Let's Get Literate! July 2025 Hopefuls
Jul. 8th, 2025 12:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
renay posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ladybusinessWell, I made a reading list last month...how did I do? ( Read more... )
renay posting in ladybusiness
SGA: Nils Nisi Bonum by Dossier
Jul. 8th, 2025 12:46 pmmific posting in fancakeFandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: Genfic. John Sheppard, Teyla Emmagan, Elizabeth Weir, Rodney McKay, Aiden Ford, Steven Caldwell, Jack O'Neill, Cowen
Rating: G
Length: 27,574
Content Notes: Major character death. John has no special relationship with Atlantis and dislikes the city's voice in his head. Dossier's original Notes are here.
Creator Links: dossier on AO3
Themes: Working together, Character development, Teamwork, Action/adventure, Genfic
Summary: I had set the galaxy afire because she had given me her loyalty and trust.
Reccer's Notes: Yes, it's MCD, but hear me out. Dossier creates an AU story of Sheppard as Laurence of Arabia, eventually saving Pegasus from the Wraith. Like Laurence, he dies in a motor vehicle accident, which happens right at the start so you know what you're in for. The structure works well - a 3rd person account of his death, then the story itself from the expedition's arrival in Atlantis, told in John's first person POV like T. E. Laurence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom", then a last 3rd person section about his death and the birth of his legend. Sheppard doesn't mercy-kill Sumner in this - he remains ostracised and mistrusted by the mainstream military and carves out a role for himself by "going native" and working together with Teyla and the Athosians, and eventually other Pegasus peoples, finally masterminding an alliance that destroys the Wraith, but being wounded himself and losing 20 or so years from a Wraith feeding. As with Laurence, he's ultimately tormented by the deaths he feels responsible for along the way, especially the massive genocide of the Wraith, and he dies on Earth, alone and largely unrecognised. But in Pegasus, it's a very different story. Not a comfort read, but a powerful and well-told story that fits Sheppard's character.
Fanwork Links: Nils Nisi Bonum
Characters/Pairings: Genfic. John Sheppard, Teyla Emmagan, Elizabeth Weir, Rodney McKay, Aiden Ford, Steven Caldwell, Jack O'Neill, Cowen
Rating: G
Length: 27,574
Content Notes: Major character death. John has no special relationship with Atlantis and dislikes the city's voice in his head. Dossier's original Notes are here.
Creator Links: dossier on AO3
Themes: Working together, Character development, Teamwork, Action/adventure, Genfic
Summary: I had set the galaxy afire because she had given me her loyalty and trust.
Reccer's Notes: Yes, it's MCD, but hear me out. Dossier creates an AU story of Sheppard as Laurence of Arabia, eventually saving Pegasus from the Wraith. Like Laurence, he dies in a motor vehicle accident, which happens right at the start so you know what you're in for. The structure works well - a 3rd person account of his death, then the story itself from the expedition's arrival in Atlantis, told in John's first person POV like T. E. Laurence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom", then a last 3rd person section about his death and the birth of his legend. Sheppard doesn't mercy-kill Sumner in this - he remains ostracised and mistrusted by the mainstream military and carves out a role for himself by "going native" and working together with Teyla and the Athosians, and eventually other Pegasus peoples, finally masterminding an alliance that destroys the Wraith, but being wounded himself and losing 20 or so years from a Wraith feeding. As with Laurence, he's ultimately tormented by the deaths he feels responsible for along the way, especially the massive genocide of the Wraith, and he dies on Earth, alone and largely unrecognised. But in Pegasus, it's a very different story. Not a comfort read, but a powerful and well-told story that fits Sheppard's character.
Fanwork Links: Nils Nisi Bonum
Star Trek AOS: Wrote the Book by insaneidiot and Reena_Jenkins
Jul. 6th, 2025 08:01 pmgarryowen posting in fancakeFandom: Star Trek AOS (Reboot)
Pairings/Characters: Kirk/inappropriateness, hints of Kirk/Spock
Rating: Teen +
Length: 3,235 for the fic, 23 minutes for the podfic
Creator Links:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
insaneidiot ![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
reena_jenkins
Theme: Working Together
Summary: The crew of the Enterprise is subjected to a compulsory seminar on Inappropriate Workplace Behavior, and Jim Kirk finds this to be particularly challenging.
Content notes: In addition to Kirk being inappropriate in the ways one might expect from canon, the seminar leader is stereotyped in a way that might be considered offensive.
Reccer's Notes: I'm reccing both the story and the podfic here because the story is only on LJ, and the writer does not seem to be active anymore. The podficcer, however, is still around, and the pod is hosted on AO3, which may be more accessible for some. It is also the way I first encountered this story.
Now that we have all that out of the way, I can gush about how hilarious this story is because Jim Kirk + Starfleet bullshit is fertile territory, and I always laugh really loudly when listening to the podfic. Jim is so deeply wounded by any attempt to rein in his obnoxiousness, inappropriateness, and mouthiness. The best thing about this fic, though, is Jim's relationship with his crew. Throughout the seminar, we see the dynamics play out, and it becomes clear that the seminar was put together for a very different kind of workplace and a very different kind of crew. As Jim puts it: "All the team unity and 'synergy' exercises in the universe aren’t going to build real trust or strong relationships amongst a crew."
As you might expect, Jim gets kicked down a couple notches by the seminar leader, but the tables turn in an unexpected way by the end of the seminar.
Reena, as usual, does a wonderful job with the podfic.
Fanwork Links: Wrote the Book fic at LJ and Wrote the Book podfic at AO3
Pairings/Characters: Kirk/inappropriateness, hints of Kirk/Spock
Rating: Teen +
Length: 3,235 for the fic, 23 minutes for the podfic
Creator Links:
insaneidiot Theme: Working Together
Summary: The crew of the Enterprise is subjected to a compulsory seminar on Inappropriate Workplace Behavior, and Jim Kirk finds this to be particularly challenging.
Content notes: In addition to Kirk being inappropriate in the ways one might expect from canon, the seminar leader is stereotyped in a way that might be considered offensive.
Reccer's Notes: I'm reccing both the story and the podfic here because the story is only on LJ, and the writer does not seem to be active anymore. The podficcer, however, is still around, and the pod is hosted on AO3, which may be more accessible for some. It is also the way I first encountered this story.
Now that we have all that out of the way, I can gush about how hilarious this story is because Jim Kirk + Starfleet bullshit is fertile territory, and I always laugh really loudly when listening to the podfic. Jim is so deeply wounded by any attempt to rein in his obnoxiousness, inappropriateness, and mouthiness. The best thing about this fic, though, is Jim's relationship with his crew. Throughout the seminar, we see the dynamics play out, and it becomes clear that the seminar was put together for a very different kind of workplace and a very different kind of crew. As Jim puts it: "All the team unity and 'synergy' exercises in the universe aren’t going to build real trust or strong relationships amongst a crew."
As you might expect, Jim gets kicked down a couple notches by the seminar leader, but the tables turn in an unexpected way by the end of the seminar.
Reena, as usual, does a wonderful job with the podfic.
Fanwork Links: Wrote the Book fic at LJ and Wrote the Book podfic at AO3
Bloody Game
Jul. 7th, 2025 07:29 amscaramoucheI caved! Sort of. I didn't really want to watch the rest of Bloody Game's season 1, but based on the episode thumbnails it looked like the cast who got sent to the basement would be able to get out, and I was curious how it happened. So I ended up skipping through the rest of the episodes to find out how the switch happens (which is that once the two groups have equal numbers, the games turn into team matches instead of individual ones) and who gets eliminated along the way to the finale. I also watched bits of two games: the math expression game and the mine betting game.
A couple of takeaways! The have vs. have-nots situation was IMO handled better here than in The Devil's Plan's season 2, because upward mobility was not dependent on an accumulative mechanic, i.e. the haves do not already have an advantage going in to the games that helps them stay on top. I think also having them play as teams (basement vs. ground) instead of as individuals forces the basement players to not sabotage each other crab-bucket style, though of course it also means that reward and punishment is collective, and they could have just as easily lost all the team challenges. Still, I got the feeling that the gamemakers took care to make sure the basement players got multiple chances to turn things around, even before the team matches started, but the players were unable to take full advantage of them, eg. they didn't solve the black puzzle that Na-yeong had since day 1, which is why I think they gave them the safe as a back-up. (As a puzzle person, I'm like, sure it's one colour and the pieces are in an unusual configuration, but it's not that big! But... I am a puzzle person.)
( Cut for length, aka I can't believe I'm watching enough of this genre to have opinions )
A couple of takeaways! The have vs. have-nots situation was IMO handled better here than in The Devil's Plan's season 2, because upward mobility was not dependent on an accumulative mechanic, i.e. the haves do not already have an advantage going in to the games that helps them stay on top. I think also having them play as teams (basement vs. ground) instead of as individuals forces the basement players to not sabotage each other crab-bucket style, though of course it also means that reward and punishment is collective, and they could have just as easily lost all the team challenges. Still, I got the feeling that the gamemakers took care to make sure the basement players got multiple chances to turn things around, even before the team matches started, but the players were unable to take full advantage of them, eg. they didn't solve the black puzzle that Na-yeong had since day 1, which is why I think they gave them the safe as a back-up. (As a puzzle person, I'm like, sure it's one colour and the pieces are in an unusual configuration, but it's not that big! But... I am a puzzle person.)
( Cut for length, aka I can't believe I'm watching enough of this genre to have opinions )
Weekly proof of life: mainly media (shocking everyone)
Jul. 6th, 2025 11:02 amumadoshiscruloose and I did make it to the little farmers' market down the road for its opening day of the season, and even managed to get there earlier than later! (I think it's open from 8 to 1, and we probably were there...a bit after 10?)We made it home with two quarts of strawberries and one of cherries, new potatoes, a dozen eggs, and boneless chicken thighs, plus a bee balm for the garden, which we quickly tucked into a fairly open space in our little garden bed yesterday evening. (What was there before? UNKNOWN. Will I manage to reconstruct it from old posts or something? Also unknown. But hey, a plant!)
Reading: I finished Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072 (M.E. O'Brien and Eman Abdelhadi), which was fantastic. On the fiction front, I followed it up with Tamsyn Muir's novella Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower (not really my thing--I continue to rarely bond with novellas, I guess--but interestingly done), Sacha Lamb's When the Angels Left the Old Country (marvelous), and Sofia Samatar's The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain (again, didn't really bond emotionally, but it executed what it was doing beautifully).
Non-fiction: David Chang and Priya Krishna's Cooking at Home: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Recipes (And Love My Microwave), which is, like...primarily actually a David Chang book that Priya Krishna did a ton of heavy-lifting assisting on (which may be very normal for co-written cookbooks, but in this case she was interjecting and clarifying in her own voice as well as doing a fair bit of the actual writing in his voice, and it was all very transparent that it was being done that way, but also a little odd to read). I think I bought this as a sale ebook before hearing that Chang (the Momofuku guy) is something of an asshole, but then when I was reading it, it felt really promising as a book that might be genuinely useful for me (and even by cookbook standards, its ebook is terribly formatted), so I was pleasantly surprised to readily find a used half-price hard copy available on line, which is winging its way to me now. I've also made sure that Krishna's own Indian-Ish: Recipes and Antics from a Modern American Family is now on the wishlist where I keep an eye out for ebook sales.
And now I'm reading An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler, which is a cookbook mostly in the form of essays on cooking as a thoughtful/mindful practice.
Watching: One more Murderbot episode to go in this season, and oh, I hope we get a second one. I'm going to miss this little show.
We finished watching the second season of Kingdom (the historical zombies k-drama), which I found very satisfying. The ending very much sets up a subsequent season, and there's a movie out that fills in the backstory of the person/people we glimpse at the end of season 2 who would presumably be extremely central in any further season, but I don't think we feel inspired to watch said backstory movie unless a third season of the show is ever announced and it becomes relevant in that way.
DC Universe, Sandman: We could be heroes, just for one night, by Leigh Woosey.
Jul. 5th, 2025 10:09 pmfull_metal_ox posting in fancakeFandom: DC Universe; Sandman
Pairings/Characters: Gen; Morpheus, Alan Scott, Tomar-Re, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, OCs by the billions (including Reader?)
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 297
Content Notes: Nothing icky happens, but the story references Neil Gaiman’s Endless mythos;(1) dream transcript.
Creator Links: (Website): https://leighwoosey.co.uk/; (Instagram)![[instagram.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/profile_icons/instagram.png)
leighwoosey; (LiveJournal) woogledesigns; (Twitter) ![[twitter.com profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/e0caa790ec10/-/twitter.com/favicon.ico)
Leighwoosey
Theme: Working Together, Action/Adventure, Gen, Just Plain Fun, Non-AO3 Fics
Summary: One for Sandman fans: I had a dream of Morpheus, who saw an invasion of earth that would go through the dreaming to reach target. Morpheus, who foresaw the plan even as it was being dreamt up by the aliens, was obligated to mount a defense. He recruited two sleeping Green Lanterns, one of Alan Scott of Earth and one Tomar-Re.
Author’s Notes: People are always telling me to keep a dream diary, this is a concession.
Reccer's Notes: Raw dream content notoriously tends to be some-assembly-required narrative material, but in a 29 August 2010 LiveJournal post(2), Woosey described this downright jackpot he received from Dreamland: a cool premise complete with plot, grand spectacle, a firm grounding in the canon lore (note the smooth incorporation of the various Elseworlds Batman scenarios), implicit invitation to the audience (what would you have been doing during the Big Event?) and a clear if haunting resolution. The title is my own![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
metaquotes header.
Fanwork Links: We could be heroes, just for one night, by Leigh Woosey.
(1) Note that some commenters envisioned Morpheus from The Matrix.
(2) The entry has since been deleted; archived here: https://web.archive.org/web/20170821194033/https://woogledesigns.livejournal.com/69811.html
Pairings/Characters: Gen; Morpheus, Alan Scott, Tomar-Re, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, OCs by the billions (including Reader?)
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 297
Content Notes: Nothing icky happens, but the story references Neil Gaiman’s Endless mythos;(1) dream transcript.
Creator Links: (Website): https://leighwoosey.co.uk/; (Instagram)
leighwoosey; (LiveJournal) woogledesigns; (Twitter) Theme: Working Together, Action/Adventure, Gen, Just Plain Fun, Non-AO3 Fics
Summary: One for Sandman fans: I had a dream of Morpheus, who saw an invasion of earth that would go through the dreaming to reach target. Morpheus, who foresaw the plan even as it was being dreamt up by the aliens, was obligated to mount a defense. He recruited two sleeping Green Lanterns, one of Alan Scott of Earth and one Tomar-Re.
Author’s Notes: People are always telling me to keep a dream diary, this is a concession.
Reccer's Notes: Raw dream content notoriously tends to be some-assembly-required narrative material, but in a 29 August 2010 LiveJournal post(2), Woosey described this downright jackpot he received from Dreamland: a cool premise complete with plot, grand spectacle, a firm grounding in the canon lore (note the smooth incorporation of the various Elseworlds Batman scenarios), implicit invitation to the audience (what would you have been doing during the Big Event?) and a clear if haunting resolution. The title is my own
metaquotes header.Fanwork Links: We could be heroes, just for one night, by Leigh Woosey.
(1) Note that some commenters envisioned Morpheus from The Matrix.
(2) The entry has since been deleted; archived here: https://web.archive.org/web/20170821194033/https://woogledesigns.livejournal.com/69811.html
Book Log: Laughing All the Way to the Mosque
Jul. 5th, 2025 09:31 amscaramoucheThis was such a quick read, I literally started and finished it while waiting for my car service to be completed. It's a humourous semi-memoir by Zarqa Nawaz, creator of Little Mosque on the Prairie, a Muslim Pakistani-Canadian who has an irreverent view of life. I say it's a semi-memoir because the stories in her book are totally embellished one way or another to the polished sheen of a tumblr post or stand up routine, and that's fine, it doesn't offer accuracy, only self-deprecating neurotic humour and emotional insight of her experience as a Muslim woman in a Western world.
I laughed a lot, I cringed a lot, I went "oh nooooo" a lot, but I also got some useful understanding here and there to chew on. Zarqa details growing up the only brown girl in her school and envying the blonde white girls who wore miniskirts, wrestling with body hair, using religion as the means to rebel at her parents, dealing with family expectations regarding her career and marriage, and her various misadventures in journalism, amateur filmmaking, making waves in her local community and eventually kicking off Little Mosque on the Prairie. The kernels of the stories may be true but parts where she details her cluelessness (like her being unprepared for her journalism interview, or Hajj, or cooking for Eid) made me so stressed on her behalf, but her successes are also fun to read about, and there is freshness, I suppose, in Zarqa detailing the many many things that went wrong on the way to learning something about herself. There's an Ally McBeal kind of feel in her confidence to do things her way and fall flat on her face as she does.
It's a good thing by now I've read enough books by Muslim peeps who live in the Western world, so I'm not as alienated by their expressions of faith as a modern person in the modern world. I think the best thing was a few books back that pinpointed our specific SEA-flavour being influenced by animism and it's like, YES THERE'S A TERM FOR IT. So I can read Zarqa stating that "Muslims don't believe in ghosts" and just be like, speak for yourself, sister! (Instead of getting hurt and confused.)
I laughed a lot, I cringed a lot, I went "oh nooooo" a lot, but I also got some useful understanding here and there to chew on. Zarqa details growing up the only brown girl in her school and envying the blonde white girls who wore miniskirts, wrestling with body hair, using religion as the means to rebel at her parents, dealing with family expectations regarding her career and marriage, and her various misadventures in journalism, amateur filmmaking, making waves in her local community and eventually kicking off Little Mosque on the Prairie. The kernels of the stories may be true but parts where she details her cluelessness (like her being unprepared for her journalism interview, or Hajj, or cooking for Eid) made me so stressed on her behalf, but her successes are also fun to read about, and there is freshness, I suppose, in Zarqa detailing the many many things that went wrong on the way to learning something about herself. There's an Ally McBeal kind of feel in her confidence to do things her way and fall flat on her face as she does.
It's a good thing by now I've read enough books by Muslim peeps who live in the Western world, so I'm not as alienated by their expressions of faith as a modern person in the modern world. I think the best thing was a few books back that pinpointed our specific SEA-flavour being influenced by animism and it's like, YES THERE'S A TERM FOR IT. So I can read Zarqa stating that "Muslims don't believe in ghosts" and just be like, speak for yourself, sister! (Instead of getting hurt and confused.)
Wax's summer vacation, the only time we can do renovation tasks
Jul. 4th, 2025 11:03 pmcimoreneIt's taken five years to caulk the seam between the two pieces of butcher block on our counter, so I had to dig a bunch of breadcrumbs out of it first with a fruit knife (it's right in front of the toaster). We also re-caulked the seam between the butcher block and the stainless part of the counter by the sink. (The sink is only a few cm from the edge of it, which is very bad design, and the edge of the butcher block there has inevitably suffered and swollen, as the caulk was never going to be adequate; there was no easy way to get the whole counter in stainless, but we should have figured it out anyway. Or alternately, just called up the companies that make tiles and fireplaces out of Finnish soapstone until we found one that would sell us a counter, even though none of them make counters.)
We also oiled the hinge of the bathroom door - the one modern, new door in the house - which has been squeaking for years (unlike all the other doors, which are from 1950 and work flawlessly). And then we glued the aluminum threshold down over the tile floor at that door - it was already loose when the contractors left because the initial adhesive they had used wasn't in contact with the front face of the cement under the tiles, because the tile sticks out a few mm proud of the subfloor. I scraped a layer of gummy glue off the back of the threshold (glue which had never stuck to the tile and instead became impregnated with dust and dirt), then applied some construction adhesive. It's extremely stinky upstairs now as it dries, even with the windows open.
But anyway, all that didn't even take all day. We've done a bunch of laundry and sat on the sofa cuddling cats in between. Can't believe it took us five years.
We also oiled the hinge of the bathroom door - the one modern, new door in the house - which has been squeaking for years (unlike all the other doors, which are from 1950 and work flawlessly). And then we glued the aluminum threshold down over the tile floor at that door - it was already loose when the contractors left because the initial adhesive they had used wasn't in contact with the front face of the cement under the tiles, because the tile sticks out a few mm proud of the subfloor. I scraped a layer of gummy glue off the back of the threshold (glue which had never stuck to the tile and instead became impregnated with dust and dirt), then applied some construction adhesive. It's extremely stinky upstairs now as it dries, even with the windows open.
But anyway, all that didn't even take all day. We've done a bunch of laundry and sat on the sofa cuddling cats in between. Can't believe it took us five years.
Idle Friday post that turned out to be half about Pokemon Go
Jul. 4th, 2025 03:54 pmumadoshiAt the start of the month I entertained the fleeting thought of trying to post every day in July, especially with sunshine_revival (in which I have in no way participated) going on, but. Well. *gestures at current date* And as we all know, something-something-only-perfect-results-matter, etc. etc. etc.
But here. It's Friday. The world is terrifying, but at least for this moment the sun is out. I spent most of my workday in a style guide meeting, which was genuinely pretty fun; tonight we're seeing Ginny and Kas because this week it's better for them than our usual Saturday hangout.
Tomorrow the (very) wee farmers' market that's only a few blocks away is getting underway for the season. I have ambitions of actually rolling out of bed and walking over in hopes of strawberries, even though tomorrow and Sunday are also Eevee community day in Pokemon Go, so I'm also hoping to leave the house those afternoons. Leaving the house twice in one day is not exactly a thing that happens often, and as a result, the prospect of it is exhausting. ^^; But here's hoping!
There's been zero doubt for a long time now that my only actual investment in Pokemon Go is the pursuit of shinies, and community days are the best chance to get shinies of a given critter, and Eevee, see, has EIGHT possible evolutions, so if there's any faint hope of ever having a full set of shinies of those, well, it's this weekend.
(I can't remember if I've said here that this is a crystalized perfect demonstration of why it's really, really good that I don't gamble. I'm usually pleased when I catch a new-to-me Pokemon, but it's pretty minor. But rather than setting the game aside, since it mostly hasn't resulted in me actually getting outside and walking much more than I had been, the hope of catching a shiny critter keeps me opening it back up. Nobody get me into slot machines, okay? [That sounds facetious, but I mean it very seriously.])
That's all I've got right now. Stay well, friends.
sunshine_revival (in which I have in no way participated) going on, but. Well. *gestures at current date* And as we all know, something-something-only-perfect-results-matter, etc. etc. etc.But here. It's Friday. The world is terrifying, but at least for this moment the sun is out. I spent most of my workday in a style guide meeting, which was genuinely pretty fun; tonight we're seeing Ginny and Kas because this week it's better for them than our usual Saturday hangout.
Tomorrow the (very) wee farmers' market that's only a few blocks away is getting underway for the season. I have ambitions of actually rolling out of bed and walking over in hopes of strawberries, even though tomorrow and Sunday are also Eevee community day in Pokemon Go, so I'm also hoping to leave the house those afternoons. Leaving the house twice in one day is not exactly a thing that happens often, and as a result, the prospect of it is exhausting. ^^; But here's hoping!
There's been zero doubt for a long time now that my only actual investment in Pokemon Go is the pursuit of shinies, and community days are the best chance to get shinies of a given critter, and Eevee, see, has EIGHT possible evolutions, so if there's any faint hope of ever having a full set of shinies of those, well, it's this weekend.
(I can't remember if I've said here that this is a crystalized perfect demonstration of why it's really, really good that I don't gamble. I'm usually pleased when I catch a new-to-me Pokemon, but it's pretty minor. But rather than setting the game aside, since it mostly hasn't resulted in me actually getting outside and walking much more than I had been, the hope of catching a shiny critter keeps me opening it back up. Nobody get me into slot machines, okay? [That sounds facetious, but I mean it very seriously.])
That's all I've got right now. Stay well, friends.
Star Trek AOS: One Foot in Front of the Other by Lazulisong
Jul. 4th, 2025 01:28 pmgarryowen posting in fancakeFandom: Star Trek Reboot (AOS)
Pairings/Characters: Gen
Rating: Teen
Length: 1390 words
Creator Links:lazulisong
Theme: Working together
Summary: Winona is called to fix the cock-up of the Yorktown's engines. She uses one of the science-bitches to help her do it.
Reccer's Notes: This fandom has many versions of Winona Kirk. The one you get here is the engineer who does NOT fuck around and can fix anything you throw at her. She is irreverent and badass. And, in this particular story, she is wonderfully, delightfully contrasted with Spock, who is helping her fix the Yorktown engines. Yes, Spock is the science bitch.
I really can't say much more because I'm laughing too hard rereading the story in order to write this rec. Laz perfects the art of proving that swearing isn't what you do when you lack imagination. Every cuss word in this fic is a brilliant gem of hilarious, creative, and accurate speech.
Like every ridiculous fic that is very, very good, this one makes you believe that this Winona Kirk is not only possible, but is absolutely in character. It also makes you believe that this Spock is possible and will call Winona Overlord and let her call him Tiny Science-bitch.
Fanwork Links: One Foot in Front of the Other
Pairings/Characters: Gen
Rating: Teen
Length: 1390 words
Creator Links:
Theme: Working together
Summary: Winona is called to fix the cock-up of the Yorktown's engines. She uses one of the science-bitches to help her do it.
Reccer's Notes: This fandom has many versions of Winona Kirk. The one you get here is the engineer who does NOT fuck around and can fix anything you throw at her. She is irreverent and badass. And, in this particular story, she is wonderfully, delightfully contrasted with Spock, who is helping her fix the Yorktown engines. Yes, Spock is the science bitch.
I really can't say much more because I'm laughing too hard rereading the story in order to write this rec. Laz perfects the art of proving that swearing isn't what you do when you lack imagination. Every cuss word in this fic is a brilliant gem of hilarious, creative, and accurate speech.
Like every ridiculous fic that is very, very good, this one makes you believe that this Winona Kirk is not only possible, but is absolutely in character. It also makes you believe that this Spock is possible and will call Winona Overlord and let her call him Tiny Science-bitch.
Fanwork Links: One Foot in Front of the Other
Bloody Game
Jul. 4th, 2025 11:09 amscaramoucheI didn't finish watching The Devil's Plan season 2, but I did see other shows similar to TDP and The Genius mentioned in various discussion spaces - reddit, youtube and Taran's patreon. Bloody Game in particular got recced a lot, with people saying to skip seasons 1 and 2, and head on straight to 3, which they say has a bigger budget and is presumably more exciting.
A reddit comment linked to an online stream, so I watched a few minutes of Bloody Game season's 3 before deciding I should watch season 1 instead, so I'd know the format of the show going in, the way that the season 3 players obviously did. Season 1 appeared to be similar to The Devil's Plan in that the players are made to live together over a short period of time and play games each day, but there are some differences in that format as well. (Note: TG aired over 2013-2015, BG over 2021-2023, and TDP over 2023-2025.)
Unfortunately I got a few episodes into BG's season 1 when I realized that the ratio of game : social was way more weighted to the social aspect, i.e. the mechanism where players vote who gets kicked out of the main house Survivor-style means that a great deal of time is spent following negotiations and alliance plotting, which I just don't care about as much. TDP and The Genius are more my thing because eliminations are based on gameplay, so negotiations do play a part but happen simultaneously with the games and can get derailed by gameplay.
( Spoilers for Bloody Game season 1. )
I hoped that Taran would cover Bloody Game because then I'd get to follow an abridged version of that show with his entertaining commentary on top, but he's decided to start commentating on the OG The Genius instead. Which is great because I get to experience that show again, but leaves my Bloody Game consumption hanging.
A reddit comment linked to an online stream, so I watched a few minutes of Bloody Game season's 3 before deciding I should watch season 1 instead, so I'd know the format of the show going in, the way that the season 3 players obviously did. Season 1 appeared to be similar to The Devil's Plan in that the players are made to live together over a short period of time and play games each day, but there are some differences in that format as well. (Note: TG aired over 2013-2015, BG over 2021-2023, and TDP over 2023-2025.)
Unfortunately I got a few episodes into BG's season 1 when I realized that the ratio of game : social was way more weighted to the social aspect, i.e. the mechanism where players vote who gets kicked out of the main house Survivor-style means that a great deal of time is spent following negotiations and alliance plotting, which I just don't care about as much. TDP and The Genius are more my thing because eliminations are based on gameplay, so negotiations do play a part but happen simultaneously with the games and can get derailed by gameplay.
( Spoilers for Bloody Game season 1. )
I hoped that Taran would cover Bloody Game because then I'd get to follow an abridged version of that show with his entertaining commentary on top, but he's decided to start commentating on the OG The Genius instead. Which is great because I get to experience that show again, but leaves my Bloody Game consumption hanging.
