For some reason, I felt moved to write femslash pirate dubcon smut. Not sure where that came from.

Title: And a Bottle of Rum
Rating: R
Word Count: 1536

Summary: Seriously, guys, this is just smut.

( yo ho ho )

For the last month or so, we've been getting increasingly urgent emails and phone calls and one postcard from the vet's office to get Bella scheduled for her annual check-up. We kept remembering that we needed to do it at times that they weren't open - evenings, weekends, etc.

So on Monday, while I was at my appointment, Alex called to make Bella's appointment! We were set for next week!

...And then yesterday construction on the building Went Bad, and now they have to close for a week or two for repairs.

*sigh*

But we just got everything set up...

(Everything should be fine. We'll just push the appointment out. Hopefully the repairs go well.)

---

For the first time in fifteen years I actually got to a check-up appointment of my own! They did blood work! I did not know they were doing blood work ahead of time!

So today I get a call asking if I have a family history of high cholesterol. I do - my mom's baseline cholesterol has always been high, though she's never experienced any negative impacts from it, and she has a very healthy diet. But they also ask if I fasted before my blood work, which I did not, because I did not anticipate blood work (even though maybe I should have), and I was not given any directions to do so. :(

So now I have to schedule NEW blood work, and fast beforehand this time. :((

But I don't want to schedule another thing, I don't want to get stabbed again, I don't want to get the same stuff my mom has been hearing for the last forty+ years about cutting things out of my diet that I mostly already don't eat. *kicking rocks*

I already have to go to two more follow-up appointments, but I also have to call my insurance to find out if those'll be covered, and I just don't WANT to do any of it.

Uuuuuuugh.

(I'll figure it out. I'll make the appointment. I'll call my insurance. I'll fast and see if that makes it look any less awful.)

I just want "finally doing the thing I was supposed to do" to be the end of that thing for a change, instead of it spawning more tasks to complete and requirements to redo the things that I planned to be done with!

I love this fest and thanks to a new mod (aflaminghalo) stepping up, it is running again this year.
Visit unconventionalcourtship or go directly to the sign-up post; read the rules, pick a day you'd like to post on and comment with your chosen date. 1k minimum fic, romance novel summary used for inspiration, any and all pairings (or moresomes if the prompt allows) are welcome. There's a link to a generator in that post which gives you plot summaries for inspiration, or you can find your own summary.

Bar I was going to watch the Torrent at is closed tonight, looks like they are doing some repainting and stuff?

Got home and saw both CJ in net and also 4 goals allowed. Ugh, CJ gets a start and gets lit up? Despair...

Turns out, no! Poor Shroeds was having a terrible night. She got pulled. CJ, non-binary icon, gave a perfect performance in their first chance in net for Seattle. A flawless performance did not save the them from elimination tonight. Both Seattle teams are out.

The highs and lows of Seattle hockey

But CJ kept the net on lock every second they were in!

.... What you you meeeean they take off their sweaters at the last home game to give out to fans? For some of them, that's the last time in navy blue. That's the last time they are taking off those sweaters, and they do it on the ice?

Do all teams do this 'sweater off their backs' ceremony, or do the the Kraken just like to make things extra painful?

This week, a sticker of the lunar lander from my friends the Atomic Pixies. Not quite the same thing, but seemed appropriate for the week of the Artemis II mission. :)

This was a decent week. It was nearly a "bingo" week (a week where I did every tracked habit at least once.) It barely misses out, because my non-fiction writing didn't hit the 500 word threshold, but it was over 400 words, so I'm sort of counting it. I also got almost everything I'd hoped to done. It was really cool getting to follow footage and coverage of the Artemis II mission throughout the week. I worked a bunch on my reading page for my tracker (since I'm about to start a new tracking notebook, I decided to redo this year's in the new book), and it's felt nice to do an artsy thing. I did a decent amount of reading, and have been lucky with enjoying all of it. I didn't do as much writing, either on reviews or on my WIP, as I'd hoped, but I did actually work on both. Work was fine. I have continued with my workday walks. Minorly dreading going to the doctor next week.

Goals for the week:

• I read These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart
• I started reading The Two Towers
• We paid rent
• I paid toward my hospital bill
• I cleaned up my floor (mostly realigning and vacuuming the tower of dog beds)
• I did work on my WIP outline
• I did set up my reading page in the new notebook
• We did go get fruit flies, but will have to get more since they were on the end of their cycle :/
• I worked on my reviews
• I put my laundry away
• I did not vote :( It was a little special election, and I filled out my ballot, but thought I had an extra day to drop my ballot off.

Tracked habits:

• Work - 5/7
• Household Maintenance - 3/7
• Physical Activity - 6/7
• Wrote 500/1000+ Words - 1/7 - over 500 words
• Non-fiction Writing - 0/7, but with one day of under 500 words
• Meta Work - 3/7
• Personal Writing - 3/7
• Other Creative Things - 5/7
• Reading - 7/7 - I read These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart, started The Two Towers, and read some of Game Changer, as well as the short story "Constellations"; Alex and I read some of The Luminous Dead.
• Attention to Media - 7/7 - Sunday was very slow at work, so I had book reviews in the background, then later had paranormal videos and news coverage in the background; Monday we watched coverage of Artemis II and the eclipse they got to see; Tuesday we watched news; Wednesday and Thursday had exploration and game videos on; Friday we watched the splash down of the Artemis II crew, and then later some game videos; Saturday watched paranormal then game videos.
• Video Games - 1/7 - I played some more Hades and got one more successful run.
• Social Interaction - 7/7

Total words written: 1047 on reviews and on my WIP

* Last home game for the Kraken, and it's a nattycast so I can't watch it. I could try to go out to the one bar in Portland that is supposed to play Kraken games, they are the local affiliate or whatever, but I've heard that you can't get them to put in on unless you are in a group. Like, if you are a single person they wont change it from whatever else is shown and I don't want to deal with that.

* I am not prepared for the season to end

Title: DVD Commentary: I Was Out Here Listening All The Time.
Author: lannamichaels
Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga
Series: Part 12 of Are You Out There, Can You Hear This?
Rating: G
Archives: Archive Of Our Own, SquidgeWorld

Summary: The chronicles of the Komarran forum fic.


( Author commentary! )

If you are not visiting the palace in order to attend the Chara's court, then chances are that you are here to visit the council. As you enter the east doors of the palace, turn right, then left, then immediately right. The long corridor before you leads north to the council chamber and council quarters.

Upon reaching the end of the corridor, you will once again find yourself facing high doors, this time plated with copper. Unless you are actually attending a council meeting, the door you want is to either the left or the right of the council chamber. Enquire with the guards as to how to reach your destination. Mainland visitors are likely to be escorted, under guard, to the room they are seeking.

Attendance at meetings of the Great Council are by invitation only. If you are invited, arrive early. If you have been asked to speak with the council, you will be shown to a chair at the bottom of the council table. Do not be insulted. This is where the Chara himself sits, when he is invited to speak with the council.

Remember those high doors? They were designed to keep out the Chara and his guards, back in the days when animosity still simmered between the Chara and the Great Council. These days, the animosity takes less blatant forms, but the Chara is still not permitted to enter the council chamber except with permission of the Great Council's High Lord.

If you are not here to speak with the council but wish to attend a council meeting, you will be shown to a chair at the back of the room. (If you are not accustomed to sitting in chairs, it is best to practice beforehand.) As in the court, your job will be to stay as quiet and motionless as possible. At only two points in the meeting should you move: rise from your chair when the High Lord of the Great Council enters the chamber, and rise again when he leaves. A herald will announce when this is necessary.

After the council meeting, you may wish to visit the council library, just off the head of the chamber. This lovely, light-filled room was added during the reign of the Chara Purvis, at the beginning of this century. It is considered the finest law library in the world, containing hundreds of books of commentary on matters related to the law. Do not to touch the books unless you are here to do research. To Emorians, law books – even books of commentary – are sacred objects.

Northern mainlanders should be aware that stealing a law book can be punished by death. If you must steal something in the palace, confine yourself to objects unrelated to the law.

[Translator's note: In order to visit the Great Council in session, as well as its law library, read Law of Vengeance.]

So I'm into hockey fics now, and just realised there's a treasure trove of Helenish hockey rpf to be read. HR has taught me the basics of the hockey world, which makes the rpf easier to get into even if I don't really know the players. And I'll follow Helenish pretty much everywhere.

Two recs for now, Leon Draisaitl/Connor McDavid. Both locked to AO3.

Obligations. A long, slow burn story in an alpha/beta/omega-verse, and Helenish's worldbuilding within that is extraordinary, just as good as the way 'Take Clothes Off As Directed' deepened BDSM-verse. They're teammates on the Oilers, interacting with a mass of assumptions, miscommunication, hopeless denial, and obliviousness, so most of the fic is pining and unspoken longing badly hidden behind defences. They get there in the end, despite knowing how bad it'll be with the Press and twitter and their coaches and agents (the reactions of others plus their own idiocy replace RL homophobia as barriers), and there's finally some gorgeous hot as hell sex to enjoy after being edged for the rest of the story. It's from Leon's pov, and ends with a quiet paean to the hockey life. (17,681)

Silver Lining Playbook. Connor's pov, set at and after the recent Olympics. Non-linear plot, starting with them hooking up angrily and fake-casually, and only later we learn they used to be together then broke up due to the usual miscommunication and stubbornness. The ending's hopeful rather than resolved, and Connor's characterisation is excellent. Where the fic above was all repressed feelings and eventual fucking, this one's all fucking until eventually they talk about feelings. Very nice. (7212)

As I was working on the LJ project, I came across various icon resources that were hosted on DA (textures, brushes, etc.). And of course, all the pretty icons are making me want to play around with icon making once again, so I decided to start collecting them (since I only have a smattering of things from 20 years ago when I last made icons).

However, I found that in order to download, not only are accounts required - but they recently implemented a ridiculously restrictive limit of 10 free downloads a week (though that number goes up to 150 *if* you pay for Core+). The comments on the news post about it are absolutely scathing, and blow apart any idea that the new rules are for anything but a money grab. (They blame users downloading thousands and thousands of downloads, but there are LOTS of other and better ways to thwart AI scraping, and large numbers of active users naturally download larger amounts than 10 in a single week, despite their claim that this won't affect people.)

While right-clicking still works for any actual artwork (though you'll only get the original full-size if the artist set it to display), and gallery-dl can handle that sort of thing in bulk, the side effect of this limit is that anyone looking to download packs of images - like sprite packs, folder images, or (like me) icon making resources - is now extremely hampered in what we can get. A single artist with over a hundred resource packs will now take several months to download all their work.

I've tried reaching out to some artists, and the one that responded was happy to upload all their stuff to my MegaDrop folder, but others may not check their email, have lost access to the email in question, have passed away, etc.

Which brings me to my question: Does anyone reading this know of anywhere that people are pooling their DA stashes? Or collaborating to save art they're mutually interested in? If two users want the same 20 zips, for instance, they can split them up and each download 10, then share their copies with each other to maximize what they can get. Add a few more in the pool and the potential really goes up.

I'd love to work on something like that but don't know where to start, and I'd first like to find out if someone is already doing it. I'm told that sort of discussion is likely to happen on Tumblr but as I don't use Tumblr… can't really ask there. Anyone?

EDIT: I'm starting to reach out for help at least with the resources I'd like to get. If you'd like to help me, comment and let me know. Anonymous comments on this entry are screened so you can leave an email address to contact; otherwise I'll DM you. It's literally 5 minutes a week of your time, and not difficult at all.

EDIT #2: A very kind and helpful volunteer gifted me Core so I now have the 150 downloads per week. Still going to run out of it easily, with everything I'm running across - but the point of this is to also help anyone who wants them but has no download slots left, so that means I'll now have more I can share with others.

Happy 100th (and possibly final?) meeting of Sid and Ovi to all who celebrate.

Neither team is my team, but I am feeling to a pull to watch anyway... must resist, I need to get some stuff done today

One the Kraken's baby goalies got their first NHL start last night and I need to talk about it

* He won, with a .963% save average. He had a bit of a softball opponent, but that's a good thing for a first game. He made some insane glove saves, stopped play by throwing himself at the puck. He's still cooking, but that was a splashy debut.

* He made a lot of solid passes to our Ds, very active goalie.

* Kokko passed to Kakko. Our announcers had to mention both Kaapo Kakko and Nikke Kokko in the same sentence repeatedly, and man I've wanted that all season.

* Other team pulled their goalie, so Kokko went for it, he took a shot on goal in his debut. He didn't get it, but it was a solid try. Then...

* In his post game interview was like "I tried to score before Joey, that was it" Joey is our main goalie, who famously regularly practices shooting in full goalie gear because he wants a goalie goal. He has the most NHL points of any goalie, and has taken multiple shots in the same game. And the kid make a stab at beating him to the punch.

He got the start, the win, first star, fish yeet and the helmet. And then teased the face of the franchise. He had an insane night.

The other thing that is nuts is why *neither* of our goalies for yesterday's game had a single NHL start before last night. They are both call ups. The Kraken roster 3 goalies, which is unusual. We got criticized for it a lot at the start of the year, but people quickly shut up. Between it being an Olympic year, everything about the state of the goalie market and one of our goalies getting a serious injury and being out most of the season, it was clearly shown to be a good move. Other teams have had some drama and ongoing problems with their netminders.

But it gets worse. We've got an usual amount of contracted goalies overall, not just on our NHL team. Last night our AHL team had to dress one of their goalie coaches for the game. We've gone from an overflow of goalies to nabbing people from the support staff. It's not any one thing. Murray has an undisclosed family situation. LaFountaine is sick. Gru took an on-ice injury and got pulled mid-game and is still out. Joey took an on-ice injury and played through the pain to a win, but is now recovering from that.

Goalie is a very specialized position. Ds and Fs are in much larger pools, and you can always run one less D or make a D play F. 4 out across the franchise is insane. We aren't the only franchise with goalie problems right now, but in our case it's just... shit happens. And the good news is that the chaos lead to a goalie having an amazing debut. The assumption that Nikke will replace Gru in a few years, he's being developed to help anchor an NHL team. So, that debut and running an all-rookie line was a look at where things are headed.

Ok I lied about going to bed.

Hilarious vid “To Be A Princess” -
set to some musical song, possibly Disney? By theburialofstrawberries.

https://www.tumblr.com/mific/813728132898177024/shane-as-princess

As often happens, after all the dramatic warnings cyclone Vaianu was only a period of heavy rain and moderate winds where I live. Just another Sunday. More flooding elsewhere, but not too bad. Oh well, at least I got my camping gear out ready for any future power cuts. off to bed with me now, night all!

Minor update to yesterday's post.

One of those scary buzzy alerts on my phone just now, for the cyclone later today and tomorrow. No change from yesterday, just grumbling that I hate how those alerts startle me and raise my anxiety. Which is the point, I know! The eerie calm has broken - a light wind now and I just looked up and saw sun on the garden, but a sky becoming dark and lowering beyond. Peak cyclone time is the small hours of Sunday morning. Guess I'd better go outside and see what needs tidying away, then find the camping gas box in the garage. I'm very lucky that's all I need to do.

Support for Workplace Banana Bread comes from Viewers Like You and from my roommate, who keeps disavowing her bananas as soon as they get one (1) freckle.

The King Arthur banana bread recipe is, unsurprisingly, a smash hit.

I haven't posted garden pics for a while due to autumn untidyness - so far as Auckland has an autumn, which is not very. Still green, just cooler and wetter. Also, I've been busy enjoying and making fanworks and have neglected the garden as it slides inexorably into disrepair. But everything's still green, and I do enjoy looking out at it so I thought you might like some views from my windows and doors. Overcast today so not ideal photography conditions, but as Cyclone Vaianu is bearing down on us in 36 hrs I figured I'd get pics now in case it's chaos by Monday. First time my landlord's property manager has ever emailed tenants with a cyclone warning and info about how to batten down! If I was still in my leaky house in the bush I'd be very worried but this flat's in a safe place - solid construction, high ground but not exposed, no big unsafe trees nearby - so fingers crossed. I'll roust out my camping gas stove and lamp in case of power cuts, and we'll see. Hope you're all safe from extreme weather events!

( pics here... )

Posted a student job for the summer and am now taking bets on what percentage of applications will successfully read and follow the line "With your application, please include a list of times you are available to work on-site during listed business hours."

Some reviews of recent media before I hopefully disappear into a metaphorical cave for a week to study before my next exam; I say hopefully because I already made dumb decisions like staying up late to read fic the last two nights. Ah well. I do need breaks at some points, and I plan to get regular fresh air too.


I watched Project Hail Mary in a theater with friends on Tuesday: two of us had read the book and the other three knew nothing at all about it, which made it extra fun to hear their reactions afterwards. I read the book a few months ago, and unlike the book the movie did live up to all the good things I'd heard about it. That was great. I really like how they adapted it (yes they cut some fun stuff/good additional info but overall I thought they did a great job), I liked the designs and the visuals, it was at times very exciting and dramatic and emotional and funny, and I had a fantastic time.
I've already seen some great fanart on Tumblr and look forward to more of it, fingers crossed.

Only four people of my TTRPG group had time two weeks ago so for a few hours we tried out Sunderfolk (Steam link), a multiplayer turn-based tactical RPG where you play as animals.
I had a lot of fun! I played an arcanist raven with teleportation powers, I loved that. I could do damage as well but my most effective moves were teleporting my allies (a rogue (weasel), a pyromancer (salamander), and a vanguard (kangaroo rat)) into better positions. The story so far is rather simple, you defend the settlement against the ogres, do side-quests and help gather resources for the rebuild; I'm not sure how much I'm meant to think about the implications (like that the animals came from above and with their bright lights took away living spaces from the ogres that are now starving) but I look forward to seeing where it goes.
We're only halfway through act 1 chapter 2, but we already have a date set for next time. This time we had three of us on the couch and one joining online, next time all four will be able to attend in person, even better.
About a week later, same scenario, only four people from my TTRPG group had time – different people this time so we started a new campaign. This time I played the bat bard, and they're absolutely adorable. Gameplay-wise unfortunately I enjoyed the bard much less; we only got to level 3 so maybe it gets better later? The other player who played for the second time also enjoyed his second choice (antelope ranger) much less than his first (pyromancer). There are currently no active plans to continue, but we might if we happen to have that group again.

Dragonoak by Sam Farren #1 + #2, The Complete History of Castelir and The Sky Beneath The Sun:
Rowan, exiled from her village since they discovered she is a necromancer, runs away with a dragon knight and becomes entangled in conflicts spanning multiple kingdoms and races.
My (now ex-)gf recommended this trilogy to me, so I wanted to like it; and maybe that puts it into the category of "would have liked it more if not for my high hopes/expectations," idk. There were parts I liked, prominent among them the amount of queer characters; unfortunately it was neither the pacing nor most of the characters.
( Spoilers )

The Dementia Cascade by L. Lynn Gray (tassosss) #1 + #2, The Dementia: A Space Adventure and Surviving Peace:
Four generation ships fly in formation, still several generations from their target planet; when there are suddenly massive technical issues, solving them requires cooperation, which is made difficult by social and political conflicts.
Like many books with multiple PoVs book 1 had some I enjoyed a lot, some I was neutral about, and some I liked less (I'm currently quickly frustrated by characters with ideological blinkers.) I liked book 2 even better: fortunately for me it focuses on my favorite characters from book 1, and also the most difficult political situation. Namely, Jacks and Antony on Peace, that had a violent uprising deposing a corrupt authoritarian leader in book 1 and the consequences of that in book 2. ( Spoilers )

* I love being a fan of the Seattle Not Technically Eliminated From The Play Offs Kraken. We win a game, we are back in playoff talk. We lose a game, we are back in McKenna talk. The Pacific division is just kinda like that.

Look, squids, I am fine with missing the play offs but just do your best to impress McMann so he stays. We want to keep the zippy theater kid whose contemporary dance training includes ballet. We will be sad if the lose the guy who kinda dresses like a garden gnome to deal with Seattle rain. Also he is good at the putting the puck into the net thing that leads to happy squids.

* The Kraken's president of hockey operations has stepped down. Late season firings and 'mutual decisions' are all the rage right now. Not sure which decisions were Francis and which were Botterill, but hopefully this is a good thing. There seems to be very broadspread agreement that this is good, the only question is how good?

* I love being a fan of the Seattle Not Technically Eliminated From The Play Offs Torrent. I really hope by the time the pride game rolls around the vibes are better.

* No definite word on the PWHL expansion, but word is that Detroit is very likely. Detroit not having a team would be tragic so I hope they get one.

* One of the things I love about hockey? See the small guy in the middle? Please note which skates are him to fully appreciate how smol he is, it's easy to misread one of Oleksiak's skates as his:



The small guy is 6'2". Also, that is McMann. Squids, keeping him is your goal.