#recap post

[slythindor100]

2024 25 Days of Draco and Harry Recap Post

Here's the recap for the 2024 25 Days of Draco and Harry.

It took a bit to get through all the submissions this year, so I'm sorry this is a bit late. First of all, my co-mod and I want to thank every single one of you for another great holiday season filled with Draco and Harry love. The word count of just the completed fics was almost 275k!! You all rock!! We also had a record 4 podfics this year!! It thrills us mods to see all your hard work.

Presenting fics and podfics for 25 Days of Draco and Harry 2024. This list includes all completed fics. At the end are a few fics that have at least 15 chapters posted (and the authors are still posting).

Completed Fics

A03 – gnarf wrote next to you M, 33.6k

A03 – oldenuf2nb wrote Nineteen Years Later E, 46.9k

A03 – Skotini wrote Meet me under the Mistletoe M, 14k

A03 – maraudersaffair wrote the Mark of Scars E, 28.6k

A03 – dodgerkedavra wrote Clear, Warm Light E, 36.5K

A03 – flowerfan wrote Wandcastle Christmas Teen and Up, 23.8k and for the additional prompt wrote What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? Teen and Up, 3k

A03 – Devious_Muffin wrote Last Christmas, I Gave You My Heart E, 49.5k

A03 – Burning_Up_A_Sun wrote Merry Christmas, I Could Care Less E, 15.2k

A03 – harDeehar (dryrsheet) wrote tunneling for beginners M, 14.9k

Only on LiveJournal and/or Dreamwidth – enchanted_jae wrote Yuletide Verse

PODFICS

A03 – lastontheboat // tumblr – lastontheboat read A Room Up There (And You In It), by thestarryknight Chapter 26 is complete reading - 5:49:08 Entire fic found here

A03 – Aulophobia, Cailynwrites, CelilasPodfics (LLAP115), Eleanor_Elizabeth, Flamelikefire, ineedtodomylaundry, jc647, lastontheboat, LauDH8, Melcarrianna, micha_making_podfics, PhenomenalAsterisk, philowriting, Podfic by (Thunder_of_Dragons), read by (horchatapods), Rhyebony, SassySaori, sweaters_in_the_summer, TheseLittleWonders, wianwriting, (bluedreaming), (Literarion), and_Djapchan (Djapchan) each read a chapter of Light up the Night by saras_girl (chapter by chapter available only) Entire fic can be found here

A03 – reveriepi read Helix by saras_girl Full pod fic available on post – 9:00:30 Entire fic can be found here

AO3 – LauDH8 did a cold read of next to you by gnarf (chapter by chapter available only) Entire fic can be found here

FICS STARTED AND STILL BEING COMPLETED:

A03 – thestarryknight started Little Gods 17 chapters completed

A03 – digthewriter started 25 Passionate Interludes 19 chapters completed

A03 – sassy_cissa started Our Life in 25 Memories 15 chapters completed

The entire 2024 25 Days of Draco and Harry Collection can be found here.

Thank you to everyone who participated in 2024 – whether you wrote, read, commented, cheered or just sat back and quietly enjoyed. We couldn't do this without you!

We hope to see everyone back for the 2025 round and bring your friends!! The more the merrier.

Your 25 Days of Draco and Harry mods sassy_cissa and timothysboxers

[ingravinoveritas]

Follow-up to this post and a point-by-point recap of last night's events:

- Definitely thought I would be nervous, but as soon as I saw Neil waiting backstage from the vantage of my fourth row seat, all that went away.

- The event was a tribute to Ray Bradbury, with Neil and several actors reading different short stories and Neil talking about them in between. He started off the night by talking about being a TikTok meme ("Neil Gaiman, why are you in my falafel?") and how his time as a meme was almost up.

- There was an after party in the bar following the show, and the ticket I had purchased allowed me to attend. I didn't even realize Neil was there yet because he was so low profile and just chilling while a line began to form at his table.

- When I went up to him, he was very smiley and kind and soft-spoken. I mentioned really enjoying the Bradbury story he read ("The Homecoming") because it felt like an allegory for autism, for an autistic person in a family full of neurotypicals, and it really resonated with me. So we talked Ray Bradbury and writing and it was lovely. - I also mentioned the tweets from a few years ago (here and here) that involved him commenting on a photo of me in a red bikini and me offering to cook him dinner if he came to New Jersey, and he remembered! Haha. He also still seemed very interested in the offer and said, "It's a date" and "We'll do dinner." Oh, Neil... - At the end, I somehow finally remembered to tell him my name and said "I'm Amy" as we shook hands. To which he replied, "It's lovely to meet you, Amy. I'm Neil." - After we took the picture, I wished Neil a good flight (the venue staff said they were trying to hurry up the queue because he had an early flight today) and safe travels, and he said "Thank you!" and was again so sweet and lovely and just a person. - Didn't talk to Neil about anything Good Omens, but I did end up chatting with a woman who knows Rob Wilkins (someone waiting in the queue asked Neil how to get in touch with Rob and he pointed to this woman, so that was how I first became aware of her). Later on in the evening, after Neil left, we were on the other side of the bar and struck up a conversation about all things GO, Terry Pratchett, fandoms, Michael and David's chemistry, and much more. She also told me to follow her on Instagram and message her if I ever needed tips for navigating the overwhelm that is NYCC. A totally unexpected and thoroughly enjoyable conversation overall. - Also got to talk with Yetide Badaki (who was in American Gods and one of the actors who performed last night) and she was beyond lovely. I complimented her performance and said how it was "like Siri, but less creepy" and she burst out laughing and asked if she could put that in her résumé. Haha. The topic of autism came up and she said how it was so important to her and how there needs to be more awareness. I mentioned being a professional speaker and that I've done a TED talk on autism, and she said she wanted to watch it. Again, completely unexpected interaction, but so delightful and so much fun.

My overall thoughts and takeaway from this is that real life is very, very much different and not the same thing at all as online fandom. It was incredibly refreshing to see Neil and talk to him in a non-fandom context, and to see how gracious he was with every person in line (adults, kids, couples, all of it). He signed books, took pictures with people, and hugged fans who seemed to be sharing particularly emotional moments. I feel like the fandom tends to treat Neil like some kind of god, but for me, I truly enjoyed seeing and getting to meet him as a person--charming, intelligent, funny, polite, and just a bit awkward...

[nolofinweanweek]

Save the date for Nolofinwëan Week 2024: Nov 3-9.

You can browse the wonderful submissions for Nolofinwëan Week 2023 below:

📚 Things to read 🎨 Things to see 💡 Things to think about 📷 Esthetics 🔖 Rec lists

Creations featuring Nolofinwëan characters are reblogged year-round, feel free to mention the blog @nolofinweanweek or tag #nolofinweans

[doesntmeanitsmeaningless]

Hola Ailo!!!! The recap that you did ask for is here(a little bit late sorry but still counts), Louis show at the Victorious Festival:

Festival poster.

As you saw but still will link some pics because he look gorgeous, Louis wore full black with a cap 🫠 and the barricade photo I show you that deserves to be link again haha.

🚨Highlight of the recap shirtless Steve is back!!! Thank you Steve 🚨 (no idea if that is a highlight for you but it wouldn't be a recap of me without that important info).

His family was there, here is a cute video of Lottie, other with Olive and other with Lucky.

Seems like the weather was cold, because Mr. Weather Man comment about it and also was doing some arms and hands gestures a few times to said that he was cold, poor Louis, but hey we thank him for showing a tank top.

He said this sweet quote and mention that it was his first festival in the UK.

Here he was interacting with a fan but I wonder what the sign said.

Louis instagram story.

Some observations about the live:-Hands up and down during kill my mind instead of kmm lights (like this other time that they did it in other festival), seems like is a tradition now and I love it.

-You can see his family on the side of the stage moving to the rhythm.

-Fans were yelling I love you Louis and he was smiling.

-He was interacting with a lot of fans, was very smiley and so confident. It was lovely seeing him like this.

He also sign a doncaster bear of a fan I guess maybe after the show I don't know.

For your Nouis' heart, Louis give a like to a video of Niall and Ed Sheeran singing Little Things (here is the full video) on today's show of Niall, they also sing Lego House (there was no live 😑, we just have to listen after it was sad but still beautiful).

Louis took a shot backstage with Phoebe and Daisy.

I already share it but still, the short setlist 11 songs rip 7 😭.

The crowd look huge, I'm so proud of him.

Here is the live in case you want to watch it.

And that is it for the baby recap. I'm probably missing some things but is what I could do, I was very busy with Niall's updates so I didn't pay much attention to everything that was shared yet.

Let me know what you think, I love reading reactions of the recaps :)

I hope you have a lovely day. Here is a spanish phrase for you: Te mando un abrazo.

Oh wow CC 🤩🤩🤩 this is amazing!! Thank you so much!! 😘 Even though I did request it (as I’m in the alps, no wifi, and quite some fandom fomo), the feeling of getting a recap is… so unexpectedly heartwarming! 🥰 It made me sing We Made It “sayin’ goodbye, wavin’ to the hard times” to the mountains this morning, as you really make me feel so included!!

I love the outfit as a whole: it works!! I’m glad you sent a photo of the cap, I would’ve missed the “mauled by a dragon” aspect of it otherwise. 🤪

Weatherman Louis 🥶 lives in an entirely different climate than Steve 🥵! And the shivering pic… is gonna be a favourite of mine!! It’s convincing me that it must’ve been freezing 😎

Aww… the mini Tomlinsons!! 🥹 They do bring a cuteness factor that we don’t often see. And I can’t believe how big Olive is! Can that really be?!?🤔🤔

I love that the kmm hands are back: you know the Louies are in the crowd when…!!

I’m guessing the sign was one of those “please write me a tattoo” or something requests… and Louis didn’t wanna explain that he’s working, day job etc again… so he just says “how?” in THAT voice… wow! 🫠 Good of you to include that!! 🤭

Mini but fun setlist! Face the Music surviving every cut is a surprise to me, but hey… not my day job 🫢

And thanks for the bigger picture: Niall singing Little Things with Ed! Yeah! And Louis liking it!! Now c’mon boys…!! Just a little click, babe!

So much more to say but the kids & mountains are calling. Schöne Grüße aus den Bergen!

Und herzlichen Dank für die tolle Zusammenfassung!! 🫶🫶🫶

[kekiiro]

2024 Recap post. Uhm, it's kinda basically the same as what I wrote up for newgrounds too. So sorry if you see that post first? I just wanna ramble a little bit about the year.

Before getting super into it, here's my art summary for the year.

I tried some things and learned a bit? So I think I improved a fair bit. Lol. The month of April does not exist. Do not look deep into it.

I'll put the rest of the rambles below this.

2024 was kind of a weird fucking year? In so far as it sucked. This year sucked so unbelievably much. But there was a lot of good too! Haha. It balances out, maybe. I got to see some friends in Philly again this year, that was nice. I hope it can happen again the future, but maybe not. Who knows? I am glad I got to see them again; it was fun.

I only have two resolutions that I'm really willing to share with others. I want to get better at speaking with others. In a meaningful manner, at least. I struggle to actually talk, I feel like the things I say don't make sense often? Or I vomit words. Not very ideal, lol. The second one, I need to become ok with sharing my art and writing more. Stop holding things so close to my chest, maybe. I wont improve if I don't share more often. On improvement, my art has gotten better this year. At least, compared to last year. I need to keep pushing and start making pieces with more complicated backgrounds and larger groups of people. It's kind of silly, but I think the Lancer game I'm in with my friends is encouraging me to do that. We'll see, lol. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Not going to dwell on this super long, because it sucks. There wasn't a really good way for me to write about it more in detail that didn't make me wildly uncomfortable (or read a certain way, frankly.) The second half of this year has been difficult to say the absolute least. it's made it hard for me to want to stick around and do things with others. Or anything, for that matter. I'm getting out of that mind, I think. My epilepsy has been getting worse as time goes on and that certainly has not helped. Like, lol. I've been spending more time at the doctors, and it's for something I need but it's exhausting frankly. And expensive. I hate it. But I enjoy being able to function.

I also lost half my vision, this has decidedly been a nightmare but what I can do about it at this point? I've been getting used to it. Not much else to do other than that. On a sillier note, I've been pirate-maxxing the past few months because of it. Here's a visual aid for those who need one.

Things will be fine in the end, and I am certain of this. I'm lucky, because I have friends who tolerate (most) of my evil plans and schemes. I am insanely thankful for everyone around me. In spite of it all, I am looking forward to 2025!! Things may be difficult, but next year will be good. Even if I have to blow the sun up or something like that. It will be good! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖° I hope the new year is kind to everyone. ´･ᴗ･` Thank you guys, and sorry for the massive ramble.

[pinkpoweredpunk]

[ Bzzzzt! While User Blake is erm, having a bit of a moment- you can rely on me, their wonderful trusty Rotom, to fill you in on everything that’s been happened! Bzzbzzt! ]

[ Alllright, so where do I start, bzz? Well, last you all probably saw from the videos I’ve been sharing with you all in our adventures, User Blake got into another battle with Mr. N! Both fought super duper hard, bzzt, but trust me- had things not gone the way they did, Blake definitely woulda won! But um, bzzt, King may have hit the ground too hard with a slam attack… and caused the floor below us to cave in. We fell waaaaay waaaay waaaaay deep down into the darkest depths of Chargestone Cave! ]

[ I wasn’t sure we’d make it, but a friendly Eelectross family pulled Blake and Mr. N out of the rubble and let them both recover in their den for a while! Then, once Blake’s broken legs were healed, we all set off together to look for a way out! It, bzzzt, was definitely an experience… one that mostly involved Blake and Mr. N arguing half of the time. ]

[ Bzzzt! But THEN! We came across this super strange temple place, one that I had no information on in my location data on Chargestone Cave! We went deeper in, and we had to complete a lotta puzzles to get through all the doors. Wellll, N did, Blake isn’t very good at that kinda stuff and I don’t have hands. ]

[ Then, we found our way to the finally chamber, bzzzt, and found nothing but a dead end and fountain with a weird rock sitting on top of it… ]

[ And you wouldn’t BELIEVE what happened next, bzzzt! There’s this big shockwave that knocks me out, and all of a sudden the guardian of the ruins comes out and captures all of us!! It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, bzzbzzt!!! ]

———

[IMAGE: A slightly blurry photo of an absolutely massive Galvantula, at least ten times the size of a normal one. It has glowing, blue runic patterns engraved on its exoskeleton, and behind its legs you can see a gemstone core on its stomach.]

———

[ I was so scared, bzzt! When that thing tied us up in its web I thought we were goners for sure!! But we ended up fine thanks to Professor Juniper coming to the rescue, and the friends she brought with her, bzzzt!!! ]

———

[IMAGE: A photo taken from a ceiling perspective of Professor Juniper battling against the Galvantula with an Exacdrill. Fighting alongside her, you can see three others- Stasia, Ian, and Lucil.]

———

[ Um… things got pretty intense after that and honestly I don’t remember what happened that much? Oh, also, the Galvantula got so mad it turned itself into a DRAGON type!! And used Draco Meteor!! It was crazy!! ]

[ Thankfully, King woke up and managed to tear everyone out of the web, so User Blake joined the fight and helped hold the Galvantula down!! But I guess while no one was looking Mr. N ran to protect that stone on the fountain from falling rocks, idk why but he ended up getting really hurt ;^; But at least he got the Galvantula to stop attacking!! He also knew its name, um, I think it was Bronte? ]

[ Well, anyways, Bronte was super calm after that and helped show us a way out! Bzzt, I think Stasia and Ian stayed behind to try and find Composure in the rubble, I hope they’re ok. So when User Blake, N and I got out of the cave we finally arrived in Mistralton City!! Also apparently things have been going off the rails since we were gone- our friends teamed up with Clay and Team Plasma of all people to help get us out of the cave or something?? And Cheren and Bianca had a fight and now I think Bianca is off somewhere else by herself. ]

[ Er, anyways, N got super mad when Prof. Juniper tried to take the stone from him so his ninja guys came and helped him retreat. According to the professor that stone has some kinda importance in the ritual that’s supposed to summon the Legendary Dragon, Zekrom, so we gotta get it back bzzbzzt! ]

[ But first Blake’s gotta go get their next badge from Skyla, bzzt! Which ummm, could be difficult, we don’t have any Flying-type coverage on the team… B-besides me, of course, but my battling days are LOOONG over!!! ]

[ Bzzt, okay, recap over. This Rotom Phone needs its battery recharged, bzzz… zzz 😴 ]

[the-dog-watch]

The Wine-Dark Sea

As I referred to last time, this novel begins with a volcanic eruption in the middle of the ocean. It’s fucking cool, and also scary. But what the book is about is an even scarier natural phenomenon than that: growing apart gradually from someone you used to be close with.  That’s what happens to Stephen and his erstwhile pal Nathaniel Martin. This book is about FAKE FRIENDS. Don't you hate fake friends? Boy I sure do.

Because of the structure of these books I tend to take awhile to warm up to secondary characters. Not because I don’t like them but with Jack and Stephen sharing protagonist duties they kind of take up all the air in the room, so to speak, so that even I, a certified Minor Character Investor who has dreamt for years of being a Metal Gear Solid miniboss, tend to take awhile to warm up to the secondary and tertiary characters. Sometimes it takes a couple novels but then after that I’m like. I would die for you, Tom Pullings. He is 100% my fucking girlfriend. He’s everyone’s girlfriend. God we love Tom Pullings. 

One character I did warm up to right away when he was introduced, though, was Nathaniel Martin, who appeared for the first time back in The Ionian Mission. He starts as a chaplain and then when Jack starts privateering becomes the assistant surgeon to Stephen in the Surprise.

If I could once more compare our characters here to cartoons I watched in the 90s/early 00s: if Jack Aubrey is Bart Simpson (daring, occasionally foolish, troublemaker, bad boy) and Stephen is his BFF Milhouse Van Houten (nerd with deep seated psychological issues) then Nathaniel Martin is their Martin Prince: he exists to be a nerd AND a square, to give Stephen someone to talk to but also to stand near Stephen and make Stephen look cooler in comparison. Stephen is a nerd, of course, but he’s down with gay people, his views on women are more progressive than typical men of his time period, and he loves to get high; all of this contrasted with Martin, who’s a bit of a fuddy duddy with more traditional views on those sort of things. (Though, in his defense, he is sort of right to question Stephen on some things. Like the "loves to get high" stuff, for example.)

Like Stephen, he is a naturalist and he has one eye because he was observing an owl’s nest and the bird attacked him and gouged his eye out. Honestly, fuck all these soldiers and sailors with their battle scars, talk about an actual honorable wound in the line of duty. I’m also monocular and I like birds so this biographic detail was what endeared me to Martin from the very start.

Another thing I like about him is how his friendship with Stephen is contrasted with Stephen’s friendship with Jack. The thing is, Jack is sort of low-key loathes Martin a little bit?? They don’t outright hate each other, of course, but Jack finds him grating because of Jack’s habitual discomfort around clergymen, the fact that Martin’s a pretty poor musician whenever he tries to play with Stephen and Jack, and, most petty of all, the fact that Martin and Stephen get on so well. Jack is conscious that his dislike is unjust and at least partially fueled by jealousy; he’s aware that Stephen and Martin have a lot more in common than Jack and Stephen do. It’s a very middle school “my friend has another friend she likes more than me but GOD I hate her!!” type of dislike. A humanizing bit of frailty on Jack’s part.

Another thing about Martin that I like is that he does tend to call Stephen out on some of his shit, in a way Jack can’t or won’t. Martin is, I think, the only character we see who confronts Stephen about his laudanum use before the disaster in The Letter of Marque. Of course, a lot of good that does, since obviously Stephen was too self-deluded to actually listen to anyone at that point but, you know, it was nice that someone was there to stand in the background and be like uh. That’s a lot of laudanum dude. 

Honestly, Stephen could use that now! “Hey, that’s a lot of coca leaves, dude,” was literally my commentary through the entire second half of this novel, when Stephen gets to Peru and replenishes his stash finally. He sort of reminds me when an alcoholic quits drinking but they start smoking a lot instead. Call it harm reduction, I guess?? Friendship ended with DOWNERS, now UPPERS are my new best friend. Christ almighty.

Before the coca leaf binge, though, Martin is ejected from the book due to illness, just as the Surprise finally reaches Peru. It’s a very abrupt end to the character, if not to his friendship with Stephen; he’s not dead, but something about his exit has a very nail in the coffin feel to it. I’m of two minds about it; I’m somewhat disappointed that a character who has been around for so long, and was so important to Stephen, was just booted out of the novel with not much mention or ceremony afterwards. But I do like the realism how gradually the two of them drifted apart; Stephen starts to see that their interests and passions in life have diverged, but even in the previous novel, I think there was a clue that Martin wasn’t cut out for the seafaring life much longer:

“[Stephen said,] ‘Yet on the other hand I do not find that the turmoil of a ship prevents me reading: with a good clear candle in my lantern and balls of wax in my ears, I read with the utmost delight. The confinement of my cabin, the motion of my hanging cot, the distantly-heard orders and replies, the working of the ship – all these enhance my enjoyment.’

‘I have tried your wax balls,’ said Martin, ‘but they make me apprehensive. I am afraid that there will be the cry “She sinks, she sinks! All is lost. She cannot swim,” and I shall not hear.’

‘You were always rather apprehensive, Nathaniel,’ said Paulton, taking off his spectacles and looking at him kindly with his myopic gaze.” - 14-The Nutmeg of Consolation, ch.9, paragraph 94 

It’s funny; like Stephen, Martin is also constantly described by most of the sailors as a hopeless lubber, but Martin lacks Stephen’s occasionally troubling “if I die I die lmao” outlook on life that makes him weirdly suited to the naval life. Again: Martin’s a bit of a fuddy duddy. He’s no 100% perfect ride or die girlfriend like Tom Pullings. But then, who is?

Personal Ranking

The Far Side of the World (10) > HMS Surprise (3) > Desolation Island (5) > The Reverse of the Medal (11) > The Nutmeg of Consolation (14) > The Ionian Mission (8) > The Fortune of War (6) > The Wine-Dark Sea (16) > Clarissa Oakes/The Truelove (15) > Master & Commander (1) > The Surgeon’s Mate (7) > Treason's Harbour (9) > The Letter of Marque (12) > The Thirteen-Gun Salute (13) > Post Captain (2) > The Mauritius Command (4)

[badlydrawndavepeta]

Mod: Recap Blog

This BadlyDrawnDavepeta Recap covers the start of the blog on 9/19/2023 through 11/12/2023.

Highlights: that new blog smell, furries, fleas, detectives, and Halloween.

That New Blog Smell

Davepeta of the badly drawn variety came into existence. They proceeded to laze about in typical cat fashion, taking naps and drinking tea, before bragging about their status as a furry. They truly aspire to follow in the footsteps of the ultimate furry, Nyancat.

They celebrated several follower milestones, including the funny number and over 100 followers.

Controversy came up when Davepeta accused their followers of not getting laid, only to become the target of that same accusation. Truly, an exercise in putting out the energy you want to receive.

In entirely non-controversial moves, Davepeta confirmed their stance on Lord English, professed to murder crimes, and encouraged followers to be gay and do crimes. They also spent time suggesting that post-scratch Dave not only doesn't know how to drive, but also rides Maplehoof everywhere. No one has yet to argue with this assertion.

Davepeta showed off a lot, from cool weapons, including a sord^2 squared, their guns, and a really big sword, to their various skills in flying, swordship and teleporting, drawing, blind drawing, and reading comprehension. They also played Minecraft.

Davepeta indulged in some casual shipping before realizing that one of their ships got leaked. More importantly, the rumor mill also churned out the idea that Davepeta chirps at their reflection.

They reflected upon several topics, including Snoop Dogg, godtiers, really tall pants, angles, and more specifically triangles.

Davepeta also briefly got a mullet and an undercut.

Furry Friends and Family

Along the way, Davepeta met up with several friends, including fellow cat lovers, Fefetasprite and Meulin.

In an exclusive interview with Kanaya, Rose, and Jade, Davepeta leaked a sneak peek of SBAHJ Furry Edition: thinsgs just got furreal and exclusive premiere popcorn SBAHJ Furnanza buckets.

In a startling move, Davepeta briefly becomes a worm and is reaffirmed of MSPA Reader's love for them, even as a worm.

Davepeta goes catfishing with Eridan. Later, while Eridan was under the influence of being a cat person and high on catnip, they helped him through the munchies.

The Strilonde family has dinner at Rose's place. It goes about as well as expected. But at least there was really good pizza.

Davepeta also met another version of themself, which although seemingly paradoxical really is totally fine y'all I promise.

Erisolsprite came by just to nya with Davepeta. It was incredibly fun and now Erisolsprite is on record as calling Davepeta "pretty chiill"!

Davepeta Gets Fleas

Beginning a curious series of events, Davepeta was threatened with fleas. They initially responded in hostility, yet when confronted with the innocent life of a flea, they chose to instead invest in a flea circus. Davepeta gets accused of having fleas and cannot deny the allegations.

Growing closer, Davepeta defends their new flea friend from a dangerous shower, only to realize a much better strategy for keeping their friend safe from water via bath.

They embrace the flea lifestyle, only to come into contact with more fleas than they know what to do with. So of course they continue investing in their flea circus. There have been many interested parties, including folks interested in flea music.

Detective Davepeta

Among many badly drawn blogs, a mysterious trickster candy was passed around. Davepeta donned a detective hat and began questioning several people, including several Strilondes, as to the nature of this candy.

They narrowly avoided trickster mode after a close call with Meulin. Their trickster form is best left to speculation.

After putting together a bunch of clues, they eventually learned from Jade that an anonymous source gave John the trickster candy. John confirmed this in noir fashion.

They gained a sleuthing ally in MSPA Reader, who came through in bringing in evidence.

The mysteries began multiplying. Permanent tricksters started appearing and grim forces began influencing folks.

The Halloween Party

On Halloween, Davepeta received several treats, including Swedish Fish from MSPA Reader, assorted candy and a mouse toy from Erisolsprite, and a smuppet from some insufferable prick.

They originally dressed up first as one famous furry, GIR from Invader Zim, before pulling out their actual Halloween costume as a much scarier famous furry, Cat in the Hat from the Cat in the Hat 2003 movie. They accidentally scared Jaspers with how accurate their costume was.

They attended a fun party hosted by Nepeta and Sollux. Davepeta made a failed ashen pass at Eridan and Sollux and then filled Erisolsprite in on the relationship between the aforementioned trolls.

While noting the high rate of furries at the party, Davepeta gave Karkat a cat ear headband (thus propagating the furry agenda), accused Vriska of being a furry, and welcomed Jasprose to the party.

Davepeta also introduced Nepeta and Feferi to the terror that is the human mythological figure of Cat in the Hat. Unfortunately, they seemed not to understand the horror.

Davepeta entered the costume contest and produced propaganda for people to vote for them. Despite campaigning for scariest costume, they were beaten by a baby. But they did win funniest costume!

After the party ended, they promptly passed out.

[writing-passion-is-a-candle]

2nd Third of November Recap (75K Challenge)

Another recap post to celebrate the end of the third of November! Please check it out and tell me what you think!

Hello, everyone! Another third of November has bit the dust! Let me give you a blow-by-blow and celebrate my progress on each of what I’ve been working on: Reading Christine: I’ve read all of Part One like a reader, and at the time of writing this, I’ve finished reading Chapter 25, the 6th chapter of Part Two! I’ll start reading Part One like a writer tonight, and my Part One Analysis post…

[wuntrum]

dinner in america posting

[littlelightfish]

This... this is a whole different kind of psychic damage here. When nightmares got Marcille, we get to knew that her's biggest fear is outliving her friends. This isn't even canon probably, but look at this. This isn't a "I don't want my friends to die" kind of dream. This is a "I'm terrified of loosing my daughters, of something killing them, and being incapable of stopping it" kind of dream. It's so simple yet it explains perfectly the whole of chilchucks character. He loves, he cares, deeply. But he, or doesn't acknowledges, or doesn't know what to do with that knowledge.

Besides that. Someone had to wake him up after this. Imagine the devastation in this man after he wakes up. He just saw his three little babys murdered corpses (or maybe he saw them die, wich isn't better). He would possibly not talk about it, and that would worry the hell out of the party, because we'll, they see him all down and only one of them knows what he saw. Imagine being the one to pull him from that nightmare. Seeing this man, usually so composed, fuking staring with tears and terror in his eyes to the composes of what you can only assume are his daughters. It would be heartwrenching.

Idk, I love this man so much...

[beholdingstranger]

Melanie: ‘apparently everyone in the world had seen the Panopticon and was left with the impression that it was all the fault of… a British guy with a posh accent.’

Me, screaming and banging at the screen: HEY I KNOW THAT GUY

[shapelytimber]

And at last !! the baddies

Finaly they are all here !!!!!! The full recap/height chart will be ready soon :3c

ALSO ! I modified Padme's one a little (redid the portrait a bit and some other minor details), and added Sabé :)))) dw about it <3

[COMMISIONS]

[PART 1] - [PART 2] - [PART 3]

Yapping below vvv

Had a lot of fun with Palpatine's outfit !! She gets to dress dramaticaly like the rich influencial nabooian (?) woman she is (the gown is heavily inspired by a 1998 Dior dress) ! Of course after the creation of the empire she doesn't do that anymore :( evil old lady in a bathrobe didn't bother to brush her air for 20 years... Good for her ig

I must admit.... Dooku's design is the most indulgent one here, it's targeted to *me* specifically fjfkdk like this outfit (minus the cape...for now) would be something I would wear, the dracula vibes because it's christopher lee and I have no problem what so ever with the hammer draculas, the feminine tall older woman- so yeah maybe I pushed the sith vibes a bit, and gave her the shadow the hedgehog color palette... But this is one of my faves design here sue me

For Boba I redesigned the og trilogy look a little bit, by taking some elements from disney's design and adding a bit of my own flaire to it :) and giving her a *big gun*

And for the first time..... You can trully appreciate how tiny Boba is jdndk big gun for tiny butch

Vader is just Vader- what do you want from me this is one of the best designs ever created djdk I'm not changing anything here (but this *is* one of the best Vader I ever drew jfkdkd don't know what I did different but he looks great !)

And Sabé is here now !! nothing to do with the fact I stumbled upon the Sabédala ship and it has occupied my mind ever since jfkfj Anyway ! Had a lot of fun with the flame dress (I know it doesn't contrast well with Padmé's, but I really wanted to do this one :(( the over handmaiden's outfits weren't as iconic imo)

PS : link to a post explaining why Vader uses he/him and Anakin she/her

[northboreas]

Highlights from TGWDLMR's Final Countdown stream for those who missed it:

- The stream began with more behind the scenes interviews + some bloopers, with people like Paul Gabriel, James Tolbert, and Juliet Park speaking about TGWDLM.

- Nick Lang confirmed that there will be 16 Preformances for four weekends, doubling TGWDLM's run so everyone will get the chance to go see it. The show will be preformed in Los Angeles at the El Portal!

- Q&A time! First question was "What does the blue slime in TGWDLM taste like?" and the Langs said "It tastes like terror, horror, absolute divinity & godhood."

- "So like a wildberry celsius." - Matt Dahan

- Nick and Matt confirmed they've had many ideas for Charlotte Sweetly NMT stories. Most notably one where Charlotte kills the president and it's revealed she's always been an undercover assassin that CCRP experimented on. Hoooooly shit.

- "Every single character down to the Greenpiece Girl has a story written for them."

- To the question of would Ted commit to Charlotte if he was ever asked, Joey Richter said "Yes. 100%. Ted's whole arc in TGWDLM is realizing, 'Oh shit, I love this woman.'" Nick then confirmed that Charlotte wouldn't want or reciprocate that commitment.

- "How does Pete get infected in TGWDLM?" "When he had JUST spoken to Steph for the first time, he goes to beanies, gets his hot chocolate, drinks it, and dies. OR. Steph and Pete are walking to school together, Steph dies right in front of him, and then he dies."

- When asked about what happened to Steph's mom, Nick and Matt alluded to how Solomon Lauter had used The Black Book to become the Major, and that "The price for making a deal like that would be the thing you love most."

- The Langs know who Lex's father is, It's no one we've met yet. But they said Lex wouldnt be happy with the answer.

- "Does Ted regret becoming a sleezeball?" "I think Ted regrets everything about his life."

- "Who's your favorite LiB?" Matt and Paul said Pokey, Joey said Tinky, Lauren said Nibbly, & the Langs also said Nibbly because of a story they wrote that they havent shared yet.

- "The Lords in Black are immortal, and so they never gain wisdom. They're petulant children. Spoiled, petulant, everlasting children." - The Langs talking about the LiB.

- Nick lang has never heard of Ao3, but apparently Joey Richter has

- SAGE CAMEO !! DIANE CAMEO !! NEMO CAMEO !!!! SO MANY CAMEOS BECAUSE ITS THE FINALE !!!

- Mariah Rose Faith did 7 canonballs before joining the stream

- After more people joined they did tarot readings for the cast & for people in the chat! (If you're seeing this, Happy Birthday Elliott Bang!)

- Most notably: Corey Dorris got The Hunter [Max], The Alchemist [Hidgens], and The Fool [Ted]

- Matt Lang got The Watcher with a Thousand Eyes [Blinky], The Witch [Miss Holloway], and The King in Black [Wiggly]

- Nick Lang got The Collector [Sherman], The Merchant [Frank], The Man in Great Haste [Man in a Hurry!]

- Joey got The Artist [Ziggy], The Blade of Truth [General MacNamara], and The Father [Bill]

- "Lauren, I've got something I need to tell you, I'm pregnant” -Joey Richter out of context

- Nick Lang also pointed out that Corey got the Ted card for his reading and Joey pulled the Bill card. Billted shippers how are you feeling?

- Last but not least, some (paraphrased) writing advice from the Langs:

- "Tell your story to as many people as you can, you'll work out the issues as you tell it. An audience is the other half of the process. Without an audience, your story isnt done. When you show others, you might realize your work is better than you think it is."

- "If you want to be a writer, you actually have to write. When we were growing up, we never put pen to paper. Every single writer has to go through that period of knowing they'll never know what theyre doing until they actually do it, you have to try. You'll eventually figure it out. The sooner you can start, the better."

- We ended the campaign by counting down the last seconds, and we managed to raise 642k, with 9,575 backers. It has been a joy and an honor to have watched this project get funded in real time and to see everyone's excitement for TGWDLM's return.

- Thank you to everyone who donated, and thank you to Starkid for continuing to do insanely cool things. The apotheosis is officially upon us!

[vakariaan]

ultimate ships challenge - [1/10] smiles

[the-dog-watch]

Clarissa Oakes/The Truelove

This book begins with Jack still smarting from the events of the previous book, utterly peevish and miserable; he starts by enumerating all the ways he's been hard done by the crew, even Stephen. He resents being "manipulated" into bringing Padeen onto the crew, which...I can't quite call it inaccurate but it is a very funny way to describe your best friend narrowly escaping death, yet again, while fully dressed in clown makeup, yet again. I wouldn't call Stephen's brand of getting what he wants manipulation, it's more like an extremely unlucky type of laughing chance. "If the accident will," as Kurt Vonnegut said, and the accident surely did will Padeen on board the ship again.

It all boils down to sexual jealousy; everyone's been off sucking and fucking and Jack meanwhile was getting jerked around by Amanda Smith part deux. Nothing less than he deserves, of course, but it does explain a lot. There's an awkwardness between him and Stephen that persists especially in the beginning of this book. They tiptoe around each other in the aftermath of their argument, with each of them trying to be tactful but still managing to get on the other’s nerves. For a relationship that was quite literally founded on the promise of future violence, they're always so reluctant to cause each other the slightest pain. I suppose that’s the reason they so easily fall into this pattern of deferred conflict; even when they come to blows (figuratively, in this case) they can never actually make themselves pull the trigger or push the blade in when it comes to the fateful moment. Their affection is always too strong and the conflict is always put off as far in the future as possible.

I just can’t get over this scene where Stephen is examining Jack (due to his “peccant liver”) and it’s a good example both of how much they care for each other and also how they can’t stop annoying each other. From page 8:

"Stephen, surely you would not call me middle-aged, would you?"

"Navigators are notoriously short-lived, and for them middle-age comes sooner than for quiet abstemious country gentlemen. Jack, you have led as unhealthy a life as can well be imagined, perpetually exposed to the falling damps, often wet to the skin, called up at all hours of the night by that infernal bell. You have been wounded the Dear knows how many times, and you have been cruelly overworked. No wonder your hair is grey."

"My hair is not grey. It is a very becoming buttercup-yellow."

Jack wore his hair long, clubbed and tied with a broad black bow. Stephen plucked the bow loose and brought the far end of the plait round before his eyes.

"Well I'm damned," said Jack, looking right at it in the sunlight. "Well I'm damned; you are quite right. There are several grey hairs...scores of grey hairs. It is positively grizzled, like a badger-pie. I had never noticed."

Six bells.

"Will I tell you something more cheerful?" asked Stephen.

"Please do," said Jack, looking up from his queue with that singularly sweet smile Stephen had known from their earliest acquaintance.

I read that passage to a friend of mine after I made him watch the movie with me and he was like "what the FUCK." I like to expose other people, unversed in the Aubrey/Maturin series, and watch them utterly boggle at what we are witnessing, like exposing someone with no tolerance to a deadly poison. “Singularly sweet smile.” Good christ. You've never mentioned thinking that Jack has a sweet smile before, Stephen, I simply had to infer that you thought so from your every word and action for the past 10 years and 15 books.

Anyway. Jack's bad mood doesn’t survive an encounter with the stowaway title character, who I feel remiss in not mentioning till 700 odd words into this review. CLARISSA OAKES, a woman who is hard done by the world, both in-fiction and metatextually since the cowardly dogs who put out the US edition removed her name from the title. I’m starting to think misogyny is real and maybe is still with us to this day….

To be honest, I was really leery of Clarissa’s whole plotline when I read descriptions of it in other reviews of this book. She was sexually abused by her guardian as a child and later becomes a sex worker at a brothel in London, and in telling Stephen about one of her clients she puts him onto a break in his big case. The naval intelligence connection and the entire escapade on Moahu end up feeling incidental; the real attraction of this book for me is Clarissa, both watching the deterioration of all her shipboard relations and the real warmth and affection that springs up between her and Stephen. I think Stephen describes her at one point as combining worldliness with a certain naivete; she's both attractive and likable and yet for all that her viciousness and remoteness are what alienate her from others. She reminds me a lot of Stephen himself, to be honest. 

I knew it was coming but the scene where she reveals the abuse she suffered as a child is surprising because it feels so spontaneous and perfectly natural. O'Brian captures that fleeting feeling where you can suddenly find yourself telling someone you barely know things you've never spoken of to anyone else in your life. She's drawn to Stephen for one of the qualities I've always admired about him: his steadfast commitment to our National (International??) No Snitching Policy. They’re united in their hatred of impertinent questions! “You should be addicted to shutting the fuck up.” They embody this beautifully, and it leads to a very lovely friendship.

I mentioned last time that, for all the joy in The Nutmeg of Consolation, there was a real sense of dread or foreboding which is even more prominent here. I kept bracing myself for something awful to happen to Clarissa for the whole book. I think in a more traditional narrative something more character arc-y might have happened with her; maybe her promiscuousness would have had consequences and things would have come to a head.

I suppose you could call it another example of deferred conflict: nothing awful happens to her. She sails away in the end. Her marriage is mostly joyless, but she is certainly better off than she was before, and has the possibility of a future and maybe real happiness, and it’s almost certain that we haven't seen the last of her.

Deferral of conflict doesn't have to mean deferral of catharsis. It's like a Cinderella story, right down to the pivotal scene of getting Clarissa a new dress. She doesn't grow or change, really, but there is a real satisfaction in her defiant ability to just live and survive. The affection between her and Stephen is what sells it I think—the scene where he's running late for dinner (again) and she helps him dress is so charming—and the book ends with their bittersweet parting.

And that's that! Don't really have much to add about the little colonial adventure on Moahu here, other than to say that the ad copy, if the not the text of the books themselves, is always playing up the "head-hunting cannibals" aspect of the Pacific Islanders in a way that is exoticizing at the very least and downright racist at worst, and yet no Polynesian character we've ever met in these novel has been even close to as unpleasant as any of the white people we met in Boston when Jack and Stephen were POWs there in The Fortune of War. Give me the man soup any day before sending me back to Beantown again, I beg you!

NEXT TIME: Homeric seas. Literal islands forming from fiery volcanoes in front of our eyes. And an even scarier natural phenomenon than that: gradually drifting apart from a friend you used to be close with. 🙀 See you then!

PERSONAL RANKING

The Far Side of the World (10) > HMS Surprise (3) > Desolation Island (5) > The Reverse of the Medal (11) > The Nutmeg of Consolation (14) > The Ionian Mission (8) > The Fortune of War (6) > Clarissa Oakes/The Truelove (15) > Master & Commander (1) > The Surgeon’s Mate (7) > Treason's Harbour (9) > The Letter of Marque (12) > The Thirteen-Gun Salute (13) > Post Captain (2) > The Mauritius Command (4)