Reality used to be a friend of mine...

In which I ramble about writing and other fandom stuff

2026-03-05T22:28:59Z

Hey, I'm posting more than once in a blue moon!! Wonders will never cease.

I really really need to figure what I'm doing with Renegade Squadron - for those who don't know, I am partway through a longfic with the premise of Wedge taking a war-weary shattered unit and forge them into something new and stronger than they were before, in preparation for taking on the command of his own snubfighter wing. Because it is a complete injustice that A. he didn't get to work with Hobbie on something and B. that he, the single best pilot in the history of Starfighter Command, was taken out of the cockpit and put on the bridge of a Super Star Destroyer, rather than being given command of a Wing of X-wing fighters to do what he does best: wreak havoc on the Empire.

I know my Big Bad but as for actual plot?! HA. (At 15 chapters in, you'd think I'd've figured that minor detail out by now!)

I've also made a couple of things.

( Wedge things )

( Info on the Big Damn Rogue Squadron Chart )

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Oops I did it again

2026-02-18T22:07:18Z

Apologies to those of you on my flist who don't also follow my fic journal; I just A. had an entry with broken coding that B. wasn't even supposed to be in this journal in the first place, it was supposed to be over on sharpiepen (and it's there now).

You may now return to your scheduled Wednesday. Thanks for your patience.

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sharpiefan @ 2026-02-12T02:00:00

2026-02-12T02:03:54Z

So, uh... Where does one go for icons these days? I can do basic stuff, but it has been literally years since I did anything in the 100x100px range... If anyone knows somewhere I can add to my stash of Legends canon Star Wars icons, I will love you forever! (Especially X-wing/Rogue/Wraith squadron icons)

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Something changed.

2026-01-03T13:24:55Z

Can someone tell me when and why tDW no longer shows the little site icon next to, for example, an AO3 name, like sharpiefan?

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Snowflake Challenge 2026: Day 1

2026-01-03T12:59:54Z

Challenge #1

The Icebreaker Challenge: Introduce yourself. Tell us why you're doing the challenge, and what you hope to gain from it.

I think you all know me, though it has been a while. In the spirit of introducing myself, I'm in my mid-forties, have been around online (with this handle) since I joined LJ back in 2005, and posted my first fic a couple of years or so later.

I used to be active(ish!) in the Age of Sail fandom, before fading out of DW circles altogether. I've rediscovered fannish love for a very longtime fandom of mine, the Star Wars X-wing pilots - Rogue and Wraith Squadrons, and have joined a Discord server specifically for that niche, so I chill there a whole bunch - some of you know me from there.

I've written more fic centring on Wedge Antilles and have a couple of WIPs on the go right now. My fics are posted on AO3 at Sharpiefan

I want to reconnect with DW, the wider world of fans and just overall forget the sheer insanity of the world we live in by remembering nice things about it. And to encourage other people too.

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Snowflake Challenge 2026

2026-01-01T12:55:43Z

First things first: Happy New Year, one and all!

It's been a while since I was anything like active on DW in anything like a fandom space, and probably longer since I had anything to do with the annual Snowflake Challenge.

For those who don't know: The Snowflake Challenge is a way for fans in any fandom to come together to celebrate fannishness in all its wonderful nerdy fandom glory. It doesn't matter if you're an anime fan and I like sci-fi or historical stuff, we're fans and that's something to celebrate.

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I think I missed something somewhere

2025-11-15T14:26:24Z

I'm really confused, in a good way, but confused nevertheless.

I'm scrolling back through my journal to stuff I imported from LJ back in the day - things dated 2008, the year before I created a DW account. Things imported before it was possible to claim your LJ ID here. The confusion arises because I deleted by LJ, and it was purged, before DW set up the 'claim my OpenID' thing, which meant that my old old LJ stuff would always be under an OpenID I couldn't claim.

So... How come it's showing as posted from me, not my LJ-provided OpenID that I can't ever claim? I'm so grateful to have as from a legitimate actual account, but how did that happen?

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A 'Dear Creator' letter from someone who hasn't even signed up

2025-10-05T06:19:45Z

OK, while I have not signed up to SW rarepairs, it has been pointed out to me that Certain People Who Shall Remain Nameless (but You Know Who You Are!) would still like to see a Dear Creator letter from me.

Dear Creator,

If you choose to read through this and maybe write something for me, I would be incredibly happy (I am not expecting that anyone is or will, let me put that out there right away!!). If you are from where I think I might know you from, you already know that I'm a Legends girl all the way - the OT, Zahn, Stackpole and Allston for my piloty goodness.

Friendships and found families are my jam!

I love the Fab Four (Wedge, Tycho, Wes and Hobbie) and their relationship and friendship. The four generally divide along the lines of Wedge-Tycho and Wes-Hobbie but it's a four and all of them are important to everyone in the group; I would love to see something along any other iteration (Wedge-Wes or Wedge-Hobbie, say, or Tycho-Wes or Tycho-Hobbie). I'm not a great one for reading or writing outright porn, but something softer around the edges, the care and friendship they have for one another. Just literally sleeping in the same bed together - with or without clothes is fine.

I'm not really into anything explicit these days as far as sex scenes. I'm here more for the total trust and camaraderie between these people, that's built over so many years and truly difficult times. The understanding between them that means they'll offer help even when the person who needs it can't or won't ask, or maybe doesn't realise how badly they need the help (Wedge, especially, is terrible at A. realising he needs help at all and B. asking for it from anyone, even his closest friends).

The Wedge/Cracken (Crackentilles) stuff that youmynock is writing is all shades of amazing. Cracken being the head of NRI and generally in complete control of the situations and conversations he has, finding himself falling for a man who's just as dangerous but in a totally different sphere (and is completely clueless to Cracken's attraction to him for the longest time...)

Um.

I think that's about it for what I'd actually like to see.

So, that's what I like reading. I honestly have no expectations, I've only written this because Certain People said they'd like to see even if I haven't signed up!

If it helps, things I have bookmarked on AO3:

Feel by ohhaypsy
The Second-Best Couch and Adrenaline Crash by F117_Nighthawk

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sharpiefan @ 2025-09-25T22:30:00

2025-09-25T21:32:01Z

Update to the previous: I have my icon stash back. All of the icons!! Lookit!!

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sharpiefan @ 2025-09-25T22:05:00

2025-09-25T21:11:09Z

I really need to sit down and update my icon stash. All my current icons are great, but theyʻre also a remnant of a fandom Iʻm currently not active in. (Though I do love you AoS people dearly and a fannish chat is a fannish chat whoever itʻs with and whatever the focus is.) I should probably think about updating the look of my journal too, while Iʻm at it - though itʻs still going to be a collection of Random Stuff, because thatʻs pretty much who and what I am and always will be, forever and ever amen.

Letʻs sort out the icons first though. Small steps.

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In which I ponder

2025-09-03T10:06:14Z

I am trying to decide whether I want to go through the hassle of completely redoing my journal layout and colours - while I like the greens, it's a little light for me, and I'm no longer active in the AoS space, especially the Sharpe side of things, which is what everything is themed around. OTOH, I'm not active enough in this space and don't know whether I want to spend ages dicking around with layout and colours and all - especially as you can't save your current theme set-up anywhere and my go-to HTML colour schemer has finally died a death.

Also, I kinda want to shuffle my icons around, but that requires paid space and see above re: activity levels.

Also, I'm not particularly inspired by any of the available DW layouts. Meh.

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In which life continues along the same groove as ever

2025-09-02T19:04:15Z

I think one of the reasons, probably the main reason, that I don't post over here any more is that I really don't have very much to say. Life continues, what's there to say about it?

Anything fannish I do is on Discord. I write, and all that gets posted (when I write at all) over on AO3 - admittedly, I have been writing something recently. If you're interested in Star Wars, I'm involved in the X-wing corner of SW fandom, and posting a longform fic at the rate of approximately a chapter a week, when it's getting written.

That's about it, really.

I'd like to post more regularly. I just feel I have very little to say right now.

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In which it becomes apparent that Sharpie lives

2025-08-01T07:34:30Z

I'm still here!!

No idea what to say other than: I'm alive! I have not yet died, ceased to be, shuffled off this mortal coil, gone to meet my Maker, rung up the curtain and joined the choir invisible.

Also, it's a lovely day, I have plans for this afternoon, and none for this morning (other than trying to make progress on my most recentest fic - I have been dragged back into Star Wars pilot fandom and need to update my icon stash to reflect this...)

Hi, all, nice to see you again, however briefly.

For those who are interested: I'm on Discord, and still RPing though no longer re-enacting. I moved a couple of years ago, I have been working (at an exam board, a series of short-term contracts) and have the summer off, though will be back there in September for the post-results stuff. Current fandom: Star Wars pilots (old EU, now Legends, not the new Disney canon stuff), also Ancient Rome. Current WIP: Renegade Squadron - Wedge built Rogue Squadron with Tycho, and Wraith Squadron with Wes, he should have done something else with Hobbie to have three squadrons for a Wing rather than end up in Fleet which didn't play to his very best strengths. I aim to correct this, give him a third squadron so that he can have a three-squadron Wing as a General, the way it should have happened. It's all on AO3, where I post as Sharpiefan.

I may, possibly, look into a rename token for here to become simply Sharpie.

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Trafalgar Day

2024-10-21T20:51:39Z

I don't post much any more, but today is (or has been) Trafalgar Day, so I felt it right to post this today.

On the morning of the battle, Admiral Lord Nelson made an entry into his journal and with it the following prayer, ‘May the great God, whom I worship, grant to my country and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious victory, and may no misconduct in anyone tarnish it; and may humanity after victory be the predominant feature in the British fleet. For myself individually, I commit my life to him that made me; and may His blessing alight on my endeavours for serving my country faithfully. To him I resign myself, and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen.’

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In which I post new old fic

2023-11-05T22:25:16Z

I haven't written anything in a very long time... the link isn't to a new fic but to one I posted way back in 2015. It's only had a few hits, though, so it might be new to you people. I could probably polish it up but I think it's fine as-is.

Casus Belli
Author: sharpiefan
Fandom: Age of Sail, original characters

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Change of plans for dinner

2023-10-15T17:07:06Z

I thought we had three or four potatoes left; we only have two and they're baby.

So instead pie and mash, it'll be pie and chips. Could be worse.

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In which I try to remember how this journal thing is supposed to work

2023-10-15T13:11:23Z

A very brief catch-up on my life: We moved last year, as Dad retired and they wanted to downsize and live nearer my sisters, BIL and niece. It's a nice cottagey house on a private road, within walking distance of Sis, BIL and Niece.

I, again, am out of work.

Mum's current health is...not the best, though there's a good prognosis. This means the actually looking for work is proving a bit challenging, as I don't think I have the wherewithal to work from home productively, but full-time is also just not going to work. I miss my friends, both on and offline, so there's that too.

I am supposed to be clearing my room out ready for a delivery of materials on Thursday for the new wardrobe that is going to be built on either Monday or Tuesday - I forget which.

I am also having my sister's dog come to stay over for a long weekend, he is the very cutest thing and I love him very much. I don't recall if I've ever posted pics of him so let me go and find one.
( Clicky )

I should go and shift some more stuff, I think.

I will try to get pics of the before and after.

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I live!

2023-10-11T15:32:24Z

I am alive!

I can't say that I'm going to post anything like regularly as my life is rather upside down but... I am here and I miss all of you and I hope that you are all well.

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So long and thanks for all the fish!

2019-07-05T22:53:46Z

I'm no longer actively posting nor taking part in anything here, particularly. If anyone wants to defriend me, go ahead; I don't think I'm going to become any more active any time soon. I'm not going to kid myself (or you) and pretend that I'm going to become any more active any time soon, it's just really unlikely to happen, because it hasn't happened yet.

Love you all!

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Sunshine Challenge - like the Snowflake Challenge but in summer!

2019-06-22T00:37:58Z

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Query for those of you better at filters than me!

2019-03-01T13:05:48Z

I've just posted to Despatches. It's the longest issue in some time - which I am simply over the moon about! - but may lead to an issue I've had before (and I'm pretty happy to potentially have this issue going forwards, don't get me wrong!!)

For those of you who know these things, is it possible to subscribe to a specific tag or set of tags on a specific journal? Because a number of journals post regularly, but I'm only interested in posts that have fannish content to do with the Age of Sail and anything not covered by that is pointless... and despatch_reader is a free journal (there's simply no point in making it paid). And free journals can only scroll back so far in their reading pages.

This means that if there is a lot of activity in a week, I am potentially going to miss fannish content due to non-fannish (or non AoS fannish) noise.

So I would like to be able to subscribe to specific AoS tagss in some journals with the Reader journal to weed out as much random noise as I can and get to the good stuff as easily as possible.

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New panfandom meta newsletter

2019-01-22T03:40:05Z

For those of you who are interested there's a new panfandom meta newsletter, thisweekmeta started by tozka for all your meta news needs.

(Tigger and Marines... interesting combination of iconage. Hee!)

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Open Letter to Anonymous

2019-01-11T11:27:03Z

Note: potboy linked to this post, which begins:
Anonymous asked: Do you have any advice for being an older woman in fandom? I'm almost 27 and I feel disgusting for still being in fandom and liking fanfiction (especially mrated fic which I know I'm way too old for) but at the same time I don't want/don't know how to just leave.

First of all, I am in my late thirties and while I am not active in fandom, and haven't really been so for a while, I can assure you that I still count myself as a fangirl, and my most active years were my late twenties to my early/mid-thirties.

There are many, many people older than me who are active fangirls. I am privileged to include several in my immediate circle.

You should not ever have to feel ashamed of being in fandom. This is something which is a community, a coming-together to enjoy and enthuse over something. Fangirls cover a wide spectrum - we are all ages, all colours, all sizes and shapes. You are not on your own.

I have met several IRL friends thanks to fandom - I spent a long weekend in Liverpool with members of one message-board forum set up for fans of a niche fandom interest, and I was not the oldest there. (Nor was I the youngest, at 28!) I have spent time with a lovely group of people for another niche fandom, and the wonderful lady who was our hostess for our very first get-together has been in fandom since the 60s/70s. She still counts herself as a fangirl.

Shaming someone for liking something enough to enthuse with others is akin to shaming someone for their weight or height or skin colour or because they happen to prefer coffee to tea! Nobody should ever feel they have to drop out of fandom, whatever their fandom is, just because someone else thinks they're 'too old'.

Most people I've known are most active in fandom in their twenties/early thirties, because that's pretty much when they have the time. People drop out of fandom for all sorts of reasons - or change what they're interested in - but simple age should never be one of those things!

Please, if you see this post, please look at fandom_snowflake and other communities for your particular fandom interest. I can absolutely guarantee that you will not be the oldest person to like the things you like! With 100% certainty.

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Despatches: State of Play (and please tell people about it!)

2018-12-17T19:18:58Z

To those people who have recently joined my flist (yes, I still use LJ terms, though I've been here longer than I was at LJ!), I would like to take a moment to point you in the direction of despatches, the Age of Sail pan-fandom/umbrella fandom newsletter. If your fannish interests lie in anything set between approximately 1700-1860 (give or take... let's be real: In the Georgian era up to the Age of Steam), please subscribe, and let me know so that I can follow you with the Reader.

On that note: Please don't allow the Reader access to your journal; this will help prevent me linking to locked entries and posts. Personal journals and communities are welcome. despatch_reader is currently subscribed to the following journals and communities; if you would like to be removed from the list, please comment to the most recent despatches post.

Journals and communities currently despatch_reader is currently subscribed to:
Users
astolat; barefoot_bard; bluebutterflyarts; brewsternorth; cesy; cruisedirector; farothiels_fic; feroxargentea; idler_1814; jadelennox; vanilla_elf; latin_cat; lokei; marashar; mmejaert; mswyrr; nautacarus; neveralarch; nid_dabeille; nolivingman; oursin; patches_the_shipcat; romantical; stealthboat

Communities
19thc_exchange; age_of_sail; aninfamousarmy; anno1790; anything_aos; aos_captions; blackpearlsails; corsets_and_carriages; for_all_love; friendsofenglishmagic; georgette_heyer; historium; jaff; janeausten; lieutenant_bennet; mandc_read; mandc_watch; monstrous_regiment; multi_fiction; napoleonic_era; perfect_duet; pirategasm; rambling_soldier; revolution_fr; scarlet_league; sharpe_read; sharpiepen; showthecolours; temeraire; temeraireficfest; temerairekinkmeme; w_i_r; where_away.

Feeds
hmsacasta_feed; garrowslaw_feed; janeaustenblog_feed; jbegiato_feed; oldcuddy_feed

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Signal boost for Tumblr refugees

2018-12-10T15:10:14Z

Signal boosting from potboy

via https://ift.tt/2RNCHJB

theotherguysride:

theotherguysride:

Hey there everyone! First of all: I’m backing up every tumblr that will let me.

12/7/2018 is todays date, for referencing this later.

For my legal protection: I NEED YOUR PERMISSION! TO DOWNLOAD YOUR BLOG FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES. I can get in a *lot* of trouble for pulling this much data *without your permission*.

With that in mind: I’ve got a google form that’s going to let me back up your data. Fill this out please? I’ve had less than 20 blogs ask for this.

THE QUE

I don’t want to see our history die.

Who can I back up? EVERYONE! ANYONE!. EVERYTHING WE CAN.

What can I back up: Everything that’s *published* on your tumblr. Drafts, asks unanswered, messages, communications between people that are behind a login screen, I can’t scrape. I’m using the tumblr python .utills scrape.

How much space do I have? ENOUGH. I’ve got 4tb now, and I’m compressing files and moving them onto it as we speak. I’ve got the capacity to do 5 blogs at a time. If you visit my paypal or ko-fi, I can get more storage for us.

It takes me eighty nine seconds to backup a blog with less than 5k posts. Seriously guys. Sides, mains, if you’ve got your content on it, I want to back it up.

If you include an email, when I have a chance, I’ll send you an archived copy of your blog. It will likely be a dropbox file, or a github file, behind a password.

Please: Reblog this and tag your people. The more eyes on this the better.

ANY TUMBLR IS WELCOME TO ASK FOR THIS.

Please. Even if it’s just in case. I need you to ask before I can download your blog.

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