Network | Kake

conuly posting in

DEAR HARRIETTE: My brother and I were raised in the same household by the same parents, yet as adults we have two very different views of our father. I see my dad as someone who worked hard, showed up in the ways he could and consistently supported us throughout our lives. I'm deeply grateful for him and everything he's done. My brother, on the other hand, seems to carry a lot of resentment. Whenever the subject of our dad comes up, he focuses on his shortcomings and disappointments, often listing ways he feels let down or overlooked. Listening to this has become exhausting and painful for me. It feels like he's erasing the good and ignoring the sacrifices our dad made, and I can't help but hear it as ungratefulness. At the same time, I don't want to dismiss my brother's experience or silence his truth just because it differs from mine. How do I respect his feelings without sitting through what feels like constant criticism of someone I love? -- Oh, Brother

( As always, we grade her on a curve because she's usually so terrible )

tamaranth

2026/006: The Land in Winter — Andrew Miller

It was, he knew, outrageous to watch her, but how rare the chance to see someone sitting in the maze of herself, all unsuspecting, bare as a branch. Doctors should be trained like this, at windows, at night. [p. 274]

The novel opens in December 1962, in an asylum. A man named Martin Lee wanders the halls at night and discovers the body of another patient, Stephen Storey, who has killed himself. Martin is haunted by memories of the Second World War: The Land in Winter, set in a village near Bristol, plays out in the long shadow of that war, and the 'Big Freeze' of winter 1962-63.

Neither Martin nor Stephen are protagonists, but they have connections to the quartet at the centre of the novel. The focus is on two married couples, near neighbours: Dr Eric Parry and his wife Irene, incomer farmer Bill Simmons and his wife Rita. The women are pregnant: the men work hard. ( Read more... )

Current Mood: cold

conuly

Well, I meant to post it then, and I guess I'll belatedly post it now - a New Year's Friend Meme!

Click the banner to join us and make some new friends!

pennyarcade_feed

https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2026/01/12/fallout-boy

New Comic: Fallout Boy

https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2026/01/12/fallout-boy

conuly

I got a set of cute little penguin pens. They're very cute. So cute.

I didn't realize that each pen has a little motto on it, or I might've not bought them. You see, one continuing annoyance since childhood is that writing on pens is always upside down if you're left-handed. Oh, you can get pens where the writing is oriented correctly, that is, for lefties, but for some reason all that writing inevitably is left-handed themed! I don't want my right side up pen motto to say something like "Only lefties are in their right mind!", I want it to say something like "Hope you are happy every day", which is the upside down motto on this purple penguin.

It's the same with left-handed rulers, incidentally. I just want the numbers to go in a sensible direction, I don't need my ruler to affirm how wonderful it is that I'm drawing lines with my left hand.

On a related note, I'm seriously considering buying another pair of lefty kitchen shears for work. I don't really have to spend much time in the kitchen, but if I am in the kitchen and using kitchen shears (almost inevitably to cut up the next day's lunch sandwiches but sometimes to cut up breakfast pancakes and sausages) I'd rather use mine than theirs, because cutting with the wrong scissors is painful and messy. But if I bring my sole pair - which is amazing, I love it, best Christmas present ever! - back and forth with me then sometimes I use it at home, forget to put it back in my bag, and then am irritated for three days until I finally remember again. I could ask them to supply shears for me and keep them in the kitchen drawer, it's a legitimate (and small!) expense, but honestly, I know from experience that righties are terrible and when they accidentally use left-handed scissors they get very confused and irritated. Amusing for me, but undoubtedly an exercise in frustration for a workplace. It's really better all around to bring my own.

****************

( Read more... )

rogueslayer452

Challenge #01: The Icebreaker Challenge: Introduce yourself. Tell us why you're doing the challenge, and what you hope to gain from it.

I'm a fangirl who has been involved with fandom for a very long time, started my online fandom journey on LJ in 2003 and I haven't stopped since. As one can see on my profile just a taste of the various fandoms and interests that I'm into.

When it comes to

snowflake_challenge, I have participated in the challenge itself for some years because, ultimately, it's just fun. I like being given prompts where I can give insightful answers to, I like the level of engagement it provides with interacting with others with fannish interests, from just those on your friendslist to others who participated in this challenge. Which is another thing, last year was the first time I actively participated in the challenge by linking my posts to the community and reading/commenting on others who also participated in the challenge, as well. I miss fandom engagement like that, and that's why I like doing this challenge every year.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: XLOV - Rizz

ysabetwordsmith

Mattel adds an autistic Barbie to doll line

NEW YORK -- Mattel Inc. is introducing an autistic Barbie on Monday as the newest member of its line intended to celebrate diversity, joining a collection that already includes Barbies with Down syndrome, a blind Barbie, a Barbie and a Ken with vitiligo, and other models the toymaker added to make its fashion dolls more inclusive.
[---8<---]
For example, the eyes of the new Barbie shift slightly to the side to represent how some people with autism sometimes avoid direct eye contact, he said. The doll also was given articulated elbows and wrists to acknowledge stimming, hand flapping and other gestures that some autistic people use to process sensory information or to express excitement, according to Mattel.

Current Mood: busy

conuly

How thin and sharp is the moon tonight!
How thin and sharp and ghostly white
Is the slim curved crook of the moon tonight!

*********

In fact, the moon is kinda orange just now, but I'm sure it'll grow pale once it clears the bridge.

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Eric: My husband has just one sibling, a brother. For many years, we all invited each other to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and other holidays. A few years ago, my brother-in-law and his wife stopped inviting us. (They still invite my husband's parents to everything).

We don't know the reason; there was no fight or misunderstanding or awkward interactions. We in turn no longer invite them to our smaller occasions. Weddings and other big occasions are different; everyone is invited.

However, every time we are celebrating our birthdays or anniversary, my husband starts insisting on inviting his brother. No matter how many times I remind him that they no longer invite us, he says it is still his only sibling and it's important to him that his brother be there.

I refuse to agree to invite them, the only exception I make is for my husband's birthday because that's him we are celebrating so he can invite them if he wants. They attend his birthday but do not reciprocate. It's very weird.

I still cannot figure out why it's important to have people at our table that do not care about seeing us at theirs.

Can you help me formulate a response that would stop my husband from asking me to invite them? Apparently my saying no every time for years and explaining why is not sufficient. I am tired of these arguments, and it does not change anything. I need an ironclad reason that he will agree with.

– Tired of the One-Way Street

( Read more... )

ysabetwordsmith

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Poem: "The Five Books of Woodslore"
Today's Cooking
Science
Birdfeeding
Photos: Contorta Willow
Birdfeeding
Fossils
Science
Webring: Adult Artists
Poem: "The Far Call"
Philosophical Questions: Success
My Fandom How To Posts
How to Choose a Starting Point for Your Story
New Year's Resolutions Check In
Birdfeeding
How to Post Frequently on Dreamwidth
Follow Friday 1-9-26: Led Zeppelin
Poem: "The Two Cottages"
Community Thursdays
Birdfeeding
New Poems
Shopping
Birdfeeding
Hard Things

Animal Communication has 25 comments. Food has 52 comments. Trauma has 48 comments. Affordable Housing has 83 comments. Robotics has 124 comments.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

tielan

I had a week off work - I think it was more a "work doesn't want to see full numbers of people back in the office until halfway through January, so if there's anyone who can be taken off the work roster during this time, do it".

Which, I had generally a good week, got some good writing in, managed to rejig the part of Nullifae 1 which had been giving me trouble, and have sorted out the "losing the mentor" part of the story and how we get there. Also, discovered a few things that will be relevant in later books (when we get there). A relief.

On Tuesday, B1 and I went to see the Ashes 5th Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, had a good day of watching Aussies bat, a couple of hundreds gained, one of my sister's favourite cricketers play what could well have been his last innings (but wasn't), and saw Australia get ahead to the tune of about 230 runs - a nice cushion.

On Monday, we lost a chicken.

tw: not a peaceful going

Carambar was supposed to be one of our 'long-lived' girls. We bought two of a newly-developed heritage breed that were supposed to lay many eggs while still keeping going. It might be that their bloodlines may need a bit more breeding to properly settle, because the first one died with possible neurological issues having never laid an egg, and Carambar only laid for about 12 months before developing complications with laying, and needing a chip to keep her from laying.

She was otherwise perfectly healthy and surviving well. Unfortunately, while both B1 and myself were away from home, the neighbour's dog got out, chased her out of the yard and under the house. When we got her out (after the neighbour came and reclaimed her dog), she had been bitten about the head enough that she was bleeding and injured, and when we got her to the vet it turned out her wing was broken. We didn't have the resources and energy to try to get her back to health, so we had to have her put down.

The neighbour paid for the vet bill, but we're still furious about her dogs. She's nearly 70 and has two bouncing, energetic young spaniel-type dogs that she has always struggled to keep on a leash, and which she's been nice white lady oblivious to anything but her joy in gossipy conversation when walking them. They're probably companionship for her - her son is married, and her daughter self-terminated about 7 years ago - but she's not up to controlling them, and they keep getting out of her place. She's always apologetic, but that doesn't stop the fact that one of our chickens died because of her dogs!

Anyway. That was the start of the week.

By Wednesday the temperatures were rising, by Saturday it was nutso. 42C by 6pm...and then our street power went off. Just our street. *sigh*

A friend invited me over for a swim, and I spent a lovely hour in her pool with her youngest daughter, and then about 20 minutes discussing politics with her husband, brother-in-law, and older daughter. And when I went home, the power was back on again.

Today - first day back at work - has been tiring, but nothing dire. I did go to the gym this morning, and ended up walking 1. I have a call to Jury Duty, but I suspect I can't get out of it this time. Although my boss has just messaged me - apparently contracting is considered 'self-employed', so I might have a chance not to lose 3 months worth of income...

ysabetwordsmith

This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It fills the "In the Wilderness" square in my 1-1-25 card for the Public Domain Day Bingo fest. It was sponsored by a pool with

fuzzyred.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

james_davis_nicoll

Had a person wander into the 2nd floor corridor looking for the women's washroom. Alas, our 2nd floor women's washroom stopped being functional this week end so all I had to offer was three gender neutral washrooms... one of which is usually the men's.

Then it occurred to me the corridor she came from is from the "new" part of Hagey, the accounting section. While she was hesitating, looking unhappy at the choices offered, I asked if that was where she was from. She said yes, so I told her that section has a very nice (zero barrier) women's on the main floor. Off she went.

Once she was gone, it struck me as odd that she would wander as far as old Hum looking for a washroom.t.

I mentioned this to my supervisor and yeah, apparently because it's an expansion of Hagey, it didn't have to have all the amenities an independent building of the same size would have to have. Thus the comparative lack of washrooms, and a total lack of elevators.

cornerofmadness

I don't have much. Today was frustrating. My power went out every 10-15 minutes from 9-2, just flicked on and off but every time it interrupted me trying to make sure my online class components were ready so I had to go to work to do it. I've spiraled down into a pretty big depressive episode today.

I know I was going to talk about open calls etc so let me ask you this, those of you using Duotrope, do you like it? Is it worth the money? I'm giving it hard consideration because too many open calls are going the theater audition route i.e. they post acceptances to duotrope only.

I have two dozen short stories that I think are decent enough to try and find a home for so I need better ways of finding markets. If you don't use duotrope, what do you use? What do you like about it? Thanks

Open Calls

Author Applications for “Beyond the Galactic Tide” are Now Open! Aces in Space. I would love to put in an application but I am not at all sure I could do a story in the time allotted (which isn't fast but my brain is a bag of snakes right now)

Sinister Systems SF Horror

Tales to Terrify : Women in Horror Month Flash Fiction Flash fiction from *previously unpublished authors* who are female-identified or femme-presenting

Defying Death

ECO25 The most compelling and thought-provoking ecofiction published in 2025

Doom Scroll Horror that is rooted in social dynamics, absurdism, and mundanity.

5 Paying Literary Magazines to Submit to in January 2026

51 Themed Submission Calls and Contests for January 2026

From Around the Web

How to Get Rid of Filter Words in Your Writing (and When to Leave Them Alone) This is even better than the site I've been using

The Crucial Ingredient Your Story May Be Missing

A Tale in Two Parts: Top Tips for Writing a Duology

The One Book Every Editor Wants to Publish

Writing builds resilience by changing your brain, helping you face everyday challenges

Unlocking Unforgettable Characters

How to Write What You Love and What Readers Want (Write Big, Ep 6)

Counting Down The Best Writing Tips From FWME In 2025

How to Balance Research and Writing.

From Betty

How to Write a Tournament Arc (for me I'm SO tired of this trope because I DO watch anime)

How to Write Short Stories That Captivate Readers

Depicting Characters Held Back by Fear

How to Describe Layout & Position

2026 Is the Year Writers Stop Being Invisible

What Developmental Editing Does for New Authors

Lighten Your Creative Load: A New Year Invitation

What a Difference a Day Makes

Make Retreats Part of Your Writing Life

Coping Mechanism Thesaurus Entry: Keeping Relationships Superficial

Helpful Picture Book Tips and Tricks (Plus a Giveaway!)

Tricks For Fixing A Sagging Middle

Tips for getting your creativity on track

What Football Teaches Writers About Success, Wins, and Perseverance

Choosing the Right Words: Why Word Choice Matters for Writers

How Secondary Characters Strengthen Plot, Character, and Story Flow

Publishing Paths for Writers: Understanding Independent Publishing and Long-Term Control

Why Writers Need to Change Their Passwords Now: Protecting Your Author Platform in the New Year

“Repair Shop” Your Manuscript

Current Mood: depressed
Current Music: Killer Relationships

james

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

tielan

The Sum of Their Parts (138205 words) by holdmybeer
Chapters: 11/11
Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, George Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Susan Bones, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Portrait Dorea Black Potter, Andromeda Black Tonks, Dean Thomas, Ernie Macmillan, Anthony Goldstein, Hannah Abbott, Molly Weasley, Teddy Lupin, Fleur Delacour
Additional Tags: trio, Oaths & Vows, Dark Lord Harry Potter
Summary:

For Teddy Lupin, Harry Potter would become a Dark Lord. For Teddy Lupin, Harry Potter would take down the Ministry or die trying. He should have known that Hermione and Ron wouldn't let him do it alone.

--

Welp.

I never read much HP fiction for the most part, even when the fandom was a big thing. But this? I think I saw a post on Pinterest that mentioned a Dark Lord Harry story and I went looking for it.

Hoo boy. Did I find it!

This is a full and satisfying and complete read. It's the kind of thing that I, as someone who's been writing in fandom, would love to have written. It's hugely popular (at least by my standards) and brilliantly done.

Character-perfect, with a believable plot, and excellent extrapolations, it marks the story of how Harry takes on the Ministry of Magic in an attempt to make the Wizarding World better, never mind that it will see him labelled a 'Dark Lord' and enemy of the Ministry. And sweet holy FUCK does it do a spectacular job of telling the story!

There are some really excellent lines in there, but the one that made me laugh out loud, even in the midst of dark shit going down was:

“Bad Dark Lord. Bad! No biscuit,” George said. Then he smiled, a little wry and a little tired. “I won't let you take the fall when I'm the one cheerfully working with a Dark Lord. You can't defend yourself under Veritaserum. Why should I?”

The author doesn't have any other works to their name; this is a one-shot under a psued (nobody drops this quality of writing out of nowhere), and it's bloody good.

It's long - 11 hours reading time, or so AO3 helpfully informs us, so set aside a good couple of days for it in-between your regular programming. Or else be prepared to binge-read it in the oldest traditions of fandom.

strina

So 2025 was my tenth year tracking my reading (published fiction only) and so I thought a fun goal would be 500. I usually clock 200 - 400 books a year, so reasonably attainable.

I ended the year at 1005 books.

I was going through it.

(Annoyed that I didn't push it to 1010 but Heated Rivalry hit me hard and sent me straight into fic only mode lol)

silveradept

snowflake_challenge has sent up number 6 on the challenge list, and it's one of the ones I struggle more with than not, the recommendations-related one.

Every challenge we try to make at least one rec post, and each year, we try to find a new way to make it fun for everyone. This year's attempt:

Challenge #6

Top 10 Challenge.

The category(ies) you choose are up to you. You can give top 10 Fics you read last year, the top 10 songs to create to, the to 10 guest stars on your favorite show, top 10 characters in your favorite book series, top 10... well, you get the idea.

Can't think of 10 of anything? That's okay, 10 is just an abstract. It's totally up to you.

This is one of those situations where being profoundly multifannish is a disadvantage, because a top ten list of anything may or may not make it to me. Or I might not get so deeply into a fandom to where there would be enough material for a top ten list. And while I read and enjoy the gifts that get sent my way in the various exchanges that I participate in, they don't necessarily cohere to any kind of top ten list of anything, either.

Eventually, a random idea will settle into my head, and I can go forward with it and see what might happen from there. So, here you are:

( 10 roles one person played during my formative years )

Current Music: ROZEN - Midna's Darkest Hour

lannamichaels

A Parent Trap AU where the twins (either set) don't end up at the same sleepaway camp, but then do some kind of DNA matching thing to try to find out about their missing parent/if they have siblings, and discover the whole situation, because their parents never came clean to them about it.

I can't figure out a plot, so maybe just a brief drabble or something?

Either set of twins would be interesting for this; with the original set, it would add a lot because they'd possibly be grandparents by that point, so this could be something their kids suggest, as a "oh, now there's this way you might be able to find out more" (of course, for the twin raised by the father, there is definitely the "this is the name on the mother on the birth certificate", although in the remake IIRC she does know her mother's name?), and then discover that there's a sibling, and meeting the sibling and realizing it has to be a twin, and trying to figure out, at this late date, the mystery of what the fuck happened.

Or with the remake twins, the parents are likely still around, and so there could be a lot of either demanding answers, or some kind of "whoops, it's the other twin who comes for Christmas".

tielan

Snowflake Challenge: A warmly light quaint street of shops at night with heavy snow falling.

In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts.

0. No generative AI works.

1. An epic fanfic about any of my favourite fannish pairings or characters. I'd love new stuff, because I've mostly read through all the old, but I'd also take recs. I love action-adventure, drama, real conflict, internal questioning, and not-a-black-and-white-outlook. Complex questions and thorny problems that are dealt with by emotionally mature and politically savvy adults.

MCU

Maria Hill
Maria Hill & any character
Maria Hill/Steve Rogers

There are other pairings and characters I like in MCU, but those are easy to find. These are stories that I really really want and very few are willing or capable of writing them. So I ask.

I'll take AUs, vignettes, missing scenes, friendships, that really long epic story that nobody but me will ever write... I'm happy with just Maria-centric, but I want it in the context of the Avengers movies, not her taken out into another context. I want it to be her story, with cameos and interactions from the familiar characters - but she's the main character with the chief agency of the story. People can write it for random female (and male) characters throughout the canon, I just would love to read the equivalent for Maria.

Ignore Secret Invasion. It was stupid.

PS. If you're giving recs, if it's at AO3, I've probably already read it..

Pacific Rim

Mako Mori & anyone
Mako Mori/Raleigh Becket

One of the things I enjoy about this is seeing how Mako and Raleigh actually vibe together when they're not having to save the world by going through each others' minds. And really anything about Mako and her relationships with the people in the Shatterdomes. Even Chuck.

Ignore Pacific Rim: Uprising. Whoever wrote that missed the entire point of the original movie.

Stargate Atlantis

Teyla Emmagan
Teyla Emmagan/John Sheppard
Team

Again, one of those 'I can pick a needle in a haystack' options. Not the kind of thing most people will write (or would have written, back in the long ago days of SGA fandom) but still something that I long for and enjoy.

The best I get is the Stargate Atlantis: Legacy series of books, which is a six book "Season 6" for Stargate Atlantis, complete with plot arcs, character development, space battles, and a definitive 'ending' for the Wraith storyline. It does it inventively and cleverly, and doesn't leave any of the characters out. Which is something that one could never count on, even in the canon.

If anyone would like to write the story of the Stargate Project twenty years later - with Teyla as a major character - I would love to read that.

Stargate SG1

Sam Carter/Jack O'Neill
Team (whether with Daniel, Jonas, or Cameron)

One thing I really did enjoy about SG1 fandom was the number of longform fics there used to be for the team and for Sam in particular. Plot arcs, big long epics, and often a bit of Sam/Jack romance, with or without regs.

Ah, it was long ago.

Bridgerton

Kate Sharma
Anthony Bridgerton/Kate Sharma

Look, I'm a simple soul. I want a better story of their romance than they got. The series was too busy trying to launch Queen Charlotte, so they had Edwina be the sympathetic character to the Queen and the King at a point when they're just "old people" so that there was some interest in "what's their backstory" and they could get people to watch the other series.

If you have recs for this one, I'll take them. I haven't really trawled through the archive for this - too much risk of dross

Star Wars - Prequel-to-Original

Padme Amidala

Okay, so I've seen a few people ponder how the story might have played out if Padme had survived and been organised in the resistance.

I'd like recs for this. If you want to write your own story, that's fine, but I figure the fandom is wide enough and deep enough and broad enough and talented enough to already have those stories. I'd love to see Luke and Leia growing up knowing who and what they are and whether that makes a difference to who they become as adults.

2. Detailed comments on any of my fanfics. The more detailed the better!

3. A publishing contract. Or even the opportunity to sub to an agent. I have a finished manuscript, first draft, it presently sucks. I hope to have it whipped into basic shape in a month. There are some lovely people who are willing to plough through the early drafts, but in the end, there's nothing like an agent.

Hey, if you're going to aim high, why not shoot for the moon? :D

Kake

Shockingly good advice from Hariette

2026/006: The Land in Winter — Andrew Miller

I guess I had this tab open two weeks and forgot about it

Fallout Boy

Sigh.

Fandom Snowflake Challenge: Why I'm Participating

Diversity

Winter Moon by Langston Hughes

(no subject)

Monday Update 1-12-26

the personal stuff

Poem: "The Five Books of Woodslore"

An unexpected revelation

Writerly Ways

EEP

HP fic rec: The Sum Of Their Parts

Book Tracking

Snowflake Challenge 02026 #6: The Top Ten

not quite a plot bunny, more like a plot "that would be interesting"...

snowflake challenge 2026 - day 5

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December 2023

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