dhampyresa

Project Last Chance

2026-06-02T21:50:20Z

I saw the Project Hail Mary movie and I really enjoyed it. Stupid power of friendship (and science), making me cry.

There's a line at one point about Grace's former girlfriend now being with someone named Mark, and in my head it's Mark "The Martian" Watney because that would be fucking hilarious.

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Happy June 1!

2026-06-01T22:04:04Z

Missed May 1 because I was sick, but here's your annual apotropaic picture of (plastic) lily of the valley (with bonus Miss Creant the cat).

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Heatwave over!

2026-05-31T21:09:02Z

As one of my friends said "Thankfully May is traditionally the hottest month of the year!"

I can't believe Dracula season (ie from May 3 to Nov 7, the time span of the book) is being so gothhobic

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A question about trigger warnings, I guess

2026-05-30T20:31:33Z

I recently read a book that was, in part, a retelling of the fairytale "Donkeyskin". There was a list of trigger warnings at the start of said book, but "incest" wasn't among them. Nothing physical actually happens, but much like in the fairytale, the protagonist spends a not insignificant portion of the book (I want to say at least a quarter, but don't quote me on that) threatened by the prospect of being forced to marry/have sex with her father the king. I feel like that should still warrant a warning? Or maybe "being a Donkeyskin retelling" (obvious from summary/etc) is the warning? Idk, I feel like that's not enough, especially since Donkeyskin isn't particularly well known. Or maybe I'm overthinking things.

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A rec post!

2026-05-28T20:18:55Z

I recently stayed up way too late reading the (finished) webcomic The Boy Who Murdered Love. It's the story of a young man, who upon learning that his string of failed romances are due to his assigned cupid, decides to kill said cupid -- and ends up having to help him match soulmates instead. Meanwhile, someone else gets recruited to break up soulmate bonds... It was very fun! I liked the lore and how the relationships evolved.

I am now following the author's current webcomic Lovesick : To make a heart bloom, which is ~~reverse hanahaki~~ abput a world in which everyone has flowers growing out of their hearts/chests, except the protagonist and how far he'll go to "fix" himself. I'm really loving how pretty the art is, especially when it leans into Art Nouveau.

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i'm a magpie caw caw

2026-05-16T20:39:41Z

I recently bought (the French version of) this Tarot deck because it is extremely pretty and shiny. I know how to play Tarot -- been ages, though -- but never done any divination. Does anyone have spreads that they like?

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i'm grumpy

2026-05-13T20:03:19Z

Not only did the dreaded lurgy get worse again today, but I still can't read my fucking book. I bought it legally and everything, but nooooooooooooooo fucking DRM

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idk how to title this

2026-05-09T21:04:15Z

I have been dragging this stupid coughing sickness for forever. Feel even more useless than usual.

Spent today watching a bunch of Archaeology with Flint Dibble videos. Which lead me to encountering, in Debunking the Fake Historian Taking Over the Internet: Professor Jiang's Predictive History, the conspiracy theory that Hannibal Barca never existed (from the guy being debunked -- who also is fractally wrong aboutso many things omg "Why didn't [Hannibal] go back to Carthage and claim the kingship" because Carthage didn't have kings??????? they had suffetes and Hannibal did in fact become suffete, during which tenure he led several massive reforms, including ones that made Carthage less oligarchic).

I need to reclassify my entire ao3 account as "Fake Person Fiction", I guess.

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I need a Shakespeare scholar

2026-04-03T19:38:59Z

What's the proportion of sluts vs non-sluts in Hamlet?

Call that the ho ratio.

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DNF?

2026-03-31T21:53:00Z

Was recently attempting to reading a book and found myself dreading picking it up again (just... so slooooooow). DNF (Did Not Finish) it is! (I actually gave the book more of a chance than I usually would, on account of: (a) i got it at an event where I got it signed/met the author and (b) it is a beautiful physical object.) Now I'm curious what "rules", if any, people have with DNFs? Are there things that make you read more/less of a book before you decide to drop it?

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Short PSA

2026-03-29T00:19:59Z

A book being slow-burn doesn’t mean it has to be slow.

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Slay the Princess!

2026-02-26T22:47:40Z

I've finished a play through of Slay the Princess. I really enjoyed it! I will now try to go after all the achievements héhéhé

I had to turn off the parallax and the ambient sound so I wouldn't get nauseous. Something to keep in mind if you're sensitive to motion sickness and/or vertigo.

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Slay the Princess?

2026-02-05T22:34:17Z

Has anyone played Slay the Princess? There appear to be two versions on Steam, which one should I get? Do you need any sort of reflexes or coordination at any point?

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Someone stop this man!

2026-01-31T22:40:30Z

Over course of the first episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms the main character's name goes from "Dunk" to "Ser Duncan the Tall".

At this rate, the last episode will just be him introducing himself.

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Whose idea was this?!

2026-01-24T22:31:43Z

I've borrowed the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 artbook. I've not finished it yet, but the art is very pretty so far. The writing, however, is fucking unreadable on account of being white on matte gold.

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Mini book review

2026-01-22T22:27:09Z

Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat, by Julian Walker, Matthew Remski & Derek Beres

The central idea of this book is that the underlying principles of New Age philosophy and consipracy theories are very similar: Karma = "nothing happens by accident"; Illusion = "nothing is at it seems" and Interdependance = "everything is connected". An interesting and well-argued read.

I read this book early in 2025, at roughly the same time as The Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, Goop, and the False Promise of Self-Care, by Rina Raphael (it was fine) so I'm not sure which of the two -- or even the Decoding the Gurus podcast I was bingeing at the time -- had this additional tidbit: part of the appeal of alternative medicine is the personalised aspect of it. You're not special, getting the same vaccine as everyone else, but this homeopathy is tailored to you specifically/this diet aligns with your astrological chart/etc.

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Not really a snowflake challenge entry

2026-01-16T22:14:03Z

Prompt 8 for this year is "Talk about your creative process." which made me realise it's been a while since I've had a Story Song. Usually when I have a story I'm working on I have a song that goes with it, that echoes some aspect of the plot, setting or character (dynamics) and yet lately... Nothing. Maybe that's why everything has been feeling so empty and been so hard to write?

ANYWAY all this is a long-winded way to ask for music recs.

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Leech, by Hiron Ennes

2026-01-12T00:35:38Z

I was so disappointed by this book.

Part of this is on me: I had somehow gotten it in my head this was modern day and was looking forward to seeing how "hivemind took over the entire medical profession undetected" aspect of the premise would play out. The setting is not modern day, it's set some indeterminate amount of time (over 500 years) after some sort of apocalypse (fair, and an interesting setting itself) and people are aware to varying degrees aware that there is Something Wrong TM with the Institute.

The main part of the disappointment is that the book keeps bringing up concepts and then... Not Doing Anything with them. Spoilers from here on out. Our PoV character loses access to the hivemind fairly early on. Helen's miscarriages and/or the twins having supernatural powers never goes anywhere. The baron seems aware that he is hosting pseudomycota and even might be working with it? Let's never speak of this again! The idea that "If you’re born in Verdira, you die in Verdira" is brought up and we get told what happens is someone born there tries to leave, but that goes nowhere. /End spoilers

It is so disappointing and frustrating. It all just goes fucking nowhere!

Also I found the written accent annoying.

I did enjoy the hivemind parts, I guess.

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Bye 2025

2026-01-09T20:52:42Z

Gave blood/blood products four times!

Looking at my 2025 storygraph extract, about 80% of what I read was fiction comics and I basically have nothing to say about any of it. In fact I have very little to say about my reading this year in general. Not sure if it's because almost everything I read had no substance or if I had no substance. Possibly both.

My resolution for 2026 is to breathe fresh air every day, even if I can't make myself go outside.

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Short TV show review: Andor

2025-12-14T22:54:00Z

I really enjoyed watching Andor, overall. I did think there were a few places where the pacing dragged a bit and it wasn't as mindblowingly great as the hype made it sound like it would be, but it was still very good! The bits on Ghorman were kind of annoying because the Ghor language sounds so much like French but isn't French, I felt like I was taking crazy pills hahaha. Favourite episode was either the prison break or the Kleya flashbacks episode. I agressively Did Not Care about Syril or his mother, but every other character was at least interesting. I love Cassian, Vel and Cinta, but I think Kleya might be my favourite. I want to rewatch Rogue One, now.

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Bibliographies for fiction

2025-12-09T23:12:58Z

A novel I recently finished reading ¹ has a bibliography at the end. It's a couple pages long, divided into sections ~~and the first book on it is Marx's Kapital, lol~~.

¹ "Paresse pour tous" (Laziness for all) by Hadrien Klent

Have you ever read a novel with a bibliography? Do you read the bibliographies in general?

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A(o3)lphabet

2025-10-25T21:00:28Z

Meme taken from fiachairecht

Rules: How many letters of the alphabet have you used for [starting] a fic title? One fic per line, 'A' and 'The' do not count for 'a' and 't'. Post your score out of 26 at the end, along with your total fic count.

A — Apotheosis (Secret Wars (Hickman/Ribić 2015 mini-series); Doom & Strange; gen; 1k)
B — Between the Devil and the Dust (Star Wars, sequel, prequel and original trilogies; Rey, Luke & Anakin; gen; 7k)
C — Coming Forth by Day (MCU Black Panther & Ancient Egyptian Religion; Shuri, Killmonger & various assorted gods; gen; 25k)
D — The Devil Went Down to New Jersey (Hamilton musical; Burr; gen; >1k)
E — Every Heart That Beats For Liberty (Rogue One; Jyn & Ensemble; gen; 4k)
F — Five people on StarKiller Base who didn't listen to Anakin Skywalker (and one who did) (Star Wars, prequel and sequel trilogies; Anakin & Force Awakens ensemble; gen; 3k)
G — God Games (Ambition (ESA Short film); Apprentice & Master; gen; >1k)
H — The Hawk and the Bat (Marvel 616 & DC comics; Steph Brown & Kate Bishop; gen; 7k)
I — If at first you don't succeed... (Try. Try again.) (Ancient Rome RPF; Original female time traveller; gen; 4k)
J
K (I do have one piece of art, but the meme specifies fics)
L — Lies told by firelight (Loki Agent of Asgard; Verity & Loki; gen; 2k)
M — Mirage (Star Wars sequel trilogy; Rey; gen; 3k)
N — Nameless (Ancient History RPF; Hannibal Barca/Scipio Africanus; >1k)
O — Out of the Cold (Captain America and the Winter Soldier; Original female penguin scientist; gen; 6k)
P — The Public Thing (Star Wars Clone Wars; Rex/Riyo Chuchi; 30k)
Q — Qabârum (MCU & Ancient Mesopotamian Religion; Gamora & Natasha Romanov; gen; 3k)
R — Retrograde (Marvel comics; Valeria Richards; gen; 3k)
S — Strange Aeons (Marvel comics; Victor von Doom; gen; 7k)
T — The Tale of Lightsabre the Blue (Star Wars sequel trilogy; Rey & Ensemble; gen; 3k)
U — The Uncertainty Principle (Marvel comics, Young Justice cartoon & thought experiments; Cassie Lang & Wally West; gen; 3k)
V
W — We built this city on rock 'n' roll (Sucker Punch movie; Rocket; gen; 1k)
X
Y
Z — Zero Sum Game (Secret Wars (Hickman/Ribić 2015 mini-series); Victor von Doom; gen; 1k)

21/26 (116 fics on ao3 -- I have 122 works on there but 6 are art)

I THINK I MIGHT LIKE GEN

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Is there an Ennead I don't know about?

2025-10-21T19:16:40Z

In episode 3 of the Moon Knight TV show, there is what is explicitly called "a meeting of the Ennead". Also explicitly, the following gods are present: "Horus, Isis, Tefnut, Osiris and Hathor". Now, I know the Ennead occasionally includes Horus the Elder, so sure, why not.

But Hathor?

Afaik, the Ennead is Atum; Shu and Tefnut; Geb and Nut; (Horus the Elder), Osiris, Seth, Isis and Nephtys. Am I missing something? (Probably.)

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FUCKING CLOWN COUNTRY

2025-10-14T20:03:31Z

*plays La Marseillaise on the kazoo*

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Aten't dead

2025-10-04T21:19:34Z

Wish I could blame being tired on giving platelets earlier this week, but no, it is La Maladie TM. And the less said about that the better.

Things I've been enjoying recently:

- L and I finished watching Arcane recently and now I have brainrot.

- T and I are watching Andor (currently on s2e3). It's fine? With occasional moments of great, but somehow I expected more. Hype got me, mea culpa.

- The colours of K-Pop Demon Hunters made my brain go brrrrrrrrrr.

- I've fallen back into the SCP Foundation hole, to no one's surprise. My hole, made for me, etc. I wonder if I could make a rec list?

- The pilot for Knights of Guinevere was fun!

- The first 5 seasons of the White Vault podcast (I've not listened to more yet). I'm not sure it does anything new with eldritch beings but it is well done.

- Did I ever do a proper rec post for the music of The Mechanisms? I should.

- October means it's Short Box Comics Fair. As ever I don't know where to start.

- The two issues of the Sing O Muse zine.

- The Missing Madonna is a true crime podcast mini-series that's not about murder.

There should be more. But alas.

Anyway, soon the yuletide tagset will be out and that's kind of like a rec list, innit?

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