chocolateboxcomm | Member Posts

I finished The Goblin Emperor tonight. The title is my summary. It was good but not stunning - the story was slow, the intrigues not always very intriguing. The worldbuilding was basically a generic fantasy court with fancy window dressing - very detailed in some cases, but inconsistently so. The main character was nice, but sometimes just really painfully naive and I wanted to smack him. At times he was just oppressively glum. I'm not really sure that he changed as a person, he just got more used to things and more familiar with what was expected of him, so even as a character piece I didn't find it deeply satisfying. He wasn't really interested in things that were going on, so it led to a lot of exposition. There were some good and surprising scenes with various characters, where Maia learns that they are, in fact, fully realized persons in their own right, which are nice. But the conflicts seemed mostly too easily resolved. I liked the pseudo communists? It was enjoyable enough and I'm glad I finally read it, but I'm not sure on what basis it was nominated for so many awards.

Other than that - the strategic planning session thing at work was good, except it went too long in the beginning and we didn't get time to do enough of the actual *planning* work. I still think it was useful - everyone is basically agreed that we need to hire an interpretive planner. there is something regarding the beginning of a plan to make a plan to seriously figure out what merging SA is going to be, though there are still some elephants in the room that haven't been addressed. I had/got to point out that the inventory system for SA is completely inappropriate for a museum because it doesn't have object tracking capabilities - you can only know where objects are if they are in a box. Not good enough. I got to hear N talk crap out of his ass and *also* talk high level archaeological theory and spot the difference ;p When he does the former I want to smack him - when he does the latter I often find myself agreeing with him, which is refreshing. Anyway - I think I'm probably a weirdo because I actually enjoy those sorts of things, except for the part where it is supposed to also be a networking thing and you should probably talk to absolutely anyone outside of the session about the things discussed, and not just run and hide in your office because you can. After a crazy start of the week, though, it's back to normal - not having a whole lot to do. :/

desertvixen

So most of my posts have been exchange letters lately, and I haven't shared any of the stuff I've written OR recieved...since, um Yuletide. Here we go!

For Multi-Fandom Drabble, I got A LOT!

1.Something to Fight For - A Wonder Woman drabble, focusing on Steve's final moments. Feels warning.

2. Observations - Perry Mason drabble, focused on Della's feminine skills.

3. Great Love, Great Fear - Greek/Roman Myth drabble, Clytemnestra focused.

4. Women's Work - Greek/Roman Myth drabble. Someone has noticed what Penelope does at night.

5. The Case of Light and Shadow - Perry Mason drabble. Perry and Della prepare for another case.

6. On a Hollow Ship - Greek/Roman Myth drabble. Clytemnestra and Penelope interact.

7. The Works of Warfare - Greek/Roman myth double drabble. This is my actual assigned fic, and it's really lovely. Contrast of Penelope and Clytemnestra, who aren't really in that different a position...

For Not Prime Time, I got Wanax Kai Basileus (A Lord and A King), a really really really excellent story about Agamemmnon and Odysseus before the walls of Troy. If you've ever thought that Odysseus should have been in charge of that show, you'll enjoy this.

For Night on Fic Mountain, I got One Got In Chancery, a really good AU story involving another scenario for the events of And Then There Were None. It's Vera Claythorne-centric.

For All in the Family, I got Sacrifices and Gifts, a Hestia-centric fic that centers on her relationships with Demeter and Persephone. It's nicely done, and sheds some light on the character who sits in the shadows.

For Jukebox (song-related fics only), I got At the Crossroads, a story based on Red Sovine's "Phantom 309". Very lovely, and it brings everything full circle.

For Once Upon A Fic, I got Simon Peel's Bride, based on the Lady Lovibond story. It's lovely and haunting.

For Fandom 5K, I got a fic (despite my defaulting), A Modern Barrayaran for the Vorkosigan Saga fans. It's very good and pulls in some people we haven't heard from in awhile.

For May The Fourth Be With You exchange, I got Inheritance and Got a lot of fight left in me - both based on my prompt for an AU where Leia meets Kenobi. They're both really good.

For Chocolate Box - Round 2:

1. Just like Sisters - a Lion Voltron story focused on Allura and Romelle. Very nice!

2. Second Chances - a TNG story featuring Picard/Beverly Crusher/Jack Crusher. Obviously AU but very enjoyable, and hot.

For Fandom Stocking 2016:

1. A Quest for Merklynn - Visionaries fic featuring Cryotek/Galadria. It made me squee.

2. Just Janine - Great BSC piece with Janine introspection.

DV

nanslice

After about $500, my jeep now has a new alternator, a new blower for the AC, and a new waiting to be put on driver side front door, on top of the new spark plugs, wires, and air filter. Apparently putting on doors of this particular make/model is a real pain in the ass so I'm waiting until I absolutely have to. I already have someone willing to do it. I'm hoping it doesn't became super necessary anytime soon.

I'm working on an Alucard art piece that seemed so simple when I was sketching it out but which has turned into this really in depth piece. I'm really enjoying working on it; it's not for anything and I'm not really in any hurry to have it finished. So I can kind of meander and play around and see what works and what doesn't. it also helps that I'm working entirely with a blue palette and while blue isn't my favorite color, it's one of my favorite colors to work with (my fave color is orange! Yay complementary colors!). Anyway, ideally it will be finished by this Saturday but we'll see.

( Cutting this but it's about John McCain's cancer diagnosis )

goss

Title: Bulletproof
Artist:

goss
Rating: G
Fandom: DCU, Wonder Woman (2017)
Characters/Pairings: Diana
Content Notes: This is a quick one, sketched with pencil. Don't have the time to do a proper watercolour painting job as yet. So in the mean time, I've added some digital tinting in Photoshop, as well as played around with the lighting. I actually like the results. ^___^

Created for the

drawesome Weekly Challenge #3: Song Lyric Prompt. Inspired by Titanium by David Guetta featuring Sia (Ricochet, you take your aim, fire away...).

Preview:

( Click here for entire artwork )

chomiji

I finished my last-minute reading of Hugo short fiction items and did my voting on Saturday morning. I think that there were a LOT of very good "shorts" this year.

I am re-reading The Story of the Stone by Barry Hughart, which is the second of the Master Li and Number Ten Ox books. I also tried (really, I did) to read two Very Serious books, which turned out to be nearly unreadable and almost useless for their intended purpose. *looks shifty*

Current Mood: tired

anaraine

( I need a hug. )

eta: ...went out for some retail therapy, because I could just not stop picking at my Nook like a scab. I was planning to get some earrings, but found the Moana cd at a much more reasonable price (it was around $22 in meatspace when the movie came out, but I got it for $11), so I got that instead. Also browsed through a videogame shop, reminded myself of all the games I own already and still want to play, and got a scoop of mango icecream that was way better than I was expecting. I'm still not happy about Dropbox, and I still don't want to poke at my Nook at the moment, but I feel much more even keeled now. Might start a re-watch of Leverage - that show always makes me smile.

Current Mood: distressed
Current Music: Te Ka Attacks - Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa'i

komadori

It has been a long while since I have done one of these. Since I’m trying to kick my summer reading goals into gear, here we go…

What are you currently reading?

Two things—At the Existentialist Café, which is non-fiction an philosophical, and Dubliners by James Joyce, which is a short story collection of Joyce’s early works. At the Existentialist Café is over half done, but I haven’t made much progress on it as of late because it is not the sort of thing I can listen to while drifting off to sleep. I just started Dubliners and have only read the first story. Last year, one of my professors said that all English majors should read Dubliners before they graduate, so I took the plunge and thanked God that he didn’t say Ulysses.

What did you recently finish reading?

( Everything from this month with minor spoilers for Norse Mythology )

What do you think you'll read next?

Well,

melannen is going to read Enchantress from the Stars, which is also on my to-read list, so probably that because I want to compare thoughts and have something to say.

Look, I just wrote ~700 words of babbling about books! Better quit while I’m ahead.

Edit: Why can't I get this cut to work? I use them so infrequently that I constantly screw them up. Am I not allowed to use punctuation in the cut text? Is it too long? What am I doing wrong?

Current Mood: sick

fadedwings

I finished and posted my fic that I was writing for

fan_flashworks . It's not awesome, but it is done and I did enjoy writing it, mostly.
I did not enjoy editing it though. I hate that part. A lot.
This is probably one of the longer fics I've written if not the longest. Not that I've written tons of fic or anything.

Okay I checked...this fic at 3,478 words is 1350 words longer than my previously longest posted work. Hmmm... wacky.

Very hot and humid today. Blah. I could really do with cooler days. I find it hard to motivate myself to do much of anything when it's like this.

Oh, the latest issue of America (America Chavez solo comic from Marvel) has her teaming up with Kate Bishop (the other Hawkeye) for the issue (and next issue to it seems!) Very cool!!!

Current Mood: hot

lebateleur

What I Just Finished Reading

The Seeing Stone – Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi
This book is much better as a full volume than divided into two as Goblins Attack and Troll Trouble, mainly because the fey we meet in the second half are far more engaging than anything we encounter in the first.

The Hacking of the American Mind – Robert Lustig
Lustig is genuinely dedicated to improving health outcomes, but his argument suffers for his devolving everything down to sugar intake. I agree with him that global sugar consumption is far too high and that dopamine reward systems are at the root of this problem. But I'd argue that how corporations use psychology to drive people's behavior, marketing to inflame their insecurities, and data analytics to customize approaches to drive individuals to consume more is a problem that extends far beyond sugar, and that any volume called “The Hacking of the American Mind” needs to delve into these issues to merit the title.

The Essex Serpent – Sarah Perry
The best novels make it hard to pick up another book when you've finished reading because you just want this story with these characters to continue. The Essex Serpent is very well written and I enjoyed the ride, but it failed to grab hold of me the way the best novels do. I think some of this is to do with the fact that Perry devoted less of the narrative to the characters who intrigued me most. But the ending was satisfying indeed, and I adore how Perry avoided the pat and predictable outcome every. Single. Time. I'll be reading more by her.

India – Becky Stephens
This book was a good, albeit superficial introduction to the country, although it did try at times to put too much of a good spin on its major social ills.

What I Am Currently Reading

The Book of Three – Lloyd Alexander
When I read this as a kid, Gurgi and Eilonwy drove me nuts. They both still do, but all these decades later I have such affection for them it makes for an easier read.

The Infidel Stain – MJ Carter
Still truckin.' I still find it hard to believe Avery's opinions on the social order could have remained so retrograde after all his time in India and Afghanistan, but this somehow irritates me less this time through.

Preacher: All Hell's A-Coming – Garth Ennis
Herr Starr is such a glorious villain. And jesus christ, I'd forgotten how horrible Cassidy is, and how groundbreaking it was for Ennis to portray this stuff way back in '98 and '99.

The Tarot: History, Mystery, and Lore – Cynthia Giles
Hands down, still one of the best volumes on the cards out there. Why it isn't at the top of recent lists on the subject perplexes.

Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet – Charlie Holmberg
With an additional fifth of the book under my belt, I'm less certain I've figured out the big reveal. The writing continues to sparkle, and Holmberg continues to write some of the freshest riffs on YA fantasy out there.

The Souls of China – Ian Johnson
Still truckin'.

Clariel – Garth Nix
Finally, rainstorms, and I could read more of this book. This week's chapters featured a ripping battle with a Free Magic spirit, and for personal reasons, Nix's portrayal of Clariel's affectionate but clueless and spineless father hurt. Also, it looks like everyone has an angle, and it is glorious.

Captive Prince vol.2 - CS Pacat
For reasons.

What I'm Reading Next
I'm about 1/7 of the way through my read-these-first shortlist, and will continue to pick volumes off in the coming week. Black and DiTerlizzi's Lucinda's Secret is currently at the top of the list.

これで以上です。

Current Location: la biblioteque
Current Music: king buzzo - vaulting over a microphone

dhampyresa

1: The Doctor is a woman, FUCKING FINALLY. (I've always low-key resented 11 and 12 for not being girls every since the possibility was brought up in Eleventh Hour.)

2: I need a Bill icon. YESTERDAY.

wendelah1

Because of all of the kids' books and quickie romances I've been reading lately, I am nine books ahead on my Goodreads challenge. I'm going to have to up the ante by ten books, at least, to compensate.

What I've finished

All the President's Men (1974), Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. I began reading it because of (1.) this article in Newsweek: "The Eerie Similarities Between Alleged Trump Scandals and All The President's Men, and (2.) because we'd just watched the movie based on it. (Note that the Newsweek story was published back in March. Imagine if they'd written it this week.) The book is award-winning journalism but honestly, the movie makes for a better story. Go rent the movie. Download it. Whatever. (We checked it out of the library). You will not be sorry. The movie gets five stars. The book gets four stars. These reporters, their editors, and their publisher are all American heroes.

Beany and the Beckoning Road (1959), Lenore Mattingly Weber. Beany believes that she has lost boyfriend Norbett to another girl: Cynthia. She and Johnny plan to drive from Denver to California to return their nephew to his parents and advertise for passengers to share the travel expenses. What a surprise for Beany when she discovers that one of the passengers is Cynthia. What will happen to a mismatched set of passengers with very little money and a tomato plant in the back seat?

This was better than the previous book in the series. Beany flies off the handle one time too many for my taste but whatever. Three stars for retro-charm and that tomato plant. I haven't decided if I'm going to continue on with the Malone family, but this book was funny and engaging.

Girl in the Water (2016), Dana Marton. I took a chance and purchased (I know!) this book because of how much I liked Secret Soldier. The online reviews were enthusiastic, but I was not impressed. Marton tried to weave together three stories, and multiple points of view, and couldn't quite pull it off. ( spoilers ) I applaud her attempt to write something more ambitious than your run of the mill romance but this didn't work for me at all. I give it one star.

I returned Sugar and Other Stories (1987) by A.S. Byatt to the library after reading just one story. Actually, I didn't make it through the first story. I can't recall the title. It was about an unpleasant little girl, attending an atrocious boarding school, with nasty classmates and an appalling, sadistic headmistress, who I've decided in retrospect might be a stand-in for the writer. Byatt enjoys torturing her characters in much the same way that her headmistress character enjoyed torturing her students. Halfway through, I found I wasn't liking anything about this story. Enough was enough. I skimmed through the next two stories and they were more of the same. No, thank you.

What's next?

I borrowed another book in the time travel porn series from the LAPL. I think this one is called "The Slayer" but it has nothing to do with vampires.

I'm still rereading the series for my kidlit fic exchange, titles withheld.

I unearthed an old novel of Margaret Drabble's which I'd never read, The Peppered Moth.

I'm carrying around Mirror Dance from the Vorkosigan saga in my purse.

There's a stack of time travel novels from the library at my bedside.

Entering Space: Creating a Space-faring Civilization by Robert Zubrin is sitting around somewhere, too. I got it out of mothballs because there is a chapter on mining asteroids, which is relevant to my interests. Speaking of space-faring civilizations, season two of The Expanse arrived yesterday!

black kitty

Crossposts: http://wendelah1.livejournal.com/485525.html

helsinkibaby

So I decided to drop out of the Het Big Bang for this year. It's been a pretty shite year at work which sapped a lot of my mojo for anything longer than a comment fic piece and the 9k of words that I have will never be stretched to 25k by the end of August. Which sucks because I hate dropping out of things, I love the Het Big Bang challenge and I actually know exactly how I want the story to go - it's just that every time I sit down to write anything on it, my brain goes "Nope" and I end up staring at a blank screen.

On the other hand, I started a completely different fic yesterday, just writing out a snippet of something that came into my head and I now have *checks word counter* 7,127 words of angsty fluffy plot with a few other scenes in my head that will need to be written to make it work as an actual fic that makes sense and stuff. The irony that I could have just pulled a switcheroo and declared this for the Het Big Bang Mini Bang option is not lost on me, alas I had already filled out the poll by the time I realised that I'd written 5000 words in 12 hours. Plus it's a literal fandom of two, but hey it is making me happy and not much has done that this year so yeah.

Crossposts: http://helsinkibaby.livejournal.com/565221.html

yhlee

The time has come to find new homes for some of the vintage fountain pens in my collection.

These are all great pens, but the truth is I have a fair number of great pens and these are ones that simply aren't making it into my rotation. I'd rather someone else get some enjoyment out of them!

All prices include shipping within the continental USA. Elsewhere, please inquire--I will probably have to charge you shipping at cost. I accept payment via Paypal.

If interested, either leave a comment or email me (yoon at yoonhalee dot com).

From left to right:

1. Wahl-Eversharp Doric in Kashmir (a sort of dark swirly marbled green). Lever filler. The great thing about this pen is that it has a #3 adjustable nib. It goes from Fine to Broad on the flexiest setting. The only reason I'm letting this go is that I have a Wahl-Eversharp Doric in black with a #7 adjustable nib, and I honestly don't need two adjustable Dorics.

Please note that the #3 Doric is a petite pen--unless you have very small hands, you will probably want to use this posted.

Price: ~~$225.~~ SOLD

NOTE:

troisroyaumes gets first call on this one. If she doesn't want it, then someone else can have it!

2. Waterman Lady Patricia that I bought from Mauricio Aguilar of Vintage Fountain Pens. He graded it a superflex, and it's a pleasurable and absolutely reliable writer; I've always had great experiences with the pens I've bought from Mauricio. Lever filler. Again, this is a lovely pen that I simply don't use--in this case because I'm busy using a different pen that I bought from Mauricio, a Waterman 52V (for which Jedao's Patterner 52 was named :p). Like the #3 Doric, this is a petite pen, and probably best used posted unless you have very small hands.

This is a handsome pen with green and brown swirls, and I love looking at it, but I really prefer for all my pens to be working pens that get used. Maybe you can have fun with it!

Price: $410.

3. Conklin Crescent Filler--the crescent filling mechanism is not that different from lever filling and is very simple to use, and really neat if you love geeking out about different filling mechanisms. This is a wet noodle that does hairlines, if you're into flex writing or copperplate; I probably wouldn't recommend it for sketching because of the fineness of the nib, but it would make a great fountain pen for non-sketch-speed line art.

Price: $320.

4. Osmia 34 in gray candy. This is a very flexy nib that goes from Fine to Broad, and unusually, it's in a piston filler. Please note that the material is discolored along about half the barrel (ambering)--this doesn't affect the pen's functionality, although if you care more about aesthetics this is not the pen for you. This nib has an almost painterly feel to it that is very pleasurable for writing.

Price: $240.

5. The last two are a Sheaffer Balance in Marine Green, fountain pen and mechanical pencil set. The fountain pen is a lever filler and has a flex nib; I'm not sure what width graphite the pencil takes, although it comes loaded with one. The set is very handsome; please note that the fountain pen has a chip near the lever. This doesn't affect function but may be an aesthetic concern.

Price: $210.

~~NOTE: troisroyaumes gets first call on this one. If she doesn't want it, then someone else can have it!~~ (She decided to get the Wahl-Eversharp Doric instead, so this pen and pencil set is available!)

Current Mood: hopeful

tielan

... I am so sorry that the link to my letter is broken. I forgot that I signed up, figured I missed the date, and deleted the link.

Thank you so much for writing for me. I hope that you don't stress about it, and enjoy both the process and the result.

( MCU, DC Cinematic Universe, Harry Potter )

Please note, all these are suggestions - a jumping-off point. Don't feel you absolutely must come up with the scenarios I've depicted to please me; just write the fandom and the friendship that we've matched on the way you see it, and I will love reading the result!

yhlee

Chicks Dig Gaming, ed. Jennifer Brozek, Robert Smith? [this appears to be part of the author name, as it's listed with the interrogation point in multiple places], and Lars Pearson is one of the books I picked up at Pandemonium Books & Games in Boston. It's an absolutely delightful collection of essays about gaming by women, ranging the gamut from board games to video games to one anthropologist non-gamer who decided to play Portal to study the phenomenon of gaming and explore her reasons for not being a gamer. :p

A few of the essays didn't speak to me personally, but that's fine--for example, there was one about adventure games through the lens of the Monkey Island games, which I did play, but I didn't imprint on the genre. It's not that it was a bad essay, but rather that it was a type of gaming experience I just wasn't as interested in. And that's fine; for some other reader that could be entirely their thing.

Here's a rundown:

( cut for length )

To sum up: highly recommended.

Current Mood: pleased

badly_knitted

Title: Alone Time
Fandom: FAKE
Author:

badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo, mentions Dee and Bikky.
Rating: G
Challenge: # 46: When There’s Nobody Around at

drabble_zone.
Spoilers/Setting: After the manga.
Summary: Ryo is going to make the most of his alone time.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
A/N: This one’s a double drabble.

( Alone Time... )

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: My Desk

badly_knitted

Title: Headache Cure
Author:

badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, mentions Jack.
Rating: G
Written For: Challenge 457: Soothe/Soothing at

tw100.
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Ianto always gets a headache when dealing with UNIT.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.

( Headache Cure... )

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: My Desk

calliopes_pen

I am in the process of importing my older fanfic to Ao3. A large portion of it is probably Doctor Who, from the Tenth Doctor days. So if you suddenly notice a new story* from me, it's not new. It's so very, very old and fluff more than anything in most cases. Looking back now, quite a few are not that great, but they're going up for the sake of completion.

*There were two occasions as I started the import where it accidentally made it post to today's date, but it was eventually fixed. I learned that trying to import from Teaspoon does that for whatever reason, while importing from Dreamwidth does not, and gives the original date without me needing to change it.

Crossposts: http://calliopes-pen.livejournal.com/1013574.html

scripsi

Title: My Only Love
Fandom: Versailles
Rating: Explicit
Genre: Drama
Word Count: 1195
Chapters: 2/?
Characters/pairing: Fabien Marchal/Sophie de Clermont.
Warnings: Torture, rough sex
Summary: Estranged from Fabien, Sophie returns to Versailles, continuing her work as his spy. When Fabien decides to play a long game with Sophie as pawn, the hopes of them finding each other again, gets dangerously close to be permanently shattered. A sequel to Falling.

( Read more... )

Crossposts: http://scripsi.livejournal.com/247557.html

rootsofthestories

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Profile

Chocolate Box Gift Exchange

February 2017

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28

Page Summary

Style Credit

Style: Neutral Good for Practicality by timeasmymeasure

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Jul. 20th, 2017 12:35 pm

Chocolate Box Gift Exchange

Member Posts

Sad Half Elf Gets Better At Job He Hates

Recent Gifts

Just some babble about some stuff

Art (Wonder Woman)

Reading Wednesday

Fucking Dropbox

Reviving the Wednesday reading mem

Writing and Whatnot...

What Am I Reading Wednesday: July 19

Doctor Who thoughts

Wednesday Book Meme

State of the writing

fountain pen sale

Dear Genex Author

Chicks Dig Gaming

FAKE Double Drabble: Alone Time

Drabble: Headache Cure

Import In Progress

My Only Love, chapter 2

[General]

Profile

February 2017

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags