(no subject)

[eldabe]

So, I'm planning a Social Media Break.

Whenever I'm bored (aka...a lot) I just pop open tumblr or sometimes twitter or even AITA on reddit to just get a quick hit of serotonin or something to keep my brain churning along. I do very occasionally doomscroll, but really I haven't logged into twitter since 2019 and I raaaarely go to my tumblr dash, so-oh wait! I do scroll facebook! I'm only offbeat sometimes.

Basically like, I'm not loving how social media can really get me down a lot. It's a little like roulette - is this time going to be a cool fanart or meta on a fandom I like, or the first step down a four day anxiety spiral? Such fun! I also wonder if the anxiety spiral is part of what is killing my ability to work on my own fic, which has been a major struggle for, um, years now. (Other options include: Pandemic, and Hell Job. I left Hell Job, and I can't do much about the pandemic, so you know, this seems worth a try.)

But as social media has become my automatic boredom cure, I'm literally gathering up a bunch of things to DO when I would just open a new tumblr tab. I've downloaded more mobile games for my phone, I've bought some KJ Charles ebooks that I know I can just open and browse, I'm getting romance novel and fic recs from friends (feel free to leave any in the comments!) and I'm just trying to find new quick and mobile Solutions To Boredom. Wish me luck?

I'll probably keep coming to Dreamwidth as my experience here has always been entirely different. Ha, maybe I'll even post more! And like, I'll follow links to social media stuff and all, I'm not cutting myself off from friends or anything. I'm just trying to modify my own habits. Let's see how it goes!

Comments

[lannamichaels]

Yep, the blacklist works! I'm using QuiteRSS now (I used to use Feedreader but it stopped working with tumblr and I have no idea why, since it works with plenty of other sites) and that lets me use keywords within the tags. This is what makes it really overactive, since it blocks "bugs bunny" since I've got "bugs" blocked. BUT all the blacklist ones show up in a folder and I can click on it and see all the tags it does have on it. Or I can just be like, delete anyway.

But yeah, following the right people does help. The more overactive-hitting person is prokopetz who tags things like "body horror" on text posts, so I have no problems clicking on those and reading it; I'm blocking body horror because of images. If someone doesn't tag at all and just posts images, I'm probably not following them anymore. QuiteRSS will let me do blacklists based on post content but I haven't set up any of those yet since I guess I winnowed out all the folks who'll do things like post about my issues without tagging it.

And since it's in folders and I can expand, if there's people who I can only read when I'm in a specific mood to get "fandom content, fandom content, UTTER HORRORS ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH CARE, fandom content, john mulaney, HOSPITAL DISCRIMINATION, more john mulaney", well, then I'm only ever looking at them then, and it's not getting me out of the blue ever.

I will dig up some recs! As a general rec, are you familiar with nirejseki? I blanket rec everything she's ever done. She's Flash/Legends of Tomorrow and MDZS. (I can give you a short summary of MDZS if you're not in it, enough to read fic)

Oh, a modern AU longfic MDZS that I have handy:

Waiting for Spring (130788 words) by thievinghippo
Chapters: 9/9
Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn
Characters: Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī
Additional Tags: Mutual Pining, Pining while fucking, slight angst, Happy Ending, for a baseball fic, there's not a lot of baseball, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Sports, Alternate Universe - Baseball
Summary:

“It is a well-known fact across the major leagues that one does not smack Lan Wangji’s ass.”

Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes. Everyone smacks everyone’s ass in baseball. It’s how the game is played. Lan Wangji does not get to be exempt from this most sacred of baseball traditions.

Wei Wuxian will make sure of that.

Or, a Major League Baseball AU

[eldabe]

Oh thank you!!!

I might like...um...come back to you in two months to see about setting as RSS feed up? If you have the energy to answer a lot of dumb questions. Because this sounds like an amazing amazing solution but I honestly need to just gather up the energy to do it. (Right now I'm cleaning up my tabs. My 500+ tabs. It's...a project?)

Oh! Oh! You're in MDZS fandom!!! Okay okay if you could give me a primer that would be amazing. The costumes look so cool! The tiny little boy in all the gifs is adorable! I have zero idea what this fandom is and it's everywhere!

And thank you for the recs! I know enough Flash I can muddle through and one friend has been poking me to watch Legends of Tomorrow (I hear Booster Gold showed up so I might have no choice now haha).

A modern SPORT AU one of my favorite genres I love it already thank you thank you!!! Downloading now!

[lannamichaels]

I'll be happy to chat in a couple months about RSS feeds! To find them in tumblr, just add /rss to the end of the URL, which you can also do off specific tags (ex: https://lannamichaels.tumblr.com/tagged/discworld/rss is the RSS feed of my discworld tag) but yeah, quiteRSS had a huge learning curve for me to figure out how to do anything at all with the filters.

MDZS, okay, so, basic summary. Wei Ying = Wei Wuxian = Yiling patriarch. Lan Zhan = Lan Wangji = Hanguang-jun. My general rule of thumb when reading via osmosis for AT LEAST six months was if I didn't recognize someone's name, they were a bastard of Jin Guangshan, this served me well even though he only has three bastard children (Qin Su, Jin Guangyao/Meng Yao, and Mo Xuanyu)

WWX is the protag. LWJ is the love interest. WWX grew up in the Jiang sect after his parents are Tragically Killed, he lived on the street for a while when he was young and has some trauma about it. LWJ has an older brother, Lan Xichen/Lan Huan. When WWX and LWJ are teenagers, WWX and a bunch of other folks go to the Lan sect to learn stuff, WWX and LWJ meet. WWX thinks they don't like each other. LWJ falls in love.

There is then quest stuff and war stuff. WWX donates his golden core to Jiang Cheng/Jiang Wanyin and can no longer cultivate the normal way. The assembled anti-Wen folks beat the Wen folks and the remnants of the Wen clan are put into death camps. WWX is the only non-Wen person who objects to this. WWX then goes off with Wen folks: Wen Qing and Wen Ning/Wen Qionglin. No one is happy about this, so they do war on WWX. WWX is doing demonic cultivation, which backfires on him and kills him.

The only Wen left is Wen Yuan, who becomes Lan Sizhui. (Wen Ning is a zombie.)

We then fast-forward 13 years. Mo Xuanyu (bastard son of JGS, half brother of JGY) decides that, in order to get revenge on his asshole family, he's going to offer up his body to WWX. WWX is now reborn in a new body and has a revenge quest to complete. Which he does, and then he ends up happily ever after with LWJ. (difference from MDZS and The Untamed: in the Untamed, WWX somehow manages to keep his original body due to something something something.)

Other people to know:
The Jiangs: Jiang Cheng/Jiang Wanyin and Jiang Yanli are WWX's sect siblings. Jiang Fengmian is WWX's parents' old friend and took him in, against the wishes of his wife, Madam Yu, who doesn't like WWX.

Other Lans: Lan Qiren, LWJ's uncle. Lan Jingyi: one of the juniors, Sizhui's friend.

Other Jins: Jin Zixuan, who married Jiang Yanli. Jin Ling/Jin Rulan, their son. Jin Zixun, a forgettable villain, whose name I am sure is much more easy to tell about from his cousin's in the original text ;) Jin Guangyao, the villain in the current day part of the story.

Wens: Wen Ruohan, the villain in the backstory part of the story.

Nies: Nie Mingjue, who is the Nie sect leader in the backstory. Nie Huaisang, who is his younger brother is the Nie sect leader in the current.

The Yi city arc people: A-Qing, Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, and Xue Yang. Frankly I never cared about them. They exist and there's some narrative parallels, but I, uh, never cared about them. In MDZS, they are only in the current day part of the story. The Untamed moved some of it (?) to backstory.


Very helpful wiki, considering people have multiple names and titles: https://modao-zushi.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Characters

[eldabe]

Yeah, the trick would be to figure out the tags because without them, I might as well use my current method of using tumblr (which is just...go to individual tumblr pages and scroll back until I hit where I read before and/or stress out and close the tab. It's not a great method! But it's mine!) So yes, thank you, I will get back to you!

And oh no that summary was...a lot haha. Ok ok, I'm going to try to read it again. I might just jump into the fics and see how it goes haha. Hey, it's worked in other fandoms!

[lannamichaels]

The killer feature of using RSS is that it moves the tags to the top. So if I click on a post, even before all the images load, I can see if it's tagged anything I care about, or specifically don't care about, and move on. Which unfortunately does not help if people don't tag :( But it does mean I can really easily skip posts, like when everyone and their sideblog is spreading around the exact same post, I can either pass it by or scroll to the bottom of the post to see if anything is added. I've been thinking about doing a tutorial post, I should probably get around to that.

One thing I should mention since I linked to that baseball fic! I've seen in some modern AUs, including that one, where they decide that, for the purposes of the fic, some people aren't related. So Jin Ling shows up in that fic but isn't Jiang Yanli's kid.

MDZS is great for reading with no-fandom-knowledge except for all the multiple names/titles issues, and those don't show up much in modern AUs. But yeah for just reading for osmosis, characters named Jiang = sect relative of WWX. Lan = sect relative of LWJ. Jin = the rich folks. Nie = they use sabers. Wen = some are evil, some are WWX's friends.

[lannamichaels]

(For you in two months, because I did finally get around to the tutorial by the power of procrastinating on other things: https://lannamichaels.dreamwidth.org/1247797.html )

[eldabe]

THANK YOU!! I know I don't have the spoons for this right now but I really really cannot thank you enough!!

[lannamichaels]

Modern AUs of fandoms I am not in and know very little about:

remember me love when i'm reborn (16439 words) by magneticwave
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Game of Thrones (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jon Snow/Sansa Stark
Characters: Sansa Stark, Jon Snow, Robb Stark, Arya Stark, Rickon Stark, Bran Stark, Tormund Giantsbane, Tyrion Lannister
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting
Series: Part 1 of the longest night
Summary:

‘LONGEST NIGHT’ HAS BIGGEST NIGHT IN HOLLYWOOD HISTORY

Jaime Lannister’s historical epic, starring Joffrey Baratheon as Aegon Targaryen and Margarey Tyrell as Queen Sansa, broke box office records last week with the largest opening weekend in history. The Lion Hand Studios production netted a whopping $400 million dragons in the domestic box office and shows no sign of slowing down any time soon. The film made headlines three months ago when the movie’s stars announced their romantic relationship on the heels of the dissolution of Baratheon’s engagement with Sansa Stark, who penned the script. Although Baratheon claimed the split with Stark was amicable, sources close to the former couple insist it was anything but. “Joffrey wanted someone to make him famous, and as soon as Sansa wrote a movie for him that did just that, he left her in the dirt.”

That is one of those authors who I will follow them into mordor, etc etc.


Another highlight of their works:

on the brink of something close (9379 words) by magneticwave
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Characters: Nile Freeman, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Andy | Andromache of Scythia, Dr. Meta Kozak, Booker | Sebastien le Livre
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Summary:

It takes Nile an embarrassingly long time to realize that her thesis advisor is, like, legitimately evil.

I know nothing about all about Fullmetal Alchemist except there are Brothers in it.

airplane mode (14967 words) by silentwalrus
Chapters: 3/3
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Edward Elric/Roy Mustang
Characters: a bunch of longsuffering bodyguards
Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Modern AU kinda, Airplane Bathroom Titty Selfies, Humor, Roy and Ed's Relationship is a Security Breach, Honorable Mention for Mile High Club, attempted sexting, Trans Male Character, war criminal diversity win❤️
Summary:

Roy’s in the arrivals terminal of CAIX, phone in either hand, because of a series of bad decisions that started with letting Maes talk him into getting birthday drunk the day before he was supposed to go visit two allegedly adult alchemists in Resembool and somehow managed to encompass an entire coup. He’s still paying for it more than a decade later, though these days less in blood and more in dignity. Ed is perfectly capable of getting his own ride from the airport, but between traffic, their respective scheduling and Ed’s natural tendency to be a little bitch, if Roy wants to see him before the end of the week he better pick the little bitch up in person.

Also rec everything by that author! If you are not already reading the following, I recommend:

snipers solve 99% of all problems (247190 words) by silentwalrus
Chapters: 83/?
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Mei Chan | May Chang, Riza Hawkeye, Roy Mustang, Albus Dumbledore, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Remus Lupin, Maes Hughes, Sirius Black, Dudley Dursley, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Jean Havoc, The Dursleys, Amelia Bones, Bill Weasley, Kreacher (Harry Potter), Aberforth Dumbledore
Additional Tags: Crossover, Humor, Post-FMA Canon, Harry Potter 5th Year, Nobody’s Going To Hogwarts, Me sprinting down the highway while snorting coke off my hand, i just need to get this out of my system, Oh yeah Maes Hughes lives bc i said so, Ed: what the fuck do you mean you have ELVES and SLAVERY, also ed: lol ya i joined the military when i was 12, Voldemort is the one percent, Dementors, If you're a science person come correct me, do not repost to another site, The Edward Elric Mortal Combat School of Trauma Therapy, Ed Says Fuck, Ed Says Fuck 600+ Times
Summary:

Ed had thought, after the whole Promised Day, homunculus, entire country harvested for alchemical batteries thing, the batshit quotient of his life would have settled down some. He really ought to have topped out the meter with that one. But no. The bullshit is just getting started.

“Are you fucking kidding me,” Ed demands. “The wizards?”

Podfic & Chinese translation available! See notes

I know nothing about this fandom at all. I do note this fic has heavy angst, which is not tagged. It also has college radio, so after this rec, I will divert into radio recs :D

Keep the Key Within Reach (62098 words) by SpiritsFlame
Chapters: 4/4
Fandom: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue Series - Mackenzi Lee
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Henry "Monty" Montague/Percy Newton
Characters: Henry "Monty" Montague, Percy Newton, Felicity Montague
Additional Tags: Light BDSM, practiced by two people who don't know what they're doing, Under-negotiated Kink, But it works out okay, Friends With Benefits, boys being stupid, Pining
Summary:

SON OF PARLIAMENTARY OFFICIAL CAUGHT IN SORDID SEX SCANDAL, CLICK FOR VIDEO, is a headline that Monty could have done without. He could do without the sidelong looks, the way his Mother can hardly speak to him, the way his best friend and secret love of his life has been avoiding him. He could do without the fact that every time he goes out now, every time he tries to move past this, he can't get over the fear that this, too, will be caught on film. If only there were someone he trusted; absolutely, to the bones trusted, who would be willing to have sex with him. No strings attached, of course.

Radio!

But It's a Good Refrain (23090 words) by lady_ragnell
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Merlin (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon, Elena/Gwaine (Merlin)
Characters: Merlin (Arthurian), Arthur Pendragon, Morgan le Fay, Mithian, Elena (Merlin), Leon (Merlin), Percival (Arthurian), Gwaine (Merlin), Guinevere (Arthurian), Lancelot du Lac, Freya (Merlin), Elyan (Merlin)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Don't copy to another site
Summary:

Arthur doesn't care much about the popular radio program Dragon's Lonely Hearts until his ex-girlfriend calls in to slag him off and get advice. When he calls in and has an on-air argument with the host, it starts off more than he expected, including meddling friends, overinvolved fans, and maybe love.

We Just Lost the Beat (19334 words) by knight_tracer, lady_ragnell
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Daredevil (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Matt Murdock/Franklin "Foggy" Nelson
Characters: Matt Murdock, Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Claire Temple, Marci Stahl, Karen Page
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Radio, Identity Porn, Podfic, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming, Podfic Length: 1.5-2 Hours, Don't copy to another site
Summary:

Matt hears a lot in the city at night, sirens and crime--and the late-night radio show Foggy With a Chance, which sometimes runs a Daredevil Watch if he's been particularly active, but which mostly plays music. He probably shouldn't call in and request a song, but he does it anyway.

Extra recs from that author!

Never Bitter and All Delicious (15259 words) by lady_ragnell
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Enjolras/Grantaire
Characters: Grantaire (Les Misérables), Enjolras (Les Misérables), Fantine (Les Misérables), Éponine Thénardier, Les Amis de l'ABC
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fairy Godparents, magic wands, Don't copy to another site
Summary:

Grantaire delivers the wishes to the Fairy Godmother Bureau every morning, and he's happy enough with that much magic in his life until the FGB hires on a new caseworker.

You Dance Dreams (61252 words) by lady_ragnell
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Enjolras/Grantaire, Floréal & Grantaire, Joly/Bossuet Laigle/Musichetta, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Characters: Grantaire (Les Misérables), Enjolras (Les Misérables), Floréal (Les Misérables), Joly (Les Misérables), Bossuet Laigle, Musichetta (Les Misérables), Combeferre (Les Misérables), Éponine Thénardier, Les Amis de l'ABC, Le Gros
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - College/University, Operas, Ballet, Slow Build, Oral Sex, Don't copy to another site
Series: Part 1 of You Dance
Summary:

For most of college, Grantaire was hopeless over Enjolras, and everyone but Enjolras knew it. Now he’s worked to get over his crush, and for the most part, he's fine. When Combeferre asks him to choreograph and dance in the Midsummer Night’s Dream-inspired opera he composed as his senior thesis, Grantaire says yes, even though he’s cast opposite Enjolras, as Puck to his Oberon. The chance to dance is worth the potential problems, and he'll have his friends as a buffer.

He doesn't count on long hours of practicing and choreographing and talking together, while they try to figure each other and their futures out. As much as he tries to avoid it, it seems inevitable that he falls for Enjolras again, and this time it isn't a crush.

Silence Is the Speech of Love (50104 words) by lady_ragnell
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Enjolras/Grantaire, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Cosette Fauchelevent/Marius Pontmercy, Courfeyrac/Cosette Fauchelevent/Marius Pontmercy
Characters: Grantaire (Les Misérables), Enjolras (Les Misérables), Éponine Thénardier, Combeferre (Les Misérables), Courfeyrac (Les Misérables), Fantine (Les Misérables), Les Amis de l'ABC
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Curses, Curse Breaking, Pining, Worldbuilding, Angst with a Happy Ending, Don't copy to another site
Series: Part 1 of The Speech of Love
Summary:

Grantaire's life has a pattern: he pays his respects to Aphrodite, he goes to work, he loves Enjolras and provokes him because he can't bring himself to do otherwise. That seems unlikely to change, at least until Enjolras speaks out against the gods and ends up cursed. Grantaire does his best to help him, but it turns out it's just as hard to love Enjolras up close as it is from afar.