Reading

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micro-post

📚💕

Looking at the list of non-fic books I've read this year, I'm feeling very amused. Of the 62 books so far, I have:

- a revisit of the Murderbot audiobooks
- a tiny handful of manga
- a whole bunch of Chinese webnovels, Thai webnovels, Japanese light novels, and one Korean webnovel series
- We Do Not Part by Han Kang

It's my own little "one of these things is not like the others" game. 😂

(I really don’t care about how many books I read, what I read, etc. It’s just nice to keep track for personal memory reasons.)

🐘 🦋

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Bee Happy?

Something other than a bumblebee for once!

Image: Another upside down bee, this time one that isn't a bumblebee!

Weird thing I am noticing. Bumblees give no craps if a phone camera is hovering over them. They're also slow moving, generally? I even had one curious bumblebee just latch on to my finger and inspect the camera for itself. Honey and other bees? Camera shy! It's much harder to get a picture of them!! So, here is, shockingly, a bee that is not a bumblebee.

Let's see, what's new with me?

Jas and Mason are continuing their whirlwind exploration of the Twin Cities. Yesterday was the "must see" of Minnehaha Falls, with the requiste lunch at Sea Salt. Mason apparently tried fried oysters for the first time, thanks to Jas. The two of them also did the whole walk all the way to the Mississippi River, since I mean, you're nearly there, so why not? Over dinner at Bole (an Ethiopian place here in St. Paul), Jas said that they had never actually seen sandstone in the wild before, as it were, and found it deeply fascinating. This is the sort of thing that I love hearing about because, having grown up surrounded by sandstone bluffs, I forget how uncommon sandstone might be to someone from another biome.

We took Jas to Bole because, while they have heard of Ethiopia restaurants, they have not been because berbere spices are a migraine trigger fro their mother. So, we were able to provide a guilt-free experience, which I think they quite enjoyed. We ended up sitting outside in the patio, despite the mugginess and threat of rain. It's always so much fun to show off the cool stuff in the city, you know? Our food (and our immigrants, damn it!) is always some of the very best parts of it all.

Since I believe I reported about this earlier, I thought I'd also give an update on Rhubarb's inappropriate urination issues? If you don't want to read about cat pee problems (and who would blame you!?), I will put it under the cut.

( Cat bathroom issues, solutions, and theories.... )

tl:dr we're still working on it? I have faith we'll get her fixed without having to restort to drugs.

That's all the news that's fit to print, plus some that had to appear under the cut.

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Bees, More Bees (Also, D'uh)

Today's bee, captured in flight.

16;9, y'all. It's just landscape instead of portrait. MAN, I feel dumb. But, I don't feel as though any of my previous bee photos are wasted. I can also submit photos to the New York Times Spelling Bee that are square. So, I should be able to do some editing and send them again! (They are gonna love me, there. OTHO, I'm sure they get a lot of dummies like me!)

I found a resource rich (as in chock full of bees) area that is part of my daily routine. The Minnesota Historical Society! They have a huge pollenator garden on their hillside and yesterday it was literally buzzing with activity.

Meanwhile, Jas has proved themselves to be an excellent house guest. Their family recently had to trip to Japan (and Taiwan, where Jas has a grandmother,) and they brought us lots of absolutely PERFECT gifts. Shawn loves konpeitou--the Japanese hard candy that looks like little sandburs. Not only did Jas bring a package of the actual sweets for her, but ALSO earrings that are in the shape of konpeitou! This is especially wonderful because Shawn (who has otherwise very little interest in all of my Japanese stuff) likes the idea of saying "Ganbetta" (do your best!) but can never remember it, so often tells me, "Konpeitou!" when she means to wish me good luck. So konpeitou has been our silly way of wishing each other good luck.

For me, Jas brought some fun washi tape and post-it notes. Again, perfect for me, if you know my love of letter writing, etc.

Then, apparently, their mother also just sent along a whole bunch of odds and ends as gifts, too. We're going to have to step up our game? I have not participated in this competative gift giving thing before. Is it a Southern thing? (Jas's folks live in Oklahoma.) I ask because Mason's other friend Gray, also has parents who send Mason home with odd gifts (they're in Missouri.) Thoughts, any Southern State living friends of mine?

Today, I am planning on letting them have the car to do with as they like. Mason loves Saint Paul (and Minneapolis) and delights in showing off all the cool features found therein. I know they are planning on seeing Minnehaha Falls because that is a tourist MUST (and also Mason loves eating at Sea Salt.) Yesterday, they walked to the Creamery formerly known as Izzy's now... somthing else, which I have forgotten. So, Jas is getting the full tour!

I shall end with a slightly different bug. If anyone on my list of friends is bug-averse, please let me know and I will put these photos under the cut!

grasshopper on lily

Image: grasshopper on bright red lily (in Grantsville, WI. We stopped at an old-fashioned rootbeer stand type place that had these amazing flowers and I spotted this little fellow.)

List of potential fandoms for exchanges

Here is a long list of fandoms where I'd also be happy to receive stuff and able to at least vaguely understand what's going on, or fandoms I'm thinking of getting into soon. They are in alphabetical order.

Avatar: The Last Airbender
Bleach (Anime & Manga)
DCU (Comics), more specifically batfamily
Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms
Jeff Satur - Works & Related Fandoms
K-pop, any, but I’m at least somewhat familiar with ATEEZ (Band), IVE (Band), K.A.R.D (Band), Mamamoo, OnlyOneOf (Band), SEVENTEEN (Band), Stray Kids (Band), The Boyz (Korea Band), TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band), Triple H (Korea Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS, and would love RPF just as much as something based on songs or MVs, or in-between. A few for example/inspiration: Club Icarus - ARTMS (Album) or undergrOund idOl - OnlyOneOf (Music Videos)
Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
KinnPorsche: The Series (TV)
KPop Demon Hunters (2025)
Naruto (Anime & Manga)
No fandom, including podfic meta, fandom meta, canon meta, challenge meta or brainstorming, things that are not meta, whatever
Original Work
Persona 4
SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Twisted-Wonderland
White Collar (TV 2009)
Zenless Zone Zero (Video Game)
괴담에 떨어져도 출근을 해야 하는구나 - 백덕수 | Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story I Still Have to Go to Work - Baek Deoksoo
내가 키운 S급들 - 근서 | S-Classes that I Raised - Geunseo
데뷔 못 하면 죽는 병 걸림 - 백덕수 | Debut or Die - Baek Deoksoo
人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)
原神 | Genshin Impact (Video Game)
崩坏：星穹铁道 | Honkai: Star Rail (Video Game)
残疾暴君的掌心鱼宠[穿书] - 雪山肥狐 | The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish - Xuě Shān Féi Hú
鸣潮 | Wuthering Waves (Video Game)

Crossovers of these fandoms are welcome. For crossovers with other fandoms, only if the work can be enjoyed with no prior knowledge of canon.

Current Mood: gently tipsy
Current Location: minneapolis, mn

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a bit more trip reporting, plus a current life update

Hello!

So since I last posted, I reached the gathering site in Alberta (a very swanky "cabin" in the Canadian Rockies, and I will not be any more specific than that, thank you very much). The get-together was WONDERFUL, which is unsurprising, but alas all good things must end so the vast majority of people left Sunday morning (July 20) in order to fly home (or in one case catch a bus to Banff). I drove northeast to Drumheller, leaving around 11ish, and that was the only day where I had to stop on the side of the road to pee in a ditch because Google Maps decided to route me via county roads through the middle of nowhere so I had no chance to find a gas station.

The Royal Tyrell Museum was EXCELLENT and I highly recommend a visit to anyone who has the chance. If you have the time, arrive in the morning to take a badlands hiking tour (this obviously did not work with my schedule), but the museum itself is still damn cool. I then spent the night in a "hotel" that was 7 rooms above an Indian restaurant. The room was fine! It was just kind of a surprise. But on the bright side, I bought a double order of garlic naan for an evening snack and proceeded to munch on that as car snacks for the next two days.

I also bought a t-shirt, a pair of socks, and a travel mug (no handle, has a tea-and-dinosaurs pun) from the museum gift shop. No regrets!

Monday the 21st I drove back south into the US and then took the Going-To-The-Sun Road from east to west through Glacier National Park. (I had previously acquired an America The Beautiful pass which gets you into ALL national parks, plus any sites managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA Forest Service, and US Army Corps of Engineers that charge an entrance fee.) Glacier is fucking BEAUTIFUL. Due to time constraints (and also weather; it was gray and drizzly during most of my visit) I didn't do any proper hiking, but I did get to walk upstream along Siyeh Creek for a little way.

I spent Monday night at a motel in Kalispell, west of Glacier, where I was able to wash a load of laundry. And I will post about the rest of my trip another day.

-----

In non-trip news, I am currently staying at Vicky's house while she is off on her own two-week road trip. She is circling through Chicago, Pittsburgh, NJ, DC, South Carolina, Tennessee, and then Chicago again on her way home to Minnesota. Meanwhile I am dogsitting Alfie, bringing in her mail, and generally making her house look lived-in rather than vacant.

What I get out of this is A) some distance from our parents, which is nice (I love them but it's still fundamentally awkward to live in their basement as a middle-aged adult); B) BETTER INTERNET (my parents' wifi works fine for anything word-based but is frankly tragic about images, gifs, and videos); and C) the company of one of the world's most adorable dogs. <3

In job search news, I have applied to two Not The IRS offices in the Twin Cities area (annoyingly you can't apply for a region -- you have to apply to each office individually). I have also updated my resume and tomorrow I am going to poke at LinkedIn until I can figure out how best to upload it and start refining my job search terms.

Also I may have fallen down a rabbit hole reading Ask A Manager columns, but shhh, we'll keep that as our little secret. ;)

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Upside Down Bee on a Wednesday!

Bumblebee hanging off Joe Pye Weed in my front yard.

It's Wednesday!

My quest to crack the New York Times Spelling Bee picture selection continues. Today's entry might be a little blurry, but I just loved how I managed to get a shot of the bee hanging upside down like that. I got a few others today, which I will pepper the NYTimes with over the next few days. I've been trying to not be a pest myself and have been limiting myself to a single entry a day. I THINK I have these pictures sized correctly at 9:16, but maybe not? My phone actually has a setting for 9:16, but they might actually want 16:9?? Which, I'm not sure how to do, so maybe I am sending these all into the void. I guess we'll see.

I have just sent Mason and Jas off to find something for Jas to eat. Jas arranged a surprise visit with Shawn and I some months ago, and today was the big "SURPRISE!" Mason nearly cried he was so pleased and happy to see them walk in the door!

OF COURSE, the surprise was almost ruined today. Just after I had gotten a text from Jas that they had landed, Mason started nudging me about going out practice driving. I had to make up a lie on the spot and I ended up saying, "Uh, I would be happy to do that in a bit, but I'm... uh, waiting for a package. Which I... might have to go pick up?" I thought he'd figure out for sure, but this apparently fooled Mason enough that I later found out from Jas that Mason was texting them saying, "My ima is being very weird about a surprise package for me? I don't understand what's going on, but I guess I'll find out."

Sure enough!

By chance an actual package that I had been waiting for came to our doorstep and so, I picked that up, I walked in holding it, and said, "Yep, I picked up my special delivery." He looked up just in time to see Jas trail in behind me.

If Mason could be the epitome of "..." he was at that moment. It went:

...

"WHAT."

Then, "OH MY GOD. WHAT?"

This could not have worked out better.

I might have gotten a little misty-eyed, too. I ran off to the post office before I embarassed myself and also to give Mason some room to give Jas the house tour without me awkwardly trailing behind.

As for the rest of my life, let's see. I haven't read much of anything at all this week, but I did finish watching The Apothecary's Diaries which I'm weirdly happy to find out has a third season in the works. I don't know why I say weirdly? Maybe because I'm both rooting for and not rooting for the romance? I'd kind of like Mao Mao to get to be happily ace ever after, but I also kind of like the Prince/Eunuch? Anyway, then I started up Rent-a-Girlfriend because why not, I guess. If any anime fans have a better recommendation for something to follow up The Apothecary's Dairies, please feel free to drop it into the comments!

I'll have some thoughts on my Thirsty Sword Lesbians game yesterday night in a bit, but right now I think I'm going to bask in the warm glow of "Jas is here and my son couldn't be more happy!"

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Artsy Fartsy

Fancy shadowy shot of a bee on fleasbane

Image: Artsy shadowy shot of a bee on a fleasbane blossom

I think I will try this one on the New York Times. It's awfully artsy. I'm not sure how the New Yorkers could resist something this fancy! Even though, I'm pretty sure that the shadow was caused by my own body. But, they don't need to know just how amateur I am.

Yesterday was our last day up at our friends' cabin. As I've noted, they have a rewilded and naturalized their shoreline. What I may never have mentioned is that maintaining native plantings is constant work. One of the things I like to do for Gerriann is pull whatever non-natives they identify for me. This work is not required. Our friends are extremely generous and would have us up to the cabin even if all we did was laze around in the sun and swim in the lake. We've been friends for decades. Mason doesn't know what summer is without a trip to visit Ger & Barb's cabin.

But this year I had some fun because Ger identified TWO new plants for me to pull. Mostly, what I'm pulling are trees that are trying to establish themselves in this nice sunny spot on the shore. Some of them are even native trees, but when you do this sort of thing--rewild or naturalize--You do sort of have to decide what kind of look you want and Ger wants sun and sedges and a kind of open prairie (only with lake plants) look. At any rate, I am sore but happy today having dug up a bunch of offending trees!

Even though the wind was cold yesterday, I also spent a huge amount of time in the actual lake. At one point it was just me and the loon. Lovely.

Here's all of us!

the Siren crew (Geriann, Barb, Mason, Shawn and me)

the Siren crew (Geriann, Barb, Mason, Shawn and me)

Image: Geriann (center), right front (me), right back (Barb), center back (Mason), and left (Shawn)

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(no subject)

1. There's a new round of AO3 statistics discourse, this time with some commentary on fic injections. Reddit post. Apparently the latest hobby among The Youth is to spam a ship tag in order to artificially inflate its numbers to prove... something. That their ship is the best? That they are the most dedicated fan? Reminds me of kpop stan culture.

2. I watched all of Murderbot, and it was delightful! I have a week left on my Apple TV subscription and tried a few other shows that looked intriguing--Dickinson and The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin. They're both entertaining, but I don't feel a desperate desire to watch the whole thing.

3. Speaking of desperate desires, I've been reading more romance novels: A Fashionable Indulgence by KJ Charles was excellent, and I'm currently waiting to borrow the sequel. I then started A Delicate Deception by Cat Sebastian, which seemed fine for a bedtime read, but now I'm also reading Frankenstein and Mansfield Park, and modern popular fiction set in vaguely nineteenth century suffers in comparison. I'd tried to read Mansfield Park once before in my youth, but never finished it; so far it's engaging me this time as an audiobook (Jane Austen is a good writer, did you know??). In rereading Frankenstein I was struck by how often characters' education or lack thereof was mentioned; you could say the novel is a treatise on the importance of a liberal arts education and the dangers of too much emphasis on STEM. I'm only a third of the way through though.

I was reading The God of the Woods for a Goodreads challenge, and it was ok, but also I had the feeling that there was just a serial killer in the woods and not a god and I didn't care about everyone's very 1970s personal problems so I dememed it and fail_fandomanon spoiled it for me. A hold for The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands came in, so I'll be trying that one instead.

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Here's looking at you, Kid..

A bee looking directly at the camera

I like this shot a lot, but it's unfortunately a little too blurry for the New York Times. So, here it is for you, my bee loving friends.

Yesterday was our first full day up at our friends' cabin in Siren, Wisconsin. Mason and I went driving on the highway up here. Not 35 E -- no offense to Mason, but that highway is scary even to me, a seasoned driver. Instead, we went on these littler one and two lane highways. He did really well, all things considered. He's still a very timid driver, but obviously practice is the key to gaining confidence.

Ger and Barb took me to Siren's Farmer's market which reminded me very much of the one

naomikritzer and I used to go to regularly, right down to the random musician in the middle of it all. I ended up picking up a couple of fun jams--an onion and garlic jam, which I tried out on sandwiches and really enjoyed. The other one was a mango, peach, and jalapeno one that I THOUGHT Shawn might try, but she won't even taste it. Ah well. Mason and I will use up that one.

I also bought some fun scented soaps. This is one thing that I'm a sucker for--I ADORE handmade soaps of almost any variety, but especially if they have fun essential oils in them.

From there we checked out the Trunk and Trash, which was basically an old-fashioned flea market. I'd been hoping for a swap meet, but those usually require a corresponding car show, since a lot of what is "swapped" are various car components. The flea market was largely as advertised--trash, but it was still fun to see what people had out, sort of like just getting to go to a bunch of rummage sales all at once. I did actually pick something up. One person had a bunch of beading related things for sale, including a watch kit. I have no intention of making the watch they have beads for, but Shawn and I briefly got into beading and so have a bunch of fun (and goddess themed) beads around. I thought I might try using the kit to design my own beaded watch. Even if I don't, the whole thing cost me a dollar. So, it's not a huge waste.

The exciting nature thing that happened was that yesterday morning we saw a FOX. It just came dashing through Gerriann's natural shoreline. We were sitting outside and, ONCE AGAIN, my brain said, "Cat!" No, dog, then finally, "OMG, the fox!" We knew one was around because one of the angler who came by in a boat on Friday night said that he'd seen one along the shoreline. Sure enough! This was by FAR the closest I've been to a fox. I've seen them now and again, but usually from a car and at some distance.

Shawn, who has never seen a fox in her life, missed seeing this one by about five seconds. She'd just gone to the garbage (which Ger and Barb have to keep locked up in the garage because there have also been bears--a mama and three cubs!--sighted recently, and they've had their garbage cans mauled). We have, thankfully, not seen the bears while we were outside.

Otherwise, I've been taking a LOT of bee pictures for the New York Times (which they will never use, but I don't care.) And, for Gerriann, who is always interested to see what her naturalized shoreline attracts, pictures of butterflies. It's been SO LOVELY.

fancy butterfly

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monthly word count: 2025

monthly word count - July

TOTAL: 3 635

POSTED: nuthin.

IN PROGRESS:
-In This Economy (grimmichihimenel suburban ot4) (2 217 words)
-cherry wine (madatobiizu ABO) (886 words)
-SVSSS cosplay fic (532 words)

ALSO POSTED:
In This Economy chapter 11.

...sighflops.

( teasers )

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New Obsession

Image: a bumble bee on a purple echinaca/coneflower

My wife and I play the New York Times Spelling Bee game together every morning as part of waking up. I recently discovered that they have a way for anyone to submit photos of bees, which they use as lead pictures for their hints page. I have started obsessively trying to get good pictures of bees to see if one of mine might make the cut. There's no pay. You do get a byline as a kind of a thank you, and, since, I'm not actually aiming for a job as a photographer "for the exposure" is actually plenty of payment for me. I'm kind of in it, actually, for the bragging rights.

They probably get a million of these a day. And, they will likely never pick any of mine.

NONE of this diminishes my enjoyment and obsessiveness.

Check out this picture of a TINY-ASS bee in flight.

very smol bee in flight

Image: find the tiny bee. Be impressed!

Anyway, this is what I am doing to keep myself sane during these trying times. How about you?

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What about a Thursday?

What if I tried journaling two whole days in a row?

I'm willing to risk it, if you are.

I should be working on my novel, but I got out of the writing habit and now I've got to figure out how to claw my way back into a routine. This is going to sound counter intuitive, but luckily we are headed up to a friend's cabin tomorrow morning for a weekend of lakeside bliss. I will not even try to write over the weekend. HOWEVER, Monday will already be very Monday, being post-vacation, so I will just put my head down. I have a writers' Zoom every M-Th, so there's even a time to "show up to work" already scheduled. This should be a very effective restart button.

At least I hope it will be.

In the meantime, I have been, once again, working far too hard on preparing for the one shot I want to run at Gaylaxicon. I have, in the past, complained about some of the mechanics about Thirsty Sword Lesbians. Some of you may have heard this rant before (and still others may not give a hoot about RPGs,) in either case, feel free to skip the next little bit. I will even been kind to you and put it under a cut. You will miss the photo of what I've been calling my enrichment program, but them's the breaks, I guess. Your loss.

( Cut for likely disinterest )

But, yeah, so I've been occupying my time making these things for about 18 different pre-generated character sheets (2 choices for each of the nine "playbooks"). I always allow people to make their own characters on the spot, if they really, really prefer that... but in a cyberpunk setting knowing "what's allowed" can be hard. Plus, because the one shot is supposed to be fast and fun, I've pre-loaded all the pre-generated characters with some cool cyberpunk-y extra powers that won't really affect game play but add to the vibe.

Feel free to burst into applause at my effort.

Thank you, thank you very much!

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Why Always Wednesday?

Why is it always a Wednsday when I remember to blog? Like, I briefly wasn't even sure what day it was, but I was thinking "Gosh, I have some stuff I want to talk about" and lo and behold it is Wednesday.

Weird.

Anyway, I didn't do much reading since the last time you and I talked. System Collapse by Martha Wells came up on audio book and I nabbed it. Everyone has already read this book, but I will say that I spent the whole time that I was listening to it comparing the way it played out in my head to how it felt watching it. And I have feelings and observations about that, but, as I have said previously, I am going to save those thoughts for spaces, like conventions, where I can ask the room if they are okay with spoilers. I don't want to have to get a good spoiler font for DW or put everything under a cut, though, perhaps, eventually, I will.

I also read a few random (and I do mean random, as in anything that my library had volume one of) manga. As always, if you would like to read any of my thoughts on those, you can find them over on my manga blog: https://mangakast.wordpress.com/

My latest anime obsession is something I'm coming to (as usual) somewhat late to the game. I've been watching Apothecary's Diaries. Apothecary's Dairies is just my speed. Crimes get solved, life continues in the Forbidden City. I mean, it's sometimes more harrowing than that, but there is a certain satisfaction in this--as in many murder mystery shows--of SOLVING the crime. These days just accomplishing something vaguely positive seems like a huge win, you know?

Which is probably why I've started doing crossword puzzles again. When times are difficult or I'm processing a lot of grief and sadness, I do crossword puzzles. My wife had a subscription for years to Penny Games or whoever it is that does all the crossword puzzle booklets and so we have a huge pile of them around the house.

Before you get too concerned, my grief and sadness is existential for the most part. Politics is devestating on the daily. That's MUCH of it But, as I have posted here my brother in law also is dealing with kidney cancer. What you may not know is that one of Shawn's work colleagues recently lost her battle with liver cancer, and TWO of my friends--one so close that we consider her part of our extended family--are dealing with other types of cancers. (Universe? You can stop with the cancer storyline. Also four people is four too many, thank you very much. If we're doing some kind of season finale, let's have a very special episode about why kindness matters instead, okay? You can be as heavy-handed as you like on that one, Universe!)

We are also dealing with a kitty who has been peeing outside of the box. The only good news in that department is that, having been to the vet to rule out a UTI, we discovered that she has some tiny crystals in her urine and this might actually be what is bothering her. Since this is our bitey cat, Rhurbarb, we assumed she was stressed. She and Willow still don't exactly get along and I know that there is some mutual bullying going on. Anyway, it's not EXACTLY good news to have discovered that she has crystals in her urine, but since shifting the cat food to a specially formulated kidney food and putting out several other spots of water, she does (at least according to our new web cam) seem to be using the box appropriately.

Unfortunately, it's a box we'd rather not have on our first floor as it is in a bathroom that is immediately outside of the dining room. Mason, reasonably, finds it especially gross because it's within feet of his usual chair. So, we are strategizing about other places that might work that wouldn't require a trip to the basement. When we thought this was psychological ONLY, we figured that Rhubarb might be nervous about getting trapped in the coal room, which is where we currently have all of our boxes. We have since positioned one in a more open space and, while watching that spot with the web cam, we did see just how hesitantly she tried that box out. She'd clearly rather not go to the basement to pee. Since the first floor only has the one bathroom, we're still cogitating. We are considering placing a small box on the landing of the stairs to the basement, but that's generally a tricky spot as it's where our sidedoor is and the stairs are already narrow--and are used for hauling laundry up and down. But, we aren't giving up. We're willing to try an fail until we find a solution.

And it's super encouraging that Rhubarb is already showing more willingness to go in ANY box, even if it's currently in a place we'd really rather not have one.

I also continue to learn about convention running through my work on the Gaylaxicon programming committee. It feels good to volunteer about something I care about, though I am, of course, worried that people won't go and that we'll have done all this for nothing, our GoHs will cry, etc., etc. I asked Bluesky why they go to conventions, if they still do. What's the draw? An award? A particular guest? Nearness? A particular activity (like gaming or crafting or cosplay)? How do you find out about conventions?

If you want to answer that question for me, too, I'd love to hear your answer.

Also, did you read anything good lately?

Annapods' Fic In A Box 2025 Dear Creator Letter

Personal info
Anna, she/they. Find me at:

Annapods on ao3,
Annapods on discord,
Annapods on bskye,
Annabelle-myrtille (main blog) and annapods (podfic sideblog) on tumblr,
Annapods @federatedfandom.net on mastodon,
annabelle.myrt@gmail.com by email,
Annapods on dreamwidth.

Media
I'm opting into everything.
I love experimental, mixed, weird, unusual, etc formats and as long as you have fun making something for me, I'll love it!

Things that were a personal challenge for you
Trying out a new medium or a new way to do things, collaborating with others, mixing media, ...

Non-tradictional formats
Essays, phone calls, epistolary, poems, script formats, made for audio, notfic and chatfic, dialogue-only or dialogue-heavy, in-universe media, annotated versions, interesting visual formatting, podvids, adlib and oral notfics, color commentary, audio zines, remixes, playlists, filks, abridged versions or excerpts, remixes and adaptations, …
Low standard, low effort
I do not like the idea of you having a bad time with it, or feeling like you have to reach a certain length or quality. I do like the idea of a personal challenge to lower your own standards!
Super short works, unfinished WIPs, projects started months ago that you think I'd like, works you’re not that proud of, no fancy cover or workskin or whatever, unedited works, ...

Fake content
I love mockups and fake documents/objetcs from canon: tourist brochure, map, photobook, postcard, social media feed, ...

Interactive or useable content
Anything that is printable or playable or foldable or usable in whatever way will be an immediate hit.

Ideas(tm)
I love works with strong, coherent styles or inspirations. This could mean a lot of different things, and does not presume any skill level or difficulty! Stick figures on post-it notes would count, for example.

Creator commentary
I'll love all of these even more if you included some notes on your creative process. Actually, that could be the whole gift.

Recursive works
I'll be delighted by any recursive works based on my own!
My blanket permission statement basically boils down to go wild as long as you make sure any other creators involved are okay with it.

Fandoms
This is a long list of fandoms where I'll be happy to receive stuff and able to at least vaguely understand what's going on, or fandoms I'm thinking of getting into soon.

Bleach (Anime & Manga)
Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Naruto (Anime & Manga)
Persona 4
SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms
人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
残疾暴君的掌心鱼宠[穿书] - 雪山肥狐 | The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish - Xuě Shān Féi Hú
괴담에 떨어져도 출근을 해야 하는구나 - 백덕수 | Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story I Still Have to Go to Work - Baek Deoksoo
내가 키운 S급들 - 근서 | S-Classes that I Raised - Geunseo
데뷔 못 하면 죽는 병 걸림 - 백덕수 | Debut or Die - Baek Deoksoo
DCU (more specifically batfamily)
KPop Demon Hunters (2025)
ATEEZ (Band)
The Boyz (Korea Band)
SEVENTEEN (Band)
Stray Kids (Band)
Original Work
KinnPorsche: The Series (TV)
White Collar (TV 2009)
Twisted-Wonderland
Zenless Zone Zero (Video Game)
原神 | Genshin Impact (Video Game)
崩坏：星穹铁道 | Honkai: Star Rail (Video Game)
鸣潮 | Wuthering Waves (Video Game)
Jeff Satur - Works & Related Fandoms
K.A.R.D (Band)
Club Icarus | ARTMS (Album)
OnlyOneOf (Band)
Triple H (Korea Band)
Mamamoo
방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
IVE (Band)
K-pop
僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)

Characters and pairings
Unless there's a note about it, please feel free to disregard the relationship/character tags I put in my requests. Worldbuilding is also always welcome.

The relevant DNWs:

No teacher/student ships.
- Exception for SVSSS.
No big age gaps.
- I know this is very subjective, so let's say before anything happens between them, the age of the youngest should be at least the age of the oldest, plus 6, divided by 2 (ie min >= (max+6)/2).
- If there's some supernatural stuff at play, you can go by ~magical mental age~ or just the youngest being older than 20 and call it a day.
No biological incest.

Story likes

Platonic affection and commitment
Gen, or close to it
Pre-slash.
Only 100 words of romance in a sea of plot.
Filthy, tender and loving but totally platonic porn.

Stuff that ~feels~ aro to me
Stories about queerplatonic relationships, treated with the same kind of focus as romantic relationships: meet-cutes, flirting, dating, defining the relationship, domesticity, ...
Strong friendships, could-be-gen-could-be-polya, found and chosen family.
Sensual attraction, touch hunger, loneliness-induced angst and hurt/comfort.
Cuddling and snuggling, touch as a love language or a communication method, all the skinship.
Group polyamoury, some supernatural or a/b/o AUs (pack, coven, etc).

World explorationCanon divergence, what-if, trope in/subversion.
Crack and crack treated seriously, non-standard worldbuilding.
Meta and meta disguised as fiction.
Take your fandom to work, deep dive into someone’s lived experience, take your fandom to therapy.
Fandom culture and/or media in-universe.
Culture, language, sociopolitics.

Story dislikes
These are dislikes, not DNW. I might skim your gift and leave a shorter comment, that's about it.

The expected romantic experience
Romantic milestones as a focus, for example meeting the parents or going to prom together.
Romantic curtain fic.

Gendered expectations confirmed by the narrative
Focus on traditionally “feminine” tasks like childcare, household chores, etc for female characters, omegas or whoever else stands in for women in this world.
Unquestioned fantasy gender essentialism in a/b/o or D/s AUs.

Romance dubcon
Soulmate AUs where fate (or another kind of power) decides soulmates.
Sneakily dating someone, dating under false pretenses, “How could you not realize we were dating”.
Fake dating or friends-with-benefits with pining and “it’s not enough but I’ll take what I can get”.
Strong, unquestioned power imbalance.
Betting on relationships.

Other random dislikes
Homophobia as a quick relationship plot point.
Mundane high school or college AUs.
Religious (mostly christian lbh) themes.
Miscommunication that could be solved by blurting it out, no character development in sight.

On smutI'll be happy with any rating.

I likePraise, edging, oversensitivity, all the nice feelings.
Pure porn is great, using sex to tell a story is also lovely.

I dislike
Piss/scat.
Daddy/mommy kink.
Humiliation.
Breeding kink.
Non-consensual play.
Pet play.
Role play in general.

Do Not Wants
Internal POV of bigotted or cruel characters.
Heavy psychological violence.
Grimdark settings (if you're unsure, better to avoid apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic and dystopian AUs).
Unhappy endings.
Dub/noncon that isn’t treated seriously by the narrative, or is supposed to be sexy.
Biological incest.
Pregnancy, including male pregnancy and impregnation.
Proposals or weddings that are not motivated by plot reasons.
Non-POV child characters, deaging.
Large age gaps. I know this is very subjective, so let's say before anything happens between them, the age of the youngest should be at least the age of the oldest, plus 6, divided by 2 (ie min >= (max+6)/2). If there's some supernatural stuff at play, you can go by ~magical mental age~ or just the youngest being older than 20 and call it a day.

Annapods' Fic In A Box 2025 Dear Creator Letter

Personal info
Anna, she/they. Find me at:

Annapods on ao3, discord,
Annapods on bskye,
Annabelle-myrtille (main blog) and annapods (podfic sideblog) on tumblr,
Annapods @federatedfandom.net on mastodon,
annabelle.myrt@gmail.com by email,
Annapods on dreamwidth.

Please don't hesitate to contact the mods to ask me questions!

Media and formats
I'm opting into everything.
I love experimental, mixed, weird, unusual, etc formats and as long as you have fun making something for me, I'll love it!
If you have an idea that I didn't mention, just go for it. Doesn't matter if it's audio, art, text, or whatever else.

Things that were a personal challenge for you: Trying out a new medium or a new way to do things, mixing techniques, taking a gamble, ...

Low standard, low effort: I do not like the idea of you having a bad time with it, or feeling like you have to reach a certain length or quality. I do like the idea of a personal challenge to lower your own standards!
Super short works, unfinished WIPs, projects started months ago that you think I'd like, works you’re not that proud of, no fancy cover or workskin or whatever, unedited works, ...

Interactive or useable content
Anything that is printable or playable or foldable or usable in whatever way will be an immediate hit.

Ideas(tm)
I love works with strong, coherent styles or inspirations. This could mean a lot of different things, and does not presume any skill level or difficulty! Stick figures on post-it notes would count, for example.

Creator commentary
I'll love all of these even more if you included some information on what/why/how you made a work. Actually, that could be the whole gift!

Recursive works
I'll be delighted by any recursive works based on my own!
My blanket permission statement basically boils down to go wild as long as you make sure any other creators involved are okay with it.

Fandoms, characters and pairings
Here are the ten fandoms I requested:

Bleach (Anime & Manga)
DCU (Comics), more specifically batfamily
K-pop
KPop Demon Hunters (2025)
Naruto (Anime & Manga)
Original Work
데뷔 못 하면 죽는 병 걸림 - 백덕수 | Debut or Die - Baek Deoksoo
原神 | Genshin Impact (Video Game)
崩坏：星穹铁道 | Honkai: Star Rail (Video Game)
残疾暴君的掌心鱼宠[穿书] - 雪山肥狐 | The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish - Xuě Shān Féi Hú

Solo characters can be in relationships, just keep in mind my DNWs. OT3s and moresome ships, gen, and worldbuilding are always welcome.

Story likes

Platonic affection and commitment
Gen, or close to it
Pre-slash.
Only 100 words of romance in a sea of plot.
Filthy, tender and loving but totally platonic porn.

Stuff that ~feels~ aro to me
Stories about queerplatonic relationships, treated with the same kind of focus as romantic relationships: meet-cutes, flirting, dating, defining the relationship, domesticity, ...
Strong friendships, could-be-gen-could-be-polya, found and chosen family.
Sensual attraction, touch hunger, loneliness-induced angst and hurt/comfort.
Cuddling and snuggling, touch as a love language or a communication method, all the skinship.
Group polyamoury, some supernatural or a/b/o AUs (pack, coven, etc).

World exploration
Canon divergence, what-if, trope in/subversion.
Crack and crack treated seriously, non-standard worldbuilding.
Meta and meta disguised as fiction.
Take your fandom to work, deep dive into someone’s lived experience, take your fandom to therapy.
Fandom culture and/or media in-universe.
Culture, language, sociopolitics.

Story dislikes
These are dislikes, not DNW. I might skim your gift and leave a shorter comment, that's about it.

The expected romantic experience
Romantic milestones as a focus, for example meeting the parents or going to prom together.
Romantic curtain fic.

Gendered expectations confirmed by the narrative
Focus on traditionally “feminine” tasks like childcare, household chores, etc for female characters, omegas or whoever else stands in for women in this world.
Unquestioned fantasy gender essentialism in a/b/o or D/s AUs.
Social pressure or victim blaming that are not acknowledged as such by the narrative.

Romance dubcon
Soulmate AUs where fate (or another kind of power) decides soulmates.
Sneakily dating someone, dating under false pretenses, “How could you not realize we were dating”.
Fake dating or friends-with-benefits with pining and “it’s not enough but I’ll take what I can get”.
Strong, unquestioned power imbalance.
Betting on relationships.

Other random dislikes
Homophobia as a quick relationship plot point.
Mundane high school or college AUs.
Deaging that is not linked to time/dimension travel.
Religious (mostly christian lbh) themes.
Miscommunication that could be solved by blurting it out, no character development in sight.

On smut
I'll be happy with any rating.

I like
Praise, edging, oversensitivity, all the nice feelings.
Pure porn is great, using sex to tell a story is also lovely.

I dislike
Daddy/mommy kink, humiliation, breeding kink, non-consent play, pet play, role play in general.

Do Not Wants

Internal POV of bigotted or cruel characters
OK: character is blinded by hurt or rage but ultimately realizes that it's misguided. Example: Uchiha Izuna and Jason Todd in most fic set in canon.
KO: it's part of their belief system that they can delight in being gratuitously cruel to some human beings. Example: Zhao in AtlA.
KO: they believe that some don't deserve basic human rights. Example: a neo-nazi.
KO: they believe that it's for these persons own good. Example: in an a/b/o setting with extreme gender norms, a clueless alpha.

Heavy psychological violence
OK: whump.
KO: gratuitous, graphic torture or rape, mindbreak.

Grimdark stories
Grimdark = dystopian fiction characterized by harsh settings, extreme violence, and a bleak, fatalistic perspective on the future of humanity.
if you're unsure if it counts, better to simply avoid apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic and dystopian AUs.

Unhappy endings for works longer than 1k
OK: the main characters are happy or hopeful.
OK: the main characters are miserable, but the audience knows things are going to get better.
KO: the main characters are miserable and nobody thinks it's going to get better.
KO: the main characters are happy or hopeful but the audience knows things are going to get really bad in the future.

Dub- or noncon that isn’t treated as such by the narrative, or is supposed to be sexy
KO: no-no-yes dynamics.
KO: ignored safewords with no backlash.
OK: mutual dubcon/the situation made them do it, but there's a mention that they discussed similar scenarios before, or that they'll talk about it later, or at least that the situation is fucked.
OK: rape recovery.

Sexual content with actual animals, or fandom-specific equivalents
OK: tentacle monster, plant, eldritch creature.
KO: actual octopus, the tiger from KPop Demon Hunter.

Proposals and weddings that are not arranged, forced, political, fake, or extremely background
OK: while love was not the main drive, it is definitely there by the time they get to the wedding. Example: most takes on Hashirama and Mito's wedding.
OK: plot stuff happens during a wedding, cultural signifiers and mores are discussed. Example: most takes on Tobirama at Hashirama and Mito's wedding.
KO: characters keep thinking about getting married while at their best friends' wedding. Example: that's probably the plot of at least one Hallmark movie.

Pregnancy, including male pregnancy and impregnation
Mentions of background characters being pregnant or having children are fine.

Non-POV child characters as relationship plot devices and not complex characters
KO: pining best friends have to raise a kid together.
KO: single parent fell in love with their kid's teacher.
OK: POV child character is going on adventures and also their single parent is falling in love in the background/a side-story.
Borderline: single parent falls in love, the whole family has to navigate life together.
Borderline: character develops a mentor relationship with a child and oh also their parent is hot.
Generally, older or canonical children are less risky.

Biological incest, incest kink, incestual shame for not-biologically-related pairings
OK: Diluc Ragnvinder/Kaeya Alberich.
KO: Liu Qingge/Liu Mingyan.
Probably KO: Jason Todd/Bruce Wayne in canon-verse.

Large age gaps and sexual content featuring <16yo
I know this is very subjective, so let's just bring it down to simple math.
Before anything sexual happens between them, the age of the youngest should be at least the age of the oldest, divided by 2, plus 8; ie young >= (old/2)+8. This puts a hard limit at 16.
I'm okay with romantic relationships between younger kids with, let's say, at most a 2 years age difference.
If there's some supernatural stuff at play, you can go by ~magical mental age~ or just the youngest being older than 25 and call it a day.

Piss kink, scat, emetophilia

Entry tags:

Writing Deadline Reminder 2025

Hey all, today is the writing deadline!

If you've already submitted your writing, fantastic! If you haven't submitted your writing yet, you can do so by sharing with us a copy of the text that your podficcer also has access to (for example, a Google Doc) or by posting your writing to the AO3 collection by following the instructions here.

If you don’t think you’ll be able to finish in time, read over the rules and request an extension. Please email or DM us today if you need an extension instead of waiting until tomorrow.

In order for your writing to be considered complete, it must be ready for your partner to start working on right away. If you need additional time after today (July 27th) for final edits, for a beta to look over it, etc, please request an extension. Podficcers must have their full allotted time to work on the audio and should never be held back from starting because they are waiting for the text to be finalized after the deadline.

As long as your project is submitted while it's still July 27th anywhere in the world, you're on time!