kiki_miserychic

Today's poem:

After After
by Kristi Maxwell

This was after we moved into pencil drawings of tree houses on stilts, but before the cows grazed in the diminishing field of the freckle signifying our face.

This was after a refusal of berries too close to rotting, but before self-consciousness about metaphor.

This was after the butter-soaked collard greens, but before we deflated the ache as if it were something reusable and easily stowed.

This was after the pimple you mistook for jam and, obviously, failed to wipe off, but before the last comma, which we obstinately misplaced.

This was after the bite mark, but before the tongue.

This was after the nosegay protecting the nose from the plague-stench, but before the video of the autopsy of the woman with a bra and panties matching your own.

This was after lushness, but before lushness.

This was after the ghosts caught fire and after their flimsy collage of light, but before the building conceived space and before the hard labor and before the dead men.

This was after the green shoe busted and the wool shoe, but before the description of a bus-struck owl.

This was after we knew, but long before saying.

*

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Go! by Santigold feat. Karen O

giandujakiss

I've been hosting my vids at Sendspace for download for many years. And even though it's been more than 10 years since I last made a vid, I still want them to be available!

Lately, though, I can't log in - and they are not responding to emails or requests for a new login.

I think the download links are still working (for now), though I suspect this is a harbinger of a platform about to die.

So, I guess I have a question for the ether - anyone else having a similar problem? And anyone have recs for a platform, reasonably priced, where I can host downloads that won't infect people with malware or ads?

beatrice_otter posting in

fancake

Fandom: Star Wars
Pairings/Characters: Jaster Mereel/Jon Antilles
Rating: mature
Length: 126k
Creator Links:

blackkat
Theme: arranged marriage, novel-length, epic works, worldbuilding, psychic powers, never met in canon, marriage of convenience, cultural differences, AU, fork in the road.

Summary: A week after an attack that nearly killed him and his son, Jaster Mereel finds Mostross dead on a battlefield. His killer is a Jedi, grievously wounded, who Jaster takes into his care. By Mandalorian tradition, Jon Antilles owes him a life-debt, and Jaster is cunning enough not to let such a thing slip away.

It's meant to be an entirely political arrangement. It doesn't stay that way for long.

Reccer's Notes: Blackkat is a very prolific author who does an excellent job of taking medium-obscure Star Wars characters and doing really interesting things with them. Jaster Mereel is Jango Fett's adoptive father, and the Mandalore. (In canon, he was killed by Montross.) Jon Antilles is a Jedi who was abused by his Master growing up, but also learned some really obscure and difficult Force tricks from her, and spends his life wandering the galaxy alone as the Force wills. You don't have to know much more than that, as blackkat weaves a really interesting story about them, fleshing them both out deeply from what canon gives us.

Fanwork Links: trade your heart for bones to know

musesfool

So my big plan to make gyoza this weekend was almost derailed earlier when I received someone else's grocery order in total, and zero percent of my grocery order. My fridge is now filled with THREE DOZEN EXTRA EGGS I did not order, along with some ground beef, some ridiculously expensive stew beef (which I will have to figure out how to cook so it is not well done, because well-done beef gives me the yucks - marinating and roasting might be the way), an enormous container of Fair Life lactose-free milk, some lovely fruit I would not have ordered yet (not in season, but I will use it) and some KERRY GOLD BUTTER (another thing I would never order because I'm not MADE OF MONEY). But no scallions, cabbage, or ground pork.

So I got on the phone with Stop and Shop and the CSR was very good and got my order re-ordered, and it was just delivered, so it looks like ~~meat~~ gyoza are back on the menu, boys! Though I do not have room to make the chocolate frosted vanilla cupcakes I was planning to make since there's no room in the fridge for anything else right now. I just used up 8 eggs I already had to make a frittata since I need the space (so I have a total of FOUR DOZEN EGGS right now, which would be fantastic if I were boiling and coloring them for Easter, but I am not. or if I needed them to make Swiss meringue frosting, which I also do not).

I'm very glad i didn't do the extra Instacart order from Key Food I thought about last night, because Stop and Shop doesn't have gyoza wrappers and Key Food does, but they look pretty easy to make, so I will spend time tomorrow doing all that. And maybe I will make those egg rollups on Monday for the week so I can use up more eggs. I guess we'll see!

Today's poem is very far removed from *gestures* all of that!

Wilderness
by Lorine Niedecker

You are the man
You are my other country
and I find it hard going

You are the prickly pear
You are the sudden violent storm

the torrent to raise the river
to float the wounded doe

* * *

Current Mood: relieved
Current Music: I Don't Wanna Know - Fleetwood Mac

musesfool

I made my appointment to return my old modem and router for 2:15 pm today before I decided to take today off, because 2:15 put it right in the middle of my lunch hour. However, having taken the day off, 2:15 became the worst possible time to do it. But it's done! Not without a slight misadventure. I put the address in for a Lyft and doublechecked the confirmation text and was like, okay, 74-10 Austin Street. But when we arrived at 74-10 Austin Street, it was a residential building. And I'm like, I know it's just up the block there and the guy is like, but this is the address you requested. So I get out and start walking and I'm like, I know it's here, I've been here before, where the fuck is it??? So I recheck my phone and the address is...71-40. I would have sworn on a stack of bibles everything said 74-10, but it did not. Brain, why are you like this???

Anyway, the equipment return was quick and smooth, and Shake Shack was 2 doors down, so I had Shake Shack for lunch and it was all good.

Here's today's poem:

Five passages between uncertain territories

1
The wind has got trapped in the chimney;
its plaintive howls crash, slash and rumble
all the way to the backbone and back again.
Walrus angels ride their ancient motorbikes
on the Wall of Death.

2
I burrow deep into heretic soil, lie quietly
close to roots and corms, listen to the sounds
of critters in the field, beasties by the roadside:
their adventure songs of rescue, revelation,
revival and sunrise.

3
Because you travel the undiscovered country,
carrying the black flag, mallet and stake,
I offer you heartware – I stay tuned in all right;
but you know I don't trust you any farther
than to the rim of the map.

4
I lost my little mittens and my hands are cold.
All around, purple pearls and snailshells lie
scattered like random pebbles; I pick them up
gingerly, clovefully. I count them three times,
then once more for luck.

5
Cloaked in furs and feathers I shall sojourn
in abandoned observatories, hurdy-gurdy
power stations, mills by mystic lakesides,
stitching tales of hope and hardship, breaking
every bone in the book.

--Jane Røken

***

Current Mood: confused

shati

I got really overwhelmed with life and forgot how to post. It will happen again, etc. I enjoy

osprey_archer's Wednesday Reading Meme posts so I'm stealing the headers, even though it's now Thursday.

( Thursday Wednesday Reading Meme )

aurumcalendula

Argh, the StudioWorks season 1 DVD set I tracked down for the commentary track on 'No One Gets Out of Here Alive' are defective and won't play (I tried it on three different players).

setsuled posting in

disneyplusshows

For some reason, two new episodes of Daredevil: Born Again were released on Wednesday, episodes two and three, written by Dario Scardapane and Heather Bellson, respectively. I have to say, the Heather Bellson episode was much stronger but I'm not feeling good about the writing on this season overall.

( Spoilers behind the cut )

Daredevil: Born Again is available on Disney+.

Current Mood: groggy
Current Location: The street
Current Music: "Chega de Saudade" - Antonio Carlos Jobim

musesfool

April is National Poetry Month in the US, so as I have done for the last...TWENTY YEARS!!!! I will be posting a poem a day here (and a different poem on tumblr). They will be tagged as "poetry" and "national poetry month 2026," so if you know how to block tags on DW, have at it!

Let's start with old favorite Billy Collins:

Lines Lost Among Trees
by Billy Collins

These are not the lines that came to me
while walking in the woods
with no pen
and nothing to write on anyway.

They are gone forever,
a handful of coins
dropped through the grate of memory,
along with the ingenious mnemonic

I devised to hold them in place---
all gone and forgotten
before I had returned to the clearing of lawn
in back of our quiet house

with its jars jammed with pens,
its notebooks and reams of blank paper,
its desk and soft lamp,
its table and the light from its windows.

So this is my elegy for them,
those six or eight exhalations,
the braided rope of the syntax,
the jazz of the timing,

and the little insight at the end
wagging like the short tail
of a perfectly obedient spaniel
sitting by the door.

This is my envoy to nothing
where I say Go, little poem---
not out into the world of strangers' eyes,
but off to some airy limbo,

home to lost epics,
unremembered names,
and fugitive dreams
such as the one I had last night,

which, like a fantastic city in pencil,
erased itself
in the bright morning air
just as I was waking up.

***

Current Mood: better
Current Music: Mets vs Cardinals on tv

runpunkrun posting in

fancake

Our theme for April is arranged marriage!

Since this is a Flashback Round where we revisit a theme from the early days of the comm—arranged marriage was a Cupcake Round back in 2014—this month it doesn't matter if a work has already been recced for this theme, go ahead and rec it again!

The tag for this round is: theme: arranged marriage

If you're just joining us, be sure to check out our policy on content notes. Content notes aren't required, but they're nice to include in your recs, especially if a fanwork has untagged content that readers may wish to know about in advance.

( Rules! )

( Posting Template! )

( Promote this round! )

Reblog on Tumblr | Reskeet on Bluesky | Retoot on Mastodon

musesfool

I was going to say this week has been endless and somehow it's still only Tuesday! but that's especially hilarious because I logged off work yesterday at 3 pm to go back to bed, and I'm taking off Thursday and Friday (and Monday), so really I only have tomorrow left of the work week. But subjectively it has felt endless. I do feel better though - still congested and coughing like mad, but no more fever. So you know, marginally better. *wry*

Anyway, I've got a recs update for you:

unfitforsociety has been updated for March 2026 with 13 story recs and 2 vid recs in 5 fandoms:

* 10 Heated Rivalry
* 2 The Pitt
* 1 Batfamily
* 1 Leverage vid and 1 Star Wars vid

*

Current Mood: sick
Current Music: What Kind of Man - Florence + the Machine

$aurumcalendula: reflection of Vinnie from Wiseguy in a shattered mirror (fractured)$

aurumcalendula

Apparently Wiseguy did have at least one queer person among its cast and crew (Joe Dallesandro played Patrice) so now I'm kinda curious if he's ever mentioned if he thought any of the queer subtext was intentional.

musesfool

Even Nyquil couldn't keep my cough at bay all night. At least it's a productive cough? Bah. I feel like I am made entirely of mucus. How is there so much of it??? Plus I woke up with a fever this morning and again when I woke up from my nap just now.

I'm going to eat a bagel, poke around the internet, and then go back to bed and hope I feel better tomorrow. See you on the flip side!

*

Current Mood: sick

pronker posting in

fancake

Fandom: Dark Shadows

Pairings/Characters: Magda Rakosi/Sandor Rakosi, Angelique Bouchard Collins/Barnabas Collins, Barnabas Collins/Julia Hoffman, Nicholas Blair, Aristede, Andreas Petofi, Quentin Collins

Rating: Gen

Length: 93,699 words

Creator Links: AO3 Profile

Theme: Siblings

Summary: What if Julia loses her memory? What would happen if Blair had to actually help the Collins family? The answer was obvious: He'd hate it. He'd hate it soooo hard.

Reccer's Notes: Siblings come in all flavors, and this fic explores the dynamics of a witches' coven brother and sister, Angelique and Nicholas. With Satan as "parent," how is the more familiar sibling relationship different? How is it the same? Author delves delightfully into the question, as well as the all-too-human found-sibling relationship of Quentin and Julia.

Fanwork Links: The Wide Winged Moon

Current Mood: awake
Current Location: comatose in bed
Current Music: birdsong

mific posting in

fancake

Fandom: Heated Rivalry
Characters/Pairings: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Alexei Rosanov, Yuna Hollander, David Hollander, Hayden Pike, Jackie Pike, Rose Landry
Rating: Teen
Length: 7394
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply.
Creator Links: Evilharlowe on AO3
Themes: Siblings, Action/Adventure, Competence, Established relationship + plot, canon LGBTQ+ characters

Summary: Four months after their wedding, Shane Hollander and Hayden Pike are kidnapped by disillusioned fans who see Shane's coming out and departure from the Voyageurs as the ultimate betrayal. With the police off-limits and a ten million dollar ransom on the clock, Ilya makes the last phone call he ever expected to make — to the estranged brother in Moscow he hasn't spoken to in three years. What follows is a night of unlikely alliances, hockey sticks used as weapons, and the discovery that family isn't defined by blood but by who shows up when everything falls apart.

Reccer's Notes: This is a rare Heated Rivalry story in which Alexei Rozanov isn't a complete shit. He's fairly one-dimensionally a baddie in both the books and the show, but here, while the author doesn't pretend he's a nice guy, the fic leans into him being a police officer and gives him both competence, and underlying family loyalty to Ilya when the chips are down. Another plus is that Shane is far from being a helpless victim. Gripping, and an excellent read.

Fanwork Links: Taken

ETA: unfortunately this author has now deleted their AO3 profile. More info here.

smilebackwards posting in

fancake

Fandom: Shadowhunters
Pairings/Characters: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Jace Wayland, Isabelle Lightwood
Rating: Mature
Length: 31,296 words
Creator Links:

Marchling
Theme: Siblings

Summary: Years ago, when Alec, Izzy and Jace were just starting going on missions, Alec pushed Jace out of the way of a rare and lethal demon. The demon's power rested in ice and its venom almost froze its victims to death. Alec survived but was warned that he would never truly be cured. The venom would rise up in his blood again and again.

With Valentine making moves against everyone Alec loves, Jace trapped in the Institute and his relationship with Magnus still so new, it's the worst time for the venom to strike him down again... but that's exactly what's happening.

Reccer's Notes: This showcases a lovely supportive relationship between Alec, Jace, and Izzy. Whenever I'm in the mood for hurt/comfort, this is one of the fics I always come back to.

Fanwork Links: Weakness and Strength on AO3

watersword

The thrift shop in my neighborhood is closing/moving to an as-yet-unfound new location, and today was the pay-what-you-wish final day; I now have a backgammon set and a few more mason jars (including a wide-mouth one, which are surprisingly hard to find) and one of those read-in-the-bath things. I resisted all the pretty glassware, please clap. (I love beautiful glassware and I inherited all of my grandmother's flea market finds; she had great taste and I have no more room for glassware, especially fancy glassware I don't, strictly speaking, need.)

I read 84, Charing Cross Road and loved it, and then figured out it was a memoir, not an incredibly well-written novella, and I may never recover.

The goddamn squirrels have uprooted many if not all of my crocuses and I am extremely upset about it. It is not quite warm enough to go to the garden and cut back everything that died over the winter, but I yearn for the day. I lost my temper yesterday and ripped the window film off and threw open the windows, and god does it feel great to have fresh air in here, even if the fresh air is also cold.

musesfool

Blurgh I think I am coming down with something - my throat is incredibly scratchy and every third breath I need to cough loudly and horribly. It kept me from sleeping very well last night so tonight i think it's going to be Nyquil or bust. Bah.

I keep intending to share these links and forgetting, but at least I can do it while it's still Mika March:

= Mika Zibanejad and the lasting moments of a 1,000-game NHL journey
= A Forgettable Night, A Memorable Career: Mika Zibanejad’s Top Moments

since he's my favorite player now that Kreider is gone. Well, him and Shesterkin. Even though I gave up on this season fairly early (not earlier than JT Miller though!).

*

Current Mood: sick
Current Music: Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

aurumcalendula

I now have a Wiseguy vid draft! (There's a couple parts I'm fussing over - if anyone's interested in taking a look at it, let me know?)

musesfool

I know I owe comment replies and I am going to get to them. The intermittent internet situation this week made me very reluctant as it would drop and I'd lose track of what I was planning to say by the time it came back etc. But! My new modem and router arrived yesterday and early this afternoon, I hooked them up. It worked, though at first I was like, what is happening? Because you do all this waiting for the modem to boot up and activate and then the first thing the router instructions say is "reboot your modem" and I'm like "are you for real? I literally just activated it!" but I did it and plugged everything in and it worked briefly! And then the router started blinking and my phone told me I had no internet and I was like WTF? Because it could 100% be an outside the apartment problem, or it could be a cabling problem because I did not swap out the coaxial cables - why would I do that? They are all nice and tight and the splitter is connected and I have had no issues with my cable box. So I unplugged everything and then plugged it back in and went to the Spectrum website to activate everything and it told me I had nothing ot activate, everything was working! And it has been so far! I will keep the old equipment for a couple of days, just in case, and bring it back to the Spectrum store midweek, probably.

After that adventure, I baked these whipped shortbread cookies (pic). I did not separate into lemon vanilla/orange chocolate. Instead, I used 1 tsp of almond extract in place of the citrus zest, and added chocolate sprinkles once they were piped but before they were refrigerated.

I've mentioned this before, but I am trying to replicate a childhood favorite cookie from an old Italian bakery that closed long before I even moved out of Ozone Park. They were not kept with the fancy butter cookies but with the S-cookies and the biscotti and the anginetti, and they had a much crumblier/drier texture than the typical Italian bakery butter cookies (you know the ones, either dipped in chocolate on one end or sandwiched with apricot or raspberry jam etc.). they were piped round and a slightly darker brown than the butter cookies too. And they were my absolute favorites. I've never found them at another bakery either.

I've tried a few Italian butter cookie recipes but none were quite right (though the one from Dolci was pretty close!), and then last week on thee second or third day of the pecan shortbread, I was like, this is the texture! And almost the taste, but the pecans obviously made the flavor different, though they do have almond extract in them (almond extract is the smell of Italian bakeries to me). So I googled to see if there was a chocolate sprinkle shortbread recipe out there, and found the one I linked above, and they also seemed like they'd be close. So after checking to make sure I wouldn't leave myself out of butter if I made them (I had another pound way in the back of the fridge), I got to baking. I think these also need a little longer in the oven, but we'll see how they taste tomorrow - I think that will be the test. but I think I'm getting close!

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Current Mood: surprised
Current Music: Mets winning in extra innings over the Pirates!!!