spockette | Reading

apod_feed

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These cosmic clouds have blossomed 1,300 light-years away

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otw_news_feed

Posted by Caitlynne

https://www.transformativeworks.org/ao3-releases-0-9-440-0-9-446-change-log/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=275827

We spent the end of October and whole of November rolling out improvements across the site—from multiple fixes to the Download and Chapter Index menus on small screens to refreshing our footer and error pages to link to the status page. We also made an important security change: password resets can now only be requested using an email address when logged out. For some exciting news, we also finished our work making AO3 emails translatable! We’re now going to target other areas of AO3 for internationalization.

Special thanks and welcome to first-time contributors Danaël / Rever, Daniel Haven, Edgar San Martin, Jr, Jennifer He, Kiyazz, Lisa Huang, mgettytehan, ProtonDev, quen, ryeleap, Snehal Mane, and TangkoNoAi!

Credits

Coders: alien, anna, Bilka, Brian Austin, Ceithir, Cubostar, Danaël / Rever, Daniel Haven, EchoEkhi, Edgar San Martin, Jr, Jennifer He, Kiyazz, Lisa Huang, marcus8448, mgettytehan, ProtonDev, quen, ryeleap, sarken, Scott, slavalamp, Snehal Mane, TangkoNoAi, weeklies, Yanpei Wang
Code reviewers: anna, Bilka, bingeling, Brian Austin, ceithir, Hamham6, lydia-theda, marcus8448, ömer faruk, sarken, weeklies
Testers: Aster, Bilka, Brian Austin, calamario, choux, Deniz, hvalrann, Irina, Lute, lydia-theda, marcus8448, ömer faruk, pk2317, Sam Johnsson, sarken, Teyris, therealmorticia, wichard

Details

0.9.440

On October 28, we made some small changes to a variety of areas of the site, including updating our footer and error pages to link to the status page.

[AO3-7129] – Bluesky blocks AO3’s attempts to check whether a URL on the site is active, so we’re now skipping the check when you try to create an external bookmark of a Bluesky URL or try to mark a work as inspired by something hosted on Bluesky.
[AO3-7149] – We removed some unused code for formatting text.
[AO3-7175] – We updated cache-apt-pkgs-action from 1.5.3 to 1.6.0.
[AO3-7178] – We updated the gems for Sentry, our error tracking and performance monitoring service.
[AO3-6167] – When logged in as admin, restricted series are now included on a user’s series page and counted in their dashboard sidebar.
[AO3-7027] – We’ve been posting status updates on our status page and Bluesky account for a while now, so we’ve updated a number of pages to reflect that.
[AO3-7040] – We restricted the ability to search through invitations to admins with certain roles, instead of allowing all admins access to the search.
[AO3-7104] – We updated the page used for claiming your works if they were imported by Open Doors.
[AO3-7167] – When someone reports a comment to our Policy & Abuse committee (PAC), the report now automatically includes the user ID of the person who left the comment.
[AO3-6484] – We made a small change to the code that generates the HTML class names we use for hiding work blurbs by muted users. We were hoping this tweak would improve performance, but unfortunately it made it worse. So we reverted it later.

0.9.441

On November 5, we made some improvements to the admin side of AO3 and deployed the first of what would be several changes to fix issues with the Chapter Index and Download menus on small screens.

[AO3-6484] – We reverted the change to the blurb code that worsened performance (it’s later).
[AO3-4519] – If two of your pseuds are set as owners of a collection, the collection will no longer be counted twice in your dashboard sidebar.
[AO3-7142] – Under certain circumstances, the number of collections in a user’s sidebar was different than the number of collections on the user’s collections page. The number on the collections page was right, so we updated the one in the sidebar to match.
[AO3-7166] – We upgraded the will_paginate gem to version 4.0.1 to fix a deprecation warning.
[AO3-7183] – We upgraded the version of actions/upload-artifact from 4 to 5.
[AO3-4629] – On small screens, the Download and Chapter Index menus could overlap the buttons, making them impossible to close. We made them narrower and adjusted their position to make sure you can always close them.
[AO3-6542] – We gave specific admins the ability to access user Preference pages.
[AO3-6833] – When you submit a ticket to PAC or Support, the submission to their ticket trackers will now automatically include information about which form you submitted.
[AO3-6931] – We split the “Assignments sent” and the “Challenge default by USER” into two separate emails and updated the text while we were at it.
[AO3-7071] – We made the emails you get when you reply to a comment translatable.
[AO3-7171] – We will now include the user ID of a profile page when it is reported to PAC.

0.9.442

On November 8, we deployed a single-issue release to fix menus having problems on multi-chapter works.

[AO3-7195] – Following our last release to update Download and Chapter Index menus, we fixed a bug from that update which was causing Chapter and Download menus to be cut off on small screens.

0.9.443

On November 17, we deployed a grab bag release targeting bugs and improvements in a variety of areas. We also made a change to improve account security by only allowing password resets using an email address (as compared to a username) if you’re logged out. We announced this change on social media as well to get the word out.

[AO3-3976] – Series links in subscription emails will now show up in red and be stylized like all other email links.
[AO3-6054] – Works marked as inspired by or a translation of an existing work would show on your Related Works page even if you hadn’t approved the relationship—now they won’t do that!
[AO3-7134] – The tips for new users linked in the new user help banner will once again open in a pop-up instead of as an ugly, unstyled page.
[AO3-7159] – You’ll no longer get an empty message if you press Accept or Reject on the Co-Creator Requests page with nothing selected.
[AO3-7180] – The pseud name field is now marked as required on the page for creating a new pseud.
[AO3-7202] – We fixed a issue that was causing the Chapter Index menu to be cut off in the Low Vision Default skin.
[AO3-7061] – To reduce unsolicited password reset emails, logged out users who want to reset their password must now enter the email address associated with their account, not their username.
[AO3-7204] – We upgraded appleboy/ssh-action from one version to another.
[AO3-7037] – If you request a password reset and it fails, it will now redirect you to the Reset Password page instead of the homepage.
[AO3-7039] – We’ve restricted which admin accounts have the ability to grant invitations to people waiting in the queue.
[AO3-7070] – We prepared the emails you get when you leave a comment on a work, admin post, or tag (if you’re a tag wrangler) for translation.
[AO3-7115] – We updated the error messages you may get when you request a password reset while logged-in and something goes wrong.

0.9.445

Our November 25 release was a big milestone: all existing AO3 emails have been internationalized and are ready to be translated!

(Our deploy script accidentally bumped us ahead, so this ended up being released as 0.9.445 instead of 0.9.444.)

[AO3-5542] – If a gift exchange didn’t use tags, its Sign-up Summary page used to have a permanent and misleading message saying the summary was being generated. We’ve updated it to display the correct message: “Tags were not used in this Challenge, so there is no summary to display here.”
[AO3-5668] – When determining whether to display the “Fandom” sort button, the challenge request summary sometimes ended up loading all prompts in the collection—now it won’t!
[AO3-7187] – If you try to create a skin with a title that’s more than 255 characters long, we’ll now tell you the title is too long instead of giving you a 500 error.
[AO3-7190] – Trying to create skins that included a ^ used to result in error messages missing part of the text. We’ve fixed that, which should make the error message far more helpful.
[AO3-7201] – We made one more change to the Chapter Index menu, which was still too narrow in some browsers on Android devices.
[AO3-7205] – You can add private bookmarks to collections even though they won’t be listed on the collections’ Bookmarked Items page. We’ve now added a warning to the success banner to let you know to expect this.
[AO3-6941] – We’ve added more information to the browser titles of many of our comment-related pages.
[AO3-7056] – The emails you get when someone replies to or edits a reply to a comment you’ve left are now ready to be translated.
[AO3-7116] – We updated the wording of the reset password link on the login form.
[AO3-7168] – When a series is reported to PAC, the report now automatically includes the IDs of the series creators.

0.9.446

Our November 30 release focused on changes submitted by first-time contributors to our project!

[AO3-7121] – We fixed a bug that was causing bookmarks of unrevealed works to link to the work’s Bookmark page even if you weren’t the work creator.
[AO3-7133] – The “Flat View” button on your Statistics page wasn’t styled correctly when selected—but now it is!
[AO3-7181] – For tracking purposes, admins have to enter a valid ticket ID in order to edit a user’s pseud or profile. We’ve made sure the field for the ticket ID is clearly marked as required.
[AO3-7185] – We’ve removed the comment form on draft works and replaced it with a message saying you can’t comment on draft works.
[AO3-7138] – We standardized the way the code displays participants in Collections so that site skins with CSS distinguishing them will correctly see participants displayed on both People and Membership pages.
[AO3-7212] – We updated the version of actions/checkout from version 5 to version 6.
[AO3-7198] – When logged in with some admin roles, admins can now more easily search for all invitations sent to specific email addresses.
[AO3-7199] – Some admins have access to a page that provides an overview of a user’s works and comments, but the link was only available on User Administration pages. To make things more convenient, we’ve also added the link to user dashboard and profile pages.

https://www.transformativeworks.org/ao3-releases-0-9-440-0-9-446-change-log/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=275827

cakewrecks_feed

Posted by Jen

https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/bazinga-2026

Everybody sing!

Squashed kitties

Shorn kitties

Mangy balls of fur!

Crappy kitties

Creepy...kitties?

STILL BETTER THAN A DOG.

Thanks to Laura T., Gina P., Celeste B., Chris S., Jesse S., and Anony M., for starting our day with a Big Bang.

******

P.S. In case you prefer the "right" version:

Soft Kitty Fridge/Car Magnet

*****

And from my other blog, Epbot:

https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/bazinga-2026

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3195/

Welcome to the International Space Station Exclamation Point!

https://xkcd.com/3195/

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260115.html

The dark-floored, 95 kilometer wide crater Plato and sunlit peaks of the

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260115.html

otw_news_feed

Posted by Elintiriel

https://www.transformativeworks.org/international-fanworks-day-2026-is-coming-soon/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=274445

February is approaching with faster-than-light speed, which means it’s nearly time for International Fanworks Day (IFD) once again! On February 15, we’ll gather for our 12th annual observance of IFD to celebrate all aspects of fandom, fan-communities and fanworks—fics, art, podfic, zines, filk, research and more—together!

As we’re gearing up towards IFD, we at the OTW would love to hear from you about what you associate with this year’s theme: Alternate Universes! An Alternate Universe (AU) in fandom can mean a departure from canon, exploring diverging events and character choices, a themed AU like the cozy and popular Coffee Shop AU, or a fundamental change in worldbuilding, like Omegaverse fanworks. We are curious: Which AUs do you like best? Have you encountered an idea for an AU that changed your whole perspective on a piece of canon? What are your most treasured headcanons in your fandom(s)?

We’ll be keeping an eye out for any posts about AUs shared by fans, so tag your posts with #IFD2026, and we’ll signal-boost them on our OTW social media accounts!

In the next couple of weeks we’ll announce what we’re doing to celebrate IFD 2026. But we also want to know how you’ll spend the festivities! Back in December, we asked you to let us know about any events you’ll be running in your community for this IFD. You can still submit those events through our form until January 28.

Also in February, we’ll be running our annual Feedback Fest! Spend the time until February 13 keeping an eye out for any AU-related recs!

We can’t wait to hear from you about your fandom experiences and events for this IFD!

https://www.transformativeworks.org/international-fanworks-day-2026-is-coming-soon/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=274445

cakewrecks_feed

Posted by Jen

https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/loki-here-2026

Thor's Hammer:

NAILED IT:

And for their next wreck, these bakers will turn the name "John" into "Thor!"

Not gonna lie: I'm kind of impressed.

Thanks to Jennifer R. & Kathy B. for assembling today's wreckage. And don't you worry, John; you shall be avenged.

*****

Now, let's talk about this bottle opener:

Thor's Hammer Bottle Opener

... and the hilarious looks you'll get when everyone thinks you're about to smash open your bottles, haha.

******

And from my other blog, Epbot:

https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/loki-here-2026

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260114.html

The Whirlpool Galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260114.html

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3194/

Some surfaces may seem difficult to glue. But if you research the materials, find tables of what adhesives work on them, and prepare your surfaces carefully, you can fail to glue them in a fun NEW way that fills your house with dangerous vapors.

https://xkcd.com/3194/

Basically, there's stuff moving around at work that might give me some development/work diversity opportunities. It's a natural flow from one to the other, but I don't know that I can really grapple with it/attempt to take on said new responsibilities right now. (Surgery + recovery, etc.) Still, it's nice to have an area that I could stand up and go "Yo, this needs doing and I have the skills, maybe let's have me move into this role."

In other news, my FMLA paperwork adventure (can I ever have a clam one of these?) continues apace. Luckily, my HR people know what's up and my surgery is super straight forward, and it's been flagged with them as a "I am waiting for paperwork, sorry it is late, here is why it's kind of late" and a priority for rubber stamping. Basically, everyone who's ever worked with me for more than a month knows and realizes I'm painfully meticulous with rule following and a huge goody two-shoes. Still, paperwork stresses me the fuck out.

I have, however, gotten most stuff in order. I need to buy a few small things and pack my bag, but I've organized the hotel stay (close to the hospital and less stress overall for transit to/from, post-op), pre-paid some bills, and printed out all my instructions.

I've also been cleared by my doctor for surgery. Which, there was a minorly hilarious mix-up with my lab work. I went to get it done last Saturday, but there was a mix up on what type of labs I needed (I needed pre-op non-fasting labs, they assumed I needed my fasting labs done), so when I walked into my appt yesterday, my doc was freaking out re: my results. Mind, I'd had breakfast the morning of the lab tests (Non! FASTING!), but when I noted that, the doc basically went "Oh, thank god. Also, great labs for having eaten an hour before!" *confetti emoji*

But! All my paperwork has been submitted! Now I just need to wait for approval. Fingers crossed, y'all.

Current Mood: hungry

cakewrecks_feed

Posted by Jen

https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/i-am-so-so-sorry-6-c-section-cakes-people-actually-ate-2026

I want you to know, minions, that this post is not my idea/fault. *I* didn't make it Cesarean Section Day, mmkay? And *I* didn't make/order/condone ANY of these cakes, NO SIR.

But now LOOK what these bakers are making me do! LOOK.

(Made by Darcy at Brown Butter Bakery who has an awesome sense of humor)

:head tilt:

Well, actually, that's not TOO bad. I mean, EW, yes, but at least they kept the gore to a minimum.

In fact, this next one doesn't have ANY blood! Yay!

And hey, perky nipples! What mom-to-be doesn't want her friends eating perky lady nipples at her shower? Besides all of them?

I feel I should warn you, though, that this next one is definitely crossing a line:

Not ready. NOT READY.

Just tell yourself this is a creepy old man poking his head out of sheet, and you MIGHT only scream for, like, a second or two:

Brb, still screaming.

But you know what we haven't had enough of yet in this post? Doll parts and drippy red syrup.

STILL SCREAMING.

Ok, for realsies, folks, turn back now.

'Cuz you do NOT want to see this last one.

It's bad.

Real bad.

Why are you still scrolling?

Are you on a diet?

Out of birth control?

Do you ENJOY feeling queasy?

Well, ohh kaaaaay....

What's that? You want to ZOOM IN?

You sick, sick puppy, you.

SCREAMING FOREVER.

"Thanks" to Jenn M., Matt R., Carl G., Anony M., Heidi D., & Amber B. for making me question all of my life choices up to this point.

*****

This book has over 2,000 5-star reviews and looks absolutely hysterical, definitely bookmark it for the new parents in your life:

How to Traumatize Your Children: 7 Proven Methods to Help You Screw Up Your Kids Deliberately and with Skill

******

And from my other blog, Epbot:

https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/i-am-so-so-sorry-6-c-section-cakes-people-actually-ate-2026

dinosaur_comics_feed

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=4423


archive - contact - sexy exciting merchandise - search - about

it's important to be good at it and if you have talent that can make it easier, especially at the start. hope this helps!!

← previous

January 14th, 2026

January 14th, 2026: Me and JASON LOO (!) are putting on a SPECIAL EVENT with the Hamilton Public Library where we'll be discussing COMICS and WRITING and will sign all your books too! It's on January 29th, 7pm, at the Westdale Branch - hope to see you there!

– Ryan

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=4423

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260113.html

What just leapt from the Sun?

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260113.html

Uuugh, paperwork.

I have had the most stressful and most relieving day of my last five years. So, yay good news, yay bad news.

In other news, moving money around is frustratingly adult and I hate it, thanks.

I crave a walk in nature.

tellitslant

Boy, what an excellent couple of weeks to be largely off social media that was. I didn't take my computer on vacation so while I will try and catch up, if I missed anything, let me know!

Meanwhile, catching up on Yuletide, I had a fantastic time writing two fics in the same fandom, The Incandescent by Emily Tesh. Ironically, I didn't loooove the book, but some of the requests really spoke to me and I feel like it's been a while since I got to do a proper pastiche. It was definitely a tiny fandom, but in terms of what activity the fandom in general got, I was very happy with the attention both got.

Co-Curricular & Enrichment Activities (2722 words) by kathryne
Fandom: The Incandescent - Emily Tesh
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Aneeta Shah, Nicola "Nikki" Conway, Mathias Wick, William Daubery, Sapphire "Saffy" Walden, The Phoenix (The Incandescent)
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, Missing Scene
Summary: Nikki figures it out first — or, no, that’s not entirely fair. Mathias figures it out first. Nikki is just, as she so often is, the first one to speak up. "There's something wrong with Dr Walden."
Following February half term, Sixth Form Invocation realise they have a problem.

One of the Great Traditions of Public Education (1954 words) by kathryne
Fandom: The Incandescent - Emily Tesh, FAQ: The "Snake Fight" Portion of Your Thesis Defense - Luke Burns
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Sapphire "Saffy" Walden, The Phoenix (The Incandescent)
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, Missing Scene, Exams
Summary: Q: Why do I have to do this? A: Demon fighting is one of the great traditions of public education. It may seem somewhat antiquated and silly, but...

Current Mood: tired

cakewrecks_feed

Posted by Jen

https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/a-stark-difference-2026

Proving once again the pictures in the bakery's order book are always too good to be true:

"Oh, you want your cake to look exactly like this?

"Noooo problem."

Who's the hot mess now?

Thanks to Marianna B., who wants to know where Jarvis is when you need him.

******

And from my other blog, Epbot:

https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/a-stark-difference-2026

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260112.html

What's happening to this meteor?

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260112.html

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3193/

I wanted to make the world's fastest yawl, so I made the aft sail bigger, but apparently that means it's not a yawl anymore! It's a real ketch-22.

https://xkcd.com/3193/

Proof of where my brain is currently; I was reading a thing and it started with a sentence reading "Dale and Sarah..." but my brain read that as "dah-leh" because I forgot "Dale" is a name and not "go ahead" in Spanish.

On the up side, I had delicious grilled food last night at a local Mexican place. I brought the leftovers for lunch today and am cheerfully looking forward to that.

I am also doing the prep-work for my surgery next week. Had a mild panic about not having the FMLA paperwork done, but got that turned in to the DR for filling out and the other bit to HR, just awaiting the medical certification. Given that it is ME who is having surgery and it's a short recovery, it should go through pretty quickly.

I also got an estimate for the surgery and fuck me. No out of pocket because every medical professional who's looked at the situation has gone "...off to surgery for you!" But fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Current Mood: sleepy

cakewrecks_feed

Posted by Jen

https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/top-13-telephone-wrecks-2026

There are literal wrecks ("Just write Happy Birthday on it,") and then there are the wrecks that literally suffer from a game of Telephone. And they're fabulous.

"Too Legit To Quit"

"Welcome Home"

"Happy Birthday, Cowgirl!"

"Valedictorian"

"Gettin' hitched!" (for a wedding shower)

"Happy Hanukkah!"

"Happy Birthday Beth & Libby!"

(And to think she used to be the life of the party.)

"Bye, Evan!"

"For Our Fearless Leader"

(At hour 5, she turns into a whimpering puddle of goo.)

"You're an ace!"

Here they asked for a big mouse with some little mice around it:

SO CLOSE.

While on this one they wanted "blue camo" - as in "camouflage."

Of course, there was that Obama/Llama fiasco. Heh.

And finally, my favorite:

"Don't Take No For An Answer!"

It says "Don't Techno For An Answer." Which is officially one of my favorite things ever. Because now I want to, dangit.

Random Person: "So Jen, are you coming to our baby shower? We're serving one of those hee-LARIOUS vagina cakes!"

Me: [puts on sunglasses] [cranks techno music] [moonwalks away]

Thanks to Mary D., Amy D., Cat D., Rowenna O., Amy R., Jill S., Emily A., Karen B., Liz W., Sarah H., Helen, Yvonee D., & Dori K. for that new life goal.

*****

P.S. Here's a (hilarious) reminder that English is almost as confusing as these cakes: