merrily | Network

I was going to but I started to feel very nauseated and cold. Came home sat down to play a game, woke up an hour later. I'm feeling a little better but not great. Not going was the right call.

Got the midterm grades in. Can't wait for the crying tomorrow.

I looked up the Ohioana book festival because I know it's up and coming but there was a library staff change and the festival was canceled. I'm bummed and angry. I didn't make it last year for reasons and now I don't know if it'll ever be back.

What I Just Finished Reading:

The Snow Child - depressing

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison. Would have been better without the misogyny and sexual abuse (but would it be Ellison without the misogyny?)

What I am Currently Reading:

Violet Thistlewaite is not a villain any more so far, I really like this one

With Friends Like These by Alissa Lee

What I Plan to Read Next: La Grand Familia, and Luna Park history

Current Mood: sick
Current Music: Inspector George Gently

skygiants

Because Becky Mahoney and I know each other, I boosted a Bluesky giveaway for her upcoming vampire novel Thrall (coming out next month!) in the spirit of friendship and then was somewhat surprised to discover that I had in fact won the giveaway -- surprised but delighted, obviously, since I've loved all of her previous books even when they weren't LUCY CENTRIC DRACULA RIFFS!! focused around a COLLEGE PIRATE RADIO STATION!!!

The central character of Thrall is Lucy Easting, who has just transferred into beautiful, isolated, mountainside Rollins University from community college, in a bid to get away from her stressed and depressed mother and live a life she's excited about for a change.

Alas! her first college party results in a couple of neck puncture marks, a marked tendency to experience severe migraines in sunlight, and a tragic susceptibility to the ominous vampire voice in her head that occasionally takes over her consciousness and directs her towards uncharacteristic action.

Fortunately! the college is full of prospective allies who are willing to take a chance on Lucy despite her regrettable thrall situation, including but not limited to the host of the local college late-night radio show, who has been a target of the vampire since her sophomore year and has been using the airwaves to try and fight back; Lucy's RA, a determined young woman with very nice arms, who came to the school to investigate after a terrible fate befell her high school ex-boyfriend Jonathan; and the very nice, normal party host who has no previous vampire experience but feels just terrible about the whole situation and is not about to relinquish responsibility for sorting the situation out! it was her party!!

It's a really charming book on a number of levels, but my favorite thing about it as a Dracula riff specifically is how much it's thematically invested in Lucy as a side character -- the narrative is consistently very clear that the vampire is not particularly interested in Lucy; he's obsessed with Athena the radio show host and everything else he's doing is part of his elaborate cat-and-mouse game with her, including incidentally overturning Lucy's life as a by-the-by -- and how Lucy makes the book her own story anyway by sheer force of determination not to be cut out of it. Lucy's energy really drives the book: she wants to live, and she wants to live a life on her own terms, and she's not about to let one horrible encounter take that away from her.

Also, I think it's not a huge spoiler ( but I guess is technically a mild one: lesbians! )

silver_chipmunk

I got up at 11:30 and had coffee, showered and dressed, and puttered on the computer a little. I packed the documents for the DMV in the computer bag, and left my backpack with my pajamas and clothes and stuff at

mashfanficchick's. Then I left for the DMV with my computer about 1:40.

I just missed a subway, and had to wait longer than usual because the E was running with delays. I got to Jamaica and found the 6 bus pretty easily, but again I just missed one. I was worried about getting to my 3:00 appointment, and worried about finding the DMV after I got to the right stop, But it worked out, though I made the appointment by a hair.

Almost immediately I was called for them to take a new picture for the new ID. I'm sure I was a mess, but that's traditional for DMV pictures. Then I went back to a seat and filled out the application.

I waited awhile, I didn't time it, and eventually they called me to the counter. I handed over the application and my documents.

Unfortunately after all the trouble I went to finding the lease, it was no good because the renewal was two years ago and it has to be less than one. Which it does not say in the online information. So that was a problem but the man let me sign an affidavit that I live here. So that was OK.

Then I paid the $36.50 for the renewal and upgrade to enhanced ID, and that was all. Very simple, very fast.

I packed everything away and walked down to the McDonald's that I passed on the way and got a celebratory lunch. Something called the Big Arch Meal. Very tasty in a fast food kinda' way.

Then I went to the bus stop and took the 6 back to Jamaica. Rather than take the subway again I just took the 44 bus all the way home.

Got here around 6:00. Said hello to Oreo who was happy to see me! Put everything away, set up the computer and put in a Shipt order.

Then at 7:00 I Teamed the FWiB. We talked until 8:00 when I went to my D&D game.

Sadly, there was still trouble with Discord. Particularly in audio. I did most of the game on my phone.

But it was a good game, we killed a minotaur.

Then after the game I fed the pets, had a little something myself, called the Kid who didn't answer, and started here.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. Got to the DMV on time.

3. Was able to use the affidavit for my address.

4. Everything was fine at home.

5. My D&D group.

6. Bed soon.

Current Mood: relieved

tavina posting in

pinchhits

Minimum: 5000 words, or a comic that is 5 pages or 20 panels long, or a podfic 5000 words or greater
Due: March 29th at 10pm EDT

PH 22 - NoPixel (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF, 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs

PH 28 - DCU (Comics), Gravity Falls, Stranger Things (TV 2016)

Claim via emailing TavinaFanfiction@gmail.com or by commenting at https://au5k.dreamwidth.org/15169.html
Thank you for considering our pinch hits!

ranalore posting in

fancake

Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed
Pairings/Characters: Jiang Cheng & Wei Wuxian & Jiang Yanli, Jiang Cheng/Nie Huaisang (background), Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji (background), Lan Xichen, Jin Zixuan, Meng Yao, Wen Zhuliu
Rating: R for Graphic Depictions of Violence and Major Character Death
Length: 133,987 words
Creator Link:

meyari
Themes: Siblings, Time Travel Fix-It, Women Being Awesome, Trauma & Recovery

Summary: As the Jianghu collapses around Jiang Cheng's ears, his borrowed core begins to fail. Wei Wuxian has one final trick up his sleeve, though the only person who can use it is the one person who has no core of his own: Jiang Cheng. Time travel may be impossible for everyone else, but Jiang Cheng has one slender, delicate chance to save the entire world. Of course he has to take it no matter what the cost might be.

Reccer's Notes: As soon as I saw this month's theme, I thought of this story. While time travel fix-its and core reveal fix-its are both common in the fandom, this story handles both tropes in ways I haven't seen any other story do. It also features amazing original characters, including several badass women of the Meishan Yu sect, and gives Jiang Yanli one of the best storylines I've ever seen. The rating is because there's still a war, and some characters still die, but it's a far different war, and they are far different deaths.

I do feel like I have to provide a caveat that this could use a serious line edit, by which I mean there is a grammatical or spelling error in nearly every sentence. It really says something that, despite this, I couldn't put the story down, and devoured all 100K+ words of it in the space of two nights.

Fanwork Links: Moments of Revelation (please note that this is archive-locked to AO3-registered users)

highadrenalinemod posting in

pinchhits

Due: March 29th, 10pm EDT
Minimum: 10k or 10 page/25 panel comic
To claim, please comment on the pinch hit post: Here

PH 1 - [SAFETY] Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Crossover Fandom, Chalion Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold, Jem and the Holograms (Cartoon), Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (TV)

PH 2 - Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes (Granada TV 1984), Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (Video Game), [SAFETY] A Study in Emerald - Neil Gaiman, [SAFETY] Art in the Blood - Brian Stableford, Battlestar Galactica (2003), Dark Shadows (1966)

PH 6 - [SAFETY] Bullet Train (2022), [SAFETY] Kraven the Hunter (2024), The Fall Guy (2024), Gladiator (Movies - Scott)

PH 11 - Nantucket Trilogy - S.M. Stirling, Crossover Fandom, Crossover Fandom, [SAFETY] 长公主在上 | Zhǎng Gōng Zhǔ Zài Shàng (Web Series), Grimm (TV), 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018), 绅探 | Detective L (TV)

PH 12 - Crossover Fandom, 崩坏：星穹铁道 | Honkai: Star Rail (Video Game), 原神 | Genshin Impact (Video Game), [SAFETY] Original Work, [SAFETY] 恋をするつもりはなかった | Koi wo Suru Tsumori wa Nakatta | I Didn't Mean to Fall in Love (Manga), 网恋翻车指南 - 酱子贝 | Guide on How to Fail at Online Dating - Jiàng Zǐ Bèi, The Handsome Salesman At Work Is An Ideal Master, ダンジョン飯 | Dungeon Meshi | Delicious in Dungeon

PH 14 - [SAFETY] When the Angels Left The Old Country - Sacha Lamb, The Fairyland Series - Catherynne M. Valente, [SAFETY] Wind Will Rove - Sarah Pinsker, [SAFETY] Into the Woods - Sondheim/Lapine, [SAFETY] The Forbidden Book - Sacha Lamb

PH 15 - 내가 키운 S급들 - 근서 | S-Classes that I Raised - Geunseo, 전지적 독자 시점 - 싱숑 | Omniscient Reader - Sing-Shong, 괴담에 떨어져도 출근을 해야 하는구나 - 백덕수 | Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story I Still Have to Go to Work - Baek Deoksoo, 내가 키운 S급들 | The S-Classes That I Raised (Webcomic), [SAFETY] Original Work, 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer, 恋与深空 | Love and Deepspace (Video Game), Crossover Fandom, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening

PH 16 - Hazbin Hotel (Cartoon), Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Manga), [SAFETY] BCV: Battle Construction Vehicles (Video Game)

PH 18 - [SAFETY] Point Break (1991), [SAFETY] The Collector Series (Movies), Kingdom Come: Deliverance (Video Games), [SAFETY] A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (TV)

Thank you for considering our pinch hits!

x95 posting in

fan_flashworks

Title: stuck within my head
Fandom: Water the Roses by Flavor Foley
Rating: G
Content notes: Embedded images. Bright colors were utilized, which may cause eyestrain.
Artist notes: Drawn with Krita, page/canvas templates via Electric Zine Maker. Drawn in around an hour, mainly to practice using the convert (linework) to alpha color filter. Title is derived from the song lyrics.
Summary: Fanart of the GUMI design from Flavor Foley's song, Water the Roses.
Challenge: 509 - Plant

( stuck within my head )

kitewithfish

I am keyboardless, forgive my brevity.

What I've Read

After the Storm by perennial - This beautiful fic is Don John and Hero from Much Ado About Nothing, in an alternate universe where John revenges himself on Claudio by marrying Hero. Long and slow, this fic look at who John might be if given enough rope, and who Hero might be if she didn't have to marry that credulous shithead.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/31038242

Swordheart by T. Kingfisher A sweet romance, a little too long. Doing some lifting to set up the following books in the series.

The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison - A reread for me for xing bookclub!

What I'm Reading Now
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova - This is fine? Not sure if I am reaching for the orientalism or if the book is just doing that, but the key problems are repetition and repetition. 700 pages of, Dracula is around still and he's a dick.

What I'll Read Next

My Real Children Jo walton

mrkinch

It was quite pleasant on Inspiration Trail this morning thanks to a nice breeze. I had a rocky start but was on the rise before the sun came up. Also after the sun came up. As I said.:) Anyway, once I actually got started I had a reasonably productive morning. Finally Wilson's Warblers! and a Western Flycatcher. There were Blue-gray Gnatcatchers where they were four days ago, and still a White-crowned Sparrow singing near the parking lot, but either he changed songs or it's a different individual. Biggest surprise was a Varied Thrush in the dense trees towards the top of the trail. ( The list: )

There are usually a few American White Pelicans on San Pablo Reservoir, but this morning a large flock, thirty-five or so, was gathered near the far shore. I don't know where they went, but when I next looked they were gone.

isis

What I've recently finished reading:

Blood over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang. I'm a sucker for technology-infused magic, and I really liked the sort of computer-programming-magic here; in general the worldbuilding reminded me a bit of the TV show Arcane, which of course has its "magitech", but the main similarity is the elite vs the underclass (who they exploit), and the dark truths behind the marvels of the city. However, the characters are one-dimensional, with stereotypical views that either clearly cast them as the villains or that make it obvious the narrative will be about their realizations that change their views. I will say, though, that I was (pleasantly) surprised by the ending, as I applaud the writer for choosing the more realistic and interesting path over what you might expect from YA.

Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes by Leah Litman, who is a law professor and co-host of the podcast Strict Scrutiny, which I've never listened to, but I have heard her on NPR and other people's podcasts. I agree with her main thesis, that the Court has gone off the rails by picking and choosing their "legal principles" by whether or not they agree (ideologically) with the outcome that will result, which frankly stinks. It's well-researched, with lots of cites and notes. However, each of the five chapters is presented using the conceit of a particular show or movie, and as I was only familiar with most of them through osmosis, this didn't really work for me and sometimes seemed overly pop-culture-cutesy. (Like, Barbie - the movie, not the toy - is used as the lens to examine overturning Roe vs. Wade; Game of Thrones tells us that Winter Is Coming For Voting Rights; Mean Girls don't want to sit with LGBTQ people.) For an old Gen-X-er like me it seems like unnecessary metaphor, but maybe it will land better with people who want more glitz and meme in their nonfiction...but in that case, maybe a relatively dense book about law is not what they will be reading? I also will gripe about the editing, which seems particularly poor in the last chapter where Litman misspelled Ronald Reagan's surname and gave the same Neil Gorsuch quote twice within a few paragraphs.

maevedarcy posting in

fandomcalendar

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offcntr

I got home Tuesday night, finally, just before midnight. Denise picked me up at the airport, I drove home. (She really doesn't like driving in the dark.)

One last story from the trip.

Our 5:50 pm flight out of Milwaukee loaded a little late, but not too badly. Completely full flight, of course, making up for the previous day's cancellations. I was in seat 16B, next to the left wing; my neighbor in the window seat was a teenage girl who was a very fearful flyer. Are we supposed to feel vibrations? Yes, that's normal. Are the wings broken? No, those are flaps; they control the plane. What's happening now? We're taxiing to our runway--just driving along the ground. As we approached take-off, she asked, Do you mind if I hold your hand?

Not at all, I said. Would you like to borrow my bear?

We flew all the way to Denver with her right hand clutching my forearm, my hand over hers, and her left hand cradling Umberto.

Such a brave bear.

extrapenguin posting in

space_swap

One repost and one new!

Due at the same time as the regular assignments: Sun 5 Apr 17:00 CEST (in your timezone | countdown). To claim, comment on this post with your AO3 username and the pinch hit you want to claim.

#2: ( Phantasy Star, Star Ocean, Live a Live, Mugen Kouro, LotGH )

#3: ( SWOT, ST:AOs, DCU )

ranunculus

Just after 8 my phone dinged and reported that Mark O would be at the house in 10 min. Oops. I sprang out of bed where I was finishing my morning coffee, Yanked on work clothes and went out to say hi. Breakfast was eaten at the speed of lightning while filling nalgene bottles with a dilute gator aid. Thus provisioned we got in the Gator and went down to the pond (Norgard's Pond) to continue my clearing out of vegetation. On the way we stopped to pick up the last of the pile of brush that I had abandoned due to it having a rattlesnake in it. I looked carefully where the rattlesnake had been, didn't see any snake so we started pulling out the last 4 or five small pieces of brush. One was kind of stuck in the ground where a gopher had pushed up dirt. I yanked on it, then decided to get a different grip. On my way to a new grip I looked down to see the snake about 18 inches away. This produced a scream and a leap away. We stood on the road and looked down where the very, very cold sleepy snake was. Mark said: where is he, I cant see a snake. Right there, 6 feet away, under that little poison oak branch! Super hard to see. Should have taken a picture. Mark was brave enough to go get the last two pieces of brush, staying at least 4 feet away. The poor snake never rattled, and almost didn't move as we pulled a branch out from underneath it.
We fastened the 4" x 25' strap around the brush and drug it down to the turnout by the pond. The one I just cleared by burning for two days. The rest of our project was to clear the next 100 feet of roadside. Mostly we were cutting down young live oak trees that had sprung up on the extremely steep bank between the road and the pond. They all got dragged back to the turnout and cut up so I can burn them. Tomorrow if possible.
We were working very close to the place where our road Y's with one side going up a steep hill and the other out around the pond. About 25 feet beyond the Y there is a huge tree, a valley oak I think. It has road signs nailed to it. Several years ago a live oak seedling began growing up in front of that tree. It had gotten big enough that it obscured the signs and thus frequently confused UPS drivers who then often delivered packages to our gate. Said young tree is gone now and the signs are once again in full view. Better for UPS drivers and for emergency vehicles.

prisca posting in

fic_promptly

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trobadora posting in

sid_guardian

Guardian Reverse Exchange 2026. Image shows Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan facing each other, gripping the Sundial between them.

Sign-ups are still open for the 520 Day Guardian Reverse Exchange, a multimedia exchange covering the Guardian drama, the novel and RPF.!

This is a reverse exchange with a two-part sign-up process: first you make your offer, and then you choose from everyone else's anonymised offers to make your requests.

General info/rules/schedule

Come and join us - sign up with your offers! Sign-ups are open until 11:59pm UTC on Friday 27 March 2026. (What time is that for me?)

And if you're on Discord, Twitter, Bluesky, Tumblr or elsewhere for fandom, please help get the word out by promoting the exchange there. We have a tumblr post you can reblog, a promo graphic and text on the General info post, or you can make your own.

sage

EDITED TO ADD: The GoFundMe to support MinoanMiss/RubyNye's burial/memorial costs is here.

books
A Murderous Relation (Veronica Speedwell #5) by Deanna Raybourn. 2020. Kinky London again.
An Unexpected Peril (Veronica Speedwell #6). 2021. Mountaineering.
An Impossible Impostor (Veronica Speedwell #7). 2022. Return of Martin Guerre. Too much romance by far.
A Sinister Revenge (Veronica Speedwell #8). 2023. Dinosaur house party. Too much romance, still.
A Grave Robbery (Veronica Speedwell #9). 2024. Evil lesbian Dr Frankenstein. *sigh*
currently reading: A Ghastly Catastrophe (Veronica Speedwell #10). 2026. Dracula.

yarning
Sold a snek, a turkey leg, and 2 mushrooms. Got the carrots and kickbunny to KA in the mail (and worked out Click-n-Ship after USPS disabled my old login info). Didn't go to yarn group, even though I was dressed and ready. A strong cold front was on the verge of coming in and I just felt bad. So that's five in a row that I've missed, doh. I did post some pics to the group chat, so they know I'm still involved.

media
The free Importance of Being Earnest is expiring this evening. REALLY fun! <333

healthcrap
I finally called to renew my healthcare coverage, and there are delays on their end, thanks to their new system. Had to reschedule botox for migraines until next month.

#resist
+ Check locally for anti-war protests. I'm finding Reddit and Instagram to be fairly good sources if you check often.
+ March 28: #50501 No Kings Protest #3

astrology
Mercury Retrograde ends on the 20th, the same day as the Equinox (yay SPRING)! OTOH, the last time that all the outer planets were in their current positions, we were in the US Civil War. That doesn't mean we're headed into a new civil war by any means, obvsly, but it's a pretty ~~dreadful~~ interesting time in the skies.

I hope all of you are doing well! <333

smallhobbit posting in

fan_flashworks

Title: Aberglasney Gardens - Magnolias & Camellias
Fandom: Original
Rating: G
Length: Collage of 9 photos
Summary: We visited Aberglasney Gardens in Wales on Monday, and the magnolias and camellias were blooming

( magnolias and camellias )

abyss_valkyrie posting in

iconbattles

Hi, guys! We haven't had a challenge in a long time here. :D

Fandom/s: BBC Merlin
Theme: Make icons from the BBC show Merlin. There are 10 themes in total but you are not obliged to enter icons for all 10. Even if you are interested in making 1 icon to participate, that is welcome. I have provided links where you can find screencaps under the cut.
Total number of icons: 1+
Suggested amount of time to finish the battle: 4 weeks. Deadline: 15th April, 2026
How to sign up: Sign up with your username.
Submission: Submit your icons here using the template in the textbox.
Status: OPEN

( Themes, Icon Inspo, Screencap links & Template )

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3221/

'Well, there's speculation that it's due to a mantle hotspot.' --a geologist who's trying to cover up the fact that they didn't hear your question

https://xkcd.com/3221/

loup_noir

It's not-quite-spring; therefore, my life is focused on dirt and its many problems. Weeds, grasses mostly, are on the eradication list. The wet winter, which I am already starting to miss, sprouted every. single. grass seed. Also, the dirt needs to be fed and, in some cases, fluffed. All tedious, but necessary, jobs.

Other than gardening, life centers on birding. Hard to explain the attraction to people who aren't into it. Birding gets me outside, hiking around, and taking photos of birds, some of which are nice and sharp.

Which leads me to my current great sadness. My beloved camera has issues. All the SLRs and the first DSLR had no problems, and they were all treated the same way I treat all of my gear, which means they got dropped, banged into things, and ignored for months on end. This one started draining batteries in hours. For a long pelagic birding trip, I usually take two batteries, the heir and a spare. Then, I took three, which wasn't that much of a surprise as the R5 is notorious for its power consumption. I drew the line at four, especially as the camera was noticeably warmer than it ought to have been. It's now somewhere in SoCal for repairs. Canon's support was very, very good. Between email and chat, they walked me through a lot of ways to check what's going on before it was clear the camera had to take a trip. While I await more information, I'm obsessively refreshing the update screen.

Currently reading: The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan The text is a little tedious, which is offset by her beautiful drawings.
Movie rec: Nuremberg on Netflix. Russel Crowe is fantastic as Goering.
Series rec: Tehran, a very gray espionage series about Mossad inside Tehran. AppleTV

Current Mood: tired

glitteryv

As part of their GQ promo, the guys sat down to do this video where they went to Twitter, Reddit, Quora, YouTube, and Wikipedia answering fans' questions.

It's a delightful, 14-min video filled with Vmin VMINNING, Yoongi pouting (that he didn't get an invite to the bathhouse from Minimoni), Jin and RM complimenting each other down, Jungkook being THE GenZ-er in the group, and Hobi being his sunshine-y self.

One of the funny things was me realizing that I knew or followed some of the ppl on Twitter whose questions were answered by the Tannies.

Another thing was finding out that the mods of the reddit BTS went to kicked that account out of that specific reddit because they thought it was someone impersonating as the Tannies.

What I liked the most was seeing the bond and simpatico between all 7. It's v., v. clear they missed the hell out of each other while in the military and Chapter 2.

*I'm v. ??? that Jimin is calling Arirang Era Chapter 2 since V mentioned the enlistment era (in his ep of Suchwita) and RM has done so too (several times). It's confusing since, the general understanding is that enlistment era = Chapter 2, but what do we know? 😜

Watch on YouTube

wychwood

I was fascinated to read Jo Walton's post on How to read sixteen books at once at all times, because I have recently - and somewhat inadvertently - set up something similar for myself.

In mid-February I got fed up of all the half-read things in my ebook reader, so I went through and tagged a bunch of them - things I wanted to read, things I meant to get around to, etc - in a special collection, and then said "OK now you can only read things from this collection". I started out with 25 books, but added a few more either because a) they were new Dick Francis books that I wanted to read (2 books), or b) they were for a book group meeting that I had suddenly realised was approaching (2 books). Since then I have read only one ebook not in that collection (another book group! but a chapter-by-chapter one, so I don't want to read the whole thing yet), one paper book (oh look for a different book group), and a few chapters of other paper books, and the collection is down to 12.

It's actually been tremendously productive as an approach ( rambling about my reading habits )

In conclusion, it's been great for my reading but terrible for my booklog, which is sadly behind even though I've been working on it reasonably regularly.

runpunkrun posting in

fancake

mific

The good old hockey game!

On YT here

OMG, great editing!

sineala

What I Just Finished Reading

Nothing. Still have not attempted books. Currently getting over a migraine. I have to say, if I am now down to one migraine a week (which would be great, actually) I don't see why it has to be on Comics Wednesday two weeks in a row so that all my comics reviews are ass because I am clearly having difficulty comprehending comics.

Perhaps I could wait until Thursday to read them? No. It must be Wednesday. Otherwise the internet will spoil me.

What I'm Reading Now

Comics Wednesday!

( Captain America #8, Sorcerer Supreme #4, Ultimate Wolverine #15, Ultimates #22 )

What I'm Reading Next

Look, I'd be happy if I just got to read a book ever again.

Current Mood: tired

tassosss

Ebook is available on all retailers.
Paperback is available on Amazon.
If you'd like a signed paperback, let me know in comments. I don't have my author copies yet, so it will be a little bit of a delay.

Wordcount: ~114,000
Rated: Teen for swearing and violence
No Archive Warnings Apply

Summary:

They saved the ship. Now everyone wants them dead.

Jacks Harrison and chief engineer Antony Watts avoided a catastrophic collision between their generation ship Peace and their three sister ships that would have killed every human in the fleet. But saving their people came with a cost, and now Jacks and Antony are wanted by the rebellious factions that overthrew Peace’s corrupt governor.

With Peace’s two cities in shambles and neighbor turning against neighbor, Jacks and Antony must fight their way to safety only to find that the people on Peace are still in terrible danger: the ship’s water system is bleeding out, and it’s up to them to figure out how stop it.

Along the way, Jacks must reckon with the violence she finds herself too comfortable with and Antony must confront his past complicity in the corrupt regime. Because Peace doesn’t hand out easy answers, and they both have to decide how far they’re willing to go to ensure they survive.

sholio

... resulting from making that vid this past week.

One thing that I was thinking about is the sheer challenge of costuming this show, because most of the costumes are directly patterned after their manga/anime looks. So whereas most of the time in most shows, you can probably source the characters' everyday wear from basic mass-produced clothes or even vintage or secondhand shops, aside from really specific superhero costumes or whatever, this is more like a historical production in that everything has to be made from scratch. (Only, if possible, worse, because unless you're doing an unusual time period, normally you could probably go to the warehouses of Elizabethan or Regency costumes or Roman togas that no doubt exist.)

Here, even the relatively normal clothes are directly echoing something specific, like the patterns on

season 2 character's

Tashigi's

distinctive shirt, or

another season 2 character's

Miss Valentine's lemon-patterned

dress.

Anyway, it's just interesting to think about. Even the simplest costumes are more complicated than they seem, because it's not just an unusual shirt that the costume people found at a vintage shop; they're having to explicitly pattern-match or color-match or style-match items from the manga and anime.

( More specific spoilers about characters' fighting skills )

shipperslist

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adore

In the week leading up to and week of my moontime I mistakenly thought I'd relapsed into depression, because my PMS symptoms were that bad. The day after I finished bleeding, I wrote the rest of Dollshops & Deathmages, in a dramatic restoration of my spirits and creativity. I don't want to be miserable and listless for half a month, even if I'm in a creative flow for the other half. In quite the synchronicity, The Cozy Creative posted a video about how her menstrual cycle affects her creativity.

Watch on YouTube

It made me feel better, knowing that I'm not alone in having to plan my writing work around moontime, but I really wish my symptoms would be limited to the week of moontime because two weeks is a lot of time lost.

Now to wait for the other authors participating in the cozy fantasy anthology to finish their stories. I've also talked to my cover designer about a cover for Dollshops & Deathmages, because after the anthology has run its course the participating authors will release their stories individually as they see fit. I'm hoping to make Dollshops & Deathmages an evergreen prequel novella and occasional reader magnet for the subsequent cozy books I have planned, so it needs its own cover.

Back when I was employed, I saved up and got myself covers for a couple of the cozy books I'm writing (Dragons & Debutantes and Pumpkin Jack Proposes) since covers are the biggest authorial expense. Dollshops & Deathmages wasn't planned for because I didn't know I was going to participate in a cozy anthology until the opportunity came up, and I crafted this story specifically for this anthology. So I have had to commission the cover for this now, not in advance like the others.

My parents are decently supportive about this indie author project and funded the cover for Dollshops & Deathmages, but I'm not decently grateful because I wanted their support long before this and didn't get it. If I'd gotten their support before this I would've had a job and would've been able to pay for my own covers. Their opposition to me taking that job was very gendered, so I don't feel privileged at all. Even though I am.

I'm bitter and prideful whenever I have to ask them for money, and when they sweetly tell me I have only to ask them, I'm overwhelmed by anger because they could have been supportive all along but only chose to be after I was driven into a corner and had no options left.

I think the contrast between them happily giving me handouts vs. their crashout when I wanted to work at the bookstore is probably because they like me being at home and dependent. I mean it makes no sense that they're supportive about this, but weren't supportive about the stable salaried thing.

Current Mood: thoughtful

slashmarks posting in

pinchhits

goreswap is a multifandom exchange for fic and art, featuring gore. Assignments must be at least 500 words or a sketch on unlined paper, and contain significant gore content.

Rules | AO3 Collection

Current Pinch Hit Post

For details or to claim, see the pinch hit post above. These assignments are due April 12 at 11:59 PM EDT.

Pinch Hit #1: Art, Fic - The Starving Saints - Caitlin Starling, Trigun (Anime & Manga 1995-2008), Blue Eye Samurai (Cartoon), Dredge (Video Game), The Luminous Dead - Caitlin Starling

Pinch Hit #3: Art, Fic - 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018), 镇魂 | Guardian - priest

Pinch Hit #5: Fic - Night Prince - Jeaniene Frost, グノーシア | Gnosia (Visual Novel), Dracula Rising (Cartoon)

Pinch Hit #8: Art, Fic - Ice Nine Kills (Band), Resident Evil (Movies - Anderson), Cardinal (TV 2017), Shall We Date?: Obey Me! (Video Game), Harrow (TV), 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020), Tracker (TV 2024), Murder Drones (Web Series), Original Work

Pinch Hit #9: Fic - Anne Rice's Talamasca: The Secret Order (TV 2025), Interview with the Vampire (TV 2022), Loki (TV 2021), The Night Manager (TV 2016), D.Gray-man (Anime & Manga), Merlin (TV)

Pinch Hit #10: Art, Fic - Undertale (Video Game), Deltarune (Video Game), The Owl House (Cartoon)

sholio

So this is apparently the latest installment in an accidental series about gardens. This is based off some bits in

hauntinghouses's lovely post-canon fixit Out of the Woods (not necessary to read before this one, but you should read if you like Londo & G'Kar stuff; it's lovely, with some neat Narn worldbuilding), which was in turn inspired by one of my older ones. This is not meant to be in direct continuity with either hauntinghouses' fic or the other fic it was inspired by; it's off happily living its best life in its own AU 'verse.

Green Growing Things (Londo & G'Kar, 2800 wds)
It is post-canon, and there are gardens.

( Fic also posted under the cut )

( Bonus extras from Tumblr )

mxcatmoon

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Current Mood: sad

dine

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silver_chipmunk

Hopefully, at least. Got up this morning at 11:00 and had coffee. At 12:00 I tossed on clothes an

mashfanficchick and I went down to Cobblestones and got corned beef and cabbage and potatoes to go.

We came back and ate, waiting for HP to call back, which they were supposed to do at 2:00. They didn't, so at 2:20 I called them. And we worked on the computer.

They created the reboot flash drive, and then tried to use that. There was not enough disc space. So she stripped out as much from the computer as possible and rebooted it internally. Or something. I don't understand it, but we restored it.

And so far it seems to be working better. I have reinstalled some of the programs we took off, but it's working much better.

Anyway, we finished that somewhat before 6:00. At 7:00 I used it to Team the FWiB. Had a little trouble, but I think it was the app, not the computer.

Then at 8:00 I had my Al-anon meeting by Zoom. That worked too.

After that I puttered a bit while

mashfanficchick napped. Then we had dinner, salad and cold chicken, and then watched tonight's episode of Will Trent which ze had dvr-ed.

Hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. My meetings and the people there.

3. Maybe the computer is fixed!

4. Good TV.

5. Corned beef and cabbage.

6. Sunny nice day when we went out.

Current Mood: hopeful

beatrice_otter posting in

fancake

Fandom: Pride and Prejudice
Pairings/Characters: Darcy/Elizabeth, Georgiana, Jane/Bingley
Rating: Teen
Length: 75k
Creator Links:

anghraine
Theme: siblings, old fandoms, book fandoms, novel length, AU, family,

Summary: Without Lady Catherine's interference, a family catastrophe throws Darcy and Elizabeth down wildly different paths.

Reccer's Notes: This series is very much Darcy/Elizabeth, but they spend a lot of it going down separate paths. And on those separate paths, their closest relationships are with their siblings--Darcy and Georgiana, Jane and Elizabeth. I love the care that is taken with all of the different relationships in this story.

Fanwork Links: The Rich Are Always Respectable

beatrice_otter posting in

fancake

Fandom: Marvel
Pairings/Characters: Steve/Bucky
Rating: Gen
Length: 4k
Creator Links:

what_alchemy
Theme: siblings, AU, family

Summary: Bucky was the eldest of four.

Reccer's Notes: Bucky has four younger siblings, and in 2015 they are elderly, crotchety, and determined to go see Steve Rogers. Getting there is an ordeal, and what they find there is a surprise. I love the way the characters are so well-drawn and realistic, and I love the humor.

Fanwork Links: Geriatric Road Trip, 2015

Content notes: racist and homophobic language

beatrice_otter posting in

fancake

Fandom: Vorkosigan
Pairings/Characters: Kareen Vorbarra, Alys Vorpatril, Gregor Vorbarra, Ivan Vorpatril
Rating: Gen
Length: 13k
Creator Links:

lannamichaels
Theme: siblings, family, secret identity reveal, female characters, old fandoms, book fandoms, AU, female friendship,

Summary: Kareen protects her children.

Reccer's Notes: This is such a fascinating AU about Kareen, Alys, Gregor, Ivan, and what might have happened.

Fanwork Links: The Emperor's Brother

kareila

I haven't had much to say lately, but hey, the Project Hail Mary movie is actually great. I laughed; I cried; I've started crocheting planet Earth beanbags for all my friends. Even the kids loved it, and they hadn't read the book.

Current Mood: pleased

cornerofmadness

On commentary again. I see you. I appreciate you. Mid term grades are due tomorrow so I am overwhelmed. And annoyed. And I will be busier and busier as we go. At least 5 of the 7 students who missed the midterm before break showed up today and took their exam (we had like three sports teams out that week) one had a good excuse for coming tomorrow and the other (who happens to be the one who's been cheating) didn't bother to let me know what they're doing so someone is gonna be surprised tomorrow when grades go in

I did want to say a lot of you did respond to my question about those scenes that won't leave you alone. Most do what I do as well, write them out and even if you don't use them, it's out of your head. While I do this I don't do it enough and I think that is because I'm afraid if I do, the whole thing will go quiet. I've had that happen. That's a whole different set of problems.

I'm not feeling St Patrick's day so it is also St Gertrude of Nivelles day, the patroness of cats among other things so let's combine the day with Women's History and here's more about her.
Gertrude of Nivelles

for Fannish 50 let's have a talk.

Sarah Michelle Gellar Reveals The Real Cause Of The 'Buffy' Reboot Cancellation—And Fans Are Livid

I wasn't sure I was thrilled about the reboot but it grew on me the more I learned about it but can we as fans say how fucking tired we are of some exec making foolish choices based on their arrogance and feelings. Bragging how much you hated Buffy and didn't bother with it originally is not a good reason to make this choice.

Three seconds of research would show that 25 years later still has fans churning out a few dozen stories/art/articles practically daily. You're talking a rabid fan base ready for th is, not to mention a whole new generation of fans to woo. So Hulu is losing a ton of profit because of one man's ego. And this is not for the first time. We've seen this time and again, especially with these 25 y.o. male execs who seem to not understand their audiences at all.

The last time I was this infuriated was with Prodigal Son which Fox touted as it's number one show and then 1 episode from the end, cancels it taking everyone including the cast by surprise.

Current Mood: aggravated
Current Music: The Ultimate Baking Challenge

torachan

1. Yesterday morning when I got back from my walk, I somehow lost the top to my airpods' outer case. It had to have fallen out either on the porch or inside the house, because it's very noticeable without it so it could only have been right after I put them back in my pocket after putting them in the case. I looked around a little but had to go to work, and Carla looked some more during the day and didn't find it, so I ordered a new case, which came today and I really love it. For one thing, the top is attached! I really like the variety of colors, so I ordered another one for my backup pair, and for Carla's ones as well. Right after that, Carla found the top to the old case in the living room in a tangle of power cords lol. But these new ones are cheap and I really do prefer the attached top. The one I thought I lost was a Star Wars Pride one from Disneyland, so I'll still use it seasonally (I also have a Mickey Halloween one).

2. I got my haircut today. Carla had an appointment, too, so it took longer than when it's just me and I didn't feel like going to Gardena just for a little bit in the afternoon, so I just worked from home the rest of the day. It was just web meetings in the afternoon anyway.

3. This morning when I got up, my PC would not turn on. The power cord is one of those that has a light showing when it's plugged in, so I could tell it was still getting power and that wasn't the problem. I thought maybe it was stuck in an update or something, so I went for my walk, but when I came back it still wouldn't turn on. I decided to unplug it from the power strip while I ate breakfast and then it finally came back on again! I really should do a backup of my files just in case...

4. Few things are cuter than cats covering their face coyly.

sineala

I have slightly more brain now and maybe enough energy to post more? Let's find out. I'm sure you've missed me posting about random video games.

Anyway, Slay the Spire 2, the sequel to my most favorite roguelike deckbuilder Slay the Spire came out in Early Access two weeks ago, and is apparently stunningly popular -- it had 500,000 concurrent players its first weekend, beating basically everything else on Steam at the time, which no one was really expecting from, you know, an indie card game.

I haven't played it enough to give a full review, because even in EA there is a lot more content -- there are five characters, two of which are brand new, all of which have new cards, and there are all sorts of new mechanics and events I haven't discovered yet. So far I have now beaten what exists of the game with four of the five characters and I know I haven't seen anywhere near everything yet. I think it's currently balanced harder than the original game, but the subreddit is full of people saying it is way too easy, so I guess we will see what happens when the balance patches start coming out.

But the really cool thing about this game is the multiplayer, which we only found out existed in a trailer that they released, like, two weeks before the actual game. It has co-op with up to four players! I only have one friend who plays this game, as far as I know --

gelishan, who actually introduced me to the original game -- and we played a game of it the other night, and I have to say that co-op is absolutely the most fun way to experience the game. It helps to be on voice chat, so you can coordinate things like 'who are we targeting first" or "if you have anything inflicting Vulnerable, please play that first" or "do you need this Strength Potion" or "do you want me to play Piercing Wail this turn so you don't take 35 damage straight to the face" or whatever, but I guess theoretically you could play it in silence and just deal with the fact that everyone is playing their turns simultaneously.

Anyway, that is clearly the way this game has always been meant to be played and I need to do this again at some point. The co-op multiplayer is absolutely amazing! I don't know that I would recommend the game in its current single-player state to people who haven't played the original, just because it is already a hard game and it helps to have some idea of how three of the five characters play, if you're going to play it by yourself. But if you are playing multiplayer, I think you can just go for it and you and your friends can take turns carrying each other through the game.

So, yeah, that's what I've been up to, as I slowly regain some brain. Slaying the Spire anew!

(Also it's really weird to actually talk to someone you have known on the internet for, like, 25 years, but you've never heard their voice before.)

Current Mood: nerdy

watersword

Oh my GOD can it be spring yet, I am SO TIRED OF WINTER. There is a tiny tiny tiny pink nubbin of rhubarb in the garden. No asparagus yet. I cannot wait to get the dopamine hit of seeing my summer clothes for the first time in months.

The NT's production of The Importance of Being Earnest is of course a delight (Sharon D. Clarke deserves a knighthood and Ncuti Gatwa wears clothes, and few clothes, to perfection); velveteenrabbi and D's Pesach class is as excellent as one might expect; somewhere on this desk is an embroidery needle and I am convinced the gherkin is going to stab herself with it. Wednesday is actually largely unscheduled and I need only survive the conference Thursday, which requires me to leave the house at godawful o'clock.

I am looking forward to the three-hour train ride and the Dessa concert so much. And then I get a weekend in my favorite city! I have been promised brunch and a museum and rainbow cookies and bagels. (Promised by myself and I intend to follow through in every particular.)

celli

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prisca posting in

fic_promptly

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mrkinch

I got started at 8:30, while it was still nice and cool, walking just over halfway up Laurel Canyon for the first time in a couple of years. We shall see if I regret it, but I did have a very productive morning. So much birdsong! Heard my first of season Western Flycatcher, a Western Warbling Vireo was singing where they usually do, and there were Orange-crowned, Townsend's, and Wilson's Warblers singing everywhere. I had two Allen's Hummingbirds, one I saw briefly, tiny and orange, and I could hear another's swooping display flight, though I could not find him. ( The list: )

I submit some of my lists to the California Bird Atlas project, especially when I observe breeding behavior. This morning I watched a Chestnut-backed Chickadee pulling fur out of scat. They had quite a beak full when they finally flew off.

fanlore_tumblr_feed

https://fanlore-wiki.tumblr.com/post/811360899823812608

Grey and white background that looks like a blog post. On the bottom left is an image of Anna and William smiling at each other. Text on the left reads 'Featured Article, William Moseley/Anna Popplewell', Text on the right reads 'This week's Featured Article' the remainder of the text is from the featured article post.

For this week’s Featured Article, we’re covering Willanna - the RPF ship of the actor William Mosely and Anna Popplewell. Will and Anna played siblings Peter and Susan Pevensie in the film adaptations of The Chronicles of Narnia. Due to the actors’ onscreen chemistry, fans speculated that they were secretly dating behind the scene. The rumours however, were never officially confirmed.

Willana’s FPF counterpart is Peter/Susan and although Peter/Susan communities typically allowed Will/Anna fanworks, some Will/Anna communities banned posting about incest ships outright. This is similar to the relationship between the Wincest and J2 fandom, where a section of fans are uncomfortable with incest ships but still like how the actors look together.

Icons were the most popular form of fanworks for Willana, but fanfics were also common. Many stories are set during or after Will and Anna’s times of acting together, or are AU where the actors enter the world of Narnia themselves.

Want to learns more about Willana? Visit the Fanlore Page!

——

We value every contribution to our shared fandom history. If you’re new to editing Fanlore or wikis in general, visit our New Visitor Portal to get started or ask us questions here!

https://fanlore-wiki.tumblr.com/post/811360899823812608

ruric

Apparently having been supremely indifferent to men's fashion for my entire life I now have a burning interest in it?

I may have been glued to Threads for a while watching the pictures come through from the Oscars and pre- post- parties on Sunday and into the wee small hours of Monday morning.

I'm blaming these fools...

Click to embiggen.

There's also a hilarious video that goes with pic 2 on JR's instagram - last slide in that post - which makes me snort/giggle every time I watch it because of the awkwardness of it all.

I would like to flop tonight but I need to tick off some tasks from my endless "Do ALL The Things" list for sorting out my flat/life. Alas it is already 9:15pm. Wonder how much I can achieve in an hour/90 minutes?

What can I possibly bribe myself with as a reward if I'm a good girl and get shit done?

trobadora posting in

fandom_on_dw

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mrkinch

Chris is off seeing cranes in the midwest so U and I walked slowly up the road to Jewel Lake. We heard many Wilson's and Orange-crowned Warblers, a couple of Townsend's Warblers, and our first of the season Western Warbling Vireo; they've just split Warbling Vireo into eastern and western so I'll try to use the correct name here although when birding it's too much to bother with. A pair of Downy Woodpeckers appeared to be preparing to nest and there was a female Anna's Hummingbird on the nest at Jewel Lake for at least the third year. Same bird? Who knows. The nest is in a wonderfully protected location on a small branch hanging low over the water. We watched it all winter, wondering if it would disintegrate as some hummingbird nests do, but it survived and it looks like she's reinforced it. ( The list: )

Today was the beginning of hot week, and we were unprepared for the number of cars in the lot at 8 am, folks getting out ahead of the heat? Four more days.

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