ishie | Network

I had to quit out of this afternoon's virtual memorial for

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.

Current Music: Cornershop, "Brimful of Asha"

longficmod posting in

fandom5k

Matching is complete, and assignments have been sent!

I hit the button five minutes ago, but as far as I can tell, emails haven't been sent. Hopefully there's just a short delay. To see your assignment without the email, you can go to the collection profile on AO3, then click the My Assignments link.

I encourage you to get in touch at fandom5kmod@gmail.com if you have any questions or concerns about your match.

If your recipient included a link to a letter but that letter is unfinished, please give it a couple of days before asking me to contact them--I was able to get assignments out early this year, and your recipient may have expected to have a little more time.

I'll be posting pinch hits soon! As last year, I will offer the option for you to request a swap from your current assignment to any open pinch hit.

muccamukk

Whoever wrote this has read a non-zero amount of The Comfortable Courtesan.

pauraque

In the grim future year of 2021, safety is found only in certain walled communities, while lawlessness prevails in outlying areas. While driving through the California desert to visit family, a doctor and his twin teenaged daughters are captured by members of an isolated cultlike group whose founder was the sole survivor of a deep space mission to Proxima Centauri. The prisoners expect to be killed if they don't escape, but it might be even worse—the former astronaut and his followers carry an alien pathogen that gives them strange powers and bizarre compulsions, and they want to infect their three captives.

This was the last-published book in the Patternist series, but the third one I've read, as I'm following the suggested chronological reading order. I was warned that in this reading order it's totally opaque how this book relates to the others, which certainly is the case! The only apparent connection is Clay Dana, a minor character from Mind of My Mind who is said in this book to have invented interstellar travel using his psionic abilities. But the other characters don't seem to be aware of the telepathic Patternists as a group, so it seems that in the intervening decades they've managed to continue influencing society without fully revealing themselves.

Reading it basically as a stand-alone, the book seems to be about what it means to be human. It questions the dichotomy of human and monster, as the "ordinary" humans of the lawless desert prove more brutal and violent than the infected half-aliens are. The characters assume that allowing the pathogen to spread across Earth would be a bad thing, but when you see what human society is becoming, you wonder if altering more people's nature might be an improvement.

I felt that the book was too long, which is surprising at just over 200 pages. The characters are strongly written (as expected from Butler) but I think there might be too many of them, and sometimes the same events are needlessly reiterated from multiple POVs. I also had trouble with the level of violence. I didn't think it was gratuitous since it seemed necessary for the book to make its thematic points as I understood them; violence is just hard for me to read and there's a lot of it here, including rape and the constant threat of rape.

It'll be interesting to see how my perspective changes once I've read the whole series and seen what readers knew of the Patternist universe when these prequels were published. Worth noting that I will indeed be reading Survivor, a book in the series that's been out of print for ages because Butler apparently hated it. Very curious about that one.

mecurtin posting in

fandom_checkin

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Sunday, April 12, to midnight on April 13 (8pm Eastern Time).

Poll #34470 Daily check-in poll

This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 22

How are you doing?

I am OK
11 (50.0%)

I am not OK, but don't need help right now
11 (50.0%)

I could use some help
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single
9 (40.9%)

One other person
8 (36.4%)

More than one other person
5 (22.7%)

Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.

ysabetwordsmith

In scholastic philosophy, "quiddity" was another term for the essence of an object, literally its "whatness" or "what it is." It's the quality that makes something what it is.

My partner Doug mentioned it tonight, and I had only seen it in Scrabble dictionaries. Try to lay that one over a triple word score. It's 8 letters but you can build it onto quid, id, dit, or it.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Annexation Is a Promise Cities Rarely Measure

When cities expand their boundaries, they aren’t just adding land, they’re taking on decades of financial obligations that short-term metrics fail to capture.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

senmut

I still haven't found a new fandom to immerse in.

FTH 2026 is proceeding apace:

~ 3,371/5k - 1st auction (Doctor Who)
~ 2,350/5k - 2nd auction (Multi-fic fulfillment [thank you so much, recipient!] that has a completed Highlander fic. Toying with my options for the next part.)
~ 2,030/5k - 3rd auction (Also Multi-fic fulfillment, but all will be DCU comics)
~ 3,006/5k - 4th auction (Star Wars, pre-Prequels era)
10,757/20k - OVER HALFWAY!

I only have one work in progress, a sequel to a previous fic, that is going to be at least twice the length of the original. Just having too much fun playing with different dynamics for the Do'Urdens.

I think, given how much my new Queensryche playlist is soothing me, I am going to be making more dedicated artist playlists. As many of my FAVORITES still have albums I can't stand, or songs I skip every time. Corey Hart will likely be the next one I make in this fashion.

Trying to decide what book to read again. No, nothing new. I am... not coping with new books. I need a tried and true. Clan of the Cave Bear was very happy-making to revisit, but not sure I want to read any of the others. Maybe a McCaffrey or a Heinlein... or back to Barsoom again.

Sense8 rocked my socks. Some difficult moments to get through, but then Black Sails was the same. No fic vibes in my soul for either fandom. Hey, wait, maybe I can start watching Ted Lasso and see what happens, since I already drabble in it.

james_davis_nicoll

Exit Orban, at least for now.

sheliak

Finally finished my icon progression post for 2025 and posted it to

icontalking!

Also, while I never actually posted my progression post for 2024 over there, I did finish it.

2025

2024

ysabetwordsmith

Tropical trees favor cooperation over competition

Step into a tropical forest, and something feels different right away. The air feels rich, the ground feels alive, and every plant seems part of a bigger system.

This sense of connection is not just your imagination. Science now shows that trees in these forests actively support one another, creating a strong and balanced ecosystem.

Current Mood: busy

goss posting in

drawesome

We recently lost a very dear member of our community here at

drawesome.

minoanmiss loved creating and connecting with people. She was a really special person, and her thoughtful packages, art postcards and stickers brought so much joy to those in her orbit.

We say goodbye to our friend

minoanmiss, and will always remember her fondly.

Remembering Minoanmiss

You're welcome to share your own pictures and remarks about

minoanmiss in the comments of this memorial post.

Here are some of her artworks that she sent me over the years, including from our annual community card exchange: ( Photos )

Written by

mekare:

"Minoanmiss was an active participant right from the start of our drawesome community back in 2017. In her own words: "This community has been absolutely WONDERFUL for me, and I can't say enough how much I enjoy participating here."

She let everyone feel welcome, commenting, drawing for almost every challenge (sometimes multiple pieces) and suggesting many creative challenge ideas herself (a lot of which were later used to spark everyone's creativity).

Her first artistic contribution was Poison Ivy for the second challenge, and she continued to delight us with more characters from comics universes, mermaids, figures from mythology and of course Minoan ladies (sometimes in space).

We are going to miss her dearly."

♥

highadrenalinemod posting in

highadrenalineexchange

Hello hello!

All of our pinch hits have been claimed, but as the pinch hitters will require a bit more time to work on the assignments, the collection opening has been pushed to Sunday April 19th, at 10:00pm ET.

We still have five open assignments that need to come in before that due at various points throughout the week, with the latest deadline being Saturday, April 18th, at 10:00pm ET, so I expect to have updates for us on the status of the collection opening before or at that time.

Now would be a good time to finish up final polishing for any works already submitted, check in on our short treats collection, and take a break from our keyboards and perhaps try to detox HAP from their caffeine binge.

Good luck to all pinch hitters still working on assignments and good luck for everyone putting the finishing touches on works! We're almost there!

luzula

Today Egon was taken by a goshawk, which ate at his body for a while before we discovered it had happened. I hope he died quickly. We will mourn you, Egon: you will never again cuddle with Eva, nor mate with a flirty female. I have tears in my eyes as I write this.

E and I took what was left of his body and salvaged his heart, liver, kidneys, one half of his breast, and one leg for us to eat. Although afterwards we discovered this page and realized there was more we could have used. I also examined what I realized must be the gizzard, which was quite interesting--I totally see now how they can swallow whole oat and barley grains and have them be crushed by the gravel in that strong hollow piece of muscle. It's strange to look at the other ducks now and know what they look like inside.

I made a three-course meal tonight, containing four things I have never cooked before, marked by numbers:
Starter: Duck heart, liver, and kidneys (1), fried with soy sauce, sesame oil, Sichuan pepper, garlic, rice wine, and a little bean paste. Thank you, Egon, it was delicious.
Main course: Hamburgers with acorn patties (2) and homemade French fries (3), with carrot slaw, homemade mayonnaise, grated homemade cheese, and chili sauce. The acorns had been leached for a long time and made quite a good base for minced "meat".
Dessert: Crème brûlée (4) flavored with rum, seared with E's new gas burner. It is really for killing weeds that have just sprouted, but why not take advantage?

olivermoss

Happy 100th (and possibly final?) meeting of Sid and Ovi to all who celebrate.

Neither team is my team, but I am feeling to a pull to watch anyway... must resist, I need to get some stuff done today

settiai

Pride's Solace, a Dragon Age exchange focusing on Solas, when live a little while ago. I ended up getting not one but two lovely gifts from it!

First up is a fleeting moment, focusing on Lucanis & Solas & Spite post-Tearstone Island in DA:V.

Then there's Garden of Statues, focusing on Solas & Tarquin with Tarquin meeting Solas sometime pre-DA:V. There's also a lovely bit with Ashur towards the end.

Current Mood: cheerful

umadoshi

Our impending new raised planter is still showing as scheduled to arrive tomorrow while we're both home/not working, so here's hoping!

We just spent a while sifting through some seed listings on the Halifax Seed website (and I mostly kept myself from looking at tomato seeds, since we are not growing any tomatoes from seed*).

*I really wish there were some indication of what tomato varieties will be offered as seedlings, and also wish I knew if the different plant nurseries tend to offer similar varieties of tomato seedlings or not. (ALSO-also, we need to decide whether to focus on trying a few different types to see how we like them vs. focusing on a few determinate plants with the intention of just processing most/all of the fruit into sauce.)

(The seedling sale from a relatively nearby nonprofit that I'm hoping to make it to does offer a short list of potential varieties of things, with the caveat of "These are all the options that we have intended to grow but as all farmers and gardeners know, not every crop pans out. We apologize in advance if some of these options are unavailable, or not ready." For tomatoes, it says "Roma, Brandywine, Scotia +more! / Tropical Sunset, Sungold, Red Torch +more!")

But as noted yesterday, we don't plan to put tomatoes in the actual planter anyway. Thoughts for the actual planter so far: ( thoughts + variety notes )

Current Mood: hopeful

princessofgeeks

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: tired

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy and warm with howling wind.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches plus a brown-headed cowbird.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I did some work around the patio.

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I emptied the bag of raised bed soil into the hollow by the garden shed.

I picked up the big branch in the south lot.

A third tuft of violet leaves is blooming yellow. That's three now, although this one is smaller. I'm so happy that my yellow violets are spreading. :D 3q3q3q!!!

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I picked up more big branches in the orchard and moved them to the firepit.

I've seen a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder. I heard a bluejay screaming above the south lot but didn't see it.

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I picked up more big branches in the savanna and moved them to the firepit.

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I picked up more big branches in the savanna and moved them to the firepit.

I saw two bluejays high in the trees above the house yard, bobbing up and down, screeching at each other. \o/

It's trying to spit rain.

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I picked up more big branches in the savanna and moved them to the firepit. We also dragged the biggest branch to the side where it won't block the mow path.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

olivermoss

One the Kraken's baby goalies got their first NHL start last night and I need to talk about it

* He won, with a .963% save average. He had a bit of a softball opponent, but that's a good thing for a first game. He made some insane glove saves, stopped play by throwing himself at the puck. He's still cooking, but that was a splashy debut.

* He made a lot of solid passes to our Ds, very active goalie.

* Kokko passed to Kakko. Our announcers had to mention both Kaapo Kakko and Nikke Kokko in the same sentence repeatedly, and man I've wanted that all season.

* Other team pulled their goalie, so Kokko went for it, he took a shot on goal in his debut. He didn't get it, but it was a solid try. Then...

* In his post game interview was like "I tried to score before Joey, that was it" Joey is our main goalie, who famously regularly practices shooting in full goalie gear because he wants a goalie goal. He has the most NHL points of any goalie, and has taken multiple shots in the same game. And the kid make a stab at beating him to the punch.

He got the start, the win, first star, fish yeet and the helmet. And then teased the face of the franchise. He had an insane night.

The other thing that is nuts is why *neither* of our goalies for yesterday's game had a single NHL start before last night. They are both call ups. The Kraken roster 3 goalies, which is unusual. We got criticized for it a lot at the start of the year, but people quickly shut up. Between it being an Olympic year, everything about the state of the goalie market and one of our goalies getting a serious injury and being out most of the season, it was clearly shown to be a good move. Other teams have had some drama and ongoing problems with their netminders.

But it gets worse. We've got an usual amount of contracted goalies overall, not just on our NHL team. Last night our AHL team had to dress one of their goalie coaches for the game. We've gone from an overflow of goalies to nabbing people from the support staff. It's not any one thing. Murray has an undisclosed family situation. LaFountaine is sick. Gru took an on-ice injury and got pulled mid-game and is still out. Joey took an on-ice injury and played through the pain to a win, but is now recovering from that.

Goalie is a very specialized position. Ds and Fs are in much larger pools, and you can always run one less D or make a D play F. 4 out across the franchise is insane. We aren't the only franchise with goalie problems right now, but in our case it's just... shit happens. And the good news is that the chaos lead to a goalie having an amazing debut. The assumption that Nikke will replace Gru in a few years, he's being developed to help anchor an NHL team. So, that debut and running an all-rookie line was a look at where things are headed.

&c

ishieland, for fic!
twitter, for boring!

tumblr, for stones!
tumblr, for spam!

pinboard, for links!

last.fm, for music!

a banger in the mouth

Network

From the morning past the evening to the end of the light

Assignments out!

The Other Bennet Sister (2026)

Clay's Ark by Octavia E. Butler (1984)

Daily Check-In

Vocabulary: Quiddity

Economics

Fannish Update

Vance Effect Works Again

Icon Progression 2025 (and 2024)

Nature

Admin Post: Remembering Minoanmiss

Final Delay; all pinch hits picked up

Farm update - RIP Egon

(no subject)

Pride's Solace

Garden pre-PRE(?)-planning. Or something.

Heated Rivalry recs

Birdfeeding

Nikke Kokko

&c

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