white_collar | Member Posts

1. I am ridiculous and not even managing to keep up with Dreamwidth.

2. Just listened to Bujold's Penric's Demon in audio. Aww!

3. Watching Younger on Netflix, and wow, nothing dates an American show like all of the regular cast members being white. In New York. (Other than that, it's light fun and about what I'm in the mood for. Kind of like an Amy Sherman-Palladino show with less wealth porn.) Also started season 2 of The Pitt, despite intending to rewatch season 1 first.

4. (Burying the lede.) Andrew's surgery went well! We played two games of Scrabble this morning. I'm spending most of my time at the hospital.[a] Halle is confused by his absence and seeking an injunction.

[a] I've spent so long in North American fandoms that I've forgotten when we put "the" in front of "hospital", but I'm pretty sure this is one of those times, it being a specific hospital.

donutsweeper

So... ummmm... this January has been something, huh? Although I don't go out of my way to talk about where I live I don't try to hide it either so let me just say that while things are chaotic in my general area, it's not in my (very) specific immediate area and me and mine are fine. Generally speaking, there's the potential for things here to get as bad, if not worse, as when there were the riots a few years ago but here's hoping it all dies down before then. With the egos involved it seems unlikely (which really says something about the world today that I am even typing that) but, hey, it's possible.

But, in trying not to dwell on any of that or going into details on an unlocked post... craft spam time!

Feast your eyes upon this adorable Werewolf in a Top Hat (made by request and done by adapting a few different patterns)

He's a fine gentleman and tipping his hat to you in greeting. :)

I've also made two rugs

The pictures are a bit deceiving, the white and grey one is small-medium sized, 27"x17", while the following blue and white one is one of the larger I've made, 43"x30".

I don't really have a plan or a place for either (nor for the one I'll make out of the fabric strips I'm currently cutting) but upcycling stained/torn sheets and shirts is better than tossing them and I enjoy doing it so who cares.

Have two weeks of

recthething recs! One MDZS/Untamed fic and tumbr art for that, Merlin, Murderbot and ST:TOS:

I'll Stop the World (And Melt With You) by Rainewritesfanfics (28k)
Summary: Lan Zhan comes from a long line of aerokinetic heroes. Over time, his family came to found the Cloud Recesses School for Young Heroes. Lan Zhan will now be attending this very same school, however he, unlike his relatives, has no powers. To make matters worse, even though Wei Ying is only steps away, they are barely on speaking terms since the incident before summer break. Add in a dash of conspiracy, a school full of ghosts, and cryptic fortunes, and Lan Zhan and Wei Ying are in for a lively first year! (This is a Sky High fusion but I only know the broad strokes of that movie and still thoroughly enjoyed this fic and its accompanying art)

tumblr art:
MDZS/The Untamed
- Something is gained when something is lost (3 panels, LWJ and A-Yuan, oh my heart)
- When had children started growing up so fast? (two LWJ raising A-Yuan sketches, adorable)
- Wei Ying and his ducklings (adorable wwx and the juniors art)

Merlin
- Still waiting for his king… (hauntingly beautiful)

Murderbot
- I just want to watch my shows I can relate, Murderbot. I can relate. (too valid these days)

Star Trek:TOS
- uhura sketch ^^ (love this style)

And, not rec related, but I know there's some due South fans here and I wanted to share an excellent fandom-specific resource I just discovered: A due South tumblr that posts archival stuff from the show like making of episodes and scripts as well as character bios and episode storylines and whatnot. (I really love the first 5 pages of the second draft to the pilot posted here)

elrhiarhodan

Title: From All The Spaces Between Times
Chapter: Chapter 67 — The Dead Are Also a Demonstration
Author:

elrhiarhodan /

elrhiarhodan
Fandom: Star Wars, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars — Obi Wan Kenobi (TV), Star Wars — Jedi Apprentice Books
Characters Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Shmi Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, The Force as a Sentient Character, Watto, Quinlan Vos, Padmé Amidala, Sabé, Darth Maul, Yoda, Mace Windu, Adi Gallia, Quinlan Vos, Professor Huyang, The Force, Plo Koon, Vokara Che, Siri Tachi, Aayla Secura, Bant Eerin, Bruck Chun, Xanatos du Crion, Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Hego Damask II | Darth Plagueis, Komari Vosa, Bail Prestor Organa, Breha Organa, Bail Antilles Prestor, Rael Averross, Nim Piana, Ahsoka Tano, Sifo-Dyas, Reva Sevander, Lene Kostana (mentioned), Savage Opress, Pong Krell, The Traitor, Original Characters, Other Characters To Be Added
Pairings: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Shmi Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Qui-Gon Jinn, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon Jinn (yes, we’re arrived). Bail Prestor Organa/Breha Organa
Word Count: ~ 8000 this chapter
Spoilers: None
Warnings/Enticements/Triggers: Non-graphic reference to child-murder, cannibalism

Summary: Obi-Wan Kenobi has never known it, but he has always been the Force’s Champion, destined to suffer infinite sadness in defense of the Light. On his last turn on the wheel, responsibility for The Chosen One, the false child of prophecy, had been thrust upon him with no warning, and Darkness held the upper hand.

But this time, the Force has marshaled its power and will protect its Champion until the time is right, no matter how long Obi-Wan has to wait and how much he has to suffer.

Or,

Obi-Wan is reborn as a twelve-year old.

He wakes up on a slavers’ ship, with all of his prior life’s memories intact, and he’s bound for Tatooine with a Force-inhibitor collar around his neck, a bomb implanted in his spine, and no way of knowing what state of the Galaxy is in.

Just another day in the life of the Force’s Champion.

Chapter Summary: After the Inauguration, after the celebration, there is hard work to do.

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon need to go to back to Senate Building, back to Padmé’s office and deal with the Darkness they found there. They are pretty certain they know what they are going to find, but what they do find is not really what they expected.

Not in the least.

From All The Spaces Between Times: Chapter 67 — The Dead Are Also a Demonstration (On AO3)

( Meta — The Dead Are Also a Demonstration )

chicating

Maybe.(I'm not really clear on some of the rules since my dad retired and I get the retirement amount of Social Security, but it also stinks that SSI is so punitive, since the people on it got disabled younger and/or don't have much work history...that's mean, not protective, in my opinion of course.) After trying to drag through a bill that raises asset limits for years, I thought about it one day: Like, fuck the asset limits. (showing off that big policy brain and keen ear for messaging that have made me obscure) Give everyone the retirement amount once they show that they are disabled...it's not princely, but it could meet a modest nut. Which is supposed to be the point of all of that, not some game where you see how much they let you lie.(and, you have to because the amounts are too small for an honest life with any pleasures in it.)
Instead, they create accounts so that teens and twentysomethings can Save Up For College, because tell me again how school fixes everything.(I don't actually know that I know anyone who does this, but I'm too old and haven't mentored in ages. Maybe it rocks. Still seems a bit convoluted.)
Which brings me back to my title and how there is a certain irony in how many fundraisers my activist, yet SSDi- having ass gets invited to. I mean, I don't exactly need them to "give me money"--I had gifts from the holidays and I like contributing, but it does feel like the consideration flows in the wrong direction sometimes.

stillheremydear

Snowflake Challenge: A flatlay of a snowflake shaped shortbread cake, a mug with coffee, and a string of holiday lights on top of a rustic napkin.

Challenge #8: Talk about your creative process

Writing fanfic

My writing process is very "putting together a puzzle" style. I usually get an idea for one scene or a certain mood I want to write out, write that, and then a story starts to built up around it (or it becomes just a short story that contains just that scene). I don't think I've ever outlined a story from start to end. What I enjoy more is going with the flow and letting the story surprise me and take me to places I had no idea it could go to. I write short fic more though than long fiction, because usually writing for me is about enjoying the process of putting one specific idea or mood on the paper, and that "need" can usually be satisfied with short stories.

I use a lot of callbacks, inner references and reoccurring "symbolism" (items, words, events) in my stories and those are usually not planned, they just happen, but they usually end up being the core of the story.

One of the reasons for a lot of "symbolism" in my stories is that I love to do find inspiration in other works: I have a bookshelf full of art books and some poetry, and I love to look up quotes and poems pertaining to the theme of the story, get inspired by them, reference them (less or more directly) in my stories. Two examples: I recently wrote a story where the characters mention writing love letters and now I want to write one of those love letters so for a few weeks I've been reading famous love letters online, looking for inspiration and getting into the mood. Another example is a story I wrote where a character who wears purple a lot fact dumps about the color and for that I researched the color and all the science, history and symbolism related to it for several hours from my art books and online.
( Read more... )
A moodboard for Starsky & Hutch with a life on a ranch theme

A moodboard for Starsky & Hutch with a life on a ranch theme

A moodboard with a movie date with Spencer Reid theme

dine

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chicating

for "knots", which might have been different, further from the holidays.

She pulled at the ribbon of the small, compact package, that kind of put up a fight. Looking at the shiny blue paper and the neat wrapping job(She couldn't see any tape!) she wondered why the knotted ribbon that someone had fluffed up and made fancy, was green instead of white or silver, which seemed like the logical, stylish choices someone at the store might make. "Wow, good things come in small packages." For a moment, her cheeks got hot, because they'd just taken things to the next level recently, and she hoped he didn't think...well, never mind. In one of those moments of partial telepathy that she might have been glad had skipped a beat, he said "I got you a green one because it's your favorite color."

stillheremydear

two log cabins with snow on the roofs in a wintery forest the text snowflake challenge january 1 - 31 in white cursive text

Snowflake Challenge #7: THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF

They don’t have to be your favorite things, just things that you think are good. Feel free to expand as much or as little as you want.

devider_stars_yellow_by_saradika-graphics

1.

I like how I'm both very creative (able to come up with new ideas and solutions, good at creative writing) but I'm also very analytical and organized. I really enjoy how these traits come together in me. Combining these traits has been very good for my career but also handy in other areas of life, like creative hobbies.

2.

I like how good paintings, music, writing, architecture, films, good art in any form really, can cause physical reactions in my body. They can make my brain tingle (literally) in a good way, or make me emotional enough to cry from how perfect or beautiful or inventive it is. To be able to feel strongly about art and design is amazing.

3.

I like my thirst for anything weird and unusual. It has made life interesting and made it easy for me to be different, to feel good in my own skin.

dine

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china_shop

After the Waiting (10,195 words, Guardian, outsider POV on the SID & on Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan's new relationship, post-canon)

The Best Thing for Everyone (8,726 words, Time of Fever/Unintentional Love Story, Go Hotae/Kim Donghee, bridging the gap between the two canons, angsty ending with hope for the future)

Breakage and Repair (5,247 words, Guardian, Chu Shuzhi/Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, post-canon, angst --> get-together)

( My 2025 fanworks and modding )

( The Meme (for 2025) )

tellitslant

Boy, what an excellent couple of weeks to be largely off social media that was. I didn't take my computer on vacation so while I will try and catch up, if I missed anything, let me know!

Meanwhile, catching up on Yuletide, I had a fantastic time writing two fics in the same fandom, The Incandescent by Emily Tesh. Ironically, I didn't loooove the book, but some of the requests really spoke to me and I feel like it's been a while since I got to do a proper pastiche. It was definitely a tiny fandom, but in terms of what activity the fandom in general got, I was very happy with the attention both got.

Co-Curricular & Enrichment Activities (2722 words) by kathryne
Fandom: The Incandescent - Emily Tesh
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Aneeta Shah, Nicola "Nikki" Conway, Mathias Wick, William Daubery, Sapphire "Saffy" Walden, The Phoenix (The Incandescent)
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, Missing Scene
Summary: Nikki figures it out first — or, no, that’s not entirely fair. Mathias figures it out first. Nikki is just, as she so often is, the first one to speak up. "There's something wrong with Dr Walden."
Following February half term, Sixth Form Invocation realise they have a problem.

One of the Great Traditions of Public Education (1954 words) by kathryne
Fandom: The Incandescent - Emily Tesh, FAQ: The "Snake Fight" Portion of Your Thesis Defense - Luke Burns
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Sapphire "Saffy" Walden, The Phoenix (The Incandescent)
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, Missing Scene, Exams
Summary: Q: Why do I have to do this? A: Demon fighting is one of the great traditions of public education. It may seem somewhat antiquated and silly, but...

Mood tired

dine

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neekabe

Annoying side effect of eye goo: I have to maintain a 'correct' sleep hygiene and it's improving my life XD

I'm staying up a little later but I'm falling asleep sooner after I go to bed because distractions are physically less possible.

Last week I was in the middle of reading a fic and just had a little more to go and decided to read in bed, so I put in the goo and then blinked enough to be able to mostly see and read. And I woke up in the early hours with eye pain, and it's the kind of pain that is a significant deterrent, but just an annoyance. I repeated the experiment later and ended up with the same thing. So I can't just 'rub the cream in' and have it work. I can listen to all the podfics podcasts and such, but I will fall asleep to those, where I can stay up reading.

chicating

I'm not sure why, looking at that old discussion thread, "Places" seemed hard to write. Maybe I'm just looking back and making a big deal of a tough morning--it happens. That doesn't explain why, as I was looking back, it was as if a still, small voice in my head, thinking in full sentences as I almost never do:

"You can't do places because you've never had one."(Which is a thought I was trying to keep from everyone, back then,including myself, but especially my spiffy new(ish) virtual friends. The thing about an oasis is trying to make it just about the fun parts, not the fact that there are doorways in your own house that you don't fit through--I don't really need them, but that's not always the point.

Freud, who definitely had his own problems, would say it's about "love and work", but unless you grade on a very generous curve...well, I've had a lot of scraps, okay, made my share of collages, but I can't say, on either front, that I've ever had anything to sink into(whether or not that's a real thing or not, anyway, like Snot from The Wire, I've never really gotten to play along) Never had a spot where things are okay because I'm there. Not since I was lap-sitting size, anyway, and there are limits to how far back I want my time-warp to go, even as I sort of wish my friend Steph were still waiting for this overly-long attempt, and I wish I could be like my old self and see a future with my half-mordant, half-cheerful stamp on it.(That old self wants me to further break word count to assure us all "Hey, it could happen!" and I'm writing that because I probably owe her, but I'm pretty sure I don't believe that anymore.) Maybe just typing it is good for me, though.

Mood cynical

dine

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halfshellvenus

My pseudo-LEGO steamship project is done. This one was sturdier than the steampunk magic shop I built last year (different manufacturer, too). I only had to superglue one piece that kept disconnecting, although the silver... ballast tanks (? Whatever those are on the boats?) don't fully connect (they need some re-engineering), and those and the yellow tanks fall off easily. Still, super fun to build:

The Amazon link for that set is here.

I'll be going out for a bike ride soon. The rain has stopped for now, and we're not being plagued by the cold fog, so there should be some good weather ahead at least for a week. I rode outside TWICE in the last 6 1/2 weeks. That's how bad it's been— only a snow climate would have been worse! Not a typical winter for us at all.

I'll be riding during the 49ers playoff game. On purpose. I've hardly watched any games this season— too many injuries, so it's a nail-biter every time whether they'll squeak out a win. Still angry about the Super Bowl they lost, with too many key injuries over the course of the game. I think that was the Niners' year to win, and the referees lost it for them with questionable calls.

In garage biking, I'm almost to the end of Orphan Black, which is sad. I've really enjoyed it. I'm also close to the end of The Walking Dead, after which I'll have to try one of the spin-offs for biking purposes. I need really engaging TV for garage-biking, and a high level of peril accomplishes that nicely. I've also been watching Is It Cake? out there. I enjoy that series, though I'm getting near the end of its last season as well. I can't fathom why the S3 contestants are so prone to baking vanilla cakes, though. Do you want your cake to impress the judges with its flavor, if the win comes down to that? Then WTF would you pick vanilla? It's as "meh" as you can get. OTOH, I personally would not risk matcha or Earl Grey as a main flavor, either. Those are acquired tastes. And S2 Miko's propensity for using mango always seemed risky. People tend to either love it or hate it, and I'm on the "hate" side.

Monday will be my first day back at work, after 3 weeks off. It's been great— I'm not ready to go back. I got virtually no home projects done during that time off (doesn't that always seem to be the way), apart from Christmas stuff. But the relaxation was nice! \o/

aelfgyfu_mead

A large aloe or other succulent covered in webs

We've had some foggy mornings recently, and the extra moisture helps bring out webs that would otherwise be invisible. This plant looked gorgeous!

dine

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china_shop

Previous poll review
In the Comfort food poll, 55.6% of respondents said their preferred comfort food is chocolate, and 46.7% said savoury carbs. In ticky-boxes, 'juicy intricate poetry words' and 'pushing on through' came second equal (40% each) to hugs (80%). Thank you for your votes! <3

Reading
I listened to half an m/m romance audiobook that I selected for one of its readers (Will Watt), but the overuse of "fucking" as an intensifier (and in particular, the repeated phrase, "he was so fucking hot") kept making me roll my eyes. It might be a faithful reproduction of the inner monologue of a first-year uni student, but I don't read romances for verisimilitude. So I switched to The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary, read by Carrie Hope Fletcher and Kwaku Fortune, seen mentioned on my flist. I'm halfway through and enjoying it immensely. ETA:

Warnings.

Contains past emotionally abusive relationship, stalking, and PTSD.

A little more Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain in hardcopy. Nothing in ebook.

Kdramas
Andrew and I have nearly finished The Guest. I want to ship the OT3, but I don't really care about the priest. (Sorry, priest guy! Alas, you are not my type.) Still, it is a great (gory/horror-y) show, and I've conveniently forgotten some of the developments. We just have one episode to go.

A bit more of While You Were Sleeping, a few episodes of Cashero (I'm not sure I'm in the mood for established relationship, but otoh, Junho! ♥), and a marathon-running BL called Mr. Heart, which was sweet but extremely slight.

Where is the next Love Scout/Family by Choice/whatever??

Other TV
Finished Stranger Things, which got so complex that I lazily stopped following the logic and just watched it as a collection of scenes. But I enjoyed those well enough. So glad they got their victory lap.

Three episodes of Heated Rivalry.

Minor spoilers; tl;dr not my thing.

Wow, I'd heard it was fanficcy, but I wasn't prepared for the total absence of anything resembling an external plot. Like, not even a figleaf. Not even a hockey arc. How??

Anyway, my prediction that it's probably not for me has proven correct. Like, I can tell that the show is made of crack (in the addictive sense), but I'm not into super-buff dudes, and I didn't like the 'fucking but feeling kind of miserable about it' vibe I was getting from Hollander. He deserves better.

But I kept going for episode 3, and I'm really glad I did. There was the ~~coffee~~ smoothie shop not-AU and ♥Kip♥ and his friends and family. And Scott, who fell for Kip in 2.3 seconds like a parched man stumbling into an oasis and, okay, is messed up, but at least self-aware and ~able to communicate~ and ~say nice things~! They were such a breath of fresh air! All the "smoothies" for both of them!

So that (predictably) is me. And I'm actually kind of relieved, because while the show is compelling and well-acted, it's not what I want in a fandom, and anyway, I'm hardly even managing to keep up with my quiet corner of Guardian fandom atm.

I may watch the last three episodes at some point, idk. Wishing those of you who're into it all the very best with your new addiction!!

Audio entertainment
Writing Excuses, Cross Party Lines, Letters from an American, more of Our Opinions Are Correct (Charlie Jane Anders and Annalee Newitz's podcast) including the Murderbot episode, Tech Won't Save Us, the starts of a few other things.

Writing/making things
I've been practising drawing, and picking up art supplies in bits and pieces. The moldable eraser is magic.

Have a couple of sketches.

Pencil sketch/outline on a grid of Zhao Yunlan sprawling on an invisible barstool.

(Imperfect, but I think it's identifiable, which is not nothing. I darkened the linework a little in Paint.NET.)

For my future reference, this all started because I wanted to draw Bingo from Bluey!, which led me down a Youtube Art Videos For Kids rabbit hole. Then I bought new colour pencils and was noodling around with them, and people said nice things about some of my doodles... :-)

Art Youtube For Adults is also really lovely, btw -- full of super-talented people being encouraging and helpful.

I've written a treat for

fandomtrees, but I need to make some edits, and I have no attention span. Chances of my finishing it are about 90%, and chances of any further treats are more like 30% at this stage. Maybe one day I'll be able to make art gifts...

Life/health/mental state things
My arms are gradually improving, but I'm anxious about them. Andrew's having an operation this Thursday; I'll need to be able to bike and drive and cook and so on, and I'm still sore half the time. So I've started swimming again. (I stopped partly because I was avoiding public spaces where I couldn't mask, and partly because my long post-lockdown hair stays damp all day. But the outdoor pool is open for the summer, so I'm going for it.)

I just bought a small $2 desk at a junk shop so that I have a workspace to retreat to downstairs while Andrew's recuperating on the couch in the living room. I'll see how that goes.

I have a hand-me-down mini air fryer from my parents which I still haven't taken out for a spin. Quick/easy meal suggestions very welcome, especially if they're things I can throw together late at night, post hospital visits. (NB: I don't do onions or brassicas.)

Good things
Andrew, swimming, drawing, Kdramas, Guardian, Zhao Yunlaaaan, modern medicine. Cat:

A black and white cat rolling around on a concrete step, photographed from above. Her tail is curled up into a circle.