Stuck in Paradise for the Foreseeable

Oct. 29th, 2025 05:16 pm
fairestcat: Dreadful the cat (Default)
[personal profile] fairestcat
So, as I mentioned in my Festivids letter, I am currently in Hawaii. Hilo to be specific. I have been here since October 10th and I genuinely have no idea when I'll get to go home.

My mother was diagnosed with congestive heart failure five years ago, but this fall she got significantly worse and also developed pneumonia. She was in the hospital for two and a half weeks and is now in a short-term rehab working on getting back her ability to do exciting things like walking across a room without getting shaky-legged and out of breath and using the bathroom unaided.

I'm in an itty bitty postage stamp sized airbnb room in Hilo, since my mom's place is a nearly two-hour drive away. I can't go home until we figure out what happens next for my mom. I don't think she can go back to the place she's been sharing with my sister. My sister is also disabled and not really able to help my mom with stuff, their tiny house is cramped and crowded, has built-in steps and is a constant tripping hazard, and honestly my mom and sister are driving each other completely mad.

Hawaii is beautiful and all, there are certainly worse places I could be stuck indefinitely, but I really want my own bed and my own spouses and my own pets and my own time zone.
scaramouche: Kerry Ellis as Elphaba from Wicked (elphaba reaching)
[personal profile] scaramouche
I read Sarah B. Pomeroy's Goddesses, Whores, Wives & Slaves, which explores what daily life was for women of classical Greece and Republic Rome based on the thin historical record, plays, poetry and so on, for the purpose of illuminating an otherwise ignored or invisible faction of society. What rights did they have or not have, how were they viewed by and treated by the men who had power over them, what were the gender essentialist turned institutional mechanisms used to control them, and so on. Pomeroy argues that evolution towards increasing freedoms isn't a-given, with her analysis that ancient Greece had more freedoms for women, then a tightening of those freedoms after wartime and a reduction of the male population, then more relaxation of freedoms into the Hellenistic era.

I admit, although the topic itself is interesting to me, I found the prose hella dry and the style tough to get through at points. But then I realized that the book was published in 1975, during a very different time of historical scholarship! I still find it dry and heavy-handed in places, but I can appreciate the groundbreaking feminist view of analysis, and the necessity of spelling things out clearly in order to argue against common perception of the time, even if it's tiresome to read now. Particularly enjoyed Pomeroy mentioning her male historian predecessors who made assumptions about women's attitudes back then due to the societal blinders they had about the women of their own time (eg. assuming women are happy with their lot).

One thing I will take away from the book with the glee is the description of how in ancient Athens, high class women were kept secluded at home and away from the eyes of men who weren't family, with exceptions to go outside behind a veil. That is... the purdah. Ancient Athens, birthplace of the modern concept of democracy, practised the purdah, the same way medieval Arabia did. (Low class women and slaves were allowed to go about freely without the veil, same as in medival Arabia.) That's rather funny, I think!
runpunkrun: Dana Scully reading Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space' in the style of a poster you'd find in your school library, text: Read. (reading)
[personal profile] runpunkrun
It's 1993 and Kimberly Keiko Cameron (aka "Skim" because she's not [idk, the reference doesn't really land for me—like skim milk? so, not skinny? not white?]) is sixteen and goes to an all girls school in Canada. She's learning to practice Wicca, has a cast on her dominant arm, a crush on her drama teacher, and doesn't seem to like her best friend very much.

Ah, teen angst. Rendered here in a flat, sketchy greyscale with a lot of attention to faces and hair, which makes the main characters easy to identify, especially as the smooth, delicate rendering of Skim's face evokes ukiyo-e, a style of Japanese art popular during the Edo period (1615–1868). It makes her stand out and even seem out of place, like something from another era. It's an interesting contrast to the swoopy bangs and hoop earrings of her peers, all of whom appear to be white.

The story's pretty low key for its content—an inappropriate flirtation, the suicide of a popular girl's ex-boyfriend, the tension between Kim's divorced parents, a growing realization of what it means to be queer—and the central interest is the conflict between Kim and her best friend, though it's not clear if they're growing apart or were never really suited for each other, and being in love in a way that makes it feel like it might destroy you. It's clear it's slowly destroying the teacher, even as Kim seems blissfully unaware of this, a disparity that's handled with skill and that hints at the full size of the adult world while simultaneously rendering the hyper-specific compressed world of a teenager, allowing both to be true.

Contains: f/f; teacher/student romance; frequent references to suicide (including jokes) following one off screen; use of gay slurs.

Aryana

Oct. 28th, 2025 09:56 am
scaramouche: Gavin Lee as Bert and Ashley Brown as Mary from Mary Poppins (mary and bert)
[personal profile] scaramouche
In my further adventures of "watching" Filipino mermaid-centric TV shows, I've started watching Aryana and the opening situation has a poor woman (Ofelia) and a rich man (Victor) having already gotten married despite the casual classist cruelty of Victor's mother (Elnora). You've got the regular shorthand of Ofelia not knowing how to handle herself in unfamiliar rich-people-enviroment situations (which is also Victor's fault for not helping her, not that these kinds of stories acknowledge that most of the time) which earns Elnora's ire and verbal abuse. Ofelia=good, Elnora=bad, as these things go.

However! Ofelia tries to assert some financial independence by selling cheap lunch food, hawker style, and we're supposed to go, YAY @ her, and BOO @ Elnora for belittling Ofelia's efforts. But! Ofelia has chosen to sell food in the same dang office building, and I think it's hella tacky to take money from your VERY RICH husband's employees, even if you are selling food to them. It's not wrong, but if I were an employee I'd be side-eyeing that fam.
alethia: (GK Doc)
[personal profile] alethia
The Magic Touch (5418 words) by Alethia
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Pitt (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jack Abbot/Michael "Robby" Robinavitch
Characters: Jack Abbot (The Pitt), Michael "Robby" Robinavitch, Samira Mohan, Parker Ellis
Additional Tags: Post-Season/Series 01, Under-negotiated Kink, First Kiss, First Time, Porn, baby's first sub inkling
Summary:

Jack just laughed and shoved him a little harder into the door, a visceral, physical reminder: he was in control now. He expected Robby to bitch him out, sharp like he got when cornered—

Except instead Robby slumped, his breath out almost relief, like all the fight had drained from him. He didn't say anything, just took a few shaky breaths, body shivering under Jack's—

...oh.

Superman '78

Oct. 26th, 2025 05:35 pm
scaramouche: Helen Slater as Supergirl (supergirl)
[personal profile] scaramouche
I got my hands of the trade paperback of the first Superman '78 comic! A local reseller surprisingly had it in stock, so I pounced when I saw it. So now I have read both, the first story of which was published over 2021 and the second (which was the first book I got) was published over 2023-2024.

They're continuations of the Christopher Reeve Superman universe, and I was excited to read them, though when the plot kicked in I paused and had the very distinctive thought, "Oh no... bad things are going to happen to Clark! I don't want bad things to happen to Clark!" Even though bad things have to happen in order for there to be a story at all, but there was a funny mismatch in my brain because the Reeves Superman movies are so comforting and familiar and safe, while you don't know what you'll be getting with new canon! ("Canon", of course.)

Anyway both stories are charming and earnest and funny, but nowhere near as goofy as the movies were*, which I think is a consequence of trying to tell a story set in that era now, with our modern sensibilities and nostalgia and reverence tangled up in each other. Plus, it may just be the format, since there's no cinematic pauses or dramatic music to amp up the feeling, but I felt there was less weight to the stories, though the first story literally up-ends the status quo by spoilers ) Clark makes his typical choices and sacrifices in both stories, but he's noble and at most sad about it. He doesn't get angry or have break downs as he does in the movies.

*The plot and resolution of The Metal Curtain is goofy but in an idealistic way, where doing the right thing immediately has his "enemies" realizing that Superman has good intentions and doing a heel face turn. It's not goofy in a Superman-turns-back-time-by-flying-really-fast or throwing-nukes-into-the-sun-creates-a-sun-based-villain way.

Also! Very funny that the plot of the first comic sounds like what James Gunn said the second Superman DCU movie is going to be about, namely potential spoilers for a future DCU movie. ) That's this comic!

Database maintenance

Oct. 25th, 2025 08:42 am
mark: A photo of Mark kneeling on top of the Taal Volcano in the Philippines. It was a long hike. (Default)
[staff profile] mark posting in [site community profile] dw_maintenance

Good morning, afternoon, and evening!

We're doing some database and other light server maintenance this weekend (upgrading the version of MySQL we use in particular, but also probably doing some CDN work.)

I expect all of this to be pretty invisible except for some small "couple of minute" blips as we switch between machines, but there's a chance you will notice something untoward. I'll keep an eye on comments as per usual.

Ta for now!

Dear Yuletide author

Oct. 24th, 2025 02:07 pm
pun: (Default)
[personal profile] pun
Dear Yuletide Author,


First, thank you, thank you!!! I am so excited that you will be writing for me. I know that I am going to love whatever you write!
Read more... )

Game: Kentucky Route Zero

Oct. 23rd, 2025 09:19 am
runpunkrun: chibi me with pigtails and fangs, text: punk (punk & disorderly)
[personal profile] runpunkrun
Kentucky Route Zero is a creative and thoughtful interactive story about debt, grief, and the relentless march of capitalism, but also creation, repair, and community. There are enough dialogue choices that I felt like I was actually engaging with the characters, who all have their own thing going on, and you're even given some choices about who you can hang out with or where you go next. Some choices will give you a deeper engagement with the story and some just add further texture to this world.

Because it's a story more than a game, you can explore the environment and talk to the people you meet and accomplish tasks you're assigned, but it generally plays out the same regardless of your choices. There aren't any puzzles to solve except for the mystery of wtf is going on, and you'll do most of that on your own time.

The stylized art contributes to the mystery because you'll want to know more, but can't. You view this world from a set distance and because you can't zoom in to inspect the details, there's a kind of remove to it, like you're in a movie and just have to go where it takes you. It's best experienced in a dark room because it's literally too dark to see if there's any light around you.

The story is messy, with the past sliding through the present, and many questions are left unanswered as you attempt to deliver some antiques to an address you can't find. You start out with Conway, a big rectangle of a man, and his old dog, who you can name Blue or Homer—I went with Homer—and along the way you meet people who join you and bring their talents and troubles with them.

The dialogue between the characters slowly reveals their histories and concerns, and at times you can even talk to the dog as a way to talk yourself through what you're thinking. The dog doesn't talk back, but all the other characters have distinct personalities, and I felt like I was building real conversations—and relationships—between them through my choices.

However, I had a real problem with something that happened about halfway through the game that made me feel used, and it colored the rest of the play for me. I could have just stopped there, at the end, and parted with it unhappy, but I couldn't shake the feeling I was missing something and so the next night I started it up again and gave it a second chance, with Blue.

I still have a big issue with that aspect of the game (it involves alcohol, an alcoholic, and a choice that isn't a choice), but my second playthrough picked up a lot of things I didn't see the first time, and I'm glad I gave it a second try. It's definitely a unique story, filled with wondrous things.

Recommended, probably, if you like worldbuilding, games with low stakes—you can't really make mistakes here, though I somehow managed—interesting characters, found family, and a world that's punched through with mysteries: abandoned mines, hidden caves, a moldy computer, an underground river, and of course the secret highway—Kentucky Route Zero.

I've got content notes down below, feel free to ask me for more details. I played this on my Android tablet through my Netflix subscription.

Now for my chronological thoughts as I was playing. Vague spoilers for the game throughout.

Homer )

Blue )

Contains: (metaphorical) amputation (maybe); alcohol and alcoholism; debt, foreclosure; dementia and the impending loss of an old friend; repeated references to the death of a child; dead horses, on screen; an old dog who has seen better days but keeps on seeing them; some sounds (mainly discordant electronic ones) made me very anxious, but there's nothing abrupt, loud, or jump-scary.

Accessibility: The game has white text on a black background, which you can't change, but you can change the size of the text and remove some glitch effects. You also can control FPS on the video and turn on captions for the audio.

a fall appreciation post

Oct. 22nd, 2025 04:18 pm
omens: a red tree (JIM - red tree)
[personal profile] omens
We're raining and windy this week so I'm glad I got out last week on a lil podcast wander around.



fall leaves and so on! )

yard friends )

garryowen: (Brilliant Mind Josh Oliver 2)
[personal profile] garryowen
The Great Vent Event: A Tale for Which the World Is Not Yet Prepared
Rating: T
Pairing: Josh/Oliver, obviously
Warnings: None
Summary: Josh takes it upon himself to go after Arianna Burnett. Oliver helps.
ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/72891091

The Great Vent Event )

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