kaffy_r | Entries tagged with fandom

Arthur Hlavaty is Gone

I don't know how many people in my Dreamwidth circles are from OG science fiction fandom; those who are there may know this. Other people, especially those who aren't familiar with OG science fiction/fantasy fandom, will undoubtedly not be aware that the world lost an amazing man last night/the early hours of this morning.

Arthur Hlavaty, one of the most brilliant people it was my honor to know and communicate with, died unexpectedly, leaving his spouse Bernadette Bosky and co-husband Kevin Marony bereft. Even though Arthur was 83 and had been in poor health following a broken hip many months ago, no one expected him to leave this circle of the world so soon. He was Supergee on LJ and on Dreamwidth, where he should still be, dammit.

I am fairly certain that I have known, or at least known of, Arthur since the mid-1990s Usenet days of rec.arts.sf.fandom. When he responded to anything I posted, I was proud of having said something worthy of his notice. I once wrote a defense of good politicians/government officials that he acknowledged might have moved the needle slightly from his mostly cynical view of both. I was quietly over the moon at that immense praise. He was kind, wry, gentle about much of life and merciless about fools. He was very deaf, and thought that popular music ceased being good after about 1966. I occasionally twigged him about that, and he was able to reply in kind. Bob and I were lucky enough to have a meal with Arthur around 2002 during a Minicon. He was as impressive in person as he was on the printed page or pixel.

He was a ... well, the best description of Arthur comes from Arthur himself, although this is also useful. His personal zines Nice Distinctions and Derogatory Reference were two I always was happy to receive in the mail and I treasure his occasional letters to me. Oddly, or sadly, enough, I dug up a Nice Distinctions from my files about three days ago so that I could find Arthur's Bernadette's and Kevin's physical address. I mailed my holiday card to the three of them last night. Less than 12 hours later, he died.

I cried out this afternoon when I read Bernadette's announcement. The world is darker today.

Current Mood: sad
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Silence

New Rx, Who Dis?

Since Aug. 24 - check, yes it was Aug. 24 - I've had a lot of living. A lot.

Let's see: I saw my shrink, and he put me on Rexulti (I usually prefer talking about drugs with their actual name, but I'm still learning how to say brexpiprazole without looking at how it's spelled) to see how it would work. He gave me some samples. Damned if it didn't do the trick. The drug isn't a panacea, but what it does is let me look at things a tad more logically. It kind of allows me to say "one step at a time, woman. It's OK to do life like that."

I had a couple of follow ups with him; he checked to see if I was still able to sleep, and that my eating habits hadn't done me wrong. I was fine, so he wrote me a prescription for it.

( Non-triggering medical fun below )

So I've yapped on at length about Fun With the American Medical System. I should end with a couple of nice things.

1. I'm going to meet some of the folks I've met over the Couch Crew discord channel on the 25th, We're meeting up for a movie double header with some Korean food in between a KDrama movie and then a movie about the BTS Wings tour. I know next to nothing about BTS, but as that band was indirectly responsible for me discovering all of my current obsession, I figure I'd best learn, and probably I'll enjoy it.

2. On the 17th, I turn 70. Yay! Actually, yay! Fewer years ahead than behind me, but still, a few more years in which to work hard on being happy and making people I love as happy as possible.

3. Oh, and this picture is of the new chair that I've been able to sit in without pain - WITHOUT PAIN DEAR LORD WHAT IS THIS NO-PAIN THING - an old, very heavy wooden office chair that we found in a kinda-going-outa-business secondhand office furniture place. (There's a funny story about it, but that must wait for another post because this one is already too damn long.) This was taken before we put wheels on the legs since the original ones were long gone. We had to find heavyweight casters and Bob blistered his hands getting then onto the legs, because the wood was almost impenetrable, and I love him for yet another reason.

So there you have it. Happy Thursday/Friday

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: iKon "Driving Slowly"

So. Lolla.

Yes, I finally got around to posting about it. Bob’s brief hospital stay* and fun with switching mobile phone carriers, complete with SIM card madness**, disrupted my original intent.

Short version:

Attending Lollapalooza to see Stray Kids perform for the first time was an amazing experience — positive and joyful. None of the things my fearful son had worried about came to pass. The heat was reasonable, Lolla provided free water, the food offered for sale wasn’t overpriced. The sun shone, despite weather forecasts that predicted rain and thunderstorms. The crowds were a delight to watch, not a claustrophobic nightmare to survive.

I met other Stray Kids fans, Stays, who were happy to adopt me, a baby Stay. One came from Boston, another from LA, a couple from Evanston, just a few minutes from my place. I know that others came up from North Carolina, a couple reportedly from Paraguay. They loved the band enough to make the journey.

When the time came for the Kids to storm the stage, we were there for it. We couldn’t see the stage ourselves, but we didn’t expect to, given the crowd. Just seeing them on the huge screens behind them, and knowing that they were there below the screens, was enough. We sang along to the songs, we spent 1.5 hours grinning like fools and taking part in a community that included eight young men who loved performing for us.

Long Version:

( Read more... )So here it is, my Lolla report. Too long delayed, and just too damned long.

*He's fine. Medical weirdness, yay.
**Not fun, but taken care of; only us, Maynard ....
***skzoo, not surprisingly stands for Stray Kids Zoo. Each member has an animal totem. As one does. Skzoo merch alone could keep JYP financially afloat.

Current Mood: sore
Current Location: heading to bed
Current Music: Stray Kids "Youtiful"

Good Help for a Good Person

I meant to share this earlier, but got sidetracked by mice. I apologize,

masakochan .

I think most folks on my f'list know this lovely person, but in case you don't, take my word for it -

masakochan has made me smile many times, and has been one of the folks I've always enjoyed talking with. They're going through a tough time; they've got a goal, and I hope people can help them reach that goal.

Here's the link to their GoFundMe; help with a donation of any size if you can. If you can't, you can still help by spreading the word.

Thanks!

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Location: the living room
Current Music: Stray Kids "Chk Chk Boom"

I Done Did It.

Yep. I finally finished my massive crossover. It's a few words over 11,000 words. I'm going to give it one more read-through and then, in a fever of arrogance, I'm going to post it without an editor taking a look at it. (Bob usually does it for me, but in this case there are characters of which he knows nothing. Additionally, he's not been at 100 percent over the last few days because of dental problems.) My only question is whether there's a natural break point that might allow me to post it in two chapters.

I feel accomplished. Please, universe; it's been a hard few days. Can you allow me this without introducing more mice or broken garbage disposals into my otherwise boring retiree life? Yes?

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: the living room
Current Music: Stray Kids "Airplane"

I Finally Did It

I finally watched the first episode of 15's season, "Space Babies". And it did what some of Rusty's work has done for me before; roll my eyes.

And smile.

I mean, it's clearly ridiculous, in a particular way that stands slightly apart from the ridiculousness that comprises much of Dr. Who's bedrock underpinnings. It's Rusty ridiculousness. I've only had half a cup of coffee this morning, so I can't yet characterize it more accurately than that. But I do think it proceeds from his love of the show (I almost typed "franchise" but from there it would be slippery slope to describing creations as content and creators as creatives. So, no).

That love is hugely on display in "Space Babies," despite the lack of even Whoniverseian logic. And the way Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson commit to their characters, especially Gatwa, anchors the risibility in that love. The commitment also manages to make the plot hold together, if only barely. Love, spit, and bailing wire; Rusty, I hope you up the plot game in later eps, so that it doesn't fall completely on their shoulders.

And plot? Wow; much silly, so plotless; wow.*

At the end of the episode Bob, who is normally reticent about making snap judgements about any show we watch together, especially Who, looked at me and said that he knew this Doctor was going to be fun, once he got his balance. Bob was smiling as he said it. As a snap judgement from him, this was extremely high praise. I smiled back at him.

I missed the fact that the Doctor apparently did some sort of DNA scan on Ruby near the end. Come on, Doctor, can you please stop doing that without asking the target of your scans? Shades of Moffat and Amy's pregnancy ....

But yes, definitely a happy and hopeful entry to the season, at least for me. I should now hie me to other folks' journals to see what y'all thought of it.

Short bits:

Yuck!

What is it about bodily secretions? Rusty and the Moff seem to have a Frst Grade boy's love of icky stuff (Moffat - "Sleep No More" and eye gunk; Davies - the booger monster of "Space Babies.")

Everybody lives!

Speaking of the bogeyman (should I capitalize that?), Ruby and the Doctor (the latter near the end) - and most importantly, the babies who'd been terrorized by it - decide that a) it's the last one of its kind, and b) should be considered a child worth caring for as well. That's perfectly Moffatian, although Rusty's script kind of fails to convince me, tacked on at the very end as it is. Still, respect from an "Everybody Lives!" fan.

Wait, I know her!

Golda Rosheuvel is lovely, despite the lack of a towering powdered wig and air of exquisitely royal boredom. (I've only watched one season of Bridgerton, and probably won't watch further, but she often made me grin during that first season.)

Talking babies! On a spaceship!

The way Ruby and the Doctor kept looking at each other and declaiming "Space Babies!" made me think of Eleven being happy as that aforementioned First Grade boy wrt dinosaurs being on, you know, a spaceship. Heh.

* RIP Kabosu.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Music from "Made in Abyss"

It's So Difficult, With Stray Kids

At least it is for me. I've been going through what songs, what music videos, what general video information about the band, I should present my vast and waiting audience.

Or, you know, you guys.

So it took awhile, and it'll take two posts.

I'm going to start with three music videos that I thought were creative ways to showcase the songs themselves, and at least one song where they collaborated with a Korean hip-hop star. (At this point, I should let you know that, like a lot of K-pop, their songs mix varying amounts of English into the mix. Two of the guys grew up in Australia, and speak English very well, so their songs don't feel like the English is just shoveled in without thought.)

I'm also going to try to highlight songs that show their songwriting diversity. I'm going to include at least one live performance that I think illustrates that the band knows how to perform. And finally, I'm going to provide a YouTube compilation of their six main albums (that doesn't include some of what are generally EPs.

"Thunderous," below, was relatively early in their career. They apparently wrote it after hearing critics accuse them of just being noise. They embraced it with a good deal of humor.

Watch on YouTube

I think "DLC" will be the final one I shove into this post. It's not one of their big hits. It's just infectious, and shows some pretty genuine interactions between the guys. Also, the main protagonist is I.N., who I like. And they're dancing in Paris.

Watch on YouTube

More, probably tomorrow, with at least one more music video, and a couple of the live performances.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Stray Kids, DLC

Title: A Night at the Bar
Fandom: Arcane: League of Legends (Netflix animated series)
Characters: Vi, Caitlyn Kiramman, Powder, Vander, Jayce Talis, Claggor, Sevika
Words: 8,119, per AO3
Edited by: my beloved dr_whuh.
Summary: An evening that begins with Piltover condescension and Undercity suspicion, and gets bloodier from there, marks the first meeting of two remarkable women. The metal arm on the floor doesn't really play into it. In a timeline where Powder's monkey bomb doesn't kill her family, Vi's and Caitlyn's first meeting is ... memorable.
Author's notes: I will always love Arcane for a multitude of reasons, despite (or perhaps because of) its beautifully brutal tragedy. But after watching it I decided that, facts be damned, I was going to write a story that made sure Mylo lived. Claggor and Vander, too. And I was going to ensure that her family would help keep Powder herself, and prevent the creation of Jinx. It was going to be one and done, I thought.

Silly me.

This story represents the eighth in the "Changing Lanes" AU series. And I want to thank an AO3 reader, YourRSV, for asking if I might write a story featuring Cait and Vi. I hope this meets some of that request.

NOTE #1: this story takes roughly six years after Powder inadvertently blows Jayce's lab up, and almost six years after Vander and Silco patch together a truce to keep Shimmer out of The Lanes.

NOTE #2: The story contains some notable, brief, violence. However, I promise that a) the violence is necessary to the plot and b) not too violent. At least I hope it doesn't come across that way.

Disclaimer: All characters are the properties of Riot Games, Fortiche Productions, Alex Yee and Christian Linke. I intend no copyright infringement and take no coin. I just love the world, and all its denizens.

*** *** ***
( Read more... )

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: None

Bob Made His Goal!

I want to thank so many people, including many folks I know here. You donated, or you spread the word, or did both - and Bob is now setting up his appointment with the audiologist. We're hoping that can come within a week or so, and once that's completed, he can be fitted with new and stronger set of hearing aids.

This would not have been possible without so many people. It's a reminder to me of how good fans and fandom can be.

Thank you all so much.

Current Mood: grateful
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: None

2023 in the Headlights, 2022 (almost) in the Rearview Mirror

I haven't been online much over the last month, and I should at least poke my head in the door once or twice before 2022is bid adieu by its fans and foes alike.

Bob and I had a very quiet Christmas. We'd told each other that we wouldn't exchange presents, but in the end, we did. Some much needed handkerchiefs and a white shirt from him to me, a book, metal weed grinder, and tee-shirt with a Cordwainer Smith quote from "The Dead Lady of Clown Town" for him. I was really happy about having found the tee-shirt; both of us love Smith's works, but Bob's the one who for years has tried to re-read one book of Smith's every year. I approve.)

(Oh, the quote? "Go on! Go on. This is a war of love. Keep going," said by Joan, once d'Joan, to Elaine. If you haven't yet done so, I hope you have the chance to read the story, which is available here. By the way, if anyone out there loves Smith's works, I'd love to have a conversation about him. Yes, intermittently problematic; but also, yes, brilliant, loving, thoughtful and beautiful - weirdly, unforgettably so.)

Bob and I treated ourselves to a Christmas dinner at a Persian restaurant near us in Evanston. It was lovely, even though (or perhaps because) we were the only people there until the very end of our meal. It's not actually all that surprising, since it was one of those tremendously cold days caused across 60 percent of the country by the humongous bomb cyclone.

Thanks to Bob, we now have the entire Jan. 6 report, a huge number of the interview transcripts, and a report on Trump's taxes. He's showing me up, by reading all of them in-depth. I'll have to tackle that in the early days of the new year.

Since then, I managed to finish the first draft of the story I'm writing for money. I got it done before one of the soft deadlines I was given, so I'm happy with that. We'll see how the draft revision process goes. I am waiting until Tuesday to contact the other editor to set up time to chat with her in person. I'll give her a call, but I held off this week because, well, this is the post-Christmas, pre-New Year's Eve limbo week.

But enough about me. How've you all been? What are you planning to do (or not do) to welcome 2023?

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: baroque Christmas music

Chicon 8, Day Three

As promised, or possibly threatened, here's another day in my Worldcon activities (or at least a sketchy approximation of one. I mean, there was a lot of Worldcon to navigate.)

Saturday, Sept. 3

( Read more... )

Current Mood: contemplative

Various Things, Lists, You Get the Idea

1. Ridiculously superficial thought wrt the death of Elizabeth and the ascension of Charles: I will miss her rainbow colored outfits and more than occasionally silly (but always paradoxically elegant) haberdashery. The new king, unless he truly has a Come to Alexander McQueen moment, will entertain us only with sober suits and the occasionally colorful pocket square. Do we look to the Queen Consort for rainbows?

2. I plan to go back to commenting on Worldcon, Hugo awards and all, tomorrow. No, really.

3. I'm getting back to writing after several days away. I'm also truly chuffed that BB has dipped into editing my original novella. He's always resisted doing much deep editing of my fic, beyond being a copy editor par exellence - he's done some, but I suspect he's felt that I'm the obsessive writer of fandom-related things, fandoms he likes but isn't obsessive about, and that that means he's ill equipped to do deep dives. With the original work, I think he's more willing. I think it will be a good thing.

4. I'm also returning to the final leg of the original novel. I'm not sure who to turn to for editing there, largely because I don't expect ever to send it out for anyone's actual consideration. Still, perhaps I may yet ~~trick someone into~~ ask someone to take a look at it. I just have to get the damned thing finished.

5. I'll be heading back into editing myself, with the young gentleman who's putting his Arcane fic together. Luckily, he's already enlisted some other editors, and has said that, while he'd like me to stay on the team, I don't have to be as in-depth as I'd been for his first chapter. That's a relief.

6. I picked up a couple of books at the con, after promising myself I wouldn't waste the money. And I've picked up Howard Zinn's history of the U.S. from the library. So when I'm not writing stuff or editing stuff, I can be reading. Go, me.

7. Trump's troubles continue to mount. I am grateful.

And that's my list, folks.

Current Mood: sore
Current Location: the home office

Chicon 8, Second Day

Just checking in, to say I'm enjoying myself a great deal, even though I've missed several panels I wanted to go to - there is an embarrassment of riches here, of course.

( Read more...if you want to. )

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Location: Chicon 8, the 80th World Science Fiction Convention
Current Music: fannish discussions

Worldcon in Chicago

Much to my surprise, and with massive gratitude toward my friends Jack and Geri, I will be attending Chicon 8, the 80th World Science Fiction Convention.

I can't overstate my surprise and gratitude. I was introduced to SFF fandom via my first convention, Suncon, the 1977 Worldcon, made my first and only trans-atlantic trip to attend Seacon, the 19 79 Worldcon in Brighton, and last attended a Worldcon in 1982 - also a Chicon, and the place I discovered Minneapolis fandom. I have been away from 3D science fiction for several years, with my activity almost 100 percent online.

I have occasionally, wistfully, thought it would be wonderful to go to a convention again. That it is this one, thanks to Jack's decision to transfer his membership to me, and Geri's hospitality, is really rather brilliant.

Thank you, she said, hopping from one foot to another with excitement.

Current Mood: ecstatic
Current Location: the home office

Title: Old and New Dreams, Pink and Blue Dreams
Author:

kaffy_r
Words: 2,849, per AO3
Fandom: Arcane: League of Legions (Netflix animated season)
Edited by: the perspicacious

dr_whuh
Summary/Notes: Under a cut to avoid spoilers for folks who haven't seen it, but might want to. (Cuts for this reason will end once the show has been out for six months.
Disclaimer: With the exception of the occasional original character, all characters are the property of Riot Games, Fortiche Productions, Alex Yee and Christian Linke. I intend no copyright infringement and take no coin. I just love their characters.

*** **** ***
( Read more... )

Current Mood: discontent
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: "What Could Have Been" Sting w/Ray Chen, Arcane sound track

Title: Rumors
Author:

kaffy_r
Fandom: Arcane: League of Legends (Netflix animated series)
Characters: Vi, Vander, Powder, Mylo, Sevika, Ekko, Marcus, Original characters
Words: 4,378, per AO3
Edited by: My beloved

dr_whuh;
Summary/Author's Notes: Under cut to avoid spoilers for folks who haven't seen it, but might do so.
Disclaimer: With the exception of one original character, all characters here are the properties of Riot Games, Fortiche Productions, Alex Yee and Christian Linke. I intend no copyright infringement and take no coin. I just love all the characters.

*** *** ***
( Read more... )

Current Mood: sore
Current Location: the bedroom
Current Music: MSNBC

Title: Falling Down, Rising Up
Author:

kaffy_r
Fandom: Arcane: League of Legends (Netflix animated series)
Characters: Vi/Violet; Powder; Mylo; Claggor; Vander
Words: 3,889, per AO3
Edited by: My beloved

dr_whuh.
Summary/Author's Notes: Under cut to avoid spoilers for folks who haven't seen it, but might do so.
Disclaimer: With the exception of one original character, all characters here are the properties of Riot Games, Fortiche Productions, Alex Yee and Christian Linke. I intend no copyright infringement and take no coin. I just love all the characters.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: sore
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Ketanji Brown Jackson hearings

OMG

OK, I thought I was entering dangerous fannish waters when I started reading Entirely Too Much "Guardian" fanfic (which I continue to do, even though I haven't visited the Guardian communities, bad fan me, but I digress.)

Now?

Help me, Obi Fan Kenobi -

- I'm writing an Arcane fixit.

Sweet weeping jeebus ....

*goes off to find Arcane icons*

Current Mood: embarrassed
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: WDCB

A Quick Listsicle

1) Still watching Ukraine, and glad to see and hear world leaders standing together (or at least as close to standing together as nations can stand to be, says the pessimistic optimist/optimistic pessimist.)

2) Getting fucking exhausted with many of those I know on the far left end of the progressive spectrum indulging in "whataboutism" as they approach the Russian invasion:

We get it. The U.S. has fucked over black and brown nations with monotonous, nauseating, up and up racist regularity. We must address these wrongs honestly, in a way that Americans and those of us living in the U.S., of all political stripes, will find tremendously painful.
We get it. The U.S. is horrifyingly imperialist and colonialist. We have a responsibility to the world, to our own country, to ourselves, to begin the process of dismantling that, and it's going to be the absolute opposite of easy.
We get it. We shouldn't have done what we did in Afghanistan and Iraq, and what we didn't do there and other places. We don't have any excuses.
We get it; we need to be careful about slipping into jingoism about this invasion and war; we need to double check news coming to us, even if it's from our favored news sources.

None of that erases what's going on in Ukraine; none of that excuses what's going on. And to snidely refer to these things as if people other than your particular flavor of progressive don't get those realities - if you decide to politisplain patronizingly to the rest of us how we're either with you, or with OMG SECULAR CAPITALIST SATAN J'ACCUSE!!1! - you know what? You're assholes. Even if I like you, even if I love you.

3) I'm still working on the novel, and I'm getting oh, so very close to the end. Really.

4) Still dealing with my ongoing love of "Arcane". I mean that. I had a dream the other night about one of the characters who died within the 1st three episodes, in which that character survives. I'm also finding myself fighting Arcane fic plot bunnies. No thank you, brain - I'm dealing with enough writing tasks. On the other hand, I plan to watch the whole 9 episode 1st season again; it's absolutely brilliant.

Because my brain has been ping-ponging between Ukraine and Arcane and music, and since I've already banged on about Ukraine in this post, I think I'll leave you with a couple of music vids based on, or directly from, Arcane. Yes, one of them features an Imagine Dragons song written for the series, and yes, I love it, especially since it also features the young rapper J.I.D. Deal with it. I also love "Misfit Toys" by Mako and Pusha T.

NOTE: if you haven't watched Arcane past Episode 3 and plan to do so, don't watch the vids. I'll put them under a cut.

( View more... )

Frankenstein Meme, Day 26

I dropped out of this lo, these many months ago, but I want to complete it, because I am linear beyond all hope of transcending linearity. So here goes, once more, with feeling.

A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom:

As a meme reentry, this one is difficult for me. I guess that any fic using tropes like “Person A is/will be/must become subservient to Person B because my imaginary society and/or worldview requires it/it’s sexier than consensual erotica/made-up biology For Sexytiems/shut up, it’s cool” would be an immediate back-button for me. I say that, knowing that Your Kink Is Not My Kink, and You Do You; I just wouldn’t read or watch or discuss something like this, which is probably why I haven’t dipped my fandom toe into ABO.

Some folks might take from the previous paragraph that I’d hate Mpreg. Nope. I might not read a whole lot of it because I’m not that interested in pregnancy, period (had more than a couple of negative adventures with pregnancy, as well as one good one), but I’ve occasionally read some very good, emotionally riveting stuff using that trope, so it doesn’t count.

One thing that I just can’t abide, although I’m not sure it counts as a trope, is any plot that hates a particular character so much that the story revolves around, or has much of its plot reflect, every other character’s hate for that one.

One that’s definitely in the same church and almost the same pew, is when the hate focuses on a canon ship, with one member of that ship being knocked off and/or bad-mouthed by the writer, so that their preferred ship can go ahead. I recall back-buttoning out of a Sherlock story for that reason many years ago, and kind of back-buttoning away from the author’s stuff in general, which is probably my loss, but damn, yeah, I hate that.

Current Location: the home office
Current Music: American Back Roads
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/608088.html

More Than One Thing Makes a Post: so - NaNo and Who

( NaNo )
( Who )

Current Mood: drained
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: The furnace. MMMmmm warmth....
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/604788.html

Another Birthday, Another Excellent Person

Many happy returns of yesterday (Nov. 11) to

kerravonsen . She is a lovely person, who I am very glad to know. We don't always agree on things, but she is a sister when it comes to believing and knowing that The Union Makes Us Strong. She is multi-talented, creating both written and visual pieces of art. I have enjoyed so many of her fics; in fact, she was one of the people who convinced me that fanfics could be better than good. Having one's birthday on Remembrance Day lends it a weight that could be somber, I know, but I hope yours was celebrated well; and perhaps you'll be able to enjoy more on the weekend!

Current Mood: accomplished
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/604496.html

Happy Birthday, cathica

The most estimable

cathica, who has not been seen around LJ/dreamwidth for a long time, certainly not regularly, had her birthday yesterday (Nov. 8). It's been a while since I ventured back into birthday wishes. I think that's because I got overwhelmed by several things a couple of months ago, and some of the fallout included birthday wishes.

It seems as if wishing this very talented author Happy Birthday, even one day late, might be the right way to restart my tradition.

cathica writes some of the most gently horrific dark fiction it's been my shuddering delight to read. I am always glad to hear that she has had another of her tales published. She is also someone to whom I have written letters, both typewritten and - pause here for your astonishment - handwritten. When I receive a letter in return, it is purely lovely.

cathica was also the starting point for my 9th Doctor/Rose/Jack novel "Hearts and Moons Recall the Truth"; she provided a prompt for a long ago ficathon, and I could not conceive of letting that drop by the wayside.

In short, I am very glad to have made your acquaintance!

I hope you had a fine birthday; I hope no bears interrupted it, nor painfully poisonous plants intruded in any way!

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: the home office
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/604189.html

OK, It's Happening!

Well, it's actually starting with an online party at 11:30 p.m. Chicago time, so I'm going to be up late, starting my writing at 12:01 a.m. Which is, of course, quite ridiculous, especially since I'm also slated to do a writing sprint at 9 a.m. Monday.

I don't mind being ridiculous especially since I got a fair amount more done on back story (necessary so that I know the answers that my characters won't know initially, more world-building, and more problem-solving. (As in: "wait, I thought I'd have this happen, but it doesn't make sense, especially since I have this other thing set up, so let's change that").

And, in what surprised me a bunch, I actually got a teeny-tiny bit of traditional outlining done, beyond my own "Questions and Answers" style of outlining. Huzzah!

Also, today I managed to go see a wonderful block-long Hallowe'en display not far from our place, chatted with the lovely neighbors who put it up, and who gave out ribs, chili, hot dogs. punch and spiked punch to a steady stream of kids and grown-ups, all happy and costumed. It made me like our neighborhood even more than I already do.

Some time over the next 24 hours, Bob and I will watch the first episode of Doctor Who. *cries a bit because she doesn't want Thirteen to go*

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: "Sakura Flutters" on a loop
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/603046.html

Pray For Me; I Signed Up For NaNoWriMo

I've spent much of the day wondering if it was the right thing to do, and the rest of the day being kind of excited about it. (Some time was also spent reintroducing myself to various Discord channels. Wow ....) I have, through the NaNoWriMo site, joined a group here in Chicago that meets and does early (early for me, at least) 30-minute Zoom-enabled writing sprints. I figure that could be a good way to prepare for Nov. 1.

*trembles in antici ...
...
... pation*

Current Mood: nervous
Current Location: the home office
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/601679.html

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kaffy_r

January 2026

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Grasping at Grace (and Growth)

Transformation is Inescapable

Entries tagged with fandom

Dept. of Unexpected Goodbye

Dept. of Catching Up

Dept. of Bucket List

Dept.of Spread the Word

Dept. of Victory

Dept. of Who

Dept. of Music, Music, Music

Arcane fanfic: A Night at the Bar

Dept. of Thanks

Dept. of The End is Near

Dept. of Worldcon

Dept. of Listsicles

Dept. of Worldcon

Dept. of Fannish Gifts

Arcane Fanfic: "Old and New Dreams, Pink and Blue Dreams"

Arcane Fanfic: Rumors

Arcane fanfic: "Falling Down, Rising Up"

Dept. of Oh No She Didn't

Dept. of February's End

Dept. of Memes

Dept. of Listsickles

Dept. of Birthdays