(no subject)
Sep. 30th, 2025 09:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baselineace posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
addmeName: ace (short for alex, but please just call me ace!)
Age: 48
I mostly post about: tennis, fannish rambles, book reviews, occasional football nostalgia, and random life musings
My hobbies are: reading (historical fiction, romance + the occasional sports biography), writing emotionally messy fanfic, cozy farming sims (stardew valley hours are ridiculous), traveling when i can, and yelling fondly at tennis players and footballers
My fandoms are: tennis (lifelong), historical fiction nerdery, bridgerton, and a splash of nostalgic 90s/00s pop (yes i still love take that and one direction, no regrets)
I'm looking to meet people who: are fannish, bookish, or just like chatting about their passions. bonus points if you also get tennis brainrot or historical-fiction cravings.
My posting schedule tends to be: sporadic — sometimes i post a lot, sometimes i vanish into the void with a book or a video game.
When I add people, my dealbreakers are: no bigotry, no cruelty. fannish disagreements are fine, but being mean about real people (especially athletes/actors etc.) is not my jam.
Before adding me, you should know: i ramble a lot in lowercase, i treat my journal more like a diary/archive than a performance space, and i’m always happy to chat if you are!
Age: 48
I mostly post about: tennis, fannish rambles, book reviews, occasional football nostalgia, and random life musings
My hobbies are: reading (historical fiction, romance + the occasional sports biography), writing emotionally messy fanfic, cozy farming sims (stardew valley hours are ridiculous), traveling when i can, and yelling fondly at tennis players and footballers
My fandoms are: tennis (lifelong), historical fiction nerdery, bridgerton, and a splash of nostalgic 90s/00s pop (yes i still love take that and one direction, no regrets)
I'm looking to meet people who: are fannish, bookish, or just like chatting about their passions. bonus points if you also get tennis brainrot or historical-fiction cravings.
My posting schedule tends to be: sporadic — sometimes i post a lot, sometimes i vanish into the void with a book or a video game.
When I add people, my dealbreakers are: no bigotry, no cruelty. fannish disagreements are fine, but being mean about real people (especially athletes/actors etc.) is not my jam.
Before adding me, you should know: i ramble a lot in lowercase, i treat my journal more like a diary/archive than a performance space, and i’m always happy to chat if you are!
Rare Pair Exchange: Post-deadline pinch hits due 12 October.
Oct. 1st, 2025 06:49 amrarepairmod posting in pinchhitsEvent: Rare Pair Exchange is a fanwork exchange focusing on romantic/sexual rare pairs! We are an AO3 exchange; you must have an account and be 18+ to participate.
Minimum requirements: We allow three mediums: a minimum of 1,000 words for fanfiction, clean lineart on unlined paper or the equivalent of one comic panel for art, or a recording of a completed fic of 1,000 words minimum that is about the rare pair. Works must include a fandom, ship and be of a medium that the recipient has requested.
Event link:rarepairexchange.
Pinch hit link: Current pinch hits.
Due date: Sunday 12 October, 11:59pm EDT.
Available post-deadline pinch hits:
Thank you for considering!
Minimum requirements: We allow three mediums: a minimum of 1,000 words for fanfiction, clean lineart on unlined paper or the equivalent of one comic panel for art, or a recording of a completed fic of 1,000 words minimum that is about the rare pair. Works must include a fandom, ship and be of a medium that the recipient has requested.
Event link:
rarepairexchange.Pinch hit link: Current pinch hits.
Due date: Sunday 12 October, 11:59pm EDT.
Available post-deadline pinch hits:
Thank you for considering!
Winter Solstice
Sep. 29th, 2025 10:30 amjakebeIn my personal calendar, this is the first week of the Winter Season (tm). In my Bullet Journal I chop up the year into four 13-week sections and try to use these times as "sprints" to shift paradigms, begin/end big projects, take stock of what's working and what's not. Well, that's the idea anyway.
Nothing this year went the way I had been hoping to, but that doesn't say that nothing happened this year. There have been significant blows, both seen and surprise, that have really thrown me off my game. I made the decision to seek therapy earlier because the weight of everything had just been crushing me to the point I couldn't function as consistently as I wanted to -- and that turned out to be a good decision.
So, in that spirit, I want Winter 2025 to be a restorative one. There are a lot of things outside of my control that will make things harder, but I'm really hoping to sit with these difficulties and use them as opportunities to navigate difficult emotions. Fear and despair are the things I'm watching out for, but as I turn my attention toward my anger and start trying to work with it I anticipate there's going to be a lot of...choppy things to work through. I'm worried about that, because winters aren't easy for anyone and I really want to make them as cozy and comfortable for folks as possible.
The Big Project this Winter, of course, will be finding a job -- or booting up alternate revenue streams at the very least. Last time I was laid off, it took me a little over four months to find a job and even then it was only by the recommendation of a friend. This time, the economy is even worse and it looks like remote work has all but dried up. If I'm being completely honest, I don't like my chances of finding something quickly. It feels like the last hiring window of the year might be closing, and companies tend to button up quite a bit through the holidays so they can do more hiring possibly in January or February. It feels like if I don't find something that I can start by late-October, I'll have to settle in for a jobless season.
Thankfully, my therapist helped me prepare for that by imagining a 'best-case scenario' for Thanksgiving if I didn't have a job. It forced me to put my focus back on the things I *could* control to make the best of a bad situation and through that I realized I have a couple of moves.
First, there's the Patreon. I know I've had significant trouble with writing consistently but...after a lot of work I think I'm ready to give it another go. The plan is to spend this month writing as much as I can to build a buffer, take the old Patreon out of mothballs with a few updates here and there, then really think about the payment tiers. I think $2 would get you non-fiction essays and life updated; $5 would get you at least one story bit a week. I'm hoping that the story bits will be no longer than 1500 - 2000 words, and each story would be anywhere from 4 - 7 bits. Ultimately, I'd publish a 6000-word short story each month and folks would think that'd be worth $5.
I know that there's a crackdown on adult fiction just about everywhere these days, so I'd have to keep an eye out for that. I don't know if there's a good alternative to Patreon right now beyond Subscribestar, but hopefully I won't have to think about that very much. >.> The plan is to start charging folks again in November once I've built up the buffer and spent a month giving folks the chance to change their pledges, drop out, or whatever they wanted to do.
There's also work to be done with Sofawolf Academy and FurPlanet. Sofawolf is pivoting from a publisher to a writer's community, and I could definitely help out with community management there. I don't think I'd get paid for it up front, but it *would* be good practice to develop my skills there and add a project or two to my portfolio if I end up looking for that kind of work sometime later. The Community Management space is...very squishy right now; even when companies were hiring, there was a worry that executives couldn't directly connect what we did to their bottom line. I'm not sure if that's gotten any better, but at least it's a marketable skillset.
In addition to the Patreon and the furry-publishing work, I'm also planning to spend as much time as possible upskilling. This keeps my learning muscles limber and makes sure I'm not spending my unemployment sinking deeper into depression.
I know that this season will be a significant challenge for me. It's really hard to keep the worst thoughts out of your head when you're looking for employment; I realize that it's honestly a employer's market right now and will be for the foreseeable future. It's going to be so hard finding a livable wage and a stable position.
So I'm just going to have to get creative about making ends meet. Snep and Ratty have my back while I'm unemployed, but I want to lean on them as little as possible until I can stand on my own two feet.
The watchword this season is "resilience". I'm going to do my best to bloom inwards, even if conditions aren't right for me to flower yet.
Nothing this year went the way I had been hoping to, but that doesn't say that nothing happened this year. There have been significant blows, both seen and surprise, that have really thrown me off my game. I made the decision to seek therapy earlier because the weight of everything had just been crushing me to the point I couldn't function as consistently as I wanted to -- and that turned out to be a good decision.
So, in that spirit, I want Winter 2025 to be a restorative one. There are a lot of things outside of my control that will make things harder, but I'm really hoping to sit with these difficulties and use them as opportunities to navigate difficult emotions. Fear and despair are the things I'm watching out for, but as I turn my attention toward my anger and start trying to work with it I anticipate there's going to be a lot of...choppy things to work through. I'm worried about that, because winters aren't easy for anyone and I really want to make them as cozy and comfortable for folks as possible.
The Big Project this Winter, of course, will be finding a job -- or booting up alternate revenue streams at the very least. Last time I was laid off, it took me a little over four months to find a job and even then it was only by the recommendation of a friend. This time, the economy is even worse and it looks like remote work has all but dried up. If I'm being completely honest, I don't like my chances of finding something quickly. It feels like the last hiring window of the year might be closing, and companies tend to button up quite a bit through the holidays so they can do more hiring possibly in January or February. It feels like if I don't find something that I can start by late-October, I'll have to settle in for a jobless season.
Thankfully, my therapist helped me prepare for that by imagining a 'best-case scenario' for Thanksgiving if I didn't have a job. It forced me to put my focus back on the things I *could* control to make the best of a bad situation and through that I realized I have a couple of moves.
First, there's the Patreon. I know I've had significant trouble with writing consistently but...after a lot of work I think I'm ready to give it another go. The plan is to spend this month writing as much as I can to build a buffer, take the old Patreon out of mothballs with a few updates here and there, then really think about the payment tiers. I think $2 would get you non-fiction essays and life updated; $5 would get you at least one story bit a week. I'm hoping that the story bits will be no longer than 1500 - 2000 words, and each story would be anywhere from 4 - 7 bits. Ultimately, I'd publish a 6000-word short story each month and folks would think that'd be worth $5.
I know that there's a crackdown on adult fiction just about everywhere these days, so I'd have to keep an eye out for that. I don't know if there's a good alternative to Patreon right now beyond Subscribestar, but hopefully I won't have to think about that very much. >.> The plan is to start charging folks again in November once I've built up the buffer and spent a month giving folks the chance to change their pledges, drop out, or whatever they wanted to do.
There's also work to be done with Sofawolf Academy and FurPlanet. Sofawolf is pivoting from a publisher to a writer's community, and I could definitely help out with community management there. I don't think I'd get paid for it up front, but it *would* be good practice to develop my skills there and add a project or two to my portfolio if I end up looking for that kind of work sometime later. The Community Management space is...very squishy right now; even when companies were hiring, there was a worry that executives couldn't directly connect what we did to their bottom line. I'm not sure if that's gotten any better, but at least it's a marketable skillset.
In addition to the Patreon and the furry-publishing work, I'm also planning to spend as much time as possible upskilling. This keeps my learning muscles limber and makes sure I'm not spending my unemployment sinking deeper into depression.
I know that this season will be a significant challenge for me. It's really hard to keep the worst thoughts out of your head when you're looking for employment; I realize that it's honestly a employer's market right now and will be for the foreseeable future. It's going to be so hard finding a livable wage and a stable position.
So I'm just going to have to get creative about making ends meet. Snep and Ratty have my back while I'm unemployed, but I want to lean on them as little as possible until I can stand on my own two feet.
The watchword this season is "resilience". I'm going to do my best to bloom inwards, even if conditions aren't right for me to flower yet.
Poll: Sense of geopolitical awareness [pols, US, war]
Sep. 29th, 2025 02:36 amsidereaHey, quick temperature check. I've been reading a lot of media I don't expect my readership to read, and now I'm a little disoriented to who knows what.
Poll #33668 Geopolitics awareness check
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 103
What country do you currently live in?
What is your age?
12-19
1 (1.0%)
20-29
5 (4.9%)
30-39
15 (14.7%)
40-49
27 (26.5%)
50-59
35 (34.3%)
60-69
13 (12.7%)
70-79
6 (5.9%)
80+
0 (0.0%)
To the best of your knowledge, if the US were to go to war tomorrow, against what country would it most likely be?
Workouts are freaking awesome, at least
Sep. 28th, 2025 10:06 pmflexagonContinuing to feel super burned out at the mere thought of working, or constraining my schedule too much. I know this makes sense. I know it takes more than six months to recover from 17 years of cortisol flooding my system. Gotta drift along and observe the whirling world for a while, and have faith in neuroplasticity.
In the meantime, physical workouts are only getting better. In some ways, there's joy in recovering ground I've lost before, because I can be confident in the path to gaining the skill again; for instance, I know that once I can bop my chest against the wall in a backbend, my kickover isn't too far away. And I know that once I have a dropback (check) and a kickover (as of today, check!), a back walkover will be coming along. This is easier on me in some ways than the -- exciting, for sure -- improvements into things I've never had before, where I don't know what comes next or where I'll max out, or how much faith to have. Anyway, in the last week or so I've gotten a set of 5 chinups back, and my kickover back. (The week before, also in backbend territory, I touched each toe to the top of my head in turn; that's a maintenance marker not touched since last December.) There was a cramping episode that made me think I should carry some runners' salt chews, but overall I'm doing really well.
Today in open studio, Birdie and I and another friend set up a station for walkover drills (tick-tocks) and worked on them for about an hour. It was so fun, and useful to really work on one thing for quite a while.
Also this week I ordered some organization stuff for our IKEA cube unit and for the freezer.
I spent a whole day helping a friend move (third one this fall, for anyone counting). She had a lot of the same Zillian swag as me, from working in the same office and, for a few years, in the same group, and I had all kinds of complicated feelings about seeing those items. Mostly sadness and a desire to avoid them. Neither she or I sees a way back to working the way we did when we got those things.
I floofed off to Portland Maine for the first time ever, with the squirrel. On the way up we listened to a podcast about fear, anxiety, exposure therapy etc, and had a good conversation about fears... later that day a tiny not-very-scary spider got onto my hand in a park, and I said "wait! exposure therapy!" and let it crawl around a little before putting my hand on the ground to let it get off. The squirrel was proud of me for letting it live, I was just proud of myself for doing something I'd literally never done before.
I'm sure there's more, but the sleepiness is rising fast, and I must succumb.
In the meantime, physical workouts are only getting better. In some ways, there's joy in recovering ground I've lost before, because I can be confident in the path to gaining the skill again; for instance, I know that once I can bop my chest against the wall in a backbend, my kickover isn't too far away. And I know that once I have a dropback (check) and a kickover (as of today, check!), a back walkover will be coming along. This is easier on me in some ways than the -- exciting, for sure -- improvements into things I've never had before, where I don't know what comes next or where I'll max out, or how much faith to have. Anyway, in the last week or so I've gotten a set of 5 chinups back, and my kickover back. (The week before, also in backbend territory, I touched each toe to the top of my head in turn; that's a maintenance marker not touched since last December.) There was a cramping episode that made me think I should carry some runners' salt chews, but overall I'm doing really well.
Today in open studio, Birdie and I and another friend set up a station for walkover drills (tick-tocks) and worked on them for about an hour. It was so fun, and useful to really work on one thing for quite a while.
Also this week I ordered some organization stuff for our IKEA cube unit and for the freezer.
I spent a whole day helping a friend move (third one this fall, for anyone counting). She had a lot of the same Zillian swag as me, from working in the same office and, for a few years, in the same group, and I had all kinds of complicated feelings about seeing those items. Mostly sadness and a desire to avoid them. Neither she or I sees a way back to working the way we did when we got those things.
I floofed off to Portland Maine for the first time ever, with the squirrel. On the way up we listened to a podcast about fear, anxiety, exposure therapy etc, and had a good conversation about fears... later that day a tiny not-very-scary spider got onto my hand in a park, and I said "wait! exposure therapy!" and let it crawl around a little before putting my hand on the ground to let it get off. The squirrel was proud of me for letting it live, I was just proud of myself for doing something I'd literally never done before.
I'm sure there's more, but the sleepiness is rising fast, and I must succumb.
Nominations Queries Post 1
Sep. 28th, 2025 07:38 pmyuletidemods posting in yuletide_adminWe are 24 hours into tag approving! We began with 6078 individual fandom nominations to sort (where if two people submitted the same fandom, that would count twice towards the total). We have 3687 fandom nominations still to sort. Please review the questions below to help us sort them quickly and correctly!
Aliens (1986) - These characters are also nominated under the broader fandom Alien (Original Movies 1979-1997), so we would like to merge your nominations in with the rest of the original movies.
Bibi Blocksberg (2002) - Nominator, do you specifically only want the first movie, or may we approve this as the canonical Bibi Blocksberg (Movies 2002 2004)? Please link your nominations page when you reply.
Book of Night - Holly Black - We also have evidence for this fandom as the Charlatan Duology, and another participant has nominated it under that name. We’d like to combine your nominations, but please get us in touch if there’s a reason that won’t work. Please link your nominations page when you reply.
Clocktaur War Series - T. Kingfisher, Swordheart - T. Kingfisher, Temple of the White Rat Universe - T. Kingfisher, The Saint of Steel - T. Kingfisher - We have some overlap in these nominations. The fandom as a whole is eligible, so we could combine them under Temple of the White Rat Universe, or the Temple of the White Rat Universe nominator could have their characters split into the other fandoms if you are willing to do that. Please comment with a link to your nominations to help us sort this out!
Cousin Bette - Honoré de Balzac - Nominator, you may see some oddities as we get this set up separately from La Comédie Humaine. Pardon our dust, and hopefully you’re used to it by now! Let us know if anything looks wrong when the final tagset is released.
Designing Women - Nominator, please email us (see contact information in the footer).
Dragonfly - Ursula K. Le Guin, Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin, The Tombs of Atuan - Ursula K. Le Guin - Our understanding is that these are all in the same continuity. We are planning to combine Earthsea and Tombs of Atuan, especially as there is character overlap in those nominations. Dragonfly nominator, do you have concerns with folding that nomination into Earthsea as well? If so, we would appreciate help understanding exactly what you’re looking for and how to differentiate the larger Earthsea universe.
Enchanted Forest Chronicles - Patricia Wrede - We won’t approve the character nomination Morwen's Cats (Enchanted Forest) as they are all individually named. Nominators, could you please each choose a cat? (Scorn has already been nominated.) Please link your nominations page when you reply.
MAIJO Otaro - Works - We don’t approve fandoms consisting of all of a creator’s works, and the nominated characters appear to come from at least 2 novels. Nominator, could you pick one of Maijō’s works to nominate, along with the associated characters? Please link your nominations page when you reply.
夢中さ きみに。| Muchuu sa Kimi ni (Manga) - We also have a nomination for the Anime; the nominator of that fandom says they have not read the manga but believes these could be combined if needed. Does the Manga nominator have a preference? Please link your nominations page when you reply. ETA: sorry, we have 3 manga nominators and have heard from 2, so it would be great to hear from the third!
Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Nominator, please email us (see contact information in the footer).
Nescafe Advertisment - While this is a canonical fandom on AO3, it’s under review to be renamed, so we’ll approve this as Nescafe "Arctica" | "Polar Explorers" Advertisments (Russia) which is the likely new name. However, we’d like more information on the characters. We’re not sure which of the men is “First Polar” and which is “Second Polar”; some works in the fandom use Ivanov and Petrov. Also, we haven’t seen a polar bear in the 3 ads we’ve found - can you link us to the one that has the polar bear, please?
老洞 | The Old Miao Myth (TV) - Nominator, for the character Jin Bong, are you looking for Chin Pong? We’ve checked several sources and want to confirm whether this is a romanization issue or something else.
Outcast (Video Game series) - this has been nominated with character 'Any' and no other characters. If you mean you are interested in any characters, we will approve this without characters, but we wanted to check just in case there is a character actually named Any. Please link your nominations page when you reply.
Phantom of the Paradise (1974) - Nominator, please email us (see contact information in the footer).
Prophet - Sin Blaché & Helen Macdonald - could we please get more information about 'Prophet' as a character (aside from being the title)?
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (2025) - Nominator, please email us (see contact information in the footer)
Tennis RPF - We have separate nominations for 2020's Men's Tennis RPF (characters: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz, Terence Atmane) and 2025 Grand Slam Season (Tennis) RPF (characters: Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner) - may we combine these under the former fandom name? Please link your nominations page when you reply.
Schedule, Rules, & Collection | Contact Mods | Tag Set | Community DW | Community LJ | Discord | Pinch hits on Dreamwidth
Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.
Please link your nominations page if telling us what to do about your nomination - thank you! Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.
If we've processed any of your nominations and something doesn't look right, please comment (with your nominations page) to tell us about the problem and how you think it should be corrected. Questions are welcome.
Aliens (1986) - These characters are also nominated under the broader fandom Alien (Original Movies 1979-1997), so we would like to merge your nominations in with the rest of the original movies.
Bibi Blocksberg (2002) - Nominator, do you specifically only want the first movie, or may we approve this as the canonical Bibi Blocksberg (Movies 2002 2004)? Please link your nominations page when you reply.
Book of Night - Holly Black - We also have evidence for this fandom as the Charlatan Duology, and another participant has nominated it under that name. We’d like to combine your nominations, but please get us in touch if there’s a reason that won’t work. Please link your nominations page when you reply.
Clocktaur War Series - T. Kingfisher, Swordheart - T. Kingfisher, Temple of the White Rat Universe - T. Kingfisher, The Saint of Steel - T. Kingfisher - We have some overlap in these nominations. The fandom as a whole is eligible, so we could combine them under Temple of the White Rat Universe, or the Temple of the White Rat Universe nominator could have their characters split into the other fandoms if you are willing to do that. Please comment with a link to your nominations to help us sort this out!
Cousin Bette - Honoré de Balzac - Nominator, you may see some oddities as we get this set up separately from La Comédie Humaine. Pardon our dust, and hopefully you’re used to it by now! Let us know if anything looks wrong when the final tagset is released.
Designing Women - Nominator, please email us (see contact information in the footer).
Dragonfly - Ursula K. Le Guin, Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin, The Tombs of Atuan - Ursula K. Le Guin - Our understanding is that these are all in the same continuity. We are planning to combine Earthsea and Tombs of Atuan, especially as there is character overlap in those nominations. Dragonfly nominator, do you have concerns with folding that nomination into Earthsea as well? If so, we would appreciate help understanding exactly what you’re looking for and how to differentiate the larger Earthsea universe.
Enchanted Forest Chronicles - Patricia Wrede - We won’t approve the character nomination Morwen's Cats (Enchanted Forest) as they are all individually named. Nominators, could you please each choose a cat? (Scorn has already been nominated.) Please link your nominations page when you reply.
MAIJO Otaro - Works - We don’t approve fandoms consisting of all of a creator’s works, and the nominated characters appear to come from at least 2 novels. Nominator, could you pick one of Maijō’s works to nominate, along with the associated characters? Please link your nominations page when you reply.
夢中さ きみに。| Muchuu sa Kimi ni (Manga) - We also have a nomination for the Anime; the nominator of that fandom says they have not read the manga but believes these could be combined if needed. Does the Manga nominator have a preference? Please link your nominations page when you reply. ETA: sorry, we have 3 manga nominators and have heard from 2, so it would be great to hear from the third!
Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Nominator, please email us (see contact information in the footer).
Nescafe Advertisment - While this is a canonical fandom on AO3, it’s under review to be renamed, so we’ll approve this as Nescafe "Arctica" | "Polar Explorers" Advertisments (Russia) which is the likely new name. However, we’d like more information on the characters. We’re not sure which of the men is “First Polar” and which is “Second Polar”; some works in the fandom use Ivanov and Petrov. Also, we haven’t seen a polar bear in the 3 ads we’ve found - can you link us to the one that has the polar bear, please?
老洞 | The Old Miao Myth (TV) - Nominator, for the character Jin Bong, are you looking for Chin Pong? We’ve checked several sources and want to confirm whether this is a romanization issue or something else.
Outcast (Video Game series) - this has been nominated with character 'Any' and no other characters. If you mean you are interested in any characters, we will approve this without characters, but we wanted to check just in case there is a character actually named Any. Please link your nominations page when you reply.
Phantom of the Paradise (1974) - Nominator, please email us (see contact information in the footer).
Prophet - Sin Blaché & Helen Macdonald - could we please get more information about 'Prophet' as a character (aside from being the title)?
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (2025) - Nominator, please email us (see contact information in the footer)
Tennis RPF - We have separate nominations for 2020's Men's Tennis RPF (characters: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz, Terence Atmane) and 2025 Grand Slam Season (Tennis) RPF (characters: Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner) - may we combine these under the former fandom name? Please link your nominations page when you reply.
Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.
What would the smell of a subtropical monsoon climate zone be like?
Sep. 28th, 2025 12:08 amhuberthubert posting in little_detailsHello everyone!
I am writing a oneshot essentially set in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. My character is so surprised and overwhelmed by what he is seeing that I am introducing his senses one by one, but I couldnt quite imagine what it would smell like being in his position.
I know its quite humid, so thats probably the bulk of the experience, but are there any other, more subtle undertones I could include to make the scene feel more alive?
Even if you havent been to the exact location, any experience in a subtropical, humid climate would already be quite helpful.
Thank you!
I am writing a oneshot essentially set in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. My character is so surprised and overwhelmed by what he is seeing that I am introducing his senses one by one, but I couldnt quite imagine what it would smell like being in his position.
I know its quite humid, so thats probably the bulk of the experience, but are there any other, more subtle undertones I could include to make the scene feel more alive?
Even if you havent been to the exact location, any experience in a subtropical, humid climate would already be quite helpful.
Thank you!
Yuletide 2025 Nominations Closed
Sep. 27th, 2025 07:05 amyuletidemods posting in yuletide_adminThank you for your nominations! Nominations are now closed. We have 6078 fandom nominations to sort through: that means that at least 1216 people nominated, but probably more. This is lower than our highest ever number of nominations received previously - 6257 - but higher than last year's 5950 nominations.
So, what happens next?
First there's a pause. We review the information we have already and get our ducks in a row. Then, when we begin to approve your nominations, it won't be in any obvious order. The approvals interface shows us fandoms at random, rather than according to who nominated them or when the nomination was submitted.
Help us get through approvals faster - please keep an eye on this community for questions about nominations we find confusing. In turn, if you are confused by how we've approved your nomination, you can ask us about it. If you submitted evidence close to the end of nominations, we may also have follow-up comments for you; however, we won't be accepting any evidence for new canons now that nominations are closed.
While we approve fandoms, you can:
Schedule, Rules, & Collection | Contact Mods | Tag Set | Community DW | Community LJ | Discord | Pinch hits on Dreamwidth
Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.
So, what happens next?
First there's a pause. We review the information we have already and get our ducks in a row. Then, when we begin to approve your nominations, it won't be in any obvious order. The approvals interface shows us fandoms at random, rather than according to who nominated them or when the nomination was submitted.
Help us get through approvals faster - please keep an eye on this community for questions about nominations we find confusing. In turn, if you are confused by how we've approved your nomination, you can ask us about it. If you submitted evidence close to the end of nominations, we may also have follow-up comments for you; however, we won't be accepting any evidence for new canons now that nominations are closed.
While we approve fandoms, you can:
- Promote your rare fandoms here at a promo post!
- Start writing your letter, if a letter is part of your approach to signing up!
- When your nominations have been approved, let other participants know at the nominations coordination post on DW!
- Subscribe to the pinch hit community yuletide_pinch_hits! (Pinch hitters are creators who put their hands up for extra assignments so everyone can get a gift.)
Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.
Cuppa JOE: Jealousy & Obsession Exchange - PHs Due Oct 12
Sep. 26th, 2025 07:48 pmmodball posting in pinchhitsEvent: cuppajoexchange is a multi-fandom, multi-medium freeform exchange dedicated to jealousy, obsession, and all the messy emotions in between.
Event link: Dreamwidth | AO3 Collection
Due date: October 12, 2025 11:59 AM CDT (UTC -5) - Timezone Conversion
Fanwork Minimums: 1,000 words (Fic) or a complete work on unlined paper (Art)
To Claim: reply to the latest PH post on the Cuppa JOE comm or email ao3modball+joe@gmail.com with the pinch hit number and your AO3 username
--
CLAIMED PH 3 - Hellsing, Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), The Lord of the Rings (Jackson Movies), Yīng Xióng | Hero (2002), DC Extended Universe, Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Trylogia | The Trilogy - Henryk Sienkiewicz, Nightwatch (Discworld - Terry Pratchett), 蟲師 | Mushishi (Anime & Manga), Poison - Chris Wooding
CLAIMED PH 5 - Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Atlantis, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, Star Wars Original Trilogy
PH 6 - The Elementalists (Visual Novel), If It Please the Court - D. E. Chaudron, Crossover Fandom
CLAIMED PH 7 - Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica, 魔尊也想知道 - 青色羽翼 | Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know - Cyan Wings, 山河令 | Word of Honor (TV 2021), 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
CLAIMED PH 8 - Life Series | 3rd Life SMP Series, Life Series | 3rd Life SMP Series
cuppajoexchange is a multi-fandom, multi-medium freeform exchange dedicated to jealousy, obsession, and all the messy emotions in between. Event link: Dreamwidth | AO3 Collection
Due date: October 12, 2025 11:59 AM CDT (UTC -5) - Timezone Conversion
Fanwork Minimums: 1,000 words (Fic) or a complete work on unlined paper (Art)
To Claim: reply to the latest PH post on the Cuppa JOE comm or email ao3modball+joe@gmail.com with the pinch hit number and your AO3 username
--
PH 6 - The Elementalists (Visual Novel), If It Please the Court - D. E. Chaudron, Crossover Fandom
Nominations Closing Soon
Sep. 26th, 2025 07:48 pmyuletidemods posting in yuletide_adminWe need your fandom & character nominations by 1pm UTC 27 September. That’s 12 hours away!
See countdown!
If your fandom requires evidence, please also submit it by that time.
Please check previous posts in this community for guidance on what can be nominated.
Schedule, Rules, & Collection [still being tweaked for this year] | Contact Mods | Tag Set | Community DW | Community LJ | Discord | Pinch hits on Dreamwidth
Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.
See countdown!
If your fandom requires evidence, please also submit it by that time.
Please check previous posts in this community for guidance on what can be nominated.
Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.
Two Q [writing, DW]
Sep. 26th, 2025 07:17 pmsiderea1)
Is there a term for the part of a large non-fiction writing project that comes after the research – when you have a huge pile of sources and quotes and whatnot – and before the actual "writing" part, the part that involves making sure you have all the citations correct for the sources, maybe going over the sources to highlight what passages you will quote verbatim, organizing them (historically by putting things on 3x5 cards and moving them around on a surface), and generally wrangling all the materials you are going to use into shape to be used?
I think this is often just thought of as part of "research", but when I'm doing a resource-dense project, it's not at all negligible. It takes a huge amount of time, and is exceptionally hard on my body. I'd like, if nothing else, to complain about it, and not having a word for it makes that hard.
2)
I don't suppose there's some, perhaps undocumented, way to use Dreamwidth's post-via-email feature with manually set dates? So you email in a journal entry to a specific date in the past? This doesn't appear among the options for post headers in the docs.
I am working on a large geopolitics project where I am trying to construct a two-year long timeline, and it dawns on me one of the easiest ways to do that might be to set up a personal comm on DW and literally post each timeline-entry as a comm entry. But maybe not if I have to go through the web interface, because that would be kind of miserable; I work via email.
Is there a term for the part of a large non-fiction writing project that comes after the research – when you have a huge pile of sources and quotes and whatnot – and before the actual "writing" part, the part that involves making sure you have all the citations correct for the sources, maybe going over the sources to highlight what passages you will quote verbatim, organizing them (historically by putting things on 3x5 cards and moving them around on a surface), and generally wrangling all the materials you are going to use into shape to be used?
I think this is often just thought of as part of "research", but when I'm doing a resource-dense project, it's not at all negligible. It takes a huge amount of time, and is exceptionally hard on my body. I'd like, if nothing else, to complain about it, and not having a word for it makes that hard.
2)
I don't suppose there's some, perhaps undocumented, way to use Dreamwidth's post-via-email feature with manually set dates? So you email in a journal entry to a specific date in the past? This doesn't appear among the options for post headers in the docs.
I am working on a large geopolitics project where I am trying to construct a two-year long timeline, and it dawns on me one of the easiest ways to do that might be to set up a personal comm on DW and literally post each timeline-entry as a comm entry. But maybe not if I have to go through the web interface, because that would be kind of miserable; I work via email.
Haven't done this in a while
Sep. 26th, 2025 04:36 pmzenigotchas posting in addmeIntro:
Hi my name is Mint Chocolate Chip but I also go by more sensible names like The Overlord of The Pasta as well. That is actually a childhood nickname given to me when I was 42...
I'm abt 25.... A zillenial/zoomer-millenial hybrid and no, I was not grown in a lab despite the rumors.
I post frequently and the blahg is a hybrid between personal/recovery stuff for my cptsd and interests and passions. I am many things, but aren't we all? Things I regularly think about and do (or at least TRY to engage with regularly) are reading, writing, comicking (I'm trying my hand at my own super robot series. It's very.... Me), indulging my musicphilia, lifting, animals (dinosaurs and evolutionary theory oh my!), smol chubby things (think pibbins as an example) and generally trying new things in these categories.
I will say my personality is Cheerfully dark or darkly cheerful. A lot of gross, creepy, weird things cheer me up, make me laugh or inspire me to do better. And I am a very easily amused person who really likes jokes, but my ideas of what's funny can be really odd or morbid. Like I thought the movie Tusk was just okay but had a very life affirming message about personhood. Ultimately, scary stuff registers to me as beautiful. Is it because it's so scary it's pretty? Or it's not scary at all? I don't think I'll ever know, but the closest equivalent I can think of is what gothic fiction describes as "the sublime."
How I try to live can be summed up by something I wrote on my blog recently that I will paraphrase here:
1. Death is the ultimate equalizer. If it won't matter after you're dead, it's not going to matter while you're alive.
2. Being yourself is the only way out.
3. Everything you know and love will pass and be forgotten one day. Including you. It's like we all get to keep special secrets from the next generations.
Likes: Metal, classical music, jazz, french house, horror, sci fi, surrealism, reading, philosophy, Friedrich Nietszche (did I spell that right?), superheroes, mecha/super robot (real robot is okay), violent stuff, birds, birds being dinosaurs, bones, medsci, dentalsci, psychology, flexibility, playfulness, puns, wordplay, spicy food, clowns, birds, dragons. A lot more but I'll be here all day if I list everything. Fandoms include Sonic, Mario, Getter Robo, Pokemon, Batman, Spawn, Godzilla, Street Fighter, Story of Seasons, Stardew Valley. Again, a lot of fandoms. That's not even all of them. Most of all, anything filled with cheese, hopium or grossness is what I love most.
Dislikes: The way a certain strain of nerds are like that, people who are mean to animals, country music, folk music, SOME types of pop music (I enjoy the genre but am not fond of certain pop artists who are currently big) AI """art,""" rigidity and inflexibility.
I'm working on being more interested than interesting and I like people of different backgrounds. I like swapping thoughts with people who share similar feels abt things + have good boundaries. I like independent personalities who like to laugh.
As a warning, I wouldn't describe my blog as gloomy but very honest. I am someone who likes having the ability to be articulate and say what I mean and mean what I say, mental illness be damned! So I WILL talk abt the hard times, when mental illness hurts and stuff like that.
There will ALWAYS be TWs, but I'm mentioning this bc I don't think I will be good match for people who find that stuff inherently depressing as I don't see it that way at all and don't want to repress how I talk for the comfort of others. I am going through some major changes in my life after a lot of personal tragedy, including but not limited to homelessness, and I want to feel free to share it honestly.
On interactions:
Just bc it's in my dislikes doesn't mean I dislike people who like what I don't. Unless you're into some sick shit, I will be interested in hearing your differing perspective and would be open to friendship or whatever other type of platonic relationship it evolves into. I'm not someone who is easily scandalized or put off by people.
Though I admit, remembering to write back or to be unafraid to be emotionally vulnerable is NOT always easy and I'm trying hard to get better at it.
I don't tolerate ableism or any abusive rhetoric towards the poor or homeless.
Going back to what I said earlier. Most shit we are told matters actually does not matter and that fits a lot of nerd drama/discourse well. I will never see lolisho or whatever else some people go to bat for as some free speech issue I am obligated to fight for, I think it's disgusting, I don't have to justify myself and I'm not interested in being converted (people have tried that before). Those are the types of people who I block liberally.
I do not add minors.
If you are mentally well, NOT white trash, monosexual, or are just curious, I ask you to please be open minded and to ask questions if you decide to follow and interact. I am like. A random bi religious lady who was raised and identifies strongly with the white trash thing. I can't tell you how EVERYONE who falls under this very niche overlap thinks and I don't intend to, but I think I can tell you an excellent story.
Anythin else?
I'm white trash.
I never got to finish highschool.
I don't post horny stuff but I'm not allergic to discussing media that portrays sexuality or discussing sexuality itself.
I don't post many graphic pictures or vids, but I do like media with graphic stuff in it.
I don't get political, as a personal boundary and way to make sure I stay respectful online. Please do not push me to share my beliefs. I do not mind if YOU get political (tho a journal all about politics isn't my bag), but I will only share my political stances if I feel comfortable doing so.
Evolution is the most important scientific fact for me. It is a driving factor in my decision making and personal worldviews. I like that people are monkeys. Don't you think that's hilarious? I love that birds are dinosaurs.
I'm bi. I was agnostic for most of my life but I like that I started practicing christianity as an adult. I don't see these as contradictory. I like theistic evolution. I read a lot of things I disagree with anyway bc it's good for the soul.
I am someone's whose definition of freedom is "I am allowed free to do or say what I like" rather than "I am free from the consequences of what I do or say." So speaking honestly and openly is more abt self improvement than just being a dick and then saying "Well I'm just being HONEST! You're violating my freedoms if you push back or block me!" It's about having uncomfortable conversations and realizing we don't know everything and we never will and that's just more reason to keep having conversations.
Add me! Or don't. I don't really care.
Hi my name is Mint Chocolate Chip but I also go by more sensible names like The Overlord of The Pasta as well. That is actually a childhood nickname given to me when I was 42...
I'm abt 25.... A zillenial/zoomer-millenial hybrid and no, I was not grown in a lab despite the rumors.
I post frequently and the blahg is a hybrid between personal/recovery stuff for my cptsd and interests and passions. I am many things, but aren't we all? Things I regularly think about and do (or at least TRY to engage with regularly) are reading, writing, comicking (I'm trying my hand at my own super robot series. It's very.... Me), indulging my musicphilia, lifting, animals (dinosaurs and evolutionary theory oh my!), smol chubby things (think pibbins as an example) and generally trying new things in these categories.
I will say my personality is Cheerfully dark or darkly cheerful. A lot of gross, creepy, weird things cheer me up, make me laugh or inspire me to do better. And I am a very easily amused person who really likes jokes, but my ideas of what's funny can be really odd or morbid. Like I thought the movie Tusk was just okay but had a very life affirming message about personhood. Ultimately, scary stuff registers to me as beautiful. Is it because it's so scary it's pretty? Or it's not scary at all? I don't think I'll ever know, but the closest equivalent I can think of is what gothic fiction describes as "the sublime."
How I try to live can be summed up by something I wrote on my blog recently that I will paraphrase here:
1. Death is the ultimate equalizer. If it won't matter after you're dead, it's not going to matter while you're alive.
2. Being yourself is the only way out.
3. Everything you know and love will pass and be forgotten one day. Including you. It's like we all get to keep special secrets from the next generations.
Likes: Metal, classical music, jazz, french house, horror, sci fi, surrealism, reading, philosophy, Friedrich Nietszche (did I spell that right?), superheroes, mecha/super robot (real robot is okay), violent stuff, birds, birds being dinosaurs, bones, medsci, dentalsci, psychology, flexibility, playfulness, puns, wordplay, spicy food, clowns, birds, dragons. A lot more but I'll be here all day if I list everything. Fandoms include Sonic, Mario, Getter Robo, Pokemon, Batman, Spawn, Godzilla, Street Fighter, Story of Seasons, Stardew Valley. Again, a lot of fandoms. That's not even all of them. Most of all, anything filled with cheese, hopium or grossness is what I love most.
Dislikes: The way a certain strain of nerds are like that, people who are mean to animals, country music, folk music, SOME types of pop music (I enjoy the genre but am not fond of certain pop artists who are currently big) AI """art,""" rigidity and inflexibility.
I'm working on being more interested than interesting and I like people of different backgrounds. I like swapping thoughts with people who share similar feels abt things + have good boundaries. I like independent personalities who like to laugh.
As a warning, I wouldn't describe my blog as gloomy but very honest. I am someone who likes having the ability to be articulate and say what I mean and mean what I say, mental illness be damned! So I WILL talk abt the hard times, when mental illness hurts and stuff like that.
There will ALWAYS be TWs, but I'm mentioning this bc I don't think I will be good match for people who find that stuff inherently depressing as I don't see it that way at all and don't want to repress how I talk for the comfort of others. I am going through some major changes in my life after a lot of personal tragedy, including but not limited to homelessness, and I want to feel free to share it honestly.
On interactions:
Just bc it's in my dislikes doesn't mean I dislike people who like what I don't. Unless you're into some sick shit, I will be interested in hearing your differing perspective and would be open to friendship or whatever other type of platonic relationship it evolves into. I'm not someone who is easily scandalized or put off by people.
Though I admit, remembering to write back or to be unafraid to be emotionally vulnerable is NOT always easy and I'm trying hard to get better at it.
I don't tolerate ableism or any abusive rhetoric towards the poor or homeless.
Going back to what I said earlier. Most shit we are told matters actually does not matter and that fits a lot of nerd drama/discourse well. I will never see lolisho or whatever else some people go to bat for as some free speech issue I am obligated to fight for, I think it's disgusting, I don't have to justify myself and I'm not interested in being converted (people have tried that before). Those are the types of people who I block liberally.
I do not add minors.
If you are mentally well, NOT white trash, monosexual, or are just curious, I ask you to please be open minded and to ask questions if you decide to follow and interact. I am like. A random bi religious lady who was raised and identifies strongly with the white trash thing. I can't tell you how EVERYONE who falls under this very niche overlap thinks and I don't intend to, but I think I can tell you an excellent story.
Anythin else?
I'm white trash.
I never got to finish highschool.
I don't post horny stuff but I'm not allergic to discussing media that portrays sexuality or discussing sexuality itself.
I don't post many graphic pictures or vids, but I do like media with graphic stuff in it.
I don't get political, as a personal boundary and way to make sure I stay respectful online. Please do not push me to share my beliefs. I do not mind if YOU get political (tho a journal all about politics isn't my bag), but I will only share my political stances if I feel comfortable doing so.
Evolution is the most important scientific fact for me. It is a driving factor in my decision making and personal worldviews. I like that people are monkeys. Don't you think that's hilarious? I love that birds are dinosaurs.
I'm bi. I was agnostic for most of my life but I like that I started practicing christianity as an adult. I don't see these as contradictory. I like theistic evolution. I read a lot of things I disagree with anyway bc it's good for the soul.
I am someone's whose definition of freedom is "I am allowed free to do or say what I like" rather than "I am free from the consequences of what I do or say." So speaking honestly and openly is more abt self improvement than just being a dick and then saying "Well I'm just being HONEST! You're violating my freedoms if you push back or block me!" It's about having uncomfortable conversations and realizing we don't know everything and we never will and that's just more reason to keep having conversations.
Add me! Or don't. I don't really care.
Webpage Template for Fanwork Archives
Sep. 26th, 2025 07:16 amosteophage posting in fancodedCrossposting from my journal:
Archive of Your Own is a webpage template for making a filterable index of creative works, modeled off of fanwork archives like AO3 and SqWA. Decide for yourself how your works are presented by customizing everything from the icons to the categorization scheme, all while offering your visitors a full array of filtering options. This template was created with the help of Solaria's CSS Filter Guide and is free for personal use with credit.
(I know there are a few of these already out there, but folks might be interested to know that this one is pure CSS/HTML, no Javascript needed.)
Nominations extended 16 hours due to AO3 maintenance
Sep. 24th, 2025 06:54 pmyuletidemods posting in yuletide_adminThanks for all your nominations so far! 4,429 fandom choices have been submitted so far (note that if two people nominate the same fandom, that counts twice towards that total). You can nominate at the tag set here.
AO3 has announced maintenance downtime from Sep 26,07:30 5:30 UTC to (approximately) Sep 27, 03:30 UTC, which cuts a large chunk off the end of our planned nominations period. Because of this, we’ll extend nominations for an extra 16 hours, and instead close nominations on Saturday September 27 at 1pm UTC (What time is that for me?). However, we urge you to get your nominations in before the downtime begins, just in case AO3 doesn’t come back up in time for you to submit before we close nominations.
If your fandom requires evidence, please also submit it here on the Evidence Post by that time. We can't give a decision on all fandoms by close of nominations, but the sooner you make your case, the better your chances of a swift answer.
ETA: we have just been informed that the maintenance downtime has been rescheduled for two hours earlier, or 5:30 UTC. We won't alter the nominations schedule further, but we've updated the link above for maintenance time in your time zone to assist you.
AO3 has announced maintenance downtime from Sep 26,
If your fandom requires evidence, please also submit it here on the Evidence Post by that time. We can't give a decision on all fandoms by close of nominations, but the sooner you make your case, the better your chances of a swift answer.
ETA: we have just been informed that the maintenance downtime has been rescheduled for two hours earlier, or 5:30 UTC. We won't alter the nominations schedule further, but we've updated the link above for maintenance time in your time zone to assist you.
👋*wavey wavey*👋
Sep. 24th, 2025 04:47 pmincomplete_ruler posting in addmeName: Kia (They/Them)
Age: 20s
About Me: Been on dreamwidth for about five months now. For a while I've mostly used my journal as a personal diary, but recently I've wanted to make more public posts about the various things I enjoy. I've kind of distanced myself from being online everywhere else, but I'm still up for meeting new people here. I'm ideally looking for other active journals to read and maybe become mutuals with. Don't have to be in the same fandoms, but as long as we have some common interests then that's good enough for me.
I mostly post about: Just whatever I get up to in the week (mostly shorter posts). I'm also trying to make a habit of journaling any media I get into, but that's definitely a skill I need to work on.
My hobbies are: Writing, music, language learning, reading, gaming
My fandoms are: Various anime, comics, games etc. that I can't list out (my interests tend to change a lot)
I'm looking to meet people who: Neurodivergent and/or queer people, nerds who post about fandom/media often (especially meta stuff but that's just personal preference), people interested in languages, people who post about cooking or just anyone who wants to see me scream into the void about things that vaguely matter to me
My posting schedule tends to be: Anytime I want
When I add people, my dealbreakers are: Anyone under 18, not too picky with anything else but as long as we still click in some way then we're good (I think me saying that I'm queer should be enough of a signal though)
Before adding me, you should know:
Age: 20s
About Me: Been on dreamwidth for about five months now. For a while I've mostly used my journal as a personal diary, but recently I've wanted to make more public posts about the various things I enjoy. I've kind of distanced myself from being online everywhere else, but I'm still up for meeting new people here. I'm ideally looking for other active journals to read and maybe become mutuals with. Don't have to be in the same fandoms, but as long as we have some common interests then that's good enough for me.
I mostly post about: Just whatever I get up to in the week (mostly shorter posts). I'm also trying to make a habit of journaling any media I get into, but that's definitely a skill I need to work on.
My hobbies are: Writing, music, language learning, reading, gaming
My fandoms are: Various anime, comics, games etc. that I can't list out (my interests tend to change a lot)
I'm looking to meet people who: Neurodivergent and/or queer people, nerds who post about fandom/media often (especially meta stuff but that's just personal preference), people interested in languages, people who post about cooking or just anyone who wants to see me scream into the void about things that vaguely matter to me
My posting schedule tends to be: Anytime I want
When I add people, my dealbreakers are: Anyone under 18, not too picky with anything else but as long as we still click in some way then we're good (I think me saying that I'm queer should be enough of a signal though)
Before adding me, you should know:
- Don't give out access to people unless we've been mutuals for awhile or already know each other.
- Occasional venting and suggestive/nsfw posts (you can read the terms in my intro post for more info)
Gestalt, reading, vax, circus... what else would you like to know?
Sep. 22nd, 2025 10:03 amflexagonI had coffee with mindways and he noted that DW posts don't always capture the gestalt of my life, which is true -- so let's start with an overview: ( die Gestalt. )
Rightly or wrongly, I realize that I've never tied the quality of my own life very tightly to the (much) larger things going on around me. Where does this attitude come from? I've just always noticed the heterogeneity of things, and noticed that stuff affecting 90% of people leaves 10% of them alone. I remember being really struck, in my 40s, by how many people will respond to "how's work going" with a reply at the company level, about how their company is doing; and that's rational, reasonable. But I never once have answered at that level. It's more nuanced when talking about governments, but: here I am in a good town, in a good state, under a shitty federal government. It's bad, but a good life still seems possible, and open to me specifically (although yes I care about others, and I do get sad over the big stuff).
And events of the week included:
I could keep writing for some time. I had another interesting talk with the bug about whether house projects viscerally feel productive or not. And I could babble about my video game, which continues to have both frustrating moments and "ooh" moments and which I don't have to feel guilty about playing. I've started to go through my fancy boots, wearing each pair to decide whether to keep or sell them, and I think I'll put a few other things up for sale too. I have thoughts, continuing thoughts, about AI and climate change and pronatalism (as it rises on the left as well as on the right, how everlastingly glad I am to be sterilized!). And I am worried about the joints and antidepressant levels of several people around me. If any of those sound interesting, comment; I could go into it. But for now, I will put nuts out for the squirrels -- I never see them anymore, but would like to remind them before winter that this is a useful place to know about -- and get a few chores done.
mindways and he noted that DW posts don't always capture the gestalt of my life, which is true -- so let's start with an overview: ( die Gestalt. )Rightly or wrongly, I realize that I've never tied the quality of my own life very tightly to the (much) larger things going on around me. Where does this attitude come from? I've just always noticed the heterogeneity of things, and noticed that stuff affecting 90% of people leaves 10% of them alone. I remember being really struck, in my 40s, by how many people will respond to "how's work going" with a reply at the company level, about how their company is doing; and that's rational, reasonable. But I never once have answered at that level. It's more nuanced when talking about governments, but: here I am in a good town, in a good state, under a shitty federal government. It's bad, but a good life still seems possible, and open to me specifically (although yes I care about others, and I do get sad over the big stuff).
And events of the week included:
- Not one but two circus shows -- Level Up (a local show with every act inspired by a video game), and Passengers by 7 Fingers. I watch these things as an impassioned amateur, always looking for some small floor or acro move that I might replicate, and in this case I saw two. One was a drop-back with one hand, made flashier by holding the second hand behind the back. I think I could do that within one or two practice sessions, and I'm gonna try. The other, going from a backbend, was a little hop over the arms (which bend) into a chest-stand-style rollout. I would want a spot for this, but it sure looks easier than a full hop over straight arms. And also less requiring of flexibility than a fully controlled lower to chest-stand. I'd love to try with a spot.
- Reading a lot of Margaret Atwood, as the bug and I chug along through The Blind Assassin. It's definitely an exercise in attention management; I can get sucked into it, but it takes longer than with an easier and faster-paced book, so it rewards longer spans of reading. I do love Atwood's trenchant take on small things, and her sheer precision -- a young woman's lipstick isn't red, it's cerise. The wallpaper has a specific pattern with a name. The narrator as an old woman is far more observant and precise in this way than the same narrator as a younger woman, which delights me and makes me want to get old. I don't want all my reading to be like this, but it's a good reminder that there are different kinds of reading, too.
- Covid vaccination! I was afraid I would not be able to get one this year, national policies finally affecting my body in an obvious way. The interplay of CDC, ACIP, state-level and other recommendations are a giant mess but, on the ground, I was able to self-attest to CVS that I qualified for it, and they stuck it in my arm. The next day, yesterday, I got super tired and couldn't really invert, and fell asleep on the couch after doing what I could at open studio.
- A good handstand lesson, in which... this will horrify justplainuniverse, I'm sure... I think I managed to jump and push shoulders open at the same time, on purpose, for maybe the first time ever. It felt really strange. But yes, for all these years I've been 1) jumping, 2) losing track of time, space and my identity while motion happens, 3) trying to figure out where I am, and 4) pushing my shoulders open if the situation seems to call for it. Because I couldn't "push earlier" during the lost phase (too lost), and I couldn't push simultaneously. I did it and dang, I hope I can keep doing it. All of this followed from a simple bit of feedback I got from a substitute coach the week before, which oddly sounded negative ("sorry, you just got unlucky in this one way") but was very, very actionable.
- A few crossword puzzle personal best times. Construction is paused, and solving benefits from impatience.
I could keep writing for some time. I had another interesting talk with the bug about whether house projects viscerally feel productive or not. And I could babble about my video game, which continues to have both frustrating moments and "ooh" moments and which I don't have to feel guilty about playing. I've started to go through my fancy boots, wearing each pair to decide whether to keep or sell them, and I think I'll put a few other things up for sale too. I have thoughts, continuing thoughts, about AI and climate change and pronatalism (as it rises on the left as well as on the right, how everlastingly glad I am to be sterilized!). And I am worried about the joints and antidepressant levels of several people around me. If any of those sound interesting, comment; I could go into it. But for now, I will put nuts out for the squirrels -- I never see them anymore, but would like to remind them before winter that this is a useful place to know about -- and get a few chores done.
AspecEx Initial Pinch Hits - Due October 7th 10PM PST
Sep. 22nd, 2025 03:09 amflowing_river posting in pinchhitsEvent: AspecEx
Event Link:aspecex
Pinch Hit Link: Current Pinch Hit Post
Due Date: October 7th 10PM PST
aspecex is an Asexuality and Aromanticism themed multifandom exchange. You must create a fanfiction that is a minimum of 300 words. We have 4 initial pinch hits that are due at the assignment deadline.
Assignment Requirements
PH 1 - 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 | Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 薬屋のひとりごと | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto | The Apothecary Diaries (Anime), 魔尊也想知道 - 青色羽翼 | Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know - Cyan Wings, Dark Souls (Video Games), Bloodborne (Video Game), Elden Ring (Video Game), The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
PH 2 - James Bond (Craig Movies), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, Unfit to Print - K. J. Charles, Lilywhite Boys Series - K. J. Charles
PH 3 - Bridgerton (TV), Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023), Little Women (2019 Movie - Gerwig), Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), This Means War (2012), Wonka (2023)
PH 4 - Leverage (US TV 2008), Tortall - Tamora Pierce, Emelan - Tamora Pierce, Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger, Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
For more details/to claim, view the pinch hit post.
Event Link:
aspecexPinch Hit Link: Current Pinch Hit Post
Due Date: October 7th 10PM PST
aspecex is an Asexuality and Aromanticism themed multifandom exchange. You must create a fanfiction that is a minimum of 300 words. We have 4 initial pinch hits that are due at the assignment deadline.Assignment Requirements
For more details/to claim, view the pinch hit post.