jmtorres | Reading

Partway through watching The Devil's Plan season 1, I did a quick search on youtube for TDP-related content to get an idea if TDP is/was popular. The algorithm fed me a video by

TaranArmstrong commentating over Genius Game, a UK version of the original The Genius, which I forgot existed but at least knew existed at all because David Tennant is the "host". (Not really, he's in prerecorded video footage explaining the games and tallying results, but he's not physically there to host.)

I watched bits of Taran's videos and really enjoyed his commentary! He has a good handle on strategy and figuring out game mechanics to explain them in ways that I can understand (a blessing!), plus he has a good grip on the social aspects of the game. Most important though, I think, is that Taran's upbeat energy is nice and he gets invested in a fun-to-watch way, with good humour, and it's fun to see him so critical of Genius Game's mostly wishy-washy players and the UK audience's dislike of complicated games. The reason the algo fed me his videos is because he mentions that he loved TDP season 1 and wants to do commentary over TDP season 2. He couldn't upload the videos to youtube, so he put them on patreon instead, so I figured hey, once I started watching TDP season 2, I can intersperse that with his commentary videos.

TDP season 2 I think starts strong, there's a good selection of contestants, some of whom are well familiar with board games and/or card games, and the showrunners changed the format up where instead of two players going to prison at the end of every main match, half the players would go there, and instead of a prize match that all the non-prison players have to play to get prize money, there's a death match where all the prison players have to play to survive. Plus because the thing about season 1 was the hidden prison game, both sets of players immediately get on trying to figure out the hidden games in both areas, which are found pretty early in the season.

Unfortunately as the season went on, the flaw in the overall game design had an accumulative effect, and it got to a point where I found myself enjoying the show less and less, and ended up mostly (though not always) watching Taran's commentaries instead of the actual episodes. I bailed entirely in episode 10 of 12. I might go back, I might not, but it's just not fun anymore.

( Cut the rest for length. )

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: (G)I-DLE - My Bag

torachan

1. They announced the amounts for our biannual bonus and the pre-tax amount is a little higher than last time. Not sure what the take-home amount will be, but I'll find out next Friday. (The day after my birthday, so that's a nice present.)

2. For some reason this week has felt so long. Like every day I've felt like it must be Friday. Even Monday! And now tomorrow is finally Friday! I'm excited about that. Taking next Thursday off for the aforementioned birthday, so it will be a short week, too. (And then the week after that I get that Friday off for 4th of July, so two short weeks in a row!)

3. Tuxie looks so contented.

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250619.html

unfinishedidea

...hi: I have pretty much not been on any kind of social media at all for the past two years since twitter imploded the first time around. On the one hand, I think it's done wonders for my mental health. On the other hand, I miss being part of a fannish community.

If I'm really being honest with myself, though, I've never been terribly good at building and maintaining close friendships online or being consistently active in fandom, so it's definitely rose-tinted nostalgia.

gateway drugs: I have somehow in the year of our lord 2025 gotten into Generation Kill. Specifically, Brad/Nate. Listen, I don't even fucking know. It was huge among many of my mutuals when the show first came out, and I had zero interest in it at the time. All I can say is that it's The Pitt's fault (speaking of: yes, I did binge all of it; yes, I do ship Robby/Jack; yes, I'm a little appalled that I appear to be in the Old Man Yaoi phase of my fannish life).

I am sure a ton of good fic has either disappeared into the ether (insert obligatory complaint about how whoever said nothing dies on the internet has never tried to find old fic for a long dead fandom) or is in the bowels of LJ, so if anyone has any non-AO3 recs, 👀. I am devouring pretty much everything on AO3.

I still don't really have any interest in watching the show or reading any of the books, so we'll see how long this obsession lasts.

not quite like riding a bike: uhhh, what else. I want to write fic?

Screenshot of Eleanor from The Good Place saying, 'Well, I tried to want to.'

Screenshot of Eleanor from The Good Place saying, 'Well, I tried to want to.'

In all seriousness, I do, but I never developed healthy methods of writing. Most everything I've written that I've ended up posting has been completed in either bouts of hypomanic productivity or under extreme stress due to deadlines.

I have a bajillion WIPs that I haven't worked on for years. I've been flirting with the idea of posting some 75% completed fics on and off for a while. No promises, though.

and now for something completely different: I've been obsessively watching this dance choreo on repeat. It's enthralling, mostly likely due to some combination of the song, the chemistry between Sean & Kaycee, and Kaycee's performance in general.

Watch on YouTube

china_shop

Title: Whatever It Takes to Bring You Back (5691 words) [Teen and Up]
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei, Zhao Yunlan, Wu Tian'en, Ding Dun
Additional Tags: Whump, Pain, Loss of Agency, Episode Related, episode 17, Zhao Yunlan's first trip to Dixing does not end well, Until it does, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hurt!Zhao Yunlan, hurt!Shen Wei, Get Together, First Kiss (for one of them)

Summary:

“Shen Wei! You’re here—” Zhao Yunlan was sobbing. Then he screamed again, curling in on himself and clutching his forearm. “Fuck, this hurts! Get it—this—get it out of me! Help, Shen Wei—”

Something was very wrong. Even if he were terribly injured, Zhao Yunlan wouldn’t permit panic into his voice. He would make jokes, not scream for help. How much agony must he be in, to have broken like this?

china_shop

Previous poll review
In the The Tower poll, by far the most popular princess is the cat (63%), so I guess it's a cat tower. Runner up is the dragon princess with 47.8%, and third is the minotaur princess (32.6%), who I imagine is enjoying the view after so much time shut up in a labyrinth.

In ticky-boxes, rescue dragons came second to hugs, 60.9% to 69.6%, and puppies came third with 45.7%. Thank you for your votes!!

Reading
Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently by Steve Silberman, narrated by William Hope. This is (understandably) more about parenting than I was expecting, so I don't know that I'm getting a huge amount out of it. But it's well-written and well-read, and I'll keep going a bit further. (It's over 20 hours.)

Maybe a little more of The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander -- I'm not sure if I've got back to this since I last posted. I'm awaiting new intermediate glasses, which I'm hoping will make life easier and mean I can read on my exercise machine again, without having to set the font size to "huge". (Breaking news: ageing is overrated.)

Guardian by priest -- I think we're nearly through the epic (in both senses) mythology dump, and we'll soon be getting back to what I think of as the main plot arc.

Release Your Persona by Yeaze (Korean BL manhwa) (via

reviews_and_ramblings, which I found via

cornerofmadness) -- this sure was an education in how porny BL manhwa are. It's a short-and-sweet celeb/non-celeb romance. Very cute (and did I mention E-rated?).

No Peter Whimsy this week because I disliked the narrator of the audiobook.

Kdramas
Our Unwritten Seoul -- okay, I'm loving this story of adult twins who swap lives; it's interesting and hopeful without being fluffy. Curious to see where it's going, and (of course) impatient for secrets to come out.

Sell Your Haunted House -- rewatch continues. Such a good show.

Other TV
The first episode of Étoile, a ballet drama created by the Sherman-Palladinos (of Gilmore Girls and Marvelous Mrs. Maisel fame). Seems fun so far. We'll get back to it.

Finished the first season of the Argentinian show, El Eternauta, and I totally see why it was recommended to go in unspoiled (I agree!), but just ftr, the season doesn't wrap up. It's one of those gear-shift to-be-continued endings. Still, it was fascinating and I always appreciate a different-from-the-usual-suspects setting. (

laireshi, if you happen to be reading this, this show hits one of your DNWs.)

Turning Point: The Vietnam War continues to be excellent; really impressive range of interview subjects from all sides. Murderbot is still really fun. Finished season 5 of The Expanse. The school episode of Poker Face and the con artist one (John Cho & Melanie Lynskey 4 eva), and episodes 4 & 5 of Andor season 2.

Guardian/Fandom
My fannish activity consists of the readalong, the polls, and writing -- which is all so much fun and plenty to keep me busy.

Audio entertainment
Writing Excuses, a lot of Coherent (local politics argh), and a couple of episodes of Midnight Burger because I was starving for fiction. (Episode 7 was so good I made Andrew listen to it. I'm not sure it worked as well out of context, but mostly I just liked the physics conversation anyway.)

Writing/making things
I'm still writing! This is a pretty great streak for me. How long can it last? Trying to finish a minor character/outsider POV flashfic for tomorrow's

fan_flashworks deadline (prompt: Yield), and I still have the Guardian bingo prompts for June on my mind. One day I'll get back to my WIPs.

Also, there's been author reveals, so I can say that I picked up a pinch hit for

whumpex, which was really fun. I had not previously thought I'd enjoy writing a fic where Zhao Yunlan spends most of it screaming in pain, but... you live, you learn.

Life/health/mental state things
( Idek. )

Good things
Sunshine and biking. The bakery at Greta Point, with its delicious cinnamon rolls and seed-strewn rye sourdough. Achieving getting my car fixed. Writing! Guardian and comments and polls and the readalong and happy brain-sparky times and people. My favourite hand cream courtesy of

mergatrude. Crosswords. Kdramas. My arms are holding up pretty well.

Poll #33270 Impending doom of the natural variety

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 28

View Respondents

What natural disaster threat(s) do you live with?

View Answers

earthquake
7 (25.0%)

fire
8 (28.6%)

volcano
4 (14.3%)

flood
15 (53.6%)

drought/heat
17 (60.7%)

hurricane/cyclone
4 (14.3%)

landslide/avalanche
1 (3.6%)

blizzard
10 (35.7%)

tornado
8 (28.6%)

tsumani
2 (7.1%)

other
2 (7.1%)

ticky-box full of emergency kits/go bags
7 (25.0%)

ticky-box made of Möbius strips and Escher staircases
15 (53.6%)

ticky-box full of unlabelled VHS tapes
13 (46.4%)

ticky-box full of zebras in headphones listening to 80s pop on Stripe-ify
9 (32.1%)

ticky-box full of hugs
19 (67.9%)

celli

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slippery_fish

The second DC Morgan book brings Ffion and Leo back together as they look into the disappearance of a mentally unstable participant of a reality show.

I liked this in general. George is a cool new character, the Welsh set-up is still working for me and the case was interesting.

I wasn't a big fan of the last part of the book because once the murderer was revealed, it felt a lot like a villain doing their "this is how I did it"-monologue.

But at the end, it felt like a good episode of a procedural series.

starandrea

Quarterly update!

I've started learning Cantonese, and it's approximately one hundred times easier than Mandarin (because I already know Mandarin; other language learners say learning Mandarin after Cantonese is comparable). It feels more like continuing than starting over.

Last week I reached 100 works on my Chinese AO3 account (none in Cantonese yet), a bit more than 100k words total, which tells you about how long they are. My English account has 248 works, and that's more than 6 million words.

English DW: 8779 entries
Chinese DW: 358 entries

♥ good books
Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment, by George Leonard
This book is about how important the time between climactic moments is, or for language learners (it's not about language learning, but it was recommended in one of my language learning groups): why "the intermediate plateau" is life and we should learn to love it.

Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts, by Oliver Burkeman
This book is about why we don't have to respond to every demand for our attention in order to be a good person, and that knowing how to set a burden down is as important as knowing how to carry it. This was a spontaneous pick, and I expect to reread.

♥ good show
Murderbot, on Apple TV+
The Murderbot Diaries book series by Martha Wells is just as good, arguably better as there's more of it, and available in Chinese translation. Also as an audiobook read by Kevin R. Free in English, who is a perfect SecUnit narrator, and by an enthusiastic AI in Chinese, which is very funny.

♥ great pet accessory
Cooling blanket!!! Daphne says it's her favorite new toy in at least a day, and I'm glad I got the biggest one so we can both use it at the same time.

♥ new in the gardens
6 lupins, 5 roses, 4 weigela, some ferns and hostas and irises from friends and neighbors and the compost pile, a plethora of plant sale finds including more colors of bee balm than I knew existed (I thought it was red or pink but apparently there's also purple and allegedly "rose" which is... what color is that? I will find out if it lives long and strong enough to blossom). Poppies and sage and forget-me-nots, some Solomon's seal and geraniums and even pansies for community reasons.

For future reference, overwintering spring bulbs in garage planters did not work well, but moving overwintered canna and dahlia rhizomes from boxes by the front door to half-full pots in the garage during the early spring did work, somewhat to my surprise. Some had roots by the time I put them in the ground and some did not, but none sprouted early (at least none continued sprouting after being moved to the garage), and so far an intimidating number of them are up and swinging.

♥ new in the dollhouses
I used a chibi metal bookmark to make a couples' portrait for the music room, and then I found some lotus coasters I bought in Vermont last year during the eclipse and set up one as a backdrop for the flute/stand. Dragon earrings as wall-hangings are not as cool as I expected, but scrapbook quotes about the moon and stars as wallpaper make up the difference.

What else do I usually post about? Let's see... dog, writing, dollhouse, garden, language.

I guess that's it! In the world of challenges I'm enjoying

chenqing_100 and

fandom_empire, and looking forward to

battleshipex. In the world of sports the dog has joined me and Marci for some paddling and I think this might be the year she learns to swim. (Not really, but she fell in for the 4.5th time and for the first time did not freak out, so that's progress.)

And now, the weather.

虫洞的彼岸有这么一个地方，一个只有恋人才知道的地方
勇敢的、充满希望的、迷失的、忠诚的、也许就是我和你
你是否愿意和这些傻傻的梦想家一起来
我们称之为家园的星球希望能很快见到你
就在庇护月卫

"There's a place beyond the wormhole, a place that only lovers know
The brave, the hopeful, the lost, the true, maybe me and you
Won't you come with these fools and dreamers
To the planet we call home
We hope we'll see you soon on Sanctuary Moon"

lannamichaels

Oaths are over, on to Strange Work! I'm very excited for Avodah Zarah, because I failed out of Avodah Zarah last cycle so that means that the beginning part is going to be review. Also because "I'm doing Avodah Zarah" jokes never ever get old. I also anticipate not quite Kesuvos levels of not spelling the masechta name consistently, but those ending h's are a deliberate choice made for consistency for this paragraph that may not ever get repeated.

Here are my remaining notes on Shevuos:

( Read more... )

jesse_the_k

I always enjoy the wide variety of postcards which appear regularly from fflo. Tuesday, fflo posted about the "Best Wrong Answers" to LearnedLeague. These are a series of punchline-worthy responses to Jeopardy!-style questions. For example:

In photography, the overall brightness of an image is determined by the "exposure triangle" of aperture, shutter speed, and a third factor which is a measure of the sensitivity of the camera's sensor (or the film) to light. This third factor is known as what?

REMEMBERING TO TAKE THE LENS CAP OFF

Even though I got online before the WWW, I’d never heard of LearnedLeague, which is a very dedicated group of trivia fiends. Here’s what I found:

Like any tight-knit community, there’s a ton of jargon. Participants are called LLamas (the double L matching Learned League). Membership is by invite only, though there is some public content at
LearnedLeague.com

Some of the world-readable "Best Worst Answer" tallies follow the URL pattern

https://learnedleague.com/hist/awards/100.php

Where 100 references the season—I had some fun plugging in random numbers.

From season 97:

A Wind in the Door (1973), A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978), and Many Waters (1986) continue the story first told by author Madeleine L'Engle in what 1962 novel?

3 REASONS TO HAVE HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE

Public, unofficial Learned League groups on Reddit and Facebook. More fun to be had from grazing the #BestWrongAnswers tag on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/bestwronganswers

cimorene

Wow, the author of this fanfiction fully does not realize how fountain pens work at all. Which is fine: all you had to do was not touch on how the pen worked and nobody would have noticed! Or you could've looked it up.

Or anything other than describing red ink writing that was done with a fountain pen as "a red fountain pen".

Bonus info: fountain pen ink dries up in the pen, which can ruin it if you're not lucky, if it lies unused for long enough (how long to dry up depends on the pen, and it's longer if stored point-down, but it can be as little as less than a week; it takes longer than that to ruin a pen, though). Fountain pen ink in the bottle also degrades over time. It can spoil or grow micro organisms and also can break down chemically, but evaporation is perhaps the biggest risk. The hobbyist sphere seems to agree that typical shelf life is "ten to sixty years" (optimally: in glass, sealed as airtight as possible, protected from heat and light and no contaminants introduced), so it's not impossible you could still use ink from a bottle from the 1940s, but it's highly unlikely.

scaramouche

I picked up Brittany Kaiser's Targeted: My Inside Story of Cambridge Analytica and How Trump, Brexit and Facebook Broke Democracy when it first came out in paperback a handful of years ago, but hadn't read it because, well, I figured it'd be stressful. And it is stressful to read, which I have just done, considering where the world has gone since the first Trump election! But I think it worked out in the end because the book is already dated, and that helps to put some things in perspective in how facebook is no longer the powerhouse it once was, and our understanding of Big Data and data protection has evolved somewhat.

So Kaiser was an employee and eventual whistleblower of Cambridge Analytica (CA), I think it's quite widely known now how CA used Big Data to develop highly detailed psychographics of US voters to manipulate them in the 2016 election, especially towards the goal of voter suppression. What the book does is provide Kaiser's understanding of the timeline of events plus the details of the wheeling and dealing of players behind the scenes who were funding and/or moving money around, plus how the data was scraped and hidden in the first place (like, I knew all those facebook quizzes were part of data scraping and psychological profiling, but reading about it is still upsetting). But Kaiser says she had no hand in the data herself, since she was mostly pitching customers towards signing a contract before handing off to the operations team.

Since Kaiser didn't handle data herself I didn't get what I would've loved to know more about, which is how manipulation happens, beyond Kaiser's description of customized advertisments to incite anger and fake grassroots movements, but we knew that already. The psychology of it is interesting, and I would've liked deeper analysis of how to process news in a noisy world, and of the psychological and societal consequences we're still living in. But that's not the point of the memoir, and Kaiser's main emphasis is the attempt to redeem herself for her role in CA by focusing on data protection moving forward, which feels at this point a little horse-out-of-barn situation, but that doesn't mean we can't become more conscious of our online safety and support legislation to better protect everyone's privacy. (Facebook also being a case study of new social media being the wild wild west and allowing such abuse because no one knew what to protect themselves from.)

Plus when I say the book is dated, I'm also specifically referring to how Kaiser's exit strategy to get out of CA was to join the blockchain community.👀

Current Mood: nauseated

torachan

1. Tonight was Pride Nite! Had a lot of fun. Pics and post to come tomorrow as it is much too late to do tonight.

2. Special delivery!

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250618.html

What's that unusual spot on the Moon?

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250618.html

azurelunatic

* Shelves are fairly well stuffed. The other brackets have arrived, so we can go get more boards and tiny hardware at our convenience.
* There is now Shelf in the living room. Things are going in it.
* Household tidying progresses.
* Today I filled boxes for 13 weeks of my morning and evening pills. It feels like it took less time than usual, but I think that's a trick of the light. I think I usually start later in the day, and keep going until it's dark. It took about four and a half hours; I try to allocate at least 5.
* This means that I've got pills packed until sometime in September. Go, me?
* Juneteenth is tomorrow!
* Turns out that being a director at a certain kind of non-technical organization means that you spend evenings face-down in the user interface level of a misbehaving database. I am chockablock with sympathy.
* Yellface is adorable, and likes to spend the part of the day when I'm awake but still in bed sitting on my legs.
* Had games and pizza with friends last week; they've got a young-ish teeneager placed with them right now. She wasn't up for games but she did appear to fill her water bottle. Luna-cat is very curious about new people and apparently charged her, which was off-putting. I faded early.
* I got some new bras; I'll have to add pockets but the test wear was promising!
* Nobody told me about the dragons in The Priory of the Orange Tree, everyone just mentioned the lesbians.
* There's a new serial at

the_comfortable_courtesan!!!

jecook

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Current Mood: accomplished

musesfool

angelgazing just informed me that there's a movie coming out in the fall where Jeremy Allen White plays Bruce Springsteen - here's the trailer - and idk but all I see and hear is Carmy from The Bear (the only thing I've seen him in) so it's not working for me. He has a very specific *gestures* everything that's not translating for me. I guess we'll see!

*

Current Mood: skeptical
Current Music: Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen

sage

books
The Art & Science of Happiness by Swami Mukundananda. 2025. Mix of science and religion. Some interesting texts, but a lot of "come to Krishna", which was not really a surprise.

All His Spies: The Secret World of Robert Cecil by Stephen Alford. 2024. Interesting bio. Good job including the women. A very negative view of Elizabeth I. (I've never read a positive view of her that wasn't the shallowest of surveys.)

currently reading The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume 5: c.1198 - c.1300 by David Abulafia (Editor), et al. 1999. A slog through ecclesiastical history before it gets to more interesting stuff.

dirt
The volunteer catnip is blooming! And growing 2 new stalks! That means I can collect the seed and plant more. The leaves are the largest I've ever seen on catnip, nearly 3 inches long. The peperomia red stem in the terrarium is taking over. I found more thrips in the rattlesnake beans, dammit, and sprayed them yesterday. Also did a hard prune of another jade plant because it was falling over due to the weight of its leaves. Still on the verge of buying a tiny orchid but haven't done it yet. Maybe in the next grocery run? We'll see.

( healthcrap & food )

yarning
Didn't make it to yarning AGAIN, thanks to a migraine. I've managed to make a bunny arm, which is nothing in the grand scheme of crocheting. I want my motivation back. It doesn't even have to be yarning, it could be anything, anything at all. I just am so unhappy sitting here feeling crummy. I'm not even motivated to repot the plants that need it because it's hot outside...and it isn't even 95F yet. Augh. /o\

media
I caught up on Murderbot and I mostly love it! Even though I have the attention span of a gnat and had to pause it every few minutes. (I am so bad at visual media!)

#resist
June 19: Juneteenth Protest
June 27: Stonewall Anniversary Protest
June 24 to 30: McDonald’s Boycott
July 4: Independence Day Boycott and Silent(?) Protest
July 17: the next big demonstration (in honor of John Lewis, who died 7/17/2000), per Axios.

I hope you're all doing well! <333

j_crew_guy

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ursula

North Continent Ribbon is shortlisted for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin prize, along with Rakesfall, Sapling Cage, The City in Glass, and a bunch of other fascinating-looking books I haven't read yet.

I am so, so, so thrilled.

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3104/

Numbers can be tricky. On the day of my 110th birthday, I'll be one day younger than John Tukey was on his.

https://xkcd.com/3104/

james

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nasa_liotd_feed

https://www.nasa.gov/image-detail/nasas-31st-annual-human-exploration-rover-challenge-herc-at-the-u-s-space-rocket-center-huntsville-al/

More than 500 students with 75 teams from around the world participated in the 31st year of NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) on April 11 and April 12, 2025, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Participating teams represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations.

https://www.nasa.gov/image-detail/nasas-31st-annual-human-exploration-rover-challenge-herc-at-the-u-s-space-rocket-center-huntsville-al/

jesse_the_k

I’m up near Rhinelander staying on Flannery Lake. I’ll be reveling in 15:45 hours of daylight on the summer solstice. Today there’s zero wind, while the second-growth white, yellow, and red pine trees are pumping out their jizz with enthusiasm. The lime-yellow grains appear darker as they overlay almost every square inch of the water, with wild swirls and eddies that extend many feet off shore until eventually the black surface reflects many puffy cumulus clouds in a light blue sky.

Lovely to look at, but not so great to breathe. At least we're not bedeviled by wildfire smoke.

( click for pic )

white_aster

Via the False Claims Act, NIH Puts Universities on Edge
A funding pause at the University of Michigan illustrates the uncertainty around new language in NIH grant awards.

Sadly, another way in which the current administrative shenanigans are rippling out and affecting everything.

I post things like this because I think the devil is in the details, and changes to the Notice of Award is definitely a "detail" with far-ranging consequences. It's easy to read a headline these days and know something is bad and stop there. But I think everyone deserves to know where the actual levers of power are and how they are flipped. So, here is one: slipping changes into legal wording that make institutions afraid of crossing the government lest they get sued into oblivion.

white_aster

The ABA Declares War
Trump tried to first “kill all the lawyers.” Now the lawyers have hit back.

This is absolutely an issue to watch. Though there's real questions about the impartiality of the Supreme Court right now, the judiciary has been the last bulwark against the executive branch lately. Until the legislative branch manages to find its bearings (or we find them for them via midterm elections) and start exercising its OWN oversight powers, the judicial branch HAS to remain functional. And lawyers being afraid to bring suits absolutely will break the judicial branch. They can only rule on what people are willing to sue for.

Also, to be clear: this is not only about the lawyers. Even if you don't like lawyers for whatever reason, they represent real, live people being real, live hurt by things that are happening. And those real, live people whose rights have been violated need to be able to find a lawyer to help them defend those rights, or they can't push back, and they might as well not have those rights at all. Make no mistake: lawyers as a profession don't just work for the rich and powerful - they work for everyday folks, too. And given the rich and powerful in power right now, it's everyday folks who will be hurt the most if lawyers are afraid to go up against the government.

aurumcalendula

Some songs I've been listening to recently include The Ballad of the 20th of Maine by The Ghost of Paul Revere, Tennessee Ernie Ford's covers of the imho entertainingly snarky Union Dixie and The Fall of Charleston, and Odetta's awesome cover of The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

( Read more... )

cimorene

I ran out of OTC antihistamines last week (loratidine) and it's getting a bit uncomfortable. I went over the bedroom floor with a static dust cloth but I can still smell dust in there especially, and it's maddening. I don't usually have this problem in there, and it's not like I'm usually great at dusting, so idk what changed— sinuses just annoyed by going so long without relief? I could have walked to the pharmacy on any weekday, but I don't like to contemplate more than one intimidating task at a time.

There are also flowers now (though I don't think I'm allergic to pollen probably, or not much), although I wish there were more of them. Some of our tulips are finished, and the cowslips, and the last of the daffodils, but the daylilies are opening and forget-me-nots and veronicas are open. A foxglove came back this year - in the same corner where there was one before, so it must've been planted by the old lady who owned this house at least fifteen years ago and planted so many perennials; but apparently it's biennial, so this is a descendant of the one we last saw four years ago perhaps. Possibly we should plant some more there to give them a better chance of continuing to self-seed. Also the striped tulips from the bag of 100 bulbs we planted two years ago are just at the end of their lives, and they're so cool. There are only four of them, and we would love to have more, maybe a whole bed, but I can't figure out what variety they are. I was comparing pictures at the nursery where we bought the bulbs, but they don't look quite right. They sort of look like Tulipa "Hemisphere" based on a web search, and that's a Triumph variety. (Nursery website doesn't list those, but they might not have sold them last year?)

Kind of close shot of a striated red and white tulip in our yard

otw_news_feed

Posted by an

https://www.transformativeworks.org/the-otw-is-recruiting-for-tag-wrangling-volunteer-tag-wrangling-volunteer-indonesian-tag-wrangling-volunteer-russian-internal-complaint-and-conflict-resolution-volunteer-support-volunteer-and/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=265677

Would you like to wrangle AO3 tags? Can you read and translate from Indonesian to English? Can you read and translate from Russian to English? Are you interested in actively contributing to the creation and maintenance of a safer volunteering environment within the OTW? Would you like to help your fellow fans use AO3? Are you fluent in Chinese? If you answered “yes” to any of these, you’re in luck: the OTW is recruiting!

We’re excited to announce the opening of applications for:

Tag Wrangling Volunteer – closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 130 applications]
Tag Wrangling (Indonesian) Volunteer – closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 30 applications]
Tag Wrangling (Russian) Volunteer – closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 30 applications]
Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution Volunteer – closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC
Support Volunteer – closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 30 applications]
Support (Chinese) Volunteer – closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 30 applications]

We have included more information on each role below. Open roles and applications will always be available at the volunteering page. If you don’t see a role that fits with your skills and interests now, keep an eye on the listings. We plan to put up new applications every few weeks, and we will also publicize new roles as they become available.

All applications generate a confirmation page and an auto-reply to your e-mail address. We encourage you to read the confirmation page and to whitelist our email address in your e-mail client. If you do not receive the auto-reply within 24 hours, please check your spam filters and then contact us.

If you have questions regarding volunteering for the OTW, check out our Volunteering FAQ.

Tag Wrangling Volunteer

The Tag Wranglers are responsible for helping to connect and sort the tags on AO3! Wranglers follow internal guidelines to choose the tags that appear in the filters and auto-complete, which link related works together. This makes it easier to browse and search on the archive.

If you’re an experienced AO3 user who likes organizing, working in teams, or having excuses to fact-check your favorite fandoms, you might enjoy tag wrangling! To join us, click through to the job description and fill in our application form. There will also be a short questionnaire that will help us assess whether you have the skills and attributes that will lead to your success in this role.

Please note: you must be 18+ in order to apply for this role. For this role, we’re currently looking for wranglers for specific fandoms only, which will change each recruitment round. Please see the application for which fandoms are in need.

Wranglers need to be fluent in English but we welcome applicants who are also fluent in other languages, especially Čeština (Czech), Español (Spanish), isiZulu (Zulu), Italiano (Italian), Polski (Polish), Português brasileiro (Brazilian Portuguese), Suomi (Finnish), Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese), Türkçe (Turkish), Українська (Ukrainian), ไทย (Thai), беларуская (Belarusian), 한국어 (Korean) and 中文 (Chinese – we welcome all dialects) — but help with other languages would be much appreciated!

Applications are due 25 June 2025 [or after 130 applications]

Apply for Tag Wrangling Volunteer at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

Tag Wrangling (Indonesian) Volunteer

Please note: you must be 18+ in order to apply for this role. For this role we’re currently looking for applicants who are fluent in both English and Indonesian. We welcome all Indonesian dialects. The work will involve both regular Tag Wrangling work and translating tags from Indonesian into English.

Applications are due 25 June 2025 [or after 30 applications]

Apply for Tag Wrangling (Indonesian) Volunteer at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

Tag Wrangling (Russian) Volunteer

Please note: you must be 18+ in order to apply for this role. For this role we’re currently looking for applicants who are fluent in both English and Russian. We welcome all Russian dialects. The work will involve both regular Tag Wrangling work and translating tags from Russian into English.

Applications are due 25 June 2025 [or after 30 applications]

Apply for Tag Wrangling (Russian) Volunteer at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution Volunteer

Are you passionate about fostering a safer and more supportive volunteering environment within the OTW?

As an Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution (“ICCR”) volunteer, you will play a key role in maintaining fair and respectful interactions across the Organization. Your work will include reviewing, investigating, and adjudicating complaints, and mediating conflicts. Our team is also in the process of refining the OTW’s policies to create a more effective and inclusive volunteer experience. Our goal is to serve as an objective, neutral party for personnel-related issues to help resolve situations with compassion and equity.

Please note that due to the nature of the work, current OTW volunteers who apply for the role will have to resign from all other roles within the OTW to serve on this subcommittee.

Applications are due 25 June 2025

Apply for Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution Volunteer at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

Support Volunteer

The Support team is responsible for handling the feedback and requests for assistance we receive from users of the Archive of Our Own. We answer users’ questions, help to resolve problems they’re experiencing, and pass on information to and from coders, testers, tag wranglers and other teams involved with AO3. If you enjoy helping others to learn how to use AO3 and figuring out solutions to problems, you might enjoy being a Support volunteer!

Applications are due 25 June 2025 [or after 40 applications]

Apply for Support Volunteer at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

Support Volunteer (Chinese)

We’re currently recruiting for applicants who are fluent in both English and Chinese (We welcome all Chinese dialects!). If you are a fluent Chinese speaker who enjoys helping others to learn how to use AO3 and figuring out solutions to problems, you might enjoy being a Support volunteer!

Applications are due 25 June 2025 [or after 40 applications]

Apply for Support Volunteer (Chinese) at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=265677

thawrecka

Throwing a curveball into 2025 by getting back into Bleach.

Skim reading the last arc and all my old feelings are coming back like 'there are plot holes you could drive a truck through and I could write fic about them' and 'Mayuri is very annoying'.

My main feeling is that when people complained about the ending arc because of the pairings or whatever, instead of the sexism and transphobia, they were complaining about the wrong things. I could not care less who Ichigo gets with (and I feel Ichigo also doesn't care that much 😂) but I would have liked fewer scenes where women have to be naked during a fight, you know? ...though on the other hand, as a Renji/Rukia shipper I did win.

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250617.html

Can you find the Rosette Nebula?

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250617.html

torachan

1. The curfew was fully lifted downtown.

2. Long meeting day ended a couple hours earlier than scheduled. (So rare.)

3. Jasper is the cutest* and he knows it.

*All cats are the cutest.

lannamichaels

1.6 sure was a combination of "funny" and "I cannot look at the screen". So there's that. It's still entertaining but I may be getting to the point where I have to fast forward through my extreme embarrassment squick going on with Ratthi when it comes to Pin-Lee.

The situation: Arada and Pin-Lee are married. Arada wants to bring Ratthi into their relationship; they've had a third in their relationship before and it hasn't worked out. Pin-Lee isn't really into the idea, it's being heavily pushed by Arada. Pin-Lee then eventually agrees to it for Arada's sake.

Here's where it gets to the part where I just keep having second-hand embarrassment: Ratthi doesn't know this. Ratthi thinks that both Arada and Pin-Lee are equally happy to have him in the relationship, and he's really really into this relationship. He seems to want this to be permanent and is just really happy with it. And he keeps having interactions with Pin-Lee where Pin-Lee is very uncomfortable and doesn't want to be having these interactions with Ratthi, but, crucially, has not said any of this to Ratthi. Ratthi has no way to know that Pin-Lee isn't as into him as he's into them.

And so we keep getting these moments where Ratthi doesn't fucking know that the person he's trying to have a good faith relationship interaction with does not want this, but yet has never said anything about it.

Somebody please break up Ratthi from Arada/Pin-Lee for the sake of everyone. Or maybe Pin-Lee can actually say something, rather than seemingly 1) being content to suffer in silence for the sake of the Arada/Pin-Lee relationship (Arada has never said Ratthi was a necessary addition to the Arada/Pin-Lee relationship for the sake of its continuance), or 2) expecting someone in this relationship to read their mind and magically divine their discomfort and break it up for them.

I suspect this was added to the show for narrative reasons, including mirroring with the Sanctuary Moon stuff (still delightful, still clear that everyone involved in that is having the time of their life), but zomg. It is excruciating.

petra

[Podfic] Unrestrained passion (14 words) by GodOfLaundryBaskets, sisi_rambles, LittleRedRobinHood, Aether
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader
Characters: Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Amidala
Additional Tags: Limericks, Poetry, Podfic, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Multivoice and Collaborative Podfic
Summary:

Podfic (00:02:28)

Author's Summary from Petra:
A limerick cycle for Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padmé.

*

[Podfic] Rewind, rewind, rewind (14 words) by GodOfLaundryBaskets, sisi_rambles, LittleRedRobinHood, Aether
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: 212th Attack Battalion Members (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) & Obi-Wan Kenobi
Characters: 212th Attack Battalion Members (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Obi-Wan Kenobi
Additional Tags: Drabble, Democracy, Podfic, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Multivoice and Collaborative Podfic
Summary:

Podfic (00:01:44)

Author's Summary from Petra:
Waxer asks a cogent question on a long, cold night.

*

[Podfic] Natural philosophy (17 words) by sisi_rambles, AppleSapling
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker
Additional Tags: Aubrey-Maturin Fusion, SOLAR SHIPS, Triple Drabble, Not quite high Patrick O'Brian pastiche, But leaning that way, Podfic, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Multivoice and Collaborative Podfic
Summary:

Podfic (00:02:57)

Author's Summary from Petra:
Obi-Wan came into Anakin's cabin just in time to see the monkey-lizard he'd carefully collected slump to one side and fall off of the table.

Podfic (00:01:44)

Author's Summary from Petra:
Waxer asks a cogent question on a long, cold night.

*

[Podfic] The Sun would not have risen (17 words) by sisi_rambles, AppleSapling
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Luke Skywalker
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker
Additional Tags: morris dancing, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Podfic, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Multivoice and Collaborative Podfic
Summary:

Podfic (00:01:07)

Author's Summary from Petra:
Luke follows in his father's footstep-hops.

*

[Podfic] Mindtrick (13 words) by sisi_rambles
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Elan Sleazebaggano
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Elan Sleazebaggano
Additional Tags: Podfic, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes
Summary:

Obi-Wan runs into a hookup.

Current Mood: flattered
Current Music: Or, as they say in Limerick,

torachan

Last night was just a quick after-work trip while waiting to pick up Carla at the airport, so I didn't do a whole lot but I did have a nice dinner!

( Read more... )

yourlibrarian posting in

dw_community_promo

Do you make crafts? Do you like to look at crafts? Would you like to get (or give) advice about crafts? All crafts are welcome. Share photos, stories about projects in progress, and connect with other crafty folks.

You are welcome to make your own posts, and this community will also do a monthly call for people to share what they are working on, or what they've seen which may be inspiring them. Images of projects old or new, completed or in progress are welcome, as are questions, tutorials and advice.

If you have any questions, ask them here!

slippery_fish

I really liked this for the most part. Jen is such a great character, and I love how she reacts to a crisis, to challenges and to icky guys. Nikki, Mallory and Paul were also really fun to watch.

Loved the tone of the show for the most part, a nice mixture between light-hearted and heavy stuff. Though there were some moments that were actually really hard to take because they just hit you in the gut. I actually had to fast-forward through the twist during the gala. It's just his utter horribleness that women have to deal with in real life and I couldn't take it in my entertainment.

I liked the cameos, especially Blonsky was fun. Also, the 4th wall breaking worked for me most of the time even though it did feel a bit random as a part of the show? But hey, Kevin is Glados, good to know.

nasa_liotd_feed

https://www.nasa.gov/image-detail/jsc2024e034404orig/

A curious cow watches as NASA astronauts Andre Douglas and Kate Rubins perform a simulated moonwalk in the San Francisco Volcanic Field in Northern Arizona on May 14, 2024.

https://www.nasa.gov/image-detail/jsc2024e034404orig/

jesse_the_k

I’ve been a Karine Polwart fan for decades, which led me to her recent collaboration with Julie Fowlis and Mary Chapin Carpenter. "Looking for the Thread" mixes Scots Gaelic and US country and a little bit of rock’n’roll.

I was moved by this farewell from the POV of a dying satellite—can you tell me if this matches an actual satellite that circled our planet?

( Stream here on YouTube )

Or on SoundCloud or on Spotify.

( Lyrics in the cut )

pandarus

(Thanks to NetGalley for access to an advance copy of All Of Us Murderers in exchange for an honest review)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Us-Murderers-Kj-Charles/dp/1464227527

While the adage that you should never judge a book by its cover is generally good advice, in the case of “All Of Us Murderers” the cover art is an excellent guide to the contents of the book: a gloriously over the top piece of escapism created as a love letter to the genre.

This is an unrepentantly gothic confection, and it was, as anticipated, a wittily tropetastic delight rife with nefarious villains, misty moors, blood-drenched ruins, cursed fortunes, wide-eyed nubile heiresses and mysterious ghostly figures, ALL of which our hero (a precious ADHD cinnamon roll, and - provided one doesn’t find The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name to be a source of wickedness - very much the white sheep of his unpleasant family) is desperately trying to avoid, bless him.

Zebedee Wyckham is the impoverished grandson of a successful gothic novelist, and having found himself once again between jobs he has unwisely accepted an invitation to pay a visit to a wealthy uncle whom he hasn’t seen in decades - only to find himself trapped in the most ghastly houseparty since…well, since the LAST hilariously ghastly (and murderous) house party to grace the pages of a KJ Charles novel.

Finding that the lover whom he inadvertently ruined a year ago is now working as his uncle’s secretary comes as a mortifying shock, but this is the least of the unwelcome surprises that his uncle’s faux-gothic home has in store.

Zeb may be the innocent Cinderella figure amongst the variously unpleasant scions of the Wyckham family, but he’s no fool: having grown up on the works of Mrs Radcliffe, Horace Walpole and his own respected ancestor, Zeb can spot a gothic novel cliche at fifty paces and he has absolutely no intention of ending up sacrificed on a pagan altar, walled up in a cellar, drowned in a well or otherwise disposed of: think “Scream”, but make it gay and a period piece.

He is, in short, the polar opposite of Austen’s Catherine Morland: far from imagining spectral figures and dark secrets where none exist, Zeb is a pragmatic soul with a kind (if battered) heart who wasn’t born yesterday & has no interest in rushing headlong into danger if it can possibly be avoided.

Can Zeb escape the unwelcome attentions of the various spectral figures, blackmailers, marriageable heiresses and spider-filled rooms that await him at Lackaday House, and persuade his bitter ex to forgive him for past offences?

(Of course he can! This isn’t LitFic! You know that the starcrossed lovers will escape the villains’ clutches in the nick of time, foil their iniquitous plans, and finally achieve their happily ever after - but it’s still *thoroughly* enjoyable watching KJ Charles get them there.)

cimorene

I have an appointment with the private doctor to get the driving fitness certificate now. In theory we expect it to go smoothly from this point (apart from the unfair fact that I have to pay an extra hundred-something euros for this dubiously-useful medical certificate, but that isn't a logistical problem), and I can start driving lessons the week after next.

torachan

1. It seems like there was a lot more foot traffic in Little Tokyo today, so hopefully our sales will pick up this week. And this afternoon they announced the curfew has been pushed back to 10pm from 8pm, so we can keep the store open till nine.

2. Carla is home safe and sound.

3. I had a nice dinner at DCA tonight before picking her up from the airport. Very warm and muggy this evening, though, which I could have done without!

4. Neighborhood Watch! Gemma is on top of it.

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250616.html

settiai

I've gotta admit, I didn't see that coming. Darrington Press, which is the publishing company that Critical Role started a few years ago, just announced that Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford have joined the team.

For those unfamiliar, they're both well-known names in D&D who left Wizards of the Coast a few months ago. So it's a pretty big deal that's where they ended up after jumping ship.

Current Mood: surprised

jadelennox

my friend just said "ACAB includes Odo" and she's right.

musesfool

I swear, sometimes I think my oven is some kind of black hole or something, because sometimes the laws of physics seem to weirdly not apply. Yesterday, as planned, I made teriyaki meatballs. Because I don't understand how the recipe author got 28 meatballs out of 16 oz of ground meat, I had 32 oz of ground chicken, from which I made 28 ping pong ball sized meatballs. I baked 16 meatballs on one tray at 400°F for 20 minutes. It was the only tray in the oven. FOURTEEN out of the 16 were at least at 170°F when I took them out of the oven (generally I aim for 165° for fully cooked ground chicken) and checked with my instant read thermometer. TWO were at 143°F. They weren't even next to each other! Just 2 random meatballs that somehow didn't cook to the same temperature as EVERY OTHER meatball on the same tray in the same oven. I mean, I know ovens can have hot spots, so does my oven somehow have cool spots? Less hot spots? I mean, what the actual fuck???

*

Current Mood: confused
Current Music: You're So Vain - Carly Simon

nasa_liotd_feed

https://www.nasa.gov/image-detail/hubble-ic758-potw2523a/

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the barred spiral galaxy IC 758.

https://www.nasa.gov/image-detail/hubble-ic758-potw2523a/

marthawells

Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology

Out in ebook and paperback on July 1. My story is "Data Ghost"

https://bookshop.org/p/books/storyteller-a-tanith-lee-tribute-anthology/a74b320486117220?ean=9798992595406&next=t

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/storyteller-a-tanith-lee-tribute-anthology?sId=e0bafab6-32a8-4ffb-9436-2dcda473349c

Edited by Julie C. Day, Carina Bissett, and Craig Laurance Gidney. Stories by Martha Wells, Andy Duncan, C.S.E. Cooney, Nisi Shawl, Mike Allen, Alaya Dawn Johnson, CL Hellisen, Maya Deane, Rocío Rincón Fernández, Theodora Goss, Getty Hesse, Starlene Justice, Amelia Mangan, Michael Yuya Montroy, Marisca Pichette, KT Wagner.

Sixteen new stories from some of today's most renowned authors. All inspired by the master storyteller Tanith Lee.

Drowning cities and unicorns. Burning deserts and forgotten gods. Golems, elf warriors, and inner-Earthers. Alien lifeforms and museum workers. Ancient plagues and the future of humanity. The familiar and the fantastical. Each story in this anthology is both unique and compelling: from fairy-tale retellings to romance-tinged high fantasy, from nihilistic horror to gripping science fiction. Immersive, wide-ranging, and sublime, Storyteller features worlds and characters that are sure to travel with you long after the last page has been read.

***

Short Story: "Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy" by Martha Wells

will be available on Reactor Magazine on July 10

Illustrated by Jaime Jones
Edited by Lee Harris

Perihelion and its crew embark on a dangerous new mission at a corporate-controlled station in the throes of a hostile takeover...

***

Summer of Science Fiction & Fantasy: Martha Wells in conversation with Kate Elliott

https://www.clarionwest.org/event/summer-of-science-fiction-fantasy-martha-wells-in-conversation-with-kate-elliott/

July 30 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm PDT

The Clarion West Summer Reading Series will be held virtually and streamed live over Zoom during the Six-Week Workshop.

Join us for our final event, a conversation between Martha Wells and Kate Elliott!

This event will begin with a conversation between Martha and Kate. There will be time to take questions from the audience. Participants will be able to submit questions in the webinar.

***

The New Yorker announced "Platform Decay" will be the next Murderbot novella. No word on publication date yet.

***

Grimoire: A Grim Oak Press Anthology For Seattle Worldcon 2025

https://grimoakpress.com/products/grimoire-a-grim-oak-press-anthology-for-seattle-worldcon-2025

My story is a fantasy called "Birthright" which is reprint that's not currently available anywhere else.

***

Queen Demon, the sequel to Witch King, second book of the Rising World, is up for preorder and will be released in ebook, audiobook, and hardcover on October 7.

From the breakout SFF superstar author of Murderbot comes the remarkable sequel to the USA Today and Sunday Times bestselling novel, Witch King. A fantasy of epic scope, Queen Demon is a story of power and friendship, of trust and betrayal, and of the families we choose.

Dahin believes he has clues to the location of the Hierarchs' Well, and the Witch King Kai, along with his companions Ziede and Tahren, knowing there's something he isn't telling them, travel with him to the rebuilt university of Ancartre, which may be dangerously close to finding the Well itself.

Can Kai stop the rise of a new Hierarch?

And can he trust his companions to do what's right?

Bookshop.org https://bookshop.org/p/books/queen-demon-martha-wells/21751501?ean=9781250826916

B&N https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/queen-demon-martha-wells/1146167707?ean=9781250826916

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/queen-demon

Audiobook Libro.fm https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781250291981-queen-demon

Bakka-Phoenix (indie bookstore in Canada): https://bakkaphoenixbooks.com/item/3Czr8TaWU9-_fwJ25ytSCw

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3103/

Sure, this exoplanet we discovered may seem hostile to life, but our calculations suggest it's actually in the accretion disc's habitable zone.

https://xkcd.com/3103/

Profile

jmtorres

March 2025

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Page Summary

scaramouche - The Devil's Plan (& Genius Game UK)
torachan - Daily Happiness
apod_feed - (no subject)
unfinishedidea - i think i need to be resocialized
china_shop - Whump fic: Whatever It Takes to Bring You Back (Guardian, SW/ZYL)
china_shop - Me-and-media update
celli - BTS drabble: uno y uno
slippery_fish - "A Game of Lie" by Clare Mackintosh
starandrea - "life's too short and time is flying, I'm looking for baggage that goes with mine" (mimi, rent)
lannamichaels - [Daf Yomi] Hadran Alach, Maseches Shevuos!
jesse_the_k - infinite punchlines from LearnedLeague's Best Worst Answers
cimorene - "Are you reading fanfiction and critiquing its pen portrayal?" Yes
scaramouche - Book Log: Targeted
torachan - Daily Happiness
apod_feed - (no subject)
azurelunatic - More tiny excitements
jecook - I MADE ANOTHER THING!!!
musesfool - of a runaway American dream
sage - What I'm Doing Wednesday
j_crew_guy - Bye-bye Bargain Block
ursula - (no subject)
xkcd_feed - Tukey
james - Beep
nasa_liotd_feed - NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge
jesse_the_k - Things I Can Only See Up North
white_aster - (no subject)
white_aster - (no subject)
aurumcalendula - Some music stuff
cimorene - I guess flowers could be contributing as well
otw_news_feed - The OTW is Recruiting for Tag Wrangling Volunteers (General, Indonesian, & Russian), Internal Compla
thawrecka - (no subject)
apod_feed - (no subject)
torachan - Daily Happiness
lannamichaels - Murderbot through 1.6
petra - Short Star Wars podfics of my work by sisi_rambles et alia
torachan - 2025 Disneyland Trip #41 (6/16/25)
yourlibrarian in dw_community_promo - Every Kind of Craft now open!
slippery_fish - TV: She-Hulk: Attorney at Law - Season 1
nasa_liotd_feed - Training for the Moo(n)
jesse_the_k - music: A Wistful Satellite Song
pandarus - Book Review: All of us Murderers
cimorene - driving-related questions settled
torachan - Daily Happiness
apod_feed - (no subject)
settiai - Darrington Press
jadelennox - oh noes
musesfool - i hear you went up to Saratoga, and your horse naturally won
nasa_liotd_feed - Hubble Studies a Spiral’s Supernova Scene
marthawells - Things Coming Out Next
xkcd_feed - Exoplanet System

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Style: Tropical for Bases by malionette

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The ABA Declares WarTrump tried to first “kill all the lawyers.” Now the lawyers have hit back.

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The ABA Declares War
Trump tried to first “kill all the lawyers.” Now the lawyers have hit back.