Reading

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sunshine_revival Challenge #1 - Lights On! (part deux)

So the creative prompt for

sunshine_revialchallenge 1 is: Shine a light on your own creativity. Create anything you want (an image, an icon, a story, a poem, or a craft) and share it with your community.. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it.
Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Mpreg is kinda popular on tennisblr right now - both Carlos/Jannik and Jack Draper/Jannik - and the other night before I went to bed,

deliriouslyshipping had posted responses to a couple of asks she'd had. One of which involved

I could see Simone or Darren putting her on their knee while they sit, guiding Jannik from wherever they are, trading off as needed. But they'll also set her down and let her explore more, try to teach her how to toss the tennis ball.

, I fell asleep with visions of Darren and Simone with a baby and... well.. y'all know I ship those coaches. So this happened (and apparently in mpreg it doesn't matter if you're 59 - you can still give birth)

( “I’m a grown man,” Simone says with confidence and absolutely no foresight. “I can bathe my own child.” )

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Draper v Cilic

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sunshine_revival Challenge #1 - Lights On!

Challenge #1 Journaling Prompt: Light up your journal with activity this month. Talk about your goals for July or for the second half of 2025.

June was a bit of a blur, honestly. I read a lot — but only finished four books. I posted 8 fics and wrote a lot more in my head. I got very distracted by Roland Garros (because how could you not?!), and now Wimbledon’s here to steal what’s left of my focus. That’s okay.

So I’m going into July with gentleness. Here’s what I’m hoping for, aiming toward — not in a pressure-y way, but in a “this would feel good if it happened” kind of way.

📚 Reading Goals
I want to read 6 books this month, or at least finish 6. There are currently 12 books in progress. Oops.
Also:

Prioritise a few summer TBR titles
Tackle my mountain of library loans (13 books out, most nearing their final renewals 😬)
Catch up on posting reviews
Keep going with “20 mins a day” as my baseline
Read for joy, not pressure

✍️ Writing Goals
There’s a lot on this list, but I’m not expecting to do all of it — I just want to keep the creative momentum going, especially when the ideas are flowing.

Finish A Field Guide to the Sinner Pack
Update:
- You Wouldn’t Take My Word for It If You Knew Who Was Talking
- I Had the Time of My Life Fighting Dragons With You
- The Courage of My Convictions
- Wolf-Tethered
Maybe write or post a one-shot, just because·
Keep sharing, even if it’s scary — people want to read these stories

🌿 Life Goals
Soft intentions. Low stakes. Good food. Hopefully fewer appointments. But also:

Make a doctor’s appointment to talk about the arthritis diagnosis
Day trip to the RAMM in Exeter + sushi 🍣
Visit Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm 🦙
Reclaim one chaotic space at home (possibly the laundry chair)
Come back to Dreamwidth, and stay
Cook something that feels like summer
One proper lie-in, no guilt
One evening offline with candles, music, or silence

If I do all of this, amazing.
If I do half, still pretty great.
If I just read something I love and write one scene that lights me up, that’s enough too.

Let’s see what July brings 💛

Current Mood: disappointed

One from the vaults

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Current Mood: pleased
Current Location: wednesday

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life,
thoughts

phone case update

a follow-up to the previous post.

the case arrived a few days ago & the rubber-ish piece was removed. of course the cover over the charging port tore completely on one side as i was removing it.

it looks like this is a darker black than my brother's case. but then, his has about 2 /12 years of wear and exposure to the sun.

the back rubber-ish piece and the light gray hard inner piece look nice together. otterbox should offer it as a color choice. and i could get a cut of sales if they do for suggesting the idea.

Current Mood: discontent

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No Kings! Icon

So, I just whipped up a little something for the creative part of the challenge. It's not much, but feel free to swipe if you want. I've been wanting to do something along this line for a while now... There are also a couple of other themes that I was wishing I had icons for, but now I can't remember what they were.

Current Mood: happy

Sekrit msg

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Current Mood: Hot and wet, not in a good way

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Drive by

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Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Holly Valance - Hypnotic

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Return of the girl groups?

I remember after One Direction really hit it off around 2013 (I mean, What Makes You Beautiful was also quite successful, but I think Take Me Home really underlined how big they'd become) a lot of boybands emerged to the scene. Many, if not all, didn't stand the test of time -- to be honest, many say it was because they couldn't compete against 1D; however, in my opinion it was because these bands didn't really have their own "sound" if that makes sense. They all sounded the same pop rock.

I wasn't really around for the girl groups rule around early 2000s and 90s, but about three years ago I discovered Danity Kane; I only listen to some songs from the Welcome to the Dollhouse album, but their voices are just how I like them the most. Strip Tease has been a fixed song in my "Most Listened" lists ever since I first listened to it. I also got into Girls Aloud about the same time, and to this day I keep discovering new great songs by them (Untouchable is a great single, that I've been listening since last week), and in general, their live performances were grand -- although I must say, some of their early performances their live vocals haven't been upto par with DK in my opinion.

I don't really follow groups/bands personally (like, being active in the fandom if it exists) but only keep up with the music. But still, it's been really fun to see how there have been an emergence of girl groups in the "traditional" sense. I've been following FLO for some time now, and was quite happy when their LP was finally released -- it was so good! This week I've only been listening to Say Now, and I hope they get their big debut into the scene as well. They seem to be experimenting with different sounds so far: soft ballads, club electronic, R&B and whatnot. I wish for at least an LP for them as well.

While I'm not too into them, XG has been doing quite good, and I don't really enjoy Katseye but they're really making a name in the US I think.

And just today I saw that Sugababes released Jungle after their reunion (I'm late I know), and last year (?) Girls Aloud also had a reunion tour. Now all I need is a Danity Kane reunion, but it will probably never happen because of one particular man.

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In other news...

In other news...

My computer mouse is acting up (closing windows and minimizing and various things I don't want it to do). The weird thing is, my work mouse is doing the same thing, so I fear it might be my hand. 🤣
There's a Whataburger opening down the street from me. I'll have to see if it lives up to the hype. Do you know what does live up to the hype? Raising Cane's. They have the best chicken I've ever tasted. I've had it a few times now, because each time I think it can't possibly be as good as I remembered. It is.

And this upbeat vid popped up in my YT feed tonight. It's from the Covid days, and I posted it back then too, but it's perfect for these days, too.

We don't know, it's unclear where we'll be this time next year.

Watch on YouTube

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Western Bingo Fest

allbingo is hosting a Western Bingo Fest for the month of July, and I couldn't resist jumping in. I know I still have several unfinished bingo cards that I need to get done, but I can't pass up the chance to indulge in my love of old westerns.

Current Mood: hopeful

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sunshine revival

Sunshine Revival 2025 #1

Going to give this a try. I do fairly well with Snowflake, so crossing fingers.

Challenge #1

Journaling Prompt: Light up your journal with activity this month. Talk about your goals for July or for the second half of 2025.
Creative Prompt: Shine a light on your own creativity. Create anything you want (an image, an icon, a story, a poem, or a craft) and share it with your community.. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

( Goals... )

Current Mood: sad

Reading Wednesday

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Current Mood: worried
Current Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Current Music: "Born in the USA" Bruce Springsteen

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canada

Happy Canada Day!

I hope all my Canadian friends have a wonderful Canada Day. Let it be known that I respect your sovereign nation. Stand strong against all tyranny.

ckrcanadabanner

Current Mood: bouncy

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Actors who Sing: Christian Kane (Leverage)

I was just talking about Leverage, and the subject of Christian Kane's singing came up and made me realize I neglected to include him in my "Actors who Sing" series. Absolutely unforgivable, so I had to rectify that immediately. I'm not a huge country fan, but I enjoy listening to his singing voice.

First is my favorite of his songs, "Thinking of You." And I tossed in the Leverage fanvid to "House Rules" too, just in case there's someone who hasn't seen it. It was a bit famous because Christian himself tweeted about it when it came out (which was 15 years ago btw). And if you want to see the others in the series, just search the tag: music: actors who sing

Watch on YouTube

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REC: Day by Day by surprisepink (Our Flag Means Death, Stede Bonnet/Izzy Hands)

Fandom 50 #22

Day by Day by

surprisepink
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Ship: Stede Bonnet/Izzy Hands
Medium: Fic
Length: 1361 words
Rating: Teen
My Bookmark Tags: slice of life, romance, humour, happy ending, established relationship, izzy lives, future, flirtation, compatibility, service
Summary: A typical raid for Captain Bonnet and his new first mate.

Excerpt:

“I’m getting the hang of this, if I do say so myself,” says Stede, cheerily.

“And you do.”

“What’s that, Izzy?’

“Say so yourself.” The man looks entirely unimpressed, but it does take a lot to impress Izzy. Stede has accepted it by this point, and knows not to take it personally. Knows, too, that if Izzy actually wasn’t at least a little happy with him, he could leave the ship just about anywhere and find another pirate crew to join. And yet, port after port, he doesn’t.

And all Stede had ever wanted was for people to stay.

This is everything I love about the idea of Stede and Izzy together on the Revenge, with Stede captaining and Izzy serving as his first mate. The way they rile each other up is perfect, tempered to just the right heat by a better understanding of each other. Izzy's ways of trying to serve Stede while keeping his ego in check are moving, and so is Stede's growing sense of what he's doing and what it means.

The story's funny, with a comedic moment early on that made me laugh out loud, and the sexual chemistry between Stede and Izzy absolutely crackles. This one really made my day.

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fandom roundup

Fandom Roundup---June 2025

It's been another month! I wrote a lot this month, mostly for my original novel and finished my inkingitout goal of 80k words for 2025. Here are the fics I've written this month:

infinitesimal, 227 words. The Second Best Hospital In The Galaxy, Vlam/Klak/Sleech. Vlam can't save anything, but with their insight, she's becoming a better doctor, a better Vlam. For Sapphic Summer.

dreamland, 932 words. OW, Artist & Self Portrait. For Kill Your Double flash.

electric desires, 205 words. Spongebob Musical, Sandy/Karen. Sometimes she thinks of asking Sandy Cheeks to examine her hardware. For Sapphic Summer.

Somebody take me higher, higher, higher (Until I'm up in the clouds, a king with no crown), 1,214 words. Yellowjackets, Callie/Laura Lee. Shauna asks Laura Lee to lecture Callie about drugs, post Blood Hive.

Grandloves, 1,197 words. Yellowjackets, Laura Lee/Lottie. The flight manual becomes a new Bible.

Wow it's not as much as I thought, but I do have some July Break Bingo fills that I can't post until tomorrow. Besides Sapphic Summer my event modding era is over, but I'm excited for Battleship! Signups open today.

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movie

Project Hail Mary trailer

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Six Sentence Sunday

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Current Mood: nervous

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Another Update

( Talk of the world situation and depression... )

Things at work are going well for me; it's a huge relief off my shoulders to no longer be responsible for everything that goes wrong and fixing every problem in a department where I was working with someone who couldn't carry their own weight/responsibilities. I really like my new supervisor; she's the type I can really work alongside as we are alike in a lot of ways and see the job duties the same way.

Anyway, here's a new feel-good video from Jared Halley. Now I want to go listen to some Chicago. It reminds me of the pleasant summer days of my youth when the world seemed brighter. I should swap out the playlist I listen to in the car, too.

Watch on YouTube

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reclaiming my space (again)

I’ve blogged for basically my entire adult life.

LiveJournal, Tumblr, WordPress, here. There’s something about having a corner of the internet that’s mine - a space that isn’t a feed, isn’t an algorithm, isn’t speeding past at a thousand miles an hour. I miss that.

Lately, I’ve mostly been posting on Tumblr about tennis. And I love talking about tennis, but it’s started to feel like that’s all I do.

I go to work, I watch matches, I read. Sometimes I write. Sometimes I stare at the same three WIPs and hope they move. I’ve been telling myself that doesn’t leave me with much to say. But maybe that’s not true. Or maybe it doesn’t matter.

So: I’m coming back to Dreamwidth. I want this to be a quieter space. A bit rambly. A bit nostalgic. More fandom and life and writing and less “keeping up.”

I’m really hoping the new sunshine_revival community will help with that too - it feels exciting, like something gentle and welcoming is starting to grow again. I’m looking forward to seeing what the prompts will be.

I also need to figure out commenting again. I overthink it. I draft something and delete it and worry it sounds weird or too much or not enough. But I want to try. I miss the part where we actually talked to each other.

What you’ll probably find here:

snippets from whatever fic I’m poking at (shifter AU, packfic, omegaverse feelings, etc)
trope talk and character rambling
soft lifestyle things: what’s comforting me lately, little rituals, sensory joys
maybe playlists or screenshot dumps or prompt games
and the occasional “three things that got me through this week” kind of post

I’m aiming for 2–3 posts a week for now. Nothing fancy, just enough to make this feel like a living space again. If you’re here: hi. I’m glad you are.

Here’s to slow internet, quiet posting, and the kind of connection that doesn’t need to be loud to be real.