u/Mobile-Scar6857

I always wished the last arc of season 4 tied more directly into the final Buffy season, and had the Angel Investigations team help take on The First in the final run of episodes as opposed to the Jasmine storyline.

It got me thinking... who would The First appear to them as to really get under their skin and manipulate them?

Angel has countless victims from his Angelus days, and Gunn has an obvious answer with his sister. Who else could appear to them?

I'm especially interested in how Wes would deal with The First, as he's the most competent member of the team IMO. This would be fresh after the Angelus arc, so I suppose Lilah?

A lot of my favorite episodes of Buffy/Angel are the lore flashbacks to Spike/Angel/Dru/Darla in their days terrorizing people across the globe, in episodes like Becoming and Fool for Love.

Great as they are, when I see a lot of these sequences are, I sometimes find myself thinking when I'm watching them what it would be like if they were made NOW, in the post Game of Thrones, era with a massive budget lavished on them to help better recreate the time periods, and with full seasons of episodes just focusing on the vamps without being nestled within a Buffy/Sunnydale episode.

And it got me thinking, what would a Whirlwind prequel show be like, if it was made NOW? It'll never happen, but it's fun to think about - who would play the big four? What sort of storylines would you do? Stick to canon or tear up the rules a bit? Or would it all be too much of a good thing? I'm interested to hear everyone's thoughts!

Watched all of the Bureau a couple of years ago and loved it.

Watched the Agency S1 last year and was disappointed by how closely it stuck to the original. The original is obviously excellent but the new series just felt like a weaker imitation rather than its own thing.

I hear the new season is getting good reviews. Is it still just an exact remake or does it change things in any big way, beyond the superficial (Sudan civil war instead of Syria in the original etc)

In S4, Angelus taunts Wesley with this: "Get some new clothes, cool haircut, hit the gym... you're still the same loser none of the other kids wanted to sit with at lunch."

BUT

Do we ever see Wes 'hit the gym'? Like even in his dorkier days he was just as physically capable, just lacking in confidence (like episodes like Guys Will Be Guise show).

So, the previous films have pretty extensively mined Wolverine's story, the Charles/Erik dynamic & the Dark Phoenix Saga (to name the big hitters).

What's a storyline/character/relationship that's so far not been done on the big screen that you'd like to see in the MCU version?

OK, so is the implication of the ending that Odysseus and his men actually were the Sea Peoples?

My original interpretation was that with the Trojan Horse and brutal destruction of Troy, Odysseus had permanently altered the social landscape of what was acceptable (even in war), and in doing so set the stage for a new age of brutality and destruction. It is very similar to the Oppenheimer ending.

The Sea Peoples are a consequence of his actions, but he and his men are not the Sea Peoples themselves.

But I'm seeing people online saying Odysseus & his crew literally were the Sea Peoples? I don't think that works at all. First of all, the first people they come to, the Cicones, had already heard of the Sea Peoples.

Moreover, the Sea Peoples raids were actual events that happened later and in a different place!

This is one of my favourite threads in Lost, even if they never really developed it in a big way.

It was a common enough talking point back in the day when the show was airing: the idea that Desmond's story is, in part, a (very) loose retelling of the Odyssey.

For the uninitiated, The Odyssey (to massively oversimplify it) is at core about Odysseus' quest to be reunited with his wife, Penelope, who he has not seen in years, after he went off to fight in the Trojan War.

And, of course, for a substantial stretch of Odysseus' journey, he is stranded on an island (actually, quite a few different islands at different points...)

It's a very cool idea, and I wish the show had done more with it. Like, it would have been cool for Desmond to have a more in-depth interaction with the island's resident "cyclops", Mikhail. "I'll take your other eye, brother."

Also worth mentioning that Odysseus' home is occupied while he is away by a large group of disrespectful suitors, each looking to marry Penelope and prevent Odysseus' homecoming. How many suitors? 108!

It's not a massively developed thing, just a few references here and there across Des/Penny's story, but I love that it's in there, and I wish they had done more with it.

Wes is probably my favourite Buffy-verse character. I'd love to get a shorter "Key Wes" episodes playlist to trace his arc through, something quicker than doing a full-on rewatch.

What do you think are the key Wes eps?

I know there's a ton of tie in novels over the years. Are there any that fans hold in particularly high regard? Something that explains or explores things the show never did, or that's just great on its own merits?

I'm extending this to include the Angel show/characters too. I'd love to read something focused on Wesley for example.

Letter to Elise is probably my favourite Cure song and the Unplugged version is incredible, as are the other performances form that show. What a shame, then, that all that's really available is low quality versions on Youtube.

I would LOVE to see an official, remastered version of this, but from what I can work out, the band didn't like the performance? So it's only available unofficially, and it's such a shame.

I've seen them a bunch of times over the years but never heard this one live. They've been playing it at most shows this year but have dropped it for the last few. I hope they bring it back!! It's my favourite pre-Soft Bulletin track and like a top 3 for for the band's whole career. I'll be seeing them in Galway soon and it'll definitely be a disappointment if they don't do it.

Turn it on and ALL THE WAY UP!!!

I know there's been tonnes of novels, comics etc over the years (especially back when the show was airing).

I was wondering if there's anything out there like that which goes in to more depth/focuses on Doyle as a character?

I know the actor sadly died young so I can understand if there isn't anything. I just loved the character so much, I wish we could get more of him!

They're both Irish!

I wonder if there's anything thematic to that, maybe Doyle reminding Angel of his pre corrupted itself?

I know there's precious little Doyle screentime, but if we had some more, it would have been fun if they explored this connection.

A couple of weeks ago (just after Anthony Head's sad passing) I found out about the "Demons of the Hellmouth" book you can buy by 'Rupert Giles'.

If you're not familiar, here's some pics: https://www.reddit.com/r/buffy/comments/1u07lgh/comment/oqj13qm/?context=3

While I was looking around online for it, I discovered you can also buy the Grimoire by "Willow Rosenberg".

I was wondering if there are any more of these in-universe books (if that's the right word for them) 'by' the characters. And are they worth hunting down/as cool as they look? Or if there are any Angel series counterparts? I would love to read a book by Angel or Wesley.

I got some of the Buffy Box sets back in the day, and the extras like the commentaries, interviews etc were usually pretty great. Is it the same story for Angel?

Hi, I remember a while back when the Wish reissue came out, there was a lot of excitement about the Lost Wishes cassette tracks being included on it.

I remember reading around then about how these were essentially intended to be part of an abandoned album that was ultimately scrapped in favour of what became Wish, and that many of the b-sides from that era (Big Hand, This Twilight Garden etc) were initally part of that same project.

So, I suppose I wanted to ask 1) is this legit info lol and 2) if it is, is it possible to put together an approximation of this lost (a la 'Smile Sessions') between the tracks on Join the Dots and the Wish reissue?

Forgive me if I've got any of this wrong, I'm not completely up on my Cure lore!

OK, so I think for a lot of people one of the highlights of the recent season was the episode that flashbacked to just before S1.

Do you think we could get a similar episode that flashes back to the period between the two different shows?

I know we got that throwaway line about the FBI corruption scandal resulting in Fisk being freed. I think it would be much more satisfying to be shown how this all played out, structured in a similar way to that recent flashback episode.

I was just reading about the death of Ittai Gradel, who exposed the vast number of thefts from the British Museum's collections that were taking place.

His passion was ancient Greek and Roman gemstones. From the BBC article on his death:

>
His knowledge of the ancient world was boundless; his specialist interest was gemstones.

>"Nothing so boring as modern diamond rings," he told us with a smile. His focus was gems from ancient Greece and Rome, carved with intricate figures, sometimes images of the gods or portraits, which were worn as pendants in jewellery and used as sealstones in rings.

Elsewhere in the same article:

>
He told us he regretted that he hadn't yet written a book about gems for a mass audience, to add to the academic works he has authored.

>He wanted to share his stories of "remarkable gems and what they can tell the world about their history". He was convinced it would be a bestseller.

>He also regretted how few people share his love of these tiny objects. "With my death, there is one less gem expert," he told us ruefully.

It all makes me realise this is an aspect of the ancient world and its legacy that I know almost nothing about.

Does anyone know where would be a good place to start, and find out more about these gems? It all sounds so fascinating.