igenlode: The pirate sloop 'Horizon' from "Treasures of the Indies" (Default)
[personal profile] igenlode
Lesson 23 of "Let's get to know one another", set at a health resort on the Black Sea, is a welcome return to form after Lessons 20, 21 and 22 all variously turned out to be less than satisfactory -- and in the case of Lesson 22, the blame could be laid, I'm afraid, pretty squarely on the script by one "V. Smekhov": oops!

The dialogue for the episode varies between unnecessarily and incomprehensibly over-complex (there were significant chunks I could only get by replaying it with the subtitles, like the business about the 'Middle Ages fortress walls'(?) [*looks it up*: yes, that's a very obscure adjective]) and the wooden and uninspiring phrases ("Do you play volleyball? No, I don't play volleyball") that were presumably part of the brief for this lesson, but which are not worked into any sort of actual story :-( Read more... )

Lesson 23, on the other hand, is immediately very much better; it embraces its limits and manages to provide both entertainment and educational content at the same time, while supplying what feels like a great deal more dialogue for learning purposes. As is so often done in these tele-courses, they use the device of involving children to justify the simplification and repetition that is needed for effective learningRead more... )
musesfool: a loaf of bread (staff of life)
[personal profile] musesfool
Clutter has been redistributed, cake has been baked, ziti has been put together and is in the fridge ready for the oven tomorrow, and the dishwasher has been run twice. I unfortunately did not get the baguette I ordered with my groceries, so tomorrow I will bake a loaf of KAF Italian bread so I can make bruschetta as an appetizer, since I did get the diced tomatoes.

I don't really have much other news. I read that the Dungeon Crawler Carl tv show got greenlit (I have SO MANY THOUGHTS about the fact that Matt Dinniman posts to the subreddit occasionally and also how similar and yet different the fan-types there are, but I'm sure you can guess what most of them are; I just wish they'd recommend more than the same three non-DCC books to each other), but I just can't see how Peacock is going to air this show, especially if it's live action? Idek how that is possible, given that the main character is a talking cat who can shoot lasers from her eyes. Yes, I know, CGI, but that is SO EXPENSIVE (they just cancelled that show "Ted" for being too expensive because of that and that was only for the stupid talking teddy bear), and that isn't accounting for the healing fairy, the ice fairy, the shape-changing tank lady, the talking goats, and the crocodile-headed guy! Not to mention the velociraptor, the mobile meatball, and the sapient sex-doll head! All of whom are regularly recurring characters. Some of it can certainly also be practical effects and makeup, but I'm really curious to see what it looks like if it ever even goes beyond an announcement. And that's not even getting into the intense amount of gore, the nudity, and the barrage of sex jokes, etc. (and the anti-capitalist themes).

*

Writing Question: Style Guide

Jun. 19th, 2026 07:46 pm
dewline: Doctor Who quote: Books. Best Weapons in the World (Weapons)
[personal profile] dewline
Question for writers in the UK and Ireland: are there style guides considered more-or-less universally useful for writers in each of those countries? Like the Associated Press and Canadian Press books?

[ SECRET POST #7105 ]

Jun. 19th, 2026 06:49 pm
case: (Default)
[personal profile] case posting in [community profile] fandomsecrets

⌈ Secret Post #7105 ⌋

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


01.
[The Office]



More! )


Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1014.
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.
beatrice_otter: Cartoon Obi-Wan and Yoda: The thing is, there were just no warning signs. (Warning Signs)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
The Naboo royalty is one of the most fascinating bits of the worldbuilding the Prequel Trilogy gives us, because it's so weird. And people don't really ... grapple with that very much, even in fic, but tend to take it for granted. We have an elected monarch (and why give an elected official a hereditary title?!?) who wears elaborate ceremonial robes and elaborate ceremonial makeup that literally nobody else in their society wears. This person has a reign name that is not the name they grew up with, and which they will keep as their primary professional name even after they are no longer monarch. And even their personal name seems to have changed. (There are two choices--either all the handmaiden's names were changed to match Padmé, or all of them including Padmé changed their names.)

This elected monarch is surrounded by body doubles/bodyguards who are not only good at fighting and can pass for the monarch in a pinch but who can also be the one making decisions and treated as the monarch in important diplomatic situations. Yes, sure, the reveal of the Real Padmé when dealing with the Gungans is cool, but why the fuck is the decoy the one leading the negotiations. Like. If Sabé-wearing-Padmé's-clothes-and-makeup had negotiated a treaty and signed it, would that treaty still be legally binding even though Sabé isn't Padmé? It sure seems so! Why didn't they swap Padmé back into the lead for the negotiations, and then back out for safety when the negotiations conclude?

Read more... )

Jury service at the High Court

Jun. 19th, 2026 09:57 pm
mtbc: maze L (green-white)
[personal profile] mtbc
Longtime readers may recall my describing my jury service on a criminal case at Aberdeen Sheriff Court: how strange it was to be temporarily but increasingly deeply part of a whole other world, filled with physical and personal details of the case, seeing its participants in person, becoming part of a group that deliberates in secret then disbands having changed people's lives. During deliberation, it's almost as if we become prisoners: we are locked in and even get to send forth via the clerk a request for a cigarette break.

Some while ago, I served on a jury again, at Glasgow High Court. Here in Scotland, the sheriff courts deal with the middle-tier crimes, the high courts the most serious. Overall, the experience was as I described previously, except for that Scotland has now dispensed with the not proven verdict.

In writing last time, I hadn't dwelt on the citizen's duty to society. We may be called upon to perform all manner of taxing duties and my natural disposition is to respect this other side of the social contract. In practice, in current life here: serving on a jury, judging the facts of a serious crime, may be the most significant official duty that a citizen has a fair chance of being required to face.

In both of the court cases, the root of what caused the violence remains a mystery. For each, I had the sense that there was relevant background context that nobody was testifying to in open court. I suppose that I will never find out. Another challenge is that of the credibility of the testimony of interested parties. So, we might plausibly hear half the actual story plus various lies, then have to decide on that basis. I am most grateful to those witnesses who chose to appear and to tell the truth.

It's frustrating that, having reached a decision, my reasoning from the evidence must remain secret, at least here in Britain. As with some of my previous work for the US military, never do I get to share the interesting details.

I was interested to learn that, of the set of possible verdicts, the prevailing one is the most serious for which sufficient jury members voted for that or for a more serious option.

I suppose that one might imagine that a suitable prayer for a new juror might be to catch a case whose evidence points clearly. I fear that sexual offences in particular may tend to be difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, thank goodness it's at least sometimes possible.

Regarding sentencing, the judge considers both the harm caused and to what extent the perpetrator was to blame for it. Those affected by the crime get to submit statements to the judge for determining that harm. I can't help but doubt how fair it would be for somebody to be given a lighter sentence because, say, they happened to injure some asshole loner rather than a beloved family member.

Aramis at large

Jun. 19th, 2026 09:05 pm
igenlode: The pirate sloop 'Horizon' from "Treasures of the Indies" (Default)
[personal profile] igenlode
"Эй, моряк" -- why, hallo sailor :-D


Read more... )

Robinson Crusoe in Russia

Jun. 19th, 2026 07:56 pm
igenlode: The pirate sloop 'Horizon' from "Treasures of the Indies" (Default)
[personal profile] igenlode
I was distinctly surprised to discover by chance that Daniel Defoe actually wrote a sequel to "Robinson Crusoe" (The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe) in which his protagonist ends up spending more than a year travelling through Russia ("Grand Tartary") at the beginning of the eighteenth century... published in Russian, apparently, as "Robinson in Siberia"!
https://victorianweb.org/art/illustration/cruikshank/crusoe/38.html

He is now a local tourist attraction :-)
https://visittyumen.ru/what-to-do/dostoprimechatelnosti/pamyatniki/zhizn-i-priklyucheniya-robinzona-kruzo-v-sibiri/

Random Iron Age Remains

Jun. 19th, 2026 08:04 pm
purplecat: Averbury Stone Circle.  A large stone close by and smaller markers leading away. (General:Prehistory)
[personal profile] purplecat

Side of a round building made from flat stones.  Concentric banks and ditches surround it, shored up with stone walls.  Remains of low buildings in stone visible next to it in the innermost circle.
Broch of Gurness again
rachelmanija: (Books: old)
[personal profile] rachelmanija
June is the month where every time I post about my shop, brave internet warriors call me a pedophile and a groomer. Joke's on them though: every time they comment, the algorithm boosts my post and gets my shop more publicity.

I had fun creating a display for Pride. The books rotate - I have lots that fit the categories I highlighted. Which slogan is your favorite?











Widow's Bae

Jun. 19th, 2026 04:00 pm
[syndicated profile] pennyarcade_feed

Apple TV is incredibly weird stuff. It doesn't have a super deep roster, but it has a weirdly high ratio of absolutely must watch shit. I got some free Apple TV when I got an iPad a few Christmases ago, and ended up hooked on For All Mankind - then let it lapse, and now my three favorite shows are all from there. It goes Severance, Pluribus, and now Widow's Bay. They don't seem to be able to produce on any kind of schedule, but then, I don't think they're even trying to. This is exactly what a modern leviathan should be doing with its bulging coffers. As a young man, I was told that Campbell's Chunky Soup was said to eat like a meal. These are shows that watch like books, that benefit very clearly from study.

Mislaid my cat comb

Jun. 20th, 2026 12:45 am
conuly: (Default)
[personal profile] conuly
I've had to comb Callie with my own comb. My god, that girl can shed!

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


Read more... )
dolorosa_12: (coffee)
[personal profile] dolorosa_12
Friday open threads are back for now, and this week's one is inspired by a great Shetland fanfic I read recently. It's wonderful for many, many reasons, but one thing that I particularly enjoyed was its incredible specificity of place: having been to Shetland myself, it was like walking around Lerwick again. The crowning glory: it even managed to work in a reference to a specific waterfront cafe which (in my opinion) has the best coffee in town.

Link to the fic behind the cut if you want to read it )

So, here is this week's prompt: what is your favourite tiny real-world detail in a work of fiction (original or transformative) that makes it clear the author has genuine experience of the place being depicted?

humans creating stories with AI

Jun. 19th, 2026 10:25 am
mellowtigger: (laugh cry)
[personal profile] mellowtigger

I've spent the past month watching and listening to a LOT of media. I haven't played nearly as many computer games, because I've fed my brain this other media instead. Apparently the neuroscience suggests that listening to an audiobook affects the brain much the same as reading traditional text pages. Reading and listening are similar ways of transferring ideas between brains.

Click to read about audiobook and video tales...

One of the media types I've pursued is like an audiobook. It's a narration of a story, with AI providing still images or even short video animations appropriate to the story. Well, mostly appropriate. AI still generates hallucinations frequently, so visual backgrounds will be inappropriate or characters will suddenly change appearance. Nevertheless, it's an intriguing enhancement to storytelling. I've followed several stories in Pocket FM. There are 2 downsides to the platform that I'm using. 1) The app on Android consumes battery in unjustifiable quantities. It's so high that I suspect the app may be crunching cryptocurrency blockchains as another way to generate money for the owners. 2) Related, the cost of unlocking new chapters is prohibitively expensive. If I could pay the cost of a book to unlock massive chunks of stories, then I probably would. Instead, I wait daily for a few more segments of each story to unlock automatically and for free.

For the curious, these are the main stories I focused on. All of them are heterosexual stories, wherever romance might occur as a sub-plot.

  • Weakest Beast Tamer is the Android advertisement that first prompted me to try the platform. It's an interesting fantasy world, and the main character is admirable, so it's my favorite so far.
  • Shadow Slave is the other one that I follow consistently. It's a more violent world, but the characters are interesting despite their character flaws. It reads on some occasions like a video game, but only during rare narration sequences from a world-controller's perspective, which is fine for me.
  • Supreme Magus is the 2nd one I tried. I stayed for over 100 audio segments, hoping that it would finally shed the impression that the main character (and perhaps the author) is a psychopath. It never did, so I finally abandoned it, despite its high ratings on the platform. Sorry, but I'm unwilling to participate in Ayn Rand intentional cruelty, even vicariously.

For video, I've stuck to YouTube, where a surprising amount of BL (boy love) content is available. I suspect that the surge of content recently is a direct result of the Heated Rivalry success, with many people hoping to capitalize on the newly recognized market for male-male romance.

  • "Eldrin's Path" by Runeheart Studios - By far my favorite of the BL stories I've encountered. The world is interesting because it proposes a divine reason for the gods to punish homosexuality. The first humanoid mortals were the elves. From them, the gods first learned that these sentient creatures could worship, and worship increased the divine power of the gods. At that point, "creation stopped being an act of love and became a competition". Each god raced to create its own humanoid race, and among those humanoids, their purpose was to procreate to further increase divine power. Homosexuals (aka "sinners") are punished by death, so procreation can flourish undiminished. Very interesting premise. So what will happen to the main character, an elf male with an unusual magical power who will only ever love other males? There are a few ways this story could go, and I'm very invested in learning how it develops. The video episodes are incomplete, skipping details that would help the story, but they have convincing animations of too-handsome characters. In contrast, the audiobook version is more detailed and makes for better literature, although its progression lags significantly behind the video version of the story. There are also songs and other world lore episodes. The songs won't win any awards, but the best ones so far I think are "Glass on my tongue" (about lust) and "Criminal Heart" (about love). Somewhere along the line, a few weeks ago, I got the impression that the content creators are from South America somewhere... maybe Brazil?
  • "Ivory of Magehold" by IvoryOasis - This one is from someone who seems more experienced with creating images and video. It's another world of magic, with young adults (not children) entering a school of magic for training. The video playlist here is currently shorter but probably better quality than Eldrin's Path. This channel is notable for its other non-playlist videos. The creator offers behind-the-scenes explanations of the technology and process being used in the AI creations. I find it fascinating. The author also follows distractions, creating unrelated content like "Chompy Parade", a music video based on a weird hamster creation within the main series. The creative journey is itself part of the appeal of this channel to me.
  • "A Prince in Disguise" by TheFirelordsSaga - This one may end up having a more convoluted story than the others. On the surface level, there's a runaway man who may actually be a prince escaping some marriage he doesn't want to fulfill. There are suspicions in the fanbase, however, that even that princely background may itself be a disguise for something deeper. There are clearly dragons and magical potions in this world, but I haven't seen evidence yet of more traditional spellcasting. The video playlist so far is a bit short. Nevertheless, the main couple of a rogue and a prince is interesting enough so far to keep me watching.
  • There are a surprising number of other channels on YouTube offering BL content. So many, in fact, that I haven't even watched many of them yet. None of what I have seen so far, though, has risen to the quality of those 3 mentioned above.

For any creatives out there, the Pocket FM platform invites people to write new stories, even offering rewards for certain genres worth a few thousand dollars. That's a different reward mechanism from YouTube, where video creators post their movies with no immediate financial compensation. I actually paid money to join the subscriber section of Runeheart Studios on YouTube, hoping to encourage further development of their BL video series, "Eldrin's Path". Given the opportunity, I'd also subscribe to IvoryOasis to encourage more of "Ivory of Magehold", where the creator has promised some BL storyline and a transsexual character.

Anyway, I just wanted to make the point that so-called AI slop is not all that's happening online. There are humans pushing their creative boundaries and learning new skills as a result of this new technology. It's not all bad, so I wish people would stop badmouthing anything created with AI. I intend to focus a post later on the obvious problems with AI technology, but human creative rot is absolutely not a guaranteed universal outcome of this developing change.

[syndicated profile] cakewrecks_feed

Posted by Jen

There are usually a lot of weddings in June, so I know you're getting sick of all those perfectly lovely wedding and engagement cakes by now, aren't you? [patting your hand] Well don't you worry, dear; that's what I'm here for.

First, fellas, take note: This is NOT how you do it.

"So I was picking up some salami, right? And I see this cupcake thing. Anyway, long story short, I figure, hey, it's cheaper than a real one, and I could go for some nosh right now anyway..."

 

Once the engagement is set, some couples like to celebrate by getting something big, shiny, and misspelled:

 

While others like adopting fun new aliases...

 

Some couples like to keep the guests guessing:

"So did they get their degree, or are they getting married?"
(Answer: getting married. Yes, really.)

 

Or freaking out the family with something that looks like it should come with a ransom note:

Aaaeeeeiii!!

"Pay up, Bub, or your fiance loses her other hand."

 

Hey, Paula T., Anony, Veronica, Amanda G., & Anony 2, [pointing with two fingers] engage.

(I've always wanted to do that.)

****

BONUS FUN FACT: Not only is that final cake one of my favorite wrecks of all time, it also had a hand in (get it??) two readers getting engaged back in 2015!

Now that's romance.

*****

P.S. Is your life boring? Does your soul yearn for adventure? Are you waiting for the universe to send you a sign?  

Then here:

The Yodeling Pickle


Also the universe says "hi."

(Listen, if you can't think of anything to do with an 8-inch plastic yodeling pickle, then I can't help you.)

******

And from my other blog, Epbot:

Website Maintenance: June 2026

Jun. 19th, 2026 09:24 am
dewline: Text - "On the DEWLine" (Default)
[personal profile] dewline
Doing some updating on my home website's links page this morning. It's been a couple of years, and neurodivergent me forgot to keep working on that.

Got the day off after all

Jun. 19th, 2026 07:43 am
missizzy: (harrypotter)
[personal profile] missizzy
For the second year in a row, I spent all of yesterday waiting for the news that Trump had unholidayed Juneteenth and was going to force us to come in on it, but again it didn't happen. Maybe if he's forgetting about it his staff is deciding not to remind him. They probably want the day off, too.
So my first weekday afternoon stream happens today, but I also finished this yesterday morning. I've now contemplated making it the penultimate part of this fic, but I kind of feel like I've built up too much towards the World Cup part to not do that. It'll end there, though.

Title: All The Extras
Part: 9: A Little Longer Down Under
(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8)
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, Molly Weasley
Warning: Nongraphic sex
Disclaimer: Just don't give her any more money, okay?
Note: I'm not even keeping track of all the canon universe's details anymore. Nobody's gonna care anyway, right?

But it really had been a good thing they'd met that morning, because her mother didn't leave any of them alone for the rest of the day. )

A Mystery

Jun. 19th, 2026 10:24 am
poliphilo: (Default)
[personal profile] poliphilo
 Oh, alright, I looked it up- and the theory I'd forgotten is that the Long Man represents Orion. Yes, of course he does. It's obvious..... 

I wonder if the Cerne Abbas Giant also represents Orion? Could be.....

But then the prefered date for both hill figures is late-mediaeval and both are cut on what was then monastic land- and the question arises as to what christian monks thought they were doing making huge- and hugely visible- representations of a pagan/astrological symbol. I don't get it at all. ....

Wedding guest shenanigans

Jun. 19th, 2026 04:48 am
conuly: (Default)
[personal profile] conuly posting in [community profile] agonyaunt
1. Dear Sahaj: To make a long story short, my fiancé and I are getting married next month. His sister told him she was planning to hold an event for her baby while she’s in town for our wedding (Jewish baby naming ceremony, kind of like a baptism).

My fiancé told her we’d really prefer she hold it any other weekend. Her baby will be over 1 year old and I don’t trust her to throw the event in a way that’s sensitive to our wedding — she often forgets (or refuses) to consider us and dismisses our concerns. Last year, when my fiancé told her I was sad to be de facto excluded from a family weekend she planned, she told me “it’s not fair to put your disappointment on others.”

Well, she was shocked and hurt by our scheduling request. Sister + her husband tried to guilt trip fiancé solo while he was on a work trip in her city. “You’re taking your anger out on my baby!”, and “it’s just 10 minutes, no big deal.” Then the four of us talked, and they said they wanted to repair this. I acknowledged the hurt feelings but declined to hear more, and I shared what I needed.

Now she’s all “I guess everything I do is wrong!”, “I’ve never experienced hatred like this,” and “I can’t trust [fiancé] anymore!” because we set a boundary, communicated openly with each other about things that involve our wedding and relationship and shared how we feel (like she asked!)

Now, we’re trying to be polite and conserve energy before the wedding, but fiancé’s parents and other sister have been pressuring us to reach out or have another big talk. Fiancé’s family says they’re “close” but it feels suffocating.
Help! I just want to have a healthy, happy marriage and a fun, meaningful wedding weekend. How can we protect these things? My fiancé has gotten a lot better with boundaries, but still ends up super guilty and stressed about how his family reacts to us saying no to them.

— Bride To Be Hoping For Peace


Read more... )

****


2. Dear Prudence,

My sister “Nina” got married in early April, and she’s still angry over something my boyfriend did during the wedding reception. No, he didn’t get wasted, knock over the wedding cake, or make an unwanted pass at anyone. His crime? He proposed to me on the dance floor. After I accepted, people stopped dancing to briefly congratulate us, and then we all went back to having fun. Nina, however, says I completely “upstaged” her and accused me of trying to ruin her wedding by taking the attention away from her!

Now my sister is demanding that I apologize and says she won’t speak to me until I do. She’s even dragged our mom into the act, and now my mom is on my case about it, too. I honestly had no idea my boyfriend was planning to propose to me at her wedding; it was just a pleasant surprise. My boyfriend says I have nothing to apologize for, and my mom and sister are completely out of line. I agree with him, but a part of me wonders if I should just give Nina a fake apology to restore peace in the family. Good idea, or should I stand my ground?

—Proposal Petulence


Read more... )
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