the lonesome lows don't quite go away overnight

There's lots of other things to say, but I'll have more time next week and summerofhorrorexchange is live and I received THREE FABULOUS INCREDIBLE STORIES and I feel very overwhelmed and grateful because these are all so very much my shit and make me (weirdly) believe that I could write again. Not that I hadn't been believing that, I guess. But. I do now. 

Thank you, thank you. (I am pretty sure SOME of the authors are here. Hi. <3)

New Recipes (11/12)
Tried a new marinade for grilling chicken. Was dubious because it had a LOT of ingredients I wouldn't have selected otherwise and occasionally strongly dislike, but it turned out so good. The MOST umami. All over age 6/the half of the house not currently down with strep/possibly also Hand Foot and Mouth enjoyed it. I like grilling a lot. I also made some very simple yellow squash (olive oil, salt), but didn't get to eat it til it was cold. 

TV Seasons (6/10)
Finished Call the Midwife season 1. Not very fond of Jenny most of the time, but enjoying the show. Did NOT expect the "incest is okay, actually, in some circumstances" plotline. 

The Wilds season 2 dropped. Y'all, now there is a group of stranded boys. They're so ridiculous. I don't hate them/this direction, which is good because I was expecting to! The dialogue remains Not Great. "We were just becoming men. But... some of us? Were becoming monsters." AMAZING.

Puzzles (2/8) - No progress
Y'all, the puzzle table was moved as part of the great office shift of 2022, and we tired really hard but it just sucks to do puzzles in the middle of the office. Storing the puzzle library in my office for the time being because we don't give up easy, but... I don't see the puzzle magic reigniting. 

*

Liz is doing the Dracula substack along with most(?) of Tumblr and I get such great updates when I get home. "BABE. HE HAS A MUSTACHE." (Twist: THE MUSTACHE IS FAKE????)

Dear femslashex  author,

Thank you for being here and for writing for me! Obviously, the rules of the specific fest or exchange apply, but I'm generally a multi shipper, and love romantic fic. Whether you want to use this exchange as your opportunity to try something new with style, pairing, dialogue, taboo elements, or employ all of your favorite tried-and-trues, I'm so excited to read what you create!

( Likes, dislikes, DNWs )

( Canon-specific )

Dear everywoman  creator,

Thank you for being here and for creating for me! I'm generally a multi shipper, and love romantic fic but also solo, character-driven stuff, explorations, and even a little adventure fic. I am so deeply Not Picky, and I haven't been able to participate in much since having my daughter four years ago, so I'm basically just happy to be here and to participate.

I think what will make me the happiest is knowing that you've enjoyed your time writing for me, regardless of the specifics of fandom or pairing or content. So, please take the following as helpful-only-as-far-as-it-is-helpful-to-you and take the leeway and freedom you need! That said, if what you need is more specific prompts, I hope to offer those as well. Also, my pronouns are they/them/she/her if you'd like to discuss me.

General Likes:

• Domesticity: married life, chaos of raising kids, work/life balance, the real work of staying together and working on trauma, mutual long-term healing, partnerships
• Shared Space Tropes: fake relationship turns real, snowed in, forced to share a hotel room/bed, hetero double date fails, source of irritation becomes source of desire,
• Darker Themes: body horror, wound play (inflicted or re-opened), exploration of pain (inflicted or tested), recovery from past trauma
• AUs: character meets x instead of y, y never existed, character lives/escapes, characters die but meet on another plane of existence, 10 years after canon, pre-canon (with no strong feelings of if this would end up breaking canon itself), apocalypses
• Honesty: frank, truthful depictions of physical and mental disabilities, not seeing situations or memories with rose-colored glasses (if character x was maligned or hurt by character y, that shouldn't be ignored, unless working in an AU)
• Femslash and Poly are opt-in :)

General Dislikes/DNWs:

• Rape or detailed reference to rape
• Explicit sex including underaged characters
• Dwelling on dead children
• Explicit violence to children, especially sexualized violence
• A/B/O or other animal AU traits used sexually
• Use of fanon f/f to bash canonical partners (or fanon characterization to bash other characters)
• Fetishized mental illness, including over-the-top depictions, or villains
• Scat/vomit

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
( Read more... )

• Pre-movie, and post-movie, and all of the missing bits of lives the movie skips and jumps around
• Sex, or no sex. Together, or separate. I failed to nom them as a group, but would welcome seeing them together
• Professional lives and struggles
• Discussions regarding kink, consent, and limits; curiosity
• Kink in non-sexual contexts

( Read more... )

• Overwrought explorations on how one might label one's sexuality
• Either only feeling sexual or romantic love for one partner. Don't need to show it or him in detail, but please don't claim that they don't love Bill.
• Details from their children's real lives

The Nevers
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• Characters we haven't had time or opportunity to explore being fleshed out or getting the spotlight in an adventure (truly, that's most of them, it's only been 6 episodes) whether that takes place pre-canon, during, or in the future
• Ships include but aren't limited to: Amalia/Penance, Zephyr/Knitter, Myrtle/Primrose, Amalia/Horatio, Molly/Moments of Joy
• How did they learn they were touched? How did being touched change their lives/situations?
• The Orphanage is close quarters and shared labor - how does that compare with their previous lives?

( Read more... )

• Maladie/Sarah. Sorry, nope. References to the goings-on are fine, but please no close encounters.
• Detailed or intense focus on Penance/Auggie. I find him fine in passing, but increasingly irritating and kind of gross in focus
• The Ferryman's Club. Nope.

The Wilds
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• Before the island, during the island, during their stay at the facility, and the unexplored future, and AUs
• Ships include but aren't limited to: Dot/Shelby, Dot/Fatin, Shelby/Becca, Shelby/Martha, Shelby/Toni, Shelby/Martha/Ton

( Read more... )

• Overwrought explorations of faith - if this is where the story leads you that's fine, but any time you can cut back or zoom out a little would be welcome. 
• Introduction of new traumas not already shown
• Statutory rape relationships
• Already mentioned, but explicit underage sex (references or hints are okay)
• I'm not super invested in the overall mystery or story arc of the facility/program, but if that interests you, I'm down to see where it goes

Masters of Sex
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• Pre-canon, and during canon, AUs
• Lillian/Virginia or Lillian & Virginia or solo Lillian, of course
• Medical and science talk, including clinical sex and kink
• I'd love to see moments and experiences where Lillian hasn't been met with sexism or barriers; I also like seeing how she responds and tackles them.

( Read more... )

• Post-death storylines. Maybe that is obvious, but I feel I should say it.
• Focus on Lillian/Men
• Real life details from Virginia or Bill's children, if they were even to come up