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17 January 2026 21:16
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
Haven't done a lot today, outside of watching it snow - big heavy snowflakes falling lightly to the ground. Heavy wet snow. Not a lot of sticking. Well, that and knee exercises - lots of knee exercises, and watching of television, and scrolling through dream-width correspondence list.

Apparently sci-fi writer John Scalzi got an asteroid named after him (or a minor planet)? And the ultra conservative comic strip writer behind Dilbert died of cancer. (I can't say I ever liked the comic strip Dilbert all that much? It was okay in 1990s, but it slowly derailed into misogynistic and racist jokes by the early 00s.) Oh, and Cincinnati Chili may well be an acquired taste? (I've never had it - nor want it. I don't like Texas Chili. I only eat vegetarian chili? I don't tend to like meat in it - and grew up with beans.)

Binged Buffy and Angel episodes today. Of the two, I have to say Angel S3 Episodes 15-18 work better from a plot and character stand point than Buffy S6 episodes 15-18. I think David Greenwalt/Jeffrey Bell and Tim Minear were slightly better show-runners than Marti Noxon/David Fury and Joss Whedon.

Normal Again and Entropy are actually good episodes. They work on multiple levels. But, the problem with Normal Again and Entropy - is I'm relating more to Spike and Anya, than Buffy and her friends? It's an interesting flaw and a risky one.

Both episodes get across the changes in Spike. And how confused he is. It's also clear from both - that the writers need Spike to leave - or the rest of the season won't work.
Normal Again and Entropy )

I decided to watch Seeing Red after Entropy. The two episodes go together. Or build up to each other. When they originally aired in 2002, folks who were downloading or watching the episodes via satellite television in colleges around the country - ended up watching "Seeing Red" before Entropy. People watching Broadcast Television or Cable saw Entropy, people watching via satellite feed saw Seeing Red. Can you imagine what happened online? Yup, the fandom exploded. I was watching on Broadcast Television or Cable - so saw the episodes in order. The people who didn't, kind of reacted badly and spoiled everyone else.

Seeing Red is an uneven episode. The writer has to do several difficult things in this episode:
Read more... )

Creative Jam

17 January 2026 22:37
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
The [community profile] crowdfunding Creative Jam is now open with a theme of "Memories."  Come give us prompts, or claim some for your own inspiration!  This is our 150th session, so I hope to see lots of excitement.


What I Have Written:




From My Prompts:



.

Today's Adventures

17 January 2026 17:27
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today we went to the Otto Center in Arthur. Normally the third Saturday of each month is their craft show, and that's how it was marked earlier. It turned out to be a small farm and homestead show, with different vendors and a few folks we recognized. So that was interesting.

Read more... )
sanguinity: Amanda Root as Anne Eliot from Persuasion 1995, enjoying a cup of tea (Persuasion - Anne with Tea)
[personal profile] sanguinity
Today is Christmas, three times over!

1.

[personal profile] luzula finished Far Frae the Bonny Hills and Dales, a Flight of the Heron longfic that I have been following for the past eighteen months. AU where Ewen is transported and sold to the Caribbean sugar fields. There are tragic parts to the story (note the "major character death" warning), but it ends in a good and satisfying place. One of the things I love about [personal profile] luzula's writing is that she makes her characters earn their happy ending -- and they do.

Congratulations to [personal profile] luzula, and happy Christmas to me!

2.

[community profile] fandomtrees revealed! I received some beautiful maritime-fandoms icons (William Bush, Frederick Wentworth, and Anne Eliot), thank you to [personal profile] sarajayechan and [personal profile] chewingbottles! I am looking forward to using them!

I also made a half-dozen things (which will have their own reveals post later), and that's been fun, too.

3.

Family Chistmas celebrations got delayed twice, first by weather, and the second time because my brother called up and said he was still waiting on my Christmas present to be delivered. He insisted he had ordered it in good time, but repeated shipping delays, it was supposed to be delivered any day now, etc. etc. And I was all dude, it's fine (while wondering what the big deal was, but whatever, if he wanted to hold off so we could do it all in person, that's fine, too.) I get a long weekend for MLK Jr. weekend (for non-USians, this weekend), so we pushed it all back to today, when we convened at Mom's house for delayed Christmas celebrations.

[personal profile] grrlpup and I got everyone a lot of Japan souvenirs -- my brother got squeaky-toy katana and a whole big box of the bubblegum he had adored as a kid (which, fair enough, took us WEEKS to find, it no longer being in every convenience store like when we visited Japan as kids) -- and we also got some beautiful hand-made art from my sister-in-law. I thought present-opening was done. When my brother dropped in my lap a great big box the approximate size, shape, and weight of an autoharp. Although a bit heavy for an autoharp? Weirdly balanced for an autoharp, too. (Not that he would ever get me an autoharp!)

Lo, this was my brother's Christmas present to me:
color me dumbstruck )

I am very much blown away by the gift, and yes that was very much worth delaying celebrations for and also making sure he could watch me open it in person, I very much get it now.

Either he won Christmas or I won Christmas, I'm not sure which, but either way, Christmas was indeed won.

☃️💃🕺

17 January 2026 19:33
soemand: (Default)
[personal profile] soemand
Dance party energy carried us straight into snowman building, and both were a total win. The little one surprised us by drifting off to sleep without a hint of resistance, out like a light after such a big evening. A simple, happy night all around.
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)
[personal profile] kaberett

The context for yesterday's frivolous low-stakes question was of course indexing for Eat Your Books, where I've been stalled on my current cookbook for... a while... for ...reasons... including but not limited to needing to ask for a bunch of new ingredients to be added, and then having a social anxiety about ever touching the work-in-progress again.

And then I did touch it again! And a recipe where I'd requested the new ingredient "mixed leaf salad" had instead... been given the ingredient "mixed greens", synonymous with the base ingredient "mixed lettuces".

The cookbook in question is The National Trust Cookbook; The recipe is Goat's cheese tartlets with pickled cucumber; the headnote to the recipe includes

Serve with a home-grown asparagus, pea and broad bean salad mixed with baby salad leaves.

The ingredients for the salad, helpfully listed under the subheading "To serve", are:

12 spears of English asparagus, woody ends trimmed off 55g/2oz podded broad beans 85g/3oz fresh or frozen peas 70g/2½oz mixed leaf salad with rocket leaves 3 tbsp extra virgin rapeseed or olive oil 1 tsp runny honey

So I am reassured that the breakdown of opinions falls almost entirely along side-of-the-pond lines, suggesting that the reason I'm going "this is neither of these two things??? if EYB told me I needed mixed greens for a recipe and turned out to mean mixed leaf salad I'd be extremely annoyed??? if a recipe told me I needed mixed greens for a recipe and turned out to mean lettuces--" because, yes, I think "mixed greens" are a thing that need cooking (probably referring to brassica but I only roll my eyes a little at pre-packaged bowls that decide that various forms of pea, broccoli, and leek also count), and "mixed lettuces" is a strictly narrower category than "mixed leaf salad".

I had absolutely no idea that this might be a point of US/UK confusion, and thank you all for providing me with Data!

[personal profile] infinitum_noctem posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: Put A Sock In It
Fandom: The Legend of Korra
Characters: Zaheer
Rating: G
Summary: Sticker/Button design of Zaheer with a sock in his mouth.

Read more... )

Humor

17 January 2026 16:06
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
So very true. Do not view with mouth full.

Read more... )

Something 🎶🏡

17 January 2026 15:54
soemand: (Default)
[personal profile] soemand
Spent the day gathering kids’ songs for our upcoming travels, checked on the sailboat in storage, and now we’re getting ready for a little dance party tonight with the kiddo. A full, sweet day.

Birdfeeding

17 January 2026 12:09
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is cloudy and cold. Yesterday we saw several skeins of geese, but they were mostly flying east or west rather than north; go figure.

I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows and a male cardinal.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/17/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 1/17/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 1/17/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

silveradept: A head shot of a  librarian in a floral print shirt wearing goggles with text squiggles on them, holding a pencil. (Librarian Goggles)
[personal profile] silveradept
It's time for another [community profile] snowflake_challenge, and this one is geared more toward those of us who like to talk about the building blocks, the character types, and the storytelling pathways that link and underlie any given specific story being told.

Challenge #9

Talk about your favorite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)


Discard the momomyth and understand that Tropes Are Tools )

Snowflake Challenge 9: Tropes

17 January 2026 10:49
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Snowflake Challenge 9: Tropes

Let's talk TROPES! Our ninth challenge is about discussing your favorite tropes, which can include requesting recommendations or making recommendations for a particular trope. Follow your heart! (Also a trope.)

Talk about your favorite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)



An old-fashioned ornament of two young girls bundled up in coats and walking side by side is nestled amidst pine boughs.

Read more... )

placeholder microfiction

17 January 2026 10:05
asakiyume: (cloud snow)
[personal profile] asakiyume
I don't like to go so long without posting! Just offline stuff piling on (nothing personally dire, though). The offline stuff is doing a number on my ability to write, but I still manage to squeeze out microfictions, though not quite daily. Here's one from a few days ago:
I dreamed of a pharaoh, awaking after death and arranging to his liking the various precious items buried with him.

"You've got quite an ego," I snapped at him (dream-me is apparently rude to people's faces), "having this massive pyramid built just so people would remember you."

"That's not why I had it built. It's for all the stories that collect around it. Adventures, time travel, curses, beings from the stars--I hear them all, and they entertain me," he replied.



And here's a sweet video my tutor sent me of Martin, a pygmy marmoset monkey, whining at Gordo-the-dog, who's relaxing.

Today I Learned

17 January 2026 10:37
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll
Orson Scott Card has a substack.

Fandom Snowflake, Challenge #4

17 January 2026 10:12
the_wanlorn: The Doubtful Quest with a pride flag-colored background (Default)
[personal profile] the_wanlorn
Challenge #4: Rec The Contents Of Your Last Page

Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!


You know, I didn't think I had anything to rec for this. And I don't, really, I spend my time on AO3, bsky, mastodon (blorbo.social is the instance I'm on), and ravelry.

HOWEVER.

Two things to rec:

If you are into porny fandom bingo games and either Playboyy or Heated Rivalry, BOY HAVE I GOT A SITE FOR YOU. My friend admins it, but I built Fandom Bingo for him. I don't know about plans for future bingo games, but the two that are up there are great.

(Uh. If it's broken. Please let me know. I think I fixed all the bugs, but who knows. It's a website. There will always be bugs.)

SECOND:

Hey remember geocities? And then the whole thing was cruelly shut down and we lost tons of fan websites? WELL. There's this thing called neocities now and I have a webbed site there where I am slowly uploading my fic. Slowly. So very slowly. It's only got a handful at the moment, mostly A-Team (2010) but whatever. It's growing. Slowly.

Oh, and THIRD:

I haven't joined it yet but there's a fic webring that exists. So, yanno. Have fun with that everyone!

two log cabins with snow on the roofs in a wintery forest the text snowflake challenge january 1 - 31 in white cursive text

Banjo Rock?

17 January 2026 11:08
soemand: (Default)
[personal profile] soemand
Lisa LeBlanc, the banjo rock artist recently got honoured with Chevalière de l’Ordre Des Arts et des Lettres by France. the song below is an example of her art, and has a certain level of smart sarcastic wit that is missing in other locally produced folk music.

For those not skilled in the ways of chiac the song translates to Today, my world is shit with an enumeration of the reasons why.

james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Three works new to me, all from various TTRPG Kickstarters. 2026 feels kind of light on upcoming books.

Books Received, January 10 to January 16

Poll #34090 Books Received, January 10 to January 16
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 20


Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying (Alpha) by Adam Bradford & Tomas Härenstam (July 2026)
8 (40.0%)

Fabula Ultima Bestiary by Emanuele Galletto (May 2026)
3 (15.0%)

Arkand: City of Wave and Flames by Johan Sjöberg (April 2026)
3 (15.0%)

Some other option (see comments)
2 (10.0%)

Cats!
17 (85.0%)

Multi Fandom Icons

17 January 2026 23:58
magnavox_23: A close up of the 13th Doctor and Yaz hugging (DW_Doctor/Yaz_closeuphug)
[personal profile] magnavox_23 posting in [community profile] fandom_icons
68 icons from Good Omens, Our Flag Means Death, Doctor Who, Xena: Warrior Princess, Reservation Dogs, Star Trek TOS, Heated Rivalry, Hazbin Hotel, Hellava Boss, What We Do In The Shadows + misc actors

  

Check our the rest here. <3

CMC Sword Pullers

17 January 2026 08:38
frith: Realistic My Little Pony CMC via generative software (MLP EZ Make CMC sleeping)
[personal profile] frith posting in [community profile] ponyville_trot
CMC_Sword_Pullers_via_WaiNSFWIllustriousSDXL_by_Truekry
Source: https://tantabus.ai/images/50127
Pastiche machine generator: Wai_NSFW_Illustrious_SDXL. Prompter: Truekry.

Queens of the whooo? I didn't vote for them and where's the Watery Tart off to, anyway?

My pet robot gives me no joy when I ask it to cook up an ensemble piece like this. At best it will get "trio" and put the three CMC together for a group portrait (booooring) and then swap around wings and horns and vary the body sizes. Shake 'n' Make, with emphasis on the shake. I suspect that Truekry resorted to "Photoshop" to paste this pastiche together. Apple Bloom looks off, like she was added in after the fact. The picture is also humongous. It might be a case of stitching several pictures together?

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