Reading

This is a prayer for Lughnasadh. This is a prayer for resistance.

This is a prayer for Lughnasadh. This is a prayer for the Resistance. Lughnasadh is a fire festival, the first harvest, the beginning of our look towards the dark. Lughnasadh is the time of plenty, the time to gather in, the time to store what we have. Lughnasadh is a prayer for the Resistance.

This is a prayer for hopeful people who plant saved seeds in the chilly ground, in the February dark, charging the seeds and calling Ceres — people who want a clean harvest. This is a prayer for the Resistance.

This is a prayer for mothers bearing children, poets birthing poems, engineers who see how to strengthen a bridge. This is a prayer for the Resistance.

Lughnasadh is a fire festival, the first harvest, the beginning of our look towards the dark. Lughnasadh is the time of plenty, the time to gather in, the time to store what we have. Lughnasadh is a prayer for the Resistance.

This is a prayer for the scholar in her garret, making the cleanest translation, for the teacher setting off sparks, for the whistleblower who takes the risk. This is a prayer for the Resistance.

This is a prayer for the farmer who grows an extra row for the food bank, for the activist in plastic handcuffs, for the nurse who ignores the insurance company’s orders. This is a prayer for the Resistance.

Lughnasadh is a fire festival, the first harvest, the beginning of our look towards the dark. Lughnasadh is the time of plenty, the time to gather in, the time to store what we have. Lughnasadh is a prayer for the Resistance.

This is a prayer for the coder who fends off the hack, for the politician who doesn’t take the bribe, for the paper ballot. This is a prayer for the Resistance.

This is a prayer for phone bankers, demonstrators, people with signs in their yard. This is a prayer for early voters, people who call Senators, door-to-door canvasers. This is a prayer for the Resistance.

Lughnasadh is a fire festival, the first harvest, the beginning of our look towards the dark. Lughnasadh is the time of plenty, the time to gather in, the time to store what we have. Lughnasadh is a prayer for the Resistance.

And, of course, this is a prayer for yarrow and Black-Eyed Susan, for summer squash and basil, for peaches and corn, for fat blackberries and seedy dill. This is a prayer for Resistance, because Lughnasadh is a festival of Resistance.

Lughnasadh is a fire festival, the first harvest, the beginning of our look towards the dark. Lughnasadh is the time of plenty, the time to gather in, the time to store what we have. Lughnasadh is a prayer for the Resistance.

Lughnasadh is how our ancestors said that they would resist winter. They would have less now, but they would store up what they did have against the long, dark nights when tummies rumbled, illness went untreated for lack of herbs, old people died from the cold. And our ancestors said, “No.” Lughnasadh was a fire festival, the first harvest, the beginning of their look towards the dark. Lughnasadh was the time of plenty, the time to gather in, the time to store what they had.

Lughnasadh has always been a prayer for the Resistance.

I am praying it now. Will you pray it with me?

--HecateDemeter

(she has not posted this year, so I am assuming she is gone. I am also assuming she would not mind me reposting, as she never has.)

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

media: books: nonfiction

📖 reading log: moby-duck by donovan hohn

(This post will be updated as I read the book! This is partly a test also of how my various syndication/cross-posting plugins will work when I edit/update a post on mobile, lol.)

Book Info

Genre: Nonfiction, Popular Science

LibraryThing: https://www.librarything.com/work/book/291465892

Acquired from: Little Free Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA [see log]

Started reading: July 29, 2025

Finished reading: tbd

Reading Updates

Page 1: Found a promo postcard for 4Ocean.com inside the book and am using it as a bookmark

( Read the rest of this entry » )

Crossposted from Pixietails Club Blog.

Two letters with easy, easy answers

1. Dear Care and Feeding,

My husband “Chad” and I have a 4-year-old son, “Lane.” Recently for his birthday, my parents gifted him a set of Winnie-the-Pooh books. It’s been a tradition in my family for the last three generations for kids to read these books. But my husband won’t let my son have them.

He says doesn’t want Lane to read them because he insists that Winnie-the-Pooh is for girls. I’ve never heard anything so stupid! How can I make him understand that Pooh is a character that has been beloved by both boys and girls alike for nearly a century now?

—Much Ado About Pooh

( Read more... )

****

2. Dear Care and Feeding,

My wife “Carla” and I have a 3-year-old son, “Andy.” Andy became a big brother last month when we had our daughter, “Isabelle.” Andy had been reliably potty-trained for four months before Isabelle was born, but within days of bringing Isabelle home from the hospital, Andy began having accidents. Carla’s solution has been to put him back in pull-ups. I don’t think allowing him to regress like this is a wise idea. She says to let him do it for the time being if it makes him feel better. It seems to me that taking a firm approach (making him go back to using the toilet or face punishment) would be in his best interest. Who is right?

—We’re Not Going Backward

( Read more... )

We saw the huskies yesterday!

Moonpie started to get super hyped up, as usual, and so did they, so I picked her up... and ended up with two huskies eagerly jumping up on me to say hi to their best chihuahua friend!

Well, at least my feet were firmly planted. Before we saw the huskies, on our earlier walk, we bumped into a friendly yorkie (?) - no collar, no people. But well-fed and groomed, this isn't another Finn. He eventually disappeared under a fence, but I've been asking everybody I saw if they know whose dog he is exactly, because I was that worried. Was he outside alone in the heat? That's no good.

Anyway, I asked the guy with the huskies, and he had no idea, but he told me something else - the day before, he thinks he saw a fox! I'm not sure he wasn't just mistaken, but if he isn't - wow! I know we have bunnies on the South Shore, and coyotes in the Bronx, and whatever the city says we definitely have a full time population of deer mid-Island, so maybe a fox isn't so strange.

***********

( Read more... )

Entry tags:

Daily Happiness

1. I was able to work from home today and rest a little, even if not taking the day fully off (I did work less than I usually would). The exhaustion caught up with me all at once and I felt so worn down, so I'm really glad I didn't have anything urgent to take me out of the house. Considering doing the same tomorrow, depending on how I feel when I wake up.

2. Carla has been craving Indian food the past few days so that's what we ordered for dinner tonight. Everything was delicious (though as expected it did not agree with my stomach) and there's a ton of leftovers.

3. Look at these cuddle boys!

Entry tags:

queer studies,
scar

Queer Approaches to Tolkien: the collection!

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

New Substack post

Suppose the current occupant of the Oval Office is gone. Who should succeed him until the next election?

Entry tags:

concerts

My Chemical Romance @ Dodger Stadium 7/26/25

The show was amazing and I had so much fun, but I'm still so exhausted from work I don't have the energy to write about it in much detail.

I never saw them perform the Black Parade live the first time around, so this anniversary tour was a really exciting opportunity and I'm so glad I was able to go. I bought the ticket so far in advance I'd forgotten that it was a pricey one. There's this area above the loge seating called "party box", which has just six seats per row instead of eight, and they're not regular stadium seats but stools (with backs) and a counter. Very nice. Would definitely pay the premium for these seats again. They're also raised up high enough over the last row of regular loge seats that even if those people are standing, it doesn't block the view at all.

The opening band was called Wallows and they went on at seven. I'd never heard of them before, but they were pretty good. They didn't play that long, so between the opener and the break, MCR was on stage by about 8:30, just as it was getting dark.

( Setlist )

I loved that they played Helena for the final song. I did leave while they were still playing, to get a jump on the traffic leaving the parking lot, and it was cool to hear "so long and good night" as I was walking out. As for the other songs, I'm Not Okay and Na Na Na are two favorites, so that was nice. It seems they've really been mixing it up on the set list for the second half, and if I hadn't had another exhausting day of grand opening at work on Sunday I'd have been tempted to buy a last minute ticket to that show as well.

( Pics! )

Overall definitely worth dragging my exhausted ass up to Dodger Stadium from Irvine on grand opening day.

Entry tags:

lfl visit log #1

Went for what turned out to be an hour-long walk around the neighborhood and visited five Little Free Libraries– and found some great books!

The majority were full of kids books, which makes sense I suppose as people tend to load up on those at thrift stores and whatnot, so they’re easy to pass along.

My favorite LFL was #119554, not least because I found two books which look really good! It also had the best design, with one box for adult books and one for children’s books, a separate dog treat library and even a water bowl. Super cute!

As far as I can tell, all these libraries are the pre-built ones from the LFL website.

LFL Visited

LFL #89560 “Elm Tree Little Library” – Ann Arbor, MI – Took Square Foot Gardening.
LFL #119554 – Ann Arbor, MI – Took Climate Resilience and Seasons of the Wild.
LFL #135682 “Barking Dog Library” – Ann Arbor, MI – Took Moby-Duck.
LFL #177207 – Ann Arbor, MI.
LFL #178758 – Ann Arbor, MI – Took Paradise Rot.

( Photos under here! )

🌟 All LFLs Visited

Crossposted from Pixietails Club Blog.

OTW Signal, July 2025

Posted by Lute

https://www.transformativeworks.org/otw-signal-july-2025/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=266282

Every month in OTW Signal, we take a look at stories that connect to the OTW’s mission and projects, including issues related to legal matters, technology, academia, fannish history and preservation issues of fandom, fan culture, and transformative works.

In the News

A recently published study in Nature Humanities and Social Sciences Communications finds that fanfiction readers are more likely to click on stories that feel familiar, but they enjoy those stories more when there is something novel about them.

Balance theory, a widely accepted theory in psychology, suggests that for a creative work to be successful (widely enjoyed), it needs to find the middle ground between feeling comfortable and familiar, yet be novel enough to still be interesting.

Using Archive of Our Own (AO3) as their primary source, researchers analyzed metadata from over 670,000 fanworks across 23 fandoms. They measured a story’s novelty by comparing its content against other stories in the same fandom and measured success primarily with a ratio of hits to kudos, then compared the two datasets.

Researchers found that contrary to balance theory, the middle ground between familiar and novel does not guarantee success for fanfiction. Their research shows that stories that were more familiar tended to get more clicks, but it was stories with more novelty that had a higher hit to kudos ratio.

“Although high-novelty works tend to be read by fewer people, those who read are more likely to express their enjoyment.”

This study highlights that in fandom spaces, success isn’t completely defined by reach or popularity. A fic that is deeply enjoyed by a small audience can still be meaningful and impactful.

In “The K-popification of F1”, Teen Vogue looks at how a new wave of Formula 1 fans are reshaping the fandom. What was once considered to be a niche, male-dominated sport has become home to fan practices typically found in K-Pop communities. From fashion to fanvids, fans are engaging with the drivers and teams in a novel way:

In many ways, F1 has evolved from a legacy motorsport into something that feels more like a multimedia pop franchise. F1 drivers are no longer just elite athletes behind the wheel; they’re fashion muses, meme material, and, in the eyes of a growing Gen Z fanbase, idols. It’s no surprise the sport has drawn fans from other hyper-engaged fandoms.

Many fans in this new wave were introduced to Formula 1 through digital platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Netflix’s Drive to Survive, rather than traditional sports media. These platforms offer a behind-the-scenes look at the sport’s personalities, drawing in fans who may have never watched a race otherwise. These fans are bringing with them expectations shaped by K-pop fandom culture. They seek direct access to the drivers beyond the track, emotional narratives, and authentic representation.

This push for greater inclusion and visibility has helped lead to initiatives like the F1 Academy, an all-women racing series that reflects the changing face of the sport’s audience. It shows that the sport is starting to recognize how important diversity and representation are to its future.

These fans aren’t just redefining what it means to be an F1 supporter. They’re showing that fandom can be a powerful, intentional force that helps reshape the media it connects with.

OTW Tips

AO3 embraces the richness and diversity of fan-created content. Whether works include ship names, inside jokes, or niche tropes, the OTW values the creative freedom of its users while maintaining a commitment to ensuring AO3 remains a welcoming and navigable space. AO3’s Content Policy is designed with maximum inclusiveness of fanwork content and user safety in mind. Violations of the Terms of Service, including the Content Policy, are administered by the Policy and Abuse committee, which handles reports and concerns in accordance with AO3’s Terms of Service (TOS).

For more information on how our Terms of Service is applied, check out the Terms of Service Spotlight series or refer to the TOS FAQ.

We want your suggestions for the next OTW Signal post! If you know of an essay, video, article, podcast, or news story you think we should know about, send us a link. We are looking for content in all languages! Submitting a link doesn’t guarantee that it will be included in an OTW post, and inclusion of a link doesn’t mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

https://www.transformativeworks.org/otw-signal-july-2025/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=266282

Current Mood: uncomfortable

Entry tags:

Another mom update argh

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: amused

Entry tags:

Ask a Manager: Has AAM Become More Anti-Corporate?

( Read more... )

Entry tags:

Daily Happiness

1. Well, the new store did not calm down at all today. No one was expecting this. Off the chart sales, which is amazing, but we were not prepared in terms of staffing and everyone is running ragged. I at least don't have to go help today, so I could have a more restful day, but I will go help out at least another day or two later in the week.

2. I got my hair cut this morning. That always feels nice.

3. Look at that cutey chin!

No!

Tom Lehrer died.

Entry tags:

Daily Happiness

1. The second day of the grand opening was super successful, too. They still have about twenty minutes to go before store closing, but as of 9:30pm, the sales figures shared in Teams were already well over yesterday's final total. There weren't as many people lined up this morning to get in, but it seems like people were buying more but also finishing their shopping more quicky, so that people could get in the store faster (yesterday we were still having to do crowd control at the entrance until late in the evening whereas today by about 3pm they could just let people straight in and there was no line outside).

2. I am so exhausted and my feet and ankles are sore, but this morning I did feel refreshed when I woke up, so hopefully it will be the same tomorrow. And at least tomorrow I don't have to be up at six.

3. The elderly man next door passed away a couple weeks ago and apparently they were having the memorial service today at the house and they had a ton of food left over, so they called us (and I'm sure other neighbors as well) and asked if we wanted any, so that's what we had for dinner. Everything was delicious and we got desserts, too.

4. Gemma is very round.

OTW Members – Check Your Email for Voting Instructions

https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/32161

Organization for Transformative Works: Election News

At this time, all members of the OTW who are eligible to vote should have received an email linking to the voting instructions for 2025. The subject line was "Voting Instructions for Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) Board Election". Please note that anyone who didn't receive this email is not on the voter rolls this year and will not receive a ballot.

The voting instructions email contains a link to a test version of the ballot. Please follow that link to make sure that the page displays correctly and the candidates are visible. If not, please ensure you are not blocking JavaScript from ajax.googleapis.com, bootstrapcdn.com, and/or opavote.com.

If you are an OTW member and didn't receive this email, please do the following:

Check your spam folder.
- If you use Gmail, check your Social tab.
- If the email is marked as spam, unmark it. Otherwise, you will not receive your ballot, as it will end up in spam as well.
If no email is present, open your donation receipt and check the date.
- To vote in this election, your receipt must be dated between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, inclusive of both dates. Receipts are dated in UTC. Please check your receipt for the date of your donation. You won't be eligible to vote if your donation was made after midnight UTC on July 1.
- If you paid by check, your membership is measured by the arrival date of the check.
If your donation was made during the eligible time period, make sure you checked the box to become a member. Membership is voluntary for those who donate at least $10; only members can vote.
If you did become a member, make sure you neither marked any email from the OTW as spam nor opted out of OTW emails or last year's ballot. If you did so and would like to vote this year, you'll need to follow step 5 below.
If you donated at least $10 during the eligible period and you checked the box to become a member, please fill out the Elections Contact Form and select the topic "Is my membership current/Am I eligible to vote?" Make sure to include the email you used when donating.
- Membership has no connection to being a user of AO3 or Fanlore. Please don't give us your AO3 or Fanlore username – we have no way of knowing who that name belongs to, and we don't want to know.

Most importantly, if your voting instructions email bounces, gets marked as spam, or you opt out, you will not receive a ballot for this year's election, and you may not receive a ballot next year. Similarly, if any of those things happened to last year's election emails, you will not receive a ballot this year. Therefore, if you previously opted out of OTW emails or marked them as spam and would like to vote, fill out the Elections Contact Form and select the topic "Is my membership current/Am I eligible to vote?"

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan-run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/32161

Entry tags:

sinners,
stories

New Sinners story: "Five Musicians Who Owe Their Careers To Stack Moore (And One Who Doesn't)"

Five Musicians Who Owe Their Careers To Stack Moore (And One Who Doesn’t) (394 words) by Resonant
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sinners (2025)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Elias "Stack" Moore, Billie Holiday, Paul Simon, Lil Nas X (Musician), Rhiannon Gidden (Musician), Sarah Vaughan (Musician), Prince (Musician)
Additional Tags: music industry, RPF if you're a real stickler
Summary:

It's who you know.

Beta thanks to

mific and

terminally_underwhelmed.

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Location: Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Entry tags:

weeknotes (july 20-26)

Gotta get back to doing these! So:

Life Updates

Mostly I’ve been busy settling into my newest housesit and sorting through my new-to-me thrift store clothes (DW). I’ve got everything washed, but unfortunately the homeowners didn’t leave me a lot of hangers so half the clothes are in a pile in the closet (and I don’t have a dresser, lol). One of the downsides of nomadic living, I suppose…

🐈‍⬛ Me and the cats are slowly getting used to each other. (See previous post [access-locked] for more info!) They’re all picky about wet food flavors and they have different flavors they’re picky about, which is irritating. One cat loves salmon, the other wants tuna and the third prefers chicken bits. Luckily they all eat the dry food, so if one doesn’t finish the wet food they can supplement with other stuff. Silly kitties!

Media Consumption

🎧 I’ve been catching up on Cruising, a queer documentary podcast that this season is focusing on interviews with lesbians and queers doing amazing things in history. Love it! (More recommended podcasts here btw.)

📺 I watched all three episodes of Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross, which I wrote about here (DW). Also been re-watching Midsomer Murders (the early seasons) which is nice to have running in the background while doing other stuff.

📖 I finished A Girl’s Guide to India (written about here / DW) on the bus from Chicago to Ann Arbor, and haven’t started a new book yet though I’ve been carrying my Kindle around from room to room in hopes of actually using it.

I HAVE been re-reading some favorite fanfics, including this amazing IT Chapter 2 longfic.

Food & Dining

🛒 Did a big grocery order because I had a $10 coupon AND a 30% off discount, so I got enough stuff to (I think) last me about a month, with some supplemental purchases throughout, for about $70 INCLUDING the tip. Was shopped and delivered by a very nice older lady who knew to look at expiration dates AND check for rotten fruit.

Bonus: Meijer grocery prices here in Michigan are fab, especially compared to Oregon/Illinois. Example: one dozen eggs under $3, even on the delivery app!

🫖 This house has an electric kettle, so I can finally make tea again. (I hate microwaving water and I’m too lazy to boil it on the stove for one cup.)

I bought a huge box of PG Tips when I was catsitting in England earlier this year, and I think I have enough to last maybe through the end of August. Imported PG Tips prices are nuts (even excluding potential import fees), so I’ll have to start rifling through my hosts’ cabinets soon for replacement tea. ;D

Website Updates

Did lots of fun things on my website this week! Some highlights:

Started building a Wikipedia Pages page, to keep interesting articles
Joined a bunch of fanlistings, especially in the movies/tv shows section
Re-organized the recipes page, and added a biscuits recipe I found on a Clabber Girl baking powder container. I have a lot of other food package recipes to add this week!
Also changed the blog layout and made a header, so it looks a bit nicer/easier to read. And I added a thing at the bottom so people can email replies, if they want, or else do a regular comment or even a Webmention! Also set up ActivityPub so new entries are sent to the Fediverse, where of course people can respond (and responses are imported as comments, very cool!).

Looking Forward

This week I’m going to work on my website more (recipes, more fic recs), as well as join a few more webrings and site directories. And I’d like to email someone in response to THEIR post/website!

I’d also like to go out into town and visit some thrift stores. I don’t need new clothes (lol) but I’m casually looking for other stuff– something I can make into a laundry line, a backpack, perhaps a new travel purse, that sort of thing.

Crossposted from Pixietails Club Blog.

OTW Members – Check Your Email for Voting Instructions

Posted by Nat

https://www.transformativeworks.org/otw-members-check-your-email-for-voting-instructions-5/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=266205

At this time, all members of the OTW who are eligible to vote should have received an email linking to the voting instructions for 2025. The subject line was “Voting Instructions for Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) Board Election”. Please note that anyone who didn’t receive this email is not on the voter rolls this year and will not receive a ballot.

If you are an OTW member and didn’t receive this email, please do the following:

Check your spam folder.
- If you use Gmail, check your Social tab.
- If the email is marked as spam, unmark it. Otherwise, you will not receive your ballot, as it will end up in spam as well.
If no email is present, open your donation receipt and check the date.
- To vote in this election, your receipt must be dated between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, inclusive of both dates. Receipts are dated in UTC. Please check your receipt for the date of your donation. You won’t be eligible to vote if your donation was made after midnight UTC on July 1.
- If you paid by check, your membership is measured by the arrival date of the check.
If your donation was made during the eligible time period, make sure you checked the box to become a member. Membership is voluntary for those who donate at least $10; only members can vote.
If you did become a member, make sure you neither marked any email from the OTW as spam nor opted out of OTW emails or last year’s ballot. If you did so and would like to vote this year, you’ll need to follow step 5 below.
If you donated at least $10 during the eligible period and you checked the box to become a member, please fill out the Elections Contact Form and select the topic “Is my membership current/Am I eligible to vote?” Make sure to include the email you used when donating.
- Membership has no connection to being a user of AO3 or Fanlore. Please don’t give us your AO3 or Fanlore username – we have no way of knowing who that name belongs to, and we don’t want to know.

Most importantly, if your voting instructions email bounces, gets marked as spam, or you opt out, you will not receive a ballot for this year’s election, and you may not receive a ballot next year. Similarly, if any of those things happened to last year’s election emails, you will not receive a ballot this year. Therefore, if you previously opted out of OTW emails or marked them as spam and would like to vote, fill out the Elections Contact Form and select the topic “Is my membership current/Am I eligible to vote?”

https://www.transformativeworks.org/otw-members-check-your-email-for-voting-instructions-5/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=266205

Current Mood: thoughtful

note to self

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