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Current Mood: tired
Current Location: my desk

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BtVS Double Drabble: The Last Waltz

Title: The Last Waltz
Fandom: BtVS
Author:

badly_knitted
Characters: Buffy, Angel.
Rating: PG
Written For: Challenge 458: Waltz at

drabble_zone.
Spoilers/Setting: The Prom.
Summary: Buffy has no one to dance with at the Prom.
Disclaimer: I don’t own BtVS, or the characters.
A/N: Double drabble.

( The Last Waltz... )

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: my desk

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FAKE Triple Drabble: Rained On

Title: Rained On
Fandom: FAKE
Author:

badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo, Dee.
Rating: PG
Setting: After the manga.
Summary: The weather is terrible, but Dee and Ryo still have to do their job regardless.
Written For: Weekend Challenge Prompt: Summertime, is the living truly easy?! at

1_million_words.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
A/N: Triple drabble.

( Rained On... )

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: my desk

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Double Drabble: Certifiable

Title: Certifiable
Author:

badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Lisa.
Rating: PG
Written For: Challenge 874: Mad at

torchwood100.
Spoilers: Fragments. Set pre-Cyberwoman.
Summary: Ianto must surely be out of his mind.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
A/N: Double drabble.

( Certifiable... )

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(no subject)

What's really fucked up is that "feelings are facts" and "feelings aren't facts" are both statements that are true and necessary and important, despite the fact that they seemingly contradict each other.

(no subject)

Watch on YouTube

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Miles Vorkosigan alternate careers

It's not exactly a secret that I hate Miles Vorkosigan being in the military, so for RL reasons I was thinking hmm could Miles instead become a doctor, and then followed up immediately with "absolutely he could not" and in fact I could not think of any position in a hospital that he would be suited for, but then I realized I was overthinking this.

Miles would be a great plumber. It's perfect for him. No boss, just clients, and he can pick the interesting jobs. It's bounded but also a place for creativity. He has to find out what the problem is and fix it. Because of his size, he may even be a better choice for certain jobs than other plumbers. He can pick his hours by picking the clients and the jobs, and then hyperfocus on a problem until it's over. If he wants, he can pack his schedule, or he can relax it. But he's not answering to anyone and people are grateful for his help because it's a problem they can't fix themselves, and it's also necessary: everyone will at some point require the assistance of a plumber.

The only problem is that there's no wonderful recognition and pride from his peers, unless we can get him to value the opinions of other plumbers, and then he can just brag about all the impossible disasters he fixed before breakfast. The sense of accomplishment is built-in, as in the sense of being valuable and needed.

And I feel like even Miles Vorkosigan would not find a way to commit treason whilst doing it.

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books

Reading Wednesday

Hi did you miss these?

Just finished: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. I ended up enjoying the shit out of this. Murder mystery/political palace intrigue set in a world where eldritch abominations threaten to break through the seawall and destroy entire cities every wet season, and magic is done through bioengineering. The brilliant Sherlock Holmes analogue is a mysterious and terrifying elderly woman and the Watson analogue is a dyslexic disaster bisexual kid who's been altered so that he remembers everything he experiences. It's very fun.

Currently reading: Bread and Stone by Allan Weiss. Look at me I'm reading CanLit! It's about the Winnipeg General Strike, though, so it's not off-brand for me. In the first section, William, a failure of a farm boy, goes off to the Great War against his family's wishes. It's immaculately researched; you get every detail of small town Alberta and the culture shock of moving to the big city of...1914 Calgary. William's father is a coal miner who describes in passionate terms the solidarity that comes from joining a union, but doesn't want his son to go down into the mines himself, so Williams seeks it first in the church, and then amongst his unit. I've gotten to the bit where he's finally being shipped out for France. Quite good so far.

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plot bunny dust off challenge 2025

July progress

How's everyone doing? I'm having a devil of a time with a particular WIP. I seem to have let myself be distracted by other things (reading fanfic, re-reading Murderbot, procrastinating in general--omg even vacuuming).

Why is it so hard to just open the folder and work on it? I like the story, and I like where it's going. But I'm at a point where decisions must be made to move forward.

Decision fatigue is definitely a thing.

How's everyone else doing?

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The Day in Spikedluv (Tuesday, July 15)

I hit CVS and Price Chopper while I was downtown (both in order to pick up things for mom), got in a walk around the park, and hit the farm stand on the way home. I’ve been thinking about tomato sandwiches with fresh tomatoes.

I folded last night’s load of laundry, got another washed, and hand-washed some dishes before I left the house this morning. When I got home from downtown I baked a berry cobbler to use some of those berries we’d picked (and put the rest in the freezer), tossed the laundry into the dryer and another load into the washer, hand-washed more dishes, and mixed up some tuna with a nice fresh cucumber (and mayo) for my lunch.

I got to mom’s ~11am and left ~3pm. On the way home I filled my gas tank. At home I put away a load of laundry and tossed the other into the dryer, scooped kitty litter, made an easy supper (Pip had leftover meatloaf I pulled out of the freezer and I made myself open-faced tomato and melted cheese sandwiches with the fresh tomatoes I purchased today), and showered.

I read more in Amelia Peabody and also started and finished another Kindle cozy.

Temps started out at 70.0(F) and reached 92.4.

Mom Update:

Mom was doing okay today. ( more back here )

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Wednesday Reading Meme & Books 62 - 65 of 2025

What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: Necessary as Blood (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) by Deborah Crombie, Lantern in the Lighthouse & Hint in the Hashtag & Pawn in the Pumpkin Patch & Secret in the Santa (The Inn at Holiday Bay) by Kathi Daley, A Bitter Pill (The Bookshop Mysteries) by S.A. Reeves, and Grounds For Murder (Perfect Blend Mysteries) by Emily Brewster.

What I am Currently Reading: He Shall Thunder in the Sky (An Amelia Peabody Mystery) by Elizabeth Peters.

What I Plan to Read Next: The new Rivers of London.

Book 62 of 2025: Necessary as Blood (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) (Deborah Crombie)

I enjoyed this book a lot! ( spoilers )

This book was really good and I can't wait to read the next. I'm giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

Book 63 of 2025: Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy (The Murderbot Diaries) (Martha Wells)

I enjoyed this! ( spoilers )

I really liked this novelette and am giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

Repeating this info in case you missed it previously: If you haven't had a chance to read the new Murderbot novelette Rapport (which is one of those ‘takes place in the Murderbot Diaries ‘verse' stories) you can find it for free at Reactor Magazine or purchase it from Amazon (on Kindle for $1.99). Or both.

Book 64 of 2025: A Bitter Pill (The Bookshop Mysteries) (S.A. Reeves)

This book was just okay, which was disappointing because I really wanted to like it. ( spoilers )

This book was alright and I don't think I'll read more in the series. I'm giving this one three hearts.

♥♥♥

Book 65 of 2025: Grounds For Murder (Perfect Blend Mysteries) (Emily Brewster)

Another book that was just okay. I liked the main characters well enough, but seeming inconsistencies drove me nuts. ( spoilers )

This book was enjoyable enough, but I probably won't read more in the series. I'm giving it four hearts.

♥♥♥♥

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Murderbot ficlet involving spies and forced drugging

I'm not sure if this is complete enough for AO3, but I got a delicious hurt/comforty prompt on Tumblr, and ended up writing 1800 words for it. (Prompt and fic under the cut.)

Update: Now posted on AO3 as Soft Reboot.

( 1800 words of forced drugging )

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fandom: other tv

Two Brief Murderbot thoughts

That I haven't seen anyone else mention.

ONE.
I like that they cast an older actor. AS is closing in on 50, and it might be a Hollywood 50, but he looks like he's seen some miles along the road. It makes things hit different than if they'd cast a thirty year old who looked like they just hatched. I know they compressed the timespan in the show, but in the book it'd been something in the range of four years between when it disabled its governor module and the start of All Systems Red, plus however long it'd been enslaved before that, which it doesn't even really remember. Which I think is better represented by someone with some lines around their eyes.

TWO.
Nenya speculated about if they were going to do the later books (and I think they'll do three seasons to cover the first four novellas, combining Artificial Condition and Rogue Protocol into the second season, and then call it a day), and if so, if we'd see the ship from System Collapse. I'd been thinking that, actually, ( mild spoiler for System Collapse )

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[P5] Chicken Alfredo

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: accomplished

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Fic: Fleurs du Mal (MMPR, Tommy/Kim)

Title: Fleurs du Mal
Author:

Griddlebone/

ladygriddlebone
Pairing: Kimberly/Tommy
Rating: T
Summary: Shortly after breaking up with Tommy, Kimberly comes down with a strange illness.
Notes: Written for

svgurl for

hurtcomfortex. Story includes descriptions of fictional illness (Hanahaki disease).

Link: Read on AO3 (archive locked)

( And some rambling, if you're into that )

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i read things

Two non-fiction books

Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens by David Mitchell (2023): lirazel posted about the audiobook version of this, which got me to put this on my list, but alas my library only has access to the print version; I feel that the audiobook version is probably superior. There were several parts in the book that were a slog to get through the paragraph, that would be perfectly fine if you were listening to a patented David Mitchell Rant about the subject. In fact, imagining them in David Mitchell's voice is how I got through them. ( Read more... )
Subpar Parks: America's Most Extraordinary National Parks and Their Least Impressed Visitors by Amber Share (2021): A bookified version of a Instagram account I never followed, a copy of which I read at someone's house who was using as a bookmark something that indicated they had gotten it as a gift when it came out and never got past the first fifth of the book. This book would have been fine if it had not decided it was going to fight the one star reviews, and instead just showed the artwork and mentioned how great the park was. As it was, it positioned itself as an argument between the one star reviewers and the author, and the one star reviewers won.( Read more... )

Current Mood: contemplative

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Jetman Thoughts, Eps 45-46

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tv:murderbot

Stray Murderbot thoughts

( Spoilers for the whole show )

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fandom: smb

Trans Peach...

I need to integrate Peach being a trans woman into my fics at some point...I've been thinking about it a lot lately and I'm finding myself liking that headcanon quite a lot. It's just pretty neat.

Personally I also think it would be interesting if Peach deciding to begin transitioning sparked a wave of Toads who also decide to present more femininely/be women, like Toadette maybe! Though I recognize that that sort of thing probably doesn't fit the "timeline", as it were. But still, it's certainly an idea to chew on!

I have this fic idea that refuses to coalesce in which Peach, who hasn't transition and is just presenting femininely, ends up revealing she's trans to Kamek somehow, who then offers to help her transition with magic, if she wants ('cause that's what he did for himself). She refuses at first, sure that she's fine with the measures she's taken already, but the more time passes the more the idea of having a woman's body 'for real' gets more and more appealing. If it's happening with magic, then I dunno if she (discreetly) goes back to Kamek for it or if someone more local like Merlon does it, but either way she feels more like herself, now!

(no subject)

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(no subject)

* Oh, right, Caitlin Starling is going to be at our horror book club meeting. I really, really need to get The Death of Jane Lawrence read. No wonder I had her on my 'get these authors read' shortlist.

* My bookclubbing has been very disorganized

* I watched the start of a Lady of the Library video. I don't want much of her content, but one on book reccs interested me, because reccs are such a bugbear for me. At the start she talked about her local book clubs fall for online reccs and says she shows up only for snacks and social contact, but wouldn't waste her precious time ever reading the books. I was surprised to see her proclaim that so proudly. People like this have been a problem at my bookclubs. They show up for social contact and free food, but not only have they not read the book, but they had no intention or interest. Not reading the book because the month got away from you, fine. But... literally no interest and there to leech? Know why we've got such nice spaces and other things for the clubs? Local bookstores are covering the costs . And people are like 'oh, y'all have the nice steampunky bar at Kennedy School that was made out of the old boiler room and cake and people to bother to refill my social meter' Like, fuck off, y'all're literally crowding us out of some spaces, and driving off the people we want to interact with.

Also, hot take but as much as I think booktok trends are typically terrible, I like reading what people are reading if it's making reading social. Unless I have an objection to the book, I don't care if it's a bit crappy. I mean, it's not an issue with my book clubs and honestly I think for me it's a great way to ~break free of the algorithm~ and get better reccs, but even if it wasn't, like if you want to be part of a thing be willing to at least have a little buy in to what's going on. If you don't want to expend even a drop of emotional energy or time, maybe at least fucking pretend to not be that person?

* Guild Wars 2 News: Tyria Pride once again smashed fundraising records for Rainbow Railroad. Love to see it. Also, in 2024 I spend half a year farming legendaries for it and my donation was the majority of the most hype prizes and also did a big dono. This year, I didn't/couldn't do either. So, it was nice to see it thriving even without me.

* Breaking Guild Wars 2 News: The new expac was announced today and... the website didn't go live in time and when it did it was half in English and half in French. Also, the morning patch notes spoiled stuff before the announcement. It wouldn't be ANet if they didn't have a bunch of tech issues with announcements.