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recs

[Art rec] Put the light out | Turn the light on

Original art rec: Put the light out | Turn the light on by thisdisasterauthor @ tumblr

I put this in my tumblr queue almost a year ago and it finally spat out again today. And I still really like it a lot so I'm linking it here too.

Artist's summary:

Awhile ago I was hit by the similar but opposing natures of fire towers and lighthouses, and I wanted to explore that more. Both lonely, out of the way stations worked in isolation in sometimes extreme conditions, both tasked with protecting large swathes of people they will never meet or probably even see. Yet one is about spotting light in the distance and putting it out, while the other is about turning on the light within and shining it out.

Current Music: Virile - Suzane

Entry tags:

books

The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin

Read The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) by Ursula K. Le Guin, because I've been trying to catch up on my neglected sci-fi classics; it was a fascinating read. This book is famously interesting for the way it plays with gender, being set in an "ambisexual" world (essentially, everyone can, theoretically, physically both bear and beget children) narrated mostly by a character from Earth(?) who grapples with this societal genderlessness by referring to everyone as a "man" and using he/him pronouns— which I found threw me off more than, say, the universal she/her in Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch series?— but I was just really struck overall by the way that Le Guin uses language to fling the reader headfirst into this alien world: she uses made-up words for recognizable concepts, and recognizable English words as signifiers for world-specific/made-up concepts, and you've just sort of got to puzzle it out as you go. I was also surprised to discover that the one plot point I'd known about going in - ( ... ) - actually takes up less of the novel, and occurs later in it, than I had expected.

( Read more... )

Entry tags:

2026,
challenge 06

Fandom Snowflake Challenge #6

Introduction Post* Meet the Mods Post Challenge #1 * Challenge #2* Challenge #3* Challenge #4* Challenge #5 *

Sorry for the delay! It's been... a day. But no matter! Hopefully you had some time to catch up, to talk with new friends... or to nap. 😍

Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time, or go back and do challenges you've missed.

( Fandom Snowflake Challenge #6 ) And please do check out the comments for all the awesome participants of the challenge and visit their journals/challenge responses to comment on their posts and cheer them on.

And just as a reminder: this is a low pressure, fun challenge. If you aren't comfortable doing a particular challenge, then don't. We aren't keeping track of who does what.

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

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Romancing McShep Happy-ending Fest 2026

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Current Mood: sick
Current Music: The Halluci Nation - NDN Kars ft. Keith Secola (2020 Remix)

Entry tags:

progress

Done This Week

I! Am sick! Again!

Again-again!

Motherfucker?!

Starting Monday, I had what I think was a horrible delayed reaction to the multiple meds they put me on for the ear infections. Antibiotics tend to upset the digestive biome, but this was in another class. So I spent the first half of the week in agony.

On Thursday, I got the final shot in the series for HPV. (When I was growing up, it wasn’t a thing yet, and then I was under the impression that I was already too old to get it. When I found out I was still eligible, I started the process.) Now here’s the thing: I spent two hours at the clinic, waiting to get this shot. I had an appointment, to be clear. Nonetheless, they actually closed up the place around me, while I waited in a windowless room, to get this thirty-second jab. They had to usher me out a back door, because the main entrance had been locked up already, and they couldn’t have me pay because there was no longer anyone in the building to do that.

Waking up Friday morning to a sore throat did not improve my opinion of the experience. Did I get exposed to something at the clinic? Is this a reaction to the vaccine? Who can say? All I know is that I no longer have a sore throat--instead, I have a sinus infection.

Or something. At this point, identifying what exactly is wrong with me seems quaint. I have all the illnesses. They are queuing up to have their wicked way with my immune system.

I would really like to get back to posting for the Snowflake Challenge. But right now, my brain cells are limited.

Lewisia: no new pieces written, I’m going to take my yearly break from writing this month, instead of doing it next month when the posts themselves are on break

Day job: 42.5 hours, all of which should have been spent in bed instead

Gardening: garden club post

Reading: The Complete SiP (Strangers in Paradise) Kids (the alternate universe kid version of the cast, cute and silly, this is the sort of AU/beach day cozy interlude that I wish all series did, I love when creators are basically doing fanfic of their OCs alongside us)

Watching: Revolutionary Girl Utena episodes 18 through 23 (progress! joy! ...confusion, because this is a very strange series!)

Listening: One More Saturday Night by The Halluci Nation (formerly known as A Tribe Called Red, which is part of why I lost track of them and missed getting this actual album until now, it’s so damn good?!, hits much the same spot for me as FOUR FISTS with the hiphop and spoken word elements)

Playing: fuck it, Animal Crossing: New Horizons completionist play--I’m coming for you, rare fish!

Clock Mouse: 96 minutes of planning work

Other: helped mum upgrade the software on her insulin pump

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子非鱼 (Zi Fei Yu): Fanfic: imagine a life (but surely hell)

Fandom: 子非鱼 (Zi Fei Yu) - 林盎司
Rating: T
Length: 100 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: The title is from Flight (extract 1) by Yu Jian, translated by Simon Patton, and A Single Woman’s Bedroom by Yi Lei, translated by Tracy K. Smith and Changtai Bi.
Summary: Lin Fei belongs to Ji Leyu.

( Read more... )

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A look at Heated Rivalry's Secret MVP, Svetlana Vetrova...plus hockey history

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Current Mood: annoyed
Current Music: Fifth Harmony - Work From Home

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Putri Duyung & H2O: Just Add Water

I've watched a lot of media that shamelessly rips off other media, either the basic concepts or the plots wholesale, and a lot of time I roll my eyes or think it's funny, but when I saw that there's an Indonesian tv show that rips off H2O: Just Add Water, I got mad. :/

I think it's because although Just Add Water had its own success and is beloved by a particular generational subset, it's not an international mainstream famous kind of show, and ripping it off feels like they're being sneaky, taking advantage of an indie work that not many people know about. Unlike, say, Magik Rompak which rips off Now You See Me, or the kajilion Hindi films that rip off Hollywood blockbusters and you know exactly what's going on. (The two Top Gun: Maverick rip offs made me laugh so hard.)

This isn't even the first Just Add Water rip-off I've seen! I watched the Romanian Sirenele recently, which is exactly that, but that one is also a vanity production with less than half the production value of the original show, and in the comments of where the show is uploaded on youtube, plenty of people are calling them out for it. I don't even like Just Add Water all that much, I don't know I feel particularly offended on its behalf.

I thought I could start watching that Indonesian show alongside Aryana, but now I feel like I have to finish watching Just Add Water first so I know where the shows diverge.

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Seasons of Drabbles - Winter Round: Signups and Nominations Open!

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Just Create - Hacksaw Edition

What are you working on? What have you finished? What do you need encouragement on?

Are there any cool events or challenges happening that you want to hype? I've been neglecting Dreamwidth - tell me what I'm missing!

What do you just want to talk about?

What have you been watching or reading?

Chores and other not-fun things count!

Remember to encourage other commenters and we have a discord where we can do work-alongs and chat, linked in the sticky.

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admin

Challenge 503: Sock

Our new challenge is:

SOCK

As always, you can interpret the prompt literally or figuratively, in whatever way works for you.

Each work created for this challenge should be posted as a new entry to the comm. Posting starts now and continues up until the challenge ends at 4pm Pacific Time on Tuesday, 20th January. No sign-up required.

Mods will tag your work with fandom and challenge. When you've posted entries to three consecutive challenges, you will earn a name tag, and we'll go back and tag all your previous entries with your name.

All kinds of fanworks in all fandoms are welcome. Please have a look at our guidelines before you play. If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact a mod. And if you have any suggestions for future challenges, you can leave them in the comments of this post.

You can view stats for

fan_flashworks entries and search and filter them via the Community Report and Creator Report. See our FAQ post for more details.

Also, keep an eye out for the next

ffw_social post, which will go up in the next couple of days. If you haven't joined the

ffw_social comm, it's never too late to come and check it out. (Posts are locked, which means you have to join to see them.)

Entry tags:

admin

Admin: Challenge closed

The Sand challenge is now closed. Here are the entries:

Stranger Things: Fanfic: Sand by

wearing_tearing
Original: icons: sand by

lilly_c
Marvel Cinematic Universe: Fanfic: In a Grain of Sand by

alexcat
due South: Fanfiction: Sandy Boots by

lucy_roman
Sherlock Holmes (ACD): Fanfic: Beneath the Sand by

smallhobbit
Terraria: Quatrain: A Prize to be Won by

infinitum_noctem
FAKE: Fanfic: Wishful Thinking by

badly_knitted
no fandom: icons: Sand by

highlander_ii
Multifandom (TV): Icons: Life’s a Beach (9 icons) by

veronyxk84
S.W.A.T.: Fan Fiction: Looking Forward To Most by

darkjediqueen
US Politics: poetry: the sand in the gears by

teaotter
Torchwood: Fanfic: Newsworthy by

m_findlow
Heated Rivalry: Fanfic: Sweaty, Salty, Sandy by

seeyouontheice
子非鱼 (Zi Fei Yu): Fanfic: the same soul (make the ocean wider) by

bluedreaming

Also, congratulations to those who earned badges and name tags this round:

teaotter earned The Unstoppable (SILVER) (36 challenge streak).

\o/ \o/ \o/

Thank you to everyone who participated! You're now free to post your entries to your journal or wherever else you'd like. If you're archiving on AO3, you can add your work to our fan_flashworks collection there.

The Community Report and Creator Report will be updated shortly with the entries from this round. See our FAQ for more details.

Next challenge coming right up.

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Pandemic Garden Club

Welcome to the December edition of Pandemic Garden Club! Growing good things in strange times!

Anyone is welcome to comment with what they're growing right now, things they would like to try, problems they're encountering, and questions they have. Share resources, answer questions, shout encouragement.

As for myself...

( Read more... )

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子非鱼 (Zi Fei Yu): Fanfic: the same soul (make the ocean wider)

Fandom: 子非鱼 (Zi Fei Yu) - 林盎司
Rating: T
Length: 100 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: The title is from THE SHAPE OF THE OCEAN by Jiang Hao, translated by Ming Di and Afaa Weaver.
Summary: Ji Leyu belongs to Lin Fei.

( Read more... )

Entry tags:

f: heated rivalry

Heated Rivalry: Fanfic: Sweaty, Salty, Sandy

Title: Sweaty, Salty, Sandy
Fandom: Heated Rivalry (TV)
Length: 234 words
Author notes: post-beach and post-hotel room in Florida
Summary: Shane doesn't like mess. Ilya doesn't want to kill the mood just yet.

( Sweaty, Salty, Sandy )

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SVPROMPTSTABLE | Arrowverse & Smallville fandoms

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BBC Merlin: Merthur Glompfest 2026

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hockey,
meta

Hockey Primer: How do I start with this sport?

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Current Mood: contemplative

Entry tags:

author: j. sullivan

The cashier at the gas station asks me where I'm from by J. Sullivan

The cashier at the gas station asks me where I'm from
and when I say Ohio, he says Go buckeyes
which I understand as a stranger offering
language that can be shared. The way starlings
roost on a power line, scooching over
so the other can sit, flocked and fanning
feathers against rain and never in my life
have I seen a football game, but still I reply
Go buckeyes
which is a way of saying: I accept.
I would root with you in imaginary stands.
Cheer at the same time in a darkened bar.
We are more alike than not, us two.
Here, let me shift, shuffle. Shelter a moment
beneath this wing.

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For Renee Nicole Good by Amanda Gorman

For Renee Nicole Good
Killed by U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) on January 7, 2026

They say she is no more,
That there her absence roars,
Blood-blown like a rose
Iced wheels flinched & froze.
Now, bare riot of candles,
Dark fury of flowers,
Pure howling of hymns.

If for us she arose,
Somewhere, in the pitched deep of our grief,
Crouches our power.
The howl where we begin,
Straining upon the edge of the crooked crater
Of the worst of what we've been.

Change is only possible,
& all the greater,
When the labor
& bitter anger of our neighbors
Is moved by the love
& better angels of our nature.

What they call death & void,
We know is breath & voice;
In the end, gorgeously,
Endures our enormity.

You could believe departed to be the dawn
When the blank night has so long stood,
But our bright-fled angels will never fully be gone,
When they forever as so fiercely Good.