Probably this has been done, of course, but I just now thought of this The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess post-canon story possibility, and maybe it would be worth writing someday:

Up to a certain point near the story's climax, the audience and the characters all believe that the bulbins are monsters/demons, and nothing else. But in that particular scene, we see the Bulbin King speak -- literally speak, and in Hyrulean! -- for himself and make a different choice, and reveal his motivations, showing that at least he, and probably all his people, are, well, people. Not monsters, like all the monsters that cannot speak and cannot choose. At the very end of the game, we see the Bulbin King and a couple of other bulbins riding around, possibly hunting, possibly raiding, iirc, but definitely targeting animals, no longer people.

What is the journey from being perceived as monsters/demons to being perceived as just another of the diverse peoples of Hyrule? Is this a joint project of the TP characters and the Bulbin King? Zelda cannot successfully just order her people to stop hating and fearing bulbins; the Bulbin King may have the same problem with his people. Do the bulbins in the end settle in greater Hyrule and join society and maybe even produce sages someday, or do they turn out in the end to be from somewhere beyond Ordon, and return there? (Were they one of the surface peoples in the time of SkSw and became more monster-like over time? Were they monsters/demons who became people, a la what's-his-name in SkSw?)

Just thinking.

 
 
Reveals will be delayed until June 1 at 10 PM US Eastern Time to allow our two remaining Pinch Hits to be claimed and filled. They're listed bellow, so please take a look if you are able to Pinch Hit.

These Pinch Hits will have a deadline of May 31 at 10 PM US Eastern Time!

Thank you everyone for your patience, and to the Pinch Hitters who are helping make sure everyone gets a gift.

Reveals Countdown





Remaining Pinch Hits!

Please reply to this post or email sufficiently.advanced.ex@gmail.com to claim. Please include your Ao3 username and the number of the pinch hit you are claiming. These will be due Saturday May 31 at 10 PM US Eastern Time.

We have granted extensions to some participants, so don't worry if you still don't have a gift but don't see your name here!

PH 1 - The Riftwar Saga - Raymond E. Feist, Neuromancer | Sprawl Trilogy - William Gibson, Parahumans Series - Wildbow )

PH 5 - The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova, Hallo itt Mtys kirly! - Bogti Pter, Crossover Fandom )
 
 
23 May 2025 @ 03:50 pm
[personal profile] thefruitbat very kindly beta read for me recently, and told me LaCroix was a "mean girl" in my fic, calling him Regina Georgecroix.

I laughed sooooo hard at that!! And now, I CAN'T UNSEE IT! 😆😆😆

Thus, this was born:

Nick and LaCroix with the words "Stop trying to make mortality happen. It's not going to happen."

p.s. If you're not familiar, Mean Girls is a movie about a toxic high school clique. One of the girls in the clique desperately wanted to coin "fetch" as a new slang term and kept using it, hoping it would catch on. Regina George, the clique's absolute queen bee, finally told her, "Stop trying to make fetch happen. It's not going to happen."
 
 
23 May 2025 @ 09:44 pm
I was travelling from London to Hull on Hull Trains today, which meant a degree of uncertainty about if my train would actually run. Hull Trains train drivers have been striking on some dates from March, and today was one of them. My understanding is they've managed to run at least half of their trains using managers who are also qualified as train drivers. And so today my train ran, but not the one due to depart from Kings Cross two hours earlier. It seemed they had solved the problem of potentially carrying two trains' worth of passengers on one by running the train as a double unit, so instead of five carriages there were ten. So my journey went smoothly.

In the evening, made my way to Beverley for my concert of the Beverley and East Riding Early Music Festival, with Florilegium. They had a programme with two Bach works and two Handel works. It was wonderful.

I had checked my return trains to Hull in advance and knew there was a high chance of missing the earlier post-concert option, and I did miss it by a couple of minutes in the end. So still waiting for the next one.
 
 
Yep, tomorrow, Saturday, May 24 is the FKFicFest '25 due date. Reveals start Monday, May 26, and continue at a rate of one or two per day, as long as they last. For all the info, see our gameplay post.

The official deadline is 11:59pm Saturday (Pacific Time). Those who've played before know that I won't "lock" the collection until Sunday noon (Pacific Time). Still, it helps if everyone who plans to load a story does so on Saturday. Then I can confidently spend Sunday checking that the stories loaded as intended and building our release schedule (for example, lining up the stories to vary in length, rating, characters, etc.). You can continue editing on the AO3 until stories release!

When you're ready: Learn how to post | Post to our AO3 collection

(If you don't do AO3 for any reason, reach out about posting here on DW before the deadline. Last chance.)

Yay, new FK stories! Yay, FK fans! :-D Kudos to the authors who've already loaded stories!

 
 
22 May 2025 @ 11:25 pm
Today, I finished work at lunchtime and then headed out to London, where I'm staying overnight before I head out north for the weekend. In between, I went to see Hurts at O2 Academy Brixton, for their 15-year anniversary concert for the album Happiness. I booked my ticket when the pre-sale opened, but even so, when the day arrived today, I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it. I feel so out of practice with going to gigs. I got there just before seven and the doors were already open. I found a spot close to the front, not a great view with taller people in front, but good enough. The opener was OK, but sounded a bit unbalanced. Hurts were really good and it was exciting to be a part of a crowd happy to hear them again. The first half was Happiness songs, and after a quick break for Theo, a selection from the later albums.

Feet feel tired now.
Tags:
 
 
We have 7 stories by 6 authors queued! Wow! (Mine is still not among them.)

This year's stories come due on Saturday, May 24 in our AO3 queue. You know the drill.

 
 
21 May 2025 @ 10:00 pm
Updated pinch hits here! Thanks very much to everyone who has claimed one. If you can claim one of these, please comment with your AO3 name and the number of the pinch hit you want. All comments are screened.

Like main assignments, these pinch hits are due on 28 June, and they require a check-in during the week of 7-14 June.

You may ask to exchange your assignment for an open pinch hit. If you are given that pinch hit and fulfill it, this won't count as a default. Please tell me in your comment requesting a pinch hit if you are asking to swap.


PH 2 - Blue Lock (Manga), 終わりのセラフ | Owari no Seraph | Seraph of the End (Anime & Manga), Fairy Tail )

PH 5 - Temeraire - Naomi Novik, The Inheritance Cycle - Christopher Paolini, His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman )

PH 7 - Dial M for Murder (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955), Dial M for Murder - Hatcher )

PH 8 - Path of Night (Podcast), Vampire: The Masquerade - Various Authors (Choice of Games), Vampire: The Masquerade Port Saga (Podcast) )

PH 9 - 終わりのセラフ | Owari no Seraph | Seraph of the End (Anime & Manga), Blue Lock (Manga), Fairy Tail )

CLAIMED - PH 10 - Doctor Who (1963), Dragon Age (Video Games), This is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone )

PH 13 - The Elementalists (Visual Novel), Heart of Battle - Fay Ikin, Royal Affairs - Harris-Powell-Smith )

PH 15 - Code Vein (Video Game), 神さまのいない日曜日 | Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi | Sunday Without God (Anime & Manga), Octopath Traveler II (Video Game), 刀使ノ巫女 | Toji no Miko | Katana Maidens (Anime), よるのないくに | Yoru no Nai Kuni | Nights of Azure (Video Games), Xenoblade Chronicles (Video Game) )

PH 17 - Breaking Bad, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), The Godfather (1972 1974 1990) )

PH 18 - Ancient History RPF, Solstice (MoaCube Visual Novel), Crossover Fandom )

PH 19 - Ace Combat (Video Games), Dishonored (Video Games), Warhammer 40k (Novels) - Various Authors )

PH 20 - ATEEZ (Band), Blink-182 (Band), Men's Basketball RPF )

CLAIMED - PH 21 - Ranma 1/2, Lost Girl (TV), Star Trek: Lower Decks (Cartoon), Marvel (Comics), 超時空要塞マクロス | Super Dimension Fortress Macross )

CLAIMED - PH 22 - Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV), Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (Video Game), The Angel of the Crows - Katherine Addison, Battlestar Galactica (2003), Babylon 5 (TV 1993) )


CLAIMED - PH 23 - Original Work, Crossover Fandom, BioShock 1 & 2 (Video Games), The Wheel of Time (TV), Tenet (2020) )

 
 
21 May 2025 @ 05:14 pm
Finished since the last reading post
Finished Skott and found it wonderful. It was written in a rather pared-down simple style, which helped as I wasn't feeling very confident about reading in Swedish when I started it. But it was easier than I thought even if I did stop and look up some words here and there. It was fewer words than I was perhaps expecting, but looking up skott in the title certainly helped me to appreciate the ambiguity and how it fits with the book. Anyway, it's a continuation war novel with the young Tallgren being sent to the front. He expects to die, but he falls in love, but that's not a happy ending in a novel in wartime.

Currently reading
Still reading Heaven on Earth. Also started reading Family History by Vita Sackville-West, but I'm probably going to leave it at home when I go away for the weekend.

Reading next
Not entirely sure but I'll pick up something unread from my shelves.
Tags: ,
 
 
We have 5 stories by 4 authors queued already! (Mine is not among them, for the record.)

This year's stories come due on Saturday, May 24 in our AO3 queue. Stories begin releasing on Monday. Check the rules and steps.

 
 
We have 3 stories queued already!

This year's stories come due on Saturday, May 24 in our AO3 queue. They start releasing on Monday, May 26. Find the rules and steps.

 
 
Sometime this week, give or take syndication schedules, is the 29th anniversary of the first airing of "Last Knight," the Forever Knight finale. (I usually count it as May 18, but it could have been any time that week in each local market.)

How odd and amazing that we're still here, enjoying FK and appreciating each other.

This year's stories come due on Saturday, May 24 in our AO3 queue. Check the rules and steps.

 
 
18 May 2025 @ 08:25 pm
Does fandom at large still use the term "jossed," that is, having a plot theory or fanfic story in progress overtaken or overturned by emerging canon? Or do we now avoid the term because of its original namesake's revealed behavior? (Or because young folks don't get the reference?) I see that it's still on TVTropes. Just curious!

I was idly thinking ahead to Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, which will surely joss its share of theories and stories, as well as supply some "I knew it!"s.

 
 
18 May 2025 @ 07:02 pm
Sewing is what I've mostly done this weekend. Yesterday, I got most of the bodice done and made a start on the sleeves, today I finished the sleeves and worked on the skirt. The next step is to stitch the gather lines and start attaching the bodice to the skirt. The collar took some fumbling around yesterday but seemed to fall into place eventually. Today's pieces were more straightforward. Today's problem was thread. I realised soon enough I would run out at some point. So I went and rooted through my sewing box and found a bit more of the right shade. That was just a momentary help though and I had to go out to get some more in the afternoon if I wanted to continue. Even so, by the time I finished for the day, I knew I'd still need more to complete the dress. But with a busy week ahead and plans for the next weekend, I'll have time to go shopping before I'll have time to continue.
Tags:
 
 
 
17 May 2025 @ 04:25 pm
FK canon is such that we don't even know how to spell a main character's name properly lol.

Poll #33134 Fun with Lacroix and/or LaCroix
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 8


Which is it?

View Answers

Lacroix
4 (50.0%)

LaCroix
4 (50.0%)

You control the board, select a category:

View Answers

I'll take flavored carbonated water for $600, Alex.
5 (62.5%)

I'll take ancient vampires for $2000, Alex.
3 (37.5%)



 
 
The last of these catch up posts! This one contains 2 ficlets and 1 fic for WWII-set fandoms. (They do also have something else in common, if someone's paying close attention. XD)

Shadow Trail (400 words) by thisbluespirit
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Glorious 39 (2009)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Anne Keyes, Joseph Balcombe
Additional Tags: Community: no_true_pair, Community: 100fandoms, Community: allbingo, Post-Canon, World War II, Spies & Secret Agents, Swearing, Community: 100_women
Summary: Anne catches sight of a figure out of an old nightmare.


Give Me A Smile I Can Keep For A While (2611 words) by thisbluespirit
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Wish Me Luck (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Colin Beale/Matty Firman
Characters: Colin Beale, Matty Firman
Additional Tags: Community: 100ships, Community: 100fandoms, Community: allbingo, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, World War II, Spies & Secret Agents, Reunions, Implied/Referenced Sex, Implied/Referenced Torture, Referenced Mental Breakdown, Scars, Kissing, Post-Season/Series 02, cross-class relationships
Summary: Matty and Colin collide again, just for a night.


Missing Pieces (1677 words) by thisbluespirit
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Enigma (2001)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tom Jericho/Hester Wallace
Characters: Wigram (Enigma 2001), Hester Wallace, Tom Jericho
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, World War II, mention of corpses, Community: 100fandoms, Community: 100ships, passing mental health slurs, (aka Mr Wigram being his own warning), Threats, Kissing, Community: allbingo, (post-canon but pre-the bookending post-war scenes), Community: 100_women
Summary: There's another body, and Mr Wigram is still looking for Claire - but perhaps Tom is finally looking for Hester...
 
 
Stories — 500 words minimum, challenge-style — come due on Saturday, May 24 in our AO3 queue (unless you've arranged in advance to post to our Dreamwidth queue instead, which no one has). Stories start releasing on Monday, May 26 (US Memorial Day).

(Two stories by two authors are already queued!)

As always, we can edit on the AO3 while stories are in the queue (though not on DW). We load the queue before we start releasing because I need to know what stories we'll have in order to schedule our releases by length, rating, characters, etc., to help maximize reading and commenting fun for everyone!

If you're seeking a beta reader, or to volunteer beta-reading, try our beta-reading post (or post on your own journal!). And please excuse the reminder, but, again, if you choose, as a proofreading/editing tool, you may use genAI, like Google Gemini or ChatGPT, just like you'd use any spellchecker or grammar-checker tool, with a keen eye to your own intentions and voice; please do not let genAI write a single sentence for you. No one wants to read genAI. We want to read you!


When you're ready: Learn how to post | Post to our AO3 collection

 
 
16 May 2025 @ 06:48 pm
For the past few years, I've mostly taken a lunch break and done my main food shop of the week at Friday lunchtime. But with the team change and changes to recurring meetings in this functional area, there's now a recurring fortnightly meeting on Fridays at 1pm. Which means I won't have enough time to nip out anywhere apart from the local Co-op. So I'll need to do something different in those weeks. Probably it means going out to shops after work on Thursday or Friday. Today, I walked to the town after work and the lovely sunshine made it worthwhile.

In other news, I wasn't planning to watch any of the European Song Contest, but I still found myself tuning in for the second semi-final last night out of curiosity, but it's unlikely I will bother to watch on Saturday.
 
 
16 May 2025 @ 12:39 am
Reveals will be delayed until May 25 at 10 PM US Eastern Time to allow our three remaining Pinch Hits to be claimed and filled. Please stop by and take a look if you are able to Pinch Hit with a deadline of May 24 at 10 PM US Eastern Time!

Reveals Countdown | Remaining Pinch Hits