The Dragon's Den

Five Things Making Me Happy: New Year Edition

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 03:12:19 GMT

I know we're well past the 1st, but at least we're still in single digits.

1. The Dustin & Steve hug in Stranger Things "Chapter Six: Escape from Camazotz"
2. Learning Vox Machina will get a fourth and fifth season.
3. The dance sequence in The Life of Chuck "Act Two: Buskers Forever"
4. The time jump at the end of Sinners
5. Finding Bluey Minisodes I haven't watched on Disney+

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This and That

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 01:47:45 GMT

1) I can't explain how it's been so long since I posted here last. I've lurked and commented in other people's journals, but not here. I can't say how soon I'll post again either. All I can do is make this post.
2) In spite of having many years of experience playing Dungeons and Dragons, I've never watched the web series Critical Role. I've always figured it would irritate me the same way watching someone else play a video game I'd like to actually be playing. I'm not fond of watching from the sideline.
3) I've never watched Critical Role, but I do love fantasy stories and animation, so I gave The Legend of Vox Machina a try as soon as the first season dropped on Amazon. It reminded me of playing without making me feel left out of the game. I fell in love with the show in general, and the character Vax'ildan "Vax" Vessar in particular. I haven't gotten all fannish about it, but have finally made myself some Vax icons.
4) The first episode of the second series based on a Critical Role campaign dropped in November. I didn't jump right on the series because I knew it wasn't more Vox Machina. I've tried some episodes, but it did mostly make me feel like re-watching the Vox Machina seasons on Amazon so far. That's how I got around to the Vax icons.
5) Watching the two different series based on Critical Role Campaigns made me realize that Eddie Munson running a D&D club in Stranger Things is one of the reasons I love him. Hell, one of his lines that I hadn't thought much about before, but I now realize was an early one that contributed to my love of him is about why D&D players love to play the game. Lady Apple Jack got a critical success and he said, "That's why we play."
ETA: 6) Forgot, thank you very much for the card kaffy_r!

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Drive By Post

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 16:40:22 GMT

Wow. I have no idea where June went. Well, I know some of it was working on a production of Love's Labour's Lost and brutal heat, but. I'll try to do some catch-up, but won't likely get everything. If there's anything you'd really like me to see feel free to drop it here. Hopefully I'll do better in July.

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I saw Thunderbolts! I loooved Thunderbolts!!

Sun, 04 May 2025 00:33:51 GMT

My favorite, out of context here for minimum spoilage, Bucky line was, "Yeah, I’m fine. I had a great past so I'm totally fine." So. Much. Fun. <3 <3 <3

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Five Things Making Me Happy: Val Kilmer Edition

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 11:37:01 GMT

I would be entirely crushed by the news of his having passed away this past week, but he left behind a large film catalog that I find comfort in. These are the five movies of his I enjoy the most. They aren't all exercises in great acting, but they are all performances I love.

1. Willow
I saw this in the theater when I was 13, and I will never forget how deeply I fell in love with Val Kilmer as Madmartigan. It isn't just my favorite of his films, it's one of my all time favorite movies.
2. Tombstone
Not all of these films are master classes in acting, but there was talk of an Oscar nomination for Val when this first came out. The Other Doc Holiday got it, but this is still one of his finest performances.
3. Top Secret
Did you think this would be Top Gun? Always thought of that as a Tom Cruise movie. This has Val singing and dancing in it, not to mention being silly in a variety of ways. I love it.
4. Thunderheart
While I've got a thing for stories about FBI agents, what I really love about this film is how Val's character has to face his Native American heritage when he's tried to avoid it.
5. Real Genius
This one has a special place in my heart because I struggled with being labeled "Gifted and Talented" in grade school. Val's character being a brilliant college kid determined to have fun speaks to me.

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A Picture of the Easter Dragon

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 22:21:44 GMT

I decided words might not be doing him justice. Hopefully how orange and how woolly he is come across in the picture.

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Five Things Making Me Happy: Plague* Edition

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 23:52:00 GMT

*When I went to the doc with "just a sore throat" I tested clear, but a couple of days later I had all the things. I've been miserably sick for about a week so far.

1. Flow, Oscar Winner for Best Animated Feature
2. Idris Elba as the voice of Knuckles the Echidna
3. DreamWorks Dragons: The Nine Realms
4. The Wild Robot Oscar Nominated for Best Animated Feature
5. A plush orange cream colored dragon I found in an Easter* section

*I have no idea who thought, "What this Easter stuffies collection needs is a dragon," but having never before seen a dragon that shade of orange I couldn't resist. If someone wants an actual picture of him, I can snap one with my phone and upload it later. I've not been able to decide what to call him, so also accepting ideas on what to name an orange cream Easter dragon.

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Five Things Making Me Happy

Thu, 13 Feb 2025 03:52:46 GMT

1. Sebastian Stan
[Happy both from his getting an Oscar nom, and his screen time in the Thunderbolts* trailer.]
2. Great Birthday Presents
[I turned 50 February 5th, and got some great presents to celebrate it with.]
3. Festivids 2024
[I might try and do a Top Five Vids for this year, but not tonight.]
4. Witchmark Audio Book written by C.L. Polk, and narrated by Samuel Roukin
[Loved the story and how Roukin read it.]
5. Comfort Watches
[Been down for a variety of reasons, and revisiting The Princess Bride, Merlin, and others helps.]

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Five Things Making Me Happy: Netflix Edition

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 20:13:12 GMT

1. The 2nd season of Castlevania: Nocturne has dropped!!
2. The 2nd season of The Recruit is coming!
3. The 1st season (please let there be more) of Jentry Chau vs The Underworld.
4. The first 3 seasons of the new The Equalizer series with Queen Latifah as McCall.
5. The 2nd season of XO, Kitty has dropped.

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Getting to Know You Meme

Mon, 09 Dec 2024 18:48:08 GMT

These meme instructions and questions were given to me by ragnarok_08

First the instructions--
Comment with "Come at me, bro."
I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can get to know you better.
Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.

Second my answers--
1) What is your absolute dream job?
Successful--but not everywhere--professional author. I once told a professor I wanted to be Stephen King, but writing fantasy rather than horror. These days I don't crave that much success. I'd just like to be able to make enough money as a novelist to not need any help from this country's social safety net.

2) What are you currently reading?
Sunshine by Robin McKinley, one of my all time favorite books is The Hero and the Crown by the same author. I've been meaning to give Sunshine a try for ages because I love the author and vampires. Not sure yet how I feel about her take on vampires, but it hasn't made me give up so there's that.

3) What was the last thing to pleasantly surprise you?
The second and final season of Arcane: League of Legends on Netflix. The first season surprised me with how good it was so I had hopes for the second, but I was also afraid they wouldn't know how to follow it up. They managed to get so much right it didn't just reassure me the first season wasn't a fluke it showed me that they were prepared for their second season to also be their last.

4) If you could only listen to one music genre forever, what would it be?
That's a tricky question for me because I was raised listening to such a wide variety of music without being taught to think much about what genre a given sound fell into that I'm not sure about where the lines fall, much less how large or small an umbrella I should be thinking of. Is Pop/Rock too big? Is Pop? I mean I know there are specific things like Punk and J-Pop. Is there a singular genre Sting, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, and The Rolling Stones all fall in?

5) If money weren't an issue, where would your vacation home be?
Considering, if money weren't an issue, my primary address would be in the Scottish Highlands, my vacation home would be somewhere else. When I was younger I didn't want to live any place too close to the equator, but as I get older I think if money weren't an issue I'd consider Majorca. I like the idea of a Spanish speaking Mediterranean isle over a French or Greek one.

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Five Things Making Me Happy

Sun, 20 Oct 2024 02:26:09 GMT

1. Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher
2. Heartstopper Season 3
3. Jurassic World: Chaos Theory Season 2
4. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Season 1
5. Rez Ball the movie, haven't read the book

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Five Things Making Me Happy: Recovering Edition

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 02:16:53 GMT

Been ill, but getting better. Here's what I've been enjoying while recovering.

1. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
[The best book I've read in ages. So. Good.]
2. Pokémon
[Started with finally giving into Pokémon Go, but quickly snowballed.]
3. Toby Stephens
[I hadn't seen the 1996 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, now I have.]
4. William Sitterson and Alice Chen in Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn
[Not always fond of most in the book, but those two keep me going.]
5. Chris Evans' appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine
[I have been informed I audibly made an excited sound at the reveal.]

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Drive By Salute

Mon, 22 Jul 2024 16:13:02 GMT

My brain has been soup from the heat and work. I've been pretty much operating at "Fire bad, tree pretty," but I'm posting a link to a "One Last Time" video in salute to Joe Biden making the hard call.

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Five Things Making Me Happy

Wed, 12 Jun 2024 16:06:17 GMT

1. Winning Employee of the Month for June
[I got a gift card to pick something as a trophy.]
2. Sweet Tooth on Netflix
[I've never read the comics, but I love the show.]
3. Rogue (the character) in Doctor Who on Disney+
[Really the whole episode, but the character especially.]
4. New Nightshirts
[Replacing some beloved old ones that have gotten ratty.]
5. The Australian Mint Issuing Bluey Dollar Bucks
[Wish I had a clue how to get some in the U.S.]

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Five Things Making Me Happy: Drive By Edition

Sat, 25 May 2024 00:20:01 GMT

All things I'm watching on Netflix when I have the time--

1. Black Sails (Pirates!)
2. Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (Dinosaurs!)
3. Outlander (Scots!)
4. Blood of Zeus (Greek gods!)
5. Bridgerton (Romance!)

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Five Things Making Me Happy: Graphic Edition

Mon, 06 May 2024 22:15:59 GMT

*If you have questions about any of the pictures feel free to ask.

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5.

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A Childhood Literary Crushes Top Five

Sun, 17 Mar 2024 21:42:53 GMT

Following along as sharpest_asp has read Diane Duane's So You Want to Be a Wizard for the first time has brought back a lot of happy childhood memories about that book, and others in that series. It's also made me think a lot about the first boys I had crushes on in books. My earliest childhood crushes didn't come from books. With my autism, I didn't learn to read until I was 8 years old, and by then I had various crushes from films and TV, animated, and live action. Once I learned to read I was voracious. My reading aptitude went from zero to "college level" in just the four years between my learning to read and my being tested at age twelve. These are the Top Five boys I'm certain I fell in love with in those years, the years before I fully became a teenager.

Top Five Childhood Literary Crushes
1. Peter Pevensie (Narnia)
2. Calvin O'Keefe (Time Quintet)
3.Kit Rodriguez (Young Wizards)
4. Jakkin (Pit Dragons)
5. Sparrowhawk (Earthsea)

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Five Things Making Me Happy: Festivids 2024 Edition

Sun, 04 Feb 2024 22:04:02 GMT

My thanks to thisbluespirit for letting me know festivids is live!

1. "Anti-Hero" Nimona (2023)
2. "I'm Gonna Be (40,000 Miles)" Around the World in 80 Days (TV 2021)
3. "Disaster Party" Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
4. "We Can Be Anything" Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
5. "Oh No Not Now" Philadelphia Story (1940)

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Five Things Making Me Happy

Sun, 14 Jan 2024 22:05:23 GMT

1. The video game Marvel's Midnight Suns
[I get to hangout with Stephen Strange and Illyana Rasputin! <3]
2. The Netflix series XO, Kitty
[I missed when it first dropped, but am relieved it was renewed.]
3. What If...? ep. "What If... the Avengers Assembled in 1602?"
[It fills me with sooo much squee in so many ways! <3]
4. Netflix live action One Piece
[I figured I'd give it a try and it makes me happy.]
5. An English dub of the Heaven Official's Blessing donghua
[Been wanting to try a donghua, but first dub I've found.]

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Five Things Making Me Happy

Fri, 22 Dec 2023 16:43:49 GMT

1. Having gotten my electricity restored Wednesday night!
[I lost it Monday morning froze Monday and Tuesday night. I'm counting the timing of it's return as a Yule blessing, while praying for everyone to have theirs back soon.]
2. The live action Yu Yu Hakusho on Netflix.
[I was so nervous about whether it would be any good and I am so relieved that I want more!]
3. Legendborn by Tracy Deonn.
[It seems like a mash up of Merlin, Shadowhunters, and Deonn's own ideas, which could just be a big mess, but somehow works for me.]
4. Blue Eye Samurai on Netflix.
[I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it getting a second season when the title character isn't remotely my favorite, but I'll keep an eye out to see if it will have more of Ringo, Taigen, and Akemi.]
5. Partner Track on Netflix.
[Dominic Sherwood in nice suits with his own British accent. Pity I didn't catch it sooner.]

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This and That

Thu, 23 Nov 2023 18:24:21 GMT

*Happy Thanksgiving to those in the USA!

*Happy 60th Birthday to Doctor Who!

*My fandom tree is up here. I switched my requests up a bit from last year. Still asked for Marvel and dragons, but went Doctor Who and Fruits Baskets instead of Highlander and Shadowhunters for my fandom requests besides Marvel, and asked for different dragons from last year (though any dragon is a good dragon).

*Still enjoying having Crunchyroll back. Burned through a couple of anime I've been enjoying because they where just single 12 episode seasons, but still enjoying other longer ones.

*Nervous about working Black Friday tomorrow, but really need the pay.

That's all I can think of at the moment. My love to you all.

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Holiday Blessings!

Tue, 31 Oct 2023 14:20:24 GMT

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Maine Girl Checking In

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 22:14:41 GMT

I live about an hour from Lewiston. I have ties there through friends and family. I've heard from those in the area that they're safe, but it's still a big shock for all of us. I'd been planning to get my Spook Me fics up on time today, but I may leave them until Halloween itself. Just thought I'd let anyone seeing reports about the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, and thinking of me know that I'm still here. I wish you all peace and love. <3 <3 <3

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Five Things Making Me Happy: Anime Edition

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 01:30:33 GMT

I dropped my subscription to Crunchyroll while I was job hunting, but having at least a part-time job for a while now I've renewed it. I knew there were shows I'd been wanting to check out. I didn't realize there would be five I'd enjoy so much.

1. The Rising of the Shield Hero
2. I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss
3. The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague
4. Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts
5. Jujutsu Kaisen

It's a nice variety. I'm glad to get into it all.

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Feeling Miserable

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 20:09:12 GMT

Have my third case of covid in two years. I'm vaccinated, but not with the latest booster. Will likely live, but feel awful just now. My father would have been 77 today if he was still alive. He died in 2017, and I'm missing him so much today. Virtual hugs and fluff would be much appreciated.

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The Dragon's Den

Five Things Making Me Happy: New Year Edition

This and That

Drive By Post

I saw Thunderbolts*! I loooved Thunderbolts*!!

Five Things Making Me Happy: Val Kilmer Edition

A Picture of the Easter Dragon

Five Things Making Me Happy: Plague* Edition

Five Things Making Me Happy

Five Things Making Me Happy: Netflix Edition

Getting to Know You Meme

Five Things Making Me Happy

Five Things Making Me Happy: Recovering Edition

Drive By Salute

Five Things Making Me Happy

Five Things Making Me Happy: Drive By Edition

Five Things Making Me Happy: Graphic Edition

A Childhood Literary Crushes Top Five

Five Things Making Me Happy: Festivids 2024 Edition

Five Things Making Me Happy

Five Things Making Me Happy

This and That

Holiday Blessings!

Maine Girl Checking In

Five Things Making Me Happy: Anime Edition

Feeling Miserable

I saw Thunderbolts! I loooved Thunderbolts!!