stuff done: Friday-Sunday

1. Finished unpacking and put my empty luggage away.

2. Scheduled calls with Cat and Susan.

3. Called Vicky to chat about writing and general life stuff. There may be project news at some point in the future... *mysterious smile*

4. Bought groceries.

5. Boiled eight eggs.

6. Watered my houseplants.

7. Took kitchen compost to communal bin.

8. Checked up on my back porch vegetable garden, photographed them, rearranged them, and got rid of about half a million fallen mulberries and mulberry seedlings. (The last I have to do daily. I will be SO HAPPY when all the mulberries are gone for the year.)

9. Made some gardening posts.

10. Attended church and chatted briefly with the DRE. We ended up not actually meeting-meeting, since she's had some major life chaos this past week which will continue for the foreseeable future, but we have agreed to an email exchange on Thursday and we'll see what happens from there.

11. Changed linens.

12. TOOK A NAP.

13. Took recycling bins to curb for pickup.

14. Called Cat and chatted for about three hours, wow, where DID the time go???

And now I should really get to bed so I will be more awake tomorrow. :)

DVD Commentary: Cardcaptor Uhura

For rosaxx50, for the Fic DVD Commentary Meme (which is still open, fyi!)

I wrote this ficlet in response to a prompt from sablin27: Can I use the wild card on: Uhura, Spock and Gaila chase friendly but flighty magical cards (a la Card Captor Sakura)?

This was a little tricky in that I have never read nor watched Cardcaptor Sakura (though I have read several volumes of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, because obviously one should read the weird AU remix before reading the original *headdesk*), but I have picked up enough via general fannish osmosis that I figured I could manage a short ficlet. Which I did. :)

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Cardcaptor Uhura: Nyota Uhura occasionally regrets her sense of responsibility, particularly when the magical cards she accidentally released onto Starfleet Academy campus get in the way of her classes. Fortunately (or unfortunately), Gaila and Spock make sure she never misses a crisis. (900 words)

So the title is nothing but a literal and factual description of the story concept, but I couldn't not because of the syllabic/phonetic similarities between 'Uhura' and 'Sakura'. Which is also why this is not called "Cardcaptor Nyota," even though I only call Uhura by her first name in the story text, since we are in her POV.

( Cardcaptor Uhura, with commentary )

And I think that's pretty much everything!

DVD Commentary: The Law of Conservation of Mangrit

For othercat, for the Fic DVD Commentary Meme.

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The Law of Conservation of Mangrit: It starts out ironically, of course, but by the time Dave's wearing a corset and a swanky evening dress and Terezi's in a three-piece suit, Jade wants nothing more than to get them both into bed as soon as possible. (15,300 words)

Note: This is the fic that for a very long time was known only as "untitled Jade/Dave/Terezi crossdressing porn." And by a very long time, I mean I started writing it back in August 2012. (Yes, really.) That means it's based on canon that has since been drastically altered.

I think the best way to handle that issue is to say that "The Law of Conservation of Mangrit" is a retroactive AU based on the Game Over timeline, with the assumption that the actual Game Over events didn't spin so irretrievably out of control and the players were therefore able to win without Terezi using John to retcon anything. So Davesprite and John lived through all three years of the Yellow Yard and the meteor road trip was miserable for everyone involved. As for why Terezi is blind again, I assume she burned her sight out heroically saving somebody from something -- because of narrative echoes and significant choices and stuff -- and this time even if anyone offered to heal her, she said no.

Thank you to MadameHardy and missvgc for beta reading!

Some further background information! I started writing this fic because of the following kinkmeme prompt: I'd like to see a character of your choosing present as a different gender than they identify as, because they and their partner(s) think it's hot. I'm not really looking for trans!fic here (though that's awesome!), and I don't want them being shamed over either their gender identity or their play. So, for example:

Maybe sometimes Roxy likes to put on a suit and fedora and peg Dirk until he begs her to let him come.

Maybe John thinks it's really hot for Karkat to wear falsies and lacy underthings while he fucks his nook and calls him his loving wife.

Maybe Nepeta likes to switch between presenting as male or female between sexual encounters, and Terezi loves never knowing what she's going to get in the sack.

Would love to see focus on details like how the character dresses/gets ready to present a different gender (possibly with partner helping them?) as well as how that plays out in sexy times (i.e. gendered behavior re: topping, if that'd be a thing for your characters, or how non-hermaphroditic characters make up for having only male or female genitals, etc.).

By the time I finished, nearly three years had passed and I felt I'd veered too far from the prompt to post this as a response, but that was the inspiration.

( The Law of Conservation of Mangrit, with commentary )

I hope that was of some interest. :)

DVD Commentary: The Courting Dance, chapter 7

For bluejayfic, for the Fic DVD Commentary Meme (which is still open, fyi!)

The Courting Dance: Marriage is a bit more complicated than quarreling and making it up again, especially for the crown prince of Archenland and an exiled Calormene Tarkheena. (21,000 words)

Chapter 7 - The Beating of Our Hearts: Running from your problems is rarely a good long-term solution, but sometimes the change in environment can be helpful -- especially now that Aravis and Cor are on the same page. (1,600 words)

As bluejayfic's ask mentioned, this chapter is the one with the wedding scene. What was I thinking, putting the wedding halfway through the story? Well, I was thinking that the plot is as much about politics and worldbuilding as it is about romance, and the wedding is a major symbol of Aravis and Cor deciding to commit to each other despite various obstacles. Also, while it resolves their interpersonal problems, it doesn't resolve their external problems at all -- in fact, it makes some of them worse. So I figured it would make a good central turning point, where we switch from Aravis and Cor being pissed off at each other to standing back-to-back against the world.

( Chapter 7 - The Beating of Our Hearts, with commentary )

And that is pretty much that. :)