Fic: Web of Fate, Chapter 15

Aug. 30th, 2026 01:28 pm
rodo: b/w icon of vignette from carnival row (carnival row)
[personal profile] rodo
Title: Web of Fate
Fandom: Carnival Row
Author: [personal profile] rodo
Chapter: 15/17+E
Length: 4,509 words (77,000 in total)
Rating: 16+
Genre: Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Worldbuilding, Adventure
Characters: Rycroft Philostrate, Jonah Breakspear, Vignette Stonemoss, Runyan Millworthy, Darius Prowell, Absalom Breakspear
Pairing: Philo/Vignette
Warnings/Labels: war, and mentions/occasional depictions of associated atrocities; canon-typical fantasy racism
Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to Amazon, of course
A/N: I started this story in August 2021, and I finished the draft in 2022, so this was all written prior to the second season. So some of the worldbuilding contradicts what was shown in season 2. Still, I had so much fun re-reading this lately that I thought I’d polish it up some more and post it anyway, in case some of you will like it as well. Since it’s an AU, the plot of the second season is not that relevant anyway.


Summary: A year after the attempted assassination of Chancellor Absalom Breakspear, The Burgue is at war, and it’s not going well. In order to break the stalemate at the front, some unlikely soldiers are recruited to fight in a place nobody expected, and Philo and Jonah find themselves caught up in it against their expectations.



“Ah, Rycroft, can’t sleep?” Costin Finch asked. He sat bent over his ledgers. )

What Would Your Choice Be?

Aug. 29th, 2026 08:05 pm
yourlibrarian: Arthur in front of Camelot (MERL-ArthurCastle-andiwould)
[personal profile] yourlibrarian
1) "On July 20th, someone at the New York Times used their work email when they purchased access to our July 8th feature, “Heated Rivalry is at the Center of Fanfic’s AI Reckoning” by Kayti Burt.…a week and a half later…the Times published a story titled “When A.I. Invaded ‘Heated Rivalry’ Fan Fiction, the Meltdown Was Epic.” The author was tech reporter Emmy Martin, a name I was familiar with—she had, after all, used her work email to buy access to our piece."

The article cites an ongoing problem of larger outlets throwing their weight around:

"When I asked a group of indie outlet editors about being ripped off by the big guys, many chimed in to say they had been, citing the Times in particular. Read more... )

2) A busy two weeks with medical appointments and planning for a trip in October. On Tuesday evening got the unexpected news the complex was going to start painting the balcony railings on Thursday. They couldn't specify the order but we're at the far end of the building so I guessed correctly it might be us, and we needed to remove all the shelving and plants from the railing. Read more... )

3) I've been thinking about views rather a lot during this planning. We've decided we'll be moving to Ohio to be near my partner's family once he retires. I'd originally expected to do a Michigan trip this year but friends couldn't join me. So I decided to do a working trip to Ohio instead, and will have a fairly full schedule visiting apartments and rental communities.

I've found plenty of workable possibilities, but aside from cost (a big factor long-term given inevitable increases) the question seems to become location vs lifestyle. Read more... )

Which makes me curious what others think so here's a poll! Assuming cost wasn't a factor, what would you prioritize in a living place?

Poll #35003 Where would you live?
This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 17

How important is a good view to you in a living space?

Very important
0 (0.0%)

Somewhat important
3 (17.6%)

Desirable, but not a deal breaker
11 (64.7%)

Not very important
1 (5.9%)

Not important at all
2 (11.8%)

Which of the following would be priorities for you in a new home?

General location (part of a city, town, suburb, rural vs developed etc.)
11 (64.7%)

Neighborhood or immediate area
8 (47.1%)

Building (townhouse, house, apartment, high rise, low rise etc.)
8 (47.1%)

Parking options (might include charging stations)
4 (23.5%)

How much walking is necessary on a daily basis
2 (11.8%)

Commuting distance to work/family/friends/commitments
9 (52.9%)

Distance to groceries, pet parks, or other weekly needs
9 (52.9%)

Amount of living space
9 (52.9%)

Amount of (and kinds of) storage space
8 (47.1%)

Layout of living space (design, convenience, etc.)
8 (47.1%)

Neighborhood or complex amenities (exercise options, services, ease of deliveries etc.)
2 (11.8%)

Home amenities (laundry options, central heat/AC, ceiling fans, vinyl vs carpet etc.)
10 (58.8%)

Likely noise levels in immediate area
10 (58.8%)

Feeling of safety
10 (58.8%)

Amount of property oversight (HOA, property mgmt, maintenance, etc.)
3 (17.6%)

Something else mentioned in comments
4 (23.5%)

How important is the interior of the home compared to its immediate & wider setting?

Mean: 7.25 Median: 7 Std. Dev 1.52
Not very important 1
0 (0.0%)
2
0 (0.0%)
3
0 (0.0%)
4
1 (6.2%)
5
0 (0.0%)
6
5 (31.2%)
7
3 (18.8%)
8
3 (18.8%)
9
3 (18.8%)
Very important 10
1 (6.2%)


Poll #35004 Kudos Footer-606
This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 6

Want to leave a Kudos?

View Answers

Kudos!
6 (100.0%)



Three Fanmixes

Aug. 28th, 2026 10:29 pm
jaded_of_mara: an illustration of mara jade superimposed on the progress pride flag (Default)
[personal profile] jaded_of_mara
I made three fanmixes for [community profile] fanmixexchange  earlier this month! I love music and I love when a playlist comes together. Growing up I would burn CDs pretty often, and so I did that with one of these mixes too! If you're interested, give them a listen.

A riot grrrl Éowyn playlist for [archiveofourown.org profile] dragonofmordor 

A Eurodance Ilya Rozanov playlist for [archiveofourown.org profile] hailstormtsunami 

A rap/rock Saw Gerrera playlist for [archiveofourown.org profile] dragonofmordor 

Give them a listen if you need something to spice up your Friday night!

petra: Paul Gross in drag looking blank (Ms Fraser - Secretly Canadian)
[personal profile] petra
Paperback hero (1427 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: due South
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Benton Fraser & Francesca Vecchio, Ray Kowalski & Francesca Vecchio
Characters: Ray Kowalski, Francesca Vecchio, Benton Fraser
Additional Tags: Pseudonyms, Crack, Humor, Secret Identity, Benton Fraser Swings Both Rays
Summary:

When their favorite Canadian romance author's ironclad publishing schedule slips, Frannie and Ray are on the case.

Drabbles for donations

Aug. 28th, 2026 04:14 pm
petra: Barbara Gordon smiling knowingly (Default)
[personal profile] petra
I am still writing drabbles and poetry as donation thank-yous. Details of how to claim yours at that post.

For Amedia, who wanted Mary Bennet:

Practice makes permanent (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Mary Bennet & Mr Bennet & Mrs Bennet
Characters: Mary Bennet
Additional Tags: Music, Drabble
Summary:

Mary plays for the family.



For Ride_4ever, who wanted Headstones titles:

Nickels for your nightmares (200 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: due South
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Characters: Benton Fraser, Ray Kowalski
Additional Tags: Double Drabble, Dreams and Nightmares
Summary:

Ben wakes Ray up out of a sound sleep.



*

Long way to Neverland (200 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Slings & Arrows
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Geoffrey Tennant
Additional Tags: Double Drabble, References to Peter Pan
Summary:

Geoffrey makes a casting decision.

petra: Barbara Gordon smiling knowingly (Default)
[personal profile] petra
Dolly Parton's family asked for donations so they can give more books to small children in lieu of flowers for her. That made me weep.

The Muppets tweeted a tribute to Tim Curry, the Muppetest real dude to ever Muppet. That made me weep.

I sang William Finn's Republicans song at the top of my lungs while driving to keep from weeping in the car. (He was not in favor of them.)

Their memories will be a blessing, but damn it, the world is less sparkly.

(no subject)

Aug. 26th, 2026 12:26 am
southernmedicine: (chair)
[personal profile] southernmedicine
Gave in and started watching the new season of Ted Lasso. I forgot how this show makes me feel. See, I was trying to bank a bunch of episodes so that I could binge them, but maybe having a taste of this every week would be good for me.

I finished Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen, and have been working on both Undertone and Disclosure Day, but I can't really get into either movie so I'll probably just give up and pick a few different ones.

Almost done reading Project Hail Mary. Bought a few old books from the 60's online, by an author named Jim Kjelgaard. They're animal novels in the vein of White Fang and Call of the Wild, and they were some of my first big kid books in elementary school. At the time, of course, I had no idea how old they were, but I suppose in the 90's we'd had a few reprints by then. I'm excited to dig into those!

It just started raining, and we've got some thunder and lightning. I hope it carries on all night. I wish I didn't have to work tomorrow.

But we're having Blair's brother-in-law over for dinner tomorrow. He's house sitting for a co-worker in our town, and has been going through a rough time mentally and emotionally, so hopefully we can have a nice time and distract him for a little while.

(no subject)

Aug. 25th, 2026 12:35 am
southernmedicine: (bode blaster)
[personal profile] southernmedicine
Today I bit the bullet and got a new phone. My phone storage has been full for a long time, and I have to keep backing up and deleting photos and videos to make space for new ones. The thing is, even if I delete a TON of stuff, it barely seems to move the needle. The battery also doesn't hold a very good charge. Today, Pokemon Go needed to be updated, but I didn't have enough space to update it, despite deleting tons of photos and files and even uninstalling an app. So done.

It's an old phone. To put things into perspective, it's a Google Pixel 3.

Google is currently on Pixel 11. So it's been a minute.

Biting my nails because it's an expensive purchase and I'm hoping it'll get delivered on a day I'm home, because the mail situation can get pretty sketchy in apartment buildings like ours. But it'll be nice having a nice phone that works optimally! With twice as much storage as my current model, even!

Letter for ExSHAMEnge

Aug. 23rd, 2026 10:55 am
artemisdart: (horny bird)
[personal profile] artemisdart
Dear Fellow Creator!

This is a new exchange for me, but internalized ___-phobia is a longstanding love of mine. Make the Character feel less-than, or broken/twisted/WRONG in some way for being the way they naturally are! Make them feel like they Just Don't Fit Into Polite Society, or that their desires are Deeply Problematic! Make them refuse to grapple with their attraction until it finally rises up to swamp them in a maelstrom of poor decision making!

I love it when characters try and try and TRY their hardest to Be A Certain Way, the way they're "supposed" to be... but they just can't. I want to read about what happens when they just can't anymore.

I tend to like some Plot to my smut -- to know *why* the characters are doing what they're doing. That makes it so much more enjoyable, especially if some of those reasons may be a bit conflicted / self-serving / under duress / dubiously consensual / etc.!

Treats are enabled and welcome!

My General Likes )

My Do Not Wants )

Thoughts on My Requested Pairings )

Kinks I Like )


Thank you so much! I look forward to the delicious SHAME of it all! :)

Finished, the Smut Wars have

Aug. 23rd, 2026 10:19 am
artemisdart: (Moon)
[personal profile] artemisdart
After pushing it off until almost the last moment, I cranked out over 25,000 words to finish my two Smut Wars assignments in just about 4 days total.

Reveals will be in just about two weeks! I'm planning to go back and do some light edits -- maybe add one more erotic scene -- that sort of thing. But even if reveals happened right now, I'm happy with my output.

And I have two gifts of my own waiting for reveals as well! This time, I've decided not to "shake my gifts" to preview the works' tags. I'm going to live in blissful ignorance until reveals on September 5!

Yay Smut Wars!

Fic: Web of Fate, Chapter 14

Aug. 23rd, 2026 03:59 pm
rodo: b/w icon of vignette from carnival row (carnival row)
[personal profile] rodo
Title: Web of Fate
Fandom: Carnival Row
Author: [personal profile] rodo
Chapter: 14/17+E
Length: 4,742 words (77,000 in total)
Rating: 16+
Genre: Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Worldbuilding, Adventure
Characters: Rycroft Philostrate, Jonah Breakspear, Vignette Stonemoss, Runyan Millworthy, Darius Prowell, Absalom Breakspear
Pairing: Philo/Vignette
Warnings/Labels: war, and mentions/occasional depictions of associated atrocities; canon-typical fantasy racism
Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to Amazon, of course
A/N: I started this story in August 2021, and I finished the draft in 2022, so this was all written prior to the second season. So some of the worldbuilding contradicts what was shown in season 2. Still, I had so much fun re-reading this lately that I thought I’d polish it up some more and post it anyway, in case some of you will like it as well. Since it’s an AU, the plot of the second season is not that relevant anyway.


Summary: A year after the attempted assassination of Chancellor Absalom Breakspear, The Burgue is at war, and it’s not going well. In order to break the stalemate at the front, some unlikely soldiers are recruited to fight in a place nobody expected, and Philo and Jonah find themselves caught up in it against their expectations.



The man reclining on the bed seemed diminished, somehow. )

Unforseen

Aug. 22nd, 2026 07:52 pm
yourlibrarian: SamDeanTogetherApart-savedean (SPN-SamDeanTogetherApart-savedean)
[personal profile] yourlibrarian
1) I don't know if any of you ever watched Heroes but one of its stars, Hayden Panetierri died this week at just 36. Apparently her actor brother died 3 years ago. I also saw an article pointing out how she and Michelle Trachtenberg had co-starred in Ice Princesses years ago and now both of them died within 2 years of one another.

2) Amazon has been buying up and destroying out of print books to feed its AI programs, since these older books are guaranteed not to have AI content.

"In July, one bookseller told me they received a very large order of around 1,000 books on Biblio, one of these marketplaces. The seller agreed to put an Apple AirTag provided by 404 Media in one of the books included in this order so we could see where the book was going. And by extension, which company, AI or otherwise, was behind this massive order.

The book ended up delivered to the VGT3 corner of the LAS8 Amazon facility in the north east of Las Vegas, where the entrance carried this on-the-nose logo of a dinosaur with a book!"

3) Started watching The Shards, and it's definitely a different approach to the teen thriller. Knowing nothing about it, I was fascinated to realize it was a semi-autobiographical story by Bret Easton Ellis. The casting was particularly remarkable with its lead looking like a cross between Topher Grace and Andrew McCarthy, and the actress playing Susan really makes one think of Jami Gertz. Read more... )

4) Speaking of American psychos, As Local News Dies, White Nationalists See Opening

5) Phoebe Gates took a secret Stanford class on how to ‘rule the world’ —and reportedly recruited employees for her startup accused of wire fraud. There's some more detail on the course itself in the student paper. Perhaps it's just a binge watch of Shards, but it seems to me this is going to be a movie at some point…

Poll #34982 Kudos Footer-605
This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 6

Want to leave a Kudos?

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Kudos!
6 (100.0%)



Smut Wars progress

Aug. 20th, 2026 02:12 pm
artemisdart: (elephant)
[personal profile] artemisdart
Over the last couple of days, I've written about 11k of story for a pinch hit I picked up, and I'm relatively happy with it -- although frustrated that I didn't get more done last night. I was so very tired, so I napped after dinner, thinking it would give me more energy later... but instead, I mostly scrolled Reddit, haha. Ugh.

My fandom bestie says she requested an extension on her assignment, so I may have more time than I think! No official announcement yet, but they may be waiting until the deadline so as not to disincent people from posting.

I'm planning to hit it again tonight after martial arts class, and then again tomorrow night, and then again on Saturday morning... the deadline is 11:59 pm my time.

I still have to write my actual assignment too -- haha! 😅 Cue the "I'm in danger!" meme!

(no subject)

Aug. 19th, 2026 12:47 am
southernmedicine: (nightsister)
[personal profile] southernmedicine
Today was a pretty great day.

Slept in. Blair and I made a big breakfast with chocolate chip pecan pancakes, fried eggs and candied bacon and ate while watching some tv. There was an apartment inspection that we passed with flying colors and were told "You have a beautiful home."

Went out to the mall to find me a new pair of shoes to replace the tragic passing of my new-vintage Sketchers Shape-Ups that I discussed in a recent post, and ended up with a lovely pair of Hoka Bondi 9's, which I'm told by many are great for helping treat plantar fasciitis. Picked up a couple of goodies at Pop Con, a store that sells comics, Funko pops, backpacks, stationary, snacks, pretty much anything a good nerd loves. Got boba.

Went to the gym and had a great workout. Near the end of it, the storm outside reached a crazy peak; the electricity went out in the gym, plunging everything into darkness until the emergency lights kicked on. It was eerily quiet, which I found pretty cool. You could hear the thunder booming and the rain hammering the roof, which turned to hail for awhile. The rain was so torrential that the gym roof started to leak in some places. Driving home, we saw that electricity was out in most of the city, and none of the traffic lights were functioning. It was great fun!

When we got home, we took Velma for a long walk in the rain and returned home utterly drenched.

Showered up. Blair clocked into her work-from-home writing center gig while I went back out and brought some Subway sandwiches home for dinner.

Lazy, indulgent, intimate evening.

Blair's sleeping now and I'm catching up on some online things. Really trying to update here more. I miss being a part of the DW commmuntiy. Or, feeling like it, I guess.

I wish it would storm some more!
southernmedicine: (foliage)
[personal profile] southernmedicine
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 8


When you reach for a book, what's your preference?

View Answers

First Person POV
0 (0.0%)

Third Person POV
4 (50.0%)

Don't Care/Both! Both is good!
4 (50.0%)

I tick the box.
0 (0.0%)

Out of Sync

Aug. 17th, 2026 07:38 pm
vysila: Han & Chewie (WTF)
[personal profile] vysila
I'm feeling rather out of sync with the world right now. It's been a weird week or so since I last posted. But first, the most excellent news is that my son had zero trouble at the border crossing last week. They got a female Customs officer who was very nice, he said. A few questions and off they were waved back into the USA. He texted me immediately and I felt a lot of tension roll off my shoulders.

On Wednesday night I had an unnerving situation. I had gone to bed (this was around 10 pm) and was just scrolling through my phone to find my favorite sleepy-time podcast. Kayden was perched in the window as usual, enjoying the night view. All of a sudden he growled, leaped off the windowsill and scurried away, still growling. I rolled over in bed and saw headlights in my driveway. It took a few seconds to register. I expected the car to back up and turn around, realizing he was at a dead end. But it just sat there and then I saw movement like someone getting out of the car. What the hell? I leaped out of bed, grabbed my glasses and stood for a second, debating what to do. then I ran to the kitchen and opened the door to the garage. The garage door was all the way up and the lights were on. And... the door from garage to kitchen was unlocked. More what the hell? The car started backing out of my driveway and drove away. I did not catch a plate or really any description of the vehicle.

Very unsettling. I closed everything up and then started checking to see if anything had obviously been disturbed or was missing. As far as I know days later, nothing was disturbed. I've been going over and over this in my head ever since then. It is possible I simply left the garage door up after Lowe's delivered my new freezer, intending to go back out to check the mail, and simply forgot about it. And also, the garage door needs servicing and it's pretty loud and my bedroom window is right next to the garage door. Wouldn't I have heard it if the intruder had opened it? But what really gets me is - this is a secure gated community. We just don't have random people driving or walking through the neighborhood. We do not get door to door salespeople. Someone had to know the code to drive through the gate. I'm still feeling a bit unsettled after this event.

Yesterday I talked to the kiddo about maybe installing outside security cameras and changing the garage door code. And maybe changing the door locks. I didn't do any of that when I moved in, but now it seems like a sensible precaution.

Then several neighbors reported a coyote hunting in our neighborhood. It attacked a stray cat that was sitting on a neighbor's fence - I desperately hope it escaped to safety. Very disturbing in such an urban area that there are coyotes skulking about, but I suppose all wild creatures are being forced out of their habitats by fire or overbuilding. I don't think a coyote could get to Kayden on the porch - the wire might not hold up but the slats are too narrow for anything bigger than maybe a rabbit to get through. Kayden can't get between the slats, that's for sure. And the porch door is very study and strong. But still, I'm not comfortable if he's out after sunset.

Other small things are going on. I managed to pick enough blackberries for a second cobbler, but now I have gotten all the berries I can reach through the fence. Frustrating as there are simply massive amounts that are unharvestable.

Had some neighbors stop by Saturday afternoon just to chitchat. It was pleasant. I do so much better with just one or two people.

DIL went back to Canada on Saturday, will be returning tonight. Son came over yesterday and we spent the day together. He put up the next two art rails and I need to get my paintings displayed. He hung up another painting in the dining area and put together a shoe rack for me. We had dinner and then he shopped from Mom's pantry while his wife was absent (she really doesn't like taking 'charity'). But as I told the boy, I stocked up my pantry and freezer so fully because I want to share with them. Family is family and their budget is pretty tight.

The rest of this post is yammering about diabetes and the incredibly helpful new continuous glucose monitor. Likely quite boring to all non-diabetics.
Read more... )
And that's the state of discombobulated me these days!

Time passes ever so quickly

Aug. 17th, 2026 02:17 pm
hardtothinksometimes: (Default)
[personal profile] hardtothinksometimes

 Where had August gone? Somehow we're halfway through the month already and I feel as if I've barely blinked.

If anyone knows of a way to slow down time, please do let me know

~

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