NEVER Listen To Fiction Podcastst They Put Viruses In Your Brain Called FICTION PODCAST. BEWARE!!!

2 genres of fanfiction:

1) put that guy into situations

2) take that guy OUT of situations for the love of GOD let them REST 

In a fit of pure work calendar muscle memory I invited my boss to my doctor's appointment.

Off to a great start today, lads.

I am once again on my soap box about @camlannpod

The heroes of this podcast are actively running from their fate, from the myths and stories attached to their names. They are trebucheted into a world of royalty, knights, monsters, enchanted forests and magic. But the thing about our heroes is they are irredeemable nerds and even while trying to escape the narratives laid out for them, they:

Get excited about the prospect of historical reenactment clothes/costumes

Enjoy being able to exercise their nerd-knowledge in this new world (e.g., Perry and how the iron in the electric fence repels the Fair Folk)

Talk about how the mythical names they were either given or chose are still special to them.

But there's more.

On my fourth listen, it really stuck me how much this podcast is about defying the path laid out for you, especially when it comes to who you love.

It's also about the complicated beauty of families of choice, the communities of love and support we build with people who we don't share blood with.

And lastly (but certainly not leastly) it's about the power of names, what it means to take, keep or let go of them.

Might have to go back and give it a fifth listen.

I'm a proud future owner of a Camlann tape 🙋🏼 I clicked so very fast when I got the notification. So excited for it to arrive🔥!

WE HAVE CASSETTE TAPES!

Yep, you read that right, you can now acquire Camlann's beautiful original soundtrack by @tincanaudio on cassette. It features some incredible art too - including a cover by @arianwells and graphic design and illustrations by Moira Daykin!

You can buy a cassette here from Bandcamp for just £9 (triads, get it?), and we are shipping worldwide!

There are only 100 of these cassettes, and Amber will be hand-numbering each one. They really are unique.

All proceeds raised from the sales will go towards making season 2, which is a thing we are still trying to do and will only be able to do with your help.

Keep the fires burning.

Since 2023 I've been putting together an almanac and nature guide. It first started as notes on my phone and it's now become a fairly huge project and labour of love. I'll be posting things like:

How to find south by looking at Orion and the branches of trees

When foxes have kits and swallows migrate

The early signs of spring

Irish folklore about the Devil spitting on blackberries and how to ward off bad luck if you catch sight of the new moon

How to know if there's a storm coming by examining the clouds

I recommend this blog for anyone looking to learn about and connect with nature in new ways. It would also be helpful to writers for help with your natural settings, in fact, this project started when I was doing research for a fic!

About This Blog

This blog grew naturally out of my project to put together a perpetual almanac and guide to nature for my friends and I. All of the things I've learned have brought me so much unexpected joy and have really changed simple things like walks and how I look at trees, the stars, clouds, the weeds in the verges and more.

The Lay of the Land

In monthly almanac posts I'll share what's happening with the plants, the animals and the skies, as well as some applicable folklore and traditions. These will be tagged with #almanac and posted in the first few days of every month.

!! Please note that while it may sometimes cover edible plants, this almanac is not a foraging guide !!

I'll also be posting about natural navigation techniques and general knowledge to help you understand what you're looking at and to give you things to observe and notice year-round. These will be tagged with #naturalnavigation and/or #natureknowledge.

I'll add my sources and further reading/listening recommendations to each post.

Posts will relate largely to the Northern Hemisphere, with plant and animal information mostly applicable to Ireland, the UK and northern Europe. Some information can be flipped for the southern hemisphere (e.g. the sun and moon travel across the southern sky for those in the northern hemisphere, and the northern sky for those in the southern hemisphere).

Come Along

If you'd like to come along for the adventure, I recommend that you keep your own notes of the posts and tips that interest you. You can also think about looking ahead and using other sources to note the dates of the spring and neap tides where you are (highest high-tides and lowest low-tides) and the dates of the new and full moon. When recording monthly information about the planets, I recommend you look for their rise and set times and what portion of the sky you can expect to see them in. This is not only another thing to track, but it will help you correctly identify the planets. If you aren't living in the same part of the world as me, you could also note down what the plants and animals are up to where you are.

Mad excited to share this project with you all!

I'd loveee a fantasy setting where healing magic is unstable!!!

Archer missing shots because their finger calluses are gone.

Warrior struggling to intimidate the enemy because their hoarse voice was made softer.

Mage with fresh eyesight blinded by their own spells.

Unable to remove enchanted piercing jewellery because the piercing holes aren't there anymore.

Magical tattoos dripping off the skin.

Sensory overload from better hearing, eyesight, smell, touch, and taste.

Eeee finally, the old man yaoi Christmas story I've been waiting for and it's PERFECT 😭❤️! Look at our not boys being nervous and brave. And their mistletoe plans at the end, I squealed. Thank you @liviapeleia for this Christmas miracle.

for the @merlinmicrofic prompts "And the truth?" and "frozen" Gaius/Geoffrey, G, no warnings, 490 words + 500 words, AO3 link

Summary: After Alice had to flee Camelot, Gaius finds a sympathetic ear - and possibly more - in Geoffrey.

Dedicated to @mightybog, who has proven a staunch supporter of my idea that Gaius and Geoffrey should go on a Christmas market date. So, happy Advent season, and happy old man romance season!

oh hush the noise, ye men of strife, and hear the angels sing

chapter 1 (prompt: And the truth?)

Sometimes it's not the search for bookish wisdom that drives a person to the library. Sometimes a person might shuffle wearily that way because it is the path they've always taken when at their wit's end.

Alice had been rescued, and yet, to Gaius, she was lost, once again. He doubted he would ever see her again, and under the circumstances that was for the best – he couldn't have gone with her and left Merlin to his own devices, the foolish boy, and Alice could not stay, too great the risk of discovery.

Uther's laws had driven her from Camelot a second time. Whatever resentment Gaius might feel at that, he neatly packed it away. It was not so bad, the life of an old bachelor. At least he would wake no-one if he snored.

The library was blessedly quiet. His feet carried him to the medicine and anatomy tomes on their own accord. So much time had he spent here with Alice, more than two decades ago. Back then, the collection had been so much more expansive. Now, half of it was missing. Knowledge hidden, shunned, burnt.

He stared at the bookshelf like it was a metaphor for his own life.

“What is it you're looking for, old friend?” came Geoffrey's voice from somewhere next to him, surprisingly gentle and surprisingly close. The man could be more quiet than you'd think, or maybe Gaius was just developing paracusis.

“A book.”

“You'd think so, in a place like this.” Geoffrey sounded vaguely amused, but then he focused his gaze and his concern firmly on Gaius. “And the truth?”

Gaius hummed. “Maybe I needed to get out of my workshop for a while.”

“Escaping the young folks?”

“Merlin was right, and I was wrong. Sometimes it's not easy to admit. That you've been blind. And wilfully so.”

“Is it about Alice?”

The bluntness felt like salt in the wound, though probably it was cauterisation, painful in the moment but beneficent in the long run.

“I had thought we could continue where we'd left off, twenty-odd years ago. But I realise I chased a dream. We've both changed, we're not the same people anymore who fell in love back then.”

“And she also tried to murder the king,” Geoffrey added pointedly.

Despite himself, Gaius chortled. “That too, I suppose.”

Geoffrey betrayed his own amusement only with a twitch of the corner of his mouth, an assassination attempt being no laughing matter after all, but it was enough to show his commiseration, and for them to connect over the absurdity of the situation.

“For what it's worth, you still have me. And now you better go back to supervise your boy before he sets fire to the workshop.”

Gaius saw right through the attempt to pry his attention away from the books, from the past, from Alice, but let it happen nevertheless, secretly grateful, and took his leave. “Thank you, my friend.”

“Anytime.”

chapter 2 (prompt: frozen)

Sometimes it's not the need for a remedy that drives a person to the physician's workshop, though by the time he reached the end of those stairs, Geoffrey might actually need one.

Winter had settled over Camelot. The days were cold and crisp, the windows opaque with frost flowers, and Geoffrey's old knees a bit stiff and achy as he made his way upstairs.

“Ah,” said Gaius, looking up from a phial and owlishly squinting at Geoffrey before remembering to take his reading glasses off.

“I've never quite understood why they put the physician in a tower,” Geoffrey huffed, trying to catch his breath. “Am I interrupting, are you busy?” He almost hoped he was, so he could have an excuse to delay his plan – whoever claimed that being nervous undertaking endeavours in the area of romance were the sole domain of young folks was clearly wrong.

“Nothing that can't wait. You are a most welcome visitor for whom I gladly set aside my experiment.”

Most welcome? Geoffrey stood an inch taller.

“I was wondering if I might tempt you to a breath of fresh air? The merchants have set up the winter market, and...” Whatever he had planned to end the sentence on fled his mind.

“If you don't mind being seen with an old fool?”

“Please, Gaius, I've never once considered you a fool.”

“I'll fetch my coat then. Merlin, if you're done with your reading you can finish this, see if you can perfect the tincture, just–”

“–don't blow it up again, I know.”

Geoffrey hadn't even noticed the boy sitting there, looking back and forth between them with dawning understanding and something between fascination and juvenile mild disgust.

Was it so obvious? Geoffrey's face was suddenly burning.

The market was lovely. Frost-coated trees glistened in the sun. Fire baskets created pockets of warmth as respite from the frozen world.

They each got an earthen cup of mulled wine to warm their hands on, which Geoffrey insisted on paying for, then took to ambling, admiring the artisans' work. Geoffrey bought himself a knit hat and preened when Gaius called it “quite fetching”.

Gaius acquired a bag of roasted almonds and insisted on sharing, and then they carelessly reached for it simultaneously and their fingers brushed, and both of them stilled and the touch lingered for a moment. After a conspicuously inconspicuous glance, Gaius hastily pointed out a vendor's impressive supply of dried herbs, a welcome treasure in the winter.

“And look at that, fresh mistletoe,” he noted, and after clearing his throat and shuffling his feet added, “I should get some for my apothecary. And you could get some to decorate the library. Or your home.”

“Hm,” Geoffrey said, heart racing. “Only if you help me hang them. And you could stay for a while. Admire the decoration.”

“I'll take five,” Gaius told the vendor, and then, mistletoe and almonds in one hand, and reaching for Geoffrey's own hand with the other, marched back towards the castle.

my three favourite genders of podcast protag: Can Never Do Anything Wrong Ever™, Oh God They Do So Much Wrong And I Hope They Get Worse™, and Miserable Wet Cat Begrudgingly Discovers Friendship™

Another Merlin sketch

Turned Mary Oliver's poem, Wild Geese, into a picture book!

A personal project for the summer.