Wednesday, April 29th, 2026 10:43 pm
What I've Read
The Visitor - KA Applegate - This was one of my most favorite Animorphs and it really drives home that the book is going to look at the cost of this war on an individual level. Rachel has to infiltrate the home of a Yeerk leader who is also the father of Rachel's old friend. Losing a parent is awful - but this child has lost her parents while they are still present and alive because the brain controlling aliens running her parents' bodies do not love her like he parents did.

My Happy Marriage Vol 2 & 3 - This is a self indulgent manga with good art and some main character whump.

The Other Bennet Sister
- Janice Hadlow - Audiobook, this ruled. The conceit is obvious- take a side character from Pride and Prejudice and look at them closer, it's been done before, it so often works! Because Austen's side characters can stand up to scrutiny, but they have enough space to dig into who they are. The choice to look at Mary, starting before the events of P&P, when she's a plain little girl who cannot understand why she can't please her mother or connect with her father or break into the pairs that her four sisters have fallen into - was there ever such an ugly duckly, such a middle child? It's an excellent story of someone trying to be special to others somehow, and the main story comes together quite sweetly. Hadlow manages a book with a similar sense of interest in character as Austen but without trying to ape her style so closely that I felt it veered into pastiche.


What I'm Reading

The Ancient Magus Bride (vol 1 manga ) So far so good, weird world building and a dude with a horse skull for a face bought our main character from her shitty family.
Dracula - Continues to be a banger.

What I'll Read Next

SciFi/Fantasy Book Club
Tomb of Dragons Katherine Addison - reread

Necromancy Book Club
The Everlasting Alix E. Harrow
The Isle in the Silver Sea Tasha Suri
Platform Decay (murderbot 8) Martha Wells
Ancillary Justice Ann Leckie

Hugo nominations came out!
I think the voter packet hasn't come out yet, so I have not gotten the freebies of some of these books yet but I am hopeful.

Novels
A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey; Hodderscape) - read, it was great
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor (William Morrow; Gollancz) - know the author, know nothing about this
Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor UK; Orbit US) - haven't read this, looking forward to it
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow (Tor US; Tor UK) - already on the to-read list
The Incandescent by Emily Tesh (Tor US; Orbit UK) - read, it was great (tho a bit obvious)
The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson (Orbit US; Hodderscape)- never even heard of this one

Novellas
Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz (Tordotcom)
Cinder House by Freya Marske (Tordotcom; Tor UK) - read it, very interesting
Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite (Tordotcom)
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar (Tordotcom; Arcadia UK)
The Summer War by Naomi Novik (Del Rey US; Del Rey UK)
What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher (Nightfire; Titan UK) -read it, solid, not a standalone without the first two novellas

The other categories also merit attention but the funny thing is just the movies - I have already seen all of them except Mickey 17.

Wednesday, April 29th, 2026 07:16 pm
1. When Carla called the second plumbers yesterday, they told her they'd be out between 12 and 2 today, but then immediately after sent a message saying 10-12 instead, and they were indeed here by around 10:45. They got the water heater replaced quickly and even cleaned a lot of the cobwebs and weeds out of the shed, and they adjusted the placement of the new one so it sits further back inside and just generally looks better, so that was nice! It cost about ten times more than when they replaced the previous one eight years ago, but that was still significantly cheaper than the first guys quoted us, so I'll take it.

2. I've had the same headphones for my desktop PC for ages and the coating has started to flake off for at least the past year or so, but then yesterday I noticed the foam was now coming out of place as well. But! We have a pair of exactly the same ones that Carla had bought (actually she got hers first and I liked them and got a pair myself) but eventually replaced with better quality ones, and they were still in perfectly good condition, so I just switched to those and don't have to buy a new pair. The things about them that bothered her don't bother me, and I don't use headphones at my desk that much anyway, so I'm fine with sticking with these until they eventually wear out, too.

3. Carla made hamburg the other night for dinner and we had some patties leftover and decided to make sandwiches with them tonight. It's basically meatloaf with a slightly different flavor profile, and I love meatloaf sandwiches. We used tonkatsu sauce instead of ketchup, and while I would have gone for cabbage or lettuce, all we had on hand was some arugula and I'd literally just gotten back from walking to the store for something else, so we tried that and it worked really well.

4. I love his little crossed wrists!

Wednesday, April 29th, 2026 06:51 pm
Last chapter of Leyfarers was pirate themed. At the end of every chapter we have things that unlock depending on our actions. (It's a custom written adventure / world setting for the ~180 people in the group, at a brewpub themed to be a building in the world) We had a challenge where new races would unlock depending on how many people would post a memory from the adventure in Discord. If we got 140 Leyfarers to participate, we'd unlock Otterfolk. Not everyone is on Discord so it was a challenge.

Every since advisor got in on trying to wrangle our groups to post. We hit... 140/140. Margin of zero. Literally every member we got to post was needed. The new player's guide hasn't posted yet, but I am 100% retiring Alec and rolling an Otterfolk at the end of this chapter.

I should have rerolled my main sooner. I play a Barbarian with Charisma as a dump stat. At first it gave some character to him, especially since he thought he was great at telling stories. But I am so tired of playing a low charisma character. Part of the problem is that I like tracking lore and details. So, when we need to interact with an NPC to get trust, I try to use that tracking to help convince them... and then get told to roll Cha. So, no matter how good I am at knowing things, doesn't matter because NPCs wont ever trust me. This is not fun and doesn't reward my playstyle. I should have rerolled sooner, but I get attached to my characters and also was trying to outplay the debuff, take it as a challenge. It just wasn't working.

So, I am going to roll a high Cha Otterfolk. Probably a sorcerer/thief multi-class. I want to present as not-a-thief, but have most of my levels in thief. I was considering being 'just a bard', but I think a 'wandering sorcerer, just trying to progress, learn new spells' will make for a better build. Having literally 1 in bard and 14 in thief would be fun, but I am also trying to have a more effective build this time. I can reroll at my current level if I permanently retire Alec and... all his acquired bonuses from two years of play. Thaaaat's going to suck.

Still need to figure out a name and backstory. Problem with world settings of mostly egalitarian societies, is that it makes certain backstories tricky. I like the idea of being from a small, hidden enclave and being out to get treasures for us, make the hidden space we hang out in cooler. Maybe flesh out a few side characters.

Anyway, Otterfolk! Us advisors made a whole project of hitting the goal for the unlock and I intend to enjoy the unlock. A LOT of higher level characters are talking about rerolling, so the Leyfarers might be about to have a fuzzy invasion.
Wednesday, April 29th, 2026 09:15 pm
This Saturday, May 2, we'll be tabling at Hampshire Pride in the Armory Street parking lot behind Thornes Marketplace, in Northampton MA! We'll be at the white booth, #29, and we're sharing the space with Bee Leake!

We'll be loaded up with all sorts of goodies. Hope to see you there! We also will be offline once we leave tomorrow morning, so if you need to reach us, call, text, or wait.
Wednesday, April 29th, 2026 09:13 pm
It’s been wonderful weather for outdoor work: more mulching has been done and brush has been cut and removed. I also gave the rototiller a quick pre-season going over: motor and gear oil topped off and a flat tire taken care of.*
PXL_20260429_202822375_Original.jpeg

PXL_20260429_202922999_Original.jpeg

I’ve had a furry friend keeping me company out by the shed since February; a rabbit has taken up residence nearby :o)

PXL_20260429_203018082~2_Original.jpeg
Waiting patiently to see what might be available.

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Soooon…

Edit - I just noticed that this bunny is probably a New England Cottontail: there is a dark patch on the forehead and not the white spot of the Eastern Cottontail! Click the pics to expand them.

* I probably mentioned this before in regards to the tiller… When I was about 16 I watched, in awe, mind you, a friend of my sister manually replace a tire on his 1970 Road Runner. He took the original tire off the rim, and replaced it with another, with tire irons. To seat the bead he looped and tied a rope around the center of the tire, tightening it by turning a lug wrench slipped beneath it while filling the tire with air. Heh, I use the rope trick on the tiller tires, when necessary, with baling twine, a crescent wrench, and a hand pump.
Tags:
Wednesday, April 29th, 2026 05:38 pm
Publishing the secret histories of the world meant the need for a particularly robust fact-checking department to sort out what was little-known from what was entirely fabricated. He was just glad he wasn't on the team that handled speculative history, whose manuscript drafts dropped in from time anomalies in the break room kitchen. He had never felt equipped to deal with the ethical quandaries of changing future events just to minimize one's proofreading mistakes.

---

LL#1389
Wednesday, April 29th, 2026 05:30 pm
Intro/FAQ
Days 1-15


Still looking for a volunteer to split hosting duties for May! If no one else is available, I'll split the month with [personal profile] dswdiane, but I want to put out the call one last time…


My check-in: Some rewrites to the beginning of a story that I might use for a charity auction fill.


Day 29: [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] trobadora

Day 28: [personal profile] acorn_squash, [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] dswdiane, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] the_siobhan, [personal profile] trobadora

Day 27: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] dswdiane, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] the_siobhan, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

More days )

When you check in, please use the most recent post and say what day(s) you’re checking in for. Remember you can drop in or out at any time, and let me know if I missed anyone!
Thursday, April 30th, 2026 02:22 am
The collection is live! We ended up with a total of 37 fics this time — meaning the collection almost got 50% larger in the last two days! Awesome job, everyone! I'm glad I wasn't the only one writing until the very last second, haha.

As usual, please do not check out the fics via the fandom list page on AO3. Only a couple of fandoms are listed there, due to AO3's wrangling policy, so most of the stories won't show up on said page. Instead, there's an alternative fandom list below. (You can also browse the collection via the works page on AO3, where all are accounted for.)

All stories, ordered alphabetically by fandom:

behind the cut )

Thank you all so very much for taking part! I know these are all nonexistent fandoms, but I hope we can try to check out our fellow participants' stories and comment wherever possible. If you're not familiar with any of the fandoms, you can also try browsing the tag page to see if there are any themes/tropes/kinks that catches your eye.

Happy reading! I really hope to see you guys again next round ♥
Wednesday, April 29th, 2026 08:10 pm
Today's poem:

Bright Wings

I was walking in the garden looking for the intermediaries
between me and the clear light. I had left the hose running
much too long. Something was eating holes in the ear-soft
leaves of the morning glories. I saw for the first time
that the neighbor was growing corn - the yellow shocks
were leaning just above the cinder-block fence, and they
looked delicate and scruffy, like city corn, like alien corn,
and suddenly there was so much to be done, so much to
put in order, not the ordinary business of loving and dying,
but the ordinary business that comes bundled with them:
Sunlight behaved perfectly in every corner, the shadows breathed
in their one direction and told stories, our cat crouched in the flower bed
aching to kill something: How do you explain being so convinced,
so utterly taken by the idea that beauty is somehow moral?
I mean in this day and age? I mean now when no one can even get
that equation to hold up? But the ants have formed a black
ribbon that leads to a dead snail. But the Pipers and Cessnas
and Beechcraft are circling and banking for the airport with
so much color and precision. But the dogs two houses down
have heard the mail-carrier's foot, and they have erupted.
This is not the argument I'm looking for. And I have been lazy.
Tangerines and lemons have swollen and dropped from their
impatient branches. They lie among the fern and the vine, bruised
and mushy. They are being swarmed. They are being devoured.

--Frank X. Gaspar

***
Wednesday, April 29th, 2026 08:05 pm
Stargate SG1 x9
Star Trek: The Next Generation x6
Star Trek: Nemesis x2
Star Trek: Picard x1
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 x3
Star Trek: Voyager x3
Star Trek: Lower Decks x5
Star Trek: Prodigy x1
Star Trek cast photos x2
DCU x4

It's been a hard, uh, decade. It's okay if you need a hug ... or 36.

Preview:


33 more over at my journal.
Wednesday, April 29th, 2026 07:59 pm
Stargate SG1 x9
Star Trek: The Next Generation x6
Star Trek: Nemesis x2
Star Trek: Picard x1
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 x3
Star Trek: Voyager x3
Star Trek: Lower Decks x5
Star Trek: Prodigy x1
Star Trek cast photos x2
DCU x4

It's been a hard, uh, decade. It's okay if you need a hug ... or 36.

Preview:


33 more over at my journal.
Wednesday, April 29th, 2026 07:54 pm
Stargate SG1 x9
Star Trek: The Next Generation x6
Star Trek: Nemesis x2
Star Trek: Picard x1
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 x3
Star Trek: Voyager x3
Star Trek: Lower Decks x5
Star Trek: Prodigy x1
Star Trek cast photos x2
DCU x4

It's been a hard, uh, decade. It's okay if you need a hug ... or 36.

Preview:


*hugs* )
Tags:
Thursday, April 30th, 2026 08:25 am
部首
犬 part 5
猛, fierce; 猜, to guess; 猝, unexpectedly pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=94

语法
4.2 却, but
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-4-grammar

词汇
饼干, cookie/biscuit; 月饼, mooncake pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/

Guardian:
猜猜看我们在哪儿, guess where we are
我喜欢你我却不敢说, I like you but I didn't dare say so
[no 饼]

Me:
我是猛男!
你喜欢什么味道的月饼?
Wednesday, April 29th, 2026 06:09 pm

⌈ Secret Post #7054 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


01.


More! )


Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 13 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1007.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
Thursday, April 30th, 2026 10:57 am
[community profile] polyamships' questions for [community profile] 3weeks4dreamwidth:

29 April: Self rec time! what poly fanwork of yours are you most proud of? share it here! Not a creator? Then who's your favorite fandom creator? Time to share!!!

I have too many fics, and I'm really bad at favourites or "most proud of"s, so I'm choosing one per fandom, and even that is pretty random/hard. ;-p

Due South

This one is about 2/3rds relationship negotiation and 1/3rd porn. I'd written a bunch of Ray/Ray bringing Fraser into the relationship at this point, and I wanted to try Fraser/Vecchio bringing Kowalski in. Which took more words than you'd think!

Title: The Invitation (8824 words) [Explicit]
Fandom: due South
Relationships: Benton Fraser/Ray Vecchio/Ray Kowalski
Additional Tags: First Time, Post-Canon, Threesome - M/M/M
Summary:

But Ray had already turned on Fraser again. "You don't want me yourself, but I'm the go-to guy when your boyfriend has an itch you can't scratch?"


White Collar

My first fic in White Collar fandom. It starts off a little bitsy (I posted it as I went, in parts on LiveJournal), but hits its stride after a while, and I really like some of the exploration of feelings in here, as well the boundless trust issues that come with integrating a con artist parolee into one's respectable suburban married life.

Title: The Reasonable Doubt 'verse (45916 words) [Explicit]
Fandom: White Collar
Relationships: Elizabeth Burke/Peter Burke/Neal Caffrey
Characters: Elizabeth Burke, Peter Burke, Neal Caffrey, June, Mozzie, Satchmo
Additional Tags: First Time, Episode Related, Threesome - F/M/M, Con Artists, Married Couple, Work Relationships, Trust Issues, Podfic Available
Summary:

Peter's changing, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out why. He gets a light in his eye when he talks about work. He's relaxed, happier, more willing to indulge in romantic moments. He sings in the shower, kisses her in the kitchen. When they make love, he looks into her eyes, and she can feel it—all that attention she used to crave. It's giddying.

Neal isn't taking anything away from Elizabeth. He's giving her back the man she married.


While You Were Sleeping (2017 Kdrama)

One of my first WYWS fics, and aside from anything else, I think I really nailed Jae Chan's dorkiness. Hee! And also Woo Tak's yearning, and Hong Joo's cheerful bulldozing.

Title: The end of lonely (2480 words) [General Audiences]
Fandom: 당신이 잠든 사이에 | While You Were Sleeping (TV)
Relationships: Han Woo Tak/Jung Jae Chan/Nam Hong Joo
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Threesome - F/M/M, First Dates, First Kiss, First Aid, Driving all night, That Kdrama trope where the sunrise is always conveniently timed
Summary:

Woo Tak thinks even if tonight isn’t a date, he’ll come out to his friends. (Sequel to "I see you when I close my eyes".)


Guardian

This has Ye Huo working through his feelings for the others, in particular, going from seeing Guo Changcheng as a klutzy kid to someone who has matured and is desirable. And then there is a LOT of sex. This may actually be the porniest of my Guardian fic.

Title: Every Shimmer Is A Searchlight (15909 words) [Explicit]
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Relationships: Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng/Ye Huo
Characters: Ye Huo, Chu Shuzhi, Guo Changcheng
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Threesome - M/M/M, Pining, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Polyamory, Consent, Talking During Sex, negotiating sex, First Time, everyone's a switch, Let's say Dixingren can't catch or pass on STDs, AKA I couldn't be bothered with condoms, Traces of angst, Belonging
Series: Part 1 of This Sunsettled Life (Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng/Ye Huo)
Summary:

“We’re asking you out,” says Guo Changcheng. “Or—well, asking you in. If you want to.”

Tuesday, April 28th, 2026 10:54 pm
The Last...

Movie I watched: Persuasion (2007)
Series I finished: The Other Bennet Sister (2026)
Book I finished: The Once and Future Riot by Joe Sacco (2024)
Book I bought: Cards of Grief by Jane Yolen (1984)
Book I received as a gift: Not sure, I've had a "Dear God, I have too many books already!" standing comment on gifts for some years now.
Food I ate: Okonomiyaki.
Meal I cooked: Same as above.
Drink I had: Other than water, coffee with cream. If alcohol, rum and orange juice a couple days ago.
Song I listened to: "Everything's Going to Be Alright" by Beverley Knight.
Album I listened to: J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations by Angela Hewitt.
Playlist I listened to: I don't really playlist.
Concert I went to: Lennie Gallant last fall? Maybe?
Game I played: Civilisation IV: Beyond the Sword
Person I talked to: Nenya.
Person I texted: A neighbour lady.