Bits and pieces, catching up
Feb. 23rd, 2026 04:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mificI've been busy lately with several things on the go - doing HR art for the ICE OUT donations challenge, recording a long SGA podfic for the Podfic Big Bang (And Hope by Sihaya Black), and trying to fit in recording a couple of shorter ones for Romancing McShep and Romancing SGA, as well. Oof. Plus a lot of HR fic reading. I've accepted that it's impossible to keep up in any meaningful sense, and just surf along reading stuff I see reccd or authors I know I like a lot, and the few WIPs I'm following. Eventually I guess I'll catch up with numerous gems in the fandom that I missed in this avalanche of new fics, many of them extremely good.
In terms of reading very good authors, I had an exceptionally obsessive episode today where I started a story by one of my fave HR writers and couldn't read it. Because (unlike in ALL their other fics) they'd chosen to do all the Ilya POV narration in Ilya-speak, with most of the articles dropped. Russian doesn't have separate articles, I gather, because the distinction between "a ball" & "the ball" is done with word order - which is why in English, Russians often drop their articles. An example:
1. Девушка читает книгу. (The girl is reading a book)
2. Книгу читает девушка. (The girl is reading the book)
In both sentences, the meaning is nearly the same. However, in Sentence 2, the placement of “книгу” (book) at the beginning, before “девушка” (girl), highlights the importance of the book and implies a specific book.
The parts of the fic where it was Ilya's dialogue were fine because that portrays his actual speech, but the narrative (for me) is his thoughts (internal narration) in tight 3rd POV and there's NO WAY he'd be dropping "articles" in his thinking in Russian. It made him seem stupid, which he very much isn't, and I couldn't bear to read it. So I just now copied it into Word and betaed it, adding back in all the articles from his narrative POV parts. If you recognise the fic, hit me up in a DM and I'll share the edited version. It's a bloody good fic otherwise, 9000 words.
Life's been quiet apart from reccing, writing, arting and podficcing, and I'm looking forward to a dinner out with friends this Wednesday. Also enjoying sweet corn, and the start of the stone fruit season, with gorgeous nectarines. My garden is blowsy and straggly now, in late summer, and I need to take some time (ha!) to trim it back a bit. It's still warm here, about 22-24 degC highs, usually, and drier of late so I'm still watering the entire garden by hand every 3 days.
One bloody annoying thing that happened was that my credit card was hacked back at the end of January (picked up via notifications coming up on my phone from my banking app asking me to approve a bunch of things I hadn't bought). Luckily all smallish purchases (kids? An unambitious thief, anyway) and I think the bank will refund them. But that meant cancelling that card and them mailing me another (a process I last went through several months ago). And then the mailed card never arrived (presumed stolen from my letterbox) and I got another couple of false transactions on the new card that I hadn't even seen yet! So yet another card cancellation and this time I got it mailed to my bank. I was very glad that after the last debacle several months ago I'd arranged a second credit card via my other bank (I have accounts at 2 banks for reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture).
Anyway, in terms of recs:
- I'm reading all Evilharlowe's HR works on AO3 - they really are a fantastic writer.
- Happened on a great short edit that sets Shane and Ilya's tuna melt hiatus to a Chappel Roan song (The Subway - amazing song) - heartrending edit, very well done, but man, I wish it were a full-sized fanvid.
- Bringing to your attention this workout video by Hudson Williams. Leg day and his skincare routine are really paying off! (CN for casual mentions of eating extreme diets or 'not eating' to make his body fit acting roles. Which is worrying but probably routine for actors.)
- there's a LOT of HR podfic by now and every day there are 1 or 2 new ones. It's a great way to revisit fics I read and loved while I do art. For example,cathexys podficced Magneticwave's Clear to a Hedgehog. This link gets you HR podfic on AO3.
Enough for now. Waving at you all - hope things are going as well as they can.! 💗
In terms of reading very good authors, I had an exceptionally obsessive episode today where I started a story by one of my fave HR writers and couldn't read it. Because (unlike in ALL their other fics) they'd chosen to do all the Ilya POV narration in Ilya-speak, with most of the articles dropped. Russian doesn't have separate articles, I gather, because the distinction between "a ball" & "the ball" is done with word order - which is why in English, Russians often drop their articles. An example:
1. Девушка читает книгу. (The girl is reading a book)
2. Книгу читает девушка. (The girl is reading the book)
In both sentences, the meaning is nearly the same. However, in Sentence 2, the placement of “книгу” (book) at the beginning, before “девушка” (girl), highlights the importance of the book and implies a specific book.
The parts of the fic where it was Ilya's dialogue were fine because that portrays his actual speech, but the narrative (for me) is his thoughts (internal narration) in tight 3rd POV and there's NO WAY he'd be dropping "articles" in his thinking in Russian. It made him seem stupid, which he very much isn't, and I couldn't bear to read it. So I just now copied it into Word and betaed it, adding back in all the articles from his narrative POV parts. If you recognise the fic, hit me up in a DM and I'll share the edited version. It's a bloody good fic otherwise, 9000 words.
Life's been quiet apart from reccing, writing, arting and podficcing, and I'm looking forward to a dinner out with friends this Wednesday. Also enjoying sweet corn, and the start of the stone fruit season, with gorgeous nectarines. My garden is blowsy and straggly now, in late summer, and I need to take some time (ha!) to trim it back a bit. It's still warm here, about 22-24 degC highs, usually, and drier of late so I'm still watering the entire garden by hand every 3 days.
One bloody annoying thing that happened was that my credit card was hacked back at the end of January (picked up via notifications coming up on my phone from my banking app asking me to approve a bunch of things I hadn't bought). Luckily all smallish purchases (kids? An unambitious thief, anyway) and I think the bank will refund them. But that meant cancelling that card and them mailing me another (a process I last went through several months ago). And then the mailed card never arrived (presumed stolen from my letterbox) and I got another couple of false transactions on the new card that I hadn't even seen yet! So yet another card cancellation and this time I got it mailed to my bank. I was very glad that after the last debacle several months ago I'd arranged a second credit card via my other bank (I have accounts at 2 banks for reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture).
Anyway, in terms of recs:
- I'm reading all Evilharlowe's HR works on AO3 - they really are a fantastic writer.
- Happened on a great short edit that sets Shane and Ilya's tuna melt hiatus to a Chappel Roan song (The Subway - amazing song) - heartrending edit, very well done, but man, I wish it were a full-sized fanvid.
- Bringing to your attention this workout video by Hudson Williams. Leg day and his skincare routine are really paying off! (CN for casual mentions of eating extreme diets or 'not eating' to make his body fit acting roles. Which is worrying but probably routine for actors.)
- there's a LOT of HR podfic by now and every day there are 1 or 2 new ones. It's a great way to revisit fics I read and loved while I do art. For example,
cathexys podficced Magneticwave's Clear to a Hedgehog. This link gets you HR podfic on AO3.Enough for now. Waving at you all - hope things are going as well as they can.! 💗
Ficlet: Incredibly Annoying (Batman, Stephanie centric)
Feb. 22nd, 2026 09:42 pmrivulet027Title: Incredibly Annoying
Fandom: Batman
Characters/Pairings: Stephanie Brown, Jonathan Samuel Kent, Damian Wayne, Jason Todd
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with DC. It's not my toy box and I'm merely playing.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Stephanie wakes up to a riddle.
A/N: Written for the![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fan_flashworks prompt riddle on Dreamwidth way back in 09/25 because I am way behind on crossposting!
( Incredibly Annoying )
Fandom: Batman
Characters/Pairings: Stephanie Brown, Jonathan Samuel Kent, Damian Wayne, Jason Todd
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with DC. It's not my toy box and I'm merely playing.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Stephanie wakes up to a riddle.
A/N: Written for the
fan_flashworks prompt riddle on Dreamwidth way back in 09/25 because I am way behind on crossposting!( Incredibly Annoying )
Fic: Acquisition (Leverage, Alec/Parker/Eliot)
Feb. 22nd, 2026 04:27 pmrivulet027Title: Acquisition
Fandom: Leverage
Characters/Pairings: Alec/Parker/Eliot
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Leverage. It's not my toy box and I'm merely playing.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A kitten adopts Eliot.
A/N: Written for Butterfly for the 2024holly_poly.
( Acquisition )
Fandom: Leverage
Characters/Pairings: Alec/Parker/Eliot
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Leverage. It's not my toy box and I'm merely playing.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A kitten adopts Eliot.
A/N: Written for Butterfly for the 2024
holly_poly.( Acquisition )
Price of Salt and Open Borders
Feb. 22nd, 2026 05:41 pmalobearThe Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith is a 1952 novel about a young woman named Therese who falls in love with an older woman named Carol.
I have to admit, I struggled quite a lot with this book... All the conversations felt very stilted and unnatural and it was pretty boring.
I also found Therese very frustrating as a protagonist as all her relationships seemed quite problematic and I wished she would stand up for herself more.
But then, she was only 19 and it was 1952...
The last ten pages were a lot more gripping, with many twists and turns going on in Therese's head, as she considered her various options - but none of them felt like good ones to me, so I was going to be dissatisfied with whatever she picked - and I was.
Disappointing.
Open Borders by Bryan Caplan and Zach Weinersmith is a comic book all about immigration, looking at all the various arguments against it and refuting them with stats and science.
I like the graphic format as a way to present nonfiction, but I didn't feel like it was executed as well as it could have been here. The text was basically a very dense essay, chopped up into little bits with accompanying pictures, when it could have been done in a much more dynamic, narrative style that would have made it a lot easier to digest and retain.
However, I learned some interesting things - and it's definitely all even more relevant now than when it was published in 2019.
I have to admit, I struggled quite a lot with this book... All the conversations felt very stilted and unnatural and it was pretty boring.
I also found Therese very frustrating as a protagonist as all her relationships seemed quite problematic and I wished she would stand up for herself more.
But then, she was only 19 and it was 1952...
The last ten pages were a lot more gripping, with many twists and turns going on in Therese's head, as she considered her various options - but none of them felt like good ones to me, so I was going to be dissatisfied with whatever she picked - and I was.
Disappointing.
Open Borders by Bryan Caplan and Zach Weinersmith is a comic book all about immigration, looking at all the various arguments against it and refuting them with stats and science.
I like the graphic format as a way to present nonfiction, but I didn't feel like it was executed as well as it could have been here. The text was basically a very dense essay, chopped up into little bits with accompanying pictures, when it could have been done in a much more dynamic, narrative style that would have made it a lot easier to digest and retain.
However, I learned some interesting things - and it's definitely all even more relevant now than when it was published in 2019.
Good Omens Bingo Card
Feb. 22nd, 2026 06:43 pmmagnavox_23I've not gone down a particularly deep rabbit hole with season 3. it may be unexpected, it may be exactly what we're all imagining it to be. Who knows, variables, etc... Glad I have finally gotten to this with a mere 80 days to spare! Some of these I believe more than others, but an entire 24 spaces to fill is... formidable. *g* These may be subject to change with future data/spoilers/Sheen blabs... <3
I've also made a blank version of this layout if it is anyone's cup of tea.
(font credit is 'awakening' by Brittney Murphy designs)
(click to embiggen)
I've also made a blank version of this layout if it is anyone's cup of tea.
(font credit is 'awakening' by Brittney Murphy designs)
(click to embiggen)
Gardens, Greenhouses, Getaways
Feb. 19th, 2026 04:04 pmalobearThe Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng was supposed to be my reread for February, but I gave up on it after about 35 pages, because I decided I didn't want to read a story that combined war atrocities with characters experiencing mental decline...
Beautifully written but just not what I want in my life right now.
The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst is the follow-up to The Spellshop, which I loved. It's set in the same world, and touches on the story of the first book tangentially, tracking the character who created the sentient spider plant, Kaz, who is a main character in The Spellshop.
I listened to the audiobook, which may have been a mistake, since the narrator was extremely perky, exacerbated by my previous audiobook have a very flat narrator. A lot of the characters were given over-the-top voices, as well, which made them seem like caricatures rather than real characters. In contrast, the love interest was very quiet and almost dour, which made it harder for me to like him.
It was a fun story about found family banding together to protect something beautiful - which is exactly what I was looking for, but it didn't really land for me and the central romance didn't feel earned.
I liked the ultimate conclusion and enjoyed it overall but it was just okay.
Our Holiday by Louise Candlish kept me gripped over the course of a weekend involving several long train journeys. It's about locals in a touristy village getting annoyed by holiday homeowners leaving their summer homes empty most of the year when there's a housing crisis for year-round residents. There are viewpoint characters from both sides of the conflict but none of them are remotely likeable. So the book did a good job of keeping my interest, hinting at various secrets to be revealed throughout and providing enough twists and turns and misdirections to keep me guessing. Not one that will stay with me but an entertaining read.
Beautifully written but just not what I want in my life right now.
The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst is the follow-up to The Spellshop, which I loved. It's set in the same world, and touches on the story of the first book tangentially, tracking the character who created the sentient spider plant, Kaz, who is a main character in The Spellshop.
I listened to the audiobook, which may have been a mistake, since the narrator was extremely perky, exacerbated by my previous audiobook have a very flat narrator. A lot of the characters were given over-the-top voices, as well, which made them seem like caricatures rather than real characters. In contrast, the love interest was very quiet and almost dour, which made it harder for me to like him.
It was a fun story about found family banding together to protect something beautiful - which is exactly what I was looking for, but it didn't really land for me and the central romance didn't feel earned.
I liked the ultimate conclusion and enjoyed it overall but it was just okay.
Our Holiday by Louise Candlish kept me gripped over the course of a weekend involving several long train journeys. It's about locals in a touristy village getting annoyed by holiday homeowners leaving their summer homes empty most of the year when there's a housing crisis for year-round residents. There are viewpoint characters from both sides of the conflict but none of them are remotely likeable. So the book did a good job of keeping my interest, hinting at various secrets to be revealed throughout and providing enough twists and turns and misdirections to keep me guessing. Not one that will stay with me but an entertaining read.
I wrote another HR fic
Feb. 20th, 2026 01:18 ammificHeated Rivalry is a difficult fandom to write in, as there's an intimidating amount of incredible fic!
I finished this a week ago, then vacillated about posting it after reading other stories by far more skilled writers, but I just finished the final edit and hit post, on the principle of "MORE CAKE!"
It's my attempt at writing something a bit like sex pollen in HR. Weird tropes are a lot easier in Stargate, where they're either already in canon, or can be explained away by alien tech and alien plants!
when you have to go there - about 13,000 words, Ilya/Shane, Ilya's POV.
I finished this a week ago, then vacillated about posting it after reading other stories by far more skilled writers, but I just finished the final edit and hit post, on the principle of "MORE CAKE!"
It's my attempt at writing something a bit like sex pollen in HR. Weird tropes are a lot easier in Stargate, where they're either already in canon, or can be explained away by alien tech and alien plants!
when you have to go there - about 13,000 words, Ilya/Shane, Ilya's POV.
