Too much sunshine
Jul. 25th, 2023 08:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cornerofmadnessIt's going to be very warm here all week (and back home SE Ohio is poised to hit triple digits). So all I have for you today is some comi-con Fannish 50 and my latest entry for 
Because all I actually managed to do today besides writing is to have my back seize up during my Qi-gong session.
I actually don't have a lot of fannish things to say. Mostly it's going to be all the comi-con links I've gathered between me, Betty and Flippy. I get wistful every time I think about Comicon.
You see back in the late 80s early 90s my friends kept inviting me to Comi-con. It was big then but nothing like today. Unfortunately I couldn't go then. I was in undergraduate and getting 3 degrees at once left me little time to work (I did have three jobs but they were all school related and paid next to nothing) and my parents were unlikely to give me that kind of cash to cross the country for a con. Then came medical school and building my practice and then the hand injury.
Now that I'm financially...not recovered but enough that I could go to Comi-con (which is actually when I CAN travel) there are so many people going I struggle to find the will to brave those crowds (or fight for tickets) Maybe one day I'll get there. Maybe one day someone will be there to see what I've written. I can dream.
I have a lot of comic-con related links for you to enjoy. If you have some of your own to share, drop them in the comments for everyone.
Ode to the happy weirdos: fans of The Owl House say 'Thank you' at San Diego Comic-Con 2023
Voice Actors Offer Cosplayers a Fun Way to Support the SAG-AFTRA Strike
In Indigenous Futurisms, Native Artists Are Leading the Way I am so excited for this
Jamie Lee Curtis Debuts Horror Graphic Novel ‘Mother Nature’ at SDCC Also exciting
Comic-Con 2023: Indigenous panelists seek to dispel myths through visual storytelling of local Kumeyaay history
San Diego Comic-Con 2023: Some of the Coolest Stuff We Saw On the Floor
San Diego Comic-Con's Paramount+ 'Ski Lodge' Gives Star Trek and SpongeBob a Reason to Co-Exist
The 2023 Eisner Award Winners Are Here (sorry but I don't get Lore Olympus's appeal. I've read three volumes. I find it slow, not awful by any means but it just doesn't grab me)
The Most Awesome Cosplay of San Diego Comic-Con 2023, Day 1
The Most Awesome Cosplay of San Diego Comic-Con 2023, Day 2
The Most Awesome Cosplay of San Diego Comic-Con 2023, Day 3
San Diego Comic-Con 2023: 11 Winners and 5 Losers From This Year's Event
The Most Awesome Cosplay of San Diego Comic-Con 2023, Day 4
The best comic-con trailers
And as promised my latest story for![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sunshine_challenge
Title: Family Vacation
Summary: Luz, Amity, Willow, Hunter, their children and Uncle Gus take a well deserved vacation in the human realm but a surprise awaits them.
Notes: Written for evil_little_dog in acomment_fic for the prompt Any, F+M, First sunburn of the season and for the sunshine_challenge prompt of Hyacinth and zinnia. I decided to tweak Gus’s human exchange program a little since it seems like a really dangerous idea to send most humans to the demon realm. (Why do I picture a Belos-like reaction to witches by far too many humans?)
Find the story here on AO3
Gus rode the waves, making the most out of their trip to Narragansett Town Beach. Willow eyed him jealously.
“There he goes, enjoying the bliss of the childless,” she grumbled, flopping back on her beach blanket.
Next to her, Luz snorted. “Where did we go wrong?”
“Yours took careful planning. My problem is how incredibly sexy Hunter can look at fully unexpected times.” Willow sighed as Amity and Luz laughed at her. At the moment, Hunter was hurrying along the beach at normal human speeds after the ball of limbs tussling just above the water line.
“Caleb, Manny, quit picking on Darius,” he hollered at the five year olds.
“We’re trying to bury him but he won’t let us,” Manny, Luz and Amity’s son protested.
“If they lose their concealment stones, I swear….” Willow shook her head. Gus’s human exchange program was less an exchange and more of a one-way passage under glamor spells. It had been decided humans might not be ready for an influx of magical beings.
“I think your real problem is you keep having twins.” Amity grinned at her.
“She should have had more girls,” Zinnia said from where she and her twin, Hyacinth, were making a sandcastle with Azura, the old-fashioned way. Everyone was glad the kids were old enough now to understand that magic did not mix with the human realm.
“Boys are awful,” Hyacinth said and Azura nodded sagely.
“So that’s three votes for no boys.” Luz chuckled as Hunter trucked up the beach holding Manny’s hand on one side and Caleb’s on the other while Darius rode his scarred back like a horse.
“Why don’t you take them for a snack?” Amity suggested.
Hunter eyed the food trucks in the distance. “Which one? The ice cream, the cotton candy, or the fudge truck because more sugar is exactly what they need.” He narrowed his eyes at Amity.
“Uncle Hunter, look!” Manny pulled on his hand while pointing to some boys their age who were playing with a bunch of toy horses. “Can we play with them?”
“I don’t know.” He glanced back at Luz and Amity who shrugged. “I could talk to their parents.”
Darius swarmed down his back and held up a hand to him. “Just take us over there, Daddy. I’ll do the talking.”
The women burst out laughing as Hunter stood there dumbstruck.
“That boy is not shy,” Luz said.
“No, he is taking after his namesake,” Willow agreed as Hunter went to make introductions.
“Mom, think Daddy and Uncle Gus can teach us how to surf?” Zinnia asked, her slender fingers working on the castle crenellations. Her big green eyes glowed with anticipation as her dark hair fluttered in the salty breeze. She and Hyacinth had taken after Willow and the boys looked like their father.
“You said we were too young last year,” Hyacinth reminded her. “But we’re all seven this year.”
Azura hugged her. “Yeah. I’m almost eight!”
“When Uncle Gus and Hunter come back, we’ll ask them,” Amity said.
“And there are classes for kids. We might want to start there,” Luz put in sensibly. Willow liked that idea better than putting it all on Gus and Hunter, who were admittedly patient teachers but didn’t get much time for surfing. It wasn’t a thing back home where the seas boiled.
A noise went up from the trio of girls that could have confused bats in its pitch and loudness. They knocked over part of their castle wall in their excitement and with a dismayed outcry they went back to fixing it.
Hunter stumbled back to the blanket, sitting between Willow and Luz with a groan. “Any chance those strangers are going to keep them?”
“Don’t give away my son.” Luz slapped a hand against Hunter’s chest and he yelped. “Uh-oh, I think someone’s sunscreen has worn off.”
Willow grimaced, giving him a critical once over. “Yep, someone is getting burned. Here, let me freshen you up before this is even worse.”
“Scars burn faster than normal tissue,” Luz said.
“I’ll save the healing spell for when people can’t see,” Hunter said, pulling his knees up so he could lean on them. “Luz, next time, see if you can’t liberate some doggie valiums from Mom’s clinic before we go on vacation.”
Luz snorted. “You are not drugging my babies.”
“Give them to me for all I care. Someone is getting sedated for everyone’s sanity,” he said, his skin quivering as the cool lotion hit it.
Willow rubbed it into his strong muscles, trailing her hands down to the damp waistband of his retina-searingly bright swim trunks. Even with all his scars, Hunter was incredibly handsome in her eyes. She loved the feel of his body.
“Uh-oh, I know that look, Willow. I’m going to remind you, this is how all your babies start.” Luz nudged her.
“I like how you think she’s going to ever let Hunter touch her again,” Amity said low enough that the girls couldn’t overhear her.
“It is not my fault someone keeps having twins. Not my eggs doing crazy things,” Hunter huffed, glancing down the beach to where his sons played with the new kids. “Though I’m not sure how to feel about the healer being wrong about triplets. Three was scary but I had almost been used to the idea when it was decided it was only twins.”
Willow kissed his reddened shoulder before putting lotion on it. “She wasn’t sure if she felt two or three hearts. Three boys might have had us running for the hills.”
“Luz and I are still talking about if we want a third child or not.” Amity looked at Azura fondly. “Two is a nice number.”
“But my dad wanted a big family. He didn’t get the chance. I don’t want a huge family but maybe a third,” Luz added wistfully.
“I’ll give you two boys, how’s that?” Hunter groaned.
“Heck no, your boys lead Manny into all sorts of trouble as is.”
“I’m sure it’s the other way around,” Willow said, sliding her hand down Hunter’s arm. She put some heavier duty sunscreen over his scars.
“I want another sister!” Azura called from her sandcastle.
Luz and Amity winced. “Guess we weren’t as quiet as we thought,” Amity said.
“We want sisters too!” Zinnia and Hyacinth chorused.
“Concentrate on your ‘please teach us surfing’ speech and don’t worry about more sisters,” Luz counseled.
“Gus is teaching them to surf?” Hunter arched his eyebrows.
“You and Gus,” Willow said. She kissed his cheek.
“Ew, Mom! Not in public!” Hyacinth cried.
Hunter laughed.
“They’re too young to know this is how getting their sisters starts,” Luz whispered.
“They might get their wish,” Willow said softly so the kids wouldn’t hear.
Hunter whipped around so fast his face nearly collided with hers. His eyes were huge. “What? Are you? What?”
“Nice coherency there, bro.” Luz grinned but he didn’t respond, looking more like he was concentrating on not fainting. “Willow, you’re sure?”
“Emira confirmed it before we left. I’ve been waiting for the best time to tell you but there hasn’t been one quiet moment so why not now while your daughters are clamoring for sisters.” Willow beamed.
“But how? When?” Hunter stammered. “We’ve been so careful.”
Willow narrowed her eyes. Hunter always took the news of pregnancy in an addle-brained, not quite sure he wanted this way but really, he was the best father she could imagine. “Remember Gus’s moon conjuring party?”
“Oh…right. Wow.” Hunter put his sunscreen slick, burnt arms around her, holding her tight.
“Hey, we were at that party!” Amity faked outrage.
“That was so not what you were meant to be animating at the moon conjuring, Willow.” Luz could barely keep a straight face as she scolded her.
Hunter tucked his cheek against the top of Willow’s head. “I do love you so much.”
Willow hugged him back. “I know.”
“But if it’s twins again, I’m paddling that surfboard out and never returning.” He kissed the side of her neck.
“And if it’s triplets?” she teased.
“Caleb, Darius and Manny can bury me in the sand starting with my head.”
“It’s not really twins again, is it?” Amity asked.
Willow shook her head. “Emira didn’t think so.”
Hunter pulled her into a teary eyed kiss. Willow ignored the scandalized cries of their kids. They might be a handful but she would always welcome the multiplication of their love. Luz and Amity gently piled on, hugging her. They’d bring Gus up to speed later. They’d tell the kids elsewhere so their shrieks – likely to pierce the realms all the way to their grandparents back in the Boiling Isles – wouldn’t disturb the other beachgoers. Willow leaned into the coconut-scented nest of arms around her. How had she ever gotten so lucky to have family and friends like this?
Because all I actually managed to do today besides writing is to have my back seize up during my Qi-gong session.
I actually don't have a lot of fannish things to say. Mostly it's going to be all the comi-con links I've gathered between me, Betty and Flippy. I get wistful every time I think about Comicon.
You see back in the late 80s early 90s my friends kept inviting me to Comi-con. It was big then but nothing like today. Unfortunately I couldn't go then. I was in undergraduate and getting 3 degrees at once left me little time to work (I did have three jobs but they were all school related and paid next to nothing) and my parents were unlikely to give me that kind of cash to cross the country for a con. Then came medical school and building my practice and then the hand injury.
Now that I'm financially...not recovered but enough that I could go to Comi-con (which is actually when I CAN travel) there are so many people going I struggle to find the will to brave those crowds (or fight for tickets) Maybe one day I'll get there. Maybe one day someone will be there to see what I've written. I can dream.
I have a lot of comic-con related links for you to enjoy. If you have some of your own to share, drop them in the comments for everyone.
Ode to the happy weirdos: fans of The Owl House say 'Thank you' at San Diego Comic-Con 2023
Voice Actors Offer Cosplayers a Fun Way to Support the SAG-AFTRA Strike
In Indigenous Futurisms, Native Artists Are Leading the Way I am so excited for this
Jamie Lee Curtis Debuts Horror Graphic Novel ‘Mother Nature’ at SDCC Also exciting
Comic-Con 2023: Indigenous panelists seek to dispel myths through visual storytelling of local Kumeyaay history
San Diego Comic-Con 2023: Some of the Coolest Stuff We Saw On the Floor
San Diego Comic-Con's Paramount+ 'Ski Lodge' Gives Star Trek and SpongeBob a Reason to Co-Exist
The 2023 Eisner Award Winners Are Here (sorry but I don't get Lore Olympus's appeal. I've read three volumes. I find it slow, not awful by any means but it just doesn't grab me)
The Most Awesome Cosplay of San Diego Comic-Con 2023, Day 1
The Most Awesome Cosplay of San Diego Comic-Con 2023, Day 2
The Most Awesome Cosplay of San Diego Comic-Con 2023, Day 3
San Diego Comic-Con 2023: 11 Winners and 5 Losers From This Year's Event
The Most Awesome Cosplay of San Diego Comic-Con 2023, Day 4
The best comic-con trailers
And as promised my latest story for
sunshine_challengeTitle: Family Vacation
Summary: Luz, Amity, Willow, Hunter, their children and Uncle Gus take a well deserved vacation in the human realm but a surprise awaits them.
Notes: Written for evil_little_dog in a
comment_fic for the prompt Any, F+M, First sunburn of the season and for the sunshine_challenge prompt of Hyacinth and zinnia. I decided to tweak Gus’s human exchange program a little since it seems like a really dangerous idea to send most humans to the demon realm. (Why do I picture a Belos-like reaction to witches by far too many humans?)Find the story here on AO3
Gus rode the waves, making the most out of their trip to Narragansett Town Beach. Willow eyed him jealously.
“There he goes, enjoying the bliss of the childless,” she grumbled, flopping back on her beach blanket.
Next to her, Luz snorted. “Where did we go wrong?”
“Yours took careful planning. My problem is how incredibly sexy Hunter can look at fully unexpected times.” Willow sighed as Amity and Luz laughed at her. At the moment, Hunter was hurrying along the beach at normal human speeds after the ball of limbs tussling just above the water line.
“Caleb, Manny, quit picking on Darius,” he hollered at the five year olds.
“We’re trying to bury him but he won’t let us,” Manny, Luz and Amity’s son protested.
“If they lose their concealment stones, I swear….” Willow shook her head. Gus’s human exchange program was less an exchange and more of a one-way passage under glamor spells. It had been decided humans might not be ready for an influx of magical beings.
“I think your real problem is you keep having twins.” Amity grinned at her.
“She should have had more girls,” Zinnia said from where she and her twin, Hyacinth, were making a sandcastle with Azura, the old-fashioned way. Everyone was glad the kids were old enough now to understand that magic did not mix with the human realm.
“Boys are awful,” Hyacinth said and Azura nodded sagely.
“So that’s three votes for no boys.” Luz chuckled as Hunter trucked up the beach holding Manny’s hand on one side and Caleb’s on the other while Darius rode his scarred back like a horse.
“Why don’t you take them for a snack?” Amity suggested.
Hunter eyed the food trucks in the distance. “Which one? The ice cream, the cotton candy, or the fudge truck because more sugar is exactly what they need.” He narrowed his eyes at Amity.
“Uncle Hunter, look!” Manny pulled on his hand while pointing to some boys their age who were playing with a bunch of toy horses. “Can we play with them?”
“I don’t know.” He glanced back at Luz and Amity who shrugged. “I could talk to their parents.”
Darius swarmed down his back and held up a hand to him. “Just take us over there, Daddy. I’ll do the talking.”
The women burst out laughing as Hunter stood there dumbstruck.
“That boy is not shy,” Luz said.
“No, he is taking after his namesake,” Willow agreed as Hunter went to make introductions.
“Mom, think Daddy and Uncle Gus can teach us how to surf?” Zinnia asked, her slender fingers working on the castle crenellations. Her big green eyes glowed with anticipation as her dark hair fluttered in the salty breeze. She and Hyacinth had taken after Willow and the boys looked like their father.
“You said we were too young last year,” Hyacinth reminded her. “But we’re all seven this year.”
Azura hugged her. “Yeah. I’m almost eight!”
“When Uncle Gus and Hunter come back, we’ll ask them,” Amity said.
“And there are classes for kids. We might want to start there,” Luz put in sensibly. Willow liked that idea better than putting it all on Gus and Hunter, who were admittedly patient teachers but didn’t get much time for surfing. It wasn’t a thing back home where the seas boiled.
A noise went up from the trio of girls that could have confused bats in its pitch and loudness. They knocked over part of their castle wall in their excitement and with a dismayed outcry they went back to fixing it.
Hunter stumbled back to the blanket, sitting between Willow and Luz with a groan. “Any chance those strangers are going to keep them?”
“Don’t give away my son.” Luz slapped a hand against Hunter’s chest and he yelped. “Uh-oh, I think someone’s sunscreen has worn off.”
Willow grimaced, giving him a critical once over. “Yep, someone is getting burned. Here, let me freshen you up before this is even worse.”
“Scars burn faster than normal tissue,” Luz said.
“I’ll save the healing spell for when people can’t see,” Hunter said, pulling his knees up so he could lean on them. “Luz, next time, see if you can’t liberate some doggie valiums from Mom’s clinic before we go on vacation.”
Luz snorted. “You are not drugging my babies.”
“Give them to me for all I care. Someone is getting sedated for everyone’s sanity,” he said, his skin quivering as the cool lotion hit it.
Willow rubbed it into his strong muscles, trailing her hands down to the damp waistband of his retina-searingly bright swim trunks. Even with all his scars, Hunter was incredibly handsome in her eyes. She loved the feel of his body.
“Uh-oh, I know that look, Willow. I’m going to remind you, this is how all your babies start.” Luz nudged her.
“I like how you think she’s going to ever let Hunter touch her again,” Amity said low enough that the girls couldn’t overhear her.
“It is not my fault someone keeps having twins. Not my eggs doing crazy things,” Hunter huffed, glancing down the beach to where his sons played with the new kids. “Though I’m not sure how to feel about the healer being wrong about triplets. Three was scary but I had almost been used to the idea when it was decided it was only twins.”
Willow kissed his reddened shoulder before putting lotion on it. “She wasn’t sure if she felt two or three hearts. Three boys might have had us running for the hills.”
“Luz and I are still talking about if we want a third child or not.” Amity looked at Azura fondly. “Two is a nice number.”
“But my dad wanted a big family. He didn’t get the chance. I don’t want a huge family but maybe a third,” Luz added wistfully.
“I’ll give you two boys, how’s that?” Hunter groaned.
“Heck no, your boys lead Manny into all sorts of trouble as is.”
“I’m sure it’s the other way around,” Willow said, sliding her hand down Hunter’s arm. She put some heavier duty sunscreen over his scars.
“I want another sister!” Azura called from her sandcastle.
Luz and Amity winced. “Guess we weren’t as quiet as we thought,” Amity said.
“We want sisters too!” Zinnia and Hyacinth chorused.
“Concentrate on your ‘please teach us surfing’ speech and don’t worry about more sisters,” Luz counseled.
“Gus is teaching them to surf?” Hunter arched his eyebrows.
“You and Gus,” Willow said. She kissed his cheek.
“Ew, Mom! Not in public!” Hyacinth cried.
Hunter laughed.
“They’re too young to know this is how getting their sisters starts,” Luz whispered.
“They might get their wish,” Willow said softly so the kids wouldn’t hear.
Hunter whipped around so fast his face nearly collided with hers. His eyes were huge. “What? Are you? What?”
“Nice coherency there, bro.” Luz grinned but he didn’t respond, looking more like he was concentrating on not fainting. “Willow, you’re sure?”
“Emira confirmed it before we left. I’ve been waiting for the best time to tell you but there hasn’t been one quiet moment so why not now while your daughters are clamoring for sisters.” Willow beamed.
“But how? When?” Hunter stammered. “We’ve been so careful.”
Willow narrowed her eyes. Hunter always took the news of pregnancy in an addle-brained, not quite sure he wanted this way but really, he was the best father she could imagine. “Remember Gus’s moon conjuring party?”
“Oh…right. Wow.” Hunter put his sunscreen slick, burnt arms around her, holding her tight.
“Hey, we were at that party!” Amity faked outrage.
“That was so not what you were meant to be animating at the moon conjuring, Willow.” Luz could barely keep a straight face as she scolded her.
Hunter tucked his cheek against the top of Willow’s head. “I do love you so much.”
Willow hugged him back. “I know.”
“But if it’s twins again, I’m paddling that surfboard out and never returning.” He kissed the side of her neck.
“And if it’s triplets?” she teased.
“Caleb, Darius and Manny can bury me in the sand starting with my head.”
“It’s not really twins again, is it?” Amity asked.
Willow shook her head. “Emira didn’t think so.”
Hunter pulled her into a teary eyed kiss. Willow ignored the scandalized cries of their kids. They might be a handful but she would always welcome the multiplication of their love. Luz and Amity gently piled on, hugging her. They’d bring Gus up to speed later. They’d tell the kids elsewhere so their shrieks – likely to pierce the realms all the way to their grandparents back in the Boiling Isles – wouldn’t disturb the other beachgoers. Willow leaned into the coconut-scented nest of arms around her. How had she ever gotten so lucky to have family and friends like this?
no subject
Date: 2023-07-26 03:28 am (UTC)Sorry it is so hot there we have had quite the time of it as well. Hopefully, cooler days are coming soon!
no subject
Date: 2023-07-26 03:42 am (UTC)Yeah this heat is covering much of the country
no subject
Date: 2023-07-26 11:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-26 03:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-26 09:14 pm (UTC)I like just being able to see photos of cosplayers without having to go down there and be hot and tired. XD;
no subject
Date: 2023-07-27 01:14 am (UTC)I hear you. There is such great cosplay
no subject
Date: 2023-07-27 09:17 pm (UTC)Yeah, I was a cosplayer for several years (I think the best costume I made was Madoka the main character from Puella Magi Madoka Magica), but I never stopped being impressed by other cosplayers... (though I always did like dressing up as Kimblee!)
no subject
Date: 2023-07-27 10:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-27 10:40 pm (UTC)Yeah, I've dropped back from my costume-making days and just settle for things that can be put together from various clothes I can buy (and maybe alter a little).
no subject
Date: 2023-07-28 03:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-28 07:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-28 02:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-28 07:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-29 03:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-29 08:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-30 01:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-30 08:17 pm (UTC)I mean, I got mine just so I could post a photo for The Decemberists without getting a Facebook account.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-31 02:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-31 07:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-28 02:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-29 03:21 am (UTC)I'll stick to my small cons (though I would like to join a friend at Dragoncon but I also don't much like Atlanta so...)
no subject
Date: 2023-08-03 06:10 pm (UTC)Until recently, I haven't had any reason to be in San Diego, but one of my friends is originally from there, so she'd probably be able to put us up. I couldn't go this year, partially since I can't afford tickets yet and partially because I was visiting a dear friend of mine in Chicago. Still, the news is always so exciting!
no subject
Date: 2023-08-03 08:33 pm (UTC)Yeah I'm not sure how Lore Olympus won. I don't think it's bad. I do find it overrated.
I had friends in San Diego too (still do) but yeah I've always been on the opposite end of the country so...
no subject
Date: 2023-08-03 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-08-04 01:46 am (UTC)