Snowflake challenge #9

Jan. 17th, 2026 07:51 pm
ruuger: (Mentalist: Jane/Cho)
[personal profile] ruuger
I haven't been doing the Snowflake Challenge this year, but the latest challenge popped up on my f-list, and I had to do it.

Challenge #9
Talk about your favorite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)


If you've been following me for any length of time, you know where this is going )


Snowflake Challenge promotional banner featuring an image of a wrapped giftbox with a snowflake on the gift tag. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.
silveradept: A head shot of a  librarian in a floral print shirt wearing goggles with text squiggles on them, holding a pencil. (Librarian Goggles)
[personal profile] silveradept
It's time for another [community profile] snowflake_challenge, and this one is geared more toward those of us who like to talk about the building blocks, the character types, and the storytelling pathways that link and underlie any given specific story being told.

Challenge #9

Talk about your favorite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)


Discard the momomyth and understand that Tropes Are Tools )
oursin: Photograph of Stella Gibbons, overwritten IM IN UR WOODSHED SEEING SOMETHIN NASTY (woodshed)
[personal profile] oursin

Honestly, we thought better of the Finns, being told how amazing a society they have: How would you feel if your therapist’s notes – your darkest thoughts and deepest feelings – were exposed to the world? For 33,000 Finnish people, that became a terrifying reality While the guy involved seems to have been an absolute horror from a young age in terms of hacking exploits, doxxing and swatting people, etc, we also note that there was actually criminal negligence brought against the company holding the patient data, which sounds a bit grim in terms of regulatory procedures and oversight.

***

This is very peculiar, because you see 'catfishing' and you think it's about monetary fraud, but that didn't seem to be at stake here: How a friend request led a beauty queen to uncover Scotland's most prolific catfish:

[T]hey were all left wondering why she did it. "All of us were pretty much left with no answers whatsoever," Abbie says.

I was wondering about whether there was something similar in play to some of the prolific poison-pen letter-writers in that Penning Poison book I read last year: not all of them were 'women with nature turned sour in the veins and sometimes terrorising whole communities for years with their spite' but that was one category.

***

Now, this is creepy: Manager of women’s football club banned for 12 years after bombarding players with indecent images:

Hamilton denied 24 FA charges of improper conduct, all relating to his time in charge of the club, but an independent regulatory commission concluded that 23 of the 24 were proven. The FA received evidence from four players and a staff member, all of whom detailed examples of Hamilton trying to elicit sexual activity between May 2022 and November 2024.
....
The commission also noted “with sadness” that one of the victims appeared to blame herself, and that more broadly the complainants “feared the consequences of complaining and that it would impact on their chances of being selected”, adding: “Worst of all, some of them somehow felt that it might be their fault.”

He sounds absolutely terrible quite apart from that: “verbally aggressive and bullying management style”.

***

Dining across the divide - this week it's the Grand Canyon - not yet online - because one of the parties is a Yaxley-Lennon fanboy.

***

And this is just a minor thing that agitated the niggles and peeves when it crossed my line of sight earlier today, but if you are writing a historical novel about the first women at the University of Oxford I really don't expect it to be set in the 1920s. That was when they were first, finally, awarded degrees. They'd been studying there much longer, over 40 years.

❄️ Snowflake Challenge #9

Jan. 18th, 2026 01:22 am
autumninpluto: Sakamoto lying down on his side ([sd] lying down sakamoto)
[personal profile] autumninpluto
Snowflake Challenge promotional banner featuring an image of a wrapped giftbox with a snowflake on the gift tag. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.

Challenge #9: Talk about your favorite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)

Oooh. Some might not consider all of these tropes (they're more like AO3 tags atp), but I'm going off the top of my head for these:

  • Golden retriever/black cat dynamics
  • Childhood-friends-to-lovers
  • Coming-of-age stories
  • Fake dating
  • In Vino Veritas (a.k.a. drunken confessions)
  • Pining/mutual pining!!!
  • Domesticity
  • Royalty AUs or just historical settings with monarchies in general
  • Adorably precocious children
  • De-aging
  • Become a Real Boy/Pinocchio Syndrome
  • Modern AUs for fantasy/historical works
  • Terminal illness
  • Double life stories (assassins, spies, etc. whether in canon or as an AU)
  • Unequal social statuses (rich/poor, royal/commoner or royal/retainer, etc.)

I think a lot of these are self-explanatory so there's not much for me to discuss lol. Sorry!

Round 34: The Icon Quest Results

Jan. 17th, 2026 06:17 pm
tinny: Something Else holding up its colorful drawing - "be different" (Default)
[personal profile] tinny posting in [community profile] retro_icontest




Our second stint at the Icon Quest - our round 34 - has concluded! Almost all participants from last time went on more quests and as many new participants joined us, yay! I had a lot of fun being your temporary retro questmaster again for this round!

Now with handmade badges by our very own herald painter, [personal profile] picnicnic! \o/








(nobody is a wizard)

the wizard is a bit grumpy because nobody is a wizard this round






LOOK AT ALL THE CHARACTER PROFILES HERE )


Complete points overview for our icon quest rounds here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JlFfBjXUDzjCx-c6mvG9aCAGUF45dT354YtbHP51P6M/

Please let me know if there are any mistakes.
dolorosa_12: (latern)
[personal profile] dolorosa_12
Russia's tactic of targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure is not new, but it has been particularly brutal this winter, with the combination of four years of relentless attacks on civilian infrastructure, the near cessation of US military aid (in particular air and missile defence) and an incredibly cold winter proving particularly devastating. Here in the safety and comfort of the UK, I spent most of yesterday reading increasingly panicked internal mailing list items at work as the main university library was closed for a single day (in 10ish-degree temperatures) due to a lack of water and heating. Meanwhile, Kyiv has experienced weeks of sub-zero temperatures, and most of its residents have no (or limited) electricity, heating, or water in their homes: a situation that has become a severe crisis.

Anastasiia Lapatina is a journalist and young mother in Kyiv, and she describes the situation in a recent Substack newsletter with devastating clarity. Kyiv's brave and resilient people carry on — businesses adapt and stay open, the government implements crisis planning, ordinary people find whatever workarounds they can to stay warm and fed — because they have no other option.

While we cannot stop Russia from continuing to perpetuate this cruelty, there are, as usual, concrete things that we can do in response. If you live in a country whose elected politicians are meant to represent and be responsive to the interests of their constituents, contact them about this situation, and ask what they (whether in government or opposition) are intending to do in response to it.

Investigate Ukrainian advocacy groups in your country or region. In the UK, I've been to protests, vigils and other advocacy events organised by the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign, and being signed up for their newsletter (or following their or equivalent groups' social media accounts) is a good way to stay informed about upcoming ways you can show your support (or protest your government's actions or inaction) in person.

If you are financially able, the Anastasiia Lapatina newsletter item linked above includes a fundraiser that she and some American colleagues are running to buy large (expensive) batteries for struggling residents of Kyiv. This will, at least, allow them to power some appliances, including portable heaters, for a few hours a day. They have already bought two batteries for two families. I have donated to this fundraiser and trust these individuals to be responsible with the money they collect.

I had expected that United24, the Ukrainian government fundraising platform, would have had a targeted campaign to gather funds to support residents struggling without heat and water, but I can't see anything specific on their website as of 17 January. I do know that the government organises 'invincibility points' (sites in cities and large towns where residents can go to warm up, get hot drinks, and power mobile phones and other devices), so I would assume a donation to their 'Rebuilding' or 'Medical' strands may help in that direction.

This current state of affairs is chilling in a literal and psychological sense.

Please feel welcome to share this post.

The Friday Five on a Saturday

Jan. 17th, 2026 03:56 pm
nanila: me (Default)
[personal profile] nanila
  1. If you could change one life-changing event in the life of someone important to you, would you?

    I know there's a philosophy that experiences make you who you are and you shouldn't wish them away, but I have a few friends who have been through what I feel is a disproportionate and unfair amount of tragedy in their lives. Partner suicide, early death of parents, sudden loss of physical health, financial hardship, homelessness. I don't think any one person should have to go through all of those before the age of thirty. And yet. Here we are. So yes, I absolutely would change that for certain people if I could.

  2. Which do you think is easier to do, being friends for many years, or being life partners for many years?

    Uh, neither? Both take work! You have to listen and try to empathise and forgive and communicate. All relationships require effort, and if they don't, someone is being used.

  3. Have you ever walked away from someone you considered a friend?

    Yes. It's not very pleasant. But occasionally necessary for the sake of self-preservation.

  4. If you had to choose between telling the truth and hurting a friend or lying and making them happy, which would you choose?

    Barring a handful of exceptional circumstances, most of which involve an immediate threat to life, lying and making them happy. Life is difficult enough without intentionally causing pain.

  5. Which would you rather hear--the truth which will hurt, or the comforting lie?

    The comforting lie, if it comes to that. I'd hope it wouldn't, most of the time. I'd like to believe that truths can be delivered kindly, most of the time.

Fandom Snowflake Challenge #9

Jan. 17th, 2026 08:01 am
thatjustwontbreak: snowflake challenge (snowflake challenge)
[personal profile] thatjustwontbreak posting in [community profile] snowflake_challenge

Introduction Post * Meet the Mods Post * Challenge #1 * Challenge #2 * Challenge #3 * Challenge #4 * Challenge #5 * Challenge #6 * Challenge #7 * Challenge #8 *



Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time, or go back and do challenges you've missed.

Fandom Snowflake Challenge #9 )

And please do check out the comments for all the awesome participants of the challenge and visit their journals/challenge responses to comment on their posts and cheer them on.

And just as a reminder: this is a low pressure, fun challenge. If you aren't comfortable doing a particular challenge, then don't. We aren't keeping track of who does what.

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner featuring an image of a wrapped giftbox with a snowflake on the gift tag. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.


Snowflake Challenge #3

Jan. 17th, 2026 10:54 am
alexcat: (Default)
[personal profile] alexcat
Challebge #3 'Write a love letter to fandom. It might be to fandom in general, to a particular fandom, favourite character, anything at all.
Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it



Dear fandom,

I’m supposed to write you a love letter, but I am kinda stumped this year. The political situation in the US and health issues have conspired to come between us. My imagination seems to have dried up and characters that spoke to me for many years seem to have moved on to greener pastures and maybe just left the galaxy all together. Who could blame them?

I’m hoping to get reacquainted and spend a lot of time with you this year. Maybe I can even find all my old fiction friends and tell some more of their stories again OR maybe I could even meet some new people to write about. I do live to tell a love story/

I guess I should also mention how important the real people in fandom are. I’ve lost touch with many of the folks I’ve met in my various fandoms, so it’s also time to make new friends and look up some of the old ones. Fandom friends have kept me same for a long time and sanity is in short supply these days.

What do you say, fandom? Can we do this? I surely hope so.



Snowflake Challenge: A flatlay of a snowflake shaped shortbread cake, a mug with coffee, and a string of holiday lights on top of a rustic napkin.

placeholder microfiction

Jan. 17th, 2026 10:05 am
asakiyume: (cloud snow)
[personal profile] asakiyume
I don't like to go so long without posting! Just offline stuff piling on (nothing personally dire, though). The offline stuff is doing a number on my ability to write, but I still manage to squeeze out microfictions, though not quite daily. Here's one from a few days ago:
I dreamed of a pharaoh, awaking after death and arranging to his liking the various precious items buried with him.

"You've got quite an ego," I snapped at him (dream-me is apparently rude to people's faces), "having this massive pyramid built just so people would remember you."

"That's not why I had it built. It's for all the stories that collect around it. Adventures, time travel, curses, beings from the stars--I hear them all, and they entertain me," he replied.



And here's a sweet video my tutor sent me of Martin, a pygmy marmoset monkey, whining at Gordo-the-dog, who's relaxing.

Today I Learned

Jan. 17th, 2026 10:37 am
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll
Orson Scott Card has a substack.
creepy_shetan: cropped color manga illustration of the inner and outer Sailor Senshi lying in a wide circle, their heads together (SM // solar system color wheel)
[personal profile] creepy_shetan posting in [community profile] comment_fic
[ If you're interested in being a Tuesday-Thursday guest host, you can sign up here. Thanks! ❤ ]
↑↑↑ Available dates:
January 20 & 22
January 27 & 29
February 3 & 5


Hey, how's it going? Are you ready for this week's Free for All? ^_^ There are no themes to follow for prompts or fills. If, perhaps, you missed a prompt theme that you liked, or you've had any ideas that didn't really work with Tuesday's or Thursday's posts, then today's your chance to prompt 'em. Be free, and have fun! ✎

Just a few rules:
1. No more than five prompts in a row.
2. No more than three prompts in the same fandom.
3. Use the character's full name and the fandom's full name for ease in adding to the Lonely Prompts spreadsheet.
4. No spoilers in prompts for a month after airing, or use the spoiler cut option found here. Unfortunately, DW doesn’t have a cut tag, so use your best judgment when it comes to spoilers.
5. If your fill contains spoilers, warn and leave plenty of space, or use the spoiler cut.
6. If your story has possible triggers, please warn for them in the subject line!

Prompts should be formatted as follows: [Use the character's full names and fandom's full name]
Fandom, Character +/ Character, Prompt

Are today's prompts not catching your eye? No worries, because we have plenty of older prompts that just might do the trick! You can browse through the comm's calendar archive (here on LJ or here on DW) for themed and Free For All posts, or perhaps check out Sunday posts for Lonely Prompt requests. (Or, you can be like me, and try to save interesting prompts as you see 'em... and then end up with multiple text doc files full of [themes + links + prompts] that you can easily look through and search for keywords.) Multiple fills for one prompt are welcome, by the way! Oh, and you are very likely to find some awesome fills to read as well, and wouldn't it be nice to leave a comment on those lovely little writing distractions? ~_^

We are on AO3! If you fill a prompt and post it to AO3, please add it to the Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2026 collection.

If you are viewing this post on our Dreamwidth site: please know that fills posted here will not show up as comments on our LiveJournal site, but you are still more than welcome to participate. =)

If you have a Dreamwidth account and would feel more comfortable participating there, please feel free to do so… and spread the word! [community profile] comment_fic


A friendly reminder about our posting schedule: Themed posts for new prompts go up on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Saturdays are a Free for All day for new prompts of any flavor. Sundays are for showing Lonely Prompts some love, whether by requesting for someone to adopt them or by sharing any fills that you've recently completed.

Speak Up Saturday

Jan. 17th, 2026 03:45 pm
feurioo: (Default)
[personal profile] feurioo posting in [community profile] tv_talk
Assortment of black and white speech bubbles

Welcome to the weekly roundup post! What are you watching this week? What are you excited about?
tinny: Something Else holding up its colorful drawing - "be different" (Default)
[personal profile] tinny posting in [community profile] retro_icontest
Here are the results of the elements battle!

Thank you, [personal profile] narnialover7 and [personal profile] picnicnic, for joining my battle! It looks very pretty! \o/

Teasers:


all 12 icons here )
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Three works new to me, all from various TTRPG Kickstarters. 2026 feels kind of light on upcoming books.

Books Received, January 10 to January 16

Poll #34090 Books Received, January 10 to January 16
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 28


Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying (Alpha) by Adam Bradford & Tomas Härenstam (July 2026)
9 (32.1%)

Fabula Ultima Bestiary by Emanuele Galletto (May 2026)
4 (14.3%)

Arkand: City of Wave and Flames by Johan Sjöberg (April 2026)
5 (17.9%)

Some other option (see comments)
2 (7.1%)

Cats!
24 (85.7%)

Fannish 50 - #2 - Time Travel Romance

Jan. 17th, 2026 04:02 pm
temris: (medieval little guy)
[personal profile] temris
Now that my finals are done and hopefully I'm done with this (incredibly tediously long) semester, I'll continue posting for Fannish 50.

I thought about what I should talk about today, and had some ideas, but in the end decided upon touching the subject of one of my favorite genres in media: Time travel romance.

Ever since I was a kid, I had such a big interest in history (I'm sure it's not apparent! xD) Even back then, though I enjoyed fantastic elements too, I always preferred when the media was set in a rather realistic setting -- as in, not "fantasy" -- and this is still compliant with my current preference. [Listen. I understand the appeal, but we already have so many of them, guys (especially medieval fantasy). Let us enjoy a good adventure that has its feet on the ground once in a while!]

So you might think; then why do you enjoy a trope that's literally supernatural in its core?

One of the biggest reasons why I love reading books or watching movies is like many others, to escape from the stress, responsibilities and worries of real life. So then, isn't time travel romance, when it puts the modern person into historical settings, exactly doing the same thing? Maybe that's why, even with such partiality to realism, I find myself running to time travel, a very fantastic element, in times especially when I feel very down; because at their foundation, romance stories are for the audience to put themselves in the shoes of the protagonist.

Another appeal: The shenanigans of how they try to adapt to their new situations (this is better to watch when the historical person is thrown to the modern world), to deal with vastly different views of the era, are always fun to explore. When the research is done well, the characterizations are well-written, you get basically two people on opposite sides of time finding love. Isn't that beautiful? They try to understand the others' upbringing, the way their world is shaped, just for trying to work it out with them. Sacrificing from those values, researching on how to be more on par with their preferences and their "normal"s... I don't know. It's just good.

Also, men back then were actually mostly capable of what they claimed to be; crafting, creating, cooking, building, fighting, strong, protective... Yeah, the traditional masculinity when it's done well is incredibly hot -- I'm not going to try to lie!

Even at the core of calling myself "a very surface level person", I LOVE romance stuff. So maybe, it's the fact that I'll never experience something like that (meeting a historical person) appeals to me also... xD

Anyway! So, I'll try to pick some of my favorite books, movies, series, games, anime... with time travel romance in random order.

#1 - Kate & Leopold
(letterboxd)


 

It has been some time since I've seen this movie, but I remember Hugh Jackman was so dreamy in this movie. He's from an era that I'm not particularly interested in, ngl so the clothings are not so much to my liking (it's still better and miles ahead than the crap men wear nowadays, and the costumes were really well done!) but even then he looked so handsome during the entire movie.

Also, it's the other way around like I mentioned, the historical person travels to the modern era, so the way he tried to get used to such a changed world, was very fun to see. There's a scene where he catches a burglar that stole Kate's bag, and Leopold comes out with a freaking horse!! That's exactly what I meant when I say the idea of traditional masculinity working out when it's done well. The way he says "Your hand, woman!" and grabs her to put her behind on the horse, is sooo 😭🙈❤ He also prepares dinner for her and Hugh Jackman just looks so handsome when he's even cutting some vegetables -- I was drooling I'm sorry. 😭 There's even a princess carry which is one of my favorite things EVER. AAAH Just!!

I also felt both the romance and the ending was rushed, but it's a good watch. 

Weekly Chat

Jan. 17th, 2026 02:16 pm
dancing_serpent: (Actors - Hou Minghao - Tianyao)
[personal profile] dancing_serpent posting in [community profile] c_ent
The weekly chat posts are intended for just that, chatting among each other. What are you currently watching? Reading? What actor/idol are you currently following? What are you looking forward to? Are you busy writing, creating art? Or did you have no time at all for anything, and are bemoaning that fact?

Whatever it is, talk to us about it here. Tell us what you liked or didn't like, and if you want to talk about spoilery things, please hide them under either of these codes:
or

Round #34 - theiconquest #2 finished

Jan. 17th, 2026 01:44 pm
tinny: Something Else holding up its colorful drawing - "be different" (Default)
[personal profile] tinny posting in [community profile] retro_icontest


♕ KING'S SPEECH ♕

Thank ye all heroic participants of this icon quest! This round is now closed!



I will post the battle results from the remaining two battles, plus the roundup and badges for all participants today. I haven't checked yet if all icons have correct classes assigned. I will assign them classes if I find it easy, otherwise I'll contact you to make a decision.

The next round will be posted after that - also hopefully today.

Not great, Bob.

Jan. 17th, 2026 01:38 pm
goodbyebird: Xena: Xena takes a sip from a goblet, then feistily spits it out. (Xena run to your master puppy)
[personal profile] goodbyebird
+ Of course the actual post got swallowed before I found internet again. Weather absolute shit, Internet shit, boat very warm, zero fish, zero internet in my cabin with the new setup. I can't be fucking bothered to write it up again.

+ One of the things open in my tabs was the latest friending meme at [community profile] friending_memes, and maybe time without internet was a good thing there. Came to the conclusion that actually, my circle is pretty damn great and I don't feel I get around to commenting as often as I'd like. So skipping the meme, but since I fiddled with the response a bit I'm copying it over here. Read more... )

I did appreciate that the meme made me dig back through the year for my happiest memories, and I'm thinking it's a good idea to try and note those days down more. They really do fade into the blur if not.

+ While I may not have the internet to grab the latest Fallout episode - *grumps again* - you can all head on over to [community profile] retro_icontest to see the results of the icon battle me, [personal profile] naushika, and [personal profile] narnialover7 had.



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Diamonds are just pressed coal, corpses have stories, secrets.

A story is true. A story is untrue. As time extends, it matters less and less. The stories we want to believe those are the ones that survive. Despite upheaval and transition and progress. Those are the stories that shape history.

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