straightforwardly

Reading: Plenty! More than anything else, tbh. I’m participating in the Autumn Equinox of the Orilium Readathon, and having a delightful time of it. I only have two books left to read for my main calling, but am also eyeing some of the side quests. We’ll see!
Listening: Fic Clique, mostly.
Playing: Most recently, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, which I beat (what I have osmosis-ed is only the first ending) at the end of June, but which I’ve been picking up sporadically ever since with the vague intention of 100%-ing it one day. It’s genuinely one of my all-time favorite games at this point. Otherwise, I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a new visual novel after I finish this post, so maybe that.
Watching: Last weekend, I finished Till the End of the Moon, which sparked the first true fannish passion I’ve felt in almost two years. So that was exciting! Considering a rewatch, but am also considering checking out some of the other cdramas on my to-watch list.
Writing: Nothing, though I am pleased with my output for this year’s round of Battleship.

► ( on twitter )

Though in the interest of not fading away like a fannish ghost, I am going to make an effort to have a little bit more of a presence online again. I have a lot less free time than I used to, but I feel like a goal of “at the bare minimum, some kind of fannish monthly round-up post on dw” could be achievable if I prioritize it? We’ll see.

► Have some scattered fic recs from the last two months of fic reading. (For context, I literally went to a spreadsheet I’ve been keeping as of a couple of years ago, and pulled out links from the fics I remembered liking from my July and August reads. Some were from WIP updates; quite a few were from Battleship.)

( various fandoms, beneath the cut )

► On that note, I did participate in Battleship this year, and got four genuinely excellent gifts: two for Naruto, and two for Stardew Valley. I feel like both fandom pairs had fics that paralleled one another in some way. One of my Naruto gifts tackles a classic time travel concept that never gets old no matter how many takes on it I read, while the other has an approach that felt so fresh and new that I was breathless while reading it. For Stardew Valley, I got one fic for each of my Abigail ships, one featuring a sweet established relationship while the other features an imo fantastic depiction of a first love and the thrill of realizing your feelings are returned for the first time. It just all felt very balanced and satisfying to me!

   Seven New Ways (Naruto, Izuna & Sakura, 6.2K)

—That you can eat your young.

Or: the deathless healer in her house on the Crossroads is a mystery that Izuna desperately wants to uncover.

   Twice (Naruto, Kisame & Sakura, 4.7K)

Sakura’s in the past, at least a decade before she’s supposed to even be born, with the strength to level mountains but not the strength to return home.

Meanwhile, Kisame’s pretty sure he’s never met someone who’s as intriguing a mix of truth and lies as the pink haired women named simply Sakura.

   A Life of Rock 'n' Roll (Stardew Valley, Abigail/Sebastian, 3.6K)

When Sebastian and Abigail joined Sam's rock band, they hadn't intended for it to involve so many literal rocks.

   Brave New Girl (Stardew Valley, Abigail/Haley, <1K)

Abigail and Haley decide to take a romantic weekend getaway and do things both of them like.

Of course, the two of them like very different things.

I think I’ll wrap things up here, for now.