I am not accustomed to optimism

[st_aurafina]

There was a whole conversation here about a racist encounter with a customer, and how could I have handled this better, and so on. But I've redacted it: his wife came in to apologise, and I apologised for not handling it in a skilful and diplomatic way and it's all actually okay. I don't have to beat myself up for speaking up and causing trouble, I can retain my professional relationship with my regular customers and I feel really heartened by that. Also, there was hugging, and for once I quite liked it.

As a consequence, I am brimming with optimism. I am a solid wall of positive thinking. People of Earth! It's all going to be okay.

I have links! And recs! And thoughts!

SSRIs may reduce effectiveness of Tamoxifen.

If you know someone who has had breast cancer and is also being treated for depression, this might be relevant to them. Tamoxifen is a standard anti-oestrogen treatment for post-menopausal breast cancer. SSRIs may reduce the available amount of tamoxifen in the body. The TGA is now recommending that, for their breast cancer patients, prescribers avoid using the SSRIs with the most inhibitory effect.

(Caveat that comes from me sharing professional information like this: This is not an "OMG stop taking your medication right now!" type warning, it's a "I should talk with my doctor about this" type warning. Nor is this some kind of mistake doctors have been making in the past, this is the outcome of a major study to improve outcomes.)

There's Echo Bazaar fic on the Archive! EBZ has been slowly eating my brain over the past few weeks. I think I'm starting to get ideas on how to play strategically, rather than flailing and clicking randomly. I love the atmosphere, the way the mythology is building up in my head, and the very dry sense of humour of the place.

I don't love that I have five hours till my candle renews. *taps fingers*

Yuletide Recs for Echo Bazaar:

The Naming of Cats (1035 words) by isabeau
Fandom: Echo Bazaar
Rating: Not Rated
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Jack of Smiles, Starveling Cat
Summary:

Who is Jack of Smiles? No one in Fallen London knows...

This is a look at Jack of Smiles and the way truths are very flexible in the Bazaar. Lots of smart in-game references, and a really cohesive weaving of the mythology.

Better the Devil of Your Mysterious and Somewhat Questionable Acquaintance (1801 words) by mjules
Fandom: Echo Bazaar
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: The Player/The Affectionate Devil
Characters: The Player (Echo Bazaar), The Affectionate Devil
Summary:

"Let's have another round for the bright red devil who keeps me in this tourist town."

This is in second person, but in the context of the game, second person really works for me. It takes the narrative of the new player just out of New Newgate, and takes you on the Affectionate Devil path. Oddly romantic, in that "he'll probably eat me" way.

Bat Country (1703 words) by Moorishflower
Fandom: Echo Bazaar, Supernatural
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Ruby (Supernatural), Castiel
Summary:

Where you stop is a moot point, really, because all of the States Below is bat country. Based off of the game Echo Bazaar.

Supernatural viewed through the (slightly cracked) Bazaar lens, in the world of The States Below. Read it for the description of fox jerky, at least. A perfect blend of the two mythologies - I never realised how closely they lay together.

Speaking of things Supernatural, if Seanan McGuire's Sparrow Hill Road had been what the show was about, I'd still be stuck to my TV screen, rapt. It has everything I wanted from the show - urban legends, mythology and this dark, roadside view of America. It's really, really good.

It's serialised at Edge of Propiniquity: Sparrow Hill Road
Welcome to the midnight America, the place where people go when they slip into the cracks between light and darkness, a world of routewitches and oracles, demons and ambulomancers. It's the place where a man named Bobby Cross sold his soul to live forever...and where one pretty little dead girl is racing to save herself and stop the killings that began on Sparrow Hill Road. The rules are different here, and everyone's playing for keeps. Be careful. Be cautious. And listen to the urban legends, because they may be the only things that can save you from the man who waits at the crossroads, hunting souls to keep himself alive.

I think it was amaresu who was reccing it before Yuletide? Whoever you were, thank you so much! I am totally on-board with Sparrow Hill Road as a fandom now.

In other new, I signed up for casestory, the case story big bang. Hopefully I can write that X-Files/Twin Peaks crossover that has been crawling around my brain for months.

Comments

[nixwilliams]

optimism for the yay! i'm glad there were apologies and you're feeling better about the whole situation.

[st_aurafina]

Optimism is strange but good! And I'm glad it worked out too, though I think she was, by chance, a good person. And you know how it is in the country, there's not many that would be willing to apologise for racist behaviour.

[nixwilliams]

yep - i mean, there's few enough people who would anyway, and then the country tends to be whiter, more 'conservative' and have a lower population density, so the likelihood of coming across one is even lower.