Shoebox of Dreams Kept Under My Bed
Sunday, January 18th, 2026 15:02![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glindaSpeaking of making a good start on some new year’s resolutions, I thought I’d break myself easy with the re-read/re-watch project with something fairly short.
I was, for reasons, re-reading a bunch of raven’s fic the other night and came across and re-read their Piranesi fic from yuletide (I think?) a few years back. It reminded me how much I enjoyed the book and made me want to re-read it. In a remarkably sensible move, given that I was just sitting at my computer reading fic and chilling to classical music, I got up and grabbed it from the shelf, sat back down and started reading it, planning just to read the first chapter before bed to get me started on the project. I read half the book that night and the rest of it the following morning. (I pretty much only didn’t just stay up stupid late because I got uncomfortable in my desk chair and in getting up to decant to the sofa realised the time and reluctantly made the sensible choice to go to bed.
Spoilers say: ( Read more... )
I was, for reasons, re-reading a bunch of raven’s fic the other night and came across and re-read their Piranesi fic from yuletide (I think?) a few years back. It reminded me how much I enjoyed the book and made me want to re-read it. In a remarkably sensible move, given that I was just sitting at my computer reading fic and chilling to classical music, I got up and grabbed it from the shelf, sat back down and started reading it, planning just to read the first chapter before bed to get me started on the project. I read half the book that night and the rest of it the following morning. (I pretty much only didn’t just stay up stupid late because I got uncomfortable in my desk chair and in getting up to decant to the sofa realised the time and reluctantly made the sensible choice to go to bed.
Spoilers say: ( Read more... )
Fandom Trees 2025 Reveals: Gifts Given
Sunday, January 18th, 2026 09:57spikedluvI only managed to finish two fic for ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomtrees this round. I was thrilled to be inspired to write in an old fandom and to revist a fic I wrote for a previous round. I hope you enjoy!
Title: Winter Wonderland
Author: Spikedluv
Fandom: The Sentinel (tv)
Rating: PG13/Slash
Pairing/Characters: Jim/Blair
Length: 1,600 words
Spoilers: Nothing specifically, but for entire series to be safe.
Summary: "Don't be mad," Blair said.
"Well, it's not auspicious that those are the first words you say to me when I walk in the door."
Author's Notes: Written forpattrose for fandomtrees. One of her fandom requests was for: The Sentinel, Jim/Blair with a like of kid!fic and first times. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to write Jim/Blair again! I hope you enjoy what I came up with! Title from the song of the same name. (It's snowing in the story, it was snowing outside when I posted it, I think you can see why this title came to my mind. *g*)
Feedback: Would be greatly appreciated.
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me.
Posted: December 2, 2025
Read Fic @ AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/75130406
Title: But What If There Was a Demon vs Dinosaur Cage Match?
Author: Spikedluv
Fandom: Angel: the Series(tv)[/Primeval (tv)]
Rating: PG13/Het
Pairing/Characters: Dawn/Connor & Faith
Length: 1,935 words
Spoilers: Takes place post-series, but no real spoilers unless you don't know who Dawn and Connor are. o_O. General spoilers for the concept of Primeval (dinosaurs!).
Summary: "Dinosaurs?" Faith said, sounding dubious after Dawn and Connor had given their account of their experience with Jennifer and the Triceratops.
Author's Notes: Takes place post-Some Things You See With Your Eyes . . . Written forcornerofmadness for fandomtrees. They asked for Angel: the Series, Dawn/Connor, mission. This is a follow-up to the last Dawn/Connor fandomtrees fic I wrote for you. It's more ‘between missions', but there's bonus Faith! I hope you enjoy it!
Feedback: Would be greatly appreciated.
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me.
Posted: December 19, 2025
Read Fic @ AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/76027846
fandomtrees this round. I was thrilled to be inspired to write in an old fandom and to revist a fic I wrote for a previous round. I hope you enjoy!Title: Winter Wonderland
Author: Spikedluv
Fandom: The Sentinel (tv)
Rating: PG13/Slash
Pairing/Characters: Jim/Blair
Length: 1,600 words
Spoilers: Nothing specifically, but for entire series to be safe.
Summary: "Don't be mad," Blair said.
"Well, it's not auspicious that those are the first words you say to me when I walk in the door."
Author's Notes: Written for
pattrose for fandomtrees. One of her fandom requests was for: The Sentinel, Jim/Blair with a like of kid!fic and first times. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to write Jim/Blair again! I hope you enjoy what I came up with! Title from the song of the same name. (It's snowing in the story, it was snowing outside when I posted it, I think you can see why this title came to my mind. *g*)Feedback: Would be greatly appreciated.
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me.
Posted: December 2, 2025
Read Fic @ AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/75130406
Title: But What If There Was a Demon vs Dinosaur Cage Match?
Author: Spikedluv
Fandom: Angel: the Series(tv)[/Primeval (tv)]
Rating: PG13/Het
Pairing/Characters: Dawn/Connor & Faith
Length: 1,935 words
Spoilers: Takes place post-series, but no real spoilers unless you don't know who Dawn and Connor are. o_O. General spoilers for the concept of Primeval (dinosaurs!).
Summary: "Dinosaurs?" Faith said, sounding dubious after Dawn and Connor had given their account of their experience with Jennifer and the Triceratops.
Author's Notes: Takes place post-Some Things You See With Your Eyes . . . Written for
cornerofmadness for fandomtrees. They asked for Angel: the Series, Dawn/Connor, mission. This is a follow-up to the last Dawn/Connor fandomtrees fic I wrote for you. It's more ‘between missions', but there's bonus Faith! I hope you enjoy it!Feedback: Would be greatly appreciated.
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me.
Posted: December 19, 2025
Read Fic @ AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/76027846
We were robbed on Heated Rivalry: A short intro to generic hockey nicknames
Sunday, January 18th, 2026 15:54
Dustborn
Sunday, January 18th, 2026 14:31swaldmanThanks to being ill, and perhaps thanks to buying a Steam Deck and being able to play from the couch, I just finished this game.
It's 2030, and some years ago a sci-fi-esque disaster affected the former contiguous USA. It left behind a few individuals with superpowers, some perhaps more useful than others. And it left at least two rival authoritarian regimes.
In this game a group of nobodies sets off to cross the continent under the authorities' radar. Their cover: being a band on tour. They meet people along the way, and of course things don't go entirely to plan.
This is from the soundtrack. No spoilers.
It's 2030, and some years ago a sci-fi-esque disaster affected the former contiguous USA. It left behind a few individuals with superpowers, some perhaps more useful than others. And it left at least two rival authoritarian regimes.
In this game a group of nobodies sets off to cross the continent under the authorities' radar. Their cover: being a band on tour. They meet people along the way, and of course things don't go entirely to plan.
It's interactive fiction, but more interactive than some. It's a road-trip story, of course. The summary is that it's a really nice character-driven story, where the things you say and the choices you make mould the character development along the way. The people feel largely realistic/plausible, which is no mean feat in writing. Like most such games the big picture of the plot is fixed, although I think there are different ways to reach the milestones, but the evolution of the people is not.
The protagonist starts off as quite a flawed character, and I had a number of "I don't want to say any of these things!" moments near the start. But that gets better, if you have her develop that way. The pacing is perhaps a little slow in the middle, but it picks up again and makes that a very minor complaint. The art is lovely, and it has a good soundtrack.
Alongside this there's some combat which... eh, I found it fun, but it's not the strongest part of the game. And there's a note-bashing minigame, which... again, I enjoyed it, and how good you are does affect what happens, but I don't think in any major ways. Both of these break things up nicely and give changes in pace.
Good on accessibilty: combat difficulty is adjustable, and fights can be skipped altogether. There's an "easy QTE" mode. It does require a games controller, I think. It took me about 20 hours to complete in non-rushed way. It rewards you for remembering what characters say and like, so it's worth trying to play in a relatively concentrated period rather than spread out over months.
It's a game about people, families, and relationships; also a game about resistance, and different forms that it can take.
This is from the soundtrack. No spoilers.
(no subject)
Sunday, January 18th, 2026 13:57badfalconIt has been a week, y'all. It has been a week
I quit my job.
There isn't a shiny next thing lined up, no dramatic leap to a new role, no tidy narrative arc where I immediately land on my feet. Just... an ending, and the quiet (and slightly terrifying) space that comes after it.
A lot of this comes down to the airport and the ongoing issues there that have been grinding me down for a long time. Throw in the recent sale and murmurings of 're-organisation (but apparently our jobs are safe... uh-huh, not my first rodeo, my dude). Add in my disabilities - the ones that don't get better if you just push harder, the ones that flare when the world decides to be loud and unpredictable and physically demanding - and something finally clicked into place this week.
Full-time, on-site work is no longer sustainable for me.
That's not an easy thing to admit. I've circled around it for ages, tried to negotiate with myself, told myself I could just adjust one more thing, power through one more rough patch. But the reality is that the cost keeps getting higher, and I'm the one paying it with my health.
Li and I talked it through properly - not in a panicked way, but in that calm, practical, loving way that says okay, let's actually look at what life needs to look like now. And we've landed on a plan that feels... doable. Not perfect, not magically fixed, but realistic.
I'm going to start looking for either:
Right now, I'm trying to sit in the in-between without spiralling too far ahead. Rest a little. Breathe. Let my nervous system unclench. Trust that making a choice in favour of my health isn't failure, even if it doesn't look like success the way it used to.
If nothing else, this week has been a reminder that I don't have to keep proving I can survive things that are actively harming me. I'm allowed to build a life that fits the body and brain I actually have.
More soon, probably. But for now: this is where I am.
I quit my job.
There isn't a shiny next thing lined up, no dramatic leap to a new role, no tidy narrative arc where I immediately land on my feet. Just... an ending, and the quiet (and slightly terrifying) space that comes after it.
A lot of this comes down to the airport and the ongoing issues there that have been grinding me down for a long time. Throw in the recent sale and murmurings of 're-organisation (but apparently our jobs are safe... uh-huh, not my first rodeo, my dude). Add in my disabilities - the ones that don't get better if you just push harder, the ones that flare when the world decides to be loud and unpredictable and physically demanding - and something finally clicked into place this week.
Full-time, on-site work is no longer sustainable for me.
That's not an easy thing to admit. I've circled around it for ages, tried to negotiate with myself, told myself I could just adjust one more thing, power through one more rough patch. But the reality is that the cost keeps getting higher, and I'm the one paying it with my health.
Li and I talked it through properly - not in a panicked way, but in that calm, practical, loving way that says okay, let's actually look at what life needs to look like now. And we've landed on a plan that feels... doable. Not perfect, not magically fixed, but realistic.
I'm going to start looking for either:
- full-time remote work, or
- part-time work that gets me out of the house without breaking me in the process.
Right now, I'm trying to sit in the in-between without spiralling too far ahead. Rest a little. Breathe. Let my nervous system unclench. Trust that making a choice in favour of my health isn't failure, even if it doesn't look like success the way it used to.
If nothing else, this week has been a reminder that I don't have to keep proving I can survive things that are actively harming me. I'm allowed to build a life that fits the body and brain I actually have.
More soon, probably. But for now: this is where I am.
Book Bingo: G1 | An author's debut/first book | Where the Dark Stands Still
Sunday, January 18th, 2026 08:37seleneheartWhere the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek
Blurb:
I seem to have fallen into reading books in a small niche genre of Polish folk/fairy tales turned into novels. If I hadn't previously read Uprooted, I might have rated this one more highly. Liska is a good character, but I found the story too derivative - of Beauty and the Beast, Howl's Moving Castle, and Uprooted itself. YA novels can be complex and original but this is not one of them. However, I didn't feel like it was a waste of my time, and it was an enjoyable read.
The cover art is gorgeous and on point.
Blurb:
Liska knows that magic is monstrous, and its practitioners are monsters. She has done everything possible to suppress her own magic, to disastrous consequences. Desperate to be free of it, Liska flees her small village and delves into the dangerous, demon-inhabited spirit-wood to steal a mythical fern flower. If she plucks it, she can use its one wish to banish her powers. Everyone who has sought the fern flower has fallen prey to unknown horrors, so when Liska is caught by the demon warden of the wood—called The Leszy—a bargain seems better than one year of servitude in exchange for the fern flower and its wish.
Whisked away to The Leszy’s crumbling manor, Liska soon makes an unsettling [discovery] - she is not the first person to strike this bargain, and all her predecessors have mysteriously vanished. If Liska wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her taciturn host’s spool of secrets and face the ghosts—figurative and literal—of his past. Because something wakes in the woods, something deadly and without mercy. It frightens even The Leszy…and cannot be defeated unless Liska embraces the monster she’s always feared becoming.
I seem to have fallen into reading books in a small niche genre of Polish folk/fairy tales turned into novels. If I hadn't previously read Uprooted, I might have rated this one more highly. Liska is a good character, but I found the story too derivative - of Beauty and the Beast, Howl's Moving Castle, and Uprooted itself. YA novels can be complex and original but this is not one of them. However, I didn't feel like it was a waste of my time, and it was an enjoyable read.
The cover art is gorgeous and on point.
Just one thing: 17-18 January 2026
Sunday, January 18th, 2026 07:12jazzyjj posting in awesomeersIt's challenge time!
Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.
Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!
Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!
Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.
Go!
Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.
Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!
Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!
Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.
Go!
The Day in Spikedluv (Saturday, Jan 17)
Sunday, January 18th, 2026 08:05spikedluvI had that doctor’s appointment this morning. He didn’t even do an exam/swab, just had me tell him again the same things I told the nurse in yesterday’s messaging spree and prescribed me Fluconazole tablets. Two. Take one today and one in four days. Which naturally necessitated a trip to the Pharmacy. I took the first pill as soon as I got back to the car.
I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter. I placed two orders, including Chewy. Pip’s supper was leftover chicken so no cooking, yay!
I decided to hit my own cupboard for today’s tea, The Republic of Tea’s Orange Spice (green tea blended with oranges and spices, which tells me exactly nothing new o_O). I was worried it would be strong because of the spice part, but I was reminded just how weak green tea is.
I handwrote ~2,300 words on mysmallfandombang fic!! I was on a roll, and I can hardly believe it! And I even read more in Husband Material.
I also watched the Bills game, which was a heartbreaker. So close, and yet so far. They did it to themselves, though, so Denver deserved the win as much as I hate to say it. Interceptions and penalties are not going to win you the game. Congratulations,mistressofmuses!
Temps started out at 25.7(F) and reached 36.5. We were supposed to get less than an inch of snow, but got a bit more than that, with more expected overnight. Yay.
Mom Update:
Mom sounded okay when I talked to her; she actually sounded a bit tired. She said she had mostly felt well during the day, but at that moment was feeling a little off. Both Sister A and S were visiting, so that was nice.
I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter. I placed two orders, including Chewy. Pip’s supper was leftover chicken so no cooking, yay!
I decided to hit my own cupboard for today’s tea, The Republic of Tea’s Orange Spice (green tea blended with oranges and spices, which tells me exactly nothing new o_O). I was worried it would be strong because of the spice part, but I was reminded just how weak green tea is.
I handwrote ~2,300 words on my
smallfandombang fic!! I was on a roll, and I can hardly believe it! And I even read more in Husband Material.I also watched the Bills game, which was a heartbreaker. So close, and yet so far. They did it to themselves, though, so Denver deserved the win as much as I hate to say it. Interceptions and penalties are not going to win you the game. Congratulations,
mistressofmuses!Temps started out at 25.7(F) and reached 36.5. We were supposed to get less than an inch of snow, but got a bit more than that, with more expected overnight. Yay.
Mom Update:
Mom sounded okay when I talked to her; she actually sounded a bit tired. She said she had mostly felt well during the day, but at that moment was feeling a little off. Both Sister A and S were visiting, so that was nice.
sunday
Sunday, January 18th, 2026 07:43summersgate
I was sitting at my writing table this morning and saw my necklaces in the mirror there. Those represent me as much as my face does. They never come off. The only exceptions are when I go in for a medical procedure and they say to take off all jewelry. Then I am truly naked. Last weekend I painted my nails while Alison was here. Nail polish is a rarity. I'd do it more often, all the time really because I like the look of it, if it didn't take so long to dry. I hate not being able to DO things while it dries. I usually mess up and get it smudged. I smudged it last weekend too. I like pearl white. So far in life that's the only color I've ever liked for my nails. In this pic there is a little bird visiting the feeder outside. I waited to take the pic till one landed.
Going shopping with Jules this morning - our usual bi-weekly walmart and giant eagle shopping. Onward - I need to fill that feeder in the picture above and feed the chickens before I go.
