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Wednesday, 11 June 2025 12:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scifirenegadeWe are halfway through the year, and I've watched Lon Chaney's Phantom twice.
Georges Méliès's Rip van Winkle synced to the operetta (YouTube link). Makes it all the more enjoyable *has never heard of Rip van Winkle in his life*
(via hanswalterconradveidt on Tumblr)
Can't get over him drinking Coca Cola. With a straw!
I dunno man. Staged photo, yeah, they all are, but it's still a good reminder that he was a human being.
No idea what Norma Shearer is doing.
Buffo <3
Am I doing this right? Am I cool with the kids?
Forever grateful to have all of you in my life. Even if we don't talk much. Also grateful for one person who isn't on here, but someplace else on-the-line. And a few people IRL as well.
Hope the positive feelings are mutual. It can be hard to tell. Learnt that the hard way.
(No reason for writing this last bit. Just wanted to let you all know <3 )
Georges Méliès's Rip van Winkle synced to the operetta (YouTube link). Makes it all the more enjoyable *has never heard of Rip van Winkle in his life*
(via hanswalterconradveidt on Tumblr)
Can't get over him drinking Coca Cola. With a straw!
I dunno man. Staged photo, yeah, they all are, but it's still a good reminder that he was a human being.
No idea what Norma Shearer is doing.
Buffo <3
Am I doing this right? Am I cool with the kids?
Forever grateful to have all of you in my life. Even if we don't talk much. Also grateful for one person who isn't on here, but someplace else on-the-line. And a few people IRL as well.
Hope the positive feelings are mutual. It can be hard to tell. Learnt that the hard way.
(No reason for writing this last bit. Just wanted to let you all know <3 )
Oooh! Prodigy has a Mirror Universe episode!
Saturday, 14 June 2025 03:24 amconulyAs always, Evil!Janeway is hot, though less so than the Living Witness version. It's the eyes - our main characters all have huge eyes, so the somewhat more realistically animated adult human characters look slightly uncanny valley, even though their eyes ought to make sense.
Also, damn, Chakotay has got some arms! Is this true IRL? I don't remember ever seeing the live actor ever without sleeves....
Also also, I honestly love every time Gwen gets a moment of happiness, no matter how small. She really has had a miserable life. Every second chasing replicated pie over the ship, or squirting whipped cream into her mouth, or, one hopes, finally spending some time playing goofy holodeck games, is a second worth living. And so, I will say, I appreciate that the animators took the time to let her smirk a little when Evil!Chakotay proposed starting his torture session with "the cute one", aka Murf the Indestructible. You gotta find those moments of joy when you can, sweetie!
(Question: Are mirror tribbles... nice? What about their new team pet, Bribble? Would Bribble have a goatee and be evil in the mirror verse? How sapient is that thing, anyway?)
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( Read more... )
Also, damn, Chakotay has got some arms! Is this true IRL? I don't remember ever seeing the live actor ever without sleeves....
Also also, I honestly love every time Gwen gets a moment of happiness, no matter how small. She really has had a miserable life. Every second chasing replicated pie over the ship, or squirting whipped cream into her mouth, or, one hopes, finally spending some time playing goofy holodeck games, is a second worth living. And so, I will say, I appreciate that the animators took the time to let her smirk a little when Evil!Chakotay proposed starting his torture session with "the cute one", aka Murf the Indestructible. You gotta find those moments of joy when you can, sweetie!
(Question: Are mirror tribbles... nice? What about their new team pet, Bribble? Would Bribble have a goatee and be evil in the mirror verse? How sapient is that thing, anyway?)
( Read more... )
Insect Apocalypse
Wednesday, 11 June 2025 04:04 amysabetwordsmith‘Half the tree of life’: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects
A new point in history has been reached, entomologists say, as climate-led species’ collapse moves up the food chain even in supposedly protected regions free of pesticides.
They include in Germany, where flying insects across 63 insect reserves dropped 75% in less than 30 years; the US, where beetle numbers dropped 83% in 45 years; and Puerto Rico, where insect biomass dropped up to 60-fold since the 1970s. These declines are occurring in ecosystems that are otherwise protected from direct human influence.
[---8<---]
At one research centre – falling within a 22,000-hectare (85 sq mile) stretch of intact forest in Panama – scientists comparing current bird numbers with the 1970s found 70% of species had declined, and 88% of these had lost more than half of their population.
As the insects die off, everything that eats them -- birds, amphibians, reptiles, etc. -- suffers a decline also.
A new point in history has been reached, entomologists say, as climate-led species’ collapse moves up the food chain even in supposedly protected regions free of pesticides.
They include in Germany, where flying insects across 63 insect reserves dropped 75% in less than 30 years; the US, where beetle numbers dropped 83% in 45 years; and Puerto Rico, where insect biomass dropped up to 60-fold since the 1970s. These declines are occurring in ecosystems that are otherwise protected from direct human influence.
[---8<---]
At one research centre – falling within a 22,000-hectare (85 sq mile) stretch of intact forest in Panama – scientists comparing current bird numbers with the 1970s found 70% of species had declined, and 88% of these had lost more than half of their population.
As the insects die off, everything that eats them -- birds, amphibians, reptiles, etc. -- suffers a decline also.
multifandom icons.
Wednesday, 11 June 2025 09:40 amwickedgame posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandom_iconsFandoms: 9-1-1, All American, Black Sails, Chicago Fire, Dynasty, Heartstopper, Homeland, Legend of the Seeker, Marco Polo, Nancy Drew, Neumatt/New Heights, Orange is the New Black, Preacher, Scorpion, Shadowhunters, Stay By My Side, Supergirl, The Flash, Triage, Unforgotten Night, Younger, Young Royals, Zorro
rest HERE @mundodefieras
rest HERE @
mundodefieras Why do things always go from bad to worse? Why can't they go from bad to somewhat less bad?
Thursday, 12 June 2025 10:28 amconulyI don't want this getting lost in the links: A Journey Through the Dystopiaverse (some of those poems hit hard)
In personal news, how many nos is one expected to get before they get a yes?
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( I managed to find some non-doom-and-gloom links to shove in here as well )
In personal news, how many nos is one expected to get before they get a yes?
( I managed to find some non-doom-and-gloom links to shove in here as well )
Hard Things
Wednesday, 11 June 2025 12:04 amysabetwordsmithLife is full of things which are hard or tedious or otherwise unpleasant that need doing anyhow. They help make the world go 'round, they improve skills, and they boost your sense of self-respect. But doing them still kinda sucks. It's all the more difficult to do those things when nobody appreciates it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our accomplishments and pat each other on the back.
What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your hard things a little easier?
What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your hard things a little easier?
Unsold Poems for the June 3, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl
Tuesday, 10 June 2025 11:36 pmysabetwordsmithThe following poems from the June 3, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl are currently available. Poems may be sponsored via PayPal -- there's a permanent donation button on my Dreamwidth profile page -- or you can write to me and discuss other methods. There are still verses left in the linkback poems "Delight in Another," "A Sense of Weather Changes," "Ouroboros Insects," "The Loving Embrace of Night," "Generations of Cooks Past," "Homefree and Clear, " "One Bite at a Time," "Stars and Diamonds," "Mishpocha," "Changing Your Nature," and "Besa."
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
About that US CDC Vaccine Committee Chaos?
Tuesday, 10 June 2025 11:00 pmdewlineGo read this if you want cues on how to respond and you live in the States:
https://flamingsword.dreamwidth.org/496875.html
https://flamingsword.dreamwidth.org/496875.html
Tags:
Related to Events in Los Angeles and Elsewhere...
Tuesday, 10 June 2025 09:26 pmdewlineAmplifying this tonight, just in case it can get to someone who really needs to see it:
https://elainegrey.dreamwidth.org/990198.html
https://elainegrey.dreamwidth.org/990198.html
Daily Check-in
Tuesday, 10 June 2025 06:01 pmstarwatcher posting in fandom_checkinThis is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Tuesday, June 10, to midnight on Wednesday, June 11. (8pm Eastern Time).
Poll #33238 Daily Check-in
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 18
How are you doing?
I am OK.
12 (70.6%)
I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
5 (29.4%)
I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)
How many other humans live with you?
I am living single.
6 (33.3%)
One other person.
7 (38.9%)
More than one other person.
5 (27.8%)
Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
Refugees
Tuesday, 10 June 2025 06:28 pmysabetwordsmithCEO invites the world to invest in refugees: 'Humanity flourishes when people have the tools to succeed'
“One in 10 of us will be displaced in 25 years. One in 10. Each of us is more likely to be displaced than ever before,” Oyler said in her TED Talk, which will be published at a later date.
“The time for incremental change is over. We must do things differently.”
[---8<---]
“When Uganda allowed refugees to work, the country's GDP increased by nearly a billion dollars,” Oyler said. “Ethiopia reformed its policies, and now thousands of refugees contribute in key sectors like agriculture and manufacturing.”
“When Rwanda, the country where I live, included refugees in its national ID program, they gained access to health care, financial services, and are growing an economy.”
It's all about knitting people into society as fast as possible. Make sure they have access to survival needs such as food, shelter, clothing, and health care. Then compare what they can do with what needs doing. To accommodate untrained workers, list your top 10 or so fields with a desperate shortage of workers, then offer free training for anyone who wishes to enter those fields.
“One in 10 of us will be displaced in 25 years. One in 10. Each of us is more likely to be displaced than ever before,” Oyler said in her TED Talk, which will be published at a later date.
“The time for incremental change is over. We must do things differently.”
[---8<---]
“When Uganda allowed refugees to work, the country's GDP increased by nearly a billion dollars,” Oyler said. “Ethiopia reformed its policies, and now thousands of refugees contribute in key sectors like agriculture and manufacturing.”
“When Rwanda, the country where I live, included refugees in its national ID program, they gained access to health care, financial services, and are growing an economy.”
It's all about knitting people into society as fast as possible. Make sure they have access to survival needs such as food, shelter, clothing, and health care. Then compare what they can do with what needs doing. To accommodate untrained workers, list your top 10 or so fields with a desperate shortage of workers, then offer free training for anyone who wishes to enter those fields.
[ SECRET POST #6731 ]
Tuesday, 10 June 2025 05:49 pmcase posting in fandomsecrets⌈ Secret Post #6731 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
01.
( More! )
Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 26 secrets from Secret Submission Post #963..
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links (broke twice now? maybe imgur is deleting it) ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
Health: Dental Milestone Made Official
Tuesday, 10 June 2025 04:14 pmdewlineI mentioned privately last week that I'd been accepted for enrolment into the Canadian Dental Insurance Plan. The one that our federal government hired Sun Life to administer for everyone earning less than C$90K/year and not already covered by their employer or their province?
That one.
I finally got the card in the papermail from Sun Life today.
Orange and pink and white plastic.
It's just hitting me now that, after over three decades of paying out of pocket by instalments for my dental health basics - exams, fillings and repairs of same, that sort of thing - I no longer have to worry about that part of my life's financial juggling. It's already covered through my federal income tax from now on unless I land a sufficiently lucrative job with its own coverage.
Hoping it all works out.
That one.
I finally got the card in the papermail from Sun Life today.
Orange and pink and white plastic.
It's just hitting me now that, after over three decades of paying out of pocket by instalments for my dental health basics - exams, fillings and repairs of same, that sort of thing - I no longer have to worry about that part of my life's financial juggling. It's already covered through my federal income tax from now on unless I land a sufficiently lucrative job with its own coverage.
Hoping it all works out.
I'll never see my mom's guitar again
Tuesday, 10 June 2025 02:47 pmsovayUnder the circumstances, I had different weird dreams than I would have expected: writing a poem, watching some incredibly threadbare film noir with no waking equivalent, hearing a performance from a musical theater star ditto. I am beginning to think the pop culture of my dreams actually is the hell of a good video store next door, leavened in the last few nights by dreams of re-reading real-life authors currently in storage like P.C. Hodgell or Joan D. Vinge. I remain physically fried, news at nowhen. At least the rain seems to have kept off the neighborly leafblowing which perforated so much of yesterday. The news continues to feel like stupidly lethal cosplay, which I remember from the last round of this administration, which doesn't make me hate it less.
Birdfeeding
Tuesday, 10 June 2025 01:02 pmysabetwordsmithToday is partly sunny and mild.
I fed the birds. I haven't seen much activity yet.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 6/10/25 -- I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a male cardinal, and at least one mourning dove.
EDIT 6/10/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I heard a blue jay screaming but didn't see it.
EDIT 6/10/25 -- I've been outside a couple of times to walk around the yard. Fireflies are starting to come out, but it's still so light that they're hard to see. I may try again later. I've seen a bat over the south lot, and a skunk on the patio.
.
I fed the birds. I haven't seen much activity yet.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 6/10/25 -- I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a male cardinal, and at least one mourning dove.
EDIT 6/10/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I heard a blue jay screaming but didn't see it.
EDIT 6/10/25 -- I've been outside a couple of times to walk around the yard. Fireflies are starting to come out, but it's still so light that they're hard to see. I may try again later. I've seen a bat over the south lot, and a skunk on the patio.
.
Book Bingo 2025: All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson (banned book)
Tuesday, 10 June 2025 06:15 pmBlorboposting again
Tuesday, 10 June 2025 07:30 amrocky41_7Things that make me insane about Minthara's romance(s):
- "I wanted this, for myself." Even in the midst of her total brain fog by the Absolute, she knows she wants to be close to Tav. Even when she's been manipulated not to merely serve, but to serve in ecstasy, she wants to be near Tav and that is the one thing she chooses to pursue for her own ends--which are purely pleasure and comfort.
- This could have easily been a victory bang one night stand, which might have tracked with her being the "evil" companion, but it clearly meant more to her from the very beginning. She stays with Tav after the sex, she snuggles, and she willingly bears her heart to Tav about her fears and anxieties regarding the Absolute and her place on the surface.
- If Tav pries into her thoughts while she's sleeping, they see "the scars of a life spent anticipating betrayal." Life in Menzoberranzan trained her to expect a knife in the back constantly, and she remains paranoid about this even on the surface. But even so, she takes this moment with Tav, seeking to overcome her own fears about intimacy.
- The skill check you have to pass to convince her not to kill Tav? 2. She is looking for a reason to not have to kill Tav, even if Tav spoke complete heresy to her. She wants to let Tav live, she wants to see them again at Moonrise.
- Obviously, the big sad puppy eyes when she turns to see Tav during her castigation in Moonrise. Worst moment of her life and who steps through the door? The one person she has wanted to be close to maybe since she left the Underdark.
- The way the two gnomes torturing her call out her "longing for acceptance and affection from a mortal," which confirms that her night with Tav always meant more to her than just a hook-up. She wanted more than just physical intimacy--she wanted something emotional. And that is what is being highlighted in her torment as one of her worst failures--that she, essentially, wants to be loved.
- Related to the above - after Orin is killed, Minthara sort of laments that if not for Tav's strange act of mercy in saving her from Ketheric and Z'rell, she would have been just one more casualty in Tav's quest to destroy the Absolute, and "nobody would remember me."
- "You came. I prayed that you would." I am howling at the moon. Minthara, the paladin, prays for Tav. For Tav to come rescue her. Minthara, who spurned Lolth, who has realized the Absolute was a lie, prays for Tav to come and save her.
- The interplay between Minthara and a Dark Urge's respective relationships with Orin--how Orin's brainwashing and torment was what set Minthara on her quest for revenge against the Absolute, and how Durge was perhaps the very first of the cult's victims and all the amnesia they've struggled with throughout the game the result of Orin's torture.
- Related to the above - if Minthara is the one kidnapped by Orin in Act III, that once again Orin has taken Minthara captive and once again Tav will free her.
- The way Minthara tries to pry into Tav's mind again in Act III, only to quickly withdraw and apologize for not asking first. Minthara! Apologizing! That instead of letting it go, she still asks if she can be allowed to look into Tav's mind, because she is so desperate to see how Tav sees her. If Tav says they'd rather just use words to tell her, Minthara insists that the parasite connection is more true and accurate, and she wants to see that.
- That she is hoping Tav sees her like a lover, and is openly disappointed if that's not the case. (Tie back to point 5.)
- The way she begs to see herself through Tav's eyes, because "without Lolth, without the Absolute, without my home, I do not know myself." Her sense of self is so tenuous that she turns to someone else to help her understand herself--and that person is Tav, possibly the only person in the world she trusts.
- The adoring look she gives Tav after some of their kisses, followed by the throaty "thank you." Thank you! She thanks Tav for their gestures of affection! (Tie back to point 5.)
- That she is quietly poisoning Tav to build up their resistance in case they ever go to her homeland.
- "I have never needed anyone, but I want you."
- The way she is so all-in once her romance is locked in. Tav can become the Slayer, become Bhaal's chosen, become a mind flayer, choose to enslave the brain, choose to destroy the brain, go to Avernus--no matter what they do, Minthara is with them. They are her Person.
- Related to the above - if Tav does become a mind flayer and tries to leave her on the grounds that they're a monster, she says "So am I, my love. Let us be monsters together." She "mourns" the loss of the parasite, because she yearns to share minds with Tav in their new state.
- If a mind flayer Tav tells her they need to figure out who they are alone, without her, she pleads for just one day to change their mind.
- If romanced by a Karlach origin who chooses to die rather than return to Avernus, Minthara is in tears as she promises to stay with Karlach until the end.
- If Tav proposes they return to Menzoberranzan and conquer it after defeating the Netherbrain, Minthara casts off Baenre and declares "their" new house will be named after Tav.
- During the epilogue, she seems rather keen to leave, and no matter what dialogue option is chosen, she admits to a romanced Tav what bothers her: she's afraid no one there likes her.
Doctor Who: The War Doctor
Tuesday, 10 June 2025 03:56 pmselenakAbout a month ago, I bought the Big Finish episodes around the War Doctor in which the late John Hurt reprises his role. They're basically three episode storyarcs - "Only the Monstrous", "Infernal Devices", "Agents of Chaos" and "Casualties of War" - all set during the Time War. Now, because of the setting, the usual Doctor-Companion combinations are out, though the Doctor meets a likeable idealistic person in each of these three episode adventures (and can save some though not all). But the great charm of any Doctor Who tale are those relationships. So what did Big Finish do? It had the inspired idea of pairing up John Hurt with Jacqueline Pearce, playing, no, not Servalan, but a ruthless female politiician nonetheless, a member of the Gallifreyan War Council named Cardinal Ollista. She and the Doctor are the sole characters in all the four story arcs I've listened to, and the way their relationship develops was probably my favourite aspect in these stories.
Because this is the Time War, and this regeneration of the Doctor specifically is on a self loathing maximum while fighting it, Ollista is initially a good foil because she, who really does only prioritize Gallifrey and initially sees everyone not a Time Lord as expendable, shows that despite what he's telling himself, he is still the Doctor, he still has ethics and lines he won't cross and will fight for and have another way. But Ollista isn't simply an Evil McEvil megalomaniac, either, hence me saying "Gallifrey" and not "her personal power", and so the Doctor in the course of those stories develops a grudging respect for her while she while denying she does so finds herself defending, in the last story arc, precisely the kind of (non-Gallifreyan) people she in the first story arc would have dismissed as necessary casualties of war. Whether they argue or work together, all the Doctor-Ollista scenes are golden, and with both John Hurt and Jacqueline Pearce now gone, I am really glad they had the chance to work together near the end of their lives and create two more remarkable characters for us to appreciate.
Because this is the Time War, and this regeneration of the Doctor specifically is on a self loathing maximum while fighting it, Ollista is initially a good foil because she, who really does only prioritize Gallifrey and initially sees everyone not a Time Lord as expendable, shows that despite what he's telling himself, he is still the Doctor, he still has ethics and lines he won't cross and will fight for and have another way. But Ollista isn't simply an Evil McEvil megalomaniac, either, hence me saying "Gallifrey" and not "her personal power", and so the Doctor in the course of those stories develops a grudging respect for her while she while denying she does so finds herself defending, in the last story arc, precisely the kind of (non-Gallifreyan) people she in the first story arc would have dismissed as necessary casualties of war. Whether they argue or work together, all the Doctor-Ollista scenes are golden, and with both John Hurt and Jacqueline Pearce now gone, I am really glad they had the chance to work together near the end of their lives and create two more remarkable characters for us to appreciate.
