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Monday, 29 December 2025 23:02![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flareonfury
at Also at xmen100 we hit 100 drabbles made for the community! So *dance party*! If you've participated - ever, at any point - THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART. Still have a ways to go for mcu100 (only 34 drabbles so far) but still proud of it. Hopefully more people join up & participate in both communities.
I managed to get a few gifts done for
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandomtrees, although not at many as I wanted - so hopefully I'll be able to work on some of those on New Years Day since I'm off both jobs. I meant to get more things done yesterday but I slept most of the day away (omg did I miss my bed and cats!!). Anyway there's some needy trees out there, if anyone is interested! (Not sure which ones exactly) for more information check it out HERE.There's a gay bar in DE that is doing something for New Years Eve, and honestly I'm not one to celebrate the "holiday", like ever, but this year? I want to do something different and HOPEFULLY have some fun so I am actually going to go out to a gay bar. Maybe I'll meet someone? Or at least get some dancing in (hopefully??? IDK if there is a show or not). I need a good dance I think. It's been like years, and this past week kinda stressed me out. Yay family. Love them, but sometimes it just hurts being with them. Plus I want to try the apps (ugh) again, *fingers crossed* I don't spiral again.
Anyway Episode 6 of Heated Rivalry has met my expectations and was absolutely wonderful. I can't believe how fucking addicted I am to this show, my tumblr is basically just me reblogging all the Hollanov & Skip I can get my hands on. Just found out about a Hollanov Big Bang tumblr - not going to sign up but I will definitely be reading!!! Anyway I spent Friday night after everyone else went to bed on a couch at my sister's house with my headphones on trying to keep my squealing/joy quiet as I watched episode 6. I definitely need to rewatch it on a big screen though. Ugh, the actors were all brilliant. CANNOT wait until Season 2.
Did I just create a community for the show/books? Yes. Yes I did ---> check it out here
gamechangerhr - I invited a bunch of people to it (hopefully you don't mind) - I plan to post to the promotional DW communities once I get a banner set up. I'm thinking of making a friending meme within the week. And maybe a challenge? I have no idea yet.Also watched Fallout episodes 1 & 2 of Season 2 - I definitely enjoyed them, although I was shocked at how much was familiar to a few fics I read for Cooper/Lucy, but they might have been after the S2 trailer had been released now that I think about it. I didn't see the trailer when it was released mostly because I feel like the trailers show too much of the shows/films.
Also fairly recently adopted
supergirl_tv (the community dedicated to anything Supergirl, not just the TV series although that's the majority of the content). I'm already planning a Supergirl Summer Drabble-a-Thon thing for it in honor of the new Supergirl movie coming out. Banner's been picked out & everything. The drabble-a-thon won't just be for the new movie, but for any universe Supergirl appears in. I don't have all the details worked out exactly, since we still have months away for that - I probably won't get details together/posting about it more until probably around May. April at the earliest.Anyway that was my roundabout way saying I'm completely looking forward to the movie. I know it's not exactly my normal choice for Kara/Supergirl but I'm excited to see a new version of her. Plus I loved Superman (2025) and I have a feeling I'll enjoy this one as well even though I wasn't completely sure about it before the trailer was released. I do want to read the comic book it's based on though before the movie's release. We'll see if I actually get to it.
I'll probably do the end-of-the year memes/questionnaires within the next few days since I definitely need to head off to bed soon.
Shortbread
Tuesday, 30 December 2025 08:25redwolfSarah and Bishop walked through the bustling streets of Goblin City as they made their way back to the castle. They stepped aside as a rowdy group of muddy goblin children splashed past. An older goblin armed with a broom yelled at the children to watch where they were going.
While they were out of the main flow of traffic, Sarah opened the package in her basket, offering it to Bishop before taking one of the sweets herself.
Back when she’d been working Above, a coworker had brought the staff homemade greek shortbread and, knowing her talent for making sugar cookies, Sarah had sent some to Irene. Flip had returned almost immediately with a request for the recipe, which had been dutifully extracted from the coworker’s grandmother. After adding a note that the quantities were based around making enormous batches for a large Greek family, as well as carefully converting the measurements from metric to imperial, Sarah sent Flip back. Irene had been working on perfecting the sweets ever since.
“Irene really has a knack for making kourabiedes,” Bishop groaned in delight. “These are even better than last year’s batch.”
“They taste incredible. I’m almost tempted to tell her they didn’t quite work out and offer myself up as a taste tester for the next batch, but Toby wore that trick out long ago.”
Sarah had been hoping for the delivery all week and had made certain to have an appropriate bribe available when Flip arrived. Fortunately, he considered the enormous jawbreaker that Sarah presented him to be a fair trade for leaving his delivery of baked goods unmolested.
“Good luck hiding these from Jareth,” Bishop waved his hand at his coat. “I’m covered in icing sugar from eating one.”
That was one of the things Sarah had discovered while converting the recipe. She’d never heard of icing sugar, but in context, realised it was powdered sugar. Sarah was liberally sprinkled with enough of the stuff to make it difficult to deny that Irene’s annual cookie delivery had arrived. Fortunately, Irene knew Jareth’s sweet tooth well enough to have sent him a separate package and Sarah would be surprised if any remained when she got home.
She offered another kourabiedes to Bishop and took one herself. “We could always eat the evidence, but as delicious as they are, I couldn’t eat them all.”
“A good thing you left the rest of the package in the studio. He won’t look for it there.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it. If he knew I was stretching it out, he’d sniff it out in a flash,” Sarah snorted. “Did I tell you that Irene won the local bake off with these?”
“Really? Don’t get me wrong, she deserves to win, but I would expect the church ladies to have gotten all snobby over strange foreign biscuits.”
“That’s why she rolls them flat, cuts them into rounds and calls them shortbread cookies for the contest,” Sarah grinned.
Bishop laughed loudly. “Irene is a cunning woman.”
labyfic — drabble #242: muddy
Part of the Balance!verse
While they were out of the main flow of traffic, Sarah opened the package in her basket, offering it to Bishop before taking one of the sweets herself.
Back when she’d been working Above, a coworker had brought the staff homemade greek shortbread and, knowing her talent for making sugar cookies, Sarah had sent some to Irene. Flip had returned almost immediately with a request for the recipe, which had been dutifully extracted from the coworker’s grandmother. After adding a note that the quantities were based around making enormous batches for a large Greek family, as well as carefully converting the measurements from metric to imperial, Sarah sent Flip back. Irene had been working on perfecting the sweets ever since.
“Irene really has a knack for making kourabiedes,” Bishop groaned in delight. “These are even better than last year’s batch.”
“They taste incredible. I’m almost tempted to tell her they didn’t quite work out and offer myself up as a taste tester for the next batch, but Toby wore that trick out long ago.”
Sarah had been hoping for the delivery all week and had made certain to have an appropriate bribe available when Flip arrived. Fortunately, he considered the enormous jawbreaker that Sarah presented him to be a fair trade for leaving his delivery of baked goods unmolested.
“Good luck hiding these from Jareth,” Bishop waved his hand at his coat. “I’m covered in icing sugar from eating one.”
That was one of the things Sarah had discovered while converting the recipe. She’d never heard of icing sugar, but in context, realised it was powdered sugar. Sarah was liberally sprinkled with enough of the stuff to make it difficult to deny that Irene’s annual cookie delivery had arrived. Fortunately, Irene knew Jareth’s sweet tooth well enough to have sent him a separate package and Sarah would be surprised if any remained when she got home.
She offered another kourabiedes to Bishop and took one herself. “We could always eat the evidence, but as delicious as they are, I couldn’t eat them all.”
“A good thing you left the rest of the package in the studio. He won’t look for it there.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it. If he knew I was stretching it out, he’d sniff it out in a flash,” Sarah snorted. “Did I tell you that Irene won the local bake off with these?”
“Really? Don’t get me wrong, she deserves to win, but I would expect the church ladies to have gotten all snobby over strange foreign biscuits.”
“That’s why she rolls them flat, cuts them into rounds and calls them shortbread cookies for the contest,” Sarah grinned.
Bishop laughed loudly. “Irene is a cunning woman.”
labyfic — drabble #242: muddyPart of the Balance!verse
Mislead
Tuesday, 23 December 2025 06:14redwolfIt had all started while Sarah was in the studio and had been working with Bishop on a tile commission. He’d asked what she was thinking about based on her goofy smile as she grabbed the wrong colour glaze.
“Sorry,” Sarah carefully placed the bottle down and sighed happily. “Jareth is distracting me and he’s not even here.” She waved a hand around. “He brushed past me as we were getting ready and smelled so amazing that we only just made our first meetings of the morning.”
“That explains the mild panic from one of your assistants,” Bishop chuckled.
Sarah felt her cheeks warm and looked to the ceiling to calm herself. She could smell all the familiar things she associated with the studio, except for one. “You don’t smell.” Sarah held up her hand in apology. “Sorry, I don’t mean that I expect you to smell bad.” She groaned as Bishop snorted at the hole she was digging. “I mean, that I can’t smell you at all.” She cocked her head to the side in thought. “For that matter, I can’t smell Rook either.”
Aside from the odd occasion when the woman had changed forms as she came inside from a run in the rain and left a slight tang of petrichor in her wake, Sarah was certain that was the only time she’d smelled anything distinct from the woman. While she may only have considered the issue when living Above if someone was wearing a strong perfume or had been working out, since moving Underground, she was starting to be able to identify people by their scent before she saw them.
“It’s a security adaptation that started off as a way to confuse and intimidate people when we’re guarding Jareth.” Sarah raised an eyebrow. “We mimic your scent. Specifically, me and Angel do, while Rook and Erich smell like Jareth.”
Sarah frowned. She supposed that perhaps if you got used to your own scent and didn’t notice it, then it could explain why she didn’t recognise Bishop as having a distinct scent. However, as illustrated by her morning’s late start, Jareth smelled so good she would climb him like a tree. While more than happy she didn’t have that reaction to Rook, she didn’t understand why.
“I suspect you’re reacting to more than just smell, but it’s just the familiar part of the equation that you’ve noticed.”
Sarah conceded that this was likely, but did wonder at how useful scent mimicking could be.
“It provides entertainment when the castle has to host inebriated guests.” While they were comfortably housed away from others, there were always some who thought they could seize the chance to ride a Goblin King. “They do get a jolt when your or Jareth’s scent leads them to one of us in shadow form.”
Sarah held her sides in laughter. “I really do not want to know who you’ve frightened.” It did, however, explain why some people had been twitchy when she encountered them later.
labyfic — drabble #241: expectation management
Part of the Balance!verse
“Sorry,” Sarah carefully placed the bottle down and sighed happily. “Jareth is distracting me and he’s not even here.” She waved a hand around. “He brushed past me as we were getting ready and smelled so amazing that we only just made our first meetings of the morning.”
“That explains the mild panic from one of your assistants,” Bishop chuckled.
Sarah felt her cheeks warm and looked to the ceiling to calm herself. She could smell all the familiar things she associated with the studio, except for one. “You don’t smell.” Sarah held up her hand in apology. “Sorry, I don’t mean that I expect you to smell bad.” She groaned as Bishop snorted at the hole she was digging. “I mean, that I can’t smell you at all.” She cocked her head to the side in thought. “For that matter, I can’t smell Rook either.”
Aside from the odd occasion when the woman had changed forms as she came inside from a run in the rain and left a slight tang of petrichor in her wake, Sarah was certain that was the only time she’d smelled anything distinct from the woman. While she may only have considered the issue when living Above if someone was wearing a strong perfume or had been working out, since moving Underground, she was starting to be able to identify people by their scent before she saw them.
“It’s a security adaptation that started off as a way to confuse and intimidate people when we’re guarding Jareth.” Sarah raised an eyebrow. “We mimic your scent. Specifically, me and Angel do, while Rook and Erich smell like Jareth.”
Sarah frowned. She supposed that perhaps if you got used to your own scent and didn’t notice it, then it could explain why she didn’t recognise Bishop as having a distinct scent. However, as illustrated by her morning’s late start, Jareth smelled so good she would climb him like a tree. While more than happy she didn’t have that reaction to Rook, she didn’t understand why.
“I suspect you’re reacting to more than just smell, but it’s just the familiar part of the equation that you’ve noticed.”
Sarah conceded that this was likely, but did wonder at how useful scent mimicking could be.
“It provides entertainment when the castle has to host inebriated guests.” While they were comfortably housed away from others, there were always some who thought they could seize the chance to ride a Goblin King. “They do get a jolt when your or Jareth’s scent leads them to one of us in shadow form.”
Sarah held her sides in laughter. “I really do not want to know who you’ve frightened.” It did, however, explain why some people had been twitchy when she encountered them later.
labyfic — drabble #241: expectation managementPart of the Balance!verse
Heated Rivalry
Saturday, 20 December 2025 11:39flareonfuryWatched Episode 5 of Heated Rivalry last night after work, and I think this one might be my favorite episode after Episode 3 (which I know people dislike/hate but I found it charming and heartbreaking).
Also this is the SECOND time I'm trying to type this out since I apparently shut down my computer without making sure post actually posted? Did that make sense? Whatever. I remember clicking Post but it was also like 4am and I was tired AF. I am so angry at myself for fucking that up. I had tons of links to gifs (now you have to go to Tumblr to find them) and fanvids (shockingly very little? at Youtube).... UGH. I suck.
No actual spoilers unless you don't want to know my reactions to certain episodes.
You know how book-to-screen adaptions usually suck? I don't think Heated Rivalry has that problem. If anything, I think the show enhances the books for me. Like you get more in-depth with the characters thoughts in the books obviously since they aren't doing any voice-overs for any of the episodes for the characters which I'm actually kinda happy about? But I don't normally mind that in shows/movies. But I have what happened in the books in the back of my head filling the missing moments/scenes in the show (namely the end of Episode 4). And if you go back and read the books, you can see faces behind the characters. The actors are doing pretty good with acting through the quiet moments, that I almost dismissed them in Episode 1 since I was so awkward with it. Honestly they haven't changed that much from book-to-screen adaptation, only smallish stuff that I probably wouldn't even notice if they aren't brought up. I'm really enjoying the gifs on Tumblr that show snippets of the book.
Anyway, I have since read the audiobooks for all the books (minus Game Changer aka Scott/Kip's story - man that accent is really tripping me, see previous post for more details). And let me just say I WANT ALL THE CHARACTERS STORIES to appear in Season 2 (or beyond if we get more than 2 seasons but if they only mainly focus on Heated Rivalry & The Long Game books, it would probably only be 2 seasons). I know people hated Episode 3 mainly because it switched main characters to Scott & Kip and made Ilya & Shane the background characters, but I don't care or maybe it's because I've read the books that I'm actually want to see Scott/Kip, Eric/Kyle, Ryan/Fabian, and Troy/Harris stories. That or I'm used to a larger "main cast" which would contain multiple couples so adding other couples doesn't scare me? Well that and the other couples stories are also SO connected within the universe and hell Ilya and/or Shane makes an appearance in their stories that I feel like they could tie them in.
Ilya might be my favorite character in the series though, and Season 2 will probably gut me.
Episode 1 was a lot like watching fanfic(I was reading the comments attv_talk and they described it as such which fair honestly)/smut book (which yeah definitely) & I experienced a lot of second-hand embarrassment throughout it (I would be like Shane, but like worse? I can't flirt for shit and I don't even know how I would handle someone flirting with me - honestly, I'd probably wouldn't notice unless someone like Ilya does what he did & even then I might just laugh it off as a joke). I didn't watch it with anyone but myself & my cats (when they actually cuddled with me) so I shouldn't have felt embarrassed but I felt like this even with other rom-coms & other shows before (even non-sexual moments). I can't quite explain it, like I get embarrassed for the characters?
I don't think it was until Episode 2 & 3 that I actually fell for the show though. And maybe it helps that I was sorta already familiar with the characters (through Role Model aka Troy/Harris's story) and began listening to the books before Episode 4 premiered so I was prepared for what's happened and what's going to happen. Episode 5 made me so happy despite nearly making me cry during certain scenes (oh god THOSE scenes) and had me exploding with fucking happiness by the end of it (I scared the shit out of my cat with how much exited clapping I was doing). The fact that I didn't cry is a shock to me (usually I'm a mess anymore and I cry very easily).
I cannot WAIT for Episode 6.
BUT the worse part of Episode 6 is that it'll be released while I'm at my sister's house, so I have to go find a spot hidden away from her family and my parents and watch it. It's not even the sex scenes that I'm worried about. No it's more like the fact that is a "gay show". My sister knows I'm bi but she's more of a "love the sinner, hate the sin" person (even though I think if it was pre-Grad school & pre-marriage I think she would've been more open, or maybe I just imagined that) which I love her but I find is such a bullshit response and I don't even know what my parents would react like (I would say they would've been supportive a few years ago {again maybe I just imagined that}, but ever since my mom got more religious {she would literally start praying during High Potential show during the gay storylines that appeared in Season 1 and my dad said something along the lines it's against the church/pope/God} within the last few years I don't think they are exactly supportive if you know what I mean. They'd probably still love me {especially since I have no love life to speak of}, but I've been told by my sister and my aunt to not tell them... so yeah.) I don't even know if my brother would think/react (I mean he's from a younger generation; we're thirteen years apart after all, but I don't know - that doesn't always mean anything). It sucks. I can only really be me with a few select people and even than I don't even get to talk about it or hang out with those people much to actually be me.
Sorry, anyway - I haven't read any fics really for the show, so I don't have any recs it yet since I figured I'd wait until after Episode 6 to start reading, although if have any recs, please feel free to direct me to them.
Ok I'm posting this before I lose it again.
Edit: Adding some fanvids recs:
( links to fanvids... )
Also this is the SECOND time I'm trying to type this out since I apparently shut down my computer without making sure post actually posted? Did that make sense? Whatever. I remember clicking Post but it was also like 4am and I was tired AF. I am so angry at myself for fucking that up. I had tons of links to gifs (now you have to go to Tumblr to find them) and fanvids (shockingly very little? at Youtube).... UGH. I suck.
No actual spoilers unless you don't want to know my reactions to certain episodes.
You know how book-to-screen adaptions usually suck? I don't think Heated Rivalry has that problem. If anything, I think the show enhances the books for me. Like you get more in-depth with the characters thoughts in the books obviously since they aren't doing any voice-overs for any of the episodes for the characters which I'm actually kinda happy about? But I don't normally mind that in shows/movies. But I have what happened in the books in the back of my head filling the missing moments/scenes in the show (namely the end of Episode 4). And if you go back and read the books, you can see faces behind the characters. The actors are doing pretty good with acting through the quiet moments, that I almost dismissed them in Episode 1 since I was so awkward with it. Honestly they haven't changed that much from book-to-screen adaptation, only smallish stuff that I probably wouldn't even notice if they aren't brought up. I'm really enjoying the gifs on Tumblr that show snippets of the book.
Anyway, I have since read the audiobooks for all the books (minus Game Changer aka Scott/Kip's story - man that accent is really tripping me, see previous post for more details). And let me just say I WANT ALL THE CHARACTERS STORIES to appear in Season 2 (or beyond if we get more than 2 seasons but if they only mainly focus on Heated Rivalry & The Long Game books, it would probably only be 2 seasons). I know people hated Episode 3 mainly because it switched main characters to Scott & Kip and made Ilya & Shane the background characters, but I don't care or maybe it's because I've read the books that I'm actually want to see Scott/Kip, Eric/Kyle, Ryan/Fabian, and Troy/Harris stories. That or I'm used to a larger "main cast" which would contain multiple couples so adding other couples doesn't scare me? Well that and the other couples stories are also SO connected within the universe and hell Ilya and/or Shane makes an appearance in their stories that I feel like they could tie them in.
Ilya might be my favorite character in the series though, and Season 2 will probably gut me.
Episode 1 was a lot like watching fanfic(I was reading the comments at
tv_talk and they described it as such which fair honestly)/smut book (which yeah definitely) & I experienced a lot of second-hand embarrassment throughout it (I would be like Shane, but like worse? I can't flirt for shit and I don't even know how I would handle someone flirting with me - honestly, I'd probably wouldn't notice unless someone like Ilya does what he did & even then I might just laugh it off as a joke). I didn't watch it with anyone but myself & my cats (when they actually cuddled with me) so I shouldn't have felt embarrassed but I felt like this even with other rom-coms & other shows before (even non-sexual moments). I can't quite explain it, like I get embarrassed for the characters?I don't think it was until Episode 2 & 3 that I actually fell for the show though. And maybe it helps that I was sorta already familiar with the characters (through Role Model aka Troy/Harris's story) and began listening to the books before Episode 4 premiered so I was prepared for what's happened and what's going to happen. Episode 5 made me so happy despite nearly making me cry during certain scenes (oh god THOSE scenes) and had me exploding with fucking happiness by the end of it (I scared the shit out of my cat with how much exited clapping I was doing). The fact that I didn't cry is a shock to me (usually I'm a mess anymore and I cry very easily).
I cannot WAIT for Episode 6.
BUT the worse part of Episode 6 is that it'll be released while I'm at my sister's house, so I have to go find a spot hidden away from her family and my parents and watch it. It's not even the sex scenes that I'm worried about. No it's more like the fact that is a "gay show". My sister knows I'm bi but she's more of a "love the sinner, hate the sin" person (even though I think if it was pre-Grad school & pre-marriage I think she would've been more open, or maybe I just imagined that) which I love her but I find is such a bullshit response and I don't even know what my parents would react like (I would say they would've been supportive a few years ago {again maybe I just imagined that}, but ever since my mom got more religious {she would literally start praying during High Potential show during the gay storylines that appeared in Season 1 and my dad said something along the lines it's against the church/pope/God} within the last few years I don't think they are exactly supportive if you know what I mean. They'd probably still love me {especially since I have no love life to speak of}, but I've been told by my sister and my aunt to not tell them... so yeah.) I don't even know if my brother would think/react (I mean he's from a younger generation; we're thirteen years apart after all, but I don't know - that doesn't always mean anything). It sucks. I can only really be me with a few select people and even than I don't even get to talk about it or hang out with those people much to actually be me.
Sorry, anyway - I haven't read any fics really for the show, so I don't have any recs it yet since I figured I'd wait until after Episode 6 to start reading, although if have any recs, please feel free to direct me to them.
Ok I'm posting this before I lose it again.
Edit: Adding some fanvids recs:
( links to fanvids... )
