#150-200k

[isthequeerbookgood]

Storygraph Goodreads

Short answer: yes… Slightly longer answer: … but I didn't enjoy it

It's taken me a long time to get around to reading any Sarah Waters, mostly because I just didn't feel like I'd vibe with her books all that much. And I was right! I didn't!

Don't get me wrong, this is a well-written book. It's distinctly not a romance novel, though it does have romance in it. Romance, and quite a lot of fucking. Our story follows Nan, a simple oyster-seller's daughter, as she becomes enchanted by cross-dressing singer Kitty and follows her to the glamorous underbelly of Victorian London.

The story is vivid, the characters are complicated, interesting and alive, and the sex is impressively nasty at times. Waters does a great job of showing just how kinky the Victorians could be behind all the repression. It's a great book - so why didn't I enjoy it?

Honestly, I think it was just genre. It's a book set in the real world with realistic (albeit historical) problems. Nan makes a lot of bad choices and faces the consequences. Although I wouldn't say the story wallows, it definitely dwells in her misery, and it's a quite mundane misery. I was compelled enough to finish the book (and I genuinely really liked the ending) but the overall vibe was not for me.

Conclusion: Tipping the Velvet is Good (if you like that sort of thing)

[somefanficrecomendations]

Author Spotlight: CatSteppingOnAKeyboard!

Introducing. . . author spotlight! This post will be a roundup of my personal favorites written by this author, instead of a traditional roundup with fics by multiple authors.

Ambrosia and snake oil are sold by the same vendor The Penumbra Podcast, (multi), 180k, Humor, Action & Adventure “Twirl for me, Juno.” “I’ll do it if you close your eyes.” Nureyev takes his hand and makes Juno twirl. The rainbow skirts of a summer dress flare, a yellow cardigan snapping about him, his gold sandals flashing. The effect is of a rainbow octopus flashing its warning colors on the end of Nureyev’s arm. Nureyev catches Juno by the waist “You look splendid.” “I look like I run a mommy-blog.” “I think that’s the point, Juno.” Juno Steel is a lot of things. A happy home-maker ain't one of them, but hey, how hard can it be to play nice for a bit, especially if it means uncovering a source of the cure-mother? Except it's not that simple because nothing ever is in Juno's life. Suddenly he and his family are poised on the verge of an intergalactic conspiracy that pits Juno against old friends and enemies, while the fate of a dying species hangs in the balance. Also some furby nightmare fell out of the vents and Vespa won't let them put it back to the woods.

Ambrosia and snake oil was the best Penumbra fic I had ever read until I read The ballad of Jet Sikuliaq. The combination of action and humor, found family shenanigans, and wacky BAMF's is exactly what got me into The Penumbra Podcast, and it drew me into this fic all the same.

The ballad of Jet Sikuliaq  The Penumbra Podcast, (gen), 120k, Pre-Canon, Heists Before a certain lady detective ever met a certain nameless thief, before a certain mayor ever set a robot plague upon a certain Martian city, there were others being gay and doing crimes in space. Jet; a torn between the cool uncle he is on the inside and the ruthless, blood-thirsty, property-damaging intergalactic criminal with a wicked drug dependency he is on the outside. Buddy; the victim of his most recent bout of impulsive destruction. To compensate for what Jet has done to Buddy's reputation, Buddy recruits Jet for a singularly difficult task: either he kills her father, a notorious prison baron and jackass, or Buddy kills Jet and displays his remains over the counter of her bar next to the mechanical trout that sings 'Sweet Caroline'. Nothing goes as planned, least of all the beautiful friendship that blooms out of this unlikely allegiance.

I have a secret love for pre-canon fics and The Ballad doesn't disappoint. The ballad of Jet Sikuliaq is a quintessential heist fic with reluctant teammates, bizarre humor, and that ooey gooey found family goodness. This fic explores a brilliant depth of emotion with discussions of addiction, grief, and mental illness that are a halfway substitute for real therapy.

There are no wolves left in Ireland  Derry Girls x IT, (gen), 70k, The Power of Friendship, Biblical Horror Orla raises her hand higher. “I’ve been possessed.” Erin rolls her eyes. “No, she hasn’t, Sister Michael. Orla was iron deficient last year- she got a swimmy feeling in her head every time she stood up and she thought that was demons.” “It was demons.” says Orla, evenly. “Oh, and iron tablets made the demons go away, did they?” Her cousin shrugs and thumbs the side of her nose. “Well, I felt better after I took ‘em, didn’t I?” Another Derry, another time, same old Pennywise. Armed with friendship, faith, an encyclopedic knowledge of Catholic heresy and a pitchfork one of them got out of the garden shed, the Derry girls do battle with a clown who really should have known better than to try this shit in Northern Ireland.

This was the fic that got me into the source material. I actually read the first chapter of this fic and then put it down to watch the first episode of Derry Girls. Hilarious, horrifying, and heartwarming, this fic has it all! A definite must read, you only need the bare minimum of familiarity with Derry Girls and even less knowledge of IT to enjoy this fic.

[myfemininedivine]

Can you please tell us what ending you planned for Taste? Always wondered if stupid Eva would have come back in the last chapters and what else you planned. It's my favorite story of yours.

I’ll give a very very bad and horrible run down of the last few chaps I had. I deeply apologize for not finishing, but I’m sure you understand. Still, im so sorry to not finish something I started.

The run down for the rest of TASTE would've been this:

Basically, if we focusing on the main couple..... (not gonna explain the smut but just know ofc it woulda been there)

WE LOVE IN SEPTEMBER:

I wanted to focus on all the miscommunication/horrible commitment issues. Most of the focus is on Lexi’s past relationship (guy basically ghosts her, moves out without comment, had commitment issues, extremely similar to Fezco in some ways except he never quite gets attached to Lexi unless she had other ppl after her; was planning on this guy and Fezco meeting in this chapter — Fezco does not know that this guy is the infamous ex).

You get a glimpse into Fezco and Lexi as an actual pairing, not just sex partners. Lot more domestic. curtains are OPEN. Fezco asks about her past relationship and gets the full picture. He sleeps over at her place most nights. He wants her to know that he’s serious about her, so they redo their entire first meeting. Retrace their footsteps under diff context. They go on an actual date, not just some meet up at the same diner I featured them in. She does meet Ash; some faye interaction. We r finally seeing a revealed business fezco voice!!!! lexi is like oh that's fine af actually.

Fezco does meet up with Eva to completely cut the tie. He feels that the only string between them is the fact that she sort of changed his life — I believe that it would’ve been like this reveal: how he got his job? She was the connect!!! And so he feels obligated to be there for her. From what I remember???). Lexi finds this out through Rue.

So, she inevitably doesn't know how to confront him. It doesn't matter tho bc Fezco tells her the moment that they meet!!!!!!

Anyway!

Rue is still plowing through relationship issues. Lexi meets up with Jules and basically sees the effects of heartbreak and gets some bad after taste of it. Jules reveals that it's not that she doesn't love Rue, it's that she doesn't know if they're ready or if they'll ever be ready. She's struggling with trusting the future. This sucks to Lexi. She trusts Fezco, but she also trusted rue and Jules relationship as it was the only stable relationship she had ever been exposed to. If not them, why would it would for her? (and nothing works out for her fr so it's like.)

Core thing is that Lexi is not really sure if she’s capable of trusting someone. All she knows is that she loves him and love is a fleeting, futile thing that doesn't have reason. Without reason, she goes to Fezco's apartment that same night, totally withdrawn and troubled, and he opens the door, doesn't ask question, pulls her into bed with him. This is where he tells her that he sort of really likes her, and she says that sort of really likes him. At first she's content with just that, but then he says something like 'I sort of really more than like you' and all of these thoughts sort of float and die away somewhere between that.

WE BLEED IN OCTOBER:

Halloween party is held to take place as planned by Fezco and Lexi (trying their absolute hardest to rekindle Jules/Rue) annnnddd Fezco does invite Lexi’s ex without realizing !!! It goes batshit crazy!!!!! Rue and Jules do not interact, Fezco's lead to believe that they're rlly done with each other (plot twist tho as Jules and Rue do reconcile and get caught being steamy in another room!!!!! who woulda thought !!!!!).

Lexi sees her ex, gets into a splat where this man is just DYING to get back w her all of a sudden since he seen Lexi and Fezco being full adults in love and shit. The guy does ask if Fezco is her boyfriend, and she hesitates. Fezco overhears this, basically gets this guy out and the energy between him and lexi just BOOM EXPLODE. They go into a separate room, have bit of an argument because he's confused as to why she didn't call him her boyfriend; she says she doesn't know why she hesitated.

Then, he says, "I love you, do you love me?"

She says yes but she admits to not knowing how to fully allow herself to. This literally KILLS him. Fezco says he's not a science experiment for her to prick and play with, and she either wants him or doesn't. They either work or they don't.

Lexi doesn't respond.

Fezco's distraught but calmly decides to take a break with their relationship at the end of this chapter. He isn't angry, he just really wishes they'd met with different intentions/desires.

WE FEAR IN NOVEMBER

you know how the chapter starts with the month? I was thinking of just being like "November." and then having blank space like BITCHHH LFAOOOOO I thought I was so slick for thinking of starting the chap all ominious with the twilight shit (Bellas depressed era!!!!).

ANYWAY. November.

Set the scene. They don’t talk. It’s hard to do that shit when you’re always 1 degree away from the person and planning a very very very small wedding ceremony that's due in 3 weeks. And the worst part? He doesn’t ignore her. He looks her in the eye, pretends as though they never tore away from each other. like !!!! He has literally no animosity for her and she's so riddled with guilt that she doesn't know how to soothe the fact that they aren't together without being selfish, saying she wants him when she, herself, is pretty broken in some way. but she loves him. she knows it but it's hard to accept that 'this' (her) is all she has to offer. She wishes he’d ignore her. He wishes she had more decency to not ignore him.

Wedding ceremony happens. Lexi IS best girl as Fezco IS best man, and they do walk down the aisle together. very much tension!!!! He tells her that she's beautiful!!!!!!! and she tells him that she misses him, to no response from him as the have to go on and walk in front of everyone. a bit gloomy but Fezco does stay looking at Lexi, and they do have a lil dance moment later in the night.

While everyone is cooling at the lil wedding after party, Lexi confesses to Rue that she always wanted something like that, what she has with Jules. And Rue basically hints that Lexi does even if it incarnated differently. Gives her some pep talk. If Jules didn't confront Rue, they wouldn't have gotten back together vice versa on if Rue didn't ask Jules out, they would've never been together. The chances of finding someone is slim and fleeting, that's why you grip onto the ones that root something into you. Fezco (of course) leaves the party.

Lexi does show up at his apartment later that night. He opens the door, doesn't know what to say but Lexi says that she's not all together, being broken and all. Fezco says that he is too, so they're of the same thing. A beat and then she says I love you and you love me. Fezco nods, says every little piece.

This terrifies Lexi and, in conjunction, terrifies Fezco. but what's worse to her is not being with him. And, thank the lucky stars, as he says some shit like “well I guess we gonna be scared together huh?” And she brightens up and says that she's never been so happy to be scared.

WE TASTE IN DECEMBER:

More of an epilogue. A calm after all that stupid shit.

Lexi decides to renew her apartment lease as does Fezco. They upgrade them friendship bracelets!!!!! Ash got himself a girl, on the phone with Fezco as he's getting ready for a lil party.

Reveal that mans has apartment key privileges!! He's letting himself in her apt and calling out her name !!!!

New years party that will be held at Jules's/rue's place (woop woop), Lexi is late as always but it’s ok bc daddy Fezco is there to joke about her needing to wear heels so she can stop running from him!!!!!!!!!!! They go, separate for a bit at the party where she DOES refer to him as her boyfriend, as he does refer to her as his girlfriend; then come back to the couch where they originally met. Lexi sits first, Fezco finds her this time!!! He jokes about whether she’s still in the streets and she says some cheesy shit like yeah, waiting for you (and we scream TOUCHDOWN!!!!). Fezco and Lexi basically simmer in their seats, smiling and kissing and finally fully engulfed, entwined to the soul.

P.S. Guilty pleasures would've morph into a connection between both characters; more interpersonal things rather than materialistic/celebratory items.

Here’s some of the writing that sits all glum! Hope this explanation gives plenty of closure.

[perfexion]

I’ve been in the hospital since Tuesday and my blood work is getting worse in certain areas and I’m scared

They think I may have an autoimmune disease so that’s fun to find out

I don’t want to die here

Also it’s hilarious cause like, I overall feel better but knowing my organs and blood are doing weird shit is making me panic

Which obviously, makes everything worse lol but I can’t help it. I want to go home. I want to sniff Keikos head. I want this catheter out of my damn arm. And I’m tired of this horrible beige color everywhere

I’m missing Monsterpalooza and hopefully, I live and I’ll be “healthy” so I can go to Midsummer Scream 🤞🏼🤞🏼

Anyway, idk where else to put this so it goes on tumblr lol

[chameliyun]

Fic Rec Friday - #60

Intro post | tag

Rec #60: A Blanker Whiteness of Benighted Snow - bestworsecase (windrattlestheblinds) Fandom: Tangled the Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure Rating: T Pairing(s): Rapunzel/Eugene Fitzherbert, unrequited Rapunzel/Cassandra Word count: 192,628 (30 chapters) Summary (copied from fic): The Lost Princess comes home; but as the summer dies, an ancient grudge blossoms into violence, mysterious black rocks ravage the kingdom of Corona, and her happily ever after has never felt further out of reach. Rapunzel dreams of freedom beyond the shining palace walls. Cassandra fights to escape the shadow of a poisoned legacy. Varian chases answers, desperate to save his dying village. And Lady Caine just wants to watch Corona burn. Other notes: canon-divergent incredibly detailed AU where Cass is Saporian, also has an unfinished sequel that's really good. honestly T is almost not a high enough rating for these, they're pretty intense. super good though, and I've been meaning to reread

[chillincreative]

anonymously make an assumption about me and i'll deny it

[sostrangerous]

my most evil and hypocritical trait is that i used to wonder how anyone could write 100k fanfics. and now here i am

[blackbirdprince]

There will be a Coldplay concert in my county next year and I signed up for a pre-sale but like does anybody can help me what prices should I expect?

[guess-how-i-stole-this-body]

The take that "if you're not gonna vote for someone who is killing your fucking family then you're selfish" is CRAZY. The fact people talk to indigenous folks like this with a STRAIGHT FACE and genuinely--genuinely --believe they're good people IS CRAZY.

Palestinians have every right to be pissed at Americans who act like they know more about THEIR OWN GENOCIDE than them. The fact that these posts with Americans ""dunking"" on people who critique kamala get thousands of views like it's some sort of fucked up entertainment is disgusting.

Shame on all of you. Do better and stop treating indigenous people like shit.

DONATE TO PALESTINIANS 🍉🍉🍉

@ma7moudgaza2 (14,192/25k)

Currently needs funds to afford food for his family of ten (mostly CHILDREN). A bag of flour is $1000 USD in the north and $150 in the south.

He's an incredibly kind soul and does his best to uplift other's campaigns while trying to help his own family.

I've made two post about his situation (at his request) that you can read here (link to gfm as well)

@palestinianhadeell (7,547/20k)

Widowed Mother who now has to take care of multiple children (which consists of her own mother and OTHER orphaned children) after the passing of her husband and her own miscarriage. She recently survived a missile strike on a car nearby on her way to buy winter clothes, but her boy was injured. Her daughter became an orphan at the age of three

Links to one of the more recent posts of hers are here along with verification and her gofundme

@monayazji (55k/200k) <- in Swedish Currency

Due to the polluted water in Palestine, her son recently caught an infection that turned some parts of his skin bumpy and red. The family desperately needs money to afford supplies to take care of their boy along with funds to afford medicine in hopes of it curing his alignment.

Pinned post linked here with verification

@yousefmadiblog (€535/€5k)

Yousef NEEDS funds in order to continue his education. University Laptops cost $2000 dollars alone in Gaza. HIS CAMPAIGN HAS BEEN STAGNANT FOR WEEKS. Education is ESSENTIAL in order to provide for yourself and your family members. His home has been destroyed and he needs the funds to pay for supplies and his online semester.

Link to his verification and gofundme post

@punkitt-is-here @ashwantsafreepalestine @dlxxv-vetted-donations @begaydodrughailsaten @90-ghost @gaza-donation-posts @gaza-evacuation-funds @free-palestine-forever @free-palestine

[charmcoin]

fundraisers for palestine (11/07/24)

@hanangaza2 | vetted (#140) | $17,330 raised of $100K

@khaled-12 | vetted by 90-ghost | $145 CAD raised of $30K

@aymenbasil | vetted (#146) | €4,066 raised of €15K

@farahmohanad108 | vetted (#42) | $4,259 raised of $35K

@yosefjjoozef | likely legitimate | €150 raised of €45K

@fayezjadallah | vetted (#355) | £5,323 raised of £25K

@ahmadomar3 | vetted by association | €7,499 raised of €50K

@osamafamily2 | vetted (#12) | £5,572 raised of £50K

@ahmaedworld1 | vetted | €6,962 raised of €60K

@ahmeddanii | vetted (#198) | €2,551 raised of €50K

@lobna94 | vetted (#1) | €280 raised of €50K

@mohammednasser | likely legitimate | €7,288 raised of €38K

@karemandohan1999 | vetted by 90-ghost | $17,245 raised of $75K

@olagaza | vetted by 90-ghost | $63,227 raised of $85K

@monisfamily2 | vetted by 90-ghost | $9,622 raised of $41.3K

@ayaalsofi | vetted by association | £527 raised of £10K

@kenzish5 | vetted (#75) | €18,969 raised of €50K

@hashimsamar | vetted (#53) | €15,568 raised of €45K

@janaabunaje | vetted (#132) | €1,046 raised of €50K

@hashem1979 | vetted by 90-ghost | $7,675 raised of $60K

@helpmohammed2024 | likely legitimate | $4,375 raised of $50K

@ghadeerarqan | vetted (#74) | €10,209 raised of €20K

@omarfamily10 | vetted by 90-ghost | €4,289 raised of €25K

@valentina-leonardi | vetted (#115) | €6,591 raised of €35K

@mayarram | vetted (#69) | €4,746 raised of €20K

@anas-ahmad-family1 | vetted (#83) | €7,708 raised of €29K

@ahmadalterk | vetted (#10) | €404 raised of €30K

@jomana-ha | vetted by association | $23,707 raised of $60K

@marymfamily | vetted (#34) | €4,674 raised of €50K

@amal-alhaj | vetted (#135) | $399 of $15,000

@ameertaims | vetted (#59) | 33,943 SEK raised of 200K

@youseffamily | vetted (#143) | €28,642 raised of €30K

[welcometocaritas-creations]

so i wrote the draft for a Diego/Lila s4 au fic last year

It's about 150-200k in length and it's going to be a while before I can get it post worthy (soooo much editing to do) and I still have my wolfwren fic to finish first. BUT in light of the horror show that was s4, I thought I'd give you guys a sneak peek to cleanse the palette

When I do post, it will be on my AO3 account here . So if you want you can subscribe to me and then when I post it, you'll know :) It's sort of a Lila-centric fic that deals with her trauma and how impending motherhood impacts that and is impacted by it - but obviously Diego/Lila is a huge part of the fic.

So without further ado. . .

. . .

“Gracie. If it’s a girl.”

Diego’s brow furrows. “Wait, really?”

Lila shrugs. “Sure. Why not?”

In truth, she’s a little intimidated by Grace Hargreeves, though they’ve never met. Or at least, she’s never met the version of her that Diego holds up on a pedestal. Half robot or not, Lila knows she was a better mum than she can ever hope to be. That she was soft where Lila is hard, quiet where she’s loud, sensitive where she’s callous. Lila will never be even half as good as her at this mothering bullshit.

But she wants to be.

The name can be a reminder. And, though logically she knows there can be no better reminder than her own flesh and blood child standing in front of her, the deck is stacked against her. So she’s willing to pull out all the stops. Rational or not.

Besides. . . she was Diego’s mum. Gave him a soft place to land growing up. Gave him love when there was none to find.

When they were in the asylum, Diego never had a nice word to say about anyone.

Except for her.

Lila thinks that’s something that deserves to be honored. Celebrated, even. The fact that one of them had a mum growing up that wasn’t complete shit. Even if she was prevented by her own programming from actually protecting her children.

(this, at least, is one thing Lila thinks she can do better. Protecting her child. She’s not a robot designed by her kids’ abuser, after all. She’s also more skilled in a fight than her birth parents. A winning combination, really.

She may not turn out to be a good mum in any sense of the definition but she’ll be damned if she can’t keep them safe.

And who will keep them safe from you?)

Lila’s skin feels hot. And sweaty. Like she’s skipped breakfast. And lunch. And three nights' worth of dinners. “Diego. . . what if we screw this up?”

“Then we’ll do our best to unscrew it.”

She snorts. Laughs.

Appreciates the words more than if he offered an infuriatingly optimistic denial. The reassurance that: of course they won’t screw up their kid, how silly of her to even entertain the thought.

“Unscrew our kid?”

Diego smiles - probably at her laugh - and shifts until he’s seated beside her on the bed, rather than behind her. So she has no choice but to see the earnestness in his eyes. And there is so much bleeding earnestness. She’s not sure how this man ever convinced himself he was a lone wolf. This is a pack animal through and through. “Yeah, listen, Lila. . . we’re sort of stumbling around in the dark here. You’re not the only one who feels that. Who’s scared shitless.” This too is a comfort. “But that’s how I felt with Stan and things didn’t turn out too bad.”

“He was Kugelblitzed.”

“Well, that’s hardly going to happen again.“

She smacks him on the shoulder. “Oh God, now you’ve jinxed it and it’s definitely going to happen again. Are you crazy?”

She could kill him.

Diego grins through a wince, refusing to grasp the grievous error he’s just made. “The point is we’re going to make mistakes. Big mistakes. Small mistakes. Lots of mistakes.”

“Is this supposed to be comforting?”

(Lila knows he’s only slightly less emotionally congested than her but, still, she expected better)

He leans closer, into her space - a dirty move that makes her breath catch. “Your mother and my father made mistakes too. The difference is they never saw them that way. Never tried to fix them. Never learned from them. . . They never tried to do better. To fix what they’d broken. They didn’t want to. . . That’s not us. That will never be us. Because, yeah, Lila we’re going to make a mess of things. A big huge stinking mess. But we’ll clean it up afterwards. And the next mess will be a little less messy.”

“I hate cleaning.”

His eye twitches. “Can you just- I’m trying to do a whole speech here.”

“I know and it’s a surprisingly good one.” Diego’s brow knits together like he’s not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. “Maybe instead of trying to save a president by cutting off some bloke’s trigger finger you should just run for office. I think you’d be brilliant.”

“I would suck as president. I’d stab someone within the first hour.”

“Like I said,” Lila wraps her arms around his neck with a grin, “Brilliant.”

(she’d vote to see that)

Diego rolls his eyes at this but rewards her masterful plan with a kiss. “You would make a pretty badass First Lady.”

. . .

[this is just a short excerpt from like the seventh chapter but I figured it would be a nice read after, well. . . everything]

Also here have some Lila and Diego fanart:

[hellenhighwater]

i'm sure you've probably been asked this before but i'm new here and very curious: how did you come into ownership of your house and how are you paying for it? i recently moved in with my boyfriend and the housing situation is... dismal. and we're eventually moving into another house with a friend but we barely make enough money combined to support ourselves. i'm just curious as to what it takes to be content because you are living in such a dream house to me and i would love to achieve that one day. ty and have a great day!

I'm not going to pretend that my homeownership is some kind of one-man bootstraps success story; it's not. I got lucky in a lot of ways. It's a combination of stuff.

I haven't owned my house for long--it'll be two years this August. When I started saving for a house, I was lucky enough to be able to live with family and basically eliminate the majority of my living expenses, which allowed me to save a much higher percentage of my salary than I would otherwise have been able to save. I was driving an hour and a half for my daily commute, but it was worth it to not be paying rent. Having a bunch of roommates prior to that also helped. I have almost no debt--I did law school on 100% scholarship, and picked a cheap undergrad university. (This actually backfired--my credit score simply did not exist until waaaay later in my life than is recommended if you want a mortgage. I struggled to find a lender that would work with me even though I was stably employed and had a cash down payment ready.)

I also bought a home in a non-urban area; I live in a fairly small town. My house is also not very expensive; it was between $150-$200K when I bought it. That's due, in part, to the location (small town), the tiny lot (less than a quarter acre), the age (120+ years), and the need for a lot of superficial updates and repairs. It's structurally sound for the most part, but it's dated.

I'm a lawyer. It's easy to miss, since I post like an idiot, but I am regularly reminded that sometimes even morons pass the Bar. I don't make the kind of crazy money most people assume lawyers make, but for a single-person household I'm okay. I was able to make a fairly sizeable down payment--more than was strictly necessary, actually--so my monthly mortgage is actually less than $1k, which is still mindboggling to me. It's good, because this house DOES need work.

But with all that said, it still wasn't easy. I got my first job when I was a freshman in high school and I have been continuously employed since then. Between the ages of 18-28 there was never a time that I held less than two jobs; most of the time I had three, and it...sucked. It was fun, a lot of the time, but mostly that kind of unpredictable schedule is just exhausting at a subconscious level. I remember the week before the Bar, still working two jobs, being in the library at 3 am, my brain melting out my ears, and cruising Zillow listings for bombed-out houses in Detroit being sold for pennies on the dollar, thinking that if nothing else, I could buy one of those and make it work one repair at a time. I went to law school because I wanted to be able to buy my own house. I moved out of the city so I could buy my own house. I shaped a lot of my life around the need and want to have my own space. I have spent years sitting up late at night and looking at real estate listings I couldn't dream of affording.

I don't know if that helps. I guess the only advice I could give is that if homeownership is a big priority for you, maybe look for areas where real estate is affordable(ish; I know what it's like these days) and see what it would take for you to be able to live there. A lot of the time, if there's good bones to work with, the rest is just what you make of it.

[saanphoenix]

If the deal is completed, Kroger would: •Operate more than 4,400 supermarkets, up from 2,700 right now.

•Generate about $208 billion in annual sales, compared to $150 billion.

•Employ about 640,000 workers, up from about 414,000 currently. That would make it one of the 10 largest private employers in the world.

They don't even wanna give raises to the current 414k employees they have now. We don't need 200k more from a competitor they're going to swallow whole so they can raise prices.

They already have hard evidence confirming Kroger raised prices on shit like milk and eggs past inflation prices during the pandemic. Which is illegal, but... Who's paying attention to grocery stores? Not the American public! They think the PRESIDENT is why food prices have gone up exponentially.

*grumbles*

[readyforevolution]

Interesting facts about Sierra Leone

1. Sierra Leone 🇸🇱 is located in West Africa on the Atlantic coast and bordered by Guinea and Liberia.

2. The country takes its name from the Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra who named the country “Serra Leoa” (Lion Mountains) due to the impressive mountains he saw while sailing along the West African coast in 1462.

3. Archaeological evidence suggests Sierra Leone 🇸🇱 has been inhabited for thousands of years with successive waves of inv.aders as well as immigration from inland peoples making up today’s diverse population

4. Sierra Leone 🇸🇱 is home to 16 ethnic groups. Each group has their own language and traditional attire.

5. If there is one thing that this small nation is blessed with is its rich mineral resource. Sierra Leone 🇸🇱 is famous for its diamonds. Apart from diamonds, bauxite and titanium are also extracted on large scale. It also produces gold and rutile on a large scale.

6. Sierra Leone’s capital city, Freetown, was founded as a home for repatriated and rescued former slaves in 1787

7. English is the official language; however, Krio is the language that is understood by most of the population. Krio is a Creole language, first spoken by descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who settled in the Freetown area.

8. Sierra Leone 🇸🇱 has a simple horizontally striped green, white and blue flag. Green stands for agriculture and the mountains, white for unity and justice, and blue for the aspiration to “contribute to world peace, especially through the use of its unique natural harbour at Freetown”.

9. The Outamba-Kilimi National Park, a tract of savannah and jungle in Sierra Leone, is home to highly diverse wildlife including primates such as chimpanzees, colobus monkeys and sooty mangabeys as well as hippos, bongo antelopes, buffalo, forest elephants and over 150 species of bird.

10. Freetown was home to the first institution of higher learning in modern sub-Saharan Africa after the collapse of the university at Timbuktu. Fourah Bay College opened in 1827 and at the time was the only alternative to Europe and America for British colony West Africans who wanted a university degree.

11. Sierra Leone’s “blood diamonds” helped fuel atr0cities during the w.ar. Blood diamonds, also known as conflict diamonds, were used to fund certain conflicts in Africa

12. Freetown has the largest natural harbour on the African continent. It is capable of receiving oceangoing vessels of all kinds.

Guys let's get our YouTube channel (YT: Historical Africa) to 200k subscribers. Kindly Click on the link to subscribe https://youtube.com/c/HistoricalAfrica

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

Hey :) For the fanfiction writing asks, could I ask numbers 12, 17, 18, 30 and 79? (If it’s not too much). I’m curious about your writing process 👉🏼👈🏼

No worries, it's not too much. And I'm always happy to ramble about my writing process!

12.) Do you outline your fics? If yes, how detailed are your outlines?  How far do you stray from them?

A long time ago in a galaxy far away when dinosaurs roamed the young earth (15 years ago), I was more of a pantser, but that quickly changed as my projects became more and more complex. Since at least a decade or so, I always write an outline and I write it as detailed as possible for two main reasons: 1. Most ideas strike me at the most inconvenient time aka in the middle of another project. But it's a well-established fact that my brain is allergic to switching projects, so I write the whole idea down to get it out of my head and to have a foundation to work with once I can start writing this new project. 2. I tend to write stories of epic length that simply require an outline to develop the plot properly. Before YOI, I wrote a GoT-esque fanfiction series for years on end that demanded detailed outlines for each instalment because of the complexity of the plot and the sheer number of POV characters.

On average, my outlines are about 5-10% of the length of the actual project. My outline for In Love and War is about 25k outline and I expect the story to end up around >500k. It's divided into chapters and scenes that already have a POV character assigned. During intense writing times like NaNoWriMo the outline helps me to focus on writing.

However, I keep my outline flexible. Sometimes, new ideas would pop up or I need to weave a side plot from another instalment or a prequel into the storyline. But there's a even more crucial reason: Plotting happens through a distant, omniscient lens that doesn't really enter the minds of my characters no matter how well I know them. As a result, they develop a life of their own as the story comes alive. I often see writers complain about that because it "destroys" their outline, but it's a natural process and that's where the magic happens. Whenever that happens, I let my characters lead me and so far, I haven't regretted that.

17.) Do you have a writing routine?

My writing routine, if it can be called that, is writing in the morning before work and in the evening. On the weekends and when I have time off, I write all day long. It's not only that I feel the urge to always work on the stories I obsess over, it's how I relax. During NaNo, my routine is even more centred around writing for as long as my brain keeps braining, which regularly results in late-night dinners.

18.) Do you enjoy research?  Which fic of yours required the most research?

I LOVE research! Since YOI is set in the real world, I'd say that I did tons of research for all of them. I think most of that happened when I wrote Can You Hear My Hearbeat because: 1. It was my first YOI fanfiction and I knew nothing about figure skating or Japanese culture. 2. It's a novelisation and to preserve the spirit of YOI and write it as canonic as possible, I researched any official meta information like interviews with the creators and articles in magazines etc. I could get my hands on. But to be honest, every YOI fanfiction requires tons of research like figure skating programmes, rules, and venues, living in St. Petersburg etc. It never gets boring.

30.) How much do you edit your fics?  Do you edit as you write or wait until you finish the first draft?

Ooof. I'm a perfectioniest. I edit a lot. However, the exact process depends on the length of a project:

Short projects (100k maximum): I write the first draft in one go with only minor editing and edit the full story later.

Long projects (300k-800k): Since I write these projects in stages, I also edit in stages. After 150-200k I experience a sense of having written myself empty. That's the point when I switch to a short project to recharge. Some months later, I pick up that first wip again, edit the part I have written so far and then continue writing. That's a rinse-and-repeat until the draft is done, but it never takes me more than 3 cycles. When that draft is done, I revise the entire thing once more to ensure consistency and to weave lose threads together, before I hand it over to a beta reader. It also happened that I did two complete revisions pre-beta-reading.

In addition to that, I edit every chapter before posting again. By then, some months have passed since the revision and I've refined my idea of the story in the meantime.

79.) Do you have any writing advice you want to share?

To be honest, a lot of writing advice I consider as too restrictive and inflexible. When I talk to other writers, they often get to hear these two things from me:

The first draft is allowed to be a mess. Allow yourself to write away and revise later.

Especially inexperienced writers tend to agonise over their first draft and have this idea that their story needs to be perfect right away and if not, they're a failure. But that's not how creativity works. The best ideas happen when the story comes alive through writing. And only when you can see the complete picture you know what to add or take away to make your vision reality.

However, brains work differently, and I've seen a lot of advice that doesn't take the different wirings of brains into account, pretending that there's only one "correct" way to write and finish a story, which imho is bullshit.

That's why I also tell people this:

Write in the fashion that works best for you. If you feel the urge to vomit a train of words on page to empty your brain or because you're in hyperfocus and can't bother getting sidetracked that's as valid as meticulously editing every sentence before you write the next. As long as you keep at it, it's going to be fine.

Thank you for these questíons! Answering them was so much fun 💙✨✨

The questions are form this post. If you're curious about my writing process or my story, please hit me up with your questions!

[chameliyun]

Fic Rec Friday - #19

changing it up a bit with a crossover! this one is only on fanfiction . net

Intro post | tag

Rec #19: Elemental Flux - Blu Taiger Fandoms: Calvin and Hobbes, Avatar: The Last Airbender Rating: Pairing: Susie Derkins/Calvin (they're 15) Word count: 177,904 (34 chapters) Summary: Calvin, Susie and Hobbes get randomly isekai'd into the ATLA-verse (Hobbes becomes a real tiger). They figure out how to live there and later meet the Gaang, eventually becoming friends. Other notes: I don't even remember how I found this (probably looking for ATLA crossovers), but it's actually really good. they do get back eventually, through an equally impossible but very Calvin-esque means. it's also been like three years since I read it so I'm a little fuzzy on the details but still