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It is record-breakingly hot here in Chicago. I'm considering forming a permanent relationship with my air conditioner. I'm also seriously considering looking for jobs in Antarctica. Surely they need a project manager and I bet I'd never have to call anyone a cab.

So I'm staying inside and writing. I worked a little on Dead Isle, and then I wrote a fanfic, which was a nice way to break the TOTAL STALL I was in. And also, you guys get porn!

Title: Moving The Furniture
Fandom: Avengers (movieverse)
Rating: R (Steve/Natasha)
Summary: Steve thinks about sex a lot, and he'd like to have some, if he could just stop being an idiot around the people he'd like to have it with.

( It's not that Steve can't talk to women. )

Fake cut takes you to the fic at Dreamwidth.

I'm pretty sure this story makes it seem like I'm obsessed with Steve Rogers' virginity, but honestly, this one is all 51stcenturyfox's fault.

Foxy also got me an AO3 account, so that I can post this as a gift for her there. I'm not sure what my status vis-a-vis posting to AO3 is going to be in a permanent sense, but rest assured, all fanfic will also be posted at the Dreamwidth account and linked from here and the sam_storyteller LJ. (Posting is becoming quite the production number.)

Anyway, you can find this story here at AO3 as well.

Oh god, I am so behind with this review.

I'm really bad at reading stuff my friends have had published, and I'm not proud of that; I think perhaps some of it is that my Advanced Reader Copies usually come in digital format, and that takes more effort than simply dragging a book onto the train with me. I really need to save up for an ebook reader of some kind.

But I've been working my way through Steam Powered II: More Lesbian Steampunk Stories and it's really good reading. I was sent a copy because a good friend, Jeannelle Ferreria, had a story in it, but I've been enjoying most of the stories in various ways. I mean, I like steampunk, and I like to support work that presents more diversity than one generally gets in big publishing, but the stories themselves are really well done so I'm happy to recommend the anthology wholeheartedly.

Jeannelle's story, A Thousand Mill Lofts Gray, almost seems out of place in a Steampunk anthology because it's so firmly rooted in a historical era and a specific culture, but as with all of her writing I love how she presents that culture: the tension between a poor Jewish factory worker and an upper-class gentile photographer is fantastic and detailed. It does have a lot of lovely steampunk touches; one of the heroines who has a functional, jointed ivory hand because she lost hers in an industrial accident. It touches on the darker side of steampunk in a way a lot of stories in the genre don't: the fact that Steampunk romanticises an era before labor laws and unions, when colonialism and class snobbery were at an all time high.

I think my other favorite story is Playing Chess in New Persepolis, by Sean Holland; I mean, clockwork steampunk chess tournament with bonus love story for the win.

There's a strong variety within the anthology as well; there are a lot of women of colour represented, from a charming Cuban submarine designer in Amphitrite by SL Knapp to the exceptional adventure story Dark Horse by AM Tuomala (who has also published with my friends at Candlemark & Gleam) which is about the adventures of an Englishwoman, Prudence, and a Moroccan woman, Suhailah, set in Istanbul and told through Suhailah's eyes.

So I've really been enjoying it, and I think you guys will too; four hundred pages of steampunk and awesome women, what's not to like? I don't usually link to purchase pages in my reviews, but the anthology is put out by a smallish indy press so I'd like to help them along if I can -- the anthology can be found here for $8.99 for eBook, and there's a preorder link for the paperback.

Good morning everyone, happy Memorial Day, and welcome to Radio Free Monday!

Ways To Give:

rising has a friend who is raising money to take Deon, a young boy who has hypophosphatasia (a form of brittle bones) to Disneyland for his 10th birthday. The money will go to cover medical costs and transportation, among other things.

Help with Housing:

neveralarch is moving to Minneapolis for grad school and looking for housing near the UMinn campus. You can find more information or offer advice here.

Emily is moving to Worcester, MA at the end of July. She's looking for advice on finding housing, as well as vets in the area and any other info folks want to pass along. You can find more information or make contact here.

News To Know:

One Million Moms, a conservative "pressure group" dedicated to sucking the fun out of life, is going after comic books for depicting homosexual relationships (among other things). According to the article, Joe Quesada has said that the most hate mail they get is over sexuality issues. So if you like comics and you support the inclusion of LGBT characters and storylines, you might drop 'em a line to counteract some of the missives from scribbling bigots. (If anyone has info on how best to do this please let me know and I'll put together a post or RFM blurb about it.)

Nice Things Happening:

taffimai has a ticket available for Don't Dress for Dinner in NYC.

thatrainbow is running a project where he collects wishes from people and turns them into paper stars. His post is on tumblr but he has anonymous "asking" turned on so you can leave a wish there.

Just For Fun:

nieseryjna linked me to an awesome Doctor Who "mini-sode" written by kids as part of a Blue Peter contest.

ljgeoff has found the most awesome birthday card ever.

When times get tough, remember: nobody can take away the porn you've already read.

And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can always post items for my attention in comments here (or on any post) or email me at copperbadge at gmail dot com. If you're not sure how to proceed, here is a little more about what I do and how you can help (or ask for help!). Remember, brevity is the soul of RFM.

I have not roomba'd in WAY. TOO. LONG.

In my defence, the Roomba was sulking. Its battery wouldn't hold a charge, and even when it would, all it did was go around in a tight little circle, like it was afraid of the floor or something. Not even its true love, the automatic trash can (that's right, my trash can has motion sensors) could cheer it up.

I did email iRobot, the company that births Roombas, and their computer replied to me. Which is apropos, I guess.

Briskly slap the bumper 15-20 times to dislodge any debris in the bumper sensor. Direct compressed air into the gap under the robot between the bumper and main body.

I finally got around to laying down some newspaper and taking the Roomba to pieces, then took it out onto the fire escape and cleared it out with a can of compressed air. I reassembled it with clean brushes and an empty lint trap, fired it up, and LO AND BEHOLD, MY BABY HAS COME BACK TO ME.

So it turns out when your Roomba is sulking, all it needs is a spanking and a blow job.

How like life.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Given it's a three day weekend in the US (and @ajvsell dropped a hint) this is the perfect time

TO DECLARE MORNINGTON CRESCENT.

Mornington Crescent is a made-up game with made-up rules, like if Calvinball and a subway map collided at high speed. If you need a primer you can find it here, but essentially the idea is that you name train stations and argue about nonexistent rules until someone says Mornington Crescent. You can see some examples at the last Mornington Crescent.

As it is Memorial Day we will be playing by American Armistice Rules as laid out by Woodrow Wilson (not the more well-known Churchill Armistice Rules, which require too much drinking for a Saturday morning). This means absolutely no downdrafts, except after the tenth move, and direct crossplay when in the northeast quadrant.

And of course because I am in Central time, no F, E, or G plays after a snonk.

You will need your maps: We'll be basing play off the Standard Historical, but you may also need the Variant Modern and Standard Modern and, as a bonus, I'll throw in a Wild Card.

I'll start it, but play amongst yourselves; I'm off to get breakfast. Before you answer me, see if there are any others you can play with. Make friends!

Or enemies!

Belmont Red Line!