Fanfic: Zhu Hong's interview with Zhao Xinci in episode 16
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Works due July 11!
Jul. 7th, 2026 08:29 pmsummerofhorrorexchangeWorks are due July 11 at 8pm EDT. Here is a countdown.
We hope the creepiness is coming along nicely!
We hope the creepiness is coming along nicely!
a list of cats I see around
Jul. 8th, 2026 03:25 amsilverflight8I apparently live in a place where there are are a lot of indoor/outdoor cats. I'm not quite sure why I see so many cats. I guess there are just a lot of people with indoor/outdoor cats here (oof - mixed feelings). I live in an apartment with no yard (the building itself occupies the yard) but since I live on the second floor, I look out over multiple neighbours' yards. I love this. I look at my yard constantly when I am home. First thing in the morning, all day if I work from home, with my desk set up so I look out, one last time before bed - primarily for birding and just general enjoyment of the outdoors but, increasingly in the last few months, also for cats. I guess I am outside all the time because I walk to and from the train station, I bird all the time, plus I play ingress, I get groceries on foot, etc. Also okay yes I do randomly pspsps on the street sometimes. I see so many that my friend suggested I start a bingo of cats.
Here is a list:
Calico cat, mostly white with scattered orange and tabby spots - Jenny - very friendly, learned her name via tag and also a poster on the street
Big plush grey cat - no idea, often plopped in the yard now
Big fluffy orange cat - probably lives down the street - this cat I have seen for the longest but have no idea who he is
Small white cat with tabby on head & raccoon tail - Luna, owned by the convenience store
White-and-orange, orange saddle - Noisy
Fluffy tabby-and-white, very thin with age, now deceased - Sarah (learned her name bc she only hung out right by her home and I actually talked to the humans who lived there on occasion). She lived till 18!!! but I miss her and when I pass by her place I still reflexively look for her under the bush she liked. I petted her so many times because she would trot to the pavement and let you admire her.
Fluffy large black cat - probably lives near park
Tabby with white paws and white sliver on back - new, I only started seeing them a week or two ago
Dilute tortie/calico - new within a few months, don't know name
This is Jenny:
This picture is so cute I could die
This is how I learned Noisy's name, though I actually saw Noisy after the poster was put up:
But yeah a few days ago I went to get groceries and as I was walking by I distinctly saw Noisy disappear into someone's yard.
Then there are the cats in windows:
Ollie & Luna, the asymmetric and symmetric tuxies in the window (also learned from talking to the neighbour)
A nondynamic duo of a tortie and a tabby tuxie, always sleeping in a bed in the window
White-and-orange shorthair cat, plopped in the window
I have no conclusion for this entry. CATS. (Please keep your cat indoors!)
Here is a list:
Calico cat, mostly white with scattered orange and tabby spots - Jenny - very friendly, learned her name via tag and also a poster on the street
Big plush grey cat - no idea, often plopped in the yard now
Big fluffy orange cat - probably lives down the street - this cat I have seen for the longest but have no idea who he is
Small white cat with tabby on head & raccoon tail - Luna, owned by the convenience store
White-and-orange, orange saddle - Noisy
Fluffy tabby-and-white, very thin with age, now deceased - Sarah (learned her name bc she only hung out right by her home and I actually talked to the humans who lived there on occasion). She lived till 18!!! but I miss her and when I pass by her place I still reflexively look for her under the bush she liked. I petted her so many times because she would trot to the pavement and let you admire her.
Fluffy large black cat - probably lives near park
Tabby with white paws and white sliver on back - new, I only started seeing them a week or two ago
Dilute tortie/calico - new within a few months, don't know name
This is Jenny:
This picture is so cute I could die
This is how I learned Noisy's name, though I actually saw Noisy after the poster was put up:
But yeah a few days ago I went to get groceries and as I was walking by I distinctly saw Noisy disappear into someone's yard.
Then there are the cats in windows:
Ollie & Luna, the asymmetric and symmetric tuxies in the window (also learned from talking to the neighbour)
A nondynamic duo of a tortie and a tabby tuxie, always sleeping in a bed in the window
White-and-orange shorthair cat, plopped in the window
I have no conclusion for this entry. CATS. (Please keep your cat indoors!)
Unwanted Update (part 1 of 2)
Jul. 7th, 2026 11:26 pmdialecticdreamerUnwanted Update
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 2
Word count (story only): 761
[1 pm on Wednesday, 29 November of 2017]
:: Jules has to handle a glitch in his waiting job… or is it a glitch? Part of the Lodestar story arc in the Polychrome Heroics universe. ::
Jules parked his new surrey in the garage, patting his father’s motorcycle, or at least the custom cover fitted over it, on the way to the door into the utility room. His phone chimed with a text.
Then another.
Then three or four more.
( Read more... )
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 2
Word count (story only): 761
[1 pm on Wednesday, 29 November of 2017]
:: Jules has to handle a glitch in his waiting job… or is it a glitch? Part of the Lodestar story arc in the Polychrome Heroics universe. ::
Jules parked his new surrey in the garage, patting his father’s motorcycle, or at least the custom cover fitted over it, on the way to the door into the utility room. His phone chimed with a text.
Then another.
Then three or four more.
( Read more... )
Poem: "Its Weirdness Is Evident Without Comparison"
Jul. 7th, 2026 09:33 pmysabetwordsmithThis is today's freebie. It was inspired by a prompt from gs_silva. It also fills the "Ambiguous Situation" square in my 6-1-26 card for the Hazbin Hotel Fest. This poem belongs to the series Schrodinger's Heroes.
( Read more... )
gs_silva. It also fills the "Ambiguous Situation" square in my 6-1-26 card for the Hazbin Hotel Fest. This poem belongs to the series Schrodinger's Heroes.( Read more... )
Tags:
Visit to the surgeon
Jul. 7th, 2026 10:05 pmsilver_chipmunkGot up this morning at 10:00 after a rather restless night. Had coffee and then a bowl of cereal, showered and dressed, and then puttered on my phone til 2:00.
At 2:00mashfanficchick and I took an Uber over to my surgeon (the Uber from zer place was half what the Uber from my place would have been, that's why I stayed over) for my checkup.
It was abut a half hour wait in the waiting room, but once I got in the exam room, not too long. The doctor did what she always does, go over my records, ask a few questions, and examine my breasts. I am happy to say all is well, and once again I don't go back for six months.
Thenmashfanficchick and I took the bus to Queens Center mall, and ze went shopping for something to wear to zer father's 80th birthday celebration which is on the 12th.
First though we had a late lunch/early dinner at Applebee's, splitting the "two for $25" deal. We had salad rather than appetizer, and I had the O-M-Cheeseburger. It was delicious.
Then we went to Penny's and looked for clothes. I spotted the $5 clearance rack and got a pair of purple patterned satin shorts. I wanted to use my Penny's card because I was afraid it would be canceled if I didn't use it soon. So I paid using that.
mashfanficchick hadn't found anything ze liked by the time I had to leave to get to my Al-anon meeting in time, so ze walked me to the bus and then went on to Macy's.
I took the bus home, with a bit of excitement at 38th and Main, where the driver said that the loud banging coming from the back had reached the point where he had to call it in the the depot. So I got off there, and switched to another bus that was right behind, and made it home on time.
That was the good part. But the computer, or Zoom, acted up and I had a very hard time getting the meeting to start, I finally did, late. Then it was pretty good.
I Teamed the FWiB after the meeting rather than before obviously. We talked for almost an hour.
Then I fed the pets and started here.
Gratitude List:
1. The FWiB.
2. My checkup was good.
3. The Kid texted me back when I texted her.
4. The rain that started never got bad when I was out in it.
5. Purple patterned shorts for $5.
6. Made it home in time for my meeting.
At 2:00
mashfanficchick and I took an Uber over to my surgeon (the Uber from zer place was half what the Uber from my place would have been, that's why I stayed over) for my checkup.It was abut a half hour wait in the waiting room, but once I got in the exam room, not too long. The doctor did what she always does, go over my records, ask a few questions, and examine my breasts. I am happy to say all is well, and once again I don't go back for six months.
Then
mashfanficchick and I took the bus to Queens Center mall, and ze went shopping for something to wear to zer father's 80th birthday celebration which is on the 12th.First though we had a late lunch/early dinner at Applebee's, splitting the "two for $25" deal. We had salad rather than appetizer, and I had the O-M-Cheeseburger. It was delicious.
Then we went to Penny's and looked for clothes. I spotted the $5 clearance rack and got a pair of purple patterned satin shorts. I wanted to use my Penny's card because I was afraid it would be canceled if I didn't use it soon. So I paid using that.
mashfanficchick hadn't found anything ze liked by the time I had to leave to get to my Al-anon meeting in time, so ze walked me to the bus and then went on to Macy's.I took the bus home, with a bit of excitement at 38th and Main, where the driver said that the loud banging coming from the back had reached the point where he had to call it in the the depot. So I got off there, and switched to another bus that was right behind, and made it home on time.
That was the good part. But the computer, or Zoom, acted up and I had a very hard time getting the meeting to start, I finally did, late. Then it was pretty good.
I Teamed the FWiB after the meeting rather than before obviously. We talked for almost an hour.
Then I fed the pets and started here.
Gratitude List:
1. The FWiB.
2. My checkup was good.
3. The Kid texted me back when I texted her.
4. The rain that started never got bad when I was out in it.
5. Purple patterned shorts for $5.
6. Made it home in time for my meeting.
Seventh of the Seventh.
Jul. 7th, 2026 10:10 pmhannahHaving just finished the rough draft of a Project Hail Mary fic, as is customary, I'm obligated to ask if anyone knows where I can find an icon. I've checked fandom_icons and I'm sure there's another place or two someone else already knows about.
I've got to figure out a title, so thankfully, I'm not in a huge rush.
fandom_icons and I'm sure there's another place or two someone else already knows about.I've got to figure out a title, so thankfully, I'm not in a huge rush.
What If? by StarSpray
Jul. 7th, 2026 10:00 pmstarspray posting in tolkienshortfanworksAuthor: StarSpray
Title: What If?
Characters: Maedhros, Maglor
Pairing: n/a
Text type / Format: drabble and a half
Source / Fandom: Silmarillion
Rating: G
Warnings: n/a
Word Count: 150
Summary: "What if we just left?"
Author notes: Written for the SWG July instadrabbles, and for Tolkien Gen Week on tumblr.
( Read more... )
Author notes: Written for the SWG July instadrabbles, and for Tolkien Gen Week on tumblr.
( Read more... )
Daily Happiness
Jul. 7th, 2026 07:00 pmtorachan1. My stomach felt almost as bad this morning when I woke up, but once I got going, I started to feel a lot better, and it wasn't like yesterday where I'd feel better for a while but then anything I ate would make me feel worse again. Not quite 100% but mostly back to normal.
2. There was another ant invasion this morning, though not nearly as bad as yesterday. I was worried that despite my precautions and clean up this morning, I might come home to more after work, since yesterday we had both been home during the day to monitor any scouts and keep things from snowballing, but with Carla out of town, there's no one to keep an eye out during the day. But the diatomaceous earth I put down this morning seems to have been enough and there were no ants in the kitchen this evening and only a couple in the dining room near where they had been coming in. So hopefully I won't wake up to ants again tomorrow.
3. When I first moved offices last year, the area I was in was the coldest in the whole building, but then they made some change and it was the warmest. It was tolerable for the winter and spring, but it's really bad now and I was just sweltering at my desk this afternoon. I put in a request to the facility maintenance department and they said they will get it looked at ASAP so fingers crossed they can get it to a more reasonable temperature.
4. Look at this sweetie girl.
2. There was another ant invasion this morning, though not nearly as bad as yesterday. I was worried that despite my precautions and clean up this morning, I might come home to more after work, since yesterday we had both been home during the day to monitor any scouts and keep things from snowballing, but with Carla out of town, there's no one to keep an eye out during the day. But the diatomaceous earth I put down this morning seems to have been enough and there were no ants in the kitchen this evening and only a couple in the dining room near where they had been coming in. So hopefully I won't wake up to ants again tomorrow.
3. When I first moved offices last year, the area I was in was the coldest in the whole building, but then they made some change and it was the warmest. It was tolerable for the winter and spring, but it's really bad now and I was just sweltering at my desk this afternoon. I put in a request to the facility maintenance department and they said they will get it looked at ASAP so fingers crossed they can get it to a more reasonable temperature.
4. Look at this sweetie girl.
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Books read, June
Jul. 8th, 2026 12:57 pmcyphomandraHow to fake it in society, KJ Charles
We breed lions: confronting Canada’s troubled hockey culture, Rick Westhead
The husbands, Holly Gramazio
Evil under the sun, Agatha Christie (re-read)
The ark
The Sittaford mystery, Agatha Christie
Till we have faces, CS Lewis
How to Fake it In Society, KJ Charles. Titus is a humble shopkeeper who makes paints for artists, who ends up marrying a wealthy woman on her deathbed in order to ensure that her relative (who may well have had something to do with there being a deathbed the first place) is disinherited; struggling with his sudden elevation, he is thrilled when Nicolas-Marc, Comte de Valois de la Motte, a fashionable French escaped aristocrat with a Mysterious Past offers to help him make his way in society. But Nico is a con man barely a step ahead of some very nasty gangsters, and while he hoped to salvage himself with Titus’ money, his new feelings for Titus make it impossible to admit the truth… This is fine. It’s competently put together and I like the paint details but something about this pairing didn’t quite fire for me, the ending tipped a little too far into farce complete with one too many pantomime villains, and basically I think KJ likes con artists and scammers a lot more than I do.
We breed lions: confronting Canada’s troubled hockey culture, Rick Westhead. Solid, painful documentation of the casualties of Canada’s approach to (men’s) hockey, from juniors to professionals, emphasising the gate-keepers who could (but don’t) change their approach. Pretty awful subject material, with all the sexual assault, misogyny, bullying, homophobia and hazing that you’d expect; it’s about culture, and about those who enforce it, but also those who chose to look away or not look deeper, and how much damage reverberates through the system.
The husbands, Holly Gramazio. Lauren, single, is met one night at the door of her flat by her (previously unknown) husband Michael. When he pops up to the attic to change a lightbulb, another husband comes back down; and, every time Lauren gets one up into the attic, she gets another one back, while with each new husband her own life and those of her close friends also change. It’s a great set-up and it rattles along (what if one of the husbands is awful? What if they move away from the flat?) for the first half before running off the rails a bit in the second. Lauren meets a husband to whom the same thing is happening (also, unlike Lauren, he’s about 50:50 whether he ends up with husbands or wives), which was great, but then things go wrong with a husband Lauren loses whom she wanted to keep, and in response Lauren does some pretty terrible things and it’s hard to know how terrible the author thinks they are. I see the author is a game designer, but the book is pitched as “how to choose when there are so many options” dating app rom com rather than “if I treat other people as NPCs how can I do this ethically, especially if I can just reset everything”, which is what I would have liked her to explore more.
Evil under the sun, Agatha Christie
The Sittaford mystery, Agatha Christie
Evil is Poirot staying in a sunny seaside house in Devon when the alluring Arlena, who is having an affair with another woman’s husband, gets herself strangled, and Sittaford is a standalone murder in a snowstorm that took place at the exact time as a group of related people were having a seance and the table spelled out MURDER and the name of the victim. I liked the ideas behind the solution of Evil while not finding them entirely convincing; Sittaford is solider in that respect, but neither are top-tier.
The ark, Haruo Yuki (trans. Jim Rion, who does the Uketsu books). A group of friends exploring the wilderness find a strange abandoned bunker; when they go down into it, an earthquake traps them. The only way out would require one of them to stay behind and face certain death. Helpfully, someone then commits murder; if they can work out who it was, they can force that person to stay behind, although this assumes a) they cooperate and b) whoever it is stops killing more people…
I did like the atmosphere in this, although it could have done with more pace and a lot less “we’re being murdered so let’s split up and go to places individually”. The characters aren’t that well-developed, but there is at least depth to some of them, and the final twist is satisfyingly dark.
Till We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis One of those books I’ve always meant to read but never got around to before (I think I first read about it in Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin, which means it’s been at least 30 years of good intentions. The Cupid and Psyche myth, retold from Orual’s (Psyche’s older half-sister) point of view, with and gosh Orual is a fascinating protagonist, flawed and believable, and a product of her society even when she breaks from it (I note that Joy Davidman was at the very least the first reader on this and at most a co-author). The way Orual’s realisation of how her (selfish) love for others has hurt them reverberates.
We breed lions: confronting Canada’s troubled hockey culture, Rick Westhead
The husbands, Holly Gramazio
Evil under the sun, Agatha Christie (re-read)
The ark
The Sittaford mystery, Agatha Christie
Till we have faces, CS Lewis
How to Fake it In Society, KJ Charles. Titus is a humble shopkeeper who makes paints for artists, who ends up marrying a wealthy woman on her deathbed in order to ensure that her relative (who may well have had something to do with there being a deathbed the first place) is disinherited; struggling with his sudden elevation, he is thrilled when Nicolas-Marc, Comte de Valois de la Motte, a fashionable French escaped aristocrat with a Mysterious Past offers to help him make his way in society. But Nico is a con man barely a step ahead of some very nasty gangsters, and while he hoped to salvage himself with Titus’ money, his new feelings for Titus make it impossible to admit the truth… This is fine. It’s competently put together and I like the paint details but something about this pairing didn’t quite fire for me, the ending tipped a little too far into farce complete with one too many pantomime villains, and basically I think KJ likes con artists and scammers a lot more than I do.
We breed lions: confronting Canada’s troubled hockey culture, Rick Westhead. Solid, painful documentation of the casualties of Canada’s approach to (men’s) hockey, from juniors to professionals, emphasising the gate-keepers who could (but don’t) change their approach. Pretty awful subject material, with all the sexual assault, misogyny, bullying, homophobia and hazing that you’d expect; it’s about culture, and about those who enforce it, but also those who chose to look away or not look deeper, and how much damage reverberates through the system.
The husbands, Holly Gramazio. Lauren, single, is met one night at the door of her flat by her (previously unknown) husband Michael. When he pops up to the attic to change a lightbulb, another husband comes back down; and, every time Lauren gets one up into the attic, she gets another one back, while with each new husband her own life and those of her close friends also change. It’s a great set-up and it rattles along (what if one of the husbands is awful? What if they move away from the flat?) for the first half before running off the rails a bit in the second. Lauren meets a husband to whom the same thing is happening (also, unlike Lauren, he’s about 50:50 whether he ends up with husbands or wives), which was great, but then things go wrong with a husband Lauren loses whom she wanted to keep, and in response Lauren does some pretty terrible things and it’s hard to know how terrible the author thinks they are. I see the author is a game designer, but the book is pitched as “how to choose when there are so many options” dating app rom com rather than “if I treat other people as NPCs how can I do this ethically, especially if I can just reset everything”, which is what I would have liked her to explore more.
Evil under the sun, Agatha Christie
The Sittaford mystery, Agatha Christie
Evil is Poirot staying in a sunny seaside house in Devon when the alluring Arlena, who is having an affair with another woman’s husband, gets herself strangled, and Sittaford is a standalone murder in a snowstorm that took place at the exact time as a group of related people were having a seance and the table spelled out MURDER and the name of the victim. I liked the ideas behind the solution of Evil while not finding them entirely convincing; Sittaford is solider in that respect, but neither are top-tier.
The ark, Haruo Yuki (trans. Jim Rion, who does the Uketsu books). A group of friends exploring the wilderness find a strange abandoned bunker; when they go down into it, an earthquake traps them. The only way out would require one of them to stay behind and face certain death. Helpfully, someone then commits murder; if they can work out who it was, they can force that person to stay behind, although this assumes a) they cooperate and b) whoever it is stops killing more people…
I did like the atmosphere in this, although it could have done with more pace and a lot less “we’re being murdered so let’s split up and go to places individually”. The characters aren’t that well-developed, but there is at least depth to some of them, and the final twist is satisfyingly dark.
Till We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis One of those books I’ve always meant to read but never got around to before (I think I first read about it in Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin, which means it’s been at least 30 years of good intentions. The Cupid and Psyche myth, retold from Orual’s (Psyche’s older half-sister) point of view, with and gosh Orual is a fascinating protagonist, flawed and believable, and a product of her society even when she breaks from it (I note that Joy Davidman was at the very least the first reader on this and at most a co-author). The way Orual’s realisation of how her (selfish) love for others has hurt them reverberates.
(no subject)
Jul. 7th, 2026 05:47 pmgreghousesgfI went to my favorite cafe today but could only get a slice of vanilla cake because they ran out of the other cake flavors and I got hassled by some old fart bible thumper on the way home, I told him to leave me alone because I'm an atheist and I saw him walk into traffic as I went inside my bldg. He probably thinks god will stop cars from hitting him. It was a short walk because the cafe is right in my neighborhood but my legs hurt so bad anyway.
Game Check-in: Dragon Age Veilguard
Jul. 7th, 2026 07:09 pmbluapapilioThese notes were all made 12-16-24 before my playing fell off. u_u
Spoilers for various things!
Heir to the Dead:
Aww that tiny whispered 'Please' and Manfred's "Hurray!". 😭 And Manfred can do magic now! Ughhh my feels.
I wish we'd gotten some commentary from the companions before he revived Manfred about missing his presence.
"I have regrets about what Lichdom could have been, but none of them would make me exchange them for this."
Both options meant losing or gaining something, regrets are natural but if what you gained overall makes you happy, it's worth it.
A Murder of Crows:
Lol I knew he would say 'Over my dead body'. If I were Caterina I would at least be a little concerned about Spite;; And I don't think it was smart to just lock Illario up. I'm curious what would've happened if Treviso hadn't been blighted, it seemed to suggest something else would've been an option.
To Act as One/When Plans Align:
Okay now I'm ready for this quest.
Sidenote, Manfred won rock-paper-scissors! I wonder why he likes to hang out on top of the balcony?
Oh, there's Rana at the Shadow Dragon's base!
Okay so this is a/the? final quest so I went and finished Regrets of the Dead Wolf and got Mythal's essence, I was going to use a guide choose the right answers but apparently I didn't save before that so I had to fight her. Not too bad. I also had 'A Hidden Hoard', the Solas mural on the wall is so interesting, why is it there??
Lmao at the fish vs coffee Harding/Neve banter. No way I'd be able to choose, I love both of those.
(Codex) On Beetles: *flashbacks to The Mummy*
I went and got all the chests and altars I was missing except one chest, which is somewhere inaccessible. There's literally people standing there blocking it and there's no way around them. 🤷
The 'Are you sure?' page says many companions have overcome personal struggles / most allies will support you from a position of strength sooo here goes.
Of course they forced an eclipse.
I went around talking to everyone in the Lighthouse and only two people are talking about it, everything else is commenting on stuff that happened in the past;; And ye gods that purple/pink cast on the area is terrible.
Since when does my Rook speak the qun language...
I wonder what equipment with a star on it means?
Grr it's so frustrating when an Ultimate is wasted because the enemy kept moving while I was casting. :/
When Davrin started getting stabbed why wasn't Assan right there? T_T And what happened to Assan/where did they go?
Lucanis died somehow... None of our allies were there to help because everything happened too fast.
I am very confused about what's happening here with Solas......
Davrin on 2nd team, took Harding and Lucanis with me, chose Bellara over Neve, Neve disapproving - understandable.
A Cage for Gods:
Rook: "Have to get back to the team." ...after I explore first.
It's hard to feel bad about choosing Bellara will all these weird statues of her around. Girl probably would have disapproved like Neve did if I hadn't chosen her. 😅
How come Davrin's statues were accepting when Bellara's weren't? Is it because I pushed back?
Varric? What the? Are you saying we were hallucinating him this whole time? Or was it all a dream? This is dumb as fuck. No one talked about Varric being dead this whole time?? Why did Solas tell us to apologize to him???
So Minthrathous gets blighted anyway in the end??
Didn't feel like there was enough development for Lucanis.
Spoilers for various things!
Heir to the Dead:
Aww that tiny whispered 'Please' and Manfred's "Hurray!". 😭 And Manfred can do magic now! Ughhh my feels.
I wish we'd gotten some commentary from the companions before he revived Manfred about missing his presence.
"I have regrets about what Lichdom could have been, but none of them would make me exchange them for this."
Both options meant losing or gaining something, regrets are natural but if what you gained overall makes you happy, it's worth it.
A Murder of Crows:
Lol I knew he would say 'Over my dead body'. If I were Caterina I would at least be a little concerned about Spite;; And I don't think it was smart to just lock Illario up. I'm curious what would've happened if Treviso hadn't been blighted, it seemed to suggest something else would've been an option.
To Act as One/When Plans Align:
Okay now I'm ready for this quest.
Sidenote, Manfred won rock-paper-scissors! I wonder why he likes to hang out on top of the balcony?
Oh, there's Rana at the Shadow Dragon's base!
Okay so this is a/the? final quest so I went and finished Regrets of the Dead Wolf and got Mythal's essence, I was going to use a guide choose the right answers but apparently I didn't save before that so I had to fight her. Not too bad. I also had 'A Hidden Hoard', the Solas mural on the wall is so interesting, why is it there??
Lmao at the fish vs coffee Harding/Neve banter. No way I'd be able to choose, I love both of those.
(Codex) On Beetles: *flashbacks to The Mummy*
I went and got all the chests and altars I was missing except one chest, which is somewhere inaccessible. There's literally people standing there blocking it and there's no way around them. 🤷
The 'Are you sure?' page says many companions have overcome personal struggles / most allies will support you from a position of strength sooo here goes.
Of course they forced an eclipse.
I went around talking to everyone in the Lighthouse and only two people are talking about it, everything else is commenting on stuff that happened in the past;; And ye gods that purple/pink cast on the area is terrible.
Since when does my Rook speak the qun language...
I wonder what equipment with a star on it means?
Grr it's so frustrating when an Ultimate is wasted because the enemy kept moving while I was casting. :/
When Davrin started getting stabbed why wasn't Assan right there? T_T And what happened to Assan/where did they go?
Lucanis died somehow... None of our allies were there to help because everything happened too fast.
I am very confused about what's happening here with Solas......
Davrin on 2nd team, took Harding and Lucanis with me, chose Bellara over Neve, Neve disapproving - understandable.
A Cage for Gods:
Rook: "Have to get back to the team." ...after I explore first.
It's hard to feel bad about choosing Bellara will all these weird statues of her around. Girl probably would have disapproved like Neve did if I hadn't chosen her. 😅
How come Davrin's statues were accepting when Bellara's weren't? Is it because I pushed back?
Varric? What the? Are you saying we were hallucinating him this whole time? Or was it all a dream? This is dumb as fuck. No one talked about Varric being dead this whole time?? Why did Solas tell us to apologize to him???
So Minthrathous gets blighted anyway in the end??
Didn't feel like there was enough development for Lucanis.
round 65: text
Jul. 7th, 2026 07:57 pmword_never_said posting in fandom10in30Preview:
10 Widow's Bay & My Lady Jane
the rest are here @stillpermanentt
10 Widow's Bay & My Lady Jane
the rest are here @
stillpermanenttDaily Check-In
Jul. 7th, 2026 06:00 pmstarwatcher posting in fandom_checkinThis is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Tuesday, July 07, to midnight on Wednesday, July 08. (8pm Eastern Time).
Poll #34811 Daily Check-in
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 8
How are you doing?
I am OK.
5 (62.5%)
I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
3 (37.5%)
I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)
How many other humans live with you?
I am living single.
4 (50.0%)
One other person.
2 (25.0%)
More than one other person.
2 (25.0%)
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.
July AMA: Another twofer.
Jul. 7th, 2026 04:20 pmrogueslayer452Asked by blackcatofmisery: If you could pitch your ideal series, what would it be about?
Again, this is something I'm not quite sure how to answer by not having specific details or even a fully formed idea of what my ideal series would be about. Sorry this was lackluster of a response to your question. :(
Asked byverdande_mi: What film/series reboot that didn't happen do you wish had gotten a proper chance?
Well, as I keep saying, I'm tired of reboots. We've been living in this age of rebooting/remaking everything underneath the sun that if there was something that I had initially wished had been rebooted, I'm glad that it wasn't because it most likely wouldn't live up to expectations or further expand upon the original and just be another disappointing cheap cash grab. Although I will say, while I was indifferent towards it, I'm bummed about the BTVS sequel reboot, New Sunnydale, if only because the circumstances of how it was axed before it even got the chance to air makes me incredibly bitter and upset on behalf of SMG and the rest of the new cast who were excited and hyped up for it. Would it have been good? Hard to say without having seen anything, but it deserved to at least have that chance.
In addition to this, I also think that the Tomb Raider 2018 movie with Alicia Vikander should have gotten its franchise, as it was based around the 2013 reboot games. It was already greenlit for a sequel and ready to go, but then the pandemic hit and whatever contract deadline that was supposed to be met was missed and so it was silently cancelled. I thought the movie was fantastic, and I was yearning for more, and we deserved more, dammit.
blackcatofmisery: If you could pitch your ideal series, what would it be about?Again, this is something I'm not quite sure how to answer by not having specific details or even a fully formed idea of what my ideal series would be about. Sorry this was lackluster of a response to your question. :(
Asked by
verdande_mi: What film/series reboot that didn't happen do you wish had gotten a proper chance?Well, as I keep saying, I'm tired of reboots. We've been living in this age of rebooting/remaking everything underneath the sun that if there was something that I had initially wished had been rebooted, I'm glad that it wasn't because it most likely wouldn't live up to expectations or further expand upon the original and just be another disappointing cheap cash grab. Although I will say, while I was indifferent towards it, I'm bummed about the BTVS sequel reboot, New Sunnydale, if only because the circumstances of how it was axed before it even got the chance to air makes me incredibly bitter and upset on behalf of SMG and the rest of the new cast who were excited and hyped up for it. Would it have been good? Hard to say without having seen anything, but it deserved to at least have that chance.
In addition to this, I also think that the Tomb Raider 2018 movie with Alicia Vikander should have gotten its franchise, as it was based around the 2013 reboot games. It was already greenlit for a sequel and ready to go, but then the pandemic hit and whatever contract deadline that was supposed to be met was missed and so it was silently cancelled. I thought the movie was fantastic, and I was yearning for more, and we deserved more, dammit.
thirty pillows pilfered
Jul. 7th, 2026 07:18 pmmusesfoolI meant to post last night but I could barely keep my eyes open so I went to bed early (and missed a super rare Mets comeback in Atlanta!) and slept for 10 glorious hours! I felt great at work today, and got some stuff done, and made some suggestions about the September board meeting agenda that I am sure the CEO and the Chair will not like, but they wanted to get radical and also not overrun the meeting time by 45 minutes again, and I offered a good way to do it to my boss. We'll see if anyone bites.
I am off tomorrow for the dentist - it should just be a cleaning (though I am braced to hear I need yet another crown) but I am always so tired when it's over. And my team meeting on Tuesday got cancelled so I am tempted to take next Tuesday off since I'm already off Wednesday (my birthday), Thursday, and Friday of next week. My boss was like, sure! but I'm still thinking about it.
I thought I had something else to post about but I can't remember... oh right, I finally watched Project Hail Mary the other night. I enjoyed it but it was too long. And there was not enough Eva Stratt, who was the best thing in the movie.
*
I am off tomorrow for the dentist - it should just be a cleaning (though I am braced to hear I need yet another crown) but I am always so tired when it's over. And my team meeting on Tuesday got cancelled so I am tempted to take next Tuesday off since I'm already off Wednesday (my birthday), Thursday, and Friday of next week. My boss was like, sure! but I'm still thinking about it.
I thought I had something else to post about but I can't remember... oh right, I finally watched Project Hail Mary the other night. I enjoyed it but it was too long. And there was not enough Eva Stratt, who was the best thing in the movie.
*
fic: Start clean-slated, Jumanji (1995), G
Jul. 7th, 2026 06:15 pmlotesseStart clean-slated (659 words) by lotesse
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Jumanji (1995)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Alan Parrish/Sarah Whittle
Characters: Sarah Whittle (Jumanji), Alan Parrish
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Growing Up Together, Childhood Sweethearts, Childhood Trauma, Time Travel
Summary:
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Jumanji (1995)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Alan Parrish/Sarah Whittle
Characters: Sarah Whittle (Jumanji), Alan Parrish
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Growing Up Together, Childhood Sweethearts, Childhood Trauma, Time Travel
Summary:
All she has to do is wait for their future to unfold, and unfold herself into the person she was always meant to be.
History
Jul. 7th, 2026 05:58 pmysabetwordsmith... is repeating itself. This post compares Washington, D.C. with occupied Berlin from the perspective of someone who's seen both.
Never forget.
Never forget.
Habit Tracking: Week 27 (June 28 - July 04)
Jul. 7th, 2026 04:27 pmmistressofmuses
This week, my "I Voted" sticker! This was a vote in the primaries. Mixed results in terms of my own votes, but while a few candidates I preferred did not win their races, the ones I felt strongest about did.
There were actually two different "I Voted" stickers for our county. Alex got the other!
This was mostly a good week, especially with only two work days in between my time off! That said... I feel so very behind and like I have so much to get done. Pride was good, and the 4th was good, which were interesting bookends to the week. I feel like I read a fair amount, but don't have anything much to show for it in terms of anything having been finished. Very behind on Dreamwidth in terms of posts/comments/and my own posts. I did finally catch up on my friend's list, and will tackle comments next! Bella was sick for most of the week (starting late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning,) which has not been fun (for her most of all), though at least she seems to feel okay, just having some digestive problems. Even just a few days into my time off from work I already feel like I haven't done nearly as much as I hoped and am wasting the time. :( Hopefully I can turn it around.
My reading for the week.
Goals for the week:
- We went to Pride!
- We voted!
- I finished reading Inkpot Gods
- I started reading The Tombs of Atuan
- We had a good 4th of July
- I made out fancy fruit salad
- I started my attempt to catch up on DW
- I did not work on my reading page
- I did not finish my reviews
- I did my GYWO check-in for June: 7604 words for the month, bringing the ytd to 65357
- We had our financial redetermination meeting for the apartments
- We did not pay rent yet
Tracked habits:
- Work - 2/7 - I had Sunday off for Pride, and then took Friday and Saturday off to start my larger chunk of time off
- Household Maintenance - 4/7
- Physical Activity - 7/7
- Wrote 500/1000+ Words - 0/7
- Non-fiction Writing - 1/7 - over 1000 words
- Meta Work - 2/7
- Personal Writing - 4/7
- Other Creative Things - 2/7
- Reading - 7/7 - I finished Inkpot Gods and started The Tombs of Atuan; I also continued The Fever King as my ebook side-read; Alex and I started Diavola
- Attention to Media - 6/7 - Monday we went to see Obsession which I quite liked, later had debunking and game videos in the background; Tuesday was game videos and video essays; Wednesday I don't remember; Thursday was just sort of misc background stuff; Friday we watched Alone and then some game videos; Saturday we watched an episode of Ghost Theory after we got home, and I fell asleep to a game video.
- Video Games - 0/7
- Social Interaction - 4/7
Total words written: 1041 on reviews
Reading Wednesday, for once
Jul. 8th, 2026 08:33 amlucymonsterThere is a story about a minister in Scotland in the eighteenth century who survived in his parish for ten years on a repertoire of four sermons. When some of his congregation asked whether they might have more variety he replied: ‘My friends, my sermons are intended to do you good. When I see that you practise what I have been preaching for so many years, then I will treat you to something different.’
~ Peter Cameron, Necessary Heresies
I’m sharing this quote mostly because it’s hilarious, but also because it makes a good point. I know I, at least, have an awful tendency to collect Christian teachings the way I collect books: greedily, with great self-satisfaction, at far too rapid a pace for me to ever put most of them to their intended use. How much more profitable it would be, and how much less fun, to really lock in and master what I’ve already received before reaching for the next theological ladder-rung!
With that said, here's some recent church-adjacent reading:
( Three books under the cut )
we have achieved PLYWOOD
Jul. 7th, 2026 10:59 pmkaberett(by which I mean, A very bravely ventured back to B&Q again, this time DID get The Goods, aaaaaaaand then discovered that even cut down they didn't fit in the car so they still needed to be attached to the roof rack with ratchet straps--)
we have achieved PROOF that the windows CLOSE when they have ratchet straps slung around both TOP and BOTTOM
we have a house at 26.7°C and an outside world at 26.1°C and it's time to go to bed
[Gru's plan goes here]
-- but hey, maybe at least we'll manage to discourage it from getting significantly warmer in here? and maybe I'll wake up early enough to open the house up usefully while we're still below 20°C tomorrow morning?
[ SECRET POST #7213 ]
Jul. 7th, 2026 05:40 pmcase posting in fandomsecrets⌈ Secret Post #7123 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
01.
( More! )
Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 24 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1017.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
Hazbin Hotel: Prideful Vees
Jul. 7th, 2026 01:25 pmwrittenwordsaloud posting in fanmix_monthlyTitle:Prideful Vees
Fandom: Hazbin Hotel
Characters/Pairings: Valentino & Velvette & Vox
Notes: What better way to mix my current fandom and this topic than to go into how Hazbin is filled with canonically queer characters? Valentino is officially pansexual, Velvette is a lesbian, and Vox is bisexual. On top of that, I have my headcanons of both Val and Velvette being some flavour of aromantic or demi/greyromantic, as well as Valentino being intersex when he was alive. So this mix has songs for all of those identities!
Fandom: Hazbin Hotel
Characters/Pairings: Valentino & Velvette & Vox
Notes: What better way to mix my current fandom and this topic than to go into how Hazbin is filled with canonically queer characters? Valentino is officially pansexual, Velvette is a lesbian, and Vox is bisexual. On top of that, I have my headcanons of both Val and Velvette being some flavour of aromantic or demi/greyromantic, as well as Valentino being intersex when he was alive. So this mix has songs for all of those identities!
Track List
Born this Way - Lady Gaga (2011)
Before getting into any specific identity, we start with the anthem that covers them all.
Lyrics
It doesn't matter if you love him, or capital "H-I-M" (M, M, M)Just put your paws up'Cause you were born this way, baby
My mama told me when I was young
"We are all born superstars"
She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on
In the glass of her boudoir
"There's nothing wrong with loving who you are"
She said, "'Cause He made you perfect, babe"
"So hold your head up, girl, and you'll go far
Listen to me when I say"
I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
Don't hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself, and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way (Born this way)
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Baby, I was born this way (Born this way)
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Right track, baby
I was born this way
Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Don't be (Don't be, don't be)
Give yourself prudence and love your friends
Subway kid, rejoice your truth
In the religion of the insecure
I must be myself, respect my youth
A different lover is not a sin
Believe capital H-I-M, hey, hey, hey
I love my life, I love this record and
Mi amore vole fe yah (Same DNA)
I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
Don't hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself, and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way (Born this way)
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Baby, I was born this way (Born this way)
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Right track, baby
I was born this way
(Way) Don't be, don't be
(Way) Church
Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Whether you're broke or evergreen
You're black, white, beige, cholo descent
You're Lebanese, you're orient
Whether life's disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied, or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today
'Cause baby, you were born this way
No matter gay, straight, or bi
Lesbian, transgendered life
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born to survive
No matter black, white, or beige
Chola or orient made
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born to be brave!
I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
Don't hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself, and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way, yeah
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Baby, I was born this way (Born this way)
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
I was born this way, hey
I was born this way, hey
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way, hey
I was born this way, hey
I was born this way, hey
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way, hey
Same DNA, but born this way (Hey, hey, hey)
Same DNA, but born this way (Hey, hey, hey)
Cool For The Summer - Demi Lovato (2015)
Valentino: our canon pansexual. As far as Valentino is concerned, he is everyone's body type. And a common headcanon is that his smoke/aphrodisiac saliva has a cherry flavour. He is definitely the type to be all for everyone around him making out (and including him, of course, because he is the centre of attention).
Lyrics
Tell me what you want
What you like
It's okay
I'm a little curious, too
Tell me if it's wrong
If it's right
I don't care
I can keep a secret, can you?
Got my mind on your body and your body on my mind
Got a taste for the cherry, I just need to take a bite
Don't tell your mother
Kiss one another
Die for each other
We're cool for the summer
(Ha)
Ooh, ooh
Take me down into your paradise
Don't be scared 'cause I'm your body type
Just something that we wanna try
'Cause you and I
We're cool for the summer
Tell me if I won
If I did
What's my prize?
I just wanna play with you, too
Even if they judge
Fuck it
I'll do the time
I just wanna have some fun with you
Got my mind on your body and your body on my mind
Got a taste for the cherry, I just need to take a bite
Don't tell your mother
Kiss one another
Die for each other
We're cool for the summer
(Ha)
Ooh, ooh
Take me down into your paradise
Don't be scared 'cause I'm your body type
Just something that we wanna try
'Cause you and I
We're cool for the summer
(Ha)
We're cool for the summer
We're cool for the summer
Shh... don't tell your mother
Got my mind on your body and your body on my mind
Got a taste for the cherry, I just need to take a bite
(Take me down) Take me down into your paradise
(Don't be scared) Don't be scared 'cause I'm your body type
Just something that we wanna try (wanna try)
'Cause you and I (you and I)
We're cool for the summer
(Take me down) We're cool for the summer
(Don't be scared) 'Cause I'm your body type
Just something that we wanna try
'Cause you and I (you and I)
We're cool for the summer
(Ha)
Ooh
We're cool for the summer
I Like Everyone - Stroop (2020)
For some reason this is advertised as a bisexual song, which doesn't make sense, because pansexual is more "everyone" than bisexual is? Anyway, blue fire is considered the hottest, and Valentino is not just sexually attracted to the blue member of the Vees, but appears romantically into Vox too. This fits him to a T.
Lyrics
I like everyone
But the sun
Yeah the sun turns blue
In the middle of
Real love
Oh my heart shifts hues
I like everyone
And I feel very close to you
I like everyone, everyone, every
Wondering, if I will make you mine
When I feel, like I am doing right
In the middle of hopeless minds so true
I just wanna dance and get close to you
I feel very cool and I want to say
I like everyone
But the sun
Yeah the sun turns blue
In the middle of
Real love
Oh my heart shifts hues
I like everyone
And I feel very close to you
I like everyone, everyone, every
Feeling like, my mind can't sleep at night
But I hope, the day will make me bright
When you get up, and open your eyes
Don't you feel like, life could be nice
Everyone wants, what they can't get
Oh no
I like everyone
But the sun
Yeah the sun turns blue
In the middle of
Real love
Oh my heart shifts hues
I like everyone
And I feel very close to you
I like everyone, everyone, every
Bi - Living Colour (1993)
Not only is Vox bisexual, but the more important part of his character is how he wants everyone to want him. Not necessarily sexually, more like a God, but he is desperate for acceptance and love. So not only does he like it both ways, his desire for everyone to need him in some way definitely has amplified his tension.
Lyrics
People, if they choose you, then they want you to decide
But you'd rather relax, kick back, enjoy the ride
There's a catagory if you're straight or gay
You're a wild card gambler and you like it both ways
Everybody wants you when you're bi
Looking at the girls and eyeing all the guys
Everybody loves you when you're bi
But the tension and the passion's double amplified
My lover told me, well, that she's bi
I wanted to scream, there were tears in my eyes
She said baby, baby, don't you cry
'Cause the one I am with, you've been seeing on the side
Everybody wants you when you're bi
Eating with the girls and laughing with the guys
Everybody loves you when you're bi
But the tension and the passion's double amplified
Everybody wants you when you're bi
Feeling all the girls and touching all the guys
Well, everybody loves you when you're bi
Well a friend of a friend of a friend told me
Everybody's messed up with their sexuality
Well a friend of a friend of a friend told me
I need a closet big enough to live in
A closet for the whole world to live in
I want a closet big enough to live in
A closet for the whole world to live in
Everybody wants you when you're bi
Loving all the girls and loving all the guys
Everybody needs you when you're bi
But the tension and the passion's double amplified
Everybody wants you
That's right
Everybody needs you
Um-hum
Everybody likes you
I'll bet
Everybody loves you
Everybody, yeah
Everybody
Everybody, come on now
Everybody, not me
Everybody, whoo
Everybody, yeah
Everybody, come on now
Everybody
Well everybody loves you
Bi
Licking all the girls
Licking all the guys
Everybody's fucked up with their sexuality
You like it both ways
Like it both ways
Bi
Te Amo - Rihanna (2016)
I found this song as I was looking up songs which were written for bisexuality, but this one especially fit Vox because of the lover speaking Spanish (Val) and Vox's fear of not only calling Val his friend, but accepting that their "benefits" actually mean more to the both of them.
I also tend to believe he understands more Spanish than he lets on. As Rihanna's character in this song correctly knows what "te amo" means, but tries to avoid admitting that she does, so does Vox likely with the depth of Valentino's feelings.
Lyrics
Te amo, te amo
She says to me
I hear the pain in her voice
Then we danced underneath the candelabra
She takes the lead
That's when I saw it in her eyes, it's over
Then she said te amo
Then she put her hand around me waist
I told her no
She cried te amo
I told her I'm not gonna run away
But let me go
My soul is awry
Without asking why
I said te amo
Wish somebody'd tell me what she said?
Don't it mean I love you?
Think it means I love you
Don't it mean I love you?
Te amo, te amo
She's scared to breathe
I hold her hand, I got no choice, uh
Pulled me out on the beach, danced in the water
I start to leave
She's begging me and asking why it's over
Then she said te amo
Then she put her hand around me waist
I told her no
She cried te amo
I told her I'm not gonna run away
But let me go
My soul is awry
Without asking why
I said te amo
Wish somebody'd tell me what she said?
Don't it mean I love you?
Think it means I love you
Don't it mean I love you?
Listen we can dance
But you gotta watch your hands
Watch me all night
I'm moving through the light
Because I understand
That we all need love
And I'm not afraid
To feel the love, but I don't feel that way
Then she said te amo
Then she put her hand around me waist
I told her no
She cried te amo
I told her I'm not gonna run away
But let me go
My soul is awry
Without asking why
I said te amo
Wish somebody'd tell me what she said?
Don't it mean I love you?
Think it means I love you
Don't it mean I love you?
Think it means I love you
I love you
Te amo, te amo
Don't it mean I love you?
Stockings - Suzanne Vega (1995)
The mixture of fashion, threads, and the tease of saying I'm off limits? All our lesbian queen Velvette. No doubt she uses her sexuality to her advantage. As I headcanon her as well on the aro spectrum--of course she plays with hearts without planning on doing more than having fun.
Lyrics
I don't care for tights, she says, and does not tell me why
She hikes her skirt above her knee revealing one brown thigh
"I see", I say, and wonder at her slender little fingers
How cleverly they pull upon the threads of recent slumbers
Do you know where friendship ends and passion does begin?
It's between the binding of her stocking and her skin
Oh yeah
She stayed up so late I thought she'd ask me to go dance
But something in the way she laughed told me I had no chance
The fiction in her family was that she was never nice
I'd say she was very, I just did not see the price
Do you know where friendship ends and passion does begin?
When the gin and tonic makes the room begin to spin
Oh yeah
Oh yeah, yeah
There may be attraction here but it will never flower
So I'm assigned to read her mind, now in this witching hour
Here's no game for those who claim to be easily bruised
But how can I complain when she's so easily amused?
Do you know where friendship ends and passion does begin?
When she does not show you the way out on the way in
It's between the binding of her stocking and her skin
Oh yeah
Oh yeah, yeah
Oh yeah
Oh yeah, yeah
girls - girl in red (2018)
A part of why I chose this song is actually to do with the fandom's reaction to Velvette being confirmed a lesbian by the creator. I was one of the ones who headcanoned her as that ahead of time, so I was simply happy. Other people didn't, but were happy for more lesbian characters in Hazbin anyway. Then there were the people who didn't think she should have a close relationship with two men unless she was fucking them.
Velvette's personality would definitely be to dunk on those people. It's not a phase and she will not change. Because, in fanon, people can do whatever they want, but it's weird as fuck when anyone says people can only have close relationships with other characters because they are having sex.
Lyrics
I've been hiding for so long
These feelings, they're not gone
Can I tell anyone?
Afraid of what they'll say
So I push them away
I'm acting so strange
They're so pretty, it hurts
I'm not talking 'bout boys, I'm talking 'bout girls
They're so pretty with their button-up shirts
I shouldn't be feeling this
But it's too hard to resist
Soft skin and soft lips
I should be into this guy
But it's just a waste of time
He's really not my type
I know what I like
No, this is not a phase
Or a coming of age
This will never change
They're so pretty, it hurts
I'm not talking 'bout boys, I'm talking 'bout girls
They're so pretty with their button-up shirts
They're so pretty, it hurts
I'm not talking 'bout boys, I'm talking 'bout girls
They're so pretty with their button-up shirts
'Cause I don't know what to do
It's not like I get to choose who I love
Who I love, who I love, who I love
They're so pretty, it hurts
I'm not talking 'bout boys, I'm talking 'bout girls
They're so pretty with their button-up shirts
They're so pretty, it hurts
I'm not talking 'bout boys, I'm talking 'bout girls
They're so pretty, it hurts
Love Love Love - Of Monsters and Men (2011)
On to my Pride headcanons! First is aromantics: which I like to think both Velvette and Valentino are. Where Val only uses romance as a tool when it comes to his work and to trick people, and the only person he likes getting it from is Vox as a demiromantic. Meanwhile, Velvette is grey romantic and the few times romance ever comes up for her is a surprise.
Lyrics
Well, maybe I'm a crook for stealing your heart away
Yeah, maybe I'm a crook for not caring for it
Yeah, maybe I'm a bad, bad, bad, bad person
Well, baby, I know.
And these fingertips
Will never run through your skin
And those bright blue eyes
Can only meet mine across the room filled with people that are less important than you
All 'cause you love, love, love
When you know I can't love
You love, love, love
When you know I can't love
You love, love, love
When you know I can't love you
So I think it's best we both forget before we dwell on it
The way you held me so tight
All through the night
'Til it was near morning
'Cause you love, love, love
When you know I can't love
You love, love, love
When you know I can't love
You love, love, love
When you know I can't love you
All 'cause you love, love, love
When you know I can't love
You love, love, love
When you know I can't love
You love, love, love
When you know I can't love you
Venus - Ana Roxanne (2020)
This is a song explicitly written about being intersex. Intersex is often overlooked in Pride. The Pride flag was updated to include them, yet people continue to use the version which doesn't.
While Sinners aren't human, and therefore I don't think can show intersex characteristics as we know them in humanity because of their inhuman forms, I headcanon that Valentino was intersex during life. Congenital anorchia. Something he was judged for in life, but no one can judge anymore in death.
Val not understanding what intersex is (at first; Velvette likely explains to him later), but being accepting of it because it doesn't get in the way of him enjoying his sexuality, is important to me.
Lyrics
Changeable, accepting
Merging water, moves fluidly from one to another
Easily transitioning from clouds to raindrop to sea
Forever changing form but not essence
Water passes through barriers that are
Impossible to cross in any other way
Water knows no boundaries
Indiscriminately merging with anything and everyone
Water unifies, It's in its nature to connect and merge
Water is generous, sometimes a little too generous
Overflowing with bounty and plеasant flood
Yet a stable earthеn container
Or sea wall finds water committed to taking
Shape as a reflecting pool, cove, or lake
Just as the sea refuses passage to no one
Water accepts all who come its way
Water accepts all walks of life
And we gratefully surrender and open to this
Healing element
In this vessel I must stay true
To the part of me that cannot be held
To the part of me that is beyond touch
Before getting into any specific identity, we start with the anthem that covers them all.
Lyrics
It doesn't matter if you love him, or capital "H-I-M" (M, M, M)Just put your paws up'Cause you were born this way, baby
My mama told me when I was young
"We are all born superstars"
She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on
In the glass of her boudoir
"There's nothing wrong with loving who you are"
She said, "'Cause He made you perfect, babe"
"So hold your head up, girl, and you'll go far
Listen to me when I say"
I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
Don't hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself, and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way (Born this way)
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Baby, I was born this way (Born this way)
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Right track, baby
I was born this way
Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Don't be (Don't be, don't be)
Give yourself prudence and love your friends
Subway kid, rejoice your truth
In the religion of the insecure
I must be myself, respect my youth
A different lover is not a sin
Believe capital H-I-M, hey, hey, hey
I love my life, I love this record and
Mi amore vole fe yah (Same DNA)
I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
Don't hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself, and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way (Born this way)
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Baby, I was born this way (Born this way)
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Right track, baby
I was born this way
(Way) Don't be, don't be
(Way) Church
Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Whether you're broke or evergreen
You're black, white, beige, cholo descent
You're Lebanese, you're orient
Whether life's disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied, or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today
'Cause baby, you were born this way
No matter gay, straight, or bi
Lesbian, transgendered life
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born to survive
No matter black, white, or beige
Chola or orient made
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born to be brave!
I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
Don't hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself, and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way, yeah
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Baby, I was born this way (Born this way)
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
I was born this way, hey
I was born this way, hey
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way, hey
I was born this way, hey
I was born this way, hey
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way, hey
Same DNA, but born this way (Hey, hey, hey)
Same DNA, but born this way (Hey, hey, hey)
Cool For The Summer - Demi Lovato (2015)
Valentino: our canon pansexual. As far as Valentino is concerned, he is everyone's body type. And a common headcanon is that his smoke/aphrodisiac saliva has a cherry flavour. He is definitely the type to be all for everyone around him making out (and including him, of course, because he is the centre of attention).
Lyrics
Tell me what you want
What you like
It's okay
I'm a little curious, too
Tell me if it's wrong
If it's right
I don't care
I can keep a secret, can you?
Got my mind on your body and your body on my mind
Got a taste for the cherry, I just need to take a bite
Don't tell your mother
Kiss one another
Die for each other
We're cool for the summer
(Ha)
Ooh, ooh
Take me down into your paradise
Don't be scared 'cause I'm your body type
Just something that we wanna try
'Cause you and I
We're cool for the summer
Tell me if I won
If I did
What's my prize?
I just wanna play with you, too
Even if they judge
Fuck it
I'll do the time
I just wanna have some fun with you
Got my mind on your body and your body on my mind
Got a taste for the cherry, I just need to take a bite
Don't tell your mother
Kiss one another
Die for each other
We're cool for the summer
(Ha)
Ooh, ooh
Take me down into your paradise
Don't be scared 'cause I'm your body type
Just something that we wanna try
'Cause you and I
We're cool for the summer
(Ha)
We're cool for the summer
We're cool for the summer
Shh... don't tell your mother
Got my mind on your body and your body on my mind
Got a taste for the cherry, I just need to take a bite
(Take me down) Take me down into your paradise
(Don't be scared) Don't be scared 'cause I'm your body type
Just something that we wanna try (wanna try)
'Cause you and I (you and I)
We're cool for the summer
(Take me down) We're cool for the summer
(Don't be scared) 'Cause I'm your body type
Just something that we wanna try
'Cause you and I (you and I)
We're cool for the summer
(Ha)
Ooh
We're cool for the summer
I Like Everyone - Stroop (2020)
For some reason this is advertised as a bisexual song, which doesn't make sense, because pansexual is more "everyone" than bisexual is? Anyway, blue fire is considered the hottest, and Valentino is not just sexually attracted to the blue member of the Vees, but appears romantically into Vox too. This fits him to a T.
Lyrics
I like everyone
But the sun
Yeah the sun turns blue
In the middle of
Real love
Oh my heart shifts hues
I like everyone
And I feel very close to you
I like everyone, everyone, every
Wondering, if I will make you mine
When I feel, like I am doing right
In the middle of hopeless minds so true
I just wanna dance and get close to you
I feel very cool and I want to say
I like everyone
But the sun
Yeah the sun turns blue
In the middle of
Real love
Oh my heart shifts hues
I like everyone
And I feel very close to you
I like everyone, everyone, every
Feeling like, my mind can't sleep at night
But I hope, the day will make me bright
When you get up, and open your eyes
Don't you feel like, life could be nice
Everyone wants, what they can't get
Oh no
I like everyone
But the sun
Yeah the sun turns blue
In the middle of
Real love
Oh my heart shifts hues
I like everyone
And I feel very close to you
I like everyone, everyone, every
Bi - Living Colour (1993)
Not only is Vox bisexual, but the more important part of his character is how he wants everyone to want him. Not necessarily sexually, more like a God, but he is desperate for acceptance and love. So not only does he like it both ways, his desire for everyone to need him in some way definitely has amplified his tension.
Lyrics
People, if they choose you, then they want you to decide
But you'd rather relax, kick back, enjoy the ride
There's a catagory if you're straight or gay
You're a wild card gambler and you like it both ways
Everybody wants you when you're bi
Looking at the girls and eyeing all the guys
Everybody loves you when you're bi
But the tension and the passion's double amplified
My lover told me, well, that she's bi
I wanted to scream, there were tears in my eyes
She said baby, baby, don't you cry
'Cause the one I am with, you've been seeing on the side
Everybody wants you when you're bi
Eating with the girls and laughing with the guys
Everybody loves you when you're bi
But the tension and the passion's double amplified
Everybody wants you when you're bi
Feeling all the girls and touching all the guys
Well, everybody loves you when you're bi
Well a friend of a friend of a friend told me
Everybody's messed up with their sexuality
Well a friend of a friend of a friend told me
I need a closet big enough to live in
A closet for the whole world to live in
I want a closet big enough to live in
A closet for the whole world to live in
Everybody wants you when you're bi
Loving all the girls and loving all the guys
Everybody needs you when you're bi
But the tension and the passion's double amplified
Everybody wants you
That's right
Everybody needs you
Um-hum
Everybody likes you
I'll bet
Everybody loves you
Everybody, yeah
Everybody
Everybody, come on now
Everybody, not me
Everybody, whoo
Everybody, yeah
Everybody, come on now
Everybody
Well everybody loves you
Bi
Licking all the girls
Licking all the guys
Everybody's fucked up with their sexuality
You like it both ways
Like it both ways
Bi
Te Amo - Rihanna (2016)
I found this song as I was looking up songs which were written for bisexuality, but this one especially fit Vox because of the lover speaking Spanish (Val) and Vox's fear of not only calling Val his friend, but accepting that their "benefits" actually mean more to the both of them.
I also tend to believe he understands more Spanish than he lets on. As Rihanna's character in this song correctly knows what "te amo" means, but tries to avoid admitting that she does, so does Vox likely with the depth of Valentino's feelings.
Lyrics
Te amo, te amo
She says to me
I hear the pain in her voice
Then we danced underneath the candelabra
She takes the lead
That's when I saw it in her eyes, it's over
Then she said te amo
Then she put her hand around me waist
I told her no
She cried te amo
I told her I'm not gonna run away
But let me go
My soul is awry
Without asking why
I said te amo
Wish somebody'd tell me what she said?
Don't it mean I love you?
Think it means I love you
Don't it mean I love you?
Te amo, te amo
She's scared to breathe
I hold her hand, I got no choice, uh
Pulled me out on the beach, danced in the water
I start to leave
She's begging me and asking why it's over
Then she said te amo
Then she put her hand around me waist
I told her no
She cried te amo
I told her I'm not gonna run away
But let me go
My soul is awry
Without asking why
I said te amo
Wish somebody'd tell me what she said?
Don't it mean I love you?
Think it means I love you
Don't it mean I love you?
Listen we can dance
But you gotta watch your hands
Watch me all night
I'm moving through the light
Because I understand
That we all need love
And I'm not afraid
To feel the love, but I don't feel that way
Then she said te amo
Then she put her hand around me waist
I told her no
She cried te amo
I told her I'm not gonna run away
But let me go
My soul is awry
Without asking why
I said te amo
Wish somebody'd tell me what she said?
Don't it mean I love you?
Think it means I love you
Don't it mean I love you?
Think it means I love you
I love you
Te amo, te amo
Don't it mean I love you?
Stockings - Suzanne Vega (1995)
The mixture of fashion, threads, and the tease of saying I'm off limits? All our lesbian queen Velvette. No doubt she uses her sexuality to her advantage. As I headcanon her as well on the aro spectrum--of course she plays with hearts without planning on doing more than having fun.
Lyrics
I don't care for tights, she says, and does not tell me why
She hikes her skirt above her knee revealing one brown thigh
"I see", I say, and wonder at her slender little fingers
How cleverly they pull upon the threads of recent slumbers
Do you know where friendship ends and passion does begin?
It's between the binding of her stocking and her skin
Oh yeah
She stayed up so late I thought she'd ask me to go dance
But something in the way she laughed told me I had no chance
The fiction in her family was that she was never nice
I'd say she was very, I just did not see the price
Do you know where friendship ends and passion does begin?
When the gin and tonic makes the room begin to spin
Oh yeah
Oh yeah, yeah
There may be attraction here but it will never flower
So I'm assigned to read her mind, now in this witching hour
Here's no game for those who claim to be easily bruised
But how can I complain when she's so easily amused?
Do you know where friendship ends and passion does begin?
When she does not show you the way out on the way in
It's between the binding of her stocking and her skin
Oh yeah
Oh yeah, yeah
Oh yeah
Oh yeah, yeah
girls - girl in red (2018)
A part of why I chose this song is actually to do with the fandom's reaction to Velvette being confirmed a lesbian by the creator. I was one of the ones who headcanoned her as that ahead of time, so I was simply happy. Other people didn't, but were happy for more lesbian characters in Hazbin anyway. Then there were the people who didn't think she should have a close relationship with two men unless she was fucking them.
Velvette's personality would definitely be to dunk on those people. It's not a phase and she will not change. Because, in fanon, people can do whatever they want, but it's weird as fuck when anyone says people can only have close relationships with other characters because they are having sex.
Lyrics
I've been hiding for so long
These feelings, they're not gone
Can I tell anyone?
Afraid of what they'll say
So I push them away
I'm acting so strange
They're so pretty, it hurts
I'm not talking 'bout boys, I'm talking 'bout girls
They're so pretty with their button-up shirts
I shouldn't be feeling this
But it's too hard to resist
Soft skin and soft lips
I should be into this guy
But it's just a waste of time
He's really not my type
I know what I like
No, this is not a phase
Or a coming of age
This will never change
They're so pretty, it hurts
I'm not talking 'bout boys, I'm talking 'bout girls
They're so pretty with their button-up shirts
They're so pretty, it hurts
I'm not talking 'bout boys, I'm talking 'bout girls
They're so pretty with their button-up shirts
'Cause I don't know what to do
It's not like I get to choose who I love
Who I love, who I love, who I love
They're so pretty, it hurts
I'm not talking 'bout boys, I'm talking 'bout girls
They're so pretty with their button-up shirts
They're so pretty, it hurts
I'm not talking 'bout boys, I'm talking 'bout girls
They're so pretty, it hurts
Love Love Love - Of Monsters and Men (2011)
On to my Pride headcanons! First is aromantics: which I like to think both Velvette and Valentino are. Where Val only uses romance as a tool when it comes to his work and to trick people, and the only person he likes getting it from is Vox as a demiromantic. Meanwhile, Velvette is grey romantic and the few times romance ever comes up for her is a surprise.
Lyrics
Well, maybe I'm a crook for stealing your heart away
Yeah, maybe I'm a crook for not caring for it
Yeah, maybe I'm a bad, bad, bad, bad person
Well, baby, I know.
And these fingertips
Will never run through your skin
And those bright blue eyes
Can only meet mine across the room filled with people that are less important than you
All 'cause you love, love, love
When you know I can't love
You love, love, love
When you know I can't love
You love, love, love
When you know I can't love you
So I think it's best we both forget before we dwell on it
The way you held me so tight
All through the night
'Til it was near morning
'Cause you love, love, love
When you know I can't love
You love, love, love
When you know I can't love
You love, love, love
When you know I can't love you
All 'cause you love, love, love
When you know I can't love
You love, love, love
When you know I can't love
You love, love, love
When you know I can't love you
Venus - Ana Roxanne (2020)
This is a song explicitly written about being intersex. Intersex is often overlooked in Pride. The Pride flag was updated to include them, yet people continue to use the version which doesn't.
While Sinners aren't human, and therefore I don't think can show intersex characteristics as we know them in humanity because of their inhuman forms, I headcanon that Valentino was intersex during life. Congenital anorchia. Something he was judged for in life, but no one can judge anymore in death.
Val not understanding what intersex is (at first; Velvette likely explains to him later), but being accepting of it because it doesn't get in the way of him enjoying his sexuality, is important to me.
Lyrics
Changeable, accepting
Merging water, moves fluidly from one to another
Easily transitioning from clouds to raindrop to sea
Forever changing form but not essence
Water passes through barriers that are
Impossible to cross in any other way
Water knows no boundaries
Indiscriminately merging with anything and everyone
Water unifies, It's in its nature to connect and merge
Water is generous, sometimes a little too generous
Overflowing with bounty and plеasant flood
Yet a stable earthеn container
Or sea wall finds water committed to taking
Shape as a reflecting pool, cove, or lake
Just as the sea refuses passage to no one
Water accepts all who come its way
Water accepts all walks of life
And we gratefully surrender and open to this
Healing element
In this vessel I must stay true
To the part of me that cannot be held
To the part of me that is beyond touch
The Writer's Little Book of Platitudes returns!
Jul. 7th, 2026 07:58 pmswan_towerFollowing on last month's re-release of The Writer's Little Book of Naming, The Writer's Little Book of Platitudes is back out in the world!
And starting next month, there will be a brand-new Writer's Little Book -- stay tuned for news on that . . .
(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://www.swantower.com/2026/07/07/the-writers-little-book-of-platitudes-returns/)
“Show, don’t tell.” “Murder your darlings.” “Write every day.”
Certain pieces of advice are widespread in the writing community — but what do they really mean? And are they nuggets of universal wisdom, or do they only apply to some writers in some circumstances? Award-winning author Marie Brennan tackles these old saws, dissecting each one to see what purpose it might serve . . . and when you should toss it aside.
And starting next month, there will be a brand-new Writer's Little Book -- stay tuned for news on that . . .
(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://www.swantower.com/2026/07/07/the-writers-little-book-of-platitudes-returns/)
SquidgeWorld Discussion And Fundraising Update
Jul. 7th, 2026 07:43 pmsquidgestatusLet's get the fun stuff out of the way first. With thanks to the 53 distinct donors so far, Squidge's Hot Fic Summer Fundraiser is nearly there! So far we have raised $2,269.82 out of our goal of $2,500. Hitting our goal means keeping the lights on for another year. So if you've been sitting on the fence about donating and can spare a few dollars, it would be awesome if you could donate. But remember - if you're struggling, take care of yourself first. There's a reason flight attendants always say, "Put your own mask on first before helping others." While we'd welcome all of you as donors, we're glad to have you as Squidge users and visitors.
Second is discussion over on SquidgeWorld about possibly disabling guest comments from here on out. This is due to a commission spammer feeding fics into ChatGPT and then having ChatGPT spit out questions that might engage the creator(s). While we can try and prevent AI from scraping our works, we can't prevent someone copy & pasting said works into an AI engine for their own use.
But disabling guest comments is a big step toward that.
There's a whole discussion on SquidgeWorld if you'd like to read there. If you have an account, you can comment there, or you may comment here as you like. I'd like people to be a part of this conversation as opposed to telling people what can and can't be done as part of their access to the open Internet.
Second is discussion over on SquidgeWorld about possibly disabling guest comments from here on out. This is due to a commission spammer feeding fics into ChatGPT and then having ChatGPT spit out questions that might engage the creator(s). While we can try and prevent AI from scraping our works, we can't prevent someone copy & pasting said works into an AI engine for their own use.
But disabling guest comments is a big step toward that.
There's a whole discussion on SquidgeWorld if you'd like to read there. If you have an account, you can comment there, or you may comment here as you like. I'd like people to be a part of this conversation as opposed to telling people what can and can't be done as part of their access to the open Internet.
Tuesday, 7th July 2026
Jul. 7th, 2026 03:00 pmbeck_liz posting in doctor_who_sonicEditor's Note: If your item was not linked, it's because the header lacked the information that we like to give our readers. Please at least give the title, rating, and pairing or characters, and please include the header in the storypost itself, not just in the linking post. For an example of what a "good" fanfic header is, see the user info. Spoiler warnings are also greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Off-Dreamwidth Links
Blogtor Who: Video of the Day – SYFY: Doctor Who Best Regenerations, 2017
Blogtor Who: Video of the Day – Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker, 2026
Blogtor Who: Video of the Day – Doctor Who Confidential: The Making of ‘Fear Her’, 2006
(News from![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png)
blogtorwho_feed and doctorwhonews_feed, among others.)
Discussion & Miscellany
nwhyte on Supremacy of the Cybermen, by George Mann, Cavan Scott, Alessandro Vitti et al
Fanfiction
Completed
Mising Persons bybadly_knitted (G | Eleventh Doctor)
If you were not linked, and would like to be, contact us in the comments with further information and your link.
Off-Dreamwidth Links
Blogtor Who: Video of the Day – SYFY: Doctor Who Best Regenerations, 2017
Blogtor Who: Video of the Day – Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker, 2026
Blogtor Who: Video of the Day – Doctor Who Confidential: The Making of ‘Fear Her’, 2006
(News from
blogtorwho_feed and doctorwhonews_feed, among others.)Discussion & Miscellany
nwhyte on Supremacy of the Cybermen, by George Mann, Cavan Scott, Alessandro Vitti et alFanfiction
Completed
Mising Persons by
badly_knitted (G | Eleventh Doctor)If you were not linked, and would like to be, contact us in the comments with further information and your link.
Check-In Post - July 7th 2026
Jul. 7th, 2026 07:38 pmbadly_knitted posting in get_knittedHello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.
Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?
There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.
This Week's Question: What's on your crafting wish list?
If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.
I now declare this Check-In OPEN!
Book Review: Flying Colours
Jul. 7th, 2026 01:41 pmosprey_archerWhen last we left Captain Hornblower, he had just attacked four French ships all by his lonesome, and been forced to strike his colors. Flying Colours begins soon after this battle, with Hornblower in French captivity. The French have taken a dim view of some of his escapades in A Ship of the Line, deciding that his perfectly legitimate ruse de guerre is in fact an act of piracy, for which Captain Hornblower and his first lieutenant Bush must be sent to Paris to be shot by firing squad!
This is especially unfortunate because Bush got his foot shot off in the last engagement, and the wound is barely half-healed. But no matter. The sneering French grandee packs Hornblower, Bush, and Hornblower’s coxswain Brown into a carriage to transport them to Paris. If Bush dies along the way, why, it will save the firing squad some trouble, that’s all.
I’m not entirely sure why the French have decided they need to try Bush as well as Hornblower, but I also don’t care because it’s clearly occurring for a very important purpose: C. S. Forester needs Bush along on this road trip from hell in order to make this the slashiest Hornblower novel since Lieutenant Hornblower.
Item: after they are shoved into the carriage, Hornblower takes Bush’s hand to comfort him, as the journey will no doubt be tortuous to his wound, and Bush grasps Hornblower’s hand and starts caressing it.
Item: when they stop at the hotel, there is only one bed. (Hornblower gets the bed, Bush sleeps on his stretcher, and Brown sleeps on a pallet on the floor. No matter. Let me have this.)
Item: unable to get a doctor on the second morning, Hornblower has to tend to Bush’s wounds himself. This is too gross to be romantic but it is extremely intimate.
Item: later on, while they are escaping France, they all have to huddle for warmth one night and Hornblower feels a “ridiculous pleasure” (direct quote) when he wakes up under Bush’s arm. HORNBLOWER PLEASE.
In the midst of all this, Hornblower and company end up spending a few months hiding in the house of a sympathetic French nobleman, and Hornblower seduces his widowed daughter-in-law Marie, as one does. I felt some concern that she was going to die tragically, as there’s a Marie(tte) in the Hornblower movies who shared a few characteristics with this character (French; in love with Hornblower; raised from peasant past by Revolution) who meets a sticky end. (I did a short rewrite, which I link here because it is a work of comic genius which makes me laugh every time I read it. Adieu, 'Ornblowaire!)
Now, book!Marie might still show up in the final three Hornblower books to die dramatically, but she made it through this one alive, at least. And she completely slayed Hornblower with this comment: “I don't think you will ever love anybody, or know what it is to do so.” I don’t think this is actually accurate (Lady Barbara! Bush???) but it does seem like the kind of thing that would lodge in Hornblower’s relentlessly, inaccurately self-analytical head and torment him forever, so good job serving up some ice cold vengeance, Marie.
This is especially unfortunate because Bush got his foot shot off in the last engagement, and the wound is barely half-healed. But no matter. The sneering French grandee packs Hornblower, Bush, and Hornblower’s coxswain Brown into a carriage to transport them to Paris. If Bush dies along the way, why, it will save the firing squad some trouble, that’s all.
I’m not entirely sure why the French have decided they need to try Bush as well as Hornblower, but I also don’t care because it’s clearly occurring for a very important purpose: C. S. Forester needs Bush along on this road trip from hell in order to make this the slashiest Hornblower novel since Lieutenant Hornblower.
Item: after they are shoved into the carriage, Hornblower takes Bush’s hand to comfort him, as the journey will no doubt be tortuous to his wound, and Bush grasps Hornblower’s hand and starts caressing it.
Item: when they stop at the hotel, there is only one bed. (Hornblower gets the bed, Bush sleeps on his stretcher, and Brown sleeps on a pallet on the floor. No matter. Let me have this.)
Item: unable to get a doctor on the second morning, Hornblower has to tend to Bush’s wounds himself. This is too gross to be romantic but it is extremely intimate.
Item: later on, while they are escaping France, they all have to huddle for warmth one night and Hornblower feels a “ridiculous pleasure” (direct quote) when he wakes up under Bush’s arm. HORNBLOWER PLEASE.
In the midst of all this, Hornblower and company end up spending a few months hiding in the house of a sympathetic French nobleman, and Hornblower seduces his widowed daughter-in-law Marie, as one does. I felt some concern that she was going to die tragically, as there’s a Marie(tte) in the Hornblower movies who shared a few characteristics with this character (French; in love with Hornblower; raised from peasant past by Revolution) who meets a sticky end. (I did a short rewrite, which I link here because it is a work of comic genius which makes me laugh every time I read it. Adieu, 'Ornblowaire!)
Now, book!Marie might still show up in the final three Hornblower books to die dramatically, but she made it through this one alive, at least. And she completely slayed Hornblower with this comment: “I don't think you will ever love anybody, or know what it is to do so.” I don’t think this is actually accurate (Lady Barbara! Bush???) but it does seem like the kind of thing that would lodge in Hornblower’s relentlessly, inaccurately self-analytical head and torment him forever, so good job serving up some ice cold vengeance, Marie.
Poetry Fishbowl Open!
Jul. 7th, 2026 11:46 amysabetwordsmithStarting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "Don't add to the casualty list in an emergency." I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems.
I picked this theme for today from the selected list of themes, because of the violent storms that swept through central Illinois in late June. Here's my post about Tornado Alley moving from the Great Plains through the Midwest to the Southeast.
Among my previous poems that mention tornadoes or other violent storms are "A Tornado of Thought," "Windswept," "Know What You Stand For," "Better to Meet Danger," "In Growth, Reform, and Change," and "Nature's Great Masterpiece," and "The Pequot War."
Established settings in Tornado Alley: Omaha Reservation and Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska (Polychrome Heroics), Stillwater, Oklahoma (Polychrome Heroics), Waxahachie, Texas (Schrodinger's Heroes), River City and Ava and Bluehill, Missouri (Polychrome Heroics), Onion City and Urbanburg, Illinois (Polychrome Heroics), Easy City, Louisiana (Polychrome Heroics), Ninovan, Tennessee (Daughters of the Apocalypse), Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center
for Elephant Conservation in Florida (Daughters of the Apocalypse).
I'll be soliciting ideas for first responders, troubleshooters, activists, rebels, Women Who Run with the Saberteeth, explorers, refugees, runaway youth, housemates, siblings, parents, teachers, clergy, police, soldiers, leaders, superheroes, supervillains, teammates, failure analysts, ethicists, other people who get into dire situations, running into a fire while others are running out of it, rescuing people, protesting, rebelling, planning, panicking, throwing in the towel, escaping, running like you stole something, adventuring, divorcing, teaching, leaving your comfort zone, discovering things, conducting experiments, observation changing experiments, troubleshooting, improvising, adapting, cleaning up messes, cooperating, taking over in an emergency, saving the day, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, coming of age, learning what you can (and can't) do, sharing, preparing for the worst, expecting the unexpected, fixing what's broke, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, returning home, war zones, disaster areas, wastelands, trails, sailing ships, distant lands, the forest primeval, prehistory, liminal zones, schools, homeless shelters, prisons, hotels, churches, sharehouses, campfires, laboratories, supervillain lairs, makerspaces, nonhuman accommodations and adaptations, stores, farmer's markets, starships, alien planets, magical lands, foreign dimensions, other places where disasters happen, cataclysms, natural disasters, climate change, the end of the world, S-risks and X-risks, unhappy relationships, PACE your planning, protest rallies, travel mishaps, sudden surprises, the buck stops here, trial and error, supplements that turn out to be mutagenic, intercultural entanglements, asking for help and getting it, enemies to friends/lovers, interdimensional travel, lab conditions are not field conditions, superpower manifestation, the end of where your framework actually applies, ethics, innovation, problems that can't be solved by hitting, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.
Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:
Hazbin Hotel Fest Bingo Card 6-1-26
Winterfest in July Bingo Card 7-1-26
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
An Army of One has some serious challenges between the Galactic Arms.
The Bear Tunnels introduces modern principles to people in the past, in hopes of preventing genocide.
A Conflagration of Dragons features the Six Races struggling to survive as the dragons take over more and more territory.
Crystal Wood is about how the mass death of trees can wreck civilization.
The Daughters of the Apocalypse has people trying to find enough resources to survive, when former cities are unsafe.
The Moon Door explores a women's chronic pain group and lycanthropy.
Not Quite Kansas deals with demons, magic, and other mayhem.
One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis follows Shaeth as he works on becoming the God of Drunks after quitting as the God of Evil. Addiction always has the potential for disaster.
Path of the Paladins includes some really awful situations due to divine politics and mortal foolishness.
Peculiar Obligations deals with Quakers, pirates, and organized crime.
Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, supernaries, blue-plate specials, superheroes, supervillains, primal and animal soups all trying to get along and figure out how to make a functional society. Among the more relevant threads are Berettaflies, the Big One, Dr. Infanta, Iron Horses, Officer Pink, Shiv, and Trichromatic Attachments.
Schrodinger's Heroes has a lot of situations that can destroy things, up to and including whole dimensions.
The Wandering is a series about fantasy time travel where people loop back within their own lifespan.
Or you can ask for something new.
Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.
( Read more... )
I picked this theme for today from the selected list of themes, because of the violent storms that swept through central Illinois in late June. Here's my post about Tornado Alley moving from the Great Plains through the Midwest to the Southeast.
Among my previous poems that mention tornadoes or other violent storms are "A Tornado of Thought," "Windswept," "Know What You Stand For," "Better to Meet Danger," "In Growth, Reform, and Change," and "Nature's Great Masterpiece," and "The Pequot War."
Established settings in Tornado Alley: Omaha Reservation and Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska (Polychrome Heroics), Stillwater, Oklahoma (Polychrome Heroics), Waxahachie, Texas (Schrodinger's Heroes), River City and Ava and Bluehill, Missouri (Polychrome Heroics), Onion City and Urbanburg, Illinois (Polychrome Heroics), Easy City, Louisiana (Polychrome Heroics), Ninovan, Tennessee (Daughters of the Apocalypse), Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center
for Elephant Conservation in Florida (Daughters of the Apocalypse).
I'll be soliciting ideas for first responders, troubleshooters, activists, rebels, Women Who Run with the Saberteeth, explorers, refugees, runaway youth, housemates, siblings, parents, teachers, clergy, police, soldiers, leaders, superheroes, supervillains, teammates, failure analysts, ethicists, other people who get into dire situations, running into a fire while others are running out of it, rescuing people, protesting, rebelling, planning, panicking, throwing in the towel, escaping, running like you stole something, adventuring, divorcing, teaching, leaving your comfort zone, discovering things, conducting experiments, observation changing experiments, troubleshooting, improvising, adapting, cleaning up messes, cooperating, taking over in an emergency, saving the day, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, coming of age, learning what you can (and can't) do, sharing, preparing for the worst, expecting the unexpected, fixing what's broke, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, returning home, war zones, disaster areas, wastelands, trails, sailing ships, distant lands, the forest primeval, prehistory, liminal zones, schools, homeless shelters, prisons, hotels, churches, sharehouses, campfires, laboratories, supervillain lairs, makerspaces, nonhuman accommodations and adaptations, stores, farmer's markets, starships, alien planets, magical lands, foreign dimensions, other places where disasters happen, cataclysms, natural disasters, climate change, the end of the world, S-risks and X-risks, unhappy relationships, PACE your planning, protest rallies, travel mishaps, sudden surprises, the buck stops here, trial and error, supplements that turn out to be mutagenic, intercultural entanglements, asking for help and getting it, enemies to friends/lovers, interdimensional travel, lab conditions are not field conditions, superpower manifestation, the end of where your framework actually applies, ethics, innovation, problems that can't be solved by hitting, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.
Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:
Hazbin Hotel Fest Bingo Card 6-1-26
Winterfest in July Bingo Card 7-1-26
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
An Army of One has some serious challenges between the Galactic Arms.
The Bear Tunnels introduces modern principles to people in the past, in hopes of preventing genocide.
A Conflagration of Dragons features the Six Races struggling to survive as the dragons take over more and more territory.
Crystal Wood is about how the mass death of trees can wreck civilization.
The Daughters of the Apocalypse has people trying to find enough resources to survive, when former cities are unsafe.
The Moon Door explores a women's chronic pain group and lycanthropy.
Not Quite Kansas deals with demons, magic, and other mayhem.
One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis follows Shaeth as he works on becoming the God of Drunks after quitting as the God of Evil. Addiction always has the potential for disaster.
Path of the Paladins includes some really awful situations due to divine politics and mortal foolishness.
Peculiar Obligations deals with Quakers, pirates, and organized crime.
Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, supernaries, blue-plate specials, superheroes, supervillains, primal and animal soups all trying to get along and figure out how to make a functional society. Among the more relevant threads are Berettaflies, the Big One, Dr. Infanta, Iron Horses, Officer Pink, Shiv, and Trichromatic Attachments.
Schrodinger's Heroes has a lot of situations that can destroy things, up to and including whole dimensions.
The Wandering is a series about fantasy time travel where people loop back within their own lifespan.
Or you can ask for something new.
Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.
( Read more... )
Spent the last two nights at the hospital with a resident
Jul. 9th, 2026 12:30 pmconulyShe's fine, no worries - well, not fine fine, she's at the hospital, but it's nothing to worry about.
Taking the bus back from the hospital always gets me thinking about Hurricane Sandy. They named a corner after those two boys. They'd be in high school now, or even entering college. It's easy to judge their mother - and don't get me wrong, I do judge her, because she made every possible mistake from before the storm even hit, starting with not evacuating - but people do dumb stuff all the time and it usually works out just fine. People don't usually die because they did something stupid, they don't usually lose their kids over it.
It's been rainy too. It's really just a maudlin way to start a week.
But I still think, every time I take that bus from the hospital, that those kids should've gotten to grow up, and instead they didn't even get to go trick-or-treating that year.
The moral of this post, inasmuch as there even is one, is that if your area is under an evacuation order, or ought to be, fucking evacuate. Or if you've decided to shelter in place, shelter in place. Don't try to evacuate after the storm is already upon you. That's how it all goes wrong.
Taking the bus back from the hospital always gets me thinking about Hurricane Sandy. They named a corner after those two boys. They'd be in high school now, or even entering college. It's easy to judge their mother - and don't get me wrong, I do judge her, because she made every possible mistake from before the storm even hit, starting with not evacuating - but people do dumb stuff all the time and it usually works out just fine. People don't usually die because they did something stupid, they don't usually lose their kids over it.
It's been rainy too. It's really just a maudlin way to start a week.
But I still think, every time I take that bus from the hospital, that those kids should've gotten to grow up, and instead they didn't even get to go trick-or-treating that year.
The moral of this post, inasmuch as there even is one, is that if your area is under an evacuation order, or ought to be, fucking evacuate. Or if you've decided to shelter in place, shelter in place. Don't try to evacuate after the storm is already upon you. That's how it all goes wrong.