What I was watching... um... in summer?
Feb. 17th, 2026 08:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thisbluespiritI've had this post stashed away since late November, meaning to come back to it and write something more sensible about The Stone Tape that wasn't how much I wanted to icon Jane Asher's face. The reviews were already at least a couple months out of date, I think. Then life intervened and alas, I have even less brain now than then, so I should get on and post it anyway.
Eye in the Sky (2015)
This was one of the later things I pulled off Jeremy Northam's CV. The JN tumblrs reckoned it was a good one - and it was.
It's about an international military and political operation to capture the three top leaders of an Islamist extremist group in Somalia, with various layers of people involved via video conference - the UK Colonel in charge (Helen Mirren), the US soldiers running the 'eye in the sky' (Aaron Paul, Phoebe Fox), the Somali agents on the ground (esp. Barkhad Abdi), and a small group overseeing it from a meeting room in Whitehall (Alan Rickman as General Benson, Jeremy Northam as the Minister in charge, Monica Dolan as PR), plus various others who need to be consulted, including Iain Glen as the Foreign Secretary. And right there in the middle of it all, is Alia (Aisha Takow), a child who lives close to the target house.
( Cut for more details )
Smartly made modern film, but also exactly the kind of knotty moral problem and intelligent writing you'd have got in a Play of the Month.
Talking of which...
Nigel Kneale's The Stone Tape (BBC 1972)
I this via Talking Pictures, after having heard of it forever, and it was great! I really loved it. The creepy concept, the scientific approach - I really wished I had screencaps so I could icon Jane Asher in it (she was wonderful generally, not just icon-able) and everything. The way that the misogyny was used was also great, and took me by surprise because I had felt my one other Nigel Kneale did give way to a 1960s/70s misogynistic trope that I had seen too often by that point, but perhaps the "seen too often" part was more of the problem, because this just made me sit up and do the, "Oh. oh" moment for real. Highly recommended if you like any brand of creepy UK 70s TV. (It IS creepy/disturbing, though. This is not a chirpy watch that will end well, please do note). It starred some other people who weren't Jane Asher, too, like Iain Cutherbertson and they were all also good, I just didn't want to icon them and their face and their red hair in quite the same way. XD
So glad I finally watched it & I enjoyed it even in summer, when I so often can't manage TV downstairs.
Official Secrets (2019)
EitS having been so good, when I realised that this one (featuring one of the 2 brief cameos that are all JN has done since 2016) was also directed by Gavin Hood, I checked for a cheap copy & obtained it poste haste. I really liked this too, and watching them close together made me think even more highly of both - this is the story of a real incident from 2002, while EitS is a theoretical piece behind its tension, but underneath, they're both smartly done morality plays with excellent casts. (Incidentally, there are 3 actors who feature in both - Monica Dolan, John Heffernan and Jeremy Northam).
When I looked up both films online the first description is always "underrated" and the Guardian apparently ran a piece for Keira Knightley's 40th earlier this year recommending a top list of her films to watch, and put Official Secrets at no. 1.
Official Secrets isn't as tightly contained as EitS, as it's based on a real UK whistleblower incident from 2002, but which ended up not having much effect, so it's a really unusual thing to tackle (& as faithfully as this - they had a lot of the real people involved in the production in some way or other). As before, it's a large but excellent cast (Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Adam Bakri, Matt Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Indira Varma & more).
( More under here, although not really spoilery )
Anyway, after watching both, I got excited by clearly liking a director's stuff, so I looked up what Gavin Hood had done since - and the answer was nothing, dammit! (Before that he did Wolverine and Ender's Game, which are not tightly done morality plays. I mean, I assume not?? But I might need to investigate the first half of his CV more closely sometime. He has something upcoming lurking on imdb, which sounds more similar, but I'm not sure if that's real, or just a production hell mythical something or other.)
Eye in the Sky (2015)
This was one of the later things I pulled off Jeremy Northam's CV. The JN tumblrs reckoned it was a good one - and it was.
It's about an international military and political operation to capture the three top leaders of an Islamist extremist group in Somalia, with various layers of people involved via video conference - the UK Colonel in charge (Helen Mirren), the US soldiers running the 'eye in the sky' (Aaron Paul, Phoebe Fox), the Somali agents on the ground (esp. Barkhad Abdi), and a small group overseeing it from a meeting room in Whitehall (Alan Rickman as General Benson, Jeremy Northam as the Minister in charge, Monica Dolan as PR), plus various others who need to be consulted, including Iain Glen as the Foreign Secretary. And right there in the middle of it all, is Alia (Aisha Takow), a child who lives close to the target house.
( Cut for more details )
Smartly made modern film, but also exactly the kind of knotty moral problem and intelligent writing you'd have got in a Play of the Month.
Talking of which...
Nigel Kneale's The Stone Tape (BBC 1972)
I this via Talking Pictures, after having heard of it forever, and it was great! I really loved it. The creepy concept, the scientific approach - I really wished I had screencaps so I could icon Jane Asher in it (she was wonderful generally, not just icon-able) and everything. The way that the misogyny was used was also great, and took me by surprise because I had felt my one other Nigel Kneale did give way to a 1960s/70s misogynistic trope that I had seen too often by that point, but perhaps the "seen too often" part was more of the problem, because this just made me sit up and do the, "Oh. oh" moment for real. Highly recommended if you like any brand of creepy UK 70s TV. (It IS creepy/disturbing, though. This is not a chirpy watch that will end well, please do note). It starred some other people who weren't Jane Asher, too, like Iain Cutherbertson and they were all also good, I just didn't want to icon them and their face and their red hair in quite the same way. XD
So glad I finally watched it & I enjoyed it even in summer, when I so often can't manage TV downstairs.
Official Secrets (2019)
EitS having been so good, when I realised that this one (featuring one of the 2 brief cameos that are all JN has done since 2016) was also directed by Gavin Hood, I checked for a cheap copy & obtained it poste haste. I really liked this too, and watching them close together made me think even more highly of both - this is the story of a real incident from 2002, while EitS is a theoretical piece behind its tension, but underneath, they're both smartly done morality plays with excellent casts. (Incidentally, there are 3 actors who feature in both - Monica Dolan, John Heffernan and Jeremy Northam).
When I looked up both films online the first description is always "underrated" and the Guardian apparently ran a piece for Keira Knightley's 40th earlier this year recommending a top list of her films to watch, and put Official Secrets at no. 1.
Official Secrets isn't as tightly contained as EitS, as it's based on a real UK whistleblower incident from 2002, but which ended up not having much effect, so it's a really unusual thing to tackle (& as faithfully as this - they had a lot of the real people involved in the production in some way or other). As before, it's a large but excellent cast (Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Adam Bakri, Matt Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Indira Varma & more).
( More under here, although not really spoilery )
Anyway, after watching both, I got excited by clearly liking a director's stuff, so I looked up what Gavin Hood had done since - and the answer was nothing, dammit! (Before that he did Wolverine and Ender's Game, which are not tightly done morality plays. I mean, I assume not?? But I might need to investigate the first half of his CV more closely sometime. He has something upcoming lurking on imdb, which sounds more similar, but I'm not sure if that's real, or just a production hell mythical something or other.)
新年快乐, 恭喜发财 and all that
Feb. 17th, 2026 09:46 pmtrobadoraHappy Lunar New Year!
Time keeps slipping away from me again, and I keep thinking of things I want to post about, but when I finally sit get to down and open DW, I've forgotten all about it.
But I remembered the New Year, at least! *g*
Time keeps slipping away from me again, and I keep thinking of things I want to post about, but when I finally sit get to down and open DW, I've forgotten all about it.
But I remembered the New Year, at least! *g*
Batman: the 1980s TV show
Feb. 17th, 2026 01:31 pmmelannenI had a dream for the third time this week about watching the 1980s live-action Batman show with my sister so I figured it was worth a DW post :P
If you don't know the 1980s live-action Batman that I apparently watch in my dreams here's a quick overview:
- It was a weekly one-hour show that ran for about three seasons. It predates the age of season-long arcs but it had more than the usual number of 2- and 3- part episodes and some character growth even.
- It's clearly intentionally following up on the legacy of the 1960s show because it revels in the fundamental absurdity and plays for comedy, but it was also determined to not get pigeonholed as a kids' show - it has non-cartoon violence and solid emotional arcs.
- For example instead of all the silly Bat-Gadgets, they had Wayne Enterprises (TM) machines. There's a running bit where Tim always makes sure he has access to a Wayne Enterprises (TM) Automatic Soup Dispenser (TM) and nobody can tell if he's just really into soup or if he's modding it to dispense other things.
- Oh yeah, despite being called Batman, it's actually mostly about Tim and Dick. Bruce shows up in every episode for at least a few minutes but is rarely the focus. (Yes, I know the 1980s is early for comics!Tim - I assume the comics character was based on the show character? - and there's no Jay in this continuity, which lets it be a little more lighthearted about their relationships with Bruce.)
- Tim became Robin after Dick "retired" and Bruce finally noticed how neglected the neighbor boy actually was. In the show he's mostly traveling around playing poor little rich boy and Robinning with a rotating guest cast of Teen Titans (nearly every episode is in a different city - they must have had a huge travel/sets budget.)
- Dick is 100% a civilian these days he swears. He's technically in college but never appears to attend. He's always showing up to "hang out" with his little bro, or following Kory to a show, and then having to secretly superhero it up without a costume or name. The show is constantly teasing that this is the episode he'll finally become Nightwing and never follows up.
- When Bruce shows up it's usually not as Bruce, or even Batman, but as his even more useless cousin "Kenneth Wayne", who only shows up in the tabloids when he's done something so ridiculous Bruce has to send Alfred to bail him out, and therefor has an excuse to be places Bruce can't possibly be. He has absolutely 0 natural authority over the boys, who treat him as an embarrassingly untrustworthy uncle, and enjoys the hell out of this.
- Dick is dating Koriand'r, but they insist they're not girlfriend and boyfriend because "Tamaraneans don't have boys and girls, she's just my Kory and I'm her Dick". This is never explored beyond that at all. (Also Kory looks a lot less human and more like Ron Perlman's Beast* (except as a hot not-girl, of course.)
- Tim spends every episode excited and/or worried about the main plot interfering with or facilitating a possible or planned date with a girl. The girls are never named or shown onscreen. Dick teases him about this.
The episode we watched last night involved Tim and Dick renting out an old mansion/party house in Philadelphia that was haunted by a very lazy demon shaped like a yellow cartoon rabbit, a very large monitor lizard who was wanted by the Mob, a bunch of people having to shelter overnight in a Victorian-themed cafe in the zoo, and every single character having to dress up as Matches Malone in the same bad wig at the same time. Also the Three Stooges guest-starred. I hope I get to watch more later, I don't think there's an official DVD release.
*did I only have this dream because I did that "name all the animals" game right before bed and was thinking about Golden Lion Tamarins??
The Starving Saints, by Caitlin Starling
Feb. 17th, 2026 10:53 amrachelmanija
Excellent dark fantasy about three women trapped in a medieval castle under siege. It reminded me a bit of Tanith Lee - it's very lush and decadent in parts - and a bit of The Everlasting. Fantastic female characters with really interesting relationships. The language is not strictly medieval-accurate but a lot of the characters' mindsets are, which is fun.
All I knew going in was that it was medieval, female-centric, and involved cannibalism. This gave me a completely wrong impression, which was that it was a sort of female-centric medieval Lord of the Flies in which everyone turns on each other under pressure and starts killing and eating each other. This is very nearly the opposite of what it's actually about, though there is some survival-oriented eating of the already-dead.
The three main characters are Phosyne, an ex-nun and mad alchemist with some very unusual pets that even she has no idea what they are; Ser Voyne, a female knight whose rigid loyalty gets tested to hell and back; and Treila, a noblewoman fallen on hard times and desperate to escape. The three of them have deliciously complicated relationships with each other, fully of shifting boundaries, loyalties, trust, sexuality, and love.
At the start, everyone is absolutely desperate. They've been trapped in the castle under siege for six months, the last food will run out in two weeks, and help does not seem to be on the way. Treila is catching rats and plotting her escape via a secret tunnel, but some mysterious connection to Ser Voyne is keeping her from making a break for it. Phosyne has previously enacted a "miracle" to purify the water, and the king is pressuring her to miraculously produce food; unfortunately, she has no idea how she did the first miracle, let alone how to conjure food out of nothing. Ser Voyne, who wants to charge out and fight, has been assigned to stand over Phosyne and make her do a miracle.
And then everything changes.
The setting is a somewhat alternate medieval Europe; it's hard to tell exactly how alternate because we're very tightly in the POV of the three main characters, and we only know what they're directly observing or thinking about. The religion we see focuses on the Constant Lady and her saints. She might be some version of the Virgin Mary, but though the language around her is Christian-derived, there doesn't seem to be a Jesus analogue. The nuns (no priests are ever mentioned) keep bees and give a kind of Communion with honey. Some of them are alchemists and engineers. There is a female knight who is treated differently than the male knights by the king and there's only one of her, but it's not clear whether this is specific to their relationship or whether women are usually not allowed to be knights or whether they are allowed but it's unusual.
This level of uncertainty about the background doesn't feel like the author didn't bother to think it out, but rather adds to the overall themes of the book, which heavily focus on how different people experience/perceive things differently. It also adds to the claustrophobic feeling: everyone is trapped in a very small space and additionally limited by what they can perceive. The magic in the book does have some level of rules, but is generally not well understood or beyond human comprehension. There's a pervasive sense of living in a world that isn't or cannot be understood, but which can only be survived by achieving some level of comprehension.
And that's all you should know before you start. The actual premise doesn't happen until about a fourth of the way into the book, and while it's spoiled in all descriptions I didn't know it and really enjoyed finding out.
Spoilers for the premise. ( Read more... )
Spoilers for later in the book: ( Read more... )
Probably the last third could have been trimmed a bit, but overall this book is fantastic. I was impressed enough that I bought all of Starling's other books for my shop. I previously only had The Luminous Dead, which I'm reading now.
Content notes: Cannibalism. Physical injury/mutilation. Mind control. A dubcon kiss. Extremely vivid descriptions of the physical sensations of hunger and starvation. Phosyne's pets do NOT die!
Feel free to put spoilers for the whole book in comments.
Too Sleepy To Think of a Good Title
Feb. 17th, 2026 10:51 pmanonymoose_au10:31pm: Yes indeed, I guess the waking up early to watch skating has finally caught up with me and I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open.
Still, I better give some updates, firstly we got third place in Trivia tonight! We were a team of four and as it happened two of them are very up to speed on vegetables, which considering they were the theme of one round. I was also helpful with all my random knowledge, LOL.
3rd place garnered us a $25 gift voucher so next time we go we can get cheaper drinks and/or food, so hooray! Although I've just realised that the other three are all ex-employees of the library, hmmm,
Today was also the day of our old Church friend Ivan's funeral. Unfortunately, it was also a day where my digestive system decided to be less than polite, so for half the day I felt a bit ick. However I managed to make it to the church and not too late - although I managed to not get off at the nearest bus stop to the Church, so had to walk swiftly all the way back. Grumble, grumble. I didn't actually miss much of the church service, but I did only hear half of the eulogy, dang. I didn't know that Ivan had such a big family, but he did! I've never met any of them, so when the service was over I decided not to approach them, well that and the fact I needed to head back to the library so I wouldn't be back too late. My mother's friend was also there but she had to leave before the end of the service.
Once I got back to work I spent the rest of the day rounding up magazines - it was the last day for our mail carrier, I hope the new person is nice, but it's possible they'll just drop the mail in the library mail boxes downstairs so we'll never see them. I also had a second desk shift - I managed to arrive on time for the first thing in the morning so go me.
On a final note, today is Pancake Day/Strove Tuesday/Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday and my digestive system felt better enough to make some pancakes from the mix I bought yesterday. I still can't quite figure out how to use the pancake pan I have with faces on them, I can't quite get the faces to imprint on the pancake, not sure why that is.
Ah too sleepy to write more, but I think that sums up my day pretty well, so Moose out!
Still, I better give some updates, firstly we got third place in Trivia tonight! We were a team of four and as it happened two of them are very up to speed on vegetables, which considering they were the theme of one round. I was also helpful with all my random knowledge, LOL.
3rd place garnered us a $25 gift voucher so next time we go we can get cheaper drinks and/or food, so hooray! Although I've just realised that the other three are all ex-employees of the library, hmmm,
Today was also the day of our old Church friend Ivan's funeral. Unfortunately, it was also a day where my digestive system decided to be less than polite, so for half the day I felt a bit ick. However I managed to make it to the church and not too late - although I managed to not get off at the nearest bus stop to the Church, so had to walk swiftly all the way back. Grumble, grumble. I didn't actually miss much of the church service, but I did only hear half of the eulogy, dang. I didn't know that Ivan had such a big family, but he did! I've never met any of them, so when the service was over I decided not to approach them, well that and the fact I needed to head back to the library so I wouldn't be back too late. My mother's friend was also there but she had to leave before the end of the service.
Once I got back to work I spent the rest of the day rounding up magazines - it was the last day for our mail carrier, I hope the new person is nice, but it's possible they'll just drop the mail in the library mail boxes downstairs so we'll never see them. I also had a second desk shift - I managed to arrive on time for the first thing in the morning so go me.
On a final note, today is Pancake Day/Strove Tuesday/Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday and my digestive system felt better enough to make some pancakes from the mix I bought yesterday. I still can't quite figure out how to use the pancake pan I have with faces on them, I can't quite get the faces to imprint on the pancake, not sure why that is.
Ah too sleepy to write more, but I think that sums up my day pretty well, so Moose out!
| |||
| Reach for the laser with Antic's Sims-ulator! |
Mod Post: Off-Topic Tuesday
Feb. 17th, 2026 09:15 amicon_uk posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
scans_dailyIn the comments to these weekly posts (and only these posts), it's your chance to go as off topic as you like.
Talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and just generally chat among yourselves.
The intent of these posts is to chat and have some fun and, sure, vent a little as required. Reasoned debate is fine, as always, but if you have to ask if something is going over the line, think carefully before posting please.
Normal board rules about conduct and behaviour still apply, of course.
It's been suggested that, if discussing spoilers for recent media events, it might be advisable to consider using the rot13 method to prevent other members seeing spoilers in passing.
The world situation is the world situation. If you're following the news, you know it as much as I do, if you're not, then there are better sources than scans_daily. But please, no doomscrolling, for your own sake.
Today marks the Chinese New Year, so Happy New Year of the Fire Horse!
It's also Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day if you prefer, so enjoy!
Toy Fair 2026 took place in New York, with nostalgia being mined to a level I don't think I've never seen before. Licences getting figures include the 1977 Battlestar Galactica, the original Duck Tales and even the 80's Tigersharks cartoon (Think Thundercats, but more watery).
Credit to Hasbro though, for announcing their 40th Anniversary celebration of The Transformers: The Movie by announcing their apology tour! :)
Sentai's first successor: "Gavan Infinity", a new take on Space Sheriff Gavan has debuted and... he's very shiny, isn't he?
Legendary screen actor Robert Duvall passed at 95 and better known for his TV work actor James Van Der Beek passed at 48, and I overlooked mentioning Catherine O'Hara's passing a couple of weeks back, but she more than earned an honourable mention.
I'd completely missed that there were a couple of trailers out for "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" Season 2: The first, and the final
Also, as I type this the news is coming in that Jesse Jackson, one of the original Civil Rights champions of the 60's has passed away at the age of 84.
But not to end on a down note, the first kākāpō chick in four years hatched on Valentines Day, the first of hopefully many to arrive this year to help bolster a critically endangered species. (Kākāpō only breed ever 2 to 4 years, and there are only 236 left, so it's a long slog for the poor things)
Talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and just generally chat among yourselves.
The intent of these posts is to chat and have some fun and, sure, vent a little as required. Reasoned debate is fine, as always, but if you have to ask if something is going over the line, think carefully before posting please.
Normal board rules about conduct and behaviour still apply, of course.
It's been suggested that, if discussing spoilers for recent media events, it might be advisable to consider using the rot13 method to prevent other members seeing spoilers in passing.
The world situation is the world situation. If you're following the news, you know it as much as I do, if you're not, then there are better sources than scans_daily. But please, no doomscrolling, for your own sake.
Today marks the Chinese New Year, so Happy New Year of the Fire Horse!
It's also Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day if you prefer, so enjoy!
Toy Fair 2026 took place in New York, with nostalgia being mined to a level I don't think I've never seen before. Licences getting figures include the 1977 Battlestar Galactica, the original Duck Tales and even the 80's Tigersharks cartoon (Think Thundercats, but more watery).
Credit to Hasbro though, for announcing their 40th Anniversary celebration of The Transformers: The Movie by announcing their apology tour! :)
Sentai's first successor: "Gavan Infinity", a new take on Space Sheriff Gavan has debuted and... he's very shiny, isn't he?
Legendary screen actor Robert Duvall passed at 95 and better known for his TV work actor James Van Der Beek passed at 48, and I overlooked mentioning Catherine O'Hara's passing a couple of weeks back, but she more than earned an honourable mention.
I'd completely missed that there were a couple of trailers out for "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" Season 2: The first, and the final
Also, as I type this the news is coming in that Jesse Jackson, one of the original Civil Rights champions of the 60's has passed away at the age of 84.
But not to end on a down note, the first kākāpō chick in four years hatched on Valentines Day, the first of hopefully many to arrive this year to help bolster a critically endangered species. (Kākāpō only breed ever 2 to 4 years, and there are only 236 left, so it's a long slog for the poor things)
The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Monday, February 16th
Feb. 17th, 2026 01:27 amburnhername posting in su_herald
ANGEL: (crouches before her) I bet you're not big on trust games, now, are you, Faith?
FAITH: You gonna shrink me now? Is that it?
ANGEL: No, I just wanna talk to you.
FAITH: That's what they all say. And then it's just, 'Lemme stay the night. Won't try anything.'
FAITH: You gonna shrink me now? Is that it?
ANGEL: No, I just wanna talk to you.
FAITH: That's what they all say. And then it's just, 'Lemme stay the night. Won't try anything.'
~~Consequences~~
[Images, Audio & Video]
- Artwork: buffy girls! girls are so cool from Dec 2023 by cariacreo (Buffy, Willow, Faith, worksafe)
- Artwork: Made some valentines on Picsart by blazinwolve (Buffy/Faith, worksafe)
- Artwork: [Valentine, you're wicked gross] by hellyeahbuffysummers (Faith, worksafe)
- Artwork: Happy Valentine’s Day people! I am dozing off in bed to celebrate by artafix (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)
- Artwork: spuffy by idontexistbutwhodoes (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)
- Artwork: buffy in her destructive era by xevsfire (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)
- Artwork: happy belated valentine's day y'all by xaeyrnofnbe (Buffy/Angel/Spike, worksafe)
- Artwork: [Rupert Giles valentine] by hellyeahbuffysummers (Giles, worksafe)
- Artwork: spike x drusilla in Klimt style by milfzatannaz (Spike/Drusilla, worksafe)
- Artwork: "I'm going to be a mummy." Drusilla is preparing Darla's body for burial. by myboyknows (Darla/Drusilla, mildly NSFW)
- Moodboard: willow x buffy x tara by kyrt4t (worksafe)
- Moodboard: buffy x faith by kyrt4t (worksafe)
- Playlist: hey peeps! i made a wesley playlist! a ghost in the machine enjoy! by spectraldamian
- Gifset: febuwhump day sixteen alt - lazarus "Wherever I was, I was happy. At peace. I knew that everyone I cared about was all right" by solemnsalem (Buffy, worksafe)
- Gifset: You never did. (x) by andremichaux (ensemble, worksafe)
- Gifset: ELIZA DUSHKU as FAITH LEHANE BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER | 3.15 "Consequences" by elizadushkudaily (Faith, Buffy, worksafe)
- Gifset: Wesley Wyndam-Pryce in ANGEL. Ruminating. by mycatismyfriend (Wesley, mildly NSFW)
[Reviews & Recaps]
- *Contains spoilers* So I finished watching "Angel" and I really liked it. by glamandillusionz
- Thoughts on rewatching S2E16, “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” (2/4): Why is this episode so bad? by btvsfemslashenjoyer
- OK, the thing about Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered is that it is a bad episode. Bad in three separate but (I suspect) related ways. by coraniaid
[Recs & In Search Of]
[Community Announcements]
- otherworldly_chemistry: 2026 Spring Fling Exchange [Buffyverse rarepair exchange with the theme of spring and/or romance!]
- fandom10in30: Round 062: Hearts N Flowers [Icon challenge]
- fic_promptly: Challenge Week 02.26 - Day 1
- comment_fic: Tuesday :: Texts From Last Night
[Fandom Discussions]
- [Tarot card reading] knight of pentacles [and multiple other readings posted] by slayerofcups
- it’s honestly insane to me that we never learn the name of the romani girl that Angel murdered. by lilyelisabeth
- Thoughts on rewatching S2E16, “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” (3/4) [Amy Madison becoming a witch] by btvsfemslashenjoyer
- [what happens to Jenny in "Passion"] really is so heartbreaking by floralgreenery
- [Buffy vs Faith parallel reactions] by fictiongods
- For a guy so concerned with like germs and crumbs and messes... [The Mayor] by fictiongods
- anya jenkins from buffy the vampire slayer :] "I don't talk to people much." by your-fav-is-autistic
- So I have this headcanon characterization that I can never shake free [about Spike and onscreen Spuffy] by vampmissedith
- POLL: Could They Win Survivor? [Angel] by couldtheywinsurvivor
- Fallout anyone? [Jane Espenson is a show runner and other BTVS connections] by Alixen2019
- What are some small, insignificant things that annoyed you about the show? [BTVS] by HomarEuropejski
- In "Crush", why does Buffy let Drusilla and Harmony just slink away? by hospitalsinwinter
- Joss addressing how the cast and crew found out the show was ending by solacesilence
- Something I wish they could’ve explored more [about the Scoobies' memories of Dawn] by Seed0fDiscord
- S7 Joyce - The First?? by gutterp3ach
- Buffy punching Faith in "Empty Places" justified or not? by jdpm1991
- [Do you think that the big fight in Empty Places was intentional buildup] to the Buffy/Spike scene in the next episode? by negratengoelalma
- What are some small, insignificant things that annoyed you about the show? [ATS] by HomarEuropejski
so are you guys into evil wizards getting dicked down or what
Feb. 17th, 2026 02:27 amwembleySo I've been pretty open about these two pseuds being connected for a while now, but because I'm always thirsty for comments I might as well let you guys know that, off and on, I've been writing Orignal Works pornography as ![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
kuntar. Most of these involve:
- an arrogant, wealthy, evil and very slutty fop of a sorcerer who gets Whumped Intensely by Even Worse Dudes who make Archive Warnings Apply to him, heavily
- a kind, brawny paladin who begrudgingly saves his life a lot even though they're enemies and the sorcerer kind of ruined his life
- they smooch a lot
The most recent story (which I just finished finally editing, woooo!):
- Sweet Honey, Loathsome | 20k, Complete | M/M, Explicit | Vaunted, a kind paladin, opens his door to find that his longtime enemy, the evil wizard Wrathbyrne, has been stripped of his powers and placed under a curse: Wrathbyrne has to get fucked once a day or he dies.
Previous stories, all of which are standalones that each exist in their own little universes, slightly "canon"-divergent from one another:
- Lord Wrathbyrne's Highly Unpleasant Year | 72k, WIP | M/M, Explicit | An evil wizard gets non-conned by a bunch of other evil dudes and then rescued by Fake He-Man.
- Roadside Attractions | 5k, Complete | M/M, Explicit | A cartoonishly evil wizard and his heroic, good guy foe are handcuffed together in a sitcom predicament. Then they get dosed with sex pollen.
- Reformation | 13k, WIP | M/M, Explicit | The Good Council of Good has a soft-spoken death cleric attempt to rehabilitate the evil wizard and turn him into a good man. Obviously, this is just an excuse for whump and Archive Warnings To Apply to the evil wizard, who hopes local hero, Vaunted the nice paladin, will save him. Even though the nice paladin is the one who arrested him in the first place. Oops.
Anyway, if any of this sounds up your alley, I hope you check 'em out, I love my little guys. <3
Recent reading
Feb. 16th, 2026 10:57 pmtroisoiseauxIn War and Peace, I've read through Book Three and the unglamorous shambles of the battle of Austerlitz, and one theme that's stuck out to me is the sort of... grim bureaucracy(?) of war: the Russian-Austrian war council adopts a battle strategy that many of them know won't work, more or less because they want get out of this meeting and it's basically already in place/too late to change their approach; the commanders actually in the field are mostly worried about not being the person blamed for anything going wrong:
The selected messenger ends up being Nikolai Rostov, who does not die (despite, among other incidents, finding himself directly in the path of a unit of hussars charging at full gallop, because of course he did) but does fumble the chance to meet his idol Emperor Alexander: "But as a youth in love trembles, is unnerved, and dares not utter the thoughts he has dreamed of for nights," he's too shy to approach him even though he literally has an excuse to do so?? On the other hand, Prince Andrei is personally taken prisoner by his hero, Napoleon, although at that point he's kind of over it, having had an ongoing near-death experience and an accompanying revelation about "the insignificance of greatness."
I ended up skipping ahead in Damon Runyon's Guys and Dolls and Other Writings to read "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933), which was the main basis for the musical Guys & Dolls— it turns out that in the original story, there's no bet over whether gambler Sky Masterson can convince "missionary doll" Sarah Brown to join him on a day trip to Havana; he just falls for her on sight, tries to woo her by winning a guy's soul in a craps game to build up her mission, and then she catches on and comes marching in to gamble for his soul, which really ought to have made it into the musical but I've decided is how they make up off-stage between "Marry the Man Today" and the finale. (On the other hand, Sky's father's warning about not taking a bet from guys who "show you a nice brand-new deck of cards on which the seal is never broken" and "offer to bet you that the jack of spades will jump out of this deck and squirt cider in your ear," because "as sure as you do you are going to get an ear full of cider," is wholesale Runyon.) I agree withosprey_archer that someone really ought to write a crossover between Runyon's dim-witted gangsters and P.G. Wodehouse's dim-witted toffs, especially because the last few (as read in order) stories have in fact involved befriending random civilians: in one, a trio of American gangsters are hired to assassinate the king of a small European country, only to discover that the king is about six and really keen on Al Capone and baseball; in another, a group of tough guys running a ticket-scalping racket (maybe more surprised than I should have been to discover this was a thing since at least the 1930s??) adopt a nice little doll who got stood up at the Harvard vs. Yale football game, and learn to love the epic highs and lows of college football in the process.
Not wishing to agree to Dolgorukov's demand to commence the action, and wishing to avert responsibility from himself, Prince Bagration proposed to Dolgorukov to send to inquire of the commander in chief. Bagration knew that as the distance between the two flanks was more than six miles, even if the messenger were not killed (which he very likely would be), and found the commander in chief (which would be very difficult), he would not be able to get back before evening.
The selected messenger ends up being Nikolai Rostov, who does not die (despite, among other incidents, finding himself directly in the path of a unit of hussars charging at full gallop, because of course he did) but does fumble the chance to meet his idol Emperor Alexander: "But as a youth in love trembles, is unnerved, and dares not utter the thoughts he has dreamed of for nights," he's too shy to approach him even though he literally has an excuse to do so?? On the other hand, Prince Andrei is personally taken prisoner by his hero, Napoleon, although at that point he's kind of over it, having had an ongoing near-death experience and an accompanying revelation about "the insignificance of greatness."
I ended up skipping ahead in Damon Runyon's Guys and Dolls and Other Writings to read "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933), which was the main basis for the musical Guys & Dolls— it turns out that in the original story, there's no bet over whether gambler Sky Masterson can convince "missionary doll" Sarah Brown to join him on a day trip to Havana; he just falls for her on sight, tries to woo her by winning a guy's soul in a craps game to build up her mission, and then she catches on and comes marching in to gamble for his soul, which really ought to have made it into the musical but I've decided is how they make up off-stage between "Marry the Man Today" and the finale. (On the other hand, Sky's father's warning about not taking a bet from guys who "show you a nice brand-new deck of cards on which the seal is never broken" and "offer to bet you that the jack of spades will jump out of this deck and squirt cider in your ear," because "as sure as you do you are going to get an ear full of cider," is wholesale Runyon.) I agree with
osprey_archer that someone really ought to write a crossover between Runyon's dim-witted gangsters and P.G. Wodehouse's dim-witted toffs, especially because the last few (as read in order) stories have in fact involved befriending random civilians: in one, a trio of American gangsters are hired to assassinate the king of a small European country, only to discover that the king is about six and really keen on Al Capone and baseball; in another, a group of tough guys running a ticket-scalping racket (maybe more surprised than I should have been to discover this was a thing since at least the 1930s??) adopt a nice little doll who got stood up at the Harvard vs. Yale football game, and learn to love the epic highs and lows of college football in the process.(no subject)
Feb. 16th, 2026 09:48 pmaethel1. A fun link: neal.fun. I haven't tried all of them yet, but I did spend a while launching asteroids at the Earth. Infinite Craft is fun too.
2. I watched I Am Dragon, a silly Russian fantasy film. It was not as good as it could have been, but there aren't too many films where the love interest is a dragon, so I was entertained.
3. Books: I keep picking up books containing a climate apocalypse, fascism, or both. Least depressing: After 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations by Eric Cline. Most depressing: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. Parable of the Sower was written in 1993 and set in the "near future" of 2024--the unfolding catastrophe is too close for comfort and doesn't feel very science fictional. (I assume it was at least partly inspired by the 1992 Rodney King riots.) I'm now rereading The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes until I recover enough to continue with They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-45.
2. I watched I Am Dragon, a silly Russian fantasy film. It was not as good as it could have been, but there aren't too many films where the love interest is a dragon, so I was entertained.
3. Books: I keep picking up books containing a climate apocalypse, fascism, or both. Least depressing: After 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations by Eric Cline. Most depressing: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. Parable of the Sower was written in 1993 and set in the "near future" of 2024--the unfolding catastrophe is too close for comfort and doesn't feel very science fictional. (I assume it was at least partly inspired by the 1992 Rodney King riots.) I'm now rereading The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes until I recover enough to continue with They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-45.