UPDATE: Tempestuous Tours + news

Jul. 16th, 2025 05:33 pm
duskpeterson: The lowercased letters D and P, joined together (Default)
[personal profile] duskpeterson

BLOG FICTION

Tempestuous Tours (Crossing Worlds: A Visitor's Guide to the Three Lands #2). A whirlwind tour of the sites in the Three Lands that are most steeped in history, culture, and the occasional pickpocket. ¶ Latest installments:


NEWS

About a millisecond before I was about to release my next ebook, a medical crisis occurred in my family (though not to me or my companion). It's the sort of crisis that involves dozens of members of a support team, professional and nonprofessional. I'm one of the two people coordinating all that. I'll continue posting blog fiction here whenever I can, but expect my presence here to be light for a while.

More pinch hits

Jul. 16th, 2025 07:19 pm
vriddy: Hawks peace sign (peace sign)
[personal profile] vriddy
And the last 3 pinch hits I wrote during my hurt/comfort/and/more binge were finally revealed, haha. Not unexpectedly, with the way delays worked out and all, the first one I wrote back in April was the last one to reveal last week! All caught up now.

For [community profile] whumpex:

Sensory overload | Boku no Hero Academia | Hawks & Miruko | 1.8k words | rated T
Summary: Overtraining already hypersensitive feathers is bound to have long-term consequences. Hawks is utterly miserable, utterly on his own... and has been lying to himself for so long now, he kind of forgot the truth.
Read it on Dreamwidth or AO3.

For [community profile] diegetic_exchange (I didn't know that word before participating btw! What a cool concept for an exchange!):

Totally fictional | Boku no Hero Academia | Dabi/Hawks | 800 words | rated T
Summary: In universe, someone is passionately writing a heartfelt, if somewhat unsympathetic, fanfic about Hawks.
Read it on Dreamwidth or AO3.

For [community profile] hurtcomfortex:

A game at which two can play | Boku no Hero Academia | Dabi/Hawks | 3.8k words | rated T
Summary: Members of the Creature Rejection Clan have infiltrated the PLF. To root them out, Toga comes up with the great plan of having Dabi and Hawks lure them out by being more obvious about their relationship in public. A PLF lieutenant debasing themselves with a heteromorph? Surely the CRC traitors will show their hand and target Hawks. What could possibly go wrong?

And thus Hawks ends up working an undercover mission for the PLF while technically already undercover at the PLF. Never a dull moment in his life.
Read it on Dreamwidth or AO3.
svgurl: (mcu: steve/tony heroes)
[personal profile] svgurl
This is what I wrote for the [community profile] hurtcomfortex. :)

Title: what are you to me (everything)
Fandom: MCU
Pairing/Characters: Steve/Tony
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 2391
Summary: Another close call makes Steve realize he can't run from his feelings anymore.
svgurl: (power rangers: kim/tommy true love)
[personal profile] svgurl
These are the fics I received from the [community profile] hurtcomfortex exchange. :)

Title: Fleurs du Mal
Author: [archiveofourown.org profile] Griddlebone
Fandom: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Pairing/Characters: Kimberly/Tommy
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 4,466
Summary: Shortly after breaking up with Tommy, Kimberly comes down with a strange illness.

Hanahaki + Kim/Tommy post breakup is such a great combo and I loved the way it was handled.

Title: and swear, a taste of sweetness to soothe your soul
Author: [archiveofourown.org profile] forsworn
Fandom: The Princess Diaries (Movies)
Pairing/Characters: Mia/Nicholas
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 3863
Summary: Mia's been working too hard, but she's determined to enjoy her day off with Nicholas - and even if her exhausted body lets her down, Nicholas and his gourmet cooking skills can still lift her spirits.

This was so soft and sweet. I love Nicholas taking care of Mia and the banter/dynamic was perfect. :D

[community profile] sunshine_revival Challenge #4

Jul. 13th, 2025 11:41 am
lightbird: http://coelasquid.deviantart.com/ (Default)
[personal profile] lightbird
Sunshine-Revival-Carnival-5.png



Challenge #4

Fun House
Journaling: What is making you smile these days? Create a top 10 list of anything you want to talk about.
Creative: Write from the perspective of a house or other location.


Finding new ways to be creative is definitely making smile these days. In addition to taking up needlepoint last month, which I love doing and talked about on Day 1 (and I have ordered additional canvases to work on!), I've also finally transplanted a terrarium I made last year and plan to create more of these.

I work in a law firm, and every year we have summer associates come in, of course. Law firms want to entice summer associates to come back once they graduate, so they're treated to a lot of nice stuff: dinner events, outings to baseball games, etc. My firm also does events during the workday, and one of last year's events was a "crafting terrariums" session. A woman came in with materials and there were trays set up at all the places for each person to work. You got to pick out a container, any succulents you wanted, and then she taught everyone the steps for planting and how to care for the plants, then we spent the rest of the time decorating the terrariums with moss, etc. It was a lot of fun and I created a nice terrarium of succulents that not only survived under my black thumb, but outgrew the container.

large pics of terrariums under the cut )

I'm planning to get more succulents and create some more terrariums. Pretty soon I'll have a whole shelf of these.

I've also been trying to make my surroundings, both at home and at work, as beautiful and as comfortable as possible, and that's making me smile too.

Previous Days
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
duskpeterson: The lowercased letters D and P, joined together (Default)
[personal profile] duskpeterson

There is much to look at in the sanctuary, but let us start with the altar. It recreates the altar where drugged captives were once placed before undergoing the Rite of Death, which represented their entry into a Living Death. It was at this stage that new slaves had iron masks locked securely onto their heads, which could not be removed except in the unlikely event that they survived long enough to be freed.

Here on the altar, if you wish, you may place a piece of the jackalfire tree, representing your wish that the evils of the past may be transformed by all of us in the present, bringing about rebirth.

[Translator's note: Yet again, Death Mask is the place to learn more about such matters.]

vriddy: White cat reading a book (reading cat)
[personal profile] vriddy
A Drop of Corruption was as good as y'all said. Loved it at least as much as the first book. Love these characters, this world, those mysteries. I hope we get ten more of them!! At least!!!!!!!!!! And the afterword/author's note at the end was kickass, too.

Yay to good books \o/

Community Thursday

Jul. 10th, 2025 03:49 pm
vriddy: Dreamwidth sheep with a red wing (dreamsheep)
[personal profile] vriddy
Community Thursday challenge: every Thursday, try to make an effort to engage with a community on Dreamwidth, whether that's posting, commenting, promoting, etc.



I just would like to give another signal boost and pointer toward [community profile] sunshine_revival, as the comm and event appear very active! You can dip in and out and don't have to start from the beginning, just jump in whenever you like and enjoy, and hopefully make new dreamwidth friends :) I've been enjoying the challenge replies I spot on my reading page!

sunshine revival challenge #3

Jul. 9th, 2025 09:32 pm
svgurl: (stock: ice cream w/ sprinkles)
[personal profile] svgurl
Sunshine-Revival-Carnival-2.png

Challenge #3

Journaling prompt: What are your favorite summer-associated foods?
I have to go with ice cream. I have a total sweet tooth, and I love when the weather warms up. My favorite flavor is coffee but I'm also a sucker for a chocolate/vanilla soft serve swirl. As a kid, I used to love all the popsicles and the ice pops and the orange cream bars. Also loved ice cream sandwiches and certain Sara Lee products that they don't make anymore.

Pomegranates are another favorite food that I think of when summer hits. When we moved into our house as a kid, there was a bush in the backyard and over the years, it has grown into a bigger tree. I loved when the pomegranates and ripened, which did happen in summer. Some years, they were good and others not so much. A couple of years ago, we got a lot of amazing, sweet fruit. Last year was a little hit or miss, but my cousins' kids had fun picking them and enjoying what they picked, even if one or two weren't totally ripe yet. I think of watermelon too. I have a ton of memories of enjoying it as the weather warmed up. I'm not a fan of mangoes myself but it is also a very summer fruit. My mom especially loves mangoes and is happy when the season hits and always is ready to make the most of it.

I'm sure there are more, but that is really the ones I can think of off the top of my head. :D

Creative prompt: Draw art of or make graphics of summer foods, or post your favorite summer recipes.

I got a little too into this and made 32 icons of ice cream and various fruits (cherries, strawberries, pomegranates, mangoes, and watermelon). Anyone is welcome to save/use them! :)

icons )

[community profile] sunshine_revival Challenge #3

Jul. 9th, 2025 09:09 pm
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[personal profile] lightbird
Sunshine-Revival-Carnival-2.png


Challenge #3

Journaling prompt: What are your favorite summer-associated foods?
Creative prompt: Draw art of or make graphics of summer foods, or post your favorite summer recipes. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.


Ice cream!!!!

And: fresh berries, peaches, limeade (yum).

Also, did you know that there is a Museum of Ice Cream? They have locations in many cities, most in the U.S. but there is one in Singapore. You have to reserve tickets, but once you're in you can eat unlimited ice cream, among other fun things. I'm in New York City where you can slide down into a big pool of sprinkles.

Previous Days
Day 1
Day 2

LJ IDOL WHEEL OF CHAOS, WEEK 2

Jul. 9th, 2025 08:12 pm
xeena: (Default)
[personal profile] xeena
Ecco (here it is), from the Latin ecce or eccum, is about presenting a person, thing, or idea and inviting you to perceive it at the very moment it appears.


___________________________________________________________________________________


It's coming.

The darkness.

A summer sunset.

End-of-the-day rays of sunlight filter through thick cloud and caress my face as I sit in the car with the windows down, filling me with a short lived feeling of warmth, before the cloud sweeps past, briefly blocking the dissipating light.

The golden, pink and peach splashes that painted the sky are slowly but surely evaporating.

The afternoon bleeding into evening.

Night waiting patiently around the corner to kill the last remains of the day.

In the still August air I light a cigarette, inhaling the toxins before breathing them back out and watching as the curling smoke poisoned the air around me.

Carbon monoxide mingling with oxygen and nitrogen.

Evening has always been my least favorite part of a day.

Something about it, and watching the sun dip below the horizon has always felt like a loss of hope.

It's always been intertwined with death.

(Ever since the day I learned what mortality is, as I witnessed a bird get shot and plummet, backlit by a setting sun when I was three. A hell of a first memory).

When I learned that the earth's natural state was darkness, that made sense to me.

It still does, literally and metaphorically.

Neither can exist without the other.

Both offer solace in their own ways, yet neither are completely safe.

There can be no light without darkness, no darkness without light.

That is something I have grown to recognize in everything.

Including myself.

Metaphorically, the darkness that dwells in my mind and my memories, my dark side so to speak, is something I can't escape from.

Those things are along for the ride with the light parts, whether I like it or not.

It's just that I'm tired now.

I grew tired of running from them and myself a long time ago, and chose awareness instead, because unlike some people I've known, I've never really mastered the art of denial.

I've always had a debilitating fear of void like spaces, and I can't sleep without some light.

On the other hand though, I love the night.

Everything feels magical, being awake and active during the night always feels like being part of another world.

At night, guards are let down, instincts are acted upon.

Everything is infinite.

Or feels it.

Until the sun rises, dawn melts into day and the light returns.

The same light that can be a smokescreen for me.

An illusion of comfort meant to render us unaware of the visible shadows and shady corners that lengthen steadily as the hour grows later and races towards the inevitable.

(When I remember how the bird dropped, a dead weight, the thing that stands out most in my mind's eye is the blazing sun at its hottest as it dipped closer to the horizon casting light on the way the bullet tore through the bird's body).


Despite my fear of those void like spaces, the sense of apprehension they bring, the dark of the night can be an ironically cathartic hiding place for those who are cognizant of thing they sometimes wish they weren't.

A dog barks in the distance, its haunting echo pulling me out of my thoughts.

With the sun's retreat, the street is beginning to come alive again since I wandered off into the maze that is my mind.

I cast a glance towards the sky, which is now devoid of color.

It's a moonless night.

(Just like the night I was born).

It's here.

"Now it's dark," I think and my eyes meet my own in the rear view mirror,

___________________________________________________________________________________


non-fiction

I'm part Italian, so I was excited to see the prompt for this week. I wanted to tackle it both literally and re symbolism. This is a memory of me watching a sunset in someone's car during a seriously horrible time of my life.

"Now it's dark." is a quote from one of my favorite movies, Blue Velvet (1986), directed by the legendary David Lynch. It is a line repeated by an antagonist and its meaning is that of being comfortable with the darkness in yourself. This resonated with me from when I saw it. Obviously I refer to memories of trauma and PTSD here and that is how it resonated with me, whereas the movie antagonist definitely had some worse issues lol, but the point is the same.

I was indeed born on a moonless night. Forever envious of those born under a full moon!

sunshine revival challenge #2

Jul. 9th, 2025 09:41 am
svgurl: (misc: pillsbury dough boy happy)
[personal profile] svgurl
Sunshine-Revival-Carnival-4.png

Tunnel of Love

Journaling: The romance of summer! What do you love? Write about anything you feel sentimental about or that gets your heart pumping.

Since this is what I did most of last Sunday, I'll talk about how much I love baking. I love to bake. It's something I've done since I was a child. My mom was the one who taught me, with box mixes and canned frosting to begin with, before I moved on to making cakes from scratch. I remember taking a whole tray of cupcakes for a surprise party our class planned for our teacher in elementary school (okay, it was the girls. I vaguely remember us thinking the boys couldn't be trusted to keep their mouth shut so we left them out. I think we were, like, 10 or 11?). I also remember making birthday cakes and father's day cakes for my dad. I remember taking things for all sorts of class parties throughout the years really. When we had a project in elementary school on teaching the class "how to do something", I chose baking a cake and I remember switching from mix to wanting to do a scratch cake. My dad carefully measured out the ingredients in the morning before school so it would save me time. So much of my baking memories are tied to my family.

Baking is something that calms my mind. There's a precision to it that I appreciate. I'm someone who likes really exact instructions, which is why even though I have learned to like cooking, I do like baking more. You stick to a recipe and outside of mild variables, like the oven timing, it should come out right. And I like the results too! I have a sweet tooth, but I do like when people around me enjoy my baking. I am not great with taking compliments, but I like hearing them (who doesn't, right? lol)! I do like pretty things so it's been fun learning and practicing decorating as well.

People have made jokes about me starting a bakery in the past, and while there are many reasons I wouldn't, I do just like some thing just being an enjoyable hobby. And I will keep doing it. It's a nice way to spend an evening or a weekend. Doing what I love and sometimes, for the people I love. Because they're the reason I learned to do this in the first place. :)

cupcakes )

more fandom events

Jul. 8th, 2025 11:21 pm
svgurl: (ted lasso: sam/jamie backs)
[personal profile] svgurl
[community profile] flashexchanges is running size difference flash, a multifandom flash exchange featuring size differences. Nominations/sign-ups close on July 9th, 11PM UTC.

[community profile] sedoretuex, an exchange dedicated to celebrating the sedoretu (a specific organization of a poly marriage created by Ursula K. Le Guin), is accepting nominations until July 12th, 11:59PM EDT. More info, including the schedule/FAQ can be found HERE.

[community profile] raremaleslashex, a multifandom fic/art/podfic exchange focused on rare m/m ships, has opened sign-ups until July 13th, 8PM UTC.

[community profile] relationshipping, a gift exchange for incest ships (ships that are not canonically related are welcome for incest aus too), is open for nominations until July 13th, 9:59PM EDT.

[community profile] enemiestoloversex, a multifandom gift exchange focused on the "enemies to lovers" trope (though all ships are welcome, not just ones fitting that dynamic in canon), is accepting nominations until July 14th, 10PM UTC.

[community profile] austenexchange, a fic exchange focused on Jane Austen works, is open for nominations until July 15th, 10PM UTC.

[community profile] dreams_mayhem is running Hodge Podge, a multifandom challenge where each week players will fill prompts to score points by writing fics, creating poetry, or making graphics. Sign-ups are open until July 19th.

[community profile] fallingforyoufallexchange, a fall multifandom freeform exchange centered around ships getting together, is open for nominations until July 21st, 8PM EDT.

[community profile] scaldinghotcibingo is running Consent Issues Mini Bingo. Claims can be made until January 4th, 2026.
vriddy: Sakura from Wind Breaker pointing at himself (me?)
[personal profile] vriddy
I have a couple of pinch hits that revealed that I must still post here on Dreamwidth. Writing's been agony again. I taunted myself by saying "well why do you NOT WRITE AT ALL ON PURPOSE for ALL OF JULY then, since you ain't writing anyway? Save yourself the anguish? See if you actually care?" then huh saw the sign-ups for [community profile] littleblackdressex were open and my favs had already been nominated, thus immediately played myself by signing up. First exchange sign-up of the year though! \o/

Otherwise I'm down to a writing goal of 100 words a day, which I wouldn't have been able to accept before getting blocked again (*pokes pokes* what's going on with ye) because I just know how much better I can do. However, after a long string of 0 days, actually 100 words a day is fantastic, yes. And something I can make myself sit down for. I'm fully prepared to reduce the goal to 50 words next if that's what it takes to make progress.

I still enjoy my stories! I get inspired reading other books!! What is going on!!!!

It is somewhat painful that this fic is the first thing I actually finish since my hurt/comfort + PHs exploits, but it is what it is. I guess crack just gotta crack, sometimes. There must be something deeply meaningful to ponder here.


Silent Killers | Wind Breaker | Hiiragi, Suou | 1.8k words | rated T | Crack treated seriously

Summary:
There's more than one way to commit murder in Furin.

Or, three times Suou is interrupted trying to talk to Hiiragi, and one time it's too late.
Read it on Dreamwidth or on AO3.

Cast Still On

Jul. 6th, 2025 09:08 pm
iosonochesono: (Bolt: Beggar)
[personal profile] iosonochesono
My wrist still had no mobility and was very sore outside the cast, add that to having a dog at home and the Orthopaedic surgeon recommended keeping a cast on two more weeks (which ended up being three due to a bank holiday).

I'm starting to try to take the dog walking and training classes more seriously and pick up more hours (and/or find a weekend job) as I really want to do a minimum 5% overpayment per month average on the mortgage (preferably 10%). I also want to rebuild savings after everything that happened and the house purchase. Unfortunately I've had zero luck finding a weekend job.

The bright side of this is that I didn't buy the house solo, and for now my partner in crime is chucking more in to match up my overpayments so far. So we do have savings (and insurance which includes emergency repairs). Just not as much as I like, especially because...

Patrick has had someone at work come to him and ask him to sign as guarantor. Oof. He's known the guy for four years and trusts him, but I am super wary and wanting to be prepared in case they flake out. Originally I was going to say no-can-do. I mean, we have not even been here a full six months. It's not like half the mortgage is paid and if the guy flakes out we can take a loan for a year's rent and only be a little in the hole, it's finding a way to pay rent a whole year for a house on top of our mortgage hole. And even if he trusts the guy, well, his trust-dar is not the best.

But in the end I told him ok.

First, the guy is here on a Visa and immigrants have a hard enough time here. I mean, there are literal progroms going on. Diversity is not a bad thing here.

Second, Patrick's worked with him four years.

Third, I feel like people helped us when we needed help - including Patrick's parents who signed as a guarantor for me because estate agents here wouldn't let anyone outside of Northern Ireland sign as a guarantor for me. Deborah housed us while we were looking for a house. So it's important to pay that forward, do unto others as you would want done unto you and all that.

He also said the guy is trying to get into cybersecurity and will hopefully be in a much higher paying job in a few months, but I take that with a grain of salt, same as I'm trying to become a nurse and project manager or Patrick's trying to become a regional manager. We all have aspirations, we don't all make them.

So as the other saying goes, hope for the best and expect the worst. I am trying to take earning more money much more seriously in case the worst should happen. Similarly I did tell Patrick that if he is signing as a guarantor for this guy he needs to be prepared that he might need to take up a second job up to a year to cover the lease until it completes.

And who knows, maybe paying it forward will bring karma back around to us. Maybe I'll get a job at the organisation just three minutes away by bicycle. If I did that £310/month I'd save would make it much easier for us to cover if the guy took off.