Entry tags:

movies: 2021-2026

Ghost Story: The Turn of the Screw

I was excited about Ghost Story: The Turn of the Screw, because it stars Michelle Dockery and Dan Stevens (pre-Downton Abbey!), and the screenplay was written by Sandy Welch, also responsible for the screenplays of such winners as the Romola Garai Emma and the 2006 Jane Eyre.

However, this adaptation leaned very hard on the Edmund Wilson interpretation of The Turn of the Screw, which is that the “ghosts” are in fact products of the repressed governess’s overheated imagination. And whoever had charge of the filming clearly felt that one should never imply when one could show, so we are treated to multiple scenes of evil Peter Quinn having sex with the former governess, sexually assaulting the maids, etc, which I feel is a counterproductive choice in a ghost story.

They also introduced a frame story where the governess is in an asylum, with Dan Stevens as her psychiatrist. I always enjoy seeing Dan Stevens but I must admit that here his entire plotline seems superfluous. Why keep cutting away from the central story? It constantly undermines the atmosphere of claustrophobic horror that the ghost story is trying to build up.

So I was all set to complain about the film, but in fact I’ve been thinking about the story on and off since I saw it. Is the governess truly seeing ghosts? What did happen to the children before our governess arrived? And what truly happened in the end? So I suppose I must crankily admit that the film is effective even if it’s not artful.

Will this finally inspire me to read Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw? Probably not, as I’ve never fully recovered from how much I hated Daisy Miller. But maybe someday.

Entry tags:

going to more movies this year

Media Roundup, Accidental Advent All-in-One

Yet Again, Stuff-

First, last quarter's JFF movies!

No Longer Heroine - I was not expecting to like this as much as I did. It's a delightfully meta movie about a high school girl who's always been in love with her friend and how she's always expected to end up with him despite never telling him her interest. There are a few too many subplots, but everyone was a joy.

Teiichi - Battle of Supreme High - this was a good movie but I also didn't really like it, if that makes sense? Basically an over the top story about student council elections.

My Love Story!! - live action version of the manga, makes a few changes for format but overall the same story and a lot of fun.

Handball Strive - about the power of social media in an area still recovering from the 2011 earthquake, and friendship, and ooof, social media.

Bento Harassment - this is the genre of generational conflict movies that turn up a lot, and it even has the required parent getting sick, etc. There is so much delicious food, though and one unresolved subplot that's a little maddening.

Megane Glasses - a slow movie about nothing and the middle of nowhere and just... finding one's own pace. (Also food.)

Restaurant from the Sky - this is about a man and cheese, but also food and mourning and family and community. Peak culture drama, tbh, but I feel like it's a hard genre to recommend movies in because things happen but quietly.

As usual, I am procrastinating on this quarter's movies. ^^;;

School of Rock - haven't seen this since it came out but my father picked up a copy and saw it for the first time and then insisted I watch it. Still good!

Majestic Prince (full series + movie) - this is an anime about giant robots and fighting aliens and it is tropey and ridiculous and Absolutely Understood The Assignment.

Flying Witch 12 & 13 (Chihiro Ishizuka) - I sometimes worry when otherwise chill manga, especially slice of life(ish) series, get past about volume 9... But Flying Witch is still full of ridiculous charm and these volumes were great.

The Dragon Knight's Beloved 8 (Ritsu Aozaki, Asagi Orikawa, Akito Ito) - wraps up an arc and see above, the next volume is going go be make-or-break for the series keeping my interest. The leads are still super-cute though.

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! - this was recommended and it was pretty good. I like series about fans and media creation, and I liked how the real world blended with what was being created or what could be created. Unsure about hanging onto it, though. (For now?)

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: XG - ROCK THE BOAT

Entry tags:

fandom,
meme

Fandom Snowflake Challenge: Top Ten

Challenge #06: Top 10 Challenge. The category(ies) you choose are up to you.

( Top Ten OTPs. )

( Top Ten Favorite Pieces of Underrated/Less Talked About Media )

This got way longer than I had intended. I tried to be concise with the second category but, y'know, when you're a fan of something you want to be thorough.

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Day 12 - Fic - Raiders of the Lost Ark - Marion Ravenwood

Title: Settling Down
Fandom: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Character: Marion Ravenwood
Rating: G
Word Count: 237
Summary: After being on the move for most of her life, Marion finds a home in Nepal

( Settling Down )

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Finally, the long, lingering bitter cold has ended! It is actually supposed to be above freezing basically every day for at least a week. Work was noticeably warmer last night! I will hopefully no longer be spending all my extra energy just trying to stay warm! I do seem to have picked up a mild cold, alas, but so far it just seems to be minor congestion.

I finished up Yoroi Samurai Troopers (though watching the dub as Ronin Warriors, this time around) after many attempts over the years, and then paid up for Crunchyroll to watch the sequel. (Which is amazing so far.) Since I'm going to be paying for CR for the next bit, if anyone has any recommendations for series to watch, I'm all ears. I do want to watch the Apothecary Diaries and there are a couple of Gundam series on there that don't have physical releases.

Aside from trying to stay warm and watching brightly-colored nobs, I'm still working on various models, archiving stuff, and sorting through notebooks and papers. I'm trying to do some notebook consolidation, especially with various notebooks with only a handful of pages left in them that I was keeping for a few rogue notes.

I also found an old organizer that has a bunch of lines pages that I'm using for daily to-do lists. The kicker is that it's a 2019-2020 student organizer, so like July-June, but the blank pages in it start in March 2020 and there's just nothing written after that. Owww... (I mean, I still make March 2020 jokes so... I guess this is fair.)

Entry tags:

.admin

Day 12 Theme - Her Sanctuary

Today's theme is Her Sanctuary.

Here are some ideas to get you started: The place she calls home, where she feels safest. It can be a physical place or an emotional one. Describe it- how she found it, how she relates to it, how is it an expression of her?

Just go wherever the Muse takes you. If this prompt doesn't speak to you, feel free to share something that does. You can post in a separate entry or as a comment to this post.

Want to get a jump start on tomorrow's theme? Check out the prompt list in the pinned post at the top of the page. Please don't post until that day.

3D Printer Surveillance

Posted by Bruce Schneier

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/02/3d-printer-surveillance.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71583

New York is contemplating a bill that adds surveillance to 3D printers:

New York’s 20262027 executive budget bill (S.9005 / A.10005) includes language that should alarm every maker, educator, and small manufacturer in the state. Buried in Part C is a provision requiring all 3D printers sold or delivered in New York to include “blocking technology.” This is defined as software or firmware that scans every print file through a “firearms blueprint detection algorithm” and refuses to print anything it flags as a potential firearm or firearm component.

I get the policy goals here, but the solution just won’t work. It’s the same problem as DRM: trying to prevent general-purpose computers from doing specific things. Cory Doctorow wrote about it in 2018 and—more generally—spoke about it in 2011.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/02/3d-printer-surveillance.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71583

Entry tags:

Interesting Links for 12-02-2026

1. Abigail Nussbaum is doing a reread of The Lord Of The Rings: (tags:reading lotr )
2. Beavers Built a $1.2M Dam for Free — And Saved a Czech River: (tags:Czechoslovakia beavers rivers )
3. Slow Tuesday Night - a short story about living life on ridiculous fast forward: (tags:scifi short_story society )
4. The real Tavistock Clinic scandal: 1,000 court cases that never materialised: (tags:LGBT transgender law UK misinformation healthcare )

(no subject)

Happy birthday,

lenores_raven and

lindra!

Entry tags:

exchange: space swap

Space_swap sign-ups finish on Sunday!

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

multifandom icons.

Fandoms: Bad Behaviour, Heated Rivalry, Legend of the Seeker, Maxton Hall, Nancy Drew, One Trillion Dollars, Saved by the Bell, Shadow & Bone, Stranger Things, The Expanse, The Wheel of Time, Twinkling Watermelon, Warrior Nun, We Were Liars, What It Feels Like for a Girl, Y Golau

rest HERE @

mundodefieras

Entry tags:

Dear spacer...

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Entry tags:

race,
tv:misc

Incorrect fandom osmosis

Still haven't seen Heated Rivalry but I glanced at one of the books in a bookstore last night, and realised that I had the characters backwards! Based on pictures, I'd assumed that the dark-haired one was Ilya Rozanov and the ginger one was Shane Hollander. I'd figured that Rozanov was part Kazakh (or could well have been part Korean, like Viktor Tsoi) – but the guy who actually turns out to be playing Rozanov doesn't look Slavic to me at all. I can only see him as having a severe case of ~~American~~ Canadian Actor Face. This has been an interesting collision of racial assumptions.

Current Mood: content
Current Location: Garwyn Oaks, MD
Current Music: Jarvis Johnson, GOOOOOOOOLD
Crossposts: https://kirrianu.insanejournal.com/51609.html

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Movie Night~

MOVIE NIGHT!!!! Liz, Pat, and I went to see Iron Lung, since Pat expressed interest and I love any excuse to get out of the house to do stuff. We had a great dinner of Costco Hot Dogs™ before going to my favorite movie theater of all time: the Ancient Egypt themed one~

and of course I brought Double Face along!!! I needed them to meet Anubis (clearly)

also Madara's kigu has a big enough tail that I could pose him standing up on the sphinx and I love that for him~
The movie itself was really good! It's not the type of horror that I usually go for - I dislike post-apocalyptic settings, space, and "trapped in a ship" horror - but since I didn't read up on it at all that's on me XD Plus, I'm always down to go to a thing a friend wants to do. And I'm glad I saw it despite it not being a thing I would have sought out, if that makes sense? The cinematography was fucking gorgeous; I kept getting lost in how incredible the lighting was.

ALSO THE BLOOD WAS SO RED IT WAS GREAT!!!!! I don't wanna spoil anything for anyone interested in seeing it, but it was just *mwah* The special effects were honestly stellar and I really like a lot of the choices made (like having some of the blood coagulate into things that looked like barnacles growing into the ship).

Downside is that it's the kind of horror that made me stressed for like 2 hours and then...I'm still lowkey stressed D: It didn't give me the release horror usually does, but it did for Pat so I think it's a personal preference. He absolutely loved it and is gonna be chewing on it for awhile.

Anyway, I also had to grab a few shots of the nuis in the mini arcade in the theater lobby. I got these kigus off aliexpress because labubu clothes (mostly) fit on the pattythree enstars nuis, and I got them like right before it got super icy cold out. So obviously I have to fix that~

aren't they precious???? I'm extra jazzed about getting them with claw machines because of Kohaku's card from Spring Night and the current top-up theming in globalstars *w*
Also, Liz managed to dig the car most of the way out!!! We have suuuuuch a long driveway that it's taken quite awhile, but now that it's been slightly warmer for a couple days, it's finally doable. And I apparently have a doctor's appointment on Friday, so I need to be able to get there.

I'M DONE WITH SNOW. It was nice for awhile but oh my god. I'm over it!!!!!!!!

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: headed to bed

Entry tags:

it's a bird! it's a plane! no, it's threesentenceficathon!

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

And Now, Back to You by BK Borison

Posted by Lara

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/and-now-back-to-you-by-bk-borison/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?post_type=reviews&p=166259

Rant

And Now, Back to You

by B.K. Borison
February 24, 2026 · Berkley
Contemporary RomanceLGBTQIARomance

When I sat down to write this piece, I had no idea it would turn into a rant, but it did. My head swirled with thoughts and all of them were burning a hole in my stomach, desperate to be let loose. Release the Kraken!

I shouldn’t have read this book. It irritated me MULTIPLE TIMES. It’s irritated me so much that I can’t even bring myself to do a recap of the premise like I usually do for reviews. I just don’t want to spend more time with these people than I have to, so here’s the blurb:

Jackson Clark and Delilah Stewart have had their fair share of run-ins over the years, often ending in disaster. While Jackson thrives on routine and organization from the comfort of his radio booth, Delilah loves the spontaneity and adventure out in the field. When they’re partnered against their will to cover the snowstorm of the century, they find themselves scrambling to figure out how to work together.

Eager to be taken seriously as a journalist, Delilah offers Jackson a deal. If he can help her ace this assignment, she’ll help him rediscover his long-lost fun side. With an undiscovered chemistry burning beneath their clashes, the unlikely partnership quickly tumbles into an easy and surprising friendship.

But when other feelings start to enter the equation, can Jackson and Delilah withstand the storm? Or does what happens in the mountains, stay in the mountains?

Before I let loose all my thoughts, some context.

This is my first BK Borison book. I know her work is popular so I figured there was a decent chance that I’d enjoy it. The writing is really strong, which grabbed me and I was only 2% in when I signed up to review it for the Bitchery. This was a book that demanded to be read. Each sentence led me to the next sentence, drawing me in. The picture that was being painted was vivid and compelling.

But then at 11% something happened. The book that had been cohesive and immersive up to that point, bounced me out of the story entirely. There’s a meeting between a radio station boss and a TV station boss and their respective weather reporters.

Up to this point, Delilah has been a quirky doormat. Suddenly in this meeting she speaks up for herself, challenging her terrible boss in front of ‘outsiders’. And she challenges him consistently during the meeting.

Huh? Is she a quirky doormat or does she not give a fuck? I know people contain multitudes, but you usually don’t display those multitudes this early in a romance novel when you’re still building the characters for the reader.

Show Spoiler

Jumping ahead to the end, the lesson the quirky doormat needs to learn is to speak up for herself and demand more.

But she did that at 11%! And then, I guess, promptly forgot about it and went back to being a quirky doormat.

Delilah is also a quirky doormat, I might add, who has the single dumbest reason for wanting the job she has. Okay, maybe not the dumbest as I’ve read some terrible books in my time. She has a hostile boss who actively undermines her. At the start she has the support of precisely one colleague who doesn’t actually do much until the end.

Show Spoiler

Yet she keeps the job because her grandpa with Alzheimer’s likes seeing her smile on his favourite local TV station.

Maybe I am showing my evil underbelly here, but that is a terrible reason to stay in a job that makes you miserable.

Full disclosure, in books, quirky doormats make me rage. I can’t abide them. I can’t stomach them. And I definitely don’t want to spend my precious free time with them. Characters in need of a spine are just so annoying.

It wasn’t just the once that I was bounced out of the story:, it happened often because these two do not know how to talk to each other about their feelings. If you like books with clear communication, this one will drive you around the bend. Delilah and Jackson are the opposite of clear communicators. When they talk about their feelings, they speak in half-truths and apparent riddles. There is zero consistency in what they ask each other for. None. Zilch. I want to be friends. I want something casual. This is just temporary. I want to be your best friend. I want ???

What? What do you want? Do you know? Spoiler alert, they have a VAGUE inkling of what they MIGHT want from each other, but not on your nelly are they going to communicate that until the last possible second.

At 71% through, I very nearly gave up on reading. Why didn’t I? It is undeniably well-written. I had to know what happened next. Even if it didn’t make sense and made me grumpy. I just had to know. So I persevered.

Everything clicked into place for me when I read the author’s bio after the acknowledgements at the end. Cosy. Contemporary. COSY. No wonder this book made me go off the rails. It was a cosy contemporary! It is entirely possible that millions will love this story if cosy contemporary is their thing. Cosy novels are anathema to me. I can’t stomach the tweeness, the gentleness, the lack of bite. I know that says more about me than I’d probably want publicly known, but there you have it.

Perhaps the inconsistencies that drove me so crazy in this story were cosy characteristics that I’m just not destined to love. I don’t know. Cosy aficionados, sound off the comments.

What I can say is that if I, terrible grump, still felt compelled to finish, then someone who enjoys cosy contemporary will probably love this story. Is this my first and last BK Borison title? Absolutely. This level of irritation is not good for me.

But do I still think that this book deserves to be read by those who will appreciate it? Absolutely, yes I do.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/and-now-back-to-you-by-bk-borison/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?post_type=reviews&p=166259

Current Mood: sleepy

Entry tags:

in real life

Five Happy Things

Because I'm having trouble falling asleep (definitely work jitters, sigh) and sometimes internalizing the good in the world helps. So:

Boyfriend's redownloaded Bumble and has been talking to a couple people, most notably Emerald, who has met up with us to play Magic once and is coming over for dinner on Saturday. I'm making chicken tortilla soup, which is always a winner. She's a sweetheart, and I look forward to getting to know her better. Next order of business is softening her up enough to get my grubby paws on her tumblr url. I always say that the best way to tell whether a prospective friend is a keeper is to put them in a room with my stoic and silent fiance and see if they recognize how lovely and befriendable he is in spite of his retiring nature. So we shall see.

I mailed a care package to my dear friend Robin, whose birthday was Sunday. She's in grad school for accounting in Michigan after taking several years off to recover from a pair of strokes. I'm SO proud of her, and I was glad for the excuse to send her something nice. She loves foxes, so the package was fox-themed. Stickers, two necklaces (one handmade, one store bought) an art card, and a lemon candle that came in a nice box. She seemed very happy to receive it, so I think I'll try to repeat the trick after spring break even if all my finances can support at that time is a nice handwritten note.

I've officially progressed to the first interview phase for the alternative teacher's certification program I'm applying to. The internet says that that puts me in the top 50% of applicants. My fate isn't yet assured, but I'm closer! Tomorrow night, I have a webinar where they'll talk through what the interview will look like. The interview itself is next week (eek!) and will be about two hours long. The interviewer sent me a nice email after I booked my time, which feels optimistic. He mentioned that he's interested to hear about my study abroad experience, so I'll see if I can dig up my notes from that time. I also need two recommendation forms filed by this upcoming Monday. I've got my former thesis advisor and an ex boss working on them. Tomorrow I'll shoot them polite emails thanking them and making sue they haven't forgotten.

One of my favorite people in the entire universe is my neighbor, who I've known for almost a decade now. The other day I wandered into a little antique shop while waiting for a hair appointment and found a shelf of vintage cinema books. I spotted one about All About Eve, his favorite movie, and nabbed it. This afternoon, my neighbor came over for movie and writing time and brought the book along to read. Apparently he's really enjoying it, so that's a win. He's starting a new job next week, but we made plans for me to cook him dinner next Saturday. I need to riffle through my cookbooks and pick out a good recipe for it.

This morning when I woke up, the cat had worked my bedroom door open and curled up at the foot of my bed. He stayed there until I got up and spent the day following me around and sitting in my lap whenever I sat. He's the first cat I've ever lived with, and it's nice to be friends with him.

I have now tried to embed an image of the cat three different times. I am confident I can figure this out in the long run, but right now I need to sleep. So here's a description.

He's a hair overweight for an adult male cat, but the vet assures us that he's mostly just muscular. When she first saw him, she exclaimed, "Oh! A cream-colored cat!" Like most people who live with cats, I'm pretty sure he's the best and most attractive one. His eyes are on the green side of olive, and his chest and the very tips of his paws are white. His stripes are very faint, most evident on the hindquarters and tail.

As I type this, he's loafing at the foot of my bed. In five minutes, once this is posted and I've gotten under the covers, he'll pace the hallway, scratch at each of our bedroom doors, and meow plaintively for ten to fifteen minutes before giving up and sleeping on the living room couch. Sometimes, for variety, he climbs into one of the dining room chairs, pulls the nearest tablecloth corner into it, and nests in an irritatingly decadent fashion. He'll meow at my door about twenty minutes before my first alarm goes off at six a.m. Then, when I stagger out of bed, he'll follow me into the kitchen and hover while I eat breakfast.

He's surely not dissimilar from most cats, but I have a sample size of one and I dote on the lad.

Entry tags:

Relic Hunter, Tomb Raider, Renegade Nell

Made for

halfamoon Day 11 - The Explorer. As soon as I saw the prompt I had to do my favorite female explorers - Sydney Fox (Relic Hunter), Lara Croft (Tomb Raider), and Nell Jackson (Renegade Nell). Sydney and Lara could also represent Day 9 - The Scholar and Nell could represent Day 5 - The Outlaw.

Preview

Relic Hunter, Tomb Raider, Renegade Nell.....

Entry tags:

.icons & graphics

Day 11 - Icons - Relic Hunter, Tomb Raider, Renegade Nell

Made for

Relic Hunter, Tomb Raider, Renegade Nell.....

Current Mood: busy

National Craft Month Bingo Fest

National Craft Month – March 2026

In March, it’s the end of winter and a great time to blossom outward into National Craft Month to show what you’ve been making by hand during the short, cold days of the season past.

Admittedly, the word “crafting” covers a whole lot of territory. At one time, the word “craft” was synonymous with “trade,” meaning skilled labor in a particular area, such as weaving, engine repair, carpentry, etc. It was not uncommon for guilds to be founded based upon a shared set of skills in these and other areas of production. But in current times we’ve come to understand that “crafting” refers to those skills practiced more creatively and with a vision unique to each artisan. Some examples are knitting and crocheting, scrapbooking, leatherworking, wood burning, fly tying, jewelry making, anything created by hand that has an artistic aspect to it but is not strictly “fine art.”

What are your craft plans for March? I've got several possibilities but haven't decided which to try next month.

allbingo will be running this fest in March:
[recurring]
National Craft Month Fest hosted by

nsfwords
This is a fest focusing on the myriad joys (and frustrations) of Crafting.
Posting will be March 1-30.