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emilienicolas_devoir_feed) wrote2025-11-06 12:00 am
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calimac) wrote2025-11-05 09:38 pmchomiji) wrote2025-11-06 12:12 amWow, there have been a lot of fantasy sequels/series volumes out these past few weeks.
The Rose Field, the final installment of the second trilogy (called The Book of Dust) of Philip Pullman's series about Lyra Belacqua, was a compelling read, a frequently violent road trip that has side quests into fantastic set pieces, but it was ultimately pretty dissatisfying for me. The ending didn't stick the landing: I kept thinking, "But what about Plot Point X? And Plot Point Y?" etc. And these aren't trivial issues, either.
I'm currently reading Dead Hand Rule, the latest volume of Max Gladstone's Craft Wars series. So far it's mostly about the heroes of the first series coming together in the city of Dresdiel Lex to gather allies for a push again the current Big Bad, whose rise to power was told in the first two books. It's good to see Tara Abernathy, Kai Pohala, Caleb Altemoc, Abelard (yay!), and Cat Elle (yay!) again. Mostly everyone is having regrets about their actions thus far and dealing with difficult potential allies, including some previous foes. I'm waiting for the storyline to start hitting on all cylinders, and hopeful that it will eventually do so.
Next up will be the latest Penric and Desdemona novella by Lois McMaster Bujold, "Testimony of Mute Things," which I understand will be a dive backward into Penric and Des' shared past.
ceitfianna) wrote2025-11-05 11:10 pmtorachan) wrote2025-11-05 08:21 pm
cofax7) wrote2025-11-05 08:11 pmfanweeklymod) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandomweekly2025-11-05 10:27 pm| AMNESTY WEEK #028 Challenges # 001-280 |
Amnesty Weeks are a chance to post any stories you've written that, for whatever reason, weren't submitted during that week's challenge. And if you can't get the entries you want in during this Amnesty, never fear! The next one will include challenges 001-290, so you'll never miss out. There's no voting for amnesty entries, and there's no limit on how many you can post, so long as each entry meets the usual community requirements (less than 1000 words, not NC-17, etc.) If, however, you manage to end up with 30 of the things you want to post, try to spread them out through the week for the sake of people's reading pages. These entries may also be crossposted and previewed anywhere you like, since there’s no voting to skew. At the end of this two-week window, a post will be made collecting all the links of the posted entries, which will also signal the end of the posting period, and a new regular challenge will go up. Entries are titled the same way as normal: [#] Story Title (Fandom) |
| Amnesty posting ends Wednesday, November 19 at 9:00PM EST • Post your submission as a new entry using the template in the profile • Tag these entries as: amnesty 028, plus the challenge's theme tag • For questions about Amnesty Week entries, please ask them here |
fanweeklymod) wrote in fandomweekly2025-11-05 10:25 pmautobotscoutriella will be making this week’s banners, so keep an eye out for those next week.redfiona99) wrote2025-11-06 01:08 amstarwatcher) wrote in fandom_checkin2025-11-05 06:05 pmHow are you doing?
I am OK.
9 (64.3%)
I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
5 (35.7%)
I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)
How many other humans live with you?
I am living single.
5 (35.7%)
One other person.
6 (42.9%)
More than one other person.
3 (21.4%)
isis) wrote2025-11-05 05:52 pmslacktivist_feed) wrote2025-11-05 10:36 pmglitteringstars) wrote in writethisfanfic2025-11-05 06:28 pmionelv) wrote2025-11-05 06:18 pmAmericans are paying the price for Democrats’ sick political games as air travel grinds to a halt amid the Democrat-driven chaos. With essential workers like air traffic controllers and TSA agents being forced to labor without paychecks, this past weekend saw the “worst weekend” for staff since the Democrat Shutdown began — and it’s only going to get worse.
Democrats have ushered in a full-scale disaster disrupting millions of air travelers’ lives:
TSA checkpoint wait times have ballooned past three hours at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport — with some passengers enduring up to five hours in line. At nearby William P. Hobby Airport, security wait times are routinely exceeding one hour.
Half of the nation’s busiest airports faced severe staffing shortages over the weekend, triggering a cascade of delays and cancellations that are rippling through the entire country. In fact, since the Democrat Shutdown began, four times as many staffing shortages have been reported at air traffic control facilities compared to last year.
It’s not going to get better until Democrats end their senseless shutdown. Passengers in the New York City area are being warned of “schedule changes, gate holds, and missed connections,” while major disruptions have hammered airports in Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Austin, Cleveland, Seattle, Boston, Indianapolis, Nashville, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., and countless others.
There’s a reason every major travel stakeholder — from air traffic controllers to pilots to the nation’s largest airlines — is begging Democrats to stop the insanity by passing Republicans’ clean, nonpartisan continuing resolution. Each week the Democrat Shutdown is prolonged, $1+ billion in travel-related spending is lost, all while Democrats try to “leverage” the suffering in their demented political game.
Democrats hold the off-switch; they choose chaos every day they refuse to act.
otw_news_feed) wrote2025-11-05 10:57 pmWe’ve heard from users concerned about many recent laws and their potential to impact AO3. We want to reassure you that while this continues to be a challenging time with a number of troubling laws under consideration around the world, AO3 is not currently affected. AO3 is run by a noncommercial, nonprofit organization, and it does not implement infinite scroll, offer recommendations to users, or use other techniques with which many regulators are concerned.
While these bills should not directly impact AO3, they are a reminder to stay alert for potential legal issues affecting fans in your area. Where applicable, the OTW encourages people to contact their local representatives and voice their concerns. You can read more about the OTW’s Legal Advocacy work on our website.
We have received a number of inquiries from concerned users regarding the arrests of dozens of danmei writers in China. As an organization, the OTW wholeheartedly shares these concerns. We stand firmly in support of free expression and we are closely monitoring the situation.
Age verification laws have been proposed in multiple states and countries around the world. These laws create barriers that prevent open access to information, hamper the right to freedom of speech, and threaten users’ privacy. The OTW continues to strongly oppose these laws and we want to assure you that we do not intend to introduce age verification on our projects. We continue to monitor for opportunities to make our voice heard and encourage fans to do so as well. Local voices are often the most important for policymakers to hear from.
We’ve filed two amicus briefs on age verification laws already this year. One, filed with Wikimedia (who runs Wikipedia) and other organizations, in Netchoice v. Brown, urged the appellate court to uphold a block on the Utah Minor Protection in Social Media Act which requires online platforms to verify users’ ages before allowing access, restrict certain content for minors through strict controls, and actively monitor and edit content in order to remain compliant with these restrictions.
In a second amicus brief filed with Wikimedia in Netchoice v. Fitch, we expressed concerns with Mississippi House Bill 1126, which threatens platforms’ ability to distribute free knowledge by imposing broad, sweeping restrictions that encroach on free speech rights.
We also filed another amicus brief with other organizations in Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment, where we discussed the importance of internet access as a practical necessity of daily life, and argued that holding service providers liable for users’ copyright infringement based only on accusations of infringement, rather than actual proof of infringement, would threaten innovation and creativity by creating an incentive for service providers to deny service to creators without requiring evidence or providing due process.
We are monitoring how the Online Safety Act is being interpreted and enforced by the authorities.
Russia’s restrictions on LGBT-themed content have escalated from a 2013 law aimed at protecting minors to a sweeping ban on all positive depictions of LGBT relationships. In 2023, the Russian Supreme Court labeled the “international LGBT movement” as extremist, effectively criminalizing LGBT advocacy. We strongly condemn this and continue to monitor the situation.
Recently, gaming storefronts Itch.io, Steam, and Valve have begun removing or restricting adult content, citing pressure from payment processors like Visa and Mastercard. These moves are obviously concerning for freedom of expression. The OTW remains committed to both fans’ privacy and freedom of imagination. We will not change our policies on explicit or queer media.
We continue to monitor the progression of KOSA, which has been reintroduced in the United States Congress. Although AO3 is not a covered platform under this bill, the legislation, if passed, is likely to have serious freedom of speech and privacy implications for all internet users. OTW Legal has already communicated its opposition to this bill to Congress and continues to encourage U.S. users to voice their opposition to it.
While we do not believe that this law as-is applies to AO3 or any of our other projects, this is a developing situation that we will continue to monitor. Read more about this in our earlier post: Social Media Bans and AO3.
With regard to all the above legislation as well as any in the future, AO3 and the OTW will do whatever we can to preserve access to AO3 and inform users if anything changes. We remain committed to freedom of expression and will defend it as necessary to ensure that AO3 remains a safe, open space for creative expression.
Is there a new law that might affect fans or fannish activities in your country or region? Send us a message about legislation you think we should know about. (Submitting a concern doesn’t guarantee that it will be included in a future Spotlight on Legal Issues post.)
tjs_whatnot) wrote in snowflake_challenge2025-11-05 02:34 pmGeneral Volunteer Requirements:
All volunteers will have the opportunity to help us mold the challenges by helping come up with what challenges we offer and when we offer them.
Volunteers must be willing to interact with a lot of people who have different interests and levels than you and some of them, you might be the only interaction they receive. You must be able to offer support and encouragement or alert other mods to the need.
We have 4 levels of involvement that can fit most people's availability.
1) Poster and First Comment Responder
2) Comment Responder
3) Other Site Organizer
4) Graphics
Poster: We have 19 posts scheduled (15 challenges, one introduction, one meet the mods, one wrap up post and the friending meme.) You can sign up for only one if you'd like, or more if you're able.
Responsibility of Poster: create the post using the template provided. Seek feedback if you'd like. Post into the community, and then notify us in the mod community so we all know it's there. Then you are the first responder to that post. You don't have to answer every comment or read every post after. But you'll be the one getting the notifications as the challenge progresses so you'll have the sole responsibility of cheering on the stragglers.
Second Responder, Third and (hopefully) Fourth Responder Responsibilities:
✔️Help poster respond to comments on the community post (we get an average of 150 participants per challenge)
✔️Take turns commenting on each post of our participants.
✔️Communicate with other volunteers throughout the month.
Other Site Organizers Requirements:
We need volunteers familiar with other fandom spaces that aren't Dreamwidth if we want to have a presence in these spaces. This will require adapt each Dreamwidth post to making a post on your site, which may include fixing links, removing or altering HTML, sharing a small quote and linking to the Dreamwidth post, tagging appropriately, and/or removing or altering images to your site's specifications. You should be prepared to post the above 19 posts listed under Dreamwidth Poster and you should also be prepared to make additional posts as needed on your site to share any applicable graphics, share your site specific tags, or otherwise interact with your site participants.
Depending on your site, you may need to keep track of a tag, reply to comments on your post, keep track of reblogs, keep track of direct messages, or otherwise monitor your site for participant entries. You need to interact with participant entries in some way, such as commenting, reblogging, Liking, or whatever is possible on your site. Ideally, each site should have an additional volunteer (or volunteers) to help with posting and commenting on your site which might involve creating site specific templates, communicating outside of the Dreamwidth mods community, and other mod duties (like answering asks, checking an inbox, or maintaining a community.
Graphics:
We'd love to have someone with graphic abilities to help us create some banners and icons. Only requirement other than making awesome pretties is to supply the coding needed to post it.
It really is a lot of fun, made more so by the inclusion to as many people from as many fandoms and spaces as possible.
suzume) wrote2025-11-05 02:22 pm
chopwood_carrywater_feed) wrote2025-11-05 09:11 pmHi, all, and happy Wednesday!
And my God, it IS HAPPY! I don’t even know where to start.
By now you know that Democrats massively overperformed everywhere last night. It was an absolute spanking. We won not only the marquee races everyone was watching—NYC Mayoral, Virginia and New Jersey Gubernatorial, Prop 50 in CA, and the PA Supreme Court retention races—but so many other, mostly downballot races—more than I can possibly list here.
We flipped TWO seats on Georgia’s Public Service Commission. We defeated a terrible voter suppression ballot measure in Maine (and passed a great one instituting Red Flag laws in the state). We flipped God-knows-how-many school board seats (including in Bucks County, PA, where we ousted the last MAGA board members!), won municipal races all over the country, and saw JD Vance’s brother lose his mayoral race by something like 60 points. In Virginia we not only won the Governor’s seat but the Lieutenant Governor’s and Attorney General’s seats too. And—and this is huge—we flipped THIRTEEN seats in the statehouse there. Melissa from the States Project told me last night that in their best-case scenario they thought they might flip 8! And by the way, YOU GUYS HELPED MAKE THIS HAPPEN by donating to our Chop Wood, Carry Statehouses fundraiser! Remember the 32K we just raised? It went towards that!
Also, we flipped a statehouse seat in Mississippi and broke the Republican supermajority there! WOW! We picked up seats in New Jersey, too!
And our wins were not just wins—they were landslides pretty much across the board. More data to come but wow. It’s remarkable.
There is so much more—let’s just say that “Extra! Extra!” is going to be VERY long on Sunday and I will get as many little races and lesser-known victories in there as I can. If you know of one you think I might miss please send it to me (with a link to a news item about it, preferably) at hijesscraven101@gmail.com.
OK, all. I’m going to go rest, but I want to make sure you understand that YOU did this. You did. Your efforts, your volunteer hours, your indefatigable actions in the face of relentless attacks, your persistence…that’s why this happened.
And it’s why it’s going to happen again and again until we’re out of this mess. So give yourselves a HUGE pat on the back. Get some rest. We’ll be back at it again tomorrow.
Love you guys.
