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Pinch Hits for Just Unrequited Exchange
Jun. 16th, 2026 06:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
embraidery posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
videogamefanworksJust Unrequited is a multifandom fanfiction exchange for complete works written entirely by you (no gen AI) of at least 1,000 words about one-sided attraction. They will be due June 24 at 14:59 Pacific Time / 21:59 UTC.
We're looking for someone(s) to write for the following requests! (Link goes to pinch hit details and may contain explicit sexual content.)
Thank you in advance for taking a look at these requests!
We're looking for someone(s) to write for the following requests! (Link goes to pinch hit details and may contain explicit sexual content.)
PH 16 - Death Stranding (Video Games) x2, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series) x2, 龍が如く | Ryuu ga Gotoku | Yakuza (Video Games) x2
PH 17 - Persona 3, Persona 5, 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney, Persona 3
Thank you in advance for taking a look at these requests!
Update [me, health]
Jun. 16th, 2026 08:19 pmsidereaEarly Monday morning I went to the emergency department with mild but inexplicable and persistent chest pain and shortness of breath to find out if I was having a heart attack.
Apparently not. I made a point of not going to the closest hospital, but to one I knew from my own patients' experiences takes women's risk of heart attack seriously. I showed up at about 6:30 am and there wasn't a single other person in the waiting room. I had an experience kind of like when a race car has a pit stop, only with a team of people hooking me up to the EKG almost instantly instead of changing tires. They had it completed before Mr. Bostoniensis was done parking the car.
They kept me for a few hours for repeated blood draws and did a chest x-ray. The conclusion the EM doc came to was that he felt it's very unlikely that it was a heart attack, but can't rule out something more chronic and cardiac. X-ray showed my heart is the size it's supposed to be; my lungs seem perfectly fine and there's no evidence of pulmonary anything.
Nevertheless, something is very Not Right in my chest, and I have a follow up appointment with my PCP tomorrow. The discomfort is not severe, but it is persistent and NSAIDs do nothing to it, and that and the attendent anxiety is screwing up my sleep. I keep wanting to press my hand against the sore spot to put pressure on it, but it's right behind my sternum so I can't reach it.
There's a non-zero chance that in 20 hours I'll be in the market for any or all of: cardiologists, vascular surgeons, pulmonologists. If you happen to be a woman or otherwise AFAB in the Boston area who has one or more of those that she likes, feel free to recommend. I have a preference for the BILH system as opposed to MGB, but whatever. Alas, I can only take recommendations from women or people likely to be treated as one, because, fucking hell, it matters.
Irritatingly, my health had been seeing a slight improvement. I'm moving a bit better and tolerating sitting better.
Meanwhile, my personal life has been a huge rollercoaster over the last four months. Mostly good stuff, but... emotionally intense. I had hoped to post about it, but it has proved very difficult to write about. It starts with flabbergastry and then moves through some delicate territory where I've been asked to keep some details private by family and also is a very fast moving target and also involves talking about some intrinsically very difficult to talk about things.
This in turn is in a larger context where I feel less and less comfortable self-disclosing personal details here. As you might or might not have noticed, when I moved two years ago, I took advantage of the occasion to stop talking about where I lived. That's now available only on a need-to-know basis. I'm still in the Greater Boston area. But I think I would rather not be more specific than that.
That's one example. There are others, but I don't feel the need to itemize them.
Unfortunately, this kind of opsec comes with a perhaps surprising downside for me: it absolutely cripples my ability to write. I was, like everybody, struggling with the emotional weight of current events and the downward force it put on concentration and motivation, and there was the ergonomics problem I had last Nov/Dec that stole a lot of my mojo. But on top of those and some other difficulties: my capacity for doing the kind of writing I do here is profoundly tied to a specific kind of social dynamic this kind of reserve frustrates if not completely prevents.
Writing has always felt like lifting heavy things with my mind; doing it without that social context makes everything I try to life about two orders of magnitude more heavy. It's not strictly speaking impossible. But it makes it vastly more difficult and unsustainably stressful – you can smell the motor in the winch start smoking – and is what has been burning me out. Writing this way does not feel like any sort of accomplishment, just something to be grimly endured.
P.S. I feel the need for completeness sake to relate that what I was doing at the moment I noticed, hey, my chest feels funny, was trying to debug an old SPF record. If this takes me out, blame Sender Policy Framework.
Apparently not. I made a point of not going to the closest hospital, but to one I knew from my own patients' experiences takes women's risk of heart attack seriously. I showed up at about 6:30 am and there wasn't a single other person in the waiting room. I had an experience kind of like when a race car has a pit stop, only with a team of people hooking me up to the EKG almost instantly instead of changing tires. They had it completed before Mr. Bostoniensis was done parking the car.
They kept me for a few hours for repeated blood draws and did a chest x-ray. The conclusion the EM doc came to was that he felt it's very unlikely that it was a heart attack, but can't rule out something more chronic and cardiac. X-ray showed my heart is the size it's supposed to be; my lungs seem perfectly fine and there's no evidence of pulmonary anything.
Nevertheless, something is very Not Right in my chest, and I have a follow up appointment with my PCP tomorrow. The discomfort is not severe, but it is persistent and NSAIDs do nothing to it, and that and the attendent anxiety is screwing up my sleep. I keep wanting to press my hand against the sore spot to put pressure on it, but it's right behind my sternum so I can't reach it.
There's a non-zero chance that in 20 hours I'll be in the market for any or all of: cardiologists, vascular surgeons, pulmonologists. If you happen to be a woman or otherwise AFAB in the Boston area who has one or more of those that she likes, feel free to recommend. I have a preference for the BILH system as opposed to MGB, but whatever. Alas, I can only take recommendations from women or people likely to be treated as one, because, fucking hell, it matters.
Irritatingly, my health had been seeing a slight improvement. I'm moving a bit better and tolerating sitting better.
Meanwhile, my personal life has been a huge rollercoaster over the last four months. Mostly good stuff, but... emotionally intense. I had hoped to post about it, but it has proved very difficult to write about. It starts with flabbergastry and then moves through some delicate territory where I've been asked to keep some details private by family and also is a very fast moving target and also involves talking about some intrinsically very difficult to talk about things.
This in turn is in a larger context where I feel less and less comfortable self-disclosing personal details here. As you might or might not have noticed, when I moved two years ago, I took advantage of the occasion to stop talking about where I lived. That's now available only on a need-to-know basis. I'm still in the Greater Boston area. But I think I would rather not be more specific than that.
That's one example. There are others, but I don't feel the need to itemize them.
Unfortunately, this kind of opsec comes with a perhaps surprising downside for me: it absolutely cripples my ability to write. I was, like everybody, struggling with the emotional weight of current events and the downward force it put on concentration and motivation, and there was the ergonomics problem I had last Nov/Dec that stole a lot of my mojo. But on top of those and some other difficulties: my capacity for doing the kind of writing I do here is profoundly tied to a specific kind of social dynamic this kind of reserve frustrates if not completely prevents.
Writing has always felt like lifting heavy things with my mind; doing it without that social context makes everything I try to life about two orders of magnitude more heavy. It's not strictly speaking impossible. But it makes it vastly more difficult and unsustainably stressful – you can smell the motor in the winch start smoking – and is what has been burning me out. Writing this way does not feel like any sort of accomplishment, just something to be grimly endured.
P.S. I feel the need for completeness sake to relate that what I was doing at the moment I noticed, hey, my chest feels funny, was trying to debug an old SPF record. If this takes me out, blame Sender Policy Framework.
Daily Check-In
Jun. 16th, 2026 06:00 pmstarwatcher posting in fandom_checkinThis is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Tuesday, June 16, to midnight on Wednesday, June 17. (8pm Eastern Time).
Poll #34739 Daily Check-in
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 6
How are you doing?
I am OK.
6 (100.0%)
I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
0 (0.0%)
I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)
How many other humans live with you?
I am living single.
5 (83.3%)
One other person.
1 (16.7%)
More than one other person.
0 (0.0%)
Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
第五年第一百五十七天
Jun. 16th, 2026 07:43 pmnnozomi posting in guardian_learning部首
阝 part 3
阿, pet name prefix; 际, border; 陆, land ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=170
词汇
达到, to reach/to achieve (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/
Guardian:
我的情况，阿红你是了解的, A-Hong, you understand my situation
我可不像你们，为了达到最终的目的什么都做得出来, I'm not like you, I'll do anything to achieve my final objective
Me:
这不是国际航班吗，你需要带护照。
你觉得咱们能达到目标吗？
阝 part 3
阿, pet name prefix; 际, border; 陆, land ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=170
词汇
达到, to reach/to achieve (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/
Guardian:
我的情况，阿红你是了解的, A-Hong, you understand my situation
我可不像你们，为了达到最终的目的什么都做得出来, I'm not like you, I'll do anything to achieve my final objective
Me:
这不是国际航班吗，你需要带护照。
你觉得咱们能达到目标吗？
Day 1974: “In the rearview mirror.”
Jun. 16th, 2026 03:02 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
wtfjht_feed
Today in one sentence: Congress is demanding to see Trump’s still-secret U.S.-Iran agreement before it’s formally signed Friday, triggering a 60-day ceasefire and negotiating period; the Senate rejected a resolution to force Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran; Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to replenish weapon stockpiles that’ve been depleted by his war in Iran and other conflicts; Trump said “Russia should make a deal” with Ukraine; federal authorities arrested five people accused of planning to attack the UFC event on the White House lawn with explosive drones and gunfire; Trump claimed “no taxpayer” would put up “10 cents” for his White House ballroom project, but internal contractor records show taxpayers are expected to cover more than half of the $600 million cost; the Trump administration is moving special education and civil rights enforcement out of the Education Department as part of Trump’s effort to dismantle the agency without congressional approval; 47% of Americans consider themselves an independent; and 38% of Americans don’t think the U.S. will last as a single country for another 250 years.
1/ Congress is demanding to see Trump’s still-secret U.S.-Iran agreement before it’s formally signed Friday, triggering a 60-day ceasefire and negotiating period. The draft agreement reportedly would give Iran immediate economic relief before a final nuclear deal is reached, including waivers allowing Iranian oil and petrochemical exports, while other sanctions relief and frozen assets would be tied to further negotiations. A proposed $300 billion reconstruction and development fund remains central to the deal, though Trump denied the U.S. would “invest” money in Iran and the fund would reportedly be private, not taxpayer-funded. The nuclear issue remains unresolved, with JD Vance saying inspectors would “absolutely” return and help destroy Iran’s highly enriched stockpile. The draft, however, leaves the future of Iran’s enriched material and future nuclear activity to a final agreement negotiated in the next 60 days. Trump, meanwhile, said he “never even thought about” sending the agreement to Congress, but “I like the idea.” (Reuters / New York Times / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / NBC News / Associated Press / Washington Post / CNBC / Politico / Reuters / CBS News)
2/ The Senate rejected a resolution to force Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran despite four Republicans breaking with their party to support limiting Trump’s war powers. Democrats are still trying to advance a separate resolution that the Senate narrowly advanced last month. The House has passed its own war-powers measure. The vote came as Trump said he’ll release and “read” an initial U.S.-Iran agreement once it’s finalized, even as lawmakers in both parties said they still haven’t seen the text of a memorandum that could trigger congressional review under the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act. (Politico / Washington Post / The Hill / CBS News / CNN)
3/ Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to replenish weapon stockpiles that’ve been depleted by his war in Iran and other conflicts. Trump said “limited production capacity, fragile supply chains, long-lead dependencies, and related production bottlenecks” could threaten national defense. The memo gives Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authority to pursue voluntary agreements with defense contractors and other private companies to address shortages in solid rocket motors, igniters, guidance systems, and other critical weapons components. Last month, Hegseth said that “the munitions issue has been foolishly and unhelpfully overstated” and that “we have plenty of what we need.” (Bloomberg / Reuters)
4/ Trump said “Russia should make a deal” with Ukraine. Following a “very good” meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump said he would do “whatever I can” to end Russia’s war now that the Iran war is “in the rearview mirror.” Zelenskyy said the talks focused on strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses and advancing diplomacy “to make Russia end its war,” while European leaders pushed Trump to stay aligned with their strategy of maintaining support for Kyiv and increasing pressure on Moscow. (NBC News / Politico / CNBC / Reuters / Associated Press)
5/ Federal authorities arrested five people accused of planning to attack the UFC event on the White House lawn with explosive drones and gunfire after the mother of 19-year-old Tycen Proper called police about his gun purchases and online contacts. Proper later told investigators that members of a roughly 19-person Signal chat planned to meet near D.C., stage a demonstration, detonate drones over the arena, and shoot “wealthy people and politicians” to “jumpstart” a revolution. Court records don’t show that any explosive drones were found or how close the alleged attack came to being carried out. (CNN / Washington Post / Associated Press / NBC News)
6/ Trump claimed “no taxpayer” would put up “10 cents” for his White House ballroom project, but internal contractor records show taxpayers are expected to cover more than half of the $600 million cost. Clark Construction’s March project summary estimated $293 million from private sources, with $155 million from the Secret Service, $149 million from the White House Military Office, and $3 million from the Executive Residence, which are all taxpayer-funded sources. The White House didn’t answer questions about the estimates or taxpayer funding, but instead claimed Trump and “generous American patriots” were funding the ballroom at “approximately $400 million” and that the East Wing project was “inextricably tied” to White House security. (Washington Post / The Hill)
7/ The Trump administration is moving special education and civil rights enforcement out of the Education Department as part of Trump’s effort to dismantle the agency without congressional approval. The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, which oversees IDEA and roughly $15 billion in grants for about 7 million students, will move to Health and Human Services. Most of the Office for Civil Rights’ work investigating discrimination complaints will move to the Justice Department. The Education Department, however, is legally obligated to investigate all civil rights complaints it receives. (ABC News / Associated Press / Politico / NPR / Washington Post)
poll/ 47% of Americans consider themselves an independent, while 27% identify as a Democrat and 26% as a Republican. (CNN)
poll/ 38% of Americans don’t think the U.S. will last as a single country for another 250 years, while 62% think the nation would last. (Reuters)
The 2026 midterms are in 140 days; the 2028 presidential election is in 875 days.
- Today last year: Day 1609: "We are not backing down."
- Four years ago today: Day 513: "A heated fight."
- Five years ago today: Day 148: "A partisan circus."
- Six years ago today: Day 1244: Transgressions.
- 9 years ago today: Day 148: Ruh roh.
Support today’s essential newsletter and resist the daily shock and awe: Become a member
Subscribe: Get the Daily Update in your inbox for free
June 16 - I guess it is the dog day!
Jun. 16th, 2026 05:48 pmsenmutSo, while I do LIKE dogs, I long ago recognized I am not a dog-energy person. Hilariously, I was usually the first one allowed by the bitches into the kennels to count pups, and also the one that nursed at least one litter through a bad disease, keeping all four alive. I was around dogs a lot:
Cricket, Lady Bit, Romeo, Juliet, Napoleon, Josephine, Champ - uncle's
Pepe, FiFi, Nina-Dog - Granny's
Rocky, Maggie, Goldie - Aunt's
Other assorted pooches I didn't interact with as much at other relatives.
Momma said we had a dog when we first moved to Keesler, but I don't remember it at all. As an adult, I have been personally responsible for these:
Kelly, my beloved Bull Terrier/Black Lab mix, went through a very delayed puppy phase once she realized she was SAFE with us and we figured out first owner was military as a uniform was the only thing that ever riled her to temper.
Cocoa, my beloved Cocker Spaniel/Irish Setter mix, who literally died the same week we lost my late partner.
Kara (LoIsLana), the fighting chihuahua (called that as they are the largest of the breed) we got for K as a gift, and the only pedigreed dog I personally paid for.
Sasha (bear), the very mixed Chow-something that I never really fully bonded with.
How about y'all?
Cricket, Lady Bit, Romeo, Juliet, Napoleon, Josephine, Champ - uncle's
Pepe, FiFi, Nina-Dog - Granny's
Rocky, Maggie, Goldie - Aunt's
Other assorted pooches I didn't interact with as much at other relatives.
Momma said we had a dog when we first moved to Keesler, but I don't remember it at all. As an adult, I have been personally responsible for these:
Kelly, my beloved Bull Terrier/Black Lab mix, went through a very delayed puppy phase once she realized she was SAFE with us and we figured out first owner was military as a uniform was the only thing that ever riled her to temper.
Cocoa, my beloved Cocker Spaniel/Irish Setter mix, who literally died the same week we lost my late partner.
Kara (LoIsLana), the fighting chihuahua (called that as they are the largest of the breed) we got for K as a gift, and the only pedigreed dog I personally paid for.
Sasha (bear), the very mixed Chow-something that I never really fully bonded with.
How about y'all?
[ SECRET POST #7102 ]
Jun. 16th, 2026 06:29 pmcase posting in fandomsecrets⌈ Secret Post #7102 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
01.
( More! )
Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 15 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1014.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
Cinnamon and sugary and softly spoken lies
Jun. 16th, 2026 06:16 pmmusesfoolThings, and also, stuff:
= Work remains hectic but hopefully I will be able to send out my board package tomorrow and then finally write up several committees' worth of minutes, which I have not been able to do because every time I start, I get interrupted.
= I've been making chicken bacon ranch wraps for lunch this week and they are so good! I made bacon on Sunday morning, and bought the Perdue shortcuts grilled chicken, so I heat some of the chicken and 2 strips of bacon up in a frying pan and then lay a couple of slices of mozzarella on top to melt. In the center of a whole wheat wrap, I add some arugula (though you could use whatever lettuce or spinach you prefer), and then lay the warmed up meat and cheese on top of it, add a few squirts of ranch dressing, and roll it up. Delicious and filling!
= I stumbled upon a recipe for whipped lemonade that sounded good in theory but then it had both sugar and sweetened condensed milk in it and that sounds way too sweet to me. I get why the sugar is there - you rub the zest into it to really capture the lemon flavor, in addition to using juice, but just thinking about adding sugar to sweetened condensed milk makes my teeth hurt. I wonder if subbing whipping cream for the condensed milk would work? Or would it curdle from the lemon? Inquiring minds want to know. (I do have a recipe for lemon buttermilk sherbet somewhere, and of course, lemon sour cream ice cream is one of my faves to make, so I can kind of get there in other ways. Hmm...)
= I got interrupted by work and now it's 3 hours later and I can't remember what else I was going to say but in the meantime, I did get a laugh out of the fact that VGK and Torts have parted ways.
*
= Work remains hectic but hopefully I will be able to send out my board package tomorrow and then finally write up several committees' worth of minutes, which I have not been able to do because every time I start, I get interrupted.
= I've been making chicken bacon ranch wraps for lunch this week and they are so good! I made bacon on Sunday morning, and bought the Perdue shortcuts grilled chicken, so I heat some of the chicken and 2 strips of bacon up in a frying pan and then lay a couple of slices of mozzarella on top to melt. In the center of a whole wheat wrap, I add some arugula (though you could use whatever lettuce or spinach you prefer), and then lay the warmed up meat and cheese on top of it, add a few squirts of ranch dressing, and roll it up. Delicious and filling!
= I stumbled upon a recipe for whipped lemonade that sounded good in theory but then it had both sugar and sweetened condensed milk in it and that sounds way too sweet to me. I get why the sugar is there - you rub the zest into it to really capture the lemon flavor, in addition to using juice, but just thinking about adding sugar to sweetened condensed milk makes my teeth hurt. I wonder if subbing whipping cream for the condensed milk would work? Or would it curdle from the lemon? Inquiring minds want to know. (I do have a recipe for lemon buttermilk sherbet somewhere, and of course, lemon sour cream ice cream is one of my faves to make, so I can kind of get there in other ways. Hmm...)
= I got interrupted by work and now it's 3 hours later and I can't remember what else I was going to say but in the meantime, I did get a laugh out of the fact that VGK and Torts have parted ways.
*
(no subject)
Jun. 17th, 2026 09:46 amchina_shopI saw this article in my local paper and thought it was a great summation of a worrying situation (although it comes down on the side of social media bans for teens, which I oppose for privacy & practicality reasons):
Our children are growing up in a world controlled by technology, not democracy (Web archive link)
Our children are growing up in a world controlled by technology, not democracy (Web archive link)
As I’ve previously argued, democracy does not reproduce itself automatically. It depends on citizens with attention, judgement and some command over their impulses. It needs the ideas of virtue and honour. A society that cannot form such citizens will still hold elections, but it will struggle to sustain democratic life.
2026 Our Flag Means Death Big Bang
Jun. 16th, 2026 01:33 pmdelphi(Also plugged this over at ourflagmeansgay.)
The 2026 OFMD Big Bang is underway!
Author sign-ups are open until June 30th, artist sign-ups are open until August 22nd, and beta sign-ups will remain open throughout the challenge. More information is available on the challenge's FAQ and schedule.
I am writing a thing for this, which I can't talk about publicly (because it has to be anonymous when artists are choosing stories to create something for), but I am having a lot of fun with it so far. I really struggle with longer works, by which I mean anything above 500 words, but I am full of ideas and determination. I hope anyone else interested considers joining in.
ourflagmeansgay.)The 2026 OFMD Big Bang is underway!
The OFMD Big Bang is an annual writing challenge for the Our Flag Means Death fandom.
Authors will complete stories of 10,000 words or more over the course of four months, and these stories are claimed by artists who create works to go along with the story.
Final stories and their accompanying artwork will be posted over the course of several weeks (depending on the number of works). At the end of the bang, all story links will be compiled into a masterpost.
The OFMD Big Bang event is about collaboration and shared delight - taking joy in our shared love of Our Flag Means Death and its celebration of the value of loving, kind community and found family! We welcome you whether you are an author, an artist, or simply a lover of beauty who fancies fine fics and art.
Author sign-ups are open until June 30th, artist sign-ups are open until August 22nd, and beta sign-ups will remain open throughout the challenge. More information is available on the challenge's FAQ and schedule.
I am writing a thing for this, which I can't talk about publicly (because it has to be anonymous when artists are choosing stories to create something for), but I am having a lot of fun with it so far. I really struggle with longer works, by which I mean anything above 500 words, but I am full of ideas and determination. I hope anyone else interested considers joining in.
I don't know why this is weird
Jun. 16th, 2026 11:07 pmdhampyresaOver the past week, I've twice had people express surprise that I've read the Odyssey. It wasn't about me reading in Ancient Greek (I didn't) or even that I read it when my age was in the single digits (I did), just that I'd read it at all. I don't know if it was general disbelief at someone having read The Odyssey or at me specifically having read the Odyssey, but now I'm curious: Do I give off "hasn't read The Odyssey vibes"? Have you read The Odyssey?
For what it's worth, I have read neither the prequel (The Illiad) nor the prequel's other spinoff (The Aeneid), though I did read its sequel (The Divine Comedy).
For what it's worth, I have read neither the prequel (The Illiad) nor the prequel's other spinoff (The Aeneid), though I did read its sequel (The Divine Comedy).
belated vital functions
Jun. 16th, 2026 09:57 pmkaberettReading. Tiiiny bit more of Much Ado About Mothing.
Listening. More Hidden Almanac on the way to the field! Mord and Drom are On A Road Trip...
Cooking. First batch of experimental copycat Dr Karg's protein thins: didn't roll out thin enough, possibly wanna experiment with bumping the vital wheat gluten down, and also I think the (majority of the) chopped pumpkin seeds probably want to go on in some kind of final rolling step. Hurrah for progress!
Eating. The crêpe place on the field had STRAWBERRIES i could get them to add STRAWBERRIES to my lemon-and-sugar crêpe!!!
Breakfast mush worked... acceptably with the little pots of instant porridge from Crew Welfare, though I definitely preferred starting with plain and adding things to starting with even the dried-strawb-and-rasp option.
I remembered I could ask the pizza place to put pineapple on my veg pizza.
Observing. BATS on site!!!
2026 OFMD Big Bang
Jun. 16th, 2026 10:30 amdelphi posting in ourflagmeansgayThe 2026 OFMD Big Bang is underway!
Author sign-ups are open until June 30th, artist sign-ups are open until August 22nd, and beta sign-ups will remain open throughout the challenge. More information is available on the challenge's FAQ and schedule.
The OFMD Big Bang is an annual writing challenge for the Our Flag Means Death fandom.
Authors will complete stories of 10,000 words or more over the course of four months, and these stories are claimed by artists who create works to go along with the story.
Final stories and their accompanying artwork will be posted over the course of several weeks (depending on the number of works). At the end of the bang, all story links will be compiled into a masterpost.
The OFMD Big Bang event is about collaboration and shared delight - taking joy in our shared love of Our Flag Means Death and its celebration of the value of loving, kind community and found family! We welcome you whether you are an author, an artist, or simply a lover of beauty who fancies fine fics and art.
Author sign-ups are open until June 30th, artist sign-ups are open until August 22nd, and beta sign-ups will remain open throughout the challenge. More information is available on the challenge's FAQ and schedule.
The trip where things weren't there
Jun. 16th, 2026 04:15 pmtwistedchickBackground: I discovered that the county-run swim center nearest to me has deepwater running times open when I'm available. My swimsuits are ancient and the elastic in them is dying.
So I decided to drive to the Lands End outlet to try on what they have, get something to wear.
I drove over this afternoon. It wasn't there. In place of Lands End, in the plaza, was a Gap Outlet (no swimsuits.) I went a little further down the plaza to Athletica. No swimsuits.
Oookay, I will try to order one when I get home.
On the way home I noticed that the Chico's, which used to be across the street from another mall where I worked when they had a Borders Books, is gone. It's an empty site with a backhoe.
Another couple of miles, I turned left and headed toward the private Catholic girls' school that had so much traffic coming from it that it had its own dedicated cop to handle directing traffic. This time -- no cop. And no school. The rolling green lawn is not green but mostly paved and out of it have sprung enormous townhouses -- if a townhouse is four stories -- or flats, or something. Dozens of them.
I also noticed that the road I was driving on had changed names. It had been Knowles; now it is Strathmore, possibly in connection with the arts center and entertainment venue at the end of it.
Did I suddenly switch timelines or something? I do remember the county talking about housing and construction, but I don't recall anything about this.
So I decided to drive to the Lands End outlet to try on what they have, get something to wear.
I drove over this afternoon. It wasn't there. In place of Lands End, in the plaza, was a Gap Outlet (no swimsuits.) I went a little further down the plaza to Athletica. No swimsuits.
Oookay, I will try to order one when I get home.
On the way home I noticed that the Chico's, which used to be across the street from another mall where I worked when they had a Borders Books, is gone. It's an empty site with a backhoe.
Another couple of miles, I turned left and headed toward the private Catholic girls' school that had so much traffic coming from it that it had its own dedicated cop to handle directing traffic. This time -- no cop. And no school. The rolling green lawn is not green but mostly paved and out of it have sprung enormous townhouses -- if a townhouse is four stories -- or flats, or something. Dozens of them.
I also noticed that the road I was driving on had changed names. It had been Knowles; now it is Strathmore, possibly in connection with the arts center and entertainment venue at the end of it.
Did I suddenly switch timelines or something? I do remember the county talking about housing and construction, but I don't recall anything about this.
Something Good (Will Come From That): Ten Years
Jun. 16th, 2026 01:16 pmsanguinityToday is the ten year anniversary of "Something Good (Will Come From That)", my retrospective of a hundred years of Holmes and Watson on film:
(Vid, commentary, FAQ, and timestamps on AO3.)
language_escapes and I spent a year making it, and a very good year it was. She turned down co-author credit, but I maintain this vid never would have happened with out her.
"Something Good" is ten years out of date now; that's especially apparent when I re-read the commentary. It's been good to see how many more versions of Holmes and Watson have come by in the interval. I'm particularly happy to have female and non-white Holmeses coming out of Korea and Japan: both of those were thin on the ground when we made the vid.
At the time, I thought of this vid as my masterwork, and despaired of ever making anything so good again! Mostly at a loss for what to do with myself, I kept on making things, and I'm happy to say there's been plenty of good stuff in the interim. Good stuff, new fandoms, and new fannish friends. There were even a few more vids!
So here's tolanguage_escapes and all my fannish friends, new and old, and a hundred years (plus ten!) of Holmes and Watson walking arm-in-arm.
(Vid, commentary, FAQ, and timestamps on AO3.)
language_escapes and I spent a year making it, and a very good year it was. She turned down co-author credit, but I maintain this vid never would have happened with out her."Something Good" is ten years out of date now; that's especially apparent when I re-read the commentary. It's been good to see how many more versions of Holmes and Watson have come by in the interval. I'm particularly happy to have female and non-white Holmeses coming out of Korea and Japan: both of those were thin on the ground when we made the vid.
At the time, I thought of this vid as my masterwork, and despaired of ever making anything so good again! Mostly at a loss for what to do with myself, I kept on making things, and I'm happy to say there's been plenty of good stuff in the interim. Good stuff, new fandoms, and new fannish friends. There were even a few more vids!
So here's to
language_escapes and all my fannish friends, new and old, and a hundred years (plus ten!) of Holmes and Watson walking arm-in-arm.European Castles
Jun. 16th, 2026 03:44 pmmalymin posting in little_detailsNot sure how to word this...
I'm looking for information on castles? In particular the keep, which was a residence for the nobility as well as a last line of defense.
Some questions include:
- Wikipedia only talks about English, French, Italian, and Spanish castles having keeps. Did castles in northern, central, and eastern Europe not have keeps, or is this just a matter of fewer English-language sources on, for example, German, Danish, and Polish castles?
- If you know of any good diagrams or floor plans with labels of castle keeps - both the kind of "generic" cross-section illustrations you see in children's educational books (the larger and more visually detailed the better!) and of specific real-world castles. Preferably castles that actually served as fortifications in addition to residences, rather than castle-esque palaces like Neuschwanstein Castle. It's difficult for me to reconstruct spatial information with text, so visual aids are helpful. It's very hard to find good educational pictures with an image search these days, there's too much AI-generated inaccurate bloat in the results.
- Relatedly, photos or illustrations of the castle's interior.
- Who (if anyone) resided in the castle, aside from the noble that owned it and their family, and the servants? Also, more information on the duties and types of servants who would have been present in the castle.
I, um, am sorry if this is too broad. ^_^;