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rocky41_7 posting in

Title: The Tomb of Dragons (Cemeteries of Amalo #3)
Author: Katherine Addison
Genre: Fiction, fantasy

Time and circumstance conspired to keep me from reviewing the second book in the Cemeteries of Amalo book, The Grief of Stones, but today I finished the third book, Tomb of the Dragons and I do have time to review this third and final book in the trilogy.

This is NOT a spoiler-free review.

Tomb of the Dragons retains much of what I loved about the first two books, including Thara’s character and his investigations into the underbelly of Amalo, with a healthy helping of Ethuveraz politics.

Thara is having to adjust to the events at the end of the last book, and here, I feel, is where we truly see how important his calling is to him—how he handles losing it. It gives some good perspective to why he is so dogged in pursuing his work goals—his calling really is his sense of purpose, his life. Watching Thara grapple with this change and its indefinite consequences was fascinating.

However, it also retains in greater measure some of the things that I didn’t love about the earlier books, including Addison’s obsession with minutiae. I can only read about the characters traveling on this or that tram line so many times before my eyes start skipping lines to the things that really matter. This would bother me less if it didn’t feel like it came at the expense of more important things.

( Read more... )

starwatcher posting in

fandom_checkin

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Tuesday, December 16, to midnight on Wednesday, December 17. (8pm Eastern Time).

Poll #33964 Daily Check-in

Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 14

How are you doing?

I am OK.
10 (71.4%)

I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
4 (28.6%)

I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single.
6 (42.9%)

One other person.
6 (42.9%)

More than one other person.
2 (14.3%)

Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.

cyberghostface posting in

scans_daily

( Scans under the cut... )

ysabetwordsmith posting in

fandom_on_dw

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Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith posting in

fandomcalendar

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Current Mood: busy

case posting in

fandomsecrets

⌈ Secret Post #6920 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 35 secrets from Secret Submission Post #988.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

runpunkrun posting in

fancake

Fandom: Stranger Things
Pairings/Characters: Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Rating: Explicit
Length: 26,183 words
Creator Link:

mistresscurvy
Theme: Amnesty, First Time, Canon LGBTQ+ Characters, Research, Futurefic, Friendship

Summary: "Did it ever occur to any of you that I might not want to have my only sexual experiences be with someone who isn't actually interested in me?" Will asked.

He was met by three identical looks of confusion. "I mean, it would still be sex," Dustin said finally.

Reccer's Notes: Set after a season four where, yes, a lot of people died. But the kids are seventeen now, and Mike and Will are both virgins, which Mike is very concerned about: Cue the 80s teen sex comedy. Unlike much of that genre, though, this isn't gross or embarrassing, and everybody's having a good time. I adored Will here, kind of baffled by what Mike's gotten them into, yet excited about it too, and it's wonderful to see him stand up for himself, confident enough to be honest about who he is and what he wants. Plus it includes the entire crew, even Argyle!

Fanwork Link: Like a Virgin

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Care and Feeding,

I’m dreading having to have a talk with my husband, “Winston,” and our 30-year-old son, “Nick.” Nick moved in with us a year ago. The move was necessary to get him out of a dangerous relationship, and Winston agreed beforehand, although he implied he expected it to be a temporary situation. Now my husband has built up resentment against Nick over the last year because he hasn’t taken steps to move out. But I understand why Nick hasn’t moved out: We live in a resort area, where rent is atrociously high and places to rent are scarce.

Nick works about 60 hours a week at a decent-paying job, so he isn’t home much. He contributes to household expenses, brings home food from work, helps take care of pets, and if asked, will generally help out with other things. Could he do more? Of course, he could, but he’s not trashing the house, taking drugs, playing loud music at all hours, or being rude and disrespectful.

Here’s the things Winston resents: He and Nick’s dog hate each other, and the dog barks at Winn when he passes Nick’s room. The dog is old and grouchy, and was abused by Nick’s former roommate. Nick works late and comes home around midnight, which disturbs Winston’s sleep. Nick is forgetful (ADHD) and often needs reminders to complete tasks, but Winston thinks he should only have to say something once.

This all leads to Winston being resentful and snippy, which makes Nick defensive, and then we have a big blow-up where both say hurtful things. These blow-ups have led to Nick trying to leave in the middle of the night after being in an accident (on crutches, no car, and no phone, near freezing outside). I’ve had to physically step between them and tell Winn to back off and shut up to keep it from getting physical.

My husband now deals with all of this by not making any requests directly to Nick (he asks me to tell him), and venting to me, which makes me feel like I’m constantly caught in the middle (suggesting he talk directly to Nick would lead to more blow ups). But, I understand Winston’s frustration. This is not what we planned for retirement! However, there’s no way I could be content knowing my son was living in subpar housing or with dangerous, untrustworthy people like he was before he moved in with us.

I need to get these two to get along. Nick needs to step up a bit more, and Winston needs to be more patient and understanding—before I go crazy or he blows up again and Nick ends up walking out and living in his car. Where do I go from here?

—In the Middle and on Eggshells

( Read more... )

lizvogel posting in

little_details

For Reasons, I need three colors of apples in my story. I'm looking for a bright, deep red; a strong yellow/gold; and an intense, bold green. (All when ripe, preferably.) Right now I've got good ol' Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith, but I'd like somethng more exciting (and more strongly colored) for at least two of them.

The setting is technically modern-day Illinois, but it's a post-apocalyptic scenario with a lot of supernatural stuff going on, so exotic varieties from other climes would be entirely feasible. I have a character who can be an apple expert if it's a variety so unusual that most USians wouldn't recognize it. Grafting, planting, import/export, and pretty much any other limitations can all be readily hand-waved by the aforementioned supernatural stuff.

TIA, Malus enthusiasts!

Current Mood: peckish

flowing_river posting in

fandomcalendar

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jazzyjj posting in

awesomeers

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!

Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

cyberghostface posting in

scans_daily

( Covers under the cut… )

mastermahan posting in

scans_daily

Emperor Joker is out. Emperor Calendar Man is in!

( Read more... )

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Prudence,

My sister and I are identical twins, but we grew up terrorizing each other. I was the girly girl, while she was on her way to a PhD in preschool. I had a learning disorder, and my sister would constantly correct people and say she wasn’t the ”stupid” one—I was.

My sister started the college track in ninth grade while I went to a middling school. Our parents did their best to treat us equally and celebrate our accomplishments, but you really can’t compare taking a beauty school test to getting a master’s at 21. I will admit I gave as good as I could get. If my sister were the smart one, I was the pretty one, which was stupid, as we were identical twins. I want to say we settled down and grew up to be close, but that would be a lie.

When I got married and was obsessed with all the details, our cousin jokingly called me a bridezilla, and my sister cut her off. She told her this was my big day, and it wasn’t like I accomplished anything else worth noting. This wasn’t the first or last time my sister said stuff like this. I have been married for 15 years and have two beautiful children. We used IVF and have a few embryos still left frozen.

My husband and I were debating whether to have a third child when my sister bulldozed in. She was ready to be a mom, had everything planned out, saved, and sorted, except her eggs weren’t viable. So the completely obvious solution was to give her our embryos!

We refused, and my sister threw a fit. I was apparently stealing her only chance to be a mother, and worse, my parents are on her side. They think that giving her the embryos costs us “nothing,” and we already have children, so I was denying my sister out of pure spite. I don’t know how I would feel if my sister bothered to ask rather than make a demand, but it was a demand and one that isn’t happening. My problem is that I am very afraid it might permanently poison my relationship with my parents. We were supposed to travel to their place for Christmas, but after all this, I am afraid to. Help!

—Twin Trouble

( Read more... )

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Care and Feeding,

When she was 8, we adopted “Alina.” She was the daughter of a close friend, and lost both her parents in an extra painful way. Understandably, she was in a lot of pain the first few years and needed extra parental support. But she worked hard in therapy, and we supported her, and at 15, she’s doing well. The problem is more with our other kids, her siblings. They love each other, but they are all convinced she needs extra care and protection all the time, when actually she’s ready to grow. She’s been pushing back at it, but I think it’s time for us to step in as parents. She says she needs room to mess up and have her own social life, and I think that’s fair.

A classmate asks Alina to the fall dance, and she accepts? Her 14-year-old brother steps in and tells him it will be a double date with him and his girlfriend. Alina dies of embarrassment. Our teens are going to swim at the public pool? Without Alina, they just go together. With Alina, her 16-year-old sister announces they must have an adult. This type of stuff seems to have ramped up since she started high school, and I don’t know how to dial it down. I’m glad her siblings love and support her, but they shouldn’t be taking on this extra role, and she’s also asked them to stop so she can learn on her own. We absolutely do not want to set up a weird dynamic between our kids, but it feels like it’s already started. I love that they look out for each other, but it needs to be appropriate. My husband and I had multiple conversations with the kids about this, but it only stops them from doing concrete examples we mention, not the overall behavior.

—Give Her Space

( Read more... )

themis1 posting in

girlmeetstrouble

More of Viv's backstory!

Chapter 4: ( Read more... )

Comment: A chapter of backstory.

Chapter 5: ( Read more... )

Comment: Gosh, Viv does find some bastards!

Current Mood: anxious
Current Location: office
Current Music: None

icon_uk posting in

scans_daily

In the comments to these weekly posts (and only these posts), it's your chance to go as off topic as you like.

Talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and just generally chat among yourselves.

The intent of these posts is to chat and have some fun and, sure, vent a little as required. Reasoned debate is fine, as always, but if you have to ask if something is going over the line, think carefully before posting please.

Normal board rules about conduct and behaviour still apply, of course.

It's been suggested that, if discussing spoilers for recent media events, it might be advisable to consider using the rot13 method to prevent other members seeing spoilers in passing.

The world situation is the world situation. If you're following the news, you know it as much as I do, if you're not, then there are better sources than scans_daily. But please, no doomscrolling, for your own sake.

A Happy Hannukah to those who celebrate it. Given recent events in Australia it may not seem like a time to celebrate anything, but that is perhaps the time we most need to.

Dick Van Dyke celebrated his 100th birthday, so a happy Centenary to him!

However, we lost Rob Reiner, creative genius behind too many memorable films to start to mention (Oh, the hell with it: The Princess Bride, Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, The Sure Thing, A Few Good Men and Stand by Me, amongst others) and his wife Michele.

(I did not think my opinion of the current US President could sink any lower, but his social media post on the Reiner killer was so lacking in sympathy, good taste or even basic human decency that I initially assumed it had to be a fake because no one could be THAT toxically graceless, alas, it was real)

In contrast, today is the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth today so let us acknowledge one of literature's most brilliant and witty wordsmiths.

In slightly lowerbrow news, I found out that season 2 of "LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy" had already come out, and caught up on that because I know I needed something to make me smile, which it achieved.

renay posting in

ladybusiness

It's almost nomination time for the Hugo Awards! As someone invested in recommendations as a type of critique/conversation, I'm thriving.

Worldcon in 2026 will be in LA. If you'd like to nominate for the 2026 Hugo Award, you can do so by being a member of the Seattle Worldcon or purchasing at least a WSFS membership from LAcon V. There's a medium-length guide here on the whole process. Nomination is step one: Seattle and LA WSFS members build the short lists as a collective.

However! Even if you don't plan to become a member (the membership fee is $50 and times are hard), everyone can share the things they would nominate if they could via the Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom, or make their own lists and post them on socials with the #HugoAward tag. Lots of people (it's me; I'm people) have gaps on their nomination forms and are looking for cool stuff to check out. Consider making a rec list/thread!

A disclaimer: the following are my personal nominations that I'll submit next year, not official Hugo finalists. I know the nominations/finalist language can be confusing. ( Read more... )

cyberghostface posting in

scans_daily

( Scans under the cut... )

starwatcher posting in

fandom_checkin

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Monday, December 15, to midnight on Tuesday, December 16. (8pm Eastern Time).

Poll #33962 Daily Check-in

This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 27

How are you doing?

I am OK.
17 (63.0%)

I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
10 (37.0%)

I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single.
10 (37.0%)

One other person.
11 (40.7%)

More than one other person.
6 (22.2%)

Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.

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Book review: The Tomb of Dragons

Daily Check-In

The Walking Dead Deluxe #126

Signup Post: Fannish 50 in 2026

Signup Post: Fannish 50 in 2026

[ SECRET POST #6920 ]

Stranger Things: Like a Virgin, by mistresscurvy

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All the Colors of the Apples

Multifandom Exchange: Traumatic Experiences

Just one thing: 16 December 2025

Some new covers for DC K.O.

Batman/Superman #22 (2021)

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The Spy Who Loved Me - chapters 4 and 5

Mod Post: Off-Topic Tuesday

Winds in the East...Mist Coming In... (Hugo Season Approaches)

Eddie Brock: Carnage #10

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