badfalcon: (King Of Bored)
[personal profile] badfalcon
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 stars)

Every Heart a Doorway is a small book that carries an astonishing amount of emotional weight.

At its heart, this is a story about children who have been somewhere else - worlds that loved them, shaped them, and made sense in ways this one never quite does. Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children offers care, understanding, and the quiet acknowledgement that returning is often its own kind of loss.

What Seanan McGuire does so beautifully here is refuse to frame those experiences as delusion or escapism. The portal worlds matter. The longing matters. The grief of being shut out of a place where you belonged is treated with seriousness and compassion.

The writing is sharp, spare, and deeply empathetic. In a very short space, McGuire creates characters who feel fully realised, each carrying their own kind of ache. Themes of identity, belonging, queerness, and neurodivergence are woven into the story without spectacle - simply allowed to exist.

There's darkness here, and tragedy, but also a fierce insistence that every child's story is real and worthy of care. This is fantasy as emotional truth, and it lingered with me long after I finished.

Stalag to Stalag

Jan. 4th, 2026 05:53 am
soemand: (Default)
[personal profile] soemand
This excerpt is from my grandfather’s diary on the forced march he was on from stalag VIIIA and the day he refound freedom. The “A” is the Americans, and a few months later he was in his hometown getting married, returning to civilian life.

April 3–Announced at 10:00 by one of the 7 who stopped some people the A had passed us started marching & met A. Marched to town arrived at 12.



spent all day eating and smoking, boy it feels great to be free. Drove to Zegenhaim and lodged in a house, room with two J. A. Now they are playing the guitar and violin great had coffee. It is now 22:00 hr. and we have a bottle of whisky on the table boy oh boy.

Apr 6 Still in commandered house living like a king. Plenty of food, cigs, etc.


My understanding is he never spoke about his service, and the diary was found after his widowmaker heart attack in early 1970. The diary is terse, but has enough details to map out his path from Stalag ViiiA to Zegenhain—a good winter project.
fox_in_me: fox.in.me (Default)
[personal profile] fox_in_me


📝 Оригинальный текст записи
Приветствую вас, дорогие читатели.

С радостью прерываю это время тишины. Сегодня я хочу поделиться не историей из далёкого прошлого, а своими размышлениями. Возможно, кому-то они покажутся знакомыми, а кому-то помогут выбрать более подходящий путь.

Новый год — именно полночь этого года — ясно показал мне, насколько сильно я потерял себя.

Читая мои записи, можно заметить: помогать другим, отдавать часть себя — это мой образ жизни. Позже я обязательно расскажу несколько зимних историй о том, как я помогал людям и в итоге оказывался под подозрением полиции или просто в убытке. Но всему своё время. Сейчас — о другом.

В эту новогоднюю ночь поздравительных сообщений было немного. Круг общения стал ещё меньше. Но я получил несколько писем с благодарностью за мою «человечность» — от людей, которых могу назвать своими. Людей, за которых я несу ответственность, для которых я командир, пока нахожусь на службе. Это одно из немногого, что до сих пор даёт мне силы делать то, что я должен.

Мне хорошо известно: руководство одновременно и опасается меня, и держит на расстоянии от принятия глобальных решений (в том числе по моей инициативе). И в то же время люди стремятся перейти в моё подчинение, несмотря на то, что в последние месяцы видели меня истощённым — морально и физически.

О физическом скажу кратко: мой невротический кашель стал причиной обращения к профильным врачам. В военном госпитале все проходят процедуру выявления ПТСР. Я не скрываю его наличие у себя и понимаю, что официальное подтверждение может повлечь за собой последствия. Из моего опыта работы с людьми, действительно пострадавшими от войны, я знаю: волшебного лекарства не существует. Есть медикаменты, которые снимают симптомы, но не лечат душу.

Почти четыре года я отдавал себя этой службе — этой «работе», как ни назови. Много раз выгорал, снова и снова отдавая себя людям — разным, в том числе близким.

В новогоднюю ночь я читал письма людей из разных стран. В них говорилось о важности помогать другим, уметь прощать, ставить цели — и не забывать о себе, о личных ориентирах.

Как и в прошлом году, так и в этом, первая моя задача — выжить. Это не громкие слова, а реальность. Мне хочется путешествовать, строить планы, мечтать. Сейчас я связан обстоятельствами и могу лишь мечтать. Но мечты, как и сердце, могут быть разбиты одним-единственным словом.

Я открывался людям полностью, без границ. В ответ часто получал обесценивание и непонимание. Это привело к внутреннему обнулению.

Несколько дней назад я вытянул предсказание из маленького горшочка. Там было написано: «Не сдавайся. Ты точно не проиграешь». Я хотел бы отнести эти слова к борьбе за одного очень дорогого мне человека. Но вдруг понял — а когда я в последний раз боролся за себя? Не за жизнь, а именно за себя.

В последние дни уходящего года я был открыт и честен, признал свою неидеальность — с ошибками, через усилия. Итог прост: сейчас я снова один, как и много лет подряд. Иногда жизни не хватает, чтобы понять человека, а иногда достаточно совсем немного времени.

Я знаю, что за семь лет меня так и не узнали настоящего. А знаю ли я сам себя?

Я помню себя другим: как ходил один на танцы, как любил сидеть в баре на берегу моря, слушать музыку, бегать вдоль побережья, открывать новое — без планов и календарей, просто по щелчку пальцев.

Именно в этом, возможно, главный смысл для читателя: я был самодостаточным. Я знаю людей, которым был интересен, не имея за душой ни гроша — просто потому, какой я есть.

Когда-то у меня была сила жить без границ. Сейчас, стерев собственные границы, я позволил обесценить себя.

Моя поездка в горы на машине была спонтанной и безумной. Формально — чтобы помочь не себе. Но вселенная дала понять: в итоге я помог и себе.

У меня есть два кота. Они, как люди, продолжают меня обнимать — не потому, что соскучились, а потому что чувствуют меня.

Я хотел оставить прошлое в уходящем году и в новом строить будущее. План остался, изменилось его наполнение. Мне нужно отстроить себя заново. Восстать из пепла.

Я почувствовал зиму в горах: снег, камин, чай с костра, отношение людей к военным — значительно более уважительное на западе Украины, чем на юге и в прифронтовых районах. Я побыл какое-то время без зависимости от электричества. Возвращаясь последние двести километров, ехал в полной темноте — туман и свет фар. И возвращался из мест, где горят гирлянды, украшены ёлки и живёт атмосфера праздника.

К чему всё это? Не забывайте о себе.

Мой отпуск продлится ещё неделю. Мне хотелось бы успеть многое, но в первую очередь — восстановить себя. Возможно, я пишу немного размыто, но между строк смысл ясен.

Не забывайте о себе.

Часто говорят, что кроме семьи никто не поможет. В моём случае я помогаю себе сам. Родственники, к сожалению, лишь тянут вниз.

А пока — я просто обнимаю своих котов.

Note translated in assistance with AI.
I’m glad to break this time of silence. Today I want to share not a story from the distant past, but my reflections. Some of them may feel familiar to you, and for others they might help in choosing a more fitting path.

The New Year — that exact moment of midnight — made it painfully clear how much I have lost myself.

If you read my previous entries, you may notice that helping others, giving away parts of myself, has always been my way of life. I will later tell winter stories about how I helped people and ended up under police suspicion or simply at a loss. But that will come in time. Now, about something else.

This New Year’s night, there were not many messages of congratulations. My social circle has become even smaller. Yet I received a few messages of gratitude for my “humanity” — from people I can truly call my own. People I am responsible for, people for whom I am a commander while I am in service. This is one of the few things that still gives me strength to do what I must.

I know well that the leadership both fears me and keeps me at a distance from major decisions — partly by my own choice. At the same time, people still try to transfer under my command, even though they have seen me exhausted in recent months, both mentally and physically.

As for the physical side: my neurotic cough led me to specialized doctors. In a military hospital, everyone goes through PTSD screening. I do not hide that I have it, and I understand that official confirmation can bring further consequences. From my experience working with people truly affected by war, I know there is no miracle cure. Medication can ease symptoms, but it does not heal the soul.

For almost four years I have given myself to this service — this “work,” whatever you call it. I burned out many times, giving myself again and again to people, different people, including those close to me.

On New Year’s night I read letters from people in different countries. They spoke about the importance of helping others, forgiving, setting goals — and not forgetting about yourself.

Just like last year, my first goal this year is simply to survive. These are not loud words, but reality. I want to travel, to plan, to dream. Right now I am bound by circumstances and can only dream. And dreams, like the heart, can be broken by a single word.

I opened myself to people completely, without boundaries. In return, I often received devaluation and misunderstanding. This led to an inner emptiness.

A few days ago, I drew a small fortune from a pot. It said: “Don’t give up. You will definitely not lose.” I wanted to apply this to my wish to fight for one very precious person in my life. But then I realized — when was the last time I fought for myself? Not for my life, but for myself.

In the final days of the year, I was open and honest, admitted my imperfections, my mistakes, through effort and vulnerability. The result is simple: I am alone again, as I have been for many years. Sometimes a lifetime is not enough to understand a person, and sometimes only a short time is needed.

I know that for seven years I was never truly known. And do I know myself?

I remember who I was: going to dance classes alone, spending time in a bar by the sea, listening to music, running along the coastline, discovering new things — without plans or calendars, just on a whim.

Perhaps this is the key thought for the reader: I was self-sufficient. I know people who found me interesting when I had nothing at all — simply because of who I was.

I once had the strength to live without boundaries. Now, having erased my own boundaries, I allowed myself to be devalued.

My trip to the mountains by car was spontaneous and a little mad. Officially, it was to help others, not myself. But the universe made it clear that in the end, I helped myself too.

I have two cats. They hug me like people do — not because they miss me, but because they feel me.

I wanted to leave the past in the old year and build my future in the new one. The plan remains, but its content has changed. I need to rebuild myself. To rise from the ashes.

I felt winter in the mountains: snow, a fireplace, tea from a campfire, and the way people treat the military — much more respectfully in western Ukraine than in the south and frontline regions. I spent some time without dependence on electricity. On the way back, the last two hundred kilometers were complete darkness — fog and headlights only. And I returned from places filled with lights, decorated trees, and a sense of celebration.

Why am I saying all this? Don’t forget about yourself.

My leave will last one more week. I would like to do many things, but first of all — to restore myself. Perhaps my words are a bit vague, but the meaning between the lines is clear.

Don’t forget about yourself.

People often say that no one will help you except family. In my case, I help myself. Unfortunately, relatives only pull me further down.

And for now — I simply hug my cats.

badfalcon: (Joely)
[personal profile] badfalcon
I don't actually have any pets, and haven't for... nearly twenty years now. So this challenge sent me rummaging around my fandoms rather than my living room.

I briefly considered writing about Jannik's cat, Yeti - especially since we finally got a picture of him during Cincinnati - but the more I thought about it, the more it felt a little disingenuous. Jannik is very protective of his personal life, and anything that isn't directly related to tennis performance tends to stay carefully private. Enjoying the existence of Yeti from afar feels fine; dissecting it less so.

What I kept coming back to instead was something I genuinely love about the North American swing: the way tournaments often partner with local shelters and rescues, bringing in adoptable puppies and dogs for players to meet. It's good publicity, yes, but it's also genuinely lovely, and it reliably produces some of the softest, most joyful content of the season.

There's something about watching elite athletes, usually framed as machines of focus and discipline, sitting on the floor making kissy noises at a puppy that is deeply grounding. It also has a way of reminding you just how young so many of these players are. Stripped of competition and expectations, they're just... kids with dogs )
(and, as I'm realising, some of these are from Roland Garros!)

And for me, personally, last year delivered some particularly excellent examples.

At Cincinnati, we got Darren with a puppy ) - all warmth and ease, completely at home with a small, wiggly creature in his arms and a smile that killed me utterly DED
(also, the man posts pictures of his own dogs to Instagram, including him asleep with them ) So. Really. What's a llama to do?!)

[edit] OH! Also, this lovely pupper that Darren and Jannik had been playing with actually got adopted by one of the security guards at the tournament, who changed the pupper's name to Jannik!

And then at the US Open, we got Simone with a puppy ), which was... exactly as soft and quietly devastating as you'd expect.
(Simone, on the other hand, posts pictures of his cat ) like a proper millennial 🤣

Sail Measurements

Jan. 3rd, 2026 02:34 pm
soemand: (Default)
[personal profile] soemand
While this looks pretty, it also provides performance information on the sail—you can measure the camber of the sail, its draft location using a cellphone based app to see if your in the zone for the sail. In this case, I was a bit off, with the top tells already starting to stall.

I also use this for measuring the aging of the sail, to know when they'd make better bags than boat propulsion equipment.

FIC: Begin Again

Jan. 3rd, 2026 05:44 pm
badfalcon: (Tennis Dads)
[personal profile] badfalcon
Title: Begin Again
Fandom: Tennis RPF
Chapters: 1/1
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Darren Cahill/Simone Vagnozzi
Characters: Darren Cahill, Simone Vagnozzi
Additional Tags: First Kiss, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, Coffee Shops, Rain, Inspired by Taylor Swift
Summary: Eight months after a breakup, Darren has convinced himself that love only ever breaks and burns.

On a quiet Wednesday afternoon in a café near the courts, Simone proves him wrong.

Link to fic on AO3

snowflake 2!

Jan. 3rd, 2026 11:30 am
flamingsword: A warm mug of cocoa and a snowflake shaped cookie with the words Snowflake Challenge (Snowflake challenge)
[personal profile] flamingsword
Snowflake Challenge #2: Pets of Fandom

Loosely defined! Post about your pets, pets from your canon, anything you want!

I miss my own cats (Sage and Bruce, who are with the ex), so I’m going to post about that Leverage fandom cats fic I referenced last post instead!

The Odd Jobs series by Betty and Emeraldwoman
Parker recruits Eliot for a side job. Comedy and horror ensue.

It’s cute, and funny, and you should totally read it if you like cats, like Parker, or like Elliot’s POV in fics about Leverage.

A bunch of backstory

Jan. 3rd, 2026 03:40 pm
lillilah: (Default)
[personal profile] lillilah
I'm writing a section of my Mass Effect story that catches up with some of the secondary characters who we haven't seen in a while. It is really interesting to write. One of the things I've really enjoyed is fleshing out what is going on behind the scenes. These scenes are building on that. I did a lot of work this morning to flesh out the backstory for the scene I'll write next. Often, in my planning notes, I write something like "this character is here on a mission" and then move on. Of course, to write the scene, I need to know what the mission is. So, that was my morning. I figured out the mission, which involved a lot of backstory for other characters too. Eventually, I got it done and am really excited about this scene, as it has plot, introspection, and worldbuilding. Yay!

La neige

Jan. 3rd, 2026 08:06 am
soemand: (Default)
[personal profile] soemand
We met up with two other families yesterday, just as fresh snow transformed the yard into a winter playground. Five kids raced, rolled, and laughed their way through the drifts. Our little one, the youngest of the bunch, kept up with all the excitement, but by the end, exhaustion settled in. A joyful, snow‑filled afternoon.

New Genres in the New Year

Jan. 2nd, 2026 07:30 pm
badfalcon: (Innocent)
[personal profile] badfalcon
This week's Book Blogger Hop question is Which genre are you eager to jump into more this year, and what draws you to it? and for me, it's more about finding my way back to old favourites, rather than something new

I want to read more horror and science fiction

As a teen and into my early adulthood, horror was everything to me. I grew up on Anne Rice and Stephen King — the lush, gothic obsession of Rice, the slow-creeping dread and very human horror of King

Sci‑fi has always pulled me in with scale.

I love big ideas and big worlds, but especially what it feels like to live inside them - the people, the found families, the hope that keeps flickering even when things are strange or frightening. I enjoy hard sci‑fi just as much as space opera, and I’ve always had a soft spot for stories that take the science seriously without losing their sense of wonder.

I've dipped a toe back in recently and really enjoyed Andy Weir, which reminded me how much I love this genre when it’s grounded and curious. And sitting patiently (or maybe not so patiently) on my TBR are Becky Chambers and Martha Wells, both of whom feel like exactly the kind of character‑driven sci‑fi I’m craving right now.

A lot of this love was shaped by what I watched as much as what I read. Stargate, Star Trek, and Doctor Who all taught me to associate science fiction with optimism, connection, and possibility.

Horror is a slightly different pull.

I grew up on Anne Rice and Stephen King, and I think that shaped my tastes more than I realised. What stayed with me wasn’t just fear, but atmosphere - stories that linger, that sit heavy in the chest, that care about obsession, grief, belief, and the slow creep of dread rather than constant shocks.

That’s probably still what I want now. Horror that unsettles instead of overwhelms, that lets emotion and character do as much work as the scares. I don’t yet know what that looks like in contemporary horror, and that uncertainty is part of the appeal. I've been really enjoying Mira Grant and T Kingfisher recently.

But I'm excited to start exploring both genres again and see what kind of stories are waiting for me!
kareila: a lady in glasses holding a stack of books (books)
[personal profile] kareila
I was told today that Hoopla changed their terms of service and because I'm not a county resident, I can no longer access Hoopla using my metro library card. It's never been available through my local library, as far as I can tell.

That's going to make it harder to cheat on my goal of reading more books that I already own. Although, I do still have Libby access. And I haven't cancelled my Kindle Unlimited subscription...

In other semi-related news, today I went to order a new pair of glasses with my updated progressive prescription (because the flexible spending account refills every January), and got talked into also buying a second pair just for medium distance vision, to use when spending a lot of time on the computer. These days I do that so rarely that I didn't even realize it was hard on my eyes until I was working on Advent of Code last month. Hopefully those will come in before the MIT Mystery Hunt starts in a couple of weeks.
flamingsword: Sun on snowy conifers (Default)
[personal profile] flamingsword
My resolution this year [2025] is that I’m going to play more. The goal is to do or say one goofy or silly or flirty or ridiculous thing every day. Play is good for the brain and helps our nervous system experience safety.

I may not have done or said playful things *every* day, but I have done them enough that I no longer feel as awkward trying to have fun with folks. So that’s kinda cool. I don’t know that I experienced safety in general but I definitely experienced safety with the double handful of people with whom I was allowed to be silly and they would be silly in return.

I miss my meatspace people. So many of my japes and silliness are physical, and I’m only just now realizing how tactile I am in my play, nose boops, scratching at doors like a cat instead of knocking, tugging at the elbows of people’s clothes, etc..

<.< … >.> … *boops your nose*

I've Forgotten How to Post

Jan. 2nd, 2026 03:38 pm
the_wanlorn: The Doubtful Quest with a pride flag-colored background (Default)
[personal profile] the_wanlorn
lol i've completely forgotten how to write coherent and cohesive long posts. This is why civilization is the way it is.

A series of updates:

Pets (cw: pet death) )
Crafting )
Writing )
Okay, I have successfully posted. I'm gonna get back to writing. Farewell folks!

2026 ahoy!

Jan. 2nd, 2026 04:03 am
flamingsword: Sun on snowy conifers (Default)
[personal profile] flamingsword
Resolutions: I can’t remember if I resolved any of this last year, but:

• I’m going to try the new fruits and vegetables that I come across. I crave variety, and I need to get more fiber in my diet. It’s also an easy win, and I need some of those right now.

• I aim to knit three to four Hexipuffs a week. that will get me to just about done with the couch blanket by the end of the year, since I’m at ~160, and I want 200 more to make a decently sized blanket.

• I’m going to keep working on my shit, feeling my feelings, processing, and doing all the parts of growing that make you into a more functional person. I was going to do that anyway but see again: easy wins. I need a couple.

I may need to write this stuff down in the front of my new bullet journal/day planner. Or possibly write it on the cover in gold permanent marker - that might do it.

I should probably go check what I wrote in January of last year and see how I did, huh? Maybe I’ll hit that tonight or tomorrow.

Good luck this year, everyone, and I’ll see you in the streets.

Early morning view

Jan. 2nd, 2026 03:30 pm
soemand: (Default)
[personal profile] soemand
Snow.

CD Collection

Jan. 2nd, 2026 12:47 pm
snowazalea: Crazy, I just can't sleep I'm so excited, I'm in too deep (crazy)
[personal profile] snowazalea


my entire collection )

(no subject)

Jan. 3rd, 2026 01:42 am
thedownsideup: (Default)
[personal profile] thedownsideup
ok i think i got it!

(no subject)

Feb. 23rd, 2018 01:39 am
thedownsideup: (Default)
[personal profile] thedownsideup
how does this work lol

Tabula Rasa

Jan. 2nd, 2026 09:55 am
bigmog: (Default)
[personal profile] bigmog
Every new year we collectively agree that the previous year was a giant disaster and it's certain we'll look back on 2026 with the same attitude. While I'll acknowledge that a lot of awful events occurred in 2025, personally it was a pretty good year. Changing the world should make changing one self seem a walk in the park. My loose plans at self-improvement for 2026 are:

Follow a budget - My bills are in check which grants me some indulgence in discretionary spending. 2025 I went overboard however so this year, given the ever-increasing cost of living, my goal is to budget better. The details are a mundane topic better left for me to address offline.

Take a singing course - With 6 months of daily piano practice, I can sense my talents improving slightly. A singing course could complement that effort and may even come in handy for the occasional karaoke night.

Travel south of the equator - It recently occurred to me that none of my international trips have been in the southern hemisphere. I'm aiming for South America. More as it develops.

First entry

Jan. 2nd, 2026 11:09 am
crystaldream47: (Default)
[personal profile] crystaldream47
Hello there.

I’m a little nervous to post this because I haven’t been on a blog-type site or app in awhile…

(Not since Tumblr, but I don’t wanna get into all of that)

For those who might be or not be in the know, it seems like the whole internet is caving in on itself. Twitter (still never calling it X!) is getting worse and worse by the day, Facebook is overrun with AI slop, Instagram has a godawful moderation system, and Bluesky… is Bluesky. People don’t really have a strong attention spans anymore and are not willing to read entire paragraphs anymore. Heck, I’ve fallen victim to this myself over the years. Which is why, starting today, I’ve created this page to post my thoughts and feelings that I can’t easily put into 250 characters without having give eight dollars to a trillionaire manchild. I’ll also post about things that interest me, like going on a deep dive of a piece of media that particularly interests me and no one else. And I could post a whole wall of text and no one would give a shit.

And the best part? There’s no annoying algorithm here that’ll be pushing controversy in my face 24/7. Just peace and quiet for once.

Anyway, that’s all I got for now. Catch you in next one.

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