I never knew till now how much I wanted to do a content warning for glory holes

[st_aurafina]

I'm deep in the reconstruction of my wipbigbang, and it's just so ugh. I have to keep reminding myself that I like this fic. I do like this fic. I do. *kicks it*

I have some neural network links because neural networks are awesome and the future.
- Ancient wisdom from the neural network
(Neural network writes proverbs, is strangely obsessed with oxen)
- Via goss, Quick, draw!
(Can a neural network learn to recognize doodling? Not mine, not often.)
- A Neural Network Turned A Book Of Flowers Into Shockingly Lovely Dinosaur Art
(It really is lovely. Would frame!)
- Inspirobot
I am an artificial intelligence dedicated to generating unlimited amounts of unique inspirational quotes for endless enrichment of pointless human existence.
(It is very addictive and weirdly profound.)


Now that I'm looking at this, it would make an awesome icon. Not really sure what one could use it for, though.


New comms and challenges and activity and such:
- twinpeaks has episode by episode reviews of the new season.
If, like me, you feel a little wracked by Twin Peaks ep 8, there is a discussion post up here: Episode Discussion: Part Eight. With lots of links to other reviews. My mind is blown. I just. *stutters in confusion and possibly pain*

- drawesome: A Multi-fandom Drawing community for FanArtists (both traditional and digital art)

ETA: - fandomgiftbox has sign-ups open! A summer fanworks gifting fest inspired by fandom_stocking. Sign-ups are here: 2017 Sign Up Post.

- unconventionalcourtship is running again, you can go pick a prompt here at Plot suggestions.

I am eying this one for Root/Shaw:
London, 1839
Ex-cavalry officer Captain Grahame Westmore is restless for change, but escorting a diplomat’s spoiled daughter to Vienna isn’t what he had in mind—though for once he hasn’t been hired for his skills in pleasuring women! Independent, fiery and strong-willed, Elowyn Bagshaw is not the simpering lady he expected. Used to getting her own way and giving the orders, Elowyn will not be controlled so easily. Grahame soon realizes that he’s got a fight on his hands—and it’s one they’re both going to enjoy!
Rakes Who Make Husbands Jealous
Only London's best lovers need apply

Reasons to do this:
1. Shaw pretending to be a man
2. Shaw escorting a duplicitous Root pretending to be a diplomat's daughter
3. Shaw in cavalry uniform
4. Shaw in cavalry uniform on a horse
5. Shaw in cavalry uniform on a horse with Root holding on behind as they flee, flee from danger

Reasons not to do this:
1. All the other unfinished fics I have
2. I don't know anything about history ever
*sighs*

Nearly home time for me, then it's nose to the grindstone in fic town.

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

Independent, fiery and strong-willed, Elowyn Bagshaw is not the simpering lady he expected. Used to getting her own way and giving the orders, Elowyn will not be controlled so easily.

LOL, I don't think not knowing the history should bother you. You should do whatever you feel like in honour of the author of the original book, who certainly wasn't bothered about history, or they wouldn't have named the heroine Elowyn, which is... not even a name. I'm impressed; I thought I'd seen the worst, but I have to salute them on that. You should set your fic in the hot and sunny summer of 1816 and have all the side characters called Carolyn who are probably really time-travellers who don't fit in and wear wristwatches and carry mobile phones. It would be totally in the spirit of unconventionalcourtship! (It might mess up the story, of course, though, there is that...)

But in any case, I don't think lack of historical knowledge should prevent you, although it's fair enough if the WIPs line up and stop you.


I've seen some others of those inspirational thingies going round. they are, er, quite something!

[st_aurafina]

You have given me the courage to give the fic a go! Who cares about historic accuracy, anyway? (Me. That's who. *sighs*)

[thisbluespirit]

Just wave a hand knowingly and don't call people Carolyn, Lindsey, Eden etc. You will be fine! Yay! \o/

[vass]

Shaw in cavalry uniform on a horse with Root holding on behind as they flee, flee from danger

YES

"glory holes begin where other people end"

Deep, man. And technically accurate, I suppose.

A Neural Network Turned A Book Of Flowers Into Shockingly Lovely Dinosaur Art

Those are stunning.

[st_aurafina]

I love the dinosaurs - they're pretty and also quite odd. It's only just occurred to me how awesome it would be to have a tattoo of one of them. Maybe stegosaurus?

Inspirobot is awesome - the terrible stock images make everything so very profound.

[redfiona99]

>>3. Shaw in cavalry uniform<< May I add 3b - Shaw in cavalry uniform with a cavalry sabre.

The drawing neural net gets about 1/2 of mine. I have discovered that there are people out there with much better mouse-drawing skills than me.

[st_aurafina]

Oh, you may add that, indeed. That definitely needs to be added.

The neural net was interesting in the way that sometimes it could look nothing like the object, but if it had the right bits, it could be identified. Like, a dorsal fin on a box = defs a shark.

[talkingtothesky]

Shaw in cavalry uniform on a horse with Root holding on behind as they flee, flee from danger
*gay gasp* I SUPPORT THIS

Best of luck with the WIPBB!

[st_aurafina]

You damn enabler, with your gay gasps!

And like, Shaw would have a neat little queue of hair. Maybe a riding crop, I dunno. Root would have ringlets, I'm pretty sure.

I have this whole ASI subplot worked out with Harold and Babbage engines and the telegraph. I'm so screwed.

[netgirl_y2k]

I would read that unconventialcourtship fic every day and twice on sundays!

[st_aurafina]

Oh man, I need to write it! Shaw with brass buttons and breeches and top boots! Root in a corset, with hat pins for lock picks!

[gehayi]

How come all of the examples over at unconventionalcourtship are male/female? What about Carina Press, which started as Harlequin's imprint for same-sex pairings? Or similar presses that cater to the LGBTQ market, like Less Than Three Press or Dreamspinner Press?

[st_aurafina]

I'm not the organiser, so I can't say. I'm gender swapping mine very happily.

[out_there]

I think its simply a collection of 300 or so summaries, but the prompts listed are examples. They do say that any romance novel summary can be used, and that it doesn't have to be taken from Mills and Boon or Harlequin specifically (I don't think that one's mentioned in the rules, but it was asked in the signup post, I think. I definitely saw it in a comment.)

So you could use them if you cared enough to track down an example -- and hopefully it would just as cliche-ridden and ridiculous as some of these prompts.

[lyssie]

I think the list was just the ones they initially pulled. You can also use the prompt generator... http://unconventionalcourtship.dreamwidth.org/20722.html

[singe]

I def want a flowery T-Rex.

[st_aurafina]

Aren't they pretty? I actually think they'd make some great tattoo art.

[talkingtothesky]

I used the unconventionalcourtship generator with PoI, and look at the perfection that resulted!

530) The Cabin by Carla Neggers
Greed and vengeance disrupt the quiet stillness of the Adirondack mountains.
Texas Ranger Sameen knows her wife Jocelyn loves her, so when their marriage hits a rough patch, she supports her decision to take their two teenaged sons to Boston for a break. But when a few weeks turns into several months, Shaw heads to Boston to get her family back.
Packing up the boys and her grandmother, Joss heads to her cabin in the Adirondacks, trying to escape her fears, her secrets and even the woman she loves. Little does she know she's being followed, not just by her wife but by a murderer…
Ex-convict John left a mess back in Texas, and he'll never forgive Sameen for killing his dream of becoming a Texas Ranger himself. Obsessed with revenge, he's got his sights set on Shaw's family. Trapped in the mountains, Shaw and Joss must find strength in each other if they hope to keep their family together and escape the cabin alive.


Edit: Also...

460) All or Nothing by Debbi Rawlins
Innocent until proven guilty?
Working as a personal trainer at a posh Manhattan hotel is far from fulfilling Samantha’s Broadway dreams, but it has its own rewards. Not least of which are some of the seriously sexy clients she gets to work up a sweat with…
Such as rough-around-the-edges producer Sameen who thinks Root’s got what it takes to be a star. Problem is, Shaw is really an undercover cop out to catch a thief – and Root is her prime suspect. Now Root needs to prove her innocence, but Shaw is determined to pin down her culprit.
With a smouldering attraction sizzling between the pair, the game is on!

[st_aurafina]

Oh god, that first one is just amazing - is it weird that I'm most taken by the idea of Shaw and Carter being married? I have honestly never considered it, but wow, that would work.

Problem is, Shaw is really an undercover cop out to catch a thief – and Root is her prime suspect.

It's just so oddly plausible to me! It's so POI for everyone not to be who they say. But Root would be a terrible PT omg. She'd be so heavy handed with the taser.

The prompt generator rules my heart, for real.

[used_songs]

This sounds like an opportunity to do RESEARCH, the most fun part of writing!

[st_aurafina]

I love research! That's the problem - I would spend all my time researching and no time writing iddish fic that doesn't need research.

I'm already deep in researching the electric telegraph. It's been around for two years in 1839. Harold would be so into it.

[out_there]

Bad history examples make me worry, too, but the spirit of this challenge isn't really on the detail of being well researched. It's more about the appeal of characters in nice clothes on horseback, certainly.

[st_aurafina]

That's true. But it's all so interesting!

I am certainly finding the visual research of early Victorian cavalry uniforms very... edifying.

[out_there]

[st_aurafina]

See - sometimes it spits out such great, odd things. And then there's the glory holes.

Neural networks are my new favourite thing, I think.

[out_there]

And then there's the glory holes.

*snerk* Exactly.

[dhampyresa]

A good man is worth doing well. (from the neural net proverbs)
Oh, myyyyyyyy.

[st_aurafina]

It's so profound and yet filthy, I love it!

[adafrog]

That inspirobot is highly amusing.

Love the flower dinos.

[st_aurafina]

Inspirobot is inspiring and yet and weirdly dirty. It's so funny.

I am thinking I might get the brachiosaur as a tattoo. It would be amazing to have a dinosaur tattoo designe by a neural network.

[adafrog]

It is weirdly dirty. So odd.

That would be very cool.

[sandrine]

The inspirational glory holes quote is hilarious! OMG! :D

ETA: Also, the doodle thing is far too addictive. I can't stop!

[st_aurafina]

It's so addictive, and so filthy! I love it.

[lyssie]

So what you're saying is, you're going to write Shaw crossdressing fic with Moscow Rules and Root manipulating political shenanigans and swords and horses.

(yes, please)

[st_aurafina]

Basically, yeah. And something something telegraph analogy for artificial intelligence. *handwaves*

I'm currently falling down the well of military uniform fandom, trying to choose a regiment for Shaw and Cole.

[heartonsnow]

Your subject title is hilarious! I am addicted to inspirobot which I discovered on Facebook!

[st_aurafina]

Inspirobot is great - so cheerful and so accidentally filthy.

[grav_ity]

Hello, I do not watch...Person of Internet? Oh, it's in your tags, yes Person of Interest, but anyway: I WOULD READ THE HECK OUT OF THAT FIC.

[st_aurafina]

Yay for cavalry shenanigans with the ladies!