BlackberryJam

They aren’t murder mysteries. Mr. Parker Pyne runs an add in the newspaper, “Are you happy? If not consult Mr Parker Pyne, 17 Richmond Street.” It’s a series of short stories. They are fun.

I love the introduction of Marple in The Murder at the Vicarage. I'm also a huge fan of What Mrs. McGillicudy Saw aka 4:50 From Paddington. If you're doing audiobooks, I highly recommend the Richard E. Grant version of TMatV. He manages to create a different character voice for everyone. I like Joan Hickson, but she's very one note in her audiobooks. I'm also a big fan of the Parker Pyne books by Agatha Christie.

I have to admit that I made up that prompt because I didn't want to out the bad prompter, or out myself. But if you can write it, DO! For exchanges and the like, I'm a big fan of three word prompts. I think that's enough to inspire the writer. Or even three words and your favorite AU/Canon period is good. I was never in the HP fandom. I'm a little too old for it and not that big a fan of the work. That does sound like too much work though...

@wallflower75 Yes it was The Citadel. I checked out a couple of their "Highly recommended" stories and they were...not good. I couldn't even get into the plots because the first sentence of one used the same word/word version 4 times. The sentence itself was over 40 words. It was a grammatical mess. I put that sentence into a Word doc and it was all double blue line. I don't know how the writer, or any of the readers, didn't notice it. Which brings me to this: good writers have good betas. A good beta supports and encourages a writer while also giving that grammar review, pointing out issues with sentences, pacing, flow and consistency in characterization. OCs tend to be all-knowing self inserts, which annoy the crap out of me. My chosen fandom (Jaime and Brienne/Game of Thrones/ASoIaF) is doing a fic exchange right now. So I'm sharing my thoughts on that. A good prompt for an exchange should inspire the writer. I've seen prompts that are "Book canon only, must include BAMF Stannis Baratheon, and Cersei having a love interest other than Jaime, but not Robert. There should be a hurt/comfort sex scene or an angry sex scene. The smut should happen after a sword fight. No Lady Stoneheart. Also, please have a scene of Oberyn flirting with Brienne while Jaime watches." Clearly the prompter has something specific in mind, but that's way too specific to inspire someone. I've got my annoyed face on.

I was nervous. Rafa’s foot worries me. However, you can see how much he loves playing and how much each of these wins means to him. I loved seeing King Felipe and Crown Prince Haakon with Mette-Marit, his wife, all sitting together. I would love Queen Letizia to have been there as well. Is Johnny Mac sounding hoarse/drunk to anyone but me? Also, SUCK IT, NoVaxx!

Re Vi Keeland, I had not read anything by her before and I will not read anything in the future. I'm interested in this list of yours... I think I had pulled this off of the Audible Plus catalog which would make sense that it's a book designed to be read aloud to the reader. However, the male voice wasn't sexy in the slightest. I fully understand being repulsed by the authors who just churn out the same novel six or seven times each year. I'm currently listening to Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea and I swear they keep repeating the same background information about the two leads, but I can't go back and check. I'm interested in the story, so will finish, but I'm annoyed. I'm a big audio book fan because it allows me to "read" while I get other things done.

I've hit that point in my life where I will tell men to stop being so emotional, ask them if they need a moment to compose themselves, and tell them they should smile more often because they are so much prettier when they smile. Now, y'all know I don't do this to randos, but just to the mediocre (mostly white) dudes who are being offensive as fuck. Why is it that a woman is getting criticized more for rolling her eyes than a man is for a physical assault? Seriously, fuck that.

I am no fan of Zverev. It looked terrible, but it’s difficult to feel bad for someone who has been given a pass for his violence against women. Nadal in that first set tie break though!

I loved the concept of Sarah’s final meal, but felt like she needed to fine tune if over a few more months. Evelyn’s goat mole curry look unappetizing, but I like the idea of it. Buddha’s meal seemed like it had been perfected after a thousand preparations. Landslide win.

So she’s either a bitch who didn’t support her man if she repudiates it right away or she’s a bitch who caused the slap if she didn’t repudiate. Men’s violence is NOT the fault of women.

I think my first computer experience was 80? 81? Learning things like 10 Print 20 goto 10. They’d done testing on us all in the mid-70s and pulled certain kids into special classes for half a day two or three times per week. We got to play with computers and do logic grid problems and generally not be a total pain in the ass because of boredom in regular classes. I didn’t “get” the appeal of computers until early 90s when it became about communication with others and not just playing games. I was a usenet fan! *waves to all my old usenet peeps*

Anyone remember FreeNet and the FreeNet chat features?

I was following on line and when Rafa jumped up and did a happy dance at my table in the restaurant. When I attracted attention, I announced Rafa’s win and was offered a couple of free celebration drinks. Suck it, Djoker.

Angela was a super bitch, but what you’re saying about El is dead on. As to the bolded part, in 2nd grade a girl, we‘ll call her Jessie, in my class decided she and I should be best friends. I did not like her. I can’t remember why. I had two very good friends who would help me avoid her by ensuring she didn’t get to sit next to me. Jessie would follow me around on the playground. Tell people we were best friends. Ask the teachers to pair me with her for things. I wanted Jessie to stay the hell away from me. I told her I didn’t want to be her friend. Jessie told her mom that I was her best friend and her mom would always want to give me a ride home from school or to invite me over after school. I always, always refused. I was constantly anxious about it. This went on until I think right before the Christmas holiday. I don’t remember what happened, but in gym, we ended up on different dodge ball teams and I hit her with a ball in the stomach so hard she cried and went to the nurse’s office. I did not get in trouble for that because …well it was dodge ball and everyone was getting nailed. It was the late 1970s. I was wrong for what I did, and I know it. I was also 8. Jessie stopped trying to be my friend. In no way is what Angela was doing right, but bullying is not as black and white as TV portrays it. Does Jessie remember me as a bullying bitch who was mean to her without cause? Probably. Do I remember her as a weird stalker who made my first semester of 2nd grade such hell that I would cry when I got home? Yes. I had a similar thing happen with a boy when I was in 7th grade and he decided I was his girlfriend. He probably hates me too. El is a difficult personality and it’s got to be hard for her to find her way in normal society, let alone high school. Picking up and leaving her friend group had to be hard. So as a depiction of reality, the Angela scenes didn’t ring true to me. But as an homage to Carrie and some emotional catharsis to everyone who ever felt bullied, the skate worked.

I can't take credit...I think they call themselves that...:)

For my purposes, I just skip over the question of whether or not Amber is terrible, because for purposes of the trial, it doesn't matter. When I engage in the discussion with these Deppford Wives, I just say, "Fine Amber's crazy, don't care, doesn't matter, stop listing to me all the ways she is crazy because it doesn't FUCKING MATTER." I find cutting the argument off at the knees is easier.

Hahah…the evils of Led Zeppelin! I was a total free-range child, so by 1986, I’d moved through my Frankie Say Relax phase (JamDad on my FGTH shirt: Are you listening to my Frank Sinatra albums?) and well-established in my The Cure phase (JamDad butchering “Boys Don’t Cry” while walking through the mall was one of the most scarring experiences of my teen years.) This reminds me of what I like about this show, the memories it brings up. We had no out gay kids in high school and only five Black kids in my four years of high school of 1200 students in total. We had more Korean than Black families. If a boy had come out as gay when I was in high school, he’d have been completely ostracized. Even the kids who would have sympathized would have avoided because of fear of the taint of otherness. I can understand Will’s fear and admire Robin’s bravery. Just looked at the actor’s real ages and Steve is 30. That’s a hoot because he looks 3 decades younger than Jonathan. I do not care about romances between any of the characters, even Joyce and Hopper. I do think Noah Schnapp is killing it as Will with all the unvoiced emotion.

Or the people who think this is a criminal case where she can be put in jail if he wins. The lack of understanding of basic civics and the legal process makes my right eye twitch. And the issue isn't whether Amber has told lies, exaggerated, was violent to Johnny, yelled at him, or if she's crazy as fuck. The issue is whether she defamed him causing him financial harm by stating in an OpEd, without mentioning his name, that she was a victim of domestic violence. That's it. That's the question.

I was looking for an easy read this weekend so tried Stuck-Up Suit by Vi Keeland. Couldn’t finish it. Story is woman sees hot guy on train, picks up hot guy’s phone, goes through his texts and photos, tries to return phone after a day or so, but hot guy is annoyed, so she takes photos of her cleavage with his phone and leaves it at his office. Romance ensues. It’s told from both points of view and the male POV is essentially “I fantasized about her tits all day and it made my cock hard” and “I imagined her mouth around my cock and was hard all day.” I’m not even joking. Her POV is, “he’s so hot and my Jewish boss is cheap and mean.” It’s terrible.

Will is so much more likable than Mike, stupid hair and all. I don’t care if Will is gay or not. I just keep thinking, “Will is the one who spent the most time in the Upside Down, how about the Hawkins gang try to reach him with questions?”

There seems to be such a hard gender divide in the ASoIaF fanfiction world. Male SI fics based on battle strategy are valued higher than canon compliant non-SI fics written by women. It’s frustrating.

Max is the foreshadowing of grunge. On my lazy days, I wore Max’s braid. Max seems to embody that feeling of isolation, from El, from Lucas, from her family.

That’s not what harmless means though.

I generally despise OCs and character x reader fics. I was checking out a ASoIaF fanfiction sub on reddit and it seems to be all SI works. And some really bad writing, while at the same time focused on dragging romance and female authors. I backed out…

I wanted Max and Chrissy to become friends.