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Hello, Dreamwidth! Here are a few things I've enjoyed lately.

Via ladybusiness: Light, Like a Candle Flame by Iona Sharma is a lovely, wistful story about local government, rebuilding, and loss, featuring an established queer relationship and a generation ship who has outlived her journey. 3.3k words, also available as 24 minutes of audio; do heed the content notes.

A book review by boxofdelights led me to this fascinating excerpt of Growing Good Food: A Citizen's Guide to Climate Victory Farming by Acadia Tucker. The premise is that just as victory gardens helped mitigate food shortages during World Wars I and II, regenerative gardening can not only replenish depleted soil but actually store carbon that would otherwise contribute to climate change. I do very little gardening, but this makes me want to do more.

This is a wise tweet about the way a lot of us are feeling right now.

And this is a video of bees rolling ecstatically in pollen.

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I finished Call It Intelligence by talkingtothesky! It's such an interesting S3 fix-it. ( A bit of spoilery commentary... )

I've enjoyed several DA:I fics of Stonestrewn's lately, most notably Glass Cabinet (Tama Bull, gen, 1k, agonizing) and Writing love all over, in which Cassandra and Josephine are fangirls together and, over the course of 8k, fall gradually in love. It's such a gorgeous depiction of fannish feeling as well as romance, and I especially loved that this particular version of Cassandra is ( spoiler? )

Long-distance call by LadyGwenllian is an adorable Yuri on Ice fic in which Phichit helpfully explains a few things to Yuuri before the whole Victor-in-Hasetsu situation can get too out of hand. I especially appreciate that it gently pushes back against the fat-shaming that struck me as YOI's biggest (only?) flaw.

Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love) by Delphi is exactly 8k of original romance between one Benny Zalman, who serves gin and occasionally breaks bones at a mediocre speakeasy, and Abe Hirsch, the strangely mesmerizing new piano player classing up the joint. Very well written and incredibly charming.

The Axiom by pauraque is ~1.5k exploring Data's perspective in an episode of Star Trek: TNG I never saw, but I love it to pieces despite my ignorance, because it's just so heartbreakingly thoughtful in what it says about what it's like to be an android who, axiomatically, cannot feel. Do mind the warnings in the tags.

Finally, I've been perusing some of susiecarter fics after enjoying their Witcher fic last week, and I think this song is about you is my favorite so far: 11k of Cullen POV as he and Dorian pine over each other like beautiful fools. The use of roleplay and storytelling towards the end as a way to share painful and delicate truths is particularly well done.

WATCHED

Stumptown episode 1x15, "At All Costs: The Conrad Costas Chronicles". What a title, oof. But the episode is good fun, as Stumptown tends to be.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine through episode 7x03, "Pimemento". It's a fun episode! I just don't seem to have much to say about either it or "Captain Kim".

LISTENED TO

Now that Chocolate Box is done, I can admit to being super into this MS MR cover of "Genghis Khan" by Miike Snow without risking giving anything away! Note that the lead vocalist changes the lyrics so she's singing to a boy rather than a girl, but I love her delivery and the moody feel their performance gives the song.

( Two more. )

In the brief window left by a Snowflake challenge that doesn't involve posting anything, have some belated Wednesday things!

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( Many fanfics, mostly short. )

In the world of origfic, I (28M) created a deepfake girlfriend and now my parents think we're getting married by Fonda Lee is exactly what it says on the tin, and basically amazing.

I'm also reading Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (previewable here), and it certainly makes a bold impression! Necromancy, spaceships, impassioned teenage rivalry, a heroine fond of the longsword and of disreputable comics. In addition to the general atmosphere of biting sarcasm and abusive hazing, there is ( a grisly detail worth warning for ). But I've been enjoying myself so far!

PLAYED

Seedship, a lovely poignant little game where you're an AI trying to find humanity a new home among the stars. I don't seem to be very good at that job yet, but maybe someday?

WATCHED

The last two installments of Parallax by Adam Westbrook (mentioned previously). I'm glad I watched this; it's entertaining, thought-provoking, and not a minute longer than it needs to be.

This Is My Story, which is introduced here by LeVar Burton. Six short personal accounts of racism in America, five from black men and one from a black woman. I think Burton's own story hit me the hardest.

The Witcher 1x01, "The End's Beginning". ( I don't think this is my kind of show. )

Sym-Bionic Titan 1x06, "Shaman of Fear". The enemy monster in this episode had a really cute design. Apart from that, still a low-investment watch, which is sometimes exactly what I want.

( The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel through the end of season three! )

( Fleabag 1x01. )

( Stumptown 1x10, "Reality Checks Don't Bounce". )

( The Good Place 4x10, "You've Changed, Man". )

I took longer to read Zen Cho's The True Queen than I should have, because a glance at its prologue made me expect something a little more solemn than the usual lively charm of Cho's work, but I should just have kept reading! As soon as the main body of the story starts, it is an absolute delight.

I think there's an extent to which The True Queen and its predecessor Sorcerer to the Crown would benefit from being read in publication order, though they have different protagonists, but I also think I might love this one even more than the first book -- of which I was already very fond! But The True Queen not only expands on the series' LGBQ content, but also foregrounds kindness and loyalty where Sorcerer was a bit more openly ruthless, so it's basically all the things I love wrapped together in one big delicious package. Including appearances from Prunella and all my other faves!

While I'm flailing fannishly, I might as well mention that the author has some amazing stories available for free online, including If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again and its shorter coda, Head of a Snake, Tail of a Dragon. (Content warnings for human mortality, identity issues, and the pressures of everyone expecting you to become a dragon when that's actually really, really hard.) They're a bit different in tone and setting from her novels, not being Regencies, but everything Zen Cho writes is just so good!