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Mon, 29 Jun 2026 05:00:47 GMT

+ I rewatched Trolljegeren this evening. I'd forgotten how much I like this film! I'm usually kind of 'eh' about found footage, but I feel like it's employed really well in this particular case, when it's in the service of a mockumentary about troll hunting. Apparently. There are a lot of plot points I completely forgot, so it was like watching it for the first time. It's such a fun movie, and of course with the added bonus of copious beautiful landscape shots (obligatory). I think sometimes it gets mislabeled as horror, but to me it falls more under fantasy. Scary fantasy, sure, but yeah. ...Also I just read that at one point the rights had been purchased to do an American remake, and I just, what. This is such a very very Norwegian film; the thought of a US remake is all sorts of No.

+ Anyway, the reason I decided to rewatch it is that I found a notebook in which I was writing a Hetalia x Trolljegeren crossover. It's very easy to mash these fandoms together, because of course Norway would be aware of what is going on with the Troll Security Service. I started it some time in 2013, and unfortunately I didn't make any plot notes, so I don't remember where I was going with it. So... hopefully some time soon I will read through what I wrote and try to remember the plot, or failing that, think of a new plot. I do remember that it was going to be gen, and I think that would be a nice change of pace for me, as it's been a while since I did anything like that.

+ Speaking of writing, iddyiddybangbang usually opens signups around the second week of July if I remember correctly. Looking forward to participating this year; I think I'll do my FTH for it, as that will give me a good deadline to get it done. Is anyone else thinking about signing up?

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Misc +++

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 04:02:10 GMT

+ I did a shitload of chores this weekend and I STILL haven't wrapped the Christmas presents. Guess I'll have to figure out some moment to do that in between, well, everything else.

+ Mom brought me a ~chocolate wine~ the other day. Supposedly it's a digestif made up of chocolate and red wine, but it doesn't taste like wine at all. It tastes kind of like chocolate milk mixed with rum or something like that. Very interesting drink; probably not something I'd pick up myself mind you, as it's a little gimmicky (and was probably expensive), but interesting.

+ [Event] beagoldfish is a fandom event taking place from Jan 01 to Feb 28. It's centred around short works - there's a 1k maximum. It sounds fun! I think I might try to whip up a short work for it, or finish off a draft (if I can find something suitable). It's been a while. I like that it's a fest rather than an exchange - I don't have enough fandoms these days to do multifandom exchanges like Candy Hearts, but a fest is definitely something I can participate in.

+ I didn't set a wordcount goal for myself for 2025. On the one hand, I found it much easier to work around my schedule than previous years, which is good. On the other hand, I didn't get much writing done (though I did do some!). I'm wondering what I should do this year... Like, should I set a (low, manageable) wordcount goal, or should I set a goal to finish a handful of specific fics? Hard to say! I'm going to have to take a look at my WIPs before I make any decisions.

+ I really miss Hetalia roleplaying. ;~; I was thinking back on some of the threads I've done over the years, and feeling very nostalgic. Playing Nor was a total blast - but it's also very important that I had some really awesome partners. ;~; Folie, Wald, Chi, Jay... They were all so good at their characters. (And all seem to have dropped out of my orbit and/or fandom in general in some cases, unfortunately). Sometimes I feel like seeking out new people to play with, but the thought of trying is so daunting, I wouldn't even know where to start. Plus, I doubt I'd be able to commit.

+ And also I think in general I miss having random places to braindump Hetalia thoughts. Finding a good fit for me is hard. Probably too nostalgic for the LJ/DW era.

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Tue, 01 Jul 2025 19:17:24 GMT

Sometimes you're puzzling over why the characterization doesn't seem right, and then you realize that it's because you wrote someone having wayyyy more maturity and self-awareness than they should. Hoo boy.

Well, at least now I know how to fix this thing. :V

Speaking of writing, signups for iddyiddybangbang will be opening on July 10! This is a panfandom fest where the goal is to write a fic of at least 5k featuring whatever fulfills your desires/tickles your fancy/brings you joy. You can sign up with a WIP, too, rather than starting something totally new.

I've participated in it a few times before and always found it good fun. The July signup + September deadline + minimum wordcount has done wonders for getting me to tackle ideas longer than my usual and finish things that have languished in my WIP folder for years.

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Thu, 04 Jan 2024 04:20:25 GMT

+ I was planning to participate in the Candy Hearts fanwork exchange, but when I was trying to outline my requests over lunch, I found myself thinking, "...I don't want to do this". So, looks like I won't be signing up after all. Will still keep my eye on the requests for treating, but yeah, if I'm feeling like that, best listen to myself!

+ ...Especially because I signed up for an intro to accounting course, which will be starting soon. Between work, judo, and the course, I'm going to be busy!

+ And it suddenly occurs to me that, every time I find myself slowing down, I feel the need to add something else to the pile. I don't know why that is, but I kind of wish my brain would Not. (On the other hand, I felt extremely stagnant during my vacation, so... Maybe I crave that stimulation, even if I'm going to be screaming about feeling overwhelmed later.)

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Wed, 20 Dec 2023 16:14:54 GMT

Looks like Chocolate Box Exchange isn't running this year, but Candy Hearts is doing another round! So we still get the same fun bite-sized minimum exchange, hooray.

Schedule here, same as usual. Noms open now. I tossed a few in; will probably add more once I give it some thought.

The new year is going to be pretty busy for me, but considering the nature of this exchange, I bet I'll manage just fine. Really looking forward to it, honestly! It's been a while since I last wrote some exchange fic.

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Three things make a post

Sun, 26 Nov 2023 16:58:27 GMT

+ Stumbled across newyearcntdown, which is a prompt fest for December. It sounds fun! I haven't decided whether to sign up, though - I've been feeling very creatively quiet lately, probably because I have so much going on. But maybe I'll give it a go anyway. :V (Who knows.)

+ Counted the bottles of wine in my pantry. Guys, I have 14 bottles. That's way more than one person needs. Anybody want to come over and help me drink all this? ;V Most of it wasn't even purchased; my mom makes wine as a hobby, and gives me a bottle every time she finishes a batch. It's pretty good stuff, too! But I don't drink often. Maybe I should look up some recipes that use it? orz

+ Discovered a huge amount of bluish-grey yarn in my stash. I must have had a plan for this stuff, because I wouldn't order something in this quantity without intending to do something specific with it, but for the life of me I can't remember what. It's 10 balls of River City Epic, a tough wool yarn in worsted weight that I've used before and really like. That's enough to make a blanket, so... that's probably what I'll do with it! (After I finish my current project.) Maybe something by Fifty Four Ten; I really like their patterns. Anyway, this has convinced me that I really need to get into the habit of writing down what I intend to do with my yarn; put a sticky note on the label or something. 'Cause, geeze.

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Candy Hearts - Reveals

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 04:43:37 GMT

Candy Hearts Exchange is complete. Creators revealed today!

I'm still going through the collection; there are a whole lot of works that look interesting to me (with over 900 written for this, I would hope so!). So far I did take a look at some of the art, and a lot of it is great!

Anyway, I received:

Sunset to Dusk by Beleghir. Promare, Lio/Gueira/Meis, 18+, 2.1k.
Author's summary: Lio, Meis and Gueira no longer have the Promare holding them together, but they're building new ways of staying close.

This was some lovely postcanon domestic coziness, and exactly the kind of thing I love for these guys. <3 Worth a read if you like this ot3.

As for me, I wrote:

Turning inward, no last thoughts for Razzaroo. Hetalia, Denmark/Netherlands, 18+, ~850 words. Established relationship, set some time during the 1600s.
No plot here; just a night together.

It's been a while since I wrote some DK/NL, so I'm really glad there was a request for it. <3

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[Fest Promo] Crack the WIP

Sat, 18 Feb 2023 19:20:48 GMT

Signups for crackthewip fest are open now!

The premise of this fest is that you finish a work that you've had in progress. If you haven't actually started it, that's fine - things that are currently in the planning stages also apply. ;) Posting is between May 01 and 07. More info.

I had a lot of fun with this last year, so I'm glad it's running again! Hopefully I'll be able to finish this Sasha/Michael fic that I've had kicking around for over a year.

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[Event Promo] Rarepair Hell Weekend

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 01:24:03 GMT

Looks like Rarepair Hell Weekend is running again! February 18 & 19!

I really love low-key, low-pressure events like this. It was so nice to put together something short and fun last year. Guess I'll have to see what I can come up with!

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Exchange misc

Sun, 22 Jan 2023 16:32:12 GMT

+ Whew, finished a draft for Candy Hearts Exchange! What I ended up with isn't as elaborate or cool as my original idea, but the upside is that my recipient can't see inside my head, so they won't know what they're missing. ;V

(If I end up with extra time, I'm going to try to write the more complicated idea too - maybe they'll get a nice extra.)

+ goreswap is in its final day of the noms period; signups start Jan 24. Not participating, but will keep my eye on this in hopes that something Super Cool will get written.

As an aside, it's too bad this exchange didn't exist at the height of SSSS fandom. I bet we would've had a blast.

+ seasonsofdrabbles is in the nom stage for this year's winter round. Hooray! Nice to have a fresh clean tagset. I wonder what people are planning to request for this one.

+ I wonder if crackthewip is running again this year. No mention of a schedule for 2023, but who knows. I always did like "finish your stuff" kind of events - exchanges are fun, but I have so many half-finished things that aren't for an exchange, and an external deadline is nice. ;V

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[Fest promo] 3 sentence ficathon

Sat, 14 Jan 2023 04:44:25 GMT

threesentenceficathon is running again! Open from prompts from now until Feb 12. :D

Hmm, going to have to browse through to see if there's anything I can write! Good thing the comments are searchable. I've always liked this fest; bite-sized things are great for getting the creative juices flowing.

(...And hopefully that will lead to working on the things I should actually be working on, ahem.)

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Misc +++

Sat, 31 Dec 2022 21:50:40 GMT

+ Managed to slide in with one final fic to just barely make my target wordcount for 2022 (and posted it!). Feel like Indiana Jones over here. Despite the low numbers, I'm actually pretty happy - I managed to complete more individual works than expected, including some that were written only for myself and not in connection with an event. That's nothing to sneeze at.

+ Offline life continues to be busy. Hopefully family, at least, will back off after Jan 01. That's the last formal dinner and (probably) the end of this season's Compulsory Family Fun Time. If there's anything after that, I'm gonna scream.

+ Need to put together my Candy Hearts Exchange signup. I'm really looking forward to this exchange, just as I always look forward to Chocolate Box. Deciding on my prompts is so hard, though. "Anything with the requested pairings would be nice, as long as it's cute!" is not enough for most people to work with, ha. As for other people's requests, I'm hoping to see Promare stuff, or some TMA with Michael, or maybe Hetalia, though that's a long shot. (I see you, person who put those Nordic 5 gen options in the tagset. What are you looking for, buddy, I want to know...!)

+ I feel so restless without judo class to go to. ;~; Keep hoping that next week I'll receive a text from Sensei saying that we received permission from the school to go back earlier than expected. Unlikely, though. (I'll just have to practice as much as I can at home in the meantime, I guess... But it's just not the saaaame.)

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Fests & Exchanges - Various

Sun, 25 Dec 2022 15:41:40 GMT

Happy Sunday!

+ Yuletide Exchange's fics have been revealed. 1027 fandoms, whoo! Holy shit, this thing has been going on for 20 years, what?!!

There's 17 works for Nirvana in Fire, and I'm really looking forward to those. It's probably going to be over the rarity limit next year.

+ Multifandom Doodle has revealed artworks for this round. This exchange is great, lots of fun and creative stuff typically - I find I love looking through all of it, even when I don't know the fandoms.

+ Candy Hearts Exchange* is in the nomination stage* until the end of the 27th. This is a one-off stand in for Chocolate Box Exchange, which won't be running for 2023. Looks like I'll have to figure out my requests! (Maybe I'll have a fanart-only slate this year? I dunno.)

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MIsc +++

Mon, 03 Oct 2022 04:22:19 GMT

+ Kind of bummed that I don't know anyone offline who enjoys live theatre. There's a play that I want to see (it's a stage adaptation of Stephen King's Misery) and, well, I've never been someone who doesn't do something just because I have to do it alone, but stuff like this is always more fun when you're seeing it with someone else. Ah, well. :V

+ seasonsofdrabbles will be doing a round in October/November. Sounds fun! Unsure whether I'll be participating, but I'm going to keep my eye on it, anyhow.

+ Did some writing yesterday. Felt good! I didn't really write anything in September, but I'm going to try to get back on that again. There are so many things that I want to write (...and finish - that's the hard part) but it's just a matter of getting around to it. Kind of having some difficulty adjusting to my new schedule, I guess.

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Mon, 12 Sep 2022 03:38:00 GMT

Aha!

I'd officially dropped out of iddyiddybangbang because (with work being busy and other commitments) I didn't think I'd be able to finish. But then I opened my fic document today. Stared at it for a moment. Thought, "You know, this is actually pretty decent, and only needs a few more edits".

And then I went and did the edits.

Now it's sent off to my beta, whoo! Fly, little fic, fly! xD IIBB mod confirmed that I can post it during amnesty if it's done even though I dropped, so it looks like this will happen after all. Huzzah.

Man, it has been so long since I actually worked on anything properly. This feels pretty good!

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Three things make a post

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 03:14:13 GMT

+ launchtheship: A multifandom fest where the goal is to write the first fic for a pairing. Signups open today; deadline is Oct 15th. I really like the idea of this - could be great for rare fandoms.

+ I'm thinking about dropping out of iddyiddybangbang. I love this event, but real life has been kicking my ass. I feel like I've been hit by a semi, and writing is the last thing that I want to do right now. Guess I'll decide whether I'm in or out at the next check-in.

+ Recently commissioned Kyuhu to draw me some fluffy Hetalia Est/Pol fanart! Ee, it is ever cute! So glad I jumped on the chance to grab one of her slots. I love the way she draws those two, and it reminded me of how much I used to love that pairing. (Well, I still like it a lot, but it's like I had only two EE/PL fics in me and now I'm totally out of ideas, haa.)

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Multifandom Doodle - Original art recs

Mon, 25 Jul 2022 03:59:52 GMT

Works for multifandomdoodle revealed today. This is an art exchange that welcomes all skill levels.

I was reaaally hoping to participate in this round, but the scheduling just didn't work out. Maybe next time.

There's a lot of awesome stuff in the collection, though! Fandoms list is here. I've mostly been looking through the original works so far, since I don't know most of the fandoms this round; I'll get to the fandom works later. (I don't read fic outside of my fandoms, but I can always enjoy good art, even without context. :V )

Of the original works, my favourites so far are:

+ Fancifowl (Song sparrow in a fancy hat)
+ Chickvalry (Knight on a chicken steed)
+ Church of St. Ivan Rilski (There are several 'sunken churches' paintings in the collection, I'm guessing the same artist, all of them great. This one is my favourite)
+ Ghosts in the plumbing (Whimsical haunted bathroom)

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Misc +++

Sun, 24 Jul 2022 16:01:43 GMT

+ [Weather] Drizzly today. Feels pretty good. I opened up all the windows to let the nice cold air in. The ventilation in my place sucks, so I'm really glad that the heat has gone down enough for this.

+ [Cooking] Tried a new recipe yesterday; chicken cacciatore. Turned out great, which was a relief! I've been feeling kind of stagnant lately (just cooking the same things all the time) so it was nice to try something new. I'll post the recipe later if I remember.

+ [Family] The stressful real-life stuff that has been coming up is getting closer and more stressful. Aughhh, I just want it to be over with! /)_(\ I also don't want to talk about it in specifics, not until it's over. But the next few weeks are going to be Bonkers.

+ [IIBB] Need to get to work on my fic for iddyiddybangbang. I haven't looked at this thing in over a year and editing it will be such a pain in the ass. Are any of you signed up for it?

+ [Hetalia] There's been some talk about trying to revive the Hetalia Kink Meme. I expect it'll go the way these things always do - people talk about it, maybe poke around it a little, and then not much else. Though someone did post a few fills recently, and I think that's pretty awesome.

We just don't have the level of people in this fandom on DW to bring it to anything near the level that people usually mean when they say "active". The occasional prompt and fill, yes. But active... No. Then again, it could be that I'm misunderstanding things, and maybe the people having this discussion do mean "one or two prompts or fills per month", which I think is a realistic hope, though it does seem far-off at this point. But if they're comparing it to their nostalgic memories of the kink meme, which is the impression I usually get in these discussions - no. It's impossible to bring that back.

Though this discussion did remind me that I still have some old prompts bookmarked, and partially-finished drafts for a few of them, so maybe I'll post something there... eventually.

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Three things make a post

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 04:11:43 GMT

+ It rained today, hooray!

+ Busy RL things coming up much too fast. I am not looking forward to it; I both want to avoid it and want it to be over. Very weird feeling.

+ Ended up signing up for fandomgiftbasket after all, on the last day (signups are closed now). Mine is over here. Guess I'll have to poke around and see if anybody's requesting something I can fill.

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Fest - Rarest of Pairs

Tue, 05 Jul 2022 04:01:04 GMT

Thinking about participating in rarestofpairs! It's a rarepair fest with a long-term due date of Dec 31st.

It runs a little differently from the fests on DW that I've participated in. They're using the Ao3 prompt meme function, and they're building a tag set for it. Then prompts are posted on Ao3, and you can self-fulfill by claiming your own, or claim someone else's. So, nominations for the tag set are open until July 14th, and then prompting/claiming will be July 15-Dec 31.

Threw in some noms, might try to think of a few prompts... I have vague ideas floating around for some RO/BG, so I might try writing that. (Due to attempting to find something to read and not coming across anything to my taste - goddamnit Hetalia fandom, looks like I gotta' cook my own food again.) I have no idea what to do with Bulgaria's characterization, but a low-pressure event like this sounds like a good way to figure it out.

The good thing about having such a far-off due date: Lots of time to work on it! Might even be able to write multiple fics!

The downside: ...I might forget about it altogether, whoops. Hopefully not. Mind like a sieve, I have it. Claiming prompts adds them to your Claimed Prompts list on Ao3, so that will probably help.

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Fests & Exchanges grab-bag

Tue, 28 Jun 2022 02:07:06 GMT

+ For the Rarepair Hell Weekend* I wrote some short and fluffy Hetalia NO/RO (DW/Ao3). Originally, I was worried I wouldn't find time to put anything together, but I got stuck in a cafe during a downpour and figured I might as well write while I waited it out. :'D Yay!

+ seasonsofdrabbles is running again soon. Noms open now, signups open July 03. I think I'll be sitting this round out, but I'm happy that it's running!

+ femslash_kink has finished; both fics and creators are revealed... and I only just realized, glancing through the fandoms list, that there's a NiF fic in there (and it's Nihuang/Xia Dong, ooo!). This is my note to self to go read it when I have time! (This isn't a rec, I haven't looked at it yet, but damn has it been a while since I read any NiF and I got excited.)

+ And speaking of femslash, femslashafterdark has signups open until July 04, if you're interested in mature/explicit works. ...I am really intrigued by some of the TMA pairings in the tagset, but nobody has requested them so far, aughhh! I would love to see what the person who nommed those has in mind. (Helen/Melanie, yes!!)

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[Event promo] Rarepair Hell Weekend

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 00:18:13 GMT

June 25 and 26 is Rarepair Hell Weekend here on Dreamwidth! Event details here.

The premise: Do something related to a rarepair you love. Comment on a work, write something new, whatever. Then comment in the entry above to say what you did. (And link to whatever it is you enjoyed or created, I'm assuming.)

This sounds like a really fun low-pressure event. I'll have to see if I can throw something together!

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Fandom Events Grab-Bag

Sat, 21 May 2022 01:06:44 GMT

* Ahhh, noms are open at multifandomdoodle! Schedule here and nom info here. The previous round looked like so much fun, and I decided that I would participate this round, but at that time, I hadn't anticipated my current projects. Uhh... I'll have to think about it. Maybe I'll toss a few noms in just in case. :|a Looking forward to it, though, even if I end up not being able to join in; there was lots of cool stuff drawn last round.

* Signups are open for raremaleslashex! I'll be looking forward to taking a look at the TMA, VME, and YOI requests for this. Not that I can treat right now, buuuut y'know. Maybe there'll be something awesome for me to read after reveals. I've always really liked this exchange.

* sunflower_auction: Bidding stage in this fandom fundraiser for Ukraine is open and ongoing; bids will close on May 30. You can find my offer here; I'm offering a short fic for Hetalia, Promare, or TMA. Or other fandoms I've written before - but please PM me if a past fandom is what you have in mind. I'd happily write Ex Machina or Vatican Miracle Examiner or something like that, but I'd definitely need to canon review.

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Fandom events grab-bag

Sat, 07 May 2022 14:23:57 GMT

+ comment_bingo: A bingo challenge where the goal is to comment on fanworks! Fun! What a nice idea. I signed up, because why not. Though, whenever I participate in bingos, I just do a few squares and then forget about it, whoops. Maybe this one'll be easier to actually finish, since I don't have to create anything myself.

+ raremaleslashex is in the nomination stage! I love this exchange, but I'm going to have to sit it out this year. Still, I'm keeping my eye on the requests. And noms. (Somebody nommed Michele Crispino/Katsuki Yuuri for YoI, and I really hope they request it, because I'm super curious as to what they have in mind for that pairing. It's not one I've ever thought of!)

+ sunflower_auction fandom fundraiser for Ukraine: Offer signups are ongoing from now until May 10 2022 23:59 UTC. I'm really excited by how many signups we have so far - it's a good sign! (...Still need to put mine together, whoops.)

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Fandom fests & events

Mon, 02 May 2022 02:33:22 GMT

+ sunflower_auction: Fandom auction to help Ukraine. Signup for offers ongoing. Closing date is May 10 at 23:59 UTC.

+ Merry Month of Drabbles: 100 Words (Exactly) - Drabble commentfest for May. Sounds like fun!

+ Be The First: Fics now revealed for this "write the first fic in a fandom that doesn't have any" fest. I don't recognize anything I'm familiar with, but I really appreciate the existence of this fest.
I'd hoped to write something for the Captain Kit Brightling series, but couldn't come up with any ideas. Hopefully next year it'll be ineligible due to either me or someone else writing something for it. ;)

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