raspberryhunter

Books in the old unread pile: 6

I got Isma Ismail's Mistika Legenda at the same time as that Asian Folk Tales book I posted about recently, I guess cos I was on a local folktales kick at the time. This book's a retelling of Mahsuri's story, interspersed with brief retellings of other legends such as the Merong Mahawangsa battles Garuda story, the fae princesses of the seven wells (a Hagoromo legend variant), and Sang Gedembai, as told within the story by Mahsuri, her father, or her husband Wan Darus.

The legend of Mahsuri summed up is basically: Mahsuri was a beautiful and pious woman who lived on Langkawi island, who was accused of adultery when he husband was away at war, and when she was stabbed to death for her "crime", she cursed Langkawi to seven generations of misfortune, and her blood flowed white as evidence of her innocence.

Obviously there's more detail than that, but that's the gist of it. The seven generations have since passed, and the legend is very well-known here and is such a part of Langkawi's identity, and elements of the legend are familiar in other regional folktales. I remember reading in the news of Mahsuri's descendants visiting Langkawi in modern times, for example.

( Cut for length. )

Current Mood: okay

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unfitforsociety

Batfamily

Bandaids for Bullet Wounds by

voidapologist
Jason gets drunk to celebrate his birthday after his return to Gotham, and ends up killing the Joker — but not in costume. One little slip up, and suddenly Batman knows that Jason Todd is alive and in Gotham, and seeks to bring him home with the help of Crime Alley’s new vigilante, Red Hood. Oh heart.

the fawcett proposition by

TheRoodHed
Batman assigns the Justice League to gather intelligence on Red Hood's expanding criminal empire. Clark can't see through the lead. Diana's operative gets made in seconds. Hal discovers movie night. Barry gets speed bumps.

Captain Marvel gets desk work.
Billy Batson buys a bus ticket.

(Or: a homeless twelve-year-old realizes that the crime lord of Gotham has built everything the system never gave either of them, and decides to ask for help. Jason Todd was not expecting to acquire a kid, and yet.) This series is SO GREAT! Billy asks the Red Hood for help with community building in Fawcett and both of them get a family (and a better life for themselves and their neighborhoods) out of it. Oh my heart!!!

✭

Crossover

Avengers/Batfamily

Blue Divergence by

mysterycyclone
"Forgive me, Tony."

Tony can't move. He freezes in place, hand twitching above the changed arc reactor. Confusion, followed by shock, followed very quickly by fear driven anger as Tony snap his eyes back to Strange.

Strange meets his gaze and says, "When you find him, ask Tim for help." AU of Dark Matter (previously recced), where Tony is also sent to the DCU by Strange during the battle on Titan.

✭

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Stars vs Wild on tv

unfitforsociety

The Pitt

enough for you to be open wide by

Siria
"Do you like karaoke?" Trinity asked, which wasn't a question that Mel could answer in a particularly empirical manner. Mel generally found bars and clubs to be intimidating. But maybe that might be different if she went into one of them with a friend? <333

✭

Current Mood: full
Current Music: Stars vs Wild on tv

unfitforsociety

Heated Rivalry

Bird Set Free by

Hth
His heart. Ilya does have one of those – that’s not a crime, is it? He keeps it on its leash, never lets it run loose to bite and steal and cause chaos. You know it's high quality yearning when it's happening even while they're together having sex. <333

Building A Home by

merakily
The ice is where Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov fall in love, but the (mostly Asian) grocery stores in Montreal are where they learn how to be in love with each other.

In which Ilya learns about mochi, Shane learns about Russian milk bags, and they both learn how to breathe. Together. Oh heart. Now I really want the story where Ilya makes mochi with Yuna.

Cliff's Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week (Is Probably Going Better Than Ilya's) by

petroltogo
Ilya disappears in Sochi. Half-way across the world his team does its best to help. Their best is more than anyone could have foreseen. This is laugh out loud hilarious. Highly recommended.

the comments are a dumpster fire by

trickysnail
Five times Shane and Ilya ran into each other's burner accounts online. This is so cute!

Is this thing on? by

ARustySpork
after an injury on the ice forces Shane into an early retirement, he and Svetlana start a podcast. This is so fun!

Of all the florists in Boston by

lilliesinwater
Shane gets hurt in the Boston vs. Montreal game. Ilya crashes out and buys all the lilies in Boston for him.

No one knows about them.

Except for Ilya's new florist, who never asked to get involved in dumb hockey boys and their messy drama. Also, Cliff is a good friend. Aw, this is super sweet.

Protected Person by

chinesebakery
Shane finds out on Twitter.

Not from a lawyer or a teammate or even one of the journalists who've been calling nonstop since the FanMail video went viral. He finds out at 6:47 am, still in bed, that Russia is coming for Ilya. Propaganda charges. Passport revocation. Return to the Russian Federation required.

What follows is weeks of watching everything fall apart. Ilya's career. Their safety. The system that was supposed to protect them. Shane keeps playing while Ilya can't. The lawyers file paperwork and say to wait. Montreal demands silence.

Shane faces a choice: keep his head down and trust the process, or burn down his career and force the world to pay attention.

He chooses fire. Wistful and thoughtful - a good read.

the sum of its parts by

FlameHazel18
this is a super cute social media series.

sure grandpa, let’s get you to bed by

goldenraeofsun
Scott’s age is Rozanov’s favorite topic, but now that Scott has come out, he shudders to think about what Rozanov will throw at him this season.

Or, 5 times Rozanov makes fun of Scott for being old, and 1 time he makes fun of Scott for being gay. Aw this is so cute!

You, me, and Lily by Anonymous
Jackie Pike finds "Lily's" number and tries to reach out. <333 I am so invested in Jackie and Ilya's friendship!

✭

Current Mood: awake
Current Music: Stars vs Wild on tv

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scaramouche

I watched Breaking Bad for the first time two years ago, and luckily I made a post mentioning it so I know that I did it because I was watching a not-so-good CN show at the time and wanted a palate cleanser of sorts. I remember going into BB wondering if it would hold up and if the loud response to Walter White was because its handling of the character was more subtle than mainstream audiences could process and realizing, no, the show is pretty damn clear from the start that WW is the architect of his own destruction.

Anyways, I have now read Bryan Cranston's autobiography A Life in Parts! It's a quick read, though I feel like that for all his age and experiences he could have written something much longer and substantial, but this was a fun romp through Cranston's adventures growing up with a troubled family, studying to be police officer but getting derailed by acting, and then LOVING acting. He loves acting so much, and it comes through so warmly through all his stories, even the ones that don't end well (like when he doesn't get the job, or gets fired) or when there are situations where his dedication to the work/character has him clashing with other creatives.

Although all the autobiographies by creative celebrities I've read involve a level of obsession with their craft, and although I've read better celebrity storytellers, the thing about Cranston is that he has so much joy for his work that he's so dang excited to share what he's learned. Though he's also careful to explain even finding that joy is work in itself, and the delight of fleshing out characters and stories that are barely anything on paper, and putting himself through all sorts of situations in service of the characters and story (undressing to tighty-whiteys and being covered with bees among them). He talks about BB and Malcolm in the Middle, of course, but particularly highlights his early soap role on Loving, and the various guest starring parts he had over the years including Seinfeld and The X-Files. It's like one big :D, is this book.

I looked up a bunch of things he mentions having done, among them this superbowl ad, which did make me laugh, he really does give his all, and you can see he's made a whole little backstory in his head of why/how WW is there:

Watch on YouTube

Current Mood: hot
Current Music: Murray Gold - I Am the Doctor

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unsent_letters_exchange is an exchange for in-universe correspondence! We have some post-deadline pinch hits.

Requirements: 1000 words of fic, of which at least 500 words should be in a requested epistolary format
Due date: May 8th, 11:59PM UTC

Requirements: 1000 words of fic, at least 500 of which must be in a requested epistolary format.

PH 2 - Minecraft: Story Mode (Video Game) x2, The Protomen x2, Bionicle (Generation 1) x2

PH 8 - Dune (Movies - Villeneuve), Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson, The Worst Journey in the World - Apsley Cherry-Garrard

PH 17 - Thoroughbreds (2017), Succession (TV 2018), The Secret History - Donna Tartt

PH 18 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003), Crossover Fandom, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), TMNT (2007)

For more details, or to claim: https://unsent-letters-exchange.dreamwidth.org/27840.html

Thank you for your consideration!

scaramouche

Things I have learned after prepping for and then going for my first city race:

Anti-chafing tape feels like a spurious purchase if you're a filthy casual (me), but chafing is AWFUL and HURTS LIKE THE DICKENS, and anything that can prevent that is good. Soft, waterproof plasters are functionally similar, but comparatively more expensive.

If one is wearing the run's official shirt, test said shirt out by wearing it in a pre-run, to check if it will chafe in new and exciting places. >:(

Before: always remember to stretch. After: always remember to cool off. Even if they're for short fun runs.

Bring a small towel to wipe yourself afterward. Sweat isn't as much a problem when running at home since you can shower immediately after, but when you have to travel from the run venue back home, might as well make the trip as comparatively pleasant as possible.

Put the bib on before going to the venue (using a mirror), unless you have someone to help put it on at the venue.

Wearing shades is great! They make me feel way less self-conscious about where I'm looking at, especially because of the photographers along the route.

There are photographers! And you can search the database for your photos based on your race number! But you will never look as cool as you think you do, and that's okay.

Do not be self-conscious about wearing a running belt, running pouch, or having bulging pockets if you're carrying stuff. Lots of people will be wearing/having the same. A backpack is also perfectly fine. (I don't know why I felt backpacks would be weird, like I assumed everyone would want to run as light as possible.) There will be people in full cosplay, for crying out loud. (I saw a Squid Game guard and a hijabi Loki.)

Have fun, and don't be pressured to do more than you're willing or ready to.

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: Nanne - HÅLL OM MIG

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Here is the sign-up form. Welcome to this year's challenge! Sign-ups will close at 11:59pm EDT, Saturday 9 May.

You can request 3-10 canons, and offer 3-10 canons. If a canon doesn't appear in the drop-down menu when you go to enter it, you can copy and paste it from the tag set and press enter.

Each of your requests and offers must be tagged with 1-3 of the labels "Fanfiction", "Podfic", and "Fanart".

Your requests have a space for optional details. Go ahead and use them to talk about how you understand the song and what kind of art/fic/podfic you might like. However, your gift creator doesn't have to follow your prompts. They do have to respect clear and specific Do-Not-Wants listed in the sign-up (like "no pregnancy" "no scat" "no rainbows").

If you are requesting Podficcer's Choice of Fandom, it's up to a podfic artist what work they choose to record, though you are welcome to include likes and DNWs to inspire their choice.

Your requests have a space for a letter link, if you want to provide one. This link must be included before sign-ups are closed. If you are writing a letter, please have it complete and unlocked by the end of 13 May.

Opting in to treats: Please state if your AO3 preferences are set to allow you to receive treats or if you have this setting disabled. Include a statement in your optional details like Treats welcome or I have opted in to treats (or Treats disabled if true).

Podfic offering options

If you are offering podfic for a song or music video in the tag set, you are pledging to create both text and recording (500-5000 words). You are welcome to team up with a friend to create a work, whether you're the recording artist or the writer, but if that's what you intend, please contact us at jukebox.mod@gmail.com to let us know of the arrangement and to provide a contact email for your friend.

If you are offering podfic in combination with "Podficcer's Choice of Fandom", you are pledging to create a recording of a pre-existing song/MV fanwork, using your recipient's DNWs and general likes as guidance for your choice of fanwork. If this is the only thing you wish to match on, please say so in the Notes to Mods field so we don't accidentally send you a request where you have to write a story as well. Please make sure we can get in contact with you - ie, do you use the email account associated with your AO3 account? If not, please email us directly (jukebox.mod@gmail.com).

Notes to Mod in Offers

These are confidential notes where you can tell the mods (Minutia_R and Morbane) if you want to match in specific ways - for example, if you want to match on one request more than the others, or want to be assigned a recipient who has a letter. If you are a podfic artist who has to offer 3 fandoms but only wants to match on Podficcer's Choice of Fandom, please use Notes to Mods to say so. (Please don't tell us things like "I will not create anything in my DNWs" - if required to closely compare your own preferences and your potential recipients' preferences, we may miss something. Specific names, or anything we can quickly check, are fine.)

In recent years, AO3 has implemented a blocking feature - see AO3 news posts here, here, and here. This does not affect challenge matching, ie, someone you've blocked can still match to you. So if you have another participant blocked or they have blocked you, please use your offers and requests, your notes to mods, or both, to help us help you avoid interactions with them.

You can comment here or contact us at jukebox.mod@gmail.com if you have any questions about signing up.

Again, welcome!!

NB: Normally, we get the reference tables of all songs & music videos & lyrics up just before sign-ups. Unfortunately, I'm a little behind this year, so that will go up during the sign-up period. If you nominated, your links are still very welcome at this post and will help us complete the tables.

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scaramouche

Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky's Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State was a spontaneous get in an unfamiliar topic, and on top of that more of an academic text with dry prose, which made it a bit of a challenging read to get through. When I say "dry" I also mean functional and clear, and it's still a well-written book that lays out its arguments and paints a very thorough picture of the late Ottoman refugee crises and population exchanges with Russia through the end of the Ottoman empire, and with particular focus on North Caucasians and Circassians in particular.

Very new topic to me so a bit of a hurdle in there as well, though I have read about the Ottoman empire before and, well, Armenian genocide and the bad choices through WWI, but this book really delves into a specific topic I didn't know anything about. It's really interesting to look at a time as nation-states were developing and borders hardening, and how that influences choices in which refugees to take and which to reject, and how said refugees were accepted and integrated (well, or badly, or extremely badly) and the political considerations that have so many consequences to today.

Like, of course in the aftermath of various wars, the Ottoman empire would want to get rid of as much of its non-Muslim population and fill that gap with Muslim refugees (or muhajir, as some would describe), with Russia wanting the opposite by getting rid of its unwanted Muslim populations in trade for Christians. It's population manipulation on a grand scale, dressed up in promises of an Islamic empire (dar-al salam) accepting its needy co-religionists into their bosom, but also cold in its usage of those refugees to strengthen borders, improve its tax collection, put pressure on rebellious bedouin, and increase productivity of the land. The implication of the belief coreligionists will be more loyal to the state than not, and is a crucial factor along with ethnicity in actualization of a nation-state -- all elements that play out to painful conclusions through WI and WII, but here are elaborated on in their specificity. The book also argues that some of the mechanisms and lessons these population exchanges were used in later population exchanges after WWI, up to the India-Pakistan Partition.

The book also zooms down, to the human cost of these population exchanges, of what people sacrificed (if they went willingly), of what people did to survive and sometimes thrive, of the desperate attempts to hold on to family and cultural heritage through these upheavals, of those who fled their homelands but returned. Surviving letters are used to flesh these stories out, and the book specifically uses three case studies of North Caucasian refugee areas, with the Balkans representing an area that failed in many ways, and the Levant as an area that succeeded greatly, in part because of the Hijaz railway that allowed economic prosperity up to the future nation-state existence of Jordan (whose current capital is a former refugee site). Interesting stuff, though a little overwhelming in its newness to me.

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We've closed nominations! Thank you for all your submissions!

If you sent in nominations, we can still use links to your songs & music videos, and their lyrics, over on this post, so please add them if you can. (Translations and genre notes are extra bonuses - only include them if you want to.)

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raspberryhunter

January 2026

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raspberryhunter

Reading

Book Log: Mistika Legenda

uc_xmen drabbleathon > 3weeks4dreamwidth

werewolvesden drabbleathon > 3weeks4dreamwidth

Dishonored Fugue Feast 2026

Witcher Rarepair Comment Exchange June 2026

Fandom Empire - Prompt Tables with a Twist

and there's no room out there

with a shot off the glass

but then there's the 5-on-5 story

Tokusatsu: April 2026 Monthly Self-Reccing Period

Book Log: A Life in Parts

3W4DW Icon Request Fest

Unsent Letters Post-Deadline Pinch Hits

New experiences for 2026

2026 Sign-Ups Open

Podfic offering options

Notes to Mod in Offers

Hellaverse: What A Hellish Summer Exchange 2026

Book Log: Empire of Refugees

Nominations closed

darcyland drabbleathon > 3weeks4dreamwidth

3weeks4dreamwidth > Supergirl 20in20 icon challenge

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