So this birthday thing comes around every year! Crazy.

For my birthday I,
* Took the day off work, even though it's a Wednesday. Even though I have so much work.
* Bought a new laptop. I already have 3! Now I will have 4. But in my defense, I only really use 1 of them (the macbook). One is a work pc laptop, another is not really usable. And I wanted one for travel that's not my precious mac.
* Went on a hike! I started a bit too late so I couldn't do my usual 3 mile hike, but I got 2.5 miles in so that's nice. Lovely to hike on a workday.
* Went to see Thunderbolts again. ( Read more... )
* Had yummy teppanyaki-style Japanese food for dinner with my some of my closest friends
* Get to ride pony tomorrow!

Two posts in two days! It's crazy times. But I saw this on annavere's lj. Though none of my Highlander fic made the cut. :/ Just don't get enough traffic on HL stories compared to the MCU stories. 

Most Hits: Technically, this honor goes to my sole Star Wars story at 11,454 hits, but I posted that anonymously so you'll have to take my word for it. (My Ahsoka, Obi-Wan/Ahsoka, for the curious). Next story down is Twelve Times Damned at 9,392 hits, the same story as third most comments. Too lazy to link twice.

Second Most Kudos: Rusted Gate, MCU, Steve/Bucky (593 kudos)

How many times has he replayed this scene? The young private, the forest path, the rusted gate. Steve and him. This last chance to tell him. He knows what’s about to happen. Why can’t he tell him? How many times has he tried to change how it ends? Maybe this time, he can get it right.

Third Most Comments: Twelve Times Damned, MCU, Bucky/Clint/Laura (46 comment threads)

They were on the street when the voice came through comms. It went to all of them. They could all hear.

“Steve,” said the voice.

Clint stopped, turning to Rogers and Wilson at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. Rogers raised his hand up to his helmet and looked at the surrounding buildings, turning in a circle. “Bucky?” he asked. “Is that--Where are you?”

“Steve,” said the voice again, and Clint now knew it belonged to James Barnes. “It’s an ambush, Steve. Get the hell out of there.”

Fourth Most Bookmarks: Tony's Choice, MCU, Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Gen (153, but only 116 are public)

In order for the Avengers to use the Stones to reverse the Snap, they each must make a terrible choice.

“We are the gauntlet,” said Tony, looking at Clint, then at Thor and Natasha and Bruce, and finally, Steve. “What is it you keep harping on about? We do this together. We are the gauntlet. There are six stones, and six of us. We each take a Stone.”

Fifth Most Words: Starborn, MCU, Steve/Thor, 45,255 words 

As he walked, he wondered if sleeping through seventy years and then waking up to find almost everyone he’d ever known or loved gone was preferable to living through each loss. They both sucked, he decided, but he knew he wouldn’t have traded the last few decades for anything in the world.

Fewest words: Circle of Mirrors, Doctor Who, Donna Noble/Rose Tyler, 693 words.

AU during "Turn Left."

Oof, I haven't read Circle of Mirrors in ages. It's not half bad! Okay that was fun. Whee! 

Hi all -- Just a quick post to say that I'm safe in southern california. Currently not in one of the evac zones, though the Eaton fire is a bit too close for comfort. Bah. We've got our bags back and ready to go if need be, but let's all pray and hope that doesn't happen. Also my cousins had to evac, they live near the Hollywood Hills fire. 

However, the house I grew up in is most definitely burned down. It's in the Eaton fire zone. We moved out eons ago, when I was just leaving for college, so it's been decades since I lived there, but it was a great house and property and I'm sad it's gone now. 

In other gutting news, my upcoming trip to Zion and Bryce national parks got canceled. Bah. REI is closing their Adventures, going forward. I was really looking forward to that trip.  

My hopes and wishes for 2025 are mainly that nothing is as bad as people fear and we all have a good time. :D

I wrote three (3!) stories for Yuletide this year. Don't know what got into me. But it's mostly because I was indecisive. My recipient had 2 fandoms I could write for and I decided to write for both of them:

Main story:

Advantage (3935 words) by hafital
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Sting (1973)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Henry Gondorff/Johnny Hooker
Characters: Henry Gondorff, Johnny Hooker (The Sting), Billie (The Sting)
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Late Night Conversations, Stubborn Johnny, Patient Henry, Johnny needs to learn to duck
Summary:

After his run-in with Snyder, Henry convinces Johnny to stay the night. 

And then, a Treat for the same recipient:

Pin My Siren Thief, Bombard (1326 words) by hafital
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sneakers (1992)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Martin Bishop & Bernard Abbott
Characters: Martin Bishop, Bernard Abbott
Additional Tags: Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

“What does this mean?” he asked, reading the card. “‘Pin my siren thief, bombard?’”

Abbott’s grin went as wide as wide could be, and it transformed his entire face.

By then, I was like may as well go for broke and write a third Robert Redford fandom, a Treat for dorinda!:

A Different Memory (2888 words) by hafital
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spy Game (2001)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tom Bishop/Nathan Muir
Characters: Nathan Muir, Tom Bishop
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat
Summary:

One month into his retirement, Nathan Muir receives an unexpected visitor.

Always a pleasure to write for Dorinda. It was like I was running my own private little Robert Redford mildly injured h/c fic fest ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Of the three, the Sneakers fic was the most difficult to write, to get the right tone and there's actually so very little of Agent Abbott in the film (the James Earl Jones character) that I had to really tease the story out bit by bit. And figuring out the anagram took some doing. (Also, how adorable is that movie!? Rewatching it after so many years was a treat in itself. My choice would probably be Martin/Whistler as a pairing, but I loved writing Agent Abbott quite a lot).

My favorite of the three is the Spy Game story (for reasons; also I posted it to the archive with literally 10 minutes to spare before the archive went live on Dec. 25 haha), though I have a soft spot for Johnny Hooker getting one over on Henry Gondorff. <3

Oof, I'm truly shocked to see that the last time I posted to DW was in January! Good grief, the months have just melted away. I'm around! I read DW! I'm definitely more active on tumblr, or at least I reblog stuff there a lot.

My main excuse is work. Easy to blame work. Work is work! It's always work. Just...working. So annoying. That damn work. And no, nothing has slowed down since the strikes concluded. the talk in the industry is less work, but not for me! Jeez.

Also, I turned 50 this year /o\, in May. And I meant to post about it but failed. For my birthday, I went on a 4 days horseback riding/camping trip around the Eastern Sierras in California, pretending I was a cowboy, got bitten by a lot of bugs, rode down a mountain in the middle of a hailstorm with a cute halflinger pony named Hanz (Hanzie if you're special), and saw some wild mustangs. All in all, a good way to ring in the next half century.

Still carrying on from that adventure, I am currently on a 2 week vacation from work (WHOOO HOOO!) and about to embark on yet ANOTHER camping trip, this time without the horses, 4 days hiking on my own 2 legs in Death Valley. I leave Wednesday.

In prep for the hiking trip, I've been pretty much hiking non-stop (lie: i stopped during the summer heat) since January. I'd say I'm in decent shape, but people regularly pass me on the steep inclines. I do not have a big stride.

Stuff I watched, fandoms I love:

1. I think I failed to mention just how much I loved (LOVED) Loki, seasons 1 and 2. Especially season 2. TVA forever! (Also, I love anything with Wunmi Mosaku.) To know that Loki is out there, holding all the strings of the universe, the very center, heart, of yggdrasi, and because time is Time, that means he's been the center the entire time... just *mind blown.*

2. After yuletide last year, I got sucked back into Ocean's 11, and pretty much haven't really left all year. But then, out of curiosity, in a mood to watch more Clooney, I thought I'd watch just a few episodes of ER to see the young Dr Ross, which I hadn't seen at all since 1996 or something, and then couldn't stop and I watched ALL OF IT. 15 gd seasons. It was like that time I got sucked into SPN. So many episodes! Jeez! And there isn't much of a slash fandom either which is weird. i thought I'd sworn off medical dramas but I guess never say never? 'cause then I started Grey's Anatomy and that dang monster is 20 plus seasons! Anyway, the best parts of ER are the first 6 years. Doug/Carol 4eva!

3. Agatha All Along -- I did not expect this series to be as good as it is. Love me some lesbian witches! Good times. Same SR as Wandavision, and it shows. AAA, WV, and Loki are the best Marvel tv series they've produced. Hands down. Though I have a soft spot for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, because I am first and foremost always here for Sam Wilson <3 (and Bucky!). I'm cautiously excited for Brave New World. I'm a little more nervous about Thunderbolts.

4. Deadpool & Wolverine -- Okay, now. I sort of enjoyed Deadpool 1 and Deadpool 2, I mean, they were okay, but, I don't know, I didn't really love either much. The humor was crass and the 4th wall breaking was sort of tedious. And, RR doesn't really do it for me. So, I did not go into Deadpool & Wolverine really expecting anything more than more of the same that we saw with DP 1 and 2, even with the addition of Wolverine -- cause, to be perfectly honest, I am not a huge X-Men fan. But boy howdy, I watched Deadpool & Wolverine like 5 times in the theaters. I truly loved it. Also, my girlfriend Wunmi (Hunter B15) was in it so automatic win. And I adore these characters now, and I'm invested in their fates and futures. I guess I'm a fan now!

Okay, that's a pretty good catch up of stuff and nonsense for now.

Dear HLH_Shortcuts writer!

I'm sorry I couldn't get this done in time for sign ups. I'm editing my sign up now to include this link. :D ETA: Whooops, thought I could edit my sign up post assignments being sent but apparently I cannot. Hope you wander over here anyway!

Thank you for writing my story for me. I'm very happy to read it. <3

I'm pretty open to receiving just about anything, and have only a couple requests:

1. No permanent deaths for any of the characters listed in my sign up. Temporary deaths are totally okay though. :D And feel free to kill any number of bad guys you want haha. (For Richie -- I wouldn't call myself Clan Denial but I am fond of him, so if you undead him for a story, please just don't dead him again! lol)

2. Nothing too depressing. I'm okay with all manner of torture, angst, hurt/comfort (especially), mayhem and chaos, this is Highlander after all, etc., that's what I typically write myself!,if there's at least a hopeful if not a happy ending.

and most importantly, 3. Have fun!

Thank you.

This last year went by in a complete blur but then the last month or so slowed down to a very. slow. crawl. which was fine by me. I'm not actually in a rush to get to 2024 but it's here now! So, yay for New Year and hopefully we all survive it in tact and happy and healthy and the world stops being such a crazy shit show. That's my wish!

Later today, I'm going on a hike with friends up to the Griffith Observatory where there will be a beautiful (but probably hazy, knowing LA) view of Los Angeles. Huzzah!


That is very fitting for my own personal holiday theme I've got going on over here. Having lots of fond feeling for Los Angeles right now as my Yuletide gift got me to rewatch Once Upon a Time in Hollywood a few times this past week. It remains my favorite Tarantino movie, and possibly one of my favorite movies all together. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(eta: whoa, just had an earthquake. okay maybe that's too much of an LA experience for New Years, let's pull it back)

It's been a Brad Pitt Yuletide. It's also been a very crooks and thieves and heists kind of season.

On to Yuletide Reveals --

I wrote 2 stories for Yuletide this year, which is 2 more than I've written for Yuletide since 2010!

What Really Happened with Marco (11458 words) by hafital
Chapters: 7/7
Fandom: Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan
Characters: Danny Ocean, Rusty Ryan, Reuben Tishkoff, Saul Bloom, Isabel Lahiri, Tess Ocean, Linus Caldwell
Additional Tags: background Danny/Tess, background Rusty/Isabel, Canon-typical shenanigans, Stories as Truth, Team as Family, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Polyamory, No Danny Oceans were actually harmed in the writing of this story
Summary:

Rusty visits Danny's grave, and remembers. Meanwhile, everyone has a story to tell about Danny and Rusty.

and a treat for dorinda

Timing and Lighting (1841 words) by hafital
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Sting (1973)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Henry Gondorff/Johnny Hooker
Characters: Henry Gondorff, Johnny Hooker
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat
Summary:

Johnny struggles to find the words he needs.

( yammering on writing and stuff )

mwah. happy new year!

It is Christmas! Man, why has this year been so weird about time? It just whooshed by so fast and suddenly it's December and then this last week took. so. long. At least for me.

Highlander Holiday Shortcuts is live and a few stories are being posted every day. Go check it out! I love how this fest has evolved over the years and I love how it keeps giving such a wonderful cache of Highlander stories that both manage to keep Highlander truly Immortal AND also discover new and unexplored aspects of a fandom that's been around a good long while now.

Anyway, go read! If you're so inclined. We have over 20 stories being revealed this year, which is GREAT. <3

For Yuletide, I received this lovely lovely gem of a story for the film Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood, which is a film I loved an unreasonable amount.

A Few Too Many (1278 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Cliff Booth/Rick Dalton
Characters: Cliff Booth, Rick Dalton
Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Pining, Hanging Out, Sharing a Bed, Drunkenness
Summary:

“Mission Impossible,” Rick says excitedly, then ”Mission fuckin’ Impossible, Cliff,” as if Cliff hadn’t heard him the first time. Can——can you believe it?”

***

An afternoon/night in the life of Cliff and Rick.

haven't done yuletide in ages, but giving it a go this year. crazy times.

Dear Yuletide Friend <3,


Thank you for writing my story this year! It's been so long since I participated in Yuletide that the whole sign up part of it has changed considerably, so forgive me for not including things like DNWs and tags and whatnot. :D

ETA: I would love treats for any of these! In case anyone comes here to check. Sort of late in the day, but I didn't realize we were supposed to mention that lol.

Request 1 - Friday Night Lights

I didn't require that you had to use every character in my request because honestly these are all favorites and I am happy to receive any combination in a story. I love the Taylors and I love Tim Riggins. I have a yen for Tim/Julie, anywhere from just friendship or futurefic, or whatever spark works. I guess if I have a DNW it would be for any infidelity between Eric and Tami, and no non-con.

Request 2 - Dunkirk

Ever since I saw this movie the first time I have wanted fiction between Collins and Farrier. I read a few of the stories in the archive and still want more. :D I also said for this request you don't need to include both so if for whatever reason you only want to focus on one of these men, that's fine, too. I'm mostly wanting some kind of reunion fic but I honestly am not too picky so whatever you want to explore, gen or slash or future fic or whatever, go for it!

Request 3 - Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Man, I adore the relationship between Rick and Cliff, and however you want to explore that will be fine with me. For any DNW, I don't want them to be like angry with each other anything like that. And no intimate partner abuse. The dynamic in the film is what I love the most.

Request 4 - Emma.

I'm perpetually in love with this novel, and I very much loved the new film. My request said I was happy to receive either Emma/Mr. Knightly or Emma/Harriet, either gen or romance at any rating, but I am also okay with all of them together or any combination. Post novel or something that takes place within the known story are both good. Most of all, have fun!

hi hi hello! Here are things to ponder:

1. for REASONS, I did complete rewatches of Star Trek Voyager, Highlander: The Series, and Justified, all at the same time, in a sort of juggling manner that defied logic. I don't know what was going on with me, but it took pretty much all 2023 till now haha. I actually did TWO rewatches of Justified because I love it that much, and I wanted it fresh for the new series. And I'm in love with both Tim and Raylan. It's true, and I am not ashamed. Also, Raylan has never done anything wrong ever and i WILL fight you on this. But, after all that, have I started the new Justified series yet? No, i haven't, because I'm a weirdo who needed the entire series available before I started for some reason. And then got distracted by Ahsoka. And then distracted by adventuring. But will start in on Silver Fox Raylan The Series next week.

2. THEN, i did a complete rewatch of Star Wars REBELS, because it continues to be the best dang Star Wars property and I WILL fight you on that. Also, I wanted to rewatch before the Ahsoka series, which I have now watched the first 2 episodes. (queue internal yelling over Sabine and Ahsoka and Hera and Chopper! aaaah) (also also I am very sad over Ray Stevenson who so far is great in the series ugh my heart) Why I can watch the Ahsoka series as it airs and not Justified as it aired is a mystery we all most live with. Me most of all.

3. Randomly and taking EVERYONE in my life by complete surprise, I booked 2 separate kayaking trips in the ocean and an overnight backpacking camping trip to Catalina Island. Sadly, kayaking aggravated my right hand RSI and then the second kayaking trip got canceled because of a hurricane or something, but the backpacking camping trip is a go for this weekend. Have y'all ever backpacked? That shit is hard core hello. I've been conditioning for the last 3 weeks treking all over my neighborhood and in through one of the local canyons with 30ish pounds strapped to my back. I'm not sure i'm ready to climb a mountain but i feel more in my body than I have since before the pandemic. Planning a second backpacking 3 day trip to the Pacific Crest Trail next year!

4. I LOVED rewatching Highlander. It's like hanging out with my immortal besties. <3

5. I LOVED rewatching Voyager. It's like hanging out with my space besties. <3

6. I LOVED rewatching Star Wars Rebels. But it's NOT like hanging out with my Jedi besties. It's like watching my loved ones be heroic and tragic and it makes me emotional. I'm never going to get over Kanan and Hera. *cries forever* Also this time around I'm even more of a Kallus/Zeb girl than I was before.

7. The strikes don't appear close to ending. :( I have no inside knowledge just that we stand firm. Personally, it's a bit wearying. Please to be ending soon now.

8. In other random tv and/or movie watching news, I loved the live action The Little Mermaid. I know, it's weird and off brand for me, and the animated movie is one of my least favorite, but the two leads were so pretty and sweet and earnest. I enjoyed Barbie, and had a blast watching The Meg 2. I also randomly started watching The Walking Dead and JAG (seriously, could I be more of a mixed bag of random things?? who even am I????) both of which have stalled while I become entirely obsessed with finding just the right sleeping bag for my adventures.

9. I was THIS CLOSE to going to Disney California Adventureland to see Rogers the Musical before it disappeared at the end of this month. THIS CLOSE. I was totally going to do it, but a) i felt weird going to Disney right now with the strikes and was like well if the strikes end before the end of August then I will go but CLEARLY that's not happening, and b) I'm spending so much money on camping stuff as it is.

Um, probably forgetting other things to list. Also, i'm in an abuse capitals sort of mood I guess. That's it for now. *waves!*