queenlua | Network

Sign-ups are open! Sign-ups end Sun 15 Feb 17:00 CET (in your timezone | countdown)

Note: AO3 has introduced a setting to opt out of non-assignment gifts. If your account was created after 1 Feb 2022, it has been enabled by default. Note that opting out of non-assignment gifts will make it impossible to receive treats, even if they are posted to an exchange you're signed up for, as well as make certain (rare) issues harder for me to resolve. If possible, I highly suggest you enable non-assignment gifts for the duration of the exchange or send me an e-mail (extrapenguin at gmx dot com) if you cannot so that I can do some workarounds. If you have concerns regarding specific potential gifters, please contact me.

Requests

For at least 3 fandoms (and at most 8):

Pick the fandom.
Choose 1 to 15 tags you'd like to receive. Bear in mind that you will only match on one of these, so don't try to set up combinations.
Choose which media type(s) you'd like for the gift to be in – fic, art, vid, IF, or pod format. (This can be different for each fandom.)

Fandoms must be unique.

Prompts are useful for giving your assigned creator somewhere to start from. We recommend writing prompts for each type of fanwork you requested, either into the box provided by AO3, or into a linked "Dear Spacer" letter. (Tips on prompting for art.)

If you have DNWs that would ruin a gift for you, please state them in the optional details box in the sign-up on AO3. DNWs will not be enforced if:

They aren't indicated in the optional details box

They contradict the requested tags (e.g. requesting character A but DNWing character A)

They contradict each other

Avoiding them would require a logic puzzle

They are hidden behind a summary/details HTML tag

If you are requesting podfic, please tell the potential podficcers whether you would be okay with your own works being podficced.

If you are given a gift that contains a DNW listed in your sign-up, you are eligible for a replacement. Gifts will be randomly spot-checked as they come in and dealt with if necessary, but should a DNW-containing gift make its way to you, please contact the mod at extrapenguin at gmx dot com. You may also contact me if you suspect (through e.g. tag shaking) that your gift will contain a DNW. In cases where a gift contains a DNW due to unclear phrasing of the DNW, we will err on the side of the author. DNWs apply to the gift, not its metadata. A creator is free to tag as they best think describes the work.

Offers

For at least 3 fandoms (and at most 10):

Pick the fandom.
Choose 1 to 20 tags you'd be willing to create a gift in. As with offers, please remember that you will only match on one tag.
Choose which media type(s) you'd be willing to create in – fic, art, vid, IF, or pod format. (This can be different for each fandom.)

Fandoms must be unique.

If you have matching concerns – e.g. you absolutely do not want to match with another participant – please contact me at extrapenguin at gmx dot com during sign-ups and state whether you do not want to create for the person, do not want that person to create for you, or both.

otw_news_feed

Posted by Lute

https://www.transformativeworks.org/ao3-celebrates-10-million-registered-users/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=278886

What do the country of Portugal, the city of Seoul, and the Archive of Our Own (AO3) have in common? They are all home to more than 10 million people! That’s right: AO3 has surpassed 10 million registered users this month! We at the Organisation for Transformative Works (OTW) are delighted to share this incredible milestone with you.

Even as the community is growing year by year, the active exchange of creations and ideas between fans remains as a cornerstone of fan culture. Whether it’s gifting each other fanfic, recording a podfic of your favorite story, or putting together a reclist of fics—no fandom thrives without the myriad ways fans share their passion with one another. In today’s world, where ideas are just one more commodity, and content is curated for maximum revenue, it’s more important than ever to appreciate and celebrate these aspects of fan spaces.

One way to let other fans know you appreciate the love and hard work they pour into their creations is commenting on their work. In celebration of this milestone, we have prepared a Bingo all about comments! Below you can find the bingo cards in both a square and vertical format.

10 Million AO3 Users Commenting Bingo 2026

You can fill out as many bingo squares as you want—the more comments, the merrier! Let us know on this post or on social media which Bingos you scored.

Happy commenting, and a huge thank you to everyone who helped us reach this milestone!

https://www.transformativeworks.org/ao3-celebrates-10-million-registered-users/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=278886

olivermoss

* There is now an easter egg on google.com if you search for Heated Rivalry. Rachel's reaction.

* There is going to be a Baldur's Gate 3 TV show! *thinks about this for three seconds* Yeah, there was talk of this when the game was blowing up and everyone agreed it would be a bad idea. Also, it's a continuation so it will be based on one of probably hundreds of possible end-game states and this show will be based on one of the popular ones. And

spoiler title

Astarian is going to be either dead, evil or unable to travel. His non-evil ending is staying in the Underdark because he becomes vulnerable to the sun again. Rather than a game that is about exploring the choices you like, popular or not, it will be tied to what will sell the best. One of the appeals of games is not being tied to that. Even if you would choose to be a male Tav romancing Shadowheart, you are still choosing it not being fed it.

adore

Something I'm grateful for recently is that I got a scholarship/free spot for a writing workshop series, Writing for Rage. My friends Trish and Venky recommended it to me. It's six sessions, and after the first two, I find myself better at experiencing my anger as anger rather than hardening it into depression. We were given journal prompts to write about in our own time:

How do you envision your rage? Envisioning how I want my rage to express itself. I want my rage to be powerful. Because I have felt the most enraged when I was made helpless, when control was wrested from me, and when I was unable to protect myself. I wish to be destructive with no consequences. My rage so powerful that I don't have to say NOBODY MESS WITH ME, everyone gets it. It's a foregone conclusion. And so nobody dares mess with me. Because whatever they do to me, my rage will do worse. I think of Kali. Vengeful rage that ensures there are no repeat offenders.

What would the world be like if anger was normalised? People would be more honest. It wouldn't be a matter of who is allowed to be angry, and at whom, and who isn't, who has authority over you and who doesn't. One's sense of when something is wrong would be sharper. Less guilt for making someone else uncomfortable when confronting them about how they made you uncomfortable.

This month's horoscope for Libra by Alice Sparkly Kat also talks about anger, with journalling questions about the safety of expressing it.

( February horoscope )

Questions for Libra for February 2026:

What happens in your body when you piss someone off?
My body feels like my life is under threat, even in a verbal confrontation.
TW: physical violence
My childhood consisted of physical punishments whenever my mother was angry, including beatings and one time when she strangled me. My body's reaction to anger directed at me now, as an adult, is a hangover from those childhood experiences when I felt scared for my life.

Is there anyone who you are comfortable pissing off?
Nope. I wish there was. This isn't just about being safe when their anger is directed at me, but about how willing they are to make repair efforts if we hurt each other's feelings. What if I am, but they aren't?

How do you want to make more decisions in those relationships where you are free to argue?
I don't think I have any such relationships. But if I did, I would try to understand why we each believe what we do. I would stand up for what I believe in.

Current Mood: angry

smallhobbit posting in

fan_flashworks

Title: Your Future is in the Stars
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (ACD)
Rating: G
Length: 638 words
Summary: When Mouselet and friends start reading horoscopes for a laugh they get a shock

( Mouselet and Aemelia Vole pottered across )

lotesse

If there was ever any doubt that the US Republican party are racists, let it end now.

cyberghostface posting in

scans_daily

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

prisca posting in

sweetandshort

Time for our monthly overview. We have posted many great works during January. Thank you to everyone who participated.

Let's have a tiny statistic:
Participants: 7
Works posted: 41 in total

Most fills: 19 in total by

goddess47
10 out of 20 : completed by

goddess47 and

peppermint_shamrock
This and That: completed by

tarlanx and

wickedgame
Bingo: completed by

tarlanx and

goddess47

Check out all the great works H E R E.

I hope to see lots of you again this month for even more fun and amazing works.

If you have any suggestions or questions, please don't hesitate to comment here or send me a private message.

oursin

Do I need to ask, guess the critic, given the headline on this review of the Gwen John exhibition: In a superb, mystical retrospective, the painter sheds social trappings – and her clothes – as she uses her enormous intelligence to paint purely. JJ, go and take a cold shower!

***

I am not sure that exorcism is quite what is needed in the case, unless he starts doing manifestations in galleries of writhing and speaking in occult tongues and so on: Demand for exorcisms rises as faithful want ‘deliverance from evil’. And in fact it all sounds rather low-key:

Even when an Anglican priest does perform an exorcism, they are nothing like Hollywood horror scenes with “shouting and screaming” and demonic drama.
They are “quiet and calm” affairs where a priest prays with a troubled person, usually after consultation with a psychiatrist and safeguarding experts.

One does feel that this is in the tradition of the C of E! Maybe with a nice cup of tea afterwards....

***

Knepp: Wilding from the Weald to the waves:

After inheriting the estate from his grandparents in 1983, Charles Burrell soon realised that large-scale farming was impossible on low-lying clay land. So, in 2002 he and his wife, author, and journalist Isabella Tree, embarked on what has become a pioneering rewilding project converting pasture into a patchwork of grasslands, scrub, groves, and towering oaks. Now home to storks, beavers, and nightingales, to name a few, Knepp’s ever-evolving experiment is open for all to enjoy.

Call me a cynical old bat, but I can't help feeling that this is in a Grand Old Longstanding Tradition of landowners doing whatever is The Latest Thing with the estate they inherited. And these days it is not either, tart it up like unto the gardens he saw on his Grand Tour in Italy, introducing various invasive species animal and vegetable, or, set up a funfair and safari park as a remunerative enterprise to enable him to pay off the crippling death duties the iron heel of Clem Attlee and Co has imposed, but to get acclaim for this absolutely on-trend thing to do with his land.

***

This is a different kind of heritage: Heritage Unlocked: Birmingham’s Unique Municipal Bank:

Birmingham Municipal Bank (1919-1976) was unique as the first and only local authority savings bank in England. Unlike other savings banks (such as the Trustee Savings Banks), customers could borrow money through the House Purchase Department to buy their home. Unlocking the Vaults, has been uncovering the Bank’s history and how it helped shape Birmingham’s story. The Exchange (opposite the Library of Birmingham) was once the head office for the Municipal Bank, and it lies at the heart of this project with many projects and events taking place in the historic Vaults.
Historic black and white photo of the Birmingham Municipal Bank, showcasing its grand architecture with tall columns and detailed facade.
....
A key finding of the project has been the significance of the Municipal Bank, not only as a financial institution but also as a cornerstone of community life, with local branches established on high streets across the city between the 1920s and 1970s.

***

The rise of ‘low contact’ family relationships - in fact, point is made in there that perhaps what there has been is a rise of is families being all up in one another's business because of Modern Technology and tracking devices, family group chats, the ability to know where family members are and what they are up to at all hours of the night and day.

Because I would not at all describe my own family as 'low contact', we just did not live in one another's pockets and need to be constantly informed and have opinions about each other's lives. Weekly phone-calls - occasional visits- etc etc.

I'm not surprised people feel smothered and overwhelmed when I read some of the shenanigans that families do but then, am introvert to start with.

turps

Apparently it's been getting bad reviews, but I'm still enjoying Starfleet Academy. I can't say which character I like the most, as I like them all. Though, Jay-Den is up there if I was forced to pick. I'm also enjoying how they keep referring to previous series, each mention of Voyager makes me beam, because that's still my Trek. Loved this latest ep too ( cut for spoilers )

It's raining, cold and windy today. It's been cold and rainy and windy for what feels weeks now, and the week ahead forecast is rain, wind, and cold. Joy. I don't mind going out in the rain, but do protest at going out into sleety rain that's lashing against my face due to the wind. Roll on some spring sunshine.

As part of the weight management programme I get an email on a Friday summing up the talks for the previous weeks, a couple of recipes and saying what sessions will be held the upcoming week. I read the email earlier and the sessions for my class are cancelled again next week, which does make me worry that something has gone wrong for Rosie as this would be a month the classes have been cancelled.

I've been trying to organise a wider family meal for Corey's birthday next week, and am getting nowhere. People are either broke or at work or school, so getting everyone together on his actual birthday week is a no-go. At this point, I'll be surprised if I can arrange anything this month at all.

Nearly bath and book time. I'm reading The Inheritance by Ilona Andrews atm and enjoying it. I knew I would, as their writing always hits the spot for me.

Oh, talking of books. When we went to restock some stock at the Craft Shop, the bookshop opposite was open, and all the books are free! You're limited to 6 items a day, and how I walked out with nothing still amazes me. Also great, they take books as donations so I can donate a load of books that I've read already.

Profile

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Lost in Lualand

Network

Sign-ups Open!

Requests

Offers

AO3 Celebrates 10 Million Registered Users

(no subject)

(no subject)

Star: Sherlock Holmes (ACD): Fanfic: Your Future is in the Stars

(no subject)

Crossed #6

Monthly Overview: January

Odds and sods

(no subject)

Profile

Links

Expand Cut Tags