smallhobbit | Network

Here are some recent fannish things I've happened to see and would like to share!

Spotlight: A thriving cosplay club gathers every few months in the park around a certain branch library near me. (I fence rapier-and-dagger weekly at that same time and place.) Usually, they're there to party, 30 to 50 people, mostly twenty-somethings by my guess, with upwards of 75% of attendees in costume. They play games (always including trivia and a piñata) and eat goodies (on picnic blankets), and are a delight. I love recognizing costumes when I can! Every now and then, one asks about fencing, and we chat. Recently, they held a rummage sale, selling each other used costumes, supplies, and fannish miscellany, and I suddenly realized that you might enjoy knowing about them. I also thought that, if you didn't already know, you would enjoy learning about "causeplay" -- cosplay for charity. Apparently, it's a big and growing thing, cosplayers visiting hospitals, shelters, and schools to boost children's morale. ♥

Ficathons, fests & communities

Create & engage
- 3weeks4dreamwidth continues through 5/15.
- fkficfest, the annual Forever Knight event, has prompting through 5/16 and stories due 7/18.
- joseimuke is a new community celebrating "girly Japanse(ish) fiction" ("non-live action media with the heart of shoujo manga").
- ahorseofcourseexchange, a fic exchange for horses and horsemanship, has nominations through 5/10, sign-ups through 5/18, and works due 6/08.
- fanfictionfesta, an event to promote reading, sharing, and commenting on fic, runs through 6/30.
- galorechallenge, a crossover fic challenge resuscitated from LJ, holds its Round 1 through 6/30.
- fandomdoestzedakah, a fanwork auction charity fundraiser for various Jewish organizations, has creator sign-ups through 5/22, bidding through 6/15, and works due on 9/11.
- Watson Birthday Promptfest, a celebration of all Watsons in all Sherlock Holmes versions, runs through 8/07.
- sweetandshort is a low-pressure challenge community for weekly small works.
- fic_promptly is a low-pressure community for daily prompts and fills.
- whatif_au's annual "AU Bingo" game runs through 7/31.
- allbingo's May theme is "Greek myth."
- trope_of_the_month's May theme is "forced proximity."
- pinchhits is a community for needed fills for exchanges. For example, whumpex is currently seeking pinch hitters.
- whenisitdue tracks many more events than I note here!
Enjoy & share
- fancake (themed fanfic recs); May theme: "journey & travel"
- gensplosion (gen fanfic recs)
- het_reccers (m/f fanfic recs)
- fanart_recs (fanart recs)
- recthething (fanwork recs)

Sidelight: I've been looking for new-to-me Dreamwidth folks to read and interact with. I really appreciate that Dreamwidth sorts its lists of journals with certain "interests" by how recently they've posted. It can be dispiriting that various interests have few folks who have posted in recent years. Yet it's really helpful that someone built the sorting that way in the first place! Excellent call.

alobear

I've been resisting trying Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman for quite some time - even though, or perhaps because, everyone I follow on BookTube has been going on and on for months about how good it was. It really didn't appeal to me, particularly as I don't generally react well to comedy - but I was even more worried that I'd love it and then be stuck having to catch up on seven more books before then having to wait for the next ones to come out...

And I'm just gonna say it - everyone was right. Goddammit, Doughnut!

I wasn't initially keen on the narrator's 'normal' voice - though performance and production values on the audiobook are very high. All the character voices are awesome, the special effects are just enough to give extra layers of enjoyment without being over the top, and I got used to the narrator well before the end.

It had me snort-laughing out loud in the street, which is rare and always welcome. It also had me frowning at certain aspects of the humour and going, 'EWWWW!' quite a bit, but the pure enjoyment of the overall adventure far outweighed the aspects I wasn't so keen on.

And it does have levels - and not just the dungeon levels! It doesn't delve massively into the trauma of most of the human population being killed in the initial creation of the dungeon, but it does touch on it. And Carl does reflect on how distasteful it is to be forced to kill the monsters, as well as lamenting how many of the other crawlers keep dying as things go on. There's also the start of a really beautiful friendship between Carl and Princess Doughnut (the cat), which I can see deepening a lot as the series continues.

There's a lot of clever seeding of what's to come to make you want to read on, both in this book and drawing you into later instalments - plus lots of inventive variety which presumably keeps making it fresh and interesting, even though it's essentially just Carl working his way down the levels.

The grimace-inducing bro humour is in there - but it's almost entirely restricted to the achievement announcements, which are simulating video game text, so it's pretty authentic for this kind of game... It treads a clever line so it will retain people who might be offended by implying it's satirising these types of games, but also provide the humour itself for those who will enjoy it.

By the second half, I was wanting to keep listening to the exclusion of everything else and can see myself powering through the whole series without a break. This is not how I envisaged the next few months of my life going. Goddammit, Doughnut!

lannamichaels

You know how it is, when you start with a vague idea and a summary and then you write 4K in a day and you have written yourself out of that summary being suitable? Yeah. That.

The summary it should have fitted itself to: "Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and your feckless cousin closest of all." Wherein there would be porn and Gregor deciding that Ivan couldn't actually be mediocre and/or learned that trying to do well just got him unwanted attention. No, Ivan must be faking it on purpose.

Unfortunately then I dropped too heavily into Gregor's depression, so, uh, if this gets to the porn, it's going to take some doing. Also I have to do some serious tense editings because I started it in past tense but of course ever since I made the mistake of ever writoing in present tense, I must needs deal with tense shifting problems forevermore.

Point of diversion is that Gregor assigns Ivan to Residence Security right out of the Academy to keep an eye on him, and kicks Miles out after the mutiny.

Why couldn't Miles have ever learned to fake obedience as well as Ivan had? Ivan's flawless at his disguise. Why must Miles be so frustrating? Gregor feels even more hollow than usual as Aral nods his acknowledgment and mumbles a perfunctory, "your will, my liege."

It's the first time Gregor's tried exercising Imperial muscles in years and it's still all because Miles Vorkosigan is uncontrollable.

Gregor can't meet his gaze in the mirror as his armsman shaves him that night, and he accepts the sleeping pill with resignation.

prisca posting in

sweetandshort

Welcome to our challenge This and That.

In May, the main theme is Hero vs. Villain.

Allowed are fics up to 500 words, small poems such as haiku or tanka, icons (100 x 100px), and graphics (maximum 500 x 500px). All fandoms, genres, and ratings are welcome. Original works and real-person works are fine, too.

Please tag your work with all relevant tags.

This challenge runs until May 31, midnight in your timezone.

:::

Challenge Reminder: 10 out of 20

miscellaneous_section posting in

writethisfanfic

Good afternoon, everyone!

It's Sunday so the start of a new week, and the first full week of May as well.

Right! How has the fanfic coming along?

Great!
Good
Alright
So-so
Could be worse; could be better
Not so well
I'm taking a break, actually.

bluapapilio

Using my gameboard!

I read 5/5 last time, some more chapters than others. I don't want to forget anything I haven't read in a while so I'll try to get things already on my reading list this time.

Avatar:

Supernatural | Heaven Official's Blessing
Skill: Re-draw a prompt once

Roll #1

A 3, prompt: demons/youkai -Trash of the Count’s Family thought not sure who the demon is.

Roll #2

An 11, prompt: gender bender. Using skill, new prompt is entertainment industry - Waiting Upon You.

Roll #3

A 5, prompt: game elements! First thought is It Seems Like I Fell into a Reverse Harem Game.

Roll #4

A 6 and the generate from CR tile. Had to reroll twice because they were already on my list lol. I got Guardian and it's been a while, have to check where I stopped last.

Roll #5

A 9, prompt: fantasy creatures. Gotta start something new for this one since TotCF is already on my list - How to Live as the Enemy Prince.

Roll #6

A 7 and the end, reward is CÄi CÄi.

Webnovel TBR List:

[Fantasy/Adventure] Trash of the Count’s Family
[BL/Romance] Waiting Upon You
[Reverse Harem/Politics] It Seems Like I Fell into a Reverse Harem Game
[BL/SPN] Guardian
[Fantasy] How to Live as the Enemy Prince
[BL/Slice of Life] CÄi CÄi

x2 BL, x1 Het and x2 Gen

Current Mood: hot

shivver

Title: "Masters and Ceremonies"
Fandom(s): Original fiction
Characters: Mike, Chris, Amanda, Don, and Rick -- members of a software development team
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word Count: 464

Summary: A software development team's reaction to new Agile processes and ceremonies

Read it on AO3.

Author's Notes:

fandomweekly's current prompt is "ceremony" and that word is only going to make me think of ceremonies in Agile methodology, because it's always struck me as odd that we use that word for a non-ritualistic process. In fact, many would argue that the whole point of Agile is to not get stuck in a codified, calcified way of thinking.

This was a fun little write and it made my husband laugh out loud (as we both have been on both sides of this, as both ICs and scrum masters). And that alone made it worth it.

Also, apparently I have invented the "software development" and "Agile methodology" tags on AO3.

Easter egg: All the characters are named after the main actors in Stargate SG-1.

oursin

This week's bread: a Standen loaf, 4:1 strong brown/buckwheat flour, honey, Rayner's barleymalt extract, turned out nicely.

Saturday breakfast rolls: the ones more or less after James Beard's mother's raisin bread, more or less 50/50% Marriages Light Spelt Flour (end of bag) and Golden Wholegrain Flour, turned out quite well.

Today's lunch: as there were potatoes left from last week, made a gratin provencale sorta, served with slowcooked purple sprouting broccoli (this really needed even longer slow-cooking, was still fairly al dente) and padron peppers.

teaotter posting in

fan_flashworks

Title: where your worries go
Fandom: Wiseguy (tv)
Content notes: none
Challenge: Gentle
Length: 100 words

Summary: Carlotta Terranova, and the weight of a mother's concern.

( Read more... )

goddess47 posting in

sweetandshort

Title: Finding Dusty Boxes
Author:

goddess47
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Challenge: 10 out of 20
Length: 429
Warnings: None

Notes:

For

sweetandshort May 2026 10 out of 20 challenge - dreams

For DoMAYstic 2026 prompt day 10 - back of the closet

Summary:

John found the box in the back of the closet of what had been Claudia's work room. He didn't remember putting it there and there was a layer of dust on it.

Finding Dusty Boxes on AO3

shivver posting in

fandomweekly

Theme Prompt: #300 – Ceremony
Title: Masters and Ceremonies
Fandom: Original
Rating/Warnings: None
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 464
Summary: A software development team's reaction to new Agile processes and ceremonies

( Read more )

shakalooloo posting in

scans_daily

Only 4 pages, so no room for the Talkie Toaster analogue, but here are the adventures of a robot Abraham Lincoln in a post-human world. Fear of a Bot Planet walked so that this comic could run.

( Read more... )

james

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kathleen_dailey

My downstairs neighbour and I loaded up our shopping-carts with clothing, household goods, and electronics for dropoff at this year's Community Environment Day at Allan Gardens. We had a picture-perfect sunny day for the outing, and the walk down Jarvis to Carlton was very pleasant. Unfortunately, both of us were pressed for time, so we didn't get to walk through the park, which looked utterly alluring--vast and green and dappled and tranquil. We've promised ourselves to go for a good long walk through the park and the conservatory as soon as weather and our schedules permit. I haven't been to the conservatory since before the pandemic, so this is something I'm really looking forward to.

conuly

Late in May as the light lengthens
toward summer the young goldfinches
flutter down through the day for the first time
to find themselves among fallen petals
cradling their day's colors in the day's shadows
of the garden beside the old house
after a cold spring with no rain
not a sound comes from the empty village
as I stand eating the black cherries
from the loaded branches above me
saying to myself Remember this

****************

Link

fanlore_tumblr_feed

https://fanlore-wiki.tumblr.com/post/816241860727242752

ALT

For Public Do-May, we’re highlighting Harkular, the slash ship featuring Count Dracula and Jonathan Harker from Bram Stoker’s Gothic novel Dracula. Fans of the pairing are drawn to the strong homoerotic subtexts of their early interactions, especially Dracula’s obsession and possessiveness over Jonathan upon meeting him.

Jonathan’s imprisonment at Dracula’s castle has inspired many darkfics with dub-con or non-con elements such as somnophilia. Many fics also have a dreamlike and hallucinatory atmosphere in which Jonathan struggles to distinguish between dreams and reality due to Dracula’s psychological manipulation.

Fanworks that feature a more consensual relationship between the two tend to have themes of sexual repression and internalized homophobia, with Dracula tapping into Jonathan’s repressed queer desires.

Are you a fan of Harkular? Head over to Fanlore and consider adding more to the page!

___

We value every contribution to our shared fandom history. If you’re new to editing Fanlore or wikis in general, visit our New Visitor Portal to get started or ask us questions here!

https://fanlore-wiki.tumblr.com/post/816241860727242752

ysabetwordsmith

When School Taught Me Basic Finance, Badly

The other day I wrote about the question Who should be teaching kids basic finance? Some point to schools and say schools should be teaching it; others point to parents and say it's their job. I noted that one difficulty with asking schools to do it is that they're already overloaded trying to cover basic academics. (And really the reason they're so overloaded on that is public school teachers end up spending, like, 90% of their time trying to manage behavior problems.) I also noted that schools seems ill equipped to teach it because, at least the one time a school I attended did try to teach basic finance, the whole lesson was basically a fail.

I would say that it's useful to teach basic finance BOTH at home and at school. That way if one skips or does a bad job, the other has a chance to pick up the slack.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

hhimring

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ysabetwordsmith

Today is mostly sunny and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches, a blue jay, and a fox squirrel. :D Blue jays are fun.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 5/10/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 5/10/26 -- I planted the pussy willow at the north edge of the savanna.

EDIT 5/10/26 -- I picked up sticks in the south lot, but only got as far as the birdgift tree. There were a LOT of sticks and they filled the trolley, which I dumped in the firepit. My partner Doug is out mowing a path around the prairie garden.

.

Current Mood: busy

maevedarcy

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Profile

smallhobbit

May 2026

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31

Page Summary

brightknightie - Fannish options & enthusiasms | May 2026
alobear - Dungeon Crawler Carl
lannamichaels - [Vorkosigan] Six Sentence Sunday
prisca in sweetandshort - May: This and That
miscellaneous_section in writethisfanfic - Daily Check-In: Day 10
bluapapilio - May Webnovel TBR
shivver - "Masters and Ceremonies" (original fiction)
oursin - Culinary
teaotter in fan_flashworks - Wiseguy: fanfic: where your worries go
goddess47 in sweetandshort - (10 out of 20) Finding Dusty Boxes - Teen Wolf (PG)
shivver in fandomweekly - [#300] Masters and Ceremonies (Original)
shakalooloo in scans_daily - If Destruction Be Our Lot... #1
james - Who did what now
kathleen_dailey - Community Environment Day
conuly - Black Cherries by W. S. Merwin
fanlore_tumblr_feed - Ship Sunday: Dracula/Jonathan
ysabetwordsmith - Economics
hhimring - Upcoming SWG Challenge: last call for handing out prompts on the SWG Archive
ysabetwordsmith - Birdfeeding
maevedarcy - 3 weeks 4 dreamwidth 2026: Day Sixteen

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Style: A Little Fire for Practicality by timeasmymeasure

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Page generated May. 10th, 2026 08:17 pm

Various ramblings by the small hobbit

Five times a fortnight (or thereabouts)

Network

Fannish options & enthusiasms | May 2026

Dungeon Crawler Carl

[Vorkosigan] Six Sentence Sunday

May: This and That

Daily Check-In: Day 10

May Webnovel TBR

"Masters and Ceremonies" (original fiction)

Culinary

Wiseguy: fanfic: where your worries go

(10 out of 20) Finding Dusty Boxes - Teen Wolf (PG)

[#300] Masters and Ceremonies (Original)

If Destruction Be Our Lot... #1

Who did what now

Community Environment Day

Black Cherries by W. S. Merwin

Ship Sunday: Dracula/Jonathan

Economics

Upcoming SWG Challenge: last call for handing out prompts on the SWG Archive

Birdfeeding

3 weeks 4 dreamwidth 2026: Day Sixteen

Profile

May 2026

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