Reading hits and misses

Aside from the two books I finished in the last week, I bounced off another couple (Aegypt by John Crowley and Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay), gave up on a few more that were in my second-to-last book post (Valente, Murphy), and ultimately reread this very long fanfiction novel from my bookmarks which I'm pretty sure I read only once, in 2015, because of the length (other things the road to hell is paved with by callmearcturus and LuciaZephyr, Dresden Files, Dresden/Marcone, E, ~138k). It's funny rereading something when you remember how you reacted to it somewhat but don't remember the story. It didn't seem as long as I remembered it being, or as much of a cliffhanger. The novel is clearly setting up a sequel, which was abandoned and unfinished; but the novel itself does actually have an ending. But mainly I feel a bit let down because I thought I remembered it being this huge monumental undertaking to read it, but it was just a normal book basically. Now it's back to trying to finish Ellen Kushner's Thomas the Rhymer (mixed feelings) and trying to start Michael Shea's Nifft the Lean, and neither are quite doing it.

I did glance at AO3 after we finished watching Our Flag Means Death, but it's always a mixed bag with a cliffhanger ending like this show had. I really want to know how canon is going to resolve the cliffhanger, so the fanfiction sequels don't quite work. And meanwhile, the ship is canon, so while it is left with lots of longing and unresolved romantic tension right now and hence fueling everybody's frenzy of fan activity, there isn't a lot missing. I have found a few Alternate Universe - Modern comedies that got a chuckle, but there's not all that much yet. Of course, it is still early right now, in terms of this new fandom.

Otherwise I continue intermittently poking through my old bookmarks looking for something to reread and finding that none of it quite hits the spot either - or rather some of the stories are nice but none of them make me go "Ah, right, I can obsessively reread everything in THIS fandom right now!" That's what I need, a whole fandom to reread for a while.

Saturday morning's social media bounty

Two About The Atmosphere: Bridges and bombs, aggressors and fights. Or: how to change the atmosphere, and why.| Revue by A.R. Moxon US and global politics, public debate, philosophy, mention of war/violence/death

Language Log » The Musical Origin of the Seven-Day Week This is my favorite thing that I've read this week. So the days of the week are named after the "seven classical planets" because in ancient Mesopotamia's earth-centric cosmology the sun and the moon are also planets (but translated into their Norse equivalents in English) but the order is based on... a philosophy that goes back to ancient Persia/Mesopotamia and is based on the major scale and the circle of fifths?

Sam Greene on Twitter: "So, I'm increasingly seeing stories like this one, together with takes from foreign policy analysts along the lines of "the West lacks a strategy for deterring Russia." (You know who you are.) And it's going to make my head explode. (An annoyed 🧵) https://t.co/sv8A9EPsir" Strategy, war, economics

Daily Dot: 3 Women Accuse Director Cary Fukunaga (Bond No Time to Die) of Manipulation, Abuse via Hello Tailor on Twitter

Gavia Baker-Whitelaw on Twitter: "when amitabh bachchan whipped this one out... [SonyMusicIndiaVEVO on YouTube: Say "Shava Shava" Full Video: Watch both Bollywood Badshahs - Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan shake a leg in this punjabi folk based song from the film 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham', ably supported by Jaya Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee.]"

Watch on YouTube