Happy June 1!
Jun. 2nd, 2026 12:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dhampyresaMissed May 1 because I was sick, but here's your annual apotropaic picture of (plastic) lily of the valley (with bonus Miss Creant the cat).
dhampyresa
June progress post
Jun. 1st, 2026 10:15 pmchacusha posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
crackthewipThis is it, everybody: the last check-in post! You have one more month, until June 30th (anytime in the world), to post your works to the collection before it closes. But first, let's celebrate some people who finished their WIPs in May:
• Gravity's Prisoner by![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
flockofcrows (DCU)
• Stay the Night byVanyalanthiriel (聖剣伝説３ | Seiken Densetsu 3 | Trials of Mana (Video Game))
Congrats,flockofcrows, and congrats again, vanyalanthiriel!
In the comments, let us know what you're hoping to accomplish in June, and then it's one final push to the end. Feel free to share a short/small snippet if you have one. If you haven't officially joined but think you'll finish something by the end, feel free to sign up. Otherwise, I'll see you in July when we can celebrate everyone's achievements! ❤️
• Gravity's Prisoner by
• Stay the Night by
Congrats,
flockofcrows, and congrats again, vanyalanthiriel!In the comments, let us know what you're hoping to accomplish in June, and then it's one final push to the end. Feel free to share a short/small snippet if you have one. If you haven't officially joined but think you'll finish something by the end, feel free to sign up. Otherwise, I'll see you in July when we can celebrate everyone's achievements! ❤️
Above a gulf of hamstrung promises
Jun. 1st, 2026 10:08 amnewredshoes
Last night, I made a terrible mistake and added up all my nonnegotiable expenses and friends, the vibes are rancid and I am several hundred dollars in the hole each month even before I get to feeding myself. Do we still use Patreon as a way to supplement a full-time income?? (I like Substack as a platform very much but the fights about it exhaust me. The other options are ugly and want me to pay for the privilege; right now, no.)
This would not be as much as an issue if I hadn't been hit all at once with a $1,600 tax bill in April, then an $800 special assessment and then an $1,800 bill from dislocating my elbow, which I had thought was totally covered by my insurance but I guess not! I'm on payment plans for two of those, but that's through the end of the summer and that just... ugh.
I can't ask my family for help because my dad will just start talking about how I'll get money when he dies and I can't handle that. I can't keep drawing on my savings because that shit's got to actually grow. I can't cut down much in my budget because that $30 in TV subscriptions and Grubhub membership is load-bearing for my mental health. I have all these vacation days I have to use or lose and I can't actually afford to do anything!!!
So anyway, yeah, I really miss doing Excited Mark-style essays with research, but I'm thinking of serializing a novel I started drafting a while ago. It would combine my need for money with my quest for a Creative Thing to Do, but damn, monetizing your free time and hobbies absolutely sucks.
This would not be as much as an issue if I hadn't been hit all at once with a $1,600 tax bill in April, then an $800 special assessment and then an $1,800 bill from dislocating my elbow, which I had thought was totally covered by my insurance but I guess not! I'm on payment plans for two of those, but that's through the end of the summer and that just... ugh.
I can't ask my family for help because my dad will just start talking about how I'll get money when he dies and I can't handle that. I can't keep drawing on my savings because that shit's got to actually grow. I can't cut down much in my budget because that $30 in TV subscriptions and Grubhub membership is load-bearing for my mental health. I have all these vacation days I have to use or lose and I can't actually afford to do anything!!!
So anyway, yeah, I really miss doing Excited Mark-style essays with research, but I'm thinking of serializing a novel I started drafting a while ago. It would combine my need for money with my quest for a Creative Thing to Do, but damn, monetizing your free time and hobbies absolutely sucks.
The Legend of Vox Machina
Jun. 1st, 2026 12:38 amsettiai
How is June already? Seriously, how?
(Yes, it's only a little past midnight for me. It still counts.)
On a related note, Season 4 of The Legend of Vox Machina starts airing this week, so I did a marathon of the first three seasons while I was working on various things around the apartment this weekend. I made it through the first two seasons on Saturday, and then I picked up with the third season late this afternoon and just finished up a bit before midnight.
It's been ages since I watched the entire series back-to-back like that, and it really made it stand out just how much the characters have grown and evolved over the course of those three seasons. As much as I love Campaign 1 of Critical Role, the animated series really does a better job at telling the story of Vox Machina in a lot of ways. Which makes sense, as the D&D series was essentially the rough draft of the story while the show is the version that's been cleaned up and edited.
Now I just have to wait for Season 4 to get here.
(Yes, it's only a little past midnight for me. It still counts.)
On a related note, Season 4 of The Legend of Vox Machina starts airing this week, so I did a marathon of the first three seasons while I was working on various things around the apartment this weekend. I made it through the first two seasons on Saturday, and then I picked up with the third season late this afternoon and just finished up a bit before midnight.
It's been ages since I watched the entire series back-to-back like that, and it really made it stand out just how much the characters have grown and evolved over the course of those three seasons. As much as I love Campaign 1 of Critical Role, the animated series really does a better job at telling the story of Vox Machina in a lot of ways. Which makes sense, as the D&D series was essentially the rough draft of the story while the show is the version that's been cleaned up and edited.
Now I just have to wait for Season 4 to get here.
(no subject)
May. 31st, 2026 10:00 pm![[staff profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user_staff.png){kind=small}
denise posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_maintenanceRobby has managed to put in a temporary fix for the site errors and things failing to refresh or not showing up where they should! The permanent fix is going to need Mark's experience, and unfortunately -- seriously, this literally never fails -- Mark has been on an international flight all day, because of course he has. (Never. Fails. He and I are not allowed to both take vacation at once.)
The site will work just fine with the temporary fix in place, things just might be a little slow here and there. We'll keep you updated.
honey, don't you fool around
May. 31st, 2026 09:36 pmmusesfool
I meant to post earlier but then I kind of dozed off, whoops! Yesterday, I took my 90 mini cheesecakes and Baby Miss L's books and headed out to my sister's for Alyssa's birthday barbecue that was postponed from last weekend due to all the rain. Well, unfortunately, the weather yesterday was not really conducive to an outside party, so we ended up staying in the house. And my youngest niece, whose birthday was also yesterday, already had plans, so she (and my brother's family) couldn't make it. But it was nice.
When I got home today, I ended up having a long call with Friend L, who let me know that she's moving back to Atlanta (after being in New York for 30 years) to help out her sister with their mom, whose health has been declining. I kind of had a feeling this was going to happen, with how often she was going down there and how long she was staying each time, but she was in denial about it for a while. Hopefully I'll get to see her before she goes, and we can always facetime.
I also did the May recs update, and though there was some wonkiness with DW earlier, I think it's fixed now.
unfitforsociety has been updated for May 2026 with 8 recs in 2 fandoms:
* 7 Heated Rivalry
* 1 The Pitt
***
When I got home today, I ended up having a long call with Friend L, who let me know that she's moving back to Atlanta (after being in New York for 30 years) to help out her sister with their mom, whose health has been declining. I kind of had a feeling this was going to happen, with how often she was going down there and how long she was staying each time, but she was in denial about it for a while. Hopefully I'll get to see her before she goes, and we can always facetime.
I also did the May recs update, and though there was some wonkiness with DW earlier, I think it's fixed now.
unfitforsociety has been updated for May 2026 with 8 recs in 2 fandoms:* 7 Heated Rivalry
* 1 The Pitt
***
(no subject)
May. 31st, 2026 08:59 pmdenise posting in dw_maintenanceWe're aware of site traffic issues and are working to fix them for the people who are having problems! (The tactics the damn bot traffic uses are endlessly shifting, and they're really good at looking like real traffic, sigh.)
Heatwave over!
May. 31st, 2026 11:06 pmdhampyresaAs one of my friends said "Thankfully May is traditionally the hottest month of the year!"
I can't believe Dracula season (ie from May 3 to Nov 7, the time span of the book) is being so gothhobic
I can't believe Dracula season (ie from May 3 to Nov 7, the time span of the book) is being so gothhobic
Token weekly proof of life
May. 31st, 2026 04:37 pmumadoshiThe day has been evaporating and I'm very groggy, but hey. I live. (And we made the usual banana bread today, so that's a couple weeks of breakfasts set.) Finished reading a novel last night and have yet to choose the next one. Dentist tomorrow. Life.
Monday morning ETA: or the dentist appointments could be canceled first thing this morning. Rescheduling to follow when they're actually open for the day. (Someone called us earlier than that to try to make sure she caught us before we were actually en route, and succeeded.)
Monday morning ETA: or the dentist appointments could be canceled first thing this morning. Rescheduling to follow when they're actually open for the day. (Someone called us earlier than that to try to make sure she caught us before we were actually en route, and succeeded.)
Dreamwidth Issues
May. 31st, 2026 02:48 pmsettiai
Is anyone else having issues with Dreamwidth today?
I made a a post earlier today, but when I went to my journal it wasn't there. I assumed that I'd done something wrong, so I tried again. The post also disappeared and didn't show on my main journal page, nor did it show on the Edit Entries page.
Then I looked at my Reading Page, and both entries were there. I tried clicking the Edit button on both of them so that I could try to delete the duplicate, but when I do it says that the entries don't exist. They're still clearly showing on my Reading Page, though, even though they're not showing on my journal or in the tags attached to the posts.
Since something was clearly wrong, I tried putting in a support ticket, and I got the various confirmations that it was submitted. When I click the links that you're supposed to use to track the ticket, though, it simply says "Unknown support number." So I'm not 100% certain whether or not the ticket was even submitted properly or not despite getting the confirmation that it was.
Also, just to be clear, I don't have beta testing turned on. This is just the vanilla site.
So... is anyone else noticing odd things happening, or am I just the lucky one today?
I made a a post earlier today, but when I went to my journal it wasn't there. I assumed that I'd done something wrong, so I tried again. The post also disappeared and didn't show on my main journal page, nor did it show on the Edit Entries page.
Then I looked at my Reading Page, and both entries were there. I tried clicking the Edit button on both of them so that I could try to delete the duplicate, but when I do it says that the entries don't exist. They're still clearly showing on my Reading Page, though, even though they're not showing on my journal or in the tags attached to the posts.
Since something was clearly wrong, I tried putting in a support ticket, and I got the various confirmations that it was submitted. When I click the links that you're supposed to use to track the ticket, though, it simply says "Unknown support number." So I'm not 100% certain whether or not the ticket was even submitted properly or not despite getting the confirmation that it was.
Also, just to be clear, I don't have beta testing turned on. This is just the vanilla site.
So... is anyone else noticing odd things happening, or am I just the lucky one today?
Arlathan eXchange
May. 31st, 2026 02:22 pmsettiai
The Arlathan eXchange, a Dragon Age exchange focused on elves, went live earlier today. I ended up getting not one but two lovely gifts this year.
First up was imagination calling mirrors for you, a F!Mahariel/Morrigan fic. 1,057 words. It's focus is the Dark Ritual from DA:O and how it could have gone if there was a way to magically make F!Mahariel the "father" of Kieran.
Then there was baby, put some faith in me, which focuses on Davrin/Lucanis and Davrin/Lucanis/Spite. 5,169 words. It's set during "Inner Demons" but with Davrin being the one who Spite pulls into Lucanis's psyche rather than Rook.
Both fics are Explicit, ratings-wise.
First up was imagination calling mirrors for you, a F!Mahariel/Morrigan fic. 1,057 words. It's focus is the Dark Ritual from DA:O and how it could have gone if there was a way to magically make F!Mahariel the "father" of Kieran.
Then there was baby, put some faith in me, which focuses on Davrin/Lucanis and Davrin/Lucanis/Spite. 5,169 words. It's set during "Inner Demons" but with Davrin being the one who Spite pulls into Lucanis's psyche rather than Rook.
Both fics are Explicit, ratings-wise.
Episode 2785: The Wrest Will Follow
May. 31st, 2026 09:11 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
darths_and_droids_feed
Players: One way to get away with things the GM might not otherwise allow is simply to assert that your character has already done it. GMs can sometimes be reluctant to retcon, so if you describe yourself as simply having succeeded, they might not insist that you have to roll or that what you just did is actually impossible.
GMs: Don't fall for this.
aurilee writes:
Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)
Oh come on. Okay, maybe it's unlikely we'd get a lightsaber fight between Rey and Palpatine, but just imagine how cool that could be instead of having the whiny brat get rescued from that planet and somehow end up here for the fight. Palpatine would practically be flying around on the metal arm thing, which could be neat looking, and Rey would have a way to win without killing Palpatine by breaking the arm thing. That kind of seems to be where the movie's stumbling towards, with Rey and not killing things, so that would fit well. Okay, that wouldn't put an end to the space fight above, but that can be resolved some other way. Possibly with that tower that was pointed out.
But I guess we're going to get a more traditional fight now, so hopefully something works out. Maybe Kylo beats Rey and then decides to kill Palpatine instead for some reason. Movie Kylo could just be petty again, but in the comic, we could have Nute telling Kylo to kill Palpatine to pay off the rescue and be more than just a sunk cost again. That'd be a decent way for the GM to exert some control over the fight if it doesn't quite go the way they want, especially with Anakin making a move for possession. And who knows how that'll end up going.
Transcript
A question about trigger warnings, I guess
May. 30th, 2026 10:19 pmdhampyresaI recently read a book that was, in part, a retelling of the fairytale "Donkeyskin". There was a list of trigger warnings at the start of said book, but "incest" wasn't among them. Nothing physical actually happens, but much like in the fairytale, the protagonist spends a not insignificant portion of the book (I want to say at least a quarter, but don't quote me on that) threatened by the prospect of being forced to marry/have sex with her father the king. I feel like that should still warrant a warning? Or maybe "being a Donkeyskin retelling" (obvious from summary/etc) is the warning? Idk, I feel like that's not enough, especially since Donkeyskin isn't particularly well known. Or maybe I'm overthinking things.
and then they were gone
May. 29th, 2026 09:55 pmmuccamukk
They re-wilded the beaver family yesterday. I hope they all do well and the mama finds a new mate. I knew it would be soon. They'd gotten so big, and were spending so much time outside.
I know it's good they're in the wild, but I really miss watching them. I wish there was a recoding.
I know it's good they're in the wild, but I really miss watching them. I wish there was a recoding.
one pitch, one out
May. 29th, 2026 09:15 pmmusesfoolMade 92 mini cheesecakes, 90 of which are now resting in the fridge before the trip out to the island tomorrow (I accidentally smushed 2 with the oven mitt when taking them out of the oven, so I ate them), along with the girls' birthday presents (cute socks!) and Baby Miss L's various books.
I had a bunch of orange cupcake papers, and just a small handful of blue ones, so I did kind of go for a Knicks theme. We'll see if anyone notices.
*
I had a bunch of orange cupcake papers, and just a small handful of blue ones, so I did kind of go for a Knicks theme. We'll see if anyone notices.
*
and nowhere shines but desolate
May. 28th, 2026 08:58 pmmusesfool
So here is a thing that happened this week: I have a monthly set of subscription deliveries from Amazon - stuff like dish soap, razor cartridges, paper towels, etc. - and it usually gets delivered the last Tuesday of the month, which was this week. I also had another book I ordered for Baby Miss L since the party got postponed to this weekend. Over the weekend, I get an email that my stuff has shipped. And then on Tuesday, instead of my stuff arriving, I get several emails saying everything in the package was undeliverable and is being refunded. So I check and my credit card has indeed been refunded. Most of it wasn't super necessary, so it was annoying but fine, but I did want the book (How to Catch a Star, recommended by justwontbreak), so I reordered it. I got an email this morning that it had been delivered, and when I went down to the package room, there it was...along with another box from Amazon, containing all the items from my order which had been "undeliverable" and refunded. It wasn't banged up or in bad shape at all, so I don't even know what happened, but I got my stuff, and now I have 2 copies of the book for Baby Miss L (one can stay with the grandparents or be given away, I don't even care). *hands*
*
justwontbreak), so I reordered it. I got an email this morning that it had been delivered, and when I went down to the package room, there it was...along with another box from Amazon, containing all the items from my order which had been "undeliverable" and refunded. It wasn't banged up or in bad shape at all, so I don't even know what happened, but I got my stuff, and now I have 2 copies of the book for Baby Miss L (one can stay with the grandparents or be given away, I don't even care). *hands**
May recs: more SGA fics, this time SG-1 crossover canon divergence
May. 28th, 2026 09:22 pmschneefinkAfter I was recently reminded of the vast treasure trove of SGA fic, I spent some time updating my bookmarks with working links where possible, and that of course led to me rereading many fics, and suddenly the month is almost over before I could get a proper list together, so just have some of my favorites. Still themed though because I'm not in the mood for the effort it would take to shut up the little voice in my head saying that's required for a proper rec list: Stargate 'verse crossovers with significant pre-canon canon divergences. These also happen to be some of my favorite SGA fics.
Retrograde series byLtLJ
107k (main series) + 22k of extras, mostly gen, SGA/SG-1 crossover, canon divergence AU
Summary: The Atlantis expedition has been lost for three years. SG-1 goes to find them, and arrives just a little too late.
Why I love it: I love (real and perceived) betrayal stories so this was already catnip to me - something which applies to all of these, come to think of it. Also some good old-fashioned whump, action, rescues, bonding, plot, comfort... So, so good. Very high up on my list of favorite fics I've read.
Gypsies, Pirates, and Thieves byauburn
372.2k, John/Rodney/Vala, SGA/SG-1 crossover, canon divergence AU
Summary: Vala Mal Doran and her partners, renegades Jehan abd-Ba'al and Meredith McKay, hijack the Tau'ri ship Prometheus and leave the Milky Way behind in search of the Lost City of the Ancients, Atlantis.
Why I love it: Action, rescues, bonding, plot, this time with a touch more past trauma and codependency and a larger cast. The second part in the series is my favorite (and the one I've reread most often, though that's also because it's significantly shorter then the others.)
Raiders of the Seven Systems byLtLJ
32.2k, gen, SGA/SG-1/Firefly crossover, canon divergence AU
Summary: John Sheppard leads a crew of Athosian space pirates in the Pegasus Galaxy. They rescue Earth refugees Rodney McKay and Sam Carter, but then things get complicated.
Why I like it: Space pirates! Also Zoe Washburn is there. This is kind of the space pirate!John version of Retrograde, at least vibes-wise, and I am here for it.
Unnatural Selection byauburn
164.4k, John/Todd & John/Rodney, SGA/SG-1/SGU crossover, canon divergence AU
Summary:Human error, operant conditioning, survival instinct and evolution as horror. An examination of the SGC's failure to anticipate and prevent the losses of Atlantis and the Alterran survey ship Destiny. One year after the first, the second Earth Expedition to Wraith-occupied Atlantis is diverted to an Ancient ship and struggles to survive with no way home and enemies within, while John Sheppard, considered a traitor by everyone who once knew him, tries to hold onto what humanity he has left and save them all.
Why I like it: Featuring the horrors of being marooned on a space ship that's falling apart with people you can't trust and struggling to survive, Wraith xenobiology and worldbuilding, transformation/body horror, and much more in a delicious mix.
Retrograde series by
107k (main series) + 22k of extras, mostly gen, SGA/SG-1 crossover, canon divergence AU
Summary: The Atlantis expedition has been lost for three years. SG-1 goes to find them, and arrives just a little too late.
Why I love it: I love (real and perceived) betrayal stories so this was already catnip to me - something which applies to all of these, come to think of it. Also some good old-fashioned whump, action, rescues, bonding, plot, comfort... So, so good. Very high up on my list of favorite fics I've read.
Gypsies, Pirates, and Thieves by
372.2k, John/Rodney/Vala, SGA/SG-1 crossover, canon divergence AU
Summary: Vala Mal Doran and her partners, renegades Jehan abd-Ba'al and Meredith McKay, hijack the Tau'ri ship Prometheus and leave the Milky Way behind in search of the Lost City of the Ancients, Atlantis.
Why I love it: Action, rescues, bonding, plot, this time with a touch more past trauma and codependency and a larger cast. The second part in the series is my favorite (and the one I've reread most often, though that's also because it's significantly shorter then the others.)
Raiders of the Seven Systems by
32.2k, gen, SGA/SG-1/Firefly crossover, canon divergence AU
Summary: John Sheppard leads a crew of Athosian space pirates in the Pegasus Galaxy. They rescue Earth refugees Rodney McKay and Sam Carter, but then things get complicated.
Why I like it: Space pirates! Also Zoe Washburn is there. This is kind of the space pirate!John version of Retrograde, at least vibes-wise, and I am here for it.
Unnatural Selection by
164.4k, John/Todd & John/Rodney, SGA/SG-1/SGU crossover, canon divergence AU
Summary:Human error, operant conditioning, survival instinct and evolution as horror. An examination of the SGC's failure to anticipate and prevent the losses of Atlantis and the Alterran survey ship Destiny. One year after the first, the second Earth Expedition to Wraith-occupied Atlantis is diverted to an Ancient ship and struggles to survive with no way home and enemies within, while John Sheppard, considered a traitor by everyone who once knew him, tries to hold onto what humanity he has left and save them all.
Why I like it: Featuring the horrors of being marooned on a space ship that's falling apart with people you can't trust and struggling to survive, Wraith xenobiology and worldbuilding, transformation/body horror, and much more in a delicious mix.
A rec post!
May. 28th, 2026 09:51 pmdhampyresaI recently stayed up way too late reading the (finished) webcomic The Boy Who Murdered Love. It's the story of a young man, who upon learning that his string of failed romances are due to his assigned cupid, decides to kill said cupid -- and ends up having to help him match soulmates instead. Meanwhile, someone else gets recruited to break up soulmate bonds... It was very fun! I liked the lore and how the relationships evolved.
I am now following the author's current webcomic Lovesick : To make a heart bloom, which isreverse hanahaki abput a world in which everyone has flowers growing out of their hearts/chests, except the protagonist and how far he'll go to "fix" himself. I'm really loving how pretty the art is, especially when it leans into Art Nouveau.
I am now following the author's current webcomic Lovesick : To make a heart bloom, which is
Testing needed in advance of code push!
May. 28th, 2026 04:10 pmdenise posting in dw_maintenanceIt's been a while since we've done a full code push rather than just hotfixes for bugs, so we are well overdue! Depending on availability, we're aiming to do one sometime soon; we'll let you know specifics once we've worked out good timing for everyone who needs to be available.
However! The reason it's been so long is we kept trying to get some of the stuff that's pending to "really finished" instead of just "mostly finished", and then we once again looked around and went "oh no, this is a really big code push with a lot of changes". Those make us nervous, because while we do a lot of testing ourselves, y'all are really creative in how you use the site and we inevitably find a bunch of edge cases when we let you loose on new code with your real-world data!
So, if folks have some spare time in the next few days, it would be a huge help if you could spend half an hour or so using the site the same way you normally do but with the "Site-Wide Canary" beta features flag turned on. Canary mode is a sort of "live testing" mode: it's your real data, but running the most up-to-date code.
Canary mode always does have a few glitches -- there may be missing text strings or errors about missing database properties, which is a limitation of how we run it. We don't need to know about those, but anything else weird that you run into, leave a comment with what you were trying to do and the error message you got.
I'll repeat that the "here be dragons" caution that's on the beta features page: some things may be broken, so don't use it for when you're doing something important. But a few more eyeballs on it before the push will help the push go more smoothly for everyone.
For folks who want to concentrate on what's changing, we haven't finished the second code tour of what's going to be in this push, but the ffirst one has a good chunk of what's going to be going live. (We'll get the second half done ASAP!)
However! The reason it's been so long is we kept trying to get some of the stuff that's pending to "really finished" instead of just "mostly finished", and then we once again looked around and went "oh no, this is a really big code push with a lot of changes". Those make us nervous, because while we do a lot of testing ourselves, y'all are really creative in how you use the site and we inevitably find a bunch of edge cases when we let you loose on new code with your real-world data!
So, if folks have some spare time in the next few days, it would be a huge help if you could spend half an hour or so using the site the same way you normally do but with the "Site-Wide Canary" beta features flag turned on. Canary mode is a sort of "live testing" mode: it's your real data, but running the most up-to-date code.
Canary mode always does have a few glitches -- there may be missing text strings or errors about missing database properties, which is a limitation of how we run it. We don't need to know about those, but anything else weird that you run into, leave a comment with what you were trying to do and the error message you got.
I'll repeat that the "here be dragons" caution that's on the beta features page: some things may be broken, so don't use it for when you're doing something important. But a few more eyeballs on it before the push will help the push go more smoothly for everyone.
For folks who want to concentrate on what's changing, we haven't finished the second code tour of what's going to be in this push, but the ffirst one has a good chunk of what's going to be going live. (We'll get the second half done ASAP!)
(no subject)
May. 28th, 2026 03:52 pmwaterswordTo my genuine astonishment, the Tatler Fairyland story got a pretty positive response in crit group, and I have a great direction to go for revisions. ?!?!
Meeting the person who successfully got the other pollinator garden approved got me a couple of potentially very useful contacts and a copy of their application, which I am shamelessly copying. Cross your fingers that my various ideas, especially for watering, work out, because that is probably the main blocker. (And me being willing to talk to vendors for price quotes, ugh.)
Episode 2784: Skygrim
May. 28th, 2026 09:11 amdarths_and_droids_feed
Having allied NPCs bite the dust is an effective way to show the dangers of a battle situation. If they're getting killed or wounded all around you, you should probably re-evaluate your position and try to get out of the fight somehow.
And if you're a GM, make sure to have disposable NPCs ready for a battle, so you can use this method to imply that the heroes are outmatched.
aurilee writes:
Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)
The attack is going poorly, no surprises there. There were at least two instances of just how badly fighting them would be that I remember, so I'm a little surprised that no one's mentioned that again. I bet Jim's going to try and claim all the credit whenever Nute's fleet ends up arriving since no one's wondered where that group is at. The location here was broadcast out for the First Order to find, right?
The orbaks are gone? What a surprise. I doubt that they simply ran away though, given that there's really nowhere to run to. More interesting is that these red armor troopers seem to have jetpacks. I can't think of any other reason why those two on the right would look like that. That's too organized a pose to be flying from an explosion. Rose seems unlikely to end up dying here, so I'm looking forward to seeing what thing happens that distracts or kills these troopers enough for evacuation.
Transcript
Experiments in Cooking
May. 28th, 2026 12:08 amsettiaiI've been eating a lot of pasta lately what with it being cheap and filling, and after some experimentation I've figured out the best way to make store-bought pasta and sauce (tomato-based at least) taste significantly better without adding much to the cost.
Basically, while the pasta is cooking on one of the eyes of my double burner, I put the sauce in a pan on the other and let it slowly heat up. Once the pasta finishes, I put it in the pan with the sauce, add some of the pasta water, plop in a pat of butter or some olive oil, and let it simmer on high for a few minutes. Then I sprinkle some parmesan and Italian seasoning on top and add another splash of pasta water if needed.
Once the sauce is at the consistency that I want, I transfer everything to a plate. Then I put some black pepper and more parmesan on top, drizzle it with a bit of olive oil, and call it a day. It's quick and easy, uses things that I have on hand, doesn't increase the cost of the meal very much, and makes it taste at approximately 10x better than it would otherwise.
Basically, while the pasta is cooking on one of the eyes of my double burner, I put the sauce in a pan on the other and let it slowly heat up. Once the pasta finishes, I put it in the pan with the sauce, add some of the pasta water, plop in a pat of butter or some olive oil, and let it simmer on high for a few minutes. Then I sprinkle some parmesan and Italian seasoning on top and add another splash of pasta water if needed.
Once the sauce is at the consistency that I want, I transfer everything to a plate. Then I put some black pepper and more parmesan on top, drizzle it with a bit of olive oil, and call it a day. It's quick and easy, uses things that I have on hand, doesn't increase the cost of the meal very much, and makes it taste at approximately 10x better than it would otherwise.
