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Prison Break FanfictionI write primarily non-shipper general fiction, and some Lincoln/Michael slash pieces as well. Yes, I know they’re brothers… and no, I normally wouldn’t be writing brothercest. That said, if it’s not your thing then please stick to the General Fiction section.

                  Prison Break Gen Fiction                      Prison Break Slash Fiction

Supernatural FanfictionSupernatural also deals with two brothers, who in this case are bound together in the pursuit of demons and vengeance. An excellent overview of this show and its characters can be found here.

                  Supernatural Gen Fiction                      Supernatural Slash Fiction

Other Fanfiction: Iron Man, Die Hard 4, Chuck, White Collar, Burn Notice, Reaper, and more

Original Fiction and Non-Fiction Stories: Miscellaneous Original Fiction // Real LJ Idol Season 8 // LJ Idol Exhibit A // LJ Idol Exhibit B // LJ Idol Season 9 // LJ Idol Friends And Rivals // LJ Idol Season 10 // LJ Idol Prize Fight // LJ Idol Season 11

I've mentioned HalfshellHusband's book collection before, and how the sheer quantity of books daunts me (in terms of storage or future moving). Well, last week he got to thinking about what might happen if we had to someday move to be closer to the kids, or what I would have to deal with if he passed away. My father, for example, had hundreds of leather-bound classics that my sister is now struggling to find homes for. So, HSH suddenly decided to go through all his books and purge the paperbacks that are easily available on Kindle and any books he honestly will never read again. That means about 50-70 books are on their way to Goodwill or the library!

We had already cleared everything out of the two 6 1/2 foot bookcases we just sold (picked up today), and almost everything we have left fits in the built-in double-bookcase in the sunroom, with a little room left over for our DVDs. That just leaves the CD collection, and he found places for those. This is in addition to the two 6-foot bookcases in the garage that we need to sell. This is a much more manageable number of books! I feel like I can breathe now. Although I bought a replacement bookshelf from Home Depot back in the Fall (with the intent of getting a twin that now seems to be unavailable). I don't think I even need it, and it's never been opened. Wonder if I can return it (months later)?

In TV news, we finished S2 of The Night Manager. What a shocker of an ending! Overall, I was most intrigued by Teddy's character this season, who was cool, volatile, lethal and vulnerable all at once. Very complex, with a great performance by Diego Calva. It haunts me even now. Not sure when S3 is coming out, but at least it won't be 10 more years...

We are also in the middle of watching Amazon's Heads of State, after resisting for months because it just looked too stupid. It is MUCH better than we expected, when all we really expected was mindless fun. I had thought John Cena was horribly miscast, but he's making it work. Who knew?

Apparently, I caught a bad night of Olympic Ice Dancing earlier this week. Someone explained that there is a Rhythm Dance segment, which was 90's themed and drove most of the frenetic gesticulating that was jarring to watch. The final program was more like what I was expecting— more couples-style dancing than parallel dancing, and a bigger romantic element. I loved the music Zingas and Kolesnik skated to, as well as their choreography. The Canadian team did a wonderful job, though, and beat them out for the bronze medal. As for Chock and Bates vs. the French team, I preferred the French performance. It combined grace, power, and skill really well. Also, Chock kind of rubs me the wrong way (she comes off as brittle, somehow, making her performance less appealing).

And now there's controversy about the French winning gold, and none of it seems to have anything to do with the actual performances. \o? Both routines seemed flawless, and the artistry is always subjective, so who knows? I would think the lifts and balanced poses (which were very creative in all the routines) would be the hardest to judge, in terms of technical difficulty. Maybe they're just new to me, and there are some established criteria for them? At least we're not in the days of throwing out the Russian judge's scores...

Speaking of dance, we are going to the ballet this weekend! There is a performance of Sleeping Beauty, and the music is too good to pass up. I would have liked to have seen whatever the Dracula ballet was over Halloween weekend in the Fall, but we had to go out of town. I'm hoping this will be good. About 10-12 years ago, we went to an all-Stravinsky program for my birthday, which had the Firebird Suite and The Rite Of Spring. We really enjoyed it! Normally, there is The Nutcracker at Christmas, and then a couple of gala events that are more pop culture, and the galas have never appealed to us. This should be more our style.

On the subject of dreams again, I dreamed last night that we were in a wreck and the insurance company totaled our 4Runner. Boy, would that ever be depressing! I mourned the loss of my first car (an '85 Toyota Tercel), but that was mainly for sentimental reasons. Our 4Runner is 30 years old now, and we still love it. Plus, I really prefer having levers and buttons on the dashboard, and that's almost gone in newer cars. The Prius we lost to the garage fire had its touchscreen die about 7 or 8 years in, and that really reduced the A/C and music functionality. I don't want to go through that again.

Here's hoping the 4Runner will still be with us for a long time to come...

I watched Another Country again last night, for the first time in about 40 years. Rupert Everett was as gorgeous as ever! Though Colin Firth didn't look like much at that age (despite already having that voice), and Cary Elwes was... really blond. \o? I didn't feel the pangs I used to get when the movie first come out, but it was enjoyable. I also spent far too much time scouring the various crowd scenes trying to spot other actors who later made it big, but found nothing other than the three above.

We've been watching S2 of Night Manager, which improved as soon as Tom Hiddleston shed the fake glasses and began his Con Of Charm. Speaking of voices—his is so silky! I also loved the sexy-dancing with Camilla Morrone and Diego Calva. And the appearance of ( SpoilersCollapse ) One more episode to go.

And on another hunky note, Brilliant Minds is currently all about the transformation of Dr. Josh for me. I actually checked IMDB.com early this season to see if the part had been recast, but no. Teddy Sears was an okay-looking guy before, but letting his hair go gray and changing the style turned him into a hottie! I've seen photos of other roles, and this is really the best he's ever looked. I'm not rooting for him to get back together with Wolf, though—I'd like to think Dr. Josh has more sense. Wolf is... work. A lot of work. And I'm not loving the flamboyant nurse they introduced this season. The show has a main character who is gay—was there a complaint about it lacking gay stereotypes? And the new asshole resident is similarly unwelcome...

I'm in the last episode of Orphan Black, and they seem to have wound up the series nicely. I'll miss it and all the sestras, though. I've enjoyed the journey with them all. Five seasons was really helpful for all of the garage-biking I've done since November, too. Now what? I have some potential action/thriller shows in my Netflix list, but most are just 1 or 2 seasons. And I'll be in there most of this week—yesterday was too windy to bike outdoors, and today starts three days of rain. :(

If it weren't for the ads, I would probably watch some of the Winter Olympics in the garage. I caught a little of it late last night. I missed Men's Figure Skating already (as I always seem to), and it looks like Ice Dancing has become Rhythm Skating, which... *sigh*. It seems to mostly now be loud music and gangsta-style dancing. What a change from the romance of Torvill and Dean! Last night also featured a couple of new-to-me sports: free-style skiing (which contains elements of snowboarding) and ski-sprinting. That last one... wow. I've never seen someone try to ski uphill before, and there was a lot of that. Overall, those women were strong. It was quite a workout.

All right, back to work. Carry on! :D

I was in labor. And not only dreading the progression, but also kicking myself because we gave away our baby-bucket/stroller combo years ago, along with all of our other baby stuff. For perspective, our youngest child is 26. :O

The springlike weather continues here in Sacramento, with highs near 70^o all this week. I've had some great bike rides, and the one on Monday even included a half-mile stretch of the bike path that smelled like pot stickers and their dipping oil. Mmmmm!

TV-wise, I started a one-season show last night called Chasing Shadows (with Alex Kingston and her fabulous hair). I made myself go to bed in the middle of episode 4. It's far more captivating than I anticipated.

Earlier this week, I watched Dance With A Stranger for the Rupert Everett experience. It was one of his early movies, in which he played a petulant cad (boo) while looking absolutely gorgeous. Wow. The sound quality, though-- this was Amazon with ads, and it was like having an industrial fan or airplane going in the background.

Book-wise, I finished the last of the T.L. Huchu YA magician series that centers on a young ghost-talker named Ropa Moyo. I thoroughly enjoyed all of them, even as I sometimes got frustrated with Ropa for making impulsive decisions (the character ages from 14-16 during the series). Huchu's cycle is set in near-future dystopian Edinburgh, and rich with humor and slang. Dosh. Cheddar. Knapf. And those were some of the ones where I didn't Google the terms.

I also read Daniel H. Wilson's Hole In The Sky. Not as good as his Robopocalypse series, but it has his usual great mixture of sci-fi, horror, and soulfulness. It looks like The Clockwork Dynasty is the only remaining e-book I haven't already read, but I'll wait on it. Instead, I put a hold on Joe Hill's King Sorrow.

On tap for this weekend: more yard work, and posting a Craigslist ad for a pair of bookcases we need to get rid of. I want them out of here so I can build their replacements1 And that doesn't even account for the shelves, desk, etc. being stored in the garage. :O

I was invited to join the_lj_revival, and added a bunch of new friends as a result. Hello! And for the rest of my friends who miss livelier days on LJ, that community is a great place to start!

The warmer, sunny weather continues here (66^oF is the expected high today), so I'll be bicycling this afternoon. But what I probably should be doing is reclaiming a mid-lawn flowerbed from the volunteer grass seeding and an encroachment of moss. The moss in particular has been making inroads in the last 6+ years, and we were gone for 3 of them (while the house was being rebuilt), so it has spread more than ever. Not sure of a good way to remove/kill it. Vinegar water didn't do much. One recommendation is baking soda, though I'm not sure how much the neighboring plants would enjoy that. :O

I recently finished watching Broadchurch on Netflix, and enjoyed it so much that I wish they'd managed more than just 3 seasons! I also watched The Other Wife on Acorn TV, mainly for the cast, and that was a wasted effort which just made me feel sad about Rupert Everett. :(

( More Rupert EverettCollapse )

HalfshellHusband and our son and I all watched The Wrecking Crew (with Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa, on Amazon Prime), which was stupid fun. It's essentially an action-comedy. One of our son's friends said it reminded him of Liam Neeson's The Ice Road (Netflix), which is a retribution movie with unexpected dark comic touches. If you're looking for free, mindless fun, I recommend both.

And now it's time to pull it together and go biking before the day gets too late and I wind up riding into the sunset.

We went up to Portland to visit family last weekend, and found some new things as a result.

1. There is a fragrance called Ghost Trees. I'm undecided on whether I like it, but I love the name!

2. There is an Instagram account called freddieandthebag, which features videos of a black cat (named Mr. Freddie Mercury) accompanied by narration of his "adventures" with Mother, the short man, and various other enemies/frenemies who frequent his yard. It's wonderful.

3. There is a used LEGO store in the Portland area called Yellow Castle Bricks. Oh, heavens! We spent a couple of hours there, pawing through accessories and minifigures and their components. Even though I lost most of our LEGOs as a result of the fire (smoke damage), I still want more— some for speculative reselling purposes, and others... because I have a ridiculous love for tiny things. I want ALL the accessories! The weapons, the dog bones, the teapots and cups, the brooms, the apples, the tennis rackets, the electric guitars, the scissors, and the flasks/goblets. I bought all of those, and a briefcase, a red toolbox, a seahorse, and a rhino head and alien head. Plus a shark and a crocodile. Yessssssssss!

Speaking of LEGOs, the steampunk airship pseudo-LEGO set that I built is no longer available. :( I hesitate to recommend any more sets, lest they sell out at Amazon before the next time I'm eligible to receive gifts! But... a company named INSOON offers several "Book Nook" building sets, which are LEGO-like "scenes" that open up to be a room or close to resemble a wide book. These include a fake Hogwarts set and, get this, a dinosaur museum set! Whoo!

No idea where I would store all the things I want, but I DO long for them. :O

My pseudo-LEGO steamship project is done. This one was sturdier than the steampunk magic shop I built last year (different manufacturer, too). I only had to superglue one piece that kept disconnecting, although the silver... ballast tanks (? Whatever those are on the boats?) don't fully connect (they need some re-engineering), and those and the yellow tanks fall off easily. Still, super fun to build:



The Amazon link for that set is here.

I'll be going out for a bike ride soon. The rain has stopped for now, and we're not being plagued by the cold fog, so there should be some good weather ahead at least for a week. I rode outside TWICE in the last 6 1/2 weeks. That's how bad it's been— only a snow climate would have been worse! Not a typical winter for us at all.

I'll be riding during the 49ers playoff game. On purpose. I've hardly watched any games this season— too many injuries, so it's a nail-biter every time whether they'll squeak out a win. Still angry about the Super Bowl they lost, with too many key injuries over the course of the game. I think that was the Niners' year to win, and the referees lost it for them with questionable calls.

In garage biking, I'm almost to the end of Orphan Black, which is sad. I've really enjoyed it. I'm also close to the end of The Walking Dead, after which I'll have to try one of the spin-offs for biking purposes. I need really engaging TV for garage-biking, and a high level of peril accomplishes that nicely. I've also been watching Is It Cake? out there. I enjoy that series, though I'm getting near the end of its last season as well. I can't fathom why the S3 contestants are so prone to baking vanilla cakes, though. Do you want your cake to impress the judges with its flavor, if the win comes down to that? Then WTF would you pick vanilla? It's as "meh" as you can get. OTOH, I personally would not risk matcha or Earl Grey as a main flavor, either. Those are acquired tastes. And S2 Miko's propensity for using mango always seemed risky. People tend to either love it or hate it, and I'm on the "hate" side.

Monday will be my first day back at work, after 3 weeks off. It's been great— I'm not ready to go back. I got virtually no home projects done during that time off (doesn't that always seem to be the way), apart from Christmas stuff. But the relaxation was nice! \o/

Here's hoping 2026 is better than last year, though that seems unlikely for those of us in the U.S. Unless new representatives help tip the political balance a little.

We started off the day watching the Ducks win the Orange Bowl, which was fun. We didn't do any real New Year's Eve celebrating—HalfshellHusband and I watched a movie, although the Boy went to a small party thrown by a friend of a friend. He had a great time, but I was up late so I could pick him up and bring him home.

Geez, why don't we know any people who can invite us to parties anymore?

Over at Idol, we're waiting on the final poll for the Wheel of Chaos season. I didn't make it into the finale, but I finished 4th this time thanks to everyone's support! I'm looking forward to whenever the 20th season kicks off, but I expect that'll be awhile.

Not sure what I'll do today, other than possibly putting together more of my pseudo-LEGO steampunk airship set. Maybe go out for a brief walk, now that the skies have cleared? It's too wet for bicycling. AND, in case you were wondering... I have biked outside ONE TIME in the last 5 1/2 weeks. We've either had miserably cold fog or rain since November 24th. I am so sick of it. I started watching Orphan Black at the beginning of this stint, and now I'm in Season 5. I may wind up finishing it before the weather gets bikeable again. :O

I hope all of you are enjoying New Year's Day, ideally with friends or family and fun food. \o/

I hope those of you who celebrate had a wonderful day! And that those of you who don't had a nice day off, maybe with Chinese food and movies.

Both our kids are here, and this was our first ever Christmas with thunderstorms. Whoo! \o/