eagle | Network

Or at least I assume that's what the call I missed because [reasons this margin is too small to contain] was about, based on (i) the voicemail that said They'll Call Back Tomorrow, and (ii) the continued absence of the relevant test results in the NHS app.

I... think I am going to suggest that they ask my GP to issue a bloods request form, for me to pick up from the surgery and take up the hill to phlebotomy. Because! this is ridiculous! blood loss remains my job!!!

Other things today has contained include: TOKEN RIDICULOUS PUZZLE; Very Picturesque Bread; the Child assigning us all Pronouns and Genders and Sexualities more-or-less at random (from an LGBTQIA+ sticker book); PAKIDGES many and various Including another book on pain and box sets for the last two seasons of Elementary; lots of ridiculous windows in the general vicinity of Bank. I am very tired.

case posting in

fandomsecrets

⌈ Secret Post #6964 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 09 secrets from Secret Submission Post #994.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

kitewithfish

I was on a train when I would normally have posted this, but I am now happily in a hotel with time and wifi!

What I've Read

Untamed – Anna Cowan –A romance I picked up because a friend got the arc for another upcoming book, The Duke, and she loved it. Untamed is doing some very queer het - there's a lot of crossdressing and playing with the intimacy that is allowed by presenting as two women. The writing really works for me - it's quite firmly in favor of respecting the reader's intelligence to put together how someone feels from their actions and context. Also I truly believe these two leads are devastatingly horny for real intimacy with each other. Really interesting, not super realistic re sexual mores of the times, and I'd recommend it.

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance – Foz Meadows. A re-read of a favorite. I really enjoy how this book simply lets a bad situation get worse and worse until one character reaches a breaking point.
The relationship builds from seeing someone at an absolute low point. I should follow up with the sequel - I read it befire but too far apart.

Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins - Second Hunger Games book, and really invested in showing the damage that the victors survived and then making them suffer again! Things fall apart. Ends in an unclear cliffhanger - I never read the third book so I will be soon moving into the realms of the new.

Attempting the impossible - ariaste A kidfic! https://archiveofourown.org/works/24707737 I think this works because canon already gave Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian an adopted son, so this just extends that to the point of absurdity. I love the Jiang Cheng POV as he tries to figure out how to have a relationship with his brother.

What I'm Reading

The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein - This is dancing on the edge between scifi and fantasy and I'm fascinated to see where it will land. Good writing, interesting characters, someone has set fire to the inn and the moon is a fairy tale. The hell is going on here.

The Alpha's Warlock by Eliot Grayson - A very formulaic marriage of inconvenience werewolf/warlock romance. I'm finding the writing extremely blunt, to the point of exhaustion - I simply don't buy that THIS character is THIS aware of his own emotions and can put them into words. I may stick with it in case something shakes out?

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper - I fear I may be too old to appreciate this story about a Chosen One Who Is Literally Eleven. It is a lovely period piece about how much freedom a boy that age had in England in the 70s, tho. The audiobook will certainly be recalled before I finish it but I may continue in paperback.

What I'll Read Next

Cinder House by Freya Marske - i own this?? How did i forget to read it??

I try to read more Black American authors for February (Black History month) so I think Andrea Hairston will be on my list - her reading at Arisia was clear and bright and funny and good good writing.

atlas_obscura_places_feed

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/nintendo-head-office

Nintendo is one of the world's most recognizable brands, taking up real estate in millions of houses ever since the NES came out in 1983. The colorful, imaginative, and very well-designed games of the studio draw in many children and adults alike. And it seems like their popularity is only expanding with the new amusement park and movie.

What many people don't tend to think about however is that Nintendo is a real-life company with real-life employees, which means that it has to have a real-life location. The main building of Nintendo can be found in southern Kyoto, not far from its original building (see other place I submitted).

While this gray building could be disappointing to some, it has in fact become a sort of pilgrim location for hardened Nintendo fans who come to take a photo with the sign. Don't expect anything beyond that though, as the building has no visitors center or museum and is off limits for anyone without an appointment.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/nintendo-head-office

arethinn

Screenshot from an online shop selling mead. A brown glass bottle the size of a beer bottle has a green label saying Emerald Fae. The text says it is 8.5% alcohol, 355 mL, a Metheglin style, and costs $12.00. The description is, Sparkling absinthe inspired mead with house distilled and individually blended hydrosols of botanical ingredients including sage, angelica, anise, hyssop, lemon verbena, fennel and tulsi. Sweetened back a touch with Oregon clary sage honey.

https://hierophantmeadery.com/shop/

tjs_whatnot posting in

snowflake_challenge

Introduction Post* Meet the Mods Post Challenge #1 * Challenge #2* Challenge #3* Challenge #4* Challenge #5 * Challenge #6 * * Challenge #7 Challenge #8 * Challenge #9 * Challenge #10 * Challenge #11 * Challenge #12 * Challenge #13 * Challenge #14

Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time, or go back and do challenges you've missed.

( Fandom Snowflake Challenge #15 ) And please do check out the comments for all the awesome participants of the challenge and visit their journals/challenge responses to comment on their posts and cheer them on.

And just as a reminder: this is a low pressure, fun challenge. If you aren't comfortable doing a particular challenge, then don't. We aren't keeping track of who does what.

schneefink

The new year has started and I almost forgot about monthly recs already.
To start with, three Hermitcraft fanworks, 1 animation and two fics: fusions with Slay the Spire, Uma Musume, and Pokémon (knowledge of other fandoms not required.)

Slay the Citadel by

cocoabats
Animation, Hermitcraft s10/Slay the Spire
Summary: i spent way too much time on this but hey! decked out 2 in the style of slay the spire!
slay the citadel?
Why I love it: This is so cool! I know nothing about Slay the Spire but all the Hermitcraft parts are so fitting and look so cool and the atmosphere is so great.

( and two fics )

princessofgeeks

Current Mood: impressed

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andrewducker

Fairly sure that this used to be a bath.

Before Sophia watched a video on how to make the perfect comfy hideaway.
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

extrapenguin posting in

space_swap

Crossover Fandom
Archer (Cartoon)
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Please nominate according to the instructions. Thank you! Your fandom/remaining noms will not be approved unless you comply with the instructions.

Mass Effect Trilogy
Mugen Kouro | Infinite Space
Phantasy Star
For All Mankind (TV 2019)
Mass Effect: Andromeda
The Outer Worlds (Video Game)
Please disambiguate your nominations! This means adding the fandom in (brackets) to the end, e.g. Character: Alis Landale (Phantasy Star)

Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series (Movies)
We already have the fandom Star Trek: The Original Series in the tagset. Nominator of plain Star Trek, Kirk and Spock already exist there. TOS Movies nominator, would you mind being merged into regular TOS, as they're the same cast and continuity, or is there some big division I'm unaware of?

ysabetwordsmith posting in

birdfeeding

Current Mood: busy

oday is partly sunny and cold.

I fed the birds. I've seen a large flock of sparrows plus a male and a female cardinal separately.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/29/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I refilled the hopper feeder. I've seen lots more birds, including two starlings at the suet cage.

EDIT 1/29/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a mourning dove up in the trees.

EDIT 1/29/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a pair of cardinals and a wren.

I am done for the night.

jesse_the_k posting in

fancake

Fandom: Sherlock (BBC TV 2010)

Pairings/Characters: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson

Characters: Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes, Greg Lestrade, John Watson

Rating: Explicit

Length: 4400 words

Theme: Crack Treated Seriously

Summary: Sherlock and John swap bodies. John doesn't want to talk about it.

Creator Links: Rhuia

Reccer’s Notes Sex pollen on Earth requires some shenanigans, but add in body swap and we’ve got a deep dive into how this combo would affect these two’s self-knowledge and desire. Very explicit, very steamy, very funny.

Fanwork Link Once, Twice

atlas_obscura_places_feed

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/wing-lee-street

Terrace & trees

Sandwiched between the skyscrapers of Mid-Levels district stands Wing Lee Street, a small car-free terrace made up of a row of 11 Chinese-style tenement buildings, known locally as 'Tong Lau'.

After being destroyed in World War II, Wing Lee Street was rebuilt in the early 1950s. The terrace's elevator-less four storey tenements are one of the last places in Hong Kong where an entire row of tong laus still stands intact.

Post-war, the street became known as a hub for letterpress printing. At one point, 11 different printing shops occupied the terrace's ground floor shops. The last of these shops shuttered in 2012, by which point the Wing Lee Street tong laus had already been slated for demolition.

The terrace's unlikely reprieve came in the form of a local film called 'Echoes of the Rainbow'. Depicting the lives of a working class family in 1960s Hong Kong, Wing Lee Street provided the antiquated backdrop that served as the film's principal shooting location.

Released to critical acclaim, Echoes of the Rainbow won the Crystal Bear award for best feature film in the Generation category at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival. The movie's post-Berlin buzz and ensuing public opposition encouraged the government to abandon the redevelopment plans, and instead work to restore the tong laus and surrounding area.

With restoration now complete, the exteriors of the tong laus look more polished, and arguably more modern than their actual age. However, Wing Lee Street still exudes a nostalgic, old-world charm that is becoming increasingly harder to find in Hong Kong.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/wing-lee-street

erinptah

At long last, after a year’s worth of internal discussion and a few more months of preparing for the rollout, AMTs are back on the menu.

Two of my requests have already been approved! His Dark Materials & Related Fandoms and 魔法少女まどか☆マギカ | Puella Magi Madoka Magica & Related Fandoms are the metatags on a couple of shiny new tag trees!

Official AO3 announcement post is here. The number of “I’m so happy to see this, it’ll make my fandom browsing so much easier” comments are a joy to see. (The comments about “well, geez, took you long enough” are…valid, honestly.)

A lot of specific tag trees are still works-in-progress, especially if it’s a big complicated franchise. So don’t worry too much if a fandom you love doesn’t have one yet — the wranglers might still be working on it. Honestly, I’m still working on investigating all the Madoka Magica fandom syns, which is why most of the spinoffs still don’t have their own separate fandom tags. We’ll get there, I promise.

Fun little twist that’s only a problem for me: this means “more fandoms” listed on my wrangling page. The amount of work is objectively exactly the same! It’s the same amount of fic, just spread across slightly more fandom tags! But the recently-added limit is on the number of fandoms, not the amount of fanworks those fandoms get.

Current number of fandoms on my list: 1142.

Current number that have any tag-wrangling to do: 28. (Not the same 28 as the last time I posted. There’s some overlap — a fandom like Sailor Moon has new tags every week — but the others rotate, especially the “just got new tags from its first fic posted in 2 years” type of fandoms.)

minoanmiss

Current Mood: hopeful

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muccamukk

Latest entry in the currently flourishing protest song genre:

Watch on YouTube

What? Were you expecting Springsteen?

atlas_obscura_places_feed

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/naramachi-nepalese-window

Naramachi Historic District.

The Naramachi Historic District sits south of the famous Nara Park, lined with traditional wooden townhouses and steeped in tranquil, old-world charm. It’s a distinctly Japanese area, straight out of the mid-19th century.

But, surprisingly, a very exotic element hides in plain sight among these townhouses, blending perfectly into traditional architecture. This hand-carved Nepalese window, with intricate reliefs of flowers, lions and Garuda, once adorned the Nepal Pavilion at the 1970 Osaka Expo.

The building itself belongs to the nearby Gango-ji Temple, once used as a lodging for travelling priests, including some from Nepal. Interestingly, it has not been recorded when the window was brought to Nara – and it remains unknown what happened to the rest of the Nepal Pavilion.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/naramachi-nepalese-window

oursin

But hey, after A WEEK I have a new passport! - their website says may take up to three weeks, so I am very impressed with this. Also have the old one back (sent separately). The photo of course strongly resembles a headshot from a C19th volume of an institution for the criminally insane at which the head doc had taken to photography and theories of physiognomy, but don't they always?

***

In the world of spammyity-spam-spam:

Really, I am quite tempted to 'deliver an oral talk' (? as opposed to doing a presentation in the form of interpretative dance?) at the 13th International Congress of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (ICGO-2026 Asia) as it's in Kyoto: 'adorned with early autumn foliage, offering a serene backdrop for academic exchanges, you’ll have the chance to experience traditional tea ceremonies, stroll through ancient bamboo groves, and engage with a city that values both heritage and scientific progress'.

But am not at all tempted (more DESTROY THIS WITH FIRE & EXTREME PREJUDICE) by this solicitation:

Imagine if, instead of being buried in PDFs, your work could answer questions directly, 24/7. Not just to students, but to anyone curious, anywhere in the world.
When corporate companies, grant providers, grad students, journalists ask AI about your field, they get up to date info and not outdated summaries.
Today, your Google Scholar profile just sits there. No one can ask it questions. No one can discover the depth of your work through AI search.
AI is becoming the new search engine for expertise. And academics are invisible.
We built something to fix this. Your own .cv domain. LLM optimized. SEO optimized. Analytics. Branded URLs. Digital Chat Twin.

AAAAARRRGGH.

Ask ME the questions, please. Because, and I quote, 'No one can discover the depth of your work through AI search'. Many a true word.

***

And, in fact, this week has been quite the flurry of that Dr oursin being relevant - apart from query on scholarly listserv which was well in my wheelhouse but had me going 'would be helpful to indicate what reading - apart from google search - you had done before asking for suggestions' -

Request to referee a paper on topic on which I am somewhat reluctantly considered a Nexpert, for journal in an area in which I am not.

Query from researcher about sources for a possible project of theirs.

Invitation to go and talk about the History of 'Engines of Love' (as the condoms found in William Empson's college rooms were described) in connection with an exhibition in the summer.

Have also had agreeable email exchanges with Elderly Antiquarian Bookseller friend.

***

On the downside, printer is acting up, doing both being fussy about toner cartridge AND thinking there's a paper jam in Tray 1. Sigh.

atlas_obscura_places_feed

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tecumseh-sculpture-at-minooteeni-park

Chief Tecumseh in Minooteeni Park

Minooteeni (translated as “Village”) Park in Vincennes, Indiana, was created to honor the Native American people of the area. Most prominent among the park’s displays is a wood-carved sculpture of Shawnee Chief Tecumseh, created by artist Peter Toth.

Tecumseh is best remembered for attempting to unite the Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes region of the United States. He formed a confederation of tribes known as the United Indian Nations, an effort to halt the westward expansion of the United States. Tecumseh served as the political leader, while his brother, Tenskwatawa (“The Prophet”), acted as the spiritual leader. The confederation ended with Tecumseh’s death in October 1813, when he was killed in battle in Canada.

Toth dedicated this sculpture to Vincennes in 2009 as part of his series known as The Trail of Whispering Giants. There are 74 sculptures in the series, created by Toth and located across all 50 states, as well as in Canada and Europe.

Tecumseh also features prominently in Vincennes history, having met here with Indiana Territory Governor William Henry Harrison in 1811. The city is also home to Tecumseh-Harrison Elementary School and the Tecumseh Dining Center on the campus of Vincennes University.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tecumseh-sculpture-at-minooteeni-park

princessofgeeks

Current Mood: cheerful

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Profile

Russ Allbery

Russ Allbery (Eagle)

May 2009

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Journals Russ Reads

Network

[healthwork, diarish] ... they... lost my blood again?

[ SECRET POST #6964 ]

Wednesday Reading Meme - On Thursday! Jan 28 2026

Nintendo Headquarters in Kyoto, Japan

"absinthe" mead?! yoink

Snowflake Challenge #15

January recs: Hermitcraft fusions

Heated Rivalry rec

Photo cross-post

Nominations Clarifications #2

Birdfeeding

SHERLOCK BBC: Once, Twice by Rhuia

Wing Lee Street in Hong Kong

AO3 fandom metatags are back!

"What do you wish You'd Known When You First Started Managing?"

Music Thursday

Naramachi Nepalese Window in Nara, Japan

Not quite a medley of extemporanea

Tecumseh Sculpture in Vincennes, Indiana

Heated Rivalry rec

Profile

May 2009

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