This is not an flocked post

[sholio]

... but you wouldn't know it if you're reading this on LJ, because apparently flock icons have now disappeared from some(?) older Livejournal styles, including mine. I suppose this is not so huge on the Livejournal Inconvenience Scale, but ... really, LJ?! I think I might end up switching to the default style, anyway. Years spent on Tumblr and other mobile-friendly sites has gotten me used to the Big Friendly Button school of web design and made it less eyebleeding for me, and while I had trouble with it in the browser on my old computer, it runs fine on the new one. Also, I didn't realize 'til I started checking LJ on a phone how difficult the old styles are to navigate on mobile. Change and progress, progress and change ...

(ETA: Switched site styles; flock icons now showing up again. I needed to change up my style anyway.)

For you Vorkosigan readers, the e-ARC of Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen is out! You can buy it for $15, or read the first four chapters online for free. I know some people are avoiding it because of certain aspects of the storyline, which is fine, but if you want to read it, thar it be! (GUESS WHAT'S LOADED UP ON MY KINDLE RIGHT NOW. :D)

And finally, here is a neat meta post I ran across on Tumblr on the symbolism of the wine bottle in the first and last episodes of White Collar. Thoughts? (May be construed as slightly Kate-unfriendly, though I didn't find it particularly so -- more that it's a snapshot of where Neal was at a certain point in his life, rather than a criticism of Kate or her relationship with Neal -- but depending on how one's shipper-tastes run, that aspect might be offputting to some.)

Comments

[ratcreature]

I have the same lock icon issue. It is a really annoying and bizarre glitch.

[sholio]

I was able to resolve it by changing my style. Maybe you could try some different styles and see if you can find one you like that still shows the icons?

[ratcreature]

Yeah, I've now switched my style. I'm somewhat disgruntled about it though, because I tweaked my previous style when I still had a paid account, and now that I reverted to basic on LJ I can't do that anymore. OTOH the main CSS layer thing I did was to blacklist certain community posters who posted frequently stuff that squicked me, and these days with the low traffic that's not really an issue anymore.

I also found that the newer styles where the locks still appear now have different lock icons for custom friend groups too, so at least that is better.

[princessofgeeks]

I'm curious about why some people are avoiding the new Bujold book? What plot elements are they avoiding?

I'm reading it now; am about a third of the way through. It's a lot of fun and also quite a riot to compare this world by the actual author to Dira Sudis' stories, which are so good and feel like canon to me.

[sholio]

A lot of people in the fandom REALLY don't like the retconning of Jole and Aral's relationship, and by extension, Aral and Cordelia's. I don't have that problem because I was never invested in the series in a heavily headcanoning sort of way -- that is, I actually like (in concept, anyway) the idea that there might be major things we never learned about the characters since we were seeing them from Miles's somewhat limited point of view. But mileage varies, of course.

[princessofgeeks]

Interesting; thanks for the heads up!

[brightknightie]

I'm completely unspoiled on Bujold's next -- knock wood -- and I have the hardback pre-ordered. Whatever may be the bee in people's bonnets, Bujold has more than earned my own personal wait-and-see.

(I ended up deeply disappointed in her "Sharing Knife" books -- most of all for what I saw as the wasted potential -- but those don't come anywhere near wearing away everything she's earned with me through the years. The person behind Memory, Barryar and The Curse of Chalion... oh, my.)

[sholio]

As a warning, there are some spoilers for the general premise of the book in the comments above; please avoid them to remain unspoiled!

I really love most of her books, though every once in awhile there is a complete whiff (such as The Hallowed Hunt, which bored me so badly that I couldn't even finish it while trapped on a transcontinental airline flight!). But, in general, I think she is an excellent writer who has a unique approach to the genres she writes in.