smallhobbit: (Cup 1)
[personal profile] smallhobbit posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: The Obstacle in the Case
Fandom: Miss Marple
Rating: G
Length: 375 words
Summary: Miss Marple removes an obstacle to the case - by providing a second


darkjediqueen: (Default)
[personal profile] darkjediqueen posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: First Hurdle
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: No Warnings Apply
Fandom: Heated Rivalry
Relationships: Ilya Rozanov/Shane Hollander
Tags: Established Relationship, Sick Shane, Shane's Parents Find Out Early
Summary: Ilya had to take the first hurdle alone.
Word Count: 3,895

First Hurdle )

Using my Wordle skills

Apr. 13th, 2026 11:58 am
heleninwales: (Default)
[personal profile] heleninwales
I have the Co-op app and each week there are member offers. Today, for the first time, I played their version of Wordle to earn another 50p off the weekly shop. I've actually stopped doing Wordle because I got bored with it, preferring the puzzles in the iPaper instead, but I'll do it for 50p. :-)

Weekly walk

Apr. 13th, 2026 11:44 am
heleninwales: (walking)
[personal profile] heleninwales
Due to rain and being busy, we didn't manage to fit in our weekly walk together until yesterday (Sunday). We did a slightly different route through Abergwynant woods. The morning started dull and cold. I even wore gloves when we set out, but once up in the woods, out of the strong wind, it was warmer and by the time we were walking back to the car park at Penmaenpool, it was bright and sunny.

More photos here... )

Looking back down the path we had just walked up. There's a clearing in the distance that is being recolonised by small conifers. Things regrow so quickly.

New growth

Total distance is about 4½ miles but with the steep up and down, is quite a good workout.

(no subject)

Apr. 13th, 2026 09:30 am
oursin: Brush the Wandering Hedgehog by the fire (Default)
[personal profile] oursin
Happy birthday, [personal profile] alatefeline, [personal profile] julian and [personal profile] lycomingst!

Space Swap

Apr. 12th, 2026 10:42 pm
sholio: murderbot group from episode 10 (Murderbot-family1)
[personal profile] sholio
Space Swap revealed today, and I got a lovely gift!

Not Their Hero (Murderbot books, gen, 9K!!)
SecUnit and Gurathin accompany Ratthi to a scientific conference, where they end up accepting a request for assistance against a corporation. It goes about as well as one might expect, given Murderbot's history.

I was amazed and delighted to find out that I had received a 9K gift, and it was a great time - plotty casefic with a dash of h/c, very canon-feeling, with interesting OCs and worldbuilding, fun character dynamics, and a great Murderbot voice.

(I have *no* idea who wrote this and cannot wait to find out.)

(no subject)

Apr. 13th, 2026 04:42 pm
thawrecka: (Default)
[personal profile] thawrecka
I watched the Another Story OVAs and I cannot believe they somehow made Shitenhoji grow on me just by having an episode where one of their team tells them all they're not funny and don't need to make so many jokes 🤣

Other thoughts:
  • The Inui-Fuji friendship is deeply underrated. I've said it before and I'll say it again! I'd love to see more of their off hours adventures in Osaka.

  • Aw, the young Hyotei episode! Atobe and Oshitari looked like they were having fun! I'm also amused by Oshitari getting on the wrong train. TBH, Hyotei are my favourite of the rival teams and I think part of it is because they seem like they have fun and make time for friendships. I also liked the Jirou episode about his sleep disorder and his admiration for Marui from Rikkai. It was kind of cute.

  • Even when trying to make a fun charming backstoy episode for Kirihara, Rikkai still seems grim and joyless, with only about two characters who ever seem to have any fun...

  • Kintaro has grown on me, and he and Ryoma playing across the river is entertaining. Though I think my favourite moment was actually Eiji catching the ball.

  • I really liked the conversation between Eiji and Oishi about going to different high schools, not just that Oishi is a little pained about it and has struggled to tell Eiji, but also that Eiji is instantly so supportive. Obviously they're soul bonded on the tennis court, but it's nice to see them having those increasingly mature conversations outside of it.

  • I don't think I ever noticed until now that Taka and Tezuka talk more than I previously realised?!?

  • I did also like Momo and Kaidoh taking on the pressure of a team that's now going to be defending champions, as opposed to before when they were just part of an underdog team... It's a very different vibe, to be sure. And Higa popping up because they don't have the money to go home 🤣
mindstalk: (Default)
[personal profile] mindstalk

I finally rented a bicycle in Japan. It took some effort: paying for a Mobal eSIM, it being the only easy way of getting a phone number. Going to an office to show my passport and get the process started. Getting back home and finishing signup or something. Waiting for someone to actually activate the number the next morning. Then figuring out how install the new eSIM (actually confusingly easy), and panic because my Google Voice wasn't sending texts. (Turns out G Voice simply does not send SMS outside of the US or Canada.) Read more... )

mindstalk: (Default)
[personal profile] mindstalk

This morning I got up and out much earlier than usual -- particularly out, showering and getting dressed without stopping by my laptop. So by 8 AM I was wandering around, getting morning sun, and observing all the other people out, going to school or strolling or whatnot. The shopping street just north of me was still depressingly shuttered, but activity was high. Walking. Biking. Wheelchairs in the middle of the street.

On seeing the wheelchairs I realized: "no cars", and while these streets are usually low-traffic, this seemed to be no-traffic, and an expectation thereof. So I paid more attention to the signs, and found: Read more... )

littlefics: Three miniature books standing on an open normal-sized book. (Default)
[personal profile] littlefics posting in [community profile] seasonsofdrabbles
We have now closed signups! Below is the expected timeline for the next couple days:

  • Like always, for the next 12 hours, people can contact us to add to their signups. This is intended for people who may have run into a bug when signing up close to the deadline, or whose nominations were approved late. However, anyone may ask to have characters/fandoms added to their requests or offers. If you would like us to add to your signup, please post on the screened mod contact post or email us at seasonsofdrabbles AT gmail.com. Please make sure to include your AO3 username.

  • After that window has closed, we will check the matching and send out emails to anyone who is unmatchable on offers. They will be given 24 hours to respond.

  • Barring unexpected delays, assignments will go out before the end of Wednesday, April 15.

As you wait for assignments to go out, please feel free to check out the app to browse requests and start writing!

The Jewish War: Last half of book 5

Apr. 12th, 2026 08:32 pm
cahn: (Default)
[personal profile] cahn
Last week: Titus saving the day single-handedly as a millenium-old trope. The synoptic gospels foreshadowing these events, and discussion of the abomination of desolation. The Yom Kippur service description of the priest in his vestments. How much Titus might have intended the destruction of Jerusalem, and when, and how much that question may be different from how Josephus feels like he needs to justify it? A mention of R. Yochanan ben Zakkai, which all of you should definitely tell me more about :D

This week: Jerusalem is under siege. It's quite awful for those under siege, what with famine inside the city and getting crucified by Romans if they try to escape. Titus and Josephus continue to be blameless and awesome.

Next week: First half of Book 6, to be determined? :)

Riches

Apr. 13th, 2026 03:09 pm
mific: (Hockey sticks)
[personal profile] mific
So I'm into hockey fics now, and just realised there's a treasure trove of Helenish hockey rpf to be read. HR has taught me the basics of the hockey world, which makes the rpf easier to get into even if I don't really know the players. And I'll follow Helenish pretty much everywhere.

Two recs for now, Leon Draisaitl/Connor McDavid. Both locked to AO3.

Obligations. A long, slow burn story in an alpha/beta/omega-verse, and Helenish's worldbuilding within that is extraordinary, just as good as the way 'Take Clothes Off As Directed' deepened BDSM-verse. They're teammates on the Oilers, interacting with a mass of assumptions, miscommunication, hopeless denial, and obliviousness, so most of the fic is pining and unspoken longing badly hidden behind defences. They get there in the end, despite knowing how bad it'll be with the Press and twitter and their coaches and agents (the reactions of others plus their own idiocy replace RL homophobia as barriers), and there's finally some gorgeous hot as hell sex to enjoy after being edged for the rest of the story. It's from Leon's pov, and ends with a quiet paean to the hockey life. (17,681)

Silver Lining Playbook. Connor's pov, set at and after the recent Olympics. Non-linear plot, starting with them hooking up angrily and fake-casually, and only later we learn they used to be together then broke up due to the usual miscommunication and stubbornness. The ending's hopeful rather than resolved, and Connor's characterisation is excellent. Where the fic above was all repressed feelings and eventual fucking, this one's all fucking until eventually they talk about feelings. Very nice. (7212)

Erin Watches: Wonder Man

Apr. 13th, 2026 03:32 am
erinptah: (daily show)
[personal profile] erinptah

Finally got a chance to see the Wonder Man TV series.

(It’s already renewed for season 2, which is delightful to see. Come on, MCU, let more of your characters have ongoing arcs again.)

Spoiler-light reactions:

It’s good! Funny, charming, with a great weird-but-somehow-it-works (even in spite of [spoiler]) friendship between the two leads.

There were a couple episodes where I was bracing myself for some heavy embarrassment squick, and then the scene went in a whole different direction and didn’t hit it at all. Refreshing.

I kept expecting Trevor Slattery to be the full-blown “Planet of the Apes was amazing, they taught monkeys to act!” doofus we saw in Shang-Chi’s movie, and he’s not. Still a bit of an airhead, lots of fun comic relief, but he’s surprisingly competent when he makes an effort. The character is consistent enough otherwise that it works if you headcanon he was high for most of the movie — the show even goes into his backstory about problems with getting high on-set, which fits right in.

There’s a side character who has a connection to the Darkforce! Nobody in the show uses the word — none of them are in a position to know it’s called that — viewers can just recognize it from other Marvel properties. (Other MCU appearances, even.)

I always like this kind of sidebar, making the MCU feel textured and lived-in. It’s not solely populated with Main Characters, who get cool dramatic origin stories and end up joining the Avengers. It’s filled out with bit characters, who also sometimes touch the improperly-sealed hazardous waste in a Roxxon dumpster, they just mostly keep doing their day jobs with bonus superpowers.

We get some nice leveraging of “Disney can freely put references to Other Things They Own in Marvel shows now.” A+ use of Josh Gad, no notes.

Since we’re already guaranteed another season, and since the status of [spoiler] is left a mystery at the end, I’m sorta hoping Simon will end up rescuing them in S2. Not setting my hopes too high — we don’t see him actively planning this rescue, or even thinking he could do it — but it would be thematically very satisfying if he eventually figured it out.

…So the rest of this post is complain-y.

In the sense of “the show missed opportunities to do these cool things,” not “the show did bad things and I’m mad about it.”

One of the main plot threads is, Simon Williams is trying out for the lead role in a remake of the (in-universe) 1980 Wonder Man movie. Other characters pay some lip service to the idea of “updating a vintage superhero story for the modern age will be a great opportunity to reflect on the change in culture, now that superheroes are just a part of our everyday lives.”

And then…we never see that in action. How does the writing change? How do everyday people in the MCU react to a fictional superhero in the post-Blip world? We have no idea!

It would’ve been so easy to give us a clip of, say, J. Jonah Jameson ranting against “Hollywood liberal pro-superhero propaganda.” But nope. Nothing.

The movie itself doesn’t have much to do with Avengers-type superheroes anyway. It’s straight out of the Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon genre: a man from Earth gets stranded on another planet, has swashbuckling space adventures, rubber-suit aliens get shot with ray guns, etcetera. If anything, that’s a setup for a cultural commentary on human-alien relations, now that “alien refugees are the ones stranded on Earth” is also a part of MCU humanity’s everyday life.

But the show isn’t interested in exploring that either.

All we really know about the movie is enough to establish “Simon and Trevor are auditioning for the roles of two characters whose relationship mirrors their real-world relationship.” Look, as a narrative parallel crafted by the MCU writers, that’s fine. But in-universe it’s a coincidence, and I still want to know what decisions those writers are making, how their job is shaped by the world they’re in.

Also! Simon is auditioning to play a human character stranded among aliens. This is the perfect setup for him to worry “what if the reason I have superhuman powers is, I’ve been an alien stranded among humans this whole time?” Trevor…okay, Trevor is still doofy enough not to think of it, but agents at the DODC should’ve had the same suspicion. When grade-school Simon first showed super-strength, his parents should’ve worried “did the hospital accidentally switch our biological son with a secret baby Asgardian?”

Again: no! This whole obvious question is never floated by anyone.

Note that 616 Wonder Man doesn’t have much in common with either of these guys — Wonder Man the 1980s space adventurer, or Simon Williams the present-day Haitian immigrant with a struggling acting career.

This isn’t inherently a bad thing (after all, 616 Steven Grant doesn’t have much in common with either Steven Grant the Indiana Jones knockoff, or Steven Grant the present-day London gift-shoppist)…

…But I really wish the 1980s movie character was just a direct riff on comicverse Simon Williams. That way, it would be so easy to make contrasts with “the career in-universe writers imagined a super-powered guy would have in the 1980s” vs “the career in-universe writers imagine for a super-powered guy in the post-Blip MCU” vs “the career a real super-powered guy is having in the post-Blip MCU.”


sovay: (Viktor & Mordecai)
[personal profile] sovay
I had to quit out of this afternoon's virtual memorial for [personal profile] minoanmiss right after the singing of "Lift Ev'ry Voice" in order to meet my mother for advance birthday baking, but I got to hear remembrances in the form of stories, poems, an illuminated manuscript of a slide show, a painfully pertinent lesson in public health, songs both folk and filk, and people just talking with love and grief and anger that she need not have died; she did not consent to the sacrifice. She had formed an incredible constellation of interests and affections that her mourners flared to life. It is just that one wants the person herself and not only the space left between her stars.

In memoriam: the braided liberation of Anthony Russell and Veretski Pass' "Lift" (2018). The queer shift of Jake Blount's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" (2020). Kadra Ahmed-Omar in late-nineties Goth haute couture. A Graeco-Armenian papyrus from late Roman Egypt. Apparently people need reminding that Carthage was bad-ass. The election news from Hungary. The full-body college flashback I experienced on hearing Aimee Mann's "Say Anything" (1993) on WERS. Earth.

I cried when I got off the Zoom and then I made myself a bowl of angel hair pasta with lemon and pepper and sardines and thinking of food among her love languages went off to turn a recipe into a savory pie. I am glad she was remembered so well and so fully. I will always want to have seen her art for Artemis II.
taz_39: (Default)
[personal profile] taz_39
 *Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers the weekend.

---    ---    ---    ---    ---    ---

Thursday Night Recap


I posted earlier than usual due to having an annoying day so here's the missing chunk of Thursday :p
Koz (our music supervisor) was at the theater when we arrived and was hanging out backstage with DAR. I caught up with them near the management office and the candy bowl. Koz looked over as I picked through the candy and said, "Too late, I ate all the good ones :p " and I replied "Figures :p " and that was our interaction for the evening.

The show went well (I thought) and we all played well. Connor (Key 1) conducted us. On our schedule there was a "full company" rehearsal on Friday afternoon, and we'd all been wondering whether we'd be included in that. DAR said it would depend on what Koz wanted to do. After the show Koz came down to the pit just as Connor was telling us we'd get an email or text about the rehearsal. Koz overheard and said, "What rehearsal?" Apparently we weren't even on the radar to be included! Awesome :D

As we were packing up some people came down to the pit edge, stood right next to Koz, and RAVED about how wonderful the music had been. That's right, shower us with flattery in front of our boss!

---    ---    ---    ---    ---    ---

FRIDAY


Up early to do laundry. This hotel has three washers and six dryers so getting up early probably isn't necessary, but I do it out of habit. And with my luck a 30-person boys soccer team will have checked in the night before and all of them will need to do laundry or something. I'd rather get up early and get it done before it gets busy in there.

Breakfast and then packing my trunk items early because my sister and fam will be here tomorrow. I don't want to have to worry about dragging all of my stuff to the theater in the middle of visiting with her.

It was so nice out that after lunch I decided to go for a walk. Specifically, I wanted to visit the arena where the circus used to play, and from there walk to the entrance to the train yard where we used to stay.

It was hard.

It has been nine years since I was last here with the circus. Hartford was one of our last cities, too. I remember that everyone was very emotional, self included. Though I don't get emotional easily or often, I was absolutely heartbroken over the closure of the circus. I spent much of the week capturing as much footage as I could, writing extensively about everything that was happening, and spending time with our animals. I wrote about it HERE if you're interested...nine years later I still can't read this post, it hurts too much.

It seems like a long time ago, but whoever said "Time heals all wounds" was absolutely wrong.
I have said it before and know that most people will not understand, but I'll say it again anyway: the circus was more than a job.
We lived together, traveled together, worked together, ate together, slept together, laughed and cried together.
We saw babies born here. We saw people die here.

It was not just a job, it was a whole life. A living breathing thing. And watching it end was like watching a loved one die.
It hurt just as much as that, and I mourn it just as much as that.

First I went to the arena's garage and loading dock entrance. I have many memories here; it's where we'd enter to go to work.

2017: A circus BMX biker doing a trick off the arena ramp wall. Notice the circus wagons to the back left.
668104376_10109861255057842_1007740046097130993_n.jpg

Today:
669037278_10109861255322312_5282618167019272440_n.jpg

Across the street is Agave, a restaurant where Jameson and I and many circus folks would hang out or go to eat after our shows were done. The band especially used to come here for apps and drinks on Sunday nights because we didn't have to load out. We'd watch the crew load the wagons and tow them back to the train.

2017:
668612619_10109861255217522_3609417228816003121_n.jpg

Today:
668604420_10109861255506942_6846137781383742957_n.jpg

The train yard entrance didn't have an address, of course, so I "navigated on vibes" to get there.
I followed my little heart across two highway overpasses, down a hill, and a sharp left turn to an underpass that I remembered well.

2017: This was how we'd get home to the train at night after shows were done. It looks foreboding, doesn't it?
670004141_10109861255247462_4728271364003824487_n.jpg

Today. Not so scary in the middle of the afternoon.
668317118_10109861255372212_5714384827777879917_n.jpg

After walking through this tunnel/underpass, you pop out the other side and cross the street on the right, and there is the entrance to the train yard which is just a dusty hill leading to the tracks.
669606049_10109861255112732_7742623345995392284_n.jpg

I sent all of these pictures to Jameson along the way. If he were here he would have walked with me.
It's a comfort to know that there are still many circus people besides Jameson and I out there who remember these places, and care.
A life that no longer exists. Places that look mundane, but are kept as treasures in our hearts.

I walked back to the hotel slowly, thinking about the past and what that life was like. Lots of really great memories, and experiences that have helped me get to where I am today. Back at the hotel, cooling off and a little snack and some anime. I walked to the theater a little early to access my trunk and put stuff in there, get my horns ready, etc. Koz was still there and gave us some notes on tweaking the music, but I didn't get any individual notes. Victory! The evening show went well and we had a very excited and enthusiastic crowd. I was thankfully not too-badly nervous about Koz being there and did a good job.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

SATURDAY


I had stress dreams, not really surprising. We're back on tour, I'm tense about Koz being here and doing a good job in general, and about my sister and her family driving four hours just to see our show today. Breakfast, nervously putzing around on the computer and getting dressed for work until she texted to say she was close. I walked to the park intending to scope out a picnic spot for us but she beat me to it; I found them at a table setting up huge boxes of pizza! We hugged and got reacquainted over big NY-style slices of margherita and bruschetta. So good! And it was great to see everyone! Her son, Declan, is getting so big!! Everyone looks happy and healthy.

There was a playground nearby so when we'd finished eating we wandered over there so Declan could enjoy it. I admit I went down the kids slide once too :P We got caught up as much as we could in the short time that we had before the show started. There honestly wasn't much to report except that we're all doing our best at life? Plugging along I suppose, and that's great, it shows we're blessed.

Eventually we walked over to the theater. My sister's husband took a picture of us in front of a pretty blossoming tree out front.
c86679a6-78bd-4bb0-bd1c-94d31aaa2e9b.jpg

I followed my sister to the box office to make sure her tickets were there, then we parted ways so I could go backstage and get ready. I forgot to mention, Kate gave me some lovely gifts! A little knit Encouragement Potato much like the one Jameson has gotten me, except this one has a sprout on top of his adorable head:
21e5cb68-9e50-4034-9951-1c3e73431d8c.jpg

...and a little black obsidian cat, curled up in a sleeping pose. Our mom used to have a cat statue like this, only made of wood and much larger. Kate's idea was that this one would be small enough to travel with me. And symbolic in other ways, with obsidian being a stone of protection and grounding and travel safety. As always my sister is so thoughtful and sweet.
5f41e643-a7f0-46d6-9925-f5da13d7da3d.jpg
(In the background there is a note that she wrote to go with the cat, on beautiful natural paper)

Before the show started my sis was able to come down to the pit to say hi, and snap a pic of me in my "cage" haha
f991ff05-0260-4def-b155-a8f7b52601f6.jpg

The show went well though I was nervous because family was there! I just want them to have a good experience (and they did!) Afterward we walked to Agave for dinner. It was nostalgic for me as this is a restaurant I frequented with my circus family, and it was fun and novel to bring my bio-family here to experience it too!
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It's just a normal Mexican restaurant, but the food is always fresh :) They brought us loads of corn chips to start and there were some colorful green and red ones mixed in, Declan enjoyed picking those out :D We talked and talked about our work, Declan's homeschooling, a tiny bit of politics, plans for the summer, all kinds of stuff. The food was great, I had chicken tacos and ate them both! When finished we walked back to my sister's car where we hugged and parted ways. It was such a shame to have such a short visit but I had another show to do, and they had gotten a hotel because it was quite a long drive for them. Still, I'm glad they got to see the show and they enjoyed it very much, and I'm very grateful for our time together. 

The evening show was good too, though I felt very tired. I don't WANT socializing to be a drain on me, but it IS no matter how much I enjoy it. I was glad to wrap up that show and head to bed!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUNDAY


Awake earlier than I needed to be out of habit. Quiet and slow morning, which I love. I lit my Chai Tea candle, which I still get to enjoy on a Sunday because we're busing to Boston so my luggage weight doesn't matter (normally it would be stored in my trunk by now.) My eyes were watery and nose itchy, probably allergies from being in the park for hours with my family yesterday (it had BETTER be allergies, I have done my time with illnesses this year!! Sheesh.) Did some light packing but we are leaving luxuriously late on Monday so I can pack a lot in the morning too.

Oh, right! I promised to share what this gigantic suite of a hotel room looks like! 


It is an older hotel so it's not "fancy," but it turns out ALL of the rooms were like this so each of us had essentially a small apartment here. A very nice treat. I do not expect Boston to be like this, being an older New England city where space is at a premium. 

Walked to the theater when it was time. It was very nice out today.
1035c4f5-c514-4497-ab5f-a440c1c35d73.jpg

The first show went well. I had packed my dinner and stayed at the theater during the break to eat, reading my book and researching things to do in Boston. Before I knew it it was time for the evening show. It went "ok" but as is typical for my first week back on tour, I felt more tired than usual. Never mind, next week I'm sure I'll have gotten back into the swing of things! 

And we'll be in BOSTON!!! I have been looking forward to this city for a while!!
We are there for three weeks which is just wonderful. There is so much to see and do! And Jameson will be visiting me and seeing the show!!
I have been here with the circus but never a touring show before. And it's been 10+ years since I've been to Boston AT ALL so it will definitely seem new and exciting to me. 

Can't wait! 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday:
A nice late morning and a bus ride to Boston. Groceries, unpacking, and something nice for dinner :) 

Tuesday: Opening day in Boston! 

on target and we're flying blind

Apr. 12th, 2026 09:32 pm
the_siobhan: (This is my boomstick)
[personal profile] the_siobhan
Currently listening to the Goths Against Fascism raid train. They're raising money for the ACLU and appear to be just short of their goal.

Current DJ is playing fantastic music but will not fucking shut up talking over it.

[EDIT] Very Talky DJ just raided to a new channel and it's somebody I knew back in the day. Heh.

[2nd EDIT] And now new DJ is playing a bunch of Spanish-language punk and goth and ska and it's fucking amazing.

***

Very productive weekend was had where I managed to cross a bunch of things off my to-do list. Lord Brock got his blood taken but I completely failed to get a urine sample because I have to collect it and then get it to the vet within a fairly narrow time frame and he refused to cooperate while they were actually open. I'll try again in the morning.

Which means having a conversation with my boss, "Hey if my cat pees I have to run out the door right away."

I've been thinking anyway, I need to sit down and have a talk with her about medical accommodations. My vertigo has been hell with all the rain storms sweeping through and that's going to be an issue every spring so it would be good if they're prepared for me to be around less when that happens. Unless they want to send me a driver or something.

***

Did another long walk on Friday. Stretching and being good in between. So far foot is still holding up well.

And I was thinking about this as I was out looking around at the various storefronts, Toronto has SO MANY cannabis shops. SO MANY. Some sections of particularly popular shopping streets has a half-dozen per block.

The vast majority of them are not licensed. Ironically our former drug-dealer premier could not figure out how to get legal weed shops sorted when they first became legal so people just went ahead and opened their own. Occasionally cops will go around and close a bunch but they're really the only ones who give a shit.

So anyway one of the things you see frequently here - no idea if this is true in other locations - is weed shops that say in big letters on the front that the owners are from a specific indigenous tribe operating on unceded land as per their treaty rights. I've always wondered if that actually got the cops to stop bothering them.

And then recently a friend pointed out there are also weed shops that say Sovereign people without the tribal mention, and those are run by Freeman and now that I know I see them everywhere.

(For those who don't want to click on the link, Freeman are a group in Canada who have decided that they if they don't "consent" to be citizens they can't be forced to do things like pay taxes or follow laws. I knew somebody who fell for their nonsense and I am absolutely fascinated to know how that's the kind of self-deception that outlasts the first speeding ticket.)

***

Current media consumption: I am binging Slow Horses with the gf and I am loving it. I'm not really one for spy stories, but I am really digging the personalities and the plot twists and the internal conflicts. Also the character Gary Oldman plays is amazing.

Mostly what I'm reading is terribly-written romantasy series which are entirely cookie-cutter and disposable so I can just tear them off the role and then forget about them. Kinda where I'm at for the moment. I will challenge my brain via reading material when it has less going on in the rest of life.

primeideal: Lan and Moiraine from "Wheel of Time" TV (lan mandragoran)
[personal profile] primeideal
New year, new bingo, let's go!

The planet "First of the Sun" has historically been low-tech. While most people live on the "homeisles," there are a few who travel to the Pantheon archipelago, where everything from insects to trees to sea monsters to dinosaur-like land monsters can and will kill you. Sixth of the Dusk is a trapper, one of these brave souls. Trappers spend their days doing things like trying to sic poisonous rodents on their rivals, although Dusk thinks that might be a little unnecessary.

Most people in "First of the Sun" have magical companion birds called the Aviar, most of which are parrot-like, which can grant them magical powers. At first I was like, okay, nice made-up fantasy-world name. Only on page 72 was it like, the places where the Aviar are raised are called...Aviaries. Lol.

However, once interstellar travelers called the "Ones Above" make contact, technological progress comes quickly. Dusk finds his traditional way of life becoming outdated, and struggles to find a fulfilling vocation, while the planet in general tries to avoid being colonized and made puppets of the newcomers. A lot of the plot revolves around different people patronizing or belittling Dusk in various ways, and pushing back against the "noble savage" trope. Vathi is a homeisler:
"We could kill them all," Dusk said. He rushed over to Vathi, taking her with his right hand, the arm that wasn't wounded. "With those weapons, we could kill them all. Every nightmaw. Maybe even the shadows, too!"
"Well, yes, it has been discussed. However, they are important parts of the ecosystem on these lands. Removing the apex predators could have undesirable results."
"Undesirable results?" Dusk ran his hand through his hair. "They'd be gone. All of them! I don't care what other problems you think it would cause. They would all be
dead!"
Vathi snorted, picking up the lantern and stamping out the small fires it had started. "I thought trappers were connected to nature."
"We are. That's how I know we would all be better off without any of these things."
"You are disabusing me of many romantic notions about your kind, Dusk," she said, circling the dying beast.

And Dajer is one of the "Ones Above":
 
 
"I like you, Sixth," Dajer said. "I like your bluntness. Your uncivilized, simple sense of pure morality."
Did Dajer...think people were
honest because they were less advanced in technology? Did he think that people on Dusk's planet were somehow nicer than ones from the stars?
It was an incredibly stupid perspective. It stood out in this man, who was otherwise so calculating and expert at maneuvering conversations. This flaw in Dajer was like a long scratch, leaking water, in an otherwise well-crafted hull.
But Dusk supposed everyone had their flaws; that was part of what made them people. And not...beings from some story, with an "uncivilized, simple sense of pure morality." Dajer had exposed a weakness to be exploited; Dusk could only hope that he had not unwittingly done the same thing.
The first section alternates between the "present day" and "five years ago," the latter being the narrative originally contained in the standalone novella "Sixth of the Dust." I had read that many years ago in a collection of Sanderson short fiction, but remembered basically none of it, so it was good to have the refresher, and I thought the interweaving of Dusk and Vathi in the present and retracing their steps in the past was handled well without being gimmicky.

There's another POV character who shows up in the prologue and reappears in the second part; Starling, an eighty-seven-year-old dragon (that's young in dragon years) who is in exile from her own people, now shapeshift-trapped in human form indefinitely, and living on a spaceship with a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits from elsewhere in the Cosmere. Like with "The Sunlit Man," there are so many callbacks/allusions to other Cosmere books that it's sometimes overstimulating for those of us who are trying to remember "wait, do we know so-and-so?" and I'm not sure how it would land for someone not familiar with the wider series. A non-comprehensive list, under spoiler cut:
I liked this part, and it'll be funnier if you know Mistborn:
"Quite upsetting of the Scadrians, claming someone else's homeworld, but you know how they are. Rusting this! Rusting that! I scowl and throw coins in your face!"
"Don't you literally worship a Scadrian?" Nazh asked.
"That's
different," Ed said. "He is nice."
But if you've read "Tress" and the "plucky crew rallying together behind their cheerful and optimistic captain," a lot of it is going to feel familiar. So this part was less gripping for me.

The running joke is that, in Dusk's POV, he regularly points out "that wasn't a direct question, so he wasn't obliged to answer." Starling's impression:
What a curious man. It was like...he knew the rules of ordinary conversation, but chose to live outside them, like a verbal conscientious objector.

And even by the end, when he's changed a lot:

Of course, the bones did not reply. He liked that about bones.

I'm currently in a mood where it's like "every time we come across a quote that makes me emotional about polar exploration in a book that has less than nothing to do with polar exploration, take a shot:"

"Coming here was a disaster."
"Yes."
He turned to her.
"Yes," she continued, this whole expedition will likely be a disaster, a disaster that takes us a step closer to our goal."
He checked Sisisru next, working by the light of the now-rising moon. "Foolish."
Vathi folded her arms before her on the roof of the building, torso still disappearing into the lit square of the trapdoor below. "Do you think that our ancestors learned to wayfind on the oceans without experiencing a few disasters along the way? Or what of the first trappers?"

It does stick the landing well, with hope for a brighter future for First of the Sun in general, and for Dusk--Sanderson is good at adding a line or two to assure us that the meaningful friendships which have been built won't be completely abandoned, even in a new era!

Bingo: perfect fit for Explorers/Rangers (hard mode), also Published in 2026, Politics. Technically Starling could qualify as Older Protagonist, and if you want even more of a technicality, non-human protagonist, but in both cases I suspect we can do a lot better in terms of the spirit of the square.
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