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davidgillon) wrote2025-10-09 05:24 pmNew UK hate crime figures, *sigh*
The new hate crime figures are out, apparently disability hate crime is slightly down. Am I being cynical in assuming that's probably because some of the haters are too busy committing hate crimes against muslims and/or jews and/or anyone who doesn't look like them?
Trans hate crime is also slightly down, but I'd presume that would be people feeling even less safe to report it, rather than an actual reduction.
The figures exclude the Met, the biggest force in the country because they're busy adopting a new crime reporting tool - so give us their figures as a separate entry, don't just exclude them entirely. *headdesk*
Somewhat embarrassingly for the police/Home Office, the Office for Statistics Regulation is still insisting they include a caveat to say their data is actually pretty crap.
sovay) wrote2025-10-09 12:55 pmFierce as the Baltic sea
nineweaving that proved to be Vaughn Scribner's Merpeople: A Human History (2020) and from my parents which was a DVD of The Sea Wolf (1941). Hestia was a small black round of purr like an extra present at the foot of the bed. It is bright and brisk and cloudless as all the classical autumns outside.peasina) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
pokepodproject2025-10-09 06:00 pmRe-Date and Final Check Reminder!
To re-date, locate your work(s) by navigating to your Works page (using AO3's left sidebar link) then clicking the “Works in Collections” button, top right. Open the work, hit edit, and scroll to the “Set a different publication date” checkbox. When you select the checkbox, a dropdown will appear. Change the work’s publication date to today, then save by hitting post. It may take a few minutes to take effect.
Other suggested checks:
- Don’t forget to add any podfic tags you might want and "[Podfic]" or "Podfic of:" to your title, however you like to signify that.
- Is the Pokemon you wrote about tagged as a character? Many people browse the collection (or AO3) by searching the Pokemon's name. If they're tagged, it easier for them to find your story!
pauraque) wrote2025-10-09 12:50 pmSanitarium (1998)
This is a new game to me, suggested by
cielsosinfel. I was certainly aware of it when it came out (it got great reviews and won awards) but back then I didn't really play horror games and I thought it would be too scary. But then I was 16, and now I am a brave individual of advanced years with many pixel-scares under my belt, so let's dive in.( cut for length )
Sanitarium is on Steam for $12.99 USD and on GOG for $9.99. The Steam release is a port that runs natively on modern operating systems, while the version on GOG runs on the ScummVM emulator. I played the Steam version and the game did crash once, so I recommend saving often regardless.
oursin) wrote2025-10-09 05:22 pmSurely 60% is a rather low estimate?
I see estimates differ: I was working from the Sturgeon's Law that '90% of anything is crap' -
- whereas Ridley Scott is prepared to claim that '60% of films made today are “shit”, and of the remaining 40%, “25% … is not bad, and 10% is pretty good, and the top 5% is great”. and that this is pretty much so for the history of the movies over time (a fairly nuanced judgement I suppose) (though we should probably factor in the extent to which film, especially from the nitrate era, was a very frangible medium and there is a survival issue....)
From the Wikipedia article on Sturgeon's Law, some confirming opinions by other thinkerz:
'Nine-tenths of existing books are nonsense, and the clever books are the refutation of that nonsense' (Disraeli, 1870)
'Four-fifths of everybody's work must be bad. But the remnant is worth the trouble for its own sake. (Kipling, 1890)
'In much more than nine cases out of ten the only objectively truthful criticism would be "This book is worthless...'(Wot a grump George Orwell was, eh, 1946)
A 2009 paper in The Lancet estimated that over 85% of health and medical research is wasted.
(The trouble is you cannot tell in advance what is going to be, can you.)
On reflection I rather like Scott's 'not bad - pretty good - great' because one can, in fact, get enjoyment out of those levels.
settiai) wrote2025-10-09 12:18 pm
The Mighty Nein
Oh, they've finally released the trailer for the first season of The Mighty Nein! And it looks amazingly good!
I've gotta admit, I'm very curious to see what they end up doing for this series. While I love CR2, the fact that the pandemic happened in the middle of it and they had to unexpectedly take a multiple month hiatus really caused some disconnect in the campaign itself. They've already said they're reworking some plot-related things for the animated series, and I'm really hoping that will fix some of the campaign's weaknesses because the story itself is amazing.
I really wonder what they're going to do with the release schedule. For The Legend of Vox Machina, it's had twelve episodes per season and they've released it in four batches of three episodes each over the course of a month. This series is going to have hour long episodes instead of half hour ones, so I really wonder A. how many episodes the season will be and B. if they'll release it one episode a week.
My suspicion is that it will be eight episodes released weekly, since that's what Amazon does for other hour-long shows like The Rings of Power. We'll have to wait for them to officially confirm it, though.
marycatelli) wrote in book_love2025-10-09 10:49 amThe Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine, Vol. 4
Spoilers ahead for the earlier volumes.
( Read more... )
duckprintspress) wrote2025-10-09 10:32 amRead (Queer) Banned Books: Our Recommendations
Banned Book Week 2025 is from October 5 to October 11. Over the years, many banned books have included queer themes and/or characters. We’ve compiled a list of 7 of our favorites that we recommend folks read; this doesn’t mean the other queer banned books aren’t great and worthy of your support – mostly, it means these are the ones we’ve read, as we never recommend books that no one in our group of rec list folks has read.
We’re also doing a Tumblr poll – tell us how many of the top ten most banned books of 2024 you’ve read and reblog the post to spread the word about book banning!
Bookshop.org is running a sale this week in partnership with We Need Diverse Books. If you’re looking for banned books to read, they’ve got a list, and a code to save 20%!
Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia’s intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears.
Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity–what it means and how to think about it–for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.
Flamer by Mike Curato
I know I’m not gay. Gay boys like other boys. I hate boys. They’re mean, and scary, and they’re always destroying something or saying something dumb or both.
I hate that word. Gay. It makes me feel . . . unsafe.
It’s the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone’s going through changes–but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can’t stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.
The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
Stephen is an ideal child of aristocratic parents – a fencer, a horse rider and a keen scholar. Stephen grows to be a war hero, a bestselling writer and a loyal, protective lover. But Stephen is a woman, and her lovers are women. As her ambitions drive her, and society confines her, Stephen is forced into desperate actions. The Well of Loneliness was banned for obscenity when published in 1928. It became an international bestseller, and for decades was the single most famous lesbian novel. It has influenced how love between women is understood, for the twentieth century and beyond.
May the Best Man Win by Z.R. Ellor
Jeremy Harkiss, cheer captain and student body president, won’t let coming out as a transgender boy ruin his senior year. Instead of bowing to the bigots and outdate school administration, Jeremy decides to make some noise—and how better than by challenging his all-star ex-boyfriend, Lukas for the title of Homecoming King?
Lukas Rivers, football star and head of the Homecoming Committee, is just trying to find order in his life after his older brother’s funeral and the loss long-term girlfriend—who turned out to be a boy. But when Jeremy threatens to break his heart and steal his crown, Lukas kick starts a plot to sabotage Jeremy’s campaign.
When both boys take their rivalry too far, the dance is on the verge of being canceled. To save Homecoming, they’ll have to face the hurt they’re both hiding—and the lingering butterflies they can’t deny.
Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa
London, 1812. Oliver Bennet feels trapped. Not just by the endless corsets, petticoats and skirts he’s forced to wear on a daily basis, but also by society’s expectations. The world—and the vast majority of his family and friends—think Oliver is a girl named Elizabeth. He is therefore expected to mingle at balls wearing a pretty dress, entertain suitors regardless of his interest in them, and ultimately become someone’s wife.
But Oliver can’t bear the thought of such a fate. He finds solace in the few times he can sneak out of his family’s home and explore the city rightfully dressed as a young gentleman. It’s during one such excursion when Oliver becomes acquainted with Darcy, a sulky young man who had been rude to “Elizabeth” at a recent social function. But in the comfort of being out of the public eye, Oliver comes to find that Darcy is actually a sweet, intelligent boy with a warm heart. And not to mention incredibly attractive.
As Oliver is able to spend more time as his true self, often with Darcy, part of him dares begin to hope that his dream of love and life as a man to be possible. But suitors are growing bolder—and even threatening—and his mother is growing more desperate to see him settled into an engagement. Oliver will have to choose: Settle for safety, security, and a life of pretending to be something he’s not, or risk it all for a slim chance at freedom, love, and a life that can be truly, honestly his own.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life, indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence.
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum’s classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked?
Gregory Maguire has created a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again.
Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability, and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West—a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.
The contributors to the list are: Nina Waters, Shannon, Linnea Peterson, and Meera S.
Find these and more books on our Goodreads book shelf or get them through the Duck Prints Press Bookshop.org affiliate page.
Looking for a place to chat? Join our Book Lover’s Discord server to talk books, fandom, creativity, and more!
prettygoodword) wrote2025-10-09 07:34 amguano
[image omitted] It was especially in demand in the late 19th century because it was one of the few nitrogen-rich substances usable as fertilizer, which made guano mining on coastal islands and in caverns a major concern (with major habitat destruction) until the invention of the Haber-Bosch process for fixing atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. From Spanish, from Quechua wanu, dung (of any type).
---L.
glitteryv) wrote in recthething2025-10-09 10:35 amCommunity Recs Post!
This works great if you only have one rec and don't want to make a whole post for it, or if you don't have a DW account, or if you're shy. ;)
(But don't forget: you can deffo make posts of your own seven days a week. ;D!)
So what cool fanvids/fancrafts/fanart/fics/podfics/other kinds of fanworks have we discovered this week? Drop it in the comments below. Anon comment is enabled.
BTW, AI fanworks are not eligible for reccing at recthething. If you aware that a fanwork is AI-generated, please do not rec it here
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languagelog_feed) wrote2025-10-09 11:36 amCorrespondences between Ancient Greek doȗle (voc.) 'slave' and 奴隷 Jpn dorei / Tw lô·-lē
[This is a guest post by Chau Wu]
The word 奴隷 Jpn dorei (ドレイ) / Tw lô·-lē ‘slave’ is of great interest to me. My study of West-to-East lexical loans suggests that the origin of this word is Ancient Greek δοȗλos (doȗlos, m.) and δοȗλα (doȗla, f.), which mean ‘slave’. The figure below is a funerary stele of Mnesarete, daughter of Socrates (not the philosopher), showing a female servant facing her deceased mistress. There are some other terms for slave in Ancient Greek, depending on the context, but doȗlos and doȗla are historically the most commonly used, from Mycenean, Homer, Classical, Koine, down to Modern Greek.
Figure. Funerary stele of Mnesarete, daughter of Socrates (not the philosopher*); a young servant (left) is facing her dead mistress. Attica, c. 380 BC.
(From Glyptothek, Munich, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)
*"Grieve for Mnesarete", Ancient World Magazine (6/20/18).
The forms doȗlos (m.) and doȗla (f.) are the nominative case; the vocative case for both genders is δοȗλε (doȗle). I believe it is this form that slave owners would use to call their slaves if not by name. And this is most likely the form heard and taken to be the word for ‘slave’ by foreign borrowers. Hence, we have: Anc.Gk. doȗle > [Intermediate(s)] > Jpn dorei. Taiwanese lacks the voiced plosive /d/; therefore, foreign d is usually substituted with an l (or sometimes with a t).
Thus, an equation may be proposed for the loan transfer:
Anc. Gk. doȗle (voc.) > [Intermediate(s)] > Jpn dorei /Tw lô·-lē 奴隷
However, things may not be as simple and naïve as the above equation suggests. The current situation shows that an n- initial for 奴隷 distributes widely in the vast majority of Sinitic topolects (e.g., MSM núlì) as well as in Sino-Korean (noye 노예) and Sino-Vietnamese (nô lệ). This is also reflected chronologically as early as in the Buddhist transcription data of Eastern Han dynasty, showing 奴 being used to transcribe for the Indic [no] sound, e.g., Skt. anomiya / Pali anomā is transcribed as 阿奴摩 (*ˀa-no-ma >) ˀȃ-nwo-mwȃ (Coblin, W.S., 1983, A Handbook of Eastern Han Sound Glosses, p. 254). [VHM: Wisdom Library] So, the n- initial is widely and deeply entrenched in Sinitic.
To account for the non-nasal initial in the Japanese and Taiwanese data, there are two possibilities. One is that they represent descendants of an early stage of borrowing before nasalization took place. It is known that the Min topolects are the most archaic group of Sinitic languages, having split off from the mainstream during the Qín 秦 and Hàn 漢 dynasties, around second or third centuries BC (Schuessler, A., 2007, ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese, p.1 & p.125). They are thereby unaffected by the later nasalization. I did not know how to explain the Japanese data, but now with John Whitman’s excellent explanation of d ~ n alternation (in the previous post on this subject), which is related to the second possibility (vide infra), my problems are resolved.
The other possibility is that both Japanese and Taiwanese are descendants of Middle Chinese which already has an n- initial. Pulleyblank reconstructs nɔ-lεjh for 奴隷 in Early Middle Chinese (Pulleyblank, E.G. 1991, Lexicon of Reconstructed Pronunciation in Early Middle Chinese, Late Middle Chinese, and Early Mandarin, p. 227 & p.189). In Japanese and Taiwanese, 奴 has undergone a secondary de-nasalization, resulting in the present non-nasal forms. If the Anc. Gk. doȗle is taken as the source for 奴隷, this is in essence a round-about route from d- to n- and then back to d- again (and Tw l-).
A similar situation arises for the proposed derivation of the Sinitic word for ‘cow’ 牛 niú from PIE *gwou- (nom. sg. *gwōus) as discussed in a previous post in Language Log.
Understanding the interplay between nasalization and de-nasalization in loan processes may hold the key to unlock a treasure trove of secret relationships between European source words and their Asian descendants.
Selected readings
"Sino-Japanese n- / d- initial interchange" (101/25)
"Stay hyDRAEted" (9/29/25)
———————————
Afterword on Mnesarete
VHM
The Mnesarete (meaning 'remembering virtue'), mentioned above as the daughter of a certain Socrates, is not the same as the other famous Mnesarete, better known as Phryne, mentioned in Athenaeus' The Deipnosophists.
Phryne: The Ancient Greek Courtesan Who Disrobed For Her Freedom – GreekReporter.com
Theodoros Karasavvas (April 16, 2025)
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|||||
| Artist | Jean-Léon Gérôme | ||||
| Year | 1861 | ||||
| Medium | Oil on canvas | ||||
| Dimensions | 80.5 cm × 128 cm (31.7 in × 50 in) | ||||
| Location | Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg | ||||
_-_01.jpg)
Wikipedia — and see this article for other artistic renditions of this celebrated scene
Click here for a large, high-resolution reproduction of this painting. Note how stunned the judges are upon beholding her naked body.
A depiction of Phryne, a famous hetaera (courtesan) of Ancient Greece, being disrobed before the Areopagus. Phryne was on trial for profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries, and is said to have been disrobed by Hypereides, who was defending her, when it appeared the verdict would be unfavourable. The sight of her nude body apparently so moved the judges that they acquitted her. Some authorities claim that this story is a later invention.
Because of the intrinsic interest of this gripping story, and to clarify certain confusing aspects it bears with the illustration above, we quote the account as given in the Greek Reporter:
Phryne the Thespian was a notable ancient Greek hetaira, or courtesan, of Athens, who is remembered throughout the millennia for her dramatic trial which she won by baring her naked body.
Her real name name was Mnesarete, but people referred to her as Phryne (“toad”) because of the yellow undertone of her skin.
Her story has survived for thousands of years with the famous model and courtesan becoming a symbol of freedom against sexism, as well as repression disguised as piety.
Phryne was born around 371 BC in Thespiae (Boeotia) but spent most of her life in Athens. Because of her stunning looks, she became a model, posing for various painters and sculptors, including Praxiteles, who was also one of her most frequent clients.
Unlike most Athenian women, who rarely left their homes and had very little voice in society, courtesans like Phryne were granted much more freedom.
They could leave the home and were seen as educated and intelligent so that they could have engaging discussions with their clients.
One of the statues Praxiteles modeled after Phryne, the Aphrodite of Cnidus, was purchased by the city of Cnidus in Kos after the city that had originally commissioned it objected to its being a nude. The statue became such a notable tourist magnet that the city managed to pay off its entire debt.
Phryne’s beauty also became the subject of many ancient Greek writers, who praised her looks, with Athenaeus openly worshiping her in his work titled The Deipnosophists. From this work we also know that Phryne was the wealthiest self-made woman in all Athens at the time.
She became so rich and powerful during her lifetime that she even proposed paying for the reconstruction of the walls of Thebes, which had been destroyed by Alexander the Great in 336 BC.
Intimidated by the idea that a female model and courtesan could restore what a great king like Alexander the Great had destroyed, Phryne’s offer was rejected by the local authorities of Thebes, and the walls remained in their ruined condition.
Regardless of her incredible wealth and beauty, and prominent clients, what keeps the memory of Phryne alive to this day is her famous trial.
According to Athenaeus, Phryne was prosecuted on a capital offense and was defended by the orator Hypereides, one of her lovers. Athenaeus does not specify the nature of the charge, though some other historical sources state that she was accused of profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries.
Although there is great debate among scholars about what really happened that day in court, Athenaeus wrote that Hypereides tore off Phryne’s dress in the middle of the courtroom to show the judges her beautiful body.
His reasoning was that only the gods could sculpt such a perfect body; thus, killing or imprisoning her would be seen as blasphemy and disrespect to the gods.
What appeared to be an unfavorable verdict for Phryne turned into a glorious victory for her after the inspired action of Hypereides.
Phryne walked out the court triumphant, and her story went on to inspire many works of art, including the iconic painting Phryne before the Areopagus by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1861) and the sculpture Phryne Before the Judges, by Albert Weine, from 1948.
Additionally, Baudelaire wrote two poems about her, the composer Saint-Saëns wrote an opera about her (Phryne, 1893), and several modern writers have penned novels about her controversial trial.
There's an embedded video near the end of the above account which has a lot to say about community forum deliberations in Athenian life and the role of slaves in an Athenian household.
osprey_archer) wrote2025-10-09 08:14 amWednesday Reading Meme on Thursday
What I’ve Just Finished Reading
Ralph Keeler’s Vagabond Adventures, a memoir about Keeler’s life after he ran away from home at the age of twelve. After bumming around for a bit, he found work as a traveling blackface minstrel (yes I KNOW, but this is chock full of interesting information about the 19th century entertainment industry as a whole), but after three years life in the footlights palled and he decided to go to college instead. Literally he saw the campus of a college with the college boys having a good time and decided “I’m going to go back there and study.”
After studying for a few years in American universities, Keeler worked for a few months in the post office. Upon realizing that his life savings amounted to $150, he decided to chuck the job and head for Europe, where he matriculated at a German university (did he, you ask, speak German? Not at the beginning!) and managed to eke out three years in Europe with only very slight additions to his capital by writing sketches of his European experiences for newspapers back home.
I also read Mary Stolz’s Cider Days, the sequel to Ferris Wheel, and I am a little baffled that these were published separately as they’re really two halves of one book rather than two separate books. And both quite short! Could easily have been published together! Truly the decisions of the publishing world are sometimes strange.
Anyway, much like the first book, this is a lovely evocation of Vermont - autumn this time, although despite the title no actual cider! But it meanders around without ever quite turning from a succession of events into a story.
What I’m Reading Now
I’ve begun L. M. Montgomery’s Among the Shadows, a collection of her darker stories, which so far has mostly meant ghost stories. Nothing truly haunting yet; in fact nothing as dark as the story in one of the Chronicles of Avonlea collections (I can’t remember which) about the girl who is devoted to her brother, refuses an offer of marriage to stay with him only to be turned out of his house when HE married, only then he gets smallpox and his wife flees and his sister comes back to nurse him and dies happy because he finally needed her.
What I Plan to Read Next
After MUCH TRAVAIL, I’ve finally got my hands on Elizabeth and Her German Garden! So I’ll finally be able to finish my 2014 list, HOORAY.
full_metal_ox) wrote in fancake2025-10-09 07:57 am
_-_01.jpg){kind=link}
Jungfraukallen | The Virgin Spring (1960): How To Raise a Spring, by Rubynye.
Pairings/Characters: F/M, Gen; Karin | The Maiden, Per Tore | The Father, Mareta | The Mother, Oldest Herdsman | Bearded Brother, Middle Herdsman | Beardless Brother, Young Boy | Narrator
Rating: Mature
Length: 2,029
Content Notes: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Author Showed Her Work, First Person POV, Somebody Lives/Not Everybody Dies
Creator Tags: Minoan, Retelling, Remix
Creator Links: (AO3)
minoanmiss; (Tumblr) Theme: Uncommon Settings, Fix-it, Found Family, Folklore & Fairytales, Food & Cooking, Historical AUs, No Canon Required, Old Fandoms, Small Fandoms, Research
Summary: Before you wed me you must know.
Author’s Notes: _The Virgin Spring_ is a haunting tale. One night I dreamt this version, and was able to write it down.
Reccer's Notes: Rubynye transposes Ingmar Bergman’s adaptation of a medieval Swedish murder ballad into Bronze Age Crete; she gives this account of its creation in the comments:
I almost feel like I, my waking self, can't take credit -- I literally dreamt this, fortunately on a weekend so I could write it down, complete with the note about the refrain of "this they should not have done". I have loved the Minoans for a long time so it makes sense that my subconscious decided to retell the story there, as much sense as subconsciousnesses make anyway. The Minoans, with a different sense of morality and the universe, wouldn't ask "why did God let this happen" but would note how people in a society should and shouldn't behave (I think at least).
Dreamland delivered its gift to a formidably disciplined, well-read, and eloquent mind: the story begins with a classic fairytale riddle (whose answer will hinge upon a fluid definition of family) and is knit together by an insistent and anguished refrain; the author carefully avoids the film’s conflict of Christianity versus Norse religion in a setting where it would make no sense, furnishes researched hit-and-run cultural color (a traveler gifts her benefactors with the exotic delicacy of…stone-baked wheat flatbread!), and spares an innocent whose fate in movie canon was undeserved—allowing a family to be (though not restored) renewed.
Fanwork Links: How To Raise a Spring, by
rubynye.marcicat) wrote2025-10-09 07:46 amso the drama
ANYWAY, there's one employee who's currently "on leave," and we got a bunch of emails about it (maybe three?), very vague on the details, but clearly a planned thing, and with some level of contingencies in place to cover for this. Not dramatic. (I mean, maybe for the employee? As I said, very vague on the details. Could be anything, really. Probably not a new baby; those get different announcements.)
BUT, now there is suddenly ANOTHER employee who is "on leave," with ZERO emails and ZERO details. The words "on leave" are being said in such a way that indicates there is A Story to this situation. I do not think these two "on leave" situations are connected (although wouldn't THAT be a drama for sure!). But there aren't a lot of great reasons for an employee to suddenly not be coming to work, and not be able to be contacted.