Reading

Current Mood: amused

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They've got them hoppy legs and twitchy little noses!

I've said it before and I'll say it again - but I hope I never get tired of the way my brain comes up with stories.

I've started documenting the process on Tumblr - because there's been some controversy in the fandom with one of the popular/prolific writers found to be using AI - and I'd already shared my planning process and my editing process, so now I'm also sharing how the bunny forms from the random place it's spawned from.

So a few weeks ago, when I was doing one of my Tennis Dads History posts - and it was a week where Simone had won the tournament he was in but I couldn't find pictures anywhere online because it was 'only' a Challenger. And I ended up lamenting to Li - at length - about the serious lack of pictures available online from Simone's SIXTEEN YEAR pro-playing career.
Right?

And Li - who is vehemently not an RPF person - turns around and says 'oh, he's an immortal and he's changed identities since then' and then apparently I have a Highlander AU. Which is fucking hilarious because I've never seen the movies, or the show, or been in the fandom. Of course, I'm aware of the fandom and I was chronically online in the mid-late 90s/early 00s so it's definitely part of my fandom cultural history/knowledge. Cue me jumping into wiki and fandom.com and rounding out the knowledge.

Then the next thing I know, I'm posting

... *sigh*

Another immortal resurfaces - one Simone thought was dead. Maybe they were once rivals, or lovers, or both.

This immortal is not as discreet. And their presence risks blowing Simone’s cover - unless he does something to stop them.

Cue: Simone beheading someone with a tennis racket behind Centre Court at 3 a.m.

( and the rest is going behind a cut because this got long ) so yeah... welcome to my brain?

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fandom: marvel

FF:FS timeline thoughts.

Not sure if anyone else here is into this movie. I'm picking away at the sex pollen fic, but I haven't written fic in long enough that it was slow going the first few days, and now I'm afk while visiting my parents (elder millennial has not warmed to writing fic on phone). Meanwhile, I'm trying to work out the latest backstory.

It's been long enough since I read any F4 comics that I read the wiki to remember the origin story (since the movie just summarises it). The following is a vague stab at a timeline?

( No real spoilers )

Thoughts? Corrections? Anyone just want to talk about the movie?

Current Mood: fuzzy

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Doctor’s Orders: Blankets & Tennis

This week has been… a lot

I ended up being off work sick all week, and by Thursday I knew I wouldn’t be in a fit state to go back on Monday. So I made a doctor’s appointment. Cried at her, because… well, there’s been a lot lately. Health stuff, work stuff, and the way the airport sale was handled was just the final straw. Like I told her - I’m exhausted, and I just need a fucking break.

She agreed, and signed me off for all of next week too. I’m hoping that having permission to be off will help take the edge off the guilt. Fingers crossed.

I also started a new med on Tuesday, which has left me bloated and given me super fun indigestion. Sigh.

So I’ve spent most of the week on the couch, under a pile of blankies, where it’s safe. I’ve read a lot, written a lot, and watched a lot of tennis. I slept almost 13 hours last night. I still feel fuzzy around the edges, but it feels like it might have helped.

Main goal for next week: keep doing the same. Resting, reading, writing, watching TV. But I’d also like to leave the house a couple of times - even if it’s just to walk down to the library.

Writing goals: finish editing Darren renting Jannik out to Juanki; write the one where Darren is a killer (his player nickname was Killer, and people still call him that - even his wife); write chapter 1 of the Supernatural AU so it’s ready for USO (because that’s where it’s set).

( cut for talk of weight loss )

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fandom: marvel

Just a thought...

Ben + Johnny + Sex Pollen = fic.

Which, surprisingly, I haven't seen in any version, though it's probably on LJ or something.

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fandom: marvel

Mucca & The Marvel Cinematic Universe

As a follow up to bitching about this in the last post, I thought I'd look and see where I was with watching some of these. The movies are in order they came out. The TV shows are sorta just stuck in there for the year they started, rather than breaking them up by season. I'm too lazy to look up the details of exactly when they aired (especially as I don't even remember some of these existed). I'm only including live action films and tv shows. ( Long list is long )

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Superhero Summer of 2025

Going to the Movies!

(Success Rate: 1.5 out of 4)

In May, we tried to go to Sinners at Local Theatre #1, only to find none of their caption machines were working.

In June, we didn't bother trying.

In July, we tried to go to Superman at Local Theatre #2, only to find that they didn't have caption machines at all. In 2025.

Later in July, while visiting my parents, we went to their Local Theatre to see Superman, only to have multiple caption machines crap out part way through the movie, leaving Nenya to finish it on their speech to text app (an imperfect experience).

This week, I went back to Local Theatre #1 and asked in person if the caption machines were now working (they neither answer the phone, nor call people back if you leave a message). Being assured they were, we booked tickets to The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The first caption machine Nenya got didn't even turn on, but the next one made it through the whole entire movie! Diversity win! (Or something.)

Actual movie thoughts aren't that deep, but it's superhero films, so...

Superman (2025)

So I'm more of a Marvel Girl, though I did like the first Wonder Woman movie and Blue Beetle, but Nenya grew up on the Christopher Reeve movies, and this had been advertised as More Like That, so we decided to give it a go.

It was really fun! I thought the casting was great, and I'm really enjoying the "superheroes' lives are inherently ridiculous" vibe we're currently going with. Also: death to origin stories! It was really nice to see the Justice League International gang (lol), and have a Superman who was doing the Big Blue Boyscout thing in earnest. (I thought

Princess_Weekes' video Quentin Tarantino Accidentally Broke Superman had great insights about why people got on the wrong track with the character.) It was silly and had heart, and didn't have joyless desaturation, and I'm here for all of this.

Will happily come back for the Supergirl movie, and am even more invested in season two of Peacemaker.

The Fantastic Four: The First Steps (2025)

I really liked the retro-futurist aesthetic, and was happy they didn't combine them with 1960s inequalities. Also: space! I haven't seen any of the cast in a whole lot, but thought they were great for the roles. Pascal was fully on point as Reed, and managed to capture his pathos without diving head first into manpain, and I really liked Reed/Sue here. I just like his face, also. They toned down Johnny's womanising into a low-key romance that actually worked for me, though even putting Natasha Lyonne in it didn't make Ben's crush that interesting (mostly because we got 2.5 minutes of time with that plot). Given all the natalism in the air, I'm a bit twitchy about movies focused around babies, but I liked that they didn't even consider that Sue couldn't go on the mission while eight months pregnant. I will riot if we don't get Valeria, though.

Which kind of brings me to the mid-credits scene. ( Spoilers for where this fits in the MCU? )

(Looking at AO3, it seems like people are into ~~Eddie Munson~~ Johnny het, either with the Silver Surfer or with Y/N. Though there is also some team!fic with woobie!Johnny. There's like two Ben/Johnny fic, which is surprising as they had a nice vibe in this, and it used to be the big ship. I'd also like more Reed!whump than I found, but early days.)

Department of "But It's Still Weird that It Happened Twice"

( Mild spoilers for both films )

The Friday Five for 8 August 2025

This week's questions were suggested by

sparklesalad.

1. What is one food (or meal) you used to hate but now love?

2. If you had to give up one of your favorite foods (or meals) for good, what would it be, and why?

3. Which food seems like it should be healthy and isn't, and do you eat it? Why?

4. If you were an item of food, personified, what would you be and why?

5. You've seen tomatoes and pies used for this purpose ... now think of a more inventive item of food one could throw at someone. What is it and why would throwing it at someone be hilarious?

Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.

If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!

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fandom: other tv

Are all in the North. It's Grim Up North.

I've been knitting and watching shows, which has led me to try to find stuff that's good to watch while crafting, especially things on Kanopy.

I was going to do a bunch of these in a post, but the first got long, so stand by for further knitting show thoughts.

North and South (2004)

(I haven't read the book, though I keep meaning to get into Elizabeth Gaskell, who is recommended when you run out of George Eliot.)

A star crossed romance between Daniela Denby-Ashe as an impoverished daughter of an auto-defrocked churchman from Hampshire, and Richard Armitage as a self-made cotton mill owner in ~~Lancashire~~ "Darkshire"* (amazing name, thank you, Mrs Gaskell). He's in the middle of putting down a strike, and she's in the middle of being appalled by the violence of literally everything that's happening. The main attachment between them seems to be that they are both stunningly beautiful, and appear even more attractive when they are sad. Which they are a lot.

So... he's a strike-breaking mill owner in 1855, who sets the army on his workers? (Which they are careful not to show in detail because it might distract us from how very beautiful Richard Armitage is when he's sad.) Absolutely no one talks about where all the cotton's coming from, other than "America."† He does, later in the show, come to be more sympathetic to the workers, and start actually talking to them and shit, but the strikebreaking is a lot to get past. If you're likely to spend much of the show humming "The Internationale," then maybe give this a skip. If you don't mind/can ignore that, the pining is excellent, and the actors are very beautiful.

Quality as knitting show: 4/5, would knit to this again.

( End Notes )

Current Mood: exhausted

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✨glimmers and good things - august 5th ✨

Today was a hard one. I ended up taking the day off because the anxiety and depression hit hard in the wake of the airport sale news. The lack of sleep, the uncertainty, the way it was announced - it all caught up with me.

But I tried to take care of myself, even if I felt a bit hollow.

📚 I curled up with books and started gently planning out the rest of the year’s reading challenges
🧼 I spent the day focusing on soft, non-demanding self-care (blankets, quiet, no pressure)
📝 I wrote some very self-indulgent tennis dads smut - and honestly, no regrets

It wasn’t easy to find glimmers today. But they’re there. And I’m proud of myself for looking.

Current Mood: stressed

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✨glimmers and good things - august 4th✨

It's always so nice to find out that the airport you're working for, and the one you're based at, are both being sold by the parent group.

You know what else is super fun?
Finding out from a report on BBC news yesterday before we were officially notified this morning.

So that was... um... delightful. Today has been a tough one, it's been very heavy and I've been struggling for most of the day. It's been tricksy to find the glimmers and good things for today:

✨ Glimmers - August 4th ✨
🧁 I didn’t overindulge, even though the office was full of tempting cakes and treats
🧠 I’m working on brainstorming a fanfic idea that actually feels fun and exciting
🧸 I curled up with a soft plushie and let it soothe some of the sharp edges

Current Mood: determined

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📆 July Wrap-Up + August Goals 🌻

I love writing goal posts. I love reviewing them slightly less, because inevitably I have to admit that I did not finish the Big Thing I meant to finish. But also: I did do some really cool stuff, and my brain kicked off several brand new projects like a chaotic little goblin in a fic mine, so. Let’s talk about it.

🖋 July Writing Goals:

Finish A Field Guide to the Sinner Pack — ❌ absolutely not. It’s still sitting there, gentle and ominous and unfinished. I’m choosing to believe this is just a simmering stage.

Update:
You Wouldn’t Take My Word for It If You Knew Who Was Talking — ❌ noooope
I Had the Time of My Life Fighting Dragons With You — ❌ also no, but I did think about it a lot
The Courage of My Convictions — ✅ YES. A new chapter and a spin-off/prequel side fic. I’m counting this as a win for narrative momentum and gay priest chaos.
Wolf-Tethered — ❌ untouched, though not unloved

Maybe post a one-shot just because — ✅ I’m counting the Darren/Simone scene from the priest AU, because it came from somewhere deep and tender and needed to exist....

Also. I may have started two entire new AU series, because apparently July was the month Bob! said “yes, but what if…?”

🌿 July Life Goals:

Make a doctor’s appointment about the arthritis diagnosis — ✅ did the thing. Proud of this one.
Day trip to the RAMM + sushi — ❌ no museum trip, but we did buy most of Yo!Sushi and I did spend roughly £200 in the Lucy & Yak sale, so I have no regrets and very colourful trousers. It was a good trip
Visit Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm — ✅ lions and elephants and giraffes achieved
Reclaim one chaotic space (maybe the laundry chair) — 🌀 kind of? Started rearranging my work clothes and moved some piles around. Progress is happening in slow, meandering steps.
Come back to Dreamwidth, and stay — 🌀 back-ish! A few posts, a bit of lurking, and some genuine joy in reconnecting with long-form fandom space. Still holding this one as a soft goal.
Cook something that feels like summer — 😅 not really. But I thought about tomatoes a lot.
One proper lie-in, no guilt — ✅ absolutely achieved, 10/10 would lie in again
One evening offline with candles, music, or silence — ❌ does scrolling Tumblr with one candle lit count? No? Thought not.

🌻 August Goals: gentle momentum, storybrain chaos, and maybe some tomatoes

✨ Writing/Fandom Goals
Actually finish A Field Guide to the Sinner Pack – even if it’s just in bullet-point plan format
Update Wolf-Tethered - or at least open the doc and reread it. Or smell the forest in my head and cry about Simone.
Keep working on The Courage of My Convictions - more priest AU, more Jannik/Simone quiet intensity, more religious yearning and repressed gay disasters.
Return to I Had the Time of My Life Fighting Dragons With You — the booktuber romantasy AU deserves more petty feuding, more yearning in comment sections, more mutual pining over tropes.
Make space for the new AUs - if my brain is going to go chaotic, might as well let it do so on purpose.
Maybe write something short and weird and self-indulgent. Just because.
Keep sharing. Even when it feels scary. Especially when it feels a little raw - that probably means it matters..

🌿 Life Goals
One genuinely slow, nothing-is-urgent weekend.
Book one fun thing for August, even if it’s tiny.
Get my new tattoo (appointment booked for the 30^th!)
Properly reclaim one corner of chaos in the house. Doesn’t have to be perfect, just has to be better. My work clothing storage isn’t working for me right now.
Keep gently decluttering my digital spaces - Dreamwidth tags, folders, etc.
Go outside for something that’s not an errand. A walk, a sit, a stretch in the sun.
Remember: lie-ins are good, my body is not a machine, and my stories are worth telling.
Keep up the shoulder, hip, and knee physio - consistency counts more than perfection.
Aim to lose a little more weight if it feels good and manageable - but keep it soft and low-pressure.

Tell me your August hopes! Or the weird thing July gave you that you’re still thinking about. Or the AU your brain started without asking. I’ll bring the snacks, you bring the story chaos. 💛

Current Mood: pleased

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✨ Glimmers and good things – August 3rd ✨

A little sparkle, a little serotonin, and one very important tennisdad sighting.

🖤 My Li painted my nails for me, they're black with rainbow glitter — peak cozy gremlin vibes
⚖️ Lost 2lb this week — small steps, slow and steady, still worth celebrating
🎾 Darren spotted in Cincinnati!! After the rumours he might not be at the USO with Jannik, I am delighted — tennisdads remain undefeated

💫 Sometimes it really is the little things.

Current Mood: relaxed

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✨ Glimmers and Good Things - August 2nd ✨

Today’s been a quiet one - not a lot of spoons, but enough softness to hold onto.

🛌 I actually slept well last night, which already felt like a win
🍝 Made a really good dinner: cheesy beef and bacon bolognese gnocchi bake with pesto garlic ciabatta (yes, it was as good as it sounds)
📖 Curled up with Love on the Brain for a while - sometimes a fluffy romance is exactly what I need

Trying to notice the moments that feel good, even when they’re small. That counts too. 💛

Current Mood: nerdy
Current Music: Blue County - Firecrackers & Ferris Wheels

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🦴 Ancestors – Alice Roberts

🦴 Ancestors – Alice Roberts

Listen. I’ve had a crush on Alice Roberts since her Time Team days, so this was always going to be a win, but Ancestors genuinely delighted me. It’s tender, nerdy, and full of big feelings about bones and burial and the stories we try to tell about the dead. I laughed, I got a little misty, I googled archaeological sites I’ll probably never visit but desperately want to.

💬 Quiet awe, prehistoric people, emotional damage by way of funerary rites.

🔗 [Full review’s over here at

bibliollama]

Reading for Lughnasadh

Reading from

thewitchoftheforest.

1. What needs harvesting in my life?
The Fool

2. What is blooming and coming to fruition?
Six of Wands

3. What needs more time to grow?
King of Discs

4. How can I nurture myself now?
Seven of Swords

5. Ways my harvest will help others.
The Devil

I love the idea of the Fool as a harvest, and the Devil as helping others.

The Friday Five for 1 August 2025

This week's questions were suggested by

angelich.

1. What is something you collect? Why?

2. If you could make one ice cream flavor, what would the ingredients be and what would be the name?

3. What can't you go a day without?

4. What position do you sleep in? *back, right side, left side, stomach . . . etc.*

5. What is your typical morning routine before work/school?

Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.

If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!

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