It's been a little bit. Have some pics of some creatures.


Bella yearns for apples.

(From back when I was trying to slowly work up to more solid food, ha.)

Pictures of Bella, Berry Mad, Guava Splash, Ripley, and Jaspurr:

Bella watches the Westminster Dog Show.

(The American Kennel Club does not recognize the American Pit Bull Terrier as a breed, which is why Bella does her FastCAT and other titles under the "All American Dog" category. American Staffordshire Terrier is the closest to her breed.)


Majestic.


Cozy.


Berry Mad has turned her entire pond into her personal mud puddle.


Guava Splash!


Watching you.


Ripley the garter snake!


Ripley says :P


And Jaspurr! No one will out-comfy him.

In unrelated news, I did not dodge the cough. :( I hoped I was in the clear, because Alex was coughing by day three or four. After a week, I figured I was safe... but day nine? I think? brought the cough, which has only gotten worse today.

But in surgery recovery, the scabs and all their accompanying glue are finally gone! Incision sites are still quite tender, but seem to be healing up really well. I've had occasional twinges in my lower right abdomen (where my appendix was), but very slight and pretty infrequent, so nothing I'm too worried about.

Right now I really just wish the cold and accompanying cough would go away! I thought I was on the mend on Thursday, when I woke up still sick, but feeling much better than previous days... but alas, it was a false alarm, and I was back to crappy yesterday and today, but with extra cough! It's been kicking my ass, and I've been struggling to do much of anything the last several days. I'll try to get caught back up here as soon as I can.

Finland takes bronze in men's hockey.

Damn, they came so close to taking out Canada and getting silver. Ah, well. Still, we've got squids taking home bronze and they were key players on their teams. Kaapo Kakko scored again.

(Kakko should be one of the Kraken's top scorers, but he was out most of the season with an injury and seemed to have the yips once he got back, was slow to get his groove back. This sidequest may have helped him a bit.)

I didn't watch the game, because I was at a write-in at Steeplejack.

Just in case you had any doubt that beer is a religion in Portland:


Damn, I need to go there with my real camera.

I considered catching the finals tomorrow, more to see the medal ceremony than the game, but the Fins already have their medals? They didn't wait and do them all at once like with the women's game?

Still sad that Finland didn't manage to take out Canada, despite that early lead. Still, some squids got bronze and overall squids had very good showings on their teams. Anyway, here's hoping Canada deletes USA tomorrow. I'm not really attached to Canada or any of their players, I just want USA's first line humiliated if possible. I can dream!

The one good thing about not being able to go on the trip with Taylor and mom was that it meant I was in town for Mark's memorial.

It was organized at one of the main goth clubs, for a couple hours before the club night itself.

There was an amazing turnout - so, so many people came out. While many are people we don't personally know, many of them are people I recognize from "back in the day," when we were out at the clubs three+ nights a week.

They set up a table with all of the merch he had left. Mostly Voicecoil, but a little bit of Gravity Corps and even some Synapse stuff. It was all "pay what you want, please just take it." We chipped in some money for the fund for his roommate, and took some shirts and stickers and things.

There was a slideshow of all the pictures of him that people had shared. They had a mic set up so that people could go up and share stories about him. Lots of people did. So many about what a colossal asshole he could be—and was, lol—but also how despite that, he was also very kind and inspirational and supportive to so many people. So many people had stories about the times they saw him when the performance was off, or at least turned down. We concluded basically every story with a hearty shared "FUCK YOU, MARK SOUSA!" toast.

(I cried. Several times.)

I think he would have loved it.

And there were plenty of jokes about how much he absolutely would have loved having so many people gathering together to focus on him. And so many people did! But it breaks my heart that he maybe didn't know how important he was to so many people.

PJ, his partner of 16 years (though they had broken up), gave us the bust of him in the picture above. She thanked us for always being such strong supporters of all of his projects, and good friends to him. Another of his friends had designed and printed the little busts. It's also how Mark would want to be remembered, ha.

I miss him, and am still having a hard time fully believing that he's gone.

The festival coming up in May replaced Voicecoil on their lineup poster, though they'll also have a memorial for him at the event. That hit me hard. As delighted as I of course was for the headliners at the festival, getting to see him as one of the openers was one of the many things I was so looking forward to. It's hard to realize that... there aren't any more Voicecoil shows. I'm so glad for all the ones we went to, all the times we did hang out with Mark at the club or at his house or after a show... but I really wish there was another. And another. And another after that. I still don't feel ready to think of the last show as the last one.

Specifically the women's team! USA mens? meh... I like a few of them, but am pulling for Finland.

Sport's Bra opened early for the game, and I may have had french fries for breakfast.

That was a fuck of a game, Canada scored early on us on a shorty and kept that lead until almost the end of the game. Hillary Knight managed to score right at the end, pushing to OT.

Someone lost their shit because they thought America had just won, because they didn't understand the visual difference between a live shot and a reply. People were excited and that was awesome, but they mostly had no idea what was going on.

Anyway, the Sports Bra is arranging a bus to and from Seattle for the Torrent's pride game in April. Getting to Seattle for games isn't hard, but it's getting back that's tricky. I may get in on that.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones is gory historical horror set in 1912 Montana that's in conversation with Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. More importantly, it's both narrative and meta-narrative about settler colonialism and the genocide Americans perpetrated against the indigenous inhabitants of the American West, viewed through a lens of revenge, survival, and atonement. Finally, it shows a long, difficult attempt at justice, requiring sacrifice and suffering along the way.

This review contains spoilers.

( Read more... )

For those not well-versed in American history, An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz would be good preparation for this novel, or as a readalong.

Heated Rivalry is a difficult fandom to write in, as there's an intimidating amount of incredible fic!

I finished this a week ago, then vacillated about posting it after reading other stories by far more skilled writers, but I just finished the final edit and hit post, on the principle of "MORE CAKE!"

It's my attempt at writing something a bit like sex pollen in HR. Weird tropes are a lot easier in Stargate, where they're either already in canon, or can be explained away by alien tech and alien plants!

when you have to go there - about 13,000 words, Ilya/Shane, Ilya's POV.

Due to a shift in strategy Babylon 5 has been pulled from youtube

So much for going through it Dracula Daily style.

* Terry Pratchett Discworld Humble Indie Bundle. 16 bucks for over 35 books, $401 value.

* I do not have time or space in my life to rewatch B5, but if they really are going to do the whole series weekly I might do that. Could be interesting, as it's doing a weekly watch along. I was originally not going to consider it, but after having rewatched a few eps I keep thinking about one scene.

There is an episode where each race has to do a demonstration of their dominant religion. It's not just what Sinclair chooses for Humans, it's how strongly the show's production committed to the scene, especially with the shoe-string budget.

* If I do a lot of sporadic posting today it's because of milk. I've been so hardline about my diet for so long, I've often wondered if my system is really that sensitive to certain things after so many years of controlling my IBS symptoms.. as much as I enjoy working at Dragonfly Cafe they have a bad cross-contamination problem with drinks that need any kind of stirring or steaming and yes, holy shit, milk protein fucks me up. As sick as I am right now, this should mostly clear up quickly. I'll get to 85% better soon and then that last 15% will linger for a bit.

* I did make myself go and do some pre-possible-snow shopping. I have extra food, and also some shelf stable options in case of power outage.

Here's what happens when fandom and amigurumi collide: Crochet Your Celebrity Crush by Lee Sartori, ISBN 9780760393659.

* I am hoping to watch the Olympics Women's Hockey Gold Medal game tomorrow. Sports Bra is opening early.

* Finns made it to the next round! They have a decent chance at a medal.

* Sweden starting Markstrom again. They've got both of the Wild goalies, an amazing tendie duo, but every time I look at a game it's Markstrom. And right now Markstrom has only let in 1 of 31, so maybe it's the right call.

I'd hoped to catch the Wild goalies, but they only played Gus in some early round games and Wall not at all. (Technically, they are not out yet, but they are playing the US rn so...)

Actually, the game is surprisingly close, so this is now a liveblog. ( Read more... )

okay so Ernie Of Sesame Street is legalnamed Ernest Monster, without question, but what is Bert short for? Albert? Bertram? Hubert? Herbert? Robert?

I may spin out a quick Sesame Street Regency AU drabble... but I think it's gotta be Bertram.

One of the downsides of working from home (also not having a car but that's more about convenience in this particular case) is that getting to church for Ash Wednesday is more of a struggle for me.  When I still went into my office, I could take a longer lunch and go up to the church closest to me for the noontime service.  Last year, I was able to go since it was on the way home from a training and figured at the very least I could get ashes on the corner if I didn't make the service over at St. Paul's.  As luck would have it, I made the service.  I don't go to church regularly much anymore but St. Paul's is a good place to go when I do.

This year, my time is stacked because I've to to leave work early for something else and I didn't necessarily want to take the whole day off. I did do the readings for the day, which conveniently come in email (yay, technology).  Also, I have chosen a saint for Lent Madness - this is new for me but hey, having saints duking it out in a March Madness style bracket cracks me up. I am pulling for Marina the Monk, who wanted to join a monastary rather than get married (her dad was going to marry her off and join a monastary himself and she said nope, let's be monks together) and dressed as a a young man to join up.I was previously unfamiliar with her story but the Episcopal Church added her to the liturgical calendar in 2022. She's been long venerated in Easter Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox Churches. 

I love saint stories.  They start out pretty tame but then you run into something like, "Oh, by the way, there was that thing with the snakes and it was pretty amazing."

No particular reason, but picked an octopus for this week. This one is from the Tidal Treasures series by Aspenhearted.

This was a mixed week. Hanging out with Taylor at the beginning of the week was nice, and my recovery from surgery seems to be going really well. Buuuut, then I got sick, and that really sucks. I was very disappointed not to be able to go on the trip with Taylor and mom. Work has been stressful. I did get a little bit of writing done, but none of it was creative writing. I'm very frustrated at how little reading I've been able to do - the second half of the week was partially due to nyquil knocking me out in the evening, heh. Despite my disappointment in not getting to go on the hoped and planned for weekend trip, I was glad to be in town for Mark's memorial.

Goals for the week:

• I did visit Taylor on Monday
• I posted my February writing goals
• I did not finish reading Hell Bent, though I read more of it
• I did not work on my reading page
• I did go on more walks
• I did not work on my WIP outline
• I did not clean up my table
• I did go get fruit flies for the tiny frog
• We started cat (and other pet) sitting for mom and Taylor
• We went to Mark's memorial

Tracked habits:

• Work - 5/7
• Household Maintenance - 5/7
• Physical Activity - 5/7
• Wrote 500/1000+ Words - 0/7
• Non-fiction Writing - 2/7 - one day of over 1000 words, one day of over 500 words, plus an additional day of under 500 words
• Meta Work - 2/7
• Personal Writing - 5/7
• Other Creative Things - 0/7
• Reading - 7/7 - I did read some of Hell Bent as well as some of my ebook; Taylor and I read some of Gideon the Ninth, and Alex and I read some of The Luminous Dead
• Attention to Media - 7/7 - Sunday we watched the very end of the Superbowl; Monday we watched some Olympic downhill skiing and team figure skating; Tuesday watched news coverage; Wednesday watched more Olympic figure skating and some luge; Thursday I tried to watch figure skating but fell asleep very abruptly; Friday I don't remember; Saturday we went to Mark's memorial, and after listened to music for a bit at the club.
• Video Games - 0/7
• Social Interaction - 6/7

Total words written: 2047 on reviews

The Emorian Palace

Entrance to the palace

Do not be offended if you are denied entrance to the Emorian palace. The fact that you have come far enough to be denied that entrance shows that the Emorians' trust in you is high indeed.

The strong manner in which Emor protects its ruler, the Chara, is not evidence that the Chara is weak and frightened. Rather, it is a simple fact that being Chara is the most dangerous job in the Three Lands. Fully four-fifths of the Charas have died before their time, many from assassination. Few Charas live beyond the age of thirty.

(I should explain to any mainlanders who are puzzled at this point that noble peninsulareans have been known to live as long as one hundred years. Even commoner peninsularans often live till they are fifty. If you meet a thirty-year-old, he is not an elder; by peninsularean standards, thirty years old is barely out of one's youth)

Under these circumstances, it is only natural that the Emorians should seek to protect their Chara, giving him the opportunity to live at least long enough to father an heir. By Emorian law, the Chara may not leave his palace, except in wartime. The number of visitors who are allowed past the outer wall of the palace grounds is small. The number of visitors who are allowed past the inner wall of the palace grounds is even smaller. The number of visitors who are allowed inside the palace is very small indeed. And the number of visitors who are allowed inside the East Wing of the palace, where the Chara lives, can be counted without losing your breath.

In practice, this means that the only people who see the Chara are his council, officials from the palace and army, boys who are training to be palace officials, royal messengers, the palace guards, and honored guests, such as ambassadors.

And the servants. Everyone forgets the servants. If you want to see the Chara, I suggest entering into training for high service.

[Translator's note: The perils of living as a Chara can be seen in Empty Dagger Hand.]

I did it, I got to the credits and unlocked the Queen :D

( Notes, spoilers everywhere )

I definitely want to continue playing and discover more, at least for a bit (until DD finally has time to play Hades 2, most likely, because we decided to start an 1.0 playthrough at roughly the same time.) But I'm glad I got to this point now because that'll make it much easier to take a break.

We got out of town this weekend for a visit to my in-laws. It was a good weekend overall. Husband got to spend time with his dad and we all made it through his mom's idiosyncrasies. We watched Olympics together, and I worked on editing, and when we got home a lot of snow had melted. I finished reading Red Rising, too, which was good. I wasn't super blown away by it, but I liked it. On audio I'm listening to The Impossible Fortune, the 5th Thursday Murder Club book, and enjoying that.

( death )

I have learned to purl! I got several rows into "stockinette," alternating garter stitch and purling, until my loops were too tight and I had to start over.

I shall be practicing more!

Go me!

Shout out to the jackass rider in Thoth who threw my sister a roofied shot of fireball. (It was factory sealed. We don't know how it was spiked.) ((Smallest sister usually wouldn't accept random booze from a stranger, but had just received news that her PHD project had passed a committee and was going to the ethics review board. In the moment YOLO feelings were strong.))

Smallest sister is okay. She threw up and had a not great evening, but didn't even feel particularly hungover this morning.

If you ever suspect you've been drugged via a drink, throw up as soon as you can. Getting the drugs out of your stomach before they're fully absorbed will make things less bad.

Smallest sister will be contacting the Krewe and reporting the jackass when she's less mad.

I can't... spikedluv has died very suddenly on the same day as her last post here, Feb 2nd. ride_4ever linked to her obituary here. I've known her as a fandom friend for years and always enjoyed her chatty posts and pics about day to day life. And oh hell, her poor family, with all they're going through at the moment.

Goddamnit.