silveradept | Network

Labs today for urology in a couple weeks; walked up the hill to the CAP for the blood draw. Sunny couple of days, finally, after rains that flooded lower ground

Lights are still up, though I doubt they make it to the Dia dels Reis. This xmas was such a nothing that I'm not resisting it being over, though I told Kevin we have to buy some candles for the darkness that will descend after all the bright colorful lights come down.

My Elemental 3 Catalan class starts the 8th of January, now we just have to not kill one another before then out of boredom or frustration.

And C-A-P in Catalan is one of those words that mean too many things. "Cap cap cap cap cap cap cap." is a perfectly valid sentence. Kind of like that buffalo thing in English.

spikedluv

I did not go downtown today because of the expected (and received) ice. I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered.

I read fanfic and watched Secrets of the Zoo (like, actually watched, it wasn’t just background tv). I also re-watched the first two eps of Mistletoe Murders to gather some information for a fic I’m planning to write (for

smallfandomfest; if you guessed that it’s a crossover with Murder, She Wrote, you’d be right *g*).

Today I tried the Ginger Peach tea. At first I didn’t like it, perhaps the ginger, or the combination, but it actually grew on me.

Temps started out at 32.4(F) and reached 46.8. We got a lot of ice, as you can see from the pics, and wind later in the day. The warm temps melted the ice off the trees before the wind hit, thankfully. But Pip discovered that we have a lot of branches down on top of the hill (aka, above the pine trees).

~*~

Mom Update:

Again, mom sounded good when I talked to her on the phone. She’s been eating and keeping it down. Sister A was there when I called. Also, Sister S showed up yesterday and she and Sister A got out one of the puzzles I gave mom for Christmas. I hope it encourages mom to do some of it. At least she still has visitors, but I feel bad I can’t be one of them right now.

ysabetwordsmith posting in

goals_on_dw

This January, don't change who you are, just try vegan

New Delhi [India], December 9: Veganuary -- the global campaign to try vegan for January and beyond - is today launching its 2026 campaign, titled "New Year, Same You". Since launching in India in 2022, Veganuary has had wide success, and more than 140,000 Indians have already signed up for the 2026 campaign.

With "New Year, Same You", Veganuary is flipping the usual New Year narrative on its head. Instead of pushing people to become someone "better", Veganuary reminds people that taking part does not require changing who they are - just making a few simple swaps that naturally fit into their everyday lives

Get the prompt list. It should also work for vegetarians, flexitarians, climatarians,etc. if you treat it as a "one vegan meal per day" challenge.

Current Mood: busy

mific posting in

fancake

Fandom: Heated Rivalry
Characters/Pairings: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Yuna Hollander/David Hollander
Rating: Teen
Length: 1443
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: toomuchplor on AO3
Themes: canon LGBTQ+ characters, Family, Established relationship, Missing scene

Summary:
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. ~ Thoreau
Or;
What happened when Yuna and Shane were talking.

Reccer's Notes:
I wanted this scene when I watched episode 6, and toomuchplor wrote it! This is what happens between Ilya and David when Shane is outside talking with Yuna. It's also about David observing how in love Shane and Ilya are, and about David and Yuna gradually getting to grips with all the revelations. It's wonderfully written, and just exactly what I'd hoped someone would write. Also, toomuchplor is in the vortex!! *excited noises* (this is plor's 3rd HR fic).

Fanwork Links: Keep Pace

proteinscollide posting in

yuletide

9 recs over at my journal for: IVE, Two Husbands One Wife, Bend It Like Beckham, Billy Elliot, Blackadder, NMIXX, Revenged Love, Sabrina Carpenter - Manchild, Set It Up

dine

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22degreehalo posting in

fancake

Fandom: Night at the Museum
Pairings/Characters: Jedediah/Octavius
Rating: T
Length: 15,551
Creator Links:

flowerdeluce
Theme: Amnesty, (Five) Things, Essential Starter Recs, Friends to Lovers, Heists & Capers, Just Plain Fun, Magic, Research, Slow Burn, Uncommon Settings, Working Together, Worldbuilding

Summary: After discovering how lucrative ‘publicity stunts’ are for the museum, McPhee organises a series of art exhibitions in the museum’s gallery. The installations are refreshed weekly, leaving Jed and Octavius only brief windows of time to explore each one.

Reccer's Notes: An absolutely gorgeous fic which integrates real-world museum exhibits; they all sounded so unique and fascinating it made me want to visit my own local museum, too!! The slow build up of the boys' relationship is also just delightful as they explore these new worlds and the many other ways the museum's magic animates each unique exhibit.

Fanwork Links: On Every Horizon

22degreehalo posting in

fancake

Fandom: The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
Pairings/Characters: Luo Binghe/Shen Qingqiu
Rating: M
Length: 33,372
Creator Links:

ratjamtime1EndRacismintheOTW1
Theme: Amnesty, (Not Really) Unrequited Love, Casefic, Character Development, Clones & Doppelgangers, Favorite Fanworks, Fix-it, Identity Porn, Loyalty Kink, Secret Identity Reveal, Spells & Curses, Trauma & Recovery

Summary: Luo Binghe is setting the beginning foundations of his attempt to prove himself the righteous cultivator Shen Qingqiu could welcome back to his side (and possibly love but let's not get ahead of ourselves here) when he hears his master's life is in peril. He leaps at the chance to prove his goodness and worth to his master.

Luo Binghe learns his master is not the man he thought he was.

AKA

Shen 'Airplane wrote this for an orgy wife plot/love confession but I'll be damned before I do anything like THAT' Qingqiu vs Luo 'If it were not for Shizun, I'd kill everyone on this mountain and then myself' Binghe, FIGHT

Reccer's Notes: Out of all the 'Binghe fights the System and finds out Shen Qingqiu's true identity' fics out there (and there will never be enough to satiate my cravings), this one is my favourite. Please don't be turned off by the grammar: this is such a perfect dissection of the many different parts of Shen Qingqiu slash Shen Yuan, following Binghe through a series of important memories as he pieces together the truth and reaches the core of the rift between he and his Shizun. It just feels so perfectly... conclusive: when it ended all I could do is sit back and bask in the satisfaction because it felt like such a perfect ending for them both!!

Fanwork Links: Peel You Open (Like A Flower, Or An Onion)

22degreehalo posting in

fancake

Fandom: The West Wing
Pairings/Characters: Sam Seaborn/Josh Lyman-focus; also includes Sam/OMC, Josh/Amy and Josh/Donna
Rating: E
Length: 347,597 overall
Creator Links:

jaegecko
Theme: Amnesty, Ambiguous Relationships, Backstory, Character Development, Epic Works, Fandom Classics, Getting Back Together, Missing Scenes, Mutual Pining, Politics, Research, Series

Summary: The Turningverse is a series of stories that interweave with both canon "West Wing" episodes and each other. Each one is self-contained, so feel free to begin anywhere you feel moved to do so.

Reccer's Notes: THE big Sam/Josh fic, and it earns all of its accolades! The author is incredibly knowledgeable about the day-to-day realities of political campaigners and White House staffers, flawlessly interspersing their own original scenes with canon. And the central relationship is so perfectly, tragically flawed: two men who are intrinsically drawn to one another, struggling to overcome the lack of privacy inherent to their position, burgeoning resentment, and some of the most heart-breakingly realistic internalised homophobia I've read in a long time. And that's not to mention the fic's version of Lisa, Sam's initial fiance, who becomes a very important character just as flawed and with just as complicated a relationship with Sam and Josh as they have with another. I devoured these fics and never wanted to stop!

However, be aware that the final fic of the series (the intended second-last part) was never fully completed. As a result, the series never reached the point where the couple gets back together for good. I recommend ending with 'Interlude for two voices' if you can't bear that; I sure stayed there for a while until I could bring myself to go on! :')

Fanwork Links: The Turning universe

smoothbores

Animals of any kind are not there for someone's entertainment, to be
castrated and kept in confinement at home. They are in our lives for companionship and love. The best compliment I ever got was "you let cats be cats!"
I have 2. A a stray (Rob/Robert) who we feed everyday (I sent him for vaxx, deworm & released Rob at the back of my house - he comes multiple times a day to eat ,but he prefers freedom )

chestnut_pod

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Current Mood: mellow
Current Music: City Hall - Vienna Teng

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251229.html

This is the mess that is left when a star explodes.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251229.html

cornerofmadness

I went to bed at 2 AM. It was 64 degrees out (in the Pittsburgh area!) so I opened my windows (Dad likes this place to be an oven) when I wake up at 9 it's 34. By ten its 24 and the sustained winds were over 20 mph with gusts up to 30-40 mph. Mom and my plan to go to the Phipps conservatory was done. Too windy. It was meant to snow (that didn't happen until after 8 pm as it turned out)

But the good omens continue as my parents are both really pissed at prejudice woman and hateful husband. Turns out PW's aunt HAD to go to the doctor today (or get billed for that nursing home rehab stay) so rather than delay their trip home to NC a few hours they pushed taking her onto my 83 year old mom. They didn't even ask ME to do it. They just fucked off south expecting Mom to do it (she did. In that cold. In that wind. Both old ladies are okay) and they didn't even leave early because they were both drunk last night and hung over and only left 5 minutes after mom got to her bestie's house. They could have taken Aunt S2 to the doc. Dad is very protective of mom and he is furious as is mom.

It's also another round of do your damn job. CVS tells me that my insulin is ready but not my wellbutrin. FInally I get cranky and call them and say where is that. Oh, that is out of refills. OMFG
1. I called my doc about that 2 weeks ago so her nurse did NOT do her job
2. CVS did NOT call me once since friday when I called in my refills
3. CVS AI bullshit phone system said there WAS refills

But in doing your job right and going above and beyond goes to whatever Amazon driver showed up in the dead of night and put both of the lightweight envelopes I got (a usb hub in one, my dexcom pretty patches in the other) half under the planter on the front stoop so they wouldn't blow away (we gave them high praise) contrasted with the UPSP dipshit who delivered my Hazbin poster to the man door of dad's detached garage....

I'll be hosting the public domain bingo in January over in

allbingo if you want to come look at some cool creative prompts (but woo boy, this is taking me a lot of time to put together but it's fun though)

Still not getting my story done. Sigh. Power went out a few times today too (wind galloping).

But I did blow off the hill (almost literally) to the post office to get my holiday gift from JK, a super cute p.oed. handmade Husk plushie, some Husk pins and Hazbin stickers. Fun stuff.

Music Monday. This week's prompt is prompt #7 a song you like with no words

( Music under here )

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: Killer Grannies

dialecticdreamer

Belated and Unexpected
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only):
[December 28, 2016]

:: A few days after Christmas, Graham’s plans for the evening are utterly destroyed by the arrival of a postcard. Part of the Polychrome Heroics universe, including both the Mercedes and Finn Family story arcs, with the attentive presence of Genna Saint Croix (of the Strange Family arc). My thanks to

ysabetwordsmith for the suggestion! ::

:: PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION: I use some very, VERY disturbing imagery for the postcard that Graham receives. It is NOT a threat, but the point of it IS to disturb the viewer. If the reader wants to avoid it, skip from the beginning of the third paragraph to the * * * . They interrupt the flow of the scene, but are better than choosing a phrase. ::

Three days after Christmas, Graham dragged himself home after a long, frustrating session with a new client. He walked slowly up the steps, and paused to collect the mail.

Sandwiched between a flyer, business mail, and a bright green envelope from Halley, large enough to hold index-card sized printed photos, was a single handmade postcard.
( Read more... )</cut.

Current Mood: blank

flemmings

So the rain and the 6C temps yesterday removed the snow from the sidewalks as far as I could see, and the wind got up overnight and the temps dropped. So I was prepared for dry pavement today. The corners would still be pretty ridged, but easier to get over than Friday's slush. Only of course I woke up to more snow. This is clearly going to be one of Those Winters. Can only hope the Old Farmer's Almanac is right about December being the worst of it.

However snow on Friday did bring my nursing friend and her son to Christie Pits on Saturday, which is prime tobogganing territory, and they came up the street for a visit. A. has a car now, which is excellent news, because having a job and a kid who must be picked up from after school is extremely dicey with TO's unreliable transit system, especially in winter and especially in a winter like this one. She still has trouble with her rotator cuff: those things take forever to heal. But she brought me a box of chocolates and conversation, both of which were appreciated.

Rearranging books the other day, thought I might as well do a reread of Silverlock, especially now that there's google to tell me all the references I didn't get at 17. The 60 year old paperback is falling apart-- the front cover fell off almost immediately-- so best to read while the reading is good. This counts as putting my enforced homestuckness to a useful purpose, though kanji and Greek would be more so. Five years since my last review of the former, and ohh but those Papuwa doujinshi are reminding me of that fact.

sineala

So everyone in fandom has become obsessed with the gay hockey show, and

lysimache and I watched it a couple days ago. Neither of us care about hockey (I think we are both hoping that fandom decides to care about baseball, though this seems unlikely -- but, hey, it's 42 days until pitchers and catchers report) but we do like gay things a lot.

It was nice? I mean, it's not going to be my new fandom, but I'm not sorry I watched it. I did nearly give up after the first two episodes for narrative reasons that I will explain below.

( Spoilers )

It's only six episodes, so... you might as well watch it if you like gay shows, I guess? It's not bad.

I somehow own the first book. I am not sure yet if I will read it.

Current Mood: okay

adawritesfic

They cross at the front hall, and—Jiang Cheng stares. His head, he registers dimly, is turned: Lan Xichen is singlehandedly maneuvering a rolled-up Purple mattress through the double doors. His muscles are bulging, there’s a light sheen of sweat at his temples, yet he’s barely breathing hard.

Jiang Cheng finds himself eating the man up with his eyes.

Fortunately Lan Xichen is too busy with his bulky burden to notice, and Jiang Cheng manages to smooth out his expression.

“Those things weigh, like, two hundred pounds,” he says, perfectly neutrally. “Let me help you.”

Lan Xichen meets his eyes, and smiles, and Jiang Cheng’s heart is fucking fluttered.

“More like one hundred,” his gorgeous heart flutterer says. “But I’ve got this. You’re willowy, and you look like the studious type. You shouldn’t be doing menial work.”

He says it matter-of-factly, but Jiang Cheng hasn’t been subjecting himself to weekly therapy for two years with nothing to show for it but the improvement to his own mental health.

He’s not sure, between the two of them standing here in this hall, on whose behalf he’s more indignant.

“Lan Xichen.” He addresses his new roommate with a note in his voice that even Wei Wuxian would know for danger. “Are you calling me a nerd, and yourself a meathead?”

Lan Xichen pauses.

“Yes?” he says uncertainly, and shifts, and rests the Purple mattress on the wood floor.

“Are you, by chance, in high school?”

“No?” he answers, no less uncertainly.

“Are there activities you enjoy that don’t require the use of your—frankly impressive, but that’s beside the point—muscles?”

Lan Xichen looks like he doesn’t quite know up from down.

“Yes?” he says.

“Such as?”

“Watercolor,” he answers, without hesitance this time. “And calligraphy.”

“What else?”

“The flute.”

Momentarily distracted from his interrogation by the mental image of his beefcake heart flutterer handling a flute, no doubt expertly, Jiang Cheng promptly dismisses it and presses on.

osprey_archer

And Picture Book Advent draws gently to a close. A note for my future self: although traditionally Advent ends on December 24, I think it would be nice to have a final picture book for the morning of Christmas. (My sister-in-law’s large extended family does a BIG Christmas, so we’ve simply ceded Christmas Day to them and have our own little family Christmas later on, which leaves Christmas morning open.)

Because of the way the dates of Advent fell, I had only two books left to review. First, The Wee Christmas Cabin at Carn-na-ween, by Ruth Sawyer, illustrated by Max Grafe, a picture book version of a story I first read in Sawyer’s story collection The Long Christmas. After a lifetime helping out in one cabin after another, with never a home of her own, old Oona is at last driven from her final house on Christmas Eve… only for the Good Folk to build her a house, and grant her wish that every white Christmas hence, the hungry and the lonely will be able to find her home for succor.

A lovely story. Another solid example from Sawyer that the spirit of Christmas is “generosity” and not “copious evergreens.”

And second, The Christmas Sweater, Jan Brett’s new Christmas book this year! Theo’s Yiayia knitted an extremely gaudy Christmas sweater for his dignified pug Ari. Hoping to win Ari over to the cozy warm sweater, Theo takes her for a snowshoe in the woods… only for a fresh fall of snow to obliterate his tracks! But fortunately, Ari(adne)’s sweater caught on a twig near the edge of the woods, so they can follow the unraveled yarn back home.

From the dedication, it looks like one of Brett’s children married into a Greek family, and this book is an homage to that family connection. I particularly enjoyed Ari’s expressive face, and indeed all the dogs running around in the snow in this book.

delphi

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merrileemakes posting in

booknook

Arms Race: And other stories By Nic Low

Nic Low is a writer of Ngāi Tahu and European descent who divides his time between Melbourne and Christchurch. His writing on wilderness, technology and race has been widely published and anthologised on both sides of the Tasman. His first book was Arms Race, a collection of speculative fictions shortlisted for the Readings and Steele Rudd prizes, and named a New Zealand Listener and Australian Book Review book of the year.

This was a real mixed Dog of stories, not in quality or interest but in tone. They ranged from very speculative future dystopias to... I don't even know what the counter to spec fic is. Normie? Mundane? I can't remember the last time I read garden variety fiction. But one of the Low's mundane stories was a total riot - 'Rush' describes a group of First Nations Australians styling themselves as the Aboriginal Land Council of Minerals and digging up a war memorial in central Melbourne to prospect for gold. It was bang on in tone and hilarious in the way it perfectly captured the double standards and unconscious (or just fucking conscious, really) bias of colonised Australia. (hey remember the time when a brown muslim woman tweeted on ANZAC day about the human rights violations Australia was inflicting on (brown and mostly muslim) refugees and the backlash was so strong she lost her job, had to move house and eventually had to flee the country?)

I had to check to see when this book was published to work out which of the many sacred First Nations sites destroyed by the resources industry could have prompted this story, but considering the book is 11 years old there's too many to even consider.

I also really liked 'Facebook Redux', about a 70 year old millennial who digs up his old Facebook Profile to find his dead wife's old profile and gets scammed by Russian AR hackers. A really prescient story about what we broadcast online and how it can be used against us.

Low's style of not using quotation marks for speech was a bit challenging to get used to, but it was worth persevering to experience the depth and variety of these well-crafted stories.

5/5 stars. Some of these stories will stay with me for a long time.

Current Music: Tuck Shop Ladies - Hi Vis

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Other stops along the line

Mind the Gaps, for they are often larger than they appear

Network

cap al CAP cap a Cap d'Any

The Day in Spikedluv (Monday, Dec 29)

Veganuary

Heated Rivalry: Keep Pace by toomuchplor

Yuletide 2025 recs

save your energy. save yourselves. avoid the planet Earth at all costs

NATM: On Every Horizon by flowerdeluce

SVSSS: Peel You Open (Like A Flower, Or An Onion) by ratjamtime1EndRacismintheOTW1

The Turning Universe by Jae Gecko

Plato the Cat

A whole entire year's worth of nonfiction

(no subject)

It's been a weird day

Belated and Unexpected (part 1 of 1, complete)

(no subject)

Heated Rivalry

Today's darling

Picture Book Advent Wrap-Up

2025 Writing Wrap-Up

Review: Arms Race: And other stories by Nic Low

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December 2025

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