Fritz: The printed page is obsolete. (stands up) Information isn't bound up anymore. It's an entity. The only reality is virtual. If you're not jacked in, you're not alive. (grabs his books and leaves)
Ms. Calendar: Thank you, Fritz, for making us all sound like crazy people.

~~S1E8: I, Robot... You, Jane~~

---

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

• 
• I'll Stay (Angel/Spike, M) by Anonymous
• Mixtapes (Willow/Fred, G) by Anonymous
• Slayer Overcharge (Elliot Spencer/Buffy, T, Leverage xover) by Anonymous
• Five Things (Spike/Buffy, G) by Anonymous
• Cold Feet, Warm Hearts (Angel/Spike/Buffy, G) by Anonymous
• Keeping Her Distance (Wishverse!Giles/Wishverse!Buffy, T) by Anonymous
• above ground (Imhotep/Buffy, T, The Mummy xover) by Anonymous
• Creature of the Night Seeking Dark Alley Meet-Cute (Adam/Buffy, I Frankenstein xover, T) by Anonymous
• A Dreadful Thought (Giles & Buffy, T) by Anonymous
• i wanna ruin our friendship, we should be lovers instead (jenny, take my hand) (Jenny/Lilah, T) by lenaluthorssuitcollection
• Thérapie d'une Tueuse (Spike/Buffy, T, French Language) by MissKitty28
• A Slayer in therapy (Buffy/Spike, T) by MissKitty28
• How dare you love me (when you should despise me, you should be scared of me) (Buffy/Kendra, unrated) by killerqueen1985
• The Less Fun Things with Fingers (Buffy/Faith, M) by wreaderao3

[Chaptered Fiction]

• 
• More Than Just A Slayer, Chapter 15 (Spike/Buffy, T) by Tempestt
• Un lugar encantador, Chapter 8 (Giles/Buffy, M, Spanish Language) by Ligeia_fiambrera
• Made For You, Chapter 53 (Spike/Buffy, M) by
• Re-Heated, Chapter 2 (Spike/Buffy, M) by splendidchapette
• Fatal Flaw, Chapter 7 (Buffy/Riley, M) by MadeInGold
• A 100-Ways to Say I Love You, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Angel, unrated) by Jessica_LE_2025
• All the Girls We Were, Chapter 20 (Buffy/Faith, unrated) by Stokley
• Love, Loyalty and the Monsters we Choose, Chapter 5 (Angel/Spike/Harry Potter, M, Harry Potter xover) by Potterhead581
• The Red Slayer:, Chapter 129 (Multiple ships, E) by VladimirHarkonnen(TheLightdancer)
• Come as you are, Chapter 7 (Spike/Buffy, T) by Runningwithdragons
• kiss me in the rain, Chapter 5 (Spike/Buffy, unrated) by flootzavut
• Boston Doll, Chapter Three (Buffy/Faith, M) by QuillBard
• The days that followed, Chapter 6 (Buffy/Klaus Mikaelson, G, The Originals xover) by Aya1600
• The Runaway Slayer and Her Demon - Adopted and continued by me, chapter 2 (Buffy/Cole Turner, G, Charmed xover) by Aya1600
• Comfort Me, Chapter 7 (Buffy/Giles, E) by LonesomeSundown
• Season 5, guest starring Angel, Chapter 9 (Angel/Buffy, T) by eg20
• Middle Of The Night, Chapter 2 (Spike/The Distortion, The Magnus Archives, E) by Jayenboiknots
• Transitory, Chapter 23 (Spike/Buffy, T) by GhostsInLove
• 
• Just Two Lost Souls, Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Holly
• Band Candy Baby, Chapter 62 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Tikiriaaa
• kiss me in the rain, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by flootzavut
• A glimpse in the night - (I was made to love you), Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Sarahvampgirl
• Hindsight Twenty-Twenty, Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, ) by
• (Buffy/Spike, R) by CheekyKitten
• 
• A Slayer in Therapy, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Miss Kitty
• Re-heated, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, R) by splendidchapette
• A Stroke Of Bad Loop, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Tikiriaaa
• Band Candy Baby, Chapters 49-52 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Tikiriaaa
• Come as you are, Chapter 7 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by runningwithdragons
• kiss me in the rain, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by flootzavut

[Images, Audio & Video]

• 
• Moodboard: moodboard: buffy x faith (Fuffy, SFW) by kyrt4t
• Gifset:BEST OF BTVS: Willow Rosenberg — Season Five (Willow, SFW) by clarkgriffon
• Gifset: 2x21 “Becoming, Part One” | 5x19 “Tough Love” (Angelus, Drusilla, Spike, Dawn, SFW) by rabbitmotifs
• Gifset: angel being a good dog for buffy (Bangel, SFW) by ceciliastark
• Artwork: Gotto say hello ..its only polite after all 😊 (Spuffy, SFW) by sanzosin
• Artwork: Lets have some Punk Spike in our lives ,ey? (Spike, SFW) by sanzosin


• 
• [FANART] Year of the Cat (Angel/Spike, SFW) by girlpire
• A Moment (Angel/Buffy, SFW) by Anonymous

[Recs & In Search Of]

• 
• Year of the Cat by girlpire recced by februaryfangfest

[Fandom Discussions]

• 
• one thing Angel is better at is... characterization by saivanmarly
• Rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and we're at the lesbian representation by rat-rambles
• obsessed with the vampire buffy and willow are waiting for in the s4 premiere cold open by catgirlnailpolish
• [Fannish Statistics on AO3 tagging] by garscrucible
• that little moment in forever by freakshaped
• thinking about buffy summers doing her buffyisms by incognitoduck11
• So, in his and Buffy's date in "Halloween," Angel is wearing a white shirt by oveliagirlhaditright
• They have Amy styled so similarly to Faith here by 5bi5
• 
• How did the gang just do the most bat shit crazy stuff then just get on with their lives by Lumpy-Tennis-1219
• If you were to write one more Buffy/Angel crossover by sadhungryandvirgin
• "The Empathetic Stasis" – A Narrative Solution for Returning Cast in a Buffy Revival by Nelo_Angelo_Nero
• Controversial: Magical contraception while being a Slayer by LuVEmFuzzies
• POLL:Which duo did you want more of? by rednax2009

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Join the editor team :)

I'm hoping that this is just allergies and I'm not actually coming down with anything? Hard to know. But my throat feels scratchy and I'm more fatigued than usual. Also having issues focusing on things.

Just finished watching the Springsteen bio-pic, "Deliver me from Nowhere" which is about Springsteen's bout with depression while writing and producing the album's Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A. It's a weirdly comforting film - in that it shows how depression can kind of hit anyone from anywhere and you can be pulled out of it. And how it seeps through the cracks, and is always a battle. Springsteen was lucky - in that he was able to find help and hope to pull him out of it, and much of his depression was tied to unresolved childhood parental traumas. Also the album he almost killed himself trying to create and get produced, Nebraska, was in fact a hit.

Kind of inspiring in its own way. I also like Bruce Springsteen's music, which probably helps. And alas, I kept drifting off to sleep during it, which means I may not sleep tonight.

Question a Day Meme - February catch-up

13. What’s the weather like today? Is it about average for the time of year?

It's currently snowing and 34 degrees F, and yes, this is typical for this time of year in NYC.

Just when it was beginning to melt.

14. How many flights of stairs would you consider walking up in a building, or do you always take the lift/elevator?

Right now? I try to take the elevator whenever possible. Bad knee. But, it's not always possible - so at least twice maybe three times a day commuting to and from work - I'm climbing four to six flights of steps. Stupid city is into steps.

15. Have you ever considered how you would leave your home in an emergency?

Probably through the front door - since the fire escape is just scary.

16. Do you own your own washing machine in your home, or do you use a laundry service/laundry room in the building or a launderette?

It's an apartment complex - so there's a laundry room in the basement with four washers and three industrial size dryers - that we share with people in 81 other units. Amazingly enough that is actually possible - partly because some folks send it out, and not everyone is around all the time.

1. The snow has stayed on the ground here long enough that we're finally Acquiring Some Sleds in anticipation of going sledding with friends next weekend. It is so wonderful to have a winter feel like winter again.

2. Hosted a neat new-to-me game yesterday with some close friends and a potential new friend I met through my Awesome Neighbor friend. We all had a great time! We immediately rolled right into plotting More Fun Like This Soon. It's good to be exercising my making-new-friends muscles again.

2a. The game being Molly House, with its gripping shifts between personal queer joy, community delight, and pressuring fears (constables, rogues, and gossip all threatening to trigger police raids of the central molly houses),( I would be fascinated to play it again... )

3. I am looking forward to some quiet time at home tomorrow, I say, also having ambitions of Bake & Roast All The Things, do my taxes so I can get my solar panel credits reimbursed (yay, solar!), and maybe get some extra time in at the local studio before my pottery class starts.

Bonus: This being the cold hard dark slog time of year, it helps to have something joyous to move to. I went and looked up what all the musicians I last bought music from (mostly 5+ years ago) have put out in the last few years since, and bought the latest album of each. So far I'm particularly enjoying Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn's debut collaboration merging American old-time music and Chinese folksong, and the latest from MEUTE.

Have you been listening to anything particularly good lately? What is bringing you joy, defiant or otherwise?

I lost most of yesterday to feeling unwell and spending a good part of the day in bed, but I did make char siu and therefore did make pork buns today and as always, they are so good! And remarkably easy, too, if you follow the recipe. I still have tomorrow for doughnuts, potentially.

I also spent some time yesterday watching more Pluribus and I find myself arguing with myself about it. ( spoilers )

So I still am not sure how much I like it as a show, but I am definitely curious to see where it goes (no spoilers past "HDP" please!).

*

Sweetiecat is starting to do better. Her tail isn't dragging, she lifts her head to look at me and she's purring a little. Last night she jumped up on the bed next to Steve, which she hasn't done in a while. She is eating and visiting the litter box, and moving around.

Zoomy is a bit of a sad sack, because he feels left out; Sweetie is getting all the attention, he thinks. I have the door open, and he could come in at any time and curl up next to me, but he is not doing it; he's fussing about Sweetie. She's his big tolerant sister who puts up with him jumping on her until she does a judo move and stand over him and lets him know that's enough. He is a dear loving boy, and getting bigger every day, or longer.

And I have decided, after much upset and a cost-benefit calculation, not to go to Sacred Space, the big interreligious pagan conference that is less than 15 miles from me this time. ( more behind cut )

Finished my Buffy Rewatch finally - and forgot how good the finale was, all things considered. They had a lot of character plot threads to juggle and somehow managed to land most of them. That and a lot of unnecessary back stage drama, burned out writers and exhausted actors.

Weird tid-bit? The "I Love You/No You Don't" exchange between Buffy and Spike in Chosen, isn't repeated in the flashback of it on Angelin S5 Episode 2. ( Read more... )

Re-watching it - it's kind of obvious to me that she's telling him that she really loves him, while he's saying - hey, don't do that again, go live your life. ( Read more... )

Anya - actually isn't completely forgotten - Xander looks for her, and he asks Andrew what happened to her, and Andrew tells him that Anya fought valiantly and saved him. Her character also gets a sense of closure - in that she and Andrew kind of bond, and Anya is showing bonding with guy, without sex being in the offing.

The writers do a good job of wrapping up all of the characters arcs neatly.
Even Faith and Wood. And they didn't kill off all of the potentials with speaking parts. It is interesting that it is only Dawn looking out of the back of the bus for Buffy. And Buffy says barely anything at the very end.
She jumps off the bus and looks back out over the crater, which she watched as she rode the top of the bus out of town and away from the carnage.
( Read more... )

I enjoyed S7 far more than I remembered. It's main flaw was too many characters and group scenes. But I'm not sure how they could have fixed it without losing track of the theme. Also, it fell into comic book plotting and comic book plot devices here and there. The Scythe is very comic bookish as is the Guardian who pops up out of nowhere. Both are connections to Whedon's comic book Fray - which he wrote and published around the same time S7 aired, and was clearly attempting (poorly) to connect the two. He continues to attempt to connect the two with the Buffy comics (which doesn't quite work). Fray was NOT that good a comic. But they kind of needed the Scythe to get out of the corner they'd written themselves into.

Angel S4 in comparison - kind of lays there like a limp noodle. (The actors on Angel didn't get paid as much as they did on Buffy - by the way. Nor did they make anywhere near the amount the folks on Bones were making.)
If Buffy had a lot of unnecessary back stage drama - Angel had it too, in spades. Whatever was going on between the show-runners, the studio, and Charisma/David Greenwalt - was affecting moral on set. VK states the series felt like a job that no one was really invested in and kind of tired of. The difficulty with Angel S4 was Connor and Cordelia. Mainly Cordelia. It does work thematically as a counterpoint to Buffy. Angel unlike Buffy - has to be the one to save the world, and doesn't necessarily share how. The series is neo-noir in nature, and in that type of series - the hero always inadvertently falls into the abyss while attempting to escape from it, and often pulls the world in after him. The gang is brought briefly together, then broken apart. At the end of the season - they don't trust each other, and are only still together because they have no where else to go. Angle unlike Buffy, doesn't inspire or empower anyone, and clearly cares mainly about Connor. (Kind of annoyingly, actually. The rest of the characters are clearly fed up with it and wish Connor would just go away.)
( Read more... )

GILES: Oh, there you are.
JENNY: There who is?
GILES: Our new friend Spike. He's known as 'William the Bloody'. Earned his nickname by torturing his victims with railroad spikes. Very pleasant. Well, here's some good news: he's barely two hundred. He's not even as old as Angel is. (frowns) Oh.
XANDER: That's a bad look, right?
GILES: I think your suggestion of running away this Saturday might've been a good one. Spike has fought two Slayers in the last century, and... he's killed them both.

~~BtVS 2x03 “School Hard”~~

---

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

• 
• Say goodbye now, my baby (Angelus/Darla/Drusilla, E) by Teland
• [Ukrainian] Світлотінь//Chiaroscuro (Buffy/Spike, E) by Uraniya
• And so your shadow comes around again (Angel/Darla, M) by carbolic
• Drabbles 28 – Come to Pass (Spike, T) by Aadler
• the first cut wasn't deep enough (Buffy/Faith, T) by faithandbuffy
• Til the Bloom Begins (Spike/OFCs, Buffy/Spike, G) by hpg
• Helpful Debbie (Faith/Willow, T) by RotBlau
• 
• i’m wasting my time (Buffy/Faith, M) by n1-adora-fan

[Chaptered Fiction]

• 
• Ch. Three of Better Late Than Never (Buffy/Spike, R) by slaymesoftly
• Shadowed Suspicion Chapter 413 (jojo's bizarre adventure xover, T) by madimpossibledreamer
• 
• Downvoted, Chapter 1/2 (Warren/Andrew, E) by Mishafer
• A Hundred Years of Spike, Chapter 24/? (Spike/Buffy, Tara/Willow, Xander/Anya, M) by voidslayerworks98
• The End Is Now, Chapter 13/? (Buffy/Giles, E) by KatyAmberAuthor
• Buffy's Godsisters Book 4, Chapter 5/? (Buffy & Scoobies, multiple xovers, M) by MotherOfDragons20
• Faiths Vampire Family, Chapter 5/? (Faith & Hope Mikaelson, The Originals xover, not rated) by mwimer
• Spike Trek, Chapter 2/21 (Star Trek xover, T) by Sonofsoulreaver
• to carve out a place for oneself, Chapter 1/5 (Giles/Jenny, G) by lilyelisabeth
• 
• How Does a Moment Last Forever, Chapter 13 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by number1angirl
• Pick Me Up, Chapters 25-26 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Dusty
• Re-heated, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, R) by splendidchapette
• Better Late Than Never, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Slaymesoftly
• Do something before you go and break yourself, Chapters 1-2 Complete! (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Blooddebt
• First Kiss, Chapter 10 Complete! (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Sarahvampgrl
• Restructuring Reality [Series Part 3], Chapter 16 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Ragini
• Band Candy Baby, Chapter 61 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Tikiriaaa
• Thérapie d'une Tueuse, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Miss Kitty
• [French] A Slayer in therapy, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Miss Kitty
• What's Left of the Night, Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Sirabella
• 
• How Does a Moment Last Forever, Chapter 13 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by number1angirl
• Re-heated, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, R) by splendidchapette
• Better Late Than Never, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Slaymesoftly
• A Stroke Of Bad Loop, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Tikiriaaa
• Band Candy Baby, Chapters 45-48 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Tikiriaaa
• What's Left of the Night, Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Sirabella
• The Gift, Chapter 24 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Corvidae

[Images, Audio & Video]

• 
• Artwork: For my solo souls this Valentines. we still have Spuffy (Buffy/Spike, worksafe) by sanzosin
• Gifset: btvs | i robot, you jane (ensemble, worksafe) by lovebvffys
• Artwork: i could just eat you up, valentine! (Buffy/Spike, worksafe) by rabbitmotifs
• Gifset: BEST OF BTVS: Buffy Summers — Season Five (worksafe) by clarkgriffon
• Gifset: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER 4.19 | “New Moon Rising” (Willow/Tara, worksafe) by buffygifs
• Artwork: Happy Valentine’s day! (Buffy/Spike, worksafe) by revello-drive-1630
• Gifset: femslash february - day fourteen - witches (Willow/Tara, worksafe) by solemnsalem
• Edit: Happy Valentine’s Day. Hopefully Buffy & Angel are somewhere enjoying his shanshu and finally getting to be happy together (Buffy/Angel, worksafe) by buffyanneswift
• Edit: Happy Valentine’s Day (Buffy/Angel, worksafe) by buffyanneswift
• Fanvid: happy valentines (Willow/Tara, worksafe) by arentyounaturallybuffbuff
• Artwork: cooling my blood, warming my heart (Buffy/Spike, worksafe) by rabbitmotifs
• Fanvid: season 6 buffy summers to glum by hayley williams (worksafe) by foolforbuffy
• Artwork: Smelly gooners (Warren/Andrew, worksafe) by garscrucible
• 
• [Podfic] Not the End (Willow/Tara, G) by lilolilyrae

[Reviews & Recaps]

• 
• Buffy 5.01 - Buffy vs. Dracula by theinheriteddutchess
• buffy s2e3 “school hard” by foolstrap
• 
• HEARTBREAK HIGH! 'The Prom' - Buffy the Vampire Slayer - reaction and commentary! by All Bronze, No Brains
• Rewatch: Bad Eggs Part 2 by Re-Vamped with Juliet Landau
• 72: BTVS S4E20 “The Yoko Factor” by Still Slaying: A Buffyverse Podcast
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer S3E11 "Gingerbread" Recap & Review (Major Slayage) by Major Slayage - A Buffy Rewatch Podcast
• 
• PODCAST: Sunnydale's Dirt Basements (BtVS S7E8) by It Stakes Two

[Recs & In Search Of]

• 
• Today is the start of AO3’s IFD 2026 Feedback Fest! My favorite Spuffy AUs recced by desicat-writer
• 
• ISO: Name of the music in this "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" promo? requested by scrantoncookiecookie

[Community Announcements]

• 
• Welcome to Day Fourteen of February Fangfest! Today we present "And so your shadow comes around again" by carbolic. A Dangel fic set post-series by februaryfangfest

[Fandom Discussions]

• 
• Meta — Buffy Summers: the Weight of a Slayer’s Crown by veronyxk84
• 
• wolfram & hart is supposed to be so evil and scary but they’re so incompetent by milfbro
• before i watched buffy the vampire slayer i had obviously heard some things about the show here and there by lesbianmarrow
• the archaeus arc in buffy s10 (comics) could have been so fucking cool and dramatic and i stand by that by xaeyrnofnbe
• i do like the idea that Warren had the worst bullies in high school by christonerd
• another hc I’ve got that’s supported by absolutely nothing, but I think it’s hard for dru to read by camellcat
• Warren does not celebrate valentines day by garscrucible
• I can’t believe it need to be said but Buffy is NOT a serial killer. by artemideaddams
• I find so boring how every Spuffy shipper can’t admit that Buffy loved Angel more lmao especially because that’s an integrale part of the dynamics between Buffy and Spike by artemideaddams
• 
• So tell me, who really started your obsession…Spike or James? by choi_yunaa42
• Which moments from the show best define Rupert Giles as a character? by InfiniteMehdiLove
• How did the Scoobies learn that Buffy told Joyce she was the slayer? by aka_katie
• which song makes you think of a certain charachter? by ShakeMelodic5035
• where do you think Darla went when she died? - where does a human’s soul go when they are turned into a vampire? by Kitchen-Country-39
• For those who were there, by season 3, how big Sarah Michelle Gellar was ? by James-Samuel17
• Is Angel stronger As Angelus? by Fit-Difficulty8902
• I wish Faith would've gotten her own series by SamTheMarioMaster2
• Did Joss Whedon use any actual mythology for the Buffyverse? by Fit-Difficulty8902
• Does God exist in the Buffyverse? by Elegant_Break56
• Still the most romantic declaration of love in TV by LuVEmFuzzies
• What personally appeals to you the most about the show? by dogbappe
• [Sequel] Would you prefer the new Buffy series to give a spoiler about what happened after the Angel finale, or would you prefer it not to mention the finale at all? by Easy-Distribution223
• Are comics really as wild as they seem? by Existing-Worry-97
• what do you think a season 8 would have looked like? I know there are the comics, but what would you like it/think it might have been? by sffiremonkey69
• [“The Pack”] gave me the creeps as a kid…and still does by Catarina-Reis
• 
• Buffy Summers: the Weight of a Slayer’s Crown by veronyxk84

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

Happy Galentines/Valentines Day! We are midway through February. If you started the year with some intentions, or have accumulated some new intentions since, how are they going? Is there anything you want to prune back or lean into?

Pick a thing or two that sums up how you're doing today, this week, in general, and tell me about it in the 5-7-5 syllables of a haiku.

=

Signal-boosting much appreciated!

Earlier this week I finished another commute audiobook, Looking for Smoke by K.A. Cobell. This is a crime thriller/murder mystery that takes place on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. When a teenage girl is found strangled at the Indian Days summer powwow, four of her classmates become the prime suspects in her murder. 

I would say this is a solid entry in the murder mystery genre. The book alternates perspectives between the four classmates, which allows the author to do some fun things keeping the reader on the hook. One character will make a big discovery only for the POV to pop over to another who doesn't have that information, so Cobell can keep information from the reader without it feeling too forced. The audiobook has a separate narrator for each POV, which was also fun (although I didn't care for Eli's reader) and if you're prone to picking up and putting down your audiobook in the middle of a chapter, this helps you keep track of whose POV you're in.

Cobell uses the format of the crime thriller, like Marcie Rendon in Where They Last Saw Her, to draw attention to the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), but the book still feels like a novel its own right; it never feels like just a tool for explaining the MMIW issue. And it's an important issue that deserves a lot more attention. The statistics on violence against Native American women are shocking--even if you think they're bad, they're probably worse than you're imagining--and specific stats get highlighted in the text and in the author's note at the end. In this way, I think the book has enormous social value. Cobell uses her characters to personalize the problem and show the comorbid impacts of poverty and drug use on the reservation. 

Outside of its interest in the MMIW crisis, I don't think the book does much that's particularly groundbreaking. The teens band together to try to solve the mystery and absolve themselves, as you'd expect. At various times they suspect each other, family members, law enforcement. Cobell keeps you on the hook while offering reasonable suspicion for a number of characters. She avoids my least favorite move in the murder mystery genre, which is pinning it on some rando at the last minute.

The ending is pretty explosive and I enjoy some of the things she does with perspective here as well. We the readers know what the killer thinks of their crimes because the text tells us. But the other characters never hear that explanation except third hand, and many of them simply don't believe it. And that feels real--they end the story with their own version of the truth and there's simply no space for that to be corrected (and why would they believe the word of a killer anyway?) The killer feels a little one-dimensional, but the motives make sense, if they're unsurprising. The motivations behind most violent crimes are pretty repetitive. 

The prose is fine. We're reading from the perspective of teenagers, so expect a lot of melodramatic metaphors and jumping to conclusions based on minimal evidence.

Overall, this book tells an important story. It was entertaining as a narrative and sheds light on a community that deserves a lot more attention.

I should do my taxes but I am procrastinating. But I need to do it, so that Turbo Tax will stop nudging me to do it. I miss the days in which everyone trying to sell me something didn't have my email address.

Knee has been bugging me off and on today - I did laundry and alas, had to stand to do it. For a long while. My knees don't like it when I stand for longer than ten minutes. I stood for thirty. Suffice to say? They weren't happy campers.

Television Bits and Pieces:

David Boreanze cast as the lead in the Rockford Files Reboot by NBC

( cut )

Can we just not? I told mother, who loved the Rockford Files when it first aired.. in the mid-70s, actually, I enjoyed them in reruns and whenever I saw it at night. And my father loved it - it was among his favorite shows. For those who don't know what it is? It was a private detective series, featuring a down-on-his-luck PI. Reminded me a little of the Trevor McGee mysteries.

Me: So they are rebooting the Rockford Files, you'll never guess who they cast in the lead..
Mother: probably not.
Me: David Boreanze - the guy who played Angel.
Mother: Ugh. You've got to be kidding me? Well, that's one show I will definitely not be watching. Boreanze is all wrong for the part - he doesn't have the sense of humor that Garner had.

True. James Marsters has that same dead pan sense of humor, as does Nathan Fillion and Jensen Anckles, not David Boreanze.

Oh well, at least this means that it is highly unlikely that he'll appear in the Buffy Sequel.

But I really wish they wouldn't reboot "good" old television series. There's a list of classic television series that should NEVER be rebooted: Rockford Files, Gunsmoke, the Original Star Trek, The Prisoner, MASH, Fraiser, Hill Street Blues, Homicide Life on the Street, ER, LA Law, St. Elsewhere, Gilmore Girls, Friends, I Love Lucy, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Mork and Mindy, Rhoda, The Mary Tyler Moor Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Supernatural... leave the classics alone folks. Come up with something original?

I don't necessarily mind sequels? Although I'm not watching Scrubs (I barely watched the original.).

***

Almost done with the Buffy S7 rewatch, yet woefully behind on the Angel S4 one. Mainly because Angel S4 kind of goes off the rails post Orpheus, and I find it hard to watch? (All the character plot holes give me a headache.) ( Read more... )

Buffy S7's problem is too many characters, while Angel's is comic book/soap plotting that kind of gets garbled in translation. I can see why the network was flirting with cancelling Angel in S4.
( Buffy S7 Empty Places to part of End of Days )

Off to make something for dinner. I don't know what, but I'll come up with something. Maybe salmon with broccoli.

Apparently, after I stopped watching 'Primeval' because they'd killed off or lost all the original players, they brought it back for two more seasons, in the process finding two characters lost in the Cretacious Era. So now I'm watching entirely new-to-me episodes, and thinking how much more AU my AU series of stories is now with all this additional context.

KENNY: All of a sudden this cop comes up out of nowhere and just wham! Hit me so hard I thought my teeth were coming out.
ANNE: He hit you? What were you doing?
KENNY: Nothing, I swear to god. And then after he punched me he threw Les against the wall, about near broke her arm. Next thing I know he's reaching for his nightstick, so I just grabbed Les and booked.
ANNE: You mean he wasn't trying to arrest you...
KENNY: I'm telling you. He just walked up, said 'no loitering,' slugged me in the mouth, and then chased us for a couple blocks before we made it here.

~~The Thin Dead Line~~

---

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

• 
• Catch My Fall by Geliot99 (Giles/Ethan, E)
• attachment by smallblueandloud (Buffy/Faith, G)
• Do something before you go and break yourself by Blooddebt (Buffy/Spike, E)
• Soul Kiss by Skyson (Buffy/Giles, E)
• i'm wasting my time by N1_Adora_Fan (Buffy/Faith, M)
• 
• Yin to my Yang: Life & Death by VeroNyxK84 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

[Chaptered Fiction]

• 
• Spell Interference - ch. 1 by cyclomonster (Buffy/Faith, M)
• Between the Lines - ch. 3 by Dyrla (Willow/Jemma Simmons, Faith/Jemma, Faith/Willow, Agents of Shield xover, E) Complete!
• The Honorable Judge - ch. 8 by storiwr (Buffy/Faith, Willow/Tara, M)
• The End Is Now - ch. 11-12 by KatyAmberAuthor (Buffy/Giles, E)
• Sweet Lemeney - ch. 5 by Nixiet (Buffy/Giles, G)
• Twice Upon a Time - ch. 14 by Dyrla (Vampire Willow/Willow, Faith/Willow, E)
• Better (Now that you're here) - ch. 3 by xaeyrnofnbe (Angel/Spike, Buffy/Spike, T) Complete!
• Cry a Little, Lie a Little, Die a Little - ch. 15 by crayonbreakygal (Wesley/Faith, M) Complete!
• 
• Pick Me Up - ch. 24 by Dusty (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)
• Father, Lead Us Not Into Temptation- ch. 12 by YouCutYourHair (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)
• Forged in Blood - ch. 29 by In Mortal (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)
• Band Candy Baby - ch. 41-60 by Tikiriaaa (Buffy/Spike, R)
• If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck... - ch. 28 by zinjadu (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)
• From Hell, With Love - ch. 6 by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)
• 
• Do something before you go and break yourself - ch. 1-2 by Blooddebt (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) Complete!
• Cupid is Stupid, and a Little Drunk - ch. 1 by Behind Blue Eyes (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)
• A Stroke Of Bad Loop - ch. 2 by Tikiriaaa (Buffy/Spike, R)
• If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck... - ch. 6 by zinjadu (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)
• On the Run - ch. 6 by zinjadu (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)
• She, with all a monarch's pride - ch. 6 by zinjadu (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only - use this)
• Band Candy Baby - ch. 41-44 by Tikiriaaa (Buffy/Spike, R)
• Forged in Blood - ch. 29 by In Mortal (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Images, Audio & Video]

• 
• Artwork: [Spuffy hands] by sayanrougshaban (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)
• Gifset: My list of fictional female characters I feel protective of. by melancholicdreamer666 (Dawn, worksafe)
• Gifset: It's showtime. 2.01 > 5.12 > 7.11 by 5bi5 (Buffy, Scoobies, worksafe)
• Fanvid: anyawillow // girl, so confusing by littlegreen (Willow/Anya)
• 
• Fanvid: Buffy Summers Core ✌️🫠🤪💛 by ♡𝒯𝑜𝓃𝒾 <3
• Fanvid: Buffy & Spike - Best Moments | Act Ⅱ by Buffy & Spike Channel
• Fanvid: Buffy the vampire slayer edit judas angel spike by SCNE FILMSS
• Fanvid: Buffy and Angel | Love by esther
• Fanvid: Willow & Tara | the night we met by Saviorinred

[Reviews & Recaps]

• 
• buffy s2e2 "some assembly required" by foolstrap
• Welcome to the Hellmouth (1x01) - Trance work by chloe-vampire-slayer
• The thing about Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered is that it is funny. In parts. by badwolfwho1
• 
• VIDEO: Video: The Body - Buffy the Vampire Slayer by The Cheshire Kiwi
• PODCAST: Angel S5E15: A Hole in the World | Booze & Buffy

[Recs & In Search Of]

• 
• ISO: francis2395 seeks BTVS streaming with french audio and ideally French subtitles for students] by francis2395
• ISO: Existing-Worry-97 seeks Buffy forums that are still active

[Community Announcements]

• 
• fic_promptly | Friday, February 13 - Tender Moments
• 
• Welcome to Day Thirteen of February Fangfest! We present Fairy Tale by Higgystar.

[Fandom Discussions]

• 
• i really really love it when angel reveals his vampire face by xaeyrnofnbe
• love itttt when the buffyverse vampires make noises. by xaeyrnofnbe
• btvs modern au where willow is an etsy witch and the rest of the cast knows by evilvampire
• i’ve never shed a tear at a spuffy moment but [I have for bangel and fuffy] by anonymous and legally-allowed-to-slime
• The worst thing about being a fan of minor Buffy character Amy Madison... by coraniaid
• — Buffy season 2 + hearts by 5bi5
• 
• [since Buffy was not around, who broke the news about Sept 11th to Buffy?] by Ecstatic_Depth_8675
• [do you get immense Tara vibes from Sarah McLachlan in the music video for Adia like I do?] by amachinesaidiwasgood
• A fan theory about The Mayors Gift [did The Mayor intend for Faith to switch with Buffy?] by TheHatsuneLoki1
• GAME: [where would you sit on a plane?] by Warm_Birthday_3198
• Ted has a lot more going on than I remember bydavect01
• If faith got a spin off like angel what would you like it to be about [and who should be on it?] by Worth-Phone3539
• S6e11 issues [Justice for social worker Doris!] by AnxiousConsequence18
• [Ranking of season openers] by Eldon42
• The worst she can say is no [William and Cecily] by Thecrafter10
• First time going through the series - s5e16 - [Praise for The Body - very realistic] by Crowasaur
• Willow and Tara chemistry? by No_Soup3871
• David Boreanaz to Star in NBC’s ‘Rockford Files’ by pepperbet1
• Darla vs Dru [in both shows] by Remarkable_Oil_7557

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

• 
• Variety: 'Rockford Files' Reboot Pilot Casts David Boreanaz in Lead Role
• James Marsters and Juliet Landau and Julie Benz to Attend Nickel City Comic Con 26-28 June 2026 [Buffalo NY USA] w/BTVS group photo op with all 3 on presale via dontkillspike

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

The seeds lying in their wombs of earth are turning now
preparing to kick out taproots through their coats
I rewatch the video of bluebird chicks cracking their own eggshells
Wondering at babies battering through barriers to birth themselves
Choosing again and again to leave every womb that once held them
Protected and confined

===

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Sweetie is home from the vet, with medicine to rub on her ear (for absorption) and pills (good luck to us on that) and a shot from the vet to help things move through her better. They took blood tests also but we'll find out about them Monday.

She is sniffing at food, and walking around outside of her hiding place, so I think she's feeling a little better. Steve said she purred for them, which is very good.

1. Snagged from colls - "You can help NASA classify telescope images of
galaxies, helping researchers identify very distant
galaxies and black holes and distinguish real signals
from noise. Each classification takes about a minute,
and tutorials guide you every step of the way."

Here's How

I don't know about anyone else? But I'm certainly tempted.

2. RIP James Van Der Beek aka Dawson from Dawson's Creek. He died of cancer at the age of 48. It was announced multiple times on the news this morning. He apparently had six kids - which, well, virile?
( Read more... )
3. Work and public transportation and this week (starting with Sunday)...have made me want to avoid people for the next four days (and since I'm taking Friday off and have Monday off as a paid Federal Bank Holiday - I can do that). To further this? I rescheduled my hair appointment for May. (Well that, and I can't handle going up and down four flights of steps on Monday, with this knee. I need more time. I'm hoping by May, I can do it without too much pain.)
( Read more... )

4. Question a Day Memage February:

12. Do you have any siblings?

Yes. One. A younger brother. Who has gifted me with a beautiful niece.
Siblings are a double-edged thing - both gift and curse, those who have them probably know whereof I speak?

5. People are using AI...to help with commenting on various sites - with ahem amusing results? ( Or it's bots, can't decide.)
( Where I'm complimented for my excellent story-telling abilities in...writing film reviews?? )

Sigh, people continue to bewilder me?

What a power play!
Really. It's scary. Less than 20 s into it, Crosby >McDavid>MacKinnon>into the goal.

Scary https://x.com/


TeamCanada/status/2022007121077023207?s=20

But fun to watch. 

Go Canada!

Also Macklin Celebrini scored. Marner jumped so high on Stone's goal. McDavid became Wilson for a few minutes. Binnington kept his cool... and... Captain Crosby was really, really scary. 

Onwards to tomorrow's game.

I am very tired. I took tomorrow off and we're closed on Monday, so I have a 4-day weekend and I am looking forward to not having to deal with several varieties of annoying co-worker (e.g., one who expects me to show up and take minutes at a meeting I was never even invited to [it's tomorrow, though, so my boss informed them I would be on vacation and someone else would have to do it]; one who insists I fill out paperwork I have already filled out and submitted - they went silent when I emailed the signed form back with the email from the day I sent it and then the invoice got paid so I guess I can't complain too much; one who feels the need to do everything by phone when email would suffice, etc.).

I've got some fun cooking plans - hopefully I get some sausage tomorrow and can make that pasta dish, but I have also been struck with the idea of making calzones, so I might do that (on Monday if not tomorrow, maybe). I took some pork ribs out of the freezer and plan to do char siu on Saturday and char siu bao on Sunday, and I might also take a crack at making some doughnuts. Depends on how much I feel like deep frying I guess. Maybe I'll make cranberry curd and fill them with that. Who can say? It might just end up being raspberry jam or pastry cream. All of it sounds good to me.

*

SPIKE: After, but I got over it—in case you're feeling all dust-happy again after your long incarceration.
FAITH: (smiles) Not if you're all repent-y. Takes the fun out of it. (the girls upstairs are making noise) No more Starbucks for the wannabes, man. They've been spazzing for, like, hours.
SPIKE: Yeah, does get a bit much up there.
FAITH: They're good girls. Just green is all.
SPIKE: So, why aren't you up there...imparting?
FAITH: That's Buffy's thing. Anyway, I just spent a good stretch of time locked away with a mess of female-types. Kinda had my fill.

~~Dirty Girls~~

---

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

• 
• One Good Turn (Darla/Spike, E) by Kenijo
• Interview with a Buffybot (Spike/Buffy, E) by splendidchapette
• Buffy Summers and her three weird dogs (Buffy, Angel, Riley, Spike, T) by teaandaces

[Chaptered Fiction]

• 
• After That, Ch. 10 (Crossover w/ Harry Potter, Buffy, The Scoobies, M) by ScottisI
• Come as you are, Ch. 6 (Spike/Buffy, T) by Runningwithdragons
• Call Center, Ch. 4 (Complete, Xander, M) by TjinTur
• Carrot's snippet collection, Ch. 147 (Complete, Multifandom, Dawn, G) by CaptainCarrot
• Playing With Fire, Ch. 15 (Spike/Buffy, M) by stellugh
• Miss Edith, Ch. 29 (Drusilla/Spike, Angel/Buffy, Oz/Willow, Cordelia/Xander, E) by BeppiGirl
• Red Xandra: Season Two, Ch. 53 (Jenny/Giles, Xander/Willow, Jonathan/Amy, T) by Kickaha
• Cry a Little, Lie a Little, Die a Little, Ch. 14 (Faith/Wesley, M) by crayonbreakygal
• Transitory, Ch. 17 (Spike/Buffy, T) by GhostsInLove
• The Red Slayer:, Ch. 126 (Oz/Willow, Angel/Buffy, Cordelia/Xander, Jenny/Giles, E) by VladimirHarkonnen (TheLightdancer)
• Welcome to the Neighborhood, Ch. 8 (Crossover w/ What We Do in the Shadows, Twilight, Interview With the Vampire, Angel/Spike/Buffy, T) by QueenieJay
• A Hundred Years of Spike, Ch. 22 (Spike/Buffy, Tara/Willow, Xander/Anya, M) by voidslayerworks98
• 
• Playing With Fire, Ch. 15 (Buffy/Spike, G) by stellugh
• Band Candy Baby, Ch. 59 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Tikiriaaa
• 
• Call Center, Ch. 4 (Xander, FR15) by Tjin
• Cross Purposes 5, Ch. 69 (Multiple Crossings, The Scoobies, FR13) by DianeCastle
• 
• Once They Were Friends, Ch. 27 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Grief Counseling
• Come as you are, Ch. 6 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by runningwithdragons
• The Ring Talks, Ch. 6 (Buffy/Spike, R) by myrabeth
• A Stroke Of Bad Loop, Ch. 1 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Tikiriaaa
• Band Candy Baby, Ch. 40 (Buffy/Spike, Dawn, Giles, Joyce, R) by Tikiriaaa

[Images, Audio & Video]

• 
• Album Art: Spike — Pet Sounds (2003) (SFW) by floralgreenery
• Fanvid: 🎵Au Pays Du Cocaine - Geese by arentyounaturallybuffbuff
• 
• Art: NEW VIEWER FANART (Angelus, SFW) by luvsck-blink_555
• Valentine's Day Card: Buffy and Valentine's Day (Balthazar, SFW) by caveburrito
• 
• Charisma Carpenter Get Ready With Me | Red Carpet Glam for a Major Event by charisma carpenter

[Reviews & Recaps]

• 
• Thoughts on rewatching S2E16, “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” (¼): Rant Incoming by btvsfemslashenjoyer
• 
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 6 Episode 3 - Afterlife (Audio Only) by Sh*t 90s Shows Taught Me

[Community Announcements]

• 
• Welcome to Day Twelve of February Fangfest! A month-long event to celebrate the Fanged Four and all their gleefully gory glory. For today’s perusal, One Good Turn by Kenijo. by februaryfangfest

[Fandom Discussions]

• 
• the way spike grips the back of buffys head by rabbitmotifs
• I don’t know, I like that Angelus is despicably evil. by someonefantastic
• i love how in season 5 we see glory with all these weird little demon men by lesbianmarrow
• I know it was awhile ago but I’m still still pissed by thebestwackyxlida
• can you imagine being angel. by floralgreenery
• 
• Is everybody very Stoned? by jessjones82231
• You favorite pet names in Buffyverse? by LuVEmFuzzies
• First time watch question about Disney plus aspect ratio by anonymous_fireflyfan
• Communion Wafers by doing_something_else
• Season 3 finaley by JediMasterSloth
• Character in title sequence by RoPancake
• What do you consider the most famous visual of Buffy and which would you consider it the face of the franchise? by jdpm1991
• Sarah Michelle Gellar SNL opening monlogue (1999) by little_moustache
• What are your thoughts on Alyson Hannigan as an actress? What are her strengths and weaknesses? by sadhungryandvirgin
• Which heroic sacrifice is your preferred episode? The Gift or Hero by jdpm1991
• I absolutely loved season 4 and how it opened up Buffy, but that's also why I kinda think it ended extremely disappointingly. by visiny
• Why did Xander think he had a say or that is his business in Buffy's or Willow's personal life? by gloomydreamer666
• Buffy is one of the only shows that did the HS>College well enough that it didn't kill the series... by supernovamegastellar
• Any of the cast do through the mail autographs? by PowerlessTonite
• No TV couple has ever had chemistry like Spuffy by lee_hyunjin09

---

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Join the editor team :)

---

Sweetie has a vet appointment tomorrow. I think she's constipated; she is peeing (including on the back room rug, which I sprayed peroxide on after mopping it up), but not passing anything. She is not eating, though I think from the pee volume she is drinking water. And she is still mainly hiding behind stuff under the ancient (possibly post-colonial era fourth-hand) desk with the enormous 92-year-old sort-of-easy-chair that is hard to move). Since she is able to get up and walk well enough, I will slide down the front of the chair under the desk tomorrow and try to move her, which will make her get up and walk out, where Steve can grab her.

My throat is okay now. Maybe something is going around? A one-day sore throat that vanishes?

Mother told me all about what my niece is up to. Apparently she has a new boyfriend - a California Forest Ranger, who she met last year. (She's also living with a guy, but he's not her boyfriend, and he's apparently writing a book for his thesis - it's not clear if it is fiction or non-fiction. I'm guessing non-fiction?) And she's come up with an idea for an investigative journalism piece on the political corruption surround fire retardation use and how forest fires are put out or not as the case may be. Her advisor is excited about it - he wants her to pursue journalism and writing. (She's an excellent writer). Statistics is causing her difficulty though - apparently no one in our immediate family has the math gene? She finds calculus and statistics boring, and it doesn't make a lot of sense. (I can relate.)

Feeling rather bored and apathetic with my own life at the moment, not helped by the bad knee, which refuses to get better and makes it difficult to do much of anything but get to and from work, and the occasional errand (including physical therapy). It still hurts. Although my physical therapist, Vishanti, appears to think it is getting stronger and better, so there's that at least. Also, it's warming up - a little outside?
It reached a rather balmy 41 degrees F today, and a low of 29 F.

After some negotiation - I finally managed to convince the Super to turn off the sparkling brand new radiator that they installed in my kitchen. It's black. It takes up more space than I'd like? But I think I can fit a small cabinet in front of it. And since it's turned off - I cancelled my purchase of the window fan. Also it's not quite as warm in the apartment at the moment as it was last night, which made it difficult to sleep. Although the radiators are blasting now - so that could always change?

Every day on my commute, I run across old homeless folks. Today, it was an old white woman, who looked a bit like a gnome. ( Read more... )

Sometimes I think - if I can just help one person in this world. Then maybe the rest won't matter? See? George Bailey moment. [If you don't get it? Look it up. We have the internet - it's easy. Hint: it's a cultural reference from a 1940s Christmas Movie starring Jimmy Stewart. ;-)].

***

Question a Day Meme

8. How often do you read fiction?

95% of the time. I also write it. And tell it in my head. And listen to it on audio-book, and read graphic novels or comics that are fictional.

I read non-fiction for work. Fiction for pleasure.

9. This year is the 40th anniversary of the release of the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – have you ever seen it? Bueller…. Bueller…. Bueller…..

Yes. I saw it in the movie theater when it first came out - admittedly with the wrong person (my mother - which ahem, not a movie to see with one's mother). And numerous times on television.

40 years? Damn. I feel old. It was, I think, a 1980s John Hughes film. John Hughes was the King of teen flicks in the 1980s, he, Francis Ford Coppola and a few others - kind of redefined teen cinema.

It grated though - because I identified a bit too much with Ferris' sister.
That said? Required back to back viewing is Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Election - where Broderick is the stumbling adult, to Reese Witherspoon's ambitious and annoying teen.

10. Have you ever owned a Tamagotchi?

I had to look it up - because I had no clue what it was. So clearly no.

Tamagotchi can be found here. Hint? It kind of reminds me of the electronic version of what they were trying to give out in the Buffy Episode Bad Eggs. If it had been electronic - Bad Eggs would have gone VERY differently.

11. Would you consider yourself superstitious?

Not really. I might flirt with it - but I am a born skeptic. I question everything. So no, not superstitious.

XANDER: How you doing, having o' the fun?
BUFFY: You know, I am. Dancing with you is way better than trying to hook up with some good-looking guy.

~~I Was Made To Love You~~

---

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

• 
• Childhood Dreams (Buffy, PG) by badly_knitted
• 
• Evil!Angel x Slayer!Reader (NSFW) by ladypensivewrites
• [jenny wish fic snippit] (Jenny/Giles, SFW) by lenaluthorssuitcollection
• 
• Yin to my Yang: Love & Hate (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by VeroNyxK84

[Chaptered Fiction]

• 
• He Ain't Heavy, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, R) by StrawberryPoet
• First Kiss, Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Sarahvampgrl
• Playing With Fire, Chapter 14 (Buffy/Spike, G) by stellugh
• What's Left of the Night, Chapter 7 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Sirabella
• Band Candy Baby, Chapter 58 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Tikiriaaa
• 
• Aim High, Chapter 19 (Crossover with Stargate, FR13) by Buffyworldbuilder
• 
• If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck..., Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by zinjadu
• On the Run, Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by zinujadu
• She, with all a monarch's pride, Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, AO) by zinjadu
• Pick Me Up, Chapter 23 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Dusty
• 
• The Ring Talks, Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, M) by myrabeth

[Images, Audio & Video]

• 
• Artwork:ANGELUSSS FANART by luvsck-blink_555
• Artwork:ATS 305. Fredless by tmcarlee
• 
• Artwork:Buffy Summers by so-much-wine
• Artwork:season 6 buffy by idontexistbutwhodoes
• Artwork:and then they kissed by brekindelo
• Icons: BUFFY SUMMERS ICONS by nancybyer
• Meme:BTVS as textposts (pt3) by sillyb00ks
• Manip:Buffy Summers 1x10 by buffyanneswift
• Gifset:Buffy Summers + Outfits (41/∞) by clarkgriffon
• Gifset:femslash february - day eleven - first wlw ship by solemnsalem
• Gifset:Best of BTVS: Adam by clarkgriffon
• Gifset:btvs | angel by lovebvffys
• Gifset:3x08 vs 7x20 by toxicphangirl15
• Moodboard:Giles moodboard by chloethehorrorbabe
• Video: god loves you but not enough to save you [Drusilla] by littlegreen

[Reviews & Recaps]

• 
• season 7 episode 13 - the killer in ME by socratesgirl
• season 7, episode 14 - first date! by socratesgirl
• season 7 episode 15 - get it done nanana by socratesgirl
• 
• Witch | In Every Generation by Cinema Chad
• Buffy The Vampire Slayer 7x14 'First Date' REACTION by George Alexander
• Buffy vs Spike in the DAYLIGHT!! | Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 4 Episode 3 (REACTION) 4x03 by JayPerView
• Oz brings the goods | Angel - Season 1 Episode 3 (REACTION) | In the Dark 1x03 by JayPerView
• 
• Podcast: Episode 120: The Thin Dead Line by Gym Was Cancelled
• Publication: 27 Years Ago, A Controversial Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episode Changed TV Forever via Screen Rant

[Recs & In Search Of]

• 
• The sweetest sanguine lullaby by Ren recced by februaryfangfest
• 15,925 by Higgystar recced by februaryfangfest
• [ISO bangel meta] recced by cookiedough87
• Darla and Drusilla in S2E10 Reuinion by Harlow recced by februaryfangfest

[Fandom Discussions]

• 
• [angel season 3 meta] by ari-but-unhinged
• [Spike, Angel, and Buffy drives] by kpchrs
• [Spike's last night] by
• [S7 Bangel kiss ask] by ceciliastark
• [Faith/Cordelia ship ask] by shesnake
• I made a chart by camellcat
• [Something Blue spell wording + Spuffy] by kindardnatural
• Darla I love you so much by stormtide-leviathan
• anyway riley finn should've died in an act of self-sacrifice in primeval to save buffy by kindaorangey
• there’s no way they looked at fresh out of prison homotron 3000 faith lehane and they had her sleeping with ROBIN by theslayerfest
• [Dawn's behavior] by biblicalhorror
• [Poll: do you ship Fuffy] by do-you-ship-it-polls
• cordelia would go as posh spice for halloween by youhavethesun
• [buffy/angel vs drusilla/angel] by littlegreen
• obsessed with the potentials being like Did Our Teacher Fuck A Vampire? by lesbianmarrow
• Poll: What did you think of S2E16? by btvs-weekly-group-rewatch
• thinking about Amy Madison and how she's gotta be in the running for having the worst life in the Buffyverse by dmcmercy
• 
• Willow and Tara by multiple authors
• The two women that had me obssessed since childhood by multiple authors
• What if? by multiple authors
• S6, when did Giles suspect where she had been? by multiple authors
• Why did Willow not get a song? by multiple authors
• Tom Lenk in New Indie Musical Project by multiple authors
• One small change. by multiple authors
• Buffy’s impact on the way people speak? by multiple authors
• Is everybody very Stoned? by multiple authors
• Favourite running joke? by multiple authors
• This Year's girl by multiple authors
• Who was your very favorite villain in the Buffyverse? by multiple authors
• drop your Buffy facts below by multiple authors
• Season 7, episode 6: Conversations with Dead People by multiple authors
• Buffy vs Faith by multiple authors
• Did Xander really face no consequences after OMWF? by multiple authors
• The most useless villain(s)? by multiple authors

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

Health stuff

Much better. The acupuncture treatment on Monday brought down the pain to my new normal of 4.5-5 and the menopausal symptoms have receded too with the pain going down. 

Teacher stuff

I’m two and half weeks ahead in writing the content. I have all the classes for February done. First week of March is the spring break. I’m up to the class of March 9th now. I have an online class later this afternoon on analyzing and mapping processus, specifically Reader’s advisory. I love that stuff. I lose touch with time when I’m mapping. 

Reading

Almost done with The Apothecary Diaries 3   It’s still very good and even more edge of my seat storyline. There were three big reveals. One was easy to guess, the other a little less so but there were crumbs hinting to the truth and one totally caught me off guard. Hence the edge of my seat storyline. Book 4 has arrived. The cover is really gorgeous, 

I also read because I put it on the list of graphic novels for the students to choose for the second term papers The Alchemist  by Paulo Coelho. I am not a fan of mystical, philosophical type of writing to begin with.The manhua adaptation is well done. The drawings are really nice, black and white. The desert, the decor are gorgeous. 

Watching

I’m up to 21/36 on my rewatching of The ingenious one. I also took a look at Unveil : Jadewind because of the posts on my cdrama X timeline.  I watched the first case it’s good. I’ll wait until it’s almost done airing before going back. 

Crafting

Last Friday crafting evening was devoted to cross-stitching the fox design. I’m also at almost half in the baby blanket. No crafting evening this week because of the Valentine thing day. 

Title: Copic Marker Layout
Credit to: vuvuzela
Base style: Practicality
Type: CSS
Best resolution: Built in 1912x1074 – Mobile responsive
Tested in: Built in Firefox. Tested in Chrome & Opera on Windows OS. Tested in Android OS with Firefox.
Features: Mobile Responsive! Stylized home page, reading page, entry/comments page, icons page, and "more options" reply page.

Click for image previews

( Layout Instructions, Live Preview, & CSS )

Sweetie, our 14-lb Kliban cat (dark gray and black tabby) hasn't been feeling well. She was upchucking yesterday, not furballs, and I think she may be allergic to the food. But this morning we couldn't find her at all -- looked downstairs and main floor -- until the SU located her in the most inaccessible place in the house: on the old shag rug under the desk in the library/not so spare room. There, she's under a large desk and blocked in by a large chair and neither of us are up to digging her out. She is reasonably alert, so we're waiting for her to emerge at some point. I've put out water for her, and food that I know she can eat (non fish). And now we wait.

Meanwhile, there's a gland at the top of my throat that is trying to decide if it's swollen or not.

The Silver Bullet, and Other American Witch Stories by Hubert J. Davis

A selection of folktales gathered in the 1930s. A number of people claimed to have been the actual victims, others to know the people involved. A number are just told without a connection. Two are recognizable fairy tales.

It has sections about how to become a witch, how they worked, how to counter them, and tales of their witchery for money or mischief. Many references to witch doctors (or white witches).

LORNE: Bad news, munchkins. Rumor mill has Dr. Feelbad attached to another slice-and-dice yesterday.
FRED: Who was it?
LORNE: Lovely woman. High and mighty white magick shaman type. But that didn’t even faze the Beast. Tore her poor heart right out of her chest.
WESLEY: The M.O. doesn’t match. Mesektet had some sort of energy sucked from her. He didn’t touch her heart.
FRED: Lorne, you didn’t happen to catch a name, did you? Like Ma’at?
LORNE: Yeah, that’s the lady.
FRED: Another member of the Ra-tet.
GUNN: He’s taking them out, one by one.

~~Angel Season IV Episode #75: "Long Days Journey"~~

---

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

• 
• Love in Translation (Willow/Kennedy, unrated) by kerk-hiraeth
• 
• Dark Will (Buffy, Giles, T) by
• 
• The Road Not Taken (Buffy/Spike, E) by Pyewacket

[Chaptered Fiction]

• 
• i'm gonna be a fireman, when the floods roll back Ch. 1 (Giles, unrated, Three Musketeers xover) by stealthofdays
• A Guardians Story Ch. 3 (OC, Ensemble, M) by SilverHalloweenHut
• Windows to the Soul (Fix Her Eventually Section 6, S3E18) Ch. 8 (Buffy/Faith, E) by BTVSFE
• Vampire Reference in a Minor Key(If you need me...) Ch. 10 (Spike, M, Interview With the Vampire xover) by Humanzoul
• Better Late Than Never Ch. 2 (Buffy/Spike, T) by Slaymesoftly
• Reprise//Ще раз Ch. 14 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Uraniya
• Phantom Pains Ch. 4 (Angel/Lindsey) by CloudSeeker
• Draugadrottinn Ch. 41 (Willow/Tara, E) by VladimirHarkonnen
• Heartstrings Ch. 17 (Warren/Andrew, E) by Mishafer
• Fresh nights ahead Ch. 19 (Buffy/Faith, E) by Redtheseer
• Red Xandra: Season Two Ch. 52 (Ensemble, T) by Kickaha
• The Leech Ch. 12 (COMPLETE) (OC Slayer, T) by OGSamsa
• The End Is Now Ch. 10 (Buffy/Giles, E) by KatyAmberAuthor
• A Hundred Years of Spike CH. 21 (Buffy/Spike, M) by voidslayerworks98
• Greatest Love Story - Prelude Ch. 13 (Angelus/Spike, M) by FalseGinger
• Where the Forgotten Lie Ch. 6 (Ensemble, T) by Gravitytrips
• 
• Playing With Fire, Chapter 13 (Buffy/Spike, G) by stellugh
• Carol of a missing lipstick , Chapter 16 (Buffy/Spike, G) by rossshin
• Hindsight Twenty-Twenty, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, M) by CheekyKitten
• Pick Me Up, Chapter 22 (Buffy/Spike, T) by Dusty
• Undisclosed Desires, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Misti
• Undisclosed Desires, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Misti
• If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck..., Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, E) by zinjadu
• On the Run, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, E) by zinjadu
• 
• A Crushing Need For Help, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, T) by Tikiriaaa
• 
• Finality Ch. 5 (Buffy/Spike, T) by flootzavut

[Images, Audio & Video]

• 
• Artwork: Season 6 Buffy () by idontexistbutwhodoes
• Artwork: and then they kissed (Spike/Angel) by brekindelo
• 
• Artwork: Buffy () by _mystereed

[Reviews & Recaps]

• 
• Thoughts on Rewatching S2E15, “Phases” (2/2): Werewolves, it’s one of the classics” by btvsfemslashenjoyer
• 
• PODCAST: BTVS 712 - Potential by Another Buffy Podcast
• PODCAST: S2 E5: "Reptile Boy" by The Bitch Is Back

[Recs & In Search Of]

• 
• The sweetest sanguine lullaby by Ren recced by februaryfangfest
• 15,925 by Higgystar recced by februaryfangfest

[Community Announcements]

• 
• Tuesday, February 10 - Promotion Day Reminder by [community profile] fic_promptly

[Fandom Discussions]

• 
• I’ve been watching Angel with my roommates and we just got to the part where Wesley’s in the hospital after stealing Connor away. by ari-but-unhinged
• Spike’s biggest drives are LOVE and FUN. by kpchrs
• I liked that kiss even for reasons unrelated to Bangel. by ceciliastark
• omg I’ve never considered faith and cordy before by shesnake
• I made a chart bc I’m always thinking about who understood best that they were actually quietly dating all three scoobies actually. by camellcat
• Willow’s will-be-done spell by kinardnatural
• Darla I love you so much. by stormtide-leviathan
• anyway riley finn should’ve died in an act of self-sacrifice in primeval by kindaorangey
• fresh out of prison homotron 3000 faith lehane by theslayerfest
• Poor dawn has her father abandon her by biblicalhorror
• 
• Vote if bunnytailsREACTS should start a REACTIONs journey reacting to every Buffy episode! by djamst
• Lol by Warm_Birthday_3198
• What is a hilarious headcanon you have? by VisibleCoat995
• Which Buffy novels are less dark and more comfy? by DetailConsistent7533
• When does "Angel" get good? by Existing-Worry-97
• Hate the last episode by It-is-whatever
• I was really hoping Spike would do more by izzy-springbolt
• Does getting hit make a SLAYER stronger? by AnxiousConsequence18
• Rewatching Buffy and once again falling in love with Drusilla by AaronMills83
• Morality of killing demons vs killing humans by Existing-Worry-97
• Was wiping Connor's mind the right decision? Is there anything else Angel could've done? by SafiraAshai

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

• 
• PUBLICATION: 27 Years Ago Today, Buffy Introduced a Character Who Would End Up With One of the best Franchise Arcs by comicbook.com

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A few comments on the Buffy S7 and Angel S4 rewatches. Or take-aways.

I'm at the end of both seasons - have about four or five episodes left.
Watched up to and including Dirty Girls on Buffy, and up to and including Players on Angel. Players is the better episode. I don't know why? But the writers just didn't know what to do with Faith on Buffy.

S7 has one too many extraneous characters - so the main character relationships get a bit lost in the shuffle at times? ( Read more... )
That said - it does some things rather well.
( Read more... )

I could do without Caleb. I'd forgotten how annoyingly cliche that character trope is. It is a horror staple though. So there's that.

Still enjoyable. I don't know if I can watch Empty Places again. We'll see.

***

Angel? The Cordelia arc should work - I mean all the foreshadowing is there? ( Read more... )

***

It's warmed up. Practically balmy at 30 degrees. 31 degrees now. I had to open a window and turn on the window fan. I go from frozen water and 64-66 degrees over the weekend in the apartment to a hot apartment. With a window open - it's 75 in the living room, and 76 in the bedroom. With it closed? Close to 80 degrees.

Gotta love NYC in the winter.

***

A Memory Called Empire left me in such a place that I of course had to rush after the sequel, A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine. In the second book of this duology, we're tackling the bomb dropped at the end of the last book: that a hostile alien force has been picking at the borders of Teixcalaanli space.

This became a first contact story, which delighted me, because I love first contact stories. The book posits another interesting philosophical question to the readers. Darj Tarats wants Teixcalaan to go to war with these new aliens, because it would likely drag on for quite some time, sucking up Teixcalaan's resources and keeping them focused on something other than colonizing Lsel Station, and might even destroy them in the end. Mahit does not want Teixcalaan to go to war with these new aliens because it would be an unnecessary and vast loss of life on both sides, and because in spite of its nature as an empire, there's so much Mahit likes about Teixcalaan, even though peace allows Teixcalaan much more time and resources to potentially conquer Mahit's home.

Book 2 breaks into a mulit-POV style, which works very well I think for giving us a 3D view of the situation when first contact is made and what happens after. Emotions, naturally, are running very high on all sides, so getting to see many characters' thoughts is helpful to understanding this house of cards.

Martine does a great job I think of presenting us with aliens that are alien, but still people. The question is whether they and the Teixcalaanli can work that out before someone does something fearful.

She also does well with layering Mahit and Yskander here. There are a few conversations Mahit has that hit so much harder now that we have a full picture of Yskander and how long the ambassador to Teixcalaan has been kicked around the Lsel council like a football as they all pursue their own best course for keeping away from Teixcalaan. Knowing that that fragment of Yskander is there, seeing the fallout of his own death and how it came about makes these conversations especially powerful.

The story is laid out gradually and builds to a believable conclusion. The ending is slightly abrupt--there's not really any denouement--but it didn't shortchange the story. 

One of the perspectives we see in this book is imperial heir Eight Antidote, now 11. And he's either quite precocious, or Six Direction was a genius, which is possible. This kid's a regular Johnny-on-the-spot, but he is also a narrative tool representing a very different future for Teixcalaan than Emperor Nineteen Adze represents. He is Six Direction unencumbered by years of war and politicking; he is Six Direction without the grim, dog-eat-dog-world attitude of an adult raised by Empire. But he's also young and vulnerable; he represents a Teixcalaan that could be--but also one that could so easily be smothered in its crib, a fate Nineteen Adze is desperate to avoid.

Mahit and Three Seagrass continue to struggle, even more than in the last book, with the nature of their relationship. Three Seagrass is pure Teixcalaanli, and can frequently be insulting without meaning to, but Mahit is also primed by years of Teixcalaan's cultural chauvinism to see insult even where none was intended. I felt like they landed, by the end of the book, somewhere believable--although I would absolutely read more about them if Martine was offering!

I didn't notice this book having the issue with repetition that I found in book 1, so that was a nice improvement as well.

I was worried at the end of the last book how the story would handle this shocking, massive plot drop, but I think Martine did it very gracefully. It feels like a natural continuation of book 1 while still expanding the focus of the story. I would love to see more of this universe, but I'm also satisfied with where we've left things. There are no easy answers to what to do about Teixcalaan, but that doesn't feel unrealistic either. Well done all around!

Back in August of 2025, we announced a temporary block on account creation for users under the age of 18 from the state of Tennessee, due to the court in Netchoice's challenge to the law (which we're a part of!) refusing to prevent the law from being enforced while the lawsuit plays out. Today, I am sad to announce that we've had to add South Carolina to that list. When creating an account, you will now be asked if you're a resident of Tennessee or South Carolina. If you are, and your birthdate shows you're under 18, you won't be able to create an account.

We're very sorry to have to do this, and especially on such short notice. The reason for it: on Friday, South Carolina governor Henry McMaster signed the South Carolina Age-Appropriate Design Code Act into law, with an effective date of immediately. The law is so incredibly poorly written it took us several days to even figure out what the hell South Carolina wants us to do and whether or not we're covered by it. We're still not entirely 100% sure about the former, but in regards to the latter, we're pretty sure the fact we use Google Analytics on some site pages (for OS/platform/browser capability analysis) means we will be covered by the law. Thankfully, the law does not mandate a specific form of age verification, unlike many of the other state laws we're fighting, so we're likewise pretty sure that just stopping people under 18 from creating an account will be enough to comply without performing intrusive and privacy-invasive third-party age verification. We think. Maybe. (It's a really, really badly written law. I don't know whether they intended to write it in a way that means officers of the company can potentially be sentenced to jail time for violating it, but that's certainly one possible way to read it.)

Netchoice filed their lawsuit against SC over the law as I was working on making this change and writing this news post -- so recently it's not even showing up in RECAP yet for me to link y'all to! -- but here's the complaint as filed in the lawsuit, Netchoice v Wilson. Please note that I didn't even have to write the declaration yet (although I will be): we are cited in the complaint itself with a link to our August news post as evidence of why these laws burden small websites and create legal uncertainty that causes a chilling effect on speech. \o/

In fact, that's the victory: in December, the judge ruled in favor of Netchoice in Netchoice v Murrill, the lawsuit over Louisiana's age-verification law Act 456, finding (once again) that requiring age verification to access social media is unconstitutional. Judge deGravelles' ruling was not simply a preliminary injunction: this was a final, dispositive ruling stating clearly and unambiguously "Louisiana Revised Statutes §§51:1751–1754 violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, as incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution", as well as awarding Netchoice their costs and attorney's fees for bringing the lawsuit. We didn't provide a declaration in that one, because Act 456, may it rot in hell, had a total registered user threshold we don't meet. That didn't stop Netchoice's lawyers from pointing out that we were forced to block service to Mississippi and restrict registration in Tennessee (pointing, again, to that news post), and Judge deGravelles found our example so compelling that we are cited twice in his ruling, thus marking the first time we've helped to get one of these laws enjoined or overturned just by existing. I think that's a new career high point for me.

I need to find an afternoon to sit down and write an update for dw_advocacy highlighting everything that's going on (and what stage the lawsuits are in), because folks who know there's Some Shenanigans afoot in their state keep asking us whether we're going to have to put any restrictions on their states. I'll repeat my promise to you all: we will fight every state attempt to impose mandatory age verification and deanonymization on our users as hard as we possibly can, and we will keep actions like this to the clear cases where there's no doubt that we have to take action in order to prevent liability.

In cases like SC, where the law takes immediate effect, or like TN and MS, where the district court declines to issue a temporary injunction or the district court issues a temporary injunction and the appellate court overturns it, we may need to take some steps to limit our potential liability: when that happens, we'll tell you what we're doing as fast as we possibly can. (Sometimes it takes a little while for us to figure out the exact implications of a newly passed law or run the risk assessment on a law that the courts declined to enjoin. Netchoice's lawyers are excellent, but they're Netchoice's lawyers, not ours: we have to figure out our obligations ourselves. I am so very thankful that even though we are poor in money, we are very rich in friends, and we have a wide range of people we can go to for help.)

In cases where Netchoice filed the lawsuit before the law's effective date, there's a pending motion for a preliminary injunction, the court hasn't ruled on the motion yet, and we're specifically named in the motion for preliminary injunction as a Netchoice member the law would apply to, we generally evaluate that the risk is low enough we can wait and see what the judge decides. (Right now, for instance, that's Netchoice v Jones, formerly Netchoice v Miyares, mentioned in our December news post: the judge has not yet ruled on the motion for preliminary injunction.) If the judge grants the injunction, we won't need to do anything, because the state will be prevented from enforcing the law. If the judge doesn't grant the injunction, we'll figure out what we need to do then, and we'll let you know as soon as we know.

I know it's frustrating for people to not know what's going to happen! Believe me, it's just as frustrating for us: you would not believe how much of my time is taken up by tracking all of this. I keep trying to find time to update dw_advocacy so people know the status of all the various lawsuits (and what actions we've taken in response), but every time I think I might have a second, something else happens like this SC law and I have to scramble to figure out what we need to do. We will continue to update dw_news whenever we do have to take an action that restricts any of our users, though, as soon as something happens that may make us have to take an action, and we will give you as much warning as we possibly can. It is absolutely ridiculous that we still have to have this fight, but we're going to keep fighting it for as long as we have to and as hard as we need to.

I look forward to the day we can lift the restrictions on Mississippi, Tennessee, and now South Carolina, and I apologize again to our users (and to the people who temporarily aren't able to become our users) from those states.