The beat of her wings

I'm on the mailing lists of several authors, and, for the most part, what they tend to write about is upcoming publications, awards, convention appearances and readings, and things like that. Publicity, essentially. Occasionally you get other stuff — giveaways and competitions, scatterings of other interests (Aliette de Bodard writes about recipes and fountain pens, Kate Elliott writes about her dog, and outrigger canoeing, and so on). But what you don't get is the sort of long-form blogging and essays that you used to be able to read, back when all these people were on Livejournal: deep insights into their lives outside their work. (This should not be interpreted as a complaint. People are free to write and manage their online presence in whatever way they see fit.)

There is, however, one exception: Amal El-Mohtar. Her mailing list is an utter delight, and I'm frequently nodding along at the things she writes. Her most recent post (available here) is a case in point:

I tried to be honest with myself about what I wanted, what I was looking for. I thought, with sudden and profound clarity, that I wanted to be both surprised and affirmed. It’s the reason all those Instagram filters that tell you what Pokémon or Pixar character or font you are are so popular, the reason personality quizzes flourished on Livejournal and before that. We know who we are, broadly speaking, but we’d all love the gift of a new self that feels more, that tells us a true secret about ourselves, one that we’re proud and delighted to share. There’s a kind of divination in that, too: you know who you are, but here’s who you could be, the seeds of that self already rooting in you, sprouting.

Surprised and affirmed. Exactly so.

[If you also want to sign up for Amal's mailing list, you can do so via the large Subscribe button that is in the top right-hand corner of the above linked post. There's a free and a paid option.]

A political post, for UK people

This post is by way of a brief heads up to fellow UK citizens and/or residents about both a new community, and a specific campaign. Feel free to scroll past if you are neither a citizen nor a resident of the UK.

There was some talk on Dreamwidth after last year's general election of setting up a comm on Dreamwidth to organise political campaigns and resistance here in the UK. thissterlingcrew is the result, and looks set to be a useful resource. Their most recent post highlights a cause dear to my heart: migrant rights in the UK.

The basic gist of it: if your MP is one of the twenty listed (in the linked post) as being selected to introduce a private members' bill in the new parliament, please write to them and encourage them repeal the hostile environment and minimum income requirement for migrants. This is as per a campaign initiated by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, which you can read about in detail here, along with a template letter for your MP.

My MP is, sadly, not one of them, and I suspect, given the current hostility to migrants and immigration, that this campaign is unlikely to gain much traction, but as someone affected by the hostile environmnent myself, and with many friends who suffered its iniquities, it would mean a lot to me if those with the capacity to champion this cause at least tried to do so.

Two fanvid recs

If you think my desire to close various tabs is behind this flurry of Dreamwidth posts, you would be right.

This post is a rec for two great fanvids which I stumbled across over the past couple of days.

The first is one that induced an acute bout of Buffyverse nostalgia, set in my favourite seasons of the show (those that took place when the characters were in high school), and with the most perfect song choice ever.

[vid] Die Young (4 words) by kaydeefalls
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Characters: Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris, Cordelia Chase, Oz Osbourne, Angel (BtVS), Spike (BtVS), Faith Lehane, Kendra Young, Jonathan Levinson, Larry Blaisdell, Amy Madison, Rupert Giles
Additional Tags: Fanvids, Embedded Video, Canonical Character Death, High School, The Bronze
Summary:

"If we can focus, keep discipline, and not have quite as many mysterious deaths, Sunnydale is gonna rule!" Welcome to Sunnydale High.

The second simply took my breath away. It's an unbelievably ambitious thing: more than thirteen minutes of the 2010s in review by way of films released in that decade. The breadth and scope in terms of different genres is incredible; Oscar-bait sits next to trashy action films, cult fan favourites next to the big blockbusters of the MCU and Harry Potter franchises. And the music (which, given the length of the vid is more than one song) is really, really well matched to the visuals, and the whole thing is just beautifully edited. I highly recommend it. (Given the range of genres there, I should probably stick in a content warning for some blood, gore, and horror imagery.)

"Decade in Review: The 2010’s in Film" (Watch on Vimeo)

Decade in Review: The 2010’s in Film from Lucy May on Vimeo.