gnome

Title: Mysterious Messenger
Fandom: The Fantastic Journey
Author:

badly_knitted
Characters: Varian, the Rider, the Travellers.
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Setting: Riddles.
Summary: Varian had heard of the Riders, but the native Arawaks had neglected to mention that the mysterious messengers spoke in riddles.
Word Count: 527
Content Notes: Nada.
Written For: Challenge 491: Riddle.
Disclaimer: I don’t own The Fantastic Journey, or the characters. They belong to their creators.

( Mysterious Messenger... )

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: my desk

Title: Timeless Vegas
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Characters/Pairing: Spuffy, Willow
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: none
Word count: 100 (Google Docs)
Setting/Spoilers: Set post-S11 (comics) in an alternate reality where Buffy and Spike are an established couple.
Summary: Buffy, Spike, and Willow are sent to Vegas to investigate a suspected city-wide spell.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction created for fun and no profit has been made. All rights belong to the respective owners.
A/N: Inspired by the Lotus Hotel and Casino from “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” (2010)

Prompt: #459 - Dice

Crossposted:

anythingdrabble,

drabble_zone,

sweetandshort, My journal, Sunnydale After Dark

—
( READ: Timeless Vegas )

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prompt: #459 - dice

machinations [mak-uh-ney-shuhns]

noun:
scheming or crafty actions or artful designs intended to accomplish some usually evil end

Examples:

Instead of a unified empire, the smaller kingdoms of the Heptarchy still dominate, their various dangerous machinations providing the raison d’être for the differing orders. (Valorie Castellanos Clark, Brigitte Knightley’s debut romantasy novel is as irresistible as its title, Los Angeles Times, July 2025)

His machinations were getting no coverage to speak of, but even at that early stage, Vrabel - Volin noted - was purging the Patriots roster of players connected to his predecessors, one-year head coach Jerod Mayo and before that, legendary head coach Bill Belichick. (Jon Vankin, Mike Vrabel's Ruthless Purge of Bill Belichick Patriots Players Continues, Newsweek, August 2022)

Created in the 1980s by Tim Rice and the genius songwriters behind ABBA, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, Chess the Musical is a densely-packed and complicated story about the machinations of the shadowy secret forces of the United States and Russia in the midst of the Cold War, as their two chess masters battle for supremacy. (Brenda Harwood, Cold war machinations in densely-packed show, Otago Daily Times, May 2025)

The more complex your lives become with intellectual machinations, piles of paper, and social intrigue, the less you are aware of the Simplicity of the Moment. (Laurence Galian, The Sun at Midnight: The Revealed Mysteries of the Ahlul Bayt Sufis)

Machinations, hollowness, treachery, and all ruinous disorders follow us disquietly to our graves. (William Shakespeare, 'King Lear')

(click to enlarge)
Origin:

late 15c, machinacion, 'a plotting, an intrigue,' from Old French machinacion 'plot, conspiracy, scheming, intrigue' and directly from Latin machinationem (nominative machinatio) 'device, contrivance,' noun of action from past-participle stem of machinari 'to contrive skillfully, to design; to scheme, to plot,' from machina 'machine, engine; device trick' (Online Etymology Dictionary)

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This post covers planting the candy jar terrarium. Begin with Part 1: Setup.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: accomplished

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Today I assembled the large candy jar terrarium. Continue with Part 2: Plants.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: accomplished

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Preludes and Endings (Arr. for Piano) (1854 words) by thawrecka
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Pluto (Anime)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Paul Duncan/North no. 2
Characters: Paul Duncan (Pluto), North No. 2 (Pluto)
Additional Tags: Missing Scene, Canonical Character Death, Angst, First Kiss, Robot/Human Relationships
Summary:

Paul Duncan uses the time they have to reach out for North no. 2's hands.

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While both me (utterly degenerate fujoshi) and my friend (cis bi dude who's not really a BL guy) ship DioPucci, I don't really care about the top/bottom order, while he's hardcore NO SWITCH NEVER EVER EVER for them.

I have a feeling that might confuse some people.

https://ao3org.tumblr.com/post/794608367431761920

ALT

In mid-August, we changed the links in our emails from http to https to increase security. Unfortunately, this change caused some email providers’ spam checkers to be suspicious of our emails having a lot of new links, so they’re sending them to your spam or junk folder—particularly subscription and account activation emails.

If you’re looking for an email from us, please check your spam or junk folder and mark our emails as “Safe” or “Not Spam.” To prevent this from happening in the future, we also recommend you add “do-not-reply@archiveofourown.org” to your email provider’s Contacts or Safe Sender list.

If you still need more help, contact Support for assistance.

Thanks for your help!

Posted: 21:04 UTC 14 September, 2025

https://ao3org.tumblr.com/post/794608367431761920

No one knows what these strange larvae grow into

Constructing the tree of life for parasitic barnacles and their relatives.
Not all barnacles just sit on rocks and ships. Some invade crabs, growing like a parasitic root system that hijacks their bodies. A mysterious group called y-larvae has baffled scientists for over a century, with no known adult stage. Genetic evidence now reveals they’re related to barnacles and may also be parasites — lurking unseen inside other creatures.

Current Mood: busy

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news,
wildlife

Today is partly sunny and hot.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds. The honeybees had drained the metal birdbath again.

9/13/25 -- I assembled the large terrarium with a polka dot plant and a fern.

9/13/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

9/13/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

9/13/25 -- I watered the patio plants.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

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I’m exhausted but am surviving. How can I heal from burnout without expensive time off?

You can't. Burnout comes from exceeding your capacity over the long term, doing more than your body and mind can handle sustainably. It can permanently injure you. It can kill you. As long as you continue overworking yourself, burnout will get worse. Before you can heal a knife wound, you must first remove the knife.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

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networking,
safety

Before my recent book thoughts disappear into fedi because I didn't save them where I can tag and find, I'm gonna copy/paste them here!

As mentioned in my post here, someone started translating a lot of Konohara Narise's books last year and have been quite prolific. And so, I picked up a few to read:

Bluebird アオイトリ

Summary on Novel Updates:
This age-gap Omegaverse story follows Kawachi, an Omega striving to live as a Beta, whose plans are disrupted by an unexpected incident just before his 35th birthday.

Inukai, a young Alpha from the sales department who has secretly admired Kawachi, steps in to help, intertwining their lives in ways neither expected.

This is a heartfelt story of love, family, and personal growth between a devoted younger Alpha and a kind-hearted Omega pursuing a new path in life.

Thoughts: Ahaha while I was reading, I was thinking, "ah, she has a lactation link" and yep, she said so in the afterword 😂 would have loved to read her initial pitch to her editor, which was "Alpha uke." Also, please do not trust the summary. It is not a heartfelt story of love, family, and personal growth. Not really XD

More thoughts under the spoiler!

I guess one can squint and say that the "personal growth" here is Kawachi, the omega, accepting his life after his choices have all been forcefully taken away, and "love" as idk, Inukai babytrapping Kawachi into staying alive. The depiction of postpartum depression was ouch, and really, Kawachi's life was awful!

He was ready to be done with heats forever (doctors said that omegas with such mild heats can go into what's pretty much heat menopause [is there an omegaverse term for this? XD] if he continued to stay virgin, but as he approaches "heat menopause", things might get unpredictable... and yep, his heat came stronger than he has ever experienced before and he was caught unprepared because the mildest dosage of heat suppressant which had worked in the past, stopped working. And tbf, Inukai checked on Kawachi out of concern, but that triggered his rut and then they both lost it, and oops, pregnancy! also they were both non-conned into sex by their omegaverse physiology. Inukai was already in love with Kawachi at that point (unfortunately for him, Kawachi was straight, dating a woman, and was gonna get married), so he was going to marry Kawachi anyway, but Kawachi didn't want that. Well, Kawachi had just lost his shot at being rid of heats forever, he tried hiding his pregnancy from his fiancee who found out anyway and then they broke up because he couldn't bring himself to tell her that he was raped due to a heat accident. Ah, and also because of omega male's body and how they handle pregnancy, abortion was impossible, apparently (lol, Konohara-sensei, you just wanted to make sure there's no way out, huh). And now his heats cannot be suppressed by any medication, and even sex therapy (basically, a dildo with deactivated sperm that can be pumped in) did not work. He needed Inukai, and he rather die than have sex with Inukai again. And so, after Kawachi gave birth and experienced his heat again, Inukai forced himself on Kawachi, made him pregnant again and forced a mating bond, to keep him from his passive death wish. Then both of them started living together in a weird, kinda domestic situation, except Inukai feels like an outside to Kawachi and their son (later, sons), while Kawachi is still grappling with this whole situation and figuring out how to accept Inukai.

Anyway, this has a sweeter/happier ending than the usual Konohara. I was expecting more tragedy/angst considering how this relationship started. I would have loved to read Kawachi (the omega)'s thoughts on the relationship too, because after the awful beginning, the pov switched to Inukai, the alpha male. I would have loved to read how Kawachi worked through his reactions at having all his choices and basically what he wanted as his future taken away.

Other scattered thoughts: I don't think I've read stuff that mentioned the diversity of heat experiences (like the diversity of period symptoms/pain/discomfort), so that was interesting. And how that can change over time too and get worse/less bad.

Translation link: https://itoshiikoto.blogspot.com/2024/12/bluebird-illustrated.html

A Disgusting Guy　嫌な奴

Summary from Novel Updates:

Miura is a rough and self-centered man who was Sugimoto’s “best friend” in their school days. Sugimoto visits Miura in the hospital for the first time in 12 years, as he is bedridden with illness. The strange relationship between the two begins again and develops into an unwilling cohabitation. Is this friendship, love, or obsession?

Thoughts: Well, this summary is more accurate than Bluebird's! Classic Konohara experience - I already wanted to strangle/shake the main character in chapter 1. And that was the POV character.

More thoughts under the spoiler!

Tl;dr, Kazuya pretended to be friends with Miura during childhood and kept the pretense as a kind friend so hard that he cornered himself into the position of Miura's best friend, out of fear of Miura because he once saw Miura being violent to another kid and he wants to maintain his image as the kind person who is liked by everyone. And Miura definitely fell in love (obsession) during childhood and was devastated when Kazuya deliberately moved away and cut off contact, swearing their mutual friend Onodera to secrecy. Years later, they reunited because Onodera asked Kazuya to visit Miura in the hospital (Miura now has a chronic condition).

Somehow, Miura ended up living with Kazuya who at first continued to try to pretend, but over time, masks came off and he told Miura he actually hated being with him, and Miura decided that it's okay, he doesn't need Kazuya to like him, he just wants to be with Kazuya. And continued sticking to Kazuya, and Kazuya never called the police on Miura. And then Miura forced himself on Kazuya. And somehow that became a thing and Kazuya got used to it and now that's their relationship. One man who cannot let go even after finding out that his childhood best friend actually hated him the whole while, and the other man, initially trapped by his desire to be "liked by everyone" and fear of violence by Miura, now have resigned himself to living together with Miura who had forced himself on him.

BL but without the L. Ahaha.

Kazuya at the end of the story:

Even sitting there and looking at his face, I couldn't think of anything to say — even the usual "How are you feeling?" It seemed too much trouble to voice something I didn't really mean.

Miura at the end of the story:

It's the same thing over and over again, just like the words I once threw at Kazuya. Even now, we're going in circles. I said I didn't need his heart. I knew all too well that even if I said I wanted it, he wouldn't give me a single piece. And yet I couldn't leave him. I can't leave him.

Both of you need intervention.

I haven't even mentioned the bit where Kazuya was going to get married and his fiancee was "stolen" by his student on the day of their wedding (it was a willing bride-napping), Miura had a dead son, Miura's father who was disabled, died crushed by a cupboard and nobody knew until the body started rotting because Miura was not there (and the reason Miura wasn't there was because he followed Kazuya to a fancy top school [but Kazuya really wanted to get away from Miura which was why he tested for the fancy top school because he thought Miura wouldn't be able to test in, AND THEN HE DITCHED MIURA ANYWAY, LEAVING THE SCHOOL]). So much happened, and I felt like I've watched them make all these bad choices for themselves their whole lives... Idk if I can say I enjoyed it (a little hard when I am frustrated at the characters), but it was an interesting read.

I'm not sure if I'd have translated the title as "A Disgusting Guy" but idk what I would replace it with (unpleasant?), so it stays.

Translation link: https://itoshiikoto.blogspot.com/2024/06/a-disgusting-guy_20.html

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Time for another discussion post, after having skipped it last time!

I just finished reading a few novels where I disliked/did not like the main character, the main love interest, and yet I was invested in the story from the start to the end.

Have you read stories where you disliked everyone and yet still finished the story? What made you continue (and drop some recs if you want to)? Is "liking the main character" a prerequisite for you to finish a story?

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post type: weekly: discussion

Title: What Am I?
Fandom: Original
Rating: G
Length: 8 line poem
Summary: A traditional 'What Am I?' poem

( My first is... )

Welcome to the weekly roundup post! What are you watching this week? What are you excited about?

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People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

What is the most important right our government allows for?

Liberty. With that, you can get most of the others; without it, you're screwed.

Life is also important, but America has ample evidence of people valuing freedom over mere survival.

Though I should point out that the government is terrible at supporting rights. Most things have devolved in to paid privileges or prizes for winning the crotch lottery.

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recurring posts

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Here are the content notes for "The Most Precious Heritage."

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These are the location notes for "The Most Precious Heritage."

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The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: Mysterious Messenger

[Prompt #459] BtVS / Spuffy, Willow — Timeless Vegas

Sunday Word: Machinations

a mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems

Candy Jar Terrarium Part 2: Plants

Candy Jar Terrarium Part 1: Setup

Pluto fic

(no subject)

Are you missing an email from AO3?

Wildlife

Birdfeeding

Safety

Two books

Bluebird アオイトリ

A Disgusting Guy　嫌な奴

Discussion (not) Friday!

Original: Poetry: What Am I?

Speak Up Saturday

Philosophical Questions: Rights

men lie, women lie, numbers don't

Content notes for "The Most Precious Heritage"

Location notes for "The Most Precious Heritage"

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