The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Sunday, September 7

Sep. 8th, 2025 12:20 am
fancyflautist: (Editor 3)
[personal profile] fancyflautist posting in [community profile] su_herald
Willow: “It just made me feel like I was right back in high school.”
Xander: “Dumb jock! If it wasn’t for you, HE still would be.”
Willow: “I mean, I know the Percy thing isn’t really important, it’s the dead guy on the bed.”
Xander: “Yeah, that’s bad, too.”

~~Doomed~~


The Sunnydale Herald is looking for at least one new editor. Contributing to the Herald is a great way to get your Buffy on! Find out more here.


[Drabbles & Short Fiction]


[Chaptered Fiction]

  • AO3 Logo
    • Made For You, Chapter 34 (Buffy/Spike, M) by Missambermarie
    • Potential Friend: Season Two, Chapter 18 (Buffy/Angel, T) by srmed1
    • Nobody Escapes, Chapter 25 (Ensemble, M) by batcauldron
    • The Weakness in Me, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, M) by noripori
    • Lady Button's Winter Ball, Chapter 1 (Angelus/Spike/Darla/Drusilla, M) by vampbrat
    • Draugadrottinn, Chapter 29 (Willow/Tara, E) by VladimirHarkonnen
    • Neat, No Ice, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Giles, E) by KatyAmberAuthor
    • Vampire Reference in a Minor Key (If you need me...), Chapter 5 (Crossover with Interview With A Vampire, M) by Humanzoul
    • We Could Be Kings, Chapter 4 (Spike/Andrew Wells, M) by Laqt15
    • Something I Can Never Have, Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, M) by ChaosNina
    • The right kind of wrong, Chapter 20 (Bufy/Giles, E) by DancingAngel0013
    • Poet At The Door (Bury what was ordained), Chapter 1 (Spike/Drusilla, E) by Eyeballs_to_Entrails
    • Buffy the Tenno, Chapter 36 (Crossover with Warframe, T) by DarkPhoenixLady
    • In Sure and Certain Hope, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Willow/Tara, M) by storiwr
    • What It Means to be a REAL Savior, Chapter 8 (Crossover with The Walking Dead, T) by Buffyworldbuilder
    • Uncovered Evil, Chapter 10 (Ensemble, M) by CloudSeeker
    • I know I could've loved you, , Chapter 2 (Wesley/Lilah, G) by bruatl4you and girlsullen
    • Cupid's MatchChapter 3 (Buffy/Faith, M) by Fictiongods
  • EF Logo
    • Sojourns in Heaven, Chapter 15 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by elements
    • Dusk's Haven, Chapter 15 (Buffy/Spike, AO) by TwilightChild
    • Nemesis: To Give What Is Due, Chapter 20 (Buffy/Spike, )NC-17 by YouCutYourHair
    • Strange as Angels, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, AO) by bunniesarebad
  • TTH Logo
    • Heroes, villains, and Slayers, Chapter 17 (Multiple crossings, G) by DoctorSkywalker
    • FracturingChapter 32 (Crossover with misc. science fiction, FR18) by batzulger
  • Sunnydale After Dark Logo
    • Hurt, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by VeroNyxK84
    • London's Second Chances, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by BlkParader

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Lazy weekend not doing much at alll

Sep. 7th, 2025 05:49 pm
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
After high humidity, thunderstorms through most of yesterday afternoon and well into the night, and rain this morning, it's cleared off and is actually bright and sunny and kind of cheerful outside.

Also almost six pm. A bit late to take a walk. I need to make dinner, lunch for tomorrow. Eat. And go to bed - hopefully by 9:30-9:45. I did manage to sleep 9 hours last night, which is a first.

And for some reason or other, I'm still craving chocolate chip cookies. I caved and baked three. The blood sugar eventually went up. I regretted it. Such is life. I won't cave again.

I intended to go to church this morning and do the high line in the city - but alas, it was raining. So I stayed home and watched it on FB instead. Glad I did - their bathrooms and kitchen had no water, and they were offering ice cream instead of carousel rides to the kiddies - because the picnic in Brooklyn Bridge Park had been cancelled. They ended with my favorite religious song - Harry Belafonte's Turn the World Around. My father's was Amazing Grace, mine is "Turn the World Around" - I want Turn the World Around sung at my funeral - although I don't want a funeral - I hate funeral's. I want a small happy gathering on a mountain top, around a campfire, at a river bank, and at a beach, with my ashes spread at each, and this song sung at each place.

That song just comforts me and makes me really happy. The fact that my church keeps singing it about five or six times a year - keeps pulling me back towards it like a magnet.

****

I didn't do much this weekend. My brain required a break so it took one?
I did watch a few things and re-watched a few things. It's September now, and I've always loved September. (My favorite seasons are the fall and spring, I tend to like the in-between, more then the extreme in both temperatures and growth - the waning of the light, and the renewal of it.) I feel it's a kind of renewal? Or chance at new things, and letting go of old things. It was always the start of school, new television seasons, and theater seasons - and in NYC - the start of a new cultural year. While at work - the beginning of the fall holiday season.

Television

1. K-Pop Demon Hunters - on Netflix. This is a fun little movie. I adored it. And I wouldn't consider myself a fan of K-Pop? Pop music tends to annoy me after a bit, and K-Pop is kind of an extreme form of it? Although it has great choreography. This movie also is a kind of 3D computer generated version of anime - which I am not a fan of? But? I loved this. It's adorable, it has an uplifting message, the characters are likable, and it's fun.

I didn't understand what all the hype was about - until I saw it. It's kind of a hopeful movie in difficult times?

2. K-Popped on Apple TV - this is a reality competition show that takes place in Seoul, Korea - and where they split a popular and very large girl's k-pop band into two groups, and pair each group of five or six girls with a popular Western singer. Then the girls teach the Western singer their choreography, the singer teaches the girls their song, and they K-Pop it, while sharing aspects of the Korean culture with the Western singers. They two groups compete. One wins, and it's all very nice, and not all that competitive. They are established - so there's no need to compete for money or fame. It's just a fun little competition.

The one I saw was Keisha's Savage vs. Patti La Belle's Lady Marmalade.
Personally I think Savage was better choreographed? But I prefer Lady Marmalade. I also learned or was reminded of what "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir" - meant.

It's kind of fun? I'm not a huge fan of pop or K-Pop, and watching people be interviewed, doesn't do a lot for me, but it's good background noise.

3. Rogue One and Star Wars: A New Hope - these two films work really well as a two-parter. Actually, Andor S1 and 2, followed directly with Rogue One, and finally Star Wars - is highly satisfying, tragic, and uplifting, and hopeful all at the same time. Talk about a prequel that manages to make the original film that aired over forty years prior, better? Star Wars was good without Rogue One and Andor, but both the film Rogue One and the series Andor - manage to provide a depth and gravitas to Star Wars that wasn't there prior? The stakes are higher somehow. Star Wars is a more suspenseful film after you see Rogue One and Andor, because you see how much is riding on Han, Leia, Luke, Obi-Wan, C3-PO and R2-D2's success. A lot of people died so they could take out the Death Star, and save the Rebel Base of Yavin.
( Read more... )

4. Alien: Earth - still watching. But it's creepy, and we'll see how long I stick with it. ( Read more... )
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Meet the Gaza music teacher behind viral drone song

Sep. 7th, 2025 07:15 pm
elisi: my heart <3 (Light in the dark)
[personal profile] elisi
"In the middle of this war and this madness, there is a flower inside the fire."

  • Current Mood: indescribable
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Recipes I want to save for potential later use...

Sep. 7th, 2025 01:06 pm
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The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Saturday, September 6

Sep. 7th, 2025 12:30 am
veronyxk84: Editor icon for su_herald (_Herald Editor#1)
[personal profile] veronyxk84 posting in [community profile] su_herald
XANDER: We're getting married.
DAWN: Oh my god.
TARA: Congratulations!
WILLOW: That ... that's ... wow.
XANDER: It's a big wow.
ANYA: I ... I thought you were waiting for the right moment.
XANDER: I did.
BUFFY: (quietly to Giles) Did you know about this?
GILES: No. Unless I blocked it from my memory, much as I will Xander's vigorous use of his tongue.
(Giles removes his glasses and begins to clean them. Buffy watches this with an expression of outrage.)
BUFFY: Is that why you're always cleaning your glasses? So you don't have to see what we're doing?
GILES: Tell no one.

~~BtVS 6x06 “All The Way”~~


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Friday is confused about everything and considering a sabbatical to parts unknown

Sep. 5th, 2025 06:00 pm
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
At least it was a pretty day today. Clear and sunny, until clouds moved in at the end of it threatening rain. So I took a walk along the pier at lunchtime - and on the way back picked up two gluten-free chocolate chip cookies from Insominac Cookies (they are freshly baked cookies), and an iced matcha latte from Grumpy Coffee, which is conveniently around the corner from Gregory's and Crazy Workplace. It's not perfect, but it is a workable substitute to Gregory's and cheaper. Also it has decafe coffee.
And there's also Cafe Rumi, which has gluten free muffins and lemon loaf.
I'm slowly developing a list of places that provide gluten-free items around my work place and home.

Everything is confusing me at the moment. I've decided the world (inclusive of my work place) has gone bat-shit crazy, and I want to take a sabbatical from all of it to parts unknown. But I guess I could just attempt an internet and news sabbatical over the weekend - and veg on scripted and fictional television shows, books, and writing. Plus doing watercolors, taking long walks, and maybe going to church on Sunday - along with the High Line (depending on the weather). I'm also considering taking a page from colls book and trying the 30 day yoga/meditation challenge - to help center myself. I meditate for about ten to fifteen minutes every morning before work, and thirty minutes in bed - with various sleep stories. Utilizing mostly the Calm app, I think I've burned through everything of use on the Headspace app and will unsubscribe from it soon.

I'm confused and overloaded at work. They keep changing the process and procedures on me, and I'm no longer certain if the people running the organization know what they are doing? Example? It's been five years since the merger and creation of new departmental agency and we still don't have an org chart. Also, the real estate department keeps playing a shell game with people. The folks seated behind me where moved from Brooklyn to the City, and now are being moved back, except they can't be moved back yet, because the real estate department doesn't know what to do with the people currently occupying that space, and the people they want to move into their current space - don't want to move. Everyone is confused. I was taught that government is basically organized chaos, but lately it's becoming increasing more chaos and less organized.

My brain is taking the weekend off. It's tired of keeping track of everything. It needs a break.

***

Question a Day Meme

3. Do you like trying new things? What’s the last new thing you tried (a craft, a new food, a new activity or something else)?

Yes, although within reason. I'm a curious person but also an extreemly cautious one. Lately I've been trying gluten free chocolate chip cookies, and baked items. Last week it was bread from a new gluten free bakery I discovered. I also like checking out new music, new books, new television shows, new shoes, new foods...I'm considering tofu chocolate mousse (if I can find tofu, thinking health food store or Asian market). My brain is a bit of a blank at the moment as to new things I recently tried though?

4. Peter Mark Roget was born in 1779 and wrote the ‘Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases Classified and Arranged so as to Facilitate the Expression of Ideas and Assist in Literary Composition”. Roget’s Thesaurus has never been out of print – have you ever used a thesaurus?

Yes. At one point I had an online version. Also owned them. I'm a professional wordsmith - my job involves hunting the right or precise words to use in financial and legal documents, well it's a portion of the job.

5. It’s International Day of Charity – do you regularly (or occasionally) donate to any local or National charities?

Yes. Both. ( Read more... )
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The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Friday, September 5th

Sep. 6th, 2025 02:00 am
double_dutchess: (Sunnydale Herald)
[personal profile] double_dutchess posting in [community profile] su_herald
Anya: I thought - maybe we could go out tonight, for our anniversary.
Xander: Anniversary?
Anya: It’s been exactly one week since we copulated. - Did you forget?

~~Fear Itself~~

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Thursday is depressed and wondering if it should just disappear into the ether?

Sep. 4th, 2025 09:45 pm
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
And should just go to bed.

But I had keto cookie dough ice cream with chocolate and whipped cream (which kind of renders the keto portion of it null and void?) and it's keeping me awake for a bit.

From another post - I'm struggling to define "stealth anthology series" - this is going to bug me. My mind loves to torture itself with semantics debates - it's the downside of being a professional wordsmith, who has to be precise with phrasing for a living. My work bleeds into my personal life, no matter what I do to separate it.

Found a definition via AI:

"A "stealth anthology" is a series that functions as an anthology but presents itself to the audience as a traditional serial drama with continuing characters and story arcs

The anthology format is hidden, or "in stealth mode," for a portion of the show's run.

The term gained prominence in pop culture criticism to describe shows that subvert audience expectations by featuring a new story or set of characters in each episode or season, despite having a continuous element that keeps viewers engaged.

A prominent example is the television show Quantum Leap, where a time-traveler jumps into a different person's life each episode. While the time-traveler and his holographic guide are continuous characters, the central story of each episode (the person's life they inhabit) and the supporting cast are always new.

How a stealth anthology works

The framing device: A consistent character or small cast provides continuity from one story to the next.

The new cast: Each new installment features a fresh set of characters and a self-contained plot that resolves by the end of the episode or season.

The audience hook: The continuous framing device pulls the audience along, even if they aren't invested in a particular week's story, allowing the show to explore many different genres and premises.

The genre shift: By essentially doing a different show each week, a stealth anthology can seamlessly move between genres like hard-boiled detective fiction, domestic comedy, musical theater, and science fiction.

Critics Pick Their Favorite Anthology Series of All Time
Aug 20, 2019 — How are we defining “anthology,” exactly? A show that tells a new story with new characters each season? In that case, it's probably “Fargo,” even though I had ...

Hmmm.

I'd say a stealth anthology series that is by episode is most like Pokerface or Quantum Leap or maybe Murder She Wrote. I don't know about Doctor Who - it has a serial through line, as does most procedurals. The characters build new relationships. Also Doctor Who has recurring characters. Actually it may be the very definition of "stealth anthology" - since it is a serial whose characters often change entirely with each new Doctor. Fargo, True Detective, American Horror Story, and American Crime are all stealth anthologies.

Okay, my brain has figured it out now and will let it go, so I can sleep.

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Thursday, September 4

Sep. 4th, 2025 09:59 pm
fancyflautist: (Editor 3)
[personal profile] fancyflautist posting in [community profile] su_herald
Buffy: Dawn, I'm sorry that you feel so bad. OK, but in the morning this won't seem so terrible. You don't even know this R.J. Not really.
Dawn: I do know him. I know his soul.

~~Him~~



[Drabbles & Short Fiction]


[Chaptered Fiction]

  • AO3 Logo
    • Lost Angels, Chapter 27 (Crossover with Supernatural, E) by StillRose
    • Orchard, Chapter 3 (Andrew/Warren, E) by Mishafer
    • Ashes Between Us, Chapter 9 (Tara/Many, E) by Mongooselord
    • More Than Just a Girl, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, M) by Tempestt
    • Do You Want the Full Experience?, Chapter 1 (Willow/Tara, E) by tbssparkle
    • Violin Violence, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, NR) by Laqt15
    • Deep Slay Nine, Chapter 1 (Crossover with Star Trek, T) by storiwr
    • The Red Slayer, Chapter 80 (Ensemble, E) by VladimirHarkonnen
  • EF Logo
    • Woke Up In Love, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Lilacsandorangeblossoms
    • Twisted To Fit a Nightmare, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, PG) by Orange Wombat
    • No Truth Left Behind, Chapter 19 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Maxine Eden
    • Nemesis: To Give What is Due, Chapter 19 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by YouCutYourHair
    • Something I Can Never Have, Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, R) by HappyWhenItRains
    • The color of Love, Chapter 10 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Lilacsandorangeblossoms
    • Wet and Soapy, Chapter 10 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Lilacsandorangeblossoms
    • If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck..., Chapter 12 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17 by zinjadu
  • TTH Logo
    • The White Knight: Freshman Year, Chapter 1 (Crossover with Avengers, FR18) by xxmagex

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Hearing From Everyone

Sep. 4th, 2025 02:34 pm
yourlibrarian: Witcher Walk (OTH-WitcherWalk-magicrubbish)
[personal profile] yourlibrarian
1) I posted several things to [community profile] everykindofcraft the last few weeks. We seem to have a good number of subscribers but could use more posts from them!

2) Watched Thunderbolts and thought it was ok. ( Read more... )

3) Picked up the question from [personal profile] kazzy_cee, Has the area where you live changed much over the last decade? ( Read more... )

One thing that happened this year that's been particularly curious is the disappearance of donut stores. ( Read more... )

4) Speaking of food, I made some very tasty burgers recently. This all began with an effort to find an air pump for our car tires.( Read more... )

5) Due to foot problems I can't walk much anymore but just a few days ago took a stroll to our mailbox center and was reminded of how a visiting friend said that she was so struck by the quiet of our apartment. And it wasn't that early, but I could hear the slap of my shoes on the pavement, the scratch of the squirrels chasing one another around a tree, crickets and birds chirping in the trees, and the wind rustling through the corn.

We aren't in the middle of nowhere. I also heard a train whistling a mile away, and if one listened closely the whoosh of cars on the nearby interstate was clear, as are planes and helicopters that pass overhead from time to time. But it was a wonderfully peaceful 10 minutes where everything outdoors felt very close and calm.

Poll #33574 Kudos Footer-538
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i made a(n embarrassing) thing

Sep. 4th, 2025 01:20 pm
lirazel: the Carly Rae Jepsen album E*mo*tion ([music] take me to the feeling)
[personal profile] lirazel
So because I can listen to podcasts while I'm working, I listen to...a lot of podcasts. And a lot of them have connections with each other via hosts guesting on other people's podcasts. I have at times mentioned the Sarah Marshall-Michael Hobbes podcast universe...and I decided to map it out.

Honestly, this web could be much bigger--I've limited it to things I have listened to a least a few episodes of. I only listen to 5-4 (about the US Supreme Court) now and then because it's depressing but it's SUCH a good resource when a big ruling gets handed down. I only listen to Sentimental Garbage, Ordinary Unhappiness, and 16th Minute now and then, but I've listened to all of them enough to be fond of the hosts.

As for the rest of the podcasts mentioned here...I listen to them regularly. Most of them I listen to every single episode.

This doesn't encompass all the shows I listen to, just the ones that can be connected in this way. But the connections made me happy, so I thought I would share.




Podcasts I listen to regularly that couldn't be worked in: Dear John and Hank, Straight White American Jesus, On the Nose (the Jewish Currents podcast), Rock That Doesn't Roll, the Ezra Klein Show, You Must Remember This, and This American Ex-Wife.
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more than your average bear

Sep. 4th, 2025 08:53 am
lirazel: Classic film actress Myrna Loy reading a newspaper in bed ([film] anywhere near my tabloids)
[personal profile] lirazel
I had to contribute a few "things I know more about than your average bear" for a thing, and unfortunately I am me, so my list kept expanding, so I thought I'd share them.

These are not things I do professionally, and they are not things I am an expert on (and I know that many people in my social circles know much more about many of them than I do), just things I have been interested in enough at some point in my life to know more about them than most people do.


ancient Egypt; Victorian literature; the Bible; 2nd generation kpop; 90s and 2000s scripted TV of a certain kind; 90s and 2000s online Western media fandom; 90s and 2000s evangelical culture; the Bloomsbury Group; golden age mystery novels; 20th century books about plucky teen and pre-teen girls; the oeuvres of George Cukor and Defunctland; the works of L.M. Montgomery and Ursula K. Le Guin; the Bronte sisters; the music of Vienna Teng, Paul Simon, Loreena McKennitt, and the Indigo Girls; film noir; screwball comedies; honestly just classic Hollywood in general; 2nd wave feminists in the southern US; the Sarah Marshall-Michael Hobbes extended podcast universe; classic Star Trek; movie musicals; the comedy of Chris Fleming; British panel game shows [probably only more than your average American; I assume your average Brit knows more than I do]; movie scores; Ecuadorian national politics; gothic fiction; the history and culture of fin de siècle Vienna; the Star Wars expanded universe novels; and 90s PBS kids shows



What are some things you know a lot about? Your list does not have to be as long as mine, but I would love to hear about anything at all! I would be delighted to start a meme!
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The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Wednesday, September 3rd

Sep. 4th, 2025 02:36 am
burnhername: Faith pic with the word editor (SH editor Faith)
[personal profile] burnhername posting in [community profile] su_herald
ANGEL: Are you gonna tell me that I'm jealous?
WILLOW: Well, you do sometimes get that way.
ANGEL: You know, I never used to. (sits on her bed) Things used to be pretty simple. (Willow types) A hundred years, just hanging out, feeling guilty... I really honed my brooding skills.

~~Lie To Me~~



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Wednesday is confused as to what day it actually is?

Sep. 3rd, 2025 04:56 pm
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
I think it's Wednesday? Checks. Yes, Wednesday. That's the difficulty with short weeks, I get confused. And everything work wise has confused me today. I was confused when I got up. So was my Smart Watch - who asked me if I wanted to turn off the alarm since I was awake at 5:30, and I was like no, I'm going to attempt to go back to sleep thank you very much, I just had to go to the bathroom.

Some odd links that I stumbled upon:

1. Being Poor by John Scalzi - which is interesting, considering he's a multi-millionaire who has a collection of insane guitars, but whatever. He seems to get most of it right, and most likely experienced poverty at some point in his lifetime? Apparently, I'm right - he did experience poverty (most professional writers have - it's not a money-making profession and those who make it eventually, often suffered years and years of "starving artist syndrome"). Here, he explains why he wrote it and how it was received. Make of it what you will.

2. Meanwhile people asking for money to do weird things?

Romance Novelist wants funds to sell jigsaw puzzles of her book covers

This individual wants money to sell a board game based on Jane Austen Novels entitled Endearment (I don't know, it reminded me more of Bridgerton).

At least they are creative?

3. the Who Farewell Tour in Toronto

4. Yes, it's official. Paramount Skydance Merger Has Finally Closed

It's hard to say what if anything this means for future projects? But Paramount had to do a deal with the devil in the blue suit and orange puffy hair to seal the deal, so....

Note Paramount is the owner of the Star Trek franchise, actually now, Skydance Media is the owner of the Star Trek franchise. Skydance didn't own any film or television outlets prior - it produced films and television shows such as Foundation, Mission Impossible...and does Animation and video games.

Not to be confused with the UK company Sky Group Media, Skydance Media is an American Media Company. The names are similar so it is understandably confusing.

"Skydance Media, LLC (formerly known as Skydance Productions from 2006 to 2016) was an American media production and finance company based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by David Ellison in 2006, the company specialized in films, animation, television, video games, and sports.

In 2009, the company entered a five-year partnership to co-produce and co-finance films with Paramount Pictures. This agreement was renewed twice, extending to 2021. On July 7, 2024, Skydance announced its intent to merge with Paramount Global in an $8 billion transaction, under an agreement in which Skydance would acquire Paramount's controlling shareholder National Amusements, and then perform an all-stock merger with the company. On July 24, 2025, the merger was approved by the FCC, and the merger was closed on August 7, 2025, forming Paramount Skydance Corporation."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skydance_Media

5. IRS is asking taxpayer's to take a Tax Preparation Survey

"WASHINGTON – The IRS invites the public to participate in an anonymous feedback survey on tax preparation and filing options, which will run through Sept. 5, 2025.

The survey is being conducted as part of the Department of Treasury and the IRS’s efforts to fulfill a reporting requirement to Congress under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act. The law directs Treasury to deliver a report to Congress by Oct. 2, 2025, on several key issues related to free tax filing options for the public.

Treasury and the IRS encourage taxpayers to share their perspectives and help inform this important congressional report.

To participate, visit the Free Online Tax Preparation Feedback Survey or the IRS.gov landing page. Participation is anonymous."

***

Off to bed.

Updateyness

Sep. 3rd, 2025 09:52 pm
elisi: Smile and the world smiles back (Charles)
[personal profile] elisi
How is it already Wednesday? /rhetorical question

On Saturday we watched the new Superman, and it is as delightful and uplifting as everyone promised. Also very silly, which is important I think. We need silliness to help ward off the horrors. ETA: It's already out on streaming, which made it a lot easier!


Promethia and I also posted the first chapter of a new Dead Boy Detectives fic:

The Song of Rowland, 10k

Summary:

Most ghosts didn’t celebrate their birthdays.

But Charles Rowland wasn’t ‘most ghosts’.

Indeed, Charles’ birthday was a high point of the year, a guaranteed day of fun for himself and Edwin. The fun always helped to push down the unvoiced emotions below: the loss, the unresolved pain of his death, the feelings of failure and inadequacy. Charles saw no reason why this state of affairs shouldn’t continue forever.

But then he turned fifty.

Or:

How a medieval poem changed Charles’ afterlife forever.


(Only 2 chapters in all, amazingly not everything I write turns into an endless WIP!)
  • Current Mood: sleepy
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what i'm reading wednesday 3/9/2025

Sep. 3rd, 2025 09:31 am
lirazel: Anne Shirley from the 1985 version of Anne of Green Gables walking away from the camera through an autumnal landscape ([tv] a world where there are octobers)
[personal profile] lirazel
I don't have a ton to write about today, so I thought I would ask y'all a question! The weather is unnervingly autumnal here right now (just in the sense that it's unseasonable--that actual weather is delightful), and it's got me in a Fall Mood. (I have been listening to Loreena McKennitt, which tells you everything if you've known me for a long time.)

So: what is your favorite autumnal read? When the weather starts to turn, what do you start itching to read?


And now back to our regularly-scheduled program.

What I finished:

It's mostly been mysteries around here lately, which are the one thing I can always read, even when I'm too frazzled to focus on anything else. Over the past week or two I have read:

Sleeping Murder and The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie, The Confession and Proof of Guilt by Charles Todd, and The Religious Body by Catherine Aird. All enjoyable but I don't have much to say about them except to say that the Aird was set in a convent and I am always here for a book set in a convent!

The only other thing I read was Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey. This one I picked up at one of my visits to Persephone Books some time ago, and I will be honest, I mostly picked this one out of a sea of pretty grey Persephone books because of her last name. I was like, "Lytton's sister???" (His niece, actually.) Because I am nothing if not a Bloomsbury Group girlie.

I wasn't crazy about this? I didn't dislike it, and Strachey was a good writer with a real knack both for physical description of locations and for characterization (the mother figure in the book is apparently based on her mother-in-law and is VERY well-drawn). I also thought it was cool that it takes place over the course of a couple of hours right before and after a wedding, so the aperture is very small in a way that I typically really appreciate.

But I also felt held at a distance from the characters, none of them were very likeable nor unlikable enough to be really compelling, and there didn't seem to be much of a point. Virginia Woolf raved about it, though, so I guess I am just wrong.

Still, it was very short, so I don't feel like I wasted my time reading it.

What I'm currently reading:

I started A Forgery of Fate. It's very readable and even though it's got the kind of first person POV that I often associate with badly-written YA books, there's enough going on that I think it will turn out to be worth reading.
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The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Tuesday, September 2

Sep. 2nd, 2025 07:25 pm
rahirah: (su_editor)
[personal profile] rahirah posting in [community profile] su_herald
GILES: (smiling) Oh God, Buffy.
GILES: You're alive. You're here. And you're still ... remarkably strong.
BUFFY: Huh? Oh. Sorry.
GILES: Willow told me, but I didn't really let myself believe ...
BUFFY: I take a little getting used to. I'm still getting used to me.
GILES: It's, uh ... you're ...
BUFFY: A miracle?
GILES: Yes. But then, I always thought so.

~~Buffy Season 6 Episode #104: "Flooded"~~


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Tuesday is aggravated but making the most of it

Sep. 2nd, 2025 06:23 pm
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
So, the building inspector testing the walls for lead, didn't show up. As a result, he's coming tomorrow, and the super is going to take responsibility for giving him access and protecting the apartment.

He apparently skipped over my apartment and another one - which he was supposed to do in the morning.

See? I knew that was going to happen. Hence the reason, I was aggravated.
If people did their jobs, life would be lovely.

ETA: The medication that the doctor requested from the pharmacy is out of stock - they have to order it, it should be in sometime on Thursday or next week. Sigh.

ETA2: Finished Iron Heart, and the ending doesn't quite work? Or make sense? And felt rushed? I'm not sure it's a cliff-hanger? Since it more or less tells us what happened. ( spoilers ) I didn't like the ending, nor do I think it works, and the writers didn't build up to it well. The series like most of Marvel's recent efforts is busy - with a lot of bits that aren't needed or are there to look cool but add little to the story. I don't think they know how to pull in the younger demographic so keep throwing things at a wall to see what sticks?

ETA3: And got into a frustrating and kind of pointless argument with an online fanboard about a dumb show I watch. It's always dumb television series that I get into pointless debates about. The smart, clever and critically acclaimed shows don't tend to have this problem. (Buffy kind of fell between the two, so yes, I got into dumb debates about it too. As did Game of Thrones for that matter. But usually it's the subpar cult series that run forever. This one has been running since 1963 with no end in sight. It's on its 63rd season. It's officially the longest running scripted television show in the US, I think it beats Doctor Who - since it has more episodes and no long gaps between seasons. That's not necessarily a good thing? Although similar to Doctor Who - it also brings people back from the dead and recasts characters, except without a scientific or logical explanation. Doctor Who at least tries to provide one, this one doesn't bother.)

( never debate/discuss with online soap fans on a spoiler board about a whodunnit in a soap opera - it rarely ends well )

Now that I've mocked myself and them ruthlessly for attempting this tomfoolery, I feel much better, thank you very much.

All in all a fruitful day. Tomorrow I get to go back to work and be aggravated in an even more fruitful manner, plus get paid for it.

September Question a Day Meme

1. It’s National Tofu Day – do you like Tofu?

No. Soy tends to make me ill in large quantities.

2. Festa do Vinho, the Wine Festival, this festival transforms the Island of Madeira into a vibrant showcase of its cultural heritage. Have you ever used Madeira wine in a recipe?

Yes. Not recently, but yes. Also had it.

I think in spaghetti sauce. Also in cake.

Sigh, now I want spaghetti and meatballs with Madeira sauce and I can't have it. Oh well, at least I don't have any in the house.

***

I think I'm going to have the shrimp I bought yesterday with salad. That might take the blood sugar down?

***

On Friday, I stopped by this darling little floral shop called Zuzu's Petals - which called out to me from across the street. (Only people of a certain age will get the reference, because we all saw the movie a million times by the time we reached the age of 30, but they rarely show it now - you kind of have to hunt for it? And it has competition from remake's and rip-offs. Let's face it some types of films they made better in the 20th Century, and leave it at that?)



And wandered around for a bit looking at things, including their backyard garden and floral arrangements. They had dried flowers and fresh ones, wanting to be arranged or bought individually.
( flower arrangements )
And a little backyard garden:
( backyard garden )

I bought a little paint brush holder at the shop (it's actually for air plants, but I'm using it for paint brushes):

( paint brush holder )

That was on Friday. I didn't do much today outside of a doctor's appointment, vacuuming, shower, and dropping off some meds that I can no longer take at the pharmacy.
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Thursday Murder Club and Iron Heart

Sep. 2nd, 2025 10:26 am
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
So, I had the doctor's virtual appointment - took fifteen minutes, most of which was the doctor trying to get the tech to work. We argued over medication - he talked me into trying a certain type of meds again - which I felt was giving me joint pain, but he said no one gets that side effect and maybe it was something else? And it's the mildest I can use. So, I'm trying it again. Just going to try taking it - away from the rest of my meds. If you take certain meds together - they can result in side-effects.
And it is more than possible that it was water retention causing the joint pain - and the use of the diuretic is helping? God knows. Menopause is not for wimps.

Now waiting for someone to show up and test my apartment for lead. No one has shown up yet.

Saw another flick yesterday, Thursday Murder Club based on Roger Osman's best-selling mystery of the same name. It was directed by Christopher Columbus, and starred quite a few stellar British Actors of a certain age? Became spot the famous British Actor. Helen Mirren, Pierce Bronsan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie were the leads, with Tom Ellis, David Tennant, Jonathan Price, Paul Freeman and Richard E. Grant in supporting roles.

It's okay? I haven't read the book, so I don't know how close it is, or how good the book was? I'm guessing it follows it closely enough, since the author is one of the producers and consulted. Two female screen-writers wrote the movie. It's what I'd describe as a British Cozy Mystery or Parlor Room Mystery?

The detectives are a bunch of retirees at an independent retirement community, who hold a Thursday Murder Club each week, to solve old cold cases. As the film unravels we learn more about each - although the focus is solidly on Helen Mirren and Celia Imrie's characters, with Bronsan and Kingsley in the supporting roles. Bronsan has a bit more of a role than Kinsley does. There's some nice character bits. And the mystery plot has some nice twists and turns. It also ends in a satisfying manner.

Overall, a solid B effort. Not quite memorable, but worth the time all in all.

**

I also started watching Iron HeartM on Disney +- which is by Chinaka Hodge, with Ryan Coogler executive producing. Previously known for The Midnight Club. It's okay? I'm having troubles getting into it? And in this day and age - it kind of has to hook you in the first episode, or at the very least the second? And I find it more grating than entertaining? It may be that it is a bit too young for me? It's focus is a 19 year old college student who has been expelled from MIT for attempting to do more than the college was equipped for, and what it felt was plagiarism. Riri Williams wanted to create a group of Iron Man suites to protect fire fighters and police offices, but they felt she needed to do it on her own without utilizing Stark's design.
( Read more... )

Anyhow, I've an excuse to be insanely lazy today, because I've promised to be home all day for the test guy. So off to be suitably lazy.

Thunderbolts Film Review

Sep. 1st, 2025 08:37 pm
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
I finally got around to seeing Thunderbolts - the Marvel flick that was released earlier this summer. I waited until it streamed on Disney + this weekend. So, depending on one's point of view? I saw it for free.

I've mixed feelings about the movie. I liked it a great deal, but like most Marvel films and television series post Endgame, it has its issues.

Thunderbolts unfortunately works better if you've already seen (and remember) Ant Man & the Wasp (I vaguely remember it), The Falcon and the Winter Solider, and Black Widow. I'm not sure if you'd be hopelessly lost if you haven't seen them? But you might be a tad confused? It took me a moment or two to remember who the heck Ghost was, and one character (who dies early on) - I had no idea about. And I've seen those films, along with nearly everything else except Captain America: Brave New World - which might have been required as well? (Not certain - haven't seen it yet. But it might explain what the Winter Solider is up to in this film.)

( the problems with superhero flicks since roughly Endgame )

Thunderbolts is among the more interesting Marvel and Superhero films in part because it is in many ways the antithesis of a superhero film. It's not like DC's Suicide Squad films which are basically a bad ass CIA director putting together a who's who of the worst and most insane villains to fix a problem that no one can fix. I thought it was going to be that? It's most definitely not. Thank god. Let's not go copying each other thank you very much. Whew.

Instead, it's about a bunch of antiheroes banding together because it's either that or die? And they kind of help people partly by chance and it seems like a good idea at the time, albeit clumsily - because you know, they are opportunistic anti-heroes. They aren't nearly as bad as DC's rogues line up. This is more of a group of misunderstood anti-heroes who fell in with the wrong crowd, not insane sociopaths. Marvel does a decent job via an intriguing flashback device of giving some of them complicated back stories and mental health issues.

The movie shines a light on mental illness as it applies to highly skilled and dangerous individuals. That's the focal point. Not a heist, not some external threat - the threat is more an internal one. And their powers, especially one of the characters, are metaphors for the dangers of untreated mental illness in our society at large - and how left untreated, it could threaten to devour us all, if the wrong folks get into positions of power or obtain power.

These seven-eight characters have to learn how to trust each other and themselves long enough to save the city and themselves and each other. And they don't trust themselves let alone anyone else.

( vague spoilers )

Overall a solid B effort from Marvel, better than the last few flicks I've seen, but that's not a high bar to navigate.
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