Take a look inside; it's my FIAB

Sep. 22nd, 2025 07:51 am
kantayra: (Default)
[personal profile] kantayra
Am I the only person who gets Dick In A Box stuck in their head when they think about Fic In A Box too much? No, I thought not. In any case, FIAB will be fandom life for the next few weeks, so I'll probably make more stupid lyric puns, because that is how I am. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Work continues to be blah, but I refuse to kill myself over someone else's project, so I'll sit on the bench and shout advice but I'm not playing on that project anymore. (However, the guy who's actually on that project is terrible at status reports, and it makes me cry. But, no, I am not volunteering to do them all.)

Here's fandom stuff:
  • Exchanges due in September/October ([community profile] enemiestoloversex, [profile] cuppajoexhange, Come in a Flash, [community profile] sexpollenplus, [community profile] ficinabox, [community profile] trickortreatex, [profile] seasonofdrabbles + mystery pinch-hits and treats + future sign-ups): Okay, I am declaring this my official list of sign-ups for Sept/Oct. ToT assignments went out last week, and SOD is sneaking in one last round due right at the end of Oct, but other than that FIAB is it. What all that means is that my progress count is currently at 8/14. And I met (and exceeded!) all my goals for last week: that completion list includes the 1 thing I needed to get done before FIAB, and I completed 3 things for FIAB, when I was targeting only 2. On the other hand, I haven't posted 2 of those FIAB assignments, because I'm futzing with CSS. My old dinosaur brain vaguely remembers when I was doing Unsent Letters, Diagetic, and Worlbuilding Exchanges all of, say, 3 months ago, I promised to myself no more CSS coding or HTML tagging. Oops! I think, like, half my FIAB assignments will require this! Ah well, it's not the worst problem to have; I just lol at myself for my short-term memory. It will be worth it, though! My goals for this week are to get those 2 finished FIAB fics coded/tagged and posted, and then finish writing 2 additional things, so I want to be 10/14 by next week. Wish me luck!

  • Exchanges due in November/December ([community profile] fffx, [community profile] ficinabox treats, [profile] seasonofdrabbles treats, [community profile] eatdrinkmakemerry, [community profile] yuletide_admin + mystery pinch-hits and treats + future sign-ups): It's shaping up that I already know pretty well what I'll be writing in this period, so I'm going to start counting it. The only assignment out so far is [community profile] fffx, so I'm currently at 0/1. I skipped [community profile] ififitsifics and Hanahaki Flash, and also nominations for [community profile] omegaverseexchange. Maybe [personal profile] amperslashexchange could tempt me to add it, if there are great requests, but I'm thinking I want to keep Nov/Dec relatively light, because finishing [community profile] fffx should be my priority: I want to get it as close to done by the new year as possible!

  • Exchanges that will go into 2026: [community profile] au5k & [community profile] highadrenalineexchange.

  • Reveals! The last for July/August, and the first for Sept/Oct:

    • Betrothed: Will/Hannibal from Hannibal TV for [community profile] justmarriedexchange: S1 canon divergence where Will and Hannibal get married as part of a sting to draw out the Chesapeake Ripper and, yes, it is all about the identity porn as you might have guessed. I loved the prompts on this one, and it's one of those fics that went loooooong, but I wanted to do the idea justice, and I am entertained with how this one turned out. Lots of fun to write!

    • Quick Fix: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan from Guardian - priest for Come In A Flash: Gee, could this maybe be the two of them being really horny and coming early? Does that sound like something Kantayra would write? 😝 These two continue to be a joy to write.

    • Flashfire: Endeavor/Hawks from BNHA for Come In A Flash: Okay, so I really like the dynamic between these two, and when I saw it come up as an EPH, I jumped on the chance to try writing them. And I really enjoyed it! I might start adding these two to my offers from time to time; I'd like to do more with them, and there's lots of meaty trauma to sink into story-wise.

  • Nope, nothing new on Femslash Salad Bar...

  • I finished Harrow the Ninth! As expected, all was explained quite satisfactorily. As was WTF was up with Gideon's birth circumstances from the first book. And I even got to feel clever that I figured out a couple of the plot twists before they were officially revealed, although I suspect that's just because the author did some good foreshadowing and not due to any particular intelligence on my part. 😝 Now I'm waiting for Nona the Ninth to come into my library queue: it's not too far off, maybe during my upcoming vacation?

  • The Grief of Stones came in on my library queue! Next in The Goblin Emperor. These are such lovely books, hoping to finish this one this week (and then there's only one more left 😭). They may all merit a reread over Christmas.

  • Wen Guan by Qi Xiao Huangshu - No progress on this, what with everything else on my reading list.

  • BNHA: I still have the movies/OVAs to go, but I'm saving them for myself as treats when I hit my fic-writing goals, and last week I was behind the whole time until I heroically pulled off a win at the eleventh hour, so I got no treats. However, this week I'm ahead, so there's a good chance I'll treat myself. 😊

  • Fall Horror-Movie Season has begun! I need to stop by the library after work to pick up this week's selections. They are: Midsommar, Split, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (which I got out of childhood nostalgia). Crimson Peak might also come in later this week. I'll report back my thoughts next post!


Also, I hit a major milestone this week: 200k words posted to AO3 so far this year! I guess I'm aiming for the next target of 250k. We'll see, although FIAB and FFFX get me halfway there, so there's a solid chance.

Goals for next week: 1) Code/Post 2 completed FIAB assignments, 2) Complete writing for 2 more FIAB assignments, 3) Read The Grief of Stones, 4) Start watching some horror movies to get myself in the mindset for Halloween!

Miss Austen (Miniseries)

Sep. 20th, 2025 02:21 pm
selenak: (Max by Misbegotten)
[personal profile] selenak
Miss Austen: is a delightful four part miniseries. Now with the exception of the excellent Miss Austen Regrets, featuring Olivia Williams as an older Jane A., biographical media on Jane Austen has suffered from the usual flaw of biopics or bio series focusing on female authors, i.e. insisting on inflicting plots of their most popular work on their life. Miss Austen also avoids this, not least by the fact the titular Miss isn’t Jane, it’s her older sister Cassandra, played in middle age by a superb as usual Keeley Hawes and in flashbacks when young by SinnØve Karlsen, who is so versatile that despite having seen her being very good as Clarice Orsini, Lorenzo de’ Medici’s wife in Medici and superb most recently as Bayta in Foundation’s third season, I didn’t recognise her until googling her. (In addition to great acting, I blame the regency outfit and hairstyle in the flashbcks. *g*) Jane Austen is played by Patsy Ferran who is also great, both when being mischievous and witty, passionate about writing and her sister, and depressed (for various reasons, not least the early lack of success). In fact, this miniseries has led me to the conclusion that Jane Austen is like Benjamin Franklin in that the best way to treat her is as a supporting character where she can shine and leave the audience asking for more, whereas when Ben or Jane get the main character treatment, the increased focus reduces their charisma and attraction.

(This is also why back in my Highlander days, I never wanted a Methos spin-off, despite being as fond of the character as any other fan. He is perhaps THE example of a character who needs to remain a recurring guest star in order to maintain what makes their charm and mystery.)

Attend the saga of sisters and a sister-in-law… ) The script manages to avoid the obvious quotes while coming up for Austenish sounding things the characters to say, and does great both with the social comedy of manners and the emotional drama. All in all really superb. Anyone either German like me or French: I watched it on ARTE, which also offers the undubbed, original version. Enjoy!

Alien: Earth 1.07

Sep. 18th, 2025 04:28 pm
selenak: (Agent Brand by Likeadeuce)
[personal profile] selenak
In which it's very useful to know the numbers of pi by heart. Or eye.

What have you done? )

Raindrops keep falling on my head....

Sep. 16th, 2025 04:47 pm
selenak: (Ben by Idrilelendil)
[personal profile] selenak
RIP Robert Redford. A fantastic run of movies especially in the 70s as an actor, later as a director never made an uninteresting movie, founded a film festival of several decades running, and to the best of my knowledge never abused his fame and status and instead used both to help others.


Swaps!

Sep. 15th, 2025 09:21 am
kantayra: (Default)
[personal profile] kantayra
Work is still exhausting. I am basically leading this second project, because the guy who's supposed to be leading it does nothing. I worked a bunch of overtime last week to try to help make up the difference, and I hope I'm not stuck in the same situation this week. Meanwhile, my actual project has a gazillion things I need to do. I have 3 more weeks of work before I go on vacation, and honestly at this point I'm pretty much set to say "fuck it" on this second project: let it die at this do-nothing guy's hands. (And if I don't get a rate increase next cycle for all the extra I'm doing, I may scream.)

On the other hand, swaps came out for FIAB and are awesome, so I now sorta know what I'm doing for the rest of September and October:
  • Exchanges due in September/October ([community profile] enemiestoloversex, [profile] cuppajoexhange, Come in a Flash, [community profile] sexpollenplus, [community profile] ficinabox. [community profile] fffx + mystery pinch-hits and treats + future sign-ups): Now that I have FIAB swaps, I can reassess how many different things I will be creating (which is definitely not my 'emergency overestimate' of 10, lol). I now believe that I am at 4/13. That does include my [community profile] fffx assignment, which I don't have yet and probably won't actually write in Sept/Oct, but I want it on the list anyway and will probably shunt to Nov/Dec once that batch is ready. Other than that, I do still have 1 non-FIAB assignment outstanding. So my goal for this week is to have that done (I have the bulk already complete) and then 2 FIAB things done-done and posted.

  • Gifts! [community profile] justmarriedexchange just went live, which was the last lingering July/August exchange, and also Come In A Flash for Sept has also gone live. Both still in the anonymous period. Here's what I got:

    • Not the Plan: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan from Guardian - priest for [community profile] justmarriedexchange. Wonderful smut from their wedding night, absolutely delicious!

    • The Good that Living Does Us: Rai/Frankenstein from Noblesse for [community profile] justmarriedexchange. The two of them having a quiet evening together and being absolutely married post-canon, just lovely!

    • At Last: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan from Guardian - priest for Come In A Flash. Them being porny and - you guessed it - coming early, exactly the way they should!

  • Things I wrote! Creator reveals have happened for [community profile] caseficexchange, and I wrote for Bunnicula (❤️❤️❤️), with Chester, Harold, Howie, and Bunnicula investigating the supposed appearance of Bigfootpaw in their backyard: Bigpaw Walks Among Us. So. Much. Fun. To. Write! I loved these books as a kid, so I was super intrigued when I saw the request. But I waffled for a day or two, wondering if I could even do this justice. And then I got the 'case' - that they should be going after Bigfoot - and from that point on I was 100% gaming for this. I had a delightful time rereading the books (which I still have - thank you book-hording tendencies!) and then coming up with ridiculous animal misunderstandings for them all to work their way through. This is a rare fic that turned out on page exactly the way I had it in my head, and I already think this is going to become one of my all-time fave fics of the things I've written. This whole exchange was an absolute joy, and I can only hope that next year will be just as much fun.

  • Upcoming potential exchanges: I need to sign up for [community profile] trickortreatex this week: already there are multiple requests I love! Sign-ups are also open for [community profile] ififitsifics, but I'm wavering on that until I see something of interest. It also looks like I'll be skipping Hanahaki Flash. [community profile] omegaverseexchange, [community profile] eatdrinkmakemerry & [community profile] yuletide_admin are in nominations, so I need to finish mine. [personal profile] amperslashexchange nominations haven't started yet. And I liked some requests for [community profile] fandomgiftbasket, but we'll see if I have time to write anything.

  • Exchanges beyond the current Sept/Oct time period are: [community profile] au5k & [community profile] highadrenalineexchange.

  • Nope, nothing new on Femslash Salad Bar...

  • I reached the end of the BNHA anime! (And am spoiled for the manga.) So now I'm waiting eagerly with everyone else for S8, which will come out in October. I do still need to go back and catch up on the movies/OVAs, so I'll treat myself to those when I have time.

  • Wen Guan by Qi Xiao Huangshu - I got nothing done on this because...

  • Harrow the Ninth came in from the library! I'm not quite halfway through, and I have no clue what's going on half the time (somehow Harrow is misremembering everything at Canaan House so that Ortus was there instead of Gideon?), but I am very curious to figure it all out, and I have faith that this author will do it well. I'm currently deeply engrossed in this and hoping to finish this week.

  • I did look at my library queue for Halloween horror stuff, and I have a pretty good list now. Maybe I'll start watching next week, now that I'm done with BNHA?


Goals for this week: 1) Finish the 1 non-FIAB assignment. 2) Finish 2 FIAB things. 3) Sign up for Trick-Or-Treat. 4) Finish Harrow the Ninth. 5) Start my horror queue for next week.

To start the week with

Sep. 15th, 2025 11:59 am
selenak: (Music)
[personal profile] selenak
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds finished its third season, and you may have deduced from the fact I didn't review the remaining episodes that for me, it did not take a turn for the better. The Ortegas episode was probably the most, in lack of a better term, Trekian, not to mention the long awaited one with a focus on Ortegas beyond "I fly the ship", but it shares with far too many ST: SNW episodes the way it is just incredibly derivative, of both other franchises and earlier ST. And the series finale chose to pick my least favourite DS9 plotline and scenario, sigh. To complete my turn to an old grouch, the feeling of this season as Star Trek: The Rom Com didn't help, either. Anyway. I'll always have Discovery and Prodigy in terms of new ST that manages to unite both affection for the past AND originality and the courage to try out new paths and characters.
*****

Given the daily horror show that is the news, it's all the more important to find joy in fannish things, so I was delighted to discover this new Sense 8 vid. Now there was a show celebrating joy and diversity:

Sense 8

Voice in my Throat

***

And on another joyful note: Yuletide nominations have started!

Alien: Earth 1.06 und Foundation 3.10

Sep. 12th, 2025 01:32 pm
selenak: (Demerzel and Terminus)
[personal profile] selenak
Alien: Earth:

The internet tells me Sigourney Weaver is watching Alien: Earth and is as enthralled as yours truly. Now if that isn't a compliment to Noah Hawley et al, I don't know what is.

Spoilers are on a quest to use the creepiest Peter Pan quotes in every episode )


Foundation

Is the first season finale necessitating that the next season has to start without a century like time jump. Also, yowsers.

...while the worst are full of passionate intensity )

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kskitten

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