nentari

Well, I was planning on trying to get this post finished before reveals, but I didn't manage it. So I've now updated it to include the names of the vidders as well.

Sadly, I haven't had time to watch everything from this year's Festivids, but I at least have watched the vids in fandoms that I'm familiar with and am caught up on (as there's a few that I'm behind on that I skipped because of the risk of potential spoilers). Here are some of my favorites from the ones that watched:

( Vids under the cut. )

Current Mood: accomplished

francinefrenski posting in

officialsimsecret

WARNINGS
-> Very long .gif
-> Royalty and monarch bullshit
-> Fart sunroom

001.

( + 18 more )

>NOTICES & REMINDERS:
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There was one unposted secret this week, it is a where can I find rather than a secret.

francinefrenski posting in

officialsimsecret

1) Comments are screened, but please submit secrets anonymously.
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3) WCIF and help requests won't be posted. You can use Google instead.
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Please note: Imgbb.com is frequently breaking images, we no longer recommend using them because the image is often broken by the time Friday comes around.

library_comic_feed

Posted by Gene Ambaum

https://librarycomic.com/book-review-north-continent-ribbon-stories-by-ursula-whitcher/

https://librarycomic.com/?p=14586

North Continent Ribbon: Stories by Ursula Whitcher. Neon Hemlock, 2024. 9781952086847. 172pp.

This book contains short stories that stand together as a novella. It was shortlisted for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction, and my friend Gina recommended it to me during Seattle’s Worldcon back in August.

The stories explore the culture of the planet Nakharat, a slightly futuristic society obsessed with secrets and promises that take the form of ribbons hidden in one’s hair, and that has an AI, which they don’t trust but make extensive use of. It’s worth reading the book without knowing more than that.

The sense of the culture that emerges from the six stories was beguiling, and their characters brought me back over and over. It stands with The Left Hand of Darkness and Ancillary Justice in what it accomplishes in terms of world building, and it’s all the more impressive in that it’s much shorter than either book. Highly recommended.

https://librarycomic.com/book-review-north-continent-ribbon-stories-by-ursula-whitcher/

https://librarycomic.com/?p=14586

settiai

I'm starting to think that I'm never going to get caught up with Critical Role. 🙃

This is why I have to stay up until 2-3am on Thursday nights, no matter how much I need sleep. If I miss an episode, it sets me back for months. Every time. I should know this by now, because it happens every time I skip an episode.

I'm currently three episodes behind, although it will be four episodes by tomorrow because there's no physical way possible for me to catch up before then since three episodes + three Cooldown is about eleven hours. I really need to find the time to catch up. It's just so hard since I can't do anything else while I'm watching, since it's not possible for me to multitask while watching something new-to-me. I have to pay attention and constantly read the subtitles, or I miss what's going on.

It's one thing to set aside four(ish) hours late on a Thrusday night when I'm already tired and don't have the spoons to do much of anything already. It's something else entirely to find four hours to set aside when I have so many other things that I need to get done.

Current Mood: tired

library_comic_feed

Posted by Gene Ambaum

https://librarycomic.com/comic/twelve-hundred-fifty-four/

https://librarycomic.com/?post_type=comic&p=14569

https://librarycomic.com/comic/twelve-hundred-fifty-four/

https://librarycomic.com/?post_type=comic&p=14569

mark posting in

dw_maintenance

Hi all!

I'm doing some minor operational work tonight. It should be transparent, but there's always a chance that something goes wrong. The main thing I'm touching is testing a replacement for Apache2 (our web server software) in one area of the site.

Thank you!

settiai

I've been slowly making my way through some of the new vids from this year's Festivids and, oh, do I miss vidding. A song that I used in a vid myself years ago came up on a Spotify playlist earlier, and I could still pretty much see the entire vid playing in my head as I was listening to it.

Part of me really wants to try to get back into it, but I know that I don't have the spoons for it. Not right now. I'd basically be starting from scratch when it comes to the various programs needed to properly vid, and even if I were to somehow get the spoons together to go to the trouble of getting everything I'd need? I'd still have to find the time for it. I barely have time to write fanfiction sometimes, and I can fit it in at work or on the bus - neither of which would be an option with vidding.

But, oh, that doesn't make me miss it any less.

Current Mood: sad

library_comic_feed

Posted by Gene Ambaum

https://librarycomic.com/graphic-novel-review-angelica-and-the-bear-prince-by-trung-le-nguyen/

https://librarycomic.com/?p=14564

Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen. RH Graphic, 2025. 978059312472. 218pp. Includes sketches and an author’s note. Angelica (aka Jelly or Jellybean) was just accepted as a tech intern at the Log House Theater, and she’s super excited. (She’s also a bit nervous because she’s the kind of person who takes on too much, and she recently burned out.) She saw a play there for the first time when she was seven, and it was about a young girl sent off to live with a white bear by her father. In fact, Per the Bear is kind of the mascot for the theater. And Angelica has been texting whoever runs the Per the Bear fan account for a while. (It turns out he’s the guy who wears the costume at the theater.) When Angelica tells her friend Christine (an actress) about all the texting, it’s clear Angelica has a crush on him. The rest of the book involves their romance, Christine’s relationship, the boy in the bear costume’s backstory, and Angelica and Christine’s mothers and their restaurants. It’s adorable in a way that didn’t annoy me, and I loved Angelica’s parents. This is one of those books that makes me wish my daughter was still young enough to read to. Though my local library classifies this as a young adult book (it has high school-age characters), I wouldn’t hesitate to hand it to a 5th grader. Nguyen’s previous graphic novel, The Magic Fish, was also lovely and sweet; though that felt a bit more personal, this is a beautiful fairy tale.

https://librarycomic.com/graphic-novel-review-angelica-and-the-bear-prince-by-trung-le-nguyen/

https://librarycomic.com/?p=14564

library_comic_feed

Posted by Gene Ambaum

https://librarycomic.com/comic/twelve-hundred-fifty-three/

https://librarycomic.com/?post_type=comic&p=14557

https://librarycomic.com/comic/twelve-hundred-fifty-three/

https://librarycomic.com/?post_type=comic&p=14557

settiai

holly_poly went live earlier today, and my gift this year was a lovely Baldur's Gate 3 F/F/F longfic. 💕

We're Stronger Now. Lae'zel/Shadowheart/(Female Black Dragonborn Eldritch Knight) Tav. 11,343 words. Set in Act 3.

Current Mood: impressed

oglaf_comic_feed

https://www.oglaf.com/bitpart/

settiai

In tonight's game, ( the rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off.

Current Mood: tired

settiai

When it comes to Baldur's Gate 3, I try to have at least three playthroughs going at any given time. Specifically, I try to have one playthrough (or more) that's currently in each of the three acts of the game, so that I can switch to a different one if I need something new. Once my Act 1 playthrough reaches Act 2, I'll start a new one. (Or sometimes I'll start a new one before then. I don't always have just three playthroughs going at once. Three is the minimum number.)

On that note, Taviana is currently in Act 3 while Apophis is currently in Act 2. Which means I also have an Act 1 playthrough going right now as well.

Meet Lilith, my resist Dark Urge.

Minor spoilers for Act 1, but nothing for later ones.

( More under the cut. )

Current Mood: accomplished

library_comic_feed

Posted by Gene Ambaum

https://librarycomic.com/graphic-novel-review-this-place-kills-me-by-mariko-tamaki-and-nicole-goux/

https://librarycomic.com/?p=14550

This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki and Nicole Goux. Abrams Fanfare, 2025. 9781419768460. 270pp.

Abby Kita is something of an outsider at Wilberton Academy, a transfer student who is pissed off. But at the afterparty for the Wilbergin Theatrical Society’s production of Romeo and Juliette, she ends up talking to one of the play’s stars, Elizabeth. When Elizabeth is found dead the next morning, Abby is the last person who spoke to her. Plus she has Elizabeth’s copy of the play (she kind of forgets that, and then keeps it secret) which includes a note from her secret boyfriend. This turns Abby into an amateur detective of sorts, with the Watson to her Holmes being her not-quite-friend of a roommate. The secret of why she left her last school is held over her head by those who want her to leave things alone.

Tamaki’s writing continues to amaze me; I always think she’s at the top of her game, but her books get better and better. Goux’s art, and particularly her use of limited colors in the book, makes the whole thing shine. If you’ve never read Groux’s graphic novel F*ck Off Squad (cocreated with Dave Baker), it’s a thing of beauty.

Worth noting: This takes place in the age of the Sony Walkman, so it may give you a sense of nostalgia, too.

https://librarycomic.com/graphic-novel-review-this-place-kills-me-by-mariko-tamaki-and-nicole-goux/

https://librarycomic.com/?p=14550

settiai

In tonight's game, ( the rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off.

Current Mood: accomplished

settiai

ACNH had a free update two weeks ago that added some new features to the game, and I've got to admit that I'm quite enjoying them. Considering it's an almost six-year-old game, I'm still a little surprised that they released such a big update after all this time, but I'm very much not complaining.

They've added a hotel which means you can have more visitors to your island every day, and they're all wandering around instead of staying in one spot like visitors who are at the campsite do. The only thing that I'm disappointed about is that there doesn't appear to be any way to get hotel visitors to move to your island like with campsite visitors, which made me very sad when Raymond showed up a few days ago. That said, I've discovered that former residents of your island remember you and talk about coming back to their old home for a visit, which is amazing. I'd forgotten that a few of them even used to live on my island until I saw them again.

I've currently put over 1000 hours into this game, which I quite honestly find hilarious. The four Dragon Age games beat that, as I've put around 1500 hours into them, but the four Mass Effect games are only around 980 hours and Baldur's Gate 3 is only around 820 hours. So far, at least. The way I'm going, it may be in the 900s at least before my birthday next month.

Considering this was my very first Animal Crossing game, I really can't believe that it's second only to Dragon Age when it comes to my hours played. I only bought it because one of the players in my Friday night D&D game made an impassioned argument to convince us all to get it so that we could play together during the early days of the pandemic. Yet here I am, almost six years later, still playing it regularly.

Current Mood: amused

francinefrenski posting in

officialsimsecret

WARNINGS
-> Sim NSFW
-> TS2 Premades
-> New expansion

001.

francinefrenski posting in

officialsimsecret

library_comic_feed

Posted by Gene Ambaum

https://librarycomic.com/comic/twelve-hundred-fifty-two/

https://librarycomic.com/?post_type=comic&p=14544

https://librarycomic.com/comic/twelve-hundred-fifty-two/

https://librarycomic.com/?post_type=comic&p=14544

settiai

It took forever for me to find the time to properly start catching up since I didn't watch the last episode of 2025 live (save for the cold open which I watched for Yuletide-related purposes), mostly because I knew it was going to be pretty much entirely combat which tends to be something I'm not very big on. I really needed to watch it so that I can then catch up on the two most recent episodes, though, so here we are.

As with previous posts about the current campaign of Critical Role, this will be a combination of quotes, random thoughts, and some speculation. And it's obviously full of spoilers (albeit vague ones in places).

( Spoilers under the cut. )

Current Mood: accomplished

settiai

Ah. It's officially one month until my birthday, and I've gotten the first "here's a birthday coupon so spend money with us!" from a company whose emails I'm subscribed to. Let the inundation begin.

This one is at least useful, I'll give them that much. It's for Adagio, and I drink enough tea that I can definitely put a coupon to use.

Current Mood: amused

library_comic_feed

Posted by Gene Ambaum

https://librarycomic.com/two-more-graphic-novels-by-james-albon/

https://librarycomic.com/?p=14537

The Delicacy by James Albon. Top Shelf, 2021. 9781603094924. 320pp. Two brothers get a surprise inheritance and move away from their small island town (and their mother). One (Tulip) opens a restaurant in the outskirts of London; the other (Rowan) grows veggies at the property they inherited. Tulip becomes more and more obsessed with success and fame; Rowan feels a bit abandoned and unappreciated. At the center of their restaurant’s menu is an unusual, tasty mushroom that they find on a small plot on their land. It’s soon in every dish the restaurant serves. The secret to cultivating it is a doozy, and leads to all kinds of conflict between the brothers. There’s a remarkable page that conveys the taste of this mushroom, the first time Tulip tastes one, that wowed me. But it’s Albon’s composition and his perfect, unpredictable use of color that pulled me through the book.

Love Languages by James Albon. Top Shelf, 2025. 9781603095570. 176pp. This story of friendship, language, and eventually love is Albon’s best graphic novel yet. It’s about two foreigners who meet in Paris: Sarah, who’s got an office job managing a bunch of jerks, and Ping, an au pair with her own work frustrations. They mix French, English, and Cantonese to get to know each other after a few chance meetings. The brilliance of the book is not only the writing, which is wonderful; it’s the way Albon conveys the way the two dip in and out of languages and combine them. It’s something I’ve never seen done before, and it’s even more amazing after they get to know each other better. (Albon also does a great job expressing Sarah’s language fatigue and confusion at other points in the book.)

https://librarycomic.com/two-more-graphic-novels-by-james-albon/

https://librarycomic.com/?p=14537

settiai

First of all, relax! I'm far from being picky, and I can pretty much guarantee that I'll love whatever you decide to create for me. These are nothing but guidelines, for you to take to heart or ignore to your heart's content. Also, hey! You're writing me fic or drawing me art! That's automatically a good reason for me to love you, no matter what. So, please, keep that in mind. Trust me, you can pretty much do no wrong. ♥

Treats are always welcome but never expected.

( More details under the cut. )