spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
it only hurts when i breathe ([personal profile] spikedluv) wrote2025-08-24 09:11 am

Pimp: Fandom Gift Basket 2025

It’s a little later than usual, but [community profile] fandomgiftbasket sign ups are open HERE!!!
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
it only hurts when i breathe ([personal profile] spikedluv) wrote2025-08-24 07:50 am

The Day in Spikedluv (Saturday, Aug 23)

I hit the Bakery while I was downtown and got in a walk around the park. I filled my gas tank on the way home.

(The original plan was to get gas AND milk, but they were so busy when I stopped in that I had to move away from the gas pump so someone else could have it and then I couldn’t get back around to a parking spot because cars were lined up all over the place. I could barely get ~out of the parking lot. Milk will have to wait for another day.)

I did a load of laundry (yes, washed, dried AND folded!!), hand-washed dishes, went for a couple of walks, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter. Pip had leftover chicken for supper, so another day I didn’t have to cook!! (Leftovers are my friend. *g*) I decided to have Cheerios and a banana.

I visited mom; read more in Hatshepsut (2 chapters today, which is a miracle because sometimes reading just half a chapter makes me fall asleep); watched some HGTV programs and re-watched Olympus Has Fallen to take notes.

Temps started out at 54.5(F) and reached 86.2. It was stupidly lovely out. But that's going to change. The rain forecast for the next couple of days keeps changing, so not sure if we're going to get any rain, but the temps are going to drop for a few days.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing a bit better today. more back here )
twistedchick: watercolor painting of coffee cup on wood table (Default)
twistedchick ([personal profile] twistedchick) wrote2025-08-23 03:19 pm

(no subject)

Putting the Substack on hold has already had some effects. Since I'm not thinking about politics when I fall asleep, my dreams have returned -- in living color.

Night before last I was dreaming about an enormous library or bookstore that had been made out of a former doctor's office, with all the little office areas being different topics, and the books on the walls looked different colors and styles in each.

Last night I dreamed I was talking with Dolly Parton before she went onstage and noticed that her hair was not only touching the floor, it was long enough to trip her up. I managed to trim off about five inches that was in floor contact. Then after her concert she came back and asked me to go on a trip with her as thanks for keeping her from falling off the stage -- and we started off on a road trip. Somewhere in there she turned into Meryl Streep and wanted me to try a tiny heart-shaped hallucinogen as we drove off on the Southern Tier Expressway (which is not a place to go tripping.). And at that point I woke up.

Thanks for returning, Imagination!
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
it only hurts when i breathe ([personal profile] spikedluv) wrote2025-08-23 08:21 am

Fic: Murder, She Wrote/The Avengers: Mission: Retrieve Coulson Redux (Jessica & the Avengers; PG13)

I finally have this all typed in and can share it! I hope you enjoy it. *g*


Title: Mission: Retrieve Coulson Redux
Author: Spikedluv
Fandom: Murder, She Wrote (tv)/The Avengers (2012)
Rating: PG13/Gen(/Het/Slash)
Pairing/Characters: Jessica Fletcher & the Avengers (Cameo by Michael Hagarty; appearances by Pepper, Nick Fury and Maria Hill; background Clint/Coulson and Tony/Pepper)
Length: 13,760 words
Spoilers: Complete AU for Murder, She Wrote; takes place post-The Avengers.
Summary: Steve Rogers is pulled out of the ice and aliens attack Manhattan. And Jessica’s nephew, fellow agent of SHIELD Philip J. Coulson, is killed by Loki. Or is he?
Author’s Notes: Team fic. Tower fic. Fix-it fic. This fic is part of my Jessica Fletcher, Agent of SHIELD series and takes place several years after Mission: Retrieve Coulson.
Feedback: Would be greatly appreciated.
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me.
Posted: August 23, 2025

Read Fic @ AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/69680196
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
it only hurts when i breathe ([personal profile] spikedluv) wrote2025-08-23 07:13 am

The Day in Spikedluv (Friday, Aug 22)

I hit Price Chopper and the Pharmacy while I was downtown and got in a walk around the park. I also went to the lab for blood work as I have an appointment with my PCP next week.

I did a load of laundry (washed, dried AND folded), hand-washed dishes, took Grant for a short walk, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, paid some bills online, placed an online order, hard boiled some eggs, and showered.

I also went for a walk with Pip and the dogs when he got home. I'm trying to get more walks in because I've been slacking even though I haven't been spending entire days with mom. Today I managed just over a mile, so I'm hoping to increase that before winter hits and my walks also take a hit. o_O

We had BBQ chicken quarters for dinner! This time I picked them up. I made sure it was okay with Pip to have it again and he agreed. I like chicken and I'm happy to not have to cook, so win-win for me! *g*

I visited mom, read more in Hatshepsut, and watched some HGTV programs.

Temps started out at 48.9(F) and reached 82.3. It turned out so nice!! However, the TWC app is calling for ~80 today and tomorrow, then mid-70s for two days, then mid-60s for two days, then temps in the 70s, slowly moving from 71 to 78. Except for two days when the overnight low will reach 60, it will be ~50. I don’t like this. (TBF, I love the temps of fall, but not at the expense of summer, and also, I’m sorry fall, but you get a bad rap because you lead right into winter.)


Mom Update:

Mom did not feel well at all today. more back here, including the mention of vomiting, though no details )
china_shop: Close-up of Zhao Yunlan grinning (Default)
The Gauche in the Machine ([personal profile] china_shop) wrote2025-08-23 10:15 am
Entry tags:

Me-and-media update

Previous poll review
In the Obsessions poll, 9.8% of respondents have one current active fandom, 31.4% have a couple, 25.5% have a handful, and 15.7% have none at the moment. The most common response was "it's complicated" with 37.3%. Seven point eight percent have blorbos but no fandom.

In ticky-boxes, goth butterflies and punk moths came second to hugs, 56.9% to 76.5%. Dream parkour came third with 47.1%. Thank you for your votes! <3

Reading
Audio: Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer, read by Candida Gubbins -- I'm a third of the way through this delightful thirty-hour tour of the Renaissance. No idea how much is lodging in my brain (versus in-one-ear-and-out-the-other-ing), but I'm getting bits here and there. Like, for example, the Renaissance framing of "grace" as heavenly political capital. And theology as it relates to Hamlet. The general tone is very fun. In progress.

Audio: Stone and Sky (Rivers of London) by Ben Aaronovich, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Shvorne Marks. Having settled Peter into married life, Aaronovich is porting all the relationship stuff over to Abigail. I guess that makes sense. (The case isn't coming together for me, but that might be because I keep falling asleep while we're listening.) In progress.

Library book: A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall. Just a few chapters. Historical romance, and I'm pretty sure all the characters are speaking/behaving anachronistically, but I'm looking forward to the reveal.
Spoiler. The lady in the title is trans and was best friends with the duke before she went MIA at war and transitioned; he thinks she died, and he's now grieving his friend.
In progress.

Guardian by priest. We've finished the main story, just one short story extra to go. Wow, this has been a ride!

Kdramas/Cdramas
Still rewatching Nothing But Love (AKA Nothing But You), ahhh, I love them so much.

I've also started My Girlfriend is the Man, a Kdrama about a woman with a genetic predisposition to sudden-onset sex swap, who does indeed wake up in a male body. I only just finished episode 1, so I don't know yet how well they're going to handle it, but I'm fairly sure the narrative pressure on the boyfriend is to accept that his girlfriend is still his girlfriend, whatever body she's currently wearing. No idea where they'll take it after that.

Pru and I finished Sell Your Haunted House this week. We're planning to start Love Scout next (rewatch for me), unless I can think of something good (and Korean) with murders/ghosts/cases of the week. Hmm, maybe I should give Mystic Pop-Up Bar one more try... I bounced off it before, but I know several people who loved it.

Other TV
Cut for length. )

Guardian/Fandom
It's the last weekend of the Guardian novel scheduled readalong, and then we're heading into a slo-mo rewatch of the drama (half an episode per week). If you've been Guardian-curious or thinking of revisiting the show, now's your chance. *lures*

[community profile] fan_writers is going so well. Love to see so much conversation and interaction over there! If you have thoughts on writing, please feel free to post to the comm, either directly or with a link!

Audio entertainment
Letters from an American (lots, including a great half-hour interview with Gavin Newsom). Half an episode of Sinica, Writing Excuses, a couple of episodes of You Can Learn Chinese, some Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones, and a couple of episodes of A Life Indigenous.

Plugged-in life
The last few days, I've been experimenting with not spending every waking non-keyboard moment listening to audiobooks and podcasts. I was kind of hoping some silence and/or music would wake up my creative brain, and then ideas would come spilling out my fingertips. So far, it's just created an opening for brain weasels. Pbthpbthpbhtpbhpth!

Writing/making things
I spent Monday morning writing a political submission and then finished my meta post about story middles. I spent Tuesday's writers' hour writing most of this. I am working on a fic, but it's slow going. It's veered into one of my DNWs (D/s). I mean, you know how sometimes you can write your own DNWs, because you instinctively avoid the aspects that actively squick you? That part is working. It's just that neither the Shen Wei in my head nor I have any idea what we're doing, lol. Playin' it by ear. *rattles keyboard*

I threw something verrrry last minute together for the [community profile] fan_flashworks Twinkle challenge. No idea if that worked.

Life/health/mental state things
I'm okay, just a bit disconnected. The weather's been so cold I want to stay home all the time. I really hate everything our government is doing (not on the same scale as the US, but terrible in its own libertarian way), so by day I'm a mild manner fangirl, but at night I wake up periodically to scrawl angry letters to politicians and/or newspaper editors in my notebook. I should send more of these; I'm always held back by feeling like I don't know enough and need to fact check.

Food
I made two small batches of vegetable dumplings -- Moosewood's sweet potato recipe, and mushroom & coriander adapted from the Omnivore's Cookbook's chicken recipe. I had to use my dumpling press because of my arms, but that worked okay.

Recently made: enchiladas, crispy orange beef (consistency would have been better if I hadn't shoehorned a ton of vege in there too), plus experimenting with crispy tofu in various dishes. A lot of the sauces make the tofu go slimy, but it's so good when they don't.

Goals
My goal for this year is to make goals for next year.

Good things
Guardian stuff -- the readalong, Wishlist!!, the upcoming rewatch, yay! I'm hoping the latter two will combine to get me writing again. Playing with paint pens (drawing butterflies like a six year-old). Sunshine. Cat. Boy. Assimilating my little-worn 'tidy' clothes into my everyday wardrobe so I don't have to shop.

Poll #33518 Plaguefic
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 44


Covid in fiction

View Answers

I'm okay reading fiction about Covid and related subjects
22 (50.0%)

I'm okay reading fiction that includes mentions of Covid
22 (50.0%)

There are aspects of the pandemic I avoid
9 (20.5%)

I like it when characters mask sometimes
14 (31.8%)

I prefer my reading matter to avoid the subject entirely
9 (20.5%)

It's better in profic / a novel
3 (6.8%)

It's better in fanfic
2 (4.5%)

other
1 (2.3%)

I don't read much atm
5 (11.4%)

ticky-box of gossimer and thistledown
15 (34.1%)

ticky-box of steel girders
10 (22.7%)

ticky-box of half a bottle of flat champagne
7 (15.9%)

ticky-box of battery acid and protest signs
16 (36.4%)

ticky-box of three wallabies at a 1970s disco
19 (43.2%)

ticky-box full of hugs
32 (72.7%)

spikedluv: (Default)
it only hurts when i breathe ([personal profile] spikedluv) wrote2025-08-22 07:24 am

The Day in Spikedluv (Thursday, Aug 21)

I managed a no-shopping day, but I did get in a walk around the park while I was downtown. I visited my aunt, hand-washed dishes, went on a couple short walks with the dog/s, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, placed an online order, and scooped kitty litter.

I visited mom, read more in Hatshepsut (and a little in the Kindle fantasy I’m re-reading), watched some HGTV programs, and typed in the last of my fic, another ~3,100 words! I apparently underestimated that pretty badly. o_O

Temps started out at 54.5(F). I didn’t realize it was misty until I left the house. Also foggy. And still so dark out. I’m already hating how it’s darker in the mornings, and it’s only August! It was only 59 when I got home mid-morning and it seemed like there was no way it was going to reach the forecasted 70. But it did! It warmed up, the sun came out, there was a nice breeze. Perfect! Temps reached 73.6.


Mom Update:

Mom was still very weak, but was doing better. more back here )
chicating: I have a new dragon (Default)
chicating ([personal profile] chicating) wrote2025-08-21 12:56 pm

Lots of memories...

when I chose my wheelchairs as an Object to write about.(There was a time when I'd never do that, btw.)Read more... )
cupcake_goth: (Default)
cupcake_goth ([personal profile] cupcake_goth) wrote2025-08-21 11:51 am

(no subject)

Because of the exciting and inconclusive trip to the ER a few weeks ago, I have been told to schedule All The Tests:

- Monday was multiple ultrasounds, including the always-uncomfortable pelvic ultrasound.  

- Today was full fasting labs, which means I got out of bed, got dressed, and went to the lab so they could draw EIGHT VIALS of blood. I am somewhat dizzy.

- I'm playing phone tag with the gastroenterologists' office to schedule both an endoscopy AND a colonoscopy, oh joy.

- Once that's done, I am pretty sure there'll be another appointment with my GP.

- Aaaaand my mammogram in Sept. 

I'm not thrilled about any of this, but It Must Be Done.  
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
it only hurts when i breathe ([personal profile] spikedluv) wrote2025-08-21 07:31 am

Photos: Flowers, Pumpkins & More!

Blackberries! I think it's cool that you can see the entire progression here, from green to red to black.




15 more back here )
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
it only hurts when i breathe ([personal profile] spikedluv) wrote2025-08-21 04:44 am

The Day in Spikedluv (Wednesday, Aug 20)

Between Midnight and my bladder, I was up before 4am this morning, over an hour before the alarm went off. The original plan was to go back to bed, but I didn’t think I’d get back to sleep so I just stayed up and fed the cat. (So if you saw an early post and/or comments from me, that’s why.)

I had chiropractic and dental appointments this morning. I hit the Pharmacy while I was downtown, but decided not to walk around the park in the rain. Because I might melt. *g*

I did two loads of laundry (both washed, dried AND folded!), hand-washed dishes and emptied the dishwasher, baked chicken for the dogs’ meals and cut up some of said chicken for said meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered. I made cornbread to go with the chili. I also did some banking for mom.

I visited mom, read more in Hatshepsut, watched some HGTV programs, and got ~3,500 more words typed in! I had some extra time between appointments this morning, so I spent it typing. Based on the number of hand-written pages left, I’m estimating ~2,000 more words need to be typed in. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Temps started out at 57.6(F) (and according to TWC app, the high today is supposed to be 57, so not only is it going to be cool, it’s not going to get any warmer!). It started raining about 4am and rained most of the day. The heavier rain was in the morning while the afternoon was mostly sprinkles and drizzles. Despite the all day rain we only got about an inch. Temps topped out at 54.5. Yep, the temps just went down from the morning. I actually turned on the furnace for a short time to get rid of the chill/damp in the house. (Pip even turned on the oil burner at work!)


Mom Update:

Mom was a bit better today.more back here )
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
it only hurts when i breathe ([personal profile] spikedluv) wrote2025-08-20 05:55 am
Entry tags:

Wednesday Reading Meme

What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: Answers in the Ashes (The Inn at Holiday Bay) by Kathi Daley, Once Upon a Mystery (The Bookstore at Holiday Bay) by Kathi Daley, Halloween Moon & Thanksgiving Past (The Cottage on Goosberry Bay) by Kathi Daley, Opera and Old Lace (The Bistro at Holiday Bay) by Kathi Daley, and some fanfic.


What I am Currently Reading: Still working on The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt by Kara Cooney. I also started An Archer's Awakening (Of Crowns & Quills) by Casey Morales as my ‘light’ reading to go with the heavier reading of Hatshepsut.

(Funny thing, I didn’t remember the book when I read the blurb, but apparently I’ve already read it. o_O Some of it came back to me when I started reading it, but not enough for me to feel comfortable going on to the second book. So I’m actually re-reading this one. So many books, too little brain.)


What I Plan to Read Next: I have some library books out, so one of those. Probably the next Amelia Peabody.
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
it only hurts when i breathe ([personal profile] spikedluv) wrote2025-08-20 04:24 am

The Day in Spikedluv (Tuesday, Aug 19)

I hit Price Chopper while I was downtown and got in a walk around the park.

I did a load of laundry (washed, dried AND folded, though I had to make myself complete the task), hand-washed dishes and did a load in the dishwasher, took Grant for a short walk, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter.

I also hit the bank on my way home from mom's and browned ground beef to put together chili for tomorrow’s supper. Tonight, at Pip’s suggestion, was sausage and eggs.

I visited mom, read fanfic, and typed in ~1,200 more words on my fic! Finally! It’s been a while since I’ve typed in anything.

Temps started out at 48.9(F) and reached 75.4. Today was not nearly as nice as yesterday because it was very cloudy all day. There was some spots of blue sky and hints of sun, but overall, clouds. We’re supposed to get rain starting at midnight and lasting all day tomorrow through to 8am Thursday morning. We’ll see.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing okay today. more back here )
twistedchick: watercolor painting of coffee cup on wood table (Default)
twistedchick ([personal profile] twistedchick) wrote2025-08-20 12:10 am

hitting the wall

I'm putting the Substack column aside for a while. It's just too wearing, looking at the cruelties and misbehavior and idiocy and outright lawlessness of the current regime and writing commentary about it that essentially mirrors what others write.

I need some time not spending up to four days a week writing two columns for no money, columns that are at best depressing.

If I were still at a newspaper doing this, I'd have people who were in the business to bounce ideas off, and some support for the research needed. I am not Robert Reich, who has paid staff. I have me and a computer and occasionally a bookshelf.

And I want to do some lifegiving things for myself, like making more music and creating art and (as long as ICE is not present anywhere near me) going out into the park and breathing the green air of trees. I want to not have the heaviness of the column hanging over my head. I would rather play my flutes, and guitar, and maybe try harp. We have one that belongs to my husband, but he doesn't play often.

And I want to write things like poetry and fiction that don't require me to wear my reductive Inverted-Pyramid-style brain.

So I will notify people, later this week, that it will be more occasional and probably less political.
cupcake_goth: (Vampire Governess)
cupcake_goth ([personal profile] cupcake_goth) wrote2025-08-19 12:02 pm
Entry tags:

(no subject)

PROOF! OF! CONCEPT!