Fanfic rec

Thicker Than Water by Tara Roseblade
Spike/Angel, China 1900, slash
Beautiful language, good take on the characters.
I must admit, I almost didn't read it because I thought the author's name sounded kinda cheesy and Mary Sue-ish.

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As from today I am fasting again. Yesterday I was allowed to eat fruit, today: no food, just drink. So far, I feel splendid. I actually tidied up, put tons of laundry into wardrobes, threw stuff away, translated a few paragraphs, commented on a few posts... I feel unusually alert. Let's hope this lasts for a few days.

Need something to cheer you up?

mrmonkeybottoms posted a link to Boils and Bloody Torments where a very funny Season 7 FAQ takes the mickey out of ME's bad writing and poor planning.
An example? Here is what the authors have to say about the SiTs:
Where the hell are these girls’ parents?
Luckily, all SiTs (even the rich ones, ie Kennedy) come with not only inherent specialness, they also come equipped with parents that just don’t care. This is an especially useful trait, almost as much as the ability to kill a vampire without ever having seen one or ever having been trained before in one's life, as SiTs tend to disappear for long periods of time and die. Though, before we needlessly write them off as callous and uncaring, ie Hank, let’s just keep in mind that TPTB have them all sign releases giving the Scoobs permission to bury their daughters in the Summer’s back yard without fanfare, should the need occur. So it’s not like they completely don’t care what happens to their daughters.
Heee.
Seriously, the list of grievances is very valid (even though the anti-Spike bias is slightly annoying). I could easily add a dozen or so grievances of my own (but not as amusingly).

the_resa_ii and I had a talk about S7 in Frankfurt while waiting for the GotR concert. She said that S7 was supposed to deal with political issues (hence the speeches, which are apparently modelled on historical speeches) and that the Scoobies were supposed to represent certain segments of the American society and how they perceive war. Accordingly, 'Storyteller' was not just comic relief but a statement on the relationship between war and the media. If that is true, ME either lost their guts half-way through or they are too obtuse for me.
I always liked ME for being able to make episodes and arcs work on more than one level. If the metaphor becomes more important than a good story, then I'm just glad the show is over.