We started the year with some major improvements to our bookmark search, making it possible to sort and filter bookmarks by word count, and deployed several batches of fixes to strengthen site security and improve performance. These release notes collect all changes made to AO3 in January.
Shoutout to first-time contributors Juliette Curran, KooShnoo, Mae Light, and sanchal ghosh! Thank you for your work.
Credits
Coders: Brian Austin, Cubostar, FlyingFalcon, irrationalpie, Juliette Curran, kiyazz, KooShnoo, Mae Light, sanchal ghosh, Sarken, Shakelush
Code reviewers: anmazz, Bilka, Brian Austin, james_, KooShnoo, lydia-theda, ömer faruk, Sarken
Testers: ana, Bilka, Brian Austin, choux, killiane, Lute, lydia-theda, marcus8448, ömer faruk, slavalamp, wichard, Yuca
Details
Release 0.9.453
On January 21, we deployed some major improvements to our bookmark search, including the ability to filter and sort bookmarks by word count!
[AO3-6301] - Series blurbs would list all fandom tags from the works included in that series, even if a work was still saved as an unpublished draft. Now series blurbs only display fandoms from posted works.
[AO3-6303] - Series blurbs would also always list fandoms from works that were restricted to logged-in users. We now make sure that if a fandom in a series comes from a restricted work, it's not listed when a guest is browsing series blurbs.
[AO3-6304] - Relatedly, series blurbs would always show up in bookmark listings for a certain tag even if that fandom's work in the series was restricted to logged-in users. That's also fixed now!
[AO3-6471] - We have added word count information to bookmarks! You can now search, filter, and sort bookmarks by the length of the bookmarked work or series. If a series contains restricted works and you're not logged in, a series' word count will reflect only the works that are accessible to you.
[AO3-7119] - We tweaked the way search queries work when searching bookmarks, so input is parsed more accurately and a "1k" and a "2k" tag won't be interpreted as the same tag anymore (for example).
Release 0.9.454
A small grab bag of fixes was released on January 26.
[AO3-7264] - We employ certain measures to prevent spam on AO3, such as limiting how many times an action can be performed by a user in a certain time frame. We have now added an option to restrict new accounts more severely than older accounts when it comes to leaving and editing comments.
[AO3-7238], [AO3-7262] - We added extra information to the details our spam-checking provider uses to determine if a comment is spam or not.
On January 28, we deployed some of the necessary changes to enable two-step verification for AO3 admin accounts.
[AO3-6918] - These changes prepare the login interface for 2FA enforcement to ensure the greatest possible security for admin accounts.
[AO3-7249] - Site admins, such as members of the Policy and Abuse committee, frequently need to look up a user's past usernames and email addresses. To speed up searches while we work on long-term performance improvements, we moved this information to separate tables.
Release 0.9.456
A collection of navigation and display fixes was deployed on January 30.
[AO3-7028] - In one of our public site skins, some pagination links had become unclickable. If you've been using the Low Vision Default skin, now you can page through a user's works in collections again!
[AO3-7213] - On narrow screens, the "Suggest a Language" button on the Work Languages page was slipping behind the list of languages and couldn't be clicked. That's also fixed.
First of all, I understand what he was trying to say. Live Theater, Ballet, and Opera (and Jazz, in some cases) have become so expensive that it's hard to see much of it, especially at a high level.
On the other hand, as someone who has given up food to see a Royal Shakespeare Company production (and that's not including things like waiting in line for hours for the cheaper same day tickets or the armchair proms), nothing touches being in the same room as the performers. There is an alchemy that occurs.
If it's made for a screen, there can be some question about whether the human body or human voice can actually do what's being portrayed. If you're in the same room -- even if you're getting a nosebleed up in the gods -- you can tell that everything is possible.
In some cases, people are told "oh, you wouldn't like it" and believe what they're told. I had a colleague who quietly asked me, "Do you know anything about opera?" We went to see The Girl of the Golden West by Puccini within the week. There were cheap tickets available because it wasn't a full house. She enjoyed it. We ended up seeing Faust and another opera, I think Manon by Massenet, together, and she continued attending operas.
She'd been told Opera wasn't her type of thing, but she heard an aria somewhere and decided to try it.
I was lucky. When Dad was assigned to London, the USO had tickets available for various performances. Once Dad found out about it, he took Mom to see her first Opera -- Madama Butterfly -- and they ended up in the area of the Grand Balcony reserved for Princess Margaret. She released the tickets when she knew she wasn't attending, and they often ended up as USO tickets. Mom insisted that her kids weren't going to wait until they were over 30 to see an opera, so we attended Hansel and Gretel at a matinee.
Ballet was an easier sell, though I think Sis and I are among the very few kids who saw Swan Lake before they saw The Nutcracker.
Modern Dance was something that I explored on my own thanks to high school dance classes.
But being dismissive about the lively arts doesn't get more people into the movie theater. It's not an either/or proposition.
Title: Theories Fandom: The Fantastic Journey Author:badly_knitted Characters: Varian, Willaway. Rating: PG Written For: Challenge 493: A Stitch In Time. Setting: After the series. Summary: The island is a mystery to Varian and his companions. Disclaimer: I don’t own The Fantastic Journey, or the characters. They belong to their creators. A/N: Triple drabble.
Hear me out. It's not quite like other social media platforms. It's got its own vibe and personality, a quirky one. It's like the home of the misfits.
Case on point: Tumblr is experiencing some issues currently. When AO3 is done, everyone flocks to Tumblr to cry about it. There's even a blog dedicated to the issue. Where do they go when Tumblr is down? Downdetector! Yes, they're using it as a social media site and flooding it with comments. People will hang out there until Tumblr is back up.
I'm not saying it's perfect. You must curate your dashboard carefully to avoid wank and drama. I'm not on any of the other sites so I can't tell you what X is like except what I've heard (and that's very bad). I can tell you I used to be on Facebook but couldn't take it anymore and left. For me, Tumblr is different. And from what I understand, it's not making a ton of money for anyone, so it's kinda forgotten these days and isn't considered one of the Big, Important Sites. That's a good thing, because the more popular something is these days, the worse it is. I think a lot of people there are the type who avoid sites like X
But don't tell anybody. Because we like that everyone has forgotten Tumblr exists.
I was told to stay off screens for a few days last week due to a possible concussion (I’m fine), so today and tomorrow will include some posts from the archives. This was originally published in 2015.
A reader writes:
I have been at my job about six months and am by far the youngest person in my office of 10-15 people. I am in my mid-20s (second job out of college) in an office where everyone else is 40+. For the most part, everyone works together well and the age difference doesn’t matter. But I have one coworker, an older woman we will call Sue, who insists on “parenting” me and getting involved in my personal life. She often brings in “treats” to the office and will email everyone that they are available, but will insist on bringing some to me at my desk “since she knows how much kids eat.”
The first time I took a day off, the next day Sue asked me if I got sick unexpectedly. In confusion, I told her, no, I took a pre-approved vacation day. She said that she was “surprised I didn’t tell her about this beforehand” and proceeded to ask if “I was visiting my boyfriend.” We are on totally separate teams and our work does not overlap at all! There is literally no work-related reason she needs to know everything I do, and even if she did, she doesn’t need to know what I do outside of work.
This pattern has continued. If I take some time off, she will either ask about it before or after (depending on if she notices it on my calendar beforehand) and pry into why I need time off (“are you visiting your parents/visiting your boyfriend/taking a personal day/sick?”).
Recently, I went in for a kidney surgery and was out of office for a while. Sue, via Facebook, decided to contact my mother! She asked my mother to keep her up-to-date on my surgery and progress. My mother, thinking it was a nice gesture, agreed to do so. During the time I was off, see texted me regularly to ask how I was doing, and if I didn’t respond within a few hours, she would contact my mother.
Now that I have returned to the office, Sue keeps monitoring me and asking health related questions such as “Are you feeling okay? You’re drinking a lot of water today” and “I noticed you’ve gone to the restroom a lot today. Everything still working down there?” I asked her to please stop asking me because it makes me uncomfortable and informed her that I would come to her if I had an issue I wanted to discuss. Afterwards, Sue messaged my mother on Facebook to ask her if I was okay because I was unusually rude to her!
Help!
Sue is out of her gourd.
The “I know how much kids eat” thing is pretty amusing. Does she think you’re 14 and having a puberty-induced growth spurt?
But amusement aside, she’s crossed multiple lines here. Being mothered by coworkers is annoying in general, but Sue is going way beyond the usual annoying parenting that 20somethings sometimes have to deal with. Contacting your mother?! Monitoring your bathroom use?! She’s so far out of her gourd in this area that the gourd is in another solar system.
From today onward, cut Sue off cold turkey. You’re no longer going to entertain even mild remarks or inquiries about your personal life from her. She needs to hear, clearly and repeatedly, that this is unwelcome and not okay. That means:
* Tell your mother immediately not to have further contact with Sue. Ideally, if Sue tries to contact her again, your mom would say, “Jane is an adult and manages her own life. I’m not the right person to contact about this.” But if your mom won’t do that, she needs to at least ignore Sue and not respond to her. (Also, if I’m inferring correctly that they’re now connected on Facebook, ask your mom to sever that connection.)
* When Sue asks about your time off, say, “Why do you ask?” If she continues to pry (“are you visiting your boyfriend?”) or does anything other than back off, say, “Sue, I’d rather not discuss it. Please don’t continue to ask me about how I’m spending my days off. Thank you.”
* If she expresses surprise that she didn’t know about your planned days off or anything else about your life, say, “Our work doesn’t overlap at all. Is there some reason I’m missing that you would need to know?”
* If she continues to ask questions about your health, say, “I’ve got it under control.” If she continues to ask after that, say, “As I said, I’ve got it under control. Please stop asking.” And/or “it’s weird that you’re monitoring how much I’m drinking / using the bathroom. Please stop doing that.” (If that feels too rude to you, please know that it’s not — she’s the one being rude and it’s perfectly appropriate for you to assert boundaries with her. But if you know that in reality you’re not going to be able to use that kind of wording, then you could just stick with “I’ve got it under control.”)
* If she makes more weird age-related remarks like the one about bringing you treats since she knows how much kids eat, say, “Sue, I’m an adult. That’s a really weird thing to say to a colleague.”
(In fact, that frame — “that’s a really weird thing to say to a colleague” — should be your positioning on all of this. What she’s doing is super weird, and it’s totally reasonable to let your face, tone, and words convey that.)
You might be able to get it under control this way — if you refuse to let her mother you, hopefully the lack of gratification will eventually get her to stop. But you might need to have a big-picture conversation with her as well, either now or if doing the above for a couple of weeks doesn’t stop it. That would sound like this: “I’m not sure if you realize how differently you treat me than the rest of our colleagues. I’m an adult and I don’t need mothering. I’d like you to stop monitoring my health and my days off, asking how often I’m drinking water or using the bathroom, or generally acting like my mother. And speaking of my mother, please don’t continue to contact her. I need you to treat me like you would any other colleague, rather than a young person who needs your assistance.”
Ultimately, whether or not Sue stops isn’t fully in your control. But your response to her is, and you have a lot of power to starve of her of the info and responses that make this rewarding for her. Try that, and I bet that even if it doesn’t stop 100%, she’ll pull way, way back. And meanwhile, colleagues who see you handling it this way will see you being mature and reasonable and her being … quite strange.
I have a newish direct report. He’s generally pretty good and is always supportive and encouraging towards his team, which is great.
He’s also always encouraging and supportive towards people more senior to him, including me, which is getting less great. I hear a lot of, “Excellent spot!” when I point out a mistake. Or, “That’s a really good idea, [MyName]” or “‘that’s a great suggestion, thank you,” in an encouraging tone of voice, or “that’s a really good point” when actually it is not a particularly good point and all I said was X is unclear and he needs to rewrite it.
Yes, I did make a good suggestion! It is my job as manager to make good suggestions! I actually phrased it as an instruction!
It’s nothing that I would object to at all if it were occasional, but it’s so consistent and feels patronizing. Sometimes I just want an “OK, will do” and don’t need to be reassured every time that I have his full approval for my corrections. He also has a tendency to explain things I already know quite well.
He does it to pretty much everyone, but I’m not sure other senior people interact with him frequently enough to register it in the same way. I feel I should say something but I’m not sure how to start — “we’re all human, praise is nice, but maybe not quite so much”?
For what it’s worth, we’re similar ages though he’s been at the company longer, and I’m female but he does it to men too.
I answer this question over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.
... The TLDR is: the cataract in my one mostly working eye (the other has about 50% retinal occlusion) is steadily getting worse, and I'm scheduled for surgery on March 27th.
NB: no need to lecture me about cataract surgery, I've already had it on the other eye. Same team, same hospital, same prognosis. I know exactly what to expect. Nor are your best wishes welcome: replying to them gets tiring after the fiftieth time (see: poor eyesight, above).
But worsening eyesight means that reading (and writing!) is fatiguing, so I gradually do less and less of it in each session.
Consequently I've been spending my screen time, not on the blog, but on a revision pass over my next novel, and on writing the follow-up.
(No, I can't give you any details: let's just say they're space operas, not Laundry Files, and I'll talk about them when my agent gives me the go-ahead. Book 1 is written, subject to editing, and Book 2 is about 10-15% written. And neither of them is Ghost Engine, the white whale I've been fruitlessly hunting for the past decade, although the viable chunks of GE may get recycled into Book 2.)
After my eye surgery I'll be going to Iridescence, the 2026 British Eastercon, the following weekend in Birmingham. I have some program items: I'll update this blog entry when I have a final schedule.
After Iridescence, I'll be heading to Satellite 9 in Glasgow (May 22nd to 24th). And after that I'll be attending Metropol Con in Berlin, July 2nd to 5th.
I'm not attending any US SF conventions for the forseeable future (being deported to a concentration camp in El Salvador is not on my bucket list), but I will try to attend the 2027 World Science Fiction convention in Montreal, assuming the Paedopotus Rex hasn't gone on a Godzilla-style rampage north of the border by then, and that intercontinental air travel is still possible. (See, my inability to resist that kind of cheap shot is exactly why I'm not visiting the US these days: ICE want to see your social media history going back 5 years, and I gather they're using some horrible LLM tool from Palantir to vet travellers.)
We now return you to your regular scheduled kvetching about the state of world affairs until my eyeballs are firing on all cylinders again. (Say, did you know that 30% of the world's fertilizer is shipped through the Straits of Hormuz? And about 20% of the sulfur that ends up as feedstock in sulfuric acid for industrial processes comes from sour Gulf crude, so ditto? Not to mention the helium that is required to keep MRI machines and TSMC's semiconductor fab lines running, never mind your grandkids' party balloons? Happy days ...)
Knocked back The Five Strangers by Mary Bowers over the course of 24 hours. It’s the 18th book in her “Tropical Breeze” series of paranormal cozies. The main character is Taylor Verone, who refuses to admit she may be psychic.
A sudden influx of strangers into the small community of Tropical Breeze stirs both curiosity and concern. There’s the harridan who opens an antique store just a couple doors from Taylor’s resale shop, a charismatic busker, a preppy CPA, and a possible vampire. Local handyman, Jasper, claims the woman who opened the antique store has placed a curse on him, and he retains the services of paranormal investigator Edson Darby-Deaver to get to the bottom of it. With Ed involved, Taylor gets dragged into the drama as well. She thinks that Sheila is a witch, but not a Witch. Before Taylor can convince Jasper he’s in no danger, someone is murdered and now the entire town is on edge.
This particular installment in the series had it all: mystery, humor, paranormal elements, and just enough creepiness to keep my attention. The only drawback, in my opinion, is that Ed wasn’t very Ed-like. Instead of being reserved and socially awkward, he seemed more feisty and in charge. Not necessarily a bad thing, but out of character for him. Other characters were portrayed well, from the regulars to the newcomers. The plot was fast-paced and held my attention.
Favorite lines: ♦ “Now tools don’t work and ladders are falling over and even turtles are coming to get me.” ♦ It would have been just like Ed to throw things off by suggesting that evil-wishers don’t use gopher tortoises because they’re too slow. ♦ “Have you been just hoping for a case of hag-riding one of these days so you could test out a theory?” ♦ When Abraham was a proto-kitten and lined up for a personality before being born, he must have gotten into the sloth line by mistake. ♦ “Wait, I’ll go with you. We can go on the warpath together.” ♦ “He thinks he’s got vampires now?” Jasper hadn’t mentioned that at the diner, and when you’re consulting a paranormal investigator, you’d think a thing like that would come up. ♦ “If you decide to just go over to his house and knock on the door, make sure you don’t go after dark. I hear vampires are trying to get into his house.” ♦ “I don’t think any of them have even seen her shop yet. It’s actually more horrible than she is.” ♦ “You will eat quiche off of antique china and like it.” ♦ “Even I had my doubts when I heard about the tortoise attack.”
Marvelous fun! Five stars
Current Mood:accomplished
Current Music:"Cold Cold Cold" ~ Cage the Elephant
There will be a Bonus Fishbowl on Tuesday, March 17 with a theme of "anything goes." Think back over your favorite ideas that haven't fit a prompt call yet; you can suggest whatever you want in this one.
The weather has been erratic here. We've had warm days. Yesterday was cold with howling wind, then pouring rain; today it snowed a bit and is still howling wind. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a mourning dove, and a fox squirrel. Red-winged blackbirds have been singing overhead. Currently blooming: crocuses, snowdrops, winter aconite, miniature irises, daffodils, squill.
Connor and Hudson both wore sheer shirts to the Vanity Fair Oscar's after party. I've heard this wasn't planned, but either way it's amazing that it's such different approaches with the brown sheer on Connor being so masculine and highlighting everything about this torso. For Hudson the black is flirty, hiding and giving glimpses. Connor's is showing how sheer clothing and jewelry can be amazingly masc, and Hudson's is classic glam. It's an insane contrast.
Title: i still want you Rating: Teen Category: M/M Fandom: Blue Lock Author: shroomy(y)star Ship/Characters: Isagi Yoichi/Alexis Ness Warnings/Notes: unresolved belligerent sexual tension, minor kaiser/ness, happy birthday ness!!! Word Count: 1919 Summary: They’re jet-black like this, Ness’ eyes.
Funny how the ‘myths of atheism’ are (for the most part) pretty neutral statements but the ‘truths about sex’ are just puritanical BS opinions.
Thing is? They’re also not true! Like these are not tenants of atheism!
Atheism is exactly and only a lack of belief in any god/gods. I am not a capital A Atheist (though I do not believe that the god that this folks worship is an extant being; I am anti-Christian) but I follow a bunch of Atheist content on youtube.
I have never, ever heard any atheist claim ‘random chance brought about extreme intelligence and complexity’ - this isn’t an atheist claim. It’s not even a big bang/abiogenesis claim. Evolution is not random.
2. Morality continues to be a social construct no matter how much anyone wails and gnashes teeth about it. There is no such thing as objective morality; they claim that morality is dictated by god, who is still A SUBJECT.
3. Nah that’s capitalism. Christianity specifically does have a bunch of blood on its hands, but not 'the most’
4. There is no 'If there is a god…’ in atheism. Full stop. This point described deism, if anything.
5. This is probably a pretty common atheist belief, but it’s not universal. I don’t agree that there was necessarily ever a single dude who did any of the stuff ascribed to 'jesus’ I think he’s a folkloric figure, like Robin Hood.
6. Fuck if I either a: Know or b: Care about what the experience of consciousness during/after death is.
The 'myths of atheism’ sign just displays that they do not know what atheism -is-. The 'truths about sex’ one is just moral wank.
I think gatekeeping art is such a funny thing like. “Oh so this doodle I just made is art” yes next question. “So video games are art?” yes????? Bitch your essay you wrote on that book you didn’t read in English class when you were 10 is art. Painting a fence is art. 2 sentence shitpost on Tumblr is art. Get on my level.
Art is like. Plants. You know a plant when you see one. Cultivated rose garden or trained wisteria trellis? Plant. But also, ratty weed in the sidewalk gutter? Plant! Overgrown unidentifiable thing that comes up every spring and smells a little off? Plant! Your grandma’s funky cactus that was all the rage 80 years ago and you tend to and give out cuttings of because you’re just dang fond of it? Plant!!
Yes, people argue over what plants are. But the point of a plant is to grow and thrive, to eat of the world and leave crumbs to grow from.
trojan Horse perfec t size for put in city for overnight! Hourse very Honorable and Sacreds city sleep soundly put Horse in City. Put Horse In Troy City. no problems ever with Hourse because good Shape and Sacrifice for athena wise of protection aegis. Hourse yes put in city for a city safe put horse in city can trust horse for giveing good love to city.
No Mistress of Mine by Laura Lee Guhrke is $1.99! This historical romance features a second chance, opposites attract romance. Some readers had difficulty liking the protagonists, while others really enjoyed the scandalous heroine. It’s book four in the American Heiress in London series.
USA Today bestselling author Laura Lee Guhrke is back with the latest in her dazzling An American Heiress in London series, in which a reformed rogue finds all his honorable resolutions tested by the only woman who ever broke his heart…
After spending his youth as one of the wildest rakes in the ton, Lord Denys Somerton has devoted the past six years to putting his past behind him. He is determined to fulfill his duties, find a suitable wife, and start a family, but that plan changes when Lola Valentine—the red-haired temptress from his past—returns to London, sparking the same irresistible desires that almost ruined his life once before.
Lola is a woman with no romantic illusions. She knew love would never be enough for a British lord and an American girl from the wrong side of the tracks. For Denys’s sake, she walked away from him and the glittering life he offered. But when an unexpected inheritance brings her back to London, Lola discovers the passion between them is as hot as ever. Can they vanquish it, or will it burn out of control again and destroy them both?
I Dared the Duke by Anna Bennett is $1.99! This is book two in the Wayward Wallflowers series and features a grumpy hero and some forced proximity. Readers say this is a great light read, but at times requires some suspension of disbelief.
DARE TO FALL IN LOVE
Alexander Savage, the Duke of Blackshire, is known throughout the ton for three things: the burn scars on his neck, his ornery disposition, and the trail of broken hearts behind him. None of which would concern Miss Elizabeth Lacey in the least—if she weren’t living under his roof. As his grandmother’s companion, Beth is all too concerned with the moody and compelling duke. Incensed by his plans to banish the sweet dowager duchess to the country, Beth refuses to do his bidding. If Alex wants her help, he’s going to have to take her dare…and grant her three wishes.
Alex adores his grandmother, which is precisely why she must leave. A string of unfortunate incidents has him worried for the safety of everyone around him—including the dowager’s loyal and lovely companion, Beth. But the notorious wallflower isn’t as meek as she appears, and as their battle of wills heats up, so does Alex’s desire. He’s dangerously close to falling in love with her…and revealing secrets he’d rather keep hidden. How can he convince her that his darkest days are behind him—and that, for the first time in forever, his heart is true?
Spilling the Tea by Brenda Jackson is $1.99! This is a standalone contemporary romance, with main characters healing from trauma. Have you read this one?
Ninetysomething Mama Laverne is determined to find all of her great-grandchildren their perfect match before going home to glory. So far, her success rate is 100 percent—and she intends to keep it that way.
After sustaining injuries in Iraq, Chancellor Madaris was told he’d never walk again. Chance credits his great-grandmother Mama Laverne with giving him the will to heal and prove the doctors wrong. He has a healthy respect for her meddling ways and knows he’ll eventually end up next on her matchmaking list.
When Zoey Pritchard was eight, she survived a car accident that took the lives of her mother and father, and was sent to live with her great-aunt who refused to speak about her parents. Zoey has no memory from before the crash, but she’s been having the same dream over and over…
Searching for answers, Zoey travels to Houston, where she uncovers a scandal involving her parents and the wealthy and powerful Madaris family. Her trail leads her straight to Chance’s door. The dislike and intense attraction are instant and simultaneous. But to help Zoey restore her memory, he grudgingly introduces her to his great-grandmother…
Was it chance, or Mama Laverne’s plan, that threw this pair together?
Apples Dipped in Gold by Scarlett St. Clair is $1.99! This is book two in the Fairy Tale Retellings series, though I can’t quite place which fairy tale it’s based on or just an amalgamation of a few.
Orphaned at a young age, Samara is left under the care of her three, horrible brothers. Just when she thinks she cannot take another day of their abuse, a handsome prince offers for her hand in marriage.
Samara’s brothers agree in exchange for a large dowery but on her way to her new kingdom, her carriage is ambushed by Lore, the wicked Prince of Nightshade.
Samara believes that the fae has snatched away her chance at freedom to punish her for her crimes against his kind but punishment is only half of Lore’s plan.
The truth is that the Elven Prince has pined after Samara for seven long years. She is all he can think about—a toxin in his blood. Can the Prince of Nightshade, whose power over poisons rivals none in The Enchanted Forest, manage to find a remedy or will he succumb to her love?
I was told to stay off screens for a few days last week due to a possible concussion (I’m fine), so today and tomorrow will include some posts from the archives. This was originally published in 2015.
A reader writes:
I took employment at a nonprofit as an economic researcher about seven months ago. Overall, I love my job and what I get to do and helping people, but there is one major issue: My boss, who is the founder and head of the organization, thinks he is a mayan shaman. I am not joking.
He spends crazy amounts of money (sometimes company money) to fund his “spiritual projects” and recently has been telling me to do ludicrous projects like comparing chakra colors in different cultures and staring at a candle to find a sacred angle. Seriously. I’ve been able to handle it just fine until now. He is getting crazier by the day and I don’t know how to handle it anymore because if I tell him anything, he will say the “darkness has possessed me” and then be uncommunicative when I need information.
What can I do? Is there anything, because I don’t want to quit my job but this is getting out of hand. He sends texts to us at the middle of the night with his “visions” and when one of our employees was pregnant he would call it the “christ child” and say that one quarter of the DNA must be his. I swear this is not a fake situation or question.
Shamans have to have day jobs, I guess.
And he’s welcome to believe he’s a shaman. Who knows, maybe he is. But the problem here is that he’s letting his spiritual beliefs interfere with work and apparently misusing the organization’s resources.
But I doubt there’s a lot you can do here. This is your boss, the head of the organization, and ultimately he’s calling the shots here. If you really wanted to try to get this addressed, you’d have two options: Talk to him directly, or talk to the board of directors.
If you talk to him directly, I’d say something like this: “Percival, I respect your religious beliefs, but I’m not comfortable discussing religion at work or being given religious assignments to work on. I was hired to do economic research and our organization isn’t religious in nature. Is there a way for us to work well together without bringing religion into it?” Ideally, you’d do this with a group of coworkers who feel the same rather than on your own; it’s harder to ignore a group of employees than one lone one — but either way, it’s a reasonable thing to say.
That said, will it work? I doubt it. This is a guy who’s telling you that darkness has possessed you and claiming some sort of parentage over a quarter of an employee’s baby. In other words, probably not open to reasoned conversation on these topics.
So that leaves you with the second option: Talk to the board. Every nonprofit is required to have a board of directors that serves as its ultimate governing body and which is responsible for ensuring that the organization is well managed and fiscally sound. The board is basically this guy’s boss — even though he’s the founder and even though he’s in charge of day-to-day operations. He might have a seat on the board, but there are presumably other board members, which means that he can be outvoted.
The board would presumably want to know that the head of the organization is using resources to find sacred candle angles and freezing out employees when he thinks the darkness has possessed them.
But that said … unless you care passionately about this organization and want to take an active role in getting this situation straightened out, your better bet might be to leave. This isn’t likely to change overnight, there’s likely to be some tension if you go to the board, and — maybe most importantly — do you really trust this guy’s leadership, even if he cools it with the shamanism talk at work? I mean, let’s say that the board puts a stop to all the behavior you’ve written about, and it even happens quickly — you’re still going to be working at an organization led by a guy who thought all of this was reasonable to begin with. Is that the job you want?
In light of that, it might make sense to skip past all these steps and just start working on leaving.
(Alternately, maybe just embrace the whole thing and have him influence the spirit world in your favor. That could be useful too.)
Back when you were in high school, you would often get assignments that would have you compare and contrast various things. That particular exercise doesn’t go away, especially if you are an avid theatregoer. After all, how many productions of The Sound of Music will you see over your lifetime? The story doesn’t change: What changes is the execution, and how one particular production team brings that production to life, on a different stage, with different actors. We saw that earlier this weekend with The Color Purple, where we were able to compare and contrast a production of that musical in a 74-seat black box, as compared to the original version on the Ahmanson Stage and the revival version on the Pantages stage.
We had that chance again yesterday with The Play That Goes Wrong, which is being presented for two more weekends by 5-Star Theatricals (nee Cabrillo Music Theatre). Here, the interesting contrast was between the original Broadway tour (which we saw at the Ahmanson in 2019) and a community theatre production (mounted by Canyon Theatre Guild in 2024). Here you have widely varying budgets and actor skill levels, from a Broadway-caliber touring set and a full union cast to a community theatre with no budgets for rentals and a home-grown cast (I won’t say amateur or unskilled, tho, as CTG’s talent pool often draws from local regulars as well as other theatre industry folks, but not AEA). 5-Star is somewhere in the middle: They have the budget to rent reasonable sets (although I miss the days they built their own), have a small number of AEA actors, have a casting team that identifies strong up-and-coming actors (I still remember seeing Katherine McPhee, prior to American Idol, on the Cabrillo Stage leading “Annie Get Your Gun” in 2005), and get strong directors.
First, some background to this particular play. As I wrote back in 2019:
The premise of The Play That Goes Wrong is a simple one: an amateur British theatre company, the Cornley University Drama Society, has been afforded the honour through a British-American Cultural Exchange Program of presenting a play on tour in America: The Murder at Haversham Manor, written by Susie H.K. Brideswell. Unfortunately, during the production, everything that can go wrong during the production does. Miscues. Misplaced props. Non-cooperating sets. Bad actors. Technology issues. Trying to summarize the story is pointless — the story exists only to provide a framework for the mayhem, and the mayhem is so rapid-fire that trying to describe it is (a) impossible, and (b) would destroy the humor.
The Play That Goes Wrong is a farce. Farce exaggerates things, with broad stereotypical characters, often intentionally bad acting, and extremely tight timing. Perhaps the best known example of a farce is the play Noises Off. The problem with farce is that repeat viewing often destroys the humor as you become aware of the intentional missteps. Some find the humor fresh each time; some find it diminishes. I’d avoid seeing the same farce too frequently; if you do, look for what is fresh and new in the execution.
The good news is that 5-Star has found an extremely strong cast (more on that in a sec), with a strong director that was able to bring out their playfulness. They got the timing right (or is that wrong?). They hit the humor beats, and were able to bring their own flair to the production. The bad news is that 5-Star didn’t strongly commit to the conceit of the show. I remember that the community CTG had flyers in the bathrooms and around the theatre about the missing dog (it is a plot beat in the story). They had a fake program within the real program about the Cornly University Drama Society play, with fake bios of the characters on the stage, and fake ads that had real working websites. 5-Star missed that little extra (which, truthfully, would not have cost a significant amount). Those who have seen this farce before would notice. For the T.O. audience that was new to this play, perhaps they might not; but that little extra does add to the humor.
Setting that aside, the execution was flawless (although it seems wrong to say that when discussing a play whose purpose is for everything to go wrong). They did have the pre-curtain schtick, with audience involvement. They did play with the usual opening announcements. The show was entertaining and funny, with appropriate overacting and missteps.
In many ways, the “star” of TPTGW is the set. Alas, here 5-Star didn’t take the risk of building their own set (as Canyon TG did). They rented it from Studio Tenn Theatre Company, which meant the set was shipped from Tennessee, where Studio Tenn is located. The set worked well and supported the requisite antics. Renting vs. building takes away the fun of seeing whether the company can execute the tight set building needs. As with intentional overacting, intentionally building a set (and props) that are designed to fail is an art. The rental set did that just fine; I just missed the extra local touch. However, I will note that set rental is better environmentally as set reuse prevents that large amount of waste that comes after the show ends.
Where this production shines is in the casting and the direction. Director Larry Raben brought out the playfulness in the cast, which was a mix of local and AEA talent. He got the timings precise, and knew when to play up the comedy moves to bring out the laughs. All of the cast was strong, but there were some notable highlights. The first was Gabi Manoukian as Annie, one of the stage managers. In her stage manager role, she conveys a sufficient back-stage personality to make the later uncomfortable transition to actor believable. She’s fun to watch in the opening sequences, and her closing transformation is just great. Adam Hagenbuch knocked it out of the park, both in his early portrayals of the dead Charles Haversham and his final portrayals as the same character. Justin Michael Wilcox was a strong Chris/Inspector. I particularly liked his audience interaction early on, and his (apparent) ab-libbing at points as things go awry. John Shartzer was great as Max, the seeming neophyte actor who played to the audience reaction. Hell, all of the cast was really strong, and each deserves recognition.
Should you go see this? Probably. About the only caveat might be if you’ve seen a lot of productions of TPTGW, simply because you know the beats. Still, even in that case, this is worth seeing because of the flawless execution by this cast. The Play That Goes Wrong continues at the Scherr Forum at the Bank of America Thousand Oaks Plaza Theatre, presented by 5-Star Theatricals, until March 29, 2026. Tickets are available through the 5-Star website.
Credits
The Play That Goes Wrong. A Mischief Theatre production. Written by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, and Jonathan Sayer. Directed by Larry Rabin.
Cast (æ denotes members of Actors Equity): Timothy Willard Trevor Watson – Lighting and Sound Operator; Justin Michael WilcoxæChris Bean – Inspector Carter & Director; Adam HagenbuchæJonathan Harris – Charles Haversham; Mark GagliardiæRobert Grove – Thomas Colleymoore; Travis Joe Dixon Dennis Tyde – Perkins; Lyndsi LaRose Sandra Wilkinson – Florence Colleymoore; John ShartzeræMax Bennett – Cecil Haversham; and Gabi Manoukian Annie Twilloil – Stage Manager. Swings: Noah Kaplan, Smantha Lawrence-Mata, and Calaway Swanson.
Production and Creative: Larry Rabin Director; Coby Rogers Asst. Director; Olivia RiddleæProduction Stage Manager; Morgan McDonaldæAsst. Stage Manager; Cody Tellis RutledgeScenic Designer; Studio Tenn Theatre Company Set Rental; Brandon Baruch Lighting Design; Jonathan A. Burke Sound Design; Julia Pinhey Asst Sound Design; Isa Underdahl Sound Mixer; Alex Choate Tech Director/Prop Design; Jacob Holcombe Asst Prop Design/Crew Chief; Gail Garon Costume Design; Luis Martinez Wig and Hair Design; EK Dagenfield Production Manager; Michael Donovan Casting Director; Richie Ferris Casting Director; David Elzer Publicity; Fresh Interactive Marketing; Cindy Murray Executive Director/Producer. Also worthy of note for this production is the 5-Star crew: Destin Washington-Wolfe, Sierra Armstrong, and the Stage Crew: Cameron Probe, San Dyck Forum Technical Supervisor; Finn Traxler Forum Lighting; Ben Blonigan Forum Audio, Form Rail Operator.
Administrivia
I am not a professional critic. I’m a retired cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre, and 5-Star Theatricals.
Some interesting shows that have caught my eye. Wisteria Theatre is doing Reefer Madness: The Musical (in April), as is Long Beach Playhouse (in October/November). Wisteria was overpriced for a black-box; I might look into Long Beach’s production (but have to factor in the drive). Ebony Rep is doing Ain’t Misbehavin’ at the end of May into June. I love the show, but the prices are a bit high and I’m still trying to decide. I have a hold on the calendar. Casa 0101 is doing the play version of Real Women Have Curves from the end of March into May. Conundrum Theatre is doing a bunch of shows, but notably Big Fish in December 2026. And, as noted earlier, the Colony Theatre is doing Catch Me If You Can in the September/October 2026 timeframe. I’ll look into ticketing the fall shows once I know the CTG Season, to prevent conflicts. Broadway in Hollywood has announced its 2026-2027 season, and it is spectacular. The only major shows missing are Oh Mary, Boop: The Musical, and Just In Time. I expect Oh Mary to show up at the Ahmanson, and possibly Boop; Just In Time might be in the following Broadway in Hollywood season as I haven’t seen it announce any tour dates. Perhaps some local theatre will decide to mount Real Women Have Curves – The Musical or Dead Outlaw. One can hope. I do know the Segerstrom is doing Curves in Concert on March 20, but we just can’t make it due to the distance and a busy busy March. Lastly, I’ll note Group Rep in NoHo has announced their season, which includes a mounting of Applause in the July-August timeframe. That’s useful if you missed the MTG one-nighter; I haven’t yet decided if I want to see it again (although Group Rep does a great job with older and rarely done musical re-visits).
This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as 🎭 Third Times The Charm, Right? | "The Play That Goes Wrong" @ 5-Star by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.
I liked this book when it was a fantasy noir starring a biracial knife-throwing assassin with magic hands in 1940s New York who's trying to get out of the business but keeps getting pulled back in. But that book wraps up about a third of the way through the actual book. Then it turns into a completely different book where the assassin moves upstate with her boyfriend and the story becomes about slimy small town politics and the characters' profound guilt for their actions in the city, and I became increasingly confused about what the book was trying to do and decreasingly satisfied with my reading experience.
Part of the problem is that Dev (the boyfriend) kind of rubbed me the wrong way and I didn't feel invested in the romance between him and Phyllis (the assassin), so shifting the focus more to their relationship was not going to work well for me. I actually liked both characters less and less as the book went on, and by the end I was feeling pretty fed up with both of them. A late promotion to the group of main characters is Tamara, Dev's ex, who comes to have a close bond with Phyllis as well. There is some interesting complexity to the dynamic of this trio, but I ended up frustrated with the way it was handled.
relationship endgame spoilersIt seemed to me that this was going in a poly triad direction, and then backed off of it. And I mean... it's not not poly. Phyllis, Dev, and Tamara have a one-night threesome, and Tamara also has a boyfriend who's deployed overseas, and in general it is not a book that assumes people only love one person at a time. I did appreciate that. What specifically threw me was this passage in Tamara's POV:
Sure, she and Phyllis had kissed that night with Dev and even now, in certain light, she didn't mind the notion of touching Pea [Phyllis] until she came. But the love she felt wasn't really that kind—it was a blood love, a bone love, and it ricocheted off of her other loves at unexpected angles.
Maybe I'm misreading the author's intention in pushing away the idea that Tamara's love for Phyllis is "that kind", or maybe I'm misunderstanding what "that kind" is supposed to be. But to me it read like the poly dynamic was being held at arm's length, which was not the direction I'd hoped it would go. I guess the Tamara/Phyllis relationship is ambiguous and not clearly defined as (queer)platonic or romantic, which sometimes I like, but the way it was presented here didn't land for me. I also didn't understand what we were supposed to take away from the reveal of how the magic in the book works.
worldbuilding and plot spoilersOnly certain rare people have magic, and only people of color. It's eventually shown that the magic is a gift from their ancestors, who intended for their descendants to use it to fight white oppression. But if the ancestors are displeased with how the magic is used, the magic can turn against its holder or disappear completely. This explains why Phyllis loses control of her hands—the ancestors wanted her to assassinate the sadistic mob boss Vic (who is white), but by that point Phyllis wanted to stop killing so she didn't do it. She spends the rest of the book trying to make amends for the murders she's committed, yet her hands continue to torment her for not killing Vic, and she eventually sickens and dies. Dev, who also has magic, does kill Vic, and is tortured by guilt for the rest of the book, and he also dies. Tamara has magic too, and also becomes consumed with guilt because even though she never hurt anyone directly, she worked for Vic and looked the other way; she tries to sacrifice herself to save Phyllis but doesn't succeed.
To me it ended up reading like the characters were being punished for not living up to binding magical agreements that they never consented to or even knew about, which override their own agency and moral convictions. What are the ancestors trying to accomplish here? How does any of this help in the fight against racism? We're told that magic is getting rarer, but it's not really explained why. I know it's not because people of color in the 1940s don't need the help, and I can't imagine the author is saying it's because they're not worthy of it, but... what, then? Phyllis and Dev's daughter is supposed to have extraordinary powers, but I don't think that's explained either and I didn't have a clear sense of what she's expected to do. The whole cosmology of the book didn't make sense to me. It sucks because I find Johnson's prose excellent, and the first third worked so well for me. I really didn't want to have to say I don't like this book! But alas, here we are.
The Snake Prince and Other Stories: Burmese Folk Tales by Edna Ledgard
A varied collection. I think a little overwritten, but the tales are a new slice, fitting a new culture. Fairy tales, including a kind and unkind girls featuring a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and a unique take on burning the skin of the shape-shifted: the Naga prince is not killed but he is rendered mortal to live and grow old and die with his bride.
Also tales of fools and clever men, and animal tales.
Most are recognizable types, but not close to other variants.
kigurumi (ki-guh-ROO-mee) - n., a full-body costume of a mascot or cartoon character; full-body cosplay of a human cartoon character with realistic proportions paired with an anime-style mask, or sometimes just the mask itself; a set of onesie pajamas of a cartoon animal.
All three types of costumes, and the word itself, come from Japan -- when I jotted the word in my queue, I was thinking of the last:
Yep, the day when bakers try - and mostly fail - to remember what a shamrock looks like.
Here, I'll give you a hint:
NOT THIS.
OR THIS.
They're also not lumpy Xs:
Broccoli stalks:
Wonky crosses:
Or cacti!
Got all that?
Ok... GO.
See, now you're just screwing with me.
Tell you what, bakers, just go back to making leprechauns.
I mean pots of gold.
I mean rainbows.
OH NEVER MIND.
Thanks to Sheree K., Jerod J., Marisa F., Vanessa L., Paula P., Adrienne L., Julie S., Liz, Michael L., & Cara D. for proving there IS such a thing as too much green beer.
* I am a month or more behind in some areas. Apologies.* "Iran spent years fostering proxies in Iraq. Now, many aren’t eager to join the war:" https://archive.ph/Zpbwq
The goal of this is to help Russia in their violent war of aggression against Ukraine and it is also intended as a reward for helping Iran with targeting.
Tell Your Senator to Block Markwayne Mullin from Taking Over I.C.E.. There isn't much chance of permanently blocking him because senators like to rubber stamp other senators no matter how horrible, dangerous, or incompetent they are, but we can try to delay the process.
Tell your Senators to filibuster him until I.C.E. reforms go through.
* The goal of the SAVE ACT is to make it illegal on a federal level for married women and trans people and people who can't afford expensive ID to vote.
I am really alarmed I am about to be stripped of my right to vote, that a large portion of Americans are about to be stripped of their right to vote.
Resistance in the Senate is Weakening. Please contact your Senators!
Please contact your US Senators to tell them to vote AGAINST the SAVE ACT
The housing bill is a good and important piece of legislation that will free up so much housing being hoarded by corporations and the like to make it possible for people to have affordable homes.
The House Republicans do not like it, but they have only a two vote majority if you count the independent caucusing with them.
It is essential to contact your Congress Critter in the house and ask them to vote for this bill.
Contains a raid tip hotline amoung other things. "Know Your Rights LEARN HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY:" https://wearecasa.org/know-your-rights/* We are in primary season now. States vote at different times, so I beg ALL of you to check when your state is voting. If you are in an in-person vote state, research ahead of time so you can vote for the candidate with views closest to your own. If you vote by mail, take the time to look them up when your ballot comes.
I don't know where you live, so I can't link this for you, but I find the Progressive Voter Guide online very helpful in narrowing down candidates in the often packed primaries where I live.
I also suggest looking at things like volunteer work and endorsements, because it really, really helps with things like sheriff and judicial elections, but can be useful in all sorts of primaries when you have multiple good options.
REMEMBER: Don't just vote for the big things like US Congress. Vote in every State and local race down to the smallest and on all the referendums.
State and local elections have a massive impact on your quality of life.
* Illinois! Don't forget to vote in the Primary March 17th!
* Arkansas! Don't forget to vote in the Run Off Election March 31st!
* "The List of Shame: People frequently ask us about whether their specific US state is trying to enact a social media age verification law so they can call their state representatives and yell at them about it!:" https://dw-advocacy.dreamwidth.org/1493.html
* Friday I woke up with a reasonable pain level, but almost no spoons. Just sitting and folding laundry required more than an hour of napping and another thre plus hours to make it out of bed. There is something extra annoying about being this debilitated when the pain isn't this bad. Like, I don't want to be in more pain, but when pain keeps waking one up, one expects to be completely useless after. One does not expect it after reasonable quality sleep where the disruption was mostly Insurance Scammer calls.
Sigh.
* "J.D. Vance: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO):"
* "The List of Shame: People frequently ask us about whether their specific US state is trying to enact a social media age verification law so they can call their state representatives and yell at them about it!:" https://dw-advocacy.dreamwidth.org/1493.html
The cast recording is out! So excited that everyone in the world can listen to the songs now.
There's also an album booklet available for download, with synopsis, lyrics, and credits. Which is useful because this isn't a sung-through musical, and plot happens between the songs.
* Meaty Part - The "I Want" song! Three very different women, fighting against typecasting. Wanting the chance to be the hero, the star, or just remembered.
* Heroes and Monsters - Your head says, "Definitely a villain origin song." Your heart says, "But did Magneto have some valid points?" Definitely shows why that argument is so terribly tempting.
* Ensemble Player - Saving the day through the power of friendship! (Or maybe the power of love. I mean, someone willing to sacrifice themselves, and someone else unwilling to let them? Ships have been built on less.)
I also wanted to mention the songs for each zombie encounter, since they're so different:
* Into Your Brains - My least favourite track to listen to. Not because it's bad, but because it's too real. The creator has said that the zombies are psychological, and they target your weaknesses and anxieties. Felicity's worst fear is being objectified.
* Take After Your Old Man - Pub rock vibes! George's worst fear is being a disappointment to his dad. For a song that's slamming him for being who he is, it's remarkably catchy.
* Carol's Last Dance - So lovely, like a music box. Carol's worst fear is that her glory days are over. The imagery in this is gorgeous.
* Insignificant - Retro flashbacks! (I am forced to admit that the nineties are retro now.) Sam's worst fear is being disliked by everyone and ruining everything she has. Even though she is a total sweetheart.
Title: Plant of First Beginnings Rating: PG-13 Warnings: No Warnings Apply Fandom: S.W.A.T. Relationships: Donovan Rocker/Molly Hicks Tags: Getting Together, Fluff Summary: The plant was a mystery. Word Count: 949
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.
I’m skeptical about—and not qualified to review—this new result in factorization with a quantum computer, but if it’s true it’s a theoretical improvement in the speed of factoring large numbers with a quantum computer.
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The Five Strangers by Mary Bowers
ALT
Back when you were in high school, you would often get assignments that would have you compare and contrast various things. That particular exercise doesn’t go away, especially if you are an avid theatregoer. After all, how many productions of The Sound of Music will you see over your lifetime? The story doesn’t change: What changes is the execution, and how one particular production team brings that production to life, on a different stage, with different actors. We saw that earlier this weekend with The Color Purple, where we were able to compare and contrast a production of that musical in a 74-seat black box, as compared to the original version on the Ahmanson Stage and the revival version on the Pantages stage.
This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as 🎭 Third Times The Charm, Right? | "The Play That Goes Wrong" @ 5-Star by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.
