Elise Matthesen (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
elisem) wrote2025-11-04 10:24 pm
elisem) wrote2025-11-04 10:24 pmEntry tags:
Health Natter: COVID, and continuing to REST LIKE A POTATO
Have had food. (Soup!) Have had meds. Vented on Bluesky, where I am ![[bsky.social profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user_other.png)
lionesselise. Am about to rest again for a while. LIKE A POTATO. If a potato could crochet, anyhow. I'm in a mood for a little crocheting before sleepage.
Love you all.
You are the best.
lionesselise. Am about to rest again for a while. LIKE A POTATO. If a potato could crochet, anyhow. I'm in a mood for a little crocheting before sleepage.Love you all.
You are the best.
goodbyebird (goodbyebird) wrote2025-11-05 10:07 am
goodbyebird) wrote2025-11-05 10:07 amEntry tags:
Bits and bobs.
+ Very heartening to see all the blue victories rolling in for the US. About damn time.
+ WE'RE GETTING A NEW MUMMY MOVIE! WITH BRENDAN AND RACHEL! DIRECTED BY RADIO SILENCE! That? Is a five course meal. A buffet. An absolute feast. Give it now.
+ I'm in Bangkok atm, waiting for my two brothers to arrive who told me "early in the morning", it is 11 now and I haven't heard a word. The tut tut they'll be having. Just glued to the window watching taxis come in, riveting stuff.
+ Did spend last night in bed ordering room service (it was raining) and sorting/coding some of the recs for Rec-Cember. And some folks have already joined in on the sigh-up post. EXCITE.
+ Ey we should have some more good news: Maldives becomes the first country to achieve ‘triple elimination’ of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B.
+ I know there's a whole bunch of Murderbot fans around, so wanted to give a heads up that both Illumicrate and Broken Binding are doing a limited edition collected set. I'm leaning towards Illumicrate for the cohesive look and fun book boards, but BB has some very cool endpaper art I'm drooling over.
+ Reading Rainbow is back!
+ The Video Game History Foundation's digital library system is now available to the public. You could do worse for an ill-advised late night deep dive ;)
+ hah nothing like inputting a title to my post to remind me that oh yeah, I lopped off my hair! Went from waist length to sporting a lil bob. Feels mighty freeing. And now it's all my natural hair color, and it's going to stay that way ✨
+ WE'RE GETTING A NEW MUMMY MOVIE! WITH BRENDAN AND RACHEL! DIRECTED BY RADIO SILENCE! That? Is a five course meal. A buffet. An absolute feast. Give it now.
+ I'm in Bangkok atm, waiting for my two brothers to arrive who told me "early in the morning", it is 11 now and I haven't heard a word. The tut tut they'll be having. Just glued to the window watching taxis come in, riveting stuff.
+ Did spend last night in bed ordering room service (it was raining) and sorting/coding some of the recs for Rec-Cember. And some folks have already joined in on the sigh-up post. EXCITE.
+ Ey we should have some more good news: Maldives becomes the first country to achieve ‘triple elimination’ of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B.
+ I know there's a whole bunch of Murderbot fans around, so wanted to give a heads up that both Illumicrate and Broken Binding are doing a limited edition collected set. I'm leaning towards Illumicrate for the cohesive look and fun book boards, but BB has some very cool endpaper art I'm drooling over.
+ Reading Rainbow is back!
+ The Video Game History Foundation's digital library system is now available to the public. You could do worse for an ill-advised late night deep dive ;)
+ hah nothing like inputting a title to my post to remind me that oh yeah, I lopped off my hair! Went from waist length to sporting a lil bob. Feels mighty freeing. And now it's all my natural hair color, and it's going to stay that way ✨
Redbird (redbird) wrote2025-11-04 10:01 pm
redbird) wrote2025-11-04 10:01 pmEntry tags:
voted
The three of us voted this afternoon, then went to the supermarket, where we had to deal with a pushy person who wanted us to sign dodgy-looking petitions: he said they were for same-day voter registration, but I noticed that the page he wanted us to sign didn't say what we were signing for. There are dozens of possible state ballot questions for next year, so it could be almost anything. (The procedure in Massachusetts, as I understand it, is people or organizations say "I want to put this on the ballot," and then the attorney general vets the proposals, and either OKs them or explains why not. After that, they can collect signatures.)
The only thing on the ballot in Boston today was city council seats, after the incumbent mayor's main opponent formally withdrew after coming in a distant second in the primary. Happily, I had a choice of five or six good candidates for the four at-large city council seats.
Addendum: there are in fact forty-seven "petition initiatives" on the state website, including a few that are labeled as versions A, B, or even C of the same thing. The list is on the state website: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/ballot-initiatives-submitted-for-the-2026-biennial-statewide-election-proposed-laws-and-2028-biennial-statewide-election-proposed-constitutional-amendments
The only thing on the ballot in Boston today was city council seats, after the incumbent mayor's main opponent formally withdrew after coming in a distant second in the primary. Happily, I had a choice of five or six good candidates for the four at-large city council seats.
Addendum: there are in fact forty-seven "petition initiatives" on the state website, including a few that are labeled as versions A, B, or even C of the same thing. The list is on the state website: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/ballot-initiatives-submitted-for-the-2026-biennial-statewide-election-proposed-laws-and-2028-biennial-statewide-election-proposed-constitutional-amendments
beatrice_otter (beatrice_otter) wrote2025-11-04 05:56 pm
beatrice_otter) wrote2025-11-04 05:56 pmEntry tags:
Fic: Extra Time
Now that ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rarepairexchange authors have been revealed, I can tell you what I wrote! A Riker/Ro fic!
And this was not my first fic for this exchange. I got about halfway into a fic that I really liked, set during the Dominion War, just after the destruction of Enterprise. Riker and Ro were both on separate missions for Starfleet and the Maquis, and chanced to meet in a bar on some station somewhere. The problem was, that this is not an exchange that allows for genfics, and while I could have a really interesting conversation between the two, I couldn't figure out how to get them together in a way that I found satisfactory and realistic. I thought I could! but it didn't work out. So I stopped and did this instead. Throughout the process,sixbeforelunch was extremely helpful.
Title: Extra Time
Author: Beatrice_otter
Fandom: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Characters: Ro Laren/Will Riker
Written for: Eratoschild in Rare Pair Exchange 2025
AN: Thank you tosixbeforelunch for brainstorming help and betaing.
On AO3. On Ad Astra. On Squidgeworld. At Pillowfort. On Tumblr.
"I wish I could give you better news, Will," Captain Picard said over the shuttle's comm system.
Will rubbed his forehead. "It's about what I expected, sir." The business of Enterprise's schedule and the shortage of other Starfleet vessels in the area to handle routine matters was why he and Ro had been dispatched in the shuttle Cousteau to handle this mission in the first place.
The anthropologists studying Lichiri V had wrapped up their mission and been extracted months ago. They'd returned to their university only to find that they had not double-checked their packing lists and had left a few small bits of equipment behind. Nothing big or hard to replace, but Lichiri V was currently in the middle of a (very slow) industrial and technological revolution, and nobody wanted to take the risk that some bright Lichirian would find the damn things and figure out enough about them to do damage. Enterprise was the only ship in the area, and she was busy with some tense diplomatic negotiations, and would be for a while.
Fortunately or not, Lichiri V was just at the edge of reasonable shuttle travel from the two systems Enterprise was currently stuck hovering between. Ro needed supervised piloting hours to get her small craft certification back. And, despite Will trying to find a better answer, he was the officer Enterprise could currently spare with the least disruption. And his own dislike of the ensign was not sufficient reason to disrupt other ship operations more than necessary.
So, Will and Ro had been dispatched to go pick up the equipment in the Cousteau. Four days in a cramped shuttle, a day or two in the Lichiri system to pick up the equipment and restock the shuttle with basics like water, oxygen, and hydrogen, and four days back.
If a freak ion storm hadn't blown up when they were already mid-takeoff, they'd already be on their way out of the system. Instead, the Cousteau had been damaged, they'd had to land again, and they'd be stuck here until Enterprise could swing by and pick them up. Which at the rate negotiations were going could take weeks, if not longer.
( Read more... )
rarepairexchange authors have been revealed, I can tell you what I wrote! A Riker/Ro fic!And this was not my first fic for this exchange. I got about halfway into a fic that I really liked, set during the Dominion War, just after the destruction of Enterprise. Riker and Ro were both on separate missions for Starfleet and the Maquis, and chanced to meet in a bar on some station somewhere. The problem was, that this is not an exchange that allows for genfics, and while I could have a really interesting conversation between the two, I couldn't figure out how to get them together in a way that I found satisfactory and realistic. I thought I could! but it didn't work out. So I stopped and did this instead. Throughout the process,
sixbeforelunch was extremely helpful.Title: Extra Time
Author: Beatrice_otter
Fandom: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Characters: Ro Laren/Will Riker
Written for: Eratoschild in Rare Pair Exchange 2025
AN: Thank you to
sixbeforelunch for brainstorming help and betaing.On AO3. On Ad Astra. On Squidgeworld. At Pillowfort. On Tumblr.
"I wish I could give you better news, Will," Captain Picard said over the shuttle's comm system.
Will rubbed his forehead. "It's about what I expected, sir." The business of Enterprise's schedule and the shortage of other Starfleet vessels in the area to handle routine matters was why he and Ro had been dispatched in the shuttle Cousteau to handle this mission in the first place.
The anthropologists studying Lichiri V had wrapped up their mission and been extracted months ago. They'd returned to their university only to find that they had not double-checked their packing lists and had left a few small bits of equipment behind. Nothing big or hard to replace, but Lichiri V was currently in the middle of a (very slow) industrial and technological revolution, and nobody wanted to take the risk that some bright Lichirian would find the damn things and figure out enough about them to do damage. Enterprise was the only ship in the area, and she was busy with some tense diplomatic negotiations, and would be for a while.
Fortunately or not, Lichiri V was just at the edge of reasonable shuttle travel from the two systems Enterprise was currently stuck hovering between. Ro needed supervised piloting hours to get her small craft certification back. And, despite Will trying to find a better answer, he was the officer Enterprise could currently spare with the least disruption. And his own dislike of the ensign was not sufficient reason to disrupt other ship operations more than necessary.
So, Will and Ro had been dispatched to go pick up the equipment in the Cousteau. Four days in a cramped shuttle, a day or two in the Lichiri system to pick up the equipment and restock the shuttle with basics like water, oxygen, and hydrogen, and four days back.
If a freak ion storm hadn't blown up when they were already mid-takeoff, they'd already be on their way out of the system. Instead, the Cousteau had been damaged, they'd had to land again, and they'd be stuck here until Enterprise could swing by and pick them up. Which at the rate negotiations were going could take weeks, if not longer.
( Read more... )
i did it all for the robins (musesfool) wrote2025-11-04 07:35 pm
musesfool) wrote2025-11-04 07:35 pm
Entry tags:
and he backhands it down ice
A few years ago - I feel like it was sometime in mid-2020 - I bought a pillow that was 1. supposed to be "cooling" and 2. supposed to be good for side-sleepers, and reader, I hated it. Also it fucked up my neck a couple of times, but it was not cheap, so I kept using it. Until earlier this year, when I began trying to make my whole sleep experience better. I couldn't find the pillows I'd had prior to purchasing the crimes against my neck pillow, which I'd liked but had worn out, so I ended up getting something similar, on sale from Quince, so I was able to get 2. Which would not have been my first stop, but they were highly rated, down-alternative pillows available in 3 different firmnesses (I went with medium). It turned out to be a good purchase, because I like them so much better than the old side-sleeper pillow, which I now use between my knees.
I also finally ended up buying not a big fluffy white comforter as I was looking for earlier this year, but a white "cooling blanket" from Rest. It was a NYT Wirecutter recommendation, and it was on sale, which made me feel slightly better about spending money on it. And I do like it. I like it enough that I bought a second one in navy blue to switch out while the white one is being washed. The one thing I dislike though, is that to get the full "cooling" effect (I put it in quotes, but the material is some kind of tencel thingy that cools off very quickly, so even when I feel too hot, I can kick it off and pull it back on after a few minutes and it is cool again), is that you can't use it with a top sheet. And I know some people never use a top sheet, but I was not one of those people until I bought this blanket. But the whole point is to have this fancy cool material against your skin. *hands*
It is lighter than a comforter and probably won't work if you need weight on you to sleep, but along with the pillows, and the percale sheets I've been using since the days of frequent hot flashes and night sweats (which have thankfully become much rarer these days), I've found my sleep has definitely improved. It also helps to keep the bedroom as cool as possible. Tbh, being hot is the #1 reason I can't sleep, and even now, after all these improvements, I do still sometimes have a bad night of sleep for whatever reasons, but I feel like it's a lot less often than it used to be.
In other news, I was off today for Election Day, but since I voted by mail, I didn't have to go anywhere. I ended up taking care of some chores around the apartment that needed doing since the cleaning ladies will be coming on Thursday. And now I'm watching the Rangers lose to Carolina. Sigh.
*
I also finally ended up buying not a big fluffy white comforter as I was looking for earlier this year, but a white "cooling blanket" from Rest. It was a NYT Wirecutter recommendation, and it was on sale, which made me feel slightly better about spending money on it. And I do like it. I like it enough that I bought a second one in navy blue to switch out while the white one is being washed. The one thing I dislike though, is that to get the full "cooling" effect (I put it in quotes, but the material is some kind of tencel thingy that cools off very quickly, so even when I feel too hot, I can kick it off and pull it back on after a few minutes and it is cool again), is that you can't use it with a top sheet. And I know some people never use a top sheet, but I was not one of those people until I bought this blanket. But the whole point is to have this fancy cool material against your skin. *hands*
It is lighter than a comforter and probably won't work if you need weight on you to sleep, but along with the pillows, and the percale sheets I've been using since the days of frequent hot flashes and night sweats (which have thankfully become much rarer these days), I've found my sleep has definitely improved. It also helps to keep the bedroom as cool as possible. Tbh, being hot is the #1 reason I can't sleep, and even now, after all these improvements, I do still sometimes have a bad night of sleep for whatever reasons, but I feel like it's a lot less often than it used to be.
In other news, I was off today for Election Day, but since I voted by mail, I didn't have to go anywhere. I ended up taking care of some chores around the apartment that needed doing since the cleaning ladies will be coming on Thursday. And now I'm watching the Rangers lose to Carolina. Sigh.
*
Case (case) wrote in fandomsecrets2025-11-04 07:34 pm
case) wrote in fandomsecrets2025-11-04 07:34 pm[ SECRET POST #6878 ]
⌈ Secret Post #6878 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
01.
( More! )
Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 18 secrets from Secret Submission Post #982.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
Asp (senmut) wrote2025-11-04 06:32 pm
senmut) wrote2025-11-04 06:32 pmEntry tags:
30 in 30: SW:TCW
Continuation of "Padawan Plight"
AO3 Link | Chaos Behind Them (1263 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars [2008] - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Barriss Offee/Ahsoka Tano
Characters: Barriss Offee, Ahsoka Tano, Luminara Unduli, Anakin Skywalker
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Kriffing Sith Plans
Summary:
Having aided the 501st in retrieving their man, and all the revelations that had brought, Luminara rested a hand on Anakin's shoulder, despite the fury and betrayal coursing through him.
"Do not let Tiplar's and Tup's sacrifice be in vain," she counseled. "Keep your men here in the field, with the 41st, to take advantage of Echo's intel. I will take him back to Corsucant, deliver him to Master Che for healing."
"But he—"
She squeezed, and Anakin was so unused to other Jedi braving his rage, touching him even!, that he subsided. "You cannot hide that knowledge. I, on the other hand, have no difficulty burying it beneath my Perfect Jedi Serenity," she said, her eyes amused despite the severity of where they stood in the war, to use that phrasing.
It worked, as Anakin sagged a little and huffed. "You and my Master."
"Sometimes, yes," she answered that, to add more levity, helping Anakin balance.
He groaned. "Don't … yeah, no, don't tell me any more about that." He searched her face, then took a deep breath. "Take Ahsoka. I have faith in your skill, Master, but you have seen her, you have worked with her."
"Her command of Teräs Käsi will protect the secret, and she is going to rival Kenobi for lightsaber skill, it is true." She inclined her head, privately thinking that if it grew too stressful, it would allow the padawan a chance to see Barriss as well.
"Don't tell me any of your plans," Anakin said, agreeing to the fact he was the major weakness in undoing it all, given who they knew the Sith was now. "She heard everything, made the jump to connect the pieces, so between the two of you — and Echo — I will trust in this being ended sooner rather than later."
"Thank you." She let go of him, then went to tell Gree he would be handling the battalion under Skywalker's command.
"No."
"He's my vod, my batch brother!"
Ahsoka looked at Fives and then moved to take his hands. "Trust me, Fives. You can't go along, none of you can. And you? I need you to look after Skyguy. You can't expect Artoo to handle it all by himself, and Rex is going to be busy without me here!"
She ached for him, where she wasn't a simmering cauldron of anger for all that she and the other Jedi had pieced together from Echo's intel. If they hadn't hit that listening station before the tragedy with Tup —
— well, they had. So Fives was distracted, and so was Rex, keeping them from putting the pieces together.
Fives had straightened, then he saluted her and left. She would trust him to stay close to Anakin, to keep her master calmer, even if none of the boys knew why he was so angry now. She finished throwing things in a bag, and headed to medical to catch Kix before she and Master Unduli took Echo away from him.
She had no doubt he was putting the pieces together… and she would warn him not to do anything risky until she got back.
The Master and Padawan, two pieces of different pairs, stepped out of the Council chamber and each relaxed from the strain in their own way. Ahsoka visibly sagged, then slumped against the wall without any cringing for what the Master might think. Luminara said nothing about it, still impressed by how well the girl had done under the long interrogation of all they had experienced. For her part, she caught the hem of her sleeve and started worrying at it, a small fidget that soothed her but could easily be stopped should someone walk out.
"When you go see Barriss, you cannot say anything," Luminara dutifully reminded Ahsoka.
"I know. Even if this didn't need to stay top secret, I wouldn't break her peace with it," Ahsoka said sincerely, knowing the words had to be said. "Will you be going there after they say we can leave?"
"I thought I'd let you have the first night back. I'll come tomorrow, if duty allows, and take her for a meal."
Ahsoka flashed a smile, wanting to hug the woman, but that was not Luminara's way, mostly. "Thank you, Master."
"Of course, Padawan."
Barriss did not betray her joy outwardly, too composed and controlled to be less than professional as she finished reviewing the medicine schedule with the family that had been her last appointment of the day. Ahsoka, however, could feel it in the Force, and relaxed even further to know that what they were was something that still mattered to Barriss. She really was grateful to Master Unduli for allowing her to come first.
Then again, no one on the Council really wanted the mere padawan to be as heavily involved in the operation they were planning as Master Unduli could be.
Commander Deron, Barriss's counterpart in this community outreach program, gave a brief nod to Ahsoka, then cleared his throat when the family left. "Ma'am, I can handle locking up with the others. Please go. It's not often Commander Tano is able to get back here."
Barriss opened her mouth, but the look from her right hand in all of this made her nod once, and turn to get her outer robe on, so she could go back with Ahsoka to the Temple.
"It is good to see you," she said, coming close enough that they were almost touching, walking out side by side.
"I'm pretty glad your master was willing to let me tag along," Ahsoka said blithely. "I've got to take an exam," she added, truth and her cover story for why she was on planet. In actuality, she'd had the pieces from Skyguy's side that made everything click into place, and had been the convincing part of their hours' long testimony to the Council.
"I'll help you study, if it is a subject I know," Barriss volunteered. "Your quarters?" she asked, a little shyly, but if her actual master was in Temple too, she wanted the privacy offered by Ahsoka's. "As it sounds like you are here without your master."
"Master Obi-Wan is en route, but not expected until tomorrow," Ahsoka agreed. He was coming to be part of the end game, she knew, while Master Tiin had been dispatched to help Skyguy, and their men, in the campaign against the Techno Union's latest captured planet.
"I… how soon is the exam?"
Ahsoka laughed merrily. "I won't need much study time."
Barriss blushed, but smiled down — not so far now — at her girlfriend.
Luminara took the fact that Barriss squeezed Ahsoka's hand in parting, in her own full view, as one more piece of her padawan's healing and growth from the awfulness of this war.
"I am looking forward to catching up on your life these last several weeks, Barriss," Luminara said once Ahsoka had left them.
The quiet smile she got in answer made her heart swell with pride for the padawan she did care for. If they could just shield her from the coming days' strife, all might stay on the best track.
"I wish to hear all about your weeks, and how our men are doing," Barriss agreed, as she did miss the people, if not the violence.
They settled into their catching-up, and Luminara firmly pushed away the horror behind why she was here, even as she decided to recommend allowing Barriss to help with the aftermath.
She thought her padawan would feel relief to save the men from their intended fate, after all.
AO3 Link | Chaos Behind Them (1263 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars [2008] - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Barriss Offee/Ahsoka Tano
Characters: Barriss Offee, Ahsoka Tano, Luminara Unduli, Anakin Skywalker
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Kriffing Sith Plans
Summary:
The pieces have been placed, and while Ahsoka and Luminara are a part of it, neither lets it impact Barriss's peace.
Chaos Behind Them
Having aided the 501st in retrieving their man, and all the revelations that had brought, Luminara rested a hand on Anakin's shoulder, despite the fury and betrayal coursing through him.
"Do not let Tiplar's and Tup's sacrifice be in vain," she counseled. "Keep your men here in the field, with the 41st, to take advantage of Echo's intel. I will take him back to Corsucant, deliver him to Master Che for healing."
"But he—"
She squeezed, and Anakin was so unused to other Jedi braving his rage, touching him even!, that he subsided. "You cannot hide that knowledge. I, on the other hand, have no difficulty burying it beneath my Perfect Jedi Serenity," she said, her eyes amused despite the severity of where they stood in the war, to use that phrasing.
It worked, as Anakin sagged a little and huffed. "You and my Master."
"Sometimes, yes," she answered that, to add more levity, helping Anakin balance.
He groaned. "Don't … yeah, no, don't tell me any more about that." He searched her face, then took a deep breath. "Take Ahsoka. I have faith in your skill, Master, but you have seen her, you have worked with her."
"Her command of Teräs Käsi will protect the secret, and she is going to rival Kenobi for lightsaber skill, it is true." She inclined her head, privately thinking that if it grew too stressful, it would allow the padawan a chance to see Barriss as well.
"Don't tell me any of your plans," Anakin said, agreeing to the fact he was the major weakness in undoing it all, given who they knew the Sith was now. "She heard everything, made the jump to connect the pieces, so between the two of you — and Echo — I will trust in this being ended sooner rather than later."
"Thank you." She let go of him, then went to tell Gree he would be handling the battalion under Skywalker's command.
"No."
"He's my vod, my batch brother!"
Ahsoka looked at Fives and then moved to take his hands. "Trust me, Fives. You can't go along, none of you can. And you? I need you to look after Skyguy. You can't expect Artoo to handle it all by himself, and Rex is going to be busy without me here!"
She ached for him, where she wasn't a simmering cauldron of anger for all that she and the other Jedi had pieced together from Echo's intel. If they hadn't hit that listening station before the tragedy with Tup —
— well, they had. So Fives was distracted, and so was Rex, keeping them from putting the pieces together.
Fives had straightened, then he saluted her and left. She would trust him to stay close to Anakin, to keep her master calmer, even if none of the boys knew why he was so angry now. She finished throwing things in a bag, and headed to medical to catch Kix before she and Master Unduli took Echo away from him.
She had no doubt he was putting the pieces together… and she would warn him not to do anything risky until she got back.
The Master and Padawan, two pieces of different pairs, stepped out of the Council chamber and each relaxed from the strain in their own way. Ahsoka visibly sagged, then slumped against the wall without any cringing for what the Master might think. Luminara said nothing about it, still impressed by how well the girl had done under the long interrogation of all they had experienced. For her part, she caught the hem of her sleeve and started worrying at it, a small fidget that soothed her but could easily be stopped should someone walk out.
"When you go see Barriss, you cannot say anything," Luminara dutifully reminded Ahsoka.
"I know. Even if this didn't need to stay top secret, I wouldn't break her peace with it," Ahsoka said sincerely, knowing the words had to be said. "Will you be going there after they say we can leave?"
"I thought I'd let you have the first night back. I'll come tomorrow, if duty allows, and take her for a meal."
Ahsoka flashed a smile, wanting to hug the woman, but that was not Luminara's way, mostly. "Thank you, Master."
"Of course, Padawan."
Barriss did not betray her joy outwardly, too composed and controlled to be less than professional as she finished reviewing the medicine schedule with the family that had been her last appointment of the day. Ahsoka, however, could feel it in the Force, and relaxed even further to know that what they were was something that still mattered to Barriss. She really was grateful to Master Unduli for allowing her to come first.
Then again, no one on the Council really wanted the mere padawan to be as heavily involved in the operation they were planning as Master Unduli could be.
Commander Deron, Barriss's counterpart in this community outreach program, gave a brief nod to Ahsoka, then cleared his throat when the family left. "Ma'am, I can handle locking up with the others. Please go. It's not often Commander Tano is able to get back here."
Barriss opened her mouth, but the look from her right hand in all of this made her nod once, and turn to get her outer robe on, so she could go back with Ahsoka to the Temple.
"It is good to see you," she said, coming close enough that they were almost touching, walking out side by side.
"I'm pretty glad your master was willing to let me tag along," Ahsoka said blithely. "I've got to take an exam," she added, truth and her cover story for why she was on planet. In actuality, she'd had the pieces from Skyguy's side that made everything click into place, and had been the convincing part of their hours' long testimony to the Council.
"I'll help you study, if it is a subject I know," Barriss volunteered. "Your quarters?" she asked, a little shyly, but if her actual master was in Temple too, she wanted the privacy offered by Ahsoka's. "As it sounds like you are here without your master."
"Master Obi-Wan is en route, but not expected until tomorrow," Ahsoka agreed. He was coming to be part of the end game, she knew, while Master Tiin had been dispatched to help Skyguy, and their men, in the campaign against the Techno Union's latest captured planet.
"I… how soon is the exam?"
Ahsoka laughed merrily. "I won't need much study time."
Barriss blushed, but smiled down — not so far now — at her girlfriend.
Luminara took the fact that Barriss squeezed Ahsoka's hand in parting, in her own full view, as one more piece of her padawan's healing and growth from the awfulness of this war.
"I am looking forward to catching up on your life these last several weeks, Barriss," Luminara said once Ahsoka had left them.
The quiet smile she got in answer made her heart swell with pride for the padawan she did care for. If they could just shield her from the coming days' strife, all might stay on the best track.
"I wish to hear all about your weeks, and how our men are doing," Barriss agreed, as she did miss the people, if not the violence.
They settled into their catching-up, and Luminara firmly pushed away the horror behind why she was here, even as she decided to recommend allowing Barriss to help with the aftermath.
She thought her padawan would feel relief to save the men from their intended fate, after all.
stonepicnicking_okapi (stonepicnicking_okapi) wrote2025-11-04 06:33 pm
stonepicnicking_okapi) wrote2025-11-04 06:33 pmEntry tags:
Views & News
1. I am continuing to chip away at the Kinktober and Whumptober prompts.
2. I am reading The Railway Conspiracy, the second in the Dee and Lao Mystery, Chinese in 1920's London. I am re-reading Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie. I am listening to an Inspector Rebus in the car. I finished listening Death in Fancy Dress [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohZbE-XJvl0&t=2130s] by Anthony Gilbert and Death in December [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66q_IF7uBC4] by Victor Gunn (both on Youtube and both Golden Age of Crime fiction).
3. My original client (the one I'd been visiting in the hospital who got sent to rehab in another state) returned home last night. And he will have some more shifts on the weekend if I want to pick up more shifts. He's been diagnosed with Parkinson's which is (in my opinion) a good thing. No diagnosis was puzzling and frustrating. I am going to keep my Monday lady, the little Indian lady. I like her.
4. I ran at the lake yesterday after work and managed to shave 3 minutes off my time. That made me happy.
5. I went to Wal-mart yesterday to get air freshner for the car (I drive my Indian lady to PT in my car) and I laughed when I saw they had locked it up and I had to ask an employee to open the cabinet.
This is a planner lady I like. Disclaimer: I always watch her videos on mute because her voice is not pleasing but she is funny sometimes. Like she starts this video playing a ukelele and saying she's going to write a song: I blacked out in the planner aisle at Michael's.
2. I am reading The Railway Conspiracy, the second in the Dee and Lao Mystery, Chinese in 1920's London. I am re-reading Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie. I am listening to an Inspector Rebus in the car. I finished listening Death in Fancy Dress [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohZbE-XJvl0&t=2130s] by Anthony Gilbert and Death in December [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66q_IF7uBC4] by Victor Gunn (both on Youtube and both Golden Age of Crime fiction).
3. My original client (the one I'd been visiting in the hospital who got sent to rehab in another state) returned home last night. And he will have some more shifts on the weekend if I want to pick up more shifts. He's been diagnosed with Parkinson's which is (in my opinion) a good thing. No diagnosis was puzzling and frustrating. I am going to keep my Monday lady, the little Indian lady. I like her.
4. I ran at the lake yesterday after work and managed to shave 3 minutes off my time. That made me happy.
5. I went to Wal-mart yesterday to get air freshner for the car (I drive my Indian lady to PT in my car) and I laughed when I saw they had locked it up and I had to ask an employee to open the cabinet.
This is a planner lady I like. Disclaimer: I always watch her videos on mute because her voice is not pleasing but she is funny sometimes. Like she starts this video playing a ukelele and saying she's going to write a song: I blacked out in the planner aisle at Michael's.
Elise Matthesen (elisem) wrote2025-11-04 05:24 pm
elisem) wrote2025-11-04 05:24 pmEntry tags:
Health Natter: insurance switchover bites me hard: stuff already in progress has bad timing
Because I recently turned 65, there were changes in my insurance.
I now have Blue Cross Blue Shield, which I used to have some years ago before I got switched to a different insurance.
They have now denied a med that is a cornerstone of why I am feeling better and breathing better these days.
The switch happened after my August birthday.
All the other meds are (allegedly, and I do believe them) on the way from the mail order pharmacy (who were good when I used to use them).
This med has been denied by insurance, which is BCBS. Even after special authorization, which they told me I needed, they denied it.
Am almost out.
(Yes, this is the med that the other insurance company kept only filling for one month, despite my doc writing a three-month scrip every frikkin time. Yes, this is one of the things I worry about running out of, because it matters a lot.)
Also you may imagine bitter laughter as various med and scheduling people explain to me that the insurance is apparently requiring the patient, me, go in to meet with the doc. The agoraphobic patient, these days. Though we did get to "virtual visit is acceptable," which is good, before we got to "the first virtual visit possible is a while after patient runs out of meds" which is not.
This stuff is what I was already making calls on and trying to handle before I got COVID. The two together is just a really horrible coincidence.
(Even if we did try to switch me to the insurance that was fine with it before (like Blue Cross Blue Shield was actually fine with it a few years ago when I had it!), there's no guarantee we won't run afoul of some new rule.)
There are options being looked into, for which details will be scant and the passive voice, for the moment, will be employed.
I do not have words that will cover exactly how I feel about this insurance bullshit. However the person just now taking the note to give my doc did write down faithfully that "patient is worried that without this med, she may not be around to keep this appointment," which is at least something I guess.
I am hungry. (I am the king now and I want a sandwich?) Actually what I want right now is soup. I wonder if I can stand up long enough to microwave some. Gotta put some food in or the meds might bounce, and it's meds time.
Grrrrr.
I now have Blue Cross Blue Shield, which I used to have some years ago before I got switched to a different insurance.
They have now denied a med that is a cornerstone of why I am feeling better and breathing better these days.
The switch happened after my August birthday.
All the other meds are (allegedly, and I do believe them) on the way from the mail order pharmacy (who were good when I used to use them).
This med has been denied by insurance, which is BCBS. Even after special authorization, which they told me I needed, they denied it.
Am almost out.
(Yes, this is the med that the other insurance company kept only filling for one month, despite my doc writing a three-month scrip every frikkin time. Yes, this is one of the things I worry about running out of, because it matters a lot.)
Also you may imagine bitter laughter as various med and scheduling people explain to me that the insurance is apparently requiring the patient, me, go in to meet with the doc. The agoraphobic patient, these days. Though we did get to "virtual visit is acceptable," which is good, before we got to "the first virtual visit possible is a while after patient runs out of meds" which is not.
This stuff is what I was already making calls on and trying to handle before I got COVID. The two together is just a really horrible coincidence.
(Even if we did try to switch me to the insurance that was fine with it before (like Blue Cross Blue Shield was actually fine with it a few years ago when I had it!), there's no guarantee we won't run afoul of some new rule.)
There are options being looked into, for which details will be scant and the passive voice, for the moment, will be employed.
I do not have words that will cover exactly how I feel about this insurance bullshit. However the person just now taking the note to give my doc did write down faithfully that "patient is worried that without this med, she may not be around to keep this appointment," which is at least something I guess.
I am hungry. (I am the king now and I want a sandwich?) Actually what I want right now is soup. I wonder if I can stand up long enough to microwave some. Gotta put some food in or the meds might bounce, and it's meds time.
Grrrrr.
a million times a trillion more (dolorosa_12) wrote2025-11-04 09:43 pm
dolorosa_12) wrote2025-11-04 09:43 pmEntry tags:
October TV shows
Somewhat belatedly, let me catch up on TV logging. I watched five shows this month (although I'm cheating a bit as I only finished the fifth this evening), which were the usual mishmash of genres and tones. The shows in question were:
Season 3 of Blue Lights, a BBC police procedural miniseries set in Belfast. Although the characters are a familiar mix of well-worn stereotypes (the idealistic rookie, the maternal type who cares too much, the one who's joined the police in spite of a backlash from her community, the world-weary old hand, the maverick), they're written with heart and humanity. The true pleasure in this series, however, lies its sense of place — it's deeply grounded in its Belfast setting, and does a great job of showing the various political and social currents buffetting the city, and the wider region. The real villain, though, is austerity, in a way that I don't think I've seen explored so bluntly on UK TV in contemporary times.
A Thousand Blows, a fabulous historical miniseries by Steven Knight (the creator of Peaky Blinders), set in the East End of London in Victorian times. Here we encounter a variety of deprived, traumatised, down-on-their luck characters, who converge both in a series of boxing matches (initially bare-knuckled affairs in the local pub, later more genteel competitions organised by the aristocracy in the West End), and in a heist plot. The characters are fantastic, the writing is as lurid and melodramatic as a penny dreadful, and in essence it's a great retread of two concepts that Knight explored well in Peaky Blinders: certain people who were made to feel vulnerable and afraid become singlemindedly relentless in pursuing an existence where they will never feel fear or vulnerability again, even if they have to burn down the world and destroy all their meaningful relationships in the process, and communities battered by poverty, exploitation and lack of opportunity who accept a certain degree of violence and exploitation done to them (e.g. by gangs offering their 'protection') as long as it's people they perceive as being from their own community doing the violence. This is familiar ground for Steven Knight, and he explores it to great effect here — and hopefully in subsequent seasons!
Film Club, a sweet little six-part BBC miniseries about two rather lost twentysomethings who started a rather intense film club (no phones during the viewing, full thematic fancy dress, elaborate snacks, etc) during their university years and are desperately trying to keep its magic going some years after their graduation, when the realities of professional adult life have begun to wear them down. One character has had some form of psychological breakdown and moved back into the family home with her mother and sister, and remains trapped there by agoraphobia, and the other character is on the verge of leaving for a new job in a new city, and worrying how it will affect their friendship. It's a sweet-natured love story, with teeth, and in spite of a somewhat cinematic sense of heightened reality, the depiction of quarter life crisis existential angst is grounded in a truth that resonates a bit too much.
The latest season of Only Murders in the Building, which I thought was a massive return to form. This time, our trio of true crime podcast sleuths investigate the death of their apartment complex's doorman, which inevitably uncovers sometime much bigger, managing to skewer local New York politics (prior to today's election), oligarchy, housing pressures, and more. My patience with this series had been wearing thin two seasons ago, and I felt it was fast approaching over-milked cash cow territory, so I'm delighted to have been proved wrong. Your patience for this latest outing will probably hinge on your tolerance for New York (and New Yorker fiction about New York) nonsense, which it continues to lampoon with affection.
Riot Women, Sally Wainwright's latest love letter to the north of England and the strong, complex women who live there — this time, our cast of characters are a multigenerational group of misfits who start an all-woman punk band, with songs about menopause, feeling invisible and underappreciated, and so on. All of them are dealing with struggles at once soap operatic and banal: family tensions, empty-nested loss of sense of purpose, sandwiched pressure between troubled adult children and elderly parents in nursing homes, or showing early signs of dementia. Women's invisible labour is front and centre, but also women's anger, turned inwards and outwards. As always with Wainwright, the characters feel painfully real, and she does an incredible job of capturing the stories of the types of older women working ceaselessly (and often without much acknowledgement) upholding messy, multigenerational family households, doing all the work that no one ever notices, but whose absence would certainly be noticed. It's an absolute masterpiece — with an incredible soundtrack. (And, since this is not always a given with ostensibly feminist British cultural figures, it was fantastic to have unambiguous confirmation that Sally Wainwright's feminism is most definitely trans-inclusive.)
I don't think there was a single dud in this collection of shows!
I don't think there was a single dud in this collection of shows!
duskpeterson (duskpeterson) wrote2025-11-04 02:54 pm
duskpeterson) wrote2025-11-04 02:54 pmUPDATE: Loyal Revenge (Empty Dagger Hand side story) + Thousand Nations early access fiction
ONLINE E-BOOK (html, epub, mobi, pdf, and xhtml)
Free at my website.
Empty Dagger Hand (The Three Lands). Dolan is a quiet young man who spends his days working as a scribe. So why does he carry a hidden dagger?
New installment:
Side story | Loyal Revenge. His loyalty and his wickedness have come into conflict with each other.
EARLY ACCESS
My readers at Patreon and Ream get the first look at Flight Through the Forest (The Thousand Nations: The Motley Crew #2). That novella will go into general release next month.
BLOG FICTION
Tempestuous Tours (Crossing Worlds: A Visitor's Guide to the Three Lands #2). A whirlwind tour of the sites in the Three Lands that are most steeped in history, culture, and the occasional pickpocket.
New installment:
NEWS & UPCOMING FICTION
I'm sorry for posting so little online fiction last month; I spent all month struggling to transfer computers, so that I could retain/regain laptop access to the web, which I managed to achieve at the beginning of this month. Fortunately, I was able to edit and lay out "Flight Through the Forest" on my old laptop in the meantime.
The novella Heir (The Three Lands: Blood Vow side story) is up next on my release schedule. If you started reading Chronicles of the Great Peninsula during the last few years, here's your chance to meet several of Dolan's kinfolk, back when they were young. If you've been reading Chronicles of the Great Peninsula for a while now, here's the return of the characters from The Fire Before, fourteen years later. If you're a careful reader of Chronicles of the Great Peninsula, you know what's about to happen to the town of Valouse.
calicohyde (calicohyde) wrote in fandomcalendar2025-11-04 01:00 pm
calicohyde) wrote in fandomcalendar2025-11-04 01:00 pmEntry tags:
- fandom: multifandom,
- format: fanweek,
- format: prompt week,
- keyword: crossovers,
- keyword: epistolary,
- keyword: fiction within fiction,
- keyword: genretwisting,
- keyword: low pressure,
- keyword: music,
- keyword: outsider pov,
- keyword: rare fandoms/characters,
- keyword: screenplay,
- keyword: songs,
- keyword: tabloid,
- medium: any/multi,
- medium: art,
- medium: audio/podfic,
- medium: comics,
- medium: craft,
- medium: fic,
- medium: multi,
- medium: poetry,
- medium: video,
- posting: 2025-11 (nov),
- site: any/multi,
- site: ao3,
- site: tumblr
sunnymodffa (sunnymodffa) wrote in fail_fandomanon2025-11-05 08:31 am
sunnymodffa) wrote in fail_fandomanon2025-11-05 08:31 amFFA DW Post #2379 - “Well! I've often seen a chap without an ass,” thought Alice
... “but an ass without a chap! It's the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!”
Understandable, there was a lot of corporal punishment back then.
All the
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oursin (oursin) wrote2025-11-04 07:11 pm
oursin) wrote2025-11-04 07:11 pmEntry tags:
O for the days of handmade spam....
Actually I daresay it was bots, even then, but it had a vaguely handspun amateur air about it-
Does anyone else remember (did anyone else receive) those scam messages alleging that they had VIDEO of the recipient pleasuring themself to PORN and if X amount was not sent to scamdealer's bitcoin wallet, they would send it to all of the recipient's contacts?
This was all badly enough spelt and ungrammatical enough, before the whole This Never Happened factor, that it could be readily dismissed.
(Or do I lead an unnaturally clean life? Is this a version of 'Fly! All Is Discovered!' at which a significant % who receive the message will, indeed, Get Out Of Dodge Pronto.)
Anyway, it sounds positively sweet and pastoral, compared to this, which is presumably pulling on the same shame strings: Rise of the ‘porno-trolls’: how one porn platform made millions suing its viewers:
Thousands of lawsuits follow a similar formula: Strike 3 claims to use a proprietary software called VXN Scan to track IP addresses that have downloaded porn they own. The software cannot identify the user beyond a rough geographic location, so Strike 3 files suit against an anonymous John Doe, and subpoenas their internet service provider (ISP) to unmask the user. The ISP in turn alerts the subscriber – which is when most people find out they have been sued. These people are often keen to settle, being cheaper than litigation and the only way to ensure their anonymity.
....
Thousands of lawsuits follow a similar formula: Strike 3 claims to use a proprietary software called VXN Scan to track IP addresses that have downloaded porn they own. The software cannot identify the user beyond a rough geographic location, so Strike 3 files suit against an anonymous John Doe, and subpoenas their internet service provider (ISP) to unmask the user. The ISP in turn alerts the subscriber – which is when most people find out they have been sued. These people are often keen to settle, being cheaper than litigation and the only way to ensure their anonymity.
The further one reads, the dodgier this all sounds.