usxuk | Member Posts

Challenge #8

Talk about your creative process.

I sat for a good minute thinking about my writing process, realized it'd be easier to explain the Summers family tree and so decided to talk a little about my crochet process instead.

Or, rather, my favorite crochet process. Because sometimes I do just see a pattern I like, buy or go through my stash for the appropriate yarn and make the thing. And sometimes I see a pattern I like, decide that whatever yarn I have on-hand is Good Enough and then make the thing. But the most satisfying projects are the ones that start as an idea born from my own mind. Sometimes those ideas are inspired by patterns or projects I see, sometimes they spark to life on their own. Not having the most robust visual imagination, I'm always very pleased with myself when this happens.

So, that's step one-- get an idea. Step two is research: Has anyone done this or something like it before? And if so, how did they do it? I think it's the most fun when I can find something similar to but not quite the same as what I want. I'm always a little nervous about free-handing, no matter how often I've done it, so being able to look at an existing object as a sort of proof of concept helps me to get past that. But then not being able to find exactly what I want means that I get to ~experiment.

That second point is why I'd say I have the most fun when the "proofs of concept" are only for bits and pieces of what I want my finished project to be. Something that's the right shape but not applied the way I want to apply it, for example, so I have to patchwork different patterns or different stitches, even if just in small ways for the sake of small but significant differences. It's always a thrill when in the midst of the third step-- make the thing-- I come to That Part in a pattern that's, y'know, fine for what it is... but not for what I want. That Part where I look at it and know that I could follow it as written and it'd do the job but instead I say, "No, I don't think I will," and I do something else that makes it-- at least for me-- better.

Granted, this process hasn't always been successful, where success is defined by a satisfactorily finished item. Sometimes things don't work out the way I think they will. But, hey, even a failed experiment yields data, amirite? That's all just part of the process.

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snowflake 2026

Whoops, forgot about Wip Wednesday!

I got the prompt "resolve" last week and I thought I'd gotten a few hits but a couple of those were false positives, one was from a completed draft and then only one of what was left ended up being clippable. So, without further ado, here's that:

Cliffjumper put his hands on his hips and drew himself up to his (admittedly less than considerable) full height, cycling air to cool his internals. He tipped his chin up and set his jaw and he knew without being able to see himself that his optical light was flared to a perfectly reasonable degree.

He also knew that absolutely none of this did anything to hide the way his resolve failed under the force of Mirage's pouting.

It wasn't fair-- Cliffjumper was steadfast! Always had been! People could-- and usually did-- say what they wanted about his size and his strength. And his temper and his patience, for that matter. But no one could say a word against his backstruts, against his commitment. He might fail but he never flagged or faded.

And, most to the point, he was right. They both knew he was right. But that wasn't stopping Mirage from looking like one of Hound's plants, before he figured out how much water was too much. And, somehow, it wasn't stopping Cliffjumper from feeling, somehow, as if he was wrong.

"I said no," he snapped after a beat of silence.

"Yes, Cliffjumper," Mirage said quietly, casting his gaze aside like some demure little Towers debutante. "I heard you."

"And you're not going to change my mind," Cliffjumper insisted. Feeling restless, he crossed his arms. He refused to look away from Mirage, though, no matter how twitchy it was making him. "So don't even try."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Mirage said. He put a hand to his chest, over his spark, recoiling with affront. He kept that same ridiculous sad look on his face the whole time.

I bought my algebra workbook used, so I expected for some of the problems to be worked. I just didn't expect such a random selection of them to be worked.

There are only a few, so that's handy, and they're written in pencil, which is even handier. But I almost don't even want to erase them. I can't quite explain why but I'm so charmed by the fact that whoever had this book before me only bothered with a handful of problems, seemingly at random. Like, in the first section of the book, the first none problems have been worked except for the fifth one, for some reason. The first page of the second section has the first, third and sixteenth through eighteenth done. Two pages later, it's only the seventeenth. A few pages later, only the fourth and seventh. Aaand that's it, unless I've overlooked something. I'm pretty sure all the answers are wrong, too, granted I only glanced at the key.

I'm just. fascinated. I'm sure they must've had their own reason for doing it that way but what could the reason be?

LIST THREE (or more) THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF. They don’t have to be your favorite things, just things that you think are good. Feel free to expand as much or as little as you want.

1.) My curiosity. I always want to know more about things and while I'm not the best at following through on that want (executive dysfunction, yay), I do follow through. I know how to ask questions and find answers.

2.) The way I engage with media. My analyses aren't always solid and my takes can be a little hot. Tbh, I get too wrapped up sometimes in how I would write a story. Sometimes I need other people's opinions to agree or disagree with before I can quite find words for my own opinions. That said, I still put a lot of thought into what I'm reading/watching/playing and I like to think I'm always getting better.

3.) I'm on a roll so far this year as regards some goals that I thought I might be more than I could handle. I'm not where I'd like to be with everything I want to do but I'm doing better than I honestly believed I would.

Bonus 4.) This prompt stumped me-- but! only for a minute. Wouldn't have expected that!

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snowflake 2026

It's been years since I consistently remembered my dreams and I guess I can't exactly say I've been remembering them consistently lately either but I've certainly been holding onto more so far this year. Most of them are nothing really worth remembering but then there have been this handful of weird... Idk, stress dreams?

What's funny is that I don't typically find whatever is happening in the dreams stressful while I'm dreaming. And it's ridiculous enough that I don't really feel stressed once I've properly woken up. But the moment in between, where I'm still asleep enough to believe the dream is happening but awake enough to apply it to real life, hits like a freight train.

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Challenge #6

Top 10 Challenge.

Decided to do my Top Ten Favorite Female Transformers (At the Time of Making This List). The parenthetical is because I'm not good with picking favorites at all ever and the list would probably be different if you asked me tomorrow. But! This is today and this, without further ado, is my list:

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Personal curriculum update! I'm still getting the hang of scheduling my study time but I feel like I'm slowly finding my groove.

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Challenge #5

In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it and include a link to your wishlist if you feel comfortable doing so.

This one took some effort, mostly in getting past the mental block that stands between me and asking for things. I finally managed to dig under it with a spoon and this is what I managed to drag through with me:

1.) A fun fact, doesn't matter what about.
2.) A joke or pun you liked recently.
3.) A simple recipe you enjoy.
4.) A GL/wlw media rec.
5.) A donation to The Sameer Project, if you've got a few dollars to spare.

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snowflake 2026

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.

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.

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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!

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.

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snowflake 2026

Slowly getting used to the new status quo at work. They've actually given me a helper! She's pretty new and so can't work that fast and I have to check all her cases for now but obviously that'll change with time. And it's a little slow coming back from New Year's so this is the time for that sort of thing.

And! Guess what? She likes Transformers too!

Challenge #3

Write a love letter to fandom. It might be to fandom in general, to a particular fandom, favourite character, anything at all.

Dear Transformers fandom,

Oh, dear, dear Transformers fandom. Truly, your eyes are nothing like the sun and your lips are not the red of coral. And the less said about your breasts, the better. And yet, do I love you any less?

And what I love most about you is your breadth. Your variety. Perhaps it isn't always to my liking but that just goes to show how many things you can be. For as frustrated as I can be sometimes by your homogeneity in the face of four decades of multitude continuities, every one of those continuities is in you. Whether it's a matter of different generations growing up with different pieces of media or new fans being introduced into this world by any one of them or some little bit of micro-nonsense that, for some reason, meant something to someone. You may recycle the same jokes and the make a hodgepodge of disparate stories so that they become one indistinct glob but you also pick the tiniest details out of obscurity. You grab at characters who hardly have character to speak of and you say, Yes, this one. This is the one. You oversaturate every platform with the same handful of ships, yes, but you also put characters together in combinations that expand my mind into dimensions hitherto unimagined by science or philosophy. You are old and vast and I could stumble lost for a lifetime through your monotony but within the same spaces I'll also find your esoterica, the love even one individual has for the most unloved piece of canon.

Who am I to focus on the rough when there are so many diamonds sparkling around me, reflecting the light of my own passion?

(Just, uh, maybe a little more of that for the ladies? Please and thanks a lot, okay, love you, bye~)

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snowflake 2026

I'm doing alright so far with my goal of less mindless scrolling and making the internet a physical place again. Not perfect but alright.

The main issue I've run into is that, naturally, my closet doesn't have an outlet and the extension cord I thought I had turned out to be half of an old computer power cord. So, Chad can't be plugged in whilst put up in there. In another world, this would be fine. "Computer time" would just be the length of his battery life. But his battery life isn't all that it used to be. And between classes, writing/digital art and checking in with news/people, I can go through it without doomscrolling ever coming into the picture.

So, that's a problem that'll need to be solved. Should be easy enough-- just get an extension cord-- but I've not had the opportunity to go get one just yet. I'm trying to hold myself to a rule that I can only use Chad when he's in his spot but waiting for him to charge can be a bit too much of a waste of time, depending on what I'm actually doing and what needs done. I can honestly say, though, that I already feel a difference when I use him in his designated place vs in bed or on the couch. Once I get the charging situation taken care of, I think this new setup is going to serve me well.

I've decided to do weekly updates on my personal curriculum progress, just to help keep me honest.

Since this was a short week, as far as the new year and therefore my curriculum schedule are concerned, I haven't got much to report. I've stuck to my daily Korean lessons so far and I'm on track, per the program's recommended rate of progress. I'm gonna try to come up with quarterly "field trips" for this course. I've seen a few people do that and it's a fun idea. There's an Asian culture fest in the summer that always has a Korean booth and attractions, so that's the third quarter trip settled. I only thought about it today and I've had other stuff to do, so I still need to look around at what else might work. Since the course itself has inbuilt examinations, I'm not worrying about coming up with a final project. Might think of doing something self-assigned, though, just to spice it up.

Clarinet practice guidelines I've looked up suggested thirty-minute practices for beginners, forty-five-minute practices for intermediate and sixty-minute practices for advanced, all at least five days a week. My plan is to stick with thirty minute sessions for the first month, go on to forty-five for the second and then sixty for the third. I'd actually intended to keep clarinet practice a weekday thing but I went ahead and put in a session today since I wasn't really where I wanted to be after the first two days of reacquainting myself. I'm still having trouble maintaining proper breathing and sight-reading notes, both of which I'll work on without the instrument on weekends going forward. I'm sticking with self-learning for at least this first quarter but I've decided to look into formal lessons to continue after that, so we'll see what I find. I've also decided that my final project for this quarter will be a small "concert" for my family (or as many of them as I can get in one place at that time, anyway).

I think coding and algebra are going well but I also think I'm going to change my schedule a bit. I'm going to cut my coding down to just Saturday and Sunday, really just to give myself more time for other things on Friday. That might change again in the future but at this point, I'm pretty confident I can make the progress I want with HTML and CSS in a few hours per weekend. I'll still do small reviews through the rest of the week, of course. I've decided that this class will also have a final project-- naturally, a website. The topic of which I'm tasking myself with coming up with by the end of this month, so I can plan out how I want it to look. It'll probably be a fansite of some kind or something to showcase my crochet but we'll see. I need to figure out what free hosting is still available in this day and age too.

As for algebra, it occurred to me that doing it on Friday, Saturday and the following Sunday is a bit weird for something I'd planned to break up into weeks, seeing as I'm working on an American calendar. I mean, I guess I could read through the lessons on Sunday, give myself homework to be checked on Friday and then review and take a test, if available, on Saturday... Actually, now that I say that out loud-- so to speak-- I'm not sure why I shouldn't just do that. So, uh. Disregard what I said about changing the schedule for this one, lol. The website I'm using for guidance actually breaks their algebra resources into thirteen sections but the first of these is for prerequisites, so I went through that section for this shortened week and the plan now is to cover one of each of the other twelve sections for each of the next twelve weeks. I glanced at the worksheets available on the site and it looks like there's at least one available per section. And even if there's not or the provided worksheets prove to be inadequate, I don't think it'll be difficult to find more elsewhere on the internet. I feel like this class should have some kind of final project, too, since the site provides tests but no exams, but I've not come up with anything yet. Which does seem silly, tbh, since algebra has plenty of practical applications. Might google about it, Idk.

Side note: I added three whole unrounded three-digit numbers in my head today and got the correct answer. You may clap uwu

Challenge #2: Pets of Fandom

Loosely defined! Post about your pets, pets from your canon, anything you want!

Well, I'm certainly not going to pass up an opportunity to talk about my pets! I have a ball python named Travis. Not sure how old he is but he's been with me for about seven years. A friend of my mom's had to vacate her apartment suddenly and there was no space for Travis, who was her son's pet, with the family they stayed with while trying to find housing. I agreed to take Travis in while they got things sorted. The market being what it's been for the last decade, that took some doing. By the time they had a place, her son wanted a puppy. And, of course, I was happy to keep Travis ♥

I also have a long-haired tabby named Peppercorn. We found her outside my window not long after I lost my previous two cats to age-related health complications. I really didn't think I was ready for another cat, wasn't even sure I wanted one, but it was nearing the Fourth of July and I didn't like the idea of leaving her outside for that if I could help it. We coaxed her with food and eventually convinced her to come inside. The plan was to take her to a shelter asap but then she curled up on my pillow and did the slow blink and, well, she's still here.

Aaand since I'm not one to pass up an opportunity to make something about Transformers, even just a little, here's one of my favorite scenes of Thundercracker and his dog, Buster.

I love the idea of Cybertronians having Earthling or Earthling-like pets. The inherent tragedy of a functionally immortal being loving a creature so comparatively short-lived. And yet, the inherent beauty of a life so brief meaning so much against a backdrop of millions of years.

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snowflake 2026

Dear Candy Hearts artist/author,

This will be my second time participating. My AO3 is Haro. If someone feels so inclined, treats and gifts are also enabled on my account.

I'm a millennial lesbian living in the midwest US with my long time girlfriend and our menagerie of kitty cats. Cats are a welcome addition to ANY prompt I give. As far as I'm concerned all my faves are cat lovers, even if they don't know it yet.

Non-series specific likes: Found families, friends to lovers, mutually requited pining, teamwork, equality in relationships, mutual protection, physical affection, battle couples, home being a person and not a place, established relationship fic, angst and hurt comfort with a happy ending (I'm soft at heart), transfem headcanons, dancing, characters in fancy or special clothes, anything with cats. I'm also a sucker for stories where characters triumph against impossible odds, as well as stories where free will > fate.

Dislikes: noncon, dubcon, cheating, drawn out miscommunication, major character death (except what already exists in canon). Unrequited relationships, love triangles, stories about one partner outliving the other by a lot, descriptions of pregnancy, detailed descriptions of baby rearing, kids as a focal point, omegaverse, anything where a major character dislikes cats.

I'm also not really interested in smut fic as a gift. Allusions to sex, mentions of it, sensuality, and fade to black are very welcomed though!

Amyway, here's my prompts! I tend toward quite shippy requests.

永夜星河 | Love Game in Eastern Fantasy (TV) [Ling Miaomiao/Mu Sheng | Mu Ziqi/Xia Ziqi]

I am desperate for anything post-canon with our Miaomiao and Ziqi. There's so little of it out there. I'm so into these two right now! They have my heart. If you can't do post-canon, any established relationship within the timeline of the story would also be loved. Perhaps something while they're traveling together to look for his memories?

You are welcome to include any other LGIEF characters, as well as Mu Yao/Liu Fuyi as a ship.

For post-canon, I'd prefer something that isn't a reunion story, but instead takes place once they've already encountered each other at the book signing and continued their relationship. They've started their next journey together, and even if it isn't quite as full of adventure and peril as their previous one, it's still wonderful. I love anything that throws back to their time in the parallel world together and homages it, or you could also go all out and somehow bring supernatural elements to the current era. Just have fun!

Things I love with these two:

-While his journey was about self-love; our fragile, insecure Ziqi is never going to lose that aspect of him entirely. I like a Ziqi that still has some insecurity about himself, his personal worth, and of course, about if he can be the partner Miaomiao deserves (he absolutely can be). He's much healthier, happier, and more confident in himself, but he's still human.

-The sweet, teasing, and fond banter they have.

-I'd prefer no all out smut, but fade to black and implications are fine. I think if they are early in a sexual relationship, it's important for our Ziqi to be just as inexperienced as he was as Mu Sheng. Miaomiao also comes across as quite shy.

Here's a few letter exclusive series specific ideas:

1- Body worship of any kind, especially with regard to Ziqi, who is much more a normal guy in this world than the cool, badass super strong demon hunter he used to be. And toward Miaomiao, just because she's Miaomiao and she deserves to be adored.

2- Anything regarding Ziqi's illness! Although the surgery for moyamoya disease alleviates most chronic symptoms, and for most people, they just have to take daily medication, it's still true that he has a disability and that it's had a deep impact on him his entire life. Make it sweet. Maybe even explore some of the things he can do now that he's had his operation, but that he's still hesitant about because his kneejerk reaction is that he's not allowed to do any strenuous activity since it had been that way most of his life. You can ALSO explore how his illness parallels his half demon condition in Catching Demons, if you'd like.

3- Miaomiao escaping her rotten work life. She deserves a better job. Maybe her time in Catching Demons and her reunion with Ziqi, as well as his encouragement, finally gives her the courage to demand more (Ziqi tells Miaomiao his courage was born because of her, so he can return the favor). Does she get a promotion? Does she find a better place to work? Does she go back to school to find her way into a career that she's more passionate about? It's up to you.
4- Ziqi growing his hair out. Look, Ding Yuxi is a beautiful man, but that ponytail adds something extra, and I miss it. I think Miaomiao would agree.
5- Anything where they reflect back on their journey in Catching Demons with both fondness and melancholy (they'd miss their friends and family in there, after all).

Series specific DNW: Please no other pairings for the characters but Miaomiao/Ziqi. I'm also not much of a fan of them finding reincarnations of Fuyi and Mu Yao (I'd rather them somehow reunite with the originals someday). Please nothing that involves Miaomiao doubting whether this Ziqi is the same as the Ziqi she fell in love with in the book.

Treats welcome.

淮水竹亭 | Love in Pavilion (TV) [Zhang Zheng/Anaran]

These wonderful, heartbreaking, tragic boys. Despite their very limited screentime, they really won my heart and nestled their way into it.

I'd love to see ANYTHING romantic with these two.

I think they would be so tender; quiet and devoted Anaran, and caring and attentive Zhang Zheng.

A fix it fic would be fantastic (you could do this however you'd like, but I AM partial to them running away with each other). Zhang Zheng will need a miracle cure from a deadly illness (and perhaps a cure to a poison, if the fix it happens after Zheng Zheng takes the poison that canonically kills him), so it would be great to see some lasting repercussions. Perhaps Zhang Zheng loses his martial arts abilities or is physically handicapped in some way? But he and Anaran are still able to live on, and they are more than content.

Qingmu Yuan can be mentioned as they both have feelings for her (and I imagine they'd worry about her), but I'd like the focus to be on them. Other characters from LIP can also make appearances if needed. For this ship, something like them taking a disciple in the future would be okay, but I'd rather not see them having children themselves.

Treats are welcome.

长相思 | Lost You Forever (TV) [Xiaoyao/Tushan Jing and/or Tushan Jing & Xiang Liu]

The only romantic pairing I'm interested in is Xiaoyao and Tushan Jing. I'm always a fan of anything gentle with them.

Otherwise, I'm interested in Xiang Liu and Tushan Jing's dynamic, so something non-romantic with them could be really neat. I think they could be friends in another life.

As far as other side characters, bringing in A'nian somehow would be fun, but not at all necessary.

I love the tenderness and the healing of the relationship between Xiaoyao and Tushan Jing. Would love to see them exploring the world post-canon. I would prefer you do not give them children.

Also I know in the series itself, Tushan Jing knew Xiaoyao was a woman all along, but in my mind he did not know she was one until she revealed it. He still fell in love of course. Tushan Jing bisexual king, is very important to me. I would love to see that explored.

Thank you so much! I hope some of my prompts have inspired you. 💖

Well, work finally got me set up back at the other building.

And I haaate iiit :(

I have the same type of desk but the space is so much more cramped. I had transfer all my stuff into one set of drawers instead of the two I've not grown accustomed to. I share an office with someone who's primarily on specimens, so I'm not allowed to have my door closed. He wasn't even in today and they would've let me have it closed-- my one chance!! I can't take breaks at my desk anymore since it violates the "look busy when in office" policy, though there'll be leeway on super slow days like today was. The window isn't suitable for my plant, so I had to take it home again-- not that I guess it matters much since both the new leaves broke under their own weight on the walk over. What even.

Things are still being shuffled around and people seem pretty uncertain as to where things are or are supposed to be. That's going to make relearning specimen cases even more of a hassle. I'm not sure how many specimens I'll actually have to do but they've assigned someone to help me with the slide cases, so I expect I'll be doing at least a few of them most days, especially on the rare occasions that my primary client is slow. They only want me picking up once a day going forward regardless and so I won't be getting any of my own work until later in the afternoon, when I can more reliably count on getting all or most of it at once. There might still be spillover from day to day, of course, but that's more uncertain with a second person.

I hardly know anyone anymore. People chuckle along with me when I say I'm not happy with the situation and, I mean, fair. It's only an inconvenience, once you get right down to it, and I've been talking about it lightly enough because professionalism. But I am truly, genuinely unhappy with the situation and I don't like being expected to treat that as a joke.

Bleh.

I know I'll get used to it. I know things will smooth out as everyone acclimates to the new setup. It is, as I said, only an inconvenience. At the end of the day, I'm doing the same job for the same wage. Some people have war in their countries. But still, bleh.

~* Special Relationship *~

The America/England Community

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Dear Candy Hearts (2025)

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