eruthros

Disneyland is still way more crowded than I was anticipating. We got over to the parks around 6:30pm and were planning to get dinner from the Festival of Holidays carts at DCA and assumed it would be less crowded there than at Disneyland, but the lines to get in were really long for some reason. Once we were actually inside it wasn't too bad (still crowded, though), so I guess it was just a case of a lot of people arriving for after work trips at the same time.

( Read more... )

torachan

1. Spent most of the work day cleaning up data and while I originally thought it was going to take me a couple days, I actually got the whole file done today, which was nice.

2. We went to Disneyland for dinner. Still way more crowded than I would have thought with so many passholders blocked out, but not quite as bad as last Monday. We did have some really delicious food, though. And we finally managed to get some more of those cranberry orange loaves from Jolly Holiday and brought them home for breakfast tomorrow.

3. Jasper's really loving the warming bed now that it has lost its sides and become a warming cushion. Not sure if it's because of the new shape or because it's on top of a chest rather than on the floor, but he's into it.

skygiants

Everything I've previously read by M.T. Anderson emotionally devastated me, so I despite the fact that Nicked was billed as a comedy I went in bravely prepared to be emotionally devastated once again.

This did not happen .... although M.T. Anderson cannot stop himself from wielding a sharp knife on occasion, it it turns out the book is indeed mostly a comedy .....

Nicked is based on a Real Historical Medieval Heist: the city of Bari is plague-ridden, and due to various political pressures the City's powers have decided that the way to resolve this is to steal the bones of St. Nicholas from their home in Myra and bring them to Bari to heal the sick, revive the tourism trade, and generally boost the city's fortunes. The central figures on this quest are Nicephorus, a very nice young monk who had the dubious fortune of receiving a dream about St. Nicholas that might possibly serve as some sort of justification for this endeavor, and Tyun, a professional relic hunter (or con artist? Who Could Say) who is not at really very nice at all but is Very Charismatic And Sexy, which is A Problem for Nicephorus.

The two books that Nicked kept reminding me of, as I read it, were Pratchett's Small Gods and Tolmie's All the Horses of Iceland. Both of those books are slightly better books than this, but as both of them are indeed exceptionally good books I don't think it takes too much away from Nicked to say that it's not quite on their level: it's still really very fun! And, unlike in those other somewhat better books, the unlikely companions do indeed get to make out!

I did end it, unsurprisingly, desperately wanting to know more about the sources on which it was based to know what we do know about this Real Historical Medieval Heist, but it turns out they are mostly not translated into English. Foiled again!

aurumcalendula

The Secret of Us episode 10:

( Read more... )

yourlibrarian posting in

common_nature

Last week while taking out the trash, I noticed that the clouds were low in the sky and really thick and ropey, like a plush carpet. Hurried home to grab the camera as sunset was coming soon and I wanted to be sure I caught the look.

( Read more... )

aurumcalendula

I discovered at the grocery store the other day that Tony's Chocolonely now sells mini individually wrapped chocolates as well as large chocolate bars!

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3182/

I'm trying to buy a gravitational lens for my camera, but I can't tell if the manufacturers are listing comoving focal length or proper focal length.

https://xkcd.com/3182/

yourlibrarian posting in

dw_community_promo

3 for the Memories' 2025 session will be open for posts on January 3, 2026 and will run for 3 weeks until January 24. Event participation is as follows:

1) Three photos only per person during each annual session. Members are encouraged to discuss the reason for their choices.

2) Photos can be hosted at Dreamwidth or elsewhere, and should not be larger than 800 px width or height.

3) All three photos should be in the same post. Cut tags should be placed after the first photo.

3 for the Memories is not a competition, and entries are not being judged. Rather, participants are encouraged to share photos they took in 2025 that they find meaningful in some way or which represent how they experienced the year.

Questions? Visit the announcement post at

threeforthememories

sineala

What I Just Finished Reading

Katie Chandler, Backhanded Compliments: A f/f tennis rivals-to-lovers romance that's also a name-on-wrist soulmate story, because I guess this is just what Real Books are like now. It's... okay? The smut was actually decent, and there was some interesting worldbuilding in here (everyone visits the archaeological museum of Naples and talks about the classical views of soulmates), but I think the author should have built up the rivalry before having them actually realize they were soulmates, because pre-existing character investment is not happening in original fiction, and it wasn't really clear to me why they couldn't just be together.

What I'm Reading Now

Comics Wednesday!

( Alien vs. Captain America #2, Avengers #33 )

What I'm Reading Next

I have to read one more book this year so that I do not fail my pitiful Goodreads challenge.

lysimache says I should finish reading this novella about Pegasus written for students learning Ancient Greek, but my bookmark fell out and I don't remember where I was. Also I forgot the word for "bridle."

rydra_wong

(Re: the previous entry.)

Dragonslayer Ornstein & Executioner Smough (also known as Oreo and S'mores, Biggie and Smalls, Pikachu and Snorlax, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and any other name the fandom can come up with) are one of the most iconic boss fights in the entire Dark Souls series.

There are much harder ones in later games (and in the DLC), but they're still legendary and still regarded as a Serious boss fight.

They're also a famous mid-game difficulty spike and cause of rage quitting. Conversely, if you can get through O&S, people often say you should have the skills to beat the rest of the base game.

The major issue is that it's a duo boss fight, with one agile speedster (Ornstein) who can zip most of the way across the room in a single move, and also throws lightning, and one heavyweight bruiser (Smough) who is slower but not that slow -- he has a charge attack to close distance fast that hits like a freight train -- and does huge amounts of damage.

So for the first phase of the fight, you have to try to keep track of where they both are simultaneously (not to mention where you are in relation to the room, so you don't back yourself into a corner and get trapped) and constantly manoeuvre to try to be able to get in a hit on one without being hit by the other.

If you kill one of them, the fight goes into a second phase where the surviving one absorbs some of their powers (so if it's Smough, he gets lightning, while if it's Ornstein he gets sized up and picks up part of Smough's moveset) and also restarts with a full and vastly increased health bar. Though there is a general consensus that the second phase is more manageable than the first phase simply because you're not having to fight two bosses at the same time.

Illustrative example of someone doing the fight:

Watch on YouTube

(You can summon an NPC or other human players to try to help you, but the bosses get extra health to compensate and it's still tough. And also I have been having enormous fun trying to beat all the bosses without summons so far, and am averse to the extra complications and unpredictability of having more people -- human or NPC -- in the mix while I try to figure out a fight. Though I've also had enormous fun being a summons for other people on boss fights, so zero disrespect to people summoning*, it's an excellent game mechanic.)

As I may have mentioned once or twice, my brain has huge difficulty tracking multiple moving objects (which is why I can't drive or cycle on the road) and I have the reaction speed of a slime mould.

So yeah. I knew O&S are the big mid-game stopper and I was very aware that this could potentially be the point where I hit a wall and the game became flatly impossible for me. Or at least where I'd have to summon to get through it.

And that did not happen. I solo-ed O&S.

It took multiple sessions over multiple days before I mastered it, but that's standard for me on DS boss fights. And I had SO MUCH FUN. It's SUCH A COOL FIGHT.

I did a thing that was a real achievement for me and I am very proud, and especially given the shitshow this year has been, I'll take it.

{*Necessary disclaimer only because Dark Souls fandom has historically had a section who are toxic as fuck and would like you to know that you didn't really beat the game if you summoned or used magic or whatthefuckever else they disapprove of.}

runpunkrun posting in

fancake

Hello everyone! You have two more days to slip your theme suggestions into the suggestion box for our rounds in 2026. I went ahead and added some more themes to the pool, taking popular suggestions from past years but also filling in a few more gaps in our coverage (vampires! aliens!), so take a look at the list and see if it doesn't shake something loose.

I'll close that post the morning of the 19th and put up the big theme poll on the 20th. If you're going to be out and about around that time, you can track the admin: poll: theme tag. Just click on the little bell icon or "track" link on any post with that tag, select "Someone posts an entry tagged admin: poll: theme," hit save, and you'll get an email when the big poll goes up. You'll also get an email every time I post a theme poll thereafter, which is monthly. If you don't want that, you can cancel the notification later; it's the same process, just uncheck the box and hit save.

frayadjacent posting in

vidukon_cardiff

Programming suggestions for VidUKon 2026 are now open! We will be accepting submissions until Monday January 19 2026 at the end of the day everywhere.

Please submit your content suggestions, whether for shows, panels, or something else, in this google form. Most fields are not mandatory, so if you only have a vid show idea but not a panel or vice versa, that’s fine. Multiple ideas, if you have them, are welcome, but please submit them separately, just to make our lives a bit easier.

If you have an idea for something new that’s not quite a vidshow or panel, we’d love to hear that too.

As ever, we welcome programming ideas from first-time VJs and panellists as well as from veterans - if you’d like to give it a try but you’re not sure where to start, please get in touch! We’re happy to chat it through with you. You’re also very welcome to VJ as a pair or a group.

As the con has grown, so has the number of programming submissions. In the likely event that we have too many programme items to choose from, we will emphasise items that form a coherent and complementary programme, as well as trying to give new VJs and panellists a chance to shine. Last year we had to turn down many excellent suggestions, so if you're still keen on your submission from last year please feel free to resubmit, or submit a new one if you prefer.

Part of the reason we have had to turn down so many great programming submissions is because our standing programming, e.g. Vidder's Choice, Premieres, etc, now run much longer and take up more of the con time than they used to. For this reason, we have decided not to run one of our usual standing vidshows, Festivids, this year. This will free up time for one more curated vidshow or panel than we were able to do last year.

We will endeavour to let submitters know whether their item has been selected as soon as possible after the deadline, to allow plenty of time to prepare.

wychwood

Today I mostly Power Automated. Or attempted to. I had to call in the expert several times, and at least one of them he was like "yeah I don't know why it's not working either", which was at least validating. My first flow is now sending emails, although I still need to tweak it a bit.

Also: honestly what sort of bullshit is it that you can't get Microsoft Forms to send an email to the person who filled out the form with their details in! That's been, like, basic form functionality for at least fifteen years, and it's all very well saying "oh well you can do it with Power Automate", but that is much more complicated than ticking a "send submissions to user" box and requires access to a whole separate system plus someone to set up all the permissions for you to use whatever Outlook mailbox, etc etc etc...

Anyway. I have three? four? forms that my boss wants me to have up and running before Christmas. Now I've got all the accesses and permissions configured that should hopefully be possible, which is good because I did promise...

On the home front, I have now ordered all the remaining Christmas presents I can do before Christmas Day itself (why do so few places allow you to buy gift-cards to ship on a particular date!), wrapped all the physical things I already have, sorted out the last grocery delivery before Christmas so I won't accidentally starve, and checked in with my siblings to discover that other people have been working on the stocking presents for my parents, and what isn't bought is at least planned.

I built a beautiful tracking spreadsheet that shows what each parent is getting, calculates how much each of us has spent, and checks that against the notional budget for hopefully easier working out who owes what to whom once we're done. And so far no one has got super mad at me for being "bossy" or declared refusal to participate, which is unfortunately what tends to happens. I'm trying to back off now while we're still OK!

Now off to choir!

spiralsheep

- Polls: I've probably got time to post one more poll before my dw paid time runs out, so what should I ask? :D

- Reading: 120 books to 17 Dec 2025.

117. Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales, by Heather Fawcett, 2025, fantasy romance novel, 5/5

I found the first book of this trilogy delightful (although I'm not a fan of dazed [or fainting] heroines tbh), thought the middle book meandered and repeated a tad too much, but this third book was a very good conclusion to the series (so far - although I hope Fawcett continues to grow creatively rather than repeating herself because I do think she has the imagination and skills to branch out further).

I'm sure nobody reading this hasn't heard of Emily Wilde but, just in case, the novels are secondary world fantasy / romantasy rooted in western European folk and fairy tales but with a Strange and Norrell style fake-academia framing (fake-ademia?).

pg22: If Wendell's stepmother has us slain before I have a chance to contribute to the scholarly debate, I will be very disappointed.

120. Good Days, An A-Z of Hope and Happiness, by Michael Rosen, 2025, non-fiction (self-help, philosophy, literature, autobiography, and whatever else he decides to get into).

Rosen is a National Treasure, obviously. I've just begun this but he quotes John Donne in the first chapter, which has already been in my mind recently for obvious reasons:

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine
own were. Any man’s death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind;
and therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

Current Mood: Busy
Current Location: Hopscotching between unflooded rivers

torachan

1. Carla needed the car for an appointment today so since we've still only got the one, I worked from home. I didn't have anything that required being in the office anyway, so it worked out.

2. Speaking of the car, they finally found the leak, yay! It should be fixed tomorrow or Thursday. The not so yay part is that apparently it was not a malfunction but was caused by a rock or something getting kicked up into the engine, so we will have to pay for it. We have the money, so it's not a problem in that regard. I'd just rather spend my money on nicer things than car repairs. :p

3. Molly's getting cozy.

musesfool

So I packed up my jars of candied pecans and my bag of "prizes" and schlepped into the office today for our big huge holiday party - it was 5 departments' worth of people, so like 90 of us, so instead of everyone sitting in a room and eating together, we mostly stayed in our little departmental groups, but the beer-free beer pong was INCREDIBLY popular, Name That Tune also had a good turnout, and the food was excellent. Assistant J did a bang-up job organizing various game stations for people to play - there was also Jenga and Uno available, and a couple of gaming consoles he brought in so people could play Fortnite. *hands* I commended him and told him everybody loved it. And I did not have to lift a finger, except to bring the bag of prizes, aka, my stash of small gifts I've accumulated across the year but haven't given anyone yet, so there was a couple of packs of playing cards still in their wrapper, a couple of candles, 2 cute notebooks, some mini puzzles, and some holiday soaps. I also had a travel mug and a bigger candle to use as extra gifts for the secret gift exchange in case someone didn't show up, and it turned out my boss had given her secret exchange gift to someone else, so she ended up using the mug, and I gave the candle to a co-worker who tried to sign up for the exchange a week after I'd sent the assignments out. I felt bad about telling her no, but there was no way to make it work, except for me giving her the extra gift in the moment - she seemed really touched by it. And of course, several people asked me why I hadn't gotten a gift and I was like, I know who everyone is giving to, so it doesn't feel right to participate, but they didn't seem to buy that logic. *hands* I stand by it though.

I did get some lovely gifts though - a Calamityware mug from my boss, a couple of candles (one apple-and-cinnamon scented and one Frasier fir scented), a bottle of mango jalapeno hot sauce, and some Korean snacks from the co-worker who recently went to Seoul on vacation. And I got to leave at 3:30, so I was home by 4:45, which is truly a blessing. I also got to see and hug a lot of people I haven't seen in months, so that was also great. I truly do like most of the people that I work with, and I do miss seeing them, but ugh, it is so not worth going into the office more frequently to do so, imo, because so much less work gets done (even on days when there isn't a party). I probably won't go back until March if I can help it. *g*

Oh, and most importantly, my candied pecans were a hit! One of my attorneys basically ate the whole jar while he sat at his desk and the others all seemed genuinely excited about getting into them. So that worked out well.

Two more days and then I am on vacation for the rest of the year! I can't wait!

*

Current Mood: loved
Current Music: Knicks vs Spurs pregame show

china_shop

Previous poll review
In the Mind's eye poll, 22.4% of respondents said their mind's eye is as vivid as IMAX (wow!), 20.7% said pretty vivid, 25.9% said they can visualise if they work at it, and 22.4% said it's a bit patchy/vague. Nearly fourteen percent, including me, have no mind's eye. (I do occasionally see things in my dreams, eg, wake up with the memory of an orange cat, so I voted "other" as well.)

In ticky-boxes, spices (56.9%) came second to hugs (67.2%), followed by being able to name characters from Winnie-the-Pooh (39.7). Thank you for your votes!!

Reading
I was trying to write romance for Yuletide, and digressive murder mysteries were not helping my subconscious to deliver the romance beats/pacing, so I stepped away from Murder Must Advertise (Peter Wimsey) for a while and read a Jennifer Crusie instead. Not one of her better ones, but I've read the better ones so many times... I haven't returned to Murder Must Advertise yet, but I will (and I'll have forgotten everything, oh well).

In audio, I'm relistening to The Wedding People by Alison Espach, read by Helen Laser. It's so good! Phoebe's POV is specific and observational. As I said last time I read it, "Give me all the middle-aged women's midlife crises! Warning for suicidal protagonist, but the book is overall life-affirming."

Kdramas
Still loving Knight Flower. It's adorable and dramatic and silly, with many great women. Competent goofballs FTW! And Andrew and I started Jeongnyeon: A Star Is Born, set in the 1950s after the Korean war, about an all-female theatre troupe. It is fabulous, incredibly gay, and I love everything about it. See also "so many great women!" Moon Okgyeong is mesmerising, ahhhh, I totally understand why everyone's smitten with her (or is it him? or them?). We are racing through it (by our standards).

Other TV
We finished Down Cemetery Road, and I want more, especially of Emma Thompson as Zoe. Finished The Lowdown with Ethan Hawke. We're still going on Pluribus, which continues to be fascinating, and Prehistoric Planet. (My Apple+ subscription runs out on Sunday.) We finished the available episodes of Stranger Things, and I have Robin, Will and Max tied for first place as MVP.

I'm having a bit of trouble with season 3 of The Cleaner, but we might watch some more. And then there's Krapopolis, which is mixing things up this season. My sister and I are still watching Fringe and Bluey.

Audio entertainment
Writing Excuses, Letters from an American, Cross Party Lines, some Brandon Sanderson youtube lectures.

Online life
I am seriously not keeping up with Dreamwidth or my inbox. Sorry! I keep opening things in tabs to read/reply to later, but I'm going to have to give myself an amnesty and just close a bunch of them.

I'm enjoying the hockey show squee on my reading page, and though I don't know if the show will be for me, I plan to take a look at some point, just in case.

Writing/making things
I had a good writing run in November, but we got some bad news and now brain is refusing to brain, stories are refusing to story, sentences are refusing, etc. I ended up defaulting on Yuletide, though there is still a chance I'll finish the fic.

I am enjoying doodling, though -- it's freeing not having a clue what I'm doing. I posted one pic to Tumblr and it got notes and everything, and I just posted another to

fan_flashworks. (I bought an ancient second-hand flatbed scanner for $15, but I couldn't convince my computer to recognise it, so I guess I'll continue to photograph my sketches for now, even though it messes with the colour balance. I don't know how long this art phase will last, so investing in a newer scanner seems premature.)

Life/health/mental state things
I've been staying up too late lately (including to write an angry submission on a stupid roading project), and it's taking its toll. Offline things are a bit stressful and distracting (stuck in a waiting phase). Summer keeps coming and going. Christmas is imminent.

I need to get more active here on Dreamwidth again. *clings to you all*

Goals
Maybe I should make some of these for next year? Hm.

Good things
The boy! The cat! The house! Coloured pencils and a sketchbook and an ArtLine pen. TV that centres female characters. Also: Guardian! The slo-mo rewatch. ♥ ♥ ♥ Christmas mince pies. Early Christmas present bone-conduction earphones (after years of using this kind of earpiece, now I have stereo sound!).

Poll #33963 dance dance revolution

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 44

View Respondents

Have you danced this week?

View Answers

yes, with other people
2 (4.5%)

yes, with a pet or other animal
1 (2.3%)

yes, on my own
14 (31.8%)

kind of / only briefly
14 (31.8%)

no / not yet
20 (45.5%)

other
1 (2.3%)

ticky-box full of "Fighting!" (화이팅!)
9 (20.5%)

ticky-box full of books borrowed from an acquaintance quite some time ago, which really need to be returned but it's super awkward
8 (18.2%)

ticky-box full of enthusiastically and fervently loving what you love
28 (63.6%)

ticky-box full of giant prehistoric otters roaming the savannas
23 (52.3%)

ticky-box full of hugs, so many hugs
33 (75.0%)

runpunkrun posting in

fancake

Fandom: Stranger Things
Pairings/Characters: Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Rating: Explicit
Length: 26,183 words
Creator Link:

mistresscurvy
Theme: Amnesty, First Time, Canon LGBTQ+ Characters, Research, Futurefic, Friendship

Summary: "Did it ever occur to any of you that I might not want to have my only sexual experiences be with someone who isn't actually interested in me?" Will asked.

He was met by three identical looks of confusion. "I mean, it would still be sex," Dustin said finally.

Reccer's Notes: Set after a season four where, yes, a lot of people died. But the kids are seventeen now, and Mike and Will are both virgins, which Mike is very concerned about: Cue the 80s teen sex comedy. Unlike much of that genre, though, this isn't gross or embarrassing, and everybody's having a good time. I adored Will here, kind of baffled by what Mike's gotten them into, yet excited about it too, and it's wonderful to see him stand up for himself, confident enough to be honest about who he is and what he wants. Plus it includes the entire crew, even Argyle.

Fanwork Link: Like a Virgin

condnsdmlk posting in

vidukon_cardiff

Next year's con is taking place Friday 5 June to Sunday 7 June 2026 in Birmingham. As in previous years, we'll likely schedule some virtual-only pre-con programming on the Thursday evening.

For folks attending in person, the VidUKon 2026 hotel is the Novotel Birmingham Centre, about 1km from Birmingham New Street Station and accessible via tram. We did not receive a special rate for congoers, so we recommend booking directly through their website.

Rooms can accommodate up to three guests (one queen-sized bed and a pull-out sleeper couch). Room rates are subject to change (so the earlier you're able to book, the better), but current approximate rates for two nights B&B on 5 & 6 June are:

Single occupancy – £213 (non-refundable) / £245 (cancel free of charge)
Double occupancy – £245 to £281 (non-refundable) / £277 to £319 (cancel free of charge)
Triple occupancy – £367.05 (non-refundable) / £399 (cancel free of charge)

If you’re interested in staying at the hotel but would like to find someone to share a room with, comment on this post or take a look to see who has already commented!

The Novotel Birmingham Centre is pretty central, close to lots of food options, and the city itself is easy to get to, with a direct train line from London (90 to 130 minutes). The train from Birmingham Airport to New Street Station takes about 40 minutes.

Birmingham is a great city, filled with lots of cultural landmarks. Not only did it give birth to legendary heavy metal band Black Sabbath, Tolkien grew up there too! Check out Visit Birmingham to learn more about the city. Or even better, Video Game Cultures hosted their 2024 conference there and put together a great guide to Birmingham. It really is an excellent resource, so do check it out.

Lastly, if you have ideas for con programming, watch this space! We plan to put a call out for suggestions soon.

rydra_wong

... I just beat Ornstein and Smough.

For anyone who would like context -- Symbalily meets and gets to grips with O&S, from the timestamp: https://youtu.be/3TKhwbveyVE?si=14uuwYlVq1ywUwRk&t=5681

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2025 Disneyland Trip #78 (12/17/25)

Daily Happiness

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Cloud Carpets

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Telescope Types

Three for the Memories Coming Back Next Month!

Wednesday Reading Meme

Okay so more context

Only two days left to suggest themes!

Submit programming for VidUKon 2026!

with an open smile and with open doors

In which no man is an island

Daily Happiness

but I really look at the bench of this team

Me-and-media update

Stranger Things: Like a Virgin, by mistresscurvy

Hotel rooms for VidUKon 2026 | Find a roommate here!

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