always been crazy

January was a clusterfuck of awful. I wanted 2022 to be nice and boring, but that was a pipe dream.

Mafra Palace Library Bats - at night, bats patrol this 18th-century library in Portugal in search of book-eating pests

Be Gay, Do Crimes, Turn in Your Homework by xiaq
The Old Guard || Joe/Nicky, Andy/Quynh, Booker/Nile || 22k
Post-Merrick, The Old Guard goes to college, is domestic, deals with some loose ends, and everyone gets a happy ending.

stuck in reverse by crazyassmurdererwall (smartalli)
Teen Wolf || Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Sheriff Stilinski, Jackson Whittemore || 65k
Look, Derek is the worst. Everyone knows that. Their fearless leader is a total and complete failwolf. Which means the rest of them? Are kind of the worst too. They’re a ramshackle, slap dashed, sorry excuse for a pack that’s about a half second away from getting one of them killed. And this is a problem, because Stiles would really like to survive high school. Thanks. Still, nobody deserves what Derek has gone through. Nobody. And it’s about time somebody told him that.

I recently finished David Arnold's The Electric Kingdom, which was very weird in a good way, and Helene Wecker's The Golem and the Jinni, which took ages because it was a slow and heavy read but I really enjoyed it. And I watched the second season of The Boys!  I think it's kinda funny that three of the actors from Timeless - Claudia Doumit, Goran Visnjic, and Malcolm Barrett - were all in it.

I told Bebout he has to find somewhere else to stay. I feel bad, but he's an adult (technically) and has to do something to help himself. Lying to us, blowing money on weed, skipping his doctor appts, quitting his job - I'm not dealing with it.

Our current fosters are a mom and three babies, and I'm pretty sure the mom was a feral. The shelter told me she's "spicy." They're currently in one of our big kennels, trying to get them kinda used to things for a couple days and then we'll turn them loose in one of our spare bedrooms, but she paces back and forth and takes the babies by turn and tries to find a way to escape with them. The kittens are fine with being taken out and played with, and we've been letting them out to run around with Duke (he loves kittens; Duchess goes and hides when the kittens come out), but momma is not having it. She got out earlier when Miranda was trying to clean the kennel, and Ronnie and Leah had to chase her all over the house and she tore Ronnie up. Good thing she has her shots. We've only had them a couple of days, so I'm hoping she'll at least settle enough to be socialized enough to be adoptable.

We're adjusting my migraine meds and I swear I've done little more than sleep for the past two weeks and it's a mess. And oh hey, my Hurricanes just won their game, so I guess it's bedtime for me now too!

Links & recs:

Palestine Emergency Response - link to Humanity First who are working on the ground in Palestine and could use donations

you do not have to be good. by coffeesuperhero
Leverage || Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer || 20k
Come hell or high water, Eliot is going to figure this out.
Super good, going on my all time favorites list: It's basically a damn advertisement. Wanted: one hitter. Must love: martial arts, culinary arts, cars, guitars, a tall genius hacker, and a small mischievous thief.

Forty Years and Eight Pounds (The Skin Hunger Variations) by bironic
Stargate Atlantis || John Sheppard || 2419
John finds what he's looking for when Teyla places it on his chest, warm and heavy and smelling of milk. Or: Six people John never told, and four he didn't need to tell.
Beautifully done

Four Blatant Lies About Atlantis (And One Thing That's Totally True) by sabinelagrande
Stargate Atlantis || Rodney McKay/John Sheppard || 4196
Wherein aliens don't make them do it, John loves ASCII, Carson hates everyone, Weir is highly amused, and Lorne's just tyring to be a pal.

The Legend of Smedley Duckler, the Fighting Quacker by Domenkia Marzione (domarzione)
Stargate Atlantis || 3383
How the marines got their mascot. Or, Sheppard and Lorne Are In Charge Of Crazy People.very fun read

I watched Radioactive this weekend, and while Rosamund Pike was awesome, I was overall underwhelmed. I feel like it left too much out of Marie Curie's story and life.

I also watched Fahrenheit 451 and actually really liked that one. And I finally caught The Falcon and the Winter Soldier since all the episodes are up, and that was pretty great.

I realize I've been reccing fics, but I have also been reading a lot of books. Escapism, much? So I recently read:

Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid - I really enjoyed this. It had a very interesting format, in addition to being an interesting and intriguing story. I listened to the audiobook version and it was done with different voice actors for each of the parts. Highly recommend.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins - I liked the book but I still find Coriolanus Snow completely unlikeable. I figure I'm probably biased though since we know how he turns out in the future.

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate - It feels weird to say I liked this, given the story and the fact it's based on real events which are baffling and horrific, but I did like it.

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray - This was a very emotionally engaging story. Life and relationships are complicated, and I kinda like that everything doesn't end up wrapped in a nice neat bow.

And a couple fic recs, to stay on brand:

The Sheppard Equation by jenny_wren
Stargate Atlantis || Rodney McKay/John Sheppard || 22k
Rodney needs to solve the Sheppard Equation before his world falls apart.
Excellent storytelling

Leading the Way by nogoaway
Generation Kill || Brad Colbert/Nate Fick || 27k
In which Nate, being an officer at heart, takes approximately 25 years to find his own dick with a map.
Super well written!

One day I'll post a real entry again. I'm struggling with the bipolar at the moment.

Links:

Meet Bryan "Harvest Blaque" Hancock - Hip-Hop/Spoken Word Artist (and an all around awesome person; he's a family friend)

A couple of foxes are up to no good in a small Vienna, Virginia, community where talks of missing shoes had local residents perplexed. (another family friend; the Hollenberg-Duffey's are part of our COB family)

How abducted Nigerian girls seized control of their story with secret diaries (Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists kept a collaborative diary during their ordeal)

Jesus Was a Protester

Sounds of the Mountains - a storytelling festival
(this is usually an in-person event that is one of our biggest fundraisers for Camp Bethel each year; it is FREE and VIRTUAL this year, and definitely worth checking out.)

Recs:

We Could Be Reckless by erinn_bedford
Still Star-Crossed || Rosaline Capulet/Benvolio Montague || 6028
The five times Benvolio and Rosaline run into each other at a wedding, and the one time they stop being dumb about it.

nobody touches you like i do by notthequiettype
Hockey RPF || Brock Boeser/Elias Pettersson || 2843
"So then, you'll come by tonight?"
"I can, yeah. You need me to bring anything?"
"Just your hands," Petey says.

hold me, lover (so tight i'd bruise you) by a_static_world
Merlin || Merlin/Arthur || 2103
Merlin’s a tactile person. He can’t help it; it’s merely how he was raised. He’s used to falling asleep to his mother running soft fingers through his hair, slinging his arms around Will whenever he pleases. It’s simply the way things are in Ealdor: the village is small, its people close-knit and affectionate. To say Camelot has been a culture shock is an understatement.

Food of Love by tanktrilby
The Witcher || Geralt/Jaskier || 22k
I brought a dead princess back to life through the power of song is the kind of thing that would have got an eyebrow raise even from the stone-faced Geralt of Rivia, so it's a good thing he and Geralt will probably never see each other again.
(or: the one where Jaskier channels magic through his songs, and it almost never goes as expected.)

Archaeologists Discover Additional Dead Sea Scroll Fragments In Desert Caves

I Shouldn’t Have to Dehumanize My Son to Get Him Support: Instead of focusing on the challenges facing disabled people, we should emphasize goals.

Racism Infects Our Politics and Theology. God Calls Us To Change Them


The Sound of War by thevalesofanduin
The Witcher || Geralt/Jaskier || 30k
Jaskier heads to the coast, heads home. But not before stopping at Oxenfurt for the winter, because a season of teaching and rekindling with old friends is sure to take his mind off of Geralt. He hears whispers, in the marble halls of Oxenfurt, of impending war. But with his heartbreak still feeling more like an open wound than a scab, he pays them little heed. It’s not his war to fight. Or is it?
I love when Jaskier is a bamf in his own right instead of a wilting flower.

freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose by synecdochic
Stargate Atlantis || Rodney McKay/John Sheppard || 19k
Because the meaning of life is "do the next thing", and we all carry the seeds of the past into our future. Futurefic, Rodney-centric.
Lovely and heartbreaking

It's Growing Day by Day by Telesilla
Stargate Atlantis || John Sheppard/Rodney Mckay || 27k
During a routine mission to check out an off-world Ancient lab, team Shep is cut off from Atlantis when the stargate is buried beneath a ton of rubble. There might be another way off the planet, but getting there will not be easy.
Awesome team!fic.

Knowing by velocitygrass
Stargate Atlantis || Rodney McKay/John Sheppard || 46k
As the members of the Atlantis expedition wait for the order to return, Rodney struggles with his relationship with Jennifer and his own expectations. Spending much time with John does nothing to clarify his feelings, but in the end he still finds the answers to his questions.

My Home and Native Land by copperbadge
Stargate Atlantis || Ronon Dex, Rodney McKay, John Sheppard, Teyla Emmagan, Chuck || 17k
Ronon's friendship with Chuck, the head Gate Tech of the Atlantis mission, leads him to discover the strange and alien ways of Canadians and helps him lay his past to rest.
A fun and friendly read.

- I've been rewatching SGA because the kids haven't seen it and whatnot. Jason Momoa is so pretty.

- Related to SGA, I was thinking about an Stargate/Stranger Things crossover (because obvsly Dustin grew up to be a scientist and the Upside Down was just an accidental wormhole to another dimension, so when someone dials up a gate that leads to the Upside Down, Dustin gets called in) and was thinking about El as a grown up and she'd be an awesome teacher for special needs kids. She understands what it's like to be different and learn different, and she's telepathic so could understand/relate to them.

- Watched The Good Liar this weekend. Ian McKellen is old. Like, idk if it was just really good acting or what, but it made me a bit sad. Also, his character reminded me of my dad (not the end part, because NO, my dad is not like that at all). We call my dad a bullshitter instead of a con man, but really. He charms women and it's ridiculous. He's currently got three girlfriends who do stuff for him and take him places and spend money on him. And obviously we're poor white trash, so there was not multimillion dollar scams, but he legit has multiple friends who will pay him to come hang out and get drunk. And his name is Roy.

Some links:

Scientists clone first US endangered species - Elizabeth Ann is the first cloned black-footed ferret and first-ever cloned U.S. endangered species
another picture of Elizabeth Anne

Massachusetts elected a state dinosaur

Medieval Pilgrims Apparently Tried to Ward Off the Plague With Bawdy Badges - Metal phalluses and vulvas were thought to protect against disease.

Neglecting Yourself Doesn't Make You a Better Mom


The Faith of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Tumblr post about changes in fandom - esp a shift in how fans communicate with one another and how that has affected fandom

And two SGA fic recs that I'm sure everyone has already read:

His Way Through the Constellation by torakowalski
Stargate Atlantis || Rodney McKay/John Sheppard || 8368
They find him by chance. They've looked and looked for the past six months and found nothing, no clue. Then Katie Brown and a couple of the new Marines go off-world to investigate some alien flora, get distracted by a market and find him there; not for sale, as Rodney immediately assumes on hearing, but working the stalls, healthy and whole and free as you like.

Running on Empty by Sholio
Stargate Atlantis || Rodney McKay & John Sheppard || 88k
Captured, implanted with Wraith trackers, released to run and die ... such is Sheppard and McKay's fate. Now all they have to do is find each other before the Wraith find them.

States Bound! The SHS Wrestling team has 8 kids headed to states, and 5 alternates! Despite everything, I can't help but be super proud and super excited! I miss the chaos of wrestling seasons and tournaments, but it was nice to be able to watch the regional matches via youtube while I was in bed in my jammies today. No pre-dawn drives, no large crowds, no running back and forth from one mat to another, no utter exhaustion afterward. States is in two weeks, no spectators allowed. It's weird, but everything is now. And one of this year's seniors already signed to Roanoke College with a wrestling scholarship, so that's awesome.

I realized today one of the things that's been bothering me about the school arguments. The pandemic is highlighting issues with schools in general, and disparities in school districts, and underfunding, and all kinds of stuff. I am 100% behind teachers and parents not wanting to return to school without feeling safe. Most districts cannot do this. But what was throwing me is that I support my school district being in-person and at the same time think being back to in-person school is Not A Good Thing for most places. I think I sorted it out in my head now though.

Salem (where my kids went, where several of my littles go now) has always been extra. They have always put priority on their school system, which is one of the reasons I paid for my kids to stay there after we moved out of district. Even before the pandemic, they had generally smaller class sizes - elementary school classes tried to stay under 15 kids per classroom, middle/high schools no more than 20 or 22 for classes other than specials (band, choir, ece, the auto classes, etc, all had more than that, I think). So when they needed to make smaller classes to meet guidelines for social distancing, etc, it was easier. Salem teachers are also better paid than others in this area, and even though the teachers obviously pay out of pocket for stuff (like all teachers) they get supplied more than others. For example, most teachers I know in other districts have limited numbers of copies available to them per month or whatever. One of the community businesses in Salem covers all copy costs for the schools - supply the copiers, provide the upkeep, donate paper and toner, etc) so the teachers, admin, ptsa all have unlimited copies. The community had several organizations donate cleaning supplies and stuff to the schools (apparently there are school districts where the teachers had to supply their own supplies to keep their rooms clean and sanitized? that baffles me), one donated masks for all the students and staff, the ptsa organized for all the students to get reusable water bottles and provided a stockpile of bottled water for each school since the water fountains are off limits. Salem is small, like 15 square miles, so there is internet/wifi everywhere. Students who are partial or completely distance learning have school provided chrome books. Salem opened schools in September. All families were given the option of full online learning. For in-person, preK-2 go 5 days per week until 1:15. Some kids have IEPs so they have a special schedule, like Illy, who goes Mon-Thurs until 1:15. Grades 3-12 go two days a week (either Mon/Thurs or Tues/Fri - until 2:15 at the elementary school, to stagger the buses) and have online assignments the other days. There have been a few instances of COVID (contracted from an outside source), but for the most part, it's worked well. But I KNOW this model doesn't work for everyone, and Salem is so so lucky it works for them.

Anyway.

Have a link to read I found interesting this morning: The Strange Blissfulness of Storms

( and a handful of small fic recs )

I was going to tell yall about the awesomely hilarious zombie apocalypse conversation that the boys and I had on the way home from dinner, but it was too much to type out. Let's just say, my kids are awesome. Instead, LINKS!

I accidentally came across this via Twitter, but I kinda love it: Written? Kitten! - for those times when you have trouble focusing on getting stuff written, you get rewarded for every 100 (or 200 or 500 or 1000, whatever you choose) words with a pic of a kitten! How cool is that?

I'm pretty sure this also came from Twitter: Colson Whitehead's How to Write

Things that I want but don't need AT ALL, including Retropolis T-shirts and geeky bras.

Speaking of things I want, I have a running list of possible fic prompts (usually from song lyrics, yall know me) and/or titles that don't have a home (seriously, this list has been building forever, waiting for the right fandom/character(s)/idea/inspiration). The most recent additions:
*"Their powers make them super; their choices make them human."
*The truth is you could slit my throat, And with my one last gasping breath I'd apologize for bleeding on your shirt.
*"I'm too sober for this shit." (which could really be the prompt to fit any and every pairing/fandom)
* No matter how many breaths that you took you still couldn't breathe
* This is the first song for your mixtape. It's short just like your temper, but somewhat golden like the afternoons we used to spend before you got too cool...
* Save me cause i’m falling, now i can’t seem to breathe right, Cause I keep runnin' from my heart.
* "We can't control the wind, but when it blows, we can turn our sails towards it."

There is a Multi-Fandom Olympics AU Ficathon, if anyone is interested.

FIC RECS!

If Heaven's Hypothetical by impertinence & shoemaster
Hockey RPF (which I still don't know, I read it like original fic)
Jeff runs away from Toronto and finds himself homeless in Raleigh, where he accidentally starts serving eggs to Eric Staal.

Pizza and a Movie by Closer (part of the Pizza-Verse)
Suits AU
In an alternate universe, Harvey's still a lawyer but Mike's not a pot runner -- he's a deliveryman for Rollo's Pizza and Ribs, which happens to be Harvey's favorite pizza place. Once Harvey finds out his pizza guy is a genius, Mike's life takes a few turns he would not have expected...

The Time to Find a Place to Land by BlackEyedGirl
Avengers
By Phil’s count, this is his third attempt at bringing the Avengers together, although he will admit his participation in the second attempt was more symbolic than anything else. He hadn’t expected Stark to be the easiest sell, or Barton to be the most problematic, but things have changed since he’s been away. [Movie spoilers.]

Fic Recs and Fic Dump :)

BUT FIRST! The usedfic Exchange needs a pinch hitter for a story!

ANYONE? You don't have to be part of the challenge already to pinch hit, and the minimum is only 1000 words.

So, speaking of The Used, here's where I got my crack-ration to start my week off right:

California Son by valerie_z
Tim (Rancid)/Bert (The Used) || NC-17 (but just barely) || Warning for incest
He didn't know why Bert bothered him so much. Something about the guy just got under his skin. He could talk for an hour with the intern at Machete who thought 9/11 was an inside job, but one smirk from Bert McCracken and he was ready to start swinging. He just needed to keep his distance.

And a Harry Potter rec. Now, I'm not actually so much into Snarry, I only read it when certain people write it. And mimiheart is one of those people.

Finding Peace by mimiheart
Genre(s): Genderbender/Crosdressing
Prompt(s):Secrets and Lies, Sanctuary
Harry/Snape || R, please read posted warnings || ~17,000 words
It takes a great hero to defeat the Dark Lord. Sometimes it takes a greater one to face oneself.

One of my long overdue drabbles. This one is for irisgirl12000, who asked for Dean/Castiel with a prompt of fallen, wings. It's also not exactly Dean/Castiel, b/c I can't wrap my mind around that, but it's close enough. 100 words.

( Castiel hated to admit  )

And this is something related to my Big Bang Fic. If I ever do attempt to write porn, I inevitably get it halfway written and then stop. And then it never gets finished, lol. And we all know I have the attention span of a small butterfly, so. Anyway, this kinda stops in the middle of everything, and it's technically unbeta'd even though it's been read by several people. But I'm dumping it so I don't have to keep thinking about it sitting here unfinished.

Untitled Pete/Patrick/Ashlee
Obviously NC-17 || ~2800 words
Set the day Bob leaves for Chicago in Basement Romantic

( Patrick hoped Pete would be gone by the time he made it back from the airport, but it didn't work that way. )

things that have caught my attention lately:

Gabe Saporta's Cobragate post

Waking the Earth by schneestern
Or, The One With The Zombies In Love \o/
The Used || Dan/Jepha (also Bert/Quinn) || R for general grossness and bad language
Summary: It's the zombie apocalypse and zombie!Jepha's trying to find zombie!Dan.

These videos of The Used interviews being linked on yan_tan_tether's LJ

LJ Markov Random Text Generator

The video trailer for The Used's Blood on My Hands and this myspace blog with a couple other TU vids

Txt msgs:

Lol live boy on boy on boy porn? Sign me up!

You do Empires, I'll do Mayday Parade (for the record, I'd totally do Empires, lol.)

For cereal?

For the second night in a row Tom wakes up in an unfamiliar bed.

If I had a wife, I'd have better lunches. Will you marry me?

I'm the kind of girl who is ain't supposed to like those boys / But I kinda like those boys that like those kind of girls