inquisitorlily: (burning down)
Lily ([personal profile] inquisitorlily) wrote in [community profile] holiday_wishes2025-11-19 05:47 pm

Winter is here

Hi, all! I'm Lily, look forward to this every year and have been participating for a long time. The year has, admittedly, been pretty rough, but as always I look forward to the winter season. I hope you all give yourselves grace and kindness over the holiday season. That said, here are my wishes for this year.

1. Amazon gift cards
2. Kingdom Come Deliverance for PS5
3. A gently used Xbox One
4. Dreamwidth paid time
5. Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2
6. This Emmrich plush from Dragon Age

If you need to reach me, you can send me a DM or email me at seaside[dot]lighthouse[at]gmail[dot]com. Thank you all and have a wonderful holiday season!
mrkinch: Erik holding fieldglasses in "Russia" (bins)
mrkinch ([personal profile] mrkinch) wrote2025-11-17 11:40 am

11/17/2025 Tilden Nature Area

In a turn of events, U and Chris took Lower Packrat Trail while I walked up the road. It rained a few days ago and some places would have gotten very muddy. It wasn't particularly birdy anywhere although our combined lists topped thirty species, barely. The only bird of special interest I heard was a Pacific Wren just northwest of the Lake. U and Chris heard a Varied Thrush and Chris saw a Fox Sparrow. That's not much! The list: )

As I was driving up Cañon Drive just a little behind U, there was a flock of Wild Turkeys around the Memory Trail stairs, which we added to the list.:)
rfemod: (Default)
rfemod ([personal profile] rfemod) wrote in [community profile] rarefemslashexchange2025-11-19 03:25 pm
Entry tags:

2025 Schedule & Links

Hello and welcome to the Rare Femslash Exchange, a multi fandom exchange focused on f/f ships with two or more female characters (canon or genderbent) and/or genderqueer characters that you feel would fit in a f/f exchange, with less than 250 works on AO3- completed, in English, using the otp:true filter. The minimum requirements are either a 500 word fic or a nice sketch.

You must be 18+ to participate.

The planned schedule is as follows:

Nominations: December 1-10th (closes at 10PM PST)
Sign-Ups Open: December 13th
Sign-Ups Close: December 27th, 10PM PST
Assignments Out: approximately December 30th
Assignments Due: February 6th, 10PM PST
Assignments Revealed: February 13, 10PM PST
Creators Revealed: February 20th, 10PM PST

Tag Set | AO3 Collection | Rules & Guidelines

Contact: rarefemslashexchangemod@gmail.com
rfemod: (Default)
rfemod ([personal profile] rfemod) wrote in [community profile] rarefemslashexchange2025-11-19 03:20 pm
Entry tags:

Rare Femslash Exchange 2025 Schedule

RFE will be back for its fifth round and nominations will begin in less than two weeks! As commenting is mandatory in this exchange, please make sure you have done so on previous gifts before nominations open, if you want to be eligible to participate. :)

Nominations: December 1-10th (closes at 10PM PST)
Sign-Ups Open: December 13th
Sign-Ups Close: December 27th, 10PM PST
Assignments Out: by December 30th
Assignments Due: February 6th, 10PM PST
Assignments Revealed: February 13th, 10PM PST
Creators Revealed: February 20th, 10PM PST
retrogrrrl: (Fuckin' Neato)
Leo ([personal profile] retrogrrrl) wrote2025-11-19 06:57 pm
Entry tags:

The 411 on this month's flicks.

Uncharacteristically, I spent a goooooood portion of this month catchin' a few flicks and devouring 'em like I was a film critic gettin' paid per movie watched. For those who don't know what's the scoop, my letterboxd is a magical place where y'can scope out my controversial (but totally cool) opinions on different movies. Some reviews are freeeshly baked, more elaborate, I jibber-jabber in some of 'em; some others are, like, lowkey 'cause I had nothing much to add.

This all accounts for this month, November, and I think I might be addin' more tonight and subsequently as I scope out more flicks. Beware that SPOILERS may be implied or part of jokes from here on out. Cruise 'round carefully, space cadet!
Read more... )
oyceter: teruterubouzu default icon (Default)
Oyceter ([personal profile] oyceter) wrote2025-11-19 02:45 pm

More updates

Hallo all! I keep meaning to post updates, but then I get distracted. Anyway, thankfully CB flew back home mid-October, and we have been having "fun" with the US medical system since then. He luckily has very few side effects from the stroke, mostly limited to very mild paralysis on one side of his face (people have not noticed unless it's been pointed out) and some weirdness with taste. The annoying thing has been trying to get medical appointments and figure out what to do, as some doctors have been more helpful than others. Also, dealing with insurance sucks.
penaltywaltz: (Sherlock: Molly - Grin)
penaltywaltz ([personal profile] penaltywaltz) wrote in [community profile] holiday_wishes2025-11-19 01:58 pm

Happy holidays to all!

So this has been a really really tough year, as I imagine it has been for most people. We started it off with a life-changing medical issue on my behalf (I suffered second-degree burns on my upper chest in early January) and have almost ended it with a life-changing issue on my mom's behalf (she had a heart attack in September, which has caused lingering health issues). But there are good things as well! Earlier this year, my nonbinary daughter started HRT, and she's so much happier. Even though she got denied disability in June she's gotten wind of an autistic-friendly day program via Regional Center that will cover transportation to and from as well as a program for her to go to college-based training programs for free, so we're looking into that for her. And also, my mom might qualify for in-health support services where she will be able to hire me as a caretaker and I'll get paid about $19 an hour for it, which will help with rent, expenses and bills. So even though things are rough right now, we have hope.

My list is a mix of some big ticket items for my mom and daughter (especially since my daughter just turned 23 on November 5th and due to SNAP benefits being withheld and other financial issues we weren't able to get her much) and one wish by necessity for me. So if you can offer any help, or even just some kind words, we would love anything and everything.

1 - Our Amazon wishlist. I literally spent about six hours reorganizing it so everything is sorted into "sections." There's a ton of Fresh delivery food items on there so if you want to order something from Amazon's Fresh delivery program just give me a heads up on what delivery time you picked so I can make sure I bring refrigerated and frozen stuff in quickly. Otherwise, we will be thankful for anything off this list.

2 - Amazon gift cards, Memory Stitch gift cards, and Google Play gift cards. Amazon gift cards will let me buy food not on the list as well as gifts I have for my family on other wish lists, so those are always a huge help. Since I can no longer wear crewneck T-shirts and I literally have a collection of 20+ years in fandom shirts I can no longer wear, I'd like to take some of them and turn them into a premium T-shirt quilt from Memory Stitch. I'm pricing it at around $436 to get a 30-shirt quilt with batting and long arm stitching as well as an extra $40 to get them to cut the shirts so I don't screw them up and not have them be usable. It's expensive, but it's the best deal for what I'm looking for most in a T-shirt quilt. And Google Play cards will let my daughter get all the limited-edition stuff for her mobile games without causing me to go broke (if they're digital, I've can give you her email address via PM).

3 - Any help with our GoFundMe. It was started when we were homeless in 2022, so that's why we've raised a lot, but we're still keeping it going because even with two of us on social security and a ton of help from a friend, we still struggle to make ends meet. At the time of writing this, I had taken out two large loans and three payday loans to cover unexpected expenses over the last few months, and even renegotiating my payments because of the government shutdown I'm currently overdrawn with no chance of getting any overdraft fees I may incur refunded because my bank sucks. Once I can cover the overdraft, I can use any other funds I may get to get a jump on next month's bills as well as cover our car insurance and two credit card payments I'm not able to pay right now. Even a couple bucks if you can spare it is a huge help.

4 - This coat and hat set from Anime Gear Guru. My daughter is obsessed with Hololive, and she showed these to me as things she wants. These are definitely Big Ticket items, but she is cold often so the jacket would be perfect for cold nights, and she collects hats so that would be cool as well. These are items that are up for pre-order but she would love them.

5 - Pokémon Legends: Z-A for the Switch. My daughter got a regular Switch a few years back and she is an avid Pokémon fan. She would love the game for her to play since it's actually available for the regular Switch and not just the Switch 2.

6 - A Kobo Libra Colour eReader (7") for my mom. New, refurbished or gently used, we would be happy with anything. Because of the heart attack she had she's having to postpone her two cataract surgeries until at least April, and she just can't read small print books anymore, which comprises most of her book collection. A friend of mine got this eReader and said it's good for people who have trouble reading print books and that she can use it with Hoopla and Overdrive as well as Epub books I have downloaded for her, so it seemed like the best choice so my mom can start reading again.

7 - Two (or at least one) of the Yarn Heaven bags from Everything Crochet for my mom's craft area. Even though she got rid of a ton of yarn that was in our storage unit, she still has a lot of yarn and fabric to organize and this would be a huge help in doing that. The shelves in the craft area are slotted wood shelves, so once we get the shelves organized more, we can hang a bag on one shelf if we only get one or both her shelves if we get two bags. That way she can see all her yarn and maybe some of her fabric too, which means there's more chance she'll use them.

8 - Fanfiction for me, but! There is a caveat with this gift. I have a wide variety of fandoms, as I have been writing fanfic for over 27 years. BBC Sherlock, Elementary, Star Trek AOS, Doctor Who, the CSIverse, the Buffyverse, Bleach, the MCU and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries are my absolute faves, and if you look at my fics you should get a better idea of my ships (but please, no BBC Sherlock Johnlock fic). I also enjoy other fandoms that are not one-off ones I made art for, as I moderate a Big Bang and make cover art for a lot of the unclaimed fics, so if you're unsure whether I'd like a fic for a ship or fandom, feel free to ask me!

But, as I said, there is a caveat to this wish: if you make me something, let me make something for you in return, okay? if it's for a fandom I'm familiar with and a ship I feel comfortable writing I would love to write you a fic, otherwise I'm willing to make art for people for fandoms/ships I don't write. My only no-gos are non-con/dubcon (for both writing me a fic and reading a fic to make art for it) and incest ships (don't ship any of the ones in my fandoms). But otherwise, I am game for anything as long as you let me give you something in return.

(Also, for people from last year who I owe graphics and fic too, if you still want what I owed you from last year, let me know in the comments regardless of whether you make me something and these will be my top priorities this year!)

9 - V-neck (preferably deep V-neck) and scoop neck clothing for me. I have a ton of utilitarian type tops on the Amazon list, but now I've got 20+ years of T-shirts I've collected for fandoms and fun stuff that I just can't wear anymore. While plain stuff is great and will also be loved, what I would really love are V-neck and scoop neck T-shirts and tank tops that are fun. I tend to wear a lot of racerback and regular tank tops just because I'm pre-menopausal and have hot flashes because of that as well as the medicine I take for other ailments, but both short and long sleeved shirts would be awesome too.

And they don't have to be new! I will take gently used stuff you're wanting to give to a new home. I've just gotten to the point where the sensory issues and constant itching have made it impossible to wear crewneck shirts and I have to replace, like, 80% of my tops now, so any help with that would be amazing. I tend to wear a 2X for womens shirts (usually relaxed fit is better than slim fit), a 3X for juniors' tees and 2X to 3X for racerback tanks, depending on how low cut they are (I can usually get away with a 2X, but is some styles 3X sits lower on my chest). Bonus if it's from any of the fandoms or ships on my AO3 page!

10 - Care packages. Honestly, with as rough as the last year has been we'd love a little TLC from anyone who wants to gift this to us that you pick out. We'd be happy with anything, but a few notes: all three members of my family prefer baths to showers, my mother is allergic to pine and eucalyptus scents so none of us can have anything with them (also: nothing topical with menthol) and my daughter has boy cut curly hair/my mother has curly hair in like a bob cut/I have curly hair down between my shoulders and neck, so hair stuff of any type if you want to include it is appreciated since at least one of us can probably use it. For anyone wanting to include pride items, my daughter is nonbinary/trans and bisexual while I am a biromantic demisexual who also just uses the queer umbrella usually, and my mom is an ally and loves stuff showing support as an ally. If anyone wants to include anything clothing related, I can provide sizes.

I don't mind providing our address here! Also, my daughter has to get mail with her deadname, but I put her chosen name in parenthesis so if you want to personalize something you'll know the name to use.

Ragna Cook (me)
Debra Barger-Cook (my mom)
Trace Cook (aka Lena Barger-Cook...my daughter)

1780 S. El Camino Real
Unit C-201
Encinitas, CA 92024
United States
alexia_drake: Aleksander from TV Series Shadow And Bone (Default)
Alexia Lisa Drake ([personal profile] alexia_drake) wrote in [community profile] capspiration2025-11-19 10:05 pm
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matsushima: still doing this thing (dream sheep (disability pride ver.))
Meep Matsushima ([personal profile] matsushima) wrote in [site community profile] dw_community_promo2025-11-20 06:59 am
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[community profile] thankfulthursday

a cute elephant with hearts coming out of its trunk and the text 'thankful thursday' and the community url

[community profile] thankfulthursday is a weekly gratitude community. Nothing is too big or too small to share.

· Photos are optional but encouraged.
· Check-ins remain open until the following week's post is shared.
· Do feel free to comment on others' check-ins but don't harsh anyone else's squee.

This week's check-in is open.
alexia_drake: Aleksander from TV Series Shadow And Bone (Default)
Alexia Lisa Drake ([personal profile] alexia_drake) wrote in [community profile] capspiration2025-11-19 10:02 pm
Entry tags:
alexia_drake: Aleksander from TV Series Shadow And Bone (Default)
Alexia Lisa Drake ([personal profile] alexia_drake) wrote in [community profile] capspiration2025-11-19 10:00 pm
Entry tags:
matsushima: (❤️)
Meep Matsushima ([personal profile] matsushima) wrote in [community profile] thankfulthursday2025-11-20 06:56 am

giitu (20 November 2025)

What are you thankful for this week?
· Photos are optional but encouraged.
· Check-ins remain open until the following week's post is shared.
· Do feel free to comment on others' check-ins but don't harsh anyone else's squee.
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)
kaberett ([personal profile] kaberett) wrote2025-11-19 09:26 pm

[food] breadferences

At the weekend we made a mildly unusual detour to a fancy local bakery; one of the things they had on the shelves about which I went "oooh" was fig, hazelnut & anise bread. So that flavour combination (plus some spelt) was went into the oven this morning!

The way bread normally works around here is that I make it, via the Ritual Question of Do You Have Any Breadferences (Bread Preferences). To facilitate this call and response, A List of our Usual Options, doubtless to be added to. Suggestions welcome. :)

Read more... )

davidgillon: A pair of crutches, hanging from coat hooks, reflected in a mirror (Default)
David Gillon ([personal profile] davidgillon) wrote2025-11-19 09:33 pm
Entry tags:

Well that was weird

4AM-ish I wasn't asleep, and heard something which I couldn't work out if it was an aircraft or thunder.

So I popped open the bedroom window to see if it was any clearer that way, just caught the very end of it, and still couldn't tell.

I stood listening for a while, as it's rarely that quiet, and I could hear a freight train going past in the cutting down the hill - you can only really hear the trains at that time of night as otherwise they're drowned out by the traffic noise.

And then, for about 10 seconds, I heard the distinctive clip-clop, clip-clop of horse's hooves. WTF?

If you hear hoofbeats, suspect auditory illusions?

I have no idea what it actually was, but it sounded like hoofbeats. At 4AM.

trobadora: (McShep bronzed by ahkna)
trobadora ([personal profile] trobadora) wrote2025-11-19 10:23 pm

New Stargate?!

According to Gateworld, Amazon (which owns the franchise now *sighs*) has greenlighted a new Stargate series! And it's not a reboot!

I was never into SG-1, and I still resent Brad Wright and Joe Mallozzi for the way they ditched SGA in favour of SGU, dumped on SGA's female fans, and then were offended when SGA fans weren't interested in SGU. But I really loved Stargate Atlantis. It was my main fandom for many years, and I have so many fond memories both of the show and the fandom. I haven't rewatched it in a while, but it's one of the things on my list that I definitely want to go back to when I have some time and no energy for new stuff.

My main ship was McShep, but even more than that, Sheppard was my favourite character, and I loved reading Sheppard gen. My secondary ship - a tiny pool noodle of a rarepair - was Teyla/Bates, and I still wish it had been more popular. (Maybe if I'd written fic myself? Unlikely, but ... *g*)

Still, even though I was very active in SGA - I co-ran [livejournal.com profile] sga_newsletter, co-modded [community profile] mcshep_match and [livejournal.com profile] mensa_au and [livejournal.com profile] teyla_bates, among other things - I never wrote any fic for it. Part of it is that I got into SGA during my three-year writers' block (which Doctor Who eventually broke), but even afterwards, despite my brain being constantly full of scenarios, they never crossed that line into writing. Possibly in part because the fandom was big and kept me busy! But surely that can't explain it entirely, and I'm honestly not sure what other reasons there might be. (Why do some fandoms never make me write? A mystery for the ages! *g*) Anyway, it'll be interesing to see, when I eventually rewatch again, whether that'll change ...

And it's very unlikely the same magic will happen twice, but when/if a new Stargate show does happen, unless the premise is itself unappealing, I'm absolutely giving it a chance.
Chop Wood, Carry Water ([syndicated profile] chopwood_carrywater_feed) wrote2025-11-19 08:59 pm

Chop Wood, Carry Water Wednesday mini-edition

Posted by Jess Craven

Hi, all, and happy Wednesday!

I don’t usually send out a newsletter on Wednesdays but I did want to dash off a quick one just to say congratulations to everyone who called their representatives about the Epstein Files Transparency Act and helped ensure it would pass! Who knew that would happen so quickly?

Don’t let anyone tell you this wasn’t a huge victory—it was. Yes, we will likely face hurdles ahead, but we shouldn’t discount the fact that that this wasn’t supposed to happen. It only did because of the relentless advocacy of people like you.

The news, of course, is bursting with Epstein-related headlines, and they’re not going to go away anytime soon. I opened my Ground News app to see:

The fact that the bill passed overwhelmingly and stunningly fast:

A poll saying that the majority of voters believe that Trump was aware of Epstein’s abuse

A headline stating that Trump is going to try to have ABC News’s license revoked because their reporter asked a question about Epstein (yes, really)…

And headlines about a new poll showing Trump’s approval rating falling to the lowest of his term over prices and Epstein. Bravo!

Overall it’s good to see this getting so much coverage, and while I do have concerns about the Trump admin trying to hide evidence, I also remember my history. Remember Watergate? It was the coverup that finally brought Nixon down—not the crime!

Anyway, I hope you take a victory lap today, folks. I know everything is awful—especially if you’re in North Carolina. But we are going to win this fight, and there will be justice. I don’t know when, and I don’t know exactly what it will look like, but boy, do I look forward to the day I open the news and see pictures of perpetrators going to jail.

Keep envisioning it, folks!

Jess

P.S.—don’t forget I partner with Ground News, so if you’re looking for a really cool way to read the news with tons of data about the bias and partisan leanings of the publications you’re reading, Ground News is really cool and you can get 40% off a Vantage Plan subscription through my link. I DO NOT GET PAID IF YOU SUBSCRIBE so don’t do it on my behalf. But I do think it’s a great news source and it does force me to see news I otherwise would never encounter. This is sometimes a good thing, sometimes a depressing one—but always necessary to be fully informed.

Subscribe to Ground News here.

cahn: (Default)
cahn ([personal profile] cahn) wrote2025-11-19 01:03 pm

Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth (Winick)

Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth (and five sequels); Gina -- The Girl Who Broke the World (and two sequels)

Outstanding! (As Hilo would say.) I do not know how with two children I have hitherto been unaware of the Hilo graphic novels, but indeed I did not know about them at all until a friend who was cleaning out her older kids' book collection offered them to A., and then I forgot about them until A. told me I needed to read them.

I don't know, y'all, these are graphic novels aimed towards the Dog Man demographic, I guess 8-year-old kids or so? they are definitely written on an 8-year-old level (complete with the old "let's erase everyone's memory" trick used a couple of times)... and somehow they were also a shot straight at my id. Maybe it's that I was getting over a cold when I read them and so my mental state was that of an 8-year-old. Or that the author was apparently influenced by Calvin and Hobbes and that went into some deep places in my brain. But I plowed through all 6 of the first set of books, and 3 of the next set, without being very aware that I was not absolutely the target audience. And indeed, what it shares so poignantly with C&H is that sense of deep joy. Hilo's very being just emanates joy. He has other kinds of emotions, too, but joy is the one that just radiates from the page.

But also all the characters are The Best and I have a lot of feelings about them! DJ and his large family that is so busy that they don't sit down to eat, but always have room for a few more, why not? Lisa, my fave, the little sister who starts getting suspicious about all the suspicious things going on that the other family members are too busy to pay attention to! Gina who wants to do STEM-y things and not do cheerleading, and her cheerleading-crazy family! Hilo and the ones who make up Hilo's backstory! Polly, who shows up in the second book and basically steals every scene!

The other thing about these books is that they are so wildly inventive. I read book one and thought, wow, that was good, but there's no way the author can pull that off for more than one book. Nope, he pulls it off for the five more in the series. It reminded me a little of how in The Good Place, I thought I knew what was coming in the second season, and then everything I thought was going to happen in the entire season happened in one episode. Loved these books madly, loved all the crazy hijinks madly, loved the deep compassion for all the characters madly.

The Gina books slow down a bit; they are still wildly inventive and with the same awesome characters, but by the nature of the series they have to be a tiny bit more serious, and so the set doesn't have quite the same exuberance that made me love the first six Hilo books so very much (which also do get more serious as they go along, but since it's all part of the same arc it's a little more gradual). But they are still great.


Spoilers
IZZY. Izzy was absolutely my favorite, no one will be surprised to hear. ALL THE PIECES FIT. I legit cried over her.


It's interesting -- some books I have a lot to say about, and I don't have very much to say about these; they're not the kind of books that I feel the need to chew over. (And, I mean. They're written for 8-year-olds.) They're just so joyous that I loved them very much.

HAZZAH!