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8am and it already feels hot
Dec. 18th, 2025 09:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tielanIDK. I did go outside, checked the chickens food (bother, just realised I didn't check their water).
Temps are supposed to be 30+ today and the next few days, alas, before cooling down on Christmas Day. By which we mean "mid-20s".
CRIPES. It's a week to Christmas.
My mother wants us to go over on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day. *sigh* I just don't want to do "Christmas Day", and then "Christmas Day But With The Stepbro's Family".
I don't seem to have gotten COVID - still testing clear, just feeling generally tired.
--
It's six hours later and it's crazy hot out there.
Temps are supposed to be 30+ today and the next few days, alas, before cooling down on Christmas Day. By which we mean "mid-20s".
CRIPES. It's a week to Christmas.
My mother wants us to go over on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day. *sigh* I just don't want to do "Christmas Day", and then "Christmas Day But With The Stepbro's Family".
I don't seem to have gotten COVID - still testing clear, just feeling generally tired.
--
It's six hours later and it's crazy hot out there.
Okay so more context
Dec. 17th, 2025 09:29 pmrydra_wong(Re: the previous entry.)
Dragonslayer Ornstein & Executioner Smough (also known as Oreo and S'mores, Biggie and Smalls, Pikachu and Snorlax, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and any other name the fandom can come up with) are one of the most iconic boss fights in the entire Dark Souls series.
There are much harder ones in later games (and in the DLC), but they're still legendary and still regarded as a Serious boss fight.
They're also a famous mid-game difficulty spike and cause of rage quitting. Conversely, if you can get through O&S, people often say you should have the skills to beat the rest of the base game.
The major issue is that it's a duo boss fight, with one agile speedster (Ornstein) who can zip most of the way across the room in a single move, and also throws lightning, and one heavyweight bruiser (Smough) who is slower but not that slow -- he has a charge attack to close distance fast that hits like a freight train -- and does huge amounts of damage.
So for the first phase of the fight, you have to try to keep track of where they both are simultaneously (not to mention where you are in relation to the room, so you don't back yourself into a corner and get trapped) and constantly manoeuvre to try to be able to get in a hit on one without being hit by the other.
If you kill one of them, the fight goes into a second phase where the surviving one absorbs some of their powers (so if it's Smough, he gets lightning, while if it's Ornstein he gets sized up and picks up part of Smough's moveset) and also restarts with a full and vastly increased health bar. Though there is a general consensus that the second phase is more manageable than the first phase simply because you're not having to fight two bosses at the same time.
Illustrative example of someone doing the fight:
(You can summon an NPC or other human players to try to help you, but the bosses get extra health to compensate and it's still tough. And also I have been having enormous fun trying to beat all the bosses without summons so far, and am averse to the extra complications and unpredictability of having more people -- human or NPC -- in the mix while I try to figure out a fight. Though I've also had enormous fun being a summons for other people on boss fights, so zero disrespect to people summoning*, it's an excellent game mechanic.)
As I may have mentioned once or twice, my brain has huge difficulty tracking multiple moving objects (which is why I can't drive or cycle on the road) and I have the reaction speed of a slime mould.
So yeah. I knew O&S are the big mid-game stopper and I was very aware that this could potentially be the point where I hit a wall and the game became flatly impossible for me. Or at least where I'd have to summon to get through it.
And that did not happen. I solo-ed O&S.
It took multiple sessions over multiple days before I mastered it, but that's standard for me on DS boss fights. And I had SO MUCH FUN. It's SUCH A COOL FIGHT.
I did a thing that was a real achievement for me and I am very proud, and especially given the shitshow this year has been, I'll take it.
{*Necessary disclaimer only because Dark Souls fandom has historically had a section who are toxic as fuck and would like you to know that you didn't really beat the game if you summoned or used magic or whatthefuckever else they disapprove of.}
Dragonslayer Ornstein & Executioner Smough (also known as Oreo and S'mores, Biggie and Smalls, Pikachu and Snorlax, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and any other name the fandom can come up with) are one of the most iconic boss fights in the entire Dark Souls series.
There are much harder ones in later games (and in the DLC), but they're still legendary and still regarded as a Serious boss fight.
They're also a famous mid-game difficulty spike and cause of rage quitting. Conversely, if you can get through O&S, people often say you should have the skills to beat the rest of the base game.
The major issue is that it's a duo boss fight, with one agile speedster (Ornstein) who can zip most of the way across the room in a single move, and also throws lightning, and one heavyweight bruiser (Smough) who is slower but not that slow -- he has a charge attack to close distance fast that hits like a freight train -- and does huge amounts of damage.
So for the first phase of the fight, you have to try to keep track of where they both are simultaneously (not to mention where you are in relation to the room, so you don't back yourself into a corner and get trapped) and constantly manoeuvre to try to be able to get in a hit on one without being hit by the other.
If you kill one of them, the fight goes into a second phase where the surviving one absorbs some of their powers (so if it's Smough, he gets lightning, while if it's Ornstein he gets sized up and picks up part of Smough's moveset) and also restarts with a full and vastly increased health bar. Though there is a general consensus that the second phase is more manageable than the first phase simply because you're not having to fight two bosses at the same time.
Illustrative example of someone doing the fight:
(You can summon an NPC or other human players to try to help you, but the bosses get extra health to compensate and it's still tough. And also I have been having enormous fun trying to beat all the bosses without summons so far, and am averse to the extra complications and unpredictability of having more people -- human or NPC -- in the mix while I try to figure out a fight. Though I've also had enormous fun being a summons for other people on boss fights, so zero disrespect to people summoning*, it's an excellent game mechanic.)
As I may have mentioned once or twice, my brain has huge difficulty tracking multiple moving objects (which is why I can't drive or cycle on the road) and I have the reaction speed of a slime mould.
So yeah. I knew O&S are the big mid-game stopper and I was very aware that this could potentially be the point where I hit a wall and the game became flatly impossible for me. Or at least where I'd have to summon to get through it.
And that did not happen. I solo-ed O&S.
It took multiple sessions over multiple days before I mastered it, but that's standard for me on DS boss fights. And I had SO MUCH FUN. It's SUCH A COOL FIGHT.
I did a thing that was a real achievement for me and I am very proud, and especially given the shitshow this year has been, I'll take it.
{*Necessary disclaimer only because Dark Souls fandom has historically had a section who are toxic as fuck and would like you to know that you didn't really beat the game if you summoned or used magic or whatthefuckever else they disapprove of.}
Recent Reading: Illustrated Books
Dec. 17th, 2025 09:08 amsanguinityFrederik Sonck (illus. Jenny Lucander, trans. B.J. Woodstein), Freya and the Snake (2023 / 2025)
Finnish children's book about the snake that lives in the rockpile, a father's earnest but unsuccessful attempt to avert a fatal conflict between the snake and his children, and his children turning on him after he finally resorts to killing the snake.
"Snake murderer," they say. They will not eat ice cream with a snake murderer. Also, murderers do not get to attend the funeral.
I loved this book. I loved how judgemental the kids are, how exasperated and slitherer-outer the mother is, and how harried the father is. I of course would have preferred textual confirmation that the snake was venomous, but it's reasonably clear there was no great solution here -- just as it's clear that level of nuance is not gonna fly with these kids.
Dee Snyder (illus. Margaret McCartney), We're Not Gonna Take It (1984 / 2020)
Illustrated version of the famous Twisted Sister song, in which the rebellious anti-authoritarian teenagers of the music video have grown up to become authoritarian parents of toddlers -- toddlers who do not consent to such brutalities as baths and bedtimes.
I'm not quite sure how I feel about this one. I associate the original version with freedom of gender expression and rebellion against abusive parents, and there's still a thing going on here about the tyranny of parents, but now that's a joke. The parents know what's best and eventually the babies go to sleep and dream happily, and... hrm. The whole thing is very defanged and cute and I'm not sure I'm quite on board for it.
Octavia E. Butler (illus. Manzel Bowman), A Few Rules for Predicting the Future (2000 / 2024)
Illustrated edition of Butler's 2000 Essence essay on the art of science fiction predicting the future, originally written in the context of the then-recently published Parable of the Talents, the sequel to Parable of the Sower, both of which forecast a United States that never addressed the developing problems of fascism and climate change. This volume was published in 2024, the once-future year that Sower is set. While Butler's vision for 2024 doesn't match what I see out my window, we are very much reaping the harvest of our runaway fascism problem. (If you can use "reaping the harvest" for an ongoing and advancing situation.)
Which is to say. This essay has aged very well. I'm pleased to have the opportunity to give it another think, and in fact I have re-read it twice since checking out this volume. I like her stress on there being no silver bullet but a multiplicity of checkerboarded solutions -- one for each of us who chooses to apply ourselves to it! -- and likewise her observations on the generational effect of what looks reasonable and preposterous, both looking ahead and in hindsight.
I'm a little mixed-feelings about the volume itself. It's very pretty and the paintings are gorgeous, but there's only four of them, so as a stand-alone edition it feels a bit... thin. Then again, it got me to read her essay again, so in that sense, it's a success.
Finnish children's book about the snake that lives in the rockpile, a father's earnest but unsuccessful attempt to avert a fatal conflict between the snake and his children, and his children turning on him after he finally resorts to killing the snake.
"Snake murderer," they say. They will not eat ice cream with a snake murderer. Also, murderers do not get to attend the funeral.
I loved this book. I loved how judgemental the kids are, how exasperated and slitherer-outer the mother is, and how harried the father is. I of course would have preferred textual confirmation that the snake was venomous, but it's reasonably clear there was no great solution here -- just as it's clear that level of nuance is not gonna fly with these kids.
Dee Snyder (illus. Margaret McCartney), We're Not Gonna Take It (1984 / 2020)
Illustrated version of the famous Twisted Sister song, in which the rebellious anti-authoritarian teenagers of the music video have grown up to become authoritarian parents of toddlers -- toddlers who do not consent to such brutalities as baths and bedtimes.
I'm not quite sure how I feel about this one. I associate the original version with freedom of gender expression and rebellion against abusive parents, and there's still a thing going on here about the tyranny of parents, but now that's a joke. The parents know what's best and eventually the babies go to sleep and dream happily, and... hrm. The whole thing is very defanged and cute and I'm not sure I'm quite on board for it.
Octavia E. Butler (illus. Manzel Bowman), A Few Rules for Predicting the Future (2000 / 2024)
Illustrated edition of Butler's 2000 Essence essay on the art of science fiction predicting the future, originally written in the context of the then-recently published Parable of the Talents, the sequel to Parable of the Sower, both of which forecast a United States that never addressed the developing problems of fascism and climate change. This volume was published in 2024, the once-future year that Sower is set. While Butler's vision for 2024 doesn't match what I see out my window, we are very much reaping the harvest of our runaway fascism problem. (If you can use "reaping the harvest" for an ongoing and advancing situation.)
Which is to say. This essay has aged very well. I'm pleased to have the opportunity to give it another think, and in fact I have re-read it twice since checking out this volume. I like her stress on there being no silver bullet but a multiplicity of checkerboarded solutions -- one for each of us who chooses to apply ourselves to it! -- and likewise her observations on the generational effect of what looks reasonable and preposterous, both looking ahead and in hindsight.
I'm a little mixed-feelings about the volume itself. It's very pretty and the paintings are gorgeous, but there's only four of them, so as a stand-alone edition it feels a bit... thin. Then again, it got me to read her essay again, so in that sense, it's a success.
Recent Reading: Lois McMaster Bujold
Dec. 16th, 2025 10:36 amsanguinityThere's a bunch of reading I need to write up, but there was a little knot of Bujold books in there, so let's begin with those.
Lois McMaster Bujold, The Curse of Chalion (2001)
The initial offering in Bujold's Five Gods universe, a set of several loosely-related fantasy series. This particular novel has medieval-Spanish inspirations with an original theology; I can't speak to the others.
I went into this 100% unspoiled, and enjoyed that experience very much. Since finishing the book, I've read a number of jacket blurbs and library catalog summaries and... meh. 1) We're AT LEAST two-thirds of the way through the book before ANY of that stuff happens, and 2) none of those blurbs had anything to do with what I enjoyed about the book.
So let me see if I can say some spoiler-free things I loved right from the beginning.
It is also worth mentioning that Bujold's plotting is as masterful as ever, and as usual, there is a fine array of worthy female characters across a wide range of ages.
It is probably also worth talking about the theology of this world? Except 1) I haven't really made up my mind about it, and 2) that discussion is nothing but spoilers all the way down.
I already have its immediate sequel, Paladin of Souls, in my hot little hands, although from the state of my reading list, it might be a bit before I can get there.
Lois McMaster Bujold, Captain Vorpatril's Alliance (2012)
Lois McMaster Bujold, The Flowers of Vashnoi (2018)
Read alouds togrrlpup; re-reads for me and first reads for her.
My reviews from last year, which I still largely stand by.
re Ivan: I still laugh to see Ivan thwarted; I still have fine-but-lukewarm feelings about Ivan and Tej. This time around, I particularly enjoyed how EVERYONE who found out about Ivan's emergency marriage IMMEDIATELY asked the important question: DOES YOUR MOM KNOW YET?? Sadly, the second half of the novel doesn't compel me the way the first half does: the in-law circus just can't live up to all of Ivan's nearest and dearest getting in line to make him squirm.
re Vashnoi: I still think this is a great novella, still appreciate how messy and intractable history is, and still very much appreciate Bujold leaving the ending as an exercise for the reader. Fair warning: this is one of the darker books in the series.
Lois McMaster Bujold, The Curse of Chalion (2001)
The initial offering in Bujold's Five Gods universe, a set of several loosely-related fantasy series. This particular novel has medieval-Spanish inspirations with an original theology; I can't speak to the others.
I went into this 100% unspoiled, and enjoyed that experience very much. Since finishing the book, I've read a number of jacket blurbs and library catalog summaries and... meh. 1) We're AT LEAST two-thirds of the way through the book before ANY of that stuff happens, and 2) none of those blurbs had anything to do with what I enjoyed about the book.
So let me see if I can say some spoiler-free things I loved right from the beginning.
- Lupe dy Cazaril, our protagonist, spends the entire book trying to solve the problem directly in front of him. He's got shit resources, shit influence, and shit big-picture perspective -- in fact, it's not until near the end of the book that he figures out what the plot arc even was! -- but by god he'll solve the problem right in front of him or he'll die trying. I love this for him.
- A couple of chapters in, when we started to unlock Cazaril's backstory, I incredulously messaged phoenixfalls: "omg. Bujold took Aral Vorkosigan and broke him. Made him realize the tyrrany of meat. Put him through so much trauma that his only remaining ambition is to live."
And I hold by that characterization of Cazaril: the once noble and principled master strategist, for whom everything, but everything, has gone so wrong that he has surrendered pride and principles and ambition and is grubbing in the mud after dropped coins. He is physically disabled. He has crippling PTSD. He would be content to live life as a kitchen scullion if it meant a guaranteed warm place by the fire to sleep.
(But first he has to solve the problem in front of him.)
It is also worth mentioning that Bujold's plotting is as masterful as ever, and as usual, there is a fine array of worthy female characters across a wide range of ages.
It is probably also worth talking about the theology of this world? Except 1) I haven't really made up my mind about it, and 2) that discussion is nothing but spoilers all the way down.
I already have its immediate sequel, Paladin of Souls, in my hot little hands, although from the state of my reading list, it might be a bit before I can get there.
Lois McMaster Bujold, Captain Vorpatril's Alliance (2012)
Lois McMaster Bujold, The Flowers of Vashnoi (2018)
Read alouds to
grrlpup; re-reads for me and first reads for her. My reviews from last year, which I still largely stand by.
re Ivan: I still laugh to see Ivan thwarted; I still have fine-but-lukewarm feelings about Ivan and Tej. This time around, I particularly enjoyed how EVERYONE who found out about Ivan's emergency marriage IMMEDIATELY asked the important question: DOES YOUR MOM KNOW YET?? Sadly, the second half of the novel doesn't compel me the way the first half does: the in-law circus just can't live up to all of Ivan's nearest and dearest getting in line to make him squirm.
re Vashnoi: I still think this is a great novella, still appreciate how messy and intractable history is, and still very much appreciate Bujold leaving the ending as an exercise for the reader. Fair warning: this is one of the darker books in the series.
Cold weather is not currently seasonable
Dec. 16th, 2025 09:30 amsporky_ratAll of my cold weather clothing is either military surplus or hand me downs from cousins in the oil fields.
I might need to figure this out. (This is JANUARY weather, not December!)
So
Dec. 16th, 2025 11:19 amrydra_wong... I just beat Ornstein and Smough.
For anyone who would like context -- Symbalily meets and gets to grips with O&S, from the timestamp: https://youtu.be/3TKhwbveyVE?si=14uuwYlVq1ywUwRk&t=5681
For anyone who would like context -- Symbalily meets and gets to grips with O&S, from the timestamp: https://youtu.be/3TKhwbveyVE?si=14uuwYlVq1ywUwRk&t=5681
(no subject)
Dec. 15th, 2025 10:42 pmharpers_child1. There's a local meme going around talking about how the weather lately is like picking lotto numbers. Saturday night was high 70s / low 80s. Last night (Sunday) was the first freeze of the season. I have been dying on the couch for a couple weeks now with migraines and body aches. It's been super fun. /sarcasm
2. I am done with holiday gift shopping! We're waiting for a few things arrive. Some things haven't shipped yet, but spouse and I don't care if our gifts are late.
2b. Spouse did most of his own gift shopping this year. Most of it went into a new vest from Volante (indie clothing brand with fandom inspired designs of various obviousness) and a handful of things from the official Critical Role shop. I got him a few other things from his list, but TBH it was a big relief to not have to shop for one person on the list.
3. I am really enjoying all the new CR fanart for both CR4 and the Mighty Nein.
2. I am done with holiday gift shopping! We're waiting for a few things arrive. Some things haven't shipped yet, but spouse and I don't care if our gifts are late.
2b. Spouse did most of his own gift shopping this year. Most of it went into a new vest from Volante (indie clothing brand with fandom inspired designs of various obviousness) and a handful of things from the official Critical Role shop. I got him a few other things from his list, but TBH it was a big relief to not have to shop for one person on the list.
3. I am really enjoying all the new CR fanart for both CR4 and the Mighty Nein.
and the hits just keep coming
Dec. 15th, 2025 09:15 amtielanWork is gonna be slightly stressful the next three weeks. Apart from managing two systems until mid-January (and three for the 10 days after Christmas), they've instigated KPIs on basic tickets, and at least two of mine went overtime, in part because I was waiting for someone to get back to me. *grr*
I hate waiting for people to get back to me.
--
The shooting at Bondi Beach - a public Channukah event was targeted, one of the shooters was non-white, one of the members of the public who disarmed him (and was shot twice but survived) was middle eastern. Reports debate whether he was a Christian or a Muslim: the name suggests Muslim, his country background suggests Christian. Of course the cookers are already calling for a halt to immigration and trying to start up the culture wars again, the conservatives are yelling at our PM (centrist party), and the "anti-semitism adjudicator" has once again used this to basically declare that if you're not 100% for Israel in everything then you're antisemitic.
It shouldn't need saying but we say it all the same.
Was the shooting at Bondi antisemitic? Absolutely.
Is disavowing Israel's actions in the West Bank and Gaza in the removal of/bombing of/cruelty towards Palestinian locals antisemitic? Not even close.
I'm hoping Ahmed el Ahmed is Muslim, at the very least for the optics. Nevertheless, whatever his background, he's definitely a hero to the majority of Australians, and I suspect the fruit shop he runs will be well-frequented in the coming months and he will never need to pay for a meal while out for the rest of the summer.
Whatever faith or origins are revealed of any of the players, this was an awful day for all Australians who aren't cookers (Americans would call them RWNJs). Fear breeds distrust, and events like this breed both copycats and retaliation, and tear at the fragile fabric of our communities and our societies.
And the gun control argument is going to be so fucking stupid, too. The 2A Seppos are all in our faces jeering about us having gun violence, too, and the old "good guy with a gun" shit is coming out of the woodwork - never mind how many people are pointing out that the guy who did successfully disarm one of the gunmen wasn't armed. And the cookers just want violence to justify their itty bitty penii and their terrible self-esteem (cause they can't get jobs when the coloureds take the opportunities)...
God have mercy on us. All of us.
--
A friend tested positive for COVID after we had dinner together (with some other friends) on Saturday night. She thinks she got it at her work Christmas Party on Thursday.
--
I'm standing for the presidency of my permaculture club again, with an eye to changing the way things are done - they're not working for us as a volunteer-based organisation anymore.
Of course, the COVID diagnosis means I'm not going to tonight's meeting with the election. I'll try to put together a short video talking about the forward vision for the club. IDEK.
I hate waiting for people to get back to me.
--
The shooting at Bondi Beach - a public Channukah event was targeted, one of the shooters was non-white, one of the members of the public who disarmed him (and was shot twice but survived) was middle eastern. Reports debate whether he was a Christian or a Muslim: the name suggests Muslim, his country background suggests Christian. Of course the cookers are already calling for a halt to immigration and trying to start up the culture wars again, the conservatives are yelling at our PM (centrist party), and the "anti-semitism adjudicator" has once again used this to basically declare that if you're not 100% for Israel in everything then you're antisemitic.
a few thoughts
It shouldn't need saying but we say it all the same.
Was the shooting at Bondi antisemitic? Absolutely.
Is disavowing Israel's actions in the West Bank and Gaza in the removal of/bombing of/cruelty towards Palestinian locals antisemitic? Not even close.
I'm hoping Ahmed el Ahmed is Muslim, at the very least for the optics. Nevertheless, whatever his background, he's definitely a hero to the majority of Australians, and I suspect the fruit shop he runs will be well-frequented in the coming months and he will never need to pay for a meal while out for the rest of the summer.
Whatever faith or origins are revealed of any of the players, this was an awful day for all Australians who aren't cookers (Americans would call them RWNJs). Fear breeds distrust, and events like this breed both copycats and retaliation, and tear at the fragile fabric of our communities and our societies.
And the gun control argument is going to be so fucking stupid, too. The 2A Seppos are all in our faces jeering about us having gun violence, too, and the old "good guy with a gun" shit is coming out of the woodwork - never mind how many people are pointing out that the guy who did successfully disarm one of the gunmen wasn't armed. And the cookers just want violence to justify their itty bitty penii and their terrible self-esteem (cause they can't get jobs when the coloureds take the opportunities)...
God have mercy on us. All of us.
--
A friend tested positive for COVID after we had dinner together (with some other friends) on Saturday night. She thinks she got it at her work Christmas Party on Thursday.
--
I'm standing for the presidency of my permaculture club again, with an eye to changing the way things are done - they're not working for us as a volunteer-based organisation anymore.
Of course, the COVID diagnosis means I'm not going to tonight's meeting with the election. I'll try to put together a short video talking about the forward vision for the club. IDEK.
Short TV show review: Andor
Dec. 14th, 2025 11:11 pmdhampyresaI really enjoyed watching Andor, overall. I did think there were a few places where the pacing dragged a bit and it wasn't as mindblowingly great as the hype made it sound like it would be, but it was still very good! The bits on Ghorman were kind of annoying because the Ghor language sounds so much like French but isn't French, I felt like I was taking crazy pills hahaha. Favourite episode was either the prison break or the Kleya flashbacks episode. I agressively Did Not Care about Syril or his mother, but every other character was at least interesting. I love Cassian, Vel and Cinta, but I think Kleya might be my favourite. I want to rewatch Rogue One, now.
