Network

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Picked three months and photos at random!

This is one of the men's rooms at The House on The Rock in Spring Green, WI, where we spent part of our whirlwind off-season vacation at the end of April. Not the warmest time for places like Milwaukee or The Dells, but a lot fewer people!

( more animals in WI here, which seems weird since I'm in Minnesota )

Current Mood: awake

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Heated Rivalry rec

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: busy

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Poem: "Cakes and Ale"

This poem came out of the January 6, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from

fuzzyred and

nsfwords. It also fills the "Cakes and Ale" square in my 1-1-26 card for the Public Domain Day Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by

janetmiles. It belongs to the series Fiorenza the Wisewoman.

( Read more... )

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daily

Daily Check-In

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Monday, January 12, to midnight on Tuesday, January 13. (8pm Eastern Time).

Poll #34077 Daily Check-in

This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 25

How are you doing?

I am OK.
16 (64.0%)

I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
9 (36.0%)

I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single.
9 (36.0%)

One other person.
11 (44.0%)

More than one other person.
5 (20.0%)

Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.

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Three for the Memories Open Until January 24th

threeforthememories is off to a great start! You have until January 24th to make your own post. I made mine today about my 2025.

2) Speaking of things to rec, saw the film House of Dynamite and thought it was wonderfully done –- except for the ending. ( Read more... )

I do think that its structure was helpful, given that just 10 minutes in there is a lot starting to go on, and it helped to have it reinforced with repeated elements.

3) Another yes from me was for the series The Beast in Me. This is mostly because I thought it was particularly well done. I'm not a big fan of the murderous husband/neighbor type thriller because they're always guilty and one of my DNW is gaslighting elements. But I thought this was a particularly well developed story and one with less "shocking twist!" than unexpected surprises that relate to character development.

4) The documentary about the making of Frozen 2 was very interesting, and rather surprising, in seeing how Disney approaches making an animated film. I'd think that -- given the costs and enormous amount of labor -- they would have a script nailed down before starting. And not just a draft, but one that had been run past the internal focus groups, had a table reading done by the cast, etc. Instead they scrapped tons of work from animators, some of which took them a year, because they kept veering back and forth on elements of the story, rewriting the central songs, etc. ( Read more... )

5) The re-release of the Beatles Anthology on Disney+ promised a new episode and remastered footage. It certainly looked very good, but as I'd seen it during its 1990s release, I noticed more about the big gaps in it. ( Read more... )

Poll #34076 Kudos Footer-555

This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 6

Want to leave a Kudos?

View Answers

Kudos!
6 (100.0%)

'Telling family members I scammed them': College student refuses to transfer back from Art History t

Posted by Emma Saven

https://cheezburger.com/43956741/telling-family-members-i-scammed-them-college-student-refuses-to-transfer-back-from-art-history-to

Now that's blind-siding if I've ever seen it…

And even though this story is set in college, it isn't some tissue-grabbing, Sandra Bullock happy-ending…In fact, this story focuses on the downside of parental gaslighting, rather than the positive cases of parenting!

Having helicopter parents who are obsessed with their kids 'future' can be tough. Despite them often wanting the best for their kids, these types of controlling tendencies can be unhealthy to any parent-child relationship, especially as they get older. It's important for young adults to be able to spread their wings, without having to constantly look back at the nest, to validate that their parents are behind them, clapping at every soar and turn they make.

Yes, you want your parents to support you…And when they are the ones who are technically supporting you financially, it can become difficult to have a say in the boundaries that come with their influence in your decision-making!

College degrees, boyfriends, jobs…it may all feel like our decision at the time, but is it ever really solely ours?

https://cheezburger.com/43956741/telling-family-members-i-scammed-them-college-student-refuses-to-transfer-back-from-art-history-to

Wannabe luxury YouTuber demands his videographer move in with him so they can film content whenever

Posted by Etai Eshet

https://cheezburger.com/43956997/wannabe-luxury-youtuber-demands-his-videographer-move-in-with-him-so-they-can-film-content-whenever

There's unprofessional, and then there's casually announcing to your employee that you plan on living together.

This man really looked at his video guy, someone he's known for six months, and thought the next logical business move was a roommate situation. It's the kind of boundary collapse that only happens when a person confuses creative control with personal ownership.

https://cheezburger.com/43956997/wannabe-luxury-youtuber-demands-his-videographer-move-in-with-him-so-they-can-film-content-whenever

hybrid quota-linear rate limiter

https://dotat.at/@/2026-01-12-hqlr.html

A while back I wrote about the linear rate limit algorithms leaky bucket and GCRA. Since then I have been vexed by how common it is to implement rate limiting using complicated and wasteful algorithms (for example).

But linear (and exponential) rate limiters have a disadvantage: they can be slow to throttle clients whose request rate is above the limit but not super fast. And I just realised that this disadvantage can be unacceptable in some situations, when it's imperative that no more than some quota of requests is accepted within a window of time.

In this article I'll explore a way to enforce rate limit quotas more precisely, without undue storage costs, and without encouraging clients to oscillate between bursts and pauses. However I'm not sure it's a good idea.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Poem: "Decreases"

This poem came out of the January 6, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from

fuzzyred. It also fills the "Chasing Rainbows" square in my 1-1-26 card for the Public Domain Day Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by

janetmiles. It belongs to the Shiv thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

( Read more... )

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What's Up for 2026?

In May I took a great trip with friends through Oregon and we ended in California. The timing for the trip, however, was to coincide with the memorial service for my oldest friend's mother.

As she is my oldest friend, I knew her parents the best of all my friends' parents because of the stretch of time over which we saw one another (and she lived just a few doors down from me). I was not close to them but they were always kind to me, and it's interesting how it's the kindness that lingers. ( Read more... )

[ SECRET POST #6947 ]

⌈ Secret Post #6947 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 38 secrets from Secret Submission Post #992.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

A Minor Planet, a Major Thrill

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/01/12/a-minor-planet-a-major-thrill/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59102

Our solar system has eight major planets, nine if you believe that Pluto Was Wronged. It also has literally thousands of minor planets, which are also colloquially known as asteroids, many of which reside in the “asteroid belt” between Jupiter and Mars. I learned some time ago that the International Astronomical Union, through its Working Group on Small Bodies Nomenclature, will give some of these minor planets, usually designated by number, an actual name. What kinds of names? Sometimes of geographical locations, sometimes of observatories, sometimes of fictional characters like Spock or Sherlock Holmes, sometimes of scientists (or their family members), and sometimes, just sometimes, they’re named after science fiction authors.

Like minor planet 52692 (1998 FO8), henceforth to be known as “Johnscalzi”:

This little space potato is a Main Belt Asteroid whose orbit is comfortably between Jupiter and Mars, has a diameter of about 10.7 kilometers, and has a “year” of about 5 years, 8 months and 10 days. If I start the clock on a ScalziYear today, it’ll be New ScalziYear’s Day on September 22, 2031. Plan ahead! If you want to look for Johnscalzi, the link above will tell you where it is, more or less, on any given day, but at 10km across and an absolute magnitude of 12.19 (i.e., really really really dim), don’t expect to find it in your binoculars or home telescope. Just know that it there, cruising along in space, doing its little space potato-y thing.

How do I feel about this? My dudes, dudettes and dudeites, I am so unbelievably stoked about this I can’t even tell you. It’s not an exaggeration to say this was something of a life goal, but not a goal that was in my control in any significant way. I suppose it might be possible to buy one’s way into having an asteroid named for you, but I don’t know how to do that, and I wouldn’t even if I did. How much cooler to be tapped on the shoulder by the International Astronomical Union, and to be told, here is a space potato with your name. I can die happier now than I could have a day ago. To be clear, I don’t plan to die anytime soon. But when I do, if they’re shooting remains into space that point, now they will have a place to aim me at.

Also cool: The name of the asteroid that’s in the catalogue next to mine. We geeked out about it on the phone just now. We’re Space Potato Pals!

Anyway, this is how my day is going. It’s pretty great. Highlight of the year so far, for sure.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/01/12/a-minor-planet-a-major-thrill/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59102

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Monday Music Meme

This week's entry is from 2015, rather than my self-imposed 2020 onwards; OTOH, it's the only actual answer to this prompt.

a song that makes you cry
Stratovarius - Shine in the Dark

Watch on YouTube

These guys are not (yet?) on Bandcamp; OTOH, the runner-up (I Wish, by Battle Beast) is up there.

prompts under the cut

a song you discovered this month
a song that makes you smile
a song that makes you cry
a song that you know all the lyrics of
a song that proves that you have good taste
a song title that is in all lowercase
a song title that is in all uppercase
an underrated song
a song that has three words
a song from your childhood
a song that reminds you of summertime
a song that you feel nostalgic to
the first song that plays on shuffle
a song that someone showed you
a song from a movie soundtrack
a song from a television soundtrack
a song about being 17
a song that reminds you of somebody
a song to drive to
a song with a number in the title
a song that you listen to at 3am in the morning
a song with a long title
a song with a color in the title
a song that gets stuck in your head
a song in a different language
a song that helps you fall asleep at night
a song that describes how you feel right now
a song that you used to hate but love today
a song that you downloaded
a song that you want to share

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Supported Nonprofits for FTH 2026

The links below go directly to the organizations’ websites. Over the next week, we will be posting detailed profiles of each organization over on Tumblr.

If you are a FTH creator and you want to ask your bidders to support an organization that’s not on the list, please read our policy on outside organizations here.

Advocates for Trans Equality*

A4TE was formed when The National Center for Trans Equality merged with the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (a longtime FTH supported org!) Their mission is to fight for the legal and political rights of transgender people in America.
~

Center for Countering Digital Hate *

Sued by Elon Musk (who lost!) CCDH protects human rights and civil liberties online by holding social media companies responsible for business practices that spread hate and disinformation.
~

Disability Law United **

Disability Law United (formerly The Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center) is a nonprofit legal organization that fights for liberation and equity through the lens of intersectional disability justice.
~

Environmental Integrity Project

The Environmental Integrity Project investigates environmental problems and fights for average people facing David-vs-Goliath odds against well-connected energy companies and other polluters.
~

Freedom to Read Foundation *

The Freedom to Read Foundation was established to promote and defend the Constitutional right of individuals to express their ideas without governmental interference, and to read and listen to the ideas of others; to foster libraries as institutions wherein every individual’s First Amendment freedoms are fulfilled; and to support the right of libraries to include in their collections and make available any work which they may legally acquire.
~

Gaza Soup Kitchen *

GSK, run by Gazans, has spent the past year and a half providing hot, nourishing meals to people in Gaza, feeding 3,000 people a day across ten kitchen sites.
~

Global Project Against Hate And Extremism *

GPAHE believes that to protect and advance human rights, particularly those of marginalized and underrepresented communities, build inclusive democracies, and solve global challenges, we must expose and counter the far-right actors and movements that undermine those values.
~

Greenlight America *

An environmental org and civic action org rolled into one, GA helps local people organize effectively in order to get clean energy projects built in their communities.
~

In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda *

A national-state partnership focused on lifting up the voices of Black women leaders at the national and regional levels in our fight to secure Reproductive Justice for all women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals, NBWRJA delivers proactive advocacy and policy solutions to address issues at the intersections of race, gender, class, sexual orientation and gender identity.
~

National Immigrant Justice Center *

NIJC provides legal services for immigrants seeing legal relief of various kinds, as well as engaging in advocacy work for immigrants’ rights.
~

Never Again Action

A Jewish-led mobilization against the persecution, detention, and deportation of immigrants in the United States, NAA takes on campaigns against detention centers and ICE training programs, and organizes mutual aid and deportation defense.
~

Open Secrets *

OS is a non-partisan organization dedicated to tracking money in American politics.
~

VoteBeat *

VB embeds journalists in nonprofit newsrooms around the US to cover important local elections. It aims both to educate voters about municipal and state level issues and to revitalize reporting at a local level.
~

Umbrella: Anti-Poverty Direct Aid groups

For the past six years, FTH has supported one “umbrella” cause: we invite participants to donate to their own local grassroots organization, while also suggesting a handful of exemplary organizations working in communities where the need is especially acute. This year, our umbrella category is organizations providing direct aid to community members, including food, housing assistance, and other basic needs. When looking for an org to support, we encourage you to think about specific populations in your community who may be especially at risk.

Echo Food Bank ** - Food bank situated among several Native nations in New Mexico. They also offer an affordable preschool program.
Madison Countians Allied Against Poverty (MadCAAP) * - Provides food, education, clothing and other services in Madison County, Mississippi
Peninsula Poverty Response * - Providing communities around Ocean Park WA with food assistance, clothing, laundry services, transportation assistance, and showers, offering immediate relief and a pathway to stability with dignity and compassion.
Sisters PGH * - A Black Trans-led organization, Sisters PGH offers both basic resources and counseling to trans people in the Pittsburgh area, including safe, stable housing for Brown and Black trans folks.
Women’s Daytime Drop-In Center * - Oakland, CA based org providing resources, meals, and a place to go for unhoused women and children.
…or a similar organization working in your community!

Organizations marked with an asterisk (*) allow for international donations directly through their websites; two asterisks (**) indicate limited international donations. The orgs without asterisks may take international donations through a paypal or venmo account. If you are a non-US-based bidder/donor and you are having trouble finding an organization to which you can donate, please email us directly at fandomtrumpshate @ gmail . com.

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Books 2025

I started keeping track in 2025 of all the books I read (not including fanfic, of which I am sure I read tens of millions of words) because I have been reading so few professionally published works. I was going to say 'pro-fic' but some of it has been non-fiction as well. So here's the exciting list of 51 books I read in 2025. An average of *almost* a book a week, although there are some interesting three month gaps where I didn't read anything that wasn't on AO3.

Breaking Silence, Linda Castillo, 1/1/25

Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Malinda Lo, 4/6/25

Cleat Cute, Meryl Wilsner, 4/6/25

Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan, 4/6/25

The Pairing, Casey McQuiston, 4/20/25

Camp Damascus, Chuck Tingle, 4/21/25ish

The City Beautiful, Aden Polydoros, ?/?/25 probably April 21 ish

Ash, Malinda Lo, ?/?/25 probably April 21ish

Yellowface, RF Kuang, 7/8/25

The Duke Who Didn’t, Courtney Milan, 7/15/25

Hither, Page, Cat Sebastian, 7/16/25

Prophet, Helen MacDonald and Sin Blache, 7/23/25, reread

The Magpie Lord, KJ Charles, 7/24/25

A Case of Possession, KJ Charles, 7/24/25

The Governess Affair, Courtney Milan, 7/25/25

The Duchess War, Courtney Milan, 7/25/25

The Heiress Effect, Courtney Milan, 7/25/25

To Be Taught, If Fortunate, Becky Chambers, 7/26/25

In Other Lands, Sarah Rees Brennan, 7/26/25

Flight of Magpies, KJ Charles, 7/28/25

The Power of Babel, John McWhorter, 7/29/25

Scum Villain’s Self Saving System Book 1, MXTX, 8/2/25

Scum Villain’s Self Saving System Book 2, MXTX, 8/7/25

Scum Villain’s Self Saving System Book 3, MXTX, 8/7/25

Scum Villain’s Self Saving System Book 4, MXTX, 8/8/25

Bury Your Gays, Chuck Tingle, 8/9/25

Jackdaw, KJ Charles, 9/6/25

Rag and Bone, KJ Charles, 9/6/25

The Marquis Who Mustn’t, Courtney Milan, 9/7/25

The Earl Who Isn’t, Courtney Milan, 9/14/25

Made for You, Jamie Lambing (unpublished), 9/22/25

The Eagle and The Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV, Helen Castor, 10/1/25

The House with a Clock in its Walls, John Bellairs, 10/2/25

The Face in the Frost, John Bellairs, 10/11/25

All the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders, 10/11/25

A Mystery of Mysteries: the Life and Death of Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Dawidziak, 10/15/25

Lucky Day, Chuck Tingle, 10/20/25

Band Sinister, KJ Charles, 10/23/25

Opus, Gareth Gore, 11/6/25

The 13 Clocks, James Thurber, 11/13/25

The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K LeGuin, 11/19/25, reread

Translation State, Ann Leckie, 11/26/25

Straight, Chuck Tingle, 11/26/25, audio

This Princess Kills Monsters, Ry Herman, 11/26/25

Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher, 11/28/25

Nettle & Bone, T. Kingfisher, 12/7/25

Lessons in Magic and Disaster, Charlie Jane Anders, 12/11/25

Guardian: Zhen Hun Vol 1, priest, 12/14/25

Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay, 12/19/25, reread

The Golden Thread, Kassia St. Clair, 12/28/25

What Moves the Dead, T. Kingfisher, 12/28/25

Entry tags:

fth 2026

Fandom Trumps Hate 2026

Below you'll find the calendar for the tenth (!) FTH auction. (What is FTH?)

Our list of supported organizations for 2026 is here. Over the next week, we'll be posting more in-depth profiles of each of these organizations on Tumblr to help creators and bidders can make thoughtful, informed decisions. You can also look at the Auction FAQ (which has lots of useful information for people thinking about signing up as creators, as well as dedicated sections on bidding and on nonprofit orgs.) If you’re raring to go, you can also look at our bidding policies. You'll also find the dates for our 2026 Crafts Bazaar, if you're interested in creating or receiving physical fanworks.

FTH 2026 Calendar

Monday, Jan 26th: creator signups open for both the auction and the craft bazaar

Sunday, Feb 8th: creator signups close for the main auction; craft bazaar signups remain open!

Friday, Feb 27th: browsing period begins, craft bazaar opens

Tuesday, March 3rd, 8am ET: auction bidding opens; craft bazaar signups close

Saturday, March 7th, 8pm ET: auction bidding closes

Wednesday, Mar 18th: auction donations due; craft stalls close

Thursday, Dec 31st: fanworks due

We're excited to be back for another round, and we hope you are too! After all, the world needs us more than ever: our donations, our community care, and our joyful and inspiring fanworks. We need one another right now, and FTH is a great way to make that happen.

Write Every day 2026: January, Day 12

In yesterday's poll, third person limited was the most popular POV for writing by far - 89% of respondents like it, whereas only 32% like to write in first person and/or third person omniscient. For reading, there's much less of a gap - 79% like to read third person limited, 68% third person omniscient, and 53% first person. In both polls, second person is by far the least popular with only 16%.

Interestingly, most people have the same POV preferences for fanfic and original fic when reading (63%) or writing (53%)!

And 89% of respondents would like a story from a tickybox's POV. :D

For me, I'm not fond of second person in reading - I've come across no more than a handful of stories I actually liked, and I can't put my finger on what made those ones work for me when others didn't. So I've never tried to write it myself.

With first person, I like it much more in original fiction than in fanfic - unless it's epistolary fic or something like that, or the canon is already in first person. IMO it's already difficult to write first person well in general, to get a character's voice that consistently right in such a close way that it really feels like the character's voice telling the story. But in fanfic, to me first person makes it much more obvious when the author's view of the character's interiority differs from mine, so it often doesn't work for me for that reason.

I've written a bunch of first person stories, almost all for Sherlock Holmes and adjacent fandoms (out of 10 works, seven are in first person) - though not BBC Sherlock; as a TV canon, that's firmly in third person territory for me. *g* And I've tried omniscient POV once (The Finality Problem, Study in Emerald), which was a lot of fun. But the vast majority of what I read and write is limited third person. I really should experiment with POV more!

Today's writing

Progress on a

fandomtrees treat!

WED Question of the Day

Poll #34074

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 26

View Respondents

Are you a linear writer?

View Answers

yes, I start at the beginning and write until the end of the story
9 (34.6%)

yes, unless the story itself isn't linear
6 (23.1%)

no, I write bits and pieces all over the place and then stitch them together
8 (30.8%)

something else (see comments)
3 (11.5%)

tickyboxes are ...

View Answers

neatly lined up one after the other
7 (31.8%)

out of order
5 (22.7%)

beyond such human concerns
17 (77.3%)

Tally

( Days 1-10 )

Day 11:

badly_knitted,

brithistorian,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

daegaer,

goddess47,

sanguinity,

shadaras,

sylvanwitch,

trobadora

Day 12:

trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

Trump to meet Venezuelan opposition leader Machado at the White House

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr7jzpr95yvo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr7jzpr95yvo#0

Machado, the winner of 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, had offered to share the honour with Trump, an award the president has long coveted.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr7jzpr95yvo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr7jzpr95yvo#0

Jailed Venezuelan politician's son says Trump shouldn't be 'fooled' by pledge of prisoner releases

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c801kypkl3ko?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c801kypkl3ko#1

Ramón Guanipa's father was accused of treason for challenging the disputed 2024 presidential election result.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c801kypkl3ko?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c801kypkl3ko#1

Entry tags:

"Caryatid." (Wake Up Dead Man) G

Title: Caryatid.
Author:

lannamichaels
Fandom: Wake Up Dead Man (2025)
Series: Part 2 of Pillar Of The Community
Rating: G
Archives: Archive Of Our Own, SquidgeWorld

Summary: "How did you know?" Jud asks Blanc.

( Coda )