08 July 2026 @ 12:36 pm
Strange  
I wonder why two Catholic versions of the Bible translate Exodus 20:3 as (this is the Catholic Public Domain version) "You shall not have strange gods before me."? Other versions have "other" rather than "strange", which seems to be the sense of the Hebrew. (Apropos of nothing, "before my face" sounds cool. This deity is watching.) The familiar "strange land" in Exodus 2:22 is a different Hebrew word again, and the Catholic Bibles at the ever-useful biblehub.com both have "foreign".
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07 July 2026 @ 07:45 pm
Five Users and Four Programs Later...  

Posted by columbos_slutty_waist

by

Tron, Ram, Yori, and Sark are accidentally rezzed into "the real world" and have to be babysat by their users until the digitizing laser is fixed.

Words: 2004, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

 
 
07 July 2026 @ 02:17 pm
MOPOP Hall of Fame recognition for Bujold  
I am pleased to report that I have been honored with a place in the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle's 2026 Hall of Fame roster:

https://www.mopop.org/sffhof-vote-2026

If you click the plus sign next to an entry, it gives a little explanatory paragraph.

I've described career awards before as "an award for winning awards". Collect the whole set...

https://www.sfadb.com/Lois_McMaster_B...

(This database is incredibly handy, and I'm so grateful to the unsung folks who put it together. It has much to offer beyond Bujold, I should point out.)

Ta, L.

posted by Lois McMaster Bujold on July, 07
 
 
07 July 2026 @ 07:43 pm
SquidgeWorld Discussion And Fundraising Update  
Let's get the fun stuff out of the way first. With thanks to the 53 distinct donors so far, Squidge's Hot Fic Summer Fundraiser is nearly there!  So far we have raised $2,269.82 out of our goal of $2,500. Hitting our goal means keeping the lights on for another year. So if you've been sitting on the fence about donating and can spare a few dollars, it would be awesome if you could donate. But remember - if you're struggling, take care of yourself first. There's a reason flight attendants always say, "Put your own mask on first before helping others." While we'd welcome all of you as donors, we're glad to have you as Squidge users and visitors.

Second is discussion over on SquidgeWorld about possibly disabling guest comments from here on out. This is due to a commission spammer feeding fics into ChatGPT and then having ChatGPT spit out questions that might engage the creator(s). While we can try and prevent AI from scraping our works, we can't prevent someone copy & pasting said works into an AI engine for their own use.

But disabling guest comments is a big step toward that.

There's a whole discussion on SquidgeWorld if you'd like to read there. If you have an account, you can comment there, or you may comment here as you like. I'd like people to be a part of this conversation as opposed to telling people what can and can't be done as part of their access to the open Internet.
 
 
07 July 2026 @ 03:46 pm
The daily lemming  

Posted by Robin

From Caron, a limited edition collector bottle of Pour Un Homme for the Gitana 18 trimaran: "Caron unveils a limited edition of the iconic Pour Un Homme de Caron, the bottle design brings to life the original work conceived by the artists Florian Quistrebert and Michaël Quistrebert for the new artistic signature of Gitana 18: a matrix of dots forming vibratory lines. The label of the bottle is produced from recycled carbon, selected from production scraps of the trimaran." €129 at Sephora in France.

 
 
 
07 July 2026 @ 02:33 pm
Tempted  

Posted by Robin

Hilary Duff for Bath & Body Works Fruit Fusion collection: Watermelon Whirl, Tangerine Twirl, Berry Bliss and Banana Blend. Each of the 4 fragrances is sold in All Day Moisture Body Wash, Smooth & Soothe Body Cream, Perfume Mist, Lip Oil, 48H Moisturizing Body Lotion, Hand Cream & etc, $4.95 to $18.95.

 
 
07 July 2026 @ 02:02 pm
Tuesday scent of the day 7/7  

Posted by Robin

It’s Tuesday and World Chocolate Day. What fragrance are you wearing?

I am home from vacation, drinking a cup of Cascadia Breakfast tea and wearing Love, Chloé from a very old sample.

Reminder: on 7/10, wear a perfume with a lime note, if you have one…

Read the rest of this article »

 
 
07 July 2026 @ 01:48 pm
A strong aroma that ticks find repulsive  

Posted by Robin

Rosemary emits a strong aroma that ticks find repulsive. It’s an excellent choice for gardeners because it’s not only effective against ticks but also enhances your garden’s aroma and is useful in the kitchen. Plus, it’s drought-resistant, making it a low-maintenance option for busy gardeners.

— Read more in The Power of Plants in Tick Prevention (it's an old article but worth reading, there is a whole list of plants that ticks don't like).

 
 
07 July 2026 @ 05:47 pm
Oops  
Today's weird little obsession: Castle Bravo, the 1954 nuclear test in which the H-bomb being tested went off with more than twice the intended bang. The fallout fell on numerous innocent bystanders. The firing party, a small group of soldiers left behind on Bikini Atoll, were safe in their bunker, but risked contamination when they ran to the helicopter sent to rescue them. They improvised protective clothing by cutting eyeholes in bedsheets. Can you imagine being the pilot of that chopper when a bunch of Halloween ghosts start running towards you?

Edit: the explosion was so fierce that it destroyed most of the sensors set up to record it, so the scientists didn't get much in the way of data. Just one very large datum, I suppose!
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06 July 2026 @ 10:26 pm
Let's Get Literate! Mid-Year Reading Check In  
We're halfway through 2026! Read more... )
 
 
 
06 July 2026 @ 03:09 pm
How to throw a stress-free pizza party at home: Maximize your fun (and pizza).  

Posted by Jessica Battilana

Slices of New York-Style Pizza paper plates arranged on a table seen from above.

In theory, at least, a pizza party is meant to be fun — I mean, it has party right in the name. But in practice, it can be hard to make it the enjoyable, stress-free gathering you’ve imagined as you sweat over shaping, baking, and serving hot pizza in real time. Here are our best tips for throwing a pizza party at home that everyone, including the host, can enjoy. 

The post How to throw a stress-free pizza party at home: Maximize your fun (and pizza). appeared first on the King Arthur Blog.
 
 
07 July 2026 @ 12:04 am
Fic: Heated Rivalry: The Hollander-Rozanov Trophy For Spousal Communication  
( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )
 
 
06 July 2026 @ 12:00 am
standing next to your own personal bespoke wario is cool because they honestly make you look GREAT  
archive - contact - sexy exciting merchandise - search - about
July 6th, 2026next

July 6th, 2026: A black rectangle will never be cooler than a bunch of blinky greebles and I will go to my grave assuring you all that this is the case.

– Ryan

 
 
06 July 2026 @ 04:42 pm
"The blighter's in Davy Jones's Locker!"  
There's an amazing sequence in Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942) where Holmes, looking for Moriarty, dons the brownface disguise of Ram Singh, a rascally lascar a la The Man with the Twisted Lip, and interacts with a couple of dubious sailors, Peg Leg and Jack Brady. (Meanwhile a suspicious figure is tailing Holmes.) Peg Leg recognises "Singh" and knows Moriarty left him to carry the can in some previous, unseen adventure. Peg Leg leads "Singh" to Brady's shop, and after a bit of business, Brady tells him the man he's looking for is long dead. A furious "Singh" grabs Brady -- at which point the action is interrupted by the emergence of Moriarty from hiding.

For several minutes, every character on screen is playing a role! Peg Leg and Jack Brady are working for Moriarty; they're doing impersonations of themselves. Even the furtive figure following the disguised Holmes turns out to be working for the police!

(The Basil Rathbone movies are set during World War II, when they were made, and I think this is why Holmes is so upright, and always right, with few of the characters' usual eccentricities; he stands for a heroic Britain (or England). Which might explain why Watson is so irritatingly useless! All the imperfection falls to him.)
 
 
05 July 2026 @ 09:27 pm
OFMD: bloom & wilt by redshift  
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Pairings/Characters: Izzy/Ed, Izzy/Ed/Stede
Rating: E
Length: 31,803 words 
Creator Links: redshift
Theme: Unreliable narrator 

Summary: Izzy has spent years at Edward's side. The occasional petal here and there, the intermittent rasp that makes itself a permanent home in the hollows of his throat, the cough that comes and goes; it's all worth it, to be the person Ed turns to. It's a price he pays willingly.

Now, though. Now, Izzy knows what love looks like on Edward Teach, and it is soft and sweet and open and nothing like what Izzy has ever been able to give. Izzy's place is at Edward's side, and it's killing him.

That's okay. He's always wanted to die for something that matters.

Reccer's Notes: Izzy has hanakaki disease, and I love how the author writes it likes it's an almost chronic illness.  Izzy is an unreliable narrator in how he thinks about Ed and Stede and their motivations.  We as the reader can tell by their actions that their intentions are not what Izzy probably thinks, but Izzy's thought's are very much coloured by the experience he is going through and he's not seeing things for how they truly are, and of course he refuses to talk to Ed about his feelings and what going on, which only makes everything worse.

One note, this is canon-divergent after season one.    

Fanwork Links: AO3
 
 
 
05 July 2026 @ 08:42 am
June 2026 Newsletter, Volume 212  

Banner of a paper airplane emerging from an envelope with the words 'OTW Newsletter: Organization for Transformative Works'

I. OTW CODE OF CONDUCT

On June 7, 2026, Board approved a new OTW Code of Conduct. This policy comes as the result of months of collaboration between Board Assistants Team, Organizational Culture Roadmap, and Volunteers & Recruiting (including their Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution subcommittee).

This policy update was a goal on the internal culture roadmap created and announced in 2024. As part of the update process, the policy underwent several rounds of review, including one by all OTW volunteers. Thank you to all OTW volunteers who provided feedback!

Volunteers & Recruiting is now at work rolling out the updated policy and getting agreements from all OTW volunteers.

II. ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN

In June, we celebrated AO3 reaching 11 million registered users. \o/

Accessibility, Design & Technology (AD&T) deployed several bug fixes, including quality-of-life and security improvements. They've also continued to make progress on their ongoing work to internationalize AO3.

Open Doors announced that Kraith Collected, a collection of Star Trek zines set in the Kraith universe, will be added to AO3. This month, their import assistants also finished importing all unfilled prompts from the Library of Moria!

In May, Policy & Abuse (PAC) received 4,814 tickets; Support received 4,125 tickets; and User Response Translation completed 77 requests from PAC and Support.

In June, Policy & Abuse worked with AD&T to publish updates to the Terms of Service FAQ, which includes new answers to common questions like how to find out what's allowed on AO3. You can view the differences here! We hope you find it helpful!

Tag Wrangling wrangled over 650,000 tags in May, or approximately 1,400 tags per wrangling volunteer. They also collaborated with Communications to publish a Tumblr post about updates to the Assassin's Creed fandom tree and a news post announcement of "No Fandom" changes, including 23 new canonicals.

III. ELSEWHERE AT THE OTW

Communications also established an OTW RedNote (小红书) account in June. This will be a second platform for us to connect with Chinese-speaking fandom (along with our existing Weibo account). If you use RedNote or know anyone who'd be interested in OTW announcements in Chinese on the platform, pass it along!

At the end of May, Fanlore wrapped up their Public Do-May, a public domain fandoms-themed month. They also ran their annual Bingo Challenge with tasty pastry-themed badges for editors to collect.

On June 15, 2026, TWC released Issue 48, a special issue on "Disability and Fandom" guest edited by Olivia Johnston Riley and Lauren Rouse. The essays in this issue focus on disability both as a marginalized identity and as a critical scholarly approach to fandom and fan studies.

IV. GOVERNANCE

Elections announced candidates for the 2026 OTW Board. This year's election will be uncontested, as there are three candidates running for four open seats. Platforms for each candidate can be viewed on the Elections website. They also provided the public an opportunity to submit questions to the candidates which will be published soon, refer to the Elections Timeline page for specific dates. Translation is working alongside Elections to make election-⁠related content available in as many languages as possible.

Meanwhile, Development & Membership has begun working on premiums for the October Membership Drive.

Board, Board Assistants Team, and Organizational Culture Roadmap also continued to collaborate on developing procedures to handle compromised volunteer accounts and other situations that necessitate urgent access removal.

Board also approved signing-on to a letter opposing the overbroad NO FAKES Act, which could negatively impact fan art and artists.

V. OUR VOLUNTEERS

From May 24 to June 22, Volunteers & Recruiting received 204 new requests and completed 189, leaving them with 87 open requests (including induction and removal tasks listed below). As of June 22, 2026, the OTW has 1,037 volunteers. \o/ Recent personnel movements are listed below.

New AD&T Volunteers: marcus8448 (Senior Software Developer)
New Communications Volunteers: Caitlynne, callmeri, and 4 other Posting Volunteers, belana, Bianca Sevidal, and Xiao Yi (Social Media Moderators)
New Elections Volunteers: Jahnavi and 1 other Communications Specialist, 1 Candidate Liaison, and 1 Chair Track Volunteer
New Fanlore Volunteers: Hobgirl, Minty, and 2 other Chair Track Volunteers
New Legal Volunteers: asatistic (Paralegal) and Kat M (Trademark Specialist)
New Open Doors Volunteers: elusivefalsehoods (Import Assistant)
New Policy & Abuse Volunteers: Anam (Volunteer)
New Tag Wrangling Volunteers: Beth B, Lululu, and tomurai (Supervisors)
New Translation Volunteers: artemissmythe, Karasu, madinator, and 3 other Volunteer Managers, and 1 Translator

Departing AD&T Volunteers: marcus8448 (Software Developer)
Departing Communications Volunteers: Aditi Paul, Caitlynne, callmeri, and 2 other Media Outreach Volunteers, 1 Chair Assistant, 1 Posting Specialist, 1 Report Writer, and 1 Social Media Moderator
Departing Communications News Post Moderation Volunteers: 1 News Post Moderator
Departing Fanlore Volunteers: 1 Policy & Admin
Departing Open Doors Volunteers: 2 Technical Volunteers and 3 Import Assistants
Departing Policy & Abuse Volunteers: 1 Chair Assistant
Departing Tag Wrangling Volunteers: Erica L., Wond3rland, and 4 other Tag Wranglers
Departing Translation Volunteers: 1 Translation Volunteer Manager, Alisé, and 3 other Translators
Departing User Response Translation Volunteers: Kseniia and 1 other Translator
Departing Volunteers & Recruiting Volunteers: 2 Volunteers

For more information about our committees and their regular activities, you can refer to the committee pages on our website.


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.