a million little pieces are stolen from you

Democracy Now: Black Liberation Activist Assata Shakur, 78, Dies in Cuba After Decades in Exile.

I'm grateful for all the work she did, and all the people she inspired. I'm sorry she never got to go home. I don't know what she believed about death, but I hope she's home now.

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I've been engaging in fandom very little, but here's a couple things I really loved:

The Tailor by SoHeresDaThing
Fandom: The Fantastic Four: First Steps (Ben Grimm/Female Reader)
Word Count: WIP (34k and counting).
Rating: Mature
Summary: You were just a tailor. A nobody. An old friend of Sue's from college she happened to remember before her wedding. You'd helped her then, gotten them all fitted before the big day. That was... before everything. Now they were different. Now the world saw them different. And still, after it all, Sue's calling you again to come help her friend.
Notes: This is a WIP, but the author is updating regularly, so I think she's good for it. It's also readerfic, and if that's not your thing... maybe give it a try? There's no Y/N stuff, and the reader is more of a fully realised OFC than the ephemeral readers you get for say tumblr prompt fills, so this is basically a romance novel in second person. There's a plot and everything. The relationship is really sweet, and there's both lovely angst and a cool look at the team's life before the film.

As It Was by GlendyLucast
Fandom: The Pacific (Andy/Eddie)
Word Count: ART!
Rating: NSFW
Summary: A mini comic inspired by Hozier "As It Was" featuring my favorite pair from The Pacific.
Notes: I don't know the song, but this art is really really beautiful, and really really sad. Bang on for this pairing. Love it! (Apparently this got their tumblr banned, so it'd be extra nice to send them some love on AO3.)

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Is anyone else really enjoying the Deluxe* edition of Miley Cyrus' Something Beautiful? It's so 1980s and off kilter, like someone spun a Madonna album into slightly abstract electronica with a bunch of spoken word, but also kept some of the pop hits. Pitchfork complained that it's a "concept album without a concept" which is fair, but might also be why I like it so much.

The pop queens being into the 1980s is working for me, generally. We're getting it from Miley, Sabrina and Doja Cat this year, that I can think of off the top of my head.

RAYE's ramping up for a second album, and I don't know what to think. I love everything she does, of course, but there's no way she can/should try for the intensity of My 21st-Century Blues, and the singles so far seem like it's going to be more jazzy.


* I'm so tired of deluxe editions. This is why no one buys music anymore! You just roll out an album, and then days/weeks/months later there's the same album again but with more songs on it. What's the point? If you have more songs, and can't wait for the next album cycle, put out a fucking EP! It's not quite as obnoxious as the Album Part 1/Full Album Later thing, but it's still very annoying to me. I'm not blaming the artists, though, as I assume it's B.S. from the label.

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Me: I'm trying to manifest more time to read non-school stuff by getting novels from the library.
Brother: Is that working?
Me: No. Now I just have a pile of library books.

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I was really excited for the new season of Peacemaker, then haven't been watching it. Or anything else.

Haven't done this one in a while. Following AO3, not the drabbles/ficlets only posted to DW. Also haven't written in a while, so most of these are a few years old.


Share the first and last lines of the last five stories you have posted to AO3.

The Fire and the Ember, Masters of the Air, Marge/Peggy

First: They didn't really need to climb in through Marge's bedroom window, it wasn't like her parents didn't know that Peggy was spending the weekend, but it was tradition at this point.

Last: She pressed her nose against the back of Marge's neck, and did just that.


A Fire in Arkansas, Band of Brothers, Johnny/Bull

First: Johnny figured that the old saw "smooth runs the water where the brook is deep" had been invented by someone who'd known Bull Randleman, but even he didn't expect what his corporal said as they sat in a meagre pool of shade half a mile out of Helena, Arkansas.

Last: He clapped Bull on the arm, Bull shoved him back, and they jogged forward towards the rising sun.


Natasha's Christmas Plans, Top Gun: Maverick, Natasha/Callie

First: "So here's the plan," Natasha said as she closed the hatch to the stateroom she shared with Callie.

Last: First chance she got, she was going to find some plastic mistletoe to tape to the bottom of her bunk, but for now they didn't need it.


Across the Waves, Across the Heather, Kidnapped! by RLS, Davie/Alan

First: Alan landed on the deck of the Covenant breathless and reeling, all those good men dead, and nearly himself as well.

Last: "Oh, I could kiss you!" Alan cried, and then did.


Every Time He Hears Their Voices (An End of the Affair Remix), Band of Brothers, Don/Skip/Alex

First: This is the moment Don has lived in since the tenth of January 1945: He's tucked back away from the line, catching a few minutes rest as he tries to choke down beans that half froze the instant Joe Domingo ladled them onto his plate.

Last: This is what does: all of the days after.

Content notes for suicide, self harm and grooming, on this one. I'd seen reference to this story, but hadn't realised how bad it was.