US Politics: Queer history

May. 15th, 2025 12:15 pm
petra: Barbara Gordon smiling knowingly (Default)
[personal profile] petra
The Ithaca Statement on Bisexuality, 1972 made me cry in the good way.

\o/ I appreciate the long-ago Quakers who said, "Actually, bisexuals are valid and get erased by the binary."

In related news, Tumblr has thoughts on the definition of bisexual and pansexual but not really.

June Requests: PRIDE

May. 14th, 2025 09:17 pm
senmut: Blue and orange gradient field, partitioned geometrically with blue and orange triangles in a pinwheel, a white hippocampus on it, and Sharpest above, Asp below in black test (General: Sharpest Asp Filly)
[personal profile] senmut
I am opening up requests for June.

Fandom / Character(s) / Prompt

caveat: Prompts or sets of characters need to lean into a QUEER theme.

Reminder that I am aro/ace friendly and if you think they don't belong under the flag, maybe you should not be subscribing to me.

An example: Elementary - Ace!Sherlock Holmes squashing the idea it's sexual with Joan Watson while making it clear she is his partner in all ways BUT sex.

Another example: MCU - Questioning!Kate asking Yelena for advice about figuring it out.

A third example: DragonRiders of Pern - Alemi/Elgion, second date

As long as I am familiar with canon and/or characters, you get at least a drabble.

Daily Check In

May. 14th, 2025 09:03 pm
senmut: Nyssa and Tegan from Doctor Who together in one icon (Doctor Who: Tegan and Nyssa)
[personal profile] senmut
*\o/* Word Count Step Count Headache?
Daily 382 8,697 no
Monthly 7,519 140,478 4 days
[personal profile] cosmolinguist

According to this, and a new book I maybe have to read now, a gay pioneer in the UK was blind.

In 1960, seven years before the law in the UK changed to permit sex between men, he had written to the national press declaring himself to be gay. Roger believed that the only way to change public opinion about homosexuals was for them to take control of the gay rights movement – and this required them to unashamedly identify themselves on the national stage. But nobody else had been willing to do it.

It's because of his blindness that this person had to come in to his life: an Oxford student, also gay, who could be trusted to read his papers and write and generally be a kind of personal assistant.

To gay when it was illegal, and then to be blind, required a lot of access intimacy when everything was still on paper.

The article ends:

In the years since, it has often led me to wonder how many other quiet revolutionaries live among us, ready to share their stories, if only we knock on their doors.

So many. I'm sure of it.

Tiny Drawers

May. 14th, 2025 01:27 am
azurelunatic: Vivid pink Alaskan wild rose. (Default)
[personal profile] azurelunatic
I now have an 8x8 case of tiny drawers. It arrived Monday. Some drawers are labeled, some are not. Labels include:


Read more... )

The effort has taken most of my day, organized several drawers, and made my desk completely incoherent. Good times.

Daily Check In

May. 13th, 2025 08:52 pm
senmut: Nile looking up, braids streaming down behind her, from the plane scene (TOG: Nile)
[personal profile] senmut
*\o/* Word Count Step Count Headache?
Daily 743 9,704 no
Monthly 7,137 130,438 4 days

A Bad Break: Chapter 4

May. 13th, 2025 06:18 pm
senmut: Drizzt and Guen in front of a faded image of Malice (Forgotten Realms: Drizzt and Guen and Ma)
[personal profile] senmut
A Bad Break (1800 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 4/?
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Original Halfling Character(s), Original Half-Elf Character(s), Storm Silverhand
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Injury - Major
Summary:

Roddy McGristle shows up



Chapter Four

Drizzt had considered turning his steps back to Everlund, to keep Brathana company for the winter, but kept putting it off, as the papa dragon kept making certain he knew the babies were thriving now, that the entire winged population of Silverymoon was working to make certain of it. He'd heard the locals call a group made up of faerie dragons a 'rainbow' and thought that apt, given they had so many different hues as they aged. The tressym, if they deigned to congregate were called a 'cloud', while the pseudodragons were merely called a 'flight'.

Between learning more of each species, and the tales of Montolio, as well as various members of the Church of Mielikki sharing knowledge with him, he just didn't want to go, not yet. The road to Everlund was patrolled, so if he chose to go in winter, it wouldn't invite calamity on his head, and he thought Brathana would understand his need to know more. More, the citizens here were fast turning from him just being a curiosity to someone else that lived in their walls. The elves, by and large, avoided him, but the other races were letting his willingness to aid and the fact he was held in kind regard by Mielikki's people settle their nerves fully.

All in all, this was about to be the most comfortable and companionable winter he'd had in his life, he was certain.





Roddy McGristle was a man on a mission of — in his eyes — vindicated wrath. There'd been tales of that damned murdering drow in this region. Since he wasn't in Everlund any longer, it made sense to check Silverymoon. He'd move on to Nesme if this didn't pan out, preferring that kind of rugged town to these clean-living mixed species with all their strange ideas on proper behavior.

His dog growled at the winged cat sitting up on a retaining wall as they walked the bricked avenue, and McGristle gave a jerk of the leash to hush him. He didn't just start asking about the damned drow — that had got him some queer looks in Everlund — but was nosing around, trying to overhear someone talking about him or to find a tavern closer to what he expected out of life.

He didn't pay much mind to the small dragon-types flitting around, or notice that one stopped to keep that tressym company. He only cared about animals that brought him money, like his dogs, or strange-colored ones that usually netted treasure for their hides. He wasn't stupid enough to mess with any creature that might well have a wizard living in its mind.

It was that single-minded focus on his prey, the murdering drow, that kept the clouds, rainbows, and flights watching him, passing messages between themselves, with the pseudodragons handling communication for the tressym to the faerie dragons.





Methri listened to Beau's report of a new activity among the various flying creatures. There was a man who was fixated on one of the people favored by them all, and a watch was being kept.

"This doesn't sound like a peaceful start to the winter season," Methri told his familiar.

It's not, but we are watching. The one they all like will be safe.

"And the man?"

We will remember the rules.

Methri started to ask for more details, but then the Spellguard were calling for him, so they could finish refreshing the wards in their Tower, and Beau left him to go see how the watching was going.





Despite doing their best to keep an eye on the noxious man, the dog tipped the man off to their nice ranger's path. One of the older tressym, wise by decades of partnering a wizard, flew on ahead to try and get to the ranger. Beau was known to her, and she sang out the hunting cry, so that whichever pseudodragon could pas on the warning. Her warning set off the faerie dragons, more than any other population, given how the kind ranger had saved young ones of their kind.

McGristle, before he got fully in sight of his prey, was beset by the warnings of the rainbow, called out in Common and Sylvan alike, to turn away. The dog set to barking…

…and the kind ranger himself came back from his morning path to see why.

"Murderin' drow!" rang out in the early morning against the growling barks of the dog that was being confounded by the faerie dragons.

"McGristle," came in a very tired voice, as if their ranger was beyond exhausted by the loathsome man and dog. "I murdered no one. And tried to apologize for your other dog."

"Ain't about that anymore," McGristle said in a guttural voice that radiated hostility. He reached for the skinning knife on his belt —

— and that was all it took for the faerie dragons to shift most of their focus to the man, throwing confusion and illusions at him, disorienting the man. Several tressym had arrived in the meantime, taking over the dog duty, while a bold pseudodragon flew close to the kind ranger.

Do nothing. The Watch comes, that one told the ranger, getting a startled nod of agreement.





Lady Alustriel Silverhand read the report, then looked over to her seventh son who was trying to eat with assistance from his familiar.

"Methri. Beau. Do either of you know about a disturbance between a ranger of Mielikki and a man named McGristle?"

Methri looked at Beau, who did the most impressive lizard-style shrug. Finally Methri looked over at his mother, sighing. "There is a, as Beau put it, 'a kind person' that the various winged ones had taken a liking to, and someone obsessed with him.

"I didn't follow up when Beau first mentioned this, because I was actually working with the Spellguard that day. He says it was taken care of this morning, and that they did remember the rules."

Alustriel had to chuckle at that. "Confusion reigned, apparently, for the man and his dog. The dog has been confiscated and given over to the temple of Silvanus to see if it can be rehabilitated from a very abused life. The man is being held for attempting violence in one of the public areas. The ranger is staying at the Cloister, and will not be leaving until the dispute airing.

"The Ladyservant is asking that I preside over that day's grievances, due to the unusual nature of the ranger involved."

"This part I had not heard?" Methri invited.

"Then you have been working too hard, and should visit with your cousin here, as I am certain Kolarven has all of the gossip." Alustriel smiled. "It is the drow that Storm cautioned me to listen for, and I think I need to invite Dove to finally give me the full story behind her involvement in this ranger's life."

"Fill me in when you get it? I knew Calimac was telling tales about a drow ranger, but didn't know he was in our city." Methri looked at Beau intently. "You could have mentioned."

Alustriel had the impression of Beau's disdain, and Methri sighed even louder.

"What did he say?" she asked.

"That what a being looks like has no bearing here. Kindness is more important."

That, Alustriel thought, was quite the right way to look at it.





Drizzt was sitting with Leaf Grevaine, prepared to tell his version of the events near Maldobar, absolutely keeping his emotions calm by force of will alone.

The rainbow of faerie dragons present included the papa and two immature ones he'd rescued, which had him focusing on them frequently to keep his mouth closed against the villainous tale McGristle spun.

"I tell you all, he's a murderer," McGristle accused one more time, and that was when an elf in the spectators decided enough was enough.

"He was never a murderer, but you? You are — though 'were' might be appropriate now," the elf said as he stood and let his face be seen. "Begging your pardon, Lady and gentle beings, but my name is Kellindil, and this man is a liar."

Alustriel's lips thinned. "In interest of fairness, as you are a witness to events that have been aired, continue."

The crowd that had come to enjoy the spectacle of grievances being settled murmured as an elf spoke in defense of a drow. Others, though, noticed how chalky pale the man raising doubt on the ranger's nature had gone.

"My name is Kellindil, and I was the scout in Ranger Dove Falconhand's party during these events. I stayed to watch over the drow… and in time, had taken McGristle prisoner for inciting orcs to attack the grove of a blind ranger by name of Montolio DeBrouchee."

"Some creature possessed of magical speed freed the bounty hunter," Kellindil said. "And while it distracted me, McGristle tackled me, then strangled me to death. Fortunately," and he paused to actually look at the ranger, "Dove chose to come ask me about your first winter, and discovered my body's remains.

"She took pity on me, because I am on the younger side for a wood elf." He inclined his head to Drizzt who was stunned speechless, but very relieved.

"You've only his word!" McGristle finally managed to get out.

"No one invokes one of my family without being certain of the truth of the matter," Alustriel told the noisome man. "As my temperament toward lying about them is rather well-known.

"Silver Watch, take your orders from Leaf Grevaine, as I know DeBrouchee was one of Mielikki's," she said, "in regards to Roddy McGristle. Drizzt Do'Urden, do you feel a need to speak, given you were the one being maligned."

"I am relieved to know that Kellindil lives, and merely wish to never see the bounty hunter again."

Alustriel smiled at him for that, then nodded, waiting for Grevaine to move to the Silver Watch — who had quite handily boxed McGristle in and clapped irons on him after a small tussle — so that the next set of grievances could be heard.

Drizzt shifted out of the front spot with Grevaine gone, going to where the elf was moving to the back of the crowd in this open venue.

"I am glad you have a new chance to live," he said, once he'd managed to catch Kellindil's attention. "Thank you."

Kellindil tipped his chin up. "I was wrong then, about too much. But you are a good man, Drizzt Do'Urden, and I hope you fare well." He left it at that, continuing on his own way out, leaving Drizzt without words, even as the papa faerie dragon and the young fledglings came to roost on him.

Maybe… maybe he was finding his own place finally.
petra: CGI Obi-Wan Kenobi with his face smudged with dirt, wearing beige, visible from the chest up. A Clone Trooper is visible over one shoulder. (Obi-Wan - Clones ftw)
[personal profile] petra
I Speak Six Languages is a song about the weight of overachieving from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a musical by William Finn.

I think it would make a good song for my beleaguered blorbo, who gets saddled with a problem child when he's 25, paracanonically speaks a lot of languages, and is the master of a subclass of his martial art.

Lounging

May. 12th, 2025 07:53 pm
azurelunatic: California poppies, with a bright blue sky and the sun. (sunny)
[personal profile] azurelunatic
I'm not sure if I actually shared the Saga of the Three Infusion Recliners, so: an infusion center was upgrading, and had three chairs that they needed to get rid of. Preferably quickly. Preferably for free. So their admin made a Craigslist post. I managed to fit two into my Toaster simultaneously, then came back for the third once I'd unloaded them at home.

One is out front, and is the perfect spot for Lounging. Which I have been doing a lot of during this whole knee crisis. The position is perfect for not putting stress on my knee in a way that staying in bed isn't.

I now have various Implements (bought, scrounged, repurposed) to make the Lounge go better/more smoothly.

List )

What happens is I tend to refill my water bottle, prepare snack and drink, then put those out. Those tend to require more dexterity. Then I haul out the bag and unpack what I need. I put the chair in lounge mode. (On bad days sometimes I have a hard time getting out of it, if pain has decided to borrow all my strength.) Often enough I will set an audiobook going while I play clicky-games, or work on whatever craft. Or I'll read an ebook. Or chat with [personal profile] norabombay, since Lounge Time tends to overlap with Phone Time.

Currently my reading lineup is:
Celia Lake's magical romance/mysteries
An audiobook just for myself: Downbelow Station (2/2)
Bird pun humorous mystery series in audiobook (bedtime Please Don't Be Awake All Night distracting noise, rotating through the series about 1.5 times per year): currently on Lord of the Wings
Penric: saving this for with Belovedest
Audiobook of Murder with Peacocks, with [personal profile] alexseanchai so the weird radio noises in my bluetooth-to-car setup aren't as much Nope (first book in the bird pun mystery series)
Something suitably free on my e-reader

Occasionally I will hop inside, to refresh my iced drink and the ice cup, avail myself of the facilities, and maybe re-ice the spray jar.

Eventually, when the black-eyed juncos start trilling continuously, I start thinking about going back in. (Guess who just got the Merlin app specifically to identify the heralds of twilight)

I am working on getting to know the local crows. The other day one sat on the top of the Big Umbrella. I got a selfie. I'd long ago decided on my carefully species neutral greeting to them: "Hello, corvids!" -- there are both crows and ravens in the area, though more crows. Probably some Rrows and Cravens too.

Daily Check In

May. 12th, 2025 09:04 pm
senmut: Picture of a raccoon and skunk sharing cat kibble (General: Raccoon and Skunk)
[personal profile] senmut
*\o/* Word Count Step Count Headache?
Daily 567 9,551 no
Monthly 6,394 120,427 4 days
petra: CGI Obi-Wan Kenobi with his face smudged with dirt, wearing beige, visible from the chest up. A Clone Trooper is visible over one shoulder. (Obi-Wan - Clones ftw)
[personal profile] petra
The first stage of grief (500 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala
Additional Tags: Drabble Sequence, Overhearing Sex, Denial, Obi-Wan Kenobi's A+ Parenting, A+ Jedi Pedagogy
Summary:

Obi-Wan inadvertently listens to Anakin and Padmé having sex multiple times and concludes that it's no big deal.

the fragmentary language of pain

May. 12th, 2025 09:24 pm
[personal profile] cosmolinguist

It's ME Awareness Day, and my train is running 39 minutes late last I heard, so I took the opportunity to finally read this piece in a tab I've had open so long I cannot remember where it came from. It's a really incredible read about chronic illness and narratives as necessary for access to care, and what hearing from ill people does to those in a position to offer care.

long quotes, from a much longer article )

Knee!

May. 12th, 2025 01:15 pm
azurelunatic: A metallic blue and black horizontal-handled cane with an elastic loop at the bottom of the webbing wrist strap. (cane)
[personal profile] azurelunatic
Tuesday I had an appointment with a physician assistant about my left knee. I'm apparently screamish about the details when I'm in that much pain, so I asked to skip a lot of the explanations I would have otherwise found fascinating.

I got an injection )

PA Fox warned me not to overdo things on the lidocaine, but the steroid should be taking effect over this past week. And it has! It's down to a normal sort of ow, and I don't have to use a cane to go from bed to the bathroom. I've still been lounging outside quite a bit (the only position that didn't hurt previously) but for pleasure, not from necessity.

Edit: And then I managed to stumble within the last half hour and it hurts badly again. I was lucky to have a cane nearby. We'll see what it does over the course of the afternoon.
[personal profile] cosmolinguist

I had a dream that I missed my train to London today and it was fine.

Almost disappointed to wake up with my alarm, in plenty of time.

I was briefly tempted to just stay in bed...

Now, on my train back to Manchester 12 hours later, with two hours left to go before I get home, I can say with certainty that I could've stayed home and it would have been fine.

Daily Check In

May. 11th, 2025 07:41 pm
senmut: A black woman with short-cropped hair, glasses, and tie looking smug at the viewer (Sandman: Lucienne)
[personal profile] senmut
*\o/* Word Count Step Count Headache?
Daily 359 8,317 yes
Monthly 5,827 110,289 4 days

Daily Check In (Belated Friday)

May. 9th, 2025 11:30 pm
senmut: modern style black canary on right in front of modern style deathstroke (Default)
[personal profile] senmut
*\o/* Word Count Step Count Headache?
Daily 838 10,243 yes
Monthly 4,922 91,581 2 days

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The Marquis de All The Knives

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