rodo's journal

Fic: Web of Fate, Chapter 9

2026-07-19T09:07:40Z

Title: Web of Fate
Fandom: Carnival Row
Author: rodo
Chapter: 9/17+E
Length: 4,847 words (77,000 in total)
Rating: 16+
Genre: Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Worldbuilding, Adventure
Characters: Rycroft Philostrate, Jonah Breakspear, Vignette Stonemoss, Runyan Millworthy, Darius Prowell, Absalom Breakspear
Pairing: Philo/Vignette
Warnings/Labels: war, and mentions/occasional depictions of associated atrocities; canon-typical fantasy racism
Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to Amazon, of course
A/N: I started this story in August 2021, and I finished the draft in 2022, so this was all written prior to the second season. So some of the worldbuilding contradicts what was shown in season 2. Still, I had so much fun re-reading this lately that I thought I’d polish it up some more and post it anyway, in case some of you will like it as well. Since it’s an AU, the plot of the second season is not that relevant anyway.

Summary: A year after the attempted assassination of Chancellor Absalom Breakspear, The Burgue is at war, and it’s not going well. In order to break the stalemate at the front, some unlikely soldiers are recruited to fight in a place nobody expected, and Philo and Jonah find themselves caught up in it against their expectations.

( “God’s noose, doesn’t this place make you feel homesick?” )

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Fic: Web of Fate, Chapter 8

2026-07-12T11:12:09Z

Title: Web of Fate
Fandom: Carnival Row
Author: rodo
Chapter: 8/17+E
Length: 4,559 words (77,000 in total)
Rating: 16+
Genre: Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Worldbuilding, Adventure
Characters: Rycroft Philostrate, Jonah Breakspear, Vignette Stonemoss, Runyan Millworthy, Darius Prowell, Absalom Breakspear
Pairing: Philo/Vignette
Warnings/Labels: war, and mentions/occasional depictions of associated atrocities; canon-typical fantasy racism
Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to Amazon, of course
A/N: I started this story in August 2021, and I finished the draft in 2022, so this was all written prior to the second season. So some of the worldbuilding contradicts what was shown in season 2. Still, I had so much fun re-reading this lately that I thought I’d polish it up some more and post it anyway, in case some of you will like it as well. Since it’s an AU, the plot of the second season is not that relevant anyway.

Summary: A year after the attempted assassination of Chancellor Absalom Breakspear, The Burgue is at war, and it’s not going well. In order to break the stalemate at the front, some unlikely soldiers are recruited to fight in a place nobody expected, and Philo and Jonah find themselves caught up in it against their expectations.

( There were many things Jonah loved: )

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Fic: Web of Fate, Chapter 7

2026-07-05T10:46:17Z

Title: Web of Fate
Fandom: Carnival Row
Author: rodo
Chapter: 7/17+E
Length: 4,420 words (77,000 in total)
Rating: 16+
Genre: Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Worldbuilding, Adventure
Characters: Rycroft Philostrate, Jonah Breakspear, Vignette Stonemoss, Runyan Millworthy, Darius Prowell, Absalom Breakspear
Pairing: Philo/Vignette
Warnings/Labels: war, and mentions/occasional depictions of associated atrocities; canon-typical fantasy racism
Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to Amazon, of course
A/N: I started this story in August 2021, and I finished the draft in 2022, so this was all written prior to the second season. So some of the worldbuilding contradicts what was shown in season 2. Still, I had so much fun re-reading this lately that I thought I’d polish it up some more and post it anyway, in case some of you will like it as well. Since it’s an AU, the plot of the second season is not that relevant anyway.

Summary: A year after the attempted assassination of Chancellor Absalom Breakspear, The Burgue is at war, and it’s not going well. In order to break the stalemate at the front, some unlikely soldiers are recruited to fight in a place nobody expected, and Philo and Jonah find themselves caught up in it against their expectations.

( Their second meeting was even more awkward than the first, if anything. )

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Fic: Web of Fate, Chapter 6

2026-06-28T10:03:41Z

Title: Web of Fate
Fandom: Carnival Row
Author: rodo
Chapter: 6/17+E
Length: 4,341 words (77,000 in total)
Rating: 16+
Genre: Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Worldbuilding, Adventure
Characters: Rycroft Philostrate, Jonah Breakspear, Vignette Stonemoss, Runyan Millworthy, Darius Prowell, Absalom Breakspear
Pairing: Philo/Vignette
Warnings/Labels: war, and mentions/occasional depictions of associated atrocities; canon-typical fantasy racism
Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to Amazon, of course
A/N: I started this story in August 2021, and I finished the draft in 2022, so this was all written prior to the second season. So some of the worldbuilding contradicts what was shown in season 2. Still, I had so much fun re-reading this lately that I thought I’d polish it up some more and post it anyway, in case some of you will like it as well. Since it’s an AU, the plot of the second season is not that relevant anyway.

Summary: A year after the attempted assassination of Chancellor Absalom Breakspear, The Burgue is at war, and it’s not going well. In order to break the stalemate at the front, some unlikely soldiers are recruited to fight in a place nobody expected, and Philo and Jonah find themselves caught up in it against their expectations.

( “The cushy job with command, I see,” Malthus said. )

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Fic: Web of Fate, Chapter 5

2026-06-21T11:19:35Z

Title: Web of Fate
Fandom: Carnival Row
Author: rodo
Chapter: 5/17+E
Length: 4,691 words (77,000 in total)
Rating: 16+
Genre: Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Worldbuilding, Adventure
Characters: Rycroft Philostrate, Jonah Breakspear, Vignette Stonemoss, Runyan Millworthy, Darius Prowell, Absalom Breakspear
Pairing: Philo/Vignette
Warnings/Labels: war, and mentions/occasional depictions of associated atrocities; canon-typical fantasy racism
Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to Amazon, of course
A/N: I started this story in August 2021, and I finished the draft in 2022, so this was all written prior to the second season. So some of the worldbuilding contradicts what was shown in season 2. Still, I had so much fun re-reading this lately that I thought I’d polish it up some more and post it anyway, in case some of you will like it as well. Since it’s an AU, the plot of the second season is not that relevant anyway.

Summary: A year after the attempted assassination of Chancellor Absalom Breakspear, The Burgue is at war, and it’s not going well. In order to break the stalemate at the front, some unlikely soldiers are recruited to fight in a place nobody expected, and Philo and Jonah find themselves caught up in it against their expectations.

( “If you don’t stop pacing, I’m going to hit you. Hard,” Tourmaline said. )

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Fic: Web of Fate, Chapter 4

2026-06-14T10:46:20Z

Title: Web of Fate
Fandom: Carnival Row
Author: rodo
Chapter: 4/17+E
Length: 4,238 words (77,000 in total)
Rating: 16+
Genre: Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Worldbuilding, Adventure
Characters: Rycroft Philostrate, Jonah Breakspear, Vignette Stonemoss, Runyan Millworthy, Darius Prowell, Absalom Breakspear
Pairing: Philo/Vignette
Warnings/Labels: war, and mentions/occasional depictions of associated atrocities; canon-typical fantasy racism
Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to Amazon, of course
A/N: I started this story in August 2021, and I finished the draft in 2022, so this was all written prior to the second season. So some of the worldbuilding contradicts what was shown in season 2. Still, I had so much fun re-reading this lately that I thought I’d polish it up some more and post it anyway, in case some of you will like it as well. Since it’s an AU, the plot of the second season is not that relevant anyway.

Summary: A year after the attempted assassination of Chancellor Absalom Breakspear, The Burgue is at war, and it’s not going well. In order to break the stalemate at the front, some unlikely soldiers are recruited to fight in a place nobody expected, and Philo and Jonah find themselves caught up in it against their expectations.

( Eavesdropping had become a bad habit that proved difficult to shake for Jonah Breakspear, if only because most of his usual entertainments had fallen by the wayside of late. )

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Fic: Web of Fate, Chapter 3

2026-06-07T13:15:13Z

Title: Web of Fate
Fandom: Carnival Row
Author: rodo
Chapter: 3/17+E
Length: 4,551 words (77,000 in total)
Rating: 16+
Genre: Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Worldbuilding, Adventure
Characters: Rycroft Philostrate, Jonah Breakspear, Vignette Stonemoss, Runyan Millworthy, Darius Prowell, Absalom Breakspear
Pairing: Philo/Vignette
Warnings/Labels: war, and mentions/occasional depictions of associated atrocities; canon-typical fantasy racism
Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to Amazon, of course
A/N: I started this story in August 2021, and I finished the draft in 2022, so this was all written prior to the second season. So some of the worldbuilding contradicts what was shown in season 2. Still, I had so much fun re-reading this lately that I thought I’d polish it up some more and post it anyway, in case some of you will like it as well. Since it’s an AU, the plot of the second season is not that relevant anyway.

Summary: A year after the attempted assassination of Chancellor Absalom Breakspear, The Burgue is at war, and it’s not going well. In order to break the stalemate at the front, some unlikely soldiers are recruited to fight in a place nobody expected, and Philo and Jonah find themselves caught up in it against their expectations.

( The headline – and others like it – were everywhere. )

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Fic: Web of Fate, Chapter 2

2026-05-31T09:20:14Z

Title: Web of Fate
Fandom: Carnival Row
Author: rodo
Chapter: 2/17+E
Length: 4,160 words (77,000 in total)
Rating: 16+
Genre: Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Worldbuilding, Adventure
Characters: Rycroft Philostrate, Jonah Breakspear, Vignette Stonemoss, Runyan Millworthy, Darius Prowell, Absalom Breakspear
Pairing: Philo/Vignette
Warnings/Labels: war, and mentions/occasional depictions of associated atrocities; canon-typical fantasy racism
Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to Amazon, of course
A/N: I started this story in August 2021, and I finished the draft in 2022, so this was all written prior to the second season. So some of the worldbuilding contradicts what was shown in season 2. Still, I had so much fun re-reading this lately that I thought I’d polish it up some more and post it anyway, in case some of you will like it as well. Since it’s an AU, the plot of the second season is not that relevant anyway.

Summary: A year after the attempted assassination of Chancellor Absalom Breakspear, The Burgue is at war, and it’s not going well. In order to break the stalemate at the front, some unlikely soldiers are recruited to fight in a place nobody expected, and Philo and Jonah find themselves caught up in it against their expectations.

( The entire city was abuzz with rumours. )

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Fic: Web of Fate, Chapter 1

2026-05-25T15:59:48Z

Title: Web of Fate
Fandom: Carnival Row
Author: rodo
Chapter: 1/17+E
Length: 4,459 words (77,000 in total)
Rating: 16+
Genre: Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Worldbuilding, Adventure
Characters: Rycroft Philostrate, Jonah Breakspear, Vignette Stonemoss, Runyan Millworthy, Darius Prowell, Absalom Breakspear
Pairing: Philo/Vignette
Warnings/Labels: war, and mentions/occasional depictions of associated atrocities; canon-typical fantasy racism
Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to Amazon, of course
A/N: I started this story in August 2021, and I finished the draft in 2022, so this was all written prior to the second season. So some of the worldbuilding contradicts what was shown in season 2. Still, I had so much fun re-reading this lately that I thought I’d polish it up some more and post it anyway, in case some of you will like it as well. Since it’s an AU, the plot of the second season is not that relevant anyway.

Summary: A year after the attempted assassination of Chancellor Absalom Breakspear, The Burgue is at war, and it’s not going well. In order to break the stalemate at the front, some unlikely soldiers are recruited to fight in a place nobody expected, and Philo and Jonah find themselves caught up in it against their expectations.

( The scene was a gruesome one; it would remain seared into his brain until the day he died. )

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Fic: Web of Fate, Prologue

2026-05-25T15:55:07Z

Title: Web of Fate
Fandom: Carnival Row
Author: rodo
Chapter: prologue/17+E
Length: 558 words (77,000 in total)
Rating: 16+
Genre: Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Worldbuilding, Adventure
Characters: Rycroft Philostrate, Jonah Breakspear, Vignette Stonemoss, Runyan Millworthy, Darius Prowell, Absalom Breakspear
Pairing: Philo/Vignette
Warnings/Labels: war, and mentions/occasional depictions of associated atrocities; canon-typical fantasy racism
Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to Amazon, of course
A/N: I started this story in August 2021, and I finished the draft in 2022, so this was all written prior to the second season. So some of the worldbuilding contradicts what was shown in season 2. Still, I had so much fun re-reading this lately that I thought I’d polish it up some more and post it anyway, in case some of you will like it as well. Since it’s an AU, the plot of the second season is not that relevant anyway.

Summary: A year after the attempted assassination of Chancellor Absalom Breakspear, The Burgue is at war, and it’s not going well. In order to break the stalemate at the front, some unlikely soldiers are recruited to fight in a place nobody expected, and Philo and Jonah find themselves caught up in it against their expectations.

( “Mister Winetrout, sir?” a feeble voice asked. )

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Finally, Somewhat Rested

2026-05-24T17:44:11Z

Tomorrow is the final day of rest before I’m going back to work. Not happy about that, but mostly because I still feel incredibly out of my depth and overwhelmed with this one work thing, but I have no idea how much of that is hormones. I do so envy people who don’t have to do complex emotional math and analysing of their feelings for half of every month… but in other news:

My mother’s first cataract surgery went okay so far, but she’s uncharacteristically reliant on me at the moment. I always have to do the eye drops, even though she’s perfectly capable of it herself. Next one is on the first, and hopefully it’ll go just as well.

I visited sevilemar for the first time in ages and it was great to see them again. We didn’t do much because we’re both lazy af, but we talked a lot, and we (re)watched the first season of Carnival Row together. I still love it to pieces, so I re-read my two drafts that I never managed to get betaed and still liked them. I’m working up the courage to post them anyway, even though I know a lot of people are going to not like the long one – but it’s still basically the fic I wanted to read for the fandom. I really loved the first read-through last week, but I got doubts in the final editing round these past two days… (Hormones? Who knows.) Anyway, brace yourselves for me posting some stories you’ll never read ^_^°

On the topic of getting a beta: when did that become a total impossibility? Like, I have this fic in a not-small fandom that I wrote ages ago. I found someone who wanted to beta it and who then never did it, despite getting poked. Started looking for someone else, since it’s the only of my WIPs waiting for a beta where there’s actually people to be found. No replies on ff.net, but I’m not surprised. I don’t remember the last time I got a non-spammy PM there. Then there’s the giant beta spreadsheet… yeah. I’m not on Tumblr or Twitter or Bluesky. People don’t offer an e-mail (understandable, but inconvenient when you don’t share any platforms). I tried contacting people on Discord, despite that not being a fandom thing for me. It went about as well as you imagine, since it’s basically impossible to contact strangers there. I just wish there was a better way, and I even started to work on one, but I have a full-time job now and have other hobbies as well… T.T If any of you have any tips, I’m all ears (tried the DW comm once too, crickets.)

The bunny was back. Rumour has it that she’s contained for now, but rumour also had it that our neighbour had given up on keeping bunnies, and yeah, that obviously wasn’t true. Last year she was in our garden until November. The onions had poked their green bits out after getting decimated several times last year, but take a wild guess what she ate pretty much immediately. At least someone ratted the neighbour out to the authorities and he’s already had to pay a fine for improper bunny keeping. I’d love to send flowers, but I have no idea who it was.

Still have to decide if I want to do Rough Draft Month again this June. So far, I’m on the fence. Should have the Fandom 5K draft done by then, at least.

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Still Here

2026-05-10T20:07:50Z

So, I’m feeling a bit better, but it appears all that stress led to me regulating my emotions so much that I kind of crashed when everything was done and dusted and my brain chemistry just went… weird. I had anxiety like I haven’t had since my teens, and felt kind of like I didn’t really feel anything much because I clamped down on everything, and now it’s slowly coming back in unexpected ways. Hope it’ll get better in summer, once my mother’s cataract surgeries are behind us.

As for work: I now appear to be the person in charge of infrastructure related stuff on the developer side, which is so not my cup of tea, but since I’m the one who has the time to try to figure things out, I’m the one doing it. I hate it, but someone has to do it, and I guess it’ll end up being useful someday.

I’ve got a small holiday between Ascension Day and Pentecost (to maximize my free time per holidays taken). If nothing goes terribly wrong with the first of my mother’s surgeries tomorrow, I’ll visit an old friend I haven’t seen in nearly three(!) years next weekend, so fingers crossed.

In other real life news: I did my taxes for the first time, and it was nerve-racking, but also exciting because I finally get to adult at 40+. It wasn’t mandatory for me, but my mother suggested I do it, and it was kind of exciting to be able to to it anyway, so I did it. I got my preliminary result in the mail yesterday, and it seems my mother had a point.

And last but not least: I started writing my last Fandom 5K story ever. I’m going to miss this exchange so much, since it’s pretty much the only one of its kind that I know of. I’m not confident enough for a 10k minimum yet, and I need a longer writing period and a general theme, so it’s my favorite after Yuletide.

... and now my cat came in to remind me that it's time for bed. Good night, y'all!

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Dear Fandom 5K Writer

2026-04-05T17:29:46Z

First off, I hope you’re going to have fun writing for me and that this letter helps you. I’d also like to say that I’d like fic for all the characters/pairings/fandoms I’m requesting here, whether it follows my prompts or not. If you have an idea that you absolutely want to write about these characters and it doesn’t go against my DNWs, feel free to write it. And if you think you have a better idea than me (which is quite likely) the same applies.

( General information, DNWs and Likes )

Now for the canons:

Gran Hotel (TV)
무빙 | Moving (TV)
설강화 | Snowdrop (TV)

( Gran Hotel (TV) )

( 무빙 | Moving (TV) )

( 설강화 | Snowdrop (TV) )

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What Happened Since I Last Updated and Some Stuff I Watched

2026-03-13T18:14:04Z

( Real Life Stuff You Might Want To Skip )

In more positive news: I completely missed that there were new seasons of School Spirits until midway through the third season. I recced it two years ago and I really enjoyed seasons two and three as well and I so hope there’s going to be a fourth.

I also rewatched some comfort series due to above-mentioned stuff. Among them My Lady Jane, which I don’t think I’ve talked about before. It’s awesome. Just pure, unadulterated fun. Everyone should watch it, even though it got cancelled after one season. That season is so worth it: Jane’s playboy husband is a horse, her brother-in-law is a himbo with a thing for scheming MILFs (that MILF being Jane’s mom AKA Anna Chancellor), Dominic Cooper seems to be having the time of his life playing a scheming vizier-type, Princess Mary is enjoyably unhinged, and King Edward gets a cat boyfriend. Also: the narrator rocks.

I also really enjoyed the fourth season of Bridgerton. Not as much as the second, mostly because I still think Benedict is incredibly bland and boring, but Sophie was soooo good. Perfection, really. And Katie Leung should play scenery-chewing villains for the next ten years, she’s such a pleasure to watch.

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Fic: Out of the Shadows

2026-02-22T11:59:19Z

Title: Out of the Shadows
Fandom: The Hobbit (2012-2014)
Author: rodo
Length: 2,398 words
Rating: 6+
Characters: Legolas & Tauriel
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Warner Bros. et al.
Beta: starsprightly
A/N: written for Nicky_Gabriel during 2026’s candyheartsex

Summary: To Tauriel, Legolas was barely more than a stranger – until the day she stumbled into saving his life.

( “Have any of you seen Prince Legolas? The king is looking for him,” Tauriel’s captain asked. )

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That I’ve lived to see the day…

2026-01-25T18:22:44Z

It’s official: it’s winter. Like, for real, for the first time in years. We had a snowstorm (well, what passes for one in these parts), public transport broke down completely for two days and I had to go out three times in one day to shovel snow. It was like thirty centimetres total, maybe forty, but the snowdrifts were a lot. Also, thirty centimetres is quite a bit when two are enough to bring everything to a standstill. Of course, our heating broke that Sunday, at -15°C. (Thank God for speedy emergency repair services, even if they're pricey.)

For tomorrow, it’s supposed to be ten centimetres, and my boss was nice enough to tell me to work from home. Not that the chances of me making it to work are high: I had to stay home two days last week because the trains were so late I would have missed my meetings.

Also, another tanka, this time even with a serviceable translation.

Ein Chor aus Kratzen A choir of scratches
erklingt am kalten Morgen echoes one cold morning, in
bei stetem Rieseln. a steady flurry.
Schlappe Gestalten schaufeln Tired figures shovel snow,
endlos Schnee, Sisyphus gleich. ceaselessly, like Sisyphus.

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Fic: Sins of the Past

2026-01-02T11:15:14Z

Title: Sins of the Past
Fandom: Tempest
Author: rodo
Length: 13,583 words
Rating: 12+
Genre: action
Pairing: Paik San-ho/Seo Mun-ju
Disclaimer: everything obviously belongs to Disney
Beta: Acorn_Squash
A/N: written for ardentaislinn for 2025’s yuletide

Summary: Seo Mun-ju achieves what she dreamed of as a young girl: she becomes the President of the Republic of Korea. But there's more than one thorny issue from the past left unresolved – not least of all the fate of Paik San-ho.

( The office felt like an old friend. )

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Candy Hearts Dear Writer Letter

2026-01-01T17:54:06Z

First off, I hope you’re going to have fun writing for me and that this letter helps you. I’d also like to say that I’d like fic for all the characters/pairings/fandoms I’m requesting here, whether it follows my prompts or not. If you have an idea that you absolutely want to write and it doesn’t go against my DNWs, feel free to write it. And if you think you have a better idea than me (which is quite likely) the same applies.

( General information, DNWs and Likes )

Now for the canons:

Gran Hotel (TV)
무빙 | Moving (TV)
Sandokan (TV 2025)
설강화 | Snowdrop (TV)

( Gran Hotel (TV) )

( 무빙 | Moving (TV) )

( Sandokan (TV 2025) )

( 설강화 | Snowdrop (TV) )

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I know who's the boss of me

2025-12-21T21:25:10Z

My plans for the start of my holidays: working on a Yuletide treat, getting some last minute Christmas preparations done. Maybe making some headway in Kingdom Come: Deliverance or working on some of my projects.

My cat's plan for the start of my holidays: spending all day in bed with me.

So, guess what I've been doing this weekend. I love her to pieces. I guess I'll get to all that some other time.

Und hier noch ein Gedicht, das ich in der letzten Woche beim Pendeln geschrieben habe:

Im Morgennebel

glühen die Kondensstreifen

über den Feldern.

Behäbige Giganten

pflügen müde den Himmel.

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What I've Been Up To Lately

2025-11-30T20:09:41Z

Yesterday I deep cleaned my part of the house in preparation for the holidays, and since today is the First Sunday of Advent and the Christmas season has officially started, I decorated everything for the season and I made four recipes of cookies, two batches of mulled wine and some candied almonds... not really a relaxing weekend for me. I've got sore muscles from all the cleaning, for one. I'm no longer as young as I used to be and my hips are starting to remind me when I forget. Also, at one point yesterday, the cat stared at me with a look that said she thought I was a changeling. I'm not usually this active.

In other news: I hit my getyourwordsout target this month and I'm still working on my Yuletide story, which isn't even close to finished, despite being long past the minimum. I'm almost through my third(!) rewatch of canon, because it's very dense, imo. I'll need to do a lot of editing, especially on the action scene (not my forte), but it's fun. And since I worked from home last week, I had enough time to make some headway too.

What little time I had left besides this in the past couple of weeks I've spent watching the second season of Maxton Hall and the new Robin Hood series, and I've started playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance, seven years late, but whatever.

The second season of Maxton Hall is pretty much like the first: teenage drama that makes very little sense once you think about it (like: why does this girl keep having to organize stuff like high-profile fundraisers instead of learning for her exams???), but it is very good at being what it is: a tropey teen drama. Robin Hood is good so far too, but I'd probably enjoy it more if they hadn't made the baffling decision to have pagans in it. As for Kingdom Come: Deliverance: I'm a couple of hours in and just reached Rattay, and I suspect I suck at this game. But that's okay, because the character I'm playing is meant to suck at everything too. I'd probably have more problems with sucking at a game if the character I was playing was supposed to actually be good at fighting and stuff.

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Great Plans (And How They Crumble)

2025-11-15T10:09:52Z

I had such great plans for Yuletide. I’m so inspired, I can’t even decide which story I want to write for my recipient and which for myself. Canon review was awesome, I started writing to get into the groove and really felt like that first scene came together on Monday like nothing I’ve written in months did. I was so looking forward to the scene I’d planned to write next, on Tuesday. I love it when writing feels like that. I wanted to write all the novellas and treats…

Then Tuesday hit. Instead of the regular two and a half hours of commute, it was five. And until the last couple of hundred meters, I wasn’t sure if I’d make it. Like, when the train finally started, the train driver told us he didn’t know if we’d make it to the end. It was a broken interlocking system. You know, the brand new one that went online last month… In the end, I crashed so badly, physically and mentally, I would have had to call in sick if it hadn’t been for my boss mercifully granting me home office for the rest of the week after I told him my usual train wouldn’t run for the rest of the week and I’d have to take an earlier one. It took me all three working days and two pain pills to regain a semblance of functionality.

Oh, and then I found out that my usual train won’t run for another month, because absolutely nobody understands the train company’s emergency schedules, myself included. So, yeah, I think that was it as far as my grand Yuletide plans are concerned. Especially since I’ve already been through more than half the trains not running for a month once, and the ones that do run… well. I expect a few more Tuesdays, and hardly any free time.

In other news: I think I’ve finally got my first slightly wanky programming opinion. Usually I’m the person who says do whatever works for you, but even I have my breaking point. If you’re going to type anything slightly challenging any, why are you even using TypeScript? JavaScript is right there and there’s nothing wrong with it! (Guess who’s had to delint somebody else’s codebase this week...)

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Fic: Breathless

2025-11-09T18:06:10Z

Title: Breathless
Fandom: Rivals (2024)
Author: rodo
Length: 1187 words
Rating: 12+
Pairing: Rupert/Taggie
Disclaimer: everything belongs to Disney
A/N: written for bearholdingashark72 during 2025’s fandomgiftbasket

Summary: With everyone gone, Taggie is left to take care of her father on her own – until Rupert arrives to help, that is.

( Mummy was having the time of her life in London, and Daddy was throwing himself into his work even more than usual. )

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Fic: One Track Conversation

2025-11-07T14:33:03Z

Title: One Track Conversation
Fandom: Bullet Train (2022)
Author: rodo
Length: 519 words
Rating: 12+
Characters: Lemon & Tangerine
Disclaimer:
A/N: written for otaku_girl_ao3 during 2025’s fandomgiftbasket

Summary: Tangerine loved Lemon – a lot – but sometimes having him around could grate on him. It was the little ways that were the worst.

( The door fell open, revealing a hotel room that was all sleek surfaces and gleaming metal. )

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Being Busy

2025-11-01T11:40:53Z

So, I have a job. At the grand old age of… yeah, I’d rather not say. But it’s my first actual job, and so far it’s fun, even if it’s also stressful and the hours and commuting time are not so great and I feel like a giant imposter. But that’s all manageable. Except for that one time the trains couldn’t run because a train crashed into a car (no fatalities) due to the trains being the trains.

It’s been one month since I started, and I honestly hadn’t noticed how hard looking for work was on my health (mental health especially), even if I did notice that it was bad. The extend of it was what surprised me when I suddenly got better. Looking back, I think the people who don’t get mentally ill in some way after being stuck in the system for a year are probably the minority. It would be great if the Job Center actually helped you find a job, but they do pretty much everything but that.

Unfortunately, the good news meant I couldn’t write as much for fandomgiftbasket as I usually did. It fell right into the right-before and right-after starting the job period, and my mind was elsewhere for pretty much all of it. I hope it gets better once I’ve settled in a bit more. I signed up for Yuletide as well (and am extremely pleased with my assignment), so I want to make my recipient happy. Wish me luck!

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Dear Yuletide Writer,

2025-10-16T18:26:00Z

Le Bazar de la Charité | The Bonfire of Destiny (TV)
Cat’s Eyes (TV 2025)
忍びの家 | House of Ninjas (TV 2024)
무빙 | Moving (TV)
설강화 | Snowdrop (TV)
극성 | Tempest

( Le Bazar de la Charité | The Bonfire of Destiny (TV) )

( Cat’s Eyes (TV 2025) )

( 忍びの家 | House of Ninjas (TV 2024) )

( 무빙 | Moving (TV) – Jang Joo-won, Kim Doo-shik, Lee Mi-hyeon )

( 설강화 | Snowdrop (TV) )

( 북극성 | Tempest )

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Ein Chor aus Kratzen		A choir of scratches
erklingt am kalten Morgen		echoes one cold morning, in
bei stetem Rieseln.		a steady flurry.
Schlappe Gestalten schaufeln		Tired figures shovel snow,
endlos Schnee, Sisyphus gleich.		ceaselessly, like Sisyphus.