I'm coming back from the wastelands of real life to discuss something that's driving me CRAZY.

Before that, I just want to say: hi, everyone! I'm not dead! I think I have finally learned the secret to dreamwidth—I don't write entries if I'm already texting immediately on discord or chat, so here's me testing my theory.

(It's so nice to see my friends page. I'm on dreamwidth twice a year for my poetry_fiction challenge, but that's it. I'm so glad dreamwidth is still quiet and thriving.)

But let us get back on topic.

Let's talk about The Phantom of the Opera.

( Phantom of the Opera? In 2025? It's more likely than you think. )

Ugh, thanks so much for letting me get this off my chest. It was eating me up!

Hey! Here I am, walking in with Starbucks, three years late. It blows my mind that it's been so long since I've posted anything, especially since I do come to dreamwidth regularly to check in with the people still here.

So let's talk about what I've been doing!

* In October 2020, I slipped on some wet grass going down a hill and broke all three bones in my ankle. For the first time in my life, I had an overnight stay in the hospital, because they had to operate on my ankle to get everything back in place. I'm mostly okay now, and I made my last payment on the medical visit this month!

* Work has been... interesting. When we last left off, they'd shut down for three weeks whil e we figured Covid out. Then we reopened, they made me the greeter in charge of counting customers and maintaining a customer limit in the store. I live in Arkansas, so you can imagine the amount of anti-mask sentiment I had to deal with. As of right now, I'm fully vaxxed and one of three associates at the store still wearing masks. I got Covid for the first time last August--although it was mild, I'm not looking forward to getting it again. In more recent news, I'm a coordinator again, and they've placed me solely in charge of training, which I do enjoy. I'm taking it as a win.

* In an attempt to force myself to write more original fiction, I've had a website and a pseudonym set up. It's here, if you want to look around. Paying for a website hasn't encouraged me to actually write all that much, but I think it's a good investment.

* My dad is still a fervent concert-goer, which means I am too. I enjoy them well enough, but sometimes I wish he'd just let me vegetate for a little while. We had two concerts back to back in both March and April, but he wouldn't believe me if I said I needed a break from the fun!

* I haven't been officially diagnosed, but I've become increasingly positive that I'm autistic... which explains SO MUCH. Also, since I'm actively trying to stop masking, I've realized how much effort it takes to pretend to be neurotypical.

* In fandom news, I'm still actively writing coldflash, although I've been slowing down. There's no other media that's hooked me in the fiction sense, so I guess I'll just ride this out until it's over. (I haven't been watching The Flash since season 4. I feel like a bad fan.)

* I'm going to actively try to pop in here more often. I've been thinking about why I've avoided DW for so long, and I think it's equal parts of 'I don't have anything to talk about' and 'I'm on group chat with my friends so anything that seems important gets told to everyone I know immediately.' I think if I treat this more as a journal than as something more performative, I'll feel more comfortable writing about myself and my feelings.

* I love bullet point format, btw. It's so easy to change subjects this way!

OMG Camp Nano starts tomorrow? Who's doing it??

I left off doing the rest of the snowflake_challenge prompts because they weren't things I was particularly interested in doing, so let's talk about what I have done!

Mostly work, NGL. But on Sunday, scheherezhad, dungeonmarm and I went to the Arkansas Skatium in Little Rock, and they took me ice skating for the first time! I've always wanted to try ice skating, but it was just something that never happened. The Skatium had both an ice rink and a roller rink, so after we got tired of the ice (not me, although I did break away because of my tired friends ♥) we did a few rings around on roller skates. I had a total blast. I always remembered that I'd liked roller skating when I was a kid, and I'm pleased to know it still holds up.

I've also submitted my short story that I wrote in class to a literary journal, but they don't allow simultaneous submissions, so I've got to wait and see if they accept my story before I can shop it out anywhere else. I'm fully prepared to be refused--I'm ready for my wall of rejection letters!

I did promise earlier that I would go into more detail about what I did this year, and the biggest thing was that I reapplied to the University of Central Arkansas, and was accepted! So I spent a semester going part-time in two classes: Introduction to African/African American Studies, and Forms of Fiction. I had an absolute blast and passed both of them with A's, so the academic probation I've been carrying with me since 2003 is officially no more! Unfortunately, due to my failed class hours from back in 2001 when I was a freshman college person, my financial aid is revoked until I rebalance my hours (according to the financial aid advisor, if I pass two more classes with an A, I should be fine.)

That also means I spent way too much money on my credit card to pay for my classes. You think I'd've learned better by now, right? /o\

Other than that, my friends and I are trying to play Dungeons & Dragons somewhat regularly, and so every bit of brain power I have that isn't going into work or chores is going into planning our sessions. How do people do this adulting thing again? I barely feel like I'm firing on all cylinders.

I hope everyone's having a great week! I've missed being on dreamwidth!

In your own space, talk About A Creator/Someone Who Inspired You. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

My social circle is generally pretty small, but I've got a couple of people who are really inspiring to me. One of them is my co-writer saekhwa: we've written together since 8th grade (25 years now? OMG) and she's always willing to look at canon from a darker perspective. Her writing is always full of imagery and metaphor, and she's always given her time to help make other writers' work better.

The other I want to give a shout out to is omens. Even though she thinks she's lazy, she makes an effort to write every day. That determination and consistency is super inspiring!

Rec at least three fanworks that you didn’t create. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

1. Undeclared by scheherezhad. This is D&D fic, and I'm SO DELIGHTED she's writing fic about our campaign, you have no idea.

2. Made it on the Sixth Day by saekhwa. The Gifted, Clarice/Sonya. What a great fix it fic for a big problem I had with the first season. Lyrical and emotional.

3. those three words over even I love you by qlala. Still one of my favorite coldflash fics. It's related to my favorite episode, the emotions are wrenching, and the porn is hot. This is the one I re-read the most when I need to remember I love my OTP, I think.

OMG guys, I'm caught up on snowflake! Wooooo! \o/

In your own space, make a list — anything between one and ten things is a sweet spot, but don't feel constrained by that! - of things that you wish existed in fandom or elsewhere, or that you'd like someone to make for you. Are you dying for podfic of your writing? Do you need icons for a character that doesn't get much fanart? Is there a story you want to read? Are you looking for new canons to get into? Would you like a collaborator for a project?

Maybe you want more people to talk about a certain fandom with, or you'd love to trade ficlets with somebody over email. Maybe you're new to a fandom and would like some recs to start reading, or communities to join. This is the time to ask!

Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Sometimes I feel like the challenges are longer than my answers! Here's a brief wishlist of things off the top of my head.

1. Fanart for The Break-up of the Ice. I think I had this on my list last year, too. This was my first Coldflash fic, and it's still one of the ones I'm proudest of. I still yearn for someone to be inspired by it.

2. Commissions for original writing! I did a commision post on tumblr, which had the amount of traction you might suspect. I won't do commissions for fanfic because I'm old-school that way, but hit me up if you want any queer genre fiction!

3. Recs for original writing comms. Since I'm trying to refocus my attention onto my original fiction, if anyone has any suggestions for writing communities or publishing contacts, etc, let me know.

4. I love interesting historical facts. Tell me everything you know!

5. Music! What's everyone listening to right now, and why? :D

Pimp Your Favorite Communities, Fests or Challenges! Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Here's where I confess I haven't been involved in any fests or communities for a really long time, so the only thing I can offer is poetry_fiction: an annual challenge where we use poetry to inspire prose. We're doing a retrospective of our previous poets this year!

Where should I start? Last year, I had every intention of maintaining my dreamwidth and connecting with everyone I follow, and then I promptly fell off the face of the planet. Then I realized it was Snowflake Challenge Time, and I realized this was the perfect time to jump back into it.

So! The challenge for Day 1 is this: In your own space, introduce yourself! Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Hi! I'm Rachel, and I'm known as lunesque or moriavis. I've been in fandom since 2001 as a creator, and even earlier as a consumer. I'm currently active in The Flash fandom (I'm still deep in coldflash, three years later.) I'm dipping my toe into Netflix's She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and freaking love Catra. I have a sticky fic index post that is several months out of date. /o\

In my personal life, I am a white, cis-gender ace lesbian woman. I've been diagnosed with anxiety and depression (as so many people have) and while I'm functional and medicated, my depression mostly causes intense periods of time fog. Time is fake! What do you mean it's been eight months since I last posted??

I live in Arkansas, and am lucky enough to have the best RL friends in saekhwa, scheherezhad, and dungeonmarm. I have two cats: a gray tabby named Alex, and a Siamese named Jill. I have a functional apartment and a mostly functional roommate in dungeonmarm. ;)

I love supernatural horror films, Broadway musicals, and Dungeons & Dragons.

I can't really think of anything else to add, but I'm always available for questions if you want to know something more about me.

It's nice to meet everyone, new and old! ♥

Hello, everyone! It has been a month, let me tell you. I honestly have no idea how long this entry is going to be, so I'm just going to stick everything behind a cut.

( February was weird )