faalthien

[faalthien]

B?

Happy Birthday to my favorite boy.

[faalthien]

Philon Award Dark Horses: Some Recs For Your Consideration

For the 28th year, the Philon Awards for excellence in Kirk/Spock fan creations are accepting nominations (or changes/additions to your existing nomination) until this Thursday, Jul. 31, 2025. Any member of the fandom can nominate once! Nominate here.

I have seen several of the same works and names come up in discussions and lists more than once (even over several years), which is great! I have even nominated some of these repeat winners because their phenomenal work deserves it. But there are so many talented people in this fandom, and so I am also nominating a handful of "Dark Horse" pieces, that have a bit of a disadvantage for varying reasons (published too late, not shared widely, unpopular category, etc.). Even if these works aren't nominated by anyone except me, I hope that sharing them here will help to get them some more attention -- they deserve it!

You are able to nominate three works in each category, and you are able to add to and change your nomination until the deadline. (None of the works on this list are mine, but I would be honored if you would also consider one of my works, all of which are eligible.)

Ficlet (<1K words):

It seems a lot of people are having a hard time filling this category! Pieces this short are often shared as informal posts rather than formal works. People often read them very quickly and then move on to the next post in the feed. But both of these pieces are delightful, and deserve a wider audience in spite of the fact that they were only shared informally on Tumblr.

Spirk Picnic by illegalpaladin (drabble request ficlet). Kirk tries to teach Spock a human pastime. Cute and clever!

...in relief by a-most-beloved-fool (kiss prompt Ask game ficlet). Kirk forgets himself when Spock returns unharmed from a dangerous situation.

Short Fic (1K-5K words):

Spirk #17 to distract by a-most-beloved-fool (kiss prompt Ask game ficlet, shared only on Tumblr). A kiss between Kirk and Spock speaks volumes, but is it speaking the truth? Spock POV, so gorgeous and heartwrenching.

Vestigial Instincts by katruyck (aka spirk-trek). (Shared too early / published close to the start of the eligible period.) Fantastic worldbuilding, interesting fauna and Kirk being a genius with found objects like in the episode Arena.

Novella (20K-50K words):

And in the Fields the Cervidae by infernalia (aka commandercontrarian). A transporter malfunction strands Kirk and Spock on a strange new world with unique ecology and a deadly disease. While they try to find a cure for their ailment, they find out more than they bargained for about each other. (This piece was published just last week, very close to the nomination deadline. Also, the one-shot format for such a long piece is off-putting to many people, but the piece is so beautiful and intelligent and very much worth the read.)

Poetry:

Lots of people just skip this section because they "aren't a fan" of poetry. Consider one of these non-traditional (but eligible) works for this category!

Shaped Poetry: Infinity by Spock Lovemail. A brilliant poem in the form of an infinity symbol, which can be read in several different directions and is beautiful no matter how you read it! This was shared in a couple places, but only just added to AO3.

Song: HR Violations on the USS Enterprise by indeedcaptain. There is no separate category for music, so this delightful and clever third-person POV song belongs in the Poetry category.

Traditional Art:

Bad Things Come in Threes by lichqueenlibrarian (explicit). Part of the Spirk in a Cave event, so it was shared late in the awards season! Gorgeous anatomy and details. I love that purple lighting! Our selves, blurred by Faal. Same -- a Spirk in a Cave work shared very recently! Such unusual geometry, gorgeously tactile in a way only traditional art can be.

Digital Art:

Happy birthday Spock! Thanks for the absolute Looks™ (Archons Screencap Redraw) by mr--spock. I still can't believe this one is art and not a screenshot!! Incredible!

(Best of luck to all these creators! @illegalpaladin @a-most-beloved-fool @spirk-trek @commandercontrarian @spocklovemail @indeedcaptain @lichqueenlibrarian @faalthien @mr--spock)

What Dark Horses did you include on your nominations list?

[faalthien]

Fandom In Color: Nile Freeman

For Fandom In Color we're spotlighting Nile Freeman.

Nile is a newly created immortal, who is our POV character for the secret mercenary group known as The Old Guard. Played by KiKi Layne in the film adaptations, she is a well liked character in the fandom, with many fans exploring her struggles around becoming an immortal, and having to leave her family behind, in fanworks. However, there has also been some discourse around treating Nile as an adult instead of a "baby" in the group of immortals.

Since the release of the second film her Fanlore page could use some updating. Can you help us with that?

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We value every contribution to our shared fandom history. If you’re new to editing Fanlore or wikis in general, visit our New Visitor Portal to get started or ask us questions here!

[faalthien]

When all else familiar is so far away, we become one, the boundaries of our selves blurred. It is the only way to keep ourselves.

For the Spirk in a Cave event! They are stuck in a cave. They get nasty about it. (Yes, this is my version of nasty.)

[faalthien]

Hello, I'm the anon that sent the ask about the 'Angel of ruin.' I hope you know it was about your latest art piece! I just can't stop thinking about the use of light, and the downcast eyes, and the wreath of dead flowers on his head. (Are they roses? Is it a crown of thorns, with all the biblical implications thereof?) I am OBSESSED.

Poetry anon hi!!

Words kinda failed me with that ask, so now I want you to know what happened: I read it, I freaked (positively) that you had feelings and thoughts about my art (I knew it was about the resurrection one). At the same time my brain went "omgods that'd look beautiful painted" then I had to talk myself down about how I already did paint it. Anyway I ended up wordlessly yelling ("!!!!").

ALSO you know what they weren't roses but now I kinda want them to be because I cannot believe I missed the opportunity to make a religious reference??

(I have a half-done painting of Jason that started life as a crucifixion sketch (although at this point you probably couldn't tell). I also have some photos I took of paintings of Jesus not long ago which played so well with the halo and crown of throns thing, I'm obsessed. Hmmmm the mind races.)

Anyway, now I balanced the last, short answer by rambling. I'm so happy you are still thinking about it, that's the highest compliment for an artist. You made me all giddy.

[faalthien]

The light still finds him, even as he's surrounded by death and decay. Angel of ruin.

!!!!

[faalthien]

Emerge into this bloody world wreathed in a crown of wilted flowers.

I blame @meaninglessblah-writes for the idea.

[faalthien]

Four years later, I'm coming from the so far biggest Pride organised here, which grew so large in response to the government's effort to ban the parade and limit the freedom of assembly. No matter the witch hunts, the smear campaigns, the misinformation — we were here, we are here and we will be here.

And thank you to everyone who stood with us.

We are here. 🇭🇺🏳️‍🌈 I’m not going to rant at the Hungarian government again, because I haven’t been doing anything else all day, but if you want to know a bit more about what are they doing to the lgbtq people, [there was a post with some links]. 

[faalthien]

🌻 Flower Zine - Contributor Spotlights! 🌷

Put your hands together for even more of our amazing contributors!

@faalthien | @elwon | @/c_art | @byrdsofthenyte

See something you like? Support your local creators by giving them a follow or leaving a comment!

[faalthien]

I'm late even to the afterparty of @dickgraysonweek but I'm going to post them anyway because finishing these is my reward for the last month. Have some murder attempt!

Fun fact: this one is based on Salomé by Pierre Bonnaud, but I had an incredibly confused moment where when I saw the bed and getup, I was like "Samson and Delilah" but then the head was there so I was like "Judith and Holofernes" and then Google tells me it's the lady with the trayful of head. But please look at the painting, it's gorgeous.

[faalthien]

pervert

Thank you 😌😌

[faalthien]

Five plus one for @jaydick-week day 5

Shoutout to the Jaydick discord for helping me figure out where the kisses go!

[faalthien]

WHO'S LATE

@jaydick-week day 4, mafia AU

[faalthien]

You have to understand – all of them bear the marks of their lifestyle, night to night. Having a soulmate whose wounds you carry isn't as obvious when you are littered by scars anyway, when you can't keep track of where you got each one. So it is not that surprising that Dick didn't know, not until he felt like being ripped apart, the markings of a cowbar still aching on his body. And it is not that surprising that he didn't know not until his throat was torn, bleeding the light of a soulmate-bond onto his trembling hands.

[faalthien]

The Prince and his Knight

[faalthien]

Upon their cheeks a furious rage Paled to a ghastly fear. And strangled breath from lips like death Was all that could be heard;

János Arany: The Bards of Wales

Happy Hungarian Poetry Day!

[faalthien]

Trauma recovery.

For @dickgraysonweek

It took me an absurd long time to find an eurocent. I found Czech coins before that? I've never even been there??