Ep. 15 Screencaps

Sep. 13th, 2025 07:11 pm
veetvoojagig: (lollipop)
[personal profile] veetvoojagig posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
Another batch! 373 screencaps from episode 15! I try to look out for all of the perverts (affectionate) so in this collection we have hand pics, feet pics, lollipop pics, and of course, this:



As well as regular shots of all our babies!





Edited with the correct link! Sorry about that!

(no subject)

Sep. 13th, 2025 08:08 pm
shati: teddy bear version of the queen seondeok group photo (Default)
[personal profile] shati
Normally I go silent on here for months because I randomly forgot how to write in full sentences, but this time it was just because things got too miserable -- politics, A/C breaking, work, health, other health, other health, health insurance, medical bills, other medical bills. I think I only ever demonstrate intellectual curiosity and a love of learning in response to illness and injury (perhaps a side effect of inflammation!), so like: --How's it going, Shati? --Well, I've been practicing a lot and my Spanish listening comprehension has gotten way better, I can watch almost all of the Latam A:TLA dub without having to pause or look words up. --Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that.

Things are still in multiple kinds of limbo on the health front, to the point where I basically can't leave my house again right now for more than short car errands, but I guess at least work is getting less busy and I have A/C again.

Back on my birthday I treated myself to the international shipping fees on a couple of books I'm not sure I'm ready to read yet, Los días del venado and Los días de la sombra by Liliana Bodoc. If I like them I'll probably be really mad at myself for not just buying the whole series, but the shipping was already more than I'd normally spend on my birthday, and I may never get around to reading them because they don't have library due dates. I was just excited to come across fantasy originally written in Argentinian Spanish; most of what I can find is either translated to Spanish or from Europe. If any of you have read them (in any language) I'm curious if you liked them! On the rest of the book front, I basically stopped reading while work was really busy and I was working hours late every day, so I'm halfway through a bunch of books that I'll have to return to the library and then borrow again on another trip.

politics )

We need to talk

Sep. 13th, 2025 05:04 pm
firecat: red panda, winking (Default)
[personal profile] firecat
The New Yorker is trying to convince me that Bluesky has become annoying and everyone’s back on Xitter. Not linking because it’s paywalled. True or false?

I never got the hang of Twitter. I have similar problems with Bluesky. I don’t need a social site to deliver me more links. I want conversation. Is conversation dead? Where is it? (I know there’s some here…)

I miss Usenet, lol

thunder's rolling down this track

Sep. 13th, 2025 07:40 pm
musesfool: sara ramirez applying lipstick (pull on your pout)
[personal profile] musesfool
A couple weeks ago, I finally realized I was never going to go to someone else to get my hair cut, so with some encouragement from my sister, this morning, I did an extensive detangling (both before and after washing) and then trimmed about 3" off the bottom myself. Is it even? Probably not, but it was in long layers, so I don't think it really matters. It will eventually even out as it grows and I trim it. Mostly what matters is that after 3 years, the old ends have been trimmed away. And now that I know I can do it, I will try to keep up with it on a more timely basis. At least, I don't think I'll let another 3 years go by. *wry*

*

The Mets did not get no-hit last night but they did lose, and then lost again today despite leading for 7.5 innings. *hands* There is something very wrong with this team, but who can say what? Sigh.

*

第四年第二百四十八天

Sep. 14th, 2025 08:18 am
nnozomi: (Default)
[personal profile] nnozomi posting in [community profile] guardian_learning
部首
囗 part 2
团, group; 囧, shock emoji; 园, park/garden pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=31

词汇
员, a member of a job/activity/organization; 成员, member; 队员, team member; 公务员, public servant; 会员, membership; 人员, personnel; 演员, actor; 员工, employee pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-3-word-list/

Guardian:
在这个时刻只有大家团结起来才有一线生机, at this time the only way to survive is for everyone to come together in solidarity
我们公园平时的养护和员工守则这一系列手续都是遵守条例的, our normal park maintenance and employee regulations have been followed in every particular

Me:
当时我真无语了,只好发给他一个囧。
公司必须得好好保护员工的权利。

yaaurens's 2025 Wishlist

Sep. 14th, 2025 01:21 am
guardian_wishlist_mod: (Default)
[personal profile] guardian_wishlist_mod posting in [community profile] guardian_wishlist
Username: yaaurens
AO3 Username: yaaurens
Does your account accept gifts? Yes

yaaurens's wishlist )

Comment below to leave a gift for this wishlist! Gift comments can be anonymous or signed in. Comments are screened until reveals on 6 October (Reunion Festival).

All gifts must be posted in or linked in comments. If you like, you can post transformative works to the AO3 collection. If your gift doesn't meet AO3's terms of service (picspams, etc.) and is too big to fit in a comment, you can post to Googledocs, set the security to "anyone with the link", and link to the work in the wishlist comments. Other hosting (Tumblr, etc.) is also fine as long as the gift is only visible with a direct link. In any case, please leave a link to the gift in the comments here.

Guardian Wishlist rules/FAQ/schedule

2025 Disneyland Trip #62 (9/13/25)

Sep. 13th, 2025 04:15 pm
torachan: (Default)
[personal profile] torachan
We have not done an early morning trip in almost a month, but Carla's been wanting to go on Soarin' and the best time for that is when the park opens, plus there's some waffles I'd been wanting to try at Schmoozies, and while they could be a dessert as well as a breakfast, Schmoozies closes at eight, which makes it inconvenient for evening trips.

Read more... )

(no subject)

Sep. 13th, 2025 07:08 pm
conuly: (Default)
[personal profile] conuly posting in [community profile] agonyaunt
My husband is the middle of five siblings. The three oldest were high achievers who earned advanced degrees and are now comfortably retired, living far from their hometown. The fourth, a brother, has struggled all his life. After four years in the Army, he drifted between unemployment and low-paying jobs, never able to support himself. His parents covered his expenses or let him live with them, even paying for his car while he worked as a pizza-delivery driver. He also developed substance-abuse problems.

After my husband’s father died, the brother stayed in the family home, supposedly caring for their mother but, in fact, exploiting her. He drained her accounts to feed his habit and neglected her care, and after her death he was convicted of elder abuse — something his out-of-town siblings hadn’t realized was happening. Before she died, their mother begged them not to let him be homeless.

Because the brother couldn’t maintain the house, the siblings sold it and split the proceeds. With his share, they bought him a mobile home and placed funds in a protected account, which covered rent and utilities for nearly 10 years until the money ran out. They eventually transferred the bills into his name and explained how to manage them.

He rarely communicates with the family, except when he’s in trouble. Once on his own, chaos followed. He claimed that his pizza-delivery job was enough to live on, but he missed rent, faced eviction and squandered money on predatory car loans and endless repairs. Last year, his siblings discovered that his car had been repossessed and his water had been shut off for six months. His trailer was collapsing from a leaking roof, and garbage was piled everywhere. Yet he had never asked for help. They stepped in, restored utilities, reclaimed his car, cleaned his trailer and signed him up for Social Security. But he quickly burned through a lump-sum back-pay benefit (he said his account was hacked, though he was more likely scammed). Soon after, he fell behind again, and his Social Security is now being garnished by the I.R.S.

The mobile-home park wants him out for unpaid rent and unsafe conditions. He’s clearly mentally ill, but perhaps not impaired enough for a sibling to secure guardianship. My husband and his siblings want to honor their mother’s plea to keep him housed, but contributing to his rent payments and repairing his trailer isn’t financially sustainable for them, and none of them want to take him in because he’s horrible to live with. Social services might help, but he resists cooperation and can’t manage on his own.

So they wonder: At what point do they stop trying? Are they obliged to sustain someone who refuses to sustain himself? Do they owe him the effort of seeking guardianship, or is that more than can reasonably be asked? — Name Withheld


Read more... )
conuly: (Default)
[personal profile] conuly
I'll try to remember to upload the pic later. It's not a very good picture, but then, I was wary of trying to get too close.

****************


Read more... )
jesse_the_k: Head inside a box, with words "Thinking inside the box" scrawled on it. (thinking inside the box)
[personal profile] jesse_the_k

The American Foundation for the Blind is researching AI:

details on how to participate )

In addition to the environmental and ethical violations which LLMs/AIs depend on, the endless hype and inaccurate performance make me shudder and growl. Yet I admit I’ve used neural text-to-speech voices for casual audio reading. The neural voices require an internet connection and they lose intelligibility at speed. They’re best as substitutes for human readers.

Blind computer users set their on-device system text-to-speech (TTS) at high speeds. Three hundred to five hundred words per minute are often cited. For screen reader applications, a robotic voice is a feature, enabling bits to flow from device to brain with minimal interpretation.

Neural voices produce much higher quality than system-level TTS. When fed appropriately coded input, they can laugh, whisper, and sound sarcastic as well as "analyze" an essay to produce a "podcast" dialog between two synthetic discussants. Some samples here: https://www.naturalreaders.com/online/

But I know well the expertise that skilled human narrators bring to their work—whether it’s commercial audiobook production, volunteer alternative-format creation, or podfic elves making magic. I don’t want a world where those jobs are outsourced to computers.

On the gripping hand, I remember when skilled Linotype operators--many Deaf--were obviated by computerized systems where reporters keyed their own copy. I used the bridge technology of phototypesetting, as well as pioneering desktop publishing. It's expected that admin workers now create flyers and graphs and charts.

Have you tried neural voices? Recognized them on YouTube or TikTok or your recent tech support call? Do you have thoughts for or against?

Golden Terrace fic

Sep. 14th, 2025 08:59 am
thawrecka: (Default)
[personal profile] thawrecka posting in [community profile] c_ent
Shared Warmth (1056 words) by thawrecka
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 黄金台 - 苍梧宾白 | Golden Terrace - Cāng Wú Bīn Bái
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Fu Shen/Yan Xiaohan
Characters: Fu Shen (Golden Stage), Yan Xiaohan
Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Slice of Life, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Summary:

Two moments in their relationship in which Fu Shen and Yan Xiaohan take care of each other.

Daily Check In.

Sep. 13th, 2025 06:00 pm
adafrog: (Default)
[personal profile] adafrog posting in [community profile] fandom_checkin
This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Saturday to midnight on Sunday (8pm Eastern Time).


Poll #33616 Daily poll
This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 27

How are you doing?

I am okay
17 (63.0%)

I am not okay, but don't need help right now
10 (37.0%)

I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans are you living with?

I am living single
9 (33.3%)

One other person
13 (48.1%)

More than one other person
5 (18.5%)




Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.

9/13/2025 Inspiration Trail

Sep. 13th, 2025 12:07 pm
mrkinch: Erik holding fieldglasses in "Russia" (bins)
[personal profile] mrkinch
There was fog but it wasn't blowing so very hard so I put on a windbreaker and started down the trail ten or fifteen minutes after the initially invisible sunrise. But soon the fog thinned enough for me to see where the sun was, so that was a good start. It as quiet on the way out to the north end of the trail, and out there it was very quiet. I didn't find a single new species there, bar the probable thus unreportable Blue-gray Gnatcatchers at the point on return. No vocalizations but one or more small, blueish birds flitting about with Chestnut-backed Chickadees and Lesser Goldfinches. The sun made it's best attempt at 8:30 or so when I was approaching the very tall pines just north of the dip. Suddenly I was in the middle of great activity, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Bushtits, all three nuthatches, Bewick's Wrens, Purple Finches, Lesser Goldfinches, Dark-eyed Juncos, a pair of California Towhees, a Wilson's Warbler, and a flock of Townsend's Warblers. I reported six but I'm pretty sure there were more. I think they only flock when they are on migration, which they almost certainly were. It was wonderful, what we always hope for. Unfortunately I was at the end of my stamina and couldn't stay watching as long as I would have liked, but it did make the fog worthwhile. The list: )

I expected to run into game day detours and had learned a new alternate route home, but it's an evening game and nothing was blocked yet.:) Game days are such pain, especially since Cal Stadium is right at the beginning of the road I take up to the western ridge.
trobadora: (Black-Cloaked Envoy)
[personal profile] trobadora posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
Zhao Yunlan sprawled on a couch, grinning at his phone. The background shows a purple sky with stars. Text reads, "Slo-Mo Rewatch. Guardian - half an episode per week @ sid_guardian.dreamwidth.org"


Hi, welcome to our second instalment of the Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch! Join us to watch half an episode a week (at your leisure) 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 1, from 22:28

Summary: Guo Changcheng is having a day! After being dangled from a window and falling, now he fails at tailing Shen Wei and Li Qian, takes a lost grandma home, and promptly runs into a shadowy attacker! But action hero Chu Shuzhi comes to the rescue. Shen Wei studies Zhao Yunlan's file, and we get our first YOHE flashback. Zhao Yunlan, who has concluded the attacker mistook Lu Ruomei for Li Qian, tails Li Qian and has another intense encounter with Professor Shen. The Shadow Man attacks Li Qian at the university, but Shen Wei protects her - until he's thrown off the roof, just as the SID arrives. The team meets the Black-Cloaked Envoy for the first time.

Shen Wei protecting Li Qian on the rooftop

Quote:

Zhao Yunlan: "Tell you the truth, I really don't know why, but from the moment I saw you, I've had this feeling like we've known each other a long time."

Shen Wei: "Who knows, maybe we really have met before."

Detail:

One of my favourite details in this half of the episode is the Envoy's very dramatic arrival on the rooftop - storm clouds and lightning and time stoppage and all. The best part about this is something a first-time viewer can't know - that this is clearly a choice on Shen Wei's part. He's looking to make an impression, hee! :D

Questions:

What's your favourite moment or line in this half of the episode? Anything you noticed that you'd completely forgotten about, or never noticed before? How literally do you take Shen Wei's "I've searched for you for 10,000 years"? What do you think Zhao Yunlan is thinking when Shen Wei just gives away that he knows about Dixingren? If you were on that rooftop when the Envoy took the Shadow Man away, would you speak up like Xiao-Guo? And if you're familiar with the novel, any thoughts about how this compares?

(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 - please do sign up to host a post if you can!

Matching notes #2

Sep. 14th, 2025 08:22 am
modzilla: Godzilla with a clipboard (Default)
[personal profile] modzilla posting in [community profile] fffx
Thanks to the people I've heard back from!

I still need to hear from P and also from two other people - C and S. In one case I need some sign-up details and in another case unfortunately there is a cascading matching issue - so if your name starts with s and you (appear to) have one possible recipient, please check your email.

Creators Revealed!

Sep. 13th, 2025 09:16 pm
tentaclemod: (Default)
[personal profile] tentaclemod posting in [community profile] raremaleslashex
All Creators have been revealed!

Thank you to all participants, and many many thanks to the pinch hitters for showing up again and again ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ I hope you all had fun!

If you have urgent suggestions for improvement, feel free to comment on this post or write a mail to tentaclemod@gmail.com. Other questions and input are welcome as well!

current stitching

Sep. 13th, 2025 10:50 am
thistleingrey: (Default)
[personal profile] thistleingrey
It's time for Microsoft Voice Access!

A few days ago, I noticed that the roving from the spindle workshop had introduced very tiny critters to my active knitting projects, kept adjacent. Off they went to chill, one ziploc bag in the freezer and the rest waiting at the back of the fridge. That meant starting a different knitting project. I squelched my initial idea of fine-gauge, two-color brioche for a shawl (to use up certain yarn skeins) and chose the pattern from my Ravelry queue that scares me the most.

Yesterday I washed a swatch, the start of the first sleeve. I guess the designer pulled very tightly on his recently discontinued yarn, of a type that snaps if you look at it funny (BT Shelter). I'm using a yarn with slightly more heft, gained via the last of my in-kind shop samples, and I was able to have a second go at a sleeve on smaller needles before a minor accident )
glitteryv: (Default)
[personal profile] glitteryv
I feel like something within me has been unlocked cuz I've been picking up (and actually reading!) more books now than I did during the earlier part of the year. WHO AM I? XD

Re-reads. HUH

* All About All About Eve: The Complete Behind-the-Scenes Story of the Bitchiest Film Ever Made! by Sam Staggs (non-fiction) - This is a v. comprehensive (and at times exhaustive book on anything and everything you'd ever want to know abt All About Eve, a 1950s classic movie and one of my top faves of all time.

I got this book as a gift (from an ex) back in 2001, read it, loved it then. However, it got damaged cuz my previous home got termites. My library recommended it to me (I guess cuz I'd been adding classic film books to my library TBR?) and I said "sure, let me enjoy it once again!"

One thing I appreciated was Staggs' writing style: friendly, gossipy, and thorough. His book covers everything from the short story the movie is based on (he even interviewed the author) to the movie itself (from pre-production onwards) including details on EVERYONE down to secondary and background characters and then the movie's position within general Western pop culture. FWIW, I really liked the first two-thirds (as I'd forgotten some of the details and so, at times, it felt like I was almost reading it for the first time.) However, the book dips in yays during its last third with the exception of one specific chapter. I got the sense that Staggs wanted to cover EVERY aspect related to this movie. BUT it did dragged...except for the next-to-last chapter on camp and the LGTBQ+ community's connection to this film.

At this point, I doubt I'll give it another read, but I deffo rec this for fans of this movie and/or classic Hollywood movies. I gave this 4 out of 5.


I DNF'd

* The Wild Girls Club: Tales from Below the Belt by Anka Radakovich (non-fiction) - [NB: this was actually my second re-read of the month, but I think it fits better in this section.] OK, so I'm not going to assume that everyone knows who this woman is so, here's a quick note abt her. An older Gen x-er, she was (all thru the 1990s and into the v. early part of the 2000s) one of THE sex advice columnists in the US. IIRC, her column (in Details, a men's magazine) started around 1992-ish? This led to her appearing on a lot of TV shows from those airing on MTV to less youth-oriented networks. Her candidness and snark made her appear edgier than, say, Dear Abby.

I borrowed this book back in early 1995 from the library and enjoyed it a ton. This is a collection of essays on sex, dating, and romance. Oh, and there's a bonus section where she interviews dudes like Joe Pesci, Norman Mailer, Russ Meyer, and John Waters.

My library happened to still have a copy of the book, so I borrowed it again...and DNF'd pretty early on, hahah.

For starters, this was a verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry early '90s book in tone (and I'm saying that in a derrogatory way.) The humor was crass and sexist (on purpose), the references were incredibly dated, and Radakovich gave off a "I'm not like those other (ultra-femme, mainstream, Barbie-fied) girls" vibe that made me legit 😬. Oh, and she loooooved using the R-slur more than enough times for me to go "OK, I'M DONE WITH THIS!" around the second story in Chapter 1. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But not before I skipped ahead to the interviews section and ended up CRINGING ALL OVER AGAIN. This is why I'm NOT a nostalgic person at all, hahah. In any case, with this, I can end my impromptu journey into "books I read in the 1990s-early 2000s" that has happened this year. *Happily waves goodbye to that era*

I gave this book a 1.6 out of 5.


* Make Room for Love by Darcy Liao (F/F Contemporary Romance) - Mira is an Indian-American trans woman who ends up as a temporary roommate of Isabel, a Chinese-American electrician. Both of the women have some stuff to deal with (for Mira is realizing that she's also attracted to women while for Isabel is abt dealing with the loss of a sibling.)

I'd been wanting to read this novel since I first heard abt it back in May of this year (it was first published last fall, IIRC.) I did liked that the MCs were in their 30s (and behaved like actual!adults), they had work responsibilities, and had a neat simpatico going on.

The first of the two issues I had with this book was that it's a character-driven novel and I'm a plot girlie. This meant that the pacing was slower than I liked and reading abt their internal conflicts felt, at times, like watching a dog chase its tail.

Then there's the OTHER thing that ultimately killed my enthusiasm for the book.

Before I go into that, let me state for the record that I am fiercely PRO-UNION. I think they're cool and much needed (especially nowadays.) HOWEVAH, the B-plot was abt Mira (who is a PhD candidate) trying to establish a graduate student union at her university. Which, yays for everyone. Unfortch, this overtook the main plot to the point that if I had to read one more scene of Mira practicing for a speech she'd give at a rally, I would end up throwing my tablet across the room. The romance took a backseat and I was NOT happy abt that. (I did hear--through reading others' reviews--that the plot focuses back on Mira/Isabel (including some v. hot times), but even that wasn't enough to lure me back.)

I'd picked up this book with the hopes to read abt Mira and Isabel falling for each other + smooches. But, in order to get to that part of this romance novel, I'd have to read page after page abt organizing. FWIW, I'm sure other readers ate all of that (and probably wish there had been MORE pages written abt the union stuff), but that's not me. *Hands* I gave this book 2 out of 5.


* Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars (Cozy mystery) - Misty Divine becomes an amateur sleuth after Lady Lady, her drag mother, is murdered.

This had a kickass premise and the bonus that Misty is a nonbinary person in their mid-30s. FTR, I did catch glimpses/moments in the story that made me go "oooh".

Sadly, though, this book committed the ultimate sin: BAD WRITING!

For starters, between telling and showing, the author opted to go with the former. And, listen, I'm not a "telling" hater because I know that it has a purpose. In the case of this book, it was overused to the point that it really dulled what should've been an amazing mystery.

And then, there was the repetition.

[Context: this is a description of what Misty, the protagonist, is wearing at the club. Emphasis mine.]

"Tonight, she was all in red: a red off-the-shoulder minidress with a sweeping neckline and hems so high she was more leg than skirt, red crystal jewelry that dripped from each ear and across her chest, and sequined scarlet heels so tall they were known affectionately in the business as "ankle breakers". Thankfully, Misty's ankles were still intact, despite stiletto-related injuries in the drag business seemingly at an all-time high."

SMH.

I gave this 1 out of 5.


Had an awesome time at first (but it all went downhill from there)

So far, I either really like OR hate everything I've started. XD


Good vibes all around

* Hurt Me, Daddy (The Brat and The Beast book 1) by Misha Horne (M/M romance) - In danger of failing chemistry (and losing his football scholarship), high school senior Logan ends up getting tutored by the v. nerdy Caleb, a.k.a Beast (so nicknamed cuz of his height.) If, at some point, their relationship becomes kinky, well... (NB: pardon the bad summary!)

OK, so this is one of those authors whose catalogue I've almost read in its entirety. I approached this first book in a new duology with trepidation. The last book of hers I'd read (Snowed in with Benefits) was quite meh. That said, I'm always interested in whatever she publishes cuz she writes one specific premise and does it WELL: romances abt a bratty sub and the dom (sometimes a Daddy, sometimes not) who uses a combo of spanking and Domestic Discipline (with some mild humiliation for extra sprinkles, I guess) to help the subs better their lives.

It's kinda funny how much this book reminded me of this author's Old School Discipline (the first book by her I ever read and which I loved) because of the set-up and the MCs' ages. There's also the fact that the premise can potentially border on ridiculous, so readers have to make up their minds v. quickly as to whether or not they're game with what happens on the page.

FTR, I read this 272-page novel one in a day.

The entire book is told from Logan's POV (in first person). Though at times suffocating (Logan's life has been a really tough one and he's on the edge of self-sabotaging himself for good), his brashness and humor (sarcastic as it might be) make for a really engaging story. He's hurting and what looks like his only way out of a terrible situation is slipping thru his fingers.

Enter Caleb, a.k.a. Beast, who offers him an alternative that seems almost too good to be true. At first, thru unconventional teaching methods and then, thru becoming his Daddy. It's easy to understand Logan's wariness (since we're in his head all along) after Caleb offers to provide him with anything he'd need. OTOH, it also makes total sense that Caleb's steadiness and single-mindedness (perhaps to an OTT level) are exactly what Logan needs to keep on living.

I liked that the author didn't shy away from their fractured backstory. Also, the angst (though heavy at times) was never so overwhelming as to make me stop reading. OFC, the second half of the book brings in the comfort (especially the last 3-4 chapters.) IF said relief includes a serving of kink, well, there we are. XD

As expected, the intimate scenes are fun, filthy, and weirdly sweet. There are readers who might have an issue with Caleb being the kind of Daddy Dom who knows exactly what his bratty boy needs. Especially because, like Logan, he's only 19 y.o. I understand wanting to know WHERE AND WHEN exactly did Caleb learned abt the kink lifestyle, trained under, etc. NGL, that was NOT me cuz I truly didn't care as this is a fictional story. I was also cheering for these two and their FREAK4FREAK relationship (the latter is meant in how there's literally no one else in the entire world that would understand and accept each other the way Logan/Caleb do.)

One of the main reasons why I enjoyed this novel was that the writing was solid from beginning to end: no typos, no weird turn of phrases/slang, no Pop Culture commentary, and pacing issues.

THAT SAID, there were two things that lowered the ranking for me:

1. The novel ends v. abruptly and in a kind of soft cliffhanger. Things get resolved in chapter 1 of the second novel. My best guess is that the author wrote a massive novel that then she split into two. [NB: this is somewhat confirmed as I'm reading Book 2 right now. It deffo feels like one long book split in half.] I didn't mind this as much as others did cuz I already had gotten the second book and the novella, hahah. I WAS IN IT TO WIN IT!

2. There are only 2 female characters and they're HORRIBLE PPL. What's even stranger abt them is that they're both addicts and behave inappropriately with young male adults. In the case of Logan's mom, she's an abusive and neglectful parent. As for Walker's mom, she's an alcoholic who clings to her cougar status to an embarrassing level. It's interesting that they're both at opposite ends of the socioeconomic strata (Logan's mom is an exotic dancer (and potential escort?) who is poor while Walker's mom has a much more affluent life.)

In any case, like most of this author's books, women tend to be either evil bitches (in this novel's case also terrible mothers) or nonexistent. I wish she's publish a novel with at least one solid female character. Alas.

I gave this book 4 out of 5/


Current fic tally

Have picked up 155 and DNF'd 76.


Up next...

Last time: "I've got a non-fiction, a biography, and a couple more of queer romances on my immediate TBR."

Ended up returning the non-fiction cuz my brain was NOT in the mood. Also returned the biography since there are other things I want to get to first. I'm now halfway thru the second book of the "The Brat and The Beast" duology, a mystery/thriller, a queer femdom (?) M/F set in space, and a historical paranormal that is NOT cozy. So a little bit of everything, heheh. Fingers crossed that the Reading Yays continue.

Eternal Sapphtember #348

Sep. 13th, 2025 07:23 pm
amiserablepileofwords: Two overlapping pink hearts (Sapphtember)
[personal profile] amiserablepileofwords posting in [community profile] eggbug_writes

Girls who were at the bacchanal

Reading Backlog for August

Sep. 13th, 2025 09:51 am
muccamukk: Two road signs pointing opposite ways reading "Safety" and "Death." A shrugging grim reaper stands between them. (Misc: Safety or Death!)
[personal profile] muccamukk
(The first of which I read in May, but it wasn't Hugo homework, so we're putting it here.)

Maybe this is a Story about Water by Jessica Wiebe Schafer
I posted one of these poems. Lovely collection reflecting on God, womanhood, family connections and connections to nature, and how they might all be the same. Local author I stumbled on in the library, which suggests I should randomly grab books from the library's poetry section more often. (Have I since done so? No, I have not!)


Rainbow heart sticker A Default World by Naomi Kanakia
Read this for queer book club, which I've been very bad at actually attending. Contemporary satire, I guess would be the easiest genre description.

A South-Asian trans woman ends up joining a San Francisco share house, which is full of bright young things, tech money, and hedonism. Our heroine is trying to figure out how to get someone to pay for the gender-affirming surgeries she desperately wants, but keeps getting sucked into whatever bullshit her housemates are on, namely planning a big kink party that's somehow for great justice.

Most of the book is about skewering the hypocrisies and double think embedded in the mostly white, mostly straight, mostly upper class twenty-somethings who want to think that their sex parties are going to bring about the liberation, but aren't really that interested in the day to day lives of actual real marginalised people. I would say this discordance is played up for effect, and that the space I've seen aren't quite that bad, but also SF is kind of its own beast, so I'd also believe it's not exaggerating reality. The core points certainly hit, though maybe got a little repetitive.

I had complicated feelings about the heroine, who loathes almost every other character almost as much as she loathes herself. It was admittedly difficult to spend that many pages with someone who's that crushed by dysphoria that much of the time. I did like how the book handled her getting sucked into the social scene, and how the tension kept ratcheting up in regards to whether she would make the moral choice or the self-interested one. I was very much rooting for her by the end, even if everyone in the book was kind of terrible.

Will keep an eye on this author.


The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin by Alison Goodman
Grabbed this off the library's seven-day read shelf, not realising it was the second book in a series. I would, if possible, read them in order, as this is very much a serial adventure situation, with the action of the second book directly following on the first. However, it did explain the events of the first well enough to follow along with what was happening, and it was fun on its own.

A pair of spinster sisters in Regency London deal with a variety of crises events, including someone trying to kidnap their house guest, a gentleman's society maybe murdering women, one of their would-be lovers being a highwayman while the other's a Bow Street Runner, and various knock on effects of the previous book. It was fun! I wouldn't say there's a lot more to it than hijinks, though it seemed to be trying to take on serious topics, but I enjoyed the hijinks. There's a scene later on in the book where five or six groups with competing interests are chasing each other around the countryside in the dark, which I always love.

It ends on a slight cliffhanger setting up the next book, which I'm not that invested in, but might read on a rainy day.


Red Boar's Baby by Lauren Esker
This stands alone, more or less, but if you enjoyed the lore from the previous books, you'll see it again here! We get the return of the highly-motivated koala, which made me very happy.

This outing, we get a road runner who's a SAR pilot for the National Parks Service fake dating a wild boar who's running the local shifter police department. (If you're new to this genre, they're shape shifters who can turn into animals, but primarily have human forms. This is not Zootopia.) Together, they have to deal with a probably-kidnapped baby, the probable kidnappers, mad science, and there only being one bed. This series pretty much always hits for me, and as usual it balances the action adventure/mystery plot with the romantic tension, and doesn't base either on silly misunderstandings or anyone carrying the idiot ball. I really liked the backstory to how the fake dating started out, and the barriers to the main couple getting together felt real. They were very sweet together, which helped. Also, there's a fantastic action scene towards the end of the book, that really played with most of the characters involved being shape shifters, and we got a bunch of new lore.

Really enjoyed this, looking forward to the next one.

JUSTICE FOR MATEO! (Who was not mentioned in this book, which is why he needs justice.)

The Wheelhouse - Week 9

Sep. 13th, 2025 10:46 am
clauderainsrm: (Default)
[personal profile] clauderainsrm posting in [community profile] therealljidol
You've got questions - I've got answers!

Maybe. For some things. Let's try this! Some from emails and some from a thread I was directed to so that I could know the sort of things people are curious about.

On this particular vote:

- Will the intersection totals count as your total votes, or just your individual totals. The individual votes.
- How will bye weeks count toward the total. Bye weeks are 0 votes. I considered doing the "average" but that wasn't anywhere in the original requests for this structure. Trying to maintain that integrity to the request.
- Doesn't that make it lopsided for people with bigger friends list? How would that work in a regular season if we did it that way? IMO, it wouldn't. But as a one time thing, it's interesting, which is why it ended up on the Wheel. :)
- Will you provide a list so we all know how many votes we have in total? Maybe. Full disclosure, I haven't even done that for myself yet. I have no idea how far "ahead" or "behind" anyone is going into this week! I need to do that this weekend!





The Wheel:

Is the wheel going to ever allow people to come back into the game? 
There are *counts* 5 different scenarios allowing for different variations of people coming back into the game.  6 depending on how a specific special power is used.  :)  Sooner or later, odds are the wheel is going to land on one of them, and probably soon. 

Do you remove options from the Wheel once they are used? 
Most of them. There are a couple in there specifically designed to come up again. But they haven't come up yet. 

What happens if we get down to the Final 5 but we haven't hit the "come back into the game option?"  We proceed to the end game.  That's the nature of the Wheel.  Like I said, it could last a week and it could go on for the rest of our natural, and unnatural lives.  



The Killer(s): 


How many Killers are left in the game?  There is absolutely no way I'm going to tell you that.  :) 
That said, the pieces are all there.  You know we started with between 1-3.  The original(s) don't even know how many we started with, or who the others are!  I also tell you when there is an empty vial found, and when there isn't.  Which considering you also know that the Killers have two choices: Recruit or Poison. If no vial is found, you know what they picked!  You can do the math from there, and I've seen some people are doing that. 

- Was a vial found this week?   I can now reveal, yes. Yes there was an empty vial found. 

-  What is the criteria for who for an Accusation? What is the criteria for the Killer(s) in who they choose to poison?  I'm not you. I can't decide what your criteria is.  I assume that everyone has their own strategy for both of those things. For the former, I'd say it should be "Who do you think a Killer is" for the poisoning/recruiting - who would be the best choice for further whatever agenda you have in the game! 

- If a Killer is eliminated during a poll, will you know?  Yes. You will know. 

-  How does the Accusation work? Is it majority vote?  Yes.  The majority of you have to agree.  If the Killer is Person X and 40% of you think it's them, but 60% think it's Person Y, you are going to officially accuse Person Y.    The Killer(s) work on the same principle. They have to reach majority on two issues:  Recruit or Poison and then who to either recruit or poison. In the event of a tie that cannot be broken, the Wheel would decide between the choices. 

- How does the antidote work? Does the person taking it know if it works or not?  Yes. Or rather the person who wins it knows. If they drink it themselves, they know and if they give it to someone else, they know that as well.... and so will the person drinking it.  

- How does it taste? It has a bit of a minty lemon aftertaste that once you get used to is quite pleasant.  :)


Participation

- Yeah. It's been down.  Some of that is the small numbers we have and some of that is that I'm not driving engagement like I normally would be doing.  Haven't been in a good place in awhile. I need to be doing more of this and less of *points the rest of the world* 

How are you Gary? 

- Not great.  Some days MUCH better than others.  Proud of Celena who has been accepted to every single grad school she's applied to so far. Cynthia's birthday is on Monday, so that's weird not going all in on it... and my birthday is coming up at the end of the month and really not sure how I want to celebrate it.  If anyone wants to send me massive amounts of cash though, I'll figure something out!  :D   (Note to self - find people with massive amounts of cash, who want to give it to you!!! No, I won't send them to you!!!) 

How are YOU?  


I can't answer that.  You go ahead and answer it below. 

Ask any other questions you've been having below and I'll try my best to answer them. 










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