"Lovely War meets Howl’s Moving Castle in this new YA fantasy from acclaimed author Frances Hardinge, about the people caught in a game played by the gods where castles are moved around the world like chess pieces" and I gotta say, I'm offended by that blurb. The obvious DWJ parallel is Homeward Bounders, and this book has little, if anything, in common with Howl's Moving Castle.

Definitely worth a read, though.

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I only checked out three premieres, but two of them led to shows that are really engaging my brain.

One is The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom. Despite its laid-back fairytale vibe, it's actually been able to throw a lot of information into the first couple episodes without feeling infodumpy. Two of the seven brothers have complicated romances going on, the backstory owes a lot to the Year Without a Summer, and the ED is trying to commmunicate big spoilers about the giant squirrel.

This is also the sort of show where, when one of the knights tells his brothers that he thinks he's developed a crush on a eunuch (I said it was complicated), the part that weirds everyone out is he's attempting to form a relationship outside of his own social class.

The other is Tetsuryo! Meet With Tetsudo Musume, which is based on a line of toy figures but you would never guess that from the show so far. It's about a young woman starting college and winding up in the Railway Travel Club, leading to excursions and lots of interesting train facts. (This week: a visit to the westernmost train line on Honshu, which uses physical tokens in place of an interlock mechanism!) I would not recommend this show to anyone who isn't a fan of either trains or the chill travel genre, but I'm having a blast.

The other show I checked out was #I'm Looking for a Zombie. The kids are nice enough but it had too many ogling camera angles and as-you-know-Bob dialogue for my taste.

Or when the weather's bad, too.

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Fandom: Witch Hat Atelier
Author/Artist: linky/linkily
Title: For Just A Moment
Pairing: Qifrey/Olruggio
Rating: G
Word Count: 300
Summary: Qifrey kept asking Olruggio to take a break, but he wouldn’t listen. Things will be different this time.
A/N: Written for seasonsofdrabbles, contains manga spoilers.

Read on Ao3, Read on DW

Another pendant I picked up during the 2024 trip, this one for me. Matched it with some tiger eye rectangles I had, and a variety of metal beads, to make the silver wrap stand out.

Day 13

After a busy day on Monday, I kept things low key, and only finished wrapping the support rope for the market bag with rainbow colors of cotton yarn.

[ID: A rope wrapped with rainbow-colored yarn. End ID]

I also sketched out the sword to add to the cross stitch, but did not take a photo.

Day 14

I washed the most recent acrylic yarn haul!

[ID: 11 skeins of various colors of variegated yarn looped over hangers to dry. End ID]

After three tries with two different colors of floss, I finally got the sword stitched, and it mostly looks like what I had in my head!

[ID: A modern cross stitch sampler that says: "As for me and my house, we shall serve Diane Duane's army" done in blue. green and coral colored thread; it also contains floral motifs, wands, and a glowy blue sword. End ID]

I'm going to let it sit a couple of days, so that I know I am truly satisfied, before I lock the threads.

that Frances Hardinge had a new book out!?

Hello, leaving here my recently created account at MAL to resume my Anime/Manga lists. After trying 5p continue resetting my password at anime-planet to access my account over there to no avail, I just opened a new one over here.

If you wish to friend me over there, you may do so

My Anime List account

Title: Tears for Fears
Fandom/Pairing: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation - Lizel/Eleven
Summary: It wasn't that Lizel was cruel, it was just that sometimes he thought it was hot to make someone cry...
Rating: PG-13
Content: Crying kink, references to BDSM
Disclaimer: The characters of A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation in their various incarnations belong to Misaki & Sando and TO Books, 8Key & Momochi, as well as SynergySP. I simply borrow them to illustrate my personal fantasies. I make no money from them, and no people, either real or fictional, were hurt in the writing of this story.
Notes: 350+ words. Written for the prompt Crying. Just a little something I've thought about for some time and now had an excuse to write. :) Many thanks to zabimitsuki for the beta!

Read it here: DW | AO3

But anyway, how's your day going everybody?

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These offset shell squares made me think of chess boards. So I thought I'd pair them with some metal beads that made me think of fancy chess pieces, used some black glass bead ends, and an offset toggle.

                i. Spring

the tips of each pine
the spikes of telephone poles
hold gathering crows

may’s errant mustard
spreads wild across paved road
look both ways

roadside treble cleft
feeding gopher, paws to mouth
cheeks puffed with music

yesterday’s spring wind
ruffling the grey tips of fur
rabbit dandelion

                ii. Summer

turkey vulture feeds
mechanical as a red oil rig
head rocks down up down

stiff-legged dog rises
goes grumbling after squirrel
old ears still flap

snowy egret—curves,
lines, sculpted against pond blue;
white clouds against sky

banded headed bird
this ballerina killdeer
dance on point my heart

                iii. Fall

leaf wind cold through coat
wails over hills, through barren trees
empty garbage cans dance

damp September night
lone farmer, lighted tractor
drive memory’s worn path

sky black with migration
flocks settle on barren trees
leaf birds, travel songs

october moon cast
over corn, lighted fields
crinkled sheaves of white

                iv. Winter

ground painted in frost
thirsty morning sun drinks white
leaves rust golds return

winter bare branches
hold tattered cups of summer
empty nests trail twigs

lace edges of ice
manna against darkened sky
words turn with weather

now one to seven
deer or haiku syllables
weave through winter trees

Northern follows jig
body flashes with strike, dive:
broken line floats up.

***

Link

and the poledancing archer I legit have no idea how YouTube recommends things to me. No complaints, though, I will watch the hell out of both those people.

(But seriously, how did YouTube know that!? You know, I don't know what the hell tweaks they've done with their algorithm lately, but wow.)

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It's been an emotionally and physically exhausting few days; I worked on things, but didn't get time to post.

Day 10

I stitched the seams on the market bag!

[IDs: Two photos of each side of a of a market bag in various colors of cotton yarn. End ID]

Day 11

I loom-knitted a baby hat...

[ID: A knitted baby hat in variegated pinks and light green. End ID]

Day 12
At the very end of a very busy day, I started wrapping the rope that will help support the straps of the market bag.

[ID: A thin rope, half wrapped with cotton yarn. End ID]

Another of the trip souvenir necklaces, this one had a reversible pendant. Matched it with a star toggle and just kept it simple with copper painted glass E beads and some metal fans. ( Read more... )

For my other friend I matched the aventurine pendant with aventurine balls and metal beads as she prefers stones and metals in her jewelry.

During a trip to Wisconsin and Minnesota my friends and I took in 2024, we stopped at an agate bead shop. I had them pick out pendants they liked and then made necklaces that I gave to them during our 2025 trip to Oregon and California.

Above, blue goldstone cubes and starred plastic balls echoed the cloudy sky look of the pendant.

so much as the way those fascists talk about it.