(no subject)

Aug. 23rd, 2025 08:05 pm
thisbluespirit: (agatha christie)
[personal profile] thisbluespirit
I've not been posting or even keeping up with people so much because I've largely been wiped out for one reason or another or prioritising something else with the reduced summer PC time - sorry. This will continue for a little while yet, until it is eventually replaced by my usual slightly less flakeyness.


* The other week I managed some flash fic/scribblets for AU_gust (AU August) on tumblr. I've only managed to tidy up and post one of them since, & there are 2 others to follow once I tweak them a bit, as well as 1 more that I don't know if is worth proper posting & a drabble I still need to type up. But this used up my posting energy for now, so they can wait.

Anyway, in a shocking attempt at pandering to what might pass as popular demand among my works, I committed another Miss Marple + supernatural fic(let):

Tea on Sunday (572 words) by thisbluespirit
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Miss Marple - Agatha Christie
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Jane Marple, Griselda Clement
Additional Tags: Ficlet, Alternate Universe, Witchcraft, AU-gust | August Writing Challenge, Community: allbingo, Community: 100_women, Community: 100fandoms, Miss Marple is a witch
Summary: Miss Marple's secret is out.


* In other writing, before summer got underway, I typed up the bulk of the longest continuous sequence I'm doing for the current arc at [community profile] rainbowfic, and then ever since have been scraping away at finishing it and editing it, and I am nearly there, although I suspect it'll still take another week or two before I have the first section ready to post. (I knew this would happen, so I also started two shorter pieces, but one of them, which is more or less done, has just been even harder to edit because tiredness etc. and the other one is still stuck at only two paragraphs, so that plan went well. Summer brain is not up to much. That was why I had to silly no-pressure AU ficlets my way back to life and even then summer rudely and immediately interrupted all over again). But there has been writing of sorts even so.

(The long sequence was one of the very first bits of this arc that I drew up, which is very funny because I essentially set up a sort of grand house murder mystery affair except that then everything changed so much that now my main characters aren't bothering taking part in the murder bit so am not sure if it will read ok (hopefully when edited) or if I committed Worst Murder Mystery ever as a result. I think probably I will also write a note on the header when we get there saying that One Day I Will Come Back, yes, one day I will come back, until then all 2 or 3 of you should go forward in all your beliefs about how people shouldn't wave a murder mystery at you and then literally run away from it, and I will eventually demonstrate that what is going on is in fact an Apocalyptic Overarching Plot, so there. And edit, of course.)


* I am currently listening to: a 1989 BBC Radio adaptation of Wilkie Collins's No Name I was delighted to find, starring Sophie Thompson as Magdalen, Jack May (as Captain Wragge), Eleanor Bron (as Mrs Lecount) & Robin Ellis (as Captain Kirke). I'm going slowly, but have just started part 3. It's very good and they're making excellent use of the epistolary bits, which is where radio has an advantage over TV. Mrs Lecount and her sinister toad have just turned up and Eleanor Bron is obviously a v good choice.


* I have watched some things, which, aside from what I've already mentioned, and a ridiculous amount of TV detectives, includes these:

The Tribe (1998), The Halfway House (1944), A Matter of Life and Death (1946), The Admirable Crichton (1957), Creation (2009), Cause Celebre (1988) & Eye in the Sky (2015), all of which were either v good or worth talking about anyway. (Creation and Eye in the Sky have brought me very nearly to the end of my Jeremy Northam's viable CV, so I'm a little bit in mourning now; I suppose a new blorbo will come along in time. Talking of which, I found that the iPlayer had the BBC 1970s All Creatures on it, so finally got around to seeing Suzanne Neve's episode of it, which would be the one thing I would certainly have watched with her when I was a child to see if I had shadowy feelings and indeed, as soon as she appeared, before even I saw her, the set was suddenly Significant in the back of my head, so yeah. I think I can prove childhood imprinting on all my top faves and that's what the thing is about, and why even when I'm so ill they reach me in ways that other people, no matter how much I enjoy them in things, don't unfortunately.)

(Hopefully I will get to talk about some of them properly, but I am happy to attempt such talk in comments if wanted, although sense is not guaranteed, and it is true that at least one or two I watched in a fugue state that all I can say is, well, it was good and I watched it very slowly in bits and there we are, but, yes it was good /o\)


* Also random funny thing. My old housemate N lent me a DVD (!!) of The Residence (was not joking about the sheer amount of detectives watched this summer), which I enjoyed so much I recced it to my Dad. A couple of weeks later we had this conversation:

Dad: I've been watching that medical drama you recommended, but it's not that great, really, so I've stopped.

Me: ... Medical drama??

(It turned out he'd found The Resident on one of the back Freeview channels, so I emailed him a trailer of the 2025 Netflix detective show that I magically got lent on DVD as if it was 2015 or something. He found a pirate source and then lost it again, but he definitely liked what he watched so far a lot better than the Resident).

I failed to catch the reference

Aug. 23rd, 2025 10:33 am
olivermoss: (Default)
[personal profile] olivermoss
Field Day is a reference to the pairing in the book The Pairing by Casey McQuistion, which I haven't read. I was considering trying to read is before Comic Con, but I know that a lot of people into Red, White and Royal Blue were sharply disappointed in her other books. I don't know if the critiques are valid or just people really hoping for another RWRB and reading something very different.

When I was there I was like 'I am not sure I get the store's concept. Was the concept really thought through?' Yeah, I was just not catching the reference. Anyway, it's very cute and earnest and probably not a mafia front, so I hope they do well.
reeby10: 'don't worry what people think they don't do it very often' in grey with 'think' and 'often' in red (Default)
[personal profile] reeby10
20 Gravity Falls icons for [community profile] disney_20in20

Preview:


*Icons are free for use.
*Credit and comments are nice.

Read more... )

Field Day

Aug. 22nd, 2025 07:34 pm
olivermoss: (Default)
[personal profile] olivermoss
So in less shit news, I went out in the heat wave to check out a new book and bottle shop called Field Day. It was cute. It's been open about two weeks and they are still setting things up. You know how cafes and cozy spaces try to have that electric 'random spare chairs' sort of a look? I am pretty sure that the table, chair and couch were literally just what they could get for free. Some of the chairs would have been miserable to sit and work in for a while. I hope that place does well, even if it's a bit rough at the moment.



It's a store based around book and beer pairings:



They are trying for cozy, queer, sporty, flowery etc... But they really, really need a water station in there since it's bread and butter will be serving drinks. I asked for water and the guy wasn't even sure what to do with that request for a second. (Not to sound like my mother but) It was 100 degrees today, it's basically a bar, and the guy what to figure out how to handle 'hey can I get some water?'

The storefront is super cute and due to the location I could maybe make that a regular writing spot but, hopefully next week they will have more stuff figured out. Like their current payment system doesn't allow for tips and there was no tip jar either. I could actually make a list of stuff the place was missing, but hopefully they'll sort that all soon. (I really want to love this place, but right now it's a bit of a mess and also not great at communicating what it is, and I found it using an approximate location because they don't have a google maps listing yet and what google did spit out was wrong. Unless this a a money laundering front, they've got some work to do)

2 more pics )

(no subject)

Aug. 22nd, 2025 06:17 pm
beatrice_otter: Me in red--face not shown (Default)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
So my [community profile] rarepairexchange assignment did not show up in my email inbox! It did show up
olivermoss: (Default)
[personal profile] olivermoss
In response to Bluesky talking about becoming unavailable in Mississippi due to their new state law to 'protect kids':

"rahaeli
[bsky.social profile] rahaeli
I expect to see a lot more social media sites blocking MS in the weeks to come -- we're probably going to have to as well :/" link

The 'we' in this case are the owners of this site.

Random Inca Remains

Aug. 22nd, 2025 05:27 pm
purplecat: Averbury Stone Circle.  A large stone close by and smaller markers leading away. (General:Prehistory)
[personal profile] purplecat

A stone wall of large differently shaped blocks all fiting close together.  Bendin is a second similar wall but will smaller blocks.
Sascayhuaman.

Silksong!

Aug. 21st, 2025 08:45 pm
schneefink: Quirrel from Hollow Knight sitting on a bench (HK Quirrel on bench)
[personal profile] schneefink
Silksong is real! It's real and it'll be here in two weeks!! aösldks I'm so excited. I will not take Friday off because I'm too low on vacation days but I will clear my weekend (which means I have to do more chores & studying the weekend before which means I will not try out the Extreme Timed Challenge Exchange this year, ah well.)
(Ngl I was almost hoping it would come out after my exam, so in Mid-October, but I'll just have to focus so I'll study enough, because if I pass the exam I'll have more time to play after. I can do it.)

Fic Rec Ask Game

Aug. 21st, 2025 09:50 am
beatrice_otter: Me in red--face not shown (Default)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Stolen from tumblr.

Each of these categories has literally hundreds of fic I could rec, so I am literally just … mentioning the one that comes up first in my head, not trying to decide which one is the best.

A fic that lives in my brain rent-free )

 

A fic that is not posted on AO3. )

 

 

A fic that is less than 5,000 words )

 

 

A fic that is over 50,000 words )

 

 

A gen fic (no pairings) )

 

 

A fic that does something cool with format or structure (epistolary, social media, 5 things, non-linear, etc.) )

 

 

A fic that uses a trope you love. )

 

 

Recommend a fic with an interesting premise/concept. )

 

 

Recommend a fic from a book fandom )

 

 

Recommend a fic that is more than 10 years old )

 

 

Recommend a fic you think is a hidden gem/deserves more reads )

 

 

Recommend a fic that formed or changed your opinion on something (characterization, backstory, relationship, etc.) )

 

 

Recommend a fic you’ve re-read multiple times )

 

14. Recommend your favorite fic.

Aha. Ahahaha. Ahahahahaha. You expect me to narrow this down? Here are all my bookmarks on Pinboard and here are all my bookmarks on AO3. Have fun. (Everything is the same in those two places, except that Pinboard also has all the fic that isn’t on AO3 and AO3 only has the stuff that is on AO3.)

 

Any fic of your choice )

 



Wednesday What I'm...

Aug. 21st, 2025 12:41 pm
reeby10: the lower half of a person laying on grass and reading with the words 'time to escape' and a ripped looking border (reading)
[personal profile] reeby10
On Thursday once again, oops.

Reading
  • I DNF'd In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire. I was just so bored with it and it seemed like any interesting parts were just vague mentions. Thankfully this one isn't really necessary for reading any of the rest of the series as far as I can tell, so I'll just move on to the next one.
  • I finished The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff. Not a bad book, but really didn't catch my interest as much as I'd hoped. Especially in comparison to the first book in the series, The Eagle of the Ninth, though much of that may be fondness for the movie. Anyway, don't think I'll be continuing with this series.
  • I finished Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives by Adam Cesare. Not as good as the first, but still very enjoyable! Looking forward to the next (and final!) book.
  • I read Newt's Emerald by Garth Nix. Cute and fun! A good chill read while traveling.
  • Ficwise, unsurprisingly, I'm still on VegasPete. Currently reading say yes to heaven, say yes to me by [archiveofourown.org profile] biuskarma  and [archiveofourown.org profile] raykive , which is a very sweet and very, very smutty series.
Watching
  • The roommate and I are still on The Heart Killers after having to take a pause while I was out of work. We're over halfway and things are getting very exciting. Still not crazy about Kant, but how much I love Fadel/Style more than makes up for it lol
  • Continued rewatching KinnPorsche with the best friend. We hung out in person on Monday and spent quite a bit of the day watching (while voice chatting the roommate of course).
  • Watched a lot of youtube over the weekend. Specifically various tiktok compilations of my favorite Thai actors/pairings being cute, since I wasn't home to be watching any shows. Extra glad I'm not on tiktok bc all the sound bites are annoying as fuck, but they do have a lot of good stuff about the boys! It kept me sane over the weekend at least lol
  • No AEW this past week because I was out of town Saturday and Wednesday the roommate and I decided to continue with The Heart Killers instead of pausing for wrestling lol Lots to catch up on now, especially before the PPV on Sunday.
Listening
  • I guess I'm getting into t-pop now?? Been rewatching/relistening to JASP.ER's songs, as well as music videos from a couple other Thai actors I like. Surprising, but it's been a good time!
  • Also loving the song Charm from the band LYKN, which my faves Pond and Joong featured on.
Writing
  • Wrote some song lyrics. Someday I'll learn to actually write songs/music...

Tokusatsu Femslash Prompt Meme

Aug. 21st, 2025 11:06 am
linky: Rinne and Renge together. (Gotchard: Rinne/Renge - MV)
[personal profile] linky posting in [community profile] girlgay
Flint and Magine looking at each other lovingly while holding hands. There is text in the upper left corner saying Tokusatsu Femslash Prompt Meme.

Description: A multimedia femslash prompt meme for all tokusatsu series and films. From Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Power Rangers, Ultraman, Kaiju, Sukeban Deka, and even the most obscure Showa-Era toku out there you can think of. If it's in the tokusatsu genre, it's welcome!
Schedule: August 20th until October 31st.
Links: [community profile] tokufemslash | Prompt Meme Post | Comm Rules and Guidelines | Ao3 Collection | Squidgeworld Collection | Superlove Collection

Michigan, again

Aug. 21st, 2025 08:28 am
azurelunatic: stick figure about to hit potato w/ flaming tennis racket, near jug of gasoline & sack of potatoes (bad idea)
[personal profile] azurelunatic
Visiting the out-laws with Belovedest. Last night we had dinner out at the Dirty Bird (chicken bar & grill) so this morning's breakfast is leftovers. Which I had in bed, due to the scarcity of tables in the hotel room, and my general unwillingness to get out of bed before nine.

Unfortunately, breakfast was crispy chicken Caesar salad, with buffalo sauce on the side. And after I finished that, I was dipping baby carrots in the sauce. And there was a spill.
I can't seem to face up to the facts
I'm tense and nervous and I can't relax
I can't sleep, 'cause my bed's on fire
Don't touch me, I'm a real live wire
Spicy pillow, qu'est-ce que c'est?
Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa, far better
Run-run, run-run-run away
Oh-oh-oh
erinptah: A map. (books)
[personal profile] erinptah

Bad news first: Welp, adding The House In The Cerulean Sea to the list of “books that get hailed as progressive masterpieces because they tick a bunch of identity boxes and everyone is happy at the end, but they’re not actually, you know, good.”

Our protagonist (Linus) is a social worker who reviews specialty orphanages for kids from magical species. He gets sent to a particularly isolated orphanage, ends up getting personally-attached to the plucky orphans there, falls for the guy who runs the place (Arthur), and (supposedly) learns some Valuable Lessons about prejudice and acceptance along the way. The morals are announced with zero subtlety, the emotional beats are all completely predictable, and systemic social prejudice keeps getting defeated by the heroes making inspirational speeches. A few bits are genuinely charming or clever — but the rest of the book doesn’t live up to them.

An example of what I mean by predictable: Linus shows up at the orphanage, gets the initial tour, and finds out that one of the kids sleeps in Arthur’s room (iirc it was just-slightly separate, some kind of converted walk-in closet). Arthur says “it’s nothing untoward, he just has nightmares, so I comfort him.” Linus instantly accepts this with no follow-up questions. I thought “in the real world, this would be sketchy af, but Arthur is obviously the designated Wholesome Love Interest, so it’s going to be fine.” Sure enough, it never came up again.

The setting is hard to get a grip on. It’s a version of our world — the kids study the Canterbury Tales and listen to Buddy Holly — but you never get any clear details about what country they’re in, or what decade it is. Record shops are still in business; phones are still on cords, and the orphanage doesn’t have phone service at all; but Linus’s office has computers, and the country has same-sex marriage. (Homophobia never comes up as a concern at all, even when they’re specifically facing off against religious bigots.) One of the orphans is supposed to be The Antichrist(TM) — which everyone accepts as a fact, but there’s no detail on who decided this, or how they figured it out, and none of the characters ever put any thought to “how do I feel about the reveal that Christianity is Confirmed True?” (…I’m pretty sure no non-Christian religions are even mentioned. The heroes are all just vaguely secular.)

The “happy ending” is that all the orphans get cross-species adopted. (By Arthur and Linus. Arthur is magic — this is treated as a big surprise by the narrative — [ETA] but not the same species as any of the kids. Linus is human.) There’s not even an effort to reconnect them with their own cultures. There’s almost no worldbuilding about where the rest of their communities are, or how they’re integrated into society in general. Only one kid even knows an adult from her own culture, and it’s another person who lives in isolation near the orphanage.

And apparently TJ Klune was inspired by…learning about First Nations residential schools?

Look, I’m not out here saying “nobody can write a good fantasy allegory for real-world atrocities.” But, dude. Don’t take something that was part of the atrocity, and paint it as the happy fluffy ending in your allegory! It’s not enough to just read about the facts of history — you do actually have to internalize the lessons from it!

(The fact that residential schools were started by Christian missionaries, with the explicit goal of stealing children from their own cultures and either indoctrinating them or killing them, makes this book’s non-engagement with religion even more dissonant. You would think putting The Antichrist(TM) in a pseudo-residential-school would be a setup for some kind of commentary! Like “the abuses from Christians toward him and his fellow orphans, not to mention toward the gay supportive adults in his life, actively push him toward the Antichristing lifestyle,” or maybe “surprise, he was never really The Antichrist at all, that’s just a fantastical twist on the way the system demonizes non-Christian children.” But no! Nothing comes of this at all.)

I’ve heard that the sequel tries to address/fix some of this. Maybe just the part about “it’s not heartwarming to cut off the marginalized orphans from any kind of connection to their culture.” And, listen, I can believe it — it’s the kind of problem where, after the readers of the first book pointed out the wild oversight, a well-intentioned, progressive-minded author would try to revise/retcon it in the second book. (Can we call this “pulling a Becky Chambers”?)

For the sake of people who liked the series, I hope that’s true. But none of this was gripping or engaging enough that I’m inspired to read on and find out firsthand.

Gonna throw in a re-rec of Cathy Glass’s foster-caring memoirs instead. I kept wishing TJ Klune had taken some inspiration on “how to write realistic, well-rounded displaced children” (not to mention “good caregivers with healthy boundaries”) from stories like hers. The one I thought back on most was The Saddest Girl In The World, which (although you wouldn’t know it from the generic summary) involves a mixed-race foster child, so Cathy writes about grappling with “what specific cultural needs does this kid have, and am I, a white person, understanding them well enough to do right by her?”

Cover art

On to a brighter note: Nettle & Bone was really good!

So much that, when I finished, I immediately went looking for a sequel. No such luck. (It’s by T. Kingfisher, aka Ursula Vernon, so maybe I should just reread Digger now.)

It’s set in a fairy-tale-inspired world, without being a direct remix of any specific story, in a way that makes it comfortable and familiar without being boring or predictable. The main character, Marra, is a third-born princess, who spends a bunch of her life in a convent to keep her “saved” in case she needs to be put in a politically-arranged marriage later. So the bulk of the plot takes place with her in a state of “okay, I’m in my thirties and have learned some specific practical skills (knitting, midwifery, stable-shoveling), but wow, there are a lot of things about General Adulting that a princess/nun doesn’t get experience with.”

(The religion is only vaguely Christian-shaped, in the way the political situation is vaguely medieval-Europe-shaped. Also: as a nun, Marra specifically serves a saint that there aren’t actually any surviving records about, so her convent is openly just winging it about what kinds of devotion The Lady would’ve wanted. It’s fun.)

I like both the magical godmothers we meet. I like the animal sidekicks (there’s an evil chicken, and a skeleton dog). I like the way Marra’s real-world skills help the plot along — not in a way that’s gimmicky or contrived, just grounded and believable. Everybody feels like a real person, having real reactions to things. There are a few surprises towards the end, and they come together in a refreshing “didn’t see that coming, but now that it happened, it makes perfect sense” kind of way.

The book opens mid-magical-adventure, then flashes back to give us Marra’s whole backstory. Good writing choice, because the backstory got a little slow, and if we just started at the beginning I might have given up. As-is, I plodded through to get back to the juicy parts, and I’m glad I did.

A good read! Would recommend.


wednesday reads and things

Aug. 20th, 2025 04:11 pm
isis: (waterfall)
[personal profile] isis
What I've recently finished reading:

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett, which, it's the third book in the series, so if you like this series you will probably like this book. I particularly enjoyed the trope (which is not uncommon - it's also an element of the Invisible Library series, for example) that the Fae are governed by tales and stories, so the things that happen in their kingdoms generally follow the well-known structures of fairy tales. I also appreciated that the story wrapped around to include elements of the first book.

What I'm reading now:

My hold on Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio came in, and - I can't remember why I put a hold on this book? Did one of you recommend it? I've started it but I am not finding the style particularly engaging. I'll stick with it for a while, though.

What I've recently finished watching:

Untamed, about which I must agree with [personal profile] treewishes's assessment: "Excellent scenery and interesting characters, the plot, um." The drone shots of Yosemite are spectacular! The action taking place in meadows with cliffs in the background is beautiful! The very beginning has some really fingernail-biting rock climbing (both B and I, who used to climb, muttered at the total sketchiness of one of the placements...) and overall the scenery is just gorgeous. The characters and the way they interact, their backstories and their drama and trauma, are definitely interesting. The plot, um. I have a lot of niggling criticisms, like, there is no way an LA cop would be able to easily transfer to a park ranger job! There is no way an experienced law enforcement officer would go confront a dangerous person without backup! I am side-eyeing the idea of a hippie encampment being on park land and not cleared the hell out of there immediately they found it! I can't imagine a park far from major cities being a hub for [spoilers redacted]! But mostly it's just a ridiculously convoluted plot for the sake of ridiculous convolutions.

Apparently there will be a second season, but I have no idea what they are going to keep constant from the first - the people, the setting, ???

What I'm still playing:

I'm still playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and it's still entertaining.

Dear RarePear Author

Aug. 20th, 2025 12:45 pm
beatrice_otter: Me in red--face not shown (Default)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
I use the same name everywhere so I am [personal profile] beatrice_otter on AO3. Treats are awesome.

I would rather get a story you were happy with than "well, she said she liked x, so I guess I have to do x even though I don't like x and/or am not inspired that way." This letter is long with lots of suggestions and preferences if you find it helpful, but feel free to ignore it if it is not helpful. I'm fairly easy to please; I've been doing ficathons for over a decade and am usually very happy with my gifts.

The most important thing for me in a fic is that the characters are well-written and recognizably themselves. Even when I don't like a character, I don't go in for character-bashing. If nothing else, if the rest of this letter is too much or my kinks don't fit yours, just concentrate on writing a story with everyone in character and good spelling and grammar and I will almost certainly love what you come up with.

I have an embarrassment squick, which makes humor kind of hit-or-miss sometimes. The kind of humor where someone does something embarrassing and the audience is laughing at them makes me uncomfortable. On the other hand, the kind of humor where the audience is laughing with the characters I really enjoy.


General Likes and Dislikes
other things to keeep in mind:
  • I like stuff that takes side characters and puts them center-stage, especially when the characters and/or actors are marginalized. I enjoy seeing them come to life.
  • I don't like it when marginalized characters get relegated to the sidekick/supporting/helper role so that it can be All About The White Dude.
  • I like it when female characters are more than just the Strong Female Character(tm) or The Nurturer.
  • I like fluff
  • I like angst with a happy ending
  • I like stories that make me think about things in a new way.
  • I like to know that culture matters to people, and to see how different cultures interact and where the clashes are.
  • I like unreliable narrators.
  • I like acknowledgment that different people can have different points of view without either of them being wrong.
  • I like stories that engage with problematic aspects of the source, and which deal with privilege in one way or another instead of sweeping it under the rug.
  • Worldbuilding is my jam, I am pretty much always up for explorations of why the world is the way it is. I love hearing about the economics, the politics, the religion, the clothing, the history, the folklore, all of that kind of stuff. And I want to know why it matters--how is all this cultural background stuff affecting the characters, the plot, everything. You don't have to do deep worldbuilding, but I'll enjoy it if you do.
  • I don't like it when plots hinge on characters being selectively stupid, or selectively unable to communicate. Like, if they are stupid or a himbo or whatever in general, or have problems communicating in general, that's fine! Or if they canonically have a blind spot in that area, again, it's fine. But if it's just "the only way I can think of for this plot to work is if the character spontaneously and temporarily loses half their intelligence and competence," then I'm going to spend the rest of the fic wondering why the character didn't just ____?
  • I like AUs, but not complete setting AUs (i.e. no highschool or college or coffee shop AUs, and especially not mundane AUs--nothing where you keep characters but drop most of the worldbuilding). I like fork-in-the-road type AUs, where one thing is different and the changes all result from that one thing, and you explore what might have been if such-and-such happened.
  • I like the concept of sedoretu marriages.
  • I like historical AUs, but only when the author actually knows the history period in question and does thoughtful worldbuilding to meld actual culture of the time with the canon.
  • Crackfic is really hit and miss for me, sometimes I love it and sometimes I can't stand it. Basically, if it's the characters we know and love in a ludicrous situation, that's great. If they're OOC or parodied in order to make something funny ... it's not funny to me.
I like plotty, gen stories, and plotty stories in general. I don't care for explicit sex, particularly when it's just thrown in for teh porn. I'm asexual; a lot of the time I don't even bother to read the sex scenes. Romance is awesome (as long as both are in character and the romantic plot doesn't hinge on one or both of them being an idiot). I love it when friendship is held up as important and not secondary to romantic relationships and blood ties.

Please no incest or darkfic. I define "darkfic" as stuff where there's a lot of suffering and no hope even at the end and all the characters are terrible. Angst with a happy ending is fine, I enjoy it, but there's gotta be a payoff. Even an ambiguous ending is fine! But there has to be some note of grace or redemption or hope somewhere, it can't just be "people are awful and the world sucks, the end." I define incest as siblings and/or parents, cousins don't count.

I love outsider perspectives and academic takes on things. In-universe meta (newspaper articles, academic monographs--especially with the sort of snarky feuding common in actual real-world academia, social media feeds in current day or future worlds) is awesome.

Also, I'm picky about European historical clothing details. You don't have to talk about it at all! In fact, if you don't know much about historical clothing, I would prefer if you didn't mention it at all. My pet peeve is corsets: no, they weren't a restrictive tool of the patriarchy, no, they didn't interfere with most women's daily lives, no, most women weren't wearing them so tight they couldn't breathe.

I like religion but I'm picky about it. Basically, Christianity is deeply weird compared to most other religions, and a lot of people whose only experience with religion is living in a culturally-Christian nation assume that what they know about Christianity is some sort of universal principle of What Religion Is Like, and that's just not the case. For example, in Christianity what you believe is more important than what you do. This is not to say we Christians don't teach and practice Christian ethics or have rituals we are very attached to, but rather that if you don't believe in Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter what rituals you participate in or what ethical things you do, you are not a Christian (although you may be a "cultural Christian"). Every Christian group has at least a minimal core theology that members must affirm, but participation in ritual is far less rigidly a requirement. Most other religions rank what you do (both ethically and ritually) as more important than what you believe, and it is often quite possible to be a member in good standing if you participate in the practices and rituals even if you believe none of the teachings. Anyway, point is, if you are doing worldbuilding for a fantasy or SF or otherwise non-Christian religion ... unless it is explicitly a Christian-analogue, it should be different from Christianity. Question your assumptions and see where that leads you, and I will be fascinated and thrilled.




The Goblin Emperor Series - Katherine Addison
Arbelan Drazharan/Maru Sevraseched
I can see them having so much fun together when he visits. They're both old enough to know what they want and how to get it discreetly, they're both outside the normal court bullshit, and Arbelan's gone through enough trouble. Let her have some fun.

Chenelo Drazharan/Marquess Lanthevel (TGE)
I have no idea how this might come about, but the premise intrigues me. Did Chenelo survive relegation, and come back to court with Maia after Varenechibel's death, and go looking for allies to help her son's reign be stable? Is V'bel just 2% less a jerk and doesn't relegate her and Maia, but they're still persona non grata at court, and she and Lanthevel come to be friends and then have to dance around the edges of what they can safely do (because V'bel is looking for an excuse to divorce her)?

Chenelo Drazharan/Nemolis Drazhar (TGE)
V'bel already had several grown sons by the time the marriage with Chenelo was arranged; surely Maru would have wanted his grandson to be an emperor, instead of merely another younger son? The political maneuverings around this must have been really interesting, but also, the few glimpses we get of Nemolis is of a kind, thoughtful man who is a good husband and father. I don't care whether they fall in love or not, but I'd love to see the two of them working together and being partners in a difficult situation. Either when they're first married or later.

Eiru Berenar/Arbelan Drazharan (TGE)
Does Arbelan marry him instead of V'bel (and thus have a much nicer life)? Do they start up something when she comes back to court? Please no cheating—maybe his wife is marnis and they have an Understanding. I just want Arbelan to have good things.

Nemriän Drazhin/Maru Sevraseched (TGE)
So what are the POLITICS of this? Did the marriage with Chenelo not happen? Did it go better? Is Maru using this marriage to pressure V'bel into treating Chenelo and Maia better ("If you don't take better care of my daughter and grandson, I'll do the same or worse to Nemriän)? What were the pressures that were making it advantageous for the Ethuveraz and Barizhan to have closer ties? (Notably, Barizhan has a coast and the Ethuveraz doesn't, and their major river goes right through Barizhan to the sea. If Barizhan wants to cut off the Ethuveraz's trade, they have every capability of doing so.) Does Maru get a legitimate son and heir out of the marriage, or another daughter, and what happens then?

Shaleän Sevraseched/Shaleän Sevraseched's Wife (TGE)
Pirates! Have fun!

Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic




Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L. Sayers
I would love a casefic, but also, all of these are such interesting characters, I'd love to go deeper into their dynamics.

Charles Parker/Mary Wimsey (Peter Wimsey)
Everybody treats Mary like she's a child who doesn't know her own mind, but she is only five years younger than Peter. In Clouds of Witness, she is 28 years old. I deeply dislike Sayers' trope of women who take up the interests of the men they fall in love with; I want her to be a leftie out of her own conviction. (Is that the reason it takes her and Charles so long to get together? He's so staid and conservative; maybe it took a while to negotiate what their relationship was going to be like.) I want her to get the respect she is denied by the narrative, and I want Charles to have someone he can have reasoned intellectual disagreements with. (I love that he reads theology for fun.)

Charles Parker/Peter Wimsey (Peter Wimsey)
Is Charles really okay with Peter leaving him with all the footwork all the time? Is there ever a time when Peter is wrong and Charles is right? Peter went to a boys' school, and situational homosexuality is a thing, besides his general cosmopolitanness; does Charles have more problem with it than Peter does? They are both such deeply principled men, and they have the principles of their class and time; does "living in sin" bother them? The fact that they can't be open and honest about it?

Colonel Marchbanks/Mrs Marchbanks (Peter Wimsey)
The Marchbanks are so stodgy, but also very decent people. I would love to see more of them. Maybe something during the war, where they're both dealing with the fact that this is not like the wars he's served in in the past? Maybe a house party at Duke's Denver goes deeply wrong (in a non-murdery way)?

Freddy Arbuthnot/Rachel Levy (Peter Wimsey)
Freddy's brainpower is only concentrated in his one area, but in that area he's very good, and he seems to be a kind enough man … and one willing to move beyond his prejudices. I'd love their courtship from Rachel's point of view, or maybe something from later on after their marriage. I would be equally thrilled for something that expands these two characters but treads lightly on the antisemitism of the time as I would be for something that dives deep into it. (What do they do before WWII as conditions for Jews are worsening, especially in Europe?)

Mervyn Bunter/Harriet Vane/Peter Wimsey (Peter Wimsey)
I absolutely cannot buy that Peter and Harriet's relationship would go the same way if he was in a pre-existing relationship with Bunter. Bunter is not like his mistresses, which bring mutual pleasure and enjoyment but have little real depth of feeling and are largely separate from his day-to-day life; Peter depends on Bunter for his healing and sanity. There are "jokes" in canon about how Bunter is basically his wife. It is an extremely important relationship to Peter, and I can't see sex making that less important. So he would not immediately propose in a jail cell, because he's basically already married and there would have to be a lot of negotiation before things went forward with Harriet. (When he visits Sylvia and Eiluned is he sounding them out discreetly as to how okay she is with gay men and threesomes?) There are so many points along their courtship and relationship where things would have changed based on that. I'd love to see them explored. Or you could have P/B not be pre-existing, and something about Harriet changes the dynamic enough that they have a belated relationship and end up in a triad where Harriet is the pre-existing partner? Or maybe a true menage a trois?

Mervyn Bunter/Peter Wimsey (Peter Wimsey)
When do they get together? During the war? After it? How does it affect their cases, and their social circle? Who knows about it (Bunter's mother? The Dowager Duchess? Charles Parker?)? How do they navigate the issues of Peter's fluctuating mental health? How does it affect their cases?

Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic




Star Wars Original Trilogy
My favorite parts of Star Wars includes the PT, the OT, the Zahn trilogy (especially Mara Jade) and the X-Wing books, bits and pieces from the TV shows, Rey&Finn&Poe as the only contributions from the ST, and an ending where something new and better results after all the pain and trauma. (Or at least something different.) It's not that everything has to be perfect, but I want there to be at least some growth and change. If you are inspired by other corners of the Star Wars universe, feel free to bring them in, but those are my happy places, and I am perfectly fine with completely ignoring the ST or rewriting it to make it either less stupid or less depressing (or both).

I love Lando, and I think he was absolutely right to put the safety of his entire city and everyone living in it ahead of the well-being of a couple of old friends. He is smart, pragmatic, and responsible in the best possible way. Do Leia and Lando work together on political negotiations/shenanigans while Han plays house-husband and swoops in with the Falcon when they need backup? Do Han and Lando go off and make shady business deals and come home to Leia with intelligence she can use politically? Does Lando start up a new operation--maybe mining, maybe something else--or take over an existing one after the war is over, and become a respectable businessman? I was one of the contributors to the "What if Han became Emperor by accident" thread on tumblr a while back, and my contribution was "ooh, Lando would be his Grand Vizier!" and if you want to go that direction that would also be awesome. (It's not on tumblr any longer, but the podfic and transcript of it are here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18219923) Also, Weird Jedi Shit is always fun.

Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic, Kylo Ren




Crossover Fandom
Bertram "Bertie" Wooster (Jeeves and Wooster)/Harriet Vane (Peter Wimsey)
Look, Harriet Vane is far from the worst person he's ever gotten accidentally engaged to, but he still doesn't want to be married. For a fun twist on the usual J&W plot, what if there's some reason that she feels her honor is engaged? Being a sensible woman, I'd think Jeeves' approach this time might be to just … talk with her and explain the whole situation and find a way out of it that satisfies them both. And then shenanigans happen, and they go away with no hard feelings.

Donna Noble (Doctor Who)/Lando Calrissian (Star Wars)
I think Donna would be suspicious of Lando's charm, but also really enjoy him flirting with her, and they'd have a great time together (while the Doctor just wanders around confused in the background). Maybe she saves Cloud City through the power of temping and bureaucracy, maybe she helps him conning some people who really deserve it pre-Cloud City, maybe she helps him on a rebellion mission, maybe they meet on vacation.

Elinor Dashwood (Sense and Sensibility)/William Laurence (Temeraire)
Two people of deep reserve, intelligence, and honor—there are so many ways they could have an interesting relationship, and so many ways their respective book plots would complicate that. I'd love to see it.

Martha Jones (Doctor Who)/Peter Grant (Rivers of London)
Peter would love to meet an actual alien, and I think a case where he has to do with weirdness that's not magic related would be good for him. I think there would be a lot of mutual wariness and misunderstandings, because she's going to assume aliens and he's going to assume magic, and she would probably assume that his powers are, like psychic stuff or whatever.

Martha Jones (Doctor Who)/Stephen Franklin (B5)
Two doctors with both compassion and determination, willing to go to the limit to do the right thing and save people (and sometimes the world). You could do so many interesting things with that—fit Martha and the Doctor into a B5 typical plot, or maybe Martha gets stranded and starts working at the clinic in Downbelow to make ends meet while she waits for the Doctor to come pick her up.

Natasha Romanov (MCU)/Bruce Wayne (DCU)
Do they meet on a mission? Are they targeting the same person? Is Natasha sent in to find out who the Batman is? Does Bruce go looking for "what is SHIELD and what are they doing at that base in Gotham?" Does she moonlight as an actual supermodel for a while to build up one of her covers, and get invited to a party at Wayne Manor? Any incarnation of Bruce Wayne is fine with me.

Peggy Carter (Agent Carter)/Diana (Wonder Woman)
I am fine with any version of Diana. I would LOVE to see them on a case during/after WWII, or working together during Peggy Carter's days as director of SHIELD. I think they could bond over lost loves (and over a shared love of hitting bad people very hard). Secret identity shenanigans would also be interesting.

Peggy Carter (Agent Carter)/Henry "Indiana" Jones (Indiana Jones)
I don't like Temple of Doom, but Crystal Skull is ok. Given that HYDRA was going after mystical artifacts, you know they had to have crossed Indy, or maybe the SSR/SHIELD needed his expertise. Also, he canonically has a thing for competent brunettes, so.

Phryne Fisher (Miss Fisher)/Peggy Carter (Agent Carter)
Adventures! Is the Honorable Phryne Fisher also an agent of the SSR? Does one of Peggy's cases post-war take her to Australia?

Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic




Babylon 5 (TV 1993)
Ah, the fandom of my youth! This was my first fandom that was mine, and not just something the family watched together. I love the layering of the themes, and how you can watch it on multiple levels (action/adventure, character arcs, political allegory, deeper themes about truth and freedom and who are you and what do you want and why are you here). The characters and their story arcs were all so compelling. One of the things I love about Babylon 5 is that there were so many characters where the fact that they were antagonists didn't mean they were stupid or bad people, just people with a different perspective honestly trying to do what is right.

Is there a problem on Babylon 5 that needs to get solved? Is there some Minbari cultural rite or Earthforce political intrigue? Is the PsiCorps making trouble? I'd also love something post-series about peace-building.

I especially love Minbari culture. If you do worldbuilding for Minbari culture, past, present, or future, I will love you forever. I consider "To Dream in the City of Sorrows" canon and firmly believe that when Sinclair went into the past and became Valen, he found Catherine again after she was lost in time.

Catherine Sakai/Jeffrey Sinclair (Babylon 5)
I love stories where Jeffrey/Valen meet up with her again in the past. But I would also be interested in stories about the two of them juggling their relationship and their respective careers, or the changes once he's assigned as ambassador to Minbar.

Delenn/John Sheridan/? (Babylon 5)
I love John and Delenn together, but she is way too smart for him and I like it best when he knows he's a bit out of his league and a bit uncomfortable at all the alien stuff (and yet maybe a bit excited by it under the surface). The political implications of their relationship, on both Earth and Minbar, fascinate me. Then you add in either Neroon or Lennier, and what happens? I don't think John would be terribly comfortable with it; three may be holy on Minbar, but John sure didn't like Lennier's love for Delenn. What if Neroon survived somehow and had to learn to be religious caste? How would Neroon and John get along as part of a marriage? What about John and Lennier?

Delenn/Neroon, Lennier/Neroon (Babylon 5)
Neroon survives AU! Or maybe something exploring his earlier career, or his relationship with Branmer, or the complexities and frustrations of his encounters with Delenn, or his time on the Gray Council. Delenn has dealings with Neroon, and Lennier is her go-between, and then Neroon has Opinions about Lennier's attempts at trying to subsume his romantic feelings into service and pretend he's just fine with John Sheridan, and things snowball from there.

Marcus Cole/Neroon (Babylon 5)
They only really interact in that one episode, but it is FASCINATING. Marcus changes Neroon's whole perspective; I don't think he could have done what he did, later, without it. Either something where Neroon survives or something where he doesn't could be interesting. Or maybe Neroon figures out how to save Marcus. This could be tragic or happy ending or something set earlier before either of them dies.

Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic




Sense8 (TV)
Hernando Fuentes/Lito Rodriguez/Daniela Velasquez (Sense8)
I love the worldbuilding and the characters, and what I most want is what happens NEXT. And I'm curious for both the immediate lives of the cluster (I love them all), but also for the larger world of sensate clusters. Do they start building their own culture, now that it's safer? What scars have been left by the corporate exploitation and murder? What continuing steps are needed to get rid of the lingering influence of BPO? Does the larger world ever learn about sensates, and what happens to the cluster then?

I love Sun's contradictions and complexity, I love Capheus's heart and courage, I love Lito's drama and sweetness, I love Nita and Nomi's trust and mutual devotion (and Amanita's quick thinking), I love the way Lito and Hernando's relationship grew and the way Daniela became a true partner for them and they have a relationship with her that's as important as a marriage but not romantic/sexual in the traditional sense. I love the way all of the cluster interacts and how together they are so much more than the sum of their parts, and I love watching all of them grow and become more truly themselves as they become entiwned in one another. (And I wonder what it would be like for clusters that weren't so well-suited, if that might be part of where Whispers came from.)

Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic




Star Trek: TNG
I love alien culture worldbuilding, boldly going, exploring, wacky science hijinks, time travel, AU shenanigans. I love the hopeful attitude that we can become better than we are. I love cross-cultural romance (especially when it deals realistically with having to figure out what compromises each is going to make on what they expect out of a relationship--love is not all you need, you also need a lot of hard work and communication).

As for plot ... it's Star Trek. If you want to play it serious, go for it. If you want to lean into wacky tropes, that's great too. As long as everyone is in character, feel free to go as cracktastic as you want with the time travel and travel to alternate universes and weird missions.

Guinan/Jean-Luc Picard (TNG)
Guinan is awesome, but please tone down the Magical Negro stereotype--she's not just The Wise Magic Advisor. She's got her own prejudices and traumas. I would love anything that dove into her past or her culture. Picard and Guinan have INCREDIBLE chemistry. Watch Time's Arrow and see the way he LOOKS AT HER. Something with time travel and meeting in the wrong order a la Time's Arrow would be interesting, but so would them hanging out together and being friends. Or an adventure from before they were together on Enterprise. I don't like most of the Picard TV show, but I do appreciate Picard and Guinan's stuff.

Jean-Luc Picard/Kamala (TNG)
Picard/Kamala, the "empathic metamorph" who imprinted on Picard but then went on to her arranged marriage anyway? On the one hand, you have the appeal of the whole soulmate trope, and on the other you have the ickyness of how that works for an empathic metamorph, but on the other hand, he was the one she chose, and then you've got the political aspects. Even once she's free do either of them want a long-term relationship, despite the fact that they are perfectly matched?

I see it as unrequited, unless dude Kamala married died in an accident and she left the planet. Even then, I don't know that she would have sought him out. I like that her choice was just that--her choice. And in a shitty situation, she chose to bond with the person whose desires made her into someone she wanted to be. I wonder what she did after? Obviously, duty and ethics are very important to her. But what does that mean, in the long run, given her situation? Does she use her position to advocate for change, or just endure until her husband died and then leave after he dies (she's a lot younger than he is)? OTOH, what happens if something happened and the Enterprise had to go back to the planet she married into?

Jean-Luc Picard/Ro Laren (TNG)
I love the friendship and mentorship they have despite (or maybe because of) their differences, and the mutual trust they built. I'd be interested in an episode-type story set before she defected to the Maquis, or an AU where she didn't for some reason, or something after the Dominion War when she's no longer a terrorist. Or a role-reversal AU where Bajor is the perfect paradise world that's the founder of the Federation and provides most of the people for Starfleet, and Earth is the one conquered by the Cardassians. I absolutely LOVE Ro Laren, she's such a contrast to the rest of them.

K'Ehleyr/Worf (TNG)
I love Klingons, PARTICULARLY when they're written with depth. The warrior ethos shapes their entire culture, but it's not the only thing about them. Worf/K'Ehleyr: K'Ehleyr rejects much of what Worf is desperately trying to cling to. And Worf's view of Klingons is very one-dimensional, almost an outsider's view, because of his upbringing. If she had lived and they'd had to actually work things out, that would have been fascinating. Not to mention very different views on how to raise Alexander.

William Riker/Deanna Troi/Worf (TNG)
Deanna Troi/Worf (TNG)
This is three different cultures, and 'human' is the place in the middle that they all understand, but I'd be interested in something that explored the 'alien' cultures and didn't assume 'human' as normal. Klingon gender roles are that the women are loud and violent and the men read love poetry. Deanna's more the poetry type than the loud and violent type, and I'm not sure how much of a soft side Worf has. So neither of them quite 'fit' Klingon gender/sexual norms. Feel free to bring in the perspective Martok and the others had on mental illness when they were trapped in that Dominion prison camp, that mental illness is an enemy to fight and it takes a lot of strength to fight an enemy in your own head. From that perspective, Deanna is a weapons trainer for the mind.

Deanna/Will, there's history, not all of it good, and a reason they haven't been together for a long time. With Worf and either of them, there's not that baggage.

William Riker/Ro Laren
Riker/Ro: the episode where they have amnesia is amazing, I love stories that deal with what happened afterwards. Before that, they have such great conflict, because Riker is trying to manage Ro and not connecting with her, and Ro has Problems With Authority (unless she independently has come to respect the individual, as with Picard). Then they have amnesia and sleep together! And then they try to pretend it never happened.

Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic




Star Trek: TOS
I love alien culture worldbuilding. I love boldly going and exploring and wacky science hijinks and time travel and alternate universe shenanigans. I love the hopeful attitude that we can become better than we are. I love cross-cultural romance (especially when it deals realistically with having to figure out what compromises each is going to make on what they expect out of a relationship--love is not all you need, you also need a lot of hard work and communication).

As for plot ... it's Star Trek. If you want to play it serious, go for it. If you want to lean into the wacky tropes Star Trek was known for, that's great too. As long as everyone is in character, feel free to go as cracktastic as you want with the time travel and travel to alternate universes and weird missions.

Montgomery "Scotty" Scott/Nyota Uhura (ST: TOS)
Between the two of them, they really do keep the ship running when the Big Three are off having their adventures. And we see them closer in the movies. I'd love to see how they got there.

Spock/Nyota Uhura (Star Trek: The Original Series)
My headcanon on Vulcans was shaped by 80s Trek novels but I also enjoy trying to fit the Star Trek: Enterprise Vulcans with ... everything else we know about Vulcans. One thing I will point out, though, is that while there are a lot of things about Vulcan culture that seem/are sexist, the most powerful Vulcans we see throughout the series are elderly women. I love Pon Farr, but mostly dealing with the implications of it (both before and after) and not the sex part.

I love Spock/Uhura, they had such great chemistry in TOS (better, actually, than in the AOS). There's such mutual respect and such playfulness, it's wonderful. And please don't disrupt the canon relationships with Kirk—obviously he and Spock are incredibly important to one another, but also, Kirk and Uhura are such besties, too, I love their mutual respect.

T'Pring/Nyota Uhura (ST:TOS)
I have no idea how this would work but I am fascinated by the premise. An AU where T'Pring was the one who went to Starfleet and Spock stayed on Vulcan? Uhura as a teacher of languages at the Vulcan Science Academy while Enterprise is being refitted? Uhura wants a pen pal to practice her Vulcan with and Spock suggests his betrothed? T'Pring and Nyota encounter each other when Nyota is on Vulcan during Star Trek III?

Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic




Star Trek: Voyager
I love alien culture worldbuilding. I love boldly going and exploring and wacky science hijinks and time travel and alternate universe shenanigans. I love the hopeful attitude that we can become better than we are.

I love cross-cultural romance (especially when it deals realistically with having to figure out what compromises each is going to make on what they expect out of a relationship--love is not all you need, you also need a lot of hard work and communication).

My headcanon on Vulcans was shaped by 80s Trek novels but I also enjoy trying to fit the Star Trek: Enterprise Vulcans with ... everything else we know about Vulcans. One thing I will point out, though, is that while there are a lot of things about Vulcan culture that seem/are sexist, the most powerful Vulcans we see throughout the series are elderly women. I love Pon Farr, but mostly dealing with the implications of it (both before and after) and not the sex part.

I think Kate Mulgrew did an excellent job of playing Janeway despite the inconsistent writing she was given, and I love the way Tuvok was definitely a Vulcan but also a very different Vulcan than Spock. And I think their friendship was a foundation for both of them, having someone they'd known and trusted for years while so far from home. She's very casual about touching his hands, and he's fine with it. Whether it's just for Pon Farr or something deeper and longer lasting, I'm here for it.

Prompts: Day in the life stuff about dealing with the challenges of being so far from home and the top-ranking loyal Starfleet officers. Maybe something set early on dealing with Tuvok's suspicion of the Maquis (and their suspicion of him) and Janeway trying to bring the crew together would be interesting. Pre-series stuff about how they came to be close. Post-series stuff--I mean, it's great, they're both glad to be home, but they've changed and the Federation has changed. (Has Tuvok's wife moved on/remarried?) If you wanted to handle Pon Farr and/or them becoming a couple, I would enjoy that too. Or something dealing with the aftermath of the episode Blood Fever, which I would imagine made Pon Farr and/or Vulcans a really public topic of discussion on the ship. (It's not something that could have been easily hushed up!) Another idea: some Vulcan festival is coming up, and the Vulcans are going to have a hard time celebrating it so far from home, so Tuvok and Janeway have to get creative to figure out how to handle it.

T'Pel/Tuvok: I would be happy with ANYTHING, there is NO fic for this pairing. What's their marriage like, with him gone all the time? What was she doing while he was off being a rebellious teenager? What was she doing while he was on Voyager, and what was it like when he came home?

If none of that appeals ... it's Star Trek. If you want to play it serious, go for it. If you want to lean into the wacky tropes Star Trek was known for, that's great too. As long as everyone is in character, feel free to go as cracktastic as you want with the time travel and travel to alternate universes and weird missions.

Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic




Still Star-Crossed (TV)
Benvolio Montague/Rosaline Capulet
So much potential, cut so tragically short. I would love just about anything that showed What Happened Next, or maybe an AU where things happen differently (take just about any canon event and play it out), or maybe far in the future after they're married and things have settled down. What roles do they play, together, in establishing a lasting peace? Do other Shakespeare characters wander through?

Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic

Favourite board games

Aug. 20th, 2025 10:56 am
pedanther: (Default)
[personal profile] pedanther

A thing went past on Tumblr that was like "List your 25 favourite board games", and I don't think I can manage 25, but I can probably do ten. In no particular order:

  • Once Upon a Time: Semi-cooperative storytelling. Everybody gets a hand of cards with story elements like "frog" and "crown" and "witch", and the aim is to play them in an order that creates a reasonably coherent fairy story. Each player also gets one ending card, and wins if they can bend the story into a shape that lets them cap it with their ending. I have fond memories of the time we were approaching what felt like the end of the story and realised that nobody had an ending that fit, so we had to pull a "meanwhile, the princess's brother" and tack on another entire story before we could finish.
  • Half Truth: A trivia quiz game specifically designed to avoid the common problems of trivia quiz games, such as players feeling like they know the answers to everyone's questions except their own. One of the few games I've backed on Kickstarter and been entirely happy with. My only regret is that everybody knows better than to challenge me to trivia games now.
  • Cockroach Poker: A bluffing game that involves handing people creepy-crawlies and lying about what they are. The game ends as soon as one player is eliminated, so there's no pressure to be The Winner, and as long as I'm not dangerously close to elimination I can relax and enjoy trolling people.
  • Ingenious: Abstract tile-placement game. Has an interesting scoring mechanic where each player has separate scores for each tile type, and only their lowest score counts at the end of the game, so it's a bad strategy to try and rack up one score and neglect the others.
  • Betrayal at House on the Hill: Starts as a cooperative game about a group of people exploring an old abandoned house with a spooky reputation, then halfway through one player (chosen according to criteria that change each game depending on how the exploration went) is transformed into or revealed as a villain whom the others must defeat. Has several fun variants, including a licensed Scooby-Doo edition. The first edition had a famous misprint that sometimes resulted in finding a subterranean lake in the attic.
  • Star Realms: My favourite deck-building game. Acquire a fleet of space ships and space stations to defeat your enemies.
  • Dixit: Everybody puts down a card, and the active player gives a hint about which card is theirs. They get no points if nobody correctly identifies their card, but also no points if everybody correctly identifies their card. The cards have strange and interesting artwork on them.
  • Fury of Dracula: Hidden movement. One player is Dracula, attempting to make a comeback and secure dominion over Europe, while the other players control a team of vampire hunters (Professor Van Helsing, Mrs Harker, Dr Seward, and Lord Godalming) trying to track him down and put a stop to him.
  • Star Fluxx: My favourite version of Fluxx. The creeper mechanics are interesting, and I enjoy the way that it includes allusions to many different science fiction franchises and tropes, and in particular the way that many of the cards change meaning with context (for instance, "The Doctor", which means one thing if it's paired with "The Time Machine" and something else if it's played with "The Captain" and "The Expendable Crewman").
  • Flamme Rouge: Racing game. Each player controls two cyclists, racing around a track with terrain features like hills and rough ground that affect how fast you travel, and you get an aerodynamic drafting advantage if you position yourself well relative to other cyclists (which is one reason you get two cyclists, so that one can try to give the other a boost). You have a certain number of cards that let your cyclist put in extra effort for a turn, but once you use them they're gone, so it's important to use them at the moments where they'll do the most good.

And five games that I think might become favourites if I get to play them more than once:

  • RoboRally: Each player is trying to control a robot around an obstacle course. You determine your robot's movement for each round at the start of the round, and then all the robots move at once. Knowing left from right and clockwise from counterclockwise are very important. There's a significant chance that another robot will bump into yours and send you off in entirely the wrong direction.
  • Unmatched: Fighting game where every player has a unique character or duo with their own special abilities. There are a whole bunch of expansions that add extra characters, such as Cobbles and Fog (heroes and villains from Victorian literature) and Battle of Legends (heroes and monsters from classical mythology).
  • Winter Tales: Storytelling game set in a world of twisted fairy tales.
  • Bomb Busters: Cooperative logic game where the players are a team trying to deactivate a bomb by cutting the right wires in the right order.
  • King of Monster Island: From the same series as King of Tokyo, a game about giant monsters fighting for control of territory. It's been long enough since I played it that I don't remember the details clearly, but my notes are emphatic about how much I enjoyed it.

relaxing is extremely nice

Aug. 19th, 2025 08:28 pm
unicornduke: (Default)
[personal profile] unicornduke
I had a lovely weekend. 

saturday morning, we got the plastic on the tunnel. I had been working on this on and off over the past two weeks. It was half of a high tunnel that we had tried to use to help along the blackberries but it didn't really succeed. We took half of it away (apparently I never posted about this and it is a very funny thing we tried and failed at but it was fun) and left the other half where it was without plastic. The blackberries are not a success. It's a combination of things: wrong varieties, wrong location, lack of attention, disease issues. So I mowed them all down this year and the tunnel is now more storage, especially for wagons because we can pull them through. It was hot and sticky that morning, but we got the plastic on and almost all secured by 10am after starting at 8 and I ran off. Tossed all my stuff in the truck and hit the road. 

I took the trip slowly, because I have been driving on my spare (it's a proper tire, just old) and the check engine light had been on for low oil (I added more oil and it turned off). I made my way up to C's place, where I picked up 15 lbs of garlic and left money and cornmeal shortbread cookies. They were away on a camping trip, so I missed seeing them but it was lovely to see the area again and look at some of their farm projects. I got ice cream. Then headed to B's, stopping to pick up arepas on the way. I arrived around 6pm, we nommed food and sat around and chatted, then set up my tent and popped all my stuff in it. Then sleep time. Well. Reading a book, then sleeping

I didn't sleep particularly well, there was some amount of critters poking around and at the tent and a door on B's cabin slammed at 12:30am for some reason, but it was fine. I slept in a bit and wandered out around 8am. We ate breakfast and then wandered back out to the cabin. Did some crafting, chatting which was lovely and relaxing. I read a book for a bit. B worked on painting some outlet covers. When we went in for lunch, A asked if we could run for canned beans, which were needed for refried beans for dinner, so B and I went to the grocery store first, picked up beans, snacks and split an extremely good lunch of guacamole, chips and spicy california rolls (I had been complaining about the lack of guacamole available in the grocery stores by me). Then we stopped by an ice cream place. This was about the time some clouds rolled in, taking the temps from 90F with so much humidity to not blazing hot and just merely uncomfortable. 

More crafting, reading and relaxing in the afternoon. knitting for me, painting for B. Just the nicest to be able to do that with a friend. B is a delight and it was so great to see her in person for the first time in six months and just get to hang out either chatting or crafting. I love some chill time with friends. I think it's interesting how the way I spend time with her is very like how I spent time with former roommate J who I still miss living with three years after we parted ways. Lots of quiet relaxing time together, watching things, chatting, occasional outings places. Hmm. I took a 20 min nap, which helped a lot with the sleep deprivation but since I napped in my tent without a fan, I woke up damp with sweat which was gross. But some time hanging out in the cabin in front of the fan fixed that and a fresh tshirt before dinner also helped. 

Dinner made by A was absolutely delicious tacos with fixings and the wind picked up around 5:30 and dropped the outside temperature 20 degrees in about an hour. It felt cold, but super nice so we sat outside to eat. Z had friends visiting, so there was chatting with total strangers but it was good fun anyway. they all went for ice cream while B and I headed back to the cabin. she worked on her novel and looked at art and I read a book until sleep time. I slept fantastic that night, it got down to 50F and was so cold and nice. I had a sleeping bag and blanket and woke up much refreshed. We ate breakfast, then I packed up while B started work. She loaded me up with eggs and I refreshed my delicious meats supply. 

Then I headed to my old house with a brief pit stop to fill my tire (the spare on). I had left some wood, some misc supplies and a bunch of pieces of fencing there and never managed to make the trip. That morning, I remembered why I had originally planned to bring the big farm truck: most of the wood was 12 feet long and would only hang 2ft off the bed of the big truck. but my truck, it would hang 4.5ft off the back. So I scrapped taking the wood. I offered it to B or if F wanted to offer it to any of her relatives, they could have it. Otherwise, when I come up in November, I'll bring a circular saw and chop the wood to fit in my truck bed and take it with me. It is on the wood rack I build, so I'm not too worried about it being in the way. As far as I can tell, F has not touched a single thing in the shed since I left. I got all the wire fencing rolled up, figuring out an efficent way to do it, then chatted with F about the goings-on. So pleased with myself, I strapped down my load and left, only realizing I left my multitool in the driveway 20 mins into my trip. I turned around and went back for it. I should probably get a second one in case something like this happens again. 

But that turnaround cost me the time I had allotted to stopping by the co-op to pick up baking supplies I'd been having trouble sourcing, so I just hit the road. I stopped for gas, snacks and a quick load check and then drove home. I arrived in good time, right around 4:30pm which left me enough time to put away a few things, lay down and read a book before crafting. 

I feel so good today that between the fantastic weather (only 77F today!!!) and my time away, I accidently worked from 7am to 8pm and am not particularly tired. I won't continue that, but man, getting away was great and to spend time with a friend was also great. Goals for next year: I get away from the farm once in June or July and once in August

(no subject)

Aug. 18th, 2025 05:48 pm
unicornduke: (Default)
[personal profile] unicornduke
Hey all, if you'd like to join the crafting hangout, it is tonight from 6-8pm ET!
 
Video encouraged but not required!
 
Topic: Crafting Hangout
Time: Mondays 6:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
 
Join Zoom Meeting
 
Meeting ID: 973 2674 2763

Week in review: Week to 16 August

Aug. 18th, 2025 05:06 pm
pedanther: (Default)
[personal profile] pedanther
. At the board game club, we played a few games of Coup as a warm-up, and then a new game called Bomb Busters.Read more... )


. I'm still catching up on the backlog of the randomly-selected reading challenge. The selection for April is The Night Marchers and other Oceanian stories, a collection of Oceanian folk tales retold in comic book form. Read more... )


. I've finished another jigsaw puzzle. Looking back, I think I finished it significantly faster than the last few, which I attribute to the fact that I went and worked on it whenever I was feeling stressed, and it's been a stressful week both at work and in the committee I'm on. I did lose one piece off the side of the table at some point, and only noticed when I was nearly finished and found myself with a single gap in the puzzle and no piece to put in it, but fortunately once I started looking I found it under the edge of the sofa pretty easily.


. I'm still doing Parkrun, though I haven't always been mentioning it. It went well this week; I didn't have to stop and re-tie my shoelaces even once, and I got my best time for the year to date.


. I went to see the new Superman movie with friends. There were bits of it that I didn't think entirely worked, but I had a good time.

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