Updates

[thisbluespirit]

1. In Yuletide, I see that TWO people have offered the 1968 Dracula. I am all faint with the shock. I would have been matchable with just my three nominated super-obscure fandoms! (But possibly difficult.) In celebration, I removed one of my other requests. I was worrying about maybe not wanting it quite as much as the others - and two other people have similar requests so there's a chance of fic I will enjoy anyhow. (I don't think I've ever done that before.)


2. Over on AO3, someone has translated a previous Yuletide fic of mine (Of Elements and Existence) into Russian. I can't read Russian, but putting it in Google Translate suggests (despite its usual incoherency) that they did a good job, as I can certainly recognise my fic coming back at me.


3. I am continuing my voyage into old film! Well, old film containing Margaret Lockwood, anyway. I have now watched her first leading role in the 1938 Carol Reed film Bank Holiday. The description makes it sound fairly awful but actually, notwithstanding the working class stereotypes, it was pretty sweet and fun. Not at the level of The Lady Vanishes but then most films aren't. Anyway, Margaret Lockwood is a nurse who goes off on a bank holiday weekend with her boyfriend, but can't stop thinking about a man at the hospital whose wife has just died. The resort is crowded and we follow a whole bunch of characters who all keep intersecting briefly, and, as I said, it all ends up being better than I expected. There was even a black character with lines, which is more than most 60s films can manage.

Margaret Lockwood is still very pretty and endearing:





The hero doesn't get anything to do but be a damsel in distress. (Mostly in the rain, though he does angst on the rooftop at one point.)

Comments

[john_amend_all]

Snap! (as regards the Russian translation). I think it's the same translator, too.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

She really was lovely - I found and saved the 1945 The Wicked Lady of hers (found it when I was chasing up the endearingly awful film version of Heyer's Reluctant Widow) but have't watched it yet...

[thisbluespirit]

Yes, she was - and she's got plenty of character and strength in her, too, which makes all the difference. :-)

I still haven't got to The Wicked Lady. I decided to watch the films in the boxset in chronological order, so next up is either Love Story or Give Us The Moon, and then The Wicked Lady!

[thisbluespirit]

Heh, cool! :-)

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Ohhh, look at how epic and gorgeous she is!! Wow...

[shannonsequitur.livejournal.com]

There's an endearingly awful film version of The Reluctant Widow?! Why didn't I know about this?

[swordznsorcery.livejournal.com]

She is very pretty, isn't she - and another one who rather suits black and white. Love that second gif, with the play of light.

And crikey, two whole other fans! That practically makes it a gigantic fandom by our standards! I hope you're right, and that it will lead to something nice for you to read.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Oh boy! Angsting on the roof in the rain - some tropes are VERY old, aren't they?!

And I love that the hero was the damsel in distress - that's the kind of genderbending I'm totally here for!

(PS Finished the epic proof-reading. Go me!)

[thisbluespirit]

Well, I think he angsted it the rain and then on the roof, but not both combined - but yes, they are!!

And, yay, well done of completely the epic proof-reading! \o/

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

LOL Okay...

Thanks. My friend wanted to know if I'd slept at all in the past 8 days. Assured her I had - and done all sorts of other RL stuff (like work, groans) but I am a very fast reader.

[thisbluespirit]

Well, there's no guarantee they're actual fans, but they're willing to write it for Yuletide and don't seem to have been scared off by my letter (given that mine is the only request). Of course, it depends on matching - at the moment, I'm presumably matchable on that and Adam Adamant, and very possibly for Ripper Street as well - and if I don't get matched with the Dracula people, a treat is possible, but you can't count on that. But it's still very encouraging! If your darling obscure fandom is at least short and has femslash gifs and uncool vampires and is a 90 min thing up on YouTube, somebody will take pity on you!

Anyway, thank you - and Yuletide being what it is, I'm pretty sure I will get something nice to read! That's the joy of it, really.

My two TV serieses, nope. Ah well... ;-) (This morning an anon on Tumblr led me to pics of wee James maxwell at uni so I don't care about anything else for the rest of today.)

[thisbluespirit]

She's lovely! :-)

[liadt]

Hurrah for double Dracula and poss James Maxwell fic! It must be the Halloween feeling:)

I'm glad the fic translation went well and the Russians are wise to the threat posed by killer pillows.

Love the gif of the play of light off the water reflected on to Margaret Lockwood.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

It's on youtube in 8 parts...

I do rather wish they'd take up some of the best of her comedies, maybe for TV - done right, they would be splendid fun.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

I'll be fascinated to hear what you think {eg}

[shannonsequitur.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I would really like to see some Brit TV adaptations—maybe using the Sherlock etc. format of batches of three 90-minute (or two-hour if I'm feeling greedy) films at a time.

[thisbluespirit]

I think you can safely count on me telling you all. :-)

[thisbluespirit]

I suspect I'm not likely to get much James Maxwell, most Suzanne Neve/Susan George, but I am in no way going to complain about that if it turns out to be a thing come Reveal. :-)

(I tried hard with the James Maxwell fic side, given that he is in Enemy at the Door, Shadow of the Tower, and Dracula, but I did keep it to sensible levels and didn't request Raffles and Inspector Mackenzie for stealth Maxwell fic. I'm not that bad! I just sound as if I am.)

It is a good gif, that one. (Not made by me, hurrah! Margaret Lockwood has her own fan Tumblr full of gifs and pics.)

[liadt]

James Maxwell may get a line yet! Writing 'Raffles' fic that isn't slashy may have caused fic writers heads to explode;p

[dimity-blue.livejournal.com]

I hope you carry on enjoying her films. I've only seen The Wicked Lady of her early work, but I've got Night Train to Munich bookmarked to watch (as you kindly posted the link to it at one point).

And yay for Yuletide fic! I hope you receive some splendid fic!

[thisbluespirit]

I have been, although the first two are still my favourites so far. (Apparently I prefer the 30s??)

I found a playlist of some of her films on YT, too, here, and then The Lady Vanishes. I'm not very good at watching stuff on YT, but it's handy to know. :-)

Thank you! Assignments have gone out, so somebody will now presumably be looking at my letter and tearing their hair out planning me the perfect fic, yes.