Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Sep. 15th, 2025 11:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kitarella_imaginesIt was quite surprising before the film however: as everyone in the audience was over 55, (we were the youngest ones there) the cinema management had obviously made decisions. Nearly every advert before the film was for funeral care, dementia care, everything that elderly people don't like to think about! Why not show luxury cruises, fun times with grandchildren, people reaping the rewards of a long and happy life? At first the audience gasped and frowned, but we ended up all laughing at how inappropriate it was to show elderly people adverts basically about their death. Read the room, cinema management!
But anyway, onto my thoughts!
****SPOILERS AHEAD****
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Monday @ 9:32 am
Sep. 15th, 2025 09:32 amalisxHIM: And every time I wear a white shirt I just end up spilling bolognese on it.
HER: Sunlight. The sun fixes tomato stains.
ME: You know what else fixes tomato stains? Black dye.
Small Web September Check-In 2: Halfway House/Troubleshooting!
Sep. 14th, 2025 07:34 pmenchantedsleeper posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
smallwebHow is everyone doing with their small webbing so far? The theme of this check-in is troubleshooting: if there’s any part of your Small Web September project that you aren’t sure how to accomplish, or maybe something that you worked on didn’t turn out quite right, come and ask about it here!
It doesn’t have to be specific to this month, either – maybe it’s a past project that you hit a wall on, or a future project you’d like to start. If you haven’t run into any issues yourself, feel free to offer suggestions to people in the comments who have!
Here are some question prompts for this check-in:
- How is/are your Small Web September projects going? Are you working on the same things that you put down in your Goals (if you decided to set goals), or something else?
- What do you plan to focus on for the second half of September?
- What’s an element of your project that you found unexpectedly challenging? Did you manage to solve the problem, or not yet?
For our previous check-in post, head on over to Small Web September Check-In 1: Links!
Sci fi Sunday Storytime- Blake's 7
Sep. 14th, 2025 05:55 pmkitarella_imaginesThe conclusion!
Rating: M
Content Warning: Major Character Death
Tags: Tarrant, Vila, Blake, Jenna, Dayna, Avon, Soolin, original characters, various Federation characters, Kerril, post-canon, parent death, humour, hand to hand fighting, gun violence, memory loss, disability, Cally's revenge, planet destruction, fluff, romance, angst, hurt/comfort
Summary and Quote
Half the rebels have been sentenced to execution, and the other half are in a fight to the death, so everyone gives all they've got. Afterwards, there are important conversations between the survivors. But the danger isnât past: the rebels must decide how to stop the Federation, which wants to use the Callandraâs last secret to control the universe forever.
As Blake fought, he glanced round the battlefield. Everything he valued was here: his old comrades...and now their children too. Family would always prevail over conscripts, because they were genuine, staying together out of love and choice. They would fight to the death for each other, preferring to die free than live in slavery. And Blake would lead them as long as he was able.
~~~~
Chapter 1: Condemned to Death
Shannon, up in the high gallery, gasped at the death sentence his friends had been given.
âJudges are supposed to be impartial. Youâre corrupt!â Eden shouted.
Her companions, especially Kohl, looked uneasily at each other.
âFor disrespecting the court, Eden Rohan will be executed first!â The judge gestured at the guards, who hurried forward to take the prisoners out of the dock.
âWell done,â hissed Avon. âYouâve made it worse. Why canât you shut up?â
âDonât attack her!â snarled Kohl. âAt least sheâs going down fighting!â
The arguing group were hustled towards the courtroom door by the guards.
Two Federation troopers came hurrying in, walking right in front of the judge.
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The fake past.
Sep. 15th, 2025 02:23 amalisxThese videos are awful AI-generated slop, yes, but it’s more than that. Reactionary nostalgia, a desire to return to a fake past or a time when you were young and things were better, is part of why the world is so fucked right now. It is, literally, the basis of MAGA. Worse, these videos about the “past” tell us a lot about our present and future: one where AI encourages our worst impulses and allows users to escape from reality into a slopified world that narrowly targets whatever reality we’d like to burrow into without dealing with the problems of the present.
On .
See also: this.
The only obit needed.
Sep. 13th, 2025 03:37 pmalisxIf nothing else we can say [Charlie Kirk] died doing what he loved, which was being racist in front of an audience.
Rest in .
Sunday @ 1:07 am
Sep. 14th, 2025 01:07 amalisxuspol adjacent
Legit question though why is every twenty-something American dude called Tyler? Like what was in the water in the late 90s/early 2000s? Was it Fight Club? Were all these kidsâ parents horny for Brad Pitt???
I know this sounds like a shitpost but no for real I swear this is a thing and Iâve found like at least three in the last few months, and now thereâs not one but two in the news???
Itâs like how every American Millennial dude is called Evan and every British one is called Oliver. I swear to god this is a thing and once youâve seen it you canât unsee it hello yes I am very tired why do you ask?
Saturday @ 8:42 pm
Sep. 13th, 2025 08:42 pmalisxOh snap the random Pinterest jeans I ordered on a whim like three months ago finally arrived?
I admit I’d kind of assumed they weren’t going to, but . . . nope. They made it. And they’re way better than I was expecting? Good quality, heavy denim, good detailing. They’re probably a size bigger than I should’ve gotten but so it goes, definitely need hemming, and I will probably end up removing the inner thigh laces (pour one out for those of us with touching thighs, I guess). But. Yeah. Good purchase.
Social stupidity.
Sep. 13th, 2025 08:03 amalisxThere are human beings who are of remarkably agile intellect yet stupid, and others who are intellectually quite dull yet anything but stupid. We discover this to our surprise in particular situations. The impression one gains is not so much that stupidity is a congenital defect, but that, under certain circumstances, people are made stupid or that they allow this to happen to them. We note further that people who have isolated themselves from others or who live in solitude manifest this defect less frequently than individuals or groups of people inclined or condemned to sociability. And so it would seem that stupidity is perhaps less a psychological than a sociological problem.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer in .
Anyway, Bonhoeffer was sent to the concentration camps and then hanged not long after writing this. So. Y’know. About that.
The RIB: Existentially Challenged by Yahtzee Croshaw
Sep. 12th, 2025 07:32 amkellshaw posting in booknookThe RIB: Existentially Challenged by Yahtzee Croshaw
Existentially Challenged is the sequel to last month’s book review, Differently Morphous by Yahtzee Croshaw. Once again, Croshaw has a refreshing take on urban fantasy by showing the impact of magic being revealed to the world.
This book’s focus in on religion. Magic in this universe comes from bargains or possession by one of the Ancients, Cthulhu-esque entities that live outside of space and time. Like gods. And if you can prove that there are gods that are real and grant power, how does that affect people’s beliefs? Crowshaw’s tackles this theme with his subversive sense of humour.
A year after the events of Differently Morpheus, the Extradimensional Appropriation Act is passed that makes it illegal for people to claim to have magic. (Cue a nice gag scene where a group of stage magicians have to admit that they are cold reading people to stay ‘legal’ during performances).
The Department of Extradmensional Affairs (or DEDA) is empowered to investigate claims of magic. Their current case is where a young girl, Miracle Meg, can heal people through her connection with her Ancient, El-Yetch. Genuine faith healing! However, a few suspicious corpses of people horribly aged to death are found in the area, which suggests that this healing isn’t as genuine as it appears.
Alison Arkin and her over-the-top partner Doctor Diablerie (think of a dramatic 1930s villain in top hat and tails) investigate what’s really happening with Miracle Meg, and her family, Miracle Dad and Miracle Mum. The role of the internet is a big part in the Miracle Meg case, with her followers big on the forums, her father desperate for fame and television appearances, and a group of Youtubers in a van (with a dog) following the case and making things more complicated for Alison.
Several subplots weave in the background for the other DEDA agents. Pyrokinetic Victor Casin tangles with a woman possessed by the same entity that empowers him. Is she his girlfriend or his archnemesis? Or is that one and the same? And Adam Hesketh struggles with his first proper investigation that isn’t a seek and destroy mission. And he’s terrible at it. Alison tries to piece together Diablerie’s real backstory and agenda; what’s he actually planning?
Despite their powers, the DEDA agents aren’t the world’s sharpest lot. They blunder their way through events, making disastrous decisions, but get there in the end. The story’s told through a mix of regular third person narrative, internet forum chats and other extracts. The book skewers the religion and the media, particularly in a great scene where the Christian Church is accused of breaking the Extradimensional Appropriation Act, culminating in a late-night television debate between followers of El-Yetch and hardline pastors.
I enjoyed the first book more (the mystery was tighter) but this is still an entertaining read. I liked how the characterisations of the DEDA were dug into a bit more. And I’m looking forward to the next one, and discovering Doctor Diablerie’s secret agenda…
Two evils.
Sep. 12th, 2025 04:12 amalisxThe pattern is so consistent it’s almost funny if it weren’t so terrifying. Every single time it goes like this: Conservatives panic about socialism or progressives or whatever. They ally with fascists as the “lesser evil.” Fascists take power. Fascists immediately purge the conservatives who helped them. Then it’s 30-50 years of dictatorship. This happened in Germany, Italy, Spain, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Greece, Portugal, Croatia, Romania, and Hungary.
Want to know how many times conservatives successfully “controlled” the fascists they allied with? Zero. Want to know how many times fascists purged the conservatives after taking power? All of them. Every single time. [. . .]
The statistics are brutal. Fascist takeovers prevented after winning power democratically: zero. Average length of fascist rule once established: 31 years. Fascist regimes removed by voting: zero. Fascist regimes removed by asking nicely: zero. Most were removed by war or military coups, and tens of millions died in the process.
Chris Armitage on .
097 â
Sep. 11th, 2025 01:22 pmtinkatonMaybe next time! For now, here's the July and August's reads. 3 books and 4 graphic novels!
I've noticed a change in shows
Sep. 11th, 2025 04:18 pmkitarella_imaginesHowever, there is something missing. In the last few years there has been great inclusion of LGBTQ+ storylines alongside heterosexual ones in shows.
But in King & Conqueror, made in 2025, LGBTQ+ characters and storylines are conspicuously absent. In contrast to the recent show The Last Kingdom which finished just 2 years ago, and included a strong storyline with a gay main character. He was kickass, he had a boyfriend and they had a satisfying, well written storyline that fitted right in with the other storylines.
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Thursday @ 7:18 am
Sep. 11th, 2025 07:18 amalisxAs a huge slut for Rosé Pine, this is highly Relevant to my Interests . . .
Thursday @ 5:01 am
Sep. 11th, 2025 05:01 amalisxWell. Donât know what I did to fuck up my sleep but havenât had an insomnia night for a while, so I guess I was overdue?
Luckily I donât have to operate any heavy machinery or whatever today, hey.
Gifts from an alternate universe.
Sep. 10th, 2025 11:31 pmalisxI suspect the freedom to publish directly on the web, if proposed today, would face strong resistance. Like allotments or public libraries, it resembles a gift from an alternate universe.
Caolan on .
I remember when we used to get to laugh at the periodic poster on, like, Overclockers or whatever who would proposed his (it was always a “his”) revolutionary idea for something “like a video store, except you pay to rent books.”
Man. Remember when the entire economy wasn’t run by those dipshits?