Hi all,

I've had this journal since November 2001, even have a permanent account (for definitions of permanent that needs must take into account the nature of the internet).

Given that LJ has now moved all it's servers & the like to Russia, and a great many security and other such features are now either non-functioning or acting strangely, I shall no longer be posting here. I'm not going to delete my account (yet), but will not be even attempting to cross-post from Dreamwidth.

I am on Dreamwidth, same username.

If you have a DW, I would like to continue following you! Or Wordpress (where I am jtifft). Either comment here with your DW username, or email me at jtifft at gmail.

One more thing to chalk up to the general suckitude of 2016, I guess.

(Uses my original default icon of Qui-Hedgie. Seems oddly appropriate somehow.)

I got two of the most awesome stories ever!

Antler Guy:

It's a Neighborly Day in This Beautywood (2998 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Antler Guy (Sculpture/Tumblr post), A House I Pass on the Way to Work Has This Sculpture in Its Yard - elementalmw
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Antler Guy, Steve (A House I Pass...), Sharon (A House I Pass...)
Additional Tags: Neighbors, First Meetings, Yuletide Treat, Lasagna As a Form of Tribute, POV Nonhuman
Summary: The Old One, The Sleeping Beast, Seeker of Blood and Devourer of Souls, Haunting Abomination of the Darkened Woods, woke to find his sacred grounds were no longer there.
The new ways are more than a bit confusing, but there's no reason an ancient god can't adapt with the times.

--- This is hysterical and creepy and evokes a sense of age and power and general other-worldliness that is gorgeous and very effective. Requires no knowledge of canon, but the picture and tumblr post are linked in the notes.

I Gotu Ein Dag

Kvæði (3517 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Í Gøtu Ein Dag | In Gota one Day - Xperiment (Music Video)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Tróndur í Gøtu | Trond of Gota (Í Gøtu Ein Dag)
Additional Tags: Tróndur never quite letting go of his Faeroe Islands
Summary: Tróndur rose from his grave with a moan.
He staggered to his feet, leaning heavily against his great staff, and looked around him as he gasped for breath. The grass was green and the cliffs were tall and the sea was wild as ever, and the only living thing near him was a sheep, grazing and not the least bit interested in the man who had risen from the dead nearby.

--- Just as awsome, as beautifully liminal and atmospheric, and very different. Again, no canon knowledge needed, links for more info provided if one wants. The sense of place is wonderful, and the end was pure, happy-making delight.

---

As for what I wrote -- I wrote 3 full-length pieces, my assignment, a pinch-hit, and a thing that started out a pair of drabbles but didn't stay that way.

I also wrote 23 drabbles in 22 fandoms for the Yuletide Madness Drabble Initiative.

Some of them I think are screamingly obviously mine. Anyone who guesses correctly gets a drabble/ficlet thing.

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/253000.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

First off, Dear Writer, thank you for loving something I love, and writing for me. I have never been disappointed in a Yuletide piece written for me, and I am sure I will love yours!

1. Í Gøtu Ein Dag | In Gota one Day - Xperiment (Music Video)
2. Points - Melissa Scott & Lisa Barnett : Aicelin Denizard,
3. Antler Guy (Sculpture/Tumblr post)
4. Andrea Koroveshi - Works
5. Battle of Tollense River c. 1250 bce
6. The Arena - Lindsey Stirling (Music Video)

( General ThoughtsCollapse )

Individual Requests

More will appear here soon! This post is in process.

( Í Gøtu Ein Dag | In Gota one Day - Xperiment (Music Video)Collapse )

( 2. Points - Melissa Scott & Lisa A. BarnettCollapse )

( 3. Antler Guy (Sculpture/Tumblr post)Collapse )
( 4. Andrea Koroveshi - WorksCollapse )
( 5. Battle of Tollense River c. 1250 bceCollapse )
( 6.The Arena - Lindsey Stirling (Music Video)Collapse )

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/252870.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

Here are links to all the songs, albums and music videos that I could find. Songs have lyrics linked for most. YouTube is the primary source I used.

If I have not properly identified the song/video, please let me know in the comments, either on LJ or Dreamwidth.

( Links for 85 Songs, Albums, and Music VideosCollapse )

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/252650.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

First off, Dear Writer, thank you for loving something I love, and writing for me. I have never been disappointed in a Yuletide piece written for me, and I am sure I will love yours!

1. The Exeter Book : The Riddles
2. Points - Melissa Scott & Lisa Barnett : Aicelin Denizard, Coindarel
3. Smith of Wootton Major - J. R. R. Tolkien : Alf; Smith
4. Diggy Diggy Hole - Yogscast (Music Video) : All/Any
5. They Called Her Babylon - Steeleye Span (song) : Charlotte; Lathom House
6. PARRISH Maxfield - Works : The Young King of the Black Isles (artwork)

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Individual Requests
( 1. The Exeter BookCollapse )
( 2. Points - Melissa Scott & Lisa A. BarnettCollapse )
( 3. Smith of Wootton Major - J. R. R. TolkienCollapse )
( 4. Diggy Diggy Hole - Yogscast (Music Video)Collapse )
( 5. They Called Her Babylon - Steeleye Span (song)Collapse )
( 6. PARRISH Maxfield - Works : The Young King of the Black Isles (artwork)Collapse )

This letter is still a work in progress, with pretty much just what I signed up with - more to follow!

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/252011.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

(Not dead, and have managed to post things on fan flashworks for each challenge, and the occasional thing on Twitter and Tumblr (Lferion on both), but this post is not about me.)

thedeadcat has had the most awful year, and really needs some help. Really really. mrshamill here</a> which I have mostly reproduced:

has had a loooong run of terrible luck this year. I think every single appliance in her house has died over the past few months, and now she's facing buying a water-heater (to replace one that basically exploded) with no money and no prospects. She won't get on her knees, but I will for her -- she needs money, pure and simple, for food, for bills (esp the health one, as she had a few very hard knocks on herself this year), to keep her family afloat and, well, eating. I've already sent some; but if you have a few dollars to spare, she would be a good candidate to donate to. She's not a 501c, but sometimes it's more about karma points than deductions.

If you can spare it, her paypal is linked to flammetirar@gmail.com She's good people, and her family is too. Please signal boost if you can.

She's got an Etsy shop as well: The Altered Vault

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/251804.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

The interview went! Well, I think. It ended up not much like the typical corporate type thing where they ask about career aspirations and how you handle stress, but more along the lines of how the department works and what the types of documentation and processes are, and then the manager handed me off to the friend who recommended me to show me some particulars.

I really like the atmosphere of the place, and the work looks to be interesting.

Things tend to move slowly, so I'm not likely to hear anything definite for a couple of weeks, but I am quite hopeful.

Thank you everyone for the good thoughts, energy, suggestions, and general love!

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/251472.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

I still have an interview, but it is postponed/rescheduled for next week. The hiring manager had an emergency come up.

Thank you all for your good thoughts & energy! I very much appreciate each and every one!

The position is for a tech writer, at Modular Mining. One of the fun things about the company is that they have a truck that drives itself. My inner Dwarf thinks this is fascinating.

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/251234.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

I have an interview tomorrow, for a position I would really, really, really like. 2pm April 28, (Mountain Standard, aka Pacific Daylight time).

All good thoughts and wishes and energy gratefully accepted!

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/250933.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

Noli Timere Messorum*

What un-sound do Death's hooves make? What still vibration of octiron** bells shakes the air?
'Tis winter's end this mid-March day, by current, common calendar, by older count mid Spring, the equinox near nigh. But Time and Death care not for seasons, not as people do, that mark with ritual array inflection points and cycles, and take without regard of mere human meaning overlaid on days. This day a Turtle falters, bows its head to mourn the passing of the antic, angry, energetic mind, the incandescent soul that wrote it and the world it bears into being, touching other minds and souls in myriad, fantastic ways.

For Terry Pratchett, knight, has Death's arm taken, and walks now in the endless night,*** leaving memories and words, and countless altered lives. And love, which shall not be forgot.

______
*The motto on Sir Terry's Coat of Arms: Don't Fear the Reaper.
**Octiron - magic metal that does not sound, but makes a kind of textured silence. From this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8C-Tf70bX4 ****
***https://twitter.com/terryandrob/status/576036726046646272
****This whole piece strongly influenced by this post, where I saw this video: At Obsidian Wings

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/250506.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

Not dead!

Went to see Jupiter Ascending today, and really enjoyed it. Gorgeous costumes, imaginative sfx & cgi -- especially the ships, I loved those a lot -- women being awesome, kicking arse & taking names, pretty men, social and political commentary that was all the more effective for being plot-relevant and not in-my-face, etc etc. And Sean Bean's character lives! There are bees! (and crop-circles) and working together. This definitely goes on my keeper list.

I have a new shade-fly for the A-frame tent for Estrella, which means that the Spare Viking can have the one that matches it back. More shade is good.

Writing has been happening, mostly for Fan Flashworks, little bits at a time. But little bits are much better than no bits. Though the last two challenges have ended up with me posting pics of sewing, not words. "Fancy" got the outfit I made for Mirther for the war, (pic here) and "Arithmetic" the new shade-fly -- lots of math in patterning the wavy dags and piecing the thing together out of the left-over pieces of canvas from the A-frame cover. (pic of it folded on my floor) Pics from Estrella if I manage to remember to take & post them.

So, sewing has been happening too. I even managed to mend the blue & blue (more nearly grey and lavender now, with the sun-fading) big sunshade this evening. Things are in pretty good shape for the War.

My dad's Book is out! (I really, really, really need to make a proper post that is All About the Book, but this at least gets it mentioned?) Redshift Key to Cosmology (Amazon link). Devilc gave me some excellent advice to make the description better, which I need to actually apply....

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/250289.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

I've seen this all over my reading list(s), most recently from synecdochic

When you see this, share lines from 3 random WIPs.

1. --- Alphabet of Disaster

A is for Avalanche,
B is for Bears
C is catastrophe -
Careening down stairs


2. --- Iron and Light

It was not the height of the Mountain, the sheerness of the cliffs or the distance to the rocks below that was vertiginous; no, down was not, had never been, an issue, no more than over, or up any face or rock with purchase for foot or finger or tool. It was the unending depth of sky above that made Thorin's head spin in sick circles and stomach threaten to revolt. All that unceilinged air, filled with unfixed lamps that moved and changed. He knew now, as he had not at [23] that he would not fall up forever if he allowed both boots off the ground, or unclenched his fingers from [udad]'s hand. Knowing that did not always make it any easier to bear, though perforce it must be bourn.

3. --- Dryadwood

The boards screamed under her feet, a keening, silent cry of dryad-wood reeved from living trees, the sundered pieces not allowed to die, kept cruelly aware and awake. "Free us!" they cried, "Let us go!" She tried to step lightly, but they knew her for one like them, cousin-kin, and it didn't matter that she was gentle and quiet - all they wanted was release from torment. She had been determined before; this only made the need more urgent, hardened her resolve to iron as unyielding as the pins that burned cold within the wood.

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/249864.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

A Blessed sun-return to all, and especially to those who celebrate Solstice and Yule!

My Yuletide story is posted and needs only a tiny bit of polish to be finished. Hopefully I will find the brain and words to write some treats. Not trying for a pinch-hit unless one just demands to be written.

hlh_shortcuts stories are posting! I managed almost on-time-ness for mine this go round.

I have seen Hobbit 3, and have many feelings, and now want to write all the fic. Now I just need to put words down. There will certainly be more Iron and Light, and I have several more ideas as well.

Eggnog this year a rousing success. The rum this time was Kraken, which is amazingly wonderful.

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/249646.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

1. Happiest of Happies to ickaimp. I hope the coming year is excellent to you. Also belated Happies to shadadukal

2. Gig of Awesome (Costume PA on a TV filming thing) continues to be awesome, even when things get rough, but I am glad it is nearly over, as 12-14 hour days make it Very Difficult to get much of anything at all else done.

3. Southern Crusades was lovely, even with Wind. I love my period-style bed, and the addition of thin foam sleeping mats under the mattress/futon meant I did not feel the slats at all.

4. Tíli and Z continue to be cats, in the best of ways. Tíli is 'helping' me type this post.

5. Tickets are now available for the Hobbit 3-film marathon, and while I do not yet have tickets, I soon shall. Buckets will be cried, I am quite sure.

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/249107.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

I have my Yuletide assignment, and it is going to be both nicely challenging and fun.

I have a list of things I want to write as treats, and those are going to be fun too.

I have my HLH_Shortcuts assignment, and an idea for what to do with it.

So far I have managed to post something to fan_flashworks every challenge since the beginning of June. Still need to get something up for the current one, but I have something I can post. I just want to get a little more of it.

mini_wrimo is right around the corner, and I have signed up with my usual 100 words a day, and my plan is to write a Yuletide Drabble each day, as a warm up. And if they turn into full-length treats that is lovely, and if they stay drabbles that is lovely too.

Plus - Mini-Wrimo will be posting on Dreamwidth this year, not just LJ! Here is the info/signup post

In celebration of these excellencies, I have made the first batch of Eggnog, currently doing it's alchemical thing in the fridge right now. I decided that what with the notable Durin's Day (a lunar and a solar eclipse!) the festive season should start immediately.

It is finally, finally beginning to cool off. I slept under covers all night last night.

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/248649.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

Signup achieved, more details forthcoming

First off, Dear Writer, thank you for loving something I love, and writing for me. I have never been disappointed in a Yuletide piece written for me, and I am sure I will love yours!


1. Take Some Fire - Any
2. JC Leyendecker - All
3. Drujienna's Harp : Eshone's Father, Acheron
4. Till We Have Faces (Song)
5. The Iliad - Homer : Hector, Odysseus, Hephaestus
6. The Prydwen Sails Again (song)


( General ThoughtsCollapse )

Individual Requests

1. Take Some Fire - Any
I adore all four of these songs, both together and individually. I will be happy with a story that combines some or all of them, or deals with any one of them singly. Would prefer something with a hopeful or positive slant/ending.

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2. JC Leyendecker - Works
— Blond Arrow Collar Man
— Brunet Arrow Collar Man
— Interwoven Socks Man
— Arrow Collar Woman
A glimpse into these people's lives and loves would be a delight.

( MoreCollapse )

( ResourcesCollapse )

3. Drujienna's Harp - Ellen Kindt McKenzie
— Eshone's Father
— Acheron
Is Acheron the Wizard? Is Eshone's Father Drujienna's Father in a new life? How have they held on through the years, what is their story, their relationship? Anything at all will be a delight to know.


4. Till We Have Faces (Song)
I love the atmosphere of this song, and the contrast between the lover and the beloved.

Song on YouTube
Lyrics are on this page with a sample, about 3/4ths the way down.

( LyricsCollapse )

5. The Iliad - Homer
— Hector (Iliad)
— Odysseus (Iliad)
— Hephaestus (Iliad)

I would love to see something happen between these two, before or during (or after! What if Hector doesn't actually die? Or in the afterlife? Or perhaps in re-incarnation or something) the story. I do see Hector as played by Eric Bana in Troy and Odysseus as played by Sean Bean, but that's really a visual/aural reference only, and if you see them differently, that is totally ok. Slash could be fun, though I'd prefer it if Andromache were not dissed in the process.

Anyway: Hector, noble, brave and true, (also: not stupid), and Odysseus, too smart for his own good. Sparks and snark and adventures.

Alternately, Hephaestus, solo or in combination with Hector | Odysseus — what is his perspective on this whole thing? How did he come to make the artifacts he does that get used & misused in the war? (Hephaestus is definitely one of the Smiths and Makers of my heart.)

Ideally, I would like a happy tale, not a bleak one, canon or otherwise.


Additional Thoughts:
Or a threesome with Andromache - heck, if we're speculating that far, Andromache/Penelope and Hector/Odysseus, or all 4 together.


6. The Prydwen Sails Again (Song)
— The Singer,
— The Singer's Boyfriend
Home came seven from Caer Siddi -- was the singer's boyfriend one of them? Why isn't the singer on the quest?

This mythology and story are fascinating to me, and the atmosphere of the song is so haunting. I would love essentially anything dealing with before, during or after, though some kind of hope would be appreciated.
( More thoughts & resourcesCollapse )

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/248513.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

Marriage equality comes to Arizona.

I am glad the AG decided to see plain sense & not appeal.

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/248310.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

1. Very good working breakfast with Reagan. Both the work and the breakfast were excellent.

2, Have patterned the stoles for the play, got the Cooks & Bards satchel amended with pockets & shorter strap, and got several more braies assembled. Only elastic to go on those.

3. New chapter in King Come at Red Morning by Tawabids. Such an excellent story.

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/247826.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

1. I have a (fairly silly/fun idea for the new Fan Flashworks challenge, directly as a result of Tumblr. The new challenge is Music.

2. I got a little bit of order wreaked on my guest room.

3. Got the purple satin for the stoles I am making for a play, and got fabric pre-washed, & ironed.

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/247601.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.

1. I had a lovely time this afternoon taking my stepmom to Bookmans, where I found a very nifty wooden serving object with three dishes that folds up into a flat, compact thing. And it fits (at an angle, but still) into the box I keep the pickle-plate dishes in.

2. Madame Faust posted a Lovely new chapter of Into The West.

3. My dad wants to put the poem I wrote yesterday into His book. The one that details his research.

This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/247418.html, where there are currently comments. Please comment there using OpenID.