The Byrchen Twigges

Long years had passed since letters of marque were commonly presented in the town, as boundaries softened and the divide widened between those who belonged (however peripherally) and those who did not. Once though, every tinker and trader had carried engraved acorns, or poems inked in berry juice, or rusty keys dredged from the bottom of the lake: proof they came with the town’s blessing. For those who eventually settled in the town, they became souvenirs from the long road to belonging; for those who did not, they became a baffling inheritance for uninitiated offspring.

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LL#1275

*lolsob* Okay, so, I went to queue up the July posts for Lewisia on Saturday. I only needed to write one more for the week as well. The first things I always queue up are the Monday demifiction posts, because those are written for specific dates. Aaaaand...there weren’t any for July. Because I had lost track of what week it was and hadn’t written them yet.

Now, a sensible person could think, well, write one of them to finish out the current week’s pieces, then write the other three on Sunday. You’ll have all the July Mondays covered and be ahead of the curve for the coming week.

Friends, I am not a sensible person, but for once, it’s working in my favor. I wrote all four of them last night. And a fifth general one, just because I thought of it. So now, if I write two pieces this coming week, I won’t have to worry about it at all over the weekend when my club’s show and sale takes place. Which is great! But wow, I went about it in the weirdest way possible.

It has been an exceedingly foolish week at work, with a bunch of leaks and breakdowns, a short week, and a holiday party. I helped with the grilling and food prep for the party. Two of the other guys on the team normally handle it, and I am nosy and insist on getting involved. It’s just more work for me, when I could be sitting around doing nothing, because I am Just Like This. And then I volunteered to stay late with the outside vendor fixing several of the leaks.

Lewisia: 7 new pieces written

Day job: 36.5 hours, with Friday off

Cooking: Tang pie from Tasting History with Max Miller (kept frozen, it’s a creamcicle pie, simplistic but tasty, like the cheat lemon pie, probably not worth making again but no regrets)

Reading: Strangers in Paradise #17

Watching: more Murderbot :3

Listening: Transformer by Lou Reed (a quick detour into the classics)

Clock Mouse: 1097 words

Something small and light flitted among the heavier tomes in that Accidental Library, only a few pages thick and folded up like a praying mantis. The zines were not juveniles, nor were they parasites, for all that they liked to populate the small, unused corners of the colonies and often built themselves from scraps and remnants of the bigger books. They were, perhaps, best understood as distant relations, ones with punk tendencies and transient habits, united nonetheless by their hearts of knowledge.

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LL#1272

By the gods, I made sure I rested this weekend. In fact, I have been feasting on Stephanie Sterling’s YT videos. While I really only have one or two Let’s Play channel I watch, I now have several video essay channels that talk about video games. I will never have the time or budget (or in some cases, inclination) to play all the games that are out there, but I like hearing about interesting thoughts prompted by them.

That being said, Stephanie talked so much about Vampire Survivors, to which she contributed writing, that I felt compelled to check it out. And look at that, there’s a free demo version on itch.io. And ohhh, the full Steam version is on sale right now. And woooo, the bundle with DLCs and the OST is on sale too.

Yeah, so, it’s a very satisfying game. I would never have expected to enjoy bullet hell or really most rogue-lites, as that’s not my usual jam. But the mad cascade of numbers as I become a damage-dealing pinwheel is delightful.

I had my next HRT follow-up. I mentioned that the pharmacy continues periodically to have some kind of brain crisis around providing me with the correct type of syringes and needles, despite doing this every month for two years at this point. Which is how I found out my Planned Parenthood clinic is now offering injection supply packs. I now have everything I need for six months for, as far as I can tell, no cost at all. This is incredibly cool of them. And it makes up somewhat for the fact that the pharmacy also has a brain crisis around honoring all the refills I have on testosterone for no reason that any of us can discern.

Lewisia: 5 new pieces written

Day job: 40.25 hours, with Wednesday short for me

Cleaning: did a little room refresh for the season

Reading: Strangers in Paradise #15 & 16 (#16 is the Molly and Poo...tangent? Side quest? Extended hallucination? What the fuck did I just read?)

Watching: more Murderbot :3, also the hockey episode of Leverage~~ <3

Listening: StarX Lover by Dreamer Isioma (new album! Love how many of the artists I listen to released something new for Pride Month)

Playing: Vampire Survivors

Aftermarket Parts: HRT follow-up, the last of the month’s appointments, all good

Clock Mouse: 1453 words