Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

planner

Planning Ahead

Would anyone be interested in talking about 2026 planners or other annual journals over on

goals_on_dw ...? Crosspost is fine if you already intended to write about it here or on your blog. I could throw together some review links, but I don't actually shop for the things because I get a comp copy of the Witches' Datebook from Llewellyn, so I don't know much about what's out there.

Entry tags:

Book Review: The Originalism Trap

Title: The Originalism Trap: How Extremists Stole the Constitution and How We the People Can Take it Back
Author: Madiba K. Deenie
Genre: Non-fiction, politics

This one is not likely to be of much interest to non-Americans. This weekend I blew through The Originalism Trap: How Extremists Stole the Constitution and How We the People can Take it Back by Madiba K. Dennie. This book delves into the originalism theory of constitutional interpretation, why it's far more ahistorical than its adherents want you to believe, and some tracks we could take to counter it.

If you aren't familiar, "originalism" is a theory of constitutional interpretation that says in order to understand the Constitution, we must interpret it as closely as we can to how the original writers would have interpreted it. It posits itself as the most true-to-history and unbiased way to interpret the Constitution. It was also a fringe theory for decades, until relatively recent political winds brought it to the forefront.

Originalism traps us in the mindset of 18th century wealthy white men and refuses to let us progress any further. Originalism says if we didn't have the right then, we can't have it now. Originalism cherry-picks its history to conveniently arrive at a conservative goalpost no matter what the real story is. I wrote an essay in grad school on why originalism is horseshit, so this book was of particular interest to me.

Dennie does a great job making this book accessible to everyone. I would strongly recommend this as a read for any one in the legal or legal-adjacent professions, but I think anyone can read and pick up what Dennie is laying down here. She summarizes the history of originalism as well as deep-diving into its most recent developments (this book was published in 2024, so it's quite recent).

Originalism has a way of making itself seem inevitable, but Dennie reveals with researched ease how untrue that is; she shows the hypocrisy and insincerity of the theory over and over.

Dennie doesn't stop at "here's what's wrong" either--she has proposal and suggestions for how to counter the outsized influence of this once-disfavored theory and what we as citizens can do to push back against it. On the whole, while there is obviously anger and frustration in this book--feelings I share!--there is also a lot of hope and optimism. Dennie calls herself an optimist at heart, and it shows. This is not a doom-and-gloom book foreseeing an indefinite miserable political future for liberals and anyone who wants to expand rather than contract the depth and breadth of our rights. It is a justified call-out to political opportunists seeking to dress their partisanship up as rationalism, but it is also an essay on how it doesn't have to be this way.

At a brief 218 pages (plus bibliography), The Originalism Trap is easy to recommend to any fellow Americans, both as a way to understand where we're at, and a way forward, hopefully out of this extremist quagmire. Dennie can occasionally be irreverent in a way I feel detracts rather than adds to her argument, but she is also dealing with incredibly dry material that the average reader will probably struggle to stay engaged with, so I can forgive it. Very glad I picked this one up and I left feeling hopeful that there is an achievable alternative to where we are now.

Entry tags:

Bragging Rights: The Proposal(s) Predicament (Star Wars)

Project Title: The Proposal(s) Predicament

Fandom: Star Wars: Thrawn Series

Link: archiveofourown.org/works/70508651

Summary:

Within the space of a week, Commander Eli Vanto receives three different marriage proposals.

One is from Lance Reisen, an admiral assigned to a backwater sector who's looking to make a name for himself. Unfortunately, he seems to be labouring under the misapprehension that Eli is the tactical genius on board the Chimaera, not Thrawn.

The second is from Jar Ontec, the admiral who might just have pulled strings to get Reisen exiled to such an unfavorable posting in the first place.

The third is from Captain Kos Teersel, who, as far as Eli can tell, just wants his help catching a gang of pirates.

As Eli navigates the deadly cut-and-thrust of Imperial politics, tries to turn down marriage offers from three men who outrank him without tanking his career, and works to uncover the identity of whoever is really pulling the strings from the shadows, only one question is left unanswered.

Does his soulmark, written in an unknown script, say Thrawn's name?

Warnings: None

Characters: Eli Vanto, Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo, Karyn Faro, Chimaera Crew Members, Original Characters

Pairings: Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo/Eli Vanto

When I Started: Honestly, I don't 100% remember!! I know it must have been at least two or three years ago.

How I Lost My Shit: Wandered out of the fandom and lost interest in the characters for a little while.

How I Finished My Shit: Right at the time I was getting into another 'Star Wars phase' (my love for fandoms definitely comes in phases xD) I heard about WIP Big Bang. I have so many Thranto WIPs on the backburner, I signed several of them up. I made significant progress on many of them, although this ended up the only one that actually got finished! I, too, must worship at the altar of firm deadlines ;)

Dear Yuletide Writer Letters 2025

It's letters time! If you're writing a letter along with your Yuletide sign-up, you can comment here with a link to your letter and also enter the details in the 2025 tagset app. For browsing convenience, the app also generates a google spreadsheet you can access directly. (Bookmarking will be available in the app once tag set corrections are complete.)

What's the deal with letters?
Letters are an optional tradition of Yuletide. When you sign up to the event, there's a space in the form for linking to somewhere in your own space (journal, public document, etc) where you can go into detail about what you like in fic and fandom. This post collects these links. The prompts on AO3 are hidden through sign-ups, but letters are visible as soon as you want them to be.

Letters are an optional extra in Yuletide. If you only post a letter here, you haven't signed up. To get an assignment and a gift, you need to sign up at the collection - open Oct 14-24. If you're using this post before sign-ups are open, please check back on AO3 to sign up there!

What makes a good letter?
Mileage varies. We encourage you, at minimum, to include your AO3 name, the fandoms and characters you're requesting, your Do-Not-Wants (DNWs), and whether or not you can receive treats. [This is a feature you can set in your AO3 preference settings. New accounts have permission to receive treats turned off by default, but participants with older accounts should check if they have not checked this in a while]. There are additional posts here and here discussing how to use DNWs.

How to post your letter

Finish your letter and make sure it's publicly visible. Here's the tagset to check what you can request

Enter it in the app*! You can edit your letter after submitting it - save the key, or ask the mods for the key if you lose it

Comment below! Include:
- Your AO3 name
- A link to your letter
- The fandoms you are requesting (3-8)
- The characters you are requesting in your fandoms (1-4, or Any)
If you post to the app first, it will spit out a handy chunk of text with all these details for you to use when commenting.

*Please reach out here if you're having trouble with the app! Characters can be selected by clicking on them.

!!! We ask you to add your letter both places to make sure it gets to people who are excited to read it. If for whatever reason you can only comment on a post, then please include the following line in your comment:

Mods, please add my letter to the app.

We will sweep the post occasionally and add letters to the app.

Warning: Locked or placeholder letters will be removed. You can add your letter when it's done.

If you have a question, contact a mod on Discord or comment here

Mini-challenges
As mini-challenges are posted, they will be added below.
( See links to this year's mini-challenges under the cut. )

The opening (and closing) of sign-ups will be announced at the admin comm.

Enjoy! And thank you to karanguni for the app!

Entry tags:

Planning for 2026

Last year I made the mistake of waiting too long to order the planner I wanted before it went out of stock, so here's a reminder to start thinking about what you want to buy for 2026!

Entry tags:

LGBT Rainbow Promo.

Join LGBT Rainbow, a rainbow pass-it-on icon challenge focused on LGBTQ+ characters from any media.

lgbtrainbow

Entry tags:

Book Review: The Ultimate Final Fantasy XIV Online Cookbook by Victoria Rosenthal

Title: The Ultimate Final Fantasy XIV Online Cookbook: The Essential Culinarian Guide to Hydaelyn
Author: Victoria Rosenthal
ISBN: 978-1-64722-511-7

A photo of the cover of The Ultimate Final Fantasy XIV Online Cookbook.

One of the things I love about Final Fantasy XIV is that it abounds in stories. There's not only the Main Scenario Quest, but tons of side quests to explore. I love that each job in the game has its own storyline, and that is true of the "Crafters" as well. For this cookbook, they took this emphasis on story and ran with it. The first few pages of the book set up the premise for it: Gourmand Gyohan, a "soon-to-be famous Namazu Culinarian", is traveling around Hydaelyn in companionship with Mogria, a moogle who's "a master of meandering". They are visiting the sites where the Warrior of Light (that's the name for the player character) did fantastic deeds.

Like just about every cookbook, this one is grouped by course/meal type, but it also includes a primer on the lands that the Warrior of Light has visited, plus an ingredients guide for the lesser-known items. Care was taken with the book to make the recipes as faithful to the in-game versions; this means that some ingredients might sound exotic to our ears. For example, Birch Syrup is used in the game, and thus is called for in some of the recipes, but the Ingredients Guide does say it can be replaced with Maple Syrup. Some of the ingredients will be familiar to those of Eastern cultures but may be unfamiliar to those from the West, and the English book takes the time to define these ingredients.

Each recipe is photographed and starts with "flavor text", explaining a bit about how Gyohan and Mogria discovered the recipe. The remaining layout of each recipe is as you'd expect: a list of ingredients and the steps to make it, along with prep time and a rating of the recipe's difficulty. Recipes rate from Easy (example: Nutrient-Rich Porridge) to Extreme (example: The Minstrel's Ballad: Almond Cream Croissants). Folks who have played FFXIV will appreciate this nod to the harder trials in the game, which are known as Extremes and often are unlocked by talking to a Minstrel.

I found this cookbook a delight to read, especially since I'm a die-hard player of the game. I do think those that haven't played the game might enjoy it as well. I have only tried one recipe so far, which was the Exquisite Beef Stew. This is rated Easy, but since I am not the family cook, Sautéing the floured meat was a little difficult for me. The recipe calls for a generous amount of garlic. We thought it'd be too much, so used half the amount called for the first time we made it. TRUST THE RECIPE - it came out fine the first time, but the second time we used all the garlic and it was tastier. I definitely need practice making this, but I really enjoyed it and plan to make it again in the future.

I've got pages marked in the book to try at a later date, maybe once I move out again and am in my own place. A second cookbook is coming out soon, covering other regions the Warrior of Light has visited, and I've already placed my pre-order for it. Even if I don't make anything from the book, I'm sure it will be fun to page through.

Entry tags:

Dronarry Fest 2026: Prompting Open Till November 1

Fest Name: Dronarry Fest 2026
Links: Tumblr | Rules | Prompting
Type of Challenge: Non-anonymous prompt fest
Description: A fic and art fest dedicated to Draco, Ron and Harry, either as a triad or as pairs. All works must feature all three characters in significant capacity. This fest will not accept works created by or with assistance of AI; that includes using AI for editing or proofreading. Prompting is open till November 1.
Ratings Restrictions: All ratings allowed
Length Restrictions:
Fic: Minimum 1k; no maximum
Art: None?
Podfic: Recorded story should be minimum 1k; no maximum
Timeline:
Prompting Opens: October 11th
Prompting Closes: November 1st
Claiming Starts: November 2nd
Claiming Closes: February 7th
Submissions Due: February 22nd
Posting will begin in March 2026, exact dates to be confirmed.

Entry tags:

Old Dogs Fest 2026: Prompting Open Till October 23

Fest Name: Old Dogs Fest 2026
Links: Tumblr | Instagram | AO3 | Rules | Prompting
Type of Challenge: Anonymous prompt fest
Description: A Wolfstar fic and art fest featuring Remus and Sirius at 30+ years of age. Prompting is open till October 23. Each prompt can be claimed twice for fic and twice for art. Self prompt is allowed.
Ratings Restrictions: All ratings allowed
Length Restrictions:
Fic: Minimum 1k
Art: Can be in any medium or style, except rough sketches
Timeline:
Prompting: October 10 - October 23
Claiming: October 31 - January 30
Submissions due: January 31
Posting begins: February 14
Reveals: A week after posting ends

Entry tags:

Marvel Trumps Hate 2025 Preview Week

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

Entry tags:

Multifandom: Ghost of You Shrine Challenge

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

Entry tags:

16 Halloween Stock Icons

16 Halloween-Themed Stock Icons

Find Them Here at

chemyxstory

Entry tags:

480 icons of fantastic four first steps

here @

sousaphone

Entry tags:

Do-Not-Match Option - LIMITED Yuletide edition

Tag set housekeeping

We've removed Mouthwashing (Video Game) as that was approved in error. Sorry for getting your hopes up, nominator!

烏は主を選ばない | Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai | Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master (Anime): It’s come to our attention that Nazukihiko and Wakamiya are the same person, so we’re merging those characters.

Nominator of Luca (The History of Sound) - it looks like the Wikipedia page for this movie incorrectly listed Luca as the name of Lionel's lover in Rome; according to IMDB and the original stories this movie is based on, it's Vincent (who was also nominated), so we're deleting Luca.

Thank you for all the tag set issues you’ve let us know about so far! Please continue to check the tag set and let us know of further corrections we should make. Please tell us about these corrections before 9am UTC, Monday 13 October, so we can fix them before sign-ups.

Limited Do-Not-Match option

Most of the time, the person assigned to create for you in an AO3-based gift exchange, and the person assigned to receive a gift from you, are determined by the tags you select in the sign-up form.

Some exchange moderators also offer participants the option to say "Please do not match me up with [ExampleUserName] or [ExampleUserName2]. I don't want to receive a gift from them or create for them." This feature makes it easier, for example, to offer a fandom requested by six different people including someone you'd prefer to avoid, and have peace of mind that you can still avoid that person.

A Do-Not-Match option is difficult to offer flexibly in Yuletide because of the large number of participants and the large number of people who have only one possible creator or recipient. However, we see a Do-Not-Match option as a valuable tool to reduce friction and make everyone happier, so we intend to offer a limited version of this feature in Yuletide, on a trial basis. Please note that this is not an absolute guarantee you won’t receive a story from one of the people you list.

How it will work

When you sign up on AO3, the sign-up form will also link out to a Google form where you can list the AO3 names of up to 3 people you do not want to match to and can tell us if you want to avoid writing for a person, receiving an assigned gift from a person, or both. We will also ask for those people's AO3 ID numbers, which you can find on their AO3 profiles, and for the email associated with your AO3 name. We will not ask for the reason you wish to avoid a person.

After we run the matching process, we will check all matches against our master Do-Not-Match list. We will take the following actions:

If your assigned recipient or creator is someone you asked to avoid, we will attempt to match you to someone else.

If your only possible recipient is someone you asked to avoid, we will email you to recommend you expand your offers. However, we will leave the match in place if you do not respond in the first 24 hours following the close of sign-ups.

If your only possible creator is someone you asked to avoid, we will send out your requests with initial pinch hits.

If you are the only possible recipient for a creator you asked to avoid, we will leave the match in place, but will prioritize your requests for double-assignment to two creators. [Because of how matching works, there will always be Yuletide participants who start out with two assigned creators; generally we try to choose them at random.]

We will not take the following actions:

We will not ask a creator to drop out or expand their offers if their only possible recipient is someone who would prefer to avoid them.

We will not inform a participant that someone else has asked not to match to them. [This information will be restricted only to the core Yuletide mods, Isis, Morbane, and pendrecarc, and will not be shared with the larger pool of Yuletide assistants.]

We will not review treats for unwanted matches. Putting someone on your Do-Not-Match list will not prevent them from creating a treat for you (but please see FAQs below for other tools to achieve this).

We will not prevent someone on your Do-Not-Match list from claiming you as a pinch hit. We will check our master Do-Not-Match list when assigning pinch hits, so if the first person to claim you is a person you prefer to avoid, we will leave a short amount of time to see if another claim comes in. But we will not hold your pinch hit indefinitely or tell the first creator they aren't allowed to claim you.

We will not ask you why you wish to avoid a particular match.

FAQs (foreseeable/anticipated questions)

Who am I allowed to put on my Do-Not-Match list?
Any three AO3 accounts you would prefer to avoid matching to. This can be for any reason, serious or unserious. Do not tell us the reason, please. If the reason is harassment or similar, we recommend reaching out to the Policy & Abuse team separately. You may only give specific names, rather than a description like "anyone who mostly wants porn".

Can't I just block people I don't want to match to?
No. Adding other users to your block list stops them from giving you a treat (see item AO3-6502 on this news post). It also stops them from being able to comment on your work. However, it does not affect challenge matching. A person you have blocked can be assigned to create for you, and you can be assigned to create for them.

Wait, am I allowed to block people in Yuletide?
Yes. Feel free to use the blocking feature to improve your AO3 experience. However, blocking someone and also matching to them could lead to unhappiness for both of you - so please consider using all the tools at your disposal to avoid matching to people you have blocked. This could mean choosing not to offer a fandom if you suspect it has been requested by a person you wish to avoid, or it could mean using the Do-Not-Match option for people you have blocked.

What other AO3 tools exist to manage my gift experience?
If you wish, you can choose to receive gifts only from assigned writers in a gift exchange or people who have claimed your prompts in a prompt meme. This is sometimes described as turning treats on and off. If you created your account after February 2022, please review this setting in your AO3 account preferences. If you select the setting "Allow anyone to gift me works", you can receive treats. If you do not select this setting, only an assigned author can give you a gift in Yuletide.

Will this be a feature of Yuletide going forward?
Maybe, maybe not. It will depend on how well it works out this year!

Schedule, Rules, & Collection | Contact Mods | Tag Set | Community DW | Community LJ | Discord | Pinch hits on Dreamwidth

Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.

Entry tags:

Bragging Rights: The Black Rose (White Collar)

Posting on behalf of the artist!

Project Title: Neal in Paris (I've retitled it to - The Black Rose)
Fandom: White Collar TV (2009)
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/72291941
Summary: A bittersweet glimpse of Neal in Paris
Warnings: None
Characters: Neal Caffrey
Pairings: None

Entry tags:

type: promotion: sale

Sale Promotion: Cozy the Day Away (Oct 11-12)

Cozy the Day Away, a flash sale for Cozy Fantasy books, is running again for two days this weekend, Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th October.

This time, there are more than 150 books in the sale, with many new authors (and new titles from authors who were in previous sales.)

The sale includes ebooks, paperbacks, audiobooks and bundles.

A strong focus on diversity: LGBTQIA+, neurodiversity, global majority/PoC characters, mental and physical disabilities, all represented.

A wide variety of genres, including romantasy, cozy mysteries, paranormal and urban fantasy and action/adventure.

Many ebooks are 99p/99c (or even free) and there are steep discounts on other formats.

Find out more and access the list of books (only visible this weekend) at https://cozyfantasysale.promisepress.org/