Me-and-media update

Sep. 28th, 2025 11:23 am
china_shop: Close-up of Zhao Yunlan grinning (Default)
[personal profile] china_shop
Previous poll review
In the Muppets poll, 40.7% of respondents chose Kermit, followed by 37.0% for Animal, and 29.6% for Gonzo. Hugs won the ticky-boxes, followed by paper tigers. Thank you for your votes!

Reading
I'm loving Black Water Sister -- the interactions between adherents of different religions are especially delightful. I'm making my way through it pretty slowly because I haven't had much listening time, but it's great!

Slowed down even more on Inventing the Renaissance. And the entirety of my non-audio reading has been the Guardian subs in Korean (skipping over some bits I don't know, but still looking up way too many words).

Kdramas (so many Kdramas)
Cut for length. )

Other TV
We've started The Newsreader (Australian, stars Anna Torv) set in a TV newsroom in 1986. It's great so far -- Torv's character has a lot of emotional range, and the other lead is also interestingly complex. (TW: depression, anxiety.)

Also, one episode of Skeleton Crew, which is just as The Goonies-ish as I've heard. We'll give it another episode and see. Prehistoric Planet, which is really good. Just lovely animation and creature work. Bluey -- how is this so consistently excellent?? We're ploughing through season 3, and then there'll be none left. Oh no!

Guardian/Fandom
I am behind on EVERYTHING! Including this post. /o\ Also, I've been going through my browser windows and randomly closing tabs, now and then, so apologies if I left you hanging in a comment exchange. Firefox was just getting too hard to navigate.

Writing/making things
The Wishlist clock is ticking. I keep bumbling around like a bee doing things that are not writing fic, and then after a while saying to myself out loud, "This is not Writing Fic!" My brain gears don't seem to be working properly, and there's this one treat I'm stuck on... gah! Trying to remind myself that deadlines are just games we play with ourselves.

Life/health/mental state things
I have new glasses! They're really great. Except for biking home after picking them up, I've been wearing them non-stop with very few issues. Good for driving, okay for biking, great for TV. The fact that I have a world map and an artwork at the top and bottom of my stairs, respectively, turns out to be very helpful for distracting me from the out-of-focus stairs themselves. My keyboard is wobbly when I look at it, and sometimes the kitchen bench ("counter" for Americans) swims when I turn my head, but that's fine. I have yet to a) get the knack of gracefully attaching my clip-on sunglasses, and b) break my habit of looking under my glasses or taking them off for close work. But I'll get there. Generally I'm super happy, no notes! (My optician was right.)

Next test: we're seeing Avatar: The Way of Water in HFR 3D next week. I'll take my old glasses as backup, just in case.

Korean
Zoom call yesterday, and omg, I fumbled so much. I seriously need to practice speaking before next time. I yearn to rattle things off without having to think about it.

Link dump
Darebee home workouts (via Tumblr) | NHS's Couch to 5k page | AO3 has added Collection Tags | this shot-for-shot remake from Phineas and Ferb of "Genghis Khan" by Miike Snow (via [personal profile] petra, I know exactly nothing about the canon, I've watched it twice, can't get over how good it is, I think I have... a platypus ship??) | Timothy Olyphant on Conan, taking it all very seriously (TW: toe bruises).

Good things
Jaffa Cakes, tv-watching friend dates, new glasses, writing, betas (♥!), Dreamwidth, a glorious wealth of Kdramas, wikipedia, fandom, Guardian, Guardian, Guardian.

Poll #33664 Fire burn and caldron bubble
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 13


Choose a potion

View Answers

sleep
6 (46.2%)

love
0 (0.0%)

immortality
3 (23.1%)

transformation
6 (46.2%)

grow-a-tail
3 (23.1%)

other
5 (38.5%)

ticky-box full of acoustic toothbrushes
4 (30.8%)

ticky-box of but now I can see all the dust and cobwebs
6 (46.2%)

ticky-box full of moose having a picnic buffet and running out of salad
7 (53.8%)

ticky-box full of a top-up prescription for writing mojo
10 (76.9%)

ticky-box full of hugs
8 (61.5%)

china_shop: Donghee standing in the rain, in a peach-orange sweater, grinning in delight. (TTOF Donghee grinning in the rain)
[personal profile] china_shop
  1. keep up [community profile] fan_flashworks streak
  2. finish current wishlist gift (quickly!) and write 3 or 4 more (so many tempting prompts!!)
  3. finish two WIPs that are more than 4 months old, especially the Zhu Hong one)
  4. Yuletide & treats?


Speaking of Yuletide, I think it's okay to post what you've nominated? I've nommed a handful of Kdramas: The Time of Fever, Unintentional Love Story[*], Good Manager, While You Were Sleeping, and Family by Choice (the dads).

[*] I'm never sure if it's okay to nom The Time of Fever and Unintentional Love Story? The pairing is the same for both. Ot1h, the shows have very different vibes, and ULS has different other characters as well. Otoh, you could reasonably write "ToF" fic set during ULS, or "ULS" fic informed by ToF... Mostly I nommed them both because I didn't know what other people in the (tiny, tiny) fandom might offer/request if they signed up, and I didn't want to mismatch if they only offered/requested one show or the other.
tl;dr: Umbrella fandoms solve a lot of problems! ;-p
china_shop: Chu Shuzhi wearing a black face mask with a cat mouth and whiskers on it. (Guardian - CSZ cat mask)
[personal profile] china_shop
I posted my unexpected-kink fic for the Riddle round of [community profile] fan_flashworks, and today I archived it to AO3. It's part of my Breakage and Repair 'verse which is Post-Canon, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives (mostly), Canon Divergence, but all you really need to know is that it's early-relationship Chu Shuzhi/Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan.

Title: Experiments in Dynamic Translation (9003 words) [Explicit]
Relationships: Chu Shuzhi/Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, Chu Shuzhi/Hei Pao Shi
Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Relationships with complicated history, Being closeted in some spheres, Domestic, Unplanned/Impromptu Kink, Identity Porn (literal), Dom/sub, soft D/s, Dom!Shen Wei, Envoy!Shen Wei, Sub!Chu Shuzhi, (Zhao Yunlan enjoys the show), Fealty, Orgasm denial/delay, Dark-Energy Sex Toys, Low-key impromptu bondage, Dixing-Powers Powered Sex, Anal Sex, Voyeurism, Frottage, Long Hair
Summary:

It’s been just over ten weeks since his and Da Qing’s return to the land of the living, and in that time, Shen Wei has not yet had occasion to don his robes of office in front of Shuzhi—or indeed, to conduct any Envoy business at all in his presence. He’s visited the SID once or twice on official matters, but only in Haixing clothes, and he’s been sure to keep his manner light and casual in the public areas. Formal liaising is for the privacy of Zhao Yunlan’s office.

Now, faced with the prospect of a Dixing state dinner, Shen Wei discovers he’s slipped into—not so much keeping secrets, as compartmentalising. Again.




As I said in my end notes, it’s hilarious to me that my first E-rated fic in this ‘verse is something I usually DNW (D/s, especially when it leans into existing power dynamics). For some reason, it worked for me in this specific scenario.

Me-and-media update

Sep. 19th, 2025 10:07 am
china_shop: Close-up of Zhao Yunlan grinning (Default)
[personal profile] china_shop
Just a quick one today, because I'm trying to write half a dozen other things. :-)

Previous poll review
In the phone poll, 61% of respondents hold the phone to their ear, 40.7% put the call on speaker, and 28.8% wear an earpiece or headphones.

In ticky-boxes, cats with resting blep face came second to hugs, 61% to 69.5%. Thank you for your votes!

Reading
More of Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer, read by Candida Gubbins. Andrew has started listening with me, so I needed a solo listen and, accordingly, am trying Black Water Sister by Zen Cho, read by Catherine Ho, which is great so far. (I've heard it contains one of my DNWs, so I'm approaching with caution.)

Kdramas
Finally finished Nothing But Love (it's so good!). Also finished Aema, which was fantastic, dramatic, pacy, with tons of complicated female relationships and femslashiness (fair warning: gets very dark in places). Two more episodes of Mystic Pop-Up Bar, which continues to be delightful, I did not see that romantic pairing coming!! (It's doing the Gobin "who is the reincarnation of whom??" mystery thing.)

In theory I'm still watching My Youth in the hopes it develops some/any dramatic/romantic tension... but now You and Everything Else is out, who knows. Viewing time is limited.

More Low Life this evening, yay!

Other TV
Mostly Dark Winds and Bluey. We would have watched more Chief of War and Prehistoric Planet, but my Apple app is refusing to stream, grrrr.

Guardian/Fandom
So much is happening! It's great! The Slo-Mo Guardian Rewatch is delightful, [community profile] guardian_wishlist is in its creating period (which is always much too short, argh), and I still haven't caught up with [community profile] fan_writers comments. Also, omg, my tabs!!!

I nominated for Yuletide and am having some earnest conversations with myself about signing up. Last year was my first year; it was a blast, but it was a lot. I could always just treat...

Writing/making things
I'm very close to finishing the unexpected-kink fic (still needs a title), but most of my focus is on [community profile] guardian_wishlist. I've finished one gift and started another, which is threatening to get long (the joy and curse of rarepairs), and I have a laundry list of things to write after that. I'm aiming for, like, six or eight in total, by 6 October, but it will depend on whether I can write short.

Anyway, the current one is at least doing that delightful thing of occupying my brain when I'm not at my keyboard, making me jot down notes and dialogue when I wake up. I've missed this level of engagement.

Life/health/mental state things
Andrew's taking some time off work, which is an adjustment for both of us, and also great and much deserved.

Good things
Tuesday was a glorious sunny summery day. My new glasses are nearly ready. So Many Kdramas! TV-watching dates. Biking again. Bluey! Writing. Fandom and you all. <3

Poll #33633 Muppets
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 54


It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights

View Answers

Kermit
22 (40.7%)

Fozzie
10 (18.5%)

Gonzo
16 (29.6%)

Miss Piggy
11 (20.4%)

Animal
20 (37.0%)

other / none / what?
13 (24.1%)

ticky-box full of I keep biting my lip, ow
9 (16.7%)

ticky-box full of paper tigers prowling stripily through their 2D jungle
26 (48.1%)

ticky-box full of Yuletide nominations
15 (27.8%)

ticky-box full of so many WIPs, so little time
18 (33.3%)

ticky-box full of hugs
39 (72.2%)

Offloading My Focus to the Marathon

Sep. 14th, 2025 11:14 am
pennswoods: (Default)
[personal profile] pennswoods
A week from today I'll be running the Berlin Marathon. I have to get out to do my final sort of long run and also begin packing and stuff. There is also other work stuff I need to do (a three year report on our program is due to the Dean on Tuesday) and there's also my book to work on and a dissertation to begin reading before the October 8 defense.

Right now I am obsessing over the weather in Berlin on race day. It looks like it is going to be warmer than it normally, but we'll have a better idea the closer we get to the actual day. The race begins relatively late for these sorts of things and because it's so big and I'm at the slower end (non Elite, not sub 3 hour) I actually have an even later race start at 10.10. Since I run about 4 hours, this means I will be running until 14.00, which is usually a pretty hot part of the day. If it ends up being a sunny day, this will be even harder because the course has lots of unshaded areas and direct sun heats me up a lot. 

There is nothing I can do about the weather, and if it is hot, I have to run slower. This means no new personal record. My other worry is not slowing down enough so that I end up hitting the wall or crashing out of the course and not finishing. That would be really discouraging. So I am sitting here doing calculations and reading up on race reports and estimates of how much to slow down in different conditions. I've also been comparing it to what I've been doing here in Maryland, which is hotter, sunnier, more humid and has a higher UV-index than Berlin.

I realize this is a tiny thing to focus on, but I also know that having this marathon on my mind is a helpful distraction as it is giving me something else to focus on other than the state of the country. Marathon training means I have to schedule my runs, warm-up, cooldown, figuring out where toilets are on my routes, plan my meals (not just what I eat but when), plan recovery and post run measures, figure out what days to wash my hair, keep track of extra loads of sweaty laundry, rotate my running shoes, make sure I am drinking enough water and electrolytes, etc. 

This marathon noise has brought a kind of relief from other types of worry. I wonder what my brain will be like when the marathon is over. 

August 2020

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