| So glad it's all over.... |
[12 Aug 2022|10:24am] |
Sister's work made her travel, obviously she got an exposure notification as soon as she got home (and hasn't been feeling well, but it could be covid or could be something else). The handyman who came by the other day to fix my bathroom lights also says he might have covid, and is getting tested today.
Isn't it just so great that the whole pandemic thing is over now and there is no more covid?
(insert much grumbling here)
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| [fic] And But For the Sky There Are No Fences Facing |
[07 Aug 2022|10:14am] |
So I managed to sneak in an extra Handers Exchange treat under the wire. It's a bit of thoughtful post-canon fluff, and it's a bit of a rush job (I started about lunchtime and posted before crashing) but it was fun.
And But For the Sky There Are No Fences Facing
Dragon Age (m!Hawke/Anders, rated T, post-canon)
~5600 words
After the end of Inquisition, Hawke and Anders take up the Inquisitor's offer of a home on the Storm Coast.
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| [fic] Best Laid Plans (Dragon Age, m!Hawke/Anders) |
[22 Jul 2022|10:14am] |
I wrote this gift for Hollyand for the Handers 2022 Gift Exchange. It's quite silly - purple default Hawke, Carver is still the worst Templar in the world, Anders is extremely patient, Merrill knows more than she lets on.
Best Laid Plans
(Rated T, Anders/Male Hawke, a bit of Carver/Merrill)
~7950 words
Hawke has a plan to help his brother get a date. No really, it's a great plan. A brilliant plan. And he needs Anders' help with it. Absolutely nothing can possibly go wrong.
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| Where does the time go? |
[15 Jul 2022|10:29am] |
Apparently I made this journal 20 years ago today. Bloody hell.
It feels like lifetimes ago, to be honest, but it's nice that some of us are still here.
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| Astute political commentary |
[06 May 2022|11:09am] |
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On this, the anniversary of the Tories kicking me out of the country, I really am enjoying watching them lose. Suck it, assholes.
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[06 Mar 2022|12:57pm] |
So for those who didn't notice, the crossposting feature between DW and LJ has been irrevocably broken. Since I can't always be bothered to write a post in two places (not that I do much of it at all!) and haven't been able to update friends or anything on this in years, most of my activity - such as it is - will just be limited to DW from here on out.
I'll still read and comment here, just not post much - which again, I seldom do anyway - but I'm ashkitty on DW as well, so feel free to come poke at me there instead!
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| F'ing Covid |
[15 Jan 2022|12:11pm] |
So it's halfway through January, and it's even more rubbish than a normal January. It took my sister several days and cancelled flights to get home after Christmas (I was some days later and made it fine), after which she went into the office to work exactly one day, and interacted with exactly one person, all masked up.
Naturally, she has Covid now. I have a lot of words for her workplace, which wanted people back in the office at least part of the week for no discernible reason except somebody high up said so - most of the work is still virtual and can easily be done from home - and now has two dozen people out sick with Omicron. Sis and her boss put up a bit of a fight (boss is immunocompromised and was never that big a fan of stopping WFH in the first place) so now their department is WFH again, but of course it's too late.
So far I don't have any symptoms yet (I don't think? I have the usual allergies and am maybe a little more tired than normal, but it's also January and I'm lazy and out of shape, so....) I suppose I'll come down with it just in time for my birthday or something. We are trying, and she is mostly staying in her room, but if she got it from a single interaction at work, then my chances are probably not good.
It hit about 3 or 3 1/2 weeks after the booster shot, and she's still quite unwell. We've been masked up and obsessively sanitizing everything too so I'm not really sure what else one can do.
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| Yuletide Recs |
[02 Jan 2022|05:02pm] |
Another year where I didn't do Yuletide myself - my ability to string words together has been pretty sporadic since everything fell apart back in 2017, though maybe I'll be able to dive in again next year. But other people wrote things! And some of them are very, very good!
The Dark is Rising
My fandom true love every year, and this year doesn't disappoint!
Once and Future by Phoenixflight (Will/Bran)
Both the author and the recipient have been around TDIR fandom for a while now, and know the characters very well. This story has a lot of what I love about this pairing: the inevitability of it, like it's still fated no matter what the High Magic says. Bran is delightfully knowing and confident, Will is sweet and a little clueless.
but a dream within a dream by Leiascully (Will/Bran, and Jane)
The recipient of the above. Bran and Will are in an established relationship here, which isn't something that turns up quite as often in TDIR fic. It's not the focus of the story, which is about what Bran and Jane remember, but when Will does appear there's this lovely ease about them that I love. And Jane has a great line about knowing how to be herself - her humanity is just as important here as Will's lack of it.
The Water Key by Dolorosa (Merriman)
A story about Merriman when he was much younger. I had a moment here where I suddenly realised I know the author IRL (we had not exchanged fandom names) so I'm not surprised that she knows her way around early medieval Britain - which she does, and takes us through it quite skillfully. I really appreciate Drustan, the king whose land this is all happening in, but also appreciate when Merriman screws something up rather badly.
(There is one more TDIR story - I am not neglecting to rec it; I just haven't actually got round to reading it yet.)
Other fandoms
Through the Eye of a Needle by cefyr (Cadfael Chronicles, gen)
Brother Cadfael, with some expert help from Sister Magdalen, solves the mystery of an altar cloth that has been misdelivered. This reads very like actual Ellis Peters, and the details of the altar cloth itself - both what's wrong, and how it plays out - are really quite clever.
New Perspectives on Chaucer's Alris: An Introduction by CenozoicSynapsid (Chaucer's Legend of Good Women/Beowulf kind of)
Brought to us by the person who once wrote Welsh literary criticism fic featuring my old professor, so I'm not surprised this is excellent. This is the introduction to a book that might have happened if the text in question - a work by Chaucer on Grendel's mother - actually existed. It includes slightly-altered real citations and attributes imaginary works to both real and fictional medievalists, and all in all makes you want to go read the original which unfortunately does not exist. I have a very soft spot for fake academia, and this hit it nicely.
Flower, Flower, Promise by Selden (The Mabinogion)
This is a very strange story, and haunting, and one of those things that reminds you how amazing Yuletide can be, because I'm pretty sure I can think of two Welsh literary magazines that would publish this right now. It's a post-apocalyptic story about Branwen ferch Llŷr, and Blodeuwedd, and a cauldron. And it is not what you expect.
I'm out of time so will add the rest later, but I also need to share this thing I learned:
The Duolingo Welsh Course is now a fandom on Ao3 with no less than four fics about Owen and his parsnip habit. Two are all yn Gymraeg, one is bilingual, and one is in English, and they are hilarious. The very fact this exists is hilarious. Enjoy.
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| New Year: Fic in Review and Plans |
[01 Jan 2022|01:36pm] |
I haven't done one of these for years, just because I didn't write anything for years - there is a long gap between 2016 and 2020 where there's just nothing.
And even then I only posted two things, so I suppose a retroactive 2020/21 Pandemic Fic version would include them:
( I'll go back and cut all this; it got longCollapse )
Now to write a post about Yuletide (which I didn't do, again, but have been reading) and also something about my current state of Being Snowed In During Large West Coast Storms.
Happy new year, all!
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| Nadolig llawen |
[24 Dec 2021|04:48pm] |
It's Christmas Eve, my sister and I are ensconced at our parents' getting ready for virtual church, and a few relatives are coming over tomorrow. (We're all vaxxed and recently boosted, so I hope it will be all right; the news is a bit frightening isn't it?)
Wishing you all a peaceful and happy holiday, and for 2022 to ease up a bit and give us all a chance to find our better selves. I'm glad that we're all still here, friends.
Nadolig llawen i chi gyd. Merry Christmas.
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| Write today off |
[12 Dec 2021|09:32pm] |
Got my booster jab yesterday, and today was absolutely wiped out. Sister and I both spent most of the day just chilling in bed, then ordered delivery and called it a day. Also had a brutal headache and everything is sore. Worth it, but I hope tomorrow is a bit better. I thought I'd be able to spend the day writing a bit of fanfic and playing Inquisition, but brain is too fuzzy for the first, and I hit some random glitch in the second that means I will never leave the Arbor Wilds.
I can't get over how close it is to Christmas; time and its passage is still so confusing.
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[07 Dec 2021|10:45am] |
I have finally hit the last page of M!Hawke/Anders DA fic on Ao3 and feel a little bereft. I saved some long ones to read for later, at least! (Also, when reading things started 10 years ago, If it's still at 3/? chapters at least you know to avoid getting too invested....)
My own has grown somewhat - I had it all organised so that the DA2 section of the arc would wrap up fairly neatly on New Year's Eve, but then realised I would need about 4 more chapters.
Also I'm still a fluff/adventure writer at heart, it seems, and trying to write the main characters fighting with each other is hard.
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| Still have a head full of stories |
[05 Nov 2021|02:14pm] |
Am now about halfway through Unshaken by the Darkness of the World. The last chapter was fun, and mostly centred around dreams of possible futures (both possible and not); there was sappiness and a very long dream sequence that may or may not help Anders with facing some of his (metaphorical, mostly) demons.
They're all meant to be heading underground to meet Corypheus next (right, I know this only makes sense if you know the game), but I got distracted, and apparently just writing a lot of smut is a thing I do again. On which note, Vulnerable (Hawke/Anders, Explicit) is a flashback to Hawke and Anders' first night together. Hawke is useless but sweet, Anders is patient, things go about as you expect.
What's wild is that I know how this whole thing plays out long past the end of this story - I've got a posting schedule through the end of the year, but it could easily go for another, if I don't get swept under again.
I don't even remember the last time I wrote 100k words in three months. Still wondering if this is some sort of 'emerging from a long dark tunnel' situation or just stubborn refusal to do anything more worthwhile with my time. Who can say?
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| When muses run riot |
[25 Oct 2021|01:44pm] |
I've really missed the feeling when a story gets away from you. So far each chapter of Unshaken has ended up with some kind of cohesive theme that I didn't know was going to be there when I set out. I'm just wrapping up eight pages of dream sequence that happened more or less by mistake when I was setting out to write a cute camping scene. A long time ago, I would just start to write things about characters, and as it went along, the things would tell me what they were about. It's absolutely splendid to have some of that back.
That said, it's a very weird dream Anders is having.
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| Writing, and holidays. |
[15 Oct 2021|05:42pm] |
Well, I've put up two more chapters of Unshaken by the Darkness of the World as well as a bit of Anders and the Warden-Commanders' backstory in In the Turning of the Seasons, and I can't even express how much I'm enjoying writing fic again. It's good for my creative engines (and academic ones) to be able to write something that's fun while I'm doing it.
I'd been writing a chapter of UbyDotW ahead, but had a rather big fellowship proposal to finish and submit earlier this week so had to do that instead. Which wouldn't make a difference, except I'm going on holiday for a week tomorrow so will likely remain behind. Which is fine! First proper travel since summer of 2019!
Some friends had a trip planned to an all-inclusive in Mexico, but someone dropped out. Everything was paid for by then (not, unfortunately, by the one who dropped out), so either someone uses the spot or nobody does, and since 1) I'm one of the only people they know who can drop everything and hop a plane last minute, and 2) I watch their dogs a lot, so even though they knew I couldn't pay for it, they also know they'll get it out of me in labour, I get an almost-free trip. I'm looking forward to chilling on the beach for the next week, whether I get anything written or not!
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| Fic update [DAII] |
[01 Oct 2021|10:14am] |
Posted the second chapter of Unshaken by the Darkness of the World. I've never been great about keeping to a posting schedule before, rather than just throwing up new parts as I finish them, but this way I seem to be able to write a chapter or so ahead and take some time about it. I don't expect many readers for a while since most of us are quite shy by now about getting involved in anything that looks like it might end up unfinished. (This was all written out of order, and I didn't mean for it to end up being a long thing, but here it is and there we are.)
New goal is to not write a soppy waking-up-in-bed scene in Every Single Chapter. But this one also has battles, and those are fun.
In other news, it's the first of October and 27 degrees (Celcius) so seems like a good day to spend at the beach.
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| [fic] Dragon Age II fanfic dump |
[24 Sep 2021|12:12pm] |
Soooo I said before that my brain had been taken over by Dragon Age (which...is a thing that happens with some frequency, if I'm honest) and this time I actually wrote some stuff for it. It's all part of one particular worldstate and one particular story, which is turning out to be a series called Few Against the Wind.
All of these are male Hawke/Anders, with varying degrees of plot, sense, and sex.
My Hearth is Yours (PGish, Act 2) is about the very early days of their relationship. Anders is meant to move in with Hawke about the time All That Remains happens, with everything that entails. The chapters are short scenes that happen at different points, from the first kiss to Anders' first night on his own in the house.
An Unquenchable Flame (The Templar Rescue Fantasy) (Explicit, Act 2-3) is the obligatory take on Anders' line in MotA about imagining Hawke rescuing him from Templars and, ah, 'showing his gratitude.' Hawke agrees to play along, things get very spicy; there is a little bit of character development but it's pretty much PWP.
Become Not a Whisper (The Warden Fantasy) (Explicit, Act 2-3) is an equally PWP follow-up to the end of the above, where Hawke suggests that next time Anders should be the one rescuing him. This is probably one of the smuttiest things I have ever written, and it was gloriously fun. Again there's a bit of character stuff snuck in, but it's mostly just sexytimes.
In the Turning of the Seasons is a repository for little scenes that don't fit anywhere else, so at the moment is a little bit with Hawke and Carver, and a couple of chats with Isabela; there are some other bits coming up later.
Unshaken by the Darkness of the World (PGish, Act 3) is the main storyline of the whole thing and is more action/adventure, with some found family/teamwork/friendship stuff to go along with this often fraught relationship. Before there was a bit of a respite, but this is a rivalmance story, which means Anders has a pretty hard time. We know where it ends up.
There are two more planned before the end of the game (well, I say planned - they're mostly written already). Because I'm not always good at finishing big things once I've started, I waited to post any of it until I had an ending written. I hope it won't be THE ending, because I've plotted out a lot of stuff past it, it means that worst case if I get really stuck, I can still finish the story on a climactic note and not just leave things hanging.
...all this because I just wanted to make a vid! I expect to have more to say about these characters, but I should probably do a bit of work for now.
I've really missed fanfic. I think I used to be better at it, but I've missed it.
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[12 Aug 2021|11:34am] |
So after last time's angsty 'WHY CAN'T I WRITE ANYMORE' I had a bit of a break from doing work. (Well...I had no deadlines, at least, since there are no breaks in academia, but I decided to give myself one anyway.) I wrote fun things, mostly about D&D characters, and slowly they got better. So there is something to be said for the effects of burnout, I suppose. Creativity felt nice.
Now, mind, I've apparently become obsessed with making an angsty Dragon Age vid, because obviously there aren't already enough of those in the world. But it's been a fun way to wind down at night. I haven't edited anything other than lectures since undergrad, and had kind of forgotten how much fun it can be.
(Who's still talking about DA? Anybody? I am always so very late on fandoms these days, when I find them at all. What else are we into?)
Headed north to see my parents in a few days. They are both getting older and having health issues, which I do not at all care for (the health issues; obviously getting older is preferable to the alternative). But we have some fun things planned, all generally at home since there's still a pandemic on.
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| Still inside (mostly) |
[01 Apr 2021|05:01pm] |
I have a little time to write something and zero motivation to do so, so might as well check in here instead. How are you all coping? While I concede that the last year of not leaving town, of being forced to stay in one place and deal with some things, has not been all bad, I also really miss travelling. My parents are coming to visit in early summer, unless something goes terribly wrong, because we'll all be vaccinated by then and we're all pretty twitchy. California decided when including educators in the tier whatever that community college teachers actually DO count, so I've had my first jab a week ago. Sister gets her second tomorrow.
In the meantime, we have reached the point of the pandemic where we will be throwing an epic birthday party for Kumagoro, my stuffed rabbit who joined me once upon a time for YaoiCon. He's turning 20! There will be homemade cake and cocktails. It will be attended by all the Who's Who of stuffed animals and headlined by Queen Funkopop figures.
Honestly I always kind of figured we'd be in pandemic lockdown mode this long, but I didn't really have a concept of how long it would actually feel like.
How are the rest of you?
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| Not the dystopian future we were promised |
[07 Apr 2020|11:25am] |
Yesterday, despite not having planned to, I ventured out for more supplies. A neighbour posted on a local group that one of the nearby Target stores had received a shipment containing loo roll, hand sanitiser, cleansers and so on, so I downed my coffee, threw on clothes, and headed out. We are actually reasonably stocked up on many things, but there remained a few gaps in what we could find.
As most shops around here, they're letting people in a few at a time, and have marked off little Xs on the pavement outside for where to stand. A lot of people were in masks (I don't have one, but instead have a scarf wrapped around my face) - I don't know where they got them, since there's a shortage in L.A., but whatever. Once you get into the store, an employee will give you a trolley once they've finished wiping it down. Unfortunately at this point the customers are no longer being shepherded, and some are pretty stupid about how close they get to people. Still, I acquired most of the things I needed, including Lysol and yeast (who knew that was going to be a thing there was a shortage of?) and various paper products and now, hopefully, I don't have to go out again.
There is a one-per-customer limit on the most in-demand things, which is both good and bad. It's better, I suppose, to make sure everyone can get at least a little of what they need. On the other hand, if one has a large family, or is trying to pick up something for an immunocompromised or elderly neighbour, there's not really a way to facilitate that besides going in again. Still, they are doing their best.
I have still just been writing, doing yoga, practicing the flute and the harp, and missing the outdoors. I did get back to playing Fallout 4 for a bit, even though I mostly just build extensive settlements and forget to do the quests.
How's everyone else holding up?
I also noticed that the employees were mostly pretty cheerful and people were being extra nice to them, so that's at least a good thing.
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