Vid: "House" [The Black Phone]
Wednesday, January 21st, 2026 12:05![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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viddingTitle: House
Music: House - Charli XCX feat. John Cale
Fandom: The Black Phone (Movies - Derrickson)
Summary: ". . . other houses, the lights were dim, and with some houses they were almost out and I didn’t know the people who lived there. I’d get a feeling from these houses of stuff going on that wasn’t happy. I didn’t dwell on it, but I knew there were things going on behind those doors and windows." - David Lynch
Warnings: Canon-typical abuse and violence against children; suicide by hanging
Links: On AO3 | On Tumblr | On DW
Music: House - Charli XCX feat. John Cale
Fandom: The Black Phone (Movies - Derrickson)
Summary: ". . . other houses, the lights were dim, and with some houses they were almost out and I didn’t know the people who lived there. I’d get a feeling from these houses of stuff going on that wasn’t happy. I didn’t dwell on it, but I knew there were things going on behind those doors and windows." - David Lynch
Warnings: Canon-typical abuse and violence against children; suicide by hanging
Links: On AO3 | On Tumblr | On DW
Wednesday attended the Fellows' monthly symposia
Wednesday, January 21st, 2026 16:47oursinWhat I read
Finished I Used to Be Charming: The Rest of Eve Babitz, though will cop to only skimming the final section 'Fiorucci: the Book' (1980) about which I was a bit WTF? and 'what was she on?'
Over the weekend saw a review somewhere of the latest work by Madeleine Gray speaking well of her first novel Green Dot (2024) so thought I might see what it was like, especially as it was at a very reasonable price on Kobo - gave up about a third or so in. Did not care about the narrator or her situation.
A bit of sortes e-reader (inadvertently opening a book) started a supernatural thriller but I couldn't work out whether it was part of a series and I was supposed to know who these characters and their predicament were, or whether I was supposed to work it out over chapters jumping back and forward over time and didn't feel grabbed. May return because that might be me?
Dick Francis, Risk (1977), where I realised I have recently identified a Francis pattern such that I could finger a certain character very early on as likely to be implicated in bad stuff going down.
On the go
Have been dipping into Timothy d'Arch Smith, The Stammering Librarian (2025), some further collected essays, including one on a person of research interest, and a rather fun Anthony Powell parody.
Dick Francis, The Edge (1988), which is the one involving a lush train journey, with additional Staged Murder Mystery, across Canada (reverse direction to the way I did it).
Up next
Well, the local history society publications in which I was interested have been ordered and have arrived.
This is about selling people
Wednesday, January 21st, 2026 16:37rydra_wongGreenland belongs to the Greenlanders. They live there. It is their country.
They are legally Danish citzens. Greenland is largely self-governing, with the possibility of becoming independent if they choose to.
Denmark can't "sell" them or their country because Denmark does not own them.
And after a number of centuries and some debate, a general consensus was arrived at that selling people is not ethically acceptable, you know?
Even if they wanted to, Denmark can't "sell" Trump Greenland any more than the UK could sell him Scotland.
Also N.B. 85-90% of the Greenlanders are Inuit.
I am very certain that this is absolutely about thinking that Native people don't really count as citizens and they don't really own their land; it is Terra Nullius, and they can be sold off in a deal between the "real" nations of Denmark and the US.
(Or their land can be sold out from under them and they can just be forced elsewhere, which I'm sure Trump would be just fine with.)
If the US wanted to try to ethically acquire Greenland, it could talk to the government of Greenland and offer them a great deal with significant benefits if they wanted to become independent and then have a free association deal with the US.
Or rather, it could have, maybe, because now the Greenlanders are fucking pissed off and scared over the threats and offers to buy them, and if they have to choose between the US and Denmark they are unambiguously choosing Denmark:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgx8w4pgk0o
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/14/us-invasion-threat-greenland-trump-denmark
They are legally Danish citzens. Greenland is largely self-governing, with the possibility of becoming independent if they choose to.
Denmark can't "sell" them or their country because Denmark does not own them.
And after a number of centuries and some debate, a general consensus was arrived at that selling people is not ethically acceptable, you know?
Even if they wanted to, Denmark can't "sell" Trump Greenland any more than the UK could sell him Scotland.
Also N.B. 85-90% of the Greenlanders are Inuit.
I am very certain that this is absolutely about thinking that Native people don't really count as citizens and they don't really own their land; it is Terra Nullius, and they can be sold off in a deal between the "real" nations of Denmark and the US.
(Or their land can be sold out from under them and they can just be forced elsewhere, which I'm sure Trump would be just fine with.)
If the US wanted to try to ethically acquire Greenland, it could talk to the government of Greenland and offer them a great deal with significant benefits if they wanted to become independent and then have a free association deal with the US.
Or rather, it could have, maybe, because now the Greenlanders are fucking pissed off and scared over the threats and offers to buy them, and if they have to choose between the US and Denmark they are unambiguously choosing Denmark:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgx8w4pgk0o
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/14/us-invasion-threat-greenland-trump-denmark
How To Help If You Are Outside Minnesota
Wednesday, January 21st, 2026 15:30rydra_wongA post by Naomi Kritzer:
https://naomikritzer.com/2026/01/21/how-to-help-if-you-are-outside-minnesota/
This also has advice on how to start preparing for if and when this shit comes to your home state.
(If you are in Minnesota: https://naomikritzer.com/2026/01/19/how-to-help-twin-cities-residents/ )
https://naomikritzer.com/2026/01/21/how-to-help-if-you-are-outside-minnesota/
This also has advice on how to start preparing for if and when this shit comes to your home state.
(If you are in Minnesota: https://naomikritzer.com/2026/01/19/how-to-help-twin-cities-residents/ )
Fandom Trumps Hate 2026
Wednesday, January 21st, 2026 07:18rydra_wongTheir calendar is here -- creator sign-ups open on the 26th Jan:
https://fandomtrumpshate.dreamwidth.org/53196.html
Their list of non-profits they're supporting is here:
https://fandomtrumpshate.dreamwidth.org/53468.html
Apparently last year they raised $127K!
https://fandomtrumpshate.dreamwidth.org/53196.html
Their list of non-profits they're supporting is here:
https://fandomtrumpshate.dreamwidth.org/53468.html
Apparently last year they raised $127K!
on the road
Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 15:00the_shoshannaI'm in Massachusetts visiting friends and family, and the US border guard was even brusquer and more unfriendly than the one the last time I crossed the border. They used to be reliably genial-while-professional, and now they're barking grumpy questions at me -- and I'm a white English-speaking US citizen with a NEXUS card (pre-screened, "trusted traveler"). A Canadian friend who drove across the border last year said that guards were going down the line of cars waiting to approach the booth and pulling people out to interrogate them on the side of the road, and who'd a thunk it, everyone they pulled out was brown. (When I crossed yesterday, I was the only car in sight, which I'd love to think was because Canadian travel to the US is way down, but probably had more to do with the extremely bad weather forecast that day. I managed to get south of the storm band before it hit, though.)
My obsession with Heated Rivalry continues, though I'm trying hard not to be That Fan at people. I have successfully recommended it to two board members at my church đ A friend I'll spend a week with this summer wants to watch it with me then, so I have that to look forward to, and there's a chance I'll get to watch it with other friends this weekend, if they're interested. Meanwhile I'm reading a lot of fic, but also freely DNFing anything that isn't working for me, whether for characterization or bad grammar or spelling it "Rosanov."
["Why, oh why, do people keep incorrectly capitalizing dialog-tag fragments like this?" She wailed. -- I mean, I know why they do it: because autocorrect sees the punctuation ending the quotation and thinks the dialog tag is a new sentence, and the writer is foolishly trusting autocorrect over the evidence of every published text they've ever read. But it drives me nuts; my sense of the flow and pacing of a sentence is very much guided by its punctuation, and this is like hitting a pothole every time.]
Geoff and I have started the new season of The Pitt, and certainly I'm liking it so far! It's interesting how much less chaotic the ER seems than it was in the first couple episodes of the first season. I'm very curious about all the characters they've introduced (and about where Mateo, the World's Hottest Nurseâ˘ď¸, is), and I love seeing Whitaker now a fully qualified MD with his own little ducklings following him around. (Is he still living with Santos?) I don't see an overarching plot yetother than "just how suicidal is Dr. Robby?" but/and I'm looking forward to seeing where it's going.
My obsession with Heated Rivalry continues, though I'm trying hard not to be That Fan at people. I have successfully recommended it to two board members at my church đ A friend I'll spend a week with this summer wants to watch it with me then, so I have that to look forward to, and there's a chance I'll get to watch it with other friends this weekend, if they're interested. Meanwhile I'm reading a lot of fic, but also freely DNFing anything that isn't working for me, whether for characterization or bad grammar or spelling it "Rosanov."
["Why, oh why, do people keep incorrectly capitalizing dialog-tag fragments like this?" She wailed. -- I mean, I know why they do it: because autocorrect sees the punctuation ending the quotation and thinks the dialog tag is a new sentence, and the writer is foolishly trusting autocorrect over the evidence of every published text they've ever read. But it drives me nuts; my sense of the flow and pacing of a sentence is very much guided by its punctuation, and this is like hitting a pothole every time.]
Geoff and I have started the new season of The Pitt, and certainly I'm liking it so far! It's interesting how much less chaotic the ER seems than it was in the first couple episodes of the first season. I'm very curious about all the characters they've introduced (and about where Mateo, the World's Hottest Nurseâ˘ď¸, is), and I love seeing Whitaker now a fully qualified MD with his own little ducklings following him around. (Is he still living with Santos?) I don't see an overarching plot yet
Attended online conference today
Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 19:25oursinAt which I was able to make a couple of minor contributions.
Reason why serving soldiers a very small statistical minority in divorce statistics pre-1914 (post then increased massively....): there were huge restrictions on how many could marry 'on the strength' so there were fairly few actually married in the first place. Mi knowinz on this partly from Victorian fiction (I think it features in one of Charlotte Yonge's) but mostly from Being A Historian who had to do with the Contagious Diseases Acts.
Also able to make some comments apropos of preserving archives of relevant organisations and the problems of digital records.
A lot of oh dear less change than one would like to imagine took place over time in matters of divorce, family disruption, domestic abuse, gendered assumptions, etc etc: but also, a sense that, in fact Back in The Past when women may not have had much agency, they were nevertheless using what they could get, e.g. separation law, protection orders, and various legal intricacies.
Also wondered how far they were able to manipulate (or the law was actually based on) certain patriarchal assumptions, which is what I found when reviewing book by one of the major contributors - i.e. that deserting husbands were falling down on doing patriarchy like they should, bad boy, no more right of coverture if your wife goes through a fairly cheap and simple legal procedure, post-1857.
Also there was a lot of archive love going on!
Childhood Friend and Girlfriend #15
Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 13:30brerrabbit posting in scans_daily
Mod Post: Off-Topic Tuesday
Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 08:34icon_uk posting in scans_dailyIn the comments to these weekly posts (and only these posts), it's your chance to go as off topic as you like.
Talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and just generally chat among yourselves.
The intent of these posts is to chat and have some fun and, sure, vent a little as required. Reasoned debate is fine, as always, but if you have to ask if something is going over the line, think carefully before posting please.
Normal board rules about conduct and behaviour still apply, of course.
It's been suggested that, if discussing spoilers for recent media events, it might be advisable to consider using the rot13 method to prevent other members seeing spoilers in passing.
The world situation is the world situation. If you're following the news, you know it as much as I do, if you're not, then there are better sources than scans_daily. But please, no doomscrolling, for your own sake.
Well... yes... the world is... isn't it?
Dolly Parton celebrated her 80th birthday (All hail one of the few utterly admirable people around) and it was also the anniversary of Edgar Alen Poe's birth too. I suspect there's a cosmic balance involved in that.
To my own eternal shame I managed to overlook that the 1966 Batman show had it's 60th anniversary last Monday
Disney made something of a tactical error when they asked on Threads for people to post Disney memes about their current mood. Remember a few years back when Elmo asked "How is everyone doing today?" on Twitter and there was a deluge of what social anxiety? Imagine that, but with anger and frustration
Starfleet Academy debuted with two episodes with the anticipated rigmarole from fans and "fans".
No art is above criticism, but the level of vitriol that got sprayed at this show was like a firehose often from those who hadn't watched it and never planned to. I'm not sure what was the worst of it: Was it the racist comments? The sexist comments? The fat shaming? The many combinations of two or more of those?
Was it a perfect show? No, of course not. It's a new show, with a new cast, and a LOT of stuff to shovel into it's premiere episodes. But I thought it showed promise, Sandro Rosta's Caleb is a bit of a dick at the moment (but it pretty enough in a Power Rangers sort of a way to get away with it for maybe one more episode), Holly Hunter is both tiny and imposing, Karim DianĂŠ's Kraaag is my favourite Klingon in years, and Gina Yashere's Lura Thok is fantastic! And I love the many easter eggs dotted around the place (There's a passing shot of a Brikar, an Exocomp student, and a scene-stealing extra as a Kelpien who has Doug Jones "Bob Fosse-like" Saru arms swinging thing down to an absolute T so when they're in a scene you NOTICE!)
If you're wanting an even handed but generally positive approach to Trek, I'd suggest the "Trek Culture" YT channel, where their "Ups and Downs" reviews are geeky as hell, but in the FUN way.
I think my biggest gripe was the shiny new "Trek Franchise" opening logo has some lovely new models of the main starships from each series (With the Defiant for DS9), but omits the Protostar and the Cerritos, which just seems rude!
Talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and just generally chat among yourselves.
The intent of these posts is to chat and have some fun and, sure, vent a little as required. Reasoned debate is fine, as always, but if you have to ask if something is going over the line, think carefully before posting please.
Normal board rules about conduct and behaviour still apply, of course.
It's been suggested that, if discussing spoilers for recent media events, it might be advisable to consider using the rot13 method to prevent other members seeing spoilers in passing.
The world situation is the world situation. If you're following the news, you know it as much as I do, if you're not, then there are better sources than scans_daily. But please, no doomscrolling, for your own sake.
Well... yes... the world is... isn't it?
Dolly Parton celebrated her 80th birthday (All hail one of the few utterly admirable people around) and it was also the anniversary of Edgar Alen Poe's birth too. I suspect there's a cosmic balance involved in that.
To my own eternal shame I managed to overlook that the 1966 Batman show had it's 60th anniversary last Monday
Disney made something of a tactical error when they asked on Threads for people to post Disney memes about their current mood. Remember a few years back when Elmo asked "How is everyone doing today?" on Twitter and there was a deluge of what social anxiety? Imagine that, but with anger and frustration
Starfleet Academy debuted with two episodes with the anticipated rigmarole from fans and "fans".
No art is above criticism, but the level of vitriol that got sprayed at this show was like a firehose often from those who hadn't watched it and never planned to. I'm not sure what was the worst of it: Was it the racist comments? The sexist comments? The fat shaming? The many combinations of two or more of those?
Was it a perfect show? No, of course not. It's a new show, with a new cast, and a LOT of stuff to shovel into it's premiere episodes. But I thought it showed promise, Sandro Rosta's Caleb is a bit of a dick at the moment (but it pretty enough in a Power Rangers sort of a way to get away with it for maybe one more episode), Holly Hunter is both tiny and imposing, Karim DianĂŠ's Kraaag is my favourite Klingon in years, and Gina Yashere's Lura Thok is fantastic! And I love the many easter eggs dotted around the place (There's a passing shot of a Brikar, an Exocomp student, and a scene-stealing extra as a Kelpien who has Doug Jones "Bob Fosse-like" Saru arms swinging thing down to an absolute T so when they're in a scene you NOTICE!)
If you're wanting an even handed but generally positive approach to Trek, I'd suggest the "Trek Culture" YT channel, where their "Ups and Downs" reviews are geeky as hell, but in the FUN way.
I think my biggest gripe was the shiny new "Trek Franchise" opening logo has some lovely new models of the main starships from each series (With the Defiant for DS9), but omits the Protostar and the Cerritos, which just seems rude!
Ow
Monday, January 19th, 2026 21:54azurelunaticTwo canes can be better than one.
I have a battery of tests aimed at me for the leg weakness, in case it's neurological.
And my primary care is leaving (again) within a few months. They said last time that I would be assigned to someone in the same practice. That was inaccurate. They're saying it again this time, so I will prepare for battle.
Cats are nice and warm, and extraordinarily heavy on the knees.
I have a battery of tests aimed at me for the leg weakness, in case it's neurological.
And my primary care is leaving (again) within a few months. They said last time that I would be assigned to someone in the same practice. That was inaccurate. They're saying it again this time, so I will prepare for battle.
Cats are nice and warm, and extraordinarily heavy on the knees.
Yesterday I went out and was social
Monday, January 19th, 2026 19:23oursinI mentioned that I was reading Dream Count for an intended new in-person book group of fairly local people connected through being (mostly) women historians (most of) whom I already know.
The gathering to discuss Dream Count was yestere'en in Highgate, at a destination to which there is a bus service from the nearby main road, though on Sunday evenings the service is a little more sporadic than habitual and I arrived a bit early, even after some difficulty finding the house in question. (Serious FAIL by local residents to actually have house numbers visible, ahem, not helped by several houses actually being nos XX-YY which adds to the confusion and in fact I ended up going to the wrong house first.)
However, once I got there it was agreeable to see auld acquaintance and talk of how things had been going -
- I am not entirely persuaded that having a sit-down at a table supper was actually a great idea, or maybe that was just me who had not all that long ago had a large late lunch.
Discussion of actual book did not get started for some while. Everybody seemed to have a rather mixed response, though it did, at least, provide a basis for discussion along several directions.
Future plans to meet at 6 week intervals - not to have full dinner party (relief!)* - next book will be Anna Funder's Wifedom about Eileen Orwell (already have the ebook yay).
Kind lift not all the way home but to useful point with lots of buses from Our Hostess.
*Snacks instead - should I take foccacia and Famous Aubergine Dip? Y/N
Aubrey-Maturin and The Dark is Rising donation thank-yous; Another soulmate drabble
Monday, January 19th, 2026 13:24petraThe great imponderable of toasted cheese (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Aubrey-Maturin Series - Patrick O'Brian
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jack Aubrey & Stephen Maturin
Characters: Jack Aubrey, Stephen Maturin
Additional Tags: Drabble, Natural Philosophy, Baffle them with bullshit
Summary:
*
A cuppa (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jane Drew & The Lady (Dark is Rising)
Characters: Jane Drew (Dark is Rising), The Lady (Dark Is Rising)
Additional Tags: Drabble, Hope
Summary:
*
How to apply torture (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Leia Organa & Darth Vader
Characters: Leia Organa, Darth Vader
Additional Tags: Drabble, Alternate Universe - Soulmates
Series: Part 3 of The Shoop Shoop Soulmate Song
Summary:
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Aubrey-Maturin Series - Patrick O'Brian
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jack Aubrey & Stephen Maturin
Characters: Jack Aubrey, Stephen Maturin
Additional Tags: Drabble, Natural Philosophy, Baffle them with bullshit
Summary:
Jack engages in natural philosophy.
*
A cuppa (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jane Drew & The Lady (Dark is Rising)
Characters: Jane Drew (Dark is Rising), The Lady (Dark Is Rising)
Additional Tags: Drabble, Hope
Summary:
Jane has tea, not quite alone.
*
How to apply torture (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Leia Organa & Darth Vader
Characters: Leia Organa, Darth Vader
Additional Tags: Drabble, Alternate Universe - Soulmates
Series: Part 3 of The Shoop Shoop Soulmate Song
Summary:
Common wisdom says everyone has one soulmate, but common wisdom has forgotten the Force.
Green Friendliness: JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #33, 36 (JLI 46)
Monday, January 19th, 2026 06:15tcampbell1000 posting in scans_daily
Giffen plot and breakdowns, DeMatteis script, Hughes pencils #33, Tom Artis pencils #36.
Warning for suicidal behavior.
Issue #33, âNitwits, Knuckleheads, and Poozers!,â begins with an old-fashioned narrative caption or two. âItâs a lazy afternoon, and Guy Gardner is bored. Heaven help us all.â ( Remember what being bored for a whole afternoon was like? )