ysobel | Reading

Today's temperatures: Started below 20, "feels like" in the single digits. But not to worry, within a week we should be in the 50s!

And they just said that, with no commentary, like it's not absolutely bizarre to go from 19F - 56F within a single week in December.

And it's not just the high temperatures that are bizarre, the low ones are too. I can't speak to the decades before 1990, I guess, but NYC weather used to be temperate - we got more snow, but that's because the winter temperatures were in the snow range - close to the freezing point, not so warm it melted, not so cold that it just didn't happen.

james

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j_crew_guy

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princessofgeeks

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Current Mood: apathetic

j_crew_guy

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conuly

and I had to take a car, which I can not afford. At least the corner store hadn’t shut down and the cashier let me wait inside. Either he’s very friendly and chatty or he’s flirting with me, but the important thing is I still have all my toes.

ailelie

In my current project, here are the bits I need to write before I am done with this chapter (I have been so close to finishing for two months now; I've just been short on time and mental mana):

The political route
- Finish the conversation with Damithi, which is a three part thing. First, the MC interjects during Damithi's convo with reporters. Then, Damithi and the MC play a game of Truth. Finally, if the MC impresses during the game, Damithi hands over what the MC wants. (If the MC doesn't impress, they get a partial victory instead).
- Plan and write the conversation with Erim Kyte. This one should be harder than Imaric's, but easier than Damithi's.
- Plan and write the blackmail scene with Erim's paramour.

Plan and write the council meeting and the vote on Feylon's plan. At some point during this meeting, I need a good enough cliffhanger to entice readers to buy the book. That cliffhanger will likely be the announcement of the vote results.

Double-check my logic to make sure everything is resolved correctly.

Test for errors

It both is and isn't a lot. I just need to sit down and write.

settiai

The news broke a little while ago that Rob Reiner and his wife were found dead in their home.

Based on several articles, it looks like it's being investigated as a possible (or maybe probable would be the better word if some things they're alleging are true?) homicide.

Current Mood: sad

tielan

Work is gonna be slightly stressful the next three weeks. Apart from managing two systems until mid-January (and three for the 10 days after Christmas), they've instigated KPIs on basic tickets, and at least two of mine went overtime, in part because I was waiting for someone to get back to me. *grr*

I hate waiting for people to get back to me.

--

The shooting at Bondi Beach - a public Channukah event was targeted, one of the shooters was non-white, one of the members of the public who disarmed him (and was shot twice but survived) was middle eastern. Reports debate whether he was a Christian or a Muslim: the name suggests Muslim, his country background suggests Christian. Of course the cookers are already calling for a halt to immigration and trying to start up the culture wars again, the conservatives are yelling at our PM (centrist party), and the "anti-semitism adjudicator" has once again used this to basically declare that if you're not 100% for Israel in everything then you're antisemitic.

a few thoughts

It shouldn't need saying but we say it all the same.

Was the shooting at Bondi antisemitic? Absolutely.

Is disavowing Israel's actions in the West Bank and Gaza in the removal of/bombing of/cruelty towards Palestinian locals antisemitic? Not even close.

I'm hoping Ahmed el Ahmed is Muslim, at the very least for the optics. Nevertheless, whatever his background, he's definitely a hero to the majority of Australians, and I suspect the fruit shop he runs will be well-frequented in the coming months and he will never need to pay for a meal while out for the rest of the summer.

Whatever faith or origins are revealed of any of the players, this was an awful day for all Australians who aren't cookers (Americans would call them RWNJs). Fear breeds distrust, and events like this breed both copycats and retaliation, and tear at the fragile fabric of our communities and our societies.

And the gun control argument is going to be so fucking stupid, too. The 2A Seppos are all in our faces jeering about us having gun violence, too, and the old "good guy with a gun" shit is coming out of the woodwork - never mind how many people are pointing out that the guy who did successfully disarm one of the gunmen wasn't armed. And the cookers just want violence to justify their itty bitty penii and their terrible self-esteem (cause they can't get jobs when the coloureds take the opportunities)...

God have mercy on us. All of us.

--

A friend tested positive for COVID after we had dinner together (with some other friends) on Saturday night. She thinks she got it at her work Christmas Party on Thursday.

--

I'm standing for the presidency of my permaculture club again, with an eye to changing the way things are done - they're not working for us as a volunteer-based organisation anymore.

Of course, the COVID diagnosis means I'm not going to tonight's meeting with the election. I'll try to put together a short video talking about the forward vision for the club. IDEK.

lannamichaels

Anyone want anything? Drabble, meta, rant, ridiculous lyrics that scan to I Had A Little Driedel, complete bullshit about a topic I know nothing about, etc? ;)

(These posts don't expire.)

kaberett

Reading. ( Scalzi, Bourke, Barber + Bayley, Boddice, Cowart )

Writing. I have a document that contains the outline and extensive transcribed quotations for the Descartes apologia! ... it's already over 5000 words long! And that's before I even get into the argument about Against New Dualism! I think. It is going to wind up needing to be split into two essays. One of which is the quotations about How People Summarise Descartes + What Descartes Actually Said, and the second of which will then be the polemic about how you don't get to rail against mind-body dualism if you then replicate it unfailingly with commitment to the absolute separation of central sensitisation and peripheral nociception. With the former as non-essential background reading for the latter...

Watching. Encanto, courtesy of The Child. I had retained approximately none of the plot from the Encanto-flavoured Baby Yoga we did together recently, happily, and also I Did A Cry. (I am also genuinely impressed that "fish is in terrible bowl" was an indication of where things were going...)

Listening. The Instructions For Getting To The Child, while cycling, via the bone-conduction headphones. V pleased.

Playing. The Little Orchard avec Child! Using some definite House Rules. Also being Someone With Long Arms for various self-directed play. I continue to be told Many Numberblocks Facts. :)

Eating. I put in an order with Cocoa Loco, maker of My Favourite Chocolate For A While Now, for the purposes of A Convenient Present; I also acquired, because Why Not, a single brownie portion and the cocoa nibs & hazelnut bar. I'm not sure I think the cocoa nibs particularly enhance the experience but I do like the Good Dark Chocolate With Hazelnuts of it all; I think I prefer My Default Brownie Recipe to their brownie BUT I also think that having a bag-safe well-wrappped calorie-dense food was extremely valuable in the context of some of this week's more questionable adventures, and I did enjoy it a great deal while I was, you know, inhaling it.

Exploring. BIG HECKIN BIKE RIDE. Many fewer birds along the canal than last time I did that route (on an unseasonably warm day in April); extremely excited to confirm that Walthamstow Wetlands is Within Scope for a trip At Some Point, though possibly not until it's warmer again.

And then today I learned of the existence of and attended an event at the London LGBTQ+ Community Centre, just across the bridge from Blackfriars, which they blurb as "The London LGBTQ+ Community Centre is a sober, intersectional community centre and café where all LGBTQ+ people are welcome, supported, can build connections and can flourish." They have comfy sofas and a permanent clothes swap and a wee library and a very large bookshelf full of boardgames, and a whole bunch of structured social groups as well as walk-ins. I am charmed, I am pleased with my purchases (including MORE BULLSHIT CERAMICS), and I... am contemplating maybe actually getting myself out to some more of their events, not just when I have a friend visiting from abroad who suggested Attending A Market.

falena

This is not a fandom I was much obsessed with. The tv show was all right, in its early seasons at least, eminently watchable. Not something I've ever wished to revisit. However I remember enjoying some of the fic back in the day.

Only one has withstood the test of time. needs must by thatotherperv. 98K Harvey/Mike. Extremely explicit. When Grammy needs an upgrade in care, Mike knows that the usual one-off gig as a paid submissive won't be enough. He takes a job he's been refusing for a while - a long-term, full-time contract. He expects his client to be a sadistic asshole. He expects not to like it. He's wrong on both counts. It's an AU where Mike is a prostitute. Dom/sub. Now, BDSM is totally not my cup of tea, but this fic does such a great job of explaining this dynamic that I could totally see the appeal. Also, everything is perfectly in character. And there's lots of plot (the first two seasons are basically re-written, IIRC). And emotional growth. Plus, it comes in podfic form too, read by the crazily-talented dodificus. I lost count of how many times I listened to this story and every damn time it grabs me by the throat and never lets me go for the whole 11 hours of it.

I quite like Donna/Harvey as a pairing, unfortunately it was never very popular in the fandom. I remember being so happy when I found this little gem: Happy To See Me by Zinnith (I originally had bookmarked on LJ, just to give you an idea of how old some of my fic recs are; it was easy enough to track down in the Ao3 too, though). Great character voices and lovely, lyrical prose.

The Pitt

One of the aspects that made the previous Dom/sub story work for me was how explicit and detailed the kink negotiation was. That reminded me of an excellent fic that hinges on that very concept in this fandom: Red Light, Green Light by avocadomoon. Now, it's avocadomoon, the BNF author for Kingdon, so I don't think I have to say more. Her fic are consistently the ones with the highest number of hits on the Ao3 for a reason. Anyway, for my DW friends who are not into the Pitt, this story features Mel and Langdon becoming friends-with-benefits. I'm making this sound boring. It's so much fun. I always giggle when I re-read certain parts.

settiai

The Joining Exchange, a Dragon Age exchange focusing on Grey Wardens that just started this year, went live a little while ago. I got not one, not two, but three lovely gifts this year!

First up is Something Out Of The Ordinary, set during Dragon Age: Inquisition and featuring Alistair/Cullen Rutherford/Female Surana. 23,267 words.

Next is L’Hymne à L’Amour, set prior to Dragon Age: The Veilguard and featuring Antoine/Evka Ivo. 3,142 words.

And then there's in on it, set after Dragon Age: The Veilguard and featuring Antoine/Ashur | The Viper/Evka Ivo/Tarquin. 1,539 words.

Current Mood: excited

conuly

Poll #33957 Chag sameach!

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 34

View Respondents

But really, how do you spell it in English?

View Answers

Hanukkah
24 (70.6%)

Chanukah
6 (17.6%)

Hanukah
1 (2.9%)

Something else
3 (8.8%)

Also, please take a poem

Edit: Also, also, two videos

jennaria

I have finished the first draft of my Yuletide pinch-hit (which is, yet again, in a fandom I have never written before, or at least one I've never posted to AO3 - go me?). I'm sure the feeling will fade once the beta-readers have gone over it, and I go back to put in all the bits I thought were in there to begin with but didn't actually make it out of my brain, but for now, I'll enjoy the feeling.

Also we have our Christmas tree up and decorated. Other Christmas decorations, not so much, but then our celebration of Christmas isn't so much Actual Holiday as it is Oh Thank Fuck The Semester's Over And We Have Time Off, with a side of movies and Chinese food.

Next up: finishing my Secret Santa gift. Maybe put on some nice seasonal murder while I embroider. :-D

conuly

"He took the Walkman out of his pocket and flipped through the songs in the cassette."

Oh, sweetie. That's... that's just not how cassette tapes work. Not even overseas. You fast forward or rewind - literally winding the tape again - and hope that your timing is amazing. I mean, with practice I guess you can get pretty good, but still.

*****************

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falena

This is a sci-fi romance? Space opera, I think, technically. I know, it sounds weird as a combo, but it totally works. One of my all-time favourite m/m romance books. It's not a big surprise, when you learn it started out as original fanfiction on the Ao3. I'd actually read it back then and liked it. When it was published I bought it just because I was happy to be able to support one fanfic writer, thinking I wouldn't get much out of the book since I'd already read it...Boy, was I wrong. The worldbuilding had been increased a lot, adding a lot of politics. well, intergalactic, alien politics, but still messy human politics at its core. And I adore politics when it is a) fictional b) integral to the plot c) well-written. ANyway, at its core it's a tropetastic love story, (arranged marriage!There was only one sleeping bag! Grump/sunshine pairing). I adore these two characters. Blurb from GoodReads

While the Iskat Empire has long dominated the system through treaties and political alliances, several planets, including Thea, have begun to chafe under Iskat's rule. When tragedy befalls Imperial Prince Taam, his Thean widower, Jainan, is rushed into an arranged marriage with Taam's cousin, the disreputable Kiem, in a bid to keep the rising hostilities between the two worlds under control.

But when it comes to light that Prince Taam's death may not have been an accident, and that Jainan himself may be a suspect, the unlikely pair must overcome their misgivings and learn to trust one another as they navigate the perils of the Iskat court, try to solve a murder, and prevent an interplanetary war... all while dealing with their growing feelings for each other.

Is the new Prince Kiem Here To Stay?. 1.6K. Exclusive interview by Hani Sereson Jainan/Kiem. Outsider's POV. This is written as a newspaper article (by a canon journalist). Soooo IC and a lot of fun. It's a perfect epilogue, imho.

And Indeed There Will Be Time. 5.4K words. Jaina/Kiem, explicit. a little of what happened in those three days after they were rescued from the mountains. The sex scenes in the books are fade-to-black, so this awesome fic author took it upon themselves to give us some hot smut that can slot perfectly into canon. :D

The Pitt

Let Me by baeksoolatte. 6k words. Mateo Diaz/Cassie McKay, explicit.

“I heard from Dana,” Cassie says after a beat, voice light but with an edge like she’s tossing a grenade wrapped in ribbon. “Apparently Victoria Javadi has a crush on you.”

Mateo groans. “Jesus.”

“She says you don’t date coworkers.”

“I don’t,” he says, glancing at her. “But if I were going to… date one…”

Cassie looks at him sidelong, smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “I know.” She doesn’t say no. She never says no. “Mateo, it’s not a good idea.”

This my faveourite rarepair in the fandom. There are 9, NINE stories in the tag at the Ao3. I weep. This pairing has so much potential! Age gap. Hot, jaded older woman, super hot younger man. They are friends in canon. This fic explores the potential between them so beautifully. Gah. I want more!!

ailelie

Does LLG need minigames? No. Do I really need to ensure each card game I'm creating for this story that isn't even about card games works? No. Am I doing so anyway? Of course.

The games are:

Frut (probably need a better name): A partner game similar to 31, but adapted for the Bard deck. Plus, instead of a stack with a single card, a hand is dealt to the table and the remaining few cards are removed face-down from the game. So card counting, instead of cheating, becomes strategy.
Maze: A solitaire game I'm still finalizing. It involves moving a marker over a 3x3 grid following specific rules to remove cards. The goal is to end with as few cards as possible. This I will genuinely just sit and play sometimes.
Truth: The latest. Basically like the drinking game, but you place a card face down when you state something you think is true of the other person. If you're right, they flip your card and it goes to your score pile. If you're wrong, they get your card and can choose to play it later or discard it. This is the game I'm currently debating even needing though it *does* make for an interesting scene...

conuly

I don't quite relish the idea of going out in it, and god knows where our shovel went, but gosh, I love looking at the snow!

****************************

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j_crew_guy

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Page generated Dec. 15th, 2025 09:30 pm

i hear the voices when I'm dreaming

Reading

Watched the weather report today.

Update

General Hospital icon Anthony Geary dies at age 78

Wake Up Dead Man

Director Rob Reiner dead at age 78

Two buses canceled in a row

To Write

RIP Rob Reiner

and the hits just keep coming

Anyone want anything?

vital functions

Rec-cember Day 13 : Suits

The Joining Exchange

The sun's going down, so Happy Hanukkah pretty soon?

I feel Accomplished

A different fic....

Rec-cember Day 12: Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell

(no subject)

I love looking out the window at the snowfall

It's my way or the highway this Christmas at my bar

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December 2025

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