ratcreature | Network

Previous poll review
In the Comfort food poll, 55.6% of respondents said their preferred comfort food is chocolate, and 46.7% said savoury carbs. In ticky-boxes, 'juicy intricate poetry words' and 'pushing on through' came second equal (40% each) to hugs (80%). Thank you for your votes! <3

Reading
I listened to half an m/m romance audiobook that I selected for one of its readers (Will Watt), but the overuse of "fucking" as an intensifier (and in particular, the repeated phrase, "he was so fucking hot") kept making me roll my eyes. It might be a faithful reproduction of the inner monologue of a first-year uni student, but I don't read romances for verisimilitude. So I switched to The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary, read by Carrie Hope Fletcher and Kwaku Fortune, seen mentioned on my flist. I'm halfway through and enjoying it immensely. ETA:

Warnings.

Contains past emotionally abusive relationship, stalking, and PTSD.

A little more Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain in hardcopy. Nothing in ebook.

Kdramas
Andrew and I have nearly finished The Guest. I want to ship the OT3, but I don't really care about the priest. (Sorry, priest guy! Alas, you are not my type.) Still, it is a great (gory/horror-y) show, and I've conveniently forgotten some of the developments. We just have one episode to go.

A bit more of While You Were Sleeping, a few episodes of Cashero (I'm not sure I'm in the mood for established relationship, but otoh, Junho! ♥), and a marathon-running BL called Mr. Heart, which was sweet but extremely slight.

Where is the next Love Scout/Family by Choice/whatever??

Other TV
Finished Stranger Things, which got so complex that I lazily stopped following the logic and just watched it as a collection of scenes. But I enjoyed those well enough. So glad they got their victory lap.

Three episodes of Heated Rivalry.

Minor spoilers; tl;dr not my thing.

Wow, I'd heard it was fanficcy, but I wasn't prepared for the total absence of anything resembling an external plot. Like, not even a figleaf. Not even a hockey arc. How??

Anyway, my prediction that it's probably not for me has proven correct. Like, I can tell that the show is made of crack (in the addictive sense), but I'm not into super-buff dudes, and I didn't like the 'fucking but feeling kind of miserable about it' vibe I was getting from Hollander. He deserves better.

But I kept going for episode 3, and I'm really glad I did. There was the ~~coffee~~ smoothie shop not-AU and ♥Kip♥ and his friends and family. And Scott, who fell for Kip in 2.3 seconds like a parched man stumbling into an oasis and, okay, is messed up, but at least self-aware and ~able to communicate~ and ~say nice things~! They were such a breath of fresh air! All the "smoothies" for both of them!

So that (predictably) is me. And I'm actually kind of relieved, because while the show is compelling and well-acted, it's not what I want in a fandom, and anyway, I'm hardly even managing to keep up with my quiet corner of Guardian fandom atm.

I may watch the last three episodes at some point, idk. Wishing those of you who're into it all the very best with your new addiction!!

Audio entertainment
Writing Excuses, Cross Party Lines, Letters from an American, more of Our Opinions Are Correct (Charlie Jane Anders and Annalee Newitz's podcast) including the Murderbot episode, Tech Won't Save Us, the starts of a few other things.

Writing/making things
I've been practising drawing, and picking up art supplies in bits and pieces. The moldable eraser is magic.

Have a couple of sketches.

Pencil sketch/outline on a grid of Zhao Yunlan sprawling on an invisible barstool.

(Imperfect, but I think it's identifiable, which is not nothing. I darkened the linework a little in Paint.NET.)

For my future reference, this all started because I wanted to draw Bingo from Bluey!, which led me down a Youtube Art Videos For Kids rabbit hole. Then I bought new colour pencils and was noodling around with them, and people said nice things about some of my doodles... :-)

Art Youtube For Adults is also really lovely, btw -- full of super-talented people being encouraging and helpful.

I've written a treat for

fandomtrees, but I need to make some edits, and I have no attention span. Chances of my finishing it are about 90%, and chances of any further treats are more like 30% at this stage. Maybe one day I'll be able to make art gifts...

Life/health/mental state things
My arms are gradually improving, but I'm anxious about them. Andrew's having an operation this Thursday; I'll need to be able to bike and drive and cook and so on, and I'm still sore half the time. So I've started swimming again. (I stopped partly because I was avoiding public spaces where I couldn't mask, and partly because my long post-lockdown hair stays damp all day. But the outdoor pool is open for the summer, so I'm going for it.)

I just bought a small $2 desk at a junk shop so that I have a workspace to retreat to downstairs while Andrew's recuperating on the couch in the living room. I'll see how that goes.

I have a hand-me-down mini air fryer from my parents which I still haven't taken out for a spin. Quick/easy meal suggestions very welcome, especially if they're things I can throw together late at night, post hospital visits. (NB: I don't do onions or brassicas.)

Good things
Andrew, swimming, drawing, Kdramas, Guardian, Zhao Yunlaaaan, modern medicine. Cat:

A black and white cat rolling around on a concrete step, photographed from above. Her tail is curled up into a circle.

A black and white cat rolling around on a concrete step, photographed from above. Her tail is curled up into a circle.

Poll #34068 Om

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 51

View Respondents

Do you meditate?

View Answers

yes, regularly
4 (7.8%)

yes, from time to time
12 (23.5%)

I used to
6 (11.8%)

I used to occasionally
4 (7.8%)

what you mean by 'meditate'?
7 (13.7%)

no
21 (41.2%)

other
3 (5.9%)

ticky-box of being squeamish about fingernail clippings
2 (3.9%)

ticky-box full of hockey show squee
6 (11.8%)

ticky-box full of feeling kind of zonky
21 (41.2%)

ticky-box full of skipping across treetops and dancing through the clouds
23 (45.1%)

ticky-box full of hugs
38 (74.5%)

muccamukk

Yes, from me.

IDK if you can see

CBCSports in other countries, but they're currently playing my preferred type of figure skating (the recent nationals), which consists of:

Individual single short programs (long programs are usually too long for me to want to watch a single dance routine, and I also don't want to watch hours and hours of the stuff).

Of just the top competators (so I don't have to feel bad when they fall down or do poorly, also see above about attention span).

With the music directly onto the broadcast (rather than echoey rink music).

Without commentary, except maybe a few notes before the dance starts (because I neither know nor care what a triple toe loop or whatever is, and equally do not care if the skater did a double instead.)

Anyway, youtube has figured this out and is giving me random Canadian children gliding around the ice.

(Randomly my only sports icon relates to cricket.)

oldtoadwoman

Snowflake Challenge: A close up shot of an owl ornament hanging amidst pine boughs..

Snowflake Challenge, #3: A Love Letter to Fandom
( Dear Fandom, We need to talk (this got much longer and weirder than intended) )

Current Mood: weird

adafrog

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

yhlee

(selling prints via the local game store)

stylized digital illustration: a fantasy lady, peacock-themed

Digital painting in Procreate, at 11"x17" print.

china_shop posting in

fan_flashworks

Our new challenge is:

SOCK

As always, you can interpret the prompt literally or figuratively, in whatever way works for you.

Each work created for this challenge should be posted as a new entry to the comm. Posting starts now and continues up until the challenge ends at 4pm Pacific Time on Tuesday, 20th January. No sign-up required.

Mods will tag your work with fandom and challenge. When you've posted entries to three consecutive challenges, you will earn a name tag, and we'll go back and tag all your previous entries with your name.

All kinds of fanworks in all fandoms are welcome. Please have a look at our guidelines before you play. If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact a mod. And if you have any suggestions for future challenges, you can leave them in the comments of this post.

You can view stats for

fan_flashworks entries and search and filter them via the Community Report and Creator Report. See our FAQ post for more details.

Also, keep an eye out for the next

ffw_social post, which will go up in the next couple of days. If you haven't joined the

ffw_social comm, it's never too late to come and check it out. (Posts are locked, which means you have to join to see them.)

china_shop posting in

fan_flashworks

The Sand challenge is now closed. Here are the entries:

Stranger Things: Fanfic: Sand by

wearing_tearing
Original: icons: sand by

lilly_c
Marvel Cinematic Universe: Fanfic: In a Grain of Sand by

alexcat
due South: Fanfiction: Sandy Boots by

lucy_roman
Sherlock Holmes (ACD): Fanfic: Beneath the Sand by

smallhobbit
Terraria: Quatrain: A Prize to be Won by

infinitum_noctem
FAKE: Fanfic: Wishful Thinking by

badly_knitted
no fandom: icons: Sand by

highlander_ii
Multifandom (TV): Icons: Life’s a Beach (9 icons) by

veronyxk84
S.W.A.T.: Fan Fiction: Looking Forward To Most by

darkjediqueen
US Politics: poetry: the sand in the gears by

teaotter
Torchwood: Fanfic: Newsworthy by

m_findlow
Heated Rivalry: Fanfic: Sweaty, Salty, Sandy by

seeyouontheice
子非鱼 (Zi Fei Yu): Fanfic: the same soul (make the ocean wider) by

bluedreaming

Also, congratulations to those who earned badges and name tags this round:

teaotter earned The Unstoppable (SILVER) (36 challenge streak).

\o/ \o/ \o/

Thank you to everyone who participated! You're now free to post your entries to your journal or wherever else you'd like. If you're archiving on AO3, you can add your work to our fan_flashworks collection there.

The Community Report and Creator Report will be updated shortly with the entries from this round. See our FAQ for more details.

Next challenge coming right up.

oldtoadwoman

Snowflake Challenge: A warmly light quaint street of shops at night with heavy snow falling.

Snowflake Challenge, #2: Pets of Fandom

For a few delusional moments, I thought I'd handle all of these prompts with art and after one quick initial sketch decided that I don't have time or I'll still be finishing these prompts next year. (I literally have art prompts from two or three Octobers ago that I keep saying I'm going to do "some day".)

I think sometimes starting an elaborate project might be a subconscious way of avoiding the project because deep down I know I'm never actually going to do the cool idea in my head.

That said, I do have a very clear idea of what my entry on Pets of Fandom should be.

So, I loved, loved, loved the 2025 Superman movie. I don't know how it landed with the younglings who didn't grow up with Christopher Reeve's Superman as the iconic version, but all of my friends that I've talked to had that same delighted reaction to this movie. It's fully modern and never even does any overt callbacks to the 1978 movie. But it has that same idealistic spirit, leans into the corniness without ever going too far, and just made me very happy. When I first realized the superdog Krypto was going to be in it, I think I cringed just a tiny bit. A CGI superdog was obviously going to drag things down, I thought. But. Oh, it was perfect. The fact that Krypto was a badly-trained chaos vector worked on so many levels. (My sister once had a dog that she always said she was going to take to obedience class when she had time but she never did and the dog eventually treated the entire house like a chew toy. Imagine that dog with super powers.)

If you didn't see Superman and were feeling done with superhero movies after a glut of them in the theater, I urge you to make an exception for the 2025 Superman. It's just so sweet.

A key character moment is when Lois Lane responds in disbelieve that Superman is about to put himself in danger for the sake of a dog. To which, Superman replies, "Yeah, and he’s not even a very good one, but he’s out there alone. And he’s probably scared."

Current Mood: ditzy

cahn

So I'm going to talk about one of my major fandoms (that I don't usually talk about here), shiny things, because I can! (I started this post more than a month ago and it is high time to actually finish and post it.) In particular, I want to talk about diamond simulants and lab diamonds (although there's also very recently been some cool stuff about lab sapphires too). The funny thing is, I've never been a super fan of diamonds in general. I mean, I'm not going to say no to them! they are very shiny, and they have some cool dispersion (splits light into component colors, like a prism, so you get little rainbow flashes if it's cut well), and I love that they're super hard and come in octahedral crystals, but I have always been a colored stones kind of kid. But! In the last ten years there have been a ton of developments in this fandom relating to diamond simulants and lab diamonds, which I think is very neat.

First I want to define what I'm talking about.
Natural diamonds / earth-mined diamonds are diamonds that occur naturally in the Earth's crust and are mined from the ground.
Diamond simulants are not diamonds, but other substances that look enough like diamonds that they are used in jewelry that might otherwise use diamonds. I'll talk about cubic zirconia and moissanite as diamond simulants later on.
Synthetic diamonds / lab diamonds are chemically identical (*) to natural diamonds but are made in a lab.

( Apologies if you happen to love diamonds, but I find the whole natural diamond thing kind of obnoxious in several ways. )

( Brief discussion of cubic zirconia, and the rise of moissanite )

( The rise of lab diamonds )

( Lab ruby/sapphire: Some recent cool news on the lab sapphire front )

( Photos )

(*) There are little things that can be different, so generally speaking lab diamonds can be distinguished from natural diamonds by a laboratory, but basically they're both made of carbon and look identical, especially if you have the same "grades" in one as another.
(**) When I refer to "carat" in the context of diamond simulants in particular, I will always be referring to "size of an ideal-cut diamond," which is about 6.5mm in diameter for a round diamond. Simulants will have different weights than a carat, of course, but generally the industry refers to a "1 ct moissanite" as something that mimics a 1 ct diamond, even though the corresponding cubic zirconia will actually be heavier than a carat and the corresponding moissanite will be lighter! Of course, "carat" when referring to colored stones just directly means the weight of that stone.
(+) www.diamondcz.co.uk came along in 2004, importing well-cut cz from China, and took well-cut cz from a relatively expensive niche market to super cheap!
(***) And even less (<~$300/ct last I looked) if you're willing to deal with Chinese companies directly -- it turns out there are whole subreddits devoted to both moissanite and lab diamonds that have instructions on this.
(****) Also emerald and garnet! Lab emerald in particular is a very big thing, very popular these days among people who buy lab gems, though emerald is not as much my thing so I don't know as much about it. Lab garnet can also be doped to get a lot of different colors, which is fun. Emeralds can't be made by the super cheap processes so they've taken a couple of decades longer to get cheap enough to be popular, but nowadays you can easily get them cheaply.

celli

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

tielan

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!

Okay, so it's really easiest to go to my AO3 works page, which currently has a broad variety of fandoms on it, including some of my very old ones.

( 20 recs from Keltiad, Discworld/DCCU, Bridgerton, MCU, Pern, Pacific Rim, BSG 2003, Stargate SG1/Stargate Atlantis, and Narnia )

--

So looking through the stories, there's a really broad variety of themes and characters, quite a lot of fandoms, but also some recurring concepts: "found family", "true love isn't just the once and never again", "working through the complexities of a situation when you don't have a guidebook", and so forth.

scrubjayspeaks

Welcome to the December edition of Pandemic Garden Club! Growing good things in strange times!

Anyone is welcome to comment with what they're growing right now, things they would like to try, problems they're encountering, and questions they have. Share resources, answer questions, shout encouragement.

As for myself...

( Read more... )

siria

Signed, Sealed, Certified
The Pitt | Santos/Garcia | ~1100 words | Missing scene for 2.01.

(Also on AO3)

( Trinity tries to decide what comes next, and asks Yolanda's advice. )

bluedreaming posting in

fan_flashworks

Fandom: 子非鱼 (Zi Fei Yu) - 林盎司
Rating: T
Length: 100 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: The title is from THE SHAPE OF THE OCEAN by Jiang Hao, translated by Ming Di and Afaa Weaver.
Summary: Ji Leyu belongs to Lin Fei.

( Read more... )

vivdunstan

My current main reading, on my Kindle as usual, so I can have the gargantuan font (think old Ladybird learning to read books for the very youngest!) to counteract my neurological illness reading problems. Note I am reading all these books at the same time. I am flighty!

Screenshot of a Kindle Paperwhite, black and white / greyscale. A number of book covers are visible, showing books currently being read. On the top row are 3 book covers: "Hamnet" by Maggie O'Farrell (showing a scene from the film version with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal), "Stone & Sky" by Ben Aaronovitch (featuring a map of the area around Aberdeen, Scotland) and "Echolands: A Journey in Search of Boudica" by Duncan Mackay (featuring a statue of the legendary Icenean queen). On the row below that are "Restoration London" by Liza Picard, a "Complete Sherlock Holmes" collection by Arthur Conan Doyle, and "Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal: My Adventures in Neurodiversity" by Robin Ince.

merryghoul posting in

doctor_who_sonic

Do you have a Doctor Who community or a journal that we are not currently linking to? Leave a note in the comments and we'll add you to the watchlist (

doctor_watch).

Editor's note: Because of the high posting volume and the quantity of information linked in each newsletter, doctor_who_sonic will no longer link fanfiction that does not have a header. For an example of what a "good" fanfic header is, see the user info. Spoiler warnings are also greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Off-DW News
Blogtor Who's Friday Video of the Day is a clip from Carnival of Monsters
Blogtor Who: BFI Southbank to screen Warriors of the Deep

(News from

blogtorwho_feed and

doctorwhonews_feed, among others.)

Communities and Challenges

dw100: Challenge 1074: young

Fanfiction
Completed
Yearning by

badly_knitted [One | G]

Recommendations

paranoidangel recommends Alpha Centauri Ballad by Melime [Fifteen/Rogue | General Audiences]

If you were not linked, and would like to be, contact us in the comments with further information and your link.

twistedchick

I am pretty sure some of you here are fans of Arthur, Camelot, Lancelot, Guennevere and the whole Arthurian canon.

That said, here is the link to "Camelot Station", which John M. Ford wrote as a Christmas card some years back.

It blows my head apart, reading it, as if I were standing on a high place near a ruined castle looking at the people moving about below in the town, while knowing they were also at some point in that ruined castle beside me as ghosts or living humans. You'll see.

used_songs

Before New Year's, E and I went to the HEB at Lincoln Heights which is fancier than a regular HEB, but not as fancy as Central Market. I was looking at cheeses while E was in the bakery and the cheesemonger gave me a coupon for 20% off any of their cheeses in that section. So I went with one I knew I'd like and two that were experiments.

The one I thought was a sure bet was the Chimichurri Gouda because I love gouda. I was hoping it would be a bit spicy, but despite tasting of pepper and chilies it was more earthy than spicy. It was also sharper than I expected, but it was good.

My favorite was the white cheddar dill which was a surprise. I love dill, but I'm not a fan of cheddar at all. It's generally way too sharp for me. This one was very herbal and salty and just delicious.

My least favorite, and the one I wouldn't have bought if I hadn't had a coupon, was the smoked cheddar. I took a chance on it because I do like smoked gouda and smokiness in general. However, this was very hard, almost crumbly, and it was way too sharp for me, I'll probably take it to my parents and see if they want it, because I tried it again a couple of days after the first taste and I just don't like it. And honestly I didn't even realize cheddar came in that consistency.

The only other cheese I've put in my analog cheese journal is HEB Monterey jack with jalapeño and habanero which is something I have with my lunch every day during the week. So, obviously, extremely good!

This week we are having enchiladas, so I will be journaling about oaxaca and queso fresca, both of which are delicious. One of the best things in the world is thinly sliced pan sauteed potatoes topped with mole poblano sauce and queso fresca.

seeyouontheice posting in

fan_flashworks

Title: Sweaty, Salty, Sandy
Fandom: Heated Rivalry (TV)
Length: 234 words
Author notes: post-beach and post-hotel room in Florida
Summary: Shane doesn't like mess. Ilya doesn't want to kill the mood just yet.

( Sweaty, Salty, Sandy )

hunningham

Christmas is over, father-in-law is away staying with the other bit of the family, I've had a long & tiring visit with my mother, but I'm back home now and it's just me & himself for the next week. And it's so nice just being us. Having an extra in the house - even a much-loved & gentle family member - it's an effort. It's odd working out where the stresses are, but today we had lunch with books and without conversation - such a delight.

My mother has given me a teeny-tiny bucket armchair to replace the one which I had moved into father-in-law's room. This has made my cat very happy. I knew that I missed having a comfy chair in the office; I hadn't realised that cat also wanted to be comfortable in same room as me. Yesterday he sat and stared until I got a clue and put his blanket on the chair. And then he sat and had a very thorough wash and a long sleep. Focusmate partner was charmed.

Greens are being awful. I want to save the world, stop climate change etc etc but people keep on getting in the way. We've got a lot of personalities going on at the moment, and the local party is doing office politics (only without the office). People muttering in the break room, getting their feelings hurt, toes trodden on, accusing each other of whatevering, plotting behind the bike shed, little power groups, conspiracy theories and it's like living through an episode of Mean Girls. Fascinating to see how some people absolutely revel in it and just want Drama! Excitement! He said! She said! while I just want to retreat like a distressed snail.

Profile

RatCreature

ratcreature.net

December 2022

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Page Summary

china_shop - Me-and-media update
muccamukk - Random Sports Stuff
oldtoadwoman - Snowflake Challenge: #3 Dear Fandom, We need to talk
adafrog - 9 & 10
yhlee - gratuitous digital art
china_shop in fan_flashworks - Challenge 503: Sock
china_shop in fan_flashworks - Admin: Challenge closed
oldtoadwoman - Snowflake Challenge: #2 What the hey, dude?
cahn - Simulant and synthetic diamonds (and others)
celli - aunt celli nights are the best nights
tielan - snowflake challenge 2026 - day 4
scrubjayspeaks - Pandemic Garden Club
siria - 2576 / Fic - The Pitt
bluedreaming in fan_flashworks - 子非鱼 (Zi Fei Yu): Fanfic: the same soul (make the ocean wider)
vivdunstan - Current reading, January 2026 edition
merryghoul in doctor_who_sonic - Saturday 10 January 2026
twistedchick - A little late, but better than not...
used_songs - Cheese Quest 1
seeyouontheice in fan_flashworks - Heated Rivalry: Fanfic: Sweaty, Salty, Sandy
hunningham - 3 things - even lovely guests are stressy, cats like arnchairs, office politics in politics

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Theme: Andúnë by nornoriel

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RatCreature's Reading List

Network

Me-and-media update

Random Sports Stuff

Snowflake Challenge: #3 Dear Fandom, We need to talk

9 & 10

gratuitous digital art

Challenge 503: Sock

SOCK

Admin: Challenge closed

Snowflake Challenge: #2 What the hey, dude?

Simulant and synthetic diamonds (and others)

aunt celli nights are the best nights

snowflake challenge 2026 - day 4

Pandemic Garden Club

2576 / Fic - The Pitt

子非鱼 (Zi Fei Yu): Fanfic: the same soul (make the ocean wider)

Current reading, January 2026 edition

Saturday 10 January 2026

A little late, but better than not...

Cheese Quest 1

Heated Rivalry: Fanfic: Sweaty, Salty, Sandy

3 things - even lovely guests are stressy, cats like arnchairs, office politics in politics

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December 2022

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