Haven't time to settle.

Jun. 16th, 2026 09:43 pm
hannah: (Interns at Meredith's - gosh_darn_icons)
[personal profile] hannah
It's been very nice having the Knicks as a conversation topic the last couple of days. I know it won't last beyond this coming week or so, but for now, it's a pleasant feeling to be able to ask pretty much anyone about it and know it'll be responded to in a positive way.

Piggybacking off my mom's Netflix account to work through some sub-par movies I still want to see is usually enough to work through less-than-stellar lunches, but sometimes it's too much for even a great movie to distract me from what I'm eating. I managed something else for the next couple of days out of the canned goods I had around, so I'm only slightly disappointed. So it balances out.

Of more interesting note, I killed a cockroach last night. I'm not wondering how it got into my bathroom - it's New York City - and had a moment of trying to catch it that had me saying, "Oh, yeah, you can fly" before I trapped and presumably suffocated it with foam cleaning spray. I say "presumably" because I used an old plastic container to scoop it up and throw it out the window. It might still be alive out there. I haven't gone to check. If I'd seen it anywhere else in my building, I doubt I'd have even thought about killing it, large an insect as it was. But in my apartment, especially my bathroom, I'm not ceding even the minuscule inches it took up.

June 16 - I guess it is the dog day!

Jun. 16th, 2026 05:48 pm
senmut: 3 blue seahorse shapes of varying sizes on a dark background (General: Seahorse Triad)
[personal profile] senmut
So, while I do LIKE dogs, I long ago recognized I am not a dog-energy person. Hilariously, I was usually the first one allowed by the bitches into the kennels to count pups, and also the one that nursed at least one litter through a bad disease, keeping all four alive. I was around dogs a lot:

Cricket, Lady Bit, Romeo, Juliet, Napoleon, Josephine, Champ - uncle's
Pepe, FiFi, Nina-Dog - Granny's
Rocky, Maggie, Goldie - Aunt's
Other assorted pooches I didn't interact with as much at other relatives.

Momma said we had a dog when we first moved to Keesler, but I don't remember it at all. As an adult, I have been personally responsible for these:

Kelly, my beloved Bull Terrier/Black Lab mix, went through a very delayed puppy phase once she realized she was SAFE with us and we figured out first owner was military as a uniform was the only thing that ever riled her to temper.
Cocoa, my beloved Cocker Spaniel/Irish Setter mix, who literally died the same week we lost my late partner.
Kara (LoIsLana), the fighting chihuahua (called that as they are the largest of the breed) we got for K as a gift, and the only pedigreed dog I personally paid for.
Sasha (bear), the very mixed Chow-something that I never really fully bonded with.

How about y'all?
erinptah: nebula (space)
[personal profile] erinptah

Down to 728 fandoms! I’ve knocked out about 150 since the last check-in, and almost exactly 800 in the whole past 6 months.

There are so many 1-work webcomic fandoms to drop, and I’m not even halfway through the alphabet yet. Bet I get my list under 450 by the end of this sweep.

(I’m not gonna just reach 450 and then stop. We’re doing the full A-to-Z here. Hopefully that leaves me a nice amount of wiggle room to pick up and clean new fandoms — which I’ve done a little of in the past 6 months, but it’ll be nice when I can make that a regular thing again.)

Only 25 of my fandoms have any tags to wrangle. This time I checked through in a little more detail, and for a full 8 of those, all the unwrangled tags are in the “crossover from for a fandom that isn’t canonical yet” category. (A full 2 of them are only here because of the same fic! It’s from this past December, and it’s tagged with 2 different adaptations of The Grinch…plus a tiny little web series, whose characters have been sitting in the Grinch bins ever since.)

AMT updates: I’m still holding firm on not being the person to detangle the Pundit & Broadcast Journalist RPF tag…but I did go down a different rabbit hole, and ended up writing a proposal to turn Late Night Host RPF into a metatag.

This involves a couple updates to Fake-News-adjacent fandom tags (LSSC and LWT). So I’m not re-submitting the new-and-improved Fake News AMT proposal until after this whole shebang has been processed.

It also involved adding a few new late-night fandoms to my wrangling list. (This kind of project is one of the reasons to leave wiggle room.) Definitely not keeping these long-term! Just long enough to make sure that, if/when everything gets updated, the various Jimmies and Jameses and so on all end up in the right places.


June 15 - Cat names!

Jun. 15th, 2026 08:28 pm
senmut: two lynxes butting heads, side shot (General: Lynx Love)
[personal profile] senmut
In honor of Boots' 2nd gotcha day, what are the names of some cats you have had?

Thom(as), (Missy) Uno, Simon, Snowball who became Sammy, Pooh Bear, Pollux, I-Chaya who became Gizmo, (Chester) Bu(bastis), (Alexandria) Chi(cago), Memphis (Jones), (Thumbsy) Thebes, (Cairo-)Glyph, Turtle, Mischa, Denali, Evie, Boots.

I think that is all the named cats I have had the pleasure of sharing part of my life with. Renames were rehomes.

My latest Guardian fanworks

Jun. 15th, 2026 01:17 pm
facethestrange: (guardian: weilan: lean on me)
[personal profile] facethestrange in [community profile] sid_guardian
4 shorter ficlets, all dramaverse (one crossover with Detective L). :)

Soft Landing (200 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: Fluff, Post-Canon, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Airports, Cuddling & Snuggling, Double Drabble
Summary: Shen Wei arranges the jacket around Zhao Yunlan's shoulders, and Zhao Yunlan smiles in his sleep.

After (255 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Da Qing & Zhao Yunlan, Da Qing & Shen Wei & Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Da Qing (Guardian), Mentioned Zhao Yunlan, mentioned Shen Wei
Additional Tags: Canonical Character Death, Canon Compliant, Angst, So much angst, Grief/Mourning, Hurt No Comfort, Cat Da Qing (Guardian), POV Da Qing (Guardian), Guardian Bingo
Series: Part 11 of Guardian Bingo 2026
Summary: He digs for the stupid-ass lollipop wrapper left under the pillow — he wants to bite it and kick it to shreds. He wants to sleep on it for years until it falls apart. He wants to frame it so that it never does.

Fragile (214 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jiajia/Wang Zheng (Guardian)
Characters: Jiajia (Guardian), Wang Zheng (Guardian)
Additional Tags: Crushes, Protectiveness, Gentleness, Episode: e009 Shen Wei Happily Receives, ToothpasteCheesecake's Sapphic Summer 2026
Summary: Wang Zheng pours water for everyone to toast with, and Jiajia can't look away.

Out of Place, Out of Time (562 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018), 绅探 | Detective L (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Lin Jing (Guardian) & Luo Fei (Detective L)
Characters: Lin Jing (Guardian), Luo Fei (Detective L), Qin Xiaoman, Ben Jieming (Detective L)
Additional Tags: Crossover, Time Travel, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Mistaken Identity, POV Lin Jing (Guardian), Minor Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, Community: intoabar, Guardian Bingo
Series: Part 10 of Guardian Bingo 2026
Summary: "And you are?" he asks.

Lin Jing stammers for a moment, and then leans forward to give Chief Zhao a better view, pointing to himself with both hands. "I'm... me? Lin Jing."

He gets a curious stare in response. Maybe the time travel is affecting Chief Zhao's memory? He has never felt particularly well after interacting with the Hallows.

4-1.

Jun. 14th, 2026 08:42 pm
hannah: (Marilyn Monroe - mycrime)
[personal profile] hannah
I heard the Knicks victory before any announcement. The whole city was screaming. In my case, the screaming was from an apartment across the hall and in the building next door, not the entire city block, but still. Plenty enough to hear. Then I saw the announcements and the victory posts, many of which were about victory celebrations. I had a few minutes of thinking I was tired, then decided: now or never.

Two blocks is enough to muffle a lot of sound, believe me. The screaming around me had died down fast, and two blocks over, the partying was still going. It was nothing compared to some of the more heavily attended areas - in my neighborhood, there were a handful of bars and a lot of people at home watching TV, rather than a lot of people at bars and a handful at home, so there weren't traffic cones being worn as hats or people jumping onto street signs. There were, however, fireworks.

Not huge Fourth of July shows, no. But fireworks just the same. I'd heard someone talking about them and knew I had to see for myself. I wandered into cheering and clapping and clapped along for a while, happy to be part of a crowd where everyone was there for the same reason, thinking if I'd missed fireworks that being there was still good.

I hadn't missed them. I might have if I'd left two minutes earlier, but I was in the right spot in the crowd to be standing next to someone setting them off. They didn't go up that high, and they didn't light up the whole sky, but they were blazing up into the night and leaving trails of sharp smoke, yellow and red and green, beautiful high-speed sounds followed by the little booms.

I've seen pictures of other parties. They looked suitably epic. However, I wouldn't have stood right next to the fireworks at those, so I wouldn't say I missed out on anything.

Baldur's Gate 3

Jun. 14th, 2026 08:06 pm
settiai: (BG3 -- settiai)
[personal profile] settiai
A new Baldur's Gate 3 mod was released recently that allows you to have multiple PCs in a single playthrough. It essentially makes the game think that you're doing multiplayer but since you're the only actual player you control all of the characters that are created.

I'm having so much fun with this the new playthrough that I started using said mod.

More under the cut. )
senmut: Grand Admiral Thrawn in repose (Star Wars: Thrawn)
[personal profile] senmut
So, I am hoping I am not in the minority here, wherein I have several fictional worlds I love, but the main protag is meh? Not the character I click the strongest with. If you have such, please share.

I could take the easy way and say "Miles Vorkosigan" but I don't need the essays on why I Am Wrong, LOL.

(seriously, please don't)

HP doesn't count because I never could with the books, and I have been told many times how wrong the movies are.

So I will give you my oldest, longest running 'no really I am here for everyone else' canon.

Luke Skywalker. Yes, I know it is a coming of age journey with him. Yes, he is SUPPOSED to be annoying in IV, whiny in V, and just starting to be worth watching in VI, but even as an adult... I watch it for everyone else. Do you know when I finally fell in love with Luke Skywalker?

Somewhere in Heir to the Empire. Thank you, Mr. Zahn, for realizing the Farmboy as an actual adult with goals and focus that wasn't just about his evil dad and Force ghosts. And now, perhaps, you all understand a little better why Luke was AGAIN my least favorite protag (even if he was secondary) in the Sequels.
senmut: Fulcrum in background of TCW Captain Rex in Armor (Star Wars: Fulcrum and Jaig Eyes)
[personal profile] senmut
AO3 LINK | Unfolding the Plan (3561 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars [2008] - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano
Characters: CT-7567 | Rex, Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi
Additional Tags: Ensemble Cast, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Time Travel Fix-It
Summary:

Fulcrum and Leverage start helping usher in the changes needed to save everyone... and let his brothers find happiness with their Jedi.



Unfolding the Plan

After the stated rest period, in which the elder Ahsoka Tano was amused by the roil of emotions through camp, the Jedi met with the time-traveling Force User. Captain Rex the elder gathered Bly, his younger self, and Wolffe to go have their own meeting. He was relieved that Wolffe was the one backing Plo on this campaign; he'd never had a strong rapport with Jag, who had been out of a different city than Tipoca.

"The first point of order for you Jedi," Fulcrum began, "is that your officers are going to be protected from an eventual Sith plan by my Captain. You may feel a momentary pain in your temple if you are that well connected to them… and certainly some emotional confusion."

To their credit, the Jedi all sharpened and even made aborted motions in the direction of where the officers had gone.

"Explain."

Of course it was Snips, sharp and still unfettered by the weight of the Rebellion on her shoulders, that had snapped out that single word, but Fulcrum thought each of the others was thinking it.

"Simply put, the Sith engineered the perfect army for us, made certain they would embed themselves in our psyches… and placed a hidden path for them to be subverted fully. A device to render their wills non-existent, save to follow the orders given to them."

Fulcrum met each and every set of eyes, impressing on them the depth of her grief for losing the men she had seen as her clan to protect. "My Captain knows an individual solution that allows him to destroy its ability to function in a very small radius. We never had a chance, or resources, to find a mass fix.

"And just to make this easier because of names, his code is Leverage, as mine is Fulcrum."

"I do not see how that man would be able to effect an order that would make it past all of their flash-trained loyalty to the Republic," Plo offered, suspecting the answer, but needing it drawn into the open, even as he 'listened' for the others.

"That's because the Sith-spit on the Seppie side is merely the apprentice," Fulcrum said. "The Master has been ensconced in power within the Republic for decades, steadily gathering as many pieces of this dejarik game as he wished."

"You know who he is!" Anakin said, eyes shining with his need to end this war, to protect his men and those he cared for.

Fulcrum let her features reflect the sadness she felt for this moment. "I do, Anakin. But I think we need to come back to that once we have the men actually safe from the trap."

"It's the nightmare," Snips said slowly. "The device, it's why they have the nightmare? Which means… they were trained for it, but deep in their subconscious?"

"Yes."

The exasperated breath from Aayla, the flex of Plo's appendages, and even Anakin's glare in the direction of his padawan said all three knew of the disturbance in the mens' sleeping patterns, but only Snips had ever been able to get the truth of it from them.

"How many men survived? How many… Jedi?" Aayla asked, and Fulcrum shook her head.

"I had reason to believe Master Yoda survived. I eventually found another who was a padawan-commander when the order was given. There were rumors through the galaxy, and intel I compiled said some of the rumors had been grounded in fact but… they were eventually killed.

"As to the men, there were a very few that were not affected for varying reasons. And before the Empire could fully take them from me, I and others did cut some of them out, restore them to themselves." She dropped her eyes, a long moment of silence in place for the ones she had failed before she continued. "I did not find the correct way to protect them from memory, and a few died free before I knew how best to handle them."

Plo's mask actually beeping at him for forgetting to draw a breath was right over the squeak of Anakin's leather glove as he clenched the mechanical hand tightly.

"So what are you advising us to do now?" Anakin asked, once he'd mastered the storm of emotions.

"We need an intact chip, we need it sliced, we need a mass fix," Fulcrum said. "After that, I can work with those most aware of the movement of power on Coruscant to lay a web of investigation to trap the Sith there. While those of you that are better leaders than political investigators hold the Separatists back."

"All due respect, but my former Master and I have the most Sith-hunting experience," Anakin said, balking at the implication he could not be part of the endgame.

"Then use that. Find Dooku. Keep him from following his master's plans," she said firmly. "If you can get me a location on Ventress, I can remove her from the war, possibly turn her toward ending Dooku as well."

"I hardly think we need to ally to an enemy like her," Plo said, speaking for himself and Anakin and Snips in that moment.

Fulcrum considered, then inclined her head. "So be it. I will not make an effort to help her be a better legacy to Knight Ky Narec, if that is your choice, given she was pushed into the Dark by losing her teacher on the world he was lost at."

Rex would probably have chastised her to hear her fight that dirty, called her on pulling a bit of revenge for the girl she had been, betrayed by the Council into the Trial for her life. She didn't care; she needed the Jedi to stop thinking so narrowly.

The blow landed as squarely as she had intended. "I… if word of her position can be found, it will be relayed," Plo agreed.

"You will not reveal the true Sith until the men are safe?" Anakin asked, to be sure, scowling at Ventress having been brought up.

"I cannot, not if I finally have the chance to make good on the promise your padawan and myself made before we even knew their names."

"To make it better, and take care of them, that it would be okay some day," Snips said softly, before she turned to her master. "You said you'd listen to her."

"Yeah, Snips… and I've been in this military setup long enough to understand OpSec. Okay then, we wait on that part."

Fulcrum felt the request of her partner before she just turned to the door of the tent, disengaging the lock by use of the Force. Her Captain led in the other three vod'e, all of whom looked sick and hopeful all at once.

"We need our medics taken care of, and it needs to be done somewhere not under our equipment," Wolffe pronounced. "Presuming she told you?"

"Elek, ad," Plo said firmly. "I likely have the best ability to arrange that first, as I do need to resupply at my home world."

"Our next resupply is through Naboo," Aayla said, full of quiet respect for that system having offered its facilities to handle such things.

"We just did…" Anakin said ruefully. "But I can give you a message for Sabé, their Minister of Information," he added for his friend. "Given I think we need to bring back a surgidroid for the medic just in case we need more chips to test.

"Still doesn't solve the 501st's issue, when you all know I have got to get a chip to work on for myself."

"Send Kix, Jesse maybe… with my young self there to our homeworld," Fulcrum suggested. "I can stay with your unit and fill in to help steady Vasq and Coric."

"Elek!" Snips said, lighting up. "My mother has access and ability, and we can tell Kix it's so he can download a full Togruta medical text as well as get pointers!"

Fulcrum saw the flickers of emotion in Anakin, wondered at them, but she had to take things one at a time. She hadn't deliberately engineered it to get him away from the others, and yet the Force knew that was the best path.

"It sounds as if we have a plan," Bly said firmly. "We don't have a solid slicer in our unit, being more for assault and defense."

"Have Knight Swan's unit join yours once you have a chip," Plo said. "I will make certain her senior command is aware of the need."

"I would have thought you'd want her with you, but thank you, Master," Aayla said.

"I will have another Sentinel join me, discreetly, so that we are working this from several angles. The first one to actually slice it… needs to reach for me mentally. I will be listening. As this cannot go on comms." Plo looked at each of them. "I will not fail the men in this."

"None of us will," Aayla averred, meeting her Commander's eyes.

"Then let us see if this campaign is really at an end and get moving," Wolffe said gruffly, already getting his helmet back on.

Fulcrum smiled, just a little, as each set of Jedi-and-vod moved to do just that, with Rex coming up behind her.

"How did it go? I kept them focused on me enough that my warning was enough to let them focus past the connections," she told her husband.

"Wolffe was enraged, but like we knew, he didn't have one anymore. Helped me steady Bly and my other self."

"Alright. Now, we let the Jedi figure the chip out… and move forward once we have a path."

"What about…"

"Once younger me is dispatched on her mission, then you and I will tackle that part."





Before Fulcrum could even go look for Anakin, once Snips and Kix and Jesse were gone, the Jedi showed up at the cabin she and her Rex were sharing. Rex was not present, having gone to mingle among the men, answer questions that he could, and other ways of integrating into the 501st all over again.

"Wasn't expecting you," Fulcrum said with half a smile, moving to let him come in.

"Haven't been able to sleep well since the news about the chip," Anakin admitted. "Because my brain keeps circling around how it could be possible. How that order could ever work. Who could give it unilaterally."

The sweaty, nervous look he was letting Fulcrum see told him they had come early enough for Anakin to help save himself. With a quiet, wordless sense of apology to her mate for not letting him be part of this, she reached for both of his hands and drew him to sit on the bed beside her.

"You already know, and you keep rejecting it. Because it can't be possible, right? He's your friend, has been there when the Jedi failed you, and so on?"

Anakin flinched, but that in itself confirmed things.

"I'm right… but even saying it, even trusting you… I want to hurt you for making me think it, and that? That's not me."

"No it's not," Fulcrum agreed, leaving out the one time they had come to blows once the Sith won. That was never going to happen. "You won't be able to go near Coruscant, once we work past the barriers he placed," she warned.

"We'll make that as short a time as we can, if you can help me be free," Anakin said, squeezing with his flesh hand on hers. "Kind of feel like a woman who broke time can manage whatever this is… but the things you learn about me — "

She freed the hand from his cybernetic one and covered his lips with a single finger. "You'll be seeing the things I did, and ordered, in the name of trying to fight the Sith. And even if I am your elder, I'm wise enough to know that both of us were too young to be in some of the situations we were placed in.

"We have too much power, too many temptations, and … we are just mortal beings who sometimes fail."

Anakin considered that, and she shifted her hand to lay it along his cheek, which he pushed into.

"I feel strange, trusting you, but you're here," and he tapped his forehead, above her hand, "like Snips, and that's not something I think can be faked."

"No. I don't think so either. I'm trying hard to curb my connections, which are hers, and I have far more reason to shut myself off from the Jedi she trusts, but never you. I was part of your endgame, though not in the way that piece of filth probably wanted me to be," Fulcrum admitted. "I don't want any of what happened to befall your current padawan, in addition to my dedication to preventing the Empire from ever being formed."

Anakin shuddered, nuzzled at her hand once, then drew himself back. "Okay, let's beat a Sith at one of his traps, so I can focus on the major one."

"Gladly, Skyguy."

She opened herself to the Force, felt him instinctively follow her, and they spiraled into one another to defeat the years of compulsions in his mind.





Rex slipped back in to find 'Soka cradling Anakin along her side. He slipped out of his gear quietly, noting when Anakin looked over, tensed, and then was soothed back into resting.

"Care if I take the far side, sir?" Rex asked, not liking how vulnerable his general felt, not when Fives and his younger self both were shards of broken glass in response to whatever had happened in here.

"I could go," Anakin mumbled.

"Or you could actually get some sleep, protected by two people who have only ever loved and respected you," Fulcrum said firmly.

"Sounds good," Anakin agreed at her tone, and Rex laid behind the taller man, arranging himself to be a comfortable leaning spot rather than obtrusive.

"When did the two of you… you know."

Rex chuckled. "Seems that 'Soka knew all along we were meant, but it was Mandalore, the last campaign."

"Kind of like you knew she was for you," Fulcrum said softly. "But neither of us were mature enough until that campaign to even think about things… and the galaxy going to hell was a good reason to decide it was time."

"I can see that." Anakin let his eyes close again. "Don't know how they're tackling things now… but Snips seems to be dead set on nothing having changed."

"Which means the me of this time will ignore it and never say a word, until things are settled," Rex agreed. "Best they can choose to do, in my opinion."

Fulcrum gave a small snort. "She's not going to stop chasing experience with the girls while she waits, but why should she? She's risking her life daily; only fair she can get a few perks."

"Never noticed people that way, but can't argue," Anakin agreed, before yawning, and all three of them quieted to get the rest they truly needed.





Bly had not brought up his feelings since the strange shared campaign, but that didn't mean he wasn't thinking on them. When Bultar Swan and Thrust showed up, Bly took it upon himself to follow Leverage's guidance and be the one to render his chip inert.

He had to dodge the aborted fist thrown his way for the 'attack', but then Thrust's mind caught up.

"How did a droid popper affect me in my head… unless there's hardware in there?"

Bly chuckled. "Could've done with you thinking a little faster, vod, but elek. You and your general are here to figure the damned things out, because we don't have a solid slicer." He paused a moment. "Still trying to get her to notice?"

Thrust blinked at the shift in subject, then gave a half-hearted nod.

"Keep at it, Thrust. The way we found out about these chips is pretty holo-novel stuff, but seeing a Jedi claim her captain as her partner in everything, and him pretty much showing it at every step? Gave me a bit of hope. Wolffe and Rex both saw it too, and several of our units."

Thrust grinned. "Tell me everything, then take me to where I can get to work breaking these chips wide open!"

Bly matched that grin; if they could eliminate the nightmare as a possibility, then they were all going to work harder on making those solid connections with their Jedi, now that they had seen it could really happen.





It was a race to the wire, or so Fulcrum felt as word reached the 501st that the endgame had begun. She had felt something trying to occlude her ability to predict with the Force what next step was needed. The Sith had become aware of her, probably because she'd detoured to go help Asajj end the apprentice's life.

"Stop fretting and be still," her husband growled, working on changing the bandages from that fight.

"Kenobi asked Anakin to join him on a trip to Coruscant, and you want me to be still?"

Rex paused, meeting her eyes. "You protected him. Have faith in your own work like I do. You said yourself that Plo Koon and the Sentinel he worked with had already started the investigation, having figured it out the same as Anakin did."

"Which means they need their best fighters on deck, just in case," she said with a sigh. "I should be there."

"You're lucky you are conscious, and the pair of us of this time need some backup if the Seppies decide to push when chaos breaks out."

"Why are you always so logical?" she asked, but she smiled.

"You are too, when it's not your heart in the middle of it all." He started working on the next wound, and sighed. "The witch did good by you; this one could have cost you badly."

"Yeah… I think I've got peace with her, as I had in our history. With less murder even."

Rex grunted at that; he could think of several battles the witch would have been at after this point, and she was out of the picture now.

"Nothing to do but wait, and heal, 'Soka."

"Hmm, and fix my armor."

They both laughed at that, looking at the mangled mess of it she had brought back.





Obi-Wan sat in one med-chair, watching the last refinements of the cybernetic hand be made, while Anakin tweaked his own in the other med-chair, having been less satisfied with the results from the original repair.

"At least you didn't get stabbed in the leg this time?" Anakin offered, eyes actually showing life and amusement… much as the old training bond was lighter than Obi-Wan had expected.

"I would have gladly taken a leg wound if it had kept more of the men out of harm's way," Obi-Wan said, but he did give a small smile. "I really need to meet this Fulcrum, if she managed to settle you so well to this grave betrayal."

Anakin snorted. "I think the Council will be meeting her soon enough, Obi-Wan. She's got some advice for the Order as a whole. But you? I think it's her partner, Leverage, who will have the most words for you. Given, oh, the small matter of you and Cody sneaking around and pretending to just be a good command team."

Obi-Wan coughed, staring at his former padawan, even as he was so relieved they were in a med facility that was not the Temple!

"I don't think you get to say a word. And I do hope she is able to get free of duty soon enough for you to meet with her before heading back out."

Anakin got the softest smile on his face, now that he wasn't hiding his relationship from his brother/best friend/teacher. "Yeah, well a Senator and a Jedi have a lot of pull. But if you and Cody actually were to be open, it might help a lot of people. Given what seeing Fulcrum and Leverage did for Bly, from what I heard."

Obi-wan turned that over in his head, and his eyebrows rose. "AAYLA?!"

Anakin nodded, grinning a little. "Seems Bly hadn't wanted to make his choice clear enough, because they all thought we Jedi couldn't take that step at all."

That made Obi-Wan stroke his beard, and then he nodded, before the med droid closed the access panel to let him test his control of the new hand. "I don't think he or I really want to make a fuss, but I'll tell him a statement is needed."

"Good."





There was Maul to find, Death Watch to contain, Separatist leaders to negotiate with… but Fulcrum thought things might just settle back from the edge of destruction for a while.

More, it was going to happen with a few better understandings in place, as Jedi and Vod'e explored the benefit of having someone to lean into, fully.

"Not bad, for an ex-Jedi and her captain, hmm?" she asked her husband, standing behind him with her arms around his shoulders, watching foot traffic around the Temple.

"Not bad for one of your plans at all," he said, before they headed down to throw their ideas around with the current Council on how to move forward.

ride_4ever: (Fraser - yays)
[personal profile] ride_4ever
On this day in 2011 I got my first LiveJournal account. I consider my LJversary to also be my fanniversary since it marks the time I found online fandom community. LJ has been and continues to be one of only two social media platforms where I am consistently active (the other one being Dreamwidth here).

Saturday night.

Jun. 13th, 2026 10:18 pm
hannah: (Dar Williams - skadi)
[personal profile] hannah
Tonight's Escapade panel suggestion hangout had me making people laugh, so it was the high point of the day, easily. Moreso even than my brother J., his daughter A., and his wife E. coming over for lunch - a rare Manhattan visit on E.'s part, but my parents thought more of it than I did, so not my day's high point.

Also not a high point but a good one was taking the night to write for a challenge, and letting myself be surprised by the story. I took a prompt without knowing what I'd do with it, then let the story tell me how to take me where I wanted to go. I always enjoy it when that happens.
china_shop: A close-up of the Envoy's mouth and chin, with just the bottom edge of his mask in frame. (Guardian - Envoy)
[personal profile] china_shop in [community profile] sid_guardian
Zhao Yunlan sprawled on a couch, grinning at his phone. The background shows a purply sky with stars. Text reads "Slo-Mo Rewatch. Guardian - half an episode per week @ sid-guardian.dreamwidth.org."


Hi, and welcome back to the Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch. Watch half an episode a week, at your leisure, and then come and chat about it here in comments. Or you can just jump into the comments without rewatching, of course!

Here are the previous weeks' rewatch posts.

Episode 17, up to 22:31

Summary
We get Bao Laosan's tragic backstory, which Zhu Jiu uses to incite him to attack the SID. Shen Wei searches Dixing for Zhao Yunlan, starting (as far as we know) in the bar, where everyone is rowdy and disrespectful. He quells them with a display of power, and the quaking bartender whispers something in his ear. In Haixing, the SID team confront Bao Laosan, and he takes Lao Li hostage. Zhao Xinci, who has zero de-escalation skills, struggles with Bao Laosan and shoots him. The team are horrified. Meanwhile, Zhao Yunlan and Wu Tian'en are running around Dixing in search of the missing book. Shen Wei finds An Bai and friends and intimidates them for information about Zhao Yunlan's whereabouts. Zhu Jiu and Ya Qing talk about loyalty/ethics and Ye Zun, and we see Zhu Jiu's backstory, being bullied in his job as a palace guard. Zhao Yunlan and Wu Tian'en find an information broker. At the SID, everyone is upset about the case; Zhao Xinci tells them they did well and leaves, returning Zhao Yunlan's gun to Da Qing on his way out. Zhao Yunlan bargains with the information broker for intel, but the masked man stabs him with a poisoned syringe and reveals himself as Ding Dun. Zhao Yunlan falls to the ground in agony. Shen Wei arrives just in time to stop Ding Dun finishing him off. They fight with dark energy, and Shen Wei kills Ding Dun.



Quote
Ding Dun: You want to ask about marriage.
Zhao Yunlan: I... have been a huge asshole since the day I was born; so cold and heartless. I don't want marriage.

Detail
Ding Dun's sign says 包打听 which is translated in every version of the subs as "Knows everything." Google Translate rendered it as "Know-It-All" one time, and "Gossip" another, and Pleco as "nosey parker" -- which explains Zhao Yunlan's bemused reaction.

Questions
Do you have a favourite scene or line of dialogue from this half episode? On a scale from 1 to 10, how upsetting is it to see the SID façade crack? Is the bar the first place Shen Wei looks for Zhao Yunlan? Why do the bar patrons assume Shen Wei is an imposter Envoy? On a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you blame Zhao Xinci for Bao Laosan's death? When Shen Wei intimidates An Bai and co, An Bai folds pretty quickly -- is that due to cowardice, latent respect for the Envoy, or some other reason? Zhu Jiu is unpowered in his backstory; when does he acquire his powers? When Wu Tian'en says he can't teleport anymore, is he telling the truth or lying to spare Zhao Yunlan's health and give him face? When Zhao Xinci tells the SID, "You are truly worthy of being members of the Special Investigations Department" (Viki subs), does he mean it, or is he just trying to cheer them up? Does Ye Zun want Zhao Yunlan dead, or is Ding Dun acting unilaterally when he attacks, or (third option) has Ding Dun conspired with Zhu Jiu and/or the Deacon to take Zhao Yunlan out? If the last option, does Ye Zun know their plan?

Did you see any parallels in these scenes with other parts of the drama? If you're familiar with the novel, any thoughts about how the drama adaptation compares, if at all?

(As usual, these are all just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like! You don't have to be keeping up with the rewatch to join in. We'd love to hear your thoughts!)

And here is our schedule -- if you can, please sign up to host a post!
senmut: An orange-blue gradient field, with a black and white star in the right upper corner, reading "A Star to Steer By, A Wind to take me home again" (General: One More Time)
[personal profile] senmut
I don't want "misunderstood villains" or "trying for redemption". Tell me a villain that is THE VILLAIN, they did do all that, and you absolutely hope the heroes get the upper hand every time!

The first one that defined this concept for me? J. R. Ewing of Dallas. When I compare Babylon 5's Bester to him, I mean it as a solid compliment. I don't want tragic stories pasted on, other characters 'fixing' them, or any of that. I want them to be as bad and as nasty as they do so well... and I will cheer any and every person that gets the upper hand on them.

Because, my lovely friends, heroes ARE measured by what they overcome, and that includes the antagonist.

summer podfic swap 2026

Jun. 13th, 2026 12:06 pm
marianas: (Default)
[personal profile] marianas
dear podficcer,

This is my first time doing this exchange! I am so excited for whatever you make for me!

This is me: [tumblr.com profile] likethetrench | [pinboard.in profile] heriros | [archiveofourown.org profile] marianas | marianas.

IN GENERAL
Any rating. Any length. Music/no music, effects/no effects. Gen/pairing focused. Fic that I've bookmarked, fic that's been podficced before by me or someone else, fic that might be completely new to me. Traditional prose, epistolary, not!fic, meta.
No thank you to chatty cold reads.

My bookmarks are on (pinboard).

SOME THINGS I LIKE
* Happy endings
* Found family
* Making a home, in whatever form that takes
* Tropes played straight, tropes subverted/inverted
* The moment when they go from surnames or titles to first names
* Navigating unequal power dynamics
* Competence
* Characters who are bad at talking about their feelings having to talk about their feelings
* Ace characters
* Kidfic
* Werewolves
* Modern/mundane AUs with a strong sense of place/ profession
* Idiots to lovers
* Accidental dating, everyone thinks they're dating, they *are* dating and no one else has figured it out yet
* Fake marriage, political marriage, arranged marriage, lavender marriage, marriage for reasons other than love
* Forced proximity tropes (only one bed, huddling for warmth, etc)
* Sex pollen/[something] made them do it/heat


DO NOT WANT
* No mommy/daddy kink (it's the words specifically tbh)
* No on-page non-con
* No cop or entertainment industry AUs (canons excepted obvs, otherwise Slings & Arrows and Shetland would be impossible)
* No [character]/reader fic
* I am extremely picky on execution for soulmate type stuff, so probably avoid unless it's in my bookmarks

Common DNWs that I don't mind: temporary character death, grief/mourning, dubcon, reference to past abuse, infidelity, same generation incest, age difference, underage, watersports, omegaverse, bdsm, pregnancy, 'period-typical homophobia', genderswap/rule 63/trans headcanons ...etc

FANDOMS

Hockey RPF
* lol i'm back i live here now (again)
* Pairings I have been reading lately: McDavid/Draisaitl, MacKinnon/Crosby, Zegras/Drysdale, Crosby/Malkin. Could be into pretty much any pairing except:
* No Kraken. Am not particularly interested in WillMack, but it's not a hard no.

Small Book Fandoms
Goblin Emperor [the book specifically, not cemeteries of amalo (ao3 doesn't disambiguate)]: gen & worldbuilding, Maia & Csethiro navigating marriage ( & or / ), nohecherai focused, Csevet focused

KJ Charles romance novels: yes I have read them all. yes even that one. fav books/series: Society of Gentlemen, Doomsdays, Jackdaw, Henchmen, Gentle Art. fav pairings: Gareth/Joss (Doomsdays), Dom/Silas (SoG). Not super into Magpies or Will Darling.

Temeraire: Tharkay focused (Laurence/Tharkay or gen), Granby focused (Laurence/Granby or Granby/Little), ladies focused (Admiral Roland, Emily Roland, Lady Allendale), crossovers with canons/historical figures of the time

Various 19th Century Men, magical or otherwise, including but not limited to:
* Sherlock Holmes, Holmes/Watson
* Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Childermass/Segundus
* Aubrey-Maturin, Aubrey/Maturin
* Death by Silver, Lynes/Mathey
* Watchmaker of Filigree Street, Thaniel/Mori
* Original Work

Small TV Fandoms
Historical Farm: any series, period au or not, or au setting. Alex/Peter, ot3 (Alex/Peter/Ruth), gen. has anyone written Ruth/Peter/Tom only-one-bed-in-the-inn fic?

Shetland: (this has been the first fandom tag i open in yuletide for a few years now so I guess we're doing this) Jimmy/Duncan

Slings & Arrows: gen, Maria/Anna, stage management shenanigans


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