Michigan, again

2025-08-21 08:28 am
azurelunatic: stick figure about to hit potato w/ flaming tennis racket, near jug of gasoline & sack of potatoes (bad idea)
[personal profile] azurelunatic
Visiting the out-laws with Belovedest. Last night we had dinner out at the Dirty Bird (chicken bar & grill) so this morning's breakfast is leftovers. Which I had in bed, due to the scarcity of tables in the hotel room, and my general unwillingness to get out of bed before nine.

Unfortunately, breakfast was crispy chicken Caesar salad, with buffalo sauce on the side. And after I finished that, I was dipping baby carrots in the sauce. And there was a spill.
I can't seem to face up to the facts
I'm tense and nervous and I can't relax
I can't sleep, 'cause my bed's on fire
Don't touch me, I'm a real live wire
Spicy pillow, qu'est-ce que c'est?
Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa, far better
Run-run, run-run-run away
Oh-oh-oh
[syndicated profile] otw_news_feed

Posted by an

What is better than having eight million passionate, dedicated users? Having nine million, of course! That’s right, the Archive of Our Own (AO3) has recently reached nine million registered users! Thanks a million (or rather, nine million!) to every member of our community for making this success possible.

Some of you have likely noticed that AO3 is occasionally—and temporarily—unavailable due to site maintenance. However, if you prepare yourself in advance, you don’t need to be deprived of content!

The best way to prepare yourself for maintenance (both scheduled and unscheduled) is to download works in advance to tide you over until the site is accessible again. You can find instructions on how to download content from AO3 in our FAQs! Works are downloadable in several formats — AZW3, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, and HTML — letting you enjoy reading across devices: desktop, mobile devices, or even eReaders. Whether the site is temporarily down or you’re offline, having works downloaded means that you can always enjoy your favorite works!

Once again, thank you for your continued support of AO3 and for helping us grow each and every day. We look forward to celebrating many more achievements with you in the future!

blu ray drive question

2025-08-21 07:59 am
aurumcalendula: gold, blue, orange, and purple shapes on a black background (Default)
[personal profile] aurumcalendula
Are there particular signs to look out for w/r/t an blu ray drive starting to fail?

I was importing a CD into iTunes last night and my external blu ray drive kept kinda getting stuck on some of the songs (some later imported successfully after I unplugged the drive and checking the connections plus restarting my PC seemed to resolve the issues with the last one).

I'm not sure if the problem was with the CD (it was from a historical society, so I'm not sure if it was burned or pressed), the software I was using, the USB connection, the drive, or something else, but now I'm feeling twitchy about the drive.
[syndicated profile] ao3_news_feed

Nine Million Users

What is better than having eight million passionate, dedicated users? Having nine million, of course! That's right, the Archive of Our Own (AO3) has recently reached nine million registered users! Thanks a million (or rather, nine million!) to every member of our community for making this success possible.

Some of you have likely noticed that AO3 is occasionally—and temporarily— unavailable due to site maintenance. However, if you prepare yourself in advance, you don't need to be deprived of content!

The best way to prepare yourself for maintenance (both scheduled and unscheduled) is to download works in advance to tide you over until the site is accessible again. You can find instructions on how to download content from AO3 in our FAQs! Works are downloadable in several formats — AZW3, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, and HTML — letting you enjoy reading across devices: desktop, mobile devices, or even eReaders. Whether the site is temporarily down or you're offline, having works downloaded means that you can always enjoy your favorite works!

Once again, thank you for your continued support of AO3 and for helping us grow each and every day. We look forward to celebrating many more achievements with you in the future!


The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan-run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

badly_knitted: (Dee & Ryo black & white)
[personal profile] badly_knitted posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks

Title: Revenge At Last
Fandom: FAKE
Author: [personal profile] badly_knitted
Characters: OCs, Dee.
Rating: PG-13
Setting: After the manga.
Summary: Murder most foul has been committed, but Dee and Ryo have caught the murderer.
Word Count: 300
Content Notes: None needed.
Written For: Challenge 489: Amnesty 81, using Challenge 486: Revenge.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.



lucy_roman: (due South)
[personal profile] lucy_roman posting in [community profile] fan_flashworks
Title: Like a Punch to the Face
Author: [personal profile] lucy_roman
Rating: Teen and up
Summary: Ray has thrown a lot of punches. Set during the first part of Mountie on the Bounty
Pairing: Fraser & RayK
Word count: 100

Like a Punch to the Face )
nanila: me (Default)
[personal profile] nanila posting in [community profile] awesomeers
It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!
china_shop: Chu Shuzhi wearing a black face mask with a cat mouth and whiskers on it. (Guardian - CSZ cat mask)
[personal profile] china_shop posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
Poll #33513 Light in Dixing
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 6


In episode 23, the Deacon says the guest room is dim because Dixing's limited light is being diverted to the palace. Possible implications:

View Answers

wealthy people can bribe the palace for more light
6 (100.0%)

there is a black market in photons
4 (66.7%)

the Dixing bar is well-lit because its patrons donate a portion of their light quota
1 (16.7%)

the bar is not actually well-lit -- it just looks that way for filming convenience
6 (100.0%)

the glowy lava on the volcano uses up some of the limited light resources
0 (0.0%)

you can create a blackout elsewhere by making an especially bright light in a windowless room
1 (16.7%)

the Deacon is bullshitting because he dislikes Zhao Yunlan
1 (16.7%)

other
0 (0.0%)

Where did Zhao Yunlan's stash of face masks, as discovered by xiao-Guo in episode 16, come from?

View Answers

Zhao Yunlan always had them; he just never uses them
1 (16.7%)

the SID team presented them as a pointed gift in episode 3, after Zhao Yunlan sneezed on everything; Zhao Yunlan shoved them in a desk drawer and forgot about them
4 (66.7%)

Shen Wei sent them as a gift in episode 3, accompanied by a note wherein he politely hoped Chief Zhao's health had improved; Zhao Yunlan put them in his lollipop drawer and grinned whenever he saw them
3 (50.0%)

they arrived anonymously in the mail (Shen Wei)
1 (16.7%)

Lin Jing explained disease transmission to Wang Zheng, and she added them to the regular stationery order
2 (33.3%)

other
0 (0.0%)

Some book stuff

2025-08-20 11:34 pm
aurumcalendula: gold, blue, orange, and purple shapes on a black background (Default)
[personal profile] aurumcalendula
Ballad of Sword & Wine by Tang Jiu Qing (translated by XiA, Jia, and amixy):

Read more... )

I just saw today that first few volumes of Rosmei's baihe titles (volume 1 of The Creater's Grace and volumes 1 and 2 of At The World's Mercy have their preorders scheduled for October!

I also continue to be unreasonably excited about The Beauty's Blade, despite the release date being ~2 months away.

Why is she still here?

2025-08-20 08:02 pm
impala_chick: (Fic ||  Poly)
[personal profile] impala_chick
Feeling like shit emotionally lately, not sure why. Maybe it's because I keep reading my NYT email every morning (and I should stop). Also our closing date for our house keeps getting moved because of all these little inspection-related things that hadn't been completed, and now I have to pay a fee to keep our rate locked or else we'd have to push it back even more. Super frustrating. I just want to get my stuff out of storage and sleep in my own bed and feel like a real adult again :/ My muse has also fled the scene but I've got to get my ass in gear so that I can sign up for [community profile] ficinabox! It's probably my favorite exchange of the year.

In toddler news, she loves to say, "See you next 'morrow!" and she calls Gatorade "Grata", both of which I find very amusing.

I've listened to Reneé Rap's new album Bite Me. It is very high-energy and a lot of the songs are about love triangles and cheating, which makes me super curious about her personal life LOL. It does get a tad bit repetitive overall. My favorite track is Why Is She Still Here? Other stand-outs are good girl and mad.



We have to buy a new washer/dryer for our new house so I've been doing research on washing machines. This article about Washing Machine Settings made me think I've been using washing machines wrong this whole time. I hardly ever used cold setting but I think I should do it more. Also, I want a top-loading machine like we had at our last house but I'm also worried about saving space. Would anyone recommend their washer/dryer?

Unraveller - Francis Hardinge

2025-08-20 07:12 pm
sholio: book with pink flower (Book & flower)
[personal profile] sholio
I haven't read Hardinge in ages, so I'm catching up some of her books I missed. I started with this one, and really enjoyed it! Although it's not specifically similar to it, I was reminded of Fly By Night in its general vibe - not as dark as some of her books (... I say this about a book in which
slight spoilerone protagonist's brother ate her sister and that's not even the worst trauma of her life),
with entertainingly unhinged worldbuilding including a kingdom partly ruled by spiders, and kid protagonists caught up in adult politics in which they're not sure which of the various morally gray adults around them they can trust.

Basic setup/characters/etc )

Spoilers )
amedia: On the left: Da Qing in human form, a young man in white shirt and overalls. Caption: Da Qing. On right: Da Qing in cat form, stout dark cat with folded ears. Caption: Chinese characters for Da Qing. (Guardian: DQ1)
[personal profile] amedia posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
Is there canon or fanon about Jiajia's family name?

Many thanks for any assistance!
senmut: Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes looking forward, standing close (Fandom: Sherlock Holmes)
[personal profile] senmut
If you recently supported my endeavor for a new phone, and did NOT see a ficlet you enjoyed from me this month, feel free to pop a private message my way to ask for something different.

and because I keep poor records during stress, if I overlooked you I am so so sorry, please message me

Swaps open!

2025-08-20 09:45 pm
fic_in_a_box_mod: (Default)
[personal profile] fic_in_a_box_mod posting in [community profile] ficinabox

Navigation: Rules/General Info | AO3 Collection | Sign Up Info | Medium Rulesets | Mod Contact: ficinaboxmod@gmail.com OR Screened Mod Contact Post

Swap Requests

Swaps is the part of the exchange where you can trade in 1k increments of your assignment for 1k increments of other assignments!* Requests for swaps are open until September 7th and the mods will finalize the swaps over the next few days. Swaps are voluntary, so you don't have to give up any part of your assignment if you don't want to. We also can't guarantee that you'll be able to swap, although the more people who send in swap requests the more likely it is!

Non-participants who want to pick up swaps are invited to join in.

(* The rest of this post is going to talk about wordcounts in increments of 1k, but obviously if you are a fanartist or podficcer or something it's equivalent wordcount. Just, that would get really wordy to write every time...and we need a sheet to do the swap math for us...)

Swaps FAQ

Click for answers to questions like:
  • What & why are swaps, in more detail than above?
  • What happens if I don't submit any swap requests?
  • Why are Swaps open when I don't know what my initial assignment will be yet?
  • If it turns out I like/dislike my initial assignment more than I thought, can I change my mind about my swap requests?
  • The instructions below ask for usernames for swap requests. Can't I just tell you what fandom/ship/medium I'd like to swap for? How do I find requests I'd like to submit swaps for?
  • I just want to make lots of stuff for lots of people, but I'm not picky about the details. What's easiest?
  • I'm extremely picky, can I give you a specific max swap wordcount for every swap I request? How do I increase my chances of getting one or more swapsignments?
  • I definitely want to keep a full 10k assignment, can I still participate in swaps?
  • I'm not signed up, can I submit a swap request and get a swapsignment?

What & why are swaps, in more detail than above?
Fic In A Box allows participants to split their 10k assignments up into multiple gifts – ten 1k fics, or five 2k fics, and so on. We also allow pinch hits to be picked up in 1k increments. In this way, you can think of every full 10k assignment as actually being made up of smaller 1k assignments, since each gift needs to be 1k or more unless certain length opt-ins are selected.

It's definitely fun to make a bunch of small works for the same person, but it's also fun to make a bunch of small works for a whole bunch of different people. Especially because there might be requests out there that you could make 1k for, but not a full 10k.

Swap requests let you tell the mods, "Hey, I actually don't want to do all ten of my 1k assignments for the same person, can I trade some wordcount in?"

For example:

  • After sign ups end you might find that your initial assignment is for X. You know you could create a full 10k for X, but maybe they haven't opted into any extra mediums, and you wanted to do some art for FIAB.
  • Looking around the requests, you see that A, B and C are all requesting art mediums you can do for fandoms/relationships you're interested in.
  • You submit a swap request form telling the mods:
    • You'd like the following swaps:
      • 1k for A
      • 3k for B
      • 1k for C
    • You need at least 2k for B because you want to make them a comic at least that long.
    • You want to keep at least 7k of your initial assignment for X.
    • You don't want more than 3 recipients total.
  • The mods get a whole bunch of swap requests like the one above and then do a huge spreadsheet puzzle to figure out who can actually swap what.
  • In the end, you will either get an email letting you know we couldn't make any of your swaps happen…
  • …or you will get an email with telling you about your swapsignments, which might be any of the following:
    • You've kept 7k of X, and now have 1k of A & 2k of B
    • You've kept 7k of X, and now have 1k of C & 2k of B
    • You've kept 7k of X, and now have 3k of B
    • You've kept 8k of X, and now have 1k of A & 1k of C
    • You've kept 8k of X, and now have 2k of B
    • You've kept 9k of X, and now have 1k of A
    • You've kept 9k of X, and now have 1k of C

What happens if I don't submit any swap requests?
You will get your initial assignment email from AO3 and that will be your full and only assignment. You'll need to make 10k worth of gifts for your recipient. This is a perfect fine and normal way to participate in Fic In A Box! Swaps are completely optional.

Why are Swaps open when I don't know what my initial assignment will be yet?
Some people know they'll want to swap no matter what their initial assignment is. Other people will be traveling for the rest of sign ups, or only rarely have access to the internet, so they wouldn't be able to submit any swap requests if we only had them open after sign ups close.

If it turns out I like/dislike my initial assignment more than I thought, can I change my mind about my swap requests?
Yes! Swap requests aren't final until swaps close, so if you change your mind about something just submit a new swaps request form. We'll use the most recent one.

The instructions below ask for usernames for swap requests. Can't I just tell you what fandom/ship/medium I'd like to swap for?
We have to handmatch swap requests, so it's too complex/time consuming for us to figure out which users are requesting the things you want to make for you. The big swaps puzzle spreadsheet we use only shows wordcounts and usernames.

If you really don't want to look through all the requests to find ones you really like, then you can select the "I would like to be able to swap to anyone I might be matchable to on AO3" checkbox and make your AO3 offers as broad or narrow as you'd like. Please remember swaps aren't guaranteed, so you shouldn't offer anything you can't make 10k for.

How do I find requests I'd like to submit swaps for?
Since the AO3 requests summary is terrible, use the Automagic App (link) to search requests!

I just want to make lots of stuff for lots of people, but I'm not picky about the details. What's easiest?
Use the google form to tell us the following:

  • I want to be assigned a total max of 10,000 words after swaps.
  • I want to keep at minimum none of my initial assignment.
  • I would like to be able to swap to anyone I might be matchable to on AO3
  • [Either skip the "I would like to swap to one of the following people:" question or input a list of usernames if you have them]
  • My swap assignments should be a max of 1k each.
  • I would like at most 10 recips after swaps, including my initial assignment.
  • [Skip the last question, probably]

You may keep 9k of your initial assignment and get a 1k new swapsignment, or you may keep none of your initial assignment and get ten new 1k swapsignments for different people, or anything in between. Do not make AO3 offers for anything you can't make 10k for.

I'm extremely picky, can I give you a specific max swap wordcount for every swap I request?
Yes, and we're glad to have you do so! The last question on the answer form lets you give this kind of granular detail, as well as any other miscellaneous info you think we need to know.

How do I increase my chances of getting one or more swapsignments?
Getting swaps is mostly about luck, since you can't control what other people are or aren't willing to swap, but the more usernames on your swapsignments list the higher the likelihood that at least one of them will have word count available to swap around.

I definitely want to keep a full 10k assignment, can I still participate in swaps?
Yes, in two different ways!

  1. If you don't want to make more than 10k but you'd be happy to swap your initial assignment for a full 10k assignment to someone else, you can tell us:
    • I want to be assigned a total max of 10,000 words after swaps.
    • I want to keep at minimum none of my initial assignment.
    • I would like to be able to swap to anyone I might be matchable to on AO3
    • [Either skip the "I would like to swap to one of the following people:" question or input a list of usernames if you have them]
    • My swap assignments should be a max of 10k each.
    • I would like at most 1 recip after swaps, including my initial assignment.
    • [Skip the last question]
  2. If you're sure you'll be able to make 15,000 or 20,000 words before works are due, you can tell us you want 15k/20k total after swaps and you want to keep all 10k of your initial assignment, then fill out the rest of the swaps form however you'd like.

I'm not signed up, can I submit a swap request and get a swapsignment?
Yes! Please do, in fact. There's more information about this below under the header "Swaps for Non-Participants"

Swap Form

The following forms will walk you through the information we need. You may fill these forms out as many times as you need, but only your final request will be used to make your swaps. These forms are identical except for the email part.

Manual Swap Requests

To enter into swaps without using the above forms, we need the following information emailed to ficinaboxmod@gmail.com. If you send multiple emails or use both the form and send an email, please make sure each submission contains your entire swap information. Only the most recent email or form submission will be used for your swaps.

Please copy the tiny form in this text box to your email:

(Click here for instructions about the tiny form above!)

Your AO3 username exactly as it appears on your sign up.
If you aren't signed up, note that the numbers below are assuming you're signed up so you will need to adjust accordingly.

What is the maximum amount total you would like assigned?
This is the absolute max we will assign to you in total, including your initial assignment and swaps. This amount must be at least 10k if you are signed up.

What is the maximum number of assignments you would like?
This is the maximum number of people you will be assigned to create for, including your initial assignment.

What is the minimum amount of your current assignment that you want to keep?
If all your swapping dreams come true, we'll make sure you have this amount of your original assignment still assigned.
You can keep as much as 10k (if you picked a max of over 10k) or as little as 0k. If you have no preference, put 0k. You can only keep wordcount in 1k increments, even if your assigned recip has shorter length opt-ins.

What other participants would you like to create for, how much would you like to create for them, and do you have any special notes?
You can provide either the exact AO3 username of the participant(s) you would like to create for as it appears on their FIAB requests, or say "I would like to swap to anyone I might be matchable to on AO3"

We need to know the amount of wordcount (in increments of 1k) that you would like to create for each participant listed. If opting to any match, please provide the maximum you'd like to be assigned to any single swap recipient.

If you have any special notes, we need those too! For example if you want to swap to someone to make them a map, we'd need to know you need to swap for a minimum of 2k, not 1k.

Please format the swap request information in the following way:

New Recip's AO3 name, Max amount you want to be assigned to this recip, Special Notes

Example:

Asymptotical, 2k
fencesit, 5k
tuesday, 5k, I need at least 2k to make a map

Swaps For Non-Participants + Initial Pinch Hit Info

Initial pinch hits won't come out until after Swaps because IPHs are of course super useful for swapping!

If you:

  1. aren't signed up but intend to create something for one of our participants regardless OR
  2. are signed up but intend to do additional treating on top of your assigned wordcount

...then you can get a pinch hit swapsignment!

If you're signed up, then you can indicate that you're willing to take 15k or 20k in the swap form.

If you're not signed up, then you can use the Non-Participant Swap Form (linked above) to get a pinch hit swapsignment!

We also would like to make people taking pinch hit swapsignments aware that swapsignments are likely not going to be like regular pinch hits:

  • regular pinch hits are recipients who genuinely have no one to create for them and who will go without a gift if no one steps up
  • swapsignment pinch hits are used to help make participants' swaps dreams come true.

Some of the Swaps puzzling does end up reducing or completely eliminating IPH wordcount, but that's not really the main goal. No one will go without a gift as a result of us having fewer or no swapsignments, so we'd like to encourage folks to only offer to take on that extra wordcount if they're very enthused to do so and feel it would be relatively easy for them to complete.

If you only want to pinch hit for requests who otherwise would have no one creating for them (entirely reasonable) you can simply wait for us to post our real initial pinch hits to the comm after Swaps conclude.

Final Note!

The FIAB Newbies Discord Server (link) is a great place to ask questions if you're still confused!

If you have any questions about swaps or sign ups that would give away what you're offering, please email us at ficinaboxmod@gmail.com or use the screened mod contact post to keep that info secret! You can also contact us via these methods if you're new to exchanges and have a question about exchange norms, appropriate sign up details, or other concerns.

Seeking New Friends

2025-08-20 08:29 pm
theradicalchild: (Doughboy Jackalope Writing)
[personal profile] theradicalchild posting in [community profile] addme
Name: Remy

Age: 41

I mostly post about: My personal life, mental health, game reviews, book reviews, movie reviews, and other stuff. I am also working on a furry fantasy novel that I hope to finish typing up one of these days--I already have it written out in seven or so notebooks.

My hobbies are: AI furry art, reading, writing, video games

My fandoms are: I was heavily into the furry fandom and AI furry art communities but had several falling outs with the former ages ago and the latter recently that led to me leaving social media, but I still enjoy doing them.

I'm looking to meet people who: Comfort me when I'm in need, make insightful commentary on my entries, appreciate my unique autistic perspective.

My posting schedule tends to be: At least once every few days.

When I add people, my dealbreakers are: I am very somewhat ideologically sensitive as politics has broken tons of my past friendships.

Before adding me, you should know: I am autistic and very PTSD, damaged from 18 years of psychiatric medications. Read my sticky post to learn more.

August 2025

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