How awesome are ebooks? Let me list the ways!

Title: Command Control
Fandom: Star Wars - Andor
Author: balloonstand
Relationship: Cassian Andor/Luthen Rael; also Cassian Andor doing stuff with other dudes, because he's honeytrappin' 😱

Uploading Images to Dreamwidth
Finding Friends and Things to Do on Dreamwidth
Dreamwidth and Icons

All of these are links to newcomers, but they're mirrored at the_great_tumblr_purge. I spent a really long time on the icon one in particular, and am pretty damn proud of the results! Feel free to stop by and share a favorite icon or two at either version of that post 😃

Tumblr has currently pulled back from the trust thermocline, but it's not far from the edge, so I've got Dreamwidth tutorials on the mind.

Also, have a new icon! I am very fond of Crow Time.

部首
手 part 46
擦, to rub; 攀, to climb; 擤, to blow your nose
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=64
水 parts 1-5
水, water; 永, forever; 汁, juice; 求, to request; 氽, to float/to deep-fry; 汆, to parboil; 汇, to exchange; 汉, Chinese/Han ethnic group; 汗, sweat; 江, river; 池, pond; 污, dirty; 汤, soup; 汽, steam; 沈, family name Shen
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=85

语法
3.13 把 with result and degree complements
3.14 Passive voice with 被
3.15 跟...一样 vs 像...一样
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-3-grammar

词汇
动画片, cartoon; 动摇, to shake/to waver; 摆动, to swing; 电动车, electric car; 激动, excited; 移动, to move; 运动会, sports event; 运动员, athlete; 转动, to turn
豆腐, tofu
独立, independent; 独特, unique; 独自, by oneself; 单独, alone
堵, to block up; 堵车, traffic jam
肚子, belly
度过, to spend (time), 季度 quarter (of a year)
( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/

玩玩
Grab-bag today: Zhang Yihao, 短发女孩; Li Yuchun and Wu Qingfeng, 春雨里; J.J. Lin, 关键词 (don’t miss the grammatical terms in the lyrics!).

我膝盖疼，果然是年纪大了，好失望。大家过得怎么样？好好保重啊。

One of the great things about reading a novel by Wu Liao Dao Di (无聊到底) is that she's in the habit of commissioning art for basically everything she writes. Here are the pieces she commissioned for The Rose in the Abyss (深渊的玫瑰, pinyin: shenyuan de meigui).

( pictures under the cut; possible vague spoilers )

Oooft, I have missed skating.

(For the newer readers, I used to be a roller derby referee. Roller skating - quad skates - was a big part of my life for the back half of my twenties and my early thirties. I drifted away from it after I moved up to Inverness, but I’ve loved roller skating since I was a little kid, so while I don’t really miss derby these days I do miss skating.)

I’m still on my ice hockey kick after the Olympics and one of the knock-on effects is being really aware of how much I miss skating. I’ve been meaning to check when the public ice skating sessions are and try to convince one of my skating buddies to chum me along to a session for ages, and this weekend I finally did it. And it was great!

I haven’t been on any sort of skates since before the pandemic and I think the last time I was actual ice skates was in Princess Street Gardens just before Xmas 2013 when my then girlfriend decided that would be a cute date idea and then spent the whole session clinging to either the edges or my hand! I wasn’t sure how well it would go, but after a slightly wobbly start it all came back to me satisfyingly fast. (My buddy was even rustier but also got the hang of it eventually, we did a fair bit of skating round holding hands like kids because she’s had a stressful week and was getting into her head about it. That was pretty fun too. We had a lot of fun reminiscing about ice discos from our teen years.) The ice was a mess so I didn’t dare try crossovers or anything too fancy. (The kids team had practice that morning, and I don’t think they bothered to send the zamboni out between sessions as we got there at the start of the session and it was pretty roughed up already.) The rink skates are super rigid so my feet are a bit sore from that - actually I ache all over from nearly 90 minutes of skating, but I had so much fun. My buddy gave up after the first 45 mins of so and went and got a hot drink and heckled from the sidelines while I went zooming around gleefully with a big stupid grin on my face. I was high as a kite, all the good endorphins. We’re going back - or at least we’re going to try the rink at Aviemore instead. I cannot stop grinning!

( I do not need my own ice skates. I do not.)

Having a week's break from the spring crunch (and a couple of those days as actual days off, not just regular workdays) meant I was able to get some reading and a bit of watching done!

---

Reading: On the novel(la)s front, two by Seanan McGuire and one by Rachel Reid. Butterfly Effects (the newest InCryptid) was good and also one of the major "wow, the reality (or maybe the scope, rather) of this series bears almost no resemblance to the impression given by the first handful of books" installments; the existence of multiple dimensions comes up very promptly in the early books (I think in the very first), but it was still a big shift to have that become part of the hands-on reality that the characters are dealing with.

Next I read Game Changer, the first book in Rachel Reid's Game Changers series, AKA the Heated Rivalry source material. I expected this to have far more detail on the Scott/Kip relationship than the show did, what with it being a novel that basically got turned into a single episode, but was a bit surprised by how many (most) of the detail in the show was completely different than the book, while the broad strokes are the same. (Also, I feel like I saw more than one reference to show!Kip being very physically different from book!Kip--I'm very sure I saw the word "twink" in play for the book iteration--and am baffled by where that came from, because...no? Anyway.) It was fine. I didn't love it, although I did appreciate many moments that were particularly fun in the context of the show.

And then I read Through Gates of Garnet and Gold, this year's Wayward Children novella. The sheer cost of these novellas made me decide within the last few years to just go for the digital versions rather than hard copies, and this year I opted to simply get the ebook from the library, which is why I read it a couple of months after it came out. I'm just not invested in this particular series. Ah, well.

For manga, I read the fifth omnibus of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, which includes the three volumes available in English that I hadn't previously read at all. (Did I buy vol. 13 and 14 in their original single-volume release and then have to buy this omnibus volume to get vol. 15? Yes. >.<) A sixth omnibus English volume has been scheduled and delayed repeatedly, so I knew there was still at least a fair bit to go--the three volumes to be bundled in that one--but after this catch-up was the first time I actually checked for info online, and I was not braced to see that it's up to 31 volumes in Japan and ongoing. o_o I have no clue what's going on with the English release, but I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say it's probably a mess.

Non-fiction: still reading a chapter of Braiding Sweetgrass here and there, and I've also started (but not gotten far into) Crystal Wilkinson's Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks.

---

Watching: We're caught up on The Pitt and have a couple episodes of Frieren yet to watch. (Am I right that this season of Frieren is over now?)

We also finished our watch of Heated Rivalry--my second time, and basically scruloose's first, except for the part where they saw most of the finale with minimal context back when I watched it. They also had some random bits of info in advance for their watch, because when I was initially watching it I wasn't at all thinking in terms of "this is a thing they may wind up watching" (they have much less interest in watching things in general than I do), so I'd been blithely telling them random stuff here and there before we got to the point of "perhaps scruloose will watch Canada's new national export after all". La? But they really enjoyed the show, which is the important thing. ^_^

It's not the most pleasant day today - cold (although above freezing), windy, and threatening to rain - but I went for a walk anyway and it was fine. While I was out I saw two yards with crocuses coming into bloom, the first signs of spring I've seen here so far.

The girls are supposed to be on a two week time-out from screens, but Violet seems to have figured out all my passwords and I keep finding that she's been using my computer or phone (she leaves YouTube videos open) so I have just changed every single password and have made myself a list in Google Keep because I will never remember which device has which password if they're not written down. I'd already changed one or two in the last couple of weeks but she figured them out.

In which this teacher earnestly wants a word to substitute for "chink" in Midsummer Night's Dream, and one person suggests kink which doesn't mean the same thing.

And on the one hand, I'm sure they all have their hearts in the right place, but on the other hand, maybe they should collectively teach a different play instead. Shakespeare wrote plenty of comedies, just pick a different one off the shelf.

Chapter 7.1: Arthur is a great man.

Murr: “Did your heart pound? Did you cry? Oh man, if you did, I really wish I coulda seen it!!”

Shylock: “Hehe…one day I’ll bestow the same pain to you and relish in your screams while enjoying a wonderfully aged bottle of wine. I do hope you’ll remember that.”

These two's relationship is so strange.

Chapter 7.2:

Riquet: “I’d like to do something about this strange mark that suddenly appeared on my forehead. Are you someone I could speak to about this?”

Nero: “Ah, I’m in the same boat as you. You should probably go complain to someone else.”

Riquet: “I understand. Thank you very much.”

Nero: “You’re welcome.”

Lmao such a straightforward but funny conversation.

Chapter 7.3:

Chloe: “Can someone explain how are you guys getting along like that while having two completely different conversations? And teach me how while you’re at it?”

Lmao Riquet talking about worshipping god, Rustica talking about worshipping his Bride.

I wonder if Riquet's creator knew how ill-received he would be by Americans? There's no global version but they had to know some people would know Japanese and play it. I see that some people like him but the only way I would is if he has character growth. He's way too sheltered and naive.

Chapter 7.4 - 7.6: Arthur started to tell Akira about his and Oz's situation. He was disappointed Oz wasn't there.

Cock Robin should be the minister. >.>

Lol at the misunderstanding on what a mixer is.

Arthur: “I hope to one day establish a “National Mixer Day” as a public holiday for all throughout the kingdom.”

Akira: “I-I’m sure we can think of a better name for a public holiday…”

Arthur: “Do you think so?”

Akira: “Yes. Believe me.”

One determined man struggles to save humanity from the mutant scheme to avert doomsday.

Ring Around the Sun by Clifford D. Simak

My episode 10 notes didn't get saved :/ But I loved the scene where Lito is at the audition, and Sun really needs his help, and he ends up making the sidecar for her and saving the day. I thought for sure he blew the audition, but then Sun of all people helps him channel that loneliness. Really lovely twist, and it was nice to see Sun and Lito connect when I don't think they have scenes together very often.

The hollywood party! It was so fascinating to see it be so overwhelming for Lito, who I already think of as such a big movie star. The show does a great job of capturing how new things feel now that Lito is trying to be himself and not just some character all the time, but this party really was all about playing your part and being fake. I loved the beautiful scene at the beach with Hernando, where Lito really could feel like himself.

It was so sad to see Capheus' lovely moment get ruined but the speech was great. He really has some of the best lines.

( Episode 11 )

部首
水 part 5
汤, soup; 汽, steam; 沈, family name Shen ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=85

词汇
度过, to spend (time), 季度 quarter (of a year) ( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/

Guardian:
我一定也为咱们家买一个这样的小汽车, I'll for sure buy a little car like this for us too
[no 度 words]

Me:
你没带伞吗，回家就这么落汤鸡。
在那里度过一夏天你就懂了。

Titre : Les lamentations d'Orphée
Auteur : Nelja
Fandom : The Locked Tomb
Persos/Couples : Gideon/Harrow
Genre : Angst et bizarre
Résumé : Harrow remonte lentement les escaliers du monde des morts. Elle ne doit pas se retourner.
Rating : PG-13
Disclaimer : Tout appartient à Tamsyn Muir
Nombre de mots : ~500
Avertissements : Sous-entendus de mort, de contrôle mental, un peu de gore avec des os mais moins pire que le canon.
Notes : Ecrit pour ladiesbingo sur les thèmes "Shadows/darkness", "2nd person PoV", "Mythe/fable", "Coercion" et "Use of symbolism"

( Lien vers AO3 )

It's mild and sunny today, although it was cloudy and threatening to rain this morning while I was out running. I think it's in the mid 50s/mid teens. I went for a run at parkrun time even though there are no parkruns here, and I liked knowing that I was running while people were doing parkrun. I'm not a fan of DST and one of the things I don't like about it is that the mornings stay cold until later at this time of year than they would on standard time, and then it gets warm in the afternoons. I much prefer to get my exercise in the morning, so I have to put up with the cold.

So, a while back S learned that there was a capybara cafe in our area. We always meant to go, but never got around to doing it for various reasons. Then, when she started making real steps toward moving, we decided to go when she got an interview for a job.

Well, that happened pretty damn quick. Then again, so did everything with her moving. She signs for a house at the end of the month.

Anyway, today is capybara day! :D We're going this afternoon and I'm so excited!

I might have pictures, but I'm not entirely sure on that. However, because I was thinking about images, I did get fresh tattoo pictures!

( Tattoo pictures! )

13 books new to me, and save for one mystery, all fantasy. Man, fantasy is just eating SF's lunch. Not that that will be reflected in what I actually review.

Books Received, March 14 — March 20

Used my manga TBR boardgame.

I finished 11/12 on my last board. I didn't have a great time with BL but I still had a decent time overall. :)

Avatar:


Eroica
Skill: Re-roll dice once

Roll #1:

A 3, prompt: Master/Servant relationship - Kuroshitsuji.

Roll #2:

A 3 again, prompt: otaku - Amattare wa Inu mo Kuwanai.

Roll #3:

A 4, prompt: highest rated on TBR. Oh, it's one I've been interested in for a while - Houseki no Kuni!

Roll #4:

A 1, costume on cover - Card Captor Sakura Clear Card. One of these days I need to make a list of these, I'm gonna run out of CSS eventually.

Roll #5:

A 2, prompt: generate from CR tile. #88 which is Tongari Boushi no Atelier!

Roll #6:

A 4, using skill, a 5 now. Prompt: historical - Brave 10 S.

Roll #7:

A 1, prompt: color in the title - Kishukusha no Kuroneko wa Yoru wo Shiranai.

Roll #8:

A 2, generate from TBR tile. #474. Well that was straightforward - Gin no Kaze Tooi Toki.

Roll #9:

A 5, prompt: oldest published. Pretty sure that's From Eroica with Love. Didn't like where I left off...

Roll #10:

A 6, prompt: reverse harem - Men of the Harem.

Roll #11:

A 5, generate from CR tile. #8 - Boku no Hero Academia.

Roll #12:

"I'll be done as long as I don't get a 1" ... *gets a 1* Prompt: lowest rated. I used MU for this because I could easily see the ratings on my list there - Chess Isle.

Roll #13:

A 3 and the end. I'm starting on series now in my physical BL TBR starting with Crimson Spell volume 1!

Most looking forward to: Witch Hat Atelier
Least looking forward to: From Eroica with Love

Welcome to the weekly roundup post! What are you watching this week? What are you excited about?

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: Dave Sheppard, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Sam Carter, Radek Zelenka
Rating: Teen
Length: 7998
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: busaikko on AO3
Themes: Siblings, Family, Post-canon, Outsider POV

Summary: Dave Sheppard learns more about his brother and gets drawn into a tangle of secrets and truths.

Reccer's Notes: This is from Dave's POV, as he and John cautiously reconnect via emails, then more, after their father's funeral. I really like Dave here, separated from his wife and still in love with her, baffled by John and wanting to understand him better. They do gradually reconnect, and eventually some Trust shenanigans lead to Dave meeting all John's team and being read in about the Stargate program. The characterisations of Dave and John are excellent, with Rodney's relationship with Jennifer Keller, then with John, happening in the background. One of my favourite Dave Sheppard fics.

Fanwork Links: Just So Long and Long Enough on AO3
And there are two podfic versions: by juniperphoenix and by cookiemom6067

I finally received an email from the IDme people saying my documents had been reviewed and I could proceed to the video call. The email said wait times are usually shortest between about 7 am and midday, but I had also seen that it's a 24 hour service so I decided to do it early this morning - at around 5:30 am. This worked well as I only had about a minute to wait, and now I'm all set to file my tax return. It's a relief to have this done and it will be more of a relief when the tax bill has been paid. The call itself only took two or three minutes as all I had to do was verify a few pieces of information and then physically show the guy my driver's licence and passport.