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Current Mood: photographical
Current Location: 'ere

A forest walk

We headed up Lime Kiln Lane and over to New Works then into the forest.

Things are now very green indeed although this is always a green landscape being on the west coast side of things:

( More pics: )

The OTW is Recruiting for Tag Wrangling Volunteer, Tag Wrangling Volunteer (Indonesian), Tag Wrangli

Posted by an

https://www.transformativeworks.org/the-otw-is-recruiting-for-tag-wrangling-volunteer-tag-wrangling-volunteer-indonesian-tag-wrangling-volunteer-russian-internal-complaint-and-conflict-resolution-volunteer-support-volunteer-and/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=265677

Would you like to wrangle AO3 tags? Can you read and translate from Indonesian to English? Can you read and translate from Russian to English? Are you interested in actively contributing to the creation and maintenance of a safer volunteering environment within the OTW? Would you like to help your fellow fans use AO3? Are you fluent in Chinese? If you answered “yes” to any of these, you’re in luck: the OTW is recruiting!

We’re excited to announce the opening of applications for:

Tag Wrangling Volunteer – closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 130 applications]
Tag Wrangling (Indonesian) Volunteer – closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 30 applications]
Tag Wrangling (Russian) Volunteer – closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 30 applications]
Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution Volunteer – closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC
Support Volunteer – closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 30 applications]
Support (Chinese) Volunteer – closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 30 applications]

We have included more information on each role below. Open roles and applications will always be available at the volunteering page. If you don’t see a role that fits with your skills and interests now, keep an eye on the listings. We plan to put up new applications every few weeks, and we will also publicize new roles as they become available.

All applications generate a confirmation page and an auto-reply to your e-mail address. We encourage you to read the confirmation page and to whitelist our email address in your e-mail client. If you do not receive the auto-reply within 24 hours, please check your spam filters and then contact us.

If you have questions regarding volunteering for the OTW, check out our Volunteering FAQ.

Tag Wrangling Volunteer

The Tag Wranglers are responsible for helping to connect and sort the tags on AO3! Wranglers follow internal guidelines to choose the tags that appear in the filters and auto-complete, which link related works together. This makes it easier to browse and search on the archive.

If you’re an experienced AO3 user who likes organizing, working in teams, or having excuses to fact-check your favorite fandoms, you might enjoy tag wrangling! To join us, click through to the job description and fill in our application form. There will also be a short questionnaire that will help us assess whether you have the skills and attributes that will lead to your success in this role.

Please note: you must be 18+ in order to apply for this role. For this role, we’re currently looking for wranglers for specific fandoms only, which will change each recruitment round. Please see the application for which fandoms are in need.

Wranglers need to be fluent in English but we welcome applicants who are also fluent in other languages, especially Čeština (Czech), Español (Spanish), isiZulu (Zulu), Italiano (Italian), Polski (Polish), Português brasileiro (Brazilian Portuguese), Suomi (Finnish), Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese), Türkçe (Turkish), Українська (Ukrainian), ไทย (Thai), беларуская (Belarusian), 한국어 (Korean) and 中文 (Chinese – we welcome all dialects) — but help with other languages would be much appreciated!

Applications are due 25 June 2025 [or after 130 applications]

Apply for Tag Wrangling Volunteer at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

Tag Wrangling (Indonesian) Volunteer

Please note: you must be 18+ in order to apply for this role. For this role we’re currently looking for applicants who are fluent in both English and Indonesian. We welcome all Indonesian dialects. The work will involve both regular Tag Wrangling work and translating tags from Indonesian into English.

Applications are due 25 June 2025 [or after 30 applications]

Apply for Tag Wrangling (Indonesian) Volunteer at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

Tag Wrangling (Russian) Volunteer

Please note: you must be 18+ in order to apply for this role. For this role we’re currently looking for applicants who are fluent in both English and Russian. We welcome all Russian dialects. The work will involve both regular Tag Wrangling work and translating tags from Russian into English.

Applications are due 25 June 2025 [or after 30 applications]

Apply for Tag Wrangling (Russian) Volunteer at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution Volunteer

Are you passionate about fostering a safer and more supportive volunteering environment within the OTW?

As an Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution (“ICCR”) volunteer, you will play a key role in maintaining fair and respectful interactions across the Organization. Your work will include reviewing, investigating, and adjudicating complaints, and mediating conflicts. Our team is also in the process of refining the OTW’s policies to create a more effective and inclusive volunteer experience. Our goal is to serve as an objective, neutral party for personnel-related issues to help resolve situations with compassion and equity.

Please note that due to the nature of the work, current OTW volunteers who apply for the role will have to resign from all other roles within the OTW to serve on this subcommittee.

Applications are due 25 June 2025

Apply for Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution Volunteer at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

Support Volunteer

The Support team is responsible for handling the feedback and requests for assistance we receive from users of the Archive of Our Own. We answer users’ questions, help to resolve problems they’re experiencing, and pass on information to and from coders, testers, tag wranglers and other teams involved with AO3. If you enjoy helping others to learn how to use AO3 and figuring out solutions to problems, you might enjoy being a Support volunteer!

Applications are due 25 June 2025 [or after 40 applications]

Apply for Support Volunteer at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

Support Volunteer (Chinese)

We’re currently recruiting for applicants who are fluent in both English and Chinese (We welcome all Chinese dialects!). If you are a fluent Chinese speaker who enjoys helping others to learn how to use AO3 and figuring out solutions to problems, you might enjoy being a Support volunteer!

Applications are due 25 June 2025 [or after 40 applications]

Apply for Support Volunteer (Chinese) at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=265677

Red Silks (by eliade) (E)

Shows: SGA
Rec Category: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay
Categories: M/M
Words: 3111
Content Notes: Aliens yet again make them do it, Rodney's drugged with an aphrodisiac, John's restrained, dubious consent
Author on DW: n/a
Author's Website: eliade's SGA fic on LJ, and old website on Wayback (SG1, other fandoms)
Link: Red Silks on LJ, and backup on Wayback
Why This Must Be Read: This a delicious, very tropey AMTDI/Aphrodisiac fic, where the aliens have decided Rodney needs to have his way with John for trade relations, so they've drugged Rodney and tied John down in a lush bedroom. Yes, it's non-con or at least dub-con, but as they both want each other it's in the usual PWP tradition. Eliade is a gorgeous writer and the story's deliciously erotic, sensual, and super hot. Rodney, stoned and vaguely accusatory, edges John mercilessly, and John's turned on but increasingly frustrated POV is highly amusing. A classic romp in the genre.

( snippet of fic )

Entry tags:

Just a Parrot (G) - The Blue Parrot

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Admin Post: Mod Note: Mostly away for a while

( You're about to view content that a community administrator has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Entry tags:

Batman: Fan Fic: Welcome Home

Title: Welcome Home
Fandom: Batman/Wayne Family Adventures/DC Comics
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Dick/Barbara, Alfred
Rating: G/K
Summary: Dick and Barbara come home just in time.
Word Count: 910
Written For: Fan FlashWorks 482. Yield
Date Written: 17 June 2025
Warnings: Slight AU, Future Fic
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.

( Read more... )

Entry tags:

Abstract Art on a Northern Lake

I’m staying near a northern Wisconsin lake at 45.658965, -89.497625, where I’ll be revelling in 15:45 hours of daylight on the summer solstice. The logged-over forest is mostly red pine, and wow they’re pollinating—creating very abstract art near the dock

Pine pollen forms semi-opaque circles over shallow sandy beach described in entry

( two more pics )

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The Dragonriders of Pern: Haiku: Vengeful Dedication

Title: Vengeful Dedication
Fandom: The Dragonriders of Pern
Characters: Lessa
Rating: G
Length: 39 words
Summary: Lessa watches and waits. Her time will come.

( Read more... )

Entry tags:

Icontalking: Ask The Maker

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Entry tags:

admin: theme reminder

Theme Reminder: Female Relationships

Photograph with added text: Female Relationships, at Fancake. Four old Nepalese women sit together on a low brick wall, their feet dangling, most of them barefoot, their shoes kicked off below them. They're dressed in loose patterned fabrics in various shades of red and the mood is relaxed.

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Dogwood Leaf Beetle

off-white beetle with dark markings resembling calligraphy

Getting into my car after a walk, I found this elegantly decorated beetle on my shirt. It has the very appropriate scientific name of Calligrapha philadelphica, also known as the Dogwood Leaf Beetle.

When it opened its wings to fly, I was surprised to see its inner wings were red. I guess that could be the wax seal on the parchment. :)

( photo showing the red wings )

Entry tags:

[#262 | Soulmates] Voting Post

Here are the entries for this challenge:

( List of entries )

Please Note: Because we only have 4 entries this week, there is only a First Place and Runner Up to vote for!

In order to vote, please reply to this post using the form provided. All comments are screened, and entries are listed in the order they were submitted. For your vote to qualify, you must fill out your entire voting card (both spots) in order to be counted. Winner votes are worth 2 points, Runner Up votes are worth 1 point. Meeting the bonus goal on an entry gets an extra point for that submission.

When voting, please copy/paste the ENTRY NUMBER and the FIC TITLE from the list above into the spot you're voting for (this prevents accidentally mis-numbering a vote and casting it for the wrong entry). It should look like this:

First Place: 61. Fic Title Here
Runner Up: 88. Another Fic Title

Please note that you cannot vote for your own entry, and that votes cannot be made anonymously. You do not have to be a member of the community in order to vote, nor have submitted an entry for this week; everyone is welcome to participate in the voting. IP addresses are logged to prevent duplicate voting.

Voting closes Wednesday, June 18, at 9:00PM EST.

Entry tags:

(no subject)

I finished Bat Eater this morning. I ended up really liking it, although it felt a bit rushed at the end. But I loved what the author did with the ghosts and the ways in which she had Cora change and grow.

I read a bit more of Teaching with AI, but so far it's been a lot of "What is AI? What do all of these letters mean?" background. I might actually skip some bits so I can get to the actual topic.

We finished season 2 of Severance today as well, so I am open for discussion if anyone wants to talk about it. I don't know how I would've ended it (not like that!), but it definitely gave E and I a lot of room to speculate about season 3 and what the focus will be.

We started Ted Lasso today and so far I'm not digging it too much; however, E seems to like it. There's just a lot of CONFLICT in the first 2 episodes and it's stressing me out.

Did you know there is a Jessica Fletcher action figure?! Sadly, it's pretty expensive and I have vowed not to buy a lot of unnecessary fan stuff like figures, but it's super tempting.

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"Even though I Knew the End" by C.L. Polk

On Monday's outbound commute I finished the audiobook for Even Though I Knew the End. This is a supernatural/fantasy noir romance and it does pack a lot of all three of those things into its brief 4-hour runtime.

This book relies heavily on stock film noir tropes—the veteran down-and-out private (paranormal) investigator (here a lesbian, Helen, our protagonist) who drinks too much and is haunted by past mistakes, a mysterious and sexy female client with a unique case, and "just one last" job before the PI plans to quit and retire with a beloved romantic partner. I didn't find them overused—and seeing them reworked to queer and female characters was fun—but other readers may find them too worn out even here.

Because the book is so short, it moves along at a very rapid pace. The whole thing takes place over the course of two days—the final two days before Helen's soul debt is called due and she finally has to pay the price of her warlock bargain. In this way, any rush felt appropriate, since it fit both the size of the novel and the context of Helen's urgency to get this last job done before she has to pay up.

The characters weren't super developed, but again—4-hour runtime. They're a little stock character-y, but not total cardboard cut-outs. It was disappointing for me to see Helen make the same mistake at the end of the book that she did prior to the start, as if she hadn't really learned anything, but since the novel ends promptly after that, the story never has to reckon much with it.

I was relieved that Edith, Helen's girlfriend, wasn't just the damsel in distress/goal object for Helen, which I was a bit worried about in the beginning. Edith has secrets and goals of her own.

Overall, the book was fine, and it entertained me well enough for a few days. Nothing extraordinary here, but nothing objectionable either. I will say I think keeping it short worked best for this book—I think drawing it out might have only weakened it. A fun little twist on a typical noir novel.

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"The Traitor Baru Cormorant" by Seth Dickinson

On Saturday afternoon, on the bus ride home, I finished The Traitor Baru Cormorant, because I couldn't wait until I got home to reach the end, despite a long history of reading-induced car sickness. It was totally worth it.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant is all fantasy politics. There's no magic or fairies or prophecies, just Seth Dickinson's invented world and the titanic machinations of Empire. And it is electric. Tentatively, I'd make a comparison to The Goblin Emperor, except that where TGE is about how Maia, completely unprepared for his role, is thrust into a viper's nest of politics, Baru Cormorant is about how Baru has painstakingly taught herself the ways of the empire and enters into the game fully prepared to rewrite the rules to her liking.

( Read more... )

I was hanging on every page by the end, and first thing Sunday morning I was off to the library to pick up the sequel, which I started the same day. I cannot wait to see how Baru's story progresses! Hats off for Baru Cormorant!

Crossposted from my main.

Entry tags:

lj idol,
writing

LJ Idol Prompt #1: Quality

Yesterday I sat on the couch next to you because you were in a rare mood for cuddling. You turned your little head and looked at me with your big, blank, brown eyes. Same dark lashes. Same black mask, just shading white around your mouth. Same soft wrinkles. But your eyes. Flat and expressionless, and liquid and curved, and alive and endless.

If I stare deeply enough, I can see them. The tiny pyramids that are also on the back of the paper money. A camera lens watching me. The triangles are far back in your eyes, deep in the black pupils, shadowy like storm clouds. But they are there. I think it’s possible that is what reflects my flashlight when we go outside early in the morning.

Maybe not.

Yesterday I sat and stared into your eyes, beautiful girl, and the cameras were watching me back. Someone sitting in a room full of 90s office furniture, squeaky chair, framed certificates and ballpoint pens, heavy plastic monitor next to a landline, was staring at me. I could feel them, feel the weight of their intensity. What are they watching for? When you stare at me in order to make me give you a treat, what do they see?

I don’t care if you’re a spy. I love you.

I have given you salmon oil in your high quality kibble, boiled chicken and white rice, pumpkin puree, an assortment of healthy fruits and vegetables, washed your feet, wiped your face with coconut oil, loved every one of your rolls, kissed your soft head, dusted beige probiotic powders over your food, bought you a thousand dollars worth of toys to destroy, comforted you over every trimmed nail. I don’t care who you work for. I don’t care if you are real.

I don’t care if you are spying on me. You have brought 346 sticks into the house that I have had to take away before you chew them up and eat them. I have pulled threads of grass out of your butt when you panicked and ran, tucked up like a round ball. I pick up your shit.

Yesterday you turned your little head and you looked at me and you yawned, white teeth, pink tongue, the elegant ruga along the sides of your lips, the black spot across the ridges of your hard palate, the dark tube of your throat. You leaned in and I could feel your breath against my face. I leaned in. Your fur is soft, you smell like sunshine and sticks and dried mud. You have tiny brown hairs, the most perfect brown that has ever been.

Yesterday I thought about the other dogs, the ones who already lived and are sealed in caskets upstairs, always with me. Did they have spy cameras, robotic intelligences like you? Were they cameras? Did they each have their own bureaucrat, sitting in an uncomfortable chair and watching? Or are you special?

Am I the eyes looking back at me, looking up while looking down? Are you me? I wait impatiently, as you refill the blue bowl with clean water from the tap. But I prefer the hose outside and maybe I will tell you I need to go out just to drink that water. Press my nose to the door until you open it and then make an immediate right to the spigot. I wait impatiently by my yellow bowl, as you use the big spoon to measure out chicken, to mix in the powder, to add chicken broth. You set it down. I am excited. You set it down. I dance. You set it down. I am so hungry!

Yesterday I looked through the eyes and I saw a cascade of water, the smallest insects, the fallen sticks, the edges of the cut grass, the metal strip at the bottom of the door. But, of course, the equipment isn’t built to transmit the smells and tastes or even how it feels to be alive. I can see and I can hear, but that’s all. I lean back in my chair and it squeaks.

I lean down, smiling, “That’s all, mama. That’s all.” Straighten. “Go take a nap while I wash your bowl, sweet girl.” I turn back to the sink, the counter tops cool beneath bent fingers.

You know there are robotic dogs, now, that have simple AI, that can make a few decisions, that can rebalance themselves like animals that are kicked, that can trot and climb and accompany people. Is that who is in the pyramids, not an outside watcher, but an inside one? Who is inside you? When I touch the little remolino on your hip, you feel warm and real. When I look across the table and you pick up your head from your loose sprawl in the exact center of the kitchen floor, in the way of everyone and every cabinet door and the oven and the refrigerator.

Yesterday on the hammock you rolled over and covered my feet, but you were watching the squirrels and maybe you didn’t notice. I’m shredding your chicken and you are drooling on the floor. The mockingbirds are eating the chiltepins off that bush that sprang up in the yard, the one you chewed up last winter and I thought you had killed it but I didn’t care.

Yesterday the squirrels climbed the greased pole to get to the bird feeder. Their flicking tails made you angry. You told them. You ate a fly.

Pyramids are where queens lie, that’s where the treasure is. If it comes to it, if I have to entomb you in the dark box, think of me like a sacrifice, a portrait painted on the walls to accompany you.

Beautiful dog, beautiful girl, the most perfect brown dog ever, your beautiful eyes, your dark lashes, your soft face, the dark bars across your toes, your wrinkles, your beautiful rolls, perfect, perfect, perfect. Watch me like I watch you. Wonder about me like I wonder about you. The mystery of a person who is not human, who looks at me and wonders. I know your dark eyes are wondering. The little alien on four legs that is sitting on my couch as I type this. The little alien who dozes when Alexa plays Philip Glass, the person who plays with her sweet potatoes and her plushes, who is not allowed upstairs but sometimes goes there.

It’s stupid to talk about yesterday and tomorrow when we live in the infinite now. I sit on the couch next to you because you are in a mood for cuddling. You turn your little head and look at me with your big, blank, brown eyes, alive and endless. You turn your big head toward me and look with brown eyes, too.

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[#262] winning the battle not the war (SVSSS)

Theme Prompt: 262 - Soulmates
Title: winning the battle not the war
Fandom: Scum Villain Self Saving System
Rating/Warnings: T
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 970
Summary: Shen Yuan and Shen Qingqiu share one mind about soulmates, but Shen Yuan can't resist prodding at old wounds. [Note - continuation of an AU, Shen Qingqiu is displaced into reflections only with limited ability to interact with objects outside. Shen Yuan is displaced into Shen Qingqiu's body.]

( something something lyrical something )

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International Rose Test Garden

We were only in Portland for a day but we had enough time for a few hours in the International Rose Test Garden. In fact we didn't even spend that long because it was smaller than expected and some bushes hadn't even bloomed yet (despite what the website said as mid-May being an ideal viewing time). We took about half the time we were there trying to park. It was also the most overcast morning of the trip -- we had amazing weather the rest of the time.

Nonetheless what was in bloom was lovely.

( Read more... )

Backyard Foraging

Backyard Foraging: 65 Familiar Plants You Didn't Know You Could Eat by Ellen Zachos

A discussion of wild and garden plants in North America. Roots, flowers, leaves, fruit. . . how to harvest, what to check, what can be done to prepare them.

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admin: poll: theme

Round 176 Theme Poll

Poll #33259 round 176 theme poll

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 96

Pick the next theme of fancake:

Books & Writing
30 (31.2%)

Protest & Revolt
26 (27.1%)

Working Together
40 (41.7%)