2026 Nominations Clarification Post 3
Apr. 9th, 2026 12:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
longficmod posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandom5kJust under 3 days to sign up!
In the meantime, I've been approving new fandom and character nominations. You may want to check the fandoms you're requesting or offering to see if something new and interesting has been added to the tag set. I'm also including a list of the newly-approved fandoms at the bottom of this post, in case that helps anyone find additional requests or offers.
I do have one clarification!
We already have the books as a specific fandom in the tag set. Nominator, please specify whether you're interested in the books or the movies.
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New fandoms added since signups opened:
In the meantime, I've been approving new fandom and character nominations. You may want to check the fandoms you're requesting or offering to see if something new and interesting has been added to the tag set. I'm also including a list of the newly-approved fandoms at the bottom of this post, in case that helps anyone find additional requests or offers.
I do have one clarification!
Twilight Series - All Media Types
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New fandoms added since signups opened:
- 16th Century CE RPF
- 18th Century CE RPF
- 30歳まで童貞だと魔法使いになれるらしい | Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! (Anime)
- Alan Wake (Video Games)
- Alien (Original Movies 1979-1997)
- Arsène Lupin - Maurice Leblanc
- Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng - Kylie Lee Baker
- Cerulean Chronicles Series - TJ Klune
- Dexter (TV)
- Dominion of the Fallen - Aliette de Bodard
- Dungeon Crawler Carl Series - Matt Dinniman
- Eureka (TV 2006)
- Fairy Tail
- From a Knight to a Lady (Webcomic)
- Hooper (1978)
- Horizon (Video Games)
- Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
- Kamisama Hajimemashita | Kamisama Kiss
- Legally Blonde - Hach/O'Keefe/Benjamin
- Literary Writer RPF
- Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L. Sayers
- Mean Girls (2024)
- Midnight Scenes: From the Woods (Video Game)
- Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
- Nightwalker Mayonaka no Tantei | Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective
- Nirvana (US Band)
- Poker Face (TV 2023)
- Raffles - E. W. Hornung
- Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
- Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen (TV)
- Sometimes a Great Notion - Ken Kesey
- Tess of the d'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
- The Cranberries - Dreams (music video dir: Nico Soultanakis)
- The Incandescent - Emily Tesh
- The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (TV 2022)
- The Penumbra Podcast
- Transformers - All Media Types
- Trigun (Anime & Manga 1995-2008)
- Twilight Series - All Media Types
- Untitled Goose Game (Video Game)
- Warehouse 13
- Wicked - Schwartz/Holzman
- Wild Cards (Canada TV 2024)
- Wind Breaker - にいさとる | Nii Satoru (Manga)
- Winning (1969)
- Winslow Boy (1999)
- 구미호뎐 | Tale of the Nine Tailed (TV)
- 九龍ジェネリックロマンス | Kowloon Generic Romance (Anime)
- 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)
- 凸变英雄X | To Be Hero X (Cartoon)
- 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
- 大逆転裁判 | Dai Gyakuten Saiban | The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (Video Games)
- 小蘑菇 - 一十四洲 | Little Mushroom - Yī Shí Sì Zhōu
- 恋与深空 | Love and Deepspace (Video Game)
- 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs
Welp, one of the water heaters just went
Apr. 8th, 2026 11:53 pmconulyAnd the water doesn't seem to want to turn off for the heater - it *is* lefty loosey, righty tighty, isn't it? - so I may have to get it for the whole house overnight.
Birthright citizenship
Apr. 9th, 2026 12:16 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
languagelog_feedFrom Mark Dow:
The ACLU's national legal director is Cecillia Wang. She argued the birthright citizenship case, Trump v. Barbara, in front of the Supreme Court this month. This case heavily depends on the 1898 case Wong Kim Ark. I asked Cecillia — a birthright citizen herself — whether the names Wang and Wong are transliterations of the same word.
She replied by email: "I tried to figure out whether Mr. Wong has the same last name. My understanding is that we don't. Cantonese-speaking immigrants in the 19th century had their names transliterated through a different system, and perhaps not through any system but an ad hoc interaction with a customs official. "Wong" was most commonly used for two surnames, one now transliterated as Wang (meaning "king") and the other as Huang (meaning "yellow"). I think Wong Kim Ark was a Huang."
I'm sharing this, with Cecillia's permission, in case Language Log readers might have something to add.
Selected readings
- "The language of citizenship" (8/2/24)
- "Citizenship and syntax (updated, and updated again)" (7/25/18)
- "Chinese nationality" (2/20/22)
- "Linguistics Required for British Citizenship" (11/1/05)
wednesday reads and things
Apr. 8th, 2026 06:19 pmisisWhat I've recently finished reading:
In eyeball, The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow. Time-loop novel about a medieval historian and the lady knight he's obsessed with, in an alternate world that is not quite our England; one of you called it "sort of Arthuriana" and I guess it is, though that sort of is important. In a way it reminded me of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August as much of the novel is the characters gradually figuring out that these same things are happening again, and then trying to take advantage of this knowledge to make the next loop better. Unfortunately, in this case the source of the time loop has very clear, firm aims, and does not want to be thwarted by the mere pawns acting out the story that is destined to be enshrined in the country's lore. I liked it a lot, especially as the layers unfolded, though actually I was most interested in the villain of the piece and would like to have had more of that story!
In audio, All These Worlds by Dennis E. Taylor, the third Bobiverse book. I'm really liking these, although they could use some closer editing to avoid repetition of things we already know. It's an interesting inversion of Adrian Tchaikovsky's "How can we see the other as a person?" in that the viewpoint characters, the Bobs, are cloned brain patterns from a now-dead engineer which run on computers installed in spaceships; though within the narrative they are unquestionably people, other humans don't necessarily see them that way. And yet as they are enabling and directing the expansion of humanity into space, they're the segment of humanity making first contact with the other sentient species of the galaxy, and they're the ones who have to handle the related decisions. The structure of these books, with the multiplicity of Bobs and their storylines, means that all the different cases can be handled: the Stone Age civilization, the early-industrial civilization, the possibly advanced civilization that no longer exists, the advanced civilization that presents a terrifying threat. And as some humans fight against the idea that the Bobs are human, some Bobs work to reclaim as much of their humanity as possible. There are some deep philosophical questions one can tease out of these books - but I don't think that's the author's intent, and they are enjoyable reads just as fun science fiction.
What I've recently finished watching:
We enjoyed the Netflix "nature documentary" miniseries The Dinosaurs; quotes are because I think it's basically all CGI. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, it's a dramatic tour of prehistory, from the first proto-dinos to the asteroid that ended it all. It does a good job of telling individual "stories" of the various dinosaurs looking for mates, protecting their young, and doing their best to eat and not be eaten.
In eyeball, The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow. Time-loop novel about a medieval historian and the lady knight he's obsessed with, in an alternate world that is not quite our England; one of you called it "sort of Arthuriana" and I guess it is, though that sort of is important. In a way it reminded me of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August as much of the novel is the characters gradually figuring out that these same things are happening again, and then trying to take advantage of this knowledge to make the next loop better. Unfortunately, in this case the source of the time loop has very clear, firm aims, and does not want to be thwarted by the mere pawns acting out the story that is destined to be enshrined in the country's lore. I liked it a lot, especially as the layers unfolded, though actually I was most interested in the villain of the piece and would like to have had more of that story!
In audio, All These Worlds by Dennis E. Taylor, the third Bobiverse book. I'm really liking these, although they could use some closer editing to avoid repetition of things we already know. It's an interesting inversion of Adrian Tchaikovsky's "How can we see the other as a person?" in that the viewpoint characters, the Bobs, are cloned brain patterns from a now-dead engineer which run on computers installed in spaceships; though within the narrative they are unquestionably people, other humans don't necessarily see them that way. And yet as they are enabling and directing the expansion of humanity into space, they're the segment of humanity making first contact with the other sentient species of the galaxy, and they're the ones who have to handle the related decisions. The structure of these books, with the multiplicity of Bobs and their storylines, means that all the different cases can be handled: the Stone Age civilization, the early-industrial civilization, the possibly advanced civilization that no longer exists, the advanced civilization that presents a terrifying threat. And as some humans fight against the idea that the Bobs are human, some Bobs work to reclaim as much of their humanity as possible. There are some deep philosophical questions one can tease out of these books - but I don't think that's the author's intent, and they are enjoyable reads just as fun science fiction.
What I've recently finished watching:
We enjoyed the Netflix "nature documentary" miniseries The Dinosaurs; quotes are because I think it's basically all CGI. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, it's a dramatic tour of prehistory, from the first proto-dinos to the asteroid that ended it all. It does a good job of telling individual "stories" of the various dinosaurs looking for mates, protecting their young, and doing their best to eat and not be eaten.
The Big Idea: Corry L. Lee
Apr. 8th, 2026 10:22 pmscalziwhatever_feed
Endings are called endings because things end there… but then what? What goes on beyond “the end”? Corry L. Lee is thinking about that very thought, and in this Big Idea for Imbue the Sky, offers some insight.
CORRY L. LEE:
The end of many stories is the Big Bad’s defeat. But is that really the end? If, say, someone had killed Hitler before WWII, would everything have been fine? What about his cronies, his generals, everyone invested in the fascist machine?
In Imbue the Sky, I wanted to explore what happens after the resistance succeeds. The dictator’s dead (hurray!)… but, left behind, is a power vacuum and loads of oppressive systems. In the Bourshkanya Trilogy, the (now-dead) Supreme General has two likely heirs: his sadistic eldest son, groomed for the role and supported by the brutal State police; and his more reasonable daughter, a mage and politician struggling with the State’s “might makes right” mentality. Then there’s the resistance, scrappy and small, with radical ideas of power to the people.
Add in our heroes who, together, assassinated the “unkillable” Supreme General, but now find themselves on opposing sides of a three-way civil war.
Through outlines and early drafts, I worked out the civil war’s progression and how I wanted it to end. But time and again, something wasn’t working. The problem was one of scope.
Most fantasy series, The Bourshkanya Trilogy included, grow in scope from one book to the next. This series began with intimate character, relationship, and magic growth inside the physical confines of a travelling circus (Book 1, Weave the Lightning), grew to working undercover for the resistance within the fascist state’s magical military (Book 2, The Storm’s Betrayal), before becoming nation-spanning in Book 3 (Imbue the Sky) with its civil war. Romances and friendships have shattered, and hundreds of kilometers separate our protagonists.
The spark in the first two books came from the personal struggles, the push-and-pull of relationships, the tug between characters who cared deeply but wanted different things. How could I hold onto that heart while landing a satisfying ending with revolutionary scope?
I will claim that my answer to this is my Big Idea but, in reality, it was my Big Struggle.
To figure it out, I returned to the core of my original story: two people on different sides of the fascist state. The question of how a person frees themself from fascism fascinated me when I started drafting this series, and it has only become more relevant. In the real world, political rhetoric has become more polarized and aggressive, overflowing with intolerance and hate.
And I wondered: how do we come back from hatred? Can we make mistakes and still be good? How many of our actions are shaped by our environment, and how can we turn toward forgiveness, understanding, and hope?
With this, Imbue the Sky’s Big Idea began to gel. The core of this story was not its battles or its epic magic (though those would remain, because fight scenes!!!). The heart of this story was characters fighting back toward their best selves—while raising arms against injustice. For some, the fight became about holding onto their light in the face of war’s brutality. For others, it involved realizing how their choices had broken relationships and figuring out how to (try and) mend them. Still others needed to soften their staunch convictions and accept that decisions are not always clear-cut; that sometimes, only by embracing an uncomfortable gray middle ground, can we nurture true growth.
In these questions, I found the end of the series. Not the culmination of the civil war’s battles (though that, too). Not (just) the weaving together of disparate aspects of the magic system into one explosive finale. But the weaving together of lives.
The relationships at the end of this series have all shifted dramatically. Not all mistakes can be walked back, not all burned bridges rebuilt. But by looking critically at our choices and the paths they’ve started us down, by being vulnerable and admitting our mistakes, we have a chance to shift the course of history.
It takes great strength to face your fears and reach for hope; to risk pain and be vulnerable; to risk failure and strive for a better world. In Imbue the Sky, the personal is political. The story doesn’t end when the dictator dies. In a way, it’s only the beginning.
Imbue the Sky: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|Powell’s|Solaris Books
Author socials: Website|Instagram|Facebook
Read an excerpt.
Meadow writing
Apr. 8th, 2026 09:37 pmlanguagelog_feedFrom "Everyday Politics in Russia", The Eurasian Knot 4/6/2026:
The podcast starts with a message from listener Amanda, who has been reading all of Dostoevsky for a workshop in Russia. In addressing the podcast's host Sean Guillory, she says (starting at 4:21.5):
I sympathize with you, Sean, that you just couldn't get into him,
but I've personally never felt that way about Dostoevsky.
I remember trying to read the Lord of the Rings series,
and I couldn't stand it.
I couldn't stand ten pages describing a meadow.
And ever since them I've thought of fiction writing in terms of
meadow-writing and non-meadow-writing.
No wonder I love Dostoevsky —
he has nothing whatsoever to say about meadows.
"Meadow-writing" is a strikingly evocative name for a stylistic category, but I'm puzzled about its concrete reference. The Fellowship of the Ring has six occurrences of the word "meadow", scattered in the background of six (mostly non-consecutive) pages. The Two Towers has two occurrences of that word. The Return of the King has just one.
(no subject)
Apr. 8th, 2026 05:10 pmflemmingsWell, if Armageddon returns, I at least have my minor pleasures. Like a gas bill in the minus numbers and a tax refund that's only slightly less than last year. And it's less thanks to the dental plan which is still a win. Then I was pleased to see the Folio Society has an illustrated Howl's Moving Castle available. Either my eyesight was acting up or someone miscoded the webpage because I saw the price-- $1000-- and was hell no. Only it's actually $100, which is more like. Maybe see how expenses go this month-- I have a crown that insurance won't pay for and a tree trimming on the 20th-- but perhaps after that...
Finished nothing but a Dr Priestley or two this week. Tiktok is all I'm up for in these antsy latter days.
Finished nothing but a Dr Priestley or two this week. Tiktok is all I'm up for in these antsy latter days.
Post-Deadline Pinch Hits
Apr. 8th, 2026 10:39 pmextrapenguin posting in space_swapWe still have 4 post-deadline pinch hits available!
Due Fri 10 Apr 17:00 CEST (in your timezone | countdown) negotiable. To claim, comment on this post with your AO3 username and the pinch hit you want to claim.
PDPH #1: ( Imperial Radch, Murderbot - Wells, Alliance-Union, Chanur, Machineries of Empire, Teixcalaan )
PDPH #3: ( Phantasy Star, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, Live a Live, Infinite Space, Legend of the Galactic Heroes )
PDPH #5: ( The Lost Fleet, Sins of a Solar Empire, FTL, Mass Effect, Hyperion Cantos, SG-1, Babylon 5 )
PDPH #6: Claimed!
Due Fri 10 Apr 17:00 CEST (in your timezone | countdown) negotiable. To claim, comment on this post with your AO3 username and the pinch hit you want to claim.
PDPH #1: ( Imperial Radch, Murderbot - Wells, Alliance-Union, Chanur, Machineries of Empire, Teixcalaan )
PDPH #3: ( Phantasy Star, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, Live a Live, Infinite Space, Legend of the Galactic Heroes )
PDPH #5: ( The Lost Fleet, Sins of a Solar Empire, FTL, Mass Effect, Hyperion Cantos, SG-1, Babylon 5 )
PDPH #6: Claimed!
Vitiation of argumentation by AI participation
Apr. 8th, 2026 07:06 pmlanguagelog_feedThe battlelines are being drawn ever clearer. On one side are those who believe that it's all right to use AI to help with the preparation of an (academic) article, essay, or paper. On the other side are those who think that the utilization of AI is impermissible for such purposes. As soon as they discern the use of AI in writing a composition, they will dismiss it out of hand. Use of AI extends to the collection and organization of material to be included in what is being written.
Readers who are sensitive to the stylistics of AI writing can even detect it in punctuation preferences, rhetorical tone, lexical propensities, and so forth.
There are even commercially available "AI detectors", e.g.: "Pangram can detect AI-generated text even after it has been 'humanized,' or processed by tools that attempt to evade AI detection, ensuring reliable detection."
This confrontation between pro-AI and anti-AI praxis will continue apace until some sort of stasis / equilibrium is attained or one side overwhelms / cannibalizes the other.
Afterword
I know many people who have made AI (e.g., ChatGPT) their personal friend and constant companion.
Bottom line
The human signs off at the end.
Selected readings
- "Writing with AI" (9/1/24)
- "AI triumphs… and also fails." (10/3/24)
- and countless other Language Log posts
Naruto: What Brings Us Together
Apr. 8th, 2026 09:37 pmsasheneskywalker posting in fancakeFandom: Naruto
Pairings/Characters: Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara
Rating: Mature
Length: 6,014 words
Creator Links:![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
Askerian
Theme: forced marriage, arranged marriage, asexual & demisexual characters
Summary: "Oh," Izuna said -- delicately, while studiously reading his folder, "I'm afraid we need someone with a ... strong personality for Naohime."
"Why's that?" Hashirama replied, just as painfully polite.
The daimyo's mediator kept watching them and scratching little pointy words in his notebook.
"Because if your man doesn't prove that he's dangerous and has the personality to use it on her if she pushes him, it's going to turn abusive," Madara drawled.
Hashirama stared at him for a blank second. The daimyo's envoy stopped writing; even his stone-faced Aburame bodyguard arched her eyebrows over her darkened spectacles.
Tobirama stretched out across the table without another word to take back one of the folders Izuna had spread around him.
--
The daimyo is over the whole Uchiha/Senju war. They're going to become one people if they know what's good for them.
Madara hates it enough without having to marry a woman too.
Reccer's Notes: Fun oneshot! Hot, with a really interesting relationship dynamic, and I also love how it touches on gray asexuality <3
Fanwork Links: What Brings Us Together
Pairings/Characters: Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara
Rating: Mature
Length: 6,014 words
Creator Links:
Theme: forced marriage, arranged marriage, asexual & demisexual characters
Summary: "Oh," Izuna said -- delicately, while studiously reading his folder, "I'm afraid we need someone with a ... strong personality for Naohime."
"Why's that?" Hashirama replied, just as painfully polite.
The daimyo's mediator kept watching them and scratching little pointy words in his notebook.
"Because if your man doesn't prove that he's dangerous and has the personality to use it on her if she pushes him, it's going to turn abusive," Madara drawled.
Hashirama stared at him for a blank second. The daimyo's envoy stopped writing; even his stone-faced Aburame bodyguard arched her eyebrows over her darkened spectacles.
Tobirama stretched out across the table without another word to take back one of the folders Izuna had spread around him.
--
The daimyo is over the whole Uchiha/Senju war. They're going to become one people if they know what's good for them.
Madara hates it enough without having to marry a woman too.
Reccer's Notes: Fun oneshot! Hot, with a really interesting relationship dynamic, and I also love how it touches on gray asexuality <3
Fanwork Links: What Brings Us Together
I was reading and I came across the word "pilfer" and I asked myself
Apr. 7th, 2026 10:09 pmconuly"Huh. I wonder if that word is related to the word pelf" and, sure enough, it is! Probably!
Pelf sure is a stupid-sounding word, though.
*******************
( Read more... )
Pelf sure is a stupid-sounding word, though.
( Read more... )
Wednesday Reading Meme
Apr. 8th, 2026 01:35 pmosprey_archerWhat I’ve Just Finished Reading
Carol Ryrie Brink’s Mademoiselle Misfortune, a charming book from the 1930s. Young Alice is the oldest of six look-alike sisters in Paris, and one day overhears the landlady sighing that the girls are six misfortunes for their family: imagine having to pay six dowries! But soon after, a crotchety American lady (the sister of a friend of the family’s) asks Alice to accompany her on a trip through France as her interpreter, in which position Alice comes into her own as a person. Delightful illustrations by Kate Seredy.
I realize there’s no guarantee that an author will ever meet her illustrator, but I hope Brink and Seredy did come to know each other, as based purely on their books I think they could have been besties.
What I’m Reading Now
Frolicking through E. M. Delafield’s The Provincial Lady in America. No deep thoughts, just enjoying this whirlwind tour of the American literary world in the 1930s. Apparently everyone who was anyone was reading Anthony Adverse, except for our narrator who keeps having to duck conversations about the book.
What I Plan to Read Next
lucymonster and troisoiseaux have convinced me to read some existentialists, so I’m starting with Jean-Paul Sartre’s Nausea because I figure that if I start with Camus, then Camus is where I will also end.
Carol Ryrie Brink’s Mademoiselle Misfortune, a charming book from the 1930s. Young Alice is the oldest of six look-alike sisters in Paris, and one day overhears the landlady sighing that the girls are six misfortunes for their family: imagine having to pay six dowries! But soon after, a crotchety American lady (the sister of a friend of the family’s) asks Alice to accompany her on a trip through France as her interpreter, in which position Alice comes into her own as a person. Delightful illustrations by Kate Seredy.
I realize there’s no guarantee that an author will ever meet her illustrator, but I hope Brink and Seredy did come to know each other, as based purely on their books I think they could have been besties.
What I’m Reading Now
Frolicking through E. M. Delafield’s The Provincial Lady in America. No deep thoughts, just enjoying this whirlwind tour of the American literary world in the 1930s. Apparently everyone who was anyone was reading Anthony Adverse, except for our narrator who keeps having to duck conversations about the book.
What I Plan to Read Next
lucymonster and troisoiseaux have convinced me to read some existentialists, so I’m starting with Jean-Paul Sartre’s Nausea because I figure that if I start with Camus, then Camus is where I will also end.Translated into Spanish: ‘Derrotar al agua’
Apr. 8th, 2026 10:16 ammount_oregano
My short story “To Defeat Water” has been translated into Spanish as “Derrotar al agua” and published by Microficciones y Cuentos. Lealo aquí/read it here.
The site is run by Sergio Gaut vel Hartman, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is one of the founding fathers of Spanish-language science fiction, and his novels have won major awards.
I often translate other people’s work from Spanish into English, and it’s an honor to have my work published in Spanish, especially by someone as prominent as Sergio. ¡Gracias!
If you want to read the story in English, it was originally published here by The Lorelei Signal.
Witch Hat Atelier, volume 14 by Kamome Shirahama
Apr. 8th, 2026 08:53 amjames_davis_nicoll
Coco and chums have an innovative cure for the monster currently rampaging through town... an innovative cure from which a diligent cop is determined to protect society.
Witch Hat Atelier, volume 14 by Kamome Shirahama
media round-up
Apr. 8th, 2026 08:02 pmsidewaysIt is getting dangerously close to a year since my last media round-up, so knocking out a few highlights.
• On the back of my mother's hands-clasped "please please you'll love it" begging I read Project Hail Mary over Christmas, and subsequently watched the movie during Easter. And I did really like it! It confirmed my suspicion that Andy Weir is not actually a very good writer - a suspicion then sealed in stone when he opened his big yap and honked out some downright comically blinkered views on the place of politics in sci-fi - but a good amount of charm battled through despite his best efforts.
• I sort of discovered I could acquire more anime DVDs than I even knew existed via eBay and, well... proud to say I now have my own copies of Wolf's Rain, Baccano, Fafner in the Azure: Dead Aggressor, and Gundam 00. This last in particular was such a trip down ol' nostalgia lane it was a little overwhelming. "I'm looking forward to finding out whether this had as many interesting political points to make as I thought or whether I was just nineteen," I commented to some friends, and the answer turned out to be "yes".
• Also watched Paprika on Vesper's recommendation, and wow! Always delightful to experience a story that really gets dream logic. I had Paprika Parade on repeat for days afterwards.
• We also had a crack at Reanimal, in which the real villain was my GOD-AWFUL internet connection that caused me to drop out every half hour or so. The game has a very strong aesthetic atmosphere and some truly wonderful and spooky moments, but it's a bit short for the price-tag and I hold that it would have benefited from some tighter thematic editing. So it goes! I'm still interested to see what Tarsier does next.
• Lane and I have reunited to tackle Divinity: Original Sin: The First One: It's Origining time. I like to think my grasp of tactics has improved since I was last setting my own head on fire with distressing regularity, but Lane may disagree. We've so far made it past the first act and notable incidents include sort of unnecessarily murdering a couple of NPCs right out the gate, wheeze-laughing every time the companion with the dreadful southern accent utters the word "comrade", and slaughtering our way through a very long succession of goblins before realising there was probably an easier way to do this.
• Managed a strong start to the book-reading front this year. Our Wives Under the Sea was gorgeously written but a little thin on actual meat for my tastes; it felt like a short story stretched out to its very limits. The Lathe of Heaven was a hell of a ride; what I would have considered the ultimate chilling conclusion happened somewhere around the middle, leaving me with no choice but to follow along blindly into what happened next. The City of Last Chances was simply a slog; I clawed my way out the other end and do not intend to return.
• On the back of my mother's hands-clasped "please please you'll love it" begging I read Project Hail Mary over Christmas, and subsequently watched the movie during Easter. And I did really like it! It confirmed my suspicion that Andy Weir is not actually a very good writer - a suspicion then sealed in stone when he opened his big yap and honked out some downright comically blinkered views on the place of politics in sci-fi - but a good amount of charm battled through despite his best efforts.
• I sort of discovered I could acquire more anime DVDs than I even knew existed via eBay and, well... proud to say I now have my own copies of Wolf's Rain, Baccano, Fafner in the Azure: Dead Aggressor, and Gundam 00. This last in particular was such a trip down ol' nostalgia lane it was a little overwhelming. "I'm looking forward to finding out whether this had as many interesting political points to make as I thought or whether I was just nineteen," I commented to some friends, and the answer turned out to be "yes".
• Also watched Paprika on Vesper's recommendation, and wow! Always delightful to experience a story that really gets dream logic. I had Paprika Parade on repeat for days afterwards.
• We also had a crack at Reanimal, in which the real villain was my GOD-AWFUL internet connection that caused me to drop out every half hour or so. The game has a very strong aesthetic atmosphere and some truly wonderful and spooky moments, but it's a bit short for the price-tag and I hold that it would have benefited from some tighter thematic editing. So it goes! I'm still interested to see what Tarsier does next.
• Lane and I have reunited to tackle Divinity: Original Sin: The First One: It's Origining time. I like to think my grasp of tactics has improved since I was last setting my own head on fire with distressing regularity, but Lane may disagree. We've so far made it past the first act and notable incidents include sort of unnecessarily murdering a couple of NPCs right out the gate, wheeze-laughing every time the companion with the dreadful southern accent utters the word "comrade", and slaughtering our way through a very long succession of goblins before realising there was probably an easier way to do this.
• Managed a strong start to the book-reading front this year. Our Wives Under the Sea was gorgeously written but a little thin on actual meat for my tastes; it felt like a short story stretched out to its very limits. The Lathe of Heaven was a hell of a ride; what I would have considered the ultimate chilling conclusion happened somewhere around the middle, leaving me with no choice but to follow along blindly into what happened next. The City of Last Chances was simply a slog; I clawed my way out the other end and do not intend to return.
National Crafting Month Bingo - triple bingo (2 column, 1 row)
Apr. 8th, 2026 01:06 amdrabblewriter posting in allbingoFandoms: 3 Greek myth, 1 Resident Evil, 1 Poppy Playtime, 1 orginal fiction, 14 none
[ Card & Fills ]
Mediums: 7 junk journal/junk journal adjcent projects, 3 clay projects, 3 writing projects, 2 drawings, 1 origami set, 1 printable, 1 altar, 1 Sims 4 build, 1 Lego build
Prompts: habit tracker, washi tape, craft hoarding, collage, novel, suncatcher, fic writing, clay, scrapbooking, narrative/fiction junk journaling, abstract art, origami, miniatures, printable design, altar building, colored pencils, junk journal with "misc" envelope contents, original writing, Lego building
I had so much fun trying out new mediums with this one. :)
Prompts: habit tracker, washi tape, craft hoarding, collage, novel, suncatcher, fic writing, clay, scrapbooking, narrative/fiction junk journaling, abstract art, origami, miniatures, printable design, altar building, colored pencils, junk journal with "misc" envelope contents, original writing, Lego building
I had so much fun trying out new mediums with this one. :)
[ Card & Fills ]