Sunshine Revival '25 #4: Smiles

[brightknightie]

sunshine_revival '25 Challenge #4: What is making you smile these days? Create a top 10 list...

Some fannish things making me smile, ordered by type, not necessarily by relative smiliness:

• Rereading the "Penric and Desdemona" series by Lois McMaster Bujold in chronological order


• Jed MacKay's writing for Marvel Comics


• Overly Sarcastic Productions in general, and looking forward to both their books coming out soon in particular


• Superman (2025), in theaters now


• Fantastic Four (2025), in theaters next week


• The new half-and-half retelling/analysis approach, specifically for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, on the Sacred Realms podcast


• Playing Link's Awakening on my Switch 2, especially taking Marin to visit the other NPCs


• Reading The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom fanfic, now that I've finished the game


• Season 3 of Babylon 5 (watching 1 episode per week on borrowed DVDs; new to me)


• Halfway through Grantchester season 10 (watching 1 episode per week on PBS Passport; new to me)

How about you? What's bringing you smiles this summer?

Comments

[celli]

My family is the source for a lot of my smiles - I had an overnight with Baseball Niece and have one planned with Eldest Niece. There have also been outings and birthdays. Both nieces have also decided to try their hands at fanfic, and I feel honored that they're letting me come along for the ride.

[brightknightie]

Yay, rich family connections! I feel so warmly toward your nieces and their places in your life. ♥

[switchbladeeyes]

Murderbot! I'm on my third re-read of the books. I think the show knocked it out of the park (and I was a bit skeptical going in).

[brightknightie]

I know that celli has enjoyed the books, and that sholio has enjoyed the TV series. I've never seen anyone mention what's specifically enjoyable about either; would you like to? The title is very off-putting for me.

My best friend has just expressed that she wants to start watching the Murderbot show, because she heard it was about a robot that just wanted to stay home, sit on a couch, and watch TV. I cautioned her that I had heard that the story is not about getting to fulfill that preference -- she absolutely cannot stand violence; she couldn't watch Highlander because of the violence -- but she said she obviously understood that and sounded a little annoyed with me, so I hushed up and backed off. ~wry~

[switchbladeeyes]

It's a fun adventure with a lot of humor and heart. Thematically, much of it is about what it means to be a person, being accepted for who you are with love, and learning to accept and care for others.

"Murderbot" is a nickname the main character, SecUnit, gives itself. The name is very in line with SecUnit's sense of humor and neuroses. But I would not describe it as "murderous."

Your friend is right that SecUnit would definitely rather watch its favorite shows than interact with others, but as you note, that's not how it goes. The show does have some moments of intense violence. Your friend is going to find out fast whether she can tolerate it because early on, a character is violently attacked by a large alien creature.

You might enjoy this episode of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast discussing the show: https://www.npr.org/2025/05/20/1252435991/murderbot-envisions-a-caustically-funny-future

Note, the podcast panelists repeatedly refer to SecUnit as "he," but it has no gender. (Interestingly, when I first read book 1 with my book club, those who had listened to the audiobook perceived SecUnit as male-presenting because the voice actor is male. But many of those who read it in print or ebook perceived it as femme-presenting or totally androgynous in appearance. The books never describe what SecUnit looks like, just that it can pass for human and has a human face.)