dragonyphoenix

I had an interview last Monday and had spent the weekend prepping for it. I also had a few interviews over the week so today was my first day to relax. I knew my roommate Becky was nannying during the day, so I'd planned to get up and listen to This Jungian Life podcast. Not five minutes in she comes home and starts cleaning. A friend of her family is going to be staying with us for the next month. Today was also my last day to have the house to myself and know I wouldn't be interrupted.

Outside of losing my last chance to chill in the house by myself, I think the cleaning upset me because when I was a teen my mother would go on cleaning jags where she could stop and take a breather but when my sister and I did she would yell at us. For me, Becky's cleaning reminded me of Mom's angry cleaning sprints.

The podcast reminded me of my first day of junior high-school when I was lost in a new-to-me building. I had no idea which door to leave by and was just walking the halls when suddenly Mom was there before me in her work uniform. I can still see her and in my mind there's an almost-halo light around her. I was that relieved to see her.

My roommate's cat Lucy just passed.

Becky's been visiting her at the vet's office. Lucy was in septic shock but seemed to take a turn for the better two days ago. It didn't last long enough for the antibiotics to save her.

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner with image of ice crystals formed on a dead flower on a bright blue background. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.

In your own space, post your pictures of your fandom scavenger hunt results.

I'm technologically challenged and so will find images online or write about them.

1. a fannish item: I don't buy a lot of fannish stuff. I have DVD sets of my favorite shows and one Whedon t-shirt. But I do have a pin for the Saturday Light Brigade which is a local radio program that's also online. It's a family fun kind of a show and is delightful. Also, my roommate has an I Love Lucy poster that used to be in my room.

( Read more... )

Oooh, I like this.

Watch on YouTube

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner featuring an image of a chubby brown and red bird surrounded by falling snow. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.

In your own space, tell us who you would recast in a film, tv series or webseries, or maybe someone voicing a cartoon or videogame. Or who would you cast to play a character in a book, comic or maybe even your own fiction!

I don't follow actors so this is an almost impossible one for me. My intro to fandom (read: first fandom obsession) was Buffy. Lately I've been into C-dramas and K-dramas; so I decided to take characters from a few of those that I've seen (Nirvana in Fire, The Untamed, Legend of Fei, and Bulgasal) and put then into BtVS roles.

Buffy

Zhao Li Ying (Legend of Fei) as Buffy because she's proven she can play a spunky fighter.

As Princes Nian Nian (Nirvana in Fire), we've seen her fight. Unfortunately women have smaller roles so it's harder for me to see how they'd fit into BtVS.

( Read more... )

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner with image of gingerbread Christmas trees, a silver ball, a tea light candle and a white confectionary snowflake on a beige falling-snowflakes background. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.

Going with the cookie trees image because I've just started watching The Great British Bake Off which is so. Much. FUN!

In your own space, rec a fanwork (fic, art, vid, playlist, anything!) you did not create. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I was thinking of reccing one story for each fandom I've bookmarked on AO3 but, whoa! I had no idea I'd bookmarked so many fandoms! I thought I'd just go with my fave from this year, which is awesome, but this day's post suggests we can rec old faves as well.

I have been waiting for this one! Most amazing fanfic I've read this year is Scarlett Storm's It Seems the Hills and Rivers Have Been Waiting (The Untamed). Trans pig farmer cultivates the Boar Path, basically being super toned and strong and bad-ass. Best part? Jiang Cheng has a thing for her. But he won't act on it because he doesn't want to be that Sect Leader (read: Jin Guangshan). They are an adorable couple. Fan Dingxian is just ... awesome. I highly, highly, highly recommend this. It's great.

we must unite inside her walls or we'll crumble from within (Harry Potter) is a look at the women of the Harry Potter world. Delightful and unexpected takes on each of them. Here's a bit from the story on Andromeda Tonks:

"I want to be like you when I grow up."

Andromeda had suggested Hermione Granger, who had saved the world, or Auror Patil, or lovely Luna Lovegood. "I'm just an old woman poking her nose places it doesn't belong. I'm sneaky, and sometimes I'm mean. I'm no hero."

The girl had shaken her head. "But I want to be me, don't you get it? I'm a Slytherin. And you're the first person I've ever met who made it look like being me was an ok thing to be. I can't be anyone else. I've tried."

Seduction By Winglet pairs Tony Stark (Marvel Universe) with Martin Crief (Cabin Pressure). It looks like a crack pairing, but it's not. They are both such geeks that it works. Diversions, which is a spin-off by another author, is also excellent.

In the Morning of the Magicians (BtVS): I don't care what any canon authority says, this is definitely Ripper and Ethan's backstory.

And a video: Trisha Jain thought that My Tears Ricochet "perfectly encapsulates, line for line, the fractured sibling relationship between Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng." She's so right.

In your own space, celebrate a personal win from the past year: it can be a list of fanworks you're especially proud of, a gift of your time to the community, a quality or skill you cultivated in yourself, something you generally feel went well. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I started a drawing journal in April. Pretty early on I found Draw Everyday with JJK and was drawing along with him. He recommends kid's books and so I got some of them from the library and also copied images from those. I also started sketching along with Lore Olympus and have sketched images from The Untamed, Nirvana in Fire, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Carmilla. The link at the end, which I can't see as I'm editing, is a drawing I made for Nirvana in Fire. https://twitter.com/Judyth_Gibson/status/1483654410207117312?s=20

I’ve made out a promisory note to a coding bootcamp. Today I got this message which sort of feels like a scam.

We are reaching out because we are still missing your ID. We are now required to collect a form of identification as part of the files for students using promissory notes/payment plans.
Please submit a copy or photo of your Driver's License / State ID

Does this seem legit?

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner featuring a wrapped giftbox with a snowflake on the gift tag. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31

In your own space, talk about an idea you wish you had the time / talent / energy to do. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

January tends to be a sad time for me. My mother's birthday is in the middle of the month and ever since she passed away, I tend to get depressed. This is the first year I've seen it coming. Usually I'm in the middle of it and wondering why I'm do down. Anyway, it's a time of the year I just don't get things done.

Specific things I don't have the talent for (yet!) are drawings. I'd like to draw an image for It Seems the Hills and Rivers Have Been Waiting a story where a pig farming trans woman becomes a Jiang cultivator except she can't really cultivate, she's just super strong because she builds her muscles. Anyway, they have her in cultivator garb and her hair keeps whipping into her face and mouth. Apparently it's a magical thing that it doesn't happen to cultivators. So I want to draw her in cultivation garb with her hair whipping into her face.

I also want to draw Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji holding each other and floating maybe with a "I'll never let you fall" caption.

Knitting. I'd like to learn to knit and I tried watching a video. That did not go well.

I'd like to go for walks in a more wooded area. Since I injured my knee, I've been sticking to flat walking paths and now it's too snowy and wet.

Wen Ning in a Wolverine t-shirt for Seasons in the Sun. I didn't think about how difficult a Wolverine t-shirt would be to draw before deciding to put him in one. Actually, back then I didn't realize I'd be drawing regularly.

Wen Ning wearing a Wolverine t-shirt

Day 3: In your own space, put some favorite characters into an AU, fuse some favorite canons together, talk about your favorite AU/fusion tropes, or tell us why AU/fusions aren’t your cup of tea. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Perfect timing! I just got back to posting to Seasons in the Sun today. It's an crossover between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Untamed. At the moment, Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng are in Los Angeles where they've met up with Wen Ning and his crew, Cordelia Chase and Nissa, a blue-skinned girl with fangs and horns. As Jiang Cheng thought she was some sort of a creature, that didn't go as well as it could have.

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner with image of gingerbread Christmas trees, a silver ball, a tea light candle and a white confectionery snowflake on a beige falling-snowflakes background. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.

Head's up. I drove back from Dad's on Saturday and I'm still worn out so goals are leaning towards the sad side.

Get a job. I'm ambivalent about this one. I need money but the last time I worked as a programmer, I was clinically depressed. It's difficult going back to that and I'm already feeling stressed over it.

However, a new job relates to my second goal which is moving back to Long Island. My Dad's in his early 80s and is having trouble taking care of himself. I suspect early signs of dementia. He needs someone nearby and that gets to be me.

Write one original story per month. I'd make it more often but I find it much easier to write fanfic. Also stress related to my first two goals make it harder for me to make time to write. ;-(

Got this message:

Dear dragonyphoenix, Your account has been randomly selected to receive someone's payment through our sponsor-a-free-user program. The account type that was purchased is: Paid Account for 1 month The following note was authored by the sender: <3

Wow, thank you to whomever paid for this for me. That is such a sweet gift to start the new year with.

I’d been planning to visit Dad for Christmas but then he lost his sense of taste. As he’s been unable to find a Covid test, I’m waiting the full 10 days before driving to NY. Dad’s alone this Christmas. Even though I feel sad for myself for not being with him, I do have friends who are welcoming me to their table.

I’m hoping he will call or pick up when I call so I can wish him a “Merry Christmas” on the day itself and to discuss my driving to Long Island on Tuesday.

Watch on YouTube

Santa looks too small because I drew this on the 23rd and wanted to give the impression of Christmas not being quite here yet (or further away). It totally had nothing to do with me not being able to get the proportions between the characters right.

Santa Claus offering gifts and The Master from BtVS saying “A present. Is that for me?”

Santa Claus offering gifts and The Master from BtVS saying “A present. Is that for me?”

My roommate threw up many times last night, and today we know that nausea and vomiting are symptoms of COVID.

Recently finished a hackathon, my second. We tried to take on too much and one of the team spent all her time learning authorization and didn't implement the SQL. As we were running out of time, her code wasn't implemented. And I don't have a problem with that. My first hackathon, I didn't contribute either.

We ended up having a great intro/about page and displayed data from an API to give a feel for the functionality we were working towards. As this hackathon included newbies (the promoting organization teaches coding), they wanted to say something nice about every project. So they have us a shout out for our data model. They didn't realize it came from an API. I'm feeling embarrassed about getting praise when none was really due but I also understand they want everyone to feel good.

So the point of this goes back to the team member and her SQL tables. When she was showing her layout, I could see she didn't know anything about data normalization. I'm not going to explain that here for non-developers, but it's crucial to good database design. When I pointed out an issue with her design, she got pretty flustered which is why I think she doesn't know what normalization is. However, she made a post about our acclaim - excellent data model - and worded the post so it looked like that praise referred to her SQL.

Basically her design was terrible and she took praise for something else and made it look like that praise was for her really bad design. Ouch! So much ouch.

I know that she doesn't know her design is bad. But still, she knew that praise had nothing to do with her design and made that post.

I'm just sitting here with my jaw dropped to the floor.

I posted my BtVS Top 5 Spinoff Vids earlier today. These were strong contenders.

Star Wars: The Slayer Awakens: I couldn't count this as a spinoff. Otherwise it would have made the list.
Crazed Slayer trailer: mixes scenes from BtVS, Angel, and Firefly to show River Tam as a crazed Slayer. Buffy wants to save her; Angel and crew think she's too dangerous.
Rupert Giles trailer: Uses scenes from Repo. Giles is killing monsters but the media sees him as a crazed sociopath.
Willow opening credits: Basically if the series had featured Willow.

'Death panels' arrive — in COVID-stricken Republican Idaho
Love this title because "death panels" is such an attention grabbing and not quite accurate word here. It's more like triage on Mash, sort of like Idaho is a war zone where medical staff doesn't have enough resources and has to prioritize who they will save.

Ursula K. Le Guin:

They asked me to tell you what it was like to be twenty and pregnant in 1950 and when you tell your boyfriend you’re pregnant, he tells you about a friend of his in the army whose girl told him she was pregnant, so he got all his buddies to come and say, “We all f*cked her, so who knows who the father is?” And he laughs at the good joke….

What was it like, if you were planning to go to graduate school and get a degree and earn a living so you could support yourself and do the work you loved—what it was like to be a senior at Radcliffe and pregnant and if you bore this child, this child which the law demanded you bear and would then call “unlawful,” “illegitimate,” this child whose father denied it … What was it like? […]

It’s like this: if I had dropped out of college, thrown away my education, depended on my parents … if I had done all that, which is what the anti-abortion people want me to have done, I would have borne a child for them, … the authorities, the theorists, the fundamentalists; I would have born a child for them, their child.

But I would not have born my own first child, or second child, or third child. My children.

The life of that fetus would have prevented, would have aborted, three other fetuses … the three wanted children, the three I had with my husband—whom, if I had not aborted the unwanted one, I would never have met … I would have been an “unwed mother” of a three-year-old in California, without work, with half an education, living off her parents….

But it is the children I have to come back to, my children Elisabeth, Caroline, Theodore, my joy, my pride, my loves. If I had not broken the law and aborted that life nobody wanted, they would have been aborted by a cruel, bigoted, and senseless law. They would never have been born. This thought I cannot bear.

What was it like, in the Dark Ages when abortion was a crime, for the girl whose dad couldn’t borrow cash, as my dad could? What was it like for the girl who couldn’t even tell her dad, because he would go crazy with shame and rage? Who couldn’t tell her mother? Who had to go alone to that filthy room and put herself body and soul into the hands of a professional criminal? – because that is what every doctor who did an abortion was, whether he was an extortionist or an idealist.

You know what it was like for her. You know and I know; that is why we are here. We are not going back to the Dark Ages. We are not going to let anybody in this country have that kind of power over any girl or woman. There are great powers, outside the government and in it, trying to legislate the return of darkness. We are not great powers. But we are the light. Nobody can put us out. May all of you shine very bright and steady, today and always.

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dragonyphoenix

February 2023

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two sides of Mom

Lucy's gone

Snowflake Challenge: Pic Spam Scavenger Hunt

Xue Yang - Courtesy Call (The Untamed)

Snowflake Challenge: Recast

Snowflake Challenge: Rec Your Faves

Snowflake Challenge: Personal Win

you want a copy of my ID?

Snowflake Challenge: If I had the talent ....

Snowflake Challenge: AU addendum

Snowflake Challenge: AU

Snowflake Challenge: Set Goals

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Blue Christmas

Is that for me?

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undeserved praise

Videos that didn't quite make thes BtVS spinoff rec list

'Death panels' arrive — in COVID-stricken Republican Idaho

Ursula K. Le Guin on her abortion