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Recent Reading: A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel
Sep. 29th, 2025 02:34 pmrocky41_7 posting in booksIn case I haven't worn you all out nattering about Earthsea yet, here's some more. On Friday when I finished the Cycle I went online, as one does, and discovered that last year there was published a graphic novel edition of A Wizard of Earthsea, the first book in the series. So naturally this weekend I had to run out and buy it and read it all at once. The art was done by Fred Fordham and the project was overseen by Le Guin's son, Theo (she having passed away in 2018).
Theo, like Le Guin herself, was trepidatious about any visual representation of Earthsea, after decades of white character designs; white, middle-aged actors; and general tom-fuckery when it comes to representing Le Guin's work. It wasn't until Theo saw Fordham's work in To Kill a Mockingbird that he first considered it might be worthwhile to consider a graphic novel adaptation of his mother's work, and so here we are.
Fordham appears to have been the right man for the job--this graphic novel edition of A Wizard of Earthsea captures the characters as Le Guin may have envisioned them when she wrote. Theo in his forward acknowledges that one of the beautiful things about how the characters are described in Le Guin's work--enough to give an idea of their appearance, but also vague enough that readers can all use their own imaginations to some degree--becomes limited when creating an "official" visual representation of those characters. So he considers Fordham's designs just one of many possible looks for these characters, but one that cleaves to his mother's original descriptions.
His expressions neatly capture the shift in Ged's attitude over his schooling at Roke, from the proud, angry boy who first arrives to the sobered, haunted young man who departs.
Nearly all of the wording in the book is lifted directly from the original novel, which means Le Guin's original hard-hitting dialogue and beautiful descriptions of Earthsea survive to accompany Fordham's gorgeous scenic illustrations. He really captures the moody atmosphere of some of the book's darker moments, while also creating some truly stunning vistas of the ocean, which of course is a considerable part of the world for the characters of Earthsea (who live in an archipelago). I particularly enjoyed some of the rainy scenes--felt just like home here in the PNW!
He also does a great job making Ged and the Lookfar feel small on some of Ged's journeys. Looking at it some of these full-page spreads, you really feel that Ged is just one young wizard on his own in a vast and unknowable world.
If I had any issues, it's only that some of the palettes run quite dark, so that a few panels can be almost impossible to distinguish unless you're looking at the book directly under a light source, and that there is some occasional visual awkwardness (not sure how to describe this--maybe Fordham used a 3D rendering tool and it shows?)
Overall, I was delighted with this, and I really hope Fordham and Theo press on to do Tombs of Atuan as well--I would love to see Tenar and Atuan rendered as well!
Theo, like Le Guin herself, was trepidatious about any visual representation of Earthsea, after decades of white character designs; white, middle-aged actors; and general tom-fuckery when it comes to representing Le Guin's work. It wasn't until Theo saw Fordham's work in To Kill a Mockingbird that he first considered it might be worthwhile to consider a graphic novel adaptation of his mother's work, and so here we are.
Fordham appears to have been the right man for the job--this graphic novel edition of A Wizard of Earthsea captures the characters as Le Guin may have envisioned them when she wrote. Theo in his forward acknowledges that one of the beautiful things about how the characters are described in Le Guin's work--enough to give an idea of their appearance, but also vague enough that readers can all use their own imaginations to some degree--becomes limited when creating an "official" visual representation of those characters. So he considers Fordham's designs just one of many possible looks for these characters, but one that cleaves to his mother's original descriptions.
His expressions neatly capture the shift in Ged's attitude over his schooling at Roke, from the proud, angry boy who first arrives to the sobered, haunted young man who departs.
Nearly all of the wording in the book is lifted directly from the original novel, which means Le Guin's original hard-hitting dialogue and beautiful descriptions of Earthsea survive to accompany Fordham's gorgeous scenic illustrations. He really captures the moody atmosphere of some of the book's darker moments, while also creating some truly stunning vistas of the ocean, which of course is a considerable part of the world for the characters of Earthsea (who live in an archipelago). I particularly enjoyed some of the rainy scenes--felt just like home here in the PNW!
He also does a great job making Ged and the Lookfar feel small on some of Ged's journeys. Looking at it some of these full-page spreads, you really feel that Ged is just one young wizard on his own in a vast and unknowable world.
If I had any issues, it's only that some of the palettes run quite dark, so that a few panels can be almost impossible to distinguish unless you're looking at the book directly under a light source, and that there is some occasional visual awkwardness (not sure how to describe this--maybe Fordham used a 3D rendering tool and it shows?)
Overall, I was delighted with this, and I really hope Fordham and Theo press on to do Tombs of Atuan as well--I would love to see Tenar and Atuan rendered as well!
The Iron Marshal
Sep. 29th, 2025 03:33 pmmarycatelli posting in booksThe Iron Marshal by Louis L'Amour
An Irish boy grows up in New York -- and has just landed in Kansas.
( Read more... )
An Irish boy grows up in New York -- and has just landed in Kansas.
( Read more... )
In which our heroine's brain remains on holiday
Sep. 29th, 2025 04:11 pmspiralsheep- The State of the Me: v. tired. Nothing dreadful, merely too "geriatric" to support regular heavy menstruation. My family: dragging the average age of menopause waaay up since forever, lmao.
- Futuristic lolibobs: an attempt will soon be made on at least four islands in a week. Might be awol for a while. I haven't sent you to Coventry, and aten't ded (probably).
- Ghosts of lolibobs past: I can't stop thinking about these three wholly unrelated things...
1. Those British seaside food kiosks that hedge their weather-related bets with cheery signs for "ice cream" on one side of the window and "hot food" on the other. I'm now imagining a typical British holidaymaker emerging from the front of the queue with a whippy cone in one hand and boiling tea in the other, lol.
2. While changing trains in Cardiff with time to spare I wandered out of the station to see what I miss when I'm in a hurry and there's a wonderful statue of headmistress Betty Campbell, the first Black headteacher in Wales, which has been there since 2021. It's a realistic depiction, by sculptor Eve Shepherd, of Campbell literally larger than life, at 4m (13ft), and surrounded by equally well-sculpted local children, mostly reading. The inscription on the back quotes Campbell: "We were a good example to the rest of the world, how you can live together regardless of where you come from or the colour of your skin." - "Roedden ni'n esiampl dda i weddill y byd o sut y gallwn gyd-fyw beth bynnag yw eich gwreiddiau neu liw eich croen.". Campbell was chosen as the subject in a public vote, ahead of other women such as poet Cranogwen, suffragette Margaret Haig Thomas, Labour Party organiser Elizabeth Andrews, and anthropologist Elaine Morgan, so it was a significant sign of widespread respect in addition to the honour of a public statue in Central Square, next to one of the busiest pedestrian street crossings in Cardiff.
Images of the Betty Campbell statue (wikimedia).
3. There's gNo place like gnHome. Still thinking about the bare grass expanse hosting Llarge Llandudno LLandudgnomes around the base of supports for a street name sign rooted in the lawn of a suburban garden, and the way the gnomes weren't blocking the sign but enhancing it: displayed like a collection in an open air museum; prompting viewers to acknowledge the gnomes in a commentary on suburban culture, subverting passing glances like a Banksy, or like being Rick-rolled by traditional genii loci ("never gonna give you up"); or an accumulation of gifts after one or two were initially placed by the gnHome-owner.
Llarge Llandudno Gnomes
Surrounding a street sign on a suburban lawn,
huddled like a team playing capture the flag,
arrayed like an army of watchful guards,
clotted like antibodies against invasion,
aggregated like pebbles set in concrete,
clumped in a clod like earth elementals,
clustered like petals round the disc of a daisy,
a constellation of gnomic gods.
- Futuristic lolibobs: an attempt will soon be made on at least four islands in a week. Might be awol for a while. I haven't sent you to Coventry, and aten't ded (probably).
- Ghosts of lolibobs past: I can't stop thinking about these three wholly unrelated things...
1. Those British seaside food kiosks that hedge their weather-related bets with cheery signs for "ice cream" on one side of the window and "hot food" on the other. I'm now imagining a typical British holidaymaker emerging from the front of the queue with a whippy cone in one hand and boiling tea in the other, lol.
2. While changing trains in Cardiff with time to spare I wandered out of the station to see what I miss when I'm in a hurry and there's a wonderful statue of headmistress Betty Campbell, the first Black headteacher in Wales, which has been there since 2021. It's a realistic depiction, by sculptor Eve Shepherd, of Campbell literally larger than life, at 4m (13ft), and surrounded by equally well-sculpted local children, mostly reading. The inscription on the back quotes Campbell: "We were a good example to the rest of the world, how you can live together regardless of where you come from or the colour of your skin." - "Roedden ni'n esiampl dda i weddill y byd o sut y gallwn gyd-fyw beth bynnag yw eich gwreiddiau neu liw eich croen.". Campbell was chosen as the subject in a public vote, ahead of other women such as poet Cranogwen, suffragette Margaret Haig Thomas, Labour Party organiser Elizabeth Andrews, and anthropologist Elaine Morgan, so it was a significant sign of widespread respect in addition to the honour of a public statue in Central Square, next to one of the busiest pedestrian street crossings in Cardiff.
Images of the Betty Campbell statue (wikimedia).
3. There's gNo place like gnHome. Still thinking about the bare grass expanse hosting Llarge Llandudno LLandudgnomes around the base of supports for a street name sign rooted in the lawn of a suburban garden, and the way the gnomes weren't blocking the sign but enhancing it: displayed like a collection in an open air museum; prompting viewers to acknowledge the gnomes in a commentary on suburban culture, subverting passing glances like a Banksy, or like being Rick-rolled by traditional genii loci ("never gonna give you up"); or an accumulation of gifts after one or two were initially placed by the gnHome-owner.
Llarge Llandudno Gnomes
Surrounding a street sign on a suburban lawn,
huddled like a team playing capture the flag,
arrayed like an army of watchful guards,
clotted like antibodies against invasion,
aggregated like pebbles set in concrete,
clumped in a clod like earth elementals,
clustered like petals round the disc of a daisy,
a constellation of gnomic gods.
Faire bouillir le ministĂšre : le podcast face Ă lâIA
Sep. 29th, 2025 11:48 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
onethinginaday_feedDans cette Ă©pisode, je vous raconte une rĂ©union de travail avec mon amie Sylvie, ce que nous appelons entre nous "un ministĂšre".Â
Nous avons parlĂ© de comment ont Ă©voluĂ© nos mĂ©tiers : elle dans la traduction et moi dans le podcast.Â
Beaucoup de choses ont changĂ© avec l'arrivĂ©e de l'Intelligence artificielle, l'IA.Â
ConcrĂštement, pour le podcast, cela m'a poussĂ© Ă crĂ©er de nouvelles choses dont je vous parle dans cet Ă©pisode. Je vous parle aussi prĂ©cisĂ©ment du français que je vous propose d'une maniĂšre gĂ©nĂ©rale : pas celui des manuels scolaires, pas celui des leçons en ligne, pas celui de la rue.Â
Vous dĂ©couvrirez aussi si je suis agacĂ©e par les transcriptions automatiques.Â
Un GRAND MERCI Ă mes abonnĂ©s qui par leur abonnement soutiennent le podcast.Â
Â
Updates
Sep. 28th, 2025 11:15 pmsholioWe watched Silo (AppleTV) seasons 1-2 over the past week or so. General reactions:
Feel free to ask me questions in the comments. I have not read the books it's based on, though I get the impression the show follows the book trajectory pretty closely.
Exchanges:
- Currently have a placeholder signup in forfestivids. I need to finish my signup (closes on the 30th).
- Almost certainly signing up foramperslashexchange, currently in nominations.
- I haven't signed up, but extremely tempted by Back from the Dead Flash Exchange, currently in nominations/signups (til Oct 3).
- Biggles holiday exchange is definitely running again! Planning post and polls here at the comm.
I don't have plans to do Yuletide this year, unless the FOMO gets to me too much.
Click here
Draggy and depressing first season, really fun and engaging second season with an infuriating letdown of a season ending. (Even sudden surprise Jessica Henwick could not salvage that hot mess. Which apparently is the books' fault, but still.) I enjoyed most of the season two character arcs enough that I'm pretty happy to consider it a satisfying 2-season show. Maybe I'll write up more details later?Feel free to ask me questions in the comments. I have not read the books it's based on, though I get the impression the show follows the book trajectory pretty closely.
Exchanges:
- Currently have a placeholder signup in for
festivids. I need to finish my signup (closes on the 30th).- Almost certainly signing up for
amperslashexchange, currently in nominations.- I haven't signed up, but extremely tempted by Back from the Dead Flash Exchange, currently in nominations/signups (til Oct 3).
- Biggles holiday exchange is definitely running again! Planning post and polls here at the comm.
I don't have plans to do Yuletide this year, unless the FOMO gets to me too much.
Nominations Queries Post 1
Sep. 28th, 2025 07:38 pmyuletidemods posting in yuletide_adminWe are 24 hours into tag approving! We began with 6078 individual fandom nominations to sort (where if two people submitted the same fandom, that would count twice towards the total). We have 3687 fandom nominations still to sort. Please review the questions below to help us sort them quickly and correctly!
Aliens (1986) - These characters are also nominated under the broader fandom Alien (Original Movies 1979-1997), so we would like to merge your nominations in with the rest of the original movies.
Bibi Blocksberg (2002) - Nominator, do you specifically only want the first movie, or may we approve this as the canonical Bibi Blocksberg (Movies 2002 2004)? Please link your nominations page when you reply.
Book of Night - Holly Black - We also have evidence for this fandom as the Charlatan Duology, and another participant has nominated it under that name. Weâd like to combine your nominations, but please get us in touch if thereâs a reason that wonât work. Please link your nominations page when you reply.
Clocktaur War Series - T. Kingfisher, Swordheart - T. Kingfisher, Temple of the White Rat Universe - T. Kingfisher, The Saint of Steel - T. Kingfisher - We have some overlap in these nominations. The fandom as a whole is eligible, so we could combine them under Temple of the White Rat Universe, or the Temple of the White Rat Universe nominator could have their characters split into the other fandoms if you are willing to do that. Please comment with a link to your nominations to help us sort this out!
Cousin Bette - HonorĂ© de Balzac - Nominator, you may see some oddities as we get this set up separately from La ComĂ©die Humaine. Pardon our dust, and hopefully youâre used to it by now! Let us know if anything looks wrong when the final tagset is released.
Designing Women - Nominator, please email us (see contact information in the footer).
Dragonfly - Ursula K. Le Guin, Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin, The Tombs of Atuan - Ursula K. Le Guin - Our understanding is that these are all in the same continuity. We are planning to combine Earthsea and Tombs of Atuan, especially as there is character overlap in those nominations. Dragonfly nominator, do you have concerns with folding that nomination into Earthsea as well? If so, we would appreciate help understanding exactly what youâre looking for and how to differentiate the larger Earthsea universe.
Enchanted Forest Chronicles - Patricia Wrede - We wonât approve the character nomination Morwen's Cats (Enchanted Forest) as they are all individually named. Nominators, could you please each choose a cat? (Scorn has already been nominated.) Please link your nominations page when you reply.
MAIJO Otaro - Works - We donât approve fandoms consisting of all of a creatorâs works, and the nominated characters appear to come from at least 2 novels. Nominator, could you pick one of MaijĆâs works to nominate, along with the associated characters? Please link your nominations page when you reply.
怹äžă ăăżă«ă| Muchuu sa Kimi ni (Manga) - We also have a nomination for the Anime; the nominator of that fandom says they have not read the manga but believes these could be combined if needed. Does the Manga nominator have a preference? Please link your nominations page when you reply. ETA: sorry, we have 3 manga nominators and have heard from 2, so it would be great to hear from the third!
Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Nominator, please email us (see contact information in the footer).
Nescafe Advertisment - While this is a canonical fandom on AO3, itâs under review to be renamed, so weâll approve this as Nescafe "Arctica" | "Polar Explorers" Advertisments (Russia) which is the likely new name. However, weâd like more information on the characters. Weâre not sure which of the men is âFirst Polarâ and which is âSecond Polarâ; some works in the fandom use Ivanov and Petrov. Also, we havenât seen a polar bear in the 3 ads weâve found - can you link us to the one that has the polar bear, please?
èæŽ | The Old Miao Myth (TV) - Nominator, for the character Jin Bong, are you looking for Chin Pong? Weâve checked several sources and want to confirm whether this is a romanization issue or something else.
Outcast (Video Game series) - this has been nominated with character 'Any' and no other characters. If you mean you are interested in any characters, we will approve this without characters, but we wanted to check just in case there is a character actually named Any. Please link your nominations page when you reply.
Phantom of the Paradise (1974) - Nominator, please email us (see contact information in the footer).
Prophet - Sin Blaché & Helen Macdonald - could we please get more information about 'Prophet' as a character (aside from being the title)?
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (2025) - Nominator, please email us (see contact information in the footer)
Tennis RPF - We have separate nominations for 2020's Men's Tennis RPF (characters: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz, Terence Atmane) and 2025 Grand Slam Season (Tennis) RPF (characters: Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner) - may we combine these under the former fandom name? Please link your nominations page when you reply.
Schedule, Rules, & Collection | Contact Mods | Tag Set | Community DW | Community LJ | Discord | Pinch hits on Dreamwidth
Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.
Please link your nominations page if telling us what to do about your nomination - thank you! Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.
If we've processed any of your nominations and something doesn't look right, please comment (with your nominations page) to tell us about the problem and how you think it should be corrected. Questions are welcome.
Aliens (1986) - These characters are also nominated under the broader fandom Alien (Original Movies 1979-1997), so we would like to merge your nominations in with the rest of the original movies.
Bibi Blocksberg (2002) - Nominator, do you specifically only want the first movie, or may we approve this as the canonical Bibi Blocksberg (Movies 2002 2004)? Please link your nominations page when you reply.
Book of Night - Holly Black - We also have evidence for this fandom as the Charlatan Duology, and another participant has nominated it under that name. Weâd like to combine your nominations, but please get us in touch if thereâs a reason that wonât work. Please link your nominations page when you reply.
Clocktaur War Series - T. Kingfisher, Swordheart - T. Kingfisher, Temple of the White Rat Universe - T. Kingfisher, The Saint of Steel - T. Kingfisher - We have some overlap in these nominations. The fandom as a whole is eligible, so we could combine them under Temple of the White Rat Universe, or the Temple of the White Rat Universe nominator could have their characters split into the other fandoms if you are willing to do that. Please comment with a link to your nominations to help us sort this out!
Cousin Bette - HonorĂ© de Balzac - Nominator, you may see some oddities as we get this set up separately from La ComĂ©die Humaine. Pardon our dust, and hopefully youâre used to it by now! Let us know if anything looks wrong when the final tagset is released.
Designing Women - Nominator, please email us (see contact information in the footer).
Dragonfly - Ursula K. Le Guin, Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin, The Tombs of Atuan - Ursula K. Le Guin - Our understanding is that these are all in the same continuity. We are planning to combine Earthsea and Tombs of Atuan, especially as there is character overlap in those nominations. Dragonfly nominator, do you have concerns with folding that nomination into Earthsea as well? If so, we would appreciate help understanding exactly what youâre looking for and how to differentiate the larger Earthsea universe.
Enchanted Forest Chronicles - Patricia Wrede - We wonât approve the character nomination Morwen's Cats (Enchanted Forest) as they are all individually named. Nominators, could you please each choose a cat? (Scorn has already been nominated.) Please link your nominations page when you reply.
MAIJO Otaro - Works - We donât approve fandoms consisting of all of a creatorâs works, and the nominated characters appear to come from at least 2 novels. Nominator, could you pick one of MaijĆâs works to nominate, along with the associated characters? Please link your nominations page when you reply.
怹äžă ăăżă«ă| Muchuu sa Kimi ni (Manga) - We also have a nomination for the Anime; the nominator of that fandom says they have not read the manga but believes these could be combined if needed. Does the Manga nominator have a preference? Please link your nominations page when you reply. ETA: sorry, we have 3 manga nominators and have heard from 2, so it would be great to hear from the third!
Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Nominator, please email us (see contact information in the footer).
Nescafe Advertisment - While this is a canonical fandom on AO3, itâs under review to be renamed, so weâll approve this as Nescafe "Arctica" | "Polar Explorers" Advertisments (Russia) which is the likely new name. However, weâd like more information on the characters. Weâre not sure which of the men is âFirst Polarâ and which is âSecond Polarâ; some works in the fandom use Ivanov and Petrov. Also, we havenât seen a polar bear in the 3 ads weâve found - can you link us to the one that has the polar bear, please?
èæŽ | The Old Miao Myth (TV) - Nominator, for the character Jin Bong, are you looking for Chin Pong? Weâve checked several sources and want to confirm whether this is a romanization issue or something else.
Outcast (Video Game series) - this has been nominated with character 'Any' and no other characters. If you mean you are interested in any characters, we will approve this without characters, but we wanted to check just in case there is a character actually named Any. Please link your nominations page when you reply.
Phantom of the Paradise (1974) - Nominator, please email us (see contact information in the footer).
Prophet - Sin Blaché & Helen Macdonald - could we please get more information about 'Prophet' as a character (aside from being the title)?
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (2025) - Nominator, please email us (see contact information in the footer)
Tennis RPF - We have separate nominations for 2020's Men's Tennis RPF (characters: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz, Terence Atmane) and 2025 Grand Slam Season (Tennis) RPF (characters: Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner) - may we combine these under the former fandom name? Please link your nominations page when you reply.
Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.
The School Reader: Second Book
Sep. 28th, 2025 03:27 pmmarycatelli posting in booksThe School Reader: Second Book by Charles Walton Sanders
A book concerned chiefly with reading. Vocabulary words listed before each story, poem, or bit. Interesting for the view of what they used to teach children. Views of science and of character.
A book concerned chiefly with reading. Vocabulary words listed before each story, poem, or bit. Interesting for the view of what they used to teach children. Views of science and of character.
Very Far Away From Anywhere Else by Ursula K. Le Guin (1976)
Sep. 28th, 2025 09:45 ampauraqueThis young adult novella (also appearing under the title A Very Long Way From Anywhere Else) is one of Le Guin's few published pieces of non-speculative fiction. Set in the Pacific Northwest, it follows a friendship between two gifted high school students. Owen wants to study at MIT and go into science, but he feels pressured by his parents to be a "normal" guy who likes cars and girls and goes to State; Natalie is a musical prodigy, but feels constrained in her options due to her conservative father and the lack of opportunities for female composers.
The book is very short but densely packed with close observations about the pressure to conform, not only the overt pressure to conform to positive expectations, but also the covert pressure to conform to negative stereotypes and sexist narratives about how guys and girls interact. It's incisive in its portrayal of being very smart but very young and knowing basically nothing about the world outside your home town, and taking a first shaky step towards a broader perspective.
Owen and Natalie reflect a specific kind of gifted experience that wasn't the same as mine. They're aware that they're different from others, but able to play the part of a kid who's kind of an overachiever but basically normal, well enough that they can hide in plain sight. Not that that makes things easyâit's hard to choose to be yourself when the safety of conformity is a real option.
Many synopses of this book say that Owen and Natalie develop romantic feelings for each other, but that is emphatically not what happens in the book. What the book actually says is this: "I had decided that I was in love with Natalie. I hadn't fallen in love with her, please notice that I didn't say that; I had decided that I was in love with her." Owen is very clear that he tries to force himself to be in love with her and to be sexually attracted to her because he thinks it's what other people expect of him. You don't have to read Owen as aroace, but that is a possible reading and I see a lot of my aroace experiences in him.
But even if you don't read it that way, the point of the book is that their connection is about who they are as specific people, and when Owen tries to make it conform to a generic "he was a boy, she was a girl" heteronormative narrative, that connection is almost destroyed. Some of the ideas Owen has already absorbed about hetero relationships at 17 are a little scary, I think intentionally so. He's at a crossroads where he can go down the path of seeing Natalie and other girls as people, or as objects of male conquest. I think it's a good example of using a male POV to demonstrate why all of us need feminism.
The book is really good and I'm not sure why Le Guin didn't write any more like it. Maybe in between other projects she didn't have the time. But this book makes it easy to imagine an alternate timeline where this was the genre where she found success, and came to be best remembered as one of the standout contemporary YA writers of the 1970s alongside Judy Blume.
The book is very short but densely packed with close observations about the pressure to conform, not only the overt pressure to conform to positive expectations, but also the covert pressure to conform to negative stereotypes and sexist narratives about how guys and girls interact. It's incisive in its portrayal of being very smart but very young and knowing basically nothing about the world outside your home town, and taking a first shaky step towards a broader perspective.
Owen and Natalie reflect a specific kind of gifted experience that wasn't the same as mine. They're aware that they're different from others, but able to play the part of a kid who's kind of an overachiever but basically normal, well enough that they can hide in plain sight. Not that that makes things easyâit's hard to choose to be yourself when the safety of conformity is a real option.
Many synopses of this book say that Owen and Natalie develop romantic feelings for each other, but that is emphatically not what happens in the book. What the book actually says is this: "I had decided that I was in love with Natalie. I hadn't fallen in love with her, please notice that I didn't say that; I had decided that I was in love with her." Owen is very clear that he tries to force himself to be in love with her and to be sexually attracted to her because he thinks it's what other people expect of him. You don't have to read Owen as aroace, but that is a possible reading and I see a lot of my aroace experiences in him.
But even if you don't read it that way, the point of the book is that their connection is about who they are as specific people, and when Owen tries to make it conform to a generic "he was a boy, she was a girl" heteronormative narrative, that connection is almost destroyed. Some of the ideas Owen has already absorbed about hetero relationships at 17 are a little scary, I think intentionally so. He's at a crossroads where he can go down the path of seeing Natalie and other girls as people, or as objects of male conquest. I think it's a good example of using a male POV to demonstrate why all of us need feminism.
The book is really good and I'm not sure why Le Guin didn't write any more like it. Maybe in between other projects she didn't have the time. But this book makes it easy to imagine an alternate timeline where this was the genre where she found success, and came to be best remembered as one of the standout contemporary YA writers of the 1970s alongside Judy Blume.
fics I have written
Sep. 27th, 2025 06:07 pmsnickficFirst: for my belly kink exchange that I ran in August, I ended up writing:
scenes in a stilltent, Dune (movies), Paul/Duncan, 1200 words, mpreg. This did not have nearly as much belly kink as I intended, but Duncan turned out to have so many feelings about the whole thing that it was a struggle to get to the kink. The recip seemed to really like it though. <3
And then, today I finished posting that WIP I've been nattering about for ages! \o/
postcards from, Oasis RPF, Liam/Noel, 15k!!! of vignettes from first contact to the first gig of tour. Title is a riff on the video summaries like this one they've been doing at the end of their run at each venue. (They're less annoying on Instagram. IDK why they feel the need to do that stacked vertical thing everywhere else. ;__;)
I've never written anything quite like this before. There is obviously a general emotional arc from "not spoken in 12 years" to "going on stage together," but most of the scenes are intended to stand alone. There are very few callbacks between scenes. I also specifically set out to write only the vignettes I wanted to write, partly to avoid just getting totally overwhelmed, but for example that means that at no point during this fic do we seem them really hash stuff out or have big conversations. Presumably they had some, but those happen off screen.
I also mostly avoided writing denouments to scenes; they mostly end in the middle, or unresolved. Partly I was trying to write the opposite of one big scene where the characters work all their shit out in one long conversation, which I am sometimes prone to. And I think writers in general or prone to? It's convenient to take care of the whole conflict at once. Whereas here I kind of wanted to give these snapshots along the way, showing that repairing a relationship is a long process over time, often in the small moments. (But also I was lazy/intimidated about writing all the connective tissue, and if I'd tried that I wouldn't have been able to finish a fic, so.)
I also wrote this so fast, at least for me. I wrote the first 10k in three weeks, mostly in August, and then wrote the remaining 5k in the four weeks since.
Also, I decided to post a vignette a day, which was fun. I've never been able to do that with a fic before, but a lot of the vignettes were very short, some in the 200-word range, so one a day felt right. I accidentally timed it so the final chapter went live this morning, a few hours before Oasis performed their first gig in a couple of weeks. A commenter congratulated me on my deliberate timing, but no, that is definitely just how things fell out. (Nerdily, my priority was to get the fic all published within one calendar month for the sake of my stats keeping.) Also, look at me, posting fic outside an exchange!!
I'm still not sure what I actually think about it as a fic, because it's so different from my norm, but I had fun writing and posting it, and that's the whole point, right? There are a lot of lines I'm really happy with. Also it's my second fic this year over 15k, which feels fantastic after last year.
scenes in a stilltent, Dune (movies), Paul/Duncan, 1200 words, mpreg. This did not have nearly as much belly kink as I intended, but Duncan turned out to have so many feelings about the whole thing that it was a struggle to get to the kink. The recip seemed to really like it though. <3
And then, today I finished posting that WIP I've been nattering about for ages! \o/
postcards from, Oasis RPF, Liam/Noel, 15k!!! of vignettes from first contact to the first gig of tour. Title is a riff on the video summaries like this one they've been doing at the end of their run at each venue. (They're less annoying on Instagram. IDK why they feel the need to do that stacked vertical thing everywhere else. ;__;)
I've never written anything quite like this before. There is obviously a general emotional arc from "not spoken in 12 years" to "going on stage together," but most of the scenes are intended to stand alone. There are very few callbacks between scenes. I also specifically set out to write only the vignettes I wanted to write, partly to avoid just getting totally overwhelmed, but for example that means that at no point during this fic do we seem them really hash stuff out or have big conversations. Presumably they had some, but those happen off screen.
I also mostly avoided writing denouments to scenes; they mostly end in the middle, or unresolved. Partly I was trying to write the opposite of one big scene where the characters work all their shit out in one long conversation, which I am sometimes prone to. And I think writers in general or prone to? It's convenient to take care of the whole conflict at once. Whereas here I kind of wanted to give these snapshots along the way, showing that repairing a relationship is a long process over time, often in the small moments. (But also I was lazy/intimidated about writing all the connective tissue, and if I'd tried that I wouldn't have been able to finish a fic, so.)
I also wrote this so fast, at least for me. I wrote the first 10k in three weeks, mostly in August, and then wrote the remaining 5k in the four weeks since.
Also, I decided to post a vignette a day, which was fun. I've never been able to do that with a fic before, but a lot of the vignettes were very short, some in the 200-word range, so one a day felt right. I accidentally timed it so the final chapter went live this morning, a few hours before Oasis performed their first gig in a couple of weeks. A commenter congratulated me on my deliberate timing, but no, that is definitely just how things fell out. (Nerdily, my priority was to get the fic all published within one calendar month for the sake of my stats keeping.) Also, look at me, posting fic outside an exchange!!
I'm still not sure what I actually think about it as a fic, because it's so different from my norm, but I had fun writing and posting it, and that's the whole point, right? There are a lot of lines I'm really happy with. Also it's my second fic this year over 15k, which feels fantastic after last year.
What would the smell of a subtropical monsoon climate zone be like?
Sep. 28th, 2025 12:08 amhuberthubert posting in little_detailsHello everyone!
I am writing a oneshot essentially set in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. My character is so surprised and overwhelmed by what he is seeing that I am introducing his senses one by one, but I couldnt quite imagine what it would smell like being in his position.
I know its quite humid, so thats probably the bulk of the experience, but are there any other, more subtle undertones I could include to make the scene feel more alive?
Even if you havent been to the exact location, any experience in a subtropical, humid climate would already be quite helpful.
Thank you!
I am writing a oneshot essentially set in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. My character is so surprised and overwhelmed by what he is seeing that I am introducing his senses one by one, but I couldnt quite imagine what it would smell like being in his position.
I know its quite humid, so thats probably the bulk of the experience, but are there any other, more subtle undertones I could include to make the scene feel more alive?
Even if you havent been to the exact location, any experience in a subtropical, humid climate would already be quite helpful.
Thank you!
[solved] moving around the module content or hiding it!
Sep. 27th, 2025 10:56 amkakkoi posting in style_systemi was able to fix the problem i was having by removing the
hello! i'm back again~ working on another thing, and having issues with the module userpic and hiding it or moving it, essentially. i was able to move where i want the contents of the module userpic to be displayed and how i want the module content to be displayed, but i'm still having the issue of it showing up at the center and top, with the border.
you can view the live version attesterjournal, and the image here. as you can see, or hover over the circle at the top it still shows as if the module userpic is up there which i don't want it to do.
module coding is here, and i can't figure out how to fix this
eta: using tabula rasa, plain
.module-content .userpic {
position: relative;
left: 280px;
bottom: -65px;
border-radius: 50%;
width: 50px;
height: 50px;
border-style: solid;
}!problem i was having
hello! i'm back again~ working on another thing, and having issues with the module userpic and hiding it or moving it, essentially. i was able to move where i want the contents of the module userpic to be displayed and how i want the module content to be displayed, but i'm still having the issue of it showing up at the center and top, with the border.
you can view the live version at
testerjournal, and the image here. as you can see, or hover over the circle at the top it still shows as if the module userpic is up there which i don't want it to do.module coding is here, and i can't figure out how to fix this
eta: using tabula rasa, plain
Andy Lau birthday post â€ïžâ€ïžâ€ïž
Sep. 27th, 2025 11:37 pmgrayswandirAndy Lau is 64 today! đđđ
He didn't post anything on his website for his birthday this year, but a couple of days ago on Douyin he did put up a 2Âœ-hour concert video from last year's concert tour. I just finally had the chance to watch it tonight, and enjoyed it a lot. â€ïž All the footage is from the Hong Kong leg of the tour, so even though I don't think any of the specific song recordings are from the nights I was in the audience, it all felt quite familiar and was fun to revisit. I do wish his company would put out proper high-quality concert DVDs like they used to do (the image quality on the YouTube copy of the new video is pretty so-so), but on the other hand, I'm always glad for any new videos we get, and this one was certainly a very nice gift to his fans for his birthday this year. â€ïž
( Video link / a few highlights. )
A couple of months ago he also put out a series of behind-the-scenes videos about the making of the concert tour, which I keep meaning to share here as well. But that will have to wait for another post, since I worked all day and it's now like 1:00 am.
(I wore my one Andy Lau T-shirt with his picture on it to work today -- a bit risky, since the shirt has some Chinese text on it -- the word ä»ć€© -- and I'm still supposed to be pretending to have zero knowledge of Chinese for whatever weird reason. But luckily I didn't get in trouble for wearing it. A few students did ask me why I was wearing a shirt with Chinese writing on it, and helpfully read it for me XD and one kid in particular seemed very amused that there was some guy's picture on my T-shirt, and kept commenting or joking about "that guy" as if he was part of our class for the day, but did not seem to recognize him as anyone in particular. XD)
In other news, I've been extremely remiss in commenting on posts (or indeed doing anything else online) recently! Work has been 100% exhausting pretty much all the time, and also I (perhaps foolishly) signed up forficinabox, so I've been spending all my very limited not-work time trying to do a bunch of canon review and hopefully pull together 10k of something for my recipient. (I'm nowhere close yet.) >_> Will I ever have free time again? ...Maybe after Yuletide??
He didn't post anything on his website for his birthday this year, but a couple of days ago on Douyin he did put up a 2Âœ-hour concert video from last year's concert tour. I just finally had the chance to watch it tonight, and enjoyed it a lot. â€ïž All the footage is from the Hong Kong leg of the tour, so even though I don't think any of the specific song recordings are from the nights I was in the audience, it all felt quite familiar and was fun to revisit. I do wish his company would put out proper high-quality concert DVDs like they used to do (the image quality on the YouTube copy of the new video is pretty so-so), but on the other hand, I'm always glad for any new videos we get, and this one was certainly a very nice gift to his fans for his birthday this year. â€ïž
( Video link / a few highlights. )
A couple of months ago he also put out a series of behind-the-scenes videos about the making of the concert tour, which I keep meaning to share here as well. But that will have to wait for another post, since I worked all day and it's now like 1:00 am.
(I wore my one Andy Lau T-shirt with his picture on it to work today -- a bit risky, since the shirt has some Chinese text on it -- the word ä»ć€© -- and I'm still supposed to be pretending to have zero knowledge of Chinese for whatever weird reason. But luckily I didn't get in trouble for wearing it. A few students did ask me why I was wearing a shirt with Chinese writing on it, and helpfully read it for me XD and one kid in particular seemed very amused that there was some guy's picture on my T-shirt, and kept commenting or joking about "that guy" as if he was part of our class for the day, but did not seem to recognize him as anyone in particular. XD)
In other news, I've been extremely remiss in commenting on posts (or indeed doing anything else online) recently! Work has been 100% exhausting pretty much all the time, and also I (perhaps foolishly) signed up for
ficinabox, so I've been spending all my very limited not-work time trying to do a bunch of canon review and hopefully pull together 10k of something for my recipient. (I'm nowhere close yet.) >_> Will I ever have free time again? ...Maybe after Yuletide??Flint
Sep. 27th, 2025 10:54 ammarycatelli posting in booksFlint by Louis L'Amour
A man who left the West, and the fame he won in one shooting, to grow rich in the East, returns to the West.
( Read more... )
A man who left the West, and the fame he won in one shooting, to grow rich in the East, returns to the West.
( Read more... )
Yuletide 2025 Nominations Closed
Sep. 27th, 2025 07:05 amyuletidemods posting in yuletide_adminThank you for your nominations! Nominations are now closed. We have 6078 fandom nominations to sort through: that means that at least 1216 people nominated, but probably more. This is lower than our highest ever number of nominations received previously - 6257 - but higher than last year's 5950 nominations.
So, what happens next?
First there's a pause. We review the information we have already and get our ducks in a row. Then, when we begin to approve your nominations, it won't be in any obvious order. The approvals interface shows us fandoms at random, rather than according to who nominated them or when the nomination was submitted.
Help us get through approvals faster - please keep an eye on this community for questions about nominations we find confusing. In turn, if you are confused by how we've approved your nomination, you can ask us about it. If you submitted evidence close to the end of nominations, we may also have follow-up comments for you; however, we won't be accepting any evidence for new canons now that nominations are closed.
While we approve fandoms, you can:
Schedule, Rules, & Collection | Contact Mods | Tag Set | Community DW | Community LJ | Discord | Pinch hits on Dreamwidth
Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.
So, what happens next?
First there's a pause. We review the information we have already and get our ducks in a row. Then, when we begin to approve your nominations, it won't be in any obvious order. The approvals interface shows us fandoms at random, rather than according to who nominated them or when the nomination was submitted.
Help us get through approvals faster - please keep an eye on this community for questions about nominations we find confusing. In turn, if you are confused by how we've approved your nomination, you can ask us about it. If you submitted evidence close to the end of nominations, we may also have follow-up comments for you; however, we won't be accepting any evidence for new canons now that nominations are closed.
While we approve fandoms, you can:
- Promote your rare fandoms here at a promo post!
- Start writing your letter, if a letter is part of your approach to signing up!
- When your nominations have been approved, let other participants know at the nominations coordination post on DW!
- Subscribe to the pinch hit community yuletide_pinch_hits! (Pinch hitters are creators who put their hands up for extra assignments so everyone can get a gift.)
Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.
A walk in the fire zone
Sep. 26th, 2025 10:47 pmsholioThis was actually around a week and a half ago - a week ago last Tuesday, Sept. 16 or so - but I've been deep in the word mines and I'm just now writing it up. (Click to embiggen photos.)
We enjoy doing walks in the fall when the weather is nice, and we decided to walk out and explore something interesting. I don't remember if I wrote about it at the time, but we had a little wildfire scare at the end of June, when a lightning-sparked wildfire started a few miles from our house. It got an all-hands-on-deck suppression approach (because it's so close to town and adjacent to several subdivisions), and was extinguished after burning about 15 acres or so. We watched the water tankers dropping loads on the blaze from our house.
This fall, we decided to try to walk out and find the location and have a look at it. We tried it once and failed, but after looking at satellite maps we decided that we were headed in the right direction, just turned back too soon. It involves walking down an old road cut - utility access road? who knows - that mostly looked like this:
But occasionally more like this.
And we found the fire zone! Once we were there, it was unmistakable. The rest of these pictures are under a cut because some might find them distressing, although I mostly found it eerie and fascinating; it was nothing like any place I've ever been before. (All burned trees, no vehicles or structures.)
( Photos under the cut )
We enjoy doing walks in the fall when the weather is nice, and we decided to walk out and explore something interesting. I don't remember if I wrote about it at the time, but we had a little wildfire scare at the end of June, when a lightning-sparked wildfire started a few miles from our house. It got an all-hands-on-deck suppression approach (because it's so close to town and adjacent to several subdivisions), and was extinguished after burning about 15 acres or so. We watched the water tankers dropping loads on the blaze from our house.
This fall, we decided to try to walk out and find the location and have a look at it. We tried it once and failed, but after looking at satellite maps we decided that we were headed in the right direction, just turned back too soon. It involves walking down an old road cut - utility access road? who knows - that mostly looked like this:
But occasionally more like this.
And we found the fire zone! Once we were there, it was unmistakable. The rest of these pictures are under a cut because some might find them distressing, although I mostly found it eerie and fascinating; it was nothing like any place I've ever been before. (All burned trees, no vehicles or structures.)
( Photos under the cut )
Nominations Closing Soon
Sep. 26th, 2025 07:48 pmyuletidemods posting in yuletide_adminWe need your fandom & character nominations by 1pm UTC 27 September. Thatâs 12 hours away!
See countdown!
If your fandom requires evidence, please also submit it by that time.
Please check previous posts in this community for guidance on what can be nominated.
Schedule, Rules, & Collection [still being tweaked for this year] | Contact Mods | Tag Set | Community DW | Community LJ | Discord | Pinch hits on Dreamwidth
Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.
See countdown!
If your fandom requires evidence, please also submit it by that time.
Please check previous posts in this community for guidance on what can be nominated.
Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.
Recent Reading: The Other Wind (and more)
Sep. 26th, 2025 04:03 pmrocky41_7 posting in booksThat's a wrap, folks! Today I concluded the entirety of the Earthsea Cycle by Ursula Le Guin for the first time. The final book in this series is The Other Wind, but the collected volume I have also includes after that a few short stories by Le Guin set in the Earthsea universe as well as a lecture she gave at Oxford on gender and the Western archtype of a hero. Seemed best to lump these all together for this review.
I was emotional about this book from the start, and I can only imagine it was moreso for those who had been familiar with Ged and Tenar for decades before this book was published. The Earthsea Cycle begins with A Wizard of Earthsea in Ged's childhood, before he's even discovered his propensity for magic, and here at the start of The Other Wind, he is a man in his seventies, puttering about his old master's house and waiting for his wife and daughter to come home. We've gotten to see Ged throughout his life--as a child, apprentice, wizard, archmage, goatherd (take 2), old man--and this continuity and journey really got to me.
At the end of the previous novel, Tehanu, the mantle of hero is passed on narratively from Ged and Tenar to their adopted daughter, Tehanu, but it's here in The Other Wind that Tehanu really comes into herself. Given Tehanu's past trauma, the way she clings to Tenar and Ged makes sense, so it was very rewarding to see her grow into herself here and eventually claim the power she was told by the dragon Kalessin she possesses at the end of Tehanu.
As with Tehanu and Tales of Earthsea, women play a much more central role in The Other Wind. Our noble king, Lebannen, who came into his own in the third book of the original trilogy, is really blown hither-and-thither by the women of the book, who are the real plot-movers. Tehanu, the youthful rising power; Tenar, the wizened heroine; Irian, the free woman who's embraced the power Tehanu shares; Seserakh, the foreign princess who brings Kargish knowledge of dragons; these are the real players of the game. The kings and wizards who follow in their wake exist to help them carry out the plot.
As with all the Earthsea books, Le Guin focuses her fantasy without centering violence. The great plot of The Other Wind essentially boils down to righting an ancient wrong, and it is resolved through shared knowledge and cooperation. On the whole, the book feels quite positive and we leave Earthsea for this final time on a sweet and hopeful note.
The conclusion itself feels perfect: Ged and Tenar on Gont, talking of nothing, in the end. Who else but Le Guin would have concluded her epic fantasy series with her male hero explaining how he'd kept up the house in his wife's absence? The pair go for a walk in the woods, and that's where the overarching plot of Earthsea ends, beautiful in its simplicity.
If I had a complaint about Le Guin's writing, it's that she sometimes stows key elements of the plot in opaque dialogue between characters, which comes up a little here, but not as much as in Tehanu.
After The Other Wind come a few short stories by Le Guin set in the world of Earthsea. These are fun little tales, none longer than fifteen pages, which have nothing to do with any of the characters we know, until the final one. If you like the worldbuilding of Earthsea, these will be a great addition. The final one, for reasons I won't spoil, had me getting choked up even though I suspect from the opening paragraphs what was happening.
I had such fun exploring Earthsea and while I wish I had gotten into them when I was younger (because I know how much I would have enjoyed them as a teen!) I'm still glad to have found them now (and I can just envision the daydreams I would have spun about my own female mage OC if I had known about these books then...) I know I'll revisit Earthsea and the adventures of its heroes again, although I'll stick to the paper versions--I've heard nothing good about any of the attempted screen adaptations! It truly feels like this has been a journey, and what an enjoyable one its been.
I was emotional about this book from the start, and I can only imagine it was moreso for those who had been familiar with Ged and Tenar for decades before this book was published. The Earthsea Cycle begins with A Wizard of Earthsea in Ged's childhood, before he's even discovered his propensity for magic, and here at the start of The Other Wind, he is a man in his seventies, puttering about his old master's house and waiting for his wife and daughter to come home. We've gotten to see Ged throughout his life--as a child, apprentice, wizard, archmage, goatherd (take 2), old man--and this continuity and journey really got to me.
At the end of the previous novel, Tehanu, the mantle of hero is passed on narratively from Ged and Tenar to their adopted daughter, Tehanu, but it's here in The Other Wind that Tehanu really comes into herself. Given Tehanu's past trauma, the way she clings to Tenar and Ged makes sense, so it was very rewarding to see her grow into herself here and eventually claim the power she was told by the dragon Kalessin she possesses at the end of Tehanu.
As with Tehanu and Tales of Earthsea, women play a much more central role in The Other Wind. Our noble king, Lebannen, who came into his own in the third book of the original trilogy, is really blown hither-and-thither by the women of the book, who are the real plot-movers. Tehanu, the youthful rising power; Tenar, the wizened heroine; Irian, the free woman who's embraced the power Tehanu shares; Seserakh, the foreign princess who brings Kargish knowledge of dragons; these are the real players of the game. The kings and wizards who follow in their wake exist to help them carry out the plot.
As with all the Earthsea books, Le Guin focuses her fantasy without centering violence. The great plot of The Other Wind essentially boils down to righting an ancient wrong, and it is resolved through shared knowledge and cooperation. On the whole, the book feels quite positive and we leave Earthsea for this final time on a sweet and hopeful note.
The conclusion itself feels perfect: Ged and Tenar on Gont, talking of nothing, in the end. Who else but Le Guin would have concluded her epic fantasy series with her male hero explaining how he'd kept up the house in his wife's absence? The pair go for a walk in the woods, and that's where the overarching plot of Earthsea ends, beautiful in its simplicity.
If I had a complaint about Le Guin's writing, it's that she sometimes stows key elements of the plot in opaque dialogue between characters, which comes up a little here, but not as much as in Tehanu.
After The Other Wind come a few short stories by Le Guin set in the world of Earthsea. These are fun little tales, none longer than fifteen pages, which have nothing to do with any of the characters we know, until the final one. If you like the worldbuilding of Earthsea, these will be a great addition. The final one, for reasons I won't spoil, had me getting choked up even though I suspect from the opening paragraphs what was happening.
I had such fun exploring Earthsea and while I wish I had gotten into them when I was younger (because I know how much I would have enjoyed them as a teen!) I'm still glad to have found them now (and I can just envision the daydreams I would have spun about my own female mage OC if I had known about these books then...) I know I'll revisit Earthsea and the adventures of its heroes again, although I'll stick to the paper versions--I've heard nothing good about any of the attempted screen adaptations! It truly feels like this has been a journey, and what an enjoyable one its been.