mf

Tonight's Escapade panel suggestion hangout had me making people laugh, so it was the high point of the day, easily. Moreso even than my brother J., his daughter A., and his wife E. coming over for lunch - a rare Manhattan visit on E.'s part, but my parents thought more of it than I did, so not my day's high point.

Also not a high point but a good one was taking the night to write for a challenge, and letting myself be surprised by the story. I took a prompt without knowing what I'd do with it, then let the story tell me how to take me where I wanted to go. I always enjoy it when that happens.

The comment read, "I’d gladly read other limerick stories."

At which point I realized that, while my limericks are tagged on AO3, my limerick cycles hadn't been.

So I indexed them for the person, and then I tagged them all with Limerick Cycle, which should shortly be a canonical tag.

1. I seem to have, tragically, read all the alpha/beta/omega fics that exist on AO3 for The Pitt. Or at least, all the fics that are within my reading parameters. Note, this is not ship-specific! I'm ship agnostic when it comes to this show. Anyway, this is a tragedy, I am very sad. It makes me want to write my own fic (other than the ones I've already written) just so there's more of that shit in the world.

2. I wrote a short story recently, for the first time since... many years. Definitely for the first time since 2019, probably more than that. But I sent it in to a local anthology and it got accepted. So it will be published, in print, later this year. I don't know where that puts me in relation to finding my way back to my own voice when it comes to original fiction, but it is happening. And it is nice.

Another thing that's nice is that I wrote this story in about 2 writing sessions, across 2 different days during the same week. Before, short stories used to take me on average 6 months. They were the woooorst. The shortest it ever took me, for a story I needed to submit purely for a technicality and that I knew I could "slack off" on, took about 2 weeks. That story will never see the light of day, and I'm totally OK with that lol.

So, mostly this feels like a huge achievement for me as a writer, that I've done so much practice with my original work that I'm now able to produce something "high quality" enough to get published within such a short time. It didn't start out this way! Despite being a born anxious pessimist reality keeps annoyingly proving to me that things can improve if you invest the time and effort.

3. They're having an actual Heated Rivalry party here this week - by which I mean, a nightclub is hosting a Heated Rivalry night - and I am actually considering going lol. The party starts at 11pm, which is normal! Except I'm 16-23 anymore, which is the age range when I was going to nightclubs in that format lolol It's just so rare to have a fandom event IRL like this, that is a draw. It's also nice that I told some coworkers about it lol. Like I don't know if any of us will come, but it's nice to have coworkers I can share this with.

4. Work is... in kind of a holding pattern. ( work )

5. I've watched so much TV lately, but of course my schedule is currently ruled by The Vampite Lestat. The absolute MASTERPIECE. I'm obsessed with this show and I've read zero fic for this show, which tells you all you need to know about how good the canon is. And I've been reading fic for this universe since I was a teenager!

( spoilers for 3x01 )

Petrova Truthers: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) (3804 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary (2026), Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ryland Grace & Eva Stratt
Characters: John Oliver, Ryland Grace
Additional Tags: Parody of Satire, late night television, Nobel Prize Nominee, in-universe media
Series: Part 2 of Last Week Tonight parodies by Petra
Summary:

John Oliver discusses people who think that the Sun is not getting dimmer, why everyone else on the planet is #HotForStratt, and what you — yes, you — can do to save the world.

The first pinch hit deadline is past, and we do have a few more pinch hits available! These are all due 1 July at 22:59 US Eastern time. What time is that for me?

To accommodate these pinch hits, I'm announcing a 1-week delay. The exchange is now scheduled to open 3 July at 22:59 US Eastern time. Creator reveals will also be extended.

If you aren't signed up but are only pinch hitting, please consider our treats for pinch hitters post! Fills for these requests are particularly appreciated.

To claim a pinch hit, please comment with the pinch hit # and your name on AO3. Comments are screened.

( PDPH 4 - Riverdale TV (fic or comics), Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen TV (fic only), Euphoria TV (fic only) )

( PDPH 7 (fic only) - World Trigger (Anime & Manga), 京騒戯画 | Kyousougiga, Crossover Fandom, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, Horizon (Video Games) )

( PDPH 8 (fic only) - 杀破狼 | Stars of Chaos: Sha Po Lang - priest, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga), 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018) )

( PDPH 10 (fic only) - Gran Hotel (TV), 무빙 | Moving (TV), 설강화 | Snowdrop (TV) )

( PDPH 11 (medium varies by relationship) - The Amazing World of Gumball, Osmosis Jones (2001), Dandy's World (Roblox) )

( PDPH 13 (fic only) - Kingdom Come: Deliverance (Video Games), A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (TV), Fargo (TV) )

( PDPH 14 (fic or comics) - 獅子の踊り子 | Shishi no Odoriko (Manga), Noctilucent: Before Dawn (Video Game), Tekken (Video Games), 龍が如く | Ryuu ga Gotoku | Yakuza (Video Games) )

( PDPH 17 (fic only) - A League of Extraordinary Women - Evie Dunmore, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Bridgerton Series - Julia Quinn )

( PDPH 18 (either fic or comics) - One Piece (Live Action TV 2023), Discworld - Terry Pratchett, Original Work, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo, Murderbot (TV), Crossover Fandom, Call of Duty (Video Games), The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), Merlin (TV) )

( PDPH 19 (either fic or comics) - The Pitt (TV), 鬼滅の刃 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Anime & Manga), Crossover Fandom )

( PDPH 20 (fic only) - Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga), 僕だけがいない街 | Boku dake ga Inai Machi | ERASED (Anime & Manga), 炎の蜃気楼[ミラージュ] | Honoo no Mirage | Mirage of Blaze, John Wick (Movies), Sneakers (1992), The Fall of the House of Usher (TV 2023), Father Brown (2013), The Queen's Gambit (TV), Squid Game (TV 2021), Death Note (Movies 2006-2016) )

Item the first:

I have about 4K words of the Last Week Tonight: Petrova Truthers draft fanfic. It’s Project Hail Mary book canon but should make plenty of sense to people with only movie canon knowledge. I would love to bounce it off of at least one person who’s read the book before posting.

It’s gen, in the sense that John Oliver is of course hot for the hotties involved in PHM, but it’s unrequited and he doesn’t do anything but flirt shamelessly.

Hit me up with an email and I’ll invite you to the Ellipsus doc! It’s ad-free, it’s not the Google hegemony, and it’s pretty darn user-friendly. ETA: The story is here and complete. Enjoy.

*

Items the Second through Sixth:

I offered to write for Three Weeks for Dreamwidth and promptly flaked out, but I got to the prompts today! And then I prompted Katarik for inspiration, and ze wanted Darren Nichols. I love me some Darren Nichols.

*

There was an outlaw in Bolivia (30 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Harry Longabaugh | Sundance Kid/Robert Parker | Butch Cassidy
Characters: Robert Parker | Butch Cassidy, Harry Longabaugh | Sundance Kid
Additional Tags: Limericks, Poetry
Summary:

A limerick for Butch and Sundance.

*

There once was a witch from steep Lancre (32 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Nanny Ogg
Additional Tags: Limericks, Poetry
Summary:

Nanny sings.

*

I don't like to brag and I won't 'cause I don't have to (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Rome (TV 2005)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Titus Pullo (fl. 54 BCE) & Lucius Vorenus
Characters: Lucius Vorenus, Titus Pullo (fl. 54 BCE)
Additional Tags: Drabble, Linguistics
Summary:

Lucius Vorenus constantly surprises Titus Pullo.

*

Macbeth dir. D. Nichols, 2026 (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Slings & Arrows
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Darren Nichols & Geoffrey Tennant, Ellen Fanshaw & Geoffrey Tennant
Characters: Geoffrey Tennant, Ellen Fanshaw
Additional Tags: Implied Darren Nichols (Slings & Arrows), References to Macbeth - Shakespeare, Drabble
Summary:

Darren knows a hit trend when he hears it.

*

Josh Lyman and Leo McGarry: Limerick Fight! (195 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The West Wing
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Josh Lyman & Leo McGarry
Characters: Josh Lyman, Leo McGarry
Additional Tags: Limericks, Verbal Sparring, Poetry battle, Poetry
Summary:

Leo and Josh being irritated but fond of each other, in verse.

I don't know how far I can see from my parents' rooftop. I know it's across the Hudson and into New Jersey, but I don't know how many miles it is past the Palisades and beyond. On days like today, it's even farther, because I watched a thunderstorm roll in. It wasn't quite over the horizon because there's no real horizon up there, and it was still a good long ways away, enough of a distance that when I got up there, it was sunny enough I put on sunscreen. It took a while to notice the cloud covering up the sky, a flat, hard gray all the way from here to far out there, because it wasn't doing anything but slowly moving in. There wasn't even any noise. There was a gorgeous set of edges to the clouds closer to us, the kind you get where it's a stark boundary between the clouds and the sky beyond, punched together and folded into itself and never going past that boundary.

It didn't have a smell and it didn't have a sound. It had a feeling from the sight of it, and it had an aura in the air you could feel, if you knew what to feel for. If you'd felt it before. I've seen thunderstorms come in from New Jersey before and it's always a thrilling treat. The anticipation makes you want to sing. I could see how, for all it was covering the sky north to south, there was still a bit of clear sky left far out west. Until there wasn't, and it was something hazy. Until it was gone too, and it was coming in.

My dad and I stood and watched, and took some pictures. We talked about the lightning and the thunder, and of watching the rain start to take over.

Far out west, we could see where rain was from how the clouds were coming down to the horizon line. Nearby west, we could see where the rain was from how the clouds had come down to the ground. It was almost like seeing fog roll into San Francisco, clouds come down to greet the dirt. We could still see the Palisades, the Hudson, and we could feel the rain roll in and fall down onto us. We felt it keep on coming, harder, and we started to hear the rain and not just the thunder. Then it hit. It wasn't a gullywasher as I'd call one because I saw it come in, so it wasn't as sudden as all that. But it was definitely a downpour.

It was something of a disappointment to look up and see it'd cleared up and the sun was shining. I'd been enjoying all the sounds. It was close to an inch of rain in under an hour, so it'd be a gullywasher as others would call such a storm. But I can't, since I saw it come in and touch down.

I caught up with all the requests at my Donate for a Drabble post.

If you have recently donated 25 USD or the local equivalent to a food bank/pantry, the ACLU, or a Pride-related organization that includes trans-positive outreach, hit me up and I'll write for you!

I have just edited Project Hail Mary (book or movie) and The Pushcart War into my fandom list.

*

Ways to say "I love you" (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: due South
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Characters: Ray Kowalski, Benton Fraser
Additional Tags: Drabble, Headaches & Migraines
Summary:

Ray wears his sunglasses at night.

*

Real vampires don't sparkle (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Slings & Arrows
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Darren Nichols & Geoffrey Tennant
Characters: Darren Nichols, Geoffrey Tennant
Additional Tags: Dracula References, Drabble
Summary:

Geoffrey disagrees with Darren about the cosmetic choices in his production of Dracula.

A few weeks ago, when I was checking the Goes Wrong Show tag on AO3, a fic caught my eye: a fic about Trevor, tagged with 'noncon' and 'transphobia'. I didn't open it, but it stuck in my mind because it was the first Goes Wrong fic to use the noncon warning. I was glad to see some darkfic in the tag; it's good for the ecosystem!

A few hours later, I checked the tag again and found that the fic had disappeared.

I'd noticed the author, and I knew how to contact him; we didn't really know each other, but we'd interacted in passing just by virtue of both being active in this relatively small fandom. I sent him a message just to check he was okay; I said that I'd noticed his disappearing darkfic, and that I hoped no one had given him a hard time for the themes. He explained that he'd just got nervous, thanked me for reaching out and said he might post it again some day.

Yesterday, he got in touch and said he'd found the courage to repost his Goes Wrong darkfic. I was thrilled! I promptly read it and left an enthusiastic comment. (The fic in question is Corrective by Kestrel_Wylde. Be aware that it's very dark; it's explicit noncon in which transmasc Trevor suffers at the hands of an OC, featuring drugging and misgendering.)

And then I kept thinking about it. How would the Cornley Drama Society, who barely have a teaspoon of emotional intelligence between them, deal with something terrible happening to one of their own?

And then, with the author's permission, I wrote a follow-up.

This fic is less dark than the original on account of being about the assault's aftermath rather than the assault itself, but obviously it includes a lot of the same dark themes. It should be understandable even if you haven't read Kestrel_Wylde's fic; I wanted to make sure it would be accessible to people who want to read about Trevor's recovery without wanting to read the explicit noncon that precedes it.


Title: Kintsugi
Fandom: The Goes Wrong Show
Rating: 15
Pairing: Chris/Trevor
Wordcount: 3,400
Summary: In the aftermath of being assaulted, Trevor tries to piece himself back together with the help of the drama society.
Warnings: Past noncon, mentions of misgendering.
Notes: A follow-up to Corrective by Kestrel_Wylde (mind the tags), written with permission. Trevor is transmasc.

( Kintsugi )

We went to see the steam engine Big Boy No. 4014 at Letchworth State Park, which was fascinating, crowded, and hot. The enormous train whistle echoing through the gorge, which is known as the Grand Canyon of the East, will stick with me.

We got there two and a half hours early, so we settled in to wait. While I waited, I started writing Last Week Tonight: Petrova Truthers. Anyone who is familiar with Project Hail Mary -- particularly the book, but the movie, too -- and John Oliver's voice is invited to come help me with it.

After I got home, I shared the draft-so-far with buggery, who read it aloud via phone and laughed immoderately. That was a great feeling.

My previous effort in John Oliver voice is:

Last Week This Benduday with J'hon Olivah: Clone Soldiers (5516 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (TV), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano
Characters: John Oliver, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Original Clone Character(s)
Additional Tags: In-Universe News Broadcast, John Oliver Pastiche, Jedi Discourse, Galactic Republic (Star Wars), Galactic Republic Politics (Star Wars), Parody of Satire, Turtles all the way down - Freeform, Screenplay/Script Format, Mancrush, Comedy, Dark Comedy
Series: Part 42 of Petra's Favorites Of Their Own Work, Part 1 of Star Wars Prequels in 2020s Media
Summary:

Last Week This Benduday with J'hon Olivah is a Coruscanti late-night talk and news satire program available throughout the Republic via the holonet. The main story from this week's episode discusses the clone soldiers fighting the current war, their origins, and what responsibility the Jedi Order bears for them, including interviews with current and former Jedi.

*

I am pretty sure that, while the Jedi pressure their heroes to do press, Eva Stratt has infinite numbers of better things to do.

What's the over/under on whether Grace does science education outreach via late night satire? John would hit on him so hard and tell him, "It's really, truly okay for you to say 'Fuck.'"

( Project Hail Mary spoiler )

Chopped out and rewrote about 400 words for the better is one of those things where I'm moving, but it doesn't feel like I'm moving forward. It's still movement, though, and I'm focusing on that part. They're more useful words than what I had before because I know where to go next.

That was about the only thing of merit today, besides carting some materials to the library to be processed by professionals for resale or recycling. I might've been able to push a bit at one point or another to do some paying work, and a two and a half-hour movie in the middle of the afternoon might not have been the best plan to help with that, though I can't say I quite regret it. Disclosure Day was a ride of a time and sitting in the theater was where I figured out how to move those words around. I'd probably have figured it out anyway, but it definitely helped it happen today.

I managed a session at the gym. I managed some cooking for future lunches and breakfasts. I realized that while some of the letters I need to annotate are missing the years, if the person wrote down the day of the week, there's only so many years where they lived at this address and, for example, April 22 was a Thursday. There's not many, but there's enough I can feel good about realizing I had an additional piece of metadata to use. I added a thousand words to the present work in progress.

I'm not happy with how little work I did today.

I can live with it if I manage better in the coming days.

Spending the day feeling at 80% at best and staying up late demonstrates an inability to learn a lesson. Freely admitting to that doesn't help any, but at least I'm identifying the problem.

Another problem I identified this afternoon was being unable to address people in the gym when they're being loud enough I can hear them over whatever podcast I'm listening to. Cranking up the volume to drown them out would be to put it at the maximum, which wouldn't be a fix.

There's an elegance to a pristine film print, whether it's new or kept in good condition, where you can lean in and see the grain and take in the depth and breadth of the color. There's also a wonder to an older print that's been seen many times before, where you see the scratches and the flecks and the flickers, and when it hits just right, it's almost a living thing breathing in the dark with you - and because you see the film stock itself, you understand it's all the more real because you know it's a story, and it's easy to fall in love with a story.

Miracle Mile was playing as part of Bleak Week at a local theater. I knew what kicked off the plot, so taking that with it being Bleak Week, I had a good idea of where the movie was going, but not how it'd get there. I'd had one too many cups of coffee today and took an electric bike over to the theater, which unintentionally put me in exactly the right kind of excited state to focus and let myself be carried along by a very tightly told story that knew how to keep me engaged the whole time.

There was still a bit of light in the west when I left the theater. I took a regular bike back, enjoying the smooth ride. On my way there, I'd passed by the Lincoln Center premiere of Disclosure Day, and some of the installations were still there hours later. I'm seeing that one later this week, too. I expect it'll make for a curious double feature. I don't think it'll be a Killer of Sheep/Sinners experience, but it looks like there's enough in common to work as a conversation.

For the duration of the episode, I was no longer aware that I had stood up for an eleven-hour workday.

The actors had so much fun, especially Reid. But all of them.

The writers had so much fun with Lestat's voice c. 2025. He's perfectly too much.

The set dressers had so much fun. ( Setting spoilers )

I look forward to ( Character appearance spoilers )