Just took time to say, I'll drop you a line
Mar. 23rd, 2026 11:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sovayselkie's birthday was duly observed with my parents and my husbands, a meal of much carnivory, and an apricot marmalade cake doused in whipped cream, strawberry sugar, and candles that burned like driftwood salts. Many deeply goofy photos were taken of various combinations of us. So much is wrong with the world and it is still true that my family for an evening is happy. A photogenic snow began to drift the streets as I drove everyone home.
(no subject)
Mar. 23rd, 2026 03:48 pmashelterofpages---
tags:
- habit/Braindump
- habit/Exercise
- habit/Going Outside
- habit/Meds
---
Capybara tangent!
So, it was me, S, and some of her other friends. Everyone got on pretty well, and seemed to have a really good time. I'd met one of the folks before, but not the other two. H and I get along already, but never talk or anything but she knows the other two and they were her friends before they were S's.
The place we went wasn't actually a cafe but rather, a general animal encounter place. We weren't sure how it was going to go because well, those places aren't always run the best, but this one seems really, really great. It's tied to a rescue, and they vet the animals that go to that place, and are very careful with the amount of people that are in the encounter both at once, and throughout the day. They also kept an eye out on the animals and were willing to go "Okay, this little guy is done now so we're going to let him chill out."
So, we all felt really good about that, and are probably going to go back because they have other animals to befriend and stuff like this works a lot better for me and my vision rather than other things.
The two capybaras we met were named Tater Tot (tiny boyyyy), and Augustus (not so tiny boy. XD). They were both friendly with people, and were very food motivated, so we shared much lettuce with them. They're really bristly, which I didn't expect for some reason, and Augustus was very grumpy when he wasn't the center of attention. It was both endearing and kind of funny because Tater Tot was like three times as small as he was, but did not give a fuck.
We also got to meet a baby kangaroo! He was such a good, friendly little fellow and he tried to follow us into the room where the capybaras were. We got to pet him briefly and omg, I had no idea small kangaroos were so soft.
After we left, we stopped at an ice cream place and got some. S and I got a really nice and refreshing lemon ginger thing, and it was such a good choice. So tasty. They had a strawberry balsamic one too, which was...Eh. It really just tasted like mediocre strawberry. S has had something like that before and was like "Oh no, it should be a little different than that."
Then yesterday was like 3 hours of Dragon Age! It was great, I was so pleased! I'm having a blast and K is so kind and sweet. I kind of adore them and I'm so glad my partner is dating them too.
I have not seen more Exorcist, but hopefully that will change soo. Later today should be more Dragon Age though, assuming I'm not driving somewhere when the time rolls around. I'm going to be heading to S's house for some housesitting later today, so I miiiight not be able to do it. We'll see.
tags:
- habit/Braindump
- habit/Exercise
- habit/Going Outside
- habit/Meds
---
Capybara tangent!
So, it was me, S, and some of her other friends. Everyone got on pretty well, and seemed to have a really good time. I'd met one of the folks before, but not the other two. H and I get along already, but never talk or anything but she knows the other two and they were her friends before they were S's.
The place we went wasn't actually a cafe but rather, a general animal encounter place. We weren't sure how it was going to go because well, those places aren't always run the best, but this one seems really, really great. It's tied to a rescue, and they vet the animals that go to that place, and are very careful with the amount of people that are in the encounter both at once, and throughout the day. They also kept an eye out on the animals and were willing to go "Okay, this little guy is done now so we're going to let him chill out."
So, we all felt really good about that, and are probably going to go back because they have other animals to befriend and stuff like this works a lot better for me and my vision rather than other things.
The two capybaras we met were named Tater Tot (tiny boyyyy), and Augustus (not so tiny boy. XD). They were both friendly with people, and were very food motivated, so we shared much lettuce with them. They're really bristly, which I didn't expect for some reason, and Augustus was very grumpy when he wasn't the center of attention. It was both endearing and kind of funny because Tater Tot was like three times as small as he was, but did not give a fuck.
We also got to meet a baby kangaroo! He was such a good, friendly little fellow and he tried to follow us into the room where the capybaras were. We got to pet him briefly and omg, I had no idea small kangaroos were so soft.
After we left, we stopped at an ice cream place and got some. S and I got a really nice and refreshing lemon ginger thing, and it was such a good choice. So tasty. They had a strawberry balsamic one too, which was...Eh. It really just tasted like mediocre strawberry. S has had something like that before and was like "Oh no, it should be a little different than that."
Then yesterday was like 3 hours of Dragon Age! It was great, I was so pleased! I'm having a blast and K is so kind and sweet. I kind of adore them and I'm so glad my partner is dating them too.
I have not seen more Exorcist, but hopefully that will change soo. Later today should be more Dragon Age though, assuming I'm not driving somewhere when the time rolls around. I'm going to be heading to S's house for some housesitting later today, so I miiiight not be able to do it. We'll see.
[fic rec] Star Wars: Andor, Cassian Andor/Luthen Rael
Mar. 23rd, 2026 11:54 amdr_zook posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
recthethingTitle: Command Control
Fandom: Star Wars - Andor
Author:![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
balloonstand
Relationship: Cassian Andor/Luthen Rael; also Cassian Andor doing stuff with other dudes, because he's honeytrappin' 😱
Fandom: Star Wars - Andor
Author:
Relationship: Cassian Andor/Luthen Rael; also Cassian Andor doing stuff with other dudes, because he's honeytrappin' 😱
Author's Tags: post-Season 1, Undercover Missions, Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs, Repression like you've never seen before
Author's Summary:
"Managing a man like Wilmeth isn't the same as working a hard-up rental cop in some backwater dive bar. You are my operative, this is my mission. My operational command." He stopped himself just short of saying, this is my rebellion. "I'm in control."
Something had shifted behind Cassian's eyes and Luthen had braced himself for a fight – a verbal one, hopefully – but Cassian had just sat down at Luthen's table and after a moment asked, "So I don't do anything unless you tell me to?" His voice had sounded slightly forced, but Luthen hadn't had any idea what was behind it. "You decide what I need to do with him and then I do it?"
It wasn't what Luthen had said, and he never would have put it like that. "Yes," he had answered. It wasn't what he had meant to say.
*
Sometimes the rebellion needs Cassian to go on a honeypot mission. The rebellion- that's who needs it. Definitely the rebellion.
Zook says: Honestly, I had kind of given up on finding decent Andor fic involving some gay action for Cassian (you're welcome to point me towards your haul!), but then a fic subscription notice for this author's profile landed in my inbox. (I knew them from two BRILLIANT Black Sails fics, btw.) I did squint at the pairing at first, but this works very, very well. It's written from Luthen's POV, who is in half-desperate denial (must at least feel like that for him), which is perfect. Cassian is stubbornly sassing along his path, doing his retrieved puppy thing--but make him a honeypot! (A trope that found me via reading too much Garashir, I guess.) Great language, great pacing. Very plausible!! Please show the author some love, kudos, or even a comment. ❤️
"Managing a man like Wilmeth isn't the same as working a hard-up rental cop in some backwater dive bar. You are my operative, this is my mission. My operational command." He stopped himself just short of saying, this is my rebellion. "I'm in control."
Something had shifted behind Cassian's eyes and Luthen had braced himself for a fight – a verbal one, hopefully – but Cassian had just sat down at Luthen's table and after a moment asked, "So I don't do anything unless you tell me to?" His voice had sounded slightly forced, but Luthen hadn't had any idea what was behind it. "You decide what I need to do with him and then I do it?"
It wasn't what Luthen had said, and he never would have put it like that. "Yes," he had answered. It wasn't what he had meant to say.
*
Sometimes the rebellion needs Cassian to go on a honeypot mission. The rebellion- that's who needs it. Definitely the rebellion.
Zook says: Honestly, I had kind of given up on finding decent Andor fic involving some gay action for Cassian (you're welcome to point me towards your haul!), but then a fic subscription notice for this author's profile landed in my inbox. (I knew them from two BRILLIANT Black Sails fics, btw.) I did squint at the pairing at first, but this works very, very well. It's written from Luthen's POV, who is in half-desperate denial (must at least feel like that for him), which is perfect. Cassian is stubbornly sassing along his path, doing his retrieved puppy thing--but make him a honeypot! (A trope that found me via reading too much Garashir, I guess.) Great language, great pacing. Very plausible!! Please show the author some love, kudos, or even a comment. ❤️
Syncopated tritone hockets for everybody! [early music, MA]
Mar. 23rd, 2026 02:10 amsidereaBoston locals! Blue Heron, an acapella early music ensemble, is throwing a three-day shindig to celebrate Guillaume de Machaut (died 1377), May 1-3, mostly involving talks about Machaut's works, talks about his lyrics, talks about the illuminations in the manuscripts his works come from, concerts of his music, and also a little ars subtilior tacked on the end just because.
More info https://www.blueheron.org/machaut-weekend/
Affordability note: They have a free ticket option as part of the "Card to Culture program" for people with EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare(!) cards*, and a discounted "low cost" option.
Of note, the "Opening Festivities: Keynote, Performance & Sing-Along" on Friday night includes (emphasis mine):
If you're curious what the Kyrie from Machaut's Messe de Nostre Dame sounds and looks like, here you go.
* There is no separate ConnectorCare card like there is for MassHealth. They mean your regular insurance card, which if it's a ConnectorCare plan should say so on it, or so the Mass Cultural Council, whose program it is, thinks.
More info https://www.blueheron.org/machaut-weekend/
Affordability note: They have a free ticket option as part of the "Card to Culture program" for people with EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare(!) cards*, and a discounted "low cost" option.
Of note, the "Opening Festivities: Keynote, Performance & Sing-Along" on Friday night includes (emphasis mine):
a keynote talk by one of the world’s leading scholars of 14th-century music, Anne Stone (CUNY Graduate Center), performances of pieces in several of the genres represented in Machaut’s oeuvre, and a sing-along of the Kyrie from the Messe de Nostre Dame.Which: huh. Huh. The Kyrie, huh? Wow. Now that is certainly a choice. I commend their bravery. Were I in better health, I would consider showing up just to be in on the shenanigans.
If you're curious what the Kyrie from Machaut's Messe de Nostre Dame sounds and looks like, here you go.
* There is no separate ConnectorCare card like there is for MassHealth. They mean your regular insurance card, which if it's a ConnectorCare plan should say so on it, or so the Mass Cultural Council, whose program it is, thinks.
Foxfibre [text/ag]
Mar. 23rd, 2026 01:01 amsidereaThe YouTube algorithm pseudorandomly served me this, thereby answering the question I'd had on a distant back burner forever, "Hey, didn't I hear something about colored cotton cultivars once upon a time? Cotton that you didn't need to dye? Like back in the 90s?"
If you are a fellow fiber freak or interested in agriculture or organic crops or the underappreciated problem of sustainable clothing production, you may find this as fascinating as I did:
2026 Mar 7: Good Yarn Bad Knits [goodyarnbadknits YT]: "The Yarn That Almost Saved The World"
If you are a fellow fiber freak or interested in agriculture or organic crops or the underappreciated problem of sustainable clothing production, you may find this as fascinating as I did:
2026 Mar 7: Good Yarn Bad Knits [goodyarnbadknits YT]: "The Yarn That Almost Saved The World"
Snowflake Challenge: day 6
Mar. 22nd, 2026 11:04 pmdancesontrainsChallenge #6
Top 10 Challenge.
The category(ies) you choose are up to you. You can give top 10 Fics you read last year, the top 10 songs to create to, the top 10 guest stars on your favorite show, top 10 characters in your favorite book series, top 10... well, you get the idea.
I was very stuck on this for some time - hence the lack of updates since January - but then I remembered that last year I participated in the subreddit r/GraphicNovels's tournament of Top Twenty graphic novels (actually any form of sequential art even vaguely applicable, the guy running the Tournament joked that he was waiting for someone to send in a long tapestry as one of their faves)
My matchup - I was very soundly trounced in the first round by one of the most prolific posters there, and rightly so https://www.reddit.com/r/graphicnovels/comments/1o5ssuv/tournament_of_lists_2025_all_time_top_20_comics/
The eventual winner, it's a really interesting collection and I had a good time thinking of what to add- https://www.reddit.com/r/graphicnovels/comments/1omr7k3/congratulations_to_americantabloid3_for_winning/
The only work I regret not including is Calvin and Hobbes, which I read as an adult and have loved ever since.
Top 10 Challenge.
The category(ies) you choose are up to you. You can give top 10 Fics you read last year, the top 10 songs to create to, the top 10 guest stars on your favorite show, top 10 characters in your favorite book series, top 10... well, you get the idea.
I was very stuck on this for some time - hence the lack of updates since January - but then I remembered that last year I participated in the subreddit r/GraphicNovels's tournament of Top Twenty graphic novels (actually any form of sequential art even vaguely applicable, the guy running the Tournament joked that he was waiting for someone to send in a long tapestry as one of their faves)
My matchup - I was very soundly trounced in the first round by one of the most prolific posters there, and rightly so https://www.reddit.com/r/graphicnovels/comments/1o5ssuv/tournament_of_lists_2025_all_time_top_20_comics/
The eventual winner, it's a really interesting collection and I had a good time thinking of what to add- https://www.reddit.com/r/graphicnovels/comments/1omr7k3/congratulations_to_americantabloid3_for_winning/
The only work I regret not including is Calvin and Hobbes, which I read as an adult and have loved ever since.
Re-reading our texts from the strawberry days
Mar. 22nd, 2026 03:21 pmsovayI must have slept ten hours. Hestia appears to be watching the rain with almost as much interest as the birds sheltering from it. May it and the recent snowmelt amend the drought. Tomorrow, of course, it is forecast to snow again.
selkie was safely collected from the Penn Station-alike that South Station has done its best to inhume itself into since her last visit, provided with an appropriate quantity of local barbecue for an obligate carnivore, and even successfully checked in to her hotel despite the mishegos attending every stage of her conference even before it started. At no point in this process did we apparently remember to take any pictures of ourselves.
My dreams seem to be branching out in terms of media, since last night's featured a youngish Alec McCowen starring in the radio version of a Tey-like crime novel as the ambiguously poor relation of an upper-class family who is not actually Kind Hearts and Coronets-ing his way through them, but needs to figure out who is before he's so handily scapegoated for the accidents escalating to murder ever since his arrival; he is, naturally, keeping a secret from the family, the authorities, and even the inattentive reader, but it isn't that. I was very pleased to find that a recording had survived, because the original novel had just been reprinted by the British Library Crime Classics. There were images mixed up in it in the way of dreams, but it was definitely on the Internet Archive.
Outside my head, I have been recently listening to Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn (2020), Jake Blount and Mali Obomsawin's symbiont (2024), and Huw Marc Bennett's Heol Las (2026), which I found through its ghost-boxish "Cân Gwasael (Wassail Song)." I like that I do not have to dream their remixes of folk and futurism and time.
selkie was safely collected from the Penn Station-alike that South Station has done its best to inhume itself into since her last visit, provided with an appropriate quantity of local barbecue for an obligate carnivore, and even successfully checked in to her hotel despite the mishegos attending every stage of her conference even before it started. At no point in this process did we apparently remember to take any pictures of ourselves.My dreams seem to be branching out in terms of media, since last night's featured a youngish Alec McCowen starring in the radio version of a Tey-like crime novel as the ambiguously poor relation of an upper-class family who is not actually Kind Hearts and Coronets-ing his way through them, but needs to figure out who is before he's so handily scapegoated for the accidents escalating to murder ever since his arrival; he is, naturally, keeping a secret from the family, the authorities, and even the inattentive reader, but it isn't that. I was very pleased to find that a recording had survived, because the original novel had just been reprinted by the British Library Crime Classics. There were images mixed up in it in the way of dreams, but it was definitely on the Internet Archive.
Outside my head, I have been recently listening to Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn (2020), Jake Blount and Mali Obomsawin's symbiont (2024), and Huw Marc Bennett's Heol Las (2026), which I found through its ghost-boxish "Cân Gwasael (Wassail Song)." I like that I do not have to dream their remixes of folk and futurism and time.
Items with Dates between Sunday, March 22nd and Saturday, March 28th
Mar. 22nd, 2026 08:29 amsquidgiepdx posting in whenisitdueHere are items with dates between Sunday, March 22nd and Saturday, March 28th, as well as items added recently that started this past week. Remember, you can comment here on new items that need to be added to the list.
Items starting since the last update & this coming week
Items ending this coming week
NOTE: Here are a few challenge communities that (can) have challenges that (usually) aren't part of the list:
Items starting since the last update & this coming week
| Open Date | Close Date | Community | Type of Challenge | Prompt/Information | Link |
| 03/20/2026 | 04/01/2026 | fan_flashworks (DW) | Fanworks | Multifamdom: Challenge 510: River | click here for details |
| 03/28/2026 | 04/03/2026 | sid_guardian (DW) | Fanworks | 镇魂 | Guardian: Request period for the 镇魂 | Guardian Reverse Exchange 2026 | click here for details |
Items ending this coming week
| Open Date | Close Date | Community | Type of Challenge | Prompt/Information | Link |
| 03/12/2026 | 03/21/2026 | worldbuildex (DW) | Fanworks | Multifandom: Signup period for Worldbuiding Exchange | click here for details |
| 03/15/2026 | 03/27/2026 | sid_guardian (DW) | Fanworks | 镇魂 | Guardian: Offer period for the 镇魂 | Guardian Reverse Exchange 2026 | click here for details |
NOTE: Here are a few challenge communities that (can) have challenges that (usually) aren't part of the list:
- Harry Potter fandom challenges can be found at PotterFests
- The Vocab Drabbles Community does weekly challenges
- The AU Challenge Community offers multiple AU challenges with no deadlines
- The Froday Flash Fiction Challenge has weekly & other challenges
- The Fic Promptly Community has daily prompts
- The MCU100 Community offers weekly drabble challenges for the MCU fandom
- The XMEN100 Community offers weekly drabble challenges for the X-Men fandom
- The 10TrueLoves Community offers multifandom character prompts
Project Hail Mary movie
Mar. 21st, 2026 10:57 pmsholioWe went and saw Project Hail Mary this afternoon. It was terrific. I loved it.
You can read my (positive and spoilery) reactions to the Project Hail Mary book at this post from 2024.
If spoilers matter to you, I recommend very strongly going in as unspoiled as possible, including not watching the trailer.
( Talking about the movie some more, and movie vs book )
You can read my (positive and spoilery) reactions to the Project Hail Mary book at this post from 2024.
If spoilers matter to you, I recommend very strongly going in as unspoiled as possible, including not watching the trailer.
( Talking about the movie some more, and movie vs book )
"Dum superbit impius" [music, pols]
Mar. 22nd, 2026 12:31 amsiderea[requires both audio and video]
Jonasquin on YT (previously) has written a wholly original motet in the 16th century style after Desprez upon the cantus firmus "Seven Nations Army", for the words of Psalm 10, verses 2, 3, 7-11.
Comment would be superfluous.
2026 Mar 20: Jonasquin YT: "A 16th century motet for the US President"
Click through to the video on YT to see the translation in the description.
Jonasquin on YT (previously) has written a wholly original motet in the 16th century style after Desprez upon the cantus firmus "Seven Nations Army", for the words of Psalm 10, verses 2, 3, 7-11.
Comment would be superfluous.
2026 Mar 20: Jonasquin YT: "A 16th century motet for the US President"
Click through to the video on YT to see the translation in the description.
"The People You Meet Along The Way." (The Parent Trap - 1998) G
Mar. 21st, 2026 09:27 pmlannamichaelsTitle: The People You Meet Along The Way.
Author:
lannamichaelsFandom: The Parent Trap (1998)
Rating: G
Archives: Archive Of Our Own, SquidgeWorld
Summary: Twelve years later, they meet at an airport.
( Meredith is so fun to write )
A quiet Saturday
Mar. 21st, 2026 11:59 amsholioI posted some more Babylon 5 fic in the last couple of days: a new Londo/G'Kar fake dating fic plus a new chapter of the B5 catacomb WIP.
It's been a year this month since I started watching the show - my first post under the B5 tag was posted March 3, 2025 after watching the first couple of episodes. Still completely gone on it! I regret nothing!
In other news, NYT gift link to an article about Paul Brainerd, creator of Aldus PageMaker and inventor of the term "desktop publishing." This was a fascinating nostalgia read for me because, while I had no idea of the actual history, this guy (and Adobe and Apple) created the professional world of my young adulthood. My first job out of college in (I think) 1998 was working in the layout department of a newspaper that had just recently (last few years) gone from paste-up to an all-Mac layout room using a program similar to PageMaker from a third-party software maker that no longer exists. PageMaker - which I also learned to use in the college computer lab, and later at work - was the direct predecessor of InDesign, widely used even today. It's interesting to think back on those old newspaper days and how thoroughly they shaped me and continue to shape me. The computer/layout/marketing experience I got as a layout artist in the late 90s and 2000s has been immensely useful for my current self-publishing career.
It continues to be horrendously cold. We've been sitting under a high-pressure ridge and have had gorgeous sunny days that are absolutely freezing. It was -20F when I got up this morning and it's 0F out there right now. My husband's (uni-age) students are over here today because they wanted to help him dig out an ancient non-working snowblower that someone gave us ages ago from a snowbank and try to get it working again. (We do actually have TWO other snowblowers. This is just for fun.)
I took this picture on a walk up our driveway to the highway to get the mail a couple of days ago:
At least at this time of year, the sun warms it up SOMEWHAT during the day - in January it can sit at -40 24/7 for weeks; at this time of year we're still experiencing 20-40 degree increases during the day .... which is still barely enough to push us above 0F. The 10-day forecast shows that it will be glacially (haha) warming up, but still may not have crawled into above-freezing temps by the end of the month. UGH, I'M READY FOR SPRING.
It's been a year this month since I started watching the show - my first post under the B5 tag was posted March 3, 2025 after watching the first couple of episodes. Still completely gone on it! I regret nothing!
In other news, NYT gift link to an article about Paul Brainerd, creator of Aldus PageMaker and inventor of the term "desktop publishing." This was a fascinating nostalgia read for me because, while I had no idea of the actual history, this guy (and Adobe and Apple) created the professional world of my young adulthood. My first job out of college in (I think) 1998 was working in the layout department of a newspaper that had just recently (last few years) gone from paste-up to an all-Mac layout room using a program similar to PageMaker from a third-party software maker that no longer exists. PageMaker - which I also learned to use in the college computer lab, and later at work - was the direct predecessor of InDesign, widely used even today. It's interesting to think back on those old newspaper days and how thoroughly they shaped me and continue to shape me. The computer/layout/marketing experience I got as a layout artist in the late 90s and 2000s has been immensely useful for my current self-publishing career.
It continues to be horrendously cold. We've been sitting under a high-pressure ridge and have had gorgeous sunny days that are absolutely freezing. It was -20F when I got up this morning and it's 0F out there right now. My husband's (uni-age) students are over here today because they wanted to help him dig out an ancient non-working snowblower that someone gave us ages ago from a snowbank and try to get it working again. (We do actually have TWO other snowblowers. This is just for fun.)
I took this picture on a walk up our driveway to the highway to get the mail a couple of days ago:
At least at this time of year, the sun warms it up SOMEWHAT during the day - in January it can sit at -40 24/7 for weeks; at this time of year we're still experiencing 20-40 degree increases during the day .... which is still barely enough to push us above 0F. The 10-day forecast shows that it will be glacially (haha) warming up, but still may not have crawled into above-freezing temps by the end of the month. UGH, I'M READY FOR SPRING.
You are just the fingertips of something
Mar. 21st, 2026 02:58 pmsovayThe afternoon's mail brought my contributor's copy of Not One of Us #86, containing my poem "Northern Comfort." I wrote it out of my discoveries of the ghost-ground that has been directly underfoot all my life and longer, from King Philip's War to Pomp's Wall, and this administration and its murderous terror of history. It shares a page and an issue of emptiness with a precisely targeted incantation by Gwynne Garfinkle as well the equally hollowing fiction and poetry of Kris Schokrowsky, Penny Durham, Carsten Cheung, Jennifer Crow, and more. I almost referred to the covert art by John and Flo Stanton, obscured by shattered webs of negative space or the rust-light of abandoned industries. Subscribe! Contribute! Make the right kind of strangeness in this world. I am off to South Station to collect one north-traveling seal.
(no subject)
Mar. 21st, 2026 10:13 amashelterofpagesSo, a while back S learned that there was a capybara cafe in our area. We always meant to go, but never got around to doing it for various reasons. Then, when she started making real steps toward moving, we decided to go when she got an interview for a job.
Well, that happened pretty damn quick. Then again, so did everything with her moving. She signs for a house at the end of the month.
Anyway, today is capybara day! :D We're going this afternoon and I'm so excited!
I might have pictures, but I'm not entirely sure on that. However, because I was thinking about images, I did get fresh tattoo pictures!
( Tattoo pictures! )
Well, that happened pretty damn quick. Then again, so did everything with her moving. She signs for a house at the end of the month.
Anyway, today is capybara day! :D We're going this afternoon and I'm so excited!
I might have pictures, but I'm not entirely sure on that. However, because I was thinking about images, I did get fresh tattoo pictures!
( Tattoo pictures! )
SGA: Just So Long and Long Enough by busaikko
Mar. 21st, 2026 10:32 pmmific posting in fancakeFandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: Dave Sheppard, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Sam Carter, Radek Zelenka
Rating: Teen
Length: 7998
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: busaikko on AO3
Themes: Siblings, Family, Post-canon, Outsider POV
Summary: Dave Sheppard learns more about his brother and gets drawn into a tangle of secrets and truths.
Reccer's Notes: This is from Dave's POV, as he and John cautiously reconnect via emails, then more, after their father's funeral. I really like Dave here, separated from his wife and still in love with her, baffled by John and wanting to understand him better. They do gradually reconnect, and eventually some Trust shenanigans lead to Dave meeting all John's team and being read in about the Stargate program. The characterisations of Dave and John are excellent, with Rodney's relationship with Jennifer Keller, then with John, happening in the background. One of my favourite Dave Sheppard fics.
Fanwork Links: Just So Long and Long Enough on AO3
And there are two podfic versions: by juniperphoenix and by cookiemom6067
Characters/Pairings: Dave Sheppard, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Sam Carter, Radek Zelenka
Rating: Teen
Length: 7998
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: busaikko on AO3
Themes: Siblings, Family, Post-canon, Outsider POV
Summary: Dave Sheppard learns more about his brother and gets drawn into a tangle of secrets and truths.
Reccer's Notes: This is from Dave's POV, as he and John cautiously reconnect via emails, then more, after their father's funeral. I really like Dave here, separated from his wife and still in love with her, baffled by John and wanting to understand him better. They do gradually reconnect, and eventually some Trust shenanigans lead to Dave meeting all John's team and being read in about the Stargate program. The characterisations of Dave and John are excellent, with Rodney's relationship with Jennifer Keller, then with John, happening in the background. One of my favourite Dave Sheppard fics.
Fanwork Links: Just So Long and Long Enough on AO3
And there are two podfic versions: by juniperphoenix and by cookiemom6067
The cost of literacy [medieval hist]
Mar. 20th, 2026 10:33 pmsidereaI knew that other contemporaneous cultures than those of Europe had unfathomably higher numbers of books than Europeans did, but I didn't know about this in retrospect obvious reason why:
2026 Mar 19: Dwarkesh Patel feat. Ada Palmer [DwarkeshPatel YT]: "Why Medieval Books Cost as Much as a House" (1 min, 7 sec):
2026 Mar 19: Dwarkesh Patel feat. Ada Palmer [DwarkeshPatel YT]: "Why Medieval Books Cost as Much as a House" (1 min, 7 sec):
Without papyrus, what you're writing on is a dead sheep. And if you think of the price of a head of lettuce and the price of a leather jacket, you're understanding the difference between a sheet of papyrus and writing on a dead sheep. So every page of a medieval book is as expensive as that much of a leather jacket. And a medieval book hand written costs as much as a house.* Three hundred thousand. It's been thirteen years and I am still not remotely over that fact. Every time I encounter it anew, my SCA persona gets acrophobic trying to imagine a library that big and has to sit down and put her head between her knees so she doesn't pass out.
And so to have a library is to be not just rich but mega rich. So only the wealthiest cities contain anybody who has a library. The great library of the University of Paris, the library from Europe's perspective, has 600 books.
There's definitely more than 600 books in this room. Every kiosk at an airport selling Dan Brown novels has more than 600 books. This is nothing.
And at the same time as that, in the Middle East, sultans have libraries of over a thousand books or 5,000 books. There are libraries in Sub-Saharan Africa with thousands of books.* There are libraries in China with thousands of books. Because they in China have cheap paper and rice paper. The Middle East has papyrus.
Europe, and only Europe, is writing on a leather jacket.
Massachusetts not the next? [Ω, MA/US]
Mar. 20th, 2026 09:34 pmsidereaThe previously expected ICE enforcement surge never materialized. Curious.
I wonder if this just means they're short-staffed. Or perhaps distracted.
(I also wonder if somebody made a judgment call not to try what they did in MN in MA, but have largely rejected the notion. It would not be to anybody's advantage if they did, on either side, but I'm not seeing a lot of good judgment in evidence anywhere.)
I wonder if this just means they're short-staffed. Or perhaps distracted.
(I also wonder if somebody made a judgment call not to try what they did in MN in MA, but have largely rejected the notion. It would not be to anybody's advantage if they did, on either side, but I'm not seeing a lot of good judgment in evidence anywhere.)