Nemesis Games

Nov. 26th, 2025 06:37 pm
tassosss: Shen Wei Zhao Yunlan Era (Default)
[personal profile] tassosss
I finished Nemesis Games today. It's book 5 in The Expanse and covers the start of the Free Navy arc. I went into it with a little trepidation, light spoilers for Nemesis Games )

30 in 30: ST:DS9

Nov. 26th, 2025 05:51 pm
senmut: Guinan propping face on hand (Star Trek: Guinan)
[personal profile] senmut
AO3 Link | Memories of Family (100 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Miles O'Brien, Keiko O'Brien, Kira Nerys
Additional Tags: Drabble
Summary:

Miles walks in on a domestic moment






Nerys was slow-dancing to the music with Molly, while Keiko held Kirayoshi and rocked in time. The scene etched itself into Miles' heart as he came in. The moments like this were all too-soon coming to an end as his transfer to Earth was in the works.

At least Molly should keep solid memories of her other-mother, as they referred to Nerys. Video calls would help strengthen ties, he knew, but losing her as a part of their family was the hardest part for he and Keiko both.

Such sad musings were not for now. Kissing his family hello was.

第四年第三百二十二天

Nov. 27th, 2025 07:56 am
nnozomi: (Default)
[personal profile] nnozomi posting in [community profile] guardian_learning
部首
巾 part 2
布, cloth/to declare; 帅, handsome/cool/commander-in-chief; 帆, sail pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=50

语法
1.10 二 vs 两
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-1-grammar

词汇
包裹, package; 包含, to contain; 包括, to include; 红包, red packet (gift of money) pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/

Guardian:
要么我给你公布,要么你自己公布, either I announce it for you or you do it yourself
世界上有两种人不怕死, there are two kinds of people in the world who aren't afraid of death
你真的愿意牺牲一切也在所不惜,包括你的自由和青春, are you really willing to sacrifice everything without regrets, even your freedom and youth?

Me:
你觉得谁是最帅?
你已经长大了,该你发给人红包。
merricatb: Image of Rajan Rasal (Rajan1)
[personal profile] merricatb posting in [community profile] smallfandomfest
Title: The Barbarian
Author: MerricatB
Fandom: Sense8
Pairing/Characters: Rajan/Wolfgang/Kala
Rating/Category: Teen & Up
Prompt: Sense8, Writer's choice, Gifts
Spoilers: Whole series
Summary: Forbidden from doing the eccentric billionaire thing and buying Wolfgang a tiger, Rajan finds the next best gift to cheer him up.
Notes/Warnings: This fic is related to another one but can be read as a standalone.

Read on AO3

Purrcy; Turkey Day

Nov. 26th, 2025 05:26 pm
mecurtin: champagne glass and fruit, detail from Still life with champagne glass by Emilie Preyer (celebrate!)
[personal profile] mecurtin
Purrcy looks very *intent* but not necessarily *intelligent* because ... there was a MOTH! Flying much too high for him to even try grabbing, but a riveting prey item nonetheless. This was from a few weeks ago.

Purrcy the tuxedo tabby stares upward very intently, not toward the camera or human but away as if toward the ceiling. His eyes are wide and green.


Turkey day is upon us!

E&P drove down from Boston yesterday during the day yesterday, though the last part had to be in the dark because the traffic got so heavy from Danbury on, and it was raining.

I'm feeling really good about having surrendered the spatula, because the fact is I'm going through a period where I'm in pain a lot. I guess I haven't mentioned this before, but in the past month or so I've developed tendonitis in my left shoulder, the one that works the cane, and also the one that controls the mouse--because I've got such long-standing pain and weakness in the *right* hand.

The pain often (usually?) wakes me up after not-quite-enough sleep, and it really drags me down. [personal profile] elayna just mentioned Essentrics, which I can stream on NJ-PBS, and I'm going to try doing that 3 times a week and see if it helps. Otherwise I feel as though I'm gradually accumulating chronic pain vampires that are gradually sapping my ability to function. And I've got to find a way to beat them back other than "lie in bed for hours a day, under a heating blanket & cat, reading".

Menu this year, as last:

- roast spatchcocked chicken, plus turkey legs & thighs
- roasted garlic gravy
- Our Stuffing Recipe™
- roast veg, asst.
- "Indian Pudding"
- Our Cranberry Sauce™
- salad
- pumpkin pie, apple pie, whipped cream

Alas, my brother has a bad cold and won't be joining us. It's not COVID & not the flu, so there's that, but he's too snotty to travel. Since he won't be around I think I won't make turkey gumbo tomorrow, I'll just make stock, do the gumbo on Saturday.

promo :3

Nov. 26th, 2025 04:43 pm
toothpastepancake: (solara 2)
[personal profile] toothpastepancake

[personal profile] elasticella is hosting sapphic stocking stuffers 2025...


Just wanted to promo this one because it's so fun and I really enjoyed it last year ^.^ Here's my stocking ;-)

Rants, Pre-Thanksgiving Edition

Nov. 26th, 2025 02:38 pm
chris_gerrib: (Default)
[personal profile] chris_gerrib
It's been a while since I've delivered a rant about the current political situation, so, on Thanksgiving Eve I'm going to do so and get it out of my system.

Obeying Illegal Orders:

It is perfectly legal for somebody, even active duty or retired military, to counsel serving military personnel that they should not obey an illegal order. MAGA can (and alas probably will) bluster otherwise until the Sun goes supernova, but that fact remains. Although Senator Kelly and others didn't say it, a prime example of an illegal order would be the ongoing attacks on unarmed boats off of the Venezuelan coast. There is no legal justification for these attacks, as we are not at war with Venezuela. Speaking as somebody who has personally conducted counter-narcotics operations in those waters, there is no practical justification either.

In fact, Trump's apparent attempt to drum up a war with Venezuela is illegal and unconstitutional. The Constitution requires Congress to declare war precisely because it was, in the age of monarchy, common for the King to start a war and then demand his people support it.

Lindsey Halligan, Comey and Leticia James

First, the law appears to be clear. A President gets to appoint an interim US Attorney for 120 days, then the district court appoints somebody. They MAY appoint the same person the President did, and they usually do, but if that person is fired, especially because they won't undertake a bogus prosecution, then the district court gets to appoint somebody else until the President and the Senate agree on a person.

Second, the general case against these two is weak at best. This is why only idiot hack like Lindsey Halligan would even attempt to prosecute. Halligan is, in fact, Exhibit A as to why US Attorneys should be Senate-approved.

MAGA principles, or lack thereof

A principle is "a fundamental truth, law, or belief that serves as a foundation for a system of behavior or reasoning." MAGA clearly doesn't, or if they do, the only principle appears to be "whatever stokes my anger." Most people, by about the age of five or so, figure out that's no way to go through life.

Having cleansed my palate of political commentary, for those that celebrate, please enjoy your Thankgiving.
pensnest: close up of smiling cartoon hippo from Fantasia (Adorable hippo)
[personal profile] pensnest
Dear Becky

No, I don't want you to update my website and maximise my sales. Do you in fact know what my website is for? What exactly it is that I am selling? Didn't think so.

Yours, irritably,
Pen

*

Last night I thought I was incubating—had incubated, indeed—the most horrendous cold. I was miserable! I cancelled this morning's yoga and prepared to battle with Vicks and tissues.

This evening I'm... more or less fine. I do emit an occasional mighty sneeze, and I don't think I can manage any top notes, but otherwise, I'm good. It's nice, but rather baffling.

Spent Sunday at a mixed chorus rehearsal, which was interesting and useful although possibly less fun than I had anticipated. We had a drama chap come to work with us on our performance. He choreographed a number of carefully-thought-out moves, but I had hoped he would work with us on conveying emotions through body language or learning to make our faces work harder for us, or something. Still. It was a useful start on a more disciplined presentation of our song.

Now we just have to remember it all.

*

I think my procrastination skills are faltering a bit, which is just as well as I have a Yuletide story to write and Christmas stuff to organise. I have made a start on the Yuletide thing, which is flowing reasonably well, so far, but it's fairly canon-y at present and I shall flounder far more once I am further adrift. Meanwhile I have also found myself writing a Romance of a not-fannish kind, unless it be a rather remote tribute to Georgette Heyer. Sentences keep forming themselves in my mind when I am trying to go to sleep. So far I have not resorted to phone or notebook to deal with them, as I more or less trust myself to be able to say what I want to say, but argh! Months and months without the ability to write so much as a sentence of fiction, and now, abundance! And I'm sooooo indolent. Sigh.

*

Christmas will be getting under way for me this coming weekend. Well, no, that is not strictly true, of course, I have parcels arriving daily and even went shopping yesterday in Jarrolds Food Hall, always a pleasure. I approve of Norfolk Stuff. And they have a Chocolate Library. Anyway, do sign up for a card from me, on my previous post! I like sending cards out, despite the eyewatering costs of postage.

But this weekend is the chorus concert at the local church, just up the road. It is the traditional start to my chorus's Christmas season, except last year when somebody at the church managed to double book and we ended up not going there. Grump. As mentioned above, I may not be able to hit the high notes, but there are few of these as I only sing Tenor on one song with the women's chorus. (Oddly, I managed an F# on Sunday in brief rehearsal with my quartet, though my voice was feeling the strain at Eb earlier.) I am arming myself with a handful of very short Christmas poems, as I'll probably be doing some of the MC's duties.

*

I seem to have developed an alternative personality for Reddit. Rather more astringent than I am here, where I am myself, and also, rather wittier. Hmm.

Back to the story with the deadline.
oursin: Photograph of small impressionistic metal figurine seated reading a book (Reader)
[personal profile] oursin

What I read

After Hours at Dooryard Books was really good - set in 1968 in a used bookstore in Greenwich Village - this was so not a Summer of Love - but lots of Unhistoric Acts - also I really liked that what I feared was going to be one of those three-quarter way through Exposure of Dark Thing/Arising of Unexpected Crisis in Relationship actually didn't go angst angst angst wo wo wo.

Slightly Foxed #88: 'Pure Magic': pretty good selection, though rather irked by the guy fanboying over Room at the Top and all he can say about the sexism side of things is that the protag's behaviour to women 'may be less than admirable but he is not a cad'. O RLY. What do you call putting the local rich guy's daughter in the club and then chucking your older woman mistress, who dies horribly in a car accident?

Robert Rodi, Fag Hag (1992) - of its period perhaps. I think there may be works of his I remember more fondly than this one? Don't really recommend.

Dick Francis, Hot Money (1987): this is one in which I was waiting for the narrator to get, as per usual for a DF protag, nastily done over, probably by one of his siblings or in-laws in this convoluted tale of seething envies within the family of a much-married tycoon. He did get blown up but that was not personal and so did his father. No actually woodsheds but there was a glasshouse and various other nooks and crannies to see something nasty in.

On the go

Back to Lanny Budd - O Shepherd, Speak! (#10) (1949) - Lanny as ever finds himself where it's happening in the final stages of WW2 - have got to the aftermath of the war, and thinking about peace. Quite a way to go.

Up next

No idea.

a long overdue media post!

Nov. 26th, 2025 02:23 pm
omens: Bom (upset) from Sweden Laundry (kdrama - bom)
[personal profile] omens
TV: I finished watching the first season of Amphibia and started on the second. It's good! I continue to enjoy it. Not as much as L would like me to enjoy it, but I enjoy it enough!

Kdrama: Business Proposal with mostly vague spoilers )

Kdrama: Love to Hate You with rage spoilers )

So anyway. LOLOL. Continuing,

Books - Just finished Mickey7 (Edward Ashton), a book about an Expendable on a colonization mission. Expendables do the suicide missions and other dangerous jobs or medical experimentation, and when they die, they get remade - so, when he gets waylaid on the way back to camp surviving something he probably should have died from, he finds Mickey8 already there. It's a very fun book. It's also a movie (Mickey17, bc I guess six terrifying deaths are not drama enough??) and now I want to see it. There's also a sequel book so I guess I'll look that up, too.

And Movies: a few )

Games - Been playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf on the 3DS lately! There is so much game in that game. Too much to do every day. But it's fun and I missed it. :D

Check-In Post - Nov 26th 2025

Nov. 26th, 2025 06:56 pm
badly_knitted: (Get Knitted)
[personal profile] badly_knitted posting in [community profile] get_knitted


Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.

Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?

There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.


This Week's Question (courtesy of [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith): When learning a new art or craft, do you prefer level-grinding the basics, skipping ahead to the cool techniques, or a mix of both?


If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.

I now declare this Check-In OPEN!



Book review: The Once and Future King

Nov. 26th, 2025 10:32 am
rocky41_7: (Default)
[personal profile] rocky41_7 posting in [community profile] booknook
Title: The Once and Future King
Author: T.H. White
Genre: Fantasy adventure

Last night I finished The Once and Future King by T.H. White, because I felt like it was time I made a real foray into the Arthurian legends. The actual first Arthurian book I read was The Mists of Avalon, but that was years ago and before I had heard the full story about Marion Zimmer Bradley. This book takes a decidedly different tone. I’m sticking to the most common name spellings for all of the characters here, because spellings do vary across all versions of these legends.

The first thing that surprised me about The Once and Future King is that it’s funny, and frequently in an absurd, dorky kind of way. Knights failing tilts because their visors fell over their eyes wrong, Merlin accidentally zapping himself away in the middle of a lesson because he was in a temper, the Questing Beast “falling in love” with two men dressed in a beast costume, that sort of thing. This silliness is largely concentrated in the first quarter of the book, which is about Arthur’s childhood, but it’s never fully lost.

The second surprise was how long the book focuses on Arthur’s childhood, but then again, it is setting the scene for Arthur’s worldview and the lessons he internalized as a child which shape his approach to being king.

Read more... )
rocky41_7: (Default)
[personal profile] rocky41_7 posting in [community profile] books

Last night I finished The Once and Future King by T.H. White, because I felt like it was time I made a real foray into the Arthurian legends. The actual first Arthurian book I read was The Mists of Avalon, but that was years ago and before I had heard the full story about Marion Zimmer Bradley. This book takes a decidedly different tone. I’m sticking to the most common name spellings for all of the characters here, because spellings do vary across all versions of these legends.

The first thing that surprised me about The Once and Future King is that it’s funny, and frequently in an absurd, dorky kind of way. Knights failing tilts because their visors fell over their eyes wrong, Merlin accidentally zapping himself away in the middle of a lesson because he was in a temper, the Questing Beast “falling in love” with two men dressed in a beast costume, that sort of thing. This silliness is largely concentrated in the first quarter of the book, which is about Arthur’s childhood, but it’s never fully lost.

The second surprise was how long the book focuses on Arthur’s childhood, but then again, it is setting the scene for Arthur’s worldview and the lessons he internalized as a child which shape his approach to being king.

Read more... )

Nonfiction

Nov. 26th, 2025 01:21 pm
rivkat: Dean reading (dean reading)
[personal profile] rivkat
Michael Grunwald, We Are Eating the Earth: The thing about land is that they aren’t making any more of it, and although you can make more farmland (for now) from forests, it’s not a good idea. This means that agriculture is hugely important to climate change, but most of the time proposals for, e.g., biofuels or organic farming don’t take into account the costs in farmland. The book explores various things that backfired because of that failed accounting and what might work in the future. Bonus: the audiobook is narrated by Kevin R. Free, the voice of Murderbot, who turns out to be substantially more expressive when condemning habitat destruction.

Tony Magistrale & Michael J. Blouin, King Noir: The Crime Fiction of Stephen King (feat. Stephen King and Charles Ardai): Treads the scholarly/popular line, as the inclusion of a chapter by King and a “dialogue” with Ardai suggest. The book explores King’s noir-ish work like Joyland, but also considers his horror protagonists as hardboiled detectives, trying to find out why bad things happen (and, in King’s own words, often finding the noirish answer “Because they can.”). I especially liked the reading of Wendy Torrance as a more successful detective than her husband Jack. Richard Bachman shows up as the dark side of King’s optimism (I would have given more attention to the short stories—they’re also mostly from the Bachman era and those often are quite bleak). And the conclusion interestingly explores the near-absence of the (living) big city and the femme fatale—two noir staples—from King’s work, part of a general refusal of fluidity.

Gerardo Con Diaz, Everyone Breaks These Laws: How Copyrights Made the Online World: This book is literally not for me because I live and breathe copyright law and it is a tour through the law of copyright & the internet that is aimed at an intelligent nonlawyer. Although I didn’t learn much, I appreciated lines like “Back then, all my porn was illegally obtained, and it definitely constituted copyright infringement.” The focus is on court cases and the arguments behind them, so the contributions of “user generated content” and, notably, fanworks to the ecosystem don’t get a mention.

Stephanie Burt, Taylor’s Version: The Poetic and Musical Genius of Taylor Swift: longer )

Kyla Sommers, When the Smoke Cleared: The 1968 Rebellions and the Unfinished Battle for Civil Rights in the Nation’s Capital: Extensive account of the lead-up to, experience of, and consequences of the 1968 riots after MLK Jr.’s assassination. There was some interesting stuff about Stokely Carmichael, who (reportedly) told people to go home during the riots because they didn’t have enough guns to win. (Later: “According to the FBI, Carmichael held up a gun and declared ‘tonight bring your gun, don’t loot, shoot.’ The Washington Post, however, reported Carmichael held up a gun and said, ‘Stay off the streets if you don’t have a gun because there’s going to be shooting.’”) Congress did not allow DC to control its own political fate, and that shaped how things happened, including the limited success of citizens’ attempts to direct development and get more control over the police, but ultimately DC was caught up in the larger right-wing backlash that was willing to invest in prisons but not in sustained economic opportunity. Reading it now, I was struct by the fact that—even without riots, fires, or other large-scale destruction—white people who don’t live in the area are still calling for military occupation because they don’t feel safe. So maybe the riots weren’t as causal as they are considered.

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