potentiality_26

I've started watching Astrid on PBS and I'm really into it. I even wrote a little something for today's halfamoon prompt based on the episode I watched last night. I know a lot of you are into c-dramas and the like, but this is my first time writing for a non-English fandom. Hope I don't sound like a subtitle.

It's been another up at 5:00am day, but at least I wrote a ficlet!
 
  

Try something new.

So the post says we can use the same answer for this as Challenge #11 (create a fanwork). To that end, I've posted my Raffles fic on AO3 a day ahead of schedule. Not something I've never done before, obviously, but every time I struggle with titles and summaries like it's the first time.

I've also been inspired by a few conversations I've had through this challenge to seek out some Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves fic. We'll see what I find!
  

Tell Us about a Personal Win.

So I've been planning to do monthly check-ins about the goals I set earlier in this challenge, as a kind of accountability for myself, but I'll mention some early successes I've had because they are definitely wins!

Post here more often
I've posted regularly this month thanks to the Snowflake Challenge.

Generally keep in touch better with friends
I've gotten back in touch with some online friends, met some cool new people, and generally done better at keeping up with my... meat-space? face-time? (saying irl seems wrong because online contract is still, you know, real) friends than I had been previously. I did have a week lapse, but I did not let that week turn into two like I did a lot of last year.

Post more stories on AO3 than I did in 2023.
I plan to put my Raffles fic up on AO3 by Monday.

Read more books.
I have read a book! Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. I've also started the sequel.

Put up a 2024 calendar. Also, remember to turn the page every month.
The calendar is up!

I have a question for you all about this, though: I haven't done as well with regular writing this month as I hoped.  I've only written about 1000 new words (between various WIPs and a bit of original fiction), but I have done some typing and editing of older stuff and I have been working on my non-magical D&D Artificer, which has branched into also working on an Alchemist class.  I haven't been considering this as part of my overall wordcount, though, because for a lot of it I'm just borrowing from existing material.  And I guess my question is: should I count it?  It's just for my own enjoyment, but it's where my inspiration has taken me and I did say at the beginning of the year that any writing counted, even if it was never going to be published anywhere.

I'm also thinking of amending my resolution to include typing/editing existing work as... well... work.  Like 100 words a day and/or typing/editing, as I've found it hard to do both, especially when seriously editing something to post.
  

Challenge #10

Five Things! The five things are totally up to you. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Today I'm ranking... musicals!  Yay? (There will be fudging of the five things part)

1) Les Miserables
Loved it my whole life, it's everything to me. Favorite version: 10th Anniversary Dream Cast. It's called the Dream Cast for a reason, y'all.

2) The Secret Garden
Also a long time love of mine. Favorite version: Original Broadway Recording.

The Andrew Lloyd Webber section. I ranked these as best I could, but know that they're all very close together.

3) Jesus Christ Superstar
Favorite version: NBC Live In Concert. I know this isn't considered the best by most metrics, but I watched it when it aired, bought the soundtrack, and still listen to it all the time. Are the Broadway singers better? Mostly. But sometimes it's about vibes. 

4) Evita
Favorite version: 1996 Film/Soundtrack. I'm not even gonna qualify this preference. Obviously there are people who prefer the Broadway version. In fact there are people who think this movie is bad. I think they're wrong.

5) Phantom of the Opera
Favorite version: 25th Anniversary. This is a close one, though, I like the Broadway a lot too.   

This is where the fudging comes in because I think the ALW block skews things. Two bonuses:

6) Wicked
Favorite version: Original Broadway Recording
Added because: If I could decide to kick one of the ALW ones off the list, this would replace it. 

7) Beauty and the Beast
Favorite version: Original Broadway Recording
Added because: Number 7 (rather than the top 5) really is where this belongs, overall, but I do want to mention it because "If I Can't Love Her" is probably my favorite song from a musical.

Since I've come out as an actor (lol) recently in this challenge, I'd like to say that I am a Shakespearean actor who does more modern plays here and there. I love musicals but I haven't performed in one since High School. Tragically, I cannot sing worth a damn.
  

Challenge #8

Talk about a current fannish project (fic, art, vid, crochet, funko pop village) (that you are creating or enjoying)

So I have a ton of WIPs that I work on as the mood strikes me. I thought a fun way to meet this challenge would be to list them how they're titled in my files. Please ask me about them.

( So many ideas, so little... something... )

Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.  

In your own space, share a favourite piece of original canon (a show, a specific TV episode, a storyline, a book or series, a scene from a movie, etc) and explain why you love it so much. . Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Last time I did this challenge, (I keep wanting to say last year, even though it was very much not last year, which I think says something about my perception of time at the moment) I did Les Miserables, i.e. the whole brick. This time, I thought I'd go really narrow and pick just a scene. So

The Indian restaurant scene from Ted Lasso. 

This scene is obviously awesome from a Trent/Ted shipping perspective.  And Trent's reaction to being asked what he loves? *chef's kiss*

It's also a super important scene, for me, because it's when I really fell for this show.  The concept of Ted going to his taxi/uber (sorry, not sure which it was tbh) driver's restaurant because he was really listening when Ollie talked about it, and he really meant it when he said he'd come by, really shows the core of the character (and the show) in such an incredible way. 
  

IceBreaker Challenge! Tell us about yourself. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

This is a tough one since I don't often talk about personal stuff on here, so I did as the post suggested and used this random question generator to make a set. 

( Enjoy these puzzle peices from my brain... )

 

That was fun, actually!
  

In your own space, set yourself some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Well, I guess the good thing about having accomplished almost nothing fannishly last year is that the bar for this one is low.

Some goals I have:

1) Get all my fic links and masterlists up to date here on DW
2) Post here more often
3) Generally keep in touch better with friends
4) Post more stories on AO3 than I did in 2023. Since I only posted one, two would make this goal, but I'm hoping for more than that
5) Try to write at least 100 words at least 5 days a week, whether they end up posted anywhere or not
6) Read more books. I've been reading plenty of fanfiction, but I've been struggling to read actual books lately and I'd like to do better this year
7) Bonus inspired by ysabetwordsmith: Put up a 2024 calendar. Also, remember to turn the page every month. I'm looking at July 2023 above my desk right now and it's symbolizing how time has slipped away from me lately in a way that probably doesn't help me much in moving forward  
  

Title: The Garden Where All Beauties Be
Fandom: The Witcher
Pairing/Characters: Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier
Summary: Jaskier gets a noseful of pollen in a mage's tower.
Rating: NC-17
Length: Medium (11,193 words)
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me.
Notes/Warnings: Title from Sir Phillip Sidney's Sonnet 82. I went with more traditional fantasy creatures for the references in this story because that's what's familiar to me — apologies if any of it actually contradicts Witcher canon. I have seen S3 this time, but the vibes are mainly S1 again.
Excerpt:
Jaskier wanted to tell Geralt he felt just fine. That his nose had been irritated at first but that seemed to be over with now and he was — it was fine. Not worth fussing over. All right, maybe worth fussing a little. Maybe worth holding on to him, just for a moment longer. Maybe —

The unfortunate truth, Jaskier slowly realized, was that he did not, in fact, feel fine. It started with a heat in the pit of his stomach and a burning along his skin. And it didn’t get better.

On AO3
   

I'm not really sure what to post about, so I thought I'd just give a list of some fandoms I got into (or back into) over the last year or so. Please poke me and ask for a general review or what I'm shipping or what fics I'm thinking of writing in any of them. 

Black Adam
Critical Role
Good Omens
House M.D. (look, Hulu had it and I was feeling nostalgic.  I swear some of this show might be written on my DNA I remember it so well) 
The Sandman
Shadow and Bone
Shetland
Star Trek (always; loving Strange New Worlds)
Ted Lasso
The Witcher