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kaberett) wrote2025-07-16 10:49 pmsome good things
- Really enjoying the redcurrant cake I finally managed to make the other evening.
- First of the clothes-for-me from the latest Oxfam order showed up and is in fact more or less Perfect, hurrah. (Cargo shorts. Two pairs of linen cargo trousers due tomorrow...)
- Mulberries! ewt informed me that they were starting to come ready, so I took a detour via the local tree and did indeed manage to munch a token handful.
- I made a batch of mostly-white-some-rye caraway-and-poppyseed bread, and it goes spectacularly well with the cherry plum and vanilla jam a friend gave me at the weekend. I have been having some Very Happy Breakfasts.
- My extremely late-into-the-ground squash are starting to produce female flowers!
- And I found some more lurking long bamboo to install for the late-sown beans to maybe make their way up.
- AND I might actually break even on peas-for-sowing-next-year if the second flush on one of the plants does what it's threatening to, which I would be extremely excited about because I had been mildly regretting eating (instead of saving for seed) the handful we did eat, when my original intention had in fact been to Just Save Seed this year... (... but they were very tasty.)
- We are reading Hyperbole and a Half (the book) together a chapter at a time! They are an excellent short Shared Activity.
- I have this evening spent a pleasant ten minutes playing around with the dragons game and enjoying getting some very pretty possible dragons out of it. Yes good.
- Read about three elephants graduating to the Reintegration Unit run by the Sheldrick Trust and cried a lot. (Also at the accompanying video.) (Good crying.)
geraineon) wrote2025-07-17 12:21 amThoughts on Up All Night
Up All Night
It's a three day convention held on discord over the weekend last weekend. Details here. I was really busy last weekend, so I missed most of the panels. But I did make it to the Writing While Being Culturally Aware, and the GL/Lesbian dramas session.
Writing While Being Culturally Aware
I don't really identify as a writer. Most of the things I write is between me and my PC, and a lot of others are between me and the friends I wrote for/with, but I was curious. The writing session was also led by the Singaporean who led the pinyin pronunciation workshop. I liked that the example she gave for the attendees to pick apart was an example she came up on her own for this session rather than using an excerpt from an existing fanfic, and I think it did a pretty good job with the time it had to go through some questions to think about (e.g., different things to be aware of, and situating characters in a time and place) and have some audience participation. Anything deeper will probably either need more time, or be a lot more focused. I wasn't there for the start of the session so idk what happened there, but when I joined, the conversations definitely skew towards writing for c-media.
GL/Lesbian Dramas
Again, I kinda missed the beginning of this panel. But I popped in when they were talking about trends and what tropes the attendees would like to see more of. I feel that the GL panel audience skewed towards preferring wholesome stories and happy ends. And Thai dramas and c-media. And it felt like it was less of a focused panel and more like a conversation with some prompts, so it's hm, more like a discussion group.
I did appreciate getting drama recs from different countries. What I would have loved to hear discussed is how did GL dramas "start" in each country and what is considered the first, and where are we now (I recognizing pinpointing this requires defining what is a GL drama, and if people want to differentiate that from LGBTQ+ media), what are the preferred tropes/themes in different countries, how do they influence each other, how have they changed (if not enough dramas to discuss this, then other GL/yuri/baihe), etc., but I realize this is a heavy ask and will require way more than the time this panel had.
llonkrebboj, who have also attended the con, observed that the attendees tend to be newer Asian drama viewers and I agree with that observation. This probably makes it harder to compare themes/tropes across places and time too. ... I'd pick this up as a personal project if I am not super bad at watching things. I haven't watched any drama properly since I recovered from Covid-19 (I don't count skimming an ep out of curiosity to be "watching a drama"). It wasn't bad, just not what I was expecting.
Other panels
I popped in briefly for the Aro-Ace Experience panel but I was driving then and couldn't really concentrate. I don't know if I would have enjoyed it tbh, because the bit I caught was someone asking if not knowing the language makes it easier to distance from the romance (I think), and idk, maybe that's true for some but it kinda felt weird? I was there for the tail end of the Mythology and Legends panel, and was a little confused why transmigration is included as modern myth and legend. And it skews very Chinese, though from the slides, it looks like it started as more generally East Asian. I have expected a broader discussion about the portrayal/use of myths and legends, or maybe how these retellings have changed with time. But maybe time doesn't allow it? Or maybe the panelists are not familiar with other countries? Don't know! Also, no mentions of Abe no Seimei/onmyoujitsu/etc. when Yin Yang Master seems kinda popular among the English online c-media spaces? I think I would have appreciated if the panel has a more focused title, or if it can be a little more general.
(Okay, tbh, I do notice that "Asian dramas" tend to be "East Asian dramas" a lot of the time, and nowadays it's "East Asian + Thai dramas." I'd love it for there to be more representation of other countries.)
Overall
I sound like I have a lot of complaints but I think it's more like an expectation mismatch. I did enjoy myself, and heck, I don't think I'd be able to deliver the panels I had envisioned either. But if I am going to attend again next year, I'd like to try to bring in more mentions of other Asian countries outside of CN, KR, JP, and TH. And maybe organize a panel on something like wuxia fights over the years, or SEAsian horror. Be the change you want to see and all that!
(But I'll have to overcome my discomfort at speaking to strangers over the internet, which is a very different thing from presenting at conferences and teaching a class.)
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cnovels2025-07-16 08:54 amTwo by Yue Xia Die Ying
dancing_serpent) wrote in c_ent2025-07-16 01:44 pmQuick Rec Wednesday
Here's your chance to share with the class! Just drop a comment with a link and maybe a couple of words in description. No need to overthink things, it can be as simple as Loved this! or OMG, look at that!. (You don't need to keep it short, though, write as much as you want.)
Check out the previous entries, too!
C-Novel/C-drama Character rambles/Quote translations - Lin Xi (Nirvana in Fire 2)
I also wanted to share here 10 quotes I love from her, so this is a little bit of a messy quote translation compilation from the novel/drama (also at the end of the ramble post).
kaberett) wrote2025-07-15 10:01 pmtoday I have been dragged kicking and screaming into maybe reading some Descartes
Specifically I have tracked down a copy of Treatise on Man, which is probably the source of the claim I've seen phrased several ways, most eyebrow-raisingly and also most readily to hand by Steve Haines, attributing to Descartes the idea that pain is
something similar to hearing, it is a fixed signal and measurable response
and it turns out I've got access to a whole entire PDF which turns out to be only 71 pages, including quite a lot of fairly large images, so I suppose I'm going to read Descartes now as a break from working my way through the BBC's Higher revision guides on neurobiology, which is itself a detour from reading the introductory text on nerves aimed at undergraduates...
(The things I've actually been reading today consist of two chapters of Hyperbole and a Half, a partial chapter of The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, both as Shared Activities with A, and about half of A Handful of Flour, a recipe book I have owned for quite a while now and am rapidly concluding I might no longer wish to dedicate shelf space to...)
geraineon) wrote2025-07-16 01:08 amThis week doesn't seem as cursed so far...
Over the weekend, I managed to catch parts of some panels on the Up All Night online Asian Drama Convention. You can check out the programming here. Unfortunately, I was pretty busy last weekend and the timing didn't work out very well, so I didn't actually manage to watch one from the start to the finish uninterrupted (kept getting called away from my PC, or I was driving and listening using the car bluetooth connected to my phone, or I was having dinner halfway through, or I missed the first half or the second half).
The panel I probably was the present the most for was the Writing While Being Culturally Aware, and GL/Lesbian dramas. I'll write up some thoughts about these panels next post when it's not 1 am here at GMT+8. I got some drama recs out of this con too! Very interested in checking out this death game jdrama, Pending Train: 8:23, Ashita Kimi to, and I learnt about this GL Hindi web series, Married Woman.
(I was amused that the person leading the pinyin pronunciation panel is a Singaporean, but I think my amusement can probably only be understood by fellow Malaysians, or friends from Singapore, or perhaps SEA friends. I missed a whole chunk of it because I was having dinner at that time but I wanted to go for it to support a neighbor.
... also I am truly a pretty kepoh person.)
abyss_valkyrie) wrote in c_ent2025-07-15 02:07 pm28 icons from The Untamed
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ao3_news_feed) wrote2025-07-14 04:25 pmUpdates to "No Fandom" Additional Tags, July 2025
AO3 Tag Wranglers continue to test processes for wrangling canonical additional tags (tags that appear in the auto-complete) which don't belong to any particular fandom (also known as "No Fandom" tags). This post will provide an overview of some of these upcoming changes.
Previous Tag Wrangling updates can generally be found on the @ao3org Tumblr and, for No Fandom tags, AO3 News. While No Fandom tag updates are generally announced on AO3 News as well as the @ao3org Tumblr, this may not be true of all wrangling updates. Some updates may remain solely distributed via Tumblr, especially those that only affect one or two fandoms. The way we distribute updates is subject to change as we work through new processes.
During this round of updates, we began a method which streamlines creation of new canonical tags, prioritizing more straightforward updates which would have less discussion compared to renaming current canonical tags or creating new canonical tags which touch on more complex topics. This method also reviews new tags on a regular basis, so check back on AO3 News for periodic "No Fandom" tag announcements.
None of these updates change the tags users have added to works. If a user-created tag is considered to have the same meaning as a new canonical, it will be made a synonym of one of these newly created canonical tags, and works with that user-created tag will appear when the canonical tag is selected.
In short, these changes only affect which tags appear in AO3's auto-complete and filters. You can and should continue to tag your works however you prefer.
New Canonicals
The following concepts have been made new canonical tags:
- Breeding Kink
- Conlangs | Constructed Languages
- DILFs | Dads I'd Like to Fuck
- English Is Not The Author's First Language
- Fast Burn
- Mind Break
- Monsterfucking | Teratophilia
- Rivals to Lovers
- Wholesome
In Conclusion
While all these new tags have already been made canonical, we are still working on implementing changes and connecting relevant tags, so it’ll be some time before these updates are complete. We thank you in advance for your patience!
While we won't be announcing every change we make to No Fandom canonical tags, you can expect similar updates in the future on the tags we believe will most affect users. If you're interested in the changes we'll be making, you can check AO3 News, follow us on Bluesky @wranglers.archiveofourown.org, Twitter/X @ao3_wranglers, or Tumblr @ao3org for future announcements.
You can also read previous updates on "No Fandom" tags, linked below:
- Update on "No Fandom" tags
- Another Update Regarding "No Fandom" tags
- Updates to "No Fandom" Additional Tags, posted to AO3 News
For more information about AO3's tag system, check out our Tags FAQ.
In addition to providing technical help, Support also handles requests related to how tags are sorted and connected. If you have questions about specific tags, which were first used over a month ago and are unrelated to any of the new canonical tags listed above, please contact Support instead of leaving a comment on this post.
Lastly, as mentioned above, we are still working on connecting relevant user-created tags to these new canonicals. If you have questions about specific tags which should be connected to these new canonicals, please refrain from contacting Support about them until at least two months from now.
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newredshoes) wrote2025-07-14 09:35 amI'm back to save the universe!
I AM EMPLOYED.
I HAVE A NEW BIKE.
For real!!
So much has happened!! Things are very good right now! Kpop Demon Hunters holds up well the second time you watch it! Gingko defended me/picked a fight with three asshole dogs behind a fence and is very proud of herself and her battle scars! I am publishing a story either this week or early next week that will make absolutely everybody mad, so I need to figure out how to protect myself on social media! I was finally able to BUY NEW BRAS and I hope they fit???
But yeah... yeah! Birthday last week was really excellent! I have a full-time job now, and it started last week! I have been sleeping so much since that started, just because I think I've been holding a decade's worth of stress about where my next paycheck is coming from and now I just... get to stay. (It is journalism and it is public media, so no, the guarantees are not 100%, but it's an amazing group of people who absolutely adore me and I'm on the softball team and I tested out my biking commute yesterday and it is less than half the time it takes on public transit! Imagine getting more than 15 years of workplace trauma healed with one gig that appreciates you and fights for you!)
I'm just very excited about things now. I'm watching a lot of decent/fun TV (mostly cdramas; League of Noblemen, A Dream Within a Dream, The First Night with the Duke, The Blood of Youth). I finally deep-cleaned and organized my kitchen so that I'm able to cook again, which I did this weekend, hurrah! My DnD party is confronting our Final Boss, and my beautiful dumbass tiefling monk took down the first of the three dragons we'll be fighting. Summer in Chicago is very, very good! I am eager af to make art and write fiction and play music again! Do all these exclamation points sound deranged? I'm just. Very happy right now, and I will ride it out as far as I can! ✶
forestofglory) wrote2025-07-13 04:14 pmMedia Round Up: Ups and Downs
However I do have some thoughts on things I've read and watched recently to share:
The Truth Season 3cases 9 and 10 — The last two cases, I’m sad that this is over now! This was so, so much fun! The second to last case featured my favorite costumes of the whole show in show with many excellent costumes. This really a fairly frivolous show but I love it so much! (Content note: the final case involved a dead kid)
Mu Guiying Takes Command ep 1-4— I wanted to love this. It is an adaptation of The Generals of the Yang Family, a story dating back to at least the Ming Dynasty that features women in command of the military. The FL is very badass. However I got fed up with how childish both the leads were acting.
Also this was released in 2012 which isn’t really that long ago but it feels like a whole different era.
Medieval Textiles across Eurasia, c. 300–1400 by Patricia Blessing, Elizabeth Dospěl Williams, Eiren L. Shea— This is a novella length overview of the topic. About 80 pages with a lot of pictures. I liked how it tied together such a big area and a long time period. Zooming out helped me put the stuff I know about (Chinese textiles, mostly Tang dynasty) into a larger context. I read it for the FTH biography I’m creating on Liao textiles.
A Song for You & I by Kay O'Neill— My friend Maureen, who is a children’s librarian, recced this graphic novel by the author of the Tea Dragon Society books in her most recent newsletter. And I’m glad she did because I haven’t been keeping up with recent releases and this was really good. It's a very gentle story that’s kind of coming of age with a lot of travel. One of the characters has a flying horse! The art is really good. I kept stoping to admire the color gradients. Just a very lovely book.
Please Be My Star by Victoria Grace Elliott— Reading a A Song for You & I reminded me that my library has lots of graphic novels and I checked out a whole pile of them including this one. Please Be My Star is a YA romance featuring teens putting on a play. It was very cute though once or twice I got a little too much second hand embarrassment.
Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born ep 1-4— This kdrama sounded so exactly my thing. It’s got preforming arts, tons of women, and crossdressing girls! It’s also very pretty and well done. So I’m baffled as to why after four episodes all I feel about it is “meh”
kaberett) wrote2025-07-13 10:30 pmvital functions
Reading. This week I have mostly but not entirely been reading more murdery bot: Network Effect, Fugitive Telemetry, System Collapse, Rapport, aaaand I've also immediately launched myself into yet another quick reread of All Systems Red because we finished watching the TV series and therefore I want The Murderbot Of My Heart Thank You.
However! I have also continued reading about nerves! I have now read the entire first chapter of Nerve and Muscle, supplemented by a bunch more Wikipedia, and I think I am starting to have a better mental picture of how all of this works? I am going into way more depth than required by The Project, really, I think, but I will be happier if I know what's going on at least to the extent that I understand a little more about what it means, physically, when it is explained that some migraine preventives target Type A nerve fibre and others target Type C (which in turn is why if you get partial relief from something that targets Type C it's worth at least experimenting with adding in something targeting Type A).
And I have also made a tiny bit more progress with The Age of Seeds, but... yeah, mostly Murderbot.
Watching. Murderbot! I will concede that "I need to check the perimeter" did indeed get me Right In The Feels. I still prefer my book-Murderbot but I am beginning to acquire a better understanding of why folk love this Murderbot too.
The fanvid Bohemian Like You, by kuwdora, via
sholio, via recessional.
Cooking. Several new things! Aubergine larb with sticky rice and shallot salad, lavender & honey Welsh cakes out of the Welsh cakes tourist tat mini-book, coconut pancakes. Now officially over two thirds of the way through East (with another Several planned for this week coming).
Eating. TODAY WE WENT ON AN ADVENTURE TO SEE ONE OF MY UNIVERSITY FRIENDS. I don't understand how it has been somewhere in the vicinity of ten years since I last got my act together to see this friend in particular given the part where, you know, we live in the same city, BUT we sorted ourselves out to meet up at King's Cross today and in addition to talking solidly for the entire duration we had FOOD including:
- Ruby Violet (maxi moo moo with hazelnut crunch & raspberry, rosewater and prosecco on the grass by the canal; hazelnut & hazelnut brittle, salted caramel & almond brittle, hot cross bun, raspberry ripple, and coffee mocha ripple brought home, those last two primarily for A)
- for lunch I had a funghi ma po tofu from rice guys, and A had a veg biriyani from somewhere I'm not immediately managing to spot on the Canopy Market trader list
- from Bread Ahead we brought home two doughnuts -- pistachio crème brûlée for me, and something involving honeycomb for A; I think this is quite possibly the first custard doughnut I have ever eaten and actually liked (though were I to buy from them again I'd skip the pistachios)
... and upon meeting up with said friend, they reached into their bag with an "oh before I forget--" and pulled out a jar of jam, which conveniently gave me an excuse to reach into my bag and pull out the jar of jam I'd brought to give them, so I have swapped one blood orange + cardamom for one cherry plum + vanilla, and I've not eaten it yet but I am very excited about doing so.
... also raspberries, gooseberries, redcurrants, jostaberries...
Exploring. We poked around Granary Square a bit to go with Meeting Friends; we came home with lots of stickers (I also got some washi tape from that first one...), a gorgeous bowl (which she was not charging that much for at the market, goodness), and a business card for Creature Crafts by Nat so I could send their details on to Interested Parties.
Growing. ... I spent a whole day at the plot mostly reading Murderbot? (And did also do some weeding, and some harvesting, and some watering, and some general pootling.)
aurumcalendula) wrote in cnovels2025-07-12 03:15 pm