exercise_every_day | Member Posts

nanila

You're holding a dinner party and can invite three famous people from the past or present; who would they be?

I never understood the appeal of this. I hardly get to see my friends and family. I would rather invite them to dinner than a group of people I don't know. That just sounds exhausting.
You have the opportunity to question someone about something you've always wanted to know and receive a truthful answer; what would your question be?

No no no. In my experience, if someone is holding back on telling you a truth, it's because it is not going to make you feel happy. I'll pass.
If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?

My workload. See answer to Q1.
If you could save other people's lives by completing an act that would lead to your own death, would you do it?

As ever, answers depend on the context. If we are talking about an overstuffed inflatable raft full of vulnerable children floundering in the English Channel, then unequivocally yes. If we are talking about an autocratic dictator and his henchmen, then absolutely not.
Would you commit murder if you knew that you could get away with it?

No.

purplecat

Comic strip panel. The first Doctor is in the Tardis. His grandson John is outside holding some green vines while his grand-daughter Gillian is flying upwards towards a flat disk. The narration read Next Moment... Gillian is saying It's Got Me! It's Got Me!. The Doctor is saying Those Machines must have some strange magnetic power! John is saying That Bug-Eyed Monster won't get away!

tielan

3 degrees around here. The heater that I have is barely keeping the cold at bay. I think the space needs a few more curtains to cut down the area that needs warming...

Anyway, I'm just here for another night.

Good to catch up with my friend B, who used to be on LJ and has a DW account but probably hasn't used it in over a decade! I haven't seen her or her husband, C, since 2023 when her FIL died, and haven't seen her sons since...even longer. They were shorter than me when last I saw them, they have since shot up and tower over me at a 6-foot minimum. Haven't visited her family down here since before the pandemic, and she's had a lot going on in so many dimensions.

Got down here last night, ate pizza and had a long chat to catch up on all the things that don't get put on FB. Went for a walk today around town and did more talking about directions and futures and stuff, then back home for lunch, and out for dinner. Tomorrow is markets.

I gave her the rough (exceedingly rough) draft of my novel, and promptly found a bajillion spelling and name mistakes. I'm in the process of cleaning it up, but it's slow. Rewriting the next novel will be even slower, trying to fit everything in. There's a lot of stuff to get through!

For the cold tonight, I've piled a few extra things on the bed to help keep me warm - pillows, clothing, etc. It'll be fine, just a wee smidge colder than I'm used to (and I like things warm and toasty, but can't be helped). Like I said, it's only for one night.

Good to catch up with B though.

dhampyresa

I listened to The Roman and the Regency and it was well cute.

cesy

Just seen first two episodes of Murderbot. It is not a perfect representation of the books in my head, but it seems reasonable within the constraints of a TV adaptation. I love it and will now go and re-read the book.

princessofgeeks has a more detailed post with spoilers.

seleneheart

Death at the Manor by Katharine Schellman

Blurb:

Regency widow Lily Adler is looking forward to spending the autumn away from the social whirl of London. When she arrives in Hampshire with her friends, the Carroways, she doesn’t expect much more than a quiet country visit and the chance to spend time with her charming new acquaintance, Matthew Spencer.

But something odd is afoot in the small country village. A ghost has taken up residence in the Belleford manor, a lady in grey who wanders the halls at night, weeping and wailing. Half the servants have left in terror, but the family seems delighted with the notoriety that their ghost provides. Intrigued by this spectral guest, Lily and her party immediately make plans to visit Belleford.

They arrive at the manor the next morning ready to be entertained—only to find that tragedy has struck. The matriarch of the family has just been found killed in her bed.

The dead woman’s family is convinced that the ghost is responsible. Lily is determined to learn the truth before another victim turns up—but could she be next in line for the Great Beyond?

Another Regency-era mystery, a fun read, delightfully twisty. This installment removes to the country instead London. For me, the ultimate murder motive wasn't as satisfying as the previous book. However, the relations between the characters are wonderful, and there is a brewing romance with two different suitors.

Current Mood: groggy
Current Music: Jeremy Warmsley - Temptation

rydra_wong

If you don't want to pre-order, you can just go to:

https://www.gfwclothing.com/collections/shirts

and sort by your body shape/size to see if they have anything fitting you left over in stock from previous batches.

As I have said many times before: cannot rec too highly, turns out that shirts that actually fit look incredibly good.

dhampyresa

The European Citizens initiative to an on conversion practices in the European Union needs more signatures before its deadline of saturday may 17. Please share and sign if you can.

tielan

But not restfulness.

Off to catch up with a friend tomorrow and the weekend, back on Sunday to a hotel in the city.

Interestingly, I and one other guy are at the hotel where most of the others were last week...the others have been moved to a high-end hotel!

Anyway. I'm just glad to not be out here after tonight. Although how I'm going to manage to pack my bag again, I really don't know.

purplecat

Outfit with the most votes
Romana in Destiny of the Daleks and Yaz in Survivors of the Flux, both with 15 votes.

Outfit with the least votes
Jo in Curse of Peladon and Mel in Terror of the Vervoids, both with 2 votes.

Highest Average Votes per outfit (excluding characters with only one outfit in the round)
Winner: Yaz (11.75 votes per outfit)
Second Place: Bill (11.5 votes per outfit)
Third Place: Romana 2 (11 votes per outfit)

Most Winning Outfits
Yaz (3 outfits)

Highest Average number of winning outfits
Winners: Bill and Nyssa (2 outfits, 100% success rate)
Ryan (1 outfit, 100% success rate)
Second Place: Yaz (75% success rate)

NB. No more costume brackets until June. I'm going to be away on and off and don't want to worry about posting schedules.

tielan

inexplicably tired. I even got 8 hours pretty solidly last night. (I think. I don't remember waking up anyway.)

Will try for more sleep. MOAR SLEEP.

Wish me luck.

octahedrite

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

Current Mood: happy

scifirenegade

Title: Strike lightning to the road
Rating: General
Fandom: Anders als die Andern (1919)
Pairing(s) / Character(s): Paul(/Kurt)
Warnings: period-typical homophobia
Spoilers: not really

Note: For

comment_fic. Prompt was "any, any, the life of a musician means you are constantly traveling".
Title from Joseph Seamon Cotter Sr.'s poem "The Way-Side Well".

( Read more... )

Current Mood: full

tielan

The new members (the known ones at any rate) were sworn in today, and the Prime Minister (Anthony Albanese of the Australian Labor Party or ALP) presented his cabinet.

Yes, we do politics just that fast around here. Elected one week, sitting the next.

There are still a handful of counts taking place, some of them are going down to the wire. And I do mean the wire. The final date for ballots to come in (from remote and distant places where Australians have cast their votes) is this Thursday, I believe.

--

The conservative party in Australia, having lost their leader after he lost his seat, have been doing the whole 're-elect a new one'. Now, in Australia, party members choose who the new leader will be, not the voters. So there's a lot of in-party factionalism and back-and-forth.

Our options were: far right faction white guy with history of corruption who refused to resign from his ministerial position, moderate white woman with history of corruption who did resign from her ministerial position after being found out. There were assorted minor possibilities but they were all an outside chance, compared with these two.

Incidentally, white corruption guy came with an indigneous deputy minister in tow - an indigenous deputy minister who is far-right wing, opposed the Indigneous Voice To Parliament, and has just jumped ship from the "country" conservative party to the "urban" conservative party, leaving the "country" conservatives without a leader...

This is a party that has 'a woman problem'. They don't do quotas (unlike Labor) and it shows. They stuff female candidates into marginal seats, or anywhere where they think that a woman might beat another woman.

(Incidentally, one of those electorates where they put a woman they thought might beat another woman? They're up by a mere 56 votes in an electorate where over 100,000 voted! HOLY WOW. It's being recounted. Poor AEC workers, what a job!

I did say some of them were going down to the wire!)

Anyway, they voted on who was going to lead the Aussie conservatives in the coming months (at least until someone stabs her in the back) and it's the white female moderate. Who, if you want an idea of what 'moderate' entails, once gave a speech about how Australia would amount to nothing if not for colonisation.

Yeah.

We can't let the Americans have all the white supremacists, I guess...

There are, of course, those who will herald the election of the first conservative party leader as a master stroke. Every conservative female politician in the country (there aren't many of them) was photographed with a big grin and a positive note about how the conservatives have changed and how they listened to Australia and, and, and...

...think I'm gonna wait and see about how the conservatives have changed. Not that I'll ever vote for them again.

Actually, speaking of 'wait and see'-ing when it comes to leaderships...someone on Threads posted a picture of a whole lettuce...

scifirenegade

Had to. There's one thing here that's been rattling in brain.

A - Your current OTP
Barbara/Ian forever. Barbarian, if you will.

B - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind
My first thought was Ahmad/Jaffar of The Thief of Bagdad fame (all because of a fanvid), but I'm not in that fandom.

C - A pairing you have never liked and probably never will
Will not answer. Not because I'm afraid of being crucified, I just don't want to rain on people's parades.

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t
Read number C.

E - Have you added anything stupid/cracky/hilarious to your fandom, if so, what?
It's all drops in the ocean, but yes. What? Pretty much everything I've ever drawn and written :P

F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?
Doctor Who. (Would say Pókemon, but I don't do much besides looking at fanart.)

G - Do you remember your first OTP, if so who was in it?
No idea. Belle/Beast? Willy Fogg/Romy? Robin Hood/Maid Marion? Who knows?

H - Do you prefer characters from real action series or anime series?
While I like anime, I'm more of a live-action person. But this is comparing apples and oranges.

I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why?
Not exactly Tumblr, and I didn't stop liking it, just became more shut off from it.
And people say I lack social skills...

J - Name a fandom you didn’t care/think about until you saw it all over Tumblr
I guess Caligari? I never expected a silent film to have such a fandom. It makes sense here, there's so many loose ends and vagueness you can pick at and discuss, it's a beautiful-looking film, so lots of art ~~the somnambulist is hot~~.

K - How do you feel about the other people in your current fandom?
I have curated my DW fandom experience so well over the years I like it here. Granted, it's mostly classic Who.
The Conrad Veidt fandom has great artists. Yeah.

L - Your favorite fanartist/author gives you one request, what do you ask for?
The next part of the series?

M - Your favorite fanart or fanartist?
I can't choose just one.
Connie Veidt as Leyendecker socks man be upon thee

N - Your favorite fanfiction or fanauthor?
I love thisiszircon's Undercurrents.

O - Choose a song at random, which OTP does it remind you of
My one weakness!
Pet Shop Boys - Suburbia
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas)
Sir meme, I have been haunted by the three sentence fic/drabble fusion of Ich und die Kaiserin and The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film edition). No need for more inventions.
Wait. Since Captain Hardt is in Anno Dracula (and a vampire), The Spy in Black AU but Hardt is a vampire and survives. \o/

Q - A ship you’ve abandoned and why
Never. They stick together till the ends of time.

R - A pairing you ship that you don’t think anyone else ships
All the rarepairs from the teeny tiny fandoms ('cept Kurt/Paul Anders als die Andern, Droste/Ellissen of FP1 and Lancelot/Lynette of anything Arthurian.)
Or Erik/Me.

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon
Erik dyes his hair white. Or his valet does. All for the aesthetic.

T - If you mostly have homoships, do you have any heteroships?
This! This was what's bugging me because I've never heard the terms "homoship" and "hereroship". Are they recent terms? Or are they older but more obscure?
I dunno.

U - If you mostly have heteroships, do you have any homoships?
Read T.

V - Are you one of those fans who can’t watch anything without shipping?
Don't think so.

W - 5 favorite characters from 5 different fandoms
Did this here

X - 3 OTPs from 3 different fandoms
Doctor Who - Barbara/Ian <3
Anders als die Andern - Kurt/Paul (obviously)
The Spy in Black - Hardt/Bütter

Y - A fandom you’re in but have no ships from
Caligari, probably.
Wait no, those three dudes. They're basically canon, that doesn't count.

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go
Connie's films should be more readily available. By this time last year, we got one previously unavailable film. Where's Hektor Dalmore? Christian Wahnschaffe? (What other unavailable films have people's names as the title?)
At least there's still

(by

filmforfancy)

Current Mood: anxious

seleneheart

These last few should be easy to get, because most of the books I read fall in these categories. I got this Bingo when I finished Leviathan Falls but there are already some other completed books on here.

Current Mood: restless
Current Music: Elliott Moss - Slip

devilc

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rydra_wong

a word you've never understood on AO3 (Prophet by Sin Blaché and Helen Macdonald, M, Sunil Rao/Adam Rubenstein, 9K words)

Additional Tags: post-canon, Adam Rubenstein is not fine, angst about a happy ending, “fuck off” is a love language, sex recollected but not actually occurring in this fic, fluff with CPTSD and metaphysics, alexithymia, came back exactly the same, Sunil Rao’s arguably-canonical grey-aromanticism, touch starvation, Adam's parasympathetic nervous system has not been heard from since the mid-80s, sometimes you get what you want more than anything in the world and then your brain breaks a little bit

Summary: He’s been starving for so long. He thinks he’s never not been starving.

Note: massive spoilers for canon. Read Prophet, everybody.

rydra_wong

Denise (

synecdochic of this parish) has been moved to provide a long, LONG and fascinating Bsky thread providing an inside-baseball exegesis of the new Pope's first sermon and why, she argues, it represents Shots Fired in relation to significant portions of American Catholicism.

It is deep geeky fun regardless of your personal beliefs (and maybe especially for those of us who are outside Pope fandom and want to know what's going on).

Start here: https://bsky.app/profile/rahaeli.bsky.social/post/3loqsfhswjk2r
Or: https://bsky.app/profile/rahaeli.bsky.social/post/3lorjh7mrzs2d (links if Bsky is making it hard to just keep clicking through on "continue thread")

Important contextual N.B.: The Pope is Catholic. You do not get to be pope unless you are operating broadly within the current framework of Catholic orthodoxy.

I personally am an atheist! I believe it is fine to be an atheist, and that atheists are capable of just as much moral goodness!

HOWEVER. THE POPE IS CATHOLIC.

Thus it is not a big surprise that he is going to maintain that Christianity is the right and proper religion and the source of moral goodness. I seem to recall it's been something of a shift in doctrine to acknowledge that non-Christians (who have heard of Christianity and thus cannot be excused on grounds of ignorance) might be saved.

But the idea that Christianity is still the superior religion to which ideally everyone would be brought -- that is kind of baked in to the whole Catholic Church deal. If you are in fact fully committed to recognizing all religious traditions as of equal value, you miiiight get to be a very radical priest, but you are definitely not going to progress within the hierarchy to the point of being Pope.

So I am not expecting the fucking Pope to come out and say "actually being an atheist is just as good as being Christian." I am approaching this with the assumption that he is going to be working within the current doctrine of the Catholic Church. Because, again, Pope.

And it's all sorts of interesting to look at where he is situated within that doctrinal framework, and speculate about in what directions he might develop it or how he is using it to make particular points. But the framework comes as a given.

So when Pope Bob preaches that certain Christians are "living in a state of practical atheism" -- the interesting takeaway, to me, is not "oh noez the Pope is referring to atheism like it's a bad thing," it's "what groups of Christians is he potentially referring to and chastising here."

Also: Strickland. The reveal that Pope Bob played a key role in the decision to remove him is when I went "oh shiiiiiiit, no wonder the tradcaths hate him and the MAGA-ites have decided that he's a WOKE MARXIST POPE."

Basically, if they wanted to pick a Pope as the most crushing rebuke possible to J. D. Vance specifically, this is the guy they'd pick.

seleneheart

Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey

Blurb:

The Laconian Empire has fallen, setting the thirteen hundred solar systems free from the rule of Winston Duarte. But the ancient enemy that killed the gate builders is awake, and the war against our universe has begun again.

In the dead system of Adro, Elvi Okoye leads a desperate scientific mission to understand what the gate builders were and what destroyed them, even if it means compromising herself and the half-alien children who bear the weight of her investigation. Through the wide-flung systems of humanity, Colonel Aliana Tanaka hunts for Duarte’s missing daughter. . . and the shattered emperor himself. And on the Rocinante, James Holden and his crew struggle to build a future for humanity out of the shards and ruins of all that has come before.

As nearly unimaginable forces prepare to annihilate all human life, Holden and a group of unlikely allies discover a last, desperate chance to unite all of humanity, with the promise of a vast galactic civilization free from wars, factions, lies, and secrets if they win.

But the price of victory may be worse than the cost of defeat.

I feel like this blurb misstates the situation, but whatevs.

I have finished all NINE of these books, it took me 10 months all together (there was a gap between the second and third) - it's occupied most of my life this past year. Each of them are over 500 pages. These books are a big commitment and I nearly didn't finish them, but I'm glad I did. The reward and the payoff by the last books were so worth it. Highly, highly recommend. What a story!

These authors were mentored by G.R.R. Martin, but I'm glad one lesson they didn't take from him was, "never finish your series." Seriously, if you enjoyed what there is of A Song of Ice and Fire, read all of The Expanse! You have your multiple POVs, political maneuvering, existential and incomprehensible threat to all of humanity, polyamory, a horrible and monstrous warrior who protects little girls, and so much more beyond what is in ASOIF because the places humans live aren't meant for them, so it's a struggle just to live sometimes.

I am not okay. I'm never going to get over the crew of the Rocinante. This ship should be spoken of with the same reverence as other sci-fi ships like Enterprise and Millennium Falcon.

I need more of this universe. I wasn't planning to read the short-stories and novellas, but I think I am now. I can't let this story go. And, I suppose I'll have to get Prime and watch the series. It astounds me that there are less than 500 fics on AO3. I might try to fix that but I have to recover first. Prepare for incoming hyperfixation, I think.

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: Doves - Kingdom of Rust

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Exercise Every Day

April 2025

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20	21	22	23	24	25	26
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Page Summary

nanila - The Friday Five on a Saturday
purplecat - Random Doctor Who Picture
tielan - visiting friends in country town Victoria
dhampyresa - Thing that made me happy
cesy - Murderbot first two eps, no spoilers
seleneheart - Book Bingo: B1 | Over 300 Pages | Death at the Manor
rydra_wong - Gender Free World shirts
dhampyresa - (no subject)
tielan - moar sleep achieved
purplecat - Costume Bracket Round 3: Some Stats
tielan - I'm going to bed now
octahedrite - weekly update
scifirenegade - Fanfic: Strike lightning to the road
tielan - last lingering bits of Aussie politics
scifirenegade - 3W4D - Meme Again
seleneheart - Book Bingo: Third Bingo
devilc - This story is eating my brain
rydra_wong - Hey, I wrote fic for the first time in 16 years
rydra_wong - If anyone's looking for a weekend longread
seleneheart - Book Bingo: I3 | Sci-Fi/Fantasy | Leviathan Falls

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Resources: I'm home again

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