Brain update, plus recs

[st_aurafina]

Hey new friends! Welcome!

Mental health update: My new LGBT-friendly unicorn of a GP has put my desvenlafaxine up to 150mg, because, as she says, when you're used to a low bar of mental health, you forget that there's a possibility for mood to be good. I've been at that dose for nearly a month now, and at first I was like, meh, it's not going to make a difference at this point. And then a few weeks in, I was like, ehh maybe it's better? And today I actually felt... good? In control? Is this what good mental health is? That last question is probably 50% sarcasm. Probably. It's getting dark and I'm crashing out again, in a low-key, I-know-what-this-is way, but I want to remember that there were some good moments.



The friending meme is ticking along very nicely, yay! I cruise around keeping an eye out for any hiccups, and I love seeing people making connections and having conversations. It's very heartening. We are a good bunch, fandom. Especially fandom on Dreamwidth.

Friending meme is here, for people who missed the link:



Reccing Thursday Sunday
I promised some Harold/John recs for nerakrose because yay new POI friend!!

astolat is great for Harold/John (and she wrote a really good and plotty Harold/Shaw/John fic too, if that's at all your jam.) I've picked a fave to link here:
Technical Support (Rated Explicit)
It's an AU where Harold is still working at IFT, and John takes a job as a security guard. I love an AU where circumstances change but the characters are still fundamentally themselves. There's an excellent cameo by Detective Carter, too: the way she diverts John from homelessness to a steady job really works for the set-up we saw in the pilot.

the_ragnarok is my go-to author for POI kinkfic - they write the kind of thought-driven, negotiated kink scenarios that focus on mental conversations and sensory descriptions. They're very good with AUs, especially AUs with otherworldy Finch, who occasionally has tentacles. (This is a good thing!) The fic I've linked isn't a kink fic, or a tentacle fic, but it is a vampire AU and it's excellent:
a creature more of night than day (Rated Explicit, Vampire AU)

talkingtothesky is a multishipper - I mean, if there's a rare pairing out there, Sky will have had a go at it. She is fearless! But I think Harold/John is one of the pairings of her heart. (Stop me if I'm wrong, here, Sky.) The one I've linked is set at the end of Identity Crisis, when Harold is off his nut on ecstasy. It's very tender:
Every Time I Fall You Catch Me (Rated Teen, implied drug use, missing scene)

canadianwheatpirates mostly writes (excellent) femslash, but there's also this short and hot Harold/John strip club AU:
For Your Entertainment, (Rated Explicit)

livenudebigfoot has done stellar work this year converting me to the emotionally-messed up yet tender lovefest that is John/Fusco, and I'd love to rec you all of their fic so you too can take that amazing journey, but since these are Harold/John recs, here's a very good, very wrought story set immediately after 2.16 Dead Reckoning:
Time Enough at Last (Rated Explicit)

I lean towards the supernatural in terms of what I prefer in an AU, and this one is fantastic: all ferocious magic and angelic language and fantastic mythology:
Irregular by manic_intent (Rated Mature, Dragon/Angel AU)

This last one is a crossover with something called the Lord Darcy Series, which is something I keep meaning to investigate, because based on this fic, it has a lot of tropes I like. Like, hand kissing. And swearing fealty. And mid-twentieth century spycraft merged with magic. Mix these things with Harold/John, and it's just about the most perfect feast of tropey goodness you can imagine.
For King and Country by killalla (Rated Teen, AU-fantasy)


As for upcoming fanworks in POI fandom, I'm hopeful there'll be a Person of Interest Big Bang this year, and possibly a Reverse Big Bang, which is where you write fic for a piece of art. Possibly the POI exchange. And I'm trying to get myself together early this time so I can run the POI advent.

livenudebigfoot and I are trying to get a Person of Interest bookclub kind of thing together where we all read a fic - we're planning on starting with the last Big Bang. I'm not sure where we're hosting it yet - we're wavering between DW, Discord or giving Pillowfort a try.

Comments

[smallhobbit]

Ooh, lots of POI possibilities coming up. I doubt I'd do a BigBang (too many words for me), but an exchange I could manage. And POI Advent would be lovely! So I'm looking forward to whatever you find manageable :)

[nay_o_mee]

oh, I remember that feeling of 'wait, is this what a good day feels like... what do I DO with it?' and wish you many more - only with less confusion!

[paulamcg]

Thank you so much for your connecting giraffes! You can rest assured that through your friending meme you’ve made a lot of people feel better. I wish you more and more good moments and periods.

[wendelah1]

livenudebigfoot and I are trying to get a Person of Interest bookclub kind of thing together where we all read a fic - we're planning on starting with the last Big Bang. I'm not sure where we're hosting it yet - we're wavering between DW, Discord or giving Pillowfort a try.

Good for you! Let me know how it goes.

[rhoda_rants]

Okay, so many people are flooding my feed with squee about POI and I have no idea what it's even about. I clearly need to add that to my binging queue.

Also, yay for discovering what a Good Mood feels like!

[the_rck]

The Lord Darcy series is set in a universe in which the Plantagenets kept England and Normandy and the Aquitaine and expanded their holdings so that, in the present day, they have an empire with a powerful, hereditary aristocracy. The Reformation never happened. Magic is treated like science. The titular character is a detective working for the King. Lord Darcy can't work magic, so he has a sorcerer with whom he works closely. Master Sean, the sorcerer, does magical crime scene analysis.

There are two books worth of short stories and one novel by Randall Garrett plus a couple of books set in the same universe that were written by other authors after Garrett's death. Garrett's stories were published in the 1960s and 1970s. They're reasonable mysteries, but they're not much more than that.

[lightbird]

I'm so glad you found an LGTB-friendly GP who cares and that you are getting the medical and mental health care you need!

[talkingtothesky]

Psst, one of your AO3 author links doesn't work - it's the_ragnarok
(https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_ragnarok/pseuds/the_ragnarok)

I love their Vampire Harold AU very much.

♥

Your new worried John icon is giving me feels - who is he looking at?

Can we combine the Big Bang and Reverse Big Bang into the same event, I wonder? There would need to be separate signups and claiming, but the rest could stay the same.

[pauraque]

Seconded!

[shanaqui]

Venlafaxine seems to have given my wife a similar thing -- it took a while, and then the dimmer switch came unstuck and there was a range of mood again. It still varies, but the lows are less low.

[spikedluv]

Eeeeh! Thank you for these links!

[sperrywink]

Oh! I'm also on Desvenlafax! I'm on 75mg, one 50mg pill and one 25mg pill. When I go up to 100mg, I feel off and verging on manic, so I have to keep below that.

I've been on it for over a decade now, and that with Abilify work wonders for me. Best med mix I've ever been on for depression.

[nerakrose]

aahhh thank you so much for these recs! I can't wait to dive in. :D

I'm glad you have a good GP who looks out for your mental health. tbh I should probably be on antidepressants but I have no idea how to even bring it up to my GP without sounding like a faker.

[copracat]

Good work, Dr Unicorn :)

[heartonsnow]

I do have fandoms such as UK telly shows and 80's goth, but I never find anyone else like that on DW. I will have a look thro tho!

[fred_mouse]

w.r.t. Lord Darcy - it has not aged well, so don't hold, say, the sexual politics to a modern standard.

[laurenthemself]

Is this what good mental health is?

I mean I know you weren't asking me personally, but I would have no idea XD

[adafrog]

Sounds like a very smart doctor. Glad it seems to be working.
I know sometimes my problem with not wanting to change meds was because I just wasn't sure it wouldn't get worse. :/

[mierke]

when you're used to a low bar of mental health, you forget that there's a possibility for mood to be good
Ain't that the truth. I hope the meds keep making a difference!

[st_aurafina]

Yay! It's a fairly small big bang - I think the minimum is 10k? But yeah, that's still a lot. Hopefully the exchange is going ahead, though. Advent was fun last year but hectic - I want to be better organised this time around.

[st_aurafina]

Yes, exactly that. And thanks - I hope there's more on the way? I think it's important to note them as they come so I remember.

[st_aurafina]

You're very welcome! <3

[st_aurafina]

I will!

[st_aurafina]

Ohhh, it's about so many good things. I wonder if anyone's written a primer?

[rhoda_rants]

Well what platform is it on? How do I watch it?

---

[st_aurafina]

It's not streaming in Australia, and I can't say for other countries. It was on Netflix in the UK last year. I have it on DVD, or, of course, there are other ways.

It's a closed canon - finished in 2016. But lots of fun, lots of AIs and loyalty kink and tough ladies.

[st_aurafina]

Okay - thanks for letting me know. I'll just enjoy the crossover instead.

[st_aurafina]

Thank you! Me too! She's great.

[st_aurafina]

<3 thank you!

[st_aurafina]

Oop, thank you! And yeah, it's an excellent vampire AU. Harold has very sharp teeth and that pleases me for some reason.

Your new worried John icon is giving me feels - who is he looking at?
Harold's sharp teeth? No, it's more like, is Harold looking pale? Should I go steal a few bags of A+?

There would need to be separate signups and claiming, but the rest could stay the same.
So, like, run them out of the same collection? Yeah, for sure. That would work well!

<3

[st_aurafina]

It still varies, but the lows are less low.

Yes, this is what I am finding. Still cycling, but the wave moved upwards a bit so the peaks are higher, and the troughs are not as deep.

It's a relief.

[st_aurafina]

You are so welcome!

[st_aurafina]

Ooh, we don't have a 25mg tablet here - starting dose is 50mg. I did have a bit of a manic phase when I first went up to 150mg but it's settled down now.

Brains, man. So weird.

[st_aurafina]

Thanks! *hugs* She's great.

[st_aurafina]

You're welcome for the recs - any time! I am always happy to go on and on and on about POI. (And on, and on!)

I have no idea how to even bring it up to my GP without sounding like a faker.
Oh, man, no. If they think you're a faker, they're a bad doctor.

If it helps you to bring up the topic, I'd suggest filling out a checklist and taking it to your GP? This one from Beyond Blue is good: Anxiety and Depression Checklist.

[st_aurafina]

I'll cross my fingers there's someone there for you to add!

[st_aurafina]

You're not the first one to tell me this, so I think I'll be leaving it at enjoying the crossover for now.

[st_aurafina]

It's very startling. I will update you from these alien heights of sanity.

<3

[st_aurafina]

I know sometimes my problem with not wanting to change meds was because I just wasn't sure it wouldn't get worse.

Oh, I know the feeling. But this doctor is very good at giving me the info, and discussing what we'll do if it doesn't work, so I felt reasonably safe giving it a go.

[st_aurafina]

It so is the truth, I am finding.

And thanks - me too.

[fred_mouse]

:)
Yes, there was good world building that can be taken advantage of.

[rhoda_rants]

Looks like it's on Netflix here--yay! I shall add it to the queue!

---

[heartonsnow]

Not so far, I really don't do all those usual fandoms! Still, I can complete a form myself!

I just joined a Tim Minchin fanpage on Facebook!

[adafrog]

Oh good.

[falena]

Oooh, Poi fic recs! Loads. ❤️ I've read everything by astolat because I always check her out when I fall into a new fandom. But I'm not familiar with any of the other authors you mentioned. Yay. I hope the POI book club will get off the ground.

[st_aurafina]

Yay! Astolat is always a good bet, but there's a lot out there now.

And yeah, the book club is off and running:
Book Club for January 2020

[falena]

Yay! *joins the comm* Thanks.

[nerakrose]

thanks!!

I just have bad GP experiences, so I'm wary. I'll sort it all out eventually...