Title: when the mind lets go 
Character: Anders
Fandom: Dragon Age (series)
Theme set: Theme Set Alpha
Rating: T 
Warnings: N/A

Can also be read on AO3

( when the mind lets go )

I've got work tomorrow. If I keep saying it, maybe I'll believe it ahead of time.

It's more of a gig than a job - my parents knew some people who needed their home library alphabetized and reorganized, and we met last week to see if we'd be a good fit. It turns out we are, so for at least two full working days a week for the next few weeks, I'll be heading a few blocks uptown to get paid to do what I went to school to learn how to do. Alphabetizing novels by author is one thing; working with an individual to figure out their needs for their personal library and how to organize within that is another. So far I suggested moving all the kids' books to the two children's bedrooms, and creating a city/travel section as would be useful for them, though not for others.

I'm going back to packing my own lunch. Though as it's in someone else's apartment and they've said I can use their mugs and their tea, I might not need to pack my own silverware. But I might, just to be on the safe side about these things.

In this daily puzzle game, the goal is to spell out the words in a newspaper headline by choosing letters to drop down from the columns above. The headline starts blank, so you have to figure it out based on possible English words, syntax, and context. (E.g. If there's a one-letter word and the possible letters you can drop are A, G, and X, well...) When you've filled in the headline you get to read a short news article from the cozy fantasy realm of Yliad, where arcane scribes study at rival magic schools. Each week's puzzles form a story arc, and the arcs gradually piece together the worldbuilding.

I saw this game linked in the Clues By Sam newsletter, and I've added it to my morning round of daily puzzles. I find it pretty easy, but word puzzles are definitely more in my wheelhouse than logic puzzles, and there's nothing wrong with a quick warm-up before your brain is fully in gear. The little stories are on the cutesy side, so, you know, don't expect epic tales of blood and sacrifice or anything. The narrative just adds some interest and flavor to your standard drop-quote puzzle. And it's queer-inclusive so that's a plus!

The Daily Spell is free to play in your browser. ✨

Petition E-7027 to the Minister of Health

The above is a House of Commons petition to the Federal Minister of Health in response to Alberta and Saskatchewan passing anti-trans bills and using the Notwithstanding clause to shield the legislation from judicial review.

It's open until February 18 for all residents of Canada. You don't need to have citizenship or permanent resident status to sign; you just need to live here. (So, someone here as a student can sign.)

Please note that if you sign you have to confirm it via the link that gets emailed to you.

I've discussed federal response with people from the local pride org, including the possibility of using Section 90 to force a repeal, and the feeling is very... mixed. On the one hand, we want the legislation gone. On the other hand, if the federal government acted, it would be very in-character for the UCP to find some way to retaliate against trans Albertans. Not to mention the vibe in the province in general is pretty appalling at the moment (re: separatist movements) and there is no question that it would get worse if the federal government acted in any way. But like... I sure as hell don't have any other ideas, so. E-7027 it is.
( Full text of the petition under the cut - it's relatively short )

 
This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Monday, January 19, to midnight on Tuesday, January 20. (8pm Eastern Time).




Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
 

i spent part of this weekend very cranky about not getting enough stuff done fast enough and then i realized i'm on track to finish four (4) giant projects in january alone (2 comics, tellius bg resource, gunter animatic) that have been on my plate since middle of last year.

... suddenly less cranky XD

anyway Very Cool Stuff is happening art-wise, i'm finally getting the clothes shipments/some sick doujin packages from last year and i feel like i can start for real celebrating the new year \o/

Road Trip to the End of the World (2025, PC) -- Joined by a talking fish in overalls, a young woman drives across the United States to crash the wedding of her ex-best friend.


This Ren'py visual novel, a thesis project from Alex M. Lee as part of her MFA at SVA, is short and polished and free to play. It took me about an hour to experience from start to finish, and that brevity is both a strength and a weakness. On one hand: a perfectly self-contained one-hour game, we love to see it! On the other hand, perhaps due to the thesis-project demands of MUST DEMONSTRATE ALL PORTFOLIO STRENGTHS HEREIN, the game appears anxious about cramming in a full character arc for its protagonist. This means that she is maybe overly self-actualized and speaks in the idiom of self-help therapy TikToks -- but just when I was starting to frown at all the epiphanies being awkwardly vocalized, there was a Guy Fieri jump-scare joke that had me howling with laughter. So, on the whole: a good game!

The regular weekly post for us to talk about any and all of our thoughts about the week's new releases.

EXO - Crown
Forestella - Nella Notte
Catch the Young - Amplify
can't be blue - should be you
Lola - TATz
La Poem - Meant to Be
Oneus - Grenade
M.O.N.T - History
AxMxP - Pass/Thereafter
1verse - WABIF (Wide Awake Before I Fall)
TNX - Call Me Back
dodree - Just Like A Dream (debut)
L.I.N.C
XG - Hypnotize
Momoland - White Spring
Zerobaseone (pre-release)

New MVs are also added to an ongoing Youtube playlist.

Last week's MVs: 12 January

Feel free to add new comments in the replies for songs/MVs we missed.

[ Rec Something Wednesday | WIP Wednesday | Monthly General Chat | Comment Fest ]

See Part One here.

4. Babylon 5, G'Kar & Londo, post-canon, spoilers
any, the minimum amount of communication needed for a fix-it AU
Originally posted here

( Slightly more than 3 sentences of overthinking )

5. Babylon 5, early season one
any, low-effort illustration of something important
Originally posted here

( More than 3 sentences of ambassadorial bickering )

6. Murderbot, MB + Gurathin
any, "I adore floating." (Peggy Guggenheim)
Originally posted here

( 3 sentences for a change! )

7. Murderbot bookverse, MB + Mensah + Mensah's family
any, snowstorm
Originally posted here

( 350 words of fluff )

8. Murderbot, TV or bookverse, Bharadwaj
any, fossil footprints
Originally posted here

( A lil Bharadwaj character study )

+ Finished reading Winter's Orbit. Hopefully will have time to write more detailed thoughts later, but the tl;dr is that I enjoyed it very much and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel. It's a romance novel but there's lots of non-romance plot, which is basically my preferred kind of romance novel.

+ Was working on fic today. Nothing special or complicated, but it still feels good to work on something. I feel very rusty, though. It's ridiculous that putting one word in front of the other is so hard. Guess the only way out is through, though!

+ Still considering signing up for FTH. One thing I'm waffling on is what to offer; Hetalia-wise my scope is narrower than it was the last time I participated in an auction. Not that I'm solid about sticking to my usual set of characters; some of the best auction fics I've written were for pairings I'd never thought about much until that moment. But there's always the chance that someone unfamiliar with my work will ask for something I'd have trouble delivering. I guess I'll just mention my usual characters in the description and see what happens. Aside from that, though, I'm not sure what other fandoms, if any. Promare, maybe? I'm due for a rewatch anyway.

+ Watched The Life of Chuck this evening. I thought it was a pretty good adaptation of King's novella. Admittedly, the first section was pretty stressful, what with the apocalyptic scenes and whatnot, even though I knew how the rest of it went. Overall I found it pretty sweet, though. I've seen it described as kind of schmaltzy, and like... yeah, I guess that's fair, it IS schmaltzy. I enjoyed it overall, though.

It's not that all my fandoms involve funny British dudes, but there does seem to be a trend.

At least this one is a cooking channel? Sorted Food.

worth it (2321 words) by marginaliana
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sorted (Website) RPF
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ben Ebbrell/Barry Taylor
Characters: Barry Taylor, Ben Ebbrell
Additional Tags: First Time, Blowjobs, Safe oral sex, no families au
Summary:

"Ebbs. Listen." But what could he say that wouldn't sound crass or a joke or both? He'd thought about it for days and decided in the end to wing it, only now he was here winging it and he still had no better idea. Maybe this was going to crash and burn no matter how he introduced the idea. Maybe he was going to ruin a friendship and none of this would be worth it. But something in him knew he had to try.

Save for an incredibly brief break this afternoon, it's been snowing all day. Not hard, but steadily and gently. It's collecting on the trees and in the parks, and while there's not much total accumulation, the rate has me hopeful it'll stay around for a few days. I went out to the movies this evening, and standing and waiting for the bus, I watched the streetlight hit it as it came down - the speed of it, and how even with all the force behind it, none of it hit hard enough to make any noise.

It snowed through a lot of yesterday, too. I took a brief walk for a small errand and stood out in it for a while, enjoying the smell and the chill. I liked the idea my footprints would be gone soon, and with what came down today, I know the steps I took aren't there anymore. There's something compelling about that to me. Not that there's a resilience so much as anything done will be covered over and erased, no matter how heavy or light your footsteps.

Guess who has ~*appendicitis*~

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Sunday, January 18, to midnight on Monday, January 19 (8pm Eastern Time).



Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.