ysabetwordsmith: Damask smiling over their shoulder (polychrome)
2025-07-06 10:49 pm

Poem: "An Interest in the Affairs of Your Government"

This poem is spillover from the March 4, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from [personal profile] wyld_dandelyon. It also fills the "Secrets" square in my 3-1-25 card for the Tolkien Bingo Fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony Barrette. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics.

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ysabetwordsmith: Damask smiling over their shoulder (polychrome)
2025-07-06 10:05 pm

Poem: "Always Surprised by Consequences"

This poem came out of the July 1, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from [personal profile] rix_scaedu. It also fills "The Harder They Fall" square in my 7-1-25 card for the Western Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by [personal profile] janetmiles. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics.

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ysabetwordsmith: Damask smiling over their shoulder (polychrome)
2025-07-06 06:18 pm

Poem: "No Such Thing as Finished"

This poem is spillover from the July 1, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from [personal profile] jake67jake. It also fills the "He's all hat and no cattle." square in my 7-1-25 card for the Western Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by [personal profile] janetmiles. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics.

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ysabetwordsmith: Damask smiling over their shoulder (polychrome)
2025-07-02 10:48 pm

Thanks to a donation from [personal profile] fuzzyred, you can now read the rest of "In the Heart of the Hidden Garden."  Lawrence gives Stan a tour of two more buildings and two more gardens -- and then explains why.
ysabetwordsmith: Shaeth is drunk (one god)
2025-07-01 02:01 pm

Poem: "The Pleasure of Escaping the Responsibility"

This is today's freebie. It was inspired by a prompt from [personal profile] torc87. It also fills the "I tried being reasonable. I didn't like it." square in my 7-1-25 card for the Western Bingo fest. This poem belongs to the series One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis.

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ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
2025-06-29 05:57 pm

New Crowdfunding Project: Land of Eem

Land of Eem: Beginners RPG for Kids + Underlands Expansion
Dungeoneer Adventures Beginners RPG—an easy, fun, family game—plus The Underlands Sandbox, a brand new setting for Land of Eem.

$150,187 pledged of $75,000 goal
1,234 backers
19 days to go

Land of Eem: Dungeoneer Adventures is an easy-to-learn, easy-to-play, and easy-to-run tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) box set for kids. Players take on the roles of students attending Dungeoneer Academy, a school where kids train to become full-fledged adventurers and explorers in the fantastical Land of Eem.


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ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
2025-06-27 11:14 pm

Bingo

I have made bingo down the G column of my 6-2-15 card for the Pride Fest Bingo, plus 7 extra fills. That covers Row 5 also.


G1 (support) -- "Fatherhood Is Support" (standalone)
G2 (aroace) -- "Preparing Every Nook and Cranny" (Polychrome Heroics: Finn Family and Mallory)
G3 (found family) -- "Born and Found and Made" (standalone)
G4 ("I'd rather eat cake") -- "The Bond with a Dog" (Polychrome Heroics)
G5 (belonging) -- "Worthy of Love and Belonging" (Polychrome Heroics: Kraken)

B3 (activism) -- "The Result of Your Own Bad Behavior" (Monster House)
B5 (unlabeled) -- "Emodox" (A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows)

I3 (rainbow) -- "Along These Sympathetic Fibers" (Peculiar Obligations)
I5 (community) -- "When Warmth and Gentleness Are Needed" (Clay of Life)

N1 (growth) -- "Tomato Seedlings in Tin Cans" (Daughters of the Apocalypse)
N5 (comfort) -- "All It Takes to Be Invulnerable" (Polychrome Heroics: Marionettes)

O5 (validation) -- "Choose to Be Gentle" (Arts and Crafts America)
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
2025-06-24 12:57 am

Feathering the Nest

[personal profile] dialecticdreamer is hosting Feathering the Nest, which always has a theme of fluff and comfort.   Leave prompts, get ficlets!
ysabetwordsmith: Damask smiling over their shoulder (polychrome)
2025-06-22 09:53 pm

Thanks to a donation from [personal profile] lone_cat, there are 24 new verses of "In the Heart of the Hidden Garden." Lawrence shows Stan the Iron Courtyard.
ysabetwordsmith: A blue sheep holding a quill dreams of Dreamwidth (Dreamsheep)
2025-06-20 12:04 am
Entry tags:

Follow Friday 6-20-25: Highlander

Today's theme is Highlander.

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ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
2025-06-15 11:32 pm

Worldbuilding

How to Color Your Map Using SCIENCE!

Sketching out a map for a setting can be a lot of fun. Drawing a map gives you a bird’s-eye view of the world, a way to spatially organize plot arcs, and can be a great piece of artwork in its own right. But like most works of fiction, the creator should remember to keep it as believable as possible. This might be less important or less possible for unrecognizably alien worlds. Maps of Earth-like settings, however, can benefit from following some basic rules. Forests, tundras, deserts and plains don’t appear arbitrarily. These biomes are located where they are on Earth due to the way air and water circulate in the atmosphere – and any Earth-like world should follow the same basic rules for its atmosphere that Earth does.

But who wants to spend time researching atmospheric science just to know which parts of their map to color green, brown, or beige? Well, I do, so let me save you some trouble by relaying what I’ve learned
.

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ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
2025-06-13 03:16 pm

Poetry Fishbowl Themes for Late 2025

This poll covers the ideas proposed in the recent call for themes. Everyone is eligible to vote in this poll. I will keep it open until at least Saturday night. If there are clear answers then, I'll close it. Otherwise I may leave it open a little longer. If you don't have a Dreamwidth account, you can vote in an anonymous comment or email to me, but include some kind of handle to distinguish yourself.

For this poll, you can vote for as many themes as you find appealing. I recommend that you don't vote for all of them, since that makes it harder to whittle down the list. The themes are arranged in alphabetical order.

Here are your options ...

Poll #33248 Poetry Fishbowl Themes for Late 2025
This poll is closed.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 19


Which of these themes do you want featured in future fishbowls?

View Answers

Angels and Demons
5 (26.3%)

Apocalyptic Visions
3 (15.8%)

Books and Learning
11 (57.9%)

Building Mental Linkages
2 (10.5%)

Changing Personality One Habit at a Time
8 (42.1%)

Communication Styles
10 (52.6%)

Dealing with Frustration
7 (36.8%)

Emotional Regulation
9 (47.4%)

Empathy and Understanding
3 (15.8%)

Empowering Language
6 (31.6%)

Ergonomics
1 (5.3%)

Exercise and Stretching
2 (10.5%)

Faeries and Fey
9 (47.4%)

False Economy
4 (21.1%)

Fixing Loneliness or Overwhelm
8 (42.1%)

Fixit
6 (31.6%)

Goddesses and Divas
7 (36.8%)

Immigrants and Refugees
8 (42.1%)

"Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil."
8 (42.1%)

Knowledge Webs
3 (15.8%)

Language as Power and Power as a Language
7 (36.8%)

Leadership in Unusual Situations
6 (31.6%)

Managing Change and Disruption
2 (10.5%)

Non-Book Learning and Knowledge
8 (42.1%)

Ordinary Characters in Epic Stories
8 (42.1%)

Overlooked Key Moments
2 (10.5%)

Patterns and Patterning
9 (47.4%)

Personhood
5 (26.3%)

Pirates, Rascals, and Rogues
3 (15.8%)

Putting Traumatic Memories in Context
4 (21.1%)

Recognition and Recollection
3 (15.8%)

Sentient and Self-Aware Machines
9 (47.4%)

Strength in Numbers or Alone
4 (21.1%)

Time Travel Twists
9 (47.4%)

Unexpected Leadership
8 (42.1%)

Unlikely or Unwieldy Weapons
6 (31.6%)

Weaponized Incompetence and Malicious Compliance
11 (57.9%)

Westerns
2 (10.5%)

Work, Leisure, and Hobbies
6 (31.6%)

ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
2025-06-12 10:53 pm

Poetry Fishbowl Update

If you want to suggest themes for upcoming Poetry Fishbowls, now is the time.  I plan to set up the poll tomorrow (Friday).  You can put your theme ideas in a comment below the Call for Themes post
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
2025-06-10 03:05 am

Magpie Monday

[personal profile] dialecticdreamer is hosting Magpie Monday with a theme of "recovering from nightmares."


For each person who sends at least one prompt, I’ll write a story, send it via private message or (for too long fills) an email, then write a brief thumbnail summary and post that in reply to the comment, and move on.

The prompt call will be open until around midnight local time on late Tuesday/early Wednesday, which gives everyone time to join in
.
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
2025-06-09 09:03 pm

Summer of the 69

[community profile] summerofthe69 is now open! You can see the calendar here and the comment prompt post.  The initial theme is "First Time 69: Everyone has to start somewhere."

Welcome to Summer of the 69, an event focused on creative works about the sexual position, open to all fandoms and to original works. Participation is through two means: A comment meme and weekly themes, running from June 9th through September 6th.


Poke a bigot in the eye, make some sexy stuff!
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
2025-06-09 08:28 pm

Call for Themes

We've reached the end of scheduled themes for the Poetry Fishbowl project. It's time to brainstorm some new themes! These are a few that I've jotted down earlier, ones that I've thought up or people have suggested, to give you an idea what kind of stuff might be suitable:

* Angels and Demons
* Apocalyptic Visions
* Emotional Regulation
* Faeries and Fey
* Fixit
* Pirates, Rascals, and Rogues
* Time Travel
* Westerns

What other themes would you like to see me write about? What would you like to buy? Suggest them in a comment below this post.

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ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
2025-06-07 07:12 pm

Today's Adventures

Today we went to the Fairy Market in Effingham. :D

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