Breaking Cat News - 2026-07-09
Jul. 9th, 2026 12:00 am![[syndicated profile]](/post-https-www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
breaking_cat_news_feedComic strip for 2026-07-09
Breaking Cat News
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Jul. 9th, 2026 10:14 am![[personal profile]](/post-https-www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chefxhOne of the worst things about this journal is the absences. Of course I miss Bill and Kat and Ed and James and hold on to their memories for a blessing. But the ones that hurt the worst are the ones who not only unfriended me in some purge of their lists, but took back our entire interaction. Every word I shared with a friend here is gone, and I resent that they have withdrawn our entire record.
It is a horrible gaslighting feeling.
It is a horrible gaslighting feeling.
Review: Sunsplitter by S.A. MacLean
Jul. 9th, 2026 03:00 amfantasy_book_critic_feed
FORMAT/INFO: Sunsplitter will be published by Orbit Books on August 4th, 2026. It is 608 pages long and available in ebook, paperback, and audiobook formats.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Sunsplitter is the spicy action-packed follow-up to Voidwalker and it manages to deftly balance romance, action, and character in one fantastic finale. What I especially appreciated about this sequel was that it managed to find conflict between the couple of Fi and Antal (human and monstrous daeyari respectively) that felt natural and earned and not forced to create drama. Antal may have found the love of his life in Fi, but he's grappling with the fact that he has been isolated from his own people for decades, and he may have to continue that isolation to protect the human-friendly community he and Fi are building. There's a real exploration of how being cut off from your own culture is a devastating loss of connection - even if you have mixed feelings about the individual people in that culture. Fi in return struggles to figure out if she's "enough" for Antal - if she can fill the void that lost connection creates.
This conflict felt like a natural rough patch in a relationship, especially one where family members don't approve of the match. And eventually, they do call each other out and work through their issues, becoming even stronger for it. If I had one area where I had a complaint, it's that I wish Antal had had a little more initiative towards the end of the book, instead of letting old patterns continue to rule.
Aside from the romance, there's an engaging action-packed plot with a splash of politics as a dangerous foe threatens not just Antal's territory, but daeyari rule everywhere. I was fully invested in this new enemy, though I could have stood to learn a little more about them than we did. Either way, this new threat gives us the excuse to peek behind the curtain at the council that rules how daeyari live and govern on their home turf, and I welcomed the addition of new characters from Antal's past. They provide their own complications as Antal tries to figure out who - if any - of his former friends and relatives he can trust.
I'll also just give a quick mention to the fact that this is a spicier book than Voidwalker. While there was definitely spice in the first book, the author here leans full-tilt into the "monster smut" aspect of the book. There is plenty of non-spice plot in here too, but if those kinds of scenes aren't your cup of tea, you might be better off with another book.
Sunsplitter was a fantastic sequel to a book I really enjoyed. Voidwalker was one of my favorite reads of 2025 and I have a feeling Sunsplitter is going to end the year with the same glowing honor.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Sunsplitter is the spicy action-packed follow-up to Voidwalker and it manages to deftly balance romance, action, and character in one fantastic finale. What I especially appreciated about this sequel was that it managed to find conflict between the couple of Fi and Antal (human and monstrous daeyari respectively) that felt natural and earned and not forced to create drama. Antal may have found the love of his life in Fi, but he's grappling with the fact that he has been isolated from his own people for decades, and he may have to continue that isolation to protect the human-friendly community he and Fi are building. There's a real exploration of how being cut off from your own culture is a devastating loss of connection - even if you have mixed feelings about the individual people in that culture. Fi in return struggles to figure out if she's "enough" for Antal - if she can fill the void that lost connection creates.
This conflict felt like a natural rough patch in a relationship, especially one where family members don't approve of the match. And eventually, they do call each other out and work through their issues, becoming even stronger for it. If I had one area where I had a complaint, it's that I wish Antal had had a little more initiative towards the end of the book, instead of letting old patterns continue to rule.
Aside from the romance, there's an engaging action-packed plot with a splash of politics as a dangerous foe threatens not just Antal's territory, but daeyari rule everywhere. I was fully invested in this new enemy, though I could have stood to learn a little more about them than we did. Either way, this new threat gives us the excuse to peek behind the curtain at the council that rules how daeyari live and govern on their home turf, and I welcomed the addition of new characters from Antal's past. They provide their own complications as Antal tries to figure out who - if any - of his former friends and relatives he can trust.
I'll also just give a quick mention to the fact that this is a spicier book than Voidwalker. While there was definitely spice in the first book, the author here leans full-tilt into the "monster smut" aspect of the book. There is plenty of non-spice plot in here too, but if those kinds of scenes aren't your cup of tea, you might be better off with another book.
Sunsplitter was a fantastic sequel to a book I really enjoyed. Voidwalker was one of my favorite reads of 2025 and I have a feeling Sunsplitter is going to end the year with the same glowing honor.
I can feel it coming / the morning light
Jul. 9th, 2026 02:40 amviridian5Something brought "People Are People" back to my mind, so I borrowed Depeche Mode's The Singles 81>85 from the Queens library system. I hadn't heard some of these songs in ages, since I had their earlier albums on cassettes but didn't rebuy all of them on CDs. Some of the music sounds like toy music these decades later due to the synthesizers being used, and the songs sound brighter, partly as an '80s thing and partly as the band's shift into darker sounding stuff mostly happened later. I still remember my surprise when 2013's Delta Machine had a low end that sometimes made my car's speakers buzz.
It's nostalgic and sometimes a bit funny. This singles album also reminds me that while it's not something Depeche Mode is primarily known for, they've been writing occasional, somewhat political "message" songs their whole career, no matter what some disgruntled listeners of 2017's Spirit had to say about it on Amazon.com, but you know what the "what can't they leave politics that aren't mine out of music and stick to fluffy stuff!" crowd is like.
Speaking of Spirit, here's one of my favorite songs from it, a love song.
I tend to have a preference for songs that tell a story or paint specific images of times and places, something evocative. The first stanza of "Cover Me" sure does that for me. The music also takes you places and has a cinematic feel.
Though you guys can rarely hear my music the way I do, since I often sing along with the melody or harmonize on a lot of songs. With Depeche Mode, I'm singing right with Dave Gahan or with Martin Gore, or creating my own harmonies on some lines and/or putting it into a register of my own. For "Cover Me," it's a mix of Dave and one of my own registers, with occasional harmony to what Dave's singing.
If anyone had told me in the '80s that Depeche Mode would still be a band and still be putting out music I find interesting over 40 years later, I would've been so surprised.
It's nostalgic and sometimes a bit funny. This singles album also reminds me that while it's not something Depeche Mode is primarily known for, they've been writing occasional, somewhat political "message" songs their whole career, no matter what some disgruntled listeners of 2017's Spirit had to say about it on Amazon.com, but you know what the "what can't they leave politics that aren't mine out of music and stick to fluffy stuff!" crowd is like.
Speaking of Spirit, here's one of my favorite songs from it, a love song.
I tend to have a preference for songs that tell a story or paint specific images of times and places, something evocative. The first stanza of "Cover Me" sure does that for me. The music also takes you places and has a cinematic feel.
Though you guys can rarely hear my music the way I do, since I often sing along with the melody or harmonize on a lot of songs. With Depeche Mode, I'm singing right with Dave Gahan or with Martin Gore, or creating my own harmonies on some lines and/or putting it into a register of my own. For "Cover Me," it's a mix of Dave and one of my own registers, with occasional harmony to what Dave's singing.
If anyone had told me in the '80s that Depeche Mode would still be a band and still be putting out music I find interesting over 40 years later, I would've been so surprised.
The Friday Five for 10 July 2026
Jul. 9th, 2026 02:04 amanais_pf posting in ![[community profile]](/post-https-www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
thefridayfive1. What would you do right now, if money were not an issue?
2. What would you do for the next three years, if money were not an issue?
3. What is bringing you the most joy right now that requires little or no money?
4. What types of things do you find enjoyable that require no money?
5. Is there anything you've been meaning to do for a long time, but put off because of money?
Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.
If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!
2. What would you do for the next three years, if money were not an issue?
3. What is bringing you the most joy right now that requires little or no money?
4. What types of things do you find enjoyable that require no money?
5. Is there anything you've been meaning to do for a long time, but put off because of money?
Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.
If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!
(no subject)
Jul. 9th, 2026 01:13 amviridian5Now that I've figured out the current iOS's way of making wallpapers, I'm going hogwild. I loved my June one, and I figure on bringing it back at some point, but for now it's this, which turned out interesting.
( screenshots )
Ah, the red and the blue. I also think it's funny that the weather app on the lockscreen is situated over the reflection of a window across the street and looks deliberately done. I'm annoyed though that for some reason the wallpaper's colors aren't as vivid as in the original photo, especially on the home etc. version. (The colors are very vivid in the original photo when seen on my iPhone but less so off it.)
( screenshots )
Ah, the red and the blue. I also think it's funny that the weather app on the lockscreen is situated over the reflection of a window across the street and looks deliberately done. I'm annoyed though that for some reason the wallpaper's colors aren't as vivid as in the original photo, especially on the home etc. version. (The colors are very vivid in the original photo when seen on my iPhone but less so off it.)
Community Thursdays
Jul. 9th, 2026 12:01 amysabetwordsmithThis year I'm doing Community Thursdays. Some of my activity will involve maintaining communities I run, and my favorites. Some will involve checking my list of subscriptions and posting in lower-traffic ones. Today I have interacted with the following communities...
* Comment on Just One Thing (8 July 2026) inawesomeers.
* Commented on Check-In Post - July 8th 2026 inget_knitted.
* Commented on "Speak Up Saturday" intv_talk.
* Posted "Agriculture" infirst_nations_freaks.
* Comment on Just One Thing (8 July 2026) in
awesomeers.* Commented on Check-In Post - July 8th 2026 in
get_knitted.* Commented on "Speak Up Saturday" in
tv_talk.* Posted "Agriculture" in
first_nations_freaks.
Acceptable Apps
Jul. 8th, 2026 10:27 pmarmainaI, as much as many people, am tired of the amount of things that force itself into app-hood, but there are a couple things I've installed on my phone as apps that I'm glad I did, namely, the Wikipedia app and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary App.
So much of small searches are either just checking spelling, a thesaurus check, or fact-checking on Wikipedia. The Wikipedia app's been great because it saves tabs of all my searches if I want it to, and the Dictionary app is great because it gets right to what I need it for, word checking that I have too often done with a search engine and have decided they don't need my clicks.
Just nice utilities to have around.
So much of small searches are either just checking spelling, a thesaurus check, or fact-checking on Wikipedia. The Wikipedia app's been great because it saves tabs of all my searches if I want it to, and the Dictionary app is great because it gets right to what I need it for, word checking that I have too often done with a search engine and have decided they don't need my clicks.
Just nice utilities to have around.
Anime Summer 2026 Assess 1 of 2
Jul. 8th, 2026 10:25 pmlovelyangel A Livid Lady’s Guide to Getting Even, Episode 1 |
At the beginning of every anime season, I try to sample most new shows to determine what I’ll be following during the season. The goal is no more than 16 series. A lot of average / so-so shows end up in the Time Permitting queue. My actual commitments are short.
The summer anime season is especially difficult to kickstart because I’m generally unavailable the second week of July. I’ll be offline, and anime will be on hold. I’ve started to sample shows, but already there is a huge backlog that is clamoring for my attention. Well, it will have to wait until later this month. For now, I’ll post the incomplete compilation of assessments. There are placeholders for shows waiting for my review.
( This Season’s Anime Below The Cut )
We tried another way we never came back from
Jul. 8th, 2026 11:45 pmsovayFollowing the successful conclusion of one of spatch's appointments for a change, we returned to Belle Isle Seafood and this time it was a beautiful gold-tilting evening and we could seat ourselves at one of the weather-polished open-air tables and a server came by with her pad of guest checks and for what we estimate to have been the first time in six and a quarter years we ate at a restaurant together. I got a plate of smelts piled just as high and sweetly sanded and ate them down to the fried tips of their tails and the delicate bones. Rob assures me that his baked haddock was as flakily rich as it looked under its crumbs and juiced lemon. We had duly observed the warning sign about the seagulls, but mostly we saw sparrows leaning like acrobats through the diamonds of the chain-link and a common tern that made an air-slicing swoop into the water after a small silver struggle of fish. I twisted corners of napkins into earplugs because of the planes roaring out of the peach-haze over Logan. The serpentine water was full of the shivered reflections of boats and the piers built green shadows under their Plimsoll lines. When we came home by way of Revere Beach where the glass-backed combers were still curling in high, the sun doubled itself fierily in the salt marsh off North Shore Road. Even more so now, the sea feels like a lifeline. Everything feels like choking and it is so important to have reasons to breathe.
spatch's appointments for a change, we returned to Belle Isle Seafood and this time it was a beautiful gold-tilting evening and we could seat ourselves at one of the weather-polished open-air tables and a server came by with her pad of guest checks and for what we estimate to have been the first time in six and a quarter years we ate at a restaurant together. I got a plate of smelts piled just as high and sweetly sanded and ate them down to the fried tips of their tails and the delicate bones. Rob assures me that his baked haddock was as flakily rich as it looked under its crumbs and juiced lemon. We had duly observed the warning sign about the seagulls, but mostly we saw sparrows leaning like acrobats through the diamonds of the chain-link and a common tern that made an air-slicing swoop into the water after a small silver struggle of fish. I twisted corners of napkins into earplugs because of the planes roaring out of the peach-haze over Logan. The serpentine water was full of the shivered reflections of boats and the piers built green shadows under their Plimsoll lines. When we came home by way of Revere Beach where the glass-backed combers were still curling in high, the sun doubled itself fierily in the salt marsh off North Shore Road. Even more so now, the sea feels like a lifeline. Everything feels like choking and it is so important to have reasons to breathe.
(no subject)
Jul. 9th, 2026 02:03 pmthawreckaI love how much the character 酒 looks like, wow, look at this bottle of stuff, like it's putting spirit fingers around a bottle of booze
Friend, Food, and Books
Jul. 8th, 2026 09:00 pmlovelyangel |
Today I had lunch in Portland with my friend Jim. I don’t go into Portland often, so I merged the lunch date with some errands. On a sunny day with a high around 79°F, outdoor walking was a perfect activity.
( A Fine Day )
Things
Jul. 9th, 2026 01:45 pmvassBooks
Finished listening to the audiobook of Monkey King (abridged, Monkey-centric, version of Journey to the West translated by Julia Lovell, narrated by Kevin Shen.) It was very fun.
Tech
Dug out the soldering iron etc that I bought years ago with the annual intention of learning electronics this year. Now to check whether they work and haven't become damaged over two moves and mumble years of storage.
Finished listening to the audiobook of Monkey King (abridged, Monkey-centric, version of Journey to the West translated by Julia Lovell, narrated by Kevin Shen.) It was very fun.
Tech
Dug out the soldering iron etc that I bought years ago with the annual intention of learning electronics this year. Now to check whether they work and haven't become damaged over two moves and mumble years of storage.
movies: Leviticus, Rose of Nevada
Jul. 8th, 2026 08:44 pmsnickficLeviticus (2026). Two queer teen boys in a homophobic Australian backwater are stalked by a demon that appears to each one as the other, driving them apart.
This stars Joe Bird, the little brother in Talk to Me. He was great then and he's great here, and his and co-star Stacy Clausen's chemistry is fantastic. This movie only works because they're so good together as two fumbling kids who don't really understand themselves or each other, who can't trust each other because the other guy might be a demon, but who, it turns out, can't trust anyone else in their lives either. Betrayal is the big theme here: by trusted adults, religion, the person you're into, and yourself.
The conversion therapy metaphor is very obvious, which isn't necessarily bad, but I did feel that the movie wasn't sure what to do with it once it had introduced it. Like yes, now you (or the appearance of you) are dangerous to each other, so now what? I wanted it to give me more. The movie feels like it plateaus in the last act, neither deepening the themes nor escalating the tension but just hitting a lot of the same beats until things finally resolve.
However, the actual character work is good, IMO. Both kids are complicated and make realistically bad choices, but they also both keep trying with one another. There's a really great scene where love interest Ryan uses the word dickhead about five times, and it's honestly really sweet in context. The cinematography was also good; I really felt the kind of down-and-out exhaustion of the industrial small town.
Overall, even though it didn't fire on all cylinders for me, it's definitely a worthwhile watch if teen boys in love in a horror setting sound like your jam.
--
Rose of Nevada (2026). Directed by Mark Jenkin, who also made Enys Men, this is about two guys in an impoverished Cornish fishing town who take a job aboard a lost and resurfaced fishing boat, which takes them back in time. The guy who's been sleeping rough suddenly finds he has a wife and kid; the guy who took the job to support his family no longer has one, because they're back in the present day.
This movie is largely an Experience (tm) rather than a story as such. It seems like there is some actual plot/lore underpinning, but Jenkin is not that interested in explaining what it is. We spend a LOT of time on a fishing boat. The captain might be fae, or the boat might stuck in a time loop, or... who can say.
Mostly what Jenkin is interested in is making a movie that feels old, full of fuzziness and tactile impressions of things. I'm told the camera can only store about twelve seconds of footage at a time, so everything is a quick cut, and for whatever reason he didn't mic any of it, so all the sound happened in post and all the spoken dialogue was dubbed in, like an old giallo film or something.
I got out of this and was like well that was an experience I guess, but with time I feel like I might want to watch it again. Maybe I can make sense of more things this time.
This stars Joe Bird, the little brother in Talk to Me. He was great then and he's great here, and his and co-star Stacy Clausen's chemistry is fantastic. This movie only works because they're so good together as two fumbling kids who don't really understand themselves or each other, who can't trust each other because the other guy might be a demon, but who, it turns out, can't trust anyone else in their lives either. Betrayal is the big theme here: by trusted adults, religion, the person you're into, and yourself.
The conversion therapy metaphor is very obvious, which isn't necessarily bad, but I did feel that the movie wasn't sure what to do with it once it had introduced it. Like yes, now you (or the appearance of you) are dangerous to each other, so now what? I wanted it to give me more. The movie feels like it plateaus in the last act, neither deepening the themes nor escalating the tension but just hitting a lot of the same beats until things finally resolve.
However, the actual character work is good, IMO. Both kids are complicated and make realistically bad choices, but they also both keep trying with one another. There's a really great scene where love interest Ryan uses the word dickhead about five times, and it's honestly really sweet in context. The cinematography was also good; I really felt the kind of down-and-out exhaustion of the industrial small town.
Overall, even though it didn't fire on all cylinders for me, it's definitely a worthwhile watch if teen boys in love in a horror setting sound like your jam.
--
Rose of Nevada (2026). Directed by Mark Jenkin, who also made Enys Men, this is about two guys in an impoverished Cornish fishing town who take a job aboard a lost and resurfaced fishing boat, which takes them back in time. The guy who's been sleeping rough suddenly finds he has a wife and kid; the guy who took the job to support his family no longer has one, because they're back in the present day.
This movie is largely an Experience (tm) rather than a story as such. It seems like there is some actual plot/lore underpinning, but Jenkin is not that interested in explaining what it is. We spend a LOT of time on a fishing boat. The captain might be fae, or the boat might stuck in a time loop, or... who can say.
Mostly what Jenkin is interested in is making a movie that feels old, full of fuzziness and tactile impressions of things. I'm told the camera can only store about twelve seconds of footage at a time, so everything is a quick cut, and for whatever reason he didn't mic any of it, so all the sound happened in post and all the spoken dialogue was dubbed in, like an old giallo film or something.
I got out of this and was like well that was an experience I guess, but with time I feel like I might want to watch it again. Maybe I can make sense of more things this time.
Jokes
Jul. 8th, 2026 08:15 pmpattrose* What month is the shortest of the year? May, it only has three letters.
* Why do we tell actors to "break a leg?" Because every play has a cast.
* What do you call it when a snowman throws a tantrum? A meltdown.
* My uncle named his dogs Timex and Rolex. They're his watch dogs.
* Did you hear about the guy whose left side was cut off? He's all right now.
* What did the left eye say to the right eye? Between you and me, something smells.
* I'm so good at sleeping I can do it with my eyes closed!
* What do you call a pudgy psychic? A four-chin teller.
* If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring? Pilgrims.
* Why do we tell actors to "break a leg?" Because every play has a cast.
* What do you call it when a snowman throws a tantrum? A meltdown.
* My uncle named his dogs Timex and Rolex. They're his watch dogs.
* Did you hear about the guy whose left side was cut off? He's all right now.
* What did the left eye say to the right eye? Between you and me, something smells.
* I'm so good at sleeping I can do it with my eyes closed!
* What do you call a pudgy psychic? A four-chin teller.
* If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring? Pilgrims.
July questions.
Jul. 8th, 2026 07:51 pmpattrose6. Today is the beginning of Great British Pea Week in the UK. Do you like eating peas? Have you ever grown them?
I love peas. I use them in a lot of recipes. And I crave slit pea soup often.
7. It’s the seventh day of the seventh month, and in Japan, it’s the day of the Star Festival (Tanabata). For one day only, wishes, hopes, poetry and dreams are written onto streamers and tied to trees. What would you write on a streamer today?
I would have written something about cancer. My brother is starting his second two-month aggressive chemotherapy. He can use all the prayers he can get.
8. Artemisia Gentileschi was born today in 1593. She was incredibly famous during her career, but largely forgotten until the 20th century. Have you ever seen any of her paintings?
I do know who she is. Her work is lovely but not anything I would want to own.
I love peas. I use them in a lot of recipes. And I crave slit pea soup often.
7. It’s the seventh day of the seventh month, and in Japan, it’s the day of the Star Festival (Tanabata). For one day only, wishes, hopes, poetry and dreams are written onto streamers and tied to trees. What would you write on a streamer today?
I would have written something about cancer. My brother is starting his second two-month aggressive chemotherapy. He can use all the prayers he can get.
8. Artemisia Gentileschi was born today in 1593. She was incredibly famous during her career, but largely forgotten until the 20th century. Have you ever seen any of her paintings?
I do know who she is. Her work is lovely but not anything I would want to own.
