penpusher | Reading

Gone
Idol Wheel of Chaos | Week 14, Story 2 | 1834 words
Ambuscade

x-x-x-x-x

It's been four months since Jenny disappeared.

I honestly thought she'd be back by now. She had a job waiting for her, and she was never the flaky type. But she went to the Allegheny Horror Con in June, and apart from Instagram updates the first two days, no one had heard from her since.

Jenny and I weren't super-close, but if I'd been a better friend, I'd have gone looking for her months ago. Now, at least, I was able to take some vacation time to fly to Pennsylvania. I hoped I would find some answers.

I got in late Friday night, and drove to the same Airbnb where Jenny had stayed. Jenny had gushed over its quaintness in her posts, but it didn't look terribly interesting in the dark. The inside was old-school gothic, with spooky candelabras and a color scheme built on deep red and black. I would have called it murky— we were in the LED age, but the lighting was all low-watt incandescents.

Maybe it just fit better with Jenny's Addams Family aesthetic than my mid-century modernism.

It was a small two-bedroom house, and yet there was an actual parlor filled with wingback chairs, a fireplace, and dusty portraits. Different eras, different priorities, I supposed. The bathroom had a claw foot tub with a shower head and a curtain. The main bedroom had scrollwork furniture and an honest-to-god four-poster bed.

I put down my suitcase and took in my surroundings. Gloomy, I thought, and kind of creepy. But for Jenny, it was probably perfect.

Jenny had been a horror fan for as long as I could remember. She read it, watched it, and breathed it, in perpetual contrast to her sunny personality. She'd been looking forward to Horror Fest since buying her ticket in February, thrilled with the chance to meet some of her favorite authors. Beneath her wholesome blond exterior beat the heart of a woman who hoped to someday write like Catriona Ward.

Was Catriona there at the conference, I wondered. Did you get a chance to speak to her? I knew Jenny had gone to a couple of movie panels and met a lot of other fans, but most of the writers' events were on the last day and she'd stopped posting by then.( Read more... )

Voting information to follow soon...

halfshellvenus

Second Chances
Idol Wheel of Chaos | Week 14, Story 1 | 1253 words
A nail is driven out by another nail

x-x-x-x-x

Lee woke up into excruciating brightness—white lights, white walls, white sheets. The room was hostile and glaring.

He couldn't remember exactly what had happened. One minute he’d been sitting at his desk holding a pen, and now he was here, wherever here was. And my god, he ached! He couldn't remember ever feeling pain like this before.

He’d never been so groggy, either. This wasn't like getting up in the morning—he was slow and stupid, and he could hardly move. Why wouldn't it go away? And why was he so tired? The room seemed to be fading away at the edges…

It was still bright the next time he woke up, and he still didn't know where he was. He could hardly think, and the pain was unbelievable. What the hell?

A bunch of people came in and out of the room, and from listening, Lee gathered that he was in the hospital and he'd had some sort of major reattachment surgery. No wonder things hurt!

It would be a long road back, they said, and moving would be hard at first. Lee soon discovered that was a huge understatement.

This thing called rehab sucked. It was so hard. Everything was kind of numb and tingly, and it didn't feel quite right. Mismatched nerve endings, the people said. Foreign material. He would adapt to it, but he had to give it time.

Well, it wasn't like he had a choice.

Lee worked and worked, day after day, slowly building strength. He still felt clumsy, but it was getting a little better. Everyone seemed pleased with how far he'd come, so he guessed he was doing pretty well? But it still didn't feel like his own body. He wondered if that would ever go away.

What if it was always like this? Like part of him didn't belong? ( Read more... )

Voting information to follow soon...

conuly

picked out a pair of glasses I just cannot stand. Sending them back, getting a better pair. I do have another spare pair if this one gives out entirely.

jazzy_dave

Christopher Brookmyre "One Fine Day In The Middle Of The Night" (Abacus)

What happens when you hold a high school reunion party aboard an oil-rig that's being converted into a hotel and leisure complex and there are unwelcome visitors in the shape of a band of mercenaries with their own rather different party in mind?

This high-octane thriller starts off at a sedate pace. We meet the mercenaries; we meet the former pupils - both officially invited and not, and find out how their lives have moved on after 15 years. Then the action starts happening and everything accelerates to the final showdown at breakneck speed. In between the action with its gruesomely realised scenes of ultraviolence, we get loads of laughs in Brookmyre's unique style. Most of the characters are truly awful, but we are drawn to burnt-out comic Matt and wronged-wife Simone who in blockbuster movie traditional become heroes. Another unputdownable novel from one of Scotland's best talents.

conuly

I don’t care if it is in character, pick another word! (And while it ought to be in character, she hasn’t exactly been dropping the big words every other dialog line. Or if she has, I didn’t notice?)

conuly

and omg those cultists are so needy. They can't feed themselves, so you're constantly trying to keep them in berries and fish, and they complain about everything!

"There's no place to poop, build an outhouse!" (You're an animal, poop on the ground!)

"I want to eat a poop sandwich!" (Uh, okay, but why do I have to make it!?)

"Oh, that grass gruel made me sick!" (Get back to work!)

"I'm sick of your lies!" (Welp, time to perform another ~~human~~ sapient sacrifice of a, uh, willing victim!)

Seriously, who's running this cult, you or them?

*****************************

( Read more... )

conuly

This is the first thing
I have understood:
Time is the echo of an axe
Within a wood.

**********

Link

conuly

Boo.

(Wait, and also nearly Halloween! Boo!)

************

( Read more... )

clauderainsrm posting in

therealljidol

Good Morning,

Well, it's far too early for it to be "good", but "Morning" at least!

The new twist is up: therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1207947.html and so are the prompts  https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1208099.html

I've already gotten a question about the prompt situation so I'll clear it up here. YES. It's 2 entries. NO, it's not 1 entry where you incorporate both, unless, I dunno, you want to write 2 entries where you incorporate both. :D
No, if not a pick one of the other. It's 2 entries.
That's why you have a week. Well that, and my schedule. :D If the Wheel had chosen 5, yes, I would have given you even more time! (Although let's be honest - a week for 2 entries by traditional old school Idol standards is pretty good.)

***

I've had a few people ask about my arm after that blood donation. It's healing. Still is bruised and a little tender. I did have it confirmed this weekend by a friend who was a former nurse that this wasn't normal. She agreed with the theory that my boss raised that the needle was dislodged and went through my vein. Otherwise I would NOT have been in that much pain and wouldn't have the bruising I do.

So now I need to accuse someone in Idol of paying them extra to do that! :D

***
THE FEST was amazing. Because it's always amazing. <3

How was YOUR weekend?

clauderainsrm posting in

therealljidol

The Wheel said you get 2 prompts this week. So let's see what they are! *spins wheel twice*

a nail is driven out by another nail

and

ambuscade

The deadline to link BOTH of these entries in the thread below is Monday November 3rd at 7pm ET.

Have fun!

clauderainsrm posting in

therealljidol

*spins wheel* TWIST!

OK. Nice. But WHAT twist?

*spins the wheel again*

Multiple topics (random number generator 2-5 to determine how many)

Oh that's fun! I get to spin the wheel again!!

Oh come on, just 2?

Where's that Chekov's Gun? I want to shoot this wheel! ;)

***

There was a 5 way tie for the person with the fewest votes who wasn't eliminated. So I need to ask the Wheel how that will be handled. It came up as "Wheel Decides Who Is Eliminated", which in THIS case means that the wheel will select 1 of you to receive those 2 byes to hand out.

Who will it be? This isn't as suspenseful for you as it is for me, since I write these in real time!

4. *counts* Congratulations

hafnia ! Let me know where you want those 2 byes to go.

***
btw - Not sure if I mentioned it, but a vial WAS found this week. So make sure to send in your accusation and who you want to give the antidote to!

clauderainsrm posting in

therealljidol

I just got back from FEST in time for my therapy session and then to come close this poll! :)

(well OK, I posted a few things on FB too! But still, the point stands!)

There was one person going home this week and it's

legalpad819 !

Sorry to see you g... what are you doing? Why do you have gun? What are you.... oh... BAM!!!!

She just shot her own elimination with Chekov's Gun!!! The elimination is now dead.

(and the gun, having been used, disappears)

mark posting in

dw_maintenance

Good morning, afternoon, and evening!

We're doing some database and other light server maintenance this weekend (upgrading the version of MySQL we use in particular, but also probably doing some CDN work.)

I expect all of this to be pretty invisible except for some small "couple of minute" blips as we switch between machines, but there's a chance you will notice something untoward. I'll keep an eye on comments as per usual.

Ta for now!

conuly

Since I belong to a little bitty credit union, my branch is closed tomorrow and I have to go into the city to get a replacement and, while I'm there, have them fix my name - if they remove my middle initial from my card, my last name will fit properly, easy-peasy. Or I can wait until Monday, since I'm certain I lost it in the house, but it turns out there's another protest tomorrow so I may as well go in.

Anyway, speaking of protests and politics and food banks,

petra is offering up fanworks:

If you donate at least $25 in cash or in-kind to a food bank at any point between now and the end of the Trump Administration, and you either share a fandom of mine and want a drabble or fannish poetry, or you want original poetry, drop me a comment, and I will write for you.

So, there you go, that's a win-win for everybody.

Edit: Well! As you might expect, as soon as I posted I happened to roll my chair over my card! It's fine, chair and card are both fine. I still need to make them fix my name, but it can wait.

conuly

This is the last mending they'll take, and I'm not sure how long it'll hold. I've ordered a new pair, and on the one hand I know $100 is cheap - especially for my prescription! - but on the other hand, I didn't want to spend it. And I didn't exactly love my choice of frames, either, but they were inexpensive and fit my pupil distance, so I'll live with them.

(Though, looking on the website, it seems glow in the dark frames are an option!? I would never, sounds like a real visual annoyance, but man, so much respect for anybody who goes in that direction!)

*********************

( Read more... )

conuly

and since we have a ton of computer mice (mouses?) already I just swapped it out. But I still was bugged by the ton of crud that I know was embedded in my old mouse, so before I tossed it I took it apart to clean the scrollwheel.

So much cat hair, much of it felted, and I'm honestly surprised the scrollwheel was functioning at all. But it was so cheaply made that putting it back together would've been a hassle and a half, so I'm glad I had the sense to just replace it rather than depending on my own repair skills!

*****************************

( Read more... )

conuly

Smart beds flipped out during the AWS outage, and so did their sleepy owners

1. Why does a bed need to be smart?
2. Why does everything have to be a subscription nowadays?
3. Why didn't they design the damn things to just be normal beds if cut off from the internet?

Seriously, you couldn't have written this 30 years ago, nobody would ever have accepted the premise! I'd say something about fools and their money, but....

**************

( Read more... )

conuly

It's wrong and bad and wrong and I don't like it. She was little just yesterday! Now she is not little, and her sibling is even less little, and I just don't understand how that happened.

Happy birthday to her, I guess.

clauderainsrm posting in

therealljidol

A few words from

clauderainsrm:

Another week, another poll! *spins wheel, watches as it goes by* We are losing 1 contestant this week! Apparently the Wheel is deciding to drag this out! :D Maybe it likes torturing you.

The poll will be closing Monday, October 27th at 8pm ET. I’ll be at FEST (as is usual for this time of year. So long time for voting, probably a shorter window for writing next week… or an extra long one! Who knows! The Wheel hasn’t told me yet!!)

Good luck to everyone!

Poll #33751 ’WheelofChaos-Week13’

This poll is closed.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 38

Vote For Your Favorites!

alycewilson's entry
12 (31.6%)

bleodswean's entry
12 (31.6%)

drippedonpaper's entry
13 (34.2%)

flipflop_diva's entry
12 (31.6%)

hafnia's entry
12 (31.6%)

halfshellvenus's Bye Week - Votes Do Not Count
4 (10.5%)

inkstainedfingertips's entry
20 (52.6%)

legalpad819's entry
8 (21.1%)

l0lita's entry
18 (47.4%)

muchtooarrogant's Bye Week - Votes Do Not Count
3 (7.9%)

roina_arwen's entry
12 (31.6%)

unicornfartz's entry
16 (42.1%)

clauderainsrm posting in

therealljidol

Another week and another shot at ending the evil plans of the Killer(s)!

First, let's dispense the antidote. This is now voted for by everyone left in the competition. Which makes it more interesting to see where everyone else is looking for potential targets. The vote wasn't even close this time around - the antidote goes to

inkstainedfingertips - who enjoys a refreshing beverage. But not much else other than that.

The vote for the Killer was even more lopsided. Every single vote, except two (for different people), that came in all identified the same person. That diabolical mastermind who has been pulling the strings, and killing off the competition one by one!

The group have finally come together in the strongest possible way to accuse

muchtooarrogant of being a Killer!

The silence feels the room as people wait for what will come next... the next dramatic exposure...

and they wait... and wait... and then start swearing because the Killer(s) got away from them one more time!

Profile

penpusher

January 2023

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

Page Summary

halfshellvenus - LJ Idol: Wheel of Chaos: "Gone"
halfshellvenus - LJ Idol: Wheel of Chaos: "Second Chances"
conuly - Didn't look closely enough
jazzy_dave - Book 59 - Christopher Brookmyre "One Fine Day In The Middle Of The Night"
conuly - The word “perforce” does not belong in YA
conuly - Jenn's been playing Cult of the Lamb
conuly - This Is The First Thing by Philip Larkin
conuly - It's that awful time of month again.
clauderainsrm in therealljidol - The Wheelhouse - Week 14
clauderainsrm in therealljidol - Prompts- Week 14
clauderainsrm in therealljidol - Twist Reveal - Week 14 (and the Week 13 tie)
clauderainsrm in therealljidol - Results - Week 13
mark in dw_maintenance - Database maintenance
conuly - And, huh. It looks like I lost my bank card
conuly - Welp, my glasses have reached the point of no return with superglue
conuly - I got tired of trying to clean my mouse
conuly - Truly, this is the very stupidest dystopia
conuly - E is 20 and one day now!
clauderainsrm in therealljidol - Voting - Week 13
clauderainsrm in therealljidol - Week 13 - The Accusation

Style Credit

Style: Dreamer for Dusty Foot by timeasmymeasure

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Nov. 4th, 2025 01:03 am

First Think, THEN Ink.

Thinking Is Underrated

Reading

LJ Idol: Wheel of Chaos: "Gone"

LJ Idol: Wheel of Chaos: "Second Chances"

Didn't look closely enough

Book 59 - Christopher Brookmyre "One Fine Day In The Middle Of The Night"

The word “perforce” does not belong in YA

Jenn's been playing Cult of the Lamb

This Is The First Thing by Philip Larkin

It's that awful time of month again.

The Wheelhouse - Week 14

Prompts- Week 14

Twist Reveal - Week 14 (and the Week 13 tie)

Results - Week 13

Database maintenance

And, huh. It looks like I lost my bank card

Welp, my glasses have reached the point of no return with superglue

I got tired of trying to clean my mouse

Truly, this is the very stupidest dystopia

E is 20 and one day now!

Voting - Week 13

Week 13 - The Accusation

Profile

January 2023

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags