Member Posts

Current Music: Imperfection, Evanescence

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This is how a good man goes too far

MY HEAD IS KILLING ME. So is my back. I need to find a doctor that will take the level of pain I’m in constantly seriously. It’s ridiculous.

Work was awful yesterday. Nothing about work itself, I just had pain and terrible brain fog all day that made it absolutely drag. Also, my favorite shirt doesn’t fit. I can get it on, but it’s HELL getting it off again.

I played Breath of Fire 2 for a bit after getting home, and that was about everything of note that I did. I have Breath of Fire 3 on my iPad, and it seems to play fine, although I haven’t tested it extensively.

Also found out that Jenny is a Breath of Fire fan! I sent her my BoF roms that have the fan translation patches already applied. I hope she plays them. The Breath of Fire translation makes the game make sense, lol.

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Fic: Reconcilable Differences (Highlander: the Agent)

In the early days of the bantering and brainstorming that would become Highlander: the Agent, Tornis had given in to the pull of the muses and started writing scenes from a casefic. As much fun as it was to have near-daily additions to the story to look forward to, I started to feel guilty about not contributing anything of my own. In order to ease myself into the universe, I decided to write a story capitalizing on one of the recurring jokes we'd developed.

( The cat )

As all Highlander backstories need the Reveal Scene, that's also what I wanted to do: The one where we get to see how the family dealt with the news and what put the first pieces into place that would lead to the Matthew that we met in "Manhunt."

( From here to 'Manhunt' )

And thus was born:

Title: Reconcilable Differences
Word Count: 8750
Characters: Matthew, Original Characters, Corwin the Cat
Rating: T (I think there's a swear)
Summary: The year is 1989, and Matthew has been happily married for almost two decades. Recognizing that his lack-of-aging is catching up to this life, he realizes it's time to have the talk with his family.

This also marks the first of the extras that I wrote, and the first one posted on our new schedule of releasing extras on Wednesdays.

Entry tags:

transformers

(no subject)

Still waffling about going in on the Marvel Transformers compendium Kickstarter. I really want the whole series collected but I really don't love this format. It'll probably be a long time before there's a chance to get it collected again in another way, though. Then another thing to consider is that a lot of people who backed the G.I. Joe collections last year are still waiting to have problems resolved. On the other hand, the people who did get their Joe collections on time and in proper form really like them...

Quite the opposite of these mixed feelings, I found out that the Transformers: The Movie soundtrack is being repressed in a limited "Unicron" edition and I preordered it immediately despite not yet having replaced my record player.

(no subject)

Took the leftover marshmallows to work and was prompted to put them with the snack table that's been prepared for us for lab week. Didn't look like a lot had been taken when I check but that's fine. Anything left at the end of the week, I'll take home again for the kiddos.

Outside of work... I have a lot of feelings about the passing of the pope. I don't have a lot of love to lose for Francis. He covered up heinous acts just like everyone else at the Vatican and he certainly wasn't free of ignorance or prejudice. But he also made the Church a more welcoming, even safer place for many queer/LGBT+ people and led their families along a path of understanding and acceptance. He offered apologies to indigenous people for the crimes committed against them by the Church. He spoke up for immigrants. He called out the Palestinian genocide for what it is and was on the phone almost nightly with a Christian parish there, to offer solidarity and comfort. And his stance on the matter did not go unnoticed by Catholics or other Christian communities in the West.

More than anything, I'm concerned for what his replacement might bring. No matter what any of us have to say about Francis as a person, his role as a figure of authority carried a great weight and, for all his most significant flaws, he was moving the Church down a more progressive road. There's a reason the most noxious-- and obnoxious-- right-wingers railed so hard against him. The significance of having even a relatively leftist pope in power in the current political and social climate should not be understated. And the potential fallout of the Church taking a hard right turn should not be dismissed. I've seen the list of papal candidates and, uh. I'm largely not favorably impressed, lemme tell ya. Over one hundred of the one hundred and thirty-five cardinals who will vote to confirm the new pope were appointed by Francis, so there is some hope, but I'll be doing my own praying on the matter until we see that white smoke.

Current Mood: ondering things
Current Music: "The Recluse" - Cursive

Entry tags:

the good, the sad, whatever else there is

Happy Easter (yesterday)

and

I wonder what the next pope will be like...

Current Music: Relief, Sixx:AM

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Ahhh! Peace and quiet!

I’m looking forward to a day to myself. I’ve already written 600 words, done the checkbook, and gone for a short walk. Gonna write a bit more after this. My plan is to fight a monster on 4thewords and then spend some time doing something else, go back to 4thewords and fight a monster, do something else on my to-do list, so on and so forth. My day is my own today, so I’m confident in my ability to get a TON done.

I need to charge my Garmin when I go back downstairs.

So yesterday we had Easter dinner, AKA Springtime Thanksgiving. There were two different kinds of sweet potatoes. There should’ve been three, but Dad left his masterpiece out on the table uncovered and mouse got in it. That was one happy mouse and one unhappy Dad. The final batch of sweet potatoes was going to be plain mashed; I suggested seasoning them the way the ruined dish was. It wasn’t as good as the ruined dish—I managed to get a taste of them before the mouse did—but it was enough to soothe Dad’s disappointment.

I’m gonna get back to writing now.

(no subject)

T'was a nice, low-key day. Didn't end up seeing most of my neighbors to offer marshmallows-- didn't occur to me that so many would be out for quite so much of the day-- so that was a shame. Kids liked them, though! I'll probably take the leftovers to work with me tomorrow.

As for the movie. I didn't catch that Hailee Steinfeld or I would've thought twice before supporting it. And I'm torn now because its success in light of the contract Ryan Coogler negotiated is making studio execs nervous and I do, as a general rule like making studio execs nervous. Also good to see a Black film doing well in the current climate. Idk.

But as for the movie itself, it was incredible. It looked gorgeous, to begin with. The costumes were a visual treat and I especially liked how Michael B Jordan's characters were differentiated by their personal styles. The effects were good to great for the most part, though the blood was a tad schlocky and I really wish they'd gone practical for one scene involving a snake. Granted, I think having the snake stand out like it did might've been intentional, given what snakes tend to represent, but I found it more distracting than ominous, personally. There's this one long shot that had me on the edge of my seat, not least because of the music.

The characters were all full-fleshed, for good and ill. I appreciated that no one seemed to "get what they deserved" but there were also no perfect victims. There was a real sense that they had lived eventful lives off the screen. I almost wish we could've seen their story without the supernatural horror elements, as the core story was strong enough to stand on its own. On the other hand, the characters and their stories truly were elevated by those elements, so I do need to emphasize the "almost" there.

I'm not actually sure how much I can say about the story while sticking to my usual avoidance of spoilers, as I'm not sure if I misunderstood the marketing-- only saw one trailer, tbh-- or if something in particular is supposed to be a twist. Certainly, I'm struggling to verbalize the cons without specific examples. I guess I'll just say that it's well-paced, has a good weight to it and makes excellent use of the time and place. It takes its time when it needs to, then the hits start coming and they don't stop coming. It's heartfelt and tense and even funny in all the right places.

Current Mood: hot
Current Music: Adele - Send My Love

Entry tags:

books,
year 2025

Book Log: A Slice of Fried Gold

I made a mistake when I last reported otherwise, because this should be the last book from the bunch I got during my UK trip two years ago. (The stack on the shelf is shrinking but... there's still so many. T_T) I think I wanted to pick up at least one celeb autobiography so I didn't look at it too closely, so it turns out that Nick Frost's A Slice of Fried Gold: Taste My Memories is 70% cookbook, 30% stream-of-consciousness partial autobiography. I did not start reading this book just because of the news of the Frost's casting in a certain franchise (welp), that's just another coincidence.

Frost loves to cook! (I did not know this.) He can do some pretty complicated dishes, and associates so many feelings (his own, and others) with cooking, that this book, though only technically a cookbook, is more about using time of the initial covid-19 lockdown to capture those feelings for those he would like to remember him by, is my impression.

I'm only a passable cook, with just enough skills to feed myself, though I've sometimes made slightly more complicated dishes based on recipes (I made lasagna once!) when I had a phase of being Determined to learn how to cook some years ago. That phase has passed. So while there are quite a few interesting dishes in Frost's book, there's only maybe 2 simple ones that I would try to do myself, though I'd look up a recipe with proper instructions because Frost's writing style runs on ADHD-fueled vibes and frantic expression. He's pretty up front about his mental state and struggles with depression, anxiety and food issues which paint every single page with feels and distracted humour.

There are some interesting industry anecdotes sprinkled in there, like I did not know how catering works for movies and TV, but of course Frost has strong feelings about food being SO important in order to make the work good. But the most of it is Frost working through his own feelings of food as the channel through which he express love, anger and sadness.

Entry tags:

this here is kinda cool

Gamifying Life

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Current Music: Breaking Inside (Acoustic), Shinedown

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Happy Easter if you Celebrate

I got an Easter Basket with a bag of Ghriadelli chocolates, a caramel chocolate egg, cotton candy, jelly beans, and peeps. And a hello kitty egg, but Cal forgot about it. AND A NEW HELLO KITTY PLUSH.

I did an experiment last night. I haven't been taking tylenol and ibuprofen at night for a long time, and I've been waking up stiff and sore and barely able to move. I did last night, and I'm still a bit sore, but not nearly as much.

Hmmm...

I also didn't wake up with a headache.

Hmmmmmmmm....

Anyway, I got Lunar yesterday but I'm not playing it yet. Still playing Suikoden. Perhaps once I've completed Suikoden 1 I'll play Lunar, then Suikoden 2, then Lunar 2.

I'm gonna go write now.

Current Music: Buried Alive, Elysion

Entry tags:

My god, that was close.

Okay, so, Dad’s accounts are down to $10 and $70 respectively, but we have groceries. I’m skipping breakfast, and I’m sure I’ll hear about that from my eating disorder team, but I woke up with a massive headache and didn’t feel like eating. I just took some medicine, my every day meds, and went grocery shopping with Dad.

I’m doing my best to hold to a bland diet, but it’s hard. I’ve got some vanilla cinnamon oatmilk protein drink, and a couple vanilla Orgains , and some cottage cheese and rice pudding. My microwave meals are all pretty mild, too, even if I wouldn’t call them “bland.”

I need that fucking raise something fierce. This should not have happened. I don’t want to end up falling behind in bills and needing to jump into a debt management program again.

Anyway, today’s schedule will be writing and various other tasks. I need to keep cleaning, maybe put away the blanket Mom made me. I don’t want to, but I’m not using it right now and the mice think my area is spiffy to live in, and that’s got to stop.

(no subject)

Work was good today until it wasn't. Tbh, I'd be alright with how it ended if it wasn't Friday. I hate leaving cases over the weekend. Still, shouldn't take more than an hour to wrap them up on Monday and at that point, I'll probably be getting them on the table just in time to be read by the doctors anyway. At least that's my guess.

Trying not to worry too much over it, honestly, because I'd rather be excited that NEXT WEEK IS LAB WEEK! Buuut it's a little hard to be all that excited for the simple reason that we didn't get the usual hype sheet for the event. Which makes me think maybe we're not doing any spirit days or activities this years. Then again, no hype sheet means no information about lunch for the week either and I know they're getting us lunch as usual because the resources lady made sure to tell everyone to have the break room fridges cleared out. Idk, I don't mean to seem ungrateful. I appreciate the free food and I know I'm not entitled to the effort that goes into the planning. It's just that the whole experience was the highlight of my first few years working this job and I miss it, y'know? Still, makes sense. Fun stuff inevitably takes people away from their work and we have a lot more work to do now than we did when I started.

But, hey, that's next week-- this is the weekend! My sister and I (and maybe my mom) are taking the kids to a big Easter egg hunt festival thing downtown tomorrow and then we might get ice cream. I'm gonna check in on my marshmallow ingredients before then so I know if I have to pick anything up while I'm out, then I'll probably get them started as soon as I get home so they'll be good and ready for handing out on Sunday. Also on Sunday, I'm going to see Sinners and have lunch with my sister. And in between all that, there's a book to read, some sudoku puzzles to solve-- finally did one today with no mistakes!-- and some creative mojo that I'll be finding at least one outlet for.

Entry tags:

chicago,
friends

museums are fun actually

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That’s a bummer.

So I paid all my bills yesterday, leaving us $300 for groceries… and woke up to a $450 bill I completely forgot about.

I’m not too pissed with myself for it this time. Everything that was paid absolutely needed to be, so I wouldn’t have had the money for all of them no matter what I did. Dad’s bailing us out. Not sure how we’re handling groceries, other than to spread them out across the meager available credit lines of the credit cards.

In other news, a friend has purchased me Lunar Remastered on loan (in that I’ll have to pay him back for it at an undisclosed time, but he’s good with waiting until I get my retro if that’s what it takes). The problem is… this friend is my ex-husband who has said that our relationship was the only one he was ever truly happy in and he still loves me. Granted, he also said that love has evolved into something non-romantic, but this transaction still feels WEIRDLY BAD. Like I’m taking advantage of his feelings somehow. Idk. I’m trying to take him at his word that it’s platonic now. I think I’ve just been conditioned by other (former) friends that friendship is transactional, and there’s gotta be a catch here that I’m not seeing yet.

Cal and I went to IHOP this morning. It was good. I had to come home; I was stimming in the restaurant (rocking) and Cal knows better than I do that when I do that, I’m really unwell physically. And he’s right. My head is killing me and my stomach does not like what I ate.

I have a dietician appointment today at 11, I think. Need to be ready for that.

Current Mood: full

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Sinners

I just watched Sinners! I was waffling about checking it out today because time was a bit tight for me, but I'm glad I did. No spoilers, just music.👍

Watch on YouTube

I did get jumpscared by a song I knew later in the movie, that was fun.

(no subject)

Despite being painfully aware all day that today is Thursday, I was sitting here about to about to talk about how glad I am it's the weekend. Thanks for that disappointment, brain, lol.

Ah, well, I'm good to get through another day. The new schedule has been working out quite well for me, even if it hasn't had as much of an impact as I'd hoped. In hindsight, that hope was misplaced anyway and this is as good as I should've expected. I'll take it.

If I'm carrying any real disappointment into tomorrow, it's over forgetting to make Easter marshmallows to take in to work to share. I didn't remember until too late that it was something I wanted to do and, tbh, I'm not even sure I have enough ingredients to make that many. Still, though, it's fine. I'll make some for the niblings and maybe the neighbors and I'll be happy with that. Maybe I'll even take some time on Saturday-- almost certainly can't make it happen tomorrow-- to go and try to find a cookie cutter shaped like those Peeps marshmallow bunnies. I've only done ghost shapes before, so I think doing something different would be fun.

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: "As If By Magic" - La Roux

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Happy Birthday evil_little_dog!

evil_little_dog it's your birthday today, right?

I hope it's wonderful and fun and all that good sort of stuff! Much love from me~ <3

my babies (Catalina & Sazka), years ago when they still liked each other...! 💔

Current Music: Break the Time Factor, Tales of Xillia 2 OST

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Oh hey, look, a new way to be mentally ill!

Imposter syndrome, but for mental illness! I apparently speedran recovery from Binge Eating Disorder and my therapist had to read me back some of my self-reporting to convince me that I wasn't faking the whole thing for attention.

I am, unfortunately, seeming to swing in the opposite direction now, but we'll deal with that.

A friend is buying me the Lunar remasters on a loan; I need to pay him back, but he mentioned that release day is only in two days and I commented that I had not the money to get it but planned to as soon as possible, and he immediately offered to buy it for me. Super nice of him.

Anyway. Time to get ready.

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what are you playing wednesday

What Are You Playing Wednesday

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(no subject)

My last two Ali Express packages have been delayed so long I was starting to wonder if I'd ever get an update but I finally received notice that they've both arrived in the country, at least. For added context, they were both due to have arrived at my house on Monday...

Ah, well, not like they're anything important. And it's not like I didn't know that it was going to be a while before I got them. This just feels like a very annoying reminder of what's Happening right now and I can't honestly say I appreciate it, lol.