prysmicdork | Reading

I used decaf to make coffee granita last night, and I had it for dessert this evening along with a dollop of homemade whipped cream, and it seems to have worked out all right - no late evening side effects of caffeine that I can feel. And I think it's better later in the day as a treat than as my morning coffee, because I eat it so quickly and also it's sweet. I don't put any sugar in my regular coffee, but granita requires it so it doesn't freeze solid. I used vanilla sugar but can't really detect the vanilla (or, rather, differentiate it from the vanilla in the whipped cream).

Also, they were on sale, so I bought a pack of paper plates and they made cleanup after cooking so easy that I remembered why I used to use them regularly back before I had a dishwasher. My plan to replace my dead dishwasher is to try the 4th of July sales - Friend L is going to join me at the store to see if the model I want (Bosch) actually fits in the space I've got (and if it goes on sale - it did not for Memorial Day, that I saw, but maybe I don't need the more expensive/top-of-the-line model? It's just that it has something that will allegedly turn the machine off if it senses a leak, which seems like a good thing to have, especially when you live in an apartment above other people and are responsible if any leakage causes damages below you). Anyway, July is a three-paycheck month, which gives me some leeway for paying most of it off ASAP and not increasing my credit card debt any more than I have to.

*

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Mets vs Rockies on tv

alethia

For once posting at a reasonable hour!

Lay Claim (5022 words) by Alethia
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Pitt (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jack Abbot/Michael "Robby" Robinavitch
Characters: Jack Abbot (The Pitt), Michael "Robby" Robinavitch, Emery Walsh
Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Complicated Relationships, Possessive Behavior, Porn
Summary:

After Jack and Robby finally got serious, it came as a surprise.

When a patient's sister returned in the morning—bearing donuts and a smile that was half-chagrined, half-determined, her thank you note including a phone number—Jack was flattered. He was still charting, long past when he should have gone home, but he was glad he stayed. Not because of the phone number, though that was always a nice ego boost. But because of Robby. The way Robby's eyes went flinty when he realized why the woman was there. His smile tight. Shoulders tense. On the surface, perfectly polite. In reality, a storm.

Jack never expected Robby to be possessive.

Current Mood: busy

musesfool

The Mets lost a game yesterday they should have won, but I guess it doesn't matter that much because they took the season series from the Dodgers, which means if they are both divisional winners and meet in the NLCS in October, the Mets will have home field advantage. I mean, it would have been nice for them to win on a day when both Atlanta and Philly lost, but I guess you can't have everything.

Anyway, staying up for the previous games in the series (they were out in LA) caught up with me and I couldn't keep my eyes open last night, so I ended up going right to bed at 8:30. It wasn't even fully dark yet! But I slept through till 4:15, got up to use the bathroom, and then slept through again till my alarm went off at 8:15, so I guess I really needed it. I had a lot of dreams, but the one that stuck with me was something where I was already in the hospital visiting someone, and the doctor was like, "we need to talk about your appendix, it needs to come out!" And I was like, "that's news to me since I haven't had an appendix since 1976!" (truth!) And she was like, "what?" and I was like, "what?" and then the dream moved on - I don't remember anything else.

There's really not a whole lot else going on. Work is busy - our CFO keeps trying to steal me away from my boss, but like, there's nothing in Finance for me to do? My main job is board support, and that belongs either in legal or the CEO's office, so...*hands* I guess if something ever happened to my position I might consider trying to transfer, but I just don't see how that would work. No one is indispensable, but no one else in this organization does what I do (and frankly, no one else wants to). If a new CEO comes in and has different ideas, that could be a problem, but I'm trying not to think about that too much. There are closer threats to my job right now. *gestures at everything*

*

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Dreams - Fleetwood Mac

cimorene

...to learn to drive stick shift, which I did not learn as a teenager. (Automatic transmission is rare here.)

Email received from the school: "Welcome! Your place is booked and here's your password for our website! We suggest that you proceed in the following order: 1. Apply for a learning permit from the government at [This Link]; 2. Start reading the theory lessons on our site; 3. Come in and book driving lessons at your local office once you receive the permit!"

I clicked on [This Link], thinking, "How nice - I didn't have to search the government website for the link myself!"

An hour and a half later, I have six browser tabs open in three languages from two different government-related sites and am waiting for my wife to get off work so she can read them and check my comprehension, or do I really have to book an appointment to visit a government-associated office to make the application in person?

it's good to have your application filled out in advance when you visit this office,🙂

but you can't get it anywhere else but this office. 🤔

They want you to make an appointment in advance when you visit this office,🙂

even though they want you to just drop off the papers when you're there,🙂

which they want you to have prepared in advance,🙃

even though they won't give them to you in advance?? I'm. 🫠

Current Mood: Doing Stuff Was a Mistake

sakana17

This week I watched Dept. Q (2025) on Netflix. Set in Edinburgh, it stars Matthew Goode as a detective who is assigned to a newly formed cold case unit.

It was pretty good. (Spoilers)

It's based on a novel series and felt like it, not necessarily in a bad way. It had a bit more graphic violence & gore than I wanted to see, and a major part of the mystery they're investigating is highly disturbing, especially if you have claustrophobia.

Matthew Goode's character falls into the "brilliant asshole" type of detective, which I'm bored with, but Goode played it well and there were signs that he cares a little beneath his assholish exterior. I liked the rest of the team: Rose, Hardy, but especially Akram. I loved Akram!

Good to see Mark Bonnar again. :D

Mystery-wise? Meh. I think I'm too jaded. I had the whodunnit figured out early and could guess at why they did it, despite some major details kept until the final reveals. I'm always bothered by elaborate revenge schemes that involve sizable infrastructure and investment, and though the show leaned heavily into the disturbing atmosphere of it, I could never shake my feeling of "oh puhlease." At least there was some explanation for how they happened to have such things lying around, but I kept wondering about their electricity bills... But the thing that bugged me the most was that it took 4 years for Merritt to figure it out. Really? When she had literally nothing else to do?

Mehness about the mystery aside... I'd watch another season of it should there be one. Mainly for Akram. But also because I'm curious about the unsolved shooting that is probably going to lead to a major corruption scandal because these things usually do. And it was fun to see Edinburgh.

For something completely different in tone, I started watching the Japanese series Inheritance Detective | 相続探偵 (2025), also on Netflix, because it stars Akaso Eiji, who played Adachi in Cherry Magic. I've only watched one episode so far but I enjoyed it enough to keep watching. It has the adapted-from-a-manga style and feel, but I'm kind of used to that by now.

After a groupwatch of it, I'm rewatching the Korean BL Love Tractor | 트랙터는 사랑을 싣고 (2023). It's short (8 episodes of ~25 minutes each) and sweet, with humor and the right amount of seriousness. Great for escapist distraction.

New promo pics are out for upcoming The Truth 3 Bai Yu costumes. (Don't ask me. But compare it to Liu Yuning's look for the same case.) (IDEK) I feel like this season the show figured out half of the fun for the audience is seeing them dressed up in outlandish costumes and decided to run with it. (I don't think anything will top the pirate look, though.)

cimorene

"I never know what I mean in my telegrams—especially those I send from America."

—Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady

cimorene

I have a long-term To-Do list, and last week I got this list down to two items, one of which was oiling the sewing machine so I don't really count it, and took myself quite by surprise. You wouldn't think that would be possible, and yet I found myself unexpectedly with Only One Thing On The To-Do List.

And I said to myself "Wow, this thing won't take that long! I will probably finish it quickly and easily tomorrow!" (I still haven't finished it.)

Only then the next day I woke up with a whole long list of things I suddenly needed to do first: clean the counter, paint my nails, have a bunny photoshoot, sweep the bunny cages, ink my italic pens and photograph sample writing. I thought vaguely in there, "Maybe I won't get it done today, but soon!" Except then I finished all those things in the day and also finished reading the book I was closest to the end of. (If I'd just done the last thing on the list instead of reading, I'd've finished after all.)

And that's when it occurred to me that I've been putting off the tasks on this To-Do list not simply because they are difficult or intimidating, but to avoid finishing my To-Do list.

At the end of the To-Do list lie all the other things that I should do, but don't know how to start! (Like removing a lot of wallpaper, because I've already tried several ways that don't work that well. We probably need to build scaffolding, which isn't something we are at all qualified to build.) Even worse, items like "Find more social activities and make more friends" are down there! They're things with a sense of 'should' but with no obvious first steps or convenient handles for executive function to get hold of.

What's more, I realized that I would never even have realized this (that I was trying not to finish the To-Do list) if I hadn't hurt my shoulder and had to stop knitting.

Because all this winter I've been furiously occupying myself with knitting, knitting itself has been serving me as a bottomless To-Do list.

This To-Do list dysfunction also means that anything I don't urgently or impulsively do at once - anything which then lands on the list - is in danger of being indefinitely procrastinated, even if there's nothing inherently difficult or anxiety-causing about it (like buying another batch of ebooks, so actually the list now has two things besides oiling the sewing machine again).

cimorene

Neve the wild mini phalaenopsis orchid started to bloom! From above you can kinda see the size difference compared to Georges and Ella next to her. She's got so many buds already.

Wax's philodendron Jungle Boogie or Henderson's Pride, if that is in fact the one it is (apparently hard to tell, came without a proper label, on sale after being sadly mistreated at a hardware store), has made a new leaf recently and it's making a branch. I really love the leaves which are very majestic, but I keep trying and failing to get pictures of it. It's just so large and the light is from the wrong direction where it lives.

runpunkrun

Photograph with added text: Female Relationships, at Fancake. Four old Nepalese women sit together on a low brick wall, their feet dangling, most of them barefoot, their shoes kicked off below them. They're dressed in loose patterned fabrics in various shades of red and the mood is relaxed.

fancake's theme for June is Female Relationships! That's any kind of relationship with any kind of female—cis, trans, alligator priestess, whatever you got! We already have recs in Star Trek Reboot, Mo Dao Zu Shi/Chen Qing Ling, a stop animation film featuring Barbie dolls and a Cher song (yes, it's as amazing as it sounds), Ghosts (US), and King Falls AM.

If you have any questions about this theme, or the comm, come talk to me!

cimorene

Speaking (as I did yesterday) of calligraphy practice, here's a quote from The Talisman that's funny, but not because it's homoerotic.

( transcription )

Final emphasis mine.

Lettered in modified Carolingian (or "Caroline") style in Diamine Jade Green with 1.1-mm oblique stub nib vintage Pelikan 400. Heading in Rotunda (aka southern european Textualis or gothic). Atribution in chancery cursive.

(Knowing Walter Scott's feelings about the famous flaws in medieval Catholic doctrine, I thought at first that this was deliberate. But it's highly unlikely, since The Talisman was published in 1825. That Austrian guy who noticed that deaths after giving birth were associated with doctors delivering after autopsies and famously got hounded out of medicine for advocating handwashing was not until 1847.)

And another calligraphy unrelated to germ theory or medicine:

( transcription )

Top: Humanist majuscule+minuscule in Sailor Yuki-akari ink with Lamy Safari 1.1-mm stub nib.
Bottom: Chancery cursive in Diamine Jade Green with Pelikan 400 oblique stub nib.

runpunkrun

Miserable teenage lesbian makes bad dating (and life) choices while her best friend looks miserable about it: A Graphic Novel.

I didn't love all the bad choices and self-induced misery, but I did enjoy how effortlessly queer this is, and the ebb and flow of the friend group. I also loved how on target the fortune teller's advice was, but that Freddy was just too deep in her own bullshit to understand it. The greyscale art is modern and expressive, with a lot of movement and delightful pink highlights. A good read, and the ending improves on the beginning.

Also the cover is just so good.

Contains: infidelity; unplanned pregnancy; abortion.

musesfool

Work was nuts today, especially since I was out on Friday and some of my cow-orkers apparently just waited around for me to come back instead of sending an email themselves. Plus I had 2 committee meetings (unusual - we try not to do that unless we absolutely can't avoid it) but luckily 1 only lasted 15 minutes, so I was able to knock out the minutes in about a similar amount of time. *g*

Yesterday I roasted some ears of corn, and ate 2 for lunch and then scraped the other 3 into a big bowl and the added some crumbled up bacon, 2 pints of really beautiful grape tomatoes, some little pearls of fresh mozzarella, a sliced vidalia onion, and some salt and pepper, oregano, basil, rosemary, and thyme, and dressed it all with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Delicious! I will make some orzo to add to it for lunch over the next couple of days and I am looking forward to it.

I also finally hit upon a good way to cook hotdogs without a grill - in the broiler. I don't eat them very often but a couple times during the summer I get a craving, so when they go on sale, I sometimes snag a pack and some soft, cheap buns to eat with them. Of course, since I have the palate of a 5-year-old, I still prefer ketchup on my hotdogs, but since I live alone, there's no one here to judge me. *g*

*The Dodgers, not the Mets. Sigh.

***

Current Music: Mets vs Dodgers on tv

cimorene

1. I used to spend maybe 8-12 hours per week on a sideblog on Tumblr for images from the history of the decorative arts. Then I succumbed to the idea of talking to the followers directly (it has around 8000 which is waaaaaay more than my normal Tumblr or my pet photo blog) and got some asks that threw me into social confusion and then shame and avoidance and I just didn't update it for like three years. In retrospect, also, the amount of time I was spending on it shortly before I stopped was not practical and sustainable. But I got into a discussion about rococo, and started looking some things up in curiosity, and I had never posted very much about rococo before. And now I started posting there again a bit! (It's called

designobjectory.) It started a week ago with curiosity about the early output of KPM porcelain (the royal porcelain manufactory of Prussia originally, iconic) and has led to the discovery of Weimar classicism in the form of Goethe's house.

2. I inked my two 1.1-mm stub nib fountain pens — well, actually, a Lamy Safari 1.1-mm stub and a vintage Pelikan 400 (mine is brown tortoiseshell, a holiday present a few years ago) with a (pre-existing) custom oblique stub that is about 1.1. — and have been practicing calligraphy a bit, which I haven't done in a while because I haven't had any of my italic pens inked. I spent some time on Gothic capitals, because I want to do more Rotunda, and then Carolingian, which I haven't bothered practicing in the longest time.

cimorene

“Have you read anything interesting lately, Gregory?” said Geraldine.

“No. No improper books have come my way. And I am too young to read anything suitable for me. If I don’t have to hide my books from my mother, I can’t take any interest in them.”

—Ivy Compton-Burnett, Men and Wives

alethia

Go By Feel (10623 words) by Alethia
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Pitt (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jack Abbot/Michael "Robby" Robinavitch
Characters: Jack Abbot (The Pitt), Michael "Robby" Robinavitch, Dana Evans, Parker Ellis
Additional Tags: Post-Season/Series 01, Secret Crush, Pining, Touching, First Kiss, First Time, Porn, robby's gay awakening, abbot has the best ideas, dana knows everything
Summary:

Robby sagged a little, another tiny rush of air out. Jack pretended not to notice any of it even as it slid through him, his hypothesis gaining evidence, firming in his mind.

No, Jack didn't think anyone ever touched Robby.

He was going to change that.

Current Mood: busy

musesfool

Recs update!

unfitforsociety has been updated for May 2025 with 13 story recs and 2 vid recs in 3 fandoms:

✭ 12 Batfamily
✭ 1 Star Wars
✭ 1 Avengers vid and 1 Star Wars vid

***

I bought some string cheese a couple weeks ago on sale and today I breaded and fried it into mozzarella sticks. So good to eat! So messy to clean up after!

I slept poorly again last night - I had to shut the window while it was raining, and I don't know if it's the barometric pressure that's been giving me these headaches, but I don't like it. At least this cool rainy weather meant I made it all the way through May without turning on the AC. It looks like I will probably start needed it next week though. Last year, I signed up for the thing where they charge you the same amount each month to smooth out the ups and downs, which I've grown to prefer to the $110 swings in my electric bill come summer.

In other news, I learned that there really is a cocoa shortage and I'm not imagining it. So I'm glad I stocked up from King Arthur. Unfortunately, the bag had a small tear in it, so everything in the box it shipped with was covered in a fine dusting of cocoa powder. 🤨 But I washed it all and transferred the cocoa into a ziplock so it's all nice and tidy now.

***

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: Mets beating the Rox on tv

musesfool

I slept very poorly last night and woke up with a blinding headache and some serious nausea, so I called out of work and went back to bed for a couple of hours.

I keep meaning to post then forgetting what I want to say, since it's mostly just about work. I did get several amazing photos of Baby Miss L in a Spider-Gwen outfit with a hood (with a glittery pink mask on it), a cute blue spider on the torso (when I first saw it, I admit my initial response was "Khaji Da?" so it's more scarab than spider but also she's 2 and a half, so) and a skirt decorated with webbing. It's so cute and she apparently approved of it by saying "Spider-Man! Spider-Man!" in her specific toddler lingo. And the Superman dress finally arrived so I hope to see pictures of that soon, too! Also, she has taken to carrying her Easter basket over her shoulder like a purse and calling it her bag, so she is definitely getting a headstart on her fashionista personality.

In other news, I was reading some fic I was otherwise enjoying but I will never ever ever understand why in EVERY SINGLE FANDOM I have ever read fic in, there are some gobsmackingly awful non-canon nicknames that proliferate. Sometimes for characters who already have a canonical nickname, so why? I mean, I get that the use of a nickname can be intimacy marker (much like the switch from last name to first name, or full first name to canon nickname), but the fact is, none of the characters this is applied to would ever allow themselves to be called these names by ANYONE, not even an intimate partner. The worst is when Jason calls Talia "Tals." NO. WHO thinks TALIA AL GHUL, DAUGHTER OF THE DEMON, is going to let ANYONE call her "Tals." No, really, meet me in the parking lot, I just have some questions.

I also don't understand when people apologize for...well, anything really, in their author's notes, but especially when they say shit like, "Sorry this chapter is mostly dialogue! We'll get back to the introspection soon!" I mean, I guess some people don't like dialogue??? Obviously mileage varies. But it is frequently the best part of a story for me. If your story holds off on dialogue for too long in favor of maundering introspection, I will likely wander away and never come back (like, obviously if it's a 900-word plotless character ramble that's fine, but then you are not posting it in chapters, at least I'd hope not).

I guess if you're not confident in your character voices, dialogue can be difficult, but you're still going to need to get the character voice right in the narration/introspection, and some characters are not really going to be doing a lot of introspection at all, even in their own heads, so it's even harder to get them right. Which is probably when it's time to revisit canon. But I admit, dialogue is pretty much the easiest thing I find to write, so possibly it's just me.

*

Current Mood: better
Current Music: Mets vs Rockies on tv

cimorene

“If not for Jerusalem, then,” said Richard, in the tone of one who would entreat a favour of an intimate friend, “yet, for the love of honour, let us run at least three courses with grinded lances?”

“Even this,” said Saladin, half smiling at Coeur de Lion's affectionate earnestness for the combat—“even this I may not lawfully do. The master places the shepherd over the flock not for the shepherd's own sake, but for the sake of the sheep. Had I a son to hold the sceptre when I fell, I might have had the liberty, as I have the will, to brave this bold encounter; but your own Scripture saith that when the herdsman is smitten, the sheep are scattered.”

“Thou hast had all the fortune,” said Richard, turning to the Earl of Huntingdon with a sigh. “I would have given the best year in my life for that one half hour beside the Diamond of the Desert!”

—Walter Scott, The Talisman

sakana17

Cdramas: I finished watching Blossom | 九重紫 (34 episodes) starring Meng Ziyi and Li Yunrui. It's a historical romance with a fantasy element at the beginning.

I loved it! (Spoilers!)

It's a "do over" fantasy where the main character, Dou Zhao, is magically sent back in time and gets the chance to avoid the pitfalls that led to her disastrous marriage and ill fate the first time. This time around she crosses paths with Song Mo, a young general who's drawn to her. There's a good political plot revolving around Song Mo and his complicated family, but the main plot is about how Dou Zhao, aware of how and why her life turned out so horribly the first time, doesn't back down from changing her life this time.

I loved Meng Ziyi and Li Yunrui in this and thought they had great chemistry together. The relationship between Dou Zhao and Song Mo was nicely developed, and when they get together it didn't lose interest for me. They're both strong and supportive of each other, which I loved to see. Dou Zhao also has great female friendships.

The families in this show rank among the most horrible Cdrama families I've ever seen! (Which is saying something.) But what I absolutely loved is that we see the reasons why everyone is the way they are, and some of the reasons are quite poignant. Not all the antagonists get fully fleshed-out backstories, but they all get at least some indication of their motivations, which I really appreciated. I was amazed how I came to see Dou Zhao's scheming stepmother (played by Alina Zhang) as a tragic character after loathing her so much.

Another thing I loved was the dramatic do-over version of Dou Zhao's awful husband and his affair with Dou Zhao's half-sister. That was handled so well and ended up so painfully tragic!

The series has a happy ending for the leads! ♥

The actor Xia Zhiguang was in it as a major side character, so I've started watching The Spirealm, where he's one of the leads. I'm only on episode 4 but I'm finding it interesting so far.

After Blossom, I watched The Story of Pearl Girl | 珠帘玉幕 (40 episodes) starring Zhao Lusi and Liu Yuning. Another historical romance, this one about the rise of Duanwu, a pearl diver, who meets Yan Zijing, a mysterious trader.

I really liked this a lot. A great cast in a high quality production, gorgeous costumes, and an interesting story that grabbed me from the start. (Spoilers!)

I want to say I loved it, but unfortunately there are two halves to this drama, and the second half was just not as strong as the first half, although the story as a whole was still interesting. There are some pacing problems in the second half (as well as some disconcerting editing jumps, where things seem to happen out of order), but for me the main problem with the second half is that the focus moves away from Duanwu and Yan Zijing and we seem to spend a lot more time with the villains. Also, unlike Blossom, not all of the antagonists feel well-rounded or sufficiently motivated.

But on the other hand! I loved Duanwu and her growth and strength as she goes from mere survival to pursuing her ambitions. I especially loved how she learns to treat others with kindness, and how that is contrasted against Yan Zijing's obsessive drive for revenge that underlies everything he does. I liked their relationship, and I loved that the set-up for a love triangle where Yan Zijing and Zhang Jinran (played by Tang Xiaotian) compete for Duanwu never really goes anywhere and Zhang Jinran remains a friend to them both. Zhao Lusi is so good in this and I was really impressed with Liu Yuning. (Plus he looks great in the costumes and braided wig. *g*)

There are some great side characters, too. I especially loved Kang Ju, Yan Zijing's right-hand man and confidante. But I have to say, Cui Shijiu (played by Xie Keyin), nearly stole the show with her ruthless determination (and crossdressing swagger). I enjoy stories where two strong, competent women go from enemies to frenemies to wary friends. The drama delivered on that point, but I wasn't crazy about how in the second half both Cui Shijiu and Duanwu seemed more passive and in peril.

I didn't find the ending very sad despite the tragic, doomed romance. Yan Zijing's fate is set up from the moment we meet him and I never really believed it would play out differently. I liked that Duanwu knew and just wanted as much time as they could have together. The very end, where we find out Duanwu went on to become successful for the next 40 years, felt oddly tacked-on but was a nice conclusion to what should've been a story that stayed focused on the female lead and women's empowerment against the odds.

Speaking of Liu Yuning, I'm currently watching The Truth 3 with him, Bai Yu, Zhang Linhe, Dilraba, Jin Jing, and Zhou Keyu. The show is kind of like celebrities doing RPG to solve murder mysteries in escape rooms. It's fun! Loving the costumes this season. ♥ Hope this BlueSky link to Bai Yu's pirate look works. :D

The other Cdrama I finished recently is Love in Pavilion | 淮水竹亭 (36 episodes) starring Zhang Yunlong and Liu Shishi. This is the second series in the "Fox Spirit Matchmaker" xianxia romance trilogy, and I didn't watch the first one but I don't think that would've changed my feelings about this one.

I ended up skimming a lot and only watching it because one of my beloved farmboys, Zhao Yibo, had a supporting role and was surprisingly good in it, I thought. (Spoilers)

I started off very frustrated by this drama and ended up losing interest. I tried to find the leads compelling, tried not to be bored by all the effects-heavy swooshing fights, tried to follow the plot through its complex detours and mostly one-dimensional villains. That was a lot of effort and unfortunately I couldn't sustain it. I thought the pacing was slow and the production which was apparently quite expensive didn't look it.

On the plus side, some of the embedded mini-arc stories were interesting (though, to be fair, they were part of why I felt the pacing was so bad). And I own my bias in this, but Zhao Yibo as Li Quzhou brought a welcome liveliness and spark. And his character didn't die! (Though what we see of the end of his story isn't happy, either.) Content warning for ableism in Li Quzhou's storyline.

It ends tragically, which unfortunately I wasn't particularly moved by because I'd lost interest by then. Just not my cup of tea.

Speaking of the farmboys, I found Chen Shaoxi's movie The Midsummer's Voice | 倒仓 on YouTube. I thought it was a well-made coming-of-age story about three friends in a school for traditional opera singers. Shaoxi plays the male lead's friend and though he doesn't get to sing he has a good role. It was interesting and enjoyable.

More speaking of the farmboys: Wang Yang returned as a guest in season 3 and it was wonderful. He seems like a big fan (he wowed them by knowing all of their birth years) and they think he's the bee's knees and cat's pajamas and I was so happy for everyone. ♥___♥ The episode is on YouTube: part 1 and part 2.

I finished reading Golden Terrace, translated by E Danglars.

I enjoyed it so much! (Spoilers)

Arranged marriage, yay! I loved the reveals of the characters' feelings for each other, their competence, and the political plot. If anyone ever did a poll for "Cnovel BL couple most likely to switch" I think my vote would go to Yan Xiaohan/Fu Shen, lol.

And in non-Chinese media, I watched Andor season 2.

SO GOOD! (Spoilers!)

I rewatched the first season before starting season 2, and season 1 is nearly perfect in my opinion, so I was pretty wary about season 2. But I thought season 2 was almost as good as season 1, and it kept the same feel throughout. Great storytelling and sustained tension. And the cast is so, so good. ♥ Diego Luna.

I wasn't surprised by Brasso's death but it was still a gut punch. *sob* I didn't hate the ending with Bix. I just kept thinking how awful for her, because we know Cassian's never coming back. *sob* (And who knows what happens to the planet she's on...) The whole episode about Kleya and Luthien! And "Who are you?" Wow.

I really appreciated how the force was mentioned and its context. It was a great way of including that part of Star Wars lore but in a way that didn't jerk me out of the very specific worldbuilding of Andor. In the same way, I appreciated seeing the backstory of how K2SO joins Cassian.

I'm so glad season 2 didn't disappoint. I KNOW I will be rewatching it soon.

( Chinese language stuff )

There's probably other stuff I'm forgetting. Ah, well.

cimorene

The King of England [Richard the Lionheart], who, as it was emphatically said of his successor Henry the Eighth, loved to look upon A MAN, was well pleased with the thews, sinews, and symmetry of him whom he now surveyed...

— Walter Scott, The Talisman

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prysmicdork

February 2010

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Page Summary

musesfool - that double just loosened him up last night
alethia - The Pitt Fic: Lay Claim (Abbot/Robby, NC-17)
musesfool - it's only me who wants to wrap around your dreams
cimorene - Signed up for driving school...
sakana17 - Recently watched (not Cdramas)
cimorene - .
cimorene - To-Do List Dysfunction
cimorene - Orchid blossoms still multiplying (currently 9)
runpunkrun - Fancake's Theme for June: Female Relationships
cimorene - Nevar Forget (handwashing edition)
runpunkrun - Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, written by Mariko Tamaki, art by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell
musesfool - this team is so loaded with fire power*
cimorene - what's up
cimorene - No improper books have come my way
alethia - The Pitt Fic: Go By Feel (Abbot/Robby, NC-17)
musesfool - goes right back to that breaking ball
musesfool - went to the curveball, bounced it
cimorene - He wants to joust against Saladin so bad it makes him look stupid
sakana17 - Recently watched, read, written down
cimorene - Walter Scott: Fellas, is it gay if knights have elaborate rituals to touch each other's bodies

Style Credit

Style: Cinnamon Cream for Crossroads by branchandroot
Resources: Vintage Christmas 6

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