Member Posts

Entry tags:

crafting,
recs

crochet and recs and more

Not a lot to post about but I want to make one before I forget again or get even more snowed under (I've shoveled every day since Wed and twice a few of those days; I am so so sore and so so tired) BUT I finished my newest crochet project (a blanket made from the last of my Black Friday 2023 sale yarn) it's huge, give or take 50"x68":

I was good and didn't buy much more yarn this Black Friday, only a single deal's worth that'll be a blanket for son at some point. I need to make many, many rugs before then because two separate sets of sheets ripped and now my 'to-be-rugged' storage drawer is overflowing. Luckily they ripped right before Black Friday so I was able to replace them with new sets on some very good sales. (Black Friday sales are so weird and you have to be so careful to futz around to get the best deal. Oddly, sometimes that means buying *more* and paying less. In one store I was ordering from the total was $72 and with shipping and tax it would have been $89 but because of deals- free shipping and $25 off if you ordered $100 of stuff- once I added a $28 item the total was $83 after taxes. So weird but worth spending the time futzing about) I also did some Small Business Saturday shopping to support small places and got some neat stuff (a hefty, hard carved spoon for one, I can't wait to use it)

Have two weeks of

recthething recs (tumblr art from Dracula, MDZS, ACD Sherlock Holmes, and X-Files and assorted AO3 things from BtVS/Angel, MDZS and Under the Skin)

Dracula
- Howdy y'all, I'm Quincey Morris and this is my friend Jonathan Harker, welcome to our unboxing video (hilarious)

MDZS/The Untamed
- sun and moon themed set of portraits (gorgeous WWX and LWJ sketches)

Sherlock Holmes - ACD
- Forever, if you are amenable (wonderful expressions and colors on this)

X-Files
- a tiny space scully I drew before bed (love Scully's smile in this)

AO3 things:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel: The Series
[FANART] The Crochet Buffyverse! by girlpire
Summary: This post is for my crochet versions of the characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series. I'll be doing a bunch of them, so I'll add chapters as I make new dolls. Chapter 1: Illyria (and her pet), 2004; Chapter 2: punk!Spike, 1977; Chapter 3: wizard!Giles, 2000; Chapter 4: Randy Giles, 2001; Chapter 5: Life of the Party Lorne, 2003. (all are utterly amazingly done, there's also links to see each of the amigurumi dolls on tumblr)

MDZS/The Untamed
On Little Cat Feet by deliciousblizzardshark (29k, locked to archive)
Summary Snippet: Wei Wuxian accidentally turns into a cat. Lan Qiren unknowingly adopts him. (LWJ's POV of this is absolutely hilarious as his very proper, always hated pets and mess etc uncle adopts a cat)

Under the Skin
UTS Advent Calendar 2025 by michinarty
Summary: Christmas is coming so let's wait for it with a fanart a day! This is just a collection of small ideas and the advent calendar was a good excuse to turn them into little doodles. So enjoy the fluff (new chapter/work added daily, also being posted to tumblr via this tag, absolutely adorable)

Hope all of you are doing well! :)

Current Mood: accomplished

Entry tags:

fic,
highlander

FIC: Contingency Lines 1/? (Highlander: the Series)

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Entry tags:

FIC: Emorian borderland (Tempestuous Tours)

The Emorian borderland, like the remainder of the borderland, is famed for the friendliness of its villagers. Despite that, do not be surprised if you are asked to pay for your room and board. Past foreign visitors have often taken advantage of the villagers in order to escape the high price of inns elsewhere in Southern Emor.

In the westernmost villages, you will find a blend of Emorian and Daxion life; though no bards live here, villagers can often be heard singing. As you travel further east, the singing will slowly cease, replaced by talk of blood-lineages and the seven gods and goddesses. You are now in the portion of the Emorian borderland that lies north of Koretia.

The borderland is the only part of Emor where vineyards can be found. Despite the relative coolness of the Emorian borderland, Emor's wines are among the best in the Three Lands. Especially popular is sweetened wild-berry wine (don't try the unsweetened variety unless you enjoy bitter drinks, which you probably do if you're Koretian) and wall-vine wine, made of a mild-tasting grape that grows only in the Emorian borderland.

Farming is also common here. Eastern mainlanders who farm will find much to interest them in these lands that have been plowed since ancient times.

Travelling east, you will eventually reach a crossroads. To travel on to Emor's capital, turn left.

[Translator's note: Hidden Blade shows life in an Emorian borderland village.]

Current Mood: productive
Current Music: Rangers vs Vegas on tv

Entry tags:

adventures in cooking

trying to change momentum

This weekend seemed especially short. I woke up this morning with a headache and spent a couple of hours just lying down with my eyes covered, waiting for the Excedrin to kick in. Then I planned to make cranberry orange scones but my heavy cream was frozen, so that was delayed until it was liquid enough to pour. The funny part is that the recipe wants it to be almost frozen when you use it, but not quite as frozen as mine was.

Anyway, after waiting a bit, I made the scones and they turned out well (pic - that is also my new grey "spatter" pattern quarter sheet pan, lined with parchment).

I didn't make the glaze because I'd planned to sprinkle the scones with cranberry orange sugar, but then I forgot to do that. *hands* They still taste good!

I also made that garlic and bread soup again, but I got distracted and burned my croutons. *sadhair* Soup is still delicious, though. I wish I'd remembered to buy some arugula so I could have soup and salad, but alas, I didn't think of it when I was putting my grocery order together.

Speaking of grocery orders, when did Costco stop selling the 3 lb brick of Philadelphia cream cheese? I need it for the frosting for the red velvet cupcakes for Christmas, but I guess I will have to spend a little more and get what I need from Stop and Shop instead. *hands*

*

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: Miss Moneypenny - Placebo

Entry tags:

on the first roll of the dice

I was so glad to log off last night and put a period on this work week. This morning, I had to be up for the cleaning service at 9 am, and they told me the company is closing, but the team who has been cleaning my place for the last 7 years is going out on their own and wants to keep me as a client, so I will get in touch with them in the new year to set up the new arrangement. I hope it all goes smoothly!

I also made another 2 lbs of candied pecans, so I have six jars filled and have to wash the other jars so they can also be filled.

Then I took a nap that felt way longer than it was, and so even though it's only like 8:20 I keep thinking it's 11:30 pm or something. Time is so weird.

*

Gardening hits and misses

It's apparently my curse to occasionally buy mislabeled bulbs and tubers. I mean, this is tremendously pretty but does it look like Lavender Perfection to you?

A large orange toned dahlia with white tips to the petals

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: Rangers vs Senators on tv

Entry tags:

work

so he takes it to the net

I keep meaning to post and then being too tired to string two thoughts together. Work remains stupidly busy, but I just need to get through Tuesday and it'll all be downhill from there. *crosses fingers* Even if so far only 6 board members have agreed to come in person to the suddenly in-person board meeting. I'm hoping a bad showing will discourage the folks who keep insisting we do stuff in person, but I guess we'll see what happens.

Outgoing CEO keeps trying to orchestrate the first half of 2026 and my boss and I are both like, wtf? but incoming CEO seems to be okay with going, nah, we're not doing that. I haven't been in those meetings, but the stuff coming out of it makes me feel like she's trying to prop up other internal candidate who wasn't chosen to be CEO, which would be 100% on brand for both of them.

In better news, my raise was in my check today, and allegedly the catch-up payment (it's retro to July 1) will be coming in the next pay period, just in time to start paying off Baby Miss L's Christmas gifts. I got a most delightful video of her singing "Let It Go" last night. <333 She's so cute!

*

Entry tags:

FIC: From Daxis to Emor (Tempestuous Tours)

North of Border Port lies a beach. Its serene beauty belies its bloody history.

It is here that, on half a dozen occasions, the Daxions beat back the Emorian armies that were intent on conquering Daxis. Finally frustrated by all these attacks over the border, the Daxions undertook an amazing task of landscaping, bringing the Western Ocean several miles inland from where it had lain before. Once the Daxions were finished, their border with Emor had narrowed to a brief passageway between a mountain and the deep Ocean.

Guarding the border has been exceedingly simple since then. Indeed, on the one occasion on which Daxions permitted Emorian soldiers to cross the border – in 976, when Daxis agreed to allow the Emorians to travel south in order to attack the Koretian capital from its naked back – it took so long for Emor's vanguard to pass over the border, one horse at a time, that a concerned Koretian borderlander was able to alert Koretia's council in the south to the coming attack. Alas, his message was not heeded, and Koretia fell to the Emorians.

The Daxions, on the other hand, have not been attacked from the north since they persuaded the Ocean to guard them. Their true vulnerability lies now to the east, which is why Daxis attempts to maintain good relations with Koretia these days.

Because the border is so narrow, you will likely have to wait several hours to cross the border into Emor, during the busy season. You may wish to spend your time exploring the caves nearby.

[Translator's note: That narrow little border causes some trouble for travellers in Breached Boundaries.]

Entry tags:

UPDATE: Flight Through the Forest (The Motley Crew #2) + Thousand Nations early access fiction

ONLINE E-BOOK (html, epub, mobi, pdf, and xhtml)

Free at my website.

The Motley Crew (The Thousand Nations). When a young man named Dolan flees from the north, he faces danger on all sides. The Northern Army wants him back. The Empire of Emor wants him dead. His native homeland of Koretia may not want him at all. And his only protection is a man with motives that are mysterious and possibly deadly.

New installment:

2 | Flight Through the Forest. When you're fleeing from high danger, you have little choice in your companions.

EARLY ACCESS

My readers at Patreon and Ream get the first look at Twisted (The Thousand Nations: The Motley Crew side story). That short story will go into general release next month.

BLOG FICTION

Tempestuous Tours (Crossing Worlds: A Visitor's Guide to the Three Lands #2). A whirlwind tour of the sites in the Three Lands that are most steeped in history, culture, and the occasional pickpocket.

New installments:

Royal chapel.

Ambassador's Balcony.

Introduction to the borderland.

Border Port.

NEWS & UPCOMING FICTION

As some of you already know, I posted last month's update two days after I tripped on an uneven sidewalk, banged my head three times against a metal fence, and acquired a concussion, not to mention a broken leg. (I consider that update to be one of the greatest accomplishments of my life.)

Unfortunately, the concussion delayed my completion of "Heir" and its accompanying Blood Vow omnibus, since putting together an omnibus requires a concentrated mind I just don't have at the moment. I've moved those two projects to next year's schedule. In their place, I've juggled my release schedule in order to offer my Ream and Patreon readers a side story this month from The Motley Crew.

The timing of my next e-book installment release is a little uncertain at the moment, since my recovering head is still at the stage where, every time I edit a story, I introduce more errors than I correct. However, I hold out hope that I'll be able to get a new e-book installment out in January. In the meantime, as you can see, I'm continuing to bring out blog fiction.

Fortunately, the concussion hasn't stopping me from writing stories. Among other things, I've finished composing Motley Mayhem, the third novel in the Thousand Nations series.

( Ways to offer me a tip, financial or nonfinancial )

Current Mood: ditzy
Current Music: Broncos vs Commanders on SNF

Entry tags:

it's picked by the veteran

Meant to post this earlier, but got distracted, but I'm back now! November 2025 recs update:

unfitforsociety has been updated for November 2025 with 11 recs in 4 fandoms:

* 7 Batfamily, 1 Batfamily/Criminal Minds crossover
* 1 The Bear, 1 Star Wars, and 1 Stranger Things

*

I also made a cute little chocolate cake with chocolate ermine frosting (pic). I'm happy with how it came out. It's just enough cake for 1 person for like 5 days (refrigerated).

*

Stranger Things, season 5, episodes 1 - 4!

( spoilers )

I think this "drop 4 episodes, then do another 2-3 episodes 2 more times" is the worst of all possible distribution patterns, but I guess Netflix will never do a weekly series, which I can honestly say after years of binge-watching seems preferable to me. But at least it's all within a month instead of half in August and half in November or whatever. As much as I dislike the amount of time it's taken for them to put out each season, I am still enjoying the show and want to see how it all wraps up.

*

Entry tags:

Recipe: Agua de Jamaica (Mexican Hibiscus Tea, sometimes simply referred to as Jamaica)

While spelled like the island country, jamaica is pronounced in the Spanish style.

This recipe will produce 2 quarts of the drink.

Ingredients

50 grams flores de jamaica (flores de jamaica = hibiscus flowers)
- These can be fresh flowers or dried. Dried results in a stronger flavor.
- Fresh flowers are best-sourced from a local Mexican grocer. Stores such as Natural Grocer have the dried.
2/3 cups sugar (you can use 1/2 cup for a less-sweet experience).
8 cups of water.
- 3 cups will need to be measured, the rest does not if you have tap water available
Additional unmeasured water for rinsing

Directions

Add the flowers a medium-to-large bowl that can be sealed, or a pot with a lid, and cover with water.
Seal the bowl or pot, then shake to rinse dirt and similar from the flowers.
Strain the flowers. This water will not be used.
- It is recommended that you do this no more than twice, as the potential flavor is rinsed away with the contaminants.
In another pot capable of holding at least 4 cups (1 quart), bring the 3 cups of water to boil, then reduce to simmer.
Dissolve the sugar in the water.
Add the flowers to the sugar water and just barely bring to a boil, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes.
Remove the mixture from the heat and allow the flowers to steep for 25-30 minutes.
Strain the liquid into a 2 quart pitcher, then add water to get to 2 quarts.

Notes:

This is generally enjoyed chilled, but can be consumed warm.
If your household regularly has some sort of sugary (or fake sugary) grape-flavored fruit drink available such as Kool-Aid or Crystal Light, this can be easily mistaken for it - label if needed.

Thank you to Geist for sharing his family's recipe with me.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: Rangers vs Bolts on tv

Entry tags:

start back the other way

I arrived at my sister's on Wednesday, just as she left to pick Baby Miss L up from school, so I got to spend an afternoon with her and my middle niece, who as previously mentioned, had to work on Thursday and wouldn't be joining the holiday dinner. We had a fantastic time - Baby Miss L opened her birthday presents and declared the clothes, "Cute!" She also liked the books - she can identify Batman on sight - "Batman!" - and also really liked "Peekaboo Who?" She played with the magnetic tiles I gave her, and then we had a Sesame Street-themed dance party. She also acted out "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" when it came on.

Thanksgiving dinner itself was also lovely, though since one of my cousins invited herself since she had nowhere else to go, we were better behaved than we might normally be.

I once again floated the idea of pajama Christmas, which my sister and niece were 100% into, but my brother-in-law was not, so unfortunately, much like apps and dessert Christmas (my other perennial suggestion that gets ignored), I don't think it's going to happen.

Then I came home yesterday morning and napped for like 3 hours, and then I watched the third period of the Rangers game and the Bears-Eagles game, so it was kind of a weird day - was it Friday? Was it Sunday? It was hard to tell.

I did finally open the box of mason jars I ordered to use for my work holiday gifts and realized I ordered 8oz jars instead of 16oz ones, so I only need half as many pecans as I thought. Which my wallet appreciates. I'm running the first set through the dishwasher, and then I need to do a test run of the recipe to make sure I know how to do it - the comments recommend using ziploc bags instead of bowls and that seems like a wise plan to me, but I also think maybe a bowl for the egg whites and a bag for the sugar might be the way to go, using a slotted spoon to transfer from bowl to bag.

We'll see how it goes.

*

Entry tags:

family,
holidays

Thanksgiving, woo!

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Entry tags:

meme

Holiday Love Meme

It's that time of year again!

✨ holiday love meme 2025 ✨
my thread here

Everyone go throw your names in the hat so you can get some holiday love too! :)