Writing update

Jan. 14th, 2026 08:58 am
cyphomandra: boats in Auckland Harbour. Blue, blocky, cheerful (boats)
[personal profile] cyphomandra
2025 has been my most productive year for sometime! I posted ~37K of fanfic, 7 Final Fantasy and 2 Yuletide. I posted earlier about the FFVII fics I wrote for [personal profile] candyheartsex and [community profile] seasonsofdrabbles, and I've done Yuletide, but here are the others:

I picked up a pinch hit for the Whump Exchange and then had it bounced by the mod for containing a recipient DNW, which was non con. What I thought I’d written was rough sex, which the recipient explicitly did want and I thought it was quite clear the characters did too, so I was a bit miffed and even more so when the mod reassigned the fic to someone else without first giving me the chance to fix mine but fine, I sent regrets and an apology to the mod in a mature adult fashion and then sulked for DAYS until it was less than 24 hours before author reveals, at which point I cut all the sex out and tweaked the fic to make it work as a recipient treat. I wanted to focus on Genesis’s degradation (this has a specific medical meaning in FFVII) and one particular image that got a hold of me, and it still works for that; Genesis and Sephiroth shoving each other against walls and being bitey will just have to wait for another time.

Ripping Myself Off (1317 words) by Cyphomandra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Genesis Rhapsodos/Sephiroth
Characters: Genesis Rhapsodos, Sephiroth (Compilation of FFVII)
Additional Tags: Body Horror, Serious Injuries, Whump
Summary:

Genesis and Sephiroth, after the incident in the training room.


My lingering irritation at this meant that when I then saw another pinch hit (for my Chocolate Box recipient) for a non con exchange I pounced on that just to prove I could write non con intentionally. I wrote 3.6K of yes totally definitely non con for the deadline and then added another 15K (!) before the collection opened because I felt bad for the characters and wanted to get them to a slightly better place, which does possibly indicate that I am still doing the challenge wrong. Back in the lab again with Zack and Cloud, and it was interesting because I went into the fic expecting Cloud to be the one to do all the suffering, but it’s actually Zack who ended up the most tormented. Despite that, it’s still more upbeat than canon. I am currently resisting the urge to add more (not least because I think Cloud is going to fall apart spectacularly a few more days after the fic ends).

Exposure Protocol (16852 words) by Cyphomandra
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth (Video Games 2020-2024)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Relationships: Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Characters: Zack Fair, Cloud Strife, Hojo (Compilation of FFVII)
Additional Tags: Warning: Hojo (Compilation of FFVII), Human Experimentation, Mad Scientists, Bad Guys Made Them Do It, Rape/Non-con Elements, Whump, nobody expects the seventh infantry, Love Interest Rapes Them to Prevent Something Worse, canon AU
Summary:

“…rate of mako uptake and binding to DNA-linked receptors can be predicted via measurement of specific pharmacokinetic parameters (see table 1). In individuals with poor profiles (predicted uptake <5% of normal), toxicosis is common. Typically high dose oral has been used in this setting, but the failure rate remains unacceptably high. In this article I outline, with detailed case studies, three new methods of achieving effective levels without such shortcomings; rectal adminstration, externalisation of the large gut with mesenteric perfusion, and removal of at least 50% of dermis in conjunction with mako baths. Note is also made of the role of partially pre-metabolised mako sourced from high-mako individuals…”

from Overcoming mako toxicosis: a paradigm shift. Hojo et al. Research and Development, Shinra Electric Power Company.

[in submission]


In the 24 hours or so before the collection went live and before I did final edits, I wrote two drabble treats for the Summer Season of Drabbles, both FFVII again, one Cloud/Rufus and one Cid/Vincent; I can see where shippers for both pairings are coming from but I haven’t tried to write them before, so this was fun. I then almost had another DNW moment when I did a casual last minute check and found that one prompter DNW’d present tense, necessitating a rewrite of that treat - followed by total panic until I checked my non con recipient as I’d written the whole thing in present tense, but fortunately they only DNW’d sensible things like het.

Handover (100 words) by Cyphomandra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth (Video Games 2020-2024), Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Rufus Shinra/Cloud Strife
Characters: Rufus Shinra, Cloud Strife
Additional Tags: Glove Kink, Flirting, Treat, Drabble
Summary:

Rufus wants to send a message.

Regular Maintenance (100 words) by Cyphomandra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth (Video Games 2020-2024), Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Cid Highwind/Vincent Valentine
Characters: Cid Highwind, Vincent Valentine
Additional Tags: Get Together, Drabble, Treat
Summary:

Cid gets some assistance with the Bronco - and offers some in return.



(I then plodded slowly onwards with another Zakkura long fic, but although this is now pushing 10k the ending is still very far off and I could not get momentum. I signed up for wip big bang in the hope it would help, but noooo.)

Writing goals for next year: finish something that's not for an exchange. Try and match/exceed word count.

Birdfeeding

Jan. 13th, 2026 01:56 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith posting in [community profile] birdfeeding
Today is cloudy and cool.

I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/13/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 1/13/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 1/13/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 1/13/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a pair of cardinals and a starling. I heard a woodpecker but didn't see it.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Birdfeeding

Jan. 13th, 2026 01:55 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is cloudy and cool.

I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/13/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 1/13/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 1/13/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 1/13/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a pair of cardinals and a starling. I heard a woodpecker but didn't see it.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
wychwood: Bono must be an acrobat (gen - U2 acrobat)
[personal profile] wychwood
Today I discovered that it is possible to add Too Many new games on Steam! It actually locked me out and I had to wait an hour before I could add the final items from the Humble Bundle I was working on. It did take fifty games in 25 minutes to hit the rate limit, though, which doesn't seem too unreasonable. I think I have now added every game I bought via Humble Bundle to my Steam account, which is a nice (small) milestone.

My cleaner came today for the first time since before Christmas, and my house is so pretty now! Also once she was gone I could start the laundry going again (I try to have all the laundry dry and away before she arrives, so she can e.g. vacuum the floor instead of having to work around the drying racks). I've hung three loads already, there's a hoodie in now and a second to go in when it's done, and the only things left that need washing are the half of the bedding that will need a drying rack. That will have to wait until the weekend. I would say "then I'll be all up to date!" but then I'll be at Mum's and will need to catch up again once I return from there! Still, I'm closer than I was.

There have been workpeople outside my window all day dismantling the next block of garages for replacement, which includes mine; I'm quite excited by this, since at the end of it I will hopefully have a garage with a door that I can open! and close! all by myself! without crowbars and ropes and enough equipment that I could really use three hands. Not that I have much to keep in it; the only thing in there before was my bike. Still, it would be nice to get that out of the spare room again.
[syndicated profile] copperbadge_feed

geekerypeekery:

mobilis-in-mobili:

qsycomplainsalot:

*breathes deep breath* *slams reblog button*

@copperbadge

I have seen the arrow of my ways. No point to any of it.

I don’t know, I think it’s pretty pointed and edgy.

Update: Cincinnati chili

Jan. 13th, 2026 01:08 pm
brithistorian: (Default)
[personal profile] brithistorian

Today I finally had sufficient time around lunchtime to try Cincinnati chili. I fixed it according to the article on "How to Eat Cincinnati Chili Like a Local" and then sat down to eat it. I didn't like the first bite. So I ate some more, hoping it would get better with further exposure. By the time I had eaten half of the serving, I gave up and decided I just didn't like it. So I disposed of it, brushed my teeth, then brushed my teeth again because I could still taste it in my mouth. I wish I liked it, because the concept sounded interesting, but I don't.

I think I might try eating "regular" chili on spaghetti, because it wasn't the "on spaghetti" part that I disliked, but in the meantime I'm over here eating peppermints one after another to try to clear the taste in my mouth. (I'm really not trying to be overly dramatic here. It's just very rare that I try something and don't like it, so I'm having trouble coping with it.)

Check-In Post - Jan 13th 2026

Jan. 13th, 2026 07:00 pm
badly_knitted: (Get Knitted)
[personal profile] badly_knitted posting in [community profile] get_knitted

Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.

Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?

There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.


This Week's Question: What are your crafting goals for 2026?


If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.

I now declare this Check-In OPEN!



[syndicated profile] cbc_topnews_feed
Two golden arches are shown against a blue sky.

McDonald's Canada will freeze the price of a small cup of coffee at $1 for at least a year and drop the price of its McValue meals to $5 for the same duration, its CEO announced on Tuesday.

2025 Blanket

Jan. 13th, 2026 06:42 pm
purplecat: A Crocheted Afghan Square Blanket (General:Crochet)
[personal profile] purplecat

A large blanket on a double bed.  The blanket is made from various crochet sqares in predominantly purple and orange colours.


This is the 2025 Mooglycal blanket. I was still attempting to use up the stash which, it transpired, had mostly orange and purple wool in it - not the most auspicious combination but there is now at least a lot less of it than there was and all that really bright orange has gone. The general concept was vertical stripes of red/orange and purple/pink with the darker colours at the top and lighter colours at the bottom. It didn't really work, in part because there was just so much of some colours. Anyway, I have decided to actually have a colour scheme next year since the stash is now under control (well at least that bit of the stash that involves the wool I use for making these blankets).

here, take this

Jan. 13th, 2026 10:04 am
thistleingrey: (Default)
[personal profile] thistleingrey
Jodi McAlister, An Academic Affair: A Novel (2026): two scholars in Sydney who've been competing since they were undergrads inhabit enemies-to-lovers without doing it, become housemates, and then inhabit sham-marriage (obviously, they're aware of the relevant topoi---he's an early modernist, she does pop fiction) because a job and a family hang in the balance. The Goodreads detail page has a more spoilery summary.

It's a relief to find that I haven't become a fan of romances, only better able to grasp them. This one is fine, like, whatever---but as academic novels go, it's almost alarmingly solid despite the brisk, casual tone. It's not satire when the caricatures resemble people one's met, people one's friends have worked with. Though one could say the same of Lodge (whose character-bases lasted long enough for me to've met a few, glancingly) and perhaps of Smiley and Tartt, Lodge wanted things to seem flash to the uninitiated while he took apart what suited him; all three writers sought to construct various levels of mystique. McAlister knows the world I was in for some years, despite being the other side of it geographically, and her narrative defines "precariat" for the uninitiated.

(Lodge: Changing Places et seqq. Smiley: Moo. Tartt: The Secret History, which I DNFed.)

TV Tuesday: Is This Us?

Jan. 13th, 2026 11:50 am
yourlibrarian: SoItBegins-misty_creates (SPN-SoItBegins-misty_creates)
[personal profile] yourlibrarian posting in [community profile] tv_talk

Laptop-TV combo with DVDs on top and smartphone on the desk



A Financial Times article discussed a cultural change during the holidays in Britain, as smart TVs and non-TV viewing by a younger generation means that there is much less viewing of holiday specials, which had been a national tradition. Instead "data shows children as young as four spend longer watching YouTube each day than all PSB services combined", and that ratio is even worse with young teens. The article notes the situation is equally dire for other European broadcasters.

In the article, the concern is that younger viewers are turning away from content that is authentic to and about their own country. In the U.S., too, public television is under threat. Are there TV traditions that are disappearing due to the shift in viewing? What might be gone in another generation or two?

This Year 365 songs: January 13th

Jan. 13th, 2026 11:53 am
js_thrill: goat with headphones (goat rock)
[personal profile] js_thrill
 Today's song is "The Last Day of Jimi Hendrix's Life"


A few days ago, I stopped putting the names of the individual songs for each day in the tags for the posts, because I remembered [personal profile] ambyr mentioning there is an upper bound on how many tags dreamwidth will let you have, and I wasn't sure I wanted to use up 365 of them on individual Mountain Goats songs.


The annotations on this piece include a reproduction of text of Auden's poem "Museé de Beaux Arts", and Darnielle's reflections on how his song is a response to that poem.  I'm fairly sure I've encountered the poem before, but I didn't really remember much about it. It's worth reading—that's the opposite of a hot take, to be sure—but in the context of this song, in particular.
 
 

They never forgot
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot
Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.
 

The "they" here is the old masters, who Auden is praising for recognizing that intense suffering (or ecstasy) happens alongside the everyday goings-on of the rest of the world. Did I quote this passage because it says "dogs go on with their doggy life"? Yes. Of course I did.  Darnielle's song removes the comparison between subjects (Icarus's suffering vs. the normalcy of the ploughman's day) to juxtapose the same contrast within a single subject. The elements of Jimi Hendrix's last day (in the song) are unremarkable: a hot shower a cold glass of water.  This is contrasted with the unstated tragedy of his death.*

Okay, so, moving song, interesting reflections on where it came from. The annotation also mentions his father, which is somewhat rare to see him talk about (compared to his very frequent and unpleasant memories of his stepfather).

Apart from what I've just discussed above, I found myself thinking a lot about the album "Transcendental Youth" (which, push come to shove, is probably my favorite Mountain Goats album).  Here's John Darnielle performing a track from that album, talking about and singing "Harlem Roulette" off of Transcendental Youth, and if you watch this video, you'll see why the connection lit up in my brain:


*There is a word that is not the word "synoptic" and not the word "enthymeme" but is in the neighborhood of one of those, for the literary device of not talking about/describing the details of his death in order to make it a focal point of comparison, but I spent about 10 minutes trying to remember the word I was looking for and I cannot, and it is going to drive me nuts.

Book notes

Jan. 13th, 2026 05:45 pm
heleninwales: (Default)
[personal profile] heleninwales
I said I'd post about books I've been reading, so here we go. Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines.

I really wanted to like this, but having got half way through, I've put it aside. Though the way the magic works is really cool, I had a couple of problems with it.

A libriomancer can use magic to pull items out of books into the real world. The main character, Isaac Vaino used to be a field agent, but now, after burning out on active service, is a librarian with a pet fire spider which originally came from a book. The book starts in media res to the extent that I actually checked that it really was book 1 in the series. There was a lot of back story piled into the first chapters that I don't think we actually needed to know until it became relevant. But my main turnoff was a) the vampires and b) Isaac doesn't seem to be able to meet anyone without ending up in a fight. Unfortunately I just don't like vampire stories. That's a me thing and anyone who was more vampire tolerant might well enjoy this book. However, every interaction ending up as a fight to the death felt like overuse of the "there must be conflict" advice. To say the book was fast paced was an understatement. The plot felt rather frenzied.

Having said all that, I may return to the book and finish it at another time. One reason for putting it aside was that it wasn't suiting my present mood, which at this time of year tends to be a bit dismal. The constant frenzied action felt jarring. Instead I've started reading Still Waters by E. C. R Lorac, a writer I very much enjoy. She writes mysteries and is more or less a contemporary of Agatha Christie, but IMHO write much more interesting stories. More about this book when I've finished reading it.

New Email

Jan. 13th, 2026 12:32 pm
lb_lee: A happy little brain with a bandage on it, enclosed within a circle with the words LB Lee. (Default)
[personal profile] lb_lee
(EDIT: Sneak: I have updated healthymultiplicity.com with our new email address and also fixed the homepage redirect error. Tomorrow, I will focus on cross-posting all our public DW posts to make them publicly accessible again, and maybe update hm.com with back-up links.)

Rogan: Okay, thank fuck, there were a few snowballing complications, but I finally have a working public-facing email again.

I am using the Dreamwidth forwarding address feature, so in case my new public email gets killed, I can just keep the same address and avoid this kinda chaos again. (I should've done this earlier, but this is one of the many features of Dreamwidth that I never paid attention to, because up until this moment, I never needed or wanted such a thing.)

If you need to get ahold of us, you can now drop us a line at lb_lee at dreamwidth.org. For as long as this site or us are still around, and as long as this feature is part of a Paid account, it should hold.

Working on updating healthymultiplicity.com to update our new address, and then finally getting around the Mississippi blog ban that I've needed to take care of for months. Stay tuned!

Mostly Historical Romances

Jan. 13th, 2026 04:30 pm
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

The Belle of Belgrave Square

The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews is $1.99! Lara reviewed this and gave it a B-:

If you’re looking for a Victorian historical with a heroine who is brave despite herself, in a book that won’t rip your heart out or drag you through rivers of angst and misery, then I think you’ll enjoy this romance.

A London heiress rides out to the wilds of the English countryside to honor a marriage of convenience with a mysterious and reclusive stranger.

Tall, dark, and dour, the notorious Captain Jasper Blunt was once hailed a military hero, but tales abound of his bastard children and his haunted estate in Yorkshire. What he requires now is a rich wife to ornament his isolated ruin, and he has his sights set on the enchanting Julia Wychwood.

For Julia, an incurable romantic cursed with a crippling social anxiety, navigating a London ballroom is absolute torture. The only time Julia feels any degree of confidence is when she’s on her horse. Unfortunately, a young lady can’t spend the whole of her life in the saddle, so Julia makes an impetuous decision to take her future by the reins—she proposes to Captain Blunt.

In exchange for her dowry and her hand, Jasper must promise to grant her freedom to do as she pleases. To ride—and to read—as much as she likes without masculine interference. He readily agrees to her conditions, with one provision of his own: Julia is forbidden from going into the tower rooms of his estate and snooping around his affairs. But the more she learns of the beastly former hero, the more intrigued she becomes…

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

How to Tame a Wild Rogue

RECOMMENDED: How to Tame a Wild Rogue by Julie Anne Long is $1.99! This made our Best of Reviews 2023 list at number five. There are also many of Long’s books ons ale, including book one, Perils of Pleasure, in her Pennyroyal Green series. Lara gave this a Squee grade:

This book made me swoon IRL. Reading it was a fever dream and not just because of the sex scenes. I was so immersed in it that the real world and its troubles didn’t even occur to me for the duration of the book. (I am anxious by nature, so this is a feat.)

In USA Today bestselling author Julie Anne Long’s thrilling new romance in the Palace of Rogues series, an infamous privateer’s limits are put to the test when he’s trapped during a raging tempest with a prickly female at the Grand Palace on the Thames.

He clawed his way up from the gutters of St. Giles to the top of a shadowy empire. Feared and fearsome, battered and brilliant, nothing shocks Lorcan St. Leger—not even the discovery of an aristocratic woman escaping out a window near the London docks on the eve of the storm of the decade. They find shelter at a boarding house called the Grand Palace on the Thames—only to find greater dangers await inside.

Desperate, destitute, and jilted, Lady Daphne Worth knows the clock is ticking on her last chance to save herself and her family: an offer of a loveless marriage. But while the storm rages and roads flood, she and the rogue who rescued her must pose as husband and wife in order to share the only available suite.

Crackling enmity gives way to incendiary desire—and certain heartbreak: Lorcan is everything she never dreamed she’d wanted, but he can never be what she needs. But risk is child’s play to St. Leger. And if the stakes are a lifetime of loving and being loved by Daphne, he’ll move any mountain, confront any old nemesis, to turn “never” into forever.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Potent Pleasures

Potent Pleasures by Eloisa James is $1.99! This is James’ debut historical romance. Many readers really seem to dislike the hero, while others said this was an emotional rollercoaster that left them a bit misty-eyed. Last time this was on sale, we asked what readers thought of the book and there’s some great conversation in the comments section to check out. Be warned there are spoilers though.

Eloisa James breathes new life into one of the most popular fiction genres with her highly original debut novel Potent Pleasures, a charming, vividly peopled Regency romance. With an uncanny wit and an eye for the whimsical, she unravels a complex–and often hilarious–chain of events inadvertently set in motion by a young woman’s first taste of forbidden pleasure.

About to make her debut in London society, Charlotte Calverstill, beneath the lavish gowns and manners of a well-brought-up young lady, yearns for a taste of freedom. Pushing propriety aside, one evening she sneaks out with a friend to attend a masked ball, and there meets a devastatingly handsome stranger who relieves her–not against her wishes–of her virtue, then vanishes.

Years later, when they meet again, the rogue does not remember Charlotte. But she certainly remembers him; she has since learned not only his identity, but also a titillating piece of gossip about him that is sure to set society abuzz. The intricate web that a now-wiser Charlotte weaves to exact her due ensures justice for some and great merriment for all.

Taking the Regency historical to fresh new places, with artful smoothness and irrepressible humor, Eloisa James delivers a winsome tale of first love and life’s unexpected surprises.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

A Trinket for the Taking

A Trinket for the Taking by Victoria Laurie is $3.99! Lara reviewed this and gave it a C+:

Looking at it with a bit of distance, this book is distinctly middle of the road for me. While I had a mostly good time reading it and I’m certainly curious about the next installment, it didn’t set my world on fire. 

This mesmerizing mystery series debut from New York Times bestselling author Victoria Laurie introduces the captivating Dovey Van Dalen, once the belle of 1840s Copenhagen, now charged with recovering magic property from mortals—whatever it takes.

Dovey Van Dalen has a gorgeous day planned for her 200th driving her new Porsche, admiring the cherry blossoms abloom in her adopted city of Washington DC, and a little pampering. But her boss has other ideas. A powerful artifact has been stolen, and he fears it’s causing chaos in the unmagical world . . .

The rich and connected Ariti family has suffered a string of suspicious deaths, with no signs of foul play. Yet each member has died in the way they feared most. As the enchanting agent most skilled at blending in with mere mortals, Dovey must find answers and retrieve the dangerous trinket.

There’s just one unexpected by the time Dovey arrives at the art gallery where the Ariti patriarch died, FBI agent Grant “Gibs” Bartholomew has taken control of the scene. Dovey needs his cooperation to investigate—but she’ll have to hide her abilities, and her true objective, from a man who uncovers deceptions every day. And as they inch nearer a deadly truth, both will face danger even the spellbound would be lucky to survive . . .

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Profile

jazzfish: Jazz Fish: beret, sunglasses, saxophone (Default)
Tucker McKinnon

Most Popular Tags

Adventures in Mamboland

"Jazz Fish, a saxophone playing wanderer, finds himself in Mamboland at a critical phase in his life." --Howie Green, on his book Jazz Fish Zen

Yeah. That sounds about right.

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags