Recent readings: A stab at reading seasonally for Hallowe'en
Friday, 10 October 2025 03:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
umadoshiIt's a Friday off and I got some manga work done, so here's a bit of book-logging:
Her Halloween Treat (Tiffany Reisz) is a straightforward, enjoyable romance that has almost nothing at all to do with Hallowe'en. It takes place when the female lead is home for her brother's wedding, and his partner has always wanted a Hallowe'en wedding, so they're having a themed costume Hallowe'en wedding. It's also the female lead's birthday, but they checked with her and she's fine with it, so there's no drama there. Nothing of what I've just written is at all spoilery for the main plot or emotional arcs or anything.
The Drowning House (Cherie Priest) is almost not a ghost story at all--the supernatural elements are something else--but ghosts flicker around its edges. I enjoyed it, although there's a piece of the story that I feel the epilogue was intended to shine a light on and...it didn't do that. (Alternatively, that wasn't the author's intention, but if so, I feel like it should have at least nodded to that specific thing? Or something?)
Specifically [ROT13], gur rcvybthr vf n tyvzcfr onpx ng gur '50f jura gur gjvaf ner cynaavat gb xvyy jung'f-uvf-snpr, naq vg qbrfa'g fnl nalguvat nobhg jul Zef. Phycrccre (arneyl) frag ure fvfgre gb ure qrngu, be vs fur npghnyyl zrnag gb qb gung, naq qbrfa'g tvir nal uvag gung gung'ftbvat gb unccra, vagragvbanyyl be bgurejvfr. Vg'f whfg na vagrenpgvba orgjrra n cnve bs fvfgref jub qba'g ernyyl trg nybat nf gurl cercner gb qb gur guvat gurl'ir qrpvqrq arrqf qbvat.
It's one thing that I'm not really a horror reader but read the occasional horror novel anyway, and quite another that I'm deeply squeamish about eyes (and just about everything to do with eyes) and yet after someone recced it, I bought The Eyes Are the Best Part (Monika Kim) a while ago when it popped up on sale...and then proceeded to actually read it this week. This book is very clear from the cover alone that it involves cannibalistic eyeball consumption in loving detail. It is not the book's fault that I am 1000% not the intended audience and yet read the whole thing in one sitting anyway when really I should've just read the rec (whenever that was) and not bought the ebook, sale or no sale, never mind read it. (But I don't begrudge the actual sale, however much an on-sale ebook purchase actually helps an author.)
Now I'm taking a bit of a break from trying to read ~seasonally~ and am a few chapters into KJ Charles' All of Us Murderers.
I've also finally finished Daniel Sherrell's Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World, which is...fine? I forget if I've actually mentioned that this book is a letter to a future child Sherrell may or may not ever have (a question he's wrestling with the ethics of), talking about the climate catastrophe and his work as a climate activist and how he tries to fortify himself and find meaning in the face of it all and what he hopes to learn/pass on to any child he may one day have.
Her Halloween Treat (Tiffany Reisz) is a straightforward, enjoyable romance that has almost nothing at all to do with Hallowe'en. It takes place when the female lead is home for her brother's wedding, and his partner has always wanted a Hallowe'en wedding, so they're having a themed costume Hallowe'en wedding. It's also the female lead's birthday, but they checked with her and she's fine with it, so there's no drama there. Nothing of what I've just written is at all spoilery for the main plot or emotional arcs or anything.
The Drowning House (Cherie Priest) is almost not a ghost story at all--the supernatural elements are something else--but ghosts flicker around its edges. I enjoyed it, although there's a piece of the story that I feel the epilogue was intended to shine a light on and...it didn't do that. (Alternatively, that wasn't the author's intention, but if so, I feel like it should have at least nodded to that specific thing? Or something?)
Specifically [ROT13], gur rcvybthr vf n tyvzcfr onpx ng gur '50f jura gur gjvaf ner cynaavat gb xvyy jung'f-uvf-snpr, naq vg qbrfa'g fnl nalguvat nobhg jul Zef. Phycrccre (arneyl) frag ure fvfgre gb ure qrngu, be vs fur npghnyyl zrnag gb qb gung, naq qbrfa'g tvir nal uvag gung gung'f
It's one thing that I'm not really a horror reader but read the occasional horror novel anyway, and quite another that I'm deeply squeamish about eyes (and just about everything to do with eyes) and yet after someone recced it, I bought The Eyes Are the Best Part (Monika Kim) a while ago when it popped up on sale...and then proceeded to actually read it this week. This book is very clear from the cover alone that it involves cannibalistic eyeball consumption in loving detail. It is not the book's fault that I am 1000% not the intended audience and yet read the whole thing in one sitting anyway when really I should've just read the rec (whenever that was) and not bought the ebook, sale or no sale, never mind read it. (But I don't begrudge the actual sale, however much an on-sale ebook purchase actually helps an author.)
Now I'm taking a bit of a break from trying to read ~seasonally~ and am a few chapters into KJ Charles' All of Us Murderers.
I've also finally finished Daniel Sherrell's Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World, which is...fine? I forget if I've actually mentioned that this book is a letter to a future child Sherrell may or may not ever have (a question he's wrestling with the ethics of), talking about the climate catastrophe and his work as a climate activist and how he tries to fortify himself and find meaning in the face of it all and what he hopes to learn/pass on to any child he may one day have.
Check-In Post - Oct 10th 2025
Friday, 10 October 2025 07:13 pmbadly_knitted posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
get_knittedHello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.
Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?
There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.
This Week's Question (courtesy of
ysabetwordsmith): For those of us who do yarn crafts, what kinds of yarn do you prefer working with and why?If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.
I now declare this Check-In OPEN!
'Maybe You Should Make A New Website While You're Self-Isolating,' The Devil Whispers In My Ear.
Friday, 10 October 2025 09:44 amrionaleonhartI've gone down with COVID, alas, so I'm self-isolating in my bedroom and a bit physically uncomfortable. In search of distractions, I put out a call on Tumblr for people to ask me questions about my writing from this list, and here are the results!
What is your fave fic to receive comments on?
With These Signs Upon Our Souls, my decade-old Final Fantasy VIII/Final Fantasy XIII crossover, in which the FFVIII characters become l'Cie! 27,000 words may not be a huge amount, but it’s by far the longest continuous story I’ve ever written, and it’s about two different divisive Final Fantasy games, so it’s not something that was ever likely to draw much interest. I’m always thrilled when someone actually reads it!
What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing?
I’ve been getting a little braver about including on-page sex! It’s never especially explicit, but I’ve been more willing lately to give at least a little idea of what’s going on, rather than always fading to black or being as vague as possible.
If one of your fics was going to get you arrested, which one and why?
hey wait I’m not falling for this
I’m going to say it’s my unfinished fic for The Quarry in which Laura and Travis swap bodies, which gave me, as a British person, the following research experience:
Me: Hey, Internet, fic research question: could a woman in her early twenties just go into a shop and buy a shotgun in New York state without any sort of licence?
Internet: Yep, that is absolutely something you can do.
Me: …
Me: …
Me: But surely that won’t seem right? That doesn’t feel right.
Me: If she just goes and buys a gun, surely the readers will go ‘obviously she wouldn’t just be able to buy a gun’. Surely I’ll look like I haven’t done my research and have lazily assumed that you can just buy a gun in America.
Me: You can’t just buy guns, right???
( Various other questions and answers about fanfiction! )
If I had to get ill, I’m glad it’s at least happening after my visit to Devon, rather than before. I got to stroke five different owls, and my body can’t take that from me.
Fun fact about my recent holiday in Devon: we were staying with my ex-aunt (my uncle's ex-wife). She likes Clarkson's Farm and David Mitchell, and when they came up in conversation I just had to go 'ah, yes, I am aware of the work of these men, I am completely normal about them and always have been.'
If there are any questions you'd like to ask me about my writing in the comments (whether from the original list or not), please do!
What is your fave fic to receive comments on?
With These Signs Upon Our Souls, my decade-old Final Fantasy VIII/Final Fantasy XIII crossover, in which the FFVIII characters become l'Cie! 27,000 words may not be a huge amount, but it’s by far the longest continuous story I’ve ever written, and it’s about two different divisive Final Fantasy games, so it’s not something that was ever likely to draw much interest. I’m always thrilled when someone actually reads it!
What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing?
I’ve been getting a little braver about including on-page sex! It’s never especially explicit, but I’ve been more willing lately to give at least a little idea of what’s going on, rather than always fading to black or being as vague as possible.
If one of your fics was going to get you arrested, which one and why?
hey wait I’m not falling for this
I’m going to say it’s my unfinished fic for The Quarry in which Laura and Travis swap bodies, which gave me, as a British person, the following research experience:
Me: Hey, Internet, fic research question: could a woman in her early twenties just go into a shop and buy a shotgun in New York state without any sort of licence?
Internet: Yep, that is absolutely something you can do.
Me: …
Me: …
Me: But surely that won’t seem right? That doesn’t feel right.
Me: If she just goes and buys a gun, surely the readers will go ‘obviously she wouldn’t just be able to buy a gun’. Surely I’ll look like I haven’t done my research and have lazily assumed that you can just buy a gun in America.
Me: You can’t just buy guns, right???
( Various other questions and answers about fanfiction! )
If I had to get ill, I’m glad it’s at least happening after my visit to Devon, rather than before. I got to stroke five different owls, and my body can’t take that from me.
Fun fact about my recent holiday in Devon: we were staying with my ex-aunt (my uncle's ex-wife). She likes Clarkson's Farm and David Mitchell, and when they came up in conversation I just had to go 'ah, yes, I am aware of the work of these men, I am completely normal about them and always have been.'
If there are any questions you'd like to ask me about my writing in the comments (whether from the original list or not), please do!
Mishmash. It's just a mishmash post.
Thursday, 9 October 2025 04:43 pmumadoshiI'm not in deadline danger, but I'm also still not where I'd like to be with my current rewrite; I've also been sleeping badly and Dayjob has needed somewhat more brain energy than usual (for a non-crunch time) this week. So I'm taking tomorrow off to go with the Thanksgiving long weekend, and we'll see what can be done. Wish me luck!
Flu and covid vaccinations are rolling out provincially (just announced this morning), and hopefully we can get ours scheduled for fairly soon. (Which isn't actually urgent, given how little exposure risk we have, but I'd still like to get it done.)
Part of my brain seems to really think there can never be too many mugs or too many blankets. I'm not sure how it came to this conclusion, when storage space (perhaps especially kitchen cupboard space) is finite and while both mugs and blankets can be used in rotation, it can get excessive fast. I wonder if this is the same part of my mind that believes I can actually follow everyone who strikes me as interesting on any social media platform.
Last year during post-holiday sales I bought a Hallowe'en blanket that then spent nearly a year waiting for the season to come around again, and now I have it out as a lap blanket in my office. It is extremely warm and ridiculously soft and cozy on one side, which is great, except this week started out with, frex, a high of 29°C or so on Monday. At this point the temperature's much more reasonable for fall (high of 9°C today), even if it's warming right back up to highs of 16°-ish over the next few days. Not exactly classic October temps, but hopefully we'll be free of full-on summer heat after this.
Other parts of the province got some actual significant rain last night, which is a relief. Only 2mm or so in my area, but I'm glad a good amount wound up in the regions that desperately need it this time.
Tori has a new album coming out next year (with accompanying tour), with info on the front page of her site. (My feelings are the now-usual ones: I don't expect to fall in love with the new music, but I'll gladly buy it to support her and be ready to be wrong about the assumption; either way I'm so glad that she's still making music, even if it's been a long time since any of it punched me in the heart.)
Flu and covid vaccinations are rolling out provincially (just announced this morning), and hopefully we can get ours scheduled for fairly soon. (Which isn't actually urgent, given how little exposure risk we have, but I'd still like to get it done.)
Part of my brain seems to really think there can never be too many mugs or too many blankets. I'm not sure how it came to this conclusion, when storage space (perhaps especially kitchen cupboard space) is finite and while both mugs and blankets can be used in rotation, it can get excessive fast. I wonder if this is the same part of my mind that believes I can actually follow everyone who strikes me as interesting on any social media platform.
Last year during post-holiday sales I bought a Hallowe'en blanket that then spent nearly a year waiting for the season to come around again, and now I have it out as a lap blanket in my office. It is extremely warm and ridiculously soft and cozy on one side, which is great, except this week started out with, frex, a high of 29°C or so on Monday. At this point the temperature's much more reasonable for fall (high of 9°C today), even if it's warming right back up to highs of 16°-ish over the next few days. Not exactly classic October temps, but hopefully we'll be free of full-on summer heat after this.
Other parts of the province got some actual significant rain last night, which is a relief. Only 2mm or so in my area, but I'm glad a good amount wound up in the regions that desperately need it this time.
Tori has a new album coming out next year (with accompanying tour), with info on the front page of her site. (My feelings are the now-usual ones: I don't expect to fall in love with the new music, but I'll gladly buy it to support her and be ready to be wrong about the assumption; either way I'm so glad that she's still making music, even if it's been a long time since any of it punched me in the heart.)
Check-In Post - Oct 9th 2025
Thursday, 9 October 2025 07:24 pmbadly_knitted posting in get_knittedHello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.
Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?
There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.
This Week's Question (courtesy of
ysabetwordsmith): For those of us who do yarn crafts, what kinds of yarn do you prefer working with and why?If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.
I now declare this Check-In OPEN!
The Fantastic Journey: Renewed Hope [Amnesty 47, using Challenge 18: Hope]
Thursday, 9 October 2025 07:07 pmbadly_knitted posting in drabble_zoneTitle: Renewed Hope
Fandom: The Fantastic Journey
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Dr Paul Jordan, the rest of the group of shipwreck survivors, Varian.
Rating: PG
Written For: Challenge 470: Amnesty 47, using Challenge 18: Hope.
Setting: Vortex (Pilot episode).
Summary: There might be a way for the shipwrecked travellers to escape the island.
Disclaimer: I don’t own The Fantastic Journey, or the characters. They belong to their creators.
A/N: Double drabble.
Renewed Hope
Secret Sanguinala 2025 Warhammer 40k Gift Exchange - Nominations Open
Thursday, 9 October 2025 07:32 pmTransformers G1: Antihistamine Ahoy [Amnesty #47/#031 Allergies] + 4 more
Wednesday, 8 October 2025 10:44 pmCheck-In Post - Oct 8th 2025
Wednesday, 8 October 2025 08:01 pmbadly_knitted posting in get_knittedHello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.
Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?
There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.
This Week's Question (courtesy of
ysabetwordsmith): For those of us who do yarn crafts, what kinds of yarn do you prefer working with and why?If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.
I now declare this Check-In OPEN!
BtVS: Leaving Home [Amnesty 47, and Challenge 465: Away]
Wednesday, 8 October 2025 06:46 pmbadly_knitted posting in drabble_zoneTitle: Leaving Home
Fandom: BtVS
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Buffy.
Rating: PG
Written For: Challenge 470: Amnesty 47 at, using Challenge 465: Away.
Spoilers/Setting: Start of Season 4.
Summary: Starting college is a scary prospect.
Disclaimer: I don’t own BtVS, or the characters.
A/N: Double drabble.
Leaving Home
