@blakes7bot@mas.torpidity.net2026-01-14 10:14:57
Series C, Episode 13 - Terminal
SERVALAN: I'm going to the flight deck. Get rid of him.
VILA: Eh?
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/313/418 B7B2
@tiotasram@kolektiva.social2025-12-13 00:30:41
Just finished "The Raven Boys," a graphic novel adaptation of a novel by Maggie Stiefvater (adaptation written by Stephanie Williams and illustrated by Sas Milledge).
I haven't read the original novel, and because of that, this version felt way too dense, having to fit huge amounts of important details into not enough pages. The illustrations are gorgeous and the writing is fine; the setting and plot have some pretty interesting aspects... It's just too hard to follow a lot of the threads, or things we're supposed to care about aren't given the time/space to feel important.
The other thing that I didn't like: one of the central characters is rich, and we see this reflected in several ways, but we're clearly expected to ignore/excuse the class differences within the cast because he's a good guy. At this point in my life, I'm simply no longer interested in stories about good rich guys very much. It's become clear to me how in real life, we constantly get the perspectives of the rich, and rarely if ever hear the perspectives of the poor (same applies across racial and gender gradients, among others). Why then in fiction should I get more of the same, spending my mental bandwidth building empathy for yet another dilettante who somehow has a heart of gold? I'm tired of that.
#AmReading #ReadingNow
@AimeeMaroux@mastodon.social2025-11-05 19:01:12
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
"O Hermes, lord of games (enagônios), son of Maia and Zeus!"
Aeschylus, Fragment 212
🏛 #Hermes and youth, red-figure vase painting
@pre@boing.world2025-11-03 17:48:44
Been reading some of the Buffy The Vampire Slayer comic-books, set after the TV shows ended.
It's a very different world with Buffy and Xander being commanders of a whole slayer army with seemingly massive resources, from a castle being attacked by various supernatural forces.
Very different pacing from the TV show too.
You know that episode of Angel where Spike and Angel are running around in Italy chasing after Buffy who now dates The Immortal?
Turns out it wasn't Buffy at all, but one of her decoys that have been deployed around the world. Andrew thought it would be funny to troll the two vampires by pretending she was dating The Immortal.
The artwork is all great, but sometimes a little rough and I find it challenging since I don't always recognize who is supposed to be who, especially as the artists and styles switch from book to book.
Some of the mini stories feel like just pulling the TV show characters back for no good reason.
I hear rumors of a new Buffy TV show starring SMG with no involvement from Joss, and wonder if it'll assume these stories of visiting the future or fighting with an army from a castle base will be retconned out entirely?
It's an entertaining read and nice to visit those characters again, but doesn't feel much like the TV show because it's such a different setting and Buffy is very different as a commander than a school girl.
#reading #comics #buffy
@blakes7bot@mas.torpidity.net2025-10-28 16:25:53
Series C, Episode 07 - Children of Auron
SERVALAN: Manual only, I'm afraid.
PILOT FOUR-ZERO: I'll manage.
DERAL: With reduced power?
PILOT FOUR-ZERO: Auron isn't so far off. Can you supply me with the course coordinates.?
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/307/48 B7B4…
@tiotasram@kolektiva.social2025-10-24 13:52:52
Day 28: Samira Ahmed
As foreshadowed, we're back to YA land, which represents a lot of what I've been enjoying from the library lately.
I've read "Hollow Fires", "This Book Won't Burn", and "Love, Hate, and other Filters" by Ahmed, along with "Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know" which is quite different. All four are teen ~romances with interesting things to say about racism & growing up as a South Asian Muslim, but whereas the first three are set in small-town Indiana, the third is set in France and includes a historical fiction angle involving Dumas and a hypothetical Muslim woman who was (in this telling) the inspiration for several Lord Byron poems.
Ahmed's novels all include a strong and overt theme of social justice, and it's refreshing to see an author not try to wade around the topic or ignore it. Her romances are complex, with imperfect protagonists and endings that aren't always "happily ever after" although they're satisfying and believable.
My library has a plethora of similar authors I've been enjoying, including Adiba Jaigirdar (who appeared earlier in this list), Sabaa Tahir ("All my Rage" is fantastic but I'm less of a fan of her fantasy stuff), Sabina Khan ("The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali"), and Randa Abdel-Fattah ("Does My Head Look Big In This?"; from an earlier era). Ahmed gets the spot here because I really like her politics and the way she works them into her writing. Her characters are unapologetic advocates against things like book bans, and Ahmed doesn't second-guess them or try to make things more palatable for those who want to ban books (or whatever). Her historical fiction in "Mad..." is also really cool in terms of "huh that could actually totally be true" and grappling with literary sexism from ages past.
#30AuthorsNoMen
@blakes7bot@mas.torpidity.net2025-10-22 21:15:23
Series C, Episode 02 - Powerplay
VILA: Oh.
BARR: Are you hungry?
VILA: Well now you mention it, my last meal was interrupted.
BARR: I'll get you something.
ZEE: What's the matter with your arm?
VILA: Broken, nothing really.
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/302/242
