Rejoicing with the Truth

I got a few more suggestions, so here goes!

Tell me you want to play and I'll pick up to three of your fandoms (a list might be helpful). Then update your journal and answer the following questions:

1. What got you into this fandom in the first place?
2. Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
3. Favorite episodes/books/movies, etc?
4. Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
5. Do you think more people should get into this fandom?


First, from litlover12, Albert Campion, I Spy, and Georgette Heyer

Albert Campion

1. What got you into this fandom in the first place?
Somewhere I saw a list of great British mystery writers. I've always been a fan of Agatha Christie, and of course Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter came a little later.  Margery Allingham was new to me, though.  I must have been at Texas A&M at the time (early 2000s), and the only Allingham the library had was Traitor's Purse.  In one way, it was the worst choice for a new Campion reader. Not only is Traitor's Purse smack dab in the middle of the Campion chronology, Campion himself has amnesia!  To say I was totally lost is a mild understatement.  But in another way, it was still a good choice, because I was thoroughly hooked in spite of my confusion.  Traitor's Purse is fascinating, and one of the most atmospheric of Allingham's atmospheric books. She seemed to alternate between straightforward mystery stories, and sensational and atmospheric adventures.  So Traitor's Purse fascinated me enough to try again when I got home, and then thanks to Paperback Swap and Book Mooch, I've accumulated all of the Campions and read them more or less in order.

2. Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?

Definitely stay. Campion is one of my favorite characters - I have to say, even more than Lord Peter. He can be so crazy, but under it all he's so very, very smart. And very athletic, far more Saint-like than like Lord Peter in that respect.  I enjoy Allingham's writing, particularly the "sensational" books, for their adventure alone.  And the TV show with Peter Davison is an unending delight, not just for the perfection of the characters and plot adaptations, but also for the (near) perfection of the setting.  Allingham did not usually write "ordinary" settings, and whether it's behind the scenes in a show-business family, or in the aged household of a former pre-Raphaelite master, it's all fascinating.

3. Favorite episodes/books/movies, etc?

Oh, lots! Mystery Mile, Gryth Chalice/Look to the Lady, Sweet Danger, and The Fashion in Shrouds (despite a slow beginning). The Crime at Black Dudley is Campion's first appearance, where he's a fairly minor character, although key to the plot; it's interesting, and definitely sensational in spots. The Tiger in the Smoke is a later Campion, in which he's not the star of the majority of the action; but it's an excellent, suspenseful novel, again very atmospheric.
The shows are all taken from pre-WWII books, and again, "Mystery Mile" and "Look to the Lady" are my favorites.

4. Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?

No, not really. I have a few icons I like, but I haven't gotten into fanfiction, and have not really found much discussion.

5. Do you think more people should get into this fandom?

I'd love it if they did. But it's so quirky in many ways, that I think it's hard to really get into. My brother enjoys some of the shows, but he finds Lugg's dialogue almost wholly unintelligible, which definitely puts a damper on the fun!


I Spy

1. What got you into this fandom in the first place?

As with Hogan's Heroes and The Wild Wild West, thanks to broadcast TV stations when growing up. My mother knew what it was when we stumbled across it during lunch hours, so we all quickly got into it. Being a spy show it was fun and exciting, but it wasn't nearly so silly as Get Smart (or as Hogan's), and the dialogue between Robert Culp and Bill Cosby is pretty much unequaled.  Shortly thereafter I graduated high school, though, and ended up in College Station without a TV - and away from the broadcast station if I had had one!  When I moved back, I discovered the whole series was on DVD, and bought all three sets within six months for myself.  I dived in and never looked back!

2. Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?

I'll never leave this one! I did finally get overloaded halfway through the third set, and had to take a break.  There are some pretty intense episodes, with some pretty hard questions, and it's not all fun and games.  That said, it's something I've always gone back to.

3. Favorite episodes/books/movies, etc?

Whew, so many! It's a rare episode that doesn't have SOMETHING priceless in it. And some of these I haven't seen in a long time - I was in the process of re-watching everything when John Carter stopped recognizing his CD drive. Real favorites:
"A Cup of Kindness"
"Carry Me Back to Old Tsing-Tao"
"Three Hours on a Sunday Night"
"Bet Me a Dollar"
"The Conquest of Maude Murdock"
"Sophia"
"Vendetta"
"Will the Real Good Guys Please Stand Up?"
"Child Out of Time" (Kelly telling how he tried to impress the chambermaid with his shiny Colt makes me giggle uncontrollably)
"Mainly on the Plains" (Boris Karloff!)
"Let's Kill Karlovassi"
"The Honorable Assassins"
"Home to Judgment"
"Tag, You're It"

4. Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?

Not now. There was a fairly active discussion board I was on for a while, but when I got saturated I kind of dropped off. Especially since I was still new to most of the episodes, and hadn't seen some, so I was trying to avoid spoilers.
That said, several years ago someone recommended a piece of fanfic he wrote, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

5. Do you think more people should get into this fandom?

YES. This is a really good series,high quality in every way, down to having an individual soundtrack for every episode.  Of course some things are dated, but there's more than a little emphasis on ideas and principles and what it means to do that job. The plots are usually day-to-day spy jobs, not saving the world! every week!  And the interaction between Culp and Cosby is just incredible.  People who've seen original scripts say that their dialogue is nothing like what was scripted - they ad-lipped everything.  Except for the episodes Robert Culp wrote.  He knew both characters so well that their dialogue is practically word-for-word.


Georgette Heyer (mostly Georgian and Regency romances)

1. What got you into this fandom in the first place?

I honestly do not know where I first heard of Georgette Heyer. I don't know if it was estelyn_strider at the first, but she certainly contributed.  I know Heyer was not associated in my mind with Jane Austen. I mean I didn't heard of her as recommended to Austen-ites. And I appreciate that, because although the time period is (usually) the same, the actual settings are usually nothing alike, and the style of writing is very much the same.
Anyway. I really can't remember which was the first book I read. I got a few on Paperback Swap, but I think most of those were her mysteries. (IMHO rather inferior to her romances. Hence why they're easier to find on PBS.)  I've found a few at Half Price Books as well, including a nice 1960s hardcover (with illustrated dust jacket) of False Colours that's special to me, but most I got in a couple of big batches on eBay.


2. Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?

Definitely stay, at least for the romances! They've already held up well to re-reading. All but one of the mysteries (Footsteps in the Dark - more of a sensational adventure than a mystery) I've traded back. I have a number of her historical novels, part of the big eBay auctions, but I've not really been motivated to read them; and they don't seem to be as popular among her readers.


3. Favorite episodes/books/movies, etc?

False Colours, The Masqueraders, Sprig Muslin, The Foundling, The Toll-Gate, The Corinthian, The Grand Sophy, Powder and Patch


4. Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?

Not really... Esty pointed me to a really good discussion board, but I haven't read all the books and I really want to avoid spoilers! The last time I checked it was down for maintenance.


5. Do you think more people should get into this fandom?

Absolutely! This is the way romances should be: Really fun characters, stuff actually happens, and CLEAN.  I wish they were easier to find! There are a few just now being reprinted, in (slightly pricey) paperback editions - Sprig Muslin and The Toll-Gate! I somehow only see 1 or 2 at Barnes & Noble when I go in, though, and usually a random history like Lord John. Strange.
I would really love to see some of THESE made into movies, too. Much as I love Jane Austen, do we really need a new film of the same books every ten years?

Georgette Heyer's first novel, The Black Moth, was made available on Project Gutenberg today.

Read it here!

According to that infallible source, Wikipedia, The Black Moth was Heyer's first novel, published in 1921. It is not technically a Regency novel, being set firmly in the middle of the eighteenth century.  However, it is very much in the same vein, and I find it a very fun read.

Heyer renamed and slightly recast the characters for These Old Shades, written five years later, and then Devil's Cub, a true Regency novel, in 1932.  Devil's Cub (and particularly its hero) is high on most Heyer readers' favorites lists. ;)

So go read! I think you'll enjoy it.