Fic: In the Demon's Claws
Jan. 6th, 2026 06:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
senmutAO3 Link | In the Demon's Claws (2219 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Drizzt Do'Urden & Vierna Do'Urden
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden
Additional Tags: Ensemble Cast, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Typical Violence, Resurrection
Summary:
Drizzt Do'Urden gazed out over the lands, thinking about everything endured. If Regis had not escaped sooner — no, it didn't bear thinking about. What he knew had let them disarm the trap, though not without personal cost for Drizzt himself. He had caused his father's death, brought about the deaths of his House from afar, and now… personally slain his sister, both by dam and sire.
His only consolation had been seeing her less a zealot, more sane in her eyes even, as the light faded, letting him cast true blame upon Lloth once more. It had been Catti-brie who supposed the entire raid had been concocted as but one thread of a web, given how near it had been to losing Wulfgar to the yochlol, how strange that they had chosen to come for Drizzt inside the dwarven stronghold rather than upon the road some night when he would be alone.
Bruenor had thundered, and Wulfgar had pledged support, with Regis managing advice based on his studying Artemis Entreri while the human consorted with drow. Aid had come from the region, and it would be a long time before Menzoberranzan could stir from its cesspool of hate and anger.
Catti and Wulfgar needed to work upon their relationship. Regis still had much recovery to make from his ordeal. Bruenor had a much expanded clan to lead to prominence.
Drizzt?
He looked back to the road for salvation from that which ate at his soul. A passing remark from one of the Harpells had reminded him of unfinished business concerning a crystal… and a demon that had been defeated once.
There had never been any chance of an ending that led anywhere but to the Demonweb Pits, Vierna had known. Either she would arrive in favor, and become one of Lloth's own servitors in some form —
— or she would arrive in full disfavor to be tortured.
She had learned three things as she endured the torture, and then the bartering deal with the balor.
Her father was not in the Demonweb Pits. This had been clear while she was still tortured under the servants of Lolth. He would have been an instrument in those tortures, as she had, again, fallen into that strange emotion surrounding Zaknafein, on seeing how true to himself her brother had remained.
There was the fact that Lloth had never been worth her devotion. This point — she'd had sight of it in the fall of her House — had clarified when the religious madness fell from her eyes even as her brother was lowering her body to the floor. If she had only managed to learn it earlier, and used her power to protect the two males she'd felt strong emotions over!
And, somehow, this balor intended to use her against her brother. Errtu could not keep himself from alternately salivating over his plans against Drizzt Do'Urden or raging in a froth of madness over what the impertinent drow had done to him.
She would just have to help her brother beat the demon at his own game. Vierna was looking forward to his death at Drizzt's hands.
Drizzt's concerns about the demon had proven too correct. He finished cleaning Icingdeath, his mind turning over the words spit at him by the fiend before its death. The gloating, brash taunts of what Errtu meant to do with him — after Errtu finished rending the soul of one that Drizzt cared for — had been too in line with what he knew of the balors. They were incapable of getting over a defeat that had been meted out to them.
Only? Errtu had an advantage over him. The only person's soul that could possibly be at risk to the demon was his own father. Drizzt would no more leave the soul in peril than he ever would have risked the man in life, had he but been a little wiser.
He didn't dare not follow up on this, no matter the source. Since Drizzt had left Mithral Hall, burdened by the suffering, deaths, and his own actions, he'd been seeking a purpose. He would recover the damnable crystal, and trek to a land known to hold the knowledge of the ages. Surely he could learn what was needed to save his father and destroy both threats if he but tried hard enough.
With resolve etched in every line of his body and soul, Drizzt plunged into the frozen north once more, intent on his goals.
The Crystal Shard couldn't be tricked by Drizzt. Nor could it offer him what he wanted, not in a way that ever tempted the drow. The psychic effect of merely carrying it in a quiescent state was enough to make Drizzt constantly question his own mind as he traveled. Guen, on her visits to the Material Plane, also kept a watchful eye on him.
It was a necessary evil, bait for the demon that was seeking vengeance. After the not-so-minor trouble of getting back to it, finding it, Drizzt was just as relieved to find his next destination after a stop in Longsaddle. He'd kept the artifact's presence carefully hidden, indulged Harpell curiosity as some were in residence now that he had not met before.
"If you're dead set against leaning into the alliances you've made in Silverymoon," Bella began, the brighter eye rolling with what she thought of that and the dull one fixed on him, "you need to head for Tethyr, a small kingdom down there with a cathedral being built.
"The priest of Deneir, Chosen they say, will point you to the knowledge you need to deal with this demon you need to be rid of."
"It seems I should see if Captain Deudermont will aid me in my journeys, then," Drizzt said, not keen on going so far south once again, but he was no priest nor wizard, to be able to banish the demon for good… and with luck, this cleric might well know how to rid the realms of the Crystal Shard.
With the right tools, Drizzt Do'Urden would be willing to wager against the evil ones, and try to reclaim his father's soul from the Abyss.
"You could become a cleric of sufficient rank in the decades you have left. Or a wizard of strength," Cadderly mused at Drizzt, even as the wizened Chosen walked beside Drizzt in the garden, aware that Pikel and Ivan both were still keeping an eye on the solitary drow.
"They say time stretches in the Abyss, and I feel that taking the time to do so would further torment the one I seek to rescue. Likewise, I will make no bargain with a Power to become a warlock."
Cadderly looked at Drizzt then, leaning on his staff as they paused. "And yet you refuse your goddess Her offer?"
Drizzt flushed, looking down, and Cadderly knew the ranger had not expected that to be known. When he looked up, it was with an expression of sadness. "She has been good to me, and I will serve Her so long as She walks the path I view as right.
"But I do not trust myself with a spark of who She is."
"Which is of course why She would most want it to be you, for that very distrust, but. You have closed that door — for now — and having a pressing need to save one you care for. The vile artifact's destruction is what you seek, but not before you are able to barter with and defeat the balor.
"A complicated task you have set yourself, but I will set people to the research of it."
"Thank you; it is all I can ask."
Vierna felt something change in her captor. He was eager, close to success of some kind? She felt weaker than she had even in the moments after Lloth forsook the House. How could she aid her brother like this?
When the demon back-handed her for daring to spit in his direction, she lolled in her bonds, feigning unconsciousness and made the choice to reach out to a different power. Never again would she submit to the divine… but bargain with one? That she could — and would! — manage.
~Vhaeraun son of Araushnee and Corellon, god of drow,~ she prayed, all of her singular focus on inviting the Named One to take notice of her. Even now, out of favor and having renounced her former goddess, the names burned in her mind, invoking pain.
Pain that she further used to fuel her call to the one that could make her plans work — she would not fail! Her brother, the boy she had taught and raised, needed her, and this time, she was embracing that.
Little did she know that her very need to aid a male sibling was the right spark to bring the god's attention to her.
"As long as your darkness holds," Danica coached, "the thing will be destroyed."
Drizzt looked past her to the rather unassuming man with them, very little giving away his draconic nature.
"And Icingdeath will guard me from the flames," he reminded himself.
"Yes, a superb frostbrand," Vaeros said, having inspected the magic on the blade to be certain.
"The breach of magic has made it possible for the balor to come to a simple summoning," Drizzt recited. "I will offer the artifact, and then we will be 'attacked', at which point the crystal will burn while I hold darkness — and evade the enraged demon while protecting my father."
"Presuming that the captive is brought, and that it is your father," Danica agreed. "Should be simple for the drow that decimated Menzoberranzan's might."
Drizzt stared at her, then saw the twitch of her lips, and gave into the laughter at that outrageous elaboration of his part in the war of Mithral Hall.
"We will do this, Ranger, on our shared love of the Wilds," Vaeros said, once the laughter had worn off, with the effect of living Drizzt lighter in spirit.
"So we shall."
It was not Zaknafein.
That small fact half-broke Drizzt's willpower at first. He wanted to angrily decry that he didn't care about Vierna.
His heart knew that for a lie.
She looked mangled in the grasp of the demon, and trickles of blood had formed where the clawed hand pierced flesh.
She was conscious, and her eyes locked on his.
Distantly, he could remember the plan even as the sealed case with Crenshinibon hung from an outstretched hand, the demon gloating within the summoning circle.
His mind toured over early, harsh lessons. He recalled the gentle touches that had been rare and treasured. He remembered that someone had to have told Zaknafein of his speed and skill with both hands. He recalled the look of sanity in her eyes, at the end of her life, blood spilling from a wound he'd made in her.
Something in her eyes told him she trusted him, and that she was ready for whatever came next.
"Let her go, and you can have what you want."
"You think I am unaware of the treachery lurking in your soul, drow?" Errtu demanded, hand closing more —
— and Vierna uttered a quick phrase in formal drow, one that called upon Vhaeraun, god of the male drow. The next moment, she was small, transformed into a bat that eluded the demon's grasp, fluttering valiantly into the hood of the cloak Drizzt wore.
He prayed that was enough to protect her, as he gave himself over to the Hunter, Icingdeath more than eager to drink the blood of this balor once more. Errtu had no chance to evade, or even dispel the darkness, as Drizzt furiously fought for his life, the crystal's end, and for the daughter of his father.
Vierna awakened at the feeling of healing being pushed into her, the kind that traced fire in her veins, counter to her very nature but helping abate the last tortures' marks upon her.
She found herself looking into the purple eyes that had entranced her since his birth.
"We're in a small cave. I didn't want to impose on my allies," he told her softly. "You turned back to drow after the fight ended."
"I did not ask for it to be a permanent change," Vierna said, but she reached for his hand on her shoulder. "You can heal?"
"If my patron agrees, yes," he said, taking her hand and shifting so he could sit more comfortably and hold it. "Vhaeraun?"
"I promised Him I would become a potent cleric for Him, if He let me aid my troublesome little brother against the balor."
Her smile on those words provoked one from him.
"I thought it was my — our father."
"And yet, you still pushed through with the plan you had made." She squeezed his hand. "We will have peace, Drizzt. I swear it on my continued life."
He contemplated her words a long moment, then laid down on the bedroll, sliding an arm under her neck, tucking close to give her the warmth he had.
"Good. There's been enough strife for us both, I think."
She closed her eyes, shifting a little to be comfortable, and decided that he was still strange to her.
But she had become something different and wanted to embrace the strangeness with him.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Drizzt Do'Urden & Vierna Do'Urden
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden
Additional Tags: Ensemble Cast, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Typical Violence, Resurrection
Summary:
Things in the Hall went slightly different, but still Drizzt chooses the road, and learns of one more quest.
In the Demon's Claws
Drizzt Do'Urden gazed out over the lands, thinking about everything endured. If Regis had not escaped sooner — no, it didn't bear thinking about. What he knew had let them disarm the trap, though not without personal cost for Drizzt himself. He had caused his father's death, brought about the deaths of his House from afar, and now… personally slain his sister, both by dam and sire.
His only consolation had been seeing her less a zealot, more sane in her eyes even, as the light faded, letting him cast true blame upon Lloth once more. It had been Catti-brie who supposed the entire raid had been concocted as but one thread of a web, given how near it had been to losing Wulfgar to the yochlol, how strange that they had chosen to come for Drizzt inside the dwarven stronghold rather than upon the road some night when he would be alone.
Bruenor had thundered, and Wulfgar had pledged support, with Regis managing advice based on his studying Artemis Entreri while the human consorted with drow. Aid had come from the region, and it would be a long time before Menzoberranzan could stir from its cesspool of hate and anger.
Catti and Wulfgar needed to work upon their relationship. Regis still had much recovery to make from his ordeal. Bruenor had a much expanded clan to lead to prominence.
Drizzt?
He looked back to the road for salvation from that which ate at his soul. A passing remark from one of the Harpells had reminded him of unfinished business concerning a crystal… and a demon that had been defeated once.
There had never been any chance of an ending that led anywhere but to the Demonweb Pits, Vierna had known. Either she would arrive in favor, and become one of Lloth's own servitors in some form —
— or she would arrive in full disfavor to be tortured.
She had learned three things as she endured the torture, and then the bartering deal with the balor.
Her father was not in the Demonweb Pits. This had been clear while she was still tortured under the servants of Lolth. He would have been an instrument in those tortures, as she had, again, fallen into that strange emotion surrounding Zaknafein, on seeing how true to himself her brother had remained.
There was the fact that Lloth had never been worth her devotion. This point — she'd had sight of it in the fall of her House — had clarified when the religious madness fell from her eyes even as her brother was lowering her body to the floor. If she had only managed to learn it earlier, and used her power to protect the two males she'd felt strong emotions over!
And, somehow, this balor intended to use her against her brother. Errtu could not keep himself from alternately salivating over his plans against Drizzt Do'Urden or raging in a froth of madness over what the impertinent drow had done to him.
She would just have to help her brother beat the demon at his own game. Vierna was looking forward to his death at Drizzt's hands.
Drizzt's concerns about the demon had proven too correct. He finished cleaning Icingdeath, his mind turning over the words spit at him by the fiend before its death. The gloating, brash taunts of what Errtu meant to do with him — after Errtu finished rending the soul of one that Drizzt cared for — had been too in line with what he knew of the balors. They were incapable of getting over a defeat that had been meted out to them.
Only? Errtu had an advantage over him. The only person's soul that could possibly be at risk to the demon was his own father. Drizzt would no more leave the soul in peril than he ever would have risked the man in life, had he but been a little wiser.
He didn't dare not follow up on this, no matter the source. Since Drizzt had left Mithral Hall, burdened by the suffering, deaths, and his own actions, he'd been seeking a purpose. He would recover the damnable crystal, and trek to a land known to hold the knowledge of the ages. Surely he could learn what was needed to save his father and destroy both threats if he but tried hard enough.
With resolve etched in every line of his body and soul, Drizzt plunged into the frozen north once more, intent on his goals.
The Crystal Shard couldn't be tricked by Drizzt. Nor could it offer him what he wanted, not in a way that ever tempted the drow. The psychic effect of merely carrying it in a quiescent state was enough to make Drizzt constantly question his own mind as he traveled. Guen, on her visits to the Material Plane, also kept a watchful eye on him.
It was a necessary evil, bait for the demon that was seeking vengeance. After the not-so-minor trouble of getting back to it, finding it, Drizzt was just as relieved to find his next destination after a stop in Longsaddle. He'd kept the artifact's presence carefully hidden, indulged Harpell curiosity as some were in residence now that he had not met before.
"If you're dead set against leaning into the alliances you've made in Silverymoon," Bella began, the brighter eye rolling with what she thought of that and the dull one fixed on him, "you need to head for Tethyr, a small kingdom down there with a cathedral being built.
"The priest of Deneir, Chosen they say, will point you to the knowledge you need to deal with this demon you need to be rid of."
"It seems I should see if Captain Deudermont will aid me in my journeys, then," Drizzt said, not keen on going so far south once again, but he was no priest nor wizard, to be able to banish the demon for good… and with luck, this cleric might well know how to rid the realms of the Crystal Shard.
With the right tools, Drizzt Do'Urden would be willing to wager against the evil ones, and try to reclaim his father's soul from the Abyss.
"You could become a cleric of sufficient rank in the decades you have left. Or a wizard of strength," Cadderly mused at Drizzt, even as the wizened Chosen walked beside Drizzt in the garden, aware that Pikel and Ivan both were still keeping an eye on the solitary drow.
"They say time stretches in the Abyss, and I feel that taking the time to do so would further torment the one I seek to rescue. Likewise, I will make no bargain with a Power to become a warlock."
Cadderly looked at Drizzt then, leaning on his staff as they paused. "And yet you refuse your goddess Her offer?"
Drizzt flushed, looking down, and Cadderly knew the ranger had not expected that to be known. When he looked up, it was with an expression of sadness. "She has been good to me, and I will serve Her so long as She walks the path I view as right.
"But I do not trust myself with a spark of who She is."
"Which is of course why She would most want it to be you, for that very distrust, but. You have closed that door — for now — and having a pressing need to save one you care for. The vile artifact's destruction is what you seek, but not before you are able to barter with and defeat the balor.
"A complicated task you have set yourself, but I will set people to the research of it."
"Thank you; it is all I can ask."
Vierna felt something change in her captor. He was eager, close to success of some kind? She felt weaker than she had even in the moments after Lloth forsook the House. How could she aid her brother like this?
When the demon back-handed her for daring to spit in his direction, she lolled in her bonds, feigning unconsciousness and made the choice to reach out to a different power. Never again would she submit to the divine… but bargain with one? That she could — and would! — manage.
~Vhaeraun son of Araushnee and Corellon, god of drow,~ she prayed, all of her singular focus on inviting the Named One to take notice of her. Even now, out of favor and having renounced her former goddess, the names burned in her mind, invoking pain.
Pain that she further used to fuel her call to the one that could make her plans work — she would not fail! Her brother, the boy she had taught and raised, needed her, and this time, she was embracing that.
Little did she know that her very need to aid a male sibling was the right spark to bring the god's attention to her.
"As long as your darkness holds," Danica coached, "the thing will be destroyed."
Drizzt looked past her to the rather unassuming man with them, very little giving away his draconic nature.
"And Icingdeath will guard me from the flames," he reminded himself.
"Yes, a superb frostbrand," Vaeros said, having inspected the magic on the blade to be certain.
"The breach of magic has made it possible for the balor to come to a simple summoning," Drizzt recited. "I will offer the artifact, and then we will be 'attacked', at which point the crystal will burn while I hold darkness — and evade the enraged demon while protecting my father."
"Presuming that the captive is brought, and that it is your father," Danica agreed. "Should be simple for the drow that decimated Menzoberranzan's might."
Drizzt stared at her, then saw the twitch of her lips, and gave into the laughter at that outrageous elaboration of his part in the war of Mithral Hall.
"We will do this, Ranger, on our shared love of the Wilds," Vaeros said, once the laughter had worn off, with the effect of living Drizzt lighter in spirit.
"So we shall."
It was not Zaknafein.
That small fact half-broke Drizzt's willpower at first. He wanted to angrily decry that he didn't care about Vierna.
His heart knew that for a lie.
She looked mangled in the grasp of the demon, and trickles of blood had formed where the clawed hand pierced flesh.
She was conscious, and her eyes locked on his.
Distantly, he could remember the plan even as the sealed case with Crenshinibon hung from an outstretched hand, the demon gloating within the summoning circle.
His mind toured over early, harsh lessons. He recalled the gentle touches that had been rare and treasured. He remembered that someone had to have told Zaknafein of his speed and skill with both hands. He recalled the look of sanity in her eyes, at the end of her life, blood spilling from a wound he'd made in her.
Something in her eyes told him she trusted him, and that she was ready for whatever came next.
"Let her go, and you can have what you want."
"You think I am unaware of the treachery lurking in your soul, drow?" Errtu demanded, hand closing more —
— and Vierna uttered a quick phrase in formal drow, one that called upon Vhaeraun, god of the male drow. The next moment, she was small, transformed into a bat that eluded the demon's grasp, fluttering valiantly into the hood of the cloak Drizzt wore.
He prayed that was enough to protect her, as he gave himself over to the Hunter, Icingdeath more than eager to drink the blood of this balor once more. Errtu had no chance to evade, or even dispel the darkness, as Drizzt furiously fought for his life, the crystal's end, and for the daughter of his father.
Vierna awakened at the feeling of healing being pushed into her, the kind that traced fire in her veins, counter to her very nature but helping abate the last tortures' marks upon her.
She found herself looking into the purple eyes that had entranced her since his birth.
"We're in a small cave. I didn't want to impose on my allies," he told her softly. "You turned back to drow after the fight ended."
"I did not ask for it to be a permanent change," Vierna said, but she reached for his hand on her shoulder. "You can heal?"
"If my patron agrees, yes," he said, taking her hand and shifting so he could sit more comfortably and hold it. "Vhaeraun?"
"I promised Him I would become a potent cleric for Him, if He let me aid my troublesome little brother against the balor."
Her smile on those words provoked one from him.
"I thought it was my — our father."
"And yet, you still pushed through with the plan you had made." She squeezed his hand. "We will have peace, Drizzt. I swear it on my continued life."
He contemplated her words a long moment, then laid down on the bedroll, sliding an arm under her neck, tucking close to give her the warmth he had.
"Good. There's been enough strife for us both, I think."
She closed her eyes, shifting a little to be comfortable, and decided that he was still strange to her.
But she had become something different and wanted to embrace the strangeness with him.
Nature diary
Jan. 6th, 2026 09:17 pmsignoftea posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
common_natureIt started snowing yesterday, and now there's about 5 cm of snow, an amount that is very rare here. I went for a walk to see the beach, because it looks so cool when it's covered in snow. To my surprise, there was even ice on the water! A fragile crust of little floes had formed and seemed to slow down the movement of the waves as they licked the snow away from the breakwater bit by bit.
At first, I didn't hear any bird calls. I did see a few sanderlings darting around, some big birds (probably black-backed gulls) hovering over the sea, and a huge swarm of smaller birds, but they were all far away. I was about to leave when suddenly an impressive formation of geese appeared in the sky. My birding app identified them as barnacle geese. Then the app recorded some more calls, including one from a dunling, a bird I had never seen or heard before.
The snow and the greyish sky skewed my perspective in interesting ways, so that it looked like there were mountains growing out of the sea near the horizon, or like there was a huge wave rolling towards the beach. It felt surreal and a little eerie.
At first, I didn't hear any bird calls. I did see a few sanderlings darting around, some big birds (probably black-backed gulls) hovering over the sea, and a huge swarm of smaller birds, but they were all far away. I was about to leave when suddenly an impressive formation of geese appeared in the sky. My birding app identified them as barnacle geese. Then the app recorded some more calls, including one from a dunling, a bird I had never seen or heard before.
The snow and the greyish sky skewed my perspective in interesting ways, so that it looked like there were mountains growing out of the sea near the horizon, or like there was a huge wave rolling towards the beach. It felt surreal and a little eerie.
Movies: We Bury the Dead, Red Rooms
Jan. 6th, 2026 12:21 pmsnickficClearing out the last of my movies watched last year.
We Bury the Dead (2026). After an American experimental weapons accident kills every human and animal on Madascar, an American woman (Daisy Ridley) comes to help identify bodies and search for her husband who was on a work retreat there. Also sometimes the dead don't stay dead.
As someone who is pretty over zombie movies, I liked this one quite a bit. First of all, it's Australian, and boy can you feel it. This is not your Hollywood zombie blockbuster or even your Danny Boyle zombie blockbuster. For starters, we spend relatively little time running from or fighting zombies. In fact, these are the most ambiguously threatening zombies I can remember seeing in a long long time, and I liked how much that complicated the story. It's also beautifully shot with great atmosphere and a score that really adds to the mood of the whole thing. And I really appreciated how our understanding of the central couple's married relationship gets more complicated as the film goes on.
That said, ( spoilers )
This movie feels like it invites comparison to 28 Years Later, if only by accident, given the timing. I know 28 Years Later has a lot of fans, and I didn't hate it, but overall I liked this a lot better for the indie feel, the focus on a female character, and honestly because I liked the cinematography better.
Anyway, it's out in theaters now. If it sounds fun, I recommend it!
--
Red Rooms (2023). A French-Canadian film about two female true crime fans following the trial of a man accused of raping and murdering underage teen girls. This movie is beautifully made, and with really visible care and precision. The director knew what he wanted to make, and he went for it. The result is moody and fucked up without ever feeling exploitative (to me); this is very much about the groupies, not about the man on trial, and we never seen the horrifying footage at the center of the trial.
It's also shippy as hell. Our main gal Kelly-Anne is a wealthy model and computer hacker who professes herself to be "not bad with numbers," who's obsessed with the trial for reasons that are to some extent left to the viewer, while Clementine is a less well-heeled diehard apologist for the man at the center of the trial and is convinced he's innocent. Somehow out of these two, it's Clementine who feels like the more well-adjusted person; it's questionable whether Kelly-Anne has any friends at all, and yet maybe Clementine becomes one. As a friend of mine described it, "Clementine’s more open neediness draws out a reciprocal vulnerability from Kelly-Anne."
High rec from me. If any of this sounds appealing to you, definitely check it out.
We Bury the Dead (2026). After an American experimental weapons accident kills every human and animal on Madascar, an American woman (Daisy Ridley) comes to help identify bodies and search for her husband who was on a work retreat there. Also sometimes the dead don't stay dead.
As someone who is pretty over zombie movies, I liked this one quite a bit. First of all, it's Australian, and boy can you feel it. This is not your Hollywood zombie blockbuster or even your Danny Boyle zombie blockbuster. For starters, we spend relatively little time running from or fighting zombies. In fact, these are the most ambiguously threatening zombies I can remember seeing in a long long time, and I liked how much that complicated the story. It's also beautifully shot with great atmosphere and a score that really adds to the mood of the whole thing. And I really appreciated how our understanding of the central couple's married relationship gets more complicated as the film goes on.
That said, ( spoilers )
This movie feels like it invites comparison to 28 Years Later, if only by accident, given the timing. I know 28 Years Later has a lot of fans, and I didn't hate it, but overall I liked this a lot better for the indie feel, the focus on a female character, and honestly because I liked the cinematography better.
Anyway, it's out in theaters now. If it sounds fun, I recommend it!
--
Red Rooms (2023). A French-Canadian film about two female true crime fans following the trial of a man accused of raping and murdering underage teen girls. This movie is beautifully made, and with really visible care and precision. The director knew what he wanted to make, and he went for it. The result is moody and fucked up without ever feeling exploitative (to me); this is very much about the groupies, not about the man on trial, and we never seen the horrifying footage at the center of the trial.
It's also shippy as hell. Our main gal Kelly-Anne is a wealthy model and computer hacker who professes herself to be "not bad with numbers," who's obsessed with the trial for reasons that are to some extent left to the viewer, while Clementine is a less well-heeled diehard apologist for the man at the center of the trial and is convinced he's innocent. Somehow out of these two, it's Clementine who feels like the more well-adjusted person; it's questionable whether Kelly-Anne has any friends at all, and yet maybe Clementine becomes one. As a friend of mine described it, "Clementine’s more open neediness draws out a reciprocal vulnerability from Kelly-Anne."
High rec from me. If any of this sounds appealing to you, definitely check it out.
Monday Media - January 5 (on January 6) Edition
Jan. 6th, 2026 12:02 pmlebateleurGames: Travel and vacation schedules meant no board game gathering this week.
Miscellaneous: A couple of longform articles:A Ghost Estate and an Empty Grave We Still Live in Fast Food Nation
Music: First house session of the new year; with only four of us there, a lot of opportunities to call sets, which consisted of a good mix of familiar and new tunes. One of the guys is, unfortunately, a noodler, playing into any and every silence, which makes it very hard to start sets. I will just have to be assertive about playing over him if he's there next week.
Roleplaying: Newest D&D Homebrew campaign had our "Beach Episode" holiday one shot this past weekend. As ever, it was an absolute blast. I sound like a broken record, but our DM is phenomenal: she gets such a good mix of role play, exploration, and combat into every session, and you'd never know she is--by her own admission--winging things half the time.
I played a kobold bard and loved it. As with my goblin rogue, I chose this critter because I wasn't convinced it would be fun to play, and as with my goblin rogue, she has become one of my favorite characters. Turns out, I really enjoy playing characters that don't quite get larger humanoids. And bards are just so versatile. It's been...five years since I last played this class, and man it was fun throwing all those spells and buffs into the mix and watching what happens. We'll be back to our main characters in the next session, but since this one shot took place in the same universe I hope we'll have a chance to revisit these ones as well.
Television: We finished Max Headroom S1. The final episode, Blanks, is my favorite of the season, and I'm always surprised by how long the show takes to introduce them compared to the movie. Having blanked myself from as much 21st century Big Tech as I can, I feel a special affinity with those guys. (And again, damn, this show was prescient: social media-elected leaders, the attention economy, doomscrolling, ransomware--it envisioned them all.) We'll probably get started on S2 tonight.
I also watched the first three episodes of Heated Rivalry. This is a very horny show. (Which, no complaints there. XD) But I had been anticipating something more along the lines of Our Flag Means Death, where the romantic relationships are one element of a larger general narrative, and not the primary focus of the show. (I was surprised and honestly a bit bummed that the hockey is just window dressing. I'd been expecting an ice hockey story with a romance subplot versus a romance story on an ice hockey stage set.) That said, the production values are good and the actors have excellent chemistry that they--blessedly--maintain even in the show's most explicit scenes...which unfortunately has not always been the case with other such offerings (I'm looking at you, Our Flag Means Death).
I don't feel particularly participatory about this show (yet?), but I am very much enjoying it and will probably wrap up the final three episodes this week.
Video Games: Finished my first game of the year, Botanicula, which is a perennial favorite. It's just such a visually beautiful game, with a great soundtrack and really clever puzzles. As ever, I have to space out my playthroughs so I don't just immediately remember how to solve everything the next time I play it. I'm trying to decide if I want to dive straight into Samorost 2 or opt for something a little more serious (e.g., Darklands or Pentiment).
これで以上です。
Miscellaneous: A couple of longform articles:
Music: First house session of the new year; with only four of us there, a lot of opportunities to call sets, which consisted of a good mix of familiar and new tunes. One of the guys is, unfortunately, a noodler, playing into any and every silence, which makes it very hard to start sets. I will just have to be assertive about playing over him if he's there next week.
Roleplaying: Newest D&D Homebrew campaign had our "Beach Episode" holiday one shot this past weekend. As ever, it was an absolute blast. I sound like a broken record, but our DM is phenomenal: she gets such a good mix of role play, exploration, and combat into every session, and you'd never know she is--by her own admission--winging things half the time.
I played a kobold bard and loved it. As with my goblin rogue, I chose this critter because I wasn't convinced it would be fun to play, and as with my goblin rogue, she has become one of my favorite characters. Turns out, I really enjoy playing characters that don't quite get larger humanoids. And bards are just so versatile. It's been...five years since I last played this class, and man it was fun throwing all those spells and buffs into the mix and watching what happens. We'll be back to our main characters in the next session, but since this one shot took place in the same universe I hope we'll have a chance to revisit these ones as well.
Television: We finished Max Headroom S1. The final episode, Blanks, is my favorite of the season, and I'm always surprised by how long the show takes to introduce them compared to the movie. Having blanked myself from as much 21st century Big Tech as I can, I feel a special affinity with those guys. (And again, damn, this show was prescient: social media-elected leaders, the attention economy, doomscrolling, ransomware--it envisioned them all.) We'll probably get started on S2 tonight.
I also watched the first three episodes of Heated Rivalry. This is a very horny show. (Which, no complaints there. XD) But I had been anticipating something more along the lines of Our Flag Means Death, where the romantic relationships are one element of a larger general narrative, and not the primary focus of the show. (I was surprised and honestly a bit bummed that the hockey is just window dressing. I'd been expecting an ice hockey story with a romance subplot versus a romance story on an ice hockey stage set.) That said, the production values are good and the actors have excellent chemistry that they--blessedly--maintain even in the show's most explicit scenes...which unfortunately has not always been the case with other such offerings (I'm looking at you, Our Flag Means Death).
I don't feel particularly participatory about this show (yet?), but I am very much enjoying it and will probably wrap up the final three episodes this week.
Video Games: Finished my first game of the year, Botanicula, which is a perennial favorite. It's just such a visually beautiful game, with a great soundtrack and really clever puzzles. As ever, I have to space out my playthroughs so I don't just immediately remember how to solve everything the next time I play it. I'm trying to decide if I want to dive straight into Samorost 2 or opt for something a little more serious (e.g., Darklands or Pentiment).
これで以上です。
snowflake_challenge 2026: Challenge #3
Jan. 6th, 2026 09:53 amthatjustwontbreakWrite a love letter to fandom. It might be to fandom in general, to a particular fandom, favourite character, anything at all.
Dear Fandom,
I am so grateful for your generosity and your kindness. I think about author's notes on fanfiction.net, memes on livejournal, in-jokes on tumblr, role-playing on IRC, downloading fansubs, heartbreaking AMVs, beautiful shrines, and the list goes on. Like, we have been doing this work in a variety of different ways for so many years to connect to each other and show care for each other and we do it with no compensation and frequently minimal recognition. It's amazing.
Fandom is to thank for a great deal of my knowledge and values. I have learned a ton about literature and gender and sexuality and politics and so many other things through fandom.
Thank you for being such a large and consistent part of my life. I have been participating in fandom one way or another for over twenty years and it has been a gift.
Love,
TJWB
Pass It On 6
Jan. 6th, 2026 01:11 pminnitmarvelous_og posting in iconthat
LINK: https://i.imgur.com/V5e1tWp.jpg
Next: Andor Season 2 (Star Wars)
just putting this out there
Jan. 6th, 2026 10:04 ammuccamukk(Which is def not me procrastinating on homework on the second day of a new term.)
If you use a rich text editor to post to DW so that it does all the coding for you, and you don't have to worry about it, it has the potential to make your posts very difficult to read without clicking through to see the journal in your style. A lot of the rich text editors override the page layouts and styles selected by the user (ie, in this case, me, who is not very tech savvy, so apologies if the terminology is wrong, please correct me in comments!).
To show you what it looks like... ( please click through, rather than expanding the cut tag )
It could also be an issue if you force your font to a particular typeface or size, which overrides people who set their journal style with a typeface/size that they need for accessibility reasons (e.g. low vision or dyslexia).
I'm not trying to call anyone out! (The styles are made up examples.) I don't want to discourage using rich text editors, which make posting so easy for people. I just think that everyone is maybe not aware that this is how their posts look on people's reading page.
I've never used a rich text editor, so I have no idea how to tell it just to post text without modifying the colour/size/typeface, but maybe someone in comments can let me know?
There's probably also a way to make my browser strip out people's customisations, though times I've tried that it's ended up with some pretty odd results, so I gave up on it.
If you use a rich text editor to post to DW so that it does all the coding for you, and you don't have to worry about it, it has the potential to make your posts very difficult to read without clicking through to see the journal in your style. A lot of the rich text editors override the page layouts and styles selected by the user (ie, in this case, me, who is not very tech savvy, so apologies if the terminology is wrong, please correct me in comments!).
To show you what it looks like... ( please click through, rather than expanding the cut tag )
It could also be an issue if you force your font to a particular typeface or size, which overrides people who set their journal style with a typeface/size that they need for accessibility reasons (e.g. low vision or dyslexia).
I'm not trying to call anyone out! (The styles are made up examples.) I don't want to discourage using rich text editors, which make posting so easy for people. I just think that everyone is maybe not aware that this is how their posts look on people's reading page.
I've never used a rich text editor, so I have no idea how to tell it just to post text without modifying the colour/size/typeface, but maybe someone in comments can let me know?
There's probably also a way to make my browser strip out people's customisations, though times I've tried that it's ended up with some pretty odd results, so I gave up on it.
Ask a Manager: head of HR is waging a pressure campaign to make me adopt a puppy
Jan. 6th, 2026 12:59 pm
TV Tuesday: Hiding in Plain Sight?
Jan. 6th, 2026 10:55 amyourlibrarian posting in tv_talk
End of year is a time for 2025 lists. The Guardian came out with Top 50 TV Shows & Hidden Gems of 2025. Can a gem be that hidden if it’s on a list of top shows? What makes something a “hidden gem” to you?
Heated Rivalry comm
Jan. 6th, 2026 10:15 amtinny posting in tv_talkThere's a new comm for Heated Rivalry:
gamechangerhr
A community dedicated to the Game Changer Book series and the Heated Rivalry TV series
and they have a friending meme, too: https://gamechangerhr.dreamwidth.org/855.html
gamechangerhrA community dedicated to the Game Changer Book series and the Heated Rivalry TV series
and they have a friending meme, too: https://gamechangerhr.dreamwidth.org/855.html
(no subject)
Jan. 5th, 2026 10:06 pmanghraineJ and I recently re-watched "The Return of the Archons" (after concluding it was the peak Christmas episode for various silly reasons), and there's this small and wonderfully in-character scene when the away party has found sanctuary with a local ally during the Red Hour. They're able to hide in this private room with some bunks, allowing for all but one of the entire party to sleep in the meanwhile. We don't actually see the decision get made. We just cut to the crew members all in the beds and Kirk having taken off his coat to wrap himself in a blanket, protectively keeping watch over his resting crew members. We just get a few quiet moments of this interspliced with the insanity of the Red Hour outside, which he observes with quiet disgust between pacing quietly around the little room, adding some folded clothes to cushion McCoy's head, making sure the young ones are sleeping in their bunks, and checking on Spock (who is lying on his back and either meditating or simply awake the whole time, not needing the sleep but—given how easy the nonverbal communication between them is in this episode—likely aware that trying to convince Kirk to take the bed is not, let's say, a logical use of his time).
It's very cute, honestly, and the episode is so beautifully made that it has an incredibly warm, pleasant quality on a purely visual level. It's the kind of thing that I think gets the kind of kneejerk "oh he's such a father to his men" despite TOS Kirk's very consistent aversion from anything smacking of fatherhood (very obviously for gender role reasons, not reactionary nuclear-family-meets-gender-essentialism retcons from 20 years later reasons). But I definitely ended up thinking "I can't believe I've seen multiple posts straining to frame Janeway as some kind of maternal figure as captain when she doesn't have a parental bone in her body—she's not Team Mom she's Team Captain—and meanwhile Kirk has 100x more fretful mama energy as captain to the point that his long-suffering maternal authority becomes the actual premise of an actual later episode."
In conclusion:
captain, are we there yettttttttt
It's very cute, honestly, and the episode is so beautifully made that it has an incredibly warm, pleasant quality on a purely visual level. It's the kind of thing that I think gets the kind of kneejerk "oh he's such a father to his men" despite TOS Kirk's very consistent aversion from anything smacking of fatherhood (very obviously for gender role reasons, not reactionary nuclear-family-meets-gender-essentialism retcons from 20 years later reasons). But I definitely ended up thinking "I can't believe I've seen multiple posts straining to frame Janeway as some kind of maternal figure as captain when she doesn't have a parental bone in her body—she's not Team Mom she's Team Captain—and meanwhile Kirk has 100x more fretful mama energy as captain to the point that his long-suffering maternal authority becomes the actual premise of an actual later episode."
In conclusion:
captain, are we there yettttttttt