tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670brumeierbrumeierbrumeier2022-12-23T05:34:33Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:133393All My Christmas Fics2022-12-23T05:34:33Z2022-12-23T05:34:33Zpublic2For my own bookkeeping needs, and perhaps some general interest, I thought I'd compile all my Christmas fics in one spot. I've broken them out by fandom. Let's get started!<br /><br /><br /><br /><b>Alice (2010)</b><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/133393.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><b>Crossovers</b><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/133393.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><b>Hawaii Five-0</b><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/133393.html#cutid3">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><b>Marvel Cinematic Universe</b><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___4" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/133393.html#cutid4">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___4" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><b>The Sentinel</b><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___5" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/133393.html#cutid5">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___5" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><b>Stargate Atlantis</b><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___6" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/133393.html#cutid6">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___6" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><b>Trixie Belden Mysteries/The Three Investigators</b><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___7" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/133393.html#cutid7">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___7" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=133393" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:131887July Recap & FIC2022-08-01T12:42:29Z2022-08-01T12:42:29Zpublic10July was an outdoorsy month for me (meaning I spent time outside on two separate occasions). The first was a trip to Minekill Falls when my boy and I were showing his girlfriend our old stomping grounds. When he was little, we used to walk to the Falls from our apartment. I am woefully out of shape, so we only did the lookout instead of walking all the way to the base of the falls.<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/131887.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />The other outside trip was to the Renaissance Festival in Sterling. I haven’t been since my boy was six. We got a VRBO rental on the Seneca River, and it was gorgeous! It was a basement apartment, and the backyard was the river. Lovely.<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/131887.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />In other news, my mother-in-law was in and out of the hospital a couple of times. Her health continues to be bad, but there’s nothing much to be done about it. I experienced a weird migraine aura thing, where it was like I had a kaleidoscope in front of one eye and was having trouble seeing what was on my computer monitor. I went home and took a nap, and the eye thing had stopped when I woke up, but that whole side of my face felt weak the rest of the night. Never had that happen before. So weird.<br /><br />Scrapbooking was fairly light last month and covered a variety of subjects. I’ve been doing a lot of scraplifting lately – getting inspiration for layouts from other people’s pages. Does this mean my scrappy muse is being lazy? Probably. ::grins:: I created 10 layouts for the month, including this one:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/131887.html#cutid3">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />My writing muse was back in force, though there wasn’t much focus behind it. I had a lot of words spread around a lot of different projects. Some of the posted fics were from hosting at <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='16' height='16'/></a><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/'><b>comment_fic</b></a></span>. I also signed up for the new round of <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://hc-bingo.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='16' height='16'/></a><a href='http://hc-bingo.livejournal.com/'><b>hc_bingo</b></a></span>.<br /><br />Here are the 10 new fics I posted in July:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___4" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/131887.html#cutid4">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___4" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=131887" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:127876December Recap & FIC2022-01-01T18:32:13Z2022-01-01T18:32:13Zpublic6Most of December was pretty good for me, with one exception. The week before Christmas I ended up calling for an ambulance at like 10:30 at night because I was having severe chest pains. I honestly thought I might be having a heart attack. They took me to the ER (half hour away) and I hung out there until about 2:30am.<br /><br />I had blood work done and had both an EKG and a chest x-ray. The determination? Pleurisy. Which I had about 16 years ago and remember it being just as miserable. Once I was feeling better they sent me home in a cab. Next order of business: Figuring out an emergency contact.<br /><br />Here’s my obligatory ER selfie:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/127876.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />The first Saturday of the month I was in constant contact with my bro, who lives in Texas. His rescue dog, it turned out, was pregnant. That Saturday she had twelve - <i>twelve!</i> puppies, though one didn’t make it, poor thing. He already has six dogs, and he’s intent on keeping one of the puppies. Did I mention they’re Great Danes? Yeesh.<br /><br />In Christmas news, I was on point this year! Got my shopping done in a timely fashion, got everything decorated in one day, and even treated myself to a live tree instead of putting up my fakey one. I got all the presents wrapped early. Sent out cards. I’m not this good every year, but I was certainly on this time.<br /><br />Did I buy my boy too many things? Yes, I always do. Still making up for his useless dad, I guess.<br /><br />It was a really good holiday, all around. It’s been nice having my boy home. And this was the first year I didn’t have to give him money to buy me presents, so that was fun. ::grins:: He bought me lots of candy, some Funkos, and a college t-shirt. The only odd note was, as usual, my mother-in-law. For some reason she got it in her head that I’m hugely into Harry Potter and got me lots of themed gifts. ::scratches head::<br /><br />Scrapbooking seemed like it was going to be minimal, but then the second half of the month I busted out layouts like nobody’s business. Trying to scrap more Christmases from my youth but tracking down pics and figuring out which year they’re from has been frustratingly challenging. Why did no-one label these darn things? I created 23 layouts last month. Here’s one of the pages I did:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/127876.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />December continued my good writing streak. I finished participating in a week of filling prompts at <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='16' height='16'/></a><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/'><b>comment_fic</b></a></span>, which <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://nagi-schwarz.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://nagi-schwarz.dreamwidth.org/'><b>nagi_schwarz</b></a></span> was hosting, and then segued into my own hosting week right after. More importantly, I finished my SGA Secret Santa fic, which was the big goal for the month.<br /><br />Here are the 18 new fics I posted in December:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/127876.html#cutid3">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=127876" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:127228November Recap & FIC2021-12-01T23:26:02Z2021-12-01T23:26:02Zpublic2I got to see my boy more than expected last month. He drove down two weeks before Thanksgiving with his girlfriend so we could get acquainted. Her name is Lonna and she’s very nice and has a lot in common with my boy. We had lunch with my mother-in-law and the kids spent the night.<br /><br />The weekend before Thanksgiving I spent on the phone with my boy, talking him off the metaphorical ledge. He was on the verge of a nervous breakdown – he’s failing two classes, his friends were ghosting him, he didn’t feel like he could do college after all – and as a result I was also on the verge of a nervous breakdown. But by the time Thanksgiving rolled around he was in a much better headspace. He’d talked to his friends, he has a plan to change his major, and while he was home he ate at least one meal a day, which was more than he had been doing lately. (He lost soooo much weight.)<br /><br />Here’s a pic of us:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/127228.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />In other Bru news, I got my booster shot. I lost Freddy, the cat I was going to adopt, because someone beat me to him and I’m super sad about it. I’ve become addicted to Clark’s chocolate milk, which is from a local dairy. Never have I drank so much milk as I have this month. We’ve had snow (too much) and cold (too much). And…I’m almost done Christmas shopping!<br /><br />Scrapbooking was good. I created 11 layouts, and in terms of content they were all over the place. Holidays, old stuff, new stuff. Here’s one of the pages I did:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/127228.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />November was a great writing month! I participated in a week of filling prompts at <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='16' height='16'/></a><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/'><b>comment_fic</b></a></span>, which is always very productive. But I also finished a fic I’ve been working on for months, and found a fic in my WIP file that just needed some tweaking. I managed to write fic for all the challenges I wanted to participate in. <br /><br />Here are the 15 new fics I posted in November:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/127228.html#cutid3">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=127228" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:125537July Recap & FIC2021-08-01T14:02:42Z2021-08-01T14:02:42Zpublic2Summer has been both hot and soggy so far. We’ve had so much rain, and plenty of storms. Not great for kids at camp, or people who want to spend every weekend camping. I don’t mind the rain, but the heat does me in. (I don’t have air conditioning.)<br /><br />My boy turned 18 last month. I’m still having a hard time wrapping my brain around that. It was a very low-key birthday, just the two of us and his friend Adora. We had takeout and cheesecake. It was nice, but all I can think is how we’re getting closer to him going away to college. Sigh. <br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/125537.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />Summer at work has been nice. We do have one class of summer school going on, but otherwise the building is fairly empty. Makes it easy to get work done. We have had a building project that started partway through the month, the construction of a vestibule at the front entrance, right across from my office. And a ventilation project that was put on hold after one of the workers fell fifteen feet onto a concrete slab. (He’s a little broken, but otherwise okay.)<br /><br />I got a late start scrapbooking last month, mostly because the writing was so good. So only five layouts got completed, most of them on current events. But also this page about Ms. Barry:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/125537.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />I wrote SO MANY words in July! 19k just on prompt fills alone, when I hosted a week at <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='16' height='16'/></a><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/'><b>comment_fic</b></a></span>. I wrote nineteen fills in total. But I also found words for other projects and have been making more of an effort to turn off the TV and just write. Total new words for the month? 41k!<br /><br />Settle in, friends. Here are the fics I posted in July:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/125537.html#cutid3">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=125537" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:118981April Recap & FIC2021-05-01T15:05:52Z2021-05-01T15:05:52Zpublic15April was a month of needles. First, my second COVID vaccine shot. That had me flattened for a couple days, sore and tired. Two weeks later I was finally able to get some new ink, which was five years in the making. Well, more than that really, because even before I thought I’d be able to sit through a tattoo session I always said I’d get a sea turtle. And look!<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/118981.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />This is a fannish tattoo on two different levels. Firstly, it represents my love for <i>Hawaii Five-0</i>. That’s why I chose a tribal-looking design and added the ‘ohana’ to it. It’s also a representation of my most favorite book, Stephen King’s It. Which features a mystical turtle. The seven colored sections represent the Loser’s Club, the seven hero kids in the novel. I love this tattoo!<br /><br />In teenage boy news, my son applied to colleges! Two, in fact. He’s decided to pursue a degree in broadcast media because he wants to learn how to do radio. (This is news to me.) We’re going to visit his #1 pick, SUNY Adirondack, next week. I’m already having driving anxiety. LOL! But I’m also excited to see the campus and if my son might fit there.<br /><br />Scrapbooking got off to a slow start, but I did get nine layouts done last month. Lots of historical stuff, including the one below. I also scanned over 400 pictures in my on-going attempt to digitize all my pictures, which may or may not be completed before I’m 90. LOL! This weekend is International Scrapbooking Day (it’s never just a day), so I’ll be busting out as many layouts as I can by the end of the day Sunday.<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/118981.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />The writing was good to me in April. I wrote a lot. Made some deadlines, didn’t make others, didn’t stress about either. So that’s a step in the right direction. Trying to keep it low-key, which means I also didn’t sign up for some annual challenges that have rolled around again.<br /><br />If you’re interested, here’s what I posted last month:<br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/118981.html#cutid3">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=118981" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:118326March Recap & FIC2021-04-01T16:09:39Z2021-04-01T16:09:39Zpublic8What a month! We had a day where the temp was 73 degrees, and we ended the month under a winter storm watch. Such a rollercoaster!<br /><br />I had my annual physical and an eye exam, ordered new glasses, and got my first vaccine shot. Picking out glasses was a project. I got the Wharby Parker sampler box, and found two pairs I really loved, but once I went online and put in my prescription, the price became prohibitive. I ended up ordering from a different company and the glasses only just arrived yesterday. I love them!!<br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/118326.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />My cooking laziness knew no bounds in March. Nine takeout days, where I bought food instead of making it. That’s a lot for me. Usually it’s closer to two takeout days a month. But I have no regrets. Burgers, tacos, eggplant…all delicious!<br /><br />We were able to spend my MIL’s birthday with her, which was nice. Especially since the week after she went to the hospital for an overnight stay and ended up being there for a full seven days. We saw her again this weekend. She’s hanging in there.<br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/118326.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br />Nine scrapbook pages happened last month. Some older pics, some current events. I’m always finding more pics that need to be scanned. Why do I have so many albums? Yikes. The next big project I want to work on is an album about my trip to Vancouver when I was sixteen. Speaking of albums, I ordered three more from Arts Cow. I’m almost caught up now with printed books. Yay!<br /><br />Here’s one of March’s scrapbook pages:<br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/118326.html#cutid3">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"></div><br />Writing was <i>on point</i> last month. I had no hard and fast deadlines, and my muse was super chill, so I got a lot of stress-free writing done. The productivity piddled out at the end of the month, but I still feel good about what I got done.<br /><br />If you’re interested, here are the fics I posted in March:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___4" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/118326.html#cutid4">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___4" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=118326" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:118155February Recap & FIC2021-03-01T16:33:08Z2021-03-01T16:33:08Zpublic11Another month into 2021 and things continue to be…interesting.<br /><br />Happy to report no COVID testing needed to happen this month, and no quarantining. Yay! But my left ear has been acting up quite a lot. Went to the doc for it, was told I have fluid in my ear, and now I’m taking an allergy pill every night. It helps…sometimes.<br /><br />I was able to visit my MIL, after a month of not seeing her. She’s hanging in. I need to schedule another day to drive down and hang out with her. There are more medical procedures coming up for her.<br /><br />Had to take my furbaby Stuart to the vet, because he’s so dang skinny. They ran his bloodwork, didn’t find anything wrong. Vet said he might have cancer, but there’d be nothing to do for it. The visit killed my budget for the month, I can tell you that. Kitty blood tests are pricey! He’s hanging in, though. Doing all the usually kitty things, just in a super skeletal way. Here’s my good boy waiting for his test results:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/118155.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />In scrapbooking, I created ten layouts. Mostly current events. And I’ve managed to keep from buying scrappy supplies, which I absolutely do not need but always covet. Here’s one of the pages I made:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/118155.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />The writing is where all my stress lived last month. My goal was to finish my Romancing McShep fic. Spoiler: I didn’t. I had a really cool idea to go with the very cool artwork I chose, and my first scene fell right out of me. And then…nothing. I wrote a scene, hated it, wrote a new one. Every time I opened the document, nothing happened.<br /><br />I wrote other things. I hosted at <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='16' height='16'/></a><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/'><b>comment_fic</b></a></span> the last week of the month and busted out over 11k words on fills. And still I couldn’t write that McShep fic. The deadline was extended to March 7th, but I don’t have any confidence I’ll be able to get it finished. It’s barely been started.<br /><br />Why you do me like that, muse? Why?<br /><br />If you’re interested, here’s the fic I was able to write and post:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/118155.html#cutid3">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=118155" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:117410January Recap and FIC2021-02-01T18:23:28Z2021-02-01T18:23:28Zpublic16At Casa de Brumeier, it was a month of tests and quarantines. I had to get the COVID test twice, and I didn’t enjoy it either time. I don’t care to have my brain massaged in that fashion, and the second time I told the doctor to just go ahead and give me the full lobotomy. ::grins:: My boy also had to get a C19 test, but they didn’t go so far up his nose. Lucky!<br /><br />With the tests came the mandatory quarantine while we waited for results. Boy came back with a clean bill of health. My first test came back positive for influenza A. My second test came back positive for influenza A as well as influenza B. Double flu! So I spent most of January literally feeling sick and tired. Mostly tired. So tired. All the tired.<br /><br />Additionally, my boy had an anxiety attack at school. Once he unclenched we had a long talk about life and stressors, and hopefully I was able to help him a little with that. One of the things he’s stressing about is college (he’s a senior) because he doesn’t know what he wants to do. I assured him he was under no pressure to go to college until he’s ready. I’m certainly in no rush, provided he gets some sort of job in the interim.<br /><br />The boy and I got new phones last month, which we sorely needed but for different reasons. We’re a Straight Talk family, so the phones were only $99 each. They’re so much taller than the old ones, though, that I needed to buy a new purse that could fit it. So now I have more purse than I need. LOL! Also, why did they change the charger cord? I have so many of the other type! Grr.<br /><br />It was a good month for scrapbooking. I completed twenty-two layouts. A few about current events, a lot just about me. I never know what’s going to inspire me. Probably my favorite of the month is this page about my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad cat:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/117410.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />In DNA news, I got my Ancestry DNA result back and I was so excited to see Scotland on my list! 8% is still better than no percent, and I’ll take it. I’ve always loved all things Scottish, and would love to travel there someday and see it for myself. Plus, who doesn’t love a man in a kilt? (True story: my ex wore a kilt to our wedding even though he’s probably as Scottish as me.) The rest of the results were as expected – Italian, German, French – but I was also surprised by Greek/Albanian.<br /><br />I’m ready to claim Clan Fraser as my own, on the basis of absolutely nothing!<br /><br />In writing news, I was able to finish and post six fics in January, in four different fandoms, and they were all over 1k! Challenges were filled, gifts were given, and I managed a lot of successful procrastination on my Romancing McShep fic. ::rolls eyes:: <br /><br />If you’re interested, here’s what I posted:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/117410.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=117410" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:117140More Joy Day!!2021-01-15T14:00:38Z2021-01-15T14:00:38Zpublic4It's here! It's here! Today is More Joy Day!<br /><br />Every year <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://sdwolfpup.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://sdwolfpup.dreamwidth.org/'><b>sdwolfpup</b></a></span> hosts a day to celebrate doing nice things for other people, be they friends or complete strangers. Just keep that in mind while you're out and about today, and you see opportunities to do nice things.<br /><br />Now, more than ever, we need to remember to be kind to others.<br /><br />The day is just starting for me, so I don't know what opportunities I'll be faced with, but I did preemptively finish and gift two fics for today. If you're interested, here are the deets:<br /><br /><b>Title:</b> <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28759317">Shield Avenue Mall</a><br /><b>Fandom:</b> Marvel Cinematic Universe<br /><b>Pairing:</b> Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes<br /><b>Characters:</b> Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Clint, Sam, Tony, Bruce<br /><b>Warning(s):</b> high school AU fluffy times<br /><br /><b>Summary/Prompt:</b> <i>MCU, Avengers Team, Gen or Any/Any, They're workers or proprietors in a shopping mall</i><br /><br />In which Steve has his first job the summer before he starts at a new school, and makes an interesting group of new friends.<br /><hr><br /><b>Title:</b> <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28763046">How Do You Define Normal?</a><br /><b>Fandom:</b> Stargate Atlantis<br /><b>Series:</b> The Truth is Out There<br /><b>Pairing:</b> John Sheppard/Rodney McKay (but only pre-slash pining)<br /><b>Characters:</b> John, Rodney, Daniel Jackson, Bill Lee, Gall, Abrams, wraith, OCs<br /><b>Warning(s):</b> canon-typical violence (mummies, gunplay, fisticuffs)<br /><br /><b>Summary/Prompt:</b> John chooses another weird case for him and Rodney to investigate, this time mummies in Las Vegas. It turns out to be much more complicated than either of them would've expected.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=117140" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:115832November Recap & FIC2020-12-01T16:20:40Z2020-12-01T16:20:40Zpublic4November was a busy month for me. I had grand plans for fic writing, because I signed up for SGA Secret Santa. (Spoiler: nothing happened on that front.) It was also the month we do daily posts at <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://ushobwri.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png' alt='[community profile] ' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://ushobwri.dreamwidth.org/'><b>ushobwri</b></a></span> to help keep people on track and motivated for NaNoWriMo and all the holiday fic challenges, and I tried to be active there even when I wasn’t hosting a daily thread.<br /><br />My boy had to quarantine again. His bus driver tested positive for COVID, and we were contacted by the Department of Health contact tracing. They didn’t recommend he get tested, just that he stay confined to the house until December 1st. (They said I didn’t have to do the same, which seems crazy.)<br /><br />He’s symptom free, but his quarantine extending through Thanksgiving meant we couldn’t spend the holiday with my MIL. No way was I taking a chance with her health, which is so bad right now. But my boy and I had a lovely Thanksgiving together. We had a vid chat with my mom and her SO, ate a pile of food, and watched <i>March of the Wooden Soldiers</i> as per tradition.<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/115832.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />Work at First Job was sloooow. Particularly the last week of the month, because they asked me to stay home as a precaution while my boy was quarantining. I don’t know why I have so much downtime.<br /><br />Work at Second Job has ENDED! Woo! The 29th was my last day. Now I can relearn what it means to only work one job and have a full weekend to myself.<br /><br />In scrapbooking, I had a slow start to the month but then managed to get seventeen layouts done. (It’s a good way to procrastinate the writing.) Many of the pages were holiday layouts, like this one documenting some fun from 2012:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/115832.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />The writing was a mixed bag. I really wanted to make headway on my SS fic. Instead, I spent most of the month writing a robot fic for the November theme at <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://whatif-au.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png' alt='[community profile] ' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://whatif-au.dreamwidth.org/'><b>whatif_au</b></a></span>. I had seven posted fics, mostly thanks to <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://squidgiepdx.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://squidgiepdx.dreamwidth.org/'><b>squidgiepdx</b></a></span> hosting a week of prompts over at <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='16' height='16'/></a><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/'><b>comment_fic</b></a></span>.<br /><br />Here’s what I managed to post in November:<br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/115832.html#cutid3">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=115832" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:114976September Recap & FIC2020-10-01T14:07:14Z2020-10-01T14:07:14Zpublic13And another month bites the dust!<br /><br />My big news for September is that I decided to resign from Second Job (aka the deli). My last day with be November 30th, and I’m so excited about it! As long as the child support money keeps coming in I won’t need the extra job. I can’t wait to reclaim my evenings and Sundays!<br /><br />School started back up again for us. The one I work at, and my boy attends, is doing in-person instruction every day but Wednesdays, which is a remote day. So far it’s going pretty well. We’re being really cautious with anyone displaying symptoms and sending them home to get tested. Most of the kids are being good about following the new rules, though we have to give a lot of reminders to pull masks up so they cover the nose too.<br /><br />I feel like I had a really productive month, with both writing and scrapbooking. I feel good when I can be creative. Helps beat back the anxiety of life in these United States.<br /><br />Seventeen scrappy layouts done last month. I made a list of school pages I need to catch up on for my boy and it’s a lot. My biggest victory was finding what should’ve been a throwaway sticker from Payless shoe store from 2011, which I wanted to use on a layout. That’s either super good on me for saving stuff, or else I need to get help for saving too much. LOL!<br /><br />Here’s one of the layouts I did:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/114976.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br />Nineteen fics posted in September, most prompt fills and/or challenge fics. Wrote in two new-to-me fandoms, both of them RPF which is also kinda new for me. I also started working on something for Halloween, which I’ll hopefully be able to get done in time. ::fingers crossed::<br /><br />Biggest moment was posting my <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://wipbigbang.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png' alt='[community profile] ' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://wipbigbang.dreamwidth.org/'><b>wipbigbang</b></a></span> fic, which was seven years in the making. Which just goes to show that even a fic you think has been abandoned for all eternity can still be resurrected. <br /><br />If you’re interested, here’s what I posted last month:<br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/114976.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=114976" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:114310August Recap & FIC2020-09-01T15:04:25Z2020-09-01T15:04:25Zpublic9I can’t believe summer is over, friends. I don’t feel like I had one. Like July, I spent August transporting my mother-in-law to her dialysis treatments three days a week. While I waited for her I did First Job work on my laptop in a very un-ergonomic setting. Two days a week I was going into the office, and three days a week I had a shift at Second Job. Even if I’d had a place to get away to, I wouldn’t have had the time.<br /><br />The good news is that MIL is finally getting transport through her insurance, so I’m off the hook. Now I’m trying to see her once a week so she doesn’t feel abandoned.<br /><br />My boy has been very clingy this month, and his mood has been very down. He’s been off his antidepressants for a couple months now – against my recommendations – and I don’t know if it’s that, or just him spending too much time at home, or something else entirely. He’s been keeping vampire hours, but also trying to be more helpful around the house, which I appreciate. Despite virus concerns, he’s looking forward to being back in school next week.<br /><br />Scrapbooking was crazy this month, most likely because I was having so much trouble finding fic words. I created 28 layouts. Some current events, most from the past. This has been in conjunction with me scanning albums full of pictures. I’ve only scratched the surface so far. Millions of pics on paper before I got my first digital camera.<br /><br />Here’s one of the layouts I did last month:<br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/114310.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br />Writing was…not easy. Oh, I had a lot of fics to post, but those had been mostly written the month before at <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='16' height='16'/></a><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/'><b>comment_fic</b></a></span>. The big effort was finishing up my <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://wipbigbang.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png' alt='[community profile] ' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://wipbigbang.dreamwidth.org/'><b>wipbigbang</b></a></span> fic. That was like pulling teeth, and a big part of the reason I did so much scrapbooking. But I did prevail, even if the last chapter is a bit rushed.<br /><br />I revisited some of my older ‘verses last month, which I haven’t played in for a while. And of course, with one fic desperately needing to be finished, I was plagued with bunnies. (Stay tuned! LOL!)<br /><br />If you’re interested, here are the fics I posted in August:<br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/114310.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=114310" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:113583July Recap and FIC2020-08-01T16:11:10Z2020-08-01T16:11:10Zpublic10July was a crazy, crazy month for me, friends.<br /><br />I became my mother-in-law’s sole source of transportation for dialysis treatments. When she got sick – she has some kind of rare blood disease that’s damaged a lot of her internals – her boyfriend basically bailed on her. And her sons live in other states. So it’s just me. Dialysis is three days a week and eats six hours out of my day. Most of which I spend in my car. I feel bad I can’t do more for her (she lives a half hour away) but with two jobs to juggle it’s hard. She cries a lot. <br /><br />As of the 30th, First Job has reopened at 50% capacity. For me, this means I’ll be working my usual hours but only on odd-numbered days. Except I might still be working from home because of the dialysis thing and me being unable to get in the office those days. Waiting for a letter from MIL’s doc.<br /><br />Second Job is going well. Only pulling two shifts a week, which is the minimum I can do and I’m really enjoying it. The one downside is that my 25-year-old deli boss insists that the virus is a hoax. She doesn’t wear a mask unless she’s at work, she still gets together with all her friends, and she’s full of conspiracy theories. It’s really annoying. Her biggest argument? “None of my friends have gotten it.” Well, I’ve never gotten cancer, but I’m pretty sure <i>that’s</i> not a hoax. ::rolls eyes::<br /><br />My boy and I had a good month. No big fights. He’s actually been a bit clingy lately, which may or may not be a response to his grandmother being so sick. He turned seventeen on the 18th, which is so wrong, wrong, wrong. What happened to my tiny, adorable son? He still hasn’t expressed much interest in getting his driving permit.<br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/113583.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br />I created nine scrapbook layouts in July. A random assortment of topics, from my pretty kitties to Second Job to the pandemic. Here’s one of them:<br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/113583.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br />Writing was really good last month! I hosted at <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='16' height='16'/></a><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/'><b>comment_fic</b></a></span> the last week of June/first week of July, and wrote a gazillion fills. Met all the challenges I wanted to for the month but made almost no progress on my Big Bang fic. Which isn’t good.<br /><br />I posted 20 fics in July. (Whaaaat?) And wrote 23k new words. Here’s what I posted in July:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/113583.html#cutid3">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=113583" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:1046672019 Overview and FIC2020-01-03T01:27:45Z2020-01-03T01:27:45Zpublic13Happy New Year, friends!<br /><br />It was definitely a mixed bag of a year for me. There were some pretty big highs, mostly involving meeting online friends and attending my second ever Stargate convention. And some lows, including my ex husband moving away without a word and abandoning our son.<br /><br />In the world of scrapbooking, I can report eleven completed pages and way too many newly-purchased digital elements and papers. Most of them were Christmas-related, like this one:<br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/104667.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br />On the writing front, I had a strong start to the year but a fairly weak finish. Not sure where my mojo went, but finding words was almost impossible. Overall, though, it was a good writing year for me. I was able to step back from the pressure of deadlines and challenges, which meant I was much more relaxed with my writing. I’m hoping to continue that into the new year.<br /><br />Here’s my AO3 overview for 2019, which I’ve seen some other friends doing.<br /><br /><b>124 fics posted</b>, which is a ridiculously high number. But a lot of those fics were short fills.<br /><b>150,265 words posted</b>, which is down about 70k from last year.<br /><b>6,905 kudos</b><br /><b>1,186 comment threads</b><br /><b>60,777 hits</b><br /><b>93 prompts filled</b><br /><b>8 new fandoms written in</b><br /><br />I could compare all these numbers to last year, but I don’t want to make myself feel bad. ::grins:: <br /><br /><b>Most Hits</b><br /><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/18806995">First Time, And Again</a>: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Bucky and Steve getting their sexy on.<br /><br /><b>Most Kudos & Most Bookmarks</b><br /><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/17774795">Three Times John Used His Words</a>: Stargate Atlantis, John and Rodney taking turns getting whumped while progressing in their relationship.<br /><br /><b>Most Comment Threads</b><br /><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/19712902">Feels Like Home</a>: Stargate Atlantis, Rodney deals with John’s major head injury and many, many feels ensue.<br /><br />Most of my low counts are in the Trixie Belden fandom, which is a small, small fandom. So I’m not surprised there. It hasn’t stopped me from wanting to write it, though. <br /><br /><b>Favorite Thing I Wrote This Year</b><br /><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/17593436">A Letterkenny Family Reunion</a>: Letterkenny/Stargate Atlantis, Once the idea popped into my head of Wayne and Rodney being related, it wouldn’t go away. I really like how it came out, even though it was only my second ever Letterkenny fic.<br /><br /><b>Favorite Series I Started This Year</b><br /><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/1435762">Sagebrush Tales</a>: Hawaii Five-0 (with some crossovers), Danny and Steve fighting the good fight in the Old West. It’s been fun making them cowboys and finding ways to bring in some familiar faces. This all started thanks to some prompts on <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='16' height='16'/></a><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/'><b>comment_fic</b></a></span>.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=104667" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:102868October Recap and FIC2019-11-01T18:00:46Z2019-11-01T18:00:46Zpublic6Ah, October. We already have one month of school behind us, and nothing ahead of us but cold, miserable weather and expensive holidays. ::grins::<br /><br />It wasn’t a bad month overall. My boy is killin’ it at school. His grades are good, his attendance is amazing compared to last year, and he’s been in a pretty good headspace lately. Things are still going strong with his girlfriend, but I’ve managed to back the entourage back to one dinner a week so they’re not overwhelming me.<br /><br />I dressed up for Halloween this year. I usually do, though I half-ass it most of the time. But this year I went all out…and dressed like my son. ::grins:: Everything I’m wearing is his, and I styled my hair the same way he sometimes wears his. It was pretty good. The other kids at school thought it was pretty cool. (One of them said I looked ‘gangsta’.)<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/102868.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />On the work front, things continue to be insane. At both jobs. I don’t know what it is. Something in the water? It feels like every day is Monday. At school it’s been nothing but cops and CPS and craziness. (Today the power went out and it took two hours to get all the kids picked up and sent home.) At the deli we’ve been overwhelmed thanks to piss-poor scheduling and an inexplicable influx of customers during what’s supposed to be our slow season.<br /><br />Scrapbooking was on point in October, though. Like, seriously. I did twenty-one scrapbook layouts. Twenty-one! And that’s with a laptop that sometimes forgets how to work right and a psychotic mouse. I’ve also gotten most of my paper pages scanned in, and I’m slowly getting them organized. <br /><br />Here’s one of the pages I did this past month:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/102868.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />Writing wasn’t quite so on point, probably because I was so busy scrapbooking. But I had a burst of fic at the beginning of the month thanks to a friend hosting <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='16' height='16'/></a><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/'><b>comment_fic</b></a></span> and pulled out some last-minute fics for a few October challenges. In between I scrapped and watched a gazillion hours of <i>Fixer Upper</i>.<br /><br />If you’re interested, here are the fics I posted this past month:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/102868.html#cutid3">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=102868" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:101615August Recap & FIC2019-09-02T03:06:03Z2019-09-02T03:10:56Zpublic8August was a pretty good month for me, friends.<br /><br />I spent a lovely few days with my aunt, who lives about three and a half hours from me up north. It was really relaxing. We played Mexican Train, imbibed adult beverages (and wine slushies), roasted marshmallows, and even did a little hiking at Watkins Glen, which is gorgeous but super strenuous for a couch potato like me.<br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/101615.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br />Even better, my boy’s girlfriend was at her dad’s for two weeks. That was two weeks without having to feed the girlfriend, her sister, and her mother, or entertain them for hours. What a delightful respite!<br /><br />It didn’t last, of course. I don’t know if Linda, the mom, doesn’t trust me to keep our kids from doing things they shouldn’t or what, but now the girlfriend never comes over without her whole family in tow. It’s exhausting. This past week they were over Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday (to celebrate the girlfriend’s birthday).<br /><br />First Job has been busy. We’ve finally hired for all our vacant positions except for guidance counselor. I’m still waiting on my new filing cabinet, but otherwise I’m mostly ready for school to start.<br /><br />My boy is also ready. We went school shopping yesterday, so he’s fitted out with new jeans, new shirts, a new hat, and some brand-new hair, courtesy of the JC Penney hair salon.<br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/101615.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br />Scrapbooking was been slim last month. I don’t have anything to share. But that’s okay, because I wrote my buns off. This is because I hosted at <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='16' height='16'/></a><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/'><b>comment_fic</b></a></span> for a week, and then my friend Squidgie posted the week after, and when I’m hosting (or a friend is) I try to do as many fills as I can. And boy howdy did I!<br /><br />The only bad thing is that I didn’t finish (or start, actually) my <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://intoabar.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png' alt='[community profile] ' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://intoabar.dreamwidth.org/'><b>intoabar</b></a></span> fic. I had every intention of doing it, but I just couldn’t get into it. Ah, well. I’m not going to fret about it. Goodness knows there are plenty more deadlines on the horizon I can try for.<br /><br />If you’re interested, here are the fics I finished in August:<br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/101615.html#cutid3">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=101615" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:100527July Recap and FIC2019-08-01T17:22:35Z2019-08-01T17:22:35Zpublic27This month has been a crazy ride, friends, and no lie.<br /><br />Best day of the month was July 4th. Normally we don’t do much to celebrate on that day, because my boy isn’t much interested in seeing fireworks and no-one in our family has a party. But this year we spent the <i>entire</i> day together, just my boy and me. He usually spends all his time in his room, playing video games and watching anime. Instead, we binge-watched all of <i>Stranger Things</i> season three, we had Chinese takeout, and my boy indulged his inner pyro with colored smoke bombs and sparklers.<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/100527.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />Things took a bit of a downturn for his 16th birthday. The actual day was fine, even though I somehow ended up taking not only my boy but his girlfriend and his best buddy out for breakfast. His dad called twice, but his calls went unreturned. And then on the weekend we had his party, to which I’d invited a full 50 people, expected about 25, and had an actual turnout of 16. Not the big blowout I’d envisioned for such a milestone, and I felt bad even though my boy said he had a good time.<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/100527.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />Just this past week, things bottomed out on the family front. My boy and his girlfriend got caught doing things they shouldn’t be, by her mother. Found out they’ve just started being intimate with each other and what the heck am I supposed to do about that? Sigh. There was a lot of talking, about being responsible, about lying, about taking advantage of my kindness. So now these kids will have to be more aggressively supervised when they’re together.<br /><br />Perhaps emboldened by these events, or full of emotions he needed to direct at someone, my boy called his dad and pretty much verbally burned him to the ground. On the one hand, I’m glad he <i>finally</i> expressed his feelings to his dad, which he’s never really done no matter how mad or disappointed he is. On the other hand, that was kind of brutal to listen to. Not sure what the ex is going to do now, but hopefully he’ll man up and try harder to be a better dad, even though he has to do it long distance now.<br /><br />It’s safe to say I’ve been a ball of emotion this month. Plus dealing with an intermittent heatwave without any AC at home.<br /><br />On the work front, we are now outsourcing our IT at First Job. All our computers were reimaged this week, and I lost access to both LJ and AO3. And there’s no chance our new IT overlords will let me have them back because they’re not work-related sites and I’d have to explain why I need them. I can still access both on my phone, though, so I ordered a Bluetooth keyboard for it so I can still at least comment on posts at the prompt comm when I’m hosting.<br /><br />On the writing front, I was very productive this month, mostly due to the fact that one of my friends hosted at <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='16' height='16'/></a><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/'><b>comment_fic</b></a></span> twice this past month, and I always try to participate more when that happens. I’ll be hosting week after next, so presumably more words will be happening then as well.<br /><br />Here’s what I churned out in July, if you’re interested:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/100527.html#cutid3">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=100527" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:97768The June Something - Day 102019-06-10T13:03:22Z2019-06-10T13:03:22Zpublic6<i>What is the largest fandom that you're in?</i><br /><br />Marvel, hands down. The amount of fic that gets posted for that fandom every day is ridiculous, although I realize MCU encompasses a LOT of film franchises and characters. I mostly write Steve/Bucky fics, though have been known to dabble in Steve/Bucky/Sam, Steve/Tony, and even Bucky/Tony.<br /><br />I got into this fandom because of <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://taste-is-sweet.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://taste-is-sweet.dreamwidth.org/'><b>taste_is_sweet</b></a></span>, who wandered away from Stargate Atlantis and McShep for the literal train wreck that is Bucky Barnes. It didn't take much for me to see the appeal, either. Of all the angsty boys in my fic stable, Bucky is hands-down the angstiest and most in need of hugs. There are so many facets of his character to explore, and in the end I just want him to be happy. (We will not discuss how he was done so very, very wrong in <i>Endgame</i>.)<br /><br /><center><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/file/87556.gif"><img src="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/file/480x480/87556.gif" alt="" title="Helicarrier Bucky" /></a></center><br /><br />According to AO3, I have 47 MCU fics. Some are barely-there crossovers, but I do have a couple series. Like the <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/468967">Flower Shop AU</a>, where Steve is a florist with a bad heart and Bucky is an injured former soldier and his best friend. And <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/275394">Making Connections</a>, which is a more canon-compliant story of Bucky trying to figure out where he belongs after the events of Winter Soldier.<br /><br />I'm proud of a lot of my work in this fandom, but it's also the writing I'm most unsure about. Possibly because the MCU fandom is just so vast and I get very little feedback from those people when I post a fic. Like they know it's not my main fandom and I'm just kind of mucking around with the characters. Or maybe that's just me being paranoid and insecure.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=97768" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:95103May Recap and FIC2019-06-01T17:07:53Z2019-06-01T17:07:53Zpublic6May was a comparatively busy month for me. My boy, his girlfriend, my gal pal, and I had dinner out – on a Tuesday! – because I’d taken the kids to see <i>Ugly Dolls</i> for their six-month anniversary. Cali and I shopped while we waited for the movie to get out. And the girlfriend and her mother came over for dinner the week after.<br /><br />Memorial Day I managed to get off from both First and Second job, so I was able to go to my MIL’s for a family BBQ. That made me so happy, because I’m not allowed to have a grill at the place I’m living right now so I’m always begging people to BBQ for me. It was also a beautiful day in a sea of rain and chilly temps.<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/95103.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />I definitely got all my socialization hours in! LOL!<br /><br />Also happy to report that my boy only missed one day of school in May, and that was because he was legitimately sick. He had a med check a couple weeks ago and everything is looking good with his current scripts.<br /><br />I made five scrapbook pages in May (one for National Scrapbooking Day), and an album documenting a trip to Las Vegas I made in 1993 (that turned out to be 22 pages).<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/95103.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />Two downsides to the month. First, my boy got in-school suspension two days last month. One for skipping math class for the thousandth time, and the other for drawing penises on other kids’ classwork. Ah, such a proud mommy moment. ::rolls eyes::<br /><br />Second, I had a killer migraine (of course on the one weekend I didn’t have to work at Second Job). I was feeling a little headachy and took some ibuprofen before I drove the boy’s girlfriend home. Mistake! Night driving isn’t great for me on a regular day, but throw in a headache and a lot of lightening (no rain, though, thankfully), and I was hurting. Had to stop at a gas station on the way back because I thought I was gonna hurl. Thankfully I didn’t, but I was so sick I just went to bed. And took the next day off from both jobs because I still wasn’t feeling great the next day. I rarely get migraines, and have so much sympathy for people who have to deal with that chronically.<br /><br />Finally, the writing. I had low expectations. There were some challenges I hoped to meet (there was one I didn’t), but beyond that just plucking away at random writing projects. But this turned out to be the Month of Prompt Fills. Sooo many prompt fills. Partially because a friend was hosting at <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='16' height='16'/></a><a href='http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/'><b>comment_fic</b></a></span>, and then because I was hosting (and I try to leave at least one fill a day on my hosting days). But even when I wasn’t really participating a prompt would jump out at me and I’d feel compelled to fill it.<br /><br />Here’s the long, long list of fic, if you’re interested:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/95103.html#cutid3">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=95103" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:94882April Recap and FIC2019-05-04T04:48:34Z2019-05-04T04:48:34Zpublic8April was a pretty chill month for me, I have to say. I decided to take the week of Spring Break off from First Job, and had no shifts at Second Job after that Tuesday. It was wonderful. I lazed around in bed, I wrote when I felt like it, scrapbooked when I wanted to...if I never had to go to work again I'd be a very happy person.<br /><br />I binge-watched a lot of <i>The Property Brothers</i>, and bought one of their books. Yes, I'm a fan. LOL!<br /><br />My boy didn't miss a single day of school in April. Wow!! And he's actually passing all his classes right now, which is amazing. We spent a day out with his dad, to celebrate his dad's birthday. My boy got his industrial piercing, which hurt him like the dickens. And then we saw <i>Avengers: Endgame</i>, which hurt <i>me</i> like the dickens.<br /><br />I crafted eleven scrapbook layouts in April, including this one:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/94882.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />There were a surprising amount of words for the month. And I managed to complete three challenge fics, so woo hoo for that!<br /><br />Here's what I got finished last month:<br /><br /><b>Title:</b> <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/18510727">One Defining Moment</a><br /><b>Fandom:</b> Stargate Atlantis<br /><b>Series:</b> As Seen on TV<br /><b>Challenge:</b> <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://crossovercoffee.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png' alt='[community profile] ' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://crossovercoffee.dreamwidth.org/'><b>crossovercoffee</b></a></span> Round 1<br /><b>Pairing:</b> Rodney McKay/John Sheppard (pre-slash)<br /><b>Characters:</b> Rodney, John<br /><b>Warning(s):</b> shameless use of Mitch Pileggi in this X-Files fusion<br /><br /><b>Summary/Prompts:</b> During some downtime between cases, John builds paper airplanes and Rodney ponders the mystery that is John.<br /><hr><br /><b>Title:</b> <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/18579172">It Takes A Village</a><br /><b>Fandom:</b> Stargate Atlantis/Stargate SG1/Marvel Cinematic Universe/The Sentinel<br /><b>Series:</b> Life in the Yukon<br /><b>Challenge:</b> <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://whatif-au.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png' alt='[community profile] ' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://whatif-au.dreamwidth.org/'><b>whatif_au</b></a></span> Anniversary Challenge<br /><b>Pairing:</b> Evan Lorne/clone!Jack O'Neill, Evan Lorne/Ronon Dex, Rodney McKay/John Sheppard, Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg<br /><b>Characters:</b> All of the above, plus Caldwell, Clint Barton, Aiden Ford, and OCs<br /><b>Warning(s):</b> Big Gay Alaskan Town, beginnings of polyamory<br /><br /><b>Summary/Prompts:</b> Evan is dealing with Jon's improbable backstory, the upcoming mostly-naked Fun Run in the snow, and Lantea's biggest party of the year. But Ronon has one last curveball to throw him.<br /><hr><br /><b>Title:</b> <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/18645868">In From the Cold</a><br /><b>Fandom:</b> Captain America/Torchwood<br /><b>Challenge:</b> <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://hc-bingo.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png' alt='[community profile] ' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://hc-bingo.dreamwidth.org/'><b>hc_bingo</b></a></span> April Amnesty Challenge<br /><b>Pairing:</b> Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes<br /><b>Characters:</b> Steve, Bucky, Jack Harkness, Peggy Carter<br /><b>Warning(s):</b> loss of limb, h/c of all kinds<br /><br /><b>Summary/Prompts:</b> Steve is ready to sacrifice himself for the greater good when Captain Jack Harkness shows up with some devastatingly unexpected news and a plan to put things right for Steve and Bucky.<br /><hr><br /><b>Title:</b> <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/18657307">Frozen (But What Can I Do)</a><br /><b>Fandom:</b> Marvel Cinematic Universe<br /><b>Series:</b> Bite Sized Bits of Fic<br /><b>Pairing:</b> Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes/Sam Wilson<br /><b>Characters:</b> Steve, Bucky, Sam<br /><b>Warning(s):</b> PTSD, polyamory<br /><br /><b>Summary/Prompts:</b> Marvel Cinematic Universe, Bucky Barnes (/Sam Wilson),<br /><br /><i>I can't feel my senses</i><br /><i>I just feel the cold</i><br /><i>All colors seem to fade away</i><br /><i>I can't reach my soul</i><br />(Within Temptation)<br /><br />In which Sam and Steve help Bucky through his own particular brand of PTSD.<br /><hr><br /><b>Title:</b> <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/18664744">Les Bons Temps</a><br /><b>Fandom:</b> Trixie Belden Mysteries/The Three Investigators<br /><b>Series:</b> Bite Sized Bits of Fic<br /><b>Pairing:</b> Trixie Belden/Jupiter Jones<br /><b>Characters:</b> Trixie, Jupiter, OCs<br /><b>Warning(s):</b> schmoopy vacation times<br /><br /><b>Summary/Prompts:</b> <i>Any, any, being a tourist makes them feel like a fish out of water</i><br /><br />In which Jupiter is a reluctant tourist, but Trixie makes everything fun.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=94882" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:94488Avengers Spoilers Wanted!2019-04-22T14:43:12Z2019-04-22T14:43:12Zpublic7Is anyone going to see <i>Avengers: End Game</i> before Saturday? If so, I would love it if you could PM me and let me know about character deaths. It's making me super anxious. I don't need any plot points or anything, just Character = alive/dead. If I know going in what to expect I'll be able to mentally prepare, at least a little.<br /><br />Thank youuuuuu!<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=94488" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:89874January Recap and FIC2019-02-03T04:22:30Z2019-02-03T04:22:30Zpublic8January was a month of ups and down across the board. <br /><br />My boy was struggling at the beginning of the month, but by the end was doing much better. Some of that may be due to the increase in his Zoloft and the addition of CBD oil when he's feeling especially needy.<br /><br />The weather was ridiculous. We had days that were almost in the 50s, and days that were in the -30s. Brr! All things being equal, I'd prefer the warmer temps. I'm so done with winter I can't even tell you.<br /><br />My hours have been cut at Second Job, as they always are at this time of year because it's our "slow" time. I've only been pulling about 8 hours a week, when I normally have 12-14. I don't mind having more evenings free, but my bank account has been suffering. It was getting super dicey, and then my mother finally sold her car (she inherited my grandpa's much newer car when he died, and had promised me the money from selling her car). So I've been able to get the foodstuffs built back up, as well as things like cleaning supplies. Whew!<br /><br />In the fandom arena, I participated in <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://snowflake-challenge.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png' alt='[community profile] ' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://snowflake-challenge.dreamwidth.org/'><b>snowflake_challenge</b></a></span> again this year, and I really enjoyed it. It was nice to have the motivation for some fannish introspection, as well as the opportunity to do some things for other friends in fandom.<br /><br />Thanks to <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://squidgiepdx.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://squidgiepdx.dreamwidth.org/'><b>squidgiepdx</b></a></span> (at least I think I'm thankful), I got into a new fandom in January: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterkenny_(TV_series)">Letterkenny</a>. This has produced two fics, some new icons, a vinyl sticker for my car, and some awkward moments with my son, who always seems to come out of his room at just the wrong time when I'm watching. LOL!<br /><br />I spent a lot of the month working on my (still unfinished) steampunk fic for <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://whatif-au.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png' alt='[community profile] ' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://whatif-au.dreamwidth.org/'><b>whatif_au</b></a></span>, but I did manage to finish some things. If you're interested, here are the fics I posted in January:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/89874.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=89874" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:86996Snowflake Challenge Day 82019-01-08T15:10:26Z2019-01-08T15:10:26Zpublic12<b>In your own space, post self-recs for at least three fanworks that you created.</b><br /><br />Pimp my own fics? Why, of course! LOL!<br /><br /><a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/7413340">Never Stop Fighting (Till the Fight is Done)</a>: I'm starting with this one because I've been in a Western mood and this is my only cowboy fic. It's the assembling of the Avengers western style, with no super powers, just super personalities. And Steve looking for vengeance. (Marvel Cinematic Universe, Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes)<br /><br /><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/970923">Killer Instinct</a>: This is a series I'm really proud of, because it was tricky for me to write. John is a serial killer and Rodney is the FBI agent hunting him, and the closer they get the more the lines get blurred. There are no murders-in-the-moment happening in here, in case you're squeamish, but dead bodies are examined after the fact. (Stargate Atlantis, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay)<br /><br /><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/7825753">Of Witch I Am Familiar</a>: Inspired by a picture on Tumblr, this is the story of Rodney the cat and John the raven, both familiars for the same witch who need to embark on a journey to find her and learn to work together. It's super cute. And if you like the guys as animals, I have also made them angsty roosters in <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/3615165">Something to Crow About</a>. (Stargate Atlantis, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay)<br /><br /><a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/4986688">Shambles</a>: AKA the Zombie fic! Steve and Danny are separated by a country full of shambling zombies and things are not going well. But you know I'll give those boys their happy ending! I'm really proud of how this one turned out. But yes, there is some zombie-level gore. (Hawaii Five-0, Steve McGarrett/Danny Williams)<br /><br /><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/839529">After the Eclipse</a>: An original series that started as my response to a flash challenge and has grown since then. In a small, unnamed town, things start taking a turn for the paranormal after a solar eclipse, and only Sally from the convenience store is equipped to deal with it. (Original)<br /><br /><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/15565080">What Could Go Right</a>: Last, but not least, my entry for the SGA Big Bang. I really went out of my comfort zone on this one, because it's not McShep. Well, kind of but in a different way. John and Evan are a bonded Sentinel/Guide pair, sent to rescue Rodney McKay. Who turns out to be John's platonic soulmate. There are also a pile of crossovers, just for added fun. I'm really pleased with how this turned out, since there are sex scenes and action scenes and General Jack O'Neill in an aloha shirt. ::grins:: There's also some amazing art by <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://mific.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://mific.dreamwidth.org/'><b>mific</b></a></span>. (Stargate Atlantis/Hawaii Five-0/Marvel Cinematic Universe/The Sentinel/Invisible Man/In Plain Sight, John Sheppard/Evan Lorne, Steve McGarrett/Danny Williams, Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes/Sam Wilson)<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=86996" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2015-05-25:2410670:85749Snowflake Challenge Day 32019-01-03T16:33:42Z2019-01-03T16:33:42Zpublic36<b>In your own space, share a favorite piece of original canon (a TV episode, a song, a favorite interview, a book, a scene from a movie, etc) and explain why you love it so much.</b><br /><br />I'm feeling extra today, so I'll do one from each of my main fandoms. In alphabetical order so as not to have any accusations of favoritism. ::grins::<br /><br /><b>Alice (2009):</b> Hatter all the way on this one. With his soulful eyes and angsty backstory, he really drew me in. But it was his stint in the Truth Room that solidified it for me. (Why do I like hurting my boys so much??) He was obviously hurting but still managed to bide his time and make his getaway. Look how pretty he is!<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/85749.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><b>Hawaii Five-0:</b> The epic canon bromance between Steve and Danny is often a thing of beauty. Danny calls Steve 'babe'. They regularly tell each other they love each other. They get compared to a married couple all the damn time. I do believe it's canon at this point that they'll be old men together. But this moment here, from season one, when Steve is being airlifted to the hospital, this says it all. Season one, people! The love was there!<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/85749.html#cutid2">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><b>Marvel Cinematic Universe:</b> I was a happy-go-lucky Stony shipper when I first dipped a toe in the MCU. And then one of my fandom besties started writing Stucky. So I watched the first two Captain America movies. OMG. Bucky! The most broken of all my broken boys. The moment that sealed it for me? When he's trying to kill Steve on the helicarrier and with one line Steve manages to break through decades of Hydra brainwashing. That moment, when Bucky gets an inkling of what he might be doing, slays me every time.<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/85749.html#cutid3">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><b>The Sentinel</b>: Jim and Blair have a more subtle bromance in this show, but it's there. They live together, work together, vacation together. The babes of the week have no staying power. But the ultimate expression of love in this fandom? Jim literally brought Blair back from the dead. The paramedics had called it but Jim said no, called on all his Sentinel mysticism, and suddenly Blair was breathing again. Oh, man. So emotional. And sadly no pic or gif to share because I can't find one. Instead, have this moment from the blooper reel:<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___4" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/85749.html#cutid4">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___4" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><b>Stargate Atlantis:</b> I was reading in this fandom before I ever watched a single ep. And because of the fic, the first ep I started with was The Shrine, which was all the way in season five. Such a good McShep ep (until the no-homo ending) because, even though Rodney is forgetting everything due to a brain parasite, he never forgets John. He calls for John. When he wakes up scared he runs to John's room and John comforts him. This ep is everything. <br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___5" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://brumeier.dreamwidth.org/85749.html#cutid5">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___5" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=brumeier&ditemid=85749" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments