22 April 2025 @ 06:39 pm
The most recent commute audiobook was The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, of The Night Circus fame (although admittedly I have not read that one yet). This is a fantasy novel about Zachary, a young man swept into the drama of a secret underground society and the mysterious figures who surround it.
 
I finished this book on Sunday morning, catching the last 7 minutes of a whopping 19-hour runtime over breakfast, and since then I've settled into a relative disappointment. On paper, this book has so many things that should make it an ace in the hole for me: Book lovers! Cats! Secret magical societies! Queer characters! Women who are something Other taking control of their destinies! And yet, overall, this book just did not land for me.
 
As is a risk, I think, with all stories that are about the power of stories, The Starless Sea comes off a little pretentious and self-important. It is a book lauding the unmatched importance of books. I felt aware at various points throughout the book of how hard it was trying to appeal to people like me, who would enjoy the idea of a dark-paneled underground room with endless books and an on-demand kitchen, and this sense of pandering did take away from it at times.
 
However, it also does some interesting things with regards to what it is like to be the person in a story (such as the fate of Eleanor and Simon, once their part in the story is done) as well as the risks of valuing preservation over change and growth. Without giving too much away, there is a secret society in decline, and a woman so determined to prevent its downfall that she ends up causing significant harm to the organization she's trying to save because she is unwilling to accept that an end comes for all things. I enjoyed this theme and I felt like it was echoed well throughout the story, and in many ways it's easy to sympathize with her ultimate goals, if not her methods.
 
 

 
 
22 April 2025 @ 12:53 pm

Laptop-TV combo with DVDs on top and smartphone on the desk



What does representation in television mean to you? Do you find representation important? When did you feel represented in a TV show?
 
 
21 April 2025 @ 11:59 pm
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: Gen. Steve the Wraith, Original male character, John Sheppard
Rating: Mature
Length: 1801
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply. Second person POV
Creator Links: frostfire on AO3
Theme: Outsider POV, genfic

Summary: More issues, Steve's and others'.

Reccer's Notes: This is told from the POV of a young Marine, on guard outside Steve the Wraith's cell on Atlantis. He battles with the pressure Steve puts on his mind and senses, made worse by possible unresolved issues from his past. Then Sheppard visits and comprehensively distracts the Wraith, and things change. An interesting perspective and character study, and I liked the second person POV which made it more immediate, being inside the guy's thoughts. 

Fanwork Links: Predatory

 
 
Fandom: Chen Qing Ling, Mo Dao Zu Shi
Pairings/Characters: Gen; M/M (background Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian); Cloud Recesses Rabbits, Lan Yi, Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 432
Content Notes: Corporal Punishment (referenced); written in Russian; written for WTF Modao Zushi 2022 (fandom_Wei_Wuxian_and_Co).
Creator Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drama, Animal Death, Crack, fairy tale, Fluff, Rabbits, WTF | Winter Temporary Fandom Kombat 2022, WTF | Winter Temporary Fandom Kombat, Don't copy to another site
Creator Links: (AO3): [archiveofourown.org profile] kasmunaut
Theme: Outsider POV, Animals, Cultural Differences, Folklore & Fairytales

Summary: И кролики могут быть верными. (And rabbits can be true.)

Author’s Notes: АУ: дорамоверс, вансяни вынесли кроликов из пещеры. (AU: Dramaverse, Wangxian brought the rabbits out of the cave.)

Беты [archiveofourown.org profile] noface и mummi. (Betas [archiveofourown.org profile] noface and mummi.)

Reccer's Notes: The POV character of this Russian-language fic is one of Lan Yi’s white spiritual rabbits—who, taken into the sunlit green world, suddenly has to adjust to not only a custody transfer but an alien habitat and way of life. This story alludes to the fairytales of the Snow Maiden and the rabbit who saved the Buddha, so be prepared for a similar tale of self-sacrificial devotion.

(And yes, the author addresses the question of how the rabbits subsisted in the ice cave—something a lot of Chen Qing Ling viewers had been wondering.)

Fanwork Links: Песенка льда и пламени (A Song of Ice and Fire), by [archiveofourown.org profile] kasmunaut for WTF Modao Zushi 2022 (fandom_Wei_Wuxian_and_Co)
 
 
Current Mood: melancholy
 
 
Fandom: Daomu Biji
Pairings/Characters: F/M; Yin Xinyue/Zhang Qishan; Yin Xinyue, Zhang Qishan, Tanaka Ryoko (DMBJ Series), Wu Xie, Employee Da Wei (OC), Er Yue Hong, Zhang Qiling, Huo Xiangu, OC Narrator
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 2,028
Content Notes: No Archive Warnings Apply, monsters (see Creator Tags), canon-typical monstrous transformation, in-universe RPF, in-universe genderswitch fic
Creator Tags: Art, vintage, Digital Collage, Dubious Historical Research, Ghost Moths (DMBJ Series), Blood Zombies (DMBJ Series), Black Snake Zombies (DMBJ Series), Hei Feizi, Snakes, Hydra Cypress (DMBJ Series)
Creator Links: (AO3): [archiveofourown.org profile] Thimblerig; (Tumblr): [tumblr.com profile] thelaithlyworm
Theme: Outsider POV, Fanart, Historical Settings, In-Universe Lore, Research, Worldbuilding

Summary: So, yeah, I was rummaging through a box of photos that my gran had, and you'll never guess who was in some kind of official publicity still. Fo-ye! That guy was a looker.

I digitised it to share, and I've scrounged up a few more. I Am Engaging In History, so proud!


Author’s Notes:: // I futzed around with some screenshots and publicity stills to make them look 'vintage'. Not very deep, but hella fun.

// Images free to share, use, or remix, no credit required. (But if you do credit, please include the Pixabay source data as well.)

// Bon appetit.


Reccer's Notes: A 21st-century amateur history buff, rummaging through time-faded family scrapbooks, newspapers, magazines, and memorabilia, unearths a century’s wealth of photos, gossip, and pop culture about the great families of the Nine Gates (discovering in the process that, in Jess Nevins’ words, research is fractal.)

Fanwork Links: [ART] DMBJ Family Photos, by [personal profile] thimblerig.
 
 
19 April 2025 @ 11:34 am
Assortment of black and white speech bubbles

Welcome to the weekly roundup post! What are you watching this week? What are you excited about?
 
 
18 April 2025 @ 11:42 pm
Chancy by Louis L'Amour

Adventure in the Wild West.

Read more... )
 
 
18 April 2025 @ 05:28 pm
Book #7 from the "Women in Translation" rec list: Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah, translated from Korean by Deborah Smith.
 
Trying to accurately describe the plot of this book is an exercise in futility, so I'm not going to bother. All I can say is it centers around Ayami, a woman who is an actress, or maybe a poet, or possibly both, and is on her last day of work at an audio theater for the blind in Seoul.
 
This is a book I feel like I'd have to read at least one more time all the way through to be able to really discuss the themes and motifs at play. It's an incredibly cerebral novel that never gives up a clear answer about what's happening. What's real or not real changes from scene to scene. Is Ayami an orphan? Did she have a wealthy aunt? Is she the poet from Buha's youth? Is the director the bus driver? Who really got hit by the bus, and who was the murdered woman in the attic? Is Ayami Yeoni? The book leaves you to your own conclusions.
 
 
Read more... )
 
 
 
18 April 2025 @ 09:20 pm
Hi! I need some new comedic comfort watches and thought this was the place to ask. I enjoy Derry Girls and Kath & Kim and I'm looking for shows with a similar tone of humour. Preferably no laugh tracks. Movie recs are welcome too; I loved Spice World, American Fiction and Bottoms, for tonal reference.
 
 
Current Mood: hopeful
 
 
18 April 2025 @ 04:15 pm
Eureka! It’s a new series of Taskmaster! Your five volatile elements are Fatiha El-Ghorri, Jason Mantzoukas, Mathew Baynton, Rosie Ramsey and Stevie Martin - plus, of course, a compound of Daviesium and Horneium.
 
Thursday 1st May at 9pm on Channel 4 and 2nd May around the world on YouTube.
 
 
Fandom: History
Pairings/Characters: Gen; OCs
Rating: Teen and Up
Length: 2,055
Content Notes: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Supporting Character Deaths
Creator Links: (Tumblr): [tumblr.com profile] gallusrostromegalus; (Dreamwidth): [personal profile] gallusrostromegalus;
(Bluesky): [bsky.social profile] cryptidchicken
Theme: Outsider POV, Cultural Differences, Historical Settings, Tumblr Fic, Worldbuilding

Summary: A starving forager in the North Atlantic in the early 20th century is saved by the Heavens’ miraculous bounty.

Reccer's Notes:
I’m not gonna spoil this. Suffice to say that Gallusrostromegalus is a nature geek and a consummate storyteller with a twisted sense of humor, and every one of those attributes is on display here.

Fanwork Links: A Miracle In The Night, by [tumblr.com profile] gallusrostromegalus.
 
 
 
Fandom: The Old Guard
Pairings: None
Characters: Joe, OC
Rating: Gen
Length: 2,100 words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] watchdabirdie
Theme: Outsider POV, Family, Characters of color

Summary: There was a man in the park watching her. She had seen him before, exactly a year before. His clothing was different, and he wore a hat this time. But the dark brown of his curls was the same. The bittersweet smile framed with a well kept beard was the same. And his eyes held the same fondness in their dark depths. Najid was not scared of the man who watched her. For she knew it was not her those sad eyes lingered on. It was her son.

Reccer's Notes: Nostalgic and sweet, as Joe is cast as a small family's personal djinn. I can't say any more without spoiling it. Author recommends that you read "à la mémoire des pères" first (linked at top of story), but I think it works well without that, with the mystery unfolding slowly (but realization comes by the end).

Content Notes: None

Fanwork Links: On Sparrows Wings, by watchdabirdie at AO3
 
 
 
17 April 2025 @ 08:25 pm
 
Fandom: The Sentinel
Pairings: OC/OC
Characters: Blair Sandburg, OCs
Rating: Gen
Length: 3,400 words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] Dolimir
Theme: Outsider POV, Friendship, Pre-AO3 works

Summary: Blair, from a completely different set of eyes.

Reccer's Notes: This story is sweet, and gentle, and absolutely charming. It shows us how other people at the University -- specifically the secretary of the Anthro dept -- see Blair. (As might be expected, she adores him.) This story is a fave from many years ago; I hope you enjoy it.

Content Notes: None

Fanwork Links: Through Another's Eyes by Dolimir at AO3.
 
 
 
 
 
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: Gen. John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Radek Zelenka, Evan Lorne
Rating: Gen
Length: ~7000
Content Notes: no AO3-type warnings apply
Creator Links: Sholio on AO3, Sholio's website with more SGA ficalmost_clara on Dreamwidth
Theme: Outsider POV, Team as family, Friendship, Action/adventure

Summary: Radek struggles, sometimes, with the feeling that he's an outsider to the closeness that Sheppard's team share. Offworld rescue missions tend to put things in perspective, though.

Reccer's Notes: Written for the SGA Reversebang, this is an interesting story by Sholio about Radek observing Rodney's team, at first a little wistfully, but later deciding he's happier in the Science Department without those intense bonds and all they imply, especially after a dangerous rescue mission offworld. Excellent writing, and gorgeous art by almost_clara. 

Fanwork Links: Peripheral

 
 
16 April 2025 @ 09:10 am
Poll #32989 round 174 theme poll
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 106

Pick the next theme of fancake:

Angst with a Happy Ending
49 (46.2%)

Sunshine & Grumpy
32 (30.2%)

They Fight Crime!
25 (23.6%)

 
 
15 April 2025 @ 01:05 pm

Laptop-TV combo with DVDs on top and smartphone on the desk



It's easy to try out a lot of different shows nowadays, but maybe harder to decide what to stick with. What was the longest you ever watched a show before giving up on it?

Poll #32984 What was the longest you ever watched a show before giving up on it?
This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 35

The longest I watched was...

View Answers

Less than 1 episode
0 (0.0%)

1 episode
0 (0.0%)

2-3 episodes
3 (8.6%)

4-6 episodes
2 (5.7%)

7-12 episodes
0 (0.0%)

13-18 episodes
0 (0.0%)

19-24 episodes
1 (2.9%)

25-44 episodes
4 (11.4%)

45-66 episodes
4 (11.4%)

67-88 episodes
1 (2.9%)

89-111 episodes
3 (8.6%)

Over 111 episodes
17 (48.6%)

 
 
15 April 2025 @ 10:32 am
Under the Sweetwater Rim by Louis L'Amour

Adventure, danger, action in the Wild West.

Read more... )