More books, more tv

Sep. 3rd, 2025 09:48 am
selenak: (Six by Nyuszi)
[personal profile] selenak
More books:

Stella Duffy: The Purple Shroud. The sequel to her novel Theodora, this one covering the time from when Theodora becomes Empress to her death. It's as readable as the first one, though I have a few nitpicks. Not about what I feared - the novel Theodora keeps morally ambiguous, and it confronts head on that once you are in power, you cannot simultanously be "one of the people", no matter how low you were originally born or how disadvantaged a life you've lived until this point. Doesn't mean your decisions can't benefit the disadvantaged, but you yourself are no longer one of them. So far, so good, and in case I hadn't mentioned it before, Duffy's characterisation of Narses is my favourite after Gillian Bradshaw's, and Thedora's relationship with him, ditto; they're firm allies from before she married Justinian, but they also sometimes have different opinions, and his ultimate loyalty is to Justinian, not to her. Also, Antonina (Belisarius' wife) in several lhistorical novels of the period tends to be presented as a none too bright promiscuous tool of Theodora's, and not so here, where they are friends, but up to a point, and Antonina has her priorities which are neither about her sex life nor about Theodora.

Spoilery Nitpick is Spoilery Because Not Historical )

Naomi Novik: Spinning Silver. I've heard many good things about this one but didn't get around do reading it before now. Turns out it is absolutely worth the hype. I had been charmed by Novik's Temeraire saga, though less so the more books were published and stopped reading before Laurence and Temeraire got to Australia. This novel, by contrast, didn't just charm me but made me fall in love and start it all over again as soon as I was done. Rather unusually for what I've read of Novik's novels so far, almost the entire main cast is female, and she even pulls off multiple first person narrations without this reader getting confused as to who is narrating which passage (note: in my copy, this isn't marked with "Name of Character" to signal a pov switch), because the individual voices are that individual.

The setting is vaguely Russian, using various fairy tale elements (Rumpelstiskin, Cinderella, Baba Yaga) to weave something new. The main narrating ladies are: 1.) Miryem, daughter of a Jewish moneylender who isn't very good at moneylending due to being too kind and exploitable by his antisemitic village, who takes over the moneylending business, makes a success out of it and makes the fateful for fairy tales boast of being able to turn silver into gold, which gets overheard by a Staryk (= essentially fairy for the purposes of this novel) Lord who decides to take her up on it, 2.) Wanda, downtrodden but strong and determined daughter of a drunken and abusive farmer who is in debt to Miryem, which causes her to work for Miryem, 3.) Irina, daughter of the provincial Duke who through a plot device involving Miryem's business with the Staryk lord sees a chance to gain power by marrying Irina to the young Tsar despite said young Tsar's very sinister reputation. There are more first person narrators among the supporting cast, but these are the three main characters who drive the narrative, who have to use their wits to first survive increasingly dangerous situations and then get a step ahead and actually defeat the cause of said situations, and who along the way form relationships with other characters (and each other) that help them achieving this. It''s really, spinning metaphors being inevitable, a fantastic and brilliant yarn, and every time I thought "hang on, I can see where this is going, but how does that work with Character X' previously established behavior", the novel surprised me by making it work in the best way.

More tv:

Alien: Earth, episodes 1.01 - 1.04: Not a sequel but a prequel, setting wise, though made with an awareness that most of the audience will be familiar with at least the first few Alien movies. Mind you, with the heavy emphasis on AI beings already introduced in the pilot I thought, hang on, to which Ridley Scott cult movie is this supposed to be a prequel to? (Four episodes later: leaving aside the four years limit on the life span of Replicants in Blade Runner, this actually would work in a kind of shared early Ridley Scott films universe.) Not that Alien and its sequels don't have robots (robots here being used as a collective noun for various different AIs in human shape) as important parts of the plot, of course, but this show really puts them centre stage (perhaps recalling David was one of the key elements of Prometheus that worked even for people who disliked the movie?), and it absolutely works. It also so far provides a good remix of core elements. Ripley in I think not one but two of the Alien movies said that the company (not just Wayland-Yutani which she originally worked for, but also its successors in the movie plots) were the true monsters, given that the Xenomorphs "just" follow their instincts but Wayland-Yutani et al sacrifice fellow human beings for greed. If this was late 1970s and early 1980s scepticism of capitalism and where it's going, well, now we the audience live in the world of tech bros and politicians not even trying to hide their corruption anymore but boasting of it, and so this tv series so far doiubles and triples down on Ripley's observation. Not just the good old Xenomorph but newly introduced creatures like the T-Ocelius deliver the creeps, horrors and scares, sure, as they go after their organic victims, but the character you really loathe and with every episode more wish to fall to an extremely unpleasant fate is the resident main tech bro billionaire, Boy Kavalier (what he really calls himself), so covinced of his own brilliance, so utterly unconcerned with any empathy whatsoever, and seeing both human and synthetic workers as his property.

(Future eras may write their film and tv thesis about tech bro villains from Glass Onion onwards.)

But any genre that involves horror needs sympathetic characters as well, characters the audience cares for and wants to survive, not getting torn apart by the Xenomorph (and other murderous species). Which is where this show also excels, but saying why gets too spoilery to talk about it above cut. )

World building wise, the Earth as presented by this show no longer has nation states, it's run by five cooperations (this reminded me of what Mike Duncan did for the Mars part in his Podcast Revolutions, and he couldn't have known), with Weyland-Yutani as one of the older powerful ones and Boy Kavalier's company, inevitably named Prodigy, as the newbie which together with another new company changed the "Triumvirate" to "The Five". Democracy, of course, is also a thing of the past. For once, North America isn't a location (so far), instead, the Weyland-Yutani vessel in the series pilot crashes down on what used to be Thailand, and Boy Kavalier's lair seems to be located somewhere in South Asia (Vietnam, I'd say, given the scenery) as well. We all know how a Xenomorph looks in the various stages of its existence by now, but the design team came up with four other creepy species as well which are new and are excellent at bringing on body horror. Though like I said: the truest revulsion is created by human greed. Contrasted, which makes it compelling and not nihilistic, by the capacity of doing better than that, by artificial and human beings alike.

Oasis and some other things

Sep. 2nd, 2025 09:39 pm
snickfic: Valkyrie looking up, well-lit (Val)
[personal profile] snickfic
- Seen on Bluesky, someone is seeking your old LJ icons for their icon zine.

- My top five songs for August according to Tidal were four live tracks from the Oasis tour and their one "unplugged" release from the upcoming anniversary edition of (What's the Story) Morning Glory? They're all from a playlist I made called "new Oasis," which is an amazing playlist to have in 2025!!

- At some point I want to make a post of some more shippy highlights from the Oasis tour, but I keep not doing it and they keep adding new ones. They just... like each other so much? That is not something I would say about them in any other era, even back when they were at their weirdest about each other. These days they are just uncomplicatedly happy to see each other. It's wild.

- Speaking of the tour, on Friday I fly down to LA to see my second and final show, at the ROSE BOWL. Check that one off the bucket list, I guess!! The logistics of that trip have changed a bunch of times in the past three weeks, but I think I might finally have all the pieces nailed down, as of tonight (then again I thought that yesterday, too...). This trip feels really self-indulgent, like come on, I saw them at Wembley Stadium, surely that's enough for any one person. I am very excited to get to see them from the general admission area this time, though, and excited about the buddy I'm going with.

- I decided to focus on this Oasis WIP instead of signing up for Jump Scare, which was a great decision, because I just crossed the 10k mark on the Oasis WIP, and I've been working on it less than three weeks. Alas, I'm now convinced this 10k I have written is just lots of pieces that don't fit together or add up to anything! I'm going to focus on one scene that I know the shape and let the others rest for a bit, and hopefully I'll find the thread again.

- There are a lot of reasons I really want to finish the WIP, but one is that there is just nothing in the tag right now that I want to read. ;__;

- In November I'll have been more or less active in Oasis fandom for six years, which makes it my longest running active fandom. Hockey is the next closest, and I was in it a little less than five years. I wrote my first MCU fic in 2014, but I wouldn't consider myself active in the fandom until 2018, and then I left in 2021. It feels crazy a) that I've been into Oasis that long and b) that it of all things is my longest fandom, but on the other hand it's been an incredibly newsworthy six years for the fandom.

- I had a nice time with Seasons of Drabbles after defaulting last time. (Yes, on a 100-word exchange. It was a very busy spring.) I mostly requested only actual drabbles this time, rather than the double or triple drabbles or series thereof, and that was really nice. I mainly read actual drabbles, too, and that was also really nice. Somehow 200 words is just a lot harder to read than 100 words!

- On the last day of Fic in a Box signups, I swapped out my Re-Animator request for, wait for it, Heimdall/Loki/Valkyrie. I haven't requested a Thor ship in a full-length exchange in five years, but I wasn't feeling Re-Animator, and the last I checked there were still zero of this ship on AO3. I'm much happier with my slate of requests now.
rahirah: (su_editor)
[personal profile] rahirah posting in [community profile] su_herald
GILES: (smiling) Oh God, Buffy.
GILES: You're alive. You're here. And you're still ... remarkably strong.
BUFFY: Huh? Oh. Sorry.
GILES: Willow told me, but I didn't really let myself believe ...
BUFFY: I take a little getting used to. I'm still getting used to me.
GILES: It's, uh ... you're ...
BUFFY: A miracle?
GILES: Yes. But then, I always thought so.

~~Buffy Season 6 Episode #104: "Flooded"~~



[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

[Chaptered Fiction]

[Images, Audio & Video]

[Reviews & Recaps]

[Community Announcements]

[Fandom Discussions]

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
So, the building inspector testing the walls for lead, didn't show up. As a result, he's coming tomorrow, and the super is going to take responsibility for giving him access and protecting the apartment.

He apparently skipped over my apartment and another one - which he was supposed to do in the morning.

See? I knew that was going to happen. Hence the reason, I was aggravated.
If people did their jobs, life would be lovely.

ETA: The medication that the doctor requested from the pharmacy is out of stock - they have to order it, it should be in sometime on Thursday or next week. Sigh.

ETA2: Finished Iron Heart, and the ending doesn't quite work? Or make sense? And felt rushed? I'm not sure it's a cliff-hanger? Since it more or less tells us what happened. spoilers ) I didn't like the ending, nor do I think it works, and the writers didn't build up to it well. The series like most of Marvel's recent efforts is busy - with a lot of bits that aren't needed or are there to look cool but add little to the story. I don't think they know how to pull in the younger demographic so keep throwing things at a wall to see what sticks?

ETA3: And got into a frustrating and kind of pointless argument with an online fanboard about a dumb show I watch. It's always dumb television series that I get into pointless debates about. The smart, clever and critically acclaimed shows don't tend to have this problem. (Buffy kind of fell between the two, so yes, I got into dumb debates about it too. As did Game of Thrones for that matter. But usually it's the subpar cult series that run forever. This one has been running since 1963 with no end in sight. It's on its 63rd season. It's officially the longest running scripted television show in the US, I think it beats Doctor Who - since it has more episodes and no long gaps between seasons. That's not necessarily a good thing? Although similar to Doctor Who - it also brings people back from the dead and recasts characters, except without a scientific or logical explanation. Doctor Who at least tries to provide one, this one doesn't bother.)

never debate/discuss with online soap fans on a spoiler board about a whodunnit in a soap opera - it rarely ends well )

Now that I've mocked myself and them ruthlessly for attempting this tomfoolery, I feel much better, thank you very much.

All in all a fruitful day. Tomorrow I get to go back to work and be aggravated in an even more fruitful manner, plus get paid for it.

September Question a Day Meme

1. It’s National Tofu Day – do you like Tofu?

No. Soy tends to make me ill in large quantities.

2. Festa do Vinho, the Wine Festival, this festival transforms the Island of Madeira into a vibrant showcase of its cultural heritage. Have you ever used Madeira wine in a recipe?

Yes. Not recently, but yes. Also had it.

I think in spaghetti sauce. Also in cake.

Sigh, now I want spaghetti and meatballs with Madeira sauce and I can't have it. Oh well, at least I don't have any in the house.

***

I think I'm going to have the shrimp I bought yesterday with salad. That might take the blood sugar down?

***

On Friday, I stopped by this darling little floral shop called Zuzu's Petals - which called out to me from across the street. (Only people of a certain age will get the reference, because we all saw the movie a million times by the time we reached the age of 30, but they rarely show it now - you kind of have to hunt for it? And it has competition from remake's and rip-offs. Let's face it some types of films they made better in the 20th Century, and leave it at that?)



And wandered around for a bit looking at things, including their backyard garden and floral arrangements. They had dried flowers and fresh ones, wanting to be arranged or bought individually.
flower arrangements )
And a little backyard garden:
backyard garden )

I bought a little paint brush holder at the shop (it's actually for air plants, but I'm using it for paint brushes):

paint brush holder )

That was on Friday. I didn't do much today outside of a doctor's appointment, vacuuming, shower, and dropping off some meds that I can no longer take at the pharmacy.

Seasons of Drabbles!

Sep. 2nd, 2025 02:02 pm
snickfic: (Oasis walkon)
[personal profile] snickfic
I both wrote and received Oasis drabbles, and I'm really tickled how neatly they slot together as the before and after of Noel Gallagher:
kidhood by Anonymous, Liam/Noel in the 90s
irreconcilable differences by me, Liam/Noel now

I also got some other goodies, all 100 words. <3
glovework by [archiveofourown.org profile] TheFlirtMeister, Saw, Lawrence character study
Mouthwash by [archiveofourown.org profile] embraidery, Stardew Valley, Willy/Marlon
Sunset by [archiveofourown.org profile] embraidery, Stardew Valley, Willy/Marlon
Morning Musing, Stardew Valley, Sandy

And I bring some recs! All 100 words unless noted.
Brick and Bone by [archiveofourown.org profile] Kantayra, The Haunting of Hill House, Nell post-canon
Cheek to Cheek by [archiveofourown.org profile] septemberbells, ST:TOS, Chapel/Uhura, very sweet
The Seal's Child by [archiveofourown.org profile] Daeger, OW, 200 words, daughter of a selkie, dark/horror
undeath by [archiveofourown.org profile] Pornabus_Sockerton, 300 words, The Terror, Hodgson canon divergence, brrrrr
the ever-fleeting warmth by [archiveofourown.org profile] Ekevka, 200 words, The Terror, Collins character study, also brrrr

S.W.A.T.: Fan Fiction: New Member

Sep. 2nd, 2025 01:44 pm
darkjediqueen: (Default)
[personal profile] darkjediqueen posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: New Member
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: No Warnings Apply
Fandom: S.W.A.T.
Relationships: Donovan Rocker/Molly Hicks
Tags: Alternate Universe, Pre-Relationship
Summary: The issue wasn't the person 20 Squad who just left, it was who replaced him.
Word Count: 1,970



Thursday Murder Club and Iron Heart

Sep. 2nd, 2025 10:26 am
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
So, I had the doctor's virtual appointment - took fifteen minutes, most of which was the doctor trying to get the tech to work. We argued over medication - he talked me into trying a certain type of meds again - which I felt was giving me joint pain, but he said no one gets that side effect and maybe it was something else? And it's the mildest I can use. So, I'm trying it again. Just going to try taking it - away from the rest of my meds. If you take certain meds together - they can result in side-effects.
And it is more than possible that it was water retention causing the joint pain - and the use of the diuretic is helping? God knows. Menopause is not for wimps.

Now waiting for someone to show up and test my apartment for lead. No one has shown up yet.

Saw another flick yesterday, Thursday Murder Club based on Roger Osman's best-selling mystery of the same name. It was directed by Christopher Columbus, and starred quite a few stellar British Actors of a certain age? Became spot the famous British Actor. Helen Mirren, Pierce Bronsan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie were the leads, with Tom Ellis, David Tennant, Jonathan Price, Paul Freeman and Richard E. Grant in supporting roles.

It's okay? I haven't read the book, so I don't know how close it is, or how good the book was? I'm guessing it follows it closely enough, since the author is one of the producers and consulted. Two female screen-writers wrote the movie. It's what I'd describe as a British Cozy Mystery or Parlor Room Mystery?

The detectives are a bunch of retirees at an independent retirement community, who hold a Thursday Murder Club each week, to solve old cold cases. As the film unravels we learn more about each - although the focus is solidly on Helen Mirren and Celia Imrie's characters, with Bronsan and Kingsley in the supporting roles. Bronsan has a bit more of a role than Kinsley does. There's some nice character bits. And the mystery plot has some nice twists and turns. It also ends in a satisfying manner.

Overall, a solid B effort. Not quite memorable, but worth the time all in all.

**

I also started watching Iron HeartM on Disney +- which is by Chinaka Hodge, with Ryan Coogler executive producing. Previously known for The Midnight Club. It's okay? I'm having troubles getting into it? And in this day and age - it kind of has to hook you in the first episode, or at the very least the second? And I find it more grating than entertaining? It may be that it is a bit too young for me? It's focus is a 19 year old college student who has been expelled from MIT for attempting to do more than the college was equipped for, and what it felt was plagiarism. Riri Williams wanted to create a group of Iron Man suites to protect fire fighters and police offices, but they felt she needed to do it on her own without utilizing Stark's design.
Read more... )

Anyhow, I've an excuse to be insanely lazy today, because I've promised to be home all day for the test guy. So off to be suitably lazy.

Batman: Say Uncle by Megaerakles

Sep. 1st, 2025 11:43 pm
beatrice_otter: Batman with the Batsignal shining (Batman Signal)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Batman
Pairings/Characters: Jason Todd, Tim Drake
Rating: teen
Length: 46k
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] Megaerakles 
Theme: food, fork in the road AU, domestic, family, fixit, gen, happy endings, secret identity reveal,

Summary: Tim is prepared to take the steps necessary to ensure that Bruce will not feel obligated to adopt Tim when a comatose Jack Drake inevitably dies. But what could be better than preventing Bruce from ending up with a son he doesn't want? Bringing back the one he does.

Jason agrees to the Replacement's stupid, stupid plan to invite some strange adult man he's never met to come live with him, if only to keep the idiot alive long enough for him to serve his purpose in the Great Red Hood Revenge Scheme.

Might this new roommate situation have an impact on either of their worldviews? Surely not...

Reccer's Notes: Both Tim and Jason are oblivious idiots in the best way in this. And Jason shows love through cooking (and teaching how to cook).

Fanwork Links: Say Uncle
beatrice_otter: Captain America (Captain America)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: MCU
Pairings/Characters: Steve Rogers/Maria Hill
Rating: Gen
Length: 3107 words
Creator Links: [personal profile] tielan 
Theme: food, working together, friends with benefits, female characters,

Summary: Maria can manage professional colleagues with Rogers, but she values her place in S.H.I.E.L.D more.

Reccer's Notes: Tielan's specialty is female characters who get overlooked by the rest of fandom, and I love the way she writes Maria Hill: a complex woman doing a difficult job in a world that doesn't respect her. And I love the way she writes Steve: a man who deeply and sincerely respects (and falls for) competent women.

Fanwork Links: Dinner In Other Languages

Thunderbolts Film Review

Sep. 1st, 2025 08:37 pm
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
I finally got around to seeing Thunderbolts - the Marvel flick that was released earlier this summer. I waited until it streamed on Disney + this weekend. So, depending on one's point of view? I saw it for free.

I've mixed feelings about the movie. I liked it a great deal, but like most Marvel films and television series post Endgame, it has its issues.

Thunderbolts unfortunately works better if you've already seen (and remember) Ant Man & the Wasp (I vaguely remember it), The Falcon and the Winter Solider, and Black Widow. I'm not sure if you'd be hopelessly lost if you haven't seen them? But you might be a tad confused? It took me a moment or two to remember who the heck Ghost was, and one character (who dies early on) - I had no idea about. And I've seen those films, along with nearly everything else except Captain America: Brave New World - which might have been required as well? (Not certain - haven't seen it yet. But it might explain what the Winter Solider is up to in this film.)

the problems with superhero flicks since roughly Endgame )

Thunderbolts is among the more interesting Marvel and Superhero films in part because it is in many ways the antithesis of a superhero film. It's not like DC's Suicide Squad films which are basically a bad ass CIA director putting together a who's who of the worst and most insane villains to fix a problem that no one can fix. I thought it was going to be that? It's most definitely not. Thank god. Let's not go copying each other thank you very much. Whew.

Instead, it's about a bunch of antiheroes banding together because it's either that or die? And they kind of help people partly by chance and it seems like a good idea at the time, albeit clumsily - because you know, they are opportunistic anti-heroes. They aren't nearly as bad as DC's rogues line up. This is more of a group of misunderstood anti-heroes who fell in with the wrong crowd, not insane sociopaths. Marvel does a decent job via an intriguing flashback device of giving some of them complicated back stories and mental health issues.

The movie shines a light on mental illness as it applies to highly skilled and dangerous individuals. That's the focal point. Not a heist, not some external threat - the threat is more an internal one. And their powers, especially one of the characters, are metaphors for the dangers of untreated mental illness in our society at large - and how left untreated, it could threaten to devour us all, if the wrong folks get into positions of power or obtain power.

These seven-eight characters have to learn how to trust each other and themselves long enough to save the city and themselves and each other. And they don't trust themselves let alone anyone else.

vague spoilers )

Overall a solid B effort from Marvel, better than the last few flicks I've seen, but that's not a high bar to navigate.

September the First.

Sep. 1st, 2025 08:56 pm
hannah: (Zach and Claire - pickle_icons)
[personal profile] hannah
Three weeks to the day of Rosh Hashanah is an auspicious way to start a month. The season as a whole, really. It's not summer right now, no matter what produce I can find in the markets - it hasn't been for a while now, I just haven't admitted it yet. This year it ended for me on the 18th, waking up the morning after a big gullywasher cleaned out the last of the lingering humidity and giving me two weeks of the kind of days that wind up in movies and on postcards. And now it's September, with fall officially beginning.

Yes, that was the day after the Tom Cruise retrospective wrapped.

I've still got some cherries and rhubarb and plums in my fridge, and a quarter of a honeydew melon. The melon and cherries won't last much longer. But I'm not cooking with pumpkin until October, if I can help it.

[admin post] Admin Post: Challenge 490: Issue

Sep. 2nd, 2025 11:43 am
china_shop: Close-up of Da Qing looking conspiratorial (Guardian - Da Qing conspiratorial)
[personal profile] china_shop posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Our new challenge is:

ISSUE



As always, you can interpret the prompt literally or figuratively, in whatever way works for you.

Each work created for this challenge should be posted as a new entry to the comm. Posting starts now and continues up until the challenge ends at 4pm Pacific Time on Wednesday, 10th September. No sign-up required.

Mods will tag your work with fandom and challenge. When you've posted entries to three consecutive challenges, you will earn a name tag, and we'll go back and tag all your previous entries with your name.

All kinds of fanworks in all fandoms are welcome. Please have a look at our guidelines before you play. If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact a mod. And if you have any suggestions for future challenges, you can leave them in the comments of this post.

Also, keep an eye out for the next [community profile] ffw_social post, which will go up in the next couple of days. If you haven't joined the [community profile] ffw_social comm, it's never too late to come and check it out. (Posts are locked, which means you have to join to see them.)

[admin post] Admin Post: Admin: Challenge closed

Sep. 2nd, 2025 11:39 am
china_shop: An orange cartoon dog waving, with a blue-green abstract background. (Bingo!)
[personal profile] china_shop posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
The Amnesty challenge is now closed. Here are the entries:

Punch: due South: Fanfiction: Like a Punch to the Face by [personal profile] lucy_roman
Revenge Challenge: FAKE: Fanfic: Revenge At Last by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Crush Challenge: S.W.A.T.: Fan Fiction: Crushing On You by [personal profile] darkjediqueen
Crowd Challenge: FAKE: Fanfic: Wait And Hope by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Face: Spooks (MI5): Fanfic: At The Funeral by [personal profile] smallhobbit
Old Friends: Final Fantasy XII: Fanfic: (Re)United by [personal profile] the_paradigm
Science Challenge: The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: A Man Of Science by [personal profile] badly_knitted
One Night Only: Starsky & Hutch: Fanfiction: Love, Despair, and Starsky by [personal profile] lucy_roman
Taking Turns Challenge: FAKE: Fanfic: Date Nights by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Sorry Challenge: The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: Words Aren't Enough by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Mending: Sherlock Holmes (ACD): Fanfic: Providing an Income Boost by [personal profile] smallhobbit
Credit Challenge: FAKE: Fanfic: The Interview by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Red Challenge: Women's Soccer RPF: Fanfiction: Stanford Red by [personal profile] infinitum_noctem
Long Challenge: The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: Travelling Hopefully by [personal profile] badly_knitted
The Fantastic Journey Double Drabble: Uncomfortable Doubts by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Z challenge: Zorro: icons: the mark by [personal profile] highlander_ii
Clean Challenge: The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: Hot Water by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Telephone: Multifandom: Rec: Ringtones by [personal profile] treonb
Do-over Challenge: Sherlock (BBC)/Hamlet: Fanfic: Summer at Holmes' Hall by [personal profile] smallhobbit
Dash Challenge: FAKE: Fanfic: The Real Thing by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Red challenge: Marvel Comics: fanart: red by [personal profile] fadedwings
Letter Challenge: The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: Left Behind by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Spicy Challenge: Torchwood: Spicing things up by [personal profile] m_findlow
24 Hours: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Fanfic: Overpowered by [personal profile] veronyxk84
Relief Challenge: The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: Exhausted by [personal profile] badly_knitted
School/Midnight Challenge: Sherlock (BBC): Fanfic: The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine by [personal profile] smallhobbit
Guest Challenge: Greek Myth: Fanfic: Trauma Shared by [personal profile] drabblewriter
Double Challenge: The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: Mirage by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Spicy: Wildfrost: Art: spice yuki by [personal profile] himejoshiheart
The Last Word: xxxHoLiC: Podfic: death as a perfect circle (that elusive object) by [personal profile] bluedreaming
Je Ne Regrette Rien: You Are Desire: Poetry: the way we were by [personal profile] teaotter
Waiting: Guardian: fanfic: Best Friends Forever by [personal profile] china_shop

\o/ \o/ \o/

Thank you to everyone who participated! You're now free to post your entries to your journal or wherever else you'd like. If you're archiving on AO3, you can add your work to our fan_flashworks collection there.

New challenge is on its way.
china_shop: Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng looking at each other, with the text "Nope. Still not scared." (Guardian - ChuGuo still not scared)
[personal profile] china_shop posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: Best Friends Forever
Fandom: Guardian (TV)
Rating: Teen
Length: 1487 words
Notes: Set in my post-canon Chu Shuzhi/Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan ‘verse. Outsider POV. One-sided Guo Changcheng/Chu Shuzhi.
Warnings: References to the canon showdown. Unrequited love. Bittersweet ending.
Summary: Now Hei Pao Shi was gone, of course none of them could stay the same.

Best Friends Forever )
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
I'm debating, do I want to take another walk? Eh, probably not. Depends on blood sugar - right now, it appears to be going down. My life is now being determined by blood sugar. Ah well, tomorrow, I'll see the doctor. [ETA: Took a walk with the intent of getting a gluten free freshly baked chocolate chip cookie - but the store closed at 3pm on Mondays, and I got there at 4pm. The Universe clearly didn't want me to get a chocolate chip cookie.]

I've done a lot of walking the last three days, and I'm tired. I think I'll be fine with the excuse of not leaving my apartment tomorrow - so that they can test for lead whenever they get around to it? I did laundry this morning, so got that out of the way at least, along with a shower just a moment ago, and several hours prior to that grocery shopping. Also took the new shoes I got from Allbirds for a walk yesterday - broke them in. I think they can handle maybe a mile, but the length of yesterday's walk might require shoes with socks in the future, or sandals? The new sandals can handle it. They were cheaper than the Allbirds. I keep getting Allbirds, and no matter the pair? It has a quirk.

Catching up on the End of August Memage:

27. Are you a fan of bananas? Do you like to bake with them, or eat them raw?

No. I do not like bananas. The appeal is completely lost on me.

28. When was the last time you spent a night (or more than one night) away from home?

May - when I visited my mother for mother's day.

29. How many times have you moved home so far in your life? Do you plan to move again in the future?

17 times. And yes, most likely. I rent - so I tend to move whenever the rent gets too high for the what I'm actually getting in regards to the apartment.

30. Has the area where you live changed much over the last decade?

Not really? I mean sections have - it's Brooklyn and NYC and this city is in a constant state of flux and construction, but overall no.

31. Do you have any plans for the next month?

Hmm. I have doctor's appointments at the beginning of the month. Nothing else that is definite at any rate
fatalfae: Sunnydale Herald use ONLY. (Default)
[personal profile] fatalfae posting in [community profile] su_herald
BUFFY: What happened to Xander?
GILES: He kept poking me with his hook. (Buffy picks up an item from the counter) I sent him over to charmed objects. With any luck he'll poke the wrong one and end up in an alternative dimension inhabited by a 50-foot Giles that squishes annoying teeny pirates.

~~All The Way~~



[Drabbles & Short Fiction]


[Chaptered Fiction]


[Images, Audio & Video]


[Reviews & Recaps]


[Recs & In Search Of]


[Community Announcements]


[Fandom Discussions]



Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

ffutures: (Default)
[personal profile] ffutures
Another SF bundle, the 2024 revised edition of Fragged Empire, a post-post apocalyptic tabletop roleplaying game from Design Ministries:

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Fragged2E



Briefly, Humanity has gone extinct 15,000 years in the future, and the heirs - eight bio-engineered species - have to pick up the pieces and "rebuild the galaxy".

While this edition is new, a January 2023 bundle offered the first edition and some other games as alternatives to D&D. The current version seems to be a playable system and is well presented - there are a few instances of the "men in heavy armour / women in tight revealing clothing" school of art, but it's not as ridiculous as some other examples I've seen. It's reasonably priced and I think it's worth a look if you like SF RPGs.
teaotter: (Default)
[personal profile] teaotter posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: the way we were
Fandom: You Are Desire (mods, please use the cdrama tag)
Challenge: Je Ne Regrette Rien



Read more... )
bluedreaming: (*read by)
[personal profile] bluedreaming posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: death as a perfect circle (that elusive object)
Fandom: xxxHoLiC
Reader's name: bluedreaming
Author's name: bluedreaming
Link to text version of story: text here
Rating: G
Length/file size: 1:15 min, 1.19 mb
Content notes: none
Podficcer's notes: The music used is an excerpt from track 21 HoLiC End Title (YouTube music) from Keiichiro Shibuya's 2022 ATAK025 xxxHOLiC soundtrack album. The photo is my own work.
Summary: In which Doumeki has the last word.

embedded streaming and direct-download links )
kingstoken: (Vintage Mermaid)
[personal profile] kingstoken posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (Books/Granada)
Pairings/Characters: Holmes/Watson
Rating: G
Length: 1114 words
Creator Links: MadamzelleG
Theme: food & cooking 

Summary: Holmes never orders dinner for himself, but Watson has long since stopped asking why. Instead, he allows the quiet ritual to unfold—Holmes sipping his coffee, stealing a bite here and there from Watson’s plate with effortless precision. In the warm glow of the Café Royal, amidst the murmur of conversation and the clink of silverware, an unspoken understanding lingers between them: Holmes takes, and Watson never minds.

Reccer's Notes: An intimate little scene of Watson and Holmes dining out together. With some exploration of Holmes' canon issues around food, but not in clinical way, more like Watson observing Holmes.

Fanwork Links: Ao3

Round 178: Food & Cooking

Sep. 1st, 2025 08:03 am
runpunkrun: combat boot, pizza, camo pants = punk  (punk rock girl)
[personal profile] runpunkrun posting in [community profile] fancake
Photograph of steel spoons and spices in a dramatic setting with added text that gives it the look of a gourmet magazine cover: September 2025. Food & Cooking, at Fancake. Steel teaspoons are arranged in an elogated oval to suggest a fish, with the bowls acting as scales and some of the handles left visible to create the fins and tail, giving the creature a spiky appearance. The concave bowls are dusted with a powdery orange spice for color and one spoon at the front of the fish is filled with a coarse black spice to create an eye. The fish is on a black surface with a rough texture and around it are three skinny green peppers, a mound of salt, a mound of orange spice, and a dipping bowl filled with a clear amber liquid.
Our theme for September is food & cooking!

The tag for this round is: theme: food & cooking

If you're just joining us, be sure to check out our policy on content notes. Content notes aren't required, but they're nice to include in your recs, especially if a fanwork has untagged content that readers may wish to know about in advance. Because food can be a sensitive subject, you might want to indicate things like disordered eating, food allergies, dieting, weight loss or gain, food policing, fatphobia, and body shaming.

Rules! )

Posting Template! )

Promote this round! )

badly_knitted: (Rose)
[personal profile] badly_knitted posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks

Title: Mirage
Fandom: The Fantastic Journey
Author: [personal profile] badly_knitted
Characters: Varian, Fred, ‘Scott’.
Rating: PG
Setting: Atlanteum.
Summary: It looks and sounds like Scott, but it’s a deception.
Word Count: 300
Content Notes: Nada.
Written For: Challenge 489: Amnesty 81, using Challenge 15: Double.
Disclaimer: I don’t own The Fantastic Journey, or the characters. They belong to their creators.
A/N: Mods, please tag with f: tv (category)



Mirage... )

Code deploy happening shortly

Aug. 31st, 2025 07:37 pm
mark: A photo of Mark kneeling on top of the Taal Volcano in the Philippines. It was a long hike. (Default)
[staff profile] mark posting in [site community profile] dw_maintenance

Per the [site community profile] dw_news post regarding the MS/TN blocks, we are doing a small code push shortly in order to get the code live. As per usual, please let us know if you see anything wonky.

There is some code cleanup we've been doing that is going out with this push but I don't think there is any new/reworked functionality, so it should be pretty invisible if all goes well.

January 2020

S M T W T F S
    1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Sep. 3rd, 2025 12:41 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios