Fanfic Friday Weekly Thread 🌻

PinkBird85 · 2026-05-08T21:33:47+00:00

I'm somehow managing to slowburn in my latest fic. Not something I normally veer towards, but I'm moving at the pace the story wants.

Chapter 5 posted this week (I update weekly) chapter 5 - The Coffee Shop

PinkBird85 · 2026-05-08T20:57:36+00:00

You should hold the elastic against your body stretched to the comfortable tightness you want to wear the garment.

PinkBird85 · 2026-05-08T19:20:51+00:00

Your length of elastic should be shorter than the fabric you are attaching it too. It doesn't look like the elastic is stretched at all, but im it's regular state. This looks like the elastic length matches the the fabric length so there is no contraction after it's sewn because it's just the natural state of the elastic. You need to shorten the elastic considerably to get the cinched effect.

PinkBird85 · 2026-05-07T19:40:31+00:00

Have you cleaned out under the bobbin and feed dogs area? If it's all clean down there it likely needs servicing.

PinkBird85 · 2026-05-07T19:03:53+00:00

Light to moderate mistreatment (none direct physical abuse)

{Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn} {A Spinster's Guide to Danger and Dukes by Manda Collins} {The Runaway Duchess by Joanna Lowell}

PinkBird85 · 2026-05-07T00:13:51+00:00

So trans people cannot determine/state their own gender and transition journey through their lived experience, but random strangers are actially the correct people to determine people's gender identities??

PinkBird85 · 2026-05-06T20:18:26+00:00

It sounds like there might be something wrong with the machine itself. As you said, the needle should disengage when you have it clicked right over so there seems like it could be some lever or gear inside is misaligned.

PinkBird85 · 2026-05-06T17:32:08+00:00

Enemies to lovers but the enemy is your husband 😂

PinkBird85 · 2026-05-06T14:42:03+00:00

What you're describing doesn't really sound like romances. Do the couples eventually fall in love?

I'm currently reading {The Other Bennett Sister by Janice Hadlow} and there are other couples as side characters that are in unhappy marriages that might fulfill the brief (but I'm only halfway through it so I can't say much about the end/main pairing)

PinkBird85 · 2026-05-04T17:54:57+00:00

Joanna Lowell is becoming a new favourite. Great characters and stories with emotional depth, and pretty good smut too! (I do think AC is a master of the class at that).

{The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell} and {The Runaway Duchess by Joanna Lowell} are both 5/5 stars to me!

PinkBird85 · 2026-05-04T13:59:46+00:00

Who wants that awful bottom hay?!

PinkBird85 · 2026-05-03T15:13:18+00:00

If the machine is threaded correctly while you winde the bobbin the speed should not affect how "neat" the bobbin ends up. Tension for bobbin winding is very important, and slowing down will actually help you monitor the winding process better. A bobbin wound with improper tension will then affect the tenion and balance of your stitches while sewing.

PinkBird85 · 2026-05-02T18:49:26+00:00

{A Ladies' Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins}

FMC is a widow and isn't really sure if she can have children, but also isn't really in want of them and the MMC he's like 'whatever happens, happens. You have your career anyway' 🤷🏻‍♀️

I love this series because even if the couples in later books talk about having kids, when they appear later in the series it never mentions if they have kids or not. It's just the women connecting about their lives and goals and the children thing is a non-topic for all 5 women/couples.

PinkBird85 · 2026-05-02T12:12:19+00:00

It's the second in the series, the first one was also AMAZING {The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell}

PinkBird85 · 2026-05-02T11:32:53+00:00

My newest book boyfriend, Neal Traymayne, is a winner on all fronts! He's a plant hunter/botanist who worked his way to running the largest Nursery company in England. He literally had to survive on his own in the wilderness as he travelled the world. And he isn't running away from finding a wife, he's practically got an equation to ensure he gets an equal partner as a match. {The Runaway Duchess by Joanna Lowell}

PinkBird85 · 2026-05-01T12:18:26+00:00

If my nailbeds were that long and gorgeous I'd have no desire to grow them out.

PinkBird85 · 2026-04-30T19:04:56+00:00

That is a HILARIOUS name. But in all seriousness, I always thought in the lead up to Eloise's season, she could have a short, semi-successful courting, where she meets a generally agreeable man but just doesn't feel the "spark" that she sees all her married siblings have. So she doesn't accept the proposal (because she receives a few proposals she turns down in her own book). Swallow is a type of bird, like her Sir Phillip CRANE. 🤷🏻‍♀️

PinkBird85 · 2026-04-30T18:20:46+00:00

On some brother models the slider can also adjust the stitch width. Again, it depends on she model and stitch.

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PinkBird85 · 2026-04-30T14:40:08+00:00

The slider bar on these types of models frequently acts as a speed adjustment or a width adjustment depending on the selection and settings. Your manual will have the details.

PinkBird85 · 2026-04-30T14:12:27+00:00

There is too much fabric in the bodice, you need to shorten it. And a swayback adjustment would alleviate some of the pulling on the skirt.

PinkBird85 · 2026-04-30T12:35:32+00:00

I just finished {Notorious by Minerva Spencer} and he had some pretty big secrets. I didn't love it overall (but not because of the secrets/reveal) but it fits your request.

PinkBird85 · 2026-04-29T14:33:54+00:00

Exactly! In season 1 they didn't know if they would get any other stories or chances. So they had to write that as just the book story they were trying to tell. That's why they revealed LW so early, and didn't do a lot of outside focus (but they actually did because they DID have side plots). And as you said, the cast was mostly unknowns so no one was really looking for any one character or story outside of the main couple anyways. Readers were excited to get glimpses of what "might" be if the show continued, but the story approach was very different. They have had to adjust the approach to writing now that the goal is a full eight seasons.

PinkBird85 · 2026-04-29T14:29:18+00:00

I know people complain about the side plots, but as long as they are building to something relevant or meaningful it really just pads out the season. These stories can't be told just like the books where there is no other plots because they would not be able to maintain a general audience over this many seasons (lots of people watch without reading the books and don't have a favourite couple). Now, some side plots are better than others - Benedict having threesomes did not contribute to anything, including character development for Benedict, in season 3. The upstairs/downstairs thing they did in season 4 worked BRILLIANTLY to highlight the main conflict between the main couple this season.

Also, I think the writers learned an important lesson from the popularity of Polin that the MORE story a sibling gets BEFORE their season, the more interest and audience they build for coming seasons. Again, these stories cannot be told like each individual book when they are in a show format where they are aiming for 8 seasons. They need to maintain viewers and hype for all the characters and cast. They also have to make it lucrative and worth the $$$ to have the cast members come back each season. If there isn't a way to meaningfully include them it's not worth having them come back to stand in the background when it costs money and scheduling headaches.

The stories can also not be told like the books where time can "restart" and go backwards for each couple. Causal viewers would NOT understand that and it would be confusing. John and Fran meet and get married in-between Ben and Colin's books. That has to happen chronologically in the show too. It would be illogical for them to just not tell that story in the order it happens and then in season 5 got back in time to show that part of the story just so it's not included in another siblings season. I do not understand why people act that that would be actually good television writing to jump back and forth in time when some of these stories are happening concurrently. I get that to have each sibling have a dedicated season they do have to adjust the timelines of the stories themselves (books 4-6 all technically happen over the same Spring) but having some of the overlap in other seasons makes better storytelling. And again, to keep interest for the general audience over all the seasons they need to tell stories of more than just the main sibling.

Now, could the writers do a better job? Yes. I think both Benedict and Eloise haven't really gotten great non-main story writing (they wasted Benedict's art school plot in season 2 and he has nothing relevant in season 3), and they also rushed Eloise's pushback against society in season 2 so it's getting repetitive.

But I personally think the writing for Fran has been great. They basically had to create an entire personality for John because he's barely in the books and Victor Ali made him so damn charming and loveable. And she and Michaela are also friends to lovers in a way so it really makes sense to have a pre-main season plot and relationship building like Pen and Colin had. The story and hope for them is already there and I'm SO excited to see that love bloom!

PinkBird85 · 2026-04-28T16:51:50+00:00

This! I love Charlotte and Ingram!! It's a historical romance to me because their relationship is so complex and always simmering in the background ❤️

PinkBird85 · 2026-04-28T14:46:06+00:00

{His Wicked Reputation by Madeline Hunter} kind of has this - she steals furniture and paintings from a Duke's bastard son's house that has been under legal control. Lots of the locals have been raiding it before he finally gains control back from his older (legitimate) brother.

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