2533 / Fic - Biosphere
Aug. 2nd, 2025 01:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
siriaFollow the Leader
Biosphere | Ray/Billy | 1700 words
(Also on AO3)
( 'Maybe there'd be a greater chance of successful fertilisation and implantation if we had, you know, a mutual orgasm situation going on?' )
Biosphere | Ray/Billy | 1700 words
(Also on AO3)
( 'Maybe there'd be a greater chance of successful fertilisation and implantation if we had, you know, a mutual orgasm situation going on?' )
he is throwing a gem tonight
Aug. 1st, 2025 08:36 pmmusesfoolAnyone got a good recipe for corn fritters? We used to make them when I was a kid, but I have not turned up a recipe in the folder of old recipes I inherited from my parents, and neither my brother nor sister had a recipe. I'm guessing it was probably the Bisquick recipe, but I don't have any Bisquick, so I will probably end up halving the Smitten Kitchen recipe.
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Chicken adventures
Aug. 1st, 2025 02:50 pmresonantLast time I saw my hairstylist, she had just bought four chicks and was embarking on a lifestyle of backyard chicken-keeping. She told me all their names. It was sweet.
Turns out chick-sexing is an imperfect art. Over the intervening month, she started to hear one of the birds crowing, but it took a while to figure out which one. It was Dottie.
My stylist called everybody she knew out in the county until she found someone who was both interested in rooster and zoned for rooster. When she was carrying Dottie out to the car to take him to his new home, he crowed a goodbye at the coop as they passed.
Out of the coop they heard some farewell cackling. And more crowing.
Turns out chick-sexing is an imperfect art. Over the intervening month, she started to hear one of the birds crowing, but it took a while to figure out which one. It was Dottie.
My stylist called everybody she knew out in the county until she found someone who was both interested in rooster and zoned for rooster. When she was carrying Dottie out to the car to take him to his new home, he crowed a goodbye at the coop as they passed.
Out of the coop they heard some farewell cackling. And more crowing.
2532 / Fic - The Pitt
Jul. 31st, 2025 10:52 pmsiriaThe Best of Bad Decisions
The Pitt | Trinity Santos/Abby Langdon | ~6800 words | Thanks tosheafrotherdon for audiencing/betaing. Inspired by this Tumblr post.
(Also on AO3)
( Trinity's one-night stand is more than she bargained for. )
The Pitt | Trinity Santos/Abby Langdon | ~6800 words | Thanks to
sheafrotherdon for audiencing/betaing. Inspired by this Tumblr post.(Also on AO3)
( Trinity's one-night stand is more than she bargained for. )
the future was wide open
Jul. 31st, 2025 08:28 pmmusesfoolI spent most of the day glued to trade deadline updates - the Mets did pretty well. I would say they got 90% of what they needed. I would have loved for them to get a top of the rotation starter in addition to 3 excellent relievers, but I guess the price was too high.
I also had to complete a 90 minute cybersecurity training which was incredibly boring and repetitive, but if it finally gets our CEO or our AP department to recognize fake invoices as phishing emails, I guess it's worth it.
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I finally watched Thunderbolts and I enjoyed it, mostly because of Yelena. She is so great! I'll never stop being mad about what they did to Natasha in Endgame, but at least we got Yelena out of the fun but way too late Black Widow movie. She is fantastic! I also enjoyed Ava Starr. Hannah John-Kamen needs to be in more things. I could have done without Walker, but whatever. He's nothing.
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Here's the July recs update:
unfitforsociety has been updated for July 2025 with 16 recs in 3 fandoms:
✭ 13 Batfamily
✭ 2 Percy Jackson/Batfamily crossovers
✭ 1 Lord of the Rings
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I also had to complete a 90 minute cybersecurity training which was incredibly boring and repetitive, but if it finally gets our CEO or our AP department to recognize fake invoices as phishing emails, I guess it's worth it.
***
I finally watched Thunderbolts and I enjoyed it, mostly because of Yelena. She is so great! I'll never stop being mad about what they did to Natasha in Endgame, but at least we got Yelena out of the fun but way too late Black Widow movie. She is fantastic! I also enjoyed Ava Starr. Hannah John-Kamen needs to be in more things. I could have done without Walker, but whatever. He's nothing.
***
Here's the July recs update:
unfitforsociety has been updated for July 2025 with 16 recs in 3 fandoms:✭ 13 Batfamily
✭ 2 Percy Jackson/Batfamily crossovers
✭ 1 Lord of the Rings
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Gravity is the Thing, by Jaclyn Moriarty
Jul. 31st, 2025 10:22 amrunpunkrunAbigail Sorenson as a teenager, an adult, a sister, a wife, a single mother, a student, all of her offered to you at once, though in pieces, while the story rolls along like a katamari, gaining in size as it picks up all those pieces and a lot of other stuff besides, and just keeps on rolling through the years, investigating the grief of lost loved ones, the philosophy of self-help, the question of correlation versus causation, and the way all of Abi's life lead to this point, here, where it picks up one last piece and snaps together like an origami ball. I found it inventive, painful, curious, striving, playful, and, in the end, very satisfying.
Moriarty has a light touch as a writer. Her characters are detailed, but effortlessly so. Her prose is easy and whimsical and while it can verge on twee, for the most part, I find it delightful. The novel deals with heavy subjects, but in her hands, it's joyful too. In fact, it's mostly about joy, about building human connections, about finding your place in the universe, and about being subscribed to a mysterious newsletter.
Contains: references to underage sex, some of it coercive; references to adult sex, including a one-night stand with dubious consent; missing family member; MS diagnosis; ableism; pregnancy, including two early miscarriages; infidelity; child in medical peril.
Moriarty has a light touch as a writer. Her characters are detailed, but effortlessly so. Her prose is easy and whimsical and while it can verge on twee, for the most part, I find it delightful. The novel deals with heavy subjects, but in her hands, it's joyful too. In fact, it's mostly about joy, about building human connections, about finding your place in the universe, and about being subscribed to a mysterious newsletter.
Contains: references to underage sex, some of it coercive; references to adult sex, including a one-night stand with dubious consent; missing family member; MS diagnosis; ableism; pregnancy, including two early miscarriages; infidelity; child in medical peril.
a little something to make me sweeter
Jul. 30th, 2025 06:55 pmmusesfoolI had to go into the office yesterday (for the first time since March! March!!!) and it has wiped me out. I mean, "had to" in the sense that my boss wanted to take us out for lunch since in addition to my birthday in July, 2 other team members had birthdays in late June. We made a reservation at a restaurant about a block and a half from the office, which was great since it was so hot! But not great because the restaurant...didn't exist? There was a sign, but nothing inside the building and the phone had been disconnected. Even though we had made a reservation!
So we stood there for a while in the heat, trying to figure out where else we could go, and I was like, "Pepolino is 2 blocks away, we could go there!" And thankfully, they still existed and were open and had a table for 5 available right underneath the air conditioner, so lunch was lovely after a rough start.
I didn't get a whole lot of work done, but I did have one or two quick conversations of the sort that is easiest in the office since you don't have to set up time - you just run into someone in the hall and chat. Still, not worth having to get up an hour earlier and spend 2 hours a day commuting.
(Also, I ran into oldboss3 and she was like, "wow I haven't seen you in so long! It's so good to see you! Can you send an email for me???" And I was just like, "...I think it's best if Assistant L sends the email, since she will be able to answer any questions received in response and I won't." *shudders* Dodged that one.)
Since I knew I was going to be in the city, I arranged to have dinner withinnie_darling and ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tenaciousmetoo, which was also lovely!
And then I came home and even though I'd set the air conditioner to go on about an hour before I knew I'd arrive home, my apartment was still unpleasantly warm. Bleh. Took my bedroom some time to drop in temperature too, which is the real key to sleeping well, I think, at least for me. So I didn't have a great night of sleep. But I probably don't have to go back into the office until late September, so I guess it's okay. *g*
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So we stood there for a while in the heat, trying to figure out where else we could go, and I was like, "Pepolino is 2 blocks away, we could go there!" And thankfully, they still existed and were open and had a table for 5 available right underneath the air conditioner, so lunch was lovely after a rough start.
I didn't get a whole lot of work done, but I did have one or two quick conversations of the sort that is easiest in the office since you don't have to set up time - you just run into someone in the hall and chat. Still, not worth having to get up an hour earlier and spend 2 hours a day commuting.
(Also, I ran into oldboss3 and she was like, "wow I haven't seen you in so long! It's so good to see you! Can you send an email for me???" And I was just like, "...I think it's best if Assistant L sends the email, since she will be able to answer any questions received in response and I won't." *shudders* Dodged that one.)
Since I knew I was going to be in the city, I arranged to have dinner with
innie_darling and tenaciousmetoo, which was also lovely! And then I came home and even though I'd set the air conditioner to go on about an hour before I knew I'd arrive home, my apartment was still unpleasantly warm. Bleh. Took my bedroom some time to drop in temperature too, which is the real key to sleeping well, I think, at least for me. So I didn't have a great night of sleep. But I probably don't have to go back into the office until late September, so I guess it's okay. *g*
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and it's one and two
Jul. 27th, 2025 07:28 pmmusesfoolI keep intending to post and then forgetting to do so. Nothing much is going on. I pan-fried a steak for dinner tonight and it was delicious but it also reminded me why I do it so infrequently - the smoke condition was intense and ongoing despite 2 fans going and the smell is going to linger. But I ate it with a nice arugula salad and it was good.
Here's a couple of links I found interesting recently:
- Sydney’s Choice How The Bear cooked up season four’s best episode.
- After ‘iconic’ Rangers tenure, Chris Kreider opens up about New York departure: 1-on-1 (do not read the comments)
- Why Your Team Sucks: New York Giants - this is an annual event (for every NFL team) and remains hilarious because in the case of the Giants, it's all sad but true. On this one, the comments are great.
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Here's a couple of links I found interesting recently:
- Sydney’s Choice How The Bear cooked up season four’s best episode.
- After ‘iconic’ Rangers tenure, Chris Kreider opens up about New York departure: 1-on-1 (do not read the comments)
- Why Your Team Sucks: New York Giants - this is an annual event (for every NFL team) and remains hilarious because in the case of the Giants, it's all sad but true. On this one, the comments are great.
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New Sinners story: "Five Musicians Who Owe Their Careers To Stack Moore (And One Who Doesn't)"
Jul. 27th, 2025 03:43 pmresonantFive Musicians Who Owe Their Careers To Stack Moore (And One Who Doesn’t) (394 words) by Resonant
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sinners (2025)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Elias "Stack" Moore, Billie Holiday, Paul Simon, Lil Nas X (Musician), Rhiannon Gidden (Musician), Sarah Vaughan (Musician), Prince (Musician)
Additional Tags: music industry, RPF if you're a real stickler
Summary:
Beta thanks tomific and terminally_underwhelmed.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sinners (2025)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Elias "Stack" Moore, Billie Holiday, Paul Simon, Lil Nas X (Musician), Rhiannon Gidden (Musician), Sarah Vaughan (Musician), Prince (Musician)
Additional Tags: music industry, RPF if you're a real stickler
Summary:
It's who you know.
Beta thanks to
mific and terminally_underwhelmed.the blue cheese incident
Jul. 27th, 2025 10:37 amrunpunkrunI played a hilarious trick on myself. I had a coupon for a free Follow Your Heart vegan cheese, and the Kroger had fake parmesan (with ingredients I avoid), fake feta (but they were out), and fake bleu cheese (which I didn't like even when I could eat cheese).
But the coupon was about to expire and it was free, so I got the bleu cheese style crumbles as an experiment. Hilariously it tastes (and smells!!) just like blue cheese, only not quite as strong. I sprinkled some on my salad and didn't hate it and so I kept sprinkling because I don't get many novel flavors these days, and now it's actually starting to grow on me. It's tangy and creamy and kind of melts into the salad dressing in a pleasing way. If only it didn't taste like blue cheese.
Anyway, if you're a dairy-free-ish person who likes blue cheese, I recommend this! It's vegan, soy-free, and gluten-free, and I had my dad, a cheese-eater and gorgonzola enthusiast, try it and he was surprised at how good it was, saying it could pass as the real thing. I'm really looking forward to trying their feta. I have high hopes that it's similarly realistic.
But the coupon was about to expire and it was free, so I got the bleu cheese style crumbles as an experiment. Hilariously it tastes (and smells!!) just like blue cheese, only not quite as strong. I sprinkled some on my salad and didn't hate it and so I kept sprinkling because I don't get many novel flavors these days, and now it's actually starting to grow on me. It's tangy and creamy and kind of melts into the salad dressing in a pleasing way. If only it didn't taste like blue cheese.
Anyway, if you're a dairy-free-ish person who likes blue cheese, I recommend this! It's vegan, soy-free, and gluten-free, and I had my dad, a cheese-eater and gorgonzola enthusiast, try it and he was surprised at how good it was, saying it could pass as the real thing. I'm really looking forward to trying their feta. I have high hopes that it's similarly realistic.
Current ingredients: Filtered Water, Organic Coconut Oil, Modified Potato Starch, Sea Salt, Potato Starch, Natural Flavors, Less than 2% of: Potato Protein, Organic Vegan Cane Sugar, Calcium Phosphate, Lactic Acid, Caramel Color, Spirulina, Beta Carotene for Color.
2531 / Fic - The Pitt
Jul. 25th, 2025 08:08 amsiriaJust Zhuzh It
The Pitt | Gen | ~1300 words
(Also on AO3)
( Trinity, Whitaker, and platonic roommate advice. )
The Pitt | Gen | ~1300 words
(Also on AO3)
( Trinity, Whitaker, and platonic roommate advice. )
The Brightness Between Us, by Eliot Schrefer
Jul. 23rd, 2025 09:52 amrunpunkrunA good old fashioned young adult novel about being stranded on an inhospitable planet and struggling to live off a steadily declining cache of resources. In one case, it's an alien world far in the future, and in the other, the dying Earth those colonists left, where the last inhabitants are about to extinguish themselves through nuclear war. Ah, children's lit.
This is actually a sequel to The Darkness Outside Us, but if you're a chaos demon you might be able to read this without having read the first. Partly because it stands on its own while gently reminding the reader what happened in the first book, but also because it fully retreads some of the same ground.
Because half of this book was telling me stuff I already, basically, knew, I was much more interested in the sections on the alien planet with its frontier survival vibes and foreign mysteries. I wanted to spend all my time there rather than on Earth, since I already knew that was a lost cause, and any new information we got in those sections could have easily been worked into the future segments and much of it, in fact, was. But it wasn't a chore to spend time with the original versions of Ambrose and Kodiak as they come to terms with the lies they've been told and try to undo some of the damage they caused, and together the two parts of this book tell a full story that comes to a satisfying conclusion, whether or not there's ever a third book in the series. But if there is, I'll be there.
Contains: queer dads; child harm and references to child death; wild animal harm/death; mental illness with intrusive thoughts; gun violence; nuclear apocalypse; climate disaster.
This is actually a sequel to The Darkness Outside Us, but if you're a chaos demon you might be able to read this without having read the first. Partly because it stands on its own while gently reminding the reader what happened in the first book, but also because it fully retreads some of the same ground.
Because half of this book was telling me stuff I already, basically, knew, I was much more interested in the sections on the alien planet with its frontier survival vibes and foreign mysteries. I wanted to spend all my time there rather than on Earth, since I already knew that was a lost cause, and any new information we got in those sections could have easily been worked into the future segments and much of it, in fact, was. But it wasn't a chore to spend time with the original versions of Ambrose and Kodiak as they come to terms with the lies they've been told and try to undo some of the damage they caused, and together the two parts of this book tell a full story that comes to a satisfying conclusion, whether or not there's ever a third book in the series. But if there is, I'll be there.
Contains: queer dads; child harm and references to child death; wild animal harm/death; mental illness with intrusive thoughts; gun violence; nuclear apocalypse; climate disaster.
that's 21 straight successful stolen bases
Jul. 22nd, 2025 09:18 pmmusesfoolToday was my first day back at work after my vacation and I did not sleep at all well last night, despite, you know, working from home and didn't have to get up early or anything. I was tossing and turning until sometime after 4 am, at which point I finally fell asleep.
Work was fine - busy, and kind of a lot, but not difficult despite the lack of sleep - but then I sat down on the couch after dinner to watch the Mets and fell asleep for about 40 minutes. *hands*
I'm really glad I took yesterday off too. I 100% recommend adding an extra day onto your vacation if you can - especially if it's a Monday, and doubly so if you actually went away. It makes it easier to get back into the grind, at least for me. I had 333 emails to sort through this morning, and there is way too much going on, as usual, but I timed it so that all of my regular meetings happened while I was out, so this week should be fairly quiet.
On the home front, I've had my new dishwasher for a week now and it is working really well, though I am still learning how to load it. The tines are much closer together and shorter than in my old one, which makes it difficult to get stuff in between them. But it's so quiet! And it doesn't leak! *knock wood* It does take 2.5 hours to run the full normal cycle, but I can live with that.
On the TV front, I finished Murderbot and enjoyed it - Mensah is still my favorite and I wish Bharadwaj had had more to do because I liked her as well.
I also finished the last 2 available episodes of My Life Is Murder because I read they are doing a new season, though who knows when it will be available here. I enjoyed the s4 2-part finale, and I do kind of low-key ship Alexa and Madison, though I also like that they have not had any real romantic interests for Alexa, and those 2 episodes really focused on her lingering grief for her husband.
In other news, Baby Miss L went to Sesame Place this past weekend and the videos of her vibrating with joy over meeting Elmo and Grover and Cookie Monster are amazing!
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Work was fine - busy, and kind of a lot, but not difficult despite the lack of sleep - but then I sat down on the couch after dinner to watch the Mets and fell asleep for about 40 minutes. *hands*
I'm really glad I took yesterday off too. I 100% recommend adding an extra day onto your vacation if you can - especially if it's a Monday, and doubly so if you actually went away. It makes it easier to get back into the grind, at least for me. I had 333 emails to sort through this morning, and there is way too much going on, as usual, but I timed it so that all of my regular meetings happened while I was out, so this week should be fairly quiet.
On the home front, I've had my new dishwasher for a week now and it is working really well, though I am still learning how to load it. The tines are much closer together and shorter than in my old one, which makes it difficult to get stuff in between them. But it's so quiet! And it doesn't leak! *knock wood* It does take 2.5 hours to run the full normal cycle, but I can live with that.
On the TV front, I finished Murderbot and enjoyed it - Mensah is still my favorite and I wish Bharadwaj had had more to do because I liked her as well.
I also finished the last 2 available episodes of My Life Is Murder because I read they are doing a new season, though who knows when it will be available here. I enjoyed the s4 2-part finale, and I do kind of low-key ship Alexa and Madison, though I also like that they have not had any real romantic interests for Alexa, and those 2 episodes really focused on her lingering grief for her husband.
In other news, Baby Miss L went to Sesame Place this past weekend and the videos of her vibrating with joy over meeting Elmo and Grover and Cookie Monster are amazing!
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