It's beginning to look a lot like

[st_aurafina]

... escitalopram is making me a morning person. I don't know if I like this development. The emotional blunting seems to become more of a filter and less of a heavy blanket. I do think that's good. And today, when a particularly vile customer was nasty, I didn't lose my shit and cry. So, um, resilience? Maybe? IDK. (Be polite in shops, people. Be polite to your servers also.)

Joyful Links
Guys, the world is a trashfire right now, and I'm so sorry. If you're protesting this weekend, I send you strength and thanks and umbrellas to shelter you from sun (or water cannons should that be a thing.) If you're like me and have the chance and the need to hide from the world, I send you warm blankets (or cooling fans) and so many hugs.

I have some things that have brought me joy, and I hope they can bring you joy too:
- Via tassoss, this vid rec - Bob Ross - Happy Little Clouds
I am kinda earwormed with this now, but it oozes joy and contentedness and I am delight.

Watch on YouTube

- I'm not sure where I saw this linked, but it was a good reminder of what a boost this vid is, an insta-classic from last year's Festivids:
they're good dogs Brent [VID] (274 words) by bessyboo, Platinumvampyr
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: @dog_rates | WeRateDogs
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: @dog_rates | WeRateDogs - Character, Brent
Additional Tags: Dogs, Twitter, joy, Fanvids, Video Format: MP4, Video Format: Streaming, Download Available
Summary:

h*ckin good dogs.

- Via selenak, a fic rec for an X-Files/Batman crossover, with exactly (for me) the right mix of plot and feelings:
Grunt Work (9428 words) by audreycritter
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The X-Files, Batman - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Bruce Wayne
Additional Tags: Crossover, Early X-Files canon, Young!Bruce Wayne, the grand become the Batman training tour, references to obscure canon, tw: child abuse (mentioned), tw: brief violence against a child, crackfic will break your heart, Minor Angst, Monster of the Week, Werewolf
Summary:

Dana Scully returns from her vacation to find that Fox Mulder has acquired an intern.

The first problem is that he’s lying about who he is.

The second problem is that Mulder knows that and doesn’t seem to care.

Whatever his motive, young billionaires don’t just run around pretending to be interns for no reason, and that’s a case to solve in itself.

(Or, Bruce Wayne had to learn profiling from somebody— why not the best?)

- Fandom crafters will always amaze me:
Custom Amigurumi Exorcist Playset
You have to love a product description like this: "The two figures are connected by the puke stream, but Regan can be moved from the bed."

Science Joy
Mostly from science tumblr:
- from everywhere but I last saw it via umadoshi: Hey what’s up, that HTTYD 3 poster got me fucked up
From a tumblr person with quals in animation and animal and veterinary science, who talks sexual dimophism in nature, and just plain common sense. (And while this isn't a joyous post, there is so much joy in the application of academic study to something you love fannishly. I love that.)

- How to start fires with lemons, or as science tumblr puts it: When life gives you lemons, burn life's house down

- Satan's balloon animals, the Portuguese Man O'War
(cw: tentacles. Lots and lots of tentacles.)

- Not really science, but pleasing to me: 16 Anime Horses Rated by Someone Who Doesn’t Watch Anime
This comes after discovering My Horse Prince, a dating game where the handsome boys are centaurs only like, not human torsos on horse bodies as seen in mythology everywhere, but HUMAN HEADS ON HORSE NECKS.


[girl in pink cardigan talking to horse prince, panel one: "Oh. My. God. He's really hot!" Panel two: "No, he's a monster!"]

(Oh, honey. Run. Uphill. Hopefully that advice holds for monster pony princes as well as savage bulls.)

- Whale watching season is starting here, and we have a return customer called Odd Lips, who seems to be checking out all the beaches along the coast to have her calf: Southern right whale at Logans Beach
(I love whale watching season, most especially because of the united front of whale watchers who telegraph the locations and identities of the whales as they appear. And ferociously pursue and dress down anyone who goes too close to their precious whales.)


Reminders:
- The Person of Interest Big Bang:
Calling all Person of Interest fans
Signups are open for writers and artists

- Camp Nanowrimo starts tomorrow (at least in my hemisphere)
I'm in a cabin with people writing for the POI big bang, it's going to be fun. I hope.

- Sign-ups are closed but you can write treats for multifandomdrabble! Here's the request summary: Multifandom requests 2018.

Comments

[sassbandit]

Wait, I didn't realise nano did things at different times for us? I saw other people doing camp nano in... April wasn't it? I was thinking of doing it next year.

Ditto on the morning person thing btw. But I feel like that's partly because I'm drowsy/going to bed early in the evenings.

[st_aurafina]

Yeah, they do it a couple of times a year - you get to nominate your own word count. It's kinda handy for me.

I feel like that's partly because I'm drowsy/going to bed early in the evenings.

Yeah, but the fact that I'm going to bed early is a bit of an executive function win, so maybe it's the meds too? IDK. Brains, man. So weird.

[sassbandit]

Welp I'm finding the mornings pretty handy for pounding out words (did I mention that already?) so I'm not really complaining. Means I get to research/plot/muck around (and in future, redraft and polish) in the evenings without feeling like I'm distracting myself from the words thing. I averaged around 1100 words a day last week, which is 1.5x - 2x my usual rate. I would be *so excited* if this were a maintainable pace!

[raven]

I'm glad escitalopram is treating you a bit better!

[st_aurafina]

Thank you! Brain chemicals are so much fun, as you know.

[musesfool]

I linked to the dog vid a couple days ago in that meme! And I just recced that Batman/X-Files crossover. I loved (LOVED) Scully's disinclination to play along - she and Batman would be a GREAT team.

[st_aurafina]

Oh, thank you! It gave me much renewed joy. And yeah, that fic was amazing. Such a good dynamic.

[yuuago]

Glad to hear the meds are working for you!

(I keep misreading it as ectoplasm... is there something you are't telling us? ;p )

[st_aurafina]

I keep misreading it as ectoplasm...

Honestly, I like this better! I think I'll call it ectoplasm from here on out.

[vass]

Yay for resilience, and for filter rather than the bad sort of heavy blanket. Boo for customer being vile to you. That is weird re morning person-ness. (Are you taking it in the morning or the evening?)

Re the neck-centaurs... I think Hatoful Boyfriend may have made me jaded, because that looks weird yet not weird enough. I need more beheading and postapocalyptic dystopia and birds in maid outfits for it to be a proper fucked-up interspecies dating sim. :D

[gokuma]

Guillermo del Toro, Shape of Hayfield (2018) XD

[st_aurafina]

Yeah, Horse Prince is nothing like as dark as Hatoful Boyfriend. Just very NQR.

I'm taking my meds in the morning. It's still happening, though. So weird and not me at all.

[mierke]

My Horse Prince looks... interesting...? XD The things people come up with continually amaze me.

[st_aurafina]

Yeah, interesting is a good word for it!

[lurkingcat]

Ooh, thank you for the X-Files/Batman fic rec. That was very good.

[st_aurafina]

You're welcome! It was really good.

[singe]

Shitty customers are the shittiest. Sorry you have to go through that.

[st_aurafina]

Always! Why don't people learn better manners? Seriously.