Songs From The Movies.....
Jan. 19th, 2026 04:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
disneydream06This week's song comes from the 2024 movie, "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice", the Bee Gees "Tragedy".
disneydream06
Monday Update 1-19-26
Jan. 19th, 2026 02:55 amysabetwordsmithThese are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Communities
OPN Seed Order
Website Updates
Climate Change
Birdfeeding
Poem: The Flavors of Our Days
Poetry Fishbowl Themes for Early 2026
Creative Jam
Today's Adventures
Birdfeeding
Philosophical Questions: Democracy
Greenland Defense Front
2025 Photos
Photos: Three for the Memories from 2025
New Year's Resolutions Check In
Birdfeeding
Poem: "People of Every Ethnic Persuasion"
Follow Friday 1-16-26: Leverage
Poem: "There's an Art to It"
Read "Hordes of the Khan"
Wildlife
Neighborhood Poetry
Birdfeeding
Community Thursdays
Birdfeeding
Poem: "The Most Dangerous Animal in the Zoo"
Cuddle Party
Animal Communication has 30 comments. Food has 53 comments. Trauma has 51 comments. Affordable Housing has 84 comments. Robotics has 125 comments.
( Read more... )
Communities
OPN Seed Order
Website Updates
Climate Change
Birdfeeding
Poem: The Flavors of Our Days
Poetry Fishbowl Themes for Early 2026
Creative Jam
Today's Adventures
Birdfeeding
Philosophical Questions: Democracy
Greenland Defense Front
2025 Photos
Photos: Three for the Memories from 2025
New Year's Resolutions Check In
Birdfeeding
Poem: "People of Every Ethnic Persuasion"
Follow Friday 1-16-26: Leverage
Poem: "There's an Art to It"
Read "Hordes of the Khan"
Wildlife
Neighborhood Poetry
Birdfeeding
Community Thursdays
Birdfeeding
Poem: "The Most Dangerous Animal in the Zoo"
Cuddle Party
Animal Communication has 30 comments. Food has 53 comments. Trauma has 51 comments. Affordable Housing has 84 comments. Robotics has 125 comments.
( Read more... )
Monday At The Movies.....
Jan. 19th, 2026 03:41 amdisneydream06This Week's Movie Quote...
R.: Can you swim?
E.: Well, of course I can swim, if the occasion calls for it.
R.: [throwing her overboard] Trust me. It calls for it.
Last Week's Movie Quote
Buttercup: We'll never survive.
Westley: Nonsense. You're only saying that because no one ever has.
It comes from the 1987 classic, yes there are classics from the 1980s, "The Princess Bride".
Such a cast: Fred Savage, Peter Falk, Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Andre the Giant, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane...
Fooled very few of you again this week. :o
Those Who Knew or Guessed Correctly...
meathiel
seaivy
sidhe_uaine42
legalmoose LJ
christalin80
chaquir
murakozi
legalmoose DW
thewayne DW
joseph_teller
garote
R.: Can you swim?
E.: Well, of course I can swim, if the occasion calls for it.
R.: [throwing her overboard] Trust me. It calls for it.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 0
Which Movie Does This Quote Come From?
View Answers
Brother Bear
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The Jungle Cruise
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The Mummy
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I Don't Have A Clue...
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Last Week's Movie Quote
Buttercup: We'll never survive.
Westley: Nonsense. You're only saying that because no one ever has.
It comes from the 1987 classic, yes there are classics from the 1980s, "The Princess Bride".
Such a cast: Fred Savage, Peter Falk, Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Andre the Giant, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane...
Fooled very few of you again this week. :o
Those Who Knew or Guessed Correctly...
meathielseaivysidhe_uaine42 legalmoose LJ christalin80 chaquir murakozi legalmoose DWthewayne DWjoseph_teller garoteTorchwood: Fanfic: Bruised ego
Jan. 19th, 2026 08:21 pmm_findlow posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fan_flashworksTitle: Bruised ego
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,029 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 503 - Sock
Summary: Jack has well and truly earned the knuckle sandwich to his face.
( Read more... )
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,029 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 503 - Sock
Summary: Jack has well and truly earned the knuckle sandwich to his face.
( Read more... )
3 Sentence Ficathon, part two
Jan. 19th, 2026 12:05 amsholioSee Part One here.
4. Babylon 5, G'Kar & Londo, post-canon, spoilers
any, the minimum amount of communication needed for a fix-it AU
Originally posted here
( Slightly more than 3 sentences of overthinking )
5. Babylon 5, early season one
any, low-effort illustration of something important
Originally posted here
( More than 3 sentences of ambassadorial bickering )
6. Murderbot, MB + Gurathin
any, "I adore floating." (Peggy Guggenheim)
Originally posted here
( 3 sentences for a change! )
7. Murderbot bookverse, MB + Mensah + Mensah's family
any, snowstorm
Originally posted here
( 350 words of fluff )
8. Murderbot, TV or bookverse, Bharadwaj
any, fossil footprints
Originally posted here
( A lil Bharadwaj character study )
4. Babylon 5, G'Kar & Londo, post-canon, spoilers
any, the minimum amount of communication needed for a fix-it AU
Originally posted here
( Slightly more than 3 sentences of overthinking )
5. Babylon 5, early season one
any, low-effort illustration of something important
Originally posted here
( More than 3 sentences of ambassadorial bickering )
6. Murderbot, MB + Gurathin
any, "I adore floating." (Peggy Guggenheim)
Originally posted here
( 3 sentences for a change! )
7. Murderbot bookverse, MB + Mensah + Mensah's family
any, snowstorm
Originally posted here
( 350 words of fluff )
8. Murderbot, TV or bookverse, Bharadwaj
any, fossil footprints
Originally posted here
( A lil Bharadwaj character study )
Fast Food
Jan. 19th, 2026 08:58 ampoliphilo Few weeks back I jibbed at paying £17.50 for a couple of portions of curry and chips in Crowborough. Yesterday I paid £11.00 for the same thing here in Eastbourne.
Curry and chips used to be a cheap snack. Ain't that any more. But £11.00 is a whole lot better than £17.50.
What does constitute a cheap snack these days? Not much. Nearest thing is probably a Big Mac only I don't eat meat....
I used to like a Big Mac. Won't pretend otherwise. The grandkids still think a trip to Macky D's (as they call it) is a treat.....
I didn't grow up eating fast food. We were Middle class and the chip shop was Working Class. Not for our kind. I don't think I crossed the threshold of one until I was 18 and away from home. Guy I was with had to tell me what to order. That was in Sheffield. Never looked back.....
Curry and chips used to be a cheap snack. Ain't that any more. But £11.00 is a whole lot better than £17.50.
What does constitute a cheap snack these days? Not much. Nearest thing is probably a Big Mac only I don't eat meat....
I used to like a Big Mac. Won't pretend otherwise. The grandkids still think a trip to Macky D's (as they call it) is a treat.....
I didn't grow up eating fast food. We were Middle class and the chip shop was Working Class. Not for our kind. I don't think I crossed the threshold of one until I was 18 and away from home. Guy I was with had to tell me what to order. That was in Sheffield. Never looked back.....
Not quite 365 days questions meme 19
Jan. 19th, 2026 12:34 ampattrose19. What colour scheme is your bedroom?
Navy blue, with blues, red and yellow accessories. Our bedroom quilt is handmade for my hubby. It’s a NASCAR quilt. It’s got all those colors in it. My hubby loves it. I keep talking about changing our room colors, but I don’t think I will. Besides we couldn’t decide on the same bedspread for our room. I like the quilt too. What color are your color schemes?
Navy blue, with blues, red and yellow accessories. Our bedroom quilt is handmade for my hubby. It’s a NASCAR quilt. It’s got all those colors in it. My hubby loves it. I keep talking about changing our room colors, but I don’t think I will. Besides we couldn’t decide on the same bedspread for our room. I like the quilt too. What color are your color schemes?
(no subject)
Jan. 19th, 2026 01:23 amsorcyressIt's Sunday of Arisia!
I didn't post yesterday because I was busy Having Fun (tm) so here's the things I did yesterday and today! And then my goal is, I guess, by the end of the week to make a lovely highly annotated clothing entry where I babble and post you lots of pictures of how cute I am.
Yesterday I got dressed and ready and headed off to a shift at Goat Check. Despite mom very nearly running the thing for like eight years now, I've never actually formally worked there. But it was good to have a little structure in my life, and so I had shifts yesterday and today, and I have a short one tomorrow. Both days so far have been a very nice balance where there's never been more than one person in line at once, but also there's never been more than about ten minutes without someone coming by to check in or out their coat.
Had lots of lovely conversations along the way, with friendly Kevin (who is here from Pittsburgh and plays DnD with the wife of an SCD friend of mine) and K***** (whose name I can't remember and am big mad about because they're very cool, but hopefully I will get to see them again at YTS!) and Thrantar and BDan and whoever else stopped by. Turns out to be a good gig!
On Saturday, I zooped straight out of Goat Check and went to the Renaissance Dance that Justin dC was running. He is a fine MC and a very good convention-level teacher, and so it's always a nice joy to watch him cope with the chaos. I mostly didn't dance this time, because I wanted to work on my knitting a bit, and also because he had a very full dance floor with several good supporting dancers around. This was also good because my friend Dax wandered by, and we had a good conversation catching up with each other about the last several years!
I slunk out to go get changed and prepare for the Night Market, a first-time Arisia event that seems to have gone very successfully. It was a "stuff swap" --no money to exchange hands, but little trinkets and crafts encouraged to be given to each other. Very kid friendly, but also a nice air of mystery amongst the adults. I had a box of beautiful vintage gloves from when mom was regularly finding them on the super cheap at estate sales for me --I'd been meaning to give much of the box away for aaaaages now, and so it was a lovely accomplishment to find a corner and array them in front of me (I also had "wee beasties" --rubber dinosaurs and other little toys that I've gathered throughout my adventures for those with hands bigger than most of the gloves). I received some ICE whistles and shiny rocks and a cute little pentacle and a couple dinosaurs and some lovely prints/photos and for a few people who wanted gloves but didn't have trinkets, I traded them for Words they liked.
This is how I met aforementioned unremembered K*****, who was doing wandering calligraphy and was willing to trade a pair of gloves for a little card reading "Good Girls Aren't Here". After a series of entertaining "made-sense-at-the-time" decisions, they later wrote me for free "Patellas are not for hitting". It was very satisfying!
The market wound down, the children went scampering off with their prizes, and I declared myself very satisfied to have emptied about 2/3rds the box of gloves! Back to the room for the third outfit of the day, and down to the dance hall for the only DJ Dirge set we got this year.
I danced for most of all the time from tenPM until he shut us down a bit after 2am. He was adorably sniffly as he gave a goodbye spiel, a "I'll keep coming back to Arisia as long as they have me, but man this place feels like home" and I, at least, also teared up with happy joy. It's at least my third year in a row closing out that dance, and it feels so so good for my heart to do so. Fuck but dancing like an idiot late into the night is the thing that heals what ails me. And I appreciate the con environment so much for being completely chill and safe to like...shed shoes and socks and coat and outer shirt and just be able to dance very comfortable.
Somewhere amidst the rest of it, jere7my and I did make it up to House of Toast, so that was a good part of Saturevening as well. And now, not to do spoiler alerts, it's quite late on Sunday and I have a Tuesday who is settling into bed and I wish to settle alongside her. More about how the rest of today went later.
~Sor
MOOP!
I didn't post yesterday because I was busy Having Fun (tm) so here's the things I did yesterday and today! And then my goal is, I guess, by the end of the week to make a lovely highly annotated clothing entry where I babble and post you lots of pictures of how cute I am.
Yesterday I got dressed and ready and headed off to a shift at Goat Check. Despite mom very nearly running the thing for like eight years now, I've never actually formally worked there. But it was good to have a little structure in my life, and so I had shifts yesterday and today, and I have a short one tomorrow. Both days so far have been a very nice balance where there's never been more than one person in line at once, but also there's never been more than about ten minutes without someone coming by to check in or out their coat.
Had lots of lovely conversations along the way, with friendly Kevin (who is here from Pittsburgh and plays DnD with the wife of an SCD friend of mine) and K***** (whose name I can't remember and am big mad about because they're very cool, but hopefully I will get to see them again at YTS!) and Thrantar and BDan and whoever else stopped by. Turns out to be a good gig!
On Saturday, I zooped straight out of Goat Check and went to the Renaissance Dance that Justin dC was running. He is a fine MC and a very good convention-level teacher, and so it's always a nice joy to watch him cope with the chaos. I mostly didn't dance this time, because I wanted to work on my knitting a bit, and also because he had a very full dance floor with several good supporting dancers around. This was also good because my friend Dax wandered by, and we had a good conversation catching up with each other about the last several years!
I slunk out to go get changed and prepare for the Night Market, a first-time Arisia event that seems to have gone very successfully. It was a "stuff swap" --no money to exchange hands, but little trinkets and crafts encouraged to be given to each other. Very kid friendly, but also a nice air of mystery amongst the adults. I had a box of beautiful vintage gloves from when mom was regularly finding them on the super cheap at estate sales for me --I'd been meaning to give much of the box away for aaaaages now, and so it was a lovely accomplishment to find a corner and array them in front of me (I also had "wee beasties" --rubber dinosaurs and other little toys that I've gathered throughout my adventures for those with hands bigger than most of the gloves). I received some ICE whistles and shiny rocks and a cute little pentacle and a couple dinosaurs and some lovely prints/photos and for a few people who wanted gloves but didn't have trinkets, I traded them for Words they liked.
This is how I met aforementioned unremembered K*****, who was doing wandering calligraphy and was willing to trade a pair of gloves for a little card reading "Good Girls Aren't Here". After a series of entertaining "made-sense-at-the-time" decisions, they later wrote me for free "Patellas are not for hitting". It was very satisfying!
The market wound down, the children went scampering off with their prizes, and I declared myself very satisfied to have emptied about 2/3rds the box of gloves! Back to the room for the third outfit of the day, and down to the dance hall for the only DJ Dirge set we got this year.
I danced for most of all the time from tenPM until he shut us down a bit after 2am. He was adorably sniffly as he gave a goodbye spiel, a "I'll keep coming back to Arisia as long as they have me, but man this place feels like home" and I, at least, also teared up with happy joy. It's at least my third year in a row closing out that dance, and it feels so so good for my heart to do so. Fuck but dancing like an idiot late into the night is the thing that heals what ails me. And I appreciate the con environment so much for being completely chill and safe to like...shed shoes and socks and coat and outer shirt and just be able to dance very comfortable.
Somewhere amidst the rest of it, jere7my and I did make it up to House of Toast, so that was a good part of Saturevening as well. And now, not to do spoiler alerts, it's quite late on Sunday and I have a Tuesday who is settling into bed and I wish to settle alongside her. More about how the rest of today went later.
~Sor
MOOP!
Political Rant.....
Jan. 18th, 2026 11:40 pmdisneydream06The ICE Edition Pt. 2.....
I Dare One Democrat or Independent To Cross The Aisle And Vote To Support This Funding Bill.....
It has nothing to do with immigration and all about punishment of those of us smart enough not to vote for The Felon.....
I Dare One Democrat or Independent To Cross The Aisle And Vote To Support This Funding Bill.....
It has nothing to do with immigration and all about punishment of those of us smart enough not to vote for The Felon.....
I want to show you all the versions of myself
Jan. 18th, 2026 10:27 pmsovayTonight after my second and last panel of the convention, I was told by one audience member that they would listen to me read the phone book because even under those circumstances they would learn something interesting and Tiny Wittgenstein was definitely confused.
The panels went chaotically well. "Cursed Literature" lived up to its name by losing two panelists before the con even started, but in practice it turned into a freewheeling discussion less of literature in particular than the concepts of hazardous information, the spellmaking of language, and narratives as contagion, which gave me an excuse to boost Emeric Pressburger's The Glass Pearls (1966), An-sky's Jewish Ethnographic Program of 1912–14, and Aramaic incantation bowls plus the inevitable M. R. James. "SFF on Stage" had a supersaturation of panelists mostly from the performing arts and could have gone an extra hour at least as we started with the inherently liminal nature of theater and bounced around through all the ways that the speculative can be invoked on stage through conceits, stagecraft, scoring, nothing but the contract that reality changes because the actor says it does. I went all in on twentieth-century opera and weird technically realist plays and discovered that there has actually not been another production of Jewelle Gomez's Bones & Ash: A Gilda Story since the one I saw with my grandparents in 1996. As always, members of the audience asked such good questions that they should have been on the panels to start.
I have been asked multiple times if I will be around for the last day of Arisia and since I have no further programming the odds are unfortunately good that I will be flat in bed, but at the moment I regret nothing. I saw agenarti! I saw a skygiants! I failed to write down the names of a pair of extraordinarily well-dressed attendees who wanted to talk about Jewish folk magic and were thrilled that I recognized their Babylon 5 tie-in novels! nineweaving and I shared a panel for the first time since virtual 2021! I did not make it back to the dealer's room before it closed and instead sort of keeled over in the disused cosplay repair area with choco_frosh and presently a friend of his who is unlikely to be on DW, since this time around people were giving me their contact information on Instagram and I felt as though I should have business cards printed on papyrus scraps. I had genuinely not been sure how this experiment in professional interaction would go. It is snowing as busily as a real winter in New England and without begrudging a second of this vanishing season, I am looking forward to Readercon.
The panels went chaotically well. "Cursed Literature" lived up to its name by losing two panelists before the con even started, but in practice it turned into a freewheeling discussion less of literature in particular than the concepts of hazardous information, the spellmaking of language, and narratives as contagion, which gave me an excuse to boost Emeric Pressburger's The Glass Pearls (1966), An-sky's Jewish Ethnographic Program of 1912–14, and Aramaic incantation bowls plus the inevitable M. R. James. "SFF on Stage" had a supersaturation of panelists mostly from the performing arts and could have gone an extra hour at least as we started with the inherently liminal nature of theater and bounced around through all the ways that the speculative can be invoked on stage through conceits, stagecraft, scoring, nothing but the contract that reality changes because the actor says it does. I went all in on twentieth-century opera and weird technically realist plays and discovered that there has actually not been another production of Jewelle Gomez's Bones & Ash: A Gilda Story since the one I saw with my grandparents in 1996. As always, members of the audience asked such good questions that they should have been on the panels to start.
I have been asked multiple times if I will be around for the last day of Arisia and since I have no further programming the odds are unfortunately good that I will be flat in bed, but at the moment I regret nothing. I saw a
genarti! I saw a skygiants! I failed to write down the names of a pair of extraordinarily well-dressed attendees who wanted to talk about Jewish folk magic and were thrilled that I recognized their Babylon 5 tie-in novels! nineweaving and I shared a panel for the first time since virtual 2021! I did not make it back to the dealer's room before it closed and instead sort of keeled over in the disused cosplay repair area with choco_frosh and presently a friend of his who is unlikely to be on DW, since this time around people were giving me their contact information on Instagram and I felt as though I should have business cards printed on papyrus scraps. I had genuinely not been sure how this experiment in professional interaction would go. It is snowing as busily as a real winter in New England and without begrudging a second of this vanishing season, I am looking forward to Readercon.That's where it is - Star Wars story, soulmate AU continued
Jan. 19th, 2026 12:20 ampetraThat's where it is (600 words) by Petra
Chapters: 4/4
Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Amidala
Additional Tags: Drabble and a Half, Drabble Sequence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates
Series: Part 2 of The Shoop Shoop Soulmate Song
Summary:
*
People read and reviewed, so I wrote more.
Chapters: 4/4
Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Amidala
Additional Tags: Drabble and a Half, Drabble Sequence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates
Series: Part 2 of The Shoop Shoop Soulmate Song
Summary:
A variety of ways in which Anakin meets his soulmate.
*
People read and reviewed, so I wrote more.
Signups Closed: Grace Period and Matching
Jan. 18th, 2026 11:59 pmlittlefics posting in seasonsofdrabbles We have now closed signups! Below is the expected timeline for the next couple days:
As you wait for assignments to go out, please feel free to check out the app to browse requests and start writing!
- Like always, for the next 12 hours, people can contact us to add to their signups. This is intended for people who may have run into the character tagset bug when signing up close to the deadline, or whose nominations were approved late. However, anyone may ask to have characters/fandoms added to their requests or offers. If you would like us to add to your signup, please post on the screened mod contact post or email us at seasonsofdrabbles AT gmail.com. Please make sure to include your AO3 username.
- After that window has closed, we will check the matching and send out emails to anyone who is unmatchable on offers. They will be given 24 hours to respond.
- Barring unexpected delays, assignments will go out before the end of Wednesday, January 21.
As you wait for assignments to go out, please feel free to check out the app to browse requests and start writing!
Writerly Ways
Jan. 18th, 2026 11:06 pmcornerofmadnessLet's talk about main characters for a moment. Your MC cannot be entirely passive. If they have a goal (as they should) then they have to do something to work toward it. They cannot sit and wait for their friends/mentors/family propel them forward to do it.
When I was young I didn't like Frodo. I liked LotR a ton (to the point 13 year old me planned to name her firstborn Aragon) But I never liked Frodo. At 12-13 I didn't really know why. When I watched the movies I realized it was because Frodo never does a damn thing. If not for Samwise and the rest, he'd have died within 48 hours and Sauron would have won.
Today I stumbled over this YT short and realized they had put their finger directly on my issue with Hazbin Hotel S2. As much as I enjoyed it, I did not enjoy the Morningstars who are, arguably, the MCs. Charlie, if you don't want to click the short, basically does nothing. She has her goals of redeeming sinners, proving Sir pentious was redeemed and protecting her friends.
For the most part, she doesn't act. She spends most of the more important moments, the time, she was the MC (and the leader) needed to act, having panic attacks instead or acting on impulse that does nothing. She relies on Husk to do therapy as well as bartending. She relies on Vaggi to run the entire hotel basically alone. She never corners Alastor to get him to do stuff. She never asks a thing from Angel (reinforcing the idea that she sees him as useless) until she bullies him into doing something he didn't want. When everyone is about to die in the finale, Emily has to step in twice when it's obvious Charlie isn't.
A lot of fans felt let down. I know I felt let down and I'm not a giant Charlie fan. I liked her (less this year) but even if she wasn't my favorite character, I needed her to do something as a MC (other than flail around foolishly). By contrast, Buffy was actually not my favorite character but she acts. She makes mistakes too but at least she acts.
If everyone had to depend on Charlie or Frodo alone, probably everyone dies. I'm not saying your MC can't have help. Of course they can. We need the secondary characters to do things too but if they're doing the heavy lifting and your MC is sitting back waiting for them to do so, then maybe you have the wrong MC or you need to find how to give them some agency.
Open Calls
Cosmic Roots And Eldritch Shores February 2026 Window
Electric Spec May Issue 2026 Electric Spec prefers science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre, but we’re willing to push the limits of traditional forms of these genres
Slush #1 Original fiction, no set genres
78 Opportunities for Historically Underrepresented Writers (January 2026)
106 Traditional Poetry Manuscript Publishers (2026 Update)
From Around the Web
Finding the Heart of a Protagonist: Body, Mind, and Soul
How to Describe Layout & Position
How Do You Know When There’s a Dead Body in the Room This is actually about using senses other than sight/hearing
Identifying Your Book’s Target Audiences: Your Marketing Plan Foundation
From Betty
Seven Ways to Motivate a Reluctant Protagonist
Water Travel Before Engines
Should You Show or Tell?
Five Ways to Make a Selfish Character Likable
Five Tips for Portraying Your Characters as Intended
Ways to Make The Pitch, A Writer’s Selling Point
What Type of Writer Are You
How to Take a Story from “Good” to Great
People-Pleasing Writers: The Surprising Connection that Slows You Down
Coping Mechanism Thesaurus Entry: Creative Expression
How often to follow up with a literary agent
YouTube for Writers, Part 5: How to Repurpose Content Into Reels and Shorts
How to Train Your Writer’s Eye: 7 Ways to Improve Observation Skills for Better Writing
Why Celebrating Small Wins Matters for Writers
Story Stakes: When to Reveal Them—and Why Timing Is Everything
What Else?
Hope is the Thing With Thorns: A New Year’s Reflection
When I was young I didn't like Frodo. I liked LotR a ton (to the point 13 year old me planned to name her firstborn Aragon) But I never liked Frodo. At 12-13 I didn't really know why. When I watched the movies I realized it was because Frodo never does a damn thing. If not for Samwise and the rest, he'd have died within 48 hours and Sauron would have won.
Today I stumbled over this YT short and realized they had put their finger directly on my issue with Hazbin Hotel S2. As much as I enjoyed it, I did not enjoy the Morningstars who are, arguably, the MCs. Charlie, if you don't want to click the short, basically does nothing. She has her goals of redeeming sinners, proving Sir pentious was redeemed and protecting her friends.
For the most part, she doesn't act. She spends most of the more important moments, the time, she was the MC (and the leader) needed to act, having panic attacks instead or acting on impulse that does nothing. She relies on Husk to do therapy as well as bartending. She relies on Vaggi to run the entire hotel basically alone. She never corners Alastor to get him to do stuff. She never asks a thing from Angel (reinforcing the idea that she sees him as useless) until she bullies him into doing something he didn't want. When everyone is about to die in the finale, Emily has to step in twice when it's obvious Charlie isn't.
A lot of fans felt let down. I know I felt let down and I'm not a giant Charlie fan. I liked her (less this year) but even if she wasn't my favorite character, I needed her to do something as a MC (other than flail around foolishly). By contrast, Buffy was actually not my favorite character but she acts. She makes mistakes too but at least she acts.
If everyone had to depend on Charlie or Frodo alone, probably everyone dies. I'm not saying your MC can't have help. Of course they can. We need the secondary characters to do things too but if they're doing the heavy lifting and your MC is sitting back waiting for them to do so, then maybe you have the wrong MC or you need to find how to give them some agency.
Open Calls
Cosmic Roots And Eldritch Shores February 2026 Window
Electric Spec May Issue 2026 Electric Spec prefers science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre, but we’re willing to push the limits of traditional forms of these genres
Slush #1 Original fiction, no set genres
78 Opportunities for Historically Underrepresented Writers (January 2026)
106 Traditional Poetry Manuscript Publishers (2026 Update)
From Around the Web
Finding the Heart of a Protagonist: Body, Mind, and Soul
How to Describe Layout & Position
How Do You Know When There’s a Dead Body in the Room This is actually about using senses other than sight/hearing
Identifying Your Book’s Target Audiences: Your Marketing Plan Foundation
From Betty
Seven Ways to Motivate a Reluctant Protagonist
Water Travel Before Engines
Should You Show or Tell?
Five Ways to Make a Selfish Character Likable
Five Tips for Portraying Your Characters as Intended
Ways to Make The Pitch, A Writer’s Selling Point
What Type of Writer Are You
How to Take a Story from “Good” to Great
People-Pleasing Writers: The Surprising Connection that Slows You Down
Coping Mechanism Thesaurus Entry: Creative Expression
How often to follow up with a literary agent
YouTube for Writers, Part 5: How to Repurpose Content Into Reels and Shorts
How to Train Your Writer’s Eye: 7 Ways to Improve Observation Skills for Better Writing
Why Celebrating Small Wins Matters for Writers
Story Stakes: When to Reveal Them—and Why Timing Is Everything
What Else?
Hope is the Thing With Thorns: A New Year’s Reflection
Misc +++
Jan. 18th, 2026 09:09 pmyuuago+ Finished reading Winter's Orbit. Hopefully will have time to write more detailed thoughts later, but the tl;dr is that I enjoyed it very much and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel. It's a romance novel but there's lots of non-romance plot, which is basically my preferred kind of romance novel.
+ Was working on fic today. Nothing special or complicated, but it still feels good to work on something. I feel very rusty, though. It's ridiculous that putting one word in front of the other is so hard. Guess the only way out is through, though!
+ Still considering signing up for FTH. One thing I'm waffling on is what to offer; Hetalia-wise my scope is narrower than it was the last time I participated in an auction. Not that I'm solid about sticking to my usual set of characters; some of the best auction fics I've written were for pairings I'd never thought about much until that moment. But there's always the chance that someone unfamiliar with my work will ask for something I'd have trouble delivering. I guess I'll just mention my usual characters in the description and see what happens. Aside from that, though, I'm not sure what other fandoms, if any. Promare, maybe? I'm due for a rewatch anyway.
+ Watched The Life of Chuck this evening. I thought it was a pretty good adaptation of King's novella. Admittedly, the first section was pretty stressful, what with the apocalyptic scenes and whatnot, even though I knew how the rest of it went. Overall I found it pretty sweet, though. I've seen it described as kind of schmaltzy, and like... yeah, I guess that's fair, it IS schmaltzy. I enjoyed it overall, though.
+ Was working on fic today. Nothing special or complicated, but it still feels good to work on something. I feel very rusty, though. It's ridiculous that putting one word in front of the other is so hard. Guess the only way out is through, though!
+ Still considering signing up for FTH. One thing I'm waffling on is what to offer; Hetalia-wise my scope is narrower than it was the last time I participated in an auction. Not that I'm solid about sticking to my usual set of characters; some of the best auction fics I've written were for pairings I'd never thought about much until that moment. But there's always the chance that someone unfamiliar with my work will ask for something I'd have trouble delivering. I guess I'll just mention my usual characters in the description and see what happens. Aside from that, though, I'm not sure what other fandoms, if any. Promare, maybe? I'm due for a rewatch anyway.
+ Watched The Life of Chuck this evening. I thought it was a pretty good adaptation of King's novella. Admittedly, the first section was pretty stressful, what with the apocalyptic scenes and whatnot, even though I knew how the rest of it went. Overall I found it pretty sweet, though. I've seen it described as kind of schmaltzy, and like... yeah, I guess that's fair, it IS schmaltzy. I enjoyed it overall, though.
Communities
Jan. 18th, 2026 09:48 pmysabetwordsmithRadical Neighbouring: The Farm Where Nothing is for Sale
This video asks a compelling question: What does a human look like who isn't a consumer?
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This video asks a compelling question: What does a human look like who isn't a consumer?
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walking holiday!
Jan. 18th, 2026 10:36 pmwaterswordI am planning to go on a walking holiday in Europe in late 2026! I am very excited.
I know a few of y'all have done these, and I would love to get your advice and recommendations. The things I am primarily thinking of include, in no particular order:
- organizing flights to and from the start point; I don't think the walking holiday company does this since I'm in the US -- I may have some complications and don't love the idea of sorting it out entirely on my own
- what to wear on the daily hike & what supplies to carry with me
but I would be very grateful for suggestions of things to consider that I have not thought of! I have wanted to do this for a long time but I have not ever done it.
Iron Infusion
Jan. 19th, 2026 11:21 amalias_sqbrI am VERY sore today but if I don't write this up I'll forget.
So! I got an iron infusion! It was not very exciting.
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So! I got an iron infusion! It was not very exciting.
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Solid state precipitation.
Jan. 18th, 2026 10:10 pmhannahSave for an incredibly brief break this afternoon, it's been snowing all day. Not hard, but steadily and gently. It's collecting on the trees and in the parks, and while there's not much total accumulation, the rate has me hopeful it'll stay around for a few days. I went out to the movies this evening, and standing and waiting for the bus, I watched the streetlight hit it as it came down - the speed of it, and how even with all the force behind it, none of it hit hard enough to make any noise.
It snowed through a lot of yesterday, too. I took a brief walk for a small errand and stood out in it for a while, enjoying the smell and the chill. I liked the idea my footprints would be gone soon, and with what came down today, I know the steps I took aren't there anymore. There's something compelling about that to me. Not that there's a resilience so much as anything done will be covered over and erased, no matter how heavy or light your footsteps.
It snowed through a lot of yesterday, too. I took a brief walk for a small errand and stood out in it for a while, enjoying the smell and the chill. I liked the idea my footprints would be gone soon, and with what came down today, I know the steps I took aren't there anymore. There's something compelling about that to me. Not that there's a resilience so much as anything done will be covered over and erased, no matter how heavy or light your footsteps.
