Bleach fic
Jul. 7th, 2025 08:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thawreckaPiercing Moment (697 words) by thawrecka
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Bleach (Anime & Manga)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Abarai Renji/Kuchiki Rukia
Characters: Abarai Renji, Kuchiki Rukia, Ayasegawa Yumichika
Additional Tags: Piercings
Summary:
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Bleach (Anime & Manga)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Abarai Renji/Kuchiki Rukia
Characters: Abarai Renji, Kuchiki Rukia, Ayasegawa Yumichika
Additional Tags: Piercings
Summary:
Rukia and Renji have a moment over an ear piercing. Yumichika is also there.
(no subject)
Jul. 7th, 2025 08:16 pmthawreckaI got to the end of the sword beasts filler arc of the Bleach anime. I was not so hot on the Zanpakutou Unknown Tales arc, but I can see why the Beast Swords arc is more highly regarded. It was fun and had a lot of heart. My favourite was probably the episode where Hisagi's sword had to take care of a baby, but there was a lot of good stuff. And back on to the actual plot of Ichigo vs Ulquiorra next episode.
I'm well into the last arc with my reread of Bleach. It really is messy. I think the fullbring stuff improved on reread, but this arc is actually less enjoyable on reread. It's so messy, and the overstuffed group of villain characters curbstomping the shinigami is not exciting, and idgaf about squad zero, and Yhwach is a boring villain. The Unohana stuff is so much worse, too; before her fight with Zaraki I thought maybe her clear and obvious grief for the captain general would make me buy the whole thing more, but I really don't.
But at the same time, there is still that stuff I love - Ikkaku and Yumichika running through the rubble, trying not to get blown up; Yumichika nearly saying the true name of his sword in desperation before he gets knocked out; Shiba Ganju showing up on his hog to get that just like old times feeling; Byakuya helping Rukia de-freeze after her fight; Renji increasing the amount of leopard print in his outfit.
I'm well into the last arc with my reread of Bleach. It really is messy. I think the fullbring stuff improved on reread, but this arc is actually less enjoyable on reread. It's so messy, and the overstuffed group of villain characters curbstomping the shinigami is not exciting, and idgaf about squad zero, and Yhwach is a boring villain. The Unohana stuff is so much worse, too; before her fight with Zaraki I thought maybe her clear and obvious grief for the captain general would make me buy the whole thing more, but I really don't.
But at the same time, there is still that stuff I love - Ikkaku and Yumichika running through the rubble, trying not to get blown up; Yumichika nearly saying the true name of his sword in desperation before he gets knocked out; Shiba Ganju showing up on his hog to get that just like old times feeling; Byakuya helping Rukia de-freeze after her fight; Renji increasing the amount of leopard print in his outfit.
(no subject)
Jul. 7th, 2025 01:15 pmthawreckaDinner Conversation (549 words) by thawrecka
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (TV 2022)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Disa (The Rings of Power)/Durin IV (Tolkien)/Elrond Peredhel
Characters: Disa (The Rings of Power), Durin IV (Tolkien), Elrond Peredhel
Summary:
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (TV 2022)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Disa (The Rings of Power)/Durin IV (Tolkien)/Elrond Peredhel
Characters: Disa (The Rings of Power), Durin IV (Tolkien), Elrond Peredhel
Summary:
Disa has an idea. Durin and Elrond can only follow.
Weekly proof of life: mainly media (shocking everyone)
Jul. 6th, 2025 11:02 amumadoshiscruloose and I did make it to the little farmers' market down the road for its opening day of the season, and even managed to get there earlier than later! (I think it's open from 8 to 1, and we probably were there...a bit after 10?)We made it home with two quarts of strawberries and one of cherries, new potatoes, a dozen eggs, and boneless chicken thighs, plus a bee balm for the garden, which we quickly tucked into a fairly open space in our little garden bed yesterday evening. (What was there before? UNKNOWN. Will I manage to reconstruct it from old posts or something? Also unknown. But hey, a plant!)
Reading: I finished Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072 (M.E. O'Brien and Eman Abdelhadi), which was fantastic. On the fiction front, I followed it up with Tamsyn Muir's novella Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower (not really my thing--I continue to rarely bond with novellas, I guess--but interestingly done), Sacha Lamb's When the Angels Left the Old Country (marvelous), and Sofia Samatar's The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain (again, didn't really bond emotionally, but it executed what it was doing beautifully).
Non-fiction: David Chang and Priya Krishna's Cooking at Home: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Recipes (And Love My Microwave), which is, like...primarily actually a David Chang book that Priya Krishna did a ton of heavy-lifting assisting on (which may be very normal for co-written cookbooks, but in this case she was interjecting and clarifying in her own voice as well as doing a fair bit of the actual writing in his voice, and it was all very transparent that it was being done that way, but also a little odd to read). I think I bought this as a sale ebook before hearing that Chang (the Momofuku guy) is something of an asshole, but then when I was reading it, it felt really promising as a book that might be genuinely useful for me (and even by cookbook standards, its ebook is terribly formatted), so I was pleasantly surprised to readily find a used half-price hard copy available on line, which is winging its way to me now. I've also made sure that Krishna's own Indian-Ish: Recipes and Antics from a Modern American Family is now on the wishlist where I keep an eye out for ebook sales.
And now I'm reading An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler, which is a cookbook mostly in the form of essays on cooking as a thoughtful/mindful practice.
Watching: One more Murderbot episode to go in this season, and oh, I hope we get a second one. I'm going to miss this little show.
We finished watching the second season of Kingdom (the historical zombies k-drama), which I found very satisfying. The ending very much sets up a subsequent season, and there's a movie out that fills in the backstory of the person/people we glimpse at the end of season 2 who would presumably be extremely central in any further season, but I don't think we feel inspired to watch said backstory movie unless a third season of the show is ever announced and it becomes relevant in that way.
Sunshine Revival Challenge #2
Jul. 5th, 2025 04:06 pmpauraque![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
sunshine_revival's next challenge is:Tunnel of Love
Journaling: The romance of summer! What do you love? Write about anything you feel sentimental about or that gets your heart pumping.
Creative: Write a love poem to anyone or anything you like.
This is a topic I've been thinking about a lot lately. As an aro-ace person growing up in a time before we really had labels for those things (and, frankly, even now when some people still just don't get it), I've had a lot of experiences of being told that the way I loved people was wrong or not good enough. I'm... well, I was about to say I'm lucky to have people in my life now who don't see my love as lesser because it isn't romantic and never will be, and that is true, but also I have worked damn hard to accept myself as I am and to put energy into relationships with people who get me. So it's part luck, part skill. :P
I recently got a formal diagnosis of being on the autism spectrum. (I promise this relates.) This was something I had suspected for a long time, but having it confirmed has led me to take stock of a lot of past experiences and shine a different light on them. I've always had intense "special interests," but early on in life I learned to downplay them because of other people's disapproval. I think I am a much more... passionate person than others might suspect? I've only been able to let it show a little in fannish spaces where it's more accepted to fall in love with a fandom, or become infatuated with a character, or be swept off your feet by a storyline. Those aren't metaphors, it's really what it feels like, and I feel that way about a lot of things!
When I was a kid one of my special interests was ancient Egypt. I remember flipping through history books and feeling a physical level of joy and contentment as I pored over photos of pyramids and papyri, because I just loved loved loved what I was seeing so much. When the prompt asks about what gets my heart pumping, I think of things like that. But I learned to hide that part of myself because people didn't get it. I want to work on changing this. I know that kind of love is still there and I can still tap into it, and I want a future for myself where I'm proud that it's a part of me. That feels far away right now, but there was also a time when being proud of being aro-ace felt very far away, so I think there's cause for hope.
What I'm Reading: Ew, It's Beautiful: A False Knees Comic Collection by Joshua Barkman
Jul. 4th, 2025 04:20 pmdelphi✓ kingstoken's 2025 Book Bingo: Non-Human POV
(I checked this square off my bingo card last time, but this new release arrived with perfect timing, so I'm doubling up.)
Ew, It's Beautiful is the newest collection of cartoonist Joshua Barkman's webcomic False Knees. It contains around 120 short comics, the majority of which were new to me, separated into sections for winter, spring, summer, and fall based on their setting.
The stars of False Knees are usually birds, but there are some cats, insects, and at least a couple of beavers in the mix here. Barkman's art is legitimately beautiful, with a naturalist's specificity and a knack for combining human expressions with realistic animal features, and his writing captures the universal experience of being a small creature in an unfathomably big world. It's full of absurd humour, occasional moments of awe, and recurring bits about the creative process, self-image, and the way friends or family can be on entirely different wavelengths. The comic is where I got my current default icon from, and it almost never fails to bring me a little joy or give me something to appreciate.
( 3 Comics )
kingstoken's 2025 Book Bingo: Non-Human POV(I checked this square off my bingo card last time, but this new release arrived with perfect timing, so I'm doubling up.)
Ew, It's Beautiful is the newest collection of cartoonist Joshua Barkman's webcomic False Knees. It contains around 120 short comics, the majority of which were new to me, separated into sections for winter, spring, summer, and fall based on their setting.
The stars of False Knees are usually birds, but there are some cats, insects, and at least a couple of beavers in the mix here. Barkman's art is legitimately beautiful, with a naturalist's specificity and a knack for combining human expressions with realistic animal features, and his writing captures the universal experience of being a small creature in an unfathomably big world. It's full of absurd humour, occasional moments of awe, and recurring bits about the creative process, self-image, and the way friends or family can be on entirely different wavelengths. The comic is where I got my current default icon from, and it almost never fails to bring me a little joy or give me something to appreciate.
( 3 Comics )
Idle Friday post that turned out to be half about Pokemon Go
Jul. 4th, 2025 03:54 pmumadoshiAt the start of the month I entertained the fleeting thought of trying to post every day in July, especially with sunshine_revival (in which I have in no way participated) going on, but. Well. *gestures at current date* And as we all know, something-something-only-perfect-results-matter, etc. etc. etc.
But here. It's Friday. The world is terrifying, but at least for this moment the sun is out. I spent most of my workday in a style guide meeting, which was genuinely pretty fun; tonight we're seeing Ginny and Kas because this week it's better for them than our usual Saturday hangout.
Tomorrow the (very) wee farmers' market that's only a few blocks away is getting underway for the season. I have ambitions of actually rolling out of bed and walking over in hopes of strawberries, even though tomorrow and Sunday are also Eevee community day in Pokemon Go, so I'm also hoping to leave the house those afternoons. Leaving the house twice in one day is not exactly a thing that happens often, and as a result, the prospect of it is exhausting. ^^; But here's hoping!
There's been zero doubt for a long time now that my only actual investment in Pokemon Go is the pursuit of shinies, and community days are the best chance to get shinies of a given critter, and Eevee, see, has EIGHT possible evolutions, so if there's any faint hope of ever having a full set of shinies of those, well, it's this weekend.
(I can't remember if I've said here that this is a crystalized perfect demonstration of why it's really, really good that I don't gamble. I'm usually pleased when I catch a new-to-me Pokemon, but it's pretty minor. But rather than setting the game aside, since it mostly hasn't resulted in me actually getting outside and walking much more than I had been, the hope of catching a shiny critter keeps me opening it back up. Nobody get me into slot machines, okay? [That sounds facetious, but I mean it very seriously.])
That's all I've got right now. Stay well, friends.
sunshine_revival (in which I have in no way participated) going on, but. Well. *gestures at current date* And as we all know, something-something-only-perfect-results-matter, etc. etc. etc.But here. It's Friday. The world is terrifying, but at least for this moment the sun is out. I spent most of my workday in a style guide meeting, which was genuinely pretty fun; tonight we're seeing Ginny and Kas because this week it's better for them than our usual Saturday hangout.
Tomorrow the (very) wee farmers' market that's only a few blocks away is getting underway for the season. I have ambitions of actually rolling out of bed and walking over in hopes of strawberries, even though tomorrow and Sunday are also Eevee community day in Pokemon Go, so I'm also hoping to leave the house those afternoons. Leaving the house twice in one day is not exactly a thing that happens often, and as a result, the prospect of it is exhausting. ^^; But here's hoping!
There's been zero doubt for a long time now that my only actual investment in Pokemon Go is the pursuit of shinies, and community days are the best chance to get shinies of a given critter, and Eevee, see, has EIGHT possible evolutions, so if there's any faint hope of ever having a full set of shinies of those, well, it's this weekend.
(I can't remember if I've said here that this is a crystalized perfect demonstration of why it's really, really good that I don't gamble. I'm usually pleased when I catch a new-to-me Pokemon, but it's pretty minor. But rather than setting the game aside, since it mostly hasn't resulted in me actually getting outside and walking much more than I had been, the hope of catching a shiny critter keeps me opening it back up. Nobody get me into slot machines, okay? [That sounds facetious, but I mean it very seriously.])
That's all I've got right now. Stay well, friends.
Arrog (2020)
Jul. 4th, 2025 09:35 ampauraqueThis short narrative puzzle game follows a man from his death, through a spiritual dream realm, and into acceptance and new life. It wasn't part of the Latin American Games Showcase, but I indirectly found it through there; the developers Hermanos Magia are based in Peru.
I loved the hand-drawn art style and the symbolic imagery, interweaving the natural and human worlds. It's like an interactive experimental short film. The puzzles are mostly classic types (Simon, Pipe Dream, etc.) sometimes slightly obscured by the artistic presentation. You could say interpreting the imagery is a kind of bonus puzzle. The challenge is minimal, just enough to keep you engaged in the soul's journey. There are no instructions but they're not needed; whenever you don't know what to do, clicking around will reveal something in a moment, and what it reveals may surprise and delight you.
I found the game really lovely and heartfelt, though it is very short. They do say up front that it's a "30 minute experience," so no shade at all, I just enjoyed it so much I wished it had been a little longer!
Arrog is available on PC (currently on sale at $1.49 USD), Android (currently on sale at $0.60 USD), iOS and PlayStation ($2.99 USD), and on Switch ($3.99 USD).
I loved the hand-drawn art style and the symbolic imagery, interweaving the natural and human worlds. It's like an interactive experimental short film. The puzzles are mostly classic types (Simon, Pipe Dream, etc.) sometimes slightly obscured by the artistic presentation. You could say interpreting the imagery is a kind of bonus puzzle. The challenge is minimal, just enough to keep you engaged in the soul's journey. There are no instructions but they're not needed; whenever you don't know what to do, clicking around will reveal something in a moment, and what it reveals may surprise and delight you.
I found the game really lovely and heartfelt, though it is very short. They do say up front that it's a "30 minute experience," so no shade at all, I just enjoyed it so much I wished it had been a little longer!
Arrog is available on PC (currently on sale at $1.49 USD), Android (currently on sale at $0.60 USD), iOS and PlayStation ($2.99 USD), and on Switch ($3.99 USD).
wednesday reads and things
Jul. 2nd, 2025 06:17 pmisisWhat I've recently finished reading:
Lamentation by C.J. Sansom, the 6th Shardlake novel. This is all about the heresy hunts in the last few years before Henry VIII's death - one faction wanted to go back towards Catholicism, one wanted a radical re-imagining of religion and social structures, and if you wanted to stay in the regime's good graces, you walked the narrow path of "the King is the divinely ordained leader of the Church, and whatever he says goes." Warning for historical burning of heretics, plus canon-typical violence; also for weird religion and contentious legal cases. Matthew Shardlake still has a crush on the queen (Katherine Parr).
What I'm reading now:
My hold on Katherine Addison's The Tomb of Dragons came in, so that. Just barely started.
What I recently finished watching:
American Primeval, which, huh, I've never before encountered media in which the Mormons are the bad guys. (This is not a spoiler. It's pretty clear from the get-go, but it gets more pointed and cartoon-villainy toward the end.) Definitely violent and gory, though also it felt very clearly written to Tug The Heart Strings (and then, often, deliberately kill the character it's just tried to make you care about) at which at least for me it failed to do. I liked Abish, Two Moons, and Captain Edwin Dellinger, and James Bridger amused the hell out of me, but - I mostly enjoyed it, but I don't feel it was superlative. I got tired of the filter to wash out colors so it looked almost old-photo sepia.
I did enjoy the historical setting of the Mormon War; as I mentioned last time, I researched it for my Yuletide story, and I think it's just an interesting time, the settlement/colonization of western North America.
What I'm about to start watching:
Murderbot! We always wait until enough episodes are out that we can watch ~every other day and not have to wait.
What I'm playing now:
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, which was recommended to me as a "spooky atmospheric puzzle game", and I'm enjoying it a lot. You play as a mysterious woman who has come to a mysterious hotel full of locked doors in what might be Germany in 1963, at the request of a mysterious man for reasons of ??? I told my brother about it because it's cheap in the summer sale at Steam, and he decided it sounded good so he is playing it now, a bit behind my progress but because of the nonlinearity he's ahead of me in some things. We're trying to give each other elliptical hints when needed.
Lamentation by C.J. Sansom, the 6th Shardlake novel. This is all about the heresy hunts in the last few years before Henry VIII's death - one faction wanted to go back towards Catholicism, one wanted a radical re-imagining of religion and social structures, and if you wanted to stay in the regime's good graces, you walked the narrow path of "the King is the divinely ordained leader of the Church, and whatever he says goes." Warning for historical burning of heretics, plus canon-typical violence; also for weird religion and contentious legal cases. Matthew Shardlake still has a crush on the queen (Katherine Parr).
What I'm reading now:
My hold on Katherine Addison's The Tomb of Dragons came in, so that. Just barely started.
What I recently finished watching:
American Primeval, which, huh, I've never before encountered media in which the Mormons are the bad guys. (This is not a spoiler. It's pretty clear from the get-go, but it gets more pointed and cartoon-villainy toward the end.) Definitely violent and gory, though also it felt very clearly written to Tug The Heart Strings (and then, often, deliberately kill the character it's just tried to make you care about) at which at least for me it failed to do. I liked Abish, Two Moons, and Captain Edwin Dellinger, and James Bridger amused the hell out of me, but - I mostly enjoyed it, but I don't feel it was superlative. I got tired of the filter to wash out colors so it looked almost old-photo sepia.
I did enjoy the historical setting of the Mormon War; as I mentioned last time, I researched it for my Yuletide story, and I think it's just an interesting time, the settlement/colonization of western North America.
What I'm about to start watching:
Murderbot! We always wait until enough episodes are out that we can watch ~every other day and not have to wait.
What I'm playing now:
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, which was recommended to me as a "spooky atmospheric puzzle game", and I'm enjoying it a lot. You play as a mysterious woman who has come to a mysterious hotel full of locked doors in what might be Germany in 1963, at the request of a mysterious man for reasons of ??? I told my brother about it because it's cheap in the summer sale at Steam, and he decided it sounded good so he is playing it now, a bit behind my progress but because of the nonlinearity he's ahead of me in some things. We're trying to give each other elliptical hints when needed.
The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin (1972)
Jul. 2nd, 2025 12:21 pmpauraqueMany years have passed since The Tombs of Atuan, and Ged is now Archmage of Roke, the highest magical authority of Earthsea. One day the young prince of Enlad arrives with ill tidings: outside the safety of Roke's impenetrable enchantments, magic is disappearing from the world. Spells and songs are forgotten and the people are falling into despair. Ged and Prince Arren set out to find the cause, a quest that will lead them to realize their own respective destinies.
Even though I have read this book many times, I still find it almost shockingly good. Sometimes when reading it I have a wild urge to shake it and demand how?! how are you so good?? But that might be a little weird so I try to restrain myself.
It's a short book, but well-paced, and I think it feels longer than it is. It is a book where not that much actually "happens" in terms of plot events, and the main things that do happen are signposted fairly early on, so they're not surprises and they're not meant to be. The characters spend a lot of time traveling over sea and land and having thoughtful conversations about the nature of life, death, power, and what they are doing; the book is content to sit with them and listen. The beauty of the language and the depth of what's discussed make it a wonderful book to sink into and feel that there is space to think.
( cut for vaguely spoilery discussion that assumes you've read the book )
This was supposed to be the final book of the series, and it was 18 years before Le Guin added book four. If I stick to my planned re-read schedule, it's going to be just about a year until I get to Tehanu. It is tempting to skip ahead! But part of why I'm doing this chronologically is that I want to look at Le Guin's development as a writer over time and how she went from being the author who wrote A Wizard of Earthsea to being the author who wrote Tehanu. We've got a ways to go yet.
Even though I have read this book many times, I still find it almost shockingly good. Sometimes when reading it I have a wild urge to shake it and demand how?! how are you so good?? But that might be a little weird so I try to restrain myself.
It's a short book, but well-paced, and I think it feels longer than it is. It is a book where not that much actually "happens" in terms of plot events, and the main things that do happen are signposted fairly early on, so they're not surprises and they're not meant to be. The characters spend a lot of time traveling over sea and land and having thoughtful conversations about the nature of life, death, power, and what they are doing; the book is content to sit with them and listen. The beauty of the language and the depth of what's discussed make it a wonderful book to sink into and feel that there is space to think.
( cut for vaguely spoilery discussion that assumes you've read the book )
This was supposed to be the final book of the series, and it was 18 years before Le Guin added book four. If I stick to my planned re-read schedule, it's going to be just about a year until I get to Tehanu. It is tempting to skip ahead! But part of why I'm doing this chronologically is that I want to look at Le Guin's development as a writer over time and how she went from being the author who wrote A Wizard of Earthsea to being the author who wrote Tehanu. We've got a ways to go yet.
(no subject)
Jul. 2nd, 2025 03:45 pmthawreckaI've now watched through episode 249 of Bleach and am still in the depths of the sword filler zone. Emo villain isn't super exciting no matter how much he bleeds from the eyes, and overall I'm finding it a mixed bag. There's a lot that I just find kind of unconvincing about the premise. But there are upsides: the Hitsugaya episode about reconnecting with his sword and reminding it of a home they found is great, though to be fair most of that actually comes from the manga flashback about him meeting Matsumoto; I also thought it was an interesting choice for the anime to explicitly mark Kenpachi and Yumichika as very similar. Which I agree with! They have a lot in common, but their similarities aren't often drawn out (in canon or in fandom, tbh). I also like the continuing Matsumoto and Hinamori interactions, but the stuff with their zanpakutou has diminishing returns.
(I've also been fully immersed in rereading the series, and one of the things that strikes me about the early volumes of the Viz translation is how visible to me now is the youth slang that was used to translate it at the time, in a way it wasn't visible and obvious to me at the time. Then it was just how people spoke, but now it really sticks out.)
(I've also been fully immersed in rereading the series, and one of the things that strikes me about the early volumes of the Viz translation is how visible to me now is the youth slang that was used to translate it at the time, in a way it wasn't visible and obvious to me at the time. Then it was just how people spoke, but now it really sticks out.)
a loaded god complex, cock it and pull it
Jul. 1st, 2025 10:15 pmmusesfoolLast night I watched a cute movie on Netflix called Nonnas about that restaurant on Staten Island that hires grandmas as chefs. Lorraine Bracco, Brenda Vaccaro, Talia Shire, and Susan Sarandon play the nonnas, and Vince Vaughn plays the guy opening the restaurant. It's kind of a nice mellow detox from The Bear in terms of a bunch of Italian-Americans yelling at each other in a restaurant kitchen. *g* Plus a really horrifying rendition of capuzelle, which is a roasted (or baked?) sheep's head, which is one of those dishes I try to forget knowing about. Anyway, the restaurant still exists, and now it has grandmas from all different backgrounds who cook there (a review of the real restaurant).
Today was my Monday, and tomorrow is my Friday at work. I could get used to a 2 day work week!
*
Today was my Monday, and tomorrow is my Friday at work. I could get used to a 2 day work week!
*
Sunshine Revival Challenge #1
Jul. 1st, 2025 04:28 pmpauraqueThis year sunshine_revival is picking up where sunshine_challenge left off. Yay! Anyone is welcome to participate with no sign-ups or obligations. There's also a friending meme!
That said, hitting the second half of the year always sets off my fears that I'm not doing or accomplishing "enough," whatever that means, and this year I'm trying to counter that by actively choosing to do a little less this summer and give myself a break. Just because my job is less busy in the summer doesn't mean I need to fill up all the time with more activities! I've temporarily stepped back from a few things, which is really hard for me to do because it messes with the part of my anxiety that takes the form of Must Always Show Up And Never Miss Anything. But of course it is not actually possible to always show up for everything, and never resting leads to burnout. I know that, and I'm trying to be better about acting on it.
And on that note, I'm skipping the creative prompt. Not that the mods have in any way suggested that people should or must do both prompts! I'm just patting myself on the back for not trying to overachieve. :D
sunshine_revival is picking up where sunshine_challenge left off. Yay! Anyone is welcome to participate with no sign-ups or obligations. There's also a friending meme!Challenge #1In terms of journaling, the goals question is an easy one. This year I've been aiming for posting one book review and one game review per week. I already know what July's books will be and three of those reviews are already written. I like to have a backlog so weeks don't sneak up on me and become a scramble. By my standards I'm a little behind on games (only this week's post is ready to go! gasp!) and I'm not sure yet what the other games will be. I want to do some more retro titles since I've been leaning towards modern games lately. So one July goal is to play some old games and/or finish the ones I'm in the middle of. And to figure out what I'm reading/playing for August.
Journaling Prompt: Light up your journal with activity this month. Talk about your goals for July or for the second half of 2025.
Creative Prompt: Shine a light on your own creativity. Create anything you want (an image, an icon, a story, a poem, or a craft) and share it with your community.
That said, hitting the second half of the year always sets off my fears that I'm not doing or accomplishing "enough," whatever that means, and this year I'm trying to counter that by actively choosing to do a little less this summer and give myself a break. Just because my job is less busy in the summer doesn't mean I need to fill up all the time with more activities! I've temporarily stepped back from a few things, which is really hard for me to do because it messes with the part of my anxiety that takes the form of Must Always Show Up And Never Miss Anything. But of course it is not actually possible to always show up for everything, and never resting leads to burnout. I know that, and I'm trying to be better about acting on it.
And on that note, I'm skipping the creative prompt. Not that the mods have in any way suggested that people should or must do both prompts! I'm just patting myself on the back for not trying to overachieve. :D
REC: Day by Day by surprisepink (Our Flag Means Death, Stede Bonnet/Izzy Hands)
Jun. 30th, 2025 07:03 pmdelphiFandom 50 #22
Day by Day by![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
surprisepink
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Ship: Stede Bonnet/Izzy Hands
Medium: Fic
Length: 1361 words
Rating: Teen
My Bookmark Tags: slice of life, romance, humour, happy ending, established relationship, izzy lives, future, flirtation, compatibility, service
Summary: A typical raid for Captain Bonnet and his new first mate.
Excerpt:
This is everything I love about the idea of Stede and Izzy together on the Revenge, with Stede captaining and Izzy serving as his first mate. The way they rile each other up is perfect, tempered to just the right heat by a better understanding of each other. Izzy's ways of trying to serve Stede while keeping his ego in check are moving, and so is Stede's growing sense of what he's doing and what it means.
The story's funny, with a comedic moment early on that made me laugh out loud, and the sexual chemistry between Stede and Izzy absolutely crackles. This one really made my day.
Day by Day by
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Ship: Stede Bonnet/Izzy Hands
Medium: Fic
Length: 1361 words
Rating: Teen
My Bookmark Tags: slice of life, romance, humour, happy ending, established relationship, izzy lives, future, flirtation, compatibility, service
Summary: A typical raid for Captain Bonnet and his new first mate.
Excerpt:
“I’m getting the hang of this, if I do say so myself,” says Stede, cheerily.
“And you do.”
“What’s that, Izzy?’
“Say so yourself.” The man looks entirely unimpressed, but it does take a lot to impress Izzy. Stede has accepted it by this point, and knows not to take it personally. Knows, too, that if Izzy actually wasn’t at least a little happy with him, he could leave the ship just about anywhere and find another pirate crew to join. And yet, port after port, he doesn’t.
And all Stede had ever wanted was for people to stay.
This is everything I love about the idea of Stede and Izzy together on the Revenge, with Stede captaining and Izzy serving as his first mate. The way they rile each other up is perfect, tempered to just the right heat by a better understanding of each other. Izzy's ways of trying to serve Stede while keeping his ego in check are moving, and so is Stede's growing sense of what he's doing and what it means.
The story's funny, with a comedic moment early on that made me laugh out loud, and the sexual chemistry between Stede and Izzy absolutely crackles. This one really made my day.
waiting for the moment to turn
Jun. 30th, 2025 06:24 pmmusesfoolRecs update ahoy:
unfitforsociety has been updated for June 2025 with 15 recs in 3 fandoms:
✭ 13 Batfamily
✭ 2 Percy Jackson crossovers
✭
I'm not sure why I went looking for PJO crossovers but I'm kind of glad I did?
Anyway, I took today and Thursday off and I'm looking forward to this 2 day work week. *g*
✭
unfitforsociety has been updated for June 2025 with 15 recs in 3 fandoms:✭ 13 Batfamily
✭ 2 Percy Jackson crossovers
✭
I'm not sure why I went looking for PJO crossovers but I'm kind of glad I did?
Anyway, I took today and Thursday off and I'm looking forward to this 2 day work week. *g*
✭
pictures for June
Jun. 30th, 2025 04:07 pmpauraque
Ox-eye Daisy.
( more flowers [7 photos] )
( birds [3 photos] )
( bugs [4 photos] )
( miscellaneous [4 photos] )
Extra-long-weekend mishmash post: office furniture, phone keyboards, family, hair, lilacs...
Jun. 30th, 2025 02:30 pmumadoshiWith Canada Day rudely falling on a Tuesday, scruloose and I both booked today off. I haven't managed a whole lot of manga work yet, but hopefully between today (as soon as I finish this post) and tomorrow I'll get a reasonable amount done. While I'm doing at-my-desk things, scruloose is working on the next step(s) in getting a dedicated hose set up for our individual townhouse.
Last night we finally got around to switching the desk chairs in our offices, ( cut for the uninterested )
It occurred to me very late in the game that I might do better at spending non-work time at my desk (where, y'know, most of my writing used to happen) if I didn't hate my chair; I've been attributing the fact that I spend 95% of my evenings down in the living room these days to the fact that Sinha's such a lapcat, and that's definitely a huge factor, but...being able to sit comfortably in here would sure help.
Another pleasing tech-related development has to do with my phone keyboard. ( again, cut for the uninterested )
Speaking of things that feel so much better now, Saturday also involved Ginny chopping my hair off for me. I've been leaving it alone (other than the undercut) since whenever the last time we buzz cut it was, and maybe a month ago I found that it was long enough to easily ponytail. That was pleasantly novel for about a week, even though the front bits weren't long enough to get into the ponytail and quickly started to need clips or something when it got hot. By last weekend, I was very, very done with the whole thing, and this weekend Ginny was able to deal with it. Such a relief.
My younger nibling and their spouse of eight months or so stopped by a few days ago to pick up a few years' worth of my spare comp copies from Seven Seas. Only one box, since I've technically scaled back my freelance workload (and I think there's also a backlog of comps that I should be getting sooner rather than later), but a hefty box that was bulging a bit at the seams, so it's nice to have that all sent off to a new home. It was lovely to see my nibling and meet their spouse, however briefly. (They politely rolled with the "we're going to stand in our driveway and chat while masked and overheat more than a little" element.)
A final thing before calling this a post and getting to work: last weekendscruloose and I gave the Sensation lilac a long-overdue aggressive pruning (and it should probably get the same amount cut out of it in a year). The poor thing was all spindly limbs and mostly-high-up blooms, so hopefully this will help it for next year.( But what to do with the mutant hybrid? )
scruloose and I both booked today off. I haven't managed a whole lot of manga work yet, but hopefully between today (as soon as I finish this post) and tomorrow I'll get a reasonable amount done. While I'm doing at-my-desk things, scruloose is working on the next step(s) in getting a dedicated hose set up for our individual townhouse.Last night we finally got around to switching the desk chairs in our offices, ( cut for the uninterested )
It occurred to me very late in the game that I might do better at spending non-work time at my desk (where, y'know, most of my writing used to happen) if I didn't hate my chair; I've been attributing the fact that I spend 95% of my evenings down in the living room these days to the fact that Sinha's such a lapcat, and that's definitely a huge factor, but...being able to sit comfortably in here would sure help.
Another pleasing tech-related development has to do with my phone keyboard. ( again, cut for the uninterested )
Speaking of things that feel so much better now, Saturday also involved Ginny chopping my hair off for me. I've been leaving it alone (other than the undercut) since whenever the last time we buzz cut it was, and maybe a month ago I found that it was long enough to easily ponytail. That was pleasantly novel for about a week, even though the front bits weren't long enough to get into the ponytail and quickly started to need clips or something when it got hot. By last weekend, I was very, very done with the whole thing, and this weekend Ginny was able to deal with it. Such a relief.
My younger nibling and their spouse of eight months or so stopped by a few days ago to pick up a few years' worth of my spare comp copies from Seven Seas. Only one box, since I've technically scaled back my freelance workload (and I think there's also a backlog of comps that I should be getting sooner rather than later), but a hefty box that was bulging a bit at the seams, so it's nice to have that all sent off to a new home. It was lovely to see my nibling and meet their spouse, however briefly. (They politely rolled with the "we're going to stand in our driveway and chat while masked and overheat more than a little" element.)
A final thing before calling this a post and getting to work: last weekend
scruloose and I gave the Sensation lilac a long-overdue aggressive pruning (and it should probably get the same amount cut out of it in a year). The poor thing was all spindly limbs and mostly-high-up blooms, so hopefully this will help it for next year.( But what to do with the mutant hybrid? )Two weeks' worth of reading
Jun. 29th, 2025 03:16 pmumadoshiA weekend post never happened last weekend, but here's what I'm been reading over the last couple of weeks. (Watching has been basically unchanged: we're up to date on Murderbot and continuing to slowly work through Leverage season 4.)
I finished reading Tchaikovsky's Service Model, which I thought was...fine? It was interesting enough, but if it had been my first exposure to his work it wouldn't have made me rush out and try more right away.
I read and liked Margaret Owen's Little Thieves in April, and Jenny Hamilton on Bluesky was recently talking about the trilogy as a whole (and this reminds me that now I can go read her "How to Break a Heart: Subverting the Hero’s Breakup Trope"), so when I decided a week or so ago to finally burn through all of my Kobo points and clear at least a bit of my wishlist, I included the second book, Painted Devils, which I enjoyed enough to want to read the third (Holy Terrors) right away. I try not to buy many ebooks at full price, though, given how many more I buy overall than I'm ever going to manage to read, and thankfully my library not only has it but had it available right away.
Consider that a recommendation, but beyond it I'm just going to quote the non-spoilery part of Jenny's essay that describes the series (and the essay then details how things stood at the end of book 2, so consider that the spoiler warning):
For a dramatic change of pace, I'm now reading Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072 by M.E. O'Brien and Eman Abdelhadi (also a with-points acquisition), which I keep wanting to file under non-fiction, although the title will clearly tell you that it's speculative fiction. (IIRC I learned about it fromskygiants' post.) Its fictional interviews build a distressingly plausible picture of global collapse through this decade and the couple to come, but also offer glimpses into how we could come out on the other side, if we're willing to largely raze and rebuild ~human society~ in a way that actually takes care of people. (The book came out in...2022?...so it in no way accounts for the most recent and current forms of the political hellscape.)
On the non-fiction side, I read Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen, a book of essays and corresponding recipes that I'd previously read maybe ten years ago. Colwin died in 1992 (I think I've got that right), and this book (and the follow-up, More Home Cooking) is a food-writing classic for good reason, although also very much of its place and time--very American, very '80s.
(The rest of my using-all-my-Kobo-points haul: The Hands of the Emperor, We Are All Completely Fine, Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower, All Under Heaven: Recipes from the 35 Cuisines of China, and Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World. Did this put a visible dent in my Kobo wishlist [which is a relatively curated list of books I keep an eye on for preorder purposes and sighting sales]? Yes. Has the dent since been filled in? Also yes.)
I finished reading Tchaikovsky's Service Model, which I thought was...fine? It was interesting enough, but if it had been my first exposure to his work it wouldn't have made me rush out and try more right away.
I read and liked Margaret Owen's Little Thieves in April, and Jenny Hamilton on Bluesky was recently talking about the trilogy as a whole (and this reminds me that now I can go read her "How to Break a Heart: Subverting the Hero’s Breakup Trope"), so when I decided a week or so ago to finally burn through all of my Kobo points and clear at least a bit of my wishlist, I included the second book, Painted Devils, which I enjoyed enough to want to read the third (Holy Terrors) right away. I try not to buy many ebooks at full price, though, given how many more I buy overall than I'm ever going to manage to read, and thankfully my library not only has it but had it available right away.
Consider that a recommendation, but beyond it I'm just going to quote the non-spoilery part of Jenny's essay that describes the series (and the essay then details how things stood at the end of book 2, so consider that the spoiler warning):
This year brought us Margaret Owen’s Holy Terrors. It’s the third in a trilogy about an angry, selfish girl named Vanja who made it through a lifetime of neglect and abuse with a crop of emotional and physical scars, a talent for picking pockets, the favor of the gods (sometimes), and a healthy hostility for rich people. Against both their better judgment, she falls in love with prefect Emeric Conrad, whom she variously describes as a “human civics primer,” an “accounting ledger made flesh,” and an “intolerable filing cabinet.”
(Here the author of this piece has been compelled to delete a ten thousand–word manifesto about the greatness of the Little Thieves series. If you like the TV show Leverage, or you enjoy digging your teeth into solid character development, or you just hate rich people, you should read it. The first book is Little Thieves. Thank me later.)
For a dramatic change of pace, I'm now reading Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072 by M.E. O'Brien and Eman Abdelhadi (also a with-points acquisition), which I keep wanting to file under non-fiction, although the title will clearly tell you that it's speculative fiction. (IIRC I learned about it from
skygiants' post.) Its fictional interviews build a distressingly plausible picture of global collapse through this decade and the couple to come, but also offer glimpses into how we could come out on the other side, if we're willing to largely raze and rebuild ~human society~ in a way that actually takes care of people. (The book came out in...2022?...so it in no way accounts for the most recent and current forms of the political hellscape.)On the non-fiction side, I read Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen, a book of essays and corresponding recipes that I'd previously read maybe ten years ago. Colwin died in 1992 (I think I've got that right), and this book (and the follow-up, More Home Cooking) is a food-writing classic for good reason, although also very much of its place and time--very American, very '80s.
(The rest of my using-all-my-Kobo-points haul: The Hands of the Emperor, We Are All Completely Fine, Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower, All Under Heaven: Recipes from the 35 Cuisines of China, and Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World. Did this put a visible dent in my Kobo wishlist [which is a relatively curated list of books I keep an eye on for preorder purposes and sighting sales]? Yes. Has the dent since been filled in? Also yes.)
(no subject)
Jun. 29th, 2025 06:20 pmthawreckaI got to episode 237 of Bleach and am now in the midst of filler again, sigh. Even during the parts adapting stuff from the manga, the anime team thought we needed two episodes of Omaeda. And adapting fake Karukura town stuff but not being able to show gore meant that when Matsumoto was gored and everyone was panicking they couldn't show that and it seemed a little silly, because there was no visible wound. But at the same time, the horrors of Ayon were otherwise well realised... I do love the complicated interactions between Matsumoto and Hinamori.
As far as the filler arc I'm in now. Mixed bag, tbh. I've long heard it's one of the better filler arcs, but being better than the Shunsuke Amagai arc isn't saying much. I had the bad taste to actually enjoy the Bount arc 🤣 though.
I have just finished rereading the early urban fantasy parts of Bleach and the Soul Society arc. They're so tightly written and have an energy that leaps off the page. There are certain things that don't hit the same way now that I know the twists, but that just means I admire the skill that goes into making it all come together. It's been said before that the problem with later Bleach is that it's overstuffed, and it's really not wrong. Soul Society arc is such a ride. I feel like I love different things every time. I was especially vibing Renji and Byakuya this time, but sometimes I'm most unhinged about the Chad stuff, or about Ishida, or the 11th div, or the Shibas, or Yoruichi and Soi Feng.... The "why didn't you take me with you" always gets me.
Honestly there's a lot of later stuff that felt like asspulls at the time, but if you reread this arc already knowing it seems fairly well supported, like Yachiru turning out to be Kenpachi's sword, or everything with Gin. Which like, don't get me wrong, plenty of stuff in later arcs is still obviously asspulls like everything KT did with Unohana. But there's a lot of things later on that I feel would have more impact as obvious character growth moments if it weren't so overstuffed with characters that you forget between chapters about such and such. There's so much cool stuff in the fake Karakura town arc, and a bunch of things that pay off later on, but there's so much time and plot and excess new characters between the things set up there and when a lot of them pay off that if you're not paying close attention to a specific character's arc you might not even notice it. Like when Iba lectures Ikkaku to grow the fuck up and get over your bullshit and try to win a fight, even if it means stabbing someone in the back, and the next time Ikkaku shows up in the Fullbring arc he's stabbing someone in the back. But there's so much crap between those points it's easy to miss there's actual character growth there.
There's some great more obvious character stuff I've always loved with Matsumoto, Hinamori, Yumichika and Kira in that arc. But then there's also old man Yama being super boring.
Even in Hueco Mundo I don't get why we spend so much time on Szayelapporo, but then I love the never ending Ulquiorra v Ichigo stuff. But the latter has a clear emotional component and the former is just mad scientist that is hard to kill. Szayelapporo takes forever to defeat, Renji & Ishida are stuck against him forever and then Mayuri shows up and it's like, okay, this guy is just in the way, why should I care?
Whereas with Ulquiorra v Ichigo, there's an obvious emotional issue as well. Which is that even though Ulquiorra literally has a hole where his heart should be, he's obviously fallen for Orihime, and she's there watching the fight so there's something at stake.
As far as the filler arc I'm in now. Mixed bag, tbh. I've long heard it's one of the better filler arcs, but being better than the Shunsuke Amagai arc isn't saying much. I had the bad taste to actually enjoy the Bount arc 🤣 though.
I have just finished rereading the early urban fantasy parts of Bleach and the Soul Society arc. They're so tightly written and have an energy that leaps off the page. There are certain things that don't hit the same way now that I know the twists, but that just means I admire the skill that goes into making it all come together. It's been said before that the problem with later Bleach is that it's overstuffed, and it's really not wrong. Soul Society arc is such a ride. I feel like I love different things every time. I was especially vibing Renji and Byakuya this time, but sometimes I'm most unhinged about the Chad stuff, or about Ishida, or the 11th div, or the Shibas, or Yoruichi and Soi Feng.... The "why didn't you take me with you" always gets me.
Honestly there's a lot of later stuff that felt like asspulls at the time, but if you reread this arc already knowing it seems fairly well supported, like Yachiru turning out to be Kenpachi's sword, or everything with Gin. Which like, don't get me wrong, plenty of stuff in later arcs is still obviously asspulls like everything KT did with Unohana. But there's a lot of things later on that I feel would have more impact as obvious character growth moments if it weren't so overstuffed with characters that you forget between chapters about such and such. There's so much cool stuff in the fake Karakura town arc, and a bunch of things that pay off later on, but there's so much time and plot and excess new characters between the things set up there and when a lot of them pay off that if you're not paying close attention to a specific character's arc you might not even notice it. Like when Iba lectures Ikkaku to grow the fuck up and get over your bullshit and try to win a fight, even if it means stabbing someone in the back, and the next time Ikkaku shows up in the Fullbring arc he's stabbing someone in the back. But there's so much crap between those points it's easy to miss there's actual character growth there.
There's some great more obvious character stuff I've always loved with Matsumoto, Hinamori, Yumichika and Kira in that arc. But then there's also old man Yama being super boring.
Even in Hueco Mundo I don't get why we spend so much time on Szayelapporo, but then I love the never ending Ulquiorra v Ichigo stuff. But the latter has a clear emotional component and the former is just mad scientist that is hard to kill. Szayelapporo takes forever to defeat, Renji & Ishida are stuck against him forever and then Mayuri shows up and it's like, okay, this guy is just in the way, why should I care?
Whereas with Ulquiorra v Ichigo, there's an obvious emotional issue as well. Which is that even though Ulquiorra literally has a hole where his heart should be, he's obviously fallen for Orihime, and she's there watching the fight so there's something at stake.
Get in the Car, Loser! (2021)
Jun. 28th, 2025 12:21 pmpauraqueConcluding Pride Month media, I played Get in the Car, Loser! which is a queer road trip fantasy RPG. The lead developer Christine Love is a trans woman, and I'm not sure if everyone who worked on the game is trans but it looks like it's at least a high proportion.
The story primarily focuses on Sam, an anxious goth trans girl who's studying magic in college. Her classmate Grace steals a mystical sword and then recruits Sam to be her party's healer on a quest to defeat the evil Machine Devil (who, disappointingly, isn't this guy). It's going to be a bit of a drive to the Machine Devil's lair, but fortunately Grace's nonbinary partner Valentin has a car, and also serves as the party's tank. The contemporary-fantasy worldbuilding is only lightly sketched but that's all that's needed; the quest to beat the Machine Devil just provides a framework for the characters to talk to each other, build connections, and grapple with their own insecurities and inner conflicts.
( Read more... )
Get in the Car, Loser! is normally $24.99 USD on Steam, but is currently on sale for $17.49 USD, so this would be a good time to pick it up if it sounds like your thing!
The story primarily focuses on Sam, an anxious goth trans girl who's studying magic in college. Her classmate Grace steals a mystical sword and then recruits Sam to be her party's healer on a quest to defeat the evil Machine Devil (who, disappointingly, isn't this guy). It's going to be a bit of a drive to the Machine Devil's lair, but fortunately Grace's nonbinary partner Valentin has a car, and also serves as the party's tank. The contemporary-fantasy worldbuilding is only lightly sketched but that's all that's needed; the quest to beat the Machine Devil just provides a framework for the characters to talk to each other, build connections, and grapple with their own insecurities and inner conflicts.
( Read more... )
Get in the Car, Loser! is normally $24.99 USD on Steam, but is currently on sale for $17.49 USD, so this would be a good time to pick it up if it sounds like your thing!
half an hour earlier tomorrow
Jun. 26th, 2025 10:30 pmmusesfoolTodd Zeile: Pete's been chasing breaking balls
My brain: don't go chasing breaking balls, stick to the sliders and the fastballs you're used to
*facepalm*
*
My brain: don't go chasing breaking balls, stick to the sliders and the fastballs you're used to
*facepalm*
*
