lauren's never-ending search for words to describe the vibes of specific books
Jul. 15th, 2025 08:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lirazeltroisoiseaux just reread A Brief History of Montmaray, reminding me of the existence of this series, which got my mind to churning.There's a very specific sub-genre of books written for bookish teenage girls that I need a name for. They're either set in or written in a previous era (usually late Victorian to WWII), usually in the UK though occasionally in the US (though some have scenes set elsewhere, especially in Ibbotson). They're self-indulgent but well-written, focus on the inner lives of their heroines, are chock-full of lovely period details, and have a sense of whimsy without going too far into the precious or twee. They're often more episodic than plot-driven. The characters are always well-drawn, eccentric, and wide-ranging in age and sometimes class, though not (sadly) in race. Honestly, the books are...very white. They are not cozy in the sense that word gets thrown around today--there's always loss or death--but they feel cozy aesthetically despite this.
Here are the examples I've come up with:
Eva Ibbotson's young adult novels (A Countess Below Stairs, A Company of Swans, The Morning Gift, A Song for Summer, Magic Flutes)
I Capture the Castle
The Montmaray Journals
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion
the Betsy-Tacy books
the Gone-Away Lake books (this duology is an outlier in that it's MG and has a male co-protagonist, but they feel this way in my memory, though admittedly I haven't reread them in 20 years)
Daddy Long-legs
Strangely, I would not include L.M. Montgomery's books in these categories, except, maybe, The Blue Castle? I don't know why, but the vibe is different enough to me that they don't belong in this category.
O Caldeonia is this genre taken and turned sharper and crueler. It's this genre with an edge.
So my questions are:
a) what should we call this genre?
and
b) does anyone have any other titles they think belong in it? I'd like to compose a list and also I would like to read those books because this genre exists for me specifically and I eat it up with a spoon.
Murderbot fanvid: I Lived
Jul. 14th, 2025 09:52 pmsholioOkay, vid-source-assisting enablers, your reward is here. ♥
With every broken bone, I swear I lived. Team/family vid. (Contains some sci-fi violence as per the show, and canon pairings in the background, but it's mostly focused on team + Murderbot.)
Song: I Lived
Artist: OneRepublic
Length: 03:57
AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/67565471
Tumblr: here
Having made this in a fit of exploding feelings today, I plan to get subtitles/downloads up soon (as soon as I remember how to do all of that; it's been ages since I made a vid!).
Temp download: Download from Dropbox (286 Mb, it's huge)
With every broken bone, I swear I lived. Team/family vid. (Contains some sci-fi violence as per the show, and canon pairings in the background, but it's mostly focused on team + Murderbot.)
Song: I Lived
Artist: OneRepublic
Length: 03:57
AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/67565471
Tumblr: here
Having made this in a fit of exploding feelings today, I plan to get subtitles/downloads up soon (as soon as I remember how to do all of that; it's been ages since I made a vid!).
Temp download: Download from Dropbox (286 Mb, it's huge)
Unread books on dusty shelves tell a story of their own
Jul. 14th, 2025 11:24 pmsovayBecause I am more familiar with the operas than the film scores of Erich Wolfgang Korngold and tend to avoid even famous movies with Ronald Reagan in them, it took until tonight for me to hear the main theme for Kings Row (1942), at which point the entire career of John Williams flashed before my eyes. Other parts of the score sound more recognizably, symphonically of their era, but that fanfare is a blast from the future it directly shaped: the standard set by Korngold's tone-poem, leitmotiv-driven approach to film composing, principal photography as the libretto to an opera. I love finding these taproots, even when they were lying around in plain sight.
I don't think that what I feel for the sea is nostalgia, but I am intrigued by this study indicating that generally people do: "Searching for Ithaca: The geography and psychological benefits of nostalgic places" (2025). I am surprised that more people are not apparently bonded to deserts or mountains or woodlands. Holidays by the sea can't explain all of it. I used to spend a lot of my life in trees.
I napped for a couple of hours this afternoon, but my brain could return any time now. The rest of my week is not conducive to doing nothing. The rest of the world is not conducive to losing time.
I don't think that what I feel for the sea is nostalgia, but I am intrigued by this study indicating that generally people do: "Searching for Ithaca: The geography and psychological benefits of nostalgic places" (2025). I am surprised that more people are not apparently bonded to deserts or mountains or woodlands. Holidays by the sea can't explain all of it. I used to spend a lot of my life in trees.
I napped for a couple of hours this afternoon, but my brain could return any time now. The rest of my week is not conducive to doing nothing. The rest of the world is not conducive to losing time.
Drabble: Expressionless (Al/Roxy)
Jul. 14th, 2025 11:00 pmlightofdayeTitle: Expressionless
Rating: PG
Characters & Pairing: PG
Word Count: 1 x 100
Content: First Cousins dating
Disclaimer: The characters, settings and HP Franchise as a whole are owned by JKR and not by me. I make no profit from writing this piece of fanfiction.
Summary: Al attempts imperturbability
A/n: Unbeta'd. Written for![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
hp_nextgen100's Prompt #330: "Expression"
( Expressionless )
Rating: PG
Characters & Pairing: PG
Word Count: 1 x 100
Content: First Cousins dating
Disclaimer: The characters, settings and HP Franchise as a whole are owned by JKR and not by me. I make no profit from writing this piece of fanfiction.
Summary: Al attempts imperturbability
A/n: Unbeta'd. Written for
hp_nextgen100's Prompt #330: "Expression"( Expressionless )
Recent reading
Jul. 14th, 2025 05:12 pmaurumcalendulaPoint of Sighs by Melissa Scott:
( Read more... )
Point of Hearts by Melissa Scott:
( Read more... )
Daughter of Mystery by Heather Rose Jones:
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Point of Hearts by Melissa Scott:
( Read more... )
Daughter of Mystery by Heather Rose Jones:
( Read more... )
Today's five second mini-rant:
Jul. 16th, 2025 02:35 pmconulyNonstandard and informal are not synonyms. Dialectal and informal are not synonyms. Regional and informal are not synonyms. You can speak formally even if you're speaking a nonstandard regional dialect.
Everybody needs to stop saying that dialect words are, ipso facto, informal.
Edit: On a different note, omfg this dude.
*************************
( Read more... )
Everybody needs to stop saying that dialect words are, ipso facto, informal.
Edit: On a different note, omfg this dude.
( Read more... )
Another Games Bundle - Hearts of Wulin
Jul. 14th, 2025 06:32 pmffuturesThis is an offer of Hearts of Wulin, featuring "the Apocalypse Engine game of Chinese wuxia melodrama."
https://bundleofholding.com/presents/HeartsOfWulin
The main game material was in a previous bundle, this bundle adds three new supplements, including one for running detective mysteries in the style of Judge Dee etc. The whole lot is very cheap, and for once I don't think it's going to be worth cherry-picking if you're even slightly interested. I should probably add that I know very little about wuxia as a genre - there may be other games out there that handle it better.
https://bundleofholding.com/presents/HeartsOfWulin
The main game material was in a previous bundle, this bundle adds three new supplements, including one for running detective mysteries in the style of Judge Dee etc. The whole lot is very cheap, and for once I don't think it's going to be worth cherry-picking if you're even slightly interested. I should probably add that I know very little about wuxia as a genre - there may be other games out there that handle it better.
Went to the doctor, turns out I'm sick
Jul. 14th, 2025 11:24 amsovayMy week seems to have started with catapulting myself on zero sleep to a specialist's appointment starting half an hour from the end of the phone call, so I am eating a bagel with lox and trying not to feel that the earth acquires a new axial tilt every time I turn my head. Paying bills, shockingly, has not improved my mood.
After enjoying both The Big Pick-Up (1955) and The Flight of the Phoenix (1964), I was disappointed by Elleston Trevor's The Burning Shore (U.S. The Pasang Run, 1961), which ironically for its airport setting never really seemed to get its plot off the ground and in any case its ratio of romantic melodrama and ambient racism to actual aviation was not ideal, but I am a little sorry that it was not adapted for film like its fellows, since I would have liked to see the casting for the initially peripheral, ultimately book-stealing role of Tom Thorne, the decorated and disgraced surgeon gone in the Conradian manner to ground in the tropics, because of his unusual fragility: it is de rigueur for his archetype that he should pull himself out of his opium-mired death-spiral for the sake of a passenger flight downed in flames, but he remains an impulsive suicide risk even when his self-respect should conventionally have been restored. He is described as having the face of a hurt clown. He'd have been any character actor's gift.
Mostly I like that Wolf Alice named themselves after the short story by Angela Carter, but the chorus of "The Sofa" (2025) really is attractive right now.
After enjoying both The Big Pick-Up (1955) and The Flight of the Phoenix (1964), I was disappointed by Elleston Trevor's The Burning Shore (U.S. The Pasang Run, 1961), which ironically for its airport setting never really seemed to get its plot off the ground and in any case its ratio of romantic melodrama and ambient racism to actual aviation was not ideal, but I am a little sorry that it was not adapted for film like its fellows, since I would have liked to see the casting for the initially peripheral, ultimately book-stealing role of Tom Thorne, the decorated and disgraced surgeon gone in the Conradian manner to ground in the tropics, because of his unusual fragility: it is de rigueur for his archetype that he should pull himself out of his opium-mired death-spiral for the sake of a passenger flight downed in flames, but he remains an impulsive suicide risk even when his self-respect should conventionally have been restored. He is described as having the face of a hurt clown. He'd have been any character actor's gift.
Mostly I like that Wolf Alice named themselves after the short story by Angela Carter, but the chorus of "The Sofa" (2025) really is attractive right now.
omg y'all
Jul. 14th, 2025 01:32 pmlirazelHas anyone else started getting those spam-y grift-y "I like your writing, let me make art for you" messages here on DW??? I've gotten them on plenty of other sites (including FF.N, where my account is still apparently linked to my email address!) but I never thought to see them here!
Superman 2025 thoughts, no spoilers
Jul. 14th, 2025 01:16 pmpetraIf the new Superman movie had included Súperman es Ilegal (lyrics in English and Spanish in video), even just a little bit, I might've felt all the whiners were justified in saying how woke it is. It's a charming movie with compelling performances, but "woke" is a serious overstatement by people who can't handle characters who aren't white dudes doing things.
This Ma and Pa Kent were my favorite iterations of themselves outside of comics, and I fully believed that this Clark would say, "Dang."
If you like your superheroes a little too clean-cut and a lot too earnest, you, too, may enjoy this flick.
This Ma and Pa Kent were my favorite iterations of themselves outside of comics, and I fully believed that this Clark would say, "Dang."
If you like your superheroes a little too clean-cut and a lot too earnest, you, too, may enjoy this flick.
(no subject)
Jul. 14th, 2025 12:07 pmlirazelAnybody got any book recs for either nonfiction or fiction set in Central Asia and/or Afghanistan prior to the 19th century? (Going back as far as you like.)
I just find this area of the world really interesting but find little information on it. I'm super interested in Samarkand, the Silk Roads, etc.
There are a number of travelogues that people have written, like, tracing the Silk Roads and things. And those are interesting! But I'm really looking for something that isn't filtered through a contemporary perspective.
I just find this area of the world really interesting but find little information on it. I'm super interested in Samarkand, the Silk Roads, etc.
There are a number of travelogues that people have written, like, tracing the Silk Roads and things. And those are interesting! But I'm really looking for something that isn't filtered through a contemporary perspective.
Pride Bundle 2025: General Imprint Short Stories
Jul. 14th, 2025 05:39 pmprofiterole_readsduckprintspress's Pride Bundle 2025: General Imprint Short Stories (not available any more, but most of these stories can be found on DPP's Patreon) was absolutely delightful!DPP is an indie press publishing diverse original works by fanwork creators, so it's not surprising that I vibed so much with these stories. Most of them are speculative.
There's non-binary rep (they/them, neo-pronouns, pronoun combinations or no pronouns), f/f and m/m.
Readercon 2025
Jul. 14th, 2025 11:00 amoracneI’ll be at Readercon 34 this weekend after spending most of the last couple of weeks doing massive re-reads.
If you’ll be there, please feel free to stop and say hello! My schedule is below.
If you’ll be there, please feel free to stop and say hello! My schedule is below.
The Works of P. Djèlí Clark
Salon I/J Friday, July 18, 2025, 1:00 PM EDT
Andrea Hairston [moderator]; Leon Perniciaro; Rob Cameron; Tom Doyle; Victoria Janssen
Our Guest of Honor P. Djèlí Clark rounded out his first decade as a published author with a Nebula and a Locus for his fantasy police procedural novel, The Master of Djinn, and both those awards plus a British Fantasy Award for his monster-hunting novella Ring Shout. His short story “How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub” is short-listed for the Hugo this year. As a History professor at University of Connecticut, he investigates the pathways leading from West African storyteller/poets (griots, a.k.a. djèlí) to the American abolitionist movement. Help us celebrate the works of our honored guest!
The Purposes of Memorable Insults in Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Salon I/J Friday, July 18, 2025, 5:00 PM EDT
Storm Humbert [moderator]; Anne E.G. Nydam; Charles Allison; Ellen Kushner; Victoria Janssen
Some of the most quotable lines in science fiction and fantasy are zingers. Wit can do a lot to build a character, a world, and a universe, and has the ability to either support or undermine reader expectations. This panel aims to explore and elaborate on the use of wit—and especially takedowns—in literature, exposing how a verbal jab can serve as more than just a punchline.
Moving from Traditional Publishing to Self-Publishing
Salon G/H Friday, July 18, 2025, 7:00 PM EDT
Victoria Janssen [moderator]; Cecilia Tan; Jedediah Berry; Sarah Smith; Steven Popkes
It’s becoming increasingly common to hear of authors whose self-published work was so successful that they were picked up by a traditional publisher. But what of the authors who have gone the other way, by turning their backs on traditional publishing and going into self-publishing? Panelists will survey the varying reasons for making this transition, how authors have navigated it, and what this might say about the state of publishing overall.
Kaffeeklatsch: Victoria Janssen
Suite 830 Friday, July 18, 2025, 8:00 PM EDT
The Works of Cecilia Tan
Salon I/J Saturday, July 19, 2025, 12:00 PM EDT
Victoria Janssen [moderator]; Charlie Jane Anders; Laura Antoniou; Cecilia Tan (i)
Our Guest of Honor, Cecilia Tan, has a publication history that spans Asimov’s, Absolute Magnitude, Ms. Magazine, Penthouse, and Best American Erotica, among others. Writer and editor of science fiction and fantasy, especially as they intersect with erotica and romance, she is also the founder of Circlet Press, an independent publisher that specializes in speculative erotica. Her own writing earned a Lifetime Achievement for Erotica in 2014 from Romantic Times magazine. She also contributes to America’s other pastime, baseball, in her role as Publications Director for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Come hear our panel discuss Cecilia’s many talents and accomplishments.
Un-Kafkaesque Bureaucracies
Salon I/J Saturday, July 19, 2025, 7:00 PM EDT
Victoria Janssen [moderator]; Alexander Jablokov; J.M. Sidorova; Laurence Raphael Brothers; Steven Popkes
In fiction, bureaucracies are generally depicted as evil in its most banal form, yet many of the actual bureaucracies that shape our lives exist to protect us from corporate greed. How can—and should—we tell other stories about bureaucrats and bureaucracies, particularly as the U.S. stands on the precipice of disastrous deregulation? And might fantasies of bureaucracy (such Addison’s The Goblin Emperor and Goddard’s The Hands of the Emperor) be the next cozy subgenre?
The Endless Appetite for Fanfiction
Create / Collaborate Saturday, July 19, 2025, 8:00 PM EDT
Kate Nepveu [moderator]; Claire Houck/Nina Waters; Laura Antoniou; Victoria Janssen
In an article of the same name (https://www.fansplaining.com/articles/endless-appetite-fanfiction), Elizabeth Minkel discussed how “2024 was the year [fanfic] truly broke containment—everyone seemed to want a piece of the fanfiction pie, leaving fic authors themselves besieged on all sides.” Attempts to steal and monetize fanfic proliferated, as did reviews treating living authors as distant and unreachable. What do these trends say about larger changes in attitudes toward stories and creators? How can fans of all kinds nurture supportive connections to authors?
Murderbotin cross episodes 7,8,9
Jul. 14th, 2025 07:23 amfresneHere I am meaning to post more here, and didn't post this bit I posted over on Tumblr.
And so, before I watch episode 10 of Murderbot and wrap the season, what I wrote two weeks ago about episodes 7, 8, 9.
I had so many thoughts.
Most of which I verbally cracked like so much & many eggs immediately after with my watching cohort. Only fitting because that's what one needs to break to make a protein rich meal. But then again, that's not how the saying goes.
And yet, and yet, if a person understands what is meant, then maybe it is…
( Read more... )
And so, before I watch episode 10 of Murderbot and wrap the season, what I wrote two weeks ago about episodes 7, 8, 9.
I had so many thoughts.
Most of which I verbally cracked like so much & many eggs immediately after with my watching cohort. Only fitting because that's what one needs to break to make a protein rich meal. But then again, that's not how the saying goes.
And yet, and yet, if a person understands what is meant, then maybe it is…
( Read more... )
(no subject)
Jul. 14th, 2025 09:00 amaurumcalendulaAs of yesterday I have a complete Andy/Quynh The Old Guard vid! I submitted it to DC-Slash vidshow, since I hadn't sent in a premiere yet (I didn't get a confirmation email from the form, so I'm hoping it went through).
It was very exciting to see Seven Seas'July survey gauging interest in The Beauty's Blade and asking what other baihe novels they should license!
On the other hand, I'm a bit irritated about the changes to Seven Seas' danmei page (it's no longer a separate webpage with detailed info about the series. I'm most irritated because the books' section on the main site have lower resolution cover art for the volumes and doesn't include planned volume counts for in progress releases).
I finished the two most recent Astreiant volumes the other day and am a bit sad I've run out of books in the series (Melissa Scott does have a Patreon with a bunch of short stories, so I'm going to check that out next).
It was very exciting to see Seven Seas'July survey gauging interest in The Beauty's Blade and asking what other baihe novels they should license!
On the other hand, I'm a bit irritated about the changes to Seven Seas' danmei page (it's no longer a separate webpage with detailed info about the series. I'm most irritated because the books' section on the main site have lower resolution cover art for the volumes and doesn't include planned volume counts for in progress releases).
I finished the two most recent Astreiant volumes the other day and am a bit sad I've run out of books in the series (Melissa Scott does have a Patreon with a bunch of short stories, so I'm going to check that out next).
Hm. I thought we got a big bag of cat food
Jul. 15th, 2025 04:45 pmconulybut it turned out to be a big bag of dog food.
This is... not so great, really.
*******************
( Read more... )
This is... not so great, really.
( Read more... )
Euro 2025 - Quarterfinal network diagrams
Jul. 14th, 2025 07:29 pmredfiona99The group stage diagrams and predictions based on them can be found here - https://fulltimesportsfan.wordpress.com/2025/06/29/euro-2025-group-stage-network-diagrams/
How did the group stage predictions go?
From group A, I predicted Norway and Switzerland would qualify for the quarterfinals, and I was right, even if it involved extra time goals in the decider.
Group B, I predicted Spain and AN other, which I am aware is a bit of a "the sky is blue" sort of prediction.
Group C, I predicted Germany and Sweden
Group D, I predicted Netherlands and one of England and France, which was oh so wrong.
So out of 8, I am willing to call that about equivalent to 5/8.
With that in mind, here are the quarterfinal network diagrams
( Four figures under the cut )
Sweden are the national team closest to the centre (just, vs. Norway). Either Lyon or Bayern Munich are the club team closest to the centre.
Barcelona are the team with the most representatives left in with 14, then comes Bayern Munich and Juventus with 13 then Chelsea with 12.
Predictions for the quarterfinals:
These are quite difficult because Italy and Spain are pulled out by how many of their players play for Juventus and Barcelona respectively, while Bayern Munich, and the players that play for them, are pulling together Sweden and Germany, and Arsenal and Chelsea are holding together England, Sweden and Norway.
Sweden vs England - Diagram says Sweden
Norway vs Italy - Diagram says Norway, plus every single women's football pundit keeps bewailing how often Italy somehow manage to screw up. On the other hand, Norway trip over their own feet also.
France vs Germany - Diagram says Germany just. Football fan says "ooooh".
Spain vs Switzerland - Remember how I said Barcelona pulled Spain out of the diagram. This really reflects that. Switzerland are far closer to the centre. On the other hand, there is no way I can see Switzerland beating this Spanish team.
How did the group stage predictions go?
From group A, I predicted Norway and Switzerland would qualify for the quarterfinals, and I was right, even if it involved extra time goals in the decider.
Group B, I predicted Spain and AN other, which I am aware is a bit of a "the sky is blue" sort of prediction.
Group C, I predicted Germany and Sweden
Group D, I predicted Netherlands and one of England and France, which was oh so wrong.
So out of 8, I am willing to call that about equivalent to 5/8.
With that in mind, here are the quarterfinal network diagrams
( Four figures under the cut )
Sweden are the national team closest to the centre (just, vs. Norway). Either Lyon or Bayern Munich are the club team closest to the centre.
Barcelona are the team with the most representatives left in with 14, then comes Bayern Munich and Juventus with 13 then Chelsea with 12.
Predictions for the quarterfinals:
These are quite difficult because Italy and Spain are pulled out by how many of their players play for Juventus and Barcelona respectively, while Bayern Munich, and the players that play for them, are pulling together Sweden and Germany, and Arsenal and Chelsea are holding together England, Sweden and Norway.
Sweden vs England - Diagram says Sweden
Norway vs Italy - Diagram says Norway, plus every single women's football pundit keeps bewailing how often Italy somehow manage to screw up. On the other hand, Norway trip over their own feet also.
France vs Germany - Diagram says Germany just. Football fan says "ooooh".
Spain vs Switzerland - Remember how I said Barcelona pulled Spain out of the diagram. This really reflects that. Switzerland are far closer to the centre. On the other hand, there is no way I can see Switzerland beating this Spanish team.
It's Alive!
Jul. 13th, 2025 09:48 pmdhampyresaGonna run the Ukraine auction again.
If anyone wants to run a similar event (watermelon_auction?), I'm happy to share whatever I can (my backend post-automating code is already available here, though I haven't used it since).
If anyone wants to run a similar event (watermelon_auction?), I'm happy to share whatever I can (my backend post-automating code is already available here, though I haven't used it since).