Collected Thoughts

Fandom: Lord of the Rings

Pairings/Characters:

Celeborn/Haldir of Lothlórien, Celeborn/Galadriel | Artanis, Orophin/Rúmil of Lothlórien, Boromir/Théodred, Aragorn | Estel/Elrond Peredhel, Arwen Undómiel/Éowyn, Frodo Baggins/Sam Gamgee, Elladan/Elrohir/Erestor (Tolkien), Gandalf | Mithrandir/Saruman | Curunír, Gimli (Son of Glóin)/Legolas Greenleaf, Sauron | Mairon/Witch-King Of Angmar, Éomer Éadig/Faramir (Son of Denethor II), Gollum/Gríma Wormtongue, Elrond Peredhel/Glorfindel, Denethor II/Théoden Ednew

Rating: Mature

Length: 7,126 words

Creator Links: AO3 Profile

Theme: Crack Treated Seriously

Summary: Théoden and Denethor hunt the elusive Slash Fairy after she makes them... do things. Over and over. Featuring the horses of Middle Earth, with music by Fountains of Wayne, Celine Dion and Kenny Loggins.


Reccer's Notes: This month's theme is "ideas that are very, very bonkers, but approached with the utmost dedication to making it work within whatever passes for reality in that fandom." Author's dedication is key in this humorous tale of slash spreading like a glorious spready thing in the LOTR world and you'll believe that Denethor and Théoden-King need each other whether they realize it or not. The fairy is merely the mechanism. Just check out the other pairings and revel the night away! I especially liked that femmeslash was included, and also horses.

Fanwork Links: The Slash Fairy Cometh

⌈ Secret Post #6963 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


01.


( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 17 secrets from Secret Submission Post #994.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

We got 6-8 inches of snow, and a lot of cold, but we're still here. Power works, gas works, water works. I'm going out now to try to take down the plowed wall next to the cars. It only took 2 days to see a snowplow -- but the area is still closed down through tomorrow, so not surprising.

Not looking forward to more from next weekend.

ETA: Both cars have 2.5 feet of ice and snow along the side next to the lane. I couldn't budge it.
If the SU can't either, we may have to phone the incel across the street to dig it out for an exorbitant fee. If we didn't have the possibility of another storm, with wetter snow, this coming weekend I'd let it sit, but I will still have that doctor's appointment next week.


grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I've rewatched the first two eps (but have seen the entire season, so if you want to compare these early eps to later eps in comments, please feel free). ( spoilers )

What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: Nothing. This week's meme is exactly the same as last week because I have made very little progress with reading.


What I am Currently Reading: Still working on Husband Material (London Calling) by Alexis Hall.


What I Plan to Read Next: Probably the other library book I have out because I'm running out of renewals on these. o_O

I hit Walmart while I was downtown and the bank drive-thru later on.

I did two loads of laundry, hand-washed dishes, emptied the dishwasher, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and shaved. I roasted a chicken for supper, with mashed potatoes and corn. The worst part is picking all the meat off of it after.

I finished rewatching the second ep of Heated Rivalry and some House Hunters International.

Temps started out at 9.5(F) (and dropped to 9.0 before I left the house) and reached 21.7. The sun was shining but it was C-O-L-D.

Irony: I had checked the two week weather forecast and was pleased that we wouldn't have snow again for almost two weeks. Then Pip comes home and tells me about the N'oreaster that's going to hit around Sunday. Snow totals depend on how far out the storm stays, but could be more than we got this past weekend. Really DNW. Also, WTF, TWC app, why is this information not on the front page to give me a heads up?!!


Mom Update:

Mom was just okay when I saw her. She complained that she feels good one day (yesterday) and then not great the next (today). She had an appointment with the Hospice nurse after I left and planned to ask if she was ever going to feel better, or if it’s basically, she’s going to feel like shit until she dies from the cancer. I’m afraid it’s the second, since the nurse basically told her not to worry about eating as she’s not expending much energy (if she was going to get well she’d need to eat) and when mom asked if the nurse could guesstimate how much time she had left, the answer was a very discouraging, ‘not less than a month’. WTF does that mean?!!

I wrote out a check (and put it in the mailbox), made a deposit, and added some tax papers to the folder for 2025. I finally returned the laundry I’d done for her last week. o_O And brought some groceries she’d asked for. There’s little I can do to make her feel better, so doing these tasks for her is something.

When I called her later, both Sisters A and S were there, so that's good.

⌈ Secret Post #6962 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


01.



( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 24 secrets from Secret Submission Post #994.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Sequel to this post.

( Cut for US politics, violence )

https://www.standwithminnesota.com/

Do you miss printed show episode guides that summed up plots and provided episode facts or are wikis and other online sources equal or better options? What makes you try out new shows? Take the poll ✅

If you have specific resources to recommend or want to detail what you use, please share in a comment!

There was no going downtown today because of the snow. Not a surprise; I’d planned for it.

I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter. More leftovers for supper. (Leftovers are now gone because they got packed up to go up to the garage with Pip, so I’m going to have to start cooking again. o_O)

I rewatched about half of the second ep of Heated Rivalry, as well as Home Town and some House Hunters International. Dr. Pol was my evening background tv. I took a brief nap again, even though we slept in again this morning. It seems like the more sleep I get the more tired I am. o_O

I tried to upload a photo of this mug but Imgur didn’t like the WEBP file. It’s really cute and made me chuckle. (Link goes to chewy.com.)

Temps started out at 13.8(F) (a heatwave!) and reached 23.2. All the schools in our county (and surrounding counties) are closed. Pip shoveled the deck again and plowed the driveway and our walking paths. Then he went up to the garage to clean out the parking lot there. THEN he ‘cleaned up’ around the house with the tracker and snow blower. He was out there for an hour, stopped for some soup for lunch, then back out for another half hour. He was a popsicle when he was done.

ETA: I forgot to say that we got about 16" out of the storm, so not great, but not as bad as it could have been. Thank goodness Pip has the large equipment necessary to move it all.


Mom Update:

Mom sounded better today. Sister S had gone down to visit her despite the roads not being very good at the time. She also had a call from my brother. And she said she had some good food that sat well, so that’s good.

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Anne Teldy, Carson Beckett, Radek Zelenka, Jennifer Keller
Rating: Explicit
Length: 18,013
Content Notes: Graphic depictions of violence. Jeannie, Rodney's sister, has died long before the story starts. Academic ethics are somewhat compromised!
Creator Links: Telesilla on AO3, helens78 on Audiofic Archive
Themes: Crack treated seriously, First time, Friends to lovers, Animal transformation, Werecreatures, Complete AU, Interspecies pairing, Research, Worldbuilding (I had difficulty finding actual tags to reflect some of these because while there's a minor character werewolf in this, most of the Weres aren't wolves.)

Summary: John Sheppard has had over twenty years to come to grips with the fact that every four or five weeks, he turns into a mountain lion. Like most Were, he accepts that that's just the way it is, and so he's not particularly interested when he learns that researchers at the local university are trying to to develop drugs that will help Were control their cycles. Then he meets Dr. Rodney McKay, a brilliant but irascible biochemist with reasons of his own for spearheading the university's Were research and John suddenly finds himself struggling with more than just his attraction to McKay.

Reccer's Notes: Werewolves, or in this case, Werecreatures in general, are a popular crack fantasy trope. This story's excellent as it turns the fantasy trope into a real minority of individuals having Were genes, forced to change cyclically to an animal form. In this story's interesting worldbuilding, Were are discriminated against and find it hard to get jobs and live as full members of society. John is a werecougar and he meets Rodney who's a scientist running a research trial to test a new drug intended to suppress mandatory cycling. The story is crack "taken seriously" as there's no fantasy element. This is a genetically-driven thing, with Were a slightly different species to humans. Their cycles vary according to gene expression, and aren't moon-driven. Plus, in this world, Telesilla shows the politics of discrimination against Were, with John initially resisting the research as he's angry that they're yet again being viewed as humans with a sickness that needs treatment. The story has lots of plot and drama, a great developing relationship with Rodney, and a satisfying conclusion. Very much recommended!

Fanwork Links: Where the Brave Dare Not Go, it's locked to AO3 so here's a Wayback link
Excellent podfic by helens78 here