en passant
Oct. 15th, 2025 03:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yhleeStill recovering from recent/ongoing health stuff but:
Resumed work on Candle Arc #2 (comic) pursuant to continued 2D animation preproduction, since the comics double as partial storyboards. I just processed the Ninefox Gambit: Prelude: Cheris #1 (comic) files for eventual print-on-demand as well, but it's on the website as well.
Resumed work on Candle Arc #2 (comic) pursuant to continued 2D animation preproduction, since the comics double as partial storyboards. I just processed the Ninefox Gambit: Prelude: Cheris #1 (comic) files for eventual print-on-demand as well, but it's on the website as well.
Wednesday was complimented on the green hair
Oct. 15th, 2025 07:19 pmoursinWhat I read
Finished Queer Cambridge and the author is very aware that it is a microhistory of a very particular group of gay (if one can define them thus over the several generations in question) men in a very specific place, who had a considerable amount of privilege and protection, even if that was sometimes just 'we do not discuss these matters' and look away. And that not all of them were particularly nice (some of them sound horrid) and also the awareness of how being a lovely young bloke of the disposition could accrue valuable patronage (in a way that has never been open to women) - this was so much so with Dadie Rylands. Of interest, well-done, pretty well-researched but I picked up on what I thought was skipping over something I Haz Knowinz about, and which when I went back and checked my notes, yes, there WAS a connection, hah.
Then on to Rachel Ferguson, Alas, Poor Lady (1937), which is part of that cycle of novels of that period of The Horrors of the Victorian Ladies Who Failed To Marry and the lurking fate of being a Distressed Gentlewoman. It's pretty much downhill all the way - the parents are pretty hopeless in both preparing their daughters for life and actually providing for them, and then there is all the Burden of Historical Events. Ferguson is no Delafield, alas, though on the other hand this lacked the sheer excruciation of Consequences or Thank Heaven Fasting I suppose.
On the go
Some while ago somebody somewhere was mentioning the novels of Susan Howatch and I can't remember if they were specifically name-checking The Wheel of Fortune, but anyway, brought that to my mind as the one which is doing a story based on the late Plantagenets/rise of the House of Lancaster so I picked up the ebook.
This was what had me thinking of the Starkadders. In fact looking back though it is years since I read any of her books - it's a while since I even read the more recent spiritual-angst + sex ones - they tended to involve intricate and lurid family dynamics based on some historical avatar + family estate. Come on down, Flora Poste!
(Also, book for review that I have been longing to get to for months while I did the interminable essay review.)
Up next
Gosh, that's long, though. However, still have several birthday books, plus, latest Literary Review.
Television and other things...
Oct. 14th, 2025 06:10 pmshadowkat1. After much contemplation - I finally bit the bullet and booked a "Thai" massage for Friday.
My plans - such as they were - have kind of fallen through as a result of a combination of things - weather, sleep/exhaustion and mobility issues. Does anyone know how to heal tightened sore calve muscles? I've tried everything - yoga, stretching exercises, leg exercises, drinking lots of water, cutting back on antihistamines. Hopefully one will work. Also massage - to stretch out and re-align, because not sure how much of the pain is due to alignment. [I'm leaving calling the doctor again as a last resort - I already asked them for help, and they told me: 1) dehydration (drink more water, and limit the anithistamines) and 2) do exercises, and 3) lose weight.)
But that's okay, I'm doing other stuff - and at least I'm away from work and my body is hopefully healing - getting more sleep, and more exercise?
2. PSA: Ao3 finally posted something about how to protect yourself from scammers - probably because they'd gotten a barrage of complaints about them - if you've been posting fic, meta, any type of writing for more than a year, and have followers, on social media platforms - you've probably run across the scammers.
They pop up on live-journal and dream-width too, by the way. I've not really seen that many on WordPress or Facebook (mainly because my FB page is friends/family only and private). They are a nuisance.
3. Buffy S4 - continues to be good, and an improvement over previous seasons. The one flaw - is well - the Initiative Story-Arc, which basically just underlines how little the writers know about the military outside of watching cheesy 1960s science fiction serials. Oh well, at least they have Spike to poke fun at it - and he does.
Sunday's hippie Vampire Frat Boy: Don't drink that it's drugged.
Spike: Ugh. And you might be?
SHVFB: A rat like all the other lab rats. We're here to die. They starve us until we bite our own arm off, then feed us drugged blood ...
Spike: And they might be who exactly? The government, Nazis, a major cosmetics company?
Lab Rat: It was all fine until the slayer came in and broke up our group - we had a great thing going until she arrived.
Spike: the Slayer! I always wondered what would happen if she got some good funding behind her...
He clearly thinks more of the Slayer as a threat that well the government.
S4 Episode 7 - The Initiative - makes me wonder about the writers again.
Juliet Landau brings this up in her rewatch - so it's not just me, apparently. The writers seem to like to show the male characters in the worst light, and often emphasize their misogynistic and chauvinistic traits. ( Read more... )
It's a good episode for several stand out scenes: ( Read more... )
Pangs - I've less to say about, but I loved this episode. It has some of the best lines and banter in the entire series. Also the bantering debate between Willow, Giles, Xander, Spike, Buffy and Anya about the Native Americans and Thanksgiving is hilarious, and informative...and realistic. It reminds me of why I liked the later seasons - I really loved the addition of Anya and Spike - I liked those two characters (and actors) far better than Angel and Cordelia - they were less mopey? Whiny? And more witty. (It does depend on one's sense of humor? Angel's didn't work for me, Buffy's did.)
"And they say Romance is dead, or maybe we just wish it were?" - Buffy
"You made a Bear!" - Spike
"I didn't mean to." - Buffy
"Undo it! Undo it!" - Spike
"It's a sham, with yams. It's a yam sham!"
"You won't be able to jokingly rhyme your way out of this one!"
[Actually, it just occurred to me? Buffy and Spike hit it off - because they are both poets and sardonic quips. They like to make fun of things.]
Pangs is proof that Buffy succeeded because the writers could write dialogue. According to the Juliette Landau rewatch - when she interviewed Charles Martin Smith one of the Buffy directors - Whedon had a tendency to write pages of dialogue, no set direction, no camera direction, no action - just dialogue. And from what I've read - he was the go-to guy for good dialogue. And came from Roseanne - which had great comedic dialogue and one liners. Say what you will about Whedon - he was a good script writer. Might have been a horrific boss that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy - but he could churn out a good script, and tended to find other writers who could.
4. Finished another S1 episode of Poker Face- this is the Rian Johnson series that stars Natasha Lyon as a kind of Columbo style detective, in a stealth anthology series. The only on-going link in the series is Lyon's Charlie, who is a former card counter/gambling security checker on the run from the Mob (and any law enforcement associated with it). She takes odd jobs here and there, and cleverly solves mysteries along the way. The odd jobs range from sweeping up hair in a barber shop to assisting a special effects film director. She drives a ratty old 1970s era Cad, that looks like it was picked off the lot of Starsky and Hutch. And each episode features older rather famous actors (much as Columbo and Murder She Wrote did back in the day). The episode I just watched had Nick Nolte, Cherry Jones, and Luz Guzman.
Like all stealth anthology series - some episodes are better than others. It's not really binge material. I watch it sporadically. It does require some attention or focus though, and it has commercials - although they aren't intrusive.
If you like Rian Johnson (who is admittedly an acquired taste), Natasha Lyonn (also an acquired taste and the female version of Peter Falk), and Columbo/Alfred Hitchcock/Agatha Christie style mysteries - this is for you.
This episode was written and directed by Natasha Lyon. I'm impressed by Nolte who is still acting at 84, and doing a great job of it. (Nolte is another one of my actor crushes.)
My plans - such as they were - have kind of fallen through as a result of a combination of things - weather, sleep/exhaustion and mobility issues. Does anyone know how to heal tightened sore calve muscles? I've tried everything - yoga, stretching exercises, leg exercises, drinking lots of water, cutting back on antihistamines. Hopefully one will work. Also massage - to stretch out and re-align, because not sure how much of the pain is due to alignment. [I'm leaving calling the doctor again as a last resort - I already asked them for help, and they told me: 1) dehydration (drink more water, and limit the anithistamines) and 2) do exercises, and 3) lose weight.)
But that's okay, I'm doing other stuff - and at least I'm away from work and my body is hopefully healing - getting more sleep, and more exercise?
2. PSA: Ao3 finally posted something about how to protect yourself from scammers - probably because they'd gotten a barrage of complaints about them - if you've been posting fic, meta, any type of writing for more than a year, and have followers, on social media platforms - you've probably run across the scammers.
They pop up on live-journal and dream-width too, by the way. I've not really seen that many on WordPress or Facebook (mainly because my FB page is friends/family only and private). They are a nuisance.
3. Buffy S4 - continues to be good, and an improvement over previous seasons. The one flaw - is well - the Initiative Story-Arc, which basically just underlines how little the writers know about the military outside of watching cheesy 1960s science fiction serials. Oh well, at least they have Spike to poke fun at it - and he does.
Sunday's hippie Vampire Frat Boy: Don't drink that it's drugged.
Spike: Ugh. And you might be?
SHVFB: A rat like all the other lab rats. We're here to die. They starve us until we bite our own arm off, then feed us drugged blood ...
Spike: And they might be who exactly? The government, Nazis, a major cosmetics company?
Lab Rat: It was all fine until the slayer came in and broke up our group - we had a great thing going until she arrived.
Spike: the Slayer! I always wondered what would happen if she got some good funding behind her...
He clearly thinks more of the Slayer as a threat that well the government.
S4 Episode 7 - The Initiative - makes me wonder about the writers again.
Juliet Landau brings this up in her rewatch - so it's not just me, apparently. The writers seem to like to show the male characters in the worst light, and often emphasize their misogynistic and chauvinistic traits. ( Read more... )
It's a good episode for several stand out scenes: ( Read more... )
Pangs - I've less to say about, but I loved this episode. It has some of the best lines and banter in the entire series. Also the bantering debate between Willow, Giles, Xander, Spike, Buffy and Anya about the Native Americans and Thanksgiving is hilarious, and informative...and realistic. It reminds me of why I liked the later seasons - I really loved the addition of Anya and Spike - I liked those two characters (and actors) far better than Angel and Cordelia - they were less mopey? Whiny? And more witty. (It does depend on one's sense of humor? Angel's didn't work for me, Buffy's did.)
"And they say Romance is dead, or maybe we just wish it were?" - Buffy
"You made a Bear!" - Spike
"I didn't mean to." - Buffy
"Undo it! Undo it!" - Spike
"It's a sham, with yams. It's a yam sham!"
"You won't be able to jokingly rhyme your way out of this one!"
[Actually, it just occurred to me? Buffy and Spike hit it off - because they are both poets and sardonic quips. They like to make fun of things.]
Pangs is proof that Buffy succeeded because the writers could write dialogue. According to the Juliette Landau rewatch - when she interviewed Charles Martin Smith one of the Buffy directors - Whedon had a tendency to write pages of dialogue, no set direction, no camera direction, no action - just dialogue. And from what I've read - he was the go-to guy for good dialogue. And came from Roseanne - which had great comedic dialogue and one liners. Say what you will about Whedon - he was a good script writer. Might have been a horrific boss that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy - but he could churn out a good script, and tended to find other writers who could.
4. Finished another S1 episode of Poker Face- this is the Rian Johnson series that stars Natasha Lyon as a kind of Columbo style detective, in a stealth anthology series. The only on-going link in the series is Lyon's Charlie, who is a former card counter/gambling security checker on the run from the Mob (and any law enforcement associated with it). She takes odd jobs here and there, and cleverly solves mysteries along the way. The odd jobs range from sweeping up hair in a barber shop to assisting a special effects film director. She drives a ratty old 1970s era Cad, that looks like it was picked off the lot of Starsky and Hutch. And each episode features older rather famous actors (much as Columbo and Murder She Wrote did back in the day). The episode I just watched had Nick Nolte, Cherry Jones, and Luz Guzman.
Like all stealth anthology series - some episodes are better than others. It's not really binge material. I watch it sporadically. It does require some attention or focus though, and it has commercials - although they aren't intrusive.
If you like Rian Johnson (who is admittedly an acquired taste), Natasha Lyonn (also an acquired taste and the female version of Peter Falk), and Columbo/Alfred Hitchcock/Agatha Christie style mysteries - this is for you.
This episode was written and directed by Natasha Lyon. I'm impressed by Nolte who is still acting at 84, and doing a great job of it. (Nolte is another one of my actor crushes.)
Thinking about reading seems a bit of a theme lately
Oct. 14th, 2025 07:28 pmoursinMaybe reading is having a moment with people going on about it in various places??
Anyway I was beswozzled, bothered and quite boggled to read somewhere - and seem to have failed to have retained a link anywhere - somebody saying they were getting back into reading, and what they found actually helped was taking the time to look up New Words They Had Not Come Across Before.
Which is the sort of thing that I remember we were given as homework once, and you know, I was hard put to it to find words in the chapters of the relevant set text that I did not know already or could work out from context what they meant or fair approximation.
I can't imagine anything more dreary, but hey, diff'rent strokes for diffr'ent folks, I am no better and neither are you, etc etc etc.
On the other hand I think I can quite get behind this, which popped up on bluesky today:
What you read is less important than whether you ever spend time thinking about what you've read.
And while there are things which slip past and leave no mark and I may not even remember I have read them, I do also think about what I read - I'm not sure 'spending time' doing it is quite the way I'd put it, suggests more deliberation than going about my business and spontaneously thinking (as I did today) that characters in work I am currently reading srsly need Flora Poste to do an intervention, and in fact the author pretty much has form for heavily disguised Starkadders at Cold Comfort Farm....
And on reading and also writing and not always doing big showing: Say it, don't show it: A contrarian take on exposition:
almost as if the reader is being enlisted as a collaborator, using their own imagination to fill in details that are merely implied in the words of the book.
Happy Indigneous People's Day for those who celebrate...
Oct. 13th, 2025 08:22 pmshadowkatGot today off - as a paid holiday, it used to be Columbus Day, and is now officially Indigenous Peoples Day.
I watched two Christian Bale flicks over the weekend that dealt with genocide and indigenous people. One was Hostiles (starring Bale, Rosamund Pike and Wes Studi) - ( Read more... ) The other film was The Promise (starring Oscar Issacs and Bale in a love triangle with another woman whose name I can't remember), - it focused on the genocide by the Turks of the Armenians during the first part of WWI. Turkey has a lot to answer for in WWI. ( Read more... )
I'm seeing a general theme in my viewing? I also saw Penguin Lessons on Netflix - which is adapted from Michel's memoir of teaching at a school in Fascist Argentina during the 1970s. ( Read more... )
Yup. I need to find a film or series that isn't about Fascism? [Still hope to visit the Jewish Holocaust Museum near Battery Park on Thursday, and walk down the pier afterwards.
Speaking of Bale? He's got another movie coming out. Ironically, Oscar Issacs and Christian Bale are in two different films, but they are in the same over all genre, and versions of the same story trope.
Oscar Issacs is playing Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein by Guilermo Del Torro which takes place in 1800s England, while Christian Bale is playing Frankenstein the Monster in Maggie Gyllenhal's film The Bride - about the Bride to Frankenstein, which takes place in 1930s Chicago.
Here's the trailers:
The Bride - this is only in Theaters. (Bale's worked with Maggie Gyllenhal before - but when both were actors. And enjoys working with female filmmakers. He hit it off with the filmmaker behind American Psycho.)
AND Frankenstein
I should add Oscar Isaccs to my male actor crushes, also Antonio Banderas.
****
Angel S1 rewatch. Apparently they liked the actor who played Ken in the Buffy episode Anne so much they rehired him - to play the demon fiancee of Doyle's wife Harry in Bachelor Party. I was watching - and thought, wait, isn't that Ken from Anne? I thought Buffy killed him? And why is Doyle's cute human wife marrying him? OR is this just my imagination?
( Read more... )
(It's a horribly written episode with plot holes a plenty. (Example? It doesn't make a lot of sense that Harry left Quinn and hooked up with another demon, when Quinn's half-demon status caused her to freak. It also doesn't make a lot of sense that four-five years later, they are still married. And it kind of drops in out of the blue? There's no real build-up. It's a testament to Glenn Quinn's charm that it works at all.) The writing in Angel S1 is very uneven and reminiscent of Buffy's early seasons. Sigh. Network television - always a mixed bag. Cordelia is fulfilling the Xander role here and not always in a good way. Seriously Cordy can you be any more annoying. I'm reminded of why I didn't watch Angel consistently back in the day and Dochawk had to send me copies of the episodes on VHS - for me to be able to write about them in 2002. The episodes aren't that...compelling? Relatable? Good? And the characters don't jump off the screen or grab me in the same way they do on Buffy.)
Glenn Quinn's story is rather tragic. And what happened to him on Angel is kind of the opposite of what happened with Marsters. ( Read more... )
I watched two Christian Bale flicks over the weekend that dealt with genocide and indigenous people. One was Hostiles (starring Bale, Rosamund Pike and Wes Studi) - ( Read more... ) The other film was The Promise (starring Oscar Issacs and Bale in a love triangle with another woman whose name I can't remember), - it focused on the genocide by the Turks of the Armenians during the first part of WWI. Turkey has a lot to answer for in WWI. ( Read more... )
I'm seeing a general theme in my viewing? I also saw Penguin Lessons on Netflix - which is adapted from Michel's memoir of teaching at a school in Fascist Argentina during the 1970s. ( Read more... )
Yup. I need to find a film or series that isn't about Fascism? [Still hope to visit the Jewish Holocaust Museum near Battery Park on Thursday, and walk down the pier afterwards.
Speaking of Bale? He's got another movie coming out. Ironically, Oscar Issacs and Christian Bale are in two different films, but they are in the same over all genre, and versions of the same story trope.
Oscar Issacs is playing Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein by Guilermo Del Torro which takes place in 1800s England, while Christian Bale is playing Frankenstein the Monster in Maggie Gyllenhal's film The Bride - about the Bride to Frankenstein, which takes place in 1930s Chicago.
Here's the trailers:
The Bride - this is only in Theaters. (Bale's worked with Maggie Gyllenhal before - but when both were actors. And enjoys working with female filmmakers. He hit it off with the filmmaker behind American Psycho.)
AND Frankenstein
I should add Oscar Isaccs to my male actor crushes, also Antonio Banderas.
****
Angel S1 rewatch. Apparently they liked the actor who played Ken in the Buffy episode Anne so much they rehired him - to play the demon fiancee of Doyle's wife Harry in Bachelor Party. I was watching - and thought, wait, isn't that Ken from Anne? I thought Buffy killed him? And why is Doyle's cute human wife marrying him? OR is this just my imagination?
( Read more... )
(It's a horribly written episode with plot holes a plenty. (Example? It doesn't make a lot of sense that Harry left Quinn and hooked up with another demon, when Quinn's half-demon status caused her to freak. It also doesn't make a lot of sense that four-five years later, they are still married. And it kind of drops in out of the blue? There's no real build-up. It's a testament to Glenn Quinn's charm that it works at all.) The writing in Angel S1 is very uneven and reminiscent of Buffy's early seasons. Sigh. Network television - always a mixed bag. Cordelia is fulfilling the Xander role here and not always in a good way. Seriously Cordy can you be any more annoying. I'm reminded of why I didn't watch Angel consistently back in the day and Dochawk had to send me copies of the episodes on VHS - for me to be able to write about them in 2002. The episodes aren't that...compelling? Relatable? Good? And the characters don't jump off the screen or grab me in the same way they do on Buffy.)
Glenn Quinn's story is rather tragic. And what happened to him on Angel is kind of the opposite of what happened with Marsters. ( Read more... )
he was gonna have to be in the middle of it
Oct. 13th, 2025 07:24 pmmusesfoolI made a version of this garlic and bread soup (WAPO gift link), substituting oregano and rosemary for the paprikas because 1. that is my preferred flavor profile, and 2. I only had smoked paprika (I would swear I had sweet paprika also, but if so, I couldn't find it). I also used the whole eggs instead of just the whites, and I did it sequentially all in one pot instead of using both a skillet and a stockpot because 1. my stovetop is smaller than a regular stove, and 2. fewer things to wash afterwards. Anyway, I definitely recommend it if you like garlic and soup. The croutons are excellent and the soup is delicious and I have enough for 3 more meals now.
I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner yesterday, so I also have some sauce and meatballs leftover, which is another couple meals. I also baked some oatmeal cookies.
I was off today for Indigenous People's Day, and I took tomorrow as PTO, so I've enjoyed being cozy during all this rain.
Yesterday, as I sat in my west-facing living room, I was like, is this nor'easter even happening? It seemed like it was just raining on and off. And then I went into my east-facing bedroom and oh yeah, there was the wind, howling and whipping around. Anyway, I think it's mostly over now? Though I guess it might rain for the rest of the night.
I haven't really had any side effects from the double vax on Friday except my arm was stupidly sore and itchy, and my left-side lymph nodes are a little swollen, which always happens (I got both shots in my left arm). *hands*
*
I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner yesterday, so I also have some sauce and meatballs leftover, which is another couple meals. I also baked some oatmeal cookies.
I was off today for Indigenous People's Day, and I took tomorrow as PTO, so I've enjoyed being cozy during all this rain.
Yesterday, as I sat in my west-facing living room, I was like, is this nor'easter even happening? It seemed like it was just raining on and off. And then I went into my east-facing bedroom and oh yeah, there was the wind, howling and whipping around. Anyway, I think it's mostly over now? Though I guess it might rain for the rest of the night.
I haven't really had any side effects from the double vax on Friday except my arm was stupidly sore and itchy, and my left-side lymph nodes are a little swollen, which always happens (I got both shots in my left arm). *hands*
*
(no subject)
Oct. 13th, 2025 12:34 pmskygiantsI'm thinking even more fondly of The Mune in retrospect also because although I don't know that I feel that Sue Dawes is always 100% succeeding at her Victorian pastiche she has definitely done her research and is making a solid effort. Meanwhile, the book I read immediately afterwards, Jen Fawkes' Daughters of Chaos, is a Civil War-set epistolary novel that has no interest in trying to sound like something written in nineteenth century. This is of course a choice an author is free to make, but not one that I personally welcome -- although this turned out to be in the broad scheme the least of my problems with this book.
( entirely problems )
( entirely problems )
Aaaahrting
Oct. 13th, 2025 07:39 pmoursinToday we went and had an Art Experience.
Ever since I saw there was going to be an exhibition of Ithell Colquhoun at Tate Britain I had the intention of going to it but somehow we never got round to it until this final week (and I still have not read the book on her I have).
But at least I did get to it.
'engagement with the surrealist movement... fascination with the intertwining realms of art, sexual identity, ecology and occultism'.
Mix them up, shake and stir. She left the Official Surrealists because they made an edict that you were apparently not allowed to belong to other organisations if you were a True Surrealist and she was not about to quit her various occultist movements -
- of which there were several and one wonders a bit whether they were at all contradictory....
- but her work remained pretty surreal and involving unconscious picture-making and various methods that brought random patterns into the mix.
There was a v early work from her time at the Slade which was Judith and Holofernes, and one wonders how many women artists since Gentileschi have been moved to depict that, eh.
The ticket also admitted to the Edward Burra exhibition - I found it a tad odd that while the labelling on Colquhoun's work mentions eroticism and her involvement with women this element was not mentioned re Burra in spite of the saucy Marseilles sailors, doing designs for ballet, etc, which rather had my period gaydar pinging.
We had vaguely thought of doing the Lee Miller photography as well, but the previous were already quite enough and that has only just started.
We did flaneuse a bit about the galleries generally and spotted a portrait of Emma Hart (later Hamilton) as Circe: nothing like that hideous reconstruction recently posited, hmmmm?
(no subject)
Oct. 12th, 2025 09:44 amskygiantsWhile I'm talking about Books That Surprised Me, The Mune is a book with a killer premise and some interesting speculative ideas that I don't think really comes together but did take Several turns! that I did Not expect!!
The killer premise: a group of 'surplus' pregnant Victorian women sourced from asylums and workhouses, en route to the colonies, get shipwrecked on a island with their newborn infants and develop their own society with the limited resources available. Also, there is Something Weird About the Island; also, there are monsters in the water; also, although most of the women are learning to thrive in their new circumstances, Depressed Betty Keeps Causing Problems! !! !!!
I was really excited about this book because I have some friends who love Robinsoniads and this was the most interesting-looking Robinsoniad I'd hit in a minute, so I was hoping to recommend it to them ... as for me I don't tend to gravitate towards a solo Robinsoniad particularly but I do love a collective Robinsoniad, when a bunch of people are stranded in a Situation together and have to make a community happen. I didn't end up fully convinced that the society that comes about on this island was a plausible outgrowth from the socialization that the women bring to it -- I needed some more steps on the ladder to show how this group of people not only decide to communally raise their children without gender distinctions but name them all things like 'Lightning' and 'Rainbow' -- but it is certainly doing something new with lonely island survival tropes and I also quite like the interspersed bits of Pastiche Victorian Science Fiction that counterpoint the island events and ring changes on the themes, mostly in the mind of Betty.
Betty simultaneously feels like a bit of a caricature and like the only actually Victorian person in the book. She's a thirteen-year-old kitchen maid who was favored and given some education by her master before he raped her, and she cherishes dreams of going back Exactly to the way life was before All That Unfortunate Business. She's not only the only person on the island who's still concerned about maintaining the rules, religion and mores of the mainland, but after a while the only person who thinks about being rescued at all; while everyone else dutifully do their various survival tasks, she sits on the shore optimistically next to rescue flags and whispers stories to the children about the paradise they left behind on the mainland. She also has a real eugenicist streak. Midway through the book, as the kids start getting older, Betty starts Making Choices ( and things start getting real weird! major spoilers!! )
I left the book feeling a.) somewhat confused about the import of all of this and b.) somewhat unconvinced by the character beats (and also by the dialect choices) but despite this I didn't actually have a bad time. Maybe it's just that the book feels like it's reaching for a flavor of 70s Literary Feminist Science Fiction for which I have a fondness. It's nice to read something written in 2025 that's this unabashedly weird! I appreciate it!
The killer premise: a group of 'surplus' pregnant Victorian women sourced from asylums and workhouses, en route to the colonies, get shipwrecked on a island with their newborn infants and develop their own society with the limited resources available. Also, there is Something Weird About the Island; also, there are monsters in the water; also, although most of the women are learning to thrive in their new circumstances, Depressed Betty Keeps Causing Problems! !! !!!
I was really excited about this book because I have some friends who love Robinsoniads and this was the most interesting-looking Robinsoniad I'd hit in a minute, so I was hoping to recommend it to them ... as for me I don't tend to gravitate towards a solo Robinsoniad particularly but I do love a collective Robinsoniad, when a bunch of people are stranded in a Situation together and have to make a community happen. I didn't end up fully convinced that the society that comes about on this island was a plausible outgrowth from the socialization that the women bring to it -- I needed some more steps on the ladder to show how this group of people not only decide to communally raise their children without gender distinctions but name them all things like 'Lightning' and 'Rainbow' -- but it is certainly doing something new with lonely island survival tropes and I also quite like the interspersed bits of Pastiche Victorian Science Fiction that counterpoint the island events and ring changes on the themes, mostly in the mind of Betty.
Betty simultaneously feels like a bit of a caricature and like the only actually Victorian person in the book. She's a thirteen-year-old kitchen maid who was favored and given some education by her master before he raped her, and she cherishes dreams of going back Exactly to the way life was before All That Unfortunate Business. She's not only the only person on the island who's still concerned about maintaining the rules, religion and mores of the mainland, but after a while the only person who thinks about being rescued at all; while everyone else dutifully do their various survival tasks, she sits on the shore optimistically next to rescue flags and whispers stories to the children about the paradise they left behind on the mainland. She also has a real eugenicist streak. Midway through the book, as the kids start getting older, Betty starts Making Choices ( and things start getting real weird! major spoilers!! )
I left the book feeling a.) somewhat confused about the import of all of this and b.) somewhat unconvinced by the character beats (and also by the dialect choices) but despite this I didn't actually have a bad time. Maybe it's just that the book feels like it's reaching for a flavor of 70s Literary Feminist Science Fiction for which I have a fondness. It's nice to read something written in 2025 that's this unabashedly weird! I appreciate it!
emotional support spinning: cotton
Oct. 12th, 2025 09:49 pmyhlee
Cotton handspun single from combed top, a "completed" bobbin. I'm spinning threadweight so I don't...feel the need to "fill" the bobbin even halfway (for a planned 2-ply).
I do think I'd probably have a more pleasant time spinning cotton and silk if I had a dedicated treadle wheel for them, someday; but the wheel I own works. :3
(The background art on the wall is a poster of Wonder Woman artwork by Nen Chang.)
NaCraMaMo Here at Dreamwidth
Oct. 12th, 2025 08:15 pmyourlibrarian1) Social media use is declining world wide but still going up in the U.S. Yet younger users are increasingly posting and using less as they develop privacy concerns. ( Read more... )
2) Speaking of investing more time in crafts, I'm taking part in![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
nacramamo for the first time. The goal is to post daily about crafts in progress or finished. Here's what I've got so far.
Also, as I was asked about this on one of my posts, yes, the necklaces are available for sale. I am also offering them in exchange for donations to Pillowfort.. Pillowfort also applies donations towards Premium features.
3) Over ontv_talk there's been various conversations about things that have changed since short seasons and irregular hiatuses. I was reminded today that one of them is Halloween episodes. I know that in the UK one-off episodes for Christmas are fairly common but not so in the US. And not all shows take note of Halloween either regularly or at all. But it is fun to guess the release date of an episode when you see what seem like definite Halloween themes in them.
4) Strangely enough when I caught up on S2 of Hacks, there wasn't any indication there were further seasons available. I blame Max, which is really wonky about these things. ( Read more... )
5) I've posted the last of my May trip photos over atcommon_nature, featuring Mount Shasta, San Francisco and the San Luis Reservoir.
2) Speaking of investing more time in crafts, I'm taking part in
nacramamo for the first time. The goal is to post daily about crafts in progress or finished. Here's what I've got so far.Also, as I was asked about this on one of my posts, yes, the necklaces are available for sale. I am also offering them in exchange for donations to Pillowfort.. Pillowfort also applies donations towards Premium features.
3) Over on
tv_talk there's been various conversations about things that have changed since short seasons and irregular hiatuses. I was reminded today that one of them is Halloween episodes. I know that in the UK one-off episodes for Christmas are fairly common but not so in the US. And not all shows take note of Halloween either regularly or at all. But it is fun to guess the release date of an episode when you see what seem like definite Halloween themes in them.4) Strangely enough when I caught up on S2 of Hacks, there wasn't any indication there were further seasons available. I blame Max, which is really wonky about these things. ( Read more... )
5) I've posted the last of my May trip photos over at
common_nature, featuring Mount Shasta, San Francisco and the San Luis Reservoir.Poll #33717 Kudos Footer-544
This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 7
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 7
Want to leave a Kudos?
Culinary
Oct. 12th, 2025 06:56 pmoursinBread made this week (because last week's developed mould, sigh): a very nice loaf of Marriage's Golden Wholegrain Bread Flour.
Saturday breakfast rolls: the ones loosely based on James Beard's mother's raisin bread, Marriage's Light Spelt Flour, perhaps overdid the raisins a bit, mace a bit too subtle? even though is new supply.
Today's lunch: seabass fillets which I cooked thusly (think this is a bit better with plaice, though): served with miniature potatoes boiled and tossed in butter and dried dill, steamed asparagus with a sauce of melted butter, lemon juice and lemon zest (I now have a zester that actually zests), and cauliflower florets roasted in pumpkin seed oil with cumin seeds.
Yuletide Letter
Oct. 12th, 2025 01:27 pmselenakDear Yuletide Writer,
we share at least one fandom, which is great, and I'm really grateful you take the time and trouble to write a story for me. All the prompts are just suggestions; if you have very different ideas featuring the same central characters, go for them. Also, I enjoy a broad range from fluff to angst, so whatever suits you best works fine with me.
DNW:
- bashing of canon pairings or characters in general. By which I don't mean the characters have to like each and everyone - a great number of those I've nominated can be described as prickly jerks, among other things, and it would be entirely ic for them to say something negative about people they canonically can't stand - but there's a difference between that and the narrative giving me the impression to go along with said opinions.
- Alpha/Beta/Omega scenarios, watersports, infantilisation. Really not my thing, sorry.
Likes:
- competence, competent people appreciating each other
- deep loyalty and not blindly accepting orders
- flirting/seduction via wordplay and banter (if it works for you with the characters in question)
- for the darker push/pull dynamics: moments of tenderness and understanding in between the fighting/one upman shipping (without abandoning the anger)
- for the relationships, both non-romantic and if you like romantic, that are gentler and harmonious by nature: making it clear each has their own life and agenda as well
- some humor amidst the angst (especially if the character in question displays it in canon)
The question of AUs: depends. "What if this key canon event did not happen?" can lead to great character and dynamics exploration, some of which made it into my specific prompts, but I do want to recognize the characters. Half of those I nominated are from historical canons, and the history is part of the fascination the canon has for me. ) However, if you feel inspired to, say, write Cecily Neville, space captain, and manage to do it in a way that gives me gripping analogues to the historical situations: be my guest!
How much or how little sex: I'm cool with anything you feel comfortable with, from detailed sex to the proverbial fade out after a kiss. Or no sex at all (given that most of my prompts are non-romantic in nature), as long as the story explores the emotional dynamics in an intense way.
( Cecily Duology - Annie Garthwaite )
( Foundation (TV) )
( Alien: Earth )
we share at least one fandom, which is great, and I'm really grateful you take the time and trouble to write a story for me. All the prompts are just suggestions; if you have very different ideas featuring the same central characters, go for them. Also, I enjoy a broad range from fluff to angst, so whatever suits you best works fine with me.
DNW:
- bashing of canon pairings or characters in general. By which I don't mean the characters have to like each and everyone - a great number of those I've nominated can be described as prickly jerks, among other things, and it would be entirely ic for them to say something negative about people they canonically can't stand - but there's a difference between that and the narrative giving me the impression to go along with said opinions.
- Alpha/Beta/Omega scenarios, watersports, infantilisation. Really not my thing, sorry.
Likes:
- competence, competent people appreciating each other
- deep loyalty and not blindly accepting orders
- flirting/seduction via wordplay and banter (if it works for you with the characters in question)
- for the darker push/pull dynamics: moments of tenderness and understanding in between the fighting/one upman shipping (without abandoning the anger)
- for the relationships, both non-romantic and if you like romantic, that are gentler and harmonious by nature: making it clear each has their own life and agenda as well
- some humor amidst the angst (especially if the character in question displays it in canon)
The question of AUs: depends. "What if this key canon event did not happen?" can lead to great character and dynamics exploration, some of which made it into my specific prompts, but I do want to recognize the characters. Half of those I nominated are from historical canons, and the history is part of the fascination the canon has for me. ) However, if you feel inspired to, say, write Cecily Neville, space captain, and manage to do it in a way that gives me gripping analogues to the historical situations: be my guest!
How much or how little sex: I'm cool with anything you feel comfortable with, from detailed sex to the proverbial fade out after a kiss. Or no sex at all (given that most of my prompts are non-romantic in nature), as long as the story explores the emotional dynamics in an intense way.
( Cecily Duology - Annie Garthwaite )
( Foundation (TV) )
( Alien: Earth )
Beware Flossie the comic book artist solicitator...
Oct. 11th, 2025 10:47 pmshadowkatI should have posted this previously? If you get this comment anywhere, it's fraudulent.
[Comment left on "Buffy vs. the Buffy Comic Writers" on September 13, 2025]
Hello shadowkat67,
Hope you’re doing well.
I just wrapped up reading your story, and I truly couldn’t put it down. The imagery you create with your words is so strong that I immediately pictured it as a comic or animation.
I’m Flossie, an artist working mainly with comics, manga, and illustrations. What I enjoy most is collaborating with writers to give their stories visual life.
If you’re curious, I’d be glad to share some samples and talk about turning your work into a comic.
You can find me at:
Discord: floessie_the_artist
Instagram:flossie_the_artist
Email: floessietheartist@gmail.com
Looking forward to your reply :)
Cheers,
Flossie
They've contacted a lot of writers on Ao3.
I blatantly ignored them, after having read about them commenting on another social media friend's fic at Ao3 several months prior - that friend had already reported them to Ao3.
Although I didn't really consider mine a fic - so much as a meta-commentary of the comics. So, I rolled my eyes.
I've gotten a lot of these solicitations over the years. Folks? Don't solicit people that you don't personally know on social media platforms for work. Just don't. We aren't going to pay you. We don't trust you. It's a social media platform, we're all using pseudonyms. Hullo?
[Comment left on "Buffy vs. the Buffy Comic Writers" on September 13, 2025]
Hello shadowkat67,
Hope you’re doing well.
I just wrapped up reading your story, and I truly couldn’t put it down. The imagery you create with your words is so strong that I immediately pictured it as a comic or animation.
I’m Flossie, an artist working mainly with comics, manga, and illustrations. What I enjoy most is collaborating with writers to give their stories visual life.
If you’re curious, I’d be glad to share some samples and talk about turning your work into a comic.
You can find me at:
Discord: floessie_the_artist
Instagram:
flossie_the_artistEmail: floessietheartist@gmail.com
Looking forward to your reply :)
Cheers,
Flossie
They've contacted a lot of writers on Ao3.
I blatantly ignored them, after having read about them commenting on another social media friend's fic at Ao3 several months prior - that friend had already reported them to Ao3.
Although I didn't really consider mine a fic - so much as a meta-commentary of the comics. So, I rolled my eyes.
I've gotten a lot of these solicitations over the years. Folks? Don't solicit people that you don't personally know on social media platforms for work. Just don't. We aren't going to pay you. We don't trust you. It's a social media platform, we're all using pseudonyms. Hullo?
Television - Buffy Re-watch among other things..
Oct. 11th, 2025 08:19 pmshadowkat1. Uhm, they actually did a graphic novel of the life of Ed Gein and scans daily scanned all of it. At work, one of the guys that sits near me (but works for another agency/department within my agency), was talking about the Ryan Murphy television series loosely based on Gein's life - entitled Monster : the Ed Gein Story - it turned his stomach, but he couldn't look away or stop watching it. The two people who did the graphic novel - didn't like the television series - which they felt took liberties with the story and exaggerated bits that didn't require exaggeration. ( more on the Ed Gein: Monster miniseries currently airing on Netflix )
2. Buffy S4 rewatch. I just finished watching "Wild at Heart" - the episode that marks the return of Spike to the series post-Angel, and the beginning of Spike's redemption arc. And the exit of OZ from the series, although he does briefly return later. Spike's entrance is brief and at the very beginning of the episode. And it's interesting that Spike collides with the Initiative (the actual big bad of the season) in the same episode that Buffy collides with them, although she does it later. And it's Buffy that brings them to Giles' attention as a potential threat - they'd delayed her in her pursuit of OZ (ironically I think they were also pursuing OZ). We also have "boy scout" Riley pop up and save Willow from being hit by a car - slowly building on his relationship with Buffy. He's kind of the Anti-Angel? Much like Angel, he is in the background. But not exactly lurking? Also he's trying to fight demons on his own - but is oblivious to Buffy as she is of him. The Initiative and Riley - is the writers expanding on the world and answering a vital question - which is, is anyone else fighting demons besides Buffy? Wouldn't the military or others be aware of them? They aren't exactly hidden?
( Read more... )
Marsters demonstrates his comedic chops in the entry of the episode...when Buffy laminates the lack of an appreciative audience for her puns and quips, Spike announces she shouldn't tempt the Universe - because here he is to answer that demand - when the Initiative soldiers come up behind him and taze him. ( Read more... )
I was certain there was a line about Willow's shirt by Veruca, and an exchange between Buffy and Willow about it. But I didn't see it in the episode, so maybe I misremembered it? It's possible?
I wish I can say I'll miss OZ. But no. ( Read more... )
I like Riley at the moment. I always did. I did not share the fandom's dislike for the character, and was more ambivalent. I didn't see him as being with Buffy for long - they came from different worlds, and wanted different things. He was a lot like Angel - and I think she may well have realized, being with him, why long-term with Angel wouldn't have worked.
Two Alpha characters or leaders don't work. ( Read more... )
I'm enjoying watching this again without having to argue with insane shippers. I was constantly biting my tongue. And not always very well.
3. Also watching mindless comfort shows such as : Great British Baking Show S13, Grey's Anatomy S22 (dear god, that show has actually been on 22 years, and Bailey looks exactly the same), 911 Nashville (it stars Chris O'Donnell - who makes me feel old, since he's a Dad with a grown son in the show, Jessica Capshaw, married to O'Donnell with a grown son) - but kind of like the others. I like Lone Star and the original better. This one is kind of soapy, which I'm not sure works with the trope? And "Call the Midwife" - S6. Of the comfort shows, the British ones are the best, hardly surprising, that. I just wish they were on better streaming services - Netflix is making me crazy.
2. Buffy S4 rewatch. I just finished watching "Wild at Heart" - the episode that marks the return of Spike to the series post-Angel, and the beginning of Spike's redemption arc. And the exit of OZ from the series, although he does briefly return later. Spike's entrance is brief and at the very beginning of the episode. And it's interesting that Spike collides with the Initiative (the actual big bad of the season) in the same episode that Buffy collides with them, although she does it later. And it's Buffy that brings them to Giles' attention as a potential threat - they'd delayed her in her pursuit of OZ (ironically I think they were also pursuing OZ). We also have "boy scout" Riley pop up and save Willow from being hit by a car - slowly building on his relationship with Buffy. He's kind of the Anti-Angel? Much like Angel, he is in the background. But not exactly lurking? Also he's trying to fight demons on his own - but is oblivious to Buffy as she is of him. The Initiative and Riley - is the writers expanding on the world and answering a vital question - which is, is anyone else fighting demons besides Buffy? Wouldn't the military or others be aware of them? They aren't exactly hidden?
( Read more... )
Marsters demonstrates his comedic chops in the entry of the episode...when Buffy laminates the lack of an appreciative audience for her puns and quips, Spike announces she shouldn't tempt the Universe - because here he is to answer that demand - when the Initiative soldiers come up behind him and taze him. ( Read more... )
I was certain there was a line about Willow's shirt by Veruca, and an exchange between Buffy and Willow about it. But I didn't see it in the episode, so maybe I misremembered it? It's possible?
I wish I can say I'll miss OZ. But no. ( Read more... )
I like Riley at the moment. I always did. I did not share the fandom's dislike for the character, and was more ambivalent. I didn't see him as being with Buffy for long - they came from different worlds, and wanted different things. He was a lot like Angel - and I think she may well have realized, being with him, why long-term with Angel wouldn't have worked.
Two Alpha characters or leaders don't work. ( Read more... )
I'm enjoying watching this again without having to argue with insane shippers. I was constantly biting my tongue. And not always very well.
3. Also watching mindless comfort shows such as : Great British Baking Show S13, Grey's Anatomy S22 (dear god, that show has actually been on 22 years, and Bailey looks exactly the same), 911 Nashville (it stars Chris O'Donnell - who makes me feel old, since he's a Dad with a grown son in the show, Jessica Capshaw, married to O'Donnell with a grown son) - but kind of like the others. I like Lone Star and the original better. This one is kind of soapy, which I'm not sure works with the trope? And "Call the Midwife" - S6. Of the comfort shows, the British ones are the best, hardly surprising, that. I just wish they were on better streaming services - Netflix is making me crazy.