snarp | Reading

Some characteristics are disadvantageous in highly specific SFF circumstances...

Five SF Stories Built Around Specific, Context-Dependent Disabilities

james_davis_nicoll

Otaku Hina is delighted that her Japanese neighbour Kyuta looks just like Hina's favourite anime character. Alas, Kyuta dislikes anime almost as much as vampires like Hina.

Otaku Vampire's Love Bite, volume 1 By Julietta Suzuki (Translated by Tomo Kimura)

erinptah_feed

Posted by Erin Ptah

https://erinptah.wordpress.com/2025/09/10/multifandom-recs-pet-shop-of-horrors-1-0-black-books-sherlock-moon-knight-marvel/

http://erinptah.wordpress.com/?p=9080

Pet Shop of Horrors | D/Leon | G | – season for returning
D knows better than to talk, here. His hand comes up – blindly, because he does not dare face the picture this situation paints in full sunlight – and finds that beloved head, that beloved hair, that beloved person. His fingertips meet skin: a cheekbone, giving way to the thin skin of covered eyelids, thin lashes fanning out against his touch; they find their way into that mass of wild hair he’s missed more than anything.
series:pet shop of horrors,pairing:d_leon,fic:one-shot
Pet Shop of Horrors | D, Leon | T | dreadful
When D is kidnapped again- without Leon this time- Leon goes to drag him back.
series:pet shop of horrors,pairing:d_leon,genfic,fic:one-shot
Pet Shop of Horrors | D/Leon, Chris | G | What a Way to Break It to Them
When his aunt and uncle show up to take him away from the pet shop, Chris speaks for the first time since he lost his voice… and what he says is “Count D is Leon’s boyfriend.”
series:pet shop of horrors,pairing:d_leon,fic:one-shot,trope:kidfic
1/0 – Tailsteak | Zadok/Terra, Manuel/OC, others | G | Portland, later on
Did they have a normal life, or wacky adventures, or more philosophical conundrums about the nature of webcomics? It’s Portland. Why not all three?
series:1-over-0,pairing:zadok_terra,fic:one-shot,metafic
Black Books | Bernard/Manny/Fran | G | Dickens Doesn’t Know Shit
Bernard’s life was so much less complicated before he had partners and ghosts and Christmas cluttering up the place.
series:black books,trope:polyamory,fic:one-shot,trope:christmas,pairing:bernard_manny_fran
Sherlock | John(s)/Sherlock(s) | M | A Trope Too Far
Written for this prompt on the kinkmeme that asked for Trope!John waking up one morning to discover that he’s got the wrong Trope!Sherlock and going through various fanfic worlds in search of the right one.
fic:five times,series:sherlock,pairing:holmes_watson,metafic
Moon Knight, Spider-Man | Marc/Layla, Steven/Layla, Jake, Peter | G | he seems alive though he is feeling blue
Jake wants to grab the kid by the shoulders, tell him that everything will get better, and slip as much money onto his utility belt as possible. Marc wants to establish, at minimum, weekly check-ins. Steven, honestly, wants to keep bringing Spider-Man back to their spare room until he gets the memo. They are disagreeing heavily on what counts as being too dramatic.
series:marvel – various,series:spider-man,series:moon knight,fic:one-shot,trope:hurt-comfort,pairing:layla_marc,pairing:layla_steven
Moon Knight, Marvel | Jake, Defenders/Avengers ensemble, extra headmates | G | New Moon: 5 Times Jake Lockley Showed Up for the Defenders + 1 Time They Showed Up for Him
Steven’s been blipped and Marc’s out of front, leaving Jake to be protect his system and his city. Good thing he’s not doing it alone
series:moon knight,series:marvel – various,trope:amnesia,fic:five times,genfic,amazing
Moon Knight | Layla/team | M | i still love you, is it unnatural?
layla moves back in with her husband. and his two alters.it works itself out.
series:moon knight,pairing:layla_marc,pairing:layla_steven,pairing:marc_steven,pairing:marc_steven_layla,pairing:layla_jake,trope:polyamory,fic:one-shot
Moon Knight | Marc/Steven | M | Together
“Oh, my days, that looks…”“Fucking amazing?” Marc prompted.
“Industrial,” Steven finished. A giggle slipped out of him; it went borderline hysterical.
pairing:marc_steven,series:moon knight,fic:one-shot
Moon Knight | Marc/Jake/Steven | M | You made me like this
“But you know what my biggest dream is?” Jake asked conspiratorial.
“What is it?” Steven wanted to know, leaning forward.
Jake turned around and crawled toward Steven like a cat, which just so happened to cause his butt to wave enticingly in Marc’s direction. Then he whispered into Steven’s ear, clearly loud enough for Marc to hear: “My biggest dream is to be the cheese in a cheese sandwich.”
series:moon knight,pairing:marc_steven_jake,fic:chaptered,trope:polyamory
Moon Knight | Marc/Steven/Layla | M | Oh no there’s only one – oh you get the idea
Steven ends up sharing a bed with them – Marc and Layla. Which was so nice, and so sweet of them.And Steven loved and dreaded it every night.
series:moon knight,pairing:marc_steven_layla,fic:chaptered,trope:polyamory
WandaVision | Wanda, Billy | T | Always That Smile
Billy is younger, in his dreams. Most of them, anyway. Except for one strange dream, where he walks in an orchard with Wanda Maximoff. He isn’t sure if she is real, or a dream.. isn’t sure if she is his Mother, or if he even wants her to be. But there’s something special about her smile.. always, that smile.
genfic,trope:kidfic,series:wandavision,fic:one-shot,trope:hurt-comfort
WandaVision, Locked Tomb | Agatha, Billy/Teddy | T | In the 300th Year of the Empress Undying
What if Agatha won the original fight against Wanda? What if Tamsyn Muir wrote that scenario and let her intellectual property be homaged all to hell and back and Agatha was extremely John Gaius-coded? What if Billy still ended up in William Kaplan and Scarlet Witch Agatha was like “oh, hey, now you’re gonna help me with my little problem but you get to be Crown Prince of my evil galactic empire?” and it was an absolute horror show but also funny?
series:wandavision,series:locked tomb,fic:one-shot,genfic,pairing:billy_teddy
Captain America | Sam/Steven, Bucky, friends | T | A Match Made in Topeka
That time Steve was so bad at confessing his feelings that the Winter Soldier had to come in from the cold to do it for him. In which Steve has the suaveness of a human tire fire, Sam has the patience of a goddamn saint, and Bucky has had it up to here with watching them dance around each other.This was supposed to be a quick, goofy road trip romcom, but then I tripped over a lot of Sam and Steve and Bucky feelings, so now it’s a long, mostly-goofy road trip romcom. With a few explosions.
series:marvel – various,pairing:steve_sam,fic:one-shot

https://erinptah.wordpress.com/2025/09/10/multifandom-recs-pet-shop-of-horrors-1-0-black-books-sherlock-moon-knight-marvel/

http://erinptah.wordpress.com/?p=9080

torachan

1. I feel like I'm making good progress on the tasks I have for work that have to be completed by the end of this week. I completed the ones that were fully within my own power to do and am staying on top of the people who need to do the others and should be able to get them all done in time.

2. Got the two new litter boxes delivered today, though I did not get them set up yet as I got home from work later than expected and just didn't feel like faffing about with it. But hopefully with these in place I will no longer have to worry about cleaning up cat pee.

3. The weather's been so nice these past few days. Looks like next week we'll get a few days in the low 80s but still mostly staying in the 70s. I know there will still be hot spells through this month and into October before it really starts cooling down, but hopefully not too many.

4. My step-sister did come over yesterday and go through her stuff in the shed. I didn't actually check in the shed to see how much is still left, but there was a bunch of stuff set out in the backyard that could be put out on the curb or thrown away. I put most of it out on the curb yesterday when I got home from work and several things have already been picked up. I'll leave it out there for a week or so and then whatever's left just put in the trash little by little. Or there's one chair that if it doesn't get taken we'll have to call the city for pickup, so if we do that, we can just leave the rest of the stuff there to be picked up as well.

Anyway, this weekend I'll take a look at the remainder and see if I can organize it and then maybe move some of my mom and her husband's stuff from the other shed into that one and give us more room in the other one. We don't need to add more stuff of ours to that other shed but it's all packed in fairly tight now so it would be nice to be able to actually get in there and access stuff more easily.

As for the remainder of my step-sister's stuff, she flew here this time so couldn't take anything back with her, but next time she drives out she will go through the rest and take anything back that she wants to keep. Who knows when that will be, but I am glad she at least made some good progress.

5. Cutie Jasper.

torachan

We made a spur of the moment decision to do Disney for dinner last night and it was one of the most pleasant trips we've had in a while. We didn't get down there until around eight, so the sun was down and the temps had dropped into the mid 70s (and it actually wasn't that muggy, either). Then when we actually got into the park we found it wasn't very crowded, either. And while there is the parade the work around, weekdays don't have Fantasmic or fireworks (there is a projections + music show in place of the fireworks, but it doesn't have the loud bangs that bother Carla and it doesn't draw nearly the crowd the fireworks do, so it's easier to navigate), so getting around is no issue.

( Read more... )

umadoshi

As of last week, we've lived in our current place for sixteen years. (As ever, I selfishly appreciate that one of the people whose wedding we attended the day before we moved always posts about their anniversary, which reminds me of how long it's been.) Just a few more years will make this the place I've lived longest in my life. (My childhood home currently holds the record at eighteen years.)

We've had some more rain, but still not nearly enough, and enough people haven't been getting on board with the water commission's request to conserve water (apparently there's been no noticeable drop in overall usage) that we're now expecting mandatory conservation to roll out sometime this week. (Does anyone know what that'll actually look like? LOL no.) Fun times. Good work [sarcastic], everyone.

Our tiny, tiny tomato plant that we brought home so shortly before hitting official "we're in a drought" status has tiny, tiny tomatoes on it! They are very green, and I have no idea what their odds are of ripening properly, but given that the drought means we've only actually watered the plant once or twice since potting it, I'm surprised to see fruit at all. Good work [sincere], Tiny Tim.

Under the circumstances, I'm just as glad that we didn't actually try to do any gardening in earnest this year, which we might have if we'd gotten our very own hose installed on the back of the house earlier in the season.

Sometime next year, Cult of the Lamb is getting its first paid expansion (not to be confused with the...three? four?...free ones that they've released). Will I touch another game before that comes out? Precedent says no! But I'm very excited about this one.

rachelmanija

This novel appears to be a well-written and enjoyable but conventional haunted house story; it turns out to have a twist on that theme which I've never encountered before. I very much enjoyed discovering that for myself, so if you think you might too, don't read the spoilers.

A young couple, Emily and Freddie, move from London to Larkin Lodge, an old house in Dartmoor, while Emily's recovering from a serious accident. After she fell off a cliff, her heart stopped and one leg was permanently damaged. Doctors warned her and Freddie that she might suffer from post-sepsis mental complications, so when she starts perceiving weird things involving Larkin Lodge, both she and Freddie think it's probably her, not the house. Emily and Freddie's marriage is not the greatest, but is that something that was previously going on, or is it cracking under stress, or is the house having a bad effect on them?

Emily and Freddie are not the best people, but that really works for the story. I thought it was a lot of fun.

Spoilers! ( Read more... )

Content notes: Not even slightly gory or gross. Mention of a miscarriage (off-page, not described). Some violence, not graphic. No on-page animal harm, but the body of a dead raven is found.

james_davis_nicoll

Doctor Catherine Coldbridge travels to darkest Texas in quest of her long-lost husband, Frank Humble... so she can kill the unkillable man.

The Unkillable Frank Lightning by Josh Rountree

torachan

1. Today marks one full week since I decided to start taking an early morning walk. I have been enjoying it very much and it currently works with my sleep and work schedules, so I'll be keeping it up. We've been in the habit of taking an evening walk every day for years, and a year or so I ago started making it two walks a day on weekends, but I'd never tried to make it a daily thing.

2. Today I actually took a walk at lunch as well, but I'm not sure how often I'll do that, at least in this weather. It was cooler than it has been, but still in the low 80s, and the area around my work doesn't have a lot of shady streets so I was in direct sun most of the time and ended up getting back to work sweatier than I'd prefer, but I did stop at 85C and get a delicious lavender taro latte on my way, so that was nice. I will definitely be taking a lunchtime walk on cooler days, and maybe even some not so cool days, depending on how I feel. It felt good to get up from my desk for more than just a quick run to the restroom or to go downstairs and buy a drink (I do get up for a few minutes every hour, but it's still a lot of sitting).

3. We had a nice dinner at Disneyland. The park was actually not that crowded and the weather was really pleasant (we didn't get down there until around eight, so the sun was down, but it wasn't as muggy as it has been the last few times we've been at night, including Saturday) and even traffic getting down there was pretty light.

4. Woke up to find Gemma in bed with me the other morning. Usually it's Molly!

erinptah_feed

Posted by Erin Ptah

https://erinptah.wordpress.com/2025/09/08/works-roundup-9-8-webcomics-moon-knight-marvel/

http://erinptah.wordpress.com/?p=9094

Moon Knight
Under The Hood (art | Marc, Steven, Jake | worksafe)
Meeting the Team – Animated (animation | Marc, Steven, Jake | worksafe)

This Week in But I’m A Cat Person:

Annotated chapter 30 is almost all out?!

This Week in Leif & Thorn:

The flash-forward introduces us to Near Future Kale!

https://erinptah.wordpress.com/2025/09/08/works-roundup-9-8-webcomics-moon-knight-marvel/

http://erinptah.wordpress.com/?p=9094

umadoshi

No proof-of-life post happened over the weekend, but I did get some reading done last week.

scruloose and I have started listening to Exit Strategy (Murderbot 4).

Fiction: I finished and enjoyed The Future of Another Timeline (Annalee Newitz) and now I'm reading Saint Death's Daughter (C.S.E. Cooney), and am maybe halfway through? This one has a lot of detail going on on the worldbuilding front, and after reading the first chapter or two one night and then not getting back to it for a couple of days, I had to go re-skim right from the beginning before carrying on, which is unusual. (A glance or two back, sure. Actually rereading the whole beginning? Not so much.)

Non-fiction: I finished Goblin Mode (McKayla Coyle) and can't say I got much out of it; I'm still reading Daniel Sherrell's Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World.

Current Mood: rushed

james_davis_nicoll

The ULTIMATE rules and 17 supplements

Bundle of Holding: Rifts Core MEGA (From 2022)

11 RIFTS World Books from Palladium

Bundle of Holding: Rifts Worlds 2

james_davis_nicoll

What, aside from the overwhelming weight of evidence, suggests Einstein was right?

Five Books That Just Said To Hell With the Speed-of-Light Barrier

james_davis_nicoll

2013: The Tories masterfully tank the UK credit rating, a grateful nation celebrates Margaret Thatcher’s death, and Scotland inexplicably chooses to remain in the UK.

Poll #33586 Clarke Award Finalists 2013

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 14

View Respondents

Which 2013 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Dark Eden by Chris Beckett
3 (21.4%)

2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson
8 (57.1%)

Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway
4 (28.6%)

Intrusion by Ken MacLeod
1 (7.1%)

Nod by Adrian Barnes
1 (7.1%)

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
1 (7.1%)

✓ for read, * for intend to read, ! for never heard of it. Or whatever amuses you.

Which 2013 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Dark Eden by Chris Beckett
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson ✓
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway ✓
Intrusion by Ken MacLeod
Nod by Adrian Barnes
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

torachan

1. Today was a pretty laidback day. Didn't go anywhere other than out for walks in the neighborhood.

2. My step-sister is supposed to be stopping by tomorrow with my mom to go through some of her stuff in the shed in our backyard. Fingers crossed she can at least just point out which items she definitely does not want anymore and we can get rid of them, even if she needs to keep storing the stuff she does want to keep.

3. I've seen all the cats except Chloe using the new litter box now, so I went ahead and ordered two more to replace the other boxes. I'll still put just one out first until I actually see her using the new one(s), but I figured might as well order them both now as I'm sure she'll come around soon.

4. Such a big yawn!

torachan

We had originally been planning to go in the morning, but decided to make it an evening trip instead, and then in the afternoon Carla got a message from a friend that he was in town and at the parks this weekend, so it worked out perfectly to meet up with him for dinner.

( Read more... )

james_davis_nicoll

An assortment of stories, and commentary on same, drawn from across Galaxy Magazine's life.

Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction edited by Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander & Frederik Pohl

torachan

1. It was still overcast this morning when I took my first walk and then the sun came out just when I got home. It was still muggy when I was out, but I'd much rather have overcast and muggy than the sun beating down on me, too.

2. There have been a couple new stalls at the farmers market recently, including a guy who makes some sort of raw granola bars. I got some a couple weeks ago and he was back again this week (I think he said he's only doing every other week right now) so I got some more.

3. We had a nice dinner at Disneyland and met up with a friend of Carla's who's here from out of town.

4. I passed through the living room and just happened to notice Molly on the lower shelf of this end table. So cute!

zarla

man silksing is hard ;_;

torachan

Currently Reading
Just Another Dead Author
72%. Second in the Berit Gardner mystery series. I hadn't realized this was coming out soon at all, so that was a nice surprise. (When I finished the first book, I hadn't been able to find any info on English translations of the others.)

The Map of the Stars
37%. Third and final book in the York series. Enjoying it so far.

The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State
No progress.

Recently Finished
What Happened to Lucy Vale?
The ending of this was unsatisfying. And the narration, switching between Lucy's mother's POV and a POV titled "we" that is representing a group of Lucy's schoolmates, didn't really do it for me. The "we" sections were the majority and the kids were pretty awful, which made for unpleasant reading. I can't say I'd recommend it.

Suddenly a Murder
This ended up being better than I thought it would, but still only just okay, not great.

The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos vol. 1-2
A Tyrian series I wasn't previously aware of. But it seems that this is just an idea of his that someone else is writing, rather than him being the main author, so maybe that's why I'm not liking it as much as his other stuff, or it might just be that it's closer to mainstream superhero comics than his usual and I'm not that into that. But it's queer horror, as usual, and it's not not interesting. Curious to see where it goes after this.

Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction
Graphic novel memoir about a guy raised by his grandparents while his mom was mostly in jail or rehab when he was growing up. I liked it.

Uprooted: A Memoir About What Happens When Your Family Moves Back
Graphic novel memoir about a girl who was raised in Canada but moves back to Hong Kong with her family in middle school. I liked this one, too.

Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun vol. 17

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Reading

Five SF Stories Built Around Specific, Context-Dependent Disabilities

Otaku Vampire's Love Bite, volume 1 By Julietta Suzuki (Translated by Tomo Kimura)

Multifandom Recs: Pet Shop of Horrors, 1/0, Black Books, Sherlock, Moon Knight + Marvel

Daily Happiness

2025 Disneyland Trip #61 (9/8/25)

Tuesday mishmash: a milestone | weather | tiny tomatoes | impending Lamb

We Live Here Now, by Sarah Pinborough

The Unkillable Frank Lightning by Josh Rountree

Daily Happiness

Works roundup, 9/8 (webcomics, Moon Knight + Marvel)

Quick and rather perfunctory reading catchup from last week

Bundle of Holding: Rifts Core MEGA (From 2022) & Bundle of Holding: Rifts Worlds 2

Five Books That Just Said To Hell With the Speed-of-Light Barrier

Clarke Award Finalists 2013

Daily Happiness

2025 Disneyland Trip #60 (9/6/25)

Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction edited by Greenberg, Olander & Pohl

Daily Happiness

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December 2018

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