Book acquisition
Apr. 24th, 2026 10:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fred_mouseI've been doing a lot of staring at bookshelves (bookshops, libraries), online library catalogues, publishers websites, book recommendation sites, online book retail sites and a range of other places that seemed like a good idea at the time. I have not completed the full systematic search I want to have done, but I'm allowing that some of that is going to happen during the writing phase, because I do not actually expect to find the kinds of books I'm after in most of those places.
My spreadsheet of books now has over 150 entries. Quite a lot fail one or more of the inclusion criteria, and some of those are duplicates because I'm attempting to capture the sources as well (will I analyse that? no, probably not. Am I capturing it anyway because I think it will have the potential for me to talk about? yes). Several I've already started reading. I'm most excited about Attack of the Smart Speakers, which I'm halfway through, and as I'm writing my reading notes I keep writing enthusiastic commentary. This one is a bit frustrating because it is a library copy, and so I'm writing more than I would if I could just mark up my copy -- I've now ordered a me copy to annotate.
I'm also really happy with Orion Lost, although I'm not sure how much that one is going to fall in a heap in terms of getting done, because the next set of plot beats have the potential to go places I'm not comfortable following. Yes, it is middle grade fiction, and it will be resolved, but some of where it has already gone has required a few breaks. (I'm aware that these are me specific emotional land mines and that they aren't affecting my interpretation, just how fast I can cope with it). Plus, I put it aside to deal with library books that are due next week (I found three possibles of which two are yeses).
Which brings me to my evening -- I have spent some hours on The Nile and Fishpond websites looking for books that might suit my parameters. On The Nile, I found searching for 'AI' and then filtering to books / fiction / children and young adult did a reasonable job; on Fishpond I found no search that was useful. And then at the end of that I looked through my spreadsheet, picked what was reasonably priced and high in my priority rankings and was a variety of options, and ordered Slightly Too Many Books. Including one co-authored by Farah Mendelsohn, which was has been in my wishlist for multiple years and was about half the price I remember it being (Farah is going to be the GUFF delegate to the local con this year, so I'm extra motivated. Will I take everything I own of theirs to be signed? probably not. But I'm not ruling out the possibility).
And now I have to wait. The original delivery date range when I looked was mid May, and when I checked out it was early to mid June, so who knows when I'll get any of them. I have no shortage of things to be getting on with, but I'm presenting my initial findings at the end of May!
I never said why I want a better backpack
Apr. 24th, 2026 09:41 amthe_shoshannaWhee! and also 😱
The Channel Islands were the runner-up for choice of destination last year, but we decided to go to Wales instead -- partly because we could do a supported hike there. But the hike turned out to be on the verge of too hard for us; apparently we are several years older than we were the last time we did one, which is just unfair. Anyway, this year we're just going to park ourselves in one place -- well, two places, ten days each on Jersey and Guernsey - and do day hikes out and back. Both islands seem to have good bus systems, so we should generally be able to take a bus to a starting point, hike for *mumble* hours, and catch another bus home. And we'll try to do a day trip to Herm, or maybe Sark, but Herm looks more appealing if we only go to one.It's a little strange and stressful planning a trip entirely on our own! I mean, we had time on our own in Wales after we finished the supported hike, but we expected to be exhausted, so "eh, we'll just noodle around Aberystwyth and visit the National Library" was plenty of planning. Here, though, I keep trying to research specific hikes we could do, and getting overwhelmed by the confusing and incomplete way info is presented. Like, a site just gives a text list of walks, but I want to see them plotted on a map so I can tell where they are relative to where we're staying. An app tells how to get to the beginning of a hike by bus, but gives no information about what buses can get us home from the end. Another site shows walks on a map but says nothing about how to get to them, so I have to have the walking site, the island's bus route map (very schematic and abstract), and Google Maps open to try to cross-check bus routes and stop locations. After a while I just throw up my hands and hope that the tourist info places will have better info on site.
(Ahahahah, I initially typed "better" as "beer," and, well, yes please, that too.)
We have booked a couple of activities in advance. The seabed slopes very gradually away around the islands, so when the tide goes out it goes waaaaaaay out, and we have booked a three-hour guided walk across the exposed sea floor, which sounds amazing; and the next day we've booked a couple hours of guided sea kayaking around the coastline. Other than that, though, we're winging it!
Well, winging the day-to-day part. We have booked our hotels and our ferry tickets between Jersey and Guernsey in advance, because I don't feel comfortable trying to arrange things like that on the fly. And after our hotel snafu in Aberystwyth, I have made sure to directly contact each hotel with a plausible-sounding query ("we'll be arriving before our room is likely to be ready, would we be able to drop our luggage off?" is always a good one) that translates to "please confirm that you have actually received our reservation and planned for our arrival"! Yes, this wouldn't be a problem if I booked directly instead of going through Booking.com, but the fact is that many hotels don't have direct booking anymore; they outsource it all to third parties like B.c.
And of course there's the ongoing uncertainly about the world's supply of jet fuel. Will we be able to get home? Geoff keeps bringing this question up, and saying we ought to look into our options if there's a problem, but he doesn't come up with anything really actionable. Other than exploring UK-to-CA cruises? But I'm like, there is absolutely nothing we can do to affect the possibility of our being stranded for a bit; if British Airways cancels our flight it will be on them to find us an alternate means of travel; it will still be both faster and cheaper to wait for a new flight than to try to sail across; we are fortunate enough to have the ability to absorb an unexpected extra few nights in a hotel if necessary; sweetie, you are stressed about this and you're dealing with your stress by just venting it in my direction, please stop. I mean, yes, it's a stressful prospect (and I acknowledge that the whole goddamn world is a stressful prospect right now and "what if our vacation in a few days longer and more stressful than planned?" is completely a "diamond shoes gave me a blister" problem), but since there is absolutely nothing we can do I prefer not to spend nervous energy on it, thanks.
Anyway, on top of all that hiking, we want to visit some of the Neolithic passage tombs, and also some of the museums of the Nazi occupation. *shiver* And I plan to eat my own weight in seafood, although Geoff won't join me in that. And maybe we will even lounge about!
Still waiting, politicians
Apr. 24th, 2026 03:18 pmloganberrybunnyIt all feels very February 2020 right now. There's a massive crisis in Asia, its effects are getting closer, we know they're going to hit us soon, we're past the point at which we can avoid them... and everyone is carrying on basically as normal. In politicians' cases, doubtless because they're scared of having to tell voters that at least some Things They Want To Do will soon become unaffordable at best and impossible at worst.
No party has the easy solutions all politicians love – because, as in 2020, there aren't any. And also as in 2020, the longer those who are supposed to be governing the UK on our behalf leave it before dropping the pretence, the harder it will be when the wave actually breaks over us. We'll probably even have some parallel to that absurd "last weekend down the pub" that just preceded lockdown. I'm not looking forward to it.
(no subject)
Apr. 24th, 2026 02:40 pmbeccaelizabethand the religion stuff is... a lot, but interesting enough.
I am glad to be reading though
because Nick Necro is back
and it is deliciously fucked up shippy again.
( Read more... )
Starting to think about putting together a pre-summer playlist
Apr. 24th, 2026 09:20 ammoon_custaferMatthew C. Whitaker of Hinge also does acoustic, jazzy stuff (one commenter compares ‘Chestnut Tree’ to Jake Thackeray’s work). Sometimes it’s the same songs he sings with Hinge, but a different take on them.
Pigeon, ‘Miami.’ Very ‘eighties vibe here. The band is from Margate, but “If you close your eyes, it’s just like Miami.”
Carl M. Zierher, ‘Cis und Trans, Op. 161’ Everyone’s listening to this because of the title, but it’s also quite a nice polka/mazurka. I thought maybe the title meant “Back and Forth” or “Here and There,” but according to the comments it refers to the kingdoms of Cisleithania and Transleithania in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Tinariwen, ‘Sastanàqqàm.’ The band are Tuareg, so I guess this makes them the electric-bluesmen of the Sahara. Petition to make this the new soundtrack for desert scenes in movies.
Northern Boys, ‘Party Time.’ You may want to listen to this one with headphones as the lyrics are decidedly NSFW, probably NSFAnywhere. Critics have called it “a ‘certified banger’ with ‘disarmingly frank, funny lyrics about sex, drugs, partying, and the crippling mental health issues stemming from repressed white English masculinity.’”
The Babalooneys, ‘Soup Surfer,’ I. Jeziak and the Surfers, ‘Night Owls.’ Apparently surf music is alive and well in Quebec and in Poland.
3 weeks for dreamwidth!
Apr. 24th, 2026 08:52 ammelagan
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
3weeks4dreamwidth is celebrating Dreamwidth's anniversary!Come join in for fun, memes, activities, and more ♥
There's going to be a dent in my planned posting because I'll be visiting family in the middle of this. But I want to cheer everyone on!
travel: Georgia - Kutaisi
Apr. 24th, 2026 08:52 pmtielan( Day 5: I'm not even going to talk about the wine... )
Interesting Links for 24-04-2026
Apr. 24th, 2026 12:00 pmandrewducker- 1. EU approves €90B loan to Ukraine
- (tags:Europe Ukraine GoodNews )
- 2. Parkrun and other sporting bodies face legal action because they're trans inclusive
- (tags:sports law UK bigotry LGBT transgender OhForFucksSake )
- 3. Jane Austen's Seven Horrid Novels: A Tale of Literary Sleuthing
- (tags:history writing janeausten viaSwampers )
- bigotry,
- europe,
- goodnews,
- history,
- janeausten,
- law,
- lgbt,
- links,
- ohforfuckssake,
- sports,
- transgender,
- uk,
- ukraine,
- viaswampers,
- writing
Open Challenge: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Fanfic: Open Book
Apr. 24th, 2026 11:34 ambadly_knitted posting in fan_flashworksTitle: Open Book
Fandom: BtVS
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Buffy, Joyce.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 300
Spoilers/Setting: Early to mid-Season 3.
Summary: Buffy is glad she doesn’t have to lie to her mom now, but that still doesn’t mean she wants to tell her everything.
Content Notes: None needed.
Written For: Challenge 513: Amnesty 85, using Challenge 432: Open.
Disclaimer: I don’t own BtVS, or the characters.
Weird feedback from a dream critic (as in literally from my dreams, not metaphorical)
Apr. 24th, 2026 06:10 pmitsamellama"Hey, so, I read your biopic! And it was so interesting that I had nothing interesting to say! Oh, and your other performance was great, too."
AND THEN HE PATTED ME ON THE SHOULDER AND SMILED AND LEFT
What does that even MEAN, dream critic???
I suppose I found it interesting enough to write about it, in any case!
Lay beside me, under wicked skys, through black of day, dark of night, we share this, paralyzed
Apr. 24th, 2026 03:57 ambeansideYesterday, I felt poorly enough that after I finished posting, and doing my morning things, I went back to bed. I may do that today as well.
I'm still queasy, and lower digestive tract is not happy either. I've been running to the bathroom this morning. I skipped my early morning coffee in favor of a ginger ale, which is how you know I must feel bad. I may actually drink some tea!
I've got a game tonight that is on entirely shaky ground right now. We'll see how I'm feeling after work. Right now, I would say cancel, but it's been waiting forever and a day, so I hate to push it. We're pretty near the end of the module, so it would probably be a short session. I'll see how things go.
Still no boarding passes yet. I am waiting patiently for those to arrive. But the meal choice on our flight to Seattle was ready to pick. They had some good things. I (and everyone else but Jess) opted for Parmesan chive eggs, bacon and potatoes. Jess is getting the Bananas Foster crepes, which sound delicious. If it weren't for needing protien, I'd have considered that one.
Tomorrow will be 14 days til the boat, so I'm assuming that we'll be getting the boarding passes then. On the other hand, it's now 13 days today that we leave.
I'm a bit anxious about the cruise. I've never done one, and we are a sold out, or near sold out cruise. How will I do with the people. How fat friendly is the boat? Will I do okay with all the walking. If I'll get seasick. If everyone will have fun. I hope so! I'm definitely going to have to adjust my sleep cycle, which will suck, but I'll get there. The first day, we're going to be awake for nearly 22 hours. Hopefully that'll reset us to PST. Coming back, we span an entire day in one six hour flight. We leave at 10am PST and land at 6:30 EST. Fortunately, coming back I'll have access again to my weed stash, which should help me to go to sleep early. I'm going to miss the relaxing peppermints while we're away. It's going to suck. I wonder about that, too. How well will I sleep on this trip. I'm hoping that most days I'll be too tired not to sleep, but I'm a little nervous about it.
Tomorrow, whether I feel better or not, I need to do some packing adjustments. I went ahead and bought a small carry on suitcase, so I need to move a few things from my personal item and from my suitcase to bring the weight down a touch. Plus, then I'll have access to a fleece if I need one. RIght now, it looks like Seattle and Vancouver are going to be in the 60s's, so even with getting in early, a light fleece will be plenty. I know on the way back, I may get hit with the $100 overweigh fee anyway. It's a very small suitcase, so it's not going to hold a ton, but I will try to switch a few things over to lighten it. I do need to add a dress to the carry on, just in case our bags are late getting to us. Though, since we are the Pinnacle Suite, they'll probably come fairly early.
Apparently uber to the game is super pricey, but the hotel shuttle will drop you at the light rail, which seems to go from SEATAC to the Stadium for a reasonable price. Need to do a bit more research on that, though. I'm debating between joining him to go into Seattle proper and grabbing lunch and sightseeing vs having a quiet day at the Cedarbrook Lodge. Both sound enticing. I guess we'll see how much we get done in Seattle and how well we like it as to whether we want to venture out.
I can't say I wouldn't enjoy a second shot at Pike Placie, on our own time, when the limo isn't waiting. We might be able to hit that French restaurant that I really want to try for a late lunch/early dinner. The last day on the cruise should be pretty chill, so I might feel like a little excitement.
I just plan to have all our documents printed out and in hand when we board. The BIL is not great with technology, so I don't trust him to pull up his boarding pass in terminal. I've got an itinerary with all the phone #s of the vendors and hotels we're using in case anyone needs to get in touch with us. (Mostly the BIL's family.) But it's going to be a great vacation, and no one is going to need anything from us. BIL's mother is going to be fine, his sisters are going to be fine and on our end, Yoda is going to be fine at the daycare/kennel.
I just need to re-figure dinner for the day before the cruise, since apparently people from the Facebook group would like to get together before we go on the cruise, so I'm down for that. It'll probably mean going to a boring restaurant, which will suck, but I started the group for this sailing, so I feel like I should probably be there. Maybe we can sneak in something in Chinatown for lunch. We'll just do Granville Island Public Market for second breakfast. Or first real breakfast for Jess, since they don't like eggs and probably won't have many options at the hotel breakfast.
We'll be on the boat on Sunday, so no Sunday brunch in Chinatown. But we will have the Alaska Brunch. I think we'll finish up our game by then. Let's see, we'll be starting at 9 PST, and finishing about noon. I think the brunch goes til 1, so we might have time for that. I may see if we could start a wee earlier, so we have a little more time. That'll be in the main dining room, which may be the only time I go there. Though I may go there for Tea our last sea day. That would probably be nice. We can have tea delivered to our room every day of the cruise if we want, but since we'll be at port some days, that isn't likely to happen.
I'm planning to take a ton of pictures and hopefully some video of everything we see. It'll all get uploaded to my Alaska folder on Google Photos. If anyone would like to follow along, please feel free. I will probably also be posting some of the best, most exciting pictures on here in the mornings, but I'll put them behind a cut so as to not spam anyone who's not interested. Hell, you might see the occasional afternoon post pop up with "I saw a whale!" If you follow me on bluesky, you're also going to get occasional pictures there as well. I'll save the spam on facebook until we get back, since that's under my wallet name and I'd like my home unburglarized.
So, y'know, my apologies if you see the same pictures repeatedly.
I can't believe that this time two weeks from now, I'll be sleeping in Vancouver, dreaming of Granville Market the next morning. It still seems like a completely made up idea, a scheme that would never actually happen. But I have the airline tickets and luggage tags to prove it, and that's just weird.
The next week and a half at work is going to seem SO long, especially Wednesday. Wednesday is going to drag. I'll have another 6 hours of PTO, so I may leave at noon, so I can flit about the house and watch the clock instead of doing it at work. I know I'm going to be packing my pills and a daily pill case to put them in that night. They recommend taking the bottles. I can fill another daily pill case for the night and morning pills that I'll need before we go. Then in the morning, I pack the cords for the phone, since I'll want it to charge over night. I'm still debating on whether to take the portable charger. On one hand, it could be useful. On the other, fire risk on the plane. Maybe I'll wait and buy an inexpensive one in Canada, and then toss it before we come back. That might be a good plan.
The other day, we were watching a video about the steakhouse we're going to first night, Hy's. It looked so good, even in my vaguely queasy state. It's super expensive, but we're going to live it up. I'm torn between getting the tableside prep of Steak Diane, vs the ungodly expensive 20 oz dry aged ribeye. It's a tough call, because I do love ribeye steak, but tableside flambe also sounds good. It's sure to be tasty no matter what.
Okay, I've babbled enough for one day. Everyone have a most excellent Friday!
Man-Spider Occasionally Swings Back Into My Life.
Apr. 24th, 2026 10:17 amrionaleonhartAnonymous: Cornley School au anon here. I worded it terribly, sorry. What I meant to ask was about the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society if they had met as teenagers and grown up in the 2010s but I absolutely garbled the word soup there.
Ah, thank you for clarifying, and I'm sorry for getting confused! It worked out in the end, because I enjoyed the idea of everyone getting trapped in the drama room.
I was an adult by the 2010s myself (I'm pretty much exactly the same age as Lewis/Sayer/Shields)
* This is assuming that Robert is the same age as his actor, which is admittedly not a given! Chris is canonically two years older than Robert, whereas there are only three months between their actors. I considered using Lewis for this joke instead, but it's not Henry Lewis I'm weird about; it's Robert Grove. Which is unfortunate, because marrying Lewis would be a) more achievable and b) probably a less terrible idea.
If they met as teenagers, I could see them sort of gravitating around Robert. Things often feel uncertain and unstable when you're a teenager, and, at that age, I can imagine that Robert's projected air of absolute confidence might feel magnetic, particularly for the characters who have very little confidence themselves (e.g. Dennis and Vanessa). It's possible I just think that because I find Robert so compelling myself, though!
If Robert does end up the centre of their group, of course, it's only a matter of time before he ropes them into putting on theatre. They are doomed to end up in the drama society in every universe.
Anonymous, continued: Also, I am taking notes on If We Were Villains and I shall explore that... but yes, we do not want Robert killing Chris!
I hope you enjoy If We Were Villains, if you check it out! It's not a perfect book, but I really enjoyed how intense and weird the character dynamics were.
Maybe Robert could instead attempt to murder Chris and then get really huffy that Chris won't let it go. The man's still alive, isn't he? Why is he still complaining over one measly murder attempt? It's been weeks!
Anonymous: I don't know if this counts as a ficlet, but I'd love to see Man-Spider's mishaps with the Goes Wrong crew.
This is such a deep cut, and I’m so curious about who you are! In any case, Man-Spider is thrilled that someone remembers him.
( The Theatrical Adventures of Man-Spider. )
Anonymous: Who would be the worst member of Cornley for Robert to be bodyswapped with? I am imagining shenanigans galore for every possibility!!!
I feel Sandra is simultaneously the worst and the best option!
Robert rather enjoys being in Sandra’s body. Does a lot of strutting and posing, comments that he can see why Sandra’s such a fan of it.
Sandra hates being Robert, right up until she realises that, if she’s in someone else’s body, she can have sex with herself. Robert takes up the suggestion with great enthusiasm. They make very little effort to hide what they’re up to from the rest of the society, who are deeply unhappy about this.
It continues
Apr. 24th, 2026 09:38 amgaladhirDespite the rather disparaging title of this post, I've been very pleasantly impressed by the windows people. They did the whole upstairs on Wednesday, not even needing to put ladders up. They just put the outside parts of the window through the gap and pulled it into the socket from the inside.
Then they did all the windows downstairs, and the front door, yesterday. And today they're just finishing off with the patio window/door that leads into the garden and forms the whole wall along the back of the sitting room. This is apparently much more complicated than any of the previous things so it requires a day of its own - certainly they're hard at work on it and have been since 7.55. (It's now 9.43)
I am so pleased with the new front door! The old one was a bit ratty even when we moved in. The blue paint was flaking off and the wood of the doorstep had begun to fall apart - there was a chunk missing. It was also very plain and let the drafts through, and generally we ignored it.
This one however is a nice green colour. It has stained glass, and a knocker in the shape of a bee. It feels sturdier and fits way more snugly in its socket. When the sun shines through the door panels, onto the floor of the hall, it's very beautiful.
The workmen did attempt to force one of our internal doors with a crowbar. (It's a sliding door and it is finicky - there's a knack to it and they didn't have the knack, so they attempted to force it and broke the lock.) But they have fixed that now.
How easy it is for an experienced person to get through a door with a crowbar! A slightly worrying thought.
Well, I think I will get out of the chaos by cycling into town to get groceries and go to the gym. I don't really want to do either of those things, but there's no peace to be had here, so why not?
April 2026 Membership Drive: Behind the Scenes of AO3
Apr. 24th, 2026 12:02 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
ao3_news_feed
In case you missed it, earlier this month AO3 exited open beta! Earlier this year, we also reached 10 million users and 17 million fanworks. We’re awed by all these milestones we’ve reached as a community, and, as always, are very grateful for all your support.
These milestones would not be possible without the hard work of the volunteers who are part of the Accessibility, Design, & Technology committee (AD&T). AD&T is the team behind developing, updating, and maintaining the AO3’s software and infrastructure, whose work you can keep up with by reading the release notes posts with the list of code updates and fixes. Recently, our AD&T volunteers and contributors moved collections to Elasticsearch as well as made improvements to bookmark filtering and sorting.
If you're familiar with coding and would like to help, we welcome contributions from anyone! Check out our Contributing Guidelines and other documentation on our GitHub repository. All contributors are credited in our release notes.
If you're interested in helping AO3 but don't have any coding experience, consider contributing to AO3 in some other way, such as by donating!
We’ve prepared new donation gifts for this Drive as well, such as the US$350 Fix-It Kit, for when you need to do a little fix-it for canon; and the US$100 tech travel bag for all your fic reading and fanwork creation needs!
As per usual, we have a sticker set at the US$45 level, with a theme in celebration of the inherently human and collaborative nature of fannish culture and fandom, as well as encouragement of new beginnings.
Fiber Art Weavers, who generously donated OTW-themed recycled cotton blankets previously have kindly donated some more this Drive! We’re very excited to add them to our donation gifts at the US$600 level, but please note that these are limited in number and cannot be saved up for with a recurring donation unlike the other gifts. Once again, thank you so much to Fiber Art Weavers for their donation!
If you want a gift but don’t want to donate all at once, you can also set up a recurring donation and save towards the gift of your choice. Simply select a thank-you gift that your recurring donation will be adding up to, and once you’ve “saved” enough to get your item, you will get an email from Development & Membership to confirm your shipping address. You must respond to this email for the donation gift to be sent to you. Those of you in the U.S. might also be able to double your contribution via employer matching: contact your HR department to find out if this is an option for you. For more information regarding donating, refer to the Donations and Membership FAQ.
A donation of US$10 or more will also allow you to become a member of the OTW. OTW members have the right to vote for the Board of Directors—the OTW’s governing board. You have until June 30, 2026 to become a member if you would like to vote in this year’s election, which will be held in August. For more information about OTW elections, refer to our elections website.
While we hope that many of you will take this opportunity to donate and join the OTW, we're grateful for the support of all members of this community, in all its many forms! Whether you create, share, comment on or kudos fanworks on AO3; edit Fanlore; read Transformative Works and Cultures; or spread information from OTW Legal, you all help shape the OTW and its projects every day. We are grateful for your time, energy, and engagement!
The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, OTW Legal Advocacy, and Transformative Works and Cultures. We are a fan-run, donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.
Update April 24 13:27 UTC: We are grateful for all your enthusiasm for the OTW-themed blankets! Unfortunately, our limited supply has now run out and it is no longer available as a donation gift. All other items are still available
A Little Bit More On Narcissism
Apr. 24th, 2026 08:31 ampoliphiloPersonally, I don't think you can categorise human behaviour. Or at least, while it can be useful to put people into categories a point will come where the filing system breaks down. Like I'm a librarian and here's a book that features an Elf detective solving cases in the greenwood- so what shelf do I put it on- Crime or Fantasy?
I think narcissism exists on a spectrum. Some people are just a bit narcissistic and some are full blown. The current US President takes it into the realm of caricature. I doubt anyone is entirely free of the syndrome. I mean, we all like getting our own way, don't we?
Again I believe you can outgrow it. I look at my behaviour as a young man and think, "That was pretty controlling." However, I'm not like that now....
Why was I so controlling? Because the world was well scary and I needed allies. And if my chosen allies didn't entirely see things my way I tried to bend them to my will. In my case narcissism rose out of Fear- and if I'm no longer narcissistic it's because I've stopped being afraid.....
Follow Friday 4-24-26: Metal
Apr. 24th, 2026 12:01 amysabetwordsmithaddme_fandom -- Addme FandomFind friends who share your fannish obsessions.
[Active with multiple posts in April.]
beautifulmechanical -- Beautiful MechanicalDo you love music? We do, too.
[Active with multiple posts in April.]
creativity -- Make It, Build It, Dream It. Creativity.Sharing creative projects and ideas.
[Somewhat active with last post in June 2025.]
onesongaday -- One Song A DayDo you love music? So come share, listen & enjoy.
[Active with multiple posts in April.]
vkotd -- V系お勧めA community for sharing songs by flamboyant Japanese rock/metal bands.
[Active with multiple posts in April.]
m's procrastinating so they did a fandom stats yipeee
Apr. 24th, 2026 12:19 amstardust_rifleso i decided to Do A Stats.
two things that jump out immediately. the massive spike in 2015 appears to be caused entirely by two authors mass-reuploading their old fics without backdating them. one of those authors is also largely responsible for the 2018 spike. (for posterity's sake, this person used to be my mutual. god i love how small this fandom is sometimes)
after 2018 and the subsequent crash back down to earth, we start to see a steady increase starting in 2020, which could very well be attributed to young people discovering the band on tiktok during the pandemic and starting to write fic.
now, the question popping in my brain is "why malice mizer?" when i look at other vkei bands that got really big amongst young people recently, like jiluka (53 works) and gulu gulu (4 works), there's not really this massive upswelling of fanfic writing on ao3 for them. i think this is largely due to two reasons.
firstly, the members of malice mizer have very obvious capital S capital P Stage Personas, a very clearly defined "aristocratic vampire fantasy" aesthetic, which creates more of a sense of separation from the Real People which might make it easier to write fic.
secondly, malice mizer has Lore. "why did gackt leave malice mizer?" is like the second-most speculated-about-topic on the vkei fan internet, things like kami's death, the fraying nature of the professional relationships in the band, all of that is just kind of fuel for people to mold and reshape into Narrative, and Narrative is a fundamental component of good RPF, in my opinion.
i have literally no idea how to conclude this other than that m was kind of right and now they feel vindicated. yipee.
Nightmares in the North 11/11
Apr. 24th, 2026 04:01 amleifandthorn_feed
Dagny: These, uh. These actually look pretty good?
Sveta: You could sound a little less surprised.
Dagny: And . . . you fixed up the whole kitchen!
[sparkling clean]
Sveta: Yeah, well, I did a lil’ math. We can for sure afford a trip to Ceannis . . . once we get the security deposit back.
Dagny: For the apartment? Are you sure??
Sveta: Sooo, you maybe got me thinkin’ about what Bjarte would want after all . . . an’ then . . .
Bjarte (dream): Sveta, love, I did not go off hormones and carry your baby for nine months just to see you let her down like this. Do not make me come back and haunt you!
Sveta: . . . Yeah, it was a “get your life together” dream, not a “magically make you a good cook” kind of dream. We gotta clear out those cupboards, though, so. Eat up.
Write Every Day: Day 23
Apr. 23rd, 2026 09:15 pmsanguinityDays 1-15
My check-in: Another conference day, which meant another early morning, which meant another morning of editing while I waited for my coffee to brew. But I managed to send the story to beta before I took myself off to learn about transportation policy*, so we'll call that a success.
(*A far more engaging topic than it sounds like!)
Day 23:
china_shop, dswdiane, goddess47, sanguinity, trobadoraDay 22:
badly_knitted, china_shop, cornerofmadness, dswdiane, goddess47, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, the_siobhanDay 21:
badly_knitted, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, dswdiane, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora( More days )
When you check in, please use the most recent post and say what day(s) you’re checking in for. Remember you can drop in or out at any time, and let me know if I missed anyone!
Daily Happiness
Apr. 23rd, 2026 09:03 pmtorachan2. Today was a work from home day again and I just took it easy. I am going in tomorrow, but it's been nice to have a mostly WFH week to ease back in to things.
3. One of my regular Thursday meetings was cancelled this morning, and the other (a 4pm one) was cancelled about half an hour before its start. My kind of day!
4. Jasper has claimed the top perch of the new cat tree as his own and has already spent many, many hours curled up there, but Ollie is the only one who's shown interest in the hole. We've never had a cat tree with a hole platform before, but watching him poke up through the hole to play with the dangle toy gave me some of the most joyous moments of my life. Truly a still photo cannot convey how silly and adorable he looked.
(no subject)
Apr. 23rd, 2026 08:59 pmdustbunny105Anyhow, guess I'm not going to be getting the current crop of minibots. I suppose I can't be too mad about saving all that money, lol, but I just want them to do my man the justice he deserves TnT
2026 Japan Trip Part 2 (4/4)
Apr. 23rd, 2026 08:41 pmtorachan( Osaka Kaiyukan Aquarium )
(no subject)
Apr. 23rd, 2026 11:00 pmconuly posting in agonyauntMy husband has been with this company for 30 years, and we've been together for 15 of them, but this Valentine's Day celebration began only four years ago. I am 65 and have worked 20-plus years for a Fortune 500 corporate office and NEVER has Valentine's Day been celebrated in the office. Christmas, yes. Fourth of July, yes. But Valentine's Day? Am I just old and cranky? This has been a source of contention between my husband and me since it began. -- NOT LOVIN' THAT IN TEXAS
( Read more... )
Radio Silence
Apr. 23rd, 2026 07:50 pmlovelyangelIn conjunction, I haven’t taken any photos, either, so there aren’t any photography posts. Mainly, I’ve had my head down, working on sorting and organizing stuff in the garage – and also tending to issues in the rest of the house. There have been some setbacks, and I’m not sure I’ll hit my target goal of having the house fully operational by the end of the month. Seems like every day I get sidetracked onto something else to fix.
We’ve had some sunny days here in Oregon – ideal for opening the garage door and working in the garage. Rain came back for a couple of days, but the forecast is for sunny (or non-rainy) weather for the next seven days, with high temperatures in the mid-to-upper 60’s °F. Perfect. I am hoping to get Shizu back into the garage next week. She’s been in exile for more than seven months.
Anyway, I’m still here – just very focused on the house. I’ll have a better update at the end of the month – or whenever the final piece falls into place. I really need to get things wrapped up in April, as May is going to be a busy month.
A Complicated Tangle (part 2 of 5)
Apr. 23rd, 2026 10:36 pmdialecticdreamerBy Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 2 of 5
Word count (story only): 1639
[Tuesday, 3 January 2017]
:: Frank the Crank is analyzing the next sections of road to clear, and trying to decide if the promise of payment is enough to warrant hiring a crew captain for a new work crew. All these difficulties, and he hasn’t even seen the next tangle in person yet! Part of the Polychrome Heroics universe, this story is written for the April Magpie Monday, and will post in five parts. Thank you all for your support. Enjoy! ::
Back to part one
On to part three
Frank’s eyebrows climbed. “You’re saying that the army won’t pay after we’ve signed a contract and done the work?” he asked carefully.
“They can take forever,” Alun warned him in a small voice. “They haven’t yet paid out Dad’s death benefits, and I need that…” He clamped his lips together, his whole face tinted the bluish color of soured milk.
( Read more... )
Dept. of Theological Meanderings
Apr. 23rd, 2026 05:38 pmkaffy_rIt's just something I thought while Bob and I were talking in bed last night. Talk turned to religion as more than occasionally happens. He may be atheist and I may be an intermittent agnostic that believes in something on alternate Thursdays, but we have always liked playing with the ideas and philosophies connected to religion in general.
And something that had been simmering in my head over the last while - months, possibly a couple of years - finally bubbled up in words.
OK - here's where folks of faith can feel free to stop reading, or to roll their eyes at me, or be offended. This is what I believe and I expect no one else to agree with me.
( Seriously. Believers might want to avoid )
Tick, tick, ticking away
Apr. 23rd, 2026 09:49 pmviridian5
Spring flowers continue in Queens, so I've been doing a spring tromp through my area's cemeteries and started putting some photos up. My knees have been bothering me a bit while picking my way along All Faiths Cemetery's uneven ground, but my podiatrist-mandated sneakers have mostly kept me from turning any ankles. You can see my photos at my Flickr.
+++
I enjoyed the Nine Inch Nails & Boys Noize set at Coachella, so I bought the album attached to their tour. Then listened to it tonight while driving down the highway in my car, truly the best way. It was sometimes difficult to stay within the speed limit doing it but y'know. Ten out of ten, would bob my head and drive too fast to this a hundred times.
I do wonder if the inclusion of "Heresy" and "The Warning" in this set is a pointed reference to current events. (Hey, proportionally, there are a lot of Year Zero songs reworked in this set, and Year Zero's whole thing was the apocalypse, militarism, weaponized religion, and environmental devastation. Just saying.)
This album brought back to me how much my neck is involved in enjoying and experiencing some music. I don't, can't, headbang, but I do bob and throw my head back a bit sometimes as I'm really feeling it. Makes me glad the doctors didn't fuse my neck as they thought they should maybe do to decrease my pain 20 years ago. But the traction they thought would make me feel wonderful actually greatly increased my pain and dizziness, made me panic and feel like I was dying. Thanks to that, I now understand animals that gnaw their own feet off to get out of a trap because the getitoffgetitoffgetitoffgetitoffGETITOFF I felt....
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For some reason, Sting's music recently came to mind, starting with The Dream of the Blue Turtles, so I've been borrowing his albums from the Queens Library system. For whatever reason, Ten Summoner's Tales has been listed as "In Transit" for over a month, so I got clever and put in an order for another copy of the album a few days ago. And picked it up today. If the other copy ever shows up for pick-up, I'll take care of it. Otherwise, the request will time out in July.
My new iPhone is still screwing up the album cover images on my music, so Ten Summoner's Tales has the cover of Weird Al Yankovic's Mandatory Fun when loaded onto my phone.
Rainbow (Amnesty): Kirby (series): fanart: colorful flight
Apr. 23rd, 2026 08:17 pmecto_one_spengler posting in fan_flashworksTheme: Rainbow (for the current Amnesty)
Fandom: Kirby (video game series) - particularly Kirby's Dream Land 2. (Mods please tag as Kirby.)
Rating: PG
Content notes: It might be a tiny bit bright to look at due to the special effects.. Uhhh, eyestrain warning.
Artist notes: This.. prolly won't be the only Kirby artwork I do for the current Amnesty. It's my Kirby Era right now and I tend to draw more than write when it comes to this fandom, haha.. Dream Land 2 was not my personal first Kirby game, but it does contain great chiptunes and some of my favorite NPCs! :D
Summary: Within a more modern, colorful means, Kirby restores the magical bridges between the Rainbow Islands with the aid of the Rainbow Sword, cheerful to restore the lost colors.
--
( Read more... )
April 2026 Membership Drive: Behind the Scenes of AO3
Apr. 24th, 2026 12:00 amotw_news_feedIn case you missed it, earlier this month AO3 exited open beta! Earlier this year, we also reached 10 million users and 17 million fanworks. We’re awed by all these milestones we’ve reached as a community, and, as always, are very grateful for all your support.
These milestones would not be possible without the hard work of the volunteers who are part of the Accessibility, Design, & Technology committee (AD&T). AD&T is the team behind developing, updating, and maintaining the AO3’s software and infrastructure, whose work you can keep up with by reading the release notes posts with the list of code updates and fixes. Recently, our AD&T volunteers and contributors moved collections to Elasticsearch as well as made improvements to bookmark filtering and sorting.
If you’re familiar with coding and would like to help, we welcome contributions from anyone! Check out our Contributing Guidelines and other documentation on our GitHub repository. All contributors are credited in our release notes.
If you’re interested in helping AO3 but don’t have any coding experience, consider contributing to AO3 in some other way, such as by donating!
We’ve prepared new donation gifts for this Drive as well, such as the US$350 Fix-It Kit, for when you need to do a little fix-it for canon; and the US$100 tech travel bag for all your fic reading and fanwork creation needs!
As per usual, we have a sticker set at the US$45 level, with a theme in celebration of the inherently human and collaborative nature of fannish culture and fandom, as well as encouragement of new beginnings.
Fiber Art Weavers, who generously donated OTW-themed recycled cotton blankets previously have kindly donated some more this Drive! We’re very excited to add them to our donation gifts at the US$600 level, but please note that these are limited in number and cannot be saved up for with a recurring donation unlike the other gifts. Once again, thank you so much to Fiber Art Weavers for their donation!
If you want a gift but don’t want to donate all at once, you can also set up a recurring donation and save towards the gift of your choice. Simply select a thank-you gift that your recurring donation will be adding up to, and once you’ve “saved” enough to get your item, you will get an email from Development & Membership to confirm your shipping address. You must respond to this email for the donation gift to be sent to you. Those of you in the U.S. might also be able to double your contribution via employer matching: contact your HR department to find out if this is an option for you. For more information regarding donating, refer to the Donations and Membership FAQ.
A donation of US$10 or more will also allow you to become a member of the OTW. OTW members have the right to vote for the Board of Directors—the OTW’s governing board. You have until June 30, 2026 to become a member if you would like to vote in this year’s election, which will be held in August. For more information about OTW elections, refer to our elections website.
While we hope that many of you will take this opportunity to donate and join the OTW, we’re grateful for the support of all members of this community, in all its many forms! Whether you create, share, comment on or kudos fanworks on AO3; edit Fanlore; read Transformative Works and Cultures; or spread information from OTW Legal, you all help shape the OTW and its projects every day. We are grateful for your time, energy, and engagement!
The rest of Slutty Armitage Hux Week
Apr. 23rd, 2026 05:55 pmartemisdartThe Simplest Explanation
Author: ArtemisDart
Fandoms: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Phasma - Delilah S. Dawson
Ship: Cardinal | Archex/Armitage Hux
Rating: Explicit
No Archive Warnings Apply
Wordcount: 5,354
Summary: Armitage Hux has arranged matters such that he'll be taking a personal hand in the retrieval of Cardinal's genetic material — a very personal hand.
****
Slutty Armitage Hux Week 2026!
Day Four: Breeding
I really enjoyed this one. In the comments, someone said this story had "lesbian-levels of YEARNING". I'll take it!
Bite Me
Author: ArtemisDart
Fandoms: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Ship: Armitage Hux/Tritt Opan
Rating: Explicit
No Archive Warnings Apply
Wordcount: 4,625
Summary: Armitage Hux is twenty-two years old and doesn't need to be rescued by his father's pet assassin.
But what lies under that assassin's uniform is something of a surprise.
****
Slutty Armitage Hux Week 2026!
Day Five: Biting Tattoos
I had never even heard of Tritt Opan before I started hanging out online with a bunch of Sequel Trilogy super fans. In December 2025, many of us on the Discord server were joking about how odd and off-putting he looks. Someone quipped that he looks like he owns a pet beetle named Wolp.
Well, after that we were off to the races. People came up with increasingly unhinged tales of what Captain Opan might do with his beetles... The consensus seemed to be that he'd let them suck his blood. Maybe once for every successful kill. And maybe he'd make tattoos out of the bites. That sounds like a super normal thing for a First Order assassin to do!
And thus, this fic was born.
Her Perfect Vessel
Author: ArtemisDart
Fandoms: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Ship: Armitage Hux/Rose Tico
Rating: General
No Archive Warnings Apply
Wordcount: 1,000
Summary: Armitage Hux meditates on the process of putting on his full-body latex suit.
***
Slutty Armitage Hux Week 2026!
Day Six: Latex
I liked this one because I was able to keep it short and sweet. Rose doesn't appear in this story, but she's woven in throughout it. And I don't bother to give a backstory or a reason that they're alive and together; I just have it that way, and the reader will have to adjust.
Yub Nub
Author: ArtemisDart
Fandoms: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Ship: Poe Dameron/Armitage Hux
Rating: Teen
No Archive Warnings Apply
Wordcount: 3,198
Summary: Poe and Hux get caught in a net! Shenanigans ensue!
***
Slutty Armitage Hux Week 2026!
Day Seven: Sex in Unexpected Places
This one was just silly! I brought in Princess Leia's classic pleasure slave outfit. Did I explain why it ended up on Endor? No I did not, although I do have a whole chain of custody in mind -- it's silly, though, so there's no reason to take that seriously!
I had a great time with the prompts. Looking forward to finally having time to read the other entries, once I finish my submission to the May the Fourth event!
Daily Check-In
Apr. 23rd, 2026 08:52 pmmecurtin posting in fandom_checkinOpen to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 24
How are you doing?
I am OK
11 (45.8%)
I am not OK, but don't need help right now
13 (54.2%)
I could use some help
0 (0.0%)
How many other humans live with you?
I am living single
9 (37.5%)
One other person
9 (37.5%)
More than one other person
6 (25.0%)
Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.