More Fandom_Empire Fills
Mar. 30th, 2026 08:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elian_panatomicpublishingI've been a bit lax crossposting my ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandom_empire fills, so here are the last couple of weeks. Couple of icons, couple of fics.
Icons:
Fics:
(I only posted one of these on Ao3. I'll probably clean up the other two and post them at some point, but for now I'll just leave them here.)
Middle Ground [Zeroes/Star Trek fusion, G, 316 words]
Thibault is half convinced that Ethan has some kind of hitherto undiscovered anxiety disorder, and half aware that he's poorly hiding something.
( Keep Reading )
First Timer [Heated Rivalry, E, 1560 words]
(warnings: dub-con, comphet, implied sexual assault/grooming)
The first time Shane kisses a girl, the thing he notices most is the wispy hair brushing against his lips.
( Keep Reading )
love me different [Project Hail Mary, E, 1517 words]
(warnings: compulsory sexuality, dub-con)
Grace met Mark when he working on his PhD. He was a few years older, but had returned to school for a Masters in Science Communication — he just got sick of lab work, he'd tell people with a laugh, missed talking to real people. Mark loved to talk, that was one of the things that drew the two of them together; their inability to shut up about science. Grace didn't date much, and his last few relationships had fallen apart over the sex thing, which Grace knew was an issue, but couldn't really do anything about.
(Keep Reading on Ao3)
fandom_empire fills, so here are the last couple of weeks. Couple of icons, couple of fics.Icons:
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Fics:
(I only posted one of these on Ao3. I'll probably clean up the other two and post them at some point, but for now I'll just leave them here.)
Middle Ground [Zeroes/Star Trek fusion, G, 316 words]
Thibault is half convinced that Ethan has some kind of hitherto undiscovered anxiety disorder, and half aware that he's poorly hiding something.
( Keep Reading )
First Timer [Heated Rivalry, E, 1560 words]
(warnings: dub-con, comphet, implied sexual assault/grooming)
The first time Shane kisses a girl, the thing he notices most is the wispy hair brushing against his lips.
( Keep Reading )
love me different [Project Hail Mary, E, 1517 words]
(warnings: compulsory sexuality, dub-con)
Grace met Mark when he working on his PhD. He was a few years older, but had returned to school for a Masters in Science Communication — he just got sick of lab work, he'd tell people with a laugh, missed talking to real people. Mark loved to talk, that was one of the things that drew the two of them together; their inability to shut up about science. Grace didn't date much, and his last few relationships had fallen apart over the sex thing, which Grace knew was an issue, but couldn't really do anything about.
(Keep Reading on Ao3)
More Original Fic
Mar. 30th, 2026 03:58 pmelian_panatomicpublishingI wrote four more original works for fandom_empire! All exactly 333 words.
Still Dreaming (sequel to Doctoral Dreaming)
[warning: surgery]
The second dream was the same as the first, with a new patient on the table.
( Keep Reading )
Are You Listening?
[warning: death of parent, corpses]
The world has been ending since you first became sentient — later than your sister, whose first memory is of the two of you in your cot — since that day when you were five and you were struck with the sudden knowledge that you existed.
( Keep Reading )
Displacement
The sun rose over the fields of Mary's little farm like it did every morning, with a long metallic whir as the shades fell from the reinforced glass sky.
( Keep Reading )
Broadcasts, Unheard (sequel to Are You Listening?)
You sold your soul for a pack of gum, three weeks and four states over.
( Keep Reading )
fandom_empire! All exactly 333 words.Still Dreaming (sequel to Doctoral Dreaming)
[warning: surgery]
The second dream was the same as the first, with a new patient on the table.
( Keep Reading )
Are You Listening?
[warning: death of parent, corpses]
The world has been ending since you first became sentient — later than your sister, whose first memory is of the two of you in your cot — since that day when you were five and you were struck with the sudden knowledge that you existed.
( Keep Reading )
Displacement
The sun rose over the fields of Mary's little farm like it did every morning, with a long metallic whir as the shades fell from the reinforced glass sky.
( Keep Reading )
Broadcasts, Unheard (sequel to Are You Listening?)
You sold your soul for a pack of gum, three weeks and four states over.
( Keep Reading )
Art post!
Mar. 29th, 2026 01:08 pmcrantzI've been doing my little comics but I've also been compelled to draw my City of Heroes characters a bunch, especially two named Silver Cygnet and Bugpunch, who are roommates.
Here are those drawings - see if you can spot my progress as it goes on.
( advice I saw once was if you want to improve your art, get a blorbo and then get mentally sick about them )
Characters featured were: Silver Cygnet/Su Yang, Bugpunch/Ladybird Latreille, Tough Girl, Agent Larimar (not my character) and Blood Widow Spitfire, and Brainfever.
Here are those drawings - see if you can spot my progress as it goes on.
( advice I saw once was if you want to improve your art, get a blorbo and then get mentally sick about them )
Characters featured were: Silver Cygnet/Su Yang, Bugpunch/Ladybird Latreille, Tough Girl, Agent Larimar (not my character) and Blood Widow Spitfire, and Brainfever.
Movie talk
Mar. 27th, 2026 12:28 amcrantzMy movie list is now at 210 entries - I'd be adding The Barbarian Brothers tonight but I got exhausted at minute 39 and rainchecked the bff for tomorrow night. Finally some oiled hunk content though. A man has needs.
We were going to watch Shin Godzilla tonight (the Movie Pals, which consist of me, Ann, and Vali) but I discovered a Lovecraft movie by Roger Corman was leaving Prime in a few days so we switched to The Dunwich Horror starring Dean Stockwell and Sandra Dee. Sandra Dee's hair kept increasing in size as a dominance thing and Dean Stockwell had an amazing style of line reading. Also he has very pretty eyes. I was pleased/surprised they thanked me for the movie choice after. That was nice! I liked that.
The slump is sort of being overcome, since last post.
I bought 48 cadbury creme eggs because it turns out you can just buy the box they take the singles out of before they open it. Follow me for more life hacks.
I've been roleplaying a lot in City of Heroes lately, something I never did outside of close friends before and it has been a lot of fun. I think my main attractiveness as a roleplayer is I do not think I need to win any encounter, social or fighting.
Today's episode involved my character trying to kidnap another and it going so poorly the hostage gave the kidnapper a pep talk.
We were going to watch Shin Godzilla tonight (the Movie Pals, which consist of me, Ann, and Vali) but I discovered a Lovecraft movie by Roger Corman was leaving Prime in a few days so we switched to The Dunwich Horror starring Dean Stockwell and Sandra Dee. Sandra Dee's hair kept increasing in size as a dominance thing and Dean Stockwell had an amazing style of line reading. Also he has very pretty eyes. I was pleased/surprised they thanked me for the movie choice after. That was nice! I liked that.
The slump is sort of being overcome, since last post.
I bought 48 cadbury creme eggs because it turns out you can just buy the box they take the singles out of before they open it. Follow me for more life hacks.
I've been roleplaying a lot in City of Heroes lately, something I never did outside of close friends before and it has been a lot of fun. I think my main attractiveness as a roleplayer is I do not think I need to win any encounter, social or fighting.
Today's episode involved my character trying to kidnap another and it going so poorly the hostage gave the kidnapper a pep talk.
Buttering my muffin.
Mar. 26th, 2026 07:40 amgoodbyebird+ I'm back at work, though one day later than I expected to be. It'll be a shorter trip of only four weeks, so now I just need the fishery to be good. I'd love to come home without my brain leaking out my ears; it took me over two weeks to recoup last time.
+ 2026 is shaping up to be a great movie year. I highly recommend both The Testament of Ann Lee and Project Hail Mary, plus there's both Pillion and Dune 3 to look forwards to. I guess I can hope really hard they don't fuck up Ready or Not 2? (I'm definitely showing up either way, if only for the cast)
+ Other things to look forward to: Microsoft Flight Simulator is set to get its VR update sometime next month. So long as it's not borked on the base PS5, that's a day one purchase for me. There's a bunch of cities to fly around, a safari/hot balloon thing, helicopter rescue missions, etc. It might even be just the thing to let my mom play.
+ And on the subject of my mom: she'll be moving back home! My brother and his partner are splitting up, and my nephew is old enough that she doesn't see him that much anymore, so now she's looking for an apartment to buy. I'm really happy about it. Both for my own sake and for hers.
Now I just have to bee diligent with looking for places we can visit in England. Hoping we can do a fun two week vacation there in August.
+ 2026 is shaping up to be a great movie year. I highly recommend both The Testament of Ann Lee and Project Hail Mary, plus there's both Pillion and Dune 3 to look forwards to. I guess I can hope really hard they don't fuck up Ready or Not 2? (I'm definitely showing up either way, if only for the cast)
+ Other things to look forward to: Microsoft Flight Simulator is set to get its VR update sometime next month. So long as it's not borked on the base PS5, that's a day one purchase for me. There's a bunch of cities to fly around, a safari/hot balloon thing, helicopter rescue missions, etc. It might even be just the thing to let my mom play.
+ And on the subject of my mom: she'll be moving back home! My brother and his partner are splitting up, and my nephew is old enough that she doesn't see him that much anymore, so now she's looking for an apartment to buy. I'm really happy about it. Both for my own sake and for hers.
Now I just have to bee diligent with looking for places we can visit in England. Hoping we can do a fun two week vacation there in August.
False spring is here at last
Mar. 25th, 2026 01:41 pmcimoreneUghhhh. Panic again (Finnish government bureaucracy), and trying to make important decisions, and trying to build healthy habits, and feeling too exhausted for any of it - we're barely ahead of laundry and dishes. I want to take myself and all three pets for checkups and I cannot make the appointments.
At least my dad isn't sick! My parents and sister's shared house is experiencing a plumbing emergency where the shower won't drain though. We have had so many drain problems here that that looks minor to me, though it is quite expensive.
Our wonderful Ukrainian tenant-neighbors in the other half of our house asked politely if they could trim the apple trees, which we've been thinking we need to hire someone to do because we have tried and failed and didn't have the tools. The husband there works, studies, cycles, takes his kids out, fishes, cooks, and is constantly buying and selling things through fb marketplace and fixing furniture with power tools. (His wife does too, but not the fishing or power tools; she swims and does other stuff.) The instant we said yes please 🙏 he thoroughly trimmed both trees, and the kids have gathered the brush into piles already. They are so active and involved and extroverted and successful that we feel inadequate in comparison, but we're so lucky to have them.
At least my dad isn't sick! My parents and sister's shared house is experiencing a plumbing emergency where the shower won't drain though. We have had so many drain problems here that that looks minor to me, though it is quite expensive.
Our wonderful Ukrainian tenant-neighbors in the other half of our house asked politely if they could trim the apple trees, which we've been thinking we need to hire someone to do because we have tried and failed and didn't have the tools. The husband there works, studies, cycles, takes his kids out, fishes, cooks, and is constantly buying and selling things through fb marketplace and fixing furniture with power tools. (His wife does too, but not the fishing or power tools; she swims and does other stuff.) The instant we said yes please 🙏 he thoroughly trimmed both trees, and the kids have gathered the brush into piles already. They are so active and involved and extroverted and successful that we feel inadequate in comparison, but we're so lucky to have them.
Go treat your inner child.
Mar. 24th, 2026 05:18 pmgoodbyebirdHey. Psst. Were you one of those kids that would find a pretty rock when out walking and you'd carry it with you for the rest of that adventure and put it in your pocket and whatnot? Go see Project Hail Mary at the cinema. Don't check out the trailer, just go.
(also featured: science! teamwork! nice knitted sweaters!)
(also featured: science! teamwork! nice knitted sweaters!)
My beloved e-reader app with the custom Solarized css
Mar. 24th, 2026 12:45 pmcimoreneOver ten years ago I researched and read articles looking for the right e-reader app for my phone, got attached to one called FBReader, and paid a tiny fee to upgrade it. I have configured my own font families, sizes, and colors; can adjust the screen brightness in the page; and can advance pages with the volume button. I am attached to the library views as well, although they're not ideal. I've used it to read every ebook I've read in that time — I convert them to epubs — and thousands of works of fanfiction. I won't put up with proprietary interfaces; they get in the way so much that I'd rather not read the book in question, or read it on paper.
But it's started to give me trouble! A few times last year I had to delete books that would freeze the app every time they were opened, but I attributed this to file corruption or a bug. But now it's happened several times in a row with several different books. I'm afraid I will have to look for a replacement! And I dread that.
I can't embark on a project like that until I finally get around to backing up my last two years' worth of photos. And I can't do that until I repartition my laptop harddrive, which will require reinstalling Linux Mint. I have stored all my files in a separate storage partition for like twenty years, so nothing but ADHD can account for the fact that I forgot to create one the last time I upgraded the laptop OS.
But it's started to give me trouble! A few times last year I had to delete books that would freeze the app every time they were opened, but I attributed this to file corruption or a bug. But now it's happened several times in a row with several different books. I'm afraid I will have to look for a replacement! And I dread that.
I can't embark on a project like that until I finally get around to backing up my last two years' worth of photos. And I can't do that until I repartition my laptop harddrive, which will require reinstalling Linux Mint. I have stored all my files in a separate storage partition for like twenty years, so nothing but ADHD can account for the fact that I forgot to create one the last time I upgraded the laptop OS.
I got the slump
Mar. 22nd, 2026 01:52 amcrantzOh noooo right at the end stage of my final university course (for now) I've suddenly lost all will to do work. I've got the end term slumps. I'm doomed.
In which there is a belated happy Persian new year (according to the bus queue)
Mar. 21st, 2026 07:00 pmspiralsheepIt's a wrap! Or a warp. I like to offer you an informed choice. ;-)
Film: Nouvelle Vague, 2025, is US / French film about the making of A bout de souffle. So it's a Richard Linklater homage to Jean-Luc Godard - a movie god making a film about a god of cinema, or at least a godard of cinema. Exactly as you'd expect in every way. I felt it didn't quite deserve full marks due to minor blandness and predictability, but there are no actual faults with the film: the audience gets what it deserves. ;-) 4.5/5
P.S. That dance scene from Bande à part referenced again (but Le Week-End is still my fave recreation).
P.P.S. So, now I've mentioned the other film, Nouvelle Vague has a smart script with slick direction and cinematography and production... but it's also sorta shallow compared to Le Week-End, which gave audiences three truly great film actors* allowed space by the director to explore everyday human experience in depth. Both movies focus on trivia, one more intellectually and one more emotionally, but only one of them finds additional profundity. Quoting philosophical one-liners is not in itself a profound activity and any parrot can be trained to do it. Nouvelle Vague is a tribute, while Le Week-End is an original.
* Lindsay Duncan, Jim Broadbent, and Jeff Goldblum.
Film: Grass, a Nation's Battle for Life, 1925, US / Bakhtiari documentary film about the seasonal migration of 50,000 of the Bakhtiari (Lurs) and all their sheep, goats, cows, horses, donkeys, and dogs from exhausted pasture to fresh pasture, across several rivers including the Karun and over a snow covered mountain pass through the 4,221m Zard-Kuh subrange. Just crossing the river takes a week! (Spoiler for history: when the team considered remaking the film in 1947 they were told the migration was now done mostly in cars and trucks.) It is, of course, a silent movie, although the music track for the screening I attended was painfully ear-splittingly loud for no apparent reason. There are explanatory intertitles throughout, beginning with typical USian self-congratulatory racism about "Aryans" supposedly originating in West Asia and progressing westwards as civilisation progressed... with the implication that Hollywood is the peak of human culture, lmao (USians: so modest!). If you're wondering why the intertitles keep shouting "Yo, Ali!" it's because the Bakhtiari are Shia Muslims.
Presenter: Marguerite Harrison.
Conclusion: worth seeing on a BIG screen for the spectacle, but the commentary is as racist as most "Aryan" ethnography of the time. No rating.
Film: Köln 75, 2025, is a German film about... well, that's a problem because it doesn't know what it's about. ( Cut for moaning. )
Conclusion: the filmmakers and their male gaze didn't find Vera Brandes that interesting as a central subject, they couldn't focus on their hero Keith Jarrett, so they produced a confused hash spiced up with teenage girl sex-appeal for their chosen audience. No rating because the film is too inconsistent.
P.S. There's a documentary, Lost in Köln, 2025, which I haven't seen but I'm guessing would be a more worthwhile investment of time than... whatever this was that I watched.
P.P.S. Only fun if you understand German but... Floh de Cologne - Sei Ruhig Fließbandbaby.
* Piano tuners being a hot theme for movies made in 2025 for some reason?
Film: Nouvelle Vague, 2025, is US / French film about the making of A bout de souffle. So it's a Richard Linklater homage to Jean-Luc Godard - a movie god making a film about a god of cinema, or at least a godard of cinema. Exactly as you'd expect in every way. I felt it didn't quite deserve full marks due to minor blandness and predictability, but there are no actual faults with the film: the audience gets what it deserves. ;-) 4.5/5
P.S. That dance scene from Bande à part referenced again (but Le Week-End is still my fave recreation).
P.P.S. So, now I've mentioned the other film, Nouvelle Vague has a smart script with slick direction and cinematography and production... but it's also sorta shallow compared to Le Week-End, which gave audiences three truly great film actors* allowed space by the director to explore everyday human experience in depth. Both movies focus on trivia, one more intellectually and one more emotionally, but only one of them finds additional profundity. Quoting philosophical one-liners is not in itself a profound activity and any parrot can be trained to do it. Nouvelle Vague is a tribute, while Le Week-End is an original.
* Lindsay Duncan, Jim Broadbent, and Jeff Goldblum.
Film: Grass, a Nation's Battle for Life, 1925, US / Bakhtiari documentary film about the seasonal migration of 50,000 of the Bakhtiari (Lurs) and all their sheep, goats, cows, horses, donkeys, and dogs from exhausted pasture to fresh pasture, across several rivers including the Karun and over a snow covered mountain pass through the 4,221m Zard-Kuh subrange. Just crossing the river takes a week! (Spoiler for history: when the team considered remaking the film in 1947 they were told the migration was now done mostly in cars and trucks.) It is, of course, a silent movie, although the music track for the screening I attended was painfully ear-splittingly loud for no apparent reason. There are explanatory intertitles throughout, beginning with typical USian self-congratulatory racism about "Aryans" supposedly originating in West Asia and progressing westwards as civilisation progressed... with the implication that Hollywood is the peak of human culture, lmao (USians: so modest!). If you're wondering why the intertitles keep shouting "Yo, Ali!" it's because the Bakhtiari are Shia Muslims.
Presenter: Marguerite Harrison.
Conclusion: worth seeing on a BIG screen for the spectacle, but the commentary is as racist as most "Aryan" ethnography of the time. No rating.
Film: Köln 75, 2025, is a German film about... well, that's a problem because it doesn't know what it's about. ( Cut for moaning. )
Conclusion: the filmmakers and their male gaze didn't find Vera Brandes that interesting as a central subject, they couldn't focus on their hero Keith Jarrett, so they produced a confused hash spiced up with teenage girl sex-appeal for their chosen audience. No rating because the film is too inconsistent.
P.S. There's a documentary, Lost in Köln, 2025, which I haven't seen but I'm guessing would be a more worthwhile investment of time than... whatever this was that I watched.
P.P.S. Only fun if you understand German but... Floh de Cologne - Sei Ruhig Fließbandbaby.
* Piano tuners being a hot theme for movies made in 2025 for some reason?
Knitted wardrobe for the hand-painted doll my mom made me when I was 3
Mar. 20th, 2026 08:04 pmcimoreneI don't have a lot of toys from my childhood with me here in Finland, just a few stuffed toys that were made by my mom. This doll is the first thing my mom made for me: a Cabbage Patch replacement. (I wanted a Cabbage Patch as a toddler, but my mom made me this doll instead, which was even better - she was so beautiful to me, and my mom hand painted her eyes!) This doll has been lying flopped over in a basket on top of a bookshelf for a few years, and she caught my eye as I was going to bed one day a few weeks ago and I started thinking that it's a pity that a work of art that my mom worked so hard to make isn't being played with.
It's possible there will be a toddler in the family I could give her to in the next few years. But in the meantime I felt sad about her, dusty and poorly dressed, so I examined her and knitted her a little outfit.
The doll needs washed as well, but I want to wait for summer. Her body is light pink cotton that has gotten rather grimy, but her face isn't machine washable. My mom says I can take off her head and wash the body in the washing machine; and I wouldn't want to do that until it's warm outside, and sunny, so it would dry as quickly as possible. The face definitely needs washed too, so I'm going to have to try to spot wash it.
All three of these wee garments took me only about 6 days to make, and they're made of leftover scraps (the striped shirt and the yellow cardigan) and a bit of cheap sock yarn (the jungle green pants). But I got that feeling of excited accomplishment with a finished project three times! They have the details of bigger garments, and they're so cute and tiny, even more so than making sweaters for small children.
It's possible there will be a toddler in the family I could give her to in the next few years. But in the meantime I felt sad about her, dusty and poorly dressed, so I examined her and knitted her a little outfit.
The doll needs washed as well, but I want to wait for summer. Her body is light pink cotton that has gotten rather grimy, but her face isn't machine washable. My mom says I can take off her head and wash the body in the washing machine; and I wouldn't want to do that until it's warm outside, and sunny, so it would dry as quickly as possible. The face definitely needs washed too, so I'm going to have to try to spot wash it.
All three of these wee garments took me only about 6 days to make, and they're made of leftover scraps (the striped shirt and the yellow cardigan) and a bit of cheap sock yarn (the jungle green pants). But I got that feeling of excited accomplishment with a finished project three times! They have the details of bigger garments, and they're so cute and tiny, even more so than making sweaters for small children.