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Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 08:36 pm
Did I need to make potatoes tonight? Not particularly, and it's a little hot to be running the oven. But I got more of my favorite spice mix and yes, I did actually need roasted potatoes, thank you very much.

Current Mood: pleased


Challenge 484: Science Jul. 2nd, 2025 @ 11:25 am
[personal profile] china_shop
Our new challenge is:

SCIENCE



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 Thursday, 10 July. 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.

Also, keep an eye out for the next [community profile] ffw_social post, which will go up in the next couple of days. If you haven't joined the [community profile] 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.)

Admin: Challenge closed Jul. 2nd, 2025 @ 11:21 am
[personal profile] china_shop
Our eightieth Amnesty challenge is now closed. Here are the entries:

Je Ne Regrette Rien Challenge: Madagascar 3: wallpaper: no regrets by [personal profile] lilly_c
Background Challenge: S.W.A.T.: Fan Fiction: No Longer In The Background by [personal profile] darkjediqueen
Pink Challenge: FAKE: Fanfic: Pink Shirts by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Animal Challenge: FAKE: Fanfic: Animal by [personal profile] badly_knitted
enemies challenge: star trek voyager: wallpaper: prayin’ on my downfall by [personal profile] lilly_c
Resolutions challenge: star trek voyager: wallpaper: burned with desire by [personal profile] lilly_c
Restraints: Original Fiction: Inappropriate Use of Rune-Carved Cuffs by [personal profile] analogbasilisk
Yarn/Charity Challenges: Miss Marple: Fanfic: An Act of Charity by [personal profile] smallhobbit
Nap Challenge: FAKE: Fanfic: Different Strokes by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Trapped: due South: Fanfiction: Closeted by [personal profile] lucy_roman
Double: "Harry Potter": Fanart: Double Date by [personal profile] digthewriter
Teaching Challenge: Stargate SG-1: Fanfic: Necessary Skill by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Sign Challenge: FAKE: Fanfic: Just Married by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Nightmare: Original Fiction: The Past Lives In The Shadows by [personal profile] analogbasilisk
Dragon Challenge: Sherlock Holmes (ACD): Fanfic: A Tolerant Landlady by [personal profile] smallhobbit
Swallow: Original Fiction: A Question Older Than Time by [personal profile] analogbasilisk
Sorry Challenge: Stargate SG-1: Fanfic: Accepted by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Family Challenge: Adventure Time: Fanfiction: Families are Tricky by [personal profile] infinitum_noctem
Yellow Challenge: Stargate SG-1: Fanfic: Too Alien by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Diamonds and Pearls challenge: Law & Order: fic: strung together by [personal profile] lilly_c
The Last Word: xxxHoLiC: Fanfic: death as a perfect circle (that elusive object) by [personal profile] bluedreaming
Mischief Challenge: Stargate SG-1: Fanfic: Prank by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Spy Challenge: Spooks (MI5): Fanfic: The picture in Vogue by [personal profile] smallhobbit
Finger Challenge: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Fanfic: Battle Wounds by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Feed: Original Fiction: Melancholic, And Hungry by [personal profile] analogbasilisk
Nap: Tokyo Mew Mew Olé: Fanfic: Interrupted Cat Nap by [personal profile] soullessserenity
School Challenge: Torchwood: Fanfic: Treasured by [personal profile] m_findlow
Rainbow Challenge: FAKE: Fanfic: Pride At Work by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Cave + Nightmare + Spark Challenges: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Fanfic: Flicker of a Dream by [personal profile] veronyxk84
Bounce: Original Fiction: the key to bonding is at the base by [personal profile] analogbasilisk
Influences Challenge: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Fanfic: Bad Influences by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Dragon: The Double: Dragon and Phoenix by [personal profile] teaotter
Hit the Wall Challenge: Greek Myth: Fanfic: Be Well by [personal profile] drabblewriter
Borrowed Title: Guardian: fanfic: Pages for You by [personal profile] china_shop
Dust Challenge: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Fanfic: Dusted by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Red challenge : Iron Man comics : icons : Shiny Red by [personal profile] highlander_ii

Also, congratulations to [personal profile] bluedreaming, who earned a name tag.

\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.

New challenge coming right up.

Partners 4 Life Exchange Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 04:01 pm
[personal profile] doranwen
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I'm here; I'm queer; I have a very tardy review of Chris Wheeldon's The Winter's Tale (ABT) Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 02:18 pm
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Silent Hill, James Sunderland Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 11:59 pm
[personal profile] javert
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Red challenge : Iron Man comics : icons : Shiny Red Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 05:03 pm
[personal profile] highlander_ii
Title: Shiny Red
Fandom: Iron Man / Marvel comics
Rating: PG
Content notes: None apply
Summary: icons of Tony Stark / Iron Man - armor, bath towels, even shirts for racquetball - all red


Shiny Red )

Graduation musings Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 10:08 pm
Some musings from me, prompted by last week's graduation ceremonies at Dundee University, plus this week's graduation ceremonies at St Andrews University.

Kink Hub Theme of the Month: "Sex on the Beach" Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 10:44 pm
[personal profile] smuttymcsmutface
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Sunshine Revival Challenge #1 Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 04:28 pm
This year [community profile] sunshine_revival is picking up where [community profile] sunshine_challenge left off. Yay! Anyone is welcome to participate with no sign-ups or obligations. There's also a friending meme!
Challenge #1
Journaling Prompt: Light up your journal with activity this month. Talk about your goals for July or for the second half of 2025.
Creative Prompt: Shine a light on your own creativity. Create anything you want (an image, an icon, a story, a poem, or a craft) and share it with your community.
In terms of journaling, the goals question is an easy one. This year I've been aiming for posting one book review and one game review per week. I already know what July's books will be and three of those reviews are already written. I like to have a backlog so weeks don't sneak up on me and become a scramble. By my standards I'm a little behind on games (only this week's post is ready to go! gasp!) and I'm not sure yet what the other games will be. I want to do some more retro titles since I've been leaning towards modern games lately. So one July goal is to play some old games and/or finish the ones I'm in the middle of. And to figure out what I'm reading/playing for August.

That said, hitting the second half of the year always sets off my fears that I'm not doing or accomplishing "enough," whatever that means, and this year I'm trying to counter that by actively choosing to do a little less this summer and give myself a break. Just because my job is less busy in the summer doesn't mean I need to fill up all the time with more activities! I've temporarily stepped back from a few things, which is really hard for me to do because it messes with the part of my anxiety that takes the form of Must Always Show Up And Never Miss Anything. But of course it is not actually possible to always show up for everything, and never resting leads to burnout. I know that, and I'm trying to be better about acting on it.

And on that note, I'm skipping the creative prompt. Not that the mods have in any way suggested that people should or must do both prompts! I'm just patting myself on the back for not trying to overachieve. :D

Books read, June 2025 Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 01:22 pm
Death in the Spires, K.J. Charles. An excellent historical mystery, straddling the turn of the nineteenth century into the twentieth. Years ago, an Oxford student was murdered in his room; thanks to one small detail of this case, the surviving members of his group of friends know that one of their number must have done it. But no one has ever been convicted.

The detail in question felt slightly contrived to me, but I accept it as the set-up for what is otherwise an engaging story about personal relationships. The novel proceeds in two parallel tracks, one building up the history of these friends at university, the other showing what's become of them since the murder. It does the thing a dual-timeline novel needs to do, which is keep suspense around the past: yes, we know who's going to get murdered, but the lead-up to that matters quite a lot, first as we see how this group coalesced into such brilliance they were nicknamed the "Seven Wonders," and then as we see how things fell apart to a degree that you can form plausible arguments for basically anybody being the murderer. (I say "basically" because it's deeply unlikely that the protagonist, who is digging back into the case against the advice of everyone around him, is the killer. There are stories that would pull that trick, but this never pretends it's one of them.)

I found the ending particularly gratifying. The past sections do enough to make you like and sympathize with the characters that finding out who's responsible is genuinely a fraught question; once the answer comes out, there's a deeply satisfying sequence that tackles the question of what justice ought to look like in this situation -- for more than one crime. Those who deserve it wind up with their bonds of friendship tentatively healing after years of rift. I got this rec from Marissa Lingen, and she tells me there will be a sequel; I look forward to it enormously.

Read more... )

Fannish 50 Challenge 2025: Post # 20: Canada Fandom: Canada Day Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 01:27 pm
From this U.S. fangirl for Canada on today's Canada Day and every day: declaring my love and respect for the Great Sovereign Land of Canada.




Ten Inspiring Quotations About Canada.

(And furthermore: Fox Delta Tango!)

Current Location: near the lake they call Michigan
Current Mood: standing on guard for Canada
Current Music: Oh Canada


"Drabble: Anti-Brooklynians." (Captain America) G Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 11:22 am


Title: Drabble: Anti-Brooklynians.
Author: [personal profile] lannamichaels
Fandom: Captain America
Rating: G
Archives: Archive Of Our Own, SquidgeWorld

Summary: Aliens wrote Shakespeare, the Earl of Oxford built the pyramids, and Steve Rogers was never Captain America.


I started this in 2019 and then ignored it every time I saw it instead of getting it to fit wordcount )



Books read, late June Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 06:08 am
 

Syr Hayati Beker, What a Fish Looks Like. Discussed elsewhere.

A.S. Byatt, The Virgin in the Garden. Weirdly I had read books 2-4 of this series and not this one. It worked perfectly well that way, and I think for some people I'd even recommend it, because this one is substantially about teachers attempting (and often succeeding) in sleeping with their teenage girl students and a mental health crisis not being responsibly addressed. All of it is very period-appropriate for the early 1950s, all of it is beautifully observed and written about. It still had the "I want to keep reading this" nature that her prose always does for me. And Lord knows Antonia Byatt was there and knew how it all went down in that era. It's just that if you want to do without this bit, it'll be fine, it really is about those things and it's really okay to not want to do that on a particular day.

William Dalrymple, The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World. This is largely How Buddhism Transformed the World and a little bit of How Hinduism Transformed the World. There is a tiny bit about math and a few references to astronomy without a lot of detail. If you're looking for how Ancient Indian religions transformed the world, that's an interesting topic and this is so far as I, a non-expert, can tell, well done on it. But I wanted more math, astronomy, and other cultural influences.

Robert Darnton, The Writer's Lot: Culture and Revolution in Eighteenth-Century France. Comparing the economic situations and lifestyles of several writers of the era--how they lived, how they were able to live, how they wrote. Also revisiting some of his own early-career analysis in an interesting way I'd like to see more of from other authors. Should this be your first Darnton: no probably not. Should you read some Darnton and also this: quite possibly.

J. R. Dawson, The First Bright Thing. Reread. Still gut-wrenching and bright, superpowers and magic circus and found family, what we can change and what we can't. Reread for an event I'll tell you about soon.

Reginald Hill, Arms and the Women, Death's Jest Book, Dialogues of the Dead, and Good Morning, Midnight. Rereads. Well into the meat of the series on this reread now. The middle two are basically one book in two volumes, which the rest of the series does not do, and also they feature a character I really hate, so I kept on for one more to clear the taste of that character out of my brain. Still all worth reading/rereading, of course; they also have the "I just want to keep reading this prose" quality, though in a very different way than Byatt. Really glad we've gotten to the part of the series with contrasting younger cop characters.

Vidar Hreinsson, Wakeful Nights: Stefan G. Stefansson: Icelandic-Canadian Poet. Kindle. This is the kind of biography that is more concerned with comprehensive accounts of where its subject went and what he did and who he talked to than with overarching themes, so if you're not interested in Stefansson in particular or anti-war/immigrant Canadian poets in the early 20th more generally, will be very tedious.

Deanna Raybourn, Killers of a Certain Age. Recently retired assassins discover that their conglomerate is attempting to retire them. Good times, good older female friendships, not deep but fun.

Clay Risen, Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America. Very straightforwardly what it says on the tin. Recognizes clearly the lack of angels involved without valorizing the people destroying other people's lives on shady evidence.

Caitlin Rozakis, The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association. When Vivian and Daniel's daughter Aria gets turned into a werewolf, they have to find another kindergarten to accommodate her needs. But with new schools come new problems. This is charming and fun, and I'm delighted to have it be the second recent book (I'm thinking of Emily Tesh's The Incandescent, which is very different tonally and plotwise) to remember that schools come with grown-ups, not just kids.

James C. Scott, In Praise of Floods: The Untamed River and the Life It Brings. You know I love James C. Scott, friends. You know that. But if you're thinking a lot about riverine flooding in the first place, this does not bring a lot that's new to the table, and there are twee sections where I'm like, buddy, pal, neighbor, what are you doing, having the dolphin introduce other species to say what's going on with them, this is not actually a book for 8yos, what even. So I don't know. If you're not thinking a lot about watersheds and riverine ecosystems and rhythms in the first place, probably a lovely place to start modulo a few weird bits. But very 101.

Madeleine Thien, The Book of Records. You'd think she'd have had me at "Hannah Arendt and Baruch Spinoza are two of the major characters," but instead it just didn't really come together for me. The speculative conceit was there to hang the historical references on, and in my opinion this book's reach exceeded its grasp. I mean, if you're going to have those two and Du Fu, you've set the bar for yourself pretty high, and also a cross-time sea is also a firecracker of a concept, and...it all just sort of sits together in a lump. Ah well.

Katy Watson, A Lively Midwinter Murder. Latest in the Three Dahlias series, still good fun, the Dahlias are invited to a wedding and get snowed in and also murder ensues. Not revolutionizing the genre, just giving you what you came for, which is valid too.

Christopher Wills, Why Ecosystems Matter: Preserving the Key to Our Survival. "Did the author have a better title for that and the publisher made him change it to something hooky?" asked one of my family members suspiciously, and the answer is probably yes, you have spotted exactly what kind of book this is, this is the kind of book where someone knows interesting things about a topic (population genetics and their evolution) and is nudged to try to make its presentation slightly more grabby for the normies in hopes of selling more than three copies. It's interesting in the details it has on various organisms and does not waste your time on why ecosystems matter because duh obviously. If you were the sort of person who wasn't sure that they did, you would never pick up this book anyway.



the extroverts were right Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 12:40 pm
I was making smalltalk with the bus driver along with the other guy at the bus stop and he asked if I was a student, lol. (Wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses took twenty years off I guess.) I said, No, but I'm going to driving school!

And he said close enough and gave me the student ticket rate.

Bernice Summerfield: The Oracle of Delphi Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 10:14 am
Onto another one, and this time one that's set in Ancient Greece, that sees Benny and Jason meet Socrates.

This feels like such a novel setting for the range, after a long run of futuristic (for us) scifi adventures. Benny and Jason used to have time rings that the Doctor gave them as wedding presents, though in this case I think they're using one or more time rings from the Braxiatel Collection. It's a shame these are not used more often. It's not even clear listening to this story why they've decided to use them this time, except it's on orders from Bev. And there's a strange cliffhanger at the end, which is also muddled. Though that's something that can happen a lot with this range, with confusing/under-written arc elements. Not least with the awkward split between the books/short stories and the audio adventures.

But that aside it's a refreshing and light-hearted adventure. Albeit with the threat of a devastating plague hanging over Athens ... Socrates is a superb quasi-companion for Benny, and there are lots of clever insights into Athenian society and democracy. It's particularly amusing when Benny dresses up as a man to go into the Assembly. And then Socrates dresses up as a woman ...

Jason's side plot works well, and it's just all round fun. I think this was maybe the first Benny audio that Scott Handcock wrote for Big Finish? If so it's a great start.



Dust Challenge: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Fanfic: Dusted Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 09:45 am
[personal profile] badly_knitted

Title: Dusted
Fandom: BtVS
Author: [personal profile] badly_knitted
Characters: Buffy.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 200
Spoilers/Setting: Early Season 2.
Summary: Vampire dust goes everywhere.
Content Notes: None needed.
Written For: Challenge 483: Amnesty 80, using Challenge 439: Dust.
Disclaimer: I don’t own BtVS, or the characters.
A/N: Double drabble.



Dusted... )

Current Mood: hot
Current Location: my desk


News Items That Would Make Good Story Ideas Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 04:35 am
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2025/100: Monsters — Emerald Fennell Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 09:36 am
2025/100: Monsters — Emerald Fennell
The best thing about there being a murder in Fowey is that it means there is a murderer in Fowey. It could be anyone. [loc. 464]

The nameless narrator of Monsters is a twelve-year-old girl, orphaned in a boating accident ('Don’t worry – I’m not that sad about it') and living with her grandmother. Every summer she's packed off to an aunt and uncle who run a guest house in the quaint Cornish town of Fowey. There, she meets Miles, also twelve, and they bond over a murder Read more... )


Current Mood: uncomfortable
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Beauty in Nature Jul. 1st, 2025 @ 04:31 am
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