One week until HLH Shortcuts opens for signups!
Sep. 24th, 2025 06:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
killabeezGet your requests and offers ready, spread the word, and let's do this!
2025 Guidelines and helpful links here.
2025 Guidelines and helpful links here.
killabeez
I'm at Eaglecon in LA
Sep. 23rd, 2025 06:28 pmelfEaglecon is Cal State LA's student-focused science fiction convention.
It's very small - mid-week, two days only, 8 programming items the first day and 6 the second. Mostly one-hour events with 15 minute breaks between. Programming is over for the day by 4:30; there is no late-afternoon/evening schedule. Daytime student event.
I'll post later about the convention itself. General LA-related thoughts:
1) It mostly feels like home (SF Bay Area) except there is only one garbage can in each room - not three (trash, recycling, compost).
2) I am the only person I can see wearing mask.
3) Temperature's nice. I brought only a light denim jacket and it's been fine, a little warm at mid-day but okay even then, and it keeps the sun off my arms.
4) My prep would've been different if I'd known the room had a microwave and fridge. (I could've called to check; was not up for it.) Today on the way back to the hotel, I stopped into a Chinese supermarket and picked up some kind of beef-veggie rice bowl & frozen steamed buns with sesame filling, both of which can be heated up in the microwave.
5) Lots of Chinese stores nearby, with signs in both Chinese and English. I read zero Chinese but I can recognize the word "no" (の) in Japanese, and I didn't see it. It's common enough that I'd expect it of there are a lot of signs, so I am assuming the language I'm seeing is Chinese.
6) I may stop in to the Chinese supermarket on the way out tomorrow and grab short-grain rice. It's hard to find short-grain rice in American supermarkets. I will have to see how packing goes and if I can leave space for a 2-lb or 5-lb bag of rice.
It's very small - mid-week, two days only, 8 programming items the first day and 6 the second. Mostly one-hour events with 15 minute breaks between. Programming is over for the day by 4:30; there is no late-afternoon/evening schedule. Daytime student event.
I'll post later about the convention itself. General LA-related thoughts:
1) It mostly feels like home (SF Bay Area) except there is only one garbage can in each room - not three (trash, recycling, compost).
2) I am the only person I can see wearing mask.
3) Temperature's nice. I brought only a light denim jacket and it's been fine, a little warm at mid-day but okay even then, and it keeps the sun off my arms.
4) My prep would've been different if I'd known the room had a microwave and fridge. (I could've called to check; was not up for it.) Today on the way back to the hotel, I stopped into a Chinese supermarket and picked up some kind of beef-veggie rice bowl & frozen steamed buns with sesame filling, both of which can be heated up in the microwave.
5) Lots of Chinese stores nearby, with signs in both Chinese and English. I read zero Chinese but I can recognize the word "no" (の) in Japanese, and I didn't see it. It's common enough that I'd expect it of there are a lot of signs, so I am assuming the language I'm seeing is Chinese.
6) I may stop in to the Chinese supermarket on the way out tomorrow and grab short-grain rice. It's hard to find short-grain rice in American supermarkets. I will have to see how packing goes and if I can leave space for a 2-lb or 5-lb bag of rice.
Success????
Sep. 23rd, 2025 09:18 pmextrapenguinSo I'm (kinda) into sewing – wearables so far include one lined sleeveless A-line dress (made of velvet, because no-one told me velvet was a tough fabric lol) and one pair of pleated pants. I decided to make my own body blocks so I can draft my own things/alter crotch curves etc of other patterns to fit me. Today I decided to test out the bodice block.
expectation: I will have to do at least 1 round of alterations to get my bodice block to fit properly
reality: perfect block with optimal wearing ease on the first try????
So I now have a woven tank top made of a nice sky blue clearance bedsheet. I think I'll bind the armscyes, neckline, and bottom in bias binding and then have a wearable for next summer! I just need to buy a bunch of buttons for the closure (I'll put it in a side seam) and figure out a neckline. Currently, as befits a block, it's jewel, but I need to get it over my head so I'll need at least a keyhole and small button at the back...
expectation: I will have to do at least 1 round of alterations to get my bodice block to fit properly
reality: perfect block with optimal wearing ease on the first try????
So I now have a woven tank top made of a nice sky blue clearance bedsheet. I think I'll bind the armscyes, neckline, and bottom in bias binding and then have a wearable for next summer! I just need to buy a bunch of buttons for the closure (I'll put it in a side seam) and figure out a neckline. Currently, as befits a block, it's jewel, but I need to get it over my head so I'll need at least a keyhole and small button at the back...
New Vid: Not the Doctor (BtVS)
Sep. 23rd, 2025 12:57 pmtafadhaliAO3 | Tumblr
Title: Not the Doctor
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Co-Vidder:
periru3 Music: "Not the Doctor" by Alanis Morissette
Length: 3:45
Summary:
Notes: Part 9 of Jagged Little Slayer
Dear Festividder
Sep. 22nd, 2025 06:50 pmtafadhaliHello, wonderful Festividder! I am so excited to see what you make for me. I have some suggestions of things I like below, but ultimately I am excited about whatever YOU are excited about.
Here's my boilerplate about general preferences:
Things I like: Vids that make me feel all the feelings—vids that are sad, or joyful, or angry, or etc. etc. Character studies, especially for characters that may not usually get all the focus. I also enjoy shippy vids and ensemble vids — generally any vid about characters and their relationships with each other will be up my alley. Vids that use music from the era of a source or in the source's original language can be very cool, but any song that works well for your vid idea is terrific.
Things I like less: Dialogue in vids (except as an opening or closing tag), very aggressive/glitchy filters. I'm very much a lyrics person, so tend to be less interested in purely instrumental vids, but, again, if you have a great idea, go for it!
And, now, some fandom-specific notes. First, a few fandoms I also requested last year:
( Looney Tunes )
( The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby )
( Test Pilot )
( Dimension 20 )
And then a few new requests this year:
( Knife+Heart )
( Robot Dreams )
( Stage Door )
( Wendell & Wild )
( MASH )
( Projects Julio Torres Wrote and Appeared In )
Here's my boilerplate about general preferences:
Things I like: Vids that make me feel all the feelings—vids that are sad, or joyful, or angry, or etc. etc. Character studies, especially for characters that may not usually get all the focus. I also enjoy shippy vids and ensemble vids — generally any vid about characters and their relationships with each other will be up my alley. Vids that use music from the era of a source or in the source's original language can be very cool, but any song that works well for your vid idea is terrific.
Things I like less: Dialogue in vids (except as an opening or closing tag), very aggressive/glitchy filters. I'm very much a lyrics person, so tend to be less interested in purely instrumental vids, but, again, if you have a great idea, go for it!
And, now, some fandom-specific notes. First, a few fandoms I also requested last year:
( Looney Tunes )
( The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby )
( Test Pilot )
( Dimension 20 )
And then a few new requests this year:
( Knife+Heart )
( Robot Dreams )
( Stage Door )
( Wendell & Wild )
( MASH )
( Projects Julio Torres Wrote and Appeared In )
Dear Festividder 2025
Sep. 22nd, 2025 11:38 ampiDear Festividder,
I'm delighted that we're matched on one of these small fandoms. Vids are excellent and I can't wait to see what you come up with!
I'm always happy to be introduced to new-to-me music through vids, it's how I find some of my favorite artists and songs. But if you'd like, here are some examples of music/musicians I like already: Dessa, Griff, Glades, Taylor Swift, Tiffany Day, Lil Nas X, Years & Years, Vienna Teng, BOY, Be Steadwell, Alexander James Adams, Mon Rovîa, Adia Victoria, Indigo Girls, Mary Lambert, Lady Bri, Chvrches, Oh Wonder, Owl City, Little Mix, Foxes, Cloudy June, Haley Kiyoko, Carly Rae Jepsen, Liang Lawrence.
DNWs: I don't enjoy music with screaming/shouting in it. I don't enjoy most metal, hard rock, punk music, or twang-y country music. Please avoid inclusion of audio from the source. Please no added script/words over the footage throughout the vid (optional subtitles are fine, title & author / vid meta data at end or beginning are fine), color correcting to fix lighting is totally fine but I prefer vids in a natural color range rather than color-corrected to an unnatural appearance (like teal/orange, all purple in tone, etc).
( fandom details for The Summer Hikaru Died, Mission: Save the Hunter, The S Classes That I Raised, The Rogue Prince is Secretly an Omega, The Husky and His White Cat Shizun, BL Metamorphosis, Buddy Daddies, and Deadloch )
I'm delighted that we're matched on one of these small fandoms. Vids are excellent and I can't wait to see what you come up with!
I'm always happy to be introduced to new-to-me music through vids, it's how I find some of my favorite artists and songs. But if you'd like, here are some examples of music/musicians I like already: Dessa, Griff, Glades, Taylor Swift, Tiffany Day, Lil Nas X, Years & Years, Vienna Teng, BOY, Be Steadwell, Alexander James Adams, Mon Rovîa, Adia Victoria, Indigo Girls, Mary Lambert, Lady Bri, Chvrches, Oh Wonder, Owl City, Little Mix, Foxes, Cloudy June, Haley Kiyoko, Carly Rae Jepsen, Liang Lawrence.
DNWs: I don't enjoy music with screaming/shouting in it. I don't enjoy most metal, hard rock, punk music, or twang-y country music. Please avoid inclusion of audio from the source. Please no added script/words over the footage throughout the vid (optional subtitles are fine, title & author / vid meta data at end or beginning are fine), color correcting to fix lighting is totally fine but I prefer vids in a natural color range rather than color-corrected to an unnatural appearance (like teal/orange, all purple in tone, etc).
( fandom details for The Summer Hikaru Died, Mission: Save the Hunter, The S Classes That I Raised, The Rogue Prince is Secretly an Omega, The Husky and His White Cat Shizun, BL Metamorphosis, Buddy Daddies, and Deadloch )
(no subject)
Sep. 22nd, 2025 08:25 amseekingferretEveryone Is Lying to You by Jo Piazza
I saw a recommendation for this a few months ago, but it's new and I didn't get it from my library until now. In the meantime, I read Piazza's The Sicilian Inheritance and didn't like it that much, so I wasn't sure how I would feel about this one. Fortunately, I thought this was much better.
It advertises as Gone Girl with tradwives, and... it does some cool inversion with that premise. Our narrator Lizzie is a magazine editor who lived in New York with her magazine writer husband until husband lost his job and they had to flee to the Philly suburbs, where he is pretending to write a novel. So they are very clearly a take on Nick and Amy, who have a very similar backstory of being failed NYC magazine people, but the book's first twist is that Lizzie and Philip have a solid marriage. It's not perfect, there are anxieties and conflicts that the book is very interested in, but Piazza sets you up to expect them to be the gone girl couple and then gives you a shocking normalcy. No, it is instead Lizzie's college roommate Bex, who lives on a farm with her husband and six children streaming tiktoks of chickens and homeschooling and #farmlife, who pulls a gone girl on us, a twisty tale of lies and misdirection and violence that ultimately ends up with a very Amy-like pseudofeminist girlboss victory.
I really liked the way the death of magazines here talks back to Gone Girl and speaks to a different, more continuous kind of attention economy. In place of the metronomic daily 10 o'clock news updates about the missing woman, there is the constant algorithmic thrum of tiktoks, complicated by the fact that as Piazza points out several times, influencer videos are typically filmed in batches and released to look timely. The takeover of our attention, so much more invasive than in 2009, is a deliberate campaign of time manipulation. Everyone is lying to you.
Piazza does a very good job of capturing the unreality of the influencer life style and butting it up against the fact that influencers still have human realities to navigate. I love the way she uses the setting of an influencer conference to establish this contrast, with the constant pressure to maintain an image set up against a cadre of savvy women who know all the tricks and aren't fooled. Cleverly, the conference hotel has its own agenda and is trying to craft and sell its own kind of luxurious unreality.
What Piazza's storytelling still lacks is a graceful way to provide exposition. The big reveal felt so awkward it left me cold. She is a gifted narrator of social details, but not a great mystery writer either here or in The Sicilian Inheritance . In Gone Girl, Amy's diary is functional, it's part of her plan, so it's not just a big infodump... and anyway, it's unreliable, so youhave to read against the diary account. The Bex exposition sections of this book don't have any of that exterior motivation. They solely exist because somehow Piazza needs to explain what happened and this is the best she has come up with. It's a shame, because with slightly better packaging this would have been an incredibly memorable story.
I saw a recommendation for this a few months ago, but it's new and I didn't get it from my library until now. In the meantime, I read Piazza's The Sicilian Inheritance and didn't like it that much, so I wasn't sure how I would feel about this one. Fortunately, I thought this was much better.
It advertises as Gone Girl with tradwives, and... it does some cool inversion with that premise. Our narrator Lizzie is a magazine editor who lived in New York with her magazine writer husband until husband lost his job and they had to flee to the Philly suburbs, where he is pretending to write a novel. So they are very clearly a take on Nick and Amy, who have a very similar backstory of being failed NYC magazine people, but the book's first twist is that Lizzie and Philip have a solid marriage. It's not perfect, there are anxieties and conflicts that the book is very interested in, but Piazza sets you up to expect them to be the gone girl couple and then gives you a shocking normalcy. No, it is instead Lizzie's college roommate Bex, who lives on a farm with her husband and six children streaming tiktoks of chickens and homeschooling and #farmlife, who pulls a gone girl on us, a twisty tale of lies and misdirection and violence that ultimately ends up with a very Amy-like pseudofeminist girlboss victory.
I really liked the way the death of magazines here talks back to Gone Girl and speaks to a different, more continuous kind of attention economy. In place of the metronomic daily 10 o'clock news updates about the missing woman, there is the constant algorithmic thrum of tiktoks, complicated by the fact that as Piazza points out several times, influencer videos are typically filmed in batches and released to look timely. The takeover of our attention, so much more invasive than in 2009, is a deliberate campaign of time manipulation. Everyone is lying to you.
Piazza does a very good job of capturing the unreality of the influencer life style and butting it up against the fact that influencers still have human realities to navigate. I love the way she uses the setting of an influencer conference to establish this contrast, with the constant pressure to maintain an image set up against a cadre of savvy women who know all the tricks and aren't fooled. Cleverly, the conference hotel has its own agenda and is trying to craft and sell its own kind of luxurious unreality.
What Piazza's storytelling still lacks is a graceful way to provide exposition. The big reveal felt so awkward it left me cold. She is a gifted narrator of social details, but not a great mystery writer either here or in The Sicilian Inheritance . In Gone Girl, Amy's diary is functional, it's part of her plan, so it's not just a big infodump... and anyway, it's unreliable, so youhave to read against the diary account. The Bex exposition sections of this book don't have any of that exterior motivation. They solely exist because somehow Piazza needs to explain what happened and this is the best she has come up with. It's a shame, because with slightly better packaging this would have been an incredibly memorable story.
Moonday to Sunday
Sep. 16th, 2025 09:54 pmextrapenguinAs we all know, the ancient Greeks and Romans had a 7-day week, where they named the days Moonday, Marsday, Mercuryday, Jupiterday, Venusday, Saturnday, and Sunday. The Romance languages mostly preserve this (except they call Sunday Lordsday, dies Dominica), but turns out that the Germanic languages have the exact same paradigm (except for Saturday): Mániday, Týrsday, Óðinsday, Thorsday, Frīgsday, Washingday, Sonnaday. Máni is the personification of the Moon, Týr a god of combat (like Mars), Odin/Woden a psychopomp (like Mercury), Thor the god of thunder (like Jupiter), Frīg as Venus was known as Frīg's star, and the Sun is, well, the Sun. Though note that English has Saturday in a closer Romance loan, rather than a descendant of laugardagur (launderday?).
Anyway, that's neat, and you probably already knew that. However! I encountered the Japanese 月曜日, and saw the 月 and thought "Huh, Monday is Moonday in Japanese as well? What a coincidence."
Not a coincidence at all, actually! Turns out the Chinese discovered the planet-named 7-day week in the 4th century AD, whence it was transmitted to Japan before 1000 AD and used for astrological purposes before being promoted to the official week naming system as part of Westernization. Thus modern Japanese has 月曜日, 火曜日, 水曜日, 木曜日, 金曜日, 土曜日, 日曜日, where 月 and 日 are the Moon and the Sun, and the days between named for the planets, each of which is associated with a Chinese classical element: Mars with fire 火, Mercury with water 水, Jupiter with wood 木, Venus with gold 金, and Saturn with earth 土. Chinese has replaced them with numbered days, Week 1 Week 2 etc (though Sunday is still 周日), but in Japanese, they remain. So if you're ever going WTF at the Japanese (or Korean!) names of the week, just blame the Ancient Greeks!
Anyway, that's neat, and you probably already knew that. However! I encountered the Japanese 月曜日, and saw the 月 and thought "Huh, Monday is Moonday in Japanese as well? What a coincidence."
Not a coincidence at all, actually! Turns out the Chinese discovered the planet-named 7-day week in the 4th century AD, whence it was transmitted to Japan before 1000 AD and used for astrological purposes before being promoted to the official week naming system as part of Westernization. Thus modern Japanese has 月曜日, 火曜日, 水曜日, 木曜日, 金曜日, 土曜日, 日曜日, where 月 and 日 are the Moon and the Sun, and the days between named for the planets, each of which is associated with a Chinese classical element: Mars with fire 火, Mercury with water 水, Jupiter with wood 木, Venus with gold 金, and Saturn with earth 土. Chinese has replaced them with numbered days, Week 1 Week 2 etc (though Sunday is still 周日), but in Japanese, they remain. So if you're ever going WTF at the Japanese (or Korean!) names of the week, just blame the Ancient Greeks!
Rhea314's Dear ITPE Podficcer Letter
Sep. 15th, 2025 10:21 ampiDear Podficcer,
I'm excited you're matched with me! Happy ITPE, I hope you find something you're excited to record, and I look forward to listening <3 Below is some guidance on what I do and don't enjoy. Podfic fandom is a wonderful place and I've received so many beautiful gifts over the years. I am excited for whatever you might want to record for me.
( more information including fandom specifics for The Scum Villian's Self-Saving System, The Lays of the Hearth-Fire, The Husky and His White Cat Shizun, and The S-Classes That I Raised )
I'm excited you're matched with me! Happy ITPE, I hope you find something you're excited to record, and I look forward to listening <3 Below is some guidance on what I do and don't enjoy. Podfic fandom is a wonderful place and I've received so many beautiful gifts over the years. I am excited for whatever you might want to record for me.
( more information including fandom specifics for The Scum Villian's Self-Saving System, The Lays of the Hearth-Fire, The Husky and His White Cat Shizun, and The S-Classes That I Raised )
New Vid: Voice in My Throat (Sense8)
Sep. 14th, 2025 10:32 amtafadhaliAO3 | Tumblr
Title: Voice in My Throat
Fandom: Sense8
Music: "Voice in My Throat" by Pearl & The Beard
Length: 2:58
Summary:
Notes: Made forI walk down the road and I'm alone again but | All these years I've travelled down a lonely pathway
You will be the voice in my throat | You have been the voice in my throat
colls for ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandomtrumpshate I've been lowkey obsessed with this song since I first heard it a couple years ago, and have long thought it could be an amazing vid song but also that it might be unviddable, so was so excited when I thought of it for this project. I was a bit trepidatious going in, because I wasn't sure I would be able to pull off my vision for this vid technically — I wanted to capture the song's polyphony visually, creating the feeling of characters going through their lives separate but connected, and finally coming together as the voices of the singers merged. In the end, I think I was able to achieve that with the split screens and dissolves that I used. The unexpected gift of the song was its use of chimes, which were wonderful for making important moments pop and which I was able to use to evoke the feeling of being alone but hearing something or seeing something out of the corner of your eye as the Cluster first become aware of each other.
Most of my vids for this show have been big messy joyful ensemble pieces and that was the vibe for this one as well, but to set it apart and to give myself a hook I focused in on a) moments where the sensates act or speak through one another, supporting each other with their special skills and strengths and b) one-on-one scenes between all of the characters in the Cluster, particularly those not romantically involved with each other (or at least treating the romantic pairings as equal and equivalent to every other pairing). In the end, I think only Kala/Nomi and Sun/Wolfgang didn't get exclusive moments together, and that's only because I cut a Sun/Wolfgang scene I liked so much to instead start building to large group shots and I couldn't work it back in later.
This was such a pleasure to make!
Trick or Treat 2025 letter
Sep. 13th, 2025 08:22 amisabrellaAdmin comm, AO3 (tagset/sign ups)!
I give lots of specific prompts but of course feel free to do whatever floats your boat, I'm sure I'll love it!
DNWs
Crossovers unless specifically requested; setting-change AUs; death of main characters; gore; gender-swapping; non-canonical/unrequested gender identities, chronic illnesses, mental illnesses, or neurodivergences; readerfic, second person narrative (okay in things like texts, social media, or letters); fic about pregnancy or childbirth (unless they're getting a wanted abortion in which case yeehaw babey); fic about body image issues.
Smut-related DNWs: non-con (dub-con like sex pollen is fine; I'm also fine with previous sexual assault being touched on); omegaverse; age regression; sex under the age of 15 (15+ is fine); mentions of pregnancy/children during sex; blood/vomit/feces/urine in sex; restraint during sex; explicit/planned roleplay during sex; degrading language in sex; M/F smut.
Likes
- Hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending.
- Tropes like: there was only one bed, trapped in an elevator, sex pollen, fake dating, etc.
- Exploring characters' cultural/religious/familial history and connections.
- Exploring queer history and activism.
- Epistolary/other non-traditional formats for fic, especially social media-related stuff.
- When sex is funny/authentically awkward/fumbling/a complete comedy of errors but it still turns out hot.
- Going in depth about a specific subject that the author knows a lot about!
- More extensive likes at my Yuletide letter.
Little Mix
Art prompts:
- I love all of their amazing/insane/etc. costumes - from LM5, The Last Tour For Now, anything. I especially loved Jade's stupid pink confection at the Capital Summertime Ball.
- X Factor stuff, the E.T. performance (Jade makes me laugh), etc.
Fic prompts:
- I loooooooooove emotional hurt/comfort, especially about fame, media, performances, public personas, etc.
- They can be gay. Any of them, really, I don't mind, but I nominated Perrie/Jade as a particular fave.
- Almost kissing, almost touching, almost together on stage, etc.
- Secret Love Song pt II etc etc etc.
- Braiding each other's hair, doing each other's make up, the feminine rituals, you know the drill.
- Jade "Ally" Thirlwall I know what you are and it's bisexual. Anything about her discovering that about herself/the rest of them being like "Ally. Uh huh. Right." amuses me.
- Tropey fic in the vein of There Was Only One Bed/trapped on the tour bus/etc.
- Tropey smut: walking in on someone else getting off, leaking sex tapes, phone sex, etc.
- Angst!
- Going back home (together!) after getting famous and reflecting on how they've changed.
- Behind the scenes of the X Factor days, the rise to fame, etc. or a retrospective perspective on it with a reflective bent.
- Loving Jade's new album, anything based on music from that! Similarly, anything based on Leigh-Anne's new music!
North of North
Specific DNWs: sex, Ting as a significant character in any way.
Art prompts:
- Anna Lambe is so pretty!!!
- Any of the gorgeous costumes from the show; I especially loved her date costume (the off-the-shoulder grey top), the "Inuk Bridgerton" dress, and the many beautiful traditional and traditional-adjacent patterns and coats.
- Any striking moment from the show, like her jumping in the air, wrapped in the silver blanket, driving the truck, with Bun, etc.
Fic prompts:
- Any character study of her - learning to be a leader, her inheriting knowledge from her elders, being a great mom, etc.
- I love Siaja growing into herself and I can definitely see her realizing that she's attracted to women. Anyone who makes her realize this is fun. I've focused on this in my prompts a lot to be honest, but I am very happy for you to explore things that do not include this too!
- In the Las Culturistas podcast, Chappell Roan says the online guinea pig community is very lovely (I'm paraphrasing). Siaja posts on the forums looking for advice on looking after Bun's guinea pigs and gets into a friendly banter with the woman on the other end (i.e., Chappell Roan).
- This is like the nichest prompt ever but I know one (1) person out there wants to write it, so I'm giving her an official out on my crossover DNW: Modern Family's Alex Dunphy comes to the polar research station to do research and Siaja and Alex discover the joys of lesbianism together.
- Helen sends Siaja to a larger town to gain some kind of short qualification or to a conference. Maybe she meets a delightful openly gay woman who makes her interested in trying it out. Maybe she has a series of work-related comedic errors just like in the show.
- Bun decides she is queer and Siaja becomes a proud ally parent, learning all about the LGBTQ+ community, and discovers that she might identify with one of those labels (queer, bi, lesbian, ace). Alternatively, she finds herself attracted to another PFLAG mom. Or leave out Siaja's self-discovery and just make it about her being a great parent while still having her own life!
- I realize this might be a long shot, but if you have personal knowledge about the Arctic or about Inuit culture I would love to learn more about it and how it might relate to Siaja!
- Similarly, if you have specific knowledge: Siaja attends a cultural exchange programme with another Indigenous nation.
Towa Bird/Reneé Rapp
This is my new ongoing obsession. They're so hot. IDGAF do w h a t e v e r I don't understand why everyone isn't literally thinking about them day and night. Unbelievably if you want a brief primer J-14 got you.
I have plans and plots to do a messier one <3 those Vanity Fair photo booth pics and Towa on her knees at every show are NOT escaping me I am a band au girlie to my CORE.
Broadly speaking I'd like this fic to be set in the real world, but I'm not committed to their being singers/celebrities so role change AUs etc. are fine.
Art prompts:
- Couples Halloween costumes (Zolita once did one as Kaylor which had me in space BUT SHE'S DELETED IT! If anyone has this I must know immediately please.)
- Towa on her knees with her guitar for Renee.
- Stills from the Mad video but it's Towa.
- Illustrations of Reneetowa fics: them as lifeguards/at the beach (my own fic lmao), getting fake married (also my own fic lmao), also lowkey obsessed with the absolute insanity (complimentary) of this fic by the wonderful Froskers so please go ahead and draw them in full on cowboy outfits!
Fic prompts:
- Hurt/comfort, especially around performances <3
- Smut, especially after performances. Come onnnnn Towa at any show is literally the embodiment of lesbian sex.
- One/both of them on SNL. Drama/angst/etc.
- Trying to outcompete each other at singstar/karaoke/whatever.
- Towa fixing her in ear monitor all the time is so sexy to me????
- Couples Halloween costumes (Zolita once did one as Kaylor which had me in space BUT SHE'S DELETED IT! If anyone has this I must know immediately please.)
- Generally important pieces of "canon" that I would love to explore: the enemies to lovers of it all, accidentally hard-launching with the Vanity Fair photobooth (do you think someone cried about that...), them making out on stage at All Things Go, Towa on her knees at like every show for Renee………… (exhibit A, exhibit B, exhibit C (not the knees but like. the scissors c'mon)) etc. etc.
- Okay so now we have the Renee Towa Show in the form of Renee Rapp's album BITE ME, in which I choose to believe every song is about Towa except for the ones that are about Alyssa (the ex that she cheated on with Towa) and Pauline Chalamet (SO fucking funny). IDK write me songfic I don't even care at this point.
- Them writing BITE ME together is so hot. That. All of it. Especially Shy. Also Renee how many times can you get hair pulling into one album?
- That pic of Towa on FaceTime in between Renee's tits.
(no subject)
Sep. 12th, 2025 03:12 pmseekingferretThe House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
This was a sweet albeit kind of heavy handed story about magical orphans facing societal prejudice and an unfeeling bureaucracy and learning how to understand their own self worth, guided by an awkward trio of queer adults who are also struggling to get their shit together. The speech Linus gives DICOMY at the end is way over the top but otherwise the book makes its points reasonably well.
But I struggled to completely connect with it. Ironically, though many of the reviews I found online criticized it for blasphemy and anti-Christian ideology, I actually found it too Christian. One of the magical children is the son of Satan, purportedly the Antichrist, and is endowed with reality warping powers and internal voices urging him to destroy the world. The book's heroic characters insist he's merely an imaginative and sensitive 6 year old who if properly loved will not destroy the world, but I found that even taking a side on this question was too theological on a path I was uninterested in following the book to. Either Arthur and Linus are right and Lucy isn't actually the Antichrist but merely a potential Antichrist, or they're wrong and the pull of his fated destiny isn't about his choices but about the role the prophecy will force him into. Klune created the book's worldbuilding, he can pick his own answer to this question, but if you're not invested in Christian eschatology it's not really an interesting debate.
This was a sweet albeit kind of heavy handed story about magical orphans facing societal prejudice and an unfeeling bureaucracy and learning how to understand their own self worth, guided by an awkward trio of queer adults who are also struggling to get their shit together. The speech Linus gives DICOMY at the end is way over the top but otherwise the book makes its points reasonably well.
But I struggled to completely connect with it. Ironically, though many of the reviews I found online criticized it for blasphemy and anti-Christian ideology, I actually found it too Christian. One of the magical children is the son of Satan, purportedly the Antichrist, and is endowed with reality warping powers and internal voices urging him to destroy the world. The book's heroic characters insist he's merely an imaginative and sensitive 6 year old who if properly loved will not destroy the world, but I found that even taking a side on this question was too theological on a path I was uninterested in following the book to. Either Arthur and Linus are right and Lucy isn't actually the Antichrist but merely a potential Antichrist, or they're wrong and the pull of his fated destiny isn't about his choices but about the role the prophecy will force him into. Klune created the book's worldbuilding, he can pick his own answer to this question, but if you're not invested in Christian eschatology it's not really an interesting debate.
(no subject)
Sep. 11th, 2025 09:39 amseekingferretThe Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
This year's Book I Read Because Multiple People Raved About It in the Worldcon Discord. The first book in a secondary world fantasy series with lots of complicated political intrigue, the rave reviews were extremely enthusiastic but also quite vague. And now that I have read it, I understand the vagueness. It's a hard book to describe. It's constantly shifting and transforming, with twist after twist leaving you constantly unsure what the book is actually about and where it is going. But the twists are solid and well supported and never pull you out of the world of the book. But it was an exhilarating read and I highly recommend it.
This year's Book I Read Because Multiple People Raved About It in the Worldcon Discord. The first book in a secondary world fantasy series with lots of complicated political intrigue, the rave reviews were extremely enthusiastic but also quite vague. And now that I have read it, I understand the vagueness. It's a hard book to describe. It's constantly shifting and transforming, with twist after twist leaving you constantly unsure what the book is actually about and where it is going. But the twists are solid and well supported and never pull you out of the world of the book. But it was an exhilarating read and I highly recommend it.