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(no subject)

Sunday, September 28th, 2025 06:58 pm

This is one of those posts mostly rambling about various things.

We finished Hell Motel! Yay! Overall the series was pretty good, though there were a few times it felt like people died too close together. But I did like the first episode twist and it was a bold choice to finish on an ep so disconnected from the rest of the series.

It has made me curious about Slasher, so I might start it over spooky season and make it a weekly thing (with an ep or two) though we’ll see.

Yesterday was a lazy kinda day. It was mostly spent watching Murder She Wrote, then half watching Strictly while watching Seapeekay compete in twitch rivals. That was ok though early strictly is immensely long, though I did enjoy a few of the dances.

Then I watched Nine Bodies In A Mexican Morgue, which was pretty good. It’s about a plane that’s crashed in the Mexican jungle (or forest?) however among the survivors is a killer. And clearly a successful one as, when the plane is found 8 days later there’s 9 bodies of the 10 people on the plane. Who it is and why is gonna be the central mystery. It is funny though, it has the presenter of pottery throw down only she’s doing an American accent and it throws me off so hard.

I’m curious to see how it plays out and it seems mum is too.

On Friday a new film came to shudder, House On Eden. I didn’t watch it release day but did watch it last night. Thoughts under the cut.

( Read more... )

Today I watched the next episode of Wednesday and yesss YESSSS it had Tyler shirtless and collared and chained. Thank you whoever decided to have him like that that was hot. A+ work I hope you get a raise.

The ep is mostly a great one not just cause of that. Christopher Lloyd’s cameo role is nice and it addresses one issue I had with season 1 the lack of other teachers. I really hate the new principle. Like wanting Bianca to use her powers and threatening her if she says no? That’s such dickish behaviour.

I do feel another issue from season 1 is gonna raise its head. It’s clear from this ep that Morticia is gonna be around a lot more this season as she’s moved into a cottage on campus. Already I feel unconvinced this will sell us on Catherine Zeta Jones’ performance of her. (However I do love Pugsley’s vibes)

There is also Wednesday’s stalker which uses Saw Like ‘do you want to play a game’type messages. And her chemistry with Enid is unmatched. If only they weren’t cowards and made them a couple. (And I love Enid’s friendship with Thing)

Finally I watched The Savages, after having the blu ray sitting there since it came out and that was…. *checks* March 27th. Damn.

I think I held off cause of the last season plus this is a first Doctor one . Thankfully it is a four parter which is good, because the longer ones are such a slog. Unfortunately the essence of the ep, two groups of people on a planet one exploiting the other, has been done better. The how is an interesting take though, with the essence of the ‘savages’ being used to enrich the elite.

It is just a bit of a talky one, though the animation does make things look nice. Also it is the last ep for Steven and his ending is such an odd one. He essentially get volunteered to stay and it felt he had no real say in it.

Overall it was better than I expected but I as I wasn’t expecting much…

Though it was funny the doctor had a device and he called it a ‘reacting vibrator’.

Tomorrow I’ve got a call which… ugh. I hate the calls they’re needlessly stressful. Since I’m not going to the mystery film I might watch the Stranger Things season 4 finale, but knowing me I won’t.

Then it’s the start of spooky season, deciding if I’ll try kinktober and a cinema trip I’ve still not settled on.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: Koji stream

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Fannish 50 S3 Post 41: CDramas I've DNF'd part 1

glitteryv

Sunday, September 28th, 2025 12:03 pm

Under the Moonlight (YouTube)

A 2025, 36-episode historical drama.

The premise

It's the story of Luo Shu (played by Hu Bingqing) who was abt to debut as a courtesan. Due to ~plotty reasons, she got a job with Han Munzi (He Peng), the new local magistrate, as a kind of consultant detective of sorts. (I know, I know. Just go along with this.) Then, Qi Menglin (played by Zhai Zilu), the governor's son, showed up and SOMEHOW ended up tagging along in the investigations.

I'd heard some rumblings abt this drama and was confused as to why it wasn't more popular.

Hu Bingqing as Luo Shu gave a solid performance: her pragmatic view of things and cleverness w/r/t the way ppl behave. As for the rest of the cast, the majority of them were good. Especially the actors for the secondary characters.

The mysteries (well, I only watched the first two out of the 10) were actually cool. They were complicated enough to warrant a few episodes per case. The solutions were logical too. NGL, the mysteries are a big part of the reason why I stuck with the show (even as I had soured on other things.)

Do I have any criticisms?

Well...😬

My ability to suspend my disbelief was nearly broken. I understood that the premise was pretty ridic to begin with. But then, for reasons, Luo Shu (once she stared consulting) did a crummy job in disguising herself as a man. Which included her fake persona being given the rank of captain which EVERYONE IN THE MAGISTRATE OFFICE (down the lowest ranked officer) was A-OK with... 🙃

What makes this so OTT was that the crimes were V. SRS BIZNESS (including sexual assault and grusome murders). At times, I had to ignore the fact that Luo Shu (despite her good powers of observation) had received ZERO training for this kind of job, but OK, drama. XD

THEN, there's the casting of Hu Bingqing as Luo Shu. OTOH, she could convey a character who's ultimately optimistic, focused, smart, and dedicated. OTOH, however, the show made it v. clear that her character was EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD. This was brought up many times during the first 2-3 eps.

Unfortunately, though, Hu Bingqing looked (at best) to be around 10 yrs older. FTR, she was around 31-32 when they'd filmed this drama. In an ideal world, the character would've been aged up OR the production team could've cast someone closer to the character's age.

After all, Zhai Zilu as Qi Menglin was 21 when the drama was filmed (the character's supposed to be 24, IIRC.) This meant that, when the characters are together, Hu Bingqing looked like an older relative of his or someone who is deffo older than him.

Again, Hu Bingqing acted the fuck out of that character, BUT she carrieed herself as someone who is way more mature than the character was supposed to be (given the whole 'SHE'S 18!" thing.)

And then, there's my SECOND issue: Qi Menglin. He's handsome and had some charisma. That said, his personality in this drama was so childish that it put me off. I think this character would've fit better in another type of drama (a romcom one) vs. plotlines that go IN abt how someone killed someone else. So, seeing him bumble his way and act all jokey rubbed me the wrongest of ways. .

AND FINALLY, I didn't believe the CP at all. At first, Qi Menglin was v. rude and bratty toward Luo Shu cuz he thought she's a guy. Once he discovered the truth, he decided to court her cuz why not? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I didn't like how hard the show tried to make the CP happen. ALSO BASED ON

SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING

he never really grew out of that jokey/prankster mode? And eventually they get married, but not cuz she fell in love with him. Instead, it's more like he wore down her resolve

Which NO, THANK YOU. I'M NOT HERE FOR THAT. As I understand it, the romance was supposed to be a slow burn. Unfortch, there's ZERO chemistry cuz there's NO attraction between them, LOLsob. Instead, they had sibling energy. IJS

What's the FMC's plot armor level?

Fairly strong. Bad things have happened to her (such as being sold to a brothel when she was young, almost getting sexually assaulted onscreen, etc), but all of the terrible things happened to other characters and not her in the end.

How does the show handle the inevitable "Oh noes, the emperor's in danger of losing his throne!" storyline?

NO IDEA! I bounced before any of this was brought into the story. BUT, I'm sure there's some dramarama afoot in the latter half?

Do I recommend it?

No. It's not a terrible drama, but all of the things I complained abt added up to a big "let me stop here and move on." I only watched 6 out of the 36 eps. The series is available on YouTube.

Queerness level

There's a ~vibe between the Magistrate and his second in command that's sort of explained as the two of them being lifelong friends? Though they deffo have MARRIEDS vibe, IMO.. FTR, the show makes it v. clear that neither character is queer (but when has that stopped anyone, LOL?)

Le trailer

I could only find this version of the trailer. It has Portuguese subtitles. Trigger/Content Warning: The first 25 seconds show people getting murdered by different methods. It's graphic enough (there's blood (no gore, tho) and violence) for me to give a heads up.

Watch on YouTube

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(no subject)

turps

Sunday, September 28th, 2025 04:51 pm

Sadly Bluey has had her first bump.

Driving down a road in town that's terrible for people illegally parking on both sides so they can easily get to the nearby Greggs, we were driving behind a lady, who stopped, and then reversed, when a car going up didn't stop, taking up all the available space in the middle of the road. How she didn't see our car behind hers I don't know, but apparently she didn't.

Thankfully, the damage is cosmetic only with a few scratches, and if it wasn't a mobility car we'd probably just leave it or try and get some matching car paint. But, that's not an option, so an insurance job it is.

Pauline's 80th birthday party went really well yesterday. We picked Corey up at 2, and were at the venue for 2:30, Pauline wanted a late afternoon/early evening party so she'd get home in good time, and it worked out nicely. All her family was there, and my aunt and uncle came too, the first time I'd seen them for over a year.

The catering wasn't the best as the chef at the pub we were at had walked out a few weeks ago, and they'd had to arrange outside catering, and instead of the big buffet that was paid for, there were only platters of sandwiches, crisps and cut up cheese. So, Pauline had to buy extras herself, arranging for people to bring 5 large cakes, sausage rolls, cheese rolls and quiches. But, at least the hot beef sandwiches were provided as ordered, and while there wasn't a huge variety the cobbled together buffet was tasty. Plus, we got to bring leftovers home, and is it even a family party buffet if you can't do that and eat slightly stale leftovers on the night/next morning?

If you're interested I posted a couple of photos of us and the kidlet on my instagram here

Unsurprisingly, my brother didn't turn up. He did send a beautiful bouquet but I wish he'd realise Pauline would always appreciate seeing him more than an actual gift.

It was great spending time with Corey, and he was telling me he and his girlfriend have managed to get MCR tickets which made me so happy for them. If I can't go, at least I know they are and will have a great time.

By the time we'd taken him back to Gateshead and got home it was getting toward eight, and it took me about five seconds to get in my pjs, get under the heated blanket with the cats and watch Strictly. After all, it's what Saturday evenings are made for.

Bite the apple

shadowhive

Thursday, September 25th, 2025 08:23 pm

Past days have been uneventul mostly. I have started organising dungeons and dragons adventurer. I’ve got the first 46 issues in the folders (yes I should have done them as they came shush) and I’m annoyed that two sets of four of them are awol. I dunno if I should continue organising or just hunt them first.

Yesterday mum sprung on me she wanted to go to Home Bargains so off we went. Thankfully there was a lot of Halloween stuff there! It had a full aisle plus stuff by the door and a few end of aisle stuff too. I got soft sweet, banners and crafting stuff, plus two cute ghosts. There was one I didn’t get that was holding a pumpkin basket but the way the handle was painted I just made it look like it had a comically sad face. (Which you don’t really want, it’s their time!) I also looked in game, got a cheap Thrawn Funko and saw they had dective Pikachu for £20. I didn’t get it but may go back for it.

When I got back Awsten’s book was waiting for me. I was too tired to look through it but I checked what his doodle was (a face with starry eyes)

Also yesterday was also a new 5 Seconds Of Summer song called Not Okay! I really love it, the best is really catchy but it’s not what I expected at all. It sounds so different (and I assumed from the title it might be sad but it’s not). Also ahh the uk store for the album says there’s gonna be a uk tour next year?? I missed out when they last did one so I’m definitely going this time.

Gaming wise, been on Silksong and I feel I’ve made progress (after feeling a bit directionless). I just unlocked the drifter cloak which I feel is gonna be so incredibly useful.

Also Hades II came out today! After debating getting it on release I did decide to. I’ve done 4 runs so far and ahhh I love that there’s a pettable frog and dog! It’s gonna take some getting used to with all the new currencies (and remembering what is for what) but hopefully I’ll figure it out. Also when I died I met Moros he looks so hot👀

Last night was the Alien Earth finale and, despite tiredness, ended up watching. I’m glad I did though it did feel a bit unsatisfying. Mostly that’s because it was a season finale but none of the main things got resolved. Thankfully the characters I like lived and we finally got to see the plant pod thing do something, which I’d been waiting for since I saw it. But ugh this one really made me hate Wendy/Marcy. Like I can tell were supposed to sympathise with her and to an extent I do, but she’s too happy to let people die.

Overall it was a good ep but it didn’t feel like a season finale. Considering how bad streaming things are with cancelling shows after 1 season it felt bad to leave so much unresolved. Hopefully a season 2 is coming cause I do wanna know but…

And also streaming annoyance I was looking the other day on Netflix to watch Star Trek Prodigy and season 1 is just… gone. Bah. And then I saw a preview for Dead Boy Detectives so I’m now intruiged about that but I also know it got screwed so do I wanna get invested?

***

And now for the cinema plans portion of the post.

I had intended on going on Monday, at least to the mystery film but that plans changed. The mystery film is now labelled as a general one, not horror like the others so the only label it has is that it’s 15. Trouble is there’s a bunch of 15 rated things coming that I’ve seen trailers for and wouldn’t want to see which wouldn’t be so bad if I could see another one before it, but because I have an annoying call after 2 that makes things tricky. So I might just not do it. (Especially as the odeon secret showing was for one of those films and the light seems to follow them)

I’m still planning on going next Thursday for Curse Of Frankenstein. It’s had an additional showing added so now there’s a morning and late afternoon one. I should be able to see something else for either one but the trouble is jigsawing what to see. The morning showing is 10:20 (so it’s the second film of the day) and the afternoon one is 5:30.

The trouble is that the morning one feels too early and the afternoon one clashes with some other options. There’s two early afternoon options The Roses and The Conjuring Last Rites, but I’ve still not seen Conjuring 2 and Conjuring 3 isn’t on streaming. (Other possibilities are Demon Slayer [which I’ve never seen and so would be lost], The Lost Bus [which I know nothing about] and A Big Bold Beautiful Journey [which I feel could be good or sad]) annoyingly I did considering giving The Long Walk a try before the listings went live but it has one time: just before the afternoon showing starts.

I should also still be going to the mystery film on the 6th which IS labelled as a horror. I should be able to see Him before it too, which I am curious about though it does seem to have a mixed reception.

It is odd the cinema doesn’t even have Black Phone 2 on its coming soon page despite them clearly getting it. (Plus no sign of Frankenstein either and I keep checking.)

Anyways, gonna watch Taskmaster now, then Hell Motel and hopefully poke my brain.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: Ranboo stream

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Fannish 50 S3 Post 40: Le Sserafim singing in Spanish!

glitteryv

Thursday, September 25th, 2025 12:48 pm

A little under a week ago, Le Sserafim posted this cover of Selena's "Amor Prohibido" alongside a cute MV.

OK, firstly, kudos to them for tackling one of the most well-known songs for a Tejano LEGEND. Secondly, they did AMAZING--especially when it came to rolling their r's! Finally, it's pretty clear that they understood and respected the song AND Selena's legacy. <3 to my FIMMIES.

Watch on YouTube

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congratulations and celebrations

pensnest

Thursday, September 25th, 2025 10:58 am

I tasted a russet apple from the tree in the garden, and it was absolutely delicious—not what my previous experience had led me to expect. Will eat again. The little pale green ones are also good, and I have made baked apples for lunch a few times with the cookers, as well as preserving them as apple sauce.

*

Mad busy this week as Beast and I are in charge of the celebration dinner for the barbershop club this Friday evening, and I have tasked myself with making decorations, menu flags and certificates to be awarded during the evening. Nearly done....

*

My Bun is now officially engaged! She and her man—I shall have to figure out a better DW name for him—came round on Sunday and showed off their rings, which are inlaid with a sliver of oak, as his parents planted an oak when he was born. Also, wood is nice.

(no subject)

turps

Thursday, September 25th, 2025 09:34 am

The gym was offering free Personal Trainer taster sessions this month, so I did one yesterday. ( cut for exercise and weight talk )

I've an ongoing situation atm where someone is fly tipping bags of rubbish near my house. The way things are set up, you walk out of my garden gate onto the public path, on the other side of the path there's a metal fence, then a steep bank with mature trees that goes down to the dual carriageway. For ages now someone has been coming and dumping rubbish at that spot, probably because between the trees on one side and the thick ivy on my fence, it's a place that's relatively hidden from view.

At first, it wasn't much, but lately it's been multiple big black bags full of rubbish, and pee'ed on puppy pads. I've had to add signs on the gate, and my neighbours has too, saying no flying tipping, CCTV in operation, and if it doesn't stop I'm seriously considering actually getting another ring doorbell for the back of the house.

I've talked to many neighbours about it, and we're all pretty sure who's doing it, it's just getting proof. The rubbish gets reported every time, and last time the council said they'd check through it to see if there's anything identifying. Hopefully, there is, as it's just scummy behaviour.

We went to see A Big Bold Beautiful Journey at the cinema a few days ago. Coming out the cinema guy asked people if we'd liked it, I said, it was okay, another woman said, that it was interesting and yeah, that sums it up.

James is back at work today, just a four-hour shift today, then two four-hour shifts next week, then gradually increasing time as the weeks go on. I'm walking to meet him at Home Bargains at lunchtime as we need cat litter, and I'm not about to carry a sack of that home by myself. But first, a catch-up on here.

At the bottom of the sea

shadowhive

Monday, September 22nd, 2025 06:51 pm

Yesterday I started watching season 2 of Wednesday with the first ep. It’s obviously a lot of setup, with Wednesday’s first day back at Never ore, dealing with hero worship and, of course, being annoyed by it. There’s also two mysteries already: an investigator that got pecked to death by ravens and Wednesday has a stalker. Are they connected? I guess we’ll see.

Xavier has been put on a bus which is a shame but at least had an in universe explanation that makes sense. Pugley is also joining Nevermore this year and already he has what might be a sub plot of his own. I already don’t like or trust the new head and it feels I’m right not too. Also it looks like Morticia is gonna have a bigger roll to play this year (which explains the Lego set!). It remains to be seen if that’s good or not. (Personally I wasn’t sold on Catherine Zeta Jones as her in season 1.)

Then there was dnd which went well, though I had to be muted at the start cause Leia was jumping everywhere and I was worried she’d knock things over. But it was also a mix of sad, sweet and ominous.

I started Borderlands 4 and did the opening quest though ran into trouble cause of a glitch. Thankfully exiting and restarting solved it though I am so pissed how it ended. (Why'd the hot guy have to die😭)

Then last night there was a nature documentary. I love nature stuff, even though Naryu tends to bark at the animals and get worked up, but I especially love stuff to do with the sea. This one was about a deep sea expedition to find coelacanth.

Now the coelacanth is famously known as a living fossil. It was around when the dinosaurs were and was believed extinct long ago… until one was found fished up. (Though if I remember right indigenous people already were aware of them.) Ones have been found fished up and washed ashore since but until now they weren’t seen. Luckily the expedition was successful! It found one hiding between rocks and they watched her for 30+ hours to see what she’d do.

And she spent that time just staying in the same spot, which is relatable. Eventually she went for a swim and joined a bunch of other coelacanth just chilling out in a lil cave. It was honestly so incredible to see them and you can even tell them apart by their markings. There really is something so strangely endearing about them too.

In the night I watched Alien Earth. I’m an ep behind so this one was The Fly. There was A Lot of poor communication going on throughout the whole thing (as well as bad decisions!), though I can’t help but wonder if at least some was intentional. Also Boy Kavalier shown off his feet again(If the alien universe has a wiki feet his must go crazy) and he proved that, while he appears dismissive he isn’t an idiot. (Though it does seem his head of security might be undermining him as well as Yutani plotting)

Today’s been an ok day, though tiring cause of taking Naryu for a longer walk. But! There’s finally a trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu! There’s also a description, but it’s so vague it could mean anything. It’s so cool seeing a u-wing and lil Grogu being cute and Sigourney Weaver.

There’s also more MCR dates been announced, though there’s not one in Birmingham (there’s more for London, plus Liverpool and Glasgow). I’m kinda glad for that though, it’ll be a feeding frenzy and I’m not prepared for that at all. But good luck if you’re gonna try!

Current Mood: geeky
Current Music: Tv

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More books. IDEK know myself, LOL.

glitteryv

Monday, September 22nd, 2025 12:18 pm

Re-Reads. HUH.

None for now.

I DNF'd

I actually finished everything I started. O__O

Had an awesome time at first (but it all went downhill from there)

* Away Games by Misha Horne (M/M Romance) - A 35k novella that takes place a few months after the ending of Book 2. It has too much football (including an excess of practice and game scenes). The last chapter is a ridic (yet sweet) long porny scene between Caleb and Logan that segues into them talking abt their futures post-high school.

To me, the whole thing read like an epilogue draft since it didn't add anything new to Logan and Caleb's story and it wasn't far enough in the future (say, during their second year of university) to make any kind of impact. I gave this a 2 out of 5.

* She Didn't See It Coming by Shari LaPena (Mystery) - Bryden is happily married to Sam. They have pretty good careers, are the parents of a sweet 3-y.o., and seem to have a fab life. That is, until Bryden disappears...

Extremely readable novel. Good writing (no typos or weird turn of phrases.) Having read most of this author's books, I knew that I was in for domestic suspense, a whole lotta POVs (10 different characters in this novel), and some O___o kind of drama.

I wasn't AS taken with the mystery as I was with the MESSINESS of everything else.

Starting with 2 super chaotic evil characters who were fun to read abt. Even though they gave me the impression to have come in from a totally different book. There's also a 3rd character whose life went off the rails at some point...and that whole thing was never resolved?

Finally, a fourth character had a v. late in the book turn that made me ?????. And, to explain why, I gotta

dive into FULL SPOILERS

This fourth character is not only an abuser, but also a functional drug addict (Oxycontin). This is revealed in the next-to-last chapter and grants that character a full alibi (?!). This character--who has their own POV chapters--is never shown to be thinking abt drugs and/or getting high nor experience any type of physical withdraw from, again, their everyday usage.

It was v. odd that there were no hints abt this from the fourth character or anyone else who also had POVs. This was so UNBELIEVABLE that I 🙄 as the book came to a close.

Had I not been familiar with this author's usual style and that I had borrowed this from the library, I'd have probably DNF'd this book. Although I'm not quite putting this author on 'reader probation' yet, I will reconsider after reading whatever she publishes next. I gave this a 2.3 out of 5.

* Those We Run From by Fiona Zedde (F/F Romantic Suspense) - After finding out that Tilly, her ex-girlfriend from 20 or years ago, is on a hit list, almost-retired assassin Sterling heads to Miami to protect her and find out who wants her ex dead...

OTOH, this book had a v. diverse (in terms of race, sexuality, and gender) cast. I also really liked that the majority of the characters were 39+ years old. Oh, and the author can write actions scenes (including gunfights, knife fights, etc.) really well. She's got a knack for timing and describing the goings on.

OTOH, I had three issues with this 120-page novella.

1. The worldbuilding was incomplete. This story takes place in Miami (FL), the Bahamas, and southern Georgia. But there was no actual sense of place. Like, whenever the story moved to Miami, characters would inevitably think or say "wow, it's so hot/humid." And that was abt it. Same with the Bahamas.

2. Given the premise, i was ready for some goofiness plotwise. But then, a little near the halfway point, when the reason why Tilly has been targeted is revealed, the book moves on permanently to DEEPLY UNSERIOUS LAND. I mentally threw my hands in the air and said "I guess?!", NGL.

3. This last thing is the main reason why I gave it such a low ranking. This involves a mild spoiler w/r/t one of the MCs, but I don't consider it worthy of hiding behind a spoiler tag. Though, again, this is gonna be a MILD SPOILER.

So it turns out that Tilly has a twin sister named Nora. They've never gotten along and it's been a while since they've spoken with each other.

The book never uses words like autistic, autism, etc. However, it's clear that Nora is neurodivergent. The issue is the extremely negative way autism is shown. Especially when the chapter is from Tilly's POV.

Examples from Chapter 21 after Nora shows up. This is 100% from Tilly's POV (Emphasis mine):

It was bizarre seeing her sister again. Hearing her talk. They were identical in looks, but in temperament, in the way they processed things, were as different as dawn and midday. No doctor had been able to explain why. Nora was the analytical and brilliant one their parents never stopped praising. The one who was an ice cube but excelled at everything academic from her very first exam.

They start talking:

Tilly swallowed a few times. "What exactly do you mean by showing up here?"

"I made a gamble I shouldn't have and didn't factor in that I might have been gambling with your life, too." Nora faintly grimaced.

The scream crawled higher in Tilly's throat. "you talking to me like a robot isn't making the situation clearer."

"This is how i talk. There is no other way I can express myself."

That much was true. Tilly let out another sigh. [...]"

And the conversation continues with Nora talking and Tilly being judgy and on the defensive for no reason at all. The book does show Nora interacting with other characters just fine? There's one specific (but v., v. spoilery) convo Nora has with another character in which the other character never remarks on how 'odd' or 'robot-like' Nora is talking to them. So it's basically a Tilly-only issue, IMO.

At best, the way this book approaches a neurodivergent character is quite off-putting and, at worst, is truly worrisome and weird.

On top of that, it simply does not make any sense that Tilly, a 39-y.o. character who works with a variety of clients (she's a boudoir photographer) AND who has a really colorful group of friends AND gives the impression of being quite a worldly character wouldn't know or even consider the existence of autism. Especially in relation to her twin sister. Keep in mind that the story takes place in our world in contemporary times. That's all I'm saying.

ETA: I think I wouldn't have had as much of a problem if one of two things had happened:

1. If Tilly and Nora had been raised in an ultraconservative and super religious community. Since those types of groups tend to avoid/disregard anything that wouldn't be considered "normal".

OR

2. If the story has been set anywhere in the 1970s to 1980s. At those times, the general population's awareness of ADHD, dislexia, autism, etc was v. limited and prejudiced.

But that's not what happened here.

FTR, I was super grossed out by this part of the story, but it was such a short novella that I ended up. No idea if I'll read anything else by this author. I gave this a 1 out of 5.

Good vibes all around

* Comfort Me, Daddy by Misha Horne (M/M Romance) - the 444-age sequel to Hurt Me, Daddy. Logan has moved in with Caleb. There's a big chemistry test he HAS to pass if he wants his scholarship to continue AND some v. important football games he's gotta train for...

The writing continued to be good (no typos, no weird turn of phrase, etc.). There was enough space in the book for Logan to get some more character development. Which isn't to say that he became suddenly mature, but that he had changed (for the better) when it came to his self-esteem and relation to the world. Another thing that was v. clear was how much care this author had in creating all of the characters. Logan, Caleb, Walker, Ellis, and the rest of the guys had distinct personalities and behaviors and that made all of their interactions pretty interesting to follow along.

Most of the Logan/Caleb scenes (both in and out of bed) were fun and/or spicy.

OTOH, the author could've deleted 100-150 pages. Like, the author could've gotten rid of 8 or so chapters (out of 40) and tightened the story a lot.

Then there's a late-in-the-book dramarama involving Logan's mother. It felt kinda spliced into the book because there hadn't been anything working up to it. That said, I figured the author felt it necessary to give Logan some kind of closure regarding that aspect of his life? IDK.

Finally, I finished the book feeling quite dissatisfied with Caleb as an MC. There was so happening (and a lot of it being terrible) to Logan in the first book, that Caleb's steady and focused presence was v. welcomed. However, this book really showed that Caleb (both as a Daddy and as himself) had an infinite amount of patience (as well as all of the answers, I guess.) It flattened him as a character. I wish there had been at least one scene, moment, chapter in which Caleb had an off/bad day. If only to balance out all of the scenes of him being the perfect boyfriend.

Because, even though his care, love, and support of Logan made him a likable character, he didn't have anything else to him as a person. YMMV. I gave this book a 3.5 out of 5.

Current fic tally

Have picked up 160 fics, DNF'd 78

Some Thoughts

Not much in terms of satisfying reads, but I'm not actively regretting picking up most of the books (I still 😒 at Those We Run From, tho.) Thankfully, i have avoided falling into a reading slump, so I'm calling this a win (of sorts, LOL.)

Up Next...

Last time: "I'm now halfway thru the second book of the "The Brat and The Beast" duology, a mystery/thriller, a queer femdom (?) M/F set in space, and a historical paranormal that is NOT cozy."

Finished the first two books, am halfway thru the third one (which is NOT set in space)--though IDK if I'll finish it, and ended up renewing the fourth book before it was due back to the library. I'm also in the middle of another book which is the last one in a series. 🤞🏾 for good reading ahead!

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books-a-go-go

Fannish 50 S3 Post 39: Le Sserafim and doggies!

glitteryv

Sunday, September 21st, 2025 12:09 pm

Like most Kpop groups, Le Sserafim has their own variety show called Leniverse. There are almost 70 eps so far and I've enjoyed all of them.

This 2-parter (which first aired a few months ago) is a DELIGHTFUL way to spend some time for days when in need to watch something gentle (yet still funny.) The premise is that Le Sserafim takes care of 5 of HYBE's employees' doggies for a day. There are puppies and senior dogs with each doggo having introverted or extroverted personalities.

You legit don't need to know ANYTHING at all abt Le Sserafim and/or Kpop and just sit down to watch a LOLARIOUS 2-parter episode where the doggies are the stars.

Part 1

Watch on YouTube

Part 2

Watch on YouTube

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turps

Sunday, September 21st, 2025 10:06 am

It was a day yesterday.

To start with there had been really heavy, non-stop rain from the early hours. It was also our first craft fair in our town, one we'd been trying to get a spot at for ages. Then Murphy started showing signs of having cystitis again, and not being able to pee, which of course would be an emergency if he had a blockage.

With it being Saturday, our own vet was closed, so we had to get him an appointment at the out of hours vet, which would mean an expensive bill. He's got excellent insurance, but what happens at the out of hours is we'd have to pay, and the insurance would eventually reimburse, as opposed to our vet where they bill the insurance company directly. ( cut for length tldr, Murphy is on the mend )

Friday was nearly a day, too. We've said we'll take my MiL out at least once a fortnight, so picked her up on Friday and had a drive to Barnard Castle to get eggs from the honesty stall at the farm and get delicious bread from a bakery we like. All was going well until we stopped for a coffee, and my SiL phoned saying her electric had gone off so my MiL would have to stay at our house that night.

Obviously, she would have been welcome, but none of the furniture had been moved, she had none of her meds or oxygen generator, and it just seemed to make more sense to wait for a bit to see if things could be fixed before taking her to our house.

To cut a long and frustrating story short, they managed to get the meter sorted and the electricity was back on within an hour, but not before a lot of stress from everyone.

Thursday we'd gone to see Caught Stealing. It's a bit more violent than my usual tastes, but I can say, Austin Butler is a very beautiful man.

One good thing about yesterday, Strictly was back, let the Nikita admiring begin for another year.

Like a mango with teeth

shadowhive

Saturday, September 20th, 2025 10:28 pm

Yesterday was the release of the new Rebuild The Galaxy series so I ended up watching it and it was really fun. The Lego Star Wars shows are always really great and fun, and this was no exception. It was really cool to see Pirate Queen Amidala and to have the Skywalker family altogether which you really couldn’t have anywhere else. I watched all four eps (the first 3 in one go, the last one at night) and I’m glad I did.

At times though it did feel a little… product placements. Like there were the big K-2SO, droideka and most prominently Chewie. Plus there was the new Death Star set shown off. Having said that it did make me wish there was more than one set down specifically based on it. Not that I’d know what but it would be nice to have Jaxxon and pirate Queen Amidala.

I also did some more Silksong and the bell beast battle was so much harder than the first boss fight. I died so many times damnit but at least I beat it and now he’s my friend.

In the night, after debating what to do, I watched the new Ghost Files which was fun, though so funny to have Ryan say daddy so often. (And even as he said it he knew it would be clipped like crazy)

This morning I had a delivery, which ended up being the last issue of Dungeons And Dragons Adventurer. Now I’ll have to sort them out (along with the many MANY dice sets). I wish I was able to use the stuff in them though.

Today was the trip out so off I went to town. I made a few stops, including getting a pumpkin kit and bat bag from the works, some cute pins from a Pokémon card shop (that I didn’t know was even there??) and picking up a copy of SFX. I did go in B and M and it’s infuriating that it has two whole aisles of Christmas stuff and only half of one for Halloween. What the fuck is the world coming to?? I did see they had void series stranger things figures, but just Hopper and Eleven. (Does anyone know if there’s a list of the figures? I can’t seem to find one and wanna know if there’s one of my boys to hunt down?) The bm site said they have other Stranger Things stuff but I didn’t see them alas.

It’s sad that town only has one place that has new dvds and blu rays, Asda, which is utterly useless. I didn’t expect there to have Clown In A Cornfield but it’s still sad they didn’t.

I did manage to go in the art gallery which was nice. I didn’t know there were two more floors and one is impressively high ceilinged with an exhibit called shelter which was mostly nice. There’s even tours of it so might look into them. There was also the exhibit mentioned in the fest which was so random, it included metal sculptures and even prosthetic wound make up.

And ahh I looked to see about the tours and they’re doing some Halloween crafts! To make lil bats and pumpkin art.

(Also there’s a scare maze coming to town too which I didn’t know would be a thing there?)

The trailers for today’s stuff were mostly kids stuff (bar the last two) but most did look pretty good.
The Cat In The Hat: This looks like it’ll be really fun, it’s bright and colourful and I feel I’ll definitely see this.
SpongeBob: I had heard there was a SpongeBob film coming. I’ve not seen any SpongeBob stuff in ages but this feels like I remember it.
Zootopia 2: looks like it could be fun, I do really enjoy the first one. I have been guilty of not watching Disney stuff in cinemas cause it comes to Disney + but with the pass I might see it.
Pets On A Train: I’d not heard of this one but it did look pretty good, with a train being hijacked and the titular pets trying to stop it.
Night Of The Zoopocalypse: I’d seen a poster of this and was curious. It does look pretty good though, with something turning zoo animals into zombie like things.
Hamilton: Yeah that surprised me to be there too. Apparently it’s getting a cinema release, with a reunion of the cast too? I’ve never seen it personally but if there’s any Hamilton enjoyers look out for it
The Golden Spurtle: this is a documentary about the world porridge making contest. Yeah I didn’t know this was a thing either

Bad Guys 2 was a lot of fun so I’m glad I got to see it cause I didn’t expect to. I saw the first film on tv earlier in the year and that was fun and this one was too. (Ok I mostly went for Mr Wolf, but have you seen him?) It’s mostly a fun caper film though the last part is set in space cause of a wild plan (using mcguffinite to make a magnet for gold and attaching it to a strangely empty space station to steal all the worlds gold). The last scene did feel like set up for a sequel (as did the mid credits scene) so I do hope it gets one.

Also the art style is so great, it’s bright and pretty and the effects look so great. Plus everyone just bounced off each other so well, you can tell they had a fun time.

After that was Thunderbirds which ahh! Thunderbirds was a show I grew up with as a kid (which, of course was a rerun since it originally came out in 1965). I dunno if non-uk people know of it, but it’s about a group called International Rescue who save people from various disasters. And it’s all done with puppets and model work. The models are absolutely incredible and still hold up even all these years later.

This was a 4K re-release of two episodes, Trapped In The Sky and Terror In New York City. The first makes sense cause it’s the first ep of the show, the second is the 4th ep.

Trapped In The Sky is about a plane (the very cool looking Fireflash) that has a bomb in its landing gear which means it can’t land. The rescue here really shows off how awesome the model work is, from the Fireflash itself to all the airport rescue vehicles to the radio controlled things used to help it land.

It is funny though that the Fireflash is able to fly for 6 months because of its atomic reactor… but that same reactor means the people on board would get hit by a fatal dose of radiation in a matter of hours if not serviced, which seems like a pretty big design flaw!

The second ep has the navy shoot down one of the Thunderbirds (cause it didn’t even bother to give the unidentified craft a chance to identify itself!) which means it’s unable to be used for the main rescue. Said rescue is certainly a crazy one. There’s redevelopment in New York and they have decided to move the Empire State Building. (Yep move the whole thing in one go) naturally it goes badly due to underground streams causing subsidence, trapping two news crew as the whole building collapses, rending the whole thing moot.

I do wonder if this was chosen cause it gave thunderbird 4 a chance to shine (which didn’t happen too often!) though it could be that it was done because it had a lot of awesome model work again. As bizarre a concept as it is, it was all incredible well done and you have to admit it’s an original idea.

It has made ime wanna get the fancy boxset of the series that’s coming later in the year, and to find something with cutaways if the ships/locations. I feel I had one as a kid but who knows where it might be.

As I was leaving they were setting up a new promo thing for the Black Phone 2, which looked like the phone booth from the trailer, which is pretty cool. I’ll have to get a pic when I next go. Alas I missed the train by 2 minutes, but cause everything was shut (and it was starting to rain) I just stayed at the station and read some of the SFX reviews.

Current Mood: geeky
Current Music: Miss Marple

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shadowhive

Thursday, September 18th, 2025 07:47 pm

My fear was right about student finance, it hadn’t gone through when I did my application like I expected. I did a text chat with someone Tuesday to make sure and then filled in the online form. Hopefully it’s right and should be sorted but… Ugh. I’m not gonna dwell on it. And at least I know now as opposed to what happened a few years back (where, just after Christmas break, I got hit that it hadn’t been processed asnd so was screwed)

Yesterday was the funeral of mum’s friend’s great aunt. I’d only met her a few times but she seemed nice and she was 101 years old which is insane. The service was nice enough but of course these things are always gonna be sad. And, for me it bought things back cause it was the same place my grandparents had their funerals. I dunno if it bought the same things up for mum cause we haven’t talked about it but…

Anyway into better things than those two issues.

Two shows came back to Disney+ this week, High Potential and Futurama. High Potential is being released weekly though damn I wish the opener wasn’t cause it ended on a cliffhanger. I wonder if the game maker plot line will be resolved next week or if he’ll come back later on. Either way it’s good to have Morgan back cause she’s amazing (and I love that tv guides have it listed as a highlight).

Futurama is instantly funny, but unlikely High Potential an entire season got put up. So far I’ve seen the first three and I did enjoy them, though the third did feel like the weakest. The relationship conflict between Fry and Leela just felt so forced, especially when Fry had gone to all that thought for the anniversary thing.

I still need to watch last weeks Alien Earth ep (and this weeks) and the new Lego Star Wars thing is tomorrow which looks fun.

Gaming wise I’ve not started Borderlands 4 cause I’ve not felt up to doing much at night again (ugh) but I did manage to find Pokémon Violet to get the mystery gift Pokémon. I also did all the post game gym rewatches which were fun, especially with the grass gym leader having a grass Tera type sudowoodo. Though ughhh I hate that my trainer name on there is Wilbur so much for obvious reasons.

I did start Silksong tonight too and I beat the first boss without dying (yipee!) and met Shermawho is so cute with his lil song. It looks and sounds so pretty, though I fully expect to lose my mind. I just got to the flea caravan and that’ll be where I’ll end it today

Focus has been off still writing wise. There’s a want to write but I dunno the words just don’t wanna come for some reason. It’s so irritating.

I do sometimes do a fic wants post but I might just edit the last one instead of making a new one.most likely it’ll just be adding 5 Seconds Of Summer and Anthony from Dark Divine.

Saturday is gonna be the first of many cinema trips. If I wasn’t gonna do that I might have done something tomorrow (the cinema has Galaxy Quest but only for one day, and I found out Armor For Sleep is in Birmingham but I’ve not listened to them for ages).

The rough cinema trips are:
20th: Thunderbirds (+ something else, most likely bad Guys 2)
29th: Mystery film (+ something else but ??)
2nd: Curse Of Frankenstein (+ something else)
6th: Mystery film (+ something else)

I suspect the mystery films are Him and The Black Phone 2 respectively, though the second might be something else. The other things I’ll see will depend on what’s on those days. (And if I’m wrong about the mystery films I do still wanna see them.) I might see something on the 17th or 18th but we’ll see.

I found out that the Doctor Who boxset is coming out on my birthday, so the daytime will be Pokémon and the night will be that. Which is great cause the first ep is Terror Of The Zygons which feels fitting.

I’ve seen this reading meme so I end the post in this.

What have you recently finished?

Clown In A Cornfield which I did think was really great! It has made me wanna get the second book though I’ve not had luck finding it yet. I’m gonna be on the lookout for the blu ray too, though that’s out of stock in some places too and we don’t have the cool steelbook.

What are you currently reading?

Currently nothing, it’s been dark due to storms and my heads not been the best. Technically I’m still reading Flight Of Icarus. I read the first chapters then got sidetracked and haven’t been back yet.

What are you reading next?

I should read my next read Christie book, but it’ll probably be I Want that Twink Obliterated or Shredded (another book of short stories) for spooky season. Or Halloween Party which isn’t one of the read Christie books but I have had the pretty one siting around for Halloween.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: Christopher Larkin - Bone Bottom

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shadowhive

Monday, September 15th, 2025 07:51 pm

After Friday’s post a few things happened that I didn’t post on the Saturday post.

First I had some luck, I was half watching the x-box uk stream and ended up winning a game, a deluxe version of Borderlands 4! I looked it up and it was £90 which is crazy.i expected to need to mess about with the Xbox storage but it was only 30gb which surprised me. I’ve never played Borderlands before so I am curious, but cause of the weekend (more on that later) I didn’t get to go on it yet.

Awsten was doing a signing of his book and merch with purchases on Friday. I wasn’t going to do it cause shipping is horrendous, but the live said the anniversary version of the book was gonna be gone soon so… I caved. Having it signed does justify the expense a little but still…

In the night I watched Hotel Transylvania 3 cause it was leaving Netflix. It was entertaining enough and I liked the music and performances though it’s one of those things where you kinda knew how it was gonna go. That’s not a bad thing necessarily though.

Saturday night the last night of the proms which was very eclectic. The conductor was very sweet and got into conducting cause of fantasia, so it was so cool that it included two pieces from it, especially sorcerers apprentice which was her fav. The rest included all kinds of things, a musical section of my fair lady, boherimian rhapsody and Bill Bailey on the typewriter. It was pretty fun and it’s good to have something that’s good as opposed to *gestures*

Yesterday though ended up being a bleh day. I was tired from all the working Saturday and then mum decided to be bitchy and the two combined to make my mood low so I just kinda spent yesterday tuned out.

In the night I did finally go on Dave the diver which does seem pretty good so far, though it does feel odd to have sushi made from every single fish you find.

Today I woke up and I’ve been headachy so I ended up lying down and napping, which seemed to help a bit.

Other than that my Owen pins came today and they look nice. Also I read the fantastic 4 issue 3 I picked up and that was fun too. I felt so bad for Doom though cause for all his brilliance he couldn’t solve the problem at hand.(and then there’s a strange wooden thing that can mind control people?)

This week mostly feels like it’ll be low energy. I have to chase up student finance to check if it’s being processed ok. There’s the food shop delivery. A funeral (of a relative of mums friend, I think I only met her twice but she was about 100). And then there’s going out Saturday and dnd Sunday.

I do wanna do a few other things (like the aforementioned Borderlands 4, plus the Isla hope to fic and catch up on Alien Earth). But also there’s new stuff coming this week with new Futurama tomorrow and High Potential Wednesday.

***

Since it’s unlikely I’ll be going to the cinema again before Saturday here’s the second month round up of the cinema pass. I went twice and saw 4 films total. I think my ranking is this:

Honey Don’t
The Toxic Avenger Unrated
Freakier Friday
Jaws

The first three are all pretty close to each other and I really enjoyed all three of them. Jaws is a classic thing and I’m glad I saw it even though I enjoyed the others more.

Speaking of Saturday some of the cinema times have been put up. I’m going to see Thunderbirds and it looks like I might see The Bad Guys 2 alongside it (the last conjuring film is also a possibility, but The Roses is out cause there’s currently one showing and it clashes).

There’s two mystery showings been put up too, one on the 29th and one on the 6th. Assuming they’re different I’d bet the first is Him and the second is The Black Phone 2. The first would be a welcome distraction after the stressful phonecall that day.

I feel that’s everything though I also feel I missed something.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: Id at xbox stream

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turps

Monday, September 15th, 2025 03:22 pm

Rosie is getting married tomorrow, so today was the last class for a fortnight. She was going on annual leave after our class finished, and was such a happy mood. So, while she was still evil!Rosie, she was being so while full of joy which was lovely to see. The class got her a signed card, which she seemed touched about, then she was off, checking out of work to do some last minute wedding prep.

I was also at the doctors this morning ( cut for medical stuff )

We did a craft fair on Saturday gone. Sadly, it wasn't the best attended, and we only made a profit of £35 after paying for the table. But, that was £35 more pounds than we'd had that morning, and stock was sold, which was great. Even better, the organiser offered us a regular spot at the makers market in our town. Funnily enough, that happens in the same hall we use for weight management class, on the third Saturday of each month. So, that's this Saturday coming, where hopefully, more people turn up and more stock will be sold. And if it's quiet, I've told James I'll sneak away and leave him to it and have an hour in the gym *g*

We also went to see the new Downton Abby film on Friday. The clientele amused me as the screen was full of ladies carrying in their glasses of wine, but they were all so excited, it made for a lovely atmosphere, especially as nearly every seat was full. ( cut for spoilers )

why we stand as one in harmony

pensnest

Monday, September 15th, 2025 09:38 am

We had our fairly epic concert on Saturday night. The Octagon (a Unitarian church) is a handsome space lined with dark wood, with bright green pillars(!). We looked amazing in our orange and pink outfits!

It all went really well. Having sold literally half the available tickets online, we ended up with a pretty full house, so I think our charity will have a good contribution from it. The chorus sang 16 songs, with four solo or small groups in between, and we sang *well*. Which is nice. I was quite surprised my voice held out, particularly since I sing Tenor for at least part of three different songs, in one of which I am the only person singing that line as the other two who know it were not there! But I managed, and even had a voice on Sunday.

My poor Beast, whom I had volunteered for catering duty, missed quite a lot of the second half washing up with his co-caterer, but my daughter and her man and a couple of friends were there, which was particularly nice as I'd thought Bun was away for the weekend!

Anyway. Spent much of Sunday not doing much, though I processed a bunch of apples from the garden which, having cooked them, I have decided are mostly cookers. They fluffed nicely. And are, indeed, quite large. We have been having baked apples for lunch, too. The russets and the small, light green ones remain unpicked, but I shall have to get to it, I don't want to waste them. Meanwhile the other crops are coming to an end. There are a couple of small courgettes which I am letting burgeon for a day or so, but the beans are pretty much over. Still kale, and the spinach is replenishing itself in a satisfactory way. There are, somewhat to my surprise, two corn cobs, very small but there, and I'm holding off as long as I can before taking one in.

I love the winter...

...it brings us closer together

June 2021

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Fannish 50 S3 Post 41: CDramas I've DNF'd part 1

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Fannish 50 S3 Post 39: Le Sserafim and doggies!

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Like a mango with teeth

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why we stand as one in harmony