London exhibition trip

Feb. 1st, 2026 05:46 pm
dolorosa_12: (being human)
[personal profile] dolorosa_12
Matthias and I got back from London about an hour ago. We had a great time, but the Saturday portion of the trip was beset by an almost comical calvacade of chaos. (It's worth noting that we planned everything over a month in advance, with military precision — National Rail website and Google Maps open, planning every event with ample time in mind.) In list form:

  • The restaurant where we were booked to eat on Saturday night sent Matthias an email at 6am on Saturday saying that 'due to circumstances beyond our control,' they were 'closing permanently' as of Saturday.

  • When we opened the National Rail website to check that our train was still running (something we had checked and confirmed, as trains on this line on weekends are not always a given due to various pieces of track work), it showed no trains going to London at all. After some trial and error entering different start and destination points, we realised we'd be able to go to Cambridge North, then get on a train going to London Liverpool Street, get off at Tottenham Hale, and get the Tube on to our original destination. But this was going to make us late to our first booked exhibition at the British Museum.

  • I tried to phone the British Museum to check if being late would be a problem, but their phone box office is only staffed Monday-Friday.

  • Every seat on the train filled up at Cambridge North, and by the time we got to Cambridge main station, which was packed with a scrum of people wanting to go to London, all available standing spaces were filled. At each new station, I could see the crowds of people (for whom this is normally a very uncrowded train in to London) visibly spotting how full the train was and their faces falling in horror. We got later and later as more and more passengers tried to Tetris their way in at each new station.

  • We ran through the Tube, then found our way partly blocked by the weekly protest about Gaza, which I'd forgotten always started around Russell Square.

  • The British Museum had massive snaking queues to get through security. (Our original itinerary had us arriving there about forty-five minutes early, with time to get through the queue, which we knew would be long on a Saturday, drop off our bags, and amble into the first exhibition.) By the time we made it in, dropped our bags and coats in the cloakroom, and got to the first exhibition, we were half an hour later than intended.

  • We then whipped our way through the two exhibitions at absolute breakneck speed, so that we wouldn't be late to our lunch reservation (where I had had to provide card details when booking, so I knew they would charge me if we didn't show up). Half an hour per exhibition wasn't really enough time, but I'm impressed we managed it at all!


  • Lunch and the next exhibition at the Tate Modern were both fine, and happened as planned (I was particularly pleased that we managed to walk from Bloomsbury to the Tate, make it inside before it started raining, and emerge about an hour and a half later to find the rain had moved on, just in time for us to walk for forty minutes to our hotel! I now return to the ongoing chaos:

  • I always have a list of restaurants lined up that I want to try, so when we got the email cancelling our previous reservation I had another one in the list. This one didn't take reservations at all, but said that if no tables were available, you could get a drink at their bar or give your number to waitstaff and they'd phone you when a table became free, but I had forgotten that a) this was a stupid thing to risk in Soho on a Saturday night and b) that this place had become massively overhyped on social media, so when we got there, there was a queue of about fifteen groups lining up outside the door — no chance even to get inside and get a drink as promised! — and it was about to start raining again.

  • Some very quick work with my remaining list of restaurants and I managed to snag a booking for a place at 6.30pm at a pasta restaurant I had wanted to try. The only problem — at that point it was 6.25pm, so we sprinted down the street in the rain, and made it there in time to take the reservation.

  • And then they accidentally gave my dinner to a woman at the table next to us, and her dinner to me! This was rectified in about fifteen minutes, but it was definitely the crowning glory in a day that was characterised by chaos from start to finish.


  • Sunday, in contrast, was calm and lovely — breakfast in a little cafe with views of the Thames, the Lee Miller exhibition at Tate Britain (spectacular — if you have the ability to be in London before it closes, go if you can), where we inevitably bumped into a former colleague of Matthias and her husband, lunch in a sort of upmarket food court a minute away from Liverpool Street Station, and then a much less crowded train ride home.

    I'm glad we went, but that was a lot more everything than I had expected! And I still haven't managed to try the hyped viral Thai restaurant in Soho...
    lightbird: http://coelasquid.deviantart.com/ (Default)
    [personal profile] lightbird posting in [community profile] halfamoon
    Title/Link: A Kind of Rebirth
    Fandom: Hey Arnold!
    Character(s): Miriam Pataki, Helga Pataki, Olga Pataki
    Rating: Teen and Up
    Prompt: The Innocent
    Summary: She wasn’t quite a whole new woman, but she was getting better.

    Writing Roundup: January 2026

    Feb. 1st, 2026 08:21 am
    potentiality_26: (Default)
    [personal profile] potentiality_26
    Written in January: 16,433 words. 12,022 of fanfiction, the rest in assorted other writing.  

    Posted: 3 short fics. Distractions (Geraskefer, 495 words), Sky Full of Stars (Jilco, 1,338 words), and Sentiment and Blushes (Elizabeth/Darcy, 200 words). 

    As usual, I have a lot of WIPs going. In January I've worked on fics for Arcane, DC, Frankenstein, Kingsman, Pride and Prejudice, Star Wars, and the Witcher. 
        

    Round 183: Inept in Love

    Feb. 1st, 2026 08:45 am
    runpunkrun: combat boot, pizza, camo pants = punk  (punk rock girl)
    [personal profile] runpunkrun posting in [community profile] fancake
    Photograph of two kingfishers perched on a branch. One is surrounded by a cloud of pink love hearts and the other has a single question mark over its head. Text: Inept in Love, at Fancake.
    Bring out your failboats! Our theme for February is inept in love.

    These fools are unlucky in love—whether it's due to inexperience, obliviousness, social anxiety, or their own terrible choices—or are so in love they can't function properly. This trope is sometimes called "Idiots in Love," but as "idiot" is an ableist term, I ask that you don't use it in your recs, and just as there are all kinds of love, this theme is for all kinds of relationships.

    The tag for this round is: theme: inept in love

    If you're just joining us, be sure to check out our policy on content notes. Content notes aren't required, but they're nice to include in your recs, especially if a fanwork has untagged content that readers may wish to know about in advance.

    Rules! )

    Posting Template! )

    Promote this round! )

    squidgiepdx: (calendar gif for whenisitdue)
    [personal profile] squidgiepdx posting in [community profile] whenisitdue
    Here are items with dates between Sunday, February 1st and Saturday, February 7th, as well as items added recently that started this past week. Remember, you can comment here on new items that need to be added to the list.


    Items starting since the last update & this coming week


    Open Date Close Date Community Type of Challenge Prompt/Information Link
    01/31/2026 03/01/2026 [community profile] tokufemslash (DW) Fanworks All Tokusatsu Fandoms: Femslash February Prompt Meme click here for details
    02/01/2026 02/28/2026 [community profile] allbingo (DW) Fanworks February's theme is Valentines Fest Bingo click here for details
    02/01/2026 02/28/2026 [community profile] allbingo (DW) Fanworks Multifandom: Aromantic February Prompt List bingo fest click here for details
    02/01/2026 02/28/2026 [community profile] bookclub_dw (DW) Book Club The book for February is Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Future click here for details
    02/01/2026 02/28/2026 [personal profile] elasticella (DW) Fanworks Multifandom: Fresh Femslash Salad Bar is underway all of February click here for details
    02/01/2026 02/14/2026 [community profile] halfamoon (DW) Fanworks Multifandom: A 14 Day Challenge celebrating female characters in fandom. click here for details
    02/01/2026 02/14/2026 iceouthr (Carrd) Fanworks Heated Rivalry: Bidding period for Ice Out - A Heated Rivalry fundraiser to support immigrant communities click here for details
    02/01/2026 02/28/2026 selfcest_fest (AO3) Fanworks Multifandom: SelfCest Fest runs all of February click here for details
    02/01/2026 04/30/2026 [community profile] smallfandomfest (DW) Fanworks Pimp Your Small Fandom! click here for details


    Items ending this coming week

    Open Date Close Date Community Type of Challenge Prompt/Information Link
    01/25/2026 02/01/2026 [community profile] caseficexchange (DW) Fanworks Multifandom: Signup period for Casefic Exchange click here for details
    01/11/2026 02/01/2026 [community profile] dove_drabbles (DW) Fanworks Multifandom: Prompt #147: Every challenge is just a new change click here for details
    01/20/2026 02/01/2026 [community profile] fan_flashworks (DW) Fanworks Multifandom: Challenge 504: Second Chances click here for details
    12/01/2025 02/01/2026 [community profile] whatif_au (DW) Fanworks Challenge #74: Undercover Eggplant, a Fake Relationship AU Fest Note: This is open until the next cycle, but there are no true deadlines for this community. click here for details
    01/16/2026 02/05/2026 [community profile] celebrity20in20 (DW) Icons Multifandom: Icon making pereriod for Round 19 click here for details



    NOTE: Here are a few challenge communities that (can) have challenges that (usually) aren't part of the list:

    2026 personal goals

    Feb. 1st, 2026 02:50 pm
    tozka: title character thinking with a small smile (lady lovely locks thinking)
    [personal profile] tozka
    I don't usually do yearly goals or whatever because I inevitably get bored and give up on them, but I think I'd at least like to make a list of things I'd ideally like to do for this year, and keep them in the back of my mind.

    Here's what I've got:

    1. Don't shop on Amazon, with an exception for a Kindle Unlimited sub if/when I get a discount offer
    2. Buying used is preferable, when possible
    3. $50/month allowance for books (paper or ebook)
    4. Learn new skills (tbd)
    5. Go on walks
    6. Try something new/be open to new experiences ✨️
    8. Don't worry about money

    Some of my though processes for these under here: Read more... )

    January Language Roundup

    Feb. 1st, 2026 09:21 am
    lebateleur: A picture of the herb sweet woodruff (Default)
    [personal profile] lebateleur
    Duo fuckery continues apace: in addition to retroactively resetting users' progress through courses (i.e., I completed Indonesian unit 17 in December 2025. After completing two more Indonesian units last month I somehow find myself at the start of unit 17 as of February 1st), the app has started only registering lessons completed toward the daily quests after 15 minutes of engagement. As no doubt intended, this rankles from a "But I want to hit the gamification metrics!" perspective. From a language learning perspective, sustained engagement—not collecting merit badges—is what produces results, so maintaining a daily streak (regardless of whether or not the app logs it as such) is what I'm focused on.

    Chinese — Finished 1/9 of Rookie Unit 8; legendary through Rookie Unit 3
    Dutch — Finished 1/2 of Explorer Unit 3; legendary through Rookie Unit 6
    Gaelic — Finished 1/3 of Explorer Unit 16; legendary through the Explorer Unit 10
    Hindi — Finished 4/5 of Unit 1; backburnered to focus on the letters
    Indonesian — Finished Explorer Unit 16; legendary through Explorer Unit 10
    Japanese — Finished 2/3 of Trailblazer Unit 8; legendary through Traveler Unit 20
    Korean — Finished 1/3 of Rookie Unit 6; legendary through Rookie Unit 5
    Latin — Finished 1/3 of Rookie Unit 6
    Manx — Finished 1/2 of lesson 10 of the Loayr Gaelg 2 textbook
    Welsh — Finished 1/3 of Rookie Unit 6; legendary through Rookie Unit 3

    これで以上です。
    linky: Kyoka and Lachesis standing together. (Gotchard: KyokaLachesis - Window)
    [personal profile] linky posting in [community profile] halfamoon
    Title: Goddess Come To Earth
    Fandom: Kamen Rider Gotchard
    Pairing/Characters: Kyoka/Lachesis
    Rating: E
    Word count: 1649
    Content Notes: Porn With Feelings, Character Study, Relationship Study, Established Relationship, Cunnilingus, Canon Divergence, Kissing, Light Roleplay, Introspection, Praise Kink
    Summary: Kyoka and Lachesis have a night to remember.
    Also on Ao3, or read below the cut:

    Read more... )
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    [personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


    Can the world, and more importantly, AMERICA! (patriotic song here) fend off a subversive attack from space?

    The Puppet Masters by Robert A. Heinlein

    Pimp your Small Fandom!!!

    Feb. 1st, 2026 09:20 am
    spikedluv: (mod: smallfandomfest by candi)
    [personal profile] spikedluv posting in [community profile] smallfandomfest
    It’s time for another new round of fandom pimpage! Remember, the pimp-your-fandom button is reset to zero, so every single small fandom is up for grabs. Even if someone else had previously signed up to pimp it and failed to deliver. *coff* Not me, of course. *g* *coff* Even if it’s already been pimped once before. Of course, we don’t want you to rehash everything the last pimper said, but we’d love to get your own unique take on the fandom.

    Pimping Rules )

    So, if you’d like to pimp your favorite fandom, please sign up in a comment to this post with your name and the name of the fandom you’d like to pimp.

    (If you’re wondering what people have included in their pimps in the past, check them out here.)


    List of Claimed Fandoms: )



    Don’t forget to track our Missing: Have You Seen This Fandom? post! Any assistance you can offer your fellow small fandomites in their search for small fandoms will be appreciated.
    lee_bella: (Snow)
    [personal profile] lee_bella posting in [community profile] potterfests
    Fest Name: HD Wireless Fest 2026
    Links: Tumblr | AO3 | Rules | Claiming
    Type of Challenge: Anonymous prompt fest
    Description: A Harry/Draco fest inspired by music. The use of AI is not allowed. Claiming is open till May 31. Fic claim is capped at 80 claims; no cap for art or podfic.
    Ratings Restrictions: All ratings allowed
    Length Restrictions:
    Fic: Minimum 1000 words; no maximum
    Art: None?
    Podfic: With original author's permission
    Timeline:
    Prompting: January 11 - 26 (or when 300 prompts have been reached)
    Claiming: February 1 - May 31 (80 fic claim cap; no cap for art or podfic)
    Submissions Due: June 14
    Posting Begins: July 1
    lee_bella: (Chocolates)
    [personal profile] lee_bella posting in [community profile] potterfests
    Fest Name: Sugar 'n' Spice Scorbus Fest 2026
    Links: Tumblr | Rules | FAQ | Schedule | Prompting
    Type of Challenge: Prompt fest
    Description: A Scorpius/Albus fest celebrating their sweet and sexy sides. Any medium is welcome, including but not limited to fic, art, podfic and crafts. Usage of generative AI is not allowed. Prompting is open till February 13.
    Ratings Restrictions: All ratings allowed
    Length Restrictions:
    Fic: Minimum 500 words; no maximum
    Art & craft: None
    Podfic: Requires permission from original owner
    Timeline:
    Prompting opens: 1 February
    Prompting closes: 13 February
    Claiming opens: 14 February
    Claiming closes: 18 May
    Check-in: 11 May
    Submissions due: 25 May
    Posting starts: 1 June
    sisterdivinium: the garvey girls as seen from jp's coffin (bad sisters)
    [personal profile] sisterdivinium posting in [community profile] halfamoon
    Title: Who did it? Follow the thread
    Fandom: Bad Sisters
    Characters: Eva, Bibi, Ursula, Becka, and Grace Garvey (JP Williams also shows up).
    Rating: T
    Length: Eight total pages displayed in pairs.
    Warnings: Depiction of canon character death. Spoilers for season 1 of the show.
    Notes: 100% handmade minizine done with Chinese ink and red gouache. Taking the "innocent" prompt literally seeing as this zine I made last year fits the theme rather well... :)
    Summary: JP Williams is dead. Despite the circumstances, a mystery remains: there must have been foul play, right? Who dies like that? Surely it was one of the Garvey sisters...

    (Over here!)

    Could I maybe have a Bad Sisters tag...? There will be more of them to come, hehe.