current fandom events

Nov. 11th, 2025 11:01 pm
svgurl: (star trek: kirk/spock tos & xi)
[personal profile] svgurl
[community profile] werewolvesden is a community dedicated to any fandom or media that related to werewolves or other wereanimals or shapeshifters

[community profile] thylabang is a multi-verse Kirk/Spock community hosting future event series.

[community profile] allbingo is running Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Fest through the month of November. There are pre-made cards or you can create your own based on the available prompts.

[community profile] smallfandomfest has opened prompting for its 38th Small Fandoms Fest until November 21st.

[community profile] smallfandomfest is open for another round of Pimp Your Small Fandom.

[community profile] exesandohsexchange, an exchange based on the exes to lovers trope (though the ship doesn't have to canonically be exes to qualify), is open for sign-ups until November 14th, 11:59PM, 11:59PM Eastern. Nominations are also still open until November 13th, 11:59PM Eastern too.

[community profile] consent_issues_exchange, an exchange for works with a focus on dubious and non-consensual sex, has opened sign-ups until November 22nd, 10PM EST.

[community profile] rec_cember, a community for a month long rec event that will take place in December, is open for sign-ups.

[community profile] fancake's theme of the month is: mystery and suspense. Click on the banner below to learn more!

Moody photograph of the ocean from an outlook. In the foreground, two dirty hands claw their way up over the edge toward the viewer. Text: Mystery & Suspense, at Fancake.

(no subject)

Nov. 11th, 2025 04:41 pm
turps: (Groot is awesome)
[personal profile] turps
There were two new people at class yesterday, so due to my status as an oldie, I was separated from my usual partner/friend and paired with the lady newbie. Still can't believe Rosie trusts me to explain how to do stuff. Especially as I remain so bad at some things, like forward lunges.

We did go to the cinema on Saturday, going to see The Choral at the Odeon Metrocentre. Going in we had a quick natter to one of the workers we know there, and he said it was a twee film, and he was right, but I still enjoyed it. I also enjoyed checking out all the Christmas decorations in the malls. We missed them all last year due to James not being able to drive after breaking his arm, so it was good to take in all the sparkles.

Then, arriving home, we watched our neighbour decorating her windows with Christmas scenes for a bit. She was using what looked like a white window crayon/paint, and the results were so pretty. So much better than that spray on snow we used to use to make our own snow scenes back in the day.

Sunday we'd planned a walk, but the day got away from us. We posted two parcels of wooden art that James had sold, went grocery shopping, and dropped something off to my brother. Who wasn't actually in, but I did get a nice chat with my niece. We also checked out the near to us Aldi that had just opened last week. What I especially liked was they must have over stocked, as lots of the fruit and veg was at a 75% off discount. Which is why we had a very veg heavy casserole for tea last night.

James also found out one of his booked craft fairs has been cancelled which is a disappointment, as it's the one in our town and closest to Christmas, which would have been perfect for last minute buyers. He's put the feelers out to see if tables are going elsewhere, but as of now we've only got two fairs left this month and then nothing in December.

Today I'm on special sand litter tray watch as I need another pee sample from Murphy, but he's not providing the goods yet. He appears back to his old self, and when I can finally send a sample in, I'm hoping they test it, and he can be cleared for coming off his meds. But, as it's after four now and the vet shuts at 6, I have the feeling the test is going to be a no-go today, especially as Kayleigh was going to be on dropping off duties as James is at work until 6.

Week 45 - cleaning things!

Nov. 10th, 2025 06:23 pm
ruric: (Default)
[personal profile] ruric
Swings and roundabouts this week - progress at home but work was meh.

#ORJENISE100 no specific prompts completed but I have generally beenchucking/recycling stuff.

HOME: cleaned the kitchen again and put a few items away to leave clear space for the ex when he's on cat feeding duties this coming weekend. Finally got all the clutter off the stairs. Sanded and painted gate at the front of the house (2 coats)! Varnished the back door - finally! Another quick pass at hall/landing to make sure recycling all packed and ready for Wednesday. Started on my bedroom.

HEALTH: pretty good!

LIFE ADMIN: nope.

DIGITAL DECLUTTER: down to 11,500 emails and archived 100 images off phone.

GARDENING/ALLOTMENTING: front garden pots complete including extras. Now on to window boxes and pots by kitchen/living room windows and houseplants. Oh and bulbs/winter planting for allotment.

COOKING/EATING: mostly eating down contents of fridge before weekend away - so balti veg curry, haked potatoes and grazing on random bits!

READING/LISTENING: nope.

WATCHING: Started new show Pluribus.

CREATING/LEARNING: crochet teacher is still prepping/competing at a cake comp in Rome.

CATS: all good.

VOLUNTEERING: AGM for allotment society was Sunday afternoon and all went well.

SOCIALISING: nope other than AGM.

WORK: nearly threw my toys out of the pram so had a mental health half day on Friday.

It's really the annual Horbling weekend this coming weekend (after last week's SNAFU) so there'll be a bit more frantic clearing up over the next 2 days!

fic: 'tis the season (for pumpkins)

Nov. 7th, 2025 12:05 pm
svgurl: (gilmore girls: rory/jess)
[personal profile] svgurl
[community profile] trickortreatex had creator reveals and this is what I wrote. :)

Title: 'tis the season (for pumpkins)
Fandom: Gilmore Girls
Pairing/Characters: Rory/Jess
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 990
Summary: Rory and Jess celebrate Halloween, Stars Hollow style.

(no subject)

Nov. 7th, 2025 01:34 pm
turps: (Frank/mikey1 ( crazybutsound))
[personal profile] turps
I got offline early yesterday as I didn't want to see the Celeb Traitors spoilers. The finale was mistakenly shown a day early in Canada, so it would have been all too easy to unwillingly see the outcome. As it was, I was glad I did go in unspoiled. cut for spoilers )

I've really enjoyed watching the show, and while it was frustrating waiting a week between some episodes, doing so kept people talking, and I liked that.

Today I've been for a walk to one pharmacist to pick up Kayleigh's script, and then to another to get James'. While there's no bright sunshine, it's still mild so it was nice to walk through the falling leaves and get some fresh air.

I also talked to Pauline, who phoned asking if we wanted to meet up next Wednesday for a lunch out to celebrate James' birthday. Now, that's not until the 1st, so yet again she's arranging stuff really early. But hey, he's off that day and I guess there's no reason not to celebrate that early.

Tomorrow, for the first time in a few weekends, we don't have any craft fairs so we're off to the cinema. I don't even know what to see yet, but something. I may even buy myself my first Christmas Costa of the season. I quite fancy a gingerbread latte with a tiny gingerbread man balanced on top.

releasing a wild plot bunny

Nov. 6th, 2025 06:14 pm
althea_valara: A female Roegadyn from FFXIV, named Windy Storm. She's in the Red Mage gear and is smirking slightly. (Windy Storm)
[personal profile] althea_valara
Well, it's a SMALL bunny, but...

I was listening to the FFVIII soundtrack on YouTube while knitting, and they have video clips while the songs play. So I got to see Zell's intro again, and I had totally forgotten he's got a facial tattoo.

...Said tattoo is not unlike Windy's facial tattoo (Windy Storm is a Roegadyn and one of my characters from FFXIV).

So now I am imagining Zell in FFXIV's Sharlayan and getting his Archon Mark. Which is hard to believe, honestly! But can you imagine the hijinks he'd get into there?

Anyway, I don't have more of an idea than just that, so I release this bunny into the wilds.

And now I go back to knitting. THESE LEGWARMERS WON'T KNIT THEMSELVES!!!

ao3 tag meme game

Nov. 6th, 2025 11:41 am
svgurl: (smallville: clark/oliver fanfic)
[personal profile] svgurl
I snagged this from [personal profile] maevedarcy. :)

Go to your Works page on AO3, look at the tags, and see what the answers to these questions are. (Or any other site that has tags, I don’t know if FFnet or Wattpad does)

I'm [archiveofourown.org profile] svgurl410 on AO3 and most of my fics are on there so I'll go with that. :D

1. What rating do you write most fics under?
General Audiences (157 out of 277)

2. What are your top 3 fandoms?
1. Smallville (176 out of 277 works on AO3)
2. Marvel Cinematic Universe (58 out of 277)
3. Gilmore Girls (23 out of 277)

3. What is your top character you write about?
Clark Kent (138 works)

4. What are the 3 top pairings?
1. Clark Kent/Oliver Queen (81 out of 277 works)
2. Clark Kent/Lois Lane (45 out of 277 works)
3. James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson (18 out of 277 works)

5. What are the top 3 additional tags?
1. Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence (111)
2. Established Relationship (81)
3. Getting Together (57)

6. Did any of this surprise you? e.g. what turned out to be your top tag.
Most of it was what I expected - the ratings, the top ships, since I was very mono fandom for a long time, etc. I was surprised I've written more established relationship than getting together, since I thought I wrote more the latter, but I think that some of my older fics haven't been tagged properly so if I went back and updated, that might change. Then again, I also used to write a lot of flashbacks in my fics so technically the fic would have them established but I would want to write how they got together in the first place so I'd throw it in.

The code if you want to do it:

Linguistic Musings in the Shower

Nov. 6th, 2025 09:45 am
steepholm: (Default)
[personal profile] steepholm
One difference between UK English and US English (or at any rate some forms of it) is the appearance (or not) of the preposition in the phrase "He wrote (to) me."

From a UK perspective, the 'to' seems necessary because 'me' is the indirect object: it's the letter/email/text that gets written, not 'me'. 'To' is a semantic marker indicating the direct object's existence, even it is not explicitly mentioned.

Where the direct object *is* mentioned, the 'to' gets omitted in UK English as well: thus, "He wrote me a letter", not "He wrote to me a letter."

In US English, presumably, the fact that 'me' is the indirect object is seen as sufficiently obvious not to need the scaffolding of a preposition. Occasions where the 'me' in "He wrote me" would be a direct object are pretty rare, after all. Perhaps a character in a Pirandello play might say it about the author?

This got me wondering about other verbs. With "feed", for example, the Brits follow the American pattern: "I fed the child her tea" gets shortened to "I fed the child", not "I fed to the child." But *is* 'child' the indirect object in that sentence? It *feels* as if it's the direct object. But then, it's certainly operating differently from a sentence such as "I fed the child to the dragon." Perhaps it's simply habituation that makes "I fed the child" sound as natural to me as "He wrote me" sounds to an American?

On the other hand, with "give" the indirect object *has* to be mentioned, if only in pronoun form, in both the UK and the US, but the preposition becomes an optional extra. "I gave the book to her" can become "I gave her the book" or "I gave it (to) her". However, "I gave her" (with the book implied) doesn't work.

That's when I got out of the shower, so the story of language must do without an ending - but then, I'm trying to save water.

wednesday reads and things

Nov. 5th, 2025 05:52 pm
isis: (raza)
[personal profile] isis
What I've recently finished reading:

Europe at Dawn by Dave Hutchinson, and thus finishes the Fractured Europe Sequence. I enjoyed it a lot, though sometimes it made me feel as though I just wasn't smart enough for it; there are a lot of chapters which begin so completely in medias res that you just have to soldier on until you hit the background/flashback that explains what is going on. Although the last book ties up some of the loose ends, they are only loosely tied, so to speak, and it feels very open-ended. (To be fair, there was no overarching action plot here, just generally tying up ends and solving mysteries. Also I didn't realize for far too long that some of the POV chapters were actually in the past relative to present action (or rather, took place at the same time that some of the events in other books took place; time has passed.)

What I've recently finished listening to:

The Strange Case of Starship Iris wrapped up its final season a few weeks ago. I liked it overall, though I definitely preferred the political action/adventure parts more than the personal relationships parts, other than the general bonding of the crew as a unit. I also found it rather on the nose with respect to Current Political Events, but hey, it's not Jessica Best's fault that she wrote an SF podcast about freedom-fighting rebels up against a juggernaut of an iron-fisted government just when, you know. waves hand around helplessly

What I've recently finished playing:

Dragon Age: The Veilguard! I enjoyed playing but I was ready for it to be over. I (female Qunari mage) romanced Harding, but the romance content is -->.<-- (Though admittedly there was some nice emotional content relative to the romance near the end.) On the one hand, the fact that most of the decisions about what to do and say don't seem to have much effect on things made it feel less fraught and scary, like - I often look up spoilers for major decisions because I don't replay games and so I want to make sure I don't end up with some horrible ending. On the other hand, it probably contributed to me feeling less involved with the game on an emotional level.

I didn't like that the choice of race and faction didn't have a whole lot to do with anything. I mean, I had extra Shadow Dragons dialogue, but mostly I didn't know anything extra about Minrathous. And I was Qunari - but an adopted war orphan with zero connection to anything remotely Qun, so I felt really dumb talking to Taash (and especially Shathann) about Qunari customs.

I did really love the graphics, and all the very interesting landscapes, the different cities and landscapes (the Ossuary!!!) and especially the Crossroads. The companion banter is super fun and I sort of wanted to set them all up with each other! I especially loved Taash and Lucanis talking about capes, hee. I did everybody's quests, of course, and got everyone to Hero status, and all my factions to three stars.

I did the Regrets of the Dread Wolf questline and met Mythal, and...I really tried to give good answers, but every time I failed, to the point where I figured there was no way of avoiding the fight. So I ended up having to fight her and hoo boy that was tough. And then! I looked at an "endings" walkthrough and it said I had to have resolved the quest peacefully to get the best ending, so I resigned myself to having screwed up, but haha it turns out they recommended that only because that is such a tough fight, yay, I got the best ending.

(I did not look up spoilers for the rest of the endgame, but fortunately I managed to not get my sweetheart killed.)

Anyway, it was fun, but when I finished I didn't want to jump into another epic right away, so I started playing Monument Valley, which several of you had recommended to me - and that was delightful! It's like, what if M. C. Escher had designed a puzzle game? I finished the first game and am now doing the "appendices". I also have the second game, so that's probably next.

B is playing Horizon Forbidden West, and I can't resist looking over his shoulder every once in a while. The Horizon games are still my favorites! (He's still in early days, not yet to the Embassy, just doing stuff in Chainscrape.)

Today's productivity

Nov. 6th, 2025 12:08 am
ruric: (Casa chaotica - clean all the things)
[personal profile] ruric
Having found I'm not away this weekend but next weekend I decided to make use of a free afternoon to be productive.

The refuse guys emptied my bin this morning (which they're not obliged to do as I'd not put it on the pavement) but they kindly flipped the lid and grabbed the two bags in there. Which meant my tip run was a little lighter than anticipate. But I removed 3 bags of rubbish and recycling and then popped into the garden centre on the way home. I'd bought more bulbs than I have pots so came up with a plan to have a couple more small window boxes at the base of the rose in the front garden. I may also have bought a few more mini houseplants and viola's while I was there and compost.

By the time I got home I had just about enough light left to finish planting the remaining large window box and the new ones. So the tiny front garden is now planted.

I still have the 2 window boxes and 5 pots on the porch roof, 1 hanging basket and the 3 living room window boxes to plant. That's a task for Friday afternoon/evening and possibly Saturday afternoon. Tomorrow night I'll plan what bulbs go where and what need to go down to the allotment.

The weather looks set to be warm and sunny on Saturday and Sunday so I need to sand and paint the front gate (one coat Saturday and one Sunday) and get two coats of varnish on the back door before the weather turns. I forsee early mornings this weekend. And there's now the allotment AGM Sunday afternoon so I need to get a wiggle on with jobs around home and garden.

To finish the front garden I need to weed the path, sort out the area around the bins and put some membrane and chippings around the base of the climbing rose to stop whatever is digging there from digging.

Lolz whoops!

Nov. 5th, 2025 02:08 pm
ruric: (Default)
[personal profile] ruric
As many of you know I've been going away with a bunch of friends for an annual long weekend since 2005. We originally met through Buffy/Angel fandom and if you't told us that first year we'd still be going 20 years later we'd certainly not have believed you.

We settled on the weekend of or after Bonfire Night as being the most convenient for everyone. We still go to the same place - a fab 17thC farmhouse in Horbling, Lincs that can sleep up to about 12-16 people. The owner charges us "mates rates" as a regular booking who leaves the place tidy and strip all the beds before we go. When we are up there we confirm our booking for the next 2 years so we can get dates in our diaries.

You can see where this is heading can't you?

Since 2024 I've had the dates in my dairy for 2025 as 6th-10th Nov and for 2026 as 5th-9th November.

As usual I leave everything to the last minute so I've been scrambling around trying to get work and home stuff sorted so I can leave early on Thursday. Texted my mate last night to say I'd be on the road between 7-8am Thursday so should be with her by 9-10am only to get a confused face icon back and a "Horbling is next weekend" message.

Yes I had somehow anaged tonout the wrong dates in my diary, and overlooked the group Whatsapp message confirming the date change late last year and the recent WhatsApp about food cutoff ordering being 12 November!

So yesterday evening I moved my leave back a weekend, reorganised my day job work, replanned personal tasks around clearing up the flat and gardening, let my allotment society know I xan attend the AGM on Sunday and confirmed the ex is free for cat feeding duties next weekend.

For the first time in years I'll be approaching this getaway in planned rather than chaotic fashion.

Today I've taken an extended lunchbreak to finish potting up some of my winter windowboxes and plants and I'll be able to get the rest done on Saturday.

Paying it forward

Nov. 4th, 2025 08:22 am
jadelennox: Cookie Monster: "A cookie is an ALWAYS food"  (fatpol: cookie)
[personal profile] jadelennox

If anyone needs a hand to get through this month, let me know. You don’t need to explain, it doesn’t need to be SNAP related in any way. Comments screened. (Not doing friend of a friend stuff, just you, people who read this.)

I will probably make this post private in like a week out of sheer embarrassment so ask soon if you need something.

(no subject)

Nov. 4th, 2025 01:08 pm
turps: (Sleep)
[personal profile] turps
I saw No Strings Attached advertised earlier. It's a show where puppets act out fanfics based on celebs, and those celebs voice their own dialogue. Not going to lie, I about turned myself inside out with embarrassment thinking about it. Just, no.

Pauline phoned yesterday asking about our Christmas dinner. She wants to get it booked, and apparently she's going to be busy in December, so suggested booking for a Saturday in November, including this Saturday coming. Now, while the festive menu would be started then I think the 8th is far too soon for our Christmas meet up, so I'm going to push for the last Sat in November instead. She also still wants to go to the restaurant that gave her and James food poisoning, as she said, it's usually lovely there, and it was only a minor poisoning. Well, that's okay then…

Talking about Christmas, it seems to be everywhere now, and John Lewis dropped their Christmas ad today. Why so early, I don't know, so now I'm expecting a deluge of Christmas ads soon. It's an interesting ad, I get what they were going for, and the sentiment does land, just there was a section in the middle that led me to believe it was about to get really bleak. Then things change, and wham, right in the feels. I suspect many dad's with older sons will relate.



Murphy's results, cut for those not interested )
falena: Alan Rickman, image from Love Actually, caption: "no bloody fangirls" (no bloody fangirls)
[personal profile] falena

The lovely [profile] godbyebird came up with this idea. I miss the old reccing communities on LJ (crack_van be you'll always be in my heart!) and I feel guilty I'm not active enough in the one still-running multifandom thematic comm I know of here on DW ([community profile] fancake). However, I think I can definitely post a few times in December. The community to join/keep an eye on is: [community profile] rec_cember

HERE is the sign-up post!

My current fandom is HBO's The Pitt so that will surely feature the most in any reccing effort I'll try, but some of my old-time faves are the Rivers of London book series, anything by KJ Charles (so historical queer romance), the Murderbot Diaries, Generation Kill and A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones so those are likely to get a mention or two. Also I am a HUGE podfic fan so I'll try to include podfic whenever possible.

It seems like a friendly place and low-effort sort of challenge, if you're a fannish person you should consider taking part!

erika: (me: 5 year old me)
[personal profile] erika
Much to my amazement, in two hours I turn forty.

Forty. Four zero. 40. 4. 0. I've been telling almost everyone I meet, repeating the facts to strangers and friends and acquaintances, my psychiatrist and my sister and my surrogate aunts. I didn't expect to get here and I find the fact of forty, frankly, jarring. My teeth grit against the absolute insanity of time marching on to this extent—how did I get here?

Some of the people who are reading this potentially have known me since I was 12 and just like me, probably didn't expect me to get here. Mind-boggling as well.

What has changed recently? Not much! To misquote Tolstoy, perhaps happy days are all alike, but each unhappy day is unhappy in its own way. Or maybe it's the opposite, and it's my newfound ability to revel in choice of enjoyable activities with a reliably upbeat mood climate that's truly unlocked this newfound persistence of pleasant presence.

Current psychiatrist has narrowed down my meds and diagnoses to a fine degree, now that she actually believes I'm ill. (Long story but basically she didn't take me seriously until my last attempt. Wait, not a long story.) Who would have guessed that the magic wand would be ~lithium~ and the magic words, bipolar disorder? Doc's not 100% on it yet but I'm pretty convinced.

My intention is to update again tomorrow, but I'll post this now just in case.

Crafting Update, October 2025

Nov. 3rd, 2025 07:39 pm
althea_valara: Icon of teal colored yarn, with the words "Stand back, I have YARN!" on top. (crafting)
[personal profile] althea_valara
DIVING RIGHT IN!!

A pivot table, showing I crafted over 47 hours in October on 11 different projects.
[Image Description: 'A pivot table, showing I crafted over 47 hours in October on 11 different projects.' title='October 2025 Crafting Spreadsheet]

So yes! I tried a lot of projects in October! Some of which were abandoned! But I did have some finishes, so let's check them out:

A sticker puzzle featuring a Day of the Dead decorated skull.
[Image Description: A sticker puzzle featuring a Day of the Dead decorated skull.]

I got this sticker puzzle from my library several years back as a Take and Make kit. Man, I miss those kits! So much fun and they were FREE! Anyway, I finally did this one for The Lab challenge in Nerdopolis. The theme was "Science Lab" and this was my writeup:

Did you know Post-It notes were an accidental invention? A 3M scientist was attempting to create a super-strong adhesive when he accidentally created a weak adhesive instead. This adhesive was low-tack and responded to pressure. For this challenge, I did some experimenting with the weak adhesive on the back of my sticker puzzle (a Take and Make kit from my local library!). I tested to see if I could remove and replace the stickers to perfect their position (I could!).

Team shout out for Nerd Cred: My sticker puzzle is of a decorated skull for “El Dia de los Muertos” (The Day of the Dead). In Final Fantasy XI, there is an infamous quest to unlock your subjob that requires farming three items from monsters, one of which is a Magicked Skull that comes from skeleton enemies.


I've opted not to include the "before" picture here, showing the sticker sheet. This was fun and just challenging enough to BE fun and not annoying. It probably took me about an hour - I didn't time myself. I have another one of these sticker puzzles (a Monet print) that I hope to do for a future challenge in The Lab.

A pair of bright red legwarmers, worn.
[Image Description: A pair of bright red lacy knitted legwarmers, worn.]

I only did one legwarmer this month--the other was completed in a previous month for a different challenge. I had to alter the pattern because my yarn was more of a bulky than worsted, and so I didn't get gauge. I guessed on pattern alterations which I thought worked well at first, but the truth is that there's not enough negative ease, and these slide down. Boo.

This legwarmer was submitted in the Nerdopolis Challenge "The Games We Played", with the writeup:

My family used to vacation in Hayward, WI when I was quite young, and we always brought board games along to play. Two of the games we played were Hungry, Hungry Hippos (which has a red playing board) and Hi-Ho! Cherry-O! (in which you collect red cherries). In honor of these memories, I’ve made a red legwarmer.


A crocheted water bottle carrier, with an attached pocket for a cell phone.
[Image Description: A crocheted water bottle carrier, with an attached pocket for a cell phone.]

This was a necessity. See, I've acquired a pair of earbuds which means I am now taking my phone to the gym so I can listen to Final Fantasy music while working out, as one does. Well, carrying phone AND water bottle AND keys AND towel AND spray bottle is a bit much, so I made this to combine two of the items into one convenient carry package. It works pretty well. Not perfect, but much better than juggling everything. I submitted this in Area 51, the challenge for finished WIPs or stuff made with stash yarn. This was from stash.

The start of a sleeve for a knitted cardigan.
[Image Description: The start of a sleeve for a knitted cardigan. The generous amount of ribbing at the wrist is done, along with a few rows of the sleeve body. The sleeve is gray with a teal cable running down its middle.]

This is one of my Summit Seeker projects--those projects that will take more than a month to do. I decided to start with a sleeve and use it as my gauge swatch. My first attempt was last year, and I (a) cast on the wrong amount of stitches (b) used bigger needles at the time, and well, I just didn't like the fabric I was producing. So I frogged and started again with smaller needles AND the proper cast-on amount. Much happier now!

A crocheted approximation of Emet-Selch's soul crystal.
[Image Description: A crocheted approximation of Emet-Selch's soul crystal. It is purple and has an embroidered constellation on it, similar to the Gemini constellation.]

There was a challenge this month in which you were to make something related to a "bad guy" in your nerdery and I WAS NOT ABOUT TO MAKE AN EMET-SELCH DOLL, NO MATTER HOW MUCH I WANTED TO because ain't nobody got time to do a doll AND clothes in a month's time. I considered several options, included double-knitting something, but in the end I just winged it with crochet. It's... okay. Fulfills the challenge, but eh.

Some of the things on the list of things i tried are things I intend to go back to and finish (I *need* the Cat Lady Bag). Others, well, probably won't return to. But I had fun this month, for the most part.

Not fun: I worked on my Motion Picture Mosaic Cardi. FINALLY finished the sleeve I was on, so moved on to the right front. Problem: the edge of the back did NOT meet the edge of the front. I tried to hack a fix, but it didn't work (would have looked really stupid). So I need to frog at least SOME of the cardi. It's still in time out because I can't bear to look at it and figure out how much I need to pull back.

LJ Idol: Wheel of Chaos: "Gone"

Nov. 3rd, 2025 03:04 pm
halfshellvenus: (Default)
[personal profile] halfshellvenus
Gone
Idol Wheel of Chaos | Week 14, Story 2 | 1834 words
Ambuscade

x-x-x-x-x

It's been four months since Jenny disappeared.

I honestly thought she'd be back by now. She had a job waiting for her, and she was never the flaky type. But she went to the Allegheny Horror Con in June, and apart from Instagram updates the first two days, no one had heard from her since.

Jenny and I weren't super-close, but if I'd been a better friend, I'd have gone looking for her months ago. Now, at least, I was able to take some vacation time to fly to Pennsylvania. I hoped I would find some answers.

I got in late Friday night, and drove to the same Airbnb where Jenny had stayed. Jenny had gushed over its quaintness in her posts, but it didn't look terribly interesting in the dark. The inside was old-school gothic, with spooky candelabras and a color scheme built on deep red and black. I would have called it murky— we were in the LED age, but the lighting was all low-watt incandescents.

Maybe it just fit better with Jenny's Addams Family aesthetic than my mid-century modernism.

It was a medium-sized three-bedroom house, and yet there was an actual parlor filled with wingback chairs, a fireplace, and dusty portraits. Different eras, different priorities, I supposed. The bathroom had a claw foot tub with a shower head and a curtain. The main bedroom had scrollwork furniture and an honest-to-god four-poster bed.

I put down my suitcase and took in my surroundings. Gloomy, I thought, and kind of creepy. But for Jenny, it was probably perfect.

Jenny had been a horror fan for as long as I could remember. She read it, watched it, and breathed it, in perpetual contrast to her sunny personality. She'd been looking forward to Horror Fest since buying her ticket in February, thrilled with the chance to meet some of her favorite authors. Beneath her wholesome blond exterior beat the heart of a woman who hoped to someday write like Catriona Ward.

Was Catriona there at the conference, I wondered. Did you get a chance to speak to her? I knew Jenny had gone to a couple of movie panels and met a lot of other fans, but most of the writers' events were on the last day and she'd stopped posting by then.Read more... )

No poll this week, but all the entries are here.

halfshellvenus: (Default)
[personal profile] halfshellvenus
Second Chances
Idol Wheel of Chaos | Week 14, Story 1 | 1253 words
A nail is driven out by another nail

x-x-x-x-x

Lee woke up into excruciating brightness—white lights, white walls, white sheets. The room was hostile and glaring.

He couldn't remember exactly what had happened. One minute he’d been sitting at his desk holding a pen, and now he was here, wherever here was. And my god, he ached! He couldn't remember ever feeling pain like this before.

He’d never been so groggy, either. This wasn't like getting up in the morning—he was slow and stupid, and he could hardly move. Why wouldn't it go away? And why was he so tired? The room seemed to be fading away at the edges…

It was still bright the next time he woke up, and he still didn't know where he was. He could hardly think, and the pain was unbelievable. What the hell?

A bunch of people came in and out of the room, and from listening, Lee gathered that he was in the hospital and he'd had some sort of major reattachment surgery. No wonder things hurt!

It would be a long road back, they said, and moving would be hard at first. Lee soon discovered that was a huge understatement.

This thing called rehab sucked. It was so hard. Everything was kind of numb and tingly, and it didn't feel quite right. Mismatched nerve endings, the people said. Foreign material. He would adapt to it, but he had to give it time.

Well, it wasn't like he had a choice.

Lee worked and worked, day after day, slowly building strength. He still felt clumsy, but it was getting a little better. Everyone seemed pleased with how far he'd come, so he guessed he was doing pretty well? But it still didn't feel like his own body. He wondered if that would ever go away.

What if it was always like this? Like part of him didn't belong? Read more... )

No poll this week, but all the entries are here.

svgurl: (avengers: natasha)
[personal profile] svgurl
[community profile] trickortreatex opened its collection a few days ago and this is what I got. :D

Title: It Happened One Night
Author: [archiveofourown.org profile] flipflop_diva
Fandom: DCEU/MCU
Pairing/Characters: Diana/Natasha
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 959
Summary: Natasha meets Natasha. Well, not exactly. But that is how the story starts.

This was cute and fun!

Week 44 - getting back to it

Nov. 3rd, 2025 10:16 am
ruric: (Default)
[personal profile] ruric
Another relatively quiet week.

#ORJENISE100 no specific prompts last week.

HOME: maintained - had an Oddbox deli ery so deep cleaned the fridge, fruit and veg bowls. Haven't started on the bedroom - yet!

HEALTH: finally back to normal.

LIFE ADMIN: nothing done last week.

DIGITAL DECLUTTER: went on a bit of a deleting spree on my main email account and broke the 12k barrier - now down to 11,888 emails. Things are slowing down because I've run out of the easy to delete stuff and am now entering the 15-20 years of history. Keeping up with archiving things off the tablet to Dropbox. Stalled on sorting 900+ images on my phone.

GARDENING/ALLOTMENTING: bought plants/bulbs to finish winter planting of front garden and pots and finished planting the last of the front garden pots. Hoping to get the porch roof ones done before I go away.

COOKING/EATING: had a couple of takeaways on busy days but back to cooking. And the Oddbox delivery led to a meal plan for the next 2 weeks (though I'm away Thursday to Monday). Made a bit pot of balti veg curry and ate a lot of fruit!

READING/LISTENING: nope.

WATCHING: still enjoying Murder Before Evensong.

CREATING/LEARNING: no crocheting this week or classes as teacher is prepping/competing at a cake comp in Rome.

CATS: all good.

VOLUNTEERING: nope.

SOCIALISING: monthly catch up call with friends which I tuned into from the car as I was stuck in an epic traffic jam from Twickenham to Kingston on Thursday night.

WORK: almost caught up. Fingers crossed for a quiet November.

It's the annual Horbling weekend this coming weekend so I am scrambling around to do a bit of sorting and tidying before I go.