On your point 4, newsletter-type things: despatches is the newsletter for Age of Sail on LJ. Includes a bunch of fic and also other interesting things. Mostly Hornblower and PotC, although you do get Aubrey-Maturin and other things.
maryrenault is a comm rather than a newsletter, but it's fairly low-volume and includes fanfic, which is still pretty rare for her.
universe_today is another newsletter, for Babylon 5. There isn't much fic listed because there isn't much written these days (it's about eight years since the show was on the air, after all), but most of what's around will be linked there, I think.
There was talk of an X-Men newsletter, but I'm not sure if it ever happened.
And for 6, I can only rec (yet again) Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, which I totally think that everyone should read. And, because you sound like the sort of person who would enjoy it, Queen Victoria's Gene by DM and WTW Potts.
Also, do you realise that with your Batman analogues, you just effectively mapped Rodney onto Fraser?? I am trying so hard to think of points of correspondence. Beyond the "from Canada" thing.
no subject
There was talk of an X-Men newsletter, but I'm not sure if it ever happened.
And for 6, I can only rec (yet again) Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, which I totally think that everyone should read. And, because you sound like the sort of person who would enjoy it, Queen Victoria's Gene by DM and WTW Potts.
Also, do you realise that with your Batman analogues, you just effectively mapped Rodney onto Fraser?? I am trying so hard to think of points of correspondence. Beyond the "from Canada" thing.