friday 5; age
May. 22nd, 2026 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
archersangel1. How long to you hope to live (to what age)?
i don't know.
2. Based on the lifespans of your grandparents and/or great-grandparents, what is your realistic lifespan?
most of my grandparents lived to their late 70s/early 80s. not sure about my great-grandparents.
3. What is the average lifespan of people in your country?
i think for men it's 76 & for women it's 81.
4. At what age do you plan to retire (or did you retire)?
65. probably.
5. What are your plans for retirement?
to travel. otherwise do as little as possible.
other answers here at![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thefridayfive
i don't know.
2. Based on the lifespans of your grandparents and/or great-grandparents, what is your realistic lifespan?
most of my grandparents lived to their late 70s/early 80s. not sure about my great-grandparents.
3. What is the average lifespan of people in your country?
i think for men it's 76 & for women it's 81.
4. At what age do you plan to retire (or did you retire)?
65. probably.
5. What are your plans for retirement?
to travel. otherwise do as little as possible.
other answers here at
thefridayfive
her name is bella
May. 22nd, 2026 11:21 amrivendellroseBack in March, we adopted a little black cat from PAWS. It was somewhat abrupt—I'd been vaguely looking but hadn't been too serious about the whole thing because I wasn't sure that Squidling could handle actually living with a cat even though he's quite good with my mom's cat and the neighborhood cats—but the minute I saw the listing for the long-haired black senior cat who was used to living with kids and was described as having impeccable litter box habits, I thought she might stick.
When we went to meet her at PAWS and, the minute one of us put our hand in her cage, she rammed her head into it and started purring, I knew it had to happen.
Her original name was Bellatrix, which we shortened to Bella, and Squidling gave her the new full name of Bluebell to finish the transition. She's been a completely different experience both from the dog (she fits soooo much better in our lives than the dog did, thank heavens) and from my past cats.
Theoden, for those who didn't know him, was a doofy marshmallow himbo of a buff/tan cat—big, generally confident, and completely helpless at anything and everything except yelling at people to do things for him. Random, meanwhile, was a beautiful little blue-eyed murderbeast who would snuggle so hard it was like he wanted to be inside you, then turn around and bite and bunny-kick you for literally no reason (and I say this as a person with lots of cat experience—I never could figure out what triggered Random most of the time, he'd just suddenly decide he was Done With You).
Bella... is a lady. She is seven years old (not the ten that was originally quoted to us, at least not by the vet's estimate and her very nice teeth), and about eight pounds soaking wet, and has very particular opinions about many things. Her litter box habits truly are exactly as impeccable as advertised, and while she will make her wishes known if her food bowl is empty, she never gobbles. She eats delicately, and walks away a few times before coming back to a meal later.
She's also the first cat I've ever had who cares about when people go to bed. And, as it turns out, she cares very much about that. A few weeks after joining our household, Bella determined what the "correct" bedtime was for my husband and I, and she now holds us to it with an iron paw, herding us upstairs to bed and supervising all bedtime-adjacent activities to make sure we get properly settled before retiring to her favorite comfy chair or to explore back downstairs, herself. She also supervises story time during Squidling's bedtime routine, just to make sure we're doing things right.
It's delightful to have a cat in the house again, and it fills a hole that I'd probably left empty too long.
When we went to meet her at PAWS and, the minute one of us put our hand in her cage, she rammed her head into it and started purring, I knew it had to happen.
Her original name was Bellatrix, which we shortened to Bella, and Squidling gave her the new full name of Bluebell to finish the transition. She's been a completely different experience both from the dog (she fits soooo much better in our lives than the dog did, thank heavens) and from my past cats.
Theoden, for those who didn't know him, was a doofy marshmallow himbo of a buff/tan cat—big, generally confident, and completely helpless at anything and everything except yelling at people to do things for him. Random, meanwhile, was a beautiful little blue-eyed murderbeast who would snuggle so hard it was like he wanted to be inside you, then turn around and bite and bunny-kick you for literally no reason (and I say this as a person with lots of cat experience—I never could figure out what triggered Random most of the time, he'd just suddenly decide he was Done With You).
Bella... is a lady. She is seven years old (not the ten that was originally quoted to us, at least not by the vet's estimate and her very nice teeth), and about eight pounds soaking wet, and has very particular opinions about many things. Her litter box habits truly are exactly as impeccable as advertised, and while she will make her wishes known if her food bowl is empty, she never gobbles. She eats delicately, and walks away a few times before coming back to a meal later.
She's also the first cat I've ever had who cares about when people go to bed. And, as it turns out, she cares very much about that. A few weeks after joining our household, Bella determined what the "correct" bedtime was for my husband and I, and she now holds us to it with an iron paw, herding us upstairs to bed and supervising all bedtime-adjacent activities to make sure we get properly settled before retiring to her favorite comfy chair or to explore back downstairs, herself. She also supervises story time during Squidling's bedtime routine, just to make sure we're doing things right.
It's delightful to have a cat in the house again, and it fills a hole that I'd probably left empty too long.
Faraway Traveller: a worldbuilding idea
May. 22nd, 2026 06:16 pmsnowynightA setting premise inspired by books and blogs I have recently read:
In this world, people travel without the certainty that they'll arrive in their destination. It's easy to unknowingly go through the rifts between our reality and other worlds. Beware of fog, bridges and doors that appear suspiciously new. Rituals, customs and charms are developed to secure safe travel. People watch the sky to ensure that the sun, the moon and the stars are alight during their travel. Eclipse is a disaster as the supernatural roam freely in the land.
Some people dedicate themselves to navigate the unknown. The risk is great, but the potential reward is huge: magic items, creatures that thought to be mythical, knowledge beyond imagination.. Siilarly minded people group together to develop theory and practicalities to travel. The dreamers project themselves into the dreamland. The gmers play games that pass from the old to go to the the fey realm. The faithful throw themselves to saints and deities for blessings.
The astral sea is the realm of collective unconsciousness. Some powerful psychics's imprints re so strong that they trap unsuspecting travellers. They can only get free if they resolve their unfinished business. Powerful kingdoms compete to build ships to navigate the sea.
In this world, people travel without the certainty that they'll arrive in their destination. It's easy to unknowingly go through the rifts between our reality and other worlds. Beware of fog, bridges and doors that appear suspiciously new. Rituals, customs and charms are developed to secure safe travel. People watch the sky to ensure that the sun, the moon and the stars are alight during their travel. Eclipse is a disaster as the supernatural roam freely in the land.
Some people dedicate themselves to navigate the unknown. The risk is great, but the potential reward is huge: magic items, creatures that thought to be mythical, knowledge beyond imagination.. Siilarly minded people group together to develop theory and practicalities to travel. The dreamers project themselves into the dreamland. The gmers play games that pass from the old to go to the the fey realm. The faithful throw themselves to saints and deities for blessings.
The astral sea is the realm of collective unconsciousness. Some powerful psychics's imprints re so strong that they trap unsuspecting travellers. They can only get free if they resolve their unfinished business. Powerful kingdoms compete to build ships to navigate the sea.
All sites have now moved and are online!
May. 21st, 2026 05:18 pmintothisshadow
The move to new host is now complete! All sites are on the new host, online and everything should be working normally. If you spot any errors or things missing, do let me know!
https://www.seven-kingdoms.net is the last to finish just a few moments ago. The DNS update can take anywhere from several minutes up to 48-72 hours. Once you can see the page at https://www.seven-kingdoms.net/moved.html you know you’re viewing the site on the new server!
All the other sites are already resolving to the new host since days ago.
random poll
May. 21st, 2026 01:41 amarchersangeljust got a notice that my gifted paid account will expire soon (thanks again to that person!) & i realize that i did not do as many random polls as i wanted.
so here's one;
Poll #34620 sneeze thing
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 5
when someone sneezes, do yousay anything?
View Answers
yes, (God) bless you.
2 (40.0%)
yes, gesundheit.
1 (20.0%)
only if i know them
1 (20.0%)
no
1 (20.0%)
NOTE: you can not edit an entry with a poll. i tried & it got messed up. so if you filled this out, please do so again.
Bring Back Gothic Auctions
May. 19th, 2026 09:12 pmblue_green_dreamI was cruising around on Bluesky today when I found out that Kickstarter had briefly jumped on the adult content banwagon before creator outcry led them to backtrack and issue an apology. This follows on the heels of Itch.io blocking adult-oriented content due to major payment processors threatening to revoke Itch's access. Apparently a lot of this has to do with some sort of campaign or conservative front out of Australia. A lot of people are upset about this for a multitude of reasons, and rightly so. But the conversation about payment processors acting as de facto censorship boards has me wondering if there are other alternatives. After all, what if Mastercard, Visa, banks and other payment processors decide that they don't want people buying books from PM Press or listening to the likes of Neckbeard Deathcamp? How do we buy and sell goods without sending digital inputs over digital signals to pay with digital money?
Then I remembered that we had the answer to this question back in the early 2000s.
I was first clued in to Gothic Auctions by a college friend, who recommended it to me after I lamented that my attempts to sell items on eBay. The site was exactly what was on the tin — an auction site created by goths who wanted a place to sell gently used items that appealed to other goths. But despite the name, GA wasn't just a place to sell niche fashion or media. You could list just about anything, and it often sold in short order. (I was amazed when the pair of used, forest green Chuck Taylors that I listed received bids within hours of being listed, rather than sitting neglected like they did on eBay.) Buyers were easy to work with in my experience, as were sellers. There were forums where people discussed things like music, movies and fashion, but they were also used to warn about unscrupulous users, scam artists and other dangers to the community. (Bad actors tended to be dealt with swiftly.) And since these were in the days before Stripe, Apple Pay and other plug-and-play options, GA users had to get creative when sending or receiving money. I remember reading more than a few listings in which the seller stated that they took, "PayPal, check, money order, or well disguised cash," as payment.
While I'm sure that the site wasn't perfect, as no site is, I still have fond memories of it. I was never able or allowed to be part of the subculture, living as I did with strict parents in a suburb so conformist that I refer to it as Stepford. However, the users of GA were kind and welcoming, caring less about whether I was part of their subculture and more about whether I was honest with my listings and USPS shipping info. I think the site eventually disappeared due to...well, probably due to the same reasons so many other independent sites went under with the rise of Big Social.
It's a damn shame, to be honest. GA was an excellent model of what an ecommerce site could be as long as the userbase trusted each other enough. It would be incredible to see something like that come back today, both as a middle finger to censorship and as a community building exercise. I'm sure there are plenty of reasons why it couldn't work today, especially when you throw the logistics of digital content into the mix, but it's nice to dream. Who knows — maybe the indie web will surprise me. Maybe Gen Z and Gen Alpha will rebuild something similar. Maybe people will once again be able to buy things as mundane as Chuck Taylors and as exotic as...well, some of the things you could buy on Gothic Auctions. An elder millennial can dream, right?
They should keep the old layout, though. It was beautiful and perfect in its simplicity.
Then I remembered that we had the answer to this question back in the early 2000s.
I was first clued in to Gothic Auctions by a college friend, who recommended it to me after I lamented that my attempts to sell items on eBay. The site was exactly what was on the tin — an auction site created by goths who wanted a place to sell gently used items that appealed to other goths. But despite the name, GA wasn't just a place to sell niche fashion or media. You could list just about anything, and it often sold in short order. (I was amazed when the pair of used, forest green Chuck Taylors that I listed received bids within hours of being listed, rather than sitting neglected like they did on eBay.) Buyers were easy to work with in my experience, as were sellers. There were forums where people discussed things like music, movies and fashion, but they were also used to warn about unscrupulous users, scam artists and other dangers to the community. (Bad actors tended to be dealt with swiftly.) And since these were in the days before Stripe, Apple Pay and other plug-and-play options, GA users had to get creative when sending or receiving money. I remember reading more than a few listings in which the seller stated that they took, "PayPal, check, money order, or well disguised cash," as payment.
While I'm sure that the site wasn't perfect, as no site is, I still have fond memories of it. I was never able or allowed to be part of the subculture, living as I did with strict parents in a suburb so conformist that I refer to it as Stepford. However, the users of GA were kind and welcoming, caring less about whether I was part of their subculture and more about whether I was honest with my listings and USPS shipping info. I think the site eventually disappeared due to...well, probably due to the same reasons so many other independent sites went under with the rise of Big Social.
It's a damn shame, to be honest. GA was an excellent model of what an ecommerce site could be as long as the userbase trusted each other enough. It would be incredible to see something like that come back today, both as a middle finger to censorship and as a community building exercise. I'm sure there are plenty of reasons why it couldn't work today, especially when you throw the logistics of digital content into the mix, but it's nice to dream. Who knows — maybe the indie web will surprise me. Maybe Gen Z and Gen Alpha will rebuild something similar. Maybe people will once again be able to buy things as mundane as Chuck Taylors and as exotic as...well, some of the things you could buy on Gothic Auctions. An elder millennial can dream, right?
They should keep the old layout, though. It was beautiful and perfect in its simplicity.
the doubling pot (107867 words) by Mlle_Heloise
May. 18th, 2026 10:34 pmjosilverdragonthe doubling pot (107867 words) by Mlle_Heloise
Chapters: 28/28
Fandom: James Bond (Craig Movies)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: James Bond/Q, Q & Madeleine Swann, James Bond & Mathilde, Mathilde & Q (James Bond), Madeleine Swann & Mathilde
Characters: James Bond, Q (James Bond), Q's Cats (James Bond), Mathilde (James Bond), Madeleine Swann, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Long-Term Relationship(s), Living Together, Domestic Fluff, Domestic Bliss, Mystery, Non-Linear Narrative, Reunions, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, James Bond Takes Care of Q, Past James Bond/Madeleine Swann, Light Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Fluff, Family Bonding, Relationship Discussions, Romance, POV Alternating, Happy Ending
Summary:
Irony is taking over a month to finish a 250 published book and then reading a 100k 00Q fanfic in less that 24 to 48 hours lol
Chapters: 28/28
Fandom: James Bond (Craig Movies)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: James Bond/Q, Q & Madeleine Swann, James Bond & Mathilde, Mathilde & Q (James Bond), Madeleine Swann & Mathilde
Characters: James Bond, Q (James Bond), Q's Cats (James Bond), Mathilde (James Bond), Madeleine Swann, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Long-Term Relationship(s), Living Together, Domestic Fluff, Domestic Bliss, Mystery, Non-Linear Narrative, Reunions, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, James Bond Takes Care of Q, Past James Bond/Madeleine Swann, Light Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Fluff, Family Bonding, Relationship Discussions, Romance, POV Alternating, Happy Ending
Summary:
The moment that James steps through the front door, he is sure of one thing: a mystery is afoot.
Years after James' retirement, he and Q have moved and are happily settling into their new home. All seems well until one day, James comes home to discover a series of strange clues which point to something being awry.
Irony is taking over a month to finish a 250 published book and then reading a 100k 00Q fanfic in less that 24 to 48 hours lol
I need to explain how thermostats work
May. 22nd, 2026 01:20 amconulyYour furnace has one setting: off/on.
Your air conditioner has one setting as well.
The thermostat is just a way of automating the offs and the ons.
Turning the heat to 80 doesn’t heat the house faster. Turning the a/c to 60 doesn’t cool the house faster.
Keeping the heat on 80 so your employees are forced to run the a/cs constantly in order to keep the house merely “sweltering” is deeply wasteful, and I have spent considerable time trying to discreetly open the case to the thermostat. Alas, I cannot pick the lock.
Trying to draft a text to the manager about this that doesn’t involve the words “I don’t want to tell you how to do your job”. Calling attention to what I’m doing is unlikely to help.
Your air conditioner has one setting as well.
The thermostat is just a way of automating the offs and the ons.
Turning the heat to 80 doesn’t heat the house faster. Turning the a/c to 60 doesn’t cool the house faster.
Keeping the heat on 80 so your employees are forced to run the a/cs constantly in order to keep the house merely “sweltering” is deeply wasteful, and I have spent considerable time trying to discreetly open the case to the thermostat. Alas, I cannot pick the lock.
Trying to draft a text to the manager about this that doesn’t involve the words “I don’t want to tell you how to do your job”. Calling attention to what I’m doing is unlikely to help.
The Only Acceptable Answer is Murder
May. 18th, 2026 09:24 pmiosonochesono( Read more... )
ETA: So, he came home last night, admitted he isn't doing his fair share around the house, and that he would, in fact, like the house to be clean enough to invite his parents over for a cuppa (he tried to blame Jake for his slovenlyness saying it's because he can't invite them over as Jake is terrified of them.)
Now first off? Doubtful. His places were a mess. But we'll see. I'm not betting on it.
Second of all? Never said he couldn't invite his parents over! We will try to take a long walk. Plus I pointed out if the fence and gates are repaired (and we create a garden office space) I can fuck off outside with Jake on a walk and his parents can come have a cuppa at the house.
We'll see.
I'm still going to apply to the NI Water jobs and increase my income though because I want to be ready to buy him out. If he's not contributing more money, or time cleaning, or to home improvements, then I will do it all myself! Once I find a way to get at least 6K/year more into my life. The main benefit of him never doing more than the bare minimum is I was thinking, 'How would I afford to live without him?' and then I realised he never puts more than 500/month into the account. So. That's how much I need to live without him.
I'd rather us not have these issues because Jake loves him. But if he keeps going this way, I'm not going to end up on Extreme Hoarders because I live with a guy that can't just put things in a damn bin.
ETA: So, he came home last night, admitted he isn't doing his fair share around the house, and that he would, in fact, like the house to be clean enough to invite his parents over for a cuppa (he tried to blame Jake for his slovenlyness saying it's because he can't invite them over as Jake is terrified of them.)
Now first off? Doubtful. His places were a mess. But we'll see. I'm not betting on it.
Second of all? Never said he couldn't invite his parents over! We will try to take a long walk. Plus I pointed out if the fence and gates are repaired (and we create a garden office space) I can fuck off outside with Jake on a walk and his parents can come have a cuppa at the house.
We'll see.
I'm still going to apply to the NI Water jobs and increase my income though because I want to be ready to buy him out. If he's not contributing more money, or time cleaning, or to home improvements, then I will do it all myself! Once I find a way to get at least 6K/year more into my life. The main benefit of him never doing more than the bare minimum is I was thinking, 'How would I afford to live without him?' and then I realised he never puts more than 500/month into the account. So. That's how much I need to live without him.
I'd rather us not have these issues because Jake loves him. But if he keeps going this way, I'm not going to end up on Extreme Hoarders because I live with a guy that can't just put things in a damn bin.
Moving To New Host - Progress Report
May. 18th, 2026 07:23 pmintothisshadow
Completed & Online
- Finished moving all of https://www.so-obsessed.com to the new host a couple of days ago and updated DNS
- https://www.xenacentral.com finished about and hour ago, DNS updated and resolving to me already. If you can see https://www.xenacentral.com/moved.html you're getting the current, moved site!
Working On
- https://gameofthrones.seven-kingdoms.net - started uploading today
- https://houseofthedragon.seven-kingdoms.net - waiting
- https://knightofthesevenkingdoms.seven-kingdoms.net - finished uploading (not active yet)
- https://www.seven-kingdoms.net - finished uploading (not active yet)
30 Characters for 30 Tabletop RPG Challenge (Pt5)
May. 20th, 2026 06:58 pmsnowynightLiminal Horror: Liz the therapist
( One day, I'll bring my sister home )
FORGE: Perella the pious knight
( Read more... )
The Day We Leave Our Forests To Die In Beautiful Silence: Flutter the elf of dying forest
( Tell me, what do you want? )
Maid RPG: Silver the vampire demon maid
( It's all business. - I joked. )
( One day, I'll bring my sister home )
FORGE: Perella the pious knight
( Read more... )
The Day We Leave Our Forests To Die In Beautiful Silence: Flutter the elf of dying forest
( Tell me, what do you want? )
Maid RPG: Silver the vampire demon maid
( It's all business. - I joked. )
Spider Quinn 21 A View of Oakwood and Ruins - Part 8
May. 18th, 2026 08:09 pmfardell24“Are you sure?” Dafoanairi asked, having figured out what the Enigma intended to do.
“Not entirely, but do you or Ninja Talon have any better ideas?”
“Not right at the moment,” Dafoanairi admitted.
“Um, no,” Ninja Talon added.
Dafoanairi figured that Ninja Talon had figured it out too. “We need to defend her,” she said.
“I’ll do so too,” SpiderGirl said.
Dafoanairi saw that an agent had exposed more of the stone. ‘Trying to bury it in the short time left would be difficult,’ she thought.
The sun began to rise, illuminating everyone there.
“Now, you’re going to witness something.”
“That’s, like, what you think,” the Enigma said. She then concentrated as she tried to telekinetically lift a large amount of soil nearby.
Dafoanairi watched as the Enigma strained. ‘It would take at least ten minutes to get her home if she exhausts herself,’ she thought.
The Enigma strained and realised that she was trying to pick up too much soil too fast. She settled for just ripping up a sheet of grass.
“How long can you hold that up?” Osborn asked as he watched the grass block the rising Sun.
“Long enough,” the Enigma said, although she wasn’t sure.
But the lack of sleep that night had taken its toll on her and her hold on the grass slipped after another half of a minute. “Sorry,” she murmured to Dafoanairi.
“We’ll have to….” Dafoanairi started before the Enigma let go of the grass and leaned against her in exhaustion. ‘She’s not as out of it as before,’ she thought.
The stone glowed as the sunlight hit it. The mound started shaking.
“Uh olh!” SpiderGIrl said.
“Finally!” Osborn said.
( Read More )
“Not entirely, but do you or Ninja Talon have any better ideas?”
“Not right at the moment,” Dafoanairi admitted.
“Um, no,” Ninja Talon added.
Dafoanairi figured that Ninja Talon had figured it out too. “We need to defend her,” she said.
“I’ll do so too,” SpiderGirl said.
Dafoanairi saw that an agent had exposed more of the stone. ‘Trying to bury it in the short time left would be difficult,’ she thought.
The sun began to rise, illuminating everyone there.
“Now, you’re going to witness something.”
“That’s, like, what you think,” the Enigma said. She then concentrated as she tried to telekinetically lift a large amount of soil nearby.
Dafoanairi watched as the Enigma strained. ‘It would take at least ten minutes to get her home if she exhausts herself,’ she thought.
The Enigma strained and realised that she was trying to pick up too much soil too fast. She settled for just ripping up a sheet of grass.
“How long can you hold that up?” Osborn asked as he watched the grass block the rising Sun.
“Long enough,” the Enigma said, although she wasn’t sure.
But the lack of sleep that night had taken its toll on her and her hold on the grass slipped after another half of a minute. “Sorry,” she murmured to Dafoanairi.
“We’ll have to….” Dafoanairi started before the Enigma let go of the grass and leaned against her in exhaustion. ‘She’s not as out of it as before,’ she thought.
The stone glowed as the sunlight hit it. The mound started shaking.
“Uh olh!” SpiderGIrl said.
“Finally!” Osborn said.
( Read More )
It really is all laundry all the time
May. 17th, 2026 10:28 amconulyPerson A: You know you're supposed to finish the laundry if you start it during your shift!
Me, silently: Don't think of it as my three loads of laundry that I didn't finish during my shift, think of it as your three loads of laundry that I got started for you. Though really, if Person B had done her laundry during her shift like she should have then neither of us would be having this conversation today.
(There was no reason for all four of the women to have their hampers literally overflowing with clothes. Somebody, or more like several somebodies, clearly has been falling down on the job here.)
Me, silently: Don't think of it as my three loads of laundry that I didn't finish during my shift, think of it as your three loads of laundry that I got started for you. Though really, if Person B had done her laundry during her shift like she should have then neither of us would be having this conversation today.
(There was no reason for all four of the women to have their hampers literally overflowing with clothes. Somebody, or more like several somebodies, clearly has been falling down on the job here.)