Otter's Rock

Meta rec: Global Trade and United States Navy, by Bret Devereaux

2026-08-29T07:14:49Z

Global Trade and United States Navy, by Bret Devereaux

This is a fascinating (and scary) read, and I learned a lot about how the world actually works that I did not know.

Here's a summary:

Trade between nations is about 1/3 to 1/2 of all global economic activity. This includes developing nations.
Many nations depend on importing food, and this includes poor nations. If international trade declines, the price of food goes up and poor people go hungry. Some starve.
Despite the fact that corporations and larger nations can be predatory, international trade is actually the quickest way for a developing nation to move up the economic ladder from low income to middle income.
80% of all goods move by sea.
Shipping by sea requires sea lanes to be open. That is, piracy kept to a minimum, local nations prevented from putting high tariffs on goods moving past a local chokepoint.
The US Navy is the only navy in the world capable of keeping the sea lanes open.
American foreign policy now doesn't care about keeping the sea lanes open, and this is actually very very bad for the entire world, not only for the US but also especially for developing nations.

comments

beatrice_otter @ 2026-08-18T16:37:00

2026-08-18T23:38:50Z

I just had the pleasure of cheerleading and betaing a delightful Star Trek TOS fic, which you should all go read. It's funny and sweet with really interesting Vulcan worldbuilding.

West-Running Brook (14671 words) by Laura JV
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series (TV)
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Spock/T'Pring (Star Trek), Stonn/T'Pring (Star Trek), Spock & T'Pring (Star Trek), James T. Kirk/Spock, James T. Kirk & Spock
Characters: Spock (Star Trek), T'Pring (Star Trek), James T. Kirk, Original Vulcan characters
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Parenting, Episode: s01e21 Tomorrow is Yesterday (Star Trek: The Original Series), Vulcan Culture (Star Trek)
Summary:

In which Spock has to parent his son, withhold important information, and fix the Enterprise computers, all at once.

comments

Fic: The Storms of Gamma Huvrai

2026-08-16T23:47:24Z

For Fandom 5k 2026 (which is, alas, the last round of fandom5k) I wrote a Star Trek Original Series genfic starring Uhura, Chekov, and Sulu. It required copious amounts of technobabble, for which I am indebted to sixbeforelunch and the Ad Astra discord.

Title: The Storms of Gamma Huvrai
Author: beatrice_otter
Fandom: Star Trek: The Original Series
Characters: Sulu, Uhura, Chekov
Written For: RisalSoran in Fandom 5k 2026

Summary: "Matvei Mironovich understood the perversity of the universe," Pavel said. "And so do I. Which is why I know that our entire command staff will choose to explore planets by shuttle in this system where we cannot use transporters safely and hand-held communicators will be useless across anything more than short distances. And there will be a surge in ion waves at the critical moment and the shuttle will be damaged, and so will the ship, or some other emergency will arise, and we will not be able to rescue them or call for help."

"Come on, our luck isn't that bad," Hikaru said.

"Luck, Mr. Sulu, is not a phenomenon that exists," Mr. Spock said.

At AO3. On Ad Astra. At Squidgeworld. On tumblr. On Dreamwidth. On Pillowfort.

The briefing was scheduled for 0900, which gave Nyota time to check in with both the gamma shift communications officer as he went off-duty, and the alpha shift officer who would be covering for her during the briefing. It was nothing she hadn't anticipated; the system they were approaching was a red dwarf system near to a quasar, and the resulting interaction with local solar winds led to several standing ion storms in key places around the system that would interfere with just about every system on the ship, in one way or another. Most relevant to her job, it would make communications difficult both within the system and outside it.

There were things a skilled officer could do to compensate, of course, and they had the best equipment the Federation could produce to punch through the interference, but it was still an extra headache.

"Good morning!" Hikaru said cheerily as she entered the briefing room. "How are the communications systems faring?"

"We should be able to get critical messages through to Starfleet, but don't expect any personal mail until we're out of the system," Nyota said. "If the Federation ever wants to talk to anyone in this area of space, they're going to need to invest in heavy-duty relays a lot closer together than normal." One of her jobs, while they were in the system, would be to collate data and figure out what equipment would be needed for a long-term communications presence to and through this part of the sector. As of right now it was all theoretical; they didn't have any contacts out this far, nor any plans for colonies in the area, nor any pressing strategic needs … but any of those factors could change easily, depending on what they found in their survey.

( Read more... )

comments

Fic: Mice Will Play

2026-08-15T21:36:26Z

I had a lot of fun writing for the Casefic Exchange! Irina was invaluable help in bouncing ideas off of to plot the case. I almost got Miss Climpson in, too, but was stymied because I didn't have much for her to do and also she's hard to write.

Title: Mice Will Play
Fandom: Lord Peter Wimsey
Characters: Mervyn Bunter, Charles Parker
Author: beatrice_otter
Written For: greerwatson in Casefic Exchange 2026
Betaed by: Irina (sinkauli )

Summary: While Lord Peter is undercover, Bunter finds an item in an auction catalog that should not be there.

On AO3. On Squidgeworld. On tumblr. On Pillowfort. On Dreamwidth.

Mervyn Bunter sat at the table in the kitchen and read the newspaper with his morning tea, as he had most mornings for the last eight years.

It was a decent kitchen, equipped with all the modern conveniences, and it was arranged with as much eye to practicality and usefulness as Mervyn could make it. There was no denying, however, that it was rather small—though the rest of the flat at 110A Picadilly was large and luxurious, the servants quarters were as cramped as such things typically were.

About once a week, Mervyn considered taking his breakfast in the flat's dining room, a large and airy room with good light and space to lay the paper out in full. The flat did, after all, legally belong to him at this moment in time.( Mervyn refrained not out of any sense of feudal spirit, but rather because if he kept to the kitchen and his room, he could pretend that Lord Peter had merely stepped out for a few hours. )

comments

Casefic Exchange Recs

2026-08-09T03:26:00Z

For caseficexchange I received an AMAZING podfic:

[Podfic] 'Goodfellow' by Beatrice_Otter (109 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Peter Grant & Thomas Nightingale
Characters: Peter Grant (Rivers of London), Thomas Nightingale, Danni Wickford
Additional Tags: Case Fic, Organized Crime, Podfic, Podfic Length: 1-1.5 Hours, Audio Format: Streaming, Audio Format: FLAC
Summary:

Podfic of 'Goodfellow' by Beatrice_Otter

There had been thefts at three successive Goblin Markets, and one incident of serious vandalism, before Robin Goodfellow had deigned to call in the munificent arm of the law—in this case, the Special Assessment Unit, colloquially known as the Folly, and disparagingly called the Isaacs by the demi-monde. Which just goes to show that after over a century of alternating condescension, neglect, and active persecution, it takes more than a few years of community-focused policing to change community perception. Even when that policing is being done by a handsome and charismatic DC such as myself.

But there are also a lot of other great fics which you should totally check out! My favorites are:

( Murderbot, Babylon 5, Elementary/DCU, TOS, Andor )

comments

P&P AU--Mrs Pratt

2026-08-01T01:49:01Z

There's a really interesting fic on AO3 called The Ribbon by Heidi891 with an AU premise I've never seen before, and which has sparked my creative juices going about how I'd write it if I were going to do it. This is often what happens when I read a fic with an interesting premise; I keep getting distracted by "but what if they did that instead ..." even when the fic in question is very good as it is. But I'm never going to write my own version of the basic idea, so I'm getting it down here instead.

The basic premise: Wickham abandons Lydia in London, but a minor character from the novel (Mr. Pratt, another officer, mentioned only twice) happens to stumble across her after she has been recovered by Mr. Gardiner. Mr. Gardiner and Darcy pay Pratt to marry Lydia instead of Wickham, because that salvages her reputation. The story (20k so far, at 9/13 chapters) is about their life together.

If I were writing it, there would be three major differences that would make it a very different story indeed. First, I would want to bring in more of what Pratt's life is like in the regular army, which would require more research than I am willing to do. Second, I would handle the money part of it differently. And third ... while Lydia's characterization in the fic flows very naturally from the book, I have a different perspective on her. Pratt we know so little of that he is practically an OC, but I'd take him in a different direction.

( On Money )

On to characterization!

( Characterization )
I think I might send Pratt's regiment off to fight, and have Lydia go and live with the Gardiners, and have some sort of epistolary contact between him and Lydia. But that's where this peters out for me, because I would not want to do the research necessary to write that part.

comments

Dear FFFX Author

2026-07-29T04:29:37Z

I use the same name everywhere so I am beatrice_otter on AO3. Treats are awesome.

I would rather get a story you were happy with than "well, she said she liked x, so I guess I have to do x even though I don't like x and/or am not inspired that way." This letter is long with lots of suggestions and preferences if you find it helpful, but feel free to ignore it if it is not helpful. I'm fairly easy to please; I've been doing ficathons for a long time and am usually very happy with my gifts.

The most important thing for me in a fic is that the characters are well-written and recognizably themselves. Even when I don't like a character, I don't go in for character-bashing. If nothing else, if the rest of this letter is too much or my kinks don't fit yours, just concentrate on writing a story with everyone in character and good spelling and grammar and I will almost certainly love what you come up with.

I have an embarrassment squick, which makes humor kind of hit-or-miss sometimes. The kind of humor where someone does something embarrassing and the audience is laughing at them makes me uncomfortable. On the other hand, the kind of humor where the audience is laughing with the characters I really enjoy.

( General Likes and Dislikes )

( Fandom For Robots )

( Rivers of London )

( Peter Wimsey )

( TNG )

( DS9 )

( Star Wars Legends )

( Crossovers )

( Voyager )

( Enterprise )

comments

Dear Classic Film Author

2026-07-23T16:08:26Z

I use the same name everywhere so I am beatrice_otter on AO3. Treats are awesome.

I would rather get a story you were happy with than "well, she said she liked x, so I guess I have to do x even though I don't like x and/or am not inspired that way." This letter is long with lots of suggestions and preferences if you find it helpful, but feel free to ignore it if it is not helpful. I'm fairly easy to please; I've been doing ficathons for a long time and am usually very happy with my gifts.

The most important thing for me in a fic is that the characters are well-written and recognizably themselves. Even when I don't like a character, I don't go in for character-bashing. If nothing else, if the rest of this letter is too much or my kinks don't fit yours, just concentrate on writing a story with everyone in character and good spelling and grammar and I will almost certainly love what you come up with.

I have an embarrassment squick, which makes humor kind of hit-or-miss sometimes. The kind of humor where someone does something embarrassing and the audience is laughing at them makes me uncomfortable. On the other hand, the kind of humor where the audience is laughing with the characters I really enjoy.

( General Likes and Dislikes )

( Father Goose )

( Guess Who's Coming to Dinner )

( Hobson's Choice )

( Notorious )

( Now, Voyagaer )

( Random Harvest )

( The Swan )

comments

Queen Amidala: Headcanon About Naboo "Royalty"

2026-06-19T22:42:57Z

The Naboo royalty is one of the most fascinating bits of the worldbuilding the Prequel Trilogy gives us, because it's so weird. And people don't really ... grapple with that very much, even in fic, but tend to take it for granted. We have an elected monarch (and why give an elected official a hereditary title?!?) who wears elaborate ceremonial robes and elaborate ceremonial makeup that literally nobody else in their society wears. This person has a reign name that is not the name they grew up with, and which they will keep as their primary professional name even after they are no longer monarch. And even their personal name seems to have changed. (There are two choices--either all the handmaiden's names were changed to match Padmé, or all of them including Padmé changed their names.)

This elected monarch is surrounded by body doubles/bodyguards who are not only good at fighting and can pass for the monarch in a pinch but who can also be the one making decisions and treated as the monarch in important diplomatic situations. Yes, sure, the reveal of the Real Padmé when dealing with the Gungans is cool, but why the fuck is the decoy the one leading the negotiations. Like. If Sabé-wearing-Padmé's-clothes-and-makeup had negotiated a treaty and signed it, would that treaty still be legally binding even though Sabé isn't Padmé? It sure seems so! Why didn't they swap Padmé back into the lead for the negotiations, and then back out for safety when the negotiations conclude?

( Read more... )

comments

Action Alert: Funding for Palestinian Healthcare

2026-06-17T22:06:51Z

It has long been difficult to get healthcare in Gaza and the West Bank, and that has only gotten worse in the last few years. And the more complicated or specialized your need, the harder it is to get in Gaza. Cancer treatments and so many other treatments are often difficult if not impossible to get in Gaza.

So when Palestinians need advanced healthcare, they turn to the East Jerusalem Hospital Network. This has been the case for many decades, with the Palestinian Authority working to ensure access and funding for treatment in the EJHN. This hospital network always runs at a major financial deficit because most Palestinians can't pay, or can only pay a fraction of the cost of their care. The US government has given this hospital system money to make up the difference for the last 15 years--and this has had bipartisan support in congress.

As they're putting together the 2027 budget and voting on it, it would be really helpful if people in congress knew their constituents cared about Palestinian Healthcare.

The ELCA has a handy widget to email your congresspeople. Yes, the ELCA is a Christian group, but you can delete the word "Christian" from the letter you send. Please modify the letter so it looks like you put time into it; this makes it more likely to be counted by your congress people.

comments

Dear Crossworks Author

2026-06-12T20:02:13Z

I use the same name everywhere so I am beatrice_otter on AO3. Treats are awesome.

I would rather get a story you were happy with than "well, she said she liked x, so I guess I have to do x even though I don't like x and/or am not inspired that way." This letter is long with lots of suggestions and preferences if you find it helpful, but feel free to ignore it if it is not helpful. I'm fairly easy to please; I've been doing ficathons for a long time and am usually very happy with my gifts.

The most important thing for me in a fic is that the characters are well-written and recognizably themselves. Even when I don't like a character, I don't go in for character-bashing. If nothing else, if the rest of this letter is too much or my kinks don't fit yours, just concentrate on writing a story with everyone in character and good spelling and grammar and I will almost certainly love what you come up with.

I have an embarrassment squick, which makes humor kind of hit-or-miss sometimes. The kind of humor where someone does something embarrassing and the audience is laughing at them makes me uncomfortable. On the other hand, the kind of humor where the audience is laughing with the characters I really enjoy.

( General Likes and Dislikes )

( Early 20th Century )
( Regency (and fantasy) )

( Modern Day )

( Modern Day--Apocalypse/Dystopia )

( Robots! )

( Wormholes and War )

( Dealer's Choice )

( Grab Bag )

comments

beatrice_otter @ 2026-05-29T19:23:00

2026-05-30T02:26:14Z

My laptop is back from the shop. The reason that it was freezing and dying every so often is that it was overheating.

And why was it overheating, you ask?

Because of the enormous clump of cat hair inside it.

several inches of thoroughly packed cat hair.

So, uh, if you have a laptop that you like to use actually on your lap, and you have a cat that likes to sit on your lap or right next to your lap while you have the laptop on it ... it might be worthwhile to crack the case open every so often and see if there is cat hair in there to be cleaned out.

I mean, I'm glad that if it had to have a problem, it was something so easily fixable.

but also.

i wish i had figured this out myself and taken care of it before it was bad enough to need to be in the shop for a week.

comments

beatrice_otter @ 2026-05-16T12:30:00

2026-05-16T19:38:36Z

Does anyone work on the Open Doors project at AO3? Or know someone who does? I am trying to do something similar on Ad Astra, and need some advice from someone who knows the OTW archive software better.

Specifically, there are a couple of people who had accounts and fic on the old Ad Astra archive who are now dead, and we would like to make sure that their works are preserved by transferring them to the new archive. We would like them all to have the same format that unclaimed works imported by Open Doors have on AO3--"by name [archived by archivist]". We have successfully achieved that with shorter works, but I'm trying to import a fic with 363 chapters and half a million words. It cannot be imported; the archive times out. I thought that if I imported the first chapter and then uploaded the rest of the chapters manually, it would work, but trying to import only the first chapter timed out the archive as well. Then I thought about importing another work that would import, changing the title and chapter text to the one I wanted, and then manually adding further chapters. But it's listing it as just "Archivists" in the author space, without the name of the original author.

Help!

ETA: figured it out myself!

Never mind, I figured it out myself!

The issue is that when you are uploading a fic for someone else, you are required to put their email in the box so they are contactable. This person is dead and I have no idea what their email address was when they were alive, so I put in the archivists' email. So the system decided that it was just by Archivists despite having the name of someone else and having the box checked that it was someone else's fic that archivists was posting.

I made up an email to put in instead, and it posted as "by name [archived by archivist]" just as it should.

comments

Fic Rec: Farther Adventures of Robot and Human

2026-05-11T03:14:49Z

For highadrenalineexchange I got this absolutely delightful Fandom for Robots fic that was everything I wanted! Go read it.

Farther Adventures of Robot and Human (10233 words) by BardicRaven
Chapters: 6/6
Fandom: Fandom For Robots - Vina Jie-Min Prasad
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: bjornruffian & Computron (Fandom for Robots), Computron & Hexode (Fandom for Robots)
Characters: bjornruffian (Fandom For Robots), Computron (Fandom for Robots), Hexode (Fandom For Robots)
Additional Tags: Canonical Character Death, Canonical Abuse, Friendship, Robots, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Canon
Summary:

Computron is well aware that he exists on sufferance.

comments

Fic: The Obloquy of Newness

2026-05-11T01:07:31Z

highadrenalineexchange has revealed authors, and I can reveal what I wrote! I had a lot of fun with a Vedero-focused Goblin Emperor fic.

Title: The Obloquy of Newness
Author: Beatrice_otter
Fandom: Goblin Emperor
Characters: Vedero Drazhin
Written for: DontStopHerNow in High Adrenaline 2026
Summary: Vedero would like nothing more than to study the stars. If only court politics and gossip did not get in her way ...

Author's Note: Betaed by Irina. Title from The Old Astronomer by Sarah Williams.

On AO3. On Squidgeworld. On Dreamwidth. On tumblr. On Pillowfort.

Vedero could barely see her hands as they worked.

That was alright; they knew their business. They did not need to see more than the ghostly outlines of the white tubs in the sink to fish around in the sodium sulfite solution with rubber-coated tongs and grab the edge of the paper and hold it up so that some of the fluid would drip off, before settling it gently in the tub of acetic acid that would stop the silver halide crystals from continuing to develop. She counted the seconds, and then moved the paper to the sodium thiosulfate that would wash away the excess silver from the paper, so that when she took the images out into the light, they would not be re-exposed.

( On the whole, it was a very meditative process. )

comments

Fic: Learning the Steps

2026-04-19T04:18:20Z

Title: Learning the Steps
Author: Beatrice_Otter
Fandom: The Goblin Emperor
Pairing: Csethiro/Maia
Written for: dontstophernow in fffx 2025
Rating: Teen
Length: 10k
Summary: As the wedding day approaches, Csethiro and Maia get to know each other better

At AO3. On Squidgeworld. On Dreamwidth. On tumblr. On Pillowfort.

AN: The Tale of the Loathly Lady is a real story which crops up in Arthuriana and other places. It's the Wife of Bath's tale in the Canterbury Tales, and it was told on its own as Gawain and Lady Ragnell.

***

The original proposal—Csethiro did not know who had made it, whether her father or the Emperor or some nameless secretary—was for the wedding to take place on Nan'desazh, the spring lambing festival. This was the most auspicious date for a wedding in the whole year; unfortunately, it was also a mere three months after the contracts had been signed, and there was simply no way to arrange things in time. Csethiro was not often grateful to her stepmother, but she was in this; the Marquise Ceredaran had flatly refused to contemplate so early a date.

The spring equinox had been suggested instead; it was almost as propitious as Nan'desazh, and would give them an extra month to plan. Besides, there was a certain symmetry in it; Edrehasivar had been crowned just before the fall equinox, and his birthday was the winter solstice, and so to marry him on the spring equinox seemed to Csethiro (and many others at court) to be a harbinger of good fortune.

It was still ruinously short. The preparations for Csoru's wedding had taken a full year.

( Read more... )

comments

Fic recs from FFFX, AU5k, and Fic In A Box

2026-04-17T20:47:18Z

I have had recs from several recent exchanges, but haven't actually posted them. So! Here we go.

Five Figure Fanwork Exchange is the most recent! I received two fics, both of them lovely:

a star or two beside (5070 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Goblin Emperor Series - Katherine Addison
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Maia Drazhar, Chenelo Drazharan, Shaleän Sevraseched, Shaleän Sevraseched's Wife, Ursu Perenched, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Chenelo Lives, Alternate Universe - Maia Has a Good Childhood, POV Multiple, sailing ships, References to Illness
Summary:

It is something out of a wonder-tale when a stranger arrives at Isvaroë and whisks Maia and his mother away.

Before, After, Always, Already (9151 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Kira Nerys/Keiko O'Brien/Miles O'Brien
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Post-Canon Bajor (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
Summary:

Keiko was over Miles's shoulder in the video message. "Hi, Nerys!" she said. She looked the same, too, although her hair was up, and she was in uniform. "We're moving to Bajor!"

Other faves from FFFX include:
( Five Figure Fanwork Recs )

( AU5k Rec )

( Fic In A Box Recs )

comments

Dear Fandom 5k Author

2026-04-07T23:58:23Z

I use the same name everywhere so I am beatrice_otter on AO3. Treats are awesome.

I would rather get a story you were happy with than "well, she said she liked x, so I guess I have to do x even though I don't like x and/or am not inspired that way." This letter is long with lots of suggestions and preferences if you find it helpful, but feel free to ignore it if it is not helpful. I'm fairly easy to please; I've been doing ficathons for a long time and am usually very happy with my gifts.

The most important thing for me in a fic is that the characters are well-written and recognizably themselves. Even when I don't like a character, I don't go in for character-bashing. If nothing else, if the rest of this letter is too much or my kinks don't fit yours, just concentrate on writing a story with everyone in character and good spelling and grammar and I will almost certainly love what you come up with.

I have an embarrassment squick, which makes humor kind of hit-or-miss sometimes. The kind of humor where someone does something embarrassing and the audience is laughing at them makes me uncomfortable. On the other hand, the kind of humor where the audience is laughing with the characters I really enjoy.

( General Likes and Dislikes )

( Crossovers )

( Rivers of London )

( SWOT )

( DS9 )

( Moon Knight )

( Enterprise )

( TNG )

( TOS )

( Voyager )

comments

Inspiration for Wayne Manor

2026-03-07T21:59:13Z

Someone pointed out that the Crocker-McMillin Mansion in New Jersey might be a good model for Wayne Manor. There aren't many good pictures of it that don't come from real estate listings, but I really like what we see and the mix of "classic Edwardian Mansion Stately Home" and also "modernized for current living". So here it is.

Details: built between 1903 and 1907. Three stories, 75 rooms, 50k square feet, on 12.5 acres. Of those 75 rooms, 21 are bedrooms, and 29 are bathrooms. When it was built, there were a lot of other buildings on the estate: greenhouses, barns, stables, a dairy, gatehouse, garage, workshops, and bathhouses on the river. There were nine single houses and four duplexes for employees, and a two-story house for the head gardener. I think most of those other buildings have either been torn down or sold off--the estate was originally around 1k acres, and now you can tell there are a lot of other buildings around.

( Pics of the interior )

comments

Fic: What Abigail And Ione Did That January

2026-02-27T16:50:08Z

I never actually posted my Yuletide fic here, and it's almost March. Way behind. But anyway, I had fun with it, so enjoy!

Title: What Abigail And Ione Did That January
Author: beatrice_otter
Fandom: Rivers of London
Characters: Abigail Kamara/Ione Seaton, Thomas Nightingale, Peter Grant
Written For: Chrome in Yuletide 2025
Summary: Ione comes down for a visit after Christmas. But a quiet visit is not in the cards when there is a missing persons case to be solved.

I am standing in Euston Station, and it's even worse of a madhouse than I expected it to be. But I'm so excited I'm not even bothered by the crush of tourists with roller bags who seem determined to run me over as they dash to catch their trains. Ione is coming, and though we've talked on the phone almost every day, it's been months since we said goodbye in Scotland.

I want to know if she smells as good as I remember. I want to know if her skin feels as good as I remember. I'm almost afraid I've built her up, in my head, to such a peak of perfection, that I'll be disappointed to see her again and find she's just a girl.

( But if I were going to let my fear control me, I wouldn't be a wizard now. I'd never have survived the house on Hampstead Heath, or the Robinette kidnapping, or the wyvern up in Glasgow. And I'd never have gotten to kiss Ione. )

comments

Dear High Adrenaline author

2026-02-25T06:27:33Z

I use the same name everywhere so I am beatrice_otter on AO3. Treats are awesome.

I would rather get a story you were happy with than "well, she said she liked x, so I guess I have to do x even though I don't like x and/or am not inspired that way." This letter is long with lots of suggestions and preferences if you find it helpful, but feel free to ignore it if it is not helpful. I'm fairly easy to please; I've been doing ficathons for a long time and am usually very happy with my gifts.

The most important thing for me in a fic is that the characters are well-written and recognizably themselves. Even when I don't like a character, I don't go in for character-bashing. If nothing else, if the rest of this letter is too much or my kinks don't fit yours, just concentrate on writing a story with everyone in character and good spelling and grammar and I will almost certainly love what you come up with.

I have an embarrassment squick, which makes humor kind of hit-or-miss sometimes. The kind of humor where someone does something embarrassing and the audience is laughing at them makes me uncomfortable. On the other hand, the kind of humor where the audience is laughing with the characters I really enjoy.

( General Likes and Dislikes )

( The Swan )

( Random Harvest )

( Hobson's Choice )

( Guess Who's Coming to Dinner )

( Voyager )

( Crossovers )

( DS9 )

( Star Wars OT )

( Fandom for Robots )

( Babylon 5 )

comments

Dear Casefic Author

2026-01-28T08:18:36Z

I use the same name everywhere so I am beatrice_otter on AO3. Treats are awesome.

I would rather get a story you were happy with than "well, she said she liked x, so I guess I have to do x even though I don't like x and/or am not inspired that way." This letter is long with lots of suggestions and preferences if you find it helpful, but feel free to ignore it if it is not helpful. I'm fairly easy to please; I've been doing ficathons for a long time and am usually very happy with my gifts.

The most important thing for me in a fic is that the characters are well-written and recognizably themselves. Even when I don't like a character, I don't go in for character-bashing. If nothing else, if the rest of this letter is too much or my kinks don't fit yours, just concentrate on writing a story with everyone in character and good spelling and grammar and I will almost certainly love what you come up with.

I have an embarrassment squick, which makes humor kind of hit-or-miss sometimes. The kind of humor where someone does something embarrassing and the audience is laughing at them makes me uncomfortable. On the other hand, the kind of humor where the audience is laughing with the characters I really enjoy.

( General Likes and Dislikes )

( Notorious (1946) )

( Enola Holmes movies )

( Elementary )

( Terminator: tSCC )

( Goblin Emperor )

( Peter Wimsey )

( Crossovers )

( Rivers of London )

( DS9 )

comments

Google Maps exists

2026-01-20T21:26:54Z

so why. why why why. Do I so often come across fic where the author clearly a) doesn't have any idea how far apart two places are, or how to get from one to the other, and b) never thought to check google maps?

Just read a fic where one character is thinking that "it's only an 8-hour plane ride!"

and. I have driven basically between those two places.

It's a 6-hour drive unless traffic is really bad. if you hit the most congested bits exactly at rush hour, it might take you 8 hours. to drive.

Flying? Well, if you were starting at a small regional airport and needed to make a connection, it might take you four hours.

I actually mind this shit more than the big stuff. The big stuff is hard to research. Google Maps is really really quick and easy.

comments

Fic: A Summer in Devonshire

2026-01-03T19:39:16Z

ficinabox revealed the authors, er, several weeks ago. But I was too caught up with yuletide to remember to post what I wrote! So here it is. I had great fun writing this crossover between Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, where Charlotte gets a better life than canon. As I was pondering how to logically get Brandon and Charlotte to meet even though they live so far apart, it occurred to me that Sir John Middleton and Sir William Lucas are very similar people and would probably get along amazingly well. (The other easy way to do it would be to set it earlier in both canons, when William Lucas (not yet Sir William) is a prosperous tradesman, probably with business connections in London, and Colonel Brandon has just been handed custody of his dead beloved's child and is trying to figure out frantically what to do with her, before he has to go back to his regiment in India or wherever. I can easily see him marrying then to give her a mother, and if he somehow became acquainted with the Lucases while in London, might find Charlotte just the ticket.)

( Thoughts on the Lucas finances )

Title: A Summer in Devonshire
Fandom: Sense & Sensibility/Pride & Prejudice
Characters: Colonel Brandon/Charlotte Lucas
Author: Beatrice_Otter
Written for: hiddencait in Fic In A Box 2025
Summary: Sir John Middleton was happy to invite his friend Sir William Lucas and family to stay at Barton for the summer. Charlotte is happy to travel, and to meet new people.

( Author's note: travel distances and clothing details. )
***

Sir William Lucas had never aspired to visit St. James' Court, nor indeed to become a knight; he had been content with his life as a respectable (and prosperous) tradesman. When such an opportunity had been granted him, all unexpectedly, he had been so overcome with all the honor of it that he had not been able to savor the pleasures thereof. Given his humble antecedents and employment, very few in that place took any notice of him, and those who did cared more to practice their superiority than form any connection. It was an experience more pleasurable in the telling, for he spent many congenial hours describing the grandeur of the court and its people to his acquaintances in Meryton, as he and Lady Lucas took their place as one of four-and-twenty families of good breeding in the neighborhood.

It also spurred his desire to trade his business for an estate more suitable to his new dignity, for being Sir William of any estate (however small) would occasion less comment than Sir William, tradesman of a small market town.

( That being accomplished, he settled in quite happily to being a landed gentleman, and would never have stirred from Meryton again if Lady Lucas had not possessed the ambition her husband lacked )

On AO3. On Squidgeworld. On tumblr. On Pillowfort.

comments

LiveJournal making changes--back up your stuff

2026-01-01T23:22:53Z

LiveJournal has been owned by Russians for some years now, and they just announced some changes on the Russian side of the service that are not announced on the English-language side: https://ru-news.livejournal.com/80899.html

Basically, they're going to be cutting off contact between Russian language users in Russia and Russian language users who are outside of Russia, and between English-language users and Russian-language users. Plus some other miscellaneous stuff. denise has a thread on Bluesky where she analyzes why she thinks they're doing this. There's a good chance they're planning on either shutting down or selling the English-language version of the site.

If there is anything on LJ that you like that is not backed up somewhere else, now might be a good time to fix that. If it's your content, there are several ways to download it (linked in the thread above), including exporting it to Dreamwidth. If it's not your content, you can still ask the Internet Archive to save a copy of the page.

comments