anna_luna | Reading

For the duration of the episode, I was no longer aware that I had stood up for an eleven-hour workday.

The actors had so much fun, especially Reid. But all of them.

The writers had so much fun with Lestat's voice c. 2025. He's perfectly too much.

The set dressers had so much fun. ( Setting spoilers )

I look forward to ( Character appearance spoilers )

Current Mood: whee
Current Music: You're allegro, I'm andante

cimorene

They are constructing a new fire station across the street. The empty houses they demolished to make space were a hazard and an eyesore, so it was lovely to see them gone! On the other hand, they cleared most of the trees on those lots, and we didn't really realize in advance that once they did that the entire north face of our house would be exposed to view down the highway all the way across the roundabout, even though our house is a block away from the highway. The view from all the windows on this side of our house is now full of neon signs, which makes it extremely ugly. I suppose the absence of the empty houses, which were ruining the view in a different way, is probably still worth it, though. And we're enjoying following the progress of the project. The site has been leveled and excavated and filled with gravel and groundcloths and now they're pile-driving.

The first episode of the new season of Interview with the Vampire, which has now had its name changed to The Vampire Lestat to reflect which books they are adapting, is out! We watched it yesterday. People were saying that it had 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, which I think is deserved, but still surprising. It was a very good first episode, and a very fun time.

Wax's brothers are planning to help us build a catio for Wax's birthday, and she wants to put it on the balcony, which currently doesn't exist. You might remember that we were in the midst of removing the rotten boards from the steel frame of our balcony nearly two years ago when Snookums died and we had to part with Anubis. Last summer we did not do any work on the balcony, so it is still just the steel frame waiting to be rustproofed. I suppose it's good if this spurs us to finally attaching the new decking to the balcony. On the other hand...

The original wooden front door to the house has been getting worse and worse and now it's so bad that the screws holding the handle fell off because the wood is rotted. Bits (nails from the outside face, splinters of wood around the improperly installed locks from the previous owner) are falling off it.

This is not a weatherproofing or security emergency, because the proper door is between the cold porch and the house - modern, insulated, with a lock. This outer door just needs to open and close and looks cute. But on the other hand, we do want to keep the rain out of the cold porch.

We're gonna have to do something about this door, but we don't really have the skills or the collection of power tools, or enough money to splurge on having it refurbished by professionals. (A couple of years ago before it was this bad, Wax's brother and SIL were here with her mom and stepdad and her stepdad - that is, Wax's brother's wife's stepdad - was like "You should let me fix your door! It really needs it! I know just what to do!!" and we were like "No, haha, it's fine!" because we don't really know him all that well etc. OTOH we translated his doctoral thesis for him and he was able to get several papers out of it, which I also helped him translate (for money though, but he was grateful); maybe that's enough. We should've said yes, because it got WAY WORSE after that. The door presumably needs to have multiple dutchmen, as well as needing to be thoroughly stripped and the outer layer of wooden paneling probably replaced at minimum (totally possible that more pieces of it - like the outer vertical frame piece - will need replaced as well). Even when I was thinking that it could be our main project over Wax's summer vacation this year I was not sanguine about our ability to fix all these things on the door, but if we are actually spending that time on the balcony...? And yet we have to be able to open and close this door... if only by removing the lockbox so it no longer latches. Replacing this door would probably be even harder than fixing it, though, because in 1950 when our house was built they weren't standard sizes, and the house is stucco, which would make any change in the doorframe non-trivial.

I've been struggling for weeks to get together the energy and executive function to bake cookies. I haven't baked cookies for... maybe a year? I keep getting tripped up by the need to take butter out to soften several hours before you start. And today I FINALLY did it! I haven't decided what kind of cookies to make yet though.

petra

I will not stay up all night writing the current ship of my heart, even if I did just rewatch The Empire Strikes Back and need the triangulation-comfort Luke/Leia novel.

I will not stay up all night listening to text-to-speech reading me my story History turner, either. But I may download it for bedtime reading.

I will not stay up all night watching John Oliver so I can write Petrova Truthers, because I am only in the middle of listening to the audiobook of Project Hail Mary and I need a better grasp on the canon before I feel comfortable really putting the lie to Andy Weir's And Everybody United narrative.

I will not stay up all night reading The Astrobiology Immersion Program, even though Grace & Rocky bodyswap, well done, is so, so delightful.

And I will not even stay up late enough to watch The Vampire Lestat ep 1, even though I have it in my hot little hands, because I want to watch it with

sage or

hannah or

buggery or a combination thereof.

Because! I am a grownup! Yes, I am.

Current Mood: yearning
Current Music: Well, I guess you don't know much about women

petra

Downtime (6 words) by Hannah
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Carl/Eva Stratt
Characters: Eva Stratt, Carl (Project Hail Mary 2026)
Additional Tags: Microfic
Summary:

0500-0530.

*

Hannah is so right, and Stratt is so dangerous.

*

And then before I could post it, Hannah linked me to this post about Little Bobby Tables, so that gets a call-out, too, because it made me literally scream with laughter.

Current Mood: orderly
Current Music: You look pretty good down there but you ain't really good

tarlanx

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tarlanx

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tarlanx

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

petra

Kansas Judge Eviscerates Anti-Trans "Experts" Jamie Reed, Chloe Cole, James Cantor; Blocks Care Ban -- the ban struck down applies to gender-affirming care for trans youth.

A heartwarming story about Buffy’s Anthony Stewart Head going out of his way for a young trans fan from 2019.

Current Mood: humans can be good
Current Music: In our darkest hour, hope lingers here

petra

I hadn't read the credits because, well, I was scared.

Neither my favorite British humorist (deceased) nor my favorite British humorist (living as of this post) contributed to s3 of Good Omens.

I feel a little better, knowing that, about my complete absolution from ever having to give a shit. It's credited to the rat bastard and some people I have never heard of, who may well have done excellent work, but I do not need to care, tra la.

Every time I see "USA 250" merch, I think, in the tones of Roger Allam, "You’re going to meet the King of Liechtenstein wearing a medal you got for being alive in the year 2000!" [citation] And now I don't even feel bad about it.

Dear Mr Finnemore,

I don't know whose choice it was that you didn't return, but thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

- Petra

Current Mood: relieved
Current Music: I might be wrong -- Sorry. I really must learn to say that with a straight face.

petra

He's been taking women and men of color off the promotion list.

Fuck that guy.

He's kicked out trans people.

Fuck that guy.

He's been limiting the number of faiths the US military chaplain service will support.

Fuck that guy.

On the other hand, I am all for the US military shrinking down to the size where, like Grover Norquist's ambition for the government, I can drown it in the bathtub, so -- the enemy of my enemy is my ally? Mmmmmaybe?

Okay, so, you go, Pete Hegseth. Alienate everyone! Only straight cis Christian men should die for our country! Throw everyone else out! And then we can -- just maybe -- reduce the budget by an order of magnitude or five.

It Makes a Fellow Proud to be a Soldier is today's Tom Lehrer earworm.

Current Mood: nuanced
Current Music: He thinks the Army's just the thing because he finds it broadening

petra

I miss him already.

Current Mood: oh my heart
Current Music: You keep pretending, but you just can't hide

cimorene

Sipuli has been getting gradually more comfortable in the yard and she now spends most of her time there exploring. She wants to check everything out, walk out in the street, climb through the barbed wire in the hedge into the woods, sneak into the neighbors' yard, and crawl under the tenants' table while they're sitting at it.

But she still runs away from the tenants' kids, who are in the yard at the same time as her multiple times a week, if they talk to her. Last week a lady walking by in the street asked if she was having a nice time outside and she whipped her head around and cringed down in the grass and tried to slither away. She also panicked and ran and got tangled in a chair when one of the tenants said Pspsps to her a few weeks ago. In her jumpy moments she has wiggled out of her harness twice now. I guess we need to get her a more secure harness.

petra

I swear I didn't write this and you know it wasn't me, because I would've been spamming you all with Grace/Rocky since March if it had been.

But! Limericks! The third one is especially great.

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: Holy moly!

runpunkrun

Photograph of a mix tape. Just Like Canon, A Fancake Mix 2026 is written on the cassette's label alongside some heart doodles.

fancake's theme for June is Just Like Canon! These fanworks are so close to canon even their progenitors can't tell the difference. This includes works that are strongly rooted in canon, feel like they could be new canon, or are even meant to be a replacement for canon, like virtual seasons or fanmade supercuts.

If you have any questions about this theme, or the comm, come talk to me!

runpunkrun

It's like Martha Wells heard me when I said the thing I like the least about this series is all the descriptions of walking and was like CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. This book is almost entirely one long walk. Even Murderbot was complaining about it.

A return to form, where, much like the first four books in the series, that form is a novella where Murderbot is in a situation and must get itself and its assigned humans out of it. This time the situation is an escort mission, only, unlike a video game, the people Murderbot is escorting can think for themselves and won't walk off a cliff if left alone for a second. They're interesting characters and, unlike many of the other humans Murderbot adopts, I had no trouble keeping them straight, but they're not Murderbot's main people, so despite Murderbot's increasing self-awareness of its emotional state, this book lacks a lot of the deep feels that, say, Exit Strategy or Network Effect provoke. Instead, I mainly found it interesting for the worldbuilding and the exploration of the different ways people live in the Corporate Rim.

I loved seeing Three again, but, of course, I wanted more Three, and really I missed Murderbot's interactions with the humans, augmented humans, and "bot pilot" who know it best. Because the thing I like the most about this series, and I said this too, is Murderbot and the way it's learning how to be a person and building relationships despite not knowing how to do either of those things.

Contains: child harm, the usual violence and swearing (though not as much as usual!), character using a mobility device.

petra

MyNoise.net has a zillion soundscape generators. If you need background noise, I highly recommend it.

I also feel like, "Here is a page with a zillion soundscapes. Which do you choose first?" is a personality test.

( My answer, if anyone's curious )

Which ones call to you?

Current Mood: calming down
Current Music: Meadow Land soundscape -- mostly birds and water

denise posting in

dw_maintenance

Quick note that post-by-email and comment-by-email is (sometimes?) failing silently without actually posting right now! I'm pretty sure this is related to last night's shenanigans and will be fixed once Mark can finish the full fix for it, which he's working on, but if you've posted or replied by email in the last 24 hours, fish it out of your sent folder to check if it posted!

EDIT: This should be fixed as of around 7AM EDT! We *believe* everything that was stuck in the plumbing has been sent along to your journal or the comment thread it was meant for; it's definitely not where it was stuck anymore, at least.

denise posting in

dw_maintenance

Robby has managed to put in a temporary fix for the site errors and things failing to refresh or not showing up where they should! The permanent fix is going to need Mark's experience, and unfortunately -- seriously, this literally never fails -- Mark has been on an international flight all day, because of course he has. (Never. Fails. He and I are not allowed to both take vacation at once.)

The site will work just fine with the temporary fix in place, things just might be a little slow here and there. We'll keep you updated.

denise posting in

dw_maintenance

We're aware of site traffic issues and are working to fix them for the people who are having problems! (The tactics the damn bot traffic uses are endlessly shifting, and they're really good at looking like real traffic, sigh.)

tarlanx

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petra

Well, Grace never! (1296 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Project Hail Mary (2026), Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ryland Grace & Rocky
Characters: Ryland Grace, Rocky
Additional Tags: Language Barrier, Languages and Linguistics, language learning
Summary:

There is a slight hiccup in Grace's search for a new teaching job.

*

Couldn't be me finding Grace's internal dialogue in the novel entirely ridiculous because I have personally had conversations with middle school teachers while they weren't in front of kids.

...

Couldn't be me posting two stories in one day. Hi, I have a new fandom. Strap in!

Current Mood: i speak 6 languages
Current Music: And I like the theme from "Rocky," though I play Mozart more

petra

Grace touch penis, command (3483 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Project Hail Mary (2026), Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ryland Grace/Rocky
Characters: Rocky (Project Hail Mary), Ryland Grace
Additional Tags: Food Kink, Mutual Masturbation, Xenophilia, It's Not Cheating If It's In Space, Rocky is a Monsterfucker (Project Hail Mary), Ryland Grace is a Monsterfucker (Project Hail Mary), Ryland Grace Isn't Allosexual He Just Loves Rocky (Project Hail Mary)
Summary:

Rocky enjoys his leaky companion's prostate maintenance and ingestion, and learns the English word for "pervert."

Current Mood: outtasight
Current Music: 'cause I don't want to live on the moon

petra

A friend linked me to the Substack of Rev. Brooks Cato, in full knowledge that I am an atheist who finds Christianity as a theoretical monolith deeply questionable. This reverend differentiates between his faith and Christo-fascism explicitly and directly, and has a deep well of compassion. He is doing the work I admire the figure of Jesus Christ for doing.

For an example of his writing for anyone who has ever had gender feelings, or loved someone who has gender feelings, his piece: The Myth of Biblical Masculinity. He tells it like he sees it, and he sees clearly.

Current Mood: seen
Current Music: Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord

petra

May her memory be a blessing.

I am going to watch the non-special edition of Star Wars: A New Hope tomorrow night in honor of the fact that she made it a coherent movie. If anyone would like to sync-watch with me, drop me a note! I can hook you up with an illicit AVI so you can cast it to your TV.

Current Mood: mourning
Current Music: Kiss a Wookiee, kick a droid

petra

I have approx. 1K of Rocky POV Grace/Rocky, with more to come. I have no idea whether it works.

Drop me a line if you’re up for beta-reading in the least persnickety, most encouraging way possible. :D

Presently, it is my bedtime, but I will follow up with anyone who's interested when I get out of bed.

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Music: I'm just seven hours old

petra

This Doctor Who vid by Greensilver to Take On Me is 15 years old and, therefore, quite a few Doctors shy of the present, but it is giving me Nine/Rose/Jack feelings all over again.

I dug it up because

buggery linked me to an animatic Take On Me Doctor Who vid which is very well-done but not my cup of tea, artistically speaking -- the jittery style makes my brain itchy.

You may like them both!

(ETA: The first vid made me ship Nine/Rose/Jack all over again, and I only wrote them once, in Sohcahtoa. I think I did a bang-up job making the Doctor's POV deeply weird.)

Current Mood: doctorin'
Current Music: I'll be gone

tarlanx

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petra

Voicemail: "Hello, person who worked for us for 6 weeks 13 years ago! This is an employer an hour away from your house. Would you like a job interview for a field you left 5 years ago?"

Me: "Thanks for your consideration, but really, deeply, from the bottom of my heart, not for all the tea in China."

Me: *hangs up, starts crying*

I am so much happier and healthier in my current job, and yet it still hurts to close the door on the opportunity.

*

Today I get my first pair of bifocals! Mommy, wow! I'm a big kid now!

Current Mood: grown
Current Music: Easy as the recipe for making Jell-O

tarlanx

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denise posting in

dw_maintenance

It's been a while since we've done a full code push rather than just hotfixes for bugs, so we are well overdue! Depending on availability, we're aiming to do one sometime soon; we'll let you know specifics once we've worked out good timing for everyone who needs to be available.

However! The reason it's been so long is we kept trying to get some of the stuff that's pending to "really finished" instead of just "mostly finished", and then we once again looked around and went "oh no, this is a really big code push with a lot of changes". Those make us nervous, because while we do a lot of testing ourselves, y'all are really creative in how you use the site and we inevitably find a bunch of edge cases when we let you loose on new code with your real-world data!

So, if folks have some spare time in the next few days, it would be a huge help if you could spend half an hour or so using the site the same way you normally do but with the "Site-Wide Canary" beta features flag turned on. Canary mode is a sort of "live testing" mode: it's your real data, but running the most up-to-date code.

Canary mode always does have a few glitches -- there may be missing text strings or errors about missing database properties, which is a limitation of how we run it. We don't need to know about those, but anything else weird that you run into, leave a comment with what you were trying to do and the error message you got.

I'll repeat that the "here be dragons" caution that's on the beta features page: some things may be broken, so don't use it for when you're doing something important. But a few more eyeballs on it before the push will help the push go more smoothly for everyone.

For folks who want to concentrate on what's changing, we haven't finished the second code tour of what's going to be in this push, but the ffirst one has a good chunk of what's going to be going live. (We'll get the second half done ASAP!)

runpunkrun

Amazon gave me a month of free Prime a while back and so I loaded up the app and saw what there was to see and discovered that Deadloch's second season was out, despite hearing literally nothing about it on the social medias. I started it and it had even more shouting than the first season somehow, but it also read the room and noticed that ACAB, actually, and really leans into it.

The mystery felt a little messy, but I'm there for Eddie and Dulcie (and Cath)(in that order) and it delivered on that, and on its commitment to queerness, introducing Leo, a stealth them (they are stealthy, the them part is explicit), and having Eddie explore their identity in the loudest she/they way possible.

I think the Kates did a reasonable job of spreading the ACAB around, showing how being a cop was eroding Dulcie's humanity, that Eddie's disdain for protocol isn't just a fun quirk of her personality but a real problem, and how Abby isn't able to do her job properly due to all the incompetence—some of it her own—and then just going the extra mile and making every cop in the show flat out lazy, racist, and/or corrupt. They did not do it with any subtlety either, which is either a plus or a minus, depending on your level of media literacy.

But I had to suffer through advertisements in the middle of my prestige streaming, and even for free that made me angry because no way am I paying to watch Amazon's programming and then also paying through watching ads. Also the closed captioning on Amazon's Roku app is just for shit. Tiny white letters with no background or outline and no way to change it. I missed a lot because I often couldn't even see the text. At one point, I'm pretty sure the closed captioning had Leo saying, "Slow down. I'm wearing flatforms." Which had me googling to see if there was a type of shoe I'd never heard of out there. There was not.