Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings

My second contribution to the lupin_snape exchange has been posted. The prompt was:

Not established relationship. R or NC-17. After the death of Dumbledore, R searches for S and for answers. He finds him in hiding and they argue, perhaps even fight, but end up in bed. Tenderness, not hate sex, comforting of mutual pain. In the morning, they must go their separate ways. Tone: bittersweet

A straightforward, old-fashioned hurt/comfort fic:

Title: But the Loom of Life Never Stops
Author: Donna Immaculata
Summary: After the death of Dumbledore, Remus tracks down Severus in hiding.
Rating: NC-17
Genre: angst, hurt/comfort
Word count: 8781
Notes: Title lifted from Henry Ward Beecher's Life Thoughts: "We sleep, but the loom of life never stops; and the pattern which was weaving when the sun went down is weaving when it comes up tomorrow."

But the Loom of Life Never Stops

My Remus, btw, has always looked like this - looong before David Tennant entered our lives and made them brighter:



Very thin, with a thin face and good hair that falls into his eyes (canon!), in his late 30s and not too old looking, definitely no moustache. No scars, either, because Harry would have commented on them. I will never forgive the films for what they did to Remus. David Tennant in the scene pictured above made me instantly think of Remus Lupin; there's a certain loneliness and melancholia that fits him well.

So, the posting challenge that has been going around has finally inspired me to make a post with fannish contents. This makes me very proud (I'm easily pleased).

Over a month ago, I finally read JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy. (I actually wanted to make a post about it straightaway, but... yeah.)

How had nobody pointed out to me how good it is? I loved it, deeply and passionately. It is precisely my kind of book. Despite my love for the Discworld novels and Harry Potter, I have never considered myself a fan of the fantasy genre. I like novels in which nothing of any earth-shattering relevance happens, that dissect the lives of ordinary people, provide a social commentary of close-knit (and narrow-minded) communities, where everybody is self-righteous and prejudiced and in some way or another a horrible human being. I started reading The Casual Vacancy with no expectations whatsoever, tore through it in the space of three days, and then listened to the audiobook that for some miraculous reason is available on YouTube. It's probably my favourite of all the books that I've read this year (50+). (The runner-up would be World War Z, which is the exact opposite, genre-wise.) I am very much looking forward to the BBC adaptation, because if done right, it has the potential to be absolutely fabulous.

The month of August has so far been dedicated to reading Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey novels. I've never read them before and thought it's about time to rectify this.

How has there been no adaptation lately? They adapt just about anything, and surely, Lord Peter Wimsey has all the necessary ingredients to appeal to today's audiences: a mind-blowingly attractive* detective who is also an aristocrat, an athlete and a scholar, has an angsty past and a vaguely homoerotic relationship with his gentleman's gentleman. The Lord Peter/Bunter hurt/comfort scenes alone would bring fandom to its knees.

Plus, they could cast David Tennant, if he can do the posh accent.

*Dorothy Sayers goes out of her way to point out that he had "no pretentions to good looks", but we know how well that works out, don't we, Professor Snape?

I should be writing my HP Beholder fic, but the muses aren’t cooperating (someone poke me with a pointy stick), and so I decided to make a picspam instead that is most relevant to my interests.

So. This picspam is brought to you by the fact that I watched Being Human last week and then checked out Desperate Romantics and, despite not being sold on either, I am so sold on Aidan Turner. He is much better than the shows he appears in. (A trait that he shares with Richard Armitage, who has the most lamentable taste in scripts. Oh, the crap I’ve waded through to catch a glimpse of teh Armitage’s bare abs!) But he is young and there’s still hope.

Moreover, suzanne_taylor and I reminisced about our television viewing habits in the 1980s/1990s, and the name “Remington Steele” might just have been mentioned. Come to think of it, the mentioning might have been done by me.

Anyway. There is a strong theme there that is worth being illustrated: throughout the ages, I have always shown a strong preference for tall, dark-haired, skinny men (and women, too), and this is what this picspam is all about.

Let’s start with Remington Steele.

( Remington Steele )

( Agent Cooper )

Would you believe that I’ve never seen Twin Peaks? When it was running back then, in the 90s, I didn’t realise until the third or fourth week that it was worth watching, and then it was too late to join in, because I had missed the beginning. I wanted to watch it entirely unspoiled, starting with the first episode. I’ve had it on DVD for ages now, but, somehow, other, ah, interests always get in the way.

( Lara Flynn Boyle )

( Linda Fiorentino )

( Michelle Gomez )

( Johnny Depp )

( Keanu Reeves )

Okay, fast-forward a decade or so. Suddenly, there was David Tennant.

( David Tennant )

Then there’s Richard Armitage. I’m very conflicted.

( Richard Armitage )

Let’s talk about Jane Austen for a moment here. Her heroes don’t really do it for me, but her villains do. And I can’t forgive the BBC for the horrible casting of Mr Wickham in the otherwise excellent miniseries.

( Tom Riley )

( Ben Barnes )

( Rick Mora )

And finally, the man who inspired this whole post.

( Aidan Turner )

Next time, I might talk about my love for red hair and freckles. Pictorial evidence including Ewan McGregor and Julianne Moore.

Seeing as a big part of my data (shows! films!) might be lost, I need something to cheer self up. Fortunately, I made some caps before my disk died, which I can now use to discuss a deeply disturbing fetish:

Anyone who's followed this LJ for a little while might have noticed that I use it primary to talk about my crushes on fictional characters. And apparently, in many instances what gets me crushing is period clothing. - Give the man a cravat and boots, and I'm his.

( Case in point )