sundries

[rm]

Patty has a desperate need to know how to say "fuckers" in Welsh. Look, I just report the news. Can you help?

A woman who lives in a trailer without electricity with her elderly father is in desperate need of a home so that she can safely recover from impending surgery. Again, real people, real situation, serious need. Your little can go a long way.

The Internet got it done for shes_unreal. She's posted a thank you note.

More on the NYPD's systematic mishandling of sexual assault cases. Basically, victims have been laughed at and cases intentionally lost of misclassified because they bore the common hallmarks of sexual assaults against women, including that the perpetrator is often (but not always) someone the victim knows.

I feel a certain sense of relief that the coverage of the oil spill is starting to recognize how bad, how permanent, how world-changing this event is going to be for all of us. It's still terrifying. Don't avoid talking about the oil spill just because it feels like you can't say enough. Here are some links to get you started on all the angles of this thing and no, that thing about nuking the spill site is not a joke. If you're not afraid, especially if you live on the coast anywhere in the eastern half of the US, you should be. Current estimates on the duration of the leak continuing to gush range from August until the end of this year. Since all the estimates have been wrong so far, I wouldn't consider this an end in sight.

Are you all following this news about a possible breast cancer vaccine? I'm hopeful in a very personal way! Anyone out there with any expertise want to tell us if the news is as hopeful as it sounds?

Y'all might hate Twitter, but anything with Sir Ian McKellan playing along can't be bad. (@ianmckellen118)

We talk a lot (often here) about the things Obama hasn't done for LGBT people. But we should also be talking about the list of things he has. They may not be the showy ones, but they do damn well matter.

Transman and wheelchair user Tyle McCormick is International Mr. Leather 2010.

Gay stewards who work for KLM want to be excused from working flights to Iran because the country is regarded as one of the world's most dangerous places for LGBT people.

For the first time in ages, I committed fic. See post prior.

Today on Angel: Seriously, RTD? Did you actually think you could get away with that? I mean, quite frankly, sort of tacky, even if I do find it hilarious that you basically took Angel and said "You know what would make this show better? Fucking. If everyone fucks everyone and we turn the dial up to eleven....." And to be fair, I still think Torchwood is the better show, but seriously?

Anyway, the Angel sinking, Cordy rising juxtaposition was nice. Lorne is still the best EVER. I'm so over Justine and her shit.

And I think it's hilarious that Wesley gets more action than anyone else in either Buffy or Angel. Also, that conversation he has with Lilah as she dresses to leave? Holy shit. That doesn't just come out of recent events. I think becoming a Watcher does something very bad and brutal to people. You can see it in Giles too. I'm curious if the show will ever address it.

Oh, and have I mentioned that I was in a play with John Rubenstein? And it's very weird to see a guy I've worked with and hung out with be evil and tortured on Angel? Very, very weird.

Comments

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

I think becoming a Watcher does something very bad and brutal to people

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I thought I was the only person harboring that hypothesis.

I mean, consider the mentality of someone who's okay with a secret society, sending young girls off to their death, meddling with the occult, etc, etc. These are NOT "normal" people.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I imagine Watcher school is a bit like being an intern at Wolfram & Hart. Hence Wesley's thing with Lilah.

[bugeyedmonster.livejournal.com]

(Making this note when I haven't seen Buffy since it first aired, and I have a mind like a sieve..)

Weren't young Potentials taken from their families and trained as Slayers? (Kendra)

So you not only have to be okay with this secret society that sends young girls off to their deaths, but also takes other young girls from their families and homes and trains them to grow up to be good little Slayers.

I've often wondered what happened to the Potentials who never became Slayers. Their whole life was focused to this one thing, and now it's gone. So is their childhood. They also have lost their families in a way. (If the Watchers just allowed them to go home to their families, what has now happened to their family bonds?)

Plus, what kind of education did the Potentials receive? Somehow I doubt it was a 'complete' education. How did this affect their lives later?

And now I'm thinking of Ralph Fiennes' line about Amon Goeth. That when you dehumanize others you dehumanize yourself as well. I don't remember the exact quote.

Darn... now I want fanfic. Anyone have any fic recs concerning potentials who never became Slayers?