mayhap | Network

This was very readable. I had high expectations (looking at you, Heated Rivalry) so some disappointment was perhaps inevitable. As happens to me a lot these days (years), my eyes can glaze over in sexy-timez scenes if these scenes strike me as too samey or too cinnamon-rolly or too boilerplate -- for the first 70% of this book that didn't happen but towards the end, I'm afraid, the sex scenes lost me.

Some nice lines:

'"For the record, sex still "works" even if you don't come. I mean if you want to tap out before coming."

Sweet, consent-centred and anti-mainstream pornormative all in one.

"Never apologise for letting me know what you want."

Consent and mutual negotiation is us.

"He'd never thought of himself as a sexual being, but he liked how powerful he felt right now."

Nice demi-sexual representation.

I also appreciated the specific description of cocks and foreskins, and, on another note, the game-focused jargon and action scenes of ice hockey matches.

A cozy winter read. Christmas-themed but am reading this in January.

This is the first book of 2026 that I'm finishing. I didn't plan this. The first book of the year does tend to intimidate me with its implied portentousness and it took me quite a long time to settle on one -- but perhaps it's just as well that it's an OK non-portentous read. :)

Cross-posted from Goodreads.

antisoppist

via

sanguinity

1 Grab the nearest book.
2 Turn to page 126
3 The 6th full sentence is your life in 2026.

There are 2 books on my desk. The first is Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit which eldest borrowed from my father and brought me yesterday to take back to him at some point:

"I was, in short, in buoyant mood and practically saying 'Tra la' when I observed Jeeves shimmering up in the manner of one desiring an audience."

Hmm, generally positive though slightly ominous.

The other is The Truants by Kate Weinberg which I gave eldest for Christmas and she has now lent to me:

"And then came Georgie's languorous and decadent voice, asking if I wanted to come and 'knock about the house' with her for a couple of days while her parents were in Mustique."

I mean it would be better if I was being invited to Mustique and it depends how the invitation turns out (also possibly ominous) but both offer Openings for Potential, and indeed Decadence.

le_gaosaure posting in

fandomcalendar

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gingicat

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sovay

This administration has run so hard from the start on leaded fantasies, the presence of a fossil fuel in its latest scream for the headlines seems macabrely apropos. Oil is indeed a lucratively unrenewable resource, but aren't those equally heady fumes of the Banana Wars and Neptune Spear? In my own throwback to the twentieth century, I haven't been able to get Phil Ochs out of my head. It was in another of his songs that I first heard of United Fruit. I live in endless echoes, but I am tired of these threadbare loops of empire that were already sticky shed and vinegar when another fluffer of American exceptional stupidity hung out his banner of a mission very much not accomplished. Is it the Crusades this time or Manifest Destiny? War Plan Red hasn't panned out so far, but we can always rebrand the Monroe Doctrine. Colombia! Cuba! Greenland! Daddy's shadow and Deus vult. "Every generation of Centauri mourns for the golden days when their power was like unto the gods! It's counterproductive! I mean, why make history if you fail to learn by it?" I was thirteen when I heard that line and I understood the question. Who knew I was going to spend the rest of my life finding out just how many people were never even interested in trying?

Current Music: Phil Ochs, "Cops of the World"

gravemind posting in

little_details

Hello! I have three questions, all about the work of trauma/critical care/acute care surgeons in the US:

1) Would it ever be feasible for a TACS attending at an academic Level I trauma center to take semi-regular lunch breaks when on day shift (obviously assuming there’s no major trauma needing resuscitation and/or immediate operation, and assuming they have adequate support from residents, etc.)? What if it was decreed necessary by their doctor or their psychologist?

Narratively the goal here is to get the character outdoors near the hospital at a regular-ish time for ~30 minutes at least a few days a week, on at least some weeks. Judging from what I’ve read from people in this specialty on reddit it sounds as though this might (???) be achievable at some hospitals, especially if their setup happens to be rotating weeks of ICU / non-ICU trauma / EGS / admin-and-research, but given the apparent prevalence of hospital workers in acute care specialties not getting any breaks whatsoever I really can’t tell.

2) At what point is the TACS attending no longer involved in a patient’s care if the patient ends up requiring a long-term (at least several months) hospital stay to recover? Would it be as soon as the patient is stable enough to be out of the ICU? My understanding is that since trauma surgeons are largely doing non-surgical critical care and may often be in charge of the ICU they might be managing an operative trauma patient for a while post-op, but I’m not clear on at what point that patient stops being their problem.

3) To whom would a TACS attending (again, at an academic Level I) report to within the hospital hierarchy? Would it be the chief of the trauma service(?) (And would that person be the same or different from whoever they would need to clear FMLA leave or vacation time with?)

Any information or corrections on any of this greatly appreciated! Thank you!

selenak

cahn tells you more about how these two attempts to brighten up our lives came to be here, but I can't resist sharing them over here as well. Both are filks of We didn't start the Fire for the 18th century. The one with my lyrics is somewhat Prussian centric (though it includes other nations as well) and chronological, plus it ends with the arrival of the French Revolution which started a different era of history, while

mildred_of_midgard went for an non-chronological, but all encompassing approach, covering the French Revolution and Napoleon's debut as well. Enjoy (we hope!)

Watch on YouTube

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Location: Munich

ride_4ever

For those who are wondering why the Multifandom Multimedia Microbang is called "Be A Goldfish," here's the explanation from the comm's Admin

devinwolfi:

When we started this event earlier this year, it was a Ted Lasso fandom exclusive event. We always had every intention to go multifandom later, this just gave us the opportunity to beta test it on a smaller group. In that series, a recurring line is to "be a goldfish," (based on the now disproved idea that goldfish have 3-10 second memories), meaning to let go of past hurts, move on, brave the new day, and try new things, all of which we hope to embody and encourage throughout this event. We've found that smaller works and folks who leave comments tend to get less attention, but those small works and comments are by no means less important to the fandom ecosystem so we wanted to give them, and the fans who share them, the support and attention they deserve. We also know that it's very easy to get bogged down by expectation, past experiences, and the pressure of trying to be "successful" in fandom and be paralyzed by it all to the point of inaction. We want to give people the space to try new things and develop new fannish skills without feeling like they have to commit to big projects.

Current Mood: fishy
Current Location: near the lake they call Michigan

dine

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beccaelizabeth

I'm feeling all slow and January, which is not an ideal state, but pressing fast forwards on the calendar does not tend to work. So I am actively planning to do A Thing per day and putting it on my magnet board with the little stars for achievements. Listen A Story is currently a star worthy achievement.

So it took me multiple days to get through this 6th Doctor and Peri box set but they were quite good stories
https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-sixth-doctor-and-peri-volume-01-2128

... just calling it sixth doctor and peri makes it teensy bit difficult to search on, huh...

The Headless Ones I listened to longest ago and I don't remember specific Good Bits but it was a Doctor Who shaped story.

'Like' has a very social media mediated story and I rather liked it. ( Read more... )

The Vanity Trap did some interesting things with time technology and the end of an era feel of studios shutting down. Also the behind the scenes stuff feels like they drew a lot from Doctor Who and put a spin on it, as Big Finish should. Good scary ideas and plausible characters.

"Conflict Theory" was doing a lot of Being Funny about psychiatry that I didn't really vibe with.
It also mentioned that at this point in Big Finish, post warrior queen, Peri has been travelling with the Doctor for twelve years.
But then it rug pulled the truth status of everything we'd heard so we don't know, by the end.

... just after I noted that Torchwood does that a lot and Doctor Who doesn't tend to.

I don't think I like Nev Fountain's stories. Don't quite click for me.

All the stories could have been appreciated more by someone with a bit more awake focus to spare so I might have a different opinion of them later.

But I have a Nice Walk scheduled for this week, if the weather cooperates, so I'll see whatever sun there is, and the year do turn onwards.

muccamukk

From

sanguinity:

Grab the nearest book.
Turn to page 126
The 6th full sentence is your life in 2026.

Nearest book is Glitter Blessed: Already Whole, Already Holy edited by Sean Neil-Barron, but it doesn't have 126 pages.

Next nearest book is A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance by Diana Butler Bass, which gives me:

Mark beckons us to a radical Lenten faith—to trust in rainbows even when covered with ash.

Which, given how the year is looking to shape up, is probably accurate. Hopefully accurate?

grrlpup

Two days of Christmas left! I have two cards with enclosures to send, and presents to wrap (for the family gathering postponed to MLK weekend).

I took the traditional photo at the park on New Year’s Day; a light cold drizzle was falling and there weren’t too many people out, except a few walking their dogs.

a wet picnic table in a muddy park, with dark fir trees towering behind it

Yesterday we went to see Charlie and his owner, our former neighbor who now lives in a retirement complex a few neighborhoods away. I love that little dog so much! When I want to feel cozy at home I pretend I can hear him snoring again. As I begin to browse rescue dogs on the internet with a tiny bit more purpose than before, one of my mental filters is, “Can I see this dog being buddies with Charlie?”

After that we ate lunch at a Syrian cafe within walking distance of our house that we hadn’t tried yet. The mint lemonade is fantastic.

Here’s how my desk is looking these days:

a wooden table lit with banker's lamp and string lights, piled with books, a laptop, pens, and cords.

Progress is slow on the fic and risograph; today at the library I picked up a book I’d requested on how to paint travel posters, since that’s approximately the look I’d like for the riso.

I bought ingredients to make avgolemono since we have really good stock for it right now. And I think we’re in pretty good shape for the flood of CSA vegetables incoming on Tuesday.

Feeling a little old and creaky, as my lower back, which had been doing great after physical therapy this summer, started talking to me again. I will be gentle at the gym tomorrow; I wonder if it will be crowded with resolution-keepers?

In a mood to hide from the world and keep reading The Rose Field. And I got quite a few picture books at the library to dream over. It is still the quiet, quiet time.

This post originates at everyday though not every day. Comments welcome here or there.

torachan

1. Well, it's back to work tomorrow. I really enjoyed the two four-day weekends in a row. With my position now being part of HQ rather than store operations, this is the first time in the fifteen years I've been with the company that I've been able to take extra time off during December. Since it's the busiest time of the year, there's a blackout period for any time off except with a doctor's note, but that only applies to the store side and not HQ. Since I will still be in this position for at least next year, we are considering taking a trip to Japan in December as well as our upcoming trip in April (previously we were considering going in October to see Tokyo Disney's Halloween, but we can do that another time). Anyway, not thrilled to be back to work, but hopefully it will be a productive week.

2. Tonight should be the last of the rain. It's showing rain tomorrow, but when looking at the hourly breakdown, it's like 1-2am tonight, so should be dry by the morning and then no more rain except maybe a brief blip on Tuesday (there's a weird one hour spike of chance of rain around noon on Tuesday). I'm so ready for it to be over! The tree in front of our house, as well as most of the neighborhood, is a ficus, which is currently in peak berry season, so the rain is bringing down tons and tons of fat gooshy berries that now cover everything, including the car. I'm going to stop in the car wash on the way to work tomorrow to see if I can get it looking less disgusting.

3. Neither Carla nor I are good at folding fitted sheets, and we don't really have a good place to keep them except on the top shelf above the dryer, so previously they were just sort of balled up and thrown up there, which does lead to them sometimes falling down. I finally decided to look into some sort of organization and found that these sheet organizers seem to be very popular. There are all sorts of similar items, but I liked the look of these the most. I got the sheets all packed up and now they're labelled queen and full, so we can easily tell which is which (there are some that we have in the same color and some where I forget which color is whose, as it's not obviously a color I wouldn't have chosen).

4. I was poking around today to see about possible tattoo artists to contact, and while I didn't settle on anyone, I did come up with a firm idea for my first tattoo! And it's something easy to explain, so that will help lessen the anxiety around that part as well. Basically, I was thinking about what else I like that could be good for a tattoo other than cats and dragons, and where I would like it to be, and I think something on my lower leg would be best. It would be covered at work, but I wear shorts like 90% of the time outside of work, so it would be a good place to be on display. Rainbow stuff is a good option as well, so I had the idea of a rainbow band around my lower leg, like down near the ankle but not on the boney bit. I think I'd like it to be fairly wide, like if you remember those wristbands people used to wear for sports in the 70s and 80s, about that thickness. I think it would look pretty cool and I'm excited about it, so now I just need to find someone to do it!

5. Tuxie!

vass

via

sanguinity

Grab the nearest book.
Turn to page 126
The 6th full sentence is your life in 2026.

Immortalized in ballads, they became a central part of the mythology of the Australian past.

Current Mood: i didn't try to game it
Current Music: i swear

missizzy

I've spent the past two days wondering, among other things, how my father felt, on the night we first invaded Iraq, and the days after. I've got the feeling that he, with his particular position in DoD, was more of an accessory to that invasion than I am likely to ever be to any, so long as I merely remain in the library. He stayed in his job for another year, before taking an early retirement. That was partly due to his health, but I know it was partly due to the war as well.
I, of course, am still too young to take any kind of retirement, or to even think there'll be much of one on offer by the time I get old enough. I know I am expected to go to work tomorrow as usual, and I will. I have not yet reached the day when the combination of the fact that losing this job would leave me unlikely to ever be gainfully employed again with my family's woes is not enough justification to do so. But that day feels a lot closer tonight than I did 48 hours ago.
We got further bad news this morning, too, when the man delivering our groceries advised us Giant is shutting down their delivery service, and just having DoorDash do it. I suspect this will mean a drop in quality, possibly even a big one. And none of that will even matter for those increasing number of items that are suffering shortages. After we failed to get sandwich bread with our deliver this morning, I ran down to grab it, and found the shelves mostly empty. They had wonderbread still available, so I fell back on that. This time.

princessofgeeks

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ainsley

( a mixed bag of a day; includes rambling about social anxiety )

aquila1nz

AO3 Link | monday you can fall apart (2322 words) by Aquila
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Riot Women
Rating: Teen and Up
Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence
Relationship: Gen
Characters: Beth Thornton
Additional Tags: so far preslash that it basically can’t be but we know, suicide, depression, dementia, dead dove don’t read, seriously you can just skip this one and say you read it if it’s going to make you feel bad, it’s just all build up to that first scene, beth needs someone to love, beth needs someone to see her, beth needs something to look forward to, character study

Summary:

"I’ve been so low lately.” The steps Beth takes as she prepares to kill herself.

This is a companion piece to 'monday you can hold your head'

( Read more... )

AO3 Link | monday you can hold your head (3033 words) by Aquila
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Riot Women
Rating: Teen and Up
Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence
Relationship: M/F
Characters: Kitty Eckersley
Additional Tags: so far preslash that it basically can’t be but we know, menopause, child sex abuse, pregancy scare, suicide, depression, dementia, assault, kitty needs to be safe, kitty needs someone to worry about her, kitty needs a home, character study

Summary:

“Just between you and me and the gatepost I’ve been having a bit of a shit day.” The events that lead up to drunk Kitty in a supermarket going for the pills, vodka and knives.

This is a companion piece to 'monday you can fall apart'

( Read more... )