Website/Shrine Question
Jan. 6th, 2026 01:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wavesagainstrocks posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fancodedHello! I'm hoping someone here could answer my admittedly really silly question.
I've dabbled in coding and have used websites like Neocities to host my site in the past, which was all fine and well! But I had come across an entry here on DW regarding a Shrine Challenge. I looked through a lot of the published shrines and they all looked like they had "multiple" sites under the same domain (not on anything like Neocities). Is this something you pay for? Are there any free hosts out there able to do this too?
I can give some examples if this question doesn't make sense, haha! I'm having a hard time explaining it, but I didn't wanna just post someone's site link without permission or anything like that!
Thanks so much!
I've dabbled in coding and have used websites like Neocities to host my site in the past, which was all fine and well! But I had come across an entry here on DW regarding a Shrine Challenge. I looked through a lot of the published shrines and they all looked like they had "multiple" sites under the same domain (not on anything like Neocities). Is this something you pay for? Are there any free hosts out there able to do this too?
I can give some examples if this question doesn't make sense, haha! I'm having a hard time explaining it, but I didn't wanna just post someone's site link without permission or anything like that!
Thanks so much!
Haiku
Jan. 6th, 2026 02:07 pmysabetwordsmithThis is today's freebie, inspired by a prompt from jake67jake.
Maduro kidnapped --
he was quite unpopular,
but it was still wrong
* * *
Notes:
Read a discussion of Venezuela politics.
jake67jake. Maduro kidnapped --
he was quite unpopular,
but it was still wrong
* * *
Notes:
Read a discussion of Venezuela politics.
Snowflake Challenge 2026-3: Love Letter to Fandom
Jan. 6th, 2026 02:52 pmstardust_rifleThis one is going to be hard.
I was not very mentally well when I was younger, due to getting ass-fucked by both genetics and life circumstances, and there are two reasons that I made it past age 15. One of them is that I'm very pain-averse.
The other is fandom.
Reading fic gave me something to do besides "lie in bed and feel miserable" and "move through my life like a zombie", and it sort of helped me... unlock the ability to feel emotions? I don't know how to describe it, but I'm very much (and still am) a Robot Person, and experiencing emotions through fiction was, for a while, the only way I could actually feel things, so I dove headfirst into melodrama in order to actually have an outlet for the pain I was feeling at the time, but couldn't express.
Additionally, you know the suicide prevention strategy of "you can't kill yourself until X happens?" Yeah, that was a big thing for me. "You can't kill yourself until Eternal Summer comes out." "You can't kill yourself until Attack on Titan finishes." "You can't kill yourself until that fanfic you really like finishes." "You can't kill yourself until Hetalia stops coming out."
So, uh, thanks, fandom. Thanks for keeping me alive.
I was not very mentally well when I was younger, due to getting ass-fucked by both genetics and life circumstances, and there are two reasons that I made it past age 15. One of them is that I'm very pain-averse.
The other is fandom.
Reading fic gave me something to do besides "lie in bed and feel miserable" and "move through my life like a zombie", and it sort of helped me... unlock the ability to feel emotions? I don't know how to describe it, but I'm very much (and still am) a Robot Person, and experiencing emotions through fiction was, for a while, the only way I could actually feel things, so I dove headfirst into melodrama in order to actually have an outlet for the pain I was feeling at the time, but couldn't express.
Additionally, you know the suicide prevention strategy of "you can't kill yourself until X happens?" Yeah, that was a big thing for me. "You can't kill yourself until Eternal Summer comes out." "You can't kill yourself until Attack on Titan finishes." "You can't kill yourself until that fanfic you really like finishes." "You can't kill yourself until Hetalia stops coming out."
So, uh, thanks, fandom. Thanks for keeping me alive.
(no subject)
Jan. 6th, 2026 11:42 amgreghousesgfI'm finally over the flu I had for about three weeks! Yayy! The only unfortunate thing is that means I'm off the meds I was taking which means back to my rotten, autism-induced sleep patterns. Those meds were actually helping me get a decent amount of sleep.
Poetry Fishbowl Open!
Jan. 6th, 2026 01:11 pmysabetwordsmithThe Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you all for your time and attention.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "short forms." I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems.
I'll be soliciting poetic forms of 60 lines or less, so basically below my epic range rather than only the short-short length of 10 lines or less. Free verse below the length limit is also fine. Here are 15 short forms with descriptions. Among my favorite short forms not listed there: hexaduad, indriso, sestina, villanelle. This list of 168 forms is alphabetical. Poets Garrett has my favorite list of forms, including a list of repeating-interlocking forms. Their main page has links to poetic forms of 3-10 lines. Plus a few of my own: A darrow poem is a short, haiku-like musing by dark elves. A khazal is a Whispering Sands desert poem in couplets. A moose track is a repeating-interlocking form. A tweet wire is a tiny 10-line poem designed for Twitter. Some short forms, like haiku and tanka, work well as verses in a longer poem. I have The New Book of Forms by Lewis Turco so most forms should be in there. You can also prompt with a link to any exotic form you find; I collect these things.
In addition to forms, I also need topical prompts. One-word or short-phrase framing will assist in keeping them small enough to fit within the theme. Here is a huge list of common themes. This page of idioms has alphabetical and topical listings. I love writing poems about an individual word; see The Phrontistery (WARNING! Black hole caliber time sink ahead!) for glossaries. Have an orientation that is not well represented in literature? Ask for a sexual, romantic, or other orientation! If it's not on any of my lists, just include a description or link to one. I also list gender identities and my characters with disabilities. Want to help me play with my bookshelf? :D I have The Conflict Thesaurus, The Conflict Thesaurus Volume 2, The Occupation Thesaurus, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus, The Urban Setting Thesaurus, The Rural Setting Thesaurus, The Emotion Thesaurus, The Positive Trait Thesaurus, The Negative Trait Thesaurus, and The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus. Simply click "Read Sample" and view the table of contents for a list of cool ideas. You can prompt a sestina with six end words; I usually pick 5 short flexible words and one long exotic word, but I'll work with whatever I get. Favorite characters, threads, series, settings, etc. are also fair game but this is NOT the time for long plotty prompts. Consider combining a name or title with a short form, theme, or idiom. If you like to prompt with photos, this is a great opportunity for that. Just type in a topic (see above for possibilities) and click the Image link in your favorite search engine.
( Read more... )
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "short forms." I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems.
I'll be soliciting poetic forms of 60 lines or less, so basically below my epic range rather than only the short-short length of 10 lines or less. Free verse below the length limit is also fine. Here are 15 short forms with descriptions. Among my favorite short forms not listed there: hexaduad, indriso, sestina, villanelle. This list of 168 forms is alphabetical. Poets Garrett has my favorite list of forms, including a list of repeating-interlocking forms. Their main page has links to poetic forms of 3-10 lines. Plus a few of my own: A darrow poem is a short, haiku-like musing by dark elves. A khazal is a Whispering Sands desert poem in couplets. A moose track is a repeating-interlocking form. A tweet wire is a tiny 10-line poem designed for Twitter. Some short forms, like haiku and tanka, work well as verses in a longer poem. I have The New Book of Forms by Lewis Turco so most forms should be in there. You can also prompt with a link to any exotic form you find; I collect these things.
In addition to forms, I also need topical prompts. One-word or short-phrase framing will assist in keeping them small enough to fit within the theme. Here is a huge list of common themes. This page of idioms has alphabetical and topical listings. I love writing poems about an individual word; see The Phrontistery (WARNING! Black hole caliber time sink ahead!) for glossaries. Have an orientation that is not well represented in literature? Ask for a sexual, romantic, or other orientation! If it's not on any of my lists, just include a description or link to one. I also list gender identities and my characters with disabilities. Want to help me play with my bookshelf? :D I have The Conflict Thesaurus, The Conflict Thesaurus Volume 2, The Occupation Thesaurus, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus, The Urban Setting Thesaurus, The Rural Setting Thesaurus, The Emotion Thesaurus, The Positive Trait Thesaurus, The Negative Trait Thesaurus, and The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus. Simply click "Read Sample" and view the table of contents for a list of cool ideas. You can prompt a sestina with six end words; I usually pick 5 short flexible words and one long exotic word, but I'll work with whatever I get. Favorite characters, threads, series, settings, etc. are also fair game but this is NOT the time for long plotty prompts. Consider combining a name or title with a short form, theme, or idiom. If you like to prompt with photos, this is a great opportunity for that. Just type in a topic (see above for possibilities) and click the Image link in your favorite search engine.
( Read more... )
Punch Card Goals
Jan. 6th, 2026 12:39 pmysabetwordsmith posting in goals_on_dwPunch Card Goals: Creative Goal Setting Made Simple
Instead of a traditional goal list, I turned my intentions into punch cards!
If you’re a crafter, a goal-setter, or someone who just wants their habits to feel more like play than pressure, this might be your new favorite New Year ritual (or anytime you want to set new goals).
This is also a great approach for people who like tactile things. It would probably work well for children too.
Instead of a traditional goal list, I turned my intentions into punch cards!
If you’re a crafter, a goal-setter, or someone who just wants their habits to feel more like play than pressure, this might be your new favorite New Year ritual (or anytime you want to set new goals).
This is also a great approach for people who like tactile things. It would probably work well for children too.
Prompt: #476 - Regret
Jan. 6th, 2026 01:05 pmsweettartheart posting in 100wordsThis week's prompt is regret.
Your response should be exactly 100 words long. You do not have to include the prompt in your response -- it is meant as inspiration only.
Please use the tag "prompt: #476 - regret" with your response.
Please put your drabble under a cut tag if it contains potential triggers, mature or explicit content, or spoilers for media released in the last month.
If you would like a template for the header information you may use this:
Subject: Original - Title (or) Fandom - Title
Post:
Title:
Original (or) Fandom:
Rating:
Notes:
If you are a member of AO3 there is a 100 Words Collection!
Your response should be exactly 100 words long. You do not have to include the prompt in your response -- it is meant as inspiration only.
Please use the tag "prompt: #476 - regret" with your response.
Please put your drabble under a cut tag if it contains potential triggers, mature or explicit content, or spoilers for media released in the last month.
If you would like a template for the header information you may use this:
Subject: Original - Title (or) Fandom - Title
Post:
Title:
Original (or) Fandom:
Rating:
Notes:
If you are a member of AO3 there is a 100 Words Collection!
Fandom Snowflake Day 3
Jan. 6th, 2026 10:05 pmswingandswirl
Challenge #3: Write a love letter to fandom. It might be to fandom in general, to a particular fandom, favourite character, anything at all.
Wow. Where do I even start with fandom?
Fandom changed the course of my life, for the better.
Fandom was how I, a sheltered teen growing up in a conservative country, encountered gay couples for the first time, when shipper drama had me fleeing to the slash side of HP fandom. senmut and ilyena_sylph introduced me to poly couples with Happy’Verse, and I’m still friends with both of them to this day. The very kind encouragement of the folks in the World’s Finest Superbat comm gave me the courage to publish my own fic, first Harry Potter and then Superbat. And then Numb3rs fandom (and specifically numb3rs100 and its weekly prompts) taught me how to write. And then my beloved co-writers taught me how to write things longer than drabbles.
senmut and ilyena_sylph introduced me to poly couples with Happy’Verse, and I’m still friends with both of them to this day. The very kind encouragement of the folks in the World’s Finest Superbat comm gave me the courage to publish my own fic, first Harry Potter and then Superbat. And then Numb3rs fandom (and specifically numb3rs100 and its weekly prompts) taught me how to write. And then my beloved co-writers taught me how to write things longer than drabbles.I’ve lost a lot of those old fannish friends, whether they moved on from a fandom or I did, or when platforms shut down. But I’ve been lucky to keep some incredibly dear ones, and make excellent new friends, too. /waves to rhi and draconis, among others/
rhi and draconis, among others/Speaking of new friends, I want to talk about one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced, fandom-wise.
Numb3rs will always be the fandom of my heart. But it was never a particularly big show, and by 2022, the fandom was pretty much dead. And then someone (Hi Byrne!) wrote, and posted, an incredible story. Which inspired me to rewatch the series, and start writing again. And pull others in, too. And while Numb3rs will never be as active as it was, it’s still really cool to see the part I played in resurrecting it a little bit.
Another really awesome thing about fandom? Exchanges, and how much they’ve gotten me to push my limits. If it weren’t for exchange prompts, I would never have written To The Sticking Place, about Percy Weasley (and NOT a story I could have written in my 20s or without years of reading fic and meta). I definitely wouldn’t have been brave enough to think I could replicate Jane Austen’s style well enough to attempt thy love like a mark is stamp’d (I am a Jane/Colonel Fitzwilliam shipper to the end. Sorry, Bingles.) Or, even after shipper nonsense annoyed the fuck out of me, take on the challenge of writing The Goblin Emperor fic. Or write 10k of smut for an upcoming challenge, despite being ace.
Fandom also had me reading things I never would have encountered otherwise. Not just slash, although that's part of it. Thanks to fandom, I discovered drabbles, my beloved random fact fics, fic in the form of in-universe documents or meta, and a whole host of other things. I found writers who put the pros to shame, fics that made me gasp at the brilliance of their creators. I can safely say that reading fic has been an education, as much in what I should strive for as what not to do.
Fandom also had me reading things I never would have encountered otherwise. Not just slash, although that's part of it. Thanks to fandom, I discovered drabbles, my beloved random fact fics, fic in the form of in-universe documents or meta, and a whole host of other things. I found writers who put the pros to shame, fics that made me gasp at the brilliance of their creators. I can safely say that reading fic has been an education, as much in what I should strive for as what not to do.
Fandom also helped me reclaim my identity. When Numb3rs first aired from 2005-2010, I explained away some of the egregious errors in the show’s depiction of Amita (who was a Tamil American character played by a very westernized half-German actress) by making her half-Rajasthani. (It still didn’t fix everything, but it was better than nothing). When I returned to writing Numb3rs in 2022, I made a decision. Amita would be 100% Tamil Brahmin, and that would be enough.
Never mind that Hollywood thinks all Indians speak Hindi, love Bollywood, and subsist on naan and butter chicken. Never mind neither the showrunners nor the actress bothered to give Amita a defined backstory until s4, and even then, they chose the most goatfucking stupid way of going about it possible. I would write Amita as she should have been written, like the second-generation Tamil American daughter of immigrant parents with a connection to the old country the show said she was while failing utterly to depict it accurately.
That conviction led to me writing saaptiya and 25 Random Facts About Amita Ramanujan, two fics I’m incredibly proud of, with the support and encouragement of non-Desi friends. And in doing so, I healed a wound that I never realized had been hurting me for nearly two decades.
So yeah. Thank you, fandom. For everything.
Today it did snow
Jan. 6th, 2026 03:17 pmoursinThough by now it's mostly dispersed - still lying in parts.
***
Yesterday had that exasperating thing of asking what I thought was a question for very specific thing (not even for myself, for someone who didn't have access to this particular knowledge-resource) and got, okay, one really good response that was right on point, and several which demonstrated that actual humans are quite capable all by themselves of hallucinating what the question actually was and providing answers entirely tangential and Point Thahr Misst.
***
I have had to do with this campaigner: ‘Women have to fight for what they want’: UK campaigner’s 60-year unfinished battle for abortion rights over archives of campaigns she was involved in (I even, as I recollect, suggested an appropriate riposte - a bouquet of parsley - to some weird hostile message sent to her by the notorious Victoria Gillick.)
Pretty much her contemporary, I don't think I ever met the recently-deceased Molly Parkin, but I certainly read various of her writings, including most of her various 'bonk-busters' - I'm not sure they entirely fit that category - which seem to have fallen out of print, at least, they do not seem to have enjoyed e-revival.
Memoria (50 sentences about Joshua Rosfield)
Jan. 6th, 2026 11:56 ambirdandfoxboys posting in 1characterCharacter: Joshua Rosfield
Fandom: Final Fantasy XVI
Theme set: Delta
Rating: G
Warnings: Mention of incestuous feelings( Read more... )
Fandom: Final Fantasy XVI
Theme set: Delta
Rating: G
Warnings: Mention of incestuous feelings( Read more... )
Mama MIA!
Jan. 6th, 2026 02:00 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
cakewrecks_feedTabitha G. ordered a Mario cake for her five-year-old's birthday party.
You know Mario, right?
Yeah. This guy.
And that's when things went horribly, hilariously wrong:
"Did-a somebody call-a a plumber?" [eyebrow waggle]
No, no, take a moment. Soak it alllll in. The leather biker hat. The earring. The collar. The nipple and gratuitous chest hair. Oh yeah, and the fact that his lower half is on backwards. (Why? WHY??)
How did this happen? Why does this art even exist? And seriously, what the heck is going on with that front butt?
The world may never know.
We DO know the bakery replaced The Village Mario here with a free Spongebob cake, though.
So Tabitha, just one question:
Was SpongeBob wearing a gimp suit? :D
*****
P.S. Have you played with Perler Beads? Those are the plastic pellets you iron together to make coasters or ornaments or hair bows or whatnot - and there's a Super Mario set!
This set comes with the pegboard, patterns, ironing sheet, and of course all the beads you need to make at least 11 different designs. Here's a pic from the reviews, aren't they great?
This is a perfect craft for kids AND adults. Hit the link up there to see several more design kits, including Star Wars and Harry Potter.
******
And from my other blog, Epbot:
tiki
Jan. 6th, 2026 07:16 amprettygoodword[Sidebar: I didn’t fully unpack yesterday that the Austronesian language family includes, as a subgroup, the Polynesian languages. It encompasses the indigenous languages of Taiwan (the Austronesian homeland), the Philippines, Madagascar, Malaysia, most of Indonesia, as well as most Pacific islands to the east and south, excluding New Guinea and the continent of Australia. The Austronesian Expansion was … expansive.] [Sidebar2: Statements that Malayo-Polynesian is a synonym for Austronesian can be readily found yet are wrong: Malayo-Polynesian is subgroup of Austronesian, covering all the languages outside of Taiwan.]
tiki (TEE-kee) - n., a figurine or talisman in humanoid form of a god or ancestor.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
Also, as an adjective, relating to an exoticized representation of Polynesian culture characterized by tiki figures, palm fronds, tropical themes, etc. -- because tiki culture is indeed weird. Among Maori, talisman versions of tiki (called hei-tiki) are sometimes worn for protection/luck. Tiki was the first man in Maori mythology, and tikis are also known by the name of the first man in Tahitian (Tiʻi), though in Hawaiian the first man was Kumuhonua and a tiki is a kiʻi -- interestingly, tikis are known only in Eastern Polynesian cultures.
Which brings up the bonus word moai (MOW-ai), one of the large stone statues on Easter Island (Rapa Nui), which even though they are representations of ancestors, not to mention highly influential on tiki culture, are not considered tikis:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
[Sidebar3: The emoji 🗿 is not actually a moai but rather a moyai, a Japanese sculpture inspired by maoi -- in the dialect of Niijima, where they were first carved, moyai means joining forces/helping each other, and mayoi are often used as meet-up landmarks.]
---L.
tiki (TEE-kee) - n., a figurine or talisman in humanoid form of a god or ancestor.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
Also, as an adjective, relating to an exoticized representation of Polynesian culture characterized by tiki figures, palm fronds, tropical themes, etc. -- because tiki culture is indeed weird. Among Maori, talisman versions of tiki (called hei-tiki) are sometimes worn for protection/luck. Tiki was the first man in Maori mythology, and tikis are also known by the name of the first man in Tahitian (Tiʻi), though in Hawaiian the first man was Kumuhonua and a tiki is a kiʻi -- interestingly, tikis are known only in Eastern Polynesian cultures.
Which brings up the bonus word moai (MOW-ai), one of the large stone statues on Easter Island (Rapa Nui), which even though they are representations of ancestors, not to mention highly influential on tiki culture, are not considered tikis:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
[Sidebar3: The emoji 🗿 is not actually a moai but rather a moyai, a Japanese sculpture inspired by maoi -- in the dialect of Niijima, where they were first carved, moyai means joining forces/helping each other, and mayoi are often used as meet-up landmarks.]
---L.
Back in the Groove
Jan. 6th, 2026 08:45 ampshaw_ravenI need to learn how Obsidian works. And since it isn't full-featured on Chrome, I need to get it onto my Windows computer and learn it there. I may wish to rearrange my desk some so that typing is easier, making two workstations out of one computer - the writing side and the drawing side.
I finished up a rough draft of "Oracle," and now I need to get it typed up so I can start editing. I typically like to write longhand and just ... write stuff. I'll make notes or digress, and that's all stuff I can fold in when I'm editing. Some of my rough drafts can be pretty disjointed.
But first, a short run. Just to the stop sign and back. I'm enjoying running again, not really going out with any agenda, just running. Today I may run some speed intervals once I'm at the top end of Villa Nueva where the surface is firm. I want to get a solid base built up by March where a ten-mile long run is normal, and from there I can build up miles to get to my goal of fifty. RunDisney is opening Wine & Dine signups early - February 10 for the great unwashed. Fox's foot and leg have improved so much that he's now going out regularly for walks and starting to build his cardio and endurance back up. That's the power of seeing a doctor who fucking listens to you. So he feels much more confident about signing up for Wine & Dine himself.
We shut a Dove in the garage, and I found it yesterday. It was exhausted, but happily not dead. It was trying to get out the back window, so I opened the main door, but it was determined that the window was the way out. It was also tired enough that I was able to grab it and carry it outside. When I got to the driveway and opened my hands it did that thing where it just sat staring at me for a moment before flying off, as if it was thinking, "So are you going to eat me? Wait ... you're not?" We're usually good about checking for birds when we've had the door open for a long time, but sometimes they hide.
I finished up a rough draft of "Oracle," and now I need to get it typed up so I can start editing. I typically like to write longhand and just ... write stuff. I'll make notes or digress, and that's all stuff I can fold in when I'm editing. Some of my rough drafts can be pretty disjointed.
But first, a short run. Just to the stop sign and back. I'm enjoying running again, not really going out with any agenda, just running. Today I may run some speed intervals once I'm at the top end of Villa Nueva where the surface is firm. I want to get a solid base built up by March where a ten-mile long run is normal, and from there I can build up miles to get to my goal of fifty. RunDisney is opening Wine & Dine signups early - February 10 for the great unwashed. Fox's foot and leg have improved so much that he's now going out regularly for walks and starting to build his cardio and endurance back up. That's the power of seeing a doctor who fucking listens to you. So he feels much more confident about signing up for Wine & Dine himself.
We shut a Dove in the garage, and I found it yesterday. It was exhausted, but happily not dead. It was trying to get out the back window, so I opened the main door, but it was determined that the window was the way out. It was also tired enough that I was able to grab it and carry it outside. When I got to the driveway and opened my hands it did that thing where it just sat staring at me for a moment before flying off, as if it was thinking, "So are you going to eat me? Wait ... you're not?" We're usually good about checking for birds when we've had the door open for a long time, but sometimes they hide.
Y2K, Unix style
Jan. 6th, 2026 05:39 amsoemandI was considering making a blog of my grandfathers forced march diary from 1945, but came across an interesting problem—it doesn’t accept dates outside of 1970-2037.
The language underpinning livejournal and Dreamwidth uses the number of seconds since January 1, 1970. This number will overflow on January 19, 2038 — not unlike the y2k problem of old.
It’s called the Unix epoch problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem.
All told, I’ll have to figure out another method of publishing this information.
Why?
The language underpinning livejournal and Dreamwidth uses the number of seconds since January 1, 1970. This number will overflow on January 19, 2038 — not unlike the y2k problem of old.
It’s called the Unix epoch problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem.
All told, I’ll have to figure out another method of publishing this information.