Drabblethon: A Good Laugh: The Fantastic Journey
Feb. 23rd, 2026 11:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
badly_knitted posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
small_fandomsTitle: A Good Laugh
Fandom: The Fantastic Journey
Summary: Sil-El gives the travellers something to laugh at.
( A Good Laugh... )
Monday’s comic: I never did get a straight answer out of them
Feb. 23rd, 2026 10:19 amturbobeholder posting in girlgenius_lair…but the historians will have the final say there, I suppose (after colored inks are invented).
Традиционное, к 23 февраля
Feb. 23rd, 2026 02:22 pmpilotttttМой традиционный ядерный букет, посвящённый всем тем, кто любит убивать, разрушать и уничтожать.
At the request of a Russian friend
Feb. 23rd, 2025 11:57 amnani90
The recipe is very good, quick and delicious.
Sauerkraut Pancakes
10 heaped tablespoons of sauerkraut with carrots (if the cabbage is bland, leave it at room temperature overnight until morning. In short, you need classic Russian sauerkraut, buy it at a Russian store)
10 level tablespoons of flour
2 level tablespoons of sugar
2 medium eggs
0.5 teaspoon of baking soda
Unrefined oil for frying
Knead everything with a spoon, form into pancake balls with wet palms, place in hot vegetable oil, and flatten in the pan.
Makes 12 pancakes.
Please do not change the proportions or omit the sugar from the dough.
Weeks 5/52 to 8/52 - where did those weeks go?
Feb. 23rd, 2026 06:20 amruricSo much for doing a weekly round up! Whoops.
HOME: life got busy and my decluttering/#orjenising stalled.
HEALTH my sleep patterns are still FUBAR'd but otherwise good.
LIFE ADMIN: looking at European alternatives to Gmail and Dropbox - eyeing up Proton.
DIGITAL DECLUTTER: have kept email at mail at 11,000 but not managed to reduce it; staying on top of transferring To Keep items from tablet to dropbox, my phone images storage is a mess.
GARDENING/ALLOTMENTING: nope - too cold and/or wet and lacked motivation.
COOKING/EATING: a few too many coffee shop lunches but resisting the lure of takeaways.
READING/LISTENING: not the last few weeks.
WATCHING: Still not caught up on Stranger Things and have only managed one episode of Heated Rivalry. Keeping up with returning shows and trying to avoid picking up new ones! Did bing Marple and Miss Marple in Wales.
CREATING/LEARNING: dealing with sewing in ends on Halloween blanket then need to block it and the granny square blanket. Hecicardi 75% finished but need to frog a bit and redo. While in Wales did 24 granny squares for small project bags and 13 for large bag. Just need to decide if I want more to make bags larger. Have plenty of wool - then must stitch together, line and finish.
CATS: all good.
VOLUNTEERING: still have one outstanding task.
SOCIALISING: nope - not even phone calls. Proper hermitting other than crochet club and class.
WORK: a bit meh for the last few weeks and have unfortunately scheduled 3 consecutive weeks of weekend working.
Plan for this coming week - work long office days Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, TOIL Wednesday, off Friday and Sunday, working Saturday.
HOME: life got busy and my decluttering/#orjenising stalled.
HEALTH my sleep patterns are still FUBAR'd but otherwise good.
LIFE ADMIN: looking at European alternatives to Gmail and Dropbox - eyeing up Proton.
DIGITAL DECLUTTER: have kept email at mail at 11,000 but not managed to reduce it; staying on top of transferring To Keep items from tablet to dropbox, my phone images storage is a mess.
GARDENING/ALLOTMENTING: nope - too cold and/or wet and lacked motivation.
COOKING/EATING: a few too many coffee shop lunches but resisting the lure of takeaways.
READING/LISTENING: not the last few weeks.
WATCHING: Still not caught up on Stranger Things and have only managed one episode of Heated Rivalry. Keeping up with returning shows and trying to avoid picking up new ones! Did bing Marple and Miss Marple in Wales.
CREATING/LEARNING: dealing with sewing in ends on Halloween blanket then need to block it and the granny square blanket. Hecicardi 75% finished but need to frog a bit and redo. While in Wales did 24 granny squares for small project bags and 13 for large bag. Just need to decide if I want more to make bags larger. Have plenty of wool - then must stitch together, line and finish.
CATS: all good.
VOLUNTEERING: still have one outstanding task.
SOCIALISING: nope - not even phone calls. Proper hermitting other than crochet club and class.
WORK: a bit meh for the last few weeks and have unfortunately scheduled 3 consecutive weeks of weekend working.
Plan for this coming week - work long office days Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, TOIL Wednesday, off Friday and Sunday, working Saturday.
![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
weather
Feb. 23rd, 2026 12:00 amhudebnikAs of Saturday morning, there was a blizzard warning scheduled from Sunday 6 AM to Monday 6 PM, with 12-18" expected.
By Sunday morning, the blizzard warning had been postponed to 1 PM, total accumulation still 12-18".
By 1 PM, there were a few flakes of snow in the air, but nothing "blizzardy".
Around 5 PM, I went out to clear the walk, and I wasn't sure whether to use a shovel or a push-broom. I chose the push-broom, but by the time I was done with the front and back walks, it was becoming clear that I should have used a shovel.
Around 11 PM, I went out to clear the walk. There were about 7" on the ground, but light and fluffy. I cleared the front steps, the walk to the sidewalk, and the sidewalk in front of our property; didn't get to the back sidewalk or the walk between the houses. This was enough to take the dogs out for their bedtime walk. It's still snowing steadily, so by morning it will probably be impossible to tell where I shoveled.
By Sunday morning, the blizzard warning had been postponed to 1 PM, total accumulation still 12-18".
By 1 PM, there were a few flakes of snow in the air, but nothing "blizzardy".
Around 5 PM, I went out to clear the walk, and I wasn't sure whether to use a shovel or a push-broom. I chose the push-broom, but by the time I was done with the front and back walks, it was becoming clear that I should have used a shovel.
Around 11 PM, I went out to clear the walk. There were about 7" on the ground, but light and fluffy. I cleared the front steps, the walk to the sidewalk, and the sidewalk in front of our property; didn't get to the back sidewalk or the walk between the houses. This was enough to take the dogs out for their bedtime walk. It's still snowing steadily, so by morning it will probably be impossible to tell where I shoveled.
boring weekend stuff
Feb. 22nd, 2026 11:11 pmlow_deltaI was going to write about something this weekend but then I put it off until today so I could include the whole weekend, and now I don't know what it was.
I made pancakes for supper on Friday, and the house still smells like pancakes. I have no idea why.
I'm still sorting and shelving the LP's. I'd like to get the turntable working and listen to them all. I wonder how long that would take. I feel like we could average one a day, but I'm sure I'd get tired of it, so it would probably take twice that long. And I don't know how many are there. I think we're talking about years, and that's with skipping all the ones we have on CD and listen to all the time. This explains why we'd get tired of it - because we already have most of the good stuff on CD, so this would be a couple of years of mediocre 70's rock music.
D&D yesterday. One more session in April will close out the storyline. Not sure what will happen after that.
Today I went to Chicago to buy whisky. I had them all located at Binny's but stopped at Discount here in Milwaukee on the way (Binny's has their inventory online, and Discount doesn't), and found five of the six whiskies, and for less money. Still had to go to Chicago to pick up that last one.
While there I stopped at Delilah's for a whisky. Ended up talking with the owner for a while. He gave me his card and said to let him know the next time I was in town so he'd be in and we could chat.
I made pancakes for supper on Friday, and the house still smells like pancakes. I have no idea why.
I'm still sorting and shelving the LP's. I'd like to get the turntable working and listen to them all. I wonder how long that would take. I feel like we could average one a day, but I'm sure I'd get tired of it, so it would probably take twice that long. And I don't know how many are there. I think we're talking about years, and that's with skipping all the ones we have on CD and listen to all the time. This explains why we'd get tired of it - because we already have most of the good stuff on CD, so this would be a couple of years of mediocre 70's rock music.
D&D yesterday. One more session in April will close out the storyline. Not sure what will happen after that.
Today I went to Chicago to buy whisky. I had them all located at Binny's but stopped at Discount here in Milwaukee on the way (Binny's has their inventory online, and Discount doesn't), and found five of the six whiskies, and for less money. Still had to go to Chicago to pick up that last one.
While there I stopped at Delilah's for a whisky. Ended up talking with the owner for a while. He gave me his card and said to let him know the next time I was in town so he'd be in and we could chat.
Bits and pieces, catching up
Feb. 23rd, 2026 04:53 pmmificI've been busy lately with several things on the go - doing HR art for the ICE OUT donations challenge, recording a long SGA podfic for the Podfic Big Bang (And Hope by Sihaya Black), and trying to fit in recording a couple of shorter ones for Romancing McShep and Romancing SGA, as well. Oof. Plus a lot of HR fic reading. I've accepted that it's impossible to keep up in any meaningful sense, and just surf along reading stuff I see reccd or authors I know I like a lot, and the few WIPs I'm following. Eventually I guess I'll catch up with numerous gems in the fandom that I missed in this avalanche of new fics, many of them extremely good.
In terms of reading very good authors, I had an exceptionally obsessive episode today where I started a story by one of my fave HR writers and couldn't read it. Because (unlike in ALL their other fics) they'd chosen to do all the Ilya POV narration in Ilya-speak, with most of the articles dropped. Russian doesn't have separate articles, I gather, because the distinction between "a ball" & "the ball" is done with word order - which is why in English, Russians often drop their articles. An example:
1. Девушка читает книгу. (The girl is reading a book)
2. Книгу читает девушка. (The girl is reading the book)
In both sentences, the meaning is nearly the same. However, in Sentence 2, the placement of “книгу” (book) at the beginning, before “девушка” (girl), highlights the importance of the book and implies a specific book.
The parts of the fic where it was Ilya's dialogue were fine because that portrays his actual speech, but the narrative (for me) is his thoughts (internal narration) in tight 3rd POV and there's NO WAY he'd be dropping "articles" in his thinking in Russian. It made him seem stupid, which he very much isn't, and I couldn't bear to read it. So I just now copied it into Word and betaed it, adding back in all the articles from his narrative POV parts. If you recognise the fic, hit me up in a DM and I'll share the edited version. It's a bloody good fic otherwise, 9000 words.
Life's been quiet apart from reccing, writing, arting and podficcing, and I'm looking forward to a dinner out with friends this Wednesday. Also enjoying sweet corn, and the start of the stone fruit season, with gorgeous nectarines. My garden is blowsy and straggly now, in late summer, and I need to take some time (ha!) to trim it back a bit. It's still warm here, about 22-24 degC highs, usually, and drier of late so I'm still watering the entire garden by hand every 3 days.
One bloody annoying thing that happened was that my credit card was hacked back at the end of January (picked up via notifications coming up on my phone from my banking app asking me to approve a bunch of things I hadn't bought). Luckily all smallish purchases (kids? An unambitious thief, anyway) and I think the bank will refund them. But that meant cancelling that card and them mailing me another (a process I last went through several months ago). And then the mailed card never arrived (presumed stolen from my letterbox) and I got another couple of false transactions on the new card that I hadn't even seen yet! So yet another card cancellation and this time I got it mailed to my bank. I was very glad that after the last debacle several months ago I'd arranged a second credit card via my other bank (I have accounts at 2 banks for reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture).
Anyway, in terms of recs:
- I'm reading all Evilharlowe's HR works on AO3 - they really are a fantastic writer.
- Happened on a great short edit that sets Shane and Ilya's tuna melt hiatus to a Chappel Roan song (The Subway - amazing song) - heartrending edit, very well done, but man, I wish it were a full-sized fanvid.
- Bringing to your attention this workout video by Hudson Williams. Leg day and his skincare routine are really paying off! (CN for casual mentions of eating extreme diets or 'not eating' to make his body fit acting roles. Which is worrying but probably routine for actors.)
- there's a LOT of HR podfic by now and every day there are 1 or 2 new ones. It's a great way to revisit fics I read and loved while I do art. For example,cathexys podficced Magneticwave's Clear to a Hedgehog. This link gets you HR podfic on AO3.
Enough for now. Waving at you all - hope things are going as well as they can.! 💗
In terms of reading very good authors, I had an exceptionally obsessive episode today where I started a story by one of my fave HR writers and couldn't read it. Because (unlike in ALL their other fics) they'd chosen to do all the Ilya POV narration in Ilya-speak, with most of the articles dropped. Russian doesn't have separate articles, I gather, because the distinction between "a ball" & "the ball" is done with word order - which is why in English, Russians often drop their articles. An example:
1. Девушка читает книгу. (The girl is reading a book)
2. Книгу читает девушка. (The girl is reading the book)
In both sentences, the meaning is nearly the same. However, in Sentence 2, the placement of “книгу” (book) at the beginning, before “девушка” (girl), highlights the importance of the book and implies a specific book.
The parts of the fic where it was Ilya's dialogue were fine because that portrays his actual speech, but the narrative (for me) is his thoughts (internal narration) in tight 3rd POV and there's NO WAY he'd be dropping "articles" in his thinking in Russian. It made him seem stupid, which he very much isn't, and I couldn't bear to read it. So I just now copied it into Word and betaed it, adding back in all the articles from his narrative POV parts. If you recognise the fic, hit me up in a DM and I'll share the edited version. It's a bloody good fic otherwise, 9000 words.
Life's been quiet apart from reccing, writing, arting and podficcing, and I'm looking forward to a dinner out with friends this Wednesday. Also enjoying sweet corn, and the start of the stone fruit season, with gorgeous nectarines. My garden is blowsy and straggly now, in late summer, and I need to take some time (ha!) to trim it back a bit. It's still warm here, about 22-24 degC highs, usually, and drier of late so I'm still watering the entire garden by hand every 3 days.
One bloody annoying thing that happened was that my credit card was hacked back at the end of January (picked up via notifications coming up on my phone from my banking app asking me to approve a bunch of things I hadn't bought). Luckily all smallish purchases (kids? An unambitious thief, anyway) and I think the bank will refund them. But that meant cancelling that card and them mailing me another (a process I last went through several months ago). And then the mailed card never arrived (presumed stolen from my letterbox) and I got another couple of false transactions on the new card that I hadn't even seen yet! So yet another card cancellation and this time I got it mailed to my bank. I was very glad that after the last debacle several months ago I'd arranged a second credit card via my other bank (I have accounts at 2 banks for reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture).
Anyway, in terms of recs:
- I'm reading all Evilharlowe's HR works on AO3 - they really are a fantastic writer.
- Happened on a great short edit that sets Shane and Ilya's tuna melt hiatus to a Chappel Roan song (The Subway - amazing song) - heartrending edit, very well done, but man, I wish it were a full-sized fanvid.
- Bringing to your attention this workout video by Hudson Williams. Leg day and his skincare routine are really paying off! (CN for casual mentions of eating extreme diets or 'not eating' to make his body fit acting roles. Which is worrying but probably routine for actors.)
- there's a LOT of HR podfic by now and every day there are 1 or 2 new ones. It's a great way to revisit fics I read and loved while I do art. For example,
cathexys podficced Magneticwave's Clear to a Hedgehog. This link gets you HR podfic on AO3.Enough for now. Waving at you all - hope things are going as well as they can.! 💗
Writerly Ways
Feb. 22nd, 2026 11:14 pmcornerofmadnessLast week I wrestled with a tough emotion to portray in fiction and here's another one, grief/mourning. this might be one of the most personalized of emotions. It's freaking tidal, coming and going with whatever moon your mind is following. I think the difficulty of this emotion is just how different it can be person from person, from all the various lived experiences out there. It's not even necessarily the same within one person.
Take me for example. Within a year I lost my last two uncles (the only two I was related to by blood) and the grief hits different for both of them. Uncle S died suddenly, unexpectedly, of a heart attack. He was, without a doubt, the more gregarious of my uncles, the 'fun one.' The fourth of July last year was hard because the family always went to his lake house. Mom and I had also been at a rock/gem show the day he died and when that rolled around, neither of us wanted to return so that is a shared bit of grief that maybe in a story might not make sense.
Uncle D was the shy uncle, the introvert who really should have been helped more in school with his learning issues but that wasn't the done thing in the 50s and 60s. The first anniversary of his death is coming in the next few weeks and yet oddly there is a lack of grief when I think about it. It's not that I didn't like this uncle but it is different. Maybe it was the lack of a funeral. Maybe it was how much he pulled away almost as if afraid he had nothing to talk about with me because he wasn't 'smart enough' (no, I know he feared that.)
Even yesterday, I finally decided to stop being a jackass and answer my 3 month back log of emails/blog comments. I had at least a dozen in there that I owedspikedluv. There is so much regret in that, an emotion that doesn't go with grief alone but it is a big part of it. There is, of course, nothing I can do about that but I am determined to get the rest of the owed comments out in the next few days. I'm avoiding future regret, right? And avoidance is definitely one sign of grief.
I think in many ways, grief isn't necessarily hard to write but the way others perceive it i s where it gets sticky.
For example, I think I wrote grief well in These Haunted Hills but the book fell flat (though I did just find a great review by someone I'm not sure I know on GR) Ah well (but that's a heart break for another time)
How do you handle grief in fiction?
Open Calls
Story Unlikely This mag pays well BUT you have to subscribe which is free but if you get a paid sub your pay as an author goes up and that, while I understand it, doesn't necessarily sit well with me.
Horror Library Volume 10 Original, thoughtful horror-centric short stories
Folded Space Podcast Science fiction, exploring new worlds, future possibilities, and the enduring human spirit
The Whumpy Printing Press is looking novelette, novella, novel, short story collection, and graphic novel submissions Novelette, novella, novel, short story collection, and graphic novels that fall into the whump genre (i.e. a character needs to be hurt). We’re looking for strong stories with a balance between whump and plot. Ideally science fiction or fantasy (is it possible I DO NOT have a whump story?!?)
Street Magic III Magic. Hiding right under our unsuspecting noses, or swirling around all around us. When we’re talking about Street Magic, it’s probably closer than you think.
SciFi To Go: Food For Thought Funny short stories in the areas of science fiction, fantasy, and horror
86 Opportunities for Historically Underrepresented Writers (February 2026) many of these include LGBT and women in general
From Around the Web
How the Page Thinks: Spatial Intelligence in Writing
The Four-Act Structure and the Circular Shape of Story
Fix Flat Deep POV: 7 Probing Questions for Better Immersion
How to Build an Author Brand That Attracts Readers and Sells Books (Step-by-Step Guide)
From Betty
How to Create a Simple Language
How to Use Story Structure in Non-Narrative Writing
Six Rape Tropes and How to Replace Them
Reconciling Character Choices With Your Plot
How to Make Your Dark Event Pay Off
Using Contradictions to Create Masterful Microtension – Part 2
Setting the Stage with Powerful Description
Fix Flat Deep POV: 7 Probing Questions for Better Immersion
How to Turn Feedback into Action: Understanding Editorial Letters
Why Writers Fear and Resist Change (and Characters Do, Too)
YouTube for Writers, Part 6: Building Your Author Brand on YouTube
Why Every Writer Needs a Critique Group (and the Six Relationships That Shape Your Career) Okay this one is something I have been saying forever. Ignoring the whole God bit (which fine if you're religious great but otherwise I don't feel like it needs to be in this article. This is not for everyone). I do still wish I could get more people into my critique group.
Email List Segmentation for Authors: How to Reach Readers and Increase Sales
A BREAKTHROUGH Program for Writers of Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror This is like a college class in a way complete with application fees. It is NOT a cheap opportunity by any means.
Take me for example. Within a year I lost my last two uncles (the only two I was related to by blood) and the grief hits different for both of them. Uncle S died suddenly, unexpectedly, of a heart attack. He was, without a doubt, the more gregarious of my uncles, the 'fun one.' The fourth of July last year was hard because the family always went to his lake house. Mom and I had also been at a rock/gem show the day he died and when that rolled around, neither of us wanted to return so that is a shared bit of grief that maybe in a story might not make sense.
Uncle D was the shy uncle, the introvert who really should have been helped more in school with his learning issues but that wasn't the done thing in the 50s and 60s. The first anniversary of his death is coming in the next few weeks and yet oddly there is a lack of grief when I think about it. It's not that I didn't like this uncle but it is different. Maybe it was the lack of a funeral. Maybe it was how much he pulled away almost as if afraid he had nothing to talk about with me because he wasn't 'smart enough' (no, I know he feared that.)
Even yesterday, I finally decided to stop being a jackass and answer my 3 month back log of emails/blog comments. I had at least a dozen in there that I owed
spikedluv. There is so much regret in that, an emotion that doesn't go with grief alone but it is a big part of it. There is, of course, nothing I can do about that but I am determined to get the rest of the owed comments out in the next few days. I'm avoiding future regret, right? And avoidance is definitely one sign of grief.I think in many ways, grief isn't necessarily hard to write but the way others perceive it i s where it gets sticky.
For example, I think I wrote grief well in These Haunted Hills but the book fell flat (though I did just find a great review by someone I'm not sure I know on GR) Ah well (but that's a heart break for another time)
How do you handle grief in fiction?
Open Calls
Story Unlikely This mag pays well BUT you have to subscribe which is free but if you get a paid sub your pay as an author goes up and that, while I understand it, doesn't necessarily sit well with me.
Horror Library Volume 10 Original, thoughtful horror-centric short stories
Folded Space Podcast Science fiction, exploring new worlds, future possibilities, and the enduring human spirit
The Whumpy Printing Press is looking novelette, novella, novel, short story collection, and graphic novel submissions Novelette, novella, novel, short story collection, and graphic novels that fall into the whump genre (i.e. a character needs to be hurt). We’re looking for strong stories with a balance between whump and plot. Ideally science fiction or fantasy (is it possible I DO NOT have a whump story?!?)
Street Magic III Magic. Hiding right under our unsuspecting noses, or swirling around all around us. When we’re talking about Street Magic, it’s probably closer than you think.
SciFi To Go: Food For Thought Funny short stories in the areas of science fiction, fantasy, and horror
86 Opportunities for Historically Underrepresented Writers (February 2026) many of these include LGBT and women in general
From Around the Web
How the Page Thinks: Spatial Intelligence in Writing
The Four-Act Structure and the Circular Shape of Story
Fix Flat Deep POV: 7 Probing Questions for Better Immersion
How to Build an Author Brand That Attracts Readers and Sells Books (Step-by-Step Guide)
From Betty
How to Create a Simple Language
How to Use Story Structure in Non-Narrative Writing
Six Rape Tropes and How to Replace Them
Reconciling Character Choices With Your Plot
How to Make Your Dark Event Pay Off
Using Contradictions to Create Masterful Microtension – Part 2
Setting the Stage with Powerful Description
Fix Flat Deep POV: 7 Probing Questions for Better Immersion
How to Turn Feedback into Action: Understanding Editorial Letters
Why Writers Fear and Resist Change (and Characters Do, Too)
YouTube for Writers, Part 6: Building Your Author Brand on YouTube
Why Every Writer Needs a Critique Group (and the Six Relationships That Shape Your Career) Okay this one is something I have been saying forever. Ignoring the whole God bit (which fine if you're religious great but otherwise I don't feel like it needs to be in this article. This is not for everyone). I do still wish I could get more people into my critique group.
Email List Segmentation for Authors: How to Reach Readers and Increase Sales
A BREAKTHROUGH Program for Writers of Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror This is like a college class in a way complete with application fees. It is NOT a cheap opportunity by any means.
Links: BIPOC Women Scientists
Feb. 22nd, 2026 07:55 pmsoniaStudent refines 100-year-old math problem, expanding wind energy possibilities by Kevin Sliman.
Sad news - Dr. Gladys West, Mathematician Whose Work Made GPS Possible, Dies at 95 by Mary Wadland. "From segregated Virginia to global impact, her mathematics quietly changed how the world finds its way." I posted about her not too long ago.
Divya Tyagi, a graduate student pursuing her master’s degree in aerospace engineering, completed this work as a Penn State undergraduate for her Schreyer Honors College thesis. Her research was published in Wind Energy Science.
“I created an addendum to Glauert’s problem which determines the optimal aerodynamic performance of a wind turbine by solving for the ideal flow conditions for a turbine in order to maximize its power output,” said Tyagi, who earned her bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering.
Sad news - Dr. Gladys West, Mathematician Whose Work Made GPS Possible, Dies at 95 by Mary Wadland. "From segregated Virginia to global impact, her mathematics quietly changed how the world finds its way." I posted about her not too long ago.
Just one thing: 23 February 2026
Feb. 22nd, 2026 09:44 pmjazzyjj posting in awesomeersIt's challenge time!
Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.
Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!
Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!
Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.
Go!
Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.
Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!
Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!
Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.
Go!
It's Not A Cult - Joey Batey
Feb. 22nd, 2026 10:16 pmtroisoiseauxRead It's Not A Cult by Joey Batey, a debut folk horror novel about a band whose songs based on an invented mythology (the Solkats, small gods of wine stains and stubbed toes and untold jokes and bus stop fights and texts at three in the morning, etc.) inspire a literal cult following; I picked this up mostly because I know of the author for other work (he has a band, The Amazing Devil, and played Jaskier on The Witcher) and I'm not sure if it is, exactly, good— I suspect it might work better as an audiobook, because it has a rather distracting tendency towards draaaaawing out wooooords and phonetic spelling of accents ("updéeat")— but I did read the entire thing in one day. It's definitely a [Rod Sterling voice] wouldn't that be messed up? kind of horror novel— very ambiguous ending, and a lot of ambiguity throughout; ( not a spoiler, exactly. )
According to an interview I read when this came on my radar a few months ago, either the novel itself or at least the idea for it (unclear?) pre-dates Batey's career(s) as an actor and musician, but it's a bit of context that I found impossible to shake in light of, a., the themes of artistry (specifically, as a musician) and fandom, and b., the way the narrative is entirely framed by camera lenses: if an action takes place on the page, it's because there's a camera pointing at it, from the narrator's coping mechanism of viewing the world through a camcorder lens rather than looking at things straight on, to vloggers live-streaming their every thought, filmed police interviews, etc., including some rather improbably convoluted executions of the premise.
According to an interview I read when this came on my radar a few months ago, either the novel itself or at least the idea for it (unclear?) pre-dates Batey's career(s) as an actor and musician, but it's a bit of context that I found impossible to shake in light of, a., the themes of artistry (specifically, as a musician) and fandom, and b., the way the narrative is entirely framed by camera lenses: if an action takes place on the page, it's because there's a camera pointing at it, from the narrator's coping mechanism of viewing the world through a camcorder lens rather than looking at things straight on, to vloggers live-streaming their every thought, filmed police interviews, etc., including some rather improbably convoluted executions of the premise.