abka | Network

+ Had an extended family dinner today and got to listen to my lovely aunt and cousin talk about how great ChatGPT is, how she's using it to plan a girl's trip to Italy, and how helpful it'll be for writing the speeches at my grandmother's funeral. Fucking shoot me into outer space strapped to a rocket.

+ Got to see the latest Avatar movie at the cinemas. My least favorite of the three, lacking the genuine awe and beauty of the world. What they did try just felt forced, and one character in particular should have been left to die in the second movie ugh.

+ Big plus for the cozy and hazily lit curtain fic promo trailer thingy they did before the movie. IYKYK. Kinda made me wish I had an ear to the ground in that fandom still.

+ I think I've successfully broken through my iconning block!! Shout out to dysfunctional vampires and dysfunctional lesbians.

+ BIG psa: Apple shifted Pluribus to air on the 24th, two days earlier than usual. I'll have to get up extra early to see it before 2 Nøtter Til Askepott, because if not I'll be thinking about it and wanting to all day lol. It's been such a good series for me to watch? There's this whole thing where there's two wolves inside of me, one appreciating the thought and care put into every decision, and how slow it's allowed to move, the second wanting to pick into every detail and tear through it. Both enjoyable in different ways!

I have watched every episode a minimum of twice. It may be my new comfort watch show?¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

❄️ ❄️ ❄️ ❄️
Rec-cember Day 22
Pluribus ( I'd say spoilery for last week's episode. )

Tags:

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: enthralled

Tags:

heated rivalry

For Poetry Monday:

For Leonard, Darko, and Burton Watson, Ursula K. Le Guin

A black and white cat
on May grass waves his tail, suns his belly
among wallflowers.
I am reading a Chinese poet
called The Old Man Who Does As He Pleases.
The cat is aware of the writing
of swallows
on the white sky.
We are both old and doing what pleases us
in the garden. Now I am writing
and the cat
is sleeping.
Whose poem is this?

—L.

Subject quote from Time in a Bottle, Jim Croce.

Tags:

meme,
poetry

Blessed Yule and solstice, friends. May this next turn of the year be better to all of us than the one that's just ended.

Impressively and unexpectedly, we didn't lose power on the weekend (so many people did!); not really coincidentally, Bucky remains undecorated. We also haven't put up any lights or the wreath outside (probably just as well, given the winds), and I didn't even think of that until maybe yesterday. Oh, well.

(I no longer have any real hope of finishing a draft of this rewrite before Christmas, since I'm getting such a late start on work today and we have plans for much of Christmas Eve once

scruloose's half-day of work ends. It's fine. I've been doing other things. *shrugs*)

A few nights ago I guess I ~slept wrong~, as I woke up Saturday with a very unhappy neck. Yesterday was better, and today is better again, and I'm lucky to not have this kind of thing happen more often (*knocks wood*), but it's so annoying as well as painful. Body, if you're taking damage while sleeping, why don't you move to a better position?! Does the conscious brain need to handle everything around here? (Thankfully no.)

Current Mood: sore
Current Music: Tori Amos - Star of Wonder

Tags:

The DIE roleplaying game designed by the Image comic's creators, Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, plus three volumes of adventures for an unbeatable bargain price!

Bundle of Holding: DIE the RPG

Tags:

bundle of holding

1. Removing my data from various Meta sites-- most of them were there for business purposes, but I want to put my business energies elsewhere AND I don't want Meta to have my stuff floating around to use in their horrible AI nonsense. I'm downloading copies of my data and then deleting the posts (which they make you do one by one). I plan to put up a "where to find me" post for people who may come looking, and I'll keep the usernames for business purposes, but I'm going to focus on my (business) blog (and later newsletter/shop) and that's it.

2. Settling into using Obsidian for my personal data stuff. I think I've got a system set up that I like, and now I just need to add in things. For instance, I'm adding my books read for 2025 into the system and I've set up fun views like this:
A collection of book covers organized in rows

Which is built from a Base which is a table built from metadata in individual entries. So I'm adding books one by one, making sure the imported data is actually correct, and then copying over my notes/reviews. It's a little slow-going but it's fun to see everything in one place. And I've decided I don't care about counting how many pages I read in a year or even how many books I read in a month, just a general yearly total of books read is fine, so that'll make things easier going forward.

3. Listening to music from DEMO FEST 2025! Some recommendations: Error 804's ANGUISH, Morora's Kosovo, The Carringtons' Wild.

4. Downloading interesting pattern images from the Smithsonian digital collections to use for icons and (if I can figure out how) website backgrounds.

Tags:

candyheartsex nominations are open!

Anyone want to coordinate?

I'm considering ( fandoms and ships under the cut )

Let me know if there's anything else you want me to slip in to an empty spot (or anything you're particularly relying on my including!)

I had a Tesco delivery last Friday. No problem.

I forgot that I’d booked one for yesterday by mistake and then forgot to cancel it. So we got a load more food. I’m sure

aunty_marion and I will manage to eat most of it. At least, we can hope.

Cat news

Geraint is beginning to settle in, he hasn’t yet bitten Marion. And we’re managing to train him to be a bit less hit-and-miss with his litter tray. He’s also beginning to get on with Opal. So, progress.

Edited to add: we have discovered that Geraint is deaf.

Current Location: Bangor
Crossposts: https://lexin.insanejournal.com/332181.html

Tags:

cats,
holidays

( Read more... )

Current Mood: annoyed

Tags:

Watch on YouTube

Orchestral mockup WIP featuring a "drunken" viola (Amati Viola). Because sometimes violas want to /burn longer/ have fun too. [1]

Trailure = "failure trailer." This is, fortunately, personal work at this point :) but my last composition summative assignment involved converging incrementally toward trailer format by getting all the errors out of the way one by one. I think the only thing I DIDN'T do was a cappella kazoo ensemble. :p

Meanwhile, back to Candle Arc 2D animation shenanigans: I have vocals recorded for one character, which means I can start nailing down timing on the animatic for lip sync. Still (joyfully) buried under composition/orchestration schoolwork! :3

[1] I was a student violist many a moon ago. :)

https://deuceofgears.bandcamp.com/

for the morbidly curious. :3

Tags:

music: yhl: viola

I did two loads of laundry, hand-washed dishes, went for a couple walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered. Supper was leftover strip roast.

I finished the second Jack Reacher book and watched the Bills game. Another close game, but they pulled off the win! Secrets of the Zoo was my evening background tv.

Temps started out at 35.4(F). It went up about a degree, then started going back down. It hovered around the 29 degree mark most of the day. We had a lot of wind (which made it feel more like the temp was in the teens), but not as much snow as they were calling for, thankfully.

Mom Update:

Mom sounded about the same when I called her. ( more back here )

Tags:

All claimed! These pinch hits are due at Tuesday 23 December at 9pm UTC.

Comments are turned off for this community. To claim a pinch hit, please email the mods at yuletideadmin@gmail.com and:

Include the pinch hit number in the subject line
Include the recipient's AO3 name in the subject line
Include your AO3 username in the body of the email

For example, if your AO3 username is yuletidehippo and you want to claim Pinch Hit #42 for AwsomRecip, you might email us with the subject line "PH 42 for AwsomRecip" and "I'm yuletidehippo on AO3" in the body of the email. As was the case previously, if you don't receive a reply you did not get the pinch hit.

Also, remember our pinch hitters' prompts post! If you weren't signed up and you're pinch hitting, your rare fandom prompts are very welcome!

If the pinch hit you're interested in has been claimed, you are still welcome to post treats!

claimed - PH #226: Lancer (Roleplaying Game), 蟲師 | Mushishi (Anime & Manga), とんがり帽子のアトリエ | Tongari Boushi no Atelier | Witch Hat Atelier (Manga), Mystery Flesh Pit National Park - Trevor Roberts, Pressure (Roblox), 悪魔城ドラキュラX 月下の夜想曲 | Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Request 1 by SailorSpellcheck
Lancer (Roleplaying Game)
Characters: Terror (Lancer RPG), Mirth (Lancer RPG), Endeavor (Lancer RPG), Worldbuilding (Lancer RPG)
My gift must feature one or more of my chosen character tags (giver's choice)

Treats OK!
Please see my letter for more canon-specific prompts and likes!
General DNWs
- Sexual or explicit content (however, violence and gore and body horror are A-OK)
- Excessive or gratuitous violence and gore for no narrative reason
- Major themes regarding the heat-death or otherwise non-supernatural end of the universe
- Major homophobia, transphobia, acephobia, arophobia, or racism (canon typical, if present, is fine)
- Major real-world religious themes (canon-typical is okay though)
- Death or violence to pets, especially cats
- Crushing of snails or crabs or other small creatures
- Very major plot points centered around protagonists infighting/misunderstanding each other. Basically just please go light on misunderstanding-based conflict. Should be fine as long as it doesn't last too long and it gets resolved. (Please contact the mod if you need clarification from me on what's okay or not!)
- Permanent Major Character Death
- Characters losing their powers permanently, if relevant
- Unrequested gender and/or sexuality headcanons
- Unrequested AUs or major setting changes
General Likes
- angst
- fluff
- missionfic/casefic
- gore
- body horror (especially of the fishy variety)
- the ""fucked up escaped lab experiment"" trope
- mermaids
- aliens
- psychics
- political intrigue
- strong platonic bonds and nonsexual intimacy
- detailed imagery and scene-painting
- asexual/aromantic headcanons
Canon-Specific DNWs:
- Union-bashing (pointing out Union's flaws is fine, such as the unethical material foundation of the post-capital purported utopia, but just please don't bash Union)
- Corpro apologia. It's fine to write from corpro POVs so long as this is not presented as a genuine attempt to absolve any corpros of wrongdoing
- Machine apologia (as in, the Machine, from Wallflower)

Letter:
https://write.ellipsus.com/edit/860c76c2-b82b-40c6-8a5b-7102a224fe89

Request 2 by SailorSpellcheck
蟲師 | Mushishi (Anime & Manga)
Characters: Ginko (Mushishi), Worldbuilding (Mushishi)
My gift must feature one or more of my chosen character tags (giver's choice)

Treats OK!
Please see my letter for more canon-specific prompts and likes!
General DNWs
- Sexual or explicit content (however, violence and gore and body horror are A-OK)
- Excessive or gratuitous violence and gore for no narrative reason
- Major themes regarding the heat-death or otherwise non-supernatural end of the universe
- Major homophobia, transphobia, acephobia, arophobia, or racism (canon typical, if present, is fine)
- Major real-world religious themes (canon-typical is okay though)
- Death or violence to pets, especially cats
- Crushing of snails or crabs or other small creatures
- Very major plot points centered around protagonists infighting/misunderstanding each other. Basically just please go light on misunderstanding-based conflict. Should be fine as long as it doesn't last too long and it gets resolved. (Please contact the mod if you need clarification from me on what's okay or not!)
- Permanent Major Character Death
- Characters losing their powers permanently, if relevant
- Unrequested gender and/or sexuality headcanons
- Unrequested AUs or major setting changes
General Likes
- angst
- fluff
- missionfic/casefic
- gore
- body horror (especially of the fishy variety)
- the ""fucked up escaped lab experiment"" trope
- mermaids
- aliens
- psychics
- political intrigue
- strong platonic bonds and nonsexual intimacy
- detailed imagery and scene-painting
- asexual/aromantic headcanons
Canon-Specific DNWs:
- Ginko dying
- Modern-day worldbuilding

Letter:
https://write.ellipsus.com/edit/860c76c2-b82b-40c6-8a5b-7102a224fe89?theme=ultraDark

Request 3 by SailorSpellcheck
とんがり帽子のアトリエ | Tongari Boushi no Atelier | Witch Hat Atelier (Manga)
Characters: Coco (Tongari Boushi no Atelier), Euini (Tongari Boushi no Atelier), Olruggio (Tongari Boushi no Atelier)
My gift must feature one or more of my chosen character tags (giver's choice)

Treats OK!
Please see my letter for more canon-specific prompts and likes!
General DNWs
- Sexual or explicit content (however, violence and gore and body horror are A-OK)
- Excessive or gratuitous violence and gore for no narrative reason
- Major themes regarding the heat-death or otherwise non-supernatural end of the universe
- Major homophobia, transphobia, acephobia, arophobia, or racism (canon typical, if present, is fine)
- Major real-world religious themes (canon-typical is okay though)
- Death or violence to pets, especially cats
- Crushing of snails or crabs or other small creatures
- Very major plot points centered around protagonists infighting/misunderstanding each other. Basically just please go light on misunderstanding-based conflict. Should be fine as long as it doesn't last too long and it gets resolved. (Please contact the mod if you need clarification from me on what's okay or not!)
- Permanent Major Character Death
- Characters losing their powers permanently, if relevant
- Unrequested gender and/or sexuality headcanons
- Unrequested AUs or major setting changes
General Likes
- angst
- fluff
- missionfic/casefic
- gore
- body horror (especially of the fishy variety)
- the ""fucked up escaped lab experiment"" trope
- mermaids
- aliens
- psychics
- political intrigue
- strong platonic bonds and nonsexual intimacy
- detailed imagery and scene-painting
- asexual/aromantic headcanons
Canon-Specific DNWs:
- Coco joining the Brim Hats
- Character death of any of the main girls (Coco, Agott, Tetia, Richeh), but injury is fine

Letter:
https://write.ellipsus.com/edit/860c76c2-b82b-40c6-8a5b-7102a224fe89?theme=ultraDark

Request 4 by SailorSpellcheck
Mystery Flesh Pit National Park - Trevor Roberts
Characters: Worldbuilding (Mystery Flesh Pit), Permian Basin Superorganism (Mystery Flesh Pit)
My gift must feature one or more of my chosen character tags (giver's choice)

Treats OK!
Please see my letter for more canon-specific prompts!
General DNWs
- Sexual or explicit content (however, violence and gore and body horror are A-OK)
- Excessive or gratuitous violence and gore for no narrative reason
- Major themes regarding the heat-death or otherwise non-supernatural end of the universe
- Major homophobia, transphobia, acephobia, arophobia, or racism (canon typical, if present, is fine)
- Major real-world religious themes (canon-typical is okay though)
- Death or violence to pets, especially cats
- Crushing of snails or crabs or other small creatures
- Very major plot points centered around protagonists infighting/misunderstanding each other. Basically just please go light on misunderstanding-based conflict. Should be fine as long as it doesn't last too long and it gets resolved. (Please contact the mod if you need clarification from me on what's okay or not!)
- Permanent Major Character Death
- Characters losing their powers permanently, if relevant
- Unrequested gender and/or sexuality headcanons
- Unrequested AUs or major setting changes
General Likes
- angst
- fluff
- missionfic/casefic
- gore
- body horror (especially of the fishy variety)
- the ""fucked up escaped lab experiment"" trope
- mermaids
- aliens
- psychics
- political intrigue
- strong platonic bonds and nonsexual intimacy
- detailed imagery and scene-painting
- asexual/aromantic headcanons
Canon-Specific DNWs:
- Insinuating that the pit has some evil eldritch higher purpose and wants to end the world or something
- Anything related to the aphrodisiac properties of ballast (usage or mention of ballast for its other properties is fine, though)

Letter:
https://write.ellipsus.com/edit/860c76c2-b82b-40c6-8a5b-7102a224fe89?theme=ultraDark

Request 5 by SailorSpellcheck
Pressure (Roblox)
Characters: Sebastian Solace (Pressure), Worldbuilding (Pressure)
My gift must feature one or more of my chosen character tags (giver's choice)

Treats OK!
Please see my letter for more canon-specific prompts!
General DNWs
- Sexual or explicit content (however, violence and gore and body horror are A-OK)
- Excessive or gratuitous violence and gore for no narrative reason
- Major themes regarding the heat-death or otherwise non-supernatural end of the universe
- Major homophobia, transphobia, acephobia, arophobia, or racism (canon typical, if present, is fine)
- Major real-world religious themes (canon-typical is okay though)
- Death or violence to pets, especially cats
- Crushing of snails or crabs or other small creatures
- Very major plot points centered around protagonists infighting/misunderstanding each other. Basically just please go light on misunderstanding-based conflict. Should be fine as long as it doesn't last too long and it gets resolved. (Please contact the mod if you need clarification from me on what's okay or not!)
- Permanent Major Character Death
- Characters losing their powers permanently, if relevant
- Unrequested gender and/or sexuality headcanons
- Unrequested AUs or major setting changes
General Likes
- angst
- fluff
- missionfic/casefic
- gore
- body horror (especially of the fishy variety)
- the ""fucked up escaped lab experiment"" trope
- mermaids
- aliens
- psychics
- political intrigue
- strong platonic bonds and nonsexual intimacy
- detailed imagery and scene-painting
- asexual/aromantic headcanons
Canon-Specific DNWs:
- Postcanon human Seb
- Painter, if you choose to write him as receiving/having a motile body, with a body that has guns
- I'm fine with mentioning Seb has a wife but please don't mention Zerum as that wife. Otherwise, please no shipping Seb with anyone.

Letter:
https://write.ellipsus.com/edit/860c76c2-b82b-40c6-8a5b-7102a224fe89?theme=ultraDark

Request 6 by SailorSpellcheck
悪魔城ドラキュラX 月下の夜想曲 | Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Characters: Alucard (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night)
My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags (if 0: any from tag set)

Treats OK!
Please see my letter for more canon-specific prompts!
General DNWs
- Sexual or explicit content (however, violence and gore and body horror are A-OK)
- Excessive or gratuitous violence and gore for no narrative reason
- Major themes regarding the heat-death or otherwise non-supernatural end of the universe
- Major homophobia, transphobia, acephobia, arophobia, or racism (canon typical, if present, is fine)
- Major real-world religious themes (canon-typical is okay though)
- Death or violence to pets, especially cats
- Crushing of snails or crabs or other small creatures
- Very major plot points centered around protagonists infighting/misunderstanding each other. Basically just please go light on misunderstanding-based conflict. Should be fine as long as it doesn't last too long and it gets resolved. (Please contact the mod if you need clarification from me on what's okay or not!)
- Permanent Major Character Death
- Characters losing their powers permanently, if relevant
- Unrequested gender and/or sexuality headcanons
- Unrequested AUs or major setting changes
General Likes
- angst
- fluff
- missionfic/casefic
- gore
- body horror (especially of the fishy variety)
- the ""fucked up escaped lab experiment"" trope
- mermaids
- aliens
- psychics
- political intrigue
- strong platonic bonds and nonsexual intimacy
- detailed imagery and scene-painting
- asexual/aromantic headcanons
Canon-Specific DNWs:
- Alucard with no baggage about his vampire lineage
- Shipping Alucard with anyone (I know this is games canon but I will nonetheless make an exception for background/implied/mentioned trephacard)
- Dracula as an entirely perfect father, or conversely, Dracula as a completely awful father
Letter:
https://write.ellipsus.com/edit/860c76c2-b82b-40c6-8a5b-7102a224fe89?theme=ultraDark

CLAIMED - PH #227: Nana (Anime & Manga), Lamb - Christopher Moore, Tenkuu no Escaflowne | The Vision of Escaflowne, The Godfather (1972 1974 1990), Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Movie 2022)

Request 1 by 1candyangle
Nana (Anime & Manga)
Characters: Oosaki Nana, Komatsu Nana | Hachi
My gift must feature one or more of my chosen character tags (giver's choice)

Nana likes: devotion, support, consequences to addiction, multiple types of love, good or bad relationships. Make up, break ups, opening/closing relationships to new partners.
General likes: when characters are given a reason to cry, possessiveness, feral behaviour, action,
fucky/toxic relationships, power dynamics, food, music, loving each other too much to function, and humor (puns, ridiculous situations, dark irony)
Smut is welcomed. No preference in dynamics or omegaverse designations.
Go wild, go unhinged, have fun.
General soft dislikes: sissification, non-canon age differences, pet-like animal-human hybrids (werewolves, cursed creatures and monsters do not count as hybrids)
DNW: heavy recreational drug or alcohol use in a positive light (non-con drugging is fine, same with a passing glass of wine, just no drunk or high shenanigans please. Dealing with the aftermath of a binge session is more than okay in the context of addiction), cheating, sexual content under age 13, graphic eye trauma

No letter

Request 2 by 1candyangle
Lamb - Christopher Moore
Characters: Biff (Lamb), Maggie (Lamb), Josh (Lamb)
My gift must feature one or more of my chosen character tags (giver's choice)

Lamb likes: theology (insane and standard), world building, the Implications, unconditional love, conditional love, AUs of all flavours
General likes: when characters are given a reason to cry, possessiveness, feral behaviour, action, fucky/toxic relationships, power dynamics, food, music, loving each other too much to function, and humor (puns, ridiculous situations, dark irony)
Smut is welcomed. No preference in dynamics or omegaverse designations.
Go wild, go unhinged, have fun.
General soft dislikes: sissification, non-canon age differences, pet-like animal-human hybrids (werewolves, cursed creatures and monsters do not count as hybrids)
DNW: heavy recreational drug or alcohol use in a positive light (non-con drugging is fine, same with a passing glass of wine, just no drunk or high shenanigans please. Dealing with the aftermath of a binge session is more than okay in the context of addiction), cheating, sexual content under age 13, graphic eye trauma

No letter

Request 3 by 1candyangle
Tenkuu no Escaflowne | The Vision of Escaflowne
Characters: Van Fanel, Kanzaki Hitomi, Dilandau Albatou

Escaflowne likes: Van and Hitomi saving each other, or little quiet moments when their guards are down and they show their genuine affection. Mecha battles are always fun, same with world building. For Dilandau, his brain and crazy intrigue me, I love him.
General likes: when characters are given a reason to cry, possessiveness, feral behaviour, action,
fucky/toxic relationships, power dynamics, food, music, loving each other too much to function, and humor (puns, ridiculous situations, dark irony)
Smut is welcomed. No preference in dynamics or omegaverse designations.
Go wild, go unhinged, have fun.
General soft dislikes: sissification, non-canon age differences, pet-like animal-human hybrids (werewolves, cursed creatures and monsters do not count as hybrids)
DNW: heavy recreational drug or alcohol use in a positive light (non-con drugging is fine, same with a passing glass of wine, just no drunk or high shenanigans please. Dealing with the aftermath of a binge session is more than okay in the context of addiction), cheating, sexual content under age 13, graphic eye trauma

No letter

Request 4 by 1candyangle
The Godfather (1972 1974 1990)
Characters: Any
My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags (if 0: any from tag set)

Godfather likes: nitty-gritty mafia life, fun with tropes (conventionally playing it straight or turning a common mafia trope on its head), real world implications, generational trauma, violence to make statements, poor life choices
General likes: when characters are given a reason to cry, possessiveness, feral behaviour, action, fucky/toxic relationships, power dynamics, food, music, loving each other too much to function, and humor (puns, ridiculous situations, dark irony)
Smut is welcomed. No preference in dynamics or omegaverse designations.
Go wild, go unhinged, have fun.
General soft dislikes: sissification, non-canon age differences, pet-like animal-human hybrids (werewolves, cursed creatures and monsters do not count as hybrids)
DNW: heavy recreational drug or alcohol use in a positive light (non-con drugging is fine, same with a passing glass of wine, just no drunk or high shenanigans please. Dealing with the aftermath of a binge session is more than okay in the context of addiction), cheating, sexual content under age 13, graphic eye trauma

No letter

Request 5 by 1candyangle
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Movie 2022)
Characters: Any
My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags (if 0: any from tag set)

Weird Al likes: absolute insanity and crackfic would be fun, or lean into the ridiculousness of everything and play it straight. Feel free to experiment with unconventional formats if you like to (1st person pov, outsider, songfic, poetry, etc)
General likes: when characters are given a reason to cry, possessiveness, feral behaviour, action, fucky/toxic relationships, power dynamics, food, music, loving each other too much to function, and humor (puns, ridiculous situations, dark irony)
Smut is welcomed. No preference in dynamics or omegaverse designations.
Go wild, go unhinged, have fun.
General soft dislikes: sissification, non-canon age differences, pet-like animal-human hybrids (werewolves, cursed creatures and monsters do not count as hybrids)
DNW: heavy recreational drug or alcohol use in a positive light (non-con drugging is fine, same with a passing glass of wine, just no drunk or high shenanigans please. Dealing with the aftermath of a binge session is more than okay in the context of addiction), cheating, sexual content under age 13, graphic eye trauma

No letter

Tags:

due 2025-12-23

Want to get paid for your artwork? WisCon is open for art submission. Deadline 01/15/2026.

Here is the form: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11nAnzOsm2GlY1B03mJ1hmntB-V1CYRX0/view

#WisCon #WomeninSFF #feministconvention #art #artist #submission

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251221.html

Can you tell that today is a solstice by the tilt of the Earth?

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251221.html

We cancelled didney+ (sic) and switched to HBO Max. The first thing the dude made me watch was Superman (2025). I am not a huge superhero or comics fan, and I disliked the recent movies so I was reluctant but indulged him. I was twitchy at first, but in the end I got caught up in the story and enjoyed it. It felt closer to the original Christopher Reeve movie that came out when I was in high school, and which sequels and remakes have never equaled.

( If you haven't seen the movie I recommend seeing it unspoiled ) Okay, yeah. I really liked this movie.

Tags:

I picked up three pinch-hits for

ficinabox!

Still Here Together for Shinzuku206
Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Laurence & Temeraire
Hurt/Comfort, Hospitalization, Plushies, Recursive Fic

After his injury, Laurence is confined to the hospital for many weeks. Temeraire bears up bravely — then Laurence, too, learns what it is to worry.

Direct sequel to

shinzuku206's story, With You By My Side, in which Laurence is hospitalized with a broken leg, and Temeraire is very sweet about it.

I, of course, had to make it worse. ;-)

(Don't worry: despite it all, Laurence and Temeraire are still very sweet together.)

Privileges of the Purse for StableState
Doctor Odyssey
Max, Avery, Tristan, Original Character
Worldbuilding, Humor

Most people wouldn't put a CT scanner on a cruise ship. The owners of the Odyssey aren't most people.

Or: Max meets Hugh "Doc" Laurent.

StableState prompted:

Who put a full-sized CT scanner on a cruise ship? Not to mention the HGTV feature wall of unlabeled medication in glass bottles (on a boat. With waves.) or the gene sequencer. Even the usual equipment is oddly gold and sleek. They have to be custom-ordered, or medical design is very different in our world.

I read that prompt, laughed, and immediately grabbed the pinch-hit. "Privileges of the Purse" is my best crack at the first three questions.

(The final question is unaddressed in the story, but I assert there is a medical supplier out there who does fake-gold-plated medical equipment for a few select customers overly invested in faux-opulence; chief among them is the Trump Organization.)

What Does the Spleen Do? for stablestate
What Does the Spleen Do? ft. Harvard Medical School Class of 2016
Cryptic Crossword

A splenic (but not asplenic!) cryptic criss-cross.

Just after I finished my Temeraire story, a second pinch-hit came up for StableState. After I confirmed with the mods that my "excess" 600 words from the first pinch-hit could be applied to this one, I picked it up. After all, there had been a second prompt of theirs that had interested me: one for a music video about spleens.

Fic In A Box has options for non-traditional fills: in addition to stories and art, it's possible to create works that fit various format or media opt-ins, one of which is cryptic crosswords. Which StableState had opted into for the spleen prompt! And what a lucky coincidence, I had just that week downloaded a course on how to do cryptic crosswords! I had read the first three chapters! Surely that was enough knowledge to design my own cryptic crossword??

(

grrlpup laughs and confirms that I have always been like this.)

So I sailed in and did my best. It was fun! My grid was sub-standard (and I need to figure out how it is that people make up good grids), but it was neat to try to make up clues.

Happily, I had the wisdom to ask

seekingferret, who is well-versed in all things puzzles, to beta. He warned me off the worst of my errors, kindly informed me that what I had created is called a criss-cross and not a crossword, and confirmed that it was in fact solvable.

(I am... not sure that anyone has solved it who isn't Ferret? But the recip left a nice thank you, and I shall be content with that.)

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

I finished a few more projects, lol. And I'm getting the hang of blocking the canvas and doing the finishing stitch. Pics of a couple of things under the cut.

( finished works )

I also finished needlepointing a couple of coasters and ornaments, but still need to do the final finishing (backing, cording, etc.).

A bunch of the attorneys I work with want to commission me to make them key fobs now, lol. I told them I just needed them to cover cost of supplies -- I am not a professional at this.

Tags:

Stayed up too late last night and got a late start this morning, so I am already behind on my plan. But I will try to go to bed earlier tonight and get up earlier tomorrow to get back on track. Unfortunately, there is another planned water shut-off for plumbing repairs from 9 am - 12 pm, so I'll have to make sure to make the coffee required for both the chocolate and the mocha cupcakes ahead of time (it has to be room temp anyway), as well as making sure I have an extra bowl for handwashing.

I did get all the fig cookies made and packed into the cute cookie tins I bought so I'm not always giving away my ziploc containers (they are useful and they changed the shape so I can't get any more of the ones I really like), and the pork buns as well (pics) but I didn't eat dinner until after 7 pm and now the dishwasher is running, so I'm done for the night.

oh, I wanted to note that this year, I bought some fancy holiday/red-and-green sprinkles from KAB for the cookies - normally I just use multicolor nonpareils, but these look kind of festive, I thought. I also got red/green sprinkles for the funfetti cupcakes so I will be very on-theme.

***

( 6-day plan, day 3 )

***

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: switching btwn Ravens vs Pats / Rangers vs Preds

Tags:

adventures in cooking

When I saw this year's Winter Solstice happened to fall on the last night of Hanukkah, it struck me as fitting that the longest night would have the most candles in it. Making the most light against all the darkness.

It's due for a chill here this week - not much below freezing, but wind and some rain. I've got nowhere to go and not much to do, and all of this together has me looking at my tea collection and thinking about where to get started and what I might be able to finish. Modest goals building towards larger ones, as the days begin building up again.

Current Mood: cold
Current Music: The Warmest Part of the Winter - Voxtrot

Amelia

Our feelings for you haven't changed, Carol.

Heated Rivalry Episode 1

“i’d like to save every day / till eternity passes away / just to spend them with you”

Slightly belated Yule/solstice wishes + a very low-key update

Bundle of Holding: DIE the RPG

what I've been up to this past weekend

(no subject)

I’m a nit

Ask a Manager, Update: "is this guy harassing me or just annoying?

orchestral mockup WIP: "Alto Clef Escapement"

The Day in Spikedluv (Sunday, Dec 21)

ALL CLAIMED - PHs #226-227

Want to make art for WisCon?

(no subject)

You can hear it too if you're sincere

Fic In A Box Reveals

The shortest day

Needlepoint Update!

when this guy moves around, good things happen

Live the days.

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