Fandom stuff

Apr. 22nd, 2025 08:23 pm
snickfic: (Giles bookish)
[personal profile] snickfic
- I signed up for [community profile] seasonsofdrabbles. Come join me! So I have someone to write for.

- After my first [community profile] hurtcomfortex idea got increasingly complicated with less and less direct h/c, I now have a new idea that is directly h/c and much simpler. Which is great, because I can tell it's going to be a long 'un. (That's why the writing period for this exchange is so long, right? Because h/c takes lots of words??) So now I have 400 words, and the deadline isn't for like six weeks! Woo!

Stork Flash!

Apr. 21st, 2025 09:45 am
snickfic: pink seahorse!girl nuzzling pregnant green seahorse!boy (mpreg)
[personal profile] snickfic
[community profile] storkswap didn't run this year, but we did get a flash exchange in its place, which tbh was exactly the right size of commitment for me personally just now. I wrote and received things!

I received:
the cradle will rock by aguntoaknifefight ([archiveofourown.org profile] swirlingvoid), Hell Hole (2024), Sofija/Teddy, 1300 words. Remember that tiny horror movie I wrote about a while back with the parasitical tentacle monster that wants to incubate in men's stomachs? I did a short canon promo in my signup, and someone WATCHED IT and wrote me post-canon fic for the very cute het ship and their very alarming monster incubation situation. I love the mix of sweetness and unease in this.

And I wrote:
old hat, new hat, Junior (1994), Alex/Diana, 700 words. Sometime after the movie, Alex is pregnant again, and he and Diana have feelings about how it's going to be different from the last time. You will unsurprised to hear that I absolutely adore this movie, and I was ecstatic to see someone request it. I liked letting them get to enjoy a pregnancy moment together that Alex had to experience alone the first time around.

(no subject)

Apr. 17th, 2025 04:22 pm
turps: (glasses ways)
[personal profile] turps
The switch over from Sky to EE broadband went nicely. Though, it's good that we weren't relying on an alarm Friday morning, as the internet was switched off overnight. So, no Alexa alarm, no turning on the lights, no having Alexa give a morning briefing, even no tv until the internet was connected again. Which actually didn't take that long, really, most of the time was taken reconnecting the echo dots.

Sky tv won't go off until the end of the month, so we won't be connecting the EE tv until then. I figured we've paid for this month of Sky, we're going to use it.

That was Friday. Saturday we had such a lovely walk along the riverbank at Durham. The weather was glorious, and it felt so good to be outside without needing a cardigan or coat.

Sunday was the Consett Cat event and it went well. I was in charge of the table downstairs, selling name the bunny names and also taking donations. Then later another lady turned up with cat print bags and sweet cones to sell, so I was in charge of them, too.

People could also go upstairs to meet some of the cats up for adoption, so hopefully, some will have their new forever homes soon. Included upstairs were brother and sister rag doll siblings, Sapphire and Steel. They were gorgeous! So silky with the most beautiful eyes, but the owner of the rescue says they have one brain cell between them *g*

Sitting where I was in the entrance meant I also got to meet some amazing dogs, including so many puppies ready to give out doggy kisses. That was supposed to be it for my volunteering, but I said I could do this Saturday too. So more puppy kisses for me, hopefully.

Monday was class, we talked about gut health, which is actually very interesting. But exciting for me, I'm getting so much better on that three level step. Reminders of progress ftw.

Tuesday the security people came. As part of a bundled deal with EE we were given an alarm system including a video doorbell -- which is typical as we only bought a Ring system a few months ago -- anti-shock sensors on the windows and doors, an alarm on the doors and other stuff, all monitored 24/7. So, now I have to remember to disarm the alarm every time I go out and in.

Yesterday I found out that Bodhi's been accepted into the school her mams picked for her, which is excellent as it was never a given she'd get in as it's a small school, and they'd only picked one. Better still, it's very close to their house and walkable for me, considering it's inevitable I'll still be doing school pick-ups sometimes. But still, big girl school for Bodhi, she's growing so fast.

We also went to the cinema to see The Amateur, which was good stuff.

Today was a quick Bodhisit as Lucy finished work at 1 and Kayleigh started at 1, so they needed someone for less than an hour. Also, I took advantage of the Easter veg wars by stocking up on the 8p veggies.

Generally, I watched and enjoyed the new episodes of Doctor Who and The Last of Us, though in very different ways. And now I'm going to have a read of my flist and try to catch up a little.

hey, I made a horror discord!

Apr. 16th, 2025 10:22 am
snickfic: Herbert comforting Dan, text "Don't worry" (Re-Animator)
[personal profile] snickfic
And I'm inviting you all. :) The focus is on movies, but discussion of horror lit/games/etc also welcome. 18+.

Movies: Strange Darling and Heretic

Apr. 16th, 2025 10:00 am
snickfic: Green-lit room with man closing door, text "Game over." (Saw)
[personal profile] snickfic
Strange Darling (2024). A story "in six chapters" that begins with chapter 3, this is the story of a woman (Willa Fitzgerald from The Fall of the House of Usher, Reacher) being chased by a man with a gun from a hookup gone wrong. Or maybe it's a totally different story, since "nothing is as it seems."

This is very stylish, with its beautiful warm colors ("Made on 35mm film," it announces during the opening credits, which feels a bit desperate tbh) and interesting lighting and title cards. Unfortunately, both the stylistic pretensions and the story mostly run out of steam at about the halfway point. I enjoyed the nonlinearity, but most of the big reveals felt obvious anyway. The movie also does NOT know when to stop. There's a natural stopping point and the movie bulldozes right past it for another 10 or 15 completely unnecessary minutes that release all the prior tension, which was one of the movie's greatest strengths. I've seen some strong criticisms of its politics, but I can't get too worked up about them because the worst of them are all after the movie should have ended anyway.

I also, personally, found the initial negotiation around the hookup and then the hookup itself excruciatingly, almost unwatchably awkward. To be fair, it was supposed to be awkward! But it took my almost an hour to watch about 10 minutes of movie because I struggled so much.

spoilers )

Everything else aside, I watched this because it's nominated for best film for the Dead Meat Horror Awards, and this did not feel like a horror movie to me; it felt like a thriller. On the plus side, it's nice to see little indie thrillers getting made, too.

--

Heretic (2024). Two young Mormon missionaries, Sister Paxton (Chloe East) and Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) are trapped in a cat and mouse game by a man they visit, Mr Reed (Hugh Grant).

This has fantastic atmosphere throughout. Even the weather is great, and Mr. Reed and his house have enjoyably bad vibes from the very beginning. I especially appreciate how menacing Mr. Reed feels without explicitly or implicitly threatening any kind of physical violence until quite late in the story. The movie understands that the situations he's putting the young women in are already terrifying; overt threats are not needed.

All three actors do a fantastic job, and in particular Hugh Grant's turn to straight-up villain is really fun. Things get very talky in the middle as he harasses the sisters about their faith, how it's all fake, etc, and Grant sells all of it as one of those skeptics who's just fucking obnoxious about it. I knew the basic premise of the movie going in, but was not prepared for just how MUCH the story is about Christianity. I imagine it was a very different viewing experience for someone with no Christian background.

The movie gets pretty silly in the second half, and the big final conclusion about Mr. Reed's basically philosophy ("The one true religion is [spoiler]"), felt both too pat and not set up well enough. However, the character work is fantastic to the very end. I really enjoyed the sisters and the dynamic between them. They're distinct characters who are both earnest about their faith, in distinct but complementary ways, and I liked that. I particularly liked how from the first scene we see that Sister Paxton is someone who's thinking all the time to the point that she probably annoys a lot of the people around her AND is probably straying well beyond the bounds of what the church would prefer her to think about, and how this inquisitiveness and attention to detail plays out in the movie's plot without ever explicitly calling out that aspect of her character.

On a trivial note, mild spoilers )

Overall, a well-made movie that kind of overreaches its premise, but still a very worthwhile watch. Probably one I will rewatch at some point.

(no subject)

Apr. 9th, 2025 05:16 pm
turps: (unicorn)
[personal profile] turps
I got excellent mail. Thank you so much ♥

I went to see two films on Friday and Saturday. First was The Minecraft Movie on Fri, and I enjoyed it a lot. Apparently there's a trend of people standing to applaud and shouting out lines at certain points, but we had none of that at our showing, no doubt because it was an early Friday showing and also a school day. I'm sure loads of things would have gone over my head as I've never played Minecraft, but going was worth it for just seeing Jason Momoa hamming it up in his pink leather jacket, never mind everything else.

Saturday we saw Death of a Unicorn, and that was fine. cutting for spoilers )

The cinema was buzzing that day, I've never seen it so busy for a long time, or as messy, as popcorn was everywhere in the areas outside the theatre screens.

That day, we also made the decision to ditch Sky and have signed up with EE TV. It was a difficult decision as we've been with Sky for over 25 years, but the price kept going up and up, and when we phoned to see if we could get a deal they said a straight out, nope. So we've cancelled.

The EE modem and tv boxes are coming tomorrow, and the Sky broadband is being switched off Friday. So, hopefully the switch goes smoothly. If not, well if I disappear completely you know something has gone badly wrong.

Monday it was class, and we talked about good and bad fats, and Rosie said she's still looking into a second class, asking if people would be okay going in the evening. Personally, I'd prefer during the day, but I still said yes. But something interesting, a new lady started last week, but I only chatted to her properly on Monday, and she said she has lymphedema too. cut for medical stuff )

James was supposed to be at work today, and actually set off there as normal. But what we didn't know was that overnight there had been a multiple vehicle crash, including four police cars that had totally closed the main road to his work in both directions. Normally it's a 45 minutes commute, this morning he was still stuck in traffic after 90 minutes and still nowhere near work. He wasn't the only one, anyone coming from our direction to control was stuck in the same jams, so they all called in late. But for James, sitting still for so long made his back and leg intensely painful. He asked if a team leader would meet him when he finally got to work, to help him out of the car. They did, but also brought the on duty paramedic who said the amount of pain James was in no way could he sit for a ten-hour shift. So, he got sent home and told to call in sick.

Thankfully, it's a day off for him tomorrow, so he should be fine going back Friday.

It's also a Bodhisitting morning tomorrow. The first for a while, so it'll be nice to spend time with her. It's also forecast to be 19C so I can see me sitting in the garden watching her bounce on her trampoline.

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