Murderbot, no spoilers
Jul. 11th, 2025 03:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mificExtremely good finale for Murderbot! I'm feeling pleasantly melancholic now the series has finished, but at least I get to watch it all again. Also, it's been renewed for a second season!
Writing technique comms on DW?
Jul. 11th, 2025 10:44 ammificDoes anyone know of any (currently active) comms on DW focussed on writing craft or technique? troyswann was asking and all I can think of are writing challenge comms like https://getyourwordsout.dreamwidth.org which are about producing words, not the craft of writing.
I also have a bunch of links saved, mostly from tumblr, on things like "worldbuilding" and "how to write fight scenes" etc. It's here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cMbhguAkJxfS9eJcacre7RpPutUo8qkx/view?usp=sharing
What other writing technique or info resources or posts do you like?
troyswann was asking and all I can think of are writing challenge comms like https://getyourwordsout.dreamwidth.org which are about producing words, not the craft of writing. I also have a bunch of links saved, mostly from tumblr, on things like "worldbuilding" and "how to write fight scenes" etc. It's here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cMbhguAkJxfS9eJcacre7RpPutUo8qkx/view?usp=sharing
What other writing technique or info resources or posts do you like?
Book Review: The Song of Achilles
Jul. 9th, 2025 11:55 amclavallyTitle: The Song of Achilles
Author: Madeline Miller
Genre: Historical Fiction/Fantasy
Review:
Characters: 9/10
Atmosphere/Setting: 9/10
Writing Style: 9/10
Plot: 9/10
Intrigue: 8/10
Logic/Relationships: 9/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
62/7=8.9 =4.99 Stars I guess I'm rounding up to 5 stars
Basic Review: Very well written. I liked the voice the author used, and her similes and metaphors were awesome. It felt very much like reading an old Greek epic poem. Also, the romance between Patroclus and Achilles was chef's kiss. It's in first person. Usually, I hate that, but this time it didn't bother me. The one thing that did bug me is I couldn't figure out who's head we were in at the beginning. Spoiler alert, but not really, it's told from Patroclus' POV. It took me a few pages to figure that out.
( Spoilery Review )
Author: Madeline Miller
Genre: Historical Fiction/Fantasy
Review:
Characters: 9/10
Atmosphere/Setting: 9/10
Writing Style: 9/10
Plot: 9/10
Intrigue: 8/10
Logic/Relationships: 9/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
62/7=8.9 =4.99 Stars I guess I'm rounding up to 5 stars
Basic Review: Very well written. I liked the voice the author used, and her similes and metaphors were awesome. It felt very much like reading an old Greek epic poem. Also, the romance between Patroclus and Achilles was chef's kiss. It's in first person. Usually, I hate that, but this time it didn't bother me. The one thing that did bug me is I couldn't figure out who's head we were in at the beginning. Spoiler alert, but not really, it's told from Patroclus' POV. It took me a few pages to figure that out.
( Spoilery Review )
Plot Bunnies! Nooooo I don't need another one!
Jul. 8th, 2025 03:42 pmmelagan
I'm drawn to the idea of Rodney being ordered back to Earth. Only he doesn't want to leave, so he doesn't go back to Earth.
Why not? Because various Pegasus cultures step in. They recognize his value and put up a bidding war for McKay.
I want to see the SGC have to enter the Pegasus bidding war to get Rodney back (because we know the SGC will come to realize that Atlantis can't or won't function without him).
Which begs the next question. What would John do to get him back? The brain ponders...
*weeps* I don't need another bunny right now. How about you? Got any plot bunnies that are jumping up and begging for attention?
Do you side-eye them and pretend they aren't there? Kick them under the bed? Give up and feed them chocolate?
Purrcy; kdrama
Jul. 6th, 2025 11:24 pmmecurtinWe were on the sofa together watching Murderbot so Purrcy had to come supervise. Not shown: how he was thwapping me with his tail to make sure I knew he was there. This shot makes it looks like he was watching the screen with us but I'm pretty sure he wasn't.
I've been watching Moon Embracing the Sun withfeklar42 and libitina, which is my first kdrama. I have a question. I know that double eyelid surgery is extremely common in South Korea. Do we assume that most Korean actors/actresses have had this surgery, the way we assume that most (all) Western actors are on diets?
I've been watching Moon Embracing the Sun with
feklar42 and libitina, which is my first kdrama. I have a question. I know that double eyelid surgery is extremely common in South Korea. Do we assume that most Korean actors/actresses have had this surgery, the way we assume that most (all) Western actors are on diets?Small successes and mixed-up veggies
Jul. 6th, 2025 01:33 pmmificI'm very much in winter mode here as although some days are sunny, it's cold, and a lot of days are very wet. So not going outside much and not doing gardening, which I don't feel great about. I seem a bit beset by inertia in terms of things physical, possibly a mid-winter slump, but I'm doing indoors things just fine - well, the things I like doing, anyway. Not cleaning or organising! I do tidy up once a week before Fionna comes to vacuum, and occasionally the dishes get washed, but that's about it.
I've started another longer podfic - this one for the due South Big Bang. Am also continuing to add lots of new podfics to the Audiofic Archive (we got inundated by >600 short ones from a recent Voiceteam challenge). And I finished a personal project with the Audiofic Archive of adding streaming links to all the SGA podfics there so they can be enjoyed easily with no need to download zip files. That's 138 pages of SGA podfics! - and increasing each week, as we make more. Next fandom to complete is due South.
In the process I stumbled on Lim's old Fanvid page on Wayback, and the vid downloads still worked. Lim made avant garde vids with lots of altered graphics. Some are on AO3 but a lot of the SGA ones aren't. The Wayback page is here (with additional info and credits), and I downloaded the SGA ones and converted them to mp4 format here. CW for flashing, fast cuts, loud music in some of them. One, Mission Report, (lyrics) is a multimedia podvid where Lim created the lyrics, music, and vid, and sang it for the SGA flashfic comm.
In "first world problem" news, a grocery mix-up. My online delivery packer needs help with alliums! Ordered a bunch of spring (green) onions:
And got a giant leek. Size matters! (in terms of making salads, anyway)
Finally, I saw this amazing poem on tumblr, apparently written by nine-for-a-kiss as a teenager. It's very Dark-is-Rising-ish.
I've started another longer podfic - this one for the due South Big Bang. Am also continuing to add lots of new podfics to the Audiofic Archive (we got inundated by >600 short ones from a recent Voiceteam challenge). And I finished a personal project with the Audiofic Archive of adding streaming links to all the SGA podfics there so they can be enjoyed easily with no need to download zip files. That's 138 pages of SGA podfics! - and increasing each week, as we make more. Next fandom to complete is due South.
In the process I stumbled on Lim's old Fanvid page on Wayback, and the vid downloads still worked. Lim made avant garde vids with lots of altered graphics. Some are on AO3 but a lot of the SGA ones aren't. The Wayback page is here (with additional info and credits), and I downloaded the SGA ones and converted them to mp4 format here. CW for flashing, fast cuts, loud music in some of them. One, Mission Report, (lyrics) is a multimedia podvid where Lim created the lyrics, music, and vid, and sang it for the SGA flashfic comm.
In "first world problem" news, a grocery mix-up. My online delivery packer needs help with alliums! Ordered a bunch of spring (green) onions:
And got a giant leek. Size matters! (in terms of making salads, anyway)
Finally, I saw this amazing poem on tumblr, apparently written by nine-for-a-kiss as a teenager. It's very Dark-is-Rising-ish.
Purrcy; WSFS
Jul. 4th, 2025 10:09 pmmecurtinThere was a brief but dramatic thundershower yesterday evening, & afterwards when Purrcy came out of hiding he DEMANDED pets, regardless of where I was or what I was doing. As you can probably tell.
Purrcy the tuxedo tabby stands on a light green bathmat on a terracotta tile floor with glossy green accents, looking back up over his shoulder with an adorably demanding face. His tail is a thwapping blur. A white person's naked foot is barely visible behind him, as though they're sitting down in the bathroom for some reason.
Politics has of course been super stressful, I'll write up something under separate cover tomorrow or something.
Today, all afternoon, I attended the first session of the WSFS Business Meeting, which was as almost as emotionally draining as attending one in person but much more convenient. The Chair, Jesi Lipp (they/them) is a *master* at running a meeting and parsing rules quickly & logically.
Result for me: the Hugo Process Committee is continuing for another year (including me by default), and also stuff that I insisted on digging out & including in our report conforms to the second part of C.2 Dude, Where’s My Motion?, even though it wasn't required yet & wasn't even aware it was under consideration, just because it seemed so obviously necessary. So I definitely can bask, feeling like I made a real & meaningful contribution.
I've pledged the family not to overdo it for Hugo Process Committee 2.0, but I *am* going to maybe be the one insisting that we have regularly scheduled meetings & an agenda.
Purrcy the tuxedo tabby stands on a light green bathmat on a terracotta tile floor with glossy green accents, looking back up over his shoulder with an adorably demanding face. His tail is a thwapping blur. A white person's naked foot is barely visible behind him, as though they're sitting down in the bathroom for some reason.
Politics has of course been super stressful, I'll write up something under separate cover tomorrow or something.
Today, all afternoon, I attended the first session of the WSFS Business Meeting, which was as almost as emotionally draining as attending one in person but much more convenient. The Chair, Jesi Lipp (they/them) is a *master* at running a meeting and parsing rules quickly & logically.
Result for me: the Hugo Process Committee is continuing for another year (including me by default), and also stuff that I insisted on digging out & including in our report conforms to the second part of C.2 Dude, Where’s My Motion?, even though it wasn't required yet & wasn't even aware it was under consideration, just because it seemed so obviously necessary. So I definitely can bask, feeling like I made a real & meaningful contribution.
I've pledged the family not to overdo it for Hugo Process Committee 2.0, but I *am* going to maybe be the one insisting that we have regularly scheduled meetings & an agenda.
Purrcy; Pride
Jul. 3rd, 2025 12:20 ammecurtinI finished taking the laundry out of this basket & put it down on its side for Purrcy investigation. It was worth snooping in, but not really good for long-term use, he found.
What's that in the sky? he wondered, after several days of rain & thunder-growler attacks.
My back continues to be better, while not being anything like *all* better. Prednisone has the reputation of being Side Effects City, my biggest ones so far are dry mouth making my voice all scratchy, and a certain amount of ADHD/mania type behavior, trouble settling & sleeping. Only 3 more days of tapering to go, though.
Amid all The Horrors ramping up & up, here's something that's given me active joy in the past couple of days: Sir Ian McKellan joining Scissor Sisters onstage at Glastonbury Festival:
My god, he's still got that full Royal Shakespeare voice.
It makes me cry a bit with joy at the end there, seeing Sir Ian being able to lead his people in a public celebration of being out & proud. And to see an old man being *venerated*, for once, admired for achievements but in this case also as a symbol of what people like those in the audience can have with age: a *full* life, a *long* life, a life with everything in it, despite what they may have been told. You don't have to be young to be queer, it's not a phase, it's part of a complete human life.
What's that in the sky? he wondered, after several days of rain & thunder-growler attacks.
My back continues to be better, while not being anything like *all* better. Prednisone has the reputation of being Side Effects City, my biggest ones so far are dry mouth making my voice all scratchy, and a certain amount of ADHD/mania type behavior, trouble settling & sleeping. Only 3 more days of tapering to go, though.
Amid all The Horrors ramping up & up, here's something that's given me active joy in the past couple of days: Sir Ian McKellan joining Scissor Sisters onstage at Glastonbury Festival:
My god, he's still got that full Royal Shakespeare voice.
It makes me cry a bit with joy at the end there, seeing Sir Ian being able to lead his people in a public celebration of being out & proud. And to see an old man being *venerated*, for once, admired for achievements but in this case also as a symbol of what people like those in the audience can have with age: a *full* life, a *long* life, a life with everything in it, despite what they may have been told. You don't have to be young to be queer, it's not a phase, it's part of a complete human life.
what fresh hell is this?
Jul. 1st, 2025 09:44 pmtrobadoraIt rained for three hours straight - thunderstorm, hail and torrential rain - and didn't cool done one bit. That shouldn't be allowed. And now we have all the heat and all the humidity, and ugh.
(Hi! I'm still here. Things are just very busy and I can't seem to find the time or energy for posting, much less keeping up with anything other than the![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sid_guardian discussions ... I hope everyone's doing well, whether you're caught in this heat wave too or not.)
(Hi! I'm still here. Things are just very busy and I can't seem to find the time or energy for posting, much less keeping up with anything other than the
sid_guardian discussions ... I hope everyone's doing well, whether you're caught in this heat wave too or not.)