vivdunstan

Fiction books
Zen Cho. The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo (e)
Agatha Christie. N or M? (re-read)
Graham Greene. Brighton Rock
Robert Harris. Imperium
Joan Lindsay. Picnic at Hanging Rock
Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle. The Mote in God's Eye
Naoki Urasawa, tr. John Werry. Asadora! volume 3
Gene Luen Yang, Gurihiru. Superman Smashes the Klan (e)

In progress
Douglas Adams, John Lloyd. The Deeper Meaning of Liff
Robert Harris. Lustrum (e)
Jules Verne, tr. George Towle. Around the World in Eighty Days (e)

Non-fiction books
Kelly Bishop. The Third Gilmore Girl (e)
Ben Macintyre. Operation Mincemeat (e)
Ewen Montagu. The Man Who Never Was (e)

Abandoned
Eric Thompson. Tales of True Adventure volume 1

( short, screen, and stage )
( books bought and borrowed )

Top of the to-read pile
Robert Harris. Dictator

ysabetwordsmith

I have made bingo down the N column of my 11-1-25 card for the Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Bingo. I also made 8 extra fills.

N1 (The deeds of ordinary folks keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.) -- "The Universal Assent to the World" (Polychrome Heroics: Officer Pink)
N2 (elves) -- "Revealing Itself at Its Most Brilliant" (Polychrome Heroics: Eric the Elven King)
N3 (WILD CARD: brownie) -- "Better Than Living Alone" (Monster House)
N4 (shadow) -- "Unicornis Memento Mori" (The Freaks Club)
N5 (Once Upon a Time) -- "Better Than a Million Dollars" (Alien Romance)

B4 (Fairy Ring) -- "Time and Relative Dimensions in Magic" (Doctor Who)

I1 (The Nightingale) -- "The Impermanence of Light and Life" (The Freaks Club)
I3 (Very little worth knowing is taught by fear.) -- "To the Rational Mind" (Doctor Who)
I4 (solitude) -- "Company in Solitude" (The Freaks Club)

G1 (vision) -- "A Vision That Visits Us" (The Freaks Club)
G2 (journey) -- "The Coracle in the Forest" (standalone)
G5 (I didn't want power. All I wanted was control. Over my life.) -- "A Clear Path of Freedom" (standalone)

O3 (fairies) -- "The Heart to Change the World" (Polychrome Heroics: The Big One)

Current Mood: accomplished

apnic_blog_feed

Posted by Saima Nisar

https://blog.apnic.net/2025/12/01/bridging-technical-and-institutional-layers-in-internet-policy/

https://blog.apnic.net/?p=95730

Guest Post: Reflections from the inaugural APNIC Policy Fellowship on connecting technical expertise, institutional perspectives, and community collaboration to build more inclusive Internet policies.

https://blog.apnic.net/2025/12/01/bridging-technical-and-institutional-layers-in-internet-policy/

https://blog.apnic.net/?p=95730

scalziwhatever_feed

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/11/30/a-cat-of-absolute-dignity/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=58414

It would be premature to say that Saja the kitten rules the roost around here, but it is true that he very quickly became extremely comfortable with his position in the house, flopping onto the floor wherever he feels like flopping and making routing around him everyone else’s problem. This lounging position very well exemplifies his attitude: Why not let it all hang out? If someone want to complain, that’s a them issue, isn’t it?

This does delight me; I like a kitten with attitude, and also I don’t mind launching him across the floorboard like a furry curling stone if he’s in my way. When I do, he usually looks up at me like, you win this round, human, and then tries eating my face at 3am. Again, I don’t hate this. A little feline attitude goes a long way with me.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/11/30/a-cat-of-absolute-dignity/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=58414

kaffy_r

Help!

As probably most of you know, I normally enter a Holiday and Christmas card writing frenzy around this time of year. Last year I didn't, since the outcome of Nov. 5 depressed me so badly.

This year I decided to revive the tradition; I'm not going to let Cheetoh ruin another holiday season for me. And for the most part, writing and addressing cards has been as much fun as it always was.

Just one problem: my Gmail contacts list has turned wonky, and I've lost way too many of the addresses I've used to send y'all cards in the past.

So, in the spirit of beating whatever the hell group of gremlins invaded my contacts, and more importantly, in the spirit of sending cards to everyone to whom I've sent cards before, can I ask folks to give me their IRL addresses? If you're not comfortable with that, could you send me an email address to which I can send an e-holiday card?

If you're ok with that, just DM me. You will make this old blue-haired broad very happy.

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Location: the living room
Current Music: RM "Seoul"

ysabetwordsmith

Signatures meant more in Mesopotamia than they do now − what cylinder seals say about ancient and modern life

In essence, a cylinder seal was a small sculpture that served a crucial utilitarian purpose: signing documents. It was generally made of a precious or semiprecious stone such as lapis lazuli, agate or chalcedony. Images and texts were engraved into the stone with a technique called intaglio. Notably, these engravings would need to be made in reverse of how the markings would look when it was used.

When rolled on a moist clay tablet, these engravings left low-relief markings, signifying that the object’s owner authorized the written document. In this respect, a cylinder seal’s impression is the ancestor of modern handwritten and digital signatures.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

astrogirl

Somehow it's this late in the year already, so here's the list for November:

( 73. 10-Minute Strength Training Exercises for Seniors by Ed Deboo )

( 74. False Value by Ben Aaronovitch )

( 75. Physics for Cats by Tom Gauld )

( 76. Wastelands: The New Apocalypse edited by John Joseph Adams )

( 77. Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach )

( 78. Doctor Who and the War Games by Malcolm Hulke )

( 79. Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan )

( 80. Out There: The Science Behind Sci-Fi Film and TV by Ariel Waldman )

Current Mood: okay

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy and cold. Yesterday it snowed copiously, which wiped out our plans for Small Business Saturday. :( It was pretty for a while though. Then it rained. Then it froze again. O_O Now the snow looks a week old and there is plate ice over the road and parts of the patio.

I fed the birds. I hung up a peanut suet cake. I've seen one female and three male cardinals plus a dark-eyed junco. :D This is the first I've seen of my little snowbirds this year; the juncos are cold-weather birds here and don't appear in summer.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 11/30/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 11/30/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 11/30/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen two female cardinals and the three boys again.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

thistleingrey

For three years, I've pondered off and on how my current hands could do a bit of narrow weaving again---bands/tapes, not cloth per se. Whether it's weave, sling-braid, sprang, or something else in that direction, having something other than my hands to hold part of the threads' tension seems wise. My hands have improved a bit since I paused my embroidery self-test (for needle-dropping), but not by so much as to change the target parameters.

Susan J. Foulkes has a demo video showing five ways of weaving narrow bands. What's most helpful is its use of a rigid heddle. Tablet weaving is mildly interesting but would require some complicated-for-me setup. Separately, thanks to the spindle workshop as self-test, I know that string heddles of any kind are out.

Available to me: an inkle loom, basic backstrap-weaving instructions for several cultural traditions, and two Stoorstålka kits (backstrap with rigid heddle) acquired on sale---or so I thought, until I opened the kits. Each kit has a strap and a heddle, but the simpler one isn't warped (threaded through). Perhaps it was returned and resold.

Haven't decided yet how to proceed. If I try the fancier kit and mess it up, self-knowledge says that I won't spend US $40 merely to get another pre-warped setup, which means it'll languish. IOW, I should start at the right difficulty level---tough to guess for my current hands. The simpler kit's heddle is a basic one, no extra holes to support picking up, and I understand in theory how to thread it. I'm just wary of things that result in loss of sleep overnight, such as cutting up one raw carrot, heh. Peeling an entire pomelo is fine; cutting daikon and raw potato and onion are fine, in moderation. Carrots are apparently made of adamantium.

(Pickup in weaving is how one gets decorative bits amidst the right-left-right over-under default. Often they're raised a bit relative to the neighboring threads. Pickup is a sprang-type exception, where twining interrupts the usual weft passage.)

Stoorstålka has a cute video on how to start weaving with their kits when the heddle has been warped; Foulkes has a more practical howto that uses a Stoorstålka heddle to make a different band. Another weaver has a chatty video for warping an Ashford inkle loom, which tells me I don't want to do that yet.

ysabetwordsmith

Dreamwidth is running its December points event.

The standard explanation: For the entire month of December, all orders made in the Shop of points and paid time, either for you or as a gift for a friend, will have 10% of your completed cart total sent to you in points when you finish the transaction. For instance, if you buy an order of 12 months of paid time for $35 (350 points), you'll get 35 points when the order is complete, to use on a future purchase.

If you're gift-shopping for anyone on Dreamwidth, or you wish to support a favorite community here, points or paid time offer a great way to do that. Now is also a good time to buy them for yourself. Support the platform that keeps us connected here.

Current Mood: busy

oursin

Last week's bread almost held out - lasted pretty well, but not quite to the end of the week.

Friday night supper: penne with bottled sliced artichoke hearts.

Saturday breakfast rolls: Tassajarra method, approx 50:50% Marriage's Light Spelt and Golden Wholegrain, maple syrup, raisins, turned out rather well.

Today's lunch: partridge breasts with a rub of salt, 5-pepper blend, coriander seeds and thyme, panfried in butter and olive oil, deglazed with white wine; served with kasha, buttered spinach and sugar snap peas stirfried with garlic.

ysabetwordsmith

We made it to the end of November! \o/ If you have completed some of your yearly goals, and/or you're still chugging away at your ongoing goals, then pat yourself on the back. You worked hard for that. We are now well into autumn. If you're doing seasonal goals, share what you're working on for this winter.

This year I'm trying something new, continuing to track goals at the end of each month. So far it seems to be helping, so that's encouraging. I'm looking at my goal list more often and trying to keep ticking off more of them. The main drawback is that this update becomes more of a chore each month.

These are the previous check in posts:
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 4
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 10
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 17
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 24
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In February 28
New Year's Resolutions Check In March 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In April 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In May 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In June 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In July 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In August 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In September 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In October 31

( Read more... )

Current Mood: accomplished

facethestrange posting in

sid_guardian

Two Weilan fics (drama and novel) + Zhubai ficlet and drawing. :)

sweeter than dreams (1295 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Ye Olde Haixing Era, Oral Fixation, Fingers in Mouth, Lollipops, Facial Hair Kink, First Kiss, First Time, Oral Sex, Blowjob through clothes, Clothed Sex, Coming In Pants, Resolved Mutual Pining, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Porn with Feelings
Series: Part 6 of All the different first times for YOHE Weilan
Summary: Shen Wei can't look away. Maybe he's too tired to keep himself in check, the long day weighing on him too much. He could always look away before, with enough effort, but now he just stares; he has apparently missed Kunlun's question too, because Kunlun is looking at him with a concerned frown, and Shen Wei— Shen Wei leans in and licks at the tiny bit of glossy sweetness clinging to Kunlun's chin.

make a fine shrine in me (1484 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian - priest
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Porn with Feelings, Obsession, Shen Wei's Kunlun Shrine, Stalking, Thirsty Zhao Yunlan, Anal Sex, Top Shen Wei (Guardian), Bottom Zhao Yunlan, First Time, First Time Bottoming, Bruises, Marking, Possessive Sex, Biting, Blood Drinking, (brief and not explicit), Blushing, Wall Sex, Zhao Yunlan is extremely into Shen Wei's obsessiveness, Zhao Yunlan Being Zhao Yunlan, Tenderness, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Summary: Zhao Yunlan should really feel confused, or concerned, or maybe even terrified. He just found out that he's a mortal incarnation of a god — mortal being the unexpectedly relevant keyword here — and Shen Wei has spent an indescribable amount of time feeding his own obsession, and now this all-powerful entity has full access to him in a room that no one else can enter.

Instead he feels flattered, and exhilarated, and absolutely, mind-blowingly turned on.

You're Worth It (100 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018) RPF, Chinese Actor RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Bai Yu/Zhu Yilong
Characters: Bai Yu (Actor), Zhu Yilong
Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Character Bleed, Sleepy Cuddles, Soft, Bittersweet, Drabble
Summary: "You're worth it," Shen Wei will say tomorrow.

"You're worth it," Long-ge says now, as they run their lines late into the night again, at first facing each other properly, and then all tangled in a sleepy heap in the hotel bed.

Side by Side by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018) RPF, Chinese Actor RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Bai Yu/Zhu Yilong
Characters: Bai Yu (Actor), Zhu Yilong
Additional Tags: cheek kiss, Soft, Fanart, Drawing
Series: Part 12 of Zhubai ~canon~ but with more kissing
Summary: A soft karaoke smooch. :)

settiai

Not Quite Birds of a Feather (1418 words) by Settiai
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age - All Media Types
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Female Aeducan/Leliana/Morrigan (Dragon Age), Female Aeducan/Leliana (Dragon Age), Female Aeducan/Morrigan (Dragon Age), Leliana/Morrigan (Dragon Age)
Characters: Female Aeducan (Dragon Age), Leliana (Dragon Age), Morrigan (Dragon Age)
Additional Tags: Casual Sex, Complicated Relationships, Dragon Age Poly Exchange, One Shot, Polyamory
Summary: The three of them had almost nothing in common. It shouldn't have worked. Yet somehow it did.

Current Mood: accomplished

settiai

No Strings (1466 words) by Settiai
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jowan/Cullen Rutherford/Male Surana
Characters: Cullen Rutherford, Jowan (Dragon Age), Male Surana (Dragon Age)
Additional Tags: Casual Sex, Denial of Feelings, Dragon Age Poly Exchange, Kinloch Hold (Dragon Age), One Shot, Secret Relationship, Teenagers, Trans Male Character
Summary: It didn't mean anything. If they kept telling themselves that much, then maybe it would be true.

Current Mood: creative

soc_puppet

Dunno when I'll be able to submit it for consideration as an official mood theme, but in the mean time, here's a preview: ( 117 Cloud Moods )

Anyway, if you want to get a jump on things, here's a downloadable .zip of all of the above moods, plus a super secret alternate version of Quixotic!

Current Mood: creative

senmut

Solo Series Updates, by fandom, by posting date
( Series Updates )

Single fics, by fandom, by posting date (related fandoms may be organized by chronology)
( Single fics )

senmut

AO3 COLLECTION | ANNOUNCEMENT POST (TUMBLR)

Hosted by

maevedarcy

goss posting in

drawesome

Drawesome Monthly Check-In Post

It's the last day of November, and we'd love to have you check in and chat with us. How have things been with you this past month?

Did you sign up for or take part in any fandom activities in November, or have you been working on any personal art projects? Are you currently trying to meet a deadline? Feel free to share upcoming art challenges that have got you excited, any frustrations you've been experiencing, possible goals for the next month, and so on.

nanila

Watch on YouTube

Apparently I went for a lot of canal walks this month. This was partly because both children were off school for multiple days with a high fever, and I worked from home far more than I’d planned. There are even more cats than usual, too, because I made a lot of new, temporary moggie friends in Cyprus.

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vivdunstan

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November 2025

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Network

Fiction log - November 2025

Bingo

Bridging technical and institutional layers in Internet policy

A Cat of Absolute Dignity

Dept. of Where the Hell Are They?

History

November Book Log

Birdfeeding

an inkling

Dreamwidth Points

Culinary

New Year's Resolutions Check In

My latest Guardian fanworks

Fic: Not Quite Birds of a Feather (Dragon Age)

Fic: No Strings (Dragon Age)

Cloudy Daze Mood Theme

November Round Up (4,895 words, 30 works)

Sense8 Exchange

Admin Post: Community Check-In for November 2025

1SE for November 2025

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November 2025

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