Two Purrcys; life update; KJ Charles

Oct. 14th, 2025 09:59 am
mecurtin: Daniel agrees reading is fundamental (reading)
[personal profile] mecurtin
Purrcy was inside, enjoying the sun and breeze, when suddenly there was a human outside! Taking pictures! And it's Mommy! Hi Mommy!
Hi fuzzzy baby! What a loving face you have

Purrcy the tuxedo tabby looks eagerly through the screen toward the camera taking his picture from outside the house. It's a sunny day, he's sitting a white window ledge, his pupils are just slits. One front paw extends towards the camera, he looks intent and happy.



It was a really chilly night a couple days ago, so there was a VERY cuddly #Purrcy next to my legs & feet all night. Very choice.
#cats #CatsOfBluesky #Caturday

Purrcy the tuxedo tabby lies on his side looking at the camera, with his front paws curled up against his chest and his back paw extended toward the viewer. He is endlessly adorable.

Purrcy the tuxedo tabby lies on his side looking at the camera, with his front paws curled up against his chest and his back paw extended toward the viewer. He is endlessly adorable.



There is too much. I will sum up:

I'm having to reduce social media AGAIN due to The Horrors, but also I'm promoting stuff the Oct.18th No Kings protests, so I see more than is good for me. PLEASE come out if you can, we need this to be overwhelmingly large, peaceful, joyful. Wear yellow, it's the color people seem to be settling on as the No Kings "movement" color.

They say that old people need less sleep but in order to actually feel rested I need 10 hours of sack time -- in part because I have to get up to pee so often. So I've started putting myself to bed at 10 (!!) and using my Happy Light in the morning, which is definitely needed at this time of year if it's going to rain like this, I was starting to feel Depression creeping back in. At least that's going back into its cave, hissing.

One reason I need so much sleep is because I'm often in pain, from sciatica or otherwise. I frequently have to lie down to stop it hurting, and all I can do is read, so I read a LOT. SO MUCH.

All of Us Murderers, KJ Charles: Trademark KJC steamy m/m sex with great characterization as Zeb Wyckham, called to the family pseudo-Gothic manse, tries to patch things up with his ex Gideon while dealing with his horrible relatives and their bizarre demands. I was never able to suspend my disbelief, because this is set in the 20s yet WWI doesn't seem to have happened.

I think of it as taking place in an "Agatha Christie AU", because IIRC Agatha Christie's stories written in the 20s & 30s mostly happen in a world where WWI doesn't seem to have happened (when you look at timelines, backstories, etc). I strongly prefer Dorothy Sayers, all of whose Lord Peter novels have the long-term effects of the War as at least subtext if not text. And Gaudy Night is a useful witness to the coming storm, whereas Christie's "The Moving Finger", written during WWII and featuring an injured pilot, seems to take place in Jo Walton's Small Change universe, which is actually that of Josephine Tey's Brat Farrar.

But I digress! The point is, All of Us Murderers didn't work for me, because I couldn't feel like I knew when it was actually *set*.
trobadora: (Black-Cloaked Envoy)
[personal profile] trobadora posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
Zhao Yunlan sprawled on a couch, grinning at his phone. The background shows a purple sky with stars. Text reads, "Slo-Mo Rewatch. Guardian - half an episode per week @ sid_guardian.dreamwidth.org"


Hi, welcome to this week's instalment of the Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch! Watch half an episode a week, and then come and chat about it here in comments. Or you can just jump into the comments without rewatching, of course!

Here is last week's half-episode. On to the second half!

Episode 3, from 23:25

Summary: Zhao Yunlan goes to Shen Wei to confirm the identity of the third student involved in what happened to Zhang Ruonan. (Which involves gesturing with a letter opener, because Zhao Yunlan. :D) He arrives back just in time to find Wang Yike killing Liu Yidong. Oops. Zhang Ruonan physically tackles Zhao Yunlan and confesses to the murders herself to stop him from catching Wang Yike. Meanwhile Wang Yike has decided Shen Wei is suspicious (well ...), and the SID arrives just in time to intervene in her attack in him. Zhang Ruonan accidentally touches Wang Yike's bare hand and has most of her life energy drained. They have a tearful goodbye, and everyone is very affected. Afterwards, we discover that someone secretly neutralised Wang Yike's power, and that despite being taken away by the Envoy, Shen Wei nonetheless brought her to reunite with Zhang Ruonan.

Shen Wei saves Zhang Ruonan

And then we start a new case! There's a series of murders where the victims' faces are turned completely blank. Zhao Yunlan et al. are investigating. (Lin Jing and Zhu Hong both seem to be mostly complaining. :p) Meanwhile Shen Wei is searching for the Hallows, and encounters Zhu Jiu for the first time. Following screams, the SID finds a cowering woman, and ... Shen Wei.

Quote:

Let me just offer you two contrasting quotes, because damn, the range:
  • "Professor Shen said a stolen life is hard to maintain, but a promise can remain constant for thousands of years. Chief says such a relationship is called 'Guarding'. It's even more passionate than love and greater than familial love. I hope I can stay at the SID and become someone who can guard everyone."

  • "Ever seen a snake who likes to walk?"
Detail:

Lin Jing's map when he's tracking Wang Yike's phone shows the location of the university within Dragon City, on the northern side of the river. This aligns with Zhu Hong saying in episode 4 that the university is in the north!

Questions:

What's your favourite moment in this part of the episode? Did anything stand out to you as coming from the novel?

What was Zhao Yunlan thinking, leaving Zhang Ruonan with Liu Yadong unguarded, when he already suspected Liu Yadong? Is this the first time Zhao Yunlan has sympathised with a Dixingren? How often does the Envoy secretly let people go? How did Zhang Ruonan know about Dixing? Do you ship Zhang Ruonan and Wang Yike? When did Shen Wei decide to move closer to Zhao Yunlan?

For the start of the next case, why are Shen Wei, Zhu Jiu and the SID all in the same area? And finally, have you ever seen a snake who likes to walk? *g*

(These are all just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like! You don't have to be keeping up with the rewatch to join in!)

And here is our schedule - please do sign up to host a post if you can!
facethestrange: (guardian: weilan: yohe kiss)
[personal profile] facethestrange posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
I'm not sure if sharing what I made for [community profile] guardian_wishlist is a thing (since the collection itself was already shared to the comm), but I can't add all these links to a regular post because there were 10 of them revealed on the same day. :D (Normally I include 4-5 in one post.) So here they are, under a cut this time. :)

5 ficlets (all dramaverse):
2x Weilan
1x Zhu Hong & Shen Wei
1x Ye Zun/Lin Jing
1x Ye Zun & Sang Zan

click )

5 drawings:
3x drama Weilan (one with Da Qing)
2x Zhubai (one in novelverse AU)

click )
umadoshi: (pumpkin pie (icons_by_mea))
[personal profile] umadoshi
[personal profile] scruloose and I have our covid/flu shots booked for next weekend! There were earlier slots available, but not in walking distance. It'll take us right to the little corner market, and next weekend is its final day for the season. Convenient!

We finished season 1 of Silo a couple nights ago. (I've been intermittently earwormed with its OP theme music, which is fortunately a good piece, but I still would rather not have it [or anything else] stuck in my head.) That was a very solid season finale. Now to decide if we want to immediately go to season 2 or watch something else first/alongside. (Can anyone tell me, without spoilers, a] how much of the book[s] season 1 covers, and/or b] if the show is finished or if a third season is expected/hoped for?)

I went along for the drive when [personal profile] scruloose ran a few errands this morning: a purchase return, two stops for local produce (blueberries, cranberries, broccoli, and a giant sweet potato; no luck getting baking apples), and picking up an order of Thanksgiving baked goods from Sully & Porter (née the Old Apothecary). We are now in possession of six adorably tiny tarts (half pumpkin, half lemon meringue) and six hefty cookies that I hope will freeze reasonably well so that they can be eked out.

Tomorrow evening will probably be when we throw together a Thanksgiving dinner of ham*, cranberry sauce, and some mix of roasted veggies. I consulted How to Cook Everything on the matter of the ham, and it gives an oven temperature and an estimated cook time and basically says "heat until hot, then eat", and it doesn't get much simpler than that.

*The most token little ham! I'm not actually sure how much I'll like it, as ham was never my thing growing up, so we didn't want a huge one to swamp us with leftovers. We'll see! I know it's possible for me to enjoy ham, as we've been to a couple of group meals where I did. (I can think of one here and one in Toronto, so the hams in question were cooked by two very different friends.)
umadoshi: (autumn - jack o'lanterns 01)
[personal profile] umadoshi
It's a Friday off and I got some manga work done, so here's a bit of book-logging:

Her Halloween Treat (Tiffany Reisz) is a straightforward, enjoyable romance that has almost nothing at all to do with Hallowe'en. It takes place when the female lead is home for her brother's wedding, and his partner has always wanted a Hallowe'en wedding, so they're having a themed costume Hallowe'en wedding. It's also the female lead's birthday, but they checked with her and she's fine with it, so there's no drama there. Nothing of what I've just written is at all spoilery for the main plot or emotional arcs or anything.

The Drowning House (Cherie Priest) is almost not a ghost story at all--the supernatural elements are something else--but ghosts flicker around its edges. I enjoyed it, although there's a piece of the story that I feel the epilogue was intended to shine a light on and...it didn't do that. (Alternatively, that wasn't the author's intention, but if so, I feel like it should have at least nodded to that specific thing? Or something?)

Specifically [ROT13], gur rcvybthr vf n tyvzcfr onpx ng gur '50f jura gur gjvaf ner cynaavat gb xvyy jung'f-uvf-snpr, naq vg qbrfa'g fnl nalguvat nobhg jul Zef. Phycrccre (arneyl) frag ure fvfgre gb ure qrngu, be vs fur npghnyyl zrnag gb qb gung, naq qbrfa'g tvir nal uvag gung gung'f tbvat gb unccra, vagragvbanyyl be bgurejvfr. Vg'f whfg na vagrenpgvba orgjrra n cnve bs fvfgref jub qba'g ernyyl trg nybat nf gurl cercner gb qb gur guvat gurl'ir qrpvqrq arrqf qbvat.

It's one thing that I'm not really a horror reader but read the occasional horror novel anyway, and quite another that I'm deeply squeamish about eyes (and just about everything to do with eyes) and yet after someone recced it, I bought The Eyes Are the Best Part (Monika Kim) a while ago when it popped up on sale...and then proceeded to actually read it this week. This book is very clear from the cover alone that it involves cannibalistic eyeball consumption in loving detail. It is not the book's fault that I am 1000% not the intended audience and yet read the whole thing in one sitting anyway when really I should've just read the rec (whenever that was) and not bought the ebook, sale or no sale, never mind read it. (But I don't begrudge the actual sale, however much an on-sale ebook purchase actually helps an author.)

Now I'm taking a bit of a break from trying to read ~seasonally~ and am a few chapters into KJ Charles' All of Us Murderers.

I've also finally finished Daniel Sherrell's Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World, which is...fine? I forget if I've actually mentioned that this book is a letter to a future child Sherrell may or may not ever have (a question he's wrestling with the ethics of), talking about the climate catastrophe and his work as a climate activist and how he tries to fortify himself and find meaning in the face of it all and what he hopes to learn/pass on to any child he may one day have.

Mishmash. It's just a mishmash post.

Oct. 9th, 2025 04:43 pm
umadoshi: (cozy autumn blankets (verhalen))
[personal profile] umadoshi
I'm not in deadline danger, but I'm also still not where I'd like to be with my current rewrite; I've also been sleeping badly and Dayjob has needed somewhat more brain energy than usual (for a non-crunch time) this week. So I'm taking tomorrow off to go with the Thanksgiving long weekend, and we'll see what can be done. Wish me luck!

Flu and covid vaccinations are rolling out provincially (just announced this morning), and hopefully we can get ours scheduled for fairly soon. (Which isn't actually urgent, given how little exposure risk we have, but I'd still like to get it done.)

Part of my brain seems to really think there can never be too many mugs or too many blankets. I'm not sure how it came to this conclusion, when storage space (perhaps especially kitchen cupboard space) is finite and while both mugs and blankets can be used in rotation, it can get excessive fast. I wonder if this is the same part of my mind that believes I can actually follow everyone who strikes me as interesting on any social media platform.

Last year during post-holiday sales I bought a Hallowe'en blanket that then spent nearly a year waiting for the season to come around again, and now I have it out as a lap blanket in my office. It is extremely warm and ridiculously soft and cozy on one side, which is great, except this week started out with, frex, a high of 29°C or so on Monday. At this point the temperature's much more reasonable for fall (high of 9°C today), even if it's warming right back up to highs of 16°-ish over the next few days. Not exactly classic October temps, but hopefully we'll be free of full-on summer heat after this.

Other parts of the province got some actual significant rain last night, which is a relief. Only 2mm or so in my area, but I'm glad a good amount wound up in the regions that desperately need it this time.

Tori has a new album coming out next year (with accompanying tour), with info on the front page of her site. (My feelings are the now-usual ones: I don't expect to fall in love with the new music, but I'll gladly buy it to support her and be ready to be wrong about the assumption; either way I'm so glad that she's still making music, even if it's been a long time since any of it punched me in the heart.)
china_shop: The popcorn scene from Guardian. :-) (Guardian - popcorn!)
[personal profile] china_shop posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
A gifting fest for Guardian and related fandoms: guardian-wishlist.dreamwidth.org


The Guardian Wishlist 2025 AO3 collection is live and all Wishlist gifts have been revealed!

There are 62 gifts - fic, art, picspam, podfic, and more - in a range of fandoms!

So many thanks to everyone who's been a part of this fest, whether you signed up or promoted or made gifts! You're the ones who made Guardian Wishlist work, and we're so happy you all joined in! We hope you had a great time. ♥ ♥ ♥

If you signed up for a wishlist, please:
  1. thank those who have made gifts for you
  2. track your wishlist, or bookmark it and check back, in case of late treats
  3. let us know if there are any problems or you have any concerns
  4. take a look at other people's gifts, too, in wishlist comments and and the AO3 collection - enjoy!

If you're still working on gifts, that's okay! Late treats are welcome!
china_shop: Close-up of Da Qing looking conspiratorial (Guardian - Da Qing conspiratorial)
[personal profile] china_shop posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
[community profile] guardian_wishlist reveals will commence in one hour! *cheers on anyone who's still working on gifts*

September fanworks round-up post!

Oct. 5th, 2025 12:48 pm
trobadora: (Black-Cloaked Envoy)
[personal profile] trobadora posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
This is the fanworks round-up post for August! Please link in the comments to any Guardian (or related fandoms) fanworks you created or enjoyed last month.
  • all kinds of fanworks are welcome – fic, art, vids, picspams, etc. - including those made for exchanges and events
  • new chapters of WIPs count
  • meta or discussion posts, too
  • whether or not you've already linked these in a post of their own, we still want them here!

If you're linking to fanworks you didn't create yourself, please clearly mark these "REC", so there's no confusion about authorship/creatorship.

(And please still do link your fanworks, meta, etc. separately, in their own post, at any time!)

So ... what Guardian and related fandoms works did you create or enjoy in September?
trobadora: (Guardian - SID team)
[personal profile] trobadora posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
If all goes well, it's only about thirty-six hours until [community profile] guardian_wishlist reveals!

As of now, there are 41 gifts across the 22 wishlists, in a range of media. One wishlist still needs a gift, so take a look and see if you can help out!

And there's still time, so regardless of which wishlist inspires you, keep going if you feel like creating another gift or two! You can keep posting right up until reveals (or even after, if you don't quite finish in time). The spreadsheet includes a gift tally, and all wishlists are tagged for fandom and media!

Reveals will happen no earlier than 7am UTC on Monday, 6 October. (What time is that for me? | Countdown)

Thanks so much, everyone! You're amazing! We're nearly there!
umadoshi: (autumn - candle and pumpkin)
[personal profile] umadoshi
Suddenly I'm on the other side of the fall crunch at work, early enough that I somehow feel at loose ends even though regular full-time work continues and I have freelance work that badly needs tackling (plus, y'know, the endless litany of things I should do and want to do and only ever make slow progress on).

Despite the crunch, I've gotten some tidying/organizing done in my office; it could still use a lot more work, but I've cleared some surfaces that haven't seen the light of day in a long time, so that feels good. And a couple bits of autumnal decor have crept out here and there around the house, but maybe this weekend we can do a more serious job with that sort of thing.

Quick book notes: I don't think I've specifically mentioned that I did finish and enjoy Caitlin Starling's The Starving Saints (mind the cannibalism, though); I've made further slow, slow progress on Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World; last night I finished Silver and Lead, the new October Daye book, which was a solid installment; and last night I also started reading, for a total change of pace, Her Halloween Treat (romance, Tiffany Reisz), which I presumably saw recced somewhere when it was on sale (I think around this time last year, but I didn't get to it before last Hallowe'en), and which I'm only a couple of chapters into.

I don't generally make a big stab at seasonal media, other than trying to watch a couple of Christmas movies the last year or two, but since I have a few seasonally-appropriate books, that's as good a way of choosing "what next?" as any.

And with the crunch over, I imagine [personal profile] scruloose and I will soon be back to listening to Murderbot books.
china_shop: Close-up of Zhao Yunlan grinning (Default)
[personal profile] china_shop posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
Zhao Yunlan sprawled on a couch, grinning at his phone. The background shows a purply sky with stars. Text reads "Slo-Mo Rewatch. Guardian - half an episode per week @ sid-guardian.dreamwidth.org."


Hi, and welcome back to the Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch. Watch half an episode a week, at your leisure, and then come and chat about it here in comments. Or you can just jump into the comments without rewatching, of course!

Here are the previous weeks' rewatch posts.

Episode 3, up to 23:25

Summary
Shen Wei talks to Teacher Zhang Ruonan, who's nervous and off her game lately. At the SID, Zhao Yunlan is sneezing everywhere and also the only one who can make the Dial react. Their latest murder victim is a student who looks like an old man. Zhao Yunlan sneezes all over Shen Wei's office and eats his cake; Shen Wei is unimpressed. Teacher Zhang comes in, and Zhao Yunlan introduces himself as "Professor Shen's............. good friend." Zhao Yunlan and Xiao Guo go to the hospital for cold medicine and see Wang Yike. Lao Chu interviews the murder victim's roommate and then leaves him for Da Qing to tail, but Da Qing falls asleep on his stakeout. Zhao Yunlan has the first of many late-night visits to Shen Wei's office. ♥! The roommate is also murdered, and Xiao Guo faints at the crime scene. Zhao Yunlan sees Teacher Zhang among the onlookers, follows her, and connects her with Wang Yike and the murder victims. Teacher Zhang explains her backstory. Zhao Yunlan leaves her in the care of the class rep.



Quote
SW: It's really a coincidence this time.

Detail
I never noticed before that at the very start of the episode Shen Wei is studying the SID file. He puts it away and picks up some other papers as Teacher Zhang comes in.

Questions
Do you have a favourite scene or quote from the first half of episode 3? Is Zhao Yunlan's sneezing purely Hallows-related, or does he actually have a cold (perhaps due to a Hallows-weakened immune system)? Does Shen Wei seem grumpy to you, and if so, why do you think that is? What's the main reason he hesitates when introducing Zhao Yunlan to Teacher Zhang: because Zhao Yunlan looks so disreputable, because the SID is conducting a covert investigation, because publicly associating with the SID is bad for his career, because he genuinely doesn't have a word to describe his relationship with Zhao Yunlan, or some other reason? And what does Xiao Guo think is going on with the introduction? What's the most suspicious thing about Wang Yike at the hospital? How much do you blame Da Qing for falling asleep on his stakeout? What is Shen Wei referring to when he says, "Many tragedies were destined from the beginning"?

If you're familiar with the novel, any thoughts about how the drama adaptation compares?

(As usual, these are all just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like! You don't have to be keeping up with the rewatch to join in. We'd love to hear your thoughts!)

And here is our schedule, where you can sign up to host a post!
trobadora: (Guardian - SID team)
[personal profile] trobadora posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
About three and a half days left till [community profile] guardian_wishlist reveals, and we're excited to see the gifts rolling in! There are only 7 wishlists without gifts!

If you feel like making a little something, especially for the needier wishlists, please check out the spreadsheet!

And this would be a great time to reblog our Tumblr post, or post your own reminder to other platforms, if you're up for that. We have a reminder graphic on the promo post.

Thanks so much, everyone! We're cheering you on! *\o/*

Nirvana in Fire Exchange 2025!!!!

Oct. 2nd, 2025 02:25 pm
mekare: (NiF: Yujin happy)
[personal profile] mekare posting in [community profile] nirvana_in_fire
It has just been announced on Tumblr (nif-exchange). Here is the AO3 CollectionLink with the rules and schedule for this year.

Schedule:

Sign-ups: 1-31 Oct
Prompt Listing: Nov 1 to 3
Claiming: Nov 4 to 9
Assignment: Nov 10
Creation period: Nov 10 to Dec 21
Mandatory Check-in: Dec 10 to 14
Gift Reveal: Dec 25
Creators Reveal: Dec 31

Treats: Dec 10 to 31
starandrea: (Default)
[personal profile] starandrea
Happy October!

Recently I learned:
1) Tinnitus can sound like music.
2) Enzyme cleaners are great at unclogging pipes.
3) Less authentic mooncakes may be more delicious.
4) Some very dramatic plants think 50F is a killing frost.

Also, you can explain to your dog that you will always provide her with more food, you can show her all the food you have which is more than any three dogs could possibly need, and she will still ask for 100 dreambones so she can hide 50 of them for the hard times, and you will find them in places you never knew she'd been, usually still clean-ish and not gross but NOT ALWAYS.

On the plus side, when you ignore the lose bolt in her dog stroller too long and it falls out, never to be seen again, the internet can actually teach you enough about nuts and bolts that you can order a correctly sized replacement online, without having to interact with a single human being while still benefiting from humanity's collective wisdom and ingenuity.

I was cleaning yesterday: not the light garden, which I cleaned last week because plants were knocking on the door at the end of September this year, but all around the light garden because sometimes I worry that my laissez-faire attitude toward cleaning will result in a dust dragon, which sounds so much cooler than what I imagine I will find when I pick up all the blankets lying on the floor. (Dreambones, mostly.) There were no dragons, and the dreambones have been thrown away.

My point is, why do I worry so much? ("It's people like you who survive disasters," someone once told me. But waiting to survive a disaster doesn't seem like the most fulfilling use of my life on Earth.)

I have a Chinese journal now; it's mostly private because I'm using it for [community profile] inkingitout this year, but I'm also using it publicly for all the other challenges I've mentioned, and when I'm not tending the plants for hours I collect pictures from my or other local gardens, along with occasional fic recs or notes on the Untamed.

Welcome to follow or not as you wish: this isn't an advertisement, just a PSA given that some of us are in the same communities, and I'm not a big talker but I get that there's no reason to expect [personal profile] xinger ("star") and [personal profile] starandrea are the same person. They are.

In conclusion:
5) Last year's dahlias were yellow; why are they all red now?
6) A single vine can grow so many different kinds of gourds.
7) Glow in the dark bracelets light up night corn mazes.
8) Pledge of the Peony ftw.

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