#kate sandford

[ascalonianlightbringer]

It's been a long time since I first fell in love with pre-Searing Ascalon in Guild Wars: Prophecies. But I'm still nostalgic enough that I periodically visit Ebonhawke just to go home to human Ascalon, and I loved this view of it :)

[sorrel-scribbles]

Thanks for tagging me! I am in fact a reader, though I can't promise I have any good recommendations for you since I didn't read anything amazing this year.

1. How many books did you read this year?

Only 30, unfortunately, school sucks.

2. Did you reread anything? What?

The entire Protector of the Small quartet, which I reread at least once a year because Kel is far too much a part of my personality.

3. What were your top five books of the year?

That's so hard because I didn't read a lot of really really good things this year, but if I had to rank them it would be 1) The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray 2) Jane Steele by Lindsay Faye 3) The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix 4) The Black Hand by Stephen Tally and 5) All Fall Down by Ally Carter (pretending it is a standalone)

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

Not exactly what the question is asking, but I read a lot of John Sandford. I don't particularly enjoy his work, but Lucas Davenport was the right flavor of mindless detective fiction for the month and a half when I was bouncing between ways to be sick. The character is misogynistic and kind of racist and I'm pretty sure Sanford has a thing for guns but the actual killers are interesting enough that it passes the time and there are some fun historical references.

5. What genre did you read the most of?

Historical Fiction. I am weak for books with 1940s women on the cover, what can I say.

6. Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?

So many things. My TBR is 300+ books. The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn, the rest of the Skyward Series by Brandon Sanderson (I have only read the first two books), and Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley are what I would name if I had to pick though.

7. What was your average Goodreads rating? Does it seem accurate?

N/A

8. Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones?

I met my 23 books in 2023 goal, which is a thing my local bookstore runs (I get a prize), and I didn't set any other goals for this year, because I don't really find it to be helpful.

9. Did you get into any new genres?

Nope.

10. What was your favorite new release of the year?

The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix (which was actually released in 2022, but shhh it was the end of the year). It ripped my heart out.

11. What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?

War and Peace. I haven't finished it yet, but I started it this year, and it's lovely. It's so immersive, culturally and historically, the prose is beautiful, and I don't mind the plotless bits.

12. Any books that disappointed you?

Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini. I've heard good things about her work, and I really liked the premise, but I just had a hard time getting into it. There were weird little anachronisms, and the way the characters talked about the persecution of women under the Nazis was off in a way I can't put my finger on.

13. What were your least favorite books of the year

I hated The Secrets of Latimer House by Jules Wake. It was extremely badly written. I also subjected myself to Twilight to win a bet. Bella is useless, Edward is abusive, and Stephanie Meyer is racist, but the prose is actually decent.

14. What books do you want to finish before the year is over?

Doing this on New Years, so my time is up lol.

15. Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them?

Honestly, I have no idea. I would have to look them all up and check.

16. What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?

The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. I haven't actually finished it yet (50 pages in) , but I know it got really big on booktok, and so far I am finding it to be just ok. I wouldn't have read it at all except that it was free.

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

No. I have a pretty good eye for my own tastes, and if I'm wrong, the book is usually worse than I thought it would be.

18. How many books did you buy?

I think 20, but I'm not 100% sure. A bunch were second hand though, so I didn't spend thousands of dollars.

19. Did you use your library?

Yes, of course.

20. What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

The only stuff I was looking forward to this year, I haven't read yet, so I can't weigh in.

21. Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama?

I watched a couple of withcindy videos about book drama. I don't follow it at all, but if anything has a long enough timestamp, I will eventually click on it.

22. What’s the longest book you read?

The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray. It was 574 pages.

23. What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book?

I read Siddhartha in like three hours.

24. Did you DNF anything? Why?

I DNFed four books: Secrets of Latimer House by Jules Wake, Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini, Take the Key and Lock Her Up by Ally Carter, and Doc by Mary Doria Russel. Latimer House was just trash fiction, Resistance Women didn't feel in-period, Take the Key and Lock Her Up had a series of increasingly corny moments and a secret princess reveal that made me decide I was done with the series, and I disagreed with Russel's portrayal of Wyatt Earp so much that I quit reading it.

What reading goals do you have for next year?

Read at least 24 books, read one book a week this summer, and get caught up on my favorite series. I also need to find a better way to balance my light and heavy reads this year, because I read a lot of heavy stuff in 2022 that resulted in a lot of what I read this year being kinda trashy.

end-of-year book ask

How many books did you read this year?

Did you reread anything? What?

What were your top five books of the year?

Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

What genre did you read the most of?

Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?

What was your average Goodreads rating? Does it seem accurate?

Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones?

Did you get into any new genres?

What was your favorite new release of the year?

What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?

Any books that disappointed you?

What were your least favorite books of the year?

What books do you want to finish before the year is over?

Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them?

What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?

Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

How many books did you buy?

Did you use your library?

What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama?

What’s the longest book you read?

What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book?

Did you DNF anything? Why?

What reading goals do you have for next year?

[osarothomprince]

Coronation Street spoilers: Terrified Amy flees after horrible new experience with Aaron

Amy is horrified to run into Aaron (Picture: ITV)Amy Barlow (Elle Mulvaney) has been struggling to cope following her horrifying rape ordeal at the hands of Aaron Sandford (James Craven) in Coronation Street. After revealing what had happened to her parents, Tracy and Steve (Kate Ford and Simon Gregson), Amy was encouraged to g to…Coronation Street spoilers: Terrified Amy flees after horrible new…

[anghraine]

Addendum: the only member of the street origin human character’s old gang who is not either insufferably obnoxious or very stupid is Riot Alice, who is an anti-government conspiracy theorist/revolutionary. Quinn is just kind of silly but Alice is like “I don’t think our leader actually cares about the class struggle :( maybe I will leave the gang”

(And she has a tragic backstory! <3)

[taylors-simblr]

Kate’s little GP’s office is getting popular with the residents, especially now that it’s Summer. She’s had to hire some staff in order to free up her time, now she can focus on the actual diagnosis and prescribing part of the business (the free part).

 Ella Mayfair has been hired as cashier, she’s a little shy and she insists on keeping her hair over her face like that, but she’s a hard worker and she’ll come out of her shell soon enough. 

Monique Belanger is helping out with the pharmacology side of the business, she’s recently moved into town, but Kate’s noticed her around in the past. One of the frequent tourists to Silverton Lake that must have fallen in love with the quiet little town over the years.

*I like to think that Valencina heard about Siobhan talking about grandkids and is stocking up on birth control.

[clemsfilmdiary]

The Stranger Within (1990, Tom Holland)

5/19/22

[thedarkoutside]

The 2021 list

Everything in quotes “” have no artist details or no info could be found when going through the emails. these are probably part of an archive .zip / .rar  

If you identify these titles as yours, let me know.  If there are typos ( more than likely)  again, let me know. 

[  some names seem to have been removed by the far too efficient text file alphabetical sorting thingy.  ] "2021 07 28" "2021 May 19" "abandoned4" "brief theme for ending things" "buddhaone" "build 3" "delprado hotel" "dissolved metal salts that coat your lips with a bitter film" "Dorv 2" "dying" "Encounter TK1" "enddub.blk" "Evangelica Church Group Birmingham" "experiments 5" "first breath comma second breath" "Foghorns Rough" "Frequency Scanning" "Gurenda" "hello 2&3" "indulgent overtones" "intro" "jen edit" "lonely waits" "lotafun 21" "nextex it" "no, I think someone is recording us" "omniglot" "premix rough" "prince earl" "Ratchets 7" "render navina" "see the sun" "skipping new" "soundscape" "soundtrack" "TDO5" "Theme from Public Transport" "TMC-06" "track 01" "turbu" "unmastered" "wavestation" "zoom016" 1 of 100 1976 8 Track Dogma A Farewell to Hexes Accursed Volts Ada Stockwell & Lippy Kid Adi Carter Adjectivals Afrotull Aldo Rox AM Web Amongst the Pigeons Andrea Careddu Andrew Ramsey Andy Blip Andy McDade Another Dead Weirdo Antoni Maiovvi AOTCI Apalusa Apta Arvik Torrensen Assassin of Sound Audio Obscura Aula Deft University of Technology Autoflag Autumna Ave Grave Awful Collider baze.djunkiii Bazrah Ben Tye Bernard Grancher Betamax Warriors Bipolar Explorer Bit Cloudy Blaiddwyn Bless This Machine Blood Everywhere BMH Boodlam British Detail Calico Jack Capricornio Cevan Charlie & Lol1 Chelidon Frame CLAIR Claro Correcto Co-Pilot Course Correct Cowboy Flying Saucer Cuts D. McCann D. Taylor Daft Danny Carnage Darren Hannant Datassette David McNicol Desert Petunia dESUS DFF Sound System Ditchburn Band Distant Animals Dog in the Snow [dOOM] dESUS Drew Five Dundass Dusty Ohms Earthborn Visions Earthshine Eat the Sun Ed Spess Eduards Ozoliņš Egone El Ghou Electric Talk Electroaurora Elizabeth Joan Kelly Elli Shnoo Em Downing Eoin MacIonmhain Espetacara EV Everon Goen Exit Chamber Famished for Blonds Fantasy Sequence Finlay Shakespeare Flexagon Forces of Good Four Italian Pep Pills Fragile X From the Benthic Zone Garden of Surreal Dreams Gasmantell Gemma Cullingford Georgia Gone Caving Grant Basma Horsnell Grant Forrester Gusset Half Hazard Radio Heavy Cloud Hengist Pod Hi-Tech Criminal Hirsig Hole in the Machine Holmes & Atten Ash Holychao Hornbeam Human Concept Hymettus Woods Idiogram JD Twitch Jack Blake Jackaman James Graham James Oldrini James Sandford Jamie Cameron Jane Pitt Juxtagon Jeff Styroid Jim Jarmo Joe Ahmed Joe Muggs Joel Shea John Rushton Jonathan Higgins Junklight Junkyard of Silenced Poets K. Karl D'Silva Kate Arnold Kim Moore Kinver Pond Kitty Turner KKP 1489 Komputer L/F/D/M Lament_Config Lathave Park Lefthave Plank Leiyun Leptonandon Levi Fuller Liam Kendal Limited Ability Lomond Campbell Louzy Luke Hansbury Mabel Gwen vs Rusty Sheriff Malady of Knots Mark Healy Mark Wilkins Masios Matt Nix Matthew McCourt Matthew Thomason Meadow Pixie Mechanical Lobster Megalophobe Melony Klein Miriam Ingram Meridian Michael Begg Michael Denny Mike Smalle Mike Tupling Milk and Cheese Millz Davis Mitsubishi Cunliffe Mode 7 Project Modulator ESP Moray Newlands Mr Kong 95 Mr Kristoffa Museleon Mute Frequencies Myrrhman Nad Spiro Nat Lyon Naylee Negative Response Neve Nicolas Corniglion Nonalogue Old Man Oliver Lacon OOO EEE OOO Openchannel Outside Other Owen Sound P6 Palmer Eldritch Panamint Manse Passenger Pieon P. G. Warren pHactory Portobello Drone Choir Posthuman Pracownik Prequel Tapes Prince Video Production Unit Pye Corner Audio Rave Sir Robin Re:Search Remote-Control_Rectum Repeared Viewing Richard Sandling RJ Ellmer Robert Griffiths Roberta Fidora Robyn Gibson Rockets in the Trees Roland Oakes Ruaridh Law Sadie Maskery Saguenay Salford Electronics Salvatore Mercatante Samantha Fox Sansuro 77 Scanner Scott Smigiel Scumbag Radio Seapup Secret Nuclear Security Semispecific Ensemble Schestokken Shiranai Hito Sheer Zed Signal Signal Jammer Silas Andersen Simon Fisher Turner Simon Heartfield meets Megaheadphoneboy Sizike Skeleton Worm Slateford Mods featuring MC Dead Kennarty Slow Down Missy Snooks Solo1 Soundhead Spacelab Spiral Dial St James Infirmary Stephen Boyle Steve Emerson Stock Photography Strangest Pet on Earth Stuart Cook Subversive Recluse Swardh Tambay Teishi-1 Time Destroys All Things The Bookshop The Cairnsmore Conspiracy The Domestiques The Family Germ The Last Ambient Hero The Leaf Library The Nameless Book Thee Adversary Thelonius Martin Todd Snow Tom gunn Nash Toxic octopus UBO Unseen Hands Veryan Vitruvian Skies Von Heuser Walthamstow Home Keyboard Laboratory Warrior Bob Waves of Nightinglaes William Wild Wizards Tell Lies Writers Bloc Xelis De Toro Yol Yvette Haynes

[youngfcs]

Cib, tu conhece alguma face claim feminina que tenha entre 30-45 anos, cabelo curtinho escuro e que exala empoderamento, do tipo que se impõe e coisas do tipo...? Se tu puder me dar algumas sugestões com nacionalidades variadas eu ia adorar.

Olá! Hmmm, eu vou ver se consigo encontrar alguma fc assim! É complicado basear a personalidade apenas pela aparência, mas vou dar algumas opções com essas características físicas!

Adelaide Kane (um pouquinho mais nova, mas com quase 30, esteve uma época com o cabelo curtinho divino)

Alia Shawkat

Anne Hathaway (teve cabelo curto por um bom tempo)

Camila Pitanga

Carey Mulligan (ela é loira, mas tem alguns tempos que ela tem cabelo escuro)

Charlotte Riley

Clotilde Hesme

Felicity Jones

Frankie Sandford

Gemma Arterton

Jacqueline Toboni (um pouquinho mais nova, mas acho que funciona)

Jaimie Alexander

Kate Beckinsale (em Anjos da Noite hihihihi)

Kerry Washington

Lauren Cohan

Nathalie Emmanuel

(cib)

[steampoweredshow]

Kate Kirwin is a passionate advocate for women in STEM and the innovation ecosystem. Founder of She Codes, she has led the steep growth of the project since 2015. Thanks to her work, more than 6000 women have learnt to code. She has hustled to source more than a million dollars from government and industry to support women in STEM. With a regional upbringing, she strongly believes in empowering women from the world’s remotest regions, from as far north as Port Hedland and Karratha, and east as far as Brisbane. Kate has also contributed to the growth of Spacecubed, and since 2014 has played a pivotal role in building community and coordinating other programs including Plus Eight, and Startup Weekend. Kate was recently awarded a Business News 40 under 40 award, the West Australian Rising Star award and was a runner up for the 2019 and 2020 Seven News Young Achiever Awards.

In our conversation, we talk about Kate's journey to STEMM, She Codes, and building community in tech.

Watch this episode on YouTube. Listen to it on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Castbox, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, or RSS.

Show Notes

[00:00:57] Kate's motivations and career path. [00:01:38] The push to study law. [00:02:06] Taking a gap year to work. [00:02:25] Choosing not to pursue university. You're a part of something at work. [00:03:03] The move to event management. [00:03:33] Landing at Spacecubed and getting a taste for tech and STEM. [00:04:56] Feeding Kate's curiosity for this aspect of creativity. [00:06:00] Kate's motivations for founding the She Codes community. [00:06:19] Kate's early experiences with the dev community. [00:08:23] External interest in women-centred dev community events. [00:10:12] About She Codes initiatives and programs. [00:12:07] Bridging the gaps between education, community, and industry. [00:13:53] The importance of providing other avenues outside of traditional work and education structures. [00:15:26] The broad demographic getting involved in tech through She Codes. [00:18:45] The misconceptions about who is welcome and capable in this space. [00:19:53] The stereotypes of devs in the public. [00:21:23] There's been progress in media and entertainment portrayals, but not enough. [00:25:36] Coding is not hard. YMMV. [00:26:51] Quote: If you can express yourself, you can code. [00:27:00] Words of wisdom from Hayley Stewart and Michelle Sandford. [00:29:37] She Codes 6-month industry prep programs. [00:35:00] The importance of networking in a non-mercenary way. [00:38:40] Managing the program and community over COVID. [00:44:45] Cultivating workplace connections while working remotely. [00:50:20] Bonus Question 1: What hobby or interest do you have that is most unrelated to your field of work? [00:53:53] Bonus Question 2: Which childhood book holds the strongest memories for you? [00:57:56] Bonus Question 3: What advice you would give someone who wants to do what you do? Or what advice should they ignore? [01:00:17] Feedback is a data-point. [01:07:17] Find out more about Kate and She Codes.

Learn More About Kate

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-kirwin/ Website: https://shecodes.com.au/ Twitter: @shecodesaus Instagram: @shecodesaus Facebook: @shecodesaustralia

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[ascalonianlightbringer]

brotherskywalker replied to this post:

My character not acting the way the script for the game plays out is definitely something I struggle with in the game. I’m fine with it for some characters, but I have some where I don’t even read the dialog because it’s so different than how I think my character would act.

Yup, same—obviously, but the character in my head can be really different from what we're kind of forced to be in the script. Sometimes the script is fine for certain characters, for sure. And I appreciate that GW2 railroads less than GW1. But it can still be very railroad-y at points, and hard to reconcile what's happening with even other onscreen behavior/personality traits/background (for me, the human PC seems so much more hardcore in the street rat background than most of the other personal story arcs that it can be really jarring).

And that's not even getting to the limitations when it comes to imagining backstories beyond what the game provides. I've got a human thief and a charr revenant who in my headcanon are both complicit in war crimes (the thief was a Separatist). But they realized, with increasing horror, that their respective organizations were committing atrocities, and both left to regain their senses of honor by joining the fight against the dragons. Neither of these characters can be reconciled with the personal story script, and I just sort of ignore it for them.

I'm really feeling it now, because there are vanishingly few personality/background-specific options in the Order arcs, even the ones restricted to certain starting species. Like, there's a point where Tybalt sort of sympathizes with murderous centaurs over hating humans, and there's no human-specific response, when you really think there would be. I'm sitting there thinking—centaurs sold my character's sister into slavery in a 100% canon plot, and I have nothing to say to this?! So yeah, I definitely feel you.

[jeremystrele]

Coco Flip Celebrates 10 Years In The Biz With A New Showroom!

Coco Flip Celebrates 10 Years In The Biz With A New Showroom!

Studio Visit

Sasha Gattermayr

Coco Flip’s sun-drenched new showroom in Northcote is filled with Puku ottomans and the Sequence table collections. Photo – Kristoffer Paulsen.

Coco Flip’s new showroom in Northcote. Photo – Kristoffer Paulsen.

Haslett Grounds and Kate Stokes, the husband and wife team behind Coco Flip. Photo – Kristoffer Paulsen.

Photo – Kristoffer Paulsen.

Coco Flip’s showroom in Northcote. Photo – Kristoffer Paulsen.

Local manufacturing of the Coco Flip pendant – the lamp that started it all! Photo – Fran Parker.

Turned timber components for the Coco Flip pendant. Photo – Fran Parker.Photo – Fran Parker.

Making the Puku ottoman. Photo – Fran Parker.

Photo – Fran Parker.

Locally made lampshades for Coco Flip’s stunning ‘Mayu’ lighting range. Photo – Fran Parker.

Photo – Fran Parker.

Lampshades for Coco Flip’s ‘Mayu’ lighting range. Photo – Fran Parker.

When an emerging creative bursts onto the scene with a WOW factor product that the market just can’t seem to get enough of… sometimes a hint of worry about what they’ll do next can creep into the publicity. Will the following project ever be as good as that first winning design?

For Kate Stokes of Coco Flip, there was no need to worry. Since the incredible success of her award-winning Coco Pendant light ten years ago (a design that launched her into the commercial design scene both locally and internationally), the only way for Kate to go was up. Coco Flip is now a fully fledged design company offering a range of tables, benches and ottomans alongside its extensive lighting collections. And Kate just goes from strength to strength after each product launch and collaboration!

Unwavering success aside, Kate has held strong to local manufacturing and independent ownership as firm pillars of her business. Alongside her growing family, she has nurtured Coco Flip to the forefront of Australian design. We’ve keenly watched the steady rise of her career (and we’ve also featured not one but TWO of her homes over the years!).

We recently caught up with Kate to chat about her decade in the Australian design biz, and sneak a peek inside Coco Flip’s stunning new Northcote headquarters. You’re welcome!

Hey Kate! Congratulations are in order, 10 years is such a big milestone for Coco Flip! How different is the business now to when it began ten years ago?

Thank you! It really does feel like a huge milestone – over a quarter of my life! We’ve grown really organically over the years so it’s nice to stop and reflect on how far we’ve come. Things certainly look quite different to what they did ten years ago, but our ethos and intent are still same. We’re still proud to be a small family-run business working with talented local manufacturers to create lasting products.

When I started Coco Flip at 27 I had very little idea what it would become or where I would take it. I vividly remember my first visit to our timber turner Charlie Sandford in Preston – I rode my bike and had some rolled up drawings of our Coco Pendant to talk through. Charlie was so encouraging and helpful despite my naivety. Launching our first product felt like a daunting task, as there were so many unknowns – it was a steep learning curve. We now have a much firmer grasp on the industry, the local manufacturing scene and business in general, so the ship runs quite smoothly these days.

We’re still a tiny team of three at Coco Flip HQ and we’re proud to work with an incredible selection of quality retail partners in Australia and beyond. We also now have our own little showroom to display our full collection, which really helps to tell our story.

Tell us a bit about the new showroom you’ve opened in Northcote.

After a long stint based in a shared warehouse in Collingwood, we were given a bit of a nudge late last year as the lease was ending. We’d often dreamed of setting up more of a showroom to display our collections, a space we could welcome people to share our story and hold events.

Serendipitously, our friends at Plyroom were looking to share their beautiful space with a likeminded business, so we jumped at the opportunity. Our brand values align and our products sit together really naturally. The showroom is a sun-filled warehouse on Heidelberg Road in Northcote. The ground level is our warehouse where we package and store products and upstairs is the showroom and office space.

Do you have anything planned this year to celebrate the 10 year anniversary?

We had planned to have a big ten year anniversary celebration in our showroom but alas, 2020 had other ideas.

This year we’ve worked with Jac& on a re-brand to freshen everything up and reassess where we’re headed. That has been a huge joy and has felt like a little gift to ourselves for making it this far.

We have a few projects in the works and other exciting things planned. We’ll be launching some new products such as a pendant light for Australian brand NAU, an anniversary limited edition Coco Pendant to celebrate 10 years, and some more secret projects.

You’re one of our judges in Lighting Design category of this year’s Design Awards. From what you’ve seen of the entries, how has lighting design in Australia changed in the decade since you entered the profession?

It’s such an honour to be one of judges and the quality of the short-listed entries is mind-blowing! It feels like Australia has come an incredibly long way in our lighting game over the ten years I’ve been involved.

Lighting has the unique role of being sculptural and functional – it can really make or break a project, so it’s so important to consider every detail and not only the way it looks off and on, but also the way it makes a space feel and how it performs it’s task.

We are lucky to have an amazingly nurturing and connected design community in Australia and the bar keeps getting lifted in terms of design detail and sophistication. There’s a healthy level of camaraderie, and our local Architects and Interior Designers are really supportive of Australian design, which is so important.

Coco Flip 161A Heidelberg rd Northcote

Due to the health crisis, the Coco Flip showroom is currently open by appointment, Monday to Friday. Appointments can be booked through the contact page on their website. They can also arrange virtual appointments over Zoom!

[anghraine]

Speaking of non-canonical headcanons and also GW2, here are some (technically) one-sentence non-canonical headcanon backstories for my human PCs:

Lady Althea Fairchild is a proud Ascalonian aristocrat born in Ebonhawke, then brought to Divinity's Reach and raised there for her and her older sister's safety—but Althea chose to give up her safe and frivolous existence after her sister found purpose among the Seraph only to be lost in battle.

Warmaster Xiulan Azar is a descendant of Canthan and Orrian immigrants who have scraped by in the Salma District for many years; she rarely speaks of her Orrian family history and few know about it, but it has impacted her sense of identity and legacy as powerfully as her Canthan side, and fuels the ferocity of her opposition to Zhaitan.

Agent Kate Sandford is no less Ascalonian in heritage or identity than Althea, but grew up in abject poverty and ended up in a bandit gang before becoming disaffected and joining the Separatists as a thief, scout, and sometime cook, returning home in frustration a few years later in search of a more effective way to help her people.

Lightbringer Gwen is, like Kate, a former bandit with a strong sense of her Ascalonian origins, though her hard-edged good sense prevented her from getting carried away to the same extent, all the more after the disappearance of her estranged Seraph sister led her to extricate herself and turn hero—but she remains tough and resolute, determined to do whatever has to be done.

Magister Isabel Batista is the orphaned daughter of Ebon Vanguard soldiers and was more or less taken in by her friend Petra's family, and happy to use her flair for necromancy to protect their tavern and homes while dreaming of acceptance into the Queensdale Academy—a dream she achieved, and then surpassed by joining the Durmand Priory's fight against her natural enemy, Zhaitan.

[taylors-simblr]

Darren: hhheelllp mmmmeee

Kate: *Gets out the hairdryer* You’re lucky I still have this old thing.

Darren: Aaa hhhhaairdddddryerr? th th that’s your cccure fffooorr fr.fr.frostbbbite?

Kate: Well it worked didn’t it? And who’s the doctor in the house anyway? Now go have some soup, and get in bed

[authorstalker]

My April & May Reads

Mischling, Affinity Konar - Is that not one of the coolest ever author names? Affinity Konar! This was a book club pick, and one of the best things about book club is being forced to read something I’d otherwise avoid. For example: I wouldn’t have chosen to read a novel about twins being experimented on in the Holocaust, but I’m glad I did. I learned a lot, I was deeply disturbed, and the writing is really, really lovely. Plot-wise, it somewhat lost my interest by the end, but everyone in book club thought it was great.

Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding - An embarrassing admission: this was my first time reading Bridget Jones! I loved it and I laughed a lot. The weight stuff is insane but this was written in the ‘90s, ya know? Ignore that nonsense and you have a practically perfect romantic comedy.

The Debut, Anita Brookner - The first line of this A+ little book: “Dr. Weiss, at forty, knew that her life had been ruined by literature.” Need I say more? It is ridiculous that I hadn’t heard of Anita Brookner until now (thanks, Kate) because her subject matter is everything I love: sad girls/women, bookish girls/women, sad/bookish girls/women strolling solo along city streets, observing strangers’ happiness. Ugh, I’m obsessed with her. Start with The Debut; it’s depressing and hilarious all at once.

Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - I thought this was going to be Serious and Important, but it’s actually a page-turner romance story with a lot of commentary on racism in America. A++++ (except for the last page, which I hated! But the rest of it is completely wonderful.)

Golden Prey, John Sandford - Y’all know I love me some John Sandford, particularly his Prey series. This is the 27th Prey book and I think it’s one of the best. How does he do it?! This time around, the focus is on cyber security and how everything can be or is already being tracked. Technology is cool, technology is terrifying, etc. 

[gabicoatsworth]

Westport Writers' Rendezvous: May update

Westport Writers’ Rendezvous: May update

Jane Green presenting the award to Alison McBain for the anthology When to Now. PC Keeler was one of the contributors.

Ten of us gathered for the Westport Writers’ Rendezvous on Wednesday, and applause was in the air, because that evening we celebrated the Ct Press Club Awards with a smashing party at the Delamar Hotel in Southport, CT. Novelist Jane Green, presented the awards, and kept the…

[thedarkoutside]

THE DA-DARK INSIDE NOT OUTSIDE AND ONLINE (or something)

in true last minute fashion, the postponed Da-Dark Outside meant for last weekend (28th March) is now going ahead online via furtherin.live  on Saturday 4th April from 12 noon UK time and finishing whenever it runs out of things to play that have been sent in.   Here is the list of everyone who sent in something ( not including the ones I don’t have artist names for yet )  If your name is missing, let me know I might have missed that in the folders.  In alphabetical order ( not order of play )  There will not be a tracklist, no listen again function, no archive.  It’s playing once only.  

1 of 100 A Farewell to Hexes Accursed Volts Adrian Carter Aet Airspace aLTERkRANKERmANN Andrew Lagowski Apta Art_no Assassin of Sound Atomluft Audio Obscura Ave Grave Avebury Sounds Bastard Flower Beatman Bev Craddock Bipolar Explorer Bit Cloudy Bleep Eater Blood Everywhere Bloody Mountain BMH Bobby Horseshoe Boodlam Boy Called Crow Braintape Bridget Hayden and Conny Prantera Cahn Ingold Prelog Cath Holland Catrin Perry Choke Chris Carter Cliver Clutchdaisy Coffin Warehouse Colony Recording Club Concretism Corporal Tofulung Correlations Cosey Fanni Tutti Cowboy Flying Saucer Cowp Cromlech Shadow CTE Curxes DAAM Daniel Crompton Danny McCann Dave Salsbury  / Dr Jolly Dea Karina Dead Sea Apes Deathwatch Headband Debord DFF Sound System Douglas Deep Edith A Graves Eduards Ozoliņš Elf and Stacy Elizabeth Joan Kelly Eric Schaming Famished for Blonds Fantasy Sequence Four Italian Pep Pills  Four Minute Warning Flexagon Forever Friday Night Weird Dreams Fushimi Inari 5 Futile Axe Garden of Surreal Dreams Gareth Blazey Gary Finnegan Gavin Inglis Giants of Discovery Gingerbread Master Ginnel Grey Frequency Gusset Hairs Abyss Half Headstart Heidi Holstad Hermann Holsgr Hinder Corp Hotgem HPL HyMettus Woods I Start Counting Ian Heustice Ian Taylor Ihcilon IK Joyce In the Long Summer Interstitia Ivy Nostrum Jack Jackdaw Jah Wobble Vs Megaheadphoneboy James Sandford James Weaver James Yuill Jane Pitt Janet Philo Jarvis Probes JD Twitch Jean-Paul Bondy Jeremy Tuck Jim Jarmo Jim King Jimmy Kipple Sound John Chambers John Kerridge John Scanlan John316 Jonathan Willoughby Juju Junklight Juxtagon Kat Five Kate Arnold Kenny Inglis Kevin Maynard KR Hide L'Incal Noir Lament Configuration Lark Lee Rosevere Leiyun Lepton Lespectre Liberty X Lippy Kid & Metis Luisa Stucchi Luke Jordan Luki Defacto M*A*R*Y M-Orchestra Macerator Manfred Hamil Mark Goodwin Matthew McCourt Max Worgan Megalophobe Melony Klien Metrix Michael Barnes-Wynters Mike Smalle Mike Tupling Moray Newlands Mothership Museleon My Pleasure Nad Spiro Nalepa & Tony Bevilacqua Nat Lyon Nathan David Smith Naturist Space Jazz Society Neil Garvey New Gold Dream Nigel Ayers Night Monitor Nitemirror / Strident Weasel Nonalogue Nunn O))) o_S_k_m Ogham Oma Outside Other Owen Sound Palm Tree Tetsuya Panamint Manse Particledots Paul Hood Payton Black Pete Warren Pinochio Possible Area Presidiomodelo Pulselovers Quadraphonic Stylus Ensemble Qualchan Quarriers R Tenevall Raen Arthur Random Dander Rangga Purnama Aji readyStateFail Redwood Drift Revbjelde Ria Bagley Richard Smith Richard Turner Robert Ellmer Robert Shaw Roberta Fidora Robin Davies Rogue Sector Rupert Lally Rusty Sheriff Rysiek/Rysiunio SABW Sacred Oak Salford Electronics Sarah Sharp Sascha Müller & Abstracto Concreto' Scanner Scumbag Radio Secret Nuclear  Security Shaun Malone Sheer Zed Si Woods Signal Jammer Simon Klee Simon Tucker SK123 and T.Brixson Skeleton Worm Sol Rezza Sophie Cooper Sonic Noir Spaceship Squirrel Natkin St James Infirmary Stephanie Merchak Steve Cobby Subject to Change Sunday Fascination Sunken Foal SVR Szuumm Telagasunyi The Dissonace Collective The Great Indoors The Guelph Basin The Heartwood Institute The Last Ambient Hero The Magus Project The Revenant Sea There Are No Birds Here Time Destroys All Things Toby Warren Todd Snow Tomoroh Hidari Tony Ferodo Tuatha TVO Ubu King UltraLux Ultraterrestrials   Unknown Rockstar Usue vdof Void Theory Von Heuser Warrior Bob Whalt Thisney Whettman Chelmets Wig William Wild & Stuart Wray Xixada Xtro YOL meets DEATHWATCH HEADBAND Yumasef

artist names for the following are currently unknown : *******203 JL *******fields *******piano angel demo *******The Keep ******aud65 ******dark outside ******in search of something concrete pt 2 ******patterns for merzbarn ******radio ******raspberry something ******SV1003 ******The Nameless City ******we dun a dibeit