World Book Day
Apr. 23rd, 2025 12:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
The official theme for World Book Day 2025 is:
"Read Your Way: Diverse Books for Every Mind"
This theme emphasizes the importance of inclusion and diversity in reading. It encourages readers to explore different voices, perspectives, and cultures through literature, promoting empathy and global understanding.
( Read more... )
"Read Your Way: Diverse Books for Every Mind"
This theme emphasizes the importance of inclusion and diversity in reading. It encourages readers to explore different voices, perspectives, and cultures through literature, promoting empathy and global understanding.
( Read more... )
Good News
Apr. 23rd, 2025 12:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Good news includes all the things which make us happy or otherwise feel good. It can be personal or public. We never know when something wonderful will happen, and when it does, most people want to share it with someone. It's disappointing when nobody is there to appreciate it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our joys and pat each other on the back.
What good news have you had recently? Are you anticipating any more? Have you found a cute picture or a video that makes you smile? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your life a little happier?
What good news have you had recently? Are you anticipating any more? Have you found a cute picture or a video that makes you smile? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your life a little happier?
[Books] Conclave - Richard Harris
Apr. 22nd, 2025 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
As mentioned previously, after watching the film, I decided to check out Conclave by Robert Harris.
There are a few differences between the novel and the film, but mostly they're minor changes (Lawrence = Lomeli in the novel, Benitez is Filipino in the novel rather than Mexican, etc). I do seem to recall that the turtle scene wasn't in the book; I'm kind of surprised that they added that for the movie, but it was a lovely character moment and Benitez looks kind of like a romance film protagonist in that scene, so I'm certainly not complaining.
Some of the scenes were more effective in the movie than the novel, I think. But that could be due to acting and directorial choices and so on. The one that comes to mind is the saying grace scene after Benitez is introduced to everyone - in the novel, Benitez just says the whole thing, and that's that. But in the film, he pauses after saying the usual spiel, and everyone thinks he's finished and starts to sit down - but then he continues, thanking the Sisters and reminding the others of the impoverished etc, and the effect is very striking.
There are some differences between the novel and the film that I did find interesting, even if the change doesn't affect the overall plot.
( Continued, spoilers )
Overall, I wouldn't say that the novel is a must-read if you liked the film, but I enjoyed it a lot and I think that if you wanted more after watching the movie, it's a good direction to go. Plus you get more into Lomeli's (Lawrence)'s head, etc. On the reverse, I don't think I would actually recommend it without seeing the film first, because the film really is rather good and there are a few things that I thought it did better. (Though I might be biased.)
There are a few differences between the novel and the film, but mostly they're minor changes (Lawrence = Lomeli in the novel, Benitez is Filipino in the novel rather than Mexican, etc). I do seem to recall that the turtle scene wasn't in the book; I'm kind of surprised that they added that for the movie, but it was a lovely character moment and Benitez looks kind of like a romance film protagonist in that scene, so I'm certainly not complaining.
Some of the scenes were more effective in the movie than the novel, I think. But that could be due to acting and directorial choices and so on. The one that comes to mind is the saying grace scene after Benitez is introduced to everyone - in the novel, Benitez just says the whole thing, and that's that. But in the film, he pauses after saying the usual spiel, and everyone thinks he's finished and starts to sit down - but then he continues, thanking the Sisters and reminding the others of the impoverished etc, and the effect is very striking.
There are some differences between the novel and the film that I did find interesting, even if the change doesn't affect the overall plot.
( Continued, spoilers )
Overall, I wouldn't say that the novel is a must-read if you liked the film, but I enjoyed it a lot and I think that if you wanted more after watching the movie, it's a good direction to go. Plus you get more into Lomeli's (Lawrence)'s head, etc. On the reverse, I don't think I would actually recommend it without seeing the film first, because the film really is rather good and there are a few things that I thought it did better. (Though I might be biased.)
Game Check-in: Wind Breaker -Rebel Heroes-
Apr. 22nd, 2025 11:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)

Inugami appeared in a hilarious way in chapter 3! Chouji calls him Wan-chan lmao. He's a puppy but he's trying to communicate through meows with an ally cat. Aw, Inugami's upset that Sako left Shishitouren...
It kinda sucks right now that attributes are so important but it's hard to make a full balanced team with so few characters out. The SSR versions are barred behind a low draw rate so you have to make due with one or two SSRs, some S's and the rest A's to split across attribute teams. I have one full same-attribute team but it's not balanced right, I think it's missing a striker and has 2 supporters, plus multiple A's.
Did Inugami tackle Sako?? 🤣 Oh, he though he was trying to kill himself by jumping......
This game made me realize Tsugeura speaks in Kansai-ben, guess I didn't pay attention when I watched the anime.
So Chouji challenged Umemiya, Wanijima challenged Chouji/Togame, then Inugami challenged Sako (who challenged Hiiragi), then Sako told Chouji to challenge him...oh Shishitouren.
It must've been really hard for Kanuma to leave Arima to do what Wanijima asked of him. Man, this group is so dumb, they should've done their research before attacking Shishitouren. 😅 To be fair the big brother didn't know until last minute so the younger brother is the one making him look stupid.
First time seeing Chouji look like that and getting excited! YEAH show Kraken their mistakes!!!
Wow, I got x2 of the highest ranking film rolls, 1 highest ranking notebook and 8k of the green coins for ranking in PVP!
I ended up buying the special pass to support the game and because I'm greedy and want more stuff haha.
I tried to pull for the new event Kaji but got SSR Hiiragi (which is fine), I'll just keep trying.
The chat with Kiryuu about crane games when Sakura compliments him is cute, almost made me ship it. <3 I guess I kinda of already do, in a polyam way? And the chat about games reaching end of service is too relatable. T__T
Oh, I reached the level cap at 38. :O So that's what the yellow coin shop is for... Looks like you get them in place of exp for mission rewards etc, wonder how long it'll take to get 10k.
The chat with Kaji about how the movie he borrowed from Enomoto on the rainy day wasn't as funny as usual because he had no one to watch it with. And encouraging Sakura to spend time after school with his classmates. And you can choose to have Sakura say "I-I'll...try...inviting them." :') Ugh Kaji is a great mentor.
The biggest pain about this game is matching the scene cards to the characters, some are character exclusive, some are attribute exclusive and some are card exclusive. Sometimes I'm gonna need to really sit down and save my parties. I didn't have enough to form full balanced parties before but I might now. And I need to level up more A and S scene cards to make up for some of my SSR scene cards being so exclusive... (You still get some stats if you mismatch a card but I don't know if it's worth it??)
Insect Apocalypse
Apr. 22nd, 2025 10:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Insects are disappearing due to agriculture -- and many other drivers, new research reveals
New paper highlights 500+ interconnected drivers behind global insect decline.
Insects are disappearing at an alarming rate worldwide, but why? Agricultural intensification tops the list of proposed reasons, but there are many other, interconnected drivers that have an impact, according to new research.
( Read more... )
New paper highlights 500+ interconnected drivers behind global insect decline.
Insects are disappearing at an alarming rate worldwide, but why? Agricultural intensification tops the list of proposed reasons, but there are many other, interconnected drivers that have an impact, according to new research.
( Read more... )
Fandom 50 (3/50): Pokemon TCGP
Apr. 22nd, 2025 08:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I have been playing way too much Pokemon TCG Pocket. I mostly used to play it for the simple pleasure of card collecting. They do a great job with the animations, as a Pack Opening Simulator. There's a lot of illusion of choice, like when you go to open a pack, there's a circle of them for you to choose from - you can spin them around and find the that's flipped backwards (clearly special!), or you can rotate them around yourself and do your own rituals of superstition. The animations and sounds are all very tactile and satisfying, like the foil crisply tearing, and the shuffle of your new cards slotting themselves away. They have nice-looking rare versions of cards, like gold ones, and full art cards with immersive animations. And their latest series of booster packs introduced shiny cards, which are very pretty and fun to collect too!
But then came the new PVP ranked mode.
( cut for length )
But then came the new PVP ranked mode.
( cut for length )
movies
Apr. 22nd, 2025 10:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I don't watch a lot of movies, except I was on planes with two very long library ebooks to read and so of course my brain was like "movie time!", sigh. Anyways.
The Wild Robot, 2024. I basically more or less liked this but I didn't love it. Maybe it's just that I'm old and it's a kids' movie, but it felt a little rushed, like there were several times I found myself thinking that a scene would have been better and hit harder if they had just given it a couple more beats or a little more space to breathe. I was also disappointed that they backed down from the "predation is a normal part of animal life and predator animals aren't "evil" or "bad guys"" message with the idea that actually predators could just refrain from predation and "choose kindness" if they wanted to. Some nice animation though, and some really nicely done worldbuilding in the background details.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E., 2015. I had never seen this but am sort of adjacent to the fandom-once-removed, like, some people I follow on Tumblr for other reasons sometimes reblog stuff about it. It was fun and I'm sorry they never made another one, although apparently one of the stars was like a serial harasser/abuser so I suppose I'm glad for everyone who didn't have to work with him again.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, 2024. I didn't actually watch this on the plane, but Q started it on the plane and didn't have time to finish it and I was sort of curious about it so I rented it for him. It was fun but wasn't great. There were definitely moments when they hit a good gag or a good vein in the nostalgia mines, but there was a lot going on and it didn't all mesh together that well, and it kind of felt like they got to the last act and were like "shit we'd better resolve all this" and some of that was pretty abrupt. The Elfman theme is unbeatable though, and it was interesting to see the story they came up with for Lydia's life.
Favorite parts: ( Read more... )
(I still think the 2016 Ghostbusters was by far the best of this sort of nostalgia-mining, and I will forever be annoyed that dudes managed to sink not only any sequels but any other genderbending reboots. A crass, gross woman Beetlejuice - maybe playing against Keaton instead of replacing him - might have been a fun character.)
The Wild Robot, 2024. I basically more or less liked this but I didn't love it. Maybe it's just that I'm old and it's a kids' movie, but it felt a little rushed, like there were several times I found myself thinking that a scene would have been better and hit harder if they had just given it a couple more beats or a little more space to breathe. I was also disappointed that they backed down from the "predation is a normal part of animal life and predator animals aren't "evil" or "bad guys"" message with the idea that actually predators could just refrain from predation and "choose kindness" if they wanted to. Some nice animation though, and some really nicely done worldbuilding in the background details.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E., 2015. I had never seen this but am sort of adjacent to the fandom-once-removed, like, some people I follow on Tumblr for other reasons sometimes reblog stuff about it. It was fun and I'm sorry they never made another one, although apparently one of the stars was like a serial harasser/abuser so I suppose I'm glad for everyone who didn't have to work with him again.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, 2024. I didn't actually watch this on the plane, but Q started it on the plane and didn't have time to finish it and I was sort of curious about it so I rented it for him. It was fun but wasn't great. There were definitely moments when they hit a good gag or a good vein in the nostalgia mines, but there was a lot going on and it didn't all mesh together that well, and it kind of felt like they got to the last act and were like "shit we'd better resolve all this" and some of that was pretty abrupt. The Elfman theme is unbeatable though, and it was interesting to see the story they came up with for Lydia's life.
Favorite parts: ( Read more... )
(I still think the 2016 Ghostbusters was by far the best of this sort of nostalgia-mining, and I will forever be annoyed that dudes managed to sink not only any sequels but any other genderbending reboots. A crass, gross woman Beetlejuice - maybe playing against Keaton instead of replacing him - might have been a fun character.)
Fandom stuff
Apr. 22nd, 2025 08:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
- I signed up for
seasonsofdrabbles. Come join me! So I have someone to write for.
- After my first
hurtcomfortex idea got increasingly complicated with less and less direct h/c, I now have a new idea that is directly h/c and much simpler. Which is great, because I can tell it's going to be a long 'un. (That's why the writing period for this exchange is so long, right? Because h/c takes lots of words??) So now I have 400 words, and the deadline isn't for like six weeks! Woo!
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
- After my first
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Poet's Corner: Leaving the Psychologist: An Abecedarian Ekphrastic by Grisel Y. Acosta
Apr. 22nd, 2025 10:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I love an ekphrastic and this is proof that poetic forms we might think of as nothing but wordplay or for children (e.g., abecedarians or acrostics) can be very sophisticated and serious.
Leaving the Psychologist: An Abecedarian Ekphrastic by Grisel Y. Acosta
after Remedios Varo’s Mujer saliendo del psicoanalista
another face has sprouted in my chest
beastly, that’s me, a super freak
cavorting with your skull in my grasp
displaced personalities cannot be cloaked
ever, they will grow like a haunted
fever of wispy hair
gathered in a basket, along with time, a
half-filled vial of poison &
illusions of tick-tock-clocking syringe
just let me explain:
killing myself is not an option
let me try to live with my
multiple personas and their infinite masks, why
not weave them into a poncho
of chartreuse green, grow them,
pouch them, wear them like horns
question my memories, befriend
radical thoughts and nightmares
solemn my specters behind
tenuous doors with intimidating bells
understand the unexplainable, develop
venom as Tilda Swinton couture
when dreams become a snail shell planted
X, marks the spot of this treasure I shall reveal,
yell on a mountain, YES, this is mine, I will
zap my fears—I can face all the faces, darling, of course I can
--
This is the work of art which inspired the piece:

Leaving the Psychologist: An Abecedarian Ekphrastic by Grisel Y. Acosta
after Remedios Varo’s Mujer saliendo del psicoanalista
another face has sprouted in my chest
beastly, that’s me, a super freak
cavorting with your skull in my grasp
displaced personalities cannot be cloaked
ever, they will grow like a haunted
fever of wispy hair
gathered in a basket, along with time, a
half-filled vial of poison &
illusions of tick-tock-clocking syringe
just let me explain:
killing myself is not an option
let me try to live with my
multiple personas and their infinite masks, why
not weave them into a poncho
of chartreuse green, grow them,
pouch them, wear them like horns
question my memories, befriend
radical thoughts and nightmares
solemn my specters behind
tenuous doors with intimidating bells
understand the unexplainable, develop
venom as Tilda Swinton couture
when dreams become a snail shell planted
X, marks the spot of this treasure I shall reveal,
yell on a mountain, YES, this is mine, I will
zap my fears—I can face all the faces, darling, of course I can
--
This is the work of art which inspired the piece:

What do I do instead of reblogging?
Apr. 23rd, 2025 02:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Reblogging is a core feature of Tumblr that doesn't really translate well to Dreamwidth. There are a couple of different ways to replicate it, but which one you pick depends on what your goal was when reblogging a particular post.
"I want to be able to refer back to this post at a later date."
The feature you want for this is likely Memories. Memories are a site-specific bookmarking system that predate tagging. In those times, a lot of LJ users would use it to organize their own posts, such as keeping track of their fics. (Tags were introduced a relatively short time before Dreamwidth split off from LiveJournal.) Memories can be public, access-locked, or private. Any Memories you make on Dreamwidth will be of Dreamwidth posts only.
Unlike with Tumblr's reblog feature, if you add someone else's post to your Memories and the original poster deletes it or locks it, you will no longer have access to it, but it does give you a way to keep track of posts made by other people.
"I want to be able to spread the word about this post."
The way most Dreamwidth users do this is by making their own post about it, either in their own journal or on a community, and including a quick blurb and a link to what you want to share. (If it's a post by another Dreamwidth user, it's considered polite to ask in the comments if OP is okay with you sharing the link around. Most people are okay with this if they made a public post, but some may ask you to make your own post about the topic instead, especially if their own post is access-locked.)
That said, there's also technically a workaround made to mimic reblogs, made by
astolat (yes, that Astolat),
ljwrites, and
melannen. I haven't tried it myself and don't particularly want to, so there aren't a lot of questions I can answer about it. However, I would say that it would still be polite to ask for permission to reblog a post in this case, especially since, as far as I'm aware and unlike with Tumblr reblogs, the original poster will not automatically be made aware of your reblogging.
Interestingly, I've heard that this reblogging tool can also work on some non-Dreamwidth site links, such as from AO3.
"I want to share this cool, funny, or interesting thing with other people."
Did a friend or someone else you subscribe to make a post that you thought was particularly funny or insightful? I recommend sharing it at
metaquotes! Metaquotes is a community specifically dedicated to sharing fun and interesting things made by other people. It's not very active at the moment, but with a little work, we can change that...
"I have something I want to add to this post."
If what you want is to share your thoughts on a topic, I recommend replying to the post with a comment! If it's something you would have put in the tags or comment section of a reblog (and isn't rude), I can about guarantee that the original poster would be interested in receiving it.
There are exceptions; if you feel like your comment might derail too much from the original post, or if you manage to exceed the character limit for one comment, you might consider making your own post (with a link to the original), and replying to the original post with a link to your own.
And those are the basics! You may want to mix-and-match on these, depending on the content and your goals for it; for example, if someone posts something really funny that you want to share, you can reply to the post, and post to Metaquotes, and link back to it in a post of your own. But overall, these options should cover most of your needs.
If you have any questions, or if there's something I missed, please feel free to let me know in the comments!
"I want to be able to refer back to this post at a later date."
The feature you want for this is likely Memories. Memories are a site-specific bookmarking system that predate tagging. In those times, a lot of LJ users would use it to organize their own posts, such as keeping track of their fics. (Tags were introduced a relatively short time before Dreamwidth split off from LiveJournal.) Memories can be public, access-locked, or private. Any Memories you make on Dreamwidth will be of Dreamwidth posts only.
Unlike with Tumblr's reblog feature, if you add someone else's post to your Memories and the original poster deletes it or locks it, you will no longer have access to it, but it does give you a way to keep track of posts made by other people.
"I want to be able to spread the word about this post."
The way most Dreamwidth users do this is by making their own post about it, either in their own journal or on a community, and including a quick blurb and a link to what you want to share. (If it's a post by another Dreamwidth user, it's considered polite to ask in the comments if OP is okay with you sharing the link around. Most people are okay with this if they made a public post, but some may ask you to make your own post about the topic instead, especially if their own post is access-locked.)
That said, there's also technically a workaround made to mimic reblogs, made by
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Interestingly, I've heard that this reblogging tool can also work on some non-Dreamwidth site links, such as from AO3.
"I want to share this cool, funny, or interesting thing with other people."
Did a friend or someone else you subscribe to make a post that you thought was particularly funny or insightful? I recommend sharing it at
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
"I have something I want to add to this post."
If what you want is to share your thoughts on a topic, I recommend replying to the post with a comment! If it's something you would have put in the tags or comment section of a reblog (and isn't rude), I can about guarantee that the original poster would be interested in receiving it.
There are exceptions; if you feel like your comment might derail too much from the original post, or if you manage to exceed the character limit for one comment, you might consider making your own post (with a link to the original), and replying to the original post with a link to your own.
And those are the basics! You may want to mix-and-match on these, depending on the content and your goals for it; for example, if someone posts something really funny that you want to share, you can reply to the post, and post to Metaquotes, and link back to it in a post of your own. But overall, these options should cover most of your needs.
If you have any questions, or if there's something I missed, please feel free to let me know in the comments!
What do I do instead of reblogging?
Apr. 22nd, 2025 08:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Reblogging is a core feature of Tumblr that doesn't really translate well to Dreamwidth. There are a couple of different ways to replicate it, but which one you pick depends on what your goal was when reblogging a particular post.
"I want to be able to refer back to this post at a later date."
The feature you want for this is likely Memories. Memories are a site-specific bookmarking system that predate tagging. In those times, a lot of LJ users would use it to organize their own posts, such as keeping track of their fics. (Tags were introduced a relatively short time before Dreamwidth split off from LiveJournal.) Memories can be public, access-locked, or private. Any Memories you make on Dreamwidth will be of Dreamwidth posts only.
Unlike with Tumblr's reblog feature, if you add someone else's post to your Memories and the original poster deletes it or locks it, you will no longer have access to it, but it does give you a way to keep track of posts made by other people.
"I want to be able to spread the word about this post."
The way most Dreamwidth users do this is by making their own post about it, either in their own journal or on a community, and including a quick blurb and a link to what you want to share. (If it's a post by another Dreamwidth user, it's considered polite to ask in the comments if OP is okay with you sharing the link around. Most people are okay with this if they made a public post, but some may ask you to make your own post about the topic instead, especially if their own post is access-locked.)
That said, there's also technically a workaround made to mimic reblogs, made by
astolat (yes, that Astolat),
ljwrites, and
melannen. I haven't tried it myself and don't particularly want to, so there aren't a lot of questions I can answer about it. However, I would say that it would still be polite to ask for permission to reblog a post in this case, especially since, as far as I'm aware and unlike with Tumblr reblogs, the original poster will not automatically be made aware of your reblogging.
Interestingly, I've heard that this reblogging tool can also work on some non-Dreamwidth site links, such as from AO3.
"I want to share this cool, funny, or interesting thing with other people."
Did a friend or someone else you subscribe to make a post that you thought was particularly funny or insightful? I recommend sharing it at
metaquotes! Metaquotes is a community specifically dedicated to sharing fun and interesting things made by other people. It's not very active at the moment, but with a little work, we can change that...
"I have something I want to add to this post."
If what you want is to share your thoughts on a topic, I recommend replying to the post with a comment! If it's something you would have put in the tags or comment section of a reblog (and isn't rude), I can about guarantee that the original poster would be interested in receiving it.
There are exceptions; if you feel like your comment might derail too much from the original post, or if you manage to exceed the character limit for one comment, you might consider making your own post (with a link to the original), and replying to the original post with a link to your own.
And those are the basics! You may want to mix-and-match on these, depending on the content and your goals for it; for example, if someone posts something really funny that you want to share, you can reply to the post, and post to Metaquotes, and link back to it in a post of your own. But overall, these options should cover most of your needs.
If you have any questions, or if there's something I missed, please feel free to let me know in the comments!
"I want to be able to refer back to this post at a later date."
The feature you want for this is likely Memories. Memories are a site-specific bookmarking system that predate tagging. In those times, a lot of LJ users would use it to organize their own posts, such as keeping track of their fics. (Tags were introduced a relatively short time before Dreamwidth split off from LiveJournal.) Memories can be public, access-locked, or private. Any Memories you make on Dreamwidth will be of Dreamwidth posts only.
Unlike with Tumblr's reblog feature, if you add someone else's post to your Memories and the original poster deletes it or locks it, you will no longer have access to it, but it does give you a way to keep track of posts made by other people.
"I want to be able to spread the word about this post."
The way most Dreamwidth users do this is by making their own post about it, either in their own journal or on a community, and including a quick blurb and a link to what you want to share. (If it's a post by another Dreamwidth user, it's considered polite to ask in the comments if OP is okay with you sharing the link around. Most people are okay with this if they made a public post, but some may ask you to make your own post about the topic instead, especially if their own post is access-locked.)
That said, there's also technically a workaround made to mimic reblogs, made by
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Interestingly, I've heard that this reblogging tool can also work on some non-Dreamwidth site links, such as from AO3.
"I want to share this cool, funny, or interesting thing with other people."
Did a friend or someone else you subscribe to make a post that you thought was particularly funny or insightful? I recommend sharing it at
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
"I have something I want to add to this post."
If what you want is to share your thoughts on a topic, I recommend replying to the post with a comment! If it's something you would have put in the tags or comment section of a reblog (and isn't rude), I can about guarantee that the original poster would be interested in receiving it.
There are exceptions; if you feel like your comment might derail too much from the original post, or if you manage to exceed the character limit for one comment, you might consider making your own post (with a link to the original), and replying to the original post with a link to your own.
And those are the basics! You may want to mix-and-match on these, depending on the content and your goals for it; for example, if someone posts something really funny that you want to share, you can reply to the post, and post to Metaquotes, and link back to it in a post of your own. But overall, these options should cover most of your needs.
If you have any questions, or if there's something I missed, please feel free to let me know in the comments!
Purrcy, bees
Apr. 22nd, 2025 10:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
#Purrcy was both happy and regal, sitting in my seat on the sofa with the sun coming the skylight on it. See how he smiles at me in Cat!
#cats #CatsOfBluesky
Purrcy the tuxedo tabby is lightly curled on a brocade cushion, looking at the camera with ears alert, whiskers spread wide and white, eyes light green and pupils just slits. He is clearly very happy, as sunlight shines on the cushion and most of him.

I sat out on the porch to eat breakfast today, and the local hive of feral honeybees was awake, buzzing about looking for nectar. The crabapple flowers are opening, so they seem to have their timing just right. The carpenter bees were also out, inspecting the eaves. It was really good to have that 1/2 hour, even though it was so late in the morning (I had errands to run before my stomach was ready for breakfast) that I didn't see or hear any migrants.
#cats #CatsOfBluesky
Purrcy the tuxedo tabby is lightly curled on a brocade cushion, looking at the camera with ears alert, whiskers spread wide and white, eyes light green and pupils just slits. He is clearly very happy, as sunlight shines on the cushion and most of him.
I sat out on the porch to eat breakfast today, and the local hive of feral honeybees was awake, buzzing about looking for nectar. The crabapple flowers are opening, so they seem to have their timing just right. The carpenter bees were also out, inspecting the eaves. It was really good to have that 1/2 hour, even though it was so late in the morning (I had errands to run before my stomach was ready for breakfast) that I didn't see or hear any migrants.
Recent Reading: The Starless Sea
Apr. 22nd, 2025 06:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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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.
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Recent Reading: The Starless Sea
Apr. 22nd, 2025 06:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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.
I also enjoyed the attitude the book takes towards its protagonist, Zachary. Not too much of a spoiler, but Zachary is confronted with a magical door into this secret society when he's about 11. But he doesn't open it. Years and years later, when Zachary is 24, is when his role in this society begins. While I adored those kinds of child isekai stories as a child myself, it was fun to see a story about a child who didn't quite dare answer the call at the time, but still got his chance for an adventure later.
The book also really captures Zachary's sense of having missed out. By the time he arrives, the secret society is essentially on its deathbed, and while Zachary enjoys his exploration of it, several times we catch him thinking longingly of what it would have been like to be a part of things at the height of the society's relevance and power. Nevertheless, Zachary is there at a key time, and he understands that by the end.
On the whole, the book is frustratingly short on details. I don't consider myself someone who needs every riddle solved and every question answered to enjoy a story (in fact, a bit of lingering mystery can really make the tale!), but when I hit 75% completion on this lengthy audiobook and still had no real idea what the purpose of the secret society at its core was, I found myself annoyed. It began to feel that Morgenstern had no answers, and was keeping things vague and whimsical to cover up a lack of depth. There is value, particularly in this kind of story where the magic is ill-defined and fate plays a present if unclear role, in not laying things out too plainly. It leaves room for imagination, it keeps things a little mysterious and exciting. But at some point, we need enough answers to know why we should care about these things, and the presence of several characters who could have given Zachary answers but never did felt like they were being kept from the readers.
Morgenstern's prose was enjoyable, and both Zachary and deuterogonist Dorian were decent characters (no one can stop me form envisioning Dragon Age's middle-aged Dorian Pavus, side shaves and all, when thinking about Dorian in this story). I will also give The Starless Sea a shout-out for including video games explicitly in its conception of story-telling (Zachary begins the "real" start of the book as a graduate student studying games with an interest in branching narratives).
Morgenstern does a solid job of weaving together the various parts of the story which start out feeling quite disparate, though as noted, greater clarity would have improved things. It was fun to see how seemingly irrelevant things eventually fell into place. However, themes and descriptions at times felt circular, particularly given that the plot feels stalled for large portions of the story. It's often unclear what Zachary is doing here, besides hanging out.
Perhaps owing to the absence of clarity about the point of these goings-on, the story rarely grabbed me. I liked it and I was curious about what happened next, but I was almost never truly gripped. It was never the kind of book I'd stay up late for. I also was not a huge fan of Kat's sections of the book. To have made it through so much of this audiobook only to have the long-awaited climax repeatedly interrupted with Kat's diary was driving me crazy by the final story segments. She gave us some interesting perspective from the "real" world, but the timing of it was incredibly frustrating.
I certainly don't regret the time I spent with The Starless Sea, and I was pleased with the final scenes for Zachary and Dorian, but it's not something I'll ever read again, and it makes me a little wary of The Night Circus, which is loosely on my TBR and has received significant praise. Maybe this one was just not quite my cup of tea. I'll still give Morgenstern another chance though; maybe a shorter book of hers will be more focused.
Crossposted to
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Dreamwidth for Tumblr Users Tutorial Compilation
Apr. 23rd, 2025 01:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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Honestly, even aside from me writing my own, there are a lot of tutorials out there for Tumblr users who might be interested in getting started on Dreamwidth. I'm thinking it wouldn't hurt to get all of the ones we know about rounded up in one place.
Here's the ones I know about:
Dreamwidth's official Frequently Asked Questions list - Not exactly in the spirit of the rest of these, but if you can't find something somewhere else, it's worth checking here! Or vice-versa.
Basic Dreamwidth for Tumblr Users by
star-anise; has some very good intro stuff and basic comparisons.
A Tumblr User's Guide to Dreamwidth by
aniamra; has some useful Dreamwidth etiquette. (Full disclosure, it also links an older post about finding things to do and making new friends that I wrote.)
DW for Tumblrites Masterpost by
potofsoup; this one has a lot of really fantastic information. Highly recommended.
Part 1: How do I follow a blog?
Part 1.5: How do I find people to follow?
Part 2: Posting and HTML basics
Part 2.5: Images
Part 2.8: Backdating and Drafting
Part 2.9: Scheduling Posts
Part 3: Dash/Reading Page curation (Subscription Filters)
Part 3.5: Access vs. Join vs. Subscribe, and targeted friends-only posts (Access Filters)
Part 4: Likes and Reblogs
Part 4.5: Stickies, Sidebar, Anon Askbox
Part 5: I miss yelling in the tags! (subtext, icons, and moods)
Part 5.5: Actual tags tho
Part 6: Themes and mobile
Part 7: Sideblogs and tag filters
Part 8: Paid features
The official Dreamwidth News post from December 3rd, 2018, right around when Tumblr announced it was banning a certain type of content. While not everything is up to date, there should still be a lot of information in the comments here. I also recommend reading the news post itself, or any
dw_news posts, as it'll give you an idea of what the staff here is like. Ditto on the comments reflecting the Dreamwidth community at large. Yeah, there's some trolls and jerks out there, but by and large, Dreamwidth is a pretty welcoming place, if I do say so myself.
A quick introduction to Dreamwidth's Rich Text Editor by
teres
How to Post Fiction or Other Writing on Dreamwidth by
ysabetwordsmith
Guides by
soc_puppet (me): I'm sharing the
newcomers links, because that's what I have most easily at hand, but if you check, you can probably find them mirrored at
the_great_tumblr_purge on the same date.
What to post about on Dreamwidth
Dreamwidth alternatives to talking in the tags
A quick guide to mood themes
The (beta) Create Entries page
Personal Communities: Dreamwidth's "side blogs"
What do I do instead of reblogging?
That's all I can think of/am aware of at the moment! If you know of any others, please link them in the comments.
Here's the ones I know about:
Dreamwidth's official Frequently Asked Questions list - Not exactly in the spirit of the rest of these, but if you can't find something somewhere else, it's worth checking here! Or vice-versa.
Basic Dreamwidth for Tumblr Users by
A Tumblr User's Guide to Dreamwidth by
DW for Tumblrites Masterpost by
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Click here for the table of contents
Part 1: How do I follow a blog?
Part 1.5: How do I find people to follow?
Part 2: Posting and HTML basics
Part 2.5: Images
Part 2.8: Backdating and Drafting
Part 2.9: Scheduling Posts
Part 3: Dash/Reading Page curation (Subscription Filters)
Part 3.5: Access vs. Join vs. Subscribe, and targeted friends-only posts (Access Filters)
Part 4: Likes and Reblogs
Part 4.5: Stickies, Sidebar, Anon Askbox
Part 5: I miss yelling in the tags! (subtext, icons, and moods)
Part 5.5: Actual tags tho
Part 6: Themes and mobile
Part 7: Sideblogs and tag filters
Part 8: Paid features
The official Dreamwidth News post from December 3rd, 2018, right around when Tumblr announced it was banning a certain type of content. While not everything is up to date, there should still be a lot of information in the comments here. I also recommend reading the news post itself, or any
![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png)
A quick introduction to Dreamwidth's Rich Text Editor by
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
How to Post Fiction or Other Writing on Dreamwidth by
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Guides by
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
What to post about on Dreamwidth
Dreamwidth alternatives to talking in the tags
A quick guide to mood themes
The (beta) Create Entries page
Personal Communities: Dreamwidth's "side blogs"
What do I do instead of reblogging?
That's all I can think of/am aware of at the moment! If you know of any others, please link them in the comments.