twistedchick (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
twistedchick) wrote2025-06-01 11:46 pm
twistedchick) wrote2025-06-01 11:46 pm
mific (mific) wrote2025-06-01 11:35 pm
mific) wrote2025-06-01 11:35 pmUpdate, and today I learned...
It's double Sunday here in NZ - Monday's a public holiday, King's Birthday. Agh, that sounds so wrong - it's been Queen's Birthday all my life and I can't get used to the change. Elizabeth I is a hero of mine and even though Elizabeth II was nothing like her, at least she had the name. Anyway, another day to do Sunday things before I have to put out the garbage and tidy my flat so Fionna, who helps me beat it into shape once a week, can see the floor to do vacuuming and get at the kitchen sink without it being full of dishes.
Recently I learned how to warn for Major Character Death. AO3 have been doing a series of explanatory posts, and this time it was on ratings and warnings. I thought I knew what MCD meant although it's a trope I hardly ever write or otherwise depict, but I hadn't thought through what "major" means. I'd assumed it meant a protagonist or leading character from canon and fandom - one of the regulars, like Rodney, John, Teyla or Ronon from SGA, Fraser and the Rays from due South. But no, it means the prominence of the character in my transformative work. So if I write a fic focussing on Chuck the Gate Room technician and I kill him off at the end (he is rather in the front line, that close to the Stargate) then I need to warn for MCD because although he didn't even get a last name in canon, in my fic he was the protagonist. If I get you invested in a character, no matter how insignificant they are in canon, I need to warn you (or use CNTW) if I end up killing them. Makes sense; I just never thought it through before. Same goes for any original characters I invent.
Over at Drawesome we've finished the Mermay challenge and the theme for June is Pride! I hope people still mobilise to support each other in the US, while the corporates abandon their empty, performative support (fuck you, google, home depot, and the rest).
Recently I learned how to warn for Major Character Death. AO3 have been doing a series of explanatory posts, and this time it was on ratings and warnings. I thought I knew what MCD meant although it's a trope I hardly ever write or otherwise depict, but I hadn't thought through what "major" means. I'd assumed it meant a protagonist or leading character from canon and fandom - one of the regulars, like Rodney, John, Teyla or Ronon from SGA, Fraser and the Rays from due South. But no, it means the prominence of the character in my transformative work. So if I write a fic focussing on Chuck the Gate Room technician and I kill him off at the end (he is rather in the front line, that close to the Stargate) then I need to warn for MCD because although he didn't even get a last name in canon, in my fic he was the protagonist. If I get you invested in a character, no matter how insignificant they are in canon, I need to warn you (or use CNTW) if I end up killing them. Makes sense; I just never thought it through before. Same goes for any original characters I invent.
Over at Drawesome we've finished the Mermay challenge and the theme for June is Pride! I hope people still mobilise to support each other in the US, while the corporates abandon their empty, performative support (fuck you, google, home depot, and the rest).
superbadgirl (superbadgirl) wrote2025-05-31 09:19 pm
superbadgirl) wrote2025-05-31 09:19 pmEntry tags:
May (and I've had enough)
I got the 'vid AGAIN. I swear my immune system is now garbage. It never used to be. Pre COVID, I rarely even got colds. This is the third round since October. It just really goes for my throat, too. I've had variations of soreness for six days, with a couple of those pretty severe overnight. It's fine at daytime, but once I lie down it's like someone's shoved a handful of razorblades down my throat.
Anyway. Pretty sure I'm instantaneously impacted. On the 24th I went to pick up a friend at the emergency department - he's newly diagnosed with a-fib and had had an episode requiring care, and couldn't drive home. I had to go back into the unit to listen to the follow up orders, since he was doped up. When I got there, I got an, "Oh, btw, he tested positive for COVID." By the 26th I was feeling the sore throat.
Blargh.
^I have never seen goslings in the wild. They were so cute. Mama immediately deemed me a threat.
^Can't resist 'em.
^Not sure what this is, but it was kinda cool.
^You know, I miss her every day, but since Johnny died my house has been pretty peaceful. I wouldn't say the remaining three are besties, but there are so many less fights and often I'll find all three of them sharing the same window cushion. I guess maybe Johnny was a brat!
^No comment.
Speaking of windows, I signed a contract on 28 May 2024 with a promise of windows by end of summer. I ... do not have windows. And the abysmal communication continues. I emailed the contractor and said, "I feel I need to demand windows or my money back, please." The reply: gosh, sorry for not staying in contact. R's knee surgery recovery hasn't gone as smoothly as we'd hoped, we'll get to you in July."
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF...
Anyway. Pretty sure I'm instantaneously impacted. On the 24th I went to pick up a friend at the emergency department - he's newly diagnosed with a-fib and had had an episode requiring care, and couldn't drive home. I had to go back into the unit to listen to the follow up orders, since he was doped up. When I got there, I got an, "Oh, btw, he tested positive for COVID." By the 26th I was feeling the sore throat.
Blargh.
^I have never seen goslings in the wild. They were so cute. Mama immediately deemed me a threat.
^Can't resist 'em.
^Not sure what this is, but it was kinda cool.
^You know, I miss her every day, but since Johnny died my house has been pretty peaceful. I wouldn't say the remaining three are besties, but there are so many less fights and often I'll find all three of them sharing the same window cushion. I guess maybe Johnny was a brat!
^No comment.
Speaking of windows, I signed a contract on 28 May 2024 with a promise of windows by end of summer. I ... do not have windows. And the abysmal communication continues. I emailed the contractor and said, "I feel I need to demand windows or my money back, please." The reply: gosh, sorry for not staying in contact. R's knee surgery recovery hasn't gone as smoothly as we'd hoped, we'll get to you in July."
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF...
twistedchick (twistedchick) wrote2025-05-31 01:59 am
twistedchick) wrote2025-05-31 01:59 amwhat walking?
Sometime during lockdown in the last four years, my arches fell. They had never been particularly high, but they felt fine in Birkies and so on. But now I am doing foot exercises to get them to show up at all, and if I don't it is really painful to walk any distance.
This cuts into my abiity to regain stamina and general fitness.
The exercises are starting to help significantly, so now all I need is a day or two without a major rainstorm or enough after a rainstorm that I won't be getting wet just by walking around near trees and bushes.
A friend told me that it takes at least 6 months to get one's energy back after COVID. Well, I was diagnosed Jan. 20 and it went for a couple of weeks actively and a few more overall. It took more time to be rid of the bad taste from the Pax than I expected. So I'm still within six months of it. I keep telling myself this.
The other thing that interferes with my health at the moment is variable tinitis, as in it comes and goes, and when it's there I have to find a soundscape in my CALM app that has that tone in it, so that the app's sounds distract me from the one inside my brain. Usually it works, but last night the inner sound had apparently retuned itself (autotune is the plague) and did not match anything on Calm except a wind in the trees, so I wasn't able to sleep, since the 'wind in pines' just didn't work. There is a downside to having perfect pitch and noticing when the inner-produced noises change.
This cuts into my abiity to regain stamina and general fitness.
The exercises are starting to help significantly, so now all I need is a day or two without a major rainstorm or enough after a rainstorm that I won't be getting wet just by walking around near trees and bushes.
A friend told me that it takes at least 6 months to get one's energy back after COVID. Well, I was diagnosed Jan. 20 and it went for a couple of weeks actively and a few more overall. It took more time to be rid of the bad taste from the Pax than I expected. So I'm still within six months of it. I keep telling myself this.
The other thing that interferes with my health at the moment is variable tinitis, as in it comes and goes, and when it's there I have to find a soundscape in my CALM app that has that tone in it, so that the app's sounds distract me from the one inside my brain. Usually it works, but last night the inner sound had apparently retuned itself (autotune is the plague) and did not match anything on Calm except a wind in the trees, so I wasn't able to sleep, since the 'wind in pines' just didn't work. There is a downside to having perfect pitch and noticing when the inner-produced noises change.
lightreads (lightreads) wrote2025-05-30 01:23 pm
lightreads) wrote2025-05-30 01:23 pmEntry tags:
Where the Axe Is Buried by Ray Nayler
Where the Axe Is Buried
4/5. A near future scifi thriller about the violently authoritarian surveillance state (it’s Russia) where the president is downloaded into successive bodies which the population steadfastly pretends not to notice, and the western european powers that have “rationalized,” i.e., installed AI prime ministers. A book about regime destabilization, and surveillance shadows, and thought control, and inception.
I was reading perfectly acceptable books, and then I picked this up and was like oh damn. Now this is good writing. This is tight (less than 100,000 words, probably) and intense and strange and bleak and hopeful. It stradles several genres and as such I suspect will not satisfy a lot of people: too literary and ambiguous for some, too much thriller for others. But this really landed for me.
Dense, chewy, controlled, beautifully written. Terribly sad on the costs of defying authoritarianism. Hopeful, in a complicated way.
Content notes: State violence Disappearances, camps, etc.
4/5. A near future scifi thriller about the violently authoritarian surveillance state (it’s Russia) where the president is downloaded into successive bodies which the population steadfastly pretends not to notice, and the western european powers that have “rationalized,” i.e., installed AI prime ministers. A book about regime destabilization, and surveillance shadows, and thought control, and inception.
I was reading perfectly acceptable books, and then I picked this up and was like oh damn. Now this is good writing. This is tight (less than 100,000 words, probably) and intense and strange and bleak and hopeful. It stradles several genres and as such I suspect will not satisfy a lot of people: too literary and ambiguous for some, too much thriller for others. But this really landed for me.
Dense, chewy, controlled, beautifully written. Terribly sad on the costs of defying authoritarianism. Hopeful, in a complicated way.
Content notes: State violence Disappearances, camps, etc.
esteefee (esteefee) wrote2025-05-28 09:28 pm
esteefee) wrote2025-05-28 09:28 pmit's getting bad people
Hostess Donettes claim to be "America's #1 Mini-donut" but I don't remember there being a nationwide referendum. Just another example of the rampant corruption going on right before our very eyes.
lightreads (lightreads) wrote2025-05-28 03:45 pm
lightreads) wrote2025-05-28 03:45 pmEntry tags:
The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso
The Last Hour Between Worlds
4/5. A single mother, just two months post-partum, gets out for one night to attend a ball in her fantasy city. Which gets complicated when the whole ballroom keeps falling through levels of reality each time the clock strikes, and when her former crush turned professional enemy, the hot lady thief, is also on the case.
This is a lot of fun, and very stylish. Visually, I mean – there’s a lot going on here with what people are wearing and carrying, and with the shifting esthetics of each layer of reality. And you know I’m in favor of adventure books about mothers, particularly very new mothers like this one.
If you’re paying even moderate amounts of attention, none of these plot twists will rock you. But they are all pleasing to unwind, as is the whole book.
Content notes: Violence, temporary character death.
4/5. A single mother, just two months post-partum, gets out for one night to attend a ball in her fantasy city. Which gets complicated when the whole ballroom keeps falling through levels of reality each time the clock strikes, and when her former crush turned professional enemy, the hot lady thief, is also on the case.
This is a lot of fun, and very stylish. Visually, I mean – there’s a lot going on here with what people are wearing and carrying, and with the shifting esthetics of each layer of reality. And you know I’m in favor of adventure books about mothers, particularly very new mothers like this one.
If you’re paying even moderate amounts of attention, none of these plot twists will rock you. But they are all pleasing to unwind, as is the whole book.
Content notes: Violence, temporary character death.
mific (mific) wrote2025-05-28 01:43 pm
mific) wrote2025-05-28 01:43 pmUpdate and recs
We've had a spell of wet autumn weather, but still a few nice sunny days. Auckland's reservoirs are 71% full - an improvement. My Mexican sunflower is in full flowering, probably at its height now. Here's the latest pic. It'll go on being glorious for a few more weeks before I cut it back.
Signalboosting:squidgiepdx has started a DW comm for posting about what people can do to take action, resist and protest in the US, as there's nothing quite like that yet, on DW. It's called ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
communityactionusa.
If you like fibre arts, you might enjoy a 30 minute vid on Netflix called Quilters. It's about life-sentenced men in a Missouri max. security prison who make quilts for local foster kids as part of a rehab programme. They have to be stable and non-violent to join (although all have violent pasts, long ago). Most of them had reached a measure of peace and wisdom after decades inside, and their love for the craftwork was evident. One guy unfortunately blew it and lost access to the programme as he was so obsessed with quilting he took cutting tools and fabric squares back to his cell to keep working, and was caught. You could see him gradually losing it, his sewing getting more erratic and mistakes creeping in, and I did wonder if he was on drugs. But overall it was a heartwarming documentary, and the quilts were beautiful.
Book rec: The Incandescent by Emily Tesh. I devoured this, staying up stupidly late to finish it. It's mostly set in a school for magicians in modern day England, but that's where any similarities to HP end. For one, it's from the POV of a senior teacher and I think anyone who's been a teacher, especially of teenagers, will love it. I grew up with parents involved in teaching of different sorts and that put me off teaching as a career, but this book made the skills and vocation of teaching viscerally real, even tempting. The magic system worldbuilding was excellent, more like mathematics and academically complex, all powered by interactions with demons that weren't religious, just predatory manifestations of wild magic. The school itself was also brilliantly realised, its roots mediaeval and Tudor, but with modern sixties concrete dorms and offices, the whole protected by thaumaturgical engines that sounded like a combination of ancient steam boilers and valve radios, a nightmare to maintain but impossible to replace without closing the school down. It's a private school, so most of the characters were to some degree priviledged, but they took children on scholarships, and a handful of "sorcerers" - kids who manifested innate magic very early, sometimes killing their families accidentally, were fostered within the school. There was good female and diversity rep, the protagonist was bi, and the issue of private schools and priviledge was addressed and explored. CW for some fighting, violence, and an amputation, and a few people are possessed by demons. Gorgeous writing.
Audiobook rec: The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison. The third book about Thara Celehar, Witness for the Dead, with some lovely sections revisiting emperor Maia. The reader was Liam Gerrard who is fantastic and manages Thara's slightly hoarse, ruined voice well. I slways read these books as audiobooks as in print I get hung up on the long, complex names, whereas in audiobook, Liam is incredibly fluent with the names and titles, and it flows. As usual with this series I loved the book, which starts with Thara bereft of his ability to speak with the dead, so while still a prelate, unable to be a Witness. That doesn't stop him investigating various issues, the main one being the fate of ancient cavern-dwelling dragons in the mountains, but also a dysfunctional city cemetary whose past administrator filled rooms with paperwork without actioning anything, where Thara kind of does a Marie Kondo. The heart of the book is about Thara as a Witness, and his sense of self and purpose when that fails. There's also some nice exploration of his platonic but intense friendship with the director of the Vermilion Opera, and a new relationship with a handsome orange-eyed captain of the guard. No real CWs although the nature of his calling means some description of dead bodies, and there's some mostly off-screen violence. Entertaining and satisfying.
TV series: there are some I'm watching avidly but won't review till they're done - Mobland, and Murderbot. Also The Last of Us, but that one I watch kind of masochistically, tensed for the latest horror! Anyway, I've discovered The Rookie featuring Nathan Fillion of Firefly fame (Netflix). It's not new, from 2018, not really grimdark but is of course copaganda. But then a lot of programmes I like are, and I love the West Wing as fantasy wish-fulfillment - this is similar. The show does have some bad apple cops, incompetent detectives, and shows the ruthlessness of the system even though the core cast are good guys. But it has good diversity and female rep although it's persistently het so far. I realise gay cops are likely closeted but they could have shown that, and some gay and trans rep in storylines would be better. (ETA: I've learned there *is* a closeted gay charcter but I'm not at the reveal part yet. But still, only one. :/) Anyway, it's entertaining and I'm watching an ep a day. CW for cop-programme-typical levels of violence, opiate addiction, and some killings.
amberdreams reccd Ludwig which I loved to bits, burning through season 1 in no time. UK murder mystery/cop show starting David Mitchell (brilliant) as a puzzle making and solving genius, very much on the spectrum, investigating his identical twin brother's disappearance by impersonating him as a detective inspector. The structure is comfortingly formulaic (a murder per episode with a Christie-like denoument at the end) and the plot arc about the search for his brother is well-written and ties it all together. Clever, funny, and gripping. CW for cop-programme-typical levels of violence, and some killings, but a bit less than in The Rookie. Mild discomfort esp. initially from his social anxiety, but his humour, competence and obsessive focus work to overcome that.
OK, enough from me. Hugs to you all! How's spring going?
Signalboosting:
squidgiepdx has started a DW comm for posting about what people can do to take action, resist and protest in the US, as there's nothing quite like that yet, on DW. It's called communityactionusa.If you like fibre arts, you might enjoy a 30 minute vid on Netflix called Quilters. It's about life-sentenced men in a Missouri max. security prison who make quilts for local foster kids as part of a rehab programme. They have to be stable and non-violent to join (although all have violent pasts, long ago). Most of them had reached a measure of peace and wisdom after decades inside, and their love for the craftwork was evident. One guy unfortunately blew it and lost access to the programme as he was so obsessed with quilting he took cutting tools and fabric squares back to his cell to keep working, and was caught. You could see him gradually losing it, his sewing getting more erratic and mistakes creeping in, and I did wonder if he was on drugs. But overall it was a heartwarming documentary, and the quilts were beautiful.
Book rec: The Incandescent by Emily Tesh. I devoured this, staying up stupidly late to finish it. It's mostly set in a school for magicians in modern day England, but that's where any similarities to HP end. For one, it's from the POV of a senior teacher and I think anyone who's been a teacher, especially of teenagers, will love it. I grew up with parents involved in teaching of different sorts and that put me off teaching as a career, but this book made the skills and vocation of teaching viscerally real, even tempting. The magic system worldbuilding was excellent, more like mathematics and academically complex, all powered by interactions with demons that weren't religious, just predatory manifestations of wild magic. The school itself was also brilliantly realised, its roots mediaeval and Tudor, but with modern sixties concrete dorms and offices, the whole protected by thaumaturgical engines that sounded like a combination of ancient steam boilers and valve radios, a nightmare to maintain but impossible to replace without closing the school down. It's a private school, so most of the characters were to some degree priviledged, but they took children on scholarships, and a handful of "sorcerers" - kids who manifested innate magic very early, sometimes killing their families accidentally, were fostered within the school. There was good female and diversity rep, the protagonist was bi, and the issue of private schools and priviledge was addressed and explored. CW for some fighting, violence, and an amputation, and a few people are possessed by demons. Gorgeous writing.
Audiobook rec: The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison. The third book about Thara Celehar, Witness for the Dead, with some lovely sections revisiting emperor Maia. The reader was Liam Gerrard who is fantastic and manages Thara's slightly hoarse, ruined voice well. I slways read these books as audiobooks as in print I get hung up on the long, complex names, whereas in audiobook, Liam is incredibly fluent with the names and titles, and it flows. As usual with this series I loved the book, which starts with Thara bereft of his ability to speak with the dead, so while still a prelate, unable to be a Witness. That doesn't stop him investigating various issues, the main one being the fate of ancient cavern-dwelling dragons in the mountains, but also a dysfunctional city cemetary whose past administrator filled rooms with paperwork without actioning anything, where Thara kind of does a Marie Kondo. The heart of the book is about Thara as a Witness, and his sense of self and purpose when that fails. There's also some nice exploration of his platonic but intense friendship with the director of the Vermilion Opera, and a new relationship with a handsome orange-eyed captain of the guard. No real CWs although the nature of his calling means some description of dead bodies, and there's some mostly off-screen violence. Entertaining and satisfying.
TV series: there are some I'm watching avidly but won't review till they're done - Mobland, and Murderbot. Also The Last of Us, but that one I watch kind of masochistically, tensed for the latest horror! Anyway, I've discovered The Rookie featuring Nathan Fillion of Firefly fame (Netflix). It's not new, from 2018, not really grimdark but is of course copaganda. But then a lot of programmes I like are, and I love the West Wing as fantasy wish-fulfillment - this is similar. The show does have some bad apple cops, incompetent detectives, and shows the ruthlessness of the system even though the core cast are good guys. But it has good diversity and female rep although it's persistently het so far. I realise gay cops are likely closeted but they could have shown that, and some gay and trans rep in storylines would be better. (ETA: I've learned there *is* a closeted gay charcter but I'm not at the reveal part yet. But still, only one. :/) Anyway, it's entertaining and I'm watching an ep a day. CW for cop-programme-typical levels of violence, opiate addiction, and some killings.
amberdreams reccd Ludwig which I loved to bits, burning through season 1 in no time. UK murder mystery/cop show starting David Mitchell (brilliant) as a puzzle making and solving genius, very much on the spectrum, investigating his identical twin brother's disappearance by impersonating him as a detective inspector. The structure is comfortingly formulaic (a murder per episode with a Christie-like denoument at the end) and the plot arc about the search for his brother is well-written and ties it all together. Clever, funny, and gripping. CW for cop-programme-typical levels of violence, and some killings, but a bit less than in The Rookie. Mild discomfort esp. initially from his social anxiety, but his humour, competence and obsessive focus work to overcome that. OK, enough from me. Hugs to you all! How's spring going?
lightreads (lightreads) wrote2025-05-27 01:06 pm
lightreads) wrote2025-05-27 01:06 pmEntry tags:
The Shots You Take by Rachel Reid
The Shots You Take
3/5. Another one of these M/M hockey romances. This one is even less about hockey than usual – old estranged teammates reconnect post retirement when one’s father dies. They have a lot of baggage having to do with how they used to sleep together, and one of them was in love and one of them had a lot of internalized homophobia.
I mean, I suppose someone did have to title a hockey romance that at some point.
Anyway, this one is nice, particularly for having actual adults in it. It also successfully walks that tough line where one half of the pairing treated the other half very poorly in the past, and there’s a lot of justifiable anger, but it is a romance after all so we have to retain some sympathy for both sides. So yeah, I liked this one fine. I’m not liking any romance more than fine at the moment, though, so who even knows what’s good anymore.
Content notes: Parental death and the raw aftermath.
3/5. Another one of these M/M hockey romances. This one is even less about hockey than usual – old estranged teammates reconnect post retirement when one’s father dies. They have a lot of baggage having to do with how they used to sleep together, and one of them was in love and one of them had a lot of internalized homophobia.
I mean, I suppose someone did have to title a hockey romance that at some point.
Anyway, this one is nice, particularly for having actual adults in it. It also successfully walks that tough line where one half of the pairing treated the other half very poorly in the past, and there’s a lot of justifiable anger, but it is a romance after all so we have to retain some sympathy for both sides. So yeah, I liked this one fine. I’m not liking any romance more than fine at the moment, though, so who even knows what’s good anymore.
Content notes: Parental death and the raw aftermath.
esteefee (esteefee) wrote2025-05-27 03:28 am
esteefee) wrote2025-05-27 03:28 amEntry tags:
3 Weeks - 21
You guyssssss I felt a profound sense of satisfaction for completing the Three Weeks challenge and very much enjoyed my long weekend after an exasperating work week only to discover I had one post left! Oh noes!
Fortunately,
runpunkrun and mific gave me something to post about! They did an awesome mcshep collab while I was away and what a treat! So awesome to have terrific art and podfic and story as one. Like the fandom days of old *sobs in old-timey* It was a marvelous distraction from my usual hobby of staring in blank horror at the news. Speaking of which...
I beg everyone to please contact your senators about the Big PoS Bill! For too many reasons, but also because I just found out it includes sneaky provisions that completely undermine the judiciary, including *retroactively* making previous rulings and court orders unenforceable! Such as, oh, orders to return US Citizens and illegally deported immigrants from overseas gulags. The administration is angry at the lower courts for ruling against them, so they are trying to use Congress to render the judiciary impotent. See Section 70302 of One Big Beautiful Bill Act 119th Congress (2025-2026). Not to mention, of course, the bill raises taxes on the poorest, adds trillions to the deficit, drops the tax on gun silencers (what?), chops SNAP, medicare, and medicaid, and lines the pockets of the already wealthy with more and more tax cuts. I want to puke.
If you live the US, please CONTACT YOUR SENATORS and tell them you are so very against this Big Ugly Bill for more reasons than can be counted. Tell them to kill it or they will smell your vengeance come midterms.
Thanks, my friends.
twistedchick (twistedchick) wrote2025-05-24 01:47 am
twistedchick) wrote2025-05-24 01:47 am(no subject)
I discovered a few years ago that when I put substances on my skin I can taste them within 30 seconds, with a few exceptions. That led to not wearing foundation, or most makeup (various flavors of odd), sunscreen (nasty burning plastic flavor, and no, I can't explain why burning), and lipstick (fermented plastic flavor). I can wear eyeliner and some concealers, and that's about it. I can use Burt's Bees plain lipbalm, which has mint oil.
Sunscreen is the problem, though. Since I can't use the chemical stuff, I have been trying to find a natural oil that has a decent SPF. Olive oil is about SPF 4-8, which is something but not enough. I heard that avocado oil is higher than SPF 15, so I swiped some from the kitchen and tried it. Unfortunately, it does not behave like olive oil, which eventually sinks in a little and dulls. The avocado stays shiny and oily looking, enough that someone asked me how hot it was outdoors since she thought it was sweat. Um. not good.
Any thoughts on this? I've tried the light powder sunscreen and it's not enough screen for me.
Sunscreen is the problem, though. Since I can't use the chemical stuff, I have been trying to find a natural oil that has a decent SPF. Olive oil is about SPF 4-8, which is something but not enough. I heard that avocado oil is higher than SPF 15, so I swiped some from the kitchen and tried it. Unfortunately, it does not behave like olive oil, which eventually sinks in a little and dulls. The avocado stays shiny and oily looking, enough that someone asked me how hot it was outdoors since she thought it was sweat. Um. not good.
Any thoughts on this? I've tried the light powder sunscreen and it's not enough screen for me.
mific (mific) wrote2025-05-23 02:06 pm
mific) wrote2025-05-23 02:06 pmNew fic by Punk!
Run don't walk, as a new Stargate Atlantis fic by punk has just gone live! It's a collab where I did the podfic and cover art, and I love the story to bits. It's here on AO3, and here on Punk's DW.
In other news, I'm having fun inserting "mer" into various characters' names for Mermay art. so far, Merdurbot, Aquamer, and Steve MerGarrett. And I organised all my mer art into a series called just stick a mer in it (innuendo fully intended).
My Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia Diversifolia) is gradually getting more spectacular - visitors are starting to comment on it and ask what it is. Here's a pic.
I took that photo yesterday - a lovely, sunny Autumn day. Today it's cloudy, cool and grey, and I'm going to make middle-eastern orange almond cake but as muffins, and will stew all my apples up as the small red ones are decidedly underwhelming but if I add in the 4 remaining Granny Smiths and some lemon juice, it'll be fine. Are you cooking anything interesting? Hugs to you all!
punk has just gone live! It's a collab where I did the podfic and cover art, and I love the story to bits. It's here on AO3, and here on Punk's DW.In other news, I'm having fun inserting "mer" into various characters' names for Mermay art. so far, Merdurbot, Aquamer, and Steve MerGarrett. And I organised all my mer art into a series called just stick a mer in it (innuendo fully intended).
My Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia Diversifolia) is gradually getting more spectacular - visitors are starting to comment on it and ask what it is. Here's a pic.
I took that photo yesterday - a lovely, sunny Autumn day. Today it's cloudy, cool and grey, and I'm going to make middle-eastern orange almond cake but as muffins, and will stew all my apples up as the small red ones are decidedly underwhelming but if I add in the 4 remaining Granny Smiths and some lemon juice, it'll be fine. Are you cooking anything interesting? Hugs to you all!
esteefee (esteefee) wrote2025-05-21 08:05 pm
esteefee) wrote2025-05-21 08:05 pmEntry tags:
3 Weeks - 20
Today I had a bowl of cornflakes for breakfast, my first in a long time, and I realized I slice up my banana the exact same way my pops did: diagonal cuts so the slices fall off the knife instead of sticking to it. I don't remember deciding to adopt his method. But there you go.
How do you slice your banana? Are there other tricks you picked up from parents or friends unconsciously?
lightreads (lightreads) wrote2025-05-21 04:01 pm
lightreads) wrote2025-05-21 04:01 pmEntry tags:
A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
A Drop of Corruption
4/5. Sequel in this fantasy biopunk Holmes & Watson universe.
One of the more successful sequels I’ve read in a long time, in the sense that this accomplishes the task of really blowing up and blowing out the world. I continue to be only middling interested in these characters (and also continue to be puzzled about why this series is first person, aside from the obvious stylistic nod). But the construction of this empire, whose people’s bodies and minds are modified in ways beyond our understanding by methods beyond their understanding, all while the leviathans come ever closer to breaking down the sea walls, is incredibly interesting to me.
I think this book is not as successful in its project of talking about kings and power structures by blood in general. It does that, but our protagonist is not really clocking the implications for his own life as an imperial subject, so it doesn’t quite come together the way intended. The first person gets in the way there, specifically, given our protagonist is not, shall we say, a political or philosophical thinker.
Still, I am way more interested in this now than I was after the first book.
Content notes: Body modification and body horror, threats of infection/contamination.
4/5. Sequel in this fantasy biopunk Holmes & Watson universe.
One of the more successful sequels I’ve read in a long time, in the sense that this accomplishes the task of really blowing up and blowing out the world. I continue to be only middling interested in these characters (and also continue to be puzzled about why this series is first person, aside from the obvious stylistic nod). But the construction of this empire, whose people’s bodies and minds are modified in ways beyond our understanding by methods beyond their understanding, all while the leviathans come ever closer to breaking down the sea walls, is incredibly interesting to me.
I think this book is not as successful in its project of talking about kings and power structures by blood in general. It does that, but our protagonist is not really clocking the implications for his own life as an imperial subject, so it doesn’t quite come together the way intended. The first person gets in the way there, specifically, given our protagonist is not, shall we say, a political or philosophical thinker.
Still, I am way more interested in this now than I was after the first book.
Content notes: Body modification and body horror, threats of infection/contamination.