mindstalk | Network

Although Lieutenant Hornblower is the second book chronologically in the Hornblower series, it was one of the later books written in the series. So, although the narrator is in fact Lieutenant Bush rather than Hornblower himself, it is very much a Hornblower book, which has the presumably unintentional effect of making Bush sound absolutely obsessed with Hornblower.

Oh, sure, he’s constantly running down Hornblower’s appearance (he looks like a scarecrow! He looked like he dressed in the dark and forgot to straighten his clothes!)... but that just shows he’s extremely aware of Hornblower’s appearance, as he rarely comments on how anyone else looks. He stares at Hornblower’s beautiful, skillful, fascinating hands (yes, he actually describes them as fascinating), and wonders if admiring a junior lieutenant smacks of French equalitarianism. He watches Hornblower drink a bucket of water from the well, which sluices down his chin and soaks his white shirt, and “The very sight of him was enough to make Bush, who had already had one drink from the well, feel consumed with thirst all over again.”

I mean yes they did just complete a sneak attack during which no one had a drink in the tropical heat for at least 12 hours, but also WOW. That’s what seeing Hornblower in a wet shirt does to a man, huh!

And then Bush is wounded, and the last thing he remembers before he blacks out is Hornblower’s pleading, tender voice… his gentle hands… the feeling of being safe and comforted by Hornblower’s presence… And once he’s in hospital on land, Hornblower brings him an entire basket of tropical fruit, and Bush is so bowled over he barely manages a “Thank you,” and then they just gaze at each other, which, let’s be real, is probably Hornblower’s preferred love language: Significant Looks.

Then later on Hornblower gets appointed captain, and Bush is so thrilled and so drunk that he ends the night stumbling down the hall, both arms around Hornblower’s neck, bellowing “FOR HE’S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW” at the top of his lungs as Hornblower helps him to bed. One presumes that Forester simply cut out before Bush dragged Hornblower in for a sloppy drunken kiss and Hornblower patted him awkwardly on the shoulder and fled.

So yes, all the people who recced Hornblower on the grounds that it is very slashy are 100% right. Amazing. This may in fact be the high point of slashiness for the series, as it seems unlikely that Hornblower POV is ever going to be quite as obsessed with Bush as Bush is with Hornblower (the series after all is not called Lieutenant Bush), but we shall see.

Oh, as for the actual plot, ( spoilers )

Today's

thefridayfive questions

1. What did you want to be when you were a kid?
Astronaut

2. What is your proudest accomplishment so far?
Having raised two kids and launched them into the world where they are now productive adults. Having raised a considerable sum in grants for the charity I volunteer at.
Alternatively - I'm still here.

3. What is your dream job?
I'm retired. I no longer dream about having a job.

4. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Maybe here, maybe somewhere else. Definitely not moving as fast.

5. What does it take to make you happy?
Cake

( You're about to view content that a community administrator has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

https://bomberqueen17.tumblr.com/post/807825658440974336

ok so the thing is

[image description: a screenshot from the AO3 stats page reading Word Count: 2,999,475]

this is my total wordcount on AO3, for all years, so the next thing I put up is going to push me over another milestone.

I didn’t exactly notice the one million word mark, which was close to ten years ago I think. I didn’t notice the two million word mark either, which happened sometime in the depths of the Witcher obsession a few years ago.

But I had expected to go over three million sometime last year, and then I spent the year on that original novel I didn’t publish on AO3 at all, so.

Anyway, probably this afternoon I’ll get there because the second chapter of Pavlov is– well, the wordcount is distorted because there’s HTML in it (thanks to @sassaffrassa). but it’s not like it’ll be close, it’s at least 3k even before the HTML gets funky in there.

So anyway I just wanted to point it out. Look at that!!!

I don’t shut up and that’s a promise.

https://bomberqueen17.tumblr.com/post/807825658440974336

https://bomberqueen17.tumblr.com/post/807822992206938112

salemwitchtrials:

i was re-watching ‘maya angelou: still i rise’ & lost my mind & heart during this reading of ‘the mask’ so i decided to record + upload for anyone who would also like to be brought to tears.

https://bomberqueen17.tumblr.com/post/807822992206938112

https://bomberqueen17.tumblr.com/post/807820044558123008

intergalacticmca:

Something that has stuck out to me about the opening montage is we see a shift in how Shane and Ilya are perceiving each other post-Vegas - Ilya has begun to openly yearn for Shane, while Shane has pulled back and compartmentalized their affair.
In episode 1, we see Shane watching Ilya’s interviews on his phone.
In episode 4, we see Ilya watching Shane on TV - he watches him winning the cup (twice), we see him watching Shane’s documentary. We see Ilya solemnly scrolling backwards on his phone rereading their text threads while he’s at the club. He’s the one to text first. He’s always thinking about Shane. He’s starting to barely spare a glance at interested women, because they’re not Shane.
Meanwhile, when we see Shane during the opening montage, he is responding to Ilya’s texts, yes, but we don’t see him watching any of Ilya’s interviews anymore. When we see him, he’s filming commercials, he’s working out, he’s winning cups, he’s alone in bed reading a book. It feels like Shane has actively pulled back and is trying to compartmentalize the relationship, focusing so heavily on his career and being the best that he manages to win 2 cups in a row. His hunger for success insatiable and his sexuality and relationship with Ilya contradict that, so he compartmentalizes it. He’s probably convinced himself sex with Ilya is just a release and has pushed down any deeper feelings he associates with it. He doesn’t let himself yearn anymore.
Ilya, meanwhile, is not as career-focused. He won a cup. He proved what he needed to prove. We see him exercising, of course, but we also see him partying, drinking, engaging in casual sex. Not exactly the disciplined behaviour of an athlete trying to achieve peak performance like Shane is. Hockey has become just a job to him; it’s what he’s good at and he definitely likes the luxuries that come with it, but it doesn’t make him feel complete. He’s yearning for something more - and that something is Shane. The show brilliantly portrays this visually without Ilya needing to speak a single word about how he feels out loud.
It leads perfectly into the tuna melt scene where Ilya is clearly emotionally prepared to enter new territory with Shane, while Shane, who has not allowed himself to yearn for Ilya in a long time (~~he is deep down; he’s just ignoring it~~), is completely blindsided by it.

https://bomberqueen17.tumblr.com/post/807820044558123008

https://xkcd.com/3204/

Staplers are actually in Pseudosuchia, making them more closely related to crocodiles than to dinosaurs.

https://xkcd.com/3204/

Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.

Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?

There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.

This Week's Question: What is your favourite thing to make?

If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.

I now declare this Check-In OPEN!

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: my desk

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ayapua-boat-museum

Before the 1850s travel by boat up the Amazon river, against the current, was nearly impossible, but with the arrival of steamboats new industries became possible. The most lucrative of these was the rubber trade, and from 1880-1912 the Amazon was flooded with adventurers looking to make their fortunes.

Steamboats like the Ayapua were the lifeline of this boom. They functioned as cargo boats, passenger liners, naval vessels, hotels, brothels, and everything in between. The Ayapua itself was built in 1906 in Hamburg, Germany, for the express purpose of carrying up to $2,000,000 worth of rubber per load in today’s money from the Peruvian Amazon to Europe and the United States.

The Amazonian rubber boom, however, was doomed almost before it began. After the British managed to smuggle a load of rubber seeds to their Asian colonies the price of rubber plummeted. Reports of the brutal living conditions and wholesale slaughter of the indigenous rubber tappers also started to reach Europe and Lima, despite the propagandising of the Rubber Barons, and by 1912 most of the adventurers and speculators had fled Iquitos, leaving nothing but mansions, trauma, and steamboats.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ayapua-boat-museum

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/savannah-pirates-and-treasure-museum

Explore authentic 17th and 18th-century naval weapons.

Embark on an adventure like no other at this most nautical of museums, where authentic artifacts and multimedia exhibits combine to bring the history of crime on the high seas to life.

Located in City Market, the museum speaks to Savannah’s rich maritime history, including the motley crew of marauders that once filled its ports. It’s also right below the Savannah Prohibition Museum, making it the perfect spot for history buffs to take in different periods of the city’s past in one day.

Visitors can engage with interpretive panels and audio recordings that reveal the nitty gritty details of pirate life or peruse primary documents to discover the secrets of history’s most infamous voyages. Real weapons, treasures, and tools—including Spanish coins from the El Cazador shipwreck and five carats of emeralds from the Atocha—immerse you in the Golden Age of Piracy. The museum’s strikingly life-like wax figures also allow you to meet (or even strike a pose with) heroes and scoundrels alike.

An interactive map shows how pirate history has unfolded around the world; however, the museum places special focus on Savannah’s own pirate ties, including the exploits of Captain Caleb Davis, an infamous smuggler and privateer with Georgia ties. Women pirates such as Anne Bonny and Mary Read are also highlighted, dispelling the misconception that only men could find fortunes on the high seas.

After brushing up on your history, you can drop anchor and grab a drink at the on-site Pirates Tavern. With its barrels of ale, wood-beamed ceilings, skulls, ropes, and more, it feels like entering into a real buccaneer’s bar—without the perils, thankfully. It even serves up time-tested pirate recipes, including “Hard Tack,” a rock-hard cracker just as salty as the sea.

The bartending ne’er-do-wells, Scarlett Redd and John Boy, sling up brews, wines, and themed cocktails like West Indian Rum Punch, and may even treat you to a traditional sea shanty or two. If the pirate’s life is for you, round off your visit with a toast, and pop into the gift store for your booty.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/savannah-pirates-and-treasure-museum

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Posted by GenericUser

https://www.metafilter.com/212101/Vroomscrolling

Cars That Never Made It Etc. is a Tumblr account tracking "dead [car] brands, cars that were developed but never put into series production, sales disasters and other motoring curiosities", such as the bulbous 1993 Ford Sub B Concept, the modular 1982 Italdesign Capsula, the boxy 1986 Hódgép Puli, the smooth 1993 Colani Carisma Spyder, the svelte 1982 GM Lean Machine, and many more.

https://www.metafilter.com/212101/Vroomscrolling

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/three-figures

Photographer and model.

Over the breadth and scope of London, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of statues. Some depict the heroic efforts of individuals while others memorialize great thinkers or innovators. Still there are a handful of sculptures that honor a moment in time in the capital's rich and varied history. This best describes a grouping of figures along a side street in the Mayfair district.

This piece is entitled, "Three Figures' and is the work of British sculptor Neal French (1933- ). It depicts a photographer, a model, and a curious passerby. The photographer is the renowned filmmaker Terence Donovan (1936 - 1996), whose studio is located nearby at 30 Bourdon Street. The model is Dame Lesley Lawson, (1949 - ) better known as Twiggy. The other figure is symbolic of the everyman.

This figurative sculpture was commissioned by Grosvenor Estate in 2012, it was to inaugurate their offices on nearby Grosvenor Hill. The piece was meant to reflect the areas impact on the 'Swinging Sixties', a youth led cultural revolution that was integral to London during the 1960's. This movement was highly influential in the areas of music and fashion.

This is mirrored in the choice of the subject matter. Twiggy was the "It-Girl" of the time, the poster child of this Mod youth led movement. She is depicted with her iconic pixie cut short hair and wearing a minidress in the style of Dame Mary Quant, (1930 -2023). This grouping of statues is apart of a sculptural art trail that includes works by Henry Moore, (1889 - 1986) and other contemporary artists.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/three-figures

Something I'm grateful for recently is that I got a scholarship/free spot for a writing workshop series, Writing for Rage. My friends Trish and Venky recommended it to me. It's six sessions, and after the first two, I find myself better at experiencing my anger as anger rather than hardening it into depression. We were given journal prompts to write about in our own time:

How do you envision your rage? Envisioning how I want my rage to express itself. I want my rage to be powerful. Because I have felt the most enraged when I was made helpless, when control was wrested from me, and when I was unable to protect myself. I wish to be destructive with no consequences. My rage so powerful that I don't have to say NOBODY MESS WITH ME, everyone gets it. It's a foregone conclusion. And so nobody dares mess with me. Because whatever they do to me, my rage will do worse. I think of Kali. Vengeful rage that ensures there are no repeat offenders.

What would the world be like if anger was normalised? People would be more honest. It wouldn't be a matter of who is allowed to be angry, and at whom, and who isn't, who has authority over you and who doesn't. One's sense of when something is wrong would be sharper. Less guilt for making someone else uncomfortable when confronting them about how they made you uncomfortable.

This month's horoscope for Libra by Alice Sparkly Kat also talks about anger, with journalling questions about the safety of expressing it.

( February horoscope )

Questions for Libra for February 2026:

What happens in your body when you piss someone off?
My body feels like my life is under threat, even in a verbal confrontation.
TW: physical violence
My childhood consisted of physical punishments whenever my mother was angry, including beatings and one time when she strangled me. My body's reaction to anger directed at me now, as an adult, is a hangover from those childhood experiences when I felt scared for my life.

Is there anyone who you are comfortable pissing off?
Nope. I wish there was. This isn't just about being safe when their anger is directed at me, but about how willing they are to make repair efforts if we hurt each other's feelings. What if I am, but they aren't?

How do you want to make more decisions in those relationships where you are free to argue?
I don't think I have any such relationships. But if I did, I would try to understand why we each believe what we do. I would stand up for what I believe in.

Current Mood: angry

For the first time this year I've left the office and it wasn't pitch black outside. Dark, but not *night*.

(Sunset was at 16:56)

Title: Your Future is in the Stars
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (ACD)
Rating: G
Length: 638 words
Summary: When Mouselet and friends start reading horoscopes for a laugh they get a shock

( Mouselet and Aemelia Vole pottered across )

The internal classified version was started in 1962 as The National Basic Intelligence Factbook. It was a resource that gave you very detailed information about countries around the world: form of government, economic information, population and make-up, etc. Very useful information. It went public in 1971 as the World Factbook and later joined the World Wide Web in 1997 in an unclassified version. It was available between '71 and '97 in print form and on CD.

And now it's gone. Any page for any country that you may have had linked now redirects to the closure notice. Everything's now inaccessible. Of course, you can still look into it via archive.org, but the information was updated regularly when the site was live, and it will now grow increasingly stale.

No reason given. The CIA was subject to the same chainsaw-trimming that most other government agencies were given courtesy of DOGE and the Muskbrats. We also have the intense administration's dislike of facts. Either or both could have contributed to its demise.

But with a little luck, in a possibly truthier future, it could be resurrected. There's no doubt that the CIA found the resource useful, so it may again become available to the public in a better tomorrow.

https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-cia-stops-publishing-the-world-factbook-184419024.html

https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/spotlighting-the-world-factbook-as-we-bid-a-fond-farewell/

( You're about to view content that a community administrator has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

I’m an aloha shirt kind of guy. Not all of my wardrobe is brightly floral—I need a few more subdued patterns for less informal occasions, such as starting work in an office where I haven’t confirmed aloha is acceptable business casual wear. But a fair number are, most of them tasteful.

This is mostly by temperament—they signal (though let me asterisk that * ) a laid-back temperament, which is both true and helps me through interactions with strangers. Mostly, as there’s also a practical component. I’ve mentioned this a couple times, but I come across IRL as taller than I do online: I’m 6'4" / 193cm. Finding men’s short-sleeve shirts that are long enough for my torso to stay tucked in is a challenge. (Paradoxically, it’s easier with long-sleeve shirts, as “long” sizes is a thing for those.) Aloha shirts, however, are designed to not be tucked in, and indeed look worse that way. Win!

But then there’s that asterisk: * I’m graying enough, both hair and goatee (which last I’ve been keeping for two years now), that I can sometimes be misidentified as a Boomer, and a Boomer in an aloha shirt signals a different temperament than a younger guy in one. I’m lean enough I don’t entirely lean into that stereotype, but still. I’m older Gen X and … touchy … about being mistaken for a Boomer.

The goatee is starting to annoy me in other ways, anyway, so maybe shaving it will help—it has the most white. Or I could, yanno, suck it up and deal. Be laid-back. Just like the shirts claim.

---L.

Subject quote from We Can Work It Out, The Beatles.

I got my exam results yesterday, and they were slightly disappointing, in the "virtually anyone would be fucking delighted, but they were all on the low end of what I was expecting" sense of the word disappointing. I got 15/20 in Catechetics, 16/20 in Anthropology, 17/20 in Psalms & Prophets, and 18/20 in Hebrew II and Ugaritic. The first two are entirely understandable - I wasn't particularly keen on either course, and whilst by no means neglecting them completely, I didn't put in a particularly high level of effort. I'm happy enough with the 18s. They were both challenging courses, and 18 is a bloody good mark.

The one that's bugging me is the Psalms though. I thought I understood the material well, and that I'd had some interesting and insightful things to say. I know that I got 18/20 in the paper that makes up half the mark, which means that I only got 15-16/20 in the exam. Hardly the end of the world, but it's the only one where I don't understand why I didn't do better. I've emailed the prof to ask for feedback, so with luck I'll get something useful. (ETA: Apparently marks get rounded down, not up - I got 8/10 and 9/10 in the two exam questions, and the 8 was because he had to prompt me a couple of times, and since at least one of those time he prompted me for the thing I was about to say anyway I am now feeling a lot less bothered by the overall mark.)

One result though which is positive in a sense is that my overall grade is now almost guaranteed. My average is currently 87%. The top grade boundary is an average of 90%, which had seemed in reach before these results, but would now require me to get 20/20 in all but one of my remaining courses (and 19/20 in that), which isn't really plausible. The grade boundary below is an average of 85%, and whilst the fact that there are just more numbers between 0 and 87 than between 87 and 100 means that there's more scope for my grade to be dragged down than up, I would have to do quite a bit worse than I have been for that to happen. Anyway, the sense that there's not a lot that I can do to change my overall grade means that I can concentrate more on learning for the sake of learning, which in the long term is almost certainly better than chasing grades.

Profile

mindstalk

Home page

February 2026

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28

Page Summary

osprey_archer - Book Review: Lieutenant Hornblower
smallhobbit - The Friday Five: Past, Present and Future
scifirenegade in small_fandoms - Drabblethon: only I am as I have always been (Der Student von Prag)
bomberqueen17_feed - ok so the thing is
bomberqueen17_feed - salemwitchtrials:i was re-watching ‘maya angelou: still i rise’...
bomberqueen17_feed - Something that has stuck out to me about the opening montage is we see a shift in how Shane and Ilya
xkcd_feed - Dinosaurs And Non-Dinosaurs
badly_knitted in get_knitted - Check-In Post - Feb 6th 2026
atlas_obscura_places_feed - Ayapua Boat Museum in Iquitos, Peru
atlas_obscura_places_feed - Savannah Pirates and Treasure Museum in Savannah, GA
rekishi - This totally could have happened to Shane
metafilter_feed - Vroomscrolling
atlas_obscura_places_feed - ‘Three Figures’ in London, England
adore - (no subject)
andrewducker - The light is rising
smallhobbit in fan_flashworks - Star: Sherlock Holmes (ACD): Fanfic: Your Future is in the Stars
thewayne - RIP: The CIA World Factbook
smallhobbit in small_fandoms - Drabblethon - The Midnight Bell in Spring - Frank
larryhammer - “life is very short and there’s no time / for fussing and fighting my friend”
wildeabandon - Exam results.

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Style Credit

Base style: Abstractia by chiming
Theme: White Lace by nornoriel

Page generated 2026-02-06 21:12