Reading

Entry tags:

MCU meme

Stole this from

muccamukk.

Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part
* Watched more than once.
† Watched in the first few weeks of release (at least initially, for TV shows).

( Big annotated list of movies/shows )

( Some nostalgic nattering about that )

Code if you want to do it yourself:

Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part
* Watched more than once.
† Watched in the first few weeks of release (at least initially, for TV shows).

Phase One:
Iron Man (2008)
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Thor (2011)
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
The Avengers (2012)

Phase Two:
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV 2013–2020)
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Ant-Man (2015)
Daredevil (TV 2015–2018)
Agent Carter (TV 2015–2016)
Jessica Jones (TV 2015–2019)

Phase Three:
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Luke Cage (TV 2016–2018)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Iron Fist (TV 2017–2018)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
The Defenders (TV 2017)
The Punisher (TV 2017–2019)
Inhumans (TV 2017)
Runaways (TV 2017–2019)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Black Panther (2018)
Cloak & Dagger (TV 2018–2019)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Phase Four:
Black Widow (2021)
WandaVision (TV 2021)
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TV 2021)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Eternals (2021)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Loki (TV 2021-2023)
Hawkeye (TV 2021)
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Moon Knight (TV 2022)
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Ms. Marvel (TV 2022)
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (TV 2022)

Phase Five:
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
Secret Invasion (TV 2023)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
The Marvels (2023)
Echo (TV 2024)
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
Agatha All Along (TV 2024)
Daredevil: Born Again (TV 2025-2026)
Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
Thunderbolts (2025)
Ironheart (TV 2025)

Phase Six:
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
Wonder Man (TV 2025)
Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)
Vision Quest (TV 2026)
Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
Avengers: Secret Wars (2027)

Entry tags:

tv:murderbot

Just Murderbot things

Check out this person's adorable manga-style art illustrating scenes from the first three Murderbot books. I love their art style!

I was thinking about how the adaptation for the next season might go.

( More about that )

Things getting done

I've begun writing the postcards for Postcards to Swing States. They won't be mailed until October, but I figure writing a few every day will keep my hands from cramping.

I got the wallpaper ordered for my bedroom. I hope I calculated the measurements correctly. It's only on one wall, fortunately. Quick question: should the other walls be painted to match the background color of the wallpaper? or should I pick one of the colors from the pattern?

I've opened boxes with jars for storage and gotten beans, flour, sugar, couscous, etc. off the pantry shelves. Since the pantry is tiny, it's better to have staples in jars near the stove.

I found out that I'm allowed to give blood again. I gave regularly in Belgium and the UK throughout the 1980s. When I got back to the U.S. the worry about mad cow meant I wasn't allowed to donate here. Apparently, they finally relented (in 2023, dammit) and I'm now considered safe to give. Since there's a shortage here, I'm glad I can give again. Sis, is coming with me to the appointment next week.

Other than that, I've been doing some writing.

Five Ways Ronon Dex Kisses a Team Member (by minnow) (M)

Shows: SGA
Rec Category: Ronon Dex
Characters: Ronon Dex/Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex & Aiden Ford, Ronon Dex & Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex/John Sheppard/Teyla Emmagan/Rodney McKay
Categories: F/M, Multi, Gen
Words: 5500
Warnings: Secondary character death (offscreen) in the 2nd story. Aphrodisiac dosing offworld thus a dubcon OT4 in the 3rd story and postscript.
Author on DW:

minnow
Author's Website:

minnow
Link: Five Ways Ronon Dex Kisses a Team Member on DW
Why This Must Be Read: A series of stories in the 5-things structure, some with attraction, some entirely gen or friendship-based, and an AMTDI OT4 near-orgy. They're all wonderfully written, and as a bonus postscript,

minnow gives us an M-rated section she cut from the OT4 part, which is very nice indeed. There's some worldbuilding about Sateda and Ronon's earlier life, but not a lot as the sections aren't that long. An excellent read.

( snippet of fic )

Entry tags:

Murderbot fandom (and books)

I am having such a good time in Murderbot TV fandom! It's been a long while since I was in a bigger, more active fandom, and it's just such fun: loads of fic, WIPs updating daily, activity/meta/gifs on Tumblr. I haven't fallen out of love with everything else, but I am having a great time with my new shiny.

I've read all of the books except Network Effect and System Collapse, which tbh I .... probably won't? I did a little skimming for context, so I know what happens, at least.

( More on that, and the general state of the fandom )

Entry tags:

monthly reccers

August reccers

Sorry for the delay, people.

Many thanks to

cassiope25,

goddess47,

mific,

nuh_s, and

smilebackwards for all their July recs! We had 16 recs this past month, including my own.

Our reccers for August are:

cassiope25: Rodney McKay

goddess47: Jack O'Neill

mific: Ronon Dex

nuh_s: Minor characters

Reccers, you all have access and can start posting at any time. Remember that you have committed yourself to reccing at least two fics over the course of the month, although of course we will be happy with more. Feel free to use the copy-and-paste template from the reccer's FAQ for your convenience.

If you wanted to volunteer for this month and didn't have a chance to sign up, drop a comment here and I'll happily add you to the list.

Fair (by Minnow) (Mature)

Shows: SGA
Rec Category: Alternate Universe
Characters: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Elizabeth Weir, John's mother, Rodney's mother
Categories: M/M
Words: ~18,500
Warnings: No AO3-type warnings apply
Author on DW:

minnow
Author's Website:

minnow
Link: Fair on DW
Why This Must Be Read: This is a lovely AU in which John's a fairy and he and Rodney meet as children, and then, many years later, as in canon. Meanwhile, there are shenanigans with an Ancient memory device, and of course there's angst and drama once John's heritage is revealed, and his mother gets involved. The story's beautifully written and a cracking good read, with plenty of feels and a satisfying ending. It's only available on DW so may not be as well known as stories on AO3. Very much recommended.

( snippet of fic )

Crossing lines by WonkyElk (T)

Show: SGA

Rec Category: Rodney McKay
Characters: Rodney McKay, Laura Cadman
Pairings: Rodney & Laura
Categories: gen, emotional hurt/comfort, angst, discussion of consent issues, episode related, post-episode: s02e04 Duet
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Words: 2,884
Author's Journal:

wonkyelk
Author's Website: WonkyElk on AO3
Link: Crossing Line

Author’s summary: Rodney and Laura talk about the events in Duet. (AN: An attempt to get a little resolution for a few things in Duet.)

Why This Must Be Read: The awesome Wonkyelk did an amazing job with this aftermath fic, written in alternating POVs and creating a long-overdue moment between Rodney and Cadman that addresses the unique and emotionally painful experience they both went through in Duet.
She combines lighthearted and somewhat funny glimpses with deeply emotional and meaningful ones, allowing both Rodney and Cadman to express themselves with honesty, thoughtfulness, and sensitivity. It shows that there’s not just right or wrong, but understandable reasons, and offers thoughts that bring balance and a first step toward healing for both of them.
This fic gives you what should have been in canon, and it stays with you in the best way.

( snippet of fic )

Entry tags:

music,
r.i.p.

R.I.P. Tom Lehrer

The Obituary at the Guardian

He was a great satirist and performer. Apparently, he was a good professor, too. At 97, it's impossible to say that Tom Lehrer was taken from us too soon -- especially since he mostly retired over 60 years ago -- but that doesn't mean that he won't be missed. While he lived, there was always a chance for one more song.

Watch on YouTube

road less traveled by arya_silvertongue (PG)

Show: SG-1, SGA

Rec Category: Jack O'Neill
Characters:Pairings: Jack O'Neill/Daniel Jackson, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Categories: slash, pre-slash, DADT
Warnings: none
Word Count: 2048
Author on DW: none found
Author's Website: AO3 Profile

Link: road less traveled

Author's Summary:

The repeal of the US military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy changes John Sheppard’s life in more ways than one.

Why This Must Be Read:

John is on mandatory leave from Atlantis but Woolsey has decided that command staff should not take leave at the same time. So John is hanging out at the SGC because, well, he has no where he wants to go. While he's there, DADT is officially repealed.

An interesting character study of John Sheppard when he really understands what the repeal of DADT might mean to him.

As a side note, it's illuminating to see the effect DADT had on at least John... It's easy to forget that DATA was in effect when the show was running.

If you like this, check out Arya's other stories... they're nicely done!

( snippet of fic )

Entry tags:

alaska,
life

Trivial life stuff follow-up

I FOUND OUT WHAT HAS BEEN EATING MY GARDEN

I became even more convinced it was a moose after discovering this morning that some of the remaining pea vines were decimated in the night, evidently from the tops. So I was out there this evening picking the rest of the broccoli (so far untouched) ...

And all of a sudden, with no warning, a GROUNDHOG exploded out of the broccoli plants at my feet. (Definitely a groundhog/woodchuck. Not a marmot, not a ground squirrel. A groundhog. We do have them in Alaska, and this isn't even the first one I've seen here, but it's certainly the first one I've caught in the act of SHAMELESS GARDEN BANDITRY.)

They're reddish colored and large, about the size of a big cat. I screamed, because I was not expecting LARGE MOVING THING IN THE BROCCOLI. I'd had no idea it was there. It spend past my feet and under one of the cars and vanished.

So the culprit has been identified, and it's definitely coming back every day now. They can dig and they can also climb (jerks), so building a groundhog-proof fence would be a heck of a job. I asked Orion for ideas. He asked me if I mind if he pepper-sprays my garden, because he has some expiring bear spray and he wants to find out what using it is like just in case he ever has to use it for real. I'm like, sure, why not. I gave him some guidelines (don't spray anything I plan to eat, lower leaves only, etc) and went into the house to be out of the literal line of fire.

Shortly I heard coughing and sneezing and he came into the house eventually to report that bear spray is highly volatile and prone to floating on the wind. Good to know. A few minutes later, *I* was coughing and sneezing too, because it turns out it also sticks around on clothing and skin. (I didn't get it nearly as bad as he did, just a coughing fit and some running sinuses, but COME ON.)

He has now thoroughly showered.

And that's the story of how we bear-sprayed ourselves while trying to bear-spray the garden.

(He reports that bear spray tastes like very spicy food. Apparently the active ingredient is capsaicin, so it's not toxic. I didn't get enough of it to actually taste it.)

I guess we're about to find out if groundhogs enjoy spicy food.