rix_scaedu

Help me pick my next* build! (*Well, I have the Destiny Astray to finish, whatever I'm making for 30ML Day, the other contest, and possibly some other small decompression builds. Which is fine, it means I can leave this poll open for a bit.)

These kits are all not Gundams, nor are they made by Bandai. There's a frustrating habit in the hobby, both by the folks who build the kits and the folks selling them, to lump all these kits under "Third Party", "Indie Plamo", or just "ChinaPla" even though not all of the makers are Chinese. I haven't decided on a preferred term, but I'm leaning towards just listing the maker or if I need to refer to a larger whole, "Other Kits" or "Non-Bandai".

Poll #34288 It's (Not) A Gundam!

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 1

View Respondents

Which Non-Bandai Kit Should I Build Next?

View Answers

Blue Estailev (Orange Cat/Wave)
1 (100.0%)

Oberon (Mecha Core Industry)
1 (100.0%)

Baphomet Demon Phantom (Cang Toys)
0 (0.0%)

Fire Lord (SNAA)
0 (0.0%)

Apocalypse (Vientiane Fusion)
0 (0.0%)

Mandala (CaesarWorks)
0 (0.0%)

Yunsheng Y-20 (Xiwanshe)
0 (0.0%)

Genesis (Infinite Dimension)
1 (100.0%)

Gus (ZZZA)
0 (0.0%)

Valkyrie (Eddas)
0 (0.0%)

Edelstein II (Moderoid/Good Smile)
1 (100.0%)

Cannon Shadow (Soul Vogue)
0 (0.0%)

Oracle (Zao Workshop)
1 (100.0%)

Star Eternal (Iron Toys)
0 (0.0%)

Frame Arms W2 Spectre:RE (Kotobukiya)
0 (0.0%)

( More info on each kit + links to listings/pictures )

Anyway, there's lots more conversation about non-Bandai and non-Gundam kits to be had, but here's a start. ^_^

ysabetwordsmith posting in

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ysabetwordsmith posting in

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cornerofmadness

That storm is a monster. I hope all my friends there are okay.

I could use some help from everyone. I'm working on something new. God know where it is going. I am curious as how it hits as an opener (not really looking for a critique per se but if you see anything stupid, confusing etc let me know. On the other hand if something is really working, I'd love to know that too) Anyhow here it is. I'd love to hear a few opinions thanks.

( content warning, murder mystery, dead bodies, mutilated ones, cults and sex workers )

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Music: Murder She Wrote

torachan

1. Today was mostly a catching up day at work, since I had not only the weekend but the three business trip days last week where I wasn't really spending that much time on my regular work. I am all caught up now, though!

2. I also got my reimbursements submitted for the trip. The hotel and flight were paid through the travel agent who arranged everything, so I don't need reimbursements for those, but there's uber trips and per diems, so I should get reimbursed for those next week.

3. We have a couple cardboard cat loungers that are in pretty bad shape, and rather than get more cardboard ones, Carla ordered some sissel ones and those arrived today. Spritzed them with catnip spray to get the babies interested and so far they seem to like them.

tielan

I need to sit up, no slumping.

Still no contract.

I wonder if the HR manager has pushed back against the client group manager...

ETA 2 hours later: Apparently they are renewing me, but they're changing the payroll company they're paying me through, and I'm not sure what's going on with the rate, or how much longer the contract will go for.

--

Also, per my icon: you should do a search on "political" quilts at QuiltCon '26. There are a bunch of conservatives with their panties in a knot because "suddenly" the quilts are "political"...

--

We have two new chickens. Babies, 6 weeks old. We're keeping them inside for the moment, in a cage, mostly because the coop we'd put them in needs repair and I won't have proper time until Sunday (but am stealing lunchtimes and after work). We're also trying to get them used to cuddles.

dorchadas

Sidestepping the whole debate about what to call it[1], we went to the Lunar New Year parade and celebration on Argyle Street yesterday:

2026-02-21 - Argyle Lunar New Year Parade

We left later than I wanted to--we didn't get out of the house until 11:45 a.m. and didn't get down to Argyle until 12:15 p.m. We put in our name at Immm Rice, but when it was only twenty-five minutes or so to the parade we decided that even if we did get in we wouldn't be able to eat in time, so we tried stopping in at a bakery for some buns. The first one we went to had a cash-only sign that had been hidden by the long line, so we had to duck our and search the rest of the street.

sashagee spotted one on the way back run by an old Vietnamese man and got a couple buns for Laila and herself, and they ate them while we settled onto the side of the street to wait.

I wasn't expecting too many people to show up since it was -5°C with a biting wind, but the streets were still lined when the parade stepped off at 1:05 p.m. Laila had been complaining and wanting to go home for quite a while, but once the parade started all that fell away. She watched the lion dancers and the dragon puppets, watched the floats going on, and was very excited when one of the parade-walkers gave her a lollipop! She didn't complain once as we stood out in the cold, but we left a couple floats early so we could get into a restaurant. And a good thing too--we walked in, were immediately seated, and within ten minutes or so there was a giant line waiting for a seat. We ate--with a brief detour while Laila and I walked around outside because she was getting rowdy--and by the time we were done basically all the festivities had ended, so we just went home.

Next weekend is the parade in Chinatown, but we won't be able to go.

[1]: A few years ago there was a push to call it Lunar New Year instead of Chinese New Year, since more cultures than just China celebrate it. Of course now the problem is that e.g. the Islamic and Jewish calendars also have lunar new years since both calendars begin months on the new moon, so "Lunar New Year" is ambiguous.

Current Mood: cold
Current Music: Genshin Impact - Lantern Rite (2021)

cosmolinguist

Tonight's knock on the door was a Labour canvasser who asked if I was planning to vote; I said I'd just done my postal vote this afternoon, and "I'm afraid I voted Green," I tried to let him down gently.

He still tried to show me the latest "only Labour can beat Reform" chart which baffled me: from my own time canvassing I can only expect that in such circumstances they have a box to tick for "voted for someone else" and you move on! Arguing with people who've already voted is a waste of time.

I hadn't been going to get in to this but since he wasn't going away I told him that I'm a disabled immigrant and Labour are making life more difficult for all of those so I couldn't vote for them. He said "well Angeliki settled here from Europe..."

It just felt so point-missing. I don't really care about the demographics of a candidate too much. I care how they'll vote, I care about their party's policies and how they'll affect all immigrants! (Or any other group on the wrong side of this power imbalance.)

I appreciate there's a lot of new volunteers on all sides in this by-election. (Seriously dude, I hope they trained you enough that you know there should be a box for you to tick that says I can be done wasting your and all your colleagues' time!) But it's hard not to feel like this is what Labour has been for all twenty of the years I lived here: focus on this exceptional individual, not the boring systemic problems that the party will always shy away from.

The funniest thing was, as I was finally getting this guy to go away, I'd spotted another guy behind him and I'd assumed he was a fellow canvasser with this guy, but as I started to close the door, he caught my attention to say "I'm from the Greens, did you want to put up a sign?" And only then I remembered that D had in fact asked for one the other day, so me and this guy and D eventually ended up out in the rain trying to find something to affix it to before ending up dragging a big tree in a big pot to the edge of the driveway for maximum visibility.

I hope that sends the Labour canvassers a message, for the couple more days until this election finally happens.

minoanmiss

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Current Mood: working on feeling better

ffutures

This is a bundle of material for Mists of Akuna, a "campaign setting of Eastern fantasy noir steampunk from Storm Bunny Studios for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition." Basically, slightly apocalyptic fantasy steampunk with Ninjas and oriental monsters and magic.

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/MistsOfAkuma

This is another setting that doesn't interest me much - I'm not a fan of 5E and I've never really got into the oriental background much, and piling so many elements together would probably be a steep learning curve if I tried to pick it all up now. Presentation is good, with a lot of the illustrations having an anime look, and it looks like you get a lot for your money.

kay_brooke

First books post of the year! Sorry it's so late. I finished seven books in January, no DNFs. It was a fairly good reading month, with no books that I absolutely hated.

For new people, this is the general format of the books post: each individual book is under a cut, which is for length and not for spoilers. Any spoilers will be warned for outside of the cut. Under the cut I'll have a quick summary of the book's premise followed by a short review. Some of the reviews will be longer, especially if I'm ranting about a book I didn't like.

( 1. Under the Rainbow by Celia Laskey - 3 stars - Maybe spoilers, but I prefer to think of them as trigger warnings, because the book certainly doesn't give you any )

( 2. I is for Innocent by Sue Grafton - 4 stars )

( 3. The Carnival of Ash by Tom Beckerlegge - 4 stars )

( 4. Lone Women by Victor LaValle - 3.5 stars )

( 5. A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham - 3.5 stars )

( 6. The Bone Orchard by Sara A. Mueller - 4 stars )

( 7. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King - 4.5 stars )

thisbluespirit posting in

rainbowfic

Name: On the Mend
Story: Starfall
Colors: Vert #3 (Security); Azul #13 (Withstand)
Supplies and Styles:
Word Count: 717
Rating: PG
Warnings: Illness.
Notes: 1313, Portcallan; Leion Valerno/Viyony Eseray. (Takes place soon after the Sea Festival).
Summary: Leion and Viyony meet again.

( On the Mend )

minoanmiss

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Current Mood: sad

minoanmiss

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Current Mood: curious

shipperslist

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cosmolinguist

Today is a good day because I came downstairs to find that the house was warm enough that the heating hadn't needed to kick in, which is so much more comfortable for me.

First thing I noticed when I went outside yesterday was that it smelled like a rainy spring day instead of a rainy winter day.

I am so ready for fresh air and open windows.

adore

I posted here about Amazon behaving oddly with my KDP account. I have since got wind of more information about Amazon and some recent choices it's been making.

Firstly, I subscribe to the I Heart SapphFic newsletter. They spotlight sapphic fiction and queer authors, and keep the lights on through user donations, author ads, but mostly Amazon Affiliate links. Well, turns out that Amazon has recently taken to removing queer books and books they guess are steamy from their Affiliate Program.

Amazon has also "suppressed their findability" as I found out via a newsletter from Lissette Marshall, a romantasy author. Lissette and several other romantasy authors made a charity anthology to fight book bans (the proceeds go to PEN America) in response to these changes at the Zon and other tech giants. The anthology, Romantasy Rebels, was banned twice by the Zon, and the second time, they terminated the KDP account of the author uploading it.

Not only was Romantasy Rebels unavailable a second time, but my good friend Vela Roth, who had volunteered to host the anthology on her account, lost her entire livelihood between one moment and the next.

Between you and me -- I don't think I've ever been so angry in my life.

The upside is that, as always, the bookish community stands up for each other! Thanks to friends with helpful connections, from Amazon reps to legal advice, we've managed to reverse the (unfounded) decision on their end and get Vela's books and our anthology back 🔥 (But my goodness, it was a long, long 24 hours that I hope to never experience again.)

Reading that and imagining myself in Vela's shoes, I feel indescribable. Anger, terror, and I don't know the words for what else. Vela Roth is in Kindle Unlimited, and she's a full-time romantasy author, which means her entire livelihood was on Amazon. And Amazon just deleted it all, just like that. I'm so relieved that the bookish community was able to help her and that her books and livelihood are reinstated now. Quoting Lissette again:

Amazon fuckery took down our charity anthology twice, and almost ended a wonderful author's career in the process. In addition to all else, the experience has been a frightening reminder of just how dependent indie authors are on a very small number of tech companies who don't particularly like spice, or marginalised people, or, you know, democracy.

So, yeah. That's what's going on. I feel better about having to unpublish Bloodhunt Academy now, because it was a queer book and Amazon is clearly not a home for it.

As for Romantasy Rebels, it's being sold wide (so it's on all the major ebook retailers, not just Amazon) and will be available until the end of the month. Proceeds will go to PEN America. There's also a charity auction organised by romantasy authors, called The Books They Can't Burn, and its proceeds will also go to PEN America. The charity auction has a variety of items that one can bid on, including ebook omnibuses, signed special editions, Zoom chats with authors, etc. I even saw a fight scene consult with a martial artist, how fun. It looks like several people are bidding on everything so I'm glad it's going well!

Current Mood: discontent

mific

I've been busy lately with several things on the go - doing HR art for the ICE OUT donations challenge, recording a long SGA podfic for the Podfic Big Bang (And Hope by Sihaya Black), and trying to fit in recording a couple of shorter ones for Romancing McShep and Romancing SGA, as well. Oof. Plus a lot of HR fic reading. I've accepted that it's impossible to keep up in any meaningful sense, and just surf along reading stuff I see reccd or authors I know I like a lot, and the few WIPs I'm following. Eventually I guess I'll catch up with numerous gems in the fandom that I missed in this avalanche of new fics, many of them extremely good.

In terms of reading very good authors, I had an exceptionally obsessive episode today where I started a story by one of my fave HR writers and couldn't read it. Because (unlike in ALL their other fics) they'd chosen to do all the Ilya POV narration in Ilya-speak, with most of the articles dropped. Russian doesn't have separate articles, I gather, because the distinction between "a ball" & "the ball" is done with word order - which is why in English, Russians often drop their articles. An example:
1. Девушка читает книгу. (The girl is reading a book)
2. Книгу читает девушка. (The girl is reading the book)
In both sentences, the meaning is nearly the same. However, in Sentence 2, the placement of “книгу” (book) at the beginning, before “девушка” (girl), highlights the importance of the book and implies a specific book.
The parts of the fic where it was Ilya's dialogue were fine because that portrays his actual speech, but the narrative (for me) is his thoughts (internal narration) in tight 3rd POV and there's NO WAY he'd be dropping "articles" in his thinking in Russian. It made him seem stupid, which he very much isn't, and I couldn't bear to read it. So I just now copied it into Word and betaed it, adding back in all the articles from his narrative POV parts. If you recognise the fic, hit me up in a DM and I'll share the edited version. It's a bloody good fic otherwise, 9000 words.

Life's been quiet apart from reccing, writing, arting and podficcing, and I'm looking forward to a dinner out with friends this Wednesday. Also enjoying sweet corn, and the start of the stone fruit season, with gorgeous nectarines. My garden is blowsy and straggly now, in late summer, and I need to take some time (ha!) to trim it back a bit. It's still warm here, about 22-24 degC highs, usually, and drier of late so I'm still watering the entire garden by hand every 3 days.

One bloody annoying thing that happened was that my credit card was hacked back at the end of January (picked up via notifications coming up on my phone from my banking app asking me to approve a bunch of things I hadn't bought). Luckily all smallish purchases (kids? An unambitious thief, anyway) and I think the bank will refund them. But that meant cancelling that card and them mailing me another (a process I last went through several months ago). And then the mailed card never arrived (presumed stolen from my letterbox) and I got another couple of false transactions on the new card that I hadn't even seen yet! So yet another card cancellation and this time I got it mailed to my bank. I was very glad that after the last debacle several months ago I'd arranged a second credit card via my other bank (I have accounts at 2 banks for reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture).

Anyway, in terms of recs:
- I'm reading all Evilharlowe's HR works on AO3 - they really are a fantastic writer.
- Happened on a great short edit that sets Shane and Ilya's tuna melt hiatus to a Chappel Roan song (The Subway - amazing song) - heartrending edit, very well done, but man, I wish it were a full-sized fanvid.
- Bringing to your attention this workout video by Hudson Williams. Leg day and his skincare routine are really paying off! (CN for casual mentions of eating extreme diets or 'not eating' to make his body fit acting roles. Which is worrying but probably routine for actors.)
- there's a LOT of HR podfic by now and every day there are 1 or 2 new ones. It's a great way to revisit fics I read and loved while I do art. For example,

cathexys podficced Magneticwave's Clear to a Hedgehog. This link gets you HR podfic on AO3.

Enough for now. Waving at you all - hope things are going as well as they can.! 💗

torachan

1. We had a very nice morning at Disneyland today. A little warm (I wore a sweatshirt when we got in and had to take it off about halfway through, so then I had to lug it around the rest of the time, which was annoying) and a little crowded, but we ate a lot of good food and had a good time.

2. Poor Tuxie looks like he got in a scuffle again. Yesterday he came to the door with one eye partially closed and the fur between his eye and ear on that side scraped up. He's looking better today (eye fully open) and unlike some times before where he disappeared for a few days to hunker down, he has been spending his time in our yard as usual, so hopefully he's doing okay. I do wish he wouldn't get in fights. :-/

3. Jasper is just hanging out.

cornerofmadness

Last week I wrestled with a tough emotion to portray in fiction and here's another one, grief/mourning. this might be one of the most personalized of emotions. It's freaking tidal, coming and going with whatever moon your mind is following. I think the difficulty of this emotion is just how different it can be person from person, from all the various lived experiences out there. It's not even necessarily the same within one person.

Take me for example. Within a year I lost my last two uncles (the only two I was related to by blood) and the grief hits different for both of them. Uncle S died suddenly, unexpectedly, of a heart attack. He was, without a doubt, the more gregarious of my uncles, the 'fun one.' The fourth of July last year was hard because the family always went to his lake house. Mom and I had also been at a rock/gem show the day he died and when that rolled around, neither of us wanted to return so that is a shared bit of grief that maybe in a story might not make sense.

Uncle D was the shy uncle, the introvert who really should have been helped more in school with his learning issues but that wasn't the done thing in the 50s and 60s. The first anniversary of his death is coming in the next few weeks and yet oddly there is a lack of grief when I think about it. It's not that I didn't like this uncle but it is different. Maybe it was the lack of a funeral. Maybe it was how much he pulled away almost as if afraid he had nothing to talk about with me because he wasn't 'smart enough' (no, I know he feared that.)

Even yesterday, I finally decided to stop being a jackass and answer my 3 month back log of emails/blog comments. I had at least a dozen in there that I owed

spikedluv. There is so much regret in that, an emotion that doesn't go with grief alone but it is a big part of it. There is, of course, nothing I can do about that but I am determined to get the rest of the owed comments out in the next few days. I'm avoiding future regret, right? And avoidance is definitely one sign of grief.

I think in many ways, grief isn't necessarily hard to write but the way others perceive it i s where it gets sticky.

For example, I think I wrote grief well in These Haunted Hills but the book fell flat (though I did just find a great review by someone I'm not sure I know on GR) Ah well (but that's a heart break for another time)

How do you handle grief in fiction?

Open Calls

Story Unlikely This mag pays well BUT you have to subscribe which is free but if you get a paid sub your pay as an author goes up and that, while I understand it, doesn't necessarily sit well with me.

Horror Library Volume 10 Original, thoughtful horror-centric short stories

Folded Space Podcast Science fiction, exploring new worlds, future possibilities, and the enduring human spirit

The Whumpy Printing Press is looking novelette, novella, novel, short story collection, and graphic novel submissions Novelette, novella, novel, short story collection, and graphic novels that fall into the whump genre (i.e. a character needs to be hurt). We’re looking for strong stories with a balance between whump and plot. Ideally science fiction or fantasy (is it possible I DO NOT have a whump story?!?)

Street Magic III Magic. Hiding right under our unsuspecting noses, or swirling around all around us. When we’re talking about Street Magic, it’s probably closer than you think.

SciFi To Go: Food For Thought Funny short stories in the areas of science fiction, fantasy, and horror

86 Opportunities for Historically Underrepresented Writers (February 2026) many of these include LGBT and women in general

From Around the Web

How the Page Thinks: Spatial Intelligence in Writing

The Four-Act Structure and the Circular Shape of Story

Fix Flat Deep POV: 7 Probing Questions for Better Immersion

How to Build an Author Brand That Attracts Readers and Sells Books (Step-by-Step Guide)

From Betty

How to Create a Simple Language

How to Use Story Structure in Non-Narrative Writing

Six Rape Tropes and How to Replace Them

Reconciling Character Choices With Your Plot

How to Make Your Dark Event Pay Off

Using Contradictions to Create Masterful Microtension – Part 2

Setting the Stage with Powerful Description

Fix Flat Deep POV: 7 Probing Questions for Better Immersion

How to Turn Feedback into Action: Understanding Editorial Letters

Why Writers Fear and Resist Change (and Characters Do, Too)

YouTube for Writers, Part 6: Building Your Author Brand on YouTube

Why Every Writer Needs a Critique Group (and the Six Relationships That Shape Your Career) Okay this one is something I have been saying forever. Ignoring the whole God bit (which fine if you're religious great but otherwise I don't feel like it needs to be in this article. This is not for everyone). I do still wish I could get more people into my critique group.

Email List Segmentation for Authors: How to Reach Readers and Increase Sales

A BREAKTHROUGH Program for Writers of Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror This is like a college class in a way complete with application fees. It is NOT a cheap opportunity by any means.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: Tournament of Champions

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Vert #3; Azul #13 [Starfall]

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