iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

if you happen to be up late on your Friday night, here is a 1200w m/m PWP that I wrote when I had the flu and even told ppl about and then forgot existed. I have definitely tidied it up. archiveofourown.org/works/94312616

AO3 headers for a story called "silver spilling (darling, mend your nets)", by raven, Shetland, m/m, Jimmy/Duncan, summary:

Duncan's done this with other people, even other people who really mattered. It's not absolutely and definitely a horrible mistake.

150

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

here it is, I adore it! and I do love my curated ear: two plain silver studs, one engraved wild bird stud from a silversmith at Folk by the Oak, a cluster of silver gems in the low helix which I'm gonna replace with a leaf design at some point, and the rook in due course will be a silver hoop.

Side-on of brown person's ear, showing silver studs in three lobe piercings, silver gems in a low helix piercing and a new rook piercing - a barbell with gem, curved through the uppermost internal ridge of the ear.

1250

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I was encouraged to write sad fanfic while recovering from the flu, god I hate recovering from the flu, here is a story. archiveofourown.org/works/92893706

AO3 header tags: "women's work", by raven (singlecrow), Shetland, Jimmy/Duncan, summary text--

"Can't love a song without a singer," Duncan says. "There's no home without you."

(In prison, Duncan worries; on an island, Jimmy waits.)

0111

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Beautiful, lush, perfect family wedding tonight, worth coming all the way to Toowoomba for.

A tree on a country estate by night, covered in brilliant white lights, and me on a swing in a black dress, contemplating the evening. (Photo credit @generalising)

2330

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Toowoomba, the small country Queensland town I am in, has a railway station built in 1867 that has not changed in any respect since, and feels ghostly with its two services a week (this is mid-morning on a weekday in September). (I gravitate to stations in foreign places, it’s a genetic trait)

view down empty tracks into ominous sky, no one in sight

View down empty platform, “No 1 Platform” in the font of a hundred years ago (there are no more platforms)

Empty bench, labelled “TOOWOOMBA”, under wildly incongruous modern safety sign

Posted timetable, showing two trains through a week— one on Tuesday, one on Friday

3365

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Leaving Singapore tonight, onwards to Australia.

A chiffon cake and warabimochi parfait with hojicha ice cream and the Clarke Quay nightlife in the background

Purple waterlilies set out as part of an art installation at Marina Bay, the city skyline in the background

An eerily empty MRT train seen from one end

The giant indoor waterfall at Changi Airport, seen from the third storey forest

1210

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Fantastic attempt at my name

Starbucks latte in a mug, the receipt says it’s for “AURA”

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Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Bonus: ice skating at Kallang! Tiny and v well meaning rink, only place I’ve ever been where if you don’t like their toepick rentals they’ll go find you hockey rentals!

Through the gate into the tiny rink, largely empty

Maligned figure skate rental boot, blue laces and toe pick visible

2181

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I’m having such a lovely time!

A beautiful wrought iron bridge lit in red by night, foundation plaque from P & W Maclellan,1868, engineers of Glasgow. I did wonder if it misses the Clyde.

Stadium MRT: a blue green slice of tiled concourse, hemmed by towering walls and escalators

The curve of night food markets and skyscrapers along the edge of Marina Bay

Unagi sushi all in a row and delicious for 800 SGD.

2211

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Singapore is lovely, friends, I am just trying to make it past 9pm before I pass out

The sun sets over the Singapore River at Clarke Quay

Brightly coloured lights reflect in the river at night, A eats ice cream intently

2411

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

look who’s on a plane to Singapore!!

5320

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I wrote another fic, it's a big swoony romance! I actually wrote it to amuse myself in the Lakes this year, and what a good choice that turned out to be. Shetland, m/m, dreamy magical realism. archiveofourown.org/works/90534201

AO3 header tags for this story: "to pull wild mountain thyme (what we need is here), by raven, Jimmy/Duncan, not rated, Shetland.

summary: This little house could be the world's heart. This place, Duncan thinks, with awful wryness, is his heart.

(On music; ghosts; coming home.)

1162

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

here's a story! nsfw, Shetland again, m/m, m/f, basically my most favourite genre, INTENSELY SAD SMUT. archiveofourown.org/works/90894551

AO3 header tags for a story called "grief is all the geography we know", Shetland m/m, m/f, summary: "I've been thinking about that." Fran looks around her, her eyes wicked. "I want Duncan to fuck you so I can watch."

0110

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

And it’s getting darker! I keep thinking it’s the sun setting over the lake but it’s not even 7pm yet. This is magical.

1170

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

my friends and me are swimming in Coniston Water to see the eclipse!

2280

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

I’ve been back to this place every year since I was a baby and I’ve never got tired of it

The Old Man of Coniston (I think) under a glowering lovely sky

A Coniston road sign showing the location Old Man, Skelwith and Ambleside

Tiled floor in the entryway: my bare feet, and SALVE in big mosaic text

1221

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

I wrote another Shetland fic, at the behest of beloved @llincathryn.bsky.social and @twistedsoup.bsky.social! I'm so pleased I was able to write this one, friends, and I think it's good. One you can read without the canon, also. archiveofourown.org/works/88933421

AO3 header text: "the midsummer sessions (clear, live, acoustic)", by singlecrow, m/m, Jimmy/Duncan, summary:

"The bar staff say you have premonitions. That Duncan's partner is also a witch."

(Or: Jimmy and his daemon live in a difficult world; but Duncan is home and they're doing their best.)

0161

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

I went swimming in Middle Dock at Canary Wharf with C today and it was great! Lovely long pool set in the dock itself but w/ nicer water, underneath the sprawl of buildings, and today at least the unheated water temp was 19.5 deg. (Big, hopeful, lonesome sign: WETSUITS FREE ALL JULY)

Long outdoor pool set within wooden pontoons amid more water - people sunbathing, others swimming in the deep green.

1191

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Some signs from today! Loved to see that many groups were putting trans people and rights front and centre.

UCL’s delegation holding a sign that says BEND IT LIKE BENTHAM

Cure up Piccadilly of the colourful crowds making up the parade, sign says SUPPORT QUEER ARTISTS

Sign from our friends at AVEN: someone in pansexual colours asks “why is everyone so hot?” someone in ace colours replies, “global warming”

LGBT Kew, some of whom were wearing gay mushroom hats, hold a sign in trans colours with flowers: “TRANS IS NATURAL”

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Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

anyway here’s me on a London bus with flag and necklace and a dress that’s all tits

Me, nb brown girl, glasses, pretty dress, rainbow heart necklace, pride flag sticking up from behind where it’s stuck in my rucksack

5350

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

it's the long, lovely, northern summer solstice! 17 hours of daylight, light till 11pm. for those of you elsewhere, there's Sing For The Coming of the Longest Night, @krfabian.bsky.social's and my weird-ancient, poly-romantic solstice novella www.generalist.org.uk/iona/books-a...

cover for Sing For The Coming of the Longest Night - dark background, silver text, single sprig of holly

The world you know is underneath the substance of another, with cracks in the firmament that let the light of its magic in…

Layla and Nat have nothing in common but their boyfriend – enigmatic, brilliant Meraud – and their deep mutual dislike. But when Meraud disappears after an ambitious magical experiment goes wrong, they may be the only ones who can follow the trail of cryptic clues that will bring him safely home.

To return Meraud to this world, the two of them will confront every obstacle: the magic of the wild unknowable, a friendly vicar who’s only concerned for their spiritual wellbeing, and even the Thames Water helpline. All of which would be doable, if only they didn’t have to do it together.

But the winter solstice is fast approaching – and once the year turns, Meraud will be lost forever. As buried secrets lead to unexpected revelations, Nat and Layla must find a way to overcome their differences before it’s too late.

01310

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

I’m in Dublin this weekend, on a latitude with where I grew up, and I really miss it when the sky looks like this at 11pm

View of Dublin skyline through a window, the sky is still a dark blue, with the clouds visible and white

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Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Blackfriars is the only station I know where you stand facing away from the trains

View from Blackfriars platforms of the Thames, Tower Bridge and the Shard, under a gloomy sky

2170

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

I wrote a fanfic, which for me right now is a big deal as I'm not writing much at all! for BBC Shetland, in honour of the week I spent on Shetland in May.

A03 headers: "slung from the mast, a lantern", by raven (singlecrow), Shetland (TV), Jimmy Perez/Duncan Hunter.

Summary: Every few minutes Jimmy's feet leave the ground, and it's only Duncan's weight that keeps him down. It's everything, every time it happens. All of this, suddenly, is terrifying.

(Or-- Jimmy grieves, Duncan loves him, things work out okay in the end.)

5233

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

(see also accidentally epic pic I took of the aftermath)

Road with scattered Arsenal fans and clouds gathering threateningly above

080

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

hi friends. I'm reading this Friday 5 June at a @swsworlds.bsky.social event, 12 noon EDT/5pm BST. More details below: I'll be reading from You Are Here: Nine More Stories, this year's short story collection. register here (it's a zoom event & it's free!): www.eventbrite.com/e/first-frid...

banner: Strong Women Strange Worlds presents Friday QuickReads of Sci Fi, Fantasy and Horror, by Iona Datt Sharma, Corry L. Lee, Shelly Jones, Beth Castrodale and Lauren Wiesebron. June 5, 12 noon EDT, Free on zoom. Preregister now at StrongWomenStrangeWorlds.weebly.com.

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Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

I mostly am cranky at the idea of Arsenal upending the life of an entire borough for two weekends straight, but our local Argos is having a good time

A sign for Argos on the side of a building, with a banner replacing “gos” with “SENAL”

0192

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

It is- the only real town on the islands and so lovely, he’s so lucky! Here it is seen from the incoming Bressay ferry

the little grey town of Lerwick seen from across the water of the strait to Bressay

130

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Goodbye Shetland I love you!

Sumburgh airport— massive skies and clear tarmac, one tiny plane scuttling along a deserted runway

1250

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Day 5: I was supposed to go to Unst today! But the ferry service was suspended so not the UK’s most northerly point but instead the UK’s most northerly fish and chip shop. And rain, and a seal.

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Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Day 4: Shetland under bright skies and so many birds! Sumburgh has a cafe, a lighthouse, an Iron Age archaeological site, a puffin colony and an airport.

Season list and daily sightings of birds on a whiteboard at Sumburgh Head

Birding chalk slate covered with Shetland names for birds

TWO ACTUAL PUFFINS STARING INTO EACH OTHER’S EYES

Two actual Shetland ponies in a field by the sea making up after a row

9332

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Two lots of Shetland today, because it was all impossibly beautiful

Turning back to look at my footprints crossing Meal Beach, which has white sand, turquoise water and today, a perfect sky

Meal Beach: the low-tide surf and gleaming sand and water

A lone figure (I think me!) on a great gorgeous curve of beach

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Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Day 3 on Shetland, a day of wild weather and signage

Location sign for GIRLSTA, next to the Loch of Girlsta, a silver stripe beneath a bright blue sky

A standard UK directional road sign, only the places are North Isles, Sullom Voe, Nesting, and behind the sky is wild

A blown away sign reading “400 yds” flat on the ground and pointing at nothing except perhaps a lochan which is not 400 yards away

Man Overboard! A detailed orange sign explaining what to do when someone goes over the side, with illustrations and font from the 1980s

1210

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Day 2 of Shetland, I went to see beautiful theatre at Mareel and looked out at beautiful northerly views

Looking out over Lerwick harbour towards the island of Bressay , under a sunset mackerel sky

A scribbled on postcard, just before pinning it to the wall

Four very cool and picturesque friends, seen from behind, looking out over the water to the sky

1280

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Shetland, where it’s six degrees and wildly beautiful

Wrought iron sign: Welcome To Shetland, and the Norse text crest

Lerwick harbour, deep blue water and greenish shallows, and many masted boats against a glowering sky

Bains beach, a perfect curve of sand and harbour water, lapping against the granite buildings of the town

Red Shetland post box- last collection 9am, to get your post to the rest of the UK the next day

6311

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

The Good Vibes Guide was the best practical queer sex book around when I bought it in 2006, but I suspect all of its advice may not be current

Chapter 16 of the The Good Vibrations Guide to Sex: “World Wide Web”

7200

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

here it is! Mel/Santos, for The Pitt, 7500w, you've gotta be super super nice to over this one, I basically don't write fiction any more archiveofourown.org/works/83965251

AO3 fic tags for "a woman can't survive by her own breath alone", by raven (singlecrow), The Pitt, relationships Mel/Santos, Santos & Whitaker, Santos & Robby, characters Mel, Santos, Whitaker and Robby, additional tags Trinity Santos and Dennis Whitaker Are Roommates, Trinity Santos is Bad At Feelings, Canon Lesbian Character, references to past sexual abuse, word count 7491

1305

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

omg this feels like a meme that will make me feel Seen, please have at it

Reply with a fic premise that 100% sounds like the kind of thing I would write, and I'll tell you how embarrassingly accurate it is.

892

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Lovely party today, at which I did half a dozen tarot readings! they're exhausting but I love doing them and I should do them more! here is a pic that is representative:

Me, a brown woman with a grey streak in their hair, head in hands with two tarot decks on the table

2330

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

A little day trip to Ramsgate today

The tide going out, water shimmering off flint-studded sand

Two weathered signs on the corner of a building: CHATHAM STREET and TO THE TOWN AND SEAFRONT

Brilliant blue sky with fluffy clouds, above frothy tide and empty beach

3210

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Placebo and Garbage at the Albert Hall were wonderful, Brian Molko can still get it and Shirley Manson is still a rock star and AS IT TURNS OUT they think transphobia smells like shit

Shirley Manson with Garbage on bright blue lit stage, seen from high above

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Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Some friends had a belated Holi party in Finsbury Park and it was excellent

Someone (me) seen from behind, in a shirt covered with every colour of paint, under a bright blue sky

My feet in boots on the grass, covered with red, green, blue and yellow paint

a phone so covered in powder paint that someone has drawn a smiley face on the screen

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Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

and a bonus! this year I am trying to plant physalis, otherwise Cape gooseberry, because apparently they will survive this climate, with care!

little brown pot and dish for seeds, basket full of physalis berries in their little paper lanterns, plus one gleaming orange berry with the lantern twisted back

080

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

balcony plants looking incredibly well for the time of year!

Lush green chilli plant with a single red chilli perched among the leaves

Bright perky mint plant in a silver pot, in front of a vervain in a pink pot determined to achieved heights of hideous deformity that it fell only slightly short of last year

Neon pink geranium flowers on a raggedy woody plant

Rosemary with purple flowers and spiky evergreen leaves, growing luxuriously out of the pot

5200

Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Visiting friends’ newly-arrived kittens

A tabby kitten with giant eyes peeps out over a row of Discworld books

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Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

five years now since Phoebe died, and she was so good, so funny, so loving. as brilliant and immovable as any unsetting star. why'd you have to kill yourself, you stupid fucking dork. anyway. here she is. I loved her so much.

A grim Cumbrian view of distant cloudy fells taken from Castlerigg in the south Lakes: on the left, me, a brown woman in red hoodie and black polka dot dress, smiling; on the right, Phoebe my Phoebe, a smiling white womanin a purple top with a purple fringe dyed into her dark hair. I think we got someone to take the pic. She looks just like I remember her.

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Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Here are the ones I got for the house!

A bunch of opening daffodils in a vase on a coffee table covered in fairy cakes and spread papers

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Iona @singlecrow.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Yes! I love it, though this is what it looks like in places where it is commonplace

Five spherical bunches of physalis berries, all gleaming orange, with the paper lanterns removed

000