![[sticky entry]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/entry/sticky_entry.png){kind=small}
Hi! Welcome to my journal!
What's here?
A bit of everything. What started as a place for writing ideas and whatnot in 2003 turned into an actual journal without me noticing. These things happen. ^^;; You can call me Kalloway or Kalli Ashton. I've wandered through multiple careers; currently I'm a robot doctor.
( HobbySpace )
( RealLife & Access )
( DW Communities )
( Decentralization & Elsewhere )
20 Years Project Master Index - an ongoing project to talk about media I've enjoyed over the years + whatnot.
no subject
Feb. 21st, 2026 12:19 amOn Wednesday, my father pulled up a flyer on Facebook for a nerd-show next weekend and incredibly nearby. Even though I have a fairly strict no-winter-shows rule because, uh, weather, this is close enough and cheap enough that I figured if I get a table and nothing comes of it, I at least got to hang out with other nerds for a few hours. Anyway, got a table, lol, and will spend some of this weekend/coming week sorting out some stuff to take. This looks like it might become ~monthly and if it takes off and I can maintain a table, it'll really help the clear-out. (The only other table I have booked this year is Semmex and that's not a personal table. I also don't want to spend every weekend this year trying to sell my stuff but I really do need to do the cleanout. Blrgh. Blrrrrgh.)
Finished up the KO GM and it's... okay. Some parts sucked to build but overall it's fine. I was thinking he needed a friend and was looking up other GMs and then suddenly remembered maybe I had one in the back of a cabinet? Sure enough... It is a very old HGUC kit and the nubs have yellowed like I've seen on a lot of old Gundam Wing kits. Since this GM has probably been in the back of the cabinet since being built, I can only assume it's age + plastic quality. Anyway, the GMs can be slightly messy friends, lol.
Going to work on the Destiny Astray today and maybe get the body done this weekend? I'm hopeful. IDK what my next kit will be but it will be Bandai so it at least will go together without extensive modification and/or pain.
Finished up the KO GM and it's... okay. Some parts sucked to build but overall it's fine. I was thinking he needed a friend and was looking up other GMs and then suddenly remembered maybe I had one in the back of a cabinet? Sure enough... It is a very old HGUC kit and the nubs have yellowed like I've seen on a lot of old Gundam Wing kits. Since this GM has probably been in the back of the cabinet since being built, I can only assume it's age + plastic quality. Anyway, the GMs can be slightly messy friends, lol.
Going to work on the Destiny Astray today and maybe get the body done this weekend? I'm hopeful. IDK what my next kit will be but it will be Bandai so it at least will go together without extensive modification and/or pain.
Mysteries of the Universe, I guess?
Feb. 16th, 2026 09:22 pmWeird Question Department- did anyone send me something in the mail around the end of last month? There's a tracking number in the system that scanned once at a sorting center and then has never been seen again. Unfortunately, the system also only has the tracking number, no origin point, and no actual image of the label so we're not even sure whose it is. I can't think of anything unaccounted for! (Not the KS I thought it might be.)
Also mildly convinced there's something going on/I'm supposed to have done by tomorrow but also nothing comes to mind. I have a busy week next week, but this week is pretty open. But it's also Fat Tuesday and the Lunar New Year so perhaps my brain is trying to juggle those in.
Other than that, work last night wasn't ridiculous but I hadn't slept well, so I pretty much deflated early but slept decent. I did get runners checked for both Star Abyss kits so I'm just going to count the entire day as a win anyway, lol. I'll keep working on the Destiny Astray when I have the brain power, and I grabbed a battered KO GM to poke at otherwise.
Also mildly convinced there's something going on/I'm supposed to have done by tomorrow but also nothing comes to mind. I have a busy week next week, but this week is pretty open. But it's also Fat Tuesday and the Lunar New Year so perhaps my brain is trying to juggle those in.
Other than that, work last night wasn't ridiculous but I hadn't slept well, so I pretty much deflated early but slept decent. I did get runners checked for both Star Abyss kits so I'm just going to count the entire day as a win anyway, lol. I'll keep working on the Destiny Astray when I have the brain power, and I grabbed a battered KO GM to poke at otherwise.
Swords? Swords!
Feb. 14th, 2026 10:43 pmRight after US Thanksgiving last year, a popular and well-regarded gunpla shop announced it was closing. A bummer, but not a huge surprise. This is not an ideal environment to an import-heavy small business. The plan was for a gradual phase-out but on Friday the owner announced someone will be buying any remaining stock, time for one last sale and the site is closing Monday. While there wasn't much left, I did grab a few things, including an MG 00 Raiser.
That shop is also still running a contest and intends to keep the community discord around for fun, so we'll see how that goes.
The minor cold I mentioned a few days ago has progressed to minor obnoxious coughing, so hopefully I'm towards the tail end and it'll shuffle along in a few days. After how sick I was a year ago, when I had the flu, I'll take this minor annoyance.
Both of my Star Abyss models arrived and their boxes are gigantic. ^^;; I'll need to bust them out at some point later and do runner checks. Finished up the little Trans-Am Clear 00 Diver Ace that I guess I subconsciously built for Valentine's Day. It's really pretty but if I ever do another one or get fussy, I'll change its eye color. Pink eyes when everything else is also pink don't really work. Really pretty kit, incredibly difficult to photograph.
Last... autumn? I had picked up the Daban copy of the unobtainable MG Destiny Astray and promptly did a runner check, planned to build it, and... Anyway, started building it now and yeah, a lot of issues and annoyance but I haven't completely broken anything yet. I expect it to be a bit of a grenade when finished but if it looks good on the shelf, I'll be happy. On the off chance work ever tries to kill me with overtime in the next year or two, I'll buy a real one. (But I'm also still brainstorming/building what I need for the 30MM contest diorama!)
Working slowly on archiving and am going to try to shift to cleaning out what's in the WIP folder instead of mirroring what's on AO3. The latter isn't as important. Though I will keep mirroring KH stuff since there's so much and small-dosing it has been working for me.
Need to do some words (mostly written, need typed) and replies...
That shop is also still running a contest and intends to keep the community discord around for fun, so we'll see how that goes.
The minor cold I mentioned a few days ago has progressed to minor obnoxious coughing, so hopefully I'm towards the tail end and it'll shuffle along in a few days. After how sick I was a year ago, when I had the flu, I'll take this minor annoyance.
Both of my Star Abyss models arrived and their boxes are gigantic. ^^;; I'll need to bust them out at some point later and do runner checks. Finished up the little Trans-Am Clear 00 Diver Ace that I guess I subconsciously built for Valentine's Day. It's really pretty but if I ever do another one or get fussy, I'll change its eye color. Pink eyes when everything else is also pink don't really work. Really pretty kit, incredibly difficult to photograph.
Last... autumn? I had picked up the Daban copy of the unobtainable MG Destiny Astray and promptly did a runner check, planned to build it, and... Anyway, started building it now and yeah, a lot of issues and annoyance but I haven't completely broken anything yet. I expect it to be a bit of a grenade when finished but if it looks good on the shelf, I'll be happy. On the off chance work ever tries to kill me with overtime in the next year or two, I'll buy a real one. (But I'm also still brainstorming/building what I need for the 30MM contest diorama!)
Working slowly on archiving and am going to try to shift to cleaning out what's in the WIP folder instead of mirroring what's on AO3. The latter isn't as important. Though I will keep mirroring KH stuff since there's so much and small-dosing it has been working for me.
Need to do some words (mostly written, need typed) and replies...
Yet Again, Stuff-
First, last quarter's JFF movies!
No Longer Heroine - I was not expecting to like this as much as I did. It's a delightfully meta movie about a high school girl who's always been in love with her friend and how she's always expected to end up with him despite never telling him her interest. There are a few too many subplots, but everyone was a joy.
Teiichi - Battle of Supreme High - this was a good movie but I also didn't really like it, if that makes sense? Basically an over the top story about student council elections.
My Love Story!! - live action version of the manga, makes a few changes for format but overall the same story and a lot of fun.
Handball Strive - about the power of social media in an area still recovering from the 2011 earthquake, and friendship, and ooof, social media.
Bento Harassment - this is the genre of generational conflict movies that turn up a lot, and it even has the required parent getting sick, etc. There is so much delicious food, though and one unresolved subplot that's a little maddening.
Megane Glasses - a slow movie about nothing and the middle of nowhere and just... finding one's own pace. (Also food.)
Restaurant from the Sky - this is about a man and cheese, but also food and mourning and family and community. Peak culture drama, tbh, but I feel like it's a hard genre to recommend movies in because things happen but quietly.
As usual, I am procrastinating on this quarter's movies. ^^;;
School of Rock - haven't seen this since it came out but my father picked up a copy and saw it for the first time and then insisted I watch it. Still good!
Majestic Prince (full series + movie) - this is an anime about giant robots and fighting aliens and it is tropey and ridiculous and Absolutely Understood The Assignment.
Flying Witch 12 & 13 (Chihiro Ishizuka) - I sometimes worry when otherwise chill manga, especially slice of life(ish) series, get past about volume 9... But Flying Witch is still full of ridiculous charm and these volumes were great.
The Dragon Knight's Beloved 8 (Ritsu Aozaki, Asagi Orikawa, Akito Ito) - wraps up an arc and see above, the next volume is going go be make-or-break for the series keeping my interest. The leads are still super-cute though.
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! - this was recommended and it was pretty good. I like series about fans and media creation, and I liked how the real world blended with what was being created or what could be created. Unsure about hanging onto it, though. (For now?)
First, last quarter's JFF movies!
No Longer Heroine - I was not expecting to like this as much as I did. It's a delightfully meta movie about a high school girl who's always been in love with her friend and how she's always expected to end up with him despite never telling him her interest. There are a few too many subplots, but everyone was a joy.
Teiichi - Battle of Supreme High - this was a good movie but I also didn't really like it, if that makes sense? Basically an over the top story about student council elections.
My Love Story!! - live action version of the manga, makes a few changes for format but overall the same story and a lot of fun.
Handball Strive - about the power of social media in an area still recovering from the 2011 earthquake, and friendship, and ooof, social media.
Bento Harassment - this is the genre of generational conflict movies that turn up a lot, and it even has the required parent getting sick, etc. There is so much delicious food, though and one unresolved subplot that's a little maddening.
Megane Glasses - a slow movie about nothing and the middle of nowhere and just... finding one's own pace. (Also food.)
Restaurant from the Sky - this is about a man and cheese, but also food and mourning and family and community. Peak culture drama, tbh, but I feel like it's a hard genre to recommend movies in because things happen but quietly.
As usual, I am procrastinating on this quarter's movies. ^^;;
School of Rock - haven't seen this since it came out but my father picked up a copy and saw it for the first time and then insisted I watch it. Still good!
Majestic Prince (full series + movie) - this is an anime about giant robots and fighting aliens and it is tropey and ridiculous and Absolutely Understood The Assignment.
Flying Witch 12 & 13 (Chihiro Ishizuka) - I sometimes worry when otherwise chill manga, especially slice of life(ish) series, get past about volume 9... But Flying Witch is still full of ridiculous charm and these volumes were great.
The Dragon Knight's Beloved 8 (Ritsu Aozaki, Asagi Orikawa, Akito Ito) - wraps up an arc and see above, the next volume is going go be make-or-break for the series keeping my interest. The leads are still super-cute though.
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! - this was recommended and it was pretty good. I like series about fans and media creation, and I liked how the real world blended with what was being created or what could be created. Unsure about hanging onto it, though. (For now?)
no subject
Feb. 11th, 2026 08:55 pmFinally, the long, lingering bitter cold has ended! It is actually supposed to be above freezing basically every day for at least a week. Work was noticeably warmer last night! I will hopefully no longer be spending all my extra energy just trying to stay warm! I do seem to have picked up a mild cold, alas, but so far it just seems to be minor congestion.
I finished up Yoroi Samurai Troopers (though watching the dub as Ronin Warriors, this time around) after many attempts over the years, and then paid up for Crunchyroll to watch the sequel. (Which is amazing so far.) Since I'm going to be paying for CR for the next bit, if anyone has any recommendations for series to watch, I'm all ears. I do want to watch the Apothecary Diaries and there are a couple of Gundam series on there that don't have physical releases.
Aside from trying to stay warm and watching brightly-colored nobs, I'm still working on various models, archiving stuff, and sorting through notebooks and papers. I'm trying to do some notebook consolidation, especially with various notebooks with only a handful of pages left in them that I was keeping for a few rogue notes.
I also found an old organizer that has a bunch of lines pages that I'm using for daily to-do lists. The kicker is that it's a 2019-2020 student organizer, so like July-June, but the blank pages in it start in March 2020 and there's just nothing written after that. Owww... (I mean, I still make March 2020 jokes so... I guess this is fair.)
I finished up Yoroi Samurai Troopers (though watching the dub as Ronin Warriors, this time around) after many attempts over the years, and then paid up for Crunchyroll to watch the sequel. (Which is amazing so far.) Since I'm going to be paying for CR for the next bit, if anyone has any recommendations for series to watch, I'm all ears. I do want to watch the Apothecary Diaries and there are a couple of Gundam series on there that don't have physical releases.
Aside from trying to stay warm and watching brightly-colored nobs, I'm still working on various models, archiving stuff, and sorting through notebooks and papers. I'm trying to do some notebook consolidation, especially with various notebooks with only a handful of pages left in them that I was keeping for a few rogue notes.
I also found an old organizer that has a bunch of lines pages that I'm using for daily to-do lists. The kicker is that it's a 2019-2020 student organizer, so like July-June, but the blank pages in it start in March 2020 and there's just nothing written after that. Owww... (I mean, I still make March 2020 jokes so... I guess this is fair.)
Drabbles (&More) for a Good Cause
Feb. 3rd, 2026 08:02 amFuckit, I'm going to do this-
Listen, the world sucks right now. It sucks a lot! But there's also a lot of good and people doing good. If you are out there doing good, I would like to do something for you. It's apparently been like six years since I've managed to put one of these together but here we go:
If you have made a financial contribution to a good cause* between the beginning of 2026 and now, the moment you are reading this, or any point during 2026 thereafter**, I'd like to do something for you.
However, I am fully aware that not everyone can do financial contributions. So if you have volunteered, signed petitions, contacted your representatives***, protested, trained, networked, etc., I would also like to do something for you.
( Details Under This Cut )
Comments are screened, PMs open, thank you for being awesome.
*seriously, I'll leave 'good cause' up to you and that can include community arts programs, museums, little pantries, conservation, etc.
**unless I get absolutely buried which would be great but also would make me need to pause things til I caught up a bit
***not just US reps
****we'll sort by category if you claim this, lol, and if I'm working on a project for an event, 'next' means once my desk is available
*****likely either illustrated with terrible doodles or public domain art
Listen, the world sucks right now. It sucks a lot! But there's also a lot of good and people doing good. If you are out there doing good, I would like to do something for you. It's apparently been like six years since I've managed to put one of these together but here we go:
If you have made a financial contribution to a good cause* between the beginning of 2026 and now, the moment you are reading this, or any point during 2026 thereafter**, I'd like to do something for you.
However, I am fully aware that not everyone can do financial contributions. So if you have volunteered, signed petitions, contacted your representatives***, protested, trained, networked, etc., I would also like to do something for you.
( Details Under This Cut )
Comments are screened, PMs open, thank you for being awesome.
*seriously, I'll leave 'good cause' up to you and that can include community arts programs, museums, little pantries, conservation, etc.
**unless I get absolutely buried which would be great but also would make me need to pause things til I caught up a bit
***not just US reps
****we'll sort by category if you claim this, lol, and if I'm working on a project for an event, 'next' means once my desk is available
*****likely either illustrated with terrible doodles or public domain art
Road Trip Day
Feb. 1st, 2026 09:53 amM, Boycritter, and I went down to the nearest Hobbytown (about an hour away) for Bandai Builders Day yesterday. This Hobbytown just became the only Bandai Builders certified shop in the state, so I definitely wanted to support them and their events. (Hobbytowns are franchise shops and each individual one is locally owned.)
This event had a free 30 Minute Fantasy kit, unique to this event! We got there a smidge early, did our check-in (and skewed their demographics, ha!), and got our kits. It was a pretty simplified kit, so I think it only took about 15-20 minutes to build. We chatted with other folks who turned up and posed for some photos while working, lol. By the time we were done, other people were arriving and waiting for our seats. Yay for a good turnout! By the time we'd finished shopping, maybe 2/3 of their stock of the event kit was gone.
(I picked up a 30MF accessory set, HG Abyss, HG 0 Gundam ACD, and HG Murasame Kai as well. M got a ton of paint for his tanks - though he did like the event kit and might pick up some 30MF stuff. Boycritter got a RG RX-78-2 Gramps and HG Sazabi.)
From there we went up to the conveyor sushi place and ate ourselves broke. So tasty! I tried to be a little more adventurous and found a few things I really liked. Next time I want to try more. ^_^
Details aren't entirely available yet, but there's some sort of 30 Minute Label competition in March and I'm interested, but that's also not a lot of time to come up with something, get a kit, and build. So I guess we'll see. But then again, I'd really like to enter for the fun of entering. Hmm.
This event had a free 30 Minute Fantasy kit, unique to this event! We got there a smidge early, did our check-in (and skewed their demographics, ha!), and got our kits. It was a pretty simplified kit, so I think it only took about 15-20 minutes to build. We chatted with other folks who turned up and posed for some photos while working, lol. By the time we were done, other people were arriving and waiting for our seats. Yay for a good turnout! By the time we'd finished shopping, maybe 2/3 of their stock of the event kit was gone.
(I picked up a 30MF accessory set, HG Abyss, HG 0 Gundam ACD, and HG Murasame Kai as well. M got a ton of paint for his tanks - though he did like the event kit and might pick up some 30MF stuff. Boycritter got a RG RX-78-2 Gramps and HG Sazabi.)
From there we went up to the conveyor sushi place and ate ourselves broke. So tasty! I tried to be a little more adventurous and found a few things I really liked. Next time I want to try more. ^_^
Details aren't entirely available yet, but there's some sort of 30 Minute Label competition in March and I'm interested, but that's also not a lot of time to come up with something, get a kit, and build. So I guess we'll see. But then again, I'd really like to enter for the fun of entering. Hmm.
A lovely Winterthing box from ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tainry! (A couple of days ago, actually-)
Oooh, jewelry! Lemon earrings! I don't think I've ever worn hooks like these and I had to get an old pair to put in to make sure my holes were clear. Got it figured out, though. ^^;; And the set, omg it's gorgeous. I need to spend more time being elegant. (Though when it gets warmer, I think.)
Spatula! I love bamboo spatulas and this one is gorgeous. One day I will climb up and get the whole collection spruced up and take some photos. (They're on top of a china cabinet; I at least need to stand on a chair.)
Bag!! I actually have a bunch of Marvel reusable shopping bags from boycritter but not this one! I use these bags for everything so it will get a lot of use. (I still have some of my very original cloth bags from... almost twenty years ago now?! Quite a few have fallen apart, but some have surprisingly survived. It'd be nice if they'd catch on more here but a lot of people are still surprised and baffled by them.)
And stickers and goodies, omg. These are an absolute joy and I'm going to be pawing through them forever to pick favorites and decide what goes on my new toolbox. (And possibly my old toolbox, when it gets warmer, since that's just in the garage and will be getting use. It still has a bit of real estate here and there.)
Thank you thank you!! <3<3<3
tainry! (A couple of days ago, actually-) Oooh, jewelry! Lemon earrings! I don't think I've ever worn hooks like these and I had to get an old pair to put in to make sure my holes were clear. Got it figured out, though. ^^;; And the set, omg it's gorgeous. I need to spend more time being elegant. (Though when it gets warmer, I think.)
Spatula! I love bamboo spatulas and this one is gorgeous. One day I will climb up and get the whole collection spruced up and take some photos. (They're on top of a china cabinet; I at least need to stand on a chair.)
Bag!! I actually have a bunch of Marvel reusable shopping bags from boycritter but not this one! I use these bags for everything so it will get a lot of use. (I still have some of my very original cloth bags from... almost twenty years ago now?! Quite a few have fallen apart, but some have surprisingly survived. It'd be nice if they'd catch on more here but a lot of people are still surprised and baffled by them.)
And stickers and goodies, omg. These are an absolute joy and I'm going to be pawing through them forever to pick favorites and decide what goes on my new toolbox. (And possibly my old toolbox, when it gets warmer, since that's just in the garage and will be getting use. It still has a bit of real estate here and there.)
Thank you thank you!! <3<3<3
A Reckoning of Swords 30
Jan. 31st, 2026 12:20 amHappy Anniversary, Lemonade Cafe! I certainly did not think, 23 years ago, that I was creating anything enduring. But it is still here, and I am still here. Go figure.
I have, in fact, chosen a notebook to tackle, though it's going to share with writing a bunch of stuff (hopefully) for the![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
small_fandoms Drabblethon. It has some blank pages, so I can also write drabbles in it. (Ha!) So far I've been able to tear out and pitch some pages of things already long written and posted, which feels good. Some of what's left includes notes for projects that are downright ancient. And, like, to be honest I can probably just write whatever to finish some of these up? It's been so long that I feel like any actual expectations have vanished.
I am free.
I have, in fact, chosen a notebook to tackle, though it's going to share with writing a bunch of stuff (hopefully) for the
small_fandoms Drabblethon. It has some blank pages, so I can also write drabbles in it. (Ha!) So far I've been able to tear out and pitch some pages of things already long written and posted, which feels good. Some of what's left includes notes for projects that are downright ancient. And, like, to be honest I can probably just write whatever to finish some of these up? It's been so long that I feel like any actual expectations have vanished. I am free.
A Reckoning of Swords 25-29
Jan. 29th, 2026 08:25 amWhew, that's a lot of swords though it doesn't feel like I've done much? Basically the cold is destroying my energy levels. So what I've been doing is going through old notes. I told myself I was 'sorting' them but there has been no actual sorting. Shortly, I'm just going to have to find a box to toss them all in because they're literally taking up the whole sofa. I can't even explain what I'm looking for, aside from one particular list I've mostly found but I just... IDEK how I'd sort them. I should probably give up on organization and just pick things up and work on them, lol. My plans for a drabble six years ago are not terribly important at this point; if the idea or the drabble come back around independently and I do something different that's fine. (It's not like I've never written different things for the same idea anyway. Whatever!)
I did get a tiny bit more done with the Best Moves/NaNo 2003 re-write. At the moment I'm trying to deal with a patch of exposition to make it feel a little more natural. (And then overall figure out how to balance out the plot and subplot and just make everyone feel a little more rounded.)
I've also figured out what to do with friend's cameo character. He can basically be slid entirely out of the narrative and replaced with a character who can impact things a bit more. I feel pretty good about this.
I did get a tiny bit more done with the Best Moves/NaNo 2003 re-write. At the moment I'm trying to deal with a patch of exposition to make it feel a little more natural. (And then overall figure out how to balance out the plot and subplot and just make everyone feel a little more rounded.)
I've also figured out what to do with friend's cameo character. He can basically be slid entirely out of the narrative and replaced with a character who can impact things a bit more. I feel pretty good about this.
What The Butts
Jan. 28th, 2026 09:59 pmI bought a runner of Super Corgi Butts (by DSPIAE) and they're hilariously larger than expected.
They're for paint color testing, to see how a color will look on contours, etc. Plastic spoons are the most popular thing to use for this, but I had a chance for discounted butts and uh, yeah. LOL.
They're for paint color testing, to see how a color will look on contours, etc. Plastic spoons are the most popular thing to use for this, but I had a chance for discounted butts and uh, yeah. LOL.
A Reckoning of Swords 24
Jan. 24th, 2026 01:22 amWrote 600 words of the 2003 NaNo re-write. This means I have started and that is possibly the most important part? It's a complete overhaul so far but I suspect as I go along, I'll be able to keep full chunks and quite a bit of dialogue. I also see other fine lines to walk as I go; hopefully I won't fuck them up too badly.
Posted toinspiredby, posted the event info for the small_fandoms Drabblethon coming in February, posted the no_true_pair annual schedule...
Got the email inbox down to 240 messages, got the DW inbox down to 47 pages. (On a fuzzy goal of 240/54. I'll take it!)
While I was looking for the 2003 NaNo on the Wayback Machine, I kind of died a little at some of my old website front pages. So sparse, so simple! The one with like four! fandoms, original fic, and a links page was definitely my favorite, lol.
Back to archiving. I'm not going to 'catch up' this weekend, but if I can get down to ~a week behind, I'll be really happy.
As usual, if there's a section you'd like me to wake up, let me know and I'll do it.
Posted to
inspiredby, posted the event info for the small_fandoms Drabblethon coming in February, posted the no_true_pair annual schedule... Got the email inbox down to 240 messages, got the DW inbox down to 47 pages. (On a fuzzy goal of 240/54. I'll take it!)
While I was looking for the 2003 NaNo on the Wayback Machine, I kind of died a little at some of my old website front pages. So sparse, so simple! The one with like four! fandoms, original fic, and a links page was definitely my favorite, lol.
Back to archiving. I'm not going to 'catch up' this weekend, but if I can get down to ~a week behind, I'll be really happy.
As usual, if there's a section you'd like me to wake up, let me know and I'll do it.
A Reckoning of Swords 21-23
Jan. 23rd, 2026 08:42 amA bit of archiving, a lot of something. I realized that despite it being two and a half years since I started the new site, I hadn't moved any of my FFVII fic. Not a bit. I have now moved my two Crisis Core fics and will work on the rest sooner than later. But then again, I also had no Kingdom Hearts until I was nudged. (I think some of it is the sheer size of those categories? And knowing this is still a multi-year effort. Even if I manage five fics (or chapters thereof) a day for an entire year, that's only 1825 items, which is nothing compared to the ~2500-not-counting-chaptered-stuff on AO3 + all the original fic I couldn't post there because AO3 sucks and everything I've written since mid-2023. So, like, catching up is a task for the bastard child of Hercules and Sisyphus.)
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned some of the everything about my 2003 NaNo novel, too. How I went to archive it, realized I'd always meant to finish editing and expanding it a bit, but actually re-write it - meant to do it last year and, uh, last year happened. Anyway, dead set on doing it this year! Except the main copy was on the website that's gone. Oh, well, surely it's on my journal! Nope! Okay, to the Wayback Machine! Nope! I dug out the old php files and dumped it into some private entries for my future use.
Main things to do with it:
- less padding smut
- remove friend's cameo character
- words we don't use anymore
- remove some of the real-world canons and substitute some fictional ones*
- tighten up the expies a bit
- yeah idek it just needs a lot and that's okay
*the main reason for this aside from unlimited plot potential with the fictional fandoms is the story is set in 2003 and had plenty of commentary on things like Guilty Gear which made sense in 2003 but are a little jarring in the Year of Our Dude 202X.
I don't know if it'll end up being 50k words still, or shorter or longer. My original thoughts on the story were that it was too short for NaNo, and it possibly was hence a lot of weird padding and things just being... weird.
I also have one KH fic and one FFVII fic that I didn't archive on AO3 for Reasons and I'll have to eventually make decisions with those, too...
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned some of the everything about my 2003 NaNo novel, too. How I went to archive it, realized I'd always meant to finish editing and expanding it a bit, but actually re-write it - meant to do it last year and, uh, last year happened. Anyway, dead set on doing it this year! Except the main copy was on the website that's gone. Oh, well, surely it's on my journal! Nope! Okay, to the Wayback Machine! Nope! I dug out the old php files and dumped it into some private entries for my future use.
Main things to do with it:
- less padding smut
- remove friend's cameo character
- words we don't use anymore
- remove some of the real-world canons and substitute some fictional ones*
- tighten up the expies a bit
- yeah idek it just needs a lot and that's okay
*the main reason for this aside from unlimited plot potential with the fictional fandoms is the story is set in 2003 and had plenty of commentary on things like Guilty Gear which made sense in 2003 but are a little jarring in the Year of Our Dude 202X.
I don't know if it'll end up being 50k words still, or shorter or longer. My original thoughts on the story were that it was too short for NaNo, and it possibly was hence a lot of weird padding and things just being... weird.
I also have one KH fic and one FFVII fic that I didn't archive on AO3 for Reasons and I'll have to eventually make decisions with those, too...
A Reckoning of Swords 19-20
Jan. 20th, 2026 08:48 pmGot some archiving done! I'm still a couple of weeks behind but, like, have you seen the last couple of weeks?
I'm trying to get better at picking at things when I have a few spare minutes, instead of feeling like I need a block of time to code/write/whatever.
The Lemonade Cafe's twenty-third (whut?!) anniversary is somewhere in the next couple of weeks. Looking back, it's traditionally been celebrated between the 30th of January and the 7th of February, so it's very much an anniversary week and not a firm date. This is basically because the original site was coded for a class project for a one-credit web-dev class I took my last semester of university. Once the class was over and the site (a fairly general KH site, tbh) graded, I promptly swapped it over to hosting the fanfiction I'd been writing for an entire month at that point.
I don't actually have any anniversary plans so um, help me make some?
Current gunpla/plamo kit is [redacted] for a contest so mostly all I can yell about is glitter and rhinestones, lol.
I'm trying to get better at picking at things when I have a few spare minutes, instead of feeling like I need a block of time to code/write/whatever.
The Lemonade Cafe's twenty-third (whut?!) anniversary is somewhere in the next couple of weeks. Looking back, it's traditionally been celebrated between the 30th of January and the 7th of February, so it's very much an anniversary week and not a firm date. This is basically because the original site was coded for a class project for a one-credit web-dev class I took my last semester of university. Once the class was over and the site (a fairly general KH site, tbh) graded, I promptly swapped it over to hosting the fanfiction I'd been writing for an entire month at that point.
I don't actually have any anniversary plans so um, help me make some?
Current gunpla/plamo kit is [redacted] for a contest so mostly all I can yell about is glitter and rhinestones, lol.
Gaming Group
Jan. 19th, 2026 11:58 pm
They need a few more accessories and a more permanent location but here's the gaming group!
A Reckoning of Swords 11-18
Jan. 18th, 2026 01:47 amNot much actual reckoning this week. Too busy with mostly work and then recovering from mostly work. ^^;;
I did finish RG Justice, who is very detailed and very handsome! He's with his gaming buddies on my tray table right now, but I need a slightly better place to set him/that group up since they'll be an evolving display for a bit. Perhaps it's time to repurpose the mangar for a bit, or at least that space...
Justice is, for now, not sporting his backpack because it is Very Heavy and also just kind of all-around awkward. There's one piece I may need to put a dot of glue on through no fault of anyone. I also think it might be time to change out my main panel line markers.
First, I should clean off my desk...
I did finish RG Justice, who is very detailed and very handsome! He's with his gaming buddies on my tray table right now, but I need a slightly better place to set him/that group up since they'll be an evolving display for a bit. Perhaps it's time to repurpose the mangar for a bit, or at least that space...
Justice is, for now, not sporting his backpack because it is Very Heavy and also just kind of all-around awkward. There's one piece I may need to put a dot of glue on through no fault of anyone. I also think it might be time to change out my main panel line markers.
First, I should clean off my desk...
A Reckoning of Swords 6-10
Jan. 10th, 2026 08:05 pmAlas I did not post on either Weds or yesterday. ^^;;
Archiving is behind between being off-schedule, dead tired, the sprained ankle, and taking a chunk out of my right index finger while working on a car. But I did do a bit earlier and will keep gnawing at it. I even wrote a ficlet for100fandoms and may try for a goal of finishing up that project this year. (As said every year.)
Finished up the HG Lfrith Pre-Production kit; it's nice looking but the backpack is a grenade and I suspect it'll go on a shelf never to be touched again or I'll bag-n-tag the backpack and let it be free. Unsure. Next is RG Justice who'll complete a ragtag order from November that I joked was actually a D&D party. (RG Justice, HG Calibarn, 30MF Priest, SD Dynames, 30MM Horse)
One of my other projects is a bingo card of lists. Most of these, I should have printed out already and just need to find them. The rest, ??? Things likeseason_of_kink cards, 31_days lists, prompts from 100words and anythingdrabble, and drabblesoup... A lot of these have significant presence in my plotbunny book so it'd be good to kind of get myself level with them. (And, as above, 100fandoms!)
Boxen are on the way totainry and torachan, and I caught up with purplehellebore to exchange gifts so Xmas is officially over. Whew! (I may still have one or two notes for folks on holiday_wishes, but I'll take care of that as I can.)
I'm also going to need to find the full prompt list for an old multi-chapter KH2 fic (each chapter was vaguely themed) if I ever want to try to finish it. The list/comm it was for was on LJ but I don't know if it's still there and I haven't been able to consistently access LJ in years.
Well, I have a lot of notebooks to dig through...
Archiving is behind between being off-schedule, dead tired, the sprained ankle, and taking a chunk out of my right index finger while working on a car. But I did do a bit earlier and will keep gnawing at it. I even wrote a ficlet for
100fandoms and may try for a goal of finishing up that project this year. (As said every year.) Finished up the HG Lfrith Pre-Production kit; it's nice looking but the backpack is a grenade and I suspect it'll go on a shelf never to be touched again or I'll bag-n-tag the backpack and let it be free. Unsure. Next is RG Justice who'll complete a ragtag order from November that I joked was actually a D&D party. (RG Justice, HG Calibarn, 30MF Priest, SD Dynames, 30MM Horse)
One of my other projects is a bingo card of lists. Most of these, I should have printed out already and just need to find them. The rest, ??? Things like
season_of_kink cards, 31_days lists, prompts from 100words and anythingdrabble, and drabblesoup... A lot of these have significant presence in my plotbunny book so it'd be good to kind of get myself level with them. (And, as above, 100fandoms!) Boxen are on the way to
tainry and torachan, and I caught up with purplehellebore to exchange gifts so Xmas is officially over. Whew! (I may still have one or two notes for folks on holiday_wishes, but I'll take care of that as I can.) I'm also going to need to find the full prompt list for an old multi-chapter KH2 fic (each chapter was vaguely themed) if I ever want to try to finish it. The list/comm it was for was on LJ but I don't know if it's still there and I haven't been able to consistently access LJ in years.
Well, I have a lot of notebooks to dig through...
Hikaru no Go vol. 1-23 (Yumi Hotta/Takeshi Obata) - I mentioned HikaGo last month as my actual advent countdown, even though I don't think I was quite on schedule... Anyway, I still really like it even though it should have ended with vol. 17. I should really write a few little bits of Hikaru/Akira.
Whistle! vol. 1-24 (Daisuke Higuchi) - a re-read from a very long time ago and while I still really liked the first half, the second half just didn't carry the weight and bogged down. Whistle! is about soccer, and starts off with a junior high team but the stakes just keep getting higher and higher and the end is really meh. I suspect there was some editorial meddling or something? I think I'll let this go...
Uta~Kata - a rewatch, still lovely, but it's not as strong as some series about magical adolescence.
Astro Boy vol. 1 - a more recent Astro Boy anime that was fun enough but I can't imagine hunting down the rest. I think my favorite 'modern' Astro Boy is the CG movie.
Transformers: Robots in Disguise (Overloaded & Decepticon Island) - this was pretty good story-wise but the designs/animation are kind of ugly. I think this is only the second RID disc I've ever found and yeah, I'd watch more but ??? (Same that iirc there's no collections of Rescue Bots, which sucks because Rescue Bots is cute.)
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues - pretty good and fairly funny but I also feel like attempting to replicate the sheer everything of Spinal Tap is a pretty impossible task. However, the cameos are amazing and holy shit does Elton John still have a strong voice.
Don't Rub Yourself Against My Ass!! (Sakira) - about the most meh BL manga I picked up like a decade ago and then forgot about. It can also go. The main story is about an ex-cop and it's really explicit but it's just not my cuppa.
Gundam Wing & Endless Waltz - for Christmas, of course. I feel like my mental timeline of Gundam Wing was weirdly off; some things happened way before I thought they should, some far later. Time to finally read the new manga...
Whistle! vol. 1-24 (Daisuke Higuchi) - a re-read from a very long time ago and while I still really liked the first half, the second half just didn't carry the weight and bogged down. Whistle! is about soccer, and starts off with a junior high team but the stakes just keep getting higher and higher and the end is really meh. I suspect there was some editorial meddling or something? I think I'll let this go...
Uta~Kata - a rewatch, still lovely, but it's not as strong as some series about magical adolescence.
Astro Boy vol. 1 - a more recent Astro Boy anime that was fun enough but I can't imagine hunting down the rest. I think my favorite 'modern' Astro Boy is the CG movie.
Transformers: Robots in Disguise (Overloaded & Decepticon Island) - this was pretty good story-wise but the designs/animation are kind of ugly. I think this is only the second RID disc I've ever found and yeah, I'd watch more but ??? (Same that iirc there's no collections of Rescue Bots, which sucks because Rescue Bots is cute.)
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues - pretty good and fairly funny but I also feel like attempting to replicate the sheer everything of Spinal Tap is a pretty impossible task. However, the cameos are amazing and holy shit does Elton John still have a strong voice.
Don't Rub Yourself Against My Ass!! (Sakira) - about the most meh BL manga I picked up like a decade ago and then forgot about. It can also go. The main story is about an ex-cop and it's really explicit but it's just not my cuppa.
Gundam Wing & Endless Waltz - for Christmas, of course. I feel like my mental timeline of Gundam Wing was weirdly off; some things happened way before I thought they should, some far later. Time to finally read the new manga...
no subject
Jan. 8th, 2026 09:39 pmOne day, I would like to wake up without fresh horrors waiting. This week has not been the day.
I also, via means unknown, fucked up something in my ankle on Monday and have been hobbling around ever since. Like, I literally have no clue what I did. Nothing looks discolored and it's only a tiny bit swollen, so ??? But of course, that calf is now achy from walking funny.
Weekend plans are, unfortunately, to basically sit/lay around and heal up.
I also, via means unknown, fucked up something in my ankle on Monday and have been hobbling around ever since. Like, I literally have no clue what I did. Nothing looks discolored and it's only a tiny bit swollen, so ??? But of course, that calf is now achy from walking funny.
Weekend plans are, unfortunately, to basically sit/lay around and heal up.
A Reckoning of Swords 5
Jan. 5th, 2026 08:40 pmOnce upon a time, I started making a spreadsheet of plotbunnies. This was a terrible idea because it turns out that I really need plotbunny lists to be tangible. I need to be able to hold my plotbunnies and run my fingers over them and flip pages. This is not a dig at anybody who likes spreadsheets. My brain just likes things analog. So in 2023, I transferred the spreadsheet back into a notebook, awkwardly.
Since I have transcribed the proper 2020 plotbunny notebook into the new 2026 plotbunny notebook, I need to figure out what to do with the 2023 book. It is not complete but definitely has both duplicates and stuff not listed elsewhere. Hunting duplicates is possibly too time-consuming, but we'll see. I may just ignore it for the most part, or just pick a page at a time and go slowly?
Digging through my journal to find a bit more info on the spreadsheet mostly got me entries about getting rid of the spreadsheet, and those entries also were full of general malaise about posting to AO3. So I suppose it was no actual surprise that when, a few months later, the deep malice, bigotry, and incompetence of the OTW exploded, it was easy to just walk away.
No archiving today. Too tired from post-break work + getting back on schedule. Might not get back around to things until Thurs/Fri but that's fine.
(My 'favorite' attempt at organizing some plotbunnies/prompts was back in... 2016 or so? Definitely when I was in school and very busy. Anyway, I was lovingly attaching notes and whatnot into a composition book, and decorating them, and then suddenly realized that no, I'd not written a lick of any of them. But I'd certainly scrapbooked them nicely.
No regrets, looking back! That was the creativity I had at the moment.)
Since I have transcribed the proper 2020 plotbunny notebook into the new 2026 plotbunny notebook, I need to figure out what to do with the 2023 book. It is not complete but definitely has both duplicates and stuff not listed elsewhere. Hunting duplicates is possibly too time-consuming, but we'll see. I may just ignore it for the most part, or just pick a page at a time and go slowly?
Digging through my journal to find a bit more info on the spreadsheet mostly got me entries about getting rid of the spreadsheet, and those entries also were full of general malaise about posting to AO3. So I suppose it was no actual surprise that when, a few months later, the deep malice, bigotry, and incompetence of the OTW exploded, it was easy to just walk away.
No archiving today. Too tired from post-break work + getting back on schedule. Might not get back around to things until Thurs/Fri but that's fine.
(My 'favorite' attempt at organizing some plotbunnies/prompts was back in... 2016 or so? Definitely when I was in school and very busy. Anyway, I was lovingly attaching notes and whatnot into a composition book, and decorating them, and then suddenly realized that no, I'd not written a lick of any of them. But I'd certainly scrapbooked them nicely.
No regrets, looking back! That was the creativity I had at the moment.)
