[ SECRET POST #6966 ]
Jan. 31st, 2026 05:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
case posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandomsecrets⌈ Secret Post #6966 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
01.
( More! )
Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 34 secrets from Secret Submission Post #995.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
[ SECRET SUBMISSIONS POST #996 ]
Jan. 31st, 2026 05:34 pmcase posting in fandomsecrets[ SECRET SUBMISSIONS POST #996 ]
The first secret from this batch will be posted on February 7th.
The first secret from this batch will be posted on February 7th.
| RULES: 1. One secret link per comment. 2. 750x750 px or smaller. 3. Link directly to the image. More details on how to send a secret in! Optional: If you would like your secret's fandom to be noted in the main post along with the secret itself, please put it in the comment along with your secret. If your secret makes the fandom obvious, there's no need to do this. If your fandom is obscure, you should probably tell me what it is. Optional #2: If you would like WARNINGS (such as spoilers or common triggers -- list of some common ones here) to be noted in the main post before the secret itself, please put it in the comment along with your secret. Optional #3: If you would like a transcript to be posted along with your secret, put it along with the link in the comment! |
Package continues its random tour
Jan. 31st, 2026 05:16 pmfeng_shui_houseThe parcel I mailed from Florida to Arizona (Priority more than $68 postage) on Jan 6 first showed up on Jan 16 in Puerto Rico. On Jan 19 it wound up back in Florida (nowhere near me) on Jan 26 it got to Arizona (nowhere near the destination, but I had a moment of hope).
Jan 28, it was scanned in Aurora, Colorado.
Jan 31, it was scanned in San Francisco, California.
It's like they're just tossing it on the nearest vehicle heading out.
Jan 28, it was scanned in Aurora, Colorado.
Jan 31, it was scanned in San Francisco, California.
It's like they're just tossing it on the nearest vehicle heading out.
52/335-336: Nap
Jan. 31st, 2026 06:50 amrejectomorphFriday did not get entirely wasted. Groceries were ordered and (mostly) successfully fetched, though one item was unavailable and another failed to make it into the fetching vehicle, a failure which led to time-consuming drama and undue stress (thanks, Safeway.) This, in turn, brought an absence of dinner and an early bedtime, the latter cascading into an inappropriate waking time followed by hamster wheel brain time and (currently) morning exhaustion which will probably lead to another disruptive naptime. It is obvious that I cannot surmount the world's or my own dipshittiness.
Nap.
Nap.
I never leave well enough alone
Jan. 31st, 2026 04:58 pmunfitforsocietyHeated Rivalry
Adopt/Adapt by![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
aRegularJo
Yuna has questions. Ilya doesn't have answers.
Or
Ilya needs a mother. Luckily, Yuna is mother. <333
Duty of Care byboopboop
"My father was very fair," Ilya says immediately, and it's got the rigid, almost mechanical emphasis of something practiced a thousand times. "If I was bad, I pay price. No problem."
"I think maybe we have a different definition of the word fair."
"Yes," Ilya admits. "Probably. Shane thinks so." Lovely look at David and Yuna caring for Ilya.
english as a second language byIdday
Shane's been fucking Ilya Rozanov for a decade and yet somehow the more time they spend together the more he realizes how little he actually knows about Ilya, like, as a person. As a partner.
Again, he wishes he spoke Russian. That they had any shared native language besides sex and hockey. Really lovely.
from the cold bystammiviktor
He was going to cry.
He was crying into Yuna's porridge. He was crying in front of David Hollander. Maybe if he did not move, David would not notice? This was ridiculous. It was just that Ilya was so full of feelings and they needed somewhere to leak from. They soaked his face and he licked them off of his lips. He was so hungry and depleted of electrolytes that they almost tasted good. Yuna and David take care of Ilya while he's sick. Oh heart.
Good byShanaStoryteller
The second dinner goes better than the first.
(Shane is his mother's son.) This is a super sweet look at Shane and his mom (and Ilya and Shane's dad). <3
how do you feel? byexogenesissymph
Shane Hollander, interviewee, throughout the years. Nice look at Shane and his relationship with the media over the years.
how your garden grows bymoonsock
5 people who were pleasantly surprised by ilya rozanov Lovely!
I Like Jane For You byIcopythefax
After a mix-up leaves Hayden with the wrong phone for three days, he ends up learning more about Ilya Rozanov and his secret girlfriend, Jane. I literally laughed out loud repeatedly while reading this. <3
It's hard but it's harder to ignore it bylosernotfound
the missing scene of David and Ilya while Shane and Yuna were talking outside. <333
Keep Pace bytoomuchplor
What happened when Yuna and Shane were talking. Quiet and lovely.
Messaging: Boston Lily byHollowIsTheWorld
In which Hayden reaches out to Boston Lily about Shane's condition after he goes down on the ice. Despite his curiosity, he's determined not to pry... But things come out all the same. Oh boys...good thing Hayden is a good bro.
on the shoulders of giants bytheclaravoyant
After the MLH awards, Scott is surprised by a... well-wisher?
World Famous Asshole Ilya Rozanov Oh heart.
Rules for Survival byHatchigo
Shane's anxiety came from Yuna. What if Yuna went to the cottage instead of David? Lovely and plausible look at Yuna Hollander.
text me when you see this byemilystopflying
Shane and Svetlana start texting. This made me laugh out loud.
The Waiting Game byRizandace
Hayden Pike and Ilya Rozanov are waiting for Shane to wake up after he took a bad hit on the ice. They get to talking. Aw, this is lovely.
You Have (81) Unread Messages byRavenesta
Sarah
Does anyone have the number for Shane's girl from Boston? I feel bad that they've been seeing each other for this long and we've never added her here.
Jackie
Oh good point! Let me ask Hayden.
Jackie has added Lily to the conversation
Lily
what
what is this FANTASTIC! <3
✭
Adopt/Adapt by
Yuna has questions. Ilya doesn't have answers.
Or
Ilya needs a mother. Luckily, Yuna is mother. <333
Duty of Care by
"My father was very fair," Ilya says immediately, and it's got the rigid, almost mechanical emphasis of something practiced a thousand times. "If I was bad, I pay price. No problem."
"I think maybe we have a different definition of the word fair."
"Yes," Ilya admits. "Probably. Shane thinks so." Lovely look at David and Yuna caring for Ilya.
english as a second language by
Shane's been fucking Ilya Rozanov for a decade and yet somehow the more time they spend together the more he realizes how little he actually knows about Ilya, like, as a person. As a partner.
Again, he wishes he spoke Russian. That they had any shared native language besides sex and hockey. Really lovely.
from the cold by
He was going to cry.
He was crying into Yuna's porridge. He was crying in front of David Hollander. Maybe if he did not move, David would not notice? This was ridiculous. It was just that Ilya was so full of feelings and they needed somewhere to leak from. They soaked his face and he licked them off of his lips. He was so hungry and depleted of electrolytes that they almost tasted good. Yuna and David take care of Ilya while he's sick. Oh heart.
Good by
The second dinner goes better than the first.
(Shane is his mother's son.) This is a super sweet look at Shane and his mom (and Ilya and Shane's dad). <3
how do you feel? by
Shane Hollander, interviewee, throughout the years. Nice look at Shane and his relationship with the media over the years.
how your garden grows by
5 people who were pleasantly surprised by ilya rozanov Lovely!
I Like Jane For You by
After a mix-up leaves Hayden with the wrong phone for three days, he ends up learning more about Ilya Rozanov and his secret girlfriend, Jane. I literally laughed out loud repeatedly while reading this. <3
It's hard but it's harder to ignore it by
the missing scene of David and Ilya while Shane and Yuna were talking outside. <333
Keep Pace by
What happened when Yuna and Shane were talking. Quiet and lovely.
Messaging: Boston Lily by
In which Hayden reaches out to Boston Lily about Shane's condition after he goes down on the ice. Despite his curiosity, he's determined not to pry... But things come out all the same. Oh boys...good thing Hayden is a good bro.
on the shoulders of giants by
After the MLH awards, Scott is surprised by a... well-wisher?
World Famous Asshole Ilya Rozanov Oh heart.
Rules for Survival by
Shane's anxiety came from Yuna. What if Yuna went to the cottage instead of David? Lovely and plausible look at Yuna Hollander.
text me when you see this by
Shane and Svetlana start texting. This made me laugh out loud.
The Waiting Game by
Hayden Pike and Ilya Rozanov are waiting for Shane to wake up after he took a bad hit on the ice. They get to talking. Aw, this is lovely.
You Have (81) Unread Messages by
Sarah
Does anyone have the number for Shane's girl from Boston? I feel bad that they've been seeing each other for this long and we've never added her here.
Jackie
Oh good point! Let me ask Hayden.
Jackie has added Lily to the conversation
Lily
what
what is this FANTASTIC! <3
✭
too loose to fake it
Jan. 31st, 2026 04:56 pmunfitforsocietyThe Good Place
Icarus byshrift
Attempt #479 aka Chidi and the series of escalating disappointments. <333
✭
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Vids
We Didn't Start the Fire bybeccatoria
Excellent AtLA/LoK vid - perfect for this song!
✭
Icarus by
Attempt #479 aka Chidi and the series of escalating disappointments. <333
✭
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Vids
We Didn't Start the Fire by
beccatoriaExcellent AtLA/LoK vid - perfect for this song!
✭
Something must’ve happened? In this strip? Unlikely
Jan. 31st, 2026 12:26 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
joshreadscomics_feedComics Curmudgeon readers! Do you love this blog and yearn for a novel written by its creator? Well, good news: Josh Fruhlinger's The Enthusiast is that novel! It's even about newspaper comic strips, partly. Check it out!
Andy Capp, 1/31/26
I’ve been reading Andy Capp daily again for about a year now, and on the one hand that isn’t very long, given that the strip has run since 1957, but on the other hand it probably puts me in the top 0.1% of Andy Capp Lore Knowers worldwide. Like, I’ve more or less figured out that Andy doesn’t like it when Guitar Bob offers up his musical stylings at the pub, which is crucial knowledge for understanding the “joke” here (such as it is). But imagine if you, like the vast majority of the human race, did not know that, and you stumbled upon this strip. “Hmm, the pub’s landlord is informing one of his patrons that there’s been a change in the entertainment bill tonight. The regular doesn’t react at all. This must be one of those Ken Loach slice-of-life social realism things I’ve heard about.”
Gil Thorp, 1/31/26
Hey, remember when Fox Used Auto did a promotion where if Goshen beat Milford, they’d offer 50% off all cars, apparently indefinitely, and then Goshen beat Milford? Really tells you a lot about how much markup car dealers make given that they’re still in business, huh?
Judge Parker, 1/31/26
“Like, maybe he came back but he grew a beard so you didn’t recognize him, and he’s still sad about it!”
It all went fine
Jan. 31st, 2026 12:55 pmcathrowanMy dance workshop was great. The instructor had only been available for one specific day; I found an acceptable space at short notice. I learned some new dances. I'm going to be teaching 15th dances myself later and it helped to get a chance to watch her step techniques and movement.
Birdfeeding
Jan. 31st, 2026 01:49 pmysabetwordsmithToday is cloudy and cold, spitting a few snowflakes.
I fed the birds. I've seen a large flock of sparrows plus a male and a female cardinal separately.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 1/31/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I added more birdseed to the hopper feeder.
I've seen two starlings.
EDIT 1/31/26 -- I saw a female downy woodpecker at the suet cage.
I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a large flock of sparrows plus a male and a female cardinal separately.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 1/31/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I added more birdseed to the hopper feeder.
I've seen two starlings.
EDIT 1/31/26 -- I saw a female downy woodpecker at the suet cage.
I am done for the night.
"Sherlock Holmes & Mr Hyde", Christian Klaver
Jan. 31st, 2026 05:42 pmigenlodeThis book looked interesting enough to start off with (and seemed to be doing a decent pastiche of Watson), but managed to annoy me in two different directions. First of all and chiefly, the author has gone for the oh-so-trendy revisionist take of 'the heroes are really the villains and the villains are really the heroes' ( Read more... )
Secondly, while I was initially impressed by the job the author was doing in reproducing Watson's narrative voice, the suspension of disbelief started to break down when the author perpetrates a series of howlers( Read more... )
As pastiche B-movie mashup thrillers go, it's not badly done. But I've read better Sherlock-Holmes-meets-Cthulu spinoffs and better Holmes fanfic; this one managed to annoy me with its subliminal air of superiority and revisionism. Christian Klaver is no Kim Newman; I didn't *enjoy* "Anno Dracula", but that is undoubtedly a much better book.
Secondly, while I was initially impressed by the job the author was doing in reproducing Watson's narrative voice, the suspension of disbelief started to break down when the author perpetrates a series of howlers( Read more... )
As pastiche B-movie mashup thrillers go, it's not badly done. But I've read better Sherlock-Holmes-meets-Cthulu spinoffs and better Holmes fanfic; this one managed to annoy me with its subliminal air of superiority and revisionism. Christian Klaver is no Kim Newman; I didn't *enjoy* "Anno Dracula", but that is undoubtedly a much better book.
The Friday Five on a Saturday
Jan. 31st, 2026 06:49 pmnanilaRejoice, friends, for it is finally the 185th of January, the last day of the month.
How many times a day do you . . .
How many times a day do you . . .
- Brush your teeth?
Two, morning and evening. Also, before going to the gym, which is a weird quirk I've never bothered to unpack. - Shower?
Once. Twice if I go to the gym. - Check your E-mail?
I do not want to count. Near-continuously from waking until bedtime. I cannot keep up with it. It doesn't help that I have work email from two different institutions and multiple personal email addresses. - Check LJ? (or DW?)
It depends on the week. In non-teaching weeks and during holidays, I can usually read through both once a day. During term time, I do all my f-list / circle catchup at the weekends.
There are exceptions: camping holidays in remote parts of Wales result in zero signal, and grant proposal submission deadlines result in zero personal bandwidth. - Eat?
I usually have two or three meals a day: just after waking, around noon (if I don't have back to back meetings all day), and late afternoon or evening depending on children's activities and exercise classes. If I have the latter, I'll sometimes eat quite late.
Snowflake Challenge: Friending Meme
Jan. 31st, 2026 12:17 pmysabetwordsmithSnowflake Challenge: Friending Meme
The post-Snowflake Friending Meme has been such a rousing success that we’ve made it a permanent fixture here at the Fandom Snowflake Challenge, so come and make some new friends!
Just copy and paste the template into a comment; include as much or as little info about yourself as you want.
After you've done that, go through and read other people's comments and either strike up a conversation here, or take your mutual interests to each other's journals and new, shiny friends.
See also the Snowflake Wrap-Up Post with a poll.
Names I go by:
ysabetwordsmith, Ysabet
Other Places I Can Be Found:
Livejournal: https://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/
My Websites: http://penultimateproductions.weebly.com/
http://greenhaventradition.weebly.com/
The fannish platform(s) I am most active on is/are: Dreamwidth, LiveJournal, Weebly
The ways I find my Fandom Joy are: (writing, reading, reccing, betaing, cheerleading/prereading, art, podficcing, mixing, modding, graphics, fanvids, commenting, meta, filk, picspams, etc.)
writing, reading, reccing, reviewing, modding, commenting, meta
Link(s) to my Masterlist(s):
Articles and Essays
Books Written
Love Is For Children landing page
Serial Poetry page
Shared Worlds page
Note that my author site on Weebly is currently being updated, so new landing pages for series and threads are appearing.
I also put a lot of energy into communities. I make lists of active communities forfollowfriday. One of my recurring posts this year is Community Thursdays. I also run multiple communities:
allbingo hosts a new bingo fest each month. All formats and lengths, all fandoms and original works are welcome. Join us for the Valentines Bingo in February!
birdfeeding is all about birds. If you're into feeding, watching, photographing, drawing, or talking about birds then drop by. Some of us are also into fictional birds ("Crebain, from out of Dunland!") so there's already a tag for that.
crowdfunding is mainly for original work, but some folks welcome fannish prompts because they can use those for freebies. It runs a Creative Jam on the third weekend of each month. The February theme will be "Not Giving Up."
goals_on_dw supports New Year's resolutions and other goals. Currently the most popular is Fannish 50 with 52 participants, so check there to find links to fannish content. Do you post your fannish content here? Sign up for Full Content on Dreamwidth to grow your audience. The tag for signup posts has some for reading, writing, art, and nature goals along with Community Thursdays and other stuff. Additional masterlists appear in the sidebar.
newcomers offers many resources on how to use Dreamwidth and where to find things here. It helps new people get the hang of this platform in hopes that they'll stick around. Established users are welcome to join for supporting newcomers, so if you like making new friends and helping folks, come check it out. Have you written materials that explain how to use DW? You can link or repost them in this community. Do you want to help new users? Sign up for the Dreamwidth Welcommittee.
I'm also an administrator for some of The Freaks Club family of communities includingthefreaksclub, tfc_musicianships, and first_nations_freaks.
Fandom(s) I enjoy: The Avengers, Dragon Prince, Good Omens, Harry Potter, High Potential, Jurassic Park, Lucifer, Magnificent 7, Nimona, The Sentinel, Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek, Star Wars, Tolkien, X-Men.
My favorite people/characters in this/these fandom(s) are: I am pretty flexible about pairings and often like multiple characters per fandom.
Pairing(s)/grouping(s) I ship within this/these fandom(s) is/are: I particularly like teamfamily.
The type(s) of fanwork(s) I consume the most is/are:
(fic/podfic/art/mixes/graphics/fanvids/meta/filk/picspams/etc.)
Fiction, art, and meta. I like poetry when I can get it, too.
Fanwork tropes/clichés I enjoy are:
I listed a few favorite tropes here. I also enjoy afterlife, alien sex/gender dynamics, alpha / beta / omega, amnesia, anthropomorphic, asexuality / aromance, canon divergence / fork in the road, disabilities, enemies to friends/lovers, fixit, fluff, gen, hurt/comfort, genderbending, kink, mpreg, racebending, relationship repair, sedoretu, sex, skin hunger / touch aversion, soulmates / soulbonds, time travel, trauma and recovery, troll romance / quadrants, wingfic, and xenolinguistics.
Recs on Dreamwidth or sites other than AO3 are welcome for any of these: canon, fanwork, original, yours or anyone else's.
If you are into these things, a lot of them appear in my fanwork and original work.
The type(s) of fanwork(s) I consume the most is/are: (fic/podfic/art/mixes/graphics/fanvids/meta/filk/picspams/etc…)
Fanwork tropes/clichés I enjoy are:
Non-fandom things I enjoy: (hobbies, interests, job, etc.)
I am a professional wordsmith with writing, reviewing, editing, and other activities.
I enjoy activism, birdwatching, cooking, crafts, ethnic studies, gardening, gender studies, history, intentional community / neighboring, linguistics, magic, Paganism, science, spirituality, thinking, tikkun olam, and worldbuilding.
I love talking about big-picture issues and deep topics. I care about S-risks and X-risks. I never stopped asking "Why?" and "How does that work?"
I post/want to post mostly about:
* Reading (22,659 posts)
* Writing (21,144)
* Cyberfunded creativity (18,816)
* Poetry (16,722)
* Networking (14,504)
* Fishbowl (13,153)
* Fantasy (11,644)
* Weblit (8,006)
* News (7,948)
* Personal (7,486)
* Poem (7,358)
* Nature (7,252)
* Science fiction (6,686)
Other things I want to share about myself:
One thing I am good at: Language. I have a linguistic coprocessor in my head. It takes up space normally devoted to other stuff like facial recognition. But I can learn new sounds, hack any language I can hear or read, pick up words without half trying, write poetry in languages I don't actually speak, and build model languages for fun. I am linguistic SillyPutty.
Other things I want to share about myself: I fly my freak flag proudly. The mainstream has never been a good fit for me and is rapidly moving farther away. If you are a fellow freak and/or the mundanes frequently say you are not human, my blog is probably a good match for you. If you like the direction the world is going at present, you probably won't like my blog.
I post daily, often multiple times. If you are frustrated by low activity on Dreamwidth, here is an area of high activity. If you are easily overwhelmed, this may not be the blog for you.
The post-Snowflake Friending Meme has been such a rousing success that we’ve made it a permanent fixture here at the Fandom Snowflake Challenge, so come and make some new friends!
Just copy and paste the template into a comment; include as much or as little info about yourself as you want.
After you've done that, go through and read other people's comments and either strike up a conversation here, or take your mutual interests to each other's journals and new, shiny friends.
See also the Snowflake Wrap-Up Post with a poll.
Names I go by:
ysabetwordsmith, YsabetOther Places I Can Be Found:
Livejournal: https://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/
My Websites: http://penultimateproductions.weebly.com/
http://greenhaventradition.weebly.com/
The fannish platform(s) I am most active on is/are: Dreamwidth, LiveJournal, Weebly
The ways I find my Fandom Joy are: (writing, reading, reccing, betaing, cheerleading/prereading, art, podficcing, mixing, modding, graphics, fanvids, commenting, meta, filk, picspams, etc.)
writing, reading, reccing, reviewing, modding, commenting, meta
Link(s) to my Masterlist(s):
Articles and Essays
Books Written
Love Is For Children landing page
Serial Poetry page
Shared Worlds page
Note that my author site on Weebly is currently being updated, so new landing pages for series and threads are appearing.
I also put a lot of energy into communities. I make lists of active communities for
followfriday. One of my recurring posts this year is Community Thursdays. I also run multiple communities:allbingo hosts a new bingo fest each month. All formats and lengths, all fandoms and original works are welcome. Join us for the Valentines Bingo in February!birdfeeding is all about birds. If you're into feeding, watching, photographing, drawing, or talking about birds then drop by. Some of us are also into fictional birds ("Crebain, from out of Dunland!") so there's already a tag for that.crowdfunding is mainly for original work, but some folks welcome fannish prompts because they can use those for freebies. It runs a Creative Jam on the third weekend of each month. The February theme will be "Not Giving Up."goals_on_dw supports New Year's resolutions and other goals. Currently the most popular is Fannish 50 with 52 participants, so check there to find links to fannish content. Do you post your fannish content here? Sign up for Full Content on Dreamwidth to grow your audience. The tag for signup posts has some for reading, writing, art, and nature goals along with Community Thursdays and other stuff. Additional masterlists appear in the sidebar.newcomers offers many resources on how to use Dreamwidth and where to find things here. It helps new people get the hang of this platform in hopes that they'll stick around. Established users are welcome to join for supporting newcomers, so if you like making new friends and helping folks, come check it out. Have you written materials that explain how to use DW? You can link or repost them in this community. Do you want to help new users? Sign up for the Dreamwidth Welcommittee.I'm also an administrator for some of The Freaks Club family of communities including
thefreaksclub, tfc_musicianships, and first_nations_freaks.Fandom(s) I enjoy: The Avengers, Dragon Prince, Good Omens, Harry Potter, High Potential, Jurassic Park, Lucifer, Magnificent 7, Nimona, The Sentinel, Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek, Star Wars, Tolkien, X-Men.
My favorite people/characters in this/these fandom(s) are: I am pretty flexible about pairings and often like multiple characters per fandom.
Pairing(s)/grouping(s) I ship within this/these fandom(s) is/are: I particularly like teamfamily.
The type(s) of fanwork(s) I consume the most is/are:
(fic/podfic/art/mixes/graphics/fanvids/meta/filk/picspams/etc.)
Fiction, art, and meta. I like poetry when I can get it, too.
Fanwork tropes/clichés I enjoy are:
I listed a few favorite tropes here. I also enjoy afterlife, alien sex/gender dynamics, alpha / beta / omega, amnesia, anthropomorphic, asexuality / aromance, canon divergence / fork in the road, disabilities, enemies to friends/lovers, fixit, fluff, gen, hurt/comfort, genderbending, kink, mpreg, racebending, relationship repair, sedoretu, sex, skin hunger / touch aversion, soulmates / soulbonds, time travel, trauma and recovery, troll romance / quadrants, wingfic, and xenolinguistics.
Recs on Dreamwidth or sites other than AO3 are welcome for any of these: canon, fanwork, original, yours or anyone else's.
If you are into these things, a lot of them appear in my fanwork and original work.
The type(s) of fanwork(s) I consume the most is/are: (fic/podfic/art/mixes/graphics/fanvids/meta/filk/picspams/etc…)
Fanwork tropes/clichés I enjoy are:
Non-fandom things I enjoy: (hobbies, interests, job, etc.)
I am a professional wordsmith with writing, reviewing, editing, and other activities.
I enjoy activism, birdwatching, cooking, crafts, ethnic studies, gardening, gender studies, history, intentional community / neighboring, linguistics, magic, Paganism, science, spirituality, thinking, tikkun olam, and worldbuilding.
I love talking about big-picture issues and deep topics. I care about S-risks and X-risks. I never stopped asking "Why?" and "How does that work?"
I post/want to post mostly about:
* Reading (22,659 posts)
* Writing (21,144)
* Cyberfunded creativity (18,816)
* Poetry (16,722)
* Networking (14,504)
* Fishbowl (13,153)
* Fantasy (11,644)
* Weblit (8,006)
* News (7,948)
* Personal (7,486)
* Poem (7,358)
* Nature (7,252)
* Science fiction (6,686)
Other things I want to share about myself:
One thing I am good at: Language. I have a linguistic coprocessor in my head. It takes up space normally devoted to other stuff like facial recognition. But I can learn new sounds, hack any language I can hear or read, pick up words without half trying, write poetry in languages I don't actually speak, and build model languages for fun. I am linguistic SillyPutty.
Other things I want to share about myself: I fly my freak flag proudly. The mainstream has never been a good fit for me and is rapidly moving farther away. If you are a fellow freak and/or the mundanes frequently say you are not human, my blog is probably a good match for you. If you like the direction the world is going at present, you probably won't like my blog.
I post daily, often multiple times. If you are frustrated by low activity on Dreamwidth, here is an area of high activity. If you are easily overwhelmed, this may not be the blog for you.
February Inspiration Challenge for Black History Month
Jan. 31st, 2026 01:25 pmpetraFrom a Tumblr post by ![[tumblr.com profile]](https://www.tumblr.com/favicon.ico)
petewentzisblack1312, quoted in full for people who don't Tumbl:
heres my challenge to everyone for next month, for black history month. any time you want to draw inspiration from art, like poetry, music etc, pick a black artist. web weave with langston hughes and james baldwin and jamaica kinkaid and hanif abdurraqib and derek walcott and set your edits to meghan thee stallion and beyoncé and eartha kitt and coltrane and invoke basquiat in your art and it can be fanworks or original stuff and importantly, it doesnt have to be about race. obviously be cognizant of the context of the art youre using because a lot of the artists i mention specifically create art about racism but like. take your white doomed yaoi ship and make a webweave to poem by langston hughes. set an edit to body by meghan thee stallion. engage with black art in all contexts.
Check the post's tags out for suggestions of artists to explore!
heres my challenge to everyone for next month, for black history month. any time you want to draw inspiration from art, like poetry, music etc, pick a black artist. web weave with langston hughes and james baldwin and jamaica kinkaid and hanif abdurraqib and derek walcott and set your edits to meghan thee stallion and beyoncé and eartha kitt and coltrane and invoke basquiat in your art and it can be fanworks or original stuff and importantly, it doesnt have to be about race. obviously be cognizant of the context of the art youre using because a lot of the artists i mention specifically create art about racism but like. take your white doomed yaoi ship and make a webweave to poem by langston hughes. set an edit to body by meghan thee stallion. engage with black art in all contexts.
Check the post's tags out for suggestions of artists to explore!
All day I've been thinking about Catherine O'Hara
Jan. 31st, 2026 05:58 pmcosmolinguistBut I'm also missing my DVD boxset that included Waiting for Guffman and A Mighty Wind.
2025 Snowflake Wrap-up Post
Jan. 31st, 2026 12:41 pmflorianschild posting in snowflake_challengeWe've reached the closing curtain of our beautiful Snowflake Challenge 2026. It's been a whirlwind month of fun, community, and lots of creativity! One of the best parts of this challenge is that it truly lives up to its name and its original inspiration: every single year that we come together to celebrate is a unique circumstance of participants, mods, prompts, graphics, challenges, and celebrations. Every year is a unique snowflake in and of itself, never again to be replicated in the exact same pattern. I hope everyone felt some enjoyment and appreciation during the past month, and of course please continue to post your responses and fills because there is no deadline to this challenge!
Thank you so much to all the participants. Thank you especially to those who took the time to interact with fellow participants and make the community feel so alive! And of course thank you to all the mods who went above and beyond and especially totjs_whatnot, our co-admin who has worked really hard this month to keep everything running smoothly.
We do have a poll below to get your feedback on the challenge, if that's something you're interested in doing. We really appreciate it and we take all your responses into consideration when planning for next year.
Peace and happy late winter season to all!
( Poll under the cut! )
Thank you so much to all the participants. Thank you especially to those who took the time to interact with fellow participants and make the community feel so alive! And of course thank you to all the mods who went above and beyond and especially to
tjs_whatnot, our co-admin who has worked really hard this month to keep everything running smoothly.We do have a poll below to get your feedback on the challenge, if that's something you're interested in doing. We really appreciate it and we take all your responses into consideration when planning for next year.
Peace and happy late winter season to all!
( Poll under the cut! )
Recent reading
Jan. 31st, 2026 05:08 pmregshoeRe-read The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (1955), which I first read some years ago and remembered as an enjoyably twisted tale of murder and impersonation that's also pretty gay. Actually I failed to remember quite how gay it is: Tom Ripley's repressed homosexuality and terror of other people perceiving it are both pretty much textual and important parts of his character and motivation. Anyway, the whole murder-and-impersonation thing is very well-written and great fun in a nicely stressful way. The copy I read has a review-blurb on the front cover that describes Ripley as 'amoral, hedonistic and charming', and while that's true, I think it gives a mistaken impression, because he is also needy, deeply insecure and kind of pathetic and it's the combination that's really fascinating. I also enjoyed how the later part of the book plays out like a murder mystery from the reverse side, with the narrative following the murderer and his attempts to escape detection while the detectives and involved side characters try to figure things out in the background. Perhaps the degree to which they fail is a little bit overly lucky for Ripley, but I think it's a good ending. Highsmith wrote several more books about him; without having read them, and accounting for my general suspicion of sequels and series, I think this was a mistake. Ripley neither needs nor deserves any sequel, meaning 'deserves' both ways round.
Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling (1906). This is, what it had been vaguely in my awareness for years as, something to do with A Midsummer Night's Dream, but I became more interested in reading it when I learnt that it's also a series of stories about the history of England. Two children living near Pevensey in Sussex meet Puck by inadvertently acting bits from A Midsummer Night's Dream in a local fairy ring; Puck introduces them to various people from or connected to the area throughout its history, who tell the stories of their lives. It is a good bit of historical-folkloric dramatisation, but on the whole I was unconvinced: Kipling's thought is just too conventional, in the politically-conservative way and also in the 'Good Kings and dates and battles' view of history way (he wraps the book up by making the whole thing about the memorable Magna Charta by way of some strange antisemitism). Sutcliff, Mitchison and Clarke have all done it better.
The stories are interspersed with poems, and whatever else can be said about Kipling it's certainly true that he can write a good poem. My favourite thing about the book, actually, was the sidelong relationship between the poems and the stories: the poems are all connected to the subjects of the stories but are mostly not directly about them and not actually referred to in them or in the framing story, and so they act as a sort of outside-view commentary on or expansion of the stories' world. And some people have set them to music, so have a couple of recs:
(This is my favourite of the poems; yes, when you think about it, eighteenth-century smugglers are just like fairies. Via Wikipedia I saw this pub wall in Dorset on which is displayed a verse of the poem, with—presumably to make things nice and clear for contextless pub-goers—the word 'Gentlemen' changed to 'Smugglers', and thought, well, you've missed the point, haven't you.)
Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling (1906). This is, what it had been vaguely in my awareness for years as, something to do with A Midsummer Night's Dream, but I became more interested in reading it when I learnt that it's also a series of stories about the history of England. Two children living near Pevensey in Sussex meet Puck by inadvertently acting bits from A Midsummer Night's Dream in a local fairy ring; Puck introduces them to various people from or connected to the area throughout its history, who tell the stories of their lives. It is a good bit of historical-folkloric dramatisation, but on the whole I was unconvinced: Kipling's thought is just too conventional, in the politically-conservative way and also in the 'Good Kings and dates and battles' view of history way (he wraps the book up by making the whole thing about the memorable Magna Charta by way of some strange antisemitism). Sutcliff, Mitchison and Clarke have all done it better.
The stories are interspersed with poems, and whatever else can be said about Kipling it's certainly true that he can write a good poem. My favourite thing about the book, actually, was the sidelong relationship between the poems and the stories: the poems are all connected to the subjects of the stories but are mostly not directly about them and not actually referred to in them or in the framing story, and so they act as a sort of outside-view commentary on or expansion of the stories' world. And some people have set them to music, so have a couple of recs:
(This is my favourite of the poems; yes, when you think about it, eighteenth-century smugglers are just like fairies. Via Wikipedia I saw this pub wall in Dorset on which is displayed a verse of the poem, with—presumably to make things nice and clear for contextless pub-goers—the word 'Gentlemen' changed to 'Smugglers', and thought, well, you've missed the point, haven't you.)
A Scientific Experiment For Your Saturday
Jan. 31st, 2026 04:13 pmscalziwhatever_feed
Though I am a bougie bitch, there’s nothing quite like a mug full of Swiss Miss hot chocolate. I am an especially big fan of their Marshmallow flavor, so you can imagine my shock when I learned about their Marshmallow Lovers flavor that comes with even more dehydrated white chalk block marshmallows.
I’m willing to bet you didn’t even realize there were two different Marshmallow varieties of Swiss Miss to choose from. Aren’t you so glad I taught you something useful?
Anyways, I, as a Marshmallow lover, decided to see which Marshmallow Swiss Miss variety was superior. Were there enough marshmallows in the Marshmallow flavor to sate my love of them, or did I need to purchase the Marshmallow Lovers box?
Using a digital scale and some math (not easy for me), I have come up with some numbers for your consideration.
So, if you went to Kroger right now and were wanting to buy just a regular, standard size pack of hot chocolate, you’d have your choice between an 8-pack of the Marshmallow Swiss Miss, and a 6-pack of the Marshmallow Lovers Swiss Miss. Both are currently listed as selling for $2.99. I’m sure you’re wondering, well why does the lovers pack have two fewer envelopes than the regular Marshmallow pack? It’s actually because each hot chocolate packet in the Marshmallow Lovers box comes attached to a separate packet that contains the marshmallows, whereas the regular Marshmallow packs have the marshmallows in the hot chocolate envelope rather than being a separate entity.
Anyways, I decided to rip each of one open and weigh them out.
I went with the Marshmallow Lovers packet first. After zeroing out a bowl on a digital scale, I dumped only the contents of the hot chocolate packet into the bowl. The powder came out to 40 grams. I then threw in the marshmallows. The total weight was now 45 grams. A whopping 5 grams of marshmallows in the Marshmallow Lovers packet.
I zeroed out a new bowl so there was no residual powder to contribute to the weight of the Marshmallow packet. I dumped it in the new bowl, then carefully removed each marshmallow from the powder so I could weigh the powder alone first. 38 grams of powder. I threw the marshmallows back in. 39 grams.
I could hardly believe my eyes. A measly one gram of marshmallows in the Marshmallow pack? It felt like too little, but if you go for the upgrade of the Marshmallow Lovers, you lose out a whole two envelopes!
If you add it all up, in the entire Marshmallow box, there is 304 grams of hot chocolate, and 8 grams of marshmallows. For the Marshmallow Lovers, we’re looking at 240 grams of hot chocolate, and 30 grams of marshmallows. 25% less powder, but almost 4 times the amount of marshmallows. Is it worth it to buy the Marshmallow Lovers package? It’s tough to say.
Part of me is tempted to buy the Marshmallow Lovers package just so Swiss Miss knows there’s someone out there that loves their marshmallows. They have to see demand if I want them to keep making it, right?
On the other hand, I could just buy regular Swiss Miss and put my own marshmallows in it. I don’t need Swiss Miss to supply me with their little freaky mallows, I can just throw mini Jet-Puffed marshies in any cup of hot chocolate I want, and as many as I want. I am not limited to a mere one or even five grams.
For now, I will drink the Marshmallow one, because the 30-pack of it was selling for a really good price, so it just made sense to get the bulk box. I will absolutely go through it all.
Do you like hot chocolate? What do you like to top yours with? Have you tried the Marshmallow Lovers variety yourself? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!
-AMS