now what?

Today I was pancaked on my sofa, two fans on full blast aimed at me, and it still felt like being in a fan-assisted oven. Then I dragged myself and my biggest fans to the bedroom and pancaked on my bed instead, because it's like 1-2ºC cooler than the living room.

(By "cooler" I mean "one hair less hot than hell's armpits", but you know, it's all relative.)

Blegh. Bleeeeeeeegh.

DW selects a fitting random icon for once! :D It is Thorsday, and I do feel as upside down and askew as Thor looks.

I have a miserable cold, the third of the winter and the worst by far. I've lost my sense of smell (temporarily, I hope [1]), so food doesn't have much flavour either, which is making me even grumpier. Food-as-comfort only works if I can taste it! Otherwise it's just "vaguely sweet brown goo" instead of chocolate lava cake, "cardboard with distant hints of cheese" instead of a savoury scone with Stilton, and so forth. -_-

I'm hungry, but I can only feel "meh" at the thought of tasteless food.

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I still don't think I can achieve the same critical mass of activity on DW as I had on LJ, but I've had this tab open for days so I want to put something in it.

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Talking about hobbies in a void isn't much fun, as it turns out. Ever since watching TV series started feeling like a chore instead of a joy, and my ensuing abandonment of all TV series until and after Good Omens, I haven't had much in common with my old way of expressing fannish enthusiasm online.

I shudder to check the date on my last posted fic. I've had years-long writer's blocks before, but never this long and complete.

Pokemon GO is still absorbing a lot of my free time and energy, but I wouldn't say I'm fannish about it, not in the way I understand "fandom" [2]. It's not moving me to "squee!", you know? I occasionally squee when I catch a shiny Pokemon, and then I have Discord to share the joy with local friendly players.

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[1] New fear: losing it permanently, after talking to an anosmic person who said that's exactly how she lost her sense of smell. D:

[2] Also, it's still under debate whether this is purely a hobby, or it has devolved into a joyless addiction. >.>

Do you remember your last Gratuitous Icon Post?

No, neither do I. (Remember your last GIP, that is.) (Nor mine.)

Well, consider my counter reset, though!

At first I thought the Good Omens film was too little, too late. Then I recognised David Tennant as Crowley and... I'm ready.

It's also amusing (and pleasing) to see a trickle of kudos on my ancient Good Omens fics, too. :D

I received a delightful Penguin Diplomacy fic, which I'd be remiss not to share with all of you, whether you know the source or not.

Rare Birds of the Southern Atlantic (4272 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: John Finnemore's Double Acts
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: George Bunning/Søndergaard (Double Acts)
Characters: George Bunning, Søndergaard (Double Acts)
Summary:

Puffins are not native to the southern atlantic, and neither are Danish penguin observers or British members of the foreign office. Still, home is what you make of it...

I watched the Dr Who Christmas special with K. - a Christmas tradition already, since it's the second time we do this :D - and... I did not expect to feel the joy and excitement I felt when the Doctor regenerated. (Because I already knew - the whole world already knew, because the internets already burbled over on the subject, but I managed to avoid most of it, etc.) I want to treasure that moment of joy and emotion. No one piss in my Cheerios please, it's been a long time since I felt something like it.

I'm trying to not get my hopes up too much, just in case they screw up the writing. (Don't lie to me, you know it can happen. Ask sarken sometime about it.) So: small, tentative squeee!

This will be, all else willing, my Dear Yuletide Author letter! If something happens and I don't get to it, consider yourself free to write anything except for the big DNWs!

Do Not Want: death, including mention of canonical deaths; non-consensual or abusive relationships of any kind (not just sexual); cruelty or violence to animals, yes, not even that terrible penguin Lauren Bacall.

ETA Sat Oct 14: actual letter!

John Finnemore's Double Acts

George Bunning, Søndergaard

Aaaaaaah! I've had so much pure, old-fashioned squee about this sketch ever since I heard the draft version in a grimy pub in Kilburn. The final, diamond-polish radio version seems like it doesn't need anything more, all loose ends tied up in a perfect Finnemorian bow, and yet - I believe in fanfiction. :D

My preference would be for subtext-made-text, but if you're in it for the friendship only, that is also lovely and heart-warming!

Loose ideas rattling around in the brain, use or ignore as you feel:

Whew, that was a narrow escape! One missed signal and Søndergaard wouldn't have got his island. While I don't like dwelling on any sad alternative endings, I think they've both earned that brandy and some poorly expressed emotional fallout.

Does Søndergaard learn some Morse code, eventually? (Perhaps Bunning's worry that he'll get into some trouble and not know how to radio for help pushes him to insist on some lessons, in his own peculiar British way of showing worry. Or perhaps Søndergaard does get into trouble, and sends a string of Morse Vs that only Bunning can decode.)

What does the "governor's mansion" look like, how do you hide it from view? :O (We hear a door, so it can't be an igloo...)

John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme

Snowman, Casterbridge; Scottish Bodyguard, Cheeky Bodyguard

Not all characters are required! You can choose between the B-team detectives[1] (Casterbridge & Snowman) or the brave Bodyguards.

[1] B is for Biscuit isle, of course.

I'd like some more wacky adventures from either of the two comedic duos.

Perhaps the PM - sorry, Pelican, does get attacked. With a pie, Bill Gates style. Who's the brave soul who jumps in front of the flying pastry? What are other codenames for famous and infamous public figures?

Do the store detectives run across a well organised team of pastry pilferers?

As I specified in the signup, you don't have to have all four characters. Far be it from me to stop you if you're feeling inspired to link them together in the same story! But it's not required or expected.

Submachine

Liz, The Player, Einstein the Cat

Of all the figures in the game, it's Liz that I don't quite have a handle on. I know that's not saying much, given how few humans are present in the subnet. :D Still, I'd like to know more about her and about her own journey, research, and discovery into and of the subnet. The game placed her into a somewhat stereotypical female role - the Mother, the Healer - but she's also an individual, more than an archetype.

My favourite games in the series are The Lighthouse, The Temple, The Plan, and The Exit. I like the Basement and The Lab too, though. I guess it would be more true to say that I don't particularly like The Loop and The Edge, but don't let that stop you from including them if the story needs it. I also like the Subnet Extended Exploration non-game, and always wish it would sprout more rooms.

I'm good with fourth wall breaking, sentient cats, crossovers with other SF things. I guess the one thing I'm not comfortable with is having seen Mur and Liz's tombs - I prefer to think they're symbolic. I didn't include Mur in the character list - this doesn't mean I hate him, just that I didn't want the focus to be on him.

Oh, and I love cats. Please don't let anything bad happen to Einstein the Cat. :)

I prefer third person or first person narration, I find second person hard to get into.

The Player character is optional - if you do include them, since The Player is me, I'd prefer if they were female or not gendered.