PRIDE 4: Hardison/Eliot/Parker

Jun. 7th, 2025 03:50 pm
senmut: 3/4 view from the front side of Eliot, Parker, and Hardison (Leverage: OT3 take 2)
[personal profile] senmut
Marking Dates (531 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Leverage
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Eliot Spencer/Alec Hardison/Parker
Characters: Alec Hardison, Eliot Spencer, Parker [Leverage]
Additional Tags: Origami, Fluff
Summary:

Hardison and Eliot mark the date in a way that Parker will enjoy.



Marking Dates

The saying that money can't buy happiness had to have been thought up by a rich person, Hardison decided. He kept folding the non-sequential bills, setting up a menagerie of wild animals. After he had twenty-six of them, he put them in the box, closed it, and left it on his desk, just where the box had been for several days.

Parker had noticed it on the first day it was there, asked about it two days after that, then forgot it existed as it became part of her surroundings. It was the perfect place to hide something in plain sight — though he'd taken the precaution of spritzing it with his aftershave, to hide the money smell.

Parker was funny enough about money that she might have smelled it otherwise.

When Eliot came in that evening, Hardison caught his eyes, looked at the box, got the slow blink of agreement, and that was that.

Two days later, the box was gone, and Parker studied that space, making the cute frowny face she did while cataloguing where everything was supposed to be.

"Where'd the box go?" she asked.

"Have to find it," Eliot answered, before he and Hardison exchanged a grin. Her eyes lit up, so Hardison continued. "Scavenger hunt, in our building, out of the way spots… with things to find on the way to the box."

"What kind of things?" she asked, even as she was getting excited.

"The kind of things you like," Eliot said, and she did a tiny little clap and bounce before vanishing.

"And that, my friend, is how we say 'happy anniversary' to her," Hardison crooned, amused, and going to watch the spy-eyes through the building. Eliot joined him, putting him in a brief headlock playfully.

"Figuring out her love language wasn't so hard," Eliot said, but he was smiling when she found the first animal, right where he'd thought she would, an alligator. "How in the hell did you find an origami A to Z?"

"Man, everything is on the internet now," Hardison told him, still thrilled they'd found a gift that worked.





Parker found the last animal, cunningly folded so it appeared striped, making it a zebra, and the box was just ahead. She opened it, seeing cash — multiple currencies even! — and the note that said 'happy change together day'. Her chin wibbled, for just a moment, before she put all of her finds in the box. She'd had to back track for the otter and the shrew when she realized they were in alphabetical order, but now she had a full menagerie of money.

Her men — both of them were hers and theirs and ours — made fusses on days that weren't Christmas, but not in the way she saw other people do it. That, among many things, kept her falling in love with them every day, knowing neither one would ever push her in a path she couldn't handle.

She'd have to make a run on a store before she went back up to them; junk food for Hardison that had some pretzels in it, and she'd pick up that smelly cheese Eliot had insisted would make great brioche grilled cheese sandwiches.

2025 Writing Log, Part 22

Jun. 7th, 2025 08:10 am
rynling: (Mog Toast)
[personal profile] rynling
Read more... )

These days, the Italian Market district of Philadelphia is primarily Latin American, and I go there all the time to eat. This week I tried a slightly fancier seafood specialty restaurant called Blue Corn (their Instagram is here), and it was so fucking good. I’m not opposed to the idea of moving to Europe, but there are many benefits to living in the United States.

Fandom50: #15

Jun. 6th, 2025 07:46 pm
senmut: Screen shot of Mikaela dirty in the end of '07 TF, Warrior Goddess in blue above and below (Transformers: Mikaela)
[personal profile] senmut
Almost the end of a decade in 1989. Revolutions, crackdowns, changes in power ... look, 1989 left a mark on my psyche. Evidently I was escaping into the cinema as much as I was to the roller rink, judging from me opening 20 tabs even with me being picky. Going to narrow that down some. Okay, 11 in the final cut.

kinda grouped in genre broadly )
piratequeen: From the game Dragon Age, Alistair (Dragon Age: Alistair)
[personal profile] piratequeen
The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin by Alison Goodman

[Goodreads | Storygraph]

4 / 5 stars

More under the cut )

Catch-Up Book Post

Jun. 5th, 2025 12:52 pm
queenlua: (Default)
[personal profile] queenlua
Been a while since I bookblogged here, huh? This isn't EVERYTHING, but this post already took me fucking hours to type up, so, let's get into it—

Jhereg by Steven Brust
Mickey7 by Ashton Edward


Both of these books were romps, though the former is the more compelling overall package.

Jhereg )

Mickey7 )

That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation by David Bentley Hart (DNF, 48%)
Honest to God by John A.T. Robinson (DNF, 54%)
Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thích Nhất Hạnh (DNF, 24%)
Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N.T. Wright


Look, to tip my hand, I'm in the (very!) early phase of writing a weird fantasy/historical/pastiche-y novel that dares to ask questions like "damn what was it like to be The Greatest Haterliest Poaster Of All Time" and also "what if Martin Luther was a chick" and "what if Martin Luther was two people instead of one" and "what if those people kissed failed to kiss" and "what if Martin Luther were a radical pacifist on top of all the other crazy shit he was doing" and "what if sacred music was actually efficacious and had geopolitical implications" and so on. I blame Lyndal Roper specifically for presenting a portrait of Martin Luther so vivid and intriguing that I could not help but go patently insane over him thereafter.

The logical next step for researching such a novel would be to read up on the theology and history of that period, because even if I'm VERY heavy on the pastiche aspects, it's nice to understand the historical context and some contemporaneous sources/writings for the period of history I'm interested in, if only for riffing purposes, yaknow.

Alas, however, I'm a magpie with no self-control, and thus easily beguiled by Every Other Book I Trip Over On The Way To The Stuff I Should Actually Be Reading, which is how I wound up with this grab-bag of rather more contemporary theology.

All of which I am entirely unqualified to properly evaluate, to be clear, as someone who's variously identified as "Southern Baptist," "Christian agnostic," "deist," "Quaker," "neopagan," "animist," and "some weird woo bullshit syncretic thing ig, sorry it's cringe I know" at various points in my life. But that sure won't stop me from prattling about 'em on my blog.

That All Shall Be Saved )

Honest to God )

Living Buddha, Living Christ )

Surprised By Hope )

Aside: all of these books felt pretty repetitive. Something to do with the genre, I guess? No way to theology-y people to feel like they've gotten your point across without restating it three different ways? IDK.

ANYWAY. I should probably quit dicking around with these books for a bit, since, y'know, novel. I gotta read more Martin Luther himself and also probably some John Calvin. (Alas this means my copy of Kosuke Koyama's Five Mile an Hour God will likely remain mostly-unread on my shelf. Did I mention I'm a magpie. Books pile up in my home whenever I get on a weird pseudo-reasearch-y kick, and I am blessed with an indulgent partner who just keeps buying me more bookshelves instead of telling me to cut it the hell out, which is very sweet of him, but also I could really use someone to stop me before I commit more Irresponsible Spending Crimes... though I saw someone the other day comparing book-buying to wine-buying, e.g. hey it's valid and normal to let some of them age in the cellar & have more than you'll be able to drink; you want to have good wine when the time is right! and UNFORTUNATELY this is very effective for allowing me to continue in my profligate ways. RIP me.)

...okay yeah I couldn't find any way to fit Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik into all of this. Spinning Silver was very good, but I don't have much to say! The primary romance was a total nothingburger, but that's fine because mostly the book is about Miryem girlbossing her way through Rumpelstiltskin and that shit totally rules. I would like to read several more books about moneylenders Being Incredibly Good At Their Job. The book gets a bit bloated and flabbier as it goes along (though the parts with secondary-girlboss Irina and horrible little man Mirnatius can stay; those bits were great) but never enough to knock it down from the "very good" tier. Fairytale retellings aren't normally my thing but this one was solid.

PRIDE 3: Jareth/Nick Knight

Jun. 5th, 2025 11:18 am
senmut: Pixelated image in sepia tones of Jareth and Sarah (Labyrinth: Jareth and sarah in Sepia)
[personal profile] senmut
Stranger to the Ball (498 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forever Knight, Labyrinth
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Nicholas "Nick" Knight, Jareth [Labyrinth]
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Attempted Seduction
Summary:

Jareth spots new prey



Stranger to the Ball

Jareth smiles as he sees the stranger. It's not often that one of them wanders into the spaces between worlds. Still, they can be interesting in their own ways, if they are not too lost in the ennui of living so long.

Living, for certain values thereof, Jareth amends in his mind.

He maneuvers his way in that direction, watching the stranger take in all of the oddities of the ball's participants. Masks that are cunningly crafted to deliver only a facet of the wearer's personality are works of art, some reeking of the arcane energies invested in them. Others do little to hide the person behind it, much as his own registers as regal and capricious.

A flick of his hand, and Jareth sees to the man's garb, turning it from passable nobility to proper formality and frivolity, the crimson threads shot through the dark cloth with sinister flair.

His guest doesn't notice at first, and Jareth is annoyed, wondering which of his court lured the man in. Yet then the change is appreciated, seen in the mirrored column betwixt dancers. His lovely red-headed courtier seems intent on interception, and he snaps a small stinging swat at her with his magic, forcing her to move on.

"And what, my lonesome wolf, brings such as you to my demesnes?" he asks as he steps into the man's field of vision, setting the mask on its baton to one side, smiling at his most charming.

"I… do not know. I followed a girl…" Already the effect of the court is pressing on the stranger, and Jareth feels a surge of giddy pleasure in the idea of keeping this one for a time.

"There are plenty of women present, but surely, having been led astray by the fairer sex, some time in more masculine company might be preferred?" Jareth invites. "Call me Jareth," he says easily, enjoying the way the man licks at his lips unconsciously.

"Nicki," the stranger gives. "Nicolas de Brabant."

Jareth felt the compulsion of his court pull the full name forth, sees the small frown for having given it, and he reaches with his free hand to stroke the cheek of his interesting distraction.

"This place is unlike any you have seen, and you may enjoy yourself… even to you nature, darling Nikki," Jareth croons at him, before vanishing his mask away, freeing his hands. "A night of dance among those who are not as the mortals you dally among, hmm? Perhaps… with more private dances after?"

His temptations linger, darkening the eyes, before the man tries to deny himself, to find a way out.

For now, Jareth lets him go, but he saw the desire, for that moment, and knows he will find his prey in time.

Perhaps he will deign to dally among mortals to find this Nicki, watching the vampire be caught in several dancers' hands on his way to finding the exit.

"Your hungers could match mine, if you freed them fully."

Daily Check In

Jun. 4th, 2025 09:23 pm
senmut: Yusef looking back over shoulder, book open in lap (TOG: Yusef)
[personal profile] senmut
*\o/* Word Count Step Count Headache?
Daily 1,059 9,485 no
Monthly 5,218 38,017 1 days

Daily Check In

Jun. 3rd, 2025 11:30 pm
senmut: Scarlett with crossbow in air, face on (G I Joe: Scarlett)
[personal profile] senmut
*\o/* Word Count Step Count Headache?
Daily 1,101 7,191 no
Monthly 4,159 28,532 1 days

"What's In A Scene" signpost

Jun. 3rd, 2025 05:26 pm
queenlua: (Default)
[personal profile] queenlua
[personal profile] lavendre has a fun post up, where they've done a dissection of A Scene From Fiction That Resonated™, to try and pick apart the why/how of said resonance works

and that's such a fun idea that i'm vaguely gesturing that other dreamwidth ppl should try it out, so i can read more good posts :P

I WILL PROBABLY DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS MYSELF, TOO, just... i'm somewhat distracted atm... so all i can do now is gesture that "hi i'm gonna do this and you should too"

off the top of my head, some scenes that i think i'd personally probably find fun to write up:
* the Christmas party in Yukio Mishima's The Decay of the Angel
* the "Time Passes" chapter in To the Lighthouse
* the "You are tiring yourself, Joseph" bit in The Glass Bead Game
* any of a number of scenes from Black Leopard, Red Wolf, which i've read more recently than all these and found more puzzling so that's probably the juiciest candidate. ("hey Lua if you've read that one recently then where's the book post about it" shut up)

anyway yeah happy monday everybody

PRIDE 2: Tai/F'lessan

Jun. 3rd, 2025 05:47 pm
senmut: Ramoth and Mnementh's mating flight (Pern: Dragons Mating)
[personal profile] senmut
Outside the Flight (350 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dragonriders of Pern
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: F'lessan/Tai [Dragonriders of Pern]
Characters: F'lessan [Dragonriders of Pern], Tai [Dragonriders of Pern]
Additional Tags: Established Relationships, Asexuality
Summary:

F'lessan and Tai talk about it.



Outside the Flight

F'lessan reached, and at the flinch, drew his hand back.

"Tai?"

She rolled over, eyes full of sorrow.

"Shh," he immediately said to the look, hating that she looked upset. "Can I just hold you?"

At that, she scooted over on the bed, and he settled on his back, to keep stress off his bad leg.

"I know Zaranth and Golanth are… involved," she said softly. "I… don't feel it. Like when she rises, and eventually it does break through to me."

He nodded, then kissed her hair. "I love you. Not your body. And… sometimes I think even if those other riders had been careful, it would be like that for you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Your passion, it's in the books, the stars, in doing all we can to be ready for what the skies throw at us," he continued. "I don't want you afraid to share our bed. I don't want you to think that just because our dragons are doing things, that we have to."

She pushed up on her elbow to look at his face seriously. "You enjoy it."

"But I enjoy you feeling safe and comfortable more," he said, not denying it. There was a reason he had at least three kids scattered across Pern already. "I love you, Tai. Just as you are."

"I feel unnatural, to not want to be like that," she admitted softly. "It was easier, blaming it on how the flights made those riders. But … I know it's not like that, and yet I still don't… want to."

He pushed up enough to brush a kiss across her cheek. "Cuddling is fine? Little kisses? Just sitting or lying near?"

"Yes?"

"Then that's what you have my promise to share with you," he said, coaxing her to lay back against his shoulder.

She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply, and then let it out slowly. "I'm not a freak?"

"No. You just have more in common with my best friend's dragon than anyone else on this planet."

She giggled, to be compared to Ruth, as fabulous as he was. "I love you too."

Mail Call!

Jun. 3rd, 2025 03:49 pm
senmut: two lynxes butting heads, side shot (General: Lynx Love)
[personal profile] senmut
[personal profile] sweettartheart, that card is a delight. Thank you.

Daily Check In

Jun. 2nd, 2025 09:43 pm
senmut: 3-dimensional music clef and staff with notes as bleachers (General: Music 1)
[personal profile] senmut
*\o/* Word Count Step Count Headache?
Daily 1,279 10,210 no
Monthly 3,058 21,341 1 days
piratequeen: From the game World of Warcraft, a druid in tree form "hug a tree" (Hug a tree druid)
[personal profile] piratequeen
Behooved by M. Stevenson

[Goodreads | Storygraph]

3 / 5 stars

More under the cut )

Re: Flesh, Blood, & Concrete

Jun. 2nd, 2025 07:49 am
rynling: (Gators)
[personal profile] rynling
It feels stupid to say this, but I hope everyone in Russia is doing okay. I hope everyone in Ukraine is doing okay too, obviously. As okay as they can be.

As an American, I don't have any moral high ground. Still, I definitely know what it feels like to be held hostage by an insane government. For Pride Month this year, I would like to wish all populist dictators a very [redacted].

Flesh, Blood, & Concrete

Jun. 2nd, 2025 07:42 am
rynling: (Default)
[personal profile] rynling
Flesh, Blood, & Concrete
https://waxwing0.itch.io/fbc

Flesh, Blood, & Concrete is a free-to-play RPG Maker adventure game that bills itself as “an apartment building exploration simulator.” During its 45-minute playtime, the game delves into themes of isolation, mental illness, and existential dread within the confines of a decaying apartment complex.

Read more... )

As an aside, I was just thinking that I’d love to see more games set in Eastern Europe. Flesh, Blood, & Concrete is a universal story, but the specificity of the game’s Russian setting adds a unique and interesting flavor. I also appreciate that this “apartment exploration simulator” takes the darker aspects of mental illness seriously but still delights in the playfulness of its morbid style of creative expression. It's one of the more intriguing RPG Maker horror games I’ve encountered, and I’d recommend giving it a shot if you can handle the (literal) viscerality of its imagery.

Daily Check In

Jun. 1st, 2025 08:59 pm
senmut: modern style black canary on right in front of modern style deathstroke (Comics: OTPoW 2)
[personal profile] senmut
*\o/* Word Count Step Count Headache?
Daily 1,779 10,699 yes
Monthly 1,779 10,669 1 days

Various Links 5/26 - 6/1

Jun. 1st, 2025 08:51 pm
senmut: a game control framed by lines, says games (General: Games)
[personal profile] senmut
I seem to have been collecting more links than usual this week. In my defense, between headache, potential ulcer, and sheer stress, I have had little writing inspiration.

20 links )

PRIDE 1: Moreta/Nerilka

Jun. 1st, 2025 03:14 pm
senmut: Ramoth and Mnementh's mating flight (Pern: Dragons Mating)
[personal profile] senmut
Last Fall (Future Promises) (545 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dragonriders of Pern
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Moreta/Nerilka [Dragonriders of Pern]
Characters: Moreta [Dragonriders of Pern], Nerilka [Dragonriders of Pern]
Additional Tags: Background Polyamory, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Pride
Summary:

Last Fall is over Ruatha, so Moreta brings the official word to the Lady who has slipped into her heart.



Last Fall (Future Promises)

Orlith back-winged delicately on the courtyard, followed by Hannath and Nabeth. Their draconic jubilation was shining in blue-green faceted eyes as all three riders started unbuckling their riding straps to get down and greet the Lady of the Hold and those that were waiting with supplies to aid the end of flight.

"Lord Alessan is still out with crews?" B'lerion asked.

"Of course!" Nerilka called back, before pushing klah into Moreta's hands, having reached her swiftly.

"I am pleased to report, Lady Nerilka," the Fort Weyrwoman began, "that the lands are clear, and this should be the final Fall of the Pass."

A ringing cheer went up from the drudges and other staff that had followed their beloved Lady out to tend the trio.

Nerilka's hands were still around Moreta's gloved ones. "We are grateful for the reassurance," she said warmly, looking up with adoration at the older woman. "And extend our invitation to come visit, once the Weyr is certain."

"I'll pass that on to all parties," she said, her own eyes locked on Nerilka's face. She could hear Oklina and B'lerion briefing Tuero on which areas might have injured crews coming back — far fewer than some Falls, by the egg! — even as she was looking forward to a true Rest Day spent here.

"Though I am sure K'lon will spend more time at Igen," Nerilka said with a smile. "We don't want to keep you; I know you usually tend the wounded with my sister over there."

"So we do, but the weyr-healer has been handling what is needed today; Orlith listens for me," Moreta promised, sipping the klah gratefully. "Sh'gall was handling personally informing your Holder at Ruatha River Hold; the clumping is always worse near rivers and seas."

The words were a necessary courtesy, but Sh'gall did not come to Ruatha if he had reason to be elsewhere, even if he had mellowed with Moreta choosing to let him Lead through the end of Pass. He was even more uncomfortable with her choices for companionship than with his blue and green mated pairs.

"I'll have your rooms aired soon," Nerilka said far more quietly as Moreta finished the klah. Orlith's croon still made Nerilka blush a little, even so many years after coming to the startling awareness that they suited one another.

"I'll pass word before I come; I have invitations from all the major and minor holds, some not even beholden to Fort!" Moreta's laughter was contagious, and Nerilka was so glad of that.

How far they all had come since their trials eight Turns prior.

"Save the best for last," Nerilka had the temerity to say, taking the mug back so Moreta could mount again.

"Duty, so pleasure can linger."

That heightened the blush, and Tuero bit his tongue as he joined her, so that he didn't tease her too hard.

It was known, in Ruatha's main hold, that the Weyrwoman visited often, and why, but not a breath was whispered elsewhere. This was theirs, much as it was their Lady's, to have the heroine of all Pern so tied to them.

In minutes, all three riders were strapped in, their dragons leaping for the Thread-cleared skies and winking out, their final duty to Pern done for this generation.

Re: 2025 Writing Log, Part 21

Jun. 1st, 2025 07:43 am
rynling: (Gators)
[personal profile] rynling
My "fun references for Ganondorf" are all this sort of thing btw:

Read more... )

If Ganondorf is not serving cunt then what's he even doing in your game. I mean honestly.

Daily Check In

May. 31st, 2025 10:32 pm
senmut: Old house in the woods (Scenic: Old House)
[personal profile] senmut
*\o/* Word Count Step Count Headache?
Daily 938 10,279 yes
Monthly 20,012 299,454 10 days


So the headaches were out of control at 1/3rd of the month.
Steps: Goal 8000/day average - 9660 averaged
Words: Goal 500/day average - 646 averaged

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