Girl Genius for Monday, November 10, 2025
Nov. 10th, 2025 05:00 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
girlgenius_main_feedThe Girl Genius comic for Monday, November 10, 2025 has been posted.
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Catching up with...
Nov. 9th, 2025 09:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fennectik posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
anime_mangaSalutations-
Been busy catching new episodes from the newest seasons of the following:
Spy X Family, Season 3
My Hero Academia, Season 8
Dr. Stone, Science Future Part 2
All which had given me layers of a good time while waiting for more episodes coming out. Dr. Stone and Spy X Family giving some nice character progression and backstory, while MHA gets more intense as it keeps reaching its end (at least, that's what I assume to be its LAST season anyway.)
As for new Anime I had been checking out, it includes -
Solo Leveling and The Water Magician, which of the two, the former has gotten me more interested than the latter.
Finally, I will state I finally finished the Vampire Princess Miyu OAV series, and that I prefer the TV series in comparison. That being my unpopular opinion on this post.
That'll be it for the time being.
Been busy catching new episodes from the newest seasons of the following:
Spy X Family, Season 3
My Hero Academia, Season 8
Dr. Stone, Science Future Part 2
All which had given me layers of a good time while waiting for more episodes coming out. Dr. Stone and Spy X Family giving some nice character progression and backstory, while MHA gets more intense as it keeps reaching its end (at least, that's what I assume to be its LAST season anyway.)
As for new Anime I had been checking out, it includes -
Solo Leveling and The Water Magician, which of the two, the former has gotten me more interested than the latter.
Finally, I will state I finally finished the Vampire Princess Miyu OAV series, and that I prefer the TV series in comparison. That being my unpopular opinion on this post.
That'll be it for the time being.
Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 5, part 2
Nov. 10th, 2025 01:44 amtrobadora posting in sid_guardian
Hi, welcome to this week's instalment of the Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch! Watch half an episode a week, and then come and chat about it here in comments. Or you can just jump into the comments without rewatching, of course!
Here is last week's half-episode. On to the second half!
Episode 5, from 23:04
Summary: By the lakeside, Wu Xiaojun appears in front of his father, accuses him of wanting him dead, and reveals the truth of what happened to him. Wu Tian'en is shocked, but begs him to let the kidnapping victims go, and eventually convinces him he's sincere. They reconcile - only for Wu Tian'en to take an arrow for his son. Wu Xiaojun goes after Papa Huang, but Zhao Yunlan catches up with him and tells him to worry about his father. Guo Changcheng wants to use the Sundial to save Wu Tian'en; Zhao Yunlan takes it instead - but once the Sundial activates, the Envoy appears. Everyone begs the Envoy to save Wu Tian'en - Shen Wei notes the SID has changed.
The Envoy takes Wu father and son to Dixing, has to immediately protect them from an attack by palace guards, and questions Wu Tian'en about what happened with the Dixing team he used to be a part of. Wu Tian'en knows nothing, but when the Envoy mentions the captain wasn't dead as he thought, he tells the Envoy the captain's wife was pregnant.
In Haixing, in the SID lab, the Sundial projects an image of the Mountain-River Awl, Shen Wei has moved into Zhao Yunlan's building, and Guo Changcheng tries to learn how to tail someone from Chu Shuzhi. And we head into the next case - where there is another bathroom disappearance, and Guo Changcheng very reasonably wonders if Wu Xiaojun has returned. *g* Zhou Weiwei's fiancé remembers her fighting with a woman in their bathroom, except then the woman disappeared. And now she has disappeared too.
Quote:
Chu Shuzhi: "Since time began, no matter the country, or whether human or not, wherever creatures live in groups there will always be a hierarchy. And that is why there will always be killing and oppression."
Detail:
Wu Xiaojun's ring (this case's significant jewellery representing his connection with his father) gets thrown away twice.
The first time, he himself throws it into the lake as "proof" that he doesn't care about his father - but in the scene following their reconciliation, he promptly has it back.
The second time, in that very scene where see he has it back, Huang Chaoyang takes it away again, mocks its worthlessness and throws it into the pool. But again, in the following scenes - at the SID (though it's hard to see there), and in Dixing - Wu Xiaojun promptly has it back. :D
Questions:
What's your favourite moment in this part of the episode? What happened to little Wu Xiaojun after he was abandoned? How does Zhu Jiu find all these people? Do you think the Huang and Li fathers suffered any consequences for what they did? Do you think it's meaningful which of the SID members beg the Envoy to save Wu Xiaojun (Guo Changcheng, Lin Jing, Zhao Yunlan), and which don't speak up (Zhu Hong, Chu Shuzhi, Da Qing)? Is there anything in the Wu Xiaojun case that comes from the novel? Why is Zhao Yunlan suddenly insisting on jogging? Is Guo Changcheng uniquely bad at tailing people, or are Chu Shuzhi and Zhao Yunlan bad at teaching him? How many different kinds of bathroom disappearances can there be?
(These are all just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like! You don't have to be keeping up with the rewatch to join in!)
And here is our new schedule for the next batch of episodes - please do sign up to host a post if you can!
Working on it
Nov. 9th, 2025 02:20 pmjennariaAccomplished over the last, er... :checks the last time she updated: two months!
* Made a long skirt! Discovered that I'd made the waist too loose. Still working on fixing that part.
* Helped make Renaissance-style pantalons for wife (and cut out same for myself).
* Redyed a sad brown shirt to green. ...it came out kinda olive, but still, better than the sad brown it was before. (The reason for all the sewing: we've an SCA camping event coming up in a week or two, and need enough garb for it. Whee!)
Currently 12K into my Novel November, which is a good 3K behind where I 'should' be, but oh well. I'll do the best I can, and either way, it's more than I had before. (Original fic, cosy fantasy romance, taking the prompts 'shapeshifters' and 'protector/protected' and running with them.)
* Made a long skirt! Discovered that I'd made the waist too loose. Still working on fixing that part.
* Helped make Renaissance-style pantalons for wife (and cut out same for myself).
* Redyed a sad brown shirt to green. ...it came out kinda olive, but still, better than the sad brown it was before. (The reason for all the sewing: we've an SCA camping event coming up in a week or two, and need enough garb for it. Whee!)
Currently 12K into my Novel November, which is a good 3K behind where I 'should' be, but oh well. I'll do the best I can, and either way, it's more than I had before. (Original fic, cosy fantasy romance, taking the prompts 'shapeshifters' and 'protector/protected' and running with them.)
ursamajorI know, two baking entries in a row, but I really do need to write down my riffs and recipes when I make them so that I actually remember what I did! Especially when I use up the tail end of things I don't always keep in stock. So playing a little bit of catch-up here.
For choir baking this week, I started with Nik Sharma's Spicy Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cookies, and King Arthur's recommendations for making drop cookies into bars.
( the process of riffage )
( spicy hazelnut ginger bars )
*
I also made Smitten Kitchen's Chocolate Toffee Cookies for the first time in awhile.
( everything is riffs )
( chocolate toffee cookies, modernized )
*
I had a glut of carrots, so I tweaked Serious Eats' Brazilian Carrot Cake recipe to fit a 9x9 pan.
( riff notes )
( carrot cake in a blender )
*
Cramming one last recipe riff in here while I'm thinking about it: yet another choir bake, furikake marshmallow bars. Basically crispy rice cereal treats with added furikake, black sesame, and a little sesame oil.
( furikake marshmallow bars )
For choir baking this week, I started with Nik Sharma's Spicy Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cookies, and King Arthur's recommendations for making drop cookies into bars.
( the process of riffage )
( spicy hazelnut ginger bars )
*
I also made Smitten Kitchen's Chocolate Toffee Cookies for the first time in awhile.
( everything is riffs )
( chocolate toffee cookies, modernized )
*
I had a glut of carrots, so I tweaked Serious Eats' Brazilian Carrot Cake recipe to fit a 9x9 pan.
( riff notes )
( carrot cake in a blender )
*
Cramming one last recipe riff in here while I'm thinking about it: yet another choir bake, furikake marshmallow bars. Basically crispy rice cereal treats with added furikake, black sesame, and a little sesame oil.
( furikake marshmallow bars )
"even though I had my doubts, I told myself don't look down" (dierks bentley)
Nov. 8th, 2025 11:00 amstarandreaCurrent favorite bilingualisms:
Days behind on noveling:2 1 0, not counting today *\o/*
Bulbs still to plant:all of them 210 0 *\o/*
- “我不care。” (I don't care.)
“Same，我也是。” (Same, me too.)
Days behind on noveling:
Bulbs still to plant:
68 icons for land_of_art
Nov. 8th, 2025 03:32 pmtinnyI made these in June (and before) and submitted them to locked contests at land_of_art ...and then forgot about them. /o\ So those are from fandoms I was into in June. Oops? With much delay, here they are:
Teasers:
( 68 icons, mostly HPI, then Murderbot and My Lady Jane, Guardian and Parallel World )
Concrit and comments very welcome! Take and use as many icons as you like, credit is appreciated. If you want to know whose textures and brushes I use, take a look at my resource post.
Previous icon posts:
land_of_art ...and then forgot about them. /o\ So those are from fandoms I was into in June. Oops? With much delay, here they are:Teasers:
( 68 icons, mostly HPI, then Murderbot and My Lady Jane, Guardian and Parallel World )
Concrit and comments very welcome! Take and use as many icons as you like, credit is appreciated. If you want to know whose textures and brushes I use, take a look at my resource post.
Cat dream
Nov. 7th, 2025 12:17 pmysobelThe first cat in the dream was a shorthair tortie -- mottled black and orange. Jumped onto my lap and then right shoulder, and demanded scritches. A kid nearby asked if it was a boy cat or a girl cat. My first reaction was "I don't know" but then I realized I did know because torties are 99% female. (The way I explained it in the dream was "orange boy cats can be all orange or orange-and-white, but not orange-and-black", which happens to be largely true IRL too. (Technically a boy cat that's XXY and heterozygous for this trait could be orange/black, but XXY is rare and only about half of them have a mix. But I didn't go into that.)
Then a big fluffy black cat jumped onto my left leg and swatted at the first cat, as if to say "my turn now". He was wearing little black "saddlebags" containing little foil bags, plus a note saying "feed me", so I opened one of the packets for him. It had a moist puck of wet food, and he chowed down quite happily.
There was an orange girl that, even in the dream, looked a lot like my former girl Monkey. She was lounging in an open drawer, and next to her was a skein of yarn the same color as her, which I snagged to bring home.
There was a sleek black cat lounging on the top level of a cat tree, well out of reach for pets but supervising. Not sure if boy or girl; somehow I knew that the fluffy black was a boy and the orange was a girl, but this one had no vibes.
And lastly there was a calico, white with patches of black and reddish orange and also yellowish orange; the oranges were slightly metallic looking. She reminded me of koi fish. Very pretty, but I didn't get a chance to pet her.
(This was an excellent dream and I'm glad I remembered so many details 💜)
Then a big fluffy black cat jumped onto my left leg and swatted at the first cat, as if to say "my turn now". He was wearing little black "saddlebags" containing little foil bags, plus a note saying "feed me", so I opened one of the packets for him. It had a moist puck of wet food, and he chowed down quite happily.
There was an orange girl that, even in the dream, looked a lot like my former girl Monkey. She was lounging in an open drawer, and next to her was a skein of yarn the same color as her, which I snagged to bring home.
There was a sleek black cat lounging on the top level of a cat tree, well out of reach for pets but supervising. Not sure if boy or girl; somehow I knew that the fluffy black was a boy and the orange was a girl, but this one had no vibes.
And lastly there was a calico, white with patches of black and reddish orange and also yellowish orange; the oranges were slightly metallic looking. She reminded me of koi fish. Very pretty, but I didn't get a chance to pet her.
(This was an excellent dream and I'm glad I remembered so many details 💜)
My latest Guardian fanworks
Nov. 7th, 2025 06:41 pmfacethestrange posting in sid_guardianDramaverse fics and drawing, novelverse fic. :)
you're a part of the morning (and everything matters) (448 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Innuendo, Implied Sexual Content, Flirting, Memories, Zhao Yunlan's return from YOHE, but there's a lot less angst and a lot more time for soft domesticity, Trick or Treat: Treat
Summary: "Oh heavens, this is good," Zhao Yunlan calls out from the shower as Shen Wei makes the bed. "You're sure you don't want to join me?"
It's been two days since Zhao Yunlan returned from the past, but his appreciation for the conveniences of modern life hasn't faded yet.
All the Flavors (1508 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei (Guardian), Da Qing (Guardian)
Additional Tags: 1 Sentence Fiction, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Ye Olde Haixing Era, and modern era too but there is a lot of YOHE, no consistent theme or rating or timeline, mostly Weilan with a smidgen of gen, Canon Compliant, During Canon, Post-Fix-It, Mentioned Canonical Character Death, Sexual Content, Some Humor, POV Zhao Yunlan, Community: 1character
Summary: 50 sentences from Zhao Yunlan's POV, for the 1character challenge.
The Ghost and the Snake by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Wang Zheng & Zhu Hong (Guardian)
Characters: Wang Zheng (Guardian), Zhu Hong (Guardian)
Additional Tags: Chibis, Cute, Ghosts, Snakes, Trick or Treat: Treat, Fanart, Drawing
Summary: They are tiny and cute and (not very) spooky.
Enjoy the Show (410 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian - priest
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Movie Night, Scary Movies, Zhao Yunlan Being Zhao Yunlan, Shameless Zhao Yunlan, Flirting, Implied Sexual Content, Established Relationship, Soft, Blushing, Trick or Treat: Treat, theoretically it could be a Trick but it immediately turned into a Treat because it's Weilan and that's how they roll
Summary: "I could be your damsel in distress," Zhao Yunlan says dreamily.
Shen Wei blinks.
"Yunlan, if you're not afraid of the Ghost Army — and you should be — you would not be afraid of one ordinary monster. It's smaller than a youchu."
you're a part of the morning (and everything matters) (448 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Innuendo, Implied Sexual Content, Flirting, Memories, Zhao Yunlan's return from YOHE, but there's a lot less angst and a lot more time for soft domesticity, Trick or Treat: Treat
Summary: "Oh heavens, this is good," Zhao Yunlan calls out from the shower as Shen Wei makes the bed. "You're sure you don't want to join me?"
It's been two days since Zhao Yunlan returned from the past, but his appreciation for the conveniences of modern life hasn't faded yet.
All the Flavors (1508 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei (Guardian), Da Qing (Guardian)
Additional Tags: 1 Sentence Fiction, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Ye Olde Haixing Era, and modern era too but there is a lot of YOHE, no consistent theme or rating or timeline, mostly Weilan with a smidgen of gen, Canon Compliant, During Canon, Post-Fix-It, Mentioned Canonical Character Death, Sexual Content, Some Humor, POV Zhao Yunlan, Community: 1character
Summary: 50 sentences from Zhao Yunlan's POV, for the 1character challenge.
The Ghost and the Snake by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Wang Zheng & Zhu Hong (Guardian)
Characters: Wang Zheng (Guardian), Zhu Hong (Guardian)
Additional Tags: Chibis, Cute, Ghosts, Snakes, Trick or Treat: Treat, Fanart, Drawing
Summary: They are tiny and cute and (not very) spooky.
Enjoy the Show (410 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian - priest
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Movie Night, Scary Movies, Zhao Yunlan Being Zhao Yunlan, Shameless Zhao Yunlan, Flirting, Implied Sexual Content, Established Relationship, Soft, Blushing, Trick or Treat: Treat, theoretically it could be a Trick but it immediately turned into a Treat because it's Weilan and that's how they roll
Summary: "I could be your damsel in distress," Zhao Yunlan says dreamily.
Shen Wei blinks.
"Yunlan, if you're not afraid of the Ghost Army — and you should be — you would not be afraid of one ordinary monster. It's smaller than a youchu."
Book #04 Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin
Nov. 7th, 2025 08:39 amtinny
Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin
Remembrance of Earth's Past #1
I really need to get into gear with posting my book reviews - I read this in April/May and wrote it up, too, but forgot to post it.
I read this book in German, since I have to read a translation of it anyway, and the German one is supposed to be very good.
If anyone doesn't know the general gist of the novel yet:
Astrophysicist Ye Wenjie, in political exile in a secret military base and disilluisioned with mankind after the atrocities she witnessed during the cultural revolution and the destruction of natural beauty all around her, secretly broadcasts a message into space to invite aliens to Earth to settle its problems.
Years later, nanomaterials researcher Wang Miao is forced to confront an apparent alien conspiracy that has caused many scientists to commit suicide, and his own life seems to be on a (very short) countdown towards death, too.
I loved all the cultural revolution parts. It's not every day that a Chinese author honestly describes how terrible it was for the people involved. That was by far my favorite part of the book.
Everything "science"-related just drove me up the wall, though, so I had a very hard time finishing it, and basically just skipped the last third just to get it over with. I will not read the remaining books in the series. This is a pity, because I'd been looking forward to watching the addaptations. Maybe I'll still do that sometime...
spoilery (and ranty) thoughts
* Oh god the science, where do I start?
* Wang Miao sees a countdown superimposed over everything, even pictures he takes with his camera. When his wife takes pictures with the same camera, there is no countdown. This is not how science works. (It's like vampires having no reflection. That's not how light works.)
* The aliens prove their existence to Wang Miao by causing a change in background radiation, which should be completely impossible. (Duh, it is. There is no scientific explanation for this. I waited for one, but it did not come. Except for the "sophons", see below. I did not buy it.)
* One of the rounds in the three body problem computer game has a planet and a sun come so close to each other that people start to float from one to the other. Wtf this is not how gravity works!
* That Ye Wenjie is so disillusioned with humanity that she would want aliens to either save or destroy Earth is something I can accept. That the majority of human/Chinese scientists would commit suicide out of despair over an alien invasion is something I cannot. The whole drama aspect of Wang Miao's first few chapters just did not work for me at all.
*The Trisolarans develop "sophons" (minuscule supercomputers embedded in single protons) in order to arrest Earth's technological development by interfering with its scientific experiments. Ostensibly, them being light particles, they can travel at light speed, but they still contain information somehow and can expand into computers... um... no. Nope. That's not how astrophysics works. He tried to explain the multidimensional aspect of it, but it didn't sound believable to me.
* Let alone the assumption that the Trisolarans would know exactly how to stifle our development from ... a few communications a few decades back? Not bloody likely.
* The Trisolarans (in the computer game) also develop a computer made out of people. This might work in Minecraft, but not on a scale like this, with every person being a logic gate by lifting flags they have in their hands. This is so utterly ridiculous. People aren't reliable like that. The accumulated errors would throw off every calculation. Although if you want to look at it as a "the Chinese army is so reliable" metaphor, that's another story.
* There are several comments on society, stating that most of the users of the three body computer game are older people, educated Chinese, for example. I'm not sure if that was intended as a political dig, or whatever. It wasn't consistent enough to make sense to me, anyway. There were several throwaway generalizing statements like this in the book instead of having them evolve organically from the narrative.
* So. Metaphorically, I can see what Liu Cixin did, and there might be some merit in it, especially in looking at the mindsets of the characters involved, and getting more thoughts on how people live(d) in China. But I've talked to people who have read the remaining two books, and I've been told that it's just more scifi and less personal/societal consequences. I can accept a scifi premise as the means of analyzing human behavior, or throwing light on specific societal constructs, that's absolutely a reason I read scifi/fantasy, but there has to be at least a minimally logical basis for everything to rest on, and this book just doesn't have that for me. I was just ranting at the scientific impossibility of it the whole time.
* As I said, I really like how he described the cultural revolution, how different people dealt with it, and how extreme the wounds left in everyone's psyche were. It was worth reading the book for that, but the "science" parts just made me angry, and subjecting myself to more of that is absolutely not worth it.
1 star - Interesting and harrowing descriptions of the Chinese cultural revolution, but the rest of the book just wasn't for me.
1 - 5 stars - Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky The Final Architecture #1 [DW link]
2 - 2 stars - Miss Merkel: Mord auf dem Friedhof by David Safier Miss Merkel #2 [DW link]
3 - 4 stars - Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire Toby Daye #10 [DW link]
4 - 1 star - Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin [DW link]
Girl Genius for Friday, November 07, 2025
Nov. 7th, 2025 05:00 amgirlgenius_main_feedThe Girl Genius comic for Friday, November 07, 2025 has been posted.
A query I put fruitlessly into the ravenous machines that once gave answers
Nov. 6th, 2025 08:37 pmradiantfractureWho was it who said something like -- in a way all books are games, whether they are actual gamebooks or not, because all readers engage with a novel (I feel like they said novel?) with some level of imaginary wiggle room, constantly envisioning alternatives?
Queer reading is one form of this, but any reading contains some aspect of this push-pull. I think this person said that this is in fact an inevitable part of reading a story, this alternate acceptance and refusal, this shimmering of possibility, such that (famously) you can read a story over and over again and still always hope at a particular point that a character will make a different decision?
(I may have asked this before, because it is an idea that intermittently preoccupies me.)
(Possibly several times, because it might be in my notes from 2023, but who can find those?)
(Now I feel paranoid that I never stop asking this question)
(Also I got double vaccinated today and I am a teeny bit feverish)
§rf§
Queer reading is one form of this, but any reading contains some aspect of this push-pull. I think this person said that this is in fact an inevitable part of reading a story, this alternate acceptance and refusal, this shimmering of possibility, such that (famously) you can read a story over and over again and still always hope at a particular point that a character will make a different decision?
(I may have asked this before, because it is an idea that intermittently preoccupies me.)
(Possibly several times, because it might be in my notes from 2023, but who can find those?)
(Now I feel paranoid that I never stop asking this question)
(Also I got double vaccinated today and I am a teeny bit feverish)
§rf§
Wu Lei Picspam: Amidst a Snowstorm of Love
Nov. 6th, 2025 07:28 pmtinnyHere's the next Wu Lei drama picspam! From Amidst a Snowstorm of Love, a 2024 drama starring Wu Lei and Zhao Jinmai. This drama has so many kisses! \o/
Amidst a Snowstorm of Love, a 2024 cdrama starring Wu Lei and Zhao Jinmai as successful (i.e. impossibly competent) billiard players. It's on viki. It was filmed in Finland, replete with lots of night scenes and snow everywhere (the BTS about that is funny because apparently it did not snow nearly enough and most of the snow is fake). It's based on a webnovel by MBFB, the same author who wrote Love Me Love My Voice, which was so low on drama it verged on boring, but I sat through the whole thing last year.
Wu Lei's subtle expressions held my attention here too (and he's soooo pretty), but his character is the older one in the relationship, and he's very stoic, which just isn't Wu Lei. (Which is funny because the leads are the same age and they both said that this made the shoot easy for them because they got along very well.) Plus there are some tropes I don't like - and I recognize them as typical for the author: both leads are hyper-competent, they seem to have an inhuman number of hours every day to do their multiple jobs and travel for six hours on top of that, there is a lot of eating/food conversation going on, the man does implausible romantic things for the woman while keeping important things secret from her, all the side characters are in favor of the romance and constantly commenting on it. I went into it expecting pretty much all of it, so it's not too bad. It turns out that watching characters play billiard tournaments is much less interesting than watching people cook (which is what Love Me Love My Voice did), but really enjoyed the BTS material, especially the featurettes on the leads getting proper training in the sport. (Otoh, I have also been watching a ton of Dongji Rescue BTS material, and learning to freedive >> learning to play billiards, just sayin. ;))
I also dipped my toes into the novel the drama is based on, trying to figure out if some of the relationship setup things were better in the novel, but it turns out the drama is very very close to the novel, often scene by scene, including dialogue. Which is probably a good thing, because there is only a terrible MTL translation available of the novel (the title is "During the Snowstorm"). I actually needed the drama to explain some of the book scenes to me, because the translation was pretty much incomprehensible. /o\ I did not get very far into the novel - no kiss scenes yet - but apparently the drama was heavily censored and stripped of eight episodes to meet the episode limit requirements when it aired last year, so I expect there are some differences.
Summing up the last third of the drama: the fact that he did his confession speech in English was very cool. Very unusual. My complaints center on two reoccurring things: 1) she keeps evading his kisses and 2) he tends to do surprising things with the idea of it being Romantic TM, and she always pouts and complains about him not telling her about it in advance. Rightly so, I guess, but it's grating to watch it over and over. Especially since I think the show is trying to tell us that he's in the right.
Overall, I'm in two minds about the drama, because I always somehow expected more from it than it gave me, but otoh it wasn't *bad*. The romance was very sweet most of the time, and I liked the many kisses especially.
Picspam List:
#1: Nothing But You
#2: Will Love in Spring
#3: Amidst a Snowstorm of Love
The selection of my favorite 40 pics separately downloadable in full size from this gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/tP5wg9r
Those 40 plus all 340 as zip files: https://www.mediafire.com/file/xckl8wg2qypbw0b/snowstorm_picspam.zip + https://www.mediafire.com/file/0mneuef0se82rcb/snowstorm_allcaps.zip
Enjoy!
( 40 pics - mostly of the couple hugging/kissing )
I've made thirty-six icons from these so far:
( 28 more )
x-posted tocdramacaps
here are my thoughts on the drama itself (mostly spoiler-free)
Amidst a Snowstorm of Love, a 2024 cdrama starring Wu Lei and Zhao Jinmai as successful (i.e. impossibly competent) billiard players. It's on viki. It was filmed in Finland, replete with lots of night scenes and snow everywhere (the BTS about that is funny because apparently it did not snow nearly enough and most of the snow is fake). It's based on a webnovel by MBFB, the same author who wrote Love Me Love My Voice, which was so low on drama it verged on boring, but I sat through the whole thing last year.
Wu Lei's subtle expressions held my attention here too (and he's soooo pretty), but his character is the older one in the relationship, and he's very stoic, which just isn't Wu Lei. (Which is funny because the leads are the same age and they both said that this made the shoot easy for them because they got along very well.) Plus there are some tropes I don't like - and I recognize them as typical for the author: both leads are hyper-competent, they seem to have an inhuman number of hours every day to do their multiple jobs and travel for six hours on top of that, there is a lot of eating/food conversation going on, the man does implausible romantic things for the woman while keeping important things secret from her, all the side characters are in favor of the romance and constantly commenting on it. I went into it expecting pretty much all of it, so it's not too bad. It turns out that watching characters play billiard tournaments is much less interesting than watching people cook (which is what Love Me Love My Voice did), but really enjoyed the BTS material, especially the featurettes on the leads getting proper training in the sport. (Otoh, I have also been watching a ton of Dongji Rescue BTS material, and learning to freedive >> learning to play billiards, just sayin. ;))
I also dipped my toes into the novel the drama is based on, trying to figure out if some of the relationship setup things were better in the novel, but it turns out the drama is very very close to the novel, often scene by scene, including dialogue. Which is probably a good thing, because there is only a terrible MTL translation available of the novel (the title is "During the Snowstorm"). I actually needed the drama to explain some of the book scenes to me, because the translation was pretty much incomprehensible. /o\ I did not get very far into the novel - no kiss scenes yet - but apparently the drama was heavily censored and stripped of eight episodes to meet the episode limit requirements when it aired last year, so I expect there are some differences.
Summing up the last third of the drama: the fact that he did his confession speech in English was very cool. Very unusual. My complaints center on two reoccurring things: 1) she keeps evading his kisses and 2) he tends to do surprising things with the idea of it being Romantic TM, and she always pouts and complains about him not telling her about it in advance. Rightly so, I guess, but it's grating to watch it over and over. Especially since I think the show is trying to tell us that he's in the right.
Overall, I'm in two minds about the drama, because I always somehow expected more from it than it gave me, but otoh it wasn't *bad*. The romance was very sweet most of the time, and I liked the many kisses especially.
Picspam List:
#1: Nothing But You
#2: Will Love in Spring
#3: Amidst a Snowstorm of Love
The selection of my favorite 40 pics separately downloadable in full size from this gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/tP5wg9r
Those 40 plus all 340 as zip files: https://www.mediafire.com/file/xckl8wg2qypbw0b/snowstorm_picspam.zip + https://www.mediafire.com/file/0mneuef0se82rcb/snowstorm_allcaps.zip
Enjoy!
( 40 pics - mostly of the couple hugging/kissing )
I've made thirty-six icons from these so far:
( 28 more )
x-posted to
cdramacaps"life is short, make it sweet" (old dominion)
Nov. 5th, 2025 08:47 pmstarandreaNeighbor: I guess it's time to put the gardens to bed for the winter.
Geraniums being hustled in: 6
Dahlias curing in utility room: 9
Canna lilies to lift, clean, and dry: 32
Spring bulbs just arrived from Brent & Becky's: 410
Me: ...yeah, I guess.
( can't relate )
Last year a kind neighbor gave me an orchid when Mimi died. "So you'll think of her every time it blooms," she said. I am not an orchid whisperer, and although I was very touched and tremendously appreciative, I was not optimistic.
Yet lo, the miracle orchid has bloomed again ♥.♥
Geraniums being hustled in: 6
Dahlias curing in utility room: 9
Canna lilies to lift, clean, and dry: 32
Spring bulbs just arrived from Brent & Becky's: 410
Me: ...yeah, I guess.
( can't relate )
Last year a kind neighbor gave me an orchid when Mimi died. "So you'll think of her every time it blooms," she said. I am not an orchid whisperer, and although I was very touched and tremendously appreciative, I was not optimistic.
Yet lo, the miracle orchid has bloomed again ♥.♥
Youtube
Nov. 5th, 2025 05:47 pmtrobadoraHas Youtube been driving everyone else batty too with the auto-dubbed videos? At least you can manually switch the audio track to the original - but now it's auto-translating the video descriptions too, and I haven't yet found out how to get back to the original there.
It makes me want to scream. Who thinks that's a good idea?! Not anyone who speaks smore than one language, that's for sure - and even then! AAARGH.
I searched in hopes of finding some way to disable this nonsense, and found no way on Youtube itself, but there's a browser extension that gets you back to original audio and description!
Firefox version | Chrome version
It says it doesn't work on mobile, but I don't watch videos on mobile, so that doesn't matter to me much. And either way, better than nothing. *grumbles some more*
It makes me want to scream. Who thinks that's a good idea?! Not anyone who speaks smore than one language, that's for sure - and even then! AAARGH.
I searched in hopes of finding some way to disable this nonsense, and found no way on Youtube itself, but there's a browser extension that gets you back to original audio and description!
Firefox version | Chrome version
It says it doesn't work on mobile, but I don't watch videos on mobile, so that doesn't matter to me much. And either way, better than nothing. *grumbles some more*
(no subject)
Nov. 4th, 2025 11:41 pmysobelHad a birthday, so did an Excursion to several of the local places that give free stuff. Some of them are good for a month, but it's funner to do it on the day. Sushi place has a big wheel you can spin; I got chopsticks (nice ones, not the disposable ones), which was funny because I'd also purchased lunch for takeout (they do an amazing calamari) and they asked if I needed chopsticks, to which I said no because we had some at home, and then they brought me to spin the wheel... I also got ice cream and an Insomnia Cookies deluxe, and the person also gave me a purple pen and a sticker.
Am I ridiculous for getting excited about free stuff? Probably. Do I care? Nah. The benefit of getting older is shedding the fucks you would otherwise give.
I also got myself a tuxedo cake from Costco. I'm not going to eat it all myself, that's more cake than I can eat, but dang is it good.
Other things:
Went to a concert Sunday, Itzhak Perlman and a klezmer group, doing a tour as a 30th anniversary celebration of the PBS special In The Fiddler's House. It's my first time seeing Perlman doing a non-violin-solo classical-music concert, but also he's fricking 80 and probably enjoys not having to be the only person onstage.
I finally got around to signing up for Apple TV, and started watching Murderbot. (I've read the books already.) Is very good. I haven't finished the Doctor Whos yet (mid season 2), and I have to do so much shit for my mom's situation that I can't allow myself to just watch tv all day.
(I've lost access to mom's MyChart because it turns out proxy access expires and has to be renewed, but mom can't log in -- not just at her internet-less home but literally anywhere; they introduced 2FA that sends a code to the email address she can't access because google wants 2FA to the cell phone that doesn't get texts -- and can't seem to call anyone other than me. I don't know if they take verbal permission given over the phone anyway. This whole situation is ughhhhh.
Am I ridiculous for getting excited about free stuff? Probably. Do I care? Nah. The benefit of getting older is shedding the fucks you would otherwise give.
I also got myself a tuxedo cake from Costco. I'm not going to eat it all myself, that's more cake than I can eat, but dang is it good.
Other things:
Went to a concert Sunday, Itzhak Perlman and a klezmer group, doing a tour as a 30th anniversary celebration of the PBS special In The Fiddler's House. It's my first time seeing Perlman doing a non-violin-solo classical-music concert, but also he's fricking 80 and probably enjoys not having to be the only person onstage.
I finally got around to signing up for Apple TV, and started watching Murderbot. (I've read the books already.) Is very good. I haven't finished the Doctor Whos yet (mid season 2), and I have to do so much shit for my mom's situation that I can't allow myself to just watch tv all day.
(I've lost access to mom's MyChart because it turns out proxy access expires and has to be renewed, but mom can't log in -- not just at her internet-less home but literally anywhere; they introduced 2FA that sends a code to the email address she can't access because google wants 2FA to the cell phone that doesn't get texts -- and can't seem to call anyone other than me. I don't know if they take verbal permission given over the phone anyway. This whole situation is ughhhhh.
good enough for me
Nov. 4th, 2025 10:40 pmursamajor![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
sandboxdiva pinged me this weekend wanting to ensure that I'd seen the latest Binging with Babish episode since it focused on chocolate chip cookies, so of course I promptly had to sit down and watch it.( Binging with Babish: 10 Levels of Chocolate Chip Cookies (embed) )
1. Did I pause the video to take note of exactly how fancy the ingredients were for the Level 8 cookies, ( yes I did. )
2. Did I also factcheck Babish on his assertion that "regular old homemade chocolate chip cookies probably cost like $6/batch to make," why yes I did. Come on, buddy, you're based in Brooklyn, groceries aren't cheaper there than in the Bay Area.
( How much does it cost to make a batch of Toll House cookies in November 2025? )
3. Am I doing all this to distract myself from all of the elections going down today? Of bloody course I am.
4. Is my version of the Guittard Super Chip cookie recipe still my go-to? Yes, because 72 hours is a long time to wait for cookies. Also, converted to weights, a higher ratio of brown sugar to white sugar, and no nuts.
5. What am I baking for choir tomorrow? Um. I should probably figure that out, shouldn't I. Of all the bougie things to have on hand, I actually currently have a glut of hazelnut flour that needs to get used up, and we do have some gluten-intolerant choir members, so I may end up with a flavor variant of these hazelnut chocolate chip cookies, probably converted to bar format, possibly with the spicing and inclusions changed up.
6. Reminder to self: you'll be in rehearsal tomorrow and will have to miss it, but Community Kitchens is doing trainings for home chef volunteers to cook meals for the Town Fridges in Oakland. Ping them to find out when the next training is.
7. Oh thank god, results are coming in for the major races and I don't know of any truly disasterrific results yet.
Girl Genius for Wednesday, November 05, 2025
Nov. 5th, 2025 05:00 amgirlgenius_main_feedThe Girl Genius comic for Wednesday, November 05, 2025 has been posted.
wherein Liz acquires a job, an apartment, a 403(b), another job, and a leisure activity
Nov. 4th, 2025 07:28 pmedenfallingI realized I forgot to mention that I have a new job! I am working in accounts receivable at a pediatric dentistry nonprofit, whose mission is to get dental care to all children in Minnesota. I started mid-October and spent my first two weeks mostly doing call center and scheduling work because A) cross-training is a good idea and B) there was a temporary staff shortage. But last week I finally got started on my real job and so far I am enjoying it. Lots of things to put in order!
Once I got the job, I began seriously looking for an apartment, and last Thursday I signed a lease with a November 15 start date for a 2-bedroom in a northwest suburb of Minneapolis. I am still waiting to hear if I can use the building's parking lot for my U-Haul U-Boxes, or if I'll have to finagle street parking, but that is a relatively minor detail.
My next step is to find a doctor, and also to decide if I want to get health insurance through this job for 2026, whether to buy another plan through the MNsure website, or whether to buy insurance directly from my current insurer.
Also my new job comes with a 403(b) plan, which I think I have set up to do Roth contributions. There are many valid reasons to go with a traditional tax-deferred retirement plan, but I have always preferred Roth accounts for myself, ever since I opened an IRA back in high school.
Also also, I am sure I forgot to mention that I was hired back by Not the IRS. The re-hiring was never really in question -- the issue was which office I'd be working in. That played a role in my apartment search, along with my main job, my parents' location, and Vicky's location. I have completed my required continuing education and renewed my PTIN, so things are going fine on that front.
And lastly, unrelated to any practical concerns, I signed up for a one-afternoon online seminar about medieval high German literature through Medievalists.net, which will run from 11am-2pm CST this coming Saturday. I just received the course documents today, and I am looking forward to it a lot!
Once I got the job, I began seriously looking for an apartment, and last Thursday I signed a lease with a November 15 start date for a 2-bedroom in a northwest suburb of Minneapolis. I am still waiting to hear if I can use the building's parking lot for my U-Haul U-Boxes, or if I'll have to finagle street parking, but that is a relatively minor detail.
My next step is to find a doctor, and also to decide if I want to get health insurance through this job for 2026, whether to buy another plan through the MNsure website, or whether to buy insurance directly from my current insurer.
Also my new job comes with a 403(b) plan, which I think I have set up to do Roth contributions. There are many valid reasons to go with a traditional tax-deferred retirement plan, but I have always preferred Roth accounts for myself, ever since I opened an IRA back in high school.
Also also, I am sure I forgot to mention that I was hired back by Not the IRS. The re-hiring was never really in question -- the issue was which office I'd be working in. That played a role in my apartment search, along with my main job, my parents' location, and Vicky's location. I have completed my required continuing education and renewed my PTIN, so things are going fine on that front.
And lastly, unrelated to any practical concerns, I signed up for a one-afternoon online seminar about medieval high German literature through Medievalists.net, which will run from 11am-2pm CST this coming Saturday. I just received the course documents today, and I am looking forward to it a lot!
