Today's Video Link
Jan. 10th, 2026 06:31 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
newsfromme_feedIt's about time this blog featured some readings from The Bible. So I give you — wait for it — Ricky Gervais…
newsfromme_feedToday's Political Article Recommendation
Jan. 10th, 2026 06:30 amnewsfromme_feedFred Kaplan on why Donald Trump seems so obsessed at getting — the easy way or the hard way — Greenland. And no, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense but very little that that man does makes a whole lot of sense.
Poem: "The Far Call"
Jan. 10th, 2026 12:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It fills "The Far Call" square in my 1-1-25 card for the Public Domain Day Bingo fest. It was sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred.
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fuzzyred.( Read more... )
Philosophical Questions: Success
Jan. 10th, 2026 12:02 amysabetwordsmithPeople have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.
Is it more or less difficult to be successful in the modern world than it was in the past (10, 50, 100, or 1,000 years ago)?
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Is it more or less difficult to be successful in the modern world than it was in the past (10, 50, 100, or 1,000 years ago)?
( Read more... )
Video Games
Jan. 10th, 2026 12:34 amsettiaiOkay, I'm going to spend all day tomorrow playing video games if it kills me. My plans to set aside time for gaming over the holiday break never actually happened, and with everything going on in the world right now it will do me good to just get offline for a day and spend it wandering Faerûn or Thedas or the Andromeda galaxy.
I'm not sure yet which game I'll focus on, but it's definitely going to be Baldur's Gate 3, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, or Mass Effect: Andromeda because I have ongoing playthroughs in all of them that have been gathering dust for too long.
I'm not sure yet which game I'll focus on, but it's definitely going to be Baldur's Gate 3, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, or Mass Effect: Andromeda because I have ongoing playthroughs in all of them that have been gathering dust for too long.
US Politics: poetry: the sand in the gears
Jan. 9th, 2026 09:04 pmteaotter posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fan_flashworksTitle: the sand in the gears
Fandom: US Politics
Challenge: Sand
Note: Haiku; references recent violent events
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Fandom: US Politics
Challenge: Sand
Note: Haiku; references recent violent events
( Read more... )
Fic: Disciple Daydreams
Jan. 9th, 2026 10:56 pmsoc_puppetFandom: SVSSS
Summary: Post-canon, Shen Qingqiu goes looking for a misplaced fan in the side room where Binghe used to stay; instead, he finds an unfamiliar notebook and decides to look through it...
Mirrors: On AO3
Wordcount: Not quite 2600
Ships: BingQiu
Notes: I originally wrote the middle bit around a year ago, but only managed to finish the frame for it today. I'm posting now before I have more time to second guess myself!
Fic: ( Disciple Daydreams )
Summary: Post-canon, Shen Qingqiu goes looking for a misplaced fan in the side room where Binghe used to stay; instead, he finds an unfamiliar notebook and decides to look through it...
Mirrors: On AO3
Wordcount: Not quite 2600
Ships: BingQiu
Notes: I originally wrote the middle bit around a year ago, but only managed to finish the frame for it today. I'm posting now before I have more time to second guess myself!
Fic: ( Disciple Daydreams )
SW:TCW Abandoned Work
Jan. 9th, 2026 10:56 pmsenmutAO3 Link | Unfinished Citadel AU (510 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars [2008] - All Media Types
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: CT-7567 | Rex, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo
Additional Tags: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued
Summary:
"Promise me to get them out," she had said. "Something smells like a three day old rancor corpse."
What had his Commander seen? Rex nor his men had been able to recall anything that tripped their training, but General Kenobi had been caught unaware too.
Would he have pushed them to keep moving if General Skywalker hadn't been injured and unconscious from trying to save Ahsoka? It still felt wrong, no matter what the mission had been to not confirm the death. Echo still refused to talk about it, given he had nearly fallen with her.
"Should have been me, not the Jedi," Echo had said, once, on retrieval.
They all felt it. They were one of millions of clones and she had been who they were meant to protect.
Skywalker still wasn't talking to Kenobi. Rex didn't know how the Naboo Senator had headed off an outright mutiny. Fives thought she had promised to use her resources.
Rex still saw the flickers of destruction in his general's eyes, after, when he'd told the man.
"She commanded me to get you, all of us, out, minutes before we lost her and Tarkin."
If there was one fact of Rex's new life he hated, it was knowing that his general was barely holding onto sanity.
"What difference did the mission make? Dead brothers, both objectives dead, our Commander dead," Fives asked or maybe just rattled off to get it out of his head.
"Seppies didn't get the intel from either objective," Echo answered, weakly and by rote, as he'd been telling himself since they were retrieved.
Fives scowled. "Wish I knew what made her fall back."
Echo did too -- when he wasn't wondering why it had been her, not him, that fell.
"You need to worry about the General. Captain can't do it all, and he seems to like you."
Fives didn't answer that, because he was watching for Anakin Skywalker to lose his control, and hoping he was wrong.
Rex looked at Fives, then to Echo. "You both see it."
"Yes, we do," Echo answered for them.
"What do we do about it?" Fives asked.
"You stick to his six. He's taken to you well. Echo, I want you training with the slicers, give your brain a chance to do real intel."
"Seems odd, Captain, when we're talking about our General, sir," Echo told him.
Rex met his eyes. "Our unit keeps winding up in the deepest messes. That's half of why he's so volatile. You need to figure out the pattern, if there is one, so maybe we jump ahead of it."
"What's the other half?" Fives asked.
"If I knew, I might be the one who could actually head off the explosion," Rex admitted. "He came to us like that."
"Then maybe that's what I need to learn," Fives said softly.
"I think… I'm going to try and find what the Commander saw, that made her take Tarkin over the edge when she killed the Warden," Echo told them, and Rex nodded, thinking that was a good start.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars [2008] - All Media Types
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: CT-7567 | Rex, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo
Additional Tags: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued
Summary:
I had intended to write something for Rex/Fives/Echo. I got sideswiped by a set-up beginning at the Citadel. There is a character death mentioned, though it was going to prove not to have been one. However, the muses turned virulently against the entire concept. As always, feel free to run with it if you want.
Unfinished Citadel AU
"Promise me to get them out," she had said. "Something smells like a three day old rancor corpse."
What had his Commander seen? Rex nor his men had been able to recall anything that tripped their training, but General Kenobi had been caught unaware too.
Would he have pushed them to keep moving if General Skywalker hadn't been injured and unconscious from trying to save Ahsoka? It still felt wrong, no matter what the mission had been to not confirm the death. Echo still refused to talk about it, given he had nearly fallen with her.
"Should have been me, not the Jedi," Echo had said, once, on retrieval.
They all felt it. They were one of millions of clones and she had been who they were meant to protect.
Skywalker still wasn't talking to Kenobi. Rex didn't know how the Naboo Senator had headed off an outright mutiny. Fives thought she had promised to use her resources.
Rex still saw the flickers of destruction in his general's eyes, after, when he'd told the man.
"She commanded me to get you, all of us, out, minutes before we lost her and Tarkin."
If there was one fact of Rex's new life he hated, it was knowing that his general was barely holding onto sanity.
"What difference did the mission make? Dead brothers, both objectives dead, our Commander dead," Fives asked or maybe just rattled off to get it out of his head.
"Seppies didn't get the intel from either objective," Echo answered, weakly and by rote, as he'd been telling himself since they were retrieved.
Fives scowled. "Wish I knew what made her fall back."
Echo did too -- when he wasn't wondering why it had been her, not him, that fell.
"You need to worry about the General. Captain can't do it all, and he seems to like you."
Fives didn't answer that, because he was watching for Anakin Skywalker to lose his control, and hoping he was wrong.
Rex looked at Fives, then to Echo. "You both see it."
"Yes, we do," Echo answered for them.
"What do we do about it?" Fives asked.
"You stick to his six. He's taken to you well. Echo, I want you training with the slicers, give your brain a chance to do real intel."
"Seems odd, Captain, when we're talking about our General, sir," Echo told him.
Rex met his eyes. "Our unit keeps winding up in the deepest messes. That's half of why he's so volatile. You need to figure out the pattern, if there is one, so maybe we jump ahead of it."
"What's the other half?" Fives asked.
"If I knew, I might be the one who could actually head off the explosion," Rex admitted. "He came to us like that."
"Then maybe that's what I need to learn," Fives said softly.
"I think… I'm going to try and find what the Commander saw, that made her take Tarkin over the edge when she killed the Warden," Echo told them, and Rex nodded, thinking that was a good start.
Daily Happiness
Jan. 9th, 2026 08:54 pmtorachan1. It's the weekend! I am continuing to feel fairly optimistic about the upcoming February deadline at work, so hopefully that won't change. There's enough other stress going on outside of work.
2. Chloe doesn't really like any of the other cats but Molly, though her tolerance level for the others varies. She is the least tolerant of Jasper, though, so it was so nice to see her, Molly, and Jasper all on the bed together! And it happened two days in a row, too!
2. Chloe doesn't really like any of the other cats but Molly, though her tolerance level for the others varies. She is the least tolerant of Jasper, though, so it was so nice to see her, Molly, and Jasper all on the bed together! And it happened two days in a row, too!
Bella Eats Biscuits
Jan. 9th, 2026 09:44 pmmistressofmusesFor Christmas, my aunt (who has to eat gluten-free), made gluten-free dog biscuits for her dog and she sent some to Bella!
Bella loves them. <3
Ooooooom...
...nom.
Feeding my dog treats is more rewarding than most of the current news cycle.
Bella loves them. <3
Ooooooom...
...nom.
Feeding my dog treats is more rewarding than most of the current news cycle.
Snowflake Challenge Day #5: Wishlist
Jan. 10th, 2026 12:36 pmsnowynightChallenge Day #5: In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts.
My wish list:
1. Recs for music with female vocallist, or music by female composers. I like a variety of music: metl, rock, Celtic, pop, bardcore, country, etc. Music in non-English languages are welcomed! A sampling of my favourite singers/bands: Loreena Mckennit, Dar Williams, Vienna Teng, Within Temptation, XG, etc.
2. Recs for interesting blogs to follow. Books, nature, history, cute animals, trivia, tabletop RPG, world building, art and craft, or anything you find interesting
3. Stolen fromkingstoken : Go to arab.org and "click to help", it's free. All raised money goes to UN agencies.
My wish list:
1. Recs for music with female vocallist, or music by female composers. I like a variety of music: metl, rock, Celtic, pop, bardcore, country, etc. Music in non-English languages are welcomed! A sampling of my favourite singers/bands: Loreena Mckennit, Dar Williams, Vienna Teng, Within Temptation, XG, etc.
2. Recs for interesting blogs to follow. Books, nature, history, cute animals, trivia, tabletop RPG, world building, art and craft, or anything you find interesting
3. Stolen from
kingstoken : Go to arab.org and "click to help", it's free. All raised money goes to UN agencies. My Fandom How To Posts
Jan. 9th, 2026 09:57 pmysabetwordsmithSomeone asked about resources for more fannishness on Dreamwidth. I already have a bunch of relevant posts, so here are the links for those.
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Be the guide.
Jan. 9th, 2026 10:42 pmhannahI know the trick to hailing a cab is less it being all in the wrist and more it being a white woman in a dress, but I like to think the wrist helps.
Challenge #5
In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it and include a link to your wishlist if you feel comfortable doing so.
1. Every time this comes around, I say I'd love to read a post-canon Buffy the Vampire Slayer fic set at least a couple decades after the show, long after the world's learned the truth about Slayers, vampires, demons, magic, and the endless battle between good and evil, where Buffy's famous enough that her arrival is heralded much as Miranda was in the "gird your loins" scene from The Devil Wears Prada, with Buffy having learned to command that level of respect and control. Few people write Buffy as an older woman, and even fewer try to reckon with a vastly changed world years or decades after the end of the show. It's possible this is already written and I just haven't seen it; if that's the case, I'm wishing someone would send it to me.
2. For ages, I've thought a vid of Peggy Olson from Mad Men to "All The Nasties" by Elton John would be an excellent character study. Beyond the on-the-nose of Don Draper to "sacred cows just fake it" and the turn of a show about advertising to a song about cultivating images and the struggle to be seen honestly, I can't ever get the image of the outro and the last "oh my soul" being Roger playing the piano while Peggy roller-skates across the empty SCDP offices, effortlessly leaving the frame as the song fades away.
3. If there's any Tom Cruise or Top Gun icons out there, please let me know. As was the custom, as I still enjoy doing, I'd love an appropriate fandom icon.
4. Related, fanart of the two live-action Interview with the Vampire Lestats where they're kissing while hovering and the actors' real-world height difference is both mitigated and made clear would curl my toes in the best way. If this is out there, please let me know; if not, please let me know about anyone's taking IWTV commissions and I'll see what funds I can budget.
5. As ever, as always, as usual, transformative works based on my fics. Fanart, banners, covers, podfics, moodboards - it's always a joy and it never gets old.
Challenge #5
In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it and include a link to your wishlist if you feel comfortable doing so.
1. Every time this comes around, I say I'd love to read a post-canon Buffy the Vampire Slayer fic set at least a couple decades after the show, long after the world's learned the truth about Slayers, vampires, demons, magic, and the endless battle between good and evil, where Buffy's famous enough that her arrival is heralded much as Miranda was in the "gird your loins" scene from The Devil Wears Prada, with Buffy having learned to command that level of respect and control. Few people write Buffy as an older woman, and even fewer try to reckon with a vastly changed world years or decades after the end of the show. It's possible this is already written and I just haven't seen it; if that's the case, I'm wishing someone would send it to me.
2. For ages, I've thought a vid of Peggy Olson from Mad Men to "All The Nasties" by Elton John would be an excellent character study. Beyond the on-the-nose of Don Draper to "sacred cows just fake it" and the turn of a show about advertising to a song about cultivating images and the struggle to be seen honestly, I can't ever get the image of the outro and the last "oh my soul" being Roger playing the piano while Peggy roller-skates across the empty SCDP offices, effortlessly leaving the frame as the song fades away.
3. If there's any Tom Cruise or Top Gun icons out there, please let me know. As was the custom, as I still enjoy doing, I'd love an appropriate fandom icon.
4. Related, fanart of the two live-action Interview with the Vampire Lestats where they're kissing while hovering and the actors' real-world height difference is both mitigated and made clear would curl my toes in the best way. If this is out there, please let me know; if not, please let me know about anyone's taking IWTV commissions and I'll see what funds I can budget.
5. As ever, as always, as usual, transformative works based on my fics. Fanart, banners, covers, podfics, moodboards - it's always a joy and it never gets old.
Weekly Reading
Jan. 9th, 2026 08:12 pmtorachanRecently Finished
Hummingbird Salamander
A woman is given a mysterious taxidermied hummingbird and a mysterious note and throws her entire life away trying to find out why. I did not like this much at all, but I think I would have liked it better if I hadn't been listening to the audiobook. The narrator was lovely, no problem with her. But the writing style was reeeeeeeeally annoying to listen to. I've read Annihilation and the two original sequels (haven't read the recent one yet) and don't remember if it was like this in those and I just vibed with it better because I can skim or if he changed his style up a bit, but it's super annoying here. The narration is also very rambling and goes over and over the same things so many times, which also gets annoying to listen to, but would have been easier to deal with when reading. But that wasn't the only issue as the story itself also felt very weak to me. The final reveal at the end was interesting, but the rest was just pretty boring. Also the constant focus on the protagonist's size felt weird. She is stated to be six foot and 230 pounds, which is large for a woman, but not so out of the ordinary yet it's treated as if she's the hulk or something, and constantly commented on by herself and others.
My Name Is Leon
London, 1981. Leon is a half-Black nine year old boy whose mom has a breakdown and when he and his baby brother are put in foster care, his brother, who is white, is quickly adopted, leaving him all alone. I really liked this a lot.
Tsumetakute Yawaraka vol. 6
Hen na Ie vol. 6
This is the first volume in the sequel series. So far I am enjoying it a lot! Curious to see if it will be as wild as the first one (knowing the author, I'm sure it will).
Ore Monogatari vol. 14
I had no idea there was a new volume out! Well, new is relative, as it came out in 2024, but the original series ended in 2016. This collects some bonus chapters of them in college.
My Home Hero vol. 25-26
Finally finished this. The ending was satisfying and overall I enjoyed the series a lot.
Hummingbird Salamander
A woman is given a mysterious taxidermied hummingbird and a mysterious note and throws her entire life away trying to find out why. I did not like this much at all, but I think I would have liked it better if I hadn't been listening to the audiobook. The narrator was lovely, no problem with her. But the writing style was reeeeeeeeally annoying to listen to. I've read Annihilation and the two original sequels (haven't read the recent one yet) and don't remember if it was like this in those and I just vibed with it better because I can skim or if he changed his style up a bit, but it's super annoying here. The narration is also very rambling and goes over and over the same things so many times, which also gets annoying to listen to, but would have been easier to deal with when reading. But that wasn't the only issue as the story itself also felt very weak to me. The final reveal at the end was interesting, but the rest was just pretty boring. Also the constant focus on the protagonist's size felt weird. She is stated to be six foot and 230 pounds, which is large for a woman, but not so out of the ordinary yet it's treated as if she's the hulk or something, and constantly commented on by herself and others.
My Name Is Leon
London, 1981. Leon is a half-Black nine year old boy whose mom has a breakdown and when he and his baby brother are put in foster care, his brother, who is white, is quickly adopted, leaving him all alone. I really liked this a lot.
Tsumetakute Yawaraka vol. 6
Hen na Ie vol. 6
This is the first volume in the sequel series. So far I am enjoying it a lot! Curious to see if it will be as wild as the first one (knowing the author, I'm sure it will).
Ore Monogatari vol. 14
I had no idea there was a new volume out! Well, new is relative, as it came out in 2024, but the original series ended in 2016. This collects some bonus chapters of them in college.
My Home Hero vol. 25-26
Finally finished this. The ending was satisfying and overall I enjoyed the series a lot.
2026 Schedule and Important Links.
Jan. 10th, 2026 02:58 pmcasemod posting in caseficexchangecaseficexchange is a fanwork exchange focusing on investigations. These can be solving murders, retrieving stolen items, finding missing people, missions and solving mysteries. As long as it centres on the requested characters mainly interacting with an investigation, it fits with the exchange.We have a minimum of 3,000 words (or work equivalent) and allow fic, comics, and podfic. You must have an AO3 account and be 18+ to participate.
2026 Schedule
- Nominations: Friday 16 January to Friday 23 January [ In your timezone + Countdown ]
Sign-ups: Sunday 25 January to Friday 30 January
Assignments out: (Mod to fill once they've been dispatched)
Works due: Friday 1 May
Extension deadline: Friday 15 May
Deadline to add fandoms for non-guarantees*: Friday 15 May
Collection reveals: Friday 12 June
Creator reveals: Friday 26 June
The exchange runs on EDT/EST time. All deadlines are 11.59pm EDT/EST.
*Participants who choose to sign up with less than 3 unique fandoms (and who are pinch hits) have until this deadline to add additional fandoms to their request.
Important links
- Rules and Guidelines | AO3 Collection | Tagset | AO3 app | Tips on creating a case-centric work | Promote your canon | Find a beta | Treat a pinch hitter
Email: gumshoeagency@gmail.com with your AO3 username.
Current Phase
- We are clearing out our detective bags, cleaning our boards, destroying our string boards, and, quite possibly, convincing our cats to get off our keyboards so we can reboot our Crime Solving programs.