popcornfairy28

[popcornfairy28]

unsung benefit i think a lot of ppl are sleeping on with using the public library is that i think its a great replacement for the dopamine hit some ppl get from online shopping. it kind of fills that niche of reserving something that you then get to anticipate the arrival of and enjoy when it arrives, but without like, the waste and the money.

[popcornfairy28]

We need to do what we can to protect the Internet Archive. Here is a petition that you can sign.

This petition alone might not be enough, but everything we can throw at this counts.

[popcornfairy28]

Inklings Challenge 2025: Official Announcement

The Event

The Inklings Challenge invites Christian writers to create science fiction and fantasy stories from a Christian worldview. All writers who sign up for the the challenge before October 1st, 2025 will be randomly assigned to one of three teams that are each challenged to write a story that fits at least one of two assigned genres. Writers will also choose at least one of eight Christian themes to inspire their story.

After teams are assigned on October 1, 2025, writers will have until October 21, 2025 to write a science fiction or fantasy story that fits their assigned genre and uses at least one of the Christian themes in the provided list. There is no maximum or minimum word limit, but because of the short time frame, the challenge is focused on short stories.

The Teams

Inspired by a similar challenge between J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis to write, respectively, a time travel story and a space travel story, the Inklings Challenge uses these authors (and G.K. Chesterton) as the namesake for each team. Each team is given both a fantasy and a science fiction option, so writers can choose the genre that is most comfortable for them. (However, writers shouldn’t be afraid to use the science fiction option as inspiration for a fantasy story, and vice versa. They can also choose to use both genres in one story, or write multiple stories). Writers may define for themselves which types of stories fit under each genre.

Team Lewis

Portal Fantasy: Stories where someone from the real world explores a new world

Space Travel: Stories about traveling through space or exploring other planets

Team Tolkien

Secondary World Fantasy: Stories that takes place in an imaginary realm that’s completely separate from our world

Time Travel: Stories exploring travel through time

Team Chesterton

Intrusive Fantasy: Stories where the fantastical elements intrude into the real world

Earth Travel: Science fiction or fantasy stories that feature any kind of land, sea, air, or underground travel on a past, present, future or alternate Earth

These teams will be assigned at random on October 1st, 2025. Writers are then encouraged to write a story before the deadline on October 21st.

The Themes

To add a Christian flavor to the event, writers are asked to incorporate a Christian theme to their story. This year, writers are asked to use at least one of the Eight Beatitudes as inspiration for their story. The beatitude may inspire any element of their story that they choose--whether it's the entire plot, a character, or even just a single moment.

The eight themes writers may choose from are:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Joining the Challenge

Writers who wish to join this year's Inklings Challenge must sign up before teams are assigned on October 1, 2025 by contacting this blog and signing up in one of the following ways:

Reply to this announcement post

Send a direct message to this blog

Leave an ask in this blog's inbox

This blog will reply to all writers who express interest once they are added to this year's participation list. A list of participants will be posted early in September and updated periodically through the month, so participants can make sure their usernames are included. If a writer changes their mind about participating, they can contact the blog to remove their username from the list.

All tumblr users who are on the list on October 1st, 2025 will be assigned to one of the three Inklings Challenge teams on that date.

Posting the Stories

Completed stories can be posted to a tumblr blog anytime after the categories are assigned on October 1st. Writers are encouraged to post their stories–whether finished or incomplete–before the deadline on October 21st, but they can post their stories, or the remainders of unfinished stories, after that date.

All stories will be reblogged and archived on the main Inklings Challenge blog. To assist with organization, writers should tag their posts as follows:

Mention the main Challenge blog @inklings-challenge somewhere within the body of the post (which will hopefully alert the Challenge blog).

Tag the story #inklingschallenge, to ensure it shows up in the Challenge tag, and make it more likely that the Challenge blog will find it.

Tag the team that the author is writing for: #team lewis, #team tolkien, or #team chesterton. 

Tag the genre the story falls under: #genre: portal fantasy, #genre: space travel, #genre: secondary world, #genre: time travel, #genre: intrusive fantasy, #genre: earth travel

Tag any themes that were used within the story: #theme: poor in spirit, #theme: mourn, #theme: meek, #theme: righteousness, #theme: mercy, #theme: clean of heart, #theme: peacemaker, #theme: persecution

Tag the completion status of the story: #story: complete or #story: unfinished

And that’s the Inklings Challenge! Any questions, comments or concerns that aren’t covered there can be sent to this blog, and I’ll do my best to answer them.

[popcornfairy28]

It’s crazy and fucked up that being yourself is actually the solution.

[popcornfairy28]

babe wake up! new phineas and ferb sporcle quiz just dropped! reblog and tag how many you got!

[popcornfairy28]

Reblog this and put in the tags what you think your role is in your fandom.

[popcornfairy28]

I finally post a fic rather than podfic for the first time this year, and it’s another WIP rather than an update for one of my ongoing WIPs because of course 🤣at least it’s part of the Perry the Teenage Spy series, which has two WIPs currently on AO3, so really in a way it’s updating a WIP...just kinda out of order lol

Anyway, enjoy the first episode of the season 5 rewrite for my human Perry AU, Perry the Teenage Spy. I did say I would do it as it came out. Season 1 and extra scenes updates will be in the coming week or so. 

[popcornfairy28]

Unrelated, Best Boy Hank Green made a cute, no subscription, not invasive and full of malwares app.

It's a cute lil app that helps you step away from your phone and leave it alone for a time you set, to stay away from distraction. If you pick up the phone, the knitting lil bean loses all of his knitting... So if you say "I'm setting down my phone for half an hour so I can efficiently clean the table and bag up the trash" it helps resisting the call of the screen. Because you can't make the bean sad. The bean is too cute.

4th place in the downloads jfc. I think people are starved for simple and honest softwares with no evils schemes and data stealing

[popcornfairy28]

You are never letting a WIP rot. You are doing it a service. Your WIP is a sourdough starter and the five words you wrote that one day were all it needed to sustain itself. It will bubble and be ready when you are.

[popcornfairy28]

its always fun being around someone who's never been in the midwest when its tornado siren test day. just silent hill casually happening outside and nobody else is batting a single eye at hearing it, it's just background noise. but to that newbie it must be kind of alarming to hear? especially when *nobody else is even acknowledging it's happening most of the time*.

like, oh, yeah, sorry, should've warned you this happens every month dwai.

most common question i've heard is "...what if there's an actual tornado during the siren practice-" and the answer is usually "there'd hopefully be a phone ping as well or things on the news" coupled with "go look at the sky and see how it's doing, you'll know"

which is a whole other level of midwest where yeah there's REAL tornado sirens but a lot of us will be on the porch keeping an eye on it for a while.

[popcornfairy28]

5 Tiny Writing Tips That Aren’t Talked About Enough (but work for me)

These are some lowkey underrated tips I’ve seen floating around writing communities — the kind that don’t get flashy attention but seriously changed how I write.

1. Put “he/she/they” at the start of the sentence less often.

Try switching up your sentence rhythm. Instead of

“She walked to the window,”

try

“The window creaked open under her touch.”

Keeps it fresh and stops the paragraph from sounding like a checklist.

2. Don’t describe everything — describe what matters.

Instead of listing every detail in a room, pick 2–3 objects that say something.

“A half-drunk mug of tea and a knife on the table”

sets a way stronger tone than

“There was a wooden table, two chairs, and a shelf.”

3. Use beats instead of dialogue tags sometimes.

Instead of:

"I'm fine," she said.

Try:

"I'm fine." She wiped her hands on her skirt.

It helps shows emotion, and movement.

4. Write your first draft like no one will ever read it.

No pressure. No perfection. Just vibes. The point of draft one is to exist. Let it be messy and weird — future you will thank you for at least something to edit.

5. When stuck, ask: “What’s the most fun thing that could happen next?”

Not logical. Not realistic. FUN. It doesn’t have to stay — but chasing excitement can blast through writer’s block and give you ideas you actually want to write.

What’s a tip that unexpectedly helped with your writing? Let me know!! 🍒

[popcornfairy28]

Reblog to give mutuals a break from whatever they're been going through

[popcornfairy28]

“if you’re sensitive to sounds when sleeping, just use earplugs!” i cannot stress enough that the sensory feeling of having my ears fully blocked AND now being able to hear my own heartbeat and breathing and every other sound that’s happening inside my own body is a million times worse than whatever ambient noise may be keeping me awake

[popcornfairy28]

Fun Story to Share.

I got my (now 18-year-old) daughter into Ao3 back in 2021. I taught her she should always comment - even if the fic looks old or abandoned or whatever. She did.

Well - she got this email this morning:

The fic was written in 2014 and essentially abandoned.

Bethy read and reviewed in 2021 (and was actually the only person who had commented at all).

Today in 2025 - the final chapter was posted by the author and this was her reply to Bethy’s comment.

———

Never question whether a fic is too old to comment on.

[popcornfairy28]

(signing up for the PodRPG): why yes my deity is Phineas and Ferb

[popcornfairy28]

Do you like TTRPGs? Do you like podficcing? Do you do neither of those but would like to have fun going on an adventure and creating stuff?

Where in the Whole Wide World is Carmen Sandielmo? is a TTRPG-inspired podfic challenge in which squads of players are given a series of tasks to complete in order to reach the end of their quest. Each player can choose a class with specific skills as well as a level of effort.

[popcornfairy28]

call me candace flynn the way I obsess over phineas and ferb every day