the way into the book. The kids have highs and lows, fun moments and despairing moments and terrifying moments. This book is all gloom all the time even before the disaster! Hannah eventually saves everyone, is hailed as a hero, and repairs her friendship, but we don't get that from her inner POV - it's in a transcript of a TV interview with her.

The information provided in the book is very solid, but I would have preferred that it didn't have BOTH kids get injured because of something Hannah does wrong. (That is not realistic! ONE, maybe.) It also would have been a lot more fun to read if the kids' injuries were either less serious or occurred later. The situation is desperate and miserable almost immediately, and just stays that way for the entire book.

Still, there's a lot about the book that's good and there should be an entertaining book that provides earthquake knowledge, so I'm keeping it. But I'm not getting her other book about two girls lost in the woods.
garryowen: (trek spock prime)
[personal profile] garryowen posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Star Trek Reboot/AOS
Pairings/Characters: Kirk/Spock
Rating: Teen
Length: 10,103
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] magneticwave
Theme: Marriage of convenience

Summary: What kind of an idiot would try to explain magic to a Vulcan.

Reccer's Notes: I wouldn't be a good Trek fan if I didn't rec a bonding story for this theme! (I'm going ahead and equating a Vulcan bond with marriage.) Punk actually recced this story six years ago for the magic theme, but it is FANTASTIC for this theme, as well.

As Punk wrote, this is not a Trek/Harry Potter crossover. Rather, facets of the HP universe (magic, legilimency, occlumency) are imported into Trekverse, where Jim comes from a wizarding family. The mental aspects of wizarding are a perfect fit with Vulcan telepathy and bonding. This fic makes excellent use of the commonality.

Much of Trek canon is exactly the same: Jim meets Old Spock in the way he does in canon, but, in this story, a spontaneous bond forms between them. When Old Spock dies (at what seems to be the same time he does in canon), Jim's mind is nearly destroyed by the loss of the bond. He uses his wizarding mind powers to heal the wound somewhat, but he's in danger of dying from the trauma. The logical action to save his life is to have Young Spock bond with him.

What makes this story shine is the writing and characterization. Jim is mouthy, emotionally stunted, in denial, afraid of intimacy, yadda yadda. Spock is repressed, has a huge chip on his shoulder, and is filled with rage and jealousy. It is delicious and vivid and charming. I'm making it sound like this story is all cheek and levity, but it's also emotionally resonant with glimpses of Jim's grief and the depth of his friendship with both Spocks. A+ on so many levels.


Fanwork Links: you will see what it is to be overcome
Aug. 18th, 2025 09:35 am

More theatre and a tv episode

selenak: (Demerzel and Terminus)
[personal profile] selenak
More plays:

Harold Pinter Theatre: A Man for All Seasons

By Robert Bolt, who at least in terms of this particular play is to Hilary Mantell what C.S. Lewis is to Philipp Pullmann, i.e. Wolf Hall and sequels are the His Dark Materials to A Man for All Seasons’ Narnia, and as in the Pullmann-Lewis case, Mantell ended up doing exactly the same thing they begrudged in the end, just from the opposite direction.


A Thomas by any other name… )

Foundation 3.06: In which the moon isn’t the only thing eclipsed.

Spoilers have provided data )
Aug. 18th, 2025 05:00 pm

Rules Updates & Nominations Open

modzilla: Godzilla with a clipboard (Default)
[personal profile] modzilla posting in [community profile] fffx

Nominations

Nominate HERE at the tag set. Nominations close at 11:59pm EDT on August 27.

Everyone may nominate up to 8 fandoms and 6 characters or relationships per fandom. Limited further nominations can be added during sign-ups. (I recommend keeping a record of what you nominated.)

After you've nominated, please check this community again before nominations end. We may need more information about what you've nominated, and we will post questions here.



FFFX uses the Fandom and the Relationship tag slots for nominations. You can nominate relationships, single characters, and a worldbuilding option. Please read further for how to format each of these.

In the Fandom field, you can enter a canonical or non-canonical fandom (it's okay if there's no work for it yet on AO3). There are tips on labelling new fandoms here.


What to enter in the Relationships field
To nominate a relationship, please enter Character/Character (Fandom) (for romantic or sexual relationships) or Character & Character (Fandom) (for platonic relationships).

Do NOT put "Group" or another prefix in front of a relationship nomination.

The punctuation / and & is very important to indicate what sort of relationship it is.

Putting the fandom at the end of the nomination is really helpful to stop tag misbehaviour.

Multiple relationships in one tag are OK - ie, "Character/Character & Character/Character" means you're asking for two sets of pairings who are doing something together or otherwise relate to each other.

To nominate a character, enter them in the format "Char: Name (Fandom)" - that is, actually type out "Char: ", but swap in the appropriate name and fandom, such as Char: Lucy Pevensie (Narnia - Lewis).

All nominated characters should explicitly exist in the fandom where they're nominated. Original characters are also fine as long as you describe a character who could have existed in canon, such as Char: Original Force-sensitive Character (Star Wars Original Trilogy).

To nominate Worldbuilding for a canon, enter it in the format "Oth: Worldbuilding (Fandom)" (filling in the relevant fandom), e.g. Oth: Worldbuilding (Narnia - Lewis). Not "Other".

Group nominations (ie "The Marauders") should be formatted as follows:
  • Nominations with a character and a group, like "Lily Evans & Marauders (HP JKR)" (where "Marauders" means four characters, namely Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and James Potter) means that at least two members of the group must feature prominently in the gift. which two is up to the creator.

  • "Creator's Choice of [GROUP]" means that one member of the group must feature prominently in the gift - the creator, not the recipient, gets to decide which.

  • "All: [GROUP]" means that all members of the group must feature.

If a group is quite large (10+), if it is subjective who belongs in the group, or if it is hard to know who belongs in the group without having canon knowledge, I am less likely to approve that group. For example - much as I can appreciate why you might want to nominate a set like "Canonical DILFs", I will not approve it, as it adds work and ambiguity.

I will check throughout nominations about who might appear in a particular group. If you want to speed up the approval of your nomination, please drop me a line when nominating to explain which characters are included in a group.


Some fandom notes
Please separate out Marvel movies and separate TV shows - ie, Iron Man (Movies) rather than MCU.

I will not approve "Star Wars (All Media Types)". Trilogies are fine. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types is an allowed exception. Please nominate The Acolyte as its own canon.

DC's Arrowverse includes (at least?): Arrow, Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, and Batwoman.

"All Media Types" fandoms will probably be approved last, overall, because if someone else wants a more specific version of canon, we'd prefer to approve that. If you believe All Media Types is what's right for your fandom, please comment so we can discuss that. Assassin's Creed - All Media Types is fine.

Where possible, we will not approve a larger set of fandom and a subset that is covered by the larger set.

To nominate a relationship between characters who appear in different fandoms, please nominate them under Crossover Fandom and include the fandom for each. For example: Arya Stark (ASoIF)/Elsa (Frozen - Movies). Please be specific if the fandom name could refer to different versions and adaptations. You can ask for general crossovers between fandoms by nominating "Oth: Worldbuilding (Fandom 1 & Fandom 2)"

You can also nominate characters and groups under Original Work. Please indicate the genders of the characters if that is important to you. If someone requests Original Work characters or relationships with ambiguous genders, the preference of the person requesting takes precedence over the preference of the person offering. (But you can ask to add a more specific version to the tag set during sign-ups if that is an issue.)


Sign-up requirements
The following information about sign-ups may help you plan your nominations:

-You need to request at least 4 separate fandoms with at least 1 relationship in each - so every nominated fandom needs at least one character, or one relationship, or one worldbuilding tag nominated underneath it

-Offer minimums are set as low as possible - you just have to be able to offer for someone else's request

-It's fine to request or offer a fandom more than once using different tags (so you can divide up your art/fic requests/offers with different tags)


Other
Please feel free to use the comments to ask questions or brainstorm with others.

If you find it helpful to keep a record of your own nominations, please save that information off AO3, because we will clear personal nominations during sign-ups to make it easier to add things at that time.



Rules updates


-There is still a deadline for completing any letter (aka any external document describing your prompts and preferences that you link to in your AO3 sign-up). That deadline is September 21. Previously, the consequence when someone failed to complete their letter in time was that their letter link would be deleted. Specific deadlines and consequences are useful, but I wasn't happy with that consequence because I didn't think it actually helped anything. So, going forward, the consequence will be different. If you are matched to a recipient whose letter is incomplete, you may request to swap to another recipient at any time before the January deadline while the letter is still incomplete.

I will also encourage letter-writers to include a date of completion at the top, but this is not mandatory.

-I will continue to hold a check-in week on Dreamwidth; this year it'll be between 23 and 30 November. However, this year I will also send an email reminder of the check-in to the email associated with everyone's AO3 account. Further, if you find check-ins very difficult, and you have successfully completed at least one previous round of FFFX, you are welcome to discuss with me during sign-ups whether you can be excused from checking in.

-Last year I was asked if there were any particular rules about the proportion of your requests that are recursive fandoms (ie, you've nominated someone else's fanfic to request, because it includes a permission statement allowing you to do so). There weren't, so let's try the idea that at least two of your requests must NOT be recursive fandoms.

-Reminders rather than new rules, but: If you defaulted in round 4 or earlier, you are now welcome to sign up again (Exception: if you posted a placeholder and were banned for that reason). However, participants who failed to comment on gifts are not welcome while that requirement remains unfulfilled. This is an excellent time to check if your comment went through on a previous gift. Try plugging your AO3 name in here:

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/fffx/gifts?recipient=Modzilla

to quickly bring up all gifts from previous rounds.
Aug. 17th, 2025 09:36 pm

Dear FIAB Creator

snickfic: Oasis: Noel and Liam Gallagher, text "Cigarettes & Alcohol" (Oasis Gallaghercest)
[personal profile] snickfic
Thank you so much for making something for me! I'm really looking forward to opening my box in a couple of months and seeing what's inside. <3

Likes and Dislikes )

Oasis RPF )

Re-Animator )

Kyle Murchison Booth stories )
ranalore: (the untamed wangxian shelter)
[personal profile] ranalore posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: The Untamed
Pairings/Characters: Lan Wangji/Nie Mingjue/Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, Jiang Yanli, Wen Qing, Wen Ning, Wen Yuan, Lan Xichen, Nie Huaisang, Jin Zixuan
Rating: Explicit
Length: 205K words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] giraffeter
Theme: Marriage of Convenience, Everybody Lives/Nobody Dies, Fork in the Road AU, Fix-It

Summary: When Jiang Yanli joins Jiang Cheng in visiting Wei Wuxian at the Burial Grounds, the two brothers are on the verge of cutting ties forever — until Jiang Yanli has a better idea. Wei Wuxian doesn't need to leave the sect. He needs to get married, and she has the perfect Sect Leader in mind.

When Lan Wangji is invited to come along on Wei Wuxian's visit to the Unclean Realm to spend time with his new betrothed, Nie Mingjue, he agrees — even though his heart is breaking. How else is he ever going to see Wei Wuxian again?

When Nie Mingjue welcomes Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji into his home, he realizes two things very quickly: 1.) They clearly want each other so badly they can barely stand it, and 2.) Nie Mingjue is Into That.

(In which arranged marriage to Nie Mingjue solves just about everyone's problems)

Reccer's Notes: In the normal course of things, I'd say LWJ/WWX is my OTP. This story, however, has made me feral for LWJ/NMJ/WWX. More than that, though, this is a brilliant, carefully constructed fix-it. Giraffeter takes the time to set up every way this reality is changed from canon by the single decision to solve the friction between Wei Wuxian and the rest of the cultivation world by marrying him to a Sect Leader rather than cutting him off in the Burial Mounds. It's a long, immersive story that's well worth the time investment. The sex scenes are also some of the best I've read in my nearly thirty years in online fandom.

Fanwork Links: An Elegant Solution
garryowen: made by signe (Default)
[personal profile] garryowen posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Star Trek Reboot/AOS
Pairings/Characters: Kirk/Spock
Rating: Teen
Length: 7,701
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] tardigradeschool
Theme: Marriage of convenience

Summary: When getting legally married to Spock is the only way to keep him on the ship, Jim is more than willing to do so. (In fact, upon reflection, it turns out that there are very few things he wouldn't do for Spock.)

Reccer's Notes: Okay, normally, I would not rec a story with 9,000 kudos. First, because that story does not need any help. Second, I usually hate stories with 9,000 kudos. But guess what. I love this story THAT MUCH, and, as our mod, Punk, helpfully pointed out, MAYBE SOME OF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS. It was posted in 2016, long after much of the Reboot fever had passed (at least for me); I feel glad to have discovered it. Therefore, let me tell you about it.

In this story, Spock is offered a captaincy, which he can't refuse without suffering career consequences. Jim is devastated by the thought of losing his first officer. Fortunately, Spock has a proposal involving a loophole: Starfleet won't separate married crew members.

The Jim in this story is wonderfully Jim, getting his mind stuck on the regulation about public nudity because the reg number is similar to the marriage reg number. He's also delightfully clueless. In fact, this story has all the good Reboot Trek tropes and appearances by the supporting cast. I don't want to give away all the hilarious details that come up, but, despite the hilarity, there are lovely moments of emotional truth that really make this story happen for me.

I like marriage of convenience stories where the characters are already very close friends at the time of the marriage. That is the case here, with the depth of the friendship revealed to the reader in small ways throughout. And, as you might guess, this story also fits the theme "everyone thinks we're dating."

Fanwork Links: the warp and weft of your being
Aug. 17th, 2025 08:25 am

Round 178 Theme Poll

runpunkrun: combat boot, pizza, camo pants = punk  (punk rock girl)
[personal profile] runpunkrun posting in [community profile] fancake
Poll #33498 round 178 theme poll
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 95

Pick the next theme of fancake:

Food & Cooking
39 (41.1%)

Manners & Etiquette
25 (26.3%)

Whump
31 (32.6%)

rachelmanija: (Books: old)
[personal profile] rachelmanija


Of the MANY bait-and-switch books I've been tricked into reading, this takes the prize for the biggest switch. The back cover says it's about a single mom carpenter who builds a tiny house for herself and her daughters to live in. The title is about tiny houses. There is a tiny house on the cover. I read the book because I thought it would be about building a tiny house.

The book is actually about the events leading up to her building the tiny house. She doesn't build the tiny house until the LAST CHAPTER. It takes up about four pages.
Aug. 16th, 2025 05:13 pm

Play-Watching in London I

selenak: (Camelot Factor by Kathyh)
[personal profile] selenak
I can spend a few days in London right now, and that already meant two plays.

Globe Theatre: The Merry Wives of Windsor

Rarely performed these days, and actually one I never read, which is one of the reasons why I used the chance to watch it in an afternoon performance, that and the way watching plays at the Globe, in a perfectly reconstructed Elizabethan theatre, has yet to cease being special to me.

Shakespearean Spoilers have mixed feelings )

The Garrick: Mrs Warren’s Profession

One of George Bernard Shaw’s early “problem plays” and scandals. (He wrote it in the early 1890s, and except for a club performance in 1902, it would take two decades to make it to the London stage. By contrast, it was already performed in Germany in the 1890s as well. Legendary producer Max Reinhardt was a big Shaw fan and so were a lot of Wilhelmians.) This production is starring Imelda Staunton as the titular Mrs. Warren, and her real life daughter Bessie Carter (known to the general audience probably best as Prudence Featherington in Bridgerton) as Vivie Warren; the director is Dominic Cooke.

Shavian Spoilers argue about the ways of making money )

Having thus watched Shakespeare and Shaw, I have on my schedule next: Robert Bolt, and then a new play, which from the sound of it is Shakespeare/Marlowe slash, starring Ncuti Gatwa as Kit M. Stay tuned!
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