alias_sqbr

1. The weather continues to feel better. Still too hot, but much better than earlier this week. I can tell the cats appreciate it, too, as the past couple days they were just puddles on the floor all day and didn't really move or do much, whereas today they were getting up and asking for food during the day.

2. A couple weeks ago I discovered this cookie bakery on instagram. Ever since I liked a few bakery related posts, the algorhythm is always giving me local bakery stuff (some of which is within SoCal but not exactly local if I'm not going near there for other reasons, but most of it is actually close enough that I'd go there just to go there). This place is about 8 miles away, so I decided it would make a good bike trip at some point on a day off. I had been planning to go this week one day since I'm off all week, but the heat made it impossible, since they don't open till ten. But today was not too bad, so I put in an order the night before (they suggest to do so as they can sell out) and headed out to arrive when they open so I could pick up my cookies. I got a six pack with two sea salt chocolate chip, one peanut butter, one Earl Gray and vanilla, and two ube Earl Gray. Then when I arrived, there were more that hadn't been on the menu so I got two jam ones, one raspberry rose, and one lemon citron, and then a neopolitan slice. So far I've tried the peanut butter and chocolate chip ones and they're so good! The cookies are expensive, but they're also huge. Plus this is a very small operation (it was literally the owner behind the counter) and I am willing to pay a little more to support a small local business.

3. The bike ride itself was very nice, despite being a little later in the day than I would prefer. I made sure to put on sunscreen, and wore a hat, so hopefully didn't get too much sun. Since I was getting close to the shop a little before they were set to open, I found a cafe on the way and got a guava matcha latte to cool off, which was very delicious. Riding home I could smell the cookies in my bike basket behind me!

4. The other day when my step-sister came and cleared some of her stuff out of one of our sheds, there was a car seat (not a baby seat but literally the back bench seat of a car, which I believe is not even from a car she owns anymore) that she left for us to put out on the curb. Unlike most stuff that might get picked up by someone, I knew this stood almost no chance of anyone claiming it, so after a couple days I put in a request to the city, and they finally came to pick it up today. During the week or so it was waiting, our next door neighbors added a bunch of their stuff as well, so there was plenty for the truck to pick up. (Some of their stuff did actually get taken by random passers-by, but a lot of it was just junk, as they are still clearing out after the grandpa (a hoarder) died earlier this year.)

5. I had a good but frustrating Blue Prince run today lol. ( spoiler-ish )

6. This was from the other day, but Jasper was sleeping on my desk most of the afternoon today, too. :)

torachan

Recently Finished
Death on Board
First in a new-to-me historical murder mystery series set at the turn of the century. A governess escorting her charge from America back home to England to start boarding school encounters a series of mysterious deaths onboard the ship. It was just all right. There are a few more books in the series and I will probably check them out, but I'm not sure I would rush out to read another series by this author.

Miss Morton Takes the Waters
There's a new Miss Morton book! I just happened to see it on Amazon. I do like this series and am glad it seems there will be another after this.

Murder at Gulls Nest
Another new-to-me historical murder mystery series lol. This one seems to be actually new, though, and there is just one more book after this (so far). A former nun investigates the disappearance of a friend who also left their order. I liked it and will definitely check out the sequel.

A Stocking Full of Spies
Most recent in the Ministry of Unladylike Activity series of middle grade mysteries by the author of the Murder Most Unladylike books. I continue to enjoy this series and hope that there are more books to come.

Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire
For people who like reading wikipedia entries lol. But seriously, this is a book about the history of the empire, covering all three trilogies and including material from various shows and stand-alone movies that are part of the current canon universe. I have not watched all the stuff it covers (most notably the Clone Wars) but it doesn't matter, because it's covering all the lore for you! I liked it a lot.

Star Trek: Lower Decks vol. 2
This second volume of Lower Decks comics was not written by Ryan North, but is just as funny as the first run. Still not as good as the actual show itself, but I have yet to read tie-in comics that are.

Fruitcake
Cute middle grade graphic novel (loosely autobiographical) about a boy coming to terms with his sexuality in small town Texas. This is apparently the third book in a series, which I didn't realize when I picked it up, but it's 100% stand-alone.

sanguinity

I actually published this a week ago and several of you have found it already, but just in case there are others who would like to know... Hey, new Flight of the Heron fic!

This Glorious Field
The Flight of the Heron
Ewen/Keith, background Ewen/Alison
First Kiss, Love Tokens, Getting Together, Relationship Negotiation, Military Metaphors, Polyamory

All the worst days of Keith's life had taken place in the rain — and now, too, the best.

A direct sequel to "A Duty Discharged", set the next morning.

I'd always meant the ambiguous relationships of "A Duty Discharged" to eventually resolve into poly; this is the story where I make it happen. Originally I'd planned for there to be an Alison section in this also, and spent a good long while intermittently staring at the draft, happy with the first bit and unhappy/stuck with the Alison bit. But a couple of weeks ago I pulled it out again and thought hang on, this first bit is a complete story, and decided that the as-yet-unwritten Alison section could be its own future story. In the process of publishing this, I also pulled "Manoeuvres Under Fire" into the same series, since in hindsight it's clearly part of the same continuity.

Now that I've had a week of them all sitting together, I'm not sure that "Manoeuvres Under Fire" isn't itself the missing Alison story! It's certainly from Alison's point-of-view, and while it doesn't show how they got from a vee to a triad (what I was originally attempting to do), I'm not sure there even was a Big Significant Moment of Keith/Alison first getting together. Rather, I'm thinking there was a slow evolution from purely metamours to being more involved with each other. That is, the Big Significant Moment for Keith/Alison (if there is such a moment!) might be after "Manoeuvres," rather than before it.

But there's plenty of time to play with that. I've got two other big projects I'm trying to polish off before 2026 is out, and that will be more than enough to keep me busy...

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susieboo posting in

booknook

Hey everyone!! In the spirit of Halloween and autumn, I thought I'd do some rapid-fire recommendations for book series you may not have heard of. These are dark, creepy, and/or magical, and ready to be binge-read.

IF YOU ENJOY: Coraline, Holly Black, The Lottery

The Secrets of Eden Eld by Kate Alice Marshall

A trilogy set in the sleepy small town of Eden Eld, the first book Thirteens begins with Eleanor moving in with her aunt and uncle after losing her mother. Ellie starts to notice strange things about her new home, things that no one else seems to notice, save for her new friends Pip and Otto. As the trio start to investigate, they notice a concerning pattern: every thirteen years, three thirteen-year-olds go missing from the town and are never heard from again. It's been thirteen years since the last disappearance... and they all just turned thirteen. A delightfully creepy coming-of-age story with folklore motifs galore.

🦇

IF YOU ENJOY: The Craft, Pretty Little Liars, My Best Friend's Exorcism

The Merciless by Danielle Vega

Sofia Flores is scared to be the new girl, but quickly finds girls who take her under their wing and give her something she never had at her old school: acceptance. Ultra-religious and clean-cut, Sofia's new friends are the life preserver she needs after a chaotic year. She's eager to bond with them and cement herself as part of the group, even accepting when they offer to baptize her. When the school bad girl, Brooklyn, also shows interest in Sofia, the clique's leader Riley expresses concern - for Brooklyn. She's out-of-control and is bound to hurt somebody, and Riley says she wants to help her get on the right track. Sofia agrees to help however she can, but is quickly in over her head when she finds Brooklyn bound and gagged in the basement of her new friend's house. It's time for an exorcism. This four-book series is a nostalgic favorite of mine; a Southern Gothic teen drama, The Merciless series is fun, fast-paced, and high on drama.

🦇

IF YOU ENJOY: The Dresden Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, film noir

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

A long-running urban fantasy series, about a young girl who discovers a world of magic and danger... and becomes the assistant to a living skeleton. And solves crime with him. This is one of those series where it's hard to talk about it in detail without spoiling some major twists and turns in the first book. But I will say that this is a darkly funny, addictive story that expands and gets more and more intricate with every installment, with a huge cast of colorful characters. We begin the series when our heroine is twelve years old, and the latest books have her in her twenties, so if you're looking for a story where you can watch a character grow up, get stronger and tougher, and go through the absolute wringer, this is a great series to dive into.

🦇

IF YOU ENJOY: Roald Dahl, A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Ghost and Molly McGee

The Beast and the Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips

I swear to God I'm the only person I know who's even heard of these books, but I will not rest until I get people talking about them. I'm currently reading book four of five, and once I finish the series, I may do a longer post detailing why you should read them. Here's my elevator pitch. Ebeneezer Tweezer (described by the book as "a terrible man with a wonderful life") has gained riches and immortality, thanks to the Beast, who grants his every wish in exchange for food. The Beast likes its meals alive and squirming, so Ebeneezer has fed it countless animals over the years, but now, the Beast has upped the ante. It wants a human child. Ebeneezer's moral compass is lacking-to-nonexistent, but even he balks at the idea of killing a kid... that is, until he meets Bethany, a rude, argumentative girl from the local orphanage. These books were written for kids with a macabre sense of humor, and those of us who never quite grew out of it.

🦇

IF YOU ENJOY: a certain wizard series (or rather, used to enjoy it but now hate the author and everything she represents), Tamora Pierce, The School for Good and Evil

Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend

On my hands and knees begging you to read Nevermoor. There are four books out so far with more to come. Our heroine is Morrigan Crow, a young girl who was born cursed, not just to bring bad luck everywhere she goes, but to drop dead on her eleventh birthday. She's had a rough go of it, obviously. But on the fated day, an eccentric and possibly crazy man named Jupiter North arrives and whisks her away to Nevermoor, the capital of the magically-hidden Free State. In order to stay in the country, Morrigan will need to join the Wundrous Society... and also figure out why the Free State's most notorious murderer seems to have taken an interest in her. I have no words for how good these books are. The worldbuilding is fascinating, the characters are all layered and complex, and every installment makes me fall deeper and deeper in love with this story and the world Townsend's built.

🦇

IF YOU ENJOY: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, The Owl House, ParaNorman

No Place For Monsters by Kory Merritt

There used to be a girl named Cindy in Levi's class, but she hasn't shown up to school in days - and what's more, no one except Levi and his classmate Kat can remember Cindy ever existed. This is unsettling enough, but then Kat points out that whatever took Cindy will probably be after them next. Levi doesn't want to believe there's real evil lurking in their quiet neighborhood, but he's soon to find out just how dangerous suburbia can get. This series - three books so far - deserves WAY more hype than it gets. It's packed full of detailed, often terrifying illustrations, and has a strong sense of humor that never gets in the way of the scares and the emotional moments.

🦇

IF YOU ENJOY: Midsomer Murders, Aggretsuko, Nancy Drew

Shady Hollow by Juneau Black

This series was pitched to me as "a murder in Animal Crossing", and it doesn't disappoint. Set in a world of anthro animals, this is a cozy mystery series following Vera Vixen, intrepid reporter who keeps stumbling into murders in her small town. From poisoning to secret identities to blackmail, this series has everything for the crime show enthusiast, with a distinctly autumnal vibe. They're whimsical without becoming overly-cutesy, and take themselves just seriously enough for a whodunnit. There are six books and two novellas out so far, so go wild. (No pun intended.)

I hope y'all enjoy these! Let me know if you've ready of these series, and what you thought!

caramarie

Continuing with classic NZ cinema of the 90s! This is as depressing as expected though.

( Read more... )

Well worth watching; I won’t be rewatching it anytime soon!

torachan

1. I had a dermatology appointment this morning to check on a weird spot on the back of my neck and to have them look at other moles/spots to see if anything looked iffy, but everything, including the patch on my neck, was deemed a-okay. She said the spot on my neck was probably more likely a rash, and it has already faded a lot in the two weeks since it appeared, so I should just keep an eye on it. I do worry about my neck as it seems to get the most sun, regardless of how careful I try to be with sunscreen, so I'm glad I got it checked out just in case.

2. I went to Sidecar for donuts this morning as they have a new flavor, citrus canoli. It's a donut with canoli filling, and was super tasty. There's this one for a week, then vanilla bean tiramisu for a week, and whichever sells the best will go on the menu (at least semi) permanently.

3. Last night we got dinner from a fried chicken place we've gotten from before but not in ages and we both got wraps, a thai one for Carla and elotes one for me and they were both super good. And huge, so we had leftovers for lunch today and swapped flavors. I really liked the Thai one, too, but I do think I preferred the elotes, so I would definitely get that again.

4. The heat is going down, but it's still very hot, so aside from the doctor this morning and some shopping, we just stayed home and tried to stay cool. It should be a little less hot tomorrow before finally being down to decent on the weekend.

5. I love when they share the cat house.

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alias_sqbr

This was getting too long for the previous post so here's a standalone review.

Charade Maniacs is a Japanese scifi romance Visual Novel. It's flawed but had enough parts I liked that I had a good time, especially with the non-binary-ish love interest.

It's only available for Switch.

Premise: A group of teens and twenty somethings from Future Japan find themselves trapped in a mysterious and potentially deadly reality tv-ish game. The protagonist has to figure out what's going on and who she can trust, and in the process falls in love.

It contains some violence and consent issues but it avoids anything really dark by otome standards.
( no spoilers )

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cnovels

This is your weekly read-in-progress post!

For spoilers:

<details><summary>insert summary</summary>Your spoilers goes here</details>

<b>Highlight for spoilers!*</b><span style="background-color: #FFFFFF; color: #FFFFFF">Your spoilers goes here.</span>*

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alias_sqbr

Been dealing with some real life stress I do Not currently feel like talking about, so instead have some reviews of games I've been distracting myself with.

Puzzle games:
Instant Farmer
Mythmatch
Piczle Cross Story of Seasons
Polimines 2
Librarian: Tidy Up The Arcane Library
LOK Digital

Farming/base building/survival:
Subnautica 2 early access
Fields of Mistria
Timberborn
My Time At Sandrock

Other:
House Flipper

( Read more... )

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Were you taken by Coyote's dedication to chasing what seems impossible, or Road Runner's defence of his coyote? Have you believed Bugs and Daffy were lovers your whole life and now you need read about them back together post ACME? Want to go an entirely different direction and throw the toons into different AUs? If so, come join!

Schedule

All Times are Midnight EST - Start of Day

Nominations & Sign-Ups Close: September 28th

Fics Due: October 19th

Work Reveals: October 26th

Author Reveals: November 1st

Tagset: https://archiveofourown.org/tag_sets/31901
Collection: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/AO3vsACME26/profile

Rules can be found at the Dreamwidth community (

ao3vsacme ), and any pinch hits will be posted there too!

mftfmod posting in

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Event: Multifandom Tropefest

Event link: AO3 Collection

multifandometropefest

Pinch hit link: Post extension pinch hits

Due date: Fri 18 Sep 2026 09:00PM EDT (01:00AM UTC).

PH 25 - Exordia - Seth Dickinson, The Greenhollow Series - Emily Tesh, Scholomance - Naomi Novik, Scholomance - Naomi Novik, Shadow of the Leviathan | Ana and Din Mysteries - Robert Jackson Bennett, Shadow of the Leviathan | Ana and Din Mysteries - Robert Jackson Bennett, Some Desperate Glory - Emily Tesh, The Summer War - Naomi Novik, The Summer War - Naomi Novik

PH 26 - Slayers (Anime & Manga), One Piece (Anime & Manga), Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo

PH 28 - The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension (1984), Twin Peaks (TV 1990), NCIS: Los Angeles

PH 29 - Succession (TV 2018), Succession (TV 2018), Shameless (UK), Aracoeli - Elsa Morante

PH 30 - 9-1-1 (TV), Project Hail Mary (2026), The Fall Guy (2024), The Pitt (TV), Severance (TV), The Pitt (TV), The Fall Guy (2024)

PH 31 - SK8 the Infinity (Anime), Winx Club, W.I.T.C.H.

PH 32 - Astreiant Series - Melissa Scott & Lisa A. Barnett, Meeting in the Flesh (Visual Novel), Pyreside Waltz (Video Game Demo), Pyreside Waltz (Video Game Demo)

PH 33 - The Locked Tomb Series | Gideon the Ninth Series - Tamsyn Muir, Fallout (Video Games), Mass Effect: Andromeda

PH 34 - Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Original Ships Between Women, The Walking Dead (TV)

PH 35 - Code Geass, Alien Stage (Web Series), Gachiakuta (Anime)

PH 36 - 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime & Manga), Gachiakuta (Anime), Wind Breaker (Anime)

PH 37 - Buffyverse (TV), Scream (TV), Yellowjackets (TV)

PH 40 - Jelle's Marble Runs (Web Series), Jelle's Marble Runs (Web Series), Jelle's Marble Runs (Web Series)

PH 42 - Heated Rivalry (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Pitt (TV)

PH 43 - The Time Master Series - Louise Cooper, Zenda Novels - Anthony Hope, Batman (Movies - Nolan), The Shadow (1994), The Boys (TV 2019), A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (TV), 트리거 | Trigger (TV 2025), XCOM (2012 Reboot Series)

PH 44 - Gundam Wing, Gundam Wing, 내가 키운 S급들 - 근서 | S-Classes that I Raised - Geunseo, Winx Club, &TEAM (Band), &TEAM (Band), The Amazing Digital Circus (Web Series), The Amazing Digital Circus (Web Series), KinnPorsche: The Series (TV), Dark Moon Saga (Webcomics)

PH 45 - The Pitt (TV), Stranger Things (TV 2016), Original Ships Between Women

PH 47 - Creator's Choice of Legend of Zelda, Stranger Things (TV 2016), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga), 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney, Creator's Choice of Fandom

PH 48 - Original Ships Between Men, Project Hail Mary (2026), Slay the Princess (Visual Novel), Original Ships Between Multiple Genders, Original Gen: Stuff Without Ships, Original Ships Between Men

PH 49 - DCU (Comics), I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Video Game), Once Upon a Time (TV)

rocky41_7 posting in

booknook

Title: An Unkindness of Ghosts
Author: Rivers Solomon
Genre: Sci-fi, fiction

I am definitely not going to finish my library system’s summer book bingo because I apparently never read anything I could even remotely stretch to fit the “soothing” square. Anyway, on Monday night I finished An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon.

This book takes place on a vast spaceship traveling for centuries, but the core of its story is an examination of racism and inequality. The dynamics between citizens of the upper decks of the ship and those from the lower decks is an allegory for the antebellum South, with the light-skinned upper deck citizens convinced of the moral necessity of their superiority over the dark-skinned lower deck citizens. Protagonist Aster and her friends and family aren’t slaves in name, but in practicality, they are.

Solomon excels in showing the myriad ways, large and small, that this dynamic breaks down Aster and those like her, particularly Aster’s companion Giselle. There’s scarcely a moment of Aster’s life where she’s allowed to forget “her place” and the constant stress of this wears on her. Aster is very intelligent, but none of that matters in a world where one look at her convinces people in power that she’s worthless.

I found Solomon’s writing engaging and her characters realistic. You may not like all of them, but they all feel like real people, and plausible products of the harsh lives they’ve been forced to live. When they behaved irrationally, it felt earned and real. When they were victorious, it felt like the story had provided enough support to back that.

Also at the core of the story is the passing down of information, stories, and traditions, which not only give Aster solace when times are difficult, but also guide her to the revelations she makes later in the book.

This is Solomon’s first book, and I do think it shows in some clumsy editing and dropped threads, but overall I think the book is a creative exploration of social dynamics with interesting characters and solid writing. If Solomon improves from here, I look forward to seeing what else they put out!

torachan

1. This morning Carla couldn't find her wallet and thought she might have lost it at Disneyland, but we ended up finding it in the car. It doesn't have her ID (we both have magnetic card holders that attach to our phones that have our driver's licenses and a couple credit cards) but it did have a bunch of credit cards, which we would have had to cancel.

2. It was super hot and muggy yesterday at Disneyland, but we managed to pace ourselves pretty well and still had a good time. Seeing Yzma was definitely worth it.

3. Today is supposed to be the peat of the heatwave. It's been in the mid 90s here and over 100 in Anaheim, so I'm glad our OBB date was yesterday no today. I've been mostly managing in the house, but Carla's been parked out in the garage with the AC on all day, as she's much more sensitive to the heat. We were originally planning on going to Universal Studios tomorrow, but even though it won't be as hot as today, it's still going to be in the low 90s there, so we're going to go on Sunday instead, when it's supposed to be like 81. Fingers crossed!

4. I got in a decent bike ride this morning before it got too hot and stopped at a new to us bakery. It's a Mexican bakery we'd seen many times but never checked out until recently when we saw a video on youtube about the best tortillas in LA and they mentioned that this bakery chain uses their tortillas for burritos. Unfortunately when I got there I found that they have not had the burritos in stock for a few days (they said maybe tomorrow, but I've got other plans, so I'll go again another time) but I did get some delicious pastries and a breakfast sandwich for Carla. Oh, and a horchata latte, which was really good.

Clockwise from top the flavors are champurrado, matcha, hibiscus, and lavender. I'd get all of them except the matcha again. Matcha was fine, but everything is matcha these days, so it wasn't particularly special. The others were amazing, though.

5. Tuxie sure loves this pile of boards lol.

thawrecka

Every time I spend less time learning other languages and more time reading English I find it easier to write more words!!! and every time I'm like, wow, who could have seen that coming??

torachan

We had been planning to skip Oogie Boogie Bash this year but after seeing they added Yzma as a new villain and that there were tons of weekday dates still available, we decided to go after all. Normally we like to do something closer to Halloween, but I chose this week because I was already thinking of taking the week off and I prefer to have the next day off after an evening out. Well, at the time, we had no idea it would be a record setting heatwave, so that sucked lol. But we made the best of it and still had a good time.

( Read more... )

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