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Buone feste!

Hello from a second-time participant! Here are my wishes. If you have any questions for me, don't hesitate to PM me.

Wish 01. Comments and kudos on my stories

I write fanfiction focusing on rarepairs and minor characters in the Pokémon fandom, with some other very small fandoms and original work sprinkled throughout.. I'd be thrilled to receive comments on anything that catches your eye. You can find my works under the AO3 username Audrelite. 99% of my stuff is 1k words or less so it's nice and short, but I do have some shorter one-shots as well. (I'm not a longfic writer.) No concrit, please, and I'd appreciate if you didn't mention that you're coming from this event or that you're fandom-blind.

Wish 02. Gift fics based on my exchange requests

I'd love to receive gift fics for any of my exchange requests, except for Original Work (including Object and Concept Anthropomorphism). Since my likes and DNWs, both general and NSFW, continually change over time, please consult the Optional Details of the latest exchange I've signed up for. My AutoAO3 App page, listing all of my requests, can be found here, and some giftbox-style events not hosted on AO3 I've signed up for can be found here.

Fandoms I frequently request include Pokémon, Beyblade Burst, and the Teen Titans animated series; others I'd really love gifts for include The Ice Guy and his Cool Female Colleague, Metal Fight Beyblade, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, the Seven Deadly Sins anime, Toonami, and many others. Please see the links above for specific info.

Wish 03. An EPUB file of any book off my Kindle list

Find my e-book wish list here.

Wish 04. E-Giftcards

Amazon, Spotify, Google Play

Wish 05. Someone who's read the Black Dynasty series by Marilena Barbagallo so I can gush about it

I've been utterly obsessed with this dark romance series for most of this year, and I've been very lonely since I can't really talk about it with any of my friends. Guess this is what you get when you love 1) dark romance and 2) Italian books—"niche" is an understatement to the nth degree.

Wish 06. Pipe Dream Wish: New iPad Mini

To keep my fanfic writing alive! (The fact that this iPhone X I've been using for my writing and creative endeavors has lasted me over 8 years astounds me to no end.)

Thanks very much for checking out my list, and happy holidays!

Binary Sudoku

Posted by Bill Amend

http://foxtrot.com/2025/11/16/binary-sudoku/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=binary-sudoku

https://foxtrot.com/?p=5950

Solution available here!

The post Binary Sudoku first appeared on FoxTrot Comics by Bill Amend.

http://foxtrot.com/2025/11/16/binary-sudoku/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=binary-sudoku

https://foxtrot.com/?p=5950

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Merry Christmas to all of you. I know I'm early, just can't wait.

My name is PattRose. I am 73 years young and I love this group. This is my second year. Here is my list.

1. Anything from my Amazon Wishlist https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3LCG6J88B8PIZ?ref_=wl_share
2. Icons for the Sentinel (tv)
3. Icons for Almost Human (tv)
4. Icons for Reacher (tv)
5. Icons for Will Trent (tv)
6. Fan art for The Sentinel (tv)
7. Small humorous fic for The Sentinel
8. Recommendations for 5 good mystery novels
9. Recommendations for 5 good comedy movies
10. Three to six-months paid memberships for Dreamwidth

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Just Create - Path 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?

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.

Zits (Spanish) for Sun, 16 Nov 2025

https://wp.comicskingdom.com/jeremias/2025-11-16

Zits (Spanish) on Sun, 16 Nov 2025

Source

https://wp.comicskingdom.com/jeremias/2025-11-16

Current Mood: busy

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Wildlife

Scientists recover 40,000-year-old mammoth RNA still packed with clues

Researchers decoded 40,000-year-old mammoth RNA, unlocking real-time biological secrets frozen since the Ice Age.

Researchers have sequenced the oldest RNA ever recovered, taken from a woolly mammoth frozen for nearly 40,000 years. The RNA reveals which genes were active in its tissues, offering a rare glimpse into its biology and final moments. Surprisingly, the team also identified ancient microRNAs and rare mutations that confirm their mammoth origin. The finding shows that RNA can endure millennia—reshaping how scientists study extinct species.

Celebrity20in20 • Round 21

( You're about to view content that a community administrator has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Texts From Superheroes

https://textsfromsuperheroes.com/post/800334510578450432

Texts From SuperheroesFacebook | Threads | Patreon | Instagram | BlueSky

https://textsfromsuperheroes.com/post/800334510578450432

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Sunday Word: Contretemps

contretemps [kon-truh-tahn, kawntruh-tahn]

noun:
1 a minor dispute or disagreement
2 an inopportune occurrence; an embarrassing mischance

Examples:

It’s enough to make an artistic director throw up a white flag, though Sachs’ decision to retire had nothing to do with this latest contretemps. (Charles McNulty, Stephen Sachs documents an American family torn apart by Jan. 6 in his new play, Los Angeles Times, March 2024)

Shiffrin has won so often, in fact, that when she skips a race, or two, it spawns a minor contretemps. (Bill Pennington, Mikaela Shiffrin Wows Skiing When She Races - and When She Doesn't, The New York Times, February 2019)

The latest in this series of contretemps between the Congress president and the BJP is the rebuttal by Arun Jaitley, currently union minister without portfolio, who felt compelled to take on Rahul in a Facebook post a day after he got home from hospital following a kidney transplant. (Sujata Anandan, Saving the drowning farmer , Salon, June 2018)

This little domestic contretemps is then, I presume, disagreeable to you! (E Phillips Oppenheim, The Yellow Crayon)

She had meant to take a stroll herself before breakfast, but saw that the day was still sacred to men, and amused herself by watching their contretemps. (E M Forster, Howards End)

(click to enlarge)
Origin:
1680s, 'a blunder in fencing,' from French contre-temps 'motion out of time, unfortunate accident, bad times' (16c), from contre, an occasional, obsolete variant of contra (prep.) 'against' (from Latin contra 'against;' + tempus 'time' (Online Etymology Dictionary)

When contretemps first appeared in English in the 1600s, it did so in the context of fencing: a contretemps was a thrust or pass made at the wrong time, whether the wrongness of the time had to do with one’s lack of skill or an opponent's proficiency. From the fencing bout contretemps slid gracefully onto the dance floor, a contretemps being a step danced on an unaccented beat. Both meanings are in keeping with the word’s French roots, contre- (meaning 'counter') and temps (meaning 'time'). (The word’s English pronunciation is also in keeping with those roots: \KAHN-truh-tahn\.) By the late 1700s, contretemps had proved itself useful outside of either activity by referring to any embarrassing or inconvenient mishap - something out of sync or rhythm with social conventions. The sense meaning 'dispute' or 'argument' arrived relatively recently, in the 20th century, perhaps coming from the idea that if you step on someone’s toes, literally or figuratively, a scuffle might ensue. (Merriam-Webster)

Current Mood: busy

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Creative Jam

The November

crowdfunding Creative Jam is up with a theme of "Love and Sacrifice." Come leave us prompts, or claim some for your own inspiration!

This is the 149th Creative Jam! There is none in December, so January will be the 150th. \o/

What I Have Written

"Better Than a Million Dollars" is this session's freebie.

From My Prompts

(no subject)

Unpopular Opinion: The best speculative fiction isn't just escapism, it's also protest. Keep lifting up your voices and your stories!

#WisCon #WisCon26 #WomenInSFF #FeministConvention

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iconthat reminder & extension

Pumpkin Patch 6 - Palettes, Prompts & Fonts
Extended five more days!
Now closing Saturday, November 22, 2025 at Midnight (PST time)
⏰ {New Countdown}
Sorry for the late reminder, please enjoy the extra time.
As usual, all entries and icons may be changed until the challenge is closed.
Currently, there are six participants!
Entries will be accepted until I make the final closing post, thank you.

*Timer clock adjusted, I meant to set it as Saturday midnight (the night of the 21st not the morning).

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!announcements

Holiday Wishes 2025 is now open!

Go forth and post (one wishlist per person)! If you're unfamiliar with the rules or need a refresher, you can find them here on the community profile. Wishlists will be accepted through December 31, 2025.

Once your wishlist has been approved, remember to tag it with at least one tag for each of the six categories listed on this post (Region, Country, Username, Holidays, Week, Category). If the tag you want to use isn't already available, you can post a comment to that post to request that it be created. In the case of fandom- or fanwork-related wishes, please tag for all fandoms requested.

Fanworks created to fulfill wishes can be posted to the AO3 collection.

Note About Shipping: At various times, shipping may be difficult in some parts of the world. If you know this is likely to be an issue for someone mailing you something, we encourage you to make a note about this in your wishlist. Editing your wishlist after the fact is therefore expressly permitted for the purpose of addressing the best ways of getting wished-for items to you.

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season! :)

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Update November 15, 2025

2 new links at Academic Links

1 new link at Life Tips

1 new link at Writing and Worldbuilding

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: Svengoolie

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This November thunder storm

sums up my day. My blood sugar crashed at 430 in the morning. And bounced back to 200 upon waking, 400 by lunch and now almost normal. I'm very over this.

However while I'm eating peanut butter at 430 in the morning to stabilize my sugar I found the drop of this new indie animation.(god knows when you'll ever see more. It's such a weird business model they're using for indie animation in general, merch paying for it. I'm not sure I've seen many things that I've wanted merch for based on one show) Anyhow, it's not half bad, sort of stock characters but it's hard to tell much of anything on how short this is

Watch on YouTube

Also keeping me from sleep was how much my knee and hip hurt. And a weird nightmare. I can only remember a small part of it. We were trying to get into a resort in Mexico, one my brother and his wife go to all the time. But they aren't letting us in and for some reason my grandmother is there in a wheelchair. We're taking her for her hundredth birthday. It was stressful

Have some science saturday

Your anxiety may be controlled by hidden immune cells in the brain

Study reveals why the brain 'zones out' when you're exhausted

CRISPR brings back ancient gene that prevents gout and fatty liver of huge interest to me

Giant North American 'hell pigs' could crunch bones like lions 30 million years ago, tooth analysis reveals Oh Fat Nuggets....

A 400-million-year-old plant creates water so weird it looks alien

James Webb telescope may have found the first stars in the universe, new study claims

Lesson, Door

This morning I gave a lesson to a new student. Her horse is a lot more reactive than Lisa's horse but he was also not very respectful. He learned fast and was pretty cooperative by the end of the lesson. My student also needed some of the basics, how to sit in balance, how to hold the arms and reins so you are very soft with the horse's mouth. The horse has one very unfortunate habit. He shies violently when she dismounts. She sent him to a trainer, and has a work-around to get off safely, but it is a big spook and is pretty scary. I think the horse was once really scared by a dismount. Now it is a habit. Time and desensitization should help.
The woodshed door project is coming along. Both sides of the plywood is primed and all the wood is roughly cut to length. Next is a top coat of brown paint on the plywood and to start assembly.

Current Mood: worried
Current Music: nothing now

Tech adaptation.

As I told several people I would, today I cleaned my computer. The physical object. I got the Q-tips, the Isopropyl, the canned air, the screwdriver set, watched a couple of videos and read some manuals, and got to work. It was a delightfully straightforward set of tasks and, unless I'm running a hyper-specific program that has moments of taking up 100% of the CPU, my computer's now nice and quiet. The only issue I've got right now is the front LED is blinking in an irregular frequency, which tells me one of two things: a physical component needs to be replaced at some point, or the LED itself isn't working properly. Absolutely nothing I've done so far today has caused me any further issues, so I'm not going to worry too much. I'll see what happens the next time I get the urge to play Stardew Valley.

Also of note, though much less pleasant, was having to bear through a couple anxiety spikes. It's been a while and I'm out of practice with them, and I haven't forgotten how they keep lingering. I hope it's all gone by tomorrow.

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pinch hitters' prompts

Pinch Hitter Prompts 2025

Every year, well over a hundred pinch hitters take on extra assignments. Many of these pinch hitters are signed up to Yuletide, with an assigned writer and recipient from the start. Some are not!

Though these supporting pinch hitters are not guaranteed a gift, we'd like to make it a possibility. On this post, we're collecting prompts from the pinch hitters who are not signed up to Yuletide, so that others may give them treats.

To writers
Please consider writing a treat for a pinch hitter! See instructions for how, where, and when to post a treat. Full-length gifts for pinch hitters are welcome in the Main collection.

To pinch hitters
If you are signed up to Yuletide this year, this post does not apply to you, but we still hope you enjoy your gift(s).

If you are not signed up to Yuletide this year but you have claimed or posted a pinch hit, please comment to this post with your requests! Please limit yourself to Yuletide-eligible fandoms, but you can ask for more than 8 different fandoms.

Yuletide 2025 tag set on AO3
Tag set as a browser app

You can treat your comment as a Dear Writer letter, with likes and prompts, or include a link to a letter. Either way, please include the following information when you comment:

-your AO3 name
-your requested fandoms [please format the fandoms exactly as they are in the tag set if possible]
-your requested characters

and, optionally, ideas for what you would like to receive, DNWs, and/or (a) link(s) to other places where you have written about what you would like. You're welcome to comment on mini-challenge posts!

Thank you, pinch hitters! And thank you to anyone on the lookout to pick up a pinch hit - we will post them at

yuletide_pinch_hits throughout the exchange.

Current Mood: restless

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school life

Wait, it's been HOW long since I last updated here? Aaaaaack!

Uh, school continues apace; I'm still a little freaked out by my final projects, but whatever, I'll make it work.

Worked the wood kiln on Thursday; I had a shift that was fairly early on in the process, so there wasn't actually a lot for me to do! My wrist is still a little sore from splitting some wood, though.

I made myself a new icon, though I'm putting off uploading it, because I think it'll be the perfect opportunity to make an icon-uploading tutorial 😂

I've got some new SVSSS thoughts I should probably copy over at some point, but I also don't have quite enough time for that, as it is nearing Bed Time Routine O'Clock.

So yeah! That's me for now. More hopefully soon.

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beta readers

Yuletide 2025 Beta Readers

It is time once again to organize beta readers for Yuletide! Beta readers can check your fic for style, language issues, canon compliance, specialized knowledge of various kinds, and making sure the whole thing makes sense. Being a beta reader yourself is a fun way to contribute to Yuletide--even if you're not writing a story!

If you're interested in beta reading somebody else's story, fill out the form HERE It will ask about what fandoms you are willing to beta for, as well as other kinds of expertise you're willing to offer. Note that you will need to enter an email address, which will be visible to other users, but we will hide this information after Yuletide 2025 is over. After you've filled out the form, you'll get an email containing your responses and a link you can use to edit your answers.

If you need a beta, check the spreadsheet HERE. All responses will be visible in the tab "Form Responses." We’ll be copy-pasting information from there into the other tabs as we’re able to make them easier to find. Find someone offering the kind of help you need (make sure it's not your recipient!) and contact them directly. If no one is offering what you need, you can also comment anonymously on this post to see if someone can help, or you can sign onto the Yuletide Discord and contact a hippo.

If you’re asking for a beta, it can often be helpful to be clear about what types of feedback would be helpful to you. Examples could be that you’re looking for thoughts on characterization and story structure; or you'd particularly like feedback on whether your story successfully avoids topics your recipient doesn't want; or maybe you specify that you would like a check of spelling, punctuation, and grammar (SPAG) but are specifically not interested in feedback on wording choices.

It’s also courteous to ask your beta reader if they would like to be credited when you post your fic, and if so, how. Some people appreciate public thanks in an author’s note, while others may prefer not to be named.

If you have any questions, comment on this post or email the mods at yuletideadmin@gmail.com. (The beta post is an unofficial aspect of Yuletide. Mods had time to put it up this year, but we don’t mean to take it over, so we hope a non-mod participant can put it up in 2026.)

Whether you're volunteering as a beta, or considering future coordination, we appreciate you a lot! Thank you for helping out.

Also please feel free to share any tips you may have about what makes a good beta experience (either as a beta or when seeking a beta's help).