Stuff I Love: Top Ten Edition Challenge 2
Feb. 8th, 2026 05:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
merricatbChallenge 2:
Make a Top Ten list for your favourite series and tell people exactly why you love it. This can be in any format - tv series, book series, radio plays, movie sequels, something else not mentioned here. Your series can be as short as two vaguely linked pieces of media and as long as... well, the sky is your limit. Whatever you like!
I struggled a bit with the first challenge to come up with 10 standalone faves (movies and books) and I'm definitely not making 10 on today's challenge even though two of them have been my most fannish fandoms.
Sense8 - The GOAT for me. I haven't stopped watching this for like three years. I'm constantly thinking about this show, about the characters and different scenarios, what happened after the fact and all the in-between scenes that we didn't get. I MISS it. I was never especially engaged in fandom activities before this. Now I post on tumblr about it, I joined DW for it, I read shit on the subreddit (despite really disliking reddit in general), and of course I read AND write fanfiction now which is just wild to me. Fanfiction never appealed to me before. For the most part, it still doesn't. Even other movies and shows I'm super into I have no real desire to read fics for. IDK if that's because the fandom is so small and there just isn't that endless sea of content like there is for other media, or there's just so much more of that world to explore that was stolen from us by Netflix canceling it, but this is my singular obsession these days and I know I'm very annoying about it. Sorry :)
Hannibal - This was my first real fannish obsession. I watched it weekly as it aired but wasn't all that attached to it (I had way too much other stuff going on in my life) until the final episode where I was absolutely blown away and immediately had to rewatch the entire series. That began what I imagine will be a lifelong fascination, one that I've spread to multiple other people. I never wrote fanfic for it (there's plenty out there without me adding to it) but I spent a LOT of time on that tumblr tag. It's actually why I joined tumblr to begin with. Story time: my feisty little dog had just been in a scuffle with another dog (she picked a fight with a bigger dog and lost, not that she realized that fact). I was super shaken up and still had to complete our walk, and my friend texted me a gif from tumblr of Mads pretending to bite Hugh Dancy to cheer me up. I still have that gif saved on my phone, and I downloaded tumblr that day. My dog (aka honey badger) was fine.
Our Flag Means Death - Here's another show that maximizes queerness in the most delightful way, with a great soundtrack to boot. A seafaring band of misfits with varying levels of incompetence at being pirates, somehow attracting the attention of the English Navy and THE Blackbeard. I love all the characters. Even the bastards (especially the bastards...I'm looking at you Izzy Hands). It's funny and smart and sweet and so very odd, and Jim please stab me. We deserved another season, but I'm glad we got what we got.
Interview with the Vampire - I don't like being wrong, and I really don't like admitting when I was wrong, but in the case of IWTV, I was so very wrong and I'm thrilled about it. When I saw the casting announcement for this show, I was...confused. Just at first glance there are major changes to the characters (Daniel "the boy" Molloy being old, Louis and Claudia being race-swapped) and the timeframe from 1790s/1970s to 1910s/2020s respectively. And I was especially not on board with the casting of Lestat. Merricat you silly silly girl. Sam Reid is no Australian farmboy. Sam Reid IS the vampire Lestat. And changing Louis from a white plantation owner to a black pimp was a stroke of absolute genius. I was a casual reader of the books and liked the characters more than the writing itself (or the wild directions the series went), and I grew up on the movie, but the series is superior to both in EVERY WAY. Season three is coming out this year, and honestly it's one of the few things I'm looking forward to in life these days. I thank tumblr for showing me gifs and convincing me to give this show a try when I was absolutely ready to write it off as a bad adaptation that took too many liberties from the source material.
Killing Eve - From the first scene of Villanelle knocking ice cream onto a child, I was hooked. The fashion, the music, the killing, the chemistry. Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh were born for these roles and Fiona Shaw is an absolute delight. It's a good thing that unforgivably bad fourth season never actually happened because then I'd be really angry.
Good Omens - Despite being a lifelong atheist, I've always been interested in fiction about demons and angels, heaven and hell (and priests, but that's a story for another day). This was the book that introduced me to Neil Gaiman. It was given to me as a birthday present from a friend, and over the next twenty or so years I read most of his work. It was even on my nightstand, ready for another reread when the story came out about what a piece of shit he is. So fuck Neil Gaiman. Seriously. I still love the story, I love Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship, and I'm even still looking forward to Good Omens 3 when that comes out. I want to support the people who worked on it and aren't pieces of shit, but don't want to support Gaiman (or Amazon for that matter) so I'm torn about watching it.
Fleabag - I'm not fannish about this one per se, but I've watched it end to end about as much as I've watched Our Flag Means Death so it deserves a place on this list (and my list is too short anyway). I have to admit, the thumbnail for season one of her with mascara streaming down her face put me off and I didn't give this show a try for quite some time. But I'm so glad I did. It's funny and cringe and tragic and Fleabag is an absolute garbage human being I love her so much.
Deadloch - This show starts out with a dead man getting his dick lit on fire and it stays wild. Interesting commentary on colonialism and misogyny and homophobia and feminism. Madeleine Sami's character is the hottest mess in Tasmania, and possibly the entire world. Plus an a capella version of I Touch Myself. What's not to like? Can't wait for the second season.
On account of my list being a bit short, I'm going to include a few YouTube channels that do reaction videos I enjoy. I'm relatively new to reaction videos and only started them because I watched Sense8 so much it lost its emotional impact. If you haven't watched them and want the feeling of seeing something again for the first time, reaction videos are a great way to do it.
Sesskasays - Her Sense8 videos were fantastic, as were her reactions to Good Omens and Fleabag. She cries easily which is *chefs kiss*.
Andelain - I've only seen Andi's videos for Sense8 so far but she's brilliant and I'll definitely be watching more.
Make a Top Ten list for your favourite series and tell people exactly why you love it. This can be in any format - tv series, book series, radio plays, movie sequels, something else not mentioned here. Your series can be as short as two vaguely linked pieces of media and as long as... well, the sky is your limit. Whatever you like!
I struggled a bit with the first challenge to come up with 10 standalone faves (movies and books) and I'm definitely not making 10 on today's challenge even though two of them have been my most fannish fandoms.
Sense8 - The GOAT for me. I haven't stopped watching this for like three years. I'm constantly thinking about this show, about the characters and different scenarios, what happened after the fact and all the in-between scenes that we didn't get. I MISS it. I was never especially engaged in fandom activities before this. Now I post on tumblr about it, I joined DW for it, I read shit on the subreddit (despite really disliking reddit in general), and of course I read AND write fanfiction now which is just wild to me. Fanfiction never appealed to me before. For the most part, it still doesn't. Even other movies and shows I'm super into I have no real desire to read fics for. IDK if that's because the fandom is so small and there just isn't that endless sea of content like there is for other media, or there's just so much more of that world to explore that was stolen from us by Netflix canceling it, but this is my singular obsession these days and I know I'm very annoying about it. Sorry :)
Hannibal - This was my first real fannish obsession. I watched it weekly as it aired but wasn't all that attached to it (I had way too much other stuff going on in my life) until the final episode where I was absolutely blown away and immediately had to rewatch the entire series. That began what I imagine will be a lifelong fascination, one that I've spread to multiple other people. I never wrote fanfic for it (there's plenty out there without me adding to it) but I spent a LOT of time on that tumblr tag. It's actually why I joined tumblr to begin with. Story time: my feisty little dog had just been in a scuffle with another dog (she picked a fight with a bigger dog and lost, not that she realized that fact). I was super shaken up and still had to complete our walk, and my friend texted me a gif from tumblr of Mads pretending to bite Hugh Dancy to cheer me up. I still have that gif saved on my phone, and I downloaded tumblr that day. My dog (aka honey badger) was fine.
Our Flag Means Death - Here's another show that maximizes queerness in the most delightful way, with a great soundtrack to boot. A seafaring band of misfits with varying levels of incompetence at being pirates, somehow attracting the attention of the English Navy and THE Blackbeard. I love all the characters. Even the bastards (especially the bastards...I'm looking at you Izzy Hands). It's funny and smart and sweet and so very odd, and Jim please stab me. We deserved another season, but I'm glad we got what we got.
Interview with the Vampire - I don't like being wrong, and I really don't like admitting when I was wrong, but in the case of IWTV, I was so very wrong and I'm thrilled about it. When I saw the casting announcement for this show, I was...confused. Just at first glance there are major changes to the characters (Daniel "the boy" Molloy being old, Louis and Claudia being race-swapped) and the timeframe from 1790s/1970s to 1910s/2020s respectively. And I was especially not on board with the casting of Lestat. Merricat you silly silly girl. Sam Reid is no Australian farmboy. Sam Reid IS the vampire Lestat. And changing Louis from a white plantation owner to a black pimp was a stroke of absolute genius. I was a casual reader of the books and liked the characters more than the writing itself (or the wild directions the series went), and I grew up on the movie, but the series is superior to both in EVERY WAY. Season three is coming out this year, and honestly it's one of the few things I'm looking forward to in life these days. I thank tumblr for showing me gifs and convincing me to give this show a try when I was absolutely ready to write it off as a bad adaptation that took too many liberties from the source material.
Killing Eve - From the first scene of Villanelle knocking ice cream onto a child, I was hooked. The fashion, the music, the killing, the chemistry. Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh were born for these roles and Fiona Shaw is an absolute delight. It's a good thing that unforgivably bad fourth season never actually happened because then I'd be really angry.
Good Omens - Despite being a lifelong atheist, I've always been interested in fiction about demons and angels, heaven and hell (and priests, but that's a story for another day). This was the book that introduced me to Neil Gaiman. It was given to me as a birthday present from a friend, and over the next twenty or so years I read most of his work. It was even on my nightstand, ready for another reread when the story came out about what a piece of shit he is. So fuck Neil Gaiman. Seriously. I still love the story, I love Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship, and I'm even still looking forward to Good Omens 3 when that comes out. I want to support the people who worked on it and aren't pieces of shit, but don't want to support Gaiman (or Amazon for that matter) so I'm torn about watching it.
Fleabag - I'm not fannish about this one per se, but I've watched it end to end about as much as I've watched Our Flag Means Death so it deserves a place on this list (and my list is too short anyway). I have to admit, the thumbnail for season one of her with mascara streaming down her face put me off and I didn't give this show a try for quite some time. But I'm so glad I did. It's funny and cringe and tragic and Fleabag is an absolute garbage human being I love her so much.
Deadloch - This show starts out with a dead man getting his dick lit on fire and it stays wild. Interesting commentary on colonialism and misogyny and homophobia and feminism. Madeleine Sami's character is the hottest mess in Tasmania, and possibly the entire world. Plus an a capella version of I Touch Myself. What's not to like? Can't wait for the second season.
On account of my list being a bit short, I'm going to include a few YouTube channels that do reaction videos I enjoy. I'm relatively new to reaction videos and only started them because I watched Sense8 so much it lost its emotional impact. If you haven't watched them and want the feeling of seeing something again for the first time, reaction videos are a great way to do it.
Sesskasays - Her Sense8 videos were fantastic, as were her reactions to Good Omens and Fleabag. She cries easily which is *chefs kiss*.
Andelain - I've only seen Andi's videos for Sense8 so far but she's brilliant and I'll definitely be watching more.
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Date: 2026-02-08 06:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-02-08 06:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-02-08 07:08 pm (UTC)Seeing that we have so much interest/vibe overlap, maybe I should give Sense8 a try... ;)
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Date: 2026-02-08 07:24 pm (UTC)Mads is incredible. I'm still keeping up hope for season 4.
You should! I love spreading that Sense8 brain rot. I did a pimp for smallfandomfest if you need more convincing ;)
https://smallfandomfest.dreamwidth.org/968008.html
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Date: 2026-02-08 11:46 pm (UTC)Okay so based on gifs alone, I KNOW I need to watch Interview with a Vampire. It's nice to know that new eps are still coming out!
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Date: 2026-02-08 11:59 pm (UTC)YES! It's soooo good!
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Date: 2026-02-09 10:10 am (UTC)Lots of new stuff for me to check out here, thanks! And I'm with you on the attraction of reaction videos. I must have watched every LotR reaction out there.
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Date: 2026-02-09 01:00 pm (UTC)I've never done them for LotR. That's a good idea actually. Probably easier to fit in to give you that hit than four hours worth of movie at a time lol
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Date: 2026-02-13 12:12 am (UTC)No, apology declined, please continue to be enthusiastic about it without apology. It's weird, isn't it, what pings your fannish brain. It's like, why this show, why this one specifically, what did it do? It's one of those unanswerable questions, but you should revel in it.
Excellent list though, mostly filled with things I keep meaning to watch and not getting round to (mainly OFMD and IWTV)
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Date: 2026-02-13 02:07 pm (UTC)<3 :) Thank you
It is weird. You can't force it either. Someone can recommend something to me that would hit every single one of my buttons but if my brain says no it's gonna be a no.
YES! Do eeeet.
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Date: 2026-02-15 05:04 pm (UTC)For the most part, it still doesn't. Even other movies and shows I'm super into I have no real desire to read fics for.
I'm exactly the same way. I have a lot of movies and shows I love, but am not fan fiction-y about.
but this is my singular obsession these days and I know I'm very annoying about it.
I, for one, really enjoy hearing about others' fannish interests! Not annoying at all.
I loved season 1 of Our Flag Means Death, but gave up after a couple of episodes in season 2. Like it wasn't as funny to me and got kinda grim, IIRC, but maybe I should give it another shot.
I too went into Interview with the Vampire as a total skeptic, but WOW, did it blow me away. Agreed that better than the books or the movie (though I still really like the movie). The other shows based on Anne Rice works they've done, the Witches one and Talamasca one, don't even come close and I don't get why they aren't able to hit the mark like Interview does.
Ugh, Neil Gaiman. I loved so many works and I just cannot stomach them anymore, including Good Omens.
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Date: 2026-02-15 05:16 pm (UTC)I've heard good things about The OA but the cancellation makes me wary of starting it and getting my heart broken by another cliffhanger.
Thank you :)
It does start out somewhat darker than the first season for sure.
I haven't tried Talamasca but Mayfair Witches was awful. I never read the witch books so I can't say how they compare but it's really quite amazing how they can turn Interview into one of the best shows on TV and totally miss the mark on the others.
Right. The stuff he's admitted to is enough to put me off his work, much less the stuff he still denies.