i_love_games | Member Posts

After blacking out my bingo card for Book Bingo, I haven't been updating my recent reading, so here we go.

What I just finished reading:

Night of the Dragon

Night of the Dragon by Julie Kagawa The third book in the Shadow of the Fox series. The ending was satisfying, but took some twists and turns that I didn't expect. I realized that I had to give up my Western concept of what a good ending to a story was, and understand that the culture referenced here has a much different understanding of life and death than what I do. Highly recommend the entire series.

The Lost Story

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer I really, really love this book. Think The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe mashed together with Stranger Things and set in the mountains of West Virginia. Some of the twists and story beats I saw coming a mile away, but some of them surprised me.

Confounding Oaths

Confounding Oaths by Alexis Hall I DNF'd this one after reading the prologue and two pages in. My issues with it: first person, set in 1815 but written in the modern era, yet tries to sound like it was written in 1815. Also told from the POV of Puck (the fairy) and tries to be humorous and arch.

What I'm Currently Reading: Forging Silver into Stars by Brigid Kemmerer. I've seen this one recommended in a lot of places, and I'm aware that it's the start of a second trilogy by her. I've looked at the first trilogy and don't think I plan on reading it.

What I Plan to Read Next: I have a hold for The Half King by Melissa Landers, so that one should come up next.

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: Arctic Monkeys - Pretty Visitors

captaincassidy

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majoukoufu

(as with snowflake, these will be backdated so I don't have to mess around with multiple sticky posts)

A few basic fandom goals for the back half of 2025:

( just 3 )

starfleetbrat

sunshine_revivial Challenge #2

Journaling: The romance of summer! What do you love? Write about anything you feel sentimental about or that gets your heart pumping.

==

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I have no idea what to write for this one.

So I'm just going to write about an Australian Comedian I love. His name is Randy Feltface and he is a purple puppet (portrayed by Heath McIvor).

I was first introduced to Randy via the comedy duo, Sammy J and Randy on a tv show that aired here in Australia probably around 15 years ago now. I can't recall the name of the show but they were hilarious. They've performed together for years now, both on tv and on stage at comedy festivals.

At some point, Randy started doing his own stand up and comedy shows. Randy's style of comedy is a mix of storytelling and philosophical thought. He uses his comedy to really talk about the deeper meaning of some things, so you get a good laugh but you also end up thinking about things.

One show Randy did a number of years ago is called "Randy Writes a Novel" and its the funniest thing I have probably ever seen.

My favourite segment from it is called "Randy buys a bookshelf off Gumtree" which I will embed below. Its 100% worth a watch. Its a story about what happened when Randy wanted to buy a bookshelf off Gumtree (which is like the Australian Craigslist, you can buy and sell stuff etc.) It runs for about 20 minutes and its completely insane. I especially love the ending lol

( Read more... )

vriddy

I have a couple of pinch hits that revealed that I must still post here on Dreamwidth. Writing's been agony again. I taunted myself by saying "well why do you NOT WRITE AT ALL ON PURPOSE for ALL OF JULY then, since you ain't writing anyway? Save yourself the anguish? See if you actually care?" then huh saw the sign-ups for

littleblackdressex were open and my favs had already been nominated, thus immediately played myself by signing up. First exchange sign-up of the year though! \o/

Otherwise I'm down to a writing goal of 100 words a day, which I wouldn't have been able to accept before getting blocked again (*pokes pokes* what's going on with ye) because I just know how much better I can do. However, after a long string of 0 days, actually 100 words a day is fantastic, yes. And something I can make myself sit down for. I'm fully prepared to reduce the goal to 50 words next if that's what it takes to make progress.

I still enjoy my stories! I get inspired reading other books!! What is going on!!!!

It is somewhat painful that this fic is the first thing I actually finish since my hurt/comfort + PHs exploits, but it is what it is. I guess crack just gotta crack, sometimes. There must be something deeply meaningful to ponder here.

There's more than one way to commit murder in Furin.

Or, three times Suou is interrupted trying to talk to Hiiragi, and one time it's too late.

Read it on Dreamwidth or on AO3.

Current Mood: disbelieving

kalloway

There often comes a point when I'm building a model kit that I realize that ah, I am being watched right back. There is a tiny plastic soul* in there of some sort, and sometimes not quite the one I'm expecting.

( The last month or so of model kits/gunpla! )

*which is not to say I think that my kits are actually-alive in any way, this is more in the fun way that my aunt and I used to leave offerings of jellybeans for my grandmother's porcelain doll collection so they wouldn't eat us in our sleep.**
**at least I think we weren't serious about that.***
***I should probably email my aunt.

seleneheart

Challenge #2

Tunnel of Love
Journaling: The romance of summer! What do you love? Write about anything you feel sentimental about or that gets your heart pumping.
Creative: Write a love poem to anyone or anything you like

I was born in the summer. Summer, to me, is always about freedom. I'm sure this sense is a result of being a student for the normal amount of years, and then being a public school teacher for 18 years. Summer means no alarm clock, no schedule, eating weird foods on a whim, watching thunderstorms roll in. Summer is the deep breath before the plunge into the energetic whirlwind of autumn. Even though I'm no longer teaching, I've turned my alarm off this summer because the sun comes up early enough here in the north that I wake up in plenty of time to get my day going.

When my parents lived in the Low Country, summer meant piling the kids in the car for a two-day road trip to their little island. Laying on the dock and watching the Milky Way wheel overhead. Sitting on my parents' screen porch having late, leisurely dinners, talking for hours, killing at least a bottle of wine, while the kids lazed around on the couches, post-dinner, exhausted from hours at the beach.

Before that, my parents lived in the mountains -the old hills crowned in glory, the Appalachians. Summers then, my childhood summers, meant wading in the creeks, catching crawdads, hiking to forgotten graveyards, scaring each other around campfires. Hours at the public pool, eating ourselves sick on candy and lounging on towels, before jumping in the cold water every so often to play Marco Polo or Red Rover. Or chicken fights when we were older, getting the boys we liked to pick us up. My parents sent us to summer camp - two weeks out of the summer that felt like ultimate freedom, doing things and experiencing things that no one who wasn't there could possibly understand.

I hated summer in Texas, but moving north has reminded me how much I love this season.

Current Mood: nostalgic
Current Music: Getdown Services - Dog Dribble

lassarina

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seleneheart

Dear Creator,

Thank you so much for making this gift for me!

My user name on AO3 is also Seleneheart.

DNW
-kid fic
-dumbing down characters to advance the plot
-sick fic
-unhappy endings, although I don't mind bittersweet
-first or second person POV
-A/B/O
-rape/non-con

Things that I like:
-fairy tale AU
-I have a competence kink, characters being extremely good at what they do
-friends to lovers
-enemies to battle brothers (and lovers obs)
-dark vibes
-magical realism in more modern fandoms
-past lives, souls connecting over time and space

marinehaddock

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althea_valara

Tunnel of Love
Journaling: The romance of summer! What do you love? Write about anything you feel sentimental about or that gets your heart pumping.

Creative: Write a love poem to anyone or anything you like

Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Uh.... +shoves her "Alisaie" tag in your direction+ For those visiting my journal and going "nani?": Alisaie is a character from Final Fantasy XIV and I love her to pieces. I've written about her extensively for the

snowflake_challenge and I *could* write about her more now, too, but I think it's time to let her twin brother Alphinaud shine.

I didn't particular like Alphinaud during A Realm Reborn. I didn't *hate* him, but his voice actor at the time played him as a self-assured know-it-all brat, and did a fantastic job at it, so it was hard to feel warm and fuzzy towards him.

That changed during Heavensward, the first expansion of the game. Alphinaud had just gone through something that was very hard on him -- I'm not saying because it's a hell of a ride and I don't want to spoil it for people who might want to play in the future -- and at first he was very dejected and wallowing in misery, but soon he finds his determination to make things right and carry on. And, well, I greatly admired him for this. When the worst happens, it's hard to pick yourself up and try again, but Alphinaud had the courage to do so.

Going back to the voice actors: Now that I've played A Realm Reborn five times (...what?), I've grown very fond of Sam Riegal's interpretation of Alphinaud. I think it was the right choice for where Alphinaud was in his journey. Sam did an amazing job, especially when the shit DID hit the fan and he had to show Alphinaud's reaction to everything. Thank you, Sam, for doing a memorable job!

When Heavensward started, they changed many of the voice actors, and that was true of Alphinaud, too: he is now played by Colin Ryan. People have talked about what a jump scare it was when Alphinaud's voice suddenly changed, and it fact, here's Colin reacting to the change himself:

Watch on YouTube

SO ADORABLE!!!!

Anyway! Colin has done an AMAZING job voicing Alphinaud, and his work is partially why I've come to grow so fond of the character. As Heavensward went on, I came to like Alphi more and more. Yes, he still can be a know-it-all. He's still very much a leader and into diplomacy and politics. But he reflects on the things he's done wrong in the past, and considers how to do different in the future. He doesn't let his past stop him (unlike me, who is always going "BUT THINGS ARE GOING TO TURN OUT EXACTLY THE SAME AS IN THE PAST AND THAT WAS AWFUL", sigh).

Alphinaud goes through some character growth during the game. There's a scene where he greets Estinien warmly, and Alisaie remarks on that--in a nutshell, she implies that Alphinaud didn't really have friends when they were younger but now has people he looks up to and admires, like Estinien. It's heartwarming to see him, well, warm up to others and consider their advice and counsel.

I have said many times that I need to get my own place again so I can have cats, and I intend to adopt a brother/sister pair and name them Alphinaud and Alisaie, because I do adore the twins so much. They are incredible characters! And I'm thankful to their VAs for doing such an amazing job.

Current Mood: enthralled

kalloway

sunshine_revival's first challenge is goals/plans for the month, just in time for me to actually post my monthly plans roundup. (A couple of days late, because hot.)

So here goes:

( June )

July's plans are to survive being too fucking hot.

( July )

There is another part to the challenge but I'll worry about that later, if at all.

starfleetbrat

sunshine_revival Challenge 1

Journaling Prompt: Light up your journal with activity this month. Talk about your goals for July or for the second half of 2025.
https://sunshine-revival.dreamwidth.org/2010.html

My goals for the rest of the year are fairly boring:

- avoid stress
I mean, who won't be trying to do this? lol

- finally start learning how to make my own sewing patterns
I've been wanting to do this for a year or so now, but haven't had the brain space. Its going to take some effort to make the blocks/slopers, and will need a lot of fitting and testing I think. I'd like to one day make my own dress making dummy too, so I can test things without having to try them on myself.

- archive all my fanfic (lol this probably won't happen)
I've been wanting to collect all my fics together and put them on my website. hardly any of them are online anymore, aside from existing in the wayback machine. but some are on various forms of media scattered around my home. Would be nice to get them all in one place even if I am the only one reading them. But formatting the pages will be a pain in the ass so I'm not holding my breath it will get done.

- finish the last image in the Coloring Pixels Variety Pack because it seems to be taking me forever
I love coloring pixels, its a "paint by numbers" thing with pixels. Its just so chill to do while I am watching a tv show or movie. But this one image in the variety pack is so annoying. Its not a huge one, but it has a lot of 1 square colour changes.

- finish tearing down the mattress thats currently in the hallway
its seriously hard to dispose of mattresses in my area, costs a small fortune to have someone pick it up and then there is a disposal fee at the local tip on top of that. so we are doing it ourselves, cutting the material off etc and then we'll give the wire frame to the local scrap man who will collect it for free.

- participate more in various places online, like

sunshine_revival,

seasons_of_fandom and

dreams_mayhem (just joined that one)
I want to get creative again I think, but we'll see how it goes.

- make a zine!
I've been wanting to make one for a long time. I've been collecting them on and off for years. It would be fun to make one of my own! I have a few ideas for one but nothing concrete so far.

vriddy

Community Thursday challenge: every Thursday, try to make an effort to engage with a community on Dreamwidth, whether that's posting, commenting, promoting, etc.

Over the last week...

Final (;v;) vigilantes chit-chat on bnha_fans, for this season at least!

Commented on common_nature.

Book chit-chat on booknook.

Commented on littleblackdressex about a duplicate nom..... My first exchange sign-up this year! Excited :D :D

Signal boost:

sunshine_revival started! Each (chill) challenge will have journalling prompts, and so on. A good way to be active and meet other active people around Dreamwidth! There's a friending meme, too! As happens way too often (and I'm going to need to address that at some point...), I'm too overwhelmed with other things to take part in social challenges at the moment, but wishing everyone a super fun time with it! And who knows, maybe I will manage to squeeze in one or two challenges, too... It could happen!!

lassarina

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althea_valara

Challenge #1

Journaling Prompt: Light up your journal with activity this month. Talk about your goals for July or for the second half of 2025.

Creative Prompt: Shine a light on your own creativity. Create anything you want (an image, an icon, a story, a poem, or a craft) and share it with your community.. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Okay, well, I'm a fiber artist and I *love* being a fiber artist, but the craft is S-L-O-W. I could knock out another coaster or Other Brother Darryl in about an hour, but I've done +checks Ravelry+ at least 16 of the coasters and at least 8 of Other Brother Darryl. I really don't need to make any more. So instead of crafting something for this challenge, I will talk about my crafting plans for July and beyond.

...though if you want to see crafts I've made, you can check out my Crafting Update tab to see the pretties!

Gnomes

I have two nieces and four nephews, and I started a tradition of making them something for Christmas. It started with crocheted snowflakes, but last year I did small Christmas stockings. This year, I'm planning to make them gnomes, because gnomes are popular and fun. I've bought some yarn, and have a pattern picked out. I really should get started on these NOW, because last year I spent 100 hours crafting in December and it wore me out.

Incidentally, I participate in a crafting tournament on Ravelry called Nerdopolis. We get themes to craft to each round, that we can then tie to our team's Nerdery for a chance to win a prize. Well, one of the themes this month is Orchard Fruits and cherries, which are red, are orchard fruits. I was going to use red for the nieces' gnomes, so that will work nicely. Just need to sit down and do it.

iPad Mini holder

I crocheted some phone holders for me and mom a few months back, and my older sister was admiring mom's and wanted one for her iPad Mini, so I'm going to bang it out this month. It will fit nicely in the Nerdopolis challenge on Communication, as electronic devices such as iPads can be used to communicate with others.

Sophie Scarf

I started this last month for a Nerdopolis challenge but didn't finish it. I'd like to finish in the next two months. It can be submitted to Nerdopolis' Area 51 which is for completed UFOs (UnFinished Objects).

Secret Project

IT'S A SECRET! I hope to finish this month, but since I am designing it myself, there's a lot of ripping back and redoing to get it perfect. Wish me luck!

Motion Picture Mosaic Cardi

This was supposed to be my January project, but them I effed up my shoulder and couldn't really craft for a while. I did start this in January but HAHAHAHAHA NOPE DIDN'T FINISH. It's a huge project that is taking a lot of time. I mean, not only is it a large oversized long cardigan but it's also large in general as I am a large circumference type person. Getting awfully tired of rows of plain HDC... but I do desire this cardi very much, so I'll keep working on it.

The 42 WIPs (and counting)

...yeah, I have a LOT of projects I started in the past and didn't finish. I did just go through my Ravelry projects today and marked some as completed/frogged if I knew I'd never finish them, but there's still a lot that I'd really like to do someday. So how about making a goal to do, um, I think three is a good choice? by the end of the year? I mean, technically all the ones I listed above are WIPs, but let's face it, I have some that have been hibernating for ages (my oldest WIP is from 2008, yikes) so let's pick a few and get them done.

Current Mood: busy

kalloway

Luckily, shutdown this year has us staying on our shifts. (Though I admit to being slightly sad to not be able to grab takeout every day after work...)

Unfortunately it is still stupidly hot despite being dark and the humidity is actually brutal.

Got an amusing postcard from

misbegotten, thank you! And zines from

used_songs, yaaaay! (I flipped through them quickly, will look properly over the weekend, probably.)

And received some lovely icons over in

femgiftboxes from

cosmic_whore_writes and

linky. <3 I wrote three things, which I will try to get archived to my own spaces this weekend for easier reading. ^_^;

sunshine_revival has started. The first prompt includes goals/plans, and since I do those monthly anyway, I'll get that posted sooner than later. (but not til after work, at least)

A few minutes ago, the first drop of 'Gundam Summer Fest' went live on the Premium Bandai site. I had a kinda chonky list of things I wanted and low expectations because "things sell out instantly" and yeaaah, lol. I actually managed nine of sixteen things on my list and then added in a couple other normal pre-orders with the same shipping month, so I'm pretty happy! There'll be at least one other drop next month? and then whatever after the pop-up tour is over, and of course I'm actually going to try to get to the last pop-up tour date so there might be some of these kits there?

I owe a post of kit photos and whatnot. Hopefully over the weekend.

althea_valara

I didn't post one of these last month, because I had been working on a secret project. I intended to finish that project in June, but it was not to be, partially due to busyness but mostly due to the fact that I am designing my own thing and ran into snags. Here's hoping I can finish in July!

(Some folks around Dreamwidth know what the secret project is; I'm keeping it secret HERE though so if you comment here, please don't give it away? Thanks!)

[click pics to embiggen]

A pivot table, showing I crafted for 40 hours in May and 32 hours in June on four projects.

[Image Description: A pivot table, showing I crafted for 40 hours in May and over 32 hours in June on four projects.]

I had hoped to finish several projects in June, not only the secret one. I did manage to finish the Capybara. It's pretty big! And it was for a Nerdopolis challenge. The theme was "Rodents", and of course I chose a Capybara because there is a capybara mount in Final Fantasy XIV, so perfect nerd cred tie-in.

A crocheted capybara, done in the African Flower technique.

[Image description: a stuffed crocheted capybara, done in the African Flower technique. It is made up of different shaped motifs crocheted together. It is largely a light brown in color with creamy white on its neck, belly, and rump.]

The Mosaic Cardi is still in process. I'm on the right front now. It's kinda a weird construction, not one I have encountered before, and I can't say I'm really enjoying it because long rows of HDC are (a) LONG, (b) boring. Can't wait until I get to the mosaic part.

The Sophie Scarf was supposed to be done this month for another Nerdopolis challenge. The theme was "How do the fine folks in your Nerdery travel?" and of course I chose the chocobo, so the scarf is yellow in color. I just, you know, ran out of time. I might finish it this month, we'll see.

Current Mood: bored

starfleetbrat

Its been very cold here lately.

Australia cold.

Its been getting down to below zero celcius overnight, and only around 8C during the day. Which, I know, right. SO COLD. lol There's a Canadian out there somewhere laughing at me.

I've taken to wrapping a doona around myself on the couch, and using a hot water bottle at my back to warm up inside the doona. We don't have heating, every year at the end of winter I say "next year, I will buy a heater" but then winter roles around and I remember how much heaters cost to run and I don't buy a heater.

So I have hot tea. Licorice tea today. And I am debating ordering a pizza for lunch, but not the stupid meat pie crust one I posted about the other week. We did actually order one to try one night, and it was terrible. The pies had almost no meat in them, and it was a lot smaller than advertised. Hardly any toppings on it. Awful. So just a regular pizza today I think.

anyway, they are threatening snow for higher up the mountains. we won't see it here, we're a tiny bit too low down the mountain, but we'll feel the effect of it, cold air flowing down to us. so thats something to look forward to I guess.

When I lived higher up it was always a treat to see the snow as it didn't happen every year. When it happened we'd build snowmen in the front yard, and the snow wasn't very thick or heavy, and there were loads of pine trees around, so the snow wasn't pristine, it was full of pine needles. So we'd make these snowmen that looked kinda hairy and brown. We'd have to start rolling the snow balls for it at the end of the street and it would take the entire length of the street to get enough snow for it. And of course, the snow would only last about 3 days before it all melted. But still, it was fun.

I kinda miss snow.

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December 2024

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Page Summary

seleneheart - Wednesday Reading & Recent Books
captaincassidy - Boosty.to Withdrawals (Help)
majoukoufu - Sunshine Challenge 2025, #1
starfleetbrat - Sunshine Revival Challenge 2
vriddy - New Wind Breaker fic: Silent Killers (Hiiragi, Suou) + some writing non-updates
kalloway - Tiny Plastic Souls
seleneheart - Sunshine Revival Challenge #2
lassarina - Second Quarter and June Goals Wrap up
seleneheart - Letter for RareMaleSlash Creator
marinehaddock - Changelog July 5th
althea_valara - Sunshine Revival #2: What do you love? (it's totally the twins)
kalloway - Monthly Roundup Returns
starfleetbrat - Sunshine Revival Challenge 1
vriddy - Community Thursday
lassarina - What Are You Playing Wednesday
althea_valara - Sunshine Revival #1 (aka, I like journal challenges)
kalloway - M-T-W
althea_valara - Crafting Update, May and June 2025
guildrone - Hear Ye, Hear Me | Minilogues #3 (Sunshine Revival Challenge #1)
starfleetbrat - Cold

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