wednesday reads and things
Jul. 8th, 2026 04:00 pm![[personal profile]](/makepkg/implementing-https-www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
isisHello from Colorado, which is on fire :( We are not actually near any of the big fires, but we are getting smoke in the mornings from two of them, which means that several times in the past few weeks we've had to get up at 3 am and close the windows and turn on the air purifier. Anyway:
What I've recently read:
The Astrobiology Immersion Program by![[archiveofourown.org profile]](/makepkg/implementing-https-archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
startingatmidnight, short-novel-length (~50K) Project Hail Mary gen, I think petra recommended it. AU in which on the way back to Erid, Rocky and Ryland Grace bodyswap. I love bodyswap as a trope and it's especially rich when the bodies are alien to each other. I thought it was a little long, and the handwaving a little handwavy, though the ultimate "why" resolution was super interesting, and I really liked that the story continues through to the consequences on Erid.
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt, which is a sort of literary dark-humor western, with a really fun narrative voice. Charlie and Eli Sisters are Bad Men With Guns who wield them for a mysterious mogul called the Commodore. Except Eli's got a sensitive side, and he's starting to wonder why he's killing people for money when he could just settle down and run a trading post somewhere. My favorite part, oddly, was the throughline of Eli being completely unable to hold onto any money; if he doesn't give it away out of soft-heartedness as soon as he gets it, it's stolen, and I was delighted every time it happened.
The Rook by Daniel O'Malley, which was a recommendation frommerit - I couldn't resist the premise of a woman waking up with amnesia and learning, through letters written from her former self, that she's a high-up bureaucrat in a secret organization of people with supernatural powers who deal with supernatural crimes and threats to the country. Sort of like Rivers of London but with Ghostbusters-level humor. ETA: and now I am reminded of another reason I really liked this: the main character, Myfanwy Thomas, discovers (somewhat to her surprise) that she is frighteningly competent at her job. Also there is a fantastic female character with whom I ship her (and there is fic). Anyway, lots of fun, and I'm now reading the second book in this series, Stiletto.
What I've recently watched:
S4 of Dark Winds, which unfortunately had quite a bit of action in LA - not that I have anything against LA, it's just it's not the familiar Four Corners scenery. As soon as they (metaphorically) hung a German on the wall I was expecting it to fire (metaphorically) Karl May, and I was not disappointed.
We've just watched the first episode of S2 of the live-action One Piece. I love how goofy it is!
What I've recently read:
The Astrobiology Immersion Program by
petra recommended it. AU in which on the way back to Erid, Rocky and Ryland Grace bodyswap. I love bodyswap as a trope and it's especially rich when the bodies are alien to each other. I thought it was a little long, and the handwaving a little handwavy, though the ultimate "why" resolution was super interesting, and I really liked that the story continues through to the consequences on Erid.The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt, which is a sort of literary dark-humor western, with a really fun narrative voice. Charlie and Eli Sisters are Bad Men With Guns who wield them for a mysterious mogul called the Commodore. Except Eli's got a sensitive side, and he's starting to wonder why he's killing people for money when he could just settle down and run a trading post somewhere. My favorite part, oddly, was the throughline of Eli being completely unable to hold onto any money; if he doesn't give it away out of soft-heartedness as soon as he gets it, it's stolen, and I was delighted every time it happened.
The Rook by Daniel O'Malley, which was a recommendation from
merit - I couldn't resist the premise of a woman waking up with amnesia and learning, through letters written from her former self, that she's a high-up bureaucrat in a secret organization of people with supernatural powers who deal with supernatural crimes and threats to the country. Sort of like Rivers of London but with Ghostbusters-level humor. ETA: and now I am reminded of another reason I really liked this: the main character, Myfanwy Thomas, discovers (somewhat to her surprise) that she is frighteningly competent at her job. Also there is a fantastic female character with whom I ship her (and there is fic). Anyway, lots of fun, and I'm now reading the second book in this series, Stiletto.What I've recently watched:
S4 of Dark Winds, which unfortunately had quite a bit of action in LA - not that I have anything against LA, it's just it's not the familiar Four Corners scenery. As soon as they (metaphorically) hung a German on the wall I was expecting it to fire (metaphorically) Karl May, and I was not disappointed.
We've just watched the first episode of S2 of the live-action One Piece. I love how goofy it is!
(no subject)
Jul. 8th, 2026 01:54 pmarcanetriviadskfkdshjf I have a minor hole to paper over in my WIP, in that there's a place that is currently a rough jump cut that I would like to make into a smooth transition, so maybe 100-200 words; but other than that, after more than two years of struggle (significantly complicated by all the medical problems that my dad has had in those same two years), as of about midnight last night I have what appears to be a complete narrative of 31,703 words. It's still full of first-draft problems, of course, and I know that doesn't impress people who regularly knock out long fanfics, but assuming it doesn't lose a bunch in editing, it would be the longest thing I've ever written by a pretty comfortable margin. I know word count isn't everything, and who the hell knows if either of those fics even deserves to be that long or if they could be cut in half and still get all the essential points across, but wotthehell, archy.
small amusements in media references
Jul. 8th, 2026 02:53 pmbluedreamingUnexpected bingo square: Nietzsche quote in my Thai BL 😂
(I originally shared this on discord because that’s where I put microposting these days and then I figured: why not here?)
(I originally shared this on discord because that’s where I put microposting these days and then I figured: why not here?)
Children of Strife (Children of Time #4), by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Jul. 8th, 2026 10:04 amrunpunkrun"We call it a society. It involves coming to accommodations with others."
Goes backwards—and sideways—through time, looking at the events of the last three books from another set of perspectives. Introduces some new characters and locations, brings back some old ones, and does a great job of balancing epic world building with the minutiae of being a person in a society.
If you haven't read this series, you can't start here. And if you have, don't expect the corvids from the last book to join us for this one; Tchaikovsky seems to be switching up the way this series works.
Contains: BUGS (like huge gross bugs, plus the usual spiders and ants), GORE (just, guts, everywhere), BODY HORROR (guts and body parts in places they shouldn't be), animal harm.
Goes backwards—and sideways—through time, looking at the events of the last three books from another set of perspectives. Introduces some new characters and locations, brings back some old ones, and does a great job of balancing epic world building with the minutiae of being a person in a society.
If you haven't read this series, you can't start here. And if you have, don't expect the corvids from the last book to join us for this one; Tchaikovsky seems to be switching up the way this series works.
Contains: BUGS (like huge gross bugs, plus the usual spiders and ants), GORE (just, guts, everywhere), BODY HORROR (guts and body parts in places they shouldn't be), animal harm.
Dreamwidth reading woes
Jul. 8th, 2026 11:39 ambluedreamingWhen things are stressful, I often find myself gravitating even more towards the relative calmness of Dreamwidth. However, I’ve been struggling with how to actually read updates here.
( Read more... )
So, I’m stuck!
( Read more... )
So, I’m stuck!
flop
Jul. 8th, 2026 04:31 pmenigelMigraines still stuck.
Heat sensitivity sucks too.
If it were a competition, one would win and the other would go away, but it's not, it's collusion.
Yay cooling vest, but yikes that I should have to wear it inside my own home.
The noise of the fan is also not helping my poor brain (see: collusion of nuisances).
Not much to say, just wanted to see who's still around, who's still reading this when it's been so quiet lately and so devoid of fannish content.
I have some new fannish interests too, but in a separate update, after a good rest and maybe a nap.
Heat sensitivity sucks too.
If it were a competition, one would win and the other would go away, but it's not, it's collusion.
Yay cooling vest, but yikes that I should have to wear it inside my own home.
The noise of the fan is also not helping my poor brain (see: collusion of nuisances).
Not much to say, just wanted to see who's still around, who's still reading this when it's been so quiet lately and so devoid of fannish content.
I have some new fannish interests too, but in a separate update, after a good rest and maybe a nap.
(Or are we JSON?)
Jul. 8th, 2026 05:00 amalisxCute little “” idea for website owners to vouch for other website owners as human. Will it get widespread adoption? Eh, probably not. Is it still a cute idea? Hell yeah, and I’ve implemented it at void-star.net because why not.
FIC: The half-men's quarters (Tempestuous Tours)
Jul. 7th, 2026 11:50 amduskpetersonAt one time, the cellar of the current palace was made up of dank, dim chambers where the palace's slave-servants slept and sometimes worked. When the previous Chara made up his mind to free all the palace slaves, there was much discussion over what to do with the former slave-quarters. The somewhat belated consensus by the palace officials was that these rooms were unfit to live in. There was talk of turning the rooms into storage rooms.
To everyone's amazement, the palace's community of eunuchs came forward and asked that the dank, dim chambers be given over to them. They had never before had a place in the palace that belonged solely to them. Many of them, being recently freed slaves, had lived in the slave-quarters; they considered this their home, one that might finally belong to them, rather than to their slave-masters.
The Chara graciously granted them their new quarters and forbade anyone who was not a half-man from entering the quarters, except by invitation of the eunuchs.
I can testify that the eunuch community has done a marvellous job of redecorating the cellar, so that it is bright and cheerful. One room alone has not been touched: the slaves' punishment room, which remains as a stark reminder of this place's bloody past.
If you are invited to visit the eunuchs' quarters, I strongly advise you to visit the punishment room. My advice grows even stronger if you keep slaves yourselves.
[Translator's note: Free-man's Blade includes a visit to the slave quarters, courtesy of a half-man.]
Vienna Teng: My 4th of July Post
Jul. 6th, 2026 08:16 amlabingiA bit belated, here's a repost of my Substack post extolling Vienna Teng:
I’ve been sinking into Vienna Teng’s song cycle, “We Got You,” and drawing daily strength from it. The cycle is made up of two core songs, “Spark” and “Comfort,” both centered on the theme “we got you.” In “Spark,” the words are used in the sense of “You inspire us. You are our ally.” In “Comfort,” the sense is “We’ll keep you from falling.” Together, the songs describe the two necessary faces of activism or any movement committed to transformation despite the risk: we need strength and we need refuge.
She, then, combines the two songs into one track, encapsulating the totality of this kind of struggle. I highly recommend listening to all three and, if you like them, buying them: Teng deeply deserves the financial recognition for what she’s given us.
(See the rest and links to videos of her songs on my Substack.)
I’ve been sinking into Vienna Teng’s song cycle, “We Got You,” and drawing daily strength from it. The cycle is made up of two core songs, “Spark” and “Comfort,” both centered on the theme “we got you.” In “Spark,” the words are used in the sense of “You inspire us. You are our ally.” In “Comfort,” the sense is “We’ll keep you from falling.” Together, the songs describe the two necessary faces of activism or any movement committed to transformation despite the risk: we need strength and we need refuge.
She, then, combines the two songs into one track, encapsulating the totality of this kind of struggle. I highly recommend listening to all three and, if you like them, buying them: Teng deeply deserves the financial recognition for what she’s given us.
(See the rest and links to videos of her songs on my Substack.)
Monday @ 9:00 pm
Jul. 6th, 2026 09:00 pmalisxTIL the girl who did the voice of Lilo in Lilo & Stitch was also Samara in the US remake of The Ring??? Also that there was a sequel to Donnie Darko???
Wild.
I am reduced to cliches and memes from the 12th century.
Jul. 5th, 2026 01:56 pmwaterswordWILL NO ONE RID ME OF THIS TROUBLESOME FATHER.
Someone get this man to take my name out of his fucking mouth.
(One of his cousins died, he posted about it on Facebook and talked about how much I liked that cousin, someone saw fit to forward it to me. Leave me the fuck alone.)
Fancake's Theme for July
Jul. 4th, 2026 08:37 amrunpunkrun
![[community profile]](/makepkg/implementing-https-www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fancake's theme for July is Unreliable Narrator! This round is dedicated to all the cats out there claiming they haven't been fed. It's a good story, but we know the truth.If you have any questions about this theme, or the comm, come talk to me!
Saturday @ 10:21 pm
Jul. 4th, 2026 10:21 pmalisxHonestly, at this point, my main tell for generated writing is the fact my eyes just fucking slide off it. It takes fucking effort to read that shit, in a way human authored words generally don’t, and in a way I can’t really consciously articulate?
Like. I reckon there’s going to be a bunch of interesting studies come out in the next few years about different reactions in the brain between generated content and human-produced art (assume there probably already are), hey . . .
