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This is a prayer for Lughnasadh. This is a prayer for resistance.

This is a prayer for Lughnasadh. This is a prayer for the Resistance. Lughnasadh is a fire festival, the first harvest, the beginning of our look towards the dark. Lughnasadh is the time of plenty, the time to gather in, the time to store what we have. Lughnasadh is a prayer for the Resistance.

This is a prayer for hopeful people who plant saved seeds in the chilly ground, in the February dark, charging the seeds and calling Ceres — people who want a clean harvest. This is a prayer for the Resistance.

This is a prayer for mothers bearing children, poets birthing poems, engineers who see how to strengthen a bridge. This is a prayer for the Resistance.

Lughnasadh is a fire festival, the first harvest, the beginning of our look towards the dark. Lughnasadh is the time of plenty, the time to gather in, the time to store what we have. Lughnasadh is a prayer for the Resistance.

This is a prayer for the scholar in her garret, making the cleanest translation, for the teacher setting off sparks, for the whistleblower who takes the risk. This is a prayer for the Resistance.

This is a prayer for the farmer who grows an extra row for the food bank, for the activist in plastic handcuffs, for the nurse who ignores the insurance company’s orders. This is a prayer for the Resistance.

Lughnasadh is a fire festival, the first harvest, the beginning of our look towards the dark. Lughnasadh is the time of plenty, the time to gather in, the time to store what we have. Lughnasadh is a prayer for the Resistance.

This is a prayer for the coder who fends off the hack, for the politician who doesn’t take the bribe, for the paper ballot. This is a prayer for the Resistance.

This is a prayer for phone bankers, demonstrators, people with signs in their yard. This is a prayer for early voters, people who call Senators, door-to-door canvasers. This is a prayer for the Resistance.

Lughnasadh is a fire festival, the first harvest, the beginning of our look towards the dark. Lughnasadh is the time of plenty, the time to gather in, the time to store what we have. Lughnasadh is a prayer for the Resistance.

And, of course, this is a prayer for yarrow and Black-Eyed Susan, for summer squash and basil, for peaches and corn, for fat blackberries and seedy dill. This is a prayer for Resistance, because Lughnasadh is a festival of Resistance.

Lughnasadh is a fire festival, the first harvest, the beginning of our look towards the dark. Lughnasadh is the time of plenty, the time to gather in, the time to store what we have. Lughnasadh is a prayer for the Resistance.

Lughnasadh is how our ancestors said that they would resist winter. They would have less now, but they would store up what they did have against the long, dark nights when tummies rumbled, illness went untreated for lack of herbs, old people died from the cold. And our ancestors said, “No.” Lughnasadh was a fire festival, the first harvest, the beginning of their look towards the dark. Lughnasadh was the time of plenty, the time to gather in, the time to store what they had.

Lughnasadh has always been a prayer for the Resistance.

I am praying it now. Will you pray it with me?

--HecateDemeter

(she has not posted this year, so I am assuming she is gone. I am also assuming she would not mind me reposting, as she never has.)

boost: Handling Nosy People Policing Your Impairment

Eliza Rain disabled_eliza posted an excellent 1:30 skit on how to interact with busybodies who can’t cope with the reality of ambulatory wheelchair users. (I'm also able to stand and reach for some things, so I appreciate helpful scripts.)

I loved her response to a stranger portrayed as complaining about the unbelievability of wheelchair users who can briefly stand. Eliza says, in a level tone, "Okay well, it makes no difference to me if you do or don’t believe me, this is my reality and I need a chair to get around."

You can watch it on on her Instagram or stream with open captions as well as narration from loud text-to-speech plus human dialogue ( right here )

Do you have go-to scripts to shut down invasive strangers (or family members, for that matter)?

(no subject)

Name: Mr. Fox

Age: 30-something

I mostly post about:
Stories from my life — my thoughts and feelings, especially during this time of war in Ukraine. I try to capture emotions honestly: memories of a peaceful past, reflections on the present, and tales from my life as a mariner and traveler.
This journal is still in its early days, after a long break from writing. Each entry is posted in both English and the original language. I also share my own photographs — from different times, chosen to reflect my current mood.

My hobbies are:
Photography (almost professional), lomography (daily photos of interesting moments), music (acoustic, alternative, instrumental covers), psychology, and classical literature. I love discovering new things — ideas, places, people.

My fandoms are:
Honestly, I’m not active in any specific fandom. But I enjoy reading and learning, especially to improve my English.

I'm looking to meet people who:
…feel connected to what I write — kindred spirits or simply those who find meaning in my words. I’m open to everyone (with one exception: I don’t welcome those who support or excuse the war). My posts are open and honest. I’d love to find new interesting people to read and connect with.

My posting schedule tends to be:
Currently daily, or a few times a week — depending on my free time.

When I add people, my dealbreakers are:
No major dealbreakers — most of what matters is already said above.

Before adding me, you should know:
I’m an open person without any particular agenda. I’m Ukrainian — and perhaps that matters now, just to avoid misunderstandings.
Welcome aboard. These are my messages in a bottle.

Watch on YouTube

Current Mood: busy

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Birdfeeding

Today is partly cloudy and sweltering.

I fed the birds. I haven't seen much activity yet.

.

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Peacock Pride [Arbitro/Akira; R]

Title: Peacock Pride
Fandom/Pairing: Togainu no Chi - Arbitro/Akira
Summary: Akira has had the bad fortune of getting captured by Arbitro.
Rating: R
Content: Canon-compliant awfulness, loss of consciousness, kidnapping, non-con...
Disclaimer: Togainu no Chi and all the characters in it are owned by Nitro+CHiRAL. I'm only borrowing them. No disrespect intended and I'm not earning any money from writing this. No people, either real or fictional, were hurt in the writing of this story.
Notes: 400+ words. Written for the prompt them's the breaks, but this is what it turned into. Many thanks to

zabimitsuki for beta-reading this for me, as well as cheering me on! :)

Read it here: DW | AO3

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The Story and the Engine

The Story and the Engine exploits the introduction of the Pantheon to tell us a magic realist story. It is more restrained than the likes of The Giggle, The Devil's Chord and Lux and, I would say, the better for it. It exploits the magic to focus in on the people, their interactions and their history. It's an oddball episode that plays it straight.

I did have to watch it twice to figure out what was going on, and I'm not sure even now I quite understand why the Doctor was so angry with Omo, but it then it repays rewatching. It is also, of course, something contextually very different from anything Doctor Who has done before.

I'm very pleased that the casting of Ncuti Gatwa gave Doctor Who the push?/impetus?/excuse? to do a story like this, something that takes us to an Earth-based time and place beyond the somewhat UK/European focus of most of the series history. I'm also very pleased that so much effort went into treating the material respectfully - not least getting a well-respected Nigerian-born playwright to produce the script - though I somewhat suspect that getting a well-known playwright on board (at, I believe, Ncuti's suggestion) came first and the rest followed from that.

I think I need to watch it again at least once to decide what I really think about it, but I think that in a good way and I am looking forward to my next rewatch.

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Wednesday, July 29 - Theme: Homecoming

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Relationship Tagging

Let's talk about relationship tagging! Does anyone else get stumped by this?

To start: I often write what I call a hybrid between romance and gen. Possibly owing to being acearospec, I tend to focus more on the emotional and collaborative aspects of relationships than the pure ~romance~ as it were, although I've written some fluff as well. So when do I tag a fic as being gen, and when do I tag it as being M/M or F/M, etc.? And when do I use specific relationship tags?

I hope this question makes sense. Perhaps my thoughts will add some clarity. Jim, Doug and Paula aren't real characters, although now I want them to be.

Scenario 1: Doug drunkenly half-proposes to Jim. Obviously this is pure M/M and Jim/Doug. (I actually did write a fic with that premise.)

Scenario 2: Jim and Doug discuss moving out of Jim's apartment into their new shared home. This is still M/M and Jim/Doug, because while there's not a lot of romance per se, they're having an important conversation about next steps as a couple.

Scenario 3: Doug's sister Paula shows up in need of support. The fic entails Jim and Doug helping her make a decision. They're together as a couple in the fic, but it focuses more on their relationship with her than it does each other. This would be a tough call, but I think I'd still say M/M and Jim/Doug.

Scenario 4: Doug and Paula go on a road trip. Jim is mentioned, but barely. I would mark this as purely gen/Doug & Paula, but note that Jim is mentioned.

Scenario 5: On a road trip, Doug and Paula end up discussing his will they/won't they relationship with Jim, Doug landing on the fact that he is willing to risk that Jim might not feel the same way. This I would say is Jim/Doug because even though they aren't together, it very much focuses ON their budding relationship.

Obviously, there many other variants. Thoughts?

(Please tell me if this doesn't make sense. My thoughts are scattered among the millions and that doesn't always result in coherence.)

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Wednesday Reading Meme & Books 73 - 77 of 2025

What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: Death at the Manor (A Lily Adler Mystery) by Katharine Schellman, Clue in the Carriage House & Witness in the Wedding & Christmas in the Candlelight (The Inn at Holiday Bay) by Kathi Daley, and One Was a Soldier (Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries) by Julia Spencer-Fleming.

What I am Currently Reading: Heir, Apparently by Kara McDowell.

What I Plan to Read Next: I have more library books in my hot little hands, so probably the next Amelia Peabody.

Book 73 of 2025: Death at the Manor (A Lily Adler Mystery) (Katharine Schellman)

I enjoyed this book. ( spoilers )

This was a good book and I'm giving it four hearts.

♥♥♥♥

Book 74 of 2025: Clue in the Carriage House (The Inn at Holiday Bay) (Kathi Daley)

Good book! ( spoilers )

I enjoyed this story and am giving it four hearts.

♥♥♥♥

Book 75 of 2025: Witness in the Wedding (The Inn at Holiday Bay) (Kathi Daley)

Okay book, mostly because I got really annoyed by some of the ‘guests' early on and even when I found out what was going on I couldn't let that go. ( spoilers )

I mostly enjoyed this story; I'm giving it four hearts.

♥♥♥♥

Book 76 of 2025: One Was a Soldier (Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries) (Julia Spencer-Fleming)

I was worried that I wouldn't like this book because it dealt with some difficult subject matter, but I ended up enjoying it a lot. ( spoilers )

This book ended up being really good! I'm giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

Book 77 of 2025: Christmas in the Candlelight (The Inn at Holiday Bay) (Kathi Daley)

I enjoyed this book. ( spoilers )

Good book, despite my niggles. I'm giving it four hearts.

♥♥♥♥

DNF'd: The Case of the Haunted Hotel (Ghostly Glenwood Mysteries) by B I Skinner

I've broken 75 books already! I'm close to my goal of 100, so maybe I will surpass that. Or, perhaps when I get to the end of one or two of the series I'm currently reading, I'll return to fanfic so I can complete my comment bingo card. Or maybe I'll catch up on all the tv I've been leaving hanging. (Resident Alien, I'm looking at you.)

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The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (1974)

This chronologically-earliest Hainish novel depicts the events leading up to the invention of the ansible, a device that allows instantaneous communication across any distance. Though it's this technology that eventually fosters the books' interstellar alliance, the science behind it is developed against a backdrop of interplanetary strife. The brilliant physicist Shevek comes from Anarres, a harsh desert moon organized on anarcho-syndicalist principles, completely collectivist. When his own people prove intolerant of his new ideas, Shevek travels to the planet Urras, a lush world of plenty, where he encounters capitalism and formal hierarchies for the first time. Here he hopes to finally finish his work, but first he must face the fact that the greatest barriers are not the expanse of space or thorny questions of physics, but the walls we build between ourselves and our neighbors, as well as within our own minds.

Re-reading this book was not the experience I thought it was going to be.

( The part I remembered: capitalism as dystopia )

( The part I forgot: gender politics (cn: sexual assault) )

( The question I'm left with: what is this book actually about? )

Current Mood: awake
Current Location: The Kat's Lair

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July Fic Day 30 - Long Live the Black Parade - Part 4 Glass in Dirge

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July s221 Prompt Lines - Frazzled (Miraculous Ladybug)

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Two letters with easy, easy answers

1. Dear Care and Feeding,

My husband “Chad” and I have a 4-year-old son, “Lane.” Recently for his birthday, my parents gifted him a set of Winnie-the-Pooh books. It’s been a tradition in my family for the last three generations for kids to read these books. But my husband won’t let my son have them.

He says doesn’t want Lane to read them because he insists that Winnie-the-Pooh is for girls. I’ve never heard anything so stupid! How can I make him understand that Pooh is a character that has been beloved by both boys and girls alike for nearly a century now?

—Much Ado About Pooh

( Read more... )

****

2. Dear Care and Feeding,

My wife “Carla” and I have a 3-year-old son, “Andy.” Andy became a big brother last month when we had our daughter, “Isabelle.” Andy had been reliably potty-trained for four months before Isabelle was born, but within days of bringing Isabelle home from the hospital, Andy began having accidents. Carla’s solution has been to put him back in pull-ups. I don’t think allowing him to regress like this is a wise idea. She says to let him do it for the time being if it makes him feel better. It seems to me that taking a firm approach (making him go back to using the toilet or face punishment) would be in his best interest. Who is right?

—We’re Not Going Backward

( Read more... )

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: Tv

Everything is fuzzy

The last few days have been kinda… I dunno how to explain it. Kinda weird and low energy sometimes. Like at times it feels like my brain is just… switched off which is annoying. At least there’s only low levels of random sadness in brief parts so it’s not fully depression or anything it’s just… occasional bleh.

But anyway.

First things I meant to post about in the other post but slipped my mind completely at the time.

Friday was the Arrow reveals for October. I had high hopes that there’d be something good, after all last October had J-Horror Rising and Trick R Treat. Plus I was also hoping for a Clown In A Cornfield uk release cause Arrow has the Shudder licence and released one thing already (at least). Alas no Clown and no J-Horror boxset either. There was Three Extremes, which is combined with something just called Three, so I might get that. And there’s also In The Mouth Of Madness which I’m curious about too. (Has anyone seen that? Is it good?) I have had a code for 20% so I might see if I can use it on preorders.

Also I was on insta the other day and there’s a Birmingham Horror film festival happening in October, which I’m kinda curious about. I’m waiting for more specific details about timing and the films, cause all it says is it’s happening on the 11th and 12th. Tickets don’t seem too bad either, it’s £15 a day or £28 for both. It could be a fun thing to do, but I’ll keep an eye out for more details.

And speaking of films the cinema has posted show times for next week so the plan is to go and see Superman before the mystery film showing next week. (Weather and mindset permitting.) I’ve never been to a mystery showing of anything before so I’m hopefully it’ll be something good.

As mentioned the last days were a bit low energy but I did start watching Wednesday. I went in mostly blind but I wanted to check it out cause the season 2 trailer did look interesting. I didn’t expect to get sold on it as much as I did, but I really enjoyed it and I’m suitably intruiged by the mysteries set up by the end. Mum was watching it too which surprised me. I think it’ll become a regular Sunday thing to watch.

(And yeah I still haven’t watched the Stranger Things finale, I dunno why the length is just so off putting but it is and it hasn’t helped with my eyes being so achy these past months.)

And I’m still hopeful about finishing Hell Motel and getting back to American Horror story. It’s just hating time zones and bad mindsets. Bleh.

Last night I just ended up watching the Pokémon stream which is fun to watch cause it’s playing old episodes, though damn it was jarring. One moment they were in the orange islands, with Tracy and Ash getting the last badge and then the next they were in Johto with Brock, so there was a massive skip of episodes which was a shame.

I am back to reading Clown In A Cornfield and I read 5 chapters yesterday, and would have read more if it didn’t go so dark. I’m hoping to read another after lunch. It’s gonna be interesting watching the film once I’ve read it to catch the differences.

But after this I wanna get back to reading more. I need to do the Read Christie books and I wanna get back to the Star Wars ones too but it’s having the focus which is so annoying.

I wanna try and work on fic, finally finishing something for the prompt table I’ve had for months. And I also wanna post the one to ao3 but my brain has be just been, again, bleh.

(And ugh don’t get me started about our government pushing censorship with a ‘think of the children,’ narrative cause… ugh)

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The Day in Spikedluv (Tuesday, July 29)

Today was a no-shopping day!! But I got in a walk around the park while I was downtown. I spent time with mom and stopped at the library on the way home to return and pick up books. I did a load of dog sheets that got washed, dried and folded, hand-washed dishes, cut up chicken for the dogs’ meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered.

I started and finished another Kindle cozy and finally started Heir, Apparently. I also dug through my hand-written WIPs to find something to work on and found a surprise FINISHED FIC in the Jessica Fletcher, Agent of SHIELD series! I gave it a read-through to remind myself what the heck I’d written and just need to type it in. (50 hand-written pages, so it will be ~10,000 words typed in.)

Temps started out at 68.5(F) and reached 90.3. It was hot. Today (Wednesday) is also supposed to be hot, but tomorrow (Thursday) we have 49% chance of rain with a high of 68. 68!! In July!!

Mom Update:

Mom was doing okay today. ( more back here )

You are cast out from the heavens to the ground, blackened feathers falling down

I slept like a rock last night. It was lovely, and I feel much better today.

It's kind of surprising, since yesterday afternoon, I was ready to claw my face off. First, I had a bad call. I fucked up getting info at the beginning, and had an auto fail. I have done it a couple of times before, and I fucking hate it every time. It feels like a personal failing. Then, the dog wouldn't go out for me. Then Jess was upset with themselves for not knowing how a notary works, even though they've never done a notary. And the dog was barky and it just had me on overstim anxiety. I took some meds and they got me through the rest of the day.

Of course, then in the afternoon I discovered a new thing. Hopkins has a concierge service for important/rich people, called a concierge service. And I've spoken with the doctor over there a few times when she called in to get a patient scheduled. And once I had to see how I could work things, and when pressed, I gave her my direct number. And the motherfucker gave it out to a patient! I'm sitting there on the phone with a patient when I get another call. I call back after I finish doing my actual job, and yup. It's a patient calling me directly. According to them, Dr. Clever says I'm "the only helpful one in the call center, and she wished I scheduled for more depts." Which, great compliment, but no thank you. I'm not your personal flying monkey. I did not sign up to be a concierge radiology scheduler.

I'm debating on letting my manager know. I may wait to see if it happens again or if this was a one off. Concierge is a big dept that makes a lot of money, and if it came to a throwdown, I don't know that we would win.

I'd prefer to keep it as not my circus, not my monkeys, but I fear that I do know the clowns.

After that, I made dinner and went to bed, seeing as I was still tired from not sleeping two nights before.

And I realized that I misquoted Brennan yesterday. The full quote is ""In the same way your heart feels and your mind thinks, you, mortal beings, are the instrument by which the universe cares. If you choose to care, then the universe cares. If you don't, then it doesn't." I need to get that tattooeed somewhere. It's a bit long, so I don't think they could do the forearm. Oh well, I'll see what the artist says once I book a consult. Sometimes, DMs pull the best quotes out of thin air while they're DMing.

Tonight, we have a game, assuming everyone is able to play. The heat is really kicking everyone's asses, especially our player who takes public transportation to work. Though when I take Yoda out, it's like instant migraine, so it's not doing me great either.

I am looking forward to cooler weather soon.

We'll have been in the apartment for 7 months tomorrow. That's a little bit bonkers. It feels like we've been here forever. It's just home now. The house is a distant memory. It cost us 10k to get rid of it, but it was worth it.

Okay, time to go forth and get myself together. Everyone have an amazing Wednesday!

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maybe it's because i'm a londoner

Grace Petrie ticket?

Do I have any Grace Petrie fans (totally fine if we don't know each other, all Dreamwidth Grace Petrie fans are a friend in waiting) who wanna come see a preview of her Edinburgh show at the Bill Murray in Angel tonight? 6:30 show, wraps up by 8, according to her :) Her last stand-up show, Butch Ado About Nothing, was FANTASTIC.

Will also accept jealous comments from people too far away to come

Current Mood: busy

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Juggling

I'm a fan of juggling. This video includes moves from very old Vaudeville routines, circus clowning, modern juggling, and more. Impressive.

Current Mood: busy

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Shanidar 1

Shanidar 1 is probably the most famous disabled person in history: missing an arm, blind in one eye, hard of hearing or deaf, mobility impaired, and more. He belonged to a Neanderthal family who exerted maximum effort to keep him alive, far beyond the typical lifespan of the time. Because he strove to survive, and they helped, his story lives on through his bones -- concrete proof that compassion, not brute force, is part of what made us human from the very beginning. The ability to care for each other, and to value people for themselves, not just for what they could contribute, made a difference in our survival.

( Read more... )

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[July 10 out of 20] BtVS: Fic: Fists and Fangs

Title: Fists and Fangs
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Characters/Pairing: Spike
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: none
Word count: 100 (Google Docs)
Setting/Spoilers: Set in S4, some time between eps. 4x03 “The Harsh Light of Day” and 4x06 “Wild at Heart”
Summary: Spike decides that losing the Gem of Amara isn’t all that bad.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction created for fun and no profit has been made. All rights belong to the respective owners.

Prompt [#10]: Challenge

Crossposted:

anythingdrabble, My journal, Sunnydale After Dark

—
( READ: Fists and Fangs )