Salvage Crew and Pilgrim Machines by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne
Dec. 8th, 2025 04:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lightreadsSalvage Crew and Pilgrim Machines
4/5. A pair of related scifi novels largely narrated by sentient ships in a plausible corporatist space future. The first book is a sort of survival horror first contact situation, and the second is philosophical space exploration and consideration of mortality on the personal and galactic scale.
I like these. They manage that trick of feeling old-fashioned in the best way. Particularly the big ideas exploration book – it’s giving Niven or Vinge or Baxter or similar, except, you know, not variously phobic and -ist. Actually, several of the characters are Buddhist, which offers a really interesting lens on some more classic science fictional topics.
I’m a little suspicious about why these books didn’t take off, TBH. He got buzz early on, then seemed to fall off the map. I’m pretty plugged into new and interesting SFF, and I’ve only heard about him from one person. I have a suspicion this is because he openly talks about how he uses AI. E.g., in the first book here, he had AI generate hundreds of short poems on various themes, and he picked several for his AI ship to “write.” He is transparent about how he prompted and why he did it that way. I suspect this got some sort of AI stink on him, professionally, which is a real shame.
I will also add, they got Nathan Fillion to read the first audiobook. Normally I do not like these celebrity narrators, but actually, it’s kind of brilliant? He has this bro-y cynical depressive emotionalism that hit just right for the ship narrator of that book.
Content notes: Corporate hellscape stuff, body horror.
4/5. A pair of related scifi novels largely narrated by sentient ships in a plausible corporatist space future. The first book is a sort of survival horror first contact situation, and the second is philosophical space exploration and consideration of mortality on the personal and galactic scale.
I like these. They manage that trick of feeling old-fashioned in the best way. Particularly the big ideas exploration book – it’s giving Niven or Vinge or Baxter or similar, except, you know, not variously phobic and -ist. Actually, several of the characters are Buddhist, which offers a really interesting lens on some more classic science fictional topics.
I’m a little suspicious about why these books didn’t take off, TBH. He got buzz early on, then seemed to fall off the map. I’m pretty plugged into new and interesting SFF, and I’ve only heard about him from one person. I have a suspicion this is because he openly talks about how he uses AI. E.g., in the first book here, he had AI generate hundreds of short poems on various themes, and he picked several for his AI ship to “write.” He is transparent about how he prompted and why he did it that way. I suspect this got some sort of AI stink on him, professionally, which is a real shame.
I will also add, they got Nathan Fillion to read the first audiobook. Normally I do not like these celebrity narrators, but actually, it’s kind of brilliant? He has this bro-y cynical depressive emotionalism that hit just right for the ship narrator of that book.
Content notes: Corporate hellscape stuff, body horror.
XRISM Finds Chlorine, Potassium in Cas A
Dec. 8th, 2025 06:08 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
nasa_liotd_feedThis composite image of the Cassiopeia A (or Cas A) supernova remnant, released Jan. 8, 2024, contains X-rays from Chandra (blue), infrared data from Webb (red, green, blue), and optical data from Hubble (red and white). A study by the XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) spacecraft has made the first-ever X-ray detections of chlorine and potassium in the wreckage.
Something old, something new….
Dec. 8th, 2025 12:28 pmfanhackers_feedSomething old…
Coming together in a hotel ballroom with the rebels in the cause of a women’s art/communication system, the researcher feels a tiny thrill of danger. The community is open to anyone willing to participate, but closed to anyone who might jeer, or worse, blow the whistle. A man in a ten-gallon hat approaches and wants to know what is going on. There is a gleam in his eye: he sees only women about. Not all of them are pretty - some of them are middle-aged, or overweight, or both. They all return his bravado with suspicion.
Lois, in her late forties and looking very prim, looks up from her place at the registration table and smiles the smile of PTA mothers everywhere. “It’s a meeting of a ladies’ literary society,” she answers very properly.
“Mighty nice,” the ten-gallon hat responds.
As he walks away, another voice at the table whispers: “And terrorist society.”
Beneath the grins and the giggles and the pajama party atmosphere, the ladies gathered here know they are engaged in an act of rebellion. They have stolen characters, settings, plots off the home and movie screens, fleshed them out, created new characters for them to love and given the characters permission to love each other.
– Enterprising Women (1992), by Camille Bacon-Smith
Something new…
Technology and art have always existed together, with new technologies like photography (and later Photoshop) being hailed as the death of painting (and later photography), yet all of these forms continue to be used. However, generative AI introduces new questions around creative agency that fans are currently grappling with in terms of, for example, whether a story written by a large language model could be considered a valid form of fan fiction (see Cisternino and Radillo, this issue). Certainly, it is, as we have seen, quite possible to ask these models to produce derivative text that recognizably draws from media sources to transform them into a new text. Chiang (2024) suggests, however, that generative AI is not likely to become a new technological medium for artistic creation in the way that, say, photography is, because it does not allow for creative expression and choice-making as these other technologies do. He suggests that it is not the quality of the output that matters but the intent of the human originator to communicate—something that with AI exists in the prompt but is then filtered, mediated, and diluted by the normalization of the language models. A thousand works of fan fiction may have the same characters, setting, and basic plot, but the choices the author makes reveal something unique about their affective response to the material—something AI cannot do in its current form.
– “Fans and AI: Transformations in fandom and
fan studies” (2025), by Susanne R. Black and Naomi Jacobs
November 2025 Newsletter, Volume 206
Dec. 8th, 2025 03:30 pmotw_news_feedI. SPOTLIGHT ON FANLORE
In November, Fanlore ran the Fanlore No Fault November challenge: a catch-up event for earlier badges editors missed! The challenge ran from November 16 to 30, with many editors participating and earning badges from previous months.
Curious about editing Fanlore? Check out the New Visitor Portal and Tutorial for getting started!
II. ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN
On November 14, we celebrated AO3’s 16th anniversary! \o/
Accessibility, Design & Technology continued to prepare emails for translation and improved how the download and chapter index menus behave with each other on smaller screens.
AO3 Documentation updated the Contacting the Staff FAQ.
Open Doors finished importing Oz Magi, an Oz annual gift exchange, and Stayka’s Saint Seiya Archive, a Saint Seiya archive. They also shared an annual roundup of the fanzine collections created in the last year for fanworks imported through the Fanzine Scan Hosting Project (FSHP) and announced the upcoming import of a Harry Potter archive, PhoenixSong.
In October, Policy & Abuse received 5,061 tickets, setting a record high for the third month in a row. Support received 3,043 tickets. Tag Wrangling wrangled over 600,000 tags, or over 1,380 tags per wrangling volunteer.
Tag Wrangling also continues to create new “No Fandom” canonical tags and announced a new batch of tags for November.
III. ELSEWHERE AT THE OTW
TWC continues to prepare for the two upcoming 2026 special issues: “Disability and Fandom” and “Gaming Fandom”. The submission deadline for the two 2027 special issues, “Music Fandom” and “Latin American Fandoms”, is also quickly approaching on January 1.
In November, the OTW filed an Amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court, arguing that the Supreme Court should clarify the rules surrounding who can challenge a trademark registration application. In a case involving whether someone should own the trademark “Rapunzel” for dolls of the character Rapunzel, the OTW argued that the Trademark Office should consider the interests of the public—including fans—in deciding whether to award private ownership over a word or symbol that may be in the public domain.
Legal also worked with Communications on a news post about recent legislation and have responded to a number of comments and queries on this post and other issues.
IV. GOVERNANCE
Board continued work on annual turnover and meeting with all committees. They made progress on the OTW Procurement Policy and expected to get it finalized soon. They, along with the Board Assistants Team, also continued to work with Volunteers & Recruiting and Organizational Culture Roadmap on the ongoing Code of Conduct review.
Development & Membership has been catching up on post-Drive tasks.
V. OUR VOLUNTEERS
December 5 was International Volunteers Day! As a volunteer-run organization, the OTW would not be possible without the support and diligence of our volunteers. We thank all our volunteers, past and present, for the work they’ve contributed to the OTW.
If you’re curious about volunteering for the OTW, we recruit for various positions on a regular basis, and recruitment will next open in January.
From October 25 to November 22, Volunteers & Recruiting received 287 new requests, and completed 270, leaving them with 63 open requests (including induction and removal tasks listed below). As of November 22, 2025, the OTW has 983 volunteers. \o/ Recent personnel movements are listed below.
New Fanlore Volunteers: Luana and 2 other Chair-Track Volunteers
New Policy & Abuse Volunteers: Anderson, Araxie, corr, Aspenfire, Klm, Mothmantic, Nova Deca, vanishinghorizons, and 1 other Volunteer
New Tag Wrangling Volunteers: 90Percent Human, Aeon, Alecander Seiler, ambystoma, Astrum, Atlas Oak, batoidea, Bette, Bottle, bowekatan, Bruno, Chaosxvi, Destiny, DogsAreTheBest312, Dream, elia faustus, Ellexamines, Elliott W, Gracey, jacksonwangparty, Jean W, Kalico, Keira Gong, Kiru, lamonnaie, Lavender, Loria, Lucia G, LWynn, Max, Nikki, Nioral, noctilucent, Our Hospitality, Primo, Rie, Salethia, Sapphira, sashene, Schnee, Scylle, sneakyowl, soymilk, Thaddeus, TheCrystalRing, thewritegrump, Water, Wintam, yucca, and 1 other Tag Wrangling Volunteer
New Translation Volunteers: 1 Translator
New TWC Volunteers: Lys Benson (Copyeditor)
New User Response Translation Volunteers: Cesium (Translator)
Departing AO3 Documentation Volunteers: 1 Editor
Departing Open Doors Volunteers: Irina, Paula, and 2 other Import Assistants; 1 Administrative Volunteer, and 1 Fan Culture Preservation Project Volunteer
Departing Policy & Abuse Volunteers: 1 Communications News Post Moderation Liaison
Departing Tag Wrangling Volunteers: Julia Santos (Tag Wrangling Supervisor); blackelement7, pan2fel, and 7 other Tag Wrangling Volunteers
Departing Translation Volunteers: weliuona and 2 other Translators
Departing Volunteers & Recruiting Volunteers: Alisande and 2 other Volunteers
For more information about our committees and their regular activities, you can refer to the committee pages on our website.
Will you be there when the flames are high?
Dec. 8th, 2025 04:19 pmgoodbyebirdI had an epic, long, convoluted mess of a Wheel of Time dream last night - maybe because I saw a video from the costume exhibit on Insta right before bed idk - clearly this means today's fandom has already been chosen!
❄️ ❄️ ❄️ ❄️
Rec-cember Day 8
Wheel of Time
the children we once were by![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
QuickYoke (18, 083 words). Moiraine and Siuan, before the Tower. Both stories gripping tightly. Book!verse. Actually a prequel to a 60k fic, but I'll have to save that treat for later! Rec-Cember waits for no one ;)
When she turns a cramped corner in the crawlspace, a needlepoint of light greets her. It's small as a distant star in an otherwise ink black sky, but it is there. Moiraine shuffles forward and presses with all her might. The sound of a faint click, and an opening in the wall slides up to let her out.
Moiraine squeezes through and collapses on the other side, breathing heavily. When she sneezes, a plume of dust shivers off of her like a second skin. The floor beneath her is polished marble in a deep blue and gold pattern. Moiraine would recognise it anywhere. The air around her seems to hum, as though a glass had been struck with the flat edge of a knife and the sound is forever on the brink of fading. With dread rising in her throat, she looks up and climbs to her feet.
Early afternoon light streams through the windows of the throne room, tall and bursting in radiant patterns to mimic the rays that shine through them. Every surface is polished until it feels like standing upon a pane of glass or perhaps still water. The squared pillars and the arched midnight ceiling reflect perfect inversions of themselves down into the ground, so that it is less like walking through a chamber and more like being hung between the infinite space between mirrors; she is an insect suspended in a sea of abyssal amber.
The throne itself is ensconced atop a low-slung dais. Plain and unadorned but for an enormous disk of pure gold that enshrines the head of whosoever dares sit there in a halo. The chamber is empty, but still she wraps her arms around herself, glancing about for sign of any royal guardsmen lurking in the usual places. There are none.
Rec-cember Day 8
Wheel of Time
the children we once were by
When she turns a cramped corner in the crawlspace, a needlepoint of light greets her. It's small as a distant star in an otherwise ink black sky, but it is there. Moiraine shuffles forward and presses with all her might. The sound of a faint click, and an opening in the wall slides up to let her out.
Moiraine squeezes through and collapses on the other side, breathing heavily. When she sneezes, a plume of dust shivers off of her like a second skin. The floor beneath her is polished marble in a deep blue and gold pattern. Moiraine would recognise it anywhere. The air around her seems to hum, as though a glass had been struck with the flat edge of a knife and the sound is forever on the brink of fading. With dread rising in her throat, she looks up and climbs to her feet.
Early afternoon light streams through the windows of the throne room, tall and bursting in radiant patterns to mimic the rays that shine through them. Every surface is polished until it feels like standing upon a pane of glass or perhaps still water. The squared pillars and the arched midnight ceiling reflect perfect inversions of themselves down into the ground, so that it is less like walking through a chamber and more like being hung between the infinite space between mirrors; she is an insect suspended in a sea of abyssal amber.
The throne itself is ensconced atop a low-slung dais. Plain and unadorned but for an enormous disk of pure gold that enshrines the head of whosoever dares sit there in a halo. The chamber is empty, but still she wraps her arms around herself, glancing about for sign of any royal guardsmen lurking in the usual places. There are none.
TV, bird tv, fire tv
Dec. 8th, 2025 02:20 pmcimoreneI intend to watch the three released episodes of Heated Rivalry so I can know what everyone (my wife) is talking about, but I haven't got to it yet. I am obviously spoiled by Tumblr posts but I haven't watched the bits between the gifsets.
I rewatched Derry Girls over the last two weeks while attempting to knit this nephew sweater (made it to first sleeve cuff again, finally!). That show is so good, and it's so frustrating, because there's nothing more that's like it! All the main adult actors are also so good, but none of them have a long back catalogue of other comedy to watch! And of course the writer, Lisa McGee, needs time to write more things.
I have a long list of things I've been intending to watch and rewatch, but it feels like I don't have enough emotional bandwidth, or attention, or something, for starting new long things that are going to be dramatic.
So I've been watching a ton of non fiction instead:
➡️very old Folding Ideas and Hbomberguy videos
➡️Mentour Pilot's back catalog of aviation disaster explainers (previously I was familiar from watching overwaxjism's shoulder)
➡️Defunctland episodes that aren't too Disney-focused (a mention on Tumblr reminded me and I've only seen a few before)
➡️KyleHatesHiking videos about true crime, accidents, and missing persons cases related to hiking and outdoor sports (recommended by my sister last week)
➡️BobbyBroccoli science scandal documentaries (there's a new movie on Nebula, but otherwise I've watched them all before)
Meanwhile Wax is filling our bird feeders (seed and tallow ball) sometimes multiple times a day and the bird traffic is constant. Sipuli will sit by the window watching them like tv. Tristana is happy to sit in a chair facing the woodstove and watch the fire like it's a tv, sometimes for hours.
I rewatched Derry Girls over the last two weeks while attempting to knit this nephew sweater (made it to first sleeve cuff again, finally!). That show is so good, and it's so frustrating, because there's nothing more that's like it! All the main adult actors are also so good, but none of them have a long back catalogue of other comedy to watch! And of course the writer, Lisa McGee, needs time to write more things.
I have a long list of things I've been intending to watch and rewatch, but it feels like I don't have enough emotional bandwidth, or attention, or something, for starting new long things that are going to be dramatic.
So I've been watching a ton of non fiction instead:
➡️very old Folding Ideas and Hbomberguy videos
➡️Mentour Pilot's back catalog of aviation disaster explainers (previously I was familiar from watching over
waxjism's shoulder)➡️Defunctland episodes that aren't too Disney-focused (a mention on Tumblr reminded me and I've only seen a few before)
➡️KyleHatesHiking videos about true crime, accidents, and missing persons cases related to hiking and outdoor sports (recommended by my sister last week)
➡️BobbyBroccoli science scandal documentaries (there's a new movie on Nebula, but otherwise I've watched them all before)
Meanwhile Wax is filling our bird feeders (seed and tallow ball) sometimes multiple times a day and the bird traffic is constant. Sipuli will sit by the window watching them like tv. Tristana is happy to sit in a chair facing the woodstove and watch the fire like it's a tv, sometimes for hours.
(no subject)
Dec. 7th, 2025 04:41 pmysobelWe're on the final boss fight of the campaign. Said boss is hovering over a deep pit -- bad for melee, unless they have some form of flight.
My character rolls the highest initiative.
She is a L20 owlin monk. She has flight. She also has a) 70 feet of movement per turn, and b) magic items (and a feat) that gives extra damage for distance moved in a straight line just before the attack. Oh, and a potion that does bonus
First roll hit a nat 20.
Rolling 20 means damage dice are doubled; if you would normally do 2d6, on a crit you roll 4d6. Between the damage roll (doubled), the extra monk ability I always like to throw in (also doubled, plus poison for a round), and the bonus damage for straight lines (doubled), I did 119 points of damage.
I also have a feat that says if I get a critical hit, all attacks against that creature have advantage until my next turn.
So... a pretty good start.
I love this character.
(...I got a crit the next turn too.)
My character rolls the highest initiative.
She is a L20 owlin monk. She has flight. She also has a) 70 feet of movement per turn, and b) magic items (and a feat) that gives extra damage for distance moved in a straight line just before the attack. Oh, and a potion that does bonus
First roll hit a nat 20.
Rolling 20 means damage dice are doubled; if you would normally do 2d6, on a crit you roll 4d6. Between the damage roll (doubled), the extra monk ability I always like to throw in (also doubled, plus poison for a round), and the bonus damage for straight lines (doubled), I did 119 points of damage.
I also have a feat that says if I get a critical hit, all attacks against that creature have advantage until my next turn.
So... a pretty good start.
I love this character.
(...I got a crit the next turn too.)
Daily Happiness
Dec. 7th, 2025 04:49 pmtorachan1. I walked to the donut shop again this morning and this time tried one of their holiday offerings, a gingerbread donut with biscoff cookie topping. It was really good!
2. The Christmas tree is pretty much finished. If we see some sort of topper we like, we might buy one, but otherwise the decorations are done.
3. Ollie is very curious about what Tuxie is doing out there.
2. The Christmas tree is pretty much finished. If we see some sort of topper we like, we might buy one, but otherwise the decorations are done.
3. Ollie is very curious about what Tuxie is doing out there.
trying to change momentum
Dec. 7th, 2025 07:25 pmmusesfoolThis weekend seemed especially short. I woke up this morning with a headache and spent a couple of hours just lying down with my eyes covered, waiting for the Excedrin to kick in. Then I planned to make cranberry orange scones but my heavy cream was frozen, so that was delayed until it was liquid enough to pour. The funny part is that the recipe wants it to be almost frozen when you use it, but not quite as frozen as mine was.
Anyway, after waiting a bit, I made the scones and they turned out well (pic - that is also my new grey "spatter" pattern quarter sheet pan, lined with parchment).
I didn't make the glaze because I'd planned to sprinkle the scones with cranberry orange sugar, but then I forgot to do that. *hands* They still taste good!
I also made that garlic and bread soup again, but I got distracted and burned my croutons. *sadhair* Soup is still delicious, though. I wish I'd remembered to buy some arugula so I could have soup and salad, but alas, I didn't think of it when I was putting my grocery order together.
Speaking of grocery orders, when did Costco stop selling the 3 lb brick of Philadelphia cream cheese? I need it for the frosting for the red velvet cupcakes for Christmas, but I guess I will have to spend a little more and get what I need from Stop and Shop instead. *hands*
*
Anyway, after waiting a bit, I made the scones and they turned out well (pic - that is also my new grey "spatter" pattern quarter sheet pan, lined with parchment).
I didn't make the glaze because I'd planned to sprinkle the scones with cranberry orange sugar, but then I forgot to do that. *hands* They still taste good!
I also made that garlic and bread soup again, but I got distracted and burned my croutons. *sadhair* Soup is still delicious, though. I wish I'd remembered to buy some arugula so I could have soup and salad, but alas, I didn't think of it when I was putting my grocery order together.
Speaking of grocery orders, when did Costco stop selling the 3 lb brick of Philadelphia cream cheese? I need it for the frosting for the red velvet cupcakes for Christmas, but I guess I will have to spend a little more and get what I need from Stop and Shop instead. *hands*
*
After I gave you the best 17 days of my life!
Dec. 7th, 2025 11:55 pmgoodbyebirdMelissa McCarthy hosted SNL again, and as always she was hilarious. Figured I'd share the holiday themed one!
❄️ ❄️ ❄️ ❄️
Rec-cember Day 7
ST Voyager
Crossing the Line byorphan_account (1,686 words). Excellent Janeway and Seven of Nine in this. Set after Dark Frontier.
She has leaned on Chakotay before, and taken his arm more times than she can count. She has hugged Kes like a mother, even if Kes is beyond their reach entirely now. She has put a steadying palm on B’Elanna’s shoulder, and leaned over Tom at the controls; she has put her arm around Harry, and placed her hand on Neelix’s as he hands her a mug of coffee. She has collapsed against Tuvok before and wept, deriving comfort of her own from his willingness to be close.
All of this is different, of course. Different relationships, different boundaries. But, in the end, it is the same. She is Captain to these people, but in the Delta quadrant, Captain cannot afford to be synonymous with distance.
The difference with Seven is that she is distant from everyone besides Kathryn. That’s a responsibility.
Rec-cember Day 7
ST Voyager
Crossing the Line by
She has leaned on Chakotay before, and taken his arm more times than she can count. She has hugged Kes like a mother, even if Kes is beyond their reach entirely now. She has put a steadying palm on B’Elanna’s shoulder, and leaned over Tom at the controls; she has put her arm around Harry, and placed her hand on Neelix’s as he hands her a mug of coffee. She has collapsed against Tuvok before and wept, deriving comfort of her own from his willingness to be close.
All of this is different, of course. Different relationships, different boundaries. But, in the end, it is the same. She is Captain to these people, but in the Delta quadrant, Captain cannot afford to be synonymous with distance.
The difference with Seven is that she is distant from everyone besides Kathryn. That’s a responsibility.
Movies: M3GAN 2.0, Jurassic World Rebirth, Death of a Unicorn
Dec. 7th, 2025 11:46 pmslippery_fishM3GAN 2.0: I really liked this for the relationship between Gemma and Megan alone. I mean, Megan literally being inside of Gemma and controlling her body? Damn. Also Megan's commentary on Gemma's sex life and what gets her hot... They really went there. I love that for this franchise.
Some seriously hilarious moments and some surprsingly good characterization for a franchise horror comedy. Cady's tendency to react violently is still there and that makes so much sense. Gemma and her new work and how lost she is into her work again even though it's something else this time. Her animosity toward Megan; the thing she made, the thing she failed to do correctly.
Also loved the way tech bros were portrayed. Two very different types but with both I was just thinking: Yep, that fits.
Jurassic World Rebirth: It's a solid action movie without much of an emotional impact but some cool characters. Loomis is righteous but not in an annoying way, and I loved how much he loved the dinosaurs. I also liked Xavier: he is an idiot but also brave and fun. And I was a big fan of Bennet being pragmatic as fuck. Dolores is such a cute gimmick but I'm not even sure what she was doing in this story, there was no point in having her. Also, some fun and some very tense moments.
Death of a Unicorn: This movie felt very random and uneven at times, the characters felt meaningless. Still, it had some really fun moments, especially with the staff and the rich family. The whole "unicorns fall over for Ridley"-thing has to be the shittiest survival strategy every portrayed in a movie and the "bring back the dead"-scene at the end was such bullshit. All in all, disappointing with some cool moments.
Some seriously hilarious moments and some surprsingly good characterization for a franchise horror comedy. Cady's tendency to react violently is still there and that makes so much sense. Gemma and her new work and how lost she is into her work again even though it's something else this time. Her animosity toward Megan; the thing she made, the thing she failed to do correctly.
Also loved the way tech bros were portrayed. Two very different types but with both I was just thinking: Yep, that fits.
Jurassic World Rebirth: It's a solid action movie without much of an emotional impact but some cool characters. Loomis is righteous but not in an annoying way, and I loved how much he loved the dinosaurs. I also liked Xavier: he is an idiot but also brave and fun. And I was a big fan of Bennet being pragmatic as fuck. Dolores is such a cute gimmick but I'm not even sure what she was doing in this story, there was no point in having her. Also, some fun and some very tense moments.
Death of a Unicorn: This movie felt very random and uneven at times, the characters felt meaningless. Still, it had some really fun moments, especially with the staff and the rich family. The whole "unicorns fall over for Ridley"-thing has to be the shittiest survival strategy every portrayed in a movie and the "bring back the dead"-scene at the end was such bullshit. All in all, disappointing with some cool moments.
The Montessori Child: A Parent's Guide to Raising Capable Children...
Dec. 7th, 2025 05:02 pmlightreadsThe Montessori Child
4/5. What it sounds like, focusing mostly on the 6-12 age range, and a bit on the teenage years. A good survey book that passes lightly over a lot of things and gives good recommendations for where to look for deeper info. The sort of book that will say in passing that of course a child’s gender may not be as a parent wants or expects and a parent should follow the child’s lead. Good information delivered in a paragraph whereas the people who need it the most probably need a full book on it. Useful to me largely in that it made me realize that I already know most of this, at least in general. Good to know some things have stuck after all the parent ed Cb’s montessori school does.
4/5. What it sounds like, focusing mostly on the 6-12 age range, and a bit on the teenage years. A good survey book that passes lightly over a lot of things and gives good recommendations for where to look for deeper info. The sort of book that will say in passing that of course a child’s gender may not be as a parent wants or expects and a parent should follow the child’s lead. Good information delivered in a paragraph whereas the people who need it the most probably need a full book on it. Useful to me largely in that it made me realize that I already know most of this, at least in general. Good to know some things have stuck after all the parent ed Cb’s montessori school does.
Dear Platonic Ideal Creator,
Dec. 7th, 2025 03:46 pmsettiaiFirst of all, relax! I'm far from being picky, and I can pretty much guarantee that I'll love whatever you decide to create for me. These are nothing but guidelines, for you to take to heart or ignore to your heart's content. Also, hey! You're writing me fic or drawing me art! That's automatically a good reason for me to love you, no matter what. So, please, keep that in mind. Trust me, you can pretty much do no wrong. ♥
( More details under the cut. )
( More details under the cut. )
Spartacus: House of Ashur 1.01 and 1.02
Dec. 7th, 2025 05:33 pmselenakMore than a decade ago, the tv show Spartacus was a guilty pleasure of mine. I started watching because BtVS and AtS alumnus Steven DeKnight was the showrunner (since then, he's also gathered additional geek cred with the first season of the Netflix Daredevil), and kept watching because as gory and pulpy and trashy as it was, it (after a bad pilot) turned into something compulsively watchable, with interesting characters galore, complicated relationships and good acting. You can read my review of the first season and the prequel season here, of the second season here, and of the third and final season here.
Now a spin-off of said show has just started (in my part of the world, you can watch it on Amazon Prime, but this seems to be different in different countries - like the original show, it gets shown on STARZ in the US) with the first two episodes released. I was alerted to this a few months ago when Steven DeKnight entertainingly shot down the whiny "Woke!" complaints by the usual suspects that started as soon as the first pics were released, showing, OMG, a black woman in a central role among the cast. (Given the original show had several prominent female characters, some of which were poc, and also had canon on screen important m/m relationships, and of course had at its central subject a slave revolt, it beats me why anoyne familiar with said original show should have assumed the show creators being inclined towards the Orance Menace type of entertainment and (lack of) ethos beats me, but there we are. Anyway, the premise of the show per se didn't feel like a must watch to me (more about this later), and I might have hesitated given all the Darth Real Life stuff dodging me, but all the indignation of ignorant fanatics definitely worked as great advertisement. What is the premise? Basically a canon AU, with the title of the spin-off: "Spartacus: House of Ashur" being a giveaway. I.e. it shows what would have happened if one of the original show's villains hadn't ( spoiler for the original show ) - what would have to Ashur, personally, that is, since everything else that happened in the third season of the original show still did happen in the canon AU which starts in what sounds like not even a year after the original show ended. While Ashur had been a good and entertaining villain, I hadn't exactly yearned for a "What if?" about him, yet, see above, external circumstances plus the fact the show really HAD been compulsive watching for me made me tune in and check out the first two episodes.
( Gratitude! )
Now a spin-off of said show has just started (in my part of the world, you can watch it on Amazon Prime, but this seems to be different in different countries - like the original show, it gets shown on STARZ in the US) with the first two episodes released. I was alerted to this a few months ago when Steven DeKnight entertainingly shot down the whiny "Woke!" complaints by the usual suspects that started as soon as the first pics were released, showing, OMG, a black woman in a central role among the cast. (Given the original show had several prominent female characters, some of which were poc, and also had canon on screen important m/m relationships, and of course had at its central subject a slave revolt, it beats me why anoyne familiar with said original show should have assumed the show creators being inclined towards the Orance Menace type of entertainment and (lack of) ethos beats me, but there we are. Anyway, the premise of the show per se didn't feel like a must watch to me (more about this later), and I might have hesitated given all the Darth Real Life stuff dodging me, but all the indignation of ignorant fanatics definitely worked as great advertisement. What is the premise? Basically a canon AU, with the title of the spin-off: "Spartacus: House of Ashur" being a giveaway. I.e. it shows what would have happened if one of the original show's villains hadn't ( spoiler for the original show ) - what would have to Ashur, personally, that is, since everything else that happened in the third season of the original show still did happen in the canon AU which starts in what sounds like not even a year after the original show ended. While Ashur had been a good and entertaining villain, I hadn't exactly yearned for a "What if?" about him, yet, see above, external circumstances plus the fact the show really HAD been compulsive watching for me made me tune in and check out the first two episodes.
( Gratitude! )
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees
Dec. 7th, 2025 01:13 pmscaramoucheI decided to check out the graphic novel Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees based on a rec by the same peeps who'd recced Nice House on the Lake, which I really enjoyed.
Beneath the Trees was recced with a description (paraphrased): it's a horror mystery set in a world of Sylvanian family-like anthropomorphic talking animals. The main character, Samantha Strong, is a brown bear and a serial killer who takes care to only murder victims outside her small town, i.e. don't shit where you eat, that kind of thing. But when another serial killer starts doing Hannibal Lecter-like murder displays in Sam's town, she has to get on the case and find the killer before the police look too closely and catch her instead.
I loved the weird little world of the novel, because although it's populated by talking animals, there are also regular animals, like there are pet dogs, wild bears and raccoons, and the sapient population still eats meat. Among the sapient animals there are families of the same species, but there are also interspecies couples (one prominent couple is a pig and an owl) though I don't recall if any of the interspecies couples have children. The world is never explained and honestly that works better for the story.
The art is also quite lovely like, it has watercolour softness of certain kinds of children's books about talking animals, but not hyperstylized cartoonyness that would be more the norm when a story is about the deliberate clash between its visual style and the gory subject material.
I definitely enjoyed the story overall, and I'm so glad it's a properly completed story, but it's a day later and I'm not thinking about it anymore, which is not what happens with stories I really like. So there's something missing somewhere, and I think it's because the story's pretty straightforward and what it says on the tin, and there's not as much digging into Sam's headspace as a serial killer and ( spoilers ) I think it just didn't go just slightly deeper/eerier, so the story doesn't haunt me as much as it could have, though I still enjoyed the read for what it is.
Beneath the Trees was recced with a description (paraphrased): it's a horror mystery set in a world of Sylvanian family-like anthropomorphic talking animals. The main character, Samantha Strong, is a brown bear and a serial killer who takes care to only murder victims outside her small town, i.e. don't shit where you eat, that kind of thing. But when another serial killer starts doing Hannibal Lecter-like murder displays in Sam's town, she has to get on the case and find the killer before the police look too closely and catch her instead.
I loved the weird little world of the novel, because although it's populated by talking animals, there are also regular animals, like there are pet dogs, wild bears and raccoons, and the sapient population still eats meat. Among the sapient animals there are families of the same species, but there are also interspecies couples (one prominent couple is a pig and an owl) though I don't recall if any of the interspecies couples have children. The world is never explained and honestly that works better for the story.
The art is also quite lovely like, it has watercolour softness of certain kinds of children's books about talking animals, but not hyperstylized cartoonyness that would be more the norm when a story is about the deliberate clash between its visual style and the gory subject material.
I definitely enjoyed the story overall, and I'm so glad it's a properly completed story, but it's a day later and I'm not thinking about it anymore, which is not what happens with stories I really like. So there's something missing somewhere, and I think it's because the story's pretty straightforward and what it says on the tin, and there's not as much digging into Sam's headspace as a serial killer and ( spoilers ) I think it just didn't go just slightly deeper/eerier, so the story doesn't haunt me as much as it could have, though I still enjoyed the read for what it is.
Daily Happiness
Dec. 6th, 2025 08:21 pmtorachan1. I picked up my huge pile of holds at the library, so now I am all set for their closure during Christmas and New Year.
2. We had a nice time at Knott's today. It was very sunny but not super hot (though warmer than I would prefer for December) and we had the most delicious loaded tater tots I've ever had.
3. I got some persimmons at the farmers market today. There are a ton of stalls selling them, but the one I got from had samples out and the sample was very good, so hopefully the ones I bought will be as well! I do love persimmons.
4. Look at these sweetie boys! A lot of times when Ollie comes over for a snuggle Jasper just up and leaves, but this time he stayed an snuggled and gave Ollie some nice grooming.
2. We had a nice time at Knott's today. It was very sunny but not super hot (though warmer than I would prefer for December) and we had the most delicious loaded tater tots I've ever had.
3. I got some persimmons at the farmers market today. There are a ton of stalls selling them, but the one I got from had samples out and the sample was very good, so hopefully the ones I bought will be as well! I do love persimmons.
4. Look at these sweetie boys! A lot of times when Ollie comes over for a snuggle Jasper just up and leaves, but this time he stayed an snuggled and gave Ollie some nice grooming.
Seeking recommendations for puberty books that are fat-positive
Dec. 6th, 2025 07:35 pmlannamichaelsI just read The Care & Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls by Valorie Lee Schaefer for content, focusing on a few things, but primarily ovulation and eating disorders. It doesn't mention ovulation, and while the eating disorder section itself is fine, I wasn't impressed with the overall section on food, and there were other parts of this book that really rubbed me wrong, especially the emphasis on smiling. It's weirdly anti-salt and doesn't seem to believe that insomnia exists.
This book kept making me think "this would be great to use in some kind of dissertation on a very specific culture that this came out of, telling the young girls in this culture how best to grow up to be women." The examples alone of what concerns they thought the girls had about their bodies and their social interactions (they all seem to have very mean friends and want larger breasts, except for the one girl with large breasts, whose friends all dropped her for being ugly and fat. No one is actually fat in this book. Also their bra size chart doesn't go above 36D; people thinking that breasts can't possibly be beyond that was the source of a great many problems in my life, and I kept thinking, while reading this book, that this book would have been negatively helpful to me in my actual experience of puberty.)
So.
Does anyone have recommendations for "what to expect when you're expecting to go through puberty" that are fat-positive? You know, something like "it's very genetic and it's not because you ate too much junk food"?
And is more honest about period pain, and mentions -- at the very least -- ovulation. And that you can get back pain from your breasts.
And also -- okay, there were a bunch of things in this book that made me go "this is the opposite of helpful, I understand why you think it's helpful, but trust me, while you're not contributing to the problem, you're also not helping."
But really, the fat-positive thing would be helpful, and also more realistic about numbers on scales, please and thank you.
(And maybe ones that don't assume everyone has a mom???? I'm just. I'm just. This book is so oddly heteronormative for a book that has nothing in it about dating.)
on the first roll of the dice
Dec. 6th, 2025 08:25 pmmusesfoolI was so glad to log off last night and put a period on this work week. This morning, I had to be up for the cleaning service at 9 am, and they told me the company is closing, but the team who has been cleaning my place for the last 7 years is going out on their own and wants to keep me as a client, so I will get in touch with them in the new year to set up the new arrangement. I hope it all goes smoothly!
I also made another 2 lbs of candied pecans, so I have six jars filled and have to wash the other jars so they can also be filled.
Then I took a nap that felt way longer than it was, and so even though it's only like 8:20 I keep thinking it's 11:30 pm or something. Time is so weird.
*
I also made another 2 lbs of candied pecans, so I have six jars filled and have to wash the other jars so they can also be filled.
Then I took a nap that felt way longer than it was, and so even though it's only like 8:20 I keep thinking it's 11:30 pm or something. Time is so weird.
*
2025 Knott's Trip #3 (12/6/25)
Dec. 6th, 2025 05:06 pmtorachanSince I unfortunately didn't realize Disneyland reservations were going to be so hard to get this month and didn't think ahead, the earliest reservation we could get for after Carla got home from her trip is this Monday, so we decided to go to Knott's today and check out their Christmas stuff.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Best books & manga I read this year
Dec. 7th, 2025 11:39 amthawreckalittlerhymes asked: "Standout books/comics/manga you read this year"I was like, what did I even read this year? I feel like I've had more trouble this year than ever remembering what I actually experienced within the calendar year.
Goodreads to the rescue! I gave up on my reading spreadsheet early but I did dutifully log books on GR.
My favourites of the year:
Colette Decides to Die, volumes 1 to 3 by Alto Yukimura - the title makes it sound very grim, but this is a charming shoujo series about an overworked apothecary suffering burnout who decides to jump in the well when she's particularly exhausted, and instead of dying she meets Hades who is also overworked and suffering burnout and needs medical help. Through the relationship they develop, they learn the importance of delegating! And they have adventures! There's also a bit of a romantic element, but that hasn't progressed far in the volumes I've read.
It's a particularly soft & kawaii version of the Greek gods, but why not after all. I'm charmed by it. (I see a lot of discourse on the tumbles about how Greek gods are terrible and shitty in the ancient texts and therefore should only be terrible and shitty in modern fiction, but like, when I want terrible and shitty iterations of the Greek gods those ancient plays and poems already exist for me to enjoy...)
I did catch up on the last three volumes of Natsume's Book of Friends and it's still excellent and amazing and heartwarming & etc.
The more I think about A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon after the fact, the more I appreciate it. Such neat and tidy plotting, a nice spot of social commentary, and a fun story with cute illustrations, all in a slim 176 pages.
Butter by Asako Yuzuki is the best book about a female serial killer I read all year. I like how messy and textured it is, how atmospheric, how rounded the characterisation feels, the insights it has into Japanese culture and the way it treats women, bodies and food. It doesn't come to any comfortable conclusions, and yet the ending still feels optimistic, and I appreciate how much space it allowed for ambiguity.
[Daf Yomi] Zevachim perek 6-8
Dec. 6th, 2025 05:40 pmlannamichaelsMy notes on these. Still not much to say but it's been, quite frankly, better than Nashim.
( Read more... )
FIC: The View from T'Khut (Complete).
Dec. 6th, 2025 05:10 pmlaurajvThe View from T'Khut (50669 words) by Laura JV
Chapters: 9/9
Fandom: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Spock/Nyota Uhura, James T. Kirk/Spock, Sarek & Spock (Star Trek), Spock & Spock Prime, James T. Kirk & Spock
Characters: Spock (Star Trek), Spock Prime, James T. Kirk, Nyota Uhura, T'Pau (Star Trek), Sarek (Star Trek), Vulcan Characters (Star Trek), Crew of the Starship Enterprise
Additional Tags: Vulcan Culture (Star Trek), Vulcan Mind Melds (Star Trek), Vulcan Language (Star Trek), jj abrams should be ashamed of himself, Vulcan history, Vulcan mythology, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, symbiotic red algae
Series: Part 1 of The View from T'Khut
Summary:
Chapters: 9/9
Fandom: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Spock/Nyota Uhura, James T. Kirk/Spock, Sarek & Spock (Star Trek), Spock & Spock Prime, James T. Kirk & Spock
Characters: Spock (Star Trek), Spock Prime, James T. Kirk, Nyota Uhura, T'Pau (Star Trek), Sarek (Star Trek), Vulcan Characters (Star Trek), Crew of the Starship Enterprise
Additional Tags: Vulcan Culture (Star Trek), Vulcan Mind Melds (Star Trek), Vulcan Language (Star Trek), jj abrams should be ashamed of himself, Vulcan history, Vulcan mythology, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, symbiotic red algae
Series: Part 1 of The View from T'Khut
Summary:
Part I: The Absent World. The planet vanishes, but her people go on.
Part II: An Archaeology of Loss. The world-death left a scar in spacetime, and a void in the heart of the Federation.
Part III: Time and Darkness. In which Ambassador Spock fires unexpected shots.
"Catch Your Death" by Ravena Guron
Dec. 6th, 2025 09:12 pmslippery_fishThe matriarch of a rich family dies during family dinner. The house is isolated, snow cutting it off from the rest of the world. Other than the family, only three girls are around, each with their own reason to be there.
Told from three different POV, the novel covers the aftermath of the murder. Devi, Lizzie and Jayne make for good protags. Different voices and background, and they fit well into the story. Also, they only weren't unreliable narrators for the audience, the same goes for their relationships and what they told each other. That was fun.
I liked the setting of the first part of the book. That sprawling house with freaking secret passageways is so cool.
I kinda can imagine this a a YA Amazon show, I think it would be fun like this.
Told from three different POV, the novel covers the aftermath of the murder. Devi, Lizzie and Jayne make for good protags. Different voices and background, and they fit well into the story. Also, they only weren't unreliable narrators for the audience, the same goes for their relationships and what they told each other. That was fun.
I liked the setting of the first part of the book. That sprawling house with freaking secret passageways is so cool.
I kinda can imagine this a a YA Amazon show, I think it would be fun like this.
At Midnight Comes the Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming
Dec. 6th, 2025 03:55 pmlightreadsAt Midnight Comes the Cry
3/5. Tenth in this series of mysteries about the episcopal priest and the police chief (they are married with baby at this point).
I’m always happy to spend more time with these characters, but I’m gonna be honest here: I come to this series for small town stuff and mysteries and a light but intense approach to relationships. I do not come for white nationalist terrorism or action movie stuff. And yet, guess what I got here.
This also feels like a final book, with a weirdly pasted on ‘five years later’ epilogue. Which is fine if that’s how it is, but I was disappointed in the treatment that a secondary couple got. She is so good at relationships that shouldn’t work but do. In this case, a divorced woman in her thirties with young kids and a history in the porn industry, and an early twenties rookie on the police force. She does messy but magnetic so well, and she let them develop over many books. So I found the conclusion(?) to their story here, and how little attention was paid to the thorny emotional stuff between them, to be uncharacteristic and disappointing. Same take on the resolution(?) of the addiction plotline.
Content notes: White nationalism of several flavors, violence (domestic and otherwise)
3/5. Tenth in this series of mysteries about the episcopal priest and the police chief (they are married with baby at this point).
I’m always happy to spend more time with these characters, but I’m gonna be honest here: I come to this series for small town stuff and mysteries and a light but intense approach to relationships. I do not come for white nationalist terrorism or action movie stuff. And yet, guess what I got here.
This also feels like a final book, with a weirdly pasted on ‘five years later’ epilogue. Which is fine if that’s how it is, but I was disappointed in the treatment that a secondary couple got. She is so good at relationships that shouldn’t work but do. In this case, a divorced woman in her thirties with young kids and a history in the porn industry, and an early twenties rookie on the police force. She does messy but magnetic so well, and she let them develop over many books. So I found the conclusion(?) to their story here, and how little attention was paid to the thorny emotional stuff between them, to be uncharacteristic and disappointing. Same take on the resolution(?) of the addiction plotline.
Content notes: White nationalism of several flavors, violence (domestic and otherwise)
Now I Know What A TV Dinner Feels Like.
Dec. 6th, 2025 05:59 pmgoodbyebird+ Oh no I've pretty much eaten all my fancy chocolate :( I got a bag of random leftovers when I ordered a box for my mom for Christmas (Jentene På Tunet, BEST chocolate I've had in my life), and now there's only four pieces left. Rip.
+ I did pick up a packet of gf gnocchi yesterday, guess it's time for a very carb dinner :D
+ Decided to shuffle the list so I don't run out of femslash recs; today have a gen offering!
❄️ ❄️ ❄️ ❄️
Rec-cember Day 6
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Jewish Christmas byryfkah (632 words). Happy dancing whenever I find a cute holiday themed rec for this ;D
Ensconced in the supply closet, Jake told Amy, grimly, “Nutcracker Ballet.”
Amy gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.
“I thought it was bad when I caught her standing for 20 minutes staring at the tree in the front office --” Jake grabbed for Amy’s hands. “Babe, you gotta help me here. I am wildly unqualified to salvage Rosa’s Christmas. I have one single Christmas card to play, and while I’m obviously always happy to play that card --”
Amy winced, and shook her head. “You know Rosa still hasn’t forgiven Bruce Willis for A Good Day to Die Hard. Giving her a very Die Hard Christmas is just going to fill her with additional rage.”
+ I did pick up a packet of gf gnocchi yesterday, guess it's time for a very carb dinner :D
+ Decided to shuffle the list so I don't run out of femslash recs; today have a gen offering!
Rec-cember Day 6
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Jewish Christmas by
Ensconced in the supply closet, Jake told Amy, grimly, “Nutcracker Ballet.”
Amy gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.
“I thought it was bad when I caught her standing for 20 minutes staring at the tree in the front office --” Jake grabbed for Amy’s hands. “Babe, you gotta help me here. I am wildly unqualified to salvage Rosa’s Christmas. I have one single Christmas card to play, and while I’m obviously always happy to play that card --”
Amy winced, and shook her head. “You know Rosa still hasn’t forgiven Bruce Willis for A Good Day to Die Hard. Giving her a very Die Hard Christmas is just going to fill her with additional rage.”
Thirty Six Years
Dec. 6th, 2025 08:19 ammuccamukkThirty-six years ago today, a lone gunman murdered fourteen women at Polytechnique Montréal, before taking his own life.
The names of the women were:
Geneviève Bergeron
Hélène Colgan
Nathalie Croteau
Barbara Daigneault
Anne-Marie Edward
Maud Haviernick
Maryse Laganière
Maryse Leclair
Anne-Marie Lemay
Sonia Pelletier
Michèle Richard
Annie St-Arneault
Annie Turcotte
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz
CBC: Montreal to honour 14 victims of Polytechnique massacre at ceremony.
Globe & Mail: Progress on combatting intimate-partner violence stalling under new government, advocates fear.
The names of the women were:
Hélène Colgan
Nathalie Croteau
Barbara Daigneault
Anne-Marie Edward
Maud Haviernick
Maryse Laganière
Maryse Leclair
Anne-Marie Lemay
Sonia Pelletier
Michèle Richard
Annie St-Arneault
Annie Turcotte
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz
CBC: Montreal to honour 14 victims of Polytechnique massacre at ceremony.
Globe & Mail: Progress on combatting intimate-partner violence stalling under new government, advocates fear.
can't sleep, prestige TV will eat me
Dec. 6th, 2025 09:41 amthe_shoshannaI have watched the first two episodes of Heated Rivalry, and omg it is so much fun (and I find it better than the book tbh; the book sometimes felt awkwardly written and the show just smooths out and amplifies so many great moments). I haven't watched the third episode yet and am desperate to, but I also kind of want to reread Game Changer first, just slam through it this morning, so I can better recognize the ways it's been adapted. (And of course I want to reread the book of Heated Rivalry as well, just to see if my memory is betraying me!) And I just learned twenty minutes ago that a sequel series to Spartacus just dropped and I'm dying to check it out. And how did I miss that there was a third series of Leverage: Redemption? (And on top of all those things that are sitting on my hard drive absolutely alluring me, I'm watching The Pitt with a friend -- her first time through it; my second -- and watching the current series of Shetland both with Geoff and with another friend, and already counting the days until the Call the Midwife Christmas special drops -- and omg it's specials, plural, we get one on the 25th and a second one on the 26th and then the new series presumably sometime in the spring.)
I have to prep to help lead service at church tomorrow morning, and all I want to do today is read Rachel Reid and watch TV. Can't I just stay home and worship at the Church of Bubble Butts?
I have to prep to help lead service at church tomorrow morning, and all I want to do today is read Rachel Reid and watch TV. Can't I just stay home and worship at the Church of Bubble Butts?
Aryana (20.1% completed)
Dec. 6th, 2025 05:11 pmscaramoucheI'm 38 episodes into 189 for Aryana and I'm so mad because the channel I had been watching the show on has been deleted! Not all is lost, because another official youtube channel uploaded the whole series a month ago (it's the same one that had the whole Raya Sirena series), BUT the old channel had (1) stats and comments accumulated over NINE years, so I could see which episodes were popular and read the comments that came with them, and (2) two-sentence episode summaries in English under the video, which had been SO helpful in letting me follow the show without having to audio translate everything, plus they were written well - succinct and not spoilery for any big twists in the episode.
It's just my luck that the rights transferred or whatever happened that the old channel was deleted while I was still making my way through the show. >:(
Storywise Aryana has hit her fourteenth birthday and we have finally reached the first full mermaid transformation. All the relatively mundane soap opera drama is presumably gonna take a bit of a hit as we now deal with Aryana and her family's freaking out, and I actually like that because the mundane stuff was annoying me. I'd last posted that I enjoyed Aryana's dynamic in her fancy school, but then the show upped Megan's bullying of her that even Bebet fell for Megan's propaganda and temporarily ditched Aryana, so we got multiple episodes of Aryana crying and being ostracized.
The third love interest boy still hasn't shown up yet either! I've been wishing he would because the Hubert vs. Marlon stuff has been agonizing, but in a soap opera way that I can't hate on. Hubert has confessed his feelings and got a positive response from Aryana, but that fell apart because Marlon knows that Hubert has another agenda about Aryana. Marlon is being very annoying about it, but he's not wrong! Hubert is suspicious! Is this why they added a third boy? I will be curious to see how that goes.
It's just my luck that the rights transferred or whatever happened that the old channel was deleted while I was still making my way through the show. >:(
Storywise Aryana has hit her fourteenth birthday and we have finally reached the first full mermaid transformation. All the relatively mundane soap opera drama is presumably gonna take a bit of a hit as we now deal with Aryana and her family's freaking out, and I actually like that because the mundane stuff was annoying me. I'd last posted that I enjoyed Aryana's dynamic in her fancy school, but then the show upped Megan's bullying of her that even Bebet fell for Megan's propaganda and temporarily ditched Aryana, so we got multiple episodes of Aryana crying and being ostracized.
The third love interest boy still hasn't shown up yet either! I've been wishing he would because the Hubert vs. Marlon stuff has been agonizing, but in a soap opera way that I can't hate on. Hubert has confessed his feelings and got a positive response from Aryana, but that fell apart because Marlon knows that Hubert has another agenda about Aryana. Marlon is being very annoying about it, but he's not wrong! Hubert is suspicious! Is this why they added a third boy? I will be curious to see how that goes.
New Vid: Philip Swift/Syrena Fan Video - Sirens
Dec. 5th, 2025 11:13 pmbrokenframe posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
vidding(no subject)
Dec. 5th, 2025 10:39 pmysobelSo my plan of quitting Duo at 4K days has gone from "vaguely in the future" to, uh, tomorrow.
It feels weird. And me being me, I'm second guessing myself. But then in a matching exercise it gave me patada (kick, as far as I can tell a noun) on the Spanish side and "to give somebody the push" on the English side, and that is a) a British phrase for firing someone, b) that is a verb, c) an unlikely translation, and d) completely novel to me both in general and on Duo and thus unhelpful for learning.
So, tomorrow is my last session and then I'm done.
It feels weird. And me being me, I'm second guessing myself. But then in a matching exercise it gave me patada (kick, as far as I can tell a noun) on the Spanish side and "to give somebody the push" on the English side, and that is a) a British phrase for firing someone, b) that is a verb, c) an unlikely translation, and d) completely novel to me both in general and on Duo and thus unhelpful for learning.
So, tomorrow is my last session and then I'm done.
The Bipolar Jets of KX Andromedae
Dec. 6th, 2025 06:16 amapod_feed
Blasting outward from variable star KX Andromedae,
Daily Happiness
Dec. 5th, 2025 07:15 pmtorachan1. Carla's aunt let us know to be expecting a delivery of Lou Malnati's x Portillo's Italian beef pizzas. She's ordered their frozen pizzas for us for Christmas in the past and they're really good. (Carla has had them in person, but I never have.) Apparently they were having a deal on the 4 pizza package, so that's what she got. Good thing we've been working to clean out the freezer recently and should actually have room for four frozen pizzas.
2. So glad it's the weekend!
3. Carla took the car in this morning and they were able to find that the AC system has a leak, which is causing the issue of no AC but unable to determine yet where the leak is, so they still need to keep it at least for tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be as long as last time, but at least we have the other car.
4. The Playstation Portal came today and after three separate system updates and two controller updates, I got it set up and can now play from the comfort of my desk chair. :D
5. Molly was super playful and writhing around on my rug the other day. She's usually so calm and composed, so it's super cute to watch.
2. So glad it's the weekend!
3. Carla took the car in this morning and they were able to find that the AC system has a leak, which is causing the issue of no AC but unable to determine yet where the leak is, so they still need to keep it at least for tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be as long as last time, but at least we have the other car.
4. The Playstation Portal came today and after three separate system updates and two controller updates, I got it set up and can now play from the comfort of my desk chair. :D
5. Molly was super playful and writhing around on my rug the other day. She's usually so calm and composed, so it's super cute to watch.
It's (almost) the most wonderful time of the year!
Dec. 5th, 2025 05:33 pmsdwolfpupThat's right - next month More Joy Day is back for the 19th year in a row!
What's More Joy Day? In short it's this:
Every year since 2008, in the interest of spreading more joy, I’ve proposed that on a designated day in early January we each engage in one act, either online or physical space (or both!), which brings joy to another person, in the hopes that that person will spread that joy further, and exponentially onward.
This act can be as simple as leaving a comment on a fanwork to as complicated as planting a tree or flower in someone's honor and sharing a photo of it and why you chose that person. If you want the longer version (and more suggestions) you can check out this tumblr post from 2024 which provides both.
In 2026, More Joy Day will be Thursday, January 8!
(The first MJ Days were on Thursdays, and then I moved them to Fridays, but I'm going back to Thursday this year because I think a regular work day could use more joy than a Friday. Let's see how it goes.)
On More Joy Day, I'll post here and you can share your MJ Day activity so other people can feel the radiating waves of joy just from reading about it. :) I hope to see you there!
Weekly Reading
Dec. 5th, 2025 04:32 pmtorachanRecently Finished
The Treehouse Library
The Last Bookwanderer
Last two books in the Pages & Co series. I really enjoyed these books!
What Kind of Paradise
This was good enough but extremely predictable. A girl has been raised alone with her conspiracy theorist/isolationist father in the woods and told her mother died when she was a child. Then one day her father takes her on a trip with him and she finds out everything she knew was a lie. ( spoilers but I don't think anyone would be surprised )
Murder at the Orpheus Theatre
Fourth in the Tate and Bell series. This time I remembered not to get the audiobook because I don't really like the narrator, and it was a much more pleasant experience. The library doesn't have anything but the audiobooks, which is why I kept getting those, but I recently signed up for Kindle Unlimited, and these are on there, so I can read them for "free" that way.
Death of a Hollow Man
Second in the Midsomer Murder series. The beginning of this was verrrrrrry slow and the murder did not happen until well after the halfway point. I prefer my mysteries to get started with things sooner, but I did enjoy it well enough in the end.
The Witches of Silverlake vol. 1
Graphic novel about a group of queer teens who play at being witches but then suddenly supernatural stuff starts happening for real. I liked this okay. It did end on a huge cliffhanger, so if another volume is released at some point I will probably check it out. I couldn't find any info about further volumes, though.
The Treehouse Library
The Last Bookwanderer
Last two books in the Pages & Co series. I really enjoyed these books!
What Kind of Paradise
This was good enough but extremely predictable. A girl has been raised alone with her conspiracy theorist/isolationist father in the woods and told her mother died when she was a child. Then one day her father takes her on a trip with him and she finds out everything she knew was a lie. ( spoilers but I don't think anyone would be surprised )
Murder at the Orpheus Theatre
Fourth in the Tate and Bell series. This time I remembered not to get the audiobook because I don't really like the narrator, and it was a much more pleasant experience. The library doesn't have anything but the audiobooks, which is why I kept getting those, but I recently signed up for Kindle Unlimited, and these are on there, so I can read them for "free" that way.
Death of a Hollow Man
Second in the Midsomer Murder series. The beginning of this was verrrrrrry slow and the murder did not happen until well after the halfway point. I prefer my mysteries to get started with things sooner, but I did enjoy it well enough in the end.
The Witches of Silverlake vol. 1
Graphic novel about a group of queer teens who play at being witches but then suddenly supernatural stuff starts happening for real. I liked this okay. It did end on a huge cliffhanger, so if another volume is released at some point I will probably check it out. I couldn't find any info about further volumes, though.
(no subject)
Dec. 5th, 2025 05:31 pmwaterswordOn this Bandcamp Friday, I have purchased the entirety of Dessa's discography; made a loaf of bread for potluck Shabbat services tonight; gone to the makerspace to continue sanding the drawer divider pieces I made with the laser cutter earlier this week; picked up my CSA box; nearly froze to death waiting for the bus home.
New community: Voice in my ear
Dec. 6th, 2025 08:46 ammerrileemakes posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_community_promovoiceinmyear, a community to share any kind of audio-based narrative entertainment. Here you can recommend, critique, signal boost or otherwise enthuse about:- podcasts, both fiction and non-fiction
- audiobooks
- podfics
- audio essays - YouTube or other video formats are fine as long as it can be enjoyed without visuals
- apps, platforms or websites to access or discover any of the above.
Just created and I'm keen to post some content soon, but also thrilled if anyone else wants to jump in and share some aural joy.
Vids that will never be: A Clone Wars ship I don't ship but I would watch this vid
Dec. 5th, 2025 04:10 pmpetraI don't actually ship Rex/Echo, but that doesn't stop me from wanting a Lord King Bad Vid to For Good for the very simple reason that Rex is going to be with Echo like a handprint on his heart.
I feel like this needs a good bunch of Bad Batch, which I have not seen, in much the same way that I have only seen Wicked on stage once, and haven't seen the movies.
I also can't listen to the song without tearing up because I've sung it at too many funerals.
Clearly I am highly qualified to care about this vid. I must've gotten someone else's inspiration particle.
I feel like this needs a good bunch of Bad Batch, which I have not seen, in much the same way that I have only seen Wicked on stage once, and haven't seen the movies.
I also can't listen to the song without tearing up because I've sung it at too many funerals.
Clearly I am highly qualified to care about this vid. I must've gotten someone else's inspiration particle.
It's not Rule 34 if it's not porn - Skippy's List, Clone Wars edition
Dec. 5th, 2025 03:12 pmpetraBack in the day, the 213 things Skippy is no longer allowed to do in the U.S. Army made the rounds of the internet.
The one that stuck with me hardest:
87. If the thought of something makes me giggle for longer than 15 seconds, I am to assume that I am not allowed to do it.
This came to mind because I thought of a great tag that will baffle the good wranglers at the AO3, but which I will apply to the story forthwith, despite its having made me giggle for longer than 15 seconds.
Then I started wondering.
These are the fanworks on AO3 tagged with Skippy's List. Happily, various people have written Clone Wars versions so I don't have to.
The one that stuck with me hardest:
87. If the thought of something makes me giggle for longer than 15 seconds, I am to assume that I am not allowed to do it.
This came to mind because I thought of a great tag that will baffle the good wranglers at the AO3, but which I will apply to the story forthwith, despite its having made me giggle for longer than 15 seconds.
Then I started wondering.
These are the fanworks on AO3 tagged with Skippy's List. Happily, various people have written Clone Wars versions so I don't have to.
Please give me excuses to talk about my hyperfixations (again)
Dec. 5th, 2025 08:07 pmrydra_wongLargely the same as before:
Except that THANK FUCK my friend is now out of the Very Bad Situation (and please let him remain so, please please please).
My brain is just trying to eat itself because it's prone to doing that and it's been a very very hard year (and I'm having yet another IC flare-up, joy).
Currently trying to support a friend in a Very Bad Situation and it's desperately anxiety-inducing and my brain is trying to eat itself, which also makes me less useful as support, which is bad.
So if anyone would like to ask or discuss anything about Prophet or Dark Souls or IWTV or climbing or, you know, any of the somewhat cheering topics I sometimes ramble about, PLEASE DO. "More of a comment than a question" questions also very welcome.
I cannot guarantee replies in a timely or consistent manner (because of the Situation and also the bad state of my brain) but it would be deeply appreciated nonetheless.
Except that THANK FUCK my friend is now out of the Very Bad Situation (and please let him remain so, please please please).
My brain is just trying to eat itself because it's prone to doing that and it's been a very very hard year (and I'm having yet another IC flare-up, joy).