Shopping
Jan. 7th, 2026 05:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithbrickhousewench tipped me to Heading Prints, a company that makes scarves using book art as inspiration. They offer bandanas, skinny scarves, large rectangular scarves, square silky scarves, and also a few rings with designs to match some of their most popular scarf designs. Also, these are much more affordable on average than most fashion scarves I've seen, although they do cost more than the cheap random ones in a discount store.If you've seen my post "How to Simplify Fashion," then consider these scarves as an option for color-matching. Look for a scarf whose colors you love and want to use. Wear it while clothes shopping to test if new clothes match your colors.
Let's Get Literate! 2025 Reading Recap
Jan. 7th, 2026 04:31 pmrenay posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ladybusiness2025 was the first year my reading started to feel less like a miracle and more like, "oh yeah, reading! I do that without struggling." I read 78 books, although a lot of them were rereads. I'm happy to reread The Murderbot Diaries and a bunch of my favorite romance novels a few times a year. The brain craves familiarity.
I have elevenish favorites this year (I combined books in series, because I make the rules). My top book, which is no big secret as I've been shouting about it for months, is the only one ranked; the rest are here in alphabetical order.
( Favorite Books )
( The numbers and musings )
That's a wrap on 2025! If you read any of my favorites and have readalikes, I'm always hyped for recs. If you wrote a favorites post for your SFF reading, I'd love to see it (and then link it in Intergalactic Mixtape, haha).
I have elevenish favorites this year (I combined books in series, because I make the rules). My top book, which is no big secret as I've been shouting about it for months, is the only one ranked; the rest are here in alphabetical order.
( Favorite Books )
( The numbers and musings )
That's a wrap on 2025! If you read any of my favorites and have readalikes, I'm always hyped for recs. If you wrote a favorites post for your SFF reading, I'd love to see it (and then link it in Intergalactic Mixtape, haha).
Fanfic, Last Quarter, Adam/Mizuki, under a different moon
Jan. 7th, 2026 05:10 pmkalira posting in smallfandomfestTitle: Under a Different Moon
Author:kalira
Fandom: Last Quarter
Ship/Characters: Adam/Mizuki
Rating/Category: T/Het
Prompt: Last Quarter (2004), Adam/Mizuki, under a different moon
Spoilers: the movie generally
Summary: As it has all her life, the moon watches over Mizuki through this one, last shift between worlds, this last shift in her.
Notes/Warnings: major character death
Wordcount: 1,525
Read on AO3
Author:
kaliraFandom: Last Quarter
Ship/Characters: Adam/Mizuki
Rating/Category: T/Het
Prompt: Last Quarter (2004), Adam/Mizuki, under a different moon
Spoilers: the movie generally
Summary: As it has all her life, the moon watches over Mizuki through this one, last shift between worlds, this last shift in her.
Notes/Warnings: major character death
Wordcount: 1,525
Read on AO3
work for idle hands
Jan. 8th, 2026 09:59 ammergatrudeI had time off over the xmas-new year close down and my goal was to do as little as possible. I made no lists or plans (aside from xmas lunch with the in-laws) and just let things happen. I managed to complete the singles and the first round of plying for my cable sock yarn project. I started and undid a pair of mittens for a work colleague three times (think I'm going to have to try something completely different), and finished a little knitting project.
Normally I don't like knitting things that involve sewing, but last year I started an Inside Cat bookmark with some random handspun yarn in an ugly colour that was the result of over-blending. It looks cursed, but I'm impressed with myself for knitting tiny ears, all the i-cord limbs that had to be attached, and a face? (Yeah, I have school-related sewing trauma.)
( cursed cat thing )
We sold our on-site van a couple of months ago, so have nowhere to easily BEACH. But the coast is only a couple of hours drive away so on the 2nd I drove myself down there (no one else wanted to come and I was sick of them all) and did the BEACH thing myself (sorry, the all-caps is a family in-joke). I recharged the car, had haloumi and peach salad in a cafe at Mosquito Bay and then went for a swim at Lilli Pilli Beach. So relaxing, not having to cater for anyone else. The water was gorgeous despite all the seaweed, and I had a nap on the sand before driving home. Note to self: BEACH more often!
( beautiful day at tiny Lilli Pilli Beach )
Now I'm back at work, there's a heatwave in the southeast (today is going to be 39C/102F, as is tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow) but the aircon works here and at home. I hope everyone's year started well. :)
Normally I don't like knitting things that involve sewing, but last year I started an Inside Cat bookmark with some random handspun yarn in an ugly colour that was the result of over-blending. It looks cursed, but I'm impressed with myself for knitting tiny ears, all the i-cord limbs that had to be attached, and a face? (Yeah, I have school-related sewing trauma.)
( cursed cat thing )
We sold our on-site van a couple of months ago, so have nowhere to easily BEACH. But the coast is only a couple of hours drive away so on the 2nd I drove myself down there (no one else wanted to come and I was sick of them all) and did the BEACH thing myself (sorry, the all-caps is a family in-joke). I recharged the car, had haloumi and peach salad in a cafe at Mosquito Bay and then went for a swim at Lilli Pilli Beach. So relaxing, not having to cater for anyone else. The water was gorgeous despite all the seaweed, and I had a nap on the sand before driving home. Note to self: BEACH more often!
( beautiful day at tiny Lilli Pilli Beach )
Now I'm back at work, there's a heatwave in the southeast (today is going to be 39C/102F, as is tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow) but the aircon works here and at home. I hope everyone's year started well. :)
Two Purrcies; Book resolution
Jan. 7th, 2026 04:58 pmmecurtinHis stretched-out left paw is fair warning that Purrcy's fluffy fluffy belly is indeed a trap, reach for it at your peril. But look at that innocent face!
Sometimes you have to prove love by squooshing someone's head, sometimes you have to do it by making someone squoosh your head. It's the 🎶Circle of Squoooosh🎶
My only resolution for 2026: I'm going to keep a list of books I read (only the ones I finish count). Re-reads count. I won't take time to rate, because then I'll slow down & give up on the list (per previous experience). My list on Bluesky starts here
#1. The Heist of Hollow London by Eddie Robson. Post-this-apoc heist, notable for most important relationship being between m & f BFFs. How often does *that* happen?!?
#2. Nine Goblins: A Tale of Low Fantasy and High Mischief, T. Kingfisher. Re-read of the version I have, which I assume is the same as the one coming out this year (??). An early T. Kingfisher, but sets up many of her familiar tropes: more than usually lively skeletons! bodies are full of fluids! never trust a unicorn! war is hell! Someone's got to make food, do laundry, plant things, pay attention to the livestock/children, that's the really *important* work. Never trust an officer. You know the drill.
#3. Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie. Re^nth read, because last week I binged all the *other* Imperial Radch books. This time I made a point of paying attention to clues, and I think Anaander Mianaai is male-bodied, which isn't what I expected -- in the back of my mind, I though the translation convention reflected something about AM, which was then generalized to the rest of the Radch. But apparently not!
Having re-read them all so recently, I conclude this one isn't one of my favorites of the Imperial Radch books, because so much of it is about Seivarden -- who I can't help seeing as looking more or less like Spike with darker hair & skin, a classic fandom woobie wet cat who thinks he's better than you but is still a wet cat. When basically he's an *incredible* snob, and I hate people like & they can't stand me, either.
#4. Guns of the Dawn, Adrian Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky mentioned it on bluesky as a book he's especially proud of, I saw it got good reviews from people I respect, so I bit.
I couldn't completely suspend my disbelief because two things about the war kept making me go whut? whut?
First & most important: if your total war is pre-industrial, you don't mass conscript women for the front lines because you MUST keep them on the farms, size of your home-grow army is limited by number of people needed to raise food, which is at least half the population. If *all* the men are in army or dead the war is already lost, because the country is starving.
If your total war is industrial (WWI+ IRL), you mass conscript or re-purpose women for industry as well as farming, because each front-line soldier has to be supported by so much materiel & logistics.
Upon reflection, this is probably just a symptom of a general problem with books about the past: modern people have *no idea* how large a percentage of pre-modern populations worked in food production. *No idea*. Also in textile production!
The other thing that bugged me started when we learned more about how the war started. (ROT-13 spoilers begin) Gur Xvat bs Ynfpnaar unq gur ehyvat ahpyrne snzvyl bs Qraynaq xvyyrq naq gubhtug ur'q gnxr bire ... jvgubhg svefg yvavat hc fhccbegref sebz gur nevfgbpenpl bs Qraynaq? Ab-bar qbrf gung!
Naq vg vfa'g cbffvoyr sbe gurer gb or n Xvat bs Qraynaq jvgubhg n Qraynaq nevfgbpenpl/byvtnepul, jub qb lbh guvax vf *va* Cneyvnzrag? (let me know if there's a better way to do spoilers).
So I feel kind of like there are aspects of the world-building where I put my foot through the canvas scenery and had to hop around for a bit like that. But I can certainly see what people like about this, and elements that will later grow into more fully mature works: the Carboniferous Levant swamps, for instance, and the very Pratchettian soldiers. But for me it suffers from the feeling that it's a game setup more than a *world*.
Sometimes you have to prove love by squooshing someone's head, sometimes you have to do it by making someone squoosh your head. It's the 🎶Circle of Squoooosh🎶
My only resolution for 2026: I'm going to keep a list of books I read (only the ones I finish count). Re-reads count. I won't take time to rate, because then I'll slow down & give up on the list (per previous experience). My list on Bluesky starts here
#1. The Heist of Hollow London by Eddie Robson. Post-this-apoc heist, notable for most important relationship being between m & f BFFs. How often does *that* happen?!?
#2. Nine Goblins: A Tale of Low Fantasy and High Mischief, T. Kingfisher. Re-read of the version I have, which I assume is the same as the one coming out this year (??). An early T. Kingfisher, but sets up many of her familiar tropes: more than usually lively skeletons! bodies are full of fluids! never trust a unicorn! war is hell! Someone's got to make food, do laundry, plant things, pay attention to the livestock/children, that's the really *important* work. Never trust an officer. You know the drill.
#3. Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie. Re^nth read, because last week I binged all the *other* Imperial Radch books. This time I made a point of paying attention to clues, and I think Anaander Mianaai is male-bodied, which isn't what I expected -- in the back of my mind, I though the translation convention reflected something about AM, which was then generalized to the rest of the Radch. But apparently not!
Having re-read them all so recently, I conclude this one isn't one of my favorites of the Imperial Radch books, because so much of it is about Seivarden -- who I can't help seeing as looking more or less like Spike with darker hair & skin, a classic fandom woobie wet cat who thinks he's better than you but is still a wet cat. When basically he's an *incredible* snob, and I hate people like & they can't stand me, either.
#4. Guns of the Dawn, Adrian Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky mentioned it on bluesky as a book he's especially proud of, I saw it got good reviews from people I respect, so I bit.
I couldn't completely suspend my disbelief because two things about the war kept making me go whut? whut?
First & most important: if your total war is pre-industrial, you don't mass conscript women for the front lines because you MUST keep them on the farms, size of your home-grow army is limited by number of people needed to raise food, which is at least half the population. If *all* the men are in army or dead the war is already lost, because the country is starving.
If your total war is industrial (WWI+ IRL), you mass conscript or re-purpose women for industry as well as farming, because each front-line soldier has to be supported by so much materiel & logistics.
Upon reflection, this is probably just a symptom of a general problem with books about the past: modern people have *no idea* how large a percentage of pre-modern populations worked in food production. *No idea*. Also in textile production!
The other thing that bugged me started when we learned more about how the war started. (ROT-13 spoilers begin) Gur Xvat bs Ynfpnaar unq gur ehyvat ahpyrne snzvyl bs Qraynaq xvyyrq naq gubhtug ur'q gnxr bire ... jvgubhg svefg yvavat hc fhccbegref sebz gur nevfgbpenpl bs Qraynaq? Ab-bar qbrf gung!
Naq vg vfa'g cbffvoyr sbe gurer gb or n Xvat bs Qraynaq jvgubhg n Qraynaq nevfgbpenpl/byvtnepul, jub qb lbh guvax vf *va* Cneyvnzrag? (let me know if there's a better way to do spoilers).
So I feel kind of like there are aspects of the world-building where I put my foot through the canvas scenery and had to hop around for a bit like that. But I can certainly see what people like about this, and elements that will later grow into more fully mature works: the Carboniferous Levant swamps, for instance, and the very Pratchettian soldiers. But for me it suffers from the feeling that it's a game setup more than a *world*.
What Am I Reading Wednesday - January 7
Jan. 7th, 2026 04:30 pmlebateleurWhat I Finished Reading This Week
Nothing, as three of the four books I'm reading this week are over 400 pages long.
What I Am Currently Reading
Skeul an Tavas - Ray Chubb & Nigel Roberts
I tackled most of the first chapter this week.
The Stations of the Sun – Ronald Hutton
I read the chapters on Christmas, the New Year, and Plough Monday.
Mannaz – Malene Sølvsten
This book is a giant, over-the-top potboiler and I am here for it.
After the Forest – Kell Woods
I was suspicious, given the cover, that this would be standard Tor-quality YA dreck, but it is very, very good indeed.
What I’m Reading Next
This week I acquired Ray Chubb and Nigel Roberts's Skeul An Tavas, Richard Marsh's Meath Folk Tales, and Angela Saini's Inferior.
これで以上です。
Nothing, as three of the four books I'm reading this week are over 400 pages long.
What I Am Currently Reading
Skeul an Tavas - Ray Chubb & Nigel Roberts
I tackled most of the first chapter this week.
The Stations of the Sun – Ronald Hutton
I read the chapters on Christmas, the New Year, and Plough Monday.
Mannaz – Malene Sølvsten
This book is a giant, over-the-top potboiler and I am here for it.
After the Forest – Kell Woods
I was suspicious, given the cover, that this would be standard Tor-quality YA dreck, but it is very, very good indeed.
What I’m Reading Next
This week I acquired Ray Chubb and Nigel Roberts's Skeul An Tavas, Richard Marsh's Meath Folk Tales, and Angela Saini's Inferior.
これで以上です。
Snowlake, challenge 3 and 4
Jan. 7th, 2026 01:31 pmhamsterwoman
Catching up on the last two days, because ugh, work. Who thought that was a good idea? XP
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 love reading people’s responses to this challenge (particular highlights on my flist were
muccamukk’s beautiful analogy and author_by_night’s poem “To Fandoms I’ve Only Observed”), but I’ve done this a bunch of different ways for past Snowflakes and was struggling for a new angle. I thought about an abecedarian poem (as I’d done for characters at one point), but had a harder time coming up with a “balanced” list of fandoms in ABC order, about which I’d have about the same amount to say. I finally did settle on an abecedarian idea, just not a poetic one, so: (all links go to AO3 works-in-fandom pages, with a few exceptions)I love fandom ( because fandom is )
Obviously some letters were harder to fill with fandoms than others, but all of this is true, and these are all reasons I love fandom :)
Challenge #4: Rec Your Last Page: Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!
Maybe I should go through my billions of open tabs and see if there’s something in there worth reccing? (and take the opportunity to close some, lol)
Relevant open tabs (and the reasons I have them open):
fandomtrees spreadsheet of needy trees. Reveals are targeted at Jan 10, but there are still 39 trees short of the goal of at least 2 gifts. (Mine is not one of the needy trees, but it is here.) (Open because I was checking how likely reveals were to be delayed.)( and 10 more links, from general to specific )
Snowflake Challenge #4 - Your Last Page
Jan. 7th, 2026 03:38 pmlebateleurChallenge #4: Rec Your Last Page
Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!
A lot of fandom takes place digitally, everywhere from the websites where we read, watch, play, purchase, and talk about canon or merch to the computers on which we do much of the writing, watching, reading, vidding, and talking; the ISPs that get us online; and the processors we use to pay for all these things.
The recent Livejournal stuff is a good reminder, should anyone need one, that the majority of these entities do not by any means have users' best interests at heart. So why not make life a little harder for them, and happier for your own privacy and data security.
If you use Windows, here's a useful guide to getting rid of a bunch of the data security-destroying "features" and bloat on that operating system.
And if you'd like to get even more security conscious, The Opt Out Project has an excellent Cyber Cleanse Guide that will make your fandoming--be it consuming, creating, or discussing--a whole lot harder for the big tech and ecommerce giants to track, capture, and mine for your data.
これで以上です。
Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!
A lot of fandom takes place digitally, everywhere from the websites where we read, watch, play, purchase, and talk about canon or merch to the computers on which we do much of the writing, watching, reading, vidding, and talking; the ISPs that get us online; and the processors we use to pay for all these things.
The recent Livejournal stuff is a good reminder, should anyone need one, that the majority of these entities do not by any means have users' best interests at heart. So why not make life a little harder for them, and happier for your own privacy and data security.
If you use Windows, here's a useful guide to getting rid of a bunch of the data security-destroying "features" and bloat on that operating system.
And if you'd like to get even more security conscious, The Opt Out Project has an excellent Cyber Cleanse Guide that will make your fandoming--be it consuming, creating, or discussing--a whole lot harder for the big tech and ecommerce giants to track, capture, and mine for your data.
これで以上です。
Write Every day 2026: January, Day 7
Jan. 7th, 2026 10:13 pmtrobadoraThe headache is gone today! My head still feels a bit like it's been through the wringer, but otherwise I feel human again. Phew!
Today's writing
Slow to start, but I hope to write some more tonight. And hopefully tomorrow things will be fully back to normal. Fingers crossed!
Tally
( Days 1-5 )
Day 6:alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme
Day 7:china_shop, trobadora
Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
Today's writing
Slow to start, but I hope to write some more tonight. And hopefully tomorrow things will be fully back to normal. Fingers crossed!
Tally
( Days 1-5 )
Day 6:
alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilmeDay 7:
china_shop, trobadoraLet me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
H.R. 1936 - No Invading Allies Act
Jan. 7th, 2026 02:58 pmaurumcalendula posting in thisfinecrewI also ran across H.R. 1936 (No Invading Allies Act) that was introduced by Seth Magaziner (D-RI) in March, and it sounds like it might be useful to contact Reps about: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1936
(the summary isn't up for some reason, but the full title is 'To prohibit funds for the Armed Forces to engage in operations to invade or seize territory from Canada, the Republic of Panama, or the self-governing territory of Greenland.')
(the summary isn't up for some reason, but the full title is 'To prohibit funds for the Armed Forces to engage in operations to invade or seize territory from Canada, the Republic of Panama, or the self-governing territory of Greenland.')
30 icons shane hollander | heated rivalry
Jan. 7th, 2026 03:01 pmsweeticedtea posting in fandom_icons
FIC: Things Wondrous and Divine (Our Flag Means Death)
Jan. 7th, 2026 11:47 amdelphi posting in historiumCreator: delphi
Title: Things Wondrous and Divine
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Rating: Mature
Word Count: ~1300
Characters/Pairings: Frenchie/Izzy Hands
Notes/Warnings: AU: Izzy Hands Lives. Written for![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
caladria as part of the 2025 Canyon Christmas exchange. Also available on AO3.
Summary: The crew puts in for repairs at what turns out to be a bioluminescent bay, but Izzy and Frenchie aren't messing around with any Natural Phenomena. Or, the one where Izzy appreciates Frenchie's cynicism.
DW Link: Things Wondrous and Divine
delphiTitle: Things Wondrous and Divine
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Rating: Mature
Word Count: ~1300
Characters/Pairings: Frenchie/Izzy Hands
Notes/Warnings: AU: Izzy Hands Lives. Written for
Summary: The crew puts in for repairs at what turns out to be a bioluminescent bay, but Izzy and Frenchie aren't messing around with any Natural Phenomena. Or, the one where Izzy appreciates Frenchie's cynicism.
DW Link: Things Wondrous and Divine
FIC: The Voyage of the Unicorn (Our Flag Means Death)
Jan. 7th, 2026 11:36 amdelphi posting in historiumCreator: delphi
Title: The Voyage of the Unicorn
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Rating: Mature
Word Count: ~1900
Characters/Pairings: Izzy Hands/Lucius Spriggs, Frenchie/Izzy Hands, Wee John Feeney/Izzy Hands, Archie/Fang/Frenchie/Izzy Hands/Jim Jimenez, Archie/Izzy Hands/Jim Jimenez, Fang/Izzy Hands/Lucius Spriggs, Izzy Hands/Roach, Izzy Hands/Jim Jimenez, Fang/Izzy Hands, past Izzy Hands/Edward Teach
Notes/Warnings: AU: Izzy Hands Lives. Written for the1character challenge. Also available on AO3
Summary: Fifty one-sentence stories for fifty prompts, following Izzy’s post-series life aboard the Revenge.
1. Swords
The love of a crew can't change him into something he isn't, but their hands right his edges like a whetstone and their words leave behind the gleam of oil on steel.
DW Link: The Voyage of the Unicorn
delphiTitle: The Voyage of the Unicorn
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Rating: Mature
Word Count: ~1900
Characters/Pairings: Izzy Hands/Lucius Spriggs, Frenchie/Izzy Hands, Wee John Feeney/Izzy Hands, Archie/Fang/Frenchie/Izzy Hands/Jim Jimenez, Archie/Izzy Hands/Jim Jimenez, Fang/Izzy Hands/Lucius Spriggs, Izzy Hands/Roach, Izzy Hands/Jim Jimenez, Fang/Izzy Hands, past Izzy Hands/Edward Teach
Notes/Warnings: AU: Izzy Hands Lives. Written for the
1character challenge. Also available on AO3Summary: Fifty one-sentence stories for fifty prompts, following Izzy’s post-series life aboard the Revenge.
1. Swords
The love of a crew can't change him into something he isn't, but their hands right his edges like a whetstone and their words leave behind the gleam of oil on steel.
DW Link: The Voyage of the Unicorn