Read [azdak]

DEAR ABBY: My brother "Joey" married a woman, "Allie," who is mentally unstable. Every couple of months, she loses her temper at me or one of my family members. It's extremely disruptive and upsetting. She has been diagnosed with type 1 bipolar disorder as well as borderline personality disorder. Joey recognizes her behavior is inappropriate but can't seem to control her.

We usually ignore her and let some time pass until she calms down, but sometimes it's hard to turn the other cheek when she yells and makes personal attacks toward us. The most recent blow-up occurred while they were visiting my parents' home. Allie is pregnant with their first baby, and the day after the visit, Allie called my mom yelling at her that their house is "toxic" due to clutter and dust. She said being in their home is "harming their unborn baby." My parents' house is NOT a health hazard. Yes, there is some clutter, but they've raised five kids in that house and have lived there for almost 40 years.

Is there any way we can have a meaningful relationship with Joey and Allie? I'm worried they're never going to let us see their baby. -- TIPTOEING IN CALIFORNIA

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Mood::

full

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Posted by Fred Clark

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/10/09/men-behaving-badly/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=71465

Men, men, men, men, manly men men men ....

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/10/09/men-behaving-badly/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=71465

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Icons created for various challenges:

The Legend of Anle - Han Ye and Di Ziyuan by Tarlan

Meet You at the Blossom - Jin Xiaobao-Zongzheng Huaien by Tarlan

The Untamed - Lan Wanji-Wei Wuxian by Tarlan

The Yin Yang Master - Dream of Eternity - Boya-Qingming by Tarlan

Fandoms/Stock:
The Legend of Anle - Han Ye and Di Ziyuan
Meet You at the Blossom - Jin Xiaobao-Zongzheng Huaien
The Untamed - Lan Wanji-Wei Wuxian
The Yin Yang Master: Dream of Eternity - Boya-Qingming
Mark Chao
The Great Wall

Tumblr-style graphic

The challenge was to create a graphic from one fandom with a quote from another fandom:

IMAGE Fandom: Word of Honor (TV 2021)
QUOTE Fandom: Eureka
QUOTE:
Stark: Wow, that didn't even leave a bad taste in my mouth.
Carter: Wait for it.
Stark: Oh... there it is!

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First, when I was pulling up my panties my thumbnail got stuck somehow on the cotton and ended up half ripped off - ouch! - in what is both the dumbest and most painful injury ever. Then the next day I managed to slip on some clothing on the floor and fall flat down on my face. Fortunately, I landed on my laundry, but still, I can take a hint. My own laundry wants me dead.

(I mentioned this to Jenn and she suggested that if I was wearing my panties they weren't laundry but simply clothing, but this obviously arrant nonsense. They weren't on my body yet, they were just halfway up my thighs, so they were still at least liminally laundry, caught in that weird spot of paradox in between Schrodinger's cat and Xeno's arrow. Also, the salient feature is that they were trying to kill me, not what arbitrary category they fall into while they do so!)

*************************

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I have a 26-year-old daughter who from a very early age studied dance. For a while, we thought she might pursue it professionally, but by the time she was applying for colleges it was clear that she had decided not to. Once she made that decision, she stopped taking dance classes. We were disappointed — she was a beautiful dancer — but we were supportive of her choice. She found a major she loved and is doing very well. We couldn’t be happier about that. I’ve noticed, however, that since she stopped dancing she has steadily gained weight. Lately, every time her dad and I see her, she has put on more weight.

We want to have a conversation with her about it, but we’re concerned that she will think that we’re body-shaming her. She can get defensive about things. I am particularly concerned about the things she loves to eat. She gravitates toward sugar and fatty foods, and isn’t very active. We have lots of diabetes on both sides of our family, and I’ve subtly tried to mention this family risk. I don’t think she has taken this in, however. She may be headed for a serious weight problem. How can we raise this with her without making her feel self-conscious or judged, and without pushing her away from us? We love and respect her and want to see her live a healthy life. Please advise! — Name Withheld

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Watch on YouTube

突然のキスや熱いまなざしで
With a sudden kiss and a passionate gaze
恋のプログラムを狂わせないでね
Don't let the love program go haywire
出逢いと別れ上手に打ち込んで
Meeting and parting, devote yourself to it well
時間がくれば終わる Don't hurry!
It'll be over when the time comes, don't hurry!🎤
Rainych - Plastic Love
(Mariya Takeuchi cover)

Mood::

hungry

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PROLOGUE, AUTUMN 2025:

I began this review soon after seeing the play in November 2024, but took RATHER a long time to complete it. Nonetheless, I'm posting it here - disgracefully late - just for the record; and because I hear it can now be streamed.

..............

This stars David Tennant in the title role, and Cush Jumbo as Lady Macbeth; and has transferred from the Donmar, for this second run, featuring the exact same cast.

I mention this because I regret very much that we were unable to get tickets to its first run at the much smaller and cosier fringe theatre; and instead had to make-do with the larger, but cramped-and-Victorian West End venue.

This boasts (a) strategically-placed supporting pillars that mingle intrusively with the seating in the auditorium; (b) a raked (rather than tiered) seating area; (c) a leg-room problem between the rows of seats; (d) hole-and-corner internal architecture throughout, meaning odd little staircases, loos in inconvenient corners and inadequate bar areas.

Into this exceeding uncomfortable (and ambience-less) space, we crammed ourselves after ascertaining that - yes - we COULD see the stage in spite of the adjacent pillar. We then had to familiarise ourselves with the intricacies of the ominous-looking headphones assigned to each seat. Which brings me to the actual production; and why (in spite of all the above, plus some rather unacceptable audience behaviour) it turned out to be one of the most unique and thought-provoking interpretations of The Scottish Play that I've ever encountered.

In fact, calling it 'The Scottish Play' sounds very twee, doesn't it? But in this case it indicates no more than the plain truth. Every actor, apart from Cush Jumbo, is Scottish; and the background music and singers come from Gaelic traditions. In addition, many of the actors are also musicians, and actually produce all the musical background live onstage themselves. This aspect is accentuated by those headphones - the whole play is transmitted to the audience through them; thus creating a soundscape, to which - in some scenes - the audience's 'inner eye' must supply any images evoked by the music, the words of the actors, and also by any background noises supplied (eg. birdsong, especially the croaking of ravens).

Because sound is thus prioritised, details presented through the other main sense - sight - are assimilated almost as an afterthought. We hear the voices of actors before we identify them; indeed, sometimes it seems impossible to tell whose mouth is moving from amongst a line of actors - all practically identically dressed in black kilts and grey buttoned jackets - stretching the width of the stage behind a barrier of glass panels at the rear of the plain white raised platform on which the main actions take place. Also, the Witches are voiced-only, and ghost ly manifestations don't appear. This means that the 'prophetic utterances' come direct to our earphones kinda 'on the breeze'.

Therefore, in this production - whilst actions and emotions are all too real, the 'setting' isn't. Cumulatively, this puts a lot of sensory/mental legwork on the audience's imaginative powers. Thus - like it or not - this Macbeth is a salutory experience!

So - how did the actors do? What kind of a fist did Tennant make of the title character?

I think the answer has to be - Dark. We first see him alone on the white stage, sitting cross-legged in front of an enormous silver bowl in which he washes his hands. This is by way of a foreshadowing, since the blood belongs to King Duncan's enemies, not to the king himself.

From this silent, static image, we jump into a lively amount of fighting, during which Macbeth (after a bout with an anatagonist), is literally carried away by Ross - played by Moyo Akande (no mean feat for the redoubtable actress); and from thence, the encounter with the (invisible) witches and their prophecy.

Cush Jumbo's Lady Macbeth, dressed throughout in pure white (surely ironic!) duly incites her husband to regicide; and in truth he doesn't take a lot of persuading (despite the invisible dagger). This Macbeth is notably savage later, when sending assassins after Banqo and Lady Macduff; and on the final battlefield when he brutalises a (very) Young Siward before killing him.

Amongst the rest of the ensemble, most notable are Noof Ousellam as Macduff, Ros Watt as Malcolm, and a very busy Raffi Phillips (one of three kids) trebbling-up Macduff's son, Fleance and Young Siward. There's also Jatinder Singh Randhawa as the Porter, who inappropriately breaks the fourth wall with an ill-advised music-hall-style harangue from a dress-circle seat.

One final, lovely note (literally):

At the finale, when the hurly-burley's done, the hitherto-darkened back of the stage behind the glass panels is suddenly suffused with soft light, showing a pastoral scene with trees. The Gaelic singer, Kathleen MacInnes, begins the haunting strains of Pil-li-li-liu, an ancient Gaelic interpretation of the song of the redwing. Peace has come; and the ravens are banished.

UPDATE:

We subsequently also saw the cinema version of Tennant's Macbeth, which had been filmed at the Donmar. It had clearly been a very different experience for the audience there - much less 'distanced' visually. We wished even more that we'd been there to hear/see it in its original home. BUT - like most films,it lacks the immediacy and physicality of a live performance. The sound-experience in the cinema was adequate (we had surround-sound) but not as intimate as the live one.

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[Visual Novel Database page]

Mission 0 - Two Heroes:

Well that started off with a bang. A guy named Luke goes up onto a rooftop and fights with a guy named Aaron over a chip Aaron has betrayed Luke over to sell to the enemy. After Aaron beats the tar out of a determined Luke, the story goes back in time to show how it got there.

Man the VA cast is stacked!

Interesting, so Aaron is known as the jewel thief 'Beast' to the media.

...I guess I'm not a good backseat gamer, the player of the LP I'm watching made a mistake and I was NOT happy.

So Luke's dad was a lot like him (more like the other way around), and Luke carries his father's old gun.

16 years ago he was in an abusive facility and Edward adopted him. Little Luuuke. 😭 I understand completely why he is the way is he is now... Young Luke not even letting himself grieve at Edward's funeral until he couldn't hold his tears in anymore ahhh.

Someone sends a video of a kidnapped woman to Luke's station but no one will take it seriously but him. We also see that they are connected to Beast, who has to hand over something to them to save her. She looks a lot like him so I'm guessing it's his sister.

Luke goes off and investigates on his own, figures out where she is and goes in to rescue her...except only Beast is there tied up instead!

So here's what I think happened: he didn't get the thing they wanted (that orange sapphire) so they took her somewhere else, beat and tied him up - maybe to make him rethink things. But Luke is not going to forget about the girl or that Beast is a thief, so how does Beast get him to help him? Maybe he does tell him about his sister and Luke says 'we'll save her together without giving in to the bad guys' only for Beast to do what he did in the opening scene.

I really wish I could play this game myself. Maybe someday if there's 'replay' value.

Mood::

tired

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Using my TV Show PTW boardgame.

Last time I completed 9/9 of the ones on my list. It took a while. 😅 I'm exhausted and moody right now so idk how this is gonna turn out.

My trakt lists need so much editing geeeze but the site is not behaving right now so it will stay a mess for now. 🙃

Avatar: Thriller (cover two prompts with one show)

Roll #1

A 3, prompt: contemporary. Gonna go with more School Spirits, because...that cliffhanger.

Roll #2

A 5, PTW tile. I gotta be honest, I really really really do not want this tile and my skill doesn't get me past it. For the sake of my mental health I am giving myself a pass. There are some things I wouldn't mind watching on my PTW list but I did not get those no matter how I sorted the list, and I have no desire to just put whatever down on the list when I have no intention of watching it.

So let me try this again by going back and re-rolling. Got an 8, prompt: cover featuring mostly blue. Oh, more She-ra!

Roll #3

A 9, prompt: adapted from a book: season 2 of Good Omens, more like the first season was but it still counts.

Roll #4

An 11! Prompt: weapon on cover. I'll take advantage of my skill for She-ra.

Roll #5

A 9 and the end. Reward: Camp Cretaceous.

Very small list but manageable for me right now. Next time I want some Helluva Boss and Cybersix though.

Where to watch:
She-Ra
Camp Cretaceous

TV Show PTW List:

[Drama/Mystery] School Spirits
[Animation/Fantasy] She-Ra
[Fantasy/Comedy] Good Omens S2
[Animation/Superhero] Camp Cretaceous

Mood::

exhausted

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Posted by Fred Clark

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/10/08/smart-people-saying-smart-things-10-8-25/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=71336

Take time to listen to Olufemi O. Taiwo, Mike Masnick, James Baldwin, Sarah Taber, Jeff Sharlet, and Diana Butler Bass.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/10/08/smart-people-saying-smart-things-10-8-25/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=71336

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Used my Asian drama boardgame.

Completed 6/6 and enjoyed them all last time! I'd prefer to continue some things so hopefully new from this challenge. *crosses fingers*

MyDramaList Lists

Avatar: Daomu Biji
Skill: If you land on a tile you don't like: roll a dice, if even go forward one tile, if odd go back (doesn't work on trap tiles)

Roll #1

A 6, prompt: cover featuring mostly blue: Pending Train.

Roll #2

A 5, prompt: favorite trope/cliche etc. I'm not a huge 'favorites' person so this one is always so hard for me, maybe I should change it to 'mood'. Anyway I picked 'enemies or rivals to lovers' and then realized I have at least 3 of those on my watching list lol. I'm going with HIStory3: Trapped though because I'm in the mood.

Roll #3

A 4, prompt: dystopia/apocalypse. I reaaally didn't want to use my skill yet, was saving it for a PTW tile just in case but I don't want this prompt. So I rolled a 9, Odd and went back a tile. Rolled 9, prompt: delinquents. Weak Hero Class 1 it is. It's been a while, hope I remember things.

Roll #5

An 8, prompt: martial arts. Love Between Fairy and Devil.

Roll #6

A 5, prompt: family. I ended up having to choose something from my PTW list...it's 'Unknown', a BL based on Priest's novel 'Da Ge'.

Roll #7

A 3 and the finish line. Reward: A Tale of Thousand Stars. I ended on a cliffhanger!

Asian Drama PTW List:

[Drama/Sci-Fi] Pending Train
[Mystery/BL Romance] HIStory3: Trapped
[School/Drama] Weak Hero Class 1
[Wuxia/Het] Love Between Fairy and Devil
[Family/BL] Unknown
[Drama/BL] A Tale of Thousand Stars

1 Japanese, 2 Taiwanese, 1 Korean, 1 Chinese, 1 Thai

Mood::

exhausted

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"Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work"

[NovelUpdates Page]

Chapter 1.1: So MC got into a media called 'Dark Exploration Records' enough to buy merch for it, did a roulette at the store and landed on the tiniest sliver on the wheel. I think it must be like Call of Cthulhu, an RPG popular in Japan where people have made their own characters and stories set in it.

But come on, this thing had a 15+ age recommendation slapped on the wiki!’

Why are there so many kids here?

Quote of the century right there! A media will be for adults but you'll see kids in fandom yelling about how adults interact with it.

Chapter 1.2:

And the Field Exploration Team…
‘It’s the department that’s no different to a suicide squad.’
Like the red-shirt crew members in a certain sci-fi drama. They rush in at the slightest excuse to ‘explore paranormal phenomena’ and get chewed up in the process.

Star Trek reference. 😂 Not good foreshadowing!

Chapter 1.3: Okay so he was transported into the world of Dark Exploration Records as a new employee of the Dreamcorp Inc company but the newbies have to pass a test first, which is making it through one of the ghost stories. This one takes place on a subway where you have to get off at the right station to survive.

Apparently Soleum's name is the onomatopoeia for goosebumps? He likes text-based horror but can't handle visual-based like movies or images.

Chapter 2.1: The prize got from the roulette was a tool that allowed him to read the wiki on his phone. He realizes he needs to convince people to get off at the right stop with him because he's too scared to go alone. The man sitting next to him at the Daydream Inc company introduces himself as Baek Saheon.

Chapter 2.2: Baek Saheon is a named character from the story who later becomes Section Chief and does a lot of explorations.

Chapter 2.3: The option comes up for one person to safely disembark.

Chapter 3: I literally said holy shit out loud, Baek Saheon's future nickname Viper comes in to play, he really struck like a snake when he thought the moment was right. I love Soleum holding out the real lost item to the window for Baek Saheon to see. 👌 I wonder if we'll see Saheon again the future...minus one eye.

Chapter 4: ‘Dear fuck almighty. Save me.’ 🤣 I like that Soleum isn't some fearless leader. 7/10 people escaped, not bad! But who'd want to stay employed there after that lmao.

Chapter 5.1: Daaamn they just straight up melted a bunch of people who survived for not contributing more. Only 4 of 7 from Soleum's group left... They have to listen to the 'employee benefits' before they can safely resign. The main benefit is a potion called 'Wish Ticket' which can grant any wish. This is why a lot of people still stay in the company instead of leaving. But I'm sure they don't just get the potion for joining, they probably have to fill some quota...

Chapter 5.2: How does Soleum know he won't just wake up back at home if he quits?? He doesn't even have a home in this world. And why is he seemingly the only human to have been transported to this world, surely there were other participating merch stores where someone won...though I guess the chances were that slim.

Of course I had to stop at a bit of a cliffhanger. I'm enjoying this so far and am curious to see where it will go.

CW: People dying in horrible ways, not too explicit descriptively imo.

Mood::

drained

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Posted by Fred Clark

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/10/07/the-phantom-menace-of-biblical-chronology/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=71441

Bible fandom could learn a lot from Star Wars fandom.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/10/07/the-phantom-menace-of-biblical-chronology/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=71441

There are no comments on this entry. (Reply.)

Watch on YouTube

Holdin' on so tight to this status
It's not real, but I'll try to grab it
Keep myself in beautiful places
Paradise is in my hands🎤
Lady Gaga - 911

Mood::

hungry

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Welcome to Topic Tuesday! Right away I want to stress that discussion posts are always welcome to the community, you don't have to wait until a Topic Tuesday rolls around, and then maybe be disappointed by the current topic of discussion. Whenever you want to talk about something, please simply make a separate entry to this comm, no matter the week, the time, or the topic. All right? *g*

The topic I picked for today is Wuxia. Do you like wuxia dramas (donghua, novels)? Do you watch/read them or are at least interested in watching/reading them? What do you like about them and which are your favourites? What do you dislike about them? Go into detail as much or as little as you like.

As usual, if you want to talk about spoilers, please use one of these codes to hide them.

or

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Posted by Fred Clark

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/10/06/americas-heel-turn-celebrated-with-its-own-loonie/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=71423

MAGA is rendering unto Caesar, and Caesar is zip-tying toddlers and carting them away in vans.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/10/06/americas-heel-turn-celebrated-with-its-own-loonie/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=71423

There are no comments on this entry. (Reply.)

While she was most famous for her 'bonkbusters' she also wrote a satirical book of non-fiction called Class, an examination of the English class system. I found it very useful in my Professionals writing days. Thank you, Jilly.

There are 2 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

A gifting fest for Guardian and related fandoms: guardian-wishlist.dreamwidth.org

The Guardian Wishlist 2025 AO3 collection is live and all Wishlist gifts have been revealed!

There are 62 gifts - fic, art, picspam, podfic, and more - in a range of fandoms! Please take a look around and enjoy!

So many thanks to everyone who's been a part of this fest, whether you signed up or promoted or made gifts! You're the ones who made Guardian Wishlist work, and we're so happy you all joined in! We hope you had a great time. ♥ ♥ ♥

If you're still working on gifts, that's okay! Late treats are welcome!

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( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Mood::

working

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azdak

(no subject)

🌈BL Manga Check-in: "The Sky Over My Spectacles"

Men behaving badly

ICONS and a GRAPHIC: Various Fandoms

My laundry is trying to kill me

(no subject)

🔊 Daily music

Review: Macbeth (Harold Pinter Theatre, previously at the Donmar)

Game Check-in: Buddy Mission BOND

October TV Show PTW

Smart people saying smart things (10.8.25)

October Asian Drama PTW

Webnovel Check-in: Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work ch. 1-5

The phantom menace of biblical chronology

🔊 Daily music

Topic Tuesday - Wuxia

America’s heel turn celebrated with its own Loonie

Jilly Cooper has passed away

Happy Reunion Festival!! Guardian Wishlist Is Live!!

🌈BL Anime Check-in: Ikoku Irokoi Romantan

September