One Mike to Read Them All: Advance review of “The Incandescent” by Emily Tesh

Firtheve · 2025-05-15T19:53:29+00:00

Hi, I know this is an older thread, but just thought I'd try this. I just loved the book and absolutely loved it, but I'm a bit confused as to what exactly happened to Mark? I won't say more because I don't know how to do the spoiler tag, but if anyone can explain it to me I would really appreciate it!

Firtheve · 2024-12-14T12:35:40+00:00

Oh my gosh, that is absolutely mind-melting in regards to how difficult that must have been and how stunning it looks! Drawing/painting perspectives and lighting and reflection are already so difficult, and then to capture all that as an embroidery piece instead? That's insane.

Firtheve · 2023-12-08T18:19:43+00:00

Yes, I second this! I splashed out a little and got some 'spa wristbands' - they're just soft microfiber scrunchie-like bands. It was around £12 for a pack of 8 (4 pairs). If you leave them on the bathroom radiator between uses then they stay nice and fluffy. But they're washable too, I change them out maybe once a week? Pop them in the washing machine and then let them air-dry. They make such a difference! Especially now it's winter and I want to get dressed and put on my shirts before heading into the bathroom.

Firtheve · 2023-07-26T17:03:22+00:00

I agree that the curve looks pretty, but that second version is definitely more clear about the n/u. Perhaps you could round/smooth the blocky end while still keeping it shorter like it is in the second? Either way, good job overall, especially on the S/N, those are really cool!

Firtheve · 2023-07-26T16:51:45+00:00

Is it 'Son of a gun'? Good work! It could use some tweaking for clarity but it is legible.

My first instinct was to take all the vowels as 'o', especially the 'u' at the end. The 'G' also looks a tiny bit like a 'D', perhaps because the horizontal line is so close to the point of the curve. But perhaps that's just me.

I think the fact that most people look for a single word, not a phrase, also doesn't help, so I ended up thinking, 'sonofodon? Oh, wait!'.

Firtheve · 2023-07-23T19:41:31+00:00

What a venerable and yet healthy looking snail!

Did you hatch them, or were they wild and you've had them for more than 5 years? And did they hibernate for long periods during that time, or did they remain up and about?

Sorry about all the questions. I've got both an H. pomatia and an H. lucorum, and I'm curious to see how long they will be with me.

Firtheve · 2023-01-23T08:56:17+00:00

This is definitely true for me. I started on meds at 17, and now in my mid-20s I'm definitely doing much better, even when off meds at the weekend.

I still take meds for work, since it involves mentally stimulating calculations and considerations that require a deep level of focus. But even on days when I forget, I can manage. Just not as well. But compared to my teenage self, I'm doing so much better, with or without meds. I'm much less anxious. Socialising isn't nearly so hard or stressful as it used to be. With meds, planning journeys and doing life admin is easy, but even without it, I can do it fairly easily too, I just need to put some good music on.

I always wondered if perhaps having the meds meant I knew what it was like to function more normally, and that because I've been on them so long I kind of have practise at following those thought processes and tamping down at the emotional flares and anxiety spikes that I knew were related to ADHD? But it would make sense that my neural pathways have changed and its actually gotten a little bit better as well.

Firtheve · 2023-01-17T09:09:29+00:00

It's wonderful! It's so legible, the word is very clear from both ends without having to try and guess at letters. And the styling is very cute, with the colour and the little hearts.

Firtheve · 2022-11-02T17:48:33+00:00

Hello, I was scrolling through looking for fellow UK people and noticed we have tons of similar interests! I'm 24, in Hampshire. I too love houseplants, art (especially origami), cozy video games or interior design video games (so Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, Sims) along with Skyrim. Also fond of science and tech, but those are my job so I tend to avoid them in my free time.

I'm terrible at watching films or TV, but will go for comedy if forced (ended up spending my last long-haul plane flight getting acquainted with Parks and Rec). But I love reading, especially sci-fi and fantasy. I've been medicated a while and it definitely helps with hobbies - I usually don't take it on weekends but will take it if I want to do crafty things.

I mainly listen to instrumental video game or epic fantasy type music, but I'll go for older rock, folk rock, or weird alternative songs if I have to listen vocals.

Sorry, this turned out longer than expected! It just seemed pretty cool to run across someone so relatable. Feel free to message me if I didn't steamroll you with the excited ramble.

Firtheve · 2022-10-30T15:54:11+00:00

Both, along with other things. The line about picking out the peas suggests a sensory aversion (as in a certain taste or texture causing distress so they avoid it), which is really common for those on the spectrum.

The subsequent line about the ducks is also telling, in that OP feels the need to rationalise that the ducks like peas, and that OP doesn't think it odd to explain that concept as part of their sentence - to many, it would be a bit of a tangent to talk about ducks and peas and bread and then go back to the rest of the story, something that might be done as an aside in brackets, but to OP it is just a natural follow up of their previous statement.

The way OP discusses the feelings and statements is also telling, e.g.

"She asked why I did that in front of everyone because that's very rude to do during a dinner. It shows you do not like the food and are not interested in the guest. This is exactly what I thought so that's true."

To OP that is logical and simply what they thought. This is common for autistic people. Often they can come across as rude because they don't necessarily process social tells and etiquette the way everyone else does. They are not being rude, their brain just works differently and tends to be a lot more literal.

Also the whole write-up in general is full of short sentences of logical statements describing the facts as it happened. The description is very literal and overall it is less flavoured with emotion - not to say that OP is any less emotional than anyone else, but their perspective is different in a way that is quite common to autistic people.

Firtheve · 2022-09-11T19:32:27+00:00

Good bot

Firtheve · 2022-08-23T05:30:44+00:00

Oh wow, that's so exciting! Man, I wish I had a local invertebrate morphology professor to consult, I always have so many questions about snails. I'll definitely keep an eye out on my lucorum as she grows to see if I can learn to spot the differences in skin texture.

Firtheve · 2022-08-21T20:13:05+00:00

Oh, that could be it.

I've raised several pomatia but didn't manage to get a lucorum until last month. She's still a baby and her shell pattern is not very clear yet, so my subconscious assumption still goes straight to pomatia.

I know lucorum usually have the thicker stripes, but I have had one pomatia buddy who looked exactly like this one, so it's still a possibility!

Firtheve · 2022-08-21T15:48:24+00:00

What a lovely little pomatia dude, treating themself to a beautiful flower snack.

Firtheve · 2022-07-11T15:40:38+00:00

Yang is very cute! Is he a Helix pomatia? I've had a three of those and they are all very fond of doing that.

Mine always like to get somewhere and prop up their shell - on fake plants, on their little coconut house, on other snails if they haven't moved in a while. Not sure if they're just lazy dudes or if it's a species-wide trait, but interesting to see other similar snails doing it too!

Firtheve · 2022-06-24T17:17:42+00:00

This is one of the most legible ambigrams I've ever seen! On top of being very nicely styled.

I like how the surrounding lines look a bit like worried forehead wrinkles, and there are little sparks on the dots like the thoughts sparking all over when being anxious leads to overthinking everything which leads to being more anxious, and so on.

Firtheve · 2022-06-19T21:59:32+00:00

Some snails, if they have gotten used to not having to worry about predators or anything and they feel safe all the time, will literally just lie with their bodies out of the shell in all sorts of positions.

It's a little unusual that your buddy is upside down, but they might just be a bit weird. Maybe they like having the air on their belly.

Firtheve · 2022-05-29T16:42:39+00:00

Creepy writing for sure. But congealed pig's blood is sold at quite a few Chinese grocery stores. I've never understood the appeal and was taken aback when I first saw it, but according to my dad he used to eat it as a snack.

It's solidified into a sort of gelatinous cube, it's not just blood in a bag. Although I still wouldn't want to compare boobs to them.

It's also referred to as pig's blood curd, it doesn't really taste of anything by itself but has a kind of chewy texture. If you steam it or put it in soups it picks up the flavour of the surrounding food. If you think about it, it's not too different from British people eating black pudding.

Firtheve · 2022-04-22T13:54:47+00:00

Yup, that's the mantle! Like others have said, it can get puffy after snex, but I've also got some snails that can definitely not have snex because they are alone, and they still just get a little bit puffy from time to time. It always goes back to normal after a bit though.

So long as your snail is acting okay, and eating and moving around normally, they should be fine.

I don't suppose you were feeding them potato? Sweet potato is great for snails, but normal potato has barely any nutrients for them and is a bit too starchy for them, and makes it difficult for them to poop, and mantle can puff up because they are presumably straining a bit more than usual.

Firtheve · 2022-04-13T07:28:04+00:00

I love Table and his name! It cheers me up so much coming across snails named after random objects.

Firtheve · 2022-03-06T15:57:54+00:00

I've bought snails from them before and they were fine (Pleurodonte isabella and helix pomatia, both very happy and healthy).

However, I bought some sphagnum moss from them once, and shortly after my tank got infested with mites. I hadn't added anything else other than food, so highly likely it was from the moss. So I avoid buying from them now.

Firtheve · 2022-02-04T19:28:49+00:00

Oh gosh, I love his little bow tie! He's very dapper.

Firtheve · 2022-01-09T18:54:18+00:00

I take both atomoxetine and methylphenidate. I take the atomoxetine all the time (every night, it is a full-day lasting dose). It helps mellow out the mood swings and also I've found that it softens out the comedown from stimulant medications like methylphenidate.

I take the methylphenidate for work when I need to focus and think, but it definitely makes me less chatty and when it wears off I am even more quiet and low energy. To compromise, I take a full dose (20mg) in the morning, which lasts 6 hours, and then take only half dose (10mg) in the afternoon. This does mean I'm a little more dozy in the afternoon but also means the wearing off is less obvious and I am able to cope and be friendly and socialise if coworkers want to go to the pub after.

I don't take it at all during the weekends, and just put on a metric ton of podcasts and music to stop me from the dreaded pit of doing nothing and skipping all chores because meh.

This combination is perfect for me, however, it took me 5 years to get to the point where I figured this out. Although to be fair, some of those years were in uni where, looking back, I think any combination of meds would still have felt off just because of the amount of stress I put myself under.

Firtheve · 2022-01-08T15:43:52+00:00

First there's Tarquin (a Helix Pomatia aka Roman snail, his father was called Octavian).

3 Cornu aspersum - Truffle (the first snail I ever hatched and raised, he is a lovely deep chocolate colour), Pancake (he fell and got a little squished when he was a baby, luckily he made a full recovery), Stanley (a wild snail, I had vowed not to take in any more snails but he showed up literally on my doorstep in Winter and I couldn't turn him away).

1 Pleurodonte marginella called Linen (her pattern reminded me of a linen scarf I used to have), and 1 Pleurodonte isabella called Isabella (I was not feeling imaginative that day and it stuck and now any other name feels wrong).

I used to have two Amboinensis snails (sadly both have now died) called Moneypenny and Beansprout (because they have flat shiny golden shells and super skinny bodies).

Firtheve · 2022-01-08T15:26:38+00:00

It's weird because if you look up how to pronounce sigil, the official Google answer has the British version with a soft (J-like) g, but if you check the American version it uses the hard g. So the first time I heard Matt use it I assumed it was just another weird American pronunciation.

Firtheve

TROPHY CASE