graculus | Reading

Do I know anyone who is going to DragonCon this weekend in Atlanta, Georgia and who is

(a) willing to buy some BPAL for me there and ship it to me (Louisiana)
(b) in exchange for either filthy lucre (PayPal or Venmo) or
(c) 4 oz. handspun yarn just for you to be negotiated?

examples of my spinning:

wool, 2-ply

wool/sari silk, 2-ply

( and more )

re: (c), fibers I have on hand in sufficient quantity

These are wool. Front left (greens & blues) and front right (blues & greys) I have 4-ish oz.

In back, I have 1-2 oz. of others (pink & blue, sky blue, navy blue), which could be blended, or I could spin multiple yarns up to 4 oz.

(I can't get more of the colorways shown here because these were inherited from others' destashes.)

Also 2 oz each of the following:

- left: 25/25/25/25 flax/hemp/cotton/ramie blend
- right: 25/25/25/25 flax/hemp/bamboo/ramie blend

I have smaller quantities of various sari silk colorways that could be blended into most of these for effect. (The silk fiber is the stuff on the chair, not the wool yarn draped over the arm lol.)

Or I could order US-based fiber batts/combed top (etc) within an agreed price range and spin those for you.

But I imagine filthy lucre is the most interesting. :p Leave a comment or email me at yoon at yoonhalee dot com!

yourlibrarian posting in

tv_talk

Laptop-TV combo with DVDs on top and smartphone on the desk

As the pressure to utilize AI across industries increases and creators go in on it, what do you think this could mean for television production and viewing?

jasmasson posting in

fancake

Fandom: Mo Dao Zu Shi/The Untamed
Pairings/Characters: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian
Rating: Explicit
Length: 70,972 words
Creator Links: harriet_vane at AO3
Theme: Marriage of Convenience

Summary:

It’s a really unfortunate thing, developing a crush on your husband. Wei Ying had assumed this would be easy. Lan Zhan had been so icy and unpleasant to him, it had never occurred to him that he might end up spending the next however many years with this dumb, burning feeling in his chest whenever he looks at him.

“Okay,” says Wei Ying. “But tell me if I…if the pretending gets to be too hard, okay?”

“It will not,” says Lan Zhan, quietly certain.

Reccer’s Notes: Is it redundant to rec a fic that has 31,682 kudos (and counting)? And has already been recced on this community (although 5 years ago and for a different theme?) Probably. Am I going to do it anyway? Yes. Yes, I am.

Because it is fabulous.

It’s kidfic with Yaun at his most adorable, it’s a modern AU, it’s beautifully written and even if you’ve read it before I’m sure now is a great time for a reread.

Lan Zhan is his impeccable, smitten, useless at communicating self and Wei Wuxian is, as always, just doing his best in the circumstances he finds himself in.

An absolute classic. BTW, If you haven’t dipped a toe in MDZS canon or fanon, you could read this anyway due to its AU nature, and then perhaps be hooked… 31,682 AO3 users can’t be wrong, right?

Fanwork links: The Simplest Way Forward

mific posting in

fancake

Fandom: Hawaii five-O
Characters/Pairings: Danny Williams/Steve McGarrett, Grace, Kono, Chin
Rating: Explicit
Length: 13,614
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: Siria on AO3
Themes: Marriage of Convenience, First time, Fake marriage, Action/adventure, Family, AU: fork in the road

Summary: As active as Danny's imagination was, however, as strong as all his fears could be at the thoughts of his little girl being taken away from him again, he'd forgotten to factor in one very important element: Steve.

Reccer's Notes: This take on the marriage of convenience trope centres on Danny's devotion to his daughter, Grace. His ex moves to the US mainland with her husband and the only way Danny can get custody is if he's in a stable relationship - a marriage. Steve tells the judge they're about to marry and Danny stumbles through it, baffled at the way his team fully accept the situation and only berate him for keeping the affair a secret. The story takes us through the usual enjoyable dilemmas of a fake marriage like the need to share a bed, made more pressing with Grace in the house as she believes the marriage is genuine (which of course it is - Danny just doesn't know it yet). They're clearly married in the show and in this fic, but in Danny's case, massively oblivious (Steve not so much, having masterminded the marriage plan), and it all works out happily, as expected. Along the way there's lots of amusing snark and backchat, and it's wonderfully written, and a thoroughly good read.

Fanwork Links: hoʻokāne

yhlee

This one's going to an astronomer friend. I think catten is trying to figure out where the SHEEP are. :p

Earlier:

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3133/

I tried uploading it to a household appliance porn site I found, but apparently their content is limited to only fans.

https://xkcd.com/3133/

yourlibrarian posting in

tv_talk

Too long ago now, I shared some DS9 related meta posts at

meta_warehouse and found that I was interested in the suggestions about older Trek being more character oriented than newer Trek shows. Although the post involved DS9 and Discovery, if we look at Star Trek Enterprise versus Discovery, "bad writing" doesn't cover it all. ( Read more... )

yhlee

40/40/20 cotton/tussah silk/hemp (the seller called it an "experimental blend"). Very inconsistent yarn thanks to the learning curve, as I'm still quite new to this. Surprisingly soft once plied, though, despite the hemp content, and one of my favorite fiber blends to spin because there's never a dull moment. This one's going to my graduate advisor.

Cloud oversaw the winding of the center-pull ball using a plying-size Turkish spindle. (I did the actual spinning and plying on the wheel.)

(Still buried under orchestration homework and health stuff, but fortunately I am taking a LONG break from writing so I can recuperate.)

delphi

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

jasmasson posting in

fancake

Fandom: Die Hard 4.0
Pairings/Characters: Matt Farrell/John McClane
Rating: Not Rated (I would say Gen or Teen at most)
Length: 13,139 words
Creator Links: Helenish at AO3
Theme: Marriage of Convenience

Summary:

“Anyway, he’s staying with me for a while,” John says.

“My place got firebombed,” Matt says, reflexively.

Reccer’s Notes: This fic is absolutely note perfect. The characters feel completely on point and the marriage of convenience trope feels totally natural. An exploration of how to be normal after something absolutely crazy has happened to you.

It feels very warm and true and absolutely delightfully done in Helenish’s brilliant way of writing.

Fanwork links: Pre-Existing Condition

feurioo posting in

tv_talk

Assortment of black and white speech bubbles

Welcome to the weekly roundup post! What are you watching this week? What are you excited about?

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3132/

Hey! A bunch of the early Cretaceous fossils on each coast seem to have been plagiarized, too!

https://xkcd.com/3132/

nomelon

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

isis

What I've recently finished reading:

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett, which, it's the third book in the series, so if you like this series you will probably like this book. I particularly enjoyed the trope (which is not uncommon - it's also an element of the Invisible Library series, for example) that the Fae are governed by tales and stories, so the things that happen in their kingdoms generally follow the well-known structures of fairy tales. I also appreciated that the story wrapped around to include elements of the first book.

What I'm reading now:

My hold on Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio came in, and - I can't remember why I put a hold on this book? Did one of you recommend it? I've started it but I am not finding the style particularly engaging. I'll stick with it for a while, though.

What I've recently finished watching:

Untamed, about which I must agree with

treewishes's assessment: "Excellent scenery and interesting characters, the plot, um." The drone shots of Yosemite are spectacular! The action taking place in meadows with cliffs in the background is beautiful! The very beginning has some really fingernail-biting rock climbing (both B and I, who used to climb, muttered at the total sketchiness of one of the placements...) and overall the scenery is just gorgeous. The characters and the way they interact, their backstories and their drama and trauma, are definitely interesting. The plot, um. I have a lot of niggling criticisms, like, there is no way an LA cop would be able to easily transfer to a park ranger job! There is no way an experienced law enforcement officer would go confront a dangerous person without backup! I am side-eyeing the idea of a hippie encampment being on park land and not cleared the hell out of there immediately they found it! I can't imagine a park far from major cities being a hub for [spoilers redacted]! But mostly it's just a ridiculously convoluted plot for the sake of ridiculous convolutions.

Apparently there will be a second season, but I have no idea what they are going to keep constant from the first - the people, the setting, ???

What I'm still playing:

I'm still playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and it's still entertaining.

yhlee

Watch on YouTube

Spinning at a spinning wheel - not a tutorial or demonstration of good spinning, and most of the wheel is out of frame so you can see the main ~action. I am still a beginner, and I think I foxed up some of the terminology. But my advisor was curious so I recorded this.

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3131/

Someday I hope to find a way to mess up a recipe so badly that it draws the attention of the International Air Transport Association, the International Mathematical Olympiad, or the NSA.

https://xkcd.com/3131/

mific posting in

fancake

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis, SG1
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/Vala Mal Doran, Cam Mitchell, Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan
Rating: Teen
Length: 6000
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: busaikko on AO3
Themes: Marriage of Convenience, Teams, Ambiguous relationship, Humor, Friendship

Summary: Rodney had extorted a promise from John to not get recruited into SG-1 while he was on temporary re-assignment to the SGC. As John finished reciting his marriage vows from the crib-sheet Mitchell had handed him, he suspected Rodney would never let him live this down.

Reccer's Notes: With Atlantis stuck in San Francisco, John goes out with SG1 on a mission that needs his gene, but the local Ori-worshipers require those entering the sanctum (where there may be ZPMs) to be married. So John and Vala get hitched, and are able to trade for not one but three ZPMs, which is just as well as later in the story John desperately needs both Vala and the ZPM-power. The story focuses on John and Vala's friendship which develops after their marriage and despite John returning to Pegasus, then later deepens into something more. Cam is initially a dick due to jealousy as he and John had a past fling, but he gets his head out of his ass. The John/Vala relationship is wonderfully written and we're left in the end with it still being an little ambiguous (this is Vala, after all), but definitely hopeful. A lovely read.

Fanwork Links: So Good to You

yhlee

What I do when sick: more spinning.

Now that I can spin wool blends at all, next up: working on consistency.

starwatcher posting in

fancake

Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairings: Hermione/Harry
Characters: Hermione, Harry, Hermione's father and mother, Harry's mother, other canon characters
Rating: Teen
Length: 31,500 words
Creator Links: CatsAreCool / Rachel500 / TrekCat
Theme: Marriage of convenience, AU: Fork in the road, Working together

Summary: Lady Hermione Granger needs to get married in order to secure her inheritance and everybody agrees that the best candidate to help her is the Earl of Gryffindor, Defeater of the Dark Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter.
There's just one problem: they're not friends and Hermione may have once told him, thanks to some meddling Weasleys, that she'd never get involved with him.

Reccer's Notes: Excellent story. AU - Hermione never cared much for Harry, but when she's required to marry, he's the logical choice. I love how they discuss it like adults, reach a mutual agreement, and then find themselves gradually falling for each other. And all of this adult attraction goodness is nicely interwoven with an intriguing mystery. It's a well-told story with a thoroughly satisfying ending.

Content Notes: Canon-typical violence including attempted murder via spells, mention of old-fashioned patriarchal approaches to women including conc.ept of ownership and arranged marriages, use of love potions. Mildly anti-Dumbledore, anti-Ron and Ginny Weasley

Fanwork Links: A Convenient Arrangement by TrekCat at AO3