Random Roman Remains
Dec. 19th, 2025 05:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
purplecat
The Bath House at Chesters Roman Fort. The alcoves are apparently where you stowed your clothes.
purplecatThe Bath House at Chesters Roman Fort. The alcoves are apparently where you stowed your clothes.
Spider Quinn 19 Making the News Amidst the Storms Part 11
Dec. 19th, 2025 09:16 pmfardell24Quinn continued watching the broadcast, even as Donna kept changing the channels. “No good. It looks like she has taken control of the Emergency Alert System,” Donna said.
“Would you know where that is?” Quinn asked.
“I know there’s one nearby, on Bernstein and Mertz,” Andrea answered.
‘I could try that, but how to get away.’
Sandi passed Dewey Rodgers as she left the Historia and headed eastwards towards the Jefferson Bridge.
“Dewey!” Andrea said as she saw him enter the café.
“Hi Andrea, what’s this about Anders?”
“Calling SpiderGirl out. Speaking of…”
“My sister, Mina, said that you could do it,” Dewey responded. “She’ll be here shortly.”
“Good. I’ll just need to inform Ninja Talon in a short while.”
‘Good,’ Quinn thought as she overheard. She turned her attention back to the TV.
“You have half an hour, SpiderGirl. There are only three Emergency Alert stations in Lawndale. Can you find the right one?”
“What kind of sick challenge is that?” Quinn groused as she headed out of the café. She then went to the stairs upwards.
( Read More )
“Would you know where that is?” Quinn asked.
“I know there’s one nearby, on Bernstein and Mertz,” Andrea answered.
‘I could try that, but how to get away.’
Sandi passed Dewey Rodgers as she left the Historia and headed eastwards towards the Jefferson Bridge.
“Dewey!” Andrea said as she saw him enter the café.
“Hi Andrea, what’s this about Anders?”
“Calling SpiderGirl out. Speaking of…”
“My sister, Mina, said that you could do it,” Dewey responded. “She’ll be here shortly.”
“Good. I’ll just need to inform Ninja Talon in a short while.”
‘Good,’ Quinn thought as she overheard. She turned her attention back to the TV.
“You have half an hour, SpiderGirl. There are only three Emergency Alert stations in Lawndale. Can you find the right one?”
“What kind of sick challenge is that?” Quinn groused as she headed out of the café. She then went to the stairs upwards.
( Read More )
Still thinking about B5? More likely than you think!
Dec. 18th, 2025 10:23 amsholioAnd writing about it instead of getting ready to check out of my Airbnb as I ought to be.
( Spoilers obviously, especially for character death/survival )
( Spoilers obviously, especially for character death/survival )
sanding sanding
Dec. 18th, 2025 06:55 amunicorndukeMonday I painted the crafting room. I hadn't mean to get it all done but that's what ended up happening. My parents keep making cracks about leaving the house then coming home to me finishing a project, to which I go, hmm unlikely but what if
and then doing it
I taped all the important bits, cleaned the room out and rolled the walls in the afternoon while the light was good. I had been planning on doing a test corner to make sure I liked it and when I let it dry and I liked the color a lot, I just got a move on. I took a decent amount of breaks during the day, so painted the detail work during crafting that night, the edges near the windows, corners, near the ceiling and above the windows. Then I stayed late on the call and re-rolled the big areas for a second coat since it had dried by then.
Tuesday morning as soon as the light was good, I did touchups to all the places that I had missed, which wasn't too much. It wasn't actually noticeable from a distance but if you were close, it was possible to see the tan. Then I split more wood to get the pile of logs finish off. The creek down at west has frozen over far earlier than expected, so we won't be able to get a tractor across to skid logs from that hill. We have plans to go on the back hill at the main farm and get some trees from there. 9/25 bags for maple processing and a half tote for house wood. We think there's some basswood in one of the hedgerows that is shading future christmas tree fields, so we are going to take that down for wood.
This post has pre-paint photos. Room all painted. It's a very good color, in sunlight, it is more purple/blue and at night, it is more blue/grey. I like it a lot! It's lighter in person, the phone camera struggles.
( more house renovation details )
and then doing it
I taped all the important bits, cleaned the room out and rolled the walls in the afternoon while the light was good. I had been planning on doing a test corner to make sure I liked it and when I let it dry and I liked the color a lot, I just got a move on. I took a decent amount of breaks during the day, so painted the detail work during crafting that night, the edges near the windows, corners, near the ceiling and above the windows. Then I stayed late on the call and re-rolled the big areas for a second coat since it had dried by then.
Tuesday morning as soon as the light was good, I did touchups to all the places that I had missed, which wasn't too much. It wasn't actually noticeable from a distance but if you were close, it was possible to see the tan. Then I split more wood to get the pile of logs finish off. The creek down at west has frozen over far earlier than expected, so we won't be able to get a tractor across to skid logs from that hill. We have plans to go on the back hill at the main farm and get some trees from there. 9/25 bags for maple processing and a half tote for house wood. We think there's some basswood in one of the hedgerows that is shading future christmas tree fields, so we are going to take that down for wood.
This post has pre-paint photos. Room all painted. It's a very good color, in sunlight, it is more purple/blue and at night, it is more blue/grey. I like it a lot! It's lighter in person, the phone camera struggles.
( more house renovation details )
Strange Days in Lawndale (2)
Dec. 18th, 2025 08:00 pmfardell242
Elsewhere in Lawndale, someone else was having a similar reaction. Jane Lane was incredulous. It was impossible. But it was there. A flying saucer, in Lawndale. “I better call Daria,” she decided.
“I’ve seen it. I thought Quinn was being her usual self.”
“But, could it be a hoax?” Jane asked.
“If it is, some test pilot is going to get into big trouble.” There it was, Daria’s usual snark. The world hadn’t completely changed.
“So, should we go and have a closer look?”
“It depends on how many people would be there,” Daria answered. “I shall meet with you nearby.”
“Sure.”
“Hey Daria,” Jane’s brother, Trent said after he had opened the door. “Janie will be down in a minute.”
“Has she told you what is happening?”
“Yes. Quite interesting. I’ll come and have a look too. It may provide inspiration for a new song.”
“That would be good.”
Jane then came down. “Ready to go?”
“Yes,” Daria answered.
They arrived at a parking lot on the edge of Central Square ten minutes later. They could see the saucer shaped object on the square, surrounded by national guard and police, not to mention the media and a large crowd.
Elsewhere in Lawndale, someone else was having a similar reaction. Jane Lane was incredulous. It was impossible. But it was there. A flying saucer, in Lawndale. “I better call Daria,” she decided.
“I’ve seen it. I thought Quinn was being her usual self.”
“But, could it be a hoax?” Jane asked.
“If it is, some test pilot is going to get into big trouble.” There it was, Daria’s usual snark. The world hadn’t completely changed.
“So, should we go and have a closer look?”
“It depends on how many people would be there,” Daria answered. “I shall meet with you nearby.”
“Sure.”
“Hey Daria,” Jane’s brother, Trent said after he had opened the door. “Janie will be down in a minute.”
“Has she told you what is happening?”
“Yes. Quite interesting. I’ll come and have a look too. It may provide inspiration for a new song.”
“That would be good.”
Jane then came down. “Ready to go?”
“Yes,” Daria answered.
They arrived at a parking lot on the edge of Central Square ten minutes later. They could see the saucer shaped object on the square, surrounded by national guard and police, not to mention the media and a large crowd.
8am and it already feels hot
Dec. 18th, 2025 09:29 amtielanIDK. I did go outside, checked the chickens food (bother, just realised I didn't check their water).
Temps are supposed to be 30+ today and the next few days, alas, before cooling down on Christmas Day. By which we mean "mid-20s".
CRIPES. It's a week to Christmas.
My mother wants us to go over on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day. *sigh* I just don't want to do "Christmas Day", and then "Christmas Day But With The Stepbro's Family".
I don't seem to have gotten COVID - still testing clear, just feeling generally tired.
--
It's six hours later and it's crazy hot out there.
Temps are supposed to be 30+ today and the next few days, alas, before cooling down on Christmas Day. By which we mean "mid-20s".
CRIPES. It's a week to Christmas.
My mother wants us to go over on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day. *sigh* I just don't want to do "Christmas Day", and then "Christmas Day But With The Stepbro's Family".
I don't seem to have gotten COVID - still testing clear, just feeling generally tired.
--
It's six hours later and it's crazy hot out there.
Movies: Silent Night Deadly Night, 100 Nights of Hero
Dec. 17th, 2025 10:29 amsnickficMovies: the nocturnal edition, I guess!
Silent Night Deadly Night (2025). A nice young man who sometimes puts on a Santa suit and murders naughty people as directed by the voice in his head meets a nice young woman who sometimes really loses her temper.
This was a delight. I had the BEST time. It's a remake of a 1980s slasher I haven't seen, but the premise of that one sounds like it's played straight as a "guy in a santa suit goes on a psychotic killing spree" kind of thing, and this one is a lot more complicated/enjoyably weird in its execution. The lore of this movie is absolutely bananas, just total nonsense, but is never overexplained, which it seems like is where so many of these kinds of bonkers movies fall down. The script is surprisingly smart overall, I felt, with a lot of care and affection for its characters. It doesn't hurt that I adore Ruby Modine, who previously had smaller parts in Happy Death Day (the roommate) and Satanic Panic (the daughter). And the ending is *chef's kiss*. I would watch the hell out of a sequel that follows what happens next.
On a personal note, as someone who loves Christmastime but has had less opportunity/excuse to indulge in it as I've gotten older, I really enjoyed the over the top Christmas theming of this.
It does have a couple of awkward lines about gender(tm), which maybe are trying to do a thing, but do not succeed in my opinion. There's also an incident with a white supremecist which would have felt more successful if we'd seen, like, a single non-white person by that point in the movie. The movie also does not look great; it's kind of all sludge. Oh well, we can't have everything.
I think this movie is already almost out of theaters. If it sounds fun to you at all, I would absolutely recommend chasing it down for some Christmas-flavored horror cheese.
--
100 Nights of Hero (2025). In a misogynistic dystopia, a young married woman (Maika Monroe) whose inattentive husband is away on business must cope with a would-be suitor (Nicholas Galitzine) with the help of her maid and best friend (Emma Corrin).
I checked this out because the descriptions I saw were sending gay signals, and indeed, this is very gay! Monroe and Corrin's respectively repressed and hidden gay longing is great. It also, unlike the movie above, is beautiful and stylish, even though they were clearly working with a fairly small budget. The aesthetics are top-notch. And Galitzine (of Red, White, and Royal Blue, among other things) does a great job playing a hot himbo whose sense of menace is undercut by how dumb he is.
Unfortunately, the actual story a) is not my kind of thing and b) IMO sucks pretty hard on its own merits. If I had realized quite how much of a satirical fable it was, I would not have gone to see it. This takes place in a universe where women are killed for such sins as literacy, extramarital sex, and not getting pregnant within nine months or so of getting married. This last one is the key for our sad wife Cherry, whose husband and the villain of the piece simply declines to have sex with her, even when the local Puritan-flavored but fictionally religious order says she'll be executed if she doesn't hurry up and get pregnant.
I do get that we're trying to critique men's control of women's bodies, but like... this is not a scenario that has widespread analogue in the real world. Men refusing to have sex with women, even when the women's lives are at stake, is not a thing! RL misogyny is bad enough, you don't have to make shit up! The fact that it's suggested (but not confirmed) that the husband is either gay or ace makes it worse, as he's the only possibly queer man in the movie, and it makes it much much much worse that he's also played by the only actor of Middle Eastern descent that I noticed. In fact I think he's also the only character of color still alive at the end of the movie; all the various women of color have died. (Including Charli XCX's character, who along with her two sisters is executed for knowing how to read.)
This movie makes the Barbie movie look subtle. I would say I don't know who it's for, but apparently it's for the other five or so people on bluesky who've seen it, all of whom gave it gushing reviews. IDK man.
Silent Night Deadly Night (2025). A nice young man who sometimes puts on a Santa suit and murders naughty people as directed by the voice in his head meets a nice young woman who sometimes really loses her temper.
This was a delight. I had the BEST time. It's a remake of a 1980s slasher I haven't seen, but the premise of that one sounds like it's played straight as a "guy in a santa suit goes on a psychotic killing spree" kind of thing, and this one is a lot more complicated/enjoyably weird in its execution. The lore of this movie is absolutely bananas, just total nonsense, but is never overexplained, which it seems like is where so many of these kinds of bonkers movies fall down. The script is surprisingly smart overall, I felt, with a lot of care and affection for its characters. It doesn't hurt that I adore Ruby Modine, who previously had smaller parts in Happy Death Day (the roommate) and Satanic Panic (the daughter). And the ending is *chef's kiss*. I would watch the hell out of a sequel that follows what happens next.
On a personal note, as someone who loves Christmastime but has had less opportunity/excuse to indulge in it as I've gotten older, I really enjoyed the over the top Christmas theming of this.
It does have a couple of awkward lines about gender(tm), which maybe are trying to do a thing, but do not succeed in my opinion. There's also an incident with a white supremecist which would have felt more successful if we'd seen, like, a single non-white person by that point in the movie. The movie also does not look great; it's kind of all sludge. Oh well, we can't have everything.
I think this movie is already almost out of theaters. If it sounds fun to you at all, I would absolutely recommend chasing it down for some Christmas-flavored horror cheese.
--
100 Nights of Hero (2025). In a misogynistic dystopia, a young married woman (Maika Monroe) whose inattentive husband is away on business must cope with a would-be suitor (Nicholas Galitzine) with the help of her maid and best friend (Emma Corrin).
I checked this out because the descriptions I saw were sending gay signals, and indeed, this is very gay! Monroe and Corrin's respectively repressed and hidden gay longing is great. It also, unlike the movie above, is beautiful and stylish, even though they were clearly working with a fairly small budget. The aesthetics are top-notch. And Galitzine (of Red, White, and Royal Blue, among other things) does a great job playing a hot himbo whose sense of menace is undercut by how dumb he is.
Unfortunately, the actual story a) is not my kind of thing and b) IMO sucks pretty hard on its own merits. If I had realized quite how much of a satirical fable it was, I would not have gone to see it. This takes place in a universe where women are killed for such sins as literacy, extramarital sex, and not getting pregnant within nine months or so of getting married. This last one is the key for our sad wife Cherry, whose husband and the villain of the piece simply declines to have sex with her, even when the local Puritan-flavored but fictionally religious order says she'll be executed if she doesn't hurry up and get pregnant.
I do get that we're trying to critique men's control of women's bodies, but like... this is not a scenario that has widespread analogue in the real world. Men refusing to have sex with women, even when the women's lives are at stake, is not a thing! RL misogyny is bad enough, you don't have to make shit up! The fact that it's suggested (but not confirmed) that the husband is either gay or ace makes it worse, as he's the only possibly queer man in the movie, and it makes it much much much worse that he's also played by the only actor of Middle Eastern descent that I noticed. In fact I think he's also the only character of color still alive at the end of the movie; all the various women of color have died. (Including Charli XCX's character, who along with her two sisters is executed for knowing how to read.)
This movie makes the Barbie movie look subtle. I would say I don't know who it's for, but apparently it's for the other five or so people on bluesky who've seen it, all of whom gave it gushing reviews. IDK man.
Choice of the Cheerleader - Illness of the Cynic Chick
Dec. 17th, 2025 08:47 pmfardell24Brittany Taylor dyes her hair dark with a permanent dye, instead of one that leaks all over the place. Meanwhile, Daria Morgendorffer is admitted to Cedars of Lawndale with a mysterious rash.
fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14531897/1/
Archive Of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/75915261
fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14531897/1/
Archive Of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/75915261
Sometimes I finish things
Dec. 17th, 2025 04:53 pmmergatrudeI have a number of projects on the go - some I start just so that my idle hands have something to do, some where I have hit a snag and put aside until I can figure it out, some I get bored with. BUT! I finished the cowl I started knitting in March for a friend's birthday in September!
( cut for photo and blather )
( cut for photo and blather )
The chaotic Dragaera reread continues
Dec. 16th, 2025 08:09 pmsholio.... but much more slowly. I reread Vallista this past week, and that book sure hits different in a few ways after reading Tsalmoth!
( Spoilers for both Vallista and Tsalmoth )
( Spoilers for both Vallista and Tsalmoth )
more FIAB recs
Dec. 15th, 2025 04:31 pmsnickfic[ART] Night of the Red Sands, The Divine Cities Series - Robert Jackson Bennett. A gorgeous, dramatic painting as described in the novel. Can be appreciated canon-blind!
You're Gonna Need A Softer World, Jaws, A Softer World remixes. Every one of these is hilarious and absolutely spot-on.
Do Automatons Dream of Albino Eels?, Sunless Sea/Citizen Sleeper, gen, 6k. A zee-captain finds a mechanical stowaway and must decide what to do with it. I'm not familiar with the Citizen Sleeper, but the crossover character fits really naturally into the Fallen London universe. Great atmosphere all the way through, so many deliciously horrible little bits of worldbuilding flavor, and a satisfying arc of the stowaway automaton and the crew learning to care for one another.
fix it (how can you fix it?), BtVS, Spike/Buffy, 3k. Buffy's soulmark signifies that her soulmate died before she was even born. I really enjoyed the extra details of soulmate worldbuilding this added, and if Spike and Buffy were soulmates, I could definitely see it going exactly like this. <3
The Beat Goes On, At Bertram's Hotel - Agatha Christie, 6.6k, gen. The scandal at Bertram's Hotel is a major news story—apparently too major for Beatrice to be trusted with it according to her editors, even though she's always been the one to cover stories about Lady Sedgewick. A very cool timestamp featuring an OC I loved immediately, a female reporter trying to make it in a man's world, and doing whatever she needs to to get the story, including going back home to visit little old Miss Marple. IMO you don't need to remember the novel to enjoy this (because I did not remember it, lol).
You're Gonna Need A Softer World, Jaws, A Softer World remixes. Every one of these is hilarious and absolutely spot-on.
Do Automatons Dream of Albino Eels?, Sunless Sea/Citizen Sleeper, gen, 6k. A zee-captain finds a mechanical stowaway and must decide what to do with it. I'm not familiar with the Citizen Sleeper, but the crossover character fits really naturally into the Fallen London universe. Great atmosphere all the way through, so many deliciously horrible little bits of worldbuilding flavor, and a satisfying arc of the stowaway automaton and the crew learning to care for one another.
fix it (how can you fix it?), BtVS, Spike/Buffy, 3k. Buffy's soulmark signifies that her soulmate died before she was even born. I really enjoyed the extra details of soulmate worldbuilding this added, and if Spike and Buffy were soulmates, I could definitely see it going exactly like this. <3
The Beat Goes On, At Bertram's Hotel - Agatha Christie, 6.6k, gen. The scandal at Bertram's Hotel is a major news story—apparently too major for Beatrice to be trusted with it according to her editors, even though she's always been the one to cover stories about Lady Sedgewick. A very cool timestamp featuring an OC I loved immediately, a female reporter trying to make it in a man's world, and doing whatever she needs to to get the story, including going back home to visit little old Miss Marple. IMO you don't need to remember the novel to enjoy this (because I did not remember it, lol).
Crafting tonight
Dec. 15th, 2025 02:14 pmunicorndukeHey all, if you'd like to join the crafting hangout, it is tonight from 6-8pm ET!
Video encouraged but not required!
Topic: Crafting Hangout
Time: Mondays 6:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 973 2674 2763
Attempted socialing and work work
Dec. 15th, 2025 08:03 amunicorndukeI attempted to do social things twice this weekend and neither attempt happened. Saturday was an SCA event, but I looked at the weather and our wood levels and decided that I needed to split wood on Saturday instead. It was the only day that even approached near freezing, it hovered around 30F with only a little wind. In contrast, yesterday was 25F with 10-20 mph winds. Freezing cold, I was displeased, today is also supposed to be windy.
So Saturday, I split wood. I had to chainsaw a lot of the logs as I went since the bobcat can only pick up 16 foot lengths and the logs we had delivered were 32. That warmed me up nicely for sure. Nothing wanted to start and run well since it was so chilly first thing in the morning. Once I did that, I started with our outdoor burner wood, I split big logs into big chunks in the back of the dump trailer. This is probably two weeks of wood. We split this pretty much as big as we can lift, although I like a eight inch diameter log to be split in half for ease of throwing into the burner. Once it gets heavier, it is hard to throw it to the back of the burner.
( cut for more wood info and house renovation fun )
So Saturday, I split wood. I had to chainsaw a lot of the logs as I went since the bobcat can only pick up 16 foot lengths and the logs we had delivered were 32. That warmed me up nicely for sure. Nothing wanted to start and run well since it was so chilly first thing in the morning. Once I did that, I started with our outdoor burner wood, I split big logs into big chunks in the back of the dump trailer. This is probably two weeks of wood. We split this pretty much as big as we can lift, although I like a eight inch diameter log to be split in half for ease of throwing into the burner. Once it gets heavier, it is hard to throw it to the back of the burner.
( cut for more wood info and house renovation fun )
and the hits just keep coming
Dec. 15th, 2025 09:15 amtielanWork is gonna be slightly stressful the next three weeks. Apart from managing two systems until mid-January (and three for the 10 days after Christmas), they've instigated KPIs on basic tickets, and at least two of mine went overtime, in part because I was waiting for someone to get back to me. *grr*
I hate waiting for people to get back to me.
--
The shooting at Bondi Beach - a public Channukah event was targeted, one of the shooters was non-white, one of the members of the public who disarmed him (and was shot twice but survived) was middle eastern. Reports debate whether he was a Christian or a Muslim: the name suggests Muslim, his country background suggests Christian. Of course the cookers are already calling for a halt to immigration and trying to start up the culture wars again, the conservatives are yelling at our PM (centrist party), and the "anti-semitism adjudicator" has once again used this to basically declare that if you're not 100% for Israel in everything then you're antisemitic.
It shouldn't need saying but we say it all the same.
Was the shooting at Bondi antisemitic? Absolutely.
Is disavowing Israel's actions in the West Bank and Gaza in the removal of/bombing of/cruelty towards Palestinian locals antisemitic? Not even close.
I'm hoping Ahmed el Ahmed is Muslim, at the very least for the optics. Nevertheless, whatever his background, he's definitely a hero to the majority of Australians, and I suspect the fruit shop he runs will be well-frequented in the coming months and he will never need to pay for a meal while out for the rest of the summer.
Whatever faith or origins are revealed of any of the players, this was an awful day for all Australians who aren't cookers (Americans would call them RWNJs). Fear breeds distrust, and events like this breed both copycats and retaliation, and tear at the fragile fabric of our communities and our societies.
And the gun control argument is going to be so fucking stupid, too. The 2A Seppos are all in our faces jeering about us having gun violence, too, and the old "good guy with a gun" shit is coming out of the woodwork - never mind how many people are pointing out that the guy who did successfully disarm one of the gunmen wasn't armed. And the cookers just want violence to justify their itty bitty penii and their terrible self-esteem (cause they can't get jobs when the coloureds take the opportunities)...
God have mercy on us. All of us.
--
A friend tested positive for COVID after we had dinner together (with some other friends) on Saturday night. She thinks she got it at her work Christmas Party on Thursday.
--
I'm standing for the presidency of my permaculture club again, with an eye to changing the way things are done - they're not working for us as a volunteer-based organisation anymore.
Of course, the COVID diagnosis means I'm not going to tonight's meeting with the election. I'll try to put together a short video talking about the forward vision for the club. IDEK.
I hate waiting for people to get back to me.
--
The shooting at Bondi Beach - a public Channukah event was targeted, one of the shooters was non-white, one of the members of the public who disarmed him (and was shot twice but survived) was middle eastern. Reports debate whether he was a Christian or a Muslim: the name suggests Muslim, his country background suggests Christian. Of course the cookers are already calling for a halt to immigration and trying to start up the culture wars again, the conservatives are yelling at our PM (centrist party), and the "anti-semitism adjudicator" has once again used this to basically declare that if you're not 100% for Israel in everything then you're antisemitic.
a few thoughts
It shouldn't need saying but we say it all the same.
Was the shooting at Bondi antisemitic? Absolutely.
Is disavowing Israel's actions in the West Bank and Gaza in the removal of/bombing of/cruelty towards Palestinian locals antisemitic? Not even close.
I'm hoping Ahmed el Ahmed is Muslim, at the very least for the optics. Nevertheless, whatever his background, he's definitely a hero to the majority of Australians, and I suspect the fruit shop he runs will be well-frequented in the coming months and he will never need to pay for a meal while out for the rest of the summer.
Whatever faith or origins are revealed of any of the players, this was an awful day for all Australians who aren't cookers (Americans would call them RWNJs). Fear breeds distrust, and events like this breed both copycats and retaliation, and tear at the fragile fabric of our communities and our societies.
And the gun control argument is going to be so fucking stupid, too. The 2A Seppos are all in our faces jeering about us having gun violence, too, and the old "good guy with a gun" shit is coming out of the woodwork - never mind how many people are pointing out that the guy who did successfully disarm one of the gunmen wasn't armed. And the cookers just want violence to justify their itty bitty penii and their terrible self-esteem (cause they can't get jobs when the coloureds take the opportunities)...
God have mercy on us. All of us.
--
A friend tested positive for COVID after we had dinner together (with some other friends) on Saturday night. She thinks she got it at her work Christmas Party on Thursday.
--
I'm standing for the presidency of my permaculture club again, with an eye to changing the way things are done - they're not working for us as a volunteer-based organisation anymore.
Of course, the COVID diagnosis means I'm not going to tonight's meeting with the election. I'll try to put together a short video talking about the forward vision for the club. IDEK.
Short TV show review: Andor
Dec. 14th, 2025 11:11 pmdhampyresaI really enjoyed watching Andor, overall. I did think there were a few places where the pacing dragged a bit and it wasn't as mindblowingly great as the hype made it sound like it would be, but it was still very good! The bits on Ghorman were kind of annoying because the Ghor language sounds so much like French but isn't French, I felt like I was taking crazy pills hahaha. Favourite episode was either the prison break or the Kleya flashbacks episode. I agressively Did Not Care about Syril or his mother, but every other character was at least interesting. I love Cassian, Vel and Cinta, but I think Kleya might be my favourite. I want to rewatch Rogue One, now.
I feel Accomplished
Dec. 13th, 2025 06:07 pmjennariaI have finished the first draft of my Yuletide pinch-hit (which is, yet again, in a fandom I have never written before, or at least one I've never posted to AO3 - go me?). I'm sure the feeling will fade once the beta-readers have gone over it, and I go back to put in all the bits I thought were in there to begin with but didn't actually make it out of my brain, but for now, I'll enjoy the feeling.
Also we have our Christmas tree up and decorated. Other Christmas decorations, not so much, but then our celebration of Christmas isn't so much Actual Holiday as it is Oh Thank Fuck The Semester's Over And We Have Time Off, with a side of movies and Chinese food.
Next up: finishing my Secret Santa gift. Maybe put on some nice seasonal murder while I embroider. :-D
Also we have our Christmas tree up and decorated. Other Christmas decorations, not so much, but then our celebration of Christmas isn't so much Actual Holiday as it is Oh Thank Fuck The Semester's Over And We Have Time Off, with a side of movies and Chinese food.
Next up: finishing my Secret Santa gift. Maybe put on some nice seasonal murder while I embroider. :-D
Books: Murderbot, Shadow of the Leviathan
Dec. 13th, 2025 02:37 pmsnickficAll Systems Red (2017) by Martha Wells. A humanoid cyborg created to do wet work jobs finds itself giving a shit about a human research team it's supposed to be protecting on an alien planet.
I can see why people love Murderbot itself; it's a big old angst bucket desperately trying to pretend it isn't one. I've seen people characterize this type as an iron woobie, and it's fandom catnip.
However, I did not connect with any other part of this novella. It's so damn insubstantial. There are other characters, but they're mostly indistinguishable. There's a strong whiff of claustrophobic found family that made me DNF the one Becky Chambers book I tried, with the same element of "the one character who doesn't buy in without question is treated as an antagonist." There's some worldbuilding, but extremely thinly drawn. The prose is conversational, which can work great in a lot of cases but here just feels like one more missed opportunity to give me anything I might be interested in.
I've read a lot of pro SFF novellas over the years, and I genuinely can't think of one that felt less deserving of its length than this one. You can pack a lot of thoughts and ideas into a novella! But this didn't even try. If it'd been a third of the wordcount, I probably would have liked it pretty well.
I've heard the second and third in the series are the best, and I might try them at some point, but tbh I think I'd have better luck with the show, which at least has real actors to lend some weight and complexity to the characters.
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The Tainted Cup (2024) and A Drop of Corruption (2025) by Robert Jackson Bennett. The first two books of his Shadow of the Leviathan series, a Sherlock and Holmes riff (or possibly a Nero Wolfe and Archie riff) about an idiosyncratic middle-aged(?) female savant and her long-suffering young gay assistant solving murders in a fantasy world where basically all technology is organic in some way.
These were great fun. Bennett seems really into both cosmic horror (the "leviathans" of the series are mountain-sized monsters that crawl out of the sea and wreak havoc every wet season) and body horror (more terrible plant-related things happening to bodies than you can shake a stick at). Even when this world is running the way everyone wants, it's still so damn weird (complimentary). Augmentations that turn your skin purple and gray! Immortality treatments that stop aging and cause you to just grow forever, like an iguana! The augurs in the second book who pattern-match to such a degree that they can't handle spoken communication: A++, and they reminded me a bit of parts of Anathem.
Ana Dolabra, the foul-mouthed savant detective is far and away the best part. Her assistant Din Kol, from whose perspective the stories are written, is a real sad sack, both due to circumstances and apparently innate temperament, and sometimes that can be a bit of a drag. I also felt like his renewal of purpose in A Drop of Corruption came way too easily; it almost felt like it happened off screen.
Overall, though, these are just a great time. It sounds like Bennett is on a roll, and I can't wait for the next one.
I can see why people love Murderbot itself; it's a big old angst bucket desperately trying to pretend it isn't one. I've seen people characterize this type as an iron woobie, and it's fandom catnip.
However, I did not connect with any other part of this novella. It's so damn insubstantial. There are other characters, but they're mostly indistinguishable. There's a strong whiff of claustrophobic found family that made me DNF the one Becky Chambers book I tried, with the same element of "the one character who doesn't buy in without question is treated as an antagonist." There's some worldbuilding, but extremely thinly drawn. The prose is conversational, which can work great in a lot of cases but here just feels like one more missed opportunity to give me anything I might be interested in.
I've read a lot of pro SFF novellas over the years, and I genuinely can't think of one that felt less deserving of its length than this one. You can pack a lot of thoughts and ideas into a novella! But this didn't even try. If it'd been a third of the wordcount, I probably would have liked it pretty well.
I've heard the second and third in the series are the best, and I might try them at some point, but tbh I think I'd have better luck with the show, which at least has real actors to lend some weight and complexity to the characters.
--
The Tainted Cup (2024) and A Drop of Corruption (2025) by Robert Jackson Bennett. The first two books of his Shadow of the Leviathan series, a Sherlock and Holmes riff (or possibly a Nero Wolfe and Archie riff) about an idiosyncratic middle-aged(?) female savant and her long-suffering young gay assistant solving murders in a fantasy world where basically all technology is organic in some way.
These were great fun. Bennett seems really into both cosmic horror (the "leviathans" of the series are mountain-sized monsters that crawl out of the sea and wreak havoc every wet season) and body horror (more terrible plant-related things happening to bodies than you can shake a stick at). Even when this world is running the way everyone wants, it's still so damn weird (complimentary). Augmentations that turn your skin purple and gray! Immortality treatments that stop aging and cause you to just grow forever, like an iguana! The augurs in the second book who pattern-match to such a degree that they can't handle spoken communication: A++, and they reminded me a bit of parts of Anathem.
Ana Dolabra, the foul-mouthed savant detective is far and away the best part. Her assistant Din Kol, from whose perspective the stories are written, is a real sad sack, both due to circumstances and apparently innate temperament, and sometimes that can be a bit of a drag. I also felt like his renewal of purpose in A Drop of Corruption came way too easily; it almost felt like it happened off screen.
Overall, though, these are just a great time. It sounds like Bennett is on a roll, and I can't wait for the next one.