fffriday | Member Posts

We just went to a small, and surprising brief, vigil on the Common in memory of Renee Good 'and other victims of ICE," organized by MIRA, a local immigrants rights and support group. I'm glad I went, and some good things were said. There will I believe be a larger event tomorrow, but when I can show up for short-notice things on weekday afternoons, sometimes that feels like my job.

autobotscoutriella

Snowflake Challenge: A mug of coffee or hot chocolate with a snowflake shaped gingerbread cookie perched on the rim sits nestled amidst a softly bunched blanket. A few dried orange slices sit next to it.

Challenge #3: Write a love letter to fandom. It might be to fandom in general, to a particular fandom, favourite character, anything at all.

I'm not good at love letters - or letters at all, really! Epistolary has never been my strong suit. (Which is why this is late, haha. Shh, it's only by a few days!)

So I'll just say: complications and all, I'm glad fandom's here. I got started when I was a sheltered teenager who had no idea what I was getting into, and while fandom probably wasn't the best way to learn how the world worked outside the local homeschool group, it was definitely one of the kinder options. I've made all of my best friends through fandom at this point - first through Transformers, and then in Ace Attorney (which I was so nervous to get into, because I'd been into exclusively Transformers for a decade, and how did fandoms about humans even work? And then everybody was so lovely and welcoming). I've lost touch with a few of them over the years, but I still remember all of them. (If we ever talked back on FFN and you've found this somehow, I still think about you!)

Admittedly, I haven't really caught up to fandom on most social media these days. I never made it over to Twitter or Tiktok before -gestures at everything-, or the newer sites people seem to have migrated to from there. But I've found people on all the sites I do hang out on, and that's been really nice. So...thanks, fandom! Here's to another few decades.

Current Mood: thoughtful

dolorosa_12

As is customary, if I have the opportunity to repurpose a

snowflake_challenge prompt as a Friday open thread prompt, I will.

Today's prompt asks create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts.

(While it's not explicitly stated, I assume the intent is to ask for things on a small-scale personal fannish or material level, not to express wishes relating to the myriad large, overwhelming global crises or things of that nature. I ported it over as an open thread prompt intending a similar spirit.)

I find this sort of thing a bit awkward, but let's give it a go:

1. I would love for people to fill the requests on the outstanding needy trees in

fandomtrees. You can see details here. While my tree is not on the list, while I'm talking about this fest, I'd always love to have more gifts!
2. Recommend your favourite folktale, fairytale, and/or mythological retellings — book medium only. In terms of the spectrum on which these types of retellings exist, I tend to prefer things closer to the Angela Carter end of the spectrum as opposed to the Disney end when it comes to tone and approach.
3. Tell me about delicious things that you've cooked and enjoyed eating recently! I'm an omnivore with no dietary restrictions.

I know some of you have already created your own wishlists in your journals, but please feel free to link them in the comments. And do look at other people's wishlists in the comments, and see if you're able to fulfill anything. Let's use this post as a way to work through our awkward feelings about wanting things in public. (Or maybe it's only me.)

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

adore

One of the things I want to work on this year is unmasking. In general, but especially with my family. This tumblr post has some ways to start.

I thought I was starting today, actually, but while I expressed my emotions honestly, my family are not emotionally safe for me to be that vulnerable around, which is why I have been masking around them in the first place... today was hard because I'm grappling with the fact that these people who claim to love me and have affection for me, want me to stay quiet when someone in the family hurts me. They'll make excuses for the person who hurt me because they think it's okay for me to be hurt. When I love someone, I don't want them hurt. So I don't believe this is love, I don't understand this so-called familial love. Seems cultish to me.

It's in moments of realisation like these, when I brush against my family and leave with a bleeding gash, that I feel lonely despite having met friends very recently.

Unmasking has to go hand in hand with protecting myself and setting strong boundaries. Being 'radically visible' when it's not safe for you to be really seen by these people? Needs more thought.

This is giving me more ideas for why I am so parasocially fascinated by Yunho, the idol who does not want to be seen to feel safe. Maybe he reminds me of what I do on a daily basis to feel safe around my family. He's very performative and I don't have the energy for that, so I'm very avoidant.

I wonder if Yunho is lonely. Whether he ever wants to be honest and vulnerable. Maybe safety comes first for him.

Current Mood: aggravated

oursin

Steps towards identifying new Black voters in 18th-century Westminster and Hertfordshire, way back in 1700s, when being able to vote meant having certain property qualifications e.g. being a householder.

***

What did the Romans ever do for us? Not so much of the benefits we're always told: Urban populations in southern Britain experienced a decline in health that lasted for generations after the Romans arrived.

***

The history of mutual aid organisations: Prior to the development of government and employer health insurance and financial services, friendly or ‘benevolent’ societies were an important part of many people’s lives.

***

There are no pure cultures: All of our religions, stories, languages and norms were muddled and mixed through mobility and exchange throughout history (and I don't seem to have saved the links about the numbers of immigrants in medieval England....)

***

This is an older link I don't think I ever posted: Vitriol to Corrosive Fluid: ‘Acid’ Assault in the Twentieth Century:

There seems to have been a spike in cases in the late 1960s, but the pattern established in the nineteenth century was clearly at an end. With fewer cases occurring, and fewer making headline news, the incidence of this unique offence continued to fall until its reappearance in a different guise in the twenty-first century. However, the ongoing digitization of late twentieth-century newspapers may yet reveal further cases.

oursin

Happy birthday,

flemmings!

alias_sqbr

I finally got back to this! Masterlist.

The chapter: Construction of Meaning: Picture Composition.

It was really interesting reading this as someone who has read lots of art theory for the purposes of being better at art, and picked up some more formal theory via vague osmosis from my artsy parents and their books, but not generally thought about composition very deeply from a media analysis angle.
( Read more... )

alias_sqbr

Going through the free university mini-course Media and Power from the University of Iowa.
( Read more... )

torachan

1. We recreated the delicious pineapple & ham tater tots from Knott's Berry Farm at home and they turned out really good! Not exactly like the ones we had at the park but considering it was a Christmas thing, we won't be getting it again for a while and it was super easy to make at home.

2. The Christmas tree is all down and boxed up, all decorations are boxed up, just a few more lego sets to take apart and then everything will be done. Sad to put everything away, but I am glad we can decorate again now that we have a cat-free space.

3. It is very chilly and windy today. I like having wintery weather that doesn't involve rain.

4. Chloe enjoyed the sunny window this morning. Cats are glad the rain's done, too!

svgurl

two log cabins with snow on the roofs in a wintery forest the text snowflake challenge january 1 - 31 in white cursive text

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'm currently attempting to write a platonic Hanahaki fic, so I've been looking up different flowers and their meanings. The last website I was on was Alamanc - Flower Meanings, though the website itself is based off The Farmer's Almanac and has other information, such as gardening tips and recipes.

svgurl

Challenge #3:
Write a love letter to fandom. It might be to fandom in general, to a particular fandom, favourite character, anything at all.

Where do I even start? Fandom has been such a big part of my life and even when I thought I left, I seem to keep finding my way back and don't have any regrets over that. I remember discovering FFN and then LJ and creating my own in 2007. How weirdly nervous I felt about writing my first fanfic because while I used to write stories as a kid, I felt exposed and self conscious since it was my first time dealing with established characters and also my first fic happened to be m/m. I was 19, fairly sheltered growing up, and a lot naive. Smallville was a big fandom but I felt really welcomed. Sure, I landed myself in some drama now and then, and have said/done things that I wish I hadn't, but I made so many friends. Had way more wonderful, meaningful interactions, than ugly ones. Got to try things and learn things that I wouldn't have thought to if I hadn't joined in on fandom. Improved my writing naturally with practice. Got some great feedback - both kind and useful, over the years.

I was mostly in the one fandom so when the show ended, I gradually grew away from it, and life getting busier coincided with it. I did go back to reading fanfic but I thought I was done writing it. Until 2020. When the pandemic started and I began WFH, I suddenly felt the urge to write. Not just write but for my original fandom (Smallville), for my original ship (Clark/Oliver). I didn't know how I would fit in anymore or how to make friends. I felt like I was worse at it than I was back then.

But fandom may have changed, in look, in pace, in location, but it was still as welcoming as ever. I was able to reconnect with old friends. Find new friends. And even in recent times, get closer to a friend because of our shared fandom/ship! I got to run an AO3-based exchange (

rarefemslashexchange is on its fifth year! :D) and it always delights me both when new people join in and I can recognize older usernames.

I know I'll always be a little withdrawn - after all these years, I'm still shy about giving my real name online, but the people here have been supportive and accepting of the parts I'm willing to share. The community aspect and how all of us, so different from each other, and in various places all around the globe, can connect and meet and talk to people we would've never run into otherwise. It's a gift. It brings me joy. And I'm so glad I can be apart of it. I hope I can continue to be for as long as possible. :)

rachelmanija

A new comic from Ignite Press by Stephanie Williams, Letizia Cadonici (main artist) and Juliet Nneka (alternate covers.) At the turn of the century, Etta, a young Black woman, studies both science and a book of old remedies she inherited from her mother, along with some dire warnings she doesn't heed.

This is a really interesting historical fantasy with elements of cosmic horror and dark academia. Each issue has alternate covers in very different styles. I like both of them.

I'll be following this one.

Content notes: So far racism is part of the world and why the characters make some choices, rather than violent or constantly present on-page. The rabbits are used in experiments that are not cruel - Etta tests a healing ointment on one that has an injury - but they seem likely to eventually turn into zombies or get possessed by cosmic horrors or merge with eldritch plants.

shewhostaples

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 think my actual last page was APOD, which my feed reader seems to be showing a few days behind the times. And that's a pleasing thing to recommend, on the slim chance that someone hasn't encountered it before: it's interesting and beautiful.

For something that's probably more obscure, though I hadn't visited for a while, Hidden Europe is equally fascinating. The magazines got me through lockdown - deckchair travel in my back garden - and now the articles are going online one by one. People, places, train travel.

snickfic

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!

We all know about Connections and Wordle, but here are some browser games that last longer and are great for keeping from going insane during Zoom meetings:

2048 Cupcakes. I still play 2048 in times of need, but it's so much more fun with colorful cupcakes.

Squares. If you like word games, here you go. Find all the words in the four by four grid. The dictionary this game uses is highly idiosyncratic, which can be frustrating; how is THIS a word that counts but THAT is only a bonus word?? But it does add to the challenge!

dolorosa_12

snowflake_challenge prompt 4 asks the following:

Rec The Contents Of Your Last Page

Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!

Given that the last non-work website that I looked at was a somewhat grim political podcast, I'm going to reinterpret this as an opportunity to link a weird and wonderful piece of longform journalism that I've had bookmarked for a while: The snail farm don: is this the most brazen tax avoidance scheme of all time?

The title doesn't do it justice, and neither does my summary: a septugenarian who made his money in his family's shoe-selling business empire in the north of England, and has decades-long associations with the mafia in Naples (including hiding mafia members on the run in his properties in the UK) has for the past several years invested most of his time and energy in exploiting an elaborate UK tax loophole by which — if you claim to be running a snail farm on your property (including in residential blocks of flats or office buildings) — you pay no tax. In his telling, he's doing this purely to pass the time and keep his mind active in his later years. It's a wild ride.

This kind of written long-form journalism, essay or interview — with left-field subject matter and larger-than-life personalities — is my absolutely favourite type of nonfiction.

cinaed

( In which the party witnesses a divine ritual, receives blessings from a goddess, and begin their next quest to make the world a safer place )

oursin

Have this rather silly fun playlist:

Let's do

The Martian Hop

The Monster Mash

The Time Warp

With A Robot Man

And then maybe go and chill with Apeman

Watch on YouTube

vriddy

It's been SIX DAYS without an update on the (still uncategorised) K-9 fandom tag!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

I want to make a new icon, too. (Edit: Did it :D)

The Shirt Bandit Incident(s) | K-9 | Ren/Oboro/Fujimaru/Kagari | 1.3k words | rated T

Summary: Everyone in Division 9 is issued with the same standard black shirt, so it's easy to get confused about which belongs to whom. Easy to pretend to be, anyway.

Read it on Dreamwidth or on AO3.

svgurl

Challenge #2: Pets of Fandom
Loosely defined! Post about your pets, pets from your canon, anything you want!

I don't have any pets of my own. Dogs are cute, but ever since I was a kid, I was more into cats. However, my parents didn't want a pet and to be honest, I'm self aware enough to know that I wouldn't be able to take care of one. The first apartment we lived in when we moved to California was nice in the sense that there were other people with pets my sister and I could play with. Our upstairs neighbor had four cats and two dogs! They were all very sweet.

My favorite fictional pet is definitely Salem from Sabrina The Teenage Witch. That sarcastic cat was really funny and definitely one of the best parts of the show. I also have a soft spot for Luna from Sailor Moon. I watched Homeward Bound way too many times and I love all three of them but Sassy was the best.

And of course, Shelby from Smallville (see icon). That dog was adorable and I was always happy when they let him pop in. He literally saved Clark's life! And he had good taste, because he liked Lois right away, even when Lois was ... apprehensive. My sister still calls him "Clarkie" though!

As far as my current fandom goes, I'm not trying to fall into stereotypes but I do stand by the belief that they should let Buck get a dog (so close in s8!) and Eddie get a cat. It would be adorable. :)

vriddy

The revisions for this chapter involved reducing the instances of "annoying", "annoyed", "annoyance" to huh fewer than the original 15 times but probably still too many XD That's what Narumi inspires, I suppose ;)

Warm as life | Kaijuu No. 8 | Kafka/Reno/Narumi, Reno/Iharu, Kafka/Hoshina | 9k words (WIP, 5/7) | rated M

Summary: The new threat posed by No. 9 weighs heavily on everyone. Under these circumstances, emotions run high and what starts as a way of relieving stress can easily bloom into unexpected feelings. Some people find that easier to admit than others.

Read it on Dreamwidth or AO3.

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FF Friday

December 2025

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30	31

Page Summary

redbird - a small vigil
autobotscoutriella - Snowflake Challenge 2026: Prompt 3
dolorosa_12 - Friday open thread: awkwardly asking for things
adore - (no subject)
oursin - A few things lately noted
oursin - (no subject)
alias_sqbr - Media and Power: 01 Unit 1: Construction of Meaning: Picture Composition
alias_sqbr - Media and Power: Masterlist
torachan - Daily Happiness
svgurl - snowflake challenge #4
svgurl - snowflake challenge #3
rachelmanija - Roots of Madness 1-3
shewhostaples - Snowflake Challenge: day 4
snickfic - Snowflake Challenge #4
dolorosa_12 - Snowflake Challenge 4: an excuse for a linkpost
cinaed - Astvanor Session 178 (1/2)
oursin - Apparently today is More Joy Day 2026
vriddy - New K-9 fic: The Shirt Bandit Incident(s) (Ren/Oboro/Fujimaru/Kagari)
svgurl - snowflake challenge #2
vriddy - Kaijuu No. 8 fic update: Warm as life (Kafka/Reno/Narumi, Reno/Iharu, Kafka/Hoshina) - WIP 5/7

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