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marina's well-informed meta on Heated Rivalry
Dec. 13th, 2025 04:18 pmjesse_the_kI've observed hockey RPF fandom from an immeasurable distance, and I still got a kick out of this post:
https://marina.dreamwidth.org/1576715.html
marina was in hockey fandom, spent her childhood in Ukraine, knows much about filing serial numbers, and has definite opinions about vodka.
I'm reading reading reading.
Hi!
Saturday mishmash--household stuff, dyed hair [and work stuff], and a few links
Dec. 13th, 2025 12:12 pmumadoshiLuck was not with us in the first attempt at clementines this year. (The batch we got are far from inedible, at least, but...not very good.) They're such a gamble these years. :/
Our new freezer arrived a week ago, and the plan is to finally get it in place today oncescruloose gets back from a market run. That hasn't happened yet due to a combination of factors and timing, the biggest of which is the fact that it'll require shifting some things out of the garage onto the driveway to make room for us to work with two upright freezers in play. (scruloose is going to take a stab at moving the old one out of its place without emptying it, via a hand cart, but we have no idea how likely that is to actually work. It'd sure be convenient, though.)
My hair is dyed! It is. Um. Very dark. By which I mean it's not so much dark purple as "functionally black with some purple highlights that are probably some of my silver hair, but there's less of that than there is silver, so it's a little confusing". Oh, well. It looks fine, other than maybe making me look a bit washed out, and I don't much care about that.
(I might care more when I finally getscruloose to take a headshot of me to send HR at Dayjob so they can update my long-expired work pass. [Part of why I decided to finally just go ahead and dye my hair was in the name of having it done for this photo.] These days, the process involves just filling out a form and emailing that and a photo that meets their technical requirements to the department handling passes and also to my boss, presumably so the boss can look at the photo and confirm "yes, that is the employee in question". But this means we can make potentially-endless attempts at getting a photo I don't hate, and honestly, if I can live with the horror of my provincial ID photo, I can probably live with just about anything.)
A few links:
--mrissa's annual lussekatter posts are always good for my heart.
--Jenny Hamilton's "Anatomy of a Sex Scene: Heated Rivalry Edition" (covering ep. 1-2).
--"‘Pushing Daisies’ Season 3 In The Works, Says Creator Bryan Fuller".
Our new freezer arrived a week ago, and the plan is to finally get it in place today once
scruloose gets back from a market run. That hasn't happened yet due to a combination of factors and timing, the biggest of which is the fact that it'll require shifting some things out of the garage onto the driveway to make room for us to work with two upright freezers in play. (scruloose is going to take a stab at moving the old one out of its place without emptying it, via a hand cart, but we have no idea how likely that is to actually work. It'd sure be convenient, though.)My hair is dyed! It is. Um. Very dark. By which I mean it's not so much dark purple as "functionally black with some purple highlights that are probably some of my silver hair, but there's less of that than there is silver, so it's a little confusing". Oh, well. It looks fine, other than maybe making me look a bit washed out, and I don't much care about that.
(I might care more when I finally get
scruloose to take a headshot of me to send HR at Dayjob so they can update my long-expired work pass. [Part of why I decided to finally just go ahead and dye my hair was in the name of having it done for this photo.] These days, the process involves just filling out a form and emailing that and a photo that meets their technical requirements to the department handling passes and also to my boss, presumably so the boss can look at the photo and confirm "yes, that is the employee in question". But this means we can make potentially-endless attempts at getting a photo I don't hate, and honestly, if I can live with the horror of my provincial ID photo, I can probably live with just about anything.)A few links:
--
mrissa's annual lussekatter posts are always good for my heart.--Jenny Hamilton's "Anatomy of a Sex Scene: Heated Rivalry Edition" (covering ep. 1-2).
--"‘Pushing Daisies’ Season 3 In The Works, Says Creator Bryan Fuller".
Book #06 We Have Been Harmonized
Dec. 13th, 2025 08:15 amtinny
Die Neuerfindung der Diktatur / We Have Been Harmonized by Kai Strittmatter
Full English title (it's too long for a post subject lol) is: We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China's Surveillance State – How Biometric Control and Censorship Threaten Global Freedom and Privacy
German China correspondent Kai Strittmatter wrote this book after he retired, knowing he'd never be let back into China afterwards. He describes how China is developing widespread surveillance to help the ruling party stay in power. He describes the evolution of dictatorship in China, where it's heading, and what the consequences for the rest of the world might be.
The only non-fiction book on my list this year.
The book is based on a lot of interviews he conducted in China, with dissidents/artists/intellectuals as well as people involved in the implementation of surveillance. It reads like a very well researched book. It's not all that new - from 2020 - and it should be noted that it was written by a German, and thus does not specifically get into the developments in the US in that same area. I read the book in German.
I don't really have anything detailed to say about this book. Most of the historical developments were not news to me. I already found things terribly repressive when I was in China decades ago, and it has only gotten worse, and the book illustrates this very well. As for the newer developments, there were quite a few things that I didn't know before or not in that much detail. It's a depressing read, but for me it was worth it.
4 stars - Well researched, important book.
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]
5 - 5 stars - Murderbot Diaries 1-4 by Martha Wells [DW link]
6 - 4 stars - Die Neuerfindung der Diktatur/We Have Been Harmonized by Kai Strittmatter [DW link]
(no subject)
Dec. 12th, 2025 09:06 pmysobelChewy has a "Chewy Claus" thing around this time of year where you can help your pet(s) write a letter to Santa. How good they've been, whether they prefer treats or toys, and a free-answer "what would you ask for if you could have anything".
Last year I did it and at the end of December got a "sorry the sleigh missed you, here's a coupon code if you want to buy anything". And supposedly they donate food to pets in need for every letter submitted, so why not.
This year, I did it ... and today a box came addressed to Phoebe and Loki. (!!)
There was a dog toy that was a "lunch box" with a rope handle, and a green apple plushy and a juice-box plushy with Velcro to attach to the front of the lunchbox. Al three items contain squeakers. (So far, they are still intact, though the white parts of the juice box are rather, erm, dingy. That tends to happen with her toys, but it's impressive for 8 hours.)
There was a cat toy that was sushi themed (including a green wasabi packet) and has catnip in. Loki is mostly nocturnal these days but I put them in a cat bed that sits on my bed and when I came back in later, one was on the floor... so either he loves it or hates it, lol. Also a food purée treat thing similar to churu, though he's iffy about food.
There was an ornament, metal I think, with a sleigh and presents and "Chewy Claus 2025", which is now on my desk tree.
And there was a card with the cutest illustration of Chewy Claus helpers, and a handwritten note wishing them holiday cheer.
I'm a little astonished because I honestly hadn't expected to get anything, but it was a cute surprise!
Edit: Loki definitely likes. I may regret having them on the bed at the same time I am... lol
Last year I did it and at the end of December got a "sorry the sleigh missed you, here's a coupon code if you want to buy anything". And supposedly they donate food to pets in need for every letter submitted, so why not.
This year, I did it ... and today a box came addressed to Phoebe and Loki. (!!)
There was a dog toy that was a "lunch box" with a rope handle, and a green apple plushy and a juice-box plushy with Velcro to attach to the front of the lunchbox. Al three items contain squeakers. (So far, they are still intact, though the white parts of the juice box are rather, erm, dingy. That tends to happen with her toys, but it's impressive for 8 hours.)
There was a cat toy that was sushi themed (including a green wasabi packet) and has catnip in. Loki is mostly nocturnal these days but I put them in a cat bed that sits on my bed and when I came back in later, one was on the floor... so either he loves it or hates it, lol. Also a food purée treat thing similar to churu, though he's iffy about food.
There was an ornament, metal I think, with a sleigh and presents and "Chewy Claus 2025", which is now on my desk tree.
And there was a card with the cutest illustration of Chewy Claus helpers, and a handwritten note wishing them holiday cheer.
I'm a little astonished because I honestly hadn't expected to get anything, but it was a cute surprise!
Edit: Loki definitely likes. I may regret having them on the bed at the same time I am... lol
Weird. (a game)
Dec. 12th, 2025 10:53 amradiantfractureHey, I posted my game! You can find it here.
Playtests welcome. It is a solo storytelling/journalling/story creation horror game. It uses a simplified version of solitaire to drive the story.
[ETA] From the writeup:
And yet the sun rises.
Weird. is a horror game about a flawed protagonist confronting their worst nightmares.
I, a troubled character, am alone on the longest night of the year.
You, a storyteller, use prompts and the inevitability of card order to tell a story for me, driven by fear and fate.
I am tormented by unfinished business, which, as you know, is a great way to become the target of supernatural forces.
Enjoy bringing about my nearly inevitable and almost certainly miserable end, but also maybe final moment of grace, redemption, or transformation, in Weird.
* * * * * *
Title-wise, I went with Weird, as an archaic synonym for fate, styled with a period: Weird.
I liked the suggestion of Patience quite a bit, but this isn't really a game about being patient. I'd want waiting, duration, something like that, in the mechanics somewhere. Actually, maybe I'll try to make such a game, since I still seem to have Game Fever. Maybe it's to play in waiting rooms.
As predicted, the game jam I made has not posted to the Itch calendar, so I am the only person who knows about it or has submitted anything. But I tried!
( Thoughts on the possibilities of this mechanic )
* * * * * *
Qua writing tool, I find the game a pretty decent method for creating something between a detailed outline and a rough story draft.
§rf§
Playtests welcome. It is a solo storytelling/journalling/story creation horror game. It uses a simplified version of solitaire to drive the story.
[ETA] From the writeup:
And yet the sun rises.
Weird. is a horror game about a flawed protagonist confronting their worst nightmares.
I, a troubled character, am alone on the longest night of the year.
You, a storyteller, use prompts and the inevitability of card order to tell a story for me, driven by fear and fate.
I am tormented by unfinished business, which, as you know, is a great way to become the target of supernatural forces.
Enjoy bringing about my nearly inevitable and almost certainly miserable end, but also maybe final moment of grace, redemption, or transformation, in Weird.
* * * * * *
Title-wise, I went with Weird, as an archaic synonym for fate, styled with a period: Weird.
I liked the suggestion of Patience quite a bit, but this isn't really a game about being patient. I'd want waiting, duration, something like that, in the mechanics somewhere. Actually, maybe I'll try to make such a game, since I still seem to have Game Fever. Maybe it's to play in waiting rooms.
As predicted, the game jam I made has not posted to the Itch calendar, so I am the only person who knows about it or has submitted anything. But I tried!
( Thoughts on the possibilities of this mechanic )
* * * * * *
Qua writing tool, I find the game a pretty decent method for creating something between a detailed outline and a rough story draft.
§rf§
Girl Genius for Friday, December 12, 2025
Dec. 12th, 2025 05:00 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
girlgenius_main_feedThe Girl Genius comic for Friday, December 12, 2025 has been posted.
multifandom flash freeze set for fandom10in30
Dec. 11th, 2025 10:46 pmtinnyThe theme of ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandom10in30's current round "Ice Ice Baby" is winter, snow, and ice, so I went with Amidst a Snowstorm of Love, and then when I ran out of properly snowy caps, filled it up with Frozen and North of North. Enjoy!
( 10+4 icons )
I'm happy to receive all kind of comments, including concrit! All icons shareable. Credit for brushes and textures I use can be found here in my resource post.
Previous icon posts:
fandom10in30's current round "Ice Ice Baby" is winter, snow, and ice, so I went with Amidst a Snowstorm of Love, and then when I ran out of properly snowy caps, filled it up with Frozen and North of North. Enjoy!
( 10+4 icons )
I'm happy to receive all kind of comments, including concrit! All icons shareable. Credit for brushes and textures I use can be found here in my resource post.
(Repost) Atmospheric River
Dec. 10th, 2025 09:10 pmradiantfractureAs we are once again fording the atmospheric river, here's the villanelle (!!) I wrote about the one in 2022:
(Climate Change Villanelle)
After an image by K.
Consider the atmospheric river
as a dragon, slithering through peri-
apocalyptic skies. The end is never
reached of all this rain. Its teeth of silver
gnaw the bones of men who refused boldly
to consider the atmospheric river
as a dragon, not just as the weather,
winning us the wages of false bravery:
apocalyptic skies. The end is never-
ending. Consider the dragon, glitter-
ing, greedy, cruel and wise; now carefully
consider the atmospheric river
as an alternative to the wither-
ing coils of smoke, wildfires' choking, hazy
apocalyptic skies. The end is never
quite what you expect or would prefer.
Drink if you wish, smoke up, get high, daily
consider the atmospheric river,
apocalyptic skies. The end is nigh.
(Climate Change Villanelle)
After an image by K.
Consider the atmospheric river
as a dragon, slithering through peri-
apocalyptic skies. The end is never
reached of all this rain. Its teeth of silver
gnaw the bones of men who refused boldly
to consider the atmospheric river
as a dragon, not just as the weather,
winning us the wages of false bravery:
apocalyptic skies. The end is never-
ending. Consider the dragon, glitter-
ing, greedy, cruel and wise; now carefully
consider the atmospheric river
as an alternative to the wither-
ing coils of smoke, wildfires' choking, hazy
apocalyptic skies. The end is never
quite what you expect or would prefer.
Drink if you wish, smoke up, get high, daily
consider the atmospheric river,
apocalyptic skies. The end is nigh.
Girl Genius for Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Dec. 10th, 2025 05:00 amgirlgenius_main_feedThe Girl Genius comic for Wednesday, December 10, 2025 has been posted.
Vital question re: Tablet XII is Canon patch
Dec. 9th, 2025 03:58 pmradiantfractureWhat is best?
1. A patch with just the text "Tablet XII is Canon"
2. A patch with this text and the shape of the broken tablet above or below it
3. A patch that's in the shape of the broken tablet with the text written on the tablet?
Font would be vaguely cuneiform-y but legible.
For aesthetics, so far as I can tell with very sketchy research the best Tablet XII fragment is shaped kind of like this:
§rf§
1. A patch with just the text "Tablet XII is Canon"
2. A patch with this text and the shape of the broken tablet above or below it
3. A patch that's in the shape of the broken tablet with the text written on the tablet?
Font would be vaguely cuneiform-y but legible.
For aesthetics, so far as I can tell with very sketchy research the best Tablet XII fragment is shaped kind of like this:
§rf§
10 multifandom icons for icons10in20
Dec. 9th, 2025 08:55 pmtinnyThe rounds at icons10in20 are rare and always fun! This one is round 41, and it took me much longer than I thought, especially the icons that ended up being Kpop Demon Hunter icons. I'd been planning on making a whole Wu Lei set again, but those steadfastly refused. :D I hope you like the set!
Teasers:
( 10 icons, most from Wu Lei, the rest from Kpop Demon Hunters )
Every single comment is treasured. All icons shareable! Concrit welcome. Check out my resource post for makers of textures and brushes I use.
Previous icon posts:
icons10in20 are rare and always fun! This one is round 41, and it took me much longer than I thought, especially the icons that ended up being Kpop Demon Hunter icons. I'd been planning on making a whole Wu Lei set again, but those steadfastly refused. :D I hope you like the set!Teasers:
( 10 icons, most from Wu Lei, the rest from Kpop Demon Hunters )
Every single comment is treasured. All icons shareable! Concrit welcome. Check out my resource post for makers of textures and brushes I use.
If you're required to deploy AI
Dec. 9th, 2025 10:48 amjesse_the_k...here's an excellent use-case: feed your strong passphrase text as a prompt to an image generator
from the passphrase string "fabulous tattoo Harvey", Reddit user u/waydomatic and ChatGPT made ( this cheerful example )
The LLM thinks Harvey is a muscular white guy wearing a skimpy purple Speedo; arms, shoulder and upper chest covered in rose tattoos. He flexes his right arm and flashes a big white smile under his handlebar mustache. Of course he's wearing a rose crown.
Saving the generated image would certainly be more secure than writing down the password.
Book #05* Murderbot Diaries 1-4 by Martha Wells
Dec. 8th, 2025 06:56 pmtinny
Murderbot novellas by Martha Wells
Murderbot Diaries #1-#4
SecUnit, a human-machine hybrid, is owned by an evil megacorporation, but it has hacked its own system so it can now do what it wants. It's mostly bored by its job and the boring humans it has to protect, so spends most of its time watching tv shows instead. Over time, it grows emotionally, and gets attached to its favorite clients, despite itself.
Murderbot has always been a wonderful first-person narrator. Very unreliable, my favorite, very snarky, also my favorite, and addicted to tv shows, very relatable. :D
I had read the first novella years ago and then never continued because I found them too expensive. But now that there's a tv adaptation, I wanted to reread, and so I borrowed the first four from a friend and read them all in one go.
thoughts - not very spoilery, I think? Y'all have read them all already anyway, right?
* Man how I love murderbot. I already did the first time I read the first novella, and the three other ones have only deepened that impression. Although of course it's not the easiest to live with. Or like Arada (or was it Pin-Lee? I keep confusing those two) says in book 4: "I'd forgotten what an asshole you are." :D
* When I read the first book, I always thought of murderbot as female - for no other reason than that it's a fan of tv shows, like me (and everyone else I know). Androgynous/non-binary would have been better. The tv adaptation now looks very male. I guess the truth is somewhere in the middle.
* Mensah is just such a sweet character (maybe a bit too ideal, but oh well). No wonder murderbot imprinted on her so much. <3
* I liked all the progressions from "I hacked the weapons scans" to "now I have experience in hacking surveillance and scans and I can do several of them at once" and "I couldn't have gotten through this security check a while ago".
* I love how a lot of the characters are women, and sometimes not specifically mentioned. The two security guards in book 3 for example, which I'd originally pegged as male, but it's revealed late in the book that they're both female.
* I loved ART. Awesome smart, nerdy, and arrogant character, which I would love to meet again (and so would murderbot, I think, even if it claims otherwise).
* To me, the physical changes that ART makes to murderbot (to make it blend in and not look so much like a secunit) sounded like it changed its hairstyle to something more female-looking. It's never actually stated outright, but I liked the idea.
* Through all the novellas, murderbot's voice stays funny and snarky, but small changes are noticeable and I love how it grows, not only in technical skill but also emotionally. It still needs to be dragged into saving its people sometimes, but somehow it does it of its own accord, and I love both.
5 stars - Wonderful unreliable narration, great worldbuilding, neuro-atypical characters galore
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]
5 - 5 stars - Murderbot Diaries 1-4 by Martha Wells [DW link]
Winter Solstice Haunting TTRPG Game Jam
Dec. 8th, 2025 09:20 amradiantfractureHey, I made a little game jam, mostly so that I had a jam whereat to submit my own game:
https://itch.io/jam/winter-solstice-haunting-ttrpg-jam
Make something and I'll try to round folks up to play it!
https://itch.io/jam/winter-solstice-haunting-ttrpg-jam
Make something and I'll try to round folks up to play it!
Girl Genius for Monday, December 08, 2025
Dec. 8th, 2025 05:00 amgirlgenius_main_feedThe Girl Genius comic for Monday, December 08, 2025 has been posted.
(no subject)
Dec. 7th, 2025 04:41 pmysobelWe're on the final boss fight of the campaign. Said boss is hovering over a deep pit -- bad for melee, unless they have some form of flight.
My character rolls the highest initiative.
She is a L20 owlin monk. She has flight. She also has a) 70 feet of movement per turn, and b) magic items (and a feat) that gives extra damage for distance moved in a straight line just before the attack. Oh, and a potion that does bonus
First roll hit a nat 20.
Rolling 20 means damage dice are doubled; if you would normally do 2d6, on a crit you roll 4d6. Between the damage roll (doubled), the extra monk ability I always like to throw in (also doubled, plus poison for a round), and the bonus damage for straight lines (doubled), I did 119 points of damage.
I also have a feat that says if I get a critical hit, all attacks against that creature have advantage until my next turn.
So... a pretty good start.
I love this character.
(...I got a crit the next turn too.)
My character rolls the highest initiative.
She is a L20 owlin monk. She has flight. She also has a) 70 feet of movement per turn, and b) magic items (and a feat) that gives extra damage for distance moved in a straight line just before the attack. Oh, and a potion that does bonus
First roll hit a nat 20.
Rolling 20 means damage dice are doubled; if you would normally do 2d6, on a crit you roll 4d6. Between the damage roll (doubled), the extra monk ability I always like to throw in (also doubled, plus poison for a round), and the bonus damage for straight lines (doubled), I did 119 points of damage.
I also have a feat that says if I get a critical hit, all attacks against that creature have advantage until my next turn.
So... a pretty good start.
I love this character.
(...I got a crit the next turn too.)
Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 7, part 2
Dec. 7th, 2025 11:40 pmtrobadora 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 7, from 24:30
Summary: The SID finds Lai Su's house and confronts him. He reveals that someone promised him fame and fortune if he published webnovels, and he kept at it despite knowing about the murders. Lin Jing is disappointed and furious at his idol. Lai Su writes a final chapter to end his webnovel career, and ends up dying his character's death. Zhu Jiu tries to break into the SID and discovers the black energy shield. And Zhao Yunlan visits Shen Wei to talk about the case. Shen Wei is very touched that he sympathises with a Dixingren.
Quote:
Lin Jing: "If you can't take responsibility for every word you write, you don't deserve to be called an author. You don't even deserve to be called a person!"
Detail:
Lin Jing describes the final chapter of the webnovel with the monster's death as follows: "He was engulfed by guilt for his many crimes. In the end, his own reflection in a lake scared him to death."
Since we actually see the text of the chapter on screen, I thought it'd be fun to plug the screencaps into Google Translate - here's the result:
mobile version | desktop version
Questions:
Do you have a favourite line in in this half of the episode? What do you think about Lin Jing's angry words to Lai Su? How great is Lai Su's house? Any parallels between this case and the drama's overall plot? Any parallels with the novel you can think of? Why is Zhu Jiu only now discovering the SID's shield? What's your favourite part of the final scene between Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan?
(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 schedule for the current batch of episodes - please do sign up to host a post if you can!
Frivolous question - solo horror game
Dec. 7th, 2025 09:57 amradiantfractureI am nearing completion (fingers crossed) on a little winter solstice horror game that uses solitaire as its mechanic.
You will not be surprised to learn that this is is pretty much a solo journalling game with prompts. However, the solitaire mechanic does impose (I hope, anyway) a kind of melancholy fatalism.
I have been calling the game Solitary for obvious reasons, but of course there are many many many many games on Itch alone already called Solitairy. Any thoughts on an alternate title?
§rf§
You will not be surprised to learn that this is is pretty much a solo journalling game with prompts. However, the solitaire mechanic does impose (I hope, anyway) a kind of melancholy fatalism.
I have been calling the game Solitary for obvious reasons, but of course there are many many many many games on Itch alone already called Solitairy. Any thoughts on an alternate title?
§rf§