In tonight's game, ( the rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off.

Jenn related everybody's lack of sleep, ending with a hopeful "So, you're not working tonight, right?"

Ah, no, I am working, and under no circumstances will I call out on the grounds that my dog is crazy.

Other than dementia, which she shows no signs of (the dog, not my sister... I mean, not her either, but that's not what I'm talking about), what could cause this sudden barking spree in an otherwise pretty quiet doggie?

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( Read more... )

Gyre explores the tunnels of an alien world in a mechanical suit, her only connection to the outside world the voice of Em, her handler who she’s never met, who may or may not have her welfare in mind, and who definitely has boundary issues.

Gyre has less experience caving than she claimed, and caving is extremely difficult. There are sandworm-like creatures called Tunnelers that will kill multiple parties of cavers for unknown reasons, so cavers go in alone, unable to take off their suit for weeks on end, with their handler as their only link with the outside world. Em can literally take control of Gyre’s suit/body, can inject her with drugs, etc - and not only has little compunction about doing so, but won't tell Gyre what the actual purpose of the mission is.

Spoilers! ( Read more... )

This is a type of story I don’t see very often, in which there’s one main science fiction element – in this case, the mechanical caving suit – which is explored in depth and is essential to the story, and it’s also set on a (very lightly sketched-in) other planet. Generally the “one science fiction element” stories are set on Earth. Apart from the Tunnelers, this novel actually could take place on an Earth where the suit exists.

The Luminous Dead, like The Starving Saints, has a small cast of sapphic women and takes place almost entirely in the same claustrophobic space; if it was on TV, we’d call it a bottle episode. I normally like that sort of thing but unlike The Starving Saints, it outstays its welcome. It has about a novella’s worth of story, and while it’s very atmospheric and any given portion is well-written and interesting, considered alone, as a whole it’s very repetitive and over-long. I would mostly recommend it if you like complicated lesbians with bad boundaries.

Kanata: Aren't you forgetting something?
Nayuta: Forgetting what?
Kanata: That we're going against Buraikan in just a little bit.
Nayuta: Ah, is that all? I mean, sure, I'm a bit nervous, but I figure there's no use worrying about it. We already got this far.
Kanata: I mean, yeah, but...
Nayuta: And more importantly, I'm just really looking forward to standing on stage with you, Kanata.
Kanata: ...
Nayuta: You know, more than being able to fuck around with 10 billion, just being able to live and sing with you is what makes me really happy.

Take a leaf out of Nayuta's book for once, Kanata~

Nayuta perking up when he realized Shiki was there. :')

Road to Legend:



This is so good! Both the lyrics and the sound. Haruomi's voice is hella deep.

Takin' It:



Not my thing though the visuals are fun as always. Buraiken was right to win.

Used my manga TBR boardgame.

I finished 12/11 on my last board My dad was in an accident and the only thing I've felt like doing is reading manga through the tiredness and stress so that's why I finished so fast, plus I mostly only read one chapter of non-BLs. Had a mix of a terrible time and good time with the manga lol

Avatar:

Natsume
Skill: re-draw a prompt once

Roll #1:

A 6, prompt: author/artist collab. It's been a while since I read one! I picked one that I can't just read the webnovel for: Chewy n' Mushy (that title!).

Roll #2:

A 4, prompt: fantasy element - Blue Exorcist.

Roll #3:

Another 4, prompt: BDSM again. Am I tired of BDSM since I've read so many lately? Naah. Hardcore Vanilla.

Roll #4:

A 1, intimidates you. Ehhh I'll be brave. Anything that I haven't read in a while is intimidating honestly. Boku no Hero Academia.

Roll #5:

A 3, prompt: crossdressing! The oneshot 1-nen C-gumi Yoshida Kakari.

Roll #6:

A 4, prompt: cover features blue. Are You Alice?.

Roll #7

Another 4, costume on cover. Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen

Roll #8

A 3 and I got the boot with the trap tile. New roll is a 5, prompt: mythology. Jibaku Shounen: Hanako-kun

Roll #9

A 1, prompt: opposites attract. EniDewi

Roll #10

A 2 and the CR tile. #5, which is more B-Eyes.

Roll #11

A 3, prompt: oneshot. Akanuketa Joshi ga Chiyahoya sareru Manga ga Yurusenai Senpai

Roll #12

Another 2, prompt: angels. Already have EniDewi, using skill. New prompt: Published between '10-20. Nakasete! Doctor which came out in '15.

Roll #13

A 1, prompt: delinquents, Ai ga Love Shite You nanosa

Roll #14

A 6 and another CR tile. Wish I'd gotten the TBR one. #26 Golden Kamuy

Roll #15

A 5 and finally the end. The physical manga this time is one of my faves, Wild Rock. Hope it holds up.

Went to the ballet again last weekend; will report on that tomorrow I think. Meanwhile, for the music meme, today's prompt is for an underrated song. This is a somewhat hard choice when working with new songs, as something that is new is discovered or undiscovered; overrated and underrated require a certain maturity. So I chose a song from 2023.

an underrated song
Elysion - Crossing Over

prompts under the cut

a song you discovered this month Lady Gaga - Disease
a song that makes you smile Catalyst Symphony - Eden
a song that makes you cry Stratovarius - Shine in the Dark
a song that you know all the lyrics of Deep Sun - Storyteller
a song that proves that you have good taste Synthwailer - Iron Arch
a song title that is in all lowercase newest release FlowerLeaf - The Wake
a song title that is in all uppercase Illumishade – ELEGY
an underrated song
a song that has three words
a song from your childhood
a song that reminds you of summertime
a song that you feel nostalgic to
the first song that plays on shuffle
a song that someone showed you
a song from a movie soundtrack
a song from a television soundtrack
a song about being 17
a song that reminds you of somebody
a song to drive to
a song with a number in the title
a song that you listen to at 3am in the morning
a song with a long title
a song with a color in the title
a song that gets stuck in your head
a song in a different language
a song that helps you fall asleep at night
a song that describes how you feel right now
a song that you used to hate but love today
a song that you downloaded
a song that you want to share

Last week: Lots of discussion of various contemporary Roman emperors and their families: Claudius, Agrippina, Nero, Britannicus. Quinctilius Varus and Arminius make an appearance as well. Also Josephus wants to tell you ALL about the Essenes, and none of us knows why but maybe we will find out sometime in the future?? (ugh, I haven't finished replying to comments yet on this either, sorry! -- hopefully will get to that tomorrow)

This week: The Jewish war starts! It's a mess. We do finally meet our hero Josephus, who is just the most heroic, clever, and brave guy. (Probably devilishly handsome too, although this is admittedly not in the text.)

Next week: where shall we read to in Book 3? ETA: All of book 3 for this week!