Four standard views from our bedroom window, including the obligatory one with the smattering of snow:
( views January )
Challenge #9
Talk about your favorite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)
There are so many tropes that I love but I'll try to narrow it down, though I'm sure I will forget a couple.
Amnesia: I lean toward partial amnesia rather than complete, but I'll read both! There's something really appealing about a character trying to figure out what has changed in their life since the last thing they remember, especially when it comes to the love interest. Seeing them look at a relationship with new eyes or try to struggle to remember the already established one gives me both angst and humorous possibilities, both which I enjoy. And I love it from the other side too! Where the LI wants them to remember but also wants to help them heal at their own pace (while pining!).
Canon Divergence/Fork In the Road: There are always points in canon, or even pre-canon, where I wonder 'what if x had happened instead of y' and it's just interesting to explore the possibilities.
Fake Dating/Relationship/Marriage of Convenience: Whether it is for something low stakes like needing a date for a wedding or trying to escape the "helpful" matchmaking of friends/relatives or a little more high stakes like going undercover, this trope is just fun and full of pining, angst, and potential for others, like misunderstandings and accidental love confessions. All of which I enjoy. I like it when one half of the ship has feelings or both have feelings and think that this is all they can ever get. Or when they don't even consider each other and slowly fall for one another while they're "pretending". This extends to marriages where the ship gets married for "reasons" and then just doesn't want to divorce but thinks the other one doesn't want that.
( a few more )
Challenge #8
Talk about your creative process.
A lot of my process involves staring at a blinking cursor and wishing for the will to write. Does that count? But seriously, it depends on whether I'm writing for myself or am working on something related to an exchange. The former hasn't happened in a while and I keep hoping for that to change but there is a difference. When it comes to writing for myself, a lot of my fics do end up starting with me daydreaming about a particular scene and then end up thinking of a whole story to work around it. Sometimes a 'what if' idea will hit me. Like currently, I've been brainstorming a 9-1-1 (TV) story about platonic Hanahaki, centered around Christopher & Eddie (with Buck/Eddie) and it really came to me because I was thinking about Hanahaki and that led to me wondering about the platonic version and from there, the Eddie & Chris plot bunny struck. I'm sure many other people can relate to having their ideas and motivation to write at the worst possible time too! When I'm in front of a screen it is easier to get distracted by my phone or other tabs.
When it comes to writing for other people, I'm working based of their likes and any possible prompts they may have so I tend to let it linger in my head before narrowing it down to an idea and then I just sit down and write.
If I want to get into a certain mood to write, I will often listen to the type of songs that will help a little. I can't write with music though unfortunately, or at least not when I'm not a deadline. If I have a lot of time, then possibly, but if I am wanting to focus, I need silence. Sometimes, I just need to force myself to write and then I put myself on timed increments and just turn my phone face down and write. It will be something like "okay, I'm going to write for about ten to fifteen minutes straight and then take a couple of minutes break". Once I can get started, I can usually just keep going. If I need a breather, I'll take the break, but often times, I might not need that first one or I'll take the first one and then won't need as many subsequently because I'll be into the story.
For me, it's easy to just fall off writing, even if I enjoy it, so I'm hoping to find some sense of consistency this year. I tried last year but I was a little all over the place so my goal to write a bit every day, just so I can keep it going and not get into the habit of not writing unless I need to. Also I am going to try to remember that not every idea has to be a big story and then just stick to a scene that I want to write, and hope that takes off some of the pressure. Maybe in doing so, some of my routines will change as well.
Hoping for a productive and fun (because this is a hobby and should be fun!) 2026 either way! :D
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cultivativity is a community for cultivating creativity. 5soulmates is a prompt table writing challenge that focused on the soulmate theme ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kingstoken has posted their 2026 Book Bingo Challenge.kitarella_imagines is running Funuary, a fun/funny themed prompt challenge, through the month of January. traumaticexperiences, a (psychological) trauma themed multifandom exchange, is open for sign-ups until January 16th, 8PM PST. threesentenceficathon has posted their 2026 schedule. Prompting will open on January 17th.seasonsofdrabbles, an exchange for the creation of drabbles and drabble variants which runs 4 times a year, is open for sign-ups until January 18th, 11:59PM EST. Nominations will also remain open until sign-ups close. seasonalremix is a quarterly, trope-based multifandom event where you sign-up and write a 1-5k work that is a remix of some sort. The Winter Round is currently open for sign-ups until January 24th, 11:59PM GMT and you can find out more info (including where to sign up) HERE. lul_soulmatesex, a soulmate themed exchange, is accepting nominations until January 25th, 11:59PM AM CST.smallfandombang, a big bang for small fandoms, is open for artist sign-ups until January 31st.ksspringfever, a Kirk/Spock community, is open for sign-ups and prompt collecting for Kirk/Spock Spring Fever until January 31st. wipbigbang is running International Fanworks Day Mini Bang for works that are too short for the regular big bang (has to be less than 7.5k). The writing period started on January 9th and the earliest posting is February 1st and will go till the 15th. crackthewip, a challenge to help you finish your WIPs, is running and accepting sign-ups during the first half of the year.
Challenge #7:
LIST THREE (or more) THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF. They don’t have to be your favorite things, just things that you think are good. Feel free to expand as much or as little as you want.
I kind of struggle with these things but I'll try. :D
1. I'm punctual. I like that I'm on time and even if I stress myself out a little when I work backwards, it's less stressful than the alternative. I don't mind being at the airport two hours early and I'm glad I can tell someone a time and unless there are certain unforeseen circumstances, I will be there then.
2. I'm fairly easy to talk to and am a good listener. I am best with at one on one or a couple of people, but I can carry a conversation if they're engaged and am happy to listen to other people/be a shoulder/offer advice if needed.
3. I'm a good baker and a decent cook. I can follow a recipe and can make the right modifications if needed and am aware of my limitations/can do what I know how to do well.
Challenge #6
Top 10 Challenge.
I decided to do two.
Top 10 Favorite Songs of 2025 (in no order; all links go to YouTube)
1. Ordinary - Alex Warren
2. Three Six Five - Shinedown
3. Golden - KPOP Demon Hunters/Hunter/X
4. The Fate of Ophelia - Taylor Swift
5. Undressed - Sombr
6. Abracadabra - Lady GaGa
7. Azizam - Ed Sheeran
8. Mystical Magical - Benson Boone
9. Birds of a Feather - Billie Eilish
10. Sink or Swim - OneRepublic
Top Ten Things I Made in 2025
( image heavy )
For those who have been using FenRecs.com - Squidge.org's fanworks recommendation site where you can rec your favorite fandoms, stories, pairings and such - thank you! We've been going strong and sharing recommendations, which is what's needed in the fandom community.
Our host provider for FenRecs.com is shutting down in less than a month. As such, we will be taking down the site and importing it into a new host. It will probably take a couple of days so please if you do use the site, know that we are going to be down starting Friday January 16th, 2026, and will be down for a short period of time. We need time to move the domain name and all of the data from one provider to another.
So get your recs in now, and know that starting this coming Friday, we'll be down until service is restored. Questions? Let us know.
Our host provider for FenRecs.com is shutting down in less than a month. As such, we will be taking down the site and importing it into a new host. It will probably take a couple of days so please if you do use the site, know that we are going to be down starting Friday January 16th, 2026, and will be down for a short period of time. We need time to move the domain name and all of the data from one provider to another.
So get your recs in now, and know that starting this coming Friday, we'll be down until service is restored. Questions? Let us know.
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.
Challenge #5
In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts.
1. icons/where to find icons of any of my favorite fandoms/ships, especially Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt (Ted Lasso) and Evan Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1). More 9-1-1 icons that include Christopher too would be great. :D
2. icon tutorials for people who don't have photoshop/want to improve on skills
3. a mod icon for
comment_bingo 4. fanart for any of my fics, found at
5. New friends - on here, Tumblr (