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My Pets Would Love Some Toys
Dec. 8th, 2025 10:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
days_unfolding posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
holiday_wishesI don't need anything for myself, but it would be fun to get a surprise package. (I no longer get Christmas presents because my mom, aunt, and uncle recently died, and my dad doesn't give presents for reasons known only to him. Not meant to be a pity party, it's just the way that it is.)
But anyway, I have three cats and two dogs who would love some toys. (I got them Christmas presents, but no toys.) I have an Amazon wishlist for them, but if you have a toy that your pets really like, we'd love to get it.
My address is:
Adrienne Radzvickas
401 S Anderson St.
Urbana, IL 61801
These are the pets. Cats: Zara, 16, gray; Oliver, 1, orange; Lily, 1, calico. Dogs: Bella, 1, black and white; Gracie, 1, brown, white, and black.
( Pet Pictures )
Little Damsel (Challenge #46: Reverse Fandom: BTVS) [Original Fiction]
Dec. 8th, 2025 07:25 pmbut_can_i_be_trusted posting in ficlet_zoneFandom: Original Fiction
Author:
but_can_i_be_trustedRating: R
Challenge: #46: Buffy the Vampire Slayer ('Superstar')
Warnings: Disturbing concepts
Notes: Crossposted to
genprompt_bingoSummary: Having been locked in the darkness for so long, you blink, disoriented, against the sudden glare.
( Little Damsel )
'Tis the season
Dec. 9th, 2025 12:58 pmmerrileemakes posting in holiday_wishes- I have just bought a tablet and styles to write with and have discovered the joy of digital notebooks, I would love recommendations of sites to get free planner templates and digital stickers.
- I would love any colour palettes, colour inspiration or sources you use for colour combinations. I'm always on the look out for colour combos to use in weaving designs.
- If you post about your hobbies on DW I would love to add you to my reading list! Doesn't have to be fibre craft or any hobbies I'm into, I enjoy learning about almost everything.
- Photos of your cat, your friend's cat, your bodega's cat, your cousin's friend's piano teacher's cat. Bonus if you include a cute comment or story about them.
- Give back to your community in any way you can - donate your cash, time or goodwill to make this hell year a little easier.
- Make space for yourself during the holidays. Say no to an event that you're dreading, go hide from your family that are driving you crazy and scroll on your phone, or block your opinionated uncle on FB. Or do something for you after a stressful or draining event.
- Post about your favourite podcast or audio entertainment in my new comm voiceinnyear
- Buy something, no matter how small, from a BIPOC- or LGBT-run business or creator.
- Be kind to animals. If you're in the southern hemisphere but some water out for the birds, if your in the northern hemisphere put out some food.
- If you're so inclined I would love an Etsy gift voucher. Please ask for my email address.
Animal encounter.
Dec. 8th, 2025 09:31 pmhannahShe was mostly quiet, except for one point where she made something like a whine mixed with a whimper. I told her, "I don't blame you." But I don't think she heard me what with all the noise around us.
At the next corner, I complimented her behavior on who I thought was her owner; she said she was just the walker, and the dog's name was Kato, and she was impressed at her, too. I didn't ask to pet her, just looked at her, watching a little kid ask if she could pet Kato herself instead. I thought about how her owners needed to commission a walker's services, and how it could be a brief thing due to a family emergency or it could be a standing commitment, and knowing Manhattan, it's likely the latter. It still strikes me as strange to keep an animal like a dog as a pet in a big city, and looking at her today, it feels even stranger. I walked across the park and listened to the sounds of the vehicles and thought about how unpleasant I found it, and how the city isn't designed for auditory comfort. It could be, and it isn't, and it saddened me to think how much worse Kato must have things.
(no subject)
Dec. 8th, 2025 06:23 pmshadaras1.
I never did say that I did get my ears repierced, did I xD But I did! It's been like a month! The piercer was like "so, let's just re-open those old holes, I bet they're still fine, just maybe a little finicky", and she was correct. A lot easier to heal from something that's just expanding old scar tissue than making a new hole in the body, obviously, which is good because tbh I wasn't excited about tending to a new wound.
So I can wear ear shinies now! I need to acquire more of them, especially more interesting studs that I can wear during work/aikido. xD Dangly earrings are pretty but inconvenient when doing very physical stuff.
she was ALSO like "you have skinny earlobes!" and I was like "uh?" and she was cheerfully like "this means that even the tiniest studs I have are going to be a little loose on you and the average stud will be noticeably loose" (true, btw) and then "do your ears get cold particularly easily?" (no, actually, they don't?). It was all very "this is not a body part I think about the variance in very often but yeah someone who does body mods/piercings sure would have thoughts about this!". xD
2.
The heater in our dojo, which has been dying for years, has finally given up the ghost. Considering that our dojo barely breaks even most of the time, uh, not good to need to replace that in the middle of winter. We shall see how paying for that ends up working, considering that it only broke like last Friday and we only got someone to look at it today, and they haven't provided a specific estimate yet (just a rough ballpark upon identifying the failed part). Fun times!
3.
It is WINTER and COLD now.
...yeah that's about it.
This does mean my cat will paw at the blanket I keep on my couch and then curl up in expectation that I shall Tuck Her In, which is absolutely adorable of her. <3
4.
I finished my Yuletide draft and made eyes at a friend who also knows the canon to beta-read it, so I don't need to worry about that until they get back to me. I had a lot of fun doing canon review for this one! One of those canons where I didn't have any particular ideas but did think it'd be fun to write for someone who had some prompts/thoughts about it, and: I was right!
5.
Talked to my dad yesterday about family and life and books, and it's very funny how at once I got so much of my taste in books from him and how much more willing he is to read moderately shitty epic fantasy than I am. Admittedly, this may just be a factor of age and that he grew up reading more stuff in that genre (by which I mean: Male Gaze Power Fantasy) than I did, and so has way more tolerance for it than I do. He's perfectly happy to read whatever else I place in front of him! And he enjoys it! He just also reads these. xD
6.
god, idk, did I have other things to say
work is work. it's fine. I would like more sleep. whatever.
7.
I'm still somehow keeping up with Critical Role: Araman? I zone out of combat (normal) but this mostly just means that I'm willing to listen to that while doing other things even moreso than the more story-centric content that I'll listen to while driving or doing dishes etc. I think the part I enjoy most is that they're doing multiple tables and focusing on one table at a time, but the opening scene for each episode is from one of the other groups, a teaser of what they're getting up to/going to be doing when the focus switches to them.
A little treat
Dec. 8th, 2025 04:54 pmcathrowanIt's been a pretty good six months. I probably won't get around to trying to write a summary. I've been intermittently reading you all, although not commenting.
Here at latitude 53 sunset is at 4:15 pm today. I don't enjoy the long nights. Only two more weeks to the solstice!
more IRA paperwork
Dec. 8th, 2025 05:45 pmredbirdThey provided the medallion for my signature, but the woman who handled that told me she thought I would need to redo the _Fidelity_ forms once BNY had transferred the funds, because the inherited IRA would need a brand-new account, not the one I created for the purpose a few weeks ago. Having printed and signed those forms, I asked her to keep them, in case they are usable. (She may have been thinking I'm trying to move the money into an account that already has money in it.)
She also said I do need to put the form with the medallion signature in the mail to BNY, Fidelity can't send it to them electronically. I brought the medallion-ized form home with me, but before I put it in the mail I'm going to scan it and upload the scan to the Fidelity website, in case the previous advisor is right and they can do this electronically.
So that will be another outing in the cold, to a post office, in the hope the letter gets to BNY in good season despite both Christmas packages and the Republican effort to destroy the postal service. Fortunately, there are post office branches at this end of the green line, the part that's still running trolleys.
ETA: I scanned the document, and just uploaded it to the Fidelity website, with a message explaining that I will be mailing the hardcopy to BNY tomorrow.
Thank you!
Dec. 8th, 2025 02:16 pmhalfshellvenusNow, here's something from Chuck Wendig. Chuck is an author who blogs a lot about books and heirloom apples and the writing process. He is also very anti-AI, not just AI as a substitute for creative endeavors but also because a lot of AI output is simply wrong. Here's his hilarious screed on the results of the simple question, does Chuck Wendig have a cat? Talk about a snowball effect!
Rec-cember Day 8: ER
Dec. 8th, 2025 11:16 pmfalenaI'm pretty sure I don't have to tell anyone what this show is about, not least because the name is pretty much self-explanatory, lol.
If you haven't watched it at all, it's probably because medical dramas are not your thing or because you're very young and think that old television is not worth wasting your time over (your loss).
I grew up with ER, John Carter has been my first tv crush, I learnt English to be able to keep up with the show as it aired in the US...so I can't just be objective about it. Season 1 through 3 hold a very special place in my heart.
I honestly wish I had been in fandom back then, but I wasn't, so I'm sure I missed out on a lot of fic. Most of the fic I eventually read was in archives that are no longer online... Fannish life before the Ao3 came along was hard.
Through the Door by C.Midori. I can't believe I'm linking to FF.net! This story is 23 years old, guys. I remember loving it back then, I had it saved as a Word file on my computer, lolol. It's Abby/Carter, a ship I honestly don't remember much about and FF.net makes my eyes bleed so I haven't re-read it before reccing it, sorry. It does seem well-written. It was very angsty, this much I remember. Set around season 8, I think.
Two For The Show by jumpfall. 2.3K words. Gen. Set in the first season, I suppose. This is Carter!whump and H/C at its finest. I love found family stories. And true ensemble pieces like this, with excellent use of the medical setting.
three dates by cicak. 13.6K words.Cater/Benton. Set in season 2 or 3. Carter’s not sure exactly when he first learned about the patented Peter Benton Dating Algorithm, but it must have been early on, because he internalised it like it was any other scrap of information he’d gleaned and hoarded like a crazy person, like his GPA (3.8), his birthday (September 9th) or his blood type (B positive). Now, I personally don't see the Carter/Benton relationship as romantic. At. All.
cicak writes so well and still keeps Carter and Benton completely in character that they just made me buy it.
The Pitt
Like Brothers We Meet by Siria. 17.5k words. Gen. After a chance encounter, Robby finds out that he's got a half-brother he never knew about—an emergency physician from Chicago called John Carter. A fair number of stories that try to tie in/blend ER and The Pitt while explaining the uncanny similarity between Carter and Robby have naturally popped up. This is the best of them all. Totally believable, blends the two canon seamlessly. Robby is our viewpoint character here. Fascinating read, highly recommended.
Just one thing: 09 December 2025
Dec. 8th, 2025 04:04 pmjazzyjj posting in awesomeersComment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.
Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!
Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!
Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.
Go!
Good things about my train journey
Dec. 8th, 2025 09:13 pmcosmolinguistI had a lot of them today and they were mostly exhausting, but
The train manager on the train to Euston told us what platform we'd come in to (making it clear that there might be a last-minute change!), what side the doors would open on, how to get to the Underground and even buses and taxis. Since it's a station I know well, I could verify that everything he was saying was the right amount and kind of information that would've helped me if I hadn't known that and needed to.
I'm not sure this is what was going on because it might not have been working that way but... I think that there was a new feature over the two accessible toilet doors in Euston: there were big lights over the doors, one was red and one was green, so I assumed this meant one was locked and one is open. Like I said my experience made this kinda confusing but it at least made me think it'd be a really good idea! At the moment I have to look for a teeny circle near the lock/handle of the door and determine whether it's white or red. Which, in dim locations like you get at Euston, can be surprisingly difficult! And I feel like an idiot trying my key in a locked door and I don't like to stress out the occupant -- I at least find it stressful when I'm in there and hear someone trying the door, suddenly unsure that I locked it or that it has stayed locked. If a big red or green light over the door could be relied on and rolled out, that'd be great.
I could have used this for fallout and fakes post
Dec. 8th, 2025 04:49 pmneonvincent
Salvage Crew and Pilgrim Machines by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne
Dec. 8th, 2025 04:31 pmlightreads4/5. A pair of related scifi novels largely narrated by sentient ships in a plausible corporatist space future. The first book is a sort of survival horror first contact situation, and the second is philosophical space exploration and consideration of mortality on the personal and galactic scale.
I like these. They manage that trick of feeling old-fashioned in the best way. Particularly the big ideas exploration book – it’s giving Niven or Vinge or Baxter or similar, except, you know, not variously phobic and -ist. Actually, several of the characters are Buddhist, which offers a really interesting lens on some more classic science fictional topics.
I’m a little suspicious about why these books didn’t take off, TBH. He got buzz early on, then seemed to fall off the map. I’m pretty plugged into new and interesting SFF, and I’ve only heard about him from one person. I have a suspicion this is because he openly talks about how he uses AI. E.g., in the first book here, he had AI generate hundreds of short poems on various themes, and he picked several for his AI ship to “write.” He is transparent about how he prompted and why he did it that way. I suspect this got some sort of AI stink on him, professionally, which is a real shame.
I will also add, they got Nathan Fillion to read the first audiobook. Normally I do not like these celebrity narrators, but actually, it’s kind of brilliant? He has this bro-y cynical depressive emotionalism that hit just right for the ship narrator of that book.
Content notes: Corporate hellscape stuff, body horror.