beccaelizabeth | Network

Posted by Steven Popkes

https://bookviewcafe.com/the-time-machine-redux/

Since the last post (See here.) one of my two readers took issue when I recommended the new film, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die.

I do recommend it highly. I mean, like many SF films, it’s dumb as a stick but it is, as they say, the journey that is important.

Okay, okay. It’s not that dumb.

He insisted I explain myself. If I don’t like time travel stories, how could I recommend GLHFDD?

There are a lot of problems with most time travel stories. And, yes, I’m looking right at Star Trek, all iterations. In the original series, time travel was introduced in season 1, episode 24. In The Next Generation, they held off until season 2, episode 13. In Voyager, season 1, episode 4. They started the series Star Trek Enterprise with time travel. In Deep Space Nine, season 1, episode 7. I could go on but I won’t.

Let’s think about that. They have the entire galaxy to work with. All these different suns, planets, different species, different biologies, and we have to look for our own past to tell stories? The Expanse didn’t need it. Star Wars didn’t need it. The Alien franchise didn’t need it.

This site claims to have 6,000 time travel movies made since 1896. Given that, is it realistic to go down to that well every time you need inspiration?

I do not say that there are no recent time travel stories that aren’t fun. Time Bandits is one of my personal favorites. I’m just saying that there are a number of SF tropes that have either 1) been done to death or 2) were tired from the beginning. Another similarly tired trope is the Higher Order Being. (That’s right. I’m looking at you, Q.)

A gimmick story works the first time it’s used. That’s why The Time Machine works. It’s because it was the first such idea in use. At least, that’s the idea. However, Wells reused his ideas from an earlier story, The Chronic Argonauts. (The title suggests to me people with chronic stomach distress, but I digress.)

After that, there are two ways the gimmick can be used: exploring the ramifications of the gimmick or using the gimmick to tell a story apart from the gimmick. For the first, I suggest Primer and David Gerrold’s The Man Who Folded Himself. Both of these explore many of the consequences of time travel.

And, after 6000 tries, I think we’ve exhausted the ramifications of that particular gimmick. Even in just the 21^st century, there have been nearly five hundred films involving time travel. Come on! Given that most time travel stories are about correcting a mistake, (Even Good Luck* falls into this category.) I think we can dispense with most of them. How many times do we have to watch someone go into the past (or an alternate world) to save their nation/save the world/save their wife-brother-mother-son?

It’s like cop shows, doctor/hospital shows, and lawyer shows. After seventy years of television, there’s not much left to mine out of the subjects.

The second use of a gimmick is in service of something else. This is where works like Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die come into play. The time travel is barely on stage. It just hangs there like Checkhov’s gun. It’s important but it’s not the story. Time Bandits uses time travel for an absurdist journey. It’s essentially a way for Terry Gilliam to show us the inside of his mind.

When you lose the gimmick aspect of time travel, interesting things come up. Donnie Darko (2001) is a very interesting film involving time travel and the nature of cause and effect. It’s an example of my point. The film involves time travel but it isn’t about time travel. The day of the time travel gimmick is over. Long live it’s utility in storytelling.

I think the film Predestination (derived from what I think is one of the finest time travel stories ever written: All You Zombies by Robert Heinlein) is very interesting. In this film, time travel is central. But the main story is the arc of the main character. It does explore a gimmicky side of time travel—which the story also does—but it’s one that I don’t think had been done before as a film.

I don’t know other genres as well as I know SF so I won’t speak to them. SF has tropes that have also been done to death. At this point stories involving time travel, Higher Order Being, first alien contact, etc., have been done and redone so many times that I’m jaded. I don’t want just another time travel story to save the world. Or a first contact where the alien turns out to be the good guy. Or eats people. Or nearly every Frankenstein story for the last twenty years.

This is not to say that there isn’t still meat on those old, old bones. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is pretty fresh. The Expanse had a pretty original take on first contact. I thought both Poor Things and Moore’s Anima Rising were both interesting takes on Bride of Frankenstein. I’m looking forward to seeing The Bride.

Even I’ve written two time travel stories. One published, Another Perfect Day, and one not. (Another Perfect Day is collected here.) APD was, essentially, a story that described the impossibility of time travel. I.e., one could travel in time but only to a time that had no relation to your own. That pesky causality thing.

There’s even time travel regarding Orange Voldemort.

Hm. Time travel to the past to save the world.

Okay. Sign me up.

https://bookviewcafe.com/the-time-machine-redux/

https://bookviewcafe.com/?p=22588

escapade_team posting in

escapade_con

Hey Escapaders!

Are you wondering how you can contribute to Escapade? Did you know Escapade has an Amazon Wishlist? Help make the convention better by surprising us with something on the list!

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/10N1JE3HOX0S4

Also! We have something super cool for you!

A lot of folks have been saying that paying for the hotel all at once is difficult. DaughterofElros came up with a BRILLIANT idea: Lay Away Your Con Stay! You can now subscribe and cover your registration for both In-Person and Virtual Escapade, PLUS your hotel room. No more messing with the hotel website trying to book under the group code; the convention will book your stay for you, in your name.

Four options to follow:

https://escapadecon.net/shop/monthly-donation-3-way-hotel-plus-reg/

For $39 a month paid over 12 months, you will receive:

Registration to that year’s In-Person Escapade convention

Registration to that year’s Virtual Escapade convention

A shared 2-bed (plus sofa bed) hotel room with two other folks for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights of the convention. You will be one of three people in the room.

You can let us know who you want to share with, or we can arrange to house subscribers together.

(Three people, three nights.)

https://escapadecon.net/shop/monthly-donation-duet-hotel-plus-reg/

For $49 a month paid over 12 months, you will receive:

Registration to that year’s In-Person Escapade convention

Registration to that year’s Virtual Escapade convention

YOUR CHOICE of a 2-Queen-bed or 1-King-bed hotel room shared with one other person for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights of the convention. You will be one of two people in the room.

You can let us know who you want to share with, or we can arrange to house subscribers together.

(Two people, three nights.)

https://escapadecon.net/shop/monthly-donation-solo-hotel-plus-reg/

For $79 a month paid over 12 months, you will receive:

Registration to that year’s In-Person Escapade convention

Registration to that year’s Virtual Escapade convention

A 1-King-bed hotel all to yourself for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights of the convention. You will be the only person in the room.

(One person, three nights.)

https://escapadecon.net/shop/monthly-donation-party-week-hotel-plus-reg/

For $59 a month paid over 12 months, you will receive:

Registration to that year’s In-Person Escapade convention

Registration to that year’s Virtual Escapade convention

A shared 2-bed (plus sofa bed) hotel room with two other folks for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, AND Monday nights of the convention weekend. That’s SIX nights! You will be one of three people in the room.

(Three people, SIX nights. PARTY WEEK!)

One small note: if you have status with Hilton you should receive any appropriate benefits. However, you won’t earn Hilton points on a subscription stay (because these will be booked on the convention’s account, not yours).

If you've already pre-paid your registration (thank you!) you can get any of these options as a Hotel Only option for $10 less per month. Just let us know which one you want and we'll set it up for you. For example, Option 1 would be only $29 per month. We can also tailor an option with a different stay length or a different number of people in the room; just let us know what you’re looking for!

To check out all of our subscription options please go here:

https://escapadecon.net/register/register-for-both-conventions-with-a-subscription/

Thank you for supporting Escapade!

-Con Com

https://escapadecon.net/new-hotel-subscription-packages-and-our-amazon-wish-list/

goss

The Virtual Memorial for

minoanmiss will be April 12, 1PM EDT (GMT -4)

Other info shared by

gingicat:

It's now okay to unlock and make public posts regarding

minoanmiss.

The funeral took place on the afternoon of March 13th. If any of you want to go visit her grave, it is in Mount Auburn Cemetery near the corner of Sycamore Ave and Gerardia Path.

Her organs were donated:
- heart to research
- liver to a woman in her 30s
- right kidney to a woman in her 40s
- left kidney to a woman in her 70s

Announcement sign-up:
https://groups.google.com/g/nyani-announce

---

I'm so glad to know MM's final resting place is at a peaceful, beautiful location, and that her friends were able to honour her wishes to donate her organs to those in need. ♥

torachan

1. We made mac and cheese for lunch inspired by the ramen mac and cheese we had at DCA last night. Added dashi in the water while the macaroni was boiling, and topped with furikake (all we had was gomashio, which is a mix of black sesame seeds and chunky salt) and it was delicious but we decided adding toasted panko really would make it better, so we actually ended up making it again for dinner with the panko. It was so good. Carla bought a different type of furikake at the store today but I just used the gomashio again and that went so good with the panko. Will definitely be making mac and cheese this way again.

2. A couple weeks ago I got the annual Costco rewards gift certificate and we finally braved Costco today so we could use it. We weren't going directly home, so that saved us from being tempted by any perishable products and we pretty much stuck to our list of basics that we needed to stock up on.

3. The weekend is over and I'm not thrilled about that but it was a pretty nice weekend overall.

4. Molly loves being in this window, hidden behind the curtain.

settiai

It looks like the Buffy the Vampire Slayer sequel that was in development isn't going to happen after all.

But apparently Firefly of all things might be getting an animated series set between S1 and the movie.

Current Mood: surprised

twistedchick

The way you experience time doesn't have to stay the same. There are alternatives. And they can change how you live your life.

dialecticdreamer

Home Stretch
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1363
[Evening of Friday, 3 November of 2017]

:: After an incredibly long series of connecting flights, Jules finally arrives in Sacramento. He and Cash have a very intimate discussion on the ride to Mercedes. Part of the “Lodestar” arc, set in the Polychrome Heroics universe. ::

Every muscle and joint in Jules’ body hurt. By the time he stood to deplane in the Sacramento airfield, ready to brave the narrow, stale air of the skywalk to reach the terminal, the teen was mentally making a list of the arthritis-adaptations that his dad used during massages, and wondering if he could afford the time to get a fifteen minute chair massage.

As he dragged the Bodhi bag in its light blue case out into the artificial light but echoing openness of the terminal, he found that the massage business was no longer tucked between the first aid station and the Tastee Shack booth. He didn’t see Cash, and at a few minutes after ten o’clock at night, he didn’t expect to see his father, Joshua or Griffin Tull, either.
( Read more... )

Current Mood: anxious

tcampbell1000 posting in

scans_daily

These two issues will be Giffen, Jones, and Sears’ last collaboration, though we’ll see a bit more of Sears in JLA. I think the brutal paranoia of this arc plays to Sears' strengths.

Last time out, the JLE repaired the dying Starro’s vessel to send him home. It blew up before reaching the stratosphere, and the JLE-ers think they’ve accidentally killed an old League foe just after he mended his ways. Miles away, starfish began to rain on London.

The Leaguers slink back toward their headquarters, still mortified at their apparent failure, unaware that anything more serious might be wrong with London since they left it.

( Imagine sleeping through Brexit. )

luminousdaze posting in

iconthat

Challenge 202
The new theme is...
Celestial
🪐 🌌 🪐

For this challenge we can create icons that show inspiration from all things celestial and extraterrestrial.
Decorate any fandom icons with stars, moons and planets, use sci-fi fandom scenes or make icons of real astronomy images as seen from the sky or from space telescopes.

( Interesting Inspo Icons... )

( Texture Recs... )

( Challenge Guidelines, Directions & Rules... )

Current Mood: 🪫
Current Location: 🌎

princessofgeeks

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: nerdy

lovelyangel

I confess to having a number of fast food apps – mainly for the purpose of getting discounts (replacing the old chore of coupon clipping). Sure, the companies track my redemption habits, but I don’t really care. If they keep wanting to offer me discounts, I’m frugal enough to keep taking them.

I provide my birthday to these apps as they give me special offers for my birthday. I thought I should itemize what I got this year for future reference.

( 2026 Birthday Offers, Under the Cut )

hannah

The Life You Build (18285 words) by Hannah
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Top Gun (Movies)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tom "Iceman" Kazansky/Pete "Maverick" Mitchell
Characters: Ron "Slider" Kerner, Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Period Typical Attitudes, Period-Typical Homophobia, Ron "Slider" Kerner is a Good Friend, Jewish Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, Catholic Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, Don't Ask Don't Tell, dishonorable discharge, Los Angeles, Gay Pride, Gay Wrath
Summary:

§ 925. Art. 125. Sodomy

(a) Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense.

(b) Any person found guilty of sodomy shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

-

I officially have a new record for walking in late to a fandom with Starbucks. It's how I've come to describe joining an established fandom, looking around at what's been written, trying to find a story that seems like it ought to have arrived by now, struggling to believe I have to do it myself, and having to do it myself. The last times I've done this for specific fandoms, it was about 21 years since their debuts, both for Deep Space Nine - Julian Bashir never getting the genetic modifications, with DS9 coming out in 1993 and the fic getting published in 2014 - and for Buffy - an all-human AU where it's still Sunnydale, Buffy living on into retirement and enjoying her life, achieving status as public figure, her and Spike simply making a wish to have a baby, with Buffy coming out in 1997 and the first of several fics getting published in 2018.

There's been a handful of times it's been for tropes and general ideas that could go to just about any fandom, like that one I wrote for mpreg where the technology to get men pregnant was developed to achieve maternity leave reform in the United States and the character exploration simply happened to be for the show Scrubs when it could just as easily have been for any number of reasonably grounded fandoms that take place in what's more or less the real world. In fact, I'm certain there's a few fandoms where having that level of medical technology in the background would have the canon make somewhat more sense given what we see them do. And it wasn't a take on mpreg I'd ever seen before. I just happened to wander in after several decades of fandom and do it myself.

I've made a habit of doing this, and like I said, I have a new record for it.

Because in the forty years this fandom's been around, nobody's written anything where Iceman and Maverick are dishonorably discharged from the Navy. Nothing. There's been fics that tackle the culture of secrecy, or Don't Ask Don't Tell, or the legalization of gay marriage in the US. There's been fics that take place in a much kinder world where it's not an issue. There's been fics that skip past it because it doesn't work with the kind of story the author's trying to write. But there hasn't been anything about receiving a dishonorable discharge and living with what comes after.

Lawrence versus Texas happened when I was in high school. I saw Don't Ask Don't Tell come and go. I remember the pictures from the San Francisco courthouse and the wave of joy from Obergefell. I like to say that fandoms like Top Gun deliver a particular type of yearning you can't get anywhere else, especially not contemporary ones, and a lot of that's from the world those fandoms take place in. It's not a world most people want to visit, and it's the world I grew up in. I didn't mind going back there for a while.

Sometimes I feel like people forget how recent all of this is. Forty years is a long time for a movie to be around, and for people to be writing fic about that movie. For the idea to have taken this long to arrive speaks to what the fandom wants to write about. I can understand that people would rather avoid this kind of thing. Just as much, I can't grasp why nobody else thought to give it a try. I'll admit to being a little proud for being the first one to do it, and a little grateful that this is a reflection of the world that was, not the world that is.

Forty years is a good long time.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Kindergarten - Voxtrot

catherineldf

Where have I been? If you guessed down with another terrible cold, one that made the last one look like a walk in the park, you win! I starting getting sick on Friday and had to skip my panel, then lost my voice on Saturday during MarsCon so I skipped my morning panel and had to whiteboard it with the aid of Michael and Matt for the afternoon one. After that, I has just completely down so we packed up and I stayed home on Sunday. And I coughed and I coughed and I coughed and I did not sleep or talk very much at all for 4 days. Greg was kind enough to let me work from home on DreamHaven stuff so at least I'm not wildly behind on that. Everything else is another story. But in the middle of it all, a good friend died and hey, we put a spiffy new book up for preorder.

On the good side, we are planning on releasing Joyce Chng's mini-collection of queer pirate tales, Sailing the Golden Chersonese, on 4/9! It features beautiful artwork by Dhiyanah Hassan, gorgeous interior design by Terry Roy and lyrical prose by Joyce - who could ask for more! because 2026 is what it is, we have been beset by illness and delays so the print edition may come out a few days after the ebook one, but we are in progress. We will have review arcs for reviewers in the next couple of days so please let me know if you would like one. Preorders are love!

Also: so are award nominations. As I have mentioned a time or two, Queen of Swords Press released new editions of the Astreiant Series by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett and, because the latest new volume, Point of Hearts, came out in 2025, the series is eligible for the Best Series Hugo. It is not uncommon for books and people to make it on the ballot (and sometimes, win!) by only a handful of votes. Queen of Swords Press is my beloved little postage stamp-sized press - getting this series on the ballot would be HUGE for us! Plus, Melissa hasn't been on the ballot since she won the Campbell for her first novel, despite years of writing terrific sf and f. If you were a member of Seattle Worldcon or a voting member of LA Con, you can nominate! I know the series has a few votes already so please consider putting us over the top to make the ballot!

And I am out of steam and still need to work on a deadline piece. Friend's obit tomorrow. After I call the vet and get a rainbow Bridge appointment set up for Shu. 2026: the gift that keeps on giving.

gingicat

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

muccamukk

The YouTube algorithm has seen my interest in figure skating and started offering me classical ballet (I think, always difficult to tell how one gets where one ends up).

So I've been watching bits and pieces of that, as well as all of The Royal Ballet's Cinderella. I therefore offer you some fully random observations, from someone who never got into any kind of dance as a kid, and therefore knows baaaaaasically nothing about the topic. (I have been to several ballets in person, The Nutcracker of course, and the Winnipeg Ballet's Svengali..)

I like classical ballet (I'm not really watching modern) because it's quite ridiculous, and unconnected to anything that has ever happened on the face of the Earth.

I have learned that there's dialogue! Classical ballet has a kind of sign language, done through gestures, so that the dancers can explain plot points such as "We make evil men dance until they die!" and "This lake is made of my mother's tears!"

There does not seem to be much point to the male principal dancers. They have thighs like birch trees, which allows them to leap impressively high in the air, but they don't spin around on nothing but their big toe, which makes them less interesting to watch. Their main purposes seems to be to move the plot along, and act as a "Ballerina holder upper."

Maybe it's just because I'm not good enough at reading the mime, but the romantic dances are... not very romantic. They mostly seem to be the ballerina holder upper holding up the ballerina while she spins around on her big toe.

I don't know if there's non-transphobic/misogynistic way to do the comedy roles where male dancers play female characters, but Cinderella sure didn't manage it.

The plot of Giselle is really interesting (boy meets girl, girl dies when she finds out that boy has, girl joins chorus of vengeful ghosts, vengeful ghosts attempt to kill boy, girl saves boy), and I wonder if there have been modern retellings like there have of other old fairytales.

I'm pretty sure the human body is not designed to do any of that.

Which is all I have for now.

serrico

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

Current Mood: indescribable

kaberett

Reading. I continue to work my way through the She's A Beast archives, to a degree that is not necessarily ... uh ... optimal, in terms of all the other things I want to do...

I slowed down on LIFTOFF, on account of resuming reading from the start with A, and then this evening I tripped and fell and am. More. of the way through it. again.

Finished What Is Queer Food? by John Birdsall. Ultimately the argument is that the queerness is a function of community -- the role that food plays in eating together -- though he also tries at various points for "enjoying food is queer" (among other things), which I do not think I am the target audience for. (Having said which I am now wondering what it would take to convince me of that line of reasoning, and Ideas Are Stirring. Hmm.) Overall a mixture of anecdotes from culinary history and fiction to fill in events that went unrecorded; he does hold space for people to be complex and flawed, and I appreciated the history that was actually history, but -- alas, this did not really work for me.

Writing. Words. Continue. To be. Eked out.

Watching. The 2026 Migraine World Summit is ongoing and eating a lot of my time and brain; thus far nothing has made me actually vibrate with fury and I've had a couple of useful joining-the-dots moments, so mustn't grumble there, really. And I have finally watched the talks from last year's Day 2 that I missed due to time changes, and have started transferring my digital notes from last year into my notebook...

Playing. Inkulinati: we continue Not Dead Yet in the Exploders run on Master difficulty.

The Ridiculous Colours Game.

Sudoku... appears to have let go of my brain for now?

Cooking. This evening I have been attempting to remember how to make Spätzle, and got there eventually (part of the difficulty being that this is the first time I've made them since acquiring a dedicated Spätzlebrett, and I needed to reestablish correct consistency of the dough...)

Eating. This morning we engaged in a Weekend Morning Ritual of going down to the local fancy bakery and getting brunch from them. We also got Treats for Afternoon Tea; I am delighted that they'll supply me with cardamom buns that I don't have to actually make myself.

I have also been Craving Brownies, but not enough to actually make them myself (and also The Oven Is Broken), and consequently have eaten them courtesy of both Wagamama (ritual Thursday night takeaway) and London Zoo (Saturday afternoon tea).

Exploring. London Zoo! Saw creatures! Maybe I will even go back and edit in more details about the creatures! Creatures: good.

Several bimbles around local front gardens (etc) to enjoy Spring Flowers.

Growing. Harvested (and consumed!) more salad. Transplanted some garlic. Wrangled some more weeding. Have yet to sow any more things but really want to have Actual Plants this growing season so, uh, maybe that can be a priority for Breaks From Migraine World Summit, not that that's worked so far...

Observing. THE BAT.

And then for brunch this morning we took our breakfast slightly further than usual to a different park bench, this one surrounded by daffodils, and then additionally wandered a little way down the New River (neither new, nor a river) to see if the coots were doing things yet (which I have also been checking every time I go to the pharmacy to pick up meds). The coots aren't, BUT there were TEN EGYPTIAN GOSLINGS peeping about the place!!! At least one of whom was Extremely keen on coming All the way down the bank and plapping along the edge of the bricks, presumably because they were warm and felt nice on feet? Certainly two very gentle attempts to chase it back towards its parents got them contemplating hissing at me, and only persuaded it to maybe do the thing for about thirty seconds at most, so I gave up on that and just stood back and watched them for a bit, and then was very relieved that the foolhardy baby did upon parents Alarm Calling (as best we can tell about A Passing Dog) go FWEEP FWEEP FWEEP all the way back up and into the bundle of its siblings. An unexpected and very welcome delight.

infinitum_noctem posting in

fan_flashworks

Title: Mandrake Potting
Fandom: Harry Potter
Rating: G
Summary: Drawing of a mandrake half out of a pot, wailing, with earmuffs behind the pot.

( Read more... )

sovay

The wall-to-wall crowd of the memorial from which I have just returned testifies to the love poured out and returned by the guest of honor, but I would still rather have been in the worldline where they were present to be celebrated in more than memory.

Current Music: Jack Johnson, "Better Together"

shakalooloo posting in

scans_daily

Yeah, Cosmic Ghost Rider's in the team, but we do have Amadeus Cho to make up for it! And Marvel generously allowed the use of Gamora. And Abnett can get back to what he had been doing with Darkhawk.

Of course, a return to Abnett Guardians also means a return to after-action video logs!

( Read more... )

thisbluespirit

Keep forgetting to crosspost my

rainbowfic pieces & I'm still quite a bit behind, so have two:

Name: Watchdogs
Story: Starfall
Colors: Azul #15 (Through thick and thin)
Supplies and Styles: Novelty Beads (11 Years of Dreamwidth Space Month & Book of the Day Challenges - "Never alone.")
Word Count: 1794
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Mild illness.
Notes: 1313, Portcallan. Leion Valerno, Tana Veldiner, Iyana Valerno. Takes place straight after after Turn to Dust and a few days before Sweet Interlude. (Just a slight linking piece, but I wanted to post something.)
Summary: Leion recovers from Chiulder's work - with a little help.

Name: Missteps
Story: Starfall
Colors: Warm Heart #22 (Sorry); Azul #20 (Zest)
Supplies and Styles: Giftwrap + Silhouette + Novelty Beads (Oct Spooky Challenge 2020 - http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0g7cdJCp91r6aoq4o1_500.gif & September Secrets 11 Years of Rainbow fic - "It's in the palm of your hand now baby/It's a yes or no, no maybe" - Dark Horse, Katy Perry") + Pastels (

allbingo square "Bouquet of Withered Flowers - Rejected Love").
Word Count: 2361
Rating: Teen
Warnings: None.
Notes: 1313, Portcallan. Leion Valerno/Viyony Eseray, Kettah Jadinor, Diyela Eseray, Aolla Gerro, Vin Lorras.
Summary: Leion and Viyony attend the first night of the Sea Festival. Nothing goes according to plan.

siria

Duty
The Pitt | Whitaker, Abbot Gen | ~2700 words | Thanks to

sheafrotherdon for betaing. Episode fic for 2.10.

(Also on AO3)

( Dennis doesn't know if he's overreacting. )

glitteryv

Although they literally are THE world's biggest band right now, there might be some who have 0 idea as to who BTS actually are. Given that this Friday's comeback (OMG, IT'S SOOOOOOOOO SOON!!!ASLDKFJL;ASKDFJLASK;DFJLASD;K) kicks off what I can imagine will be a yearlong rollout on every type of media ACROSS THE ENTIRE PLANET, some folks might be curious abt the group and their music. However, with a 13-year discography + content AND given ARMY's . . . erm . . . intense enthusiasm, it's normal that there will be wariness from some ppl.

This 18-min video from Boracity Magazine manages to present a lot of info of the group AND the individual members PLUS also offer samples of their group and solo music. The content is slightly outdated since the video is from Dec. 2024. HOWEVER, it's comprehensive AND accessible enough to give folks a place to start their Borahae journey from.

ENJOY!

Watch on YouTube

cosmolinguist

I read something that seems particularly relevant on Long Covid Awareness Day, a day which as an online pal who has LC says says,

We are combatting willful ignorance. People actively do not want to know about Long Covid, and the long-term health consequences of Covid infections. They do not want to see us.

The thing I read is about "AI" as currently understood, and grief. And I'm glad it connects both of these things to covid.

Generative AI emerged during a global pandemic -- a global trauma of mass death (1.2 million people in the US died of COVID, and about 7 million globally -- these are, no doubt, figures that undercount how many actually died of the disease, let alone those like my son who died during that time period of other causes -- overdoses, suicide, murder, and deaths related and unrelated to the pandemic).

Mass trauma, mass death and, as such, mass grieving. But it was, at the time and still to this day, a grief interrupted, a grief buried, a grief denied, a grief unobserved. We were often not able to bury our dead, not able to hold funerals, not able to have wakes, not able to observe the rituals of death, not able to gather, to bring food, to hold and comfort one another.

And when we were told the pandemic was over -- it hasn't really ended; the World Health Organization says there were around 150,000 cases of COVID reported in the last month -- we didn't deal with our trauma. We didn't deal with our grief. We were supposed to bury our feelings; we were supposed to forget. It was back-to-school, back to work, back to "normal."

There was, in fact, a massive demonstration of grief – an outpouring of grieving in public – during COVID; and that was the Black Lives Matter movement, the protests that occurred in cities throughout the country particularly after the murder of George Floyd. This grief was not private or hidden; it was collective. This grief was not just personal, expressed by those impacted directly by racism and police violence; it demanded from protestors and onlookers, empathy, solidarity. This grief was expressive – even as we are always told with protest, as with grief, that that is not the “good way” to say it. The grief of Floyd’s death – and all the deaths – was not sufficient. It was not simply a marker or memorial of death; but it was an act of life, an act of repair. It was a demonstration of love and loss and fury; it was a commitment to the future.

dolorosa_12

Hot cross buns have reappeared at my favourite bakery in town (the time between them posting about this on their Instagram stories today, and me rushing out to the bakery to buy some was six minutes), everything is all wild garlic, all the time, and I hung my laundry on the washing line outdoors for the first time this year. All, in their way, are my personal markers of spring's return — although it began raining after lunch and I had to rush out into the garden to rescue everything before it had completely finished drying.

Yesterday I was in Cambridge for the afternoon. I went for a massage (the masseuse told me my shoulders and neck were the tensest she'd ever seen in a client), refilled my spice jars at the refill shop, and got my hair cut. My hairdresser, who is prone to belief in conspiracy theories and quackery, didn't even spout any nonsense this time around (apart from recommending black seed oil as a cure for all medical ailments), which was something of a relief.

After the haircut, I met Matthias for dinner at this restaurant, which was fantastic, and of course featured at least one dish involving wild garlic!

( I've read three books this week )

Today has been sleepy and slow: laundry, cups of coffee, hot cross buns, reading in the living room. For most of the morning I was following the sun around the room like a cat, basking. Now, I'm watching the rain on the windows.

Profile

beccaelizabeth

March 2026

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

Page Summary

bookviewcafe_rss_feed - The Time Machine, Redux
escapade_team in escapade_con - [IN PERSON] Escapade NEW Hotel Subscription Packages and Our Amazon Wish List!
goss - Signal boosting: Virtual Memorial for Minoanmiss
torachan - Daily Happiness
settiai - Didn't see that coming.
twistedchick - (no subject)
dialecticdreamer - Home Stretch (part 1 of 1, complete)
tcampbell1000 in scans_daily - Trancing with the Stars: JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE #27-28 (JLI 70)
luminousdaze in iconthat - Challenge 202: Celestial
princessofgeeks - More Heated Rivalry rewatch thoughts
lovelyangel - Birthday Freebies
hannah - Title: The Life You Build
catherineldf - Catherine Update
gingicat - virtual memorial for Minoanmiss
muccamukk - and now for something completely different
serrico - When I am older than these small goddamn hills
kaberett - vital functions
infinitum_noctem in fan_flashworks - Harry Potter: Fanart: Mandrake Potting
sovay - There's no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard
shakalooloo in scans_daily - Abnett's back writing Guardians!!!
thisbluespirit - Starfall Stories 53
siria - 2600 / Fic - The Pitt
glitteryv - Fandom 50 S4 Post 2: who is BTS?
cosmolinguist - Long Covid and other kinds of awareness
dolorosa_12 - The bees, adrift; the light, drifting

Style Credit

Style: Sky for Crossroads by branchandroot
Resources: Destined For Nothing

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Mar. 16th, 2026 05:22 am

beccaelizabeth's dreamwidth reading list

Network

The Time Machine, Redux

[IN PERSON] Escapade NEW Hotel Subscription Packages and Our Amazon Wish List!

Signal boosting: Virtual Memorial for Minoanmiss

Daily Happiness

Didn't see that coming.

(no subject)

Home Stretch (part 1 of 1, complete)

Trancing with the Stars: JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE #27-28 (JLI 70)

Challenge 202: Celestial

More Heated Rivalry rewatch thoughts

Birthday Freebies

Title: The Life You Build

Catherine Update

virtual memorial for Minoanmiss

and now for something completely different

When I am older than these small goddamn hills

vital functions

Harry Potter: Fanart: Mandrake Potting

There's no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard

Abnett's back writing Guardians!!!

Starfall Stories 53

2600 / Fic - The Pitt

Fandom 50 S4 Post 2: who is BTS?

Long Covid and other kinds of awareness

The bees, adrift; the light, drifting

Profile

March 2026

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags