i_love_games | Member Posts

vriddy

1. Looking for new friends?

friending_memes is hosting a "new year, new friend" friending meme!

Click the banner to join us and make some new friends!

2. Of course,

snowflake_challenge started as well :D Never too late to jump in if you'd like to, it's a chill challenge like that! I knew I wasn't going to do it this year either, but thought "maybe next year"..... however it's January 3rd and I'm already fighting to keep up with my reading page because I met SO MANY OF YOU COOL PEOPLE through the challenge, and you're participating again haha :D It's really a great way to get to know people a little bit before the friending meme that usually happens at the end of it. I can't recommend it enough if you'd like your reading page to be more lively.

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

3. I'm going to link again to this AO3 PSA from a while back. It's titled "Protect Your Contact Information From Scammers" but it's interesting in that it describes the format that spam comments take nowadays: first a paragraph that seems genuinely related to your story (thanks and fuck you, genAI), then an invitation to reach out to them because they want to make a comic from it, or help you give more impact to your story, or whatever cue to take you off-site.

The post also offers a step-by-step template for reporting registered accounts that do it, and I gotta say it's effective as the account I reported yesterday was removed in less than 24 hours. (Also, those comments are annoying always, but they sting extra on fics that you know from the start won't have much/any audience. Curses on your potatoes, spammers!!)

(Having said that I don't think the spambots have figured out the "Uncategorized Fandoms" section yet as I haven't gotten any of these on K-9 fic -- if you hate spam comments you should totally join us there XD)

kalloway

Overall
- five things archived to the Lemonade Cafe /

lemonadecafe (1x KH, 4x Code Geass)
- chatter post on

smallweb + comments
- tiny goal of email inbox at or under 250, right on the line
- got the silhouette/body built for my 30MF Priest and already am having terrible ideas
- ugh, dayshift

Other
- New Year's Friending Meme

brightly_lit

Challenge #1

The Icebreaker Challenge: Introduce yourself. Tell us why you're doing the challenge, and what you hope to gain from it.

I'm a writer mostly, who is FINALLY getting around to trying to market my existing work. I'm super into gardening and preserving food. I'm also really interested in trying to close the circle of production and consumption. Instead of paying a lot of money for stuff and creating a lot of trash, I love things like composting, which takes the trash and turns it into something useful, which makes rich soil that can be used to grow food and cut down on my grocery bill.

The dream before I got to actually put some of these theories into practice was total self-sufficiency, but it turns out that's MUCH harder than it sounds. Still, being able to close that circle to any degree is fun and satisfying, and that's what I'm really into exploring these days, as well as going back to basics wherever it's feasible. There are modern conveniences that make life sooo much easier, but there are others that just seem to complicate things. I'm interested in finding and utilizing the ones that make sense and don't take up too much time and energy, because they also tend to be a lot cheaper and more friendly to the environment. I write about this kind of thing a lot! And I play with it in reality a lot, too.

I was so disappointed this year with anime specifically, and tv in general, that I felt like maybe I shouldn't even participate in Snowflake this year because I have so little good to say about fandom-related things! We've mostly resorted to rewatching old favorites since we could hardly find anything new to enjoy. Then I realized, maybe I can use Snowflake to solicit recommendations from other participants! So please, pleeeease, give me your recs!! If the show/movie is old, that's great, too. Tell me your all-time favorites!

But also, I want to get back into blogging more generally! I did some in the middle of last year, then life went completely off the rails. I've been dipping my toe here and there lately on DreamWidth, then I realized Snowflake was about to return, and I thought that would be the perfect opportunity to get back into it!

althea_valara

Click the banner to join us and make some new friends!

thepasteldyke

Now that we're in a new year, I thought I'd finally get around to doing this meme that I found via

linky. I've seen similar memes for cosplays floating around for years, so it's fun seeing different types of it.

Rules: How many letters of the alphabet have you used for [starting] a fic title? One fic per line, ‘A’ and 'The’ do not count for 'a’ and ’t’. Post your score out of 26 at the end, along with your total fic count.

( Read more... )

chromaskies

I will post here later but for now:

Click the banner to join us and make some new friends!

scribe_protra

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

vriddy

Feeling a lot more confident and happier now that Narumi also showed up. It's surprising how much easier I find it to write such a little clown of a character.

...perhaps because I, too, was actually a clown all along? 😮🤡

Warm as life | Kaijuu No. 8 | Kafka/Reno/Narumi, Reno/Iharu, Kafka/Hoshina | 3.8k words (WIP, 2/7) | rated M

Summary: The new threat posed by No. 9 weighs heavily on everyone. Under these circumstances, emotions run high and what starts as a way of relieving stress can easily bloom into unexpected feelings. Some people find that easier to admit than others.

Read it on Dreamwidth or AO3.

vriddy

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

lassarina

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

seleneheart

Title: The Gravity of Tempered Grace
Fandom: due South
Pairing/Characters: Fraser/Ray K, Stella/Ray V., Frannie
Rating: T
Summary: When his partner is dosed with a frightening new street drug and disappears, Ray goes on a journey to strange lands where reality is bent and magic abounds. He will have to contend with forces beyond his understanding in order to find Ben and bring him home.
Warnings: non-consensual drug use, spells & enchantments
Notes: Written for the due South Seekrit Santa exchange for

wicked3659. A take on the Snow Queen. Title from 'Iridescent' by Linkin Park. Beta by

delanach

On AO3: The Gravity of Tempered Grace

On

raselgethi: The Gravity of Tempered Grace

I also made a moodboard for this fic, which can be found here: https://acme-graphics.dreamwidth.org/42953.html

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: Radiohead - Exit Music (For a Film)

althea_valara

Get anything you have left on LJ backed up ASAP

posted by

synecdochic:

"I just posted a thread to my Bluesky account about why I think it's extremely urgent for people to back up anything they still have on LiveJournal, however they do it. Thread starts here:

https://bsky.app/profile/rahaeli.bsky.social/post/3mbebi2xfxc25

ru-news LJ post I was relying on:

https://ru-news.livejournal.com/80899.html

Please spread this far and wide so as many people see it as possible, because I really don't see English-language LJ continuing in its present form for much longer, and I know some people may still have things they care about there. It doesn't matter how you get it backed up, but it's absolutely crunch time for getting it backed up."

My old xnera account was still hanging around LJ, even though I long ago imported here and stopped crossposting. I just logged into it and saved the few images I had in storage. I then deleted the account. Was long overdue.

I had other accounts on LJ, but can't remember most of them. Oh well. Nothing in those accounts were vitally important, unlike my personal journal.

althea_valara

two log cabins with snow on the roofs in a wintery forest the text snowflake challenge january 1 - 31 in white cursive text

Challenge #1

The Icebreaker Challenge: Introduce yourself. Tell us why you're doing the challenge, and what you hope to gain from it.

Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it.

Hiya! I'm Althea Valara (my chosen name, not my wallet name). I'm a fiber artist, Twitch streamer, and video game player. For fiber arts, I knit and crochet, plus do a little pin loom weaving. SOMEDAY when I have more space/money, I'll own a rigid heddle loom.

Most of my consumed media these days comes from video games, and primarily the Final Fantasy franchise with a healthy dose of Kingdom Hearts. I currently stream Final Fantasy XI on Fridays, Final Fantasy XIV on Saturdays, and am making my way through the Kingdom Hearts series on Mondays. Start time is around 7:30pm Central and goes until 10:30pm or until I get tired/feel like stopping, whichever comes first. Lately I've been more tired than usual so streams have been shorter, but I'm still streaming!

My stream is at https://twitch.tv/altheavalara - my first stream was on February 13th, 2021, so I'll be hitting my five year anniversary this year, WOW! I started streaming as a way to combat social anxiety. I'm still a very tiny streamer (last month I hit 100 followers, FINALLY!) but I enjoy it and no longer feel anxiety when I start a stream. It's like breathing now - just something I do.

Why I'm doing Snowflake Challenge

Mostly, it's because I've done it for a few years now and had fun with it! I've appreciated the opportunity to blurble happily about my blorbos and otherwise geek out about fannish things. Normally, I do not consider myself as part of a fandom. I mean yes, I love Final Fantasy and do make some fanworks for it, but I usually don't consume fanworks unless people point them to me. Sometimes it can feel lonely in my little corner of the fandom, so I really have loved Snowflake Challenge for giving me an excuse to put myself out there some more.

What I hope to get out of the Challenge

An opportunity to be creative. An excuse to work on my Neocities site some more, which I launched during last year's Challenge. Reading enthusiastic posts from others and seeing both familiar usernames I don't normally interact with, plus new people that I find charming and delightful. I've met some really cool people through Snowflake Challenge like

vriddy,

enemytosleep and

peaked, and I hope to make some new acquaintances, if not friends, this year.

vriddy

It pains me that I couldn't make the first half of the story as strong and funny as the rest (and therefore no one might get to the jokes I love the most orz), but that's okay, everything's a learning experience, etc, etc, and also I expected this to be 4-5k words and it's nearly 13k by now so let's leave it at that!!

In general, this has been an interesting exercise for me because while I have written OT3s, OT4s and OT5s in which everyone loves everyone else equally, this is the first time I write a polycule where some of the relationships are not shared with everyone else. This canon just has so many lovely ships, it worked out that way. Also I'm surprised no one sees the potential in Kafka/Reno/Narumi, with the competitiveness between Reno and Narumi, and how their different approaches and ways to care about Kafka. This might just be my headcanons talking, though XD

Warm as life | Kaijuu No. 8 | Kafka/Reno/Narumi, Reno/Iharu, Kafka/Hoshina | 2.4k words (WIP, 1/7) | rated M

Summary: The new threat posed by No. 9 weighs heavily on everyone. Under these circumstances, emotions run high and what starts as a way of relieving stress can easily bloom into unexpected feelings. Some people find that easier to admit than others.

Read it on Dreamwidth or AO3.

scribe_protra

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

kalloway

The Updating of Things-
- Lemonade Cafe - front page updated
-

lemonadecafe - sticky post updated
-

spring_renewal - noAI on profile, added schedule to my organizer for April, will update instructions/guidelines then
-

octobercest - noAI on profile, and just opened up the community to be a fest all year, because sure why not
- printed out a new copy of canon-level pages for quick refresher reasons
-

no_true_pair - note in organizer to post schedule later in month, added noAI to profile
-

small_fandoms - already updated, dates for Drabblethon in organizer

Archiving-
- four new pages on the Lemonade Cafe and ten fics posted! (Also on

lemonadecafe.)

General-
- unsubscribed from a handful of communities (just freeing up some mental bandwidth)
- cleaned a bit in the bathroom and the linen closet (+ a tote bag filled with towels to donate to the animal shelter)

althea_valara

HAPPY NEW YEAR! May your 2026 be filled with good health and much happiness.

So here's last year's list. I had some success this past year, but not as much as I would have liked:

Fannish Things

1. My Shadowbringers "summaries"

STILL not done. I think I did one update? Gotta get cracking on this!

2. The FFBE script

Last year I was lamenting not having Season 2/all the story events captured. I have since found YouTube channels that have the whole of Season 2 and many of the story events recorded! \o/ I would like to put some work into doing Season 2 this year.

3. Final Fantasy XI story

This was new for last year, and I'm really pleased with how much I've gotten done. I've documented Bastok missions through rank 5, plus the first expansion, Rise of the Zilart. I'm at work on the second expansion now.

4. Neocities!

This was also new for 2025, and I am very happy to say that I completed it! Well, completed in the sense that I got it fixed up enough to launch. It's always going to be a work in progress. I'm hoping to put a lot of work into it this year.

Knitting & Crochet Projects

I finished 23 projects in 2025, some of which had multiple pieces. I have dutifully made the list of WIPs, which is still L-O-N-G.

The following WIPs were deleted in 2025. Either frogged, or thrown away, or just lost and decided I didn't care to finish them:

* Mathilda Bolero
* Hospice Canaries
* Amigurumi Potted Plant
* Cherry Blossom Bonsai
* Perfect Knit T-Shirt
* NewYear Tree
* Little Green Elf Cowl
* Small Eastern Dragon
* Marion Slouch
* Boo! Doily

But I also added a bunch of WIPs, so the number hasn't changed much:

* Weekend Headband
* Mosey - technically done but I might lengthen them, so still marked WIP
* Versailles Scarf
* Pretty Poinsettia Ornament
* Disney Crochet Kit Halloween Stitch
* Sylvan Tee
* Butterfly Shawl
* Sophie Scarf
* SECRET PROJECT
* Diamond Peaks Drawstring Bag
* P 9. Shawl (ショール)
* Glymur
* Sweetheart Soiree
* Emotional Support Chicken

This year, I'd really like to focus on bigger projects and get some garments done. So I don't know how many of these WIPs will be touched this year. We'll see!

Here's the list of WIPs:

#	Date Started	Project Name	Comment
1	2025-12-09	Weekend Headband	Yuppers.
2	2025-11-02	Mosey	Might make longer? Otherwise done.
3	2025-11-01	Versailles Scarf	YES, FINISH! January goal?
4	2025-10-07	Pretty Poinsettia Ornament	Maybe for this year.
5	2025-09-15	Disney Crochet Kit Halloween Stitch	It’s STITCH! Make for Halloween 2026?
6	2025-08-01	Sylvan Tee	To poke at now and then.
7	2025-08-07	Butterfly Shawl	Find and finish.
8	2025-06-05	Sophie Scarf	Unearth and finish.
9	2025-05-06	SECRET PROJECT	SECRET PROJECT. Yes, please finish in 2026
10	2025-04-24	Diamond Peaks Drawstring Bag	Need to start over. Maybe someday?
11	2025-04-07	P 9. Shawl (ショール)	Have yarn, might make.
12	2025-04-01	Glymur	Inspired by my therapist, who wears ponchos. Find and finish in 2026.
13	2025-02-03	Sweetheart Soiree	Unearth and finish.
14	2025-02-02	Emotional Support Chicken	Eh, maybe
15	2025-01-01	Motion Picture Mosaic Cardi	UGH. Starting sleeve over.
16	2024-12-30	Villemo	Newest WIP, will do as I can.
17	2024-08-07	Cat Lady Bag	NEW, and I really want to make this!
18	2024-06-07	Luftslott	NEW in 2024, plan to do in 2025.
19	2024-05-26	Plumeria	NEW in 2025, finish by end of summer?
20	2024-04-04	Final Fantasy XVI Torgal Blanket Square	Tried, wasn’t coming out too good. Unsure what to do.
21	2024-01-05	Poinsettia	Just need leaves!
22	2023-12-04	#13 Central Park Hoodie	For ME. Want done by spring.
23	2025-12-14	Missy C	For ME. No hurry.
24	2023-10-15	Copycat Cowl	Um, did I finish this?
25	2023-09-20	Celtic Placemat	Plan was to make for older sister, not sure I am going to follow through on that.
26	2023-08-02	Spring Bluebird Banner	Finish by spring. (I said this in 2024, too, hah!)
27	2023-02-24	Brown Felted Bag	No hurry.
28	2022-12-01	The Parlor Cat	Finish eventually.
29	2022-10-30	Bat Filet Crochet Example	Finish by Halloween!
30	2022-08-30	Lacy Crochet Kerchief	Done, find and take a pic to mark complete
31	2022-08-03	Simple Crescent Shawl	Finish for Area 51 sometime.
32	2023-02-02	Lovely room doily	Would like to do sometime.
33	2022-04-02	Cable-Stayed Beanie	This is a cool hat I’d like to make sometime
34	2022-03-02	Wavedeck	Want to finish this sometime, for myself.
35	2021-12-22	Country Cottage Headband	Gods will I ever finish this?
36	2021-03-04	Tarragon the Gentle Dragon	Still would like to make this!
37	2021-02-03	Twig Shawl	Finish eventually.
38	2020-10-04	Hazel Handbag	Finish eventually.
39	2020-04-24	Forest Green Hat	Would like to do sometime.
40	2020-01-03	Buckle Your Swash Gauntlets	Would like to do sometime.
41	2019-07-22		Yeah, need to finish.
42	2019-04-15	Dreaming of Spring Doily	Would like to do sometime.
43	2019-04-06	The Little Flower Doily	Maybe? It’s knitted so HARD.
44	2018-11-01	Snowberries A Luxurious Winter Scarf	Finish eventually.
45	2020-06-08	Knitted Dragon	Still love this, might make eventually.
46	2018-12-01	Call Them Cherry Blossoms	Finish eventually.
47	2008-09-27	Ripple Beige Afghan	My oldest WIP, needs to be done already!
48	2015-12-05	Turkish Treasure	Finish eventually.

vriddy

Via

synecdochic, and also what I see happening based on the latest post on

dw_maintenance and comments there:

synecdochic: Please spread this far and wide so as many people see it as possible, because I really don't see English-language LJ continuing in its present form for much longer, and I know some people may still have things they care about there. It doesn't matter how you get it backed up, but it's absolutely crunch time for getting it backed up.

I saw this import FAQ being linked in the

dw_maintenance comments for how to import into Dreamwidth, if that's the option you choose. So I take it this is working again, I remember there were issues a couple of years back, but better act quickly before that's no longer the case.

Link: Get anything you have left on LJ backed up ASAP by

synecdochic
Link: How do I import my journal from another site? (dreamwidth.org)

vriddy

Candy Hearts sign-ups are OPEN!!! You can find the schedule here, and the sign-up info post there, and here's for a direct link to the sign up form, and to the tagset!

You will never guess which fandom is included in my sign-up... and which canon I wrote a canon promo comment for ;D Haha. I'm actually signing up with tiny beloved polyships in 3 fandoms this time (K-9, Wind Breaker, Kaijuu No. 8) and I'm seriously excited about receiving any of them. It's the first time I do a sign-up like this haha, in that normally I try to be serious or close enough, but instead this is just me kind of jumping around about "THEM" whichever THEM it happens to be about XD :D I'm excited. It's also the first time I sign up for an exchange so early I think!! Normally I procrastinate until dangerously late because I worry about forgetting something. I also linked to the K-9 primer in my request... XD

Anyway, I love

candyheartsex (and its predecessor

chocolateboxcomm), it's a chill exchange with a small minimum (300 words fic or podfic, art) that reveals on Valentine's Day (but doesn't have to be valentine-themed, at all). Because of the low word count maybe, there's usually a fantastic treating culture around it, and it's just sweet and delightful fun all around. I'm really glad to be participating this year! I'll have to remember to check in a few days that I can match as well. I see BNHA and Wind Breaker people are starting to sign up so it should be fine :D Maybe see you there??