Life advice
Jul. 2nd, 2025 04:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
petraDo not allow ants in your pants. They might bite you on the genitals, which would Really, Really Hurt. They do not make you fidgety; they make you miserable.
Dear Black Emporium Creator,
Jul. 1st, 2025 04:10 pmsettiaiFirst of all, relax! I'm far from being picky, and I can pretty much guarantee that I'll love whatever you decide to create for me. These are nothing but guidelines, for you to take to heart or ignore to your heart's content. Also, hey! You're writing me fic or drawing me art! That's automatically a good reason for me to love you, no matter what. So, please, keep that in mind. Trust me, you can pretty much do no wrong.
( More details under the cut. )
( More details under the cut. )
And were too afraid to ask - Star Wars drabble, and also Yuri Day Drabbles
Jun. 30th, 2025 09:30 pmpetraAnd were too afraid to ask (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala & Sabé
Characters: Padmé Amidala, Sabé (Star Wars)
Additional Tags: Drabble, Sex Education
Summary:
*
Come as you are (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Chalion Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Characters: Original Female Character(s)
Additional Tags: Drabble, Yuri, Theology
Summary:
*
Belated discovery (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Cyteen Series - C. J. Cherryh
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Catlin AC-7892 II/Ariane Emory II
Characters: Ariane Emory II, Catlin AC-7892 I
Additional Tags: Drabble
Summary:
*
Pasta e amore (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: due South
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Elaine Besbriss/Francesca Vecchio
Characters: Francesca Vecchio, Elaine Besbriss
Additional Tags: Drabble, Disney References
Summary:
*
Palimpsest of self (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Trek: Discovery
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Michael Burnham/Mirror Philippa Georgiou
Characters: Michael Burnham, Mirror Philippa Georgiou
Additional Tags: Drabble, Yuri
Summary:
*
Tea, tea, and tea (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Tales of the City Series - Armistead Maupin
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Anna Madrigal & Mary Ann Singleton
Characters: Mary Ann Singleton, Anna Madrigal (Tales of the City)
Additional Tags: Drabble
Summary:
*
Her favorite curse (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan & Alys Vorpatril
Characters: Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan, Alys Vorpatril
Additional Tags: Drabble, Sex Education
Summary:
*
Lie down with actresses (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Hornblower (TV), Slings & Arrows
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Kitty Cobham/Ellen Fanshaw
Characters: Ellen Fanshaw, Kitty Cobham
Additional Tags: Drabble
Summary:
*
A union in partition (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Slings & Arrows
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Anna Conroy/Maria
Characters: Anna Conroy, Maria (Slings & Arrows)
Additional Tags: Drabble, Morning After
Summary:
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala & Sabé
Characters: Padmé Amidala, Sabé (Star Wars)
Additional Tags: Drabble, Sex Education
Summary:
Padmé skipped health class and did double diplomacy instead.
*
Come as you are (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Chalion Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Characters: Original Female Character(s)
Additional Tags: Drabble, Yuri, Theology
Summary:
Who the Mother loves; who the Bastard loves.
*
Belated discovery (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Cyteen Series - C. J. Cherryh
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Catlin AC-7892 II/Ariane Emory II
Characters: Ariane Emory II, Catlin AC-7892 I
Additional Tags: Drabble
Summary:
For the prompt, "What took you so long?"
*
Pasta e amore (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: due South
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Elaine Besbriss/Francesca Vecchio
Characters: Francesca Vecchio, Elaine Besbriss
Additional Tags: Drabble, Disney References
Summary:
"Aw, c'mon." Frannie holds out a forkful of capellini to Elaine. "We can make it work."
*
Palimpsest of self (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Trek: Discovery
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Michael Burnham/Mirror Philippa Georgiou
Characters: Michael Burnham, Mirror Philippa Georgiou
Additional Tags: Drabble, Yuri
Summary:
Michael and Philippa compare scars.
*
Tea, tea, and tea (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Tales of the City Series - Armistead Maupin
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Anna Madrigal & Mary Ann Singleton
Characters: Mary Ann Singleton, Anna Madrigal (Tales of the City)
Additional Tags: Drabble
Summary:
Mary Ann has tea with the landlady.
*
Her favorite curse (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan & Alys Vorpatril
Characters: Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan, Alys Vorpatril
Additional Tags: Drabble, Sex Education
Summary:
Cordelia wants to go shopping for a different body part this time.
*
Lie down with actresses (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Hornblower (TV), Slings & Arrows
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Kitty Cobham/Ellen Fanshaw
Characters: Ellen Fanshaw, Kitty Cobham
Additional Tags: Drabble
Summary:
Ellen takes a trip.
*
A union in partition (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Slings & Arrows
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Anna Conroy/Maria
Characters: Anna Conroy, Maria (Slings & Arrows)
Additional Tags: Drabble, Morning After
Summary:
Anna wakes up.
PTSD Reaction to Sarah McLachlan - due South story, INCOMPLETE, story amnesty
Jun. 27th, 2025 11:04 pmpetraI ran across this Tumblr post about being entitled to financial compensation for having a visceral reaction to hearing "Carry On My Wayward Son" in public, and I made a silly addition, as one does.
Then something stirred in my deep memory and I remembered I'd made the joke I'd just made before.
Here, this is from my gdocs. It's the first two-and-a-bit pages of a story I wrote in 2012. I have no idea what the plot was going to be.
Title: PTSD Reaction to Sarah McLachlan (abandoned WIP)
Fandom: due South
Pairing: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Rating: Teen and up
Summary: It took Ray two weeks on the trail to feel like if Fraser got abducted by aliens, he wouldn't necessarily die within the next ten minutes.
Notes: This is my experiment with writing a post-Call of the Wild story and I chickened out right when the plot kicks in, but the RayK voice makes me happy.
( It took Ray two weeks on the trail to feel like if Fraser got abducted by aliens, he wouldn't necessarily die within the next ten minutes. It wasn't the best feeling he'd ever had in his life, that dependence on somebody else for stuff like what to eat and how to pee without freezing off the family jewels, but he got used to it, worked through it, and got to thinking about how Fraser'd been depending on him and Vecchio for years for Chicago survival stuff. That thought took the edge off of the sheer unadulterated what the fuck of the Arctic. )
Then something stirred in my deep memory and I remembered I'd made the joke I'd just made before.
Here, this is from my gdocs. It's the first two-and-a-bit pages of a story I wrote in 2012. I have no idea what the plot was going to be.
Title: PTSD Reaction to Sarah McLachlan (abandoned WIP)
Fandom: due South
Pairing: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Rating: Teen and up
Summary: It took Ray two weeks on the trail to feel like if Fraser got abducted by aliens, he wouldn't necessarily die within the next ten minutes.
Notes: This is my experiment with writing a post-Call of the Wild story and I chickened out right when the plot kicks in, but the RayK voice makes me happy.
( It took Ray two weeks on the trail to feel like if Fraser got abducted by aliens, he wouldn't necessarily die within the next ten minutes. It wasn't the best feeling he'd ever had in his life, that dependence on somebody else for stuff like what to eat and how to pee without freezing off the family jewels, but he got used to it, worked through it, and got to thinking about how Fraser'd been depending on him and Vecchio for years for Chicago survival stuff. That thought took the edge off of the sheer unadulterated what the fuck of the Arctic. )
You Can't Keep Me From Singing - someone else's filk
Jun. 27th, 2025 01:09 pmpetraYou Can't Keep Me From Singing by Gordon MacDonald, Jr., a filk of How Can I Keep From Singing.
Reproduced here so if Mudcat keeps being impossible to search, I can find it again:
( Whenever I begin to sing there's rising agitation )
Reproduced here so if Mudcat keeps being impossible to search, I can find it again:
( Whenever I begin to sing there's rising agitation )
Things
Jun. 27th, 2025 09:42 pmvassBooks
Still reading A Power Unbound.
Comics
Caught up on Order of the Stick (I was at about #1319, and the most recent one was #1328.) Welp, that was a thing that happened.
Things are also Happening in Dumbing of Age. I am looking at the title text in June 24's strip and glowering distrustfully at Willis after what happened last big finale.
Games
Playing a lot of Simon Tatham's Puzzle Games on my phone.
Slay the Spire: have now unlocked Ascension 4 on all four characters. Surprisingly (to me?) the hardest run on Ascension 3 was with the Defect.
Links
Cats
Ash is down an incisor and a canine as of last Tuesday. He was good and brave at the vet and, after he got home, patient with Dorian's mistaking him for a stranger because he smelled Wrong.
Phenology
No new kangaroo visits. It's been very cold out.
Still reading A Power Unbound.
Comics
Caught up on Order of the Stick (I was at about #1319, and the most recent one was #1328.) Welp, that was a thing that happened.
Things are also Happening in Dumbing of Age. I am looking at the title text in June 24's strip and glowering distrustfully at Willis after what happened last big finale.
Games
Playing a lot of Simon Tatham's Puzzle Games on my phone.
Slay the Spire: have now unlocked Ascension 4 on all four characters. Surprisingly (to me?) the hardest run on Ascension 3 was with the Defect.
Links
- The Bedbound Activity Masterlist: Part 1 (Also good for insomnia or for when it's too cold to be anywhere but under the covers, even if you're not bedbound.)
- A New Ballet by Underrepresented Artists: "The Little Mermaid reimagined as a disabled, queer and brown coming-of-age story for 7 dancers." The link is to a fundraiser, but even if you're not up for donating there's a video there from rehearsals that might be of interest. (Disclaimer: I can't be objective about this show, one of my best friends is dancing in it.)
- Crowdfunders for the UK's Trans+ Solidarity Alliance: Support Trans+ Solidarity Alliance and Maybe I'm Trans? (with badges). (hattip: rydra_wong)
- Internet users advised to change passwords after 16bn logins exposed. As usual, HaveIBeenPwned, you know the drill.
Cats
Ash is down an incisor and a canine as of last Tuesday. He was good and brave at the vet and, after he got home, patient with Dorian's mistaking him for a stranger because he smelled Wrong.
Phenology
No new kangaroo visits. It's been very cold out.
Aurendor D&D: Summary for 6/25 Game
Jun. 26th, 2025 12:16 amsettiaiIn tonight's game, ( the rest under a cut for those who don't care. )
And that's where we left off and will be picking up next week for our in-person weekend.
And that's where we left off and will be picking up next week for our in-person weekend.
On the fannish front...
Jun. 25th, 2025 08:08 pmsettiaiOkay, I just have two more days of work to get through, and then I have an entire week off. Nine whole days. The first five of which will hopefully be spent not leaving the hotel if I can manage it, because I desperately need to recharge. I'm even going to try to wash clothes either tomorrow or Friday so that I won't have to leave my suite unless there's an emergency of some type. A complete removal from all human interaction will do me so much good.
I'm hoping to set aside at least a few days to curl up and properly lose myself in video games, probably Baldur's Gate 3 or Dragon Age: The Veilguard although I might try something new. Or maybe something old, like a new Mass Effect playthrough. There are a lots of options. Whatever I go with, I keep saying that I'm going to play video games on the weekend, and then I don't manage it, so I'm really going to try during this break.
I also want to attempt to do some fic writing just for myself. I've had a bad habit of only writing for exchanges lately, but I have a ton of WIPs so it would be nice if I could set aside at least a few hours here and there during the break to work on getting back in the writing habit.
My Wednesday night D&D group is going to be getting together in person to play next weekend. Everyone's flying in on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, and then we're going to jump in around lunchtime on Friday as soon as the last person arrives. Then plan is that we're going to play pretty much the rest of the day on Friday, all day Saturday, and until mid-afternoon on Sunday.
I'm hoping to set aside at least a few days to curl up and properly lose myself in video games, probably Baldur's Gate 3 or Dragon Age: The Veilguard although I might try something new. Or maybe something old, like a new Mass Effect playthrough. There are a lots of options. Whatever I go with, I keep saying that I'm going to play video games on the weekend, and then I don't manage it, so I'm really going to try during this break.
I also want to attempt to do some fic writing just for myself. I've had a bad habit of only writing for exchanges lately, but I have a ton of WIPs so it would be nice if I could set aside at least a few hours here and there during the break to work on getting back in the writing habit.
My Wednesday night D&D group is going to be getting together in person to play next weekend. Everyone's flying in on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, and then we're going to jump in around lunchtime on Friday as soon as the last person arrives. Then plan is that we're going to play pretty much the rest of the day on Friday, all day Saturday, and until mid-afternoon on Sunday.
Happy Yuri Day!
Jun. 25th, 2025 05:38 pmpetraJune 25th is Yuri Day in Japan, and, why not, here too.
If you would like a drabble or poem of f/f in a fandom I know, please prompt me! Crossovers, rare or never-before-conceived-of pairings, all are welcome.
Since today is Yuri Day, male characters are not invited to today's prompts, even Rule 63'ed. As a caveat, I would technically accept Thirteenth Doctor prompts under that stricture as the Doctor is genderfluid, but since I only saw a few episodes of Thirteen, I don't have much to say about her.
Ideally, leave me: Poem or Drabble, Fandom(s), Character/Character, Prompt.
Feel free to spread the word.
If you would like a drabble or poem of f/f in a fandom I know, please prompt me! Crossovers, rare or never-before-conceived-of pairings, all are welcome.
Since today is Yuri Day, male characters are not invited to today's prompts, even Rule 63'ed. As a caveat, I would technically accept Thirteenth Doctor prompts under that stricture as the Doctor is genderfluid, but since I only saw a few episodes of Thirteen, I don't have much to say about her.
Ideally, leave me: Poem or Drabble, Fandom(s), Character/Character, Prompt.
Feel free to spread the word.
US Politics: John McCain finally gets his wish
Jun. 21st, 2025 11:38 pmpetraIf only the US gave more of a shit about separation of powers, which gives Congress the power to declare war. Congress.
Seems pretty straightforward to me as a thing the Constitution says POTUS can't fucking do.
I hope you didn't find out about the unprovoked attack on Iran by the US from a Destiel news meme.
Seems pretty straightforward to me as a thing the Constitution says POTUS can't fucking do.
I hope you didn't find out about the unprovoked attack on Iran by the US from a Destiel news meme.
Recommendation: sandbox environment by shamoosh (Murderbot books)
Jun. 21st, 2025 08:54 pmpetraI devoured [Bad username or site: shamoosh @ archiveofourownorg]'s sandbox environment series, which is grade-A Murderbot/ART set post-System Collapse. I love the way they both need and achieve intimacy. The SecUnit voice is perfection; the ART is scheming and satisfactorily aware of so many things. The technology usage is excellent.
And SecUnit bluescreens over being asked to choose its own clothing.
Come for the great characterizations! Stay for the hysterically funny plot beats!
And SecUnit bluescreens over being asked to choose its own clothing.
Come for the great characterizations! Stay for the hysterically funny plot beats!
Vids that will never be: It's loud with the shopvac on
Jun. 21st, 2025 03:53 pmpetraseascribble recommended a brilliant Murderbot series, shamoosh's sandbox environment, in which ART and Murderbot have all the Romantic feelings about each other. I got partway through it, flailing at the author and Sea the whole time, till I ran into:My code didn’t literally hide me from ART’s sensors, not the way I edited myself out of security footage and erased my trail in lesser systems. ART was too complicated and too powerful for that to work for long. Instead I’d gotten my drones to emit basically white noise for all of ART’s sensors. It knew where I was because that was obvious, but everything else was just junk data, erratic nonsense. It didn’t need to be convincing, it just needed to not be—whatever I was feeling/doing at the time. My code had worked perfectly. Maybe too perfectly.
And then I started singing Jonathan Coulton's Shop Vac song (animated text video | lyrics).
Sea: There’s a vid there
Petra Lemaitre: I -- ack.
I'm not sure I WANT that song vidded for any fandom
Sea: It’s so catchy. It’s giving Obikin au
Petra Lemaitre: oh nooooo
Sea: Or honestly for the Anakin/padmé shippers who aren’t delusional
It’s very apt.
Petra Lemaitre: wails It's such a good awful song and now I have lightsabers = shop vac in my head
Padmé is watching the TV (democracy dying to thunderous applause)
Sea: RIPPPPP
I think it would also be a fun Perrin and Mon Mothma vid but you’d have to cut out a verse I think because of limited footage
And Sea suggested that, in lieu of the zillion brand names Star Wars can't be arsed to invent, we can
/o\
Jun. 20th, 2025 11:12 amsettiaiFor the record, it's definitely possible to get a sunburn in less than ten minutes. As the top of my buzzed head can confirm.
I walked to a nearby shopping center yesterday to run some errands, which is something like a 7-8 minute walk away, and I didn't think anything of it despite it being miserably hot because of the humidity. At least, not until last night, when I realized that I had a noticeable sunburn on my head from that walk.
Oops?
I walked to a nearby shopping center yesterday to run some errands, which is something like a 7-8 minute walk away, and I didn't think anything of it despite it being miserably hot because of the humidity. At least, not until last night, when I realized that I had a noticeable sunburn on my head from that walk.
Oops?
