[sticky entry] Sticky: The Roots of the Tree

Sep. 30th, 2012 11:09 am
breezeshadow: It's a wolverine, hey! (Default)
Since I'm getting some new followers here, let me say: welcome and hello.

I am Breeze/Brittany, the roots and mind behind this tea tree here (though tea actually grows in bushes but let's ignore that). I can be described relatively simply:

a) I am a writer of fantasy, focused primarily around human rights topics, sardonic critiques on our society, and just fun with another world and species other than humans.
b) I am also a chef, starter of a blog called Dinner Time that also exists on blogspot. There I take recipes I've found either on the web or in books, make them, and critique them. Occasionally I will also take that space to critique brands or post random photos of ice cream.
c) I also have MI which means more of my posts involve that than I possibly want. We won't get into that.

There's also things like doodling, Sims, gardening, thoughts about diet and politics and life, and all sorts of things, because I'm a sort of jack of all trades.

I will hopefully make this post more interesting later, but for now, welcome.

And enjoy.

Tschuess.
breezeshadow: BRAIN PROBLEMS ICON (BrokenBrainGoldfish)
That makes it sound like this will be a super thoughtful post but nah.

Hope you all had a great holiday season. Being in the US, I don't have much hope for 2025, but will have to survive it somehow.

I find it kind of funny that in 2021 my update was that I had no autoimmune disorder, because as it turns out, I DO. it's just psoriasis. Not fun, but certainly not a Sjogren's or lupus scenario, so if I'm going to have to have an autoimmune, I'll take that one.

Unfortunately family and then work on Monday wiped me the hell out so I don't anticipate any writing happening today -- yesterday I slept until 12:30PM. But I wanted to share SOMETHING creative with you all, so how about a sweater?

20250101-122611

Well, the back piece of a sweater. I've never knitted a sweater before and I'm also slightly incompetent, but the pattern is finally making sense toward the top. I have one more set of the pattern and then I think I'm onto making the top and finishing the piece. I'm Extra Long(TM) though so will have to make sure the piece will be long enough before doing that. It should be as I accidentally did the bottom ribbing twice.

Hopefully I'll get more of it done today. My stomach is Deeply Unimpressed(TM) with me the past 12 hours so it might be another lazy day. At least doctors found out why it's an ass though -- my gallbladder has cysts and is just a general jackass so I need to watch my fat intake. Holidays aren't good for that kind of thing but now that I'm back home I should be able to control it better. Once I eat the rest of my homemade "panfried in butter" pierogi. I'm full of poor life decisions.

Oh not speaking of such at all, I ordered some Oops yarn from Big Little Yarn Co, which I'm very excited about as her yarn is GORGEOUS. I got three knitting books for Christmas so I have endless possibilities for whatever I get. Well, not endless since I got fingering weight, but pretty close to endless!

But I'm babbling. Have a good start to the year. Be creative and do petty crime, I guess.

Cheers/Prost/Salud/Na Zdrowie.
breezeshadow: WRITING TIMES ICON (BellaGUC)
What the hell-ass is this making me anxious for, ANYWAY.

So last year I went to a few writing Meetups, and was surprised when people showed interest in Friendship in Winter. As I posted on FB, I really wasn't expected anyone to be interested in a novel about two deeply messed up people.

So instead of AG, I've been working on that when I do get the muse, because AG and I aren't speaking to each other right now. It's not AG, it's me: untreated ADHD has turned that thing into a monstrosity and I really need to just sit down and figure out the plot and subplots. Friendship in Winter is so much easier because there really ISN'T a plot. It's just two mentally ill people trying to survive.

I almost started a paragraph with "So" again, sheesh. Here's the rewritten bath scene in the beginning of FIW. TW for depression I guess? It's Terry and Kader, don't know what to tell you.

Oops, we ruined the public bath )

Oh Hi

Dec. 23rd, 2024 12:30 pm
breezeshadow: Black cat with green eyes plotting deviously (ThaliaScheming)
Imagine that said like Mark in The Room. And if you haven't seen that movie, watch it with the Rifftrax audio because ho boy you're in for a ride.

I know I disappeared again. My apologies. I'm still stunningly bad at social. Even in real life, my only friends are people who are either okay with my long silence, or are more than willing to nag their way into my life.

In the three years since I last posted, I bought my first house and have gotten REALLY into knitting. I also went to Poland and Lithuania, including seeing Auschwitz. Sadly my writer's block is still a shithead; I was attending a few writer's meet-ups but honestly I'm just so fucking tired after work that I don't have the energy for writing. Poor novels.

At any rate, I figured I would post as I was looking through other journal entries to talk about in therapy. To the shock of absolutely anyone who has known me all of these years, I have a major self-esteem and... Shit, what's the word. Insecurity? Don't know. At any rate, I got problems and we're trying to tackle them.

I might share photos of my knitting. Is that a thing people do here? Whatever. I shall MAKE IT A THING. *powermad laugh*

But I need to go make pierogi first because 'tis the season.

Hope you've all been well. Tschuess.
breezeshadow: WRITING TIMES ICON (BellaGUC)
Still migraine-y but I Made it to my mother's so whatever. Here's a scene from... Two NaNoWriMos ago? In which an unexpected person is a guest star. I actually thought up a second scene for her on the drive down so she'll get another chance to shine and terrify everyone.

You've stepped into something bigger than you thought )
breezeshadow: It's a wolverine, hey! (Default)
Magical disappearing act again, I know. It's what I do.

I didn't win NaNoWriMo, but that's no shock at all. My writer's block has been severe and writing every day doesn't help -- eventually I just get to a point where the whole thing grinds to a halt. I think I got halfway though? So a respectable number of words. I'm actually going to try and do some more writing because I planned a writing trip in the Adirondacks next month and I want to be in top shape for that.

Nothing tonight though as I have a migraine that really, REALLY doesn't want to leave. It needs to since I'm driving to CT tomorrow but anyway. Context for this scene: Lilith was attacked by a vampire, and Gareth and Rose May are representing her supposed attacker since he's falsely accused. They are visiting Lilith in the hospital as Rose May is hoping she can sense the actual criminal through the girl.

It goes poorly.

TW for vibes bordering on child sexual abuse )
breezeshadow: It's a wolverine, hey! (Default)
forced soulbonding loss of powers
abandonment issues WILD CARD


A small card from [community profile] hc_bingo. The soulbonding one will be interesting -- such a concept doesn't really exist in Malanee beyond the creepy quasi-necromancy shit Sybille does. I can totally see it being a thing in the Sheep universe though.

Here's an excerpt from a story fresh hot the press for loss of powers:

TW for violence, kidnapping )

Yep, it's the Rose May attack again, from Mahli's perspective. It's been an incredibly long time since I wrote from Mahli's POV, and back then I didn't have the chronic pain issues I do now. So it's going to be interesting writing Mahli without his telepathy around to augment his broken body.

The excerpt is quite rough so my apologies for the word repetition and typos. Writing these telepathy fights is a bit of a pain. The second part is post-fight and deals more with the prompt's premise so hopefully it'll be less of a broken record.

Tschuess.
breezeshadow: BRAIN PROBLEMS ICON (BrokenBrainGoldfish)
Day two of pain from the weather, thanks it going nearly to 60 yesterday, then right back to maybe 40 max today. Leaving me bloody exhausted, so time for the broken brain icon (which cracks me up).

But that's not why you're here. Here's an excerpt from last NaNoWriMo. Part II of AG is supposed to start each chapter with a news article, and they are pure sensationalism. I'd tell you more, but honestly it hurts to type, so I'm just going to post it and go back to SPORE.

TW for minor racism )

By the way: this man is Meander. I was creating him in Sims 4 and realized that I liked his look when he wasn't another pale man, and I need more diversity in my cast anyway.

Tschuess.
breezeshadow: WRITING TIMES ICON (BellaGUC)
I hate when the weather abruptly warms or cools. We have been having beautiful winter weather the past few weeks, but this week it decided to go from 20s to 50s, and my body hates it. Joint and muscle pain, sinuses, the works. Come back to me, winter!

Anyway. I have for you a bonus scene I wrote two NaNoWriMos ago, when I once again got an idea and added an unnecessary plot point to AG. And this one was big enough that it required me to restart rewriting part II, as I need to properly incorporate it in. I think it'll be worth it, though -- it adds an overarching storyline that will lend a mystery-novel quality to the second part, and allows the telepaths to showcase their shit.

Title: None
Genre: Fantasy
The Troops: Nur, Mahli, Meander, Rose May
Status: Incomplete and rough
Summary: Sometimes, to fight a monster, you have to combine monstrosities.
Prompt: NA
Rating: PG-13 for disturbing implications, violence
Author's Notes: This scene can't appear in AG proper since it's told strictly from Rose May's POV, but I just had to write it as it is such a fun moment to miss. It's also a fantastic moment for Mahli, who gets to show off his telepathic powers for a good cause for once. Poor Rose May, though. She probably wishes she would die in that fire Tadhg set after living through this.

Someday, people will learn to stop attacking Rose May )

Poor Nur, never gets to kill anyone. Maybe someday, love.

Tschuess.

... Hello

Feb. 23rd, 2021 07:12 pm
breezeshadow: Black cat with green eyes plotting deviously (ThaliaScheming)
So, um... Hello. Been a while.

I don't have much to say right now. Sure I will someday but for now it's just kind of awkward and nerve-wracking. Social phobia is a beast.

As a sort of summary of my life the past five years:

- I don't have an autoimmune disease. WHAT I have, god knows. Fibromyalgia, hypermobility syndrome, and some sort of unknown musculoskeletal disorder.
- I moved to upstate NY. I have a fireplace. It's pretty sweet.
- I still haven't finished my bloody rewrite of Abandoned Gardens.

I'll probably be trying to get back into using prompts and the like here, in the hopes of getting my creative juices flowing a bit more. There's been a mental block on my creativity for years, and my therapist thinks it's a couple of things: being in survival mode for years, and not a lot of people I feel I can share my writing with. Despite the motherfucking madness that is COVID, I'm not so much in survival mode, and maybe rejoining this site can help with the latter. We shall see.

So yeah. I'll leave you with something I wrote a few weeks ago.

The Perils of Open Relationships )


See you later, perhaps.
breezeshadow: It's a wolverine, hey! (Default)
Winter won't stop coming, and neither will Conan's brash behaviour. )

Just a quick, rusty story after a loooong time of not writing. I love Kader, and her interactions with Conan are fun. She, like me, doesn't like kids, but unlike me, her reaction to him is to be her typical self, swearing and all. Sometimes, this gets her and Conan into trouble.

This story presents such a different Kader from usual, damn -- one who has lived with people who love her for a few years, and one who has had a meaningful job and life for what might be the first time. Doesn't stop her from being a swearing grumpy lady, though. She'll be that until the day she dies, and if there is an afterlife, probably afterward, too.

Will try to finish this and tidy it up later.

Tschuess.
breezeshadow: AWESOME TIMES ICON (DuckyWEEEEE)
Taking a much-needed week-long vacation and I can feel my muse stirring after what feels like years of writer's block. I think playing the Wekesa family in The Sims 3 helped. And thus I bring you: Bakari and Batuuli having a cameo in Abandoned Gardens:

1800s photography and my attempts at traditional Swahili clothing, oh my! )

If anyone out there actually knows about East African traditional clothing and can let me know if what I gave Batuuli and Bakari makes sense, that would be great. Unfortunately yet unsurprisingly, the internet did not yield a lot of information, what with its European-centric views and all.

And as a fun bonus, one of Alden and Bakari's adopted children married a man who then used Joy for a magician trick:



She made exactly the face I'd expect. Also grr, my spreadsheet says Bakari has brown-red hair but in the Sims he still has the blonde-red hair he started with! Which one is it, me?!

Tschuess.

Cicadas

Dec. 20th, 2015 09:57 am
breezeshadow: WTF TIMES ICON (WTFCat)
Just a weird little piece I wrote this morning after some funky-ass dreams. Apologies for inaccuracies regarding space travel and all. Did minimal research; will try to brush it up later if I get the muse.

TW for bugs and blood )
breezeshadow: TEA TIMES ICON (ALLtheTea)
TW for mentions of war )

Just something I'm working on today.

Memories

May. 20th, 2015 08:06 pm
breezeshadow: Is it not adorable? (PumaKitten)
TW for mention of depression, suicidation )

Just lots on my mind. Sorting through the scrapbook, so to speak. Don't worry, though: I'm fine.

Tschuess.
breezeshadow: TEA TIMES ICON (ALLtheTea)
Sometimes you're just driving home, thinking about your characters while trying NOT to think about the horrible shit you read about last night (seriously, no more reading about the Yugoslav wars. I think the paralyzing panic I got while driving home was a cause). And it makes you realize that one of your characters had a good chance of working as a prostitute for a while.

And thus was born Alden the Prostitute:

TW for frank mentions of sex, including some very depraved sex )

My search history now looks extremely wrong due to the research I had to do for this. Also I haven't figured out what Layla looks like yet, whoops. I have an "Asian" -- no such thing in Malanee, but two countries in the Welen mountains were based on China and Thailand, respectively -- character I plan to introduce, but she didn't seem to fit as a prostitute (not to mention it felt wrong to do so) so she'll show up later.

And thus hopefully I'll get past the scenes where I have to pretend I know how sex and prostitution works. Oh boy!

Tschuess.
breezeshadow: BRAIN PROBLEMS ICON (BrokenBrainGoldfish)
TW for PTSD )

Rose May had a pretty damn traumatic experience during the Frenton Rebellion, yet I never seem to touch upon it in AG. This is me attempting to -- I feel like Duff's at times intimidating, emotionless manner may be enough to set her off. Duff was likely in his twenties when shit went down, so he'd remember the story of the little girl, once it got around. And I would not be surprised if it was that story that gave him another push to abandon high-class society.

Feel free to comment and give me tips. I don't have PTSD myself so I'm writing based on what it feels like it would be, to me.

Tschuess.
breezeshadow: ANXIETY TIMES ICON (FeedbackHell)
Hello and welcome back to my Sims 3 Legacy! Last time, uh, well mostly a ton of pets died and there were weird glitches. Not too exciting, really. And Charles grew up, bringing us into Gen 5.

So let's hop right in, eh?

Tons of pictures, with some pixelated nudity. Disturbing pixelated nudity. )
breezeshadow: AWESOME TIMES ICON (DuckyWEEEEE)
I was playing on the Exhibited pet sim when this story came to me. This is actually the second draft, as I had an idiot moment and pressed the wrong button when it asked if I wanted to save.

Light mention of animal cruelty, otherwise nothing major )

[personal profile] raze and other rescuers can tell me how inaccurate any of this sounds. ;)

Comments welcome as always, especially since I rarely write futuristic stuff. This is what happens when I play a dinosaur sim and read Cloud Atlas. Note that the tissue engineering is probably pseudo; hard to say since it's so young, but it involves crazy shit like scaffolding and matrices and a hellll of a lot more than just a petri dish (I wanted to work with it before I realized it was research-only and I'd need a Ph.D).

Tschuess.
breezeshadow: TEA TIMES ICON (ALLtheTea)
Welcome back, friends, to my Sims 3 Legacy! Last time, Edith gave birth to her second child, Gabriel, while Charles provided serious comedy relief and cemented his role as our heir. We return to their beautiful home...

Tons of Pictures, Yo! )

And that's that. Next time: will I get the Uni students to go home? How many more cats will die? Will Charles finally get started on those four kids? And will I finally admit to my ghost addiction?

Chance of finding an answer: 33%! But it's 0% if you don't tune in next time.

Tschuess.
breezeshadow: Is it not adorable? (PumaKitten)
I usually don't post this kind of stuff, for various reasons.

TW: depression, minor suicidiality )

In short: I could use some kind thoughts and words right now, because my brain is ebbing out the feeling of alone. It's a charmer.

In happier news: finished NaNoWriMo, workplace is letting most of the employees have an extended holiday vacation, and though the work holiday party was mostly sad for me quite a few people were happy I was there and gave me hugs and talked to me.

Hopefully I can post some writing excerpts later when I feel more up to it.

Sorry for the blah boring post.

Tschuess.

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breezeshadow: It's a wolverine, hey! (Default)
Brittany

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