arduinna

Candy Hearts sign-ups are OPEN!!! You can find the schedule here, and the sign-up info post there, and here's for a direct link to the sign up form, and to the tagset!

You will never guess which fandom is included in my sign-up... and which canon I wrote a canon promo comment for ;D Haha. I'm actually signing up with tiny beloved polyships in 3 fandoms this time (K-9, Wind Breaker, Kaijuu No. 8) and I'm seriously excited about receiving any of them. It's the first time I do a sign-up like this haha, in that normally I try to be serious or close enough, but instead this is just me kind of jumping around about "THEM" whichever THEM it happens to be about XD :D I'm excited. It's also the first time I sign up for an exchange so early I think!! Normally I procrastinate until dangerously late because I worry about forgetting something. I also linked to the K-9 primer in my request... XD

Anyway, I love

candyheartsex (and its predecessor

chocolateboxcomm), it's a chill exchange with a small minimum (300 words fic or podfic, art) that reveals on Valentine's Day (but doesn't have to be valentine-themed, at all). Because of the low word count maybe, there's usually a fantastic treating culture around it, and it's just sweet and delightful fun all around. I'm really glad to be participating this year! I'll have to remember to check in a few days that I can match as well. I see BNHA and Wind Breaker people are starting to sign up so it should be fine :D Maybe see you there??

andrewducker

1. Denmark becomes first country in world to end letter delivery: (tags:mail Denmark )
2. Ken MacLeod on the life and work of the late sc-fi legend Iain M. Banks: (tags:IainBanks scifi video history KenMacleod )
3. There is yet another Russian exodus from Livejournal to Dreamwidth: (tags:livejournal dreamwidth russia )

jjhunter

Here we are again, on the threshold of possibility. Happy Public Domain Day! May it be a Happy New Year!

Some years I make a practice of committing to quarterly intentions rather than new year's resolutions. I find it helps me lean into the rhythms specific to each season, and the shorter time frame lends itself to selecting more feasible goals that may yet build to larger ambitions.

In the comments, I encourage you to join me in sharing one or more intentions you have of any size for the first quarter of this year (January, February, March), and what you might do on a daily or weekly basis to nurture them. If you would like to do so privately, all anonymous comments on this post will remain screened unless you explicitly okay otherwise.

melagan

pensnest

My last selection of reviews for Yuletide. I think the author reveal happens today, though it isn't likely to make any difference!

Perspectives - Heyer, The Nonesuch
It's been a long while since I read this book, but the story brought it back wonderfully. Tiffany (beautiful, slappable) is perfectly characterised, and there are so many carefully-concealed hints in the dialogue. A delight.

a woman with a ripe and smiling lip Sense &Sensibility
A delightful little postscript to the book, Elinor being happy and enjoying the moments she thought would never come. I found myself smiling as I read.

Nice collection of Wimsey fics, all worth reading, but my preferred three being these:

a certain group of women
This is a thing I did not know I wanted to see—the Dowager Duchess of Denver arguing with a bunch of academic women in the SCR. What a delight! I do so enjoy stories that explore the relationships between Harriet and the various women in her life, and it makes so much sense that the Duchess would enjoy the visit to Shrewsbury.

Happiness In Time of Joy
Peter and Harriet's wedding. Voices are spot-on.

The Day After
A post-Busman's Honeymoon fic dealing with the day after. Which is rather more chaotic than anticipated. Nicely in character and well written.

Rotational Freedom For All Mankind
Ahhh. GOOD story. Molly was so stubborn, this is Molly. This is what she was thinking when she did it.

A couple of Pern stories. I haven't read the most recent of the Pern books, so some of the canon references in other stories escape me. These, I liked particularly.

The day the riders came Pern
A chilling look at things. Really, it's not surprising that the non-dragon people look at dragons with so much fear. Great twist on the canon.

find the true Pern
F'lar is entirely F'lar, and Mirrim is absolutely as she should be. She gets frustrated in her, hmm, day job, dragonriders being what they are, and she is without regular friends since the Weyrs are still very hidebound.. Finding Mirrim a job that needs to be done well sounds like a brilliant solution.

We Were Meant For Us Singing in the Rain
Hollywood gave Don his big break, but Cosmo always pieced him back. How and why the trio became a threesome.

Snake Logistics for Spring Defenses
The canon is FAQ: The "Snake Fight" Portion of Your Thesis Defense—Luke Burns
This is worthy of it. Disconcertingly, some of the emails sound as though they were written by my son.

Never Could Get the Hang of Thursdays Slow Horses
As the title hints, rather a delightful crack!fic. River and Jackson have a problem. Catherine... copes.
Wonderfully written, feels exactly like them all.

Happy New Year, everyone.

cyphomandra

Yuletide recs! I have actually managed to read quite a lot of Yuletide fic this year, and it's been great wallowing happily in some amazing stories.

My gift is for KJ Charles' Think of England series, and is a cracking adventure/undercover moment on a train (in the snow!), as well as having some great Archie/Daniel moments (and Pat & Fen in a cameo).

Taking Initiative (2299 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: England Series - K. J. Charles
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Archie Curtis/Daniel da Silva
Characters: Archie Curtis, Daniel da Silva (England Series), Patricia Merton, Fenella Carruth
Additional Tags: Post-Canon
Summary:

Archie takes matters into his own hands while Daniel is undercover.

I have also loved:

The Desperados Don't Want to Come to Their Senses (6963 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Utopia Avenue - David Mitchell
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Jasper de Zoet, Elf Holloway, Peter "Griff" Griffin, Dean Moss
Additional Tags: Social Media, Mixed Media, Post-Canon, POV Outsider, Character: The Entire Internet, can the story still be a comedy if one of its protagonists has been dead since the beginning
Summary:

allie! allieshouldbewriting · December 13
people act like it’s so poignant/whatever that jasper de zoet gave up music after his bandmate died to go into psych but what nobody acknowledges is that man had PATIENTS. tragic gay yearning is not a victimless crime. there’s rpf about my psychologist and i have to live with it
❏ 305 ↹ 201 ♡ 2126 ⤊ 6290

(The social internet dissects Utopia Avenue, November-December of 2025.)

I read Utopia Avenue two years ago and loved it, and I keep meaning to go back and re-read it as well as read all the other related Mitchells I haven't gotten to yet. This is a fantastic story via internet media, about the fans of Utopia Avenue and of those who ship Jasper and Dean in particular (the "Despers/Desperadoes" of the title). It is very funny, extremely on point, and it does all this by being about how you go on after someone you love has died.

#footscraygoose (4249 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Soulmate Goose AU Suggestion - shitty-check-please-aus (Tumblr Post), Original Work
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Characters, Original Soulmate Geese
Additional Tags: Soulmate Goose of Enforcement, Twitter, Emails, Work Skin In Use, Social Media, Australia, biosecurity, Government Regulation, Crack Treated Seriously, Birdwatching, Public Servants Trying Their Best
Summary:

barb's cooked
bowerbirder
everyone is giving jennyjennyaus shit but i can confirm, LESSER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE IN FOOTSCRAY?????????? not pictured: the poor woman the goose started harassing for her sandwich after this lol.

Dr Tom March
fungustom
bowerbirder Have you added it to iNaturalist yet? Absolutely bonkers that there's a vagrant this far south. Climate change maybe?

Another formatting masterpiece (as someone who did two fics requiring workskins for the 2024 Yuletide and STRUGGLED I am in awe of these) only with 100% more Australianisms and a justifiably ticked-off goose, this takes the soulmate goose troop and runs with it (unfortunately without checking in with biosecurity first). Fantastic.

Hit the Bricks! Four Things Not to Miss in Lego City Old Town (2897 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: LEGO Botanical Garden, LEGO Natural History Museum
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, Easter Eggs, lego ruritania, diagetic documentation, Illustrations
Summary:

Four moments in Lego-Duplo relations.

I had not thought of Lego and Duplo as uneasy European neighbours with rich historical interactions but reading this fic made that seem like a terrible oversight. This even has build kits to go with the different scenes.

There's No Discharge in the War (12369 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Long Walk - Richard Bachman
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Characters: Stebbins (The Long Walk), Ray Garraty
Additional Tags: Time Loop, Temporary Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Ambiguous/Open Ending
Summary:

He's been walking for a very long time.

Stebbins on a timeloop. I keep meaning to write up my impressions of the movie of The Long Walk, which I saw earlier this year (tldr: I loved it) and I keep meaning to re-read the book, which is in a box somewhere as part of the Bachman collection. This is horrifyingly effective, tension without relief, and it's also a fantastic sideways look at the source.

in the place of the friends I love (10770 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Oxford Time Travel Universe - Connie Willis
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Kivrin Engle & Father Roche, James Dunworthy & Kivrin Engle
Characters: Kivrin Engle, James Dunworthy, Colin Templer, John Bartholomew, Lupe Montoya
Summary:

She woke in Heaven, as Roche had thought she must.

I love The Doomsday Book despite having issues with Willis' later works, and this is a brilliant, painful take on Kivrin's immediate recovery post-drop, and the (missed) communication theme so common to Willis is heartbreakingly appropriate here. Great characterisation and a very touching story about loss and grief, and what they leave behind.

said the spider to the fly (1484 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dredge (Video Game)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Fisherman & Travelling Merchant (Dredge)
Characters: Fisherman (Dredge), Travelling Merchant (Dredge)
Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Angst, Weirdness, Friendship, Card Games, Canon-typical eldritch horror, Yuletide Treat, Yuletide 2025, she's normal and he..... isn't
Summary:

Trapped in the bay at Gale Cliffs during a storm, the fisherman and the travelling merchant talk, eat supper, and play a couple of games of cards.

I loved playing Dredge (horror fishing game with a disturbingly effective madness mechanic) and this is a surprisingly cozy quiet moment for it, between the most sensible character in the game and the one you play as. It's vivid and affecting.

Snow on Snow (14591 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Miss Marple - Agatha Christie
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Jane Marple, Raymond West
Additional Tags: Murder Mystery, Case Fic, Christmas, Queer Character
Summary:

It is December 22nd, 1962, and one the coldest winters in living memory is about to freeze Britain over. On the insistance of her nephew Raymond, Miss Marple spends the night in a remote village rather than risk going all the way to London by train. But when a man is found dead in the snow outside the cozy guest house in which she is staying, it is up to Miss Marple to save Christmas... and finish reading the draft of Raymond's latest book.

Nothing says (northern hemisphere) Christmas like a snowed-in manor house and a murder mystery, with Miss Marple there to solve it while critiquing her nephew's latest manuscript. This is also a more tolerant and accepting Miss Marple than Christie sometimes wrote, as well.

andrewducker

1. Santa prepares public statement following accusations that ‘he clearly prefers rich kids’: (tags:inequality funny Christmas )
2. "I Am the Very Model of a Miniature Tyrannosaur" (clearly the best way to publicise new dinosaur knowledge): (tags:dinosaurs video music viaSwampers )
3. Tiny! Cute! Bat! (Second attempt): (tags:bats cute video )
4. O Generous One! -(The Origin of "Carol of the Bells"): (tags:christmas ukraine history music video translation )
5. The deep ocean has a missing link between deep and surface food webs - and scientists finally found it: (tags:ocean food nature )
6. The complicated life of Francesca Albanese: A rising figure in Italy but barred from every bank by Trump’s sanctions: (tags:usa italy palestine israel banking OhForFucksSake )
7. Librarians Are Tired of Being Accused of Hiding Secret Books That Were Made Up by AI: (tags:ai libraries books OhForFucksSake )
8. Delay to post-Brexit deal costs UK £100m a week: (tags:uk europe trade )

Just noticed these didn't post on the day!

oursin

Happy birthday,

clarentine,

movingfinger,

slash_reader,

soupdragon, and

vgqn!

littlerhymes

Dune - Frank Herbert
The Housemaid - Freida McFadden
Sister Snake - Amanda Lee Koe
Game Changer - Rachel Reid
Heated Rivalry - Rachel Reid
Tough Guy - Rachel Reid
Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout
Playing Beatie Bow - Ruth Park
Red Hood/Arsenal: Open For Business - Scott Lobdell, Denis Medri
Robins: Being Robin - Tim Seeley, Baldemar Rivas, Romulo Fajardo Jr.

( books )

littlerhymes

Last show of the year. The support act was Pocketwatch, a local trio who looked about 20 years old and played some fun rock and pop rock. They all wore suits and tried on their best swaggy stage talk. "What's our name? Pocketwatch! Who makes you jump? Pocketwatch!" It was endearing. I laughed a lot.

It's been over 10 years since I saw Cobra Starship and my expectations weren't that high. I thought this would be a fun show. And it was - but it was really fun, way more fun than I expected. Gabe still has it, he's such a showman, and Vicky-T's languid charms have not changed at all. Nate was silent through the whole show haha. For their current guitarist and bassist, they had two cool guys with lots of tattoos lol. And yeah, it was just a really enjoyable show as the band powered through all their hits and had the floor dancing. Everyone was having such a fun time.

Gabe told his typical rambly stories with a punchline, like talking about reuniting for the first time in 10 years (he credited Victoria for bringing them back), accidentally firing their new bassist during a gig (he apologised for that), his dad loving Cobra more than Midtown, getting Jay Leno to call his dad, and so on. At one point he and Victoria were collecting all sorts of fangifts - bracelets, a locket, pictures - and one audience member threw him a customised Gabe Labubu. It was one of the big ones too!

For Snakes on a Plane they brought out a surprise vocalist: BEN LEE. Apparently he's friends with Victoria? So random. They also brought an audience member up on stage to do the rap - the girl they chose was SUCH a scene girl from 2009, she had the crimped coloured hair, the make-up, a plastic corset in pastel colours, she was like a time traveller, it was amazing.

I didn't think the crowd looked too old but when I went to the bathroom, the drunk girls were talking about mortgages, rent, their government jobs… Time has certainly passed since our bandom heydays.

demeaninglion6 posting in

findthatbook

I cannot remember the name of the book nor the author and this is basically my last resort, ive been trying to find it on and off since middle school and have been unsuccessful.
a kid is out with his parents (either at a dig site with his dad or at a picnic with him) and stumbles upon an arrowhead leftover from a war. the kid touches it and pricks his finger on it while also absorbing a sliver of the arrowhead and gains the power to absorb powers from other people (I can't remember if he has to kill them or not), he ends up falling in love with a snake demon lady? but she never reciprocates. and her dad was also the one the war was about. at the end of the book the evil guy goes back in time and changes history and that's how the book ends.

Current Mood: anxious

dancing_serpent posting in

c_ent

Happy New Year 2026!

This is the monthly round-up for December 2025.

• The DMBJ calendars are here!!!

• Wishlist Wednesday

• Fanart for: DMBJ Calendar

• Topic Tuesday: Your Highlight(s) of the Year

• Liu Yu's live performance of "The Witty Gallant's Playful Matchmaking"

• Theme from “The Singing Killer” (1970), by Roman Tam (as half-heartedly lip-synced by David Chiang.)

• Icons for: Various Chinese Drama Fandoms

• Quick Rec Wednesday

• Fanfic for: Fangs of Fortune

• Fanfic for: The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity

• Fanfic for: Word of Honor

• Did You Make a Thing?

• New Year's resolutions or something like it: c-ent edition

And of course we had the monthly round-up for November 2025 and our weekly chats on the 6th, 12th, 20th and the 27th

Did you discover an entry you missed? Come on over and take a look/comment!

shipperslist

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

chacusha posting in

crackthewip

Hi everyone! I'm running a round of Crack the WIP during the first half of 2026. If you want to start the year by finishing off some old projects, and maybe need a deadline and some company or encouragement to push it across the finish line, come join us!

How it works:

Sign up below and tell us a little bit about what you're working on if you want! You can always change your mind later and drop or switch to a different project(s) as your plans change -- signing up isn't a commitment, just an idea of what you might make.

Then when it's finished, post your completed work to the AO3 collection. Note: Important change for this round is that the AO3 collection does NOT keep works hidden. So you can add your works to the collection as long as the work is complete. The collection is moderated and only complete works by people who have signed up will be accepted into it.

Throughout the creation period, we'll have regular (optional) check-ins (and round-ups/celebrations of any newly-finished works), and a final round-up of works at the end.

Sign-ups:

To sign up, copy the text below, paste it into your comment, and answer the questions. If you want to sign up to make more than one thing, just answer once for each thing. Anon comments are turned on, so you can sign up even if you don't have a DW account.

Schedule:

The deadline for WIP-finishing is June 30 this year. Sign-ups are open until then. After that date, the collection will be closed!

Helpful links:
2026 AO3 collection

( Rules/FAQ )

Is the weird rash on my neck Covid or am I allergic to guava juice? *pops three Claritin* Guess we’ll find out tomorrow!

dine

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

superfangirl1 posting in

scans_daily

( Read more, )

thawrecka

What did I do in 2025? Hell if I know. A lot of people asked and about all I could say is I watched a lot of movies and TV shows and spent a bunch of time learning Chinese. I caught up with one set of friends and friends-of-friends for New Year's, and had a great time. I had non-dairy pizza, and non-alcoholic cocktails, and listened to people's opinions on the best superhero, and talked to a guy about Heated Rivalry and then his boyfriend played All the Things She Said during his DJ set.

I rung in the new year dancing to 3am! Something I am apparently still capable of doing! I am... very sore now, though 🤣

Happy new year, friends, and I hope 2026 treats us all well

lassarina

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

1. Dear Eric: In 2020, my now-wife and I were engaged. My mother is a nurse and has asthma and was deeply hit with mental and emotional stress from the pandemic. She would not attend most wedding planning events and would always be concerned with germs, wearing an N95 mask and keeping her distance.

My wife had a completely opposite reaction to the pandemic. It was more of a nuisance to her. In her eyes, there was no threat. My wife began to develop a feeling of abandonment from someone who was supposed to be her mother-in-law. She opened up to me about how much she was hurt, and I told her it wasn't my mother's fault and that she was just petrified by the pandemic and it was the only thing she could do.

My wife told me I was taking my mother’s side. Hurtful messages were sent by my wife and my mother just shut down the relationship and blocked her.mMy wedding was in October 2021. My mother braved the crowd of 155 people and attended without a mask. I was so proud of her. But my wife was angry about her presence.

My wife and I are still fighting occasionally about this issue, and the spats are becoming increasingly more intense. She still says extremely hurtful things about my mother often. My mother’s mindset was extreme but considering her working at a nursing home and having asthma, it’s totally understandable. That isn’t believable, according to my wife.

I am writing for guidance to understand how to solve this mess. Was I in the wrong for how I initially reacted toward my wife? I just don’t want this to destroy my marriage.

– Hurting Husband and Son

( Read more... )

*******

2. Dear Eric: Our son and his girlfriend of 24 years got married by a judge. It was a civil ceremony necessary to get him on her health insurance.

He approached my wife and me and said, "we're not into social media.” I did not glean from this that he meant we should post nothing at all. To share the good news with my friends, I did post one photo. Late the next night he texted us to take it down, saying "we asked you directly not to do this." I replied, I'm sorry, I didn't understand that I was not to post anything at all.

I feel bad because my son seems to feel he can forbid me from sharing this news with my friends. Many are longtime friends from church who have known my son for decades. It seems to me a little pushy for him to forbid me to share with my friends what I feel is good news. He seems to want to downplay it.

Should I not have made the post and leaned more toward caution? Should I have interpreted "we're not into social media" differently? I welcome your advice about how to perceive this situation and where to go from here.

– Deleted Post

( Read more... )

*************

3. Dear Eric: My children are grown. Two live locally and one super local (our home!). One is married with young children, and we see them often, spending most holidays with them. (In-laws are unpleasant, to say the least.)

Our middle child is in a relatively new relationship that has become pretty serious. We planned a beach vacation with my in-laws (our kids’ cousins, aunt and uncles) for Thanksgiving, which everyone seemed excited about when we booked the house.

Now the middle child will come with his girlfriend for just a few days and then fly to her family for the actual holiday. He has been noncommittal about Christmas because they may again travel to her family. When we got married, we alternated holidays with our families or stayed home. We were careful not to favor one side over the other. I really like his girlfriend but am sad that he seems OK with spending all holidays with her family.

Any suggestions on how to broach this subject without sounding whiny or critical? If it matters, she only recently moved to our area.

– Sharing Holidays

( Read more... )

silveradept

Last call for December Days for this year! Thanks for reading along with me as I talk about skills and applications thereof, if for no other reason than because I am prone to both the fixed mindset and the downplaying of any skills that I might have obtained as not "real" skills because they do not fit some form of ideal.

( 31: A Whole New Ballgame )

Current Mood: content
Current Music: Daft Punk - Human After All

vriddy

Community Thursday challenge: every Thursday, try to make an effort to engage with a community on Dreamwidth, whether that's posting, commenting, promoting, etc.

Over the last week...

Commented on senzenwomen.

Commented on anime_manga.

Promoted fandom50challenge.

Cross-posted the K-9 primer to PLACES! :D That I want to promote a bit individually, so here we go:

Cross-posted to fanifesto, which is a comm I always enjoy seeing posts on (and wish that happened a bit more often!🕯️). The rules are so good ("This thing is amazing. Here's why.") Incidentally, years ago I pledged to make a post there as part of the snowflake_challenge, which I thought would be about Hawks and DabiHawks, and although I'm ahem 3 or 4 years late I'm glad I have done it now :D K-9, K-9, K-9!
Cross-posted to anime_manga (and at least one person mentioned they read all of K-9 based on it >:D \o/)
Cross-posted to fourormore with even more OT4 pics XD Spoilers warnings I guess.

Then I linked to a couple of my K-9 fics on polyamships and sneaked in a link to the primer too. Teehee :D

Signal boosts:

Since I mentioning the snowflake_challenge above, it's returning for 2026! I know I have a few newer-to-dreamwidth folks in my circles and want to say, this is a lovely and chill challenge that runs through January, and a great way to meet and make new friends on Dreamwidth. I found many friends there and warmly recommend it!