Unraveling the Chaos (part 1 of 1, complete)
Apr. 14th, 2026 10:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dialecticdreamer
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1278
[Morning of Thursday, 9 November of 2017]
:: Loudmouth lets her impish side out to play with Jules, and his reaction is… intriguing. Part of the “Lodestar” arc, set in the Polychrome Heroics universe. ::
Loudmouth growled at him as Jules approached her desk. The teen carried a mug of something, presumably coffee, but the saucer perched atop it made it impossible to see the contents of the mug, if there were any. The Danish atop the plate, however, commanded attention because of the wraiths of aromatic steam and the beauty of the lemon glaze artfully drizzled over the pastry. “I know that teenagers are always hungry,” she began casually, keeping her eyes on the monitor in front of her. “But isn’t that a little extreme?”
( Read more... )
At a different residence tonight
Apr. 14th, 2026 09:51 pmconuly. . .
Apr. 14th, 2026 08:45 pmsettiai
Oh, don't get me wrong. It was a very positive comment overall. But, still. Oof. I'm used to getting comments like that on some of my really early fics, but I was already out of college when I posted this one.
Daily Check-In
Apr. 14th, 2026 05:59 pmstarwatcher posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandom_checkinThis is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Tuesday, April 14, to midnight on Wednesday, April 15. (8pm Eastern Time).
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 21
How are you doing?
I am OK.
14 (66.7%)
I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
7 (33.3%)
I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)
How many other humans live with you?
I am living single.
8 (38.1%)
One other person.
10 (47.6%)
More than one other person.
3 (14.3%)
Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
Book review: The Black Fantastic
Apr. 14th, 2026 04:18 pmrocky41_7 posting in booknookAnthologist: Andre M. Carrington
Genre: Short story anthology, science-fiction, futurism
I don’t know how I keep timing these so that I finish my audiobook and my paper book one right after the other. This weekend I also wrapped up The Black Fantastic, an anthology compiled by Andre M. Carrington. Thank you to pauraque for bringing this one to my attention! This is a collection of “Afrofuturist” stories by Black authors. If you want more detail, Pauraque has done individual reviews of each story which you can read here; I won’t get that specific.
With the usual caveat that all anthologies vary in quality, I enjoyed this one. There were a lot of very different stories, from some really fantastical stuff to ones that are just a little bit to the left of the world as it stands. On the high end of things, pieces like A Guide to the Native Fruits of Hawai’i by Alayna Dawn Johnson, where the protagonist grapples with her decision to collaborate with a group of vampire invaders to prey on the locals (and the metaphor of vampirism for the way Hawaii is treated by wealthy Americans is not lost in the shuffle); or The Orb by Tara Campbell, which was both strange and unexplained, choosing to focus not on the “why” or “how” of the situation but again on the moral quandary of its main character.
On the lower end, ones like The Ones Who Stay and Fight by NK Jemisin, which felt…narratively unclear, to say the least. It is either a satire of the kind of utopia writers create where its status as utopia is essentially dependent on eliminating any disagreement or contact with the outside world…or it’s a whole-hearted endorsement of that view. And if I can’t tell which, I tend to think the author’s failed at their purpose; or Ruler of the Rear Guard by Maurice Broaddus, which seemed to end just as it was getting to the plot.
Overall, I had fun with this anthology. SFF short story collections, done well, are such a scintillating showcase of creativity and I felt that here.
Recent Reading: The Black Fantastic
Apr. 14th, 2026 04:18 pmrocky41_7 posting in booksI don’t know how I keep timing these so that I finish my audiobook and my paper book one right after the other. This weekend I also wrapped up The Black Fantastic, an anthology compiled by Andre M. Carrington. Thank you to pauraque for bringing this one to my attention! This is a collection of “Afrofuturist” stories by Black authors. If you want more detail, Pauraque has done individual reviews of each story which you can read here; I won’t get that specific.
With the usual caveat that all anthologies vary in quality, I enjoyed this one. There were a lot of very different stories, from some really fantastical stuff to ones that are just a little bit to the left of the world as it stands. On the high end of things, pieces like A Guide to the Native Fruits of Hawai’i by Alayna Dawn Johnson, where the protagonist grapples with her decision to collaborate with a group of vampire invaders to prey on the locals (and the metaphor of vampirism for the way Hawaii is treated by wealthy Americans is not lost in the shuffle); or The Orb by Tara Campbell, which was both strange and unexplained, choosing to focus not on the “why” or “how” of the situation but again on the moral quandary of its main character.
On the lower end, ones like The Ones Who Stay and Fight by NK Jemisin, which felt…narratively unclear, to say the least. It is either a satire of the kind of utopia writers create where its status as utopia is essentially dependent on eliminating any disagreement or contact with the outside world…or it’s a whole-hearted endorsement of that view. And if I can’t tell which, I tend to think the author’s failed at their purpose; or Ruler of the Rear Guard by Maurice Broaddus, which seemed to end just as it was getting to the plot.
Overall, I had fun with this anthology. SFF short story collections, done well, are such a scintillating showcase of creativity and I felt that here.
Why Tho: Can we leave out the horrible kid?
Apr. 14th, 2026 02:25 pmpetrea_mitchell posting in agonyauntDear Lizzy,
My son is in third grade, and his birthday is coming up. He’s told me he wants to invite his whole class to his party (at a park) except for one kid.
This kid is a menace, if I am honest. He breaks things in class and yells and hits. He is actually quite mean to my son. I want to respect my son’s wishes here, but is it fair to invite everyone except him?
To Exclude or Not to Exclude
( Read more... )
There's no knowledge but I knows it
Apr. 14th, 2026 08:09 pmoursinHave just out of the blue had an email from a meedja person about what a cause of death on early C20th certificate MEANS, a colleague of theirs contacted me - what must have been in days of yore - and I was really helpful. I think that may have been a case in which Sid was involved, this was not, but we do our best in posing as a Nexpert.
I was able to flash a bit more relevant knowledge in the question portion of online seminar this pm (even though I dozed off, did not sleep well last night, during part of the actual seminar).
Have got off my desk and conscience something that has been hanging over me, to wit, second review of article I did a previous review of some weeks ago. Was somewhat prejudiced about it (it is actually not at all bad doing what it does) because it rather glances over the amount of work that went into getting the archive used into usable condition (personal interest there noted) and role of archivists in between the creators of the records and the end-users.
Think I mentioned some while ago possibility that longtime academic friend and self may be editing for publication Important Work on Significant and Highly Relevant Subject of friend of ours who died very unexpectedly last year. We have now received the draft manuscript and it seems more of a manuscript (rather than notes and materials) than we had feared.
Still have review that has been hanging over me and keeping getting put off to do.
Have podcast to record later this week.
Also must begin to turn my thoughts to being instructive yet entertaining on the history of ye baudruche (and finding illos, fortunately I already have quite a few).
chittering all its unpronounceable names
Apr. 14th, 2026 02:58 pmmusesfool
A Dictionary Names the Wind in the Trees
by Susan Cohen
Psithurism because
what else would we call sound embedded
with leaf mold and breath
zithering just below the daily drone
of power saws and chippers,
eons of air shifting
like an old Chevy through leaves,
riffling papery corn fields
and the eucalyptus,
stuttering through windbreaks,
jittering an aspen
in a beam of breath,
lisping nothing pins me down
in the language of the Huron,
in Olmec, in Sanskrit, chittering
all its unpronounceable names,
its tunes with the shiver of pine needles
and the moves of a river?
Psithurism comes as close
to the clash of wind and trees
as orgasm comes to the friction
of muscles, nerves, bodies,
which is to say when so many words
cannot catch it,
those of us always searching
for just the right one may
as well stop speaking
and lift our heads
like mule deer, ears twitched
for the smallest sound.
*
Somewhat important news
Apr. 14th, 2026 06:04 pmregshoeHornblower, movies seven and eight
Apr. 14th, 2026 11:18 amosprey_archerSince seven and eight are the last of the series, this review obviously contains many ( spoilers )
Perfectly fine, but did not reach the glorious heights of Hornblower bridal carrying a starving Kennedy through the rain to demand medical attention from the Spanish authorities holding them captive.
General thanks
Apr. 14th, 2026 10:58 amdialecticdreamerSo, there it is.
I've fallen so far behind in expressing that individually after comments that I am offering blanket thanks and asking for a mea culpa. Prioritizing comments which create conversation means that I must delete the comments unanswered which have made me SO incredibly happy of late. I just don't have the typing resources right now, and I'll be the first to say that I'm disappointed that this is the best solution I've come up with.