This week I consumed very little news and subsequently read a ton. Much of this reading was done on my bed, next to the giant peace lily I adopted a few weeks back. It's been growing great guns ever since, regularly putting out new leaves and spathes. Unfortunately, it also began putting out regular, worrying rustles starting few days ago. This was concerning because they were coming from the peace lily: with the windows shut and the AC off, there was nothing else that could be generating those noises. Did I somehow bring in a mouse or chipmunk? I thought. But that's impossible; there's no way anything could have survived in there for over a month.

Then I realized: I was hearing the lily's leaves unfurl. How cool is that?

What I Finished Reading This Week

The Book of Mystic Wisdom – Dave Albert
Being one of the two lorebooks for Ultima IV, which I am currently replaying. This one covers the game's 26 spells.

The History of Britannia – Roe R. Adams III
Being the other Ultima IV lorebook, which covers the world, character classes, combat, magic, monsters, and leveling. It's all presented as history vice a manual; Ultima IV just drops you into the world, and one of the joys of playing this game is figuring out what how to play it, which you do by sussing out the clues very cleverly worked into the flavor text in these manuals.

Bog Bodies Uncovered – Miranda Aldhouse-Green
This book is a strong contender to be the worst nonfiction book I've read this year. Aldhouse-Green is a widely referenced and apparently well-regarded historian of the Romano-Celtic period, but based on this garbage I have absolutely no idea why. Bog Bodies Uncovered reads like the output of an early ChatGPT model: meandering, disjointed, frequently contradictory, and highly repetitive. (Take out that repetition and the book would easily be 2/3 shorter.) She is clearly titillated by the violence inflicted on these individuals--a jarring tone in a book that purports to be academic nonfiction vice true crime. Worst of all, Aldhouse-Green presents conjecture and supposition as objective fact, and her scholarship is often lacking in intellectual rigor.( Read more... ) Like, holy crap this book is bad. It really has to be read to be believed; however, if you're at all hoping for a serious, academically sound exploration of its topic, this is emphatically not something anyone should read.

The Story of Irish Dance – Helen Brennan
This book is a very well-written history of the development of Irish dance from the 17^th century to the present. I expected it to be interesting, but did not expect it to be so much fun. And it is, largely because dance was one of the things--alongside folklore, sport, music, and the Irish language--republicans set out to preserve and disseminate as a means of forging national identity in the decades leading up to and following Irish independence. In practice, this meant attempting to define and codify a "pure" form of Irish dance purged of English and continental influences--an impossible task given the plethora of local styles and centuries of cultural cross-pollination with Europe. But they tried, and boy, did they have Opinions. We are talking grown men conducting yearslong newspaper flamewars that would put today's TikTok antis to shame. It is delightful. That aside, Irish Dance is a very informative book. I learned a great deal about everything from regional styles, the history of house dances, and enforcement of the Dance Hall Act, to which dances have fallen in and out of fashion and how the overriding focus on competition over the last 70 years has changed how its danced (tiny skirts and hideous Jon Bennet-Ramsey wigs make sense if you're being judged on how high you appear to be jumping). This was a really good book and one I will read again.

Sistersong – Lucy Holland
Sistersong is a retelling of the Twa Sisters Childe Ballad set in a fantasy Cornwall in the late 6^th century. Like Holland's Song of the Huntress, it's not a perfect read, but it is a good one so long as you know ahead of time what you're in for. ( Read more... ) This is my kind of book.


Pagan Britain – Ronald Hutton
A strong contender for the best nonfiction book I will read this year. Hutton is such a pleasure to read, so much so that I devoured this 400-page, size-6-font book in a matter of days. Pagan Britain sets out to examine what can and can't be known about the religious beliefs of the isle's inhabitants from the paleolithic to the present. Hutton is a master synthesizer: it's amazing how he can make something that's essentially one giant lit review so interesting. He objectively sets out what can be definitively known from the archeological or historical record, what can be conjectured, where differences of scholarly opinion or interpretation exist, and what is modern (mis)invention. And he's refreshingly pleasant about it all--this is not a man with an axe to grind. It's not a perfect book; the latter chapters feel slightly less meaty than the earlier ones, and Hutton is strangely silent on some topics (e.g., the Carmina Gadelica) that I'd have expected him to examine. But his enthusiasm for the subject matter--and the people who examine it, what they think about it, and why--is apparent on every page, and his commitment to academic precision on the one hand and diversity of opinion, belief, and cultural practice on the other, is wonderful. I absolutely recommend this book and will absolutely read it again.


What I Am Currently Reading

Practical Manx – Jon Jennifer Kewley Draskau
This week I covered the initial sections on noun lenition.

Cunning Folk – Tabitha Stanmore
I'm about a third of the way through and this is a breath of fresh air in comparison to the odious Bog Bodies Uncovered.


What I'm Reading Next

I acquired no new books this week.

これで以上です。

Title: Harmless Bickering
Rating: G
Type: Fic
Size/length/word count etc.: 507
Prompt: 029: Bone
Fandom/Ship: P1Harmony, Stray Kids; Yoon Keeho / Seo Changbin
Notes/Warnings:
Summary They had an indoor picnic because going out together could be bad.

( Fried Chicken is the best thing for a picnic. )

Find the table with the list of fics here

I finished Caliban's War last week, and it's actually better than I remember. Then I finished watching the corresponding episodes from the show, and though there are differences of course, they hit the right beats. That's what's so brilliant about the show -- they get the vibes of the book and I feel like I get these two awesome versions of the story.

I'm about 150 pages into Abaddon's Gate now. I had to repossess our copy from my niece. I forgot how much tension there is on the Behemoth! I'm all anxious about it again and keep paging ahead to see what happens next. I remember the big elements but not the details. I have watched the one episode that corresponds to this first chunk of the book, lol. I like how they've adapted Bull's book storyline to Drummer's, though I do love Bull himself, and I'm a little sad we didn't get the full scene of him busting the drug dealer. I understand the changes, but that was such a badass moment.

I recognize the actor playing Ashford but can't remember his name. He's doing a great job of being creepy and obnoxious. The dynamics are different of course, because of the switching around of the roles and him being XO instead of captain, but again, the show is getting the vibes right.

I was chatting on Instagram (my author account @l.lynngray, obligatory self-plug) with one of my acquaintances there about why I love The Expanse world, and a lot of it boiling down to the setting, society, and politics being so reflective of our own current world that it feels real. I go on about that there and at my author blog if you want to read there, also in my newsletter.

(This author business stuff is a lot sometimes, but I'm trying to make it interesting and tapping into my fannish skills of going on about things I love.)

***

ION My first missed paycheck happened. I pulled over some funds from my savings to cover bills. Husband and I are okay and assuming that we will get backpay, so here's hoping that proves true. Test driving what being a full time author might be like has been good. I'd need to be more disciplined in some areas, but I could get used to this. The money is definitely not there yet though, lol.

I came across True Biz by Sara Novic when researching books with good disability representation for a reading challenge - then very fortuitously spotted it in a local charity shop the next time I was browsing for books.

It's set in Ohio, in and around River Valley School for the Deaf, and follows multiple characters - the headmistress (a hearing child of deaf parents who is dealing with family issues), several of the students (from different familial backgrounds - some deaf, some hearing) and their parents.

It's really involving right from the start. The characters are very real and relatable, while also having life experiences very different from mine, both of which made the book really interesting and affecting for me. There's a lot of information in it about Deaf culture, attitudes towards deafness (from both hearing and deaf people), debates about technological advances around cochlear implants and whether or not dedicated schools for deaf children are a good idea.

Some of it is quite soap-boxy, which is understandable, and the inclusion of periodic inserts about different aspects of language, history and culture feels a bit clunky. It gets rather extreme in places (also understandable) and a lot of things are left unresolved at the end, but I think that's kind of the point.

I was fully engaged throughout and really enjoyed this book.

I had a pedicure this morning. Today’s color is an even orangier-red than last time’s. I was worried about sitting so long, but it wasn’t bad, until I had to lift my leg. Thank goodness my sister took mom today because I’m not sure I could’ve done both. (The problem with driving a vehicle is that you can’t shift to get comfortable. You are forced to sit in the same position with pressure on the spots you don’t want pressure.)

While I was downtown I hit: the Dollar Tree (birthday cards – Ireland is going to be 16 this month!!), Walmart (to return and pick out more clothes for mom – she’s lost so much weight that her clothes just hang on her, so I’m trying to find the right size in everything from shirts to pants to undies), Price Chopper, and the Pharmacy.

I did a load of laundry (new uniform shirts for Pip, so I had to remove the outer packaging, remove the inner cardboard, rip off the tape strip everyone uses these days, cut off the cardboard tag because why just have the one, and unbutton ten shirts *head desk* There’s a reason I put this task off for months), hand-washed dishes, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter.

I also made up the base for chili (basically browned the ground beef with peppers and onions and a little pepper and garlic powder) for one day later this week. I grilled tiny lamb chop thingies for Pip’s supper.

I took a nap, had an apple with caramel dip for my afternoon snack, and watched some HGTV programs. Thankfully pain is still a little bit less than yesterday. It's getting better each day, but is still very uncomfortable when I sit.

Temps started out at 45.3(F) and reached 64.4. There was sun most of the day, which was nice, but it was not super warm.


Mom Update:

I did not visit mom today, but I spoke to her on the phone. ( more back here )

I was re-reading some old MCU fic, and in the fic Steve says that Bucky was named for President Buchanan. Which Doylistically he was, but ... there's no reason he has to be from an in-universe perspective.

"James" was an incredibly common last name. The Social Security Administration publishes lists of how popular various names have been over the years; in the 1910s, when James and Steve were born, "James" was the third most popular name for boys. 275,000 baby boys were named "James" in that decade, which, given the size of the population, means that there were a lot of James' everywhere. Very common name.

Ah, but what of Buchanan, you say! Surely there could be no reason to give someone the middle name "Buchanan" if it's not naming him after someone famous! ... and no, actually. While people sometimes were named after famous people or political leaders (just like today), there's actually a more common reason to do it. It was a fairly common thing in the 19th Century for people to have a "last" name as a middle name, often their mother's maiden name, and people still do that today sometimes. Steve's middle name is "Grant", for example; "Grant" was a relatively common surname but (at the time) extremely uncommon as a first name. Steve was almost certainly given the middle name "Grant" to honor someone whose last name was Grant; it was probably his mother's maiden name. Buchanan is a relatively common Scottish name; it's not one of the top ten or anything, but the Buchanan clan is one of respectable size and power. In the same way, there is a very good chance that James was given the middle name "Buchanan" to honor someone whose last name was "Buchanan," quite probably his mother. And for a first name they gave him the third most common name for boys, and maybe didn't realize that there was a President by that name. Especially if they were immigrants, or weren't very well educated. (A lot of people in that generation had only a grade school education, or maybe a middle school education; only 10% of all 14-17 year olds attended high school in the US in 1900; there were still states where even elementary school wasn't required until 1918!) James Buchanan is not one of the Presidents that people talk about much outside history classes, and even then, a lot of history classes don't go into a lot of detail on him besides "last President before the Civil War." Yes, he was a bad President and one of the reasons the US Civil War became inevitable, but there were a lot of factors that were a lot more important.

I think "we liked the name James, and we wanted to honor his mother's family by giving him their last name as a middle name" is a far more likely scenario than consciously deciding to name their kid after President James Buchanan.

On a completely different note, if you want to write an AU where Bucky escaped Hydra early and made a new life for himself ... there's a late-20th-Century composer named James Barnes. He wrote concert band music. Here are some of his pieces: Symphonic Overture, Symphony No. 2, Third Symphony ("The Tragic"), Fantasy Variations on a Theme by Nicolo Paganini, Alvamar Overture.

Quote:

"Why should I be ashamed to describe what nature was not ashamed to create?"

"I keep my friends as misers do their treasure, because, of all the things granted us by wisdom, none is greater or better than friendship."

~ Pietro Aretino


Horror Movie music:

Resident Evil

Marilyn Manson – Resident Evil Main Title Theme (Corp. Umbrella)

https://youtu.be/HpGQaUZ5Qzs?si=JXQFI_gQp_IEw-5s

BONUS: Voltaire - When You're Evil

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tWYCS6k1IOA

THIS SONG! Hoo boy, I've been looking for an anthem for the hellscape we're in right now and I think this is the one.

“The song is my way of saying to these men that you have more in common with me, you have more in common with everyday women than the billionaires and the manosphere ‘role models’ that you idolize and uplift with no reward,” Paloma said in a previewing video on Instagram. “Not even a ‘well done’ or a ‘good boy.’”

Watch on YouTube

Everything was on fire today. I was glad to get to lab. At least that didn't explode. Books for next semester are due. Barnes & Nobles (our online book seller) doesn't think I exist. I go to fill in our book store's excel spread sheet (as I'm not alone in being erased) and our book store has sent it for THIS semester, not next. ARGH I get a message from the chair 'there's problems with the schedule' yep there was. At least that's an easy fix but that's still a chunk of my day gone. The greenhouse watering system is off so not only were the plants I dragged off the porch yesterday sad and stressed so were my greenhouse plants. My office is now a nursery for plants on the edge. Crosses fingers. At least I got everything graded at long last. Midterms are due in tomorrow. Wanna see the line out my door of people panicking over the zeroes I put in for the stuff they didn't do. Oh wait? that matters? Fannish 50 I am gonna ask a question in a sec but again fans do better! One creator let it slip that there is a ship they don't like (didn't say which one) and now a hunk of fans are yelling at them, calling them immature and mentally ill for even mentioning it. Good lord, fans, cool the fuck down (though at this point creators are probably going to want to keep their mouths shut about ships, fans are so toxic) So my question, I'm thinking of doing a panel at the con next year and one thing I've noticed that as per usual there is an overemphasis on male characters. I was thinking of doing one on the strong women in animation. I could fill a quarter of that hour on Fullmetal Alchemist alone. So the question is who would YOU add? I'm thinking any time period. I was not into Sailor Moon but sure probably deserves to be there. I see lists online and a lot of them I don't necessarily agree with, like Mikasa Ackerman from AoT who fizzled out along with Rukia from Bleach. My only caveat is I wouldn't be including the ridiculously fan service ones like Shura from Blue Exorcist and if I could I'd be willing to put in non-anime, say the ladies of the Owl House. And it doesn't have to be physical strength I'm after. I'm thinking more the independent woman types.

I snagged this from tinkaton.
Rules: How many letters of the alphabet have you used for [starting] a fic title? One fic per line, ‘A’ and 'The’ do not count for 'a’ and ’t’. Post your score out of 26 at the end, along with your total fic count.

A — Accidentally in Love (Smallville, Clark/Oliver)
B — better together (MCU, Steve/Tony)
C — close to each other (far from the others) (MCU, Sharon/Maria)
D — Dancing in the Rain (Smallville, Lois/Oliver)
E — the easiest path (isn't always the right one) (9-1-1, Buck/Eddie)
F — fly with me (Smallville/Nolan Batman, Clark/Bruce)
G — getting ready (for our future) (DCEU, Clark/Lois)
H — home for the holidays (MCU, Bucky/Sam)
I — i don't mind falling (as long as you'll catch me) (Smallville, Clark/Lois/Oliver)
J — Just The Way You Are (Smallville, Clark/Oliver)
K —
L — let it snow (Gilmore Girls, Paris/Rory)
M — maybe in the future (you're going to come back) (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Kimberly/Tommy)
N — no tricks, just treats (MCU, Bucky/Sam)
O — on three (he will stay) (DCEU, Diana/Steve)
P — playing pretend (with real feelings) (MCU, Maria/Sam)
Q —
R — Rumor Has It (Smallville, Clark/Oliver)
S — Several Weaknesses ... Only a Few Regrets (Smallville, Lois/Tess)
T — Taking Risks (Smallville, Lois/Lana)
U — underneath the mistletoe (Smallville, Lois/Lana)
V —
W — where you go (i'll follow) (MCU/What If ...?, Peggy/Steve)
X —
Y — you know me (honey, it's all or none) (Smallville, Clark/Oliver)
Z —

21/26! I am surprised I didn't have a fic with the letter "K" but I did find out that I had two fics with the exact same title! Whoops. I also seem to have a lot of fics that start with "i" or variations of that, which I didn't realize until I saw it laid out like that. Also I was reminded how I have written 1/3 of the Clark/Oliver tag on AO3, which is kinda fun. Someone left a comment on one of my fics a couple of months ago (after going through a lot of them) and was like "you are holding the Clark/Oliver tag down" (paraphrasing), which was not something I expected to hear in 2025 but I do love it. :D

Here's the meme for anyone who is interested!

<b>Rules: How many letters of the alphabet have you used for [starting] a fic title? One fic per line, ‘A’ and 'The’ do not count for 'a’ and ’t’. Post your score out of 26 at the end, along with your total fic count.</b> A — B — C — D — E — F — G — H — I — J — K — L — M — N — O — P — Q — R — S — T — U — V — W — X — Y — Z —

comfy-vember is a November prompt event for fanworks based on hurt/comfort themes and centered around gen/platonic relationships

nonconvember is a November prompt event for fanworks centering around non-con

yuletide, an annual fic (1000+ words) exchange for rare and obscure fandoms, is open for sign-ups until October 24th, 9PM UTC.

holly_poly, an exchange for polyamorous relationships, is open for pre-nominations, which is a period to transfer nominations from the last two year’s tagsets into this tagset, from now until October 26th, 11AM UTC.

doodle4doodle, a multi fandom fanart exchange, has opened sign-ups until October 27th, 10PM PDT.

toothhpastejuice is running Rarest of Rarepairs ficathon, a ficathon for ships with less than 50 works.

minutia_r is running a Multifandom Poetry Fest. Click on the banner below to get there. :D



poetry_fiction has opened sign-ups for their annual Poetry Fic Challenge until December 31st, 11:59PM CST.

More prompt-combo art from the drawesome Drawtober challenge. The pics are all made in Procreate - you can click on each one for the full-sized art.

Captain Haddock's Favourite Recipe - prompts "captain's favourite" & "recipe" (fandom: Tintin) Soup is the captain's favourite recipe... usually.

Ice Dragons Against a Wispy Sky - prompts: "dragons", "ice" & "wisp" (original work)

Four Ways To Eat an Egg - prompts: "propped up", "glitter", "flat" & "squashed" (original work)

Stranded - prompts: "desert ruin", "flutter" & "daydream" (Stargate Atlantis) They huddled in the shelter of the ruins, the Stargate dead behind them, useless with its broken DHD. John held Rodney close to him, feeling Rodney's rapid pulse flutter under his hand, and dreamed of rescue.

In episode 3 of the Moon Knight TV show, there is what is explicitly called "a meeting of the Ennead". Also explicitly, the following gods are present: "Horus, Isis, Tefnut, Osiris and Hathor". Now, I know the Ennead occasionally includes Horus the Elder, so sure, why not.

But Hathor?

Afaik, the Ennead is Atum; Shu and Tefnut; Geb and Nut; (Horus the Elder), Osiris, Seth, Isis and Nephtys. Am I missing something? (Probably.)

9-1-1: Good ep! ( spoilers )


Matlock: Have seen the first two eps and they were both good, though you probably can already guess my caveat. ( spoilers )



Tracker: Good ep! ( spoilers )

I had another chiropractic appointment this morning. Apparently I misunderstood; the pinch isn’t in the sacrum, it’s in the lower lumbar region. Which is one of the spots in my back that started hurting as the pain in my buttock/leg lessened. The chiropractor said that is expected, as the pain will eventually be felt where the actual pinch is, rather than where it radiates to. Almost forgot to mention that the pain is less again today, in part, I'm sure, because of the adjustment.

I hit Walmart and CVS (for mom’s prescriptions) while I was downtown. I did two loads of laundry, hand-washed dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered.

I watched the current ep of Tracker and some HGTV programs.

Temps started out at 58.8(F) and reached 61.3. It rained most of the night and was supposed rain most of the day, as well, but it was more off and on than steady. We’d have periods of rain, then the sun would come out, then more rain, then sun . . . It was also quite windy. (Pip told me that the pot one of the mums was in had blown into the field. I was like o_O how could that happen? Apparently the plant was blown over, and the pot blown right off it! Who knew that could happen?)


Mom Update:

Mom was doing well today. ( more back here )

Quote:

"The only one you should compare yourself to is you. Your mission is to become better today than you were yesterday."

"Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another."

~ John C. Maxwell


Horror Movie music:

Final Destination

https://youtu.be/Kyy5P1hNCBw?si=8wHdOk-WlAdSFlVo


BONUS: AC/DC - Highway to Hell (If you know, you know.)

https://youtu.be/l482T0yNkeo?si=mAty0Ff2NVtlHHmA

I'm drowning in work and now I'm one of two people doing the whole program accreditation thing which is a LOT of work so every moment of my office hours are taken up meaning I need to come home and do the work I normally do in the office. Sigh. Which means writing deadlines are not going to be made. Sighs Speaking of sigh fandomgiftbasket needs some help (go check it out to see if you can . I can do the owl house one (I had planned on it then forgot it) I do wish there was a way to contact the moderator. There isn't on the site (and I don't feel right barging into their personal DMs because I would love them to ask one of the participants to open the requests to fic as well as art. I could knock one out of the part as fic but my abilities to draw it.... A suggestion for these fandom exchanges, a 3 fandom min. is good but maybe you should put on a two mediums min too... And it's music monday. Since it's spooky season I'm continuing with the spookier music. Here's a collection of symphonic metal and goth. Feel free so share your faves in those genres if you have them. ( music under here )

Title: How can you be friends?
Fandom: Hades
Relationship: Asterius & Zagreus, Asterius & Theseus
Rating: T/Gen
Word count: 352
Tags: Friendship, Introspection, Canon Typical Mentions of Death
Summary: There's one thing that Zagreus just can't understand about Asterius.
For seasons_of_fandom's round 1, challenge #1: Royal Rumble

How can you be friends?

He can't understand Asterius at all.

In fact, each time that he passes him by – or, more often, both him and Theseus –, he understands less and less of him. Or rather, one thing about him makes less and less sense, and when Zagreus tries asking him about it he doesn't get a proper answer, so it keeps making no sense at all.

How can Asterius stand Theseus?

He supposes that he can, in a certain way, get past who killed whom when they were still alive. Zagreus has been killed often enough by now to learn not to hold a grudge, including quite a few times by Asterius himself, and he doesn't hold it against him any more than Asterius seems to blame him for the fights that he does win. So being friends with one's killer is something that he can generally understand, even if he assumes it might be different when it's killing someone alive and sending them there, rather than killing someone in Elysium knowing that they'll be back there in a few minutes.

But Asterius is intelligent, respectful – aside from the constantly commenting on his height, which is weird considering how Zagreus is about as tall as Theseus and hrs never called short or small or anything like that –, a noble warrior in every way, while Theseus is a boastful idiot who seems keen on making Zagreus’ life harder. Getting him a spot in Elysium doesn't seem to justify that enduring loyalty, since the way that Zagreus sees it, it's only fair for being the one to kill him the first time.

Theseus is someone Zagreus could kill a million times, and he would still only want never to see him again. Asterius is someone that he might have called a friend, circumstances permitting, and maybe it would be fun to fight him as the sort of friendly competition that almost everyone in Elysium seems to favor.

To put it shortly, he still doesn't understand what someone as nice as Asterius is doing being friends with someone as terrible as Theseus, and he doubts he'll ever understand that.