Oct 29, 2021
October 28, 2021:
Maize Secondary, Obelisk, Daub.
Adoneus of androgynebard's clan!
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Pakistan
seen from Peru
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Pakistan
seen from Germany
seen from India
seen from Pakistan
seen from Nigeria
seen from Germany
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Hong Kong SAR China
seen from Poland
seen from United States
seen from Pakistan
seen from China
October 28, 2021:
Maize Secondary, Obelisk, Daub.
Adoneus of androgynebard's clan!
Shipping Meme Answer Part 1
Talk about the first ship you ever had.
My first ship was Star Trek: The Original Series Spock/Kirk! Small Mithen caught maybe two episodes on TV and was hooked. Then I discovered that our library had novelizations of all the episodes, and I checked them out and read them over and over and over, so really my knowledge of the show comes more from those novelizations than the TV show itself. My library also had “Star Trek: The New Voyages,” which was a collection of profic, and some of the earliest profic novels. Nowadays many of the stories in them would be recognized for what they were, which was slash that stopped just short of a clinch, with tons of hurt/comfort and pining and emotional intensity. I found them absolutely thrilling, for reasons I couldn’t quite explain--it was a long time ago and a very rural area, so my knowledge of same-sex relations (okay, let’s be honest, my knowledge of sex at all) was very limited. I never would have said I thought Spock and Kirk were actually a romantic couple, I just knew that something about the way they were written was so intense and wonderful, and it felt really right.
Talk about three of the most important ships throughout your life.
The first ship I ever wrote any fic for was Blake/Avon from Blakes 7, which are basically (and deliberately) a grittier, darker version of Spock and Kirk. I love Spock and Kirk but the canon form of them seems pretty...complete. Like, I don’t need to DO anything, really, they’re already in their best life together. Blake and Avon need a lot more help figuring themselves and each other out (you know, what with the fact that Avon canonically murders Blake and all that), so that was what gave me the itch to write fic for the first time, I think.
Superman/Batman will always be my most important ship--it’s going to take, uh, decades until any other ship has any chance of equaling the impact they’ve had on my life. It was the first pairing that I’ve felt a continuing itch to write--most pairings I have maybe three or four stories in me, but Clark and Bruce are so complex and still-evolving and have so many different versions that there’s always something more to want to write, even if my energy for it has flagged in recent years. (It has been literally a decade since I started writing them!)
Kevin/Sami in the WWE is probably my third most important ship at this point. I wrote a lot more words for Thorin/Bilbo, but really I only had two stories in me for them: one that stayed canon-compliant and explored the sadness in the canon, and one that was my big sprawling fixit fic (though that one’s maybe my favorite thing I’ve ever written, honestly). In part because Sami and Kevin have some of that same complexity Superman and Batman do (constantly open and unfolding canon plus a weird multiplicity of backstories and possibilities), they’re only the second pairing to really truly grab me and give me just piles and piles of ideas I want to make real in fic.
December 23, 2017:
Abyss Tertiary, Bogsneak, Eye Spots.
Mombi of androgynebard’s clan!
Shipping Meme, Conclusion!
Share five must-read fics.
This is so hard, so I’m just going through my recent bookmarks and picking the first 5 fics I’ve got about some of my favorite ships!
Green Light (1567 words) by APgeeksout: WWE, Brian Kendrick/Daniel Bryan sex pollen. It’s the ship I felt alone in shipping, but no longer! Hot and just tender enough to be sweet while staying in character.
Than Dreamt of in Your Philosophy (1775 words) by misura: Master & Commander, Jack/Stephen. This is a Lovecraftian take on M&C and is very good, understated horror--nothing too dark or disturbing, and Stephen saves the day and his dear one.
like monuments (1929 words) by Neffectual: WWE, Tyler Breeze/Fandango. This story takes a fundamentally silly pairing in canon and finds the sweet and wistful heart of it.
Q: Mourning (100 words) by jaclynhyde: Picard/Q was the first pairing I ever searched for fic about! This drabble is a terse, painful look at how Q deals (or does not) with Picard’s death.
Corporal Punishment (5988 words) by x_los: Blakes 7, Blake/Avon. Aliens made them do it: Blake must administer a spanking to Avon, and both of them try very hard not to find it erotic. (They fail).
Share your favorite fanmix for your OTP.
Currently I’ve been listening to a lot of “Asterisk*” for Kevin/Sami, with the tracks:
The Bouncing Souls - The Something Special The Orion Experience - Nice Guys Finish Last They Might Be Giants - I've Got a Match Miike Snow - Genghis Khan Sleigh Bells - Bitter Rivals OK Go - Do What You Want Version 2 (Wallpaper Background) The Mountain Goats - Cry For Judas ( New Single from Transcendental Youth Gotye - Night Drive The Mountain Goats - Unmasked! Samson - Regina Spektor Suckers - Turn On The Sunshine Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed The Bouncing Souls - Hero Zero MASHUP DAY - (Of Sami)
Talk about a ship you initially disliked.
I was slow to warm up to Kevin/Chris, because--I confess it with some shame--I am not very good at multishipping and I get jealous on behalf of my ships rather easily. But the two of them had such good, easy chemistry, and were messed-up in a whole different way than Kevin is with Sami, so it was fun to write them for a couple of snippets.
Do you have a favorite trope and/or AU for your OTP?
With Clark/Bruce it is always and forever identity play of some sort. The fact that the different facets of their personalities are so distinct and they often find themselves in situations where they have to pretend to be only that facet; the fact that there are so few other people in the world who know all of those facets--Clark the Kansan and Superman the hero and Kal-el the alien refugee; Brucie the rich kid and Batman the vigilante and Bruce the relentless will that unites them--so they can give each other a space to be all of their complex and contradictory selves, it’s really appealing to me.
With Sami/Kevin there’s some identity play going on there because of Generico, and part of what I love about wrestling as a fandom in general is the identity play aspect--the complex and blurry lines between the actors and the characters that inhabit their bodies and their lives. With shipping that would take me further into RPF than I’m generally willing to go, but I do find myself sneaking ways to get that same frisson into my stories. An AU that I’m turning over in my head with them is setting a story back in the 1920s and making them literal carnies, going from town to town fleecing marks and hopping boxcars in the night (Sami loves the art and challenge of it, but he always feels a bit guilty and leaves some money at the village orphanage before he goes). I’ve started doing research on it, but it’s surprisingly hard to find out what life was like as a wrestler back when it was just starting to be a rigged game.
Is there a fictional relationship you’d really want for yourself?
Gotta go with American Alpha here. I just love that they’re basically goofballs who flat-out adore each other. I mean, who wouldn’t want someone to look at them like Jason looks at Chad?
If you could change one thing about your OTP, what would that be?
Comics Clark and Bruce: I’d want to go back to some form of them that has a long history together. Right now there’s this weird and completely unimaginable situation where they each have years of history with someone who is almost but not quite the other guy, but they’ve only known each other a year or so, and… it’s awkward and unshippy for me personally.
Thorin and Bilbo: I would love some canon hint they were reunited in the afterlife, whether the dwarf version or the Secondborn version.
Sami and Kevin: I’d want some guarantee they’re going to be tag team champs someday. I don’t want it to be right now, that wouldn’t work psychologically. But I just want to know it’s going to happen somewhere down the line.
Shipping Meme Part 2
Do you have any poly ships?
I’d say Cesaro/Tyson/Nattie in the WWE is my favorite poly ship--I watched an entire season of Total Divas just because it had a lot of stuff about Tyson and Cesaro being astonishingly intimate and important to each other and about how Nattie came to accept that and value Cesaro herself.
I also ship Arthur/Lancelot/Guinevere pretty hardcore! Which leads into...
How do you feel about love triangles?
They’re not usually my thing because they’re painful in ways that are hard to reconcile through fic. I very much dislike writing people being unfaithful, and in a triangle (if you don’t go the poly route, which I don’t usually) some level of infidelity is kind of inevitable.
Do you have many ships that never got together at all?
Do I have any that DID? I generally only ship non-canonical pairings, and in fact I feel no desire at all to have my ship get together. I prefer a ship that’s never going to be canon, to be honest--it’s my job to get them together, not canon’s! Back off, canon! I want to give my favorite characters something they’re never going to get unless I help out.
Do you ship any characters that have never met?
Um, oooooh. That’s gonna be tough, because in general I don’t ship unless characters have a LOT of interaction in canon; characters with brief interactions don’t usually trip my shipping switch, so characters with none are even less likely. Even in the rare crossovers I write, the pairings end up within the canon. Hm. I have to confess I can’t think of one!
Have you ever “shipped at first sight”?
Almost always! Clark/Bruce was within the first comic books I read of them; Kirk/Spock was the first few episodes; Thorin/Bilbo was by the end of the first movie; Kevin/Sami was six minutes into their canon existence together (a new record?) Maybe the slowest ship build for me was G’Kar/Londo from Babylon 5, for the simple reason that their dynamic didn’t evolve into my shipping catnip until well into the second/third season.
August 3, 2019:
Peacock Primary, Wildclaw, Trail.
Sehnsucht of androgynebard's clan!
Hello I am sorry to bother you. I can't find anything on Google. Is being woken in the middle of the night with palpitations or unable to fall asleep because of them a POTS symptom? I get bad palps from standing/sitting changes, getting up to go to the bathroom and other times so I thought I might have POTS, but the worst ones are always at night. Recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia as well. Uninsured and scared. Thank you so much for your time
Hey, @androgynebard!
First off, you’re not bothering me at all! I love being able to help people in any way I can. So don’t be afraid of asking me questions, because I actually love getting them. :)
Secondly, some POTS patients do have super bad palpitations, and I have heard of them being bad enough that they cause trouble with sleeping. I’ve had some really bad ones at night before, too! There are some different POTS support groups on Facebook that you could check out and join so you can pose the question there, if you feel like that might help you get some peace of mind about it.
That being said, I told the last Anon that the best way to play it safe is to speak to a medical professional about it if it really freaks you out. You said, “Uninsured and scared,” which I know poses a major problem. Do you have a provider currently? You said you were recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia–maybe if you brought it up with the person who diagnosed you, they’d be able to help you somehow? You’re definitely in a tight spot, and I’m so sorry you’ve found yourself in this position. It’s a pretty crappy place to be, and that’s putting it mildly. :(
If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask–I can’t promise I’ll have all the answers, but I want to help in any way I can. Good luck to you, friend.
Tagged by: @androgynebard
How old are you? I’m 47! On my way from Aunt status to Grandma (Grandmith?) status, at this rate.
Dream job: I love my job teaching college. It’s routinized enough that I can have a comfort zone, but things are always changing and challenging.
What are you talented at? Um. I put words together well at times. I’m good at writing cliches in ways that are often still fun to read. I am excellent at fading into the background whenever possible.
What is a big goal you’re working towards (or have already achieved)? I finished my PhD quite a while ago! In the near future, I have to write an academic paper about Trump’s use of Twitter by January, and my brain cringes every time I contemplate tackling it.
What’s your aesthetic? *looks around living room* I never really upgraded from “late graduate school/Target and IKEA.” “Rumpled absent-minded professor” was perhaps not my goal, but I managed it anyway.
Do you collect anything? Wherever I travel in Japan I pick up a maneki neko, those little beckoning cats. Apparently I now collect wrestling t-shirts. Do you know how much call there is for a middle-aged female professor in Japan to wear a wrestling t-shirt? I will never, ever wear them often enough to even justify getting rid of them. Please bury me in a pyramid of wrestling t-shirts, like the Pharaohs of old.
What’s a topic you are always up to talk about? Wrestling, rhetoric, the rhetoric of wrestling, politics (if I trust you), superheroes, Tolkien.
What’s a pet peeve of yours? “Nonplussed” means “confused and bemused,” not “cool and collected.” I will die on this hill.
Good advice to give: Do what you love when you can, but also know that sometimes you gotta do the stuff you don’t love to be able to do the stuff you do.
Recommend three songs: The next three songs on the playlist I’m currently listening to are “Haven’t Had Enough” by Marianas Trench, “Cry for Judas” by the Mountain Goats, and “Uma Thurman” by Fall Out Boy. This is the kind of question that will reduce me to self-conscious paralysis, so I’mma just go with that.
Tag Others: @crimson-of-the-earth, @uistic, and @farmerwithacape, if you’re in the mood!