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Mar. 18th, 2026 10:50 pmskygiantsBecause Becky Mahoney and I know each other, I boosted a Bluesky giveaway for her upcoming vampire novel Thrall (coming out next month!) in the spirit of friendship and then was somewhat surprised to discover that I had in fact won the giveaway -- surprised but delighted, obviously, since I've loved all of her previous books even when they weren't LUCY CENTRIC DRACULA RIFFS!! focused around a COLLEGE PIRATE RADIO STATION!!!
The central character of Thrall is Lucy Easting, who has just transferred into beautiful, isolated, mountainside Rollins University from community college, in a bid to get away from her stressed and depressed mother and live a life she's excited about for a change.
Alas! her first college party results in a couple of neck puncture marks, a marked tendency to experience severe migraines in sunlight, and a tragic susceptibility to the ominous vampire voice in her head that occasionally takes over her consciousness and directs her towards uncharacteristic action.
Fortunately! the college is full of prospective allies who are willing to take a chance on Lucy despite her regrettable thrall situation, including but not limited to the host of the local college late-night radio show, who has been a target of the vampire since her sophomore year and has been using the airwaves to try and fight back; Lucy's RA, a determined young woman with very nice arms, who came to the school to investigate after a terrible fate befell her high school ex-boyfriend Jonathan; and the very nice, normal party host who has no previous vampire experience but feels just terrible about the whole situation and is not about to relinquish responsibility for sorting the situation out! it was her party!!
It's a really charming book on a number of levels, but my favorite thing about it as a Dracula riff specifically is how much it's thematically invested in Lucy as a side character -- the narrative is consistently very clear that the vampire is not particularly interested in Lucy; he's obsessed with Athena the radio show host and everything else he's doing is part of his elaborate cat-and-mouse game with her, including incidentally overturning Lucy's life as a by-the-by -- and how Lucy makes the book her own story anyway by sheer force of determination not to be cut out of it. Lucy's energy really drives the book: she wants to live, and she wants to live a life on her own terms, and she's not about to let one horrible encounter take that away from her.
Also, I think it's not a huge spoiler ( but I guess is technically a mild one: lesbians! )
The central character of Thrall is Lucy Easting, who has just transferred into beautiful, isolated, mountainside Rollins University from community college, in a bid to get away from her stressed and depressed mother and live a life she's excited about for a change.
Alas! her first college party results in a couple of neck puncture marks, a marked tendency to experience severe migraines in sunlight, and a tragic susceptibility to the ominous vampire voice in her head that occasionally takes over her consciousness and directs her towards uncharacteristic action.
Fortunately! the college is full of prospective allies who are willing to take a chance on Lucy despite her regrettable thrall situation, including but not limited to the host of the local college late-night radio show, who has been a target of the vampire since her sophomore year and has been using the airwaves to try and fight back; Lucy's RA, a determined young woman with very nice arms, who came to the school to investigate after a terrible fate befell her high school ex-boyfriend Jonathan; and the very nice, normal party host who has no previous vampire experience but feels just terrible about the whole situation and is not about to relinquish responsibility for sorting the situation out! it was her party!!
It's a really charming book on a number of levels, but my favorite thing about it as a Dracula riff specifically is how much it's thematically invested in Lucy as a side character -- the narrative is consistently very clear that the vampire is not particularly interested in Lucy; he's obsessed with Athena the radio show host and everything else he's doing is part of his elaborate cat-and-mouse game with her, including incidentally overturning Lucy's life as a by-the-by -- and how Lucy makes the book her own story anyway by sheer force of determination not to be cut out of it. Lucy's energy really drives the book: she wants to live, and she wants to live a life on her own terms, and she's not about to let one horrible encounter take that away from her.
Also, I think it's not a huge spoiler ( but I guess is technically a mild one: lesbians! )
Lake Lewisia #1371
Mar. 18th, 2026 05:11 pmscrubjayspeaks“If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride,” she sang to herself, a funny little lullaby to keep her creations soothed while she worked on the last fine details. Her deft fingers curled up wood shavings fine as paper and light as feathers, the skill needed to make lumps of wood into something capable of flight. Wishes weren’t horses, of course; they were birds, carved from the heaviest of hopes into the faintest of whispers, sent out into the world to alight where they may.
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LL#1371
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LL#1371
A handful of random One Piece Live Action thoughts ...
Mar. 18th, 2026 01:32 amsholio... resulting from making that vid this past week.
One thing that I was thinking about is the sheer challenge of costuming this show, because most of the costumes are directly patterned after their manga/anime looks. So whereas most of the time in most shows, you can probably source the characters' everyday wear from basic mass-produced clothes or even vintage or secondhand shops, aside from really specific superhero costumes or whatever, this is more like a historical production in that everything has to be made from scratch. (Only, if possible, worse, because unless you're doing an unusual time period, normally you could probably go to the warehouses of Elizabethan or Regency costumes or Roman togas that no doubt exist.)
Here, even the relatively normal clothes are directly echoing something specific, like the patterns on distinctive shirt, or dress.
Anyway, it's just interesting to think about. Even the simplest costumes are more complicated than they seem, because it's not just an unusual shirt that the costume people found at a vintage shop; they're having to explicitly pattern-match or color-match or style-match items from the manga and anime.
( More specific spoilers about characters' fighting skills )
One thing that I was thinking about is the sheer challenge of costuming this show, because most of the costumes are directly patterned after their manga/anime looks. So whereas most of the time in most shows, you can probably source the characters' everyday wear from basic mass-produced clothes or even vintage or secondhand shops, aside from really specific superhero costumes or whatever, this is more like a historical production in that everything has to be made from scratch. (Only, if possible, worse, because unless you're doing an unusual time period, normally you could probably go to the warehouses of Elizabethan or Regency costumes or Roman togas that no doubt exist.)
Here, even the relatively normal clothes are directly echoing something specific, like the patterns on
season 2 character's
Tashigi'sanother season 2 character's
Miss Valentine's lemon-patternedAnyway, it's just interesting to think about. Even the simplest costumes are more complicated than they seem, because it's not just an unusual shirt that the costume people found at a vintage shop; they're having to explicitly pattern-match or color-match or style-match items from the manga and anime.
( More specific spoilers about characters' fighting skills )
Babylon 5 fic: Green Growing Things
Mar. 17th, 2026 10:38 pmsholioSo this is apparently the latest installment in an accidental series about gardens. This is based off some bits in ![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
hauntinghouses's lovely post-canon fixit Out of the Woods (not necessary to read before this one, but you should read if you like Londo & G'Kar stuff; it's lovely, with some neat Narn worldbuilding), which was in turn inspired by one of my older ones. This is not meant to be in direct continuity with either hauntinghouses' fic or the other fic it was inspired by; it's off happily living its best life in its own AU 'verse.
Green Growing Things (Londo & G'Kar, 2800 wds)
It is post-canon, and there are gardens.
( Fic also posted under the cut )
( Bonus extras from Tumblr )
Green Growing Things (Londo & G'Kar, 2800 wds)
It is post-canon, and there are gardens.
( Fic also posted under the cut )
( Bonus extras from Tumblr )
Lake Lewisia #1370
Mar. 16th, 2026 04:44 pmscrubjayspeaksGiven the warmth and rains this year, already leading to record early appearances of annual blooms, it could be tempting to think that formal markers like the Spring Equinox are relics of a lost age and no longer meaningful descriptors of the natural world around us, let alone in distant places that will be locked in snow for weeks to come. But if the Spring Equinox was arbitrary, why would the Fairy Court have chosen that occasion to steal one of us each year--mere caprice? Actually, meteorology and temperament both considered, that does sound more likely, doesn't it?
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LL#1370
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LL#1370
Vid: Tightrope (One Piece Live Action)
Mar. 16th, 2026 12:12 pmsholioA vid about the Marines. Clips from seasons one and two; spoilers.
(CW: guns, violence, smoking - the usual show stuff. No fast/stuttery cuts.)
Music: Janelle Monae
Length: 2:48
Crossposted: On AO3 | on Tumblr
Download: 212 Mb MP4 (zipped)
(CW: guns, violence, smoking - the usual show stuff. No fast/stuttery cuts.)
Music: Janelle Monae
Length: 2:48
Crossposted: On AO3 | on Tumblr
Download: 212 Mb MP4 (zipped)
Done This Week
Mar. 15th, 2026 01:47 pmscrubjayspeaksThe much-anticipated guests at work, for whom we were doing all this frantic cleaning and repairing and reorganizing, came a day early with a couple hours’ notice. Because of course. It all apparently went very well, which I’m sure I’ll be terribly happy about when my feet and back and wrists all function appropriately again. Left work early on Friday to go home and nap, because that’s the kind of week month year it’s been.
Neighbors helped get the tractor fixed. Mum is back to trundling about on it. In the sudden heat wave we’re having, everything is not only setting seed but starting to dry out. Very strange year.
Lewisia: 4 new pieces written, all caught up
Day job: 39.75 hours
Gardening: succulent club meeting
Reading: found listening to Parable of the Talents a bit too on the nose, given current events, and felt the need to jump ship for something more comforting--Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (utterly charming, exactly what I needed)
Watching: The X-Files season one, episodes 13 and 14
Listening: a collection of singles and such from The Mountain Goats, Tales Under The Oak, S.J. Tucker, meltycanon, Louie Zong, and Alexander James Adams
Playing: over on Bluesky, thefourthvine referenced this tumblr post about a game of sorting, consider yourself duly warned, I too ended up dreaming about sorting last night after only a short time playing
Clock Mouse: 83 minutes of planning work
Neighbors helped get the tractor fixed. Mum is back to trundling about on it. In the sudden heat wave we’re having, everything is not only setting seed but starting to dry out. Very strange year.
Lewisia: 4 new pieces written, all caught up
Day job: 39.75 hours
Gardening: succulent club meeting
Reading: found listening to Parable of the Talents a bit too on the nose, given current events, and felt the need to jump ship for something more comforting--Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (utterly charming, exactly what I needed)
Watching: The X-Files season one, episodes 13 and 14
Listening: a collection of singles and such from The Mountain Goats, Tales Under The Oak, S.J. Tucker, meltycanon, Louie Zong, and Alexander James Adams
Playing: over on Bluesky, thefourthvine referenced this tumblr post about a game of sorting, consider yourself duly warned, I too ended up dreaming about sorting last night after only a short time playing
Clock Mouse: 83 minutes of planning work
3 things today
Mar. 14th, 2026 10:01 amtozka1. I found a tiny snail on the wall INSIDE the house. How did it get there? Where is it going?
2. What I thought was a weird-looking vase revealed itself to be a crystal singing bowl. I can see why enthusiasts are SO enthusiastic about it. The sound sort of vibrates upwards and it's almost a physical feeling once it hits.
3. One week until I leave Chichester and head to Cardiff! If you have any recommendations for charity shops, used bookstores, small museums or other interesting places to while away time, let me know.
2. What I thought was a weird-looking vase revealed itself to be a crystal singing bowl. I can see why enthusiasts are SO enthusiastic about it. The sound sort of vibrates upwards and it's almost a physical feeling once it hits.
3. One week until I leave Chichester and head to Cardiff! If you have any recommendations for charity shops, used bookstores, small museums or other interesting places to while away time, let me know.
One Piece Live Action season 2
Mar. 13th, 2026 09:52 pmsholioI watched it this week and enjoyed it as much as the first season if not more, since I remembered fewer of the plot specifics, and this season introduces some more of the characters I really like. It's still absolutely bonkers. If you've seen season one, you know what to expect.
( Spoilers, occasional anima/manga comparisons, vague references to future events )
( Spoilers, occasional anima/manga comparisons, vague references to future events )