why_me_why_not | Reading

October slipped past in a blur, but November feels like a month for gentle structure — reading because it’s comforting, writing because it helps me breathe, and trying not to treat either as a chore.

📚 Reading Goals

Finish at least 3 books
Keep reading a little most days, even just a few pages
Maybe (finally!) finish The Ministry of Time
Prioritise fun and curiosity over guilt - reading doesn’t have to be productive to be worthwhile
Share a few more updates, even the messy or half-formed ones. That’s part of the story too.

✍️ Writing & Fandom Goals

Update Surface Tension
Update Wolf-Tethered - and try to figure out what story it’s actually trying to be!
Update You Wouldn’t Take My Word for It If You Knew Who Was Talking
Write some Sincaraz - whatever shape it wants to take
Write more Darren/Jannik kink (because it’s always fun)
Maybe write some more Team Sinner Polycule fic
Keep sharing, even if it’s just a snippet or a ramble - words in the wild count

🌿 Life Goals

Keep doing physio for shoulder, hip, and knee - consistency over perfection
Have at least one proper rest day with no guilt
Cook something comforting, ideally involving butter or cinnamon
Go outside on at least one clear, cold morning - just to breathe
Keep organising clothes storage a little at a time — it doesn’t need to be perfect, just better
Get back to daily gratitudes
Keep using Finch - it’s been helping, and that’s worth keeping up
Try one small thing that makes life feel softer

November doesn’t need to be wildly productive; it just needs to feel a little steadier, a little kinder. Here’s to slow progress, good food, and stories that won’t leave us alone. 💛

badfalcon

October was… a lot. Between uni starting (!!!), work chaos, and a migraine that just would not quit, reading was more of a background hum than a main feature. But hey - two books finished is progress, and I’ll take that as a win.

📖 What I Read
The Last Olympian – Rick Riordan ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A satisfying end to the Percy Jackson series! I enjoyed the scale of it, even if it didn’t hit quite as hard as some of the earlier books for me.
The Kiss Curse – Erin Sterling ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Cozy witchy romance with autumnal vibes - perfect for spooky season reading, even if I read most of it under a blanket trying to ignore my migraine.

☕ What I Didn’t Read (But Still Counts)

I made progress on several ongoing reads, even if I didn’t actually finish them. And honestly, that’s kind of the mood for October - slow, steady, distracted by tutorials and caffeine.

I also managed to start three new books this month - because apparently my brain’s motto is “finish? never heard of her.” So despite finishing two, I somehow ended up with more books on my “currently reading” shelf than I started October with. Classic me.

Still, it’s progress. The list may have grown, but so did the stories I’m excited to return to.

🧠 Life Lately

Uni starting has been both exciting and overwhelming - lots of new routines, brain fog, and figuring out where reading fits into my days again. Work’s been full-on too, so I’m trying to be kind to myself about the pace of everything.

Also: I did read a lot of fic (and wrote a fair bit too), so the stories are still happening - just not always in book form!

🌟 November Reading Goals

Let’s try again, but gently.

Finish at least 3 books
Keep reading a little most days
Maybe finally finish The Ministry of Time
Prioritise fun and curiosity over guilt
Share a few more updates - even the messy ones

✨ Because even if it’s slow, it still counts.
And hey - if all else fails, there’s always fanfic and hot chocolate. ☕💛

muccamukk

Adapted* from this spread by

thewitchoftheforest.

1. Honour: How can I honour my ancestors?
The Sun

2. Connect: How do I better connect with my ancestors?
The Tower

3. Shadow: What shadows do I need to confront?
King of Wands

4. Release: What do my ancestors want me to let go of?
Seven of Coins

5. Focus: What ancestral gifts should I channel?
Two of Coins

6. Guidance: A message from my ancestors.
Ten of Wands

* I think this is the first one she did, and it's a bit clunky, so I've smoothed out some of the wording.

anais_pf posting in

thefridayfive

These questions were originally suggested by

twirlandswirl.

1. Did you vote in your most recent applicable election? (If you're not yet old enough, do you plan to vote in the future?)

2. Have you ever protested or attended a march?

3. What political issue is the most important to you?

4. Are you a member of a party in your country? If so, which?

5. Do you ever plan to run for office?

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!

muccamukk

Very scattered, some references to U.S. Politics.

On the YouTubes (and a Podcast)

Schmowd3r: PI Investigates the Blake Lively "Situation" (3:42h).
Probably not a lot of new information on the Blake Lively piece if you've been following the case, but it's well laid out. The first section is largely about trying to detect bot campaigns, and he has some really interesting thoughts there. Also, he's an entertaining presenter, and am adding him to my subs.

LilShopofAli: Some of y’all still don’t understand desirability and it shows (1:40h).
This is a bit dated as it's about the topic du jour from a couple months ago, but I really like how Ali can take the discussion of the moment and expand it into a video about the wider cultural context. Very well done.

olurinatti: How “This Didn’t Age Well” Destroyed Media Literacy (0:42hr).
Great video about thought-terminating cliches and how they affect the way we talk about media.

ophie-dokie: censorship is coming for you next (& you're cheering it on) (1:02hr).
Can we stop running to cling ~~to mommy's apron~~ the state and demand stuff get cancelled? It's not going to end well.

Search Engine Podcast: A Dubai Chocolate theory of the internet (0:47hr, no transcript?).
If the medium is the message, and the medium is algorithmically-driven short-form video, what messages are we dealing with right now? Thoughts on Gen Z, and the world they're stuck in.

I Failed to Think of a Theme, and Failed, so Random Shit Posted in Order Bookmarked:
Kyrianna: Portraits.
Surrealist watercolour portraits of people with disabilities, manifesting symptoms of pain and restriction on their bodies. Really beautiful and affecting.

The Tyee: Unifor Undaunted as Amazon Ramps Up Its Anti-Union Fight.
"A union leader says newly certified workers are keen despite the company’s legal counteroffensive."

Tom's Guide: How to disable Copilot in Windows 11.
This was quite easy, and I wish I'd done it months ago.

TGEU: International Day of Action for Trans Depathologisation 2025.
I thought the demand list was really well laid out. These folks are doing such important work.

Spitfire News: Survivors deserve better storytelling.
A call to improve how journalists and content creators talk about violence and abuse. There's an open letter linked, and Kat also helped set up

survivorstoriesdeservebetter.

CBC: 'A healing event': Heiltsuk doctor performs rare delivery of Heiltsuk baby in own homelands.
An early labour in Bella Bella, B.C., where the hospital isn't equipped to deliver babies, had a happy ending.

The AV Club: Spotify stands by ICE recruitment ads despite artist backlash.
A growing number of artists have boycotted the service over its founder's investment in military AI.

muccamukk

Someone stuck both my boostle fic on goodreads. Which... sighs. Maybe that's where all the traffic is coming from?

I should figure out how to get them taken down, but don't have the energy to care.

anais_pf posting in

thefridayfive

These questions were originally suggested by

akarii.

1. What do you see when you are looking out of the window closest to you?

2. Who was the last person coming into your room?

3. What is the most predominant colour around you?

4. What is right behind you?

5. What is on today's calendar sheet?

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!

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	29
30

always been crazy

Reading

🍂 November Goals 🍂

📚 Reading Goals

✍️ Writing & Fandom Goals

🌿 Life Goals

📚 October Reading Wrap-Up

Tarot Reading for Samhain

The Friday Five for 31 October 2025

October Link List

Boostle Update

The Friday Five for 24 October 2025

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