Are the poor dears all right?
Jan. 10th, 2026 05:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oursinOf course it would be Jonathan Jones making these overheated speculations, wouldn't it? Did Leonardo da Vinci paint a nude Mona Lisa? I may have just solved this centuries-old mystery.
We do wish he would go and look at some landscapes, or maybe abstracts, for a change, though doubtless he would find some female sexual symbolism to perve over there.
Cannot help feeling that he is just some point on a spectrum away from this very weird - not sure if it entirely constitutes a subculture? The Goon Squad: Loneliness, porn’s next frontier, and the dream of endless masturbation Very NSFW and rather creepy - the author in an interview cops to Perverse Exhilaration which may have something to do with discomfort at the tone as well as the actual matter?
There was a piece in Guardian Saturday about people who fall in love with their AI companions, and want to marry then and have children with them, and apparently some women also bond with them, but so far this is not online that I can find. Based on a book that's coming out?
The Batman: Part II Casting Spoiler
Jan. 10th, 2026 12:11 pmpetraLook at me being Responsible and not using my relevant (SO relevant) icon! Because some people would like to be unspoiled! I am such a good fannish citizen.
( Ahem pt. 2 )
You Win Or You Die: An Heirs of the Dragon LARP Report
Jan. 10th, 2026 09:09 amdavidlevineThis was an "international blockbuster LARP," meaning that it had a large cast (130 players), a highly detailed and immersive setting (the marvelous Czocha Castle in Poland, which dates to the 13th century and has hosted many a LARP), magnificent costumes (provided by the players), and prewritten characters. It's one of the best LARPs I have played, although I did have a few issues, most of which I would ascribe to myself as a player.
This report will include SPOILERS for the game. Be warned!
( Read more... )
Credit to Charmed Plume and Wonderlarp for the LARP and Rekografia for the photos.
Yes. Memes are indeed fun.
Jan. 10th, 2026 05:08 pmgoodbyebirdflamingsword:1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Turn to page 126
3. The 6th full sentence is your life in 2026
hah my closest book was Nghi Vo's Mammoths at the Gates, which ends at 120 pages.
"I stared down into it, no lights burning at its heart, no voices raised in song, while Rencki tried to call up the shuttle to Kiskol."
Slow Gods by Claire North.
Well, um. That sounds bleak? 2026 really needs to be nicer to me.
Positive note, I do like the writing.
Author Applications for “Beyond the Galactic Tide” are Now Open!
Jan. 10th, 2026 10:52 amduckprintspress
Happy recruitment opens day! I’m so excited to announce that now through January 31st, 2026, we are accepting applications from authors interested in writing for our next anthology, Beyond the Galactic Tide!
Are you a fanfiction author? Have you been wanting to break into publishing your original fiction?
If the answer to both these questions is “yes,” then this may be the perfect opportunity for you! Duck Prints Press (the spiffy indie press founded by fandom author unforth to publish the original work of fancreators) is looking for approximately 15 authors to write all-new, original stories, 5,000 to 7,500 words long, for a minimum pay of $75 per story! What will these stories be about? TL:DR, ACE…. IN…. SPAAAAAACE! For the slightly longer version, we’re soliciting pitches for stories about asexual characters in outer space settings. Are they exploring? Are they settling? Are they traveling? Are they just livin’ life and vibing? You tell us!
Every pitch must include:
- Setting: Space!
- People: at least one main character who is on the asexuality spectrum
- Genre: any that can reasonably be placed into space
- Relationships: any or none
- A happy ending!
Curious how to apply? If you are over the age of 18 and have posted at least 3 completed fanfiction works totaling a minimum of 10,000 words, then you are qualified to apply, and you should follow these links to learn all the deets – how to apply, what to submit, how long pitches should be, and more! Only applicants who meet our fanfiction requirements will be considered!
The application period ends when the last timezone in the world hits 11:59 p.m. on January 31st (which I approximate to 8 a.m. Eastern time on February 1st), so make sure to get your applications in before then!
READY TO APPLY? Authors who’ve never worked with us before, use this form!
Are you a returning author – one who has written with us before? Use this form!
Feel free to drop us an e-mail at info@duckprintspress.com, send an ask to our Tumblr inbox, or join our public Discord and drop a question in our mod shout chat.
Nominations Queries 1 (Winter 2026)
Jan. 10th, 2026 11:01 amlittlefics posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
seasonsofdrabblesUPDATE: All clear!
Gachiakuta (Anime): Could the nominator clarify if "Soul within a Vital Instrument" is a specific canonical character, or an original character?Kemutai Hanashi (Manga): We're having some trouble confirming that "Tachibana Ririko" and "Tsukiyama Tamaki" exist. Could the nominator point us to where they appear in canon?The Serenade of Spring Thunder: We're having some trouble confirming that "Rindou" and "Shisui" exist. Could the nominator point us to where they appear in canon?わたしは壁になりたい | Watashi wa Kabe ni Naritai | I Want To Be a Wall (Manga): We're having some trouble confirming that "Gilbert" and "Hanazono Take" exist. Could the nominator point us to where they appear in canon?
To the devil on your shoulder.
Jan. 10th, 2026 03:48 pmgoodbyebirdeta ugh my dad gave me anxiety about whether the key would be there, so now I won't be going on the boat until tomorrow and I'm grumbly about it. I wanted stuff to be ready dammit.
+ One thing I did finish is my holiday quest list in Dreamlight Valley, most important of all lolol. Gotta get those holiday decoration items, so I can boot it back up next December and once again not actually get around to decorating all that much. But it does make Kid Me happy still, wandering around with Belle and Wall-E, the most low stakes gameplay there is, collecting pretty holiday items. (they did actually sneak in an extra holiday thing that started after New Years and I'm cranky about it.)
+ I should also do my big yearly tarot spread, but I may not have the brains. Maybe I'll just lay them out and take pictures for later.
+ Letterboxd's In Memoriam tribute this year really hit me in the feels. We lost some lovely creatives.
+ Discord is hosting a survey to see what you think of them adding AI bullshit here. Feel free to stop by and tell them nope.
+ Snowflake Challenge #5
In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it and include a link to your wishlist if you feel comfortable doing so.
1. I'd love to see more people share things that bring them joy in their journals, no matter how small. We gotta grab what we can.
2. If you can't quite think of something shiny to share atm: memes are fun!
3. And if anyone has shared something that has brought you joy, please tell them so <3
(sneaky 4. but please do tell Discord to go fuck themselves with their AI bs.)
story out!
Jan. 10th, 2026 09:24 amgenartiYou can check out The Valley in Thaw here, and the whole issue at www.tractorbeam.earth.
This Year 365 songs: January 10th
Jan. 10th, 2026 09:33 amjs_thrillSometimes Darnielle is able to make this sort of minimalism work for him. And you can see why, even with a track like this where, frankly, it doesn't come together. The chorus has a haunting beauty to it, when he switches from what sounds more like spoken word poetry into something that more resembles a song, and the repetition in the last few lines: before the final chorus:
And your voice on the other end
And the impossibility of your voice on the other end
And the impossible echo inside
That bit right there starts to bring more, lyrically, than when it was just prosaic observations about an ordinary afternoon.
As the song started, I almost hoped we were going to get a soup recipe, in the form of a song, but it transitioned away from the soup. Anyway, this song doesn't quite work for me, but it's not unpleasant or anything. What I am reminded of in two different directions are "What's He Building?" by Tom Waits, which is my core association for the gravelly voiced spoken-rather-than-sung minimalist piece, and, though I am less clear on why listening to this track put me in mind of it, "Don't Know When But a Day is Gonna Come" by Bright Eyes. I think maybe because it is also somewhat minimalist but manages to build in a way that helps it come together quite successfully (it actually boils in a way that this Mountain Goats song doesn't).
Snowflake Challenges 4 & 5
Jan. 10th, 2026 06:50 ammuccamukk
Challenge #4:
Rec The Contents Of Your Last Page: Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!
I do (semi) regular link lists, and thought about dumping one here, but then I saw this video, and wanted to talk about it.
I braced for CW-core melodrama in space and instead got a Star Trek show that actually understands Star Trek.
Context on where I am with modern TV Star Trek, the TL;DR being: "Too old and tired to deal with this shit."
I remember watching the first two episodes of Star Trek: Picard, and deciding, "I don't have the energy to be angry at Star Trek." Which was similar to how I felt about pretty much everything in January of 2020, to be fair. But the feeling specific to Star Trek has stuck, and I haven't kept up with any of the modern shows. We did watch part of the first season of Discovery, and I enjoyed later episodes more than my first impression of the pilot (which I loathed). But then I just never cared enough to go back to it.I probably should've watched Prodigy, which was more my speed (it sounds like, being a Voyager girl growing up). Then I bounced off Lower Decks, both tonally and in animation style. And I felt the same sort of continuity exhaustion towards Strange New Worlds as I do towards all of Star Wars and most of the MCU at this point.
(For the reboot movies: Enjoyed the first one, have forgotten every single thing about the second one, adored the third one, but then Anton died, and they never made any more. Tentatively interested in whatever the reboot of the reboot will be.)
This looks like something I might enjoy! I hope it doesn't rely too much on continuity from season three of Discovery, but otherwise I like the cast, I'm willing to put up with overly-hormonal youth, and I'd just... it'd be nice not to be angry at Star Trek for a change.
A few quibbles with the video:
- Not personal to me, but if you're loving the current era of Trek... Jessie very much is not, and may harsh your mellow.
- It's probably not as spoiler free as some people use with that term, but it didn't really give away any plot details.
- I basically listened to it as a podcast, because while I very much enjoy Jessie's face, there's a lot of b-roll that's just the trailers over and over? Which I guess is a youtube thing.
But overall I liked her video! I will be tuning in to the new show.
AND THEN I SAW THIS VIDEO, so you get some Raye, too.
Challenge #5:
In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts.
I'm not really active in transformative works fandom right now (brain full, no room), but here's a couple broad wishes for rainbow chasers.
1. Copying a bunch of people asking for help with
fandomtrees. There's lots of great trees that need a few more decorations <32. Tell me your favourite album last year. Not song, full album you can listen to end to end. The album doesn't have to have come out in 2025; it can be from another year, and it was just your favourite to listen to in 2025.
3. Tell me your favourite tiny detail about your blorbo, and why you like it. Don't worry if I know/like your canon. I just want to roll around in some fandom positivity. Alternately, a small joke or funny moment from your blorbo's show (or novel, or whatever).
E.g.: this is more of a canon beat, but the thing in "Mr. Rowl" where everyone keeps mistaking the heroine's dad for the Duke of Wellington cracks me up every time I think of it.
ETA: 4. If you use Discord, please go fill out this survey and tell them to put AI integration where the Sun will never see it: We're exploring how people feel about AI—tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Copilot—and what they'd want (or not want) from AI in Discord.
ETA 2: Survey appears to be down. Not sure if it got overloaded. Or if Discord decided they don't want user input after all. Or what. Let me know if it comes back on.
Weekly Chat
Jan. 10th, 2026 01:52 pmdancing_serpent posting in c_entWhatever it is, talk to us about it here. Tell us what you liked or didn't like, and if you want to talk about spoilery things, please hide them under either of these codes:
or
snowflake challenge 2026 - day 3
Jan. 10th, 2026 10:04 pmtielanA rewrite from 2021, updated for 2026.
( a woman called Maria )
I had the weirdest dream the other day
Jan. 10th, 2026 05:12 pmconulyI dreamed that I was going to sleep. I had found a bed - not my actual bed, just a bed! - and snuggled down to sleep. And then I woke up a little (really woke up, not dream woke up) in my own bed, snuggled up nice and cozy, and drifted between the two beds, real and dream, for a little bit before falling back asleep for real.
( Read more... )