azdak

Posted by Fred Clark

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/10/28/trump-dol-is-desperately-thirsty-for-tom-brady/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=71666

I never thought I'd say this as an Eagles fan, but I'm worried about Tom Brady's safety.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/10/28/trump-dol-is-desperately-thirsty-for-tom-brady/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=71666

I used my boardgame here.

I finished 6/6 from my last PTW challenge and it went mostly great. I didn't get enough Dr. Stone so it might be my reward.

Avatar:

Ron from Kamonohashi Ron no Kindan Suiri
Skill: Move one extra tile once (beat trap tile if you roll an Odd)

Roll #1:

A 9, prompt: longest titled. There was a tie between two, I picked Fairy Ranmaru: Anata no Kokoro Otasuke Shimasu.

Roll #2:

A 2, prompt: martial arts. I really don't have a lot of martial arts anime on any list but I went with Ninja to Gokudou since I've heard good things about it! From what I hear it's enemies accidentally bonding over something together without realizing it, and there's more underneath what they bonded over as well.

Roll #3:

A 4, prompt: European element. The only one on my CW list is Delico's Nursery, I don't know where it takes place but the ambience is there.

Roll #4:

A 7, prompt: witch/etc. Slayers ig though not sure how I feel about the new chars yet.

Roll #5

A 9 and using skill to go one extra tile. Prompt: contemporary. I think Babanba Banban Vampire counts even though there's a supernatural element since it takes place in modern times.

Roll #6:

A 7 and right to the end. Reward: Dr. Stone!

An excellent used bookshop in Tucson, The Book Stop, may be closing down unless the current owner, who is retiring, can find someone to take it over. Her contact info is on the "contact" page.

Anyone want to run a used bookshop in Tucson? It's really great and has an excellent location. I can vouch that being a bookshop owner is the best job ever unless you want to make lots of money.

Feel free to link or copy this.

Posted by Fred Clark

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/10/27/smart-people-saying-smart-things-10-27-25/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=71633

Take time to listen to Dan Sinker, Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, Karen E. Park, Joseph Margulies, Susanne Paola Antonetta, and Hamden Rice.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/10/27/smart-people-saying-smart-things-10-27-25/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=71633

Not that I have finished any fic for ages, but never mind that...

Rules: How many letters of the alphabet have you used for [starting] a fic title? One fic per line, 'A' and 'The' do not count for 'a' and 't'. Post your score out of 26 at the end, along with your total fic count.

A — All these weddings, all these years (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Matthew & Charles)
B — Between the Towers (Marieke - Jacques Brel, Narrator/Marieke)
C — Choosing a Tomorrow (Izetta: The Last Witch, Finé/Izetta)
D — dear employment (Romeo and Juliet, Romeo/Balthasar)
E — Educational Visit (Doctor Who, Thirteenth Doctor and fam)
F — False Scent (Doctor Who, Liz Shaw/Israel Watkins)
G — Grounded (Doctor Who, Liz Shaw & Third Doctor)
H — Home of Strife (I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Romeo/Giulietta)
I — Immortal Gifts (The Count of Monte Cristo/Romeo and Juliet, Eugénie & Lady Capulet)
J — Janus (The Lego Movie, Good Cop-Bad Cop)
K — Kissing the Scorpion (James Bond - Craig movies, James Bond/person whose identity is revealed during the course of the story, which is the kind of thing you can do in Little Black Dress)
L — Ladies of Esteem (Romeo and Juliet, Lady Montague/Lady Capulet)
M — measuring his affections by my own (Romeo and Juliet, unrequited Benvolio/Tybalt)
N — News from Verona (Romeo and Juliet, Benvolio & Romeo)
O — One of these days (The Comfortable Courtesan, Em/Lalage)
P — Partnership (Yuri!!! on Ice, Lilia & Yakov)
Q — The Queen's Quandary (Zenda, implied Flavia/Rudolf R, but really about Flavia)
R — Rather late for me (White Boots, Harriet/Lalla)
S — Skirmish and Retreat (Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice/Benedick)
T — Thinking of the Days That Are No More (the Summer Tempests remix) (Swallows and Amazons, Peggy/Susan)
U — Under Her Skin (Yuri!!! on Ice, Mila/Sara)
V — Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied (Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence)
W — What an Exchange! (Trenuleţul - Zdob şi Zdub & Fraţii Advahov (Music Video))
X —
Y — Yet A Hand To Play (Zenda, Rudolf R/Rupert)
Z —

Only missing X and Z. Clearly I need to return to Zenda. And probably Doctor Who or something.

It's been a horrible cold day, mostly because of the wind. But I am inside and have a cat on my lap.

Used my manga TBR boardgame.

I finished 6/6 on my last board, It was kinda meh because there was only one manga that I really liked. I've been reading a lot more manga than usual because I feel too shitty for other things like watching things. 😩

Avatar:

Tanjirou
Skill: Move 2 extra tiles once (trap tile one if Even roll)

Roll #1:

A 10. Prompt: Favorite genre. Fantasy, so...let's go with more Are You Alice? though I wasn't too thrilled where it was when I stopped.

Roll #2:

A 4, prompt: color in the title. Alright, I've put the Ao no Exorcist anime on hold so it's finally time to go back and continue the manga.

Roll #3:

A 3 and the trap tile. I rolled Even so I get to move 2 extra tiles. Prompt: cover features mostly blue. Let's do Ookiku Furikabutte, it's been aaages.

Roll #4:

An 11, prompt: mystery element. More D.Gray-Man.

Roll #5:

A 7, which is the 'randomize from CR' tile. A 25... Well. that's D.Gray-Man again. I guess I retry? 202, which is Yuu Yuu Hakusho! I have no idea what happened last but I'm sure it'll be fiiine. 😅

Roll #6:

An 8 and the end. This time I'll be rereading the BL Constellations In My Palm. It's a chunky one but I rated it 10, hope it holds up!

Most looking forward to: YYH or maybe DGM
Least looking forward to: Are You Alice?

A YA novel about five friends who once played a spooky game that only four of them survived. Four years later, their friendship now broken, the ghost of their dead friend returns to drag them into a gameworld based on Japanese folklore. They must play again, for higher stakes, or else.

I like Japanese folklore, "years ago our group of friends did something bad that's now come back to haunt us," and deathworlds/gameworlds. This book sometimes hit the spot for me but more often didn't; it feels like the bones of a good book that needed a couple more drafts. The main issue, I think, is pacing. It's very fast-paced once it hits the gameworld, to the point where it feels like it's rushing from one scenario to the next, without having time to breathe. This also affects character. The characters are there, but they're a bit shallow because of the go-go-go pacing.

The best parts are a really excellent twist I did not at all see coming, and the scene where they all have to play truth or dare with younger versions of themselves at the ages they were when they first played the game. That part digs into character and relationships, not to mention the feeling of that game itself, in a really satisfying way. If the whole book worked on that level, it would have been much better.

There's a sequel that doesn't sound like it goes anywhere interesting.

Good morning, afternoon, and evening!

We're doing some database and other light server maintenance this weekend (upgrading the version of MySQL we use in particular, but also probably doing some CDN work.)

I expect all of this to be pretty invisible except for some small "couple of minute" blips as we switch between machines, but there's a chance you will notice something untoward. I'll keep an eye on comments as per usual.

Ta for now!

The weekly chat posts are intended for just that, chatting among each other. What are you currently watching? Reading? What actor/idol are you currently following? What are you looking forward to? Are you busy writing, creating art? Or did you have no time at all for anything, and are bemoaning that fact?

Whatever it is, talk to us about it here. Tell us what you liked or didn't like, and if you want to talk about spoilery things, please hide them under either of these codes:
<b>Highlight for spoilers!</b> *<span style="background-color: #FFFFFF; color: #FFFFFF">Write your spoilery text here.</span>* or <details> <summary>Write a non-spoilery summary of what's hidden under the arrow here.</summary> Write your spoilery text here. </details>