swordznsorcery | Elsewhere

Butterfly - 1.3 Busan

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In other news, I was saddened to learn that Nicholas Brendon had passed away (so soon after James Van Der Beek, who became famous around the same time, a time when I was becoming an adult along with the characters that they played, and after Michelle Trachtenberg also passed.)

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Happy birthday

heartonsnow ! Hope your day was great!

sweettartheart had this one!

50 This or Thats

1. Bagels or donuts? Bagels
2. Bar soap or body wash? Bar soap
3. Being afraid or being embarrassed? - yeah neither? Both turn me into rage!beast
4. Big bash or intimate gathering? Intimate, I guess, as I now have crippling social anxiety
5. Board games or video games? Board games
( and the rest )

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rl: meme

AO3 Link | Distraction from Grief (200 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Birds of Prey
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Sandra Wu-San, Dinah Lance
Additional Tags: Double Drabble, +Modern Age (1986-Present), Post-Crisis, [Birds of Prey Vol. 1 - 1999-2009]
Summary:

Shiva pushes, so Dinah can put it behind.

Distraction from Grief

Move. Evaluate. Decide. Commit.

Shiva was making her work through her grief for Sensei in the way that mattered, now that they had foiled Cheshire's plan. Both of them excelled in the Arts, but the difference was being felt in every muscle, joint, and tendon as Dinah worked through the spar.

Shiva was a master, effortless in blending her many forms to always meet any rally that Dinah made, preventing Dinah from winning. Yet, Dinah also recognized that Shiva was having to rely on that blending to keep the upper hand.

In a formal, single style spar, Dinah and Shiva would likely be evenly matched.

Like this?

Dinah had to smile, a genuine one, to be pushed so far, so hard, so long.

Was that what Shiva had been waiting for? As the next move saw Dinah on the mats and Shiva pinning her, full length, hand in knife-strike pose at her throat.

"You choose life, not dwelling on death," Shiva purred, and damned if that didn't make Dinah remember other aspects of living that were worthwhile.

"Care to live a little with me, grab a hot soak, some good food?"

"Sensualist."

And yet, they moved together in that plan.

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Challenge #1083 is plurality.

The rules:

All stories must be 100 words long.
Please place your story behind a cut if it contains spoilers for the current season.
Remember, you don't have to use the challenge word or phrase in your story; it's just there for inspiration.
Please include the challenge word or phrase in the subject line of your post.
Please use the challenge tag 1083: plurality on any story posted to this challenge.

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1083: plurality

The Night Manager - 2.6

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tv in 2026,
uk

It's been ages since I've kept up with this Wednesday posting. I've put it on my to do list so hopefully I'll get to it now.

So far this year I've read the first 7 books in the DI Hilary Greene series by Faith Martin. They are perfect for bedtime books -- if I have insomnia I am entertained, and if I am sleepy I have a calm methodical British accent narrating detection procedures. Does that count as ASMR? I will say that they are advertised as rewrites of earlier novels and it shows in the lack of technology - mobile phones are quite the novelty and people actually use them to talk on the phone. No texting, no social media. But that's also soothing and easy to follow. The lead character is a single (well, divorced) and child-free middle-aged Detective Inspector who is neither annoying nor neurotic. She's opinionated and self-confident and smart, as one would expect. Very enjoyable. There is a little of the typical gung-ho cop talk, but it's not too bad. (Honestly, I have never felt that crusading desire to rid society of criminals and/or evil but I must at this point assume that some people are genuine when they say they feel that way. Or they're all hypocrites and I'm very cynical. Hmm. Is this also why I don't like superheroes? At any rate, it is a genre problem and not a problem with this book series specifically.)

For work (because I'm teaching them) I read a bunch of Langston Hughes's poetry from his first book, The Weary Blues.(1925) It's all there already in his first book, even though he expands throughout his career. Now in the public domain!

Also for work, Nella Larsen's novel Passing (1929), about a Black woman passing as a white woman in 1920s Harlem. It's mostly about how her Black childhood friend reacts to re-encountering her as an adult, and the relationships between people - very much a psychological novel. Recommended.

Also for work, George Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession (written 1893, performed 1906? 1907?) - the classic and still relevant drama about women and economics and the hypocrisy around prostitution. This has been extremely teachable in the wake of the Epstein files and the pervasiveness of sexual exploitation in society. We also had good discussions about whether we judge women who make money on OnlyFans.

Not for work, Essential Succulents: The Beginner's Guide by Ken Shelf, because I am slowly building my cacti collection. This had beautiful photos but was somewhat short on actual guidance.

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books

AO3 Link | Not Alone (300 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Justice League (Franchise)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: J'onn J'onnz & Dinah Lance
Characters: J'onn J'onzz, Dinah Lance
Additional Tags: +Modern Age (1986-Present), Post-Crisis, Triple Drabble
Summary:

After everything with the White Martians and his brother, Dinah is there

Not Alone

The next time J'onn woke, it was no longer Bruce with him, but Dinah. He closed his eyes once more, strangely loathe to have her be the one to see him this reduced.

He knew he would be just as bad with Arthur.

There was an unspoken bond between the three of them, the last of the five original that had faced the Appellaxian warriors, leading to the formation of the Justice League in its original incarnation. For one of them to be reduced nearly to destruction —

"You mean like when Arthur's entire world was brought down around his ears and we nearly lost him to grief-madness? Or when I got myself stupidly caught and died at least twice on the hospital table?"

He had to open his eyes, chagrin among his emotions as he realized the telepathic connection had not been shielded at all. She moved from the chair and got up in the recovery bed with him, careful of the tech monitoring his status.

"You were upset that neither of us reached out, that we locked you out of being able to help us then. And we got the point. We three, we have each other, among the many we've brought in since then.

"Let me in, and Arthur as soon as he gets free, so we can help you recover."

J'onn didn't trust his mind or his voice to express any of what he was feeling, but she reacted, bringing a hand up along one angular cheek as she settled her head on his shoulder.

"You're not broken. You had to make a very harsh, hateful call against a man you shared a genetic pattern with. And you did so at great cost to yourself.

"But you will heal. And we are with you the whole way."

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AO3 Link | Reasons (300 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) [2020]
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dinah Lance ~ Renee Montoya
Characters: Dinah Lance, Renee Montoya
Additional Tags: Triple Drabble, Canon Typical Violence, Complicated Relationships
Summary:

Dinah can't handle being the reason... but can see why.

Reasons

"What the fuck was that?"

Renee looked at the singer turned vigilante and didn't have a great answer for her, Dinah just knew, seeing it in the woman's fading fear — for Dinah — and the drop of her eyes.

"Got a little nervy is all," she decided to say. "Cop reflexes, all that."

Dinah's eyes went narrow, before she sucked in a breath and spun away, unleashing the full Cry on the alley, stopping the gang advance, pinning several with trash bins and debris from the sheer force of it.

Her gaze flicked to the rapist-murderer laying there, dead from a single shot through his forehead.

"Let's get outta here." She stalked off, knowing good and damn well no one would look too close into the death, that Renee wouldn't pay the price for the killing —

— but Dinah would have rather never have been the reason Renee squeezed off the round.

Renee followed; Dinah hadn't told her not to, and they really needed to hash this out without Harley or the kid or anyone else butting in.

"You held your mom's death against me for years."

The quiet words, spoken three blocks over, threw cold water on Dinah's temper.

"I don't. Not now. She… she made choices too."

"Yeah, but… I knew what those choices cost you, and I hate it. I can't… you… I need you to make it out of this shit alive."

Dinah took a breath, then another, before she put a hand on Renee's forearm. "Goes both ways, now. I need you to keep breathing, kicking ass with me, and make it count when we finally decide we can walk away.

"Not for mom. For me."

"Yeah, I get that. I'm going to try harder to remember you make your own choices, but it's hard."

"Always is."

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Keep forgetting to crosspost my

rainbowfic pieces & I'm still quite a bit behind, so have two:

Name: Watchdogs
Story: Starfall
Colors: Azul #15 (Through thick and thin)
Supplies and Styles: Novelty Beads (11 Years of Dreamwidth Space Month & Book of the Day Challenges - "Never alone.")
Word Count: 1794
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Mild illness.
Notes: 1313, Portcallan. Leion Valerno, Tana Veldiner, Iyana Valerno. Takes place straight after after Turn to Dust and a few days before Sweet Interlude. (Just a slight linking piece, but I wanted to post something.)
Summary: Leion recovers from Chiulder's work - with a little help.

Name: Missteps
Story: Starfall
Colors: Warm Heart #22 (Sorry); Azul #20 (Zest)
Supplies and Styles: Giftwrap + Silhouette + Novelty Beads (Oct Spooky Challenge 2020 - http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0g7cdJCp91r6aoq4o1_500.gif & September Secrets 11 Years of Rainbow fic - "It's in the palm of your hand now baby/It's a yes or no, no maybe" - Dark Horse, Katy Perry") + Pastels (

allbingo square "Bouquet of Withered Flowers - Rejected Love").
Word Count: 2361
Rating: Teen
Warnings: None.
Notes: 1313, Portcallan. Leion Valerno/Viyony Eseray, Kettah Jadinor, Diyela Eseray, Aolla Gerro, Vin Lorras.
Summary: Leion and Viyony attend the first night of the Sea Festival. Nothing goes according to plan.

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BBC article.
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articles

Ficlets: one DCU, one original fiction and one Hart of Dixie. Anything over 100 words will also be posted at AO3 and, where suitable, ff.net.

Trip the Dark Fantastic, DCU, Catwoman/Batman, 97 words. Written for the prompt ‘Any, any, It's you and me forever dancing in the dark’ at the Three Sentence Ficathon 2026.

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Reunion, Original fic, OFC/OMC, 136 words, (second person POV), teen? Written for the prompt 'Any, any, meet me in the afterglow’ at the Three Sentence Ficathon 2026.

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Like mother, like son, Hart of Dixie, Zoe/Wade ER, 74 words, (future fic, kidfic). Written for the prompt ‘Any, Any, Bandaging a wound’ at the Three Sentence Ficathon 2026.

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(It's just a coincidence that I'm posting the last one today.)

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AO3 Link | Sound of Crashing (300 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: DC Comics (General)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Lian Harper & Dinah Lance
Characters: Dinah Lance, Lian Harper
Additional Tags: Triple Drabble, Slice of Life, +Modern Age (1986-Present), Post-Crisis
Summary:

Dinah is babysitting...

Sound of Crashing

The moment she heard the crash, Dinah was on her feet and moving, uncaring what had been broken as long as it wasn't that little girl who had stolen her heart. She skidded into the kitchen before Lian had made her escape from the counter, the drawers askew to let Dinah know how the girl had gotten up there on it. She was beside the refrigerator, from which the ceramic cookie jar in the shape of a coyote had tumbled to the floor.

The cookie jar was not salvageable. Lian's face was a picture of contriteness, and Dinah just moved to get her down.

"You sit on right here, Dart," Dinah said, depositing her on the kitchen table which was at least lower than the counter. "Until I get the pieces swept up, the floor is lava and you don't have firefighter boots!"

"Didn't mean to break Mąʼii."

"I know, sweetie. And you did a lot of problem solving to figure out how to get it while I was on the phone. But next time, you should ask, and I can help." Dinah found the broom and a bucket, picking up the larger pieces before sweeping up the rest of the debris. She's need to get a box or a large jug to put the shards in, but for now, she just wanted it off the floor.

"Okay, so I need to find a new cookie jar, and we're going to need new cookies," Dinah said. "Ready to go shopping?"

"Yes!"

Dinah reached for the girl, picking her up and settling her on a hip, even if Lian was a little big for that, especially for her shortness. She hugged Lian tight, glad nothing had been hurt on her.

"You do have to tell your daddy you're sorry."

"Will do!"

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Happy Saturday!

I'm going to be doing a little maintenance today. It will likely cause a tiny interruption of service (specifically for www.dreamwidth.org) on the order of 2-3 minutes while some settings propagate. If you're on a journal page, that should still work throughout!

If it doesn't work, the rollback plan is pretty quick, I'm just toggling a setting on how traffic gets to the site. I'll update this post if something goes wrong, but don't anticipate any interruption to be longer than 10 minutes even in a rollback situation.

Miss Scarlet and the Duke - 3.3 Hotel St Marc

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Welcome to

dw100! Challenges are posted approximately once a week.

Challenge 1082 is perfect.

The rules:

All stories must be 100 words long
Please place your story behind a cut if it contains spoilers for the current season
You don't have to use the challenge word or phrase in your story; it's just there for inspiration
Please include the challenge word or phrase in the subject line of your post
Please use the challenge tag 1082: perfect on any story posted to this challenge

Good luck!

sydney, australia

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1082: perfect

Xenon's Seventh Circle

Light years away from the morning

Blended family bonding time!!

(no subject)

meme time!

10trueloves: loss

Challenge #1083: plurality

Finale time

Books read!

10trueloves: broken

10trueloves: overprotective

Starfall Stories 53

Freedom of the press.

Fic: Three fills for Three Sentence Ficathon 2026

10trueloves: accident

Performing some traffic maintenance today

Mdlle Scarlet en France

Challenge #1082: perfect

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