dragonyphoenix

Logged out

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 03:08:06 GMT

Forced logout on AO3. Not sure what's up with that. Unfortunate, as I'd just started reading an excellent story. Anyone else experiencing this?

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Snowflake Challenge #13

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 01:58:31 GMT

In your own space, rec three fanworks that you did not create.

First some oldies but goodies
Alive in your blood now: A Vorkosigan fic where Miles' daughter inherits the countship. Delightful fic, I really adore it, that explores discrimination. Author's summary: When the roll call comes to “Vorkosigan,” Helen Natalia smiles, throws back her head, and casts her vote.

Radio Silence: Eeeee! This is so great. The author describes it better than I ever could: The Gentlemen (BtVS) drop by Night Vale. This poses something of a problem for a radio host who depends on his voice to communicate. Not to mention for the people in town who aren't too keen on having their hearts cut out.

And some I discovered this past year
It Will All Come Out in the Wash: (The Untamed) I recently went to town over feline_somnanbulist's Jiang Cheng overcoming family trauma stories. Don't know what it is about them, but so much fun.

grave goods: (The Untamed) Wei Ying, PhD candidate, licensed mortician, and world's second best boyfriend, after Lan Zhan, of course, thinks he knows all there is to know about grief until the sudden deaths of his adoptive parents upend the lives of everyone in their orbit. A study in grief, mourning, and semi-intentional child acquisition.

Mass in B Minor: A Good Omens vid that makes me want to run out and rewatch.

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Snowflake Challenge #10

Sat, 21 Jan 2023 04:35:14 GMT

Challenge #10

In your own space, create a fanwork.

This is the second draft of a Su She PoV chapter of Three Nies and a Baby, a fanfic with pregnant fem!Jiang Cheng (The Untamed).
My characterization was influenced by KizuKatana's Su She Eats His Heart Out. The story overall came out of reading feline_somnanbulist's Jiang Cheng escapes her abusive family stories.

Nervously watching the sun peek over the horizon as they approached Lanling, Su She cursed Wei Wuxian, not out loud, of course, but in his thoughts. A few hours back, he’d started to suspect that Wei Wuxian had lied when he’d said they’d be back at school in time for Su She’s first class. He would have turned the car around but, somehow, and Su She didn’t know exactly how, Wei Wuxian had ended up driving his car. “How long is this going to take?” he asked as Wei Wuxian parked the car at the train station. “I can’t afford to miss my classes.” Wei Wuxian scoffed. He just didn’t understand how important it was to show professors you were serious by attending each and every class. That alone could make the difference between a passing and a failing grade. Hey, had Wei Wuxian walked off without him? “Hey, wait for me.” Wei Wuxian didn’t bother to slow his pace even though Su She was panting after running to catch up. Some people were so rude.

( Read more... )

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Snowflake Challenge #6

Sat, 14 Jan 2023 04:25:08 GMT

Challenge #6

In your own space, post the results of your fandom scavenger hunt. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Search in your current space, whether brick-and-mortar or digital. Post a picture or description of something that is or represents:

1. A favorite character

2. Something that makes you laugh
This icon makes me laugh. It plays off a Harlan Ellison story I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. I think it's hilarious.

3. A bookshelf
I don't know where this house it, but it's going to be the next place I live.

4. A game or hobby you enjoy
I write fanfic as DragonsPhoenix on AO3.

5. Something you find comforting
Curling up with a good book.

6. A TV show or movie you hope more people will watch
Defying Gravity is so amazing. I wish it had more than one season.

And Nirvana in Fire may well be the best show I have ever seen.

7. A piece of clothing you love
One of my sweaters is falling apart but it's maroon, and I love the cut, and it's comfortable, and I will continue to wear it until it falls off me.

8. A thing from an old fandom

The Letters (the 84, Charing Cross Road remix) is a crossover between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Harry Potter. It's a romance in letters, emails, and wedding invitations.

9. A thing from a new fandom

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funeral

Wed, 11 Jan 2023 01:44:09 GMT

My friend Anne passed away on Saturday. Donna told me she'd let me know when the funeral was. I just got onto Facebook a few minutes ago and found a message from Karen wondering why I hadn't been at the funeral this afternoon. I'm furious with Donna right now.

There was a voice message left on my cellphone from Saturday. I’ve been checking it regularly. Don’t know I missed it. So, I can’t really blame Donna BUT WHY THE FUCK COULDN’T SHE HAVE LEFT ME AN EMAIL?!? All the time, I tell people to email because my phone's not reliable. Aaaargh!!!

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Snowflake Challenge #4

Sat, 07 Jan 2023 23:22:59 GMT

In your own space, add something to your fandom’s canon.

This mutates canon, and I'm not sure that's what we're meant to do here, but in the movies, I hate how Pepper enables Tony. For example, he has that reporter woman overnight and then expects Pepper to kick her out in the morning. I think we're supposed to admire Pepper for being a total bitch to this woman who's just been treated terribly rudely. I honestly want to see Pepper realize that being around Tony's philandering when she has feelings for him is turning her into somebody she doesn't want to be. I want her to leave, to get herself out of that situation. Now that's a Pepper I'd admire.

And since people are posting canon-compliant stories, in the Fray comics (BtVS), Fray comes across an ancient Council library. In my canon, Andrew creates it for the next Slayer to come along in And I Shall Defend My Queen.

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Snowflake Challenge #1

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 22:22:36 GMT

Hello,

I started writing Buffy fanfic back in 2008 to get through a period of depression, and I'm still at it. I tend to get deeply into one fandom at a time. Not sure why. But my current fave to write is The Untamed.

I like to connect but am shy so it's hard for me to reach out.

I'm working at a computer programming apprenticeship which I hope will turn into a permanent position. Most of my time goes there at the moment.

I'm a big cat person (as I love cats, not that I'm into big cats although I'm sure I'd love them if I knew them) and lucked into living in a house with four cats. Sweeney pretty much lives in my room, and Joni spends a lot of time here too. When I'm not working, I'm mostly giving into their demands for pets.

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cursing himself - The Spy Who Loved Me

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 21:55:31 GMT

As they pulled up to the docks under the cover of darkness, Jiang Cheng took one last look at his team and cursed himself for agreeing to his father’s plan. These kids were well-trained but were too unseasoned to be sneaking into a Wen warehouse.

The Spy Who Loved Me - The Untamed, MingCheng, Spy AU, Dysfunctional Jiang family dynamics 'cause Yay!

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apology - Three Nies and a Baby

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 21:53:44 GMT

“That’s perfect.” Nie Huaisang whipped open his fan with a flourish and held it before his face so all Jiang Cheng could see were his eyes. “I’m here to apologize to you.”

What? That didn’t make sense. Nobody apologized to her.

Three Nies and a Baby - MingCheng, female Jiang Cheng, pregnancy AU. Dysfunctional Jiang family relationships 'cause that's my new jam.

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Spy vs Spy

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 05:13:10 GMT

I'm working on a MingCheng spy AU, and I'm so tempted to call it The Spy Who Loved Me.

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advent calendar

Sun, 25 Dec 2022 16:40:11 GMT

I used to have a Renaissance painting of the nativity. Under the flaps for each day was a description of the symbology: dog for loyalty, eyes on the peacock's feather for the ever-watchful eyes of the church. In case anyone knows where I could find one, I’d love to find another like it to gift my roommate for next year.

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You Had One Job - WiP Wednesday

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 02:11:54 GMT

Lan Qiren’s glare suggested a gross dereliction of duty. “While you were away …”

“To be fair, uncle, we did agree to let him take a vacation.” Ah, Meng Yao had wondered if the suggestion had come from Xichen alone. Apparently not. If the family had discussed Meng Yao, that suggested they were starting to see him as a problem.

“While you were away,” Lan Qiren repeated, “Wangji married that, that …” He petered off as if he couldn’t find a word bad enough to describe Wei Ying. “You were hired to prevent exactly this type of …”

“Mistake?” Xichen interrupted.

“Atrocity,” Lan Qiren thundered.

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Dad

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 18:00:09 GMT

Nobody in my family has talked to my Dad in weeks. When we call, it goes straight to voicemail, doesn't even ring once. My sister called the police department and they're sending a car over for a well check, which is knocking on the door and possibly forcing their way into the house. Dad's gotten strange in his old age and I'm not sure this will go well, but none of us live close enough to check on him ourselves.

Edit: 2:10 PM. Dad is OK, but he told the officers he's running out of food. He used to have it delivered.

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certain dark things

Wed, 03 Aug 2022 21:04:50 GMT

At first, I enjoyed Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Certain Dark Things. Excellent descriptions of Mexico City's underbelly. It's set in a world where different vampire lines emerged, so vampires are different breeds with different characteristics and abilities. That's so interesting and I can see her doing a lot with it. The characters of Atl and Domingo are engaging and interesting.

But the antagonist, Nick, a Necro vampire who's little more than a stupid bully, about half-way through the novel, rips open a blood bag and dumps the blood on himself. The story lost me there. I won't be finishing it.

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Heartstoppers vol 3 & 4

Wed, 20 Jul 2022 15:43:54 GMT

Back to the good stuff. Volume 3: Paris trip! Nick is now out but Charlie doesn't want to broadcast their relationship. It seems that Charlie had been outed when a friend of his had been over-heard. Lots of drama to look forward to here and it was nicely played out. Vol 4: the next school year. Nick coming out to his father and Charlie's eating disorder, brought on by the trauma of being bullied at school after he'd been outed. The kids are cute. There's a nice diversity of relationships among the different groups of kids. And the series handles difficult issues in a positive manner. Really enjoying it.

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Writing group reviewed my story

Wed, 13 Jul 2022 02:10:30 GMT

Brought a story to my writing group today. I was nervous as it crosses genres: psychological, horror, post-apocalypse sci fi. And the PoV character hallucinates so there are jumps in the narrative.

They loved it! Got some notes on minor tweaks but all-in-all they think it’s great! And one even suggested it could be sold as a literary story. 😲

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Reading: Red, White, and Royal Blue

Fri, 08 Jul 2022 21:58:14 GMT

Casey McQinston’s Red, White, and Royal Blue features Alex, the son of the U.S. President, and Henry, a prince of England who don’t get along and are forced to hang out in public and appear as friends. Guess who fall for each other. The characters are enjoyable in this light read. It’s Alex’s point of view and we see his opinion of Henry change as we see them hanging out together for the press, email, call, kiss.

But my favorite part of this story is on the political stage. A woman won the Presidency in 2016. She’s running again in 2020 and it’s a close call as to whether she’ll win or not in part due to the opposition outing her son and Henry’s relationship. With so much that’s frustrating in the press, it was wonderful and hopeful to read about a world that’s moving in a positive direction.

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Readings: vampire politics and boys in love

Wed, 06 Jul 2022 16:21:44 GMT

A Declaration on the Rights of Magicians by H. G. Parry. Fascinating world-creation. She takes the idea of inherited magical abilities to a new level. There's the usual control of water or fire, but also mesmerism, necromancy, and vampirism. It's set during the French Revolution in Jamaica, Saint Dominique, London, and Paris. Hundreds of years ago, in response to the vampire wars, the Knights Templar started using talismans to block the powers of magic users but commoners only. Aristocrats can still use their powers. It's very much caught up in the politics of the day, with William Pitt and Robespierre being main characters, but with the twist that they are magic users, and the last remaining vampire is manipulating behind the scenes to build his own empire starting with France. I guess I'm not great at describing why I like a book, but this one is on the list of books I want to own.

I also finished Heartstopper Volume 2. The Heartstopper series is a graphic novel about two high-school boys in love. At the end of the first volume, Nick and Charlie kissed. In this volume, we have Charlie's angst of I kissed my best friend who's straight and now he won't want to be friends and Nick's realization of I kissed a boy and I like it. I like the characters, the boys are very cute, but I didn't connect with this volume as well as I did with the first. Too much working through and talking about feelings? But that's what the overall story needs at this point, so I'm a bit disappointed with myself for not enjoying it more.

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Reading

Mon, 27 Jun 2022 15:41:43 GMT

Finished two books this last week.

Letters for Lucardo is a graphic novel m/m romance that's part of the Fortunate Beasts series. It explores the relationship between an immortal and a mortal with a focus on the inevitable tragedy. The art is excellent. There's quite a bit of backstory that this doesn't cover. Maybe you need to read them all to get that, but I would have preferred to have more of it filled in. Also, more graphic depictions of sex than my ace-self is interested in. Still, a good read.

Keezy Young's Taproot is a boy and ghost-boy love story. The art, the story, the characters, all charming. I really enjoyed this one.

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;-(

Sat, 28 May 2022 21:15:55 GMT

One of my housemates tested positive for COVID this morning.

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two sides of Mom

Fri, 20 May 2022 15:48:53 GMT

I had an interview last Monday and had spent the weekend prepping for it. I also had a few interviews over the week so today was my first day to relax. I knew my roommate Becky was nannying during the day, so I'd planned to get up and listen to This Jungian Life podcast. Not five minutes in she comes home and starts cleaning. A friend of her family is going to be staying with us for the next month. Today was also my last day to have the house to myself and know I wouldn't be interrupted.

Outside of losing my last chance to chill in the house by myself, I think the cleaning upset me because when I was a teen my mother would go on cleaning jags where she could stop and take a breather but when my sister and I did she would yell at us. For me, Becky's cleaning reminded me of Mom's angry cleaning sprints.

The podcast reminded me of my first day of junior high-school when I was lost in a new-to-me building. I had no idea which door to leave by and was just walking the halls when suddenly Mom was there before me in her work uniform. I can still see her and in my mind there's an almost-halo light around her. I was that relieved to see her.

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Lucy's gone

Sat, 05 Mar 2022 01:32:43 GMT

My roommate's cat Lucy just passed.

Becky's been visiting her at the vet's office. Lucy was in septic shock but seemed to take a turn for the better two days ago. It didn't last long enough for the antibiotics to save her.

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Snowflake Challenge: Pic Spam Scavenger Hunt

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 02:46:06 GMT

In your own space, post your pictures of your fandom scavenger hunt results.

I'm technologically challenged and so will find images online or write about them.

1. a fannish item: I don't buy a lot of fannish stuff. I have DVD sets of my favorite shows and one Whedon t-shirt. But I do have a pin for the Saturday Light Brigade which is a local radio program that's also online. It's a family fun kind of a show and is delightful. Also, my roommate has an I Love Lucy poster that used to be in my room.

( Read more... )

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Xue Yang - Courtesy Call (The Untamed)

Tue, 25 Jan 2022 04:20:54 GMT

Oooh, I like this.

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Snowflake Challenge: Recast

Mon, 24 Jan 2022 02:07:53 GMT

In your own space, tell us who you would recast in a film, tv series or webseries, or maybe someone voicing a cartoon or videogame. Or who would you cast to play a character in a book, comic or maybe even your own fiction!

I don't follow actors so this is an almost impossible one for me. My intro to fandom (read: first fandom obsession) was Buffy. Lately I've been into C-dramas and K-dramas; so I decided to take characters from a few of those that I've seen (Nirvana in Fire, The Untamed, Legend of Fei, and Bulgasal) and put then into BtVS roles.

Buffy
Zhao Li Ying (Legend of Fei) as Buffy because she's proven she can play a spunky fighter.

As Princes Nian Nian (Nirvana in Fire), we've seen her fight. Unfortunately women have smaller roles so it's harder for me to see how they'd fit into BtVS.

( Read more... )

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