Time For Another One Of These
Apr. 22nd, 2025 07:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
astrogirlChapter 6 of "Congratulations on Your Apotheosis" is up. And leaves me feeling like I really should apologize to the characters.
astrogirl
WIP Continues To be IP
Apr. 18th, 2025 02:21 pmastrogirlChapter 5 of "Congratulations on Your Apotheosis" is up! I'm moving to a twice a week posting schedule now. I've only got three more chapters to write, and I think I should probably be able to get them written before I catch up, even at twice a week. And at this point I really want to just get this thing done and out there.
Another Week, Another Update
Apr. 15th, 2025 10:15 amastrogirlChapter 4 of "Congratulations on Your Apotheosis" is up. Much more dialog in this one, but geez louise, do these people have to use so many exclamation points? Especially Bill. I don't think I realized it before, because the last two things I wrote him in, he was depressed, but he's much happier now, and I sort of hate it. My writer's brain rebels at more than the tiniest sprinkling of exclamation points, but what do you do when that's just how they talk? At least he didn't pull out any ALL CAPS this chapter. But he does use them. You know he does. You can hear them.
I also note that this thing is developing some character stuff that I didn't actually consciously intend to put in, or at least not to make this prominent. This isn't a bad thing, but it is one more thing I feel like I have to do something with at the end in a way that feels at least a little satisfying. And right now my brain is running around and around in circles trying to figure out exactly what I'm doing with the chapters I still have to write. Seriously, this WIP thing feels so much like aerial acrobatics without a net.
I also note that this thing is developing some character stuff that I didn't actually consciously intend to put in, or at least not to make this prominent. This isn't a bad thing, but it is one more thing I feel like I have to do something with at the end in a way that feels at least a little satisfying. And right now my brain is running around and around in circles trying to figure out exactly what I'm doing with the chapters I still have to write. Seriously, this WIP thing feels so much like aerial acrobatics without a net.
astrogirlOooh, look what time it is again! Or very nearly, anyway. It's ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
intoabar time! Signups start Apr 27. So, once again, I must face the maddening dilemma of which character to pick for it. Do I choose That One Guy from that Shiny New Fannish Obsession, knowing it precludes the fun possibility of finding myself assigned some other random character from said fandom to write in a wacky crossover? Do I pick that character I kept swearing I'd do for this someday? Go for someone I think it'd be easy and interesting to write all kinds of crossovers for? Something else? Decisions, decisions...
intoabar time! Signups start Apr 27. So, once again, I must face the maddening dilemma of which character to pick for it. Do I choose That One Guy from that Shiny New Fannish Obsession, knowing it precludes the fun possibility of finding myself assigned some other random character from said fandom to write in a wacky crossover? Do I pick that character I kept swearing I'd do for this someday? Go for someone I think it'd be easy and interesting to write all kinds of crossovers for? Something else? Decisions, decisions...
Vidding Workshop Assignments Are Out!
Apr. 13th, 2025 09:01 pmbrokenmnemonic posting in vidukon_cardiffIf you signed up to take part in the VidUKon 2025 Group Vidding Workshop, you should now have an email with details of your assignment - and sources, if you requested some - as well as details on how to upload your finished segment and the deadlines.
The deadline for submitting vidded song fragment is end of day on the 4th of May BST. If you find that you're not going to be able to complete your fragment and need to default, there's no judgement or penalty for defaulting - life happens! - but if you do need to default, please try and let us know by the 27th of April, so that we can assign a pinch-hitter to cover the gap. If you don’t submit a fragment by the 4th of May deadline, we’ll automatically assign a pinch-hitter in your place. Last year, there were a number of requests for extensions, but the timing this year is somewhat tighter as the con is earlier than usual, so this year any extensions will be for a couple of days at best.
If you haven't seen your email, please check your spam folder; if there's still no sign of it, please email us via the con email account so that we can try again.
The deadline for submitting vidded song fragment is end of day on the 4th of May BST. If you find that you're not going to be able to complete your fragment and need to default, there's no judgement or penalty for defaulting - life happens! - but if you do need to default, please try and let us know by the 27th of April, so that we can assign a pinch-hitter to cover the gap. If you don’t submit a fragment by the 4th of May deadline, we’ll automatically assign a pinch-hitter in your place. Last year, there were a number of requests for extensions, but the timing this year is somewhat tighter as the con is earlier than usual, so this year any extensions will be for a couple of days at best.
If you haven't seen your email, please check your spam folder; if there's still no sign of it, please email us via the con email account so that we can try again.
Everyone Should Have An Emergency Backup Bingo Card!
Apr. 13th, 2025 12:08 pmastrogirlThe next round of genprompt_bingo is now up! I'm still only about two and a half squares into the previous one, but based on past experience, it's nice to have a new one available for when I finish, lest I find myself staring into space going,"But... but what do I write now?"
Anyway, here's the card. The baked good-centric top row is amusing me, but I am definitely not using it. Not sure what I will go for, though. There's certainly a lot here that works well for Current Fannish Obsession. (I mean, "sweaters" and "child endangerment" right next to each other? Are we just recreating Gravity Falls canon here, or what?)
( The new card! )
genprompt_bingo is now up! I'm still only about two and a half squares into the previous one, but based on past experience, it's nice to have a new one available for when I finish, lest I find myself staring into space going,"But... but what do I write now?"Anyway, here's the card. The baked good-centric top row is amusing me, but I am definitely not using it. Not sure what I will go for, though. There's certainly a lot here that works well for Current Fannish Obsession. (I mean, "sweaters" and "child endangerment" right next to each other? Are we just recreating Gravity Falls canon here, or what?)
( The new card! )
It's Who Day!
Apr. 12th, 2025 06:01 pmastrogirlIt felt like it was going to be a really long wait for the new season of Doctor Who, but then it went by so quickly it kind of took me by surprise. Which is probably just an artifact of advancing age. But never mind. Let's talk about that episode.
( Spoilers for 'The Robot Revolution' )
( Spoilers for 'The Robot Revolution' )
Books and comics read in February and March 2025
Apr. 10th, 2025 03:06 pmusuallyhatsThe Crown of Dalemark - Diana Wynne Jones
Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right - Jordan S. Carroll
City of Bones - Martha Wells
Elephants Can Remember - Agatha Christie
The Just City - Jo Walton
A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
Lolly Willowes - Sylvia Townsend Warner
Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins: Caduceus Clay
The Labyrinth's Archivist - Day Al-Mohamed
The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door - HG Parry
Star Trek: Lower Decks - Warp Your Own Way
Kindling - Traci Chee
Track Changes: Selected Reviews - Abigail Nussbaum
King of Dead Things - Nevin Holness
The Nightward - RSA Garcia
The Orb of Cairado - Katherine Addison
The Sea Eternal - Emery Robin
Water Logic - Laurie J Marks
This definitely reads like an early work - there's some stuff around sex and relationships in particular that is not amazing - but it's still a solidly enjoyable read. It's clear that Wells hasn't yet reached the heights that she's going to, but there's still some great characterisation and worldbuilding and some really solid prose. I liked it a lot and will be picking up the other early works that Tor are reissuing.
(content notes: some non-explicit sex scenes that aren't definitively assault but also aren't definitively not)
Elephants Can Remember
The premise of this one was great: older lady helps Poirot solve a fifteen year old case by nosing around talking to people, on the grounds that eventually the patchwork of what they remember will add up to something Significant. The execution was a bit lacklustre, though; I'd love to read something with a similar premise but more spark. (Also extremely wild to me to read a Poirot set in the seventies; while I've definitely read at least one more from that decade, as well as one from the sixties, it was when I was young enough not to register when they were set. (I had a big Poirot phase as a child, for reasons I do not entirely understand.))
The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door
I'm not hugely familiar with dark academia as a genre, but I know enough to know this was using a lot of familiar tropes. Which is absolutely fine because it really nailed the execution: it's a really satisfying read because of how well constructed it is. All the character work is great, it knows what it wants to do with its themes, the worldbuilding hangs together nicely. I enjoyed it a whole lot.
King of Dead Things
YA urban fantasy about four black teenagers doing magic in London, and if any of that sounds appealing to you, you should get it because it's great. I feel like there were a few first-book type wobbles here and there, but overall I liked it a whole lot and am excited to read more in the series.
(content note: the parent of one character has memory loss, analogous to but not Alzheimer's)
The Orb of Cairado
Novella set just after The Goblin Emperor; the protagonist is the best friend of the Wisdom of Choharo's pilot. This definitely feels at times like a novel with the complications taken out, rather than a true novella, and there were definitely things I wanted more development of, but Addison's a good enough writer that it's still a fun read, and I absolutely loved the ending.
Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right - Jordan S. Carroll
City of Bones - Martha Wells
Elephants Can Remember - Agatha Christie
The Just City - Jo Walton
A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
Lolly Willowes - Sylvia Townsend Warner
Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins: Caduceus Clay
The Labyrinth's Archivist - Day Al-Mohamed
The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door - HG Parry
Star Trek: Lower Decks - Warp Your Own Way
Kindling - Traci Chee
Track Changes: Selected Reviews - Abigail Nussbaum
King of Dead Things - Nevin Holness
The Nightward - RSA Garcia
The Orb of Cairado - Katherine Addison
The Sea Eternal - Emery Robin
Water Logic - Laurie J Marks
City of Bones (three stars), Elephants Can Remember (three stars), The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door (four stars), King of Dead Things (four stars), The Orb of Cairado (four stars)
City of BonesThis definitely reads like an early work - there's some stuff around sex and relationships in particular that is not amazing - but it's still a solidly enjoyable read. It's clear that Wells hasn't yet reached the heights that she's going to, but there's still some great characterisation and worldbuilding and some really solid prose. I liked it a lot and will be picking up the other early works that Tor are reissuing.
(content notes: some non-explicit sex scenes that aren't definitively assault but also aren't definitively not)
Elephants Can Remember
The premise of this one was great: older lady helps Poirot solve a fifteen year old case by nosing around talking to people, on the grounds that eventually the patchwork of what they remember will add up to something Significant. The execution was a bit lacklustre, though; I'd love to read something with a similar premise but more spark. (Also extremely wild to me to read a Poirot set in the seventies; while I've definitely read at least one more from that decade, as well as one from the sixties, it was when I was young enough not to register when they were set. (I had a big Poirot phase as a child, for reasons I do not entirely understand.))
The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door
I'm not hugely familiar with dark academia as a genre, but I know enough to know this was using a lot of familiar tropes. Which is absolutely fine because it really nailed the execution: it's a really satisfying read because of how well constructed it is. All the character work is great, it knows what it wants to do with its themes, the worldbuilding hangs together nicely. I enjoyed it a whole lot.
King of Dead Things
YA urban fantasy about four black teenagers doing magic in London, and if any of that sounds appealing to you, you should get it because it's great. I feel like there were a few first-book type wobbles here and there, but overall I liked it a whole lot and am excited to read more in the series.
(content note: the parent of one character has memory loss, analogous to but not Alzheimer's)
The Orb of Cairado
Novella set just after The Goblin Emperor; the protagonist is the best friend of the Wisdom of Choharo's pilot. This definitely feels at times like a novel with the complications taken out, rather than a true novella, and there were definitely things I wanted more development of, but Addison's a good enough writer that it's still a fun read, and I absolutely loved the ending.