What I saw on the web on 2026.5.6
May. 7th, 2026 08:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reblogarythm- Ixnay on the Post-Apocalyptic Cannibals: Rebecca Solnit’s A Paradise Built in Hell
by Ruthanna Emrys discussing Rebecca Solnit
https://reactormag.com/ixnay-on-the-post-apocalyptic-cannibals-rebecca-solnits-a-paradise-built-in-hell/
this book's been on my radar for a while. i need to actually read it at some point
via discord - In Praise of Vulture
by Cory Doctorow
https://pluralistic.net/2026/05/06/champerty-loves-company/#circle-of-life
including how the current ambient system hates it when little people have agency:Gerrymandering strips your vote of any impact on political outcomes. Monopoly strips your purchases of any ability to influence economic outcomes.
via rss - Song, Skin, Sea
by Tamara Vardomskaya
https://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/song-skin-sea/
about music and what we must do for it
via discord
Revisiting My 2014 Reading List
May. 7th, 2026 08:38 amosprey_archerThe last of my already-finished reading lists. A bit less exciting to post these when I’m not asking for advice about what to read for some of the authors, but I'm still glad to have the complete record on here.
Susan Fletcher - Journey of the Pale Bear
Adam Gopnik - A Thousand Small Sanities. Didn’t review this one. No longer remember it very well. I keep reading Gopnik because I love Paris to the Moon SO much but none of his other books are the same.
Rosemary Sutcliff - Rudyard Kipling. Not a biography of Kipling so much as an overview of his children’s books. A useful source if you’re interested in Kipling’s influence on Sutcliff.
Francesca Forrest - “Semper Vivens.” A short intense story about a terraforming accident that has created a patch of land where all life is constantly transforming into other life, which recently became the focus for a cult which decided to land there even though it meant death-by-transforming-life; a story of an awe-ful place in the old sense of the word. Hard to get a hold of, which is why I didn’t review it, but so memorable.
Rumer Godden - Premlata and the Festival of Lights
William Dean Howells - Literary Friends and Acquaintances
Barbara Cooney - The American Speller: An Adaptation of Noah Webster's Blue-Backed Speller. A picture book loosely based on Noah Webster’s iconic speller. Like many picture books, I didn’t have enough for a whole post about it, and so it fell through the cracks.
Sarah Orne Jewett - A White Heron
Dorothy Sayers - Lord Peter
Hilary McKay - The Time of Green Magic
Jane Langton - Paper Chains
Rachel Bertsche - The Kids Are in Bed: Finding Time for Yourself in the Chaos of Parenting
Angela Brazil - A Popular Schoolgirl
Annie Fellows Johnston - Cicely, and Other Stories
Zilpha Keatley Snyder - The Treasures of Weatherby
C. S. Lewis - The Great Divorce. Apparently I never reviewed this one? This shocks me. Surely I meant to review it and it just fell by the wayside. Clearly I’ll have to reread and review properly at some point.
Ben Macintyre - Operation Mincemeat
Elizabeth von Arnim - Elizabeth and Her German Garden
Susan Fletcher - Journey of the Pale Bear
Adam Gopnik - A Thousand Small Sanities. Didn’t review this one. No longer remember it very well. I keep reading Gopnik because I love Paris to the Moon SO much but none of his other books are the same.
Rosemary Sutcliff - Rudyard Kipling. Not a biography of Kipling so much as an overview of his children’s books. A useful source if you’re interested in Kipling’s influence on Sutcliff.
Francesca Forrest - “Semper Vivens.” A short intense story about a terraforming accident that has created a patch of land where all life is constantly transforming into other life, which recently became the focus for a cult which decided to land there even though it meant death-by-transforming-life; a story of an awe-ful place in the old sense of the word. Hard to get a hold of, which is why I didn’t review it, but so memorable.
Rumer Godden - Premlata and the Festival of Lights
William Dean Howells - Literary Friends and Acquaintances
Barbara Cooney - The American Speller: An Adaptation of Noah Webster's Blue-Backed Speller. A picture book loosely based on Noah Webster’s iconic speller. Like many picture books, I didn’t have enough for a whole post about it, and so it fell through the cracks.
Sarah Orne Jewett - A White Heron
Dorothy Sayers - Lord Peter
Hilary McKay - The Time of Green Magic
Jane Langton - Paper Chains
Rachel Bertsche - The Kids Are in Bed: Finding Time for Yourself in the Chaos of Parenting
Angela Brazil - A Popular Schoolgirl
Annie Fellows Johnston - Cicely, and Other Stories
Zilpha Keatley Snyder - The Treasures of Weatherby
C. S. Lewis - The Great Divorce. Apparently I never reviewed this one? This shocks me. Surely I meant to review it and it just fell by the wayside. Clearly I’ll have to reread and review properly at some point.
Ben Macintyre - Operation Mincemeat
Elizabeth von Arnim - Elizabeth and Her German Garden
La Seduction
May. 7th, 2026 08:25 amlemonlips43 posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fictional_fansTitle: La seduction
Author: Lemonlips43
Fandom: Pokemon-The original series
Rating: Teen
Characters/Pairings: Gary/Ash
Genres: Romance,Humor and angst
Word count: 745 (the first chapter)
Summary:Ash finds himself in love with Misty and decides to ask Gary for lessons on how to win over girls. Gary surprisingly accepts, but are Gary's intentions truly pure? And does Ash really love misty as much as he says?
Aditional tags-Jealousy,Compulsory Heterosexuality,Kantou-chihou | Kanto Region (Pokemon)
I wrote this fanfic i was thinking about writing it a long time now i finally got courage and will to write it!
READ ON AO3
READ ON MY JOURNAL
Author: Lemonlips43
Fandom: Pokemon-The original series
Rating: Teen
Characters/Pairings: Gary/Ash
Genres: Romance,Humor and angst
Word count: 745 (the first chapter)
Summary:Ash finds himself in love with Misty and decides to ask Gary for lessons on how to win over girls. Gary surprisingly accepts, but are Gary's intentions truly pure? And does Ash really love misty as much as he says?
Aditional tags-Jealousy,Compulsory Heterosexuality,Kantou-chihou | Kanto Region (Pokemon)
I wrote this fanfic i was thinking about writing it a long time now i finally got courage and will to write it!
READ ON AO3
READ ON MY JOURNAL
magician’s rage by calebauer (SFW)
May. 7th, 2026 05:56 amkingstoken posting in fanart_recsFandom: Merlin
Characters/Pairing/Other Subject: Merlin
Content Notes/Warnings: N/A
Medium: Digital
Artist Website/Gallery: tumblr
Why this piece is awesome: Stunning piece of Merlin done in reds and oranges, that express the feeling and a history of Merlin.
Link: magician’s rage
Characters/Pairing/Other Subject: Merlin
Content Notes/Warnings: N/A
Medium: Digital
Artist Website/Gallery: tumblr
Why this piece is awesome: Stunning piece of Merlin done in reds and oranges, that express the feeling and a history of Merlin.
Link: magician’s rage
The moon still rises on everybody else
May. 7th, 2026 03:34 amsovayI don't want to make any claims for stamina in case tomorrow when I have an appointment I can't leave the house, but for months it has reliably exhausted me to walk around my own neighborhood and after two days out and about I did spend most of this one curled up, but I also left the house in the midafternoon to acquire a plate of baba dip from Noor because I was jonesing for eggplant and later walked back out on a fish-oriented supermarket run in the thickening rain. I stayed an extra hour at my desk because Hestia was in full Llyan mode, swattily objecting when I ceased from petting her as she purred like a turbine underneath the mermaid lamp. The evening's bedmaking was similarly delayed by her commandeering of the clean laundry with her precise and possessively kneading small paws. It does feel like a change that I am not utterly wiped out by household chores. Now if my brain would just decide to rejoin the party. In that vague direction, I am continuing to enjoy Apple TV's Widow's Bay (2026–) which delighted me beyond measure this week not even by featuring a sea hag who explodes when spear-gunned into tide-flat brine—I treasured a Magic card along those lines—but by having shot a scene at Half Moon Beach in Gloucester. I recognized it from its boulders of Cape Ann granite: I have climbed over their tectonic jumble and dozed on them and been photographed on them by spatch, the sticky basement rock of my local microcontinent. I am not used to fictitious islands confected out of coasts I know. It makes me want to visit them. In the meantime I read about the doused and sunken chain of the New England Seamounts.
spatch, the sticky basement rock of my local microcontinent. I am not used to fictitious islands confected out of coasts I know. It makes me want to visit them. In the meantime I read about the doused and sunken chain of the New England Seamounts.Sea (100 words) by Gia279
May. 7th, 2026 12:29 amjosilverdragonSea (100 words) by Gia279
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Characters: Stiles Stilinski
Additional Tags: Horror, Drabble, Witch Hunts
Summary:
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Characters: Stiles Stilinski
Additional Tags: Horror, Drabble, Witch Hunts
Summary:
Prompt words: brand, wander, sea
Proud
May. 7th, 2026 04:01 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
dumbingofage_feed
The Dumbing of Age Book 15 Kickstarter continues! With Amazi-Girl, whose magnet was here the whole time!
Second Patreon Bonus Strip for April 2026 — BOOSTER (and walky)
May. 7th, 2026 02:54 amdumbingofage_feed
Every month at the Dumbing of Age Patreon there’s two new exclusive bonus strips — one that patrons get to vote on, and another that’s my choice! This month, we get BOOSTER! And Walky! And a snowpile. But not for long.
Check out this strip and the backlog of hundreds of previous bonus strips at the Dumbing of Age Patreon! Also, if you pledge $5 or more per month, you can read tomorrow’s strip a full day-and-five-minutes early, every single dang night! You could be reading tomorrow’s strip right now!
A Cracky Omegaverse fic that insisted on being written
May. 7th, 2026 01:21 pmmificThis was a prompt in the ICE OUT donation challenge that caught my eye, and suddenly I was with bunny. I can only write crack in omegaverse, so it's extremely cracky.
To the Victor, the Spoils on AO3 (Shane/Ilya, M, no warnings).
Summary: Montreal secedes, installs Metros captain and noted omega Shane Hollander as their constitutional monarch, and organizes a skills contest for his hand in marriage.
How did my life turn into this circus? Learning the intricacies of the skills competition at the NHL All Stars weekend so as to write omegaverse crack? OMG, what are my monkeys doing now! (hockey and fucking)
To the Victor, the Spoils on AO3 (Shane/Ilya, M, no warnings).
Summary: Montreal secedes, installs Metros captain and noted omega Shane Hollander as their constitutional monarch, and organizes a skills contest for his hand in marriage.
How did my life turn into this circus? Learning the intricacies of the skills competition at the NHL All Stars weekend so as to write omegaverse crack? OMG, what are my monkeys doing now! (hockey and fucking)
the story of the tree
May. 6th, 2026 08:49 pmstarandreaI once worked in a building with a wonderful person named Elaine. She had lots of frog figurines on her desk. I asked her if she liked frogs, and she said no. She explained that her daughter had given her a little frog figurine as a joke, so she took it to work and left it on her desk. Since then, enough people had both 1) assumed she liked frogs, and 2) wanted to give her a gift, that she had amassed a collection.
That's how it is with me and plants, except for the part where I actually like plants, and people aren't always trying to give me a gift. Sometimes they're just like: hey Star, I have this plant I don't want any more, do you want it or should I throw it in the trash? (In that same office building I literally lifted two plants out of the trash and kept them on my desk, so it's a totally fair question.)
( And then, a tree. )
( Tree-moving pictures. )
That's how it is with me and plants, except for the part where I actually like plants, and people aren't always trying to give me a gift. Sometimes they're just like: hey Star, I have this plant I don't want any more, do you want it or should I throw it in the trash? (In that same office building I literally lifted two plants out of the trash and kept them on my desk, so it's a totally fair question.)
( And then, a tree. )
( Tree-moving pictures. )
Hugos Invitational Opinion Post
May. 6th, 2026 07:20 amradiantfractureHello! Do you have opinions on this year's Hugo nominees? I would enjoy hearing them -- not for any reason other than the sheer pleasure of thinking about books. Comment freely with your opinions, predictions, and recommendations.
The Backstory
sabotabby got me hooked on the Ancillary Review of Books' podcast A Meal of Thorns via her post on the MoT episode about Ready Player One, and I've been traipsing through the back catalogue.
Last year, host Jake Casella Brookins and frequent guest Roseanna Pendlebury hashed through the Hugo short lists book by book in great toothy detail. The episode was a sublime listening experience as I wandered through the wooded trails around Pkols / Mount Doug a few weeks ago, mostly because I agreed with almost everything they said. (At least about the books I'd read.)
(Last year I happened to do pretty well on Hugo reading. Without trying very hard, I read half the books -- 3/6 novels and 3/6 novellas. This year, not so much -- I've only read Amal El-Mohtar's novella The River Has Roots.)
(NB El-Mohtar's episode of MoT on The Traitor Baru Cormorant is also excellent.)
On precedent, I've been eagerly looking forward to the MoT Hugos episode this year, but so far they don't seem to have one planned.
Hence my rough approximation. Let me interview you about the Hugo noms you read and your takes thereon.
I guess I'll go first:
I liked The River Has Roots a lot. I'm shocked to discover it's El-Mohtar's first solo long-form fiction -- her voice has, to my ear, such assurance, both here and in This is How You Lose the Time War. She knows what she wants to do with this story and she does it, piece by piece. For such a small book, the story feels spacious. It's economical but doesn't feel rushed or compressed to me. I would have liked to know a little more about how she was imagining the phenomenon of grammar. I enjoyed the chicken.
Now you! (If you want.) -- Any Hugo short lister is fair game, whether I have read it or not.
§rf§
The Backstory
sabotabby got me hooked on the Ancillary Review of Books' podcast A Meal of Thorns via her post on the MoT episode about Ready Player One, and I've been traipsing through the back catalogue.Last year, host Jake Casella Brookins and frequent guest Roseanna Pendlebury hashed through the Hugo short lists book by book in great toothy detail. The episode was a sublime listening experience as I wandered through the wooded trails around Pkols / Mount Doug a few weeks ago, mostly because I agreed with almost everything they said. (At least about the books I'd read.)
(Last year I happened to do pretty well on Hugo reading. Without trying very hard, I read half the books -- 3/6 novels and 3/6 novellas. This year, not so much -- I've only read Amal El-Mohtar's novella The River Has Roots.)
(NB El-Mohtar's episode of MoT on The Traitor Baru Cormorant is also excellent.)
On precedent, I've been eagerly looking forward to the MoT Hugos episode this year, but so far they don't seem to have one planned.
Hence my rough approximation. Let me interview you about the Hugo noms you read and your takes thereon.
I guess I'll go first:
I liked The River Has Roots a lot. I'm shocked to discover it's El-Mohtar's first solo long-form fiction -- her voice has, to my ear, such assurance, both here and in This is How You Lose the Time War. She knows what she wants to do with this story and she does it, piece by piece. For such a small book, the story feels spacious. It's economical but doesn't feel rushed or compressed to me. I would have liked to know a little more about how she was imagining the phenomenon of grammar. I enjoyed the chicken.
Now you! (If you want.) -- Any Hugo short lister is fair game, whether I have read it or not.
§rf§
Daily Check-In
May. 6th, 2026 06:02 pmstarwatcher posting in fandom_checkinThis is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Wednesday May 06, to midnight on Thursday, May 07. (8pm Eastern Time).
Poll #34571 Daily Check-in
This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 25
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 25
How are you doing?
I am OK.
15 (60.0%)
I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
10 (40.0%)
I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)
How many other humans live with you?
I am living single.
11 (44.0%)
One other person.
9 (36.0%)
More than one other person.
5 (20.0%)
Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
dentist: crown
May. 6th, 2026 06:30 pmredbirdI went to the dentist this afternoon, and they did some uncomfortable things as part of creating a new/replacement crown for one of my teeth (which had cavities under the old crown). I currently have a temporary crown, and will be getting the permanent replacement in three weeks; it will be ready sooner, but that's the next available appointment.
I was pleased to see that my Lyft driver, the dentist, and the dental assistant were all masked when I first saw them. I told the driver it was nice to see other people masking, and I tipped extra because of it.
When I checked in, the receptionist told me there would be a $750 copay. I told her that I had been told that the crown was fully covered, and asked her to check. A few minutes later, she confirmed that I wouldn't have to pay anything. I do not understand dental insurance, including this dental insurance, which is an add-on to my Medicare Advantage plan; I would have paid the $750 if I had to, but I'm glad I don't.
I'd been planning to stop and visit some lilac bushes on the way home, but it was raining, which made that less appealing, so I didn't. I did stop at Lizzy's on the way home, and now have a total of five unlabeled pints of ice cream: three today, because a broken freezer meant I had to get the clerk to hand-scoop the ice cream, plus the two from Tosci's. However, I have blank sticky adhesive labels, which should make this easy.
I was pleased to see that my Lyft driver, the dentist, and the dental assistant were all masked when I first saw them. I told the driver it was nice to see other people masking, and I tipped extra because of it.
When I checked in, the receptionist told me there would be a $750 copay. I told her that I had been told that the crown was fully covered, and asked her to check. A few minutes later, she confirmed that I wouldn't have to pay anything. I do not understand dental insurance, including this dental insurance, which is an add-on to my Medicare Advantage plan; I would have paid the $750 if I had to, but I'm glad I don't.
I'd been planning to stop and visit some lilac bushes on the way home, but it was raining, which made that less appealing, so I didn't. I did stop at Lizzy's on the way home, and now have a total of five unlabeled pints of ice cream: three today, because a broken freezer meant I had to get the clerk to hand-scoop the ice cream, plus the two from Tosci's. However, I have blank sticky adhesive labels, which should make this easy.
some good things
May. 6th, 2026 11:00 pmkaberettOne: I have spent much of the day indulging the desire to Quietly Hyperfocus On Game and it has been a very relaxing autism to have.
Two: I have finished the questionable Ryvita we... somehow... came into possession of (I apparently object to things that are not salt & vinegar extruded potato twirls containing potassium chloride) and can now merrily go back to overpriced high protein crackers until such time as I get around to buying vital wheat gluten with which to make my own.
Three: two loaves of bread (because I strained a Lot of whey off the most recent batch of yoghurt), which are a slightly silly set of shapes but also extremely aesthetic. I am very much looking forward to extravagant breakfast featuring avocado and also scrambled egg. (New oven needs less time to do them than old one; new oven also would ideally get them rotated halfway through baking if I want them done evenly. I am trying to work out what the best way to freeze the second loaf is...)
Four: Adam brought me home British strawberries from the supermarket, all with their petals still attached.
Five: new Murderbot purchased. (When I will get around to reading it is another question, but the possibility exists!)
(no subject)
May. 6th, 2026 02:06 pmcupcake_gothDay two of horrible migraine, now with the exciting new symptom of sensitivity to noise. Whee?
This comes with a side of anxiety, because I don’t trust HR or upper management anymore. My manager is great, but she’s not the one with ultimate power over things. If I’m okay tomorrow, I’m going to have to work late to hit some deadlines.
—-
In happier news, the Florence + the Machine concert is next week! Which means it’s time to figure out an outfit! Right now I have no idea, but it’s something to think about while I’m languishing on the couch.