arcanetrivia | Reading

The alt-history novel Malafrena, set in Le Guin's fictional Central European country Orsinia in the years leading up to a revolution, was only available from my library as part of The Complete Orsinia. This omnibus edition includes a new introduction from the author, as well as all eleven stories comprising Orsinian Tales and two other stories which were anthologized in her 1996 collection Unlocking the Air, and three short poems, two of which were previously unpublished. So if you love Orsinia, this edition seems to be the definitive way to experience it!

Unfortunately I don't love Orsinia, and I didn't love Malafrena either, though I didn't dislike it as much as I disliked Orsinian Tales.

The novel centers on Itale Sorde, a young political activist from the provinces who moves to the capital city and starts a newsletter that is critical of Austrian rule and promotes the restoration of an independent Orsinian monarchy. The narrative is somewhat sprawling, also keeping up with some of the people Itale left behind at home, as well as following various of his friends and associates even when their paths diverge from his.

The things I liked about it were the vivid descriptions of physical setting and what it is like for the characters to be present as events are unfolding. I've never been in a violent political insurrection, and I do not think Le Guin ever was either, but I felt very convinced by the living, breathing details of how she wrote the one towards the end of this book. The confusion, the waiting, the hiding, the pushing and knocking down, the uncertainty about who is where, who's in charge, and if anyone is winning—it feels real. (The realistic, non-idealized depiction of a battle was also one of the things that stuck with me from Planet of Exile.)

( The things I didn't like were many of the same things I didn't like about Orsinian Tales. [cut for length and negativity] )

Last year, as an interstitial segment on Game Changer, the folks over at Dropout.tv filmed an improv skit called Dimension 20: On a Bus, where the concept was four professional GMs sitting down to play D&D with a GM who had a limited understanding of how the game was played.

Watch on YouTube

It was a funny bit, but I don't think anyone expected the calls for more to actually result in anything. Until now, when for April Fool's Day, Dropout released a full one-hour episode of it. It's only up on their streaming service, but here's the teaser trailer that dropped without warning:

Watch on YouTube

And man, the actual episode did not disappoint. It was a hilarious mess that hit just the right balance of winding up a bunch of professional storytellers, but also letting them do what they best as they tried to salvage things. I laughed to the point of tears, but I also legitimately picked up pointers about character-building and how to move a plot along (to get to LAX to fly out to an M&M wedding in Lisbon when everything keeps blowing up).

⌈ Secret Post #7026 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 12 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1003.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Watch for the upcoming event Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, running April 25-May 15. Folks post content only visible on Dreamwidth, and there are usually memes and other activities too. Mark your calendars!

This year I'm planning to focus on reading books to become an expert.

Current Mood: busy

⌈ Secret Post #7025 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 18 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1003.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

⌈ Secret Post #7024 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 24 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1003.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

latam is a new community for people to come together to talk about latinamerican music, films, food, culture, fandom, and more!

Everyone's welcome, no matter where you're posting from! And you can also post in your language (official languages of the community are Spanish, Portuguese and English!)

Come make friends! We have a friending meme going on right now.

Current Mood: busy

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

⌈ Secret Post #7023 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 30 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1003.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Name: Jude
Age group: 90's Kid
Country: US
Subscription/Access Policy: All my posts are public!

Interests: My main interests right now are hoyoverse games (Genshin/Honkai/Zenless Zone Zero), but I'm also interested in: selfshipping, five nights at freddy's, bleach, gachiakuta, my chemical romance, ffxiv, the apothecary diaries, danmei (heaven official blessing, mo dao zu shi, ssvss) mirai nikki, one piece...the list goes on!

I like to post about: a mix of fandom stuff and personal/irl stuff! I also just enjoy talking to friends/mutuals~

About Me/Other Info: i love making new friends and meeting new people! so don't be afraid to comment to say hi to me! i'm also big into making art (drawings, writing and music)!

Current Mood: content

Name: Ben
Age group: 20s
Country: US
Subscription/Access Policy: All my posts are public but would prefer no minors please.

Fannish Interests: Transformers, Hollow Knight/Silksong, Star Wars (specifically focused on Grievous because I am normal about him), Living Machine media (including world of Cars and others), Ultrakill, bad horror B-movies, furry fandom

I like to post about: Longform articles about media analysis and other kinds of in depth meta discussion, I love talking to people about themes and narratives. I do occasionally write fanfic but not that often and I'm not really confident in it. I love to read it though.

About Me/Other Info: Hi! I'm Ben, he/it. I like media with convoluted lore that has crazy implications if you think about it to its logical conclusion. I love having long detailed discussions about this and analyzing media from a queer/leftist perspective both in universe and out of universe. I would love to have mutuals to talk to about this stuff. My Tumblr is bensect and my website is bensect.space.
Some other non-fandom things I like: bugs, biology/ecology, Linux/open source, digital media preservation, datahoarding, indie webdev

Fandom 50 #6

Continuing my list of fifty Canadian songs I love from the past fifty years, 1982 is just a good old-fashioned banger.

Your Daddy Don't Know by Toronto

Watch on YouTube

⌈ Secret Post #7022 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 35 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1003.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

[ SECRET SUBMISSIONS POST #1004 ]

The first secret from this batch will be posted on April 4th.

RULES:
1. One secret link per comment.
2. 750x750 px or smaller.
3. Link directly to the image.

More details on how to send a secret in!

Optional: If you would like your secret's fandom to be noted in the main post along with the secret itself, please put it in the comment along with your secret. If your secret makes the fandom obvious, there's no need to do this. If your fandom is obscure, you should probably tell me what it is.

Optional #2: If you would like WARNINGS (such as spoilers or common triggers -- list of some common ones here) to be noted in the main post before the secret itself, please put it in the comment along with your secret.

Optional #3: If you would like a transcript to be posted along with your secret, put it along with the link in the comment!

⌈ Secret Post #7021 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

All spoiler warning/content warning stuff today!

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1001.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Name:

ragdoll
Age group:Legally 60s, mentally 20s, physically 100s
Country: US
Subscription/Access Policy: It's been awhile since I've been on here so I'm probably pretty good about mutual access and subscriptions as long as people are the same. I have filters on here that are probably utterly null and void, so will probably be an open book for at least most of it.

Main Fandoms:

Star Trek: pretty much all of them except maybe VOY since it's never been my thing. TOS, DS9 and LD are my top contenders. I cosplay Commander Pelia, girl!Boimler, and my ancient TOS OC, plus I'm attempting to dress as an Andorian this year.

Doctor Who: I've been a DW fan since 1978 when I came across it by accident on BBC 1 in a hotel room in Stratford. My Doctors are: 4, 5, 8, 9, 11 and 12. I've met every one from Jon Pertwee through Jodie Whittaker, including Richard E Grant. (I'm sure I will meet Ncuti Gatwa some day.) I've met nearly every companion going back to Carole Anne Ford and William Russell, and through Millie Gibson. My unicorn is Karen Gillan. I thought I'd finally be able to cross her off my list at NYCC last year, but wound up having to cancel all my plans due to health stuff. 😭 I co-writer THE book on DW fandom in the US, am Masquerade director at Gallifrey One and LI Who. I also cosplay as 13, an Osgood, several versions of Donna Noble, and Joy Almondo plus I have a variant 13 who is a mash up of 13 and Sylvi from Loki.

MCU especially Thor, Jane Foster, Loki, Ant-Man, Shang Chi, Natasha Romanov, Alexei, Trevor Slattery, the Vision-Maximoff family, Agatha Harkness, Lilia Calderu, Kamala Khan & family, Fantastic Four, OG Guardians of the Galaxy, Peggy Carter, and Black Panther. I was a Marvel comics fan for years, and the MCU just makes me very happy overall.

Star Wars: I've been a fan since I saw the first one in the theater (6 times) as a 14 year old in 1977. The OT is still near and dear to me. I don't hate any of the films although Rise of Skywalker is dreadful. Andor was brilliant. I am, however, obsessed with The Mandalorian and Din Grogu. I'm counting the days until I get to see my little green jelly bean again.

The Beatles: I've been a Beatles fan since I was a kid. I love them dearly. I have been obsessed with George Harrison for the past 50 years. He's my Grumpy Pisces Fish. I'm currently working on a book of essays about women influenced by them.

Critical Role: A good friend introduced me to The Legend of Vox Machina animated show some time after the second season aired on Prime. I enjoyed it, but promptly forgot the plot. Did a rewatch when S3 was released, then S3 and promptly forgot again. I never watched the live play show because why would I want to watch other people play D&D? How boring! I want to play myself. I knew the cast was coming to NYCC last year, but I wasn't that interested in meeting them. I knew they were doing a live show at Radio City Music Hall which was a wedding of two characters, one of which I was aware of thanks to some people doing a C2/Doctor Who cosplay mash up at Gallifrey years ago. I knew her name was Jester, she was a blue Tiefling, and people liked to cosplay her. Why would I want to go to her wedding? That would be silly! (Not that anyone asked me to go with) Then all of last year happened, and I had to cancel all my NYCC plans since I could barely walk due to multiple spinal surgeries over the summer.

(I'm getting to the point, I promise!) In November, The Mighty Nein started airing on Prime and the same CR obsessed friend prompted me to watch it. I grudgingly agreed to it. And within about 10 minutes of episode 1, I fell in love. It was like the D&D version of Guardians of the Galaxy for me. I got those characters. I fell in love with Jester and Fjord and Nott The Brave (no comma). I was blown away by episode 5. Once MN was over, I rewatched VM again...and hadn't remembered anything about it except for the characters and how pervy Scanlan was. I then started reading up on all the campaigns, watched the live wedding and cried, watched a few other one offs. My friend then pushed me to catch up on Campaign 4 during their holiday break, so I powered through 9 or 10 4-hour shows, and somewhere right after the overture, I fell in love with the entire Soldiers table. Then the Seekers table. And now the Schemers table. My friend and I now do watches "together" long distance every Thursday at 10 pm EST. Then talk a lot about theories etc. I've also developed crushes on basically the whole cast. Bi panic powers activate!

Other Fandoms: David Bowie, Muppets, Quantum Leap, Leverage/Leverage Redemption, Monty Python/the Rutles/Fawlty Towers, Twin Peaks, ASoIaF/House of the Dragon/A Knight of Seven Kingdoms, Barbie, Cozy mysteries, historical mysteries, Rolling Stones, 1960s music, 1980s (new wave, punk) music, HandMade Films, Steven Moffat shows, Death in Paradise, Big Bang Theory-verse, TTRPGs, RuPaul's Drag Race (US, Canada, UK, Down Undah etc), costume dramas (Upstairs Downstairs, I Claudius, Downton Abbey, Gilded Age, Murdoch Mysteries, Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries, Bookish, All Creatures etc)

Fannish Interests: Conventions: being on discussion panels, cosplay, some podcasts (I miss being on one regularly), former fan fic writer, former runner of online Fannish communities, former runner of fan fic/fan art exchanges, and other prompt challenge communities, discussion on social media, pro writer of reviews in essay form, travel to filming locations, making new friends, buying dolls or toys, reading tie-in novels/short stories etc

OTPs and Ships: Jester/Fjord, Tony/Pepper, Thor/Jane, Steve/Peggy, Carole/Val, Daemon/Rhaenyra, Wanda/Vision, Agatha/Rio, Amy/Rory, Doctor (esp 8, 11, 12 and 13)/River, Sophie/Harry Wilson, Parker/Hardison, probably others but I'm not that invested in shipping these days. Oh and George/my OC.

Favourite Movies: Singin' in the Rain, A Hard Day's Night, Help!, Yellow Submarine, Labyrinth, Muppet Treasure Island, American in Paris, The Producers, Hairspray (not the musical!), Les Girls, Time Bandits, Withnail & I, Star Wars OT, Thor/Dark World/Ragnarok, Ant-Man, Black Panther, First Avenger, Winter Soldier, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, Knives Out, Back to the Future 1 & 2, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Forbidden Planet, Kind Hearts & Coronets, RHPS, Shang Chi & the Legend of the 10 Rings, Fantastic Four: First Steps, Casablanca, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The Court Jester, Life of Brian, Head, Deadpool & Wolverine, Valley Girl, What We Do In The Shadows, Down With Love

TV Shows: Aside from the already mentioned: WandaVision, Agatha All Along, Elsbeth, Psych, Monk, Poker Face, The West Wing, The Newsroom, Firefly, X-Men 97, Xena, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Wednesday, Bridgerton, anything by Sally Wainwright, Renegade Nell, Wonder Man, Creature Commandos, Young Sheldon, Rutland Weekend Television, Murphy Brown, Frasier, Coupling, Midsomer Mysteries, Marlow Murder Club, Sherlock, Miss Scarlet, Beyond Paradise, Ted Lasso, Shrinking,The Boys,The Ve wee fnture Brothers, White Collar, Brokewood Mysteries, Shakespeare & Hathaway, Inspector , Endeavour, Interview with the Vampire/Vampire Lestat, Sandman, Dead Boy Detectives, Good

Books: Roman Sub Rosa series, A Free Man of Colour series, Harry Dresden, Hitchhikers Guide etc by Douglas Adams, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Foundation Trilogy, Tusk Love, anything by Dickens except Great Expectations

Music Beatles, Stones, Bowie, The Who, Pete Townsend solo, Blondie, the Cure, Depeche Mode, Pretenders, the Mac, , Kate Bush, thenewno2, Karen Elson, movie scores, big band, klezmer, Tschaikowsy, , Beethoven, Leonard Bernstein, Broadway original cast albums: Gorrasson, Michael Giacchino, Henry Jackman

Games: I don't really play games other than ttrpgs

Comics/Anime/Misc: Sandman, Marvel in general esp 1980s X-Men, The Mighty Thor (Jane Foster), Watchmen, Unthinkables and related titles, Hearteater, some other indy titles, Blue Eye Samurai

Back in 2008 the creators of Homestar Runner released a short escape-the-room Flash game starring Strong Bad's nebulously-defined private eye/crooked cop alter ego, Dangeresque. I played it, it was fun. Then in 2023 they revamped the original game and re-released it with two brand new episodes, so of course I bought that, and it sat in my Steam library for a year. Then they threw in a free DLC that added another episode, and it sat in my Steam library for two more years.

But this year I'm going to get my Steam backlog under control. This time for really real.

standing behind an office desk, dangeresque makes a sarcastic remark about really needing an unsolved stamp

standing behind an office desk, dangeresque makes a sarcastic remark about really needing an unsolved stamp

The first episode has Dangeresque trapped in his office until he can "solve" a cold case (i.e. fabricate evidence out of whatever's lying around). I think it's pretty close to the original Flash game, though I haven't played that in 18 years, so who knows. In the second episode, Dangeresque flees the scene but runs into car trouble (i.e. a bomb under the hood that he has to defuse). The trilogy wraps up with Dangeresque forced into an alliance with his gangster nemesis Perducci, whose other enemies are plotting to bump him off. Once you've beaten the three main episodes, you unlock the fourth, this time starring Homestar's alter ego Dangeresque Too as villanous goons have him trapped in an elevator. All told, it's about three hours of gameplay.

If you like Homestar Runner and you like point-and-click adventure games, you will like this. I do, and I did. The writing is funny, the puzzles are absurdist but fair, and if you blow yourself up the game just puts you right back where you were before you did the dumb thing you did. I would play ten more of these if they made them, though I can't guarantee I would play them within a punctual timeframe.

Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate is on Steam for $7.99 USD, and includes the free DLC.

⌈ Secret Post #7020 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 08 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1001.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

⌈ Secret Post #7019 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 13 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1001.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

I started reading the Heated Rivalry a few weeks back and wasn't feeling it. But I started watching short videos from the television series as I got further into the story and it's started to sink in. The novel itself is reminding me of really good Johnlock fanfic and I mean that as the highest compliment. I know there are a bunch of other books in the series but I have started hunting down fanfic. I am more invested in the revisiting the romance of Hollander and Rosanov than I have been in any romance, including any of the Bridgerton Stories.

I need to post some more about Bridgerton because the series 5 couple just dropped. I knew this was going to be the one.

Also just dropping is the first trailer for the Harry Potter TV series, and even if JKR wasn't a huge goddamn bigot, I still would not have liked the trailer. First and foremost - not enough Snape. Second - the lighting is rubbish which also makes it harder to see Snape! Third, this is a MUCH darker introduction to Harry's story. The whole series is deals with dark themes and war eventually, but it the first several books foreground a lot of Harry's wonder and discovery and that is played down in this trailer which is going for some Game of Thrones level of lighting here. Fourth, it feels like a lesser imitation of the movies. This is partially my own bias because I am familiar with Dan, Rupert and Emma as the trio and this new set of kids look wrong. But also, it's not that unique. The guy playing Hagrid is wearing Hagrid's clothes but his voice and dialect are not nearly as gruff and distinct as Robbie Coltrane's.

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

⌈ Secret Post #7018 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1001.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

This is part four of my book club notes on The Black Fantastic. [Part 1, part 2, part 3.]

"The Final Flight of the Unicorn Girl" by Alex Smith (2018)

( Superheroes are co-opted into the system as tools of oppression, and younger superpowered people fight back. )

"Calendar Girls" by Justina Ireland (2019)

( In a misogynist dystopia, an illegal contraceptive dealer... well, it's hard to summarize. )

"Shape-ups at Delilah's" by Rion Amilcar Scott (2019)

( A curse causes all barbers to lose their hair-cutting abilities, except for one woman. )

"Habibi" by Tochi Onyebuchi (2020)

( Two young men in solitary confinement, one in California and one in Gaza, forge a magical connection. )

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

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

⌈ Secret Post #7017 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 25 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1001.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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

If you may notice, this is my second time posting my introduction here. Pleasepleasejustforgetthefirstonehuwaaaaaaa

Name: Charikleia, just simply call me Chari!
Age group: Early Millenial
Country: Indonesia

Subscription/Access Policy: Don't like, don't read! My journal for archiving fannish stuff and my hobbies resources will be open for everyone. However, daily journaling and talking about my hobbies and real life photographing stuff only accessible for people and friends I trust. Just one thing: I am very shy in nature and always live in my own world... but I do always explode in euphoria in embarassment and rolling on my bed if any of you leave a comment on my journal to chat xD (That means, I am very happy for you to talk with me!!)
But, sorry, sometimes I am somehow a bit clueless and the self-consciusness is inevitable with people. But, no worries. I've been always relaxed and chill. ;)

Also, I still talk about fannish things in LJ 2000s way. Please be prepared for my silly expressiveness ehehehehehehe
;'////DDDDD I've been always comfortable and accepting myself to love having such an exciting and enthusiastic atmosphere. Please keep in mind.
I prefer someone from my age range from 25 and up. But 18+ is a must, since I archive lots of hot slashy and het in fics and fanarts media, but it's been a sweet romantic love anyway. :p I am pretty vanilla person.

One more important thing: I am here to enjoy my free time to heal, relax, have exciting fannish time, aaaand simply just chat. I will not subscribe to any journal who also talks about serious and sensitive stuff. I prefer fandom-only and casual daily life journal.

I like to post about: Fics, fanarts, music reccomendation, hobby resources, daily journaling, beautiful Nendoroid, landscape and foods photography~

Main Fandoms: I enjoy my fandoms together at the same time. So, there is no main fandom at the moment o.o
Other Fandoms:
- Men's Footie RPF, I only wrote for 2000s players for German NT and Bundesliga, 2000s to 2010s for Greece NT, and justalitteVERYbit of 2000s Eredivisie.
- Ace Attorney/Gyakuten Saiban. I strongly prefer for original canon Japanese and refers characters names in Japanese instead, I've been very long in this fandom on Asian fandom side and not that familiar with Western fandom and the Japanifornia. Sorry, if that's okay for you xD
- and many other more that I prefer not to mention, simply because I am not interested in the fandom anymore, but sometimes I can join in and have some small fannish exchange activity.
Fannish Interests: I also self-ship myself with the character Mitsurugi Reiji (Gyakuten Saiban) but I never had a mood to have a self-ship fannishactivities, Just a little sketch of my OCsona and him will do. I am mirror-sharing ;)
Favorite 2D Husbu and 3D Idol: Mitsurugi Reiji (Gyakuten Saiban) & Angelos Charisteas (Footie)

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Zante Dilemma - Christina

⌈ Secret Post #7016 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

This sequel to Maniac Mansion picks up the story five years later, when one of Dr. Fred's tentacle monster creations accidentally drinks toxic sludge that gives him super intelligence and an unquenchable thirst to take over the world. This brings Bernard (the nerdy kid from the first game) back to the mansion, this time with his college roommates Hoagie (a laid-back metalhead) and Laverne (an endearingly nutty medical student). Dr. Fred tries to send the trio back in time to prevent the catastrophe, but Hoagie ends up 200 years in the past with no electricity to power his time pod, and Laverne ends up 200 years in the future when tentacles reign and keep humans as their pets. As the player you control all three protagonists and guide them to ensure that the terrible, eponymous Day of the Tentacle never dawns.

nerdy kid with glasses stands in a hotel lobby with gum with a dime stuck in it highlighted

nerdy kid with glasses stands in a hotel lobby with gum with a dime stuck in it highlighted

This was one of my favorite games as a kid, but I hadn't played it since the remastered re-release came out, ten years ago today. When I was looking into it I noticed that it happens to be the #1 rated DOS title on MobyGames. Is this actually the best DOS game of all time? Let us investigate!

( Read more... )

Day of the Tentacle Remastered is available on various platforms for $14.99 USD, and on Steam it's currently on sale for $2.99 USD, so if you never got around to it, now's the time!

I've been sitting on the new merch for like way too long wondering about shipping and costs and math and such and it's just like I JUST GOTTA DO IT, I'LL FIGURE IT OUT AS I GO ALONG, I JUST GOTTA DO IT

So I'm gonna open up sales in the store tomorrow (March 22nd) at 6:30pm. Last time the little shakers went very fast but hopefully this'll be enough advance time for people to get ready? idk. Anyway, what I've got is...

47 Papyrus shaker keychains
19 Edgar/Scriabin pins
24 Gaster pillow keychains
20 Brothers sticker sheets

Some of them I've given away to people as gifts and I think I did the math right on those... if not then I might have to give up some of the personal ones I keep near my desk to play with, haha. I'm hoping I did the shipping math right this time... it's tricky! Shipping is such a hassle now ugh, especially international shipping. Hopefully it'll all work out... well, assuming they all sell, haha. I haven't decided how many of the little connecting charms to order yet, although I do have them hanging by my desk and they're great, I love looking at them, haha. Maybe after this is done I can give it some more thought.

Current Mood: determined
Current Music: 13094. Space Quest V - Academy Crest

Name: you can call me Cat
Age group: early millennial
Country: Germany
Subscription/Access Policy: All my posts will be public. I subscribe back if our interests overlap sufficiently and your posts suggest that we are on the same wavelength. I prefer to interact with people in my age group (30 and older), but being 20+ is a must. I do not tolerate conservative/right-wing views, harassment, hate against people because of their sexuality, gender, skin colour or religion, anti-science views, use of generative AI. I do not subscribe to accounts who post a lot of politics, I'm here to have fun.

Fannish Interests

Main Fandoms: Yuri!!! On Ice, figure skating
Fannish Interests: writing fanfiction, writing essays (meta), discussing canon, reading fanfiction (I only read in my secondary fandoms), fanart
OTP: Katsuki Yuuri/Viktor Nikiforov
Ships: I ship only characters that have romantic chemistry/subtext and get together in canon. I believe that everyone is free to ship characters as they wish, but I ignore most non-canon ships if they're not my cup of tea.
I will post about: thoughts on my writing (ideas, progress, updates), thoughts on canon, canon analysis

About Me/Other Info:

I'm a queer fanfiction writer and a cat mom. My pronouns are she, they. I've been writing since 1998 and I've been writing consistently and mostly fanfic since 2009. Except for the occasional canon divergent gedankenexperiment, I strictly write canon-compliant—preferably sequels, but I've also written quite a number of prequels and fanfics that close the gaps in the source material. Being autistic makes me extremely monotropic in my interests and I keep them for a long time. Therefore, YOI is only the second fandom I'm writing fanfic for.
I'm migrating from tumblr because I don't vibe with the overall atmosphere there.

I read queer books and SFF. My taste in music comprises hard rock, metal, generally '80s, and classic music. And I watch a lot of anime.

⌈ Secret Post #7015 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 37 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1002.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

I'm working on a post that discusses use of color in a series' character designs and peripheral media, so I have to embed lots of images in order to make my point. I've been designing "photosets" by hand using css and html. The simplest way for me to make these image sets is to have a grid of images, where all the images in a row shrink and grow to match the width of the visible post-space.

However, some images, even if placed in a "photoset" with this technique, still stretch a page vertically quite badly. For example, a full image of a character standing in place with no background is often very vertical. This ends up visually "overwhelming" the text, which I don't want to do. Yes, putting the image under a cut prevents it from being annoying in reading page and journal-page views, but I also want the image to look nice while visible, and not overwhelm the paragraphs above and below it.

Is there any common etiquette for the maximum height (in pixels) of an embedded in-post image in a post published to a community?

The other week we had a bunch of above-freezing days and made quite a bit of headway in melting the snow. There were even places where you could see the ground! At one point I was out walking and I wasn't even wearing a coat, and some guy walking past me who was certainly old enough to know better opened his arms expansively and announced in glee, "It's finally here!!" I just smiled and didn't disillusion him.

Shortly afterward, the temperatures plummeted back down to the teens Fahrenheit (single digits below zero C) and stayed there, and yesterday we got several inches of snow, so the ground is well covered again.

The birds, however, are certainly aware that winter will end eventually, and are continuing their preparations. The year-round residents are doing more singing and less quiet foraging, and the early migrators are starting to roll in. I've heard flocks of Canada Geese honking over the neighborhood and seen Turkey Vultures wheeling and teetering through the sky. (In the dead of winter we only see Black Vultures, which can find carrion by sight; Turkey Vultures need to smell it, so below-freezing temperatures are a problem for them.) Walking around town I saw the Common Grackles are back, and I heard the year's first Red-winged Blackbird call from the muddy fields near the grocery store. I spotted a Song Sparrow quietly hanging out with our usual Dark-eyed Junco group in the yard (looking a bit underdressed in his casual stripes next to the juncos' tuxedos), and the next day he was singing.

A lot of people associate American Robins with spring, but not all individuals migrate. Even in the coldest part of the winter I still see them occasionally out in the woods. But the ones who do migrate are definitely on their way in, and before it started snowing again there were even enough open lawns in the neighborhood for them to forage there. I always find it funny how they spread out equally spaced when they forage, almost in a grid.

Since my last bird update I also added Pine Siskin and European Starling to my year list. They've been around, I just hadn't seen them since New Year. Pine Siskins should actually be heading out soon, as they breed further north, in Canada. I love their buzzy little upward zipper call.

So that's 46 birds for my 2026 list so far. Soon the main migration wave will hit and it'll fill up faster!

Name: JacieLeigh
Age group: Legal in all 50 States! I have online friends everywhere from 20s to 70s. As long as you're of age wherever you're from, you're okay with me. No minors, please.
Country: USA

Subscription/Access Policy: I used to post often, but was discouraged by a lack of commenters. Sometimes I'm okay with posting to the void, but sometimes it feels a little sad. I also recently had (minor) surgery, but was under for about 10 hours. I'm just starting to get my energy back, so I haven't been posting much recently. Hopefully, with spring arriving, I'll feel more motivated to post. Anyway, I bounce around on my locking of posts. I do create some public posts, but I have two locked filters as well (one for about everyone friended to my journal, and the other tends to be locked to people I've known for years who actively converse with me, i.e. people I trust with private info), some things I post privately, mostly recipes that I'm not sure will interest other people.

What I chat about: I enjoy dialogue. Mostly, I chat about writing, and cats would be my guess. I also chat about whatever is on my mind at the moment. So, yeah, you never know. It could be fitness, stories, items, a show I've watched, or current events (Poli-chat is rare and tends to be LOCKED). I will say, although I am an Independent, I am NOT a fan of what's going on in my country at this time. Anyone who supports the felon need not apply. Seriously, just no.

I'm looking to connect with people who: Enjoy chatting, seriously, I'm very chatty and love good dialogue. Also, people who love cats, NCIS, and other common interests. I tend to mirror people. I'm generally pretty engaged with those who engage with me. I'm okay with lurkers, but I'm less likely to comment to people who never comment on my journal. Just being honest. It doesn't mean I'm not reading or don't care, but I've had a lot of negative experiences with one-sided relationships in my life. But yeah, if you want to innocently lurk, then lurk, it's fine. If you want to chit-chat, then feel free to comment. I started on LJ in 2004, and have online friends I've known for years, who are from several different countries. I enjoy learning about history, other countries, and cultures. Unfortunately, so many people have left LJ over the years, and not all of them have found their way to DW. I finally made DW my main journal in 2025, but had been cross-posting for a few years before that. I generally don't bother posting to LJ anymore, except my communities.

Main Fandom: NCIS
Other Fandoms: I have written NCIS crossovers with Criminal Minds, NCIS: New Orleans, Ghosts, and SEAL Team
OTP: Gibbs/DiNozzo will always be my OTP, however, I've been known to write Gen or other pairings here and there
What I create for Fandom: Stories and banners, mostly for NCIS challenges these days
Communities that I run: I have several Fandom communities, including NCIS Big Bang, NCIS Reverse Bang, NCIS Discuss, NCIS Challenge, NCIS SeSa, and an NCIS newsletter that posts every week or two.
Where I post my fanfic stories: Mostly AO3

Favourite Movies: Hmmm, there are so many! So, a few favorites in no particular order - A Fish Called Wanda, Hidden Figures, Sneakers, The Sting, Victor/Victoria, A Few Good Men, Men of Honor, The Wrath of Khan, The Voyage Home, Generations, Hair, This is Spinal Tap, Point Break (original), My Cousin Vinny, Apollo 13, The Rutles, The Yellow Submarine, Frozen I & II, The Aristocats, Minions, Ice Age movies, The Emperor's New Groove. Sometimes, I'm a kid at heart.

TV Shows: NCIS (original), NCIS: Origins, Ghosts (US), Fraiser (original and reboot), Friends, SEAL Team, Criminal Minds, School Spirits, Starfleet Academy, The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, Hell's Kitchen (Gordon Ramsay), Next Level Chef (Gordon Ramsay), RuPaul's Drag Race, Queer as Folk (US), Picard, NCIS: New Orleans, Heartland. I also like to watch documentaries on history and nature. There is also a list of other older shows I also enjoy when I can find them on my sticky post at my journal.

Books: The Chronicles of Narnia, also a fan of Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, etc) and Thich Nhat Hanh (Peace is Every Step, etc)
Music: BEATLES!!! Also Simon & Garfunkel, Elton John, The Doors, Styx, Led Zepplin, Abba, Blondie, *NSync, Allman Brothers, and others. I mostly listen to 60s and 70s classic rock, but also enjoy older stuff from the 50s, and classical music. I also listen to alternative music like Linkin Park, System of a Down, Rage Against the Machine, etc. I love harmony stuff like Pentatonix.

Hobbies: Writing, hiking, chatting, photography, history - I'd like to get back to playing the bass guitar, and I'm also trying to learn a bit of Spanish and German via Duolingo.
Volunteer work: I volunteer with a cat rescue

Name: Regis
Age group: 40s
Country: USA
Subscription/Access Policy: I tend to give both subscription and access to anyone that shares their life with me. ALso, you don't have to mind me being gay.

Favourite Movies: Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on ELm Street, Star Wars, Back to the Future, DC Universe, Marvel Universe, Halloween, Paranorman, Ideal Home
TV Shows: Doctor Who, Eureka, Warehouse 13, Perry Mason, Matlock, Murder She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder, Poirot, Barney Miller, Psych, Monk, Twin Peak, Cadfael, Sherlock, Night Court, My Family, Are You Being Served
Books: Heartstopper, Battle Royale, Who P.p.p.p.plugged Roger Rabbit.
Music: Panic at the Disco, Mika,, Alanis Morrisette, Rolling Stones, Beatles.
Games: Disney's Dreamlight Valley, Mega man, Duck Tales, Epic Mickey
Comics/Anime/Misc: Junjo Romantica, Sekai-ichi Hatsuko, Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop, Given, Gravitation, Love Stage

Here I am again with some more Dreamwidth tips!
( More technical tips this time. )

NAME: you can call us jae
AGE: 20
COUNTRY: usa
SUBSCRIPTION/ACCESS POLICY: anyone can subscribe, i don't currently plan to post anything that needs special access, but if i do in the future that will only be granted if i know you decently well

FANISH INTERESTS: currently my main fandoms are my hero academia, naruto, and stray kids. i'm also an avid self shipper and have many fiction kin's, which absolutely impacts the way i interact with fandom and my interests. a more in depth list of my fandoms can be found in the sticky post pinned to my blog!
I LIKE TO POST ABOUT: anything and everything. i don't have a whole lot of posts just yet as im still very new here, but i plan to make personal posts talking about my life, posts about self shipping, posts about being alterhuman and fiction kin, posts about plurality, as well as potential fandom ramblings and fanfiction. there may also be vent posts on my blog so proceed with caution if that bothers you.
OTHER INFO: i'm a writer and artist! i don't plan to share my drawings here, but it is something i enjoy doing very much. we are also plural so multiple members of our system post here, but generally our interests overlap pretty heavily, and the things we post about, although different, still typically stay within the things listed above. we're always down to chat with new people, and we're always looking for people to add to our circle, so even if you don't want to add us feel free to let us know you exist so we can subscribe to you!

Current Mood: cheerful

Continuing the queer short film recs, thanks to

muscle_wizard sharing this one in my last post:

Watch on YouTube

An older woman with a crush on someone in her circle approaches her younger co-worker for advice on how to ask out another woman for the first time. This really got me—charming and moving at the same time.

⌈ Secret Post #7014 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

All secrets have spoiler/content warnings today!

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1001.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

The Ainu are an indigenous people native to northern Japan and nearby parts of Russia. Kayano Shigeru (1926-2006) was a leading activist for Ainu rights in Japan, and eventually became the first Ainu member of the Japanese legislature. But his career in the Diet came after the publication of this book, which mixes memoir, history, and ethnography.

Kayano relates what he knows of his people's oppression in the 19th century, when the Japanese government pushed many Ainu groups onto marginal land and conscripted people for forced labor at minimal pay. This leads into his own childhood, when his family's generational poverty was exacerbated by his father's alcoholism. As a young man Kayano came to feel ashamed of being Ainu, culminating in a demeaning job at an Ainu-themed attraction, performing sacred dances five times a day for gawking tourists.

But the tourists' ignorant questions sparked Kayano's realization that there should be a real Ainu museum curated by actual Ainu people and fostering respect for their culture. He was inspired to travel the Ainu lands collecting one traditional tool or piece of clothing at a time (and always paying the people who made them) and eventually succeeded in opening the museum and renewing his own sense of pride in his heritage.

This short book highlights important issues, but I have to be honest—I found the presentation pretty dry. Maybe it's partly the translation? I also noticed that Ainu women weren't given much attention; Kayano has a wife, but her only character trait shown in the book is "supportive of her husband". But I'd say the book is still a good resource on a significant figure in global indigenous rights.

(As an aside: This book was on my TBR list for at least 15 years. This year I'm really trying to either read some of the long-time lingerers or admit I'm not going to read them, so having read this is a great success for me!)

name: hex

age group: late 20s

pronouns: they/them

country: usa

subscription / access policy: 18+ only. no antis, no harry potter fans, no users/defenders of generative ai, and no bigots ✨

main interests: gothic literature, gothic tropes, greek mythology, halloween, hauntings, divorce in media, dreams/unreality, journaling

main fandoms: call of duty: ghosts (2013), call of duty: mw19, call of duty: mw22, baldur's gate 3, personal d&d campaigns, fields of mistria, stardew valley, the room (video game series)

casual interests: the starving saints by caitlin starling, gothikana by runyx, nocticadia by keri lake, arcane (netflix), castlevania (netflix), castlevania: nocturne (netflix), transformers (tfa, tfp, bayverse, and a bit of the mtmte comics), hades (video game)

a bit about me: i'm a storyteller, game master, graduate student, and fanfic author, among many other things. i think it's important to know that i am black and chronically ill, that i love a good dead dove moment, and that i am here chasing the thrill of web 1.0. happy to chat about anything mentioned up above!

Current Mood: hopeful

Buckle in, everyone, this is going to be a long one!

One of the things that has made Tumblr wildly popular with fandom is its unlimited image hosting capacity. Content, Tumblr eventually put limits on, but number of total images (rather than images per post) and size of images? Not so much.

Unfortunately, that's one of the big reasons why Tumblr is basically hemorrhaging money: Because data is expensive, and image data is much more so than text data, mainly because it's a lot more data. That number just goes up with gifs and videos, the former especially being a favorite on Tumblr.

The ways to get money to run a social media site on the internet are basically venture capitol (the investors will want their money back someday, somehow), selling user data (doesn't everyone love ads and hate privacy?), and users directly paying for services (in this economy?).

Dreamwidth started from a foundation of prioritizing privacy and user freedom, and that meant that they compromised on image hosting in order for their users to truly be the main focus of this site. A dedicated user base pays to keep Dreamwidth running, and while there's a price rise on the horizon, we've managed to keep Dreamwidth's doors open with just our own money for sixteen years now.

So what does this have to do with icons? Well, with the limited image hosting options in Dreamwidth's budget, they're one of the main ways we use images at all—and Dreamwidth users make the most of them!

( Hold up; what exactly IS an icon? And what do you mean by 'make the most of them'? )

( How do I get and upload icons? )

Is that it?

Well, it's everything I can think of, at any rate! But you might have questions that I haven't covered. This is a great place to ask them! I may not have the answers, but odds are decent that someone here will be able to point you in the right direction.

One last favor before I go...

Dreamwidth users, if you've got favorite icons, show them off in the comments! I think it would be great to be able to share examples of just how fun and creative we can get with this medium, and this seems like the perfect opportunity 😉 Reply to your own comment if you have more than one, or to other people if the icon fits, so it's not just a mass of top-level comments.

As for any newcomers, if this post gets enough comments, you may get a chance to try out another one of Dreamwidth's features; at 50 comments, comment threads will collapse to keep loading time down and limit data transfer costs. Towards the topmost comment, at the bottom of the comment below which everything gets folded up, there's a clickable option to Expand the thread. This will open up and display all of the comments below that for you! The thread will collapse back down if you click away, though.

If this post doesn't get that many comments but you still want to try it out, I'd recommend checking the latest post at

dw_news. (Incidentally, if you have a Paid account, there's an option to expand all the comment threads at once at the top of the comment section. Pretty neat, yeah?)

Thanks, everyone, and I hope this post was helpful! I'm going to go collapse for a while now 😅

Edit: I've added a clarification about which icons will be kept if you go from a paid account to a free account with more than 15 icons.

Dandelion is a very sweet short film starring Ava Lalezarzadeh as Margaret, a queer teen in the foster care system in the 1970s, and Vic Michaelis as Joyce, the volunteer trying to find her a new placement after she's kicked out of convent school. The short's a lovely standalone, but I was really happy to hear it's being made into a full-length movie!

Watch on YouTube

⌈ Secret Post #7013 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 07 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1001.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Name: C.K. or Chester
Age group: mid-to-late 30s -- 36 specifically.
Country: USA
Subscription/Access Policy: 18+ only. No Harry Potter fans. No antis. No Chappell Roan stans (I see how y'all are treating my man and I don't like it.) For a more in-depth 'about me', follow this link.

Main Fandoms: Culture Club (the greatest band of the '80s! I write fic for them and sometimes cross-post deep dives from my website on them.)
Other Fandoms: Linkin Park, WWE, Smoky Mountain Wrestling
Fannish Interests: Fanfiction mostly, and doing deep dives on my many OCs.
OTPs and Ships: Culture Club: Boy George/Jon Moss, Roy Hay/Mikey Craig; Linkin Park: Bennoda [Chester Bennington/Mike Shinoda]; Wrestling: Hartbreak (Bret Hart/Shawn Michaels), Shawnter (Shawn Michaels/Hunter Hearst-Helmsley), Candy (Cody Rhodes/Randy Orton); and then I have a lot of ships in my fandoms involving OCs.

Favourite Movies: The Room (lol), Pretty in Pink, Borat, Major League, man there's so many and I can't think of all of them.
TV Shows: I actually don't watch TV.
Books: Broken Harts: The Life and Death of Owen Hart by Martha Hart
Music: I listen to a lot of '80s. My faves are Culture Club (and yes, that means I like Boy George's solo work too), a-ha, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Information Society, New Order, The Cure, A Flock of Seagulls, Real Life, Johnny Hates Jazz, Mr. Mister, Oingo Boingo. Then outside of '80s music I like Massive Ego, $uicideboy$, Linkin Park, and Fort Minor.
Games: Sonic the Hedgehog (1, 2, 3), Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic 3D Blast, Pokemon, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, GTA series, Hitman series, WWE series, Tomb Raider (original games series), Crash Bandicoot 1 & 2, Legacy of Kain series
Comics/Anime/Misc: Not really into much comics or anime, but my fave anime is Death Note.

Current Mood: sleepy

Profile

some kind of snark faery

March 2026

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Style Credit

Base style: Abstractia by chiming
Theme: Ocean Floor by chiming

Page generated Apr. 2nd, 2026 02:15 pm

some buncha nerds

Reading

Links

Expand Cut Tags

Style Credit