The Batman: Part II Casting Spoiler

Jan. 10th, 2026 12:11 pm
petra: Barbara Gordon smiling knowingly (Default)
[personal profile] petra
Ahem )

Look at me being Responsible and not using my relevant (SO relevant) icon! Because some people would like to be unspoiled! I am such a good fannish citizen.

Ahem pt. 2 )

Yes. Memes are indeed fun.

Jan. 10th, 2026 05:08 pm
goodbyebird: Community: Britta hits the booze. (Community lord give me booze)
[personal profile] goodbyebird
New Years Book Meme Via [personal profile] flamingsword:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Turn to page 126
3. The 6th full sentence is your life in 2026


hah my closest book was Nghi Vo's Mammoths at the Gates, which ends at 120 pages.

"I stared down into it, no lights burning at its heart, no voices raised in song, while Rencki tried to call up the shuttle to Kiskol."
Slow Gods by Claire North.

Well, um. That sounds bleak? 2026 really needs to be nicer to me.

Positive note, I do like the writing.

To the devil on your shoulder.

Jan. 10th, 2026 03:48 pm
goodbyebird: Loki: president!Loki grinning, arms spread wide, "what did you expect?" (Avengers trickster)
[personal profile] goodbyebird
+ I'm going back to work tonight, just to sleep on board so I can get cracking nice and early before everybody else arrives. It'll probably be freezing but hopping in bed wearing wool should sort that out. Right now I am of course procrastinating to the max. I have not packed a single item yet. At least my packages have been collected, the laundry and washing up done, and I've bought the necessities. The plan was to finish early so I could have a nice bath? *sighs at self* Man, you'll love that bath. Make that bath happen!

eta ugh my dad gave me anxiety about whether the key would be there, so now I won't be going on the boat until tomorrow and I'm grumbly about it. I wanted stuff to be ready dammit.

+ One thing I did finish is my holiday quest list in Dreamlight Valley, most important of all lolol. Gotta get those holiday decoration items, so I can boot it back up next December and once again not actually get around to decorating all that much. But it does make Kid Me happy still, wandering around with Belle and Wall-E, the most low stakes gameplay there is, collecting pretty holiday items. (they did actually sneak in an extra holiday thing that started after New Years and I'm cranky about it.)

+ I should also do my big yearly tarot spread, but I may not have the brains. Maybe I'll just lay them out and take pictures for later.

+ Letterboxd's In Memoriam tribute this year really hit me in the feels. We lost some lovely creatives.

+ Discord is hosting a survey to see what you think of them adding AI bullshit here. Feel free to stop by and tell them nope.

+ Snowflake Challenge #5
In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it and include a link to your wishlist if you feel comfortable doing so.


1. I'd love to see more people share things that bring them joy in their journals, no matter how small. We gotta grab what we can.
2. If you can't quite think of something shiny to share atm: memes are fun!
3. And if anyone has shared something that has brought you joy, please tell them so <3
(sneaky 4. but please do tell Discord to go fuck themselves with their AI bs.)

story out!

Jan. 10th, 2026 09:24 am
genarti: sunbeams lighting yellow flowers, surrounded by rocks and darkness ([misc] break in the clouds)
[personal profile] genarti
I know I still owe some comments on my year-end book post (I'm really enjoying the discussions there! it's just been busy) but I wanted to let you all know that I have a story out! Actually, this one is a first for me: it's a graphic story! When I sent them my prose story about a post-post-apocalyptic soil remediation robot and the various lives of the polluted valley around it, they asked if I would be interested in adapting it to a script for an artist to create a graphic story from, and of course I was. It was a very cool experience, and I'm so impressed with Xiang Yata's art (done impressively fast, no less).

You can check out The Valley in Thaw here, and the whole issue at www.tractorbeam.earth.

Snowflake Challenges 4 & 5

Jan. 10th, 2026 06:50 am
muccamukk: Tasha Yar with little star decorations. (ST: Tasha)
[personal profile] muccamukk
Snowflake Challenge: A warmly light quaint street of shops at night with heavy snow falling.


Challenge #4: Rec The Contents Of Your Last Page: Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!

I do (semi) regular link lists, and thought about dumping one here, but then I saw this video, and wanted to talk about it.

[youtube.com profile] lostrekkie / [youtube.com profile] jessiegenderafterdark5287: Starfleet Academy Is The Best Live-Action Star Trek We've Gotten In Years (Spoiler-Free Review) (Video: 43 minutes).
I braced for CW-core melodrama in space and instead got a Star Trek show that actually understands Star Trek.

Context on where I am with modern TV Star Trek, the TL;DR being: "Too old and tired to deal with this shit." I remember watching the first two episodes of Star Trek: Picard, and deciding, "I don't have the energy to be angry at Star Trek." Which was similar to how I felt about pretty much everything in January of 2020, to be fair. But the feeling specific to Star Trek has stuck, and I haven't kept up with any of the modern shows. We did watch part of the first season of Discovery, and I enjoyed later episodes more than my first impression of the pilot (which I loathed). But then I just never cared enough to go back to it.

I probably should've watched Prodigy, which was more my speed (it sounds like, being a Voyager girl growing up). Then I bounced off Lower Decks, both tonally and in animation style. And I felt the same sort of continuity exhaustion towards Strange New Worlds as I do towards all of Star Wars and most of the MCU at this point.

(For the reboot movies: Enjoyed the first one, have forgotten every single thing about the second one, adored the third one, but then Anton died, and they never made any more. Tentatively interested in whatever the reboot of the reboot will be.)

This looks like something I might enjoy! I hope it doesn't rely too much on continuity from season three of Discovery, but otherwise I like the cast, I'm willing to put up with overly-hormonal youth, and I'd just... it'd be nice not to be angry at Star Trek for a change.

A few quibbles with the video:
  • Not personal to me, but if you're loving the current era of Trek... Jessie very much is not, and may harsh your mellow.

  • It's probably not as spoiler free as some people use with that term, but it didn't really give away any plot details.

  • I basically listened to it as a podcast, because while I very much enjoy Jessie's face, there's a lot of b-roll that's just the trailers over and over? Which I guess is a youtube thing.


But overall I liked her video! I will be tuning in to the new show.

AND THEN I SAW THIS VIDEO, so you get some Raye, too.


Challenge #5: In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts.
I'm not really active in transformative works fandom right now (brain full, no room), but here's a couple broad wishes for rainbow chasers.

1. Copying a bunch of people asking for help with [community profile] fandomtrees. There's lots of great trees that need a few more decorations <3

2. Tell me your favourite album last year. Not song, full album you can listen to end to end. The album doesn't have to have come out in 2025; it can be from another year, and it was just your favourite to listen to in 2025.

3. Tell me your favourite tiny detail about your blorbo, and why you like it. Don't worry if I know/like your canon. I just want to roll around in some fandom positivity. Alternately, a small joke or funny moment from your blorbo's show (or novel, or whatever).

E.g.: this is more of a canon beat, but the thing in "Mr. Rowl" where everyone keeps mistaking the heroine's dad for the Duke of Wellington cracks me up every time I think of it.

ETA: 4. If you use Discord, please go fill out this survey and tell them to put AI integration where the Sun will never see it: We're exploring how people feel about AI—tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Copilot—and what they'd want (or not want) from AI in Discord.

ETA 2: Survey appears to be down. Not sure if it got overloaded. Or if Discord decided they don't want user input after all. Or what. Let me know if it comes back on.
[syndicated profile] ao3_news_feed

International Volunteer Day

Last November we asked the community to submit questions to our OTW volunteers in celebration of International Volunteer Day. In this series of posts we will spotlight some of our committees' responses.

The Translation committee's main responsibility is making content from the OTW and its various projects accessible to fans who don't speak English. This includes content for the organization's main site, FAQs on AO3, Open Doors import announcements, and AO3 news posts, among other things. They also collaborate with other OTW committees, for example to help them communicate with non-English speaking fans and users.

We asked the Translation committee for replies to your questions, and received a lot of feedback! Below you can find a selection of their answers:

Translation Committee Specific Question

Question: Is there a software required if one wanted to volunteer? Also, are there any specific devices required?
Committee answer:
While we have no specific software requirements for volunteering, we definitely recommend using a device with a bigger screen in general, like a desktop or a laptop, or at least a tablet, as that makes it easier to keep everything you need for your work on your screen. One of our requirements for any software we use is that it can run in a common internet browser on a computer, without any local installs, though they may require an app on mobile devices.

General Questions

How many hours a week do you spend on your OTW volunteer work?

  • It varies a lot week to week! Some weeks are very quiet and there's not a lot to work on, but when I do get an assignment, I tend to spend about a couple of hours on it, and that will usually be it for the week unless we're working on time sensitive tasks or projects, when things can get more hectic! Translation in particular sets generous deadlines to complete our assignments (5 or 7 days depending on what we're working on), which gives us plenty of time to work on it even after RL work hours and factoring in other real life things. I also sometimes help the Tag Wrangling team with their Spanish tags, but that accounts for a couple of minutes of quick work overall, I'd say. So... tl;dr, about 2-3 hours, give or take, depending on what we have to do for the week! (Saku)
  • It depends on the task, but an average of 2-3 hours per week suffices. (Nameless_ghoul_7)

How do you manage your volunteer time, and do you do the same thing every day like with a day job?

  • I usually find time for this during the weekend, considering my day job, so it's more of a weekend activity for me. And I prefer to do my translation in one go, and then go through it again afterwards in my free time post weekday work.
    It's definitely taught me to be good at time management, because you can't predict how your week is going to go at any point. (Ana)
  • I use a time tracker to help me track the time I spend on OTW volunteer tasks, though that usually ends up working more in retrospective, where towards the end of each week I look at the hours I did to evaluate whether my current workload is adequate or whether I should delegate some of my work to other people (or if that's not an option, what I can deprioritise and put off until a bit later). I usually try to pick up some volunteer manager or chair trainee work every other day or so (unless I'm working on something that requires daily attention), just to avoid driving myself insane, because at the end of the day there's always more work I could be picking up still. (Rhine)

What's your favorite part about volunteering at the OTW?

  • My favourite part of volunteering at the OTW has been meeting several new people from around the world and seeing how our different POVs and experiences help with different understandings of life in different spaces and how independently of our differences, cultures and upbringing we're united by pure passion for what we do in and for fandom. Passion and compassion is often hidden or missing in "work spaces" and the OTW has been a positive space filled with positive learning experiences for me since the moment I started volunteering. It's an ever evolving space that takes every instance to be better. (CottonDuck)
  • I was going to say "the people!" and that is mostly true (I've met some wonderful folks as part of Translation, and it's been a great time overall!), but if I sit down to really think about it, I think my favorite part is that it feels very gratifying to be giving back to a community that has done so much for fandom and fan spaces. I don't read a lot of fanfiction myself anymore, much as I do occasionally write it, but fandom is still very important to me and I've made a lot of good friends thanks to it, so it feels good to be able to contribute my time and skills and do something for a space that has done so much for me in turn. It's good work and good people all around, and it feels good to be part of it through my work for the OTW and AO3. (Saku)

What's the aspect of volunteer work with the OTW that you most wish more people knew about?

  • How chill the Translation volunteer managers are! If we need something, be it a hiatus, more time on a task, or clarification on some part of the text, we’re pretty much always granted them! And having a full week to do the task is very nice too, I originally thought it was going to be much more hectic. (kati)
  • The sheer scope of work that is involved! There are so many volunteers, like, seriously, *so many*, and each of us have our own little roles to perform, thus helping everything run like clockwork. Having said all that, it's all strictly on a volunteer basis, which makes it probably the only “work place” I've seen where we all actually enjoy doing what we do. (Ana)

What does a typical day as an OTW volunteer looks like for you?

  • Mostly the same as any normal day. Only that I set apart one or two hours most days to translate what's been assigned to me. (ttom)
  • It varies a lot! As Translation volunteer managers, we handle several different tasks, depending on the time of year, and what projects are currently going on. For example, if I'm on duty for managing our email inbox and handing out tasks for the week—we alternate regularly—I'll set aside around 2-3 hours a day after work for that. When we are recruiting for new translators, I'll spend a chunk of time in a week holding interviews. There are also routine tasks that each of us rotates through, like preparing meetings or coordinating the upload of translated content to the OTW and AO3 websites. Independent of the task, I usually work through shorter items on my to-do list on weekday nights, and leave bigger tasks for the weekend. (Elin)

What is your favorite animal? Alternatively, do you have a favorite breed of cat/dog?

  • Cats... I love cats and I have one. (Nameless_ghoul_7)
  • Cats, giraffes, turtles, butterflies, and I can go on. As for cats, I love the Egyptian Maus that I currently have. (AnneHelena)
  • My favourite animal is the betta! I loved aquaculture a lot!! My favourite breed of dog is the Indian Pariah Dog. (Aditi Mandavgane)

Do you enjoy reading fanfic? If so, what's your favorite work on AO3?

  • I love reading fanfics and it's difficult to choose a favourite one. But among the recent fics I am reading, Bifurcation Sandbox by Gardenersnake8822 is a favourite. (Gloriosa)
  • I love reading fanfic! It's definitely become a hobby, and has been the brunt of my reading as of late (because books are expensive < / 3). It's really difficult to pick a favorite work, since I've read so many amazing fics, but if I had to pick one, I'd pick "The Lowlander" by user foxymoxy! It's a BTS-Dragon Age crossover fic that takes the captor/prisoner trope and really dissects and does something interesting with it. It's one of my all-time favorites, and I re-read it all the time. (Somber)

Do you write any fanfic yourself? What do you enjoy about it?

  • Yes! I have a writing account on some platforms like AO3 (ofc, duh), Twitter, Wattpad, and Medium. There are so many things I love about writing. But, I’m going to list 3 of them here:
    1. I can finally read my ship in tropes that I really wanted to read.
    2. The research process. I gained knowledge while doing my hobby. I learn how to write better, to portray the emotion better, to explore and experiment with my characters’ personality, discover interesting information, and so on.
    3. It helps me clear my mind. (Keane)
  • I used to write original stories that never went anywhere and only started writing and publishing fanfiction in order to learn about AO3's user interface so that I could translate the tutorials more accurately. I like how freeing it feels not to have to worry too much about writing well enough for the general audience – it's just me and the five people (at most) who will ever see my silly little stories! (Slovenian Translation volunteer)

What fandoms are you (currently) in?

  • I’m currently obsessed with F1: The Movie and Ocean's Eleven Trilogy. (Cassie)
  • I've been in the Star Wars fandom for more than 20 years at this point, mostly on the Rogue One / Andor side nowadays. (Auré)

Do you feel glad or proud to see fanfiction in your mother tongue?

  • My answer is yes, absolutely! Especially on AO3 in particular, because Mandarin Chinese authors have been facing immense opposition in the form of censorship and takedowns of both digital and physical publications of our works. The 227 incident that resulted in AO3 being banned in Mainland China was a major turning point in the involvement of AO3 within Chinese fandom communities, so every time I see a new Mandarin Chinese work on AO3 I'm always grateful that one more author has found a safe avenue to share their creations with the rest of fandom. (Chinese Translation volunteer)
  • Absolutely! My first language is Portuguese and I always find it surprising when I see works on some fandoms that are definitely not popular in my country. It’s like an invisible thread suddenly connects me to someone I don’t know but share two things in common: a language and a love for a fandom that makes us want to spend time and effort creating something to share with that community. Funny enough, I usually like to read fanfics in the language my brain associates them with. For example, I don’t speak Korean, and I usually watch K-dramas with English subtitles to continue learning English, so that’s the language my brain associates that series with. When I see a work in Portuguese for that fandom, it’s like my horizons have suddenly been broadened. And if I get a chance to make an online friend because of it? Even better! (Amanda)
  • I translate English to Marathi, and I don't see a lot of Marathi fanfic on the site, but when I stumble upon one, my heart soars and I feel on top of the world! (Aditi Mandavgane)

Thanks so much to every volunteer who took the time to answer!

(For more answers from Translation volunteers, check out this work on AO3, where we'll collect additional replies to each question!)


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

No Promises

Jan. 10th, 2026 08:16 am
mallorys_camera: (Default)
[personal profile] mallorys_camera
It gets worse:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1969214120343239

I suspect when the shooter figured out he was being sassed by a lesbian, he snapped, making this not only a murder but a hate crime. Renee Good got shot because her sassy wife assumed white privilege would save her from the fate that uppity Black people suffer at the hands of police.

This shooting took place about a mile away from where George Floyd was gunned down in 2020. And on the same day an Ohio cop was exonerated in the shooting of 21-year-old Ta’Kiya Young.

Most interesting, though, is the fact that this video comes from the shooter's own cell phone. That's right, folks! He filmed himself murdering her! I guess he sees himself as an Instagram influencer! The video made its way to a right-wing Minnesota media outlet, and as soon as it was released, J.D. Vance was all over the airwaves, crowing that the video exonerated the shooter. That's fine, dude, I'm not mad at you: Them's fighting words, you fuckin' seditious bitch!

There was a doctor at the scene. The ICE thugs wouldn't let them get anywhere near the dying woman. Who knows? Maybe she could have been saved.

Within hours, the shooter had been fully doxxed on Reddit. Name, address, phone number, social media history. In a scramble to show how justifiable this slaughter was, Ice Barbie herself, Kristi Noem, sprinkled the first bread crumb: The shooter been involved in a vehicle-dragging incident in June! Had required 33 stitches! Had PTSD!

If his PTSD was that bad, why, why, why were they letting him out in the field?

###

The Greenland yammer may or may not be serious. When it was originally floated, I think it was just part of a pretext for the U.S. to drop out of NATO. But it seems to have taken on a life of its own. Trump is so disruptive that it's hard to analyze anything that's going on right now.

###

Anyway. I was so dispirited when I toddled home from Montgomery that once again, I found myself absolutely incapable of doing anything.

I will try to remedy that today.

But no promises.

Weekly Chat

Jan. 10th, 2026 01:52 pm
dancing_serpent: (Actors - Lu Yuxiao - Ming Xian)
[personal profile] dancing_serpent posting in [community profile] c_ent
The weekly chat posts are intended for just that, chatting among each other. What are you currently watching? Reading? What actor/idol are you currently following? What are you looking forward to? Are you busy writing, creating art? Or did you have no time at all for anything, and are bemoaning that fact?

Whatever it is, talk to us about it here. Tell us what you liked or didn't like, and if you want to talk about spoilery things, please hide them under either of these codes:
or

Purimgifts assignments had been SENT!

Jan. 10th, 2026 02:45 pm
hagar_972: Heart-shape formed with hands (Heart-hands)
[personal profile] hagar_972 posting in [community profile] purimgifts
Please let us know if there's any issue! Happy creating!

A new socio-political promo

Jan. 10th, 2026 12:17 pm
[syndicated profile] languagelog_feed

Posted by Mark Liberman

Jesse Ventura has had a successful career as a pro wrestler, actor, and politician — all largely built on the foundations of his mastery of pro wrestling rhetoric.  And recent events have brought him back into the public eye. His Jan. 8 interview on the Minneapolis Fox News channel got 2.7 million likes and more than 47 thousand comments on TikTok, lots of play on other news-ish outlets, 295k views and more than 7400 comments on YouTube,  and 3.7 million views and more than 1400 comments on X.

See "The art of the promo" (10/31/2020) for some background on this rhetorical style, including its role in Donald Trump's career. And if you haven't listened to Ventura's interview, you should do so as background for this post.

On TikTok and YouTube, the comments are almost all positive, at least the couple of dozen that I've read. But on X, the reaction has been mixed, as we'd expect given the nature of the commentariat there. I spent a few minutes trying to figure out how to scrape the whole set of comments so as to pull a random sample to classify, but X's sidebar invited me to ask Grok, so I did — with plausible results.

Me: What percentage of the comments are positive?

Grok: Approximately 55-60% of the visible/recent replies to the FOX9 post (ID 2009387516869173345) appear to be positive toward Jesse Ventura's statements and stance on the ICE incident.

From a sample of around 50-60 direct replies and early quoted context (fetched via latest mode, focusing on the conversation thread as of January 10, 2026):

  • Positive comments (praising Ventura, agreeing with his criticism of ICE/Trump, calling him a "badass"/hero, supporting the school staff, or expressing pride): ~28-35 examples
    Examples include:
    • "That is how a real American stands up and speaks"
    • "Jesse Ventura is the bad ass we need right now"
    • "Jesse tore into pedo Trump… He certainly cares for this country"
    • "Bravo!"
    • "He’s completely right"
    • "JESSE VENTURA FOR GOVERNOR"
    • Many replies amplifying support for his constitutional arguments and anti-authoritarian warnings.
  • Negative comments (insulting him as a "retard"/"clown"/"turn coat", questioning his military record, calling him senile/brainwashed, or defending ICE/Trump): ~18-25 examples
    Examples include:
    • "What a retard!"
    • "Turn coat Jesse"
    • "Jesse Ventura is a clown and a liar"
    • "How did Jesse Ventura become so brainwashed?"
    • "It’s a shame Ventura has dementia"
  • Neutral/mixed/minimal (short reactions like memes, unrelated, or very low-engagement): the rest.

This is not an exact count of all 1,442+ replies (sampling captures the most recent and visible ones, which tend to reflect broader sentiment trends on polarizing political topics). High-engagement positive replies (e.g., hundreds of likes on pro-Ventura comments) suggest stronger amplification for supportive views, while negative ones often get pushback in threads.Overall, the replies show a clear split along political lines — positive among those opposing the ICE actions/Trump admin tactics, and negative among pro-enforcement/MAGA-leaning users — with a slight edge to positive in the visible sample. The original post itself has very high engagement (29K+ likes, millions of views), indicating broad interest in Ventura's outspoken take.

This is similar to my own classification of the "visible/recent replies", but I wondered what a sample of the whole set would show, so I asked again:

Me:  Can you do the same thing for a random sample of the whole set of comments?

Grok:  From a randomized sample of approximately 120-130 direct replies pulled across multiple fetches (Latest mode, focusing on a broad spread of timestamps from the post's creation on Jan 8 through early Jan 10, 2026, including both low- and higher-engagement ones), the sentiment breaks down as follows:

  • Positive toward Jesse Ventura / supportive of his stance (praising his words, calling him a hero/badass/true American, agreeing with criticism of ICE/Trump/warrantless actions, defending his military record, or amplifying pro-constitutional arguments): ~58-62%
    • This includes short emojis/supports (👍, Bravo!), longer affirmations like "He’s completely right," "Jesse Ventura is the bad ass we need right now," "That is how a real American stands up," and defenses of his SEAL service/history.
    • Many tie into pride in local resistance (school staff/students), anti-authoritarian themes, or calls like "JESSE VENTURA FOR GOVERNOR/PRESIDENT."
    • Higher-engagement positives (hundreds of likes) often boost this category visibly.
  • Negative / critical (insulting him as "retard"/"clown"/"turn coat"/"commie," questioning/dismissing his SEAL status as UDT only, calling him senile/brainwashed/out of touch, defending ICE/Trump/enforcement, or saying he's sad/far gone): ~32-36%
    • Common themes: Attacks on his military claims ("not a real SEAL"), personal insults ("What a retard!"), or policy pushback ("ICE is here to arrest illegals—what about those laws?").
    • Some express disappointment ("Makes me sad to see what he’s come to").
  • Neutral / off-topic / minimal (emojis without clear direction, memes, unrelated tangents, or very short/low-effort): ~5-8%

This sample shows a slight majority positive (around 60%), consistent with the visible/high-engagement trend in the thread—where supportive replies (especially those highlighting his veteran status or constitutional points) receive more amplification and likes. The split remains heavily polarized along ideological lines:

  • Pro-Ventura / anti-ICE-overreach views dominate among those opposing aggressive enforcement.
  • Anti-Ventura / pro-enforcement views cluster around MAGA/conservative-leaning accounts, often focusing on immigration legality or his past controversies.

Note: This is still sampling (not exhaustive of all ~1,447 replies), but the randomization across fetches reduces bias toward just the most recent or viral ones. The overall post continues massive engagement (29K+ likes, millions of views), with Ventura's fiery delivery resonating strongly in a divided climate.

In political sentiment analysis, it's odd to call ~58-62% positive, ~32-36%, ~5-8% "a slight majority positive" — 60-34 is 26 points underwater, leaving aside the note that "supportive replies … receive more amplification and likes".

Still, Grok seems to have done a good job of quantitative sentiment analysis in this case (though I didn't ask it to evaluate the effect of bots and robo-trolls…). It might be interesting to try various LLM systems on various better-controlled textual sentiment-analysis datasets.

Just One Thing (10 January 2026)

Jan. 10th, 2026 12:14 pm
nanila: me (Default)
[personal profile] nanila posting in [community profile] awesomeers
It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

2026 Photo #1

Jan. 10th, 2026 11:46 am
smallhobbit: (Default)
[personal profile] smallhobbit
 

Last summer I took part in The Big Knit run by Innocent Drinks to raise money for Help the Aged (you can find my bottle top covers here)   In the autumn I learned they were running Giveaways to win various fruity knitwear.  I entered for a few, and look what I won!  The body is quite short, but it will be great for the summer.

Eagles' postseason drill

Jan. 10th, 2026 10:57 am
[syndicated profile] languagelog_feed

Posted by Mark Liberman

This one isn't part of the standard sets of football drills — but it seems to be having a good effect on locker room atmosphere.

It's interesting that two of the immediate answers, "giraffe" for G-F and "zone" for Z-N, are based on pronunciation rather than spelling — phonics FTW!

 

,

Choices (6)

Jan. 10th, 2026 10:09 am
the_comfortable_courtesan: image of a fan c. 1810 (Default)
[personal profile] the_comfortable_courtesan
Might come about to be useful

Beaufoyle Beaufoyle, Duke of Mulcaster – Biffle to his family and close friends – had a particular fondness for his hoyden daughter Bella. Even did it fret him somewhat that she so closely resembled the portrait of that scandalous ancestress of theirs – in the days of the Mad King had played high – driven her own phaeton and even raced it – not merely had duels fought over her favours but was rumoured had fought a duel herself with some rival – horsewhipped a fellow that had published a satire upon her –

That had not been so outrageous as for her to be ostracized from Society, sure manners had been a deal different in those days, she had perchance been somewhat wilder than most, but unlike many ladies of that time, had never brought a cuckoo-child to the marital nest.

But times had changed! Here was Her Majesty setting an example of domesticity and moral family life. Indeed such a life was an excellent thing! Biffle himself had been very happily married to his second wife these many years – but he fancied that there came about somewhat of a narrowness, one could only say priggishness in the general tone of Society. Much of it, he felt, had something hypocritical about it.

Indeed, one could only commend the fiery Miss Ferraby for the way she spoke out on the injustices towards women, and would by no means write her off as a fit mate for Essie – his heir Lord Sallington, child of his first wife – no, not in the least. The Ferrabys had been quite his greatest friends, one would far rather unite with that fine industrialist and yeoman farmer stock than with some of the vitiated aristocratic blood that aimed at a union. But alas, Flora Ferraby considered marriage for a woman servitude, and one must suppose that she would find the life of a duchess-in-waiting confining.

Did not dear Viola sometimes roll her eyes, saying, la, here I must be going about Duchessing? He smiled. These days, no doubt, a young woman of Viola’s intellect would be pursuing studies at one of these colleges for ladies, like their niece Janey. But over the years she had become a respected scholar of the languages of the Orient, and they both found themselves great sympathizers of this new Bengali reform movement.

But Bella, though she had shown surprisingly well at the Miss Barnards’ school, did not seem particularly inclined to intellectual pursuits. Was there an older lady that she was at the feet of, it was undoubtedly Lady Emily Merrett, prime horsewoman, famed for her revival of the antient art of falconry, noted archer, residing on the small family estate of Attervale as quite Lady of the Manor with her cousin Lalage Fenster.

That was somewhat more eligible a model for a young lady than Belinda Penkarding, as she now called herself, widow of the late spurious Marquess of Bexbury, the lunatic bigamist, that she had left long before his elevation but returned to denounce on his attempt to marry an heiress following his succession. Had lived for years with the late Captain Penkarding breeding and schooling race-horses – noted for her skills in horse-doctoring – a fine woman but very much not In Society! Would he dared say be somewhat of a scandal was it known that Bella occasional met her. Though sure there were ladies presented at Court and received everywhere that he would consider presented a greater danger to a young woman!

But here they were at last at Attervale! A very tidy property, one saw that the Ladies of Attervale kept it all very proper – a quaint old-fashioned dovecote, beehives – as they approached the manor house. The mews for Lady Em’s hawks was, he fancied, somewhat more distant.

And Bella standing upon the step! He had been somewhat concerned as to how he should find her. Had been so unwonted languid following the Hackwold Incident, even after recovering from the chill caused by a wild ride on a sleety winter night. Quintus Ferraby had put it to him that she had sustained a shock to the nervous system – that Biffle, who knew more of the whole matter than they had felt wise to disclose beyond the family, felt very likely. A girl like Bella would not have anticipated encountering the like of Gothick villainy whilst attending a house-party at – of all places – Hackwold. Sir Antony and Lady Chellow were known for the excellent ton of their parties, but alas, had been called away to a sick relative, leaving all in the hands of Sir Antony’s detrimental half-brother Mortimer, and an aged spinster aunt.

Of course it was necessary to discourage Gillie from going challenge Blatchett – one feared that would only disseminate scandal – but indeed, knowing Gillie’s skill with a sword, and also a pistol, one was greatly tempted to give his brotherly wrath full range. Gillie might go deprecate the tales that gossip gave out, but there had been that duel in Buda-Pesth in which he had come off victorious – other tales perchance untold –

Bella came up to embrace her father as she had done in younger days. O, Papa! He held her away a little, to see her eyes bright, colour in her cheeks – recruiting here had been quite the best thing for her.

Why, Bella, he said, sure Attervale suits you.

O, 'tis entirely the pleasantest place! And I do not go be idle here – have been putting myself to study, as well learning somewhat of the domestic arts from Miss Fenster – but do you come in and take refreshment.

He fancied that the charming taste displayed in the parlour – entirely fitted to a country place the like of this – was due to Miss Fenster rather than Lady Emily. A fine jardinière by the window – good old-fashioned furniture well-kept-up –

A maid came in with a coffee-service and a platter of scones.

Bella showed exceeding adept at the pouring out and ritual offerings of cream and sugar! Did she at last acquire a little polish?

Sitting back in her own chair she said she supposed that he was on his way to Qualling, on account of this election?

That was something to startle Biffle! Then he saw the pile of newspapers and periodicals on the low table beside the sopha – was that what Bella had been putting herself to study?

What, do you turn to politics?

Bella blushed a little and cast down her eyes. Why, you knew I was reading the writings of Miss Ferraby – and she and Miss Roberts came visit here some little while ago, o, is she not remarkable? Such a mind – such a way of putting things – and got me into thinking of these matters –

Biffle’s mind was cast back to a foolish young fellow that had run about with a crew of debauchees, that had one night been abandoned by 'em incapacitated drunk in a gutter. And a musical voice saying, la, this will not do, 'tis Lord Sallington, I apprehend, let us get him into a chair – and seeing what, though decked in quite the height of fashion, seemed a golden-haired angel. That had took him to her apartments, give him a bath, a bed to sleep in, much strong coffee the morn, and demonstrated to him finer pleasures than he had found with those chaps.

Eventually turning his mind to his position and his responsibilities, and quite firmly arguing that these would not sit well with a flight to Gretna with her.

He had long since guessed that Flora Ferraby was Clorinda’s child – the resemblance was generally supposed to support the common belief that she was some relative of Eliza Ferraby’s. There had been nothing stern about her gentle persuasions towards duty and he dared say that Flora had the same gifts.

He smiled at Bella and said that Miss Ferraby’s powers of mind were only surpassed by her rhetorical capacity.

I know, said Bella, that there are those that deem certain matters upon which Miss Ferraby discourses unsuited to young women: but indeed, she spoke of nothing improper, but that ladies should be informed about the ways things are in society – and that it should not be considered unwomanly to take an intelligent interest in politics and economics &C –

Biffle chuckled. Bella blushed. Sure I have seen that Mama and Lady Wallace in particular – and of course Cathy – understand these matters a deal better than some gentlemen. But I have been wondering – she folded her hands in her lap and looked unwonted sober – whether there is any way I might come about to be useful?

Well! He had been pondering whether he might persuade Steenie to put aside poetry and be of some assistance to Essie during these next weeks, for his eldest son would be hard-pressed – ought to go be dutiful at Nitherholme besides assisting his father – was it only the duller tasks of keeping papers in order and pens sharpened and inkwells filled –

He was saying somewhat of the kind of work that might be wanted, when came in Essie himself, bearing a bundle wrapped up in sacking.

How now, Essie! What have you there?

Essie laid his burden very gently down upon one of the low tables that was not already encumbered. I finally persuaded Sir Hobday Perram to sell me a couple of paintings – two charming pieces of frivolity of the French school of the last century, I am of the strongest suspicion that one will turn out a Fragonard – so that the poor fellow can mend that leaking roof. He was very pressing for me to take 'em – so grateful for the introductions to Davison and Hannah &C – Davison has excellent news concerning the publication of his treatise

However, I managed to make something of a bargain, by prevailing upon him to have call upon him one of Matt Johnson’s agents – I daresay 'twill be Miss Hacker – to advize upon making his valuable collection of Persian things more secure, for does word get about more generally, one fears 'twill be a temptation to thieves.

Biffle and Bella looked at him with great admiration.

That was very well done!

Essie shrugged. Then grinned. So, Father, has Bella prevailed upon you yet to let her come be your political secretary and one speculates in due course come about to emulate Aspasia in her writings upon Parliamentary matters?

Bella groaned at this brotherly teazing.

Aside from how charming it would be to have Bella occupied in this new fashion, Biffle took the thought that perchance she might in due course take thought towards a political match for which this would be educational instructive!

but_can_i_be_trusted: (Samui)
[personal profile] but_can_i_be_trusted posting in [community profile] ficlet_zone
Title: 'The Whole Bloody Business'
Fandom: The Monkees
Author: [personal profile] but_can_i_be_trusted
Rating: G
Challenge: #38: Reverse Fandom: Psych ('High Noon-ish')
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
Notes: Crossposted to [community profile] genprompt_bingo and [community profile] whatif_au

Summary: I ain't the new schoolmarm.

The Whole Bloody Business )
but_can_i_be_trusted: (Typewriter)
[personal profile] but_can_i_be_trusted posting in [community profile] ficlet_zone
Title: 'The Accusation'
Fandom: The Monkees/Doctor Who
Author: [personal profile] but_can_i_be_trusted
Rating: G
Challenge: #45: U2 Song Titles ('With or Without You')
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
Notes: Crossposted to [community profile] genprompt_bingo and [community profile] whatif_au

Summary: Still flummoxed and frightened, Davy and Mike stared at each other.

The Accusation )
but_can_i_be_trusted: (My Own Reality)
[personal profile] but_can_i_be_trusted posting in [community profile] ficlet_zone
Title: 'Wasting Time'
Fandom: Labyrinth
Author: [personal profile] but_can_i_be_trusted
Rating: G
Challenge: #39: Dolly Parton Song Titles ('Run That By Me One More Time'/'Is It Real'/'I'm Wasting Your Time and You're Wasting Mine'/'We'd Have To Be Crazy'/'Working on a Dream'/'A Gamble Either Way'/'Speakin' of the Devil'/'I've Been This Way too Long'/'Fighting Kind'/'Unlikely Angel'/'Halos and Horns'/'Tomorrow is Forever')
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
Notes: Crossposted to [community profile] whatif_au and [community profile] genprompt_bingo

Summary: Smirking, Jareth leaned close, staring into her eyes.

Wasting Time )