R. F. .Kuang: Katabasis
Oct. 4th, 2025 11:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThis is the third novel of R. F. Kuang I've read (after being impressed by the The Poppy Wars, first volume, but also emotionally so exhausted I didn't read the rest of the trilogy, amused and captivated in an emotionally distant way by Yellowface, and turned so much by Babel that I only read the first twenty pages or so and then gave up), and I think my favourite so far. There is academic satire but also genuine emotion throughout, there is great ambition epically realised (i.e. writing a trip to the underworld in the grand tradition of all the obvious suspects, but specifically one that reflects the present), and the horror parts hit home in a way that feels not derivative but specific for this particular version. (The novel is set in a universe where magic is real, but isn't concerned with how this altered history or not, just what it means you can study it at university.) Our main character, Alice Law, is the kind of messy, complicated and morally ambiguous (and not in a "nice" way) woman the author specializes in, though for me personally preferable because I had the sense of the narrative being on board with what it was saying about Alice's strengths and weaknesses through her initially very skewered perspective. Also she had a genuine learning process through that trip through the Underworld, and... but that would be spoilery.
( Spoilers realize the Underworld is modelled on a British University )
Also improving my week: This trailer for Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of Frankenstein:
( Spoilers realize the Underworld is modelled on a British University )
Also improving my week: This trailer for Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of Frankenstein:
Dear Festividder Letter 2024/5
Oct. 3rd, 2025 06:46 pmalwaystheoceanHere be a placeholder!
I have learned to actually come back to these but IN CASE I DON'T feel free to check the tag, my tastes don't change much.
I have learned to actually come back to these but IN CASE I DON'T feel free to check the tag, my tastes don't change much.
Fic or Treat 2025 - peasina's Door
Oct. 3rd, 2025 06:10 pmpeasina
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ficortreat 2025🧛🏼♂️ peasina's Door 🦇
Light is on for: Fic or Treat Community (who have their own “Doors”) and my DW subscribers
What's in the Bowl? Pokémon Icons!
Let Me Know: The Pokémon you’d like icons for. You can name any number of Pokémon, a Pokémon type (e.g. steel type), generation, or say “Surprise me!” for a random Pokémon of my choice. I will make you at least three icons of at least one of your listed Pokémon.
Other info: I will use official art, concept art, TCG art, and sprites for your icons.
Thank you for knocking!
Fancake Theme for October: Uncommon Settings
Oct. 3rd, 2025 08:26 amrunpunkrun posting in fandomcalendar
fancake is a thematic recommendation community where all members are welcome to post recs, and fanworks of all shapes and sizes are accepted. Check out the community guidelines for the full set of rules. This theme runs for the entire month. If you have any questions, just ask!
The Friday Five for 3 October 2025: Senses
Oct. 3rd, 2025 01:41 amanais_pf posting in thefridayfiveThese questions were originally suggested by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ardnaid.
1. Do you ever wonder if the way you see things visually aren't how other people see them?
2. What kind of sounds are the most annoying?
3. When walking through a store, do you shop with your hands by touching/feeling the texture of things?
4. If you could only smell three scents for the rest of your life, what would they be?
5. What sorts of things do you savor when eating them?
Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.
If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!
**Remember that we rely on you, our members, to help keep the community going. Also, please remember to play nice. We are all here to answer the questions and have fun each week. We repost the questions exactly as the original posters submitted them and request that all questions be checked for spelling and grammatical errors before they're submitted. Comments re: the spelling and grammatical nature of the questions are not necessary. Honestly, any hostile, rude, petty, or unnecessary comments need not be posted, either.**
ardnaid.1. Do you ever wonder if the way you see things visually aren't how other people see them?
2. What kind of sounds are the most annoying?
3. When walking through a store, do you shop with your hands by touching/feeling the texture of things?
4. If you could only smell three scents for the rest of your life, what would they be?
5. What sorts of things do you savor when eating them?
Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.
If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!
**Remember that we rely on you, our members, to help keep the community going. Also, please remember to play nice. We are all here to answer the questions and have fun each week. We repost the questions exactly as the original posters submitted them and request that all questions be checked for spelling and grammatical errors before they're submitted. Comments re: the spelling and grammatical nature of the questions are not necessary. Honestly, any hostile, rude, petty, or unnecessary comments need not be posted, either.**
Dear Festividder 2025
Oct. 3rd, 2025 12:36 ameruthrosThank you for making me a vid!
I have a couple things that I put outside the cut tag, because I have two visual triggers:
1) Fast, high contrast flashes of lights or colors. This can be triggered by strobe lights, strobe effects, glitch effects, full-screen lighting effects, or repeated lightning strikes. It can also be triggered by stutter cuts (very fast intercuts of 2-3 frames) where there is high contrast in the footage used for the stutter effect. Stutter cuts are fine between two similar scenes, but not between one dark green and one bright red lit scene, between a nighttime and daytime scene, etc. Flashing has to be very fast to bother me—think three lightning strikes in a second (dark, light, dark, light, dark, light, dark in one second).
2) Frame rate fuckery—when a show or a vid plays 24 fps footage in 30 fps or vice versa. So, like, when a film puts footage at the wrong frame rate to make it feel awkward or tense, which is super common in action films. (For example, the Bucky/Steve knife fight on the street in Winter Solider.) It can also happen by accident, if footage at one frame rate is put into a project with a different frame rate, or sometimes when a show needs to stretch or compress footage and they do it by duplicating every third frame.
I'll call these out in the source notes below for any fandom where they're relevant.
Please also feel free to run a sample bythingswithwings. She can explain them with examples if that would be helpful.
The rest of this post is additional details if you're interested!
( General Preferences )
I asked for: Babylon 5, Backspot (2023) [SAFETY], Bring Them Home / Aiskótáhkapiyaaya (2024) [SAFETY], Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper, Fancy Dance (2023) [SAFETY], The Great Canadian Baking Show (TV), Lego Video Games [UMBRELLA], Mythbusters (TV), Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards, This Place (2022) [SAFETY]
( Babylon 5 )
( Backspot (2023) )
( Bring Them Home / Aiskótáhkapiyaaya (2024) )
( Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper )
( Fancy Dance (2023) )
( The Great Canadian Baking Show )
( Lego Video Games [UMBRELLA] )
( Mythbusters )
( Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards )
( This Place (2022) )
I have a couple things that I put outside the cut tag, because I have two visual triggers:
1) Fast, high contrast flashes of lights or colors. This can be triggered by strobe lights, strobe effects, glitch effects, full-screen lighting effects, or repeated lightning strikes. It can also be triggered by stutter cuts (very fast intercuts of 2-3 frames) where there is high contrast in the footage used for the stutter effect. Stutter cuts are fine between two similar scenes, but not between one dark green and one bright red lit scene, between a nighttime and daytime scene, etc. Flashing has to be very fast to bother me—think three lightning strikes in a second (dark, light, dark, light, dark, light, dark in one second).
2) Frame rate fuckery—when a show or a vid plays 24 fps footage in 30 fps or vice versa. So, like, when a film puts footage at the wrong frame rate to make it feel awkward or tense, which is super common in action films. (For example, the Bucky/Steve knife fight on the street in Winter Solider.) It can also happen by accident, if footage at one frame rate is put into a project with a different frame rate, or sometimes when a show needs to stretch or compress footage and they do it by duplicating every third frame.
I'll call these out in the source notes below for any fandom where they're relevant.
Please also feel free to run a sample by
thingswithwings. She can explain them with examples if that would be helpful.The rest of this post is additional details if you're interested!
( General Preferences )
I asked for: Babylon 5, Backspot (2023) [SAFETY], Bring Them Home / Aiskótáhkapiyaaya (2024) [SAFETY], Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper, Fancy Dance (2023) [SAFETY], The Great Canadian Baking Show (TV), Lego Video Games [UMBRELLA], Mythbusters (TV), Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards, This Place (2022) [SAFETY]
( Babylon 5 )
( Backspot (2023) )
( Bring Them Home / Aiskótáhkapiyaaya (2024) )
( Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper )
( Fancy Dance (2023) )
( The Great Canadian Baking Show )
( Lego Video Games [UMBRELLA] )
( Mythbusters )
( Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards )
( This Place (2022) )
