Casually Unhinged

April Recap & FIC

Fri, 01 May 2026 15:04:24 GMT

April is my birthday month, and I celebrated a bit more than I usually do this year, completely by accident. ::grins:: I took the day off work and, after having a quick chat with a local friend of mine, ended up going out to brunch with that same friend. She lives less than five minutes from me, but we never seem to find time to get together, so that was nice. As an extra bonus, the restaurant we went to is owned by a mutual friend (we all went to high school together) and so I got to visit with her as well.

Because my birthday fell on vacation week at school, I was able to go out to lunch with my co-workers, which almost never happens. My son, who worked on my birthday, bought me dinner the Friday before, and gave me a rose and a chocolate milkshake the day of. (Yes, my birthday, like most of the rest of my life, revolves around food. LOL!)

( Read more... )

My most anticipated birthday gift was a tattoo, the cost of which was covered by my boy. After 13 years in the Stargate Atlantis fandom, I finally designed myself a tattoo about two years ago. But I couldn’t decide where to get it. When my boy decided that’s what he wanted to do for my birthday, he pushed me to make a decision. It’s on the inside of my left forearm, which has turned out to be awkward for typing on the laptop. So that’ll be annoying until it heals up.

You can see it, and all my other ink if you’re interested, under the cut. I do all my own designs (with one exception) and all my tattoos have words or letters, because I can’t help writing even on my own skin. LOL!

( Read more... )

Easter was pretty low-key. My boy and I don’t bother coloring eggs anymore, so instead I made him deviled eggs and color tinted the filling. He was a little dubious about eating a blue egg at first, but he got into it eventually. I got him a few bags of candy, the cutest deviled egg made out of white chocolate, and these squishy little guys:

( Read more... )

On a final family note, I want to share that my boy saved someone’s life! He was at work and a customer started to choke. He jumped right in with the Heimlich and saved the day! Of course, he didn’t find this noteworthy to tell me. I found out from his friend a few days after it happened.

Scrapbooking was very successful last month! I got into a wedding layout zone, scrapping no fewer than six. I still have about the same number of weddings to document before I’m done, spanning from the 1990s to last year.

I also put the finishing touches on a scrapbook album – covers, title page, final layout – all about the funny things my boy said when he was little. I’m so glad I wrote them down, because he was frickin’ hilarious! LOL!

Here’s one of the 14 layouts I created last month:

( Read more... )

In writing, I’m pleased to report that my productivity continued on from last month. I had several days when I managed to crack 1k words in a session, which is always exciting.

Here’s the 1 new fic I posted in April:

Title: The Past Reconfigured
Fandom(s): Stargate Atlantis
Series: Reunited (And It Feels So Good)
Pairing(s): John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Challenge(s): sga_saturday reading/history
Wordcount: 7,610
Warning(s): adoption feels, drunken flirting, abandonment issues

Summary: A mix-up with the mail reveals a secret John has been keeping - he's adopted. Now he has to decide whether or not to try and find his birth parents before Atlantis returns to Pegasus, leaving him overwhelmed with indecision and all the feelings and, while things might not turn out how he expected, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

comments

March Recap & FIC

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 22:17:25 GMT

March was a decent month all told. Best thing: my Florida moms surprised me with a new laptop because mine was quickly circling the drain. It’s nice to have a machine where all the buttons work. ::grins::

Let’s have a moment to remember the old laptop, and all the good stickers that dressed it up. (New laptop so far has an Asexual sticker and an Eddie Munson sticker.)

( Read more... )

In health stuff…
( Read more... )

My boy has been doing a lot of dating. Last month he went out with three different ladies, one who was a customer at his job and two from the dating apps. I had to accompany him on one of the dates because he can’t drive on his own yet. He didn’t tell her about that, so I had to wait before I went into the restaurant and then wait for him to finish up after so we could go home. Not the most fun night. Also, he’s 22 and one of his more frequent dates is 36 – and her son is 20. Awkward and uncomfortable for me, but they have a surprising number of things in common.

St. Patrick’s Day might just be my favorite food holiday, after Thanksgiving. I love me some corned beef and cabbage! I maybe need to start buying two corned beefs though, even though I’m the only one who eats it, because it cooks down so darn much. I could eat this all the time! Uh, why do I only let myself have it once a year? There’s no rule, is there? ::grins::

( Read more... )

Scrapbooking was really good last month! I got a decent amount of layouts completed, a lot of them focused on the 80s and 90s. I’m woefully behind in scanning pictures, though. I need to get everything digitized. There are journals that need transcribing also. Always more to do in the name of preserving family history.

Here’s one of the 8 layouts I created last month:

( Read more... )

Writing continued to be excellent last month! I had almost 13k new words, mostly focused on two different fics. I’d been hoping to keep up my momentum from February and I did! I’m hoping to finish them both up this month, and then get started on my whatif_au bingo card.

Here’s the 1 new fic I posted in March:

Title: Dead Girl Walking
Fandom(s): The Sentinel
Pairing(s): Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg (very background)
Challenge(s): ficlet_zone Dead Like Me – Dead Girl Walking
Wordcount: 8,703
Warning(s): serial killer, offscreen murders, physical assault, outsider POV

Summary: The Bayside Strangler has Cascade in a chokehold during the summer of 1997, and an unassuming dress shop clerk will have to work with CPD if they have any chance of putting an end to the killings.

comments

Friday Five - DW/LJ

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 15:11:07 GMT

I don't participate in the Friday Five with any frequency, but sometimes the topic makes me want to chat about myself and this is one of those. So here we go! (snagged from melagan)

1. What was the reason you began a Dreamwidth or LiveJournal account (or both)?

I started writing fanfic in 2010, and in the course of my fannish journey, I crossed paths with taste_is_sweet. She was still writing primarily in Stargate Atlantis back then, and in 2013 she convinced me to join LJ so I could participate in SGA Secret Santa. I've been hanging around ever since!

2. How many DW or LJ communities do you subscribe to?

35 DW communities, though not all of them are active. Plus two that I run, ushobwri and whatif_au. The only thing I still do over at LJ is posting for the AU comm, and that will be ending soon so that I won't have anything active there.

3. Do you have a favorite community or one you check out often to see what's new?

I always check in with the monthly challenges at sga_saturday and ficlet_zone. Those are the ones I participate in most often.

4. How did you pick your user name?

It's a portmanteau of my maiden name and my married name. It was the first thing I thought of when I had to pick something. My name when I was first tentatively online back in the mid-90s was Pandikat, because I had a cat named Pandora. Not a lot of deep inner meaning happening here. LOL!

5. If you could change your user name, would you?

I sure wouldn't! I still love my user name, and so many of my online friends call me Bru that I wouldn't even dream about changing it. Or what I'd even change it to.

comments

Pi Day Fics

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 16:45:31 GMT

Happy Pi Day, everyone!

I thought I'd post my two Pi Day fics, in case anyone was interested. Both are SGA, one canon and one AU.

Enjoy the day!

Infinitely Yours (Stargate Atlantis, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay): The team enjoys some pie on Pi Day, and John feels compelled to share something special with Rodney.

The Most Important Numbers (Stargate Atlantis, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay): It's Pi Day at Pacific Tech, and math student John, who is running one of the events, meets reluctant participant Rodney.

comments

February Recap & FIC

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 17:57:53 GMT

I’m calling February a transitional month for me because I’m pretty sure I’ve transitioned out of peri-menopause and into full-on menopause. My evidence, you ask? It was my first skip month, and the frequency and nature of my hot flashes has changed (not in a good way). Not sure what March will look like.

Otherwise, it was a pretty mellow month. I got paid holidays for Presidents’ Day and Lunar New Year, and the last week of the month I had a snow day and a two-hour delay, so for sheer time off it was quite nice. ::grins:: Luckily, that snow day didn’t come with very much snow (because we already had so much hanging around).

( Read more... )

My boy was a little blue over Valentine’s Day, not having a steady girlfriend this year. I made sure he got some candy and a Lego set, and he in turn made me a milkshake. It was a win all around! I don’t have any good VDay pictures, so instead you can have Ms. Barry in a provocative pose.

( Read more... )

My final day of the month was super productive. I don’t know if it’s because it was the warmest day of the month or what, but I got stuff done! There were words! And scrapbooking! And decluttering!

It only took me three months but I did finish another book - Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of the Stapletons by James Lovegrove. I enjoyed the story, which is the second I’ve read by this author, but didn’t set aside a lot of time for it. I need to get back to my previous schedule of going to bed early each night so I have time to read a chapter before falling asleep.

Speaking of reading, I also need to devote time to my overfull inbox and all the fics waiting to be read there. There are so many!

Scrapbooking continued to take a backseat last month. Two of my three layouts were done at the very end of February. I have lots of ideas for things I want to scrap, I just need to dedicate some time to it.

Here’s one of the 3 layouts I created last month:

( Read more... )

Writing was excellent last month! I wrote a drabble every day for small_fandoms Drabblethon, and managed to write something for romancingmcshep even though I had to pivot from my original idea far into the month. I’m really pleased with how much I wrote, and hopefully I can keep that going. There are sooooo many fics I need to finish.

The only hitch in the writing is the fact that my laptop is slowly circling the drain, which I guess isn’t too surprising considering it’s nearly 10 years old. It’s mostly working fine, except for several keys that have given up the ghost (none of the letter keys, thankfully). I need to start saving some money to buy a replacement. Sigh.

Here are the 3 new fics I posted in February:

( Read more... )

comments

January Recap & FIC

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 15:01:31 GMT

The new year got off to a very chilly start.

Our temps in January were low. Lower than low. Especially the second half of the month, where we had negative temps pretty much every day. This is never good for me because my building Super lives in fear of frozen pipes, which means he cranks the heat up. So while the outside temps were below zero, my inside temps were right around 85.

Winter Storm Fern dropped over a foot of snow on us, but the wind was blowing so hard I didn’t have to really clean off my car at all. I did have to dig it out so I could drive it, though. I got a snow day from work, but my boy had to work all that weekend and the roads on the day the storm hit were horrible. Luckily he works pretty close to home. Thankfully no ice, no power outages, no heavy snow.

My brother in Texas got a sleety snow that stuck around for a few days. It was enough for him and my SIL to go sledding and build a little snowman. My dad in North Carolina was stuck in his house for three days because of all the ice. And my mom in Florida had temps in the 20s. It’s been a rough go for everyone!

( Read more... )

I made an appointment with my GP last month and stood firm on my concerns about my own health. (She likes to tell me “it’s just part of getting older” whenever I have a concern.) The result was that I was able to schedule an MRI (for my weird migraine stuff), an endoscopy (for my almost daily heartburn), and a gyno (for my menopausal period nightmare).

The MRI happened first, and I really hope I never have to have another one. It was okay at first, but the longer I was in there the more I was aware I wouldn’t be able to get out if there was an emergency. Plus, they didn’t give me headphones with music or anything fun like that. The scan came back clear, so no info on the migraines seems to be forthcoming.

( Read more... )

I continue to be a slave to my television. I don’t know why it’s been so difficult for me to pull myself away from it lately. It’s the first thing I turn on when I get home, and then it’s just on all night until I go to bed. I’m starting to think I have some level of depression, and this is how it’s manifesting. I don’t know. Seems like there are so many other things I could be doing with that time.

Scrapbooking still hasn’t been very productive. There are a lot of things I want to scrap but I can’t seem to get motivated. Of course, that hasn’t stopped me from buying more digital supplies, which I seriously do not need. I did weather-related layouts, and a layout for a friend for More Joy Day.

Here’s one of the 3 layouts I created last month:

( Read more... )

Writing was so much better! I had a lot of writing days, though no one single day that cracked 1k. I managed to meet a couple of little monthly challenges. I also participated in the snowflake_challenge, which was a lot of fun.

Here is the 2 new fics I posted in January:

( Read more... )

comments

Snowflake Challenge Day15

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 02:02:59 GMT

How Did the Fandom Snowflake Challenge Go?

I really enjoyed participating in this year's Snowflake Challenge! It's always interesting to take a deeper look at my place in fandom - How did I get here? Where do I want to go? What am I contributing?

It's also been fun to share my experiences with others, and maybe get them excited about some of the same things that excite me. Sharing is caring! And it was really interesting getting to know some of the other participants as well, and see what their home in fandom looks like.

Thanks so much to everyone who commented on my posts, and thanks to the mods for the great questions. I looked forward to each posting day to see what the new topic was. I'm going to miss that next month!

comments

Snowflake Challenge Day14

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 22:36:58 GMT

In your own space, create a promo and/or rec list for someone new to a fandom.

It all started with this book:

My aunt gave me my first Trixie Belden Mysteries book when I was about the same age as Trixie herself - 14. It took me until my senior year of college to collect the entire series, because it was out of print at that time. (You can find a lot of the books on Amazon now.) And when I first went looking for fannish spaces in the 90s, I found Jixemitri, which was full of Trixie Belden fanfic.

I didn't fully embrace the fandom as a writer until vanillafluffy pulled me in with a brand new (to me) ship - Trixie Belden and Jupiter Jones, from the Three Investigators novels (also something I read as a teen). Both series feature teenagers with a head for mysteries and a club made of family and/or friends who help them solve those mysteries.

Here's why both fandoms are so much fun to play in:

* In both book series, the characters were all still in junior high or high school. So mystery solving had to work around school functions and homework and family obligations. Trixie's BFF Honey came from a wealthy family, so all their trips out of the canon setting of Sleepyside, New York were generally because of the Wheelers. Jupiter Jones created a partnership with Alfred Hitchcock, who wrote the forwards to many of the books, and in the first book won the use of a fancy car and chauffeur which they used to get around Rocky Beach, California.

* You can write lots of new canon adventures, or you can age the characters up and see what they're doing as college students or twenty-somethings or any-somethings. That's mostly what I do. Ageing them up gives a little more freedom, because while we still have a lot of the same attributes as our teenage selves, as we get older we become more complex people with each new experience, friendship, etc. There should definitely be callbacks to canon, though.

* The Trixie Belden fandom offers up more opportunities for romantic relationship pairings, simply because the Bob-Whites club had so many members. Honey was always sweet on Brian, Trixie was sweet on Jim, and Mart and Diana usually get paired up. (I have a series where Trixie's brother Mart pairs up with their friend Dan when they're adults.) The Three Investigators were all boys, but there were some side characters that popped up now and again for romantic entanglements, but a lot of writers slash the boys with each other. But because of all the friendships and the sibling relationships, there's a lot of great Gen opportunities as well.

* The canon settings are both small towns on opposite sides of the country, but they're also located next to big cities. Sleepyside is a quick train ride away from Manhattan, and Rocky Beach is just outside Los Angeles. In fact, Jupiter was a child star pre-series, and with Hitchcock involved, the Hollywood connections were there for the taking.

The joy of the crossover:

I'm particularly fond of the Trixie/Jupiter pairing because they're both such different characters, and I think they complement each other really well. Trixie acts on her feelings most of the time, while Jupiter is very logical. She grew up with three brothers and both parents, plus a large extended family. Jupiter's parents died when he was a boy and he's been raised by his aunt and uncle. But they both love mysteries, and take the lead on investigations, even though sometimes their friends aren't very supportive. These two get my fluffiest fics, generally speaking. I just love them so much!

Fandom Resources:

(none of these wikis are comprehensive by any means - old book fandoms are old)

The Trixie Belden Wiki

The Three Investigators wiki

Recs:

Check out vanillafluffy's Trixie Belden fics. They've got some great Trixie/Jupiter fics, but also some Mart/Ben "Skinny" Norris stuff that's so good.

spikedluv writes Mart/Dan fics that are just so homey and domestic. Love them!

And of course, I have a plethora of Trixie/Jupiter content, as well as a Starsky and Hutch fusion fic starring Jupiter's compatriots Pete and Bob.

comments

Snowflake Challenge Day13 - Pt. II

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 18:22:49 GMT

TALK ABOUT A COMMUNITY SPACE YOU LIKE. It doesn’t need to be your favorite, or the one where you spend the most time (although it certainly can be). Maybe it’s even one that you’ve barely visited. But talk about that space and how it helps support fannish community.

Okay, I felt bad not showing love to my other comm yesterday, so here's Day 13 Pt. II.

Let's talk about whatif_au!

I feel like AUs are my writing niche. I love the challenge of keeping the characters recognizable in new surroundings, and finding ways to call back to canon. In 2017 I decided to take that love to the next level and I started an AU challenge comm.

We're a comm in flux. Here's the short story: Initially, a new AU theme would go up every month. Then we switched it to every two months. Two years ago we added AU Bingo, which runs for four months. This summer, after the next round of bingo is over, we'll be changing format to an AU prompt comm.

What I especially love about this comm is that we're deadline free. Even after new themes go up, you can go back and write for any other AU theme we've ever had and I'll add you to that theme's masterlist. We're multifandom, and also multiformat - you can do art, podfic, literally anything in addition to writing fic. I want AUs in any form I can get them! ::grins::

Next month we have an amnesty round starting, where I'm hoping to write something for one of the three themes I haven't been able to manage thus far. We'll see. But even after the format change, I can still write for any theme and post it to the comm. So I'll get to those three themes eventually.

If you love AUs, stop on by and see what we have to offer!

comments

Snowflake Challenge Day13

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 01:22:42 GMT

TALK ABOUT A COMMUNITY SPACE YOU LIKE. It doesn’t need to be your favorite, or the one where you spend the most time (although it certainly can be). Maybe it’s even one that you’ve barely visited. But talk about that space and how it helps support fannish community.

I have to talk about my own comm, You Should Be Writing (ushobwri).

Back in 2013, one of my fandom pals insisted I join LiveJournal so I could take part in a fic exchange. And, since I was there anyway, she thought I might like to take part in the yearly WriSoMiFu - a comm that sprang to life every November to help writers get through NaNoWriMo (and other writing challenges) with daily wordcounts and topics. Unfortunately, that was also the final year that comm was active.

I was thusly inspired to start my own comm to keep the good feeling from the WriSo going all year long. We went through a couple iterations before landing where we are now - an inspiration post every Monday, a workshop post every Thursday and various special monthly themes throughout the year, like Monster Fest in October and Trope Fest in July.

Our big month is November, where we carry on the old WriSo tradition of daily check-ins, writing topics, and community support. We have members (aka Shoobies) that only swing by for that month, so it's always a bit of a reunion as well.

What's great about this comm is what a positive space it is. Our members help support each other through good times and bad, offering suggestions, affirmations, and what they love most about the fannish spaces they inhabit. We're multi-fandom, we support your original fic and other creative endeavors that go beyond words. We're fully non-toxic, too. ::grins:: Just a group of people with writing and creating in common, who come together to chat about it.

Of course, I don't do it alone. I have three great mods who help me keep things running - aome, nagi_schwarz, and smallhobbit. During the November MiFuNoSo (Miserable Fucks November Social), we have darkmoore jump in as a temporary mod to help us out. A great comm needs a great team, and we certainly have that.

Next month our focus is on WIPs, so if you're looking for a place where you can get support and a little push to make progress on a fic or other creative project, stop on by! We're always happy to welcome new faces!

comments

Snowflake Challenge Day12

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 19:05:43 GMT

Make an appreciation post to those who enhance your fandom life. Appreciate them in bullet points, prose, poetry, a moodboard, a song... whatever moves you!

I will start off by saying I'm thankful for everyone who reads my fics and leaves kudos and/or comments. That support means everything!! Also, readers who were then inspired to gift me with art, podfics, icons, etc, which is always amazing and so appreciated! On two occasions, from two different friends, I have even gotten hand-crafted fandom-inspired jewelry. What's better than that??

And then there was that time my comm mods got together to hook me up with a used laptop when mine died. There are no friends like fandom friends, and that's no lie!

Thanks also to all my lovely Shoobies at ushobwri and everyone who has participated at whatif_au - creating online communities was never something I set out to do when I first joined fandom, but you all hopped right on board and made both comms successful and I love each and every one of you, past and present, for that!

I'm also grateful to online friends I met at the two Stargate conventions I attended, because they made me feel so welcomed and helped me make such great memories.

( Read more... )

There are some peeps I do want to give individual shout-outs to:

smiles2go was my very first fandom friend way back in 2010 and we're still friends today. We even met in person once. She supported my baby steps into the realm of fic writing and, because of her, I found the Sentinel and Stargate Atlantis fandoms. She reads all my fics, even when she doesn't know the first thing about the fandom, and her support hasn't wavered in sixteen years. She's the one who sent me a Sentinel wall clock, which hangs in my bathroom and probably confuses a lot of people. LOL!

taste_is_sweet was my first Stargate Atlantis friend, a friendship born out of mutual appreciation of specific SGA fics the other had written. She was the one to bring me to LJ, the one who insisted I participate in my first fic exchange (and she was randomly selected to be the person I wrote for that year), and the one who made me join the original WriSoMiFu group that inspired me to start my own community. She tried so hard to get me to write an original m/m novel for publishing, something she had done herself, but that never panned out. She sent me my first Funko Pops (Captain America and the Winter Soldier) and a box of SGA action figures, one of which I had signed for her at a convention. Taste was my first beta, and told me a fairy dies every time I use a semicolon. (Spoiler: I still use them. LOL!)

nagi_schwarz and I met on comment_fic through mutual fic admiration (maybe ten years ago now?). We've had a couple of RL meetings, and literally chat with each other every single day. We read each other's fics even when we don't know the fandoms, we brainstorm fic ideas, we've gifted each other art, podfics, and fics. She often turns up in my fics in some way, and she wrote a whole series with characters based on us. Nagi has also been a frequent beta reader for me, and vice versa, and has helped me get a better handle on my commas. And now I know more about kpop than someone not in the fandom has any right to know. LOL!

darkmoore is my Sentinel-obsessed friend. I act as her beta and she constantly gives me new things to think about with this fandom/trope, which has led to me writing more than one fic. More importantly, she's the only person I've ever co-wrote with (a Hawaii Five-0 round robin just for fun). Admittedly it was just that one time, about a million years ago now, and I've been afraid to look at it in the interim, much less post it. I really should dust it off and see if I'm remembering it wrong. It's probably a decent little soulmate fic. Darkmoore has also inspired me to write fics based on the songs that get stuck in her head. LOL!

vanillafluffy introduced me to the Trixie Belden/Jupiter Jones ship, which I've written so many fics for now because it's the best ship. In that same vein, I wrote one Evan Lorne/David Parrish fic for squidgiepdx because he loves it so much, and now it's my main non-McShep ship in SGA, which wouldn't have happened without him.

There are countless others who have inspired me, supported me, and commiserated with me since I started my fandom journey. Fannish friends who have come and gone. You've all contributed to giving me a rich and satisfying fandom life. Thank you so much!

comments

Snowflake Challenge Day11

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 02:33:52 GMT

In your own space, grant someone's wish from Challenge #5.

I made a McShep icon for melagan, an Apollo icon for drabblewriter, and a triple Sentinel drabble for pattrose.

Thanks to everyone who filled my requests (or is still working on a fill) as well! Including smallhobbit, who gifted me a werewolf!Lucas fic. I appreciate all of you so much!!

comments

Snowflake Challenge Day10

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 04:03:32 GMT

CHOOSE SOMETHING YOU LOVE AND CREATE A MINI MOOD COLLECTION OF THREE (or more) ITEMS THAT EVOKE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT IT. You don’t have to limit yourself to visual media, or collect the items into a special format like a square (though you can if you’d like).>

I'm not a gal who normally does moodboards, but I thought it would be fun to bring together some fanart I've made in the past to celebrate my love of AU fics:

click to embiggen

In the time since I made these pieces, I did actually create variations of fanfic for them:

Sagebrush Tales (Hawaii Five-0/Stargate Atlantis/Marvel Cinematic Universe): This Western series is mostly focused on Hawaii Five-0 and the relationship between Danny and Steve.

Atlantis Medical Group (Stargate Atlantis/Sentinel/Hawaii Five-0/Marvel Cinematic Universe): Mostly SGA-focused on the members of Atlantis Medical Group and the staff at Hammond Memorial Hospital.

900 Acres of Freedom (Stargate Atlantis): A modern-day cowboy fic that's fully McShep and supports sustainable ranching.

comments

Snowflake Day09

Sat, 17 Jan 2026 21:16:43 GMT

Talk about your favorite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)

You want tropes? I got your tropes! ::grins::

Alternate Universe: I've made myself right at home in this trope, because I love it so much! I love the challenge of an AU, which is keeping the characters recognizable and as close to what they were in canon. If a character is going to drift heavily into OOC territory, there better be in-universe reasons that make sense.

Fave AUs include supernatural, high school/college, Western, fusions/crossovers, and Sentinel/Guide.

Amnesia: I've dabbled in this trope a few times. I like that it's kind of an outsider POV scenario, only the character is seeing their own life/relationships with fresh eyes. What do they like about the life they find themselves in? Is there something about themselves they don't like? Are they still attracted to their partner/crush? What characteristics are inherent to a character, and what are a response to their history or circumstances?

Soulmates: I've slowly been warming up to this trope. For me, like with Sentinel/Guide, I don't like it when a pairing is a foregone conclusion (even though they obviously are, LOL!). My characters need to make the choice, even if fate or whatever has predetermined things. There has to be an out if they want one. Plus, there are just so many variations to this trope - marks, words, countdown timers, physical changes, romantic vs platonic, etc.

Kidfic: I love to give my characters kids! Adopted, natural, babies, teens...I'm down for all of it. I love how children can change the dynamic between characters - who is the disciplinarian, who is the softy, how do they navigate babies vs angsty teens? I've had my characters accidentally acquire kids in the canon setting, but more of them show up in AUs. My best tip for this trope is to do a little research into child development, especially for the younger kiddos. Know what the expectations are, and adjust accordingly for your setting, your parent(s), etc. You want to keep things realistic, because readers can have a very bad reaction to kid characters who act way outside of their age range. But also, don't be afraid to write temper tantrums, fights, and all the other less-than-ideal behaviors that all kids demonstrate to some degree.

First Times: Not just in a sexytimes scenario, either. I will read my fave pairings meeting for the first time from here to eternity! But there are just so many firsts that people can have, in or out of a romantic relationship. Meeting the families, first trip together, first big obstacle to be faced, first time living together... I mean, it just goes on and on. Each first reveals something new about the characters both individually and as a team, and I love it!

comments

Snowflake Challenge Day08

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 15:54:34 GMT

Talk about your creative process.

It all starts with an idea.

I've been inspired by prompts, commercials, song lyrics, dreams, tv shows and movies, and even a plastic bag blowing across the street.

Here's a fun fact about me: I can't start working on a fic until I have a title. It can be pretty annoying, and sometimes I'll spend hours trying to land on something I like. Which doesn't mean it won't change before the fic is finished. Thanks, brain!

I also write very linearly, with little notes added at the bottom of my document when I get an idea that happens later on in the story. I can't write out of order, even if I wanted to.

My biggest obstacle to writing productivity is the TV. I watch waaaaay too much of it. And I can pick out some words while I do, but not many. If I turn the TV off and put some music on, I'm much more successful. So why don't I just do it? Excellent question! LOL! I have no self-control. I'm my own biggest writing obstacle.

Once a fic is finished, I do a couple editing passes before I post. I generally only use a beta for longer pieces, or fics with a lot of moving plot parts so I can make sure I didn't miss anything.

99.9% of my writing is done on my laptop while I sit in my comfy armchair with my feet up. I will do some handwriting if I don't have access to the laptop for whatever reason, but not nearly as much as I used to back in my fanfic beginnings.

comments

Snowflake Challenge Day07

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 00:48:29 GMT

LIST THREE (or more) THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF. They don’t have to be your favorite things, just things that you think are good. Feel free to expand as much or as little as you want.

I'm a good mom. I've always been a little awkward around kids, but my own? I feel like I nailed it right out of the gate. I was a very chill first time mom, and I'm pleased to say that 22 years later I still have a great relationship with my son. We have similar senses of humor, and he always makes me laugh. He's a good guy, with a good heart, so I didn't make a complete mess of things. ::grins::

( Read more... )

I'm a good scrapbooker. I started paper scrapping in 2003, when my boy was born. At some point I transitioned to digital scrapbooking, which I still do today. Back in the day I was part of an online creative team and was busting out an insane amount of layouts every month. Now I average about eight. I scrap my family history, current events, personal stories, my pets, and of course...all things fannish!

( Read more... )

I'm a good writer. I've been writing stories for as long as I can remember. That was my niche in the family. Finding fanfic really changed things for me, in that I was writing almost every day and actually FINISHING things! And I feel like I'm good at it. Not the best, certainly not the worst, but I think I rock that middle ground. People seem to like my fics. More importantly, I like my fics. I don't always enjoy the process of getting one from start to finish, but I'm almost always happy with the end result. And I'm still the only writer in the family!

( Read more... )

comments

Snowflake Challenge Day06

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 02:58:26 GMT

Top 10 Challenge. The category(ies) you choose are up to you.

Here are the Top 10 Fandoms I've Written In on AO3 (with a favorite AU fic I've written from each one because I love AUs):

1. Stargate Multiverse (655):
It's Not Paranoia (If They're Out to Get You) (McShep)
This is a fusion with the movie Conspiracy Theory and the way it tied back to canon wasn't originally part of the plan - it was just a happy happenstance!

2. Marvel Cinematic Universe (114):
Shield Avenue Mall (Stucky)
Teenaged Steve makes some new friends when he gets a job at the mall. I had way too much fun with this one!

3. Hawaii Five-0 (111):
A Spark in the Void (McDanno)
The first fic in a space-based reimagining of the task force. Love the first meeting between Steve and Danny in this 'verse!

4. The Sentinel (77):
Slept So Long (Jim/Blair)
Jim is Sentinel, but also a vampire. Blair is an academic tracking down an obscure reference about a Sentinel vampire. In this 'verse, vamps are a known part of society. After being abandoned for about eight years, I was able to go back and finish it. Personal achievement!

5. The Trixie Belden Mysteries (68):
Do You Believe in Magic? (crossover with The Three Investigators, Trixie/Jupiter)
The first in a series where Trixie is a witch who isn't always very successful at witching. She gets pulled into Jupiter's investigation of a missing person after he comes to interview her. I had so much fun writing this, I can't even tell you!

6. The Three Investigators (58):
Andrews & Crenshaw (Pete/Bob)
A fusion with the TV series Starsky & Hutch, set in the same groovy 70s time period. With a cameo by Jupiter Jones in the role of Huggy Bear. Because why not? LOL!

7. Prodigal Son (32):
Monster Hunters 'verse
This is a fusion with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where Dani is the Slayer, Malcolm's dad is a demon trapped in a pocket universe, and Gil is the Watcher. This has been a fun one to play with, borrowing some canon mythology from both series and adding some new of my own. Did I mention Malcolm's mom is a witch?

8. Alice (16):
Thank You (Alice/Hatter)
This one, friends, is my very first AU from my very first fandom. Over a decade ago, now. It's part of a series of songfics that, for the most part, aren't connected. If I'd had more experience with posting fics at that time, it would've been a series instead of chapters.

9. Original Work (15):
Beware of Dumpsters Bearing Gifts
The first in a series about an unnamed village in an unnamed state that begins to experience supernatural occurrences after a total solar eclipse. I love this series so much! And it all started with a dumpster.

10. Sherlock BBC (10):
Far From Elementary (Stargate Atlantis/Sherlock BBC, John Sheppard/Sherlock)
This little crossover swapped out John Watson for John Sheppard, which was an exciting new dynamic to get to play around with. This is the first fic in the series, which builds up to a slashy relationship.

comments

Snowflake Challenge Day05

Sat, 10 Jan 2026 01:39:18 GMT

In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts.

This is always a tough one for me. I'm not great at asking for things I really want. Just ask anyone trying to buy me gifts on holidays and birthdays. ::grins:: But okay. Let's see...

* Fanart or podfics for my fics. The greatest gift, some might say. Here's my AO3.

* A gift fic in any of my fandoms (see link to AO3 above).

* A comment on any of my fics. But like, a real one and not an offer for paid art commissions or something like that. I know, I know. So picky. ::grins:: (again, link above)

* An all-expense paid trip to Scotland, where the men wear kilts and everything sounds sexier. Hey, aim high, right? LOL!

comments

2025 By the Numbers

Fri, 09 Jan 2026 01:52:11 GMT

Here's my recap of 2025, for whatever it's worth. ::grins::

Life in General

( Read more... )

Scrapbooking

( Read more... )

Writing

( Read more... )

comments

Snowflake Challenge Day04

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 19:02:42 GMT

Rec Your Last Page. Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!

The last fannish site I was using was SGCommand, the Stargate Atlantis fan wiki. This is a great resource for me because there are episode transcripts, episode summaries, character profiles, pictures, etc. My memory isn't as good as it could be, and I usually only remember broad strokes, so having access to this type of site is invaluable.

I only wish all my fandoms had such comprehensive wikis. I can tell you that Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki, is also very comprehensive. When I was working on my fusion fic, this was super helpful.

I know a lot of people would just go to the source material and rewatch eps. And if I know which ep it is I need to watch, I'll sometimes do that too. But I have this weird thing where after I've been writing in a fandom for a long while, it's too jarring for me to go back and watch the eps/movie/etc. I think because I have my fic version of the characters and they don't always jibe with the canon version 100%.

Cry for help: Does anyone know what happened to Becky's Sentinel Site? Did it move somewhere? That was such a great resource for the Sentinel fandom, especially with the transcripts. I neeeeed it!

comments

Snowflake Challenge Day03

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 02:59:01 GMT

Write a love letter to fandom. It might be to fandom in general, to a particular fandom, favourite character, anything at all.

Dear Alice Fandom,

Thank you for being such a wonderful space for me to discover the writing side of fandom. My first fannish pieces were for this fandom, and my very first fandom friend (who I still chat with every day) was made here. As someone who did a lot of original writing but finished very little of it, you boosted my confidence and helped make me a person who finishes stories.

I wrote my first AUs in this fandom, and my first sexy fics. I interacted with my readers, who gave me great feedback and helped me feel part of a community. Alice canon gave me so much room to fill in what came before and what might have happened after - I don't think I've ever had such a comprehensive picture of my characters and their journeys.

Thank you for giving me a safe space to find my fannish identity, and helping me grow confident enough to move on to different fandoms and writing opportunities. I don't think I could've gotten where I am today without having such a smooth start, and I'll always be grateful.

All my love forever,

Bru

comments

Snowflake Challenge Day02

Sat, 03 Jan 2026 19:27:40 GMT

Challenge #2: Pets of Fandom

Loosely defined! Post about your pets, pets from your canon, anything you want!

I'm a crazy cat lady, currently sharing my apartment with little girl cat Barry, who has amazing cheekbones but is possessed by the devil and hates people food, and Porch Cat, my little boy cow cat who will eat almost anything and loves to meow at me. They have a love/hate relationship with each other that leans more toward hate.

While my son does live with me, he mostly stays in his room. So it's nice having cats around to talk to so I'm not that weirdo talking to herself. ::grins:: But also, they don't like to let me sleep, so I'm constantly in a state of exhaustion.

In fandom, I'm also leaning heavily on cats. In Stargate Atlantis, Rodney McKay canonically had a cat before he traveled to Atlantis. I've written him soooo many cats in AUs! Mean cats, ugly cats, even a robot cat he built from a kit. Dogs don't figure in as much, but one or two has made an appearance.

Here's John rescuing Rodney's cat from an animal shelter based solely on entry in a diary (he and Rodney haven't met yet) from my fic Sight Unseen:

John wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but Tribby exceeded all his expectations. He seemed to be a mix of every color available in the feline fur rainbow, his long hair standing up in tufty clumps all over his lean body. A pair of baleful golden eyes stared at him from an almost-Persian face, the nose pushed in but not quite as flat. He had no discernable tail, and a jagged tear in one ear. Just like that, his name suddenly clicked into place and it was all John could do to contain his hysterical laughter.

Tribby did in fact bear a striking resemblance to a tribble.

comments

Snowflake Challenge Day01

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 21:34:07 GMT

The Icebreaker Challenge: Introduce yourself. Tell us why you're doing the challenge, and what you hope to gain from it.

I'm Bru, a middle-aged divorcee who shares an apartment with a 20-something son and two cats. I started actively participating in fanfic in 2010, and I've never looked back. Most of my writing is done for Stargate Atlantis, Trixie Belden Mysteries/The Three Investigators, and The Sentinel, though I do dabble in other fandoms too.

I run two comms here on DW: ushobwri (a community for writers), and whatif_au (an AU challenge comm).

This isn't my first time participating in the Snowflake Challenge, but I don't do it annually. I'm here this year because I'm down for some personal introspection, and to make sure I'm writing even if the words aren't going toward fic. Plus I like talking about myself. ::grins::

comments

December Recap & FIC

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 20:47:12 GMT

December was a dodgy month for sure, friends.

First was the Battle of Packages. For the first time ever, I had packages stolen out of the lobby of my apartment building (so did my downstairs neighbor). Then I had a package get delivered to my old address, which I haven’t lived at for 13 years, so I have no idea how that happened; the post office wasn’t able to get it back. I ordered something for myself but accidentally sent it to my brother. And everyone’s rent checks were delayed for several weeks, even though they were mailed from two different post offices (I assume the problem was on the receiving end).

Needless to say, it’s been stressful. I now have the post office holding all my packages, and everything else is getting shipped to my job.

After work one day, while I was relentlessly tracking my UPS package, I noticed two Sheriff cars in my parking lot. And a sheriff running across the side yard. Then another car came. And a fourth. The officers had their flashlights out, clearly looking for something. Being super nosy, I popped out on the porch to inquire. An officer had come to talk to someone in the building, and that someone hopped out a window and took off. Drama! We have it!

( Read more... )

The week before Christmas wasn’t great. Monday there was a structure fire on Main Street, not far from where I live. So much smoke! We had ten different towns send their firefighters, who luckily were able to keep the fire contained to one house. On Thursday, one of the cars the Auto kids were working on in the shop at school caught fire, and we had to call the fire department. We evacuated that end of the building and the smell in the hallway was pretty bad for a while, but that was also contained. On Friday, a tree fell at the big intersection in town, taking out the stoplights, dropping live wires, and blowing up a transformer. We’ve been through the wars! LOL!

In happier news, my nephew and his girlfriend had their first baby, Harlow Renee, just days before Christmas. And my boy, who is still so sad about his breakup with his girl, made a date with one of his customers that turned into a few more dates. I never would’ve done that in a million years, so I give him a lot of credit for putting himself out there.

Christmas was a mixed bag. Despite the sheer volume of holiday media I consumed, I mostly wasn’t feeling at all in the spirit this year. I was late getting my tree. I was a slacker with cookies. I did great on the gifts, because that’s where I excel, but even wrapping this year didn’t fill me with joy.

( Read more... )

Scrapbooking also fell into the Month of Meh, but I rallied at the end of the month and managed a handful. Most were holiday themed, as you might imagine, and my brother’s weird, chicken-filled life continues to inspire me. LOL!

Here’s one of the 7 layouts I created last month:

( Read more... )

Writing continued to be poor. I couldn’t get excited about any of my ongoing projects, and failed to get a Christmas fic written despite nagi_schwarz trying her best to inspire me. I’m really hoping to get back in the groove this month.

Here is the 1 new fic I posted in December:

( Read more... )

2025 recap coming soon!

comments

Christmas Fic Roundup

Wed, 24 Dec 2025 01:37:54 GMT

Since it’s not likely I’ll be getting a Christmas fic completed this holiday season, I thought it would be a good time to collect up my previously posted festive fics for another theme list. I do love me a festive Christmas story!

Merry Christmas, friends! I hope you have a safe and happy holiday!

Alice

( Read more... )

Hawaii Five-0

( Read more... )

Marvel Cinematic Universe

( Read more... )

The Sentinel

( Read more... )

Stargate Atlantis

( Read more... )

Crossovers

( Read more... )

comments