Resisting Everything but Temptation

I kind of feel like one of those characters who has something traumatic happen to them in the pilot, and then wakes up after being in a coma for a year (hi, John Kennex). If I think about the last year at all, my brain goes numb, and it's as if it never happened. At this point, I do not feel confident that this year will be better—hopeful, but untrusting. (Or UN-trust-ing, as Mike Myers would say.)

Anyway! Three fannish things. One is, I continue to be absolutely delighted and soothed by all things Musketeers. And I do mean all things. The number of books and movies I have read/watched/purchased in the past three weeks is record-breaking, for me. This show couldn't have come along at a better time—it's very nostalgic for me to be suddenly taken by a childhood love all over again, and it's also nostalgic because this show is so very reminiscent of both Magnificent Seven and Highlander, with all the charming, likable characters, the slightly schmaltzy (okay, not always slightly) stories and emotional notes, the costumes and horses, the fight scenes, and most of all, the opportunity to read lots and lots of history with a fannish flame in my heart, which is possibly my happiest place to be.

Which brings me to… dear wonderful authors who are writing all this lovely fic, I feel that we might need to have a basic class in weaponry of the 17th century. Namely, the difference between a pistol and a musket, and what they might be used for. I am no expert, and I'm not that critical when reading delicious fanfic, I must admit, but there are some points at which, well, it does seem rather integral. My friends who are much more knowledgeable about weapons, I know there are some great sites out there which go into tremendous detail, and of course I can't seem to find them at the moment. (This is actually a pretty good site, with good pictures and basic explanations. The musket page is here and the wheellock pistol page here.) The crucial thing, really, is that a musket is up to five and a half feet long. So, like about as tall as Athos if he stands up straight. :D (Yes, I know that our musketeers probably wielded slightly shorter ones, but still, almost 5 feet.) ETA: This page on the 2011 movie at the Internet Movie Firearms Database gives a lot of good images, too, including all the different kinds of pistols.

And the second fannish thing, which has nothing to do with musketeers, is there anything so happy-making as having someone podfic your work? I don't know that there is. On Sunday, I found out that colls recorded a really wonderful version of my little Sam/Jody story, Hour of Need. Dramatic excitement happened on Sunday afternoon that prevented me from finishing it, but I finally got to listen to the rest last night. It's so perfect! I love the way she reads, and the beautiful way she captures Jody's inflections. It is aces.

Finally, the third thing—thanks to a vote of confidence from alethialia and devohoneybee, I caught up on Vikings over the weekend. So happy to report that season 2 is hitting it solidly into left field. Too early to give them a home run, but so far, so excellent.