redbird | Network

Waiting for mail after a federal holiday is a study in impatience and adjusting expectations. There's a lot of frustration on waiting for luxuries in ways there wouldn't be if I was waiting for necessities, most of it fairly minor and petty. On the flip side, it's fairly easy to distract myself and move on for a little while, at which point there's other things needing my attention.

In other sources of anticipation, it's apparently going to snow sometime tonight and through the morning, and it'll be the first snowfall of the year. With that, the waiting is still from human hands, but much less directly than the networks and supply chains that make up the post office - though it's still got me restless over something I'm very much looking forward to.

Current Mood: restless
Current Music: nothing now

Title: 'Fair Flower'
Fandom: Original Fiction
Rating: PG-13 (Warnings for brief vampiric violence, home invasion, and hypnosis)
Notes: Crossposted to

emotion100 and

drabble_zone. Using the following challenges: 356: Double/Triple Drabbles; 458: Blood; 451: Work of Art; 437: Flower; 425: Divenire; 411: Obsession; 409: Fallen; 394: Savior; 384: Permission; 388: Nobility; 165: Content; 135: Greed; 149: Electric; 137: Escape; 116: Flame; 136: Erase; 118: Scar; 311: Guest; 296: Return; 69: Delicious; 67: Empty; 47: Shadow; 43: Touch; 328: Invite; 79: Promise; 144: Ache. And I'm afraid I wasn't able to pare it down without potentially butchering the storyline. So, uh...you got a double double drabble? [Also, contrary to the tags, I did not use 46: Fever, but I'm not able to remove it without Dreamwidth giving me an error message.]

( Fair Flower )

I made this today. Now I regret all the leftover mashed potatoes that I've tossed in the past. If you have leftover spuds, this is well worth considering.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: accomplished

Tags:

food,
recipe

So to combat the general feelings that we're rapidly heading into he'll in a handbasket I'm attempting December's 31 days of gratitude challenge.

Pretty simple rules:

Commit to writing in a gratitude journal daily for 31 days in December. Just 5-10 minutes each day listing what you're thankful for can transform your mindset, improve relationships, and boost happiness. No special skills needed — just a notebook and willingness to appreciate life.

* Write Daily: spend 5-10 minutes writing 3-5 things you're grateful for each day.

* Be Specific: instead of "I'm grateful for my family," write "I'm grateful for my sister's encouraging text today."

* Feel It: don't just list items - truly connect with the feeling of gratitude as you write.

* Mix It Up: include big things and small moments, people, experiences, and personal qualities.

* By hand: write it in a dedicated journal or on a piece of paper by hand. The physical act of writing is important here.

Tags:

31 days of gratitude

https://thistle-chaser.livejournal.com/1786767.html

Lara's Gift by Annemarie O'Brien.

Quick synopsis: Set in Russia in the early 1900s, Lara wants to take over her family's profession (breeding Borzoi dogs), but alas she's a girl.

Brief opinion: I'm not sure this book knew what it wanted to be. On one hand, it was a realistic look at the time period and the dog breed. On the other, Lara had psychic visions of the future, which apparently ran in her family. The dogs also tended to act too human.

Plot: Since Lara's father had no sons, he is teaching her everything she needs to know to breed, raise, and train Borzoi dogs. Then when Lara's mother gives birth to a boy, Lara is tossed to the side.

Through the story, wolves are a constant evil threat. (Like the dogs, they had too many human traits for my liking.)

In a rather fast ending, Lara's father does a 180 on all aspects of everything and Lara's dreams come true.

Writing/editing: Other than the frequent use of Russian words, the writing and editing were fine. There was a glossary of words at the end of the story, but that wasn't much use when you're reading on an ereader. (The glossary didn't even appear in the table of contents.)

What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like: Unfortunately there's a lot I did not like about this story and nothing I did.

- The whole psychic vision subplot completely did not work for me at all.
- Some of the Russian words I could pick up from context, but all in all they were frequent, frustrating speed bumps while reading.
- The dogs (and wolves) were way too human. Like a male dog being proud as the female he mated with gave birth. Dogs strutted in pride, threw out their chests, etc.
- While I understand that during this time period wolves would be a threat, the whole "evil wolf" thing got to be a bit much.
- The entire story just wasn't any fun to me and I didn't believe most of the plot.

Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved: ⭐️⭐️ - Disliked.

---

I'm re-listening to the Dungeon Crawler Carl book series. I'm not sure about counting audiobooks in my count for the year, let alone re-listens, but for this year I'll keep doing it.

#95: Carl's Doomsday Scenario
#96: The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
#97: The Gate of the Feral Gods

https://thistle-chaser.livejournal.com/1786767.html

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Tags:

meme

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Monday, December 01, to midnight on Tuesday, December 02. (8pm Eastern Time).

Poll #33901 Daily Check-in

Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 10

How are you doing?

I am OK.
8 (80.0%)

I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
2 (20.0%)

I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single.
6 (60.0%)

One other person.
3 (30.0%)

More than one other person.
1 (10.0%)

Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.

Tags:

daily

I just noticed that three of the four screenwriters for ClaireBell also worked on Petrichor. I think they leveled up and/or had much better guidance from the showrunners, because ClaireBell feels cohesive in a way that Petrichor didn't, imho. Although going by the documentary, it sounds like Ter (one of the showrunners) also worked on the script.

Tags:

the initial reactions to the show have been so fascinating... i remember in one interview jacob tierney was like i'm not too worried about marketing the story to men because gay men will literally watch anything and i was like ok wow what a condescending bitch, speak for yourself, but now every time i open twitter i am immediately hit with a 4k gif from a twitter gay who can't shut up about cstorrie's ass. like Okay Fair

also i feel like... yes people have no couth and we should be classy about this sort of thing and i genuinely don't care if a straight man wants to cosplay omega bottom, but also i roll my eyes when everyone is like omgggg don't turn this into a kit connor situation when anyone gets even a tiny bit nosy with it because like poor kit was a little 18 year old baby on a cutesy ya show when he was forced to come out while connor is a 25 year old man with an extensive gay digital footprint who couldn't be faggier if he tried. and THAT'S FINE! it's a beautiful thing to be an alternative LA bottom terrorizing grindr and taking on gay sports roles! why does it need to be a thing. #letmenbegay #letusacknowledgegaymen

i really do think their personal archetypes are sooo funny because they're almost parodies of themselves. hudson is just a run-of-the-mill pretentious artsy korean-canadian straight raver theater kid from van, which i think is rather funny even if his friendship with connor is ultimately quite sweet. the fuckass fujo layers of being his gf and doing matching sex sells tattoos on his and his gay co-star's thighs... lmfao. meanwhile connor is like, the funniest gay boy to ever exist, he's just classic socal gbf who clearly romanticizes non-american culture sooo badly because he thinks being from texas is kind of stale and boring and he wants to experience Haute Classe european debauchery. i like that they clearly are comfortable with each other and with intimacy in general and it is endearing that hudson is all like Connor is a sensitive baby flower and if you're not nice to him i will kill you

anyway, my assessment is that ultimately i do quite enjoy their performances and their overall casting in the show. i think connor especially knocks it out of the park and is clearly the stronger actor between the two of them, which Is What It Is, in terms of line delivery/effortless body language and also obviously accent work, not that hudson really had to work with anything there. my gripe with hudson is that i do feel like his delivery falls flat at times EVEN with the consideration that shane is supposed to be awkward, repressed, neurotic, autistic etc. but i don't even know how much is through his own interpretation and how much is explicitly directed by jacob, because they've joked about jacob always telling him to change things in the bts and it's kind of like hmmm well ok. like wait i actually do want to see what a nervous tic would have looked like on shane bring on the bloopers so i can analyze LOL.

what i will say is hudson has some very strong microexpression work and that it helps that their chemistry is fairly solid. he's great at surfacing shane's internal turmoil which obviously we lack direct access to in a narration-less show. and sometimes the stilted delivery Does work in a very like ohhh okay so there's a weird 22 year old canadian here, but sometimes i don't think it hits the mark he's aiming for. not that big of a deal though. also it is funny that people are like why does the show have so many d/s overtones but if you crossref the dialogue in the book it's the same... you're just bewitched by shane's omega eyes and das ok.

the pacing especially with only having 2 episodes out right now does suffer because of how fleeting their encounters are in the first half of the book, although obviously this will inevitably slow down now that we're reaching the core emotional development of their relationship, and i have high hopes for ep5-6 and will be sharing strong words if my expectations are not met... again mostly i am enjoying myself within the extent of the clear, slightly-low expectations i set for the show from the get go. also i think jt did shoehorn the racial aspect a little bit but i respect that like, this is in the context of late 2000s mtl media, and that ultimately making yuna a bit of an overbearing momager does help flesh out his relationship with his family more.

it is quite interesting that he cut out the early year hookups and repurposed a lot of dialogue differently to lend more weight to their first time in the mtl apartment. i did love the back-and-forth of the sexting scene and the way they demonstrated ilya's affection for shane's earnestness and that they're clearly building up ilya's rapport with marlow as his best friend on the team so that the concussion scene has more weight. jt is also playing a lot more with them getting Clocked by their friends/acquaintances (scott + svetlana) and i'm curious to see whether that awareness bleeds into scott's episode or if it'll just be the straightforward skip storyline interspersed between hollanov moments (or no hollanov at all? also possible).

current timeline

episode 1 - part 1, starts in 2008 and ends with 2011 awards, except they don't have their first time in the initial mtl hotel hookup
episode 2 - part 2, starts in late 2013 and ends with ilya winning the cup and 2014 awards

part 3 is the longest in the book so i wonder how much time will be devoted to it. the problem is that scott's storyline begins in 2017, but tuna melt/ilya's penthouse scene is at the beginning of part 3 and takes place in 2016 and will most likely be in episode 4 going off promo... so idk how they're going to do this.

predictions ???

episode 3 - probably straightforward skip episode with scott seeing kip at the gala, freaking da fuck out in da car, the sex scene in his apartment etc. (the remaining clips in the trailer). idk whether they're going to cliffhang on kip being frustrated with their relationship and then leave the cup scene for ep5 ending lmfao. i can see some scott & shane awareness stuff being woven in from how jt has set up scott's character but that could also just be because it was easier to use him as a stand-in in tv

episode 4 - part 3, late 2016 to early 2017, penthouse scene + meeting rose + club scene + florida asg + semi-confession + possible cliffhanger for ilya going home. they'll probably put in more solo scenes of family stuff with ilya to drive home his father's illness and the pressure he's under

episode 5 - rest of part 3, early 2017 to summer 2017, ilya in russia, calling shane and confessing to him under the bridge (clip from the trailer), skype sex, marlow hit + concussion/hospital scene, cottage Negotiations and scott coming out

episode 6 - 100 million thousand Sexies at the cottage. loon scene. david walking in on them. ottawa. you know the rest

looking at it this way it seems pretty straightforward and i actually think there might not be any hollanov at all in ep3 other than ilya stirring shit in his game changer moments. hmmm. but it does seem like jt followed the book structure pretty closely and the timelines match up conveniently. also i hope they include the epilogue in episode 6 :') anyway we shall be observing and experiencing.

Upstairs neighbors are noisy. So are my sons. I am using this to drown out both! It's a good channel if you like no-lyrics background music.

Watch on YouTube

Tags:

music monday

Wishing everyone a happy December!

I have definitely shifted to Xmas mode. Here's the first card I made yesterday:

Tags:

advent

hoatzin [hoh-at-sin, waht-sin]

noun
a blue-faced, crested bird, Opisthocomus hoazin, of the Amazon and Orinoco forests, having as a nestling a large, temporary claw on the second and third digits of the forelimb, for climbing among the tree branches.

examples
After another bird-filled stop, where we saw our first turkey-like hoatzin — whose ungainly size and clumsy movements made us all laugh — we were transferred into two smaller canoes. "Bears, Binoculars, and Bucket Lists: 15 days Birding in Ecuador." New York Times. 26 April 2023.

Conserving the Amazon's vast rainforests protects the planet and helps ensure that jaguars, hoatzins, and all forest dwellers have a home now and into the future. WWF calendar - November 2026

origin
1655–65; ≪ Nahuatl huāctzīn, huāhtzīn name for several hen-sized birds of the Valley of Mexico, apparently applied indiscriminately by early naturalists to similar New World birds

Tags:

AO3 Link | To Find A New Hope (3216 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Female Character(s), Asajj Ventress, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, Aayla Secura, CC-5052 | Bly, Original Male Character(s)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Episode: s02e21-22 Twilight of the Apprentice
Summary:

When Pel has a vision, and shares it with Atin, she gets to do the legwork.

To Find A New Hope

"Pel," Atin muttered, "if your first Force Vision gets me kidnapped by a Hutt, I'm naming Kifra my best friend." The Kel Dor was nowhere to hear that threat, as Atin tried to figure out how in kriff she was supposed to find one karking kid in the middle of the desert.

Her buir'e were probably going to wish she was old enough to one on one, no matter what. Yes, she had gone to her spirit-mother for training. It wasn't her fault Pel had dragged her, and possibly Kifra, into a long-distance Force Vision. As he, so recently settled in that gender, couldn't leave Dorin, she had to do the leg work. And she wasn't alone.

"Why in all the galaxy does it have to be here?" Asajj hissed.

"You know as much as I do, and I did say you didn't have to come with me," Atin answered as levelly as possible. "Now, how do we find this kid Pel saw?"

"I presume it has to do with the Force, so you will seek, and I will guard you," Asajj said with more patience. Atin did not smile, but she knew full and well that Asajj loved her and saw Atin as an heiress — now that Mother was missing.

Atin shoved that off, and looked around the outskirts of what passed as a city… and beckoned Asajj back up into the ship. They had enough supplies and fuel; Atin would park them away from this life-sucking void to have a better chance of catching any Force wisps.

Three things happened almost as one. Atin was prepping to set them down outside a moisture farm's boundaries, Arseven found something in the 'droid-net that made him wary, and Asajj hissed in a breath as her eyes went unerringly to the horizon, not the farm.

"No, not here, not yet," Asajj snapped. "That way, go," she demanded.

While this was technically Atin's mission to complete, she had no reason to deny her spirit-mother's instincts, and did low-atmo flight in the direction she'd been given.

And, once she was out of sight of the sun-strong Force signature at the farm, she felt the secondary, lighter one that Asajj must have latched onto. What even was this going to be, when Tatooine was not exactly on the galactic map for 'famous Force users'.

"Arseven, what is it you found?"

[R2-D2 entry, specific to geo-location. Details redacted, deduce R2-D2 located there once, at minimum.]

That… that was very unexpected. Arseven had extensive memories, and kept the pulse of the 'droid-net for Atin's family, with its labyrinthine levels of access. Granted, the one Arseven could access had been hastily walled off, protected by those droids that had maintained their memories and allegiance to the Republic, but anywhere that droid might have been was a possible location in Skywalker's or Amidala's past.

And there was someone with the Force there, almost blinding to Atin when she looked with that awareness.

"Pel, I am putting a stink bomb in your quarters," she muttered before telling Asajj what Arseven had said. The Dathomiri frowned, then gave a sharp nod.

"I must be right then, about what is ahead."

Asajj held back — this was her heiress's quest — but remained where she could see events unfold. Atin had, at her suggestion, dropped some of her shielding. Asajj didn't think this particular Jedi would harm the girl, yet she was ready to throw a Force Choke to protect the girl, if the man had gone insane.

Ahsoka had mentioned ones she had found, driven insane by the genocide of their people.

She wasn't prepared to see a man that looked twice the age he should coming out of the hovel to see who had parked a scout ship beside his bantha herd. It was one more point toward that karking anooba on the Emperor's leash really being Skywalker. If she had only managed to kill him at Yavin…

"Hello there," came the voice she easily recognized, and the Force felt cautious but not hostile around him. With that, she did emerge.

"Now, Kenobi, don't go flirting with the child," she purred, pleased when his eyes went large and he reached toward his belt. "Especially not when she is of your line."

"All I did was say 'hello', Ventress," Kenobi answered, forcing himself to a less battle-ready stance.

"This is General Kenobi? He looks older than any of my uncles," Atin said, adding more confusion to the mix, and making Asajj laugh.

"Redheads shouldn't live under dual suns; I'd be glad to offer you much better places to lay your head, my dear old nemesis."

"I'm very certain my answer to that is 'no'," Kenobi said, before taking his eyes back to Atin.

"Good," Atin said. "As I'm not sure I'd want you anywhere near my other clan."

Asajj wondered at that, curious what was setting her heiress firmly against this man of her past.

"I'm sorry, but perhaps introductions are in order," Kenobi said. "At least for my sake?"

"Atin Tano."

Asajj's earlier words, those clone-dark eyes, plus the name all were hammering at Kenobi, and she could see it, despite the man's attempt to sweep the emotions away.

"My fair skin cannot endure these suns; do invite us in, my dear Kenobi?" Asajj said, and he helplessly turned to lead them in, a gesture that left it up to them to follow.

Obi-Wan settled his former enemy — who was remarkably pleasant — and the hostile stranger that seemed to be his grand-padawan's kin with an eye to defusing whatever had brought them here.

"Kenobi," Asajj began, "this began with my student's Force Vision, but I noted your presence, and decided that perhaps you could enlighten us as to the blazing Force Beacon not so far from here?"

Atin seemed content with that question, but her eyes, so like Co — he cut that off — bored holes into him for his answer.

"He was brought here to escape the Purge," Kenobi said, a truth, but not all of it.

"Because of Vader?" Atin accused immediately, and he could not, quite, keep from flinching, leading to her using some choice words in at least three languages.

Asajj rested a hand on her shoulder, and the girl, no older than Ahsoka at Christophsis, Obi-Wan thought, settled.

"The point stands, Kenobi. If the not-so hidden one belongs to either the gundark or that senator woman, and a Vision has been had, he is likely no longer safe here."

Obi-Wan blinked; how could Asajj know not only that Vader was Anakin, but who the mother would be?!

"Oh please. Do you think Atin is my student by chance?" Asajj purred. "Ahsoka paid a visit to me after the confirmation, so that she could enlist my aid to better protect Atin until Atin was fully trained in her ways.

"And the funeral was obviously of a pregnant woman. Deception in that would be needed, hmm, if she had been suspected to be carrying a child?"

"How was it confirmed?" he asked, instead of answering anything.

"I was taken, when I was very small, and my parents had to rescue me," Atin said. "The fact he took me instead of outright killing me planted the idea." She glared at him. "She was out there fighting still. Had been fighting since she was only a little older than me now… and you're on this sun-scorched rock with a sitting target."

Obi-Wan closed his eyes at the accusation in her words. "I thought I needed to guard the last hope of the Jedi. Your mother was — always — in the midst of the men. I could not fathom that she had survived when so many died."

Asajj made an indelicate noise at that. "You never could see the full potential in her," she scoffed. "But, admittedly, she was aided by that captain of hers."

Atin flashed her sharper than human teeth in a smile at those words. "Fives was right," the girl told Obi-Wan, and he had to shuffle through his memories, so far back, before going pale with shock. "My uncles were used by making them flesh-droids in truth. My buir'e have stolen back the ones they could."

"I… that is much to digest," Obi-Wan said, as the memory of the men becoming nothing more than uniform spots of malevolence returned to him. "You said… 'was'?" he asked in a gentle tone.

"She's not dead," from Asajj overlapped "She disappeared," out of Atin's mouth.

"After facing Vader on Malachor," Atin continued. "The other former Jedi involved refused to give me the coordinates, but Arseven got it out of their droid."

"We went, she and I, but could not find Ahsoka," Asajj finished. "I sought for her spirit in the Force, but it is not there." She then glanced over into a corner. "Unlike the one sharing your abode."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow.

Atin snorted. "It's a little trick from Asajj's tradition. The dead can be useful sometimes."

"So they can be," Obi-Wan agreed, having learned more from Qui-Gon Jinn during his exile. "Back to my reason for being here, it has not changed. I … will have to find a way to cloak him."

"Kenobi, don't be an idiot. If the boy has been revealed to a more distantly connected Force user, do you really think the gundark won't feel it soon?"

"This planet is a shield of its own," Obi-Wan said weakly.

"No, no it's not, and you're endangering my cousin," Atin growled.

How had she decided on that tack? No, Ahsoka had claimed Anakin as 'brother', so in one way it made sense. In all others, given her own confession of abduction, and Vader likely being responsible for Ahsoka's loss, it did not.

Togruta, vod'e, and clan — they never used logic for naming kin ties.

"I have nowhere else to take him."

"Spirit-mother?" Atin asked, maybe implored, and Asajj set her jaw firmly.

"Kenobi, give me your hands," Asajj said, reaching out. "I may not like most of the main clan she lives with, but I will not allow Sithly manipulations to harm them for hers, and Ahsoka's, sake."

"I'm sorry, but weren't you a Sith's disciple?" Obi-Wan asked to cover just how uneasy he was.

"Bah. I am a Night Sister, and those days were long gone even before I helped my pet deliver her child."

Atin laughed, sharp and short. "Do you want me to call you 'harpy' since she's not here to do it?"

It was Asajj's affectionate yet sad smile at the girl that made Obi-Wan actually reach for the hands, to prove he was safe, even if he thought there was no way he would go wherever Atin lived.

Asajj had been certain Kenobi was free of the Sithly traps — there had been residue, but Kenobi had dealt with it. Then came the negotiation with the farmers, which had taken right up until Luke found out the Empire might kill his family when they came hunting.

Atin had set the long course, dropping Asajj back on Dathomir. Luke was so unshielded that he could feel the planet before they even grounded for her to leave.

Now, having made certain neither of them were present as she set her course, she had time in hyperspace to actually talk to the pair without Asajj needling the Jedi relic.

"No, you can't know where we're going," she answered Luke's first question, then looked at Kenobi. "You're not the only jetii to survive."

"Obviously your mother," he began, but she shook her head.

"I meant of your Order. She was not, remember?" When the man flushed she continued. "Buir made her promise to not leave us, those that were rescued, us kids, because someone had to teach the useful bits to me and my sibs."

"Her," Kenobi murmured, considering. "And you are warning me because there is a connection?"

"Yes. I've heard a few stories about Kenobi-and-Vos as I grew up."

That rattled the Jedi pretty hard. "Master Saa or Master Secura?" he asked once he had his equilibrium back, well-aware that Luke was listening — and feeling in the Force — to all the emotions.

"Mama Aayla," Atin said. "Bly was in physical contact with her when the order hit, and that gave him just enough to stun her instead of kill, though he hunted her after, knowing she wasn't dead. But his chip was malfunctioning, and she was able to snap the thing with the Force, to free him."

"Chip? Like the ones in the slaves?" Luke asked, giving Kenobi time to digest the revelation.

"Huttese chips just explode," Atin said bitterly. "Death would be preferable to ones that made you mindless flesh-droids who killed those they were supposed to protect."

Luke blanched, then nodded. "Yeah… rescued?"

"It started with my mother and her captain, figuring out how to neutralize the chips, how to work the men past their trauma. I'm told they weren't always able, very early on. Then giving them a choice to settle in Sanctuary, which is the name of where we are going," she said, knowing it wouldn't tell them where in the galaxy it was. Granted, if Pel came up, Kenobi would guess, but that would be after Aayla and Wolffe decided the threat level. "The other half of the choice was to join the Rebellion. Some did.

"But no one holds it against the ones that chose living free and safe."

"Your mother helped in the Rebellion I take it?" Kenobi asked.

"My mother helped build it, shape it, guide it." Atin sat tall in her chair. "She was learning every Force trick she could, freeing my uncles, and recruiting on both sides of the Separatist line to fight the Empire."

Kenobi met her eyes on that, and stroked his beard a moment. "She was one of the best and brightest," he said, "and the Order did so very wrong by her."

That … Atin hadn't expected that. She could accept it, could move past her lingering antipathy to this man.

Obi-Wan had watched Luke's openness actually win the girl over. He was rather glad Luke hadn't actually picked up on the girl being younger, given how driven Atin was, especially in teaching Luke the most basic Force shielding for polite company among other users.

He was awakened by them coming out of hyperspace, but per their agreement, made no attempt to leave the cabin he shared with Luke, a narrow space with two bunks and storage beneath them, looking over as his ward noticed the change and awakened.

"We're out of hyperspace. Atin will be landing us, no doubt, as she has not put us into a new jump," Obi-Wan said.

"Do we always notice it?"

"Long time spacers do. Those who grew up in space will. And Force users, as the fullness of the feeling of being surrounded is somewhat muted in hyperspace."

"Good to know."

A short time later, the ship was definitely landed, and Obi-Wan waited for the word to get out.

That came when the astromech, Arseven, came and opened their door to lead them out.

"I suppose she went ahead to warn the others," Obi-Wan said.

"It feels… light. Warm? Soothing," Luke said, measuring his awareness around him as Obi-Wan and Atin had been teaching.

"If it is a refuge for those wronged by the war, I suppose it would," Obi-Wan said, not willing to reach out like that, to feel the betrayal of the men, of their grief for the Jedi. He and Luke followed Arseven, and were led into a docking bay that only held one other ship at present, a beat up single-man Aether-Sprite.

Ahead of them was a clone with gold bars on his cheeks, and beside him, a blue Twi'lek that Obi-Wan had seen grow from foundling to Master. Atin was off to the side, kneeling down in a deep hug with a Twi'leki girl still in the dainty stage of true childhood.

"Master Kenobi," the woman said in a calm, measured tone.

"Can we dispense with titles, my old friend?" Obi-Wan asked, and then she was in motion, prompting him to meet her. The hug, he had to admit, felt very good to his worn and frayed spirit.

"Obi-Wan," she murmured.

"Aayla," he answered her, before stepping back a little and looking at the clone. "Bly." It was so complicated in his heart. Could Cody have resisted if the order had come while they were together?

"Obi-Wan," Bly replied. "Rex and Wolffe will probably slip for General, but you remember how they were."

"Luke, come with us," Atin called. "We'll get your things later, but I want you to meet my little sister, and we'll show you where we live."

"Okay."

Once the trio were departed, Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "Sister?"

Bly actually chuckled, while Aayla linked an arm around Obi-Wan's to be his guide. "Clan remains fluid, and need not have blood, though technically speaking, they are half-sisters," she said with a smile. "Kifra, our daughter. They have another sibling, who is fully by spirit, and also vod to all of the men, but you will not be meeting him just yet.

"Rex is off-world, helping the Rebels at present. And while we are not pleased at Atin's decision to take such risks while she was away training, we are pleased to welcome you, and your ward."

"How much did she tell you?"

"All of it. And we will do what we can to help Amidala's son protect himself, we promise."

"For now," Bly said quietly, "you are to follow our standard care routine for a survivor of the war."

"I have had — "

"No one with whom you could work it out, you only just learned what happened to us, and I know our ad is as diplomatic as a rancor," Bly said, cutting him off. "I love Atin dearly, but she has her mother's stubborn and bluntness down to a fine art."

"I think our Captain gets some of that blame," Aayla said with impish humor. "But he does tend to phrase it better."

Obi-Wan took a deep breath. If Aayla could learn to smile, after all she had been through, he would try their way. Even the Force thought this was for the better, and that helped him relax into their care even further.

~So he is there, and another Jedi of Father's extended clan,~ Pel recapped from the long mental conference with Atin and Kifra.

~Yes, but we have not mentioned we are in the Dorin system or who you are. Might piece it together, but I wanted our parents to get a feel for the Jedi first.~

~Of course. I know all of you will help Luke build the basics. And then, when Mama Aayla says, I will come to help with the mental side of it.~

~Alright. I don't know where your vision will lead us, Pel, but… I think something shifted.~

~So the Sages believe,~ he assured her. ~Sleep well, my sisters.~

~You too,~ Kifra said, before shifting to be more comfortable in the bed with her big sister. "It has to get better, right?"

"We're going to try hard for that," Atin promised her, closing her eyes. She just wished her mother could be here to help them, as always.

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Okay! Holiday wishlist time! (Somehow, it is already that time of the year again, OTL.)

Fandom Tree gifts. Find my Fandom Tree here. I'm asking for fics, icons, art and podfic. The fandoms I've requested are f:9-1-1/9-1-1 lone star, f:abo desire, f:all for the game, f:black adam, f:collector movies, f:dc comics, f:devil wears prada, f:dune, f:even if i fall into a ghost story i st, f:eye candy, f:meet you at the blossom, f:outlast, f:strangers from hell, f:the attic. Honestly, any of my requested mediums would be so fun! :D

Comments on my fics. I write a lot of rare pairs/small fandoms, so the comments are usually pretty slim pickings. Any and all comments would be deeply appreciated! <3

Dreamwidth Points/Paid Account Time. My Paid Account expires at the end of January, and not gonna lie, I've been over budget pretty much every month this year. I love my icons (some of which are fabulous gifts that I adore) and don't want to lose access to them. So even the minimum amount of points/months would be absolutely amazing!

Bookbinding material. As you might be aware, I've been getting into bookbinding this year! (I'm actually writing this post while taking a break from working on my fanbinding of The Gold-gilt Path by khthonicEcho, which is my first fanbind that isn't a simple single-signature pamphlet.)

Problem, there is so much stuff to acquire.

I've gotten the bare basics (this is part of the reason I broke my budget so much, ngl), but things like cool endpapers, pretty paper for the exterior of the book, and of course, bookbinding cloth, are all on the wishlist. (Fair warning, as I'm very new to this, I can't attest to the quality of any of them, or that it is precisely what I need. Especially with the papers, I'm not certain the ideal thickness for the different uses. So I'm just kind of muddling ahead.)

I've been having so much fun with bookbinding. I have a whole spreadsheet of fics I wanna bind! So you can find my bookbinding material wishlist here on Throne. Material for bookbinding would be so delightful! (Throne is basically an amazon wishlist, but more private so it doesn't give away my address. I'm very Internet Stranger Danger paranoid, which is the big reason I'm not posting this to holiday_wishes.)

Books. Obviously, there's books on the wishlist. This list is also on Throne! I think if there weren't any books on it, I'd be dead. Or in a coma. I'm always going to want books 😅

There are a couple of different books on the list, but they're all gay. They're also all books that are on my 'to buy' list (which is going to take forever to make my way down, lmao), so I'm very interested in all of them. I've read all the authors before, so I'm reasonably certain I'll enjoy them :D

The other reason my budget took a nosedive this year is because, when Amazon messed with the ability to download ebooks, I made the decision to no longer buy anything on kindle. However, I read a lot of indie MM romances from authors that only publish on Amazon. (KU isn't available in my region.)

I get why they do this, but it does mean I'm forced to shell out potentially significantly more money for a paperback, as opposed to if I just got the ebook. I don't necessarily regret this, though I did also have to buy a new bookcase this year. ...That's probably not related.

Anyway! So books. I love books, I love gay books, and I have a deeply profound urge to Own All the Self-Indulgent Gay Romance Books(TM). That's probably not very realistic unless I suddenly become immortal, but one can always hope! So anything from my book wishlist would be so lovely. <333

And... I think that might be everything. Is that everything? DW Points, fandomtrees, books, bookbinding material, comments...

Oooooh, okay, I thought of one more! (It's low-key funny I almost forgot this, it's been slipping my mind so much, lmao.)

Buy/gift my book to somebody. You might be aware that I wrote and published a book this summer. It's only available as an ebook on Amazon/in KU, which is like the exact same thing I just complained about. In my defense... I didn't have the energy to publish it wide, so I just stuck it in KDP Select, and now that it's there I don't have the energy to mess with that. I'll try to put up a paperback at some point --- I've honestly just been forgetting it, lol. (Also in my defense, I've just been forgetting a lot of things this year.)

And that really is everything! I'm pretty sure, anyway. I'm gonna return to my bookbinding now. I'm trying to cut a cardboard for the cover, and oh boy, it is so hard with just a cutting knife. But I shall prevail!

Happy Holidays, everyone! <3

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dialecticdreamer is running a prompt call all month in December! Leave prompts, get ficlets. \o/ MOAR GOODEEZ for everyone!

This whole month I hope to fill with prompted stories, to celebrate my lovely readers and surviving the first quarter of the twenty-first century. It’s been jam-packed with crises and chaos, hasn’t it? Time to take a story break… or thirty.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

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My brother has now been the coach of many a Let's Get Rid Of This Shit sessions. He's a great one for the job. Toss it is his favorite answer to every question. We have another session coming up in Janaury. I just retired some tech. It does not work well and I will never use it again but.... maybe and then I gave a very serious thought to putting it in a bag and putting it with the other stuff for bargaining power.

When he says 'Toss it' to something I want to keep, I could use it to offer up instead! But, the voice of good prevented me from finding an appropriate bag so I tossed it on my own today.

Years and years ago, my parents live in New York City. I was in college and my brother was in New England in boarding school. Mother and Daddy had moved to New York City after we all left home so coming home to the new 'home' was an extra special treat.

One time, I don't remember the occasion, but my brother and I ended up there at the same time. Mom asked us what we wanted for dinner and we both agreed fried okra would be the VERY BEST. Mother's reaction was 'oh you clowns! you can't get okra in New York City!!' 'So, if we can, will you please fry it up?' Knowing she was safe from that duty, she said 'sure'.

AND we set out. I don't remember our even having to go too far. I think it was maybe the third store we tried - a Grestedes - they had two boxes of frozen cut up okra and we GRABBED it! Not that there was competition. It was clear they had not stocked it the day/week maybe month before but we didn't care. As we stood in line there was a woman behind us eyeing our treasure and inquired with a little bit of accusation "what in the world are you going to do with that???" I wanted to say science project. I forget my brother's response but I'm sure it was even better.

Mom was kind of impressed, actually, and we had a delicious dinner.

Today, I ran into the woman in charge of special catering today and asked her about the possibility of my ordering up a giant load of fried okra sometime. "Sure, we can do that, just pop me an email when you are ready and we'll make it happen." WOOOOT!!! Mom would be jealous, I think.

Today is cloudy and cold.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a cardinal.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 12/1/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

It's snowing quite briskly now, falling almost straight down, like one of those animated holiday cards. Pretty. I wound up with snow all over my coat.

EDIT 12/1/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a mourning dove.

The snow has decreased to a light flurry.

EDIT 12/1/25 -- I've seen one female and two male cardinals plus a dark-eyed junco. I also saw the sparrows on the suet feeder. :D Didn't take them long at all to find that this year. Sometimes it takes a week or more.

EDIT 12/1/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

There was a mourning dove on the porch when I went out.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

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Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

Don't mourn, organize

December the First.

[AMNESTY: Multiple Challenges] Original Fiction: 'Fair Flower'

Recipe: "Cheesy Bacon Potato Soup"

31 days of gratitude

Book #94 of 2025: Lara's Gift | #95, #96, #97: Dungeon Crawler Carl books

love meme!

Daily Check-in

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early hr thoughts

Music Monday: Christmas Jazz

Happy December!

Word: Hoatzin

Star Wars AU

Inkvent Calendar 2025, Day 1: Celestial Skies

Fic reading stats & fanwork recs, November 2025

quillpunk's Holiday Wishlist 2026

Fanlore Monthly Editing Challenges - December

Call for Prompts

Pre-brothering

Birdfeeding

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