starlady | Network

Today's luxurious disappointments are in the fields of scheduling issues and data preservation.

The latter is because a hard drive stopped working. I got a couple error messages about moving and deleting files - "Error 0x8007045D: the request could not be performed because of an I/O device error" - which was soon followed by Error code 43, then "Cannot open drive for direct access". At this point, I'm pretty secure in saying it's not going to get fixed by trying the hard drive on another computer, or that I can fix it myself. As such, I'm going to leave it alone in the hopes it doesn't get worse and look into local data recovery centers to see which one can best help me.

In the former's case, it's because Escapade is scheduled opposite a few movie screenings at the MOMI I'd very much like to see. I can probably juggle them around, pick which movies versus which panels, and it's more than a little annoying to have to choose between two fun things to look forward to. As I said, luxurious disappointments.

Current Mood: irritated
Current Music: Will Ye Go, Lassie Go? - Sinners

cornerofmadness

Before I get into my writerly ways let me just say, diabetes is going to steer me around the bend. Today I was bad. I ate fries for lunch and pizza for dinner. My sugar is 90. Two days ago I ate nothing but proteins and my sugar was 360.... WHY?

So into the writing crap. I have been thinking about timing of scenes this week. Early this week I watched The Night House and finished reading The Witch's Orchard. Let me start with House. This was a horror movie and without spoiling too much, she is learning terrible things about her dead husband (while dealing with what she thinks is his ghost). After learning this, when the ghost wants to get frisky, she's into it.

And I'm thinking what woman who learns her husband might have been murdering women who look like her is going to want him touching all over her? Had this scene come before she learned this about her husband, maybe it would have hit they way they wanted it to (unless disbelief was their goal)

Same thing with Orchard, it went a place SO many stories have gone. The protagonist nearly gets killed, does get injured and then in spite of having her leg torn open and breaking in meth lab explosion fumes, feels like having sex. If there is one thing you'll see in my sex scenes, they don't tend to come after times like this because it makes no sense to me. I suppose the whole 'nearly died celebrate life' thing is a trope. It's just one that has me rolling my eyes. Having had some serious injuries, I can tell you sex is the last thing on my mind in those times.

In my novel (still need to get more betas on this) I DID mess up the timing. I ended up having to reorder things and expand some of the beginning in order for the timing to not feel off.

How do you handle timing? Do you find timing issues that bother you?

OPEN CALLS

Anomaly July 2025 Window Science fiction stories under 300 words in length

Brink Literary Magazine July 2025 Window Hybrid fiction with the theme of Obsession

Fraidy Cat Quarterly Volume 7 Rage

The Quiet Ones 2025 Window Quiet Horror and Intimate-Scale Dystopian Fiction

The 13th Floor 30,000-50,000 word stories that take place on the mysterious 13th floor! (details in the post)

The Orange & Bee July 2025 Window Original and contemporary short stories, poems, and essays that explore, expand on, and subvert the rich traditions of international folklore, with a strong focus on fairy tales (though we also sometimes dabble in other forms of folklore, such as fables, myths, and legends)

Ten Manuscript Publishers Open to Direct Submissions in June 2025

Fish Barrel Review: Now Seeking Submissions

36 Themed Calls and Contests for June 2025.

star crossed

From Around the Web

Advance to Adaptation

Three Strategies for Creating Progressively Escalating Complications

The Art of the Twist: Adding Surprise to Your Story Structure

How to Publish a Novel in 2025

Unusual Writing Formats: When Your Story Demands Footnotes, Letters, or a Series of Haikus

Tim Weed: Five Things I Learned Writing The Afterlife Project

From Betty

Six Important Differences Between Filmed and Narrated Stories

Ten Easy Jokes for Your Dialogue

Why the Mysterious Badass Hero Is a Trap For New Writers

Seven Ways to Create Rifts Between Close Characters

The Strategic Author's Guide to Amazon's Kindle Unlimited

Dual Protagonists

Communication is the Key to Critique Partner Success (still looking for new members for mine)

Three Strategies for Creating Progressively Escalating Complications

The Importance of Beginning a Book with Publishing End Goals in Mind

Your protagonist’s plans are useful, especially when they don’t pan out

How Do I Deliver My Self-Published Book to a Reader?.

Adventuring in Utah Gave Me Insight into Important Writing Truths: Part 1 The Brutal Beginning

Six “Soft Skills” To Make You a Better Writer

Be All-Seeing By Writing Third Person Omniscient

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Midsomer Murder

chazzbanner

j-wat is officially in SW Minnesota, Upper Minnesota River Valley -- Redwood Falls. (There are falls, but no official redwoods.) He texted me photos of Fort Ridgeley, his dinner site (patio), and the spooky stairs to his room.

Now that I have, you know, the i-n-t-er... you know, again, I can listen to the dozen or so 'new to me' albums left on my list, since I do this on YouTube. Today I listened to Liege & Lief, by Fairport Convention.

This afternoon I listened to Messiah on my CD player. I can amend the 'teary' report: I start getting goosebumps at "The kingdom of this world..."

My reason for listening to it is that I just finished the book Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel's Messiah.

On the DVD front, I watched North & South (Gaskell novel) last week, and have started watching Firefly.

-

conuly

Or, anyway, I glanced at the headlines and oh fuck no. Can I just go back to bed, and somebody wake me when things improve?

holmesticemods posting in

holmestice

Title: Fic Cover For "Deserves a Quiet Night"
Recipient: Vulgarweed
Artist/Vidder: REDACTED
Verse: BBC Sherlock
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock Holmes
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Summary: A fic cover for Deserves a Quiet Night by Vulgarweed.
Notes: I know this fic already has art, but I found the perfect cap of Sherlock at the pool and just had to do something with it for the fic.

( plus )

Title: Art Inspired By "Follow the Lights"
Recipient: Vulgarweed
Artist/Vidder: REDACTED
Verse: BBC Sherlock
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock Holmes
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Summary: Art inspired by Follow the Lights by Vulgarweed.
Notes: The dialogue between Sherlock and John on the image is pulled directly from the fic.

( Read more... )

Title: Art Inspired By "Leaves Tremblin' On the Tree"
Recipient: Vulgarweed
Artist/Vidder: REDACTED
Verse: BBC Sherlock
Characters/Pairings: Irene Adler/Mary Morstan
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Summary: Art inspired by Leaves Tremblin' On the Tree by Vulgarweed.
Notes: The song lyrics I used in the art are from “Atlantic City” by Bruce Springsteen and are used in the fic.

( Read more... )

Title: Fic Cover For "The Veil Dodger"
Recipient: Vulgarweed
Artist/Vidder: REDACTED
Verse: BBC Sherlock/Good Omens
Characters/Pairings: Mrs. Hudson/Madame Tracy
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Summary: A fic cover for The Veil Dodger by Vulgarweed.
Notes: I hope you enjoyed the blended image! Finding a good picture of Madame Tracy and Mrs. Hudson was hard, but I think it turned out well.

( Read more... )

lovelyangel

With my computer and photography budgets for 2025 getting blown out of the water, I’ve looked to cut back in other areas. I had originally planned to use my Electrify America credits (like 700 free kWh remaining) before they expire in August to take a road trip to SF – but I killed that idea.

One big unknown in the 2025 budget was what I might end up spending if TWICE went on tour this year. My budget let out a sigh of relief when the group recently announced the schedule for their THIS IS FOR World Tour, Part 1. Part 1 allocates the last half of 2025 for stops across Asia and Australia. This means that Part 2, for the Americas and Europe, won’t be until 2026. I kind of expected this as major U.S. stadiums are dedicated to American football in the fall and winter. For 2026, I’ll budget for one or two visits to concert cities in the U.S.

yuerstruly posting in

baihe_media

Welcome to the read-along for Miss Forensics by Jiu Nuan Chun Shen! As previously stated, we will be reading FIVE (5) chapters a week, so a new read-along post will go up every 2 weeks. Each chapter summary will be posted and serve as parent threads for each chapter, so please do your best to keep your comments under the correct ones!

One chapter will go up per day, Monday through Friday, and I will do my best to slip them in before it's evening in Asia. Of course, if you are up for it, please feel free to post the chapter summaries to get the read-along going!

The link to the novel on JJWXC can be found here.

You can also follow the novel through the audiobook on Himalaya, though there may be slight changes and ommissions from the original.

nnozomi posting in

guardian_learning

部首
冂
内, inside; 册, book; 再, again; 最, most
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=13
冖
军, army; 农, agriculture; 冠, hat/crown; 冤, injustice/grievance
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=14
冫parts 1-4
冬, winter; 冰, ice; 冲, to collide with/against; 决, to decide; 况, situation; 冷, cold; 冻, to freeze; 净, clean; 准, allow/standard; 凉, cool; 减, to decrease; 凑, to gather together
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=15

语法
Chapter 22 quiz: 把 sentences
Chapter 23 quiz: Passive voice
Chapter 24 quiz: Comparatives
https://routledgetextbooks.com/textbooks/9781138651142/quizzes.php

词汇
所, 场所, place; 所长, superintendent
台, platform; 电视台, TV station; 电台, radio station; 舞台, stage
谈, talk; 谈话, conversation; 谈判, negotiation
汤, soup
糖, sugar
特色, characteristic
( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-3-word-list/

玩玩
Two oddities from my usual people today: Zhou Shen singing around the middle of his range, which we don’t get to hear so often, in 不群, and Jiang Dunhao’s gorgeous, disturbing 我有一个朋友.

大家过得怎么样？我有点头疼。没办法啊，一起加油吧～

troisoiseaux

Read Real Ones by Katherena Vermette, discovered via

sabotabby: a novel about about two adult sisters, who are Michif/Métis on their dad's side (this is important), grappling with the public exposure of their estranged mother's false claims of Indigenous ancestry, which she's used to build a career as an artist. I feel like most of the novels I've read tackling race-faking for profit/clout/??? in academia/the arts are biting satires - R.F. Kuang's Yellowface, Elaine Hsieh Chou's Disorientation - and even Louise Erdrich's The Sentence uses supernatural elements to express the violence of white people appropriating Indigenous identity; this one feels... subtler, maybe? It's very much grounded in the family drama of two sisters being betrayed and disappointed yet again by a self-absorbed mother who's betrayed and disappointed them over and over for as long as they can remember, this time playing out with a Greek chorus of op-eds and Twitter takes on a scandal now so weirdly familiar that Vermette tends to reference them obliquely rather than in detail. Really good; I especially liked how distinct the two sisters' voices were, as alternating POV characters.

Read With a Bare Bodkin by Cyril Hare, which fell short of Hare's Tragedy at Law, imo, but honestly, what wouldn't? This one had some fun concepts— set against the backdrop of a minor government agency housed in some sprawling pile for the duration of WWII, the plot kicks off with a conversation about how one of the civil servants is a mystery novelist on the side and everyone going "oooh wouldn't this office be a great setting for a murder mystery?", so it's got quite a crossover of tropes— and also the distinction of being one of the few mysteries where the author pulls a "clearly signaling something as A Clue by having the main character realize that some detail is Significant" and I actually immediately twigged to the discrepancy being hinted at and remembered where to cross-reference the detail earlier in the book, although, to be fair, this was not exactly subtly dropped, either in context or by the author to the reader.

mecurtin posting in

fandom_checkin

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Sunday, June 8, to midnight on Monday, June 9 (8pm Eastern Time).

Poll #33230 Daily check-in poll

Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 27

How are you doing?

I am OK
19 (73.1%)

I am not OK, but don't need help right now
7 (26.9%)

I could use some help
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single
8 (29.6%)

One other person
14 (51.9%)

More than one other person
5 (18.5%)

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.

jazzyjj posting in

awesomeers

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!

Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

senmut

communityactionusa is set up now. As you can probably tell by the name, it's intended as a place to help guide action, and the sticky is referencing "Project Mailstorm". Go look, see if it's your cuppa.

petra

My brain reward cycle is fucked, and the longer I think about it, the more I recognize that it's always been this way.

Case in point: I performed recently after preparing for 5 months.

My mother said, "It went well! That must feel good."

Me: "..."

It didn't. It never really does, not unless someone else gives me external validation.

Whenever I do something hard, my brain's response is, "Well, I did it, so how hard could it have been?"

This applies to excelling academically (which I have done frequently), excelling at my job (which I have done on occasion), every type of performance I've ever undertaken (and there have been a lot), every form of art/craft I've ever done (writing, knitting, crocheting, etc.), and helping friends.

Mostly I just feel relief that it's over, and my brain isn't going to give me the constant round of "You should work on [thing]!" anymore. Nah, the shoulds will switch to something else, but at least it'll be new at first.

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: Everyone can see that he's a wet Marvin boy

kaffy_r

For the ~~Millions~~ ~~Thousands~~ ~~Hundreds~~ ~~Dozens~~ ~~Handful~~ of My Fans

I finally decided I might as well put this piece of RPF-adjacent fic up here. Alert the press.

Also, I'm putting the MV here (under a cut, I'm not subjecting folks to it if they don't want to see it), so that if you do want to read it, you have the MV there as proof of what sparked this ~~ridiculousness~~ creativity.

( Watch )

With that handled, here's the story, under its very own cut.

Fandom: Stray Kids, Stray Kids "Escape" MV

Words: 1,826 per AO3

*** *** *** *** ***

( Read more... )

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Ateez "Wonderland"

capricorn_0mnicorn_feed

https://capricorn-0mnikorn.tumblr.com/post/785810308116692992

fierceawakening:

official-linguistics-post:
kkachi-serica:
belphegor1982:
azeofspades:
zocomi:
official-megumin:
queen-mihai:
skopostheorie:
This meme is inescapable on French insta so I’m posting it here for all to enjoy
Always reblog flash debate
on it boss
reminder that the presenter says “oh, shut up” not “can it”
Native French speaker here. “Ta gueule” is actually more like “shut the fuck up” in terms of level of disrespect
also worth noting is that the “are you happy” is the correct gender
ALT
official linguistics post
I propose:
Sir, are you happy?
I’m really happy
But Jesus—
Dude, shut the fuck up.

Part of me wants to bring back the “thou” form of the second person singular informal / familiar pronoun (plays the same role as ‘tu’ in French), for just this sort of situation.

The rest of me knows that English (mostly) dropped the “thou” pronoun ~500 years ago for a whole mess of tangled up cultural reasons.

https://capricorn-0mnikorn.tumblr.com/post/785810308116692992

daughterofshadows posting in

silwritersguild

Mereth Aderthad 2025 Interview with Kai by Shadow. Featured artist for "Gil-galad was an Elven King: Kingship and Personhood in the last High King of the Noldor."

Kai is a Tolkien artist whose work captures both the dramatic moments of the legendarium and the moments of friendship and love between characters that drove these storied events. Kai's work often captures light and radiance, making him fitting as a featured artist for Maglor's Mereth Aderthad 2025 presentation, "Gil-galad was an Elven King: Kingship and Personhood in the last High King of the Noldor." Kai spoke with Shadow about how Maglor's topic was instantly inspiring, his range of interests over the years in the legendarium, and the meaning behind the painting he made for Maglor's presentation.

You can read Shadow's interview with Kai here.

abject_reptile

"Yes, Israel is arming militias in Gaza, and yes, some already know about Yasser Abu Shabab. But what’s still missing is the full picture: the criminal records, the aid looting, the strategy of engineered chaos, and what this means for Gaza’s future. A thread."

In addition, if you want to track the Madleen, here's the link. Until it's blocked like the first tracker link was.

ETA: Don't bother with the link. The Madleen has been attacked and boarded. Connections cut. Crew kidnapped.

cosmolinguist

The other day I overhead D telling someone that I now naturally have the voice that I put on for my character in our D&D game a couple of years ago.

I was an orc barbarian, heh.

I was delighted to hear this because I hadn't consciously been doing a voice for Bulrik (I went through dozens of orc names I hated in one of the online name generators before finding one I could live with at all, only much later realizing it's most of the name I chose for my self!) and I didn't know that's what I sound like all the time now! How delightful.

I haven't done any conscious voice training at all, just let the testosterone do its work. And I didn't record my voice at any point with the intent of tracking the change, which I guess is a norm in some online cultures. Both of these choices have been conscious decisions made to protect my mental health and I feel really good about that, but it does mean my boundless self-absorption has nothing to work with here! So it's nice to have some external observation.

The other stuff I've been meaning to write about is gonna have to wait; I'm too tired now apparently.

brithistorian

I learned today about Chris Osmond's "Human Words Project," a way for writers to indicate that their work is 100% human words, i.e. not generated by AI. Here's the logo for it, which you can add to your projects, if you want:

Human Words Project logo

ETA: Note that this is not the original logo. The website was moved after the original logo was created. I took the liberty of editing the logo to reflect the current URL, and at the same time changed the size of the logo, deleted a lot of white space around it, and changed the file type to JPG (thus making the file MUCH smaller).

holmesticemods posting in

holmestice

Title: The Cantonese Interpreter
Recipient: deelaundry
Author: REDACTED
Verse: Watson & Holmes (comic), Mycroft Holmes (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Anna Waterhouse)
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mycroft Holmes/Ai Lin
Rating: T
Warnings: violence, character death, suicide
Summary: Somewhere between Guangzhou and JFK, a man goes missing. The only clue is a strange job listing in the newspaper…

Read on AO3: The Cantonese Interpreter

There's treasure everywhere

All go together.

Writerly Ways

listening, watching

Well, I read the news

Art for Vulgarweed: Fic Covers for Four Fics

Kick the TWICE Can Down the Road

Miss Forensics 我亲爱的法医小姐 Read Along: Chapters 1 to 10

第四年第一百五十天

Recent reading

Daily check-in

Just one thing: 09 June 2025

New Comm

Neurodivergent reward cycle

Dept. of Putting It Out There

Part of me wants to bring back the “thou” form of the second person singular informal /

Mereth Aderthad Interview: Interview with Kai by Shadow

(no subject)

Odds and ends about my voice (part 1 of a series apparently)

Human Words Project

Fic for deelaundry: The Cantonese Interpreter

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February 2025

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