Me too. Cool little film too.

You're insane.

Heather, I think your 1905 self has a Boston Marriage!

I know! And then I get to go to war and earn a medal!

Heather is me! Or .. erm .. possibly in 1905 Heather and I shared a fondness for sewing kneeler covers :)

OK, another batch from Jon, and I have a new Angel manifesto:

1 No more guns. Wesley pulls the guns on the Beast? Cool. All Guns, all the time? Boring.

2 If you know that the show's become a "turgid supernatural soap opera", don't make sly meta references, fix it. Do some MOTW eps, cut down on the big arcs, get some variety of tone.

3 Enough with the BadInflation: "I'm the Big Bad, pulling the strings for my evil law firm!" "No! I'm the Bigger Bad - I manipulate the Evil Law Firm to prevent Connor killing me!", "Ha, you think THAT's bad? I'm so Big and Bad I not only manipulated the last 2 bads, but I set up THE WHOLE PREMISE OF THE SHOW to fit my non-specific Evil Plan! Bwahahahah!!!!". It's verging on David Eddings.

4 If you must have endless invincible bad fighting guys (timetravel demon bloke, The beast, Skip), then bite the bullet and have them off some core characters. What happened to Butcher Tim? Cordy (or better still, Connor) should have killed Lorne, and Skip should have killed Fred or Gunn.

5 Vary the tone. This is a point which is most true about Angel, but Firefly and (even) Buffy suffer too. Every episode consists of: they hang around the hotel lobby. Something Bad happens. They go somewhere dark, and get their arses kicked. They come back and mope in the hotel lobby. They go somewhere and do something mystical. Wesley is morally ambigious. They come back and mope in the hotel lobby. They go soemwhere dark, and have a big fight. There's a twist and a cliffhanger.

6 Look at why the 3 Faith eps were by 10 miles te best in the last 2 seasons. They had jokes, action, sex, wit, variety. Get some non-broody characters in, and cull the dead wood.

OK, another batch from Jon

I really appreciate the fact that I got squeezed after John in the line for the tape-fairy-Jon's magic, and I really don't want to come out as pushy or ungrateful or anything like that, but I'm just curious as to what's going on with the tapes-line. Could somebody enlighten me? John? Fiona? Somebody else I need to ask and the holes in my sieve are large enough to prevent me from remembering?

[Edit: oh, and I like Jim's (whitefonted) BadInflation]

Um, I dunno. There was a Jim-shaped bottleneck until last month, but they've gone on to Fiona now. Not sure w'appens next.

Not sure w'appens next.

Yeah, I thought I remembered you were before Fiona, that's why I didn't even ask you, because I figured it's out of your hands by now. Thanks, anyway.

Yes, Nilly, it's all my fault. I've been meaning to email you and John about it. I doubt there's much point in sending Buffy and Angel to Oz any more, as they're about as far as I am. So the question is: do you want all the tapes direct? And does John want Firefly? Let me know.

(In my defence, I have to say: I only had the first few eps until recently, plus I still haven't watched Firefly myself yet, as I want to see it with SO but we never, ever find the time. But I guess we can watch FF when we get the tapes back, so we can work something out).

New tapes Jim? Cool. OK, I know this question is ironic, given the circumstances, but: when can I expect them?!

Re Angel: I didn't read your post in detail, as I've yet to see those eps, but I certainly do agree that this season has lost its way. German TV showed an episode from Season 3 last night (That Vision Thing, I think), and it was a whole other ballgame - tighter, more assured, more relaxed. I really hope Tim and Joss are around more next season to put it back on track. If there is a next season, of course.

No, not asking for any faults - just wanted to know what was going on, that's all. I'm very grateful just to get the opportunity to watch those episodes/show (Firefly). No defences or anything like that, please.

I guess I'll just wait for John to make up his mind regarding what he wants, since he got dibs, and I'd love to get anything he doesn't want. Oh, and as for "Firefly" - I think it's only fair you watch it first, I mean - they're your tapes.

Yeah, but if you were to wait for us to watch FF, it could take - seriously - months if not years. So I think it's best to send you them first. I'm feeling guilty enough as it is!