przed | Reading

I had a chiropractic appointment this morning. It was an exam plus the adjustment, which was fortuitous timing, because he could get a better look at what’s going on with my darned nerve. He did have to do some adjustment in the sacrum area. After the adjustment he said he was going to touch me to see if it was tender; he touched about a dozen spots, only two of which were not tender. He said there’s a lot of inflammation in that area and to ice it.

No one had ever told me about the inflamation before, or suggested I ice the area. I spent much of the day alternating between icing, napping, and doing a chore. We scheduled another appointment for tomorrow morning, and I expect I’ll be seeing him more often until this is cleared up.

I hit the Pharmacy while I was downtown. I hand-washed dishes, went for a couple walks with Pip and the dogs, baked chicken for the dogs’ meals and cut up some of it for said meals, scooped kitty litter, wrote out checks for my aunt, paid a bill over the phone, and showered. I grilled steak for Pip’s supper.

Temps started out at 52.5(F) and reached 56.1. I don’t love the days where the temperature barely fluctuates from morning low to afternoon high.

Mom Update:

I did not go visit mom, but I talked to her on the phone a couple of times and she sounded good. ( more back here )

kore

Okay so, we're watching Elementary for fun and really enjoying it. LOVE Joan, Sherlock is lolarious, really like the supporting cast Captain DILF and Detective Hottie. (I do wish there were more women, tho -- I really liked the glimpses we get of Joan's mother and shrink.) The show does suffer some from the 22-ep-long procedural's problem of The Guest Star Is the Killer, but the writing is still creative and characters remember what happened from episode to episode! I know a lot of you have watched it, so, question:

Are there any episodes or seasons we might want to skip to keep enjoying the show? I'm thinking of episodes like Seeing Red (Buffy), that horrible Fringe episode, some of the worse late X-Files episodes, and so on. We might possibly watch them anyway, lol, I just don't want to be blindsided. (For example I think we skipped that horrible episode of Fringe entirely because I knew so many people who turned completely against the show after it, and it took me personally a LONG time to get over some of the X-Files crap.)

(Also: ride or die BUT also noromo for both Mulder/Scully and Joan/Sherlock, lol)

Current Mood: curious

dine

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moontyger posting in

yuletide

What is TransTide?

Since trans headcanons and the portrayal of trans characters can be personal for many people, writers might be nervous to write trans headcanons without invitation. This mini challenge is for people to signal that they would love to receive trans headcanons, as well as to showcase their requested fandoms with canon trans characters.

Note that this exchange is open to nonbinary characters as well.

To participate, simply copy-paste the following into a comment:

AO3 name:
Letter link:
Likes and DNWs:
Fandom:
Characters:
Details:

If you post a fic for Yuletide with one or more trans characters, tag it with TransTide so people can find it easily

larryhammer posting in

yuletide

Here’s a list of all poems (including ballads and traditional songs) in the 2023 tagset, with links to texts as best I can find, and a notation of original language if not English. Please let me know of any additions or corrections.

Allison Gross (Traditional Ballad)

Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came - Robert Browning

Flower Fairies - Cicely Mary Barker

The Epic of Gilgamesh [Akkadian]

Goblin Market - Christina Rossetti

Her strong enchantments failing - A.E. Housman

Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight - Anonymous (Song)

Nibelungenlied [Middle High German]

The Odyssey - Homer [Ancient Greek]

The Romance of Silence [Old French]

Summoned By Bells - John Betjeman

Tam Lin - Anonymous (Song)

Two Loves - Lord Alfred Douglas

The Waste Land - T. S. Eliot

Wulf and Eadwacer [Old English] (original, modern English translations one, two, three)

赠答诗 - 金车美人 (弘农) | Poems Composed in Reply - Beautiful Woman in a Golden Carriage (Hong Nong) [Classical Chinese]

Bonus: poets for RPFing in the tagset include:

Richard I of England (in 12th Century CE RPF)
Lord Byron, John Keats, Percy Shelley and Herman Melville (in 19th Century CE Literary RPF)
Enheduanna (in Mesopotamian RPF)
Christopher Marlowe (in 16th Century CE RPF and in Shakespeare RPF)
Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare (in Shakespeare RPF)
Edna St. Vincent Millay, Emily Dickinson, Gertrude Stein, and Sappho (in Women's Literary RPF).

sineala

What I Just Finished Reading

Nothing.

What I'm Reading Now

Comics Wednesday!

( Captain America #4, Iron and Frost #1, One World Under Doom #8 )

What I'm Reading Next

I have read eight books this year. I do not have enough brain to read anything except, apparently, a couple comics a week.

Current Mood: tired

rabidsamfan posting in

yuletide

It is time once more for the Yuletide Madness Drabble Invitational!

Are you going through the tagset, thinking about your signup, and getting lured down plotbunny holes?

Well, if you are entranced by tiny canons, luscious fandom promos, or letters with prompts that you absolutely adore, and you've got to do something to appease the itty bitty plot bunnies that are nibbling at your ankles, the Yuletide Madness Drabble Invitational is back to meet all your "I don't have time or brain enough to do 1000 words, but that idea is still keen" needs.

How does it work?

Write drabbles or drabble series for Yuletide Madness. Proper ones, where the text of each drabble is exactly 100 words, please. Ficlets are fun, but not all ficlets are drabbles in just the same way as not all poems are sonnets. (You can, of course, post a 1000 word tale told in drabbles, where each chapter/bit is exactly 100 words to the main Yuletide collection, if you like. Just be sure that it is eligible to fulfill the main gift rules for that recipient.)

Give them to people.

Add "yumadrin" or "Yuletide Madness Drabble Invitational" to the tags.

That's it!

*******

As of the start of Yuletide 2025 we have created 939 drabbles, the oldest ones from 2013 when the Invitational. We are so close to a thousand! These little mini-gifts are a lot of fun to give, and to get, and they're fun to create as well. Check out the tag to see what we mean!

https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Yuletide%20Madness%20Drabble%20Invitational/works

isabrella posting in

yuletide

There are many ways of queering texts and characters. This challenge is for any and all of them! The widest possible definition of queering is used here. If you think your prompt counts, then so do we.

To participate, leave a comment on this post linking to your letter, so anyone interested in queering your canon for Yuletide can find you. Tag any fics for this mini-challenge with Queering The Tide. (I suggest you tag both Queering the Tide and TransTide if the two happen to overlap.)

You can copy/paste this form below for your comment.

AO3 name:

Letter link:

Fandom:

Any specific fandom details, preferences, comments, etc:

Text copied from the 2024 post.

spikedluv

Coyotes visited again last night. Pip said that Ti was still half asleep when he gave them a warning howl.

I woke up in the middle of the night (unrelated to coyotes) and started thinking about things like mom’s radiation treatments (we still don’t have any idea when they’ll be) and other things that kept me awake for awhile.

Today was a no-shopping day. I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, went for a walk with the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, placed an online order, and scooped kitty litter.

In breaking news, the ‘muscle pull’ ~is apparently a sciatica flare up. *head desk* Why, body, why?!!

I read more in Winging It with You, watched an HGTV program, and attended Ireland’s soccer game.

Temps started out at 48.6(F) and reached 54.5. It was still raining when we I left the house in the morning, which made me wonder whether the soccer game would be canceled (I don’t know how wet the field has to be for it to be ‘too’ wet).

Mom Update:

Mom was doing okay. ( more back here )

dauntlessshadowice posting in

yuletide

What is Family Matters?
Unrelated to the sitcom (or anything else, actually), Family Matters is a mini challenge focused on sibling relationships. Whether that be traditional, half, foster/adoptive, or step siblings, siblings of all kinds are welcome. For the purposes of this mini challenge, I am excluding found family (unless there are sibling relationships within) and “I see them as a sibling” relationships (unless, of course, that statement is meant to be literal.) As I won’t be policing anything, please use your best interest and feel free to ask me any questions in the comments.

What about incest?
This is NOT the incest mini challenge. Someone made one last year and I'm hoping, for all interested, that it's continues on. However, nothing and no one is stopping you from signing up to both if that’s what you want.

What if [character]’s sibling isn’t in the tagset?
Good news! As long as at least one sibling is in the tagset (and you’re requesting them), this won’t be a problem.

How do I participate?
Leave a comment with the following details:
AO3 Username:
Letter Link (if applicable):
Fandoms & Requested Characters + Their Siblings (not necessary, but it might help to put if they’re in the tagset or not/if you’re requesting them):
Prompts (optional):
Any Other Details:

How do I tag for this?
The challenge, specifically? Yuletide Family Matters
But in general, try some of these, if applicable: Siblings, Sibling Rivalry, Brother-Brother Relationship, Brother-Sister Relationship, Sister-Sister Relationship, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Step-Siblings

dine

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mrkinch

Our usual Monday birding was called on account of rain (that didn't actually show up until we would all have been home again, but what else is new?) so I went up this morning to see what effect the rain has had. Everything was green and wet and lovely, and Jewel Lake resembles a Lake again. No mallards were taking advantage, though. I soon found a Townsend's and a Yellow-rumped Warbler but that was about it for migrants until I was returning, when I came upon a really good mixed flock. They are always fun; several Townsend's, Hermit Thrushes, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, some very loud Brown Creepers, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bewick's Wren, and Hutton's Vireo. ( The list: )

But even that wasn't the most fun. When I returned to the Lake from checking for mud on the north end of Lower Packrat (it's not bad) there was a Green Heron sitting on a log just off shore from the bench! I've seen one at Jewel before, but not recently and not out in the open. This one walked along the log, stretched, ruffled its feathers, did a little fishing before it flew off.

phone pic of Green Heron at Jewel Lake

A very satisfying sighting.

karanguni posting in

yuletide

What is Yuleporn?

In an exchange as large and diverse as Yuletide, it usually turns out that a lot of people would love to write or receive explicit stories but aren't comfortable asking for them or writing them without a little more information. Yuleporn is a mini-challenge that exists to help unite Yuletiders in requesting, writing, and reading the porn of their Yuletide dreams. Have no Optional Details fear, Yuleporn is here!

How Do I Participate?

Leave a comment on this post linking your letter if you are interested in getting an explicit fic for YT.
Add any optional details you want in the comment – additional prompts, favourite kinks, DNWs, &c..
If you don't have a letter or are a pinch-hitter, you can still leave prompts here, but make sure to include your AO3 name, your fandoms, and the characters you requested
When it comes time to upload, tag your fics with "Yuleporn" on AO3 so other interested parties can easily find all the good stuff when the collection opens.
Enjoy.

Here's a totally optional copy-paste form if you like forms!

AO3: Letter link: Likes: DNWs: Fandom specific details:

As always, you don't have to participate in Yuleporn to write or request porn - it's just here to make things easier - and Yuleporn is 100% open to all kinks (or lack thereof).

(This post is mostly copypasta from time immemorial; please comment if anything should be updated! Credit to Morbane for this year's title.)

aprildawn13

It's finally starting to feel (a bit) like fall 😁

To celebrate the season here are some silly icons I made when I should have been sleeping (yay insomnia/AuDHD /s)

Silly Halloween John Sheppard icon

mimihylea posting in

yuletide

Two for One is an annual mini-challenge to help people who like crossovers and/or fusions find one another's requests.

To participate, simply copy-paste the following into a comment:
AO3 Name:
Letter Link:
Crossover Type: (ie. crossover, fusion, or either)
Applicable Requested Fandoms:
Potential Crossover Fandoms: (you may list specific combinations you're interested in, ex. Megamind/Treasure Planet, or generally request any of your Yuletide requests with each other, or list additional fandoms you'd be happy to have crossed with any of your requests)
Prompts/Optional Details: (as many and as detailed as you like)

One of the fandoms in each crossover or fusion prompt must be one you are requesting for Yuletide; however, the other doesn’t have to be. It doesn’t even have to be in the tagset at all!

Some clarification about crossover types:
Crossovers tend to involve Fandom A's characters interacting with Fandom B's characters or worldbuilding, with everyone retaining their canon backgrounds. Ex. Aurora and Red Riding Hood team up to defeat a villain, or Clark Kent falls into a portal that takes him to Tortall.

Fusions tend to be AUs in which Fandom A's characters have always existed in Fandom B's setting instead of their own, often replacing Fandom B's characters. Ex. Pacha and Kronk as contestants in the Hunger Games, where Kuzco and Yzma are referees. (A fic like this in which Hunger Games characters also appear would be a hybrid between a fusion and crossover.)

yuletidemods posting in

yuletide_admin

Please read this post even if you have signed up before!

After reading this post, please look at the tag set to see what fandoms are available this year, and make a shortlist of what you plan to offer and request. (The same fandoms can be on both lists, if you want.)

Then sign up at the collection. We recommend you allow at least half an hour to sign up. While you can edit your sign-up over the next week, you will not be able to make any changes after sign-ups close at 9pm UTC 24 October.

If you would like to avoid matching to up to three other participants, with limitations discussed here, you may do so by filling out a Google Form from a link within the AO3 form. If you want to use this feature but cannot use Google Forms, please email the mods. Do Not Match requests will close at the same time as signups.

Requests

You can request 3-8 fandoms

Each fandom must be different

You can request 0*-4 characters in each fandom

*Requesting 0 characters means "I am happy to receive any nominated character for this fandom. My author gets to choose which one(s)". That includes Worldbuilding for fandoms where Worldbuilding is nominated as a character tag. If no characters are nominated for the fandom, requesting 0 characters means “I am happy to receive any character or worldbuilding for this fandom.”

"AND" matching means your writer must include every character you select. If you are happy with a subset of your selected characters, indicate this with Additional Tags, and clarify any exceptions in your optional details.

You can only request characters from the tag set, though your optional prompts may mention other characters to appear too.

In some fandoms, you can request Worldbuilding as a character. You can find guidance on that here.

AND matching and additional tags
Generally, when you select characters in your sign-up form, it means you want and expect your gift to include all of those characters. This is a key principle for matching and assignments. However, some people like to give their author further options. We are using the Additional Tags section of the form for this.

If you requested 0 characters, or you want all the characters you selected to appear, you will tick the first Additional Tag option, which says "My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags (if 0: any from tag set)". If you think your situation might be different, please read last year’s post about additional tags and select additional tags that are right for your requests. This information is also in the sign-up form.

Optional Details and Do Not Wants (DNWs)
"Optional details" = prompts, ideas, likes, explanations of how you see the canon. Optional details and DNWs can be recorded in the main text section of your requests.

Optional details are optional (ODAO)! Your writer doesn't have to follow your prompts, though they must avoid your DNWs. You don't have to give prompts here, either - though prompts and ideas may be a more inspiring first impression than a list of DNWs on its own. Prompts may be particularly useful if you are requesting a Worldbuilding tag.

See this 2020 post for some considerations when writing your DNWs. Last year, we also clarified our rules and guidance about DNWs.

The Optional Details section of your AO3 requests is especially relevant if you have selected option two of the additional tags, "My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags; or it may use exceptions I explain in the form". In that case, please use this section of the form for explaining how and when your writer is allowed to leave out some of the characters you selected.

Please use minimal html in the optional details field. No images, please.

Please also note in the form if you're able to receive treats - or if you don't want them! Yuletide has a long-established culture of extra gifts, but if you created your account recently, you may have extra gifts turned off by default. Please check your AO3 preferences, and then state in your sign-up form whether you do or do not accept treats.

Letters
You can write prompts and preferences in another space, such as Dreamwidth, Livejournal, Google Docs, or Tumblr, and put a link in your sign-up. This is known as a "letter". Some people write letters; some don't. DNWs and character subsets that are listed in a letter but not in the Optional Details AO3 textbox cause confusion and difficulty for creators, and will not be enforced by the mods. Otherwise, your letter is an extension of your optional details and is treated the same way.

Important: You cannot add a letter after sign-ups close.

Offers

You can offer 4-10 fandoms

Each fandom must be different

You can offer 2-20 specific characters in each

If you want to offer a fandom that has 0-1 characters available, tick the "Any" box

If you are willing to write any combination of nominated characters, including Worldbuilding for fandoms where it is nominated, tick the "Any" box

"Worldbuilding" can also be selected as a character for many fandoms. Please check here to see how we're using it.

Offers are secret! Please don't declare openly what you're offering.

If you have several fandoms in which you want to offer to write Any nominated characters, you can make your last offer a "Bucket Offer". You can read about bucket offers in the Sign-ups section of the AO3 FAQ. This older tutorial has pictures!

Signing up!

The sign-up form is here.

Signups will remain open - and editable - until 9pm UTC 24 October.

You may only sign up to Yuletide with one AO3 account. You must be aged 18 or over to sign up.

You can find more sign-up information at the Yuletide 2025 FAQ

There is also specific guidance about how to use Additional Tags

Please check the tag set or the app when signing up. The autocomplete drop-down list in the sign-up form may not show all available characters. If they're in the tag set, you can enter them manually.

Sign-Up Summary

The list of requested/offered fandoms will be available after five people have signed up. Bucket offers do not show up in the list. Checking the sign-up summary for people you may be able to write for is a good idea - although many people sign up at the last minute. The sign-up summary says it updates hourly; in practice it may update less frequently.

Fandoms at 1-1 on the sign-up summary may mean that the same person is offering and requesting the fandom, not that there is a match.

Welcome to Yuletide!

Feel free to ask us questions.

Bonus! Yuletide advertisements

Thank you to

crantz (who also made images for us to share in 2019 and in 2020). Please use these to encourage friends and other fans to take part!

Yuletide exchange promotional image using mountain forest scenery. Text says Write off the beaten path - Yuletide Rare Fandoms Exchange.

To repost this image, copy this html:
<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletide2025/profile"><img src="https://www.yuletide.fandom.exchange/images/yuletidegraphic1.jpg" alt="Yuletide exchange promotional image using mountain forest scenery. Text says Write off the beaten path - Yuletide Rare Fandoms Exchange."></a>

Yuletide exchange promotional image using an image of an 1887 ice palace. Text says Travel the Worlds of Imagination - Yuletide Rare Fandoms Exchange.

To repost this image, copy this html:
<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletide2025/profile"><img src="https://www.yuletide.fandom.exchange/images/yuletidegraphic2.jpg" alt="Yuletide exchange promotional image using an image of an 1887 ice palace. Text says Travel the Worlds of Imagination - Yuletide Rare Fandoms Exchange."></a>

moontyger posting in

yuletide

Three Turtle Doves is a mini challenge to help people who like poly, threesomes, and more find one another's requests. Though the challenge title includes the word "three", moresomes are welcome to join in. The more the merrier!

If you are requesting these, please let others know by dropping a comment here. Interested writers can browse and see what's out there that they might not have known about. This is also a great place to discover new fandoms with poly possibilities.

To participate, simply copy-paste the following into a comment:
AO3 Name:
Letter Link:
Fandom(s):
Rating(s): (here's a good place to put your ideal and maximum ratings)
Groupings Requested: (list all combinations you're interested in in all fandoms)
Prompts!: (as many and as detailed as you like)

Please tag any works you end up making for Yuletide with 'Three Turtle Doves' so interested people can find and enjoy your work!

moontyger posting in

yuletide

Greetings and salutations! Yuletide contains multitudes, and a chunk of those multitudes would really like to request or write worldbuilding. Thus, here is a sub-challenge post for those of us who love worldbuilding, either on the giving or receiving end.

To participate

Leave a comment on this fic with a link to your letter if you are interested in receiving worldbuilding. Optionally, add any extra worldbuilding likes and prompts you may have into your comment.
If you don't have a letter, you can still leave prompts here! Please ensure your comment includes your AO3 username, requested fandoms, and any characters you're requesting.
When uploading your fic to the archive, tag it with Yulebuilding and Worldbuilding so the rest of us can find it!

It's not necessary to interact with Yulebuilding in any way to give or request worldbuilding for Yuletide, but this post is here to make life easier. Enjoy!

spikedluv

I hit Walmart while I was downtown, and Stewart’s on the way home. I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, swept the kitchen, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, clipped Pip’s hair, and scooped kitty litter. You didn’t miss it, there were zero walks. Rainy and cold and damp, so I just didn’t wanna.

We went to Texas Roadhouse with friends for supper. (I had noticed previously that their rolls were about half the normal size, and now their house salad, which I normally rave about, was skimpy and the chicken tenders serving was about half what I got before. Hmm.) I also read a little bit more of Winging It and watched an HGTV program.

In less fun news, I seem to have pulled a muscle; the upper hamstring just below my buttock. I have no idea how or when I did it, but it started aching while I was sitting on the bed with Midnight on my lap before bed. It does not feel good today. And I’m hoping it’s a muscle pull and NOT my sciatica acting up again.

Midnight story: A while after we got home I was looking for Midnight. He’d eaten some soft food, but I hadn't seen him in a while. I didn’t see him in his cage (a dog cage where we keep his food, water and litter box away from the dogs), in his bed, or in two of his favorite spots. I asked Pip and he was like, oh, he’ll show up. Then I was like, wait, did you close him in the closet (when he hung up the jacket he wore out)? Oh no, couldn’t have, never saw the cat. Guess where the cat was? Yep, inside the closet. Busy cleaning himself and seemed as if he had no care about being closed in, thankfully. *g*

Temps started out at 48.4(F) and was still only 48.9 at 3pm. It had gone up a teensy bit more to 49.6 by the time we got home (6:30pm). A whole degree! It rained all day, some light, some quite heavy. We got the half inch they predicted.

Mom Update:

Mom was doing okay today. ( more back here )