Recent Reading: The Starless Sea
Apr. 22nd, 2025 06:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rocky41_7 posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
booksThe most recent commute audiobook was The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, of The Night Circus fame (although admittedly I have not read that one yet). This is a fantasy novel about Zachary, a young man swept into the drama of a secret underground society and the mysterious figures who surround it.
I finished this book on Sunday morning, catching the last 7 minutes of a whopping 19-hour runtime over breakfast, and since then I've settled into a relative disappointment. On paper, this book has so many things that should make it an ace in the hole for me: Book lovers! Cats! Secret magical societies! Queer characters! Women who are something Other taking control of their destinies! And yet, overall, this book just did not land for me.
As is a risk, I think, with all stories that are about the power of stories, The Starless Sea comes off a little pretentious and self-important. It is a book lauding the unmatched importance of books. I felt aware at various points throughout the book of how hard it was trying to appeal to people like me, who would enjoy the idea of a dark-paneled underground room with endless books and an on-demand kitchen, and this sense of pandering did take away from it at times.
However, it also does some interesting things with regards to what it is like to be the person in a story (such as the fate of Eleanor and Simon, once their part in the story is done) as well as the risks of valuing preservation over change and growth. Without giving too much away, there is a secret society in decline, and a woman so determined to prevent its downfall that she ends up causing significant harm to the organization she's trying to save because she is unwilling to accept that an end comes for all things. I enjoyed this theme and I felt like it was echoed well throughout the story, and in many ways it's easy to sympathize with her ultimate goals, if not her methods.
( Read more... )
[Prompt #421 — Amnesty] teen Titans — Total Consumption
Apr. 22nd, 2025 06:10 ampitchblackrenegade posting in 100wordsAuthor: Audrelite Title: Total Consumption Fandom: Teen Titans (2003) Prompt: #421 — New Rating: E (Sexual content) Characters: Leonid Kovar, Koriand'r Word Count: 100 Summary: The sensation: total consumption, a pressure shattering every limit, a rhythm building, breaking, rebuilding its exquisite loop.
[Prompt #429 (Amnesty] Winx Club — Icy And His for the Taking
Apr. 22nd, 2025 02:04 ampitchblackrenegade posting in 100wordsAuthor: Audrelite Title: Icy and His For the Taking Fandom: Winx Club Prompt: #429 — Icy Rating: T Characters: Tritannus, mentioned Icy Word Count: 100 Summary: To lose sight of Icy would be to lose this new constant gifted to him within this desolate wasteland.
Prompt: #440 - Amnesty Week
Apr. 21st, 2025 11:00 pmsweettartheart posting in 100wordsEvery tenth week on 100words is Amnesty Week, when all previous prompts are fair game. Did you miss a prompt the first time around? Write it now! Want to write a prompt again? Please do!
Your response should be exactly 100 words long. You do not have to include the prompt in your response -- it is meant as a starting place only. Please use the appropriate prompt tag with your prompt response.
Please put your drabble under a cut tag if it contains potential triggers, mature or explicit content, or spoilers.
If you would like a template for the header information you may use this:
Subject: Original - Title (or) Fandom - Title
Post:
Title:
Original (or) Fandom:
Rating:
Notes:
Here's the template as code for easier pasting:
If you are a member of AO3 there is a 100 Words Collection!
The prompts are:
439. refuse
438. shelter
437. flower
436. bitter
435. exile
434. cook
433. scrape
432. mudita (मुदिता)
431. toska (тоска)
( Earlier prompts )
100words is Amnesty Week, when all previous prompts are fair game. Did you miss a prompt the first time around? Write it now! Want to write a prompt again? Please do!Your response should be exactly 100 words long. You do not have to include the prompt in your response -- it is meant as a starting place only. Please use the appropriate prompt tag with your prompt response.
Please put your drabble under a cut tag if it contains potential triggers, mature or explicit content, or spoilers.
If you would like a template for the header information you may use this:
Subject: Original - Title (or) Fandom - Title
Post:
Title:
Original (or) Fandom:
Rating:
Notes:
Here's the template as code for easier pasting:
If you are a member of AO3 there is a 100 Words Collection!
The prompts are:
439. refuse
438. shelter
437. flower
436. bitter
435. exile
434. cook
433. scrape
432. mudita (मुदिता)
431. toska (тоска)
( Earlier prompts )
(no subject)
Apr. 21st, 2025 12:39 pmquicktimeeventfull posting in 100wordsTitle: Certainty
Fandom: Death Note
Rating: Gen
Notes: Spoilers for the end of Death Note; death of a child
( Read more... )
Fandom: Death Note
Rating: Gen
Notes: Spoilers for the end of Death Note; death of a child
( Read more... )
Shin Megami Tensei: Law Unto Chaos
Apr. 20th, 2025 04:22 pmtehexile posting in 100wordsTitle: Law Unto Chaos
Fandom: Shin Megami Tensei
Rating: PG-13
Notes: bureaucracy, humour
Summary: When demon summoning becomes widespread, its just immigration paperwork.
( Read more... )
Fandom: Shin Megami Tensei
Rating: PG-13
Notes: bureaucracy, humour
Summary: When demon summoning becomes widespread, its just immigration paperwork.
( Read more... )
guestbooks
Apr. 19th, 2025 12:45 pmtozka posting in smallwebI've accidentally collected more than a couple of links for guestbooks options for personal sites, so I thought I'd better share them. I'm focusing on free AND ad-free options.
Atabook, from the folks who run Nekoweb. This is the one I use, and while it doesn't come with an embed option you can stick it on your site with an iframe.
guestbooks from meadow.cafe is a similar service, but it comes with an option to directly embed the guestbook on your website either with iframes or Javascript.
Kalechips' guestbook runs on PHP and stores entries in a CSV file.
Groundedwren's Guestbook runs with Javascript, Discord and Google Sheets.
You can set up Webmentions to go to a guestbook page, as seen here.
For people with more time and/or a specific aesthetic, Eva made this amazing notecard guestbook page. Here's another similar type, though I'm not sure how it was made.
I've also seen people create a Guestbook post on their Dreamwidth journal, and invite comments there. :D
Atabook, from the folks who run Nekoweb. This is the one I use, and while it doesn't come with an embed option you can stick it on your site with an iframe.
guestbooks from meadow.cafe is a similar service, but it comes with an option to directly embed the guestbook on your website either with iframes or Javascript.
Kalechips' guestbook runs on PHP and stores entries in a CSV file.
Groundedwren's Guestbook runs with Javascript, Discord and Google Sheets.
You can set up Webmentions to go to a guestbook page, as seen here.
For people with more time and/or a specific aesthetic, Eva made this amazing notecard guestbook page. Here's another similar type, though I'm not sure how it was made.
I've also seen people create a Guestbook post on their Dreamwidth journal, and invite comments there. :D
Recent Reading: Untold Night and Day
Apr. 18th, 2025 05:28 pmrocky41_7 posting in booksBook #7 from the "Women in Translation" rec list: Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah, translated from Korean by Deborah Smith.
Trying to accurately describe the plot of this book is an exercise in futility, so I'm not going to bother. All I can say is it centers around Ayami, a woman who is an actress, or maybe a poet, or possibly both, and is on her last day of work at an audio theater for the blind in Seoul.
This is a book I feel like I'd have to read at least one more time all the way through to be able to really discuss the themes and motifs at play. It's an incredibly cerebral novel that never gives up a clear answer about what's happening. What's real or not real changes from scene to scene. Is Ayami an orphan? Did she have a wealthy aunt? Is she the poet from Buha's youth? Is the director the bus driver? Who really got hit by the bus, and who was the murdered woman in the attic? Is Ayami Yeoni? The book leaves you to your own conclusions.
Single File PHP Gallery
Apr. 18th, 2025 02:17 pmfalkner posting in smallwebThis is kind of a drive-by rec post, but I have recently discovered and made good use of Single File PHP Gallery (link: https://sye.dk/sfpg/), which is, true to its name, a gallery utility that consists of a single PHP file. Definitely worth checking out if you want or need a very bare-bones gallery on your website!
In case you know of any similar low-requirements and low-maintenance gallery scripts to add to a website, feel free to add them to the comments!
In case you know of any similar low-requirements and low-maintenance gallery scripts to add to a website, feel free to add them to the comments!
celebrity20in20 Round 13
Apr. 17th, 2025 03:46 pmreeby10 posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_community_promo
Link: Round 13 Sign Ups | Round 13 Themes
Description:
celebrity20in20 is a 20in20 community dedicated to making icons of actors and actresses. You have 20 days to make 20 icons about a celebrity of your choice, based on a set of themes for the round.
Schedule: Round 13 sign ups are open NOW. Icons are due May 7, 2025.
[Prompt #439] BtVS / Spuffy — One-time Special
Apr. 17th, 2025 10:33 amveronyxk84 posting in 100wordsTitle: One-time Special
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Author:veronyxk84
Characters/Pairing: Spuffy
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: none
Word count: 100 (Google Docs)
Spoilers/Setting: Set post-S11 (comics) in an alternate reality where Buffy and Spike are an established couple.
Summary: At their wedding reception, Buffy and Spike talk about their first dance.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction created for fun and no profit has been made. All rights belong to the respective owners.
Challenge: #439 - Refuse
Crossposted:drabble_zone, My journal, Sunnydale After Dark
—
( READ: One-time Special )
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Author:
veronyxk84Characters/Pairing: Spuffy
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: none
Word count: 100 (Google Docs)
Spoilers/Setting: Set post-S11 (comics) in an alternate reality where Buffy and Spike are an established couple.
Summary: At their wedding reception, Buffy and Spike talk about their first dance.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction created for fun and no profit has been made. All rights belong to the respective owners.
Challenge: #439 - Refuse
Crossposted:
drabble_zone, My journal, Sunnydale After Dark—
( READ: One-time Special )
EO/Bensler fan community (SVU)
Apr. 17th, 2025 12:01 amdoranwen posting in dw_community_promoI realized there was nowhere on Dreamwidth for SVU fans who love EO/Bensler (the Elliot/Olivia ship), so I created bensler. I've kickstarted it with a post or two of my own, but I'd love other EO fans to join and post as well!
Tagged for adult content because the community is marked 18+ in order to be open to explicit fic and art.
bensler. I've kickstarted it with a post or two of my own, but I'd love other EO fans to join and post as well!Tagged for adult content because the community is marked 18+ in order to be open to explicit fic and art.
[Challenge #439: Refuse] Friends: 'Best Friend Ever'
Apr. 16th, 2025 07:33 pmcyberiad_queen posting in 100wordsTitle: 'Best Friend Ever'
Fandom: Friends
Rating: G
Notes: Crossposted todrabble_zone
( Best Friend Ever )
Fandom: Friends
Rating: G
Notes: Crossposted to
drabble_zone( Best Friend Ever )
[Prompt #439] Winx Club — Won't Leave You Alone
Apr. 16th, 2025 12:14 ampitchblackrenegade posting in 100wordsAuthor: Audrelite Title: Won't Leave You Alone Fandom: Winx Club Prompt: #439 — Refuse Rating: G Characters: Darcy, mentioned Tecna Word Count: 100 Summary: If Icy or Stormy were ever to discover she'd been seeing one of the Winx, had fallen in love with one of them... no amount of illusion or hypnotism could possibly offer the explanation due.
Prompt: #439 - Refuse
Apr. 15th, 2025 02:09 pmsweettartheart posting in 100wordsThis week's prompt is refuse.
Your response should be exactly 100 words long. You do not have to include the prompt in your response -- it is meant as a starting place only. Please use the tag "prompt: #439 - refuse" with your response.
Please put your drabble under a cut tag if it contains potential triggers, mature or explicit content, or spoilers.
If you would like a template for the header information you may use this:
Subject: Original - Title (or) Fandom - Title
Post:
Title:
Original (or) Fandom:
Rating:
Notes:
If you are a member of AO3 there is a 100 Words Collection!
Your response should be exactly 100 words long. You do not have to include the prompt in your response -- it is meant as a starting place only. Please use the tag "prompt: #439 - refuse" with your response.
Please put your drabble under a cut tag if it contains potential triggers, mature or explicit content, or spoilers.
If you would like a template for the header information you may use this:
Subject: Original - Title (or) Fandom - Title
Post:
Title:
Original (or) Fandom:
Rating:
Notes:
If you are a member of AO3 there is a 100 Words Collection!