marycatelli (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
marycatelli) wrote2025-09-09 05:00 pm
marycatelli) wrote2025-09-09 05:00 pm
Entry tags:
trobadora (trobadora) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sid_guardian2025-09-09 10:21 pm
trobadora) wrote in sid_guardian2025-09-09 10:21 pmEntry tags:
Two more wishlists are live! Sign-ups still open!
14 wishlists are live and receiving gifts on
guardian_wishlist, including 2 new ones! :D :D :D Wishlists are tagged for fandoms and media (previous years' tags are labelled with their respective years, so check the plain fandom and media tags at the bottom for this year's wishlists), and there's a spreadsheet for your convenience, which we'll update as more wishlists go live.
As well as fic, art, vids and podfic, there are requests for icons, meta, picspam, recs and resources in a variety of Guardian-related fandoms. Please take a look and see if there are any prompts you'd like to fill! There are no assignments, and you don't have to be signed up to participate in gift-giving. Anyone can write or make gifts for any sign-up, right up to reveals on 6 October (Reunion Festival).
All gifts must be posted in or linked in comments. Gift comments can be anonymous or signed in. You don't need a Dreamwidth or AO3 account. Posting gifts to AO3 is entirely optional; if you want to, the AO3 collection is here.
And remember, sign-ups are still open - you can submit your own wishlist until 15 September. The sooner you sign up, the more time people have to make fills for your prompts!
Come and join in! The more, the merrier!
Rules/FAQ/schedule | Sign-up post | AO3 collection | Fandom and media tags | Spreadsheet | Promo text and graphics
tielan (tielan) wrote2025-09-09 11:22 am
tielan) wrote2025-09-09 11:22 amEntry tags:
Georgia
I made it to Georgia.
Left HK in the middle of a Typhoon 8 (IDK what it was, but they started cancelling Monday flights, so it sounded pretty serious). Reached Istanbul on time as per schedule.
Istanbul was redoing their airport last time I came through here in 2022. It is the headquarters of Turkish Airlines which services a large chunk of Eastern Europe and Western Asia (and Africa, and all the major world centres).
It's freaking HUGE. And shiny. And new. But there are not enough seats, signposts, or information about what to do and where to go and what needs to be done. And nobody could tell me if I was too late to make my flight, so I didn't really have time to look at everything, although I really wanted to...
Sometimes I have to remind myself that almost everything I can get in a major airport, I can find back home in Sydney, home-made and better quality.
Made the flight to Georgia, got off, met the driver who took me to the place where the tour group was today.
( after 36 hours in Georgia )
Left HK in the middle of a Typhoon 8 (IDK what it was, but they started cancelling Monday flights, so it sounded pretty serious). Reached Istanbul on time as per schedule.
Istanbul was redoing their airport last time I came through here in 2022. It is the headquarters of Turkish Airlines which services a large chunk of Eastern Europe and Western Asia (and Africa, and all the major world centres).
It's freaking HUGE. And shiny. And new. But there are not enough seats, signposts, or information about what to do and where to go and what needs to be done. And nobody could tell me if I was too late to make my flight, so I didn't really have time to look at everything, although I really wanted to...
Sometimes I have to remind myself that almost everything I can get in a major airport, I can find back home in Sydney, home-made and better quality.
Made the flight to Georgia, got off, met the driver who took me to the place where the tour group was today.
( after 36 hours in Georgia )
oursin (oursin) wrote2025-09-09 07:33 pm
oursin) wrote2025-09-09 07:33 pmEntry tags:
Georgians (as in, dynastic period, not poetry)
For some reason, concatenation of open tabs on this theme.
Sociability was intrinsic to British politics in the eighteenth-century:
Although women were prevented by custom from voting, holding most patronage appointments or taking seats in the Lords (even if they were peeresses in their own rights), politics ran through the lives of women from politically active families — and their political activities largely took place through the social arena, whether it was in London or in the provinces. Like their male counterparts, they used social situations to gather and disseminate political news and gossip, discuss men and measures, facilitate networking and build or maintain factional allegiances, or seek patronage for themselves or their clients.
***
This Is What Being in Your Twenties Was Like in 18th-Century London:
Browne wrote that he needed money to pay rent—and to purchase stockings, breeches, wigs and other items he deemed necessary for his life in London. “Cloaths which [I] have now are but mean in Comparison [with] what they wear here,” he wrote in one letter.
Financial worries didn’t stop Browne from enjoying his time in the city. “Despite telling his father how short of cash he was, Browne maintained a lively social life, meeting friends and eating and drinking around Fleet Street, close to the Inns of Court,” per the Guardian.
According to the National Trust, Browne’s descriptions of his social life evoke the scenes captured by William Hogarth.
***
The Friendship Book of Anne Wagner (1795-1834):
What is a friendship book? As Dr Lynley Anne Herbert relates in her post for us on a seventeenth-century specimen, it is a lot like an early version of social media, a place to record friendships and social connections.
***
This one is actually Victorian (and I think I may have mentioned before?): Peter McLagan (1823-1900): Scotland’s first Black MP - notes that he was not even the first Black MP to sit in the Commons.
***
And this is actually a bit random: apparently the Niels Bohr Library & Archives 'is a repository and hub for information in the history of physics, astronomy, geophysics, and allied fields' rather than exclusively Bohring. Anyway, an interview with the staff there about what they do.
andrewducker (andrewducker) wrote2025-09-09 02:01 pm
andrewducker) wrote2025-09-09 02:01 pmPhoto cross-post
Sophia is having her evening snack while sitting on the window ledge
watching the world go by.
Original
is here on Pixelfed.scot.
A Miserable Pile Of Words (amiserablepileofwords) wrote in eggbug_writes2025-09-09 08:35 pm
amiserablepileofwords) wrote in eggbug_writes2025-09-09 08:35 pmEntry tags:
Eternal Sapphtember #344
Girls who hear high tones
badly_knitted (badly_knitted) wrote in get_knitted2025-09-09 07:06 pm
badly_knitted) wrote in get_knitted2025-09-09 07:06 pm
Check-In Post - Sept 9th 2025
Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.
Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?
There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.
This Week's Question: Share your favourite crafting tip, if you have one.
If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.
I now declare this Check-In OPEN!
ranunculus (ranunculus) wrote2025-09-09 09:31 am
ranunculus) wrote2025-09-09 09:31 amDahlias
Ok, I'm currently a little obsessed with dahlias. I got the seeds for the ones I grew this year on a whim. Growing them and getting to see the wonderful diversity of colors and forms is a bit addictive. That means I need to get rid of lots of duplicate dahlias that I have.
Here are two of the most recent plants that I'd like to keep. I love the graduated colors of the yellow one, but what makes it stand out is the fringed ends to the petals. In the second picture I love the tiny pink fringed collar against the bright red.
I'm keeping the above dahlias, but I have the following to give away once they go dormant this fall (after the first frost). Let me know if you want one or more.
Here are two of the most recent plants that I'd like to keep. I love the graduated colors of the yellow one, but what makes it stand out is the fringed ends to the petals. In the second picture I love the tiny pink fringed collar against the bright red.
I'm keeping the above dahlias, but I have the following to give away once they go dormant this fall (after the first frost). Let me know if you want one or more.
( Pics )
Entry tags:
Book review: Tales of Earthsea
Title: Tales of Earthsea
Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Genre: Fiction, fantasy, adventure
We're back at the Earthsea Cycle with book 5: Tales of Earthsea. This book is a collection of short stories set in Earthsea, crafted as a kind of bridge between books 4 and 6.
Friends may recall that the last book, Tehanu, was not my favorite of the series, although I appreciate what Le Guin was doing. In Tales of Earthsea, we get the best of both worlds in a sense--a return to the fantasy adventure themes of the original trilogy combined with Le Guin's updated views on gender and roles. Like Tehanu, Tales of Earthsea is no longer really children's fiction. Sex, substance abuse, child abuse, and various other mature themes are much more present here than in the original trilogy. These later Earthsea books read like they were written for the then-adult fans of the original trilogy, and I think it works well.
In each of the five stories of Tales of Earthsea, Le Guin is introducing us to elements of Earthsea society not seen before in the series: How women ended up being excluded from wizardry, a young man with the ability to become a wizard (the magical aptitude) who decides he wants another sort of life for himself, a wizard of Roke who misuses his power and chooses not to return although he is invited to, a woman who wants to study at Roke but is refused. In this way, Le Guin gives much breadth to the world of Earthsea by introducing these stories outside the "mainstream" Earthsea narratives.
I respect that Le Guin doesn't just try to retcon the sexism written into the earlier Earthsea books--instead, she really tries here to reckon with how the women of Earthsea manage it, how they get around it, and how it hurts them. The resultant picture feels realistic, up to and including how frustrating it is to watch women be excluded from the school of Roke despite having helped found it.
She continues with her theme of unexpected heroes--protagonists who are average people from little nothing towns on little nothing islands who despite expectations prove themselves capable of great things, which is always fun to watch.
We get backstory on several things present in the original trilogy, like the founding of the school and some history of Ged's first teacher, Ogion, which was great fun (and once again I am screaming clapping cheering as the specialist boy in all of Earthsea Ged makes a cameo).
A very enjoyable read overall, and I feel properly enthused and excited for the next book.
Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Genre: Fiction, fantasy, adventure
We're back at the Earthsea Cycle with book 5: Tales of Earthsea. This book is a collection of short stories set in Earthsea, crafted as a kind of bridge between books 4 and 6.
Friends may recall that the last book, Tehanu, was not my favorite of the series, although I appreciate what Le Guin was doing. In Tales of Earthsea, we get the best of both worlds in a sense--a return to the fantasy adventure themes of the original trilogy combined with Le Guin's updated views on gender and roles. Like Tehanu, Tales of Earthsea is no longer really children's fiction. Sex, substance abuse, child abuse, and various other mature themes are much more present here than in the original trilogy. These later Earthsea books read like they were written for the then-adult fans of the original trilogy, and I think it works well.
In each of the five stories of Tales of Earthsea, Le Guin is introducing us to elements of Earthsea society not seen before in the series: How women ended up being excluded from wizardry, a young man with the ability to become a wizard (the magical aptitude) who decides he wants another sort of life for himself, a wizard of Roke who misuses his power and chooses not to return although he is invited to, a woman who wants to study at Roke but is refused. In this way, Le Guin gives much breadth to the world of Earthsea by introducing these stories outside the "mainstream" Earthsea narratives.
I respect that Le Guin doesn't just try to retcon the sexism written into the earlier Earthsea books--instead, she really tries here to reckon with how the women of Earthsea manage it, how they get around it, and how it hurts them. The resultant picture feels realistic, up to and including how frustrating it is to watch women be excluded from the school of Roke despite having helped found it.
She continues with her theme of unexpected heroes--protagonists who are average people from little nothing towns on little nothing islands who despite expectations prove themselves capable of great things, which is always fun to watch.
We get backstory on several things present in the original trilogy, like the founding of the school and some history of Ged's first teacher, Ogion, which was great fun (and once again I am screaming clapping cheering as the specialist boy in all of Earthsea Ged makes a cameo).
A very enjoyable read overall, and I feel properly enthused and excited for the next book.
Entry tags:
Recent Reading: Tales of Earthsea
We're back at the Earthsea Cycle with book 5: Tales of Earthsea. This book is a collection of short stories set in Earthsea, crafted as a kind of bridge between books 4 and 6.
Friends may recall that the last book, Tehanu, was not my favorite of the series, although I appreciate what Le Guin was doing. In Tales of Earthsea, we get the best of both worlds in a sense--a return to the fantasy adventure themes of the original trilogy combined with Le Guin's updated views on gender and roles. Like Tehanu, Tales of Earthsea is no longer really children's fiction. Sex, substance abuse, child abuse, and various other mature themes are much more present here than in the original trilogy. These later Earthsea books read like they were written for the then-adult fans of the original trilogy, and I think it works well.
In each of the five stories of Tales of Earthsea, Le Guin is introducing us to elements of Earthsea society not seen before in the series: How women ended up being excluded from wizardry, a young man with the ability to become a wizard (the magical aptitude) who decides he wants another sort of life for himself, a wizard of Roke who misuses his power and chooses not to return although he is invited to, a woman who wants to study at Roke but is refused. In this way, Le Guin gives much breadth to the world of Earthsea by introducing these stories outside the "mainstream" Earthsea narratives.
I respect that Le Guin doesn't just try to retcon the sexism written into the earlier Earthsea books--instead, she really tries here to reckon with how the women of Earthsea manage it, how they get around it, and how it hurts them. The resultant picture feels realistic, up to and including how frustrating it is to watch women be excluded from the school of Roke despite having helped found it.
She continues with her theme of unexpected heroes--protagonists who are average people from little nothing towns on little nothing islands who despite expectations prove themselves capable of great things, which is always fun to watch.
We get backstory on several things present in the original trilogy, like the founding of the school and some history of Ged's first teacher, Ogion, which was great fun (and once again I am screaming clapping cheering as the specialist boy in all of Earthsea Ged makes a cameo).
A very enjoyable read overall, and I feel properly enthused and excited for the next book.
Friends may recall that the last book, Tehanu, was not my favorite of the series, although I appreciate what Le Guin was doing. In Tales of Earthsea, we get the best of both worlds in a sense--a return to the fantasy adventure themes of the original trilogy combined with Le Guin's updated views on gender and roles. Like Tehanu, Tales of Earthsea is no longer really children's fiction. Sex, substance abuse, child abuse, and various other mature themes are much more present here than in the original trilogy. These later Earthsea books read like they were written for the then-adult fans of the original trilogy, and I think it works well.
In each of the five stories of Tales of Earthsea, Le Guin is introducing us to elements of Earthsea society not seen before in the series: How women ended up being excluded from wizardry, a young man with the ability to become a wizard (the magical aptitude) who decides he wants another sort of life for himself, a wizard of Roke who misuses his power and chooses not to return although he is invited to, a woman who wants to study at Roke but is refused. In this way, Le Guin gives much breadth to the world of Earthsea by introducing these stories outside the "mainstream" Earthsea narratives.
I respect that Le Guin doesn't just try to retcon the sexism written into the earlier Earthsea books--instead, she really tries here to reckon with how the women of Earthsea manage it, how they get around it, and how it hurts them. The resultant picture feels realistic, up to and including how frustrating it is to watch women be excluded from the school of Roke despite having helped found it.
She continues with her theme of unexpected heroes--protagonists who are average people from little nothing towns on little nothing islands who despite expectations prove themselves capable of great things, which is always fun to watch.
We get backstory on several things present in the original trilogy, like the founding of the school and some history of Ged's first teacher, Ogion, which was great fun (and once again I am screaming clapping cheering as the specialist boy in all of Earthsea Ged makes a cameo).
A very enjoyable read overall, and I feel properly enthused and excited for the next book.
Phaeton (dancing_serpent) wrote in c_ent2025-09-09 05:50 pm
dancing_serpent) wrote in c_ent2025-09-09 05:50 pmEntry tags:
Topic Tuesday - Memorable Supporting Characters
Welcome to Topic Tuesday! Right away I want to stress that discussion posts are always welcome to the community, you don't have to wait until a Topic Tuesday rolls around, and then maybe be disappointed by the current topic of discussion. Whenever you want to talk about something, please simply make a separate entry to this comm, no matter the week, the time, or the topic. All right? *g*
The topic I picked for today is Memorable Supporting Characters. This is another prompt from the Bluesky suggestion list. What are your memorable supporting characters in dramas/movies? Are they memorable because they were great, or because they were so bad? Why do you like/hate them?
As usual, if you want to talk about spoilers, please use one of these codes to hide them.
or
The topic I picked for today is Memorable Supporting Characters. This is another prompt from the Bluesky suggestion list. What are your memorable supporting characters in dramas/movies? Are they memorable because they were great, or because they were so bad? Why do you like/hate them?
As usual, if you want to talk about spoilers, please use one of these codes to hide them.
or
Every Day Above Ground (mallorys_camera) wrote2025-09-09 10:16 am
mallorys_camera) wrote2025-09-09 10:16 amStaying the Course
My virtual tax instructor lists his hobbies as "horror movies" and "video games." So, I guess I'm in the right tax class.
I was surprised by how many of the other students had thick accents and names most mainstream Americans would find difficult to pronounce. I guess H&R Schlock employment is a well-known step on the ladder that leads to the dizzying heights of the American dream.
The class wasn't as bad as I feared it might be. Spying on those differently accented students was actually quite interesting. And Microsoft Teams turns out to be an efficient tool.
###
Afterwards, I met up with Belinda whom I mostly avoided all summer because she voted for Trump, and after Brian died, my tolerance in general went wayyyyyy down.
I informed Belinda that I would not be TaxBwana-ing this coming year.
And she said, "Well, then, I'll go to H&R Schlock and tell them I want you to do my taxes. I trust you."
Which I guess is flattering.
We had lunch at the falafel shop in Rhinebeck where all the movies stars go when they come to Rhinebeck. (A surprising number of movie stars come to Rhinebeck.)
And then we drove up to an apple stand just north of Valatie.
I'm not sure from whence comes Belinda's fixation on this particular apple stand; it is not remarkable in any way. But the drive through rural Dutchess & Columbia Counties, past fields of sunflowers and corn, and patches of scrub woods, was lovely. It was a crisp, sunny day, distinctly autumn. The leaves on the trees in those woods have not yet begun to turn—I guess because there was so much rain this year? The color changes of leaves is more related to tree hydration than to temperature changes.
There was a cunning little distillery in the corner of the apple stand, so multiple opportunities for ArtPhotos™!!!
That last photo is not an apple stand ArtPhoto™, but a photo from Italy sent me by the real-life Daria with the note, On our walks, four of ‘em, every time we saw a cat Brian would stop and snap a pic, “for Patrizia.”
It made me sad...
Though I must say, I am simply filled with admiration & awe for the real-life Daria for staying her mountain course, keeping to the adventure!
Under similar circumstances, I probably would have hopped the next train to London, spent my remaining days abroad huddling inside the British Museum, ruminating on what a hideous failure I am.
###
Speaking of cats, the kiskas brought me the corpse of a very large mouse this morning.
They were very proud!
I showed the corpse to Icky who stared at me like, What do you expect me to do about it?
Well, you're the fucking landlord, Icky. Figure it out!
Finally, he mumbled, "I guess I should start setting traps in the basement again."
I guess you should!
I was surprised by how many of the other students had thick accents and names most mainstream Americans would find difficult to pronounce. I guess H&R Schlock employment is a well-known step on the ladder that leads to the dizzying heights of the American dream.
The class wasn't as bad as I feared it might be. Spying on those differently accented students was actually quite interesting. And Microsoft Teams turns out to be an efficient tool.
###
Afterwards, I met up with Belinda whom I mostly avoided all summer because she voted for Trump, and after Brian died, my tolerance in general went wayyyyyy down.
I informed Belinda that I would not be TaxBwana-ing this coming year.
And she said, "Well, then, I'll go to H&R Schlock and tell them I want you to do my taxes. I trust you."
Which I guess is flattering.
We had lunch at the falafel shop in Rhinebeck where all the movies stars go when they come to Rhinebeck. (A surprising number of movie stars come to Rhinebeck.)
And then we drove up to an apple stand just north of Valatie.
I'm not sure from whence comes Belinda's fixation on this particular apple stand; it is not remarkable in any way. But the drive through rural Dutchess & Columbia Counties, past fields of sunflowers and corn, and patches of scrub woods, was lovely. It was a crisp, sunny day, distinctly autumn. The leaves on the trees in those woods have not yet begun to turn—I guess because there was so much rain this year? The color changes of leaves is more related to tree hydration than to temperature changes.
There was a cunning little distillery in the corner of the apple stand, so multiple opportunities for ArtPhotos™!!!
That last photo is not an apple stand ArtPhoto™, but a photo from Italy sent me by the real-life Daria with the note, On our walks, four of ‘em, every time we saw a cat Brian would stop and snap a pic, “for Patrizia.”
It made me sad...
Though I must say, I am simply filled with admiration & awe for the real-life Daria for staying her mountain course, keeping to the adventure!
Under similar circumstances, I probably would have hopped the next train to London, spent my remaining days abroad huddling inside the British Museum, ruminating on what a hideous failure I am.
###
Speaking of cats, the kiskas brought me the corpse of a very large mouse this morning.
They were very proud!
I showed the corpse to Icky who stared at me like, What do you expect me to do about it?
Well, you're the fucking landlord, Icky. Figure it out!
Finally, he mumbled, "I guess I should start setting traps in the basement again."
I guess you should!
empathy is a superpower (sweettartheart) wrote in 100words2025-09-09 11:00 am
sweettartheart) wrote in 100words2025-09-09 11:00 amEntry tags:
Prompt: #459 - Dice
This week's prompt is dice.
Your response should be exactly 100 words long. You do not have to include the prompt in your response -- it is meant as inspiration only.
Please use the tag "prompt: #459 - dice" with your response.
Please put your drabble under a cut tag if it contains potential triggers, mature or explicit content, or spoilers for media released in the last month.
If you would like a template for the header information you may use this:
Subject: Original - Title (or) Fandom - Title
Post:
Title:
Original (or) Fandom:
Rating:
Notes:
If you are a member of AO3 there is a 100 Words Collection!
Your response should be exactly 100 words long. You do not have to include the prompt in your response -- it is meant as inspiration only.
Please use the tag "prompt: #459 - dice" with your response.
Please put your drabble under a cut tag if it contains potential triggers, mature or explicit content, or spoilers for media released in the last month.
If you would like a template for the header information you may use this:
Subject: Original - Title (or) Fandom - Title
Post:
Title:
Original (or) Fandom:
Rating:
Notes:
If you are a member of AO3 there is a 100 Words Collection!
lirazel (lirazel) wrote2025-09-09 09:56 am
lirazel) wrote2025-09-09 09:56 amEntry tags:
there's four directions on this map, but you're only going one way
I have not felt like watching anything serious for the last couples of weeks, so what did I decide to do instead? I am watching Due South for the first time since it was airing! The show was my family's favorite when I was a kid, and I have memories of the characters and the vibes, but I have zero memory of the details. It's been really fun revisiting it and I am currently ten episodes in.
Is this show good? Not by any objective standard. Is it profoundly silly? It sure is! But y'all, I love Benton Fraser so much. As a child, I imprinted on him like a little baby ducking, and my affection is even more intense now. He's such a doof! And so good! I love men who are just so good! He's like Clark Kent if Clark Kent was even more of a loser and also Canadian and also had a deaf wolf as a pet.
I also do love RayV a whole whole lot and I am thoroughly enjoying these episodes even if I am looking forward to season 3 and the shippy goodness.
For those who are not aware of this Canadian cop show from the 90s, it started off as a one-off TV movie in which Paul Gross is Benton Fraser, a Mountie whose Mountie father gets murdered and he has to track down the murderers in Chicago. While there he meets Ray Vecchio, who is a central casting Italian-American cop and very funny. They have a typical odd couple partnership, and end up uncovering a big conspiracy back in Canada that implicates so many powerful people that Fraser pretty much has to just to get out of the country for a while, so he goes back to Canada, where he works at the consulate and solves ridiculous crimes with his deaf wolf Diefenbaker and with RayV.
However! In season 3, RayV leaves the show (for reasons I'm not clear on) and who do we get instead? A very young Callum Keith Rennie as Ray Kowalsky (RayK) who has ridiculously good chemistry with Gross. Ostensibly the show doesn't change--it's still overly earnest Mountie solves crimes with streetwise Chicago cop--but the dynamic is completely different. Fraser and RayV are buddies and such fun together and they love each other a lot, but Fraser and RayK are major slashbait. Like one of the great Western TV slash ships a la Starsky and Hutch and the Man from UNCLE dudes. And once I get to their seasons, I am going to need all the fic recs, especially the stuff that was written in the 90s and early 2000s.
As I said, despite its extreme silliness, I am having a lot of fun. The show (so far) has aged incredibly well in that Fraser's whole thing is that he believes in people who are written off by everyone else, so in the first few episodes, we get him standing up for a Black boy with a criminal record, a Latina immigrant mother whose children get taken away from her, a working class white guy single father who is involved in an insurance scam, a Chinese immigrant man whose son is being targeted by organized crime, and a white kid who's just out of juvie and is trying to turn his life around. Fraser is like, "This person is in difficult circumstances and is either innocent or is being coerced into something they don't want to do, and if we give them a chance, they will do the right thing." AND HE IS ALWAYS RIGHT.
He chooses to live in a really "bad" area of town because it allows him to walk to work (which probably doesn't make sense from an actual-geography-of-Chicago perspective but who cares?) and while we get lots of jokes about crime, in actuality, we end up seeing that the people who live in this neighborhood are just people who are struggling.
I love it so much. I truly feel if this show was airing today, it would be hated by conservatives and decried as too woke.
This all ends up softening the fact that this show is a cop show. It doesn't feel like copaganda in the way most cop shows do, which is probably why I can enjoy it so much.
It's full of 90s music--I keep getting surprised by the songs they include. Is that Tracy Chapman? It sure is! Is that Sarah McLachlan? Hey, it's the 90's! (Honestly there's so much Sarah McLachlan. Omg they're actually playing the Crash Test Dummies' "Superman"? Of course they are! My jaw absolutely dropped when I recognized Loreena McKennitt! I mean, I wasn't that surprised her music was included because it's a Canadian show from the 90s, and that was certainly her heyday, but I was gobsmacked that the song in question was "Prospero's Speech" and not one of her more familiar songs.
Honestly, the 90s music and fashion and just general vibes are making me so nostalgic. I know that the 90s were not that great for everyone, but I was a child then, so it makes sense that it feels like a simpler time to me. This is what the world is supposed to look like! Because it's the world I got used to as a child! It's really nice to reivist it in this way.
The one thing that kind of annoys me is the women thing. The truly main cast is just Fraser, his wolf, and whichever Ray he's working with at the moment. But there's also the people back at Ray's precinct office--his male boss, his two annoying male coworkers, and the very competent lady cop who actually does most of the work. I like Elaine a lot! But she develops a crush on Fraser at the beginning and that kind of becomes her thing? Besides being competent? I am hoping she'll get other things to do as the show carries on.
Honestly, too many of the women in the show fall in love with Fraser. And on the one hand, I can certainly understand this! I am also in love with Fraser! He has ruined me for men! He's just so good and so pretty! I like that the show is like, "Actually, despite what some people say, women don't always go for the bad boy--if you give them a really righteous and pretty man, they will fall for him hard." Which I appreciate! But I feel like they push the joke too far.
Because the joke is that Fraser loves and respects women and treats them like actual human beings, but as soon as they start hitting on him or expressing interest in him, he has no idea how to handle it. He's so awkward!
And like, obviously fandom read this as, "Look at this poor gay man who doesn't know how to deal with female romantic/sexual attention." But the show doesn't actually know he's gay, which is hilarious to me because he is so gay. Like, there are a couple of moments so far in which it seems to imply that he might actually be interested in a woman, and I am like, "Give me a break." It's not remotely convincing.
Anyway, it's not a huge complaint because the women who show up (like the immigrant mother or another mother whose boyfriend MARK RUFFALO is trying to sell their baby yes you actually read those words with your own two eyes) are treated respectfully and like real people. It's just the women around the edges who fall for Fraser too easily.
I actually really liked the amoral reporter lady we met in one of the first episodes who isn't in love with Fraser, and I think it would have been really fun if she'd become recurring. She would have been a nice balance for Elaine. But alas! The main cast is male!
The guest stars are wild, though! So many familiar faces! In the first ten episodes, we have been visited by Eric Schweig (Uncas from The Last of the Mohicans, who I am very fond of), Leslie Nielsen (as another mountie), Teri Polo (aka First Lady Helen Santos from The West Wing), baby Mark Ruffalo (okay, he's in his mid-20s, but he looks like a baby to me), and baby Ryan Phillippe (who probably was a teenager at the time). I so look forward to seeing who else pops up!
I imagine the show would be grating for Canadians because Fraser is such a cliche, and a great deal of the humor of the show comes from the contrast between him and his Chicago setting. But I choose to view the show as less "isn't it funny when a Canadian has to navigate Chicago?" and instead "isn't it funny when this very particular individual who has lived in the Yukon his whole life and was raised by his librarian grandparents has to navigate Chicago?"
So yeah, enjoying the show a lot, looking forward to seeing how things develop, and definitely anticipating the future slash of it all!
Is this show good? Not by any objective standard. Is it profoundly silly? It sure is! But y'all, I love Benton Fraser so much. As a child, I imprinted on him like a little baby ducking, and my affection is even more intense now. He's such a doof! And so good! I love men who are just so good! He's like Clark Kent if Clark Kent was even more of a loser and also Canadian and also had a deaf wolf as a pet.
I also do love RayV a whole whole lot and I am thoroughly enjoying these episodes even if I am looking forward to season 3 and the shippy goodness.
For those who are not aware of this Canadian cop show from the 90s, it started off as a one-off TV movie in which Paul Gross is Benton Fraser, a Mountie whose Mountie father gets murdered and he has to track down the murderers in Chicago. While there he meets Ray Vecchio, who is a central casting Italian-American cop and very funny. They have a typical odd couple partnership, and end up uncovering a big conspiracy back in Canada that implicates so many powerful people that Fraser pretty much has to just to get out of the country for a while, so he goes back to Canada, where he works at the consulate and solves ridiculous crimes with his deaf wolf Diefenbaker and with RayV.
However! In season 3, RayV leaves the show (for reasons I'm not clear on) and who do we get instead? A very young Callum Keith Rennie as Ray Kowalsky (RayK) who has ridiculously good chemistry with Gross. Ostensibly the show doesn't change--it's still overly earnest Mountie solves crimes with streetwise Chicago cop--but the dynamic is completely different. Fraser and RayV are buddies and such fun together and they love each other a lot, but Fraser and RayK are major slashbait. Like one of the great Western TV slash ships a la Starsky and Hutch and the Man from UNCLE dudes. And once I get to their seasons, I am going to need all the fic recs, especially the stuff that was written in the 90s and early 2000s.
As I said, despite its extreme silliness, I am having a lot of fun. The show (so far) has aged incredibly well in that Fraser's whole thing is that he believes in people who are written off by everyone else, so in the first few episodes, we get him standing up for a Black boy with a criminal record, a Latina immigrant mother whose children get taken away from her, a working class white guy single father who is involved in an insurance scam, a Chinese immigrant man whose son is being targeted by organized crime, and a white kid who's just out of juvie and is trying to turn his life around. Fraser is like, "This person is in difficult circumstances and is either innocent or is being coerced into something they don't want to do, and if we give them a chance, they will do the right thing." AND HE IS ALWAYS RIGHT.
He chooses to live in a really "bad" area of town because it allows him to walk to work (which probably doesn't make sense from an actual-geography-of-Chicago perspective but who cares?) and while we get lots of jokes about crime, in actuality, we end up seeing that the people who live in this neighborhood are just people who are struggling.
I love it so much. I truly feel if this show was airing today, it would be hated by conservatives and decried as too woke.
This all ends up softening the fact that this show is a cop show. It doesn't feel like copaganda in the way most cop shows do, which is probably why I can enjoy it so much.
It's full of 90s music--I keep getting surprised by the songs they include. Is that Tracy Chapman? It sure is! Is that Sarah McLachlan? Hey, it's the 90's! (Honestly there's so much Sarah McLachlan. Omg they're actually playing the Crash Test Dummies' "Superman"? Of course they are! My jaw absolutely dropped when I recognized Loreena McKennitt! I mean, I wasn't that surprised her music was included because it's a Canadian show from the 90s, and that was certainly her heyday, but I was gobsmacked that the song in question was "Prospero's Speech" and not one of her more familiar songs.
Honestly, the 90s music and fashion and just general vibes are making me so nostalgic. I know that the 90s were not that great for everyone, but I was a child then, so it makes sense that it feels like a simpler time to me. This is what the world is supposed to look like! Because it's the world I got used to as a child! It's really nice to reivist it in this way.
The one thing that kind of annoys me is the women thing. The truly main cast is just Fraser, his wolf, and whichever Ray he's working with at the moment. But there's also the people back at Ray's precinct office--his male boss, his two annoying male coworkers, and the very competent lady cop who actually does most of the work. I like Elaine a lot! But she develops a crush on Fraser at the beginning and that kind of becomes her thing? Besides being competent? I am hoping she'll get other things to do as the show carries on.
Honestly, too many of the women in the show fall in love with Fraser. And on the one hand, I can certainly understand this! I am also in love with Fraser! He has ruined me for men! He's just so good and so pretty! I like that the show is like, "Actually, despite what some people say, women don't always go for the bad boy--if you give them a really righteous and pretty man, they will fall for him hard." Which I appreciate! But I feel like they push the joke too far.
Because the joke is that Fraser loves and respects women and treats them like actual human beings, but as soon as they start hitting on him or expressing interest in him, he has no idea how to handle it. He's so awkward!
And like, obviously fandom read this as, "Look at this poor gay man who doesn't know how to deal with female romantic/sexual attention." But the show doesn't actually know he's gay, which is hilarious to me because he is so gay. Like, there are a couple of moments so far in which it seems to imply that he might actually be interested in a woman, and I am like, "Give me a break." It's not remotely convincing.
Anyway, it's not a huge complaint because the women who show up (like the immigrant mother or another mother whose boyfriend MARK RUFFALO is trying to sell their baby yes you actually read those words with your own two eyes) are treated respectfully and like real people. It's just the women around the edges who fall for Fraser too easily.
I actually really liked the amoral reporter lady we met in one of the first episodes who isn't in love with Fraser, and I think it would have been really fun if she'd become recurring. She would have been a nice balance for Elaine. But alas! The main cast is male!
The guest stars are wild, though! So many familiar faces! In the first ten episodes, we have been visited by Eric Schweig (Uncas from The Last of the Mohicans, who I am very fond of), Leslie Nielsen (as another mountie), Teri Polo (aka First Lady Helen Santos from The West Wing), baby Mark Ruffalo (okay, he's in his mid-20s, but he looks like a baby to me), and baby Ryan Phillippe (who probably was a teenager at the time). I so look forward to seeing who else pops up!
I imagine the show would be grating for Canadians because Fraser is such a cliche, and a great deal of the humor of the show comes from the contrast between him and his Chicago setting. But I choose to view the show as less "isn't it funny when a Canadian has to navigate Chicago?" and instead "isn't it funny when this very particular individual who has lived in the Yukon his whole life and was raised by his librarian grandparents has to navigate Chicago?"
So yeah, enjoying the show a lot, looking forward to seeing how things develop, and definitely anticipating the future slash of it all!
adrian_turtle (adrian_turtle) wrote2025-09-09 09:42 am
adrian_turtle) wrote2025-09-09 09:42 amvoting
Boston has a city council election today. It's a "preliminary" election, which is like a non-partisan primary, for a bunch of at-large seats. It's easy to find out which candidates approve of bike lanes and which want them ripped out. It's not that much harder to find out which one supports Trump. It's remarkably hard to figure out how any of them regard ICE or sanctuary-city policies. I did find a candidate who wants the city to clear snow and ice from old people's sidewalks as a safety measure, but Vicki is sure that's not a figure of speech.