What if there’s no ethical way to have unlimited access to every book, film, and record ever created? And moreover, what if that’s not something we should want?
What if we simply decided to consume less media, allowing us to have a deeper appreciation for the art we choose to spend our time with? What if, instead of having an on-demand consumer mindset that requires us to systematically strip art of all its human context, we developed better relationships with creators and built new structures to support them? What if we developed a politics of refusal — the ability to say enough is enough — and recognized that we aren’t powerless to the whims of rich tech CEOs who force this dystopian garbage down our throats while claiming it’s “inevitable?”
Tapes and other physical media aren’t a magic miracle cure for late-stage capitalism. But they can help us slow down and remember what makes us human. Tapes make music-listening into an intentional practice that encourages us to spend time connecting with the art, instead of frantically vibe-surfing for something that suits our mood from moment-to-moment. They reject the idea that the point of discovering and listening to music is finding the optimal collection of stimuli to produce good brain chemicals.
—Why I Quit Streaming And Got Back Into Cassettes by Janus Rose
It's true I'll need to head out to buy flour, and it's also true there's a grocery store in my neighborhood that doesn't play music. As such, I'll happily give them my business throughout the year, and especially during December.
- Mood:
tired - Music:nothing now
Somewhere between takeoff and landing, Row 14 Seat C apparently turned into a confessional booth. One Miami-to-L.A. flight gave a woman front-row seats to a man casually detailing his creative system for hiding other women’s phone numbers from his girlfriend.
Of course, being the girl’s girl that she is, she decided the group chat deserved to hear it too. Names were named (down to the seat), secrets were spilled, and TikTok was left to do what it does best: connect the dots and wonder who just got exposed at 30,000 feet.
This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Wednesday, December 24, to midnight on Thursday, December 25. (8pm Eastern Time).
Poll #34005 Daily Check-in
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 5
How are you doing?
I am OK.
5 (100.0%)
I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
0 (0.0%)
I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)
How many other humans live with you?
I am living single.
3 (60.0%)
One other person.
1 (20.0%)
More than one other person.
1 (20.0%)
Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
If you're celebrating, may you all have a great day tomorrow -- and even if you don't.
⌈ Secret Post #6928 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
01.
( More! )
Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 177 secrets from Secret Submission Post #989.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
Sure, you might think flight attendants are made of steel and feel no fear whenever turbulence comes along. After all, we never really see them break a sweat over anything.
Recently, however, flight attendant and TikTok creator Nadia (@thenadliew), who was aboard a flight from Sacramento to Denver, says she was “terrified” by extremely strong winds.
( Spoilers under the cut. )
- Mood:
impressed
Marty Supreme is already a lot of things. A viral marketing juggernaut. A possible road for Timothee Chalamet to finally win an Oscar.
The movie is already being celebrated quite a bit before it even properly makes its debut in theaters… a sentiment that is apparently shared behind the scenes, as well. In exclusive interviews with The Mary Sue, some of the cast and crew of Marty Supreme reacted to the early hype surrounding the film.
Leave your Grinches, Scrooges, Red Ryder BB guns and Hans Grubers behind. All I want to do during the holiday season is watch as many versions of The Nutcracker as possible; and here are some recommendations if you’re trying to do the same.
You know the music. You may or may not be able to make it out to a local production or recital with your whole family. But what if you just want to sit on the couch and watch some ballerinas twirl with a big mug of cocoa? Isn’t it fun to compare and contrast how different ballet companies over the years have interpreted Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Christmas-y score? You can’t blame them. The ballet community has to add a little spice to this annual tradition from time to time, otherwise they’d die from boredom. I love it when things get weird. Give me jazz Nutcracker, burlesque Nutcracker and steampunk Nutcracker any time and any place.
Wrong on the Internet (1159 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Murderbot (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Murderbot (Murderbot Diaries), Dr. Gurathin (Murderbot Diaries), Dr. Mensah (Murderbot Diaries), Dr. Ratthi (Murderbot Diaries)
Summary:
The SecUnit didn't go to its repair pod last night. Gurathin is determined to find out why.
Pairing: Collie Parker/Gary Barkovitch, Billy Stebbins/Gary Barkovitch, mentions of others (and one unnamed man)
Rating: NC-17
Prompt: 101: Free use
Warnings: Free use, bukkake, Modern AU
Notes: Finally, after almost a year, I’ve finished an entry from the prompt table, woo! I started this in October and it would’ve been done sooner if it wasn’t for *gestures at all the issues in October/November* but finally it’s done, yay! It’s a modern au so you don’t need to know anything about The Long Walk (just that there’s hot men). Hopefully now I can actually write more! (And do lil gift fics next) title from 5 Seconds Of Summer.
( Read more... )
- Mood:
pleased - Music:A Ghost Story For Christmas
Hello, Yuletiders–as you may have noticed, the anonymous setting on the Yuletide collection, which should hide all author names until reveals on January 1st, does not seem to be working as expected, and shortly after our planned works reveals, we had an unplanned reveal of author names. We’re very sorry for this unexpected breaking of anonymity!
We’re reaching out to AO3 to help us resolve the problem. In the meantime, we have updated all works manually, and author names should now be hidden again. If you notice we have missed any, please reach out to us privately at yuletideadmin@gmail.com.
Again, our apologies–and we hope you enjoy the collection!
Yuletide Madness is scheduled to reveal at 9 PM UTC on 25 December, but this may be delayed if necessary to ensure author anonymity.
ETA: We know many of you have received email notifications to say, "The collection maintainers of Yuletide 2025 have changed the status of your work [work] to anonymous..." This is a result of us updating them manually to hide author names, in order to achieve the same effect you would expect from reveals in an ordinary Yuletide. Sorry for the confusion! You can safely ignore these notifications; we will reveal author names on January 1st, manually if we have to.
Schedule, Rules, & Collection | Contact Mods | Participant DW | Participant LJ | Pinch Hits on DW | Discord | Tag set | Tag set app
Please either comment logged-in or sign a name. Unsigned anonymous comments will be left screened.
We’re reaching out to AO3 to help us resolve the problem. In the meantime, we have updated all works manually, and author names should now be hidden again. If you notice we have missed any, please reach out to us privately at yuletideadmin@gmail.com.
Again, our apologies–and we hope you enjoy the collection!
Yuletide Madness is scheduled to reveal at 9 PM UTC on 25 December, but this may be delayed if necessary to ensure author anonymity.
ETA: We know many of you have received email notifications to say, "The collection maintainers of Yuletide 2025 have changed the status of your work [work] to anonymous..." This is a result of us updating them manually to hide author names, in order to achieve the same effect you would expect from reveals in an ordinary Yuletide. Sorry for the confusion! You can safely ignore these notifications; we will reveal author names on January 1st, manually if we have to.
Please either comment logged-in or sign a name. Unsigned anonymous comments will be left screened.
Note the part where this is tagged as Original Music Composition! I GOT A GALAVANT SONG FOR YULETIDE!
There is a bug de-anonymizing the collection, so with any luck, my author will be willing to post more than the sheet music and save me from my current predicament of "I can sorta sight-read but not that well." I love the Madalena voice in this, so perfectly discontent with her amazing lot! and there's MUSIC!
Madalena's Ballad of Vast Success (1264 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Galavant (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Madalena (Galavant), Brief ensemble Galavant cast appearance
Additional Tags: Character Study, Inspired by the song What Am I Feeling (Galavant), Original music composition, Post-Canon
Summary:
Madalena stood on her balcony, in her castle perched high on a cliffside overlooking her vast and endless empire. "This is the best life has ever been. Everything I wanted is now mine... Yet sometimes it seems that there's something out there that eludes me, something I can neither buy nor take. But that's crazy! Who would dare deny me? Deceive or defy me? None at all! Well, almost none!"
Galavant 2:
The share button isn't working on Tad Cooper, a Life, which is an adorable summation of the life and times of Tad Cooper, as one can imagine from the title. I enjoyed the POV the author chose!
Slow Horses + Rivers of London:
My other Yuletide author took me up on my deep and soulful desire for Slow Horses + Rivers of London, and does great things with the interaction of law enforcement and Regent's Park, and the various characters. Spoilers for Diana Taverner's fate if you've only done the first book/show, but nothing that will surprise anyone. I love the way the mundane and magical intersect here:
The Spirit of Regent's Park (2370 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Slow Horses (TV), Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Thomas Nightingale, Diana Taverner, Jackson Lamb (Slow Horses), Emma Flyte, Molly Doran
Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Yuletide Treat, add some magic to your spy show
Summary:
Newly minted First Desk Diana Taverner visits the Folly to find out who this Thomas Nightingale fellow is, and learns a few things about London that are closer to home than she expects.
*
What I wrote:
2 stories!
Spot either and I'll write you a drabble. One of them is so me it hurts and the other is less obviously so but still extremely Petra.
- Music:Bear McCreary and sight reading
- Mood:pleased
(And, for the record, I opened both of them immediately upon golive before things glitched, so I haven't seen the writers yet and intentionally am avoiding looking to try to keep myself surprised since I know the mods are manually going through and fixing it right now.)
First up is my main gift, the kid is the turf for Home Alone. Some amazing person took my link to to a Bluesky post from last year ("the Wet Bandits team up against another burglar duo going after Kevin because he is *their* kid") and went with it, and it's brilliant. Gen. 3,489 words.
The second fic was a gorgeous treat for Stealing Fire by Jo Graham (part of the Numinous World series) called Her Last Confession. It focuses on Thais, written in the format of her speaking to Alexander decades upon decades after his death. Gen, with background F/M and M/M. 6,796 words.
As for my own fics, I ended up writing a fair number this year. I didn't beat my record from 2023 (ten fics), but I came close.
- Mood:
excited
Waking up to a pimple on the face can be annoying. That red dot, in any size, can throw a wrench in any plans. Some may wait for it to disappear on its own, or cover it with makeup and others will pick at it. While it may be quicker to squeeze the life out of a zit, this Georgia-based woman learned it’s not always the safest approach after a pop went dangerously wrong.
TikTok creator Lindsay deOliveira (@neverdulldeos1) issues this warning in her car. “Do not pop a pimple,” she warns as her mouth is numb, clapping her hands with each word for emphasis. “This cured my OCD of pimple popping.”
Enjoy browsing the collection! Leave kudos and/or comments if you enjoy a story! Comment here to recommend stories, and/or recommend them at the
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
yuletide comm!I have three stories in the collection. Can you find them?
I shall now spend the rest of the day cuddling with my cats and reading Yuletide stories.
Recs: in general
The main Yuletide collection has just opened, with Yuletide Madness to follow shortly, so it's time to think about recs (recommendations)! It's traditional to kudos or comment on works and tell their anonymous creators that you liked them. It's also traditional to tell other people about the Yuletide stuff you like. There are many different ways to share your recommendations for works.On AO3 itself
You can bookmark a story and add the bookmark and its notes to the Yuletide Recs collection. (Note: This is not the same as the main Yuletide collection.) Detailed tutorials can be found here and here.
In Discord
At the Yuletide Discord, you can post recs with very brief comments in the #yuletide-recs channel.
Here at Dreamwidth
You are welcome to post recs to this community Please follow the guidelines:
- Any individual post to the community must contain recs for at least 3 separate works.
- You can put the full text of your recs post in a post to the community, OR you can post your recs on some other platform, then put the link in a post on the community or in a comment to this post.
- If your post is long, consider cut text code (DW) or details code to compress your text.
Recs: central/index post
THIS POST can also serve as a hub for recs. You're welcome to reply with your recs (especially useful if you don't have a Dreamwidth account). Or you can ask for recs that follow a theme, or just make a comment linking to a recs post elsewhere. Collect Your Recs Here!
Enjoy 1539 works in 992 fandoms! (The number will go up as wranglers canonize fandoms - this will take a little time, though.)
The reveals process takes a little while to work in a collection of this size; if a story in the collection is still a mystery work an hour after opening, please let us know.
Finding works
You can find your own gifts on your AO3 gifts page: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YOUR-NAME-HERE/gifts, or by searching the box at the top of the collection works page for the full name you signed up with, or by checking your email if you get email notifications from AO3. Note: your email notifications may bundle together, and it might look like you only got one gift, when in fact you got more.
You can browse the collection by tags or by fandoms. Some fandoms are new and may not show up immediately (wranglers are working on this) or where you expect them; please check labels such as Original Work, 19th Century Historical RPF, Object and Concept Anthropomorphism, and Unspecified Fandom. More info about Unspecified Fandom here.
Anonymity
Yuletide is an anonymous exchange until creator reveals January 1. Please don't give away what you've written. When logged in, you can, if you want, reply to comments on your own works, and you will show up as Anonymous Creator until the authors of the collection are revealed.
Commenting!
Please comment on your gift(s) to let your writer(s) know you appreciate them. We also recommend commenting far and wide to spread the comment joy around! You may enjoy the challenge of a comment bingo card.
AO3 changed default comment settings last year. If you want to make sure people can comment on your gifts when they aren't logged in, you may need to change a setting on your work. More information here, under 'Your comment settings'.
Recs
Making work recommendations is a tradition. Please see more information at the participant community (
yuletide) about where you can post your recs.Madness
For those still writing, the 2025 Yuletide Madness collection will stay open for new stories to be posted for 24 hours. It will close for posting, and open for reading, at 9pm UTC 25 December. If you're looking for prompts, there's a roundup of links here.
Problems
If there is something wrong with your gift or you have another concern, please contact the mods at yuletideadmin@gmail.com.
Please either comment logged-in or sign a name. Unsigned anonymous comments will be left screened.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dorinda the first two episodes a couple of days ago, which was wonderful!Other than that, we're not doing much for the holidays. Geoff and I lit Hanukkah candles; he makes me actually light them, because it's traditionally the role of the woman of the house, and yeah that's very gendered but I mean so are we. And we both sing the blessing. We went to one sister's family Hanukkah meal, and are not going to the other sister's huge Christmas party; we're just going to have a quiet night in. And I'm roasting a duck, a thing I have done only once before!
(And then the next day I get AAAAAAAALL THE AMAZING TV, of course, and Geoff's on his own. He remains politely a- and be-mused at my hyperfocus.)
🇨🇦 "Canadian Economy Rallies as #1 Export Now Heated Rivalry" 🇨🇦
Oh, and we're having a couple of friends over for a NYE dinner. They have non-overlapping dietary restrictions, so I need to think about the menu! I suspect we're looking at roast squash and a salad of some kind...
In other news, I'm reading a book called How to Winter, which a friend recommended to me. I've never liked cold and generally don't enjoy winter (therefore I moved to Canada, because I'm also very smart), so anything that might make it less unpleasant is worth checking out! It's mostly about cultivating a mindset that focuses on the good in the season, and also about letting it affect you appropriately -- like, if winter dark means you want to sleep more and do different things than you do in summer light and warmth, that's okay, it's natural, don't fight it. It all makes perfect sense and yet I'm still grumpy about winter? On the other hand, I am trying to relax into the season a little more, and I think it's working, but it's also not as cold here as it might be and I rarely have to fight the weather in any way (I don't commute, e.g.), so maybe I'm playing on easier mode now. My SAD light helps with the lack of sunlight, so it's really being cold that I find hard. I've started wearing thermal leggings in the house; we have the heat at a comfortable enough level, but I'm really sensitive to drafts. (My desk faces two windows, and even with the leggings I still sometimes pull a heated throw over my legs.) And I think the leggings have made a huge difference.
I finished the most recent series of Shetland and
have spoilery reactions under the cut.
unfortunately I was extremely unimpressed. The revelation about Ed being involved in drug trafficking came completely out of the blue; no ground had been laid for it at all. I really didn't like the Bad Seed mentality behind everybody going "ooh, there were concerning reports about Stevie while she was in care" -- like, no shit a traumatized child ripped away from every familiar place and face "was manipulative," in other words she tried to regain some control of her environment and didn't trust adults? And just a lot of things that I can more or less accept as required by TV crime drama logistics but are still dumb, like Tosh and Ruth accepting that the AirBnB guy correctly identified Stevie in Edie's garden, when that was like the third version of the story he'd told (why should they suddenly believe him this time?) and he was some distance away, in the dark; at first he said "it was probably a man" and now he confidently declares "it was definitely this woman," and they just go yup, hard proof that she was there? Sorry, no. (I mean, she was there, but there's no way they should take his statement as proof of that, and they do.) Morag behaved like an idiot. And BILLY WOULD NEVER. I haven't looked but would not be at all surprised to find that the actor wanted off the show (is he the only person other than Tosh who's been there since series 1?) and this was the clumsy way they decided to write him out. I finished the series annoyed, and I really hope the next one is better. Preferably with a new writer.Designed by chasethestars
chasethestars