therealljidol | Member Posts

(Continuing to harp about this, but if you want to ask a question, you can do so here!)

Worldbuilding I'm most proud of?

That's...a good question. I have built a lot of worlds!

I think the short list has got to be:

1). Hexas (because it's genuinely really fun and I had a great time thinking through e.g. how the fuck it is that certain stuff would work — like, "okay, the Civil War wasn't fought over slavery, because slavery as a concept doesn't really exist in this world — magic changes a hell of a lot of things", eventually settling on "it was fought over acceptable uses of magic, what would or wouldn't be acceptable magic in this setting".

Really interesting to think through how e.g. settlement of the US etc would have worked if not for colonialism. I still think about it sometimes.

2). I'm putting this behind a little spoiler tag because, well, it's kind of...weird; it's about the big project on AO3 so of course if you're like, "I don't want to read about it", good news, you don't have to!

There's also what

shadaras lovingly dubbed "Regency lakefuck world", which is very much a collaborative effort. I think I've written 90% of the text that exists for it (probably more like 95% at this point, good lord), but the worldbuilding and story development were definitely a team effort. It's...weird? And fun? Had to think about the class system, how a world where physical sex is mutable (not fixed) would affect — well, everything. Like, does it make sense for transphobia to exist in a world where changing your physical sex through magic is commonplace and widely accepted? Probably not. So what does exist, then, to drive conflict, and what are players rebelling against?

We ended up talking through a lot vis a vis: social mores and magic, and how it is that these two things tie together in specific ways. It's led to a fair amount of plot, but there's also just lots and lots of weird little bits about how stuff works. Like — if sex is mutable, okay, what does that mean for gender and gender roles? There's also bits about like, "if people live forever and divorce is uncommon, does that mean that non-monogamy is not an issue so long as inheritance isn't complicated by questions of paternity?" &etc.

All of this and it doesn't touch on how magic works in this world, who has access to it, or how other people who are not as long-lived view it. It's fun! And yeah, I'm very proud of it.

The series is here, though if you want a feeling for the world without having to read something E-rated, I will say cheerfully to watch this space, because as soon as stuff reveals for

seasonalremix, I will link what it was I wrote that takes place in the same world (though with different characters, it's a little comedy of manners, sort of).

3). The Night Market.

It's...

Imagine if Faery was real, that it still abutted our world in some ways, and the Fey had to change/adapt to keep up with the times.

The Night Market is how I envisioned that working. It's gone through several iterations; I keep meaning to get back to it and finish the book, but I haven't, yet. Eventually, probably.

author_by_night

dreamersdare | Stuff I Love: Top Ten Edition Challenge 2

Make a Top Ten list for your favourite series and tell people exactly why you love it. This can be in any format - tv series, book series, radio plays, movie sequels, something else not mentioned here. Your series can be as short as two vaguely linked pieces of media and as long as... well, the sky is your limit. Whatever you like!

Ahh, let's see. I feel like I've gushed about a lot of these before, so I'm going to use a template. I'm including "things you might like" specifically because so often, "watch these similar shows" lists tend to be random shows that have nothing in common with the one being talked about. I've tried taking a more critical approach. We'll see how that worked.

( Read more... )

Why I love it: It's a musical with amazing songs, the humor is great. They're very daring. They go much darker places in season three, and I wasn't sure about that, but I feel they did it well.

Did I Fic It? I've only written one. I've read a few, but not many.

Favorite Pairing: Heather/Hector.

Favorite Platonic Relationship: I know everyone stans Paula and Rebecca, but I think I'm giving it to Heather and Rebecca. Heather goes from seeing Rebecca as this chaotic spectacle to respecting her to loving her. I would actually compare it to Stevie and David in Schitt's Creek, in terms of their first meetings going from "what the hell is this" to "oh, I actually care about you and want to be your friend".

Random Headcanon or Meta: None.

Other Things Fans Would Like: Maybe Schitt's Creek, since Rebecca's kind of a combination of David, Moira and Alexis, and it's also about a town changing your life, and good-if-flawed people trying their best. The Good Place is also good for the latter, and there's a lot of character growth.

3. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Yes, they know it's a sexist term. The show's a lot more nuanced than that. :)

Discovered: 2015 or 2016.

Why I love it: It's a musical with amazing songs, the humor is great. They're very daring. They go much darker places in season three, and I wasn't sure about that, but I feel they did it well.

Did I Fic It? I've only written one. I've read a few, but not many.

Favorite Pairing: Heather/Hector.

Random Headcanon or Meta: I think I would get rid of the whole New Greg thing, but have Rebecca and Greg cross paths years later.

AND SPOILER: I also wish we'd had Rebecca's journey in songwriting be the plotline of season four, instead of the final episode. I don't really see the point of "Character Chooses Herself" when you don't see the character choosing herself.

3. Heartstopper.

Discovered: Um... 2023? 2024?

Why I love it: The first two seasons made me smile. The third season is darker, but I appreciated it for what it was. Also, as someone who was disabled, neurodivergent and acearospec in high school, I can relate to certain elements of the show. Sitting in a classroom eating lunch with your teacher, anxiety eating at you... yeah. I know that one.

Did I Fic It? I tried writing one. Couldn't get into it. I've read a few.

Favorite Pairing: Nathan Ajayi/Yusuf Farouk.

Favorite Platonic Relationship: Nick and Tori, though Nick and Tara are a close second. Maybe even a tie.

Random Headcanon or Meta: None.

Other Things Fans Would Like: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend would pair well, mostly for the mental health aspect. And many Heartstopper fans came from Schitt's Creek. (Myself included! *Waves*)

4. Schitt's Creek

Discovered: Technically whenever it was on Netflix in the US, but like many people, I gave up after one episode. I rediscovered it in 2020 when I'd exhausted the other quarantine shows. (If someone had shown me the Open Mic episode, I would've been hooked instantly. What is wrong with the people in my life? SMH.)

Why I Love It: It's funny, but has a serious edge to it. As a Millenial who came of age late in life, David, Alexis and Stevie spoke to me. (Although I disliked them at first for that exact reason. Projection's one of hell of a drug.) And it has a wonderful queer love story.

Did I Fic It? And how. I actually thought I was done with the whole fandom thing until I started watching SC. I risked spoilers by looking it up on TV Tropes while I was watching, and saw there were fics for it. So I finished the show as fast as possible so I could read the fanfic. LOL. Back then, there were so many fics. Sadly, the fandom's dwindled quite a bit. I miss when fandoms lasted longer.

Favorite Pairing: David and Patrick. They're a queer pairing that's open and affectionate, and their sexuality isn't really the focus. There's only one Coming Out episode, and it's very well done. They're a loving couple that actually acts like they not only love each other, but like each other. (I mean, there is a bit of teasing, but it's affectionate, IMHO.)

I'm also going to squeeze in Johnny and Moira. (RIP Catherine O'Hara.) After all, they are David and Patrick's mirror in many ways, and I also like seeing an older couple that still loves each other. (And older characters who aren't silly for still having dreams and aspirations.)

Favorite Platonic Relationship: David and Stevie. But I think Moira and Alexis are a close second, for their evolution.

Random Headcanon or Meta: I don't think we have all day.

Other Things Fans Would Like: Heartstopper, Heated Rivalry, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Good Place... not sure what else. Maybe Parks and Rec, if you watch for the small-town humor.

Speaking of which...

5. Parks and Recreation

Discovered: I'm not really sure. 2011ish?

Why I Love It: It's funny. Makes me happy. However, I haven't seen it in a while, and... with everything going on in the US, I'm not sure I would still enjoy it. OTOH, it might make for a nice reprieve. See Headcanons.

Did I Fic It? Not really. I think I wrote one or two fics.

Favorite Pairing: Ben and Leslie, who were to me then what David and Patrick are to me now, for some of the same reasons. "I like you and I love you."

Favorite Platonic Relationship: At the time, it was Leslie and Ann, but I think on rewatch, I decided it might actually be Ron and Leslie and April and Leslie. Ann and Leslie are sort of the "fantasy" BFFship, I think, whereas with Ron and April, we really see the complicated evolution friendship can be. Maybe it's the difference between friends you make as young person and friends you make when you're older, even though I don't think Leslie ages that much.

Random Headcanon or Meta: It takes place in the same universe as Schitt's Creek and Red White & Royal Blue. Leslie worked under President Ellen Claremont and was lowkey obsessed with her. Also, Pawnee and Schitt's Creek are sister cities.

Other Things Fans Would Like: Schitt's Creek, The Good Place.

6. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and Angel the Series)

Discovered: I mean, I'm a Millennial, so Buffy was always around. XD But I didn't really start watching it until c. 2007. We watched it in a English class after we read Dracula - we watched Buffy versus Dracula specifically. My friend at the time almost cried when I told her that was my first episode.** I struck a deal with her: I'd watch Buffy properly if she watched Firefly. Neither one of us ever looked back.

Why I Love It: I love the character dynamics, the found family, fighting the good fight.

Did I Fic It? I think I started a few fics for it. I never really found a fanfic community for it. Otherwise, I absolutely would've.

Favorite Pairing: Tara/Willow, and maybe Buffy/Faith.

Favorite Platonic Relationship: Giles and Buffy. I also think Anya and Giles are a little underrated. Over on Angel, I wish we'd gotten Fred and Cordy. We didn't.

Random Headcanon or Meta: There's a version of Tara and Willow thriving in another dimension, with Cordy's help. (Actually, in Schitt's Creek, there's a joke about "farm witches". I kind of want Tara and Willow to be the farm witches.)

Also,I think Buffyverse and The Good Place could be in the same universe. I don't want to say too much so as not to spoil, but if anyone's interested in a more detailed entry, let me know. If you took away all the comedy in The Good Place, I think you'd get something way closer to Angel, or at least Buffy.

Other Things Fans Would Like: Our Flag Means Death and The Good Place have similar themes of found family and fighting the good fight, plus what I said above. And Stranger Things, which is set in the eighties, so it references a few of the same tropes Buffy initially referenced. Plus, it's also about young people fighting the Big Bad.

**I don't think Buffy versus Dracula was as much a bad episode as it was a bad episode to introduce someone to. It's very camp and almost a parody OF the show. I definitely thought my negative impressions of the show were confirmed. It's like introducing someone to Jane Austen by showing them the BBC Pride and Prejudice, except it's just Mrs. Bennet screaming.

7. The Good Place (since I can't seem to stop talking about it)

Discovered: 2015? 2016?

Why I Love It: Ethics and philosophy, afterlife, found family... the show has it all. It also constantly changes the status quo. Constantly. I love it.

Did I Fic It? Not really.

Favorite Pairing: Chidi and Eleanor, as well as Janet and Jason.

Favorite Platonic Relationship: Tahani and Jason. Also Janet and Michael.

Random Headcanon or Meta: See above.

Other Things Fans Would Like: In addition to what I've said, Man on the Inside feels like a spiritual successor, even though it's thematically quite different. They make frequent nods to The Good Place, after all. Just be aware that it does deal a lot with grief. I'd also recommend Ghosts - I've seen the U and the original BBC, and I think both work, although the US version is a bit sillier. (I actually kind of wish Michael Schur had adapted Ghosts for the US. I think it would be a lot closer to the BBC.)

8. Man on the Inside

Discovered: 2024.

Why I Love It: It has a bit of mystery, found family, people working together.

Did I Fic It? I have an idea at the back of my head.

Favorite Pairing: Julie/Didi.

Favorite Platonic Relationship: Emily and Charles. I also love Charles's relationship with his grandsons.

Random Headcanon or Meta: I have this theory that Charles is a reincarnated version of Michael from The Good Place. I'm not alone in that.

Other Things Fans Would Like: Probably any Michael Schur show? It's very Schur, though less The Office. I think The Office was Michael's training wheels. Not saying it was a bad show, I just think that his later shows are more demonstrative of Michael Schur as we know him. Blah. Sorry for the ramble.

(Only two more? To think I didn't know how I was going to list ten when I started.)

9. Community

Discovered: 2009?

Why I Love It: It's meta AF.

Did I Fic It? No.

Favorite Pairing: I don't think I really shipped anyone, except lowkey Britta and Troy.

Favorite Platonic Relationship: Abed and Troy.

Random Headcanon or Meta: Part of me thinks that the show is actually Abed's show that we see in season one, and it's a slightly exaggerated version of everything that really happened. But only slightly, because it's still Greendale and it's still the Study Group. :)

Other Things Fans Would Like: .. I don't know. I think any "nerdy show" would probably be appealing. 30 Rock was very similar, actually, in that it had a lot of pop culture references and a lot of what I'll call "crack episodes". ETA: Actually, Stranger Things would work. It's a fantasy with a lot of 80's pop-culture references. Abed would have LOVED Stranger Things.

10. North of North

Discovered: 2025.

Why I Love It: I appreciate that it focuses on indigenous characters. There's lots of Canadian humour (it takes place in Nunavut). And again, people trying their best.

Did I Fic It? No.

Favorite Pairing: None, really. I think the romantic elements of the show are actually a bit cliche and weak. Sorry.

Favorite Platonic Relationship: Bun and Neve. :)

Random Headcanon or Meta: I don't want to spoil too much, but I think that Neve sees Bun as another daughter, which is why she's so quick to help take care of her.

Other Things Fans Would Like: This is tricky. I might recommend Little Mosque on the Prairie, actually. It's another Canadian show about a small community in Saskatchewan, in this case focusing on Muslim characters as they form a Mosque in the basement of an Anglican church.

*I first read the phrase as "Netflix and Chili". I think I like mine better.

ofearthandstars

From this week's

thefridayfive:

1. What did you want to be when you were a kid?
At around 8 or 9 I knew I loved animals and wanted to be a vet, but then at some point I realized that the job required cutting into animals and seeing them in pain, and I realized that may not be for me. In late middle/early high school I was a high-acheiver academically and everyone told me that I should be a doctor, but I think I was more interested in science and math and at one point was seriously considering biology/ecology and/or meteorology. When I left for college, I had no idea what I wanted to do for certain, based on all the advice and competing interests, and it took far too long to settle on a major. I ended up turning back to atmospheric sciences, which are similar to meteorology but have more of an exploratory feel and also a direct impact to helping people. Hence I levelled out as an environmental scientist.

2. What is your proudest accomplishment so far?
At the most basic level, I have survived some awful things. Since this questionnaire seems focused on job/career and because I (unfortunately) have tied a lot of my self-image to my professional job, I would say... I was damn proud to be a part of implementing some of the first climate change regulation in the United States under the Clean Air Act and supporting subsequent climate regulation for the last fifteen years. Unfortunately, due to the consequences of November 2024, that is now all at risk of being ripped apart, which is devastating for a whole host of reasons. Where this country goes from here will dictate whether it ever survives/comes back.

3. What is your dream job?
I don't know how to answer this anymore. I had a dream job but it has been twisted and convoluted in the last year. I hate how environmentalism is politicized when it literally is about protecting the systems that support life on Earth. Sometimes I dream of becoming a park ranger, mostly because I want to be away from people and out in nature, but realistically that would require some level of BLET and also probably relocation, both of which don't actually appeal to me. Is there a place for a burnt-out and slightly-wounded person to simply take gentle care of the land and woods?

4. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I cannot even begin to speculate after the last year.

5. What does it take to make you happy?
I actually do have a strong ethical core and I want to be doing work that aligns with that. This is why I have never set my sights on a higher paying job in industry (working for a chemical or oil and gas company would be much more lucrative). But I feel like it would present as much of an ethical conflict as my current predicament, and at least my current arrangement has a chance of turning things around for good (I hope).

hafnia

(If you want to ask me a question, there's a handful of spots left, and you can do so here!)

Talk about the art of running one-shot ttrpgs

A bit of context here before we leap in: if you're not familiar with tabletop, one-shot adventures are games that can be played in a single session (typically somewhere from 3-5 hours, depending on the table).

( There is certainly *something* to running them... )

hafnia

Full list of questions is, of course, here — there are still slots open if you have something you desperately want to know! :)

Day 6: What's it like being a GM/DM for ttrpg?

Okay, so.

Do you remember when you were a little kid, and you would play pretend? Maybe you were lucky enough to live in a neighborhood with a lot of kids, maybe you had a sibling, or maybe you were on your own. Whatever the case, you probably engaged in imaginative play, right? "Make-believe" or "pretend" or whatever you call it, maybe with props/costumes or maybe just with your imagination.

Right, so!

When I was a Wee Thing (back in the Mists of Time, aka the 1990s, this is fine), I was always the one that was going, "HEY! We're playing Pretend! Let's all get together, and..."

I would tell everyone the rules (usually just the premise/"don't be a jerk about this"), and then we'd just...play. Memorable games include:

-PIONEERS! (I had just read Little House in the Big Woods and, well, I was 6, what do you want)
-MURDER DETECTIVES (someone was murdering dolls in the dollhouse and we had to figure out who it was)
-Knights of the Round Table (I was Merlin; my friend's older brother, who was "too cool" for this kind of stuff but still painfully interested played King Arthur and told the littler kids what quests to go on)
-PRINCESS IN DISGUISE (my favorite, probably, where we were all royalty of some convoluted line or another who had to ??? to get our kingdom back — those question marks are because it usually varied a great deal)
-WITCHES (we made potions in the yard from various plants. I feel like most kids do this)

Right, um.

Running tabletop is a lot like playing those games again, but as an adult and with a better budget.

I feel like I could simply end it here, but no, really, ah — it's collaborative storytelling, where you are all agreeing to some conceits about the fiction (e.g. "this is high fantasy and takes place in this setting"), and then the dice and whatnot are for randomness. As the GM/DM, it's not really my job to "tell" the story so much as it is to gather all the disparate threads together and come out with a pleasing narrative.

It's literally what I used to do when I was playing Make Believe with my friends thirty-odd years ago, which makes sense given that ttrpg at its best is imaginative play for adults.

So. Yeah.

That's what it's like.

Good to know I haven't matured past the grand old age of eight, I guess? :P

halfshellvenus

I was in labor. And not only dreading the progression, but also kicking myself because we gave away our baby-bucket/stroller combo years ago, along with all of our other baby stuff. For perspective, our youngest child is 26. :O

The springlike weather continues here in Sacramento, with highs near 70^o all this week. I've had some great bike rides, and the one on Monday even included a half-mile stretch of the bike path that smelled like pot stickers and their dipping oil. Mmmmm!

TV-wise, I started a one-season show last night called Chasing Shadows (with Alex Kingston and her fabulous hair). I made myself go to bed in the middle of episode 4. It's far more captivating than I anticipated.

Earlier this week, I watched Dance With A Stranger for the Rupert Everett experience. It was one of his early movies, in which he played a petulant cad (boo) while looking absolutely gorgeous. Wow. The sound quality, though-- this was Amazon with ads, and it was like having an industrial fan or airplane going in the background.

Book-wise, I finished the last of the T.L. Huchu YA magician series that centers on a young ghost-talker named Ropa Moyo. I thoroughly enjoyed all of them, even as I sometimes got frustrated with Ropa for making impulsive decisions (the character ages from 14-16 during the series). Huchu's cycle is set in near-future dystopian Edinburgh, and rich with humor and slang. Dosh. Cheddar. Knapf. And those were some of the ones where I didn't Google the terms.

I also read Daniel H. Wilson's Hole In The Sky. Not as good as his Robopocalypse series, but it has his usual great mixture of sci-fi, horror, and soulfulness. It looks like The Clockwork Dynasty is the only remaining e-book I haven't already read, but I'll wait on it. Instead, I put a hold on Joe Hill's King Sorrow.

On tap for this weekend: more yard work, and posting a Craigslist ad for a pair of bookcases we need to get rid of. I want them out of here so I can build their replacements1 And that doesn't even account for the shelves, desk, etc. being stored in the garage. :O

adore

Something I'm grateful for recently is that I got a scholarship/free spot for a writing workshop series, Writing for Rage. My friends Trish and Venky recommended it to me. It's six sessions, and after the first two, I find myself better at experiencing my anger as anger rather than hardening it into depression. We were given journal prompts to write about in our own time:

How do you envision your rage? Envisioning how I want my rage to express itself. I want my rage to be powerful. Because I have felt the most enraged when I was made helpless, when control was wrested from me, and when I was unable to protect myself. I wish to be destructive with no consequences. My rage so powerful that I don't have to say NOBODY MESS WITH ME, everyone gets it. It's a foregone conclusion. And so nobody dares mess with me. Because whatever they do to me, my rage will do worse. I think of Kali. Vengeful rage that ensures there are no repeat offenders.

What would the world be like if anger was normalised? People would be more honest. It wouldn't be a matter of who is allowed to be angry, and at whom, and who isn't, who has authority over you and who doesn't. One's sense of when something is wrong would be sharper. Less guilt for making someone else uncomfortable when confronting them about how they made you uncomfortable.

This month's horoscope for Libra by Alice Sparkly Kat also talks about anger, with journalling questions about the safety of expressing it.

( February horoscope )

Questions for Libra for February 2026:

What happens in your body when you piss someone off?
My body feels like my life is under threat, even in a verbal confrontation.
TW: physical violence
My childhood consisted of physical punishments whenever my mother was angry, including beatings and one time when she strangled me. My body's reaction to anger directed at me now, as an adult, is a hangover from those childhood experiences when I felt scared for my life.

Is there anyone who you are comfortable pissing off?
Nope. I wish there was. This isn't just about being safe when their anger is directed at me, but about how willing they are to make repair efforts if we hurt each other's feelings. What if I am, but they aren't?

How do you want to make more decisions in those relationships where you are free to argue?
I don't think I have any such relationships. But if I did, I would try to understand why we each believe what we do. I would stand up for what I believe in.

Current Mood: angry

hafnia

The master list of questions is here — the 16th, 22nd and 24th are all free, if you want to ask anything! :D

Talk about SPACE HEIST (how you came up with the idea, where you currently are in designing it, whatever else you wanna say...?)

Oh, glob, this is a deep pull. Ha. Okay.

For those that aren't in the know, Space Heist is a 2d6 ttrpg I designed and wrote myself. It takes place at a point where humanity has gone to the stars, interstellar travel is common, and people are scattered across the galaxy. Think space stations, alien planets, incredibly advanced tech...

Right, um, anyway. I started writing it about 5 years ago, in 2021. As far as "how did I come up with the idea", uh. People who have been around here a Long Time probably recall different short stories I wrote at various points in time about something I called the "Explorer Corps" — basically, a human-centered operation that was dedicated to "charting the uncharted" and hired the "best of the best" to do it. When I came up with it originally, it was very much, "I need something that works to put scientists into space but isn't NASA".

The very first long-form campaign I wrote/ran was wrapping up in 2021, and my players all wanted to play something science fiction. I'd thought about running TechNoir or Scum and Villainy, and neither one of them really appealed to me. So, instead of running something like Mothership or a Lasers and Feelings hack, I went, "I've been thinking about designing a game", and wrote Space Heist, using all that old Explorer Corps vibes/worldbuilding.

At this point, the player documents are a hot mess, but they're technically done. I have yet to start working on the GM documents beyond some basic notes on setting and how to run the game that are more philosophy than "here's how this works, mechanically". I have run it — I've run a couple of one-shots in it — and i'ts one of the things I get asked to run most frequently, because the people who like it, really like it.

The last couple of playtests, as well as getting more familiar with playing 2d6 systems like PbtA, means that I've got a bunch of thoughts about players and how skills etc work. I need to review and revise the documents, something I'm planning to do in the next month or so. After I revise the player documents (which will be pretty involved), I may run some further playtests (FUN) to see how stuff hangs together, if it does. I also need to actually write the GM guide for this — most of it is just "vibes", but there are some setting things and one-shot ideas that people who run it should be aware of.

It's my goal for this year to go ahead and get it up on itch.io, whether that's being like, "this is in alpha, please give me feedback, you can download it for free", or if I actually do get what I would call a 1.0 release ready and release it as a pay-as-you-want PDF. Right now I'm leaning toward the latter, just because I can't envision myself wanting to do a lot more iterations of it, and the only thing that's really stopping me is the knowledge I have zero artwork for it (but that I would want to either make or commission art — the former is intimidating, but the latter requires money I don't have to dedicate to a project like this right now).

So!

Kind of weird, but it came up in therapy the other day — my therapist asking, like, "so how are you doing at putting more of your stuff out there" (since it's something I have talked about with him pretty extensively — not monetizing projects, specifically, but putting stuff in a place where other people can see it and take joy in it). I said that I was planning to release Space Heist this year, and he was all for it. Guess I'll have at least one person holding me accountable? Heh.

hafnia

(You know the drill: if you want to submit a question, you can do so here ♥ )

Day 4: Give us all the cat updates!

This isn't really a question, but I'll let it slide :P

STATE OF THE CATS

The Little Cat:

She is officially, after Gid's growth spurt, back to being the littlest cat in the house (thank God), so it doesn't have to be an ironic nickname. Huzzah!

She has decided over the last couple of months that she wishes to remain an upstairs goblin. We respect this and keep her and Hilda apart. They're both incredibly territorial and attempts to reconcile them to each other have not gone well; the long and short of it is that in the interest of keeping both cats happy and healthy, one gets the upstairs and one gets the downstairs. Our house is 2700 sf, so this is not a bad proposition. Everyone has food/toys/litter pans on their floor, and they are very good about sticking to the upstairs/downstairs. Both cats are unstressed and happy, so. You know.

(Genuinely I think they each forget that the other exists when they can't directly SEE each other, but whatever — we keep one of the downstairs doors closed, the one that's closest to the stairs, and the peace is maintained.)

Hilda:

Still a horrible gremlin. She's on a perpetual diet because she is Too Chonk. We finally figured out what was going on re: that (she figured out how to open the container we kept dry food in...), and put a stop to it, so she is slowly losing weight again.

She's still very much Max's cat and not mine, as in, she will neglect me if he is home, because he is HER person and I'm just the sidepiece.

Gideon:

Oh, God, Gid.

He is almost fully grown now (he's gonna be 2 in a month!), he is long and lanky and there is still not a brain in that beautiful head. His tabby markings have come in way more strongly now that he's an adult, so he no longer looks like a mottled Siamese — you can clearly see that The Tabby Is Strong In This One.

Over the last few months, he's become almost ridiculously cuddly. It's kind of cute, actually — he has a bedtime routine and waits for both Max and I to go upstairs before he hops on the bed, headbutts both of us (rubs his face on our faces), then curls up between us and goes to sleep. When Max gets up in the mornings, Gid follows him downstairs to hang out, then comes back up to curl up at my feet once Max is at work. When I start the day in earnest is when he decides he can go do Cat Stuff and doesn't need to hang out with me.

Something we have realized is that he does not like to get petted unless he is basically at eye level with you, so sometimes he will climb onto the piano and howl mournfully until someone pays attention to him. It's weirdly endearing? Like, he is very careful about how he does it, he doesn't knock stuff over or touch anything he's not supposed to, he just hops up there and cries until someone pets him. Heh.

On the whole, cats are still 10/10, pretty glad to have 'em even when they do weird stuff.

For pictures, ofc, I post them regularly to my Mastodon account. :)

hafnia

(For all the questions, or to submit one of your own, the post is here ♥ )

Favorite song of the moment?

I do appreciate that it's "of the moment", ha. :D

There's a few — we'll go with different genres!

1). The weird: "Ants in My Room", Carter Vail.

You'll be fine, my baby
Oh, you've got to trust me
It'll all work out in the end, just maybe
You'll be fine, my baby
Oh, you've got to trust me
It'll all work out, 'cause
No onе's gonna love you like

It's weird, it's incredibly fucking catchy, it's great, I...don't know what else there is to say? Max made me listen to it on Friday and I love it.

2). What people probably expect from me: "Votive", the New Pornographers.

My hands are cupped around a match
I'm just trying to keep the lights on

That...feels familiar. To say the least.

3). Old but still good: Blood in My Mouth, Djrum

That cello opening is so good. The music layered over ambient noise — the result is this really weird, wistful soundscape. The fact that the only words we get are at the very end is also choice. I've had this album in particular on repeat a lot while writing lately. ♥

author_by_night

Doing

dreamersdare 's Stuff I Love Challenge!

#1 - One Shots.

Make a Top Ten list for your favourite standalone media and tell people exactly why you love it. This can be in any format - movies, one shot dramas, novels, short stories, plays, something else not mentioned here. Whatever you like!

Let's see.

1. Nightcrawler

I've only seen this movie once, but it had a deep impact on me. It's about a rogue photographer who grows frustrated with his poor job prospects (IIRC), and takes matters into his own hands by taking crime scene footage in very unethical ways. I don't want to spoil too much, but let me just say it wasn't so much the turns it took as it was the turns it didn't. I thought the chickens would come to roost, and they really didn't. It's amazing and makes you think about what you see on TV and even social media.

2. The Importance of Being Earnest

I'll be honest, when we were assigned this play in high school, I had a visceral reaction because the name Ernest made me think of the Ernest films in the 90's. Obviously, it is not that. I've read it and scene it several times since, though it has been quite some time. It's a master satire with fun twists that, thinking about it, really shouldn't have worked, but works very well. "A handbag?" indeed.

Interestingly, I read a few of Cecily's part out loud for fun once, to test my acting skills. I actually got a very different impression of her doing so, playing her as less ditzy than she let on.

3. Kindred

The bare-bones description is that it's about a black woman in the seventies who ends up going back in time and unknowingly saves the life of her ancestor's enslaver's son. The son continues to call her into the past. It's very much about black trauma, and also a critique on how time travel would be different for black characters versus white characters. (No apologies are made for any of the enslavers.)

I first heard of it when it was on Hulu. I decided to read the book before watching the show. From what I've heard, the show does a disservice to the novel, so I'm glad I made that decision.

4. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

While marred by learning that the creator, Bernie Su, was terrible and continues to be terrible to the cast, I love the webseries itself. It's a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, wherein Lizzie Bennet is a grad student vlogging for her thesis. I unfortunately missed the show while it was being released, so I didn't get to enjoy this part, but it was very interactive. You could follow the characters on what was then twitter and tumblr, along with other social media pages. You could ask questions in Q&A's. All that aside, I think the story itself was adapted well. Lydia's character is actually far more sympathetic (even if Lizzie is scathing at first), and she's allowed to rise from a bad situation. Charlotte's modernized storyline is actually very clever. All in all, it's clever and a lot of fun. I just wish Bernie Su wasn't a terrible person.

5. Funny in Farsi

Funny in Farsi is a memoir I wish everyone would read, that I may re-read myself. It's Firoozeh Dumas's account of growing up in the United States as an immigrant from Iran. While the story does touch on sad subjects, it's mostly fun (hence "funny"), focusing on friends, family, and culture.

6. I'm Thinking of Ending Things

This is a movie I shouldn't love so much, as it's very grim and pessimistic. But it's such an amazing mindfuck that gets me every time I watch. The supposed premise is that it's a woman traveling home with her boyfriend to meet his parents, all the while thinking of breaking up with him. As the movie goes on, however, you realize there's a lot more to the story than that. All I'm going to say.

7. North By Northwest

I love that it starts out as a comedy of errors, then becomes so much more than that. It's also fun to recognize so many tropes in the film.

8. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

Lamb walks us through not only Joshua's childhood (and later adulthood), but what are known as the "missing years". Biff and Joshua spend those years globetrotting, and their trek includes a study of Buddhism. The book also has very interesting depictions of various Biblical figures, including Maggie - AKA "Mary Magdalene".

The author has said that he is "Buddhist with Christian tendencies".

9. Persepolis

A graphic novel and memoir about a girl growing up during the Iranian revolution. It's a story of how fast your world can fall apart, but also of resilience. You watch Marjan see everything through very innocent eyes initially, though she isn't so naive as not to notice contradictions between her parents' wealth and their claims of being socialist. We grow up with her as her world becomes scarier and she better understands the darkness, but there's still a lot of love in the pages.

The second volume is also very good, though she's older completely void of that innocent optimism. (Or as Satrapi once put it, "in the first book, I am cute. In the second, I am not cute.")

10. Jane Eyre

(I know some of you really don't like Jane Eyre. Sorry.)

Jane Eyre was a quarantine read; I somehow managed to get through high school and college without reading it. One of my friends and I wanted something to do while quarantining, so we started a two person book club, She'd already read Jane Eyre, I never had.

I'll grant you, Jane Eyre didn't age particularly well, and parts of the novel lost me entirely. But I was still enthralled with it; the main character isn't wealthy (unlike many contemporary female heroines), although she does live among the wealthy for much of the novel. While her abusive childhood is heartbreaking, it rang true, including the part where she feels she has to reconcile with her abusive stepparent - only to learn the stepparent only ever wanted to gloat. In that way, it actually felt quite modern. The mystery is worked in quite well, and not at all how I was expecting. And while Jane had some problematic views (again, it didn't age well in a lot of ways), I still enjoyed following her story.

Oh, and Helen Burns would definitely sell CBD oil today..

hafnia

(For all the questions, or to submit one of your own, the post is here ♥ )

What's your favorite TTRPG setting, and why?

Ha. I love this mostly because I don't have one.

( details on what I mean beneath the jump. )

hafnia

AO3 added additional "No Fandom" tags!

To celebrate this (and because one of them in particular made me laugh and go, "of course that's a thing", I'm amusing myself by playing Tag Bingo, and if that sounds like fun to you, READ ON.

( beneath a jump to be considerate <3 )

hafnia

(For all the questions, or to submit one of your own, the post is here ♥ )

What are you most looking forward to this month?

Excellent question, ha.

I'll punt on this a little bit, because the actual answer (that I'm still recovering from last year) is not very interesting, and will say —

I'm trying to make a sourdough starter. "Trying" being the key word here. It's my hope that by the end of the month, I will have managed to successfully bake a loaf of sourdough bread. We'll see how it goes? I'm using the King Arthur sourdough guide, since most of their recipes work for me. I stopped by the co-op today to get whole-wheat flour from their bulk bins (local! it's hard red wheat grown in Oregon and they sell it for $0.99/lb, which is *wild* to me!), and this afternoon, I measured out flour and water and threw them in a sourdough-safe container in my kitchen, where they are now quietly sitting together in the oven, because it's the warmest place in the house. Ha.

Tomorrow will be the first discard, and you're supposed to see activity within 48 hours, so. Hopefully I will? And it'll go well? Shall see! ♥

ofearthandstars

If you've followed any weather news on the southeastern U.S. over the last couple of days, you'll know that the Carolinas (North Carolina in particular) fell in the path of a Wintercane. There is about two feet of snow along the coast, where the winds gusted to tropical storm levels and pushed another home into the Atlantic, while creating blizzard conditions and a 100-car pile up elsewhere. The entirety of the state - all 100 counties/53,000 square miles, received some amount of winter precipitation, which is visible on satellite and something we Just Do Not Deal With.

Living just outside of Raleigh, we spent the majority of yesterday waiting out in the dreaded "dry slot", a term that makes my teeth itch, but is o.k.a. the Raleigh Dome of Doom - an area of dry air stuck between two steady pressure systems (a frequent influence of our mountains-to-sea geography) that quickly ate any snow in the upper atmosphere. After a brief flirt with fat flakes early in the morning, things dropped into a lull until around 5:30 in the afternoon, when the dome finally subcumbed to the Wintercane forces and snow and wind began to fall in earnest. It continued that way for about 10 hours, leaving us with 4-5" of the actual real, honest-to-goodness fluffy powdery joy that the rest of the world experiences (we usually are stuck schlepping around tiny mounds of soggy wet snow and kicking ice bricks). To our east and west, the totals ran several inches higher.

On waking I took a few obligatory pictures of the yard looking perfect - all the leaf litter and pine straw that makes up most of our lot was quietly subdued, and for a moment, our grass-loving wish-they-were-in-an-HOA neighbors forgot we are trying to keep things native and natural and forgave us. We tried to walk the dog (she isn't having it), and I spent a portion of the afternoon repurposing the leaf-blower as a makeshift snow clearance tool. This was only moderately successful, because despite my living up and down the east coast as a child, I do remain somewhat Southern and clueless when it comes to cold guests that arrive in large groups overnight and overstay their welcome. "Let me let you be gettin' on then" does not work in this case. So I tried to review the best means to move snow from a hilly gravel drive that is heavily shaded by trees - a gravel drive I had regraded and refreshed last summer after several summers and winters of rogue heavy storms had cut a new tributary through it. A new drive that I have hawkishly inspected after every rain since and tended to lovingly with a rake to make sure the ideal rock distribution remains to protect further erosion of the soil and our bank account.

I regret and/or may be proud to say (results pending) that I only managed to clear the top layers of snow, leaving a thin layer over the rocks that I then drug a rake over backwards (to avoid picking up rocks), creating either some minimal traction or a completely useless and innavigable work of natural art. Since there remains Unhealthy Levels of Canada™ in the region, there was no real melting today, but tomorrow is a different day. I have a rogue memory of our first snow here when the boys, still teens, compacted everything to ice in their cars and created a giant slip-in-slide to the ditch that, due to the shade, lasted a few weeks. But I am holding out hope that I have removed enough snow that any melting tomorrow will leave things in better shape. If not, may kitty litter and charcoal and our endless supply of fallen tree limbs help us all.

Of course this effort called for a celebration of hot chocolate - this is the first day post-surgery that I am allowed hot food and drinks, so a celebration was going to happen, yard work or not. I made the mistake of looking over at my neighbor's driveway (he's from Pittsburgh, and the Steelers' flag is up year round). It seems he managed to use his leafblower to turn his gravel path into an immaculate collection of rocks, not a trace of ice between them, which he emphasized by carefully backing all three of his (also immaculate) vehicles up in reverse. I assume he is using chemistry and/or dark magic. I would have offered him a hot cocoa, but I was feeling a little salty at my own deficits (why, yes, we are out of Ice Melt and salt).

After these adventures I spent some time sketching, until my eyes couldn't take it anymore. I chose the smartest subject in the home, who other than heroically pooping on the side of the house in the one untouched dry spot by the trash and recycling bins, spent the rest her day hiding under a blanket. ( rough sketch of Yoshi under her blanket )

halfshellvenus

I was invited to join

the_lj_revival, and added a bunch of new LJ friends as a result. If you still have an LJ account and miss livelier days over there, that community is a great place to start!

The warmer, sunny weather continues here (66^oF is the expected high today), so I'll be bicycling this afternoon. But what I probably should be doing is reclaiming a mid-lawn flowerbed from the volunteer grass seeding and an encroachment of moss. The moss in particular has been making inroads in the last 6+ years, and we were gone for 3 of them (while the house was being rebuilt), so it has spread more than ever. Not sure of a good way to remove/kill it. Vinegar water didn't do much. One recommendation is baking soda, though I'm not sure how much the neighboring plants would enjoy that. :O

I recently finished watching Broadchurch on Netflix, and enjoyed it so much that I wish they'd managed more than just 3 seasons! I also watched The Other Wife on Acorn TV, mainly for the cast, and that was a wasted effort which just made me feel sad about Rupert Everett. :(

( More Rupert Everett )

HalfshellHusband and our son and I all watched The Wrecking Crew (with Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa, on Amazon Prime), which was stupid fun. It's essentially an action-comedy. One of our son's friends said it reminded him of Liam Neeson's The Ice Road (Netflix), which is a retribution movie with unexpected dark comic touches. If you're looking for free, mindless fun, I recommend both.

And now it's time to pull it together and go biking before the day gets too late and I wind up riding into the sunset.

ryl

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

ofearthandstars

I finally got around to the New Year's Meme at

friending_memes. I'm not sure my answers perfectly encapsulate where I am right now, but I thought I'd repost here in case anyone stumbles over this space in their network.

The Basics
Name: ofearthandstars
Age: 46
Pronouns: they/their/them, sometimes she
Country: United States

The New Year
Do you have any resolutions?: I don't do hard and fast resolutions, but I do spend time planning and setting goals and habits I'd like to develop out in my planner. I think a big focus for 2026 is trying to find and/or create more beauty and joy in my life. Also trying to maintain my health/improve my strength.
Are there any new books, music, games, shows, etc. that you want to dive into?: Not specifically. I try to read at least one natural science/ecology/climate/environment book per month, and I enjoy science/climate/dystopian fiction, but I read a number of other genres as well. I started the year reading Greenwood by Michaal Christie and Nature's Best Hope by Douglas Tallamy. I keep up with my reading at both Fable and Storygraph.
Are there any small or big events that you're planning for this year?: Sadly no, although I am hoping to plan to explore some new hiking trails.
Any new interests/hobbies that you'd like to try out?: I'm trying to work to incorporate more art and creative writing in my life. I want to reteach myself to sketch well, I have let it linger a long time.
Did you accomplish your resolutions from last year?: Last year went entirely off the rails work wise and home wise, but I mostly kept my head above water, so... yes?
What were your favorite memories from the past year?: Hiking in Stone Mountain.
Do you have any new years traditions?: I'm starting to feel hideously boring here - I think I try to spend the day doing what I'd like to do more of during the year. This year we met up with a friend group and were social.
Is there anything you'd like to do more of in 2026?: More art, more writing, more confidence in my own abilities at work.

The New Friends
What kind of friend(s) are you searching for?: People who care about others, who stand against injustice, who love or feel a deep connection to nature, who are open-minded, love science and literature or learning in general, creatives, those learning from their past mistakes, those looking to heal old trauma, and those who simply are hanging on to get through each day. Though I'm not very picky, I do love fully and I want more connection in the world.
What do you like to read about?: All manner of things.
How often do you check your friends feed?: Currently, at least once a day, though I have leapt into periods of silence at time, I do always come back.
Do you have any deal-breakers?: Bigotry, xenophobia/racism, transphobia or homophobia, climate-change denialism, flat-earthers and other conspiracy theorists. I am not anti-faith by any means, but fundamentalism or attempts to convert others grind my teeth. Also I have a huge respect for animals and other species we share the planet with and their rights to exist independently of humans without harm, so if you're regularly posting or discussing hunting successes, we may not mesh well together.
Do you mind reading about fandom?: No. I am not particularly fannish in the sense that I don't write fanfic or create fan art, but I'm certainly not put off by it as it helps me to explore other words and perspectives.
If so, what fandoms would you like to read about?: Okay, fine. OFMD is very fun.

Currently...
Reading: An Immense World by Ed Yong and The People's Library by Veronica Henry
Watching: Stranger Things, The Pitt, Bridgerton, The Diplomat
Playing: With art supplies.... (I need to work on my musical influences).
Thinking about: How we survive a world which is going to change drastically under climate change without defaulting into authoritarianism/fascism and endless resource wars.
Hobby/Interest: Watercolors, sketching, writing (in general, but more poetry would be a start), hiking, vegan cooking, books in most flavors, weight-lifting, ecology, social justice, climate justice, sustainable living, mutual aid.
Planning for: The day he dies. The next bold hike. How to change and/or update a career mid-life.

hafnia

1). The first round of the remix fics for

seasonalremix is open to read now. I have a story in there; it's probably, uh, obvious if you know what I am into.

We had seven people sign up in total (including me, obvs). Feels pretty good, honestly, considering that there was basically zero advertising and at one point I was afraid that it was going to be, uh, zero signups! I WILL TAKE IT ♥

2). I'm not going to shout it from the rooftops or anything, but per the word counter I've been filling in for

getyourwordsout, I'm at 101k written in 2026 (daily average of 3288 through the month of January). Is it good? Is it usable? WHO KNOWS. The important part is that I have been managing to keep a steady pace writing fiction, so that's rather nice. ♥ One of my friends asked if I was counting e.g. Dreamwidth posts for that, or outlining, writing for tabletop modules, etc, and the answer was no — that 100k+ is all written fiction. So that feels doubly-nice, no asking "should I count this" (since the guidelines are flexible and it's up to you), just a general, "I have in fact managed to keep chipping away at this and creating a habit has worked for me".

3). I am ending January having submitted two short stories for publication. Are they likely to be published? No. Am I okay with this? Yes. I realized that one of the things that has sort of, mm — been on my mind has been this realization that I'm okay with rejection. Does it suck? Yes. But you know what sucks more? NEVER HEARING BACK. At least a "no" is an answer! So hey, if I get rejected, I get to go buy myself fancy tea or something else small as a, "AT LEAST YOU HEARD BACK" gift to myself, and that's good enough.

Neither is anything "professional" (if I get anything into one of the magazines you have Definitely Heard Of, I will shout it from the fucking rooftops), but everyone has to start somewhere, and these were open calls to submissions that I had pieces that worked for — so it was more "edit this and submit it" than it was "write something completely new". ♥

4). Starting tomorrow, I'll be answering the talking month meme prompts from this post. If you have anything you want to ask me, now's a good time to let me know so I can get it slotted in — there's still a handful of dates unaccounted for :D

5). Yesterday was Maximo's birthday — he's 38 now, something he has dolefully reminded me of at multiple points (I have been 38 since November :P ). Ended up watching Godzilla Minus One the night before birthday (which we enjoyed a lot, actually, it was silly and tropey but surprisingly good for what it was, and with a deeper message re: the government and international relations of post-war Japan than I was expecting), then last night I made us a fancy dinner and we rewatched Your Name. because he has been gunning for us to rewatch it for a bit (it is still, ofc, excellent).

I teased him tonight that I wanted to watch something in English, so we went for the Seven Dials adaptation that's on Netflix right now. It is Peak Period Silliness, so, you know. If you're into that sort of thing, it's fun.

I think that's most of it? Therapy Monday; have some specific stuff I actually want to talk about (HORRORS), but, yeah. Mostly it's that seasonal depression is kicking my ass and like, "please give me permission to keep focusing on HEALING and NOT BEING MISERABLE over immediately finding full-time employment".

But yeah. We'll see.

ofearthandstars

Reading Mary Oliver as the snow falls — big, fat, gentle flakes, unhurried and almost deliberate in their paths.

I found Journey for the first time, and it leapt out at me. I think I have been looking for that clear new voice for some time, and how to honor it.

Poetry often feels like painting with words - stripping out the noise and excess, and finding an almost meditative state. Some days it's easy to slip in to, but other times it feels like looking for the secret key that will open up the gated garden.

For now, the wind has turned my hands to ice, and I find myself grasping, fingertips seeking the delicate filigree, the brass solid and cool against my palm — yet I am frozen, unable to clasp and pause the moment.

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