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Peridium (2017) · Alluvium (2018)

I am very interested to play Powerhoof's new game The Drifter, but I'm really trying not to buy any more games until I play some of the ones I have already bought, so I played... two of Powerhoof's old free games? Wait, I think I messed this up.

These are both horror point-and-clicks, and they're both game jam entries so they're short, less than an hour each.

Peridium

in a dim research lab a man stands outside a locked door and says there's nothing human out there for a thousand kilometers

in a dim research lab a man stands outside a locked door and says there's nothing human out there for a thousand kilometers

( A researcher is trapped on an Antarctic base where something has gone horrifically wrong. )

Alluvium

pink silhouette of a man stands in a neon colored camp site with camp fire highlighted

pink silhouette of a man stands in a neon colored camp site with camp fire highlighted

( A plane crash survivor keeps talking about the things 'we' had to do to survive... yet he seems to be the only one around. )

Though I think both of these games are worth playing if you like horror, I wouldn't recommend playing them back-to-back in an evening like I did, because I was still thinking about Peridium while I was playing Alluvium, and I kept looking for similarities and got really distracted. So, play them, but not like that. Or maybe play the commercial games you have purchased that are languishing in your Steam library. Do as I say, not as I do.

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No True Pair: Crossover MiniEvent

Required Rudeness (200 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - Peter Jackson movies, Sword-Dancer Saga - Jennifer Roberson
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Samwise "Sam" Gamgee, Sandtiger [Sword-Singer Saga]
Additional Tags: Double Drabble, Alternate Universe - Fusion
Summary:

Samwise has to be rude, to keep his people safe.

Required Rudeness

The surly horse actually caught Samwise's attention before the man, but then he took note of the shoulder-scabbarded sword and decided he'd best do his duty. They didn't need more trouble at all, and he meant to make that happen!

"Here now, traveler, the Shire has no wish of men that live by the sword," Samwise said in a direct breach of being kind and hospitable. Then again, it was his job to be brusque, as he knew the signs of danger better than most.

"Seeking directions to a place called the Grey Havens," the man said in an accent Samwise could not place. "Word is my basha headed that way."

Samwise's eyebrows rose into his hairline, but if the man was bent on that pilgrimage, he'd let the elves deal with it.

"West a bit more, straight on to the river," Samwise offered.

The man nodded and rode on, taking his strangeness — and that well-used sword — away from the Shire. Maybe nothing would have come from inviting him to rest with them a time, but Samwise didn't put his faith in maybe. He dusted off his hands, well-shod of duty for the day and went to find a pipe.

Or read at the community

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Fanfic meme

Fanfic game from kitarella_imagines

If you’ve written fics for more than one year on AO3, go to your statistics page. Click on the different years at the top to see the categories of statistics for each year.

1. Which year did you write the most words? Do you know why? e.g. you had more time; you were caught up in an exciting new fandom or pairing; you got a rush of ideas etc.

The year with the highest word count is 2015 with 137 352 words. But that is because when I signed up to AO3 in the very late 2014, I uploaded most of the fics I had written from 2003 onwards. Even if I had a writing spurt in 2015, I'm quite sure it wouldn’t be the year with the highest word count if I just checked the new fics. So the year where I can be absolutely sure is my most productive one, would be 2021 with 94497 words. I had watched The Queen’s Gambit over Christmas, and fell for Beth Harmon/Vasily Borgov. At the time there was a very active Discord for that pairing, which was very inspirational, and I wrote 6 fics for that fandom, one of them being the longest and most ambitious things I have ever written. I also started fanfics for The Mummy and All About Eve.

2. Which year did you write the least words? Why was this? e.g. lack of time, too busy, no inspiration etc.

2023 with zero words. The war in Ukraine completely killed my inspiration. So from March 2022 to March 2024 I didn’t write anything at all. I’m writing again now, but I have only worked on fics I started in 2022, I still haven’t got any ideas for new fics. The year with the least wordcount when I have actually written anything is 2024 with 2948 words.

3. Which years did you get most hits, kudos, bookmarks and fic subscriptions? Do you know why? (e.g. popular fandoms, lots of words written.) Are there years where you have the same amount of bookmarks and subscriptions?

Again 2015 racks them up, but it’s 2021 that I can be sure of. It has the most of everything. I think it’s because, completely by accident, I managed to fall for a fandom that was hot right then, The Queen’s Gambit, and I have found that The Mummy fanfic seems to have a perpetual fandom, as those fics always are among my most popular. And to my surprise my all About Eve fanfic has got a lot more attention than I ever thought, considering the pairing is so unusual I’m the only one who has written it on AO3.

4. Which years did you get least hits, kudos, bookmarks and fic subscriptions? Do you know why? (e.g. niche fandoms, not many fics written.) Do you have any other conclusions?

Apart from the nothing year of 2023, it's 2024, when I only updated with a chapter on a WIP. If I take a year when I participated actively, then it’s 2019, when I wrote 6 fanfics in as many fandoms. But 4 of those were one-shots, and only 2 in fandoms that are on the bigger side. Most of my fandoms are small, and usually I enjoy pairings that aren't the popular ones.

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Tarnsman of Gor (Gor, volume 1) by John Norman

In this ERB pastiche, unremarkable academic Tarl Cabot reinvents himself as a man of action on the counter-Earth, Gor. There's much less BDSM than the series' reputation would lead one to expect.

Tarnsman of Gor (Gor, volume 1) by John Norman

Well, I'm home

We got home last night, very late in terms of the time zone we woke up in yesterday morning, then spent some time petting and playing with the cats, eating chocolate and ice cream, and unpacking a few things that I needed or wanted right away (slippers, toothbrush, and prescription drugs). I washed a few dishes, because I walked into the kitchen for chocolate and saw that we were almost out of clean mugs in the size we'd want for tea and coffee in the morning.

The trip home was OK as these things go: I ordered a cab to take us to Heathrow, using the service Mom always used, and paid in cash using my half of the British money she'd had in an envelope, including a generous tip for the driver. We had time to finish things like washing our dishes and clearing Mom's data off her computer before leaving, and enough time at the airport to be at the gate before boarding started, but not enough to get bored. I arranged the cab, and got us all aisle seats for the flight home, on Sunday, and then turned everything over to Cattitude and Adrian once we got to Heathrow. By the time we got off the plane, I was so worn out that I was stopping occasionally to lean on the walls in the airport, but fortunately doing better once we got home.

I woke up this morning at 7:30 Boston time, which seemed good--about 7.5 hours sleep, and back on my home time zone. The milk from before we left was iffy but the cut of tea tasted OK. The igniters for the stove burners didn't work when I turned them on, but I remembered both that we have long matches for just this purpose, and where we keep them, so that was OK for the moment, and we can investigate that further when Adrian and Cattitude are also awake.

We plan to do very little today: order groceries, unpack, and I might inject the about-monthly dose of my current MS medication, which I take every 4-6 weeks, and would have taken Saturday if we'd been home). Some balance PT would also be a good idea.

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Photos!

I took some photos the other day. Most were of the pumpkin patch. (Pip has planted pumpkins of which he says that family can take some, but no one else, because they’re for the deer, lol!)

Wide view; with bonus Ti!

( 8 more back here )

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The Day in Spikedluv (Monday, July 21)

I can’t believe we’re this close to the end of July already!

I hit Walmart and CVS (for mom’s potassium) while I was downtown and got in a walk around the park. I threw a load of laundry in the washer and hand-washed dishes before I headed downtown and hand-washed more dishes when I got home. I also went for another short walk with Pip and the dogs before lunch and cut up chicken for said dogs.

I visited mom after lunch and stayed until my usual time of 3pm. I stopped at Stewart’s for milk and gas on the way home. Coming home meant yet more hand-washing of dishes, tossing the laundry in the dryer and folding it, later tossing another load in the washer, scooping kitty litter, and shaving.

The other day mom suggested that I take a day off to get things done and it put a thought in my head. So today I called and scheduled a massage for tomorrow (aka, today!). It was sudden, but my thought was that I might need to spend more time with mom on Thursday, after her port procedure, and next Tuesday (my usual massage day) would probably be out because it's the day after chemo.)

I started the next Duncan Kincaid book.

Temps started out at 61(F) and reached 76.1.

Mom Update:

Mom was doing okay. ( more back here )

choral celebration

B. doesn't sing much any more - medical reasons have put paid to it - but she dusted off her voice for a special occasion on Saturday. A concert was being held at San Jose State to celebrate the 90th birthday of Dr. Charlene Archibeque, long-time choral director in the music dept. About a hundred of her grateful former students - some local, some from across the country - were gathering to form an ad hoc choir for the occasion, and B. was perforce among them. She's long talked about how much she learned from being in a chorus under Dr. A., and this was the opportunity to show her respects.

I drove her down to the SJS music building that morning (having previously ferreted out the secret back alleyway in so that she didn't have to walk far) to drop her off for the chorus's one and only in-person rehearsal, and then came back for the concert in the afternoon. Dr. A. herself and several former students who've gone into choral conducting led a total of 16 items, most of them unaccompanied, a few with piano. They included pieces that Dr. A. had composed or arranged herself, mostly for her doctoral dissertation; a few classical standards including Anton Bruckner's supremely beautiful "Locus iste"; and several folksongs and spirituals, including this really striking arrangement of "Joshua fit the battle of Jericho."

The chorus sound was rich, full, and powerful throughout, and not just because it was a large group. Even after many years in most cases, these were good students who had been well-taught.

Afterwards, most of the chorus members and a few sundry like myself adjourned to a function room at a local hotel that had no available parking, for a reception/buffet and a lot of schmoozing among old fellow students. A small cake was presented to Dr. A. and everybody sang "Happy Birthday" at 7:15, because that was the date of her birthday.

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Tuesday 22/07/2025

1) I love the flowers on my balcony ^_^ Ideal to drink my morning coffee amongst them

2) Lovely call with my godmother

3) Visit to my godchild in the afternoon

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Further Delay, One New Pinch Hit (All Claimed!)

Announcing another one-week delay to allow for final pinch hits! If all goes well, works will be revealed on 2 August.

All pinch hits are now claimed! Thank you, pinch hitters!

One new post-deadline pinch hit available, and one from earlier posts! Ideally these are due 1 August at 23:59 US Eastern so we can plan to reveal on the 2nd. However, if you could take one of these but would need more time than that, please let me know, and we can discuss.

If you can take a pinch hit, please leave a comment with your AO3 name and the number you're interested in. All comments are screened.

( PDPH 14 - 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) )

( PDPH 16 - 琅琊榜之风起长林 | Nirvana in Fire 2: The Wind Blows in Changlin (TV), Original Work, 永夜星河 | Love Game in Eastern Fantasy (TV) )

Current Mood: awake
Current Location: somewhere
Current Music: Krieg - Ceremony

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FIC: Utau! Dai Ryugujo - Prescience

Title: Prescience
Universe: Utau! Dai Ryugujo
Prompt: Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: S02E17 - White Light (Part 2)
Character(s): Otohime/Tako, OC
Rating: U
Warnings: N/A
Summary: Above her and below, she could hear the sound of song, voices calling out in chorus, harps accompanying them, bells and pianos chiming between each word. For a good many years since its restoration, Dai Ryugojo had been a place of celebration and song, yet no kingdom persisted without its subterfuges, and Otohime, her very nature both honest and earnest, had found herself engaged in wrestling with such an idea for quite some time now.
Length: 742 words
Author's Notes: Merry Christmas in July! #11. also: external link.

otohime

( Prescience )

(no subject)

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250721.html

Nebulas are perhaps as famous for being identified

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250721.html

Current Mood: relieved
Current Music: the rock

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i drive a volvo. a beige one.

(the rock is on. the second you don't respect this, it kills you. i love this movie.)

happy day after moon landing day! part of me still thinks it should be an actual us holiday. i mean, we put humans on the moon! it was eight years from the first person in space to the first person to stand on another rock besides earth. that's pretty cool. i celebrated by stuffing my face with fried clams with

tamalinn, friend a, and friend a's hubs, then walking around gloucester (cute seaside town and the home of gorton's seafood - trust the gorton's fisherman :D ) and buying chocolate turtles because who doesn't love a good turtle? right? i did not unpack any more but i thought about it. i also did not find a moon pie but to be fair i didn't look that hard.

and saturday i got a pedicure and went outlet shopping with my sister as is tradition before we go on a big trip. i now own slightly more clothes. but one of my toes is already chipped which, seriously? afterwards we went back to her house and watched mission: impossible iii which i liked better than m:i2. possibly i just liked philip seymour hoffman as a villain better than dougray scott. and we meet benji.

and today i did sweet fuck-all at work (ok, i did something altho now i don't remember what) (oh, right, i collected and set up a lunch for admin d who hurt her wrist and was out) and tonight i unpacked one - count it - box because it's the one with the scarves and winter hats and i've been told i might need to bring a hat to iceland.

and i did sweet fuck-all because i spent so. much. time. last week on the summit. like, tuesday i went home at 11:15. oy. wednesday we lost a bunch of name badges which made us look disorganized (program manager m thinks someone took them to make her look bad) and we offered campus tours for small groups of fifteen and that was a mistake because we actually were disorganized - like, one of the tours left without a couple people and the other two tours somehow swapped tour guides - but! we learned from our mistakes (and also begged around and got more tour guides) and thursday everything went much more smoothly. well, except we still didn't have a bunch of name badges. thursday night was a reception which was delicious and i even got to take home some leftover shrimp bao. i do love a good shrimp. overall i think it was a positive experience for the attendees - we had a contingent of teachers and high schoolers from puerto rico and when i met one of the teachers on friday i swear she was so excited she wanted to hug me - but we're not doing it again next year and i am not sorry about that. i made some good overtime tho.

i assume by now everyone has heard about the ceo who was caught on the kiss cam at a coldplay concert snuggling with the woman he's having an affair with. what a fucking idiot. (altho i don't give her credit for brains either.) it's impressive and scary how fast the video went viral and how fast people figured out who the couple was but come on, if you're going to fuck around on your wife and bang one of your coworkers maybe don't go to such a public event together and don't act all coupley where the kiss cam can find you. he resigned - or possibly was asked to resign? - which is the least he can do.

on this date in 1933 the good voters of oregon voted to repeal a tax on... margarine.

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

news,
science

Green Building

Scientists invent 'living' concrete that heals its own cracks with sunlight

Jin and fellow researchers used two key materials: Cyanobacteria, which turns air and sunlight into food, and filamentous fungi, which produce minerals that seal the cracks.

The microbes survive on just air, light, and water, and when paired together, are able to grow and produce crack-filling minerals in concrete. At least, that’s what Jin’s latest research, published in Materials Today Communications, concluded.

Current Mood: frustrated

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real life: public transit

The joys of public transit...

I think that I'm going to shift my bus route to/from work a little bit. I've been getting on the bus outside the hotel/near work, taking it to the transit center, and then switching to the bus that goes to work/the hotel (depending on if it's morning or evening, obviously). It's relatively painless, although the schedules almost never match up so I always end up having to wait a bit for the next bus once I get to the transit center.

There's been a growing issue the past few weeks, though, where a few of the jobless and/or homeless guys who hang out at the transit center all day have been giving me trouble. Some of them hang out there because they don't have anything better to do. Others stay there because it's a good place to pick up odd jobs from people, sell snacks or bottled water to raise a few dollars, easily bum a cigarette from time to time, etc. Most of them are fine, and even a little protective when they see people giving the "regulars" a hard time, but there are some who... well, aren't. It's aggressive flirting and not wanting to take "no" for an answer, for the most part, which isn't great but I can deal with it since it's a crowded, public spot.

This afternoon, though, one of them grabbed me by the arm hard enough to leave red marks when I tried to get to my bus because he wanted me to stay and talk with him. Despite the fact that I'd been pointedly ignoring him for a good ten minutes at that point. A couple of the other guys pulled him back so that I could get to my bus, and it sounded like they were giving him a pretty good tongue lashing, but no. Just, no.

What I think that I'm going to do is in the mornings start getting off four stops earlier near the library. I'll have to walk a block-and-a-half or so, but I don't have to cross the street or anything, and if I get off there I can make it to another bus stop that the bus that goes by work stops at without having to go to the transit center. Then in the afternoon, I'll do something similar and get off several stops early, although it's a little more of a pain as I'll have to not only walk a block or two but I'll have to cross two decent-sized roads in the process.

I think it will be worth it, though, to avoid the assholes.

Current Music: Lucy Dacus, "Talk"

Why was our best sex in hotels and our worst fights in their stairwells?

Major props to the Somerville Theatre for accommodating the accessibility needs of my still-healing mother so that she could get out of the house tonight for the first time in a month and a half and watch the original 3:10 to Yuma (1957), which she first showed me in high school on rental VHS. It was my introduction to Glenn Ford and my second experience of Van Heflin and remains on the long list of movies I love and have never written about, but I had never seen it on a big screen, either, and its silver drought winter-for-summer looks like nothing else in the Western catalogue. It's full of tensions and strange tenderness, high-angle shots like the sky soaring back, sweat beading like the rain that doesn't fall. It's a film about failures and fisher kings: how could I not love it? My mother had a wonderful time. I am so glad she had a wonderful time. It was her first movie in theaters in five years.

Current Mood: sad

family

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

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No True Pair: Crossover Mini Event

Seeking Knowledge (500 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dragonlance, The Lord of the Rings - Peter Jackson movies
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Tanis Half-Elven [Dragonlance], Aragorn II Elessar
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fusion
Summary:

Sometimes Aragon wanders and meets interesting people.

Seeking Knowledge

Despite his office in life, sometimes Aragorn felt the need to be Strider. In such times, Arwen would cover his absences with typical elven political excuses, well-able to lead the minor matters in her own right. No one expected the king in well-worn clothes of an adventurer to wander between places, seeking inns and taverns to listen to the people.

On this particular wandering, he found himself staring at a man of medium frame and a bit tall, his hair and beard quite red like the tales of Maedhros spoke of. A bow and quiver were visible against the wall behind the man's chair. Aragorn was all but certain he had heard a tale of this man, and observed more details. Something about foreign lands plagued by dragons, another offshoot — or more — of Elves. It was likely something Faramir had mentioned to him in correspondence, now that he considered it.

Yes, the weave of cloth, the crafting of tools and leather all had a different appearance than items made in Aragorn's extensive roving. The red hair and beard finally sparked the final piece of Faramir's descriptions, and Aragorn realized he was looking at another noble hiding among commoners. Granted, the man was from far enough away that he had a much easier time just wandering anonymously.

He finished appraising everything from the bar he'd stopped at, took the mug of ale he'd asked for and headed straight for the man's small table.

"Greetings, Far-Traveler," Aragorn said with a disarming smile. "What brings a leader of the people of Krynn so far from his lands?"

The man studied Aragorn for a moment, then leaned on his arms against the table to be closer. "For you to know such, I think I may have found the one I seek. I have heard that a mighty ranger had traded in his cloak for a crown, but perhaps the gods are guiding me fairly.

"Tanis Half-Elven."

"You may have indeed been guided well," Aragorn said, though he did wonder at gods meddling so. "What could the purpose be?"

"To learn, if in all the travels this man had, he ever encountered a shrine to one not of these lands, with rumors of an artifact buried near it," Tanis said. "There is trouble stirring in Krynn once more, and it is hoped that the Tears of Shinare can help bring some peace, or at least breathing room."

"Ahh, well, I see why you would consider a ranger the kind of man that might have stumbled over this," Aragorn said. "It is not, however, specific enough for my memory to aid you. Perhaps you would see your way to traveling with me, to where better memories and resources exist?"

Tanis sized him up again, then gave a nod. "You seem as the tales I heard, so I agree."

"And you meet the one I was given as well," Aragorn agreed. "We shall do all we can to help your lands survive the coming storms of danger."

Or read the community

Current Mood: hopeful

Entry tags:

weather: storms

Rain, rain, go away...

For over a week straight, the DC kept being hit by storms in the late afternoon, and it's been absolutely killing my head. I've always been sensitive to weather fronts moving through, and the older I get the worse it seems to be getting. (Although there's a definite possibility that some of that might be stress related too, considering the current state of everything.)

There were so many things that I needed to get done this past week that just didn't happen because I got off work and immediately curled up in bed for several hours until the storm had passed through. And by that point it was late enough in the evening that I didn't have time to get everything I needed to do done (or it was too late to start it because of noise-related reasons).

Theoretically the rain is supposed to finally be gone, so we'll see if this week goes better than last week on that front. 🤞🏻