aurora_novarum | Network

nanila posting in

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

hannah

On account of half the members of my dad's book group not being able to make it in person tonight, the other half decided they might as well all meet remotely. No cake this month. Thankfully, I got the call about it before warming the butter. Now I've got some under-ripe tomatoes that were going to go into a streusel cake and some red and black raspberries that I was planning on using as a backup in case the tomatoes were too ripe for the cake. I'll probably cook with the tomatoes and either eat or freeze the berries.

The usual receptionist is recovered enough she might be in next week, though it's still too soon to say for sure, and even if she's in, whether she'll be up to her full or operating at a reduced capacity. It's certainly pointing to an end stage of the gig, which somehow has me enjoying it more. The inability or the difficulty to savor the indefinite, I suppose. Something along those lines.

Current Mood: indifferent
Current Music: Running Up That Hill - Kate Bush

aethel

1. Found my third grade journal. In it I proudly announced how many books I had read, but mostly neglected to mention the titles. Thanks for nothing, asshole. Anyway, according to my updated spreadsheet I've read at least 776 unique titles, not including whatever Nate the Great rereads baby-me was probably using to pad her numbers. I still don't have any record for 8th or 9th grade, when I'm pretty sure I read some classic sf and Victorian novels, but also--let's face it--a lot of Star Trek tie-ins.

It is somewhat discouraging to read your own childish writing and realize essentially nothing has changed about you except your spelling.

2. I recently finished Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (so good!). Currently I'm rereading The Caves of Steel and Anne of Green Gables. I also started Station Eleven, but might not be in the mood for post-apocalyptic, and Beyond the Wall, a history of East Germany that I have so far failed to make much progress on.

3. Fic rec: The Co-Stars, A Romantic Comedy by Ryan Reynolds by cyclogenesis (addictedkitten)

austenmod posting in

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stonepicnicking_okapi

1. It is day #2 of my job and I had to call #911 for my client. Talk about being thrown in the deep end! He's okay and I'm okay but it was still a wild second day.

2. Also Minisculus woke up with neck pain enough to make him sob and scream, and I had to leave him. I am being thrown the working mom angst right from the start.

3. But Minisculus placed 7th in his race at the regional club championship so he got to stand on the podium and a bronze medal the size of a dinner plate.

I'm trying to figure out my routine. I will add a second client on Thursday so I suppose I am waiting for that to figure out what I do when (like grocery shopping). I am reminding myself to take it easy and just handle one enormous shift at a time. Being a working mom fand having my kid be a latch key kid is enough for this week.

colorcoded posting in

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senmut

First Date (400 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Marvels [2023]
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Hank McCoy/Maria Rambeau
Characters: Henry "Hank" McCoy | Beast, Maria Rambeau
Additional Tags: Drabble Sequence
Summary:

First Dates can be interesting.

First Date

Maria had spent time touching up her nails, dithering over which outfit to wear, deciding on the shoes that looked best with it.

Hank, for his part, had done all he could to tidy his appearance, currently stuck in 'blue', 'furry', and 'large', but he knew those factors didn't matter to her.

He showed up promptly — actually early but didn't approach the house right away — and rang the doorbell. She answered it, her smile lighting her eyes in a way that made Hank feel almost normal again.

"Shall we?" he invited, pointing to his car.

An explosion answered for her.

After dealing with the alien being chased by space cops — not Carol's set, thankfully — Binary and Beast sat up on a rooftop, drinks cups and to-go containers of food between them.

"For a date, it was a little rocky," she offered, smiling despite the bruise darkening her face.

"I promise you, I can do better," he replied, self-consciously smoothing singed fur on his arm.

She reached out and covered his hand. "Why don't you take me back to your place, and we'll see about the aftercare first?" Maria invited, and Hank had to suck in a deep breath of anticipation.

Treating each other's scrapes had led to their clothes being discarded, leading to a brazen challenge to see if they fit as well in a bed as they did in combat.

Hank was never going to feel anything short of awe for how easily Maria accepted his mutated appearance. He could only gasp and keep his hands on her lightly as she touched, petted, and kissed him. He laid back and let her have control… until she turned the tables, bringing his hand to her breast.

The half-slitted eyes gazing down as he touched her wrecked him, making her purr.

Maria could get used to the feel of Hank's body under her, the strength and dexterity he used in a fight leashed to their mutual desires. She might even welcome waking up with him… but she wasn't going to rush things. She knew he was struggling at times with who — what — he was.

She had experience managing that, and was still growing accustomed to her powers.

Now, resting in what was hopefully a brief respite, she ran a finger along his cheek fur, making him shift into the touch.

"Next date, fewer aliens."

He chuckled, and then saw to kissing her.

Written for uc_xmen drabble-a-thon/prompt meme on Dreamwidth, prompt: MCU - Hank McCoy/Maria Rambeau - (any), it was supposed to be date night

k2daisy

After a torturous journey of fits and starts and big stretches of waiting with no break in the stress, the roof permit was finally, finally, FINALLY approved. Which meant the house was at last sold. But honestly, that permit almost broke me. The house sale is almost anti-climactic in comparison. So many people meant well and wanted to help, but we had to go through every single step, sometimes twice, and very few people could actually complete those steps. It is a testament to my personal growth that I held my temper and did not go off on anyone, even when they cost me sleepless nights or hot anxious tears or thousands of dollars in extra fees.

But it's over. The permit is done. My obligation to Cape Coral is finished. The house is sold.

The estate is closing up too; I signed the last few documents and those checks should get sent out to us each hopefully this week.

Then the memorial and water burial is in two weeks. My parents will truly be gone.

I miss them so much. I want to call my mom every day. I want to play Lexulous with my dad.

I am glad they were able to leave us money; it's a really nice nest egg that I can use to improve my own house (which they would love as they constantly did home improvement) and put the rest aside for our retirement days. But I would rather have them than the money.

beck_liz posting in

doctor_who_sonic

Editor's Note: If your item was not linked, it's because the header lacked the information that we like to give our readers. Please at least give the title, rating, and pairing or characters, and please include the header in the storypost itself, not just in the linking post. For an example of what a "good" fanfic header is, see the user info. Spoiler warnings are also greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Off-Dreamwidth Links
Blogtor Who: Video of the Day – Doctor Who: Belinda and the Fifteenth Doctor, 2025
Blogtor Who: Master Replicas Doctor Who TARDIS Collection
Blogtor Who: Video of the Day – Doctor Who: The Story & The Engine, 2025

(News from

doctorwhonews_feed and

blogtorwho_feed, among others.)

Discussion and Miscellany

nwhyte on Castrovalva, by Andrew Orton (and Christopher H. Bidmead)

purplecat with Costume Bracket: Round 4, Post 5

Fanfiction
Complete
Taken by

badly_knitted (G | Tenth Doctor, Martha)

Recommendations

romanajo123 recommends Smothered by Shivver

If you were not linked, and would like to be, contact us in the comments with further information and your link.

wychwood

I have indeed played lots of ME:A (up to 34% completion, apparently). Also done many other things but all while lacking any desire to put any effort into documenting them! However, I have visited the Stourbridge Glass Museum with Miss H last Thursday, which felt more art-gallery-ish than really museum-y to me, but did have some lovely glass things. There's a big historic gallery, which has lots of... glasses and vases and things, mostly in categories by technique and with plaques that talk about the local connections and the like, and a big 20th century and contemporary gallery with lots of cool and fun modern art glass, with some glasses and vases and the like as well. They also have a "hot shop" with actual glassmakers working, which was my favourite part. I bought a ladybird suncatcher which is hanging on my window and looking very cheerful even behind the slatted blind.

Then on the Saturday we went to Thinktank, the science museum, to see the Space Vault exhibition and also TWO shows in the planetarium because we are suckers for a planetarium. Unlike the Leicester Space Centre we did not get to vote on any trivia questions, but we did learn about summer stars and also the Artemis project. The exhibition itself was full of space-and-astronaut objects that mostly weren't actually very exciting (a piece of broken insulation! a manual! some gloves!) but they did a good job of contextualising the artefacts and adding audio and visual components (although the audio was frankly not loud enough to actually listen to, given the volume in the rest of the floor) and I enjoyed myself. Although, as with last time I went to Thinktank, it was obscenely hot and humid, so I started dragging fairly quickly; possibly I am cursed.

Otherwise I have mostly been preparing for GRADUATIONS, mostly the part where I have to be on campus every day. I made what eventually turned out to be twelve portions of pasta bake, now largely filling my freezer, to be eaten for lunches etc, and attempted to mentally adjust to the prospect. Today was the first day, and so far I have done one ceremony (the first of the season!); I'm signed up for a second already, so we'll see how it goes...

greghousesgf

I'm just hanging around here until I have to go to physical therapy this afternoon, looking forward to going to skeptics in the pub tonight once I hear from Dave. My legs hurt too damn much to go swimming the other day. I wish my neighbors would shut up, they're yelling at eachother, I don't know what they're arguing about and it's none of my business anyway but one of them has a very annoying voice.

Current Music: Tsaichovsky

purplecat

Two Doctor Who companion outfits for your delectation and delight! Outfits selected by a mixture of ones I, personally, like; lists on the internet; and a certain random element.

( Outfits below the Cut )

Vote for your favourite of these costumes. Use whatever criteria you please - most practical, most outrageously spacey, most of its decade!

Voting will remain open for at least a week, possibly longer!

Costume Bracket Masterlist

Images are a mixture of my own screencaps, screencaps from Lost in Time Graphics, PCJ's Whoniverse Gallery, and random Google searches.

troyswann

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Current Mood: grateful

sasheneskywalker posting in

enemiestoloversex

Tag nominations are now open for the Enemies to Lovers Exchange! Here's the link to the tag set.

Please remember:

- Please disambiguate all relationships with the full or abbreviated canon name.

- You can nominate up to 10 fandoms with up to 10 relationships each and 20 freeform tags.

- All relationships must be romantic and/or sexual. Please only nominate relationships with the "/" symbol.

- Every romantic and/or sexual relationship is eligible, no matter what the characters are to each other in canon. The relationship is just going to be portrayed as enemies to lovers in the fanwork.

- Solo characters are not allowed.

- Nominate crossover relationships under Crossover Fandom, with a fandom disambiguation after each character's name. Example: Bob (Fandom 1)/Alice (Fandom 2)

- Nominate original relationships and characters under Original Work. You can specify genders of the characters in the tag. Example: Non-binary Prince/Female Knight (OW)

- You can nominate "Any" character in the relationship tag. You can specify the category and gender of the character if you want. Example: Any Male Villain/Bob (Fandom)

- RPF nominations must be for famous people 18 years old or older. Non-famous relatives or associates of famous people are not allowed. The mods also reserve the right to reject RPF nominations in bad taste (Nazis, contemporary political and religious leaders, etc.).

yourlibrarian posting in

tv_talk

Laptop-TV combo with DVDs on top and smartphone on the desk

In which shows does “place” play an important role in the success of the show to you? This could be a geographical location or some other significant space.

sasheneskywalker posting in

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rydra_wong

Especially while it's at 75% off in the sale, making it 62p:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/406150/Refunct/

For anyone who might want to sample some easy platforming with a very very low entry threshold.

Chill and rather lovely environment (okay, probably depends on you liking brutalist architecture, but still -- there's a day-night cycle! there's sunshine! the water is gorgeous! the music is gentle!) with no time pressure and no penalties for failing a jump hundreds of times (except that, at worst, you fall in the water and have to swim about and haul yourself out again).

N.B. Most reviews describe this as a half-hour game, and there are achievements for speedrunning it in under 8 minutes or under 4 minutes.

It took me over five hours of playtime to beat it, which should be indicative of the co-ordination and skill levels I'm working with here. And yet it did not at any point feel stressful or humiliating for me. It felt like a pleasant, relaxing environment in which to fail repeatedly and experiment.

It started at a level low enough that I could manage it, and then had a really satisfying difficulty curve. If I was stalling on the next objective, I could still run and parkour round the environment purely for fun (and sometimes ended up working out how to pick off the optional achievements in the process).

Towards the very end, I started to think that the last jumps might just flat-out exceed the limits of what I am currently capable of, and it felt like if that did happen, I would still be able to walk away pretty happily having already got way more than 62p's worth of enjoyment out of it.

Will absolutely be playing it again.

selenak

Very entertaining satiric novel set in and about the publishing industry. Our first person narrator, June (white), is a writer with a debut novel which didn't make a splash and won't even, so her agent tells her, get a paperback edition, in stark contrast to her college friend Athena Liu's (American Chinese) work: Athena has three novels already published, just secured a Netflix deal and celebrates that and finishing the first draft of her newest work with June when she dies an accidental death by pancake. June doesn't just dial 911. She also makes off with Athena's manuscript, about which only she knows, edits, rewrites and publishes it. Presto, success, at last! ! But wait! There's no lack of sharp-eyed foes waiting, social media is truly a jungle, and June might be her own worst enemy....
( Very vague spoilers ensue )

The novel has the right kind of length for this story - which is to say, less than 400 pages - so the various buildings up of suspense - will June get away with it being the big, but not the only one - are not drawn out too long, and there's not a gigantic cast of characters. Said characters reminded me of comedy of manners types - very stylized, often types for certain ways of behaviour - fittng the satire format. The only other thing of R. F. Kuang's I'd read before was Poppy War, a fantasy novel of a very different type, so I'm impressed by her range. Otoh, if Poppy War was so grim that I emerged emotionally exhausted and sure I would go through the experience again (while being glad I had done so in the first place), Yellowface felt like a slick writty automaton which you observe once and marvel at its cleverness but don't feel the need to do it again. But I will certainly continue to keep out an eye for this author.

Current Mood: pensive
Current Location: Kampen

summerstorm

Does anybody need someone to copy-edit/proofread a blog post or article or TTRPG notes or something? I'll do like 1k for, I don't know, 10 bucks? I have a really hard time making shit up for portfolio reasons and setting up a Fiverr gig requires samples of your work. Gross.

I'm probably not even going to use that, because I'm pretty sure I can offer that sort of work on Ko-Fi and I hate the shit out of content mills, but all the same.

Today's D20 list (where I write down twenty things and then roll a d20 to see what I do next) is mostly research; so far I've compiled a few examples of printable item and spell cards for D&D, done the above, and found out the reason Inprnt wouldn't accept my files is that I've been saving JPGs in Apple's Display P3 color profile. I thought they weren't big enough, which is probably ridiculous, I have a fucking Canon DSLR.

I don't think I talked about this here, but back in May my mom stopped receiving her minimal basic income, so we're surviving on kindness and savings, and there's not that much in savings. If anyone wants to help out, my Paypal account is battlesinthemorning@gmail.com. Literally every bit helps. But I am also trying to do actual work without driving myself up the wall. It's hard because every time my mom asks my sister for money*, my mental health takes five steps back, but I'm trying.

* ( venting )

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aurora_novarum

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Aurora's Stargate fic

Stories, recs, and random musings...

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Just One Thing (09 July 2025)

Swap our places.

media updates

Jane Austen Exchange - Nominations Open

News & Views

Incest Bingo Round 4

UC-X-Men Prompt Meme: First Date

Life six months later

Tuesday, 8th July 2025

i might get a manned moon flyby for my birthday!

(no subject)

Costume Bracket: Round 4, Post 5

The dark at the edge of the pool

Tag nominations are open!

TV Tuesday: Location, location, location

Multifandom: Enemies to Lovers Exchange 2025

Finished Refunct over the weekend and genuinely cannot rec too highly

R.F. Kuang: Yellowface (Book Review)

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New Multifandom Challenge Comm Signups Open NOW

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January 2014

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