This Path

Updated Fic: What We Become: A Supernatural/Walking Dead Crossover

Sun, 04 Sep 2022 16:58:00 GMT

Title: What We Become: A Supernatural/Walking Dead Crossover

Author: Ahavah

Genre: Apocalyptic

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, major and minor character deaths

Spoilers: Spoilers for both series, as well as mild spoilers for later seasons of Being Human (US), whose characters have a cameo storyline.

Author's note: I'm posting regularly again after facing some health issues, and I apologize for seeming to drop this fic! It was not intentional.

Summary: Fic: Set after TWD season 3 (after Woodbury but before Season 4 picks up) and an alternate SPN season 6 where the main apocalypse was still thwarted but Pestilence succeeded in releasing the Croatoan virus "swine flu vaccine".

I'm incorporating characters and storylines from both The Walking Dead (tv show and comics) and Supernatural. This is primarily a canon divergence, but I do borrow certain aspects from both sources. I have done my best to use those aspects in the spirit of "What If" and "Homage", and I have tried very hard to make it my own and avoid plagiarism.

Chapter: 19: Self Help Dean looks for a way to help Sam after his wall breaks, not realizing that Sam alone holds that key. Glenn wakes to find himself in strange company.

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"Mid Event" Update

Sun, 24 Oct 2021 02:21:41 GMT

I missed the Mid Event Survey for Dewey's 24-Hr Readathon since I was intent on finishing the D&D 5e Monster Manual before allowing myself back online. The weather is bad and my rural internet is being painfully slow, so updates and reviews are taking me too long to post and siphoning away my reading time.

Mid Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?

Just finished the MM and am wondering which to read next, Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath or Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success (to try to help get my NaNoWriMo gears moving)

2. How many books have you read so far?

Finished two that I'd already started.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

I've been wanting to read that Sylvia Plath book, and it's a library book that I need to hurry and read. But if I can get to it, I've finally gotten Octavia Butler's Wild Seed, which I've wanted to read for years.

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

Yes, I work a new job away from my family for most of the week, so they miss me terribly and need to spend time with me while I'm home. I've tried to include them in some of my readathon, but I also take breaks to hang out for a bit.

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?

It seems quieter in my little corner of the world. I'm succeeding in reading more than playing online, Unlike last year, but I guess that means I'm not as active a participant in social media. I've had no interactions with other readathoners, which is different from previous years.

*

The Hour 13 host asked if we incorporate any non-book hobbies into our readathons. While still involving books, I've worked on prepping for our family D&D game tomorrow and read Little House, which is part of our family homeschooling and a particular passion of my youngest. I've also been munching plenty, and I am a big fan of food.

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Book Review: D&D 5e Monster Manual

Sun, 24 Oct 2021 01:55:47 GMT

Yes, I actually read the entire Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual (5th Edition). And love it!

Excellent reference, imo not just for gamers/Dungeon Masters but also for fantasy writers and artists. The book includes a lot of worldbuilding lore in addition to stat blocks, all of which give great plot and quest ideas in addition to well-balanced foes. The artwork is absolutely amazing, with a picture for every monster and variant. Fantastic edition.

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Book Review: Little House in the Big Woods

Sat, 23 Oct 2021 20:51:42 GMT

The first of the famous Little House series, Little House in the Big Woods follows a year in the life of a very young, Wisconsin-dwelling Laura Ingalls.

This is obviously well-written, though I guess with old-fashioned grammar conventions that haven't been updated (commas are splattered all over the place, often randomly). Its entire purpose is to paint a picture of an idyllic & old-fashioned past swiftly lost, which it does a fantastic job of. Especially the version I read with illustrations by Garth Williams, which helpfully illustrated some foreign concepts which words just didn't paint the clearest picture of.

As a testament of its time, however, there are some uncomfortable inclusions like casual racism, rigid gender roles, and clearly advocating corporal punishment of small children. I did not shy away from the uncomfortable explanations to my 10 yo, though it was confusing for them to see Pa on a kindness-pedestal at the same moment I have to explain what a “strapping” or “tanning someone's hide” is. I could not bring myself to recite the song about “Old [Racial Slur]”, though I did discuss it with my children and how racism can be so invisible to certain people, including ourselves and people we love, while so stark, obvious, and relentlessly everywhere to others.

The stories about corn husk dolls, Christmases of olde, living in tune to the seasons and off the land, etc. are wonderful and deserve to be kept and not lost. Morality of working hard and appreciating what you have are wonderful, though too idealized and idolized for the actual realities of that kind of basic subsistence life. Still, wonderful stories that have stood the test of generations, and the parts that aren't wonderful are still important to discuss with children.

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Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon

Sat, 23 Oct 2021 17:46:46 GMT

Hello, and long time no post! I apologize for that, but the apocalypse hit me hard. I am alive though, and maybe I'll talk about it some time. For now, Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon also lives on, thank goodness, and I'm giving it another shot. Reading has finally been working for me again! Slowly but surely.

I'm getting a late start because this is the first day off I have where I haven't had to get up early or was horribly sick. So I took a long overdue and delicious sleep-in (10 am!), and I've piddled the morning away and really need to get started now that it's almost 1 pm Central US. I know the readathon started at 8 am Eastern/7 am Central, so I'm pretty late to the party but a night owl who hopes to make it up later.

Opening Event Survey:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

SE Missouri, USA

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

My youngest and I are two chapters shy of finishing Little House in the Big Woods, the first of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. We're both excited to finish that up today.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I am ill-prepared with snacks, so probably drinks. I've recently discovered the Grand Marnier Smash and will be settling in with one of those.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I love reading and writing, especially speculative fiction. I used to write poetry and am trying to delve back into that, but it's been a long while. I also always participate in National Novel Writing Month each year, sometimes as Municipal Liaison, and I'm late and struggling in choosing what to write this year. I'm considering a medieval fantasy trope subversion where a middle-age homemaker discovers she's The Chosen One, but I don't know.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

I'm hoping to read more hours this time, but I also have to prep for tomorrow's Dungeons & Dragon game during my breaks. Excellent way to work in finishing Tasha's Cauldron though, I hope.

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Dewey's (Last?) Read-a-Thon!

Sat, 25 Apr 2020 19:58:02 GMT

I've been doing Dewey's 24-hr Read-a-thon off-and-on for over a decade now, I think. Not the last few years, as I have struggled with brain issues that make reading very hard, but I had just decided to rededicate myself to reading and books when they posted that the event organizers were retiring! There was such outpouring that I think they're considering handing over the reins to another organizer, and I hope so, but I still want to try to participate this time, just in case.

I had my alarm set for 6am since it started at 7am in my time zone, but I was up all night with a sick husband and didn't feel well myself at 6am, so I turned it off and slept until almost noon! That was 2.5 hours ago and we had to have our long-overdue Full Family Quarantine Fight first, so here it is after 2:30 pm and I've still not read anything today. Looks like I'll be staying up all night!

But first, let me jump in with the opening survey. Looks like we'll only have one challenge this year, sharing our favorite memories --- but as someone with memory issues, that doesn't really include me. I guess my favorite was when I won something through a challenge. I think that happened once. Maybe.

Hour 0 – Opening Survey

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

VERY rural SE Missouri, USA

2.) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

I hope to finish the DM Guide today. I got the D&D 5e core books for Christmas (finally! Been playing 4e forever), and I really hope to finish it today.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I slept and fought too long to fix food, so I will sustain myself on alcohol today. Woot.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I've been dealing with a lot of health problems, both brain and mobility, but I'm trying to get my Everything back on track. I'm mostly focused on relearning how to cook, hike (my passion!), and read. I just recently joined Instagram finally and would love more connections there. So far I do a lot of posts about comfort foods (especially healthy, Southern, and Mexican comfort foods), disabled hiking, accessibility, and Dungeons & Dragons.

Also, I'm a writer, and I actually wrote this pandemic years ago. I'm a writer who stupidly rarely submits and actually publishes, and I could be making bank right now, but I suck at follow through. I'm going to work on that. Too late for my poor novel, Neon Giraffe, I'm afraid. I'm inspired to get back at writing too now though, if my brain will let me.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

I don't think I'm doing anything differently, right down to PLANNING to read all day and then my family making that impossible. I had planned to cook dinner, but now I'm not sure I'm going to, so I'm most looking forward to doing nothing else but reading for me all day.

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D&D 5th Edition Player's Handbook

Tue, 11 Feb 2020 00:51:12 GMT

I'm finally reading again!

Player's Handbook by James Wyatt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've been playing Dungeons & Dragons since 2nd edition, and I've DMed from 3e onward. I'm very late coming to 5e, but I'm so excited about it now that I've read the Player's Handbook!

They've streamlined a lot of the rules and simplified the math aspect, focusing much more on roleplaying and character development/background...which, honestly, I always preferred anyway. They still have the core skills PCs can develop, but it's a simple proficiency bonus system based on character level and consistent across the board. Feats are optional and much more streamlined. Characters receive certain extra skills, proficiencies, and equipment based on what background they take, all of which are fitting for multiple classes.

I'm particularly excited to see Bard back as a player class, and glad to see gnomes and half-orcs included as PC races again. Subraces, class archetypes, and backgrounds help develop unique and strong characters. Multi-classing is optional but super easy. That's really the overarching theme here: fully fleshed out characters and simplified game rules. I especially like the addition of advantage vs. disadvantage, and I'm also pleased with bardic and DM inspiration and can't wait to see how these play out in my games.

I do wish there was a clearer character sheet set-up in the early chapters. They give you the bare bones there, but no example of how to fill it out anymore. I had everything filled out but passive perception and had to look at the index to find where it was, which was closer to the back of the book and far from character creation chapters. They do have many handy tables, which are always helpful and often clearer than trying to describe everything in paragraphs. Spellcasting seemed much easier to follow in 5e.

All in all, it seems like they kept the best of all editions and simplified it overall, with a focus on compelling characters and stories. They also included brief mentions and examples of personality traits, bonds, ideals, and flaws, which seem designed to help new roleplayers understand their characters better. Not pages and pages and pages to read & choose from, though. Just a paragraph and d6 table for each. Nice if you need it, and easily skipped without repercussions if you don't. I also think giving certain starting equipment based on background is going to be a lot better for new players than handing them 100gp, a general idea of what their race & class can use, and a few tables worth of equipment, weights, and prices. It seems like they've focused on making it more accessible and fun, and I'm excited to get started.

View all my reviews

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Ghostbusters + Closer Mashup

Mon, 04 Nov 2019 14:15:12 GMT

THIS IS THE GREATEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD!

Closer has NSFW lyrics, if you are not familiar with it, but this is worth a listen RIGHT NOW so get your earphones if necessary.

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2019 Reading Challenge

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 17:28:56 GMT

I'm copying this reading challenge from a friend. Something happened and I stopped being able to read books last year from like February on. I'm going to try to get back on track this year. I love books. I can't live without them, so I need to get my mojo back. A few of these are genres I KNOW I don't like (and, no, I've never found a 'omg must read' recommendation that I actually liked), so I may skip them.

Also, I don't really have a favorite time period, so are there any suggestions?

2019 reading challenge.

1. Book with more than 500 pages
2. Book i havent read by an author that i love
3. Book i can read in a day
4. Book recommended by a friend
5. Book that will make me cry
6. Book published in 2009
7. A genre I dont usually read
8. Childrens classic.
9. Cover with your favorite color
10. Bought at a thrift store
11. Young adult fiction
12. All three books in a trilogy.
13. Dystopian novel
14. Award-winning book
15. A book from the rory Gilmore challenge.
16. Published the decade before i was born.
17. Historical fiction from a favorite time period.
18. A classic you've never read.
19. A book that will keep you up all night.
20. Once started but never finished
21. One word title.
22. A book i read in high school.
23. Book set in another country.
24. reread a favorite.
25. Book by a local author.
26. popular book ive never read.
27. Science fiction novel.
28. a book i own but havent read.
29. the first book in a series.
30. Prettiest cover

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Wolfenoot

Sun, 30 Sep 2018 18:07:16 GMT

A friend of mine has a son who had the most wonderful idea. He has created a new holiday called Wolfenoot (wolf-a-noot). From their page:

It is when the Spirit of the Wolf brings and hides small gifts around the house for everyone. People who have, have had, or are kind to dogs get better gifts than anyone else.

You eat roast meat (because wolves eat meat) and cake decorated like a full moon.

A holiday to the spirit of wolves that celebrates people who are kind to dogs? I can 100% get behind this. So we will be celebrating Wolfenoot. It's on the 23rd November if anyone else is moved to celebrate it. ;) If you do, please post pics, so he can see how his idea has spread.

If you're posting publicly about it, use #wolfenoot.

♥

ETA: FAQ is here: https://wolfenoot.com/wolfenoot-faq/

---

It's already taken off with over 2000 people attending and even more 'interested in' the event. If you would like to celebrate with us, please join the fun on the event page.

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I'm Not a Fall Person

Mon, 24 Sep 2018 23:26:35 GMT

It looks like I haven't done a real update since April, and I've not done any book reports since February. I'm definitely not going to make my NYR goal of reading 52 books this year. I've had a hard time reading for many months, but I'm trying to get back at it.

Life is going fairly well here. I finally have a new computer, and I think I have an idea on how to fix my novel, so I'm finally working on that again. I touched base with the folks in my facebook writing group, Writing WonderCabin, to see if anyone wanted to resume weekly write-ins. It looks like we may get those started again, so if you're interested in something like that, join up &/or let me know. We used to have Monday evening and Wednesday morning write-ins, but I'm not sure if we're going to do the same schedule. I think I'm going to start with one daytime write-in, when the kids are in school, and only add a PM write-in if we get interest and participation.

People keep dumping animals around our area. They dumped three dogs on the road by my house. One of them got hit before we knew about them, but the other two made it down to our yard. We just found a lady who knows a lot of rescues and was able to place them in one, and now today Josh has brought home two new kittens. He wants to keep these ones, which I am hesitant to do. I'm allergic, so they can't be in the house, and when we last had outdoor cats (before Maya was born, so at least 7 or 8 years ago), they all kept being killed and traumatizing my kids each time. Josh tried to build a catio that didn't really contain them for very long. But he assures me that he'll fix a new and better catio for these new cats, and that we really need them for help with mice and snakes. One is newborn and doesn't even have its eyes open. The other is a bit older and apparently has thumbs which Josh has seen him use to pick things up, so he's in love and wants this thing forever. I think they don't take good enough care of the animals that we have and we don't need anymore, but my kids are all huge cat fans and have been pining for the better part of a decade now, so I guess I'm outvoted.

We're trying to get Eden testing for possible autism, but apparently there's an eight or nine month waiting list just to make an appointment. So one day next year they might call and make an appointment.

Ivy is struggling in math, and he probably should have been in a special math class for one more year before they threw him into the grade level math. His IEP even says so. But they're wanting to try him in 7th grade math now (even though they went in last year at 3rd grade level; we seriously struggled with math) and said he was mostly doing well, he just wasn't always turning in the work. So they wanted to get him to try to stick with it, but he's really stressed and struggling and even the psychiatrist says she'd suggest swapping classes, so I'm going to have to insist on it. I asked them to call me Friday and still haven't heard back. I have appointments all week, so I hope we can eventually catch up with each other and make that happen.

Maya is doing really well and sold a bunch of pumpkins that she grew this year all by herself. She sold 3 to my best friend for $5 each, although Faith just let her keep a whole $20. Then we took the rest to the Farmer's Market Saturday, and she made another $35. I'm very proud of her. She worked hard on that all year and made some good money doing it, and she learned a lot by having a table at the market.

The chickens that we bought this year are finally laying. I found four eggs this morning, but one had a chunk of shell missing so I threw that out. The chickens are mostly scared of everything and scatter if we get too close, but the black one – Ivy's chicken, named Yukii – lets me pet her. I like that one.

Both of our lawnmowers are broken, so our yard is an absolute jungle, which is not helping the mouse issue. The same part is broken on both of them, so we need to order them and get at least one of them fixed. We'll probably work on the new, more expensive one, first. We bought it with the tax money this year and used it one time. I had less than ten minutes on the thing and I ran over a t-post pounder thingie that the kids had overlooked in the tall grass when I told them to clean up the yard and get it mower ready. I've been using the old one as back up, but the same pully part broke when I went to mow the lawn. I really hope we can get them up and running, because I serious hate our yard right now.

That's pretty much what's going on in my life.

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Chicken Sopa Seca

Mon, 24 Sep 2018 01:33:06 GMT

I tried a new Mexican recipe tonight, chicken sopa seca. Everybody went back for seconds, and Maya declared that she wanted to have it every night (which was surprising since she usually snubs her nose at my Mexican meals).

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Back

Sun, 23 Sep 2018 19:45:58 GMT

I have been without a computer for a month or two. I finally have a new one and am slowly working on catching up. I have a lot of NaNoWriMo stuff to catch up (I'm a Municipal Liaison for our area), but I will eventually make my way back to DW & LJ. I've missed you guys.

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Dreamsongs Vol. 1, by George R. R. Martin

Sun, 18 Feb 2018 16:01:57 GMT

Dreamsongs Vol. 1, by George R. R. Martin

I read most of this book, but I wasn't able to finish it before it was due back at the library (even with an extension). It just didn't hold my interest. I felt about most of these stories the same way I felt about GoT – good ideas, but the execution wasn't the best. I guess I'm just not a GRRM fan.

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Whole30 Reintroduction Wrap-Up

Sun, 11 Feb 2018 12:42:05 GMT

Well, given how sick I've been all week, I've pretty much given up on the rest of my reintroduction. I ate loads of ice cream yesterday because it helped my throat feel better. I also had popcorn with butter because comfort food that I missed.

The only thing I *haven't* properly done a reintroduction for is gluten-containing grains, which I was set to reintroduce tomorrow (Monday). I may try to keep Whole30 eating for the next couple of days to finish it out right, but I'm still half dead and cooking seems so hard. I'm so close to finishing this out right though. But I'm also over it and not getting the help cooking that I need when I'm sick.

So far I haven't noticed any bad reactions when I've reintroduced foods, but I've also been so sick that I wouldn't have been able to tell anyway. I don't think I have any negatives except a tendency to binge on sugar foods.

All in all, I'm proud of myself for how well I did this time. I'll see what I can manage to do today, but I might as well just be off the wagon. I wish I'd seen more results this time, but I know that's because I was relying on white potatoes too much. Still, not a bad round. I think I'm going to call my reintroduction finished and just be proud of myself.

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Whole30 Day 40: Reintroduction Day 10

Sat, 10 Feb 2018 13:32:56 GMT

Today I get to reintroduce dairy. Only I didn't, because I took nyquil all day and passed out around 3 pm. Good thing I had ice cream the day before.

B: Spaghetti

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Whole30 Day 39: Reintroduction Day 9

Fri, 09 Feb 2018 14:36:32 GMT

I'm definitely sick. That makes it hard to tell how my body reacts on reintroduction, because I don't know what all is from the cold and what might be from the food I'm eating. I'm losing motivation, but I'm almost done, so I'm trying to hang in there.

B: Salmon, broccoli with lemon, baked potato with ghee

L: Raisins and a Twix ice cream bar. I totally cheated and reintroduced dairy a day early, but I needed some ice cream.

D: Spaghetti

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Whole30 Day 38: Reintroduction Day 8

Thu, 08 Feb 2018 13:41:38 GMT

Dragging a little this morning, but I think that's due to the margaritas yesterday more than anything else.

Ended up pretty sick over the evening. Not sure if it was the alcohol or if we've got a bug going around, because Ivy stayed home from school too.

B: Skipped

L: Salmon and broccoli with lemon

D: Skipped – went to bed way early

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Whole30 Day 37: Reintroduction Day 7

Wed, 07 Feb 2018 12:39:30 GMT

(Yesterday's entry)

Reintroduced non-gluten grains today.

B: Two hardboiled eggs, baked potato with ghee

L: Tortilla chips and salsa

Two margaritas with my bestie

D: Chicken and rice

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Whole30 Day 36: Reintroduction Day 6

Tue, 06 Feb 2018 15:06:18 GMT

Fell asleep before posting this last night. Going a little light on my healthy fats lately. Need to get back on the template.

B: Tuna steak, homemade seasoned fries

L: Two hardboiled eggs, homemade seasoned fries

D: Hamburger (with onion and bell peppers) on lettuce leaf “bun”

Snack: Raisins

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Whole30 Day 35: Reintroduction Day 5

Mon, 05 Feb 2018 01:57:17 GMT

I woke up with a bit of a headache, but I don't know if that was legume related.

B: Skipped

L: Two hardboiled eggs, baked potato with ghee and salsa

D: Tuna steak, steamed broccoli with lemon, homemade seasoned fries

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Whole30 Day 34: Reintroduction Day 4

Sun, 04 Feb 2018 15:43:32 GMT

(forgot to post this yesterday)

Today I reintroduced legumes.

B: Two pieces harboiled eggs, baked potato with salsa

L: Skipped

D: Chili (with beans!)

Snack: Raisins

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Whole30 Day 33: Reintroduction Day 3

Sat, 03 Feb 2018 03:19:27 GMT

Felt good all day. I'd say alcohol is fine for me, but it might make my belly a bit upset the next day if I have too much.

B: Piece and a half of shepherd's pie

L: Spaghetti

D: Spaghetti

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Whole30 Day 32: Reintroduction Day 2

Fri, 02 Feb 2018 03:56:55 GMT

Stomach was a bit upset this morning, possibly from the alcohol yesterday, but I felt fine once I ate.

B: Two pieces shepherd's pie

L: Two hardboiled eggs, baked potato with salsa

D: Spaghetti (now with spaghetti squash!)

Snack: Raisins

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Whole30 Day 31: Reintroduction Day 1

Thu, 01 Feb 2018 02:28:21 GMT

B: Two pieces veggie frittata

2.5 shots tequila

L: Two pieces shepherd's pie, baked potato with salsa

Snack: Raisins

D: Spaghetti sauce (my spaghetti squash went bad, so no noodles)

Tequila gave me a nice buzz today. No other side effects that I noticed, except that it did make me crave carbs (baked potato). Now back to Whole30 eating for two more days.

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