beanside: Lucifer from Hazbin Hotel (Lucifer Morningstar)
[personal profile] beanside
We survived Monday! It actually wasn't that bad! It went relatively quickly, I got a few people in for appointments. Had one really obnoxious one who asked me like five times if I'd done it correctly. I flipped off the screen a lot with them, and took a little five minute break when I hung up. That's pretty rare, but she was on my last nerve.

I also got some more news about the promotion. So A. had said that she had never got the application, so she went back to HR and was like, wtf? And it turned out that the job I applied for initally had me shortlisted for the job, and it paused my application. So they figured that out, and A got the application, and has sent it over to Talent to write up my offer letter. I teased her about not needing an interview, and she said "1. Who has time for that. 2. Why would I bother? The job was literally created for you." So that made me feel good.

I did have a blip in the morning, where Jess was a little sad about all the games that were ending and that I'm only doing a game a day on the weekend from here on out because of school. I felt like they were giving me pushback, and was a little bit upset about it. And in retrospect, it wasn't even about Jess. One of my players took it upon themselves to nudge to schedule some of the games that are in limbo. But they did it with somewhat passive agressive-feeling sad faces in a bunch of my campaigns. And at the time, I was like Okay, lets schedule. But it really bothered me. I'm not a fucking D&D vending machine. This shit takes actual time and effort to prep, and there's only so much time. This isn't like a Goshapan machine. You put in an emoji, and the D&D falls out. So I could have responded better to Jess. We settled down and talked it out during lunch and we're all good. I'm just going to need to be better about laying down boundaries while I'm in school. Or alternately, just boundaries, full stop.

Sadly when my sister got home, she brought news that they're firing her employee, effective on the 27th. They don't feel like she needs an extra person, since they took the records away and sent it to NY. My sister is devastated. She adores the employee, and she feels like her company is being a bunch of liars. They had assured everyone that the shakeup was done, and then two weeks later, shut down more sites, and now they laid off her employee.

She's started applying to other companies, but probably won't start until after our cruise in May. She's looking at fully remote and hybrid jobs, or jobs that are much closer to home, since she currently has a 45min-60min commute on the shitty Baltimore Beltway. Work from home could be a challenge for all of us, but we'll figure it out.

Today will surely be another busy day. Hopefully we'll get some cancellations, so I can get in more patients, but we'll see what the day brings. It would be nice if it brought an offer letter. I don't know how long that normally takes. I know when I got this job, I applied and got an offer letter the very next day, so I have hopes for soon. I also have hopes for a decent pay bump. Ideally in the $3-$4 range. I don't know how Hopkins works promotions. I know at IKEA, your pay bump was limited a percentage of your salary, and it wasn't much, like ten percent every level you jumped.

Had I gotten any of the team lead jobs I applied for, it would have been a double jump, so I probably would have gotten a decent bump, but otherwise, it was like $2.

It's not like I even need it to live off of. It just would be nice. Though if my sister takes a lower paying job, it would be helpful. I mean, she'll have less gas money and less frequent oil changes, which will save some money, but still. It's not like the company paid that well anyway. I make more managing only myself than she makes managing a multiple sites, and like 8 people, which is fucked up.

Tonight, I shall make some pork tenderloin and try out this hawaiian sea salt blend I got. It's got 3 kinds of salt--one of which is smoked--and some mild chili. It tasted really good when I sampled it, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it tastes on meat.

As per my usual, I'm sitting here with a shortbread, nibbling on that. I may have to order again from them. There were a bunch of other flavors that looked really tasty. And I'll probably get more of the white chocolate coconut macadamia. Or the butter macadamia. That is also really tasty and excellent with coffee.

The macademia nuts are slowly being eaten. I need to get Jess another bag of the chilli, so they won't feel bad about eating the rest of the bag. They really liked them.

I'm mostly a fan of the plain sea salt ones. Though the lilikoi ones as well. It's a sweet and tart Hawaiian flavor from the yellow passionfruit. They're really quite tasty.

Okay, time to do some more orientation. I'm hoping to have it done by the weekend. Hopefully, today or tomorrow, I get my offer letter to sign, and it'll be good. Everyone have a terrific Tuesday!!
highlander_ii: Adam Ant as the Dandy Highwayman ([Ant] Dandy Highwayman)
[personal profile] highlander_ii posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: Step into my Parlor
Fandom: Marvel 1610 (Ultimates)
Rating: PG-13
Content notes: None apply
Summary: icons of Ultimates Tony Stark in various states of anticipating his bedroom shenanigans


Step into my Parlor )
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

Happy Tuesday!

This month is a little spooky, with a couple horror titles on deck. There’s also historical romance and nonfiction. Can you believe there are no contemporaries or romantasies on our list this week?!

What are you excited for? Let us know in the comments!

A Lady for All Seasons

A Lady for All Seasons by TJ Alexander

Author: TJ Alexander
Released: March 10, 2026 by Vintage
Genre: , ,

From the acclaimed author of Chef’s Kiss and A Gentleman’s Gentleman comes a riotous Regency romp, featuring a charming and unforgettable genderfluid lead.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman who has lost her fortune must be in need (not want) of a husband. Beautiful, cunning Verbena Montrose must marry to save herself and her odious family from abject poverty. Fortunately, what she lacks in a dowry, she makes up for in the currency of gossip.

When she hears an alarming rumor about her very dear, very queer friend Étienne that could ruin him, she comes to his aid with a proposal—for a marriage of convenience, that is. But when Verbena discovers that a mysterious and celebrated poet by the name of Flora Witcombe has been publishing verses that hint she is onto their scheme, Verbena has no choice but to pretend to be a poet herself to confront her in a local salon. And—unexpectedly—be charmed by her.

Flora, in turn, is terrified by and smitten with Verbena in equal measure. But she holds a secret of her he is also William Forsyth, a struggling novelist and fifth son of a minor noble family. And if circumstances don’t allow Flora to woo Verbena, perhaps William can. Faced with two suitors and a fiancé, Verbena, who has always had to be clever to survive in society, starts to realize she may need to think outside of society’s constraints to find true happiness.

Elyse: A trans romance with the ticking clock of a marriage of convenience.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Adult Braces

Adult Braces by Lindy West

Author: Lindy West
Released: March 10, 2026 by Grand Central Publishing
Genre:

In bestselling author Lindy West’s most ambitious book yet, she takes readers along on an uproarious cross-country road trip as she unpacks her last few tumultuous years, rediscovers herself, and reinvents her marriage in the process.

Through Shrill, the book and then the Hulu series, Lindy West became an inspiration. To this day she is stopped on the street and hailed as a beacon of empowerment by women who felt badly for not conforming to the categories deemed acceptable—thin, straight, compliant. But behind the scenes, Lindy never felt like she was the self-actualized woman fans made her out to be. When she found herself in the throes of a deep depression, with her marriage and sense of self-worth hanging in the balance, she knew she needed to make a change.

In ADULT BRACES, Lindy shares the story of her rock bottom, and of the solo cross-country road trip she took to claw her way out of it. With her trademark candor and sense of humor, she examines her post-Shrill emotional implosion, her shifting feelings about traditional marriage, and her search for her long-lost self. She also tracks the highs and lows of her journey, from eye-opening natural wonders and kitschy roadside attractions to lackluster excursions and campground epiphanies. The result is an engaging and laugh-out-loud narrative of becoming as Lindy transforms from a passenger into the active navigator of her own life.

Lindy West’s newest nonfiction!

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The Fox and the Devil

The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White

Author: Kiersten White
Released: March 10, 2026 by Del Rey
Genre: , , , ,

Anneke has a complicated relationship with her father, Abraham Van Helsing—doctor, scientist, and madman devoted to the study of vampires—until the night she comes home to find him murdered, with a surreally beautiful woman looming over his body. A woman who leaves no trace behind, other than the dreams and nightmares that now plague Anneke every night.

Spurred by her desire for vengeance and armed with the latest forensic and investigatory techniques, Anneke puts together a team of detectives to catch this mysterious serial killer. Because her father isn’t the only inexplicable dead body. There’s a trail of victims across Europe, and Anneke is certain they’re all connected.

But during the years spent relentlessly hunting the killer, Anneke keeps crucial evidence to herself: infuriatingly coy letters, addressed only to her, occasionally soaked in blood, and always signed Diavola.

The closer Anneke gets to her devil, though, the less sense the world makes. Maybe her father wasn’t a madman after all. Diavola might be something much worse than a serial killer . . . and much harder to destroy. Yet as Anneke unearths more of Diavola’s tragic past, she suspects there’s still a heart somewhere in that undead body.

A heart that beats for Anneke alone.

Elyse: The cover alone sold me on this book.

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Hell’s Heart

Hell’s Heart by Alexis Hall

Author: Alexis Hall
Released: March 10, 2026 by Tor Books
Genre: , ,

Gideon the Ninth meets Moby Dick in USA Today bestselling author Alexis Hall’s science fiction debut, Hell’s Heart!

Earth is a ruin, and the scattered remnants of humanity scavenge what they can from the stars under the watchful auspices of a grab-bag of collectives, corporations, and churches which are all that remains of what we once called society. Having long exhausted any conventional sources of energy, life in the solar system is now sustained by a volatile, hallucinogenic substance called spermaceti, which is harvested from the brains of vast cetacean-like Leviathans that swim the atmospheric currents of Jupiter.

Finding herself with no money and little to occupy her groundside, the narrator (“I”) takes a commission aboard the hunter-barque Pequod as it sets out in pursuit of precious spermaceti. Once aboard, however, she finds herself pulled inexorably into the orbit of the barque’s captain, a charismatic but fanatically driven woman who the narrator names only as “A”. As the Pequod plunges ever deeper into the turbulent, monster-haunted atmosphere of the gas giant, the narrator begins to lose herself in the eerie word of Leviathan-hunting and the captain’s increasingly insistent delusions; the only thing that might keep her grounded is the bond she develops with Q, a woman from the wreck of Old Earth whose skin is marked with holographic light and who remembers things otherwise lost.

Alexis Hall has a queer horror release!

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Magic and Mischief at the Wayside Hotel

Magic and Mischief at the Wayside Hotel by Elizabeth Everett

Author: Elizabeth Everett
Released: March 10, 2026 by Ace
Genre: , ,

When a magical hotel appears smack-dab in the middle of the most unmagical of worlds, the last thing the residents expect is to fall in love.

Manager of the Number Five Wayside Inn and World Travel Hub, Pax Nomen has one of the easiest jobs in all the known universes, unless you count the occasional plumbing disaster. When Number Five Wayside gets stranded on a non-magical world, even Pax’s trusty Wayside Handbook can’t help him. How is he going to “reboot” the hotel and keep it on its magical journey?

Josie LaChusia is a single mom experiencing debt, having parenting doubts, and tipping dangerously toward depression when an ad pops up on her phone that an apartment is available in a building she’s never seen before.

Pax needs a new guest to restart his hotel, and Josie needs a nudge to restart her life. In a building occupied by faeries, gargoyles, and a gnome with a bad attitude, two souls from very different places come together to create a home like no other.

The first book in a new series that combines historical romance and the fantastical. 

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Never Spar with a Viscount

Never Spar with a Viscount by Lindsay Lovise

Author: Lindsay Lovise
Released: March 10, 2026 by Forever
Genre: , ,
Series: Secret Society of Governess Spies #3

The rules are fake a relationship and solve a mystery. That should be easy  right?

Ivy Bennett has escaped the marriage mart once already—by becoming a governess to the new Lord Brackley’s unruly little sisters. Spending her days in the schoolroom and her nights running a secret self-defense class for women, she has absolutely no interest in a husband. So when Ivy is handed a secret assignment by the spymaster known as the Dove, she sees an fake a courtship with the enigmatic Owen Brackley to avoid her conniving father’s attempts to marry her off, complete the mission, and finally secure her freedom. Simple. Until it’s not.

Women across London are succumbing to a strange madness, and they all share a connection to Brackley—the same man who looks at Ivy like he sees right through her and is none too bothered by her lack of ladylike charm. As Ivy gathers gossip like breadcrumbs and dodges increasingly dangerous attempts on Brackley’s life, she realizes two someone wants the viscount gone, and the closer she gets to the truth, the harder it is to tell what’s real and what’s just part of the game.

Lara: With historical romance disappearing from traditional publishing, I am always delighted to read new-to-me authors in this genre. I really enjoyed this book and there’s a full review coming!

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You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom

You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom by Vincent Tirado

Author: Vincent Tirado
Released: March 10, 2026 by William Morrow
Genre: , ,

Demons clash with inheritance claims as secrets unfold and violence is unleashed over twelve harrowing hours trapped in a house with the worst thing imaginable: family.

When Papi Ramon, the patriarch of the wealthy Abreu family dies, he gives the family one last message in the will: “One of you is el bacà, the demon that I made a deal with. Get rid of them or you will be damned.” Xiomara, the uncontested favorite of Papi Ramon (and therefore the least liked in the family), watches as everyone dismisses this as the joke of a senile old man and demands the lawyer obtain the previous will Papi wrote.

While the lawyer drives back to his office, a storm breaks out, forcing the entire family—Xiomara’s aunts and uncles and cousins—to remain in the house. And the words of Papi’s will hangs over their heads even heavier than the rain clouds. Over the course of the night, scandal after scandal is revealed to the public about the family. Suddenly a tense few hours of surviving her family turns into a vicious night of recrimination, violence, accusations…and murder.

Xiomara is faced with an impossible task: uproot a demon and somehow kill it or excise the ghosts that linger within her own family.

And the clock is ticking…

Amanda: I’m getting Ready or Not vibes from this and I’m into it. (Also if you haven’t seen the Ready or Not movie, you should! A sequel with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Elijah Wood is coming out this month!)

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

vriddy: Kagari and Fujimaru from the volume 2 cover, both looking at the viewer (kagari-jin)
[personal profile] vriddy
The intimacy of cleaning your partner's weapon after a fight ;D Not a euphemism lol. Though it might as well be foreplay XD


Gloves off | K-9 | Fujimaru/Ren | 300 words | rated T

Summary: Fujimaru watches as Ren cleans his gloves after a fight.

Read it on Dreamwidth or on AO3.

Resident Evil Requiem [2026]

Mar. 9th, 2026 09:47 pm
myrmidon: ([film;] burn through the witches.)
[personal profile] myrmidon posting in [community profile] fandom_icons
Resident Evil Requiem (2026)
[ leon s. kennedy ]


[ here @ [community profile] axisandallies ]

Family History

Mar. 9th, 2026 09:00 pm
ranunculus: (Default)
[personal profile] ranunculus
One little fact can change a lot of family history. 
Read more... )

Asking for some help

Mar. 10th, 2026 12:17 am
mickeym: (my friends have made my life)
[personal profile] mickeym
Hey, y'all. I'm posting this to the platforms I use: Facebook, LiveJournal, and Dreamwidth, so my apologies if you see it more than once.

Matthew and I need some help getting caught up before it gets completely out of control. We need about $600 to get my checking account out of the negative, and to cover new meds for Matthew, from his new doctor.

I have Paypal: paypal.me/kimandmattg6794. If CashApp works better, Matthew has one; just let me know by DM or email, and I'll get the handle or whatever they call it.

If anyone can help us out, I would be so grateful. I thought we had it better under control, but then we had a couple unexpected expenses.

Thank you from both me, and Matthew.

X-posted to Dreamwidth and LiveJournal; read/comment wherever you prefer.

Dept. of Memes

Mar. 9th, 2026 11:15 pm
kaffy_r: Dillons illustration of Nix's Abhorsen world. (The Old Kingdom)
[personal profile] kaffy_r
Music Meme, Day 21

A song that you listen to at 3 a.m. in the morning

I decided to get back in the music meme game after [personal profile] owlboy  picked up the exercise and commented that they got the idea from me. And of course, Day 21 asks me to share a song that I listen to in the wee small hours. There are at least a couple of problems with that. First, I rarely stay awake past 10 p.m. these days because I am older than the solar system. Secondly, on those extremely rare occasions when I think about being awake at that time, I find myself imagining walking outside and listening to the relative silence of Chicago at 3 a.m. Much as I love music, walking outside at that time of day calls for silence. 

So what music could I possibly show you? I couldn't think of anything at all for a while. 

My first choice isn't one piece; it's a rotating number of somewhat-more-than-ambient pieces (I think there are somewhere between five and 10 pieces) by the owner of a YouTube radio station, Cyber Jazz/Blues Ambient Radio (which I talked about in an earlier post). Its music has what is clearly a deliberate nod to the original Blade Runner movie, with titles such as "Deckard's Blues" and "Rachael". It shares both feeling and sound with the movie's soundtrack, although it's a lot more limited. I find it very soothing, and it feels like nighttime music or, at the least, music for nights of rain glinting off neon illuminated streets. And in that world, one could walk through the rain at 3 a.m. and this music would be appropriate.

Here is the link to that station. 

But there are other 3 a.m. songs. Although I'm not generally a fan of Frank Sinatra, I reluctantly admit that his rendition of this song is better than that of the crooner I like better, Tony Bennett. 



Still, Cyber Jazz/Blues feels closer to what I would listen to at 3 a.m. 

My previous entries in this meme can be sussed out via my Day 20 entry




 


Henry St, Obstacles, Burning

Mar. 9th, 2026 07:44 pm
ranunculus: (Default)
[personal profile] ranunculus
After 3 years of prep and struggle to get a permit, today was the first day of construction at Henry St. That is to say the crews came in, hauled away a bunch of junk that we couldn't get rid of fast enough (detritus from 27 years of living there plus the junk left by former tenants. YAY!

I posted fic!

Mar. 10th, 2026 02:41 pm
alasse_irena: Photo of the back of my head, hair elaborately braided (Default)
[personal profile] alasse_irena
Over at [community profile] fan_flashworks I posted a little fic! It will go on AO3 later, but for now you can read it there.

The round's theme is anticipation. I think there's probably half a day left to post in this round if you are suddenly keen.

Title: waiting for someone else
Fandom: Ponies (TV 2026)
Rating: Mature
Length: 1031
Content notes: n/a
Author notes: I guess this is loosely about anticipating, in that it is about waiting? Anyway, my first fan_flashworks entry! And also the only fic I have ever written for this fandom. Is it the only fic I ever will write? Unclear
Summary: Ivanna and Twila understand each other, but they both know Twila would rather be with someone else. A specific someone else.

Read it at the community!

Daily Happiness

Mar. 9th, 2026 08:44 pm
torachan: (Default)
[personal profile] torachan
1. I walked up to Whole Foods tonight and dropped off my Amazon return and got an email saying the money was credited back to my account while I was on the walk home.

2. I did two store visits in Orange County today and Carla came with me and went shopping (one of the stores is right next to a Book Off) while I worked, so we could just go straight to Disneyland on the way home. We haven't been doing midweek trips as much this year, but a friend of hers is in town for work and this was the best time to meet up. (But since the Food and Wine Festival just started, there's a ton of new menu items to try, so it works out in that regard as well.)

3. Tomorrow I am just doing a store visit at the store near home and then WFH in the afternoon for meetings, so no long drives, which will be nice (especially with gas prices as they are, though I do get reimbursed for the store visits).

4. The weather was about 15 degrees cooler today than yesterday at home and around 20 degrees cooler down in OC. Much nicer than yesterday!

5. Molly has been really into the old cardboard cat house lately for some reason.

alasse_irena: Photo of the back of my head, hair elaborately braided (Default)
[personal profile] alasse_irena posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: waiting for someone else
Fandom: Ponies (TV 2026)
Rating: Mature
Length: 1031
Content notes: n/a
Author notes: I guess this is loosely about anticipating, in that it is about waiting? Anyway, my first fan_flashworks entry! And also the only fic I have ever written for this fandom. Is it the only fic I ever will write? Unclear
Summary: Ivanna and Twila understand each other, but they both know Twila would rather be with someone else. A specific someone else.

Read more... )
mific: (Heated rivalry)
[personal profile] mific
[personal profile] princessofgeeks posted about Rachel Reid having said that Shane has "the Hero's Journey", in the Heated Rivalry books.
And [personal profile] raven commented, agreeing and saying that Shane grows and changes more, internally.

I've been thinking about this, and I started to write a comment but it got so long I decided to post here about it.

I re-read the start of Heated Rivalry—it's a flash-forward prologue to the hookups era and focuses on an after-game hookup, with the overall theme being Shane's dilemma where he's desperate for the hookups (with hints at his feelings for Ilya that he's massively suppressing), his denial about being gay (seeing it as an aberration he's too "weak" not to give into), and his rationalizations about just not having found the right woman yet. He's conflicted and miserable despite the scene being hot.

Then by the end of the book, Shane and Ilya are opening the Irina Foundation, and Shane has fully accepted being gay and loving Ilya. So the external barriers (the NHL's and hockey culture's homophobia, being closeted, not living together) are still there for them both, but Shane has made the internal Hero's Journey of battling against being gay (his internalized homophobia) then overcoming that and accepting it, and accepting his love for Ilya. Ilya battles against acknowledging that he's falling in love (a lost cause from early on), but he's clear about his sexuality from the start, and he's accepted his feelings for Shane by the tuna melts scene, whereas Shane's not there yet.

The Long Game might be seen as a bit more Ilya's Hero's Journey as he starts with many problems—loneliness as he's just moved to Ottawa, having to be on a poorly-playing losing team, still not seeing enough of Shane—and he gets depressed, which he has to battle against. Like (eventually), therapy, medication, being honest with Shane about how much he's struggling, finding friends in the Centaurs and a family in the Hollanders. But the terrible "wait until we retire to come out" plan is still hanging over him (over both of them), largely due to Shane's fear of exposure and change, and as Ilya is still afraid to be honest with Shane about how much the terrible plan makes him suffer.

So then there are two external deus ex machina events that force the "wait until we retire" plan to collapse—the Tampa plane near-tragedy, and the fanmail outing. Both of them energize Ilya to fight back (the near crash makes him rally his team and win games, and to move things along with Shane as he'd finally been honest about his pain in the cathartic row beforehand), and then the fanmail outing is actually what Ilya needs to move their relationship into the light. All this doesn't solve Ilya's tendency to depression, but he gets a lot better at handling it. He learns to manage the dragon, rather than killing it.

There's still a Hero's Journey for Shane in The Long Game though, which I missed initially as the book seems so Ilya-focused. This time it's Shane's fear of coming out of the closet and being exposed, which he's way more afraid of than Ilya is—again, Ilya has real issues to battle with (even his depression can be seen as an external antagonist as it's partly biologically driven and recurs despite psychotherapy and meds), but Shane's big challenge is once more internal. He's terrified of being outed and of losing hockey and being shamed and reviled by the world. It's his intense need for privacy and his internalized homophobia that he has to combat—and in initially not doing so he hurts Ilya (but Ilya conceals that hurt from him until their big fight). The fight and the Tampa plane near-crash wake Shane up and move him along a bit, but he's still delaying their coming out as he's so afraid of it.

Then the fanmail outing is the final blow that means he can't hide anymore (to Shane's horror, but to Ilya's secret relief). So that's his big hero's test in this book (where realizing he was gay and choosing Ilya over 'performing straightness' was his big battle in HR). And the scene where Shane stands up to Roger Crowell is his "battling the dragon" moment, where he fights for Ilya and for himself, defies Crowell who represents homophobia and the potential loss of hockey, and finally, finally, Shane fully chooses Ilya rather than prioritizing hockey and maintaining his straight public persona.

He's afraid that being exposed will mean his reputation will be destroyed, that he won't be seen as "good"—and that happens to some degree, but he finds it's survivable. It's shown in the way he doesn't arrange any extra chairs at his wedding to Ilya at the end of TLG after they've been outed. He doesn't think many guests will come now that he's not "good" anymore in a black & white, all or nothing public image sense. But his friends do come, and Shane finds there's a place he can exist in between being perfect and being reviled. It's a more adult, integrated sense of self.

I suspect Shane will once again have a Hero's Journey in the pending 3rd book in the HR trilogy (Unrivaled). What will that be? I wonder if it might be Shane's retirement from playing hockey in the NHL and what comes after? He was terrified of coming out because he thought it would mean losing NHL-level hockey, but he survived that in TLG after battling Crowell, emerging still playing NHL hockey with Ilya on the Centaurs. Inevitably, he and Ilya will age out of playing NHL hockey and it will definitely be more of a challenge for Shane than for Ilya. Ilya already prioritized Shane over hockey when he moved to the Centaurs—I wouldn't be surprised if he retired first, in Unrivaled, with both of them having to deal with that as a precursor. There's an excellent fanfic about that (can't recall the title!) which I imagine Rachel hasn't read, as most authors don't read fanfic of their books especially with an a ongoing series, to avoid accusations of copying.

But for Shane, hockey is still a huge part of his sense of self. He's going to have to figure out who he is when he's not an NHL player anymore. I suspect Rachel might bring in external factors again to move him along in his battle against retiring (as otherwise I suspect he'd put it off for way too long)—like a major injury or an accumulation of smaller injuries. There might also need to be another big goal for him to switch focus to as well, something to give his life meaning after retirement, to answer the question: "who am I if I'm not playing pro hockey?" A dad? A coach? It'll be interesting to see.

Seed Starting

Mar. 9th, 2026 06:52 pm
winterfirelight: (Garden)
[personal profile] winterfirelight posting in [community profile] gardening
Finally started some seeds this past weekend! A little later than I intended, but given that last year I started them a whole 2 months sooner than I ought to have, I'll take it as a win. More seeds than I had realized need to be stratified first, so those are now chilling in the fridge and I'll get them in pots next month instead.

I'm hoping this week it'll be warm enough out that I can get some compost into the garden so it's all prepped when plants are ready to go in. We've already had crocuses and daffodils up for a few weeks, but we also had a frost this morning, so it's still a little early for most things. Unpredictable March! I've got big plans for some of the space this year, but we'll see how much I actually manage to get done. So far I'm mostly working on clearing out the cabinets so I have space for harvests later in the season. I made some tincture blends on Saturday to consolidate some jars, and used up some oils for salve yesterday. I'll have to spend a lot of time over the next couple of months drinking tea to work through my stash of dried herbs. There are worse fates!

The community garden has gotten started too, and I spent some time there today weeding and clearing out dead plants. I took an extra parsley and some stray borage home with me. I've never gotten borage to take in my garden, but I've tried putting it in a different location this time and maybe it'll settle in.

work cons

Mar. 9th, 2026 08:27 pm
echan: rainbow arch supernova remnant (Default)
[personal profile] echan
I survived another year at SCaLE in Pasadena, and made it home again where its technically tshirt weather despite the snow lining the highway. My Leaf made it there and back again with 29% battery left, so that was a relief, I've never driven anywhere near that far at once before. Also I did not fall asleep and crash! It helped that my rock climbing gym is almost exactly halfway there so I stopped there as a driving break.

I went to so many restaurants in Pasadena! I'm quite proud of my success on that. I think my favorite this year was Mr Mushroom -- fantastic burgers, even with the sweet pickles (whyyy).

I saw some coworkers, current and former, a couple times. It was good, and it was awkward. I'm really not a hallway track, hang around and talk, sort of person, with anyone. (Probably not a coincidence that the best interaction was in a panel room before a talk, and not in a hallway.) But also, I want to do better at preparing in advance things to talk about -- it often feels like my mind puts everything off limits for sharing, unless I do a deliberate mental inventory and flag specific things as safe talking points.

The most common themes, in the talks I went to, were "AI is like an overenthusiastic book-smart intern" and data lake houses (like a data lake and a data warehouse but better). A lot of general industry insecurity -- the job board seemed almost entirely folks looking for work, with very few posts about open positions. (Percona is hiring, but everyone knows DBAs are a strange sort.)

Later this year PyCon the Python con is in Long Beach, and I don't much work with Python these days but a programming con sounds fun, probably. Monitorama is coming back sometime soon, also. Dunno if dates will conflict, or what work will pay for, will need to figure that out.

tenor viola followup

Mar. 9th, 2026 10:04 pm
jazzfish: Jazz Fish: beret, sunglasses, saxophone (Default)
[personal profile] jazzfish
*mindblown.gif*

Okay, so, clefs. If you've seen piano music you know how it's got two staffs, one for the right hand / high notes and one for the left / low notes. The staffs have a squiggle on the left end of them: the high one has a sort of loopy thing and the low one has a sort of 7 or 2 with a couple of dots. These are clefs, specifically treble clef and bass clef. They tell you what pitch the notes on the staff represent.

Technically the symbols are a G clef and an F clef: the spiral at the centre of the treble squiggle is always on a note that's a G, and the two dots on the bass are always on a note that's an F. Technically if you put the symbols on other lines you'd indicate different pitches. In practice, these days nobody does that, and 'G clef' and 'treble clef' are synonymous, as are 'F clef' and 'bass clef.'

Violin music is written in treble clef. Cello music is (mostly) written in bass clef. The range of notes you can easily play on those instruments more or less coincides with what you can easily write in those clefs without egregious use of extra ledger lines for notes above/below the staff.

There's also another clef symbol. The C clef symbol looks like a capital B, and the middle of the two humps is always on a note that's a C. It's used to indicate two uncommon clefs. Alto clef gets used for viola music and nothing else as far as I know, and tenor clef gets used for cello music that's off in the upper registers of the cello. Alto clef is... honestly I don't know what its relation to treble clef is, other than "lower," I think it's a sixth lower? Maybe a seventh? I don't read treble clef very well so I don't really know.

Tenor clef is a fifth higher than bass clef. This makes it really convenient for cello music. The strings on a cello (or violin or viola) are a fifth apart, so if you're used to reading bass clef for cello then tenor is the same thing just one string up.

A viola is a fifth lower than a violin, and an octave higher than a cello. If you put 'octave strings' on a viola, it plays the same notes as a cello. A tenor viola is an octave lower than a violin, and a fifth higher than a cello.

Which means it can natively play music in tenor clef. Hence the names.

Here endeth the classical music neepery for the day.

2026 Disneyland Trip #13 (3/9/26)

Mar. 9th, 2026 08:14 pm
torachan: maru the cat giving the side eye (maru side eye)
[personal profile] torachan
We went down to DCA again today for dinner to meet up with a friend of Carla's who's in town for work but also spending all his downtime at Disneyland.

Since we'd just been to the park a couple days ago and also had had kind of a long day today before getting to the park, we didn't really do much other than have dinner and chat, and then walk around the park and chat, but it was a nice visit.

Read more... )
cmk418: (barry)
[personal profile] cmk418 posting in [community profile] sweetandshort
Title: Positive
Fandom: Barry
Characters: Sally Reed/Barry Berkman
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 154
Prompt: Mother
Summary: Sally gets the results of a home pregnancy test

Positive )
petra: Barbara Gordon smiling knowingly (Default)
[personal profile] petra posting in [community profile] thisfinecrew
A friend let me know about a new Bureau of Prisons guideline for treatment of inmates with gender dysphoria, which you can read in its entirety here. The short form is that they're denying trans inmates gender-affirming care despite medical consensus, and substituting conversion therapy, which has been proven to be harmful and does not in any way "cure" gender dysphoria.

My friend's letter, posted with permission )
x95: Chibi artwork of the character An-An Lee from the video game Reverse: 1999. The Chinese characters read "下班" (R1999)
[personal profile] x95 posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: in the digital rain
Fandom: Crash Fever
Rating: G / General Audiences
Content notes: Embedded images.
Artist notes: Drawn with Krita, page/canvas templates via Electric Zine Maker.
Summary: Foucault and Helmholtz wait for the rain to stop.
Challenge: 508 - Anticipation

in the digital rain )
lannamichaels: Astronaut Dale Gardner holds up For Sale sign after EVA. (Default)
[personal profile] lannamichaels


I guess I cannot do the necessary suspension of disbelief/price of admission be in Workplace Fandoms anymore because what I've osmosised of The Pitt Season 2 is a lot of "should characters X, Y, and Z forgive Character A who was abusive and also stole patient medications and -- this part I'm unclear on but it sounds likely -- also practiced medicine in an ER while under the influence? It's very important question on if his apologies were good enough or if people should forgive him or be his friend again" and I'm like "that person should be fired from the hospital, this is not a buddy sitcom where they're all over at each other's apartments and dating each other and their warm opinions of each other matter, this is an emergency room, they are coworkers in a high-pressure high-stakes environment, not friends, he should be fired and they should never see him again and get to decide if they want to invite him to their bookclubs or poker nights or whatever, but the question of 'should they forgive him, has he done enough' is irrelevant because he should lose his medical license."

2026 Canada Roles Awards

Mar. 9th, 2026 08:29 pm
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Canada Roles Awards seeks to celebrate the games and art created by the Canadian tabletop Roleplaying Game Industry.

2026 Canada Roles Awards

Divining Destiny: Chapters 4 and 5

Mar. 9th, 2026 07:28 pm
senmut: Zaknafein and Drizzt battling each other (Forgotten Realms: Zak and Drizzt)
[personal profile] senmut
AO3 Link | Divining Destiny (11814 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Characters: Vierna Do'Urden, Zaknafein Do'Urden, Drizzt Do'Urden, Ensemble
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Typical Violence, Fratricide, Murder, flashfic, Cross-Posted from Archive Of Our Own (AO3), Time Travel
Summary:

Thwarted in escaping with the two males she cares for at Graduation, Vierna sets her goals differently.

Only, Drizzt sets things in motion the wrong way.



Chapter 4: Drizzt's Chosen Path

Eilistraee rested in the meadow, laying on Her back, listening to the night and Her sparring partner as he got his own breathing back under control. She almost wished to keep him here, to have his company where it was safer for Her to exist, but he was mortal, and deserved a chance to truly live free.

"Father manipulated time in setting you back to save the Lore Keeper," She admitted, once She was cooler and he seemed calm.

"I decided that had to have happened given His surety in the circumstances. I know it is one avenue of magic, considered among the riskiest."

"It's only a few decades, but time has to resettle… and I mean to offer you a chance to be part of that resettling, Drizzt." Eilistraee let Her fingertips touch his. "Like it or not, when She touched your life string at birth, with My Brother touching your sister's so young, it has put you closer to Destiny than many mortals can bear.

"Would you like to use that to protect other drow like you, to be there for My Chosen as a protector?"

Drizzt considered, letting the night sounds take over around them, and then turned his head to look at Her. "I would be with ones like me, to keep learning, and helping them survive in a world that fears and hates us?

"I can do this, as it will let me continue forming as who I wish to be in something closer to safety rather than wandering with only Guen."

"And possibly Szann from time to time," She said, eyes dancing with the mirth of how besotted the cath sidhe was with Her young friend. He did not pray to her; he prayed to none, so far. But She continued to hope that in time he would be willing to ask boons of Her, to further his ability to help others.

"I think I can handle having visits from a fey cat," he agreed to that, smiling brightly. "Yes, Eilistraee. Choose the point for me, and let me go be of aid to others. I have seen enough here to believe that You do truly mean nothing but aid to those like me."

Despite that most of Her fellow deities would be stung by the continued doubting and measuring against a mortal's — a child at best! — ideas of right and wrong, Eilistraee was touched by being allowed that much belief from him.

"I have those calling to Me," She said as She reluctantly stood. "But I will see to it soon, Drizzt. Enjoy the night."

"I shall."





The small group of drow that traveled at present with Qilué Veladorn were some of her most adept, fiercest priestesses and fighters. An impression of being watched ghosted over their senses for several nights, but in a world that would rather see them dead, that was not so unusual.

What was, just after the sun had cleared the horizon and they were considering rest, was the appearance of a lone drow male.

Inside their sentry line.

That he was not close enough to harm a single person was the only saving grace in their eyes, as a full alert went through all of them.

"Peace," the lone male said, using the variant of that word they had made for themselves in their language that knew it not at all. "I seek the First Sister, to offer my arms and service for a time."

"What makes you think you have the right?"

"I claim no right," he said back to the one who had spoken, one of the priestesses. "But I have skills I am willing to offer… and showed by evading your sentries. I have a willingness to learn more, as I have only learned the elven language, and I am told there is one called 'Common' I should know.

"Most of all, I wish to learn the surface as it calls to me in my heart, as the Dark Maiden calls to you."

"Is he touched by madness?" one of the fighters asked then, before the First Sister rose from her pallet, towering over all of those with her, and came forward.

"No. He is touched by our Lady Herself… and another?" As she spoke, she approached the male with no fear.

He inclined his head slightly to her. "A deal was made to remove me from the Underdark, between She and Her Twin. In divining why neither of Them could truly perceive me, She invited Her Father to look into matters.

"So I no doubt bear at least some of His touch, given my armor, pack, and weapons were gifts from Him to perform a task with."

"Truth," the first cleric said, both grudgingly and with some trepidation. Even though the First Sister regularly dealt with Eilistraee, and some human goddess, none of them knew of one who had been touched by an elven god not their Lady.

"So I know," the First Sister said, smiling as she came close enough to offer her hands in greeting. "You have given my Lady joy; welcome, cousin."

"Drizzt Do'Urden." He gave her his hands, squeezing hers without fear.

"Qilué Veladorn. I look forward to seeing your dance, and my hunters will aid you in learning the surface as it is here in the Material Plane."

"I am glad to be able to give aid for a good cause," he assured her, before walking with her into the camp to meet those present in this band.





Elkantar cheered young Rylla on from where he was sprawled on the ground. The half-human was possibly the only one of the fighters that would, someday, match their new fighter in any way. He rolled to his butt, keeping eyes on this grand melee… and the one that had become the center of it all.

Drizzt Do'Urden was an enigma. He'd spent an unknown amount of time in the Dark Maiden's realm, personally handled a quest for Corellon, been shrouded by Lolth Herself at his birth, and been raised by a priestess of Vhaeraun.

None of those deities held the fighter's heart, and Elkantar had been surprised to learn his escape from the Underdark had come before he even turned thirty-one years of age, making his skill simply impossible. That he embraced these free-for-all skill contests, or the one-on-one spars with a true smile of joy never stopped pulling Elkantar's heart strings.

Every other fighter in their band had already lost their weapons or been tripped out of the designated area. Elkantar slowly recognized that Drizzt had worked to insure Rylla was the last fighter, handling the few fighters — like Elkantar himself — that had the experience and skill needed to put her out of it.

"Too much anger," he heard Drizzt say, when the double scimitars trapped the short sword, pulling it out of Rylla's grasp. She refocused her stance a moment, then took the step back, and saluted with her dagger across her chest to surrender.

"How can I not be angry?" she retorted.

"By remembering that holding your anger at the people behind you? Still gives them power."

Those calm, quiet words held empathy and knowing alike… and were just what Rylla needed to hear, to help move one more step forward on her own path of healing.

"Make me better," Rylla said, half a demand, half a plea.

"I will give you every bit of training my father gave me… though maybe with fewer unexpected naps."





Corellon considered the actions of His Daughter, and ultimately decided He was amused. He had, after all, opened the door with His own manipulation. Giving the Chosen a man who had the technique, if not the experience, to increase her people's ability to carve out a space for themselves even earlier could only be a good foil against the drow of both Lolth and Vhaeraun.

He tried to see ahead, to make out the possibilities more clearly… and found the mists of time past the point when Drizzt had originally been taken from the Underdark still opaque.

"At least none of Us should be bored for a time," He mused, going back to listen to His own followers for a time. His Lore Keeper was being a force of nature in his own way, keeping new ideas fresh alongside the ancient ways. It might prove interesting, when the drow struck out on his own, to see about a meeting for them…



Chapter 5: Family Reunion

Dinin had proven to have a good hand for how to keep their outpost incognito, on top of the politics of the moment, and out of strife with either Vhaeraunite faction. It helped that both of those groups wanted to end each other's influence, but were constrained by some strange religious tenet from just killing one another.

At least openly, as Dinin learned when a priest was murdered in the night market, supposedly by ruffians.

What he did not appreciate was having to be schooled by Jarlaxle's people on a third drow vector, a bunch of idiots that thought peace and living in harmony was the better way of life. He decided they could be ignored as they only came once a quarter to trade —

— until he heard that a band of six drow from the mercantile company faction had been sent running with minor injuries… and none of their weapons.

"I thought they weren't a threat," Dinin muttered.

Karolz shook his head, a much older fighter, one that had been recruited in this city long before. He hated leading, didn't have a head for it, but had accepted Dinin in that role.

"Those Dancers usually avoid a fight. But once every hand of years or so, some braggart decides to test either their Sword Mistress, or Purple Eyes. And this time, it's Purple Eyes with the caravan."

Purple Eyes. Dinin made a gesture against ill-luck, still remembering the one time he'd seen his younger brother in a true temper. He had no idea what had happened to Drizzt, only that whatever it had been had not broken the peace between Zaknafein and Vierna. Dinin knew that meant Drizzt had not been killed; he wasn't as stupid as some people thought he was, and Zak had been odd about the boy.

"Make sure none of ours pick a fight, or cross paths with the mercantiles, hmm? They're going to be more apt to rise to the bait for this."

That got a chuckle and nod… before Karolz watched Dinin secure his cloak over his armor and head out to see for himself.





Dinin found the Dancers easily enough, and decided they looked very tame. He didn't see anyone that really looked like they could give him trouble in a fight, but he also didn't see anyone with purple eyes. Maybe Karolz was wrong and one of the women wearing a sword was this so-called Sword Mistress.

He decided it had been a waste of time to come down and see, turned down a different path to begin his way back —

— and then he did see purple, a moment before he saw all of his brother. The small signs of maturity were settled in around the eyes and ears, while Drizzt stood straight with those curved swords of his still in their scabbards. Fine mithral chain glinted under the over tunic, and a metal face-guard held the mane of hair back, in the same fashion Zaknafein wore his.

"Hello, brother," Drizzt said, actually quirking a half-smile on his lips. "I never expected to see you this far from the city."

"Umm, you… Abyss, I never thought to see you again at all!" Dinin said. "I don't want a fight; I came to see if the rumor of Purple Eyes had anything to do with you, yes, but… I really am just evaluating the threats to my own situation."

Drizzt laughed. "You must be the new one watching Bregan D'Aerthe, then. I'd heard there were several new people since my last visit here." He must have read the confusion in Dinin's face, because he shrugged. "I got caught up in time magic. I've lived in the area above for a few decades now.

"Will you tell me of our sister, and the Weapon Master?"

Dinin nodded. "Trust me enough to come back to the warehouse we keep? Or should we take a meal at the Dimmed Lantern?"

"I won't go so far as to say trust," Drizzt said slyly, "but I prefer to be out of the public eye to discuss this, and I am well known at the Dimmed Lantern."

"Does everyone call you Purple Eyes?"

"Mostly," Drizzt agreed. He fell in step with Dinin, and Dinin noted his brother already knew the path. What had his experiences been that Drizzt actually seemed cognizant of power structures? Did he really want to know?

Ultimately, Dinin decided he did not.





Drizzt relaxed in the deep tub across from the one Laeral Silverhand was in. As the Silverhand that most paid attention to the treacheries in Skullport, Drizzt had come to her to talk about what he had learned this time. Their friendship went back almost to the beginning of his time above with Qilué, as the sisters were very close.

"So my elder brother manages the in-theory Lolthite faction over there. Honestly, the mercenary company he belongs to worships chaos, money, and power, I believe, from what I have seen of them in the past. Through him, I know that our House in Menzoberranzan fell within the last few years.

"But, through his own sources, he knows that my father and sister have established themselves in a a place called Rilauven."

"As best I can remember, that is a minor city somewhere under the Neverwinter," Laeral offered, lounging as nonchalantly as her friend. Dual tubs were almost as good as a large bathing pool.

"I planned to see what the Marauders could tell me of it," Drizzt said, his voice having that note of seeking adventure.

"Planning to go see for yourself? I remind you that your nature is antithetical in all ways to what you would find."

Drizzt chuckled. "I can charm a lizard or a bat to carry a note inside, if I choose to go that way. And your amulet very nicely masks me, when I choose to wear it."

Laeral looked over. "You miss your father, even your sister, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Then I will just say, 'be careful', and I will definitely reach out and knock on your skull in half a year, to be sure you are breathing. If not, the Marauders will be hired to find your body so Qi can bring you back to us."

He shook his head at her, but he had no intention of dying. He just needed to know if his sister was as aware as he was, of the threads of destiny they had unknowingly wrapped themselves in.





Vierna was not unaccustomed to bats bringing her messages. What she was unaccustomed to, was not feeling the touch of her Lord's spellwork on them, instead brushing something unknown when she tried to determine who the sender had been. She also did not see any message to take from it. When she focused fully on it, the bat fluttered just out of reach and roosted.

"If you or father would come, I am awaiting outside the gate your people use to go Above for trade."

The bat, having spoken with her brother's voice, did a small shake of itself and fluttered back out of Vierna's very surprised presence.

Needing to have time to wrap her head around that, the ability to blank her emotions, she sent her messenger spider to her father. The pirate spiders she had brought with her were thriving, especially as they killed any other spiders that dared cross the wards, protecting them from Lolthite spies.

Several minutes later, Zak strode in, an eyebrow raised. "Sometimes I worry your spiders fetching me could be omens, daughter."

She laughed, a little bit more brittle than she meant to. "Something odd, but not… bad? Maybe?

"A bat came and delivered a spoken message in Drizzt's voice, saying he was outside the trade gate to the Surface, asking if one of us would come meet with him. The magic on the bat was unlike any I have felt, and the accent was correct."

Zak frowned, then considered a long moment. "Are you still unable — yes, you are. Of course you already tried to reach him that way." He hitched a shoulder. "I suppose I am taking a walk. Put the undead into defensive positions, just in case."

"Of course, Father. If it is… and he will come… please bring him in. I can explain it as an intelligence seeking."

That got a laugh, but Zak nodded. "If that boy knows anything of use, I will be shocked."





Zak moved out of the gate uncontested, as he was known to sometimes forage for his daughter's wild needs. In the years since arriving here, they had made a solid reputation as fair but powerful. The only true trouble they'd had was from Lolthites seeking to undo the Masked Traitor's prominence, but Vierna remained high in the favor of her Lord.

Once he cleared the perimeter of the city's awareness, he knew he was not alone, and had to look sharply… before his son melted out of a shadow.

"Hello, Father," Drizzt called, breaking into a genuine smile. Even as jaded as Zak was, everything matched… except the age. This man was too mature to his eyes, and he remained poised, ready to engage the trap so his daughter stayed safe.

"Hmm, not so certain of that."

Drizzt threw his head back and laughed, before spreading his hands wide from his body. "Blame your daughter, then, as she put me in the hands of a goddess and set me on a strange path that had time magic in it."

Zak let an eyebrow rise at those words.

"Would a fetch know you nearly killed me rather than let me go become a drow in all truth? Or that you broke my jaw to keep me from exposing both of us to the Matron? Or that I almost caused your death the very night Vierna became Matron?"

"It might… but I think I might believe you." Zak beckoned. "Your sister wishes to see you as well, peacefully. The city is not a closed one, and if you're still so strange, she'll shove it off as getting what you know of other places."

"Oh, I am strange, even to those that agree with my views on life," Drizzt said, still smiling so openly, and Zak reached out as he came close, gripping his shoulders.

"I am glad you stayed strange, and alive!"

Drizzt leaned in, resting his forehead on his father's. "Vierna saved me by doing as she did, and now I wish to repay that, with a warning and words of my life."

"Then let us go into the city, my son, and hear what you have to say."





Vierna hugged her little brother fiercely, taking in all the changes as Zak had done. He was dressed sensibly in a piwafwi of fair construction, had adamantine blades in plain scabbards, and everything had the right feel of the Underdark.

"You cannot possibly have been in the Underdark since I set you in safety!" she pointed out.

"No, but we keep such things for movement below the faerzress," Drizzt said. "As I do aid sometimes, I had everything I needed in one of our caches.

"When Dinin told me where you two had gone, I retrieved them for my journey. One that is formerly of House Vaer here aided me in swift travel," he added.

"Dinin's in Skullport, last I knew," Zak said.

"He is, and thriving," Drizzt agreed. "We have an understanding, as I have no wish to be involved heavily in drow things."

"You mentioned a warning," Zak prodded, once they were all comfortable.

Drizzt sobered up and looked at Vierna. "Do you have any idea how tangled in divine events we now are, sister? The choice you made, to save me, prodded the Twins toward aid for one another, when He was attacked. I have been given quests by Her and by others of the pantheon in my time-tossed decades."

She slowly frowned, but his words rang true against some of the dreams that had come since she settled here.

"I can see the shape of that now that you say it," she admitted. "Your thoughts?"

"Something lies ahead. Neither of my patron deities know what, but more and more, I am drawn to larger threats, sharpening all of my skills and the magic I touch as a kind of divine-touched fighter."

Vierna had to rake her eyes over him at that claim, but… she did not know all things of the surface yet.

"Both of my children using divine magic now. There's a strangeness," Zak said in a slow drawl.

That made them all laugh.

"I suppose, little brother, I am going to ask you to stay long enough to get sending stones for you and father to carry, and work out a timing for us to keep in touch," Vierna said. "So we can at least warn one another of things that come to pass."

"I am already looking forward to the spars," Drizzt said, agreeing easily. "Just tell me how to not make trouble here, and I will be a good guest.

"I've kept an open mind toward your god, even if I question some of His idiot followers' ways."

"Well, some of them are idiots, but I think that is true of all religions," Vierna agreed, pleased.





Vhaeraun smiled in His own realm. Allies, when the coming storm arrived, were not to be dismissed out of hand. And, if the siblings forged a bond across alignment, then perhaps…

… well, He knew He was still deeply fond of His own Twin. Perhaps in time, He might yet convince Her to see His way of thinking.

He would keep His defenses up, and all of His craft tuned to the danger ahead for all of the gods.

Couple of quick HR recs

Mar. 10th, 2026 12:51 pm
mific: (Ilya)
[personal profile] mific
I'm so impressed by friends who post long rec lists - I can barely keep up with reading a few WIPs and some random other recs here and there!

Partly as I'm trying to finish editing a podfic for the Podfic Big Bang (not HR, sorry, I'm still daunted by Ilya's accent but I'll get there eventually), and am also writing a HR AU and outlining another largely epistolary HR fic. And doing some art. Agh!

Anyway, before I forget - this one is great! Partly a social media fic and with a great premise, clever and funny - some explicit texts between Ilya and "Jane" go viral as the internet can't believe how bad at sexting Jane is. I'll Be Jane by gurlsrool.

Also this HR vid is great! Fine Not Fine

Book retrieval

Mar. 10th, 2026 12:01 am
beccaelizabeth: my Watcher tattoo in blue, plus Be in red Buffy style font (Default)
[personal profile] beccaelizabeth
From a certain point of view, since my last entry, I have triumphed over the forces of gravity and geometry and slightly wonky shelving.

From another point of view I am a muppet who knocked a book down behind the book case and, after several not great ideas did not pan out, finally had to empty the shelves and try and lift the whole case out.
Which did not actually work.
So I have retrieved the book by tipping it as far out and forwards as it would deign to go and using the grabby stick.

I think the cover will even go flat again once I leave it under a bunch of other books for a while, which by this point is a best case scenario.
... it's fiiiiine, just believe it is a perfectly ordinary book that you wouldn't personally miss if it did that...

After a quick google, as it turns out, I could get a brand new copy right now for a maximum of £11
which next time I may try to search Before all the shenanigans.

... I think possibly I did the thing where I can see the next step to try and lose sight of if I personally at quarter to midnight need to try it.

*sigh*

Is okay, is all done now, bar the refilling...

Sit and watch my TV set

Mar. 9th, 2026 08:00 pm
sovay: (Silver: against blue)
[personal profile] sovay
I have been made the unexpected recipient of an unbirthday scarf. It is patterned as if with fossil leaves and irresistibly striped.

owlmoose: (ffx - shiva)
[personal profile] owlmoose

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: I wanted to love this game, but the most I could muster up was an appreciation for its artistry, world-building, and ambition. Too much of the story was left clouded, hidden behind impossible bosses, and character motivations kept opaque to preserve surprises for the audience. Massive spoilers behind the cut. )

On top of that, T and I both found the combat difficult in an unsatisfying way, and having to learn not just entirely different skill trees but power-up mechanisms for every character felt unnecessary. Eventually we turned the difficulty level down, which helped, but in the end it felt like we were just slogging through the final battles to get to the ending and be done with it. Disappointing.

Plur1bus: Like many folks, I was eagerly anticipating this one, based on my love for Rhea Seehorn in Better Call Saul, and it lived up to that expectation -- although in other ways I wasn't sure what to expect, and it certainly kept me guessing throughout. It's hard to say much without spoilers, so I'll limit my thoughts here to being just generally impressed by it, and blown away by Seehorn's performance, and also by Karolina Wydra, who played Zosia, a tough role on several levels. Excited to see where it goes!

The 2026 Winter Olympics: Despite all the problems, I do still love the Olympics -- getting to watch and learn about different sports, witness joy and heartbreak and feats of incredible athleticism, following developing storylines and experience the unexpected. I dipped in and out of a lot of events, but I ended up spending the most time on curling. T is a fan -- it's perhaps the only Olympic sport that he'll actively sit down and watch with me -- and because the athletes are all miked, you can hear them discussing strategy with each other, which is really interesting. I also caught some figure skating; in particular, the men's and women's free programs were fascinating case studies in the folly of expectations, and I genuinely loved watching the two gold medal winners put in the performances of their lives.

My day

Mar. 9th, 2026 10:43 pm
[personal profile] cosmolinguist

I had a lot to do today: a kinda tricky day at work, walking Teddy, making dinner, visiting a friend, and I wanted to go to the gym.

And I did all of it! And some chores like moving heavy things around, finalizing the grocery delivery that'll come tomorrow, and doing laundry.

Feels good.

Monday Media - March 9 Edition

Mar. 9th, 2026 05:19 pm
lebateleur: A picture of the herb sweet woodruff (Default)
[personal profile] lebateleur
Games: Pretty much the typical go-tos.

Music: We have seen some great shows. The first was Peaches Cut because Peaches. ) Everything about it: the costumes, the choreography, the energy, was so good. Absolutely phenomenal show. A++ please don't make us wait another three years before you come back again.

The following day we saw Timecop1983 with Bad Dreamers and Brent Michael Woods opening. Woods is very much of the "Richard Marx with an acoustic guitar" mode of mid-80s nostalgia pastiche, which is not my thing per se, but he is very talented at it and thus fun to watch live. Bad Dreamers joined the tour at the last minute when the scheduled opening act was unable to get US visas; I'd been aware of him through his vocals on a bunch of Timecop tracks, and he was just as good live. (And I particularly appreciated his insistence that the venue turn the stage lights off so that he could see the audience despite it's meaning that the audience could not see him.

Timecop1983 was fabulous, as expected. Just a really energetic show that sounded as good or better than the albums live. He was joined by Josh Dally on guitar and vocals as well as a killer live drummer, which really added to the energy (the drummer was clearly having the time of his life), and Dally and Timecop had great onstage chemistry, with Dally providing the garrulous crowd engagement and running commentary, and Timecop the well-timed laconic one-liners. (Dally also graciously handled the very drunk woman in the crowd who kept loudly insisting he go for drinks with her after the show despite the conspicuous wedding band on his hand.)

They played a good selection from their back catalogue as well as some new tracks we weren't familiar with, as well as a few numbers with one or both of Bad Dreamers and Woods on the stage with them. This too was an excellent show and I will certainly see any or all of these acts if they're ever in town again.

Podcasts/Articles: I listened to The Women's Podcast episode The Digital War on Women and How To Fight Back, which was unsurprisingly as horrifying as the title suggests. The panel members were (rightly) so energized about how vile this stuff is that they were unfortunately often not as clear about explaining to the audience what it was they were discussing as one would have wished but they made up for it by explicitly pointing out that the primary solution to all this shit and enshitification is to stop. Just stop. Get off these platforms and go do something else with your time. (That said, how you convince anyone under 15 to do so...)

For long form articles, I read:
Roleplaying: Nothing. The GC is DMing some one shots, but since they're on the days that I am step dancing and I can't be in two places at once, dancing it is 🩰

Television: When the TV's on, pretty much all AEW, all the time. The pendulum is very much swinging back toward Restaurant Quality 😁 these days. Of course, the usual suspects (Hangman, Mox, Young Bucks) are still there with predictable plotlines, but everything going on around them has been great. FTR and Stokely steal the show for every promo and match they're in. You wouldn't necessarily think Brody King vs. Swerve would make sense but it does, and Prince Nana is clearly having the time of his life. The Brawling Birds won me over with the throwback name alone, but they are more than living up to its promise. Jet Speed and Speedball are great. Kyle Fletcher is great. The IInspiration should annoy the living bejeezus out of me but they were hysterical and I wish they'd got five times the screen/ring time, TK please bring them back. Don Callas is as oily and entertaining as ever. The Thunder Rosa vs. Thekla match was fire.

Speaking of wrestling, we also finished out Dimension 20: Titan Takedown group watch, which had a very satisfying (if a bit railroaded, probably due to time constraints) conclusion. Humor, action, lore and iterating in-jokes, and some really affecting emotional character arcs: this is what I want from wrestling and from a D&D game, and this D:20 season had them all in spades. I enjoyed the nostalgia of (most of) The New Day and Bailey, and while I don't watch WWE anymore, it absolutely sold me on Chelsea Green and I hope she makes it over to AEW some day soon.

Video Games: The gaming computer is acting up *sigh* so nothing these past few weeks. We did get Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2, which seems to have inspired divergent takes among the people who've played it, so we'll see.

これで以上です。

(no subject)

Mar. 9th, 2026 09:24 pm
beccaelizabeth: my Watcher tattoo in blue, plus Be in red Buffy style font (Default)
[personal profile] beccaelizabeth
Only one load of laundry today, but I also refilled the dishwasher chemistry, ran it with the cleaner bottle, and the loaded it ready to wash when it gets full. Also did regular Cleaner Day.

And made myself feel spinny bad trying to get stuff from the cupboard under the sink. I remember why I gave up on the low cupboards but I keep thinking I'll Just Be A Minute and then I have to have a sit down in the middle of whatever task required Sink Things.

It is a mystery under there. I don't know the half of what is stashed. I mean today I found half a dozen empty plastic bags from laundry tabs and I have no idea when I last was buying that sort.

Still, threw out several things and sorted out others, so, progress was made.



Other than that I didn't read listen watch stuff today. Listen seemed Loud and reading seemed like I wanted to read A Book But Not That One. And I didn't want to write the one I wanted either. So that isn't entirely helpful. But I do have Several book so I shall find A Book eventually.

My laundry is down to only filling the smaller basket, which is grand, but is still filling what I would until recently have considered The Laundry. There's at least two more loads in there, possibly three. This was Maximum Laundry.

I think it's because of all the drill and screw noises lately. It's nice that they've fixed stuff but it's not nice that this is week four of making a bunch of random interval noises about it. Still much quieter than the first two weeks but. I miss quiet quiet.

Quiet quiet theoretically gets more done.


But logically they have to complete the work eventually so.


Not a fascinating day really.

I shall go stare at bookshelves again.
china_shop: Tight close-up of Fu You smiling. (Guardian - Fu You smiling)
[personal profile] china_shop posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
Poll #34345 Sang Zan's cave, naming the Hallows, and Zhu Jiu's revenue stream
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 10


Who else has found their way into Sang Zan's pillar cave in the last hundred years (assuming another entrance)?

View Answers

Da Qing (he doesn't remember)
5 (50.0%)

a family of hibernating bears (they had very strange dreams)
7 (70.0%)

Wu Xie, Zhang Qiling, and Pang Zi
6 (60.0%)

Jill Pole, Eustace Scrubb, and Puddleglum
2 (20.0%)

Gollum
4 (40.0%)

other
1 (10.0%)

When Ma Gui and Fu You created the Hallows, why did they call them "sacred"/"the Hallows"?

View Answers

hubris
2 (20.0%)

psyops
2 (20.0%)

the inventions turned out a whole lot more powerful than expected, and they named them as a warning
7 (70.0%)

the Hallows announced how they wanted to be addressed, singularly and collectively
4 (40.0%)

other
0 (0.0%)

How does Zhu Jiu pay off the fight club manager/afford his visits to the hair stylist?

View Answers

Dixing currency/gold
4 (40.0%)

busking
0 (0.0%)

part-time job in the service industry (he’s always late, but no one dares dock his pay)
1 (10.0%)

he mugs ordinary people
5 (50.0%)

he mugs muggers (not on principle; it just cuts out the middle man)
6 (60.0%)

he has a Givealittle and/or Patreon
1 (10.0%)

other (please specify in comments)
1 (10.0%)

Guardian the drama is

View Answers

glorious, oh my heart!
6 (60.0%)

the gift that keeps on giving
8 (80.0%)

shut up, it’s perfect!
6 (60.0%)

the fandom is also made of sparkles *blows kisses to everyone*
6 (60.0%)

LOLLIPOPS FOR ALL!!
6 (60.0%)

Spring and gardening

Mar. 9th, 2026 02:11 pm
labelleizzy: (Gaia)
[personal profile] labelleizzy
Out my front window I can see:

* White flowers from the potato vine in the backyard
* Dark pink of the flowering crabapple
* Fresh pale green growth on the podocarpus
* Several fruit in different stages of ripening on the limequat tree
* Fresh growth and some flowers on the redcurrants bushes
* Fresh growth on the rosebush and fig tree
* Fresh growth on the dwarf pomegranate that we've decided is coming out this year. 😢

Of the plants that we're going to remove I'm saddest about the pomegranate.
We're also going to take out two Chinese Fringe bushes because they're crowding the citrus trees, and two shrubs at the end of the patio that aren't thriving at all.

My plan is to cut down the foliage and ask Sergio to take out the stumps, and maybe dig them out a little bit so we could try and plant something else in their spots.

Shaving for Grownups

Mar. 9th, 2026 04:49 pm
stevenpiziks: (Default)
[personal profile] stevenpiziks
You wouldn't know it by looking at my bare head, but I'm a hairy guy. My facial hair is especially heavy. I can grow a scruff beard in one day, and a full beard in three. (I currently wear a scruff beard.) I have to shave daily. I've learned electric razors don't do the job well. They're either painful or they do a poor job. If I want decent results, I have to use a regular razor.

When I was growing up, we didn't have much money, and a teenager who needed to shave every day was an unexpected expense. My mother used disposable razors, the cheapest the store had, to shave her legs, and my parents told me to use one of those. "Use it until it gets too blunt," my dad said. "Then get a new one. But try to use each one as long as you can. Those refillable razors are a little better, and they give you the handle and the first blade cheap, but they get you on the refills. We can't afford them." (My dad used a 20-year-old electric razor, himself.)

This ended up being the central shaving philosophy of my life. I always bought the cheap razors, and I used each one until it felt like I was scraping stubble off with sandpaper. Shaving was a chore, uncomfortable at best, painful at worst.

And then recently, after a bout with a dull razor that I should have tossed days ago, I said, "What the hell am I doing? I'm a reasonably well-off adult. I'm not scrouging or scavenging. I don't run out of money before the end of the month. Why am I holding onto this particular penny-pinching device? I have to shave EVERY FREAKING DAY, and it shouldn't be uncomfortable."

I decided to sign up with a razor subscription service. You sign up, pay a monthly fee, and they mail you a new set of razor refills every month, both so you can always have a sharp razor and to remind you to change the refill cartridge and not stretch it out until your neck bleeds.

Subscriptions, by the way, are something else I avoid out of reflex. For most of my life, I regularly had little or no money in my checking account on a regular basis, and an automatic subscription to anything had a good chance of bouncing now and then, incurring charges. I couldn't even auto-pay my electric bill because of this. Subscriptions were a no-go.

So I had to do some fast talking with my psyche as I filled out the subscription form, and I actually held my breath as I clicked SUBMIT.

The first set of razors showed up in the mail. It was a kit with a handle, two sets of refills, a travel cover (nice, that), and a can of shaving gel. The next day, I tried it.

Oh, did I love it!

The good razors glided over my face so well, it didn't even feel like I was shaving. No scraping. No burns. I used it on my head with equal success. It was a delight!

And now I HAVE to toss the cartridge every week, or the refills will pile up. My razor will always be new and sharp. Where has this been all my life?

I like being a grownup.

Non-rain delay

Mar. 9th, 2026 01:46 pm
offcntr: (sun bears)
[personal profile] offcntr
I had a day all planned Saturday--Farmer's Market in the morning, some studio work, tackle taxes. At 2:30 pm, I needed to stop and head down to Club Mud to help set up our studio sale.

And then it turned sunny.

And actually, gorgeous. By the time I got back from Farmer's Market, it was sunny and 60°. An opportunity we couldn't pass up.

So indoor activities were cancelled in favor of pulling all the pots out of the shed, setting up trestle tables in the carport, and sorting, counting, and packing the van for Saturday Market. Denise recorded inventory while I organized stock, and, with a short break for lunch, we had the entire van packed and ready for Market, with four weeks to go.

(no subject)

Mar. 9th, 2026 03:49 pm
flemmings: (Default)
[personal profile] flemmings
Finished Strange Houses and then went to the internet to find out what I just read. Internet was mostly reddit, whose black-out spoiler redactions do not appear when highlighted. But a lot of people had the same suspicions as I about the architect jumping at once to 'murderous child killer cult' while other people noted that that's just the way Japanese horror rolls. Which, fair enough. And also noted that what's important is once again the things not said, sigh. But the general impression was that everyone but the narrator and the architect are lying and what's actually happening is a conspiracy, yes, but not the one we think. Although people did seem to think the weird cult thing was true, which to me is, ok, if you say so. Do not think I'll be reading more of his work.

I know better than to go for a blood draw on a Monday especially a Monday when I've just lost an hour of sleep, but it's going to rain all week and then snow. So out I went at 10 new time and came in to a posted 45 minute wait. But I waited, and then waited some more when they called my name because they said the room available was too narrow for me. Told them I could walk without the rollator but they were all No no just wait. And when they called me again I went without my walker just to show them. But the nurse got my vein first try,  no having to use the other arm as in December, which is either her being more skilled than the other or my veins being pumped up from my water drinking. Whichever, I am grateful.

Could have done without the two large guys who barged into the elevator before I could get off it as I was leaving. Men, said Jessica. And am now headachy and am going out to dinner with bro and s-i-l tonight, but again, nobody made me get my draw this morning.

Freezing in the office

Mar. 9th, 2026 07:49 pm
queen_ypolita: Woman in a Mucha painting (Mucha by auctrix_icons)
[personal profile] queen_ypolita
Last week, there was an announcement that the office heating and cooling system was being temperamental, that it needed a new part, and the new part was expected to arrive by Thursday this week. The way it was phrased, it sounded like the problem was excess warmth, not cold.

Coming in this morning, there was this wave of chill air the moment you opened a door into our office space. I was wearing a relatively warm jumper as an extra layer in the morning in order to be warm on the way, not intending to wear it in the office at all, but in the end it stayed on well into the afternoon. The heating is off or on a lower setting at the weekend, and had apparently failed to come on at all this morning. Monday mornings are often cooler anyway until the heating gets properly underway, but this was really colder than usual.

So it sounds like arctic layers are not needed for tomorrow, but it's probably best to be ready for all scenarios: that it's cold, that it's OK, or that it's warm.

Hyperlocal news

Mar. 9th, 2026 02:09 pm
magenta: (Default)
[personal profile] magenta

 

Franklin Avenue will be closed starting March 16. The way I know is that there is a sign on Franklin just west of Park, where a lot of people turn to go to 35W. Otherwise I would not know. I live just north of Franklin and I have no idea how I will go anywhere after that, whether any of the cross streets will be open, for example. There is a Hennepin County website but it says very little that is helpful, just that Nicollet and First Ave will remain open. The Metro Transit website shows the #2 bus, one of the major east-west routes, no longer runs between Lyndale and Chicago as of March 15th. No idea where people who live between the stops listed will use the bus. Also not clear what will happen to other routes that go on Franklin for a short distance, the #9 and #14. Will 3rd Ave be open, so that the #11 bus will continue to run? There is nothing on the Park Nicolet Blasidell Clinic website on what will happen to clinic access when Franklin is closed - the only way to get there is turn from Franklin on to Blasidell, which is one way going south.


 

As I understand it, when done, Franklin will be one lane in each direction, plus a turn lane. Right now, both lanes are bumper to bumper for several blocks during rush hour to and from the freeway. Going to one lane in each direction will make that worse. The project is going to create more traffic by the 35W/94 entrance.


There is little or no information for people in the area, And having no bus service for more than a mile and a half, for a year and a half,  is reprehensible,


I yes, I know this was in the planning stages. I took a survey and said I thought it was a bad idea. But Hennepin does not seem to care about people in this neighborhood.

Bundle of Holding: Age of Ambition

Mar. 9th, 2026 02:00 pm
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


The corebook and 19 supplements for Tab Creation's tabletop fantasy roleplaying game Age of Ambition.

Bundle of Holding: Age of Ambition

TV Stuff at High Prices

Mar. 9th, 2026 12:46 pm
yourlibrarian: DeanDollarBill-j2_babygirl86 (SPN-DeanDollarBill-j2_babygirl86)
[personal profile] yourlibrarian
1) I am starting plans for a fall foliage road trip in October through Michigan. Anyone have any recommendations?

2) Following up on what I wrote about in my last post, I watched several episodes of Paradise S2. I'm not sure why I'm still watching this. Spoilers )

3) By contrast, I saw the Muppet Show (special? Apparently a one-off?) and found it a delight. Disney has definitely struggled in finding a way to utilize the Muppets and two shows have now failed. I'm glad they tried to do something different with them, and I rather liked the show where they were trying to make a more realistic "behind the scenes" Muppet show.

But maybe these days a return to the past would be particularly welcome (and surely there's still a lot of appeal for kids). I've got to imagine they've got a potential guest list a mile long. My partner and I kept thinking that some of the puppeteers must have been filled with glee at being able to recreate this show.

It did make me laugh when Sabrina Carpenter said she'd watched the show, her parents had watched the show, and her grandparents had watched the show. We'd be rather young to be her grandparents but, yeah, 50th anniversary after all.

4) I found the first of my top 3 shows of the year last month when we watched How to Get to Heaven from Belfast. I'd quite enjoyed Derry Girls, so was interested in trying this. I found it had a lot of the fun from Derry with an added mystery at the center. Read more... )

5) When in his latest charity auction batch Stephen Colbert listed a Lord of the Rings sword that had been on the stage wall, we couldn't believe he'd be selling such a thing at any price. Turns out it's a replica of the actual sword used in the film, which he already has (and he joked he would be buried with). Even so, I figured it would go for a lot, and it's going to be well over $25,000. His neckties are going for over $1000.

Poll #34344 Kudos Footer-562
This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 7

Want to leave a Kudos?

View Answers

Kudos!
7 (100.0%)



(no subject)

Mar. 9th, 2026 01:02 pm
aurumcalendula: gold, blue, orange, and purple shapes on a black background (Default)
[personal profile] aurumcalendula
I'm a bit sad VidUKon no longer doing DVDs/USBs of premieres (I totally get their decision), but it did get me thinking about trying to make DVDs (or possible Blu-Rays) of my vids so I have them on physical media.

Any recs for software for Windows? (something that creates basic menus would be nice)
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

How You Get the Girl

How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly is $2.99! This is book three in the Nashville Love series! Many readers of the Bitchery have enjoyed Kelly’s queer contemporaries and it was recommended in a recent Rec League on women’s leagues and national teams.

Chemistry sizzles in this workplace rom-com set in the world of high school basketball from the author of  Love & Other Disasters , named a “must-read” by  USA Today , PopSugar, SheReads, and Harper Bazaar.

When smart-mouthed Vanessa Lerner joins the high school basketball team Julie Parker coaches, Julie’s ready for the challenge. What she’s not ready for is Vanessa’s new foster parent, Elle Cochrane—former University of Tennessee basketball star. While star-struck at first, soon Julie persuades Elle to step into the unfilled position of assistant coach for the year.

Even though Elle has stayed out of the basketball world since an injury ended her short-lived WNBA career, the gig might be a way to become closer to Vanessa—and to spend more time with Julie, who makes Elle laugh. As the coaches grow closer, Elle has a hard time understanding how Julie is single. When Julie reveals her lifelong insecurity about dating and how she wishes it was more like sports—being able to practice first—it sparks an intriguing idea. While Elle still doubts her abilities as a basketball coach, helping Julie figure out dating is definitely something she can do. But as the basketball season progresses, and lines grow increasingly blurred, Julie and Elle must decide to join the game—or retreat to the sidelines.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Too Hot to Handle

Too Hot to Handle by Tessa Bailey is $1.99! This is book one in the Romancing the Clarksons series. While I don’t have strong feelings about illustrated covers (hey, whatever helps sell romance to new readers!), I kind of hate this one.

The first book in a brand new contemporary romance series from New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey!

When Rita Clarkson’s Suburban takes its last breath on a New Mexico roadside, rescue roars up on a Harley in the form of smooth-talking honkey tonk owner, Jasper Ellis, a man as mysterious as he is charming. Rita’s cross-country journey to New York City–with her three estranged siblings in tow–is only beginning, but now that Jasper has found Rita, his plans do not include her leaving.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

To Seduce a Sinner

To Seduce a Sinner by Elizabeth Hoyt is $1.99! This is book two in the Legend of the Four Soldiers series. It features a marriage of convenience and the heroine has always had a major crush on the hero.

Jasper Renshaw, Viscount Vale, has a problem: he needs to marry and produce an heir to the title. All Jasper wants is to find a lady who will put up with him long enough to wed so he can retreat to his life of debauchery—a life that keeps the haunting memories of his past at bay. Knowing that Jasper is under pressure to marry, Melisande Fleming grasps her fate with both hands and volunteers to wed him. Although Jasper is initially only interested in producing an heir, he soon becomes entranced by his wife—prim and proper by day, wanton by night—and vows to learn her secrets.

Melisande, however, is determined to keep her husband at a distance. She has loved and lost before, and will do anything to keep him from learning her terrible weakness: She’s secretly been in love with him for years. But to her chagrin, her husband pursues her, wooing her as if she were a paramour, not his lady wife. As Melisande and Jasper embark on a passionate game of cat and mouse, secrets from the past begin to resurface … threatening to tear them asunder.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Killing Moon

The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin is $1.99! This is an earlier title of Jemisin’s and the first book in the Dreamblood series. How do you think it compares to the rest of her titles?

The city burned beneath the Dreaming Moon.

In the ancient city-state of Gujaareh, peace is the only law. Upon its rooftops and amongst the shadows of its cobbled streets wait the Gatherers – the keepers of this peace. Priests of the dream-goddess, their duty is to harvest the magic of the sleeping mind and use it to heal, soothe . . . and kill those judged corrupt.

But when a conspiracy blooms within Gujaareh’s great temple, Ehiru – the most famous of the city’s Gatherers – must question everything he knows. Someone, or something, is murdering dreamers in the goddess’ name, stalking its prey both in Gujaareh’s alleys and the realm of dreams. Ehiru must now protect the woman he was sent to kill – or watch the city be devoured by war and forbidden magic.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Let's Go Karaoke Live Action

Mar. 9th, 2026 04:09 pm
vriddy: Hawks looking back cheekily holding a feather (cheeky hawks)
[personal profile] vriddy
For my Karaoke Iko people out there, the Let's Go Karaoke movie live-action is available on the Japanese Film Festival website until June 3rd (JST)! Hopefully for your region, too.

If you're not familiar, I can also warmly recommend the 5 episode anime that's on Crunchyroll, if you have access.

I haven't read the manga or its sequel yet but I'm sure they're great fun too ;)



It's been super interesting to watch the movie after the anime and see the tweaks in the adaptation!! I think it all worked really well and I enjoyed it a lot. If you've also watched both (or any!!!!) you should talk to me actually :D

Free art!

Mar. 9th, 2026 04:39 pm
naye: tiny raindeer in a hat making happy arms and grinning (chopper - yay)
[personal profile] naye
Recently I've been on a free art kick, browsing images of paintings, sketches, sculptures, photos, needlework and so many other types of artworks that various institutions have digitalized. Here are two such fantastic resources.

The Met Collection
Travel around the world and across 5,000 years of history through 490,000+ works of art.

This is where I found this absolutely fantastic 19th century sketchbook. The artist is unidentified - the only information available is that they must have been Japanese (even though the sketchbook was marked "Chinese Drawings"). I loved their art so much I have turned two of their pieces into embroideries! (But that's a different post.)

And then I learned about the Integrated Collections Database of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan, (ColBase) where you can find treasures like THIS!!


See it here on ColBase.

ColBase is a database containing the collections of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan. It encompasses the four National Museums in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, and Kyushu, the two National Research Institutes for Cultural Properties in Tokyo and Nara, and the Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan.

About ColBase & (very generous!) Terms of Use.

I have spent so much time doing random browsing, and I've found so much lovely art - and several amazing pieces I kind of want to call "ye olde shitposting" for lack of a better term for something that is clearly a little weird and maybe meant to provoke a reaction in the viewer?

Or what else would you call He's Made Up of Many People, which. Yes. That is indeed what's going on here.

But that kind of stuff is in the minority! It's all art that is out of copyright, but some of it still feels very modern, like this painting of Mount Hiei from the 1920s.

Anyway, I can definitely recommend art scrolling as an option to doom scrolling!

March 2026 Magpie Monday

Mar. 9th, 2026 11:15 am
dialecticdreamer: My work (Default)
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer
Today’s a day for mea culpa and apologies, so that’ll be the theme for this month’s Magpie Monday, too. It seems only fitting.
Read more... )
larryhammer: a woman wearing a chain mail hoodie, label: "chain mail is sexy" (chain mail is sexy)
[personal profile] larryhammer
For Poetry Monday:

She Says, Being Forbidden:, Leonora Speyer

And was there not a king somewhere who said:
“Back, waves! I do command you!” I forget
His name, beloved, or his race, and yet
I know the story and am comforted.
The tides will rise, are rising—see, they spread
About your robes, your ermine will be wet,
Your velvet shoes, your dear dear feet! Ah let
Me warn you, sir, the waves will reach your head!

My king, my kingly love, how shall we stay
The bold broad lifting of this lovely sea?
What is the master word that we must say
To bring these roaring waters to the knee?
The other king went scampering away!
Will you so do? Or will you drown with me?


Hat-tip to [personal profile] conuly. Ah, Cnut, we hardly recall ye. This is from Speyer’s 1926 collection Fiddler’s Farewell, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

---L.

Subject quote from Respect, Aretha Franklin.

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