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Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 11:34 am
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 05:01 pm
Royalty is by blood. So what if a princess wakes up in a body that isn’t hers? And what if that body was previously a corpse? Author Chuck Rothman has the answers and is here to share them in the Big Idea for his newest novel, Cadaver Princess. Follow along to see if “blue blood” really does run through royals’ veins.
CHUCK ROTHMAN:
Cunningham’s Law states that the best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it’s to post the wrong answer. The webcomic XKCD created a popular meme where someone is staying up late because someone is wrong on the Internet.
The Cadaver Princess started due to someone being wrong on the Internet.
I am a storyteller. I also like to try to find new ways to do it. No Hero’s Journey for me! No planning, either. I start with a situation and see where it leads.
By the time I began writing The Cadaver Princess, I learned to lean into my strengths: short chapters and many point-of-view characters. I call it a “mosaic novel,” where a bunch of small vignettes slowly reveal the main plot (and subplots). And my goal in all this was to make it all work.
As to how this book began . . .
Matthew Foster is an excellent critic of fantasy and SF films. In his review of Boris Karloff’s The Body Snatcher, he said, “There were more movies about Victorian body snatchers than there were Victorian body snatchers.”
But body snatching was a major concern in 1831. Cadavers were needed to teach doctors. “Resurrectionists” would dig up the freshly buried, and medical schools would pay for them, no questions asked. People went to some lengths to protect the bodies of their loved ones.
I had learned this from a book called The Italian Boy by Sarah Wise, about a group called the “London Burkers,” led by John Bishop. Obscure today, their actions were more important historically than the better-known Burke and Hare, and, like them, Bishop and his crew didn’t just dig up graves at night: they turned to murder.
I decided to start with them. But since I write fantasy, the idea of a cadaver lying on the slab is too mundane, so I had her sit up. And to make the stakes higher, I said she was Princess (later queen) Victoria — in the body of another young woman.
So I had a setting and an incident. I started to write about what happened next.
I spontaneously generate ideas as I write. Most of what I’ve encountered in books about the period (not counting Dickens) dealt with the upper classes. I wanted to write about the lower classes.
I had started with the point of view of the anatomist who received the corpse, but after a few short chapters, I realized there was a better main character: Pablo Mansong, a Black man who had been taken by slavers but was freed before he got to America. The name came from Pablo Fanque. Beatles fans might recognize it; Fanque was a Black circus owner and a major Victorian impresario.
Pablo is quite at home among the poor and the street vendors of London. There are chapters about royalty, but most of the book deals with Pablo and Victoria, including the shock when someone from royalty is face to face with poverty.
I had already dabbled in what I call “hidden history” — fantasy set in a real historical setting, but with fantastic events that are not recorded in history books. I see it as the opposite of alternative history, since it doesn’t change what’s known. But there are plenty of possibilities and ways of dovetailing the events to match the records.
Since I had introduced Victoria, I had to research her. I read about how she was raised, which gave me motivation for her villain, John Conroy. I also learned of how Victoria’s governess, Baroness Lehzen, tried to protect her charge.
As I write, connections come to me. Sometimes, a scene that’s just for background becomes an unplanned but essential plot element by the end. In one scene I’m describing one of the street vendors of the era. Later on, I realize it is important for a key moment.
The real joy of writing this was figuring out how to make the connections, and how to make them dramatic. It was like a puzzle, and I enjoy putting all the pieces together.
But ultimately, the novel originated from Cunningham’s Law: correcting something on the Internet that was wrong. I just turned it into fiction.
Cadaver Princess: Amazon
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 02:10 pm
Over a month after the arrival of our (in my case, long-yearned-for) Microclimate Air3 powered respirators, I finally took mine out on its maiden voyage yesterday. (It may result in me going more places than I have been, but it may also mainly result in me feeling safer in the places I do go.)
Yesterday there was a casual in-person meeting at Dayjob where the team properly met the two people who our office's managing editor answers to. Donuts were promised (and turned out to be quality donuts, although I opted not to bring one home with me [since I sure wasn't about to unmask to eat anything there!]. Fun times in needing to be picky about what I spend my sugar intake on). We also had a heat warning, so I was all the more glad/relieved to have a drive to and from the meeting rather than taking transit for the first time in, oh, three years or so.
I'll put most of the rest under a cut, but I do want to note--especially since probably at least one or two of you clicked on the link for the Air3, and the price looks horrifying--that I'm incredibly glad we didn't order ours immediately when they first became available, because at that point the Air3 alone (as opposed to the kit) was more like $1000 USD. The original plan wasn't for![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
scruloose to get one at all, given that initial price and given that they have a respirator setup that works well for them. But then a few weeks later, the price dropped to $549(/$649 for the kit with extra stuff, which is what we opted for, as well as a few extra filters etc. in the name of minimizing future need to deal with shipping), so we got to say "Well, that's still really spendy, but it's also now not completely outrageous to get two." (And then we wound up having to contact the company because of shipping/import charge shenanigans, but those were on the courier's side, not Microclimate's, and the person scruloose dealt with was great, so it's all good.)
I should also note that one of the review videos I watched about this made sure to point out clearly that its price (which initially was a MAJOR jump up from how much the Air2 cost when that was available) was in line with the cost of other NIOSH-certified powered respirators. It's far from cheap, but it's not the gouging attempt it might seem like. (I do wonder what the deal was with the massive price drop so soon after its release, though!)
( And now, the actual experience: )
Yesterday there was a casual in-person meeting at Dayjob where the team properly met the two people who our office's managing editor answers to. Donuts were promised (and turned out to be quality donuts, although I opted not to bring one home with me [since I sure wasn't about to unmask to eat anything there!]. Fun times in needing to be picky about what I spend my sugar intake on). We also had a heat warning, so I was all the more glad/relieved to have a drive to and from the meeting rather than taking transit for the first time in, oh, three years or so.
I'll put most of the rest under a cut, but I do want to note--especially since probably at least one or two of you clicked on the link for the Air3, and the price looks horrifying--that I'm incredibly glad we didn't order ours immediately when they first became available, because at that point the Air3 alone (as opposed to the kit) was more like $1000 USD. The original plan wasn't for
scruloose to get one at all, given that initial price and given that they have a respirator setup that works well for them. But then a few weeks later, the price dropped to $549(/$649 for the kit with extra stuff, which is what we opted for, as well as a few extra filters etc. in the name of minimizing future need to deal with shipping), so we got to say "Well, that's still really spendy, but it's also now not completely outrageous to get two." (And then we wound up having to contact the company because of shipping/import charge shenanigans, but those were on the courier's side, not Microclimate's, and the person scruloose dealt with was great, so it's all good.)I should also note that one of the review videos I watched about this made sure to point out clearly that its price (which initially was a MAJOR jump up from how much the Air2 cost when that was available) was in line with the cost of other NIOSH-certified powered respirators. It's far from cheap, but it's not the gouging attempt it might seem like. (I do wonder what the deal was with the massive price drop so soon after its release, though!)
( And now, the actual experience: )
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 04:18 pm
Brendon Church, dating from 1738. Dedicated to St Brendan, patron saint of navigators, which seems appropriate, as it is not an easy church to find.
( Not where it's meant to be )
Tags:
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 08:04 am
no time to post. I am collecting notes and will catch up. promise.
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 04:03 pm
When I have a fic idea, I’ll usually scribble it down in the back of my diary. It’s time to switch diaries again, so it’s time for the annual fic concept roundup!
This post lists all the fic ideas at the back of my 2024-25 diary. If I’ve written the fic, I’ll include a link to it. If I’ve started the fic, I’ll share a snippet. If I haven’t started it, I’ll write at least a hundred words on the spot.
First of all, here are the fics I’ve written in full. (To be clear, this isn’t all the fics I’ve written over the past year; it’s just the ones I’d previously noted the idea for in my diary.) Fandoms: Scrubs, Danganronpa, Ace Attorney, Death Note, Omori, Better Half, Severance, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy. There may be spoilers for these canons below the cut.
( Written fics from my 2024-25 diary. )
Next, let’s look at the works in progress (or at least the works that were started; I’m not sure they’re actively progressing). Fandoms: Death Note, Metaphor ReFantazio, Severance, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, Danganronpa. There may be spoilers for these canons below the cut.
( In-progress fics from my 2024-25 diary. )
Finally, it’s time for the fic ideas I haven’t touched and now have to write something for. This is always intimidating, but I’ll give it a go!
Fandoms: NEO: The World Ends with You, Severance, Death Note, Dexter, The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, Deltarune. There may be spoilers for these canons below the cut.
( 2024-25 fics I hadn't started... until now. )
As ever, I have no idea whether any of these will end up becoming full fics, but I’m glad to have written at least a little for each concept!
This post lists all the fic ideas at the back of my 2024-25 diary. If I’ve written the fic, I’ll include a link to it. If I’ve started the fic, I’ll share a snippet. If I haven’t started it, I’ll write at least a hundred words on the spot.
First of all, here are the fics I’ve written in full. (To be clear, this isn’t all the fics I’ve written over the past year; it’s just the ones I’d previously noted the idea for in my diary.) Fandoms: Scrubs, Danganronpa, Ace Attorney, Death Note, Omori, Better Half, Severance, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy. There may be spoilers for these canons below the cut.
( Written fics from my 2024-25 diary. )
Next, let’s look at the works in progress (or at least the works that were started; I’m not sure they’re actively progressing). Fandoms: Death Note, Metaphor ReFantazio, Severance, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, Danganronpa. There may be spoilers for these canons below the cut.
( In-progress fics from my 2024-25 diary. )
Finally, it’s time for the fic ideas I haven’t touched and now have to write something for. This is always intimidating, but I’ll give it a go!
Fandoms: NEO: The World Ends with You, Severance, Death Note, Dexter, The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, Deltarune. There may be spoilers for these canons below the cut.
( 2024-25 fics I hadn't started... until now. )
As ever, I have no idea whether any of these will end up becoming full fics, but I’m glad to have written at least a little for each concept!
Tags:
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 10:35 am
Good morning! Where are you at in your fic?
- Plotting/planning/outlining
- Writing
- Editing
- Sending it to a beta reader
- Proofreading
- Posting it right now
- I didn't write today.
- I have thought about it here and there.
Tags:
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 10:30 am
Zohran Mamdani!!!!!
My god, I needed something like this so bad.
First time in thirty years I've voted for a democratic mayoral candidate without holding my nose.
Suck it, nytimes, and every establishment dem who supported that unmitigated, unrepentant, unqualified, abusive asshole Andrew Cuomo.
My god, I needed something like this so bad.
First time in thirty years I've voted for a democratic mayoral candidate without holding my nose.
Suck it, nytimes, and every establishment dem who supported that unmitigated, unrepentant, unqualified, abusive asshole Andrew Cuomo.
Tags:
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 10:17 am
Ooof, I do not know how people do it who do this for early voting as well!
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 09:08 am
I see that ^ statement a lot in discussion spaces, mostly in Reddit and Facebook groups. And I wanted to tackle that.
I do think that you have to acknowledge that a work of fiction is a work of fiction. You can't expect storylines to be 100% realistic when they're very much reliant on plot. To quote a song from Crazy-Ex Girlfriend: "If you watched a movie that was like real life, you'd be like, 'what the hell was that movie about?'" The same applies to all works of fiction.
At the same time, the characters do not know they're fictional. There should still be some rationale behind their actions (unless they're meant to be incredibly impulsive and/or irrational people). Storylines can push the boundaries of reality, but should still follow a somewhat logical course, unless they're meant to be absurdist shows where logic doesn't apply. Characters should still act consistently with who we understand there to be, unless, again, they're meant to be inconsistent, or we're seeing a side of them the show has always hinted at but never tapped into. Of course, fans are bound to disagree on what works for them. One person might think a storyline is too contrived, while another person thinks it makes perfect sense. The issue, then, isn't "it's just a show", but whether or not even within the context of fiction, XYZ worked for that person.
I also think that "it's just a show" is often said by VERY casual fans who aren't really up for discussing TV, but have still entered those spaces. There are a lot of people who take a very casual approach - they watch something, they like it or don't, that's it. So it is very easy to say "it's just a show" when your investment is minimal. The problem is, they're not bearing in mind that it's a discussion space, meaning people will want to discuss. Another example might be joining a bird watching group, despite not wanting to bird watch. It's fine if you're good just listening to birds chip and smiling when you spot them in the bushes, but a bird watching group is going to take it to the next level. (Which is why I'd never join one.)
IMHO, anyway. What do you guys think?
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 08:46 am
I would have voted for Cuomo.
Cuomo is an old-school Democrat and a loathsome human being by all accounts, but Cuomo is also an able administrator—and a city the size of NYC needs able administration. Weren't DiBlasio's two terms in office enough?
But hey! Maybe I would have been wrong.
Cuomo did kill a lot of old people who would have voted for him because they remember his father.
Plus, Zohran Mamdani is incredibly appealing, and I'd like to ride city buses for free-eee-eeee! Galvanizing 50,000 volunteer canvassers—Cuomo had to pay his—is no mean feat. Mamdani is like a male AOC or a younger, mega-photogenic Bernie Sanders. Mississippi Marsala is a lovely little movie. And I think it may be true that Mamdani is Trump's worst nightmare.
So, yeah: Zohran Mamdani.
The oil change yesterday went on forever, because I asked them to check the brakes and the suspension. The Prius is 14 years old & runs like a dream, but the roads in Ulster County are like one long Tourney of Potholes. If I don't rejuvenate my car's suspension system every year, one day it's gonna go over a bump and the wheels are gonna fly off.
Plus my mechanic stripped a gasket as he was finishing up, so all the new oil he'd just put into the Prius spilled all over the garage floor.
Even though I knew exactly what was happening—gasket! not a biggie—I could feel myself edging into a massive panic attack. I wanted to start sobbing. Like so many women of my age, I have Fear of the Big Box—basically because I wasn't taught about tools & engines & machinery growing up. Things with engines operate through a kind of magic that I am ignorant about! I was at the mercy of these alien priests in their grease-stained denim jumpsuits! All I could do was tremble in awe and fear—
Thankfully, I managed to talk myself out of the panic attack—because really, who wants to see an elderly lady get hysterics?
The verdict on the car: Back wheels need new shocks; car needs four new tires.
Cost will be about a grand.
Of course, I'd far rather spend $1,000 on hazelnut truffles and subscriptions to generative AI video services, but I must have a safe vehicle—my own driving abilities are wildcard factor enough on the roads.
###
My mechanic was horribly apologetic about the gasket when he brought the car out to me. He was an elderly gentleman with a very thick accent. I imagined him as a refugee from one of those countries in Africa beseiged by a gruesome civil war, Sierra Leone or Uganda or someplace.
"You know, stuff happens," I assured him. "You did a great job. Thank you so much!"
And I wrote him a five-star review, singling him out by the name embroidered over the breast pocket of his grease-stained denim jumpsuit.
Because I didn't want him to get fired over a gasket.
Cuomo is an old-school Democrat and a loathsome human being by all accounts, but Cuomo is also an able administrator—and a city the size of NYC needs able administration. Weren't DiBlasio's two terms in office enough?
But hey! Maybe I would have been wrong.
Cuomo did kill a lot of old people who would have voted for him because they remember his father.
Plus, Zohran Mamdani is incredibly appealing, and I'd like to ride city buses for free-eee-eeee! Galvanizing 50,000 volunteer canvassers—Cuomo had to pay his—is no mean feat. Mamdani is like a male AOC or a younger, mega-photogenic Bernie Sanders. Mississippi Marsala is a lovely little movie. And I think it may be true that Mamdani is Trump's worst nightmare.
So, yeah: Zohran Mamdani.
The oil change yesterday went on forever, because I asked them to check the brakes and the suspension. The Prius is 14 years old & runs like a dream, but the roads in Ulster County are like one long Tourney of Potholes. If I don't rejuvenate my car's suspension system every year, one day it's gonna go over a bump and the wheels are gonna fly off.
Plus my mechanic stripped a gasket as he was finishing up, so all the new oil he'd just put into the Prius spilled all over the garage floor.
Even though I knew exactly what was happening—gasket! not a biggie—I could feel myself edging into a massive panic attack. I wanted to start sobbing. Like so many women of my age, I have Fear of the Big Box—basically because I wasn't taught about tools & engines & machinery growing up. Things with engines operate through a kind of magic that I am ignorant about! I was at the mercy of these alien priests in their grease-stained denim jumpsuits! All I could do was tremble in awe and fear—
Thankfully, I managed to talk myself out of the panic attack—because really, who wants to see an elderly lady get hysterics?
The verdict on the car: Back wheels need new shocks; car needs four new tires.
Cost will be about a grand.
Of course, I'd far rather spend $1,000 on hazelnut truffles and subscriptions to generative AI video services, but I must have a safe vehicle—my own driving abilities are wildcard factor enough on the roads.
###
My mechanic was horribly apologetic about the gasket when he brought the car out to me. He was an elderly gentleman with a very thick accent. I imagined him as a refugee from one of those countries in Africa beseiged by a gruesome civil war, Sierra Leone or Uganda or someplace.
"You know, stuff happens," I assured him. "You did a great job. Thank you so much!"
And I wrote him a five-star review, singling him out by the name embroidered over the breast pocket of his grease-stained denim jumpsuit.
Because I didn't want him to get fired over a gasket.
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 09:26 pm
Recommendation: the first episode of the "Ill Concieved" podcast, which promises to be a podcast about natalism. Their first episode is Promise Keepers.
Note: I had a complex reaction to this content. The dominant one is actually a sort of relief in finding someone in 2025 of vaguely my demographic digging into this. I recognise Promise Keepers. I don't think I know anyone who went to a Promise Keepers rally (I'm not even sure if there WERE such rallies in Aus), but I definitely heard people talk about the Important Movement which Ill Concieved delightfully describe as "700,000 Dicks Out For Jesus".
However. I was a left-ish, liturgy-friendly Protestant growing up around charismatic and Pentecostal-leaning evangelicals. I dealt with this by Reading Up, particularly once I got academic library access and could search the keywords which my confirmation mentor had mentioned. Marion Maddox's "God Under Howard" is in my top five formative books, I reckon. I also read a fair bit of Karen Armstrong, which I realise is not the BEST one could read, but several points which were jarring to me in that episode come under the heading of "wait, Karen Armstrong can and does explain this, I'm open to other explanations but you're just saying it's Odd?".
Consequently, I ended up posting a mini-essay in skeets. I reproduce it here with corrected punctuation.
Recommendation: this.
Additional note: it’s a little weird to me, someone who dealt with growing up around charismatic evangelicals by researching as much on the history of both Pentecostalism and evangelical movements as I could get my teenage hands on, to hear @ junlper.beer repeatedly surprised about the multi-racial makeup of Promise Keepers. “Revival” style evangelical movements in the US have historic roots in African-American evangelical movements, and Pentecostalism in the US traces back to a Black revivalist preacher in early 20th c LA.
Pentecostalism didn’t get integrated into “mainline” evangelism until the 80s or so - many regarded them as indecorous, which no doubt had a lot to do with race. But folding Pentecostal practices and beliefs in with other charismatic evangelicals allowed the charismatic sectors of some of the major denominations to really strengthen their dominance over the evangelical cultural landscape.
( Summary One: you thought the filioque dispute was difficult, you thought reformation predistination disputes were arcane, you try not to think about Arianism... I give you: subdivisions of charismatic and pentecostal protestantism )
Summary two: some Protestants will do literally anything to avoid endorsing sacramentalism, including... whatever the fuck happened with Pentecostalism.
---
*Obligatory citation to Marion Maddox's "God Under Howard".
Note: I had a complex reaction to this content. The dominant one is actually a sort of relief in finding someone in 2025 of vaguely my demographic digging into this. I recognise Promise Keepers. I don't think I know anyone who went to a Promise Keepers rally (I'm not even sure if there WERE such rallies in Aus), but I definitely heard people talk about the Important Movement which Ill Concieved delightfully describe as "700,000 Dicks Out For Jesus".
However. I was a left-ish, liturgy-friendly Protestant growing up around charismatic and Pentecostal-leaning evangelicals. I dealt with this by Reading Up, particularly once I got academic library access and could search the keywords which my confirmation mentor had mentioned. Marion Maddox's "God Under Howard" is in my top five formative books, I reckon. I also read a fair bit of Karen Armstrong, which I realise is not the BEST one could read, but several points which were jarring to me in that episode come under the heading of "wait, Karen Armstrong can and does explain this, I'm open to other explanations but you're just saying it's Odd?".
Consequently, I ended up posting a mini-essay in skeets. I reproduce it here with corrected punctuation.
Recommendation: this.
Additional note: it’s a little weird to me, someone who dealt with growing up around charismatic evangelicals by researching as much on the history of both Pentecostalism and evangelical movements as I could get my teenage hands on, to hear @ junlper.beer repeatedly surprised about the multi-racial makeup of Promise Keepers. “Revival” style evangelical movements in the US have historic roots in African-American evangelical movements, and Pentecostalism in the US traces back to a Black revivalist preacher in early 20th c LA.
Pentecostalism didn’t get integrated into “mainline” evangelism until the 80s or so - many regarded them as indecorous, which no doubt had a lot to do with race. But folding Pentecostal practices and beliefs in with other charismatic evangelicals allowed the charismatic sectors of some of the major denominations to really strengthen their dominance over the evangelical cultural landscape.
( Summary One: you thought the filioque dispute was difficult, you thought reformation predistination disputes were arcane, you try not to think about Arianism... I give you: subdivisions of charismatic and pentecostal protestantism )
Summary two: some Protestants will do literally anything to avoid endorsing sacramentalism, including... whatever the fuck happened with Pentecostalism.
---
*Obligatory citation to Marion Maddox's "God Under Howard".
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 07:52 am
What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: Water Like a Stone (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) by Deborah Crombie and To Darkness and to Death (Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries) by Julia Spencer-Fleming.
What I am Currently Reading: The Ape Who Guards the Balance (An Amelia Peabody Mystery) by Elizabeth Peters.
What I Plan to Read Next: Still a variety of library books out, so one of those.
Book 46 of 2025: Water Like a Stone (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) (Deborah Crombie)
Good book! ( spoilers )
I enjoyed this book and have already requested the next. I'm giving this one five hearts.
♥♥♥♥♥
Book 47 of 2025: To Darkness and to Death (Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries) (Julia Spencer-Fleming)
I enjoyed this book, but even as I was reading it I was thinking it was a very weird mystery. With so many bad choices. It felt like a comedy of errors. ( spoilers )
Still enjoy the main characters and plan on reading more, but only giving this book three hearts.
♥♥♥
What I am Currently Reading: The Ape Who Guards the Balance (An Amelia Peabody Mystery) by Elizabeth Peters.
What I Plan to Read Next: Still a variety of library books out, so one of those.
Book 46 of 2025: Water Like a Stone (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) (Deborah Crombie)
Good book! ( spoilers )
I enjoyed this book and have already requested the next. I'm giving this one five hearts.
♥♥♥♥♥
Book 47 of 2025: To Darkness and to Death (Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries) (Julia Spencer-Fleming)
I enjoyed this book, but even as I was reading it I was thinking it was a very weird mystery. With so many bad choices. It felt like a comedy of errors. ( spoilers )
Still enjoy the main characters and plan on reading more, but only giving this book three hearts.
♥♥♥
Tags:
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 07:40 am
I didn’t have to be to mom’s until 10am, so I got some chores done before I left the house. I did two loads of laundry, the usual amount of hand-washing dishes, emptied the dishwasher, baked chicken for the dogs’ meals, and changed kitty litter.
I read fanfic and more Amelia Peabody, and finally watched the current ep of Resident Alien. Pip suggested I stop at Dairyland on the way home from mom’s so I picked up soft vanilla ice cream in a dish for him and a milkshake for myself.
Temps started out at 77.9(F) and reached 94.7 (that I’m aware of). I made a couple trips outside (to check mom’s mail and other errands) and it was stifling. There was a breeze, but it was a hot breeze and didn’t help much. The temps are supposed to drop a tiny bit today and be 69 on Thursday, which made both mom and me go o_O.
Mom Update:
Mom is showing more improvement physically; she stayed awake almost all morning and we chit chatted a bit. ( more back here )
I read fanfic and more Amelia Peabody, and finally watched the current ep of Resident Alien. Pip suggested I stop at Dairyland on the way home from mom’s so I picked up soft vanilla ice cream in a dish for him and a milkshake for myself.
Temps started out at 77.9(F) and reached 94.7 (that I’m aware of). I made a couple trips outside (to check mom’s mail and other errands) and it was stifling. There was a breeze, but it was a hot breeze and didn’t help much. The temps are supposed to drop a tiny bit today and be 69 on Thursday, which made both mom and me go o_O.
Mom Update:
Mom is showing more improvement physically; she stayed awake almost all morning and we chit chatted a bit. ( more back here )
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 06:37 am
The 13th task, will we get lucky? Nope: "Draw a pony hitting the road // Draw a pony starting a new chapter of their life". The choices are road abuse (ouch) or autobiography writing. Or bouncing road apples.
As always, draw (or sculpt or do a photo-montage), host the image of what you made in an online gallery and drop the URL into the submission form here, it's live. King Grimlock does not specifying the prompt in the submitter, but otherwise it's the usual: you can enter five different images per prompt. The maximum resolution is 2000x2000 pixels, so chose a link from your gallery that points to a version of your image that does not exceed 2,000 pixels on either side. Also, don't exceed 4 Mb per picture or the poniloader will plotz and choke on your picture. MLPforums and Discord work as image hosts in a pinch, although I think that there's an expiry date on those options. Xitter works somehow, it looks like Mastodon does, probably Bluesky as well, if you're savvy and Imgur apparently works too. I use Flickr. The pictures will be visible on EqD along with the next task at 9 PM (MST) on June 26th. KG has stopped trying to make bespoke URLs so I'll paste the gallery URL when it appears.
So be sure to get your drawings in well before 9 PM Mountain Standard Time (or midnight Eastern Daylight Savings Time and 5 AM UTC). The grace period should give you at least two extra days and KG goes back to edit in the late submissions, usually around the same time he posts the next prompt. KG can and does change the close date on the submitter and keeps just two active at any given moment. I don't think there will be any late submission catch-up days in this NATG.
Off topic submissions, more than was usual in past years, are showing up in the gallery. That's because King Grimlock is also posting what Calpain is prompting on Bluesky in his fringe NATG and people have been hybridizing this NATG with it. Calpain's prompts today are pony emptying their thoughts / Draw a pony going with the flow. Time to break out the edibles.
As always, draw (or sculpt or do a photo-montage), host the image of what you made in an online gallery and drop the URL into the submission form here, it's live. King Grimlock does not specifying the prompt in the submitter, but otherwise it's the usual: you can enter five different images per prompt. The maximum resolution is 2000x2000 pixels, so chose a link from your gallery that points to a version of your image that does not exceed 2,000 pixels on either side. Also, don't exceed 4 Mb per picture or the poniloader will plotz and choke on your picture. MLPforums and Discord work as image hosts in a pinch, although I think that there's an expiry date on those options. Xitter works somehow, it looks like Mastodon does, probably Bluesky as well, if you're savvy and Imgur apparently works too. I use Flickr. The pictures will be visible on EqD along with the next task at 9 PM (MST) on June 26th. KG has stopped trying to make bespoke URLs so I'll paste the gallery URL when it appears.
So be sure to get your drawings in well before 9 PM Mountain Standard Time (or midnight Eastern Daylight Savings Time and 5 AM UTC). The grace period should give you at least two extra days and KG goes back to edit in the late submissions, usually around the same time he posts the next prompt. KG can and does change the close date on the submitter and keeps just two active at any given moment. I don't think there will be any late submission catch-up days in this NATG.
Off topic submissions, more than was usual in past years, are showing up in the gallery. That's because King Grimlock is also posting what Calpain is prompting on Bluesky in his fringe NATG and people have been hybridizing this NATG with it. Calpain's prompts today are pony emptying their thoughts / Draw a pony going with the flow. Time to break out the edibles.
Tags:
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 09:29 am
According to the media the mysterious bottle that cleared several streets in the heart of Eastbourne was found in a house previously occupied by squatters. The contractors tasked with clearing the property called the police who summoned the bomb squad who sent in a robot to blow it up.
Was there a mighty explosion?
Apparently not.
Was there a mighty explosion?
Apparently not.
Tuesday, June 24th, 2025 09:55 pm
Fandom 50 #21
Untitled Ouizzy Vampire AU by![[tumblr.com profile]](https://www.tumblr.com/favicon.ico)
derekstilinski
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Relationship: Frenchie/Izzy Hands
Medium: Gifset
Length: 3 gifs
Rating: SFW
My Bookmark Tags: dark/horror, ambiguous ending, constructed reality, au: supernatural, infatuation, temptation, fear play, bloodplay (distantly implied)
Description:
This is my second rec for a constructed reality graphic from this same creator, and this one uses some absolutely brilliant editing to bring together what I'm pretty sure is Vengeance Is Mine and an episode of the TV show Bedlam (neither of which involve vampires) to create an AU where vampire!Frenchie and human!Izzy have a charged encounter in an abandoned church. The application of colour, the selection of eyelines, and the addition of other small edits all make this incredibly convincing, and the concept itself is very, very good to me.
I imagine this Izzy having some sort of protective interest in the church—a paid caretaker, a nosy neighbour, maybe a former vicar or member of the congregation who lost his faith after some tragic event. Whatever it is, he intends to roust out whoever's been squatting there, only to slide straight through "Oh no, he's hot" to "Oh fuck, that's a vampire" and into a dark and hot standoff between charmed predator and captivated prey.
Seriously, this is the gift ofderekstilinski's work. Three gifs and a fully formed universe full of potential stories pops into existence.
Untitled Ouizzy Vampire AU by
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Relationship: Frenchie/Izzy Hands
Medium: Gifset
Length: 3 gifs
Rating: SFW
My Bookmark Tags: dark/horror, ambiguous ending, constructed reality, au: supernatural, infatuation, temptation, fear play, bloodplay (distantly implied)
Description:
In the first gif, Izzy steps uncertainly through the doorway of an abandoned church and stops in front of a flight of stairs. Frenchie jumps out at him theatrically onto the landing above, grinning in front of a full-length panel of stained glass. In the second, Frenchie's eyes glow and his lips part in the dark confines of a confessional. In the shadows on the other side, we glimpse Izzy's rapt and frightened eyes. In the third, Frenchie says something tensely and then flashes a persuasive fanged smile in the vestibule of the church, intercut with Izzy staring at him and swallowing hard, one hand pressed to the side of his face and neck.
This is my second rec for a constructed reality graphic from this same creator, and this one uses some absolutely brilliant editing to bring together what I'm pretty sure is Vengeance Is Mine and an episode of the TV show Bedlam (neither of which involve vampires) to create an AU where vampire!Frenchie and human!Izzy have a charged encounter in an abandoned church. The application of colour, the selection of eyelines, and the addition of other small edits all make this incredibly convincing, and the concept itself is very, very good to me.
I imagine this Izzy having some sort of protective interest in the church—a paid caretaker, a nosy neighbour, maybe a former vicar or member of the congregation who lost his faith after some tragic event. Whatever it is, he intends to roust out whoever's been squatting there, only to slide straight through "Oh no, he's hot" to "Oh fuck, that's a vampire" and into a dark and hot standoff between charmed predator and captivated prey.
Seriously, this is the gift of
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 12:19 am
Good news includes all the things which make us happy or otherwise feel good. It can be personal or public. We never know when something wonderful will happen, and when it does, most people want to share it with someone. It's disappointing when nobody is there to appreciate it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our joys and pat each other on the back.
What good news have you had recently? Are you anticipating any more? Have you found a cute picture or a video that makes you smile? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your life a little happier?
What good news have you had recently? Are you anticipating any more? Have you found a cute picture or a video that makes you smile? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your life a little happier?
Tags:
Tuesday, June 24th, 2025 10:13 pm
Tuesday, June 24th, 2025 10:13 pm
