Member Posts

Sending my love from the other side of the apocalypse, and I just about snapped, don't look back.

Well, that was a day. That is now concluded. I'm sitting here in my comfy nightgown, relaxing before I begin going through the room like a tasmania devil, of the cleaning variety. Once I'm done that, I'll realize that I packed something I shouldn't have and will cuss and extricate it. Then, It'll be off to the rental agency to start the long trek to our gate. (We are 100% using the tram this time, now that I understand that the terminal is a big H. It's just too damn big. And last time I looked we ere at gate 74, which is kind near the end of the row. And then, we shall be flying home to the babies.

I'd like to do more of these mini trips, a quick hop up to Boston or Drive to Philly and DC, especially as it gets a bit cooler. But next up, Ghost concerts, the first of which is not this coming week, but next week on the 9th.

Yesterday was rough, y'all. 8 hour is entirely too long for a viewing/funeral thingy. IT went okay. Jess was amazing, There were a few passive aggressive look what you missed things, but never any direct bullshit. Lots of somewhat redneck stories, about this cousin's ex being a bitch, and This cousin doing this and that.

We managed, but it wasn't easy.

JEss' brother asked them to do a reading-which turned out to be their nemesis--their mother's favorite poem, "Wild geese," by Mary Olliver. Lots of cryging during their brother's speech. And then it was over and they put on some of Dale's favorite music to end the wake. And proceded to talk loudly over it, which was sensory hell.

Then, it was all over but for a nice trip to dinner with Jess' brother. It wasn't bad. We had very good bbq.

Then, it was back to the hotel for a nightcap. I am never gettign a hotel without at least a small bar or a evening reception with booze, because that was super nice. We did it noth days, and it provided a little buffer between the family and getting back to the room.

Now it's time to get myself together and start packing up what needs to be packed, and preparing for departure in just under an hour. Everyone have an excellent day!

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mail,
meme

hold on, let me overthink things

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We must hold this in our hearts, ch 1

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Tea. Lady Grey. Steaming.

Title: Tea.  Lady Grey. Steaming.
Author: Rhi/Gryphonrhi
Prompt: Miss Marple walks into a bar and meets.... Amanda!
Fandoms: Miss Marple -- Agatha Christie novels, Highlander: the Series (TV)
Word count: 3,119
Rating: Gen/PG-13
Contents: No warnings needed.
Summary:  Jane Marple so rarely gets to intervene before the crime is committed
Alternately, Rosie the Riveter did not fade into Heidi the Homemaker with the snap of male fingers.

AO3 link:  https://archiveofourown.org/works/66987256

Old heat of a raging fire come and light my eyes, summer's kiss through electric wire

Greetings from Brighton Michigan! Michigan is very pretty, much easier to drive in than Maryland, and I never would want to live here for all the money in the world.

The trip in was super smooth. The flight left on time and was smooth as hell. I think I will always go for first class if I can afford it. It was so much easier. On first, off first, bags first. We touched down in Detroit 25 minutes early.

The Detroit airport is tough. It's enormous and I am out of shape and have bad knees. I did a lot of walking. We finally found the airport shuttle for our rent a car, and headed off to their lot. I had requested a small SUV. There were a few to choose from, but I picked the neon green Hyundai Kona. I can't lose it in a parking lot for sure. It drives really nicely, too, I would definitely consider one as a future car.

After that, we drove the hour to Hartland (with a brief stop for coffee and Timbits from the Tim Hortons that we don't have near us) Then a stop at a brew pub for food. (Meh. The sandwich was okay, but nothing to go gaga over. Then, we pulled into our hotel, and found out that it's actually a motel with exterior doors.

I melted down a bit. Nowhere in the listing did it mention that. Personally, as a woman, I don't feel safe in those type of motels. I immediately hopped online and found a Marriot not too far away and booked that. It's not the best hotel--the ac isn't great, the bed is hard and the shower sucks, but our room is off an interior corridor. It means driving a bit further, but I'm not fucking around with our safety. This weekend is going to be difficult enough. I need to actually get a little sleep. Once we got back to the hotel room, I called the site and bitched until I got a refund on the sketch motel.

Then we visited with the BIL for a while, went on a drive and headed back to the hotel, stopping at cracker barrel for dinner.

Today, the funeral is sure to be a boatload of fun. The family viewing starts at 10, then the regular viewing at 11, and goes til 6pm. Apparently the funeral home serves food? So we don't even need to go get lunch. This is not something I've ever heard of before, and frankly, it's a little weird to me. I don't know if this is all in one room, or if the food is in another room? Are we just chowing down next to the coffin? Inquiring minds.

Then, there'll be some sort of after service dinner, I'm sure. At least, unlike when we came for Jess' mom's funeral, we've been assured that it's not going to be at a Golden Corral.

Okay, I am in desperate need of coffee, so I'm going to sign off for now. Everyone have an outstanding Saturday!

Entry tags:

meme

I am presently experiencing life at several WTFs per hour

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Current Mood: cold boy summer
Current Music: I'll take your breath away

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PTSD Reaction to Sarah McLachlan - due South story, INCOMPLETE, story amnesty

I ran across this Tumblr post about being entitled to financial compensation for having a visceral reaction to hearing "Carry On My Wayward Son" in public, and I made a silly addition, as one does.

Then something stirred in my deep memory and I remembered I'd made the joke I'd just made before.

Here, this is from my gdocs. It's the first two-and-a-bit pages of a story I wrote in 2012. I have no idea what the plot was going to be.

Title: PTSD Reaction to Sarah McLachlan (abandoned WIP)
Fandom: due South
Pairing: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Rating: Teen and up
Summary: It took Ray two weeks on the trail to feel like if Fraser got abducted by aliens, he wouldn't necessarily die within the next ten minutes.
Notes: This is my experiment with writing a post-Call of the Wild story and I chickened out right when the plot kicks in, but the RayK voice makes me happy.

( It took Ray two weeks on the trail to feel like if Fraser got abducted by aliens, he wouldn't necessarily die within the next ten minutes. It wasn't the best feeling he'd ever had in his life, that dependence on somebody else for stuff like what to eat and how to pee without freezing off the family jewels, but he got used to it, worked through it, and got to thinking about how Fraser'd been depending on him and Vecchio for years for Chicago survival stuff. That thought took the edge off of the sheer unadulterated what the fuck of the Arctic. )

spits on SCOTUS

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Current Mood: roaring
Current Music: But I don't bargain with a mob

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You Can't Keep Me From Singing - someone else's filk

You Can't Keep Me From Singing by Gordon MacDonald, Jr., a filk of How Can I Keep From Singing.

Reproduced here so if Mudcat keeps being impossible to search, I can find it again:

( Whenever I begin to sing there's rising agitation )

fanfiction as it is done

I'm not sure if it's a sign of improving mental health (less hoarding/control tendencies!) or a sign of worsening mental health (lack of interest/care about things) in that after discovering that, no, even logging in with my RSS reader to ao3 won't make archive-locked fics show up in RSS feed, my reaction is: eh, that's the author's problem that I never see their fic, not mine.

I fully disagree with a lot of the reasons people lock their fic on ao3 (especially the way many people on tumblr frame it as them being "forced" to do so) but hey, it's their decision.

Once upon a time, if you wanted people to see your fic, you would do things about it. Maybe you'd send it to a mailing list. Maybe you'd post on a LJ community.

And now what people seem to do a lot of is just post it to ao3 and never crosspost about it anywhere. Their assumption is, you'll see it on Ao3.

But I don't. Because a small one fandom archive, sure, I could look at it every so often and see the what's new.

But I'm following a lot of ao3 tags and I am not checking ao3 for 1) any locked fics, which don't show up in RSS, 2) any fics posted to collections which, because of changes ao3 made years ago, do not show up in the feed if there are 20 fics posted since that was posted.

And once upon a time, I was like "I need to see all these fics, especially ones in tiny fandoms I'd never see otherwise!"

And now I'm just like. Meh. That's their problem that I'll never see their fic, not mine.

Possibly this is because my "to read" list is so very very long and so is my author subscription emails that haven't been read yet.

But also it's like. If you make it hard for me to find your fic. Then you're just like those people back on LJ who would post a fic to a community with a note that they were going to friends-lock the fic after 3 days, and if you want to see previous ones in the series, you have to get them to add you to their friends list.

Because honestly why bother. If you're going to make it hard for me to read your fic, then clearly you don't want me personally to read it, and that's okay. There's plenty of others, from people who aren't making it hard.

Because, no, I am not going to be checking every single ao3 tag even monthly for archive locked/collections fics. I'm sure some people are checking them frequently. Those people will read your fic. And that's fine, honestly.

But I'm not putting in the work. And if I miss the world's great fic because I don't see it, then yeah, okay. That's fine. Go with god, do your own thing. Not my problem.

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burning questions

The next Bond?

OK, who should be the next Bond? I’m impressed by the wide range of suggestions here. I especially liked the suggestion for Rege-Jean Page. No one mentioned Joseph Mawle, Edward Bluemel, Harry Lloyd, or Matthew Goode, though. Or Tobias Menzies!

What do you think?

Guardian readers make nominations for the next Bond

People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening

It's Friday and it's Flyday as well! I'm up ungodly early to get ready to fly out to Michigan for Jess' Dad's funeral. Not looking forward to it.

It's not going to be a fun weekend by any stretch, and I hate that Jess' stuck doing it. They hadn't seen their father in nearly a decade (because he was an asshole who tried to bribe them into leaving me). I was not good enough in his eyes, being lower/middle class and a woman. I was just going to bring them down. And I won't lie, we've struggled, but we struggled together and that's the important part.

I don't really think anyone is going to throw a fit at the funeral. They're too midwest for that. Might get a few backhanded pokes, but nothing more. If anyone does want to throw down, I will probably punch them in the throat, but we'll see.

Tomorrow, we have the long-ass visitation. I am as ready for it as I can be. I've got a dress, tights, shoes and a fuckton of makeup, so I look presentable. Then Sunday, we fly home. I sprung for first class tickets, so we should have priority security and boarding, which will be nice. We'll be in around noon, and home by 1pm is there are no major delays.

Yesterday was busy. I ended up cancelling our game, because there was no way we were getting everything done if we had to do that as well. I'm sorry, because that's 3 games cancelled for this, but it needed to happen. Otherwise, I'd have been rushing this morning and that's how things get forgotten.

As it is, I need to open the suitcase and pack a couple of more things. I forgot to pack my tights and I think my makeup is going in there as well. That way I have room in my bag for my kindle and the sound machine.

I had a really bad brain night last night. Just completely melted down over the state of the house. The money from the estate means that we got a lot of stuff, and a lot of it requires assembly. So we have a ton of boxes, plus the problem our normal tendency to put stuff down on every single surface and never pick it up again.

We're going to work on that when we get home. I also couldn't reach my toenail clippers, which fell behind my dresser, which is kind of what set me off. All the frustration just bubbled over.

But today, I am goal focused. We will go to the airport and park, and then we will fly out. We will get to the Best Western, and then we will go see Jess' brother for a bit, maybe dinner, and then we will go back to the Best Western and relax.

Okay, time for that shower. Do I want to put on makeup today? I might a little bit. Just a little foundation and blush, maybe eyeliner. We'll see. Definitely moisturizer.

Everyone have an excellent Friday!

Entry tags:

meme

language is the source of misunderstandings

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The story, it is done

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Current Mood: smh
Current Location: near the lake they call Michigan

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Fannish 50 Challenge 2025: Post # 19: the infamous due South troll

If you are in due South fandom you know about the "infamous due South troll," she of many names and one obsession: for decades she has been seeking out due South fic and vids that don't jibe with her personal opinion about which ships and which storylines are "true or not". She was flaming me even before I posted my first fic...back in 2011 she flamed my comment that I made on YouTube about a due South vid that I liked, telling me what was "wrong" with the perspective of the vid and how I was "wrong" for liking it. She actively seeks out for reading and for watching stuff that she knows she won't like and then she reads it or watches it and then she spews out her hatred. The last most recent time that she flamed me -- before TODAY -- was in 2023 when she pounced on a fic that I had written eleven years earlier and said hateful things about it -- I did not respond to her hate and TODAY she returned to that same fic and in even greater detail than previously FLAMED THE SAME FIC A SECOND TIME. Hells, that is some tenacity -- REREADING a fic to which she had already "objected" (she told me that she "disagreed" with my fic) and then commenting further in the face of my previous non-response. /o\

(no subject)

1. I got a Surfans F20 for my birthday to replace my dying ipod touch. (It was last hooked up to a computer in 2012 and spent it's life in airplane mode. Battery no longer holds a charge for more than 20 mins and charging is unreliable.) I combed through all the backups on my external to find all my little stashes of music. Now to comb through it all and figure out what of the 263GB (+ because some of it's zipped/rar'd) I want to load.

1b. If you have a suggestion for music organization software, please share. Especially something that can find and replace duplicates.

1c. I should check to see if I've got any podfic that had been lost.

2. I'm going to be in Seattle early July for the My Chemical Romance show on the 11th. If you'll also be going and want to hang out while waiting for doors, I'd love to hang. Siblings, BiL, and Spouse will also be attending.

3. I've been dealing with a ovarian cyst the last few days and I'd like it to be over now, thank you. Pain is finally fading, but the first 24hrs were awful.

edit: I've unzipped everything. 259 GB over 20,819 files in 11,339 folders. The Surfans only sees 15,000 files so I've got to cut 5,819. I guess first pass will be album art. I know I have a lot of fanmixes in there. Second pass will be podfic and audiobooks because it turns out I don't actually like those.

edit2: Found a stash of unzipped fanmixes in a folder. After deleting non-music stuff from the I-tunes folders I've got 107 GB over 21,490 Files, 11,275 Folders. Mostly deleted video I have elsewhere and old copies of podcasts I don't listen to anymore.

[ONLINE] Escapade 35.5 Are you Registered? Did you check your email?

Greetings Escapaders!

Escapade 35.5 is in TWO DAYS! New this year is Friday evening content starting at 6:00 PST. Are you excited? We’re super excited!

We want to make sure you’re registered. The registration process is in two parts. Part one is logging into the website and adding Escapade 35.5 to your cart (instructions are on the registration page linked below), then making a PayPal payment. Part two is to Register on the Reg list. In other words, the payment portion does not talk to the website Reg list.

To check to see if you’re registered you will have an email that looks like the this screenshot. I found mine by searching in my email for the phrase Escapade 35.5 Registration. If you can’t find that email, not even in your spam folder, and you’re sure you registered email us or post in the Forever Discord’s #help-desk channel.

Also, do NOT use the My Account page. ALL of Online Escapade’s communications will be in the Escapade 35.5 Discord #announcements channel and via the email address you used to register. If you want your registration email address changed, email us and we’ll get it updated for you.

The Escapade 35.5 Discord is not online yet. It will be up tonight or tomorrow morning. You will receive that invitation in your email once we kick all the tires.

We’re looking forward to seeing all your lovely faces/Zoom avatars!

Registration page:

https://escapadecon.net/escapade-35-5-registration-online/

Contact email

info@escapadecon.net

-Con Com

https://escapadecon.net/escapade-35-5-are-you-registered-did-you-check-your-email/

The dawn of prosperity, a faded scar. An ended calamity, a slaughtered Tsar.

It's Thursday, and I am currently trying to figure out how I'm going to get everything done before we leave tomorrow. I should have packed last ngiht, but we need to do laundry. Ugh. I'm going to be scrambling. As soon as Jess gets up, I'll start packing some stuff to go. We don't need a whole lot, just enough for Friday to Sunday. Only about 48hrs. I'm planning on at least three outfits. I'm planning to go looking like a schlub, then possibly change when we get to our hotel room to go see the BIL the night before the funeral. Then, I'll dress for the funeral. Then, probably we'll go out to dinner after the excessively long visitation/viewing. Depending on where we're going, I might change clothes then as well. Then, back in the schlub clothes for the flight back.

I might pack what I can this morning, and get some of it done. Unfortunately, we need to wash both my and Jess' fancy clothes for the funeral.

I've gone on a bit of a girly binge. I got two palettes of eyeshadows to experiment with. I love them both. The one from Ulta, called Morphe is very sparkly and light colored. Perfect for highlights and to give things a bit of pop. The other, called the "smoke sessions is all purples and blues. I'm absolutely in love with this one. It's so very pretty. I did a test for the funeral and found a color combo that will work.

It's going to be weird to be stuffing everything into the quart bag. I've got lotion, foundation, color corrector and of course color safe shampoo and conditioner, plus a tub of hair goo.

Then, I have a whole bag of cosmetics. It's strange, but I'm enjoying it.

Yesterday was busy! First we drove down to Washington DC for Jess' top surgery consult. I swear to god, I hate DC driving. I missed the exit on no less than 2 roundabouts. It sucked. We left at 6:15, made no stops, and got there around 8:30am. Traffic was horrible. But we made it in plenty of time for our appointment!

Jess' surgeon was a little ball of sunshine. She went through the process, did their exam and then she and Jess firmed up what they wanted their new chest to look like. They're going for the full masculinization, and the doctor confirmed her understanding. The coordinator will call Jess on Friday or early next week to work out a surgery date.

On the way home, we stopped at LaMadeline for some excellent lunch. Then it was home to eat said lunch and relax for a few minutes before game.

Game was awesome, and I really enjoyed it. I brought in my final player's backstory, and now everyone is traumatized. I love it.

Then, we had some time, so I went and got my emissions done. My car is 100% up to date. Yay! I need to call at some point, because it hasn't updated, but that may be a Monday thing.

We have game tonight, so I don't have long this evening to pack. Maybe I'll do some during lunchtime. It's a lot to get done. Tomorrow, we're going to need to leave no later than 6:15am, which is going to mean a 4am wakeup. Ugh.

But for today, work. Everyone have an amazing Thursday, or as we call it, Friday Eve!

Entry tags:

meme

you can only be young once, but you can always be immature

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Current Mood: celebratory
Current Location: near the lake they call Michigan

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Fannish 50 Challenge 2025: Post # 18: Happy Yuri Day!

Today is Yuri Day! For details about Yuri Day see this page on Fanlore. For details about yuri in general see this page on Fanlore.

The very talented and very generous

petra is offering to write prompted drabbles and poems for Yuri Day. See their post and leave them a comment for your drabble or poem at

petra's Yuri Day post on DW.