wolkendunst

I finally got some Minute Maid frozen orange juice concentrate and Orange Julius take 2 is way better than the watery version I made last month. Woo!

Tomorrow, I have to get up early and bake Irish soda bread to take to the family - we are going out for St. Patrick's Day dinner (and also the NINTH[!!!!!] anniversary of my father's death - it is his recipe I use; I miss him a lot).

TV quick takes:

Shrinking: ( spoilers ) Anyway, the first few episodes of this show are a little tough to take but it has morphed into a funny, endearing, poignant hangout comedy and I recommend it! Harrison Ford is SO GOOD in it too.

The Pitt: ( spoilers )

I am very interested to see where the rest of this season is going.

*

Current Mood: awake
Current Music: Korea vs DR in the WBC

scaramouche

I rewatched Mujhse Doste Karoge recently and this time when I hit the Medley in the final act I felt more curious about the original songs that were being referenced. I recognize the Bobby songs, Kuch Kuch and DDLJ of course, but not much else, and thought I could give it a shot? I thought I could find a list online but if it exists, it'll take more a deep dive than I can bothered with, so I searched for the originals based on the medley's lyrics. There are a lot of songs! And I'm recording them here just in case.

The medley:

Watch on YouTube

The original songs:

Mere Dil Mein Aaj Kya Hai // Daag (1973) // youtube
Na Mangu Sona Chandi // Bobby (1973) // youtube
Jhoot Bole Kauva Kate // Bobby (1973) // youtube
Le Jayenge Le Jayenge // Chor Machaye Shor (1974) // youtube
Yeh Galiyan Yeh Chaubara // Prem Rog (1982) // youtube
Bachna Aye Hasseno Yeh Mein Aa Gaya // Hum Kisise Kum Naheen (1977) // youtube
Aap Yahan Aaye Kis Liye // Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971) // youtube
Main Nikla Gaddi Leke // Gadar (2001) // youtube
Chup Chup Khade Ho // Bari Behen (1949) // youtube
Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat // Aah (1953) // youtube
Aajkal Tere Mere Pyar Ke Charche // Brahmachari (1968) // youtube
Pardesiya Yeh Sach Hai Piya // Natwarlal (1979) // youtube
Udein Jab Jab Zulfen Teri // Naya Daur (1957) // youtube
Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai // Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (2000) // youtube
Ajib Dastan Hai Yeh // Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai (1960) // youtube
Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana // Andaz (1971) // youtube
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai // Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) // youtube
Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna // Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) // youtube

Looking at the ages of some of these songs, the 80s got mostly skipped over and IMO Kaho na Pyaar Hai stands out like a sore thumb. I figure it's there because of the Hrithik connection, but is it really on the same level as Kuch2, among the songs from the 90s/2000s? Not in this neck of the woods, anyway.

Current Mood: accomplished

scaramouche

I'm halfway through season 2 of H2O: Just Add Water and as expected I'm not enjoying it as much as season 1. It still has some fun episodes (the girls get their new powers, the wish episode, Emma gets a scale sickness and in the last act it turns into a delightful mini horror movie) and some meatier ones (Rikki gets to stretch her chops with an emotional story that introduces her dad), but the main problem for me is that on the scales of wacky shenanigans there's been a tip away from mermaid-specific shenanigans and towards teenage love triangle shenanigans instead, courtesy of Charlotte. (Whose actress gets billed first in the end credits, presumably because the four actresses are listed alphabetically, but is still kinda weird.)

( Cut for length. )

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: Mercell - Blue Moon

isis

What I've recently finished reading:

The Princess Bride by William Goldman, which - I might have read years and years ago? Or I might have seen the movie (though I don't remember doing so)? Or maybe I just knew a lot about it by osmosis and because of the way certain things about it became memes, so I thought I had read it, but really never had. I don't know. Anyway, I read it because I wanted something light and silly to counteract recent more difficult reading and even more difficult current events, and it fit the bill.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, which I read and enjoyed despite DNFing The Martian due to finding it powerfully boring. (I liked the movie version! I think the story was fine, but the various supporting characters all felt like cardboard cutouts to me.) Here, the initial hook - the POV character waking up with amnesia on what he eventually determines is a spaceship - was very much up my alley, a trope I love! The various supporting characters that appeared in the flashbacks were definitely better than cardboard cutouts, though sometimes they felt a bit stock. However, they ultimately weren't very important, and I really bought into the book with gusto when...

Okay, I read this book basically unspoiled, in that I knew that the main character was on a desperate space mission to save Earth from some sort of extinction event, but that was it. So I'm going to spoiler-cut the rest, just in case someone reading this hasn't read this book, so that you may have the same experience I had.

Spoiler spoiler spoiler!

Okay, if you have been reading my book posts for a while, you know that I am a big fan of stories about human-alien encounters. My last books post included a review of Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shroud, and I mentioned that it reminded me a little of Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward, in the sense that it starts with an environment which is the opposite of anything humans would expect to find life on, and reasons out from physics and chemistry what life might be like in that environment. But really, Tchaikovsky's approach to human-alien encounters is more adversarial and combative, and probably more realistic, than Forward's. Here, there's also an alien whose form and manner is reasoned out from the conditions of the planet where it developed, but its interactions with the human are more Forwardian than Tchaikovskian. Both the alien and the human are mindful that they are there for the same reason - to save their respective civilizations - and they approach their interactions carefully and with much forethought, for the most part.

There are still misunderstandings and near-fatal disasters and scary adventures, enough to make it a compelling, engaging read. I thought the ending was perfect, and I look forward to seeing the movie eventually! In conclusion, ROCKY MY BELOVED ♥♥♥

The Unicorn Hunter by Katherine Arden, which I read as e-ARC from NetGalley. Arden's One True Story (based on the books by her I've read) is that of a woman constrained by her sex and her circumstances who strives for the agency to direct her own life and protect what she cares about. This book is about a slightly-fantasy alternate-universe Anne of Brittany, who chafes against the fate she and her country are headed for: she will be forced to marry the King of France, bringing Brittany for annexation as her dowry.

To avoid this, in desperation she arranges a secret betrothal to France's enemy, the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilien. However, in this version of the world, rulers have diviners who can discern events happening at a distance, and send messages back and forth; to keep it secret, she holds the proxy wedding in the enchanted forest of Brocéliande, which diviners can't penetrate at risk of madness. And there she sees a unicorn, and brings a diviner who disappeared in the forest centuries ago out into the "real" world, setting in motion a chain of events which blur the boundaries between her real kingdom of Brittany and the mysterious otherworld of the "kerriganed", the faerie people of Breton folklore.

If you squint you can see elements of both the Winternight Trilogy and The Warm Hands of Ghosts; a forthright woman who doesn't behave as she should according to the strictures of the day, a figure from a shadowy world who may have ulterior motives, the subtle mix of a realistic world and a fantastical one. Anne is a wonderful heroine who deliberately leads her opponents to underestimate her, who pursues her aims and protects her family with great courage. I really enjoyed this book, especially the afterword in which Arden talks a little about the real Anne, and the real Brittany, and the folkloric Brittany that inspired her.

"The Colorado River Does Not Reach 2030" by Len Necefer and Teal Lehto, on Substack. This is a short story in the form of a news article, in the author's words:

What follows is a work of near-future fiction. It is not a prediction. It is a scenario built from conditions that are measurable today: Lake Powell is at 26% capacity and falling, snowpack at record lows, seven states deadlocked on water allocation, and a federal agency that has been gutted of the expertise needed to manage the crisis. // Every element in this scenario is drawn from published science, existing legal disputes, or political dynamics already in motion. Some characters are composites, some are real. The timeline is compressed. The chain of events is plausible. The unsettling part is how little I had to invent.

It's cli-fi in the model of Kim Stanley Robinson, purported interviews and charts and mocked-up newspaper images and X tweets, the story of the destruction of the west through climate change and human stupidity. It's really good - and (as the author says) plausible and unsettling.

What I'm reading now:

In nonfiction, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes by Leah Litman. So far it's a little heavily steeped in pop culture references for me, which means references to pop culture I'm only familiar with through osmosis, but it's interesting and persuasive.

In fiction, Blood over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang. So far it feels rather cliche, though I like the worldbuilding. It reminds me very much of the cartoon Arcane.

In audio, I've just started book 2 of the Bobiverse, For We are Many by Dennis E. Taylor. It's fun!

china_shop

Previous poll review
In the Being an audience poll, 41.3% of respondents have been to the cinema in the last six months, 28.3% to the theatre, and 17.4% to a live music gig. I'm curious about the 10.9% who chose "other".

In ticky-boxes, bakery treats came second to hugs, 60.9% to 73.9%, which is an excellent showing. Snow puppies came third with 47.8%. Thank you for your votes! ♥

Reading
Andrew and I finished Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold, so now I know what

minoanmiss meant by SHOPPING TRIP. *takes a moment* Anyway, it was great. I love Bujold's character work and her humour. Looking forward to the next one and getting to know Miles.

Kdramas
Still re-watching One Spring Night, lol. I made a flaily post about it a few days ago, but then realised that my "realisations" were actually explained in the next few scenes, so I don't know if I'm seeing the show differently or just remembering info I learned from the first time around. I've since privated the post, but if you've seen OSN and want to talk to me about it, please do!! I am mildly obsessed.

I also started Undercover Miss Hong on

adore's rec. I'm in the middle of episode 2, and it's great so far. It reminds me of Good Manager (AKA Chief Kim) to the point where I checked if it was the same writer (it isn't), and otoh, the lead is played by Park Shin-hye, who was the nun in the "nun undercover as her twin brother in a boyband" drama, You're Beautiful, which was my gateway drug into the world of Kdramas, so in a way it feels like coming full circle. (Here, she's undercover as a 20yo.)

Other TV
We finished the Return of the King extras (omg, so stressful!). Still watching The Pitt, of course, though I really think it works better all in a bunch, rather than one episode a week. (I won't say "binged", because the most we ever manage is three episodes a night -- that's a lot for us.)

Happened to notice that Cheers is on Neon (NZ streaming service, incl. some HBO), and randomly started watching it -- it's aged surprisingly well! Very white, and the sexism vs feminism tension is front and centre, but Sam is fine, and everyone seems to be having a good time. We'll stick with that for a while and see.

The pilot of R.J. Decker, a new PI show loosely based on a Carl Hiaasen novel. It's very network TV, case-of-the-week and easy-going. Good supporting cast. Seems fine. A few episodes of Ponies, about two CIA widows trying to be spies in cold war Russia. They don't have much trade craft yet, so it's equal parts comedic and tense. Half an episode of SurrealEstate.

My sister and I are still on Fringe season 4, in which the entire multiverse revolves around Peter; I prefer Lincoln. And we watched some Bluey, naturally. Just finished season 1 and started season 2. 🧡💙🧡

Audio entertainment
All the usual suspects. More Movie Briefs, more local politics. And the episode of A Bit Fruity recced by

sabotabby (who gives excellent podcast recs, btw). A Tech Won't Save Us episode about The Luddite Club. A bit of Ad Astra about pacing. I think I'm spending too much time listening to podcasts.

Online life
The 520 Day Guardian Reverse Exchange is coming soon!! We've been doing some behind-the-scenes prep for that. And wheeeee, I won a Fandom Trumps Hate auction (my first time bidding) -- so exciting!!

Writing/making things
Still bashing my head against the two things I started for Yuletide. It would be fantastic to get these off my plate before I get my 520 Day assignment and have to redecorate my brain in Guardian. *plugs away* (I feel like my intuition is offline, and I'm having to figure everything out with my inept thinking brain, why?)

In drawing, I did a practice pic of Zhao Yunlan, and wow, expressions are hard; the difference between worried and scared is, like, a millimetre here, a millimetre there...

Life/health/mental state things
The tsunami of ambient stress is making itself felt in my body. When I bought my new phone, I somehow got six months' free premium Fitbit membership again, so I tried wearing my Fitbit to sleep, to build up a data profile. And yep, an "objective" poor rating makes a subjective bad night's sleep feel so much worse. That's why I stopped doing this last time! So I've stopped again. Also, my resting pulse rate was going up and up for a while there. /o\

Had my free breast-squish day.

Goals
I did not do my goal things from last week. Ah well.

Good things
Sunshine. New (second-hand) red bag arrived this week; I don't think it's as waterproof as advertised, but it's a step up from my sponge of a handbag. Showers and kitties and going out to lunch. Biking and bike lanes. The Bingo fanart I received in

fandomtrees continues to be cheering/soothing. GUARDIAN!!

Poll #34352 Fitness trackers

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 47

View Respondents

Do you use a fitness tracker to monitor your activity?

View Answers

yes, regularly
9 (19.1%)

yes, sometimes
2 (4.3%)

...and an app
5 (10.6%)

I use the pedometer on my phone
8 (17.0%)

no, but I used to
6 (12.8%)

no, but I'm thinking about starting
1 (2.1%)

other no
21 (44.7%)

other
1 (2.1%)

ticky-box full of "I genuflect to the sanctity of the ticky-box"
20 (42.6%)

ticky-box full of otters building obstacle courses
24 (51.1%)

ticky-box of FANDOM SPARKLES
27 (57.4%)

ticky-box full of bears baking blueberry and salmon muffins
21 (44.7%)

ticky-box full of hugs hugs hugs
33 (70.2%)

marinarusalka

Well, okay, I've been back for almost a week, but God forbid I post anything in a timely manner, right?

Anyhow, Scotland was awesome. I didn't get to fully appreciate Glasgow, due to conferencing, but The Boy and I did explore a couple of very lovely parks and one cool art museum (the Burrell Collection), and ate a lot of great food. The restaurant scene in Glasgow is seriously amazing.

I also got to visit a cute little yarn shop and bought some really lovely UK-produced yarn that I really look forward to knitting up.

Orkney is gorgeous! We lucked out with the weather, and had sunshine pretty much the entire 5 days we were there, which I'm told is not typical for this time of years. (It was also insanely windy, which is normal.. We hiked 5-7 miles every day, in beautiful coastal scenery, and saw a number of fascinating Neolithic sites, some WWII monuments, and a beautiful little chapel built during the war by Italian POWs, who managed to turn tin, plaster and concrete into a genuine work of art.

We stayed in Kirkwall, which has a really impressive cathedral and some nice shops. The yarn shop I wanted to visit was closed, but a local artsy-craftsy shop also had a small selection for sale, and I got one skein of very beautiful hand-dyed wool from a local breed.

We got back to London last Wednesday, which happened to be my birthday. We spent the day being touristy (Westminster Abbey! Tate Britain!) and finished up with a birthday dinner at Rules.

All in all, a great trip.

Current Mood: contemplative

musesfool

I don't love that Nolan McLean gave up 2 home runs in the same inning in this game, but I do love that Team Italia celebrates with an Armani blazer and an espresso (they literally have an espresso machine in the dugout and if someone hits a homer, he gets a shot) and then the team captain kisses the guy while everyone else does this: 🤌

*

Work is currently bananas. Listen, I have a whole document I wrote on how to change/streamline board stuff to foster discussion and engagement, but we were supposed to do it methodically and not implement it until the June meeting, except now we are doing it NOW, and everything got upended in the stupidest way possible. I maybe kind of couldn't control how irritated I am about it because it is basically making me do double the amount of work and is seems to me like it is just going to achieve the exact opposite of what we want it to, but apparently this is coming directly from the new board chair. I told my boss that if I am right, and that this doesn't do what they think it is going to, I might not say it, but I will be thinking the world's biggest "I told you so." And she was like, that's fair. Sigh.

*

Current Mood: drained
Current Music: Team US vs Team Italia on tv

scaramouche

I was just thinking that it's been a year since the last BBC Agatha Christie adaptation (Towards Zero) so I looked up if there's going to be a new one and there is! Endless Night is next, and although it's not one of my favourite books I do like the characters and slow dread of the story, so hopefully that'll be fun and not too twisty different from the book. No release date yet, as far as I can tell.

Netflix had their own adaptation recently-ish too, that was The Seven Dials Mystery which I did watch and it had some actors I really liked, and a Bundle I liked, but overall I was mostly meh about it. Didn't care about secret societies when I read the book, and I still don't care about secret societies now, though I do know a little more about their proliferation during that time and during the colonial era, and its use as a social bonding mechanism and creation of a sense of elitism in the same lines as a religion (us vs. them), which clarified quite a few things to me as someone who lives in a part of the world where such societies are so alien as to be scary and malignant, but it's in believing they're scary and malignant that gives them undue power. Anyway the adaptation was fine, it had some changes, I don't have strong feelings either way.

In reading, I have just finished Death Comes at the End, which I knew was set in Ancient Egypt which is why I didn't pick it up for a while. I think the setting allows the story to be simpler, as in Christie puts more effort in describing the world and the way its people think than in creating an elaborate mystery. But I did enjoy it, and I did have fun that I figured it out early based on the actual clues and psychology of the characters, and it does not detract enjoyment of the book at all.

I also read two Poirot mysteries, one being The Murder on the Links, which was fun! A clue-heavy mystery, and Poirot butts heads with another detective who is more clue-focused. There are two layers to the murder, and I figured out the first one based on the clues, and the layer itself is similar to what went on in Body in the Library. The structure is a little different in a good way, in how Poirot breaks down the logic of the mystery halfway through the book (yay!) to Hastings. The second layer was more opaque but I got enough of a vague picture that the final resolution made me nod like, yes, I buy that. Only for the book to throw ONE MORE dramatic left curve our way, dang. Also, although I was vaguely aware in later books that Hastings is married, I was not prepared for this to be the story where he meets the woman who'll be his wife, and all the shenanigans that happen in that subplot.

The other is Dead Man's Folly, and I enjoy so much when characters spell out midway through the book certain fact-connecting revelations that usually come towards the end. That said, the final reveal kind of pissed me off, and after sleeping on it, I think it's because there was no way for us the reader to make the necessary leaps of logic based on the info we were given. Specifically, that there were two murders instead of three, and that two characters have been lying about their identities through the book, and a third character knew about the lying but kept quiet. Basically I think there were too many moving parts to get some sort of handle on what was going on.

Current Mood: awake

musesfool

Ugh, daylight savings, why are we still doing this???

Anyway, I got up at my usual workday time instead of sleeping in so I could get the onions in the slow cooker, and I did both the "soak onions in cold water in the fridge for 15 minutes" and wore the stupid onion goggles, and still by the 4th onion my eyes were extremely unhappy with me. *hands* Thankfully I only had 6 onions total, so it all got done, and for dinner I made French onion pasta as planned, and now I have dinner for 3 more days as well. I do love this pasta dish - and I always use bucatini, which is one of my favorite pasta shapes, so it was pleasing all around. Every time I make it after not having made in a while, I'm like, why don't I make this more often!? and then I remember the onion-slicing and how annoying it is. Anyway, definitely recommended for a delicious and easy dinner (except for the onion-slicing). I also made bacon so I have lunch for the week also.

I meant to mention this yesterday and forgot, but The Mountain Goats collaborated with Mary Chapin Carpenter to cover World Party: Put the Message in the Box (don't worry if you only recognize one or two of those names - the song is good!).

*

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: Put the Message in the Box - Mary Chapin Carpenter & the Mountain Goats

musesfool

Went to the office yesterday and as much as I enjoyed seeing so many of my co-workers, almost no work got done. it is just not a good use of time if they want us to be productive. Since it's an open office and we are all sitting together with no walls between us, we just chat and jump into each other's conversations and people stop by and also join in, and it's great for socializing but most of my work is stuff that requires concentration and quiet, which is in short supply at the office. But the anniversary celebration is a lot of fun and I probably won't have to attend another one for 4 more years. *g*

Our next in-office day is in late April, and I floated the idea of maybe bringing in baked goods, so I'm already considering what recipe I might choose to make, since I can experiment.

Today, I made these orange shortbread cookies and they're good, though I would zest another orange (I did 2 this time) if I make them again. Also I didn't sift the flour and instead of rolling out the dough and using cookie cutters, I rolled it into a log and just sliced them (after chilling), since they are just for me so there was no need to get fancy.

I also planned to caramelize onions overnight in the slow cooker, but then I ended up engrossed in F.D. Signifier's Tyler Perry video (which is FOUR HOURS long - I have one hour left but I'm taking a break to watch the WBC) and didn't end up doing the slicing I need to do, so I figure I'll do it in the morning, let them slow cook for most of the day, and then make French onion pasta for dinner. Anyway, I have never seen a Tyler Perry movie or show, but F.D. Signifier's videos are always worth watching.

So yeah, I've been sort of paying attention to the WBC and why is the "S" in USA like a strip of curly bacon on the Team USA jersey??? Once I saw it I couldn't unsee it. Also so many of these unis could be cool and yet so many of them are just meh. Design fail, Nike! Come on! Also, I might be rooting for the DR since Juan Soto is on that team; if Lindor were in it, I'd probably be rooting for Puerto Rico. Though of course I was pleased for Clay Holmes just now, and will be interested to see Nolan McLean pitch.

*

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: USA vs Great Britain on tv

resonant

( Cut for pet death )

china_shop

Previous poll review
In the spam SPAM spam poll, 52% of respondents only check their spam folder when they're looking for a specific thing, 30% check it maybe once a month, 10% weekly, and 8% daily. (This question was inspired by gmail sending multiple emails in the middle of threads to spam, wtf.)

In ticky-boxes, blanket cocoons and comfort food came second to hugs, 62% to 74%. Judgy koalas came third with 56%. Thank you for your votes! ♥

Reading
I read Courtney Milan's The Earl Who Isn't, which was just as enjoyable at the others in the series. Her kissing and UST are excellent, and I love everyone in Wedgeford.

Bounced off Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfield, with prejudice. (That was one of my library books.) The first "chapter" (of three in the entire book) was a blow-by-blow account of working backstage at SNL; the second "chapter" (which I flicked through) was lockdown correspondence. I didn't like either of the characters.

I don't know what I'm reading next. Or listening to on my own. But Andrew and I have about 2.5 hours left in Barrayar.

Kdramas
Oh no, I finished One Spring Night and kind of... went back to the beginning and started it again. With occasional diversions into Something in the Rain (which ha, is by the same writer, as well as having vast numbers of cast members in common, so that explains that). At some point I'll emerge from this Jung Hae In fever dream and start something else.

Pru and I finished Family by Choice (I LOVE IT SO MUCH), and next week we're starting Love Scout (\o/).

Other TV
We're on the final disk of extras for Return of the King, and that'll be it. It's stressful seeing the last-minute absolute chaos behind the scenes, but also kind of magical. Still going on The Pitt, and we've watched a couple of episodes of Dinosaur, a UK sitcom about two sisters, one of whom is autistic. I like it!

Got a few things lined up: new seasons of The Lincoln Lawyer and Dark Winds, more Scavengers Reign, there were probably some other things, idk.

Audio entertainment
Writing Excuses, some Better Offline, some What Matters Most (chatty general life psychology/advice), Cross Party Lines (local politics), Letters from an American (just a few /o\), Heaving Bosoms (chatty recaps of romance novels, just for something relaxing to put in my ears), Movie Briefs (lawyers talk about law movies, ditto).

Online life
*hugs you all, so much*

...

Writing/making things
My Yuletide treat is at beta at last. \o/ Now I've started in on my Yuletide assignment fic, unfinished at 7k words. I'm imposing a new structure on it to see if that might make it more finishable. No drawing practice.

Life/health/mental state things
Idk, I'm okay. Getting some things done, at least. Getting a fair amount of sleep and exercise. Doing righteous battle with my health insurer. Spending too much time tweaking my new phone to make it behave how I want.

Goals
This week: make a batch of vegetarian dumplings, make a mini quiche in the air fryer. All my goals are food, hi!

Good things
Sunshine. Helpful, supportive people. The 520 Day Guardian Reverse Exchange is coming soon! Kitty. New phone is mostly behaving itself. We went to a delightfully geeky talk about dragonflies.

Poll #34329 Being an audience

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 47

View Respondents

In the last six months, I've been (in person) to

View Answers

cinema
19 (40.4%)

theatre
13 (27.7%)

live music gig
8 (17.0%)

ballet
1 (2.1%)

opera
2 (4.3%)

sports game
2 (4.3%)

other
6 (12.8%)

ticky-box full of bakery treats
28 (59.6%)

ticky-box full of keeping a paper appointment diary
9 (19.1%)

ticky-box full of rambling around the podcast 'verse getting your ears dirty
8 (17.0%)

ticky-box full of softly squishable snow puppies snuggling in a heap
22 (46.8%)

ticky-box full of hugs to you all <3 <3 <3
34 (72.3%)

musesfool

Work has been intensely busy these past few days, and tomorrow I have to go into the office because Assistant J is getting a pin for being with the organization for 5 years (even though it's more like six and a half at this point, but no one wants to hear my rant about how anniversaries work again), and I never get much done when I'm in, so we'll see what happens. I do have to take all my tax paperwork and scan it for my accountant. This is much later than usual, eep.

*

Shrinking: Dereks Don't Die
( spoiler )

*

Lost Recipes was a really good read "about the legal and logistical barriers arrayed against people trying to archive rap media." to quote the email from Defector that included the link. It made me think about how despite its many, many issues (about which I have heard no news of progress at all, btw), the OTW is doing that work for this section of media fandom, and how important that work is (and how no one else was gonna do it). There's already so much that's gone, and that impacts how our stories get contextualized and passed on (thinking of all the thinkpieces on Heated Rivalry that only reference yaoi and animanga fandom and not Western media fandom, for example) and whatever place in the larger history of media and fandom this corner of it might have. Idk. I do recommend reading that post though, even if you're not a rap fan.

*

Current Mood: melancholy
Current Music: Falling - Florence + the Machine

kass

I wrote a trio of Stardew ficlets for PeacePangolin for

purimgifts. (And the images I shared along with them are simple re-colorings of in-game images; I am chagrined now to see the kinds of beautiful things people created, and I will need to level up before next year!) Anyway: here's what I wrote.

1. Sam (373 words) by Kass
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sam/Sebastian (Stardew Valley)
Characters: Sam (Stardew Valley)
Additional Tags: Collection: Purimgifts Day 1
Summary:

He can’t remember a time before he knew Sebastian.

2. Sebastian (443 words) by Kass
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sam/Sebastian (Stardew Valley)
Characters: Sebastian
Additional Tags: Purimgifts day 2
Summary:

Nevermind I’m going to delete all of this and start over.

3. Abigail (401 words) by Kass
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sam/Sebastian (Stardew Valley)
Characters: Abigail (Stardew Valley)
Additional Tags: Collection: Purimgifts Day 3

kass

My final

purimgifts fic and collage are Lady Astronaut ones again -- absolutely lovely. Thank you so much, Mystery Author! You have brightened my Purim a ton.

2329 Days (329 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lady Astronaut Series - Mary Robinette Kowal
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Elma York, Nathaniel York, Jean-Paul Lebourgeois, Estevan Terrazas
Additional Tags: Canon Jewish Character, Canon Compliant, Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Outer Space
Summary:

A moment of prayer for when Elma sees the stars

scaramouche

I am 114 episodes into 189, and as a twist in this exercise, I found out that the previous playlist I thought was deleted, is back up! Since all the stats are there I would I guess it was set to private and then un-privated. Whatever the case, it is back, and I have those lovely stats and lovely English summaries and all the comments, but on that last one, it turns out I no longer have the patience to go through the comments, because...

I hate Adrian. As a character, as a love interest. Since I hate him, I feel like I'm tripping balls when I read the comments and they're full of Adrian love, of how Adrian is the best, of how Aryana and Adrian are so sweet together. Fiction is subjective and this is far from the first time I've bounced off a character I've seen so much love for, so what can you do. One consequence of this is that I don't read the comments as I did before, and another consequence is that my interest in Aryana's storyline is dipping. Not all the storylines, mind! Just Aryana's.

Because now Aryana has legs again we're back to mostly-mundane school shenanigans but with a third love interest in the mix, and I think it's a problem when a female character who's the lead of a show, has significantly more male love interests than female friends. It didn't feel as obvious when there were just Marlon and Hubert, but now Adrian is there, Aryana's social interactions are overwhelmingly with boys. And she doesn't even hang out with the one female friend she does have! Bebet is only Aryana's friend at school! And then Aryana's family, i.e. her mother, grandmother and uncle, haven't had much to do with her in this arc beyond listening to her boy woes (I was also startled when I realized hadn't seen Ofelia in any significant way for a few episodes in there).

Did viewers not like Marlon because he's too whiny and not like Hubert because he's a pushover? And so they created an assertive third love interest who physically grabs Aryana's arm when she tries to get away from him, and doesn't listen when Aryana begs him to stop, and doesn't believe Aryana when she says she's not interested, because we're apparently doing the thing where no means yes and Aryana is into it actually and all her yelling at Adrian is flirting actually? Shut up!! I do not like this!! I can acknowledge romantic comedy tropes and telenovela tropes and still not like it!!!!

I thought I understood the reason for Adrian, in that Hubert and Marlon both know Aryana's secret, so adding a boy who is NOT in the know shakes things up. BUT THEN Adrian learns Aryana's secret like five episodes after he first meets her, and what are we doing, show. Why are you suddenly going breakneck speed when you teased Marlon finding out and Hubert revealing HIS secret for dozens of episodes, but it takes two episodes for Adrian to find out Aryana saved him and another three to find out she's a mermaid. What the heck. The intensity of the show's interest in Adrian, and giving him top billing of the three love interests despite being a new addition, it feels like they shoved in a hail mary character to revitalize the show, which may indeed be the case and I simply do not know the dynamics of the viewing audience at the time to understand.

Anyway I'm more invested in Megan's storyline now.

Current Mood: bitchy

kass

Once again my mystery creator has given me a gorgeous basket of mishloach manot, this time featuring fic and art for The Diplomat.

First Impressions (709 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Diplomat (US TV 2023)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Kate Wyler, Hal Wyler, Frances Munning, Pensey, Eidra Park
Additional Tags: Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, First Meetings, Canon Compliant
Summary:

Pensey, Mrs. Munning, & Eidra meet Kate for the first time

kass

Happy Purim, and happy

purimgifts!

I got the most glorious fic (and image collage) -- this feels like it could be an outtake from the actual books, and that's high praise.

Hamentaschen (438 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lady Astronaut Series - Mary Robinette Kowal
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Elma York/Nathaniel York
Characters: Elma York, Nathaniel York
Additional Tags: Canon Jewish Character, Baking, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Canon Compliant, Collection: Purimgifts Day 1
Summary:

Elma makes Hamentaschen for the first time after the meteor.

musesfool

I really enjoyed this season of Bridgerton despite being mostly indifferent to Benedict as a character. Yerin Ha as Sophie was everything - I really hope this launches her into a long, bright career. ( spoilers )

In other fannish news, I saw some folks on bsky discussing who the best lightsaber duelist is in Star Wars, and since I didn't really know the people being quoted, I took myself to tumblr to post about it. I also texted my eldest nephew, who is the biggest Anakin and Obi-Wan fan I know (which, given some of the fangirls I know, is saying something) and his knee-jerk response was Anakin*. Which is the wrong answer, so we argued back and forth a bit, and he came around to my way of thinking that it has to be Obi-Wan, even though we never see him go up against Palpatine or Mace Windu (who may have beaten Palpatine if not for Anakin).

I did see people saying Ahsoka, because she survives Maul, Vader, and very briefly, Palpatine, but as much as I love her, she survives and escapes. She doesn't win. The list of Obi-Wan's duels is extensive and no one ever even lays a blade on him that I recall (though he doesn't beat Dooku, which was an argument my nephew made, and Anakin eventually does) until he puts up his saber and lets Vader kill him. Like, is Obi-Wan destroyed emotionally and psychologically by dueling with Anakin? One hundred percent! But he still wins until not winning is the best way to win in the long-term.

*I think you can make a case for him when he's Vader, but even then, Obi-Wan beats him on Mustafar and he only wins on the Death Star because Obi-Wan lets him. In the OWK show, he maybe sets Obi-Wan on fire a little but Obi-Wan takes no real damage in any of their fights until the Death Star.

*

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: The Sweetest Thing - u2

rivkat

Hi there--it's been a bit! The first day of school (which was also a snowstorm) involved me waking just before 7 to the sound of water pouring through my bathroom ceiling, followed shortly by electrical explosions and a fire that will have me out of my apartment for, apparently, at least a year. No one was hurt! That is very good. The rest, not so much. I've now moved all my clothes, shoes & jewelry to my office (which I might actually keep in place forever if I can manage the jewelry organization--turns out bookcases are also really good shoe racks, and they make pretty good clothes racks for cheap now). Anyway I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off; the apartment is now empty except for the stuff that was destroyed, which sadly includes two century-old curved glass windows. And I've acquired a place to nap in my office. I'm both grateful for the resources I have to get through this and still pretty overwhelmed given all the rest of the terrible stuff in the world.

Greer Stothers, Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die: ( fantasy about a cowardly knight and the wizard he seduces )

Aisling Rawle, The Compound: ( hell is reality tv )

Matt Dinniman, Operation Bounce House: ( the wargamers throw stones at frogs for sport but the frogs die in earnest )

Kimberly Belflower, John Proctor is the Villain:( great even as a script )

Aliya Whiteley, The Misheard World: ( an interrogation in a strange world )
Charles Stross, The Regicide Report: ( good night and good luck )

Alix E. Harrow, The Everlasting: ( fantasy about a knight and the man who loves her )

Constance Fay, ( two sf m/f romances )

Joanna Russ, The Female Man: ( the feminine shriek )
James S.A. Corey, The Faith of Beasts:( alien enslavers )

Adrian Tchaikovsky, Pretenders to the Throne of God: ( started as it meant to go on )

Kai Butler,( 2/3 of a fantasy trilogy about an assassin and his emperor-target-lover )

Kai Butler, The Inconvenient Count: ( space m/m regency )
Joe Hill, King Sorrow: ( playing in the King wheelhouse )

trying to run the gauntlet

Mujhse Doste Karoge Medley

H2O: Just Add Water

wednesday reads

Me-and-media update

I'm back

another big swing from a young hitter

Agatha Christie time!

see the world in just one grain of sand

that wasn't a no

Cat farewell

Me-and-media update

When I'm falling I'm at peace

Purimgifts reveal

One final Purim rec

Aryana (60.3% completed)

Another fabulous Purimgifts gift!

For me!

she won't catch me or break my fall

Fiction and life whining

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March 2026

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