#Mary Zimmer

[unes23]

Alana Zimmer by Txema Yeste for Marie Claire Italia

[lgbtqreads]

October 2024 Deal Announcements

Adult Fiction Author of the Lambda Literary finalist MY GOVERNMENT MEANS TO KILL ME Rasheed Newson’s THERE’S ONLY ONE SIN IN HOLLYWOOD, an examination of race, masculinity, and sexual politics within the glamorous world of old Hollywood, following a Korean War veteran turned backlot fixer and a closeted Black actor who dies at the height of his fame under suspicious circumstances, to Nadxieli…

[comicwaren]

From Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #001, “Mutant Watch”

Art by Scott Godlewski and Erick Arciniega

Written by Iman Vellani and Sabir Pirzada

[mellpenscorner]

I'm convinced that that if Kenneth "I will have my actors portray every emotion and motivation to the absolute maximum extent of sincerity" Branagh and Hans "I will make this shot of a man driving his truck while crying the most musically overwhelming and significant thing you have ever experienced" Zimmer ever teamed up, the audience would just straight up be vaporized in their seats by the sheer drama of it all.

[rwpohl]

tatort 046: der mann aus zimmer 22, heinz schink 1974

[sun-marie]

LRB reminded me, but the best-case scenario for what datv's soundtrack will sound like sounds something like this to me

[roseunspindle]

Books with “B” Authors that I Own and Need to Read Part 4

[fatehbaz]

Organizing more notes. Some recent-ish books on German colonialism and imperial imaginaries of space/place, especially in Africa:

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German Colonialism in Africa and its Legacies: Architecture, Art, Urbanism, and Visual Culture (Edited by Itohan Osayimwese, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023)

An Imperial Homeland: Forging German Identity in Southwest Africa (Adam A. Blackler, Penn State University Press, 2023)

Coconut Colonialism: Workers and the Globalization of Samoa (Holger Droessler, Harvard University Press, 2022)

Colonial Geography: Race and Space in German East Africa, 1884-1905 (Matthew Unangst, University of Toronto Press, 2022)

The Play World: Toys, Texts, and the Transatlantic German Childhood (Patricia Anne Simpson, 2020)

Learning Empire: Globalization and the German Quest for World Status, 1875-1919 (Erik Grimmer-Solem, Cambridge University Press, 2019)

Violence as Usual: Policing and the Colonial State in German Southwest Africa (Marie A. Muschalek, 2019)

Revenants of the German Empire: Colonial Germans, the League of Nations, and Imperialism (Sean Andrew Wempe, 2019)

Rethinking Black German Studies: Approaches, Interventions and Histories (Edited by Tiffany Florvil and Vanessa Plumly, 2018)

German Colonial Wars and the Context of Military Violence (Susanne Kuss, translated by Andrew Smith, Harvard University Press, 2017)

Colonialism and Modern Architecture in Germany (Itohan Osayimwese, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017)

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German Colonialism in a Global Age (Edited by Bradley Naranch and Geoff Eley, 2014) Including:

"Empire by Land or Sea? Germany's Imperial Imaginary, 1840-1945" (Geoff Eley)

"Science and Civilizing Missions: Germans and the Transnational Community of Tropical Medicine" (Deborah J. Neill)

"Ruling Africa: Science as Sovereignty in the German Colonial Empire and Its Aftermath" (Andrew Zimmerman)

"Mass-Marketing the Empire: Colonial Fantasies and Advertising Visions" (David Ciarlo)

---

German Colonialism and National Identity (Edited by Michael Perraudin and Jurgen Zimmerer, 2017). Including:

"Between Amnesia and Denial: Colonialism and German National Identity" (Perraudin and Zimmerer)

"Exotic Education: Writing Empire for German Boys and Girls, 1884-1914" (Jeffrey Bowersox)

"Beyond Empire: German Women in Africa, 1919-1933" (Britta Schilling)

---

Advertising Empire: Race and Visual Culture in Imperial Germany (David Ciarlo, Harvard University Press, 2011)

The German Forest: Nature, Identity, and the Contestation of a National Symbol, 1871-1914 (Jeffrey K. Wilson, University of Toronto Press, 2012)

The Devil's Handwriting: Precoloniality and the German Colonial State in Qingdao, Samoa, and Southwest Africa (George Steinmetz, 2007)

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

Sapphic Books Coming Out July 2024

Contemporary 💖 Loser of the Year by Carrie Byrd 💖 The Loves of Her Life by Haley Donnell 💖 The Coin by Yasmin Zaher 💖 Making It by Laura Kay 💖 The Black Bird of Chernobyl by Ann McMan 💖 About Last Night by Laura Henry 💖 Together We Fall Apart by Sophie Matthiesson 💖 Lover Birds by Leanne Egan 💖 Forbidden Girl by Kristen Zimmer 💖 Cash Delgado is Living the Dream by Tehlor Kay Mejia 💖 One Last Summer by Kristin Keppler 💖 Rainbow Allies by Nancy Churnin 💖 Unbecoming by Seema Yasmin 💖 The Loudest Silence by Sydney Langford 💖 StreamLine by Lauren Melissa Ellzey

Paranormal/Horror 💖 Carmilla, Vol. 2: The Last Vampire Hunter by Amy Chu & Soo Lee 💖 The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington 💖 I Will Never Leave You by Kara A. Kennedy 💖 So Witches We Became by Jill Baguchinsky

Fantasy 💖 The Princess and the Thief by Mary Lynne Gibbs 💖 A Wolf in Stone by Jane Fletcher 💖 The Second Son by Adrienne Tooley 💖 Daughters of Chaos by Jen Fawkes 💖 Queen B by Juno Dawson

Historical 💖 A Thousand Times Before by Asha Thanki 💖 A Lethal Lady by Nekesa Afia

Mystery/Thriller 💖 The Night of Baba Yaga by Akira Otani 💖 Charlotte Illes Is Not a Teacher by Katie Siegel 💖 The Devil You Know by Ali Vali 💖 Girl Falling by Hayley Scrivenor 💖 The Meaning of Liberty by Sage Donnell 💖 Undercurrent by Patricia Evans

Sci-Fi 💖 Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard

[queer-ragnelle]

So, there's a lot of books that you complain about being awful (most of which I haven't read), usually because of the interpretation of some character (or many characters).

Is the problem with most of these books:

1. That the character on question has been written as a bad person,

2. That the interpretation differs from the Vulgate Cycle,

3. or the specific combination of those two things?

Or have I completely misread this situation?

See the thing is, yes it has to do with interpretation of characters, but perhaps not as superficial as it sounds! While I do love the Vulgate and prefer a more nuanced Mordred, that’s not really the root of the issue. I want Mordred to topple Camelot. I don’t expect or want authors to follow the Vulgate exclusively, there’s plenty from Chrétien or SGATGK or Parzival or the Mabinogion I’d love to see incorporated and they often are! Yay!

The real answer is a complicated thing that can only be expressed through examples because citing “misogyny” or “racism” doesn’t convey the magnitude or severity of the problem. Medieval society was misogynistic and racist at times, I don’t think those things should go ignored in a retelling. It would cheapen the narrative to pretend Guinevere’s or Morgause’s situations weren’t brought about largely due to the patriarchal systems at play nor do I want to pretend everyone who met Palomides was race blind.

Here’s an exhaustive list of sourced examples to indicate what I’ve encountered that really turned my stomach in retellings…content warning for everything from animal abuse to rape to genocide. This is gonna be long….

Adding more/intentional incest.

Agravaine sexually attracted to his mother Morgause (The Once and Future King by T. H. White) or to his aunt Guinevere (Arthur Rex by Thomas Berger, The Road to Avalon by Joan Wolf)

Gaheris sexually attracted to his mother Morgause (The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart)

Mordred sexually attracted to and raping his mother Morgause (Morgawse by Lavinia Collins)

Uther sexually attracted to his step-daughter Morgause (Igraine by Lavinia Collins)

Kay sexually involved with his uncle Lancelot (Guinevere and Morgan by Lavinia Collins)

Mordred sexually involved with his aunt Morgause (Guinevere Evermore by Sharan Newman)

Morgause attempting to seduce her teenage son Mordred (The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart)

Arthur marrying his sister Morgan (Bedivere by Wayne Wise)

A life-long sexual relationship between Arthur and his aunt Morgan (The Road to Avalon by Joan Wolf)

Mordred and “auntie” Morgan having sex (Merlin and the Sword (1985))

Exceedingly graphic first-person rape of Guinevere by her cousin Maelgwn (Queen of the Summer Stars by Persia Woolley)

Mordred kidnaps and tries to rape his sister Avlynn (Merlin and the Book of the Beasts (2009))

Increased racism.

Using modern slurs like the N word against Palomides (The Once and Future King by T. H. White)

Aggressive and confrontational Safir “restrained” by white characters and called “homicidal Moor” by Kay (The Book of Gaheris by Kari Sperring)

Palomides speaking in broken English mentioned as a “turn-off” for Morgause (Morgawse by Lavinia Collins)

Palomides a former slave orphaned and raised culturally British instead of immigrating to Britain and constantly othered as “the Arab companion” when the others don’t have modifiers like that (Queen of the Summer Stars and Legend in Autumn by Persia Woolley)

Depicting Arab Bertilak as perpetrator of pederasty, random anti-black or anti-Asian allusions, random antisemitism, etc. (Arthur Rex by Thomas Berger)

Tristan wanting to put down “barbarian” Palomides and drives him to madness (The Enchanted Cup by Dorothy James Roberts)

Black face Palomides (The Black Knight (1954))

Adding pedophilia/child brides.

Girls including Morgaine forced into ritualistic sexual situations for “ceremonial” reasons (Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley)

Eleven year old Morgause given to Lot in marriage by her mother Igraine who lied about her age (Morgawse by Lavinia Collins)

Child bride Isolde (Legend in Autumn by Lavinia Collins, Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell)

Merlin sexually involved with fosterling Nimuë and later attracted to young Olwen (The Winter King and Excalibur by Bernard Cornwell)

Morgause preying on minors (The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart, The Book of Gaheris by Kari Sperring)

Pedophile/serial killers Kay and Mordred (Dragon’s Child and The Bloody Cup by M. K. Hume, The Queen’s Knight by Marvin Borowsky)

Morgause sexually abusing Agravaine (Queen of the Summer Stars by Lavinia Collins)

Pederast Arthur sleeping with young Peredur and Geraint (Arthur the King by Allan Massie)

Lancelot grooms young Mordred to be his lover (Mordred, Bastard Son by Douglas Clegg)

Bademagus raping 13yo Lynette (The King’s Damosel by Vera Chapman)

Warp a character into a rapist.

Morgause/Morgan tricking Arthur to sire Mordred (The Once and Future King by T. H White, Excalibur (1981), The Hollow Hills by Mary Stewart, Bedivere by Wayne Wise, Morgan by Lavinia Collins, Guinevere by Sharan Newman, Camelot (2011))

Gawain threatening Guinevere with rape then eventually banished from court for raping someone else (Guinevere and Morgawse by Lavinia Collins)

Exceedingly graphic first-person rapes of Morgause by Lot and Mordred, Morgan by Urien (Morgawse and Morgan by Lavinia Collins)

Morgause laughing when she learns how traumatized Arthur is after her seduction of him (Queen of Summer Stars by Persia Woolley)

Agravaine threatening to rape Guinevere (The Road to Avalon by Joan Wolf)

Perceval raping Layla and getting turned on watching the rape of someone else (A Knight’s Tale by Richard Monaco)

Lancelot forcing himself onto Guinevere (First Knight (1995))

Lancelot raping Galahad’s gf (The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell)

Bors tries to rig a dice game in which the prize is sex with Nimuë (Cursed (2020))

“He would not fucking say/do that.”

Arthur, Lot, Geraint, Urien, and Lancelot are wife beaters with minimal to no consequences (Warrior of the West by M. K. Hume, I Am Mordred by Nancy Springer, Igraine and Morgan by Lavinia Collins, Knight Life by Peter David)

Lancelot doesn’t rescue Guinevere leaving her to burn at the stake by Arthur (Fall of Knight by Peter David)

Lancelot used Guinevere for political gain (Excalibur by Bernard Cornwell, The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman)

Lancelot married to Elaine then cheats on her with Guinevere and causes his wife’s death leaving Galahad an orphan (Merlin (1998))

Agravaine skins Elaine’s cat and wears it (Queen of Summer Stars by Persia Woolley)

Gareth helps Gawain torture Pellinore to death (I Am Mordred by Nancy Springer)

Genocide.

Arthur picks up where Uther left off and continues to commit genocide against magic-users, Merlin helps (BBC Merlin (2008-2012)

The red paladins commit genocide against the fay, Lancelot helps (Cursed (2020))

Gawain uses sun powers to commit genocide in the holy land, other knights like Tristan, Mordred, and Agravaine help (F/GO Camelot Wandering (2020) and F/GO Camelot Paladin Agateram (2021))

Lancelot as high king of Britain commits genocide against allies of Arthur to stay in power, other knights like Dagonet, Lot, and Calogrenant help (Kaamelott: First Installment (2021))

So yeah. It isn’t ideal that Lamorak is old in Sword of Lancelot (1963) or Dagonet is stoic and boring in King Arthur (2004). But like, whatever! I like those films! Same goes for replacing Gaheris with Geraint in Sarah Zettel’s series or cutting Gareth out of Gillian Bradshaw’s trilogy. Kind of a bummer, lame even, but not a deal breaker. The things about these bad retellings that drive me mad are much more sinister than that, rooted in really detestable opinions about women and children and people of color.

Can’t Mordred, Agravaine, and Morgan be normal scheming/evil/power hungry like they were in BBC The Legend of King Arthur (1979) or Howard Pyle’s books or Knights of the Round Table (1953) instead of whatever the above are doing? Not to mention the complete violation of Guinevere, Morgause, Lancelot, and Gawain as characters. I’m so tired, man.

Hope this clears things up. Sorry if you made it through that list. I’m sure you hated reading it as much as I hated writing it. But I think it makes it clear the problem here and that I’m not just being picky. The psychic damage is taking its toll.

[unes23]

Alana Zimmer by Txema Yeste for Marie Claire Italia

[fuckyeaharthuriana]

mordred through time (movies, tv shows, opera and musicals)

Part 4: From 2014 to 2017

Other Parts: Part 1: From 1949 to 1981 -> here Part 2: From 1982 to 2002 -> here Part 3: From 2002 to 2010 -> here Part 5: From 2018 to 2023

For this part I just wanted to talk a bit about sympathetic Mordred.

Through time we started to see a more sympathetic Mordred. I think the first iteration in audio/movies/tv was the the Blind Guardian's song in 1995. For the first time we have Mordred as a protagonist, mainly lamenting of regret, pain and lonliness. While I do not know why they decided to focus on Mordred, it is also notable that writing a more sympathetic Mordred was already happening in novels, around the same time. I used the arthurian list of novels I made so I might have missed any, but at this time we have 1956 "The Great Captains" by Henry Treece, "Sword at Sunset" by Sutcliff, "The Wicked Day" (the first novel focusing on Mordred as protagonist) by Mary Stewart, 1982 "The Idylls of the Queen" (Phyllis Ann Karr), 1983 "The Mists of Avalon" (Marion Zimmer Bradley), Persia Wolley's 1987 Guinevere trilogy, 1988 "The road to Avalon" by Joan Wolf and 1988 "The Book of Mordred" by Hanratty all depicting Mordred as a more round character, as someone the reader can feel sympathy too or even enjoy or relate to.

A slighty sympathetic but still villanous potrayal can then be found in 2001 ("The Mists of Avalon" miniseries) but we have to wait till 2008 ("Merlin", BBC) to have a tv Mordred who is actually shown trying to do the right thing (at least for a bit), and working with Arthur. I think this is more due to the fact that "Merlin" often tries to depict villains' origins and motivations than a real conscious attempt to redeem Mordred or make him less villanous.

Other following examples are the kid movie 2010 "Merlin and Arthur the Lion King" and the album 2014 "High Noon Over Camelot" that positions Mordred in a co-protagonist role and fully allows the listeners to empathyze with him. The Fate franchise (the introduction of Mordred should be around 2012 in the novels) continues on this trajectory, making Mordred a main sympathetic and beloved protagonist in many of the adaptations.

2014 High Noon Over Camelot album by The Mechanisms: The song I used is "Peacemaker". The album has multiple arthurian characters sung by different artists, and Mordred is interpreted by Ashes O'Reilly. This is also the first time we have an explicitly queer Mordred (outside of novels), as Mordred is a trans man in this retelling. The story is a Western reimagining of arthuriana, and another case of a sympathetic Mordred - this time Mordred is more overtly sympathetic and even reconcile with his father Arthur at the end.

2011 recording of Albeniz's "Merlin": Piotr Prochera plays Mordred. This is another recording (no dvd, this has been shared by Piotr Prochera acor himself on youtube) of the "Merlin" opera.

2015 recording of "Le Roi Arthus": This opera is probably my favorite arthurian opera. It was created by Ernest Chausson between 1886 and 1895 and it is sung in French. Mordred is a bass and a classic villain, here jealous of Lancelot and the attention Guinevere gives Lancelot. This 2015 version was a modernized edition, with the knights depicted as modern soldiers. Mordred here is played by Alexandre Duhamel.

2016 Rex, youtube webseries: This series is on Severe Chill Studios' Youtube channel, with 48 short episodes. The series is a vlog of arthurian characters living in modern times (no reincarnations, just reimaginings). It follows Rex (Arthur) a student who is dealing with his abusive family and the brothers Merlin and Lancelot. Moore (Mordred) is Arthur's spoiled and arrogant friend (played by Daniel O’Sullivan). He lets Rex crash at his place for a bit, and is often depicted insulting his mother and calling her slurs. If you decide to watch this just know the series has some pretty heavy themes (a part from domestic abuse it also touches on terminal illness). Youtube link.

2017 Fate/Apocrypha: This is one of the many anime adaptation of the Fate franchise. Mordred is voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro. The Fate franchise is massive and deals with numerous spin-offs or even alternative realities to tell the tales of wars/battles for the Holy Grail mainly fought by Servants who are personification of historical/legendary figures. Fate/Apocrypha is based on a series of novel and is an alternative timeline to the previous Fate/Stay Night anime and also the first time we have Mordred in the anime. Mordred is here a Servant, they are the cloned-son of Saber (Arthur/Arturia, who is a woman) and Morgana. Their story is massive so let me just say I am using they/them for Mordred because the Fate series is very ambigous regarding theri gender. They are born as the close of a woman (Saber) and often referred with female pronouns through the series, they hate being called "a girl", and also hate being called "a boy". While I do not think the series was making an effort to actually depict a non-binary character, I do believe Mordred can easily be read as one.

2017 King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table: 2017 was a wild year for arthuriana but nothing was as wild as this movie. The movie follows the life of some arthurian characters' descendant living in Thailand. Morgana and Mordred (banished in arthurian times) ended up in space, working with aliens, and are now back to destroy the descendants. The movie is full over dramatic close up, Morgana turning into a mecha, fighting scenes and more. Interestingly, given how ridiculous the movie is, Mordred is depicted as a sympathetic (almost) villain. He is played by Russell Geoffrey Banks.

2017 King Arthur: Excalibur Rising: The scene I used in the video is right at the start, as the movie is set after Arthur's death. While Mordred might seem sympathetic there he is actually a pretty violent villain for the rest of the movie. The story is focused on Owain (Arthur's illegitimate son) trying to take back the crown from Mordred and Morgana. Here Mordred (played by Gavin Swift) is Arthur's incestuous son with Morgana.

2017 Legend, youtube webseries: A webseries you can watch on Tufts University Television's channel (link here). The series has 7 episodes and an epilogue and is set in a university. Each student is an arthurian character, with Mordred (Morty) as the overly joking, friendly guy who is hiding some deep hatred and jealousy towards Arthur. Unfortunately I do not remember if Mordred is Arthur's half-brother or just a friend. Mordred is played by Yuval Ben-Hayun. The story and production were pretty good, so I recommend it!

2017 Mordred La Revolte: I cheated a bit as this movie is the end of a long webseries. The series started in 2013 and run till 2018 with two season and can still be found here on youtube. The series was created by Tommy-Lee Baïk (who also played Mordred) and is in French. Unfortunately I cannot really tell how arthurian the series is, but the plot does not mention other arthurian characters. If I am not wrong, la Revolte is simply S2 turned into a movie.

2017 Fate/Grand Order The stage - Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot: Part of the Fate saga but in the Grand Order timeline, this is a stage adaptation of one of the events in the videogame Fate/Grand Order. In particular, it should be the same story shown in the later movie Camelot part 1 as the full title is Fate/Grand Order THE STAGE - Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot Replica; Agateram. I will explain more about it in the next part of this Mordred series. Chihiro Kai plays Mordred.

[satansbasementchild]

Marauders modern music HC

Gryffindor

James

Bruno Mars (Natalie specifically)

Rotel Otis (I only know Motels and I Wanna Dance With You)

The Beaches

Sirius

Måneskin (listened to THE LONELIEST non stop for weeks after the prank)

Queen (still)

Conan gray

Remus

David Bowie (still)

Hozier

Ethel Cain

Peter

Cigarettes After Sex

Arctic Monkeys

Han Zimmer soundtracks (he likes orchestra music fight me)

Lily

Florence + The Machine

Billy Joel (still)

Lucy dacus (I think she'd relate to her alot)

Mary

Sabrina Carpenter

Maisie Peters

Reneé Rapp (listened to pretty girls for 4 hours straight after kissing Lily)

Marlene

Cigarettes after sex

The Beaches (goes to concerts with James)

Reneé Rapp

[rwpohl]

tatort 046: der mann aus zimmer 22, heinz schink 1974

[monstrousgourmandizingcats]

Okay, time for MY headcanons about the YJs' taste in books

Shauna: Canonically likes Kurt Vonnegut. Perhaps other satirical novelists like Evelyn Waugh, Joseph Heller, and Bret Easton Ellis. Likeliest YJ character to have actually read and enjoyed Lord of the Flies, but took the wrong lessons from it. Reads lots of feminist nonfiction but little feminist fiction. Jackie: Not much of a reader. Naturally gravitates towards "airport"/"beach" novels but can be sold on somewhat meatier literature with aesthetic and genre qualities that are similar, like Daphne du Maurier's body of work and, in a pinch, Wuthering Heights. Lottie: I think she would like the kind of Asian Christian fiction that becomes popular-ish in the West. Silence, The Martyred, that sort of book. Genuinely enjoys paradigmatic "school study" novels like The Great Gatsby, East of Eden, and the like. Claims to have read more Dostoyevsky than she has, but has at least read White Nights and The Idiot. Unlike Nat, knows who Mishima Yukio is but refuses to read anything by him. Nat: Is a Hunter S. Thompson girlie. Unlike Lottie, has read at least one Mishima novel but doesn't know anything about him. Taissa: Mostly reads nonfiction related to her philosophical, political, and historical interests. Lots of Eric Foner, Lillian Faderman, W.E.B. Du Bois, law reviews, weirdo economists (affectionate) like Henry George and E.F. Schumacher, maybe some British commentators on land issues like William Cobbett, J.B. Priestley, and Oliver Rackham. Van: The only big "genre" reader. Has read a fair amount of Tolkien; was into Terry Brooks for a while; really enjoys feminist and lesbian fantasy and science fiction; felt betrayed about Marion Zimmer Bradley but, conversely, doesn't like Anne Rice nearly as much as... Misty: Likes Anne Rice more than Van does. Likes Anne Rice more than MOST people do. Canonically reads Nora Roberts. Would have a worrying amount of overlap in taste with a living, forty-three-year-old Jackie. Laura Lee: Was born to read the Locked Tomb books behind her parents' backs, heavily annotating all the Biblical quotes and paraphrases and having big feelings over Mercymorn and Cristabel. Unfortunately, was born too early for that, and did the equivalent with Brideshead Revisited instead. Was mortified when Shauna mixed up Laura Lee's copy of Brideshead with her own and almost brought it home with her one day. Enjoys Victorian poetry like Rossetti and Hopkins. Akilah: Really into the kind of older children's literature that is written in an erudite enough way that it is now read mostly by teenagers and adults, like L.M. Montgomery and Elizabeth Goudge. Mari: Born to read Otherside Picnic, forced to read the first Animorphs book over and over after stealing it from a younger relative eighteen hours before the crash.