prunesquallormd

kayscale posting in

Name: Kaylee

Age: Early 20s

I mostly post about: unsure what I will post about yet or if my journal will have a specific theme. If I can figure out an elegant way to post images, then I may share some of the projects I'm working on; if I ever end up having more time to work on my writing projects, then maybe I'll post about that, but that's a big if.

My hobbies are: crochet, writing, video games; I also have a large and increasing collection of Pokémon plushies

My fandoms are: Pokémon, Warframe, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (peripherally, my knowledge mainly consists of YouTube/Tumblr meme edits and fanart)

I'm looking to meet people who: share my interests, want a Dreamwidth friend, or who want to help a new person figure things out

My posting schedule tends to be: probably sporadic for now, but may become more regular later

When I add people, my dealbreakers are: hate speech/bigotry (including but not limited to: racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia), AI-generated images or writing; other than that, be kind and civil and we should get along nicely.

Before adding me, you should know: I am very very new to Dreamwidth, so I may be slow to respond to interactions and I may make mistakes using the site. I also have Tumblr, and I can be found there under the same username. Additionally, I made my profile in a hurry, so it is not completely up to date yet; I may update/add to it when I have the time.

musesfool

I watched them raise the Knicks' championship banner and that was nice. I still don't care that much about regular season basketball.

I brought 120 cupcakes to work this morning (the 3 trays I linked to a picture of yesterday, plus a 4th tray of mixed apple cider/cinnamon brown sugar) and they were all gone by 3 pm. More people were in the office than usual, I think, but still, there are frequently leftovers and today there were none. Several people told me this was the best batch yet (!!!) and that they did not think the cinnamon brown sugar cream cheese frosting was too sweet, so that was nice. Maybe the refrigeration helped ameliorate the sweetness - cold tends to mute flavor - but I didn't bother having one when there were still 2 orange cranberry left. *g* the apple cider went first, which was not a surprise, really. I'm thinking about swapping it in for my current apple cider recipe for Christmas, since I also liked it better than that one, which always seems a little dry. I guess we'll see!

This weekend, I am going to focus on cookies instead, I think - cherry almond biscotti and orange cranberry cookies. Though it's only Tuesday, so plans could change!

*

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Knicks vs Sixers on tv

james_davis_nicoll

The accusation came after Prime Minister Carney visited his home province and urged Albertans to vote to “stay in Canada,” an act which the US government is calling “a deliberate attack on U.S. interests.”

I should clarify that the Beaverton is a parody site.

james_davis_nicoll

A castaway on an alien world discovers the local culture has changed dramatically in the thirty years since humans last visited Toka.

Heroes Are Made by Poul Anderson & Gordon R. Dickson

vividsapphire posting in

addme

Name: Sapphire, Sapphy

Age: Late 20s

I mostly post about: I'm still new here so I haven't posted much yet, but basically this is an everything journal - I post whatever I feel like whenever I feel like it. ranges from personal stuff (access list only) to questionnaires, quizzes, memes, song recommendations/reviews, essays about things and characters i'm obsessed with, possibly talking about projects of mine, talking about plans for my website, etc. i'm very much a "talk about whatever random thing has grabbed my attention lately" kind of person, so expect some variety.

My hobbies are: drawing, writing songs, writing stories and making ocs, coding for fun, scouring the net for obscure stuff, and someday, thrifting.

My fandoms are: ace attorney, psychonauts, miraculous ladybug, the muppets, the sims (specifically the sims 2), vocaloid, world of warcraft, and other stuff I can't think of off the top of my head but I'm sure I will end up posting about it lol

I'm looking to meet people who: people with similar interests and/or anyone looking for a new dreamwidth buddy :)

My posting schedule tends to be: sporadic, though i am online quite often.

When I add people, my dealbreakers are: don't be an asshole or a bigot and we'll get along just fine.

Before adding me, you should know: I swear a Lot, and sometimes i will talk about uncomfortable topics (below a cut, access list only). if this makes you uncomfortable i understand 100%.

musesfool

I spent most of yesterday making cupcakes to take to work tomorrow. I ended up making cinnamon brown sugar with cinnamon brown sugar cream cheese frosting (which is way too sweet, imo, though thankfully the cupcakes themselves are not particularly sweet), a new-to-me recipe for apple cider donut muffins dipped in cinnamon sugar, and orange cranberry with orange Swiss meringue buttercream (I love these and I made them the first year I made cupcakes for Christmas, but no one else seemed to like them as much as I did, so I swapped them out for lemon, then peach, and now strawberry; I do like the strawberry ones quite a bit, but not as much as these *hands*) (pics).

Now, I am le tired.

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Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Rangers vs Ducks on tv

james_davis_nicoll

This all-new Cohors Cthulhu Bundle presents .PDF ebooks of Cohors Cthulhu, the 2d20 System tabletop roleplaying game from Modiphius Entertainment of cosmic horror in the Roman Empire.

Bundle of Holding: Cohors Cthulhu

histoirede posting in

addme_fandom

Name: Flore
Age group: 40+
Country: France
Subscription/Access Policy: open to all, rarely post NSFW, do mind close-minded people

Fannish Interests: I've been an anime/manga fan for 30+ years so I know and like a lot (a LOT) of series. I tend to obsess on sports series but I haven't found one I love much since Haikyuu!!. Currently I'm enjoying Boku no Hero Academia and playing Hades a lot.
I like to post about: I mostly post fanarts, fanfics, and recs :)
About Me/Other Info: I love to get art requests and do art trades. I tend to be a single-minded-OTP girl but will definitely post about lots of series. I used to be on LJ (same handle) and thrive to find the sense of community fandom we used to have over there 15-20 years ago.

james_davis_nicoll

Someone in my group wants to run Mayfair's DC Heroes, which of course raises the question, can I still design a DC Heroes character?

I am feeding someone's cat and since the bus trip over there takes between 30 and 90 minutes, I had time to kill. My starting point was an NPC from a post I won't look up, a moderately cranky middle-aged woman with low-end brick abilities.

( Read more... )

marycatelli posting in

books

An Eye For Fractals: A Graphic And Photographic Essay by Michael McGuire

Fractals. Pictures, mathematics, descriptions. The Sierpinski triangle and how you can make it a bit random to make it look very like a stony cliff. The infinite border to a finite area. Dimensions. And more.

james_davis_nicoll

Robots are our trustworthy pals... so why are Calvin, Powell, and Donovan continually confronted by misbehaving robots?

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

jayregee posting in

addme

Name: Regis

Age: 47

I mostly post about: My life and my fandoms. I can be pretty open about my life. I am not good with cuts so it's all out there to read.

My hobbies are: walking, making Dreamwidth icons, surfing the net, collecting DVDs/Blu-rays

My fandoms are: Friday the 13th, Crystal Lake, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, James Bond, Perry Mason, Murder She Wrote, Poirot, Miss Marple, Cadfael, Sherlock, The Munsters, Scream, Ben 10, Blue Seed, Matlock, MST3K, Rifftrax, MCU, DCU, Doctor Who, SAW, Sleepaway CampHeroes, My Family, Are You Being Served, Smallville, Duckman

I'm looking to meet people who: People with similar interests that do not care that I am gay.

My posting schedule tends to be: daily/weekly/monthly/sporadic/etc I tend to post a lot. I try to do it every day but life gets in the way or it was a very boring day. Nothing comes to mind.

When I add people, my dealbreakers are: Bigots, Trump supporters, homophobes

Before adding me, you should know: I am gay and do talk about and post images that may be deemed too much for some viewers.

alobear

I have never been interested in romantasy - I'm not generally a fan of books where the romance is the main focus (historical, contemporary, or fantasy) and I don't like the tropey way romantasy books are marketed. But I was pushed by a reading challenge to try a romantasy - and I picked A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland.
Given that it's billed as "breathtaking enemies-to-lovers", I didn't have high expectations.
And - wow - I *loved* this book so much! It's 18.5 hours of two men very slowly figuring out how they feel about each other, but it's done so incredibly well. There is some plot, but it's barely there and only really comes into play to serve the development of the romance - but I didn't care.
People who know about these things might be disappointed, since they're never actually enemies - one is a prince and one is a bodyguard/attendant and they resent each other at the start, but that's not really the same thing.
Forced proximity, though - yes. Also kind of a love triangle. And slow burn - oh my, yes - and wow, I really didn't anticipate how much I would enjoy that aspect.
What I loved most about this is that it focuses a lot on psychology and mental health - in a fantasy world that doesn't know much about those things, the two main characters spend a lot of the book analysing both themselves and each other, in an effort to understand how their brains work and how they can best support each other - and that was fantastic.
The power dynamics are definitely iffy - but they're also very much acknowledged, present huge barriers to the resolution and the complexities of consent in a master/servant relationship are fully addressed - which was also really good.
I also really loved all the other characters - particularly the other corner of the (sort of) love triangle, who was hilarious. There are great found family vibes throughout, a lot of heartwarming interactions, a lot of humour - and the romance itself had me positively squirming with frustration, in the best possible way. Kicking my feet? Most definitely.
This book continually made me react out loud in public (mostly giggling) - which is always a sign of a good book. I was actually really sad when it was over, because I wanted it to be even longer.
Fabulous.

labingi posting in

books

Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is a 2008 novel retelling the events of the Mahabharata* from the perspective of its central female character, Draupadi, who, in the novel, prefers her loconym, Panchaali. It feels like a YA/New Adult(ish) work designed to put a feminist spin on an intro to the Mahabharata, and it does that well. I think its target audience is young women of culturally Hindu descent. NB: as a middle-aged white woman, I am not the target audience.

I think this book’s greatest enemy is its length. Adapting one of the world’s longest epics in under 350 pages is not really doable. In this case, the first 100-plus pages read like a YA novel in which Panchaali is trying to find her place in the world. The rest mostly reads like a summary of the Mahabharata from Panchaali’s point of view. The novel loses a great deal of force in skimming over almost the whole story. But it also covers a lot of ground clearly, including some story beats I had never known before, so I’m grateful for that. Overall, for Mahabharata fans or newbies, it’s worth a read. It’s not mindblowing, but it stimulates thought about a venerable and massive philosophical work, and that’s very worthwhile.

Spoilers for the Mahabharata and the novel ( Read more... )

musesfool

My niece asked for some (audio)book recommendations because she is trying to switch to not doomscrolling on her phone before bed, which meant the books also need to not be too terribly dark or sad, so I was like, "you should read Discworld," and she made some skeptical response, and I was like, "no no, don't start at the first book! You won't like it. Start with Wyrd Sisters." And I explained how there were several separate series within the larger series, and this was a good place to start. She was like, "okay, aunt victoria, I'll try it out," and the next morning, she texted me with, "You didn't say it was funny! I'm enjoying it." so that worked out. And also I reread it so it was a win all around. I don't know if she'll stick with it, but I hope so!

*

Did you know that Vienna Teng has a spreadsheet with links to videos of all the songs she's performed in her "Live@Home" concerts and she made it public (until November 1)? I did not until this morning, but I'm enjoying poking around and listening. It's linked here on her patreon.

*

With the Stop and Shop website down all week and all online orders cancelled, I turned to Instacart for my groceries yesterday, and it was fine except...somehow, I did not get the eggs I ordered. They were just left out of the delivery though I was charged for them. I unfortunately didn't realize it until much later, and it sent me into a little tizzy, because I had baking plans for this weekend that involved a lot of eggs. Twenty-two eggs to be exact, and I only had 20 in the fridge, hence the inclusion of more in my grocery order. I thought about doing another order - I can always cobble together the bare minimum of stuff to buy, even if it ends up costing more - but then this morning, I was like, I don't need to make 2 different kinds of Swiss meringue buttercream. I can make one batch for the orange cranberry cupcakes, and then do brown sugar/cinnamon cream cheese frosting for the brown sugar cupcakes, and that pivot made everything work out just fine.

I made the orange buttercream this afternoon, and tomorrow I will bake the orange cranberry cupcakes, the brown sugar cupcakes, and a new-to-me recipe for apple cider cupcakes. Then on Monday, I'll make the cream cheese frosting, put it all together, and schlep it to the office on Tuesday. I figured I'd lean into some fall flavors this time around. We'll see how it goes.

For dinner tonight, I made bacon onion flatbreads from a Milk Street recipe (paywalled, so included below the cut) and they are delicious and I have another one that I will have tomorrow night for dinner. The only thing I really did differently was I used one of those garlic and herb cheese spreads instead of crème fraîche. (I ordered the 8 oz package of Alouette and got the 5 oz package of Boursin so it wasn't quite enough to cover both flatbreads, but it was still delicious.)

*

( recipe )

*

Current Mood: satisfied
Current Music: The Riversitter - Vienna Teng

james_davis_nicoll

Seven books new to me. Three fantasies, one horror (unless it's not), two SF, and one anthology that is both fantasy and SF. At least two are series books.

Books Received, October 10 — October 16

Poll #35202 Books Received, October 10 — October 16, 2026

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 41

View Respondents

Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

Love, Witches, and Wahala by Christine Cowan (November 2026)
7 (17.1%)

We Used to Be Heroes by Thomas Elrod (May 2027)
15 (36.6%)

Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Four edited by Stephen Kotowych (October 2026)
17 (41.5%)

Massif by Garth Nix (October 2026)
25 (61.0%)

As We Fall Through Time by Claire North (October 2026)
15 (36.6%)

We Won’t Be Here When It Ends by Mark Oshiro (April 2027)
6 (14.6%)

A Magical Girl Rehired by Seolyeon Park (December 2026)
15 (36.6%)

Some other option (see comments)
1 (2.4%)

Cats!
29 (70.7%)

rocky41_7 posting in

books

Halloween vampire classic! Today I finished Carmilla by J. Sheridan le Fanu. This novella is posited as the “first vampire book.” I can’t actually confirm if that’s true or not. But there is a vampire.

Your exposure to Carmilla may be like mine, in that it’s the “old lesbian vampire novel.” While there is truth to this—Carmilla is undoubtedly attracted to the protagonist, Laura—if you go into expecting a torrid lesbian love story, you will be disappointed. On the whole, it’s a lot more “lesbian passionately into disinterested but lonely straight girl” than a romance. At various times, Laura is repulsed and “embarrassed” by Carmilla’s fawning, and although taken by Carmilla’s beauty, never desires more than friendship from her. This is a story of a predator preying on vulnerable and ignorant young women for her own ends. However, if we can romanticize Dracula, which I’m happy to do, we can of course romanticize Carmilla—I just want to be upfront about the actual text.

The story is told through Laura’s written recollection after the events take place. It does a solid job setting the scene of Laura and her father’s isolation and some of the strange goings-on in the area around them before the mysterious Carmilla makes her entry. The abandoned village three miles west, around the ruins of the defunct Karnstein castle, make for a delicious bit of foreshadowing.

It plays up Carmilla’s strangeness and the push/pull of her relationship with Laura as an unknown illness claims the lives of young women nearby. I enjoyed the slowly increasing fear and horror Laura experiences as these inexplicable events in her home and her mind start piling up.

The novel is paced well until the end, which felt jarringly abrupt. I think the book would have benefitted from being longer. I was disappointed not to learn more about Carmilla and the Karnsteins’ history, and that there’s not much room for Laura to consider her feelings about discovering the truth of Carmilla (How would it feel to find out your only friend had been slowly killing you, and had been planning to do so from the start?), or really a denouement at all.

Overall, there’s a lot of tasty gothic mystery and troubling, strange physical + psychological maladies here, and I can definitely see how Carmilla influenced later vampire novels. However, I did find the sudden wrap-up disappointing. I still liked the book though, and it was a very fun October read.

james_davis_nicoll

Great news, everyone! New evidence points towards complex life being very robust.

I Am No Longer Pessimistic About the Survival of Complex Life on Earth, Thanks to Science!

james_davis_nicoll

In which a shrinking community of human survivors learn much about their alien conquerors... none of it good.

The Faith of Beasts (The Captive's War, volume 2) By James S. A. Corey

alobear

Miss Garnet's Angel by Salley Vickers has been on my shelf a very long time - and I'm delighted I finally got around to reading it, because it turned out to be really good!
It follows Julia Garnet, who decides to take a six-month trip to Venice upon her retirement, in honour of her longtime friend, Harriet, who sadly dies shortly before they were about to go off on adventures together, upon their retirement.
It also tells the story of Tobias and the Angel, from the Apocrypha, weaving parallels between the journeys taken by both Julia and Tobias in a clever way throughout the book.
Some of the attitudes and behaviours of the various characters did take me aback at certain points, and the plot took an odd turn towards the end. But the only thing I found jarring throughout was that the book felt very old-fashioned and I was constantly surprised by references to modern things, because I kept thinking it was set in the 40s or 50s, rather than 2000.
Still, I very much enjoyed it overall - not least because Venice is depicted in vivid detail and it brought back many good memories of my multiple trips there.

Profile

May 2017

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Page Summary

kayscale in addme - New Person, Come Say Hi!
musesfool - already 6 rebounds
james_davis_nicoll - U.S. government accuses Canada of meddling in Alberta referendum
james_davis_nicoll - Heroes Are Made by Poul Anderson & Gordon R. Dickson
vividsapphire in addme - hello!! :)
musesfool - as jensen was interfered with
james_davis_nicoll - Bundle of Holding: Cohors Cthulhu
histoirede in addme_fandom - Looking for fandom friends
james_davis_nicoll - Remember DC Heroes?
marycatelli in books - An Eye For Fractals
james_davis_nicoll - I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
jayregee in addme - Howdy
alobear - A Taste of Gold and Iron
labingi in books - Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
musesfool - you can just do a thing that you get the idea to do
james_davis_nicoll - Books Received, October 10 — October 16
rocky41_7 in books - Recent Reading: Carmilla
james_davis_nicoll - I Am No Longer Pessimistic About the Survival of Complex Life on Earth, Thanks to Science!
james_davis_nicoll - The Faith of Beasts (The Captive's War, volume 2) By James S. A. Corey
alobear - Miss Garnet's Angel

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