a thought on comics fic

You know what would be great? If authors specified what particular runs of comics they were drawing from when writing a particular fic. I'd be totally up for hunting down a dozen or two issues of something I hadn't tried yet if I had promise of good fic at the end. There's this X-men WIP on AO3 that looks really interesting, but I've only even heard of half of the characters involved.

I mean, I could ask. But it'd be nice if that was a standard thing. When you're dealing with characters with 40+ years of backstory, just listing the character name is only moderately helpful. It'd be like if someone wrote Doctor Who fic and didn't specify which doctor.

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Comment here or there. ( DW replies)

Wednesday reading

I've seen this meme around for a while, but honestly, between fanfic and comics and internet literature of various kinds, I've read precious few books recently - certainly not enough to have a weekly "past, present, future" reading feature.

That said, I am presently making slow progress on my reread of Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. It's the right time of year for it, because outside the weather is heavy and gray and damp and poorly lit, and Ivanhoe is about people living in a country whose weather is heavy and gray and damp and an era that is poorly lit.

For those who haven't read it: Ivanhoe is set during the Crusades, features Prince John as a major character, Friar Tuck as a minor character, and Robin Hood in a cameo, spends a ton of time on the culture and customs of the era (with who knows how much historical accuracy, but still, worldbuilding of a kind), and is altogether a lot more fun than I think people expect of it. There's an entire chapter devoted to Friar Tuck and a random knight that I am very much looking forward to, because I recalled it being hilarious. Overall, if you're a fan of swashbuckling and the pop culture impression of derring-do during the Crusades (which this very novel might have helped popularize? I don't know enough of the background there), for example as embodied by Errol Flynn, then you might quite enjoy this.

That is, supposing you can get past the racism. It feels so peculiar to have Scott on the one hand talking about how horribly the Jewish people of the period were mistreated and abused while on the other hand referring repeatedly to their generally avaricious and mercenary nature. And yet the novel has several important and sympathetic Jewish characters.

Overall, quite enjoying my reread. But still will probably not be finished by next Wednesday.

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Comment here or there. ( DW replies)