At Midnight Comes the Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming
Dec. 6th, 2025 03:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lightreads3/5. Tenth in this series of mysteries about the episcopal priest and the police chief (they are married with baby at this point).
I’m always happy to spend more time with these characters, but I’m gonna be honest here: I come to this series for small town stuff and mysteries and a light but intense approach to relationships. I do not come for white nationalist terrorism or action movie stuff. And yet, guess what I got here.
This also feels like a final book, with a weirdly pasted on ‘five years later’ epilogue. Which is fine if that’s how it is, but I was disappointed in the treatment that a secondary couple got. She is so good at relationships that shouldn’t work but do. In this case, a divorced woman in her thirties with young kids and a history in the porn industry, and an early twenties rookie on the police force. She does messy but magnetic so well, and she let them develop over many books. So I found the conclusion(?) to their story here, and how little attention was paid to the thorny emotional stuff between them, to be uncharacteristic and disappointing. Same take on the resolution(?) of the addiction plotline.
Content notes: White nationalism of several flavors, violence (domestic and otherwise)
Big News at Mood Theme in a Year
Dec. 5th, 2025 11:57 pmsoc_puppet posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
newcomersMembers of
moodthemeinayear are now being awarded paid time or Dreamwidth points for creating custom mood themes!You can learn about all the details here; the next full round of the Minimum, Medium, and Maximum Tracks starts January 1st, but if you're looking for the perfect creative project to speed run before then, there's also Mood Theme in a Month calendars and some Bingo cards to work with.
Come check it out and stretch your creative muscles!
(no subject)
Dec. 5th, 2025 09:10 pmshadarasFanfic End-of-the-Year Asks [I mean, COMMENTS here, really, but. you know.]
- favorite fic you wrote this year
- least favorite fic you wrote this year
- favorite line/scene you wrote this year
- total number of words you wrote this year
- most popular fic this year
- least popular fic this year
- longest completed fic you wrote this year
- shortest completed fic you wrote this year
- longest wip of the year
- shortest wip of the year
- fandom you enjoyed writing for the most this year
- favorite character to write about this year
- favorite writing song/artist/album of this year
- a fic you didn’t expect to write
- something you learned this year
- fic(s) you completed this year
- fics you’ll continue next year
- current number of wips
- any new fics to start next year
- number of comments you haven’t read
- most memorable comment/review
- events you participated in this year
- fics you wanted to write but didn’t
- favorite fic you read this year
- a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read
- number of favorites/bookmarks you made this year
- favorite fanfic author of the year
- longest fic you read this year
- shortest fic you read this year
- favorite fandom to read fic from this year
I ~only~ posted 43 works this year (not counting whatever else gets posted for end of year exchanges, etc), which is at once a lot and not as many as in recent years.
So yeah, have at!
(perhaps I'll post a Real Entry at some point, but for now: hey, I'm around, have a meme.)
oh deer
Dec. 5th, 2025 07:44 pmlow_delta posting in birdfeeding(no subject)
Dec. 5th, 2025 05:39 pmhungryghostsalso to be included in a more polished essay later: old post we made about improving social skills
Well, at the risk of being pedantic, neither I nor anyone else can teach you how to make everyone like you. That's just impossible, and I'd also argue that trying for that just makes it harder to develop real social skills, since an important part of social interaction is accepting that you won't get along with everyone (even if both you and they are decent people! sometimes folks just aren't compatible)
Now that's been said, I've seen these resources recommended for improving your social skills:
- https://www.succeedsocially.com/ (have not read this one myself)
- https://captainawkward.com/ (read it back in the day, seems fairly sensible)
(no subject)
Dec. 5th, 2025 05:33 pmhungryghostsTo be polished into an essay later: old posts we made about hobbies
Hobbies that one or more of us have: writing, oldschool website-making, crochet, origami, fountain pens, digital and traditional art, cello, multiplayer gaming, mechanical keyboards, lucid dreaming, indoor gardening, reading miscellaneous nonfiction.
For starting points for the more accessible of these...
Writing: everyone hypes up writing a novel. You really don't need to write a novel. Write short stories, drabbles, single scenes, sequences of words that got stuck in your head, rants about this or that. Get into the habit of writing and prioritize writing something rather than something polished.
Oldschool website-making: there's a number of hosts around, Neocities being probably the most known, Nekoweb being a newer option that's pretty good. Look up tutorials on HTML and CSS (you don't need to touch JS)
Origami: lots of patterns around the web. Look for beginner ones. You don't need fancy paper, we made stuff out of printer and notebook paper for years. Just familiarize yourself with cutting your own squares (fold edge over until flush with the other edge to make a triangle, cut off the trailing paper, unfold triangle into square, ta-da).
Traditional art: hardest part here will be mindset. You'll compare yourself to other artists and angst about how you're not where you want to be a LOT, and it sucks. Think about it like a video game - any art you draw, no matter how shitty, is EXP, while no art means no EXP. Read the "50% Rule" on Drawabox.com and do your best to keep its principles in mind.
Multiplayer gaming: bunch of free multiplayer games out there. Of the ones we play, Warframe and Sky: Children of the Light probably give you the most access to the game without paying, just be prepared to be sad about not being able to afford many things. Guild Wars 2 and Final Fantasy XIV are fun, but they only give you free access to parts of the game, and then you gotta pay for expansions.
Tbh, if you have a computer that can run it + mods, I would recommend buying Minecraft if you have money to spare - the huge modding ecosystem means you'll get objectively more game for your money than buying an MMO expansion.
Lucid dreaming: "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming" by Stephen LaBerge is probably the most comprehensive book I've found on the topic, and you might be able to read it for free on Archive.org. I've personally found that reading about lucid dreaming + keeping a dream journal is usually enough for me to lucid dream without having to dip into the more involved techniques, but your mileage may vary. Be mindful of getting into this if you have chronic nightmares - lucid dreaming can help you manage them, but ime there's a transition period where you remember dreams more vividly but aren't lucid in them yet.
Reading miscellaneous nonfiction: again, Archive.org is your friend! If you have a library card, Libby lets you borrow ebooks from your library.
Regarding web development, I fully believe that you have it in you. CSS is daunting, often arcane. But in our experience, it does not remain that way forever. Some years ago, it took us hours to center a single element; now, we delight in debugging others' CSS and have written all of the styling on our site by hand. Like fronting, there is only one way to improve, and that is practice.
As for resources, I will disclaim that we haven't used all of these. But we have seen them recommended by several others.
Free and Newbie-Friendly Static Site Hosts
- Neocities (The best-known host, by far!)
- Nekoweb (This is the place that our site is hosted. We began on Neocities; it is more established and populous, but we enjoy Nekoweb more.)
Resources for Learning
- HTML for People (We have only taken a cursory look at this. But we liked what we saw!)
- Kevin Powell's Youtube channel (We have not used this. But people speak very highly of him.)
- freeCodeCamp's course on responsive web design (Once again, we have not used this. But people speak highly of freeCodeCamp.)
- CSS Diner (A little game to help you learn and practice CSS selectors. We have not delved deeply into this one.)
- Flexbox Froggy (Another CSS game, this time with a focus on flexbox. We have not played this, but people speak highly of it.)
Documentation
- MDN Web Docs (The most comprehensive reference for HTML, CSS, and Javascript, maintained by Mozilla, Google, and many volunteers.)
- w3schools (I have seen people say to take this one with a grain of salt. But it has been generally helpful to us. We prefer the MDN documentation, but we will often cross-reference the two if we're unsure how something is used.)
my 2025 advent calendar
Dec. 5th, 2025 08:57 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
sweetfish_feedit's five days into december and i made an advent calendar for 88x31 buttons! check back for a new one each day :)
Birdfeeding
Dec. 5th, 2025 02:11 pmysabetwordsmith posting in birdfeedingI fed the birds. I've seen a large mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, plus two mourning doves.
I put out water for the birds.
R.I.P Shang Tsung
Dec. 5th, 2025 12:39 pmfennectik posting in gamingHis family confirmed that he died in Santa Barbara, California, due to complications from a stroke.
He is widely remembered for his iconic role as Shang Tsung in the 1995 Mortal Kombat film.
Besides Mortal Kombat 11, his work as Shang Tsung in the Mortal Kombat franchise included:
Mortal Kombat: Onslaught **(2023): He lent his voice and likeness to the character in this mobile RPG.
Mortal Kombat: Legacy **(2013): He reprised the role in this web series.
Other roles he played were:
The Last Emperor (1987) as Chang
Licence to Kill (1989) as Kwang (a James Bond film)
Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991) as Funekei Yoshida
Rising Sun (1993) as Eddie Sakamura
The Phantom (1996) as The Great Kabai Sengh
Snow Falling on Cedars (1999) as Zenhichi Miyamoto
Pearl Harbor (2001) as Commander Minoru Genda
Planet of the Apes (2001) as Krull
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) as The Baron
Tekken (2009) as Heihachi Mishima
47 Ronin (2013) as Shogun Tsunayoshi
I had found out this yesterday, and he will surely be missed. Rest in peace.
Article:
LINK
Tropical Neighbors
Dec. 5th, 2025 12:13 pmlb_leeThrough luck, we have ended up with the warmest room in the apartment. We wake up in the morning bathed in sunbeams and radiance. The heat is off, and I am comfortable just wearing a sweatshirt--no gloves no hat. It's a little rough in the summer, but right now, I am blessing those downstairs tropical neighbors.
Photos: House Yard
Dec. 4th, 2025 11:40 pmysabetwordsmith posting in birdfeeding( Walk with me ... )
(no subject)
Dec. 4th, 2025 08:14 pmkossaithink about other potential methods , just on first pair anyway .
愛されなくても別に (Aisarenakutemo Betsuni) Film Adaptation Thoughts
Dec. 6th, 2025 11:00 pmsortition_social_feedEntry syndicated from Kansoulations [feed link]
When the Takeda Ayano book was announced for a live-action film adaptation, I was quite intrigued. The release date also coincided with my three-month stay in Japan, so I decided to spend my Saturday afternoon watching the movie.
This is the first Takeda Ayano live-action film adaptation. While she is no stranger to adaptations, I feel like there's some prestige in having a live-action movie screening in theaters everywhere. And it's an interesting choice for an adaptation too: as I wrote earlier, the book is rather critical about Japanese family structures and presents a compelling aromantic relationship between a woman repulsed by sexual intimacy and a sexual assault survivor. Perhaps, there's a demand for films that interrogate the fundamental assumptions of Japanese society. While watching this film I can't help but be reminded of Koreeda Hirokazu's Shoplifters, which it topped the Japanese charts for that year.
The movie follows the plot very closely -- not necessarily an ideal trait for bloggers trying to say something meaningful about movie adaptations. But in this case, the film's strengths hinges entirely on the strength of the original writing, character dynamics, and set design. Every scene was filmed the way I imagined when reading the book, depicting the world in which these characters live. The shots of Enaga's apartment and aquarium made it seem like the director and cinematographer had peeked into my brain. The performances are also meaningfully subdued to match the tone of the writing. I found myself sinking back into Miyata's depressing worldview as she looked around her apartment in silence, thinking about how much time and money she had devoted to caring for her mother.
I thought this was impressive because much of the book deals with Miyata's intoxicating narration, which is absent in the movie. Readers (myself included) will dearly miss this omission, but as a movie adaptation I think it's quite effective. The audience needs to connect the dots and understand the subtext behind each action and dialog. As a result, the movie doesn't feel jarring and remains consistently somber. The slow, lingering pace also makes the already quiet movie feel like a meditation.
The film also features excellent performances of some of the work's iconic lines. The title drop is as subtle and jarring as I remember; it's delivered as an offhand remark. I'm glad the staff understood there was no need to escalate the scene's stakes. Anyone paying attention will notice how important the title is.
The movie has flaws, some of which stem from the book. While the relationship between the two protagonists feels real, it doesn't feel developed because there isn't much screen time of them just hanging out together. Instead, they're always doing something. The last third of the movie really suffers because there's no breathing room for the two. They keep getting one problem after another, so their life becomes too hectic for the audience to understand their dynamic during calm moments.
I also found the cinematography and editing awkward at times. There are many dolly shots that don't add any value to the scene and are very distracting. This conflicts with how plain and functional many of these shots are. In fact, I wish it were more minimalist.
But in the end, the movie is a solid adaptation that not only understands the source text's quirks but embraces them. As I left the theater, I overheard a het couple raving about how wonderful the movie was and how much they couold relate to the characters. I think the movie and the book speak to the feelings that everyone young and thinking about familial love is feeling right now.
I would recommend this movie to fans of the book and and to those are interested in the work but can't read Japanese yet (I assume this will be subtitled in English soon). It's a good adaptation that introduces readers to the non-Euphonium world Takeda is thriving in.
I would love for more people to read or watch this work. Its message, I think, is so important. Watching this movie reaffirmed my belief that it might be one of the best contemporary works of fiction I've read. Takeda Ayano is a very talented write, and I hope more of her works are adapted for the big screen soon.
2025 December Fan Poll
Dec. 4th, 2025 04:22 pmlb_leeAs always, anyone can vote (please do!), but LiberaPay and Patreon patrons get double weight for their votes. (Due to Patreon's porn purges, I really encourage you to use LiberaPay, if you get a choice.) If you want to see the blurbs for any of these works, those are here! (You can also leave your requests there; requesting a story or essay is always free!) If you don't have a DW and so can't do the poll, that's okay; just leave your vote in the comments below; anon comments are turned on.
Which works gets the money, and thus posted this month? YOU CHOOSE, readers!
Did you toss LiberaPay/Patreon money my way last month?
What writing gets posted this month?
Infinity Smashed: Born Lucky
3 (17.6%)
Reverend Alpert: the Traveling Exorcist
2 (11.8%)
Henchwench for Hire (F/F supervillainy)
3 (17.6%)
Rutless (trans omegaverse porno)
1 (5.9%)
Anatomy of a Dance (essay)
10 (58.8%)
The Boy Whose Heart Is Home (teen hardship)
4 (23.5%)
The Battleaxe and the Blood-Eater (pseudo Greco-Roman gladiators)
3 (17.6%)
two apocalyptic micro-stories
4 (23.5%)
What art/comic/zine gets posted this month?
Cult Comix
6 (37.5%)
Death Watch
3 (18.8%)
Protection
5 (31.2%)
Freight Train Flirting
8 (50.0%)
Old Man Yaoi
7 (43.8%)
Birdfeeding
Dec. 4th, 2025 02:20 pmysabetwordsmith posting in birdfeedingI fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a male cardinal, and a mourning dove.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 12/3/25 -- I took some pictures around the yard.
EDIT 12/3/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I've seen several more mourning doves roosting in the trees, puffed up like little beige softballs. :D
EDIT 12/3/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 12/3/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
Deceit and Disrobing: The Schefer Maqāmāt (BNF Arabe 5847, ca. 1237)
Dec. 4th, 2025 05:40 pmpublicdomainreview_feed
Illustrations of Abū Zayd and his adventures in double meaning.
Wednesday
Dec. 3rd, 2025 06:41 pmribirdnerd posting in birdfeedingQuite a few birds today, all flushed by a visiting Coopers Hawk looking for a quick snack.Many Blue Jays, House Sparrows, Mourning Doves and Squirrels plus a Brown headed Cowbird. A Tufted Titmouse and Northern Cardinal were along the nearby trails