fem_thoughts | Member Posts

Dogs Build Their Vocabularies Like Toddlers

Basket the Border collie seems to have a way with words. The 7-year-old dog, who resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, knows the names of at least 150 toys — “froggy,” “crayon box” and “Pop-Tart,” among them — and can retrieve them on command.

The number is average. Most dogs can learn 100-200 words, typically 150-160. However, a majority of those are verbs like "sit" and "fetch." Nouns are less common, but most dogs learn a bunch of things like "food" and "leash." Having a vocabulary that is mostly nouns is uncommon.

Why a collie? Because people used to teach them the names of the sheep. "All in" is useful, but "Cut Molly" (out of the herd) is even more so.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today's theme is Led Zeppelin.

fanmix_monthly -- Mixtapes & Fanmixes
A fanmix is a compilation of songs inspired by a fannish source.
[Active with multiple posts in January.]

landoftheiceandsnow -- We Come From The Land of Ice and Snow
Led Zeppelin fanfiction archive.
[Active with one post in December.]

tfc_musicianships -- We Jammin'. We Are The Underground
Musicians, engineers, and others of the scene.
[Active with one post in January.]

thefreaksclub -- TFC // The Anti-Thesis Social Network
Everything related to darker alternative subcutlures. Discussion on books, the occult, music, & more.
[Active with multiple posts in January.]

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This poem came out of the October 7, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from

siliconshaman and

chanter1944. It also fills the "Black / Orange" square in my 10-1-25 card for the Fall Festival Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with

fuzzyred. It belongs to the series Practical Magics.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

dustbunny105

There is so much drama going on at work and all of it affects me despite my not being involved. Why must lab techs be so messy? Is it just that they're all stuck together in an enclosed space? Of course, tbh, this seems to mostly be the fault of one specific person talking out both sides of her mouth and nothing coming out of either side having any merit.

I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday.

ninamazing

HELLO FRIENDS. Guess who hasn't posted in a million (okay, five) years despite all best intentions? But continues to be straight-up desperate to replace all other social media with Dreamwidth? I'm all set up with Tuta Mail, too, and I've been using Ecosia for awhile. We can have the internet without psychic damage, damn it.

In 2025, I got married, moved into a condo, and started a new job. New job is great with pay and benefits and low on drama, so far—fingers crossed. I'm gradually working through all the traumatic aftereffects of finally being a children's book editor, then not being a children's book editor, then surviving the first few years of a pandemic, then being a children's book editor again, then not being a children's book editor again. But I am currently working on my first small press picture book (with an artist I found in Armenia, no less!) so I suppose I can't be stopped.

These are...terribly anxiety-making times, but I am so lucky to have the friends I have and the quality romance stories (who else is into Heated Rivalry especially the Kip/Scott parts? let's chat!) to boot. In 2026 I hope to continue to serve my communities and heal. Love to you for being here.

ysabetwordsmith

Thanks to a donation from

fuzzyred, there are 10 new verses in "An Inkling of Things to Come." What if it rained diamonds for a week?

Current Mood: busy

trobadora

As usual (and as I hoped for), fandomtrees has a one-week delay, so now I have a much better chance of finishing more than one thing, heh. Here is the latest admin post with the trees that still need gifts.

Also, candyheartsex sign-ups have closed, and three more people in my fandoms signed up after I had already gone to bed! Can't wait to find out what my actual assignment will be.

Today's writing

I worked a little on one

fandomtrees treat, started planning another, and did some brainstorming for

candyheartsex. It's still all slower going than I'd like, but I'm feeling much better, so there's that.

WED Question of the Day

Poll #34059

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 18

View Respondents

If I have multiple works I want/need to finish by the same deadline, I ...

View Answers

write and finish them one after the other
10 (55.6%)

work on multiple things in parallel
7 (38.9%)

something else
1 (5.6%)

When I'm working on things without deadlines, I ...

View Answers

work on one thing until I finish or give up
6 (33.3%)

work on multiple things in parallel
12 (66.7%)

something else
0 (0.0%)

When I have tickyboxes, I ...

View Answers

tick one
5 (29.4%)

tick them all
6 (35.3%)

tick whichever ones I like
14 (82.4%)

something else
2 (11.8%)

Tally

( Days 1-5 )

Day 6:

alightbuthappypen,

badly_knitted,

brithistorian,

carenejeans,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

goddess47,

luzula,

sanguinity,

shadaras,

sylvanwitch,

the_siobhan,

trobadora,

ysilme

Day 7:

badly_knitted,

brithistorian,

carenejeans,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

goddess47,

shadaras,

sanguinity,

sylvanwitch,

trobadora

Day 8:

china_shop,

trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

shewhostaples

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

Rec The Contents Of Your Last Page

Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!

I think my actual last page was APOD, which my feed reader seems to be showing a few days behind the times. And that's a pleasing thing to recommend, on the slim chance that someone hasn't encountered it before: it's interesting and beautiful.

For something that's probably more obscure, though I hadn't visited for a while, Hidden Europe is equally fascinating. The magazines got me through lockdown - deckchair travel in my back garden - and now the articles are going online one by one. People, places, train travel.

chicating

. Do you have a favourite cause that you support? Yes, I have a lot...mostly, these days they involve the left wing of the Democratic Party and trying to bring it back to its roots and all that.

2. If so, how do you support it? Money, and many, many phone calls. I've pulled back a little, though, both for logistics and because it can eat up my life if I let it. Which would be one thing,if I, say, met my husband doing that stuff and it was, you know, us and our shared obsessions against the world, Jane-and- Bernie style, but my personal identity just suffers if I dive in too deeply.(And, no, it hasn't really turned out to be a great way to get a date because "You'd have so much in common." I was hoping, but not so far. For bohemians, everyone seems to be super-attached. blah. Although I guess if I ever did meet someone, I wouldn't have to worry about movement work messing up our longevity? Dig me, with the heart half-full for the next twelve minutes. I could still meet somebody! Like the peach that's still fresh...if you eat it *right now*)

3. Have you been an active member of an organization (attending meetings, volunteering, etc)? Probably the most unusual answer to this question involves the few ADAPT actions I went to, but I got sick from the plane--never flying again without a mask--and I promised my mother I'd stop, as I infected my everything. I still talk up the fact that I did it though.

4. Have you ever led any group? Does it sound like I ever led any groups? I've been on several advisory committees and people don't take my advice.

5. If so, how was your experience with it?
OR: 5. If not, why, is it a conscious choice, of lack of opportunity?Yes, both.

Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.

chicating

(Here in Phoenix, not on Dreamwidth) but I went ahead and sent the op-ed to the newspaper. Which they will probably ignore because "I've lived here my whole life and I'm like a disease,"(I'm quoting "Sixteen Candles" here--people do kind of let fly about what's wrong with me in general, but nobody really said that!)
I wonder if it would be worse knowing there is somewhere I *could* fit, but that it would be really hard for me to ever get there. OR that I have given life so much side-eye over the years that I'm just...permanently outside and there is no real place that is, you know, *my place.* People don't like me here unless they've got thankless volunteer commitments to hand out.(I do try to help, but I can't always keep up, and anyway, that's not what they meant on Law and Order when they talked about Ties To The Community, I don't think.)

Even the whole "online tribe" thing feels like it's breaking down a bit. Which is probably inevitable, given that one doesn't stay a wide-eyed rookie who can't believe her luck forever(and my whole twitter list broke up... I still think I'm glad I didn't hobble over to bluesky and start being the same fool twice(probably three times, really) by reconstructing something that can't be rebuilt.

Current Mood: lonely
Current Music: wind and rain outside!

ysabetwordsmith

This year I'm doing Community Thursdays. Some of my activity will involve maintaining communities I run, and my favorites. Some will involve checking my list of subscriptions and posting in lower-traffic ones. Today I have interacted with the following communities...

Posted 10 Products to Help You Keep Your 2026 New Year’s Resolutions at

goals_on_dw.

Posted "Reading Challenges" on

25book_pwd.

Posted "Reading Challenges" on

50books_poc.

Commented under 01/07/26 on

abc_onceupon.

Commented under Hi There by

dr_zook on

friending_memes.
-- and under the comment thread by

tamena.
-- and under the comment thread by

forestofdreams.
-- and under the comment thread for

autumninpluto.
-- and under the comment thread for

adoptedwriter.

Commented under "Love Note to Quadrants" on

100quadrantedships.

Commented under "Love Note To The Sedoretu" in

40sedoretu.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy, chilly, breezy, and wet. It rained earlier, and has been spitting rain occasionally.

I fed the birds. I haven't seen any though.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/8/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 1/8/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

Now dozens of sparrows are suddenly mobbing the hopper feeder.

EDIT 1/8/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen some sparrows, and a larger dark-colored bird that may have been a starling or a grackle. The light was too low to tell exactly, even though it was on the metal tray feeder.

It's been spitting rain off and on. Heavier rain is forecast for tonight.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

linky

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

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Sukeban Deka 1 Ost

dolorosa_12

snowflake_challenge prompt 4 asks the following:

Rec The Contents Of Your Last Page

Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!

Given that the last non-work website that I looked at was a somewhat grim political podcast, I'm going to reinterpret this as an opportunity to link a weird and wonderful piece of longform journalism that I've had bookmarked for a while: The snail farm don: is this the most brazen tax avoidance scheme of all time?

The title doesn't do it justice, and neither does my summary: a septugenarian who made his money in his family's shoe-selling business empire in the north of England, and has decades-long associations with the mafia in Naples (including hiding mafia members on the run in his properties in the UK) has for the past several years invested most of his time and energy in exploiting an elaborate UK tax loophole by which — if you claim to be running a snail farm on your property (including in residential blocks of flats or office buildings) — you pay no tax. In his telling, he's doing this purely to pass the time and keep his mind active in his later years. It's a wild ride.

This kind of written long-form journalism, essay or interview — with left-field subject matter and larger-than-life personalities — is my absolutely favourite type of nonfiction.

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

lea_hazel

I'm posting this letter on Thursday the 8th (unfinished) so that I can complete my sign-up. I intend to fill in the details by Saturday the 10th (inclusive). If I have failed to do that, you, my assigned writer, have my permission to just use the sign-up itself and go hog wild.

My requested fandoms: ( Fandoms )

General likes: ( General likes )

General DNWs: ( General DNWs )

Fandom-specific prompts: ( Fandom-specific prompts )

vriddy

It's been SIX DAYS without an update on the (still uncategorised) K-9 fandom tag!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

I want to make a new icon, too. (Edit: Did it :D)

The Shirt Bandit Incident(s) | K-9 | Ren/Oboro/Fujimaru/Kagari | 1.3k words | rated T

Summary: Everyone in Division 9 is issued with the same standard black shirt, so it's easy to get confused about which belongs to whom. Easy to pretend to be, anyway.

Read it on Dreamwidth or on AO3.

vriddy

The revisions for this chapter involved reducing the instances of "annoying", "annoyed", "annoyance" to huh fewer than the original 15 times but probably still too many XD That's what Narumi inspires, I suppose ;)

Warm as life | Kaijuu No. 8 | Kafka/Reno/Narumi, Reno/Iharu, Kafka/Hoshina | 9k words (WIP, 5/7) | 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.

dustbunny105

It it Already Wednesday and that means it's WIP WEDNESDAY!!

Haven't done the game in a hot minute but I'd like to lean into it this year to see if it helps my writing goals at all. Except I think I want to try actually posting on Wednesdays. Y'know, since it's in the name and all. I obviously haven't asked for any prompts, so I hit the button on a random word generator until it gave me something I could find in my drafts.

( Read more... )

Now that's posted, the floor is open for prompts for next week! I don't think right off that I've had any new friends here since the last time I did this but just in case, I'll go over the rules again. They are very simple! Give me a word-- or a few words-- and I'll search my drafts. If I find any of the prompt words, I'll post an excerpt that includes them. If I don't, I have to write something new using the same prompt or prompts.

And since we're already here-- tell me what you're working on! Writing, crafting, home projects, etc!

vriddy

Community Thursday challenge: every Thursday, try to make an effort to engage with a community on Dreamwidth, whether that's posting, commenting, promoting, etc.

Over the last week... I have apparently been very very active??! XD Had to check I didn't accidentally leave in my notes from last week!

Posted and commented on bnha_fans. Vigilantes season 2 started! :D

Commented on anime_manga.

Commented on candyheartsex (that is, did a canon promo for K-9 :D ACT SURPRISED, QUICK!!). You might still be able to sign up in time today?? In the next huh 10 minutes I guess good luck

Commented on goals_on_dw.

Commented on common_nature (heron! ice!)

Commented on threeforthememories, a comm that I look forward to seeing on my reading page every January. Consider this a signal boost, too!

Commented on getyourwordsout.

Commented on smallbatchicons.

Promoted octobercest, finalfantasy, friending_memes, snowflake_challenge.

Signal boosts:

findthatbook - I like plugging this comm because the more readers know about it, the more helpful it becomes... and also someone needs help right now!!
moodthemeinayear is starting up again, if you'd like to try your hand at creating a mood theme for Dreamwidth this year, together with a chill and supportive community :D There are various ways to go about it so it's not as overwhelming as it might first sound.
Via followfriday, there's a new comm for the Heated Rivalry folks around here :D gamechangerhr
Also cultivativity, a space for cultivating creativity but without the pressures that can come with a challenge, may be of interest to some of you here!

dustbunny105

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!

I love the Transformers fan wiki. It was a huge help when I was first getting back into Transformers, especially as I was completely new to the comic book universe that brought me back, and I love being introduced through it to parts of the brand I didn't know about. The site and community have their issues but it's a painstaking passionate project and even if I wasn't into Transformers at all, I'd still admire that.

Easily my most visited page, though, is the list of female transformers. Which, tbh, I have mixed feelings about. Because, yeah, having a page dedicated to listing the femformers does inherently other them. You won't find an equivalent page for the fellas. But on the other hand, the ladies by and large get paid dirt by both canon and fandom. So, until such time that they're treated equally, don't they deserve to be spotlighted in even this small way? Especially when so many of them are so obscure and could be so easily overlooked otherwise. I see fans all the time, in more or less good faith, shrug off the lack of legacy female characters because, well, you can count the number of female transformers on one hand and still flip off Hasbro, right? So, having an easy way to point to the several hundred existing female characters is nice. Besides that, I have a female-focused Transformers prompts blog on Tumblr and I get a lot of inspiration just from looking at them all listed out.

Profile

Fem Thoughts: Meta about Women and/or Femslash

August 2025

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Page Summary

ysabetwordsmith - Animal Communication
ysabetwordsmith - Follow Friday 1-9-26: Led Zeppelin
ysabetwordsmith - Poem: "The Two Cottages"
dustbunny105 - (no subject)
ninamazing - "I can walk, Martha. It just hurts."
ysabetwordsmith - New verses in "An Inkling of Things to Come"
trobadora - Write Every day 2026: January, Day 8
shewhostaples - Snowflake Challenge: day 4
chicating - First Friday Five Of 2026
chicating - I Don't Belong Here...
ysabetwordsmith - Community Thursdays
ysabetwordsmith - Birdfeeding
linky - Community Thursday
dolorosa_12 - Snowflake Challenge 4: an excuse for a linkpost
lea_hazel - Purimgifts 2026 letter
vriddy - New K-9 fic: The Shirt Bandit Incident(s) (Ren/Oboro/Fujimaru/Kagari)
vriddy - Kaijuu No. 8 fic update: Warm as life (Kafka/Reno/Narumi, Reno/Iharu, Kafka/Hoshina) - WIP 5/7
dustbunny105 - (no subject)
vriddy - Community Thursday WOOOO
dustbunny105 - (no subject)

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Page generated Jan. 9th, 2026 09:04 am

Fem Thoughts

For the thoughtful discussion of women, femslash, and assorted other topics

Member Posts

Animal Communication

Follow Friday 1-9-26: Led Zeppelin

Poem: "The Two Cottages"

(no subject)

"I can walk, Martha. It just hurts."

New verses in "An Inkling of Things to Come"

Write Every day 2026: January, Day 8

Snowflake Challenge: day 4

First Friday Five Of 2026

I Don't Belong Here...

Community Thursdays

Birdfeeding

Community Thursday

Snowflake Challenge 4: an excuse for a linkpost

Purimgifts 2026 letter

New K-9 fic: The Shirt Bandit Incident(s) (Ren/Oboro/Fujimaru/Kagari)

Kaijuu No. 8 fic update: Warm as life (Kafka/Reno/Narumi, Reno/Iharu, Kafka/Hoshina) - WIP 5/7

(no subject)

Community Thursday WOOOO

(no subject)

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August 2025

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