Based on an audience poll, this is the free epic for the October 7, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl reaching its $200 goal. It came out of the July 15, 2025 bonus fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from [personal profile] mama_kestrel. It also fills the "I'll Get My Revenge" square in my 7-1-25 card for the Western Bingo fest.

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([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith Oct. 14th, 2025 01:03 am)
Naomi Rivkis — The World As It Ought to Be
Stories from a protopian future

Protopia (n.): A world that is not perfect, but is getting better; one that is on the long arc toward justice, carried by human hands.

What if the future didn't have to be dystopian?

In a time when every headline screams of crisis and many governments seek power instead of solutions, these stories dare to ask a radical question: What would it be like to create a better world?


On Dreamwidth, see the post by [personal profile] mdlbear.
The half-price sale in Polychrome Heroics is now open over on LiveJournal.  Donors, start your engines!
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([personal profile] weofodthignen Oct. 13th, 2025 08:52 pm)
The rain held off long enough that I was able to do a quick and dirty de-leafing in front. Increasingly heavy showers, then it settled in to rain seriously. The dog was not impressed with the puddles in the driveway and tried to come back in via the front porch, but I didn't have my key. Monty and Prudence had both come by at breakfast time; I trust they are dry and warm somewhere.
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([personal profile] billroper Oct. 13th, 2025 10:16 pm)
I confirmed tonight that the soldering iron gets hot enough to melt solder, so that's good.

OVFF is approaching like juggernaut and I'm trying to figure out what all needs to be done before I go. We're still trying to settle the issue of what to do about the dogs, although it looks like Julie's going to stay home, so there is some chance that she can manage the assorted canines. The problem is that Calvin is still very much a puppy and requires a lot more attention than Ruby does.

And it is nine days until Gretchen's birthday and I still don't have a birthday present for her yet. I need to consider this...
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([personal profile] dialecticdreamer Oct. 13th, 2025 10:39 pm)
Hidden Gem
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of
Word count (story only): 1045
[Thursday, May 7, 2020, late morning]



:: Nik convinces the trio to visit the Priory International School. Part of the Edison’s Mirror arc. ::


Back to Lunch and Logistics
To the Edison's Mirror Index
On to




The campus, surrounded by thick clusters of evergreen trees, centered on a group of five red brick buildings which had likely been built in the same decade as the American Civil War. despite being just past noon, the grounds were quiet, soothed by the rustle of salty breezes through the foliage. White enameled iron fences, each low enough for the average preschooler to step over easily, framed the cement sidewalks wide enough for Nik, Aidan, Liana, and Vic to travel side by side while Ed marched behind Nik’s chair, speaking quietly about the ways that his uncle would have romped over the primary-colored playground areas that they passed on the way to the central administration building. Flower beds, edged by the straight lines and low iron fences on one side, sprawled on the other side into long sweeping curves that seemed to melt into the verdant lawn.

Deeper in the open areas, a shoulder-height fence of the same white wrought iron, marked the spaces for a basketball court on the left and a tennis court on the right. Toward the rear of campus, partially hidden by the central building, a confidence course seemed to grow between two towering evergreen trees.

Aidan scanned the area, but seemed to be listening more than watching. “What is that? I hear people chanting, but I can’t understand specific words.”
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([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith Oct. 13th, 2025 02:45 pm)
Today is cloudy and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches. I heard a squirrel chattering but didn't see it.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 10/13/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 10/13/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 10/13/25 -- I planted groundnut roots in two pots of the new picnic table garden.

I've seen a fox squirrel up a tree.

I picked a handful of groundcherries.

EDIT 10/13/25 -- I watered the new picnic table and septic gardens.

EDIT 10/13/25 -- I watered the irises, telephone pole garden, and savanna seedlings.



.
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([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith Oct. 13th, 2025 12:02 am)
These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Affordable Housing
Wildlife
Half-Price Sale in Polychrome Heroics
Today's Smoothie
Free Epic Poll
Activism
Unsold Poems for the October 7, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl
Journalism
Birdfeeding
Today's Adventures
Art
Politics
Birdfeeding
Philosophical Questions: Society
Photos: Seeds
Photos: Coles County Community Garden
Poem: "What Wizardry Is All About"
Conservation
Birdfeeding
Photos: Charleston Food Forest Part 2 Left Side
Photos: Charleston Food Forest Part 1 Right Side
Follow Friday 10-10-25: Jazz
Today's Adventures
Sustainability
Poem: "The Disappointing Daughter"
Poem: "The Unretired Witch"
Birdfeeding
Early Humans
Birdfeeding
Books
Good News

Trauma has 29 comments. Food has 51 comments. Affordable Housing has 53 comments. Robotics has 85 comments.


"An Inkling of Things to Come" belongs to Polychrome: Shiv and needs $191 to be complete. It has 4 new verses. Maiara and Arthur discuss taking notes.


The weather has cooled off slightly, but still unseasonably warm. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, and at least two squirrels. I heard a blue jay screaming but didn't see it. The migration is heavily impacted -- we drove past the lake again and there was no sign of waterbirds. However, I spotted a small flock of geese flying south Saturday evening. Currently blooming: dandelions, marigolds, petunias, red salvia, verbena, lantana, sweet alyssum, zinnias, snapdragons, blue lobelia, perennial pinks, oxalis, moss rose, firecracker plant, tomatoes, tomatillos, yellow squash, zucchini, morning glory, chicory, Queen Anne's lace, sunflowers, cup plant, cypress vine, sunchokes, sedum, violas. Tomatoes, ball carrots, and groundcherries are ripe. Fields are more than half harvested.
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([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith Oct. 12th, 2025 11:21 pm)
This article looks at housing as one possible bottleneck in human birth rates.  As countries around the world become more urbanized, overcrowding makes it harder to afford enough space to have children.  Overcrowding itself also tends to suppress fertility.  If a shortage of affordable housing is a significant limiting factor, then producing more of it might enable more families to have children (or more children).  Note that even 2 kids require a total of 3 bedrooms if you  have a boy and a girl but don't want them sharing a room -- and minimum wage doesn't support any kind of residence anywhere in America.
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([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith Oct. 12th, 2025 11:16 pm)
Spider gynandromorph!

Arachnologists poking around in Thailand discovered a new species of mygalomorph, Damarchus inazuma. One individual was particularly unusual: it’s a gynandromorph!

With cool pictures.
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weofodthignen: selfportrait with Rune the cat (Default)
([personal profile] weofodthignen Oct. 12th, 2025 08:45 pm)
The Chronicle weather guy is trying to foment panic about tomorrow's weather. Major storm! An inch of rain in San Jose! Thunder and lightning! Deep snow in the Sierra! etc. etc. Hopefully it will water my plants. I swept the driveway; I should have run a rake over the front grass, but didn't get to it.
The October 7, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl made its $300 goal, so there will be a half-price sale in Polychrome Heroics from Monday, October 13 through Sunday, October 19.  Yes, I'm running it the week after the fishbowl instead of skipping one, but I'm done writing and the end of the month will be extra busy, so I hope this works for folks. 
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([personal profile] billroper Oct. 12th, 2025 10:22 pm)
A friend is coming by later this week to work on my pinball machine and (with any luck) get it working again after six years of lying fallow. He asked if I had a soldering iron.

Well, I *have* a soldering iron. *Finding* the soldering iron is another matter altogether.

Tonight, I ransacked the laundry room where the tool shelf sits, hunting for my soldering iron.

I didn't find it. But on the floor, I found an old Archer soldering iron, still attached to its card. I'm going to assume that it works. But there was no solder to be found there.

I went to look in the studio. I threw away several cable envelopes that should have departed a while ago and eventually discovered a spool of solder.

But still no soldering iron. Why the solder was there and the soldering iron wasn't bothers me.

Not enough to keep looking though.

In other news, the low tire pressure light on my dash went off on the way home from the baseball game on Thursday night. This led to my looking for a reasonable place to put air in your tires, which is rather more of a problem than it used to be.

Last night, I gave up and ordered a battery-powered air compressor.

Today, my tires are full.

And I have an air compressor for the next time this happens.
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([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith Oct. 12th, 2025 10:16 pm)
Today we made a smoothie with:

1 cup apple cider
1 cup Brown Cow vanilla yogurt
1 fresh banana
1 frozen banana
1 tablespoon apple cider caramel sauce
1/2 cup ice

The result is beige and on the thin side, but tastes deliciously of caramel apple cider. :D It would probably work better with both bananas frozen though.

If you don't make your own caramel sauce, storebought would probably work. I warmed it up to pouring consistency because in the fridge it's closer to fudge texture.
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([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith Oct. 12th, 2025 09:44 pm)
The October 7, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl has made its $200 goal, so you get a free epic. Everyone is eligible to vote in this poll. I will keep it open at least until Monday night. If there's a clear answer then, I'll close it; otherwise I may leave it open a little while longer. Here are your options...

"Once the Avalanche Has Begun"
A foolish choice in a neighboring town makes life challenging for Shaeth's followers.
70 lines

"The Well-being of All Our People"
When bandits attack a caravan, Menachem and Yossele defend their fellow travelers.
69 lines


Poll #33718 Free Epic for the October 7, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl
This poll is closed.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 14


Which of these should be the free epic?

View Answers

"Once the Avalanche Has Begun"
6 (42.9%)

"The Well-being of All Our People"
8 (57.1%)

Lunch and Logistics
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1594
[Thursday, May 7, 2020, late morning]



:: At lunch, several neighbors meet the Teagues and interest spreads. Part of the Edison’s Mirror arc. ::


Back to Shopping Surprises
To the Edison's Mirror Index
On to



“This menu is bewildering,” Aidan murmured. He shifted his shoulder, making Ed’s head lean closer, until it rested in the crook of Aidan’s neck. The boy seemed on the verge of unconscious instead of merely asleep, and had not stirred no matter how many times he’d been lifted in and out of Nik’s van.

Vic raised a brow. “Do you like pork? The adobo is--”

Aidan brightened. “A vinegar sauce, somewhat spicy? Garlic and soya sauce?” His smile widened. “I haven’t tasted it in… many years. Not since I was in Las Felipinas.” He closed the menu, running a fingertip under the Restaurant’s name. “Shore Leave. That’s an interesting name for a restaurant.
Read more... )
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([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith Oct. 12th, 2025 08:31 pm)
"Move slow and fix things." -- [personal profile] crashthegm

This is a much, much better philosophy than the techdudebro "Move fast and break things," which is clearly the motto of people who never had to clean up after themselves.
The following poems from the August 5, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl are currently available. Poems may be sponsored via PayPal -- there's a permanent donation button on my Dreamwidth profile page -- or you can write to me and discuss other methods. There are still verses left in the linkback poems "Delight in Another," "A Sense of Weather Changes," "Ouroboros Insects," "The Loving Embrace of Night," "Generations of Cooks Past," "Homefree and Clear, " "One Bite at a Time," "Stars and Diamonds," "Mishpocha," "Changing Your Nature," and "Besa."


"A Fountain of Energy"
Sumary: Johan works on his land connection.
70 lines, Buy It Now = $35

Johan hopped off the bus when
it reached Rockheart Garden.



"No Worthless Herbs"
Summary: Shaeth and Trobby decide to plant a garden, but it's not as easy as it looks.
92 lines, Buy It Now = $46

Shaeth and Trobby owed a favor
to Abredin the Herb Goddess, so
they decided to plant a garden.



"The Songwitch"
Summary: Soraya makes music and magic.
33 lines, Buy It Now = $15

"To Understand Water"
Summary: Emma Jane Davis wants to learn more about her new superpowers.
120 lines, Buy It Now = $60

Emma Jane Davis sat in the waiting room
of the Onion City SPOON Base, trying
and failing not to tap her foot on the floor.



"The Two Cottages"
Summary: A quest for love takes an unexpected turn.
52 lines, Buy It Now = $20
.

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