arduinna

( 17. An Academic Affair - Jodi McAlister ) Enormously fun and I'm hoping for sequels!

( 18. The Shots You Take - Rachel Reid ) Fairly forgettable, but still entertaining enough to keep me reading.

( 19. The Spy Who Loved Me - Ian Fleming ) I don't think Fleming is for me, but there was some enjoyment available.

( Greenwing and Dart - Victoria Goddard ) Fluffy, fun (despite a substantial amount of mortal peril) and a generally satisfying binge.

( 26. How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie ) Dated but I think still worth reading.

( 27. Holiday in Death, 28. Festive in Death, and 29. Framed in Death - JD Robb ) I always enjoy these - but particularly liked the opportunity to revisit the early part of the series in contrast to the newer state of things!

( 30. Derring-Do for Beginners - Victoria Goddard ) I was hoping for more actual, you know, Red Company, but this was so much fun I can't have too many regrets.

( 31. Jane Austen: A Life - Claire Tomalin ) I think this is probably as enlightening as it could reasonably have been, but I was a little disappointed, somehow, despite learning a fair amount. It's not badly-written at all, but it never really won me over somehow.

( 32. Chain-Gang All-Stars - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah ) Ultra-violent, really thumpingly Message-y, and strangely compelling; I don't think I'll ever want to re-read it, but I am interested to see where Adjei-Brenyah goes from here.

( 33. Blood Sport, 35. The Edge, and 37. Risk - Dick Francis ) A trio of delightfully exciting nonsenses; I'm so sorry I didn't discover Francis years ago, but on the other hand at least they are a source of joy for me now.

( 34. Men Explain Things to Me - Rebecca Solnit ) A short but concentrated dose of feminist rage.

( 36. Outcrossing - Celia Lake ) On paper this absolutely should be my jam, but it entirely is not.

( 38. Batman: Wayne Family Adventures vol 2 - CRC Payne and Starbite ) Adorable. This series is just so fun.

( 39. Just One Damned Thing After Another - Jodi Taylor ) This is a fun concept, but the archaeology / history is worse than in Connie Willis' Oxford Time Travel books and that's saying something. I didn't hate it, but I had to disconnect my brain way too much to enjoy it.

( 40. Ambiguity Machines - Vandana Singh ) A really excellent collection, even though I couldn't muster quite the delight I wanted from it.

( 41. Get A Life, Chloe Brown - Talia Hibbert ) I enjoyed this, although I'm not sure if I'll read more Hibbert.

Current Mood: accomplished

donutsweeper

Weather here's been interesting- a storm started Saturday afternoon and pretty much continued until late Sunday/early Monday and the temp plummeted. We'd had a few weeks of 30s and 40s and basically all the snow melted and stuff started to green up and then BAM 12-15" of the stuff followed by Monday being in the negatives. It was so fun shoveling then :( we've had another dusting since but then temps started climbing and it's supposed to be in the 70s on Saturday. Mother Nature is definitely having some fun with my area.

Tumblr has also been all over the place. It pushed through an update on the 16th that was *very* unpopular (radically altering how notifs of reblogs/adding comments work) and they first tried a 'we understand you have strong feeling about this but it is what it is' response about 9 hours later (their reply to their original post) but then early on the 17th they completely walked it back although it sounds like they're still thinking of implementing something?) But as a result it got me to take a dive into the stupidly high number tumblr posts I'd favorited with the intent to read/watch/research later when I had more time. Behold:

The 'Make 45 groups of 45!' sorting game, a great game for anyone who likes lists or sorting or desires to lose numerous hours of their day(s) in a fugue logic puzzle clicking state.

For those of you who use Firefox it recently rolled out an AI kill switch and here's an article about it and how to turn it off (basically, go to settings and look for AI controls in the sidebar, it should already be toggled to off but it's good to check)

Are normal looking links too boring for you? Try Creepy Link, the URL shortener that makes your links look as suspicious as possible.

A bunch of the posts were also things I wanted to check out to add to my resource posts so between what was there and links I was already behind in adding I'm going to probably be adding about 100 new links. Since it's so many, even though it's a little early I am also attempting a full click through for all the links to check to make sure they're still good. As requested, I'll also be adding a 'last updated' date to each post as I get to them.

And, as always, last but not least, 2 weeks of

recthething recs (tumblr art for Addams Family, Leverage, MDZS/Untamed, Merlin, Murderbot, and ST:TOS and a fic for MDZS/Untamed):

The Addams Family
- Addamses (absolutely gorgeous Gomez and Morticia)

Leverage
- the rundown job aka the episode that just kept on giving (gorgeous Parker, Hardison and Eliot)

MDZS/The Untamed
- same grumpy face, no matter how old he gets (baby and teen jin ling, so well done)

Merlin
- Merthur and a unicorn (love this)
- Arthur (gorgeous blue-tones digital art)
- once and future (love the framing of this with them on either side of excalibur and just their looks in general)

Murderbot
- A mini papercraft commission of Murderbot (I love these papercrafts and this Murderbot is great)

ST:TOS
- Best tos episode (Uhura and tribbles, hilarious!)

MDZS/Untamed fic:
Madam Gentian and the Fugitive by azure_enechelon (185k)
Summary: Wei Wuxian befriends a mysterious woman in a hidden corner of the Cloud Recesses. Lan Wangji has a mother to confide in. Madam Lan does her best to make up for a lot of bad parenting. It isn't going to change everything, but maybe it can change just enough. (Recently completed very long, but wonderfully detailed and interesting AU)

oursin

So I think I've pretty much got my presentation sorted for next week at around the right length and with a slightly superogatory Powerpoint, but everybody seems to do these these days, sigh.

And I have got off a review of an article which was not as bad as I thought it was going to be, not bad at all.

And I have read the thesis I was asked to read and am trying to think of some questions which are not, which novelist would you pick to depict the seething tensions within [local organisation therein discussed], because I was going, hmmm, is this Barbara Pym purlieu or not?

And although there have been some hiccups along the road a further volume in the Interminable Saga should be appearing in the not too distant future though there are some niggling things still happening.

And I may have mentioned Doing A Podcast some months ago and the same people have come back to ask me to contribute to another one in their series, for which I realise I ought to do a certain amount of prep.

Book review still hanging over me.

Various matters of life admin.

fail_feed

Posted by Jesse Kessenheimer

https://cheezburger.com/44731397/er-nurse-saves-a-mans-life-despite-getting-stopped-in-the-hallway-by-an-entitled-karen-demanding-a

She was literally rushing to save a person's life, but in this emergency room Karen, a turkey sandwich order was far more urgent.

I love a turkey sandwich as much as anyone, but I would never order from the lunch menu while emergency sirens are blaring and nurses are sprinting around the hospital with their non-slip shoes. That's something only a tone-deaf, unaware, and totally entitled Karen would do…

https://cheezburger.com/44731397/er-nurse-saves-a-mans-life-despite-getting-stopped-in-the-hallway-by-an-entitled-karen-demanding-a

sabotabby

I feel guilty every time I post about something shallow and trivial. However, I enjoy shitposting and we could all use the distraction. The way I distract myself is being spicy in fannish communities.

If you have emotional attachments to a certain cancelled sci-fi show and its creator, skip this post.

Still with me? Okay.

So I want to propose a new TV show for you. It's set IN SPACE in the far-flung future, think gritty space dystopia, think found family, think QUIPS and BANTER and BIG DAMN HEROES.

Our heroes are the crew of a spaceship. They dress in snappy black and silver uniforms. They're all played by white guys and women, most with blond hair, all of them extremely fit and attractive. They have a cool logo that looks great on merch. Their ships are very cool looking and the best in the galaxy. They stand up for the common man.

They are fighting a snivelly and sinister enemy, a vast galactic conspiracy that is secretly pulling the strings behind every bad guy of the week. Maybe they turn out to be, IDK, some kind of lizard alien or something.

By the way in case you're getting ideas about historical analogies here, I should make it clear that the first officer on the heroes' ship is a Jewish woman and the heroes don't commit any genocides on screen. In fact, one of them has a speech about how violence is bad in the first episode! They are shown to be very against war crimes in fact, it's the antagonists who are doing all the war crimes.

Now, a poll:

Poll #34385 Which would be less bad?

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 10

View Respondents

Which would be better, if this show concept HAD to exist?

View Answers

Depicting the protagonists doing war crimes
5 (50.0%)

Not depicting the protagonists doing war crimes
5 (50.0%)

vriddy

300th fic posted on AO3 :D
(overall, I mean. Not just for K-9!!!!!!!!!! ;D Not yet 😌)

We've seen multiple times in canon now how Ren always waits for teenage girls to wake up after they get involved in Sin-related incidents usually way bigger than they are. Even if she has nothing to say, even if she knows her encouraging words won't be enough. She waits, says something kind, doesn't mind if she gets talked to rudely, then goes on her way, back to her work trying to fix all this.

Another thing I like to do when I'm tired of thinking about K-9 directly (haha as if) is trying to analyse the story structure, how information gets drip-fed to us, what kind of information. What questions are raised, which ones get answers, what new questions those bring up. I am enchanted. May I write such fascinating stories with fascinating casts when I grow up :D <3

Vigil | K-9 | Ren | 300 words | rated T

Summary: Ren always waits for the girls to wake up at the hospital afterwards, like no one did for her.

Read it on Dreamwidth or AO3.

cyberghostface posting in

scans_daily

( You're about to view content that the poster has marked as potentially inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

anais_pf posting in

thefridayfive

These questions were suggested by

melagan.

1. What was the reason you began a Dreamwidth or LiveJournal account (or both)?

2. How many DW or LJ communities do you subscribe to?

3. Do you have a favorite community or one you check out often to see what's new?

4. How did you pick your user name?

5. If you could change your user name, would you?

The following bonus questions are brought to you by the fact that I (anais_pf) have been unable to access any page of LiveJournal for more than a week (and therefore cannot post to The Friday Five there):

6. If you have a LiveJournal, are you currently able to access it?

7. Do you have any information about why one would be unable to access LiveJournal?

Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.

If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!

fail_feed

Posted by Remy Millisky

https://cheezburger.com/44712197/father-promises-2-kids-a-850-target-shopping-spree-then-teaches-them-a-lesson-about-money

When this Dad discovered that his 2 young children spent nearly $1,000 on Minecraft coins, he decided to teach them a financial lesson.

Apparently, this is kind of a common thing. Little kids get into gaming, because their parents probably play video games too. (After all, millennials and some zoomers are becoming parents now! So all their favorite pastimes are going to be learned by their own children.)

However, a lot of parents don't seem to realize just how easily a kid can accidentally spend big bucks on in-game microtransactions. It's not always easy for a kid to tell if they're spending in-game money, or real US dollars, and sometimes the games themselves try to blur the lines to confuse kids even further.

https://cheezburger.com/44712197/father-promises-2-kids-a-850-target-shopping-spree-then-teaches-them-a-lesson-about-money

fail_feed

Posted by Ben Weiss

https://cheezburger.com/44743429/former-school-board-member-purchases-over-250-worth-of-bricks-for-the-new-neighborhood-playground-to

This local city resident knew how much work was put into building this new school playground, so he took the opportunity to purchase several bricks so he could write "disparaging comments" on them about several board members, whose money mismanagement made this project nearly impossible to complete

https://cheezburger.com/44743429/former-school-board-member-purchases-over-250-worth-of-bricks-for-the-new-neighborhood-playground-to

$radiantfracture: Beadwork bunny head (Default)$

radiantfracture

As usual, true scholars, please forgive my dilettante's sense of discovery over things you have always known.

When searching for some examples of "pleasing the heart" as erotic joy, as per

sovay's information, I arrived at this (in the ETCSL).

( A love song of Shu-Suen )

§rf§

1. Well, a balbale, but the immediate internet is of limited use in defining this except as a form that uses variety in repetition.

2. For those interested, the transliterated Sumerian given for this phrase is ^dcu-^dsuen cag₄ ^dmu-ul-lil₂-la₂-ke₄ ba-ze2-be₂-en-na-ju₁₀.

I assume the subscript numbers refer to different versions of the cuneiform character. I dunno about the superscript d.

forestofglory

I’ve been sick for the last week or so which meant there was a lot of time to sit around reading but I didn’t have a lot of energy to write things up. But now I’m doing better so have a media roundup! (This isn’t everything I read while sick because some of it I didn’t have the energy to write up, and also I’ve been slowly reading Batman: No Man’s Land and if I write something about it, I’m going to do so after I finish the whole story. )

Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi— For kiddo’s school book club. This is so not my kind of book and I wouldn’t have read it if the kiddo hadn’t insisted. I just find contemporary books with political themes really really stressful! So this book about a Syrian-American boy in 2016-2017 was really not my cup of tea. So I think it was doing ok at being the book it wanted to be, but that book is not for me. Also the whole book was in poetry, and I don't think that actually added much – but also I’m not really a poetry person.

Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton by Ryan North and Mike Norton— Since I've been reading a lot of superhero stuff an algorithm showed me this, and it's got a cute dog and is written by Ryan North so I thought I'd check it out (What has Ryan North been up to since Squirrel Girl? Maybe I should find out. Maybe I should reread Squirrel Girl)* This was a bit darker than I was expecting! And did really feature the elements of North’s style that I remember enjoying alot (witty dialogue and certain wacky over the top-ness) Though still mostly a sweet story. (Content note: abusive training/animal harm, animal death, children in peril)

Lumberjanes: Bonus Tracks and Lumberjanes: Campfire Songs— These are single issue Lumberjanes stories by a bunch of different writers and artists. I enjoyed the variety! I think my favorite story was the one that had Last Unicorn vibes (Look I watched that movie a lot as a kid)

Lumberjanes: The Infernal Compass by Lilah Sturges, polterink, et al— Lumberjanes original graphic novel – this was honestly a little disappointing, I didn’t feel like it really captured the vibe of the original comic. It did not help that this was one of those graphic novels with a very limited color palette (black, white and green) and I really missed the colorfulness!

Lumberjanes: The Shape of Friendship by Lilah Sturges, polterink, et al— Another lumberjanes graphic novel – I liked this one a lot better. It probably helped that my expectations were lowered after the first one but I do think it was a better story overall as well.

The Ribbon Skirt: A Graphic Novell by Cameron Mukwa— A middle grade graphic novel about Anang, a two-spirit and nonbinary Anishinaabe kid, who wants to wear a ribbon skirt to an upcoming powwow. This is very sweet! There are talking turtle spirits! There’s also Anang’s friend who is uncomfortable with Anang’s identity and kinda transphobic about it as heads up

* after writing this I did look up what Ryan North has been up to, some library holds have been placed. Also I noticed that he has PDF’s of all of his academic papers available on his website and I think that’s very charming and helpful of him.

olivermoss

The *other* hockey romance book series becoming a TV show has finally dropped a trailer

Watch on YouTube

I am going to watch at least the start of it, we'll see how long I last. I do want to see sexy hockey scenes, but I don't know if I'd enjoy anything except those bits. I am glad the show got so delayed and it didn't come out right when Heated Rivalry did. There may be some people trying to compare them / pit them against each other, but it will be at least way less intense.

cyberghostface posting in

scans_daily

( Scans under the cut... )

glitteryv

This is a v. OJO animated trailer for "Arirang" (the traditional Korean song AND BTS' album) that shows a version of the canonical story dating back to May 1896. Seven Korean men traveled to the US and performed for the crowds. Among the songs they sang was "Arirang"--and this lead to the first official recording of the song ever.

It's a video that honors the past AND connects it to BTS, a 7-member group of Korean men (IT'S ALWAYS THE 7 WITH BTS. FREAKING ALWAYS, LOL!) who debuted in 2013 and continue sharing Korean culture and folklore with the rest of the world.

One of the BEST things abt this trailer is that it includes a snippet of "Body to Body", the first song of the album.

The second best thing is that there's ZERO AI in the trailer. *points at the long list of credited artists* \o/!

Watch on YouTube

Since I'm NOT Korean, I figured this other video from TTMIK is an A+ explainer of "Arirang"'s meaning AND significance. As well as how the ideas and values abt it are reflected in BTS' work.

Watch on YouTube

shipperslist

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

tcampbell1000 posting in

scans_daily

This is Giffen, Jones,
and Mike McKone’s
story about zones
full of dead bones
and a grieving guy who groans
and moans
when the plan he hones
ends worse than Game of Thrones.

The two Justice Leagues are getting together for an “ice cream social” to mix and mingle. It’s healthy and good workplace management from Max and Catherine. So, naturally, it somehow leads to League-adjacent personnel f#cking around with the fabric of time.

( Last time the X-Men had a casual Friday, it gave rise to a version of the Phalanx made out of denim. )

sario528 posting in

capslock_dreamwidth

MY SOUL YEARNS FOR THE SHITPOST

rekishi

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

fail_feed

Posted by Etai Eshet

https://cheezburger.com/44750853/should-i-tell-my-boss-how-upset-i-am-with-them-employee-wants-to-skip-work-lunch-her-boss-invited

This worker's boss is organizing a team lunch that sounds harmless until you realize every office lunch is a social minefield. It's meant to build teamwork, but it usually just tests who can fake interest the longest. The problem is that two coworkers on the invite list are a married couple she can't stand. He's the golden child who steals clients and preaches about integrity while his wife sits nearby, acting like she's hosting a reality show no one asked to join.

I know workplace grudges are like allergies. Everyone's got one, and they flare up at the worst possible times. But, hey, lady! Coworkers we hate are like opinions: everybody has them, grow up and go to lunch.

https://cheezburger.com/44750853/should-i-tell-my-boss-how-upset-i-am-with-them-employee-wants-to-skip-work-lunch-her-boss-invited

yourlibrarian posting in

marchmetamatterschallenge

Hello everyone! It's time for another writing prompt!

Do you think it's more likely that meta would be preserved and read if it were regularly included in other fanwork challenges? Would you take part if you had the chance?

Writing new meta this month is optional. If you do write something though, share a link to it in a future check-in post!

duckprintspress

Remember our list of our most anticipated 2026 releases?

10 book covers and 2 gray book cover placeholders on the background of the Rainbow Flag. The books are: Last First Kiss by Julian Winters; I Love You Don't Die by Jade Song; The Girls Will Be Okay by Linnea Peterson; Platform Decay by Martha Wells; Common Bonds 2 ed. by Claudie Arseneault, Emery Lee & RoAnna Sylver; A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo; The Last Best Quest Ever by F.T. Lukens; Is This a Cry for Help? by Emily Austin; Bridget and Gabe Are Not Okay by Lex Croucher; Smash or Pass by Birdie Schae. The cover placeholders read: A Trade of Blood cover tba; Panguan cover tba.

Some of these books are now out, some are not, but regardless – if you’re as excited for any of these titles as we are, and you want to either buy them or pre-order them, I’ve got a deal for you!

Purchase any of these print books through our Affiliate Shop List, use code BSO15 to save 15% off the price!

This deal is ONLY good on print books (not e-books!), applies only to the list price (as in, doesn’t stack with other discounts), and the coupon is good NOW through April 1st 2026 (no foolin’!). You just have to make sure you use our affiliate link and get the book(s) you want through the list!

This is part of a pilot program that Bookshop.org is running to support affiliate shops like ours that utilize their list-building features. I’m pretty curious to see where they’re going with this program, and also am curious to see, like, if any of y’all use the coupon! So check out the books, save a little money, and get your queer read on.

fail_feed

Posted by Brad Dickson

https://cheezburger.com/44747525/28-year-old-graphic-designer-and-5-year-company-veteran-discovers-theyre-making-less-than-2-college

A mid-career graphic designer discovered that two new hires were earning more than they were despite having less experience, sparking frustration over pay inequity and discussion on the topic

Graphic design might be your passion, but the misunderstanding in the modern business environment makes it a challenging career.

https://cheezburger.com/44747525/28-year-old-graphic-designer-and-5-year-company-veteran-discovers-theyre-making-less-than-2-college

pensnest

The sky was beautifully blue on Sunday, a helpful incentive to get me out in the garden. I unstrangled the blackcurrant bushes from the netting I had put very badly over them, then dug out a bunch of weeds, rediscovered the tentatively emerging rhubarbs, and planted a rhubarb root that I was given recently. Good job, plenty more to do.

( lots more rambling about garden, dancing, and stuff )

Costume night at rehearsal this evening. I have accumulated a number of witchy outfit-adjacent items, it will be a matter of figuring out how they fit together. But at least I won't have to go on stage naked, even though that would probably be more authentic than anything else.

bookscorpion posting in

common_nature

This morning I went to check out the big insect hotel near the canal and I was just in time to catch a whole bunch of male European orchard bees who I am fairly sure had just hatched (the females will hatch a little later in the year).

( Read more... )

Profile

Arduinna

My Website

February 2023

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28

Style Credit

Style: Neutral Good for Practicality by timeasmymeasure

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Mar. 20th, 2026 04:49 am

Network

february booklog of excess

Weather and whatnot

One thing after another, really

ER nurse saves a man's life despite getting stopped in the hallway by an entitled Karen demanding a

She was literally rushing to save a person's life, but in this emergency room Karen, a turkey sandwich order was far more urgent.

Godwinning all over the Firefly reboot

New K-9 fic: Vigil (Ren)

Catacomb of Torment #9

The Friday Five for 20 March 2026

Father promises 2 kids a $850 Target shopping spree, then teaches them a lesson about money

When this Dad discovered that his 2 young children spent nearly $1,000 on Minecraft coins, he decided to teach them a financial lesson.

Former school board member purchases over $250 worth of bricks for the new neighborhood playground t

This local city resident knew how much work was put into building this new school playground, so he took the opportunity to purchase several bricks so he could write "disparaging comments" on them about several board members, whose money mismanagement made this project nearly impossible to complete

more stumbling through ancient poetry

Media Roundup: On the Mend (I hope)

(no subject)

Flow #4

Fandom 50 S4 Post 6: Arrang and BTS

Book Bingo 2026, bingo #1!

Marvel, Minifigures: JUSTICE LEAGUE QUARTERLY #3 (JLI 71)

(no subject)

(no subject)

‘Should I tell my boss how upset I am with them?’: Employee wants to skip work lunch her boss invite

I know workplace grudges are like allergies. Everyone's got one, and they flare up at the worst possible times. But, hey, lady! Coworkers we hate are like opinions: everybody has them, grow up and go to lunch.

March Meta Matters Challenge, Second Writing Prompt

A Bookshop.org Discount For You!

Purchase any of these print books through our Affiliate Shop List, use code BSO15 to save 15% off the price!

28-year-old graphic designer and 5-year company veteran discovers they're making less than 2 college

A mid-career graphic designer discovered that two new hires were earning more than they were despite having less experience, sparking frustration over pay inequity and discussion on the topic

knowing, slowing, growing things

Orchard Bees

Profile

February 2023

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags