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Theme Prompt: #287 - Hot Water
Title: Fanning the Flame
Fandom: Avatar (Cameron movies)
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1000
Summary: Varang seeks a sign. Pre-canon.

( Fanning the Flame )

I started learning Chinese in the Arisia registration line seven years ago this weekend. I gave myself five years to figure out how hard it would be, and another five to be able to use it. By the end of this year, I'll be more than halfway through the second five years.

I'm pretty sure I'll spend the rest of my life learning Chinese. It's more than a language to me; it's a fundamentally different way of looking at the universe. At the end of the day we're all more alike than different, and I care a lot about the stories we tell. Language is a filter and a tool that lets us share each other's perspectives.

Chinese storytelling is different from English storytelling in part because it's based on different assumptions about why we're here, where "here" even is, what happens before and after this life, and who and what we share it with.

Experiencing this is like sneaking a whole second life into my time here on Earth. So efficient. So exciting.

In conclusion,
♥ Today is "one day," and there's no guarantee of another one like it.

♥ Do what you want to get good at: it's the best practice and great motivation. Plus you get to do the thing, why wait?

♥ As Marci says, "five years" is going to pass anyway. Let's make them interesting.

( notes from Arisia 2019: 'writing outside your comfort zone' )

Study explains longstanding mystery of why trees don't grow faster when CO2 levels are high

The authors are clear that their framework is a foundation, not a finish line. It explains a big, stubborn piece of the puzzle – the coupling of CO2 gain to water loss – and does so at the leaf-to-tree scale where decisions are made.

The next challenge is scaling those decisions up into regional and global climate models without smoothing away the very dynamics that matter.

( Read more... )

Since I am behind on Snowflake Challenge posts, one of my goals for today is to catch up. (Along with cleaning my desk, finishing paying the bills that are due before my next paycheck, scanning and shredding old paperwork, catching up my book journal, and a few other administrative tasks leading up to my retirement in twelve to fifteen months.)

Challenge #6

Top 10 Challenge.

My Top Ten Movies...as of today and in no particular order and subject to change without notice or as I remember different movies.

1. Independence Day. This is my go-to movie when I'm out of sorts in one way or another. And, of course, I have to watch it in July. I generally watch it three or four times a year.

2. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. This is my favorite of the Mission Impossible movies (though I have not yet seen the last one; I meant to actually go see it at the cinema and completely missed it because it came out around the time I went out of town for my vacation). I just like the whole ensemble cast. None of them are realistic, of course, but this one feels somewhat more grounded than some of the others. Maybe it's just because I've seen it so many times. This is another one I watch multiple times a year.

3. Sense and Sensibility (the version with Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman). At the complete other end of the spectrum, I love this movie. I love the Dashwood sisters. I love Colonel Brandon. Love, love, love, love, love.

4. Persuasion (the Amanda Root/Ciaran Hinds version). This one is so sad, but it ends so well. I also actually love the Netflix version for its sauciness and fourth-wall breaks.

5. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Possibly my favorite of the Star Trek films, because it's goofy. The Wrath of Khan is amazing and I loved it when it came out. But I've always prefered the sillier Star Trek episodes, and this provided a much-needed moment of levity.

6. Dante's Peak. I love Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton in this. And the whole ensemble of geologists.

7. Love Actually. Nothing like a good Christmas move.

8. Avengers. I love this one because everything was still mostly sunny when it ended. The MCU got grimmer as time went on. I liked it brighter.

9. Back to the Future. When I was a teenager, I worked at a movie theater. This movie played for the first six months I worked there. I saw it 11 times.

10. Labyrinth / The Dark Crystal / Legend. The fantasy triple-feature of my high school/early college years.

---

Challenge #7

LIST THREE (or more) THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF.

Hmmm.

1. My hair, even though it started turning grey more than twenty years ago. I didn't really choose to stop coloring it -- the pandemic did that for me, but I was always going to stop at some point, anyway, and now I'm used to it. It is thick and long (very nearly to my waist) and I can wear it up or loose or somewhere in between.

2. I can read a map.

3. I have a really big book collection.

I saw orcas! A whole pod! Fingers crossed they're still here tomorrow so I can see them in the daylight. They were still beautiful in the pitch black and so close to the boat *_*

The Pitt: I’ve caught up on the first two eps. Even though I just watched the show recently, it’s nice seeing everyone again. But I was surprised by the 10 month time jump since I did just watch the show! ( spoilers )



Wild Cards: I was surprised that this show was back, but I'm happy because this is a fun feel-good show. ( spoilers )

Since I am behind on Snowflake Challenge posts, one of my goals for today is to catch up. (Along with cleaning my desk, finishing paying the bills that are due before my next paycheck, scanning and shredding old paperwork, catching up my book journal, and a few other administrative tasks leading up to my retirement in twelve to fifteen months.)

Challenge #4: Rec The Contents Of Your Last Page

Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!

I'm going to assume that this means the last page I visited, versus a page belonging to me.

I have been watching YouTube videos today (instead of doing the tasks that I planned, because this is what happens when I sit down at my desk on a Sunday). So here are a few:

I like Erin Smith's videos. She sets up journals and talks about stationery. Since I am a stationery junkie and enjoy collaging, I watch at least one of her videos every week. So here is the one I am currently watching.

I also watch Rewilding Jude every week. Jude is a young man who moved to a wreck of a cottage in Scotland and has been renovating it and attempting to be as self-sustaining as possible. His life is as different from mine as it might be, but his videos have helped me to think about my own wreck of a home a little differently (though I'm absolutely not going to learn plumbing and wood working myself). His latest is here.

I have also been watching a lot of the Holderness Family who I just came across a couple of months ago, because they're hilarious and relatable. I really hope they're as cool as they seem to be. (Please don't tell me if they're not. I don't want to know.)

---

Challenge #5

In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts.

This is a really hard one and kind of where I got tripped up that put me so far behind...so how about just a wishlist in general?

1. I would like to travel again. My last trip abroad was in 2018. I want to see Newgrange and go back to Stonehenge and tour France and go to Germany and...it seems increasingly likely that it's not going to happen.

2. I would like all of the problems with my house to be fixed. I would like the raccoons and various other fauna evicted. I want the shed demolished and hauled away and the garage fixed. I want the twenty-five years of sticks and branches hauled away. I would like the landscaping fixed. I like my house most of the time, but I would like to love it all of the time.

3. I would like a faster and easier way of traveling so that I could see my far-flung friends and family. TARDIS? Transporter? Teleportation?

1.
threesentenceficathon began yesterday! I've posted... more fills than I think so far. xD I started listing them and then went HM OKAY THAT'S A BUNCH ACTUALLY:
Leverage ot3 fluff
Obi-Wan/Asajj post-PT AU [also on ao3 because it got away from me a bit xD]
Julien's unrequited feels for Aranessa (CR Araman)
Silt Verses, godsummoning
Olruggio/Qifrey angst (WHA)
Kara/Lee (the thin line between fighting and fucking) (BSG 2003)
Thimble+Occtis reunion (CR Araman)
Jyn/Cassian, after the war (I wanna clean this up into a proper fic xD)
Jyn/Cassian, nightmares
LHoD, Genly Ai+Estraven, nightfall
Hal+Bolaire, theater (CR Araman)
Obi-Wan/Padme, "love is stronger than hate"
Sophie/Howl, "I've never done anything wrong in my life"
Teor/Wicander, nonhuman cocks/first time (CR Araman)

I also posted some prompts. They're hiding in there somewhere. But mostly the fun is in making little ficlets, for me.

[eta: I'm adding to this list as I go, mostly for my own records/ability to find them again later]


2.
I've watched through s3e3 of Star Trek: Discovery, and I adore Starfleet Honor but also every time Georgiou is on screen making snarky comments and beating people up and looking at Michael with maternal pride I care naught for Starfleet Honor because I'm too busy thinking about how much Georgiou is delighted to see Michael get rougher around the edges after her time alone in the future.

This also means I have just met Adira Tal, who I know will become a major character and who is also going to come out as nonbinary once we get more into that story, and I am curious about how that'll unfold considering that Adira has a Trill symbiote and I have some feelings (mostly sighs) about nonbinary characters and the plurality aspects of such an arrangement. But hey, can't really have proper opinions on it until I see how it plays out in the show, you know?


3.
Testing at my dojo went very well! Love to see two people take very good tests perfectly appropriate to their level! Love also to see one of them have a worse randori than usual simply because he was clearly exhausted by the time he reached it, but hey even that was still perfectly reasonable for the level the test expects; I just know what he's capable of.

It was also like "HUH OKAY" seeing him do one technique (hanmi handachi shomenuchi iriminage) because I saw my own technique in how he did it. I get it! I know why! I did it with him a bunch when he was learning it! I just!

I do not think of myself as One Of The Sensei despite it being pretty clear that a lot of the white belts absolutely do think of me that way. This is mostly because I don't teach regularly, and so nobody calls me sensei on the regular.


4.
This weekend has been full of CLASSIC WINTER SNOW. After testing yesterday I detoured to the local state park and spent an hour walking a path that was very covered in snow and also icy beneath said snow. There were a couple other people out in the closer bits of this path, but once I turned onto the loop fewer people tend to go on anyway, it was clear that nobody had been there for at least a hour, so it was all FRESH CLEAR SNOW and that was gorgeous and really peaceful to spend time in.

I know intellectually how relaxing and restorative it is for me to spend time in the woods, especially if I can find woods where I won't hear/see other humans, but it's always a bit of an oh! right! feeling when I experience it again. Shall try and hold on to it, but it's always easier to go out into the woods during the beautiful times than when winter fades once more into dreary slushy/icy grayness instead of this perfect high-contrast fresh new fluffy snow.

Pictures under the cut! I took way more than this but I didn't feel like uploading all of them and I think these are nicely representative!

( four photos from a snowy walk in the woods )

⌈ Secret Post #6953 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


01.



( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 32 secrets from Secret Submission Post #993.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Last week, I cut my finger pretty deeply while making food, and missed two days of work trying to give it time to heal (I bathe dogs for a living; I did not want to be sticking an open wound into dirty dog water). The third day, a dog broke my glasses and I had to leave early (I was able to mend them).

Yesterday, I woke up very sick, probably with the same punishing cold Will has. My job is pretty lenient about calling out, but gosh do I hate doing it this often. ;o; It always makes me nervous. My boss is super understanding but I don't want to take advantage of that. Oh well. ;3;

I'm painfully behind on Snowflake Challenge, to absolutely no one's surprise; I did the first one and stopped. XD; There are some that I want to go back and do, but I doubt I'll actually catch up. But that's okay! I want to do the animals/pet one. Speaking of which, I bought Dale's 4x2x2 (120 gallon) terrarium! It looks like it'll be a pretty easy build, and I have several things to add to it (although there are definitely more things I want to add, like some of the climbing vine, some fun rocks/slate, things like that. I'm hoping to get it built today, if I'm feeling better in the afternoon.

I read the first book of the Uriel Ventris series, Nightbringer, and it was delightful; Ventris is an adorable, pious, little murder machine, and I'm pretty sure literally every man he met wanted to top him. I immediately bought the second volume on thriftbooks (a lot of "older" Black Library books are out of print, so I have to search for them as well as be willing to part with more than a little bit of moola). We already own the third book (Will bought it a little while ago) so that should keep me busy for a while. I'm a very slow reader. XD;

This morning I went out, coffee in hand, to sit on the back step. It was very cold but peaceful. I heard the first birdsong of the day. <3 I'd read about how people with ADHD need to sit in the moment sometimes, no screens, no texts, nothing like that, and just allow themselves to be. It was very nice and I think I should start more days like this.

This post is very disjointed bc it was written between a couple of days. I hope it all makes sense. ♥

Today is cloudy and cold.

I fed the birds.  A few sparrows approached as soon as I put seed in the fly-through feeder.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/18/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 1/18/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 1/18/26 -- I put out a fresh peanut suet cake.

I've seen a flock of sparrows and two male cardinals.

EDIT 1/18/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.
 

1a. I've bought the Stoorstålka "advanced" and "professional" kits after all, for practicing basic Baltic pickup with zero context.
( recent tries at weaving )

3. Weaving as a diversion has paused. The process of warping a second inkle attempt and weaving it off has shown me that my vast ignorance crosses understanding how something can function and getting one's fingers to do it at a strange angle. In sport-weight cotton yarn, most of my 2" = 5 cm band looks as neat and even as the stuff that Etsy-shop vloggers show themselves making on Instagram or TikTok; I'm a fumbling beginner with peripheral neuropathy only for starting and ending. Sew the ends under, and no one would see---but learning to make tidy starts and finishes is more than my current hands could endure.

I dipped back into weaving specifically to practice being a beginner at something. Having learned a few things since I was a knitting beginner (almost 20 years ago) regarding dexterity, mobility workarounds, how other people do various fibercrafts including forms of weaving, and how plant and animal fibers behave, the on-ramp for my hands-on weaving is quite short. Like, that's it, I'm already into an objectively intermediate stage, and my hands cannot do what would need doing there.


4. Crocheting has always been tougher on my joints than knitting, or rather, my best refinements over time of self-accommodation for each craft succeed better for knitting. Weaving at narrow output (tabletop, backstrap, inkle) demands less of any individual body part than crochet or knit because it's better distributed across many parts---but weaving wants specific actions that need fingers, not fingernail-substitution or the use of an external tool.

I can tie square and surgeon knots with my nails (lacking usual-range fingertip sensation), but the junk comm packets I wrote about a few years ago, whereby since #2020 my brain or central nervous system directs a limb to do something and it fails to report back timely, or CNS forgets momentarily that the limb exists---junk buildup is still a thing. Trying to weave more, doggedly doing more by eye, would mean accumulating more of a junk backlog than I have the capacity to expel (nap/resting self-accommodations). Weaving and laptop typing and food prep occupy the same bucket, just about. So, weaving drops out, at least for now.

(Knitting is still fine in moderation.)

Challenge #9

Talk about your favorite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)

Post your answer to today's challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it.

Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so. Also, feel free to entice engagement by giving us a preview of what your post covers.

Given that I've read a romance novella recently (Courtney Milan's "The Pursuit Of..."), I've got romance tropes on the brain.

I like a slow burn. I remember once borrowing a book from the library and the main characters were having sex by page 50 and I was like "...". Yeah, that completely turned me off. The desire, the wanting, the longing is FUN! Jumping into bed that early misses out on a lot of the fun for me.

When I was younger, I liked "damsel in distress" tropes in romance novels, but I don't really have the patience for that these days. Because in those kind of books, too often the hero doesn't realize his feelings for the heroine UNTIL she gets herself into trouble, and that's kind of boring.

Looking at this list of tropes: My own writing has had the "mutual pining" trope, and yeah, I really dig that in a romance novel. I'm not opposed to "Enemies to Lovers" but it's not something I normally read these days, nor write. "Friends to Lovers"? yes, I like that, and I'm working on some more fics revolving around that theme.

I feel like a lot of my own fic is "Missing Scene" stuff (not that I've written much fic yet! but still). I try hard to fit my fic into the canon, either in the midst of it (as with my FFXII & FFXIV fic) or after it (as with my FFV fic). The thing is, canon usually means SO MUCH to me that I want to extend it. I don't feel I'm trying to fix it, more like... taking a thing that canon made me feel/think and running with it.

I'm not entirely sure I understand the definition of "crack" but I think I've written some? Both Best-Laid Plans & if you like it, then you should've put an earring on it (fics by me) are what I consider to be crack. Ridiculous situations that surprise the reader and make them laugh or smile.

I very much strongly identify with the "Fluff" nomenclature. Most of my fics are short, sweet little things. I have written angst but I'd much rather write happy things.

I like there being some humor in what I read/write. If I can crack up over my own work? BONUS. I think there's room for humor in most longer works, because life is NOT always dreary. Sometimes the funny happens, and that should be included.

I don't do AUs, really. I haven't read much fanfic myself yet, but the idea of reading my favorite characters in alternate settings just doesn't appeal to me. Like I said above: I want to see canon extended, not transformed.

Given that I read so rarely these days, it's a wonder to me that I even have a sense of what I like and dislike. I'm hoping to read more this year, of both traditional published works and fanfic. But yeah, these are some things that draw me.

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( Media )

I got 3 of the things I need for my current circuitry project. I tried to order the other 2 things and it got stuck on processing the payment. I gave up after an hour. I'll have to try again next month.

I'm still having issues getting the calculator to run. I'm probably going to have to create an issue for it on GitHub.

I'll hopefully get the GUI (or at least a good portion of it) for the horror VN demo done this week. I've also been looking at prices for a different project (I won't actually start on it until the demo's out but I'm currently planning stuff).

One rainy day Kanade, a high school student, finds a mouse-sized cat in his room. It's a fairy cat or "palm-sized cat!" They are elusive magical creatures which sometimes adopt humans, but mostly behave like ordinary cats. Only extra-tiny!

That's about it for the plot. What this manga is actually about is showing an incredibly adorable tiny cat being an incredibly adorable tiny cat. It's an incredibly adorable manga. Proof:

All fics: 3x drama, 1x novel, 1x rpf. :) (There were also other Guardian and Guardian-adjacent works created for fandomtrees, including but not limited to gifts I received, so check out the collection. :D)

The Arrangement (604 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Arranged Marriage, Alternate Black-Cloaked Envoy | Hei Pao Shi Identity Reveal, Early in Canon, but vaguely after episode 8, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Summary: "If I had never met you, I'd say that Hei Lao-ge is far more than I would ever deserve. And he is, but I have met you, and—"

Shen Wei swallows, and Zhao Yunlan feels the sudden need to backpedal. "I don't mean that I would propose to you right now. I just wish we had more time."

Twice (331 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: set between the Envoy reveal and the time loop reveal, Secrets, Reveals, Tenderness, Kissing
Summary: "Shen Wei-ah... Have we really met before?"

I'll Do It (313 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ye Zun & Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei & Ye Zun & Zhao Yunlan, Background Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Ye Zun (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Ye Olde Haixing Era, Hair Braiding, Trauma Recovery, Ye Zun is rescued and safe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Friendships, LanZun can be read as pre-relationship or platonic
Summary: "Gege did this for me," Ye Zun says, trying to sound offhanded but clearly gauging Zhao Yunlan's reaction. "I bet he has never done anything like this for you."

For Now (343 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian - priest
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen San/Shen Wei (Guardian), Da Qing & Shen San & Shen Wei (Guardian)
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Shen San (Guardian), Da Qing (Guardian)
Additional Tags: Domestic, Cuddling & Snuggling, Bittersweet, Not-So-Accidental Cat Acquisition
Summary: "Yao-xiong, look what I found! This little fellow just followed me home, I couldn't possibly say no."

Skilled (344 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018) RPF, Chinese Actor RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Bai Yu/Zhu Yilong
Characters: Bai Yu (Actor), Zhu Yilong
Additional Tags: Interview, Implied Sexual Content, Light-Hearted, Long-ge has many skills that occasionally make Bai Yu distracted and one-track-minded, Established Relationship
Summary: A thousand thoughts per second cross Bai Yu's mind, none of them relevant— No, most of them are extremely relevant. Alas, none of them are appropriate during a live interview.

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Monday ( time zone converter)

5am PT/ 8am ET/ 1pm UTC Mrsimoshen 

8am PT/ 11am ET/ 4pm UTC Max

11am PT/ 2pm ET/ 7pm UTC        LittleMissTPK

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Tuesday ( time zone converter)

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5am PT/ 8am ET/ 1pm UTC Mrsimoshen 

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