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Oct. 9th, 2025 11:27 pm
raven: [hello my name is] and a silhouette image of a raven (Default)
[personal profile] raven
Some good friends of mine asked me to go on a podcast to talk about a children's book I love that I didn't actually read when I was a child, on which more when the time comes, and this very delightful experience sent me in the direction of some books I did read as a child. Which is why I just reread - reread? - Arabel and Mortimer, Joan Aiken's series of unhinged tales about Arabel (4) and her raven, Mortimer (age unknown). Mortimer is not a talking raven - the only things he says are "Kaaaark" and "Nevermore!" - but he's very expressive. When he gets upset he sulks in the fridge and when he's bored he eats stairs. This is a problem for the local users of Rumbury Town Tube station, who can't get out when there's no stairs. I say unhinged - in-universe everything is hilariously internally consistent; after a while Arabel's parents get a letter from a lawyer about damages to premises, to wit, stairs, caused by their giant bird, and there's a little debate about whether you can be answerable for the actions of a wild bird, and in the meantime people of the Tube station decide it must be haunted (because something shadowy and dark is haphazardly clipping the tickets). And it's so funny, especially for adults! The address of this fictional London district is NW3 1/2!

I say maybe reread, because what I may remember from childhood is Aiken reading the stories for Jackanory on CBBC in the early nineties. (That was long, long before it was CBeebies! I'm very old.) Which would mean I am reading it for the first time, and what a treat.

I thought I might as well not go for any kind of theme, and instead just reread books from childhood that I want to. So I have The Magician's Nephew, which was always sneakily my favourite in the series and the one that has lived longest in my memory. (It's a really good book about grief, okay.) And also The Starlight Barking, the 101 Dalmatians sequel that everyone has read, believing they are the only person to have read this truly deranged piece of unDisneyish mysticism. Following that, I don't know. It would be Ballet Shoes if I hadn't reread it after I saw it at the National. Maybe the time has come for the decennial read of Watership Down.
full_metal_ox: A gold Chinese Metal Ox zodiac charm. (Default)
[personal profile] full_metal_ox posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Jungfraukallen | The Virgin Spring (1960 film)
Pairings/Characters: F/M, Gen; Karin | The Maiden, Per Tore | The Father, Mareta | The Mother, Oldest Herdsman | Bearded Brother, Middle Herdsman | Beardless Brother, Young Boy | Narrator
Rating: Mature
Length: 2,029
Content Notes: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Author Showed Her Work, First Person POV, Somebody Lives/Not Everybody Dies
Creator Tags: Minoan, Retelling, Remix
Creator Links: (AO3) [archiveofourown.org profile] Rubynye; (Dreamwidth) [personal profile] minoanmiss; (Tumblr) [tumblr.com profile] rubynye

Theme: Uncommon Settings, Fix-it, Found Family, Folklore & Fairytales, Food & Cooking, Historical AUs, No Canon Required, Old Fandoms, Small Fandoms, Research

Summary: Before you wed me you must know.

Author’s Notes: _The Virgin Spring_ is a haunting tale. One night I dreamt this version, and was able to write it down.

Reccer's Notes: Rubynye transposes Ingmar Bergman’s adaptation of a medieval Swedish murder ballad into her beloved Bronze Age Crete; she gives this account of its creation in the comments:

I almost feel like I, my waking self, can't take credit -- I literally dreamt this, fortunately on a weekend so I could write it down, complete with the note about the refrain of "this they should not have done". I have loved the Minoans for a long time so it makes sense that my subconscious decided to retell the story there, as much sense as subconsciousnesses make anyway. The Minoans, with a different sense of morality and the universe, wouldn't ask "why did God let this happen" but would note how people in a society should and shouldn't behave (I think at least).

Dreamland delivered its gift to a formidably disciplined, well-read, and eloquent mind: the story begins with a classic fairytale riddle (whose answer will hinge upon a fluid definition of family) and is knit together by an insistent and anguished refrain; the author carefully avoids the film’s conflict of Christianity versus Norse religion in a setting where it would make no sense, furnishes researched hit-and-run cultural color (a traveler gifts her benefactors with the exotic delicacy of…stone-baked wheat flatbread!), and spares an innocent whose fate in movie canon was undeserved—allowing a family to be (though not restored) renewed.

Fanwork Links: How To Raise a Spring, by [profile] rubynye.

Update

Oct. 9th, 2025 01:15 am
oyceter: teruterubouzu default icon (Default)
[personal profile] oyceter
Thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts, sharing experiences with international medical situations, and translation help! The hospital says CB can be discharged this weekend, yay! His facial paralysis has gotten a little worse in the past few days, though the doctors say this can happen. Right now we're trying to figure out how to get him home. Our travel insurance seemed like they might help, but now it sounds like nothing is covered, and the other private air ambulance service wants him to have a hospital bed ready back in California, but that is also proving difficult to get. From what the doctor said yesterday, he is probably okay to fly commercially but would need a medical escort, so we are figuring out how to get that arranged. Fingers crossed...

Daily Happiness

Oct. 8th, 2025 07:50 pm
torachan: a cartoon owl with the text "everyone is fond of owls" (everyone is fond of owls)
[personal profile] torachan
1. Halfway through the week! It feels like a long week so far idk.

2. The other day I realized the little neighborhood market is open from 7am rather than 8am like I had assumed, and it's pretty much right on my morning walk route, so now I can just stop in there if there's something I need to pick up for the day. Like today, I got some celery because Carla wanted to make curry chicken salad for dinner, so she was able to make that while I was at work and it had time to sit and let the flavors meld and was just perfect by the time I got home.

3. Jasper's seen some stuff.

Wishlist! I made things! :D

Oct. 9th, 2025 11:22 am
china_shop: Zhao Yunlan stretched out on a stool. (Guardian - ZYL sprawled on a stool)
[personal profile] china_shop
I made four things for Wishlist (one a little late) - two Weilan and two ChuGuo, two very General Audiences, and two not so much. :D

  • Title: to those who wait (1567 words) [General Audiences]
    Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
    Relationships: Shen Wei & Professor Zhou (Guardian), Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
    Additional Tags: Pre-relationship (sort of), First Meeting (for one of them), alternate first meeting, Coincidences/Fate, alcohol consumption, Urban Setting
    Summary:

    Shen Wei had planned to pour his professor into a taxi, spend a few hours patrolling the city as the Black-Cloaked Envoy, and then get to work on his literature review or perhaps draft a proposal for establishing a school system in Dixing. He was already constructing arguments for the latter in his head. But Professor Zhou was distracted by something down the street and set off with surprising vigour for someone who, a moment ago, had barely been able to extract his credit card from his wallet.

    Shen Wei was obliged to follow in his wake.


  • Title: defying gravity (1507 words) [Mature]
    Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
    Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
    Additional Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Established Relationship, domestic setting, Inspired by Fanart, Blow Jobs, Clothed Sex
    Summary:

    “Like this?” Zhao Yunlan hops onto the stool and stretches to prop his feet on the nearest ottoman. His elbows automatically find the edge of the breakfast bar behind him. He knows it looks a bit ridiculous—Da Qing never spares an opportunity to mock him for lounging like this—but it's surprisingly relaxing.

    And Shen Wei clearly appreciates the view. His throat bobs as he swallows. “Like that. Are you—comfortable?”


  • Title: Supportive (1807 words) [General Audiences]
    Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
    Relationships: Guo Ying/Yu Jinlan (Guardian), Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng
    Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Handwavy fix-it, POV Outsider, Gossip, slight social awkwardness, tiny misunderstanding, Getting Together, (ChuGuo getting together I mean), Established relationship for Guo Ying/Yu Jinlan obviously
    Summary:

    Guo Ying tells Yu Jinlan about his first day at the SID.


  • Title: a tempting fate (3238 words) [Teen and Up]
    Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
    Relationships: Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng
    Additional Tags: Episode Related, episode 18, Fight Club Case, Time Travel, Time Loop, Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, minor first aid, First Kiss (for one of them)
    Summary:

    Chu Shuzhi bends sideways so he’s right in Xiao-Guo’s face. “Xiao-Guo, look at me! Did something happen out there? Have you been hypnotised?”

    Hypnosis wouldn’t explain the change of clothes. And Xiao-Guo is actually laughing at him now. He pats Chu Shuzhi’s knee, too, and leaves his hand there as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.



My other late gift is still an extremely long, extremely messy draft, so I'll see how that goes...

ION, check this out!

Hermit Thrush

Oct. 8th, 2025 05:14 pm
pauraque: bird flying (Default)
[personal profile] pauraque posting in [community profile] common_nature
While walking in the woods I ran into our state bird here in Vermont, the Hermit Thrush.

brown thrush with reddish tail sits on a tree root with fallen leaves in the background

It looks similar to several other thrush species, but can be distinguished by a reddish tail contrasting with the brown upper back, clearly seen here.

As the name suggests, they tend to hide in the brush and are more often heard than seen. Their flutelike song sounds captivatingly mystical when echoing through the trees. You can listen to them here.
musesfool: orange slices (orange you glad)
[personal profile] musesfool
I meant to post last night, but I fell asleep on the couch right after dinner and slept for almost 2.5 hours! So I didn't post, or organize my laundry, or take out the recycling, or watch the Rangers (lose) or any of the other things I intended to do last night. Losing that hour of sleep because I had to go into the office hit me hard, I guess, since I also didn't go to bed earlier as intended on Monday night. *hands*

I did frost the cupcakes after work on Monday - I made a 3x batch of the Smitten Kitchen American buttercream since it would use up the whole box of powdered sugar and make measuring less difficult, and only had a little left over once I piped all 72 cupcakes. They disappeared rapidly at work - a lot of people were in and they enjoyed them! As always, people ask if I bake professionally and I'm just like, "nope! Then it wouldn't be fun!"

I also got a couple of Teams messages asking for confirmation that I was the one who brought them so they could be trusted. Only one person opined that the SK ones were better than the Sally's ones, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to do a double batch of the Sally's, with the SK frosting, for Christmas. My co-workers also suggested that if I'm ever invited to give a spontaneous talk, it should be about the different types of frosting that you can make and the pros and cons of them. I may have given them a preview of such a talk. *g*

I also confirmed that there are no nut allergies on the team, so I am planning to do candied pecans as my gift this year. They are SO GOOD. I mean, I've never made them, but my brother-in-law makes them for the holidays and they are seriously addictive. I just ordered some mason jars to put them in, and I think that will be a nice gift. I just have to order the pecans from Costco.

Assistant J is corralling the party planning committee this year, but the COO has decreed who the caterer will be (we are combining the legal dept party with all the operations departments' parties this year at her suggestion), so that should curtail some of their insanity in terms of party planning. I hope. I told J that with the food selection taken care of, they could concentrate on decorations, games, and music, which they were all into last year.

Anyway, as always, people are happy to see me when I show up, but I already told my boss I won't be back in until the day of the party and she is okay with that. Whew.

*

Void Trilogy, by Peter F. Hamilton

Oct. 8th, 2025 09:28 am
runpunkrun: Dana Scully reading Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space' in the style of a poster you'd find in your school library, text: Read. (reading)
[personal profile] runpunkrun
The Void Trilogy is three books that are really just one long, enormous book: The Dreaming Void, The Temporal Void, and The Evolutionary Void. They don't stand on their own even as installments in a series and must be read one after another, no dawdling.

I didn't enjoy this as much as the Commonwealth Saga, its predecessor, which I remember as being dense but interesting science fiction. It had a lot of characters, in a lot of locations, but all were distinct and memorable and their stories slowly converged in a satisfying way. This book (all three of it) is written to the same formula, but bloated to the point where so much was happening, and for so little reason, that the people, locations, and factions all ran together despite them being on many different planets, which also ran together. The only memorable parts of the book were Edeard and Araminta, and in the beginning I mostly kept reading for Edeard, though I became less interested in him as time went on and he became so powerful that all that was left to do was wait for the corruption to set in. Luckily Araminta started to get more attention around that same time.

I think perhaps Hamilton is best held to two volume books because this story seriously got away from him in three. There was stuff in here that just did not need to be in here, and then once it became relevant again (if it ever did) Hamilton did not give a flying fuck whether you remembered it or not and refused to give you a hint even if it was referencing something from the last book or two thousand pages ago.

It's so long that by the time you get to the actual climax of the series it's like, they ask a guy not to do the thing that'll end the universe, and he's like, idk, and then they ask him once more with feeling and he's like, well, okay. There's plenty of excitement on the way, but talk about anti-climatic. And then everyone goes home to a happy ending because no one (with insurance) ever dies in this universe. They just get downloaded to new bodies. Though you do kind of forget about that while you're reading because the characters are in so much peril.

Also, and I don't know how else to put this, but every reference to sex read like it was written by a man, like the beautiful identical twins who married the same man, and the one guy in multiple bodies who told his singular-bodied girlfriend that he had to fuck other women with his other bodies while he was with her because she (the girlfriend) just made him so hot, baby.

The eye rolls I rolled.

Still, obviously I found something compelling about this in order to spend, according to Libby, something like 72 hours reading it. But if you're looking to get into granular space operas, I don't think this is the place to start with Hamilton.

Status Updates from Goodreads )

Contains: Descriptions of sexual violence; graphic physical violence; animal harm/death; references to forced impregnation and forced abortion; "Oriental" used to describe people; lingers on fatness in a way that isn't positive; mind control; cops; and for the ebooks: so many OCR errors I was instantly transported back in time to 2009.
wychwood: Carter looking dubious (SG-1 - Sam dubious)
[personal profile] wychwood
Even with the first storm of the season coming in on Friday, we've had some really lovely weather. I was waiting for the bus on Sunday morning in beautiful sunshine and crisp coolness. It's gone a lot colder, though - since the weekend I am wearing the official First Hoodie of the autumn, and in the last couple of weeks I've gone from sleeping under a sheet to a duvet with a blanket on top, at least to warm up.

We had a fancy dinner out on Thursday with the suppliers for our new system, who have been great colleagues, so it was nice to spend some time with them. It was a Chinese "banquet", with lots of terrifying whole-animal courses (a whole turbot! a giant dismembered lobster! what looked like an entire suckling pig with, like, the ribcage removed, splayed out on a platter with its face on one end and four trotters on the corners!), but they'd spent a couple of weeks negotiating with the restaurant to make sure there was enough I could eat, so I definitely had plenty of options. The highlight for me was some particularly good salt and pepper baked tofu, but I also had egg fried rice, and half-a-dozen vegetable dishes, and crispy noodles, and I forget what else.

But actually the nicest part was that the suppliers called me the project MVP right there in front of everyone! Which is of course extremely flattering. And I did put in a lot of work, including some serious project management effort, so it's nice to have that recognised.

The next day was moderately entertaining, because practically everyone was massively hung-over in the office ("I'm not feeling very clever", said Boss Lady). One colleague had driven, so also didn't drink, and she and I congratulated each other (privately!) about it. I did have a bit of a social hangover ("oh no, did I talk too much?? did I say anything stupid? was I super embarrassing???") but mostly I tried to console myself with the fact that practically everyone else was drunk, so probably they wouldn't have noticed or remembered if I did. Ahhh, the joys of being socially awkward.

Now I could do with a resurgence of those project management skills, because there is still Too Much Going On at work, and I am not doing a very good job of, like, properly engaging with it. But I did at least go through the 52 IT Service Desk emails in my inbox and reduce them down somewhat; the "under 100 email" inbox is within my grasp, possibly.

Daily Happiness

Oct. 7th, 2025 07:50 pm
torachan: a cartoon bear eating a large sausage (magical talking bear prostitute)
[personal profile] torachan
1. Meetings today were the good sort, where there's actual discussion and figuring things out, so that was good.

2. Last night we got Chinese food from a new place and it turns out they have really, really good char siu pork. Tonight we used the leftovers to make rice and it was amazing. Definitely want to get from there again. (Sadly their hot and sour soup, which is the main thing Carla wanted as she is under the weather again, was not good.)

3. Look at this cutie Gemma!

trobadora: (tea & books)
[personal profile] trobadora
I just discovered that you can make the perfect peppermint hot chocolate with Ritter Sport Peppermint. (I expect After Eight mints or similar would work too.) It turned out super delicious, so I need to share the joy!

Proportions: 250ml milk / 25g Ritter Sport Peppermint.

Just put the chocolate into the milk and heat in the microwave in short bursts, stirring thorougly in between, until it's entirely melted. (It pays to use a glass and not a porcelain mug, so you can see whether it's fully incorporated. *g*) Add a little sweetener to taste. YUM. :D

characters20in20 Round 19

Oct. 7th, 2025 10:30 am
reeby10: grey scale voldemort from shoulders up with a crown doodle above his head (harry potter)
[personal profile] reeby10 posting in [site community profile] dw_community_promo


Link: Round 19 Sign Ups | Round 19 Themes

Description: [community profile] characters20in20 is a 20in20 community dedicated to making icons of characters from movies and tv shows. You have 20 days to make 20 icons about a character of your choice, based on a set of themes for the round.

Schedule: Round 19 sign ups are open NOW. Icons are due October 27, 2025.
aurumcalendula: gold, blue, orange, and purple shapes on a black background (Default)
[personal profile] aurumcalendula
Night Cascades (2022):

Read more... )


Road to Empress (2025):

Read more... )


Sorry, We're Closed (2024):

Read more... )

Daily Happiness

Oct. 6th, 2025 07:15 pm
torachan: nepeta from homestuck (nepeta)
[personal profile] torachan
1. I didn't have any meetings or anything today and finished up a good amount of work without interruptions, so I came home a little early. (I do have a bunch of meetings tomorrow, but hopefully they will be productive meetings and we can sort out some of the things that need to get sorted out.)

2. We got our ballots for the special election. There is only one thing on the ballot: the proposition to redraw California districts to be almost entirely blue if Texas tries to gerrymander themselves to be all red. Not a fan of gerrymandering in general and wish it were illegal, but if it is legal, Democrats should use it to their advantage, since Republicans are determined to keep as many people from voting as possible. This measure will only go into effect if Texas does it first.

3. We ordered dinner through Grubhub tonight and there was an item missing, which was disappointing as it was one I was really looking forward to, but it was just a side, not the main meal, and the refund process for missing items is really easy. This was my first time needing to get a refund like that, but I'm glad they let you do it through their site and not have to call the restaurant directly.

4. Chloe loves her box.

Fic: Lime Jello and Other Dangers

Oct. 6th, 2025 10:34 pm
philomytha: Biggles pulling Angus from the water (Biggles drowning rescue)
[personal profile] philomytha
I started this earlier in the year, inspired by the 'stabbed and pinned to the wall' tag in the h/c exchange, and also by watching MASH and thinking that if someone was impaled to the wall in a serious way they would need some really good trauma surgeons really quickly. It's been sitting around unfinished for a while, but today's whumptober prompt is also 'pinned to the wall', and so I have taken the hint and finally written an ending for it and posted it. Whumptober seems to be doing well for getting me to finish longer things that I haven't quite had the impetus to get done, long may it continue.

Title: Lime Jello and Other Dangers
Content: impalement, blood and gore, h/c, MASH crossover, canon-typical relationship dynamics, whatever the h/c equivalent of PWP is, not medically accurate, 7800 words
Summary: Von Stalhein is seriously injured. Biggles won't leave him. Algy knows a guy who runs a field hospital. And Hawkeye just wants more sleep.

Lime Jello and Other Dangers )
trobadora: (Guardian - SID team)
[personal profile] trobadora
Woohoo, [community profile] guardian_wishlist revealed this morning with over 60 new Guardian & related works!

There is so much fantastic new stuff, and I haven't had time to properly look at much yet, but I need to share the three fantastic gifts I got:

So so many thanks to all of you, and everyone else who is part of this fest! You are all amazing! ♥ ♥ ♥

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eruthros: Delenn from Babylon 5 with a startled expression and the text "omg!" (Default)
eruthros

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