Also, Unexpected Leprosy

[lizbee]

I'm currently re-reading Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January mysteries (in between other books) and mostly being amazed at how good they are and appalled at how little fandom there seems to be.  (And seriously, guys, I know Hannibal Sefton is a great character, but when you have a series with a large cast of characters, only two of whom are white, but two out of the three fics on AO3 are about the Tragic And Mysterious White Dude ... yeah.)

I've never done Yuletide in my life, but I feel like it would totally be worth the stress of signing up and having to write something if I got out of it a pre-series fic where Benjamin and Ayasha FIGHT CRIME in Paris.  Or maybe a fic about Livia Levesque doing something fabulous, like ... I dunno, her laundry.  Not that she would do her own laundry, but if she did, she would do it fabulously. 

I keep picturing the series as a massive HBO drama with someone like Idris Elba in the lead.  Only that would never work, because aside from the epic budget it would require to recreate 1830s Louisiana, much of it would have to be in French for the various relationships and rivalries to make sense.  NOT THAT I, PERSONALLY, WOULD BE AGAINST A SERIES THAT REQUIRES IDRIS ELBA TO SPEAK FRENCH A LOT, AND ALSO PLAY THE PIANO, AND ALSO ENGAGE IN SWASHBUCKLING SHENANIGANS.  But I can see how it would be an audience turn-off. 

Comments

[copracat]

NOT THAT I, PERSONALLY, WOULD BE AGAINST A SERIES THAT REQUIRES IDRIS ELBA TO SPEAK FRENCH A LOT, AND ALSO PLAY THE PIANO, AND ALSO ENGAGE IN SWASHBUCKLING SHENANIGANS.

Your selflessness is epic.

[lizbee]

It's certainly not the worst mental image I've entertained all ... life.

[melwil]

Well you just convinced me to buy the first one :) (btw, I do love being able to buy a book immediately after it's been recced)

[lizbee]

I know! It's like having a superpower! Or ... a job!

[melwil]

Also the kindle app for my iPad, and an occasional ability to structure a readable sentence (I actually bought it just now)

[marymac]

That is a gorgeous mental image, thank you. Of course, I wouldn't be against a series that required required Idris Elba to read the phone book, but yes.

There's French Canadian channels, right? *contemplates*

[lizbee]

Of course, I wouldn't be against a series that required required Idris Elba to read the phone book, but yes.

Me neither. (Actually, I'd probably take Idris Elba Reads the L-M Volume over Luther, because I was REALLY ENJOYING THAT right up until it hit the upsetting domestic violence stuff and then I had to stop.)

[marymac]

Yeah, I kind of fell off Luther for the same reason, even with the Elba and McGann show going on there at the end.

Idris Elba is one of those people who if they didn't come over as a really civil soul, you'd just have to hate. It's just not fair for one person to be that ...everything.

[andraste]

As someone who loves Benjamin January and has adored Idris Elba ever since she first saw him in Ultraviolet, I can honestly say that this is the greatest idea IN THE UNIVERSE. Do HBO have a suggestions box or something?

[lizbee]

THEY SHOULD. Ooh, I should watch Ultraviolet again.

[drakyndra]

You have once more very nearly convinced me to try this series, but only today I had a bunch of books arrive from Book Depository, so it may just have to wait a little longer.

[ambyr]

It is never too late to sign up for your first Yuletide :-). And I know there are other Benjamin January fans who participate.

[delphi]

I think I'm going to have to take a little trip to the library today...

[skygiants]

What I really want is for someone to write the fic in which Dominique and Chloe St. Chinian fight crime! (I would also be totally okay with the fic in which Dominique and Chloe St. Chinian fight crime and in the end it turns out that Livia Levesque has already solved it.)

[lizbee]

I WOULD SO READ THAT! And Henri can be their Watson!

(I just finished Wet Grave yesterday, and I vaguely recalled that Chloe would turn out to be sympathetic, but not that she was a secret nerd. BEST TEAM EVER.)

[kerravonsen]

Book fandoms (with a few notable exceptions) tend to be pretty obscure, and some people don't like writing for book fandoms even if they know the books... but you know this already.

I suspect whatshisname got fic more because he's Tragic and Mysterious than because he's white, but that doesn't really help...

[myniamh]

I've been watching a lot of films and TV with subtitles lately and other than accessibility issues I get annoyed that people avoid foreign language stuff.

[katemonkey]

Aw man, I loooooooooove this series of books.

And when I did Yuletide, I kept on asking for it, but it never happened. BOOO.

But it's all about Ben.

[archangelbeth]

(Have you found barbara-hambly.com or barbarahambly.livejournal.com? There are short stories at her b-h site...)


...I would totally not be turned off by French so long as there were subtitles.