This is a bundle of material for Scion 2E from Onyx Path Publishing, an RPG about people becoming gods which seems thematically somewhat like the Percy Jackson background. I don't think it has been in one of these bundles before.

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/ScionOrigin

This isn't a genre I particularly want to play with at present, but it looks like you get quite a lot for your money. Layout and design seem good, and the art avoids some common cliches although some of it does veer towards one uncanny valley or another.

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3223/

Depending what corners of the internet you hang out on, 'regular' may at times awkwardly coexist with 'sexy.'

https://xkcd.com/3223/

puddleshark

muninnhuginn

I don't often point out stuff I've read outside of the monthly list, but I found this article, I have stage four cancer – there will be no cure, but death isn’t necessarily imminent: this is how it feels to live in the long middle, resonated. (Apart from the faith as succour/loss of faith bit: lazy unbelief renders that moot). I find that invisibility of cancer as a chronic illness quite tough. The mismatch between apparent restored good health and the ongoing existence of treatment, testing, four-spoons-a-day energy is difficult to negotiate: there's a great desire to go along with folk's assumptions about one's wellness, to not remind folk of the ongoing situation. And that's tough for everyone, because once in a while the facts do have to be reiterated--and it's like breaking the bad news all over again.
Also, what is it with folk objecting to my belief in my own prognosis, as if accepting, living the maintenance treatment is something they can reject on my behalf? Fear, of course, but it's immensely annoying.
But, anyway, a better summation of how I am, where I'm at, than I could've done myself. And useful as I cosider whether to resign earlier in the year, rather than hold out to the end of the year and my 60th.

Current Mood: Seen

selenak

In the former, Jane sees herself as Alice to Sinatra's Luther, while in the later, Sinatra is informed it all comes down to Vader and Luke.

( Spoilers are saying hello to.... )

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: Munich

vivdunstan

Continuing my Peter Capaldi rewatch, and onto another I had very bad memories of. Overall I still found it a disappointing episode, but there was more that I liked this time. The large group of young schoolchildren seemed more palatable, and well-defined individuals, providing good material to watch, and complicating the experiences of the three main leads. Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor seemed to particularly thrive with young Maebh. And it was fun to see the two schoolteachers coping out of the classroom, as well as the challenges of their own relationship.

The first half or so of the story was solid for me, but things fell away after then. Too hand wavy, too vague explanations. I appreciate that a lot of the Steven Moffat era of Doctor Who has a fairytale quality and dreamlike nature. But I think Frank Cottrell-Boyce stretched this too far.

The environmental aspect was refreshing, but still too vaguely handled. And the ending was far, far too predictable for me.

I'd probably skip this on future rewatches, but am pleased that I enjoyed it more this time.

msilverstar

I really like Dreamwidth and Icons post, there's history, context and advice!

My (hobbit) feet icon gets a lot of use as my feet have been fucked up for 20 years

The guide to images is also incredibly helpful

vivdunstan

Continuing our slow rewatch of the newly remastered BBC Narnia TV stories from 1988-1990. Newly starting “The Silver Chair”. Looking forward to seeing Tom Baker again as Puddleglum. And Camilla Power as Jill is a fine young actress.

puddleshark

After last week's warm sunshine, everywhere is beginning to dry out at last. No excuse not to go walking in the fields and woods of North Dorset now...

When I tried to walk to Chetterwood from the north back in the autumn, it took me three separate attempts to find it. So today I thought I would set off westwards from Tarrant Monkton, not necessarily searching for Chetterwood, you understand, but if Chetterwood was in the mood to be found, somewhere along the bridleways, then that would be nice.

( In-between days )

muninnhuginn

February 2026

February recap so, so very late. Blame the exhaustion.

Read:

Shorts:

A Velvet Chair Anywhere but Home by Brianna Alers
The Shape of You by Dana Wall
The Heretic • by Jeff Gard

Non-fiction

So the Epstein scandal is about politics? Silly me for thinking it’s about the mass abuse of women and girls by Marina Hyde
The Dragon Caught in the Poem by Mari Ness
Carbon Dysphoria by Iris Meredith
Starlink Is Dropping From the Sky Again and Again. Scientists Warn Earth Is Already Feeling the Effects by Evelyn Hart
Craft on the Production Line by Kristie De Garis
How Generative and Agentic AI Shift Concern from Technical Debt to Cognitive Debt by Margaret Storey
The Cuddled Little Vice(Sandman) by Elizabeth Sandifer
Rupert Lowe’s challenge is real: Do we want a politics of care, or of hate? by Richard Murphy
The AI Climate Hoax: Behind the Curtain of How Big Tech Greenwashes Impacts by Ketan Joshi
Why AI writing is so generic, boring, and dangerous: Semantic ablation by Claudio Nastruzz

conuly

In which this teacher earnestly wants a word to substitute for "chink" in Midsummer Night's Dream, and one person suggests kink which doesn't mean the same thing.

And on the one hand, I'm sure they all have their hearts in the right place, but on the other hand, maybe they should collectively teach a different play instead. Shakespeare wrote plenty of comedies, just pick a different one off the shelf.

igenlode

I repotted what I think was a rose-campion ( Read more... )

( Roses )

( Chilli and tomato )

I think we have germination in the Gypsophila vaccaria, which makes four out of four for the brown-paper pots (though I was a little alarmed to hear it raining last night; the pots seem to have held together well, though, considering that they are just made out of two or three layers of paper bag). We definitely have germination in the purple assortment -- probably cornflowers.

I shredded the dried-up remains of the winter purslane, and did get some little reddish things that might possibly be seeds. ( Read more... )

ranunculus

Firefly is currently being let out on lush green grass for 1 1/2 hours twice a day. So far she isn't too fat...
This week she is in her white phase. I have a large pile of dirty brown hair to put into the compost.

Early Winter( pic )

ranunculus

Rode the Split Rock circle with Dave and Lisa this morning. Lily let me use Beau. Unlike Firefly, Beau poked along on our way out and had to be encouraged to step out all the time. Going home he was walking really fast. It was a nice ride. Lots of pretty spring scenery. Cows with little calves.
When we got back I switched to going over and working with the basket weaving ladies. This was our second go at clearing out and cutting back some willow. We have one small area pretty well cleared. It had a lot of blackberry in addition to the willow, much of it dead but still vicious with thorns. Most of the willow there is grey willow, I'm going to cut back some of the willow near the pond which should make good long willow shoots.
Finally got the last of the compost out of the uphill compost bin and refilled the bottom with manure from the corral. Firefly is undoubtedly grateful to have her corral clean. Now to fill up the bin with all the stuff that has piled up and is waiting for a chance to compost!

petra

Quartetto (146039 words) by Sixthlight
Chapters: 11/11
Fandom: due South
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski/Stella Kowalski/Ray Vecchio, Stella Kowalski/Ray Vecchio, Benton Fraser/Ray Vecchio, Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Ray Kowalski/Stella Kowalski, Benton Fraser & Stella Kowalski, Ray Kowalski & Ray Vecchio
Characters: Stella Kowalski (due South), Ray Vecchio, Benton Fraser, Ray Kowalski
Additional Tags: Polyamory, Slow Burn, Trauma Recovery, Queer Themes, Feminist Themes, Bisexuality, Female Protagonist, Second Chances, Post-Canon, Roman fleuve, Foursome - F/M/M/M
Summary:

So, men. Maybe Stella was over that.

*

This story digs deep into the situation implied in the phrase, "I swing both Rays," in that Stella always has, and so does Fraser. Eventually, after some lovely family tension and gloriously due South coincidences, they find their way to a dynamic sort of domestic peace, in defiance of all the canon's fear of limerence.

This was very, very good for my heart, with its rampant bisexuality and careful, thoughtful exploration of how these characters -- some of whom have solid reasons at the outset not to like each other very much -- find attraction, and joy, and above all banter. The banter is fucking golden. I love Fraser's voice, and this reflects it; I love RayK when he's flustered, and there is plenty to fluster him here; I love Vecchio when he is sharp and sweet and sardonic, and oh my heart.

And. Possibly most importantly, Stella. I have never spent much time thinking about her, but how I adore her in this piece: incisive, driven, sure of herself even when things are going completely bananas all around her, because women are the real straight men in due South, except when they're Frannie. (Who is also great here, don't get me wrong.) Stella's family works very well in their role in the narrative, both as foils of what her parents will tolerate (Francis!) and as what they thought Stella should be (ah, Jean, heartbreaking to get everything right). Stella with her view of reality that isn't quite the parareality of due South -- she may talk to Dief, but she doesn't entirely believe he understands her, nor that he talks back, despite the convictions of the people around her. She lives on a different wavelength than Fraser, and even RayV, as the quintessential Woman Who Got Away, but it is deeply satisfying that here, she doesn't get away, and instead, she gets everything she ever wanted.

Every single bowling reference made me make the :D face. Thank you, sixthlight, for saving Stella and Vecchio from the bad, bad canon, and instead delivering them to this much better situation.

Current Mood: oh my heart
Current Music: Across the great divide

ffutures

Just heard that Nicholas Brendon, who played Xander Harris on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, died on the 20th, apparently of natural causes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Brendon

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/nicholas-brendon-dead-buffy-vampire-slayer-b2943051.html

To me he was always the best viewpoint character for the show, the normal guy who was doing his best to cope with the sheer insanity of living on the mouth of hell, but some people seen to think that that wasn't sufficiently cool and and that Xander should have had superpowers far beyond anyone else in the show. I'm afraid that they're missing the point; he was the closest to normal of a team that was otherwise super-powered to some extent, and the best bridge between our world and theirs, and he played the role spectacularly well. He'll be missed.

jesuswasbatman

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

igenlode

We have lots of tiny pink Linaria seedlings. Also possibly chives -- it looks for all the world like some sort of little stars of bog-grass or young moss growing in the pot, but as there isn't normally any grass up here the odds are probably reasonable that it might be the chives that I did after all sow in there. There is a good chance that it is moss, though -- really doesn't look like newly-germinated seedlings to me :-(
A Swan River daisy has germinated. Sowed marigolds and (optimistically) basil, in a very small pot that can be squeezed into the mini-greenhouse alongside the peas.

I repotted the thyme by the brute-force method of ripping the disintegrating plastic pot off it into pieces, then pulling off a lot of the rootball so that I could fit some compost in around it -- this is in fact the 'old' thyme that I thought was dying several years ago and that was supposed to be replaced by the acquisition of a new seedling. The two plants are now approximately the same size! The stump of the 'old' kale that was supposed to be being replaced by its seedling offspring is still producing leaves and looking about as healthy as they are, too...

The sorrel probably wants repotting yet again, but I confined myself to pulling off the mass of roots that have come out of the bottom of the pot. I think that what happened was that it grew roots downwards (where there was very little new soils for it) rather than sideways as I had hoped -- unsurprising, really, but I don't really want to sacrifice one of my deep tomato-pots for its benefit. The winter purslane has rotted away entirely, and I don't think it managed to set any seeds :-(

petra

[VID] nothing and everything (0 words) by hartknyx
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Hamlet - Shakespeare
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Characters: Hamlet (Hamlet)
Additional Tags: Good Friend Horatio (Hamlet), Canon-Typical Violence, Suicidal Thoughts, Mental Health Issues, Lighter than it sounds, emo kid hamlet
Summary:

do you have the time to listen to me whine?

*

Hamlet + Green Day = FUCKING INSPIRED. I howled with laughter at the song choice before clicking, and the vid lives up to it.

Current Mood: melancholy (no srsly)
Current Music: I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains

lois_mcmaster_bujold_feed

https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/26462304-upcoming-bujold-appearances

So...

I will be a local writer guest/panelist at this year's Minicon 59 here in Minneapolis, April 2 - 5. Writer GoH is Patricia C. Wrede!

https://mnstf.org/minicon59/

for further information of all kinds.

On Saturday May 16th at 1 PM, I am going to be doing a signing at Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore, also here in Minneapolis.

http://www.unclehugo.com/prod/index.s...

Mostly in honor of the 4th Penric collection in hardcover from Baen Books, Penric's Intrigues, which will be released the first week of May. My box of author's copies arrived from the printer yesterday, and they look great!

Meanwhile, the Subterranean Press signed limited edition of the Pen & Des novella "The Adventure of the Demonic Ox" is delayed at their printer, which is not an uncommon glitch for them. It is available for pre-order at SubPress -- https://subterraneanpress.com/bujold-... -- and also at Uncle Hugo's and Dreamhaven bookstores, here in MPLS.

(In a complete side note of idle curiosity, does anyone have any idea why I've been getting such a spate of likes for my first review of The Rivers of London this past week or so? It's normal to get a trickle of likes for my assorted old reviews, but not so many at once.)

Ta, L.

posted by Lois McMaster Bujold on March, 20

https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/26462304-upcoming-bujold-appearances

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3222/

It's ok, I still have some nice, cool gas clouds that aren't collapsing. As long as nothing ionizes them, I can continue to enjoy their ... HEY! NO!!!

https://xkcd.com/3222/

conuly

And every one of those recs is better than the books. Well, I've shared my opinion on the books, the problems and characterization are insufficiently balanced for dual viewpoints.

But anyway, that's not what I'm thinking about. What I'm thinking about is Fabian and his generically shitty parents who clearly don't care about him very much. ( Read more... )

igenlode

Excavated the dwarf peas from their newspaper, where they were starting to go mouldy (including, worryingly, some of the peas that were actually sprouting). I planted up the three best of them individually and transferred them to the mini-greenhouse, removing the sweet peas -- which necessitated writing individual labels for the latter! -- and put the rest of the ones that were showing signs of life into a single large pot to become 'pea-shoots', along with another five or six unsoaked peas from the packet. I still have a lot left in there....

There is germination in the Gypsophila elegans and possibly in the purple assortment.

conuly

For

minoanmiss

ranunculus

Took till about 2 pm but all of the brush from yesterday's activities has been burnt up. I got pretty hot and tired. Drank about a gallon of water/gatoraid. Missed the rock show/conference in Willits. Oh well, next time.
Tomorrow is planting little plants in the garden, finishing the compost bin cleanout and cleaning the filthy horse corral.
There are still broccoli plants to put out, some pink mitzuna and dill that really wants to be planted out. I'd love to transplant some of the baby marigolds but don't think they are quite ready yet, we'll see. I might even risk planting out squash and cucumbers...
There is a big kerfuffle going on down in SF about doors. All four of the doors that lead to the garden need replacing. The bottom of the downstairs flat door was substantially rotted with the exterior face peeling off up about a foot. ICK. We like getting lots of light into the house so chose doors that were 3/4 glass with about 18 inches of wood on the bottom. Sadly they don't actually make that door in an exterior model. These are aluminum clad doors that come with an exterior finish that matches the windows. We thought we might use a different manufacturer but of course the finishes don't match. In fact the color pallets were so different we couldn't even see a contrasting color we could use. Sigh. So full glass, double pane doors. They have a coating on one pane that is virtually unbreakable so no security worries.

pensnest

The sky was beautifully blue on Sunday, a helpful incentive to get me out in the garden. I unstrangled the blackcurrant bushes from the netting I had put very badly over them, then dug out a bunch of weeds, rediscovered the tentatively emerging rhubarbs, and planted a rhubarb root that I was given recently. Good job, plenty more to do.

( lots more rambling about garden, dancing, and stuff )

Costume night at rehearsal this evening. I have accumulated a number of witchy outfit-adjacent items, it will be a matter of figuring out how they fit together. But at least I won't have to go on stage naked, even though that would probably be more authentic than anything else.

puddleshark

Unexpected sunshine & an even more unexpected 15 degrees C. The pots I planted up with randomly-chosen bulbs last November are starting to reveal some of their secrets!

( Read more... )

igenlode

I had an entertaining episode yesterday when I was helping a lady with her Spanish homework (Level A2) despite never having learnt a word of Spanish; apparently a knowledge of French, English, a smattering of Italian, and an acquaintance with Hornblower and the Peninsular War are enough to get you a long way :-D
What I don't have, of course, is any knowledge of the grammatical structures, but since I know grammar *in theory* it was easy enough to identify what the questions in the course book were designed to test (e.g. masculine/feminine/plural endings)...

Interestingly, the Spanish word for 'oil' looks as if it ought to mean 'vinegar': aceite

galadhir

90 discussion questions. 1. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?

There are so many places! If I'm imagining myself being as physically limited as I am now - whereby I find walking difficult for more than about half an hour at best - then a cruise might be best.

I would like to cruise up the Danube and see the painted churches of Romania. But then again I would also like to cruise down the Nile and see Luxor. I could take a few lessons with Egyptian Raqs Sharqi teachers and get a new outfit while I was there.

If, on this imaginary trip, I'm also imagining myself as physically fit again, I'd like to go to Mexico and see what remains of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital. Or perhaps to Peru to visit Machu Picchu

Alternatively, my son would like to go to Japan, so perhaps I would use my imaginary trip to take him there.

vivdunstan

Finished watching this, having watched spread out and slowly.

Just beautiful, a gem of a series, that has so much of the feel of Mackenzie Crook's Detectorists, but tells an original story, with brand new characters, with warmth, style and pathos.

The character interactions were magical throughout.

So much of the best bits of the series were the small details, so very carefully observed, acted and directed.

And every character was rounded and sympathetic to an extent. That's top writing.

I especially enjoyed some of the moments in the DIY store.

But the best part was the relationship between Michael and Kacey.

For goodness sake BBC, renew it for a second series! Though I am rather wondering how well that would work. I'll certainly watch.

If you're in the UK and can watch this on iPlayer, I thoroughly recommend doing so.

If you're in another country, I hope it is broadcast where you are and you get a chance to see it!

It really is very special.

Profile

Judith Proctor

Navigation

Style Credit

Style: Wooded for Fluid Measure by branchandroot

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Mar. 24th, 2026 04:13 am

Tales From the Riverbank

Reading

Another RPG bundle - Scion 2E

Inflation Timeline

(no subject)

"When you are simply maintaining, the world is at a loss"

Paradise 2.06 + 2.07

Rewatching Doctor Who: In the Forest of the Night

Dreamwidth Icons and Images for Newcomers

Starting “The Silver Chair”

Tarrant Monkton to Chetterwood, perhaps

February 2026

February 2026

So here's this thread

Plant progress

Firefly

Ride, Willow

Recommendation - Quartetto, due South story by sixthlight

RIP Nicholas Brendon

Starfleet Academy: "Rubincon"

Seed log

Recommendation: nothing and everything - Hamlets vid

upcoming Bujold appearances

Star Formation

There sure is a lot of Heated Rivalry fic being recommended every day

Peas

gingicat has posted links to the obituary and charitable donation information

Burn, doors

knowing, slowing, growing things

Narcissus 'Snipe'

Spanish

(no subject)

Small Prophets TV series - some thoughts

Profile

Navigation

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags