@stevendbrewer@wandering.shop

The Presidential seal, she realized. She got out her phone and did a quick search. She gulped.
She very carefully put the cup and saucer back, and got out a plain ceramic mug just as the kettle began to whistle. She added a mental note for another thing to check tomorrow. Tomorrow. (3/3) #wss366

She went to the kitchen, lit a burner, and put the kettle on to boil. She got down the tea and found a cup and saucer. While waiting for the water to boil, she inspected the cup.
It was an elegant #china cup, with gilt decorations and some kind of matching seal on the cup and saucer. (2/3) #wss366

Helen watched the ambulance drive slowly away. Grandma hadn't been able to leave the house for her last weeks, but now she had departed for good -- never to return.
Tomorrow, there would be a thousand and one things to do. But tomorrow was tomorrow. And tonight, she could relax. (1/3) #wss366

"Vil du bolla?" the exchange student said, in halting #Danish, to some boys on the playground.
"Ja vil bolle!" one replied, provoking raucous laughter from the rest.
The exchange student laughed half-heartedly, unsure what was so funny.
"We play ball, yes?" one of the others said. "Come!" #wss366

As a man with a menopausal wife, I was interested to read this article in the NYT Magazine (gift link): https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/magazine/what-its-like-when-your-wife-goes-on-testosterone.html?unlocked_article_code=1._08.jCXF.UdtiZFZy0yMy&smid=url-share

I was profoundly disappointed that the author did not take the opportunity to describe this as gender-affirming care nor talk about the challenges our trans siblings are having accessing appropriate care. I suppose this is because the *real* point of the article has nothing to do with women and their care, but is primarily about men 'not getting any.' Sigh...

#WritersCoffeeClub How can we as writers support one another?

This is a big part of what I wrote about in my blog post yesterday: https://stevendbrewer.com/where-did-they-go/

If I wanted to come up with a list, here's my top five…
1) Be supportive in word and deed
2) Participate in writing groups to be there for other writers
3) Read, critique, and review other's manuscripts and books
4) Help promote other authors to your audience
5) Practice self care so you can be there for others

#PennedPossibilities Do your characters have any pets?

Sometimes, when it plays a role in the story. Pets can be useful for storytelling, by letting you see aspects of a character's… well, character. I sometimes also like to play with the idea of how the partners perceive one another. Cognitively, Totemo knows that Lambda isn't a pet, but still treats her like one sometimes. In *A Familiar Problem*, Rory is captured as a demon's familiar and struggles to understand what it means. Is he a pet?

#LesFicFri "lucky" from *Lady Cecelia's Flowers*, Part 1 of *Lady Cecelia's Journey*.

We just finished watching *The Fellowship of the Ring*. Poor Boromir. Not so mimsy now.

#Fensterfreitag #WindowFriday #photography

I basically only use Chrome to look at Google stuff, but this is still useful info: https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/26/disable_ai_features_chrome/

It's easy to get discouraged. https://stevendbrewer.com/where-did-they-go/ #WritingCommunity

Lambda laid down and whimpered.
Totemo stopped.
"No," she sighed. "No, I won't #desert you on Boxer-dog Day."
Lambda sprang to her feet, tail up. She barked.
"Alright," Totemo said. "Park first. And then what?"
Lambda capered around her in circles and then they went off together. (3/3) #wss366

"We're not on that planet. And, no, it's not a matter of religious freedom. C'mon!"
Lambda sat obstinately.
"Lambda!" Totemo snapped, losing patience. "Let's go!"
Lambda whined.
"Fine!" Totemo snarled. "Go celebrate this 'Boxer-dog Day' by yourself!" She turned her back and walked away. (1/3) #wss366

Totemo Isogashii and Lambda walked out of their apartment, reached the sidewalk together, then turned in opposite directions.
"Where do you think you're going?" Totemo asked. "We have work today!"
Lambda barked.
"Boxer-day Day? Never heard of it."
Lambda barked again, more stridently. (1/3) #wss366

Tanuki-chan has gotten her special #BoxerDogDay treat (a bit of daisy ham)…

#ScribesAndMakers What animal appears most often in your creative work?

Human beings.

Happy Boxer-dog Day to all who celebrate! #DogsOfMastodon

I had an idea for #wss366. I was wondering if we want to add a message in the "explanation" field for holidays in the coming year and then consider whether not we'd like to consider selecting potentially more relevant words for those days, e.g. "heart" for Valentines days or "furisode" for the Coming of Age day. (Just kidding about the second). You get the idea, though. Does that sound like fun? ping @tobadzistsini @philipbrewer @asakiyume @extraspecialbitter @NaraMoore @vollink

The bear felt a little tug on his fur and looked down.
"Meri Kurisumasu!" said Brunhilde, looking up at him. She was wearing an adorable green elf costume, also with pointy elf ears. She pointed at her ears. "We match!" she squealed, excitedly.
"Twinsies!" the bear agreed. (5/5) #wss366