Hiding fandom in the underwear drawer since 1977

I've included vegetarians, nut free and gluten-free in my menu planning for decades.  Switch to flavorful vegetable stock?  No problem!  Go flourless in baking?!  No problem!  Provide an au jus rather than just a roux-based gravy?  No problem!  Deathly allergies or sensitivities to red meat, nuts, fish, shellfish, melon (we've got all of these in the family) -- no problem -- you just keep them out of the kitchen.  I've scrounged substitutes for gelatin when making mousse-related desserts.  I can do it all.  My typical approach when accomodating a guest who has a serious allergy is that I just don't bring the offending item into the kitchen at all. 

Granted, the time I hosted a dinner party for vegetarians AND those who didn't eat eggs, nuts, or gluten was... challenging as many of these things substituted one for another.  It was so stressful I wrote about it in Culinary Diplomacy.  For dessert I made something from chickpea paste and a vegan chocolate fondue. 

But... this time... I have a vegan coming to Thanksgiving and I'm deeply resentful.  It's my niece and she's a moron who thinks everything she reads on the Internet is TRUE.  Last year I gave her a huge box of baking supplies -- many of which had significant emotional significance to me --  because she was super interested in learning baking from me.  I printed up a dozen of my favorite recipes and offered to teach her how to make them.  And then she became vegan and this amazing gift I gave her mostly sits gathering dust and when she does try to make something, it is really gross or has an overwhelming flavor of coconut or vegetable shortening.   

So, I'm trying to be less resentful and more philosophical.  Really!  I'm trying to find things that don't all taste like coconut.  I'm trying to not spend a fortune on weird, fake food and manufactured alternatives. So please share your favorite vegan dishes or dessert.  I do not, as far as I know, have any nut or gluten allergies coming, so BRING IT ON.  I have a couple of GF desserts from King Arthur Flour, the one pan chocolate cake, and peanut butter chocolate layer cake, and can do an all shortening pie crust.  Let me know if you've got something else!

Also, the person who usually comes and brings an amazing pork sausage stuffing is not coming this year so HIT ME UP.  Please share your favorite stuffing recipes!!

So with all the news from D23 (the Marvel What If with Hayley Atwell voicing "Captain Britain), the return of Kat Dennings, Ming Na Wen being in the Mandalorian? And directing, Dave Filoni doing his first live action, plus Deborah Chow, Bryce Dallas Howard and Taika Waititi?? And Ewan McGregor back as Obi-Wan.
What do you all think? Is Disney+ worth my money? And of course, with all these streaming services, eventually we will be offered bundles, which means we are back to... cable.

And the new sizzle reel is up and I pretty much sobbed through the first full minute of it. I didn't like Attack of the Clones, but apart from such a loving look at Han, Luke, and Leia, I really enjoyed the glimpse of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon and Maul but damn, why Boba Fett and not more Padme? WHY WHY WHY. And yeah, Rey's double bladed red light saber and costume are super cool. And with those ISDs? Is that a Katana-like fleet?





Also, my spawn leaves at the end of the week to return to college and so I'm very sad. Spawn is moving into a campus apartment so we had to buy things this weekend, including the nightmare scape that is Bed Bath and Beyond and then Ikea. But it was so much better than the first we tried to do this. I am always reminded of this piece from the Onion,Mom’s Fears About Daughter Leaving For College Channeled Into Fight About Storage Bins. Spawn had opinions and sort of had a list and roommates had a googledoc.

And today is international dog day! So we're taking Thorin Corgishield and Komo to Pups on the Patio at one of our favorite local places, which the spawn really wanted to do.





And, actually, not so fine. I'm at that point where I hate every word of my NFE and think I'm terrible and it's terrible. I don't like to post this because I think it makes others feel badly -- I'm not hosting this or asking for or accepting a gift in exchange that makes you miserable! Which I totally get and that's not it but the self hate is real.

( blather about extreme fear and loathing )

The two things I wanted when we got Komo were 1) healthy and 2) very good around other dogs.  We've got neither.

CW for gross dog functions and plea for crowdsourced advice if you get there




So, the vomiting and bloody diarrhea that have afflicted Komo for the last 14 days has returned.  Thousands of dollars later we have eliminated various chronic diseases (blood screen that went to Texas A&M) and abdominal instructions (3 x rays and one ultrasound).  He's been on antibiotics, probiotics, omeprazole, cerenia, B12 injections, and Zofran.  I've been making him boiled chicken and rice since July 1 or before. 

Everything seemed to be improving.  Last week, we tried introducing small bits of Hill's Science Diet w/d to try to firm things up.  But then diarhhea started again, so back to chicken and rice.  So about 4 days later, he improved again and I went to the vet yesterday and this time, we tried Hill's Science Diet i/d for intestinal issues which is supposed to be substitutable for homemade chicken and rice. 

Spoiler.  It's not.

We woke up this morning, again, to a swathe of bloody diarrhea on the basement carpet (and I'd returned the $200 carpet cleaner machine thinking I didn't need it anymore.  HA HA).

So, obviously back to the vet and chicken and rice.  Any of you have any experience with this?  Any advice?  Any alternative to boiling chicken and rice 3 days a week?  Anything for a dog that can't seem to tolerate a very high quality commercially prepared prescription food specially formulated for intestinal issues?

Because all the cool kids are still doing it...




Comment to someone you haven't ever interacted with before or introduce yourself to someone you've interacted with and friend/follow them. Afterwards, leave a comment in this post with the equivalent of "I did it!"

Well, given that I sponsored the 3SF friending meme, I'll just cross-post to that. Hello! If you are there and not in my circle yet, I"ll go add you! Uhmm, maybe this weekend. And by all means introduce yourself and anons are cool too. I used to get a lot of them and I don't check ip addresses and wouldn't know how to do it even if I wanted to.

There are some super smart, savvy folks who are aggregating useful info about DW and how to make it a little more like Tumblr.  I saw the other day that  branchandroot had some things about mobility sites and I saw a g-doc go by on Twitter and then umadoshi  went and put together a handy set of tabs and links.  Also this super helpful comm from two people I've been following for awhile fictional_fans 

In other news, my niece attempted to bake a cake over the weekend and I got frantic texts about 7 inch cakes pans (seriously, who has a 7 inch cake pan much less 2?) and her discovery that substituting coconut oil for butter will result in things tasting like coconut (SURPRISE) and that in fact that "sugar in the raw" is not substitutable for icing/confectioners sugar.  I'm trying to figure out a way to put together a baking box for her for Christmas without spending a fortune.  If you were advising a beginning baker who has NO equipment, what do you think she needs (forgive the American measurements)?

My essential list which is a list of some things to buy and some things I can give her

• electronic scale in grams and ounces (this is the high ticket item but when you think about it, is cheaper than buying measuring spoons and cups and it's a really good discipline)
• parchment paper
• one cupcake pan (I have 4 and can give her one)
• Rimless cookie sheet (I really don't want to part with one of my four but maybe I should... oh gawd no I can't)
• 2 8 inch round pans
• 1 8 inch square pan 
• 1 13X9X2 pan ( have 4... maybe I can give her the older one that isn't too gross)
• small loaf pan
• handheld mixer (I have an extra)
• Print outs of easy recipes with my handwritten notes on them.

I'd love to give her some basic spice ingredients, too, but getting good quality is expensive and I mean, I've got nielsen massey vanilla bean paste on my Xmas list).  I"m really torn about the pans.  You need good pans and I just don't like the idea of spending money on stuff that warps.  OTOH she doesn't need the higher quality stuff and buying all this can get expensive too.

I've got a number of quarter and half sheet pans I'd be happy to part with but I find I don't actually use them because their sizes are not super convenient for what I do and they have rims, so I don't use them for cookies and they aren't deep enough for cookie bars/brownies.

I thought about giving her baking book  -- Rose has a new baking basics book, but I think some personally culled recipes picked for their ease makes more sense.  She would need the book for how tos and understanding but I doubt she'd sit down and read a baking book the way I would and thsoe books can get SO emphatic.  (BTW, I did the apple walnut cake recipe that's provided for free.  It was super good and I've now managed caramel 3 times following Rose's recipes without so much as a burn.  I'm really happy about that) 

King Arthur Flour brownie (from their cookbook, not the website but this is close)
Alton Brown Chewy Chocolate Chip
Better Homes and Garden Quick Bread (can be modified orange, lemon, tangerine, omit poppy seeds)
King Arthur classic one pan chocolate cake
Basic no-knead bread
Classic carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (no particular recipe in mind; I'm going from memory of what I used to bake back in the 70s)

WOW it's been a busy couple of weeks and I've got another story due next week.  BUT

First, Narnia Fanfic Exchange and NFE Madness reveals are up and live.  So many good stories this year.  I owe reviews!!

I got a wonderful story from Rustedeaglewings, The Night Before Battle, with a Caspian pep talk by the Four.

I also received a group gift of the hilarious crazy Added to the chat by the incomparable WingedFlight.

I wrote two stories,
Rat Catchers, featuring Polly Plummer as a member of the Women's Land Army on what is believed to be the eve of the Nazi invasion of Britain, September 1940.  Freudiancascade was a huge help as a sensitivity reader for the character of George.  I discovered at the last moment that I'd miffed the dates of certain events in the story.  VERY annoying but it was too late to change the action, so yeah, don't get your history of the most inept spies of WW2 from that story. 

The second story is one I'd really wanted to tell about Thomas the polyamorous bisexual goose and I really wanted to write something for syrena_of_the_lake  who has gifted me with some wonderful things.  Father Goose is here and it explores a number of things long hinted at, including Briony and Lambert (and hints of Briony's own story), the death of Mr. Noll the spy, Susan's romance with Rafe Linch, and then it makes a jump into solid Stone Gryphon AW territory. 

Then, last night, I posted a look back at The Queen Susan in Tashbaan.  Love and Rock Music (LARM) had seen this NSFW picture of an naked American airman in the midst of air-sea rescue in the Pacific theater during WW2.  She wanted me to put Wing Commander Reginald Tebbitt in.  There were some problems, obviously, and she had some ideas involving a hot air balloon accident and a convent.  autumnia  came to the rescue with the idea of involving HIs Lordship, Lord Halifax the Penguin.  And so, Booze Cruise is the result, an insert into The Queen Susan in Tashbaan.  Also, I, like Susan, had a strong desire to let all Congressional leadership drown.  She's a better person than I am. 

As I was working on this story, I realized how important that complex Narnnia conceit was in TQSiT.  Using the fake Peridan and Queen Susan allowed me to insert real Washington DC people but filtered through several layers --  the Narnia code, Susan's own letters, and then Peter and Edmund's interpretations of them.  Here, it's straight up DC story telling and I just couldn't insert the real people that were the inspiration for their Narnia/TQSiT counterparts.  So, I just don't put their names in and use titles.  It's awkward, and is far more fiction than historical. 


SO, I have posted over 36,000 words in the last month. 

It has taken all summer but I have finally written a thing. And with this thing done and hopefully my long hiatus over, I can move on to and back to other pressing things, including the NFE and Remix.

There are many stories about the love between humans and stars told in the folklore of the Mi'kmaq, a First Nations people indigenous to Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. Over 30 years and three visits to the Fossil Cliffs of Joggins, Nova Scotia, Polly, Lucy, Eustace and Jill all hear the Mi'kmaq tale of the Star Husband. As happens, each hears the same story and takes away a different understanding.

Part of the Stone Gryphon story cycle.

 

This story began after a visit to Nova Scotia and a visit to a museum in Halifax where I learned about the Mi'kmaq story of the Star Husband. This chapter was supposed to be a thin little thing with Asim musing, as he does, that a magician cannot overpower God. But, the experience of the Chinese in Liverpool has been a part of Stone Gryphon for years. It was the reason I introduced Liverpool and Kwong Lee and Lin Kun's daughter in law and grandson in AW. And that story took on immensely poignant significance this summer as family separation became the official policy of the US Government. Again. Added to this, in-story, were my musings in Flee From Memory that Lucy might have left a daughter behind in Narnia. I still don't answer that here. Did she? This author has had a hard time crossing that bridge and burning it behind her.

And for people of faith, how do you cope with such profound evil and still trust in a benevolent God? And what of people, like me, who are just tired of fighting the same fights over and over, who are depressed and despairing, because resistance is such hard work. What do you do about the bears?  As Lucy learns from Rita and Asim, it helps immensely to have friends, good food (chocolate), drink, and to let others bear the burden for a time. (Meds and therapy can help too, if you have access to them!)

And then you get up and try to keep doing what others have been doing long before you and will continue to do when you again tire.  The Prophet's instruction is a good guide for all.  Feed the hungry, visit the sick, free the captives.

The road to writing this has been tortuous and there were many, many resources. If I got something wrong please, kindly, tell me. Sources include but are not limited to those identified at the story's end:

• The deportation of the Chinese sailors from Liverpool after the War are here and here among others. I've had the halfandhalf.org site bookmarked since about 1996.
• The history of the US government removing indigenous children from their families is summarized in numerous sources. You can start here. 
• The Magdalen Laundries are here, among other places.
• There are many excellent resources about the Residential System in Canada (and the US, though not part of this story) that was, essentially institutionalized abuse and pedophilia of aboriginal children and erasure of aboriginal culture. Sources include here and here. 
• In Australia, the practice of removing indigenous children from their families and institutionalizing them is referred to as the Stolen Generations. Sources include here, and here.

CAPS WIN!!
My spousal unit is a long suffering sports fan and has been playing hockey all his life (and has the fake teeth to prove it) so this has been a FUN week in the greater DMV. Fun fact, the Stanley Cup is awarded to the players, not the owners so if you google images of players with stanley cup, you can see all the different ways that players have taken the cup home for a day of celebration. Swimming pools are very common -- evidently the cup floats.




I attempted a lemon elderflower cake in honor of Prince Harry and Megan Markle's wedding and it was not terrible!  I've now compensated by buying a lot of caster sugar and Rose Levy Beranbaum baking cookbooks!  But wow, cakes take a long time for me.  I was thrilled with the lemon curd -- much easier than I thought, and the ckae had a wonderful lift.  on the other hand, I tried King Arthur's self-rising flour and that was a miss.  I bought 5 pounds of White Lily self-rising flour and shall again try shortcakes and biscuits and I"ve got some raspberry puffs in the freezer that I suspect will be greasy pucks when baked.  Baking takes a lot of practice for me.  stupid DW won't let me put a pick in but you can see it here,  EDIT TO ADD PICTURE





I had a lovely, long chat with buttonloops after too long and it was awesome.
Writing is still deathly slow but I think this weekend will be a good time.  I don't have any guilt-inducing work deadlines -- which have been punishing.  Maybe something by Sunday.  Here's hoping.  I keep getting distracted by the possibiity of writing porn -- which isn't something I've done in a long, long time and really I'm not sure about flexing those particular muscles again.

I saw Solo, twice, once with Knitress and Econopodder and then saw it again with spousal unit and spawn.  I'm always glad for new SW content but I was really not a fan of Solo.  I felt it was more derivative than any of the other new films (the whole maw sequence was done far, far better in the first Trek reboot), I came away actually liking Han and Chewie less, I felt it undermined an iconic moment of Leia's (thermal detonator in Jabba's Palace), I don't give a damn about Tobias Beckett (YAWN), I was super disturbed by what happened to L3 and was pissed that Val wasn't in Beckett's place.  But, whatever.  I always like new content and I'm not going to get in a twist about it.  AND, I"m off to Origins Con in Columbus next weekend to hang out with Club Jaders (will you be there?!  Let me know!) AND bought a Celebration ticket (FIRST TIME, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?) AND I HAVE 2 HOTEL ROOMS. 

I regret to say that my experience with the bigotry, misogyny, and homophobia of the last few years prepared me for the US election results.  I found despair and disillusionment, and experienced the power of those voices, several years ago and so expected this result though I so wished to be wrong.  The only good news in this is that  this has meant my shock is not as acute because I've already been there for a while and, in my privilege, am not at risk.  Still, there has been a lot of stress baking, Corgi petting, and avoidance for the better part of 6 months.  So, I am so sorry that I've not responded to you and thank you so much for reaching out to me.  It will take awhile to get through 200+ emails and reviews on this account, never mind the dozens of unread stories.  But going forward, please understand that I can be here for you if you need it. 

So, watch this space.  I did a long blather cross-posted here on why I do not believe that women and families will lose altogether access to Plan B, drug-based contraceptives, and the pills that induce medical abortions because the process to remove FDA-approved drugs from the market when the manufacturer doesn't want to remove the product is very difficult and long.  In other words, I think for the time being, you can cross off your list, "stockpile Plan B."  That comment was long and blathery and I am not familiar with the processes by which medical devices are removed from the market, like IUDs and some implants, so I'll update with something concise soon.

When I was trying to comfort someone at 3 AM on Wednesday morning, I told him how important it was that he continue his creative efforts to tell others about the works of fiction that he enjoyed and found hopeful.  We need that more than ever, I told him, and don't let despair stop you.

I recognize in this a call to create in our fiction the world we want to live in.  The reason I returned to fandom in 2009 was that I thought we were on the cusp of creating that world in RL.  Alas, this is not true.  A quote I used in TSG attributed to Gandhi was "Be the change you wish to see in the world."**    And so, for me, it will become "write the world you wish to see."     

(**BUT, lots of people aren't ready for that call and commitment and may never be.  No pressure, OK?  This HURTS and is scary.  Grieve as you must and take your own damned time about it.)

After receiving two really sweet comments, one for AW and one for Rat and Sword, I decided to thank the readers with an AW blurb that I posted in comments on AO3. I'd wanted to get a new chapter up this month but that's not going to happen, I think, given how busy work and other things are keeping me. But I did start writing, and I'm counting that as a win, even though this is far in advance and won't actually appear for awhile.  It also shows a big point/reveal that's been part of the story for a really long time. By the time I get there, this will undoubtedly change, but the afternmath of John Pevensie accompanying Edmund and Peter for a round of drinks at a pub after Peter's made a tough, rotten decision, has been part of the story from the very beginning.

approx 2000 words
from Apostolic Way to come (which will probably be under another name)
It's 1948, give or take

ooOOoo

( If you aren't interested in a vision of the future, move along, nothing to see here )