'recommend a book to friends' day
Jan. 7th, 2026 06:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marcicatLast year around this time, I started reading Dianne Duvall's books, starting with the Aldebarian Alliance series (IN SPACE!) and then going back and working through (most) of the Immortal Guardians series.
And I remember thinking to myself 'you know, these books feel very self-indulgent. Everyone is friends and they watch movies together and they have tons of resources to do whatever they want and this vast support network? Sounds fake.' BUT I have since come to appreciate that so much! It's delightful! It's fiction! Why WOULDN'T you make it self-indulgent and awesome?
(haha and now when I'm reading other books I'm like 'author, you made this up! look at your choices!?!?')
ANYWAY love is love, writing is writing, I wish all authors a very good getting the words out, etc, etc. The point is, I've personally come around to really appreciating Dianne Duvall's willingness to commit to things being awesome. And I've got a bunch of the books on my 'to re-read' list!
And I remember thinking to myself 'you know, these books feel very self-indulgent. Everyone is friends and they watch movies together and they have tons of resources to do whatever they want and this vast support network? Sounds fake.' BUT I have since come to appreciate that so much! It's delightful! It's fiction! Why WOULDN'T you make it self-indulgent and awesome?
(haha and now when I'm reading other books I'm like 'author, you made this up! look at your choices!?!?')
ANYWAY love is love, writing is writing, I wish all authors a very good getting the words out, etc, etc. The point is, I've personally come around to really appreciating Dianne Duvall's willingness to commit to things being awesome. And I've got a bunch of the books on my 'to re-read' list!
Not quite 365 days meme questions
Jan. 7th, 2026 01:13 ampattrose7. In 1803, Henri Herz, an Austrian pianist and composer, was born in Vienna, Austria. Have you ever learned the piano? If not, would you like to?
I took lessons for a year with my brother Dan. After the year he was playing classical music and played the organ at the church on Sundays. I on the other hand could play one piece called the spider dance. Our teacher told my mom I just didn't have it. It took me a year to play one song. Let that sink in. And you would think I would dislike my brother for his talent, but I worshiped him. He was like an angel. He worked with me for a year on singing lessons. He told me my voice was like an angel. I realized that people do certain things well and others not at all. We sang together for the next eight years. Best time of my life. It all started with the piano lessons. Now aren't you glad you read this? 😂😂 oh, I still talk to him once a month for two hours. We're very close. This is a pic of him. He's a religious artist and the stain glasses window behind him is one of the many in his house. His home is gorgeous.
I took lessons for a year with my brother Dan. After the year he was playing classical music and played the organ at the church on Sundays. I on the other hand could play one piece called the spider dance. Our teacher told my mom I just didn't have it. It took me a year to play one song. Let that sink in. And you would think I would dislike my brother for his talent, but I worshiped him. He was like an angel. He worked with me for a year on singing lessons. He told me my voice was like an angel. I realized that people do certain things well and others not at all. We sang together for the next eight years. Best time of my life. It all started with the piano lessons. Now aren't you glad you read this? 😂😂 oh, I still talk to him once a month for two hours. We're very close. This is a pic of him. He's a religious artist and the stain glasses window behind him is one of the many in his house. His home is gorgeous.
current fandom events
Jan. 6th, 2026 06:59 pmsvgurl![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
snowflake_challenge is currently running throughout the month of January! You can jump in and catch up anytime. gamechangerhr is a community dedicated to Game Changers book series/Heated Rivalry TV series. Discussions & fanworks on Rachel Reid's other Hockey Romance books are also allowed/welcome. bookclub_dw is a Monthly Book Club where a host will pick three books, participants vote on them, and everyone reads the winner/discusses later.moodthemeinayear is a low-pressure community dedicated to creating a custom mood themeallbingo is running a Public Domain Bingo Fest through the month of January. There are pre-made cards or you can create your own based on the available prompts. candyheartsex, an exchange focused on both platonic and romantic relationships, is still open for sign-ups until January 7th, 11:59PM EST.purimgifts, an exchange focused on characters who are at least one of: women, Jewish, or persecuted (preferably by evil viziers), is open for both nominations and sign-ups until January 9th.rewrite_a_fic is a low-commitment, multi-fandom event dedicated to rewriting a fic you've written before. More info can be found HERE.fandom_empire is running a Monopoly Challenge. Sign-ups are open until January 15th, 11:59PM UTC. fancake's theme of the month is: crack treated seriously. Click on the banner below to learn more. 
friending_memes is hosting a new one for the New Year! 
Click the banner to join us and make some new friends!
snowflake challenge #1
Jan. 6th, 2026 06:09 pmsvgurl
Challenge #1:
The Icebreaker Challenge: Introduce yourself. Tell us why you're doing the challenge, and what you hope to gain from it.
I'm svgurl. I'm in my 30s, and have been actively part of fandom on and off since 2007, when I created my LJ. The SV part of my username stands for Smallville, which was my original fandom and I was very mono fandom for years.
My profile is up to date and gives a little background history and the fandoms/ships I'm interested in. I'm focused on 9-1-1/Buddie these days, but I still love MCU, Smallville, Gilmore Girls, and past favorites do come up from time to time.
I can be found on various places:
AO3:
Tumblr:
Discord: svgurl
I mod:
comment_bingo: a bingo challenge that promotes commenting on other fanworks using the provided promptsrarefemslashexchange: a rare f/f fandom exchange that runs once a yearThis is my 5th year participating in the Snowflake Challenge and I really love the way it gives everyone a chance to interact with people that you normally wouldn't. I am not comfortable with just going to someone's journal and talk to them out of the blue, so it's nice that this gives you a chance to do just that. I am looking forward to doing more of that and meet more people on here as well! :)
Not quite 365 day meme, January 6th.
Jan. 6th, 2026 03:29 pmpattrose6. In 1709 The Great Frost began during the night, a sudden cold snap that remains Europe's coldest ever winter. What temperature will it reach today where you live?
I wouldn't do well with a cold snap. I'm still wearing short sleeves and flip-flops. The temperature today was 65° F. But we have five days coming up with rain and mid-fifties. That's winter for us. Then it pops to mid 60s. I don't like the rain and the cold. No flip-flops tomorrow. Brrrrr. We need the rain, so I can't complain. (I just did) 😂😂 I'm in Arizona, by the way.
Has anyone seen the movie Rental Family, with Brendan Fraser? It's not streaming until the end of February. No one wants to go with me. (I can't drive) My hubby will go if I talk him into it.
I wouldn't do well with a cold snap. I'm still wearing short sleeves and flip-flops. The temperature today was 65° F. But we have five days coming up with rain and mid-fifties. That's winter for us. Then it pops to mid 60s. I don't like the rain and the cold. No flip-flops tomorrow. Brrrrr. We need the rain, so I can't complain. (I just did) 😂😂 I'm in Arizona, by the way.
Has anyone seen the movie Rental Family, with Brendan Fraser? It's not streaming until the end of February. No one wants to go with me. (I can't drive) My hubby will go if I talk him into it.
5 Soulmates Challenge
Jan. 6th, 2026 01:51 pmwhimsicalmeerkat85 wips in process or planning isn’t too insane, right?
I know, I know, but soulmates!
What am I talking about? 5soulmates. See my table below.
| Table #0 - Custom | ||||
| 01. seeing in the colour of your soulmate's eyes until you meet | 02. soulmate goose of enforcement | 03. the words your soulmate is supposed to say to you keep changing??? | 04. stuck with swapped bodies/sharing a body until [INSERT] | 05. your wings reflect your soulmate's soul |
Fandom Snowflake Challenge Post #3
Jan. 6th, 2026 10:44 amwhimsicalmeerkatThe third snowflake_challenge prompt is to write a letter to fandom. I’m running on about an hour of sleep, so this likely won’t be particularly elegant, but I’m going to give is a shot.
( Read more... )
Snowflake Challenge #3
Jan. 6th, 2026 04:28 pmsoricelWrite a love letter to fandom. It might be to fandom in general, to a particular fandom, favourite character, anything at all.
This one was a little tricky for me, because I don't really consider myself part of "fandom," aside from the fact that I write/read the occasional fic or something, and while I've found a lot of other people's responses to this prompt sweet, touching, and inspiring, I also found them a little difficult to relate to. But like I've mentioned before, it's been gratifying to explore this world little by little, and I think I'll continue to do this year. I'm really grateful to have found a place to explore/express some ideas and feelings and share them with others. Maybe if this prompt comes up again next year, I'll have more to say. :)
The main thing that came up when I thought about this prompt though is that I feel grateful for a lot of the things I've read, watched, and listened to as a result of my tentative explorations of fandom world. Specifically, I feel like for the past couple years, I've been specifically seeking out media and literature that features types of male characters I haven't seen in the things I typically read and watch. Without getting into a whole thing about it, I have a lot of negative feelings about men, and the parts of myself I consider "masculine," and I've been trying to find male characters I find relatable or lovable so that I can maybe connect to these parts of myself in a more loving way, if that makes sense. Writing fics about these characters has made me feel closer to them and also to the parts of myself that they remind me of, and which I feel like I'm starting to look at with a little more fondness and compassion. I don't think I would have found some of these characters if not through some of my explorations of certain canons and fics that I learned about by poking around here and there in fandom world, and yeah, I'm really grateful for that.
This one was a little tricky for me, because I don't really consider myself part of "fandom," aside from the fact that I write/read the occasional fic or something, and while I've found a lot of other people's responses to this prompt sweet, touching, and inspiring, I also found them a little difficult to relate to. But like I've mentioned before, it's been gratifying to explore this world little by little, and I think I'll continue to do this year. I'm really grateful to have found a place to explore/express some ideas and feelings and share them with others. Maybe if this prompt comes up again next year, I'll have more to say. :)
The main thing that came up when I thought about this prompt though is that I feel grateful for a lot of the things I've read, watched, and listened to as a result of my tentative explorations of fandom world. Specifically, I feel like for the past couple years, I've been specifically seeking out media and literature that features types of male characters I haven't seen in the things I typically read and watch. Without getting into a whole thing about it, I have a lot of negative feelings about men, and the parts of myself I consider "masculine," and I've been trying to find male characters I find relatable or lovable so that I can maybe connect to these parts of myself in a more loving way, if that makes sense. Writing fics about these characters has made me feel closer to them and also to the parts of myself that they remind me of, and which I feel like I'm starting to look at with a little more fondness and compassion. I don't think I would have found some of these characters if not through some of my explorations of certain canons and fics that I learned about by poking around here and there in fandom world, and yeah, I'm really grateful for that.
workaday Tuesday
Jan. 6th, 2026 06:48 ammarcicatnooooooooooooo! (aka: gotta go back to the office today, after several very nice weeks of working fully from home, which means I got up an hour earlier than usual and I'm all 'what is daylight' right now)
But I get to start a new audiobook on my drive in, AND it's a new author (to me), which counts for a library bingo square!
(And when I'm done with that one, Libby just offered me up the first hockey boys book, so I'll get to read about Scott and the smoothie guy!)
(Yeah, I'm not really super keen on the work part of my day, but I do appreciate that I'm allowed to wear headphones almost all the time. Sometimes people come up to me and are like 'oh, are you on a call?' and I'm like 'no, it's storytime.')
But I get to start a new audiobook on my drive in, AND it's a new author (to me), which counts for a library bingo square!
(And when I'm done with that one, Libby just offered me up the first hockey boys book, so I'll get to read about Scott and the smoothie guy!)
(Yeah, I'm not really super keen on the work part of my day, but I do appreciate that I'm allowed to wear headphones almost all the time. Sometimes people come up to me and are like 'oh, are you on a call?' and I'm like 'no, it's storytime.')
2026 Fannish 50
Jan. 6th, 2026 04:14 pmelian_panatomicpublishingOops, forgot to make an official post to say that I'm participating in Fannish 50 at goals_on_dw again!
I think I only got to ten or so posts last year? But a lot of things have changed for me in my personal life since then, so it can't hurt to give it another shot.
goals_on_dw again!I think I only got to ten or so posts last year? But a lot of things have changed for me in my personal life since then, so it can't hurt to give it another shot.
2026 Naming of the Year
Jan. 6th, 2026 02:22 pmelian_panatomicpublishing(crossposted from tumblr)
I made a couple of banners for my favourite name suggestions while I was listening to the MBMBaM Naming of the Year episode.
( Five banners under the cut )
Honourable mentions:
I made a couple of banners for my favourite name suggestions while I was listening to the MBMBaM Naming of the Year episode.
( Five banners under the cut )
Honourable mentions:
- twenty no new tricks: old dogs
- twenty check for ticks: no time for lyme
- twenty building bricks: strong foundations
- twenty hockey sticks: don't cuss
- twenty make it stick: throw it harder
Do more text, dumdum.
Jan. 6th, 2026 12:53 amgoodbyebirdsenmut's post at cultivativity about considering why you make what you make and what you enjoy about it, made me think of icons and text. The more icons I made, the less text they had, because I'm straight up terrible at text. Best outcome to hope for is it doesn't actively make the icon look like crap. But text is fun though! I'd really really like to make a return to being a bit more of a smartass in my iconning. And get some more quotes in there! Maybe that'll be my iconning resolution for the year?As a reminder to myself: ( icons slathered with text )
Not quite 365 days questions
Jan. 5th, 2026 04:03 pmpattrose5. Are you looking forward to any TV shows this year?
I'm not aware of any new shows coming out. I look forward to the shows I watched last year. I also hear Rental Family with Brendan Fraser will be released on Hulu and Disney in late February. I'm going to try to be patient.
I don't watch too many newer shows. This is a list of my favorites.
High Potential
Will Trent
9-1-1
Elsbeth
Matlock
Brilliant Minds
I'm not aware of any new shows coming out. I look forward to the shows I watched last year. I also hear Rental Family with Brendan Fraser will be released on Hulu and Disney in late February. I'm going to try to be patient.
I don't watch too many newer shows. This is a list of my favorites.
High Potential
Will Trent
9-1-1
Elsbeth
Matlock
Brilliant Minds