kingstoken

One of my dastardly hipster activities is that I like to use calendars and planners from previous years. I just think it's fun! 2009 is the same calendar as 2026 so this is my little pocket planner for the year :)

Nothing fancy but I love the deep green cover.

festivids_mod posting in

festivids

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brightknightie

The annual Highlander fanfic exchange,

hlh_shortcuts, author reveals came early this week. Check out the collection. A trend this year was longer stories. I'm not yet done reading all I want to, so I'm not yet making a general recommendations post.

But the story written for my prompt, "Metaphorically Speaking," which I gushed over during the anonymous period, turns out to be by

argentum_ls. Thank you, Argentum!

And the story I wrote, for Merriman's prompt, is "Hackobore" (G, gen; 5.6K words).

batdina, thank you for beta-reading! The title is the Japanese word for a nick in the sharp edge of a blade that is deep enough to threaten its structural integrity. Merriman expressed interest in sword repair, and I therefore damaged Duncan's katana and sent him to an expert to learn what could and couldn't be done. This gave me an opportunity to learn a lot about traditional Japanese swords, pivotally that it is not the smith who sharpens them, but a separate specialty craft, the togishi, the sharpener/polisher. ( Read more... )

Thank you for reading!

abyssal_sylph

Challenge #2: Pets of Fandom

Loosely defined! Post about your pets, pets from your canon, anything you want!

We had a kitty by our mother's house, his name Cebola (means onion in Portuguese). He's fat brown tabby, lazy, but very comforting to have around. Though found out recently that our mom has an allergy to cats, but its fairly mild according to her ._.

At the place we lived at had another kitty, Bibi, who's a mostly white calico who seems to be scared of us ;_;

Snowflake Challenge: A warmly light quaint street of shops at night with heavy snow falling.

soricel

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katiedid717 posting in

agonyaunt

My Grandchildren Don’t Thank Me for Christmas Gifts. Is This a Moral Failure?

My grandchildren are in or nearing their teenage years. Two are from my son and his wife, and two are from my daughter and her husband. Of course, all children love and, to some extent, expect birthday and Christmas gifts. My daughter-in-law and her children continue a tradition of giving me handmade greeting cards every Christmas. They also always send me handwritten thank-you cards for the gifts I send. However, I receive no gifts from my other grandchildren, both boys, and never thank-you cards.

I mentioned this to my daughter, their mother, but there was no response. I suggested that each might give me a card promising 30 minutes of picking up sticks in my yard. I know that gifts should come from the heart with no sense of reciprocity, but the current situation bothers me. There seems to be a lack of moral character being demonstrated, as well as poor ethics and manners.

What do you think?

From the Therapist: You’ve framed your grandsons’ behavior as a case of bad manners or moral failure, but I hear a yearning underneath. No matter how much we tell ourselves that gifts aren’t about reciprocity, the reality is that they often hold emotional significance in which both parties are essentially asking to be recognized. The giver wants acknowledgment of their thoughtfulness and investment, while the receiver wants confirmation that they’ve been truly seen. Both are essentially asking, “Do I matter?”

When we don’t feel seen or appreciated, hurt feelings can disguise themselves as something else, like concern about good character or proper etiquette, because it’s easier to push pain outward than to say, “I feel unimportant to you.” But remember that children take cues from their parents, and I have a feeling that this lack of acknowledgment has more to do with your daughter than with her sons.

For instance, you mentioned that you got no response from her when you brought this up. But instead of telling her what her children should do for you, I’d be curious about why she doesn’t facilitate gift-giving or thank-you-note-writing. I say “she” because most teens don’t do this without some parental prodding, and I imagine that your daughter has her own feelings about your relationship that are being played out in the gifting dynamic.

Maybe gifting between you and her family feels empty or performative, when what she really wants is a different or more meaningful relationship with you. It could be that she perceives you as critical of both her and her sons, demanding of something that she doesn’t feel she or they owe you. She might also find your suggestion that the boys pick up sticks for you as a bit thoughtless: Would it make you happy to ask her children to do something that would feel more like a burdensome chore than something they would actually enjoy giving you?

Meanwhile, you say that your “daughter-in-law and her children” give you cards and write thank-you notes, but I noticed you don’t mention your son. It’s nice that your daughter-in-law has created traditions for her kids around gifting, but this doesn’t mean that her children have stronger characters than your daughter’s children do. It just means that the person your son married facilitates gifting and thanking — and that your son and your daughter don’t.

So what might help? First, separate your hurt feelings from judgments about character. You can feel unappreciated without that meaning that these boys are being raised poorly — or that this is primarily about them. Second, consider what you actually want. Do you want thank-you notes, or do you want to feel more connected to and valued by this branch of the family? If it’s the former, you could issue an ultimatum (no thank-you notes equals no gifts), but I don’t think forced statements of gratitude are what you really want. If you want genuine connection and appreciation, you can start by approaching your daughter with curiosity instead of complaints.

kathleen_dailey

New Warp-Drive Propulsion Concept Moves Fictional Starships Closer to Engineering Reality

The resemblance to the twin nacelles of the USS Enterprise is not merely aesthetic ... but reflects a potential convergence between physical requirements and engineering design, where science-fiction architectures hint at practical pathways for real warp-capable configurations.

minoanmiss posting in

agonyaunt

Well, two tales of skimpy clothing, to compare and contrast.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: curious

catherineldf

This was going to be a cheerful post, but then Minneapolis got invaded and a member of my community was murdered and a bunch of others were kidnapped, including local high school students. "Rage" is such a little word, it doesn't begin to cover it. And yes, as with 2020, I'm living blocks away from the epicenter.

But for those worried about me personally, I am living alone, unemployed and taking care of a sick cat who requires regular medical attention. Add into that a bum leg and ice-covered streets and I'm not out much at night except for planned activities where I am meeting with or being driven by friends. Am I going into areas where folks have been targeted? Yes. I was at the Mercado Central yesterday for lunch after a post office run. It was largely deserted because people are justifiably terrified, but I got lunch from the lady making pupusas (one of the very few places that was open) and toiling away to feed the 10 or so people who were there. The front door was locked and building security was much in evidence. This is a reminder to support local immigrant-owned businesses.They need all the help they can get right now. I am also planning on going to the rally this Saturday, but will skip the march. Other than that, I am supporting my good electeds and local organizations, writing emails and will be doing some volunteering on related things (online, etc.) as time permits.

What else is going on? Well, today I'm "auditioning" for a part-time gig at a nearby local bookstore. A long time staffer is leaving and they're hoping I'll be a good fill in option. Not the week I would pick to start a retail gig in Minneapolis, but that fault lies neither with the bookstore or me. It's close enough, I think I can work out the med and event schedule with the store's needs, but we'll see how it goes. Shu is still hanging on, albeit with a few more periodic bad days (no more seizures so far, at least) - he still wants loves and cuddles and food and brushing so I'll try and keep him going until he wants to go. A friend just sent me a Reedsy invite so I need to get my editing info together and post out there as the bookstore gig will not cover all of my expenses. I did get some good financial news recently so not desperate, just want to make sure I don't become so and I need to avoid going on Social Security for a while longer or life will get even more problematic.

Other news:

Queen of Swords Press is celebrating its 9th birthday this month! Also known as "Holy Shit! We Made it!" Huge thank you shoutout to everyone who's helped along the way! We are having a birthday sale this week - use code BIRTHDAY at check out to get a discount when buying direct from us through 1/11 and you'll get entered in our prize drawing!
Jennie Goloboy and I are co-teaching "To Market, To Market" at The Loft Literary Center on 2/28. Get help from a prominent literary agent and an award-winning small press publisher on getting your book submitted and potentially published and all that good stuff.
I just added some things to my Ko-fi store, including a couple of signed copies of an out of print award-winning collection.
I have a Patreon where I post fiction, nonfiction, Queen of Swords Press news and more. This supports me in the sense of paying me for my publishing work.
You can hire me to edit, teach, write and all that good stuff! Check out my Professional Editor's Network page here.
Blue Moon (the next werewolf book) has cleared 18k words, I'm working on a queer Arthurian story for an anthology invite, I'm starting on a nonfiction piece for a successful pitch and I have a novella and a short story in progress. Working on building my nonfiction portfolio and helping people remember that I used to be a pretty well known fiction author so definitely open to more projects!

More bulletins as we go along. Please stay as safe as possible out there and do good work!
EDITED: Looks like the bookstore gig will work out once we get schedules and stuff sorted. Which means you'll be able to see me at DreamHaven Books in Minneapolis more often!

aurumcalendula

(belated) January 6th - 'what are your three favorite F/F pairings from live-action media?' For

maggie33

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(there are still slots open for the January Talking Meme here)

veronyxk84 posting in

fan_flashworks

Title: Life’s a Beach
Fandoms: Friends, Lucifer, Revenge
Author:

veronyxk84
Characters/Pairing: Chandler, Monica, Joey (Friends); Emily/Amanda, Nolan (Revenge); Lucifer, Chloe (Lucifer)
Rating: PG
Content: 9 icons with beach scenes from 3 TV shows.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction created for fun and no profit has been made. All rights belong to the respective owners.

Challenge: #502 - Sand

—
( SHOW: 9 Icons )

mabiana

My radio is currently doing a thing on new tv series, and I'm curiously waiting if Heated Rivalry will get a mention. I have still not really joined the age of streaming exept for occasionally trying amazon prime since I'm paying for it anyway for the shipping costs, but have the impression if things there are to be had without an additional fee to be paid it is often for a reason so I never keep it up long. So even if it can be officially had here I am likely to continue to be out of the loop until it can be had on DVD. Unless this time really curiousity gets the better of me. ;-)
After the suprise Christmas message by wife of nephew two days later I got an invitation for the confirmation of youngest great nephew in March. So, my being pleased about being remembered is now rivaled by the cynical thought Oh look, present from auntie would be welcome. Which is unfair, I'd have been hurt even more hearing this took place without anyone thinking to invite me. But now I'll have to figure out what is appropriate to give as recently unearthed and dusted off great-auntie.
I continue to be frustrated and upset about all the mail I sent having disappeared. I've put away the lovely cards I got today into the two boxes I am sorting all the private mail I get in, and I thought about a coffee break talk at work decades ago on the subject of storing letters. The consensus of the older colleagues then was that at some point it just gets unmanageable, the realistic thing to do was to save one representative letter of every person and just bin all else. I considered this then, but did not have the heart to do it and decided to carry on with my boxes a while longer. And nowadays it is only a few times per year that something gets added, and I am way more likely to drown in all the yarn and media I keep buying than in private mail correspondence, and it's still only two boxes.
I also took down the Christmas decoration yesterday and exchanged for some general winter stuff. Every time the decoration season changes I am astonished how much time that takes me. The solution would of course be to just not always put up that much. ;-) But I also quite enjoy it, both the having it up and at least in the beginning the process.
Apparently no Heated Rivalry mention, unless it was while I had turned down the volume when a sketch I hate came on and forgot for a while. However, they say additionally to the snow there shall be a storm tomorrow. Guess which day of this week I have to go outside because I have a hairdresser appointment. I got a bit of a scare this morning when my cell phone dinged while I was right in the middle of exercising along with Jane Fonda, a time of day where people don't usually message me. I did not want to interrupt to run for the cell phone, but I know an aunt is not doing well at the moment and we are all very worried about sick colleague, and with the anniversary of my Mom's death coming up on Sunday my first thought really was now someone died. It was however only the hairdresser reminding me to not forget the appointment tomorrow...
My bread is done baking and I would really like to get the big macrame project I started done before I have to get back to work next week, so I shall stop babbling now and start knotting. ;-) (and wait for my bread to cool down enough for being part of a late lunch ;-) )

maevedarcy posting in

gamechangerhr

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maevedarcy

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princessofgeeks

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Current Mood: hot

princessofgeeks

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Current Mood: curious

rionaleonhart

In Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Robert comments on Sandra 'flirting with everybody'. Everybody, you say? I do love an opportunity to ship a character with everyone, but how do I learn how to write everyone?

When I get fannishly into a work of fiction, I want to gather whatever information I can find that might be useful for characterisation. Usually, this is a simple matter; I just have to watch the show or read the book or play the game!

The Goes Wrong Show universe is more of a challenge. The actual actors are playing fictitious 'actors' who are playing characters, and it's the 'actors' I want to learn more about. If you want to learn more about the fictitious members of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, you really have to go digging!

There are snippets of characterisation scattered across a bunch of theatrical performances and supplemental materials, some of which are readily available and some of which really aren't. The Goes Wrong Show itself is easy to come by; it's on BBC iPlayer (although I bought it on DVD because we don't have a television licence), and I've heard it's free on YouTube outside the UK.

(If you're curious about this stupid thing I've gone insane about, I suggest trying the Goes Wrong Show episode '90 Degrees', which instantly makes it clear how ludicrously dedicated the (actual) actors are to the craft of fucking everything up. It takes genuine effort to make a play go this badly!)

Beyond that, I find myself desperately piecing these characters together through brief faux 'behind the scenes' videos across various platforms, and one two-hour in-character radio broadcast, The Christmas That Goes Wrong, which aired in 2016 and is now only available on the Internet Archive.

(I'm including this link solely for my own future self's reference; this is very much a 'this is of interest to me and only me' piece of media! Do you want to hear Chris Bean and Robert Grove fuck up and play 'Summer Holiday' instead of 'White Christmas' three times? Of course you don't. I do. This is for me. If for some reason you do decide to listen, the programme starts three minutes into the audio file, but I really wouldn't recommend it unless the Goes Wrong universe already has its claws in you.)

I still haven't seen The Play That Goes Wrong itself, which is where most of these characters actually originated. I am, I'll be honest, eyeing up theatre tickets.

Anyway, here are my favourite stupid facts I've gleaned about the members of this fictional drama society from supplemental materials. Actually, now that I double-check, all of these facts are about Robert, my beloved terrible egotistic weirdo. (Why are all of my blorbos the worst? Why can't I ever fall in love with someone nice?)

( Stupid facts about Robert Grove of the Goes Wrong Show. )

My personal favourite bit of supplemental Goes Wrong material I've come across is this stupid two-minute promotional video (Tumblr link) in which Robert is helping Chris try on suits. Extremely weird and homoerotic; single-handedly sent me from 'I'm not really shipping any of these characters' to 'okay, yeah, these two should have absolutely disastrous sex'. Robert may or may not actively be attempting to murder Chris here?

queervanilla posting in

polyamships

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maevedarcy

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princessofgeeks

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Current Mood: impressed

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kingstoken

January 2026

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25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Page Summary

yarnandglue - Scheduling like it's 2009
festivids_mod in festivids - Pinch Hit #5
brightknightie - My HLH_Shortcuts '25 story: "Hackobore" (G, gen; ~6K words; Duncan, Methos; sword repair)
abyssal_sylph - Snowflake Challenge #2 (2026)
soricel - Fannish 50: Post 2!
katiedid717 in agonyaunt - Ask The Therapist: My Grandchildren Don’t Thank Me for Christmas Gifts. Is This a Moral Failure?
kathleen_dailey - If only
minoanmiss in agonyaunt - Ask a Manager: Two Tales of Nudity
catherineldf - Current state of the Catherine, etc.
aurumcalendula - (belated) January Talking Meme - what are your three favorite F/F pairings from live-action media?
veronyxk84 in fan_flashworks - Multifandom (TV): Icons: Life’s a Beach (9 icons)
mabiana - (no subject)
maevedarcy in gamechangerhr - maevedarcy's hollanov fic recs #1
maevedarcy - maevedarcy's hollanov fic recs #1 (Fannish 50 #2)
princessofgeeks - Heated Rivalry rec
princessofgeeks - turning the tables
rionaleonhart - We're Going Where The Sea Is Frozen.
queervanilla in polyamships - FIC: The Manor (Arcane - Meljayvik)
maevedarcy - [MULTIFANDOM] PolyamShippingDay - January 2026
princessofgeeks - Heated Rivalry rec

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Page generated Jan. 13th, 2026 12:02 pm

Network

Scheduling like it's 2009

Pinch Hit #5

My HLH_Shortcuts '25 story: "Hackobore" (G, gen; ~6K words; Duncan, Methos; sword repair)

Snowflake Challenge #2 (2026)

Fannish 50: Post 2!

Ask The Therapist: My Grandchildren Don’t Thank Me for Christmas Gifts. Is This a Moral Failure?

If only

Ask a Manager: Two Tales of Nudity

Current state of the Catherine, etc.

(belated) January Talking Meme - what are your three favorite F/F pairings from live-action media?

Multifandom (TV): Icons: Life’s a Beach (9 icons)

(no subject)

maevedarcy's hollanov fic recs #1

maevedarcy's hollanov fic recs #1 (Fannish 50 #2)

Heated Rivalry rec

turning the tables

We're Going Where The Sea Is Frozen.

FIC: The Manor (Arcane - Meljayvik)

[MULTIFANDOM] PolyamShippingDay - January 2026

Heated Rivalry rec

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January 2026

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