fiercelydreamed

1. Had a really good night's sleep last night for what felt like the first time in a while. I didn't sleep well the night before so I was extra tired and that helped. Hopefully I'll sleep well again tonight.

2. I did a lot of reading and playing Yoshi's Crafted World today, and just generally had a relaxing day off for the most part.

3. I also had a suuuuuper sweet cuddly Jasper. He was so happy to have both me and Carla home today that he was just extra cuddly all around.

4. Carla made Trader Joe's meyer lemon cake and we had that with strawberries. That cake is so good! Glad they brought it back again this year.

5. The face of a sweet cuddle bun.

torachan

Currently Reading
I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves
This guy has a show on Netflix now that sounds interesting (about a gay disabled man, based on and played by himself) but I haven't watched it yet, but when I was reading an article about the show it mentioned his memoir as well, so I picked that up. Only read the intro so far.

Inner City Blues
No progress.

Triple Threat
About halfway through and enjoying it. I'm sad that this series ended after only three books.

Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood
Got to the start of the 1930s. So far it's been really interesting, though I've been going at a slow pace as I've been focusing more on other books (thankfully was able to renew it as it's due back at the library in a couple days and I'm nowhere near done).

Recently Finished
The Frangipani Tree Mystery
This was so good! Definitely going to read more books in the series.

Gaikotsu Shoten-in Honda-san vol. 4
I enjoyed the first three well enough but there was really not enough material for a fourth volume and it's super padded out with random stuff.

mific posting in

amplificathon

Title: Learn Something New
Author:

cesperanza
Reader:

mific
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairings: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Rating: E
Summary: "This isn't a vacation!" Rodney shouted. "This is about declassifying research that's going to change the course of physics!"
Content notes: A favourite of mine! The urge to make a podfic suddenly came upon me, unfortunately when I hadn't completely gotten over a cold so my voice is even more nasal than usual. Sorry about that, but I didn't have the energy to re-record so I hope you can still enjoy it. Also apologies for the very bad singing :) Thanks to like_cheap_wine for permission to use their art as a podfic cover, and to Speranza for blanket permission to transform works.
Length: ~31 min.

text at AO3

mrkinch

This has been one of those days when the only response is to either stop birding alone altogether, or go out alone tomorrow, the next day, and every day after that until I'm better at it.:( I'm not going to do either one, so mostly I'll just be deeply frustrated. What I have to try not to do is read other people's birding reports or talk to anyone on the trail, ever. ANYway.

When I got to Mitchell Canyon about 7:45 the gate was already open (official time is 8 am which is far too fucking late in summer, but there does not seem to be anywhere to park outside in order to walk in earlier). I walked up Red Road and took the north spur to the top of a rise from which I could see the fence at the Park boundary, then up to the crest, where the Park boundary is .8, .7, and .3 mi away to the north, south, and east. Maybe next time I'll take the trail east a bit. This time I turned back as usual, by which time it was pretty damned quiet. I had a bad warbler day, hearing many and getting bins on nothing (one orange-crown does NOT count). Bird of the day was an almost certain western tanager. It was bright yellow, sharing a tall, bare tree across the canyon with an ash-throated flycatcher so I had a size comparison. Only Wilson's warblers are that yellow, and they are tiny and very active. Still, it was a looong ways away. ( Fifty species or so: )

Saw western tiger swallowtail and California sister butterflies, as well as painted ladies on every piece of scat.:) They love shit. No ebird today, a combination of feeling overwhelmed and embarrassed./0\

torachan

1. Day off tomorrow! I'm really worn out, so I'm looking forward to it even more than usual.

2. I've been keeping up with my daily pushups and I can now do sixty in a row without stopping. I'm definitely feeling a difference in my stomach, chest, and arm muscles.

3. We had pizza for dinner tonight. I haven't had pizza at all while Carla's been gone because I don't like pizza very much when it's not freshly made, so usually I just eat it the first night and leave the leftovers for her, so there's no point getting it when it's just me.

4. Cutie desk Molly!

schneefink

Sooo I just watched the "Magicians" season finale and I don't even know where to fucking start.
( Actually (cn: depression) )

More bullshit from this episode:( so much (cn: suicide) )

The one thing I liked about the episode( five small things )

Yeah, so to sum up, season 4 was a mess, that I didn't write about because I had hope that they would tie it together well but instead the season finale was an even bigger mess. On the one hand I hope fandom will write a lot of fix-it but on the other hand I also completely understand everyone who's done with the show.

torachan

1. Super hectic day at work today but I got everything done that urgently needed to get done and the rest can wait till tomorrow.

2. I have to get up early to pick Carla up at the train station tomorrow, but I'm pretty tired right now so hopefully I won't have any trouble falling asleep.

3. The blankets hanging down from the sofa make such a nice hideout for kitties!

trelkez

( The Magicians season 4 finale spoilers under here )

mrkinch

U, MF, and I arrived at Mitchell Canyon just about 8 am in gorgeous weather and set off down the fire road. We weren't much past the parking lot when we heard ash-throated flycatcher, only just arrived. Warblers weren't as easy to see as two weeks ago, but we heard them enough for them to be VERY frustrating. We're pretty sure of MacGillivray's, I saw two black-throated grays, and there were Nashvilles around, although we didn't get a good look (probably also hermit but we got no look at all), as well as Wilson's, orange-crowns, and yellow-rumps. Bird of the day was a short but very clear look at a male calliope hummingbird, my first out there, although they come through every Spring. I was also pretty excited by the Hammond's flycatcher because not only could I see that the bill was smaller and darker than that of the Pac-slope, but it vocalized! So helpful. Oh, and MF spotted an orange bird that I identified as a hooded oriole, so that was pretty cool. ( I guess it's really Spring: )

When U and I are out alone we tend to postpone lunch, but MF prefers otherwise.:) After lunch spent trying to figure out what the black phoebes are up to under the bridge (nesting, certainly, but at what stage are they?) we headed back west, making a stop of an hour or so at Diablo Foothills Regional Park hoping to see the newly arrived western kingbirds and Bullock's orioles, and we did. Gosh, the male orioles are bright! We had three in some sort of mid-air dust-up and they were spectacular. ( More newly-arrived birds: )

There were good butterflies at Mitchell Canyon, tiger swallowtail, pale swallowtail, red admiral, and still lots of painted ladies, and there were wildflowers everywhere. Here are ( woodland star and royal foxglove )

settiai

So... something I've fallen in love with the last few years is Choice of Games. They have a variety of text-based games (think Choose Your Own Adventure but on a computer/phone/tablet) that cover all sorts of genres. If you've never tried any of their games before, I highly recommend going to their website and taking a look at the options. There are all sorts of stories available.

That said, here are a few that I've enjoyed so far:

Choice of Alexandria. The year is 245 BCE; you’re a heroic polymath librarian, invited to Alexandria to tutor prince Ptolemy IV. The real Ptolemy IV fell under the sway of his evil advisor Sosibius, and brought the empire to ruin--but perhaps under your tutelage, things will turn out differently. Or disregard your responsibilities to focus on inventions instead! With the help of Archimedes and Euclid, you can discover the steam engine, the germ theory of disease, or even robotic automata, thousands of years ahead of schedule.

Choice of Broadsides. It’s 1813, and you’re a key sailor in the naval war between Columbia and Albion, where aggression is rewarded and cowardice can get you killed. If you seize enough treasure, you could be set for life – but hesitate against the enemy and you could end up facing the firing squad. Board enemy ships and force them to surrender, or use your connections to stay out of the fray. Will you steer your crew to glory, or go down in infamous defeat? What mercy will you show your prisoners? Can you control your composure while fighting a war? Revenge yourself on old rivals and reward your allies for their devotion. And whatever you do [...] don’t give up the ship!

Choice of Robots. Play out thirty years of your life as a brilliant robot maker, from graduate school near the present day to a future in which your robots have changed everything. Depending on your choices, your robots may be independent or obedient, clumsy or graceful, empathic or cold…and you yourself may live to an old age happily married or alone with only robots to comfort you.

The Eagle's Heir. This is essentially a steampunk AU of the Napoleonic Age incarnations from the Numinous World series (ie, that series I ramble about sometimes that features various characters reincarnated into different lives throughout history). Since Napoleon won the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, seventeen years ago, Europe has enjoyed an uneasy peace. While the great empires of Austria, Russia and England have tried to stem the tide of revolution, France has mastered steam power to conquer the air and sea. Now, Napoleon’s health is failing, and France is torn between his legitimate heir, Franz, and his illegitimate son Alexandre. Luckily, Alexandre has you, his loyal bodyguard and childhood companion, skilled in the arts of the duel and the ballroom, and ready for anything from diplomacy to airship combat!

The Road to Canterbury. London, 1375. The Black Prince of England is dying, and peace with France hangs in the balance. You are a young pauper on a secret mission. Join a pilgrimage to Canterbury with the powerful noblewoman Philippa de Roet, co-sister-in-law to the Black Prince, and Philippa's husband, Geoffrey Chaucer himself, the customs agent, spy, and occasional poet. Your mission is to persuade Philippa to change the course of history.

Stronghold: A Hero's Fate. Monsters have plagued your valley for as long as you can remember. But if anyone can destroy them, it’s you: you’ve already killed a powerful undead lich, and your sovereign was so impressed that he gave you a town in return. As the ruler of this new settlement, you’ll fend off invading goblin armies, flesh-eating bats, and feuding warriors in your quest to build a thriving community. Now that you have your own stronghold, will you raise an army to repel the monsters once and for all? Or will you hold power for a lifetime without ever attacking another soul? Harness your strength, cunning, and even magic to defend your citadel and help your people prosper.

Some games are better than others when it comes to representation, but all of them gives you options when it comes to gender and sexuality. The Eagle's Heir and Stronghold are probably the best on that front, though. They have options for you to play as female (cisgender or transgender), male (cisgender or transgender), genderfluid, or nonbinary, and when it comes to sexuality you can be heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual/pansexual (depending on your definition of the terms), or asexual. And both of them also have options for polyamorous relationships as well.

Current Mood: impressed

schneefink

Oh man. So. NHL playoffs. That just happened xD

I haven't been following hockey a lot, I started falling out of love with it ~2017 and this season I only occasionally read the headlines or some Pens news (Sid with 100 points and Guentzel with 40 goals on the same goal was great.) I was still invested enough to shake my head at some trade deadline trades (though those seem to have worked out better than expected for the Pens, while Jack fucking Johnson was predictably awful, whyyy is this guy on the team and for so much money.)

Then playoffs started and I thought that maybe I'd at least follow how the series in the East are going. Only to be immediately reminded why I stopped watching. There were, what, three suspensions because of dangerous illegal hits to the head already? And those are just the ones so bad that the DoPS couldn't look away, and it's just a few games for each. It's just no fun to watch a game when I'm worried the whole time that players will get seriously injured, and it's considered a normal part of the game, wtf. And then Ovi fought a 19-year-old rookie and it looked like he got a serious head injury and way too many fans still cheered for that fight and I just don't get it.

And then yesterday Tampa was swept by Columbus xD And the Pens by the Islanders, but at least the Pens just recently won two Cups. Tampa won the President's Trophy with I think a record number of points and got swept in the first round, and not in close games either. I love it when real life reminds me that "too unrealistic" is a stupid complaint about fiction.

torachan

1. Boring day of meetings today (now my fate every Tuesday, whee) but I did have delicious takoyaki for lunch.

2. Carla is on the train heading home now and will be in Thursday morning.

3. Jasper was suuuuuuuuch a snuggle bunny today. We snuggled this morning before I went to work and then a bunch more when I got home. He'll be so happy when Carla's back (after a brief period of ignoring her to show his displeasure at her having been gone, I'm sure).

4. Look at this majestic boy!

settiai

My headaches have been better the last few days, so thank gods for that. They're lingering around a 1-2 on the pain scale, which is so low that it barely even counts as being there. Fingers crossed they stay that way?

On a related note, I've managed to get some writing and vidding done. I'm working on several of the monthly rewards for my Patreon (a few of which are turning out to be ridiculously fun to write), and I'm still trying to vid an hour or two at a time. Limiting the time is definitely cutting into how much I'm getting done, but I'd rather that than a migraine.

Work's slowed down now that the renewal season's over, and I've been able to get at least some writing done throughout the day. I have several fic WIPs that I've been trying to focus on, with the occasional foray into original writings for my Patreon, and everything's going well so far. My muse is cooperating for now, and I'm hoping that will keep happening.

Let's see...

The Critical Role Kickstarter ends on Thursday night/Friday morning (midnight PDT, so 3am my time), and they're doing a special stream after the game ends leading up to the KS's close. I'm waiting to see if Unnamed Nonprofit will be open on Friday (sometimes they close for Good Friday and sometimes they don't), and I'm tempted to take the day off work if they don't close. That way A. I could stay up to watch the stream/the Kickstarter's close and B. I could spend at least all afternoon vidding.

Anyway, we'll see. I haven't decided yet.

The cats are all, well, cats. Garrus is still jumping up on my back/shoulders every chance he gets. Keyleth has claimed my bed for her own and throws a fit when I move her at night. And Percy... well, Percy likes to curl up in my lap and refuse to let me stand up ever again.

I'm trying to post daily on Dreamwidth, and I've managed to succeed so far this month. I don't know if I can keep it up, but I'm at least attempting to get back in the practice of posting here.

Current Mood: thoughtful

celli

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

wychwood

I had a delightful week off, then went back to work to discover that I have entirely forgotten how to get up and leave the house in the mornings. However, I have been reasonably productive once I arrived (could have done without the four hundred and thirty spam emails, mail delivery failures, etc, I came back to in the system, nevertheless).

Also, this morning I caught an entirely different train to normal, and got off at work to be accosted by one of my fellow passengers, who turned out on second glance to be a friend who vanished off the face of the earth about three years ago! She was going through some rough stuff at the time, although we didn't know it, and apparently had a bit of a breakdown, but is doing better now and is hopefully coming to the next meet-up of the relevant group of friends, which happens to be next week. I'm glad she seems like she does still want to be friends, because we've missed her. It's difficult when people vanish; you want to respect boundaries, but also not to lose friends because you didn't hold on hard enough.

Someone linked to this very cute story about yet another USA / Canadian pair of ice hockey women's Olympians getting married. This is the third! That we know of! Although I'm sorry, Meghan Duggan is never going to be as cute as Julie Chu and Caroline Ouellette and their adorable baby.

torachan

1. The P!nk concert was so awesome! I'm really glad I went. (And taking the train worked out so well, too. Definitely going to do that again for any future shows at the Staples Center.)

2. I ended up having a lot of work to do from home today, which sucked, but I did still get all the other stuff on my to-do list done at least.

3. I had a lot of super sweet Jasper cuddles today. (If I hadn't had so much work to do today we could have cuddled even more, but several times I had to set him down just to get stuff done.)

4. Molly was also super sweet and demanding pettings on my desk.

kalakirya posting in

amplificathon

Title: In Which Kiza Didn't Ask for the Treatment
Author:

halwen
Reader:

kalakirya
Fandom: Jupiter Ascending
Pairings: none
Rating: general audiences
Summary: She hadn't asked for the recode treatment. Hadn't known it was even an option, really, on the backwater planet she and her father had washed up on.
content notes:
Length: 0:04:05
text at AO3

download as an mp3 (many thanks to paraka <3)

cover by me!

Title: A Girl Worth Fighting For
Author:

meinterrupted
Reader:

kalakirya
Fandom: Once Upon a Time
Pairings: Aurora/Mulan
Rating: general audiences
Summary: You need to find a better way to channel your anger.

After the events of Lady of the Lake, Mulan teaches Aurora to spar.
content notes: none
Length: 0:08:43
text at AO3

download as an mp3 (many thanks to paraka <3)

cover by me!

Title: Of Letters Never Sent
Author:

selenay
Reader:

kalakirya
Fandom: Doctor Who (12th Doctor era)
Pairings: none
Rating: general audiences
Summary: She asked the Doctor once about visiting her younger self and he'd given her a two hour lecture about time and paradoxes and theories about time stability. She hadn't understood all the maths he'd scrawled on the blackboard, but she'd followed enough of it to work out that meeting her previous self was a Very Bad Idea.
content notes:
Length: 0:04:33
text at AO3

download as an mp3 (many thanks to paraka <3)

cover by me!

Title: look ahead (at a clear sky)
Author:

walkthegale
Reader:

kalakirya
Fandom: Critical Role
Pairings: Yasha/Zuala
Rating: general audiences
Summary: It was only a matter of time. (A Zuala Lives AU.)
content notes: none
Length: 0:03:45
text at AO3

download as an mp3 (many thanks to paraka <3)

cover by me!

giandujakiss

Clearly trying to recapture To All the Boys I've Loved Before, even with the same male lead, who is still charming and fun to watch.

Like To All the Boys, it's another fake dating sort of movie, but this time with a white woman lead and from the guy's point of view (though he has a gay black male best friend).

I'm not going to really try to compare the two movies - it's been a while since I watched To All the Boys - but I enjoyed both of them and there's a very specific reason why. These days whenever I watch a mainstream romantic comedy, I go in cringing and nervous because I'm waiting for the horrific sexism. And I'm particularly waiting for the trope where they hate each other at first sight and fight, which I can't stand because in any "battle of the sexes" it will never, ever work out well for the woman and Hollywood can never, ever make it anything less than demoralizing.

So the reason I liked these movies was that it wasn't hate at first sight. In both movies, the leads genuinely like each other, immediately, and basically they are more friends to lovers than enemies to lovers. So you get to spend time with some genuinely likeable characters who are funny and nice to each other and who respect each other and I cannot tell you how relaxing that is.

templemarker posting in

amplificathon

memory serves [podfic] (33 words) by templemarker

Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Magicians (TV)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh
Characters: Quentin Coldwater
Additional Tags: it's not NOT quentin-eliot, they're always in the background, Depression, canon-typical suicidal references, fuck me what a tag, Canon Disabled Character, Disabled Character, Mental Health Issues, Monsters, q could really use that filliorian opium right about now, Podfic, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Read by the Author

Summary:

But this is far from the first time Quentin has sat in a room with a monster that has a vested interest in fucking Quentin up from the inside out.

[image description: cover image of "memory serves" podfic]
Memory Serves

written by templemarker

recorded by templemarker
Approximately 7 minutes in length; mp3 file with embedded cover image.
Right-click save file as: memory serves

( Notes below the line. )

This was done in one quick take, so, you know. This is also the first time I've used Boson to record and edit a podfic, so let me know if there's something wonky with the file or if I missed a key edit in the recording.

torachan

1. So, I'm not even sure if I mentioned it (I don't think I did) but I got a promotion at the beginning of this month to area manager, so now I'm store manager for two stores and area manager for those plus one other. The other store has an actual store manager as well as assistant manager, so I won't need to be spending as much time there, thankfully, since it's in Torrance. But I went down there today and had a good talk with the manager (who is someone I've worked with before and like) and am starting to get a feel for the store.

2. I went to Jollibee for dinner afterwards. I spotted it when I got off the freeway and was driving to the store, and planned to come on my way back, which I had been hoping would be earlier in the afternoon, but I ended up staying until like five, so then it was right smack in the middle of dinnertime when I got to Jollibee and it was pretty busy, but I'm glad I went. Didn't get any of the peach mango pies (another time) but I did get a halo-halo.

3. Cutie Chloe!

fiercelydreamed

Daily Happiness

Weekly Reading

Learn Something New by Speranza, read by mific (SGA)

2/19/2019 Mitchell Canyon State Park

Daily Happiness

The Magicians 4x13

Daily Happiness

The Magicians finale

4/17/2019 Mitchell Cyn State Park // Diablo Foothills Regional Park

Choice of Games

Brooms

Daily Happiness

Some random updates...

survived the flu, survived tax day...

babylon the mighty city

Daily Happiness

4 more Awesome Ladies Podfic Anthology podfics

So the Netflix movie Perfect Date

PODFIC: memory serves, by templemarker [The Magicians]

Daily Happiness

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March 2015

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