Sunday, May 3rd, 2026 12:01 pm
Tags:
- fraud,
- links,
- republicans,
- usa
Sunday, May 3rd, 2026 12:50 pm
I haven’t written anything fanfic related in two months. I haven’t read any fanfic in that time, either. There were many reasons for that. I even wrote a whole sad rant about it, but then I got it out of my system, so I don’t need to post it anymore. 😊 Eh, whatever, I don’t care what other people do, I like writing fanfic. I will be doing it now and in the future, hopefully for a very long time. It relaxes me, and it brings me joy. Writing fanfic helped me during very hard times in my life. I wrote my one longish fic (that Big Dragon mafia AU) when I was tired and miserable because of work, and it helped me tremendously to have something else that my mind could focus on. And I even added something to one of my WIPs yesterday. Just 50 words, but hey, it’s a start.
Absolute Value of Romance
I enjoyed what I watched so far, it was funny, especially our heroine’s webnovel with all those familiar, OTT BL tropes thrown together in such an entertaining way.
But I’m thinking about maybe dropping it, since episode 8 makes it obvious that they will go in the direction I didn’t want them to go.
Only Friends Dream On
It really seems like drama for drama’s sake, because it was a 9th episode and we needed to throw a wrench in our couples’ happiness, I guess.
But episode 10 was much better. But first let me get shallowness out of the way - Pod looks so, so gorgeous, wow. And now I want his character to get together with Papang’s Dan from the 1st season. I hope someone will write this fic, because I don’t think it will happen in canon. 😊
But the best scene in this episode was definitely Nick and Boston’s conversation. Everything about it was so good. Nick’s “I don't think anyone could treat me worse than you did” to Boston, but said calmly, with maybe a tinge of wistfulness... And the look in Boston’s eyes – regret, a little bit of guilt, too, and a lot of aching longing for what might have been and what he himself destroyed. Neo’s acting was first class here.
And of course I loved little Ohm’s cameo as Nick’s new boyfriend.
Phantom Lawyer
I started to watch this show on a whim, and it was such a delightful surprise for me. A lovely and cute drama full of heartwarming and funny moments, with a lot of wonderful characters played by good actors. I loved it. I still have the last episode to watch, and I kinda keep postponing it, because I’m sure it will make me cry buckets.
And I will leave you with two very different trailers. First we have a new kdrama on Netflix (it starts airing on May 15) – a superhero comedy about three ordinary people that are suddenly granted supernatural abilities due to a mysterious accident. With a lot of actors I love, especially Park Eun Bin.
And then we have a historical fantasy BL drama from China – court intrigues, bloody power struggles, beautiful princes, a lot of fighting, and a lot of kissing, too. And since this is Chinese BL, expect heaps of angst and tears, and very probably someone dying tragically, too. And the secondary couple looks to be exactly to my tastes – full of loyalty kink and kinky NC scenes. 😊
It starts airing on GagaOOlala on the 8th of May. Here is the main trailer, and behind the cut I will put two other short trailers, one focused on the main couple, and the other on the secondary couple.
Absolute Value of Romance
I enjoyed what I watched so far, it was funny, especially our heroine’s webnovel with all those familiar, OTT BL tropes thrown together in such an entertaining way.
But I’m thinking about maybe dropping it, since episode 8 makes it obvious that they will go in the direction I didn’t want them to go.
Spoilers for all aired episodes here.
And that direction is a romance between Yeo Eui Ju and Ga Woo Su. I don’t care about their age gap, and I don’t really mind student/teacher romances. I just find it so boring. There were hints before, but I thought that maybe it will just stay as subtext. But no, it’s unfortunately fully textual now. She found him unexpectedly warm and caring when she was sick, and she starts daydreaming about him. He starts finding her entertainingly quirky and irrational, not just annoying. And the teaser for the next episode only shows more of that. Meh… If at least they would make one of the teachers canonically gay, not just in Eui Ju’s BL novel. But I’m pretty sure they won’t.Only Friends Dream On
Spoilers for episodes 9-10 here.
Well, that was a tempest in a teapot. Seriously, all this over what, one hug? Not even a kiss? Really? And I kinda get why both Tua and Jack would react like that after seeing this vid. But why Arnold and Dean didn’t both tell their respective boyfriends that a charged moment like this had happened? Especially Arnold.It really seems like drama for drama’s sake, because it was a 9th episode and we needed to throw a wrench in our couples’ happiness, I guess.
But episode 10 was much better. But first let me get shallowness out of the way - Pod looks so, so gorgeous, wow. And now I want his character to get together with Papang’s Dan from the 1st season. I hope someone will write this fic, because I don’t think it will happen in canon. 😊
But the best scene in this episode was definitely Nick and Boston’s conversation. Everything about it was so good. Nick’s “I don't think anyone could treat me worse than you did” to Boston, but said calmly, with maybe a tinge of wistfulness... And the look in Boston’s eyes – regret, a little bit of guilt, too, and a lot of aching longing for what might have been and what he himself destroyed. Neo’s acting was first class here.
And of course I loved little Ohm’s cameo as Nick’s new boyfriend.
Phantom Lawyer
I started to watch this show on a whim, and it was such a delightful surprise for me. A lovely and cute drama full of heartwarming and funny moments, with a lot of wonderful characters played by good actors. I loved it. I still have the last episode to watch, and I kinda keep postponing it, because I’m sure it will make me cry buckets.
And I will leave you with two very different trailers. First we have a new kdrama on Netflix (it starts airing on May 15) – a superhero comedy about three ordinary people that are suddenly granted supernatural abilities due to a mysterious accident. With a lot of actors I love, especially Park Eun Bin.
And then we have a historical fantasy BL drama from China – court intrigues, bloody power struggles, beautiful princes, a lot of fighting, and a lot of kissing, too. And since this is Chinese BL, expect heaps of angst and tears, and very probably someone dying tragically, too. And the secondary couple looks to be exactly to my tastes – full of loyalty kink and kinky NC scenes. 😊
It starts airing on GagaOOlala on the 8th of May. Here is the main trailer, and behind the cut I will put two other short trailers, one focused on the main couple, and the other on the secondary couple.
Sunday, May 3rd, 2026 12:36 pm
Movies
I went to see a German movie ("Ach diese Lücke, diese entsetzliche Lücke") at the theatre this month, which was good, I can recommend. (Although it is a lot about death, so CW for that. ymmv. I thought it strikes a wonderful balance between sad and funny.) It's an adaptation of the second book of Joachim Meyerhoff's autobiographical novel series. The first one is about him growing up in a mental asylum because his father works there, and I've neither read the book nor seen the movie. This second movie is about him deciding to study acting in Munich. All the roles are excellently cast, especially Senta Berger as his eccentric grandmother. Since it's all set in the 90s, everything looks wonderfully retro (and everyone's smoking everywhere omg). There's not a lot of plot, it's all about him growing into his own, and about dealing with death. I really enjoyed the movie, and I could watch it in its entirety for once without it making me nauseous. Yay!
TV finished
The Company
All done! I really loved this 30-episode show about a time traveller whose time machine is an antique shop. It started out a bit weird in ep 1, but found its pace quickly after that. Watch it on viki here. I'll put the ending under a spoiler cut:
The Company ending spoilers here
I did not like the ending. I mean, they tried to soften it, and it could have been worse, but... I expected something happier. They had all the cards, they could have given them their happy ending - they could even have resurrected his original lover if they'd tweaked it right - any of these would have been possible. Instead, they took one of the ML's memories away, and the other's time machine.
To not make it all that depressing, I guess, they meet again for the first time at the very end. ...How? It's bittersweet at best, and it makes no sense! How did he get there without a time machine?
The whole thing reminded me of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and like with everything you've seen done before, the impact just lessens. It worked for me back then, it is still one of my favorite movies!, but here I was disappointed. Pity, because the rest of the show was very sweet and much better than I'd expected.
People tell me that it's supposed to be a happy ending, sending them into a time loop, but imho there are a few points that contradict that. If they wanted to do that, they could have done it more cleanly and elegantly. But maybe I really just misunderstood? Who knows.
Anyway, that dampened my enjoyment of the show just a little bit. I would still recommend it. It's par for the course for cdrama, bittersweet is all you can hope for. At least it's not outright tragic.
Cinderella Closet
I watched this Japanese drama on Netflix - all 12 short episodes of it - within a week. It's about a young woman with little self-esteem meeting a crossdressing man who helps make her more confident by giving her fashion advice and doing her makeup. Uhhh, okay? Of course then they fall in love. It's a bit tropey in places, but it repeatedly does the right things where it counts, like affirm that it's okay to be genderfluid, that he can wear what he wants, that being confident is what makes you beautiful, not what you're wearing, etc. I also really liked both their parents and how they reacted to seeing them together. It packs a lot into its short running time, and I think it got all the important points across well. I liked it overall. He is very pretty in female clothing, too. <3 Watch it on Netflix here.
I watched the almost hour-long cut of the milk endorsement live stream Wu Lei did last week, and thoroughly enjoyed that. It's the usual annoying product endorsement, but I enoyed watching my blorbo. Also, Migaku now supports bilibili, such a game changer! It means I got Chinese and English subs with it, and learned some idioms and the word "volleyball". \o/ (I got Zhu Yilong "oh noes everybody's taller than me" flashbacks when he stood next to the women's volleyball team. :D) I watched it on bilibili here.
TV new (ongoing)
I finally started Wu Lei's Ride Now vlog (the season from 2022, where he goes to a snow field near Ulan Bator and celebrates his 22nd birthday by sleeping in a tent at -25C). The English title has nothing to do with the original title, except for the fact that it's a pun with the word "ride" in it? (The original title 岂有此理 is an idiom, meaning "unreasonable" or "absurd" or "this makes no sense", and replacing the first character with the word "ride" gives you 骑有此理, and I don't know what exactly that means, but maybe something like "biking makes sense"? Idk.) There's no biking in the season I watched (up to ep4) at all, anyway, but there's horse riding, so I guess that counts. It confused me at first. In any case, it's very cute, and Wu Lei's enthusiasm for sleeping in a tent at -25C against the advice of his team is just so very him. Also, I keep thinking about the poor guides who have to lead him through the wilderness while he juggles his selfie stick and doesn't wear his goggles. Lack of self-confidence is not one of his traits, for sure. Unfortunately, the camera movements made me nauseous eventually, so I had to stop after four eps. I'll pick it up again once I feel up to it. I watched it through this youtube playlist of his fanclub, which has engsubs.
TV continued
One more ep of Our Times, the retro Wu Lei show, now on 6/36. He's still cringe in some ways (omg he bought himself a mink coat, what a douche), and I don't quite understand Hou Minghao's character's decisions, but hey. I'm mostly watching for the leads (Wu Lei and Hou Minghao), but I also like the setting. I haven't seen a show this focused on opening up of the business sector in China, and it's actually a period I know a bit about already, so that's interesting to see. It's on wetv and youtube.
I'm finally making headway on finishing my half-finished shows from months ago. First up: A Moment But Forever. I had to rewatch/skim 27 and 28 until I remembered where I had left off, but then got back into it quickly and am now on episode 33/36. It's getting really interesting with people still wanting to kill the ML and the FL trying to save him again and again without giving away her secrets (which the gods have specifically forbidden her from divulging). The evil players have revealed themselves openly now, and it's heading towards the final confrontation. The main draw of this still is how philosophical it is, and how much they're talking about what's right or wrong, about the power of love, and how to shape the kind of world you want to live in. It's quite thoughtful and deep (and the reason AvenueX recced it and I like it (although of course I'm also in it for the romance)). Looking forward to how they're going to wrap this one up. It's on iqiyi.
( the rest - some first impressions and youtube channel recs - under the cut )
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Sunday, May 3rd, 2026 11:23 am
it may feel like it's ended
like there's nowhere left to go
but things keep moving
life and light persist
stop awhile if you must
rest and recover
the world will be here
to greet you when you rise
like there's nowhere left to go
but things keep moving
life and light persist
stop awhile if you must
rest and recover
the world will be here
to greet you when you rise
Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 11:20 pm
In the afternoon when the overcast cleared, ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
spatch and I went walking down to the Mystic and I photographed a whole lot of flowers, of which I was happiest with the ones that came out like abstracts.
( I hear the river say your name. )
Physically I am just pretty miserable, but the lilac is breaking out in real bloom and Rob has been showing me potato-quality Deep Space Nine (1993–99). I had tarragon-sautéed mushrooms and zucchini for dinner.
spatch and I went walking down to the Mystic and I photographed a whole lot of flowers, of which I was happiest with the ones that came out like abstracts.( I hear the river say your name. )
Physically I am just pretty miserable, but the lilac is breaking out in real bloom and Rob has been showing me potato-quality Deep Space Nine (1993–99). I had tarragon-sautéed mushrooms and zucchini for dinner.
Sunday, May 3rd, 2026 10:56 am
Sorry for the delay, people!
Many thanks tocassiope25, goddess47, and mific for all their April recs! We had 7 recs this past month.
Our May reccers are:
cassiope25: Rodney McKay
mific: Gen
Reccers, you all have access and can start posting at any time. Remember that you have committed yourself to reccing at least two fics over the course of the month, although of course we will be happy with more. Feel free to use the copy-and-paste template from the reccer's FAQ for your convenience.
If you wanted to volunteer for this month and didn't have a chance to sign up, drop a comment here and I'll happily add you to the list.
Many thanks to
cassiope25, goddess47, and mific for all their April recs! We had 7 recs this past month.Our May reccers are:
cassiope25: Rodney McKaymific: GenReccers, you all have access and can start posting at any time. Remember that you have committed yourself to reccing at least two fics over the course of the month, although of course we will be happy with more. Feel free to use the copy-and-paste template from the reccer's FAQ for your convenience.
If you wanted to volunteer for this month and didn't have a chance to sign up, drop a comment here and I'll happily add you to the list.
Tags:
Sunday, May 3rd, 2026 02:51 am
This is the April May 3rd Weekly Megapost & Chat!
Things you can do in the comments-
- trade friend codes
- ask about games
- post about in-game events
- anything you don't want to make an individual post about
- share how the RNG is treating you
Things you can do in the comments-
- trade friend codes
- ask about games
- post about in-game events
- anything you don't want to make an individual post about
- share how the RNG is treating you
Tags:
Sunday, May 3rd, 2026 09:13 am
Continuing with 2018, this is a short, PWP ficlet I wrote about Rosita Bustillos and Waverly Earp, a pairing that had me obsessed back then (and that I remain very fond of).
-
Waverly felt light-headed and reckless and overwhelmed, but most of all, she felt on ecstasy.
The kiss had been thoughtless. She was pissed and then she wasn't, and Rosita was there, beautiful and at peace and strangely wise. She seemed to get it, to have life all figured out.
Kissing her was a no brainer. By which she meant, her brain had at no point been consulted in the decision made between the bubbles and the instant their mouths collided.
It felt good. And Rosita didn't stop her, so she closed her eyes and didn't stop.
It started softly; a quiet brush of their lips, a tentative hand cupping Rosita's face. Her hands traveled to Waverly's neck, a feather-like touch.
Rosita moved away from the tub's wall, giving herself more space. Her knee grazed the inside of Waverly's leg, sending a shiver of concentrated heat through her whole body. She had to balance herself grabbing the ledge, barely suppressing the soft gasp that raised to her throat.
After half a second of hesitation, Waverly decided to climb on Rosita's lap, pressing closer to her; she moved her hands down her chest, exchanging slow, seemingly eternal kisses. Rosita's hand grasped her hips, holding her in place.
She leaned back, tentatively tugging at her bikini bottom with a questioning look in her eyes, and Waverly nodded quickly before diving back in, refusing to stop their kiss.
Rosita pulled it down all the way to her knees, leaving her feeling wonderfully exposed. Waverly's breath grew quicker, her kisses more frantic, hungry, impatient.
The brush against her clit —light, quick, almost hesitant— felt like a soft shock of electricity, and it made her gasp louder than she was comfortable with.
She moved towards Rosita's hand, signaling to her what she wanted. Soon, those fingertips came back, caressing her clit, her labia, each time steadier and more confident.
Rosita stopped the kiss, dragging a petulant whine out of her, until she started placing soft, wet kisses down her jaw; her neck; her shoulder.
As she started giving her a hickey right above her breast, Waverly pulling lightly at her hair and digging her nails on her shoulder, she introduced one of her fingers, as tentative as her first touches. She circled it, pressing, and Waverly had to bite down on her own lips, hard, to prevent any possible noise. She pushed in a second one, and yet another one, curling them and pressing it just right, as she kept rubbing her clit with her thumb.
Waverly remembered to open her eyes —she loved this moment. And somehow the look on Rosita's face, hyper-focused and —uncharacteristically, given the situation— serious, even more than anything else, was what finished building up her orgasm.
A high whine left her lips, a little too loud, and Rosita's free hand quickly covered her mouth, suffocating the next ones, until it was over.
She heard a soft thud, barely registering it in the back of her head. And it was then, with Rosita's fingers still inside her, when the guilt crashed into her, as if a dead cold knife stabbed her in the stomach.
She saw an echoing, somehow more disenchanted and jaded, guilt-ridden look on Rosita's eyes.
"We should—"
"Yeah."
They separated, incapable of looking each other in the eye.
She pulled up her bikini, something that made her feel even dirtier than anything else they'd done.
She climbed out of the hot tub and put on her bathrobe, trying to silence the ridiculous voice in her head talking about rudeness and reciprocation.
If once Shorty's had been like a second home to her —sometimes, a first home—, that night entering it felt like trespassing.
Rosita was on the bar, cleaning it, with a glass and a half-full bottle next to her.
She walked to her, reluctant, and sat a few chairs away.
"Nothing happened," Rosita said, gently. "It'll be easier that way."
She was probably right. Though she had the feeling it'd be a long time before she could forget everything Tucker said to her, while she still thought Rosita had been left to die on the floor.
She had a million things she wanted to say, from apologies to thank yous; from promises of secrecy to questions about what it was like to be a Revenant, and how maybe they weren't that different in that regard.
But the only thing she felt the strength to do was patting a second glass with her fingers, with what she hoped was an unguarded pleading look.
For the first time since they came back from the spa, Rosita's shoulders relaxed, an easy smile expanding across her face, and maybe, maybe Waverly hadn't screwed everything up.
Title: chillin' in a hot tub.
Fandom: Wynonna Earp.
Character/Pairing: Rosita Bustillos/Waverly Earp.
Rating/Warnings: E, none.
Summary: It doesn't stop at the kiss.
Word count: ~700-800.
read more
-
Waverly felt light-headed and reckless and overwhelmed, but most of all, she felt on ecstasy.
The kiss had been thoughtless. She was pissed and then she wasn't, and Rosita was there, beautiful and at peace and strangely wise. She seemed to get it, to have life all figured out.
Kissing her was a no brainer. By which she meant, her brain had at no point been consulted in the decision made between the bubbles and the instant their mouths collided.
It felt good. And Rosita didn't stop her, so she closed her eyes and didn't stop.
It started softly; a quiet brush of their lips, a tentative hand cupping Rosita's face. Her hands traveled to Waverly's neck, a feather-like touch.
Rosita moved away from the tub's wall, giving herself more space. Her knee grazed the inside of Waverly's leg, sending a shiver of concentrated heat through her whole body. She had to balance herself grabbing the ledge, barely suppressing the soft gasp that raised to her throat.
After half a second of hesitation, Waverly decided to climb on Rosita's lap, pressing closer to her; she moved her hands down her chest, exchanging slow, seemingly eternal kisses. Rosita's hand grasped her hips, holding her in place.
She leaned back, tentatively tugging at her bikini bottom with a questioning look in her eyes, and Waverly nodded quickly before diving back in, refusing to stop their kiss.
Rosita pulled it down all the way to her knees, leaving her feeling wonderfully exposed. Waverly's breath grew quicker, her kisses more frantic, hungry, impatient.
The brush against her clit —light, quick, almost hesitant— felt like a soft shock of electricity, and it made her gasp louder than she was comfortable with.
She moved towards Rosita's hand, signaling to her what she wanted. Soon, those fingertips came back, caressing her clit, her labia, each time steadier and more confident.
Rosita stopped the kiss, dragging a petulant whine out of her, until she started placing soft, wet kisses down her jaw; her neck; her shoulder.
As she started giving her a hickey right above her breast, Waverly pulling lightly at her hair and digging her nails on her shoulder, she introduced one of her fingers, as tentative as her first touches. She circled it, pressing, and Waverly had to bite down on her own lips, hard, to prevent any possible noise. She pushed in a second one, and yet another one, curling them and pressing it just right, as she kept rubbing her clit with her thumb.
Waverly remembered to open her eyes —she loved this moment. And somehow the look on Rosita's face, hyper-focused and —uncharacteristically, given the situation— serious, even more than anything else, was what finished building up her orgasm.
A high whine left her lips, a little too loud, and Rosita's free hand quickly covered her mouth, suffocating the next ones, until it was over.
She heard a soft thud, barely registering it in the back of her head. And it was then, with Rosita's fingers still inside her, when the guilt crashed into her, as if a dead cold knife stabbed her in the stomach.
She saw an echoing, somehow more disenchanted and jaded, guilt-ridden look on Rosita's eyes.
"We should—"
"Yeah."
They separated, incapable of looking each other in the eye.
She pulled up her bikini, something that made her feel even dirtier than anything else they'd done.
She climbed out of the hot tub and put on her bathrobe, trying to silence the ridiculous voice in her head talking about rudeness and reciprocation.
If once Shorty's had been like a second home to her —sometimes, a first home—, that night entering it felt like trespassing.
Rosita was on the bar, cleaning it, with a glass and a half-full bottle next to her.
She walked to her, reluctant, and sat a few chairs away.
"Nothing happened," Rosita said, gently. "It'll be easier that way."
She was probably right. Though she had the feeling it'd be a long time before she could forget everything Tucker said to her, while she still thought Rosita had been left to die on the floor.
She had a million things she wanted to say, from apologies to thank yous; from promises of secrecy to questions about what it was like to be a Revenant, and how maybe they weren't that different in that regard.
But the only thing she felt the strength to do was patting a second glass with her fingers, with what she hoped was an unguarded pleading look.
For the first time since they came back from the spa, Rosita's shoulders relaxed, an easy smile expanding across her face, and maybe, maybe Waverly hadn't screwed everything up.
Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 10:46 pm
I signed up for Season of Drabbles on an impulse under a new account called AltSholio (note my A+++ socking skills). In the past I've been slightly inhibited about signing up for some kinds of exchanges that I would've been more likely to try back on LJ - drabbles, fanart, that kind of thing, stuff that's a bit out of place on my main account - so I created this new account so I can play around with things that I might otherwise hesitate to try.
Anyway, I had fun and I ended up writing 5 things across both that and my main account - two of which are for fandoms I've never written before! And I got two delightful gifts as AltSholio:
Bygones (Agent Carter, 200 wds, Jack & Peggy)
A sweet little season 2 coda, very much in character.
We'll Meet Again (Biggles, 600 wds)
Slightly AU next meeting for Biggles and EvS, set in the early 1920s. Great characterization and a delightful concept!
Author reveals will be on Tuesday.
Anyway, I had fun and I ended up writing 5 things across both that and my main account - two of which are for fandoms I've never written before! And I got two delightful gifts as AltSholio:
Bygones (Agent Carter, 200 wds, Jack & Peggy)
A sweet little season 2 coda, very much in character.
We'll Meet Again (Biggles, 600 wds)
Slightly AU next meeting for Biggles and EvS, set in the early 1920s. Great characterization and a delightful concept!
Author reveals will be on Tuesday.
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Sunday, May 3rd, 2026 12:25 am
This year during Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I'm writing about reading as a way of becoming an expert in a given subject. Read Part 1: Introduction to Becoming an Expert, Part 2: Architecture, Part 3: Dance, Part 4: Music, Part 5: Painting, Part 6: Poetry, Part 7: Sculpture, Part 8: Conflict Resolution.
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth Part 9: Cooking
Cooking is a skillset for preparing food to be eaten. It refers to heat, but not all food necessarily heated -- think salads, ice cream, and so on. Aspects include a variety of kitchen skills such as knife work and making sauces, cooking methods such as steaming or grilling, and specific appliances such as a crockpot or microwave oven. Everyone needs to eat, so it's best for each person to have at least some cooking skill. All cultures have their own foodways. Here on Dreamwidth, check out![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thecookbook, creative_cooks, fresh_haul, recipecommunity, veg_life, and vegansofdreamwidth.
( Read more... )
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth Part 9: Cooking
Cooking is a skillset for preparing food to be eaten. It refers to heat, but not all food necessarily heated -- think salads, ice cream, and so on. Aspects include a variety of kitchen skills such as knife work and making sauces, cooking methods such as steaming or grilling, and specific appliances such as a crockpot or microwave oven. Everyone needs to eat, so it's best for each person to have at least some cooking skill. All cultures have their own foodways. Here on Dreamwidth, check out
thecookbook, creative_cooks, fresh_haul, recipecommunity, veg_life, and vegansofdreamwidth.( Read more... )
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Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 11:50 pm
Yeah, this was not my most productive day -- but then again, I didn't plan for it to be, so I cannot be annoyed by that fact. In fact, I technically accomplished MORE than I set out to do:
Cleaning: ‘Twas a pretty typical Cleaning Saturday (though, happily, Mom finished all the laundry while I was still dusting, so I was able to just dump my sheets and PJs in the hamper this morn) – started around 10:40 AM or so; completed all my dusting and about half of the Swiffering before lunch at a little after 1:20 PM (parents were out this morning buying more tea for Mom at Job Lot), then finishing up the Swiffering and the vacuuming between 2 and 2:25 PM. ...I then sat around watching the second half of Jon of Many a True Nerd’s “Fallout 4 Is Better Than You Think” video essay (ironically the half covering the game’s many problems) on my phone because I really wanted to finish it after listening to the rest while I cleaned, but – well. I said today was primarily going to be a video catch-up day, so… :P
YouTube: I didn’t get to ALL the videos I wanted to watch today, thanks to spending the afternoon working on finishing off yesterday’s entry, but I did get to the ones I most wanted to watch –
A) First up was a YouTube Short that I spotted in my Recommendeds and decided I was sufficiently intrigued by to watch – “More people finished honor mode than got this #baldursgate3” by good old SuNStereO! A very short clip of someone’s Tav (or possibly Durge, it wasn’t specified) playing their lute in what appeared to be Baldur’s Gate, drawing a crowd, then ending the performance and receiving general applause and a bunch of thrown gold from the NPCs. And, as a result, earning what is apparently rarest achievement in BG3 – “Busker: Earn a hundred gold from playing sweet, sweet music in a single playthrough.” Which, at the time that clip was recorded, was an achievement only 2.6% of players had. Given only Bards start with musical instrument proficiency, and it’s pretty damn hard for the other classes to get (you either have to help Alfira finish her song a specific way or take the “Performer” feat), I’m not surprised this is a pretty rare achievement! ...that being said, earning it sounds like Smiler’s jam, so I’ll have to see if I can pick it up during my own playthrough. :D
B) Then it was over to OXBox for the latest list video: “7 Most DISAPPOINTING Plot Twists: Commenter Edition!” Jane and Mike going through another set of video games that were unable to pull off their plot twists, as suggested by comments on the last game. Oh, Batman: Arkham Knight revealed the titular Knight to be none other than Jason Todd, aka the Robin who died, aka Red Hood? Yeah, half the fanbase already guessed that because it seemed obvious, and the other half didn’t know Jason’s comic history enough to care, so... Oh, Sea Of Thieves revealed at the end of Season 6 that the killer of DeMarco Sing, son of the Pirate Lord, was the Siren Queen – a Season 3 villain who the players ALREADY KILLED? Yeah, okay, nobody guessed that one, but everyone was like “wait, how did she come back to life?” and “What the hell, we spent all the time following the clues for this?” and “WAIT A MINUTE, THE PIRATE LORD IS GOING TO KILL HER SO WE DON’T EVEN GET A BOSS FIGHT?!” (Yeah, she does genuinely get killed again in a cutscene by that guy, not the player. Boo!) And oh, Star Ocean: Until The End Of Time revealed that the protagonist’s whole universe was a giant video game, and the reason it was in trouble was because it wasn’t making enough money and the server was shutting down? ...okay, this one is a little more “your mileage may vary,” because while some might think making everything virtual cheapens everything that came before, I think that’s actually a pretty decent twist. Though maybe less suited to a JRPG (which has all the characters survive in the end despite their universe being deleted for unclear “managed to grow beyond being 1s and 0s” reasons) and more suited to a horror game. Or a Black Mirror episode.
C) And finally, it was over to C. M. Alongi’s channel to watch “CaFae Latte Season 85 - TikTok Compilation” – because, yes, the hiatus is officially over and the compilations are officially back, baby! And this one covered:
I. Oscar coming back from his brief stint in jail – revealing that the seraph agent who was chasing him before got caught up in Bob’s mass curse and fired for embezzling before he could press any charges – and getting caught up on the current situation; Bob told him things had calmed down some around the cafe but that poor Cyrus was still swamped. JC asked about the Hotel Jacaranda situation and if Cyrus had been needed there after all – turns out partially, as Bob explained that, after Herla left one of his witches there to replace the one snatched up by ICE, Cyrus managed to get the original witch freed. She also threw in that the hotel was serving as a refuge and helping fundraise for Havenwatch, a real-life charity helping those affected by the current crisis (letting us fourth-wall viewers know they need gas, gift cards, and just plain old cash, GoFundMe’s in the description). And then Cyrus walked in...and revealed that he was handing in his two-week notice. Cue general shock. :O
( We all know the CaFae Latte write-ups are some of the longest )
Tumblr: To my own surprise, I actually put something up on both of my tumblrs this night –
Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler) – Over here, I reblogged a post by silicon65 of Gef the Talking Moongoose, going on about how he wasn’t evil (but he could be, if he wanted to, and could kill all the listeners, but he wouldn’t) – Gef being a character in the eldritch horror Valice fanfic “Beneath A Broken Sky” by thesatiricaldemon (sort of Victor’s necromantic familiar, in fact), I reblogged it pretty much just to add the tag “#look Satirical it's ya boi (and BABS Victor's boy too)” XD Because that is what friends do, dang it. :p
Valice Multiverse – And over here, I answered the ask I couldn’t get to last night – from one thecovenwars, stating that “sometimes writing is just watching characters do something phenomenally stupid and then writing up the incident report.” XD I decided that one deserved a meta answer and had Cuddlepile!Victor express the hope that that wasn’t how I saw writing my Valice and Valicer stories – his Alice commented that it probably depended on which universe and which particular story I was writing, with the matching Smiler adding that if any verse was going to be hit by this, it would be Valicer In The Dark, whose stories were partly the product of dice rolls. Cue VITD!Smiler yelling over that I had promised them that they’d always successfully complete the score, at least. XD I thought it was funny!
And I have stayed up a bit later than I intended to get this done, so I really need to go to bed now. Goals for tomorrow include working more on my tumblr drafts on Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler) (hopefully finishing up the VITD Meets BG3 Volume 3 post); playing some Fallout: New Vegas and seeing if I can get Victor a friend in ED-E by visiting the Mojave Express office; and keeping up with the latest F:NV YOLO Remastered episode -- if there is one this week. Depends on how Jon's feeling, I suppose! If I can get anything else done, that'll be a bonus. *nods* Night all!
Cleaning: ‘Twas a pretty typical Cleaning Saturday (though, happily, Mom finished all the laundry while I was still dusting, so I was able to just dump my sheets and PJs in the hamper this morn) – started around 10:40 AM or so; completed all my dusting and about half of the Swiffering before lunch at a little after 1:20 PM (parents were out this morning buying more tea for Mom at Job Lot), then finishing up the Swiffering and the vacuuming between 2 and 2:25 PM. ...I then sat around watching the second half of Jon of Many a True Nerd’s “Fallout 4 Is Better Than You Think” video essay (ironically the half covering the game’s many problems) on my phone because I really wanted to finish it after listening to the rest while I cleaned, but – well. I said today was primarily going to be a video catch-up day, so… :P
YouTube: I didn’t get to ALL the videos I wanted to watch today, thanks to spending the afternoon working on finishing off yesterday’s entry, but I did get to the ones I most wanted to watch –
A) First up was a YouTube Short that I spotted in my Recommendeds and decided I was sufficiently intrigued by to watch – “More people finished honor mode than got this #baldursgate3” by good old SuNStereO! A very short clip of someone’s Tav (or possibly Durge, it wasn’t specified) playing their lute in what appeared to be Baldur’s Gate, drawing a crowd, then ending the performance and receiving general applause and a bunch of thrown gold from the NPCs. And, as a result, earning what is apparently rarest achievement in BG3 – “Busker: Earn a hundred gold from playing sweet, sweet music in a single playthrough.” Which, at the time that clip was recorded, was an achievement only 2.6% of players had. Given only Bards start with musical instrument proficiency, and it’s pretty damn hard for the other classes to get (you either have to help Alfira finish her song a specific way or take the “Performer” feat), I’m not surprised this is a pretty rare achievement! ...that being said, earning it sounds like Smiler’s jam, so I’ll have to see if I can pick it up during my own playthrough. :D
B) Then it was over to OXBox for the latest list video: “7 Most DISAPPOINTING Plot Twists: Commenter Edition!” Jane and Mike going through another set of video games that were unable to pull off their plot twists, as suggested by comments on the last game. Oh, Batman: Arkham Knight revealed the titular Knight to be none other than Jason Todd, aka the Robin who died, aka Red Hood? Yeah, half the fanbase already guessed that because it seemed obvious, and the other half didn’t know Jason’s comic history enough to care, so... Oh, Sea Of Thieves revealed at the end of Season 6 that the killer of DeMarco Sing, son of the Pirate Lord, was the Siren Queen – a Season 3 villain who the players ALREADY KILLED? Yeah, okay, nobody guessed that one, but everyone was like “wait, how did she come back to life?” and “What the hell, we spent all the time following the clues for this?” and “WAIT A MINUTE, THE PIRATE LORD IS GOING TO KILL HER SO WE DON’T EVEN GET A BOSS FIGHT?!” (Yeah, she does genuinely get killed again in a cutscene by that guy, not the player. Boo!) And oh, Star Ocean: Until The End Of Time revealed that the protagonist’s whole universe was a giant video game, and the reason it was in trouble was because it wasn’t making enough money and the server was shutting down? ...okay, this one is a little more “your mileage may vary,” because while some might think making everything virtual cheapens everything that came before, I think that’s actually a pretty decent twist. Though maybe less suited to a JRPG (which has all the characters survive in the end despite their universe being deleted for unclear “managed to grow beyond being 1s and 0s” reasons) and more suited to a horror game. Or a Black Mirror episode.
C) And finally, it was over to C. M. Alongi’s channel to watch “CaFae Latte Season 85 - TikTok Compilation” – because, yes, the hiatus is officially over and the compilations are officially back, baby! And this one covered:
I. Oscar coming back from his brief stint in jail – revealing that the seraph agent who was chasing him before got caught up in Bob’s mass curse and fired for embezzling before he could press any charges – and getting caught up on the current situation; Bob told him things had calmed down some around the cafe but that poor Cyrus was still swamped. JC asked about the Hotel Jacaranda situation and if Cyrus had been needed there after all – turns out partially, as Bob explained that, after Herla left one of his witches there to replace the one snatched up by ICE, Cyrus managed to get the original witch freed. She also threw in that the hotel was serving as a refuge and helping fundraise for Havenwatch, a real-life charity helping those affected by the current crisis (letting us fourth-wall viewers know they need gas, gift cards, and just plain old cash, GoFundMe’s in the description). And then Cyrus walked in...and revealed that he was handing in his two-week notice. Cue general shock. :O
( We all know the CaFae Latte write-ups are some of the longest )
Tumblr: To my own surprise, I actually put something up on both of my tumblrs this night –
Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler) – Over here, I reblogged a post by silicon65 of Gef the Talking Moongoose, going on about how he wasn’t evil (but he could be, if he wanted to, and could kill all the listeners, but he wouldn’t) – Gef being a character in the eldritch horror Valice fanfic “Beneath A Broken Sky” by thesatiricaldemon (sort of Victor’s necromantic familiar, in fact), I reblogged it pretty much just to add the tag “#look Satirical it's ya boi (and BABS Victor's boy too)” XD Because that is what friends do, dang it. :p
Valice Multiverse – And over here, I answered the ask I couldn’t get to last night – from one thecovenwars, stating that “sometimes writing is just watching characters do something phenomenally stupid and then writing up the incident report.” XD I decided that one deserved a meta answer and had Cuddlepile!Victor express the hope that that wasn’t how I saw writing my Valice and Valicer stories – his Alice commented that it probably depended on which universe and which particular story I was writing, with the matching Smiler adding that if any verse was going to be hit by this, it would be Valicer In The Dark, whose stories were partly the product of dice rolls. Cue VITD!Smiler yelling over that I had promised them that they’d always successfully complete the score, at least. XD I thought it was funny!
And I have stayed up a bit later than I intended to get this done, so I really need to go to bed now. Goals for tomorrow include working more on my tumblr drafts on Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler) (hopefully finishing up the VITD Meets BG3 Volume 3 post); playing some Fallout: New Vegas and seeing if I can get Victor a friend in ED-E by visiting the Mojave Express office; and keeping up with the latest F:NV YOLO Remastered episode -- if there is one this week. Depends on how Jon's feeling, I suppose! If I can get anything else done, that'll be a bonus. *nods* Night all!
Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 11:09 pm
The 2025 Most Banned and Challenged List for the American Library Association is out, and the most telling statistic in the report is not what books are there, or what justifications their censors gave for the censorship, but that fully 92% of challenges recorded by ALA originated in pressure and political groups, lawmakers, and administrators. Less than 3 percent of challenges were issued by individual parents. What brings all these boys to the yard? Well, think about it: Capitalists want to enclose the commons and turn it private, so they can control it and force it to their will, and the United States Public Library is a commons.
Billionaires and the wealthy who want to say that their superintelligent AIs will eventually go rogue are also trying to genetically engineer humans to be smarter than those superintelligent AIs, and just about everywhere you look that they've put their money into, it isn't into things like trying to make healthier people, it's trying to make the children of the wealthy into having all the genetic advances and traits, and the rest of us will just be left behind by their super-genius statuses.
Given that these are people who like to post manifestos about they are already the superior people in the superior culture and we all have to bow down to them and let them do whatever they want, I think this is definitely one of those situations where trust is less than the distance someone could throw.
The public bench seems humble and ubiquitous, and yet it is neither, with a long history and significant amounts of contention involved about public seating and which members of the public are allowed to be seated. When benches aren't being removed, they're often having their architecture turned hostile to try and prevent people from sitting for long or for using a bench as a place to catch a nap or to sleep off the ground for a night. Because the cause of the problem is placed in the bodies of the people who might not have a house to go home to, or whose life activities are related to crime and vice because they have no other opportunities to make a living. Those doing the placing, of course, do not believe they are doing anything wrong, or worse, callously believe that they are not obligated in any way to any other person but themselves, and therefore, they are allowed to dictate who they want to see and what they want to be reminded of in their public spaces.
The goal of liberalism is to make all bodies invisible in the eyes of the law, but the way that people are liberated from oppression and bindings often imposed by law is through mutuality. Law has a role to play in this situation, and often that role is in highlighting and making highly visible the bodies that it considers to be illiberal. Law can lay foundations for others to implement toward mutuality, but as we have seen, and as the article-writer points out, law cannot require anything by itself, and those who have been chosen to interpret and enforce law are often the ones deciding for or against mutuality.
( More of men behaving badly, and the repercussions of having let men behave badly in the past )
Last out for tonight, a reminder to put accessibility into your social media as much as possible, so please provide transcripts, describe your images, and the like, so that everyone who's on your social media or enjoying the content can access it..
And A project that is offering clinicians and others guides on thinking of seemingly disparate conditions in people as constellations because of the likelihood of their co-occurrence with autism or ADHD. And to think of them as constellations because trying to treat one of them well might exacerbate another.
(Materials viaadrian_turtle, azurelunatic, boxofdelights, cmcmck, conuly, cosmolinguist, elf, finch, firecat, jadelennox, jenett, jjhunter, kaberett, lilysea, oursin, rydra_wong, snowynight, sonia, the_future_modernes, thewayne, umadoshi, vass, the meta_warehouse community, little_details, and anyone else I've neglected to mention or who I suspect would rather not be on the list. If you want to know where I get the neat stuff, my reading list has most of it.)
Billionaires and the wealthy who want to say that their superintelligent AIs will eventually go rogue are also trying to genetically engineer humans to be smarter than those superintelligent AIs, and just about everywhere you look that they've put their money into, it isn't into things like trying to make healthier people, it's trying to make the children of the wealthy into having all the genetic advances and traits, and the rest of us will just be left behind by their super-genius statuses.
Given that these are people who like to post manifestos about they are already the superior people in the superior culture and we all have to bow down to them and let them do whatever they want, I think this is definitely one of those situations where trust is less than the distance someone could throw.
The public bench seems humble and ubiquitous, and yet it is neither, with a long history and significant amounts of contention involved about public seating and which members of the public are allowed to be seated. When benches aren't being removed, they're often having their architecture turned hostile to try and prevent people from sitting for long or for using a bench as a place to catch a nap or to sleep off the ground for a night. Because the cause of the problem is placed in the bodies of the people who might not have a house to go home to, or whose life activities are related to crime and vice because they have no other opportunities to make a living. Those doing the placing, of course, do not believe they are doing anything wrong, or worse, callously believe that they are not obligated in any way to any other person but themselves, and therefore, they are allowed to dictate who they want to see and what they want to be reminded of in their public spaces.
The goal of liberalism is to make all bodies invisible in the eyes of the law, but the way that people are liberated from oppression and bindings often imposed by law is through mutuality. Law has a role to play in this situation, and often that role is in highlighting and making highly visible the bodies that it considers to be illiberal. Law can lay foundations for others to implement toward mutuality, but as we have seen, and as the article-writer points out, law cannot require anything by itself, and those who have been chosen to interpret and enforce law are often the ones deciding for or against mutuality.
( More of men behaving badly, and the repercussions of having let men behave badly in the past )
Last out for tonight, a reminder to put accessibility into your social media as much as possible, so please provide transcripts, describe your images, and the like, so that everyone who's on your social media or enjoying the content can access it..
And A project that is offering clinicians and others guides on thinking of seemingly disparate conditions in people as constellations because of the likelihood of their co-occurrence with autism or ADHD. And to think of them as constellations because trying to treat one of them well might exacerbate another.
(Materials via
adrian_turtle, azurelunatic, boxofdelights, cmcmck, conuly, cosmolinguist, elf, finch, firecat, jadelennox, jenett, jjhunter, kaberett, lilysea, oursin, rydra_wong, snowynight, sonia, the_future_modernes, thewayne, umadoshi, vass, the meta_warehouse community, little_details, and anyone else I've neglected to mention or who I suspect would rather not be on the list. If you want to know where I get the neat stuff, my reading list has most of it.)
Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 09:41 pm
Yesterday evening was Food for Lane County's Empty Bowls sale, so the first few people stopping by this morning had all attended. Several told me how many of my bowls they'd collected over the years. One bought a turkey bowl to add to their growing collection. Another, who always made sure to be first in line when the sale started, told of the second person in line who fixated on a praying mantis bowl, that she had to have. Except, when she got to it, someone had sniped it already. She accused first person, who denied stealing her bowl. Later, third person in line confided that she'd bought it, planned on gifting it to second person as a surprise.Such skullduggery; almost glad I forgot to attend.
After a fairly unpromising morning, the sun finally came out around lunchtime. Fortunately, the customers were not so reticent--a busy Saturday at Market! First up, after the Empty Bowls crowd, was a special order pick-up. Bailey'd ordered a small covered casserole, mama otter pattern. I made two, and both turned out nicely. She picked the one on the left, so I get to put the other one out next week for Mother's Day. She also picked out two dinner plates to go with it, a nice start to the day.
I'm already selling Mother's Day presents--a heron soup bowl for mom and flamingo bowl for grandma. An owl tall mug to a young woman for her mother, who also made me promise to bring in the giraffe mug from the new firing on May 16, when she'd be bringing her mom to Market. Owls and giraffes are her favorites.
Took a bunch of special orders. Bailey wanted a mantis dinner plate to go with her other two. Abdul came back, sad-faced. Did they break it [the new tip jar] again? I asked? No; it's just too small. I promised him a bigger one in my June firing. Speaking of bigger, I took an order for a canister with internal dimensions of 5.5" diameter, 10" deep. And a woman wanted to replace her favorite big bowl, finally broken after 7 years of service. I'll be making her a 6 lb. serving bowl, hummingbird pattern.
Lots of friends buying presents for each other; a young woman announced that she was going to start replacing her dinner plates, one at a time. Her older friend gave her a head start, buying two. Lots of kids in the booth too, taking advantage of my "Please Touch" rule to stroke and pet their favorite animal patterns, and weigh in on what to get mom for Mother's Day.
Ended up being my second-best weekend so far, only about $20 less than opening day. And then the van almost broke down going home. It's been coughing and choking on and off for a few weeks, but generally getting better after a few minutes. This time, it struggled all the way home, had to shift it into neutral at stop signs and rev the motor to keep it from stalling. Guess I'd better get it to my mechanic on Monday.
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Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 11:43 pm
The “big one” might not come alone: Double West Coast earthquake threat
Two of the most dangerous fault systems on the U.S. West Coast may be more connected than scientists once thought. New research suggests the Cascadia subduction zone and the San Andreas fault can “sync up,” triggering earthquakes within minutes or hours of each other. This rare “synchronization” could dramatically increase the scale of a major West Coast disaster. Instead of one massive quake, multiple regions could be hit at nearly the same time.
( Read more... )
Two of the most dangerous fault systems on the U.S. West Coast may be more connected than scientists once thought. New research suggests the Cascadia subduction zone and the San Andreas fault can “sync up,” triggering earthquakes within minutes or hours of each other. This rare “synchronization” could dramatically increase the scale of a major West Coast disaster. Instead of one massive quake, multiple regions could be hit at nearly the same time.
( Read more... )
Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 11:33 pm
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Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 09:33 pm
It was another generally good firing, even top and bottom, no more oxidation than usual, and some beautiful results.
Here are a few I remembered to snap as I unloaded the kiln.
Here are a few I remembered to snap as I unloaded the kiln.
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Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 09:31 pm
Look at those cones. Perfect cone 10, top and bottom. This never happens...The difference in reduction, sadly, is much more typical.
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Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 09:24 pm
It may have been the fastest turnaround ever on a special order. Took the commission Saturday before last, at Market, for a set of four dessert plates in bee pattern. As it happens, I was nearly finished with a glaze run, all I had left to do were dinner and dessert plates. Loaded the kiln the following Thursday, fired on Monday, and unloaded five bee-utiful plates on the following Thursday (the extra goes into my booth stock).
Bee-hold!
Bee-hold!
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