FIAB fics!
Dec. 8th, 2025 04:42 pmi said farewell (i meant don't go), Red Sonja (2025), Sonja/Petra, 7k. Petra survives the arena, goes traveling with Sonja after the end of the movie, and absolute does not pine or have any feelings about it (and then gets abducted by an eldritch cult, oh no). Jaded traumatized warrior women/young earnest warrior woman, what an excellent ship. :') The writing here is gorgeous, and the fic hits that good tropey goodness in a way that can be hard to find in femslash.
Probably readable canon-blind? If this sounds like your jam at all, I definitely recommend. This fandom is SO SMALL that the tag is unwrangled on AO3, and I worry that no one but me is going to find this fic and read it.
The Lonely Ones, Kyle Murchison Booth stories, Booth/Alexis Rigby pre-slash, 5k. One misterable stormy night, Alexis appears on Booth's doorstep, to their mutual surprise. This is the first fic for this ship longer than a drabble, and I am so delighted it exists. The writing is really delicate and lovely, and very careful, as it needs to be when writing Booth making new personal connections (whether he wants or not).
Reflections, Kyle Murchison Booth stories, Booth/Ratcliffe, 3k. Despite his best intentions, Ratcliffe loses touch with Booth and then starts to form some suspicions about why that might be. I love this premise of Booth being a kind of liminal being as well, which fits right in with some of the ways Monette treats time and setting in canon. A nice shippy little ghost(?) story.
(no subject)
Dec. 8th, 2025 06:23 pm1.
I never did say that I did get my ears repierced, did I xD But I did! It's been like a month! The piercer was like "so, let's just re-open those old holes, I bet they're still fine, just maybe a little finicky", and she was correct. A lot easier to heal from something that's just expanding old scar tissue than making a new hole in the body, obviously, which is good because tbh I wasn't excited about tending to a new wound.
So I can wear ear shinies now! I need to acquire more of them, especially more interesting studs that I can wear during work/aikido. xD Dangly earrings are pretty but inconvenient when doing very physical stuff.
she was ALSO like "you have skinny earlobes!" and I was like "uh?" and she was cheerfully like "this means that even the tiniest studs I have are going to be a little loose on you and the average stud will be noticeably loose" (true, btw) and then "do your ears get cold particularly easily?" (no, actually, they don't?). It was all very "this is not a body part I think about the variance in very often but yeah someone who does body mods/piercings sure would have thoughts about this!". xD
2.
The heater in our dojo, which has been dying for years, has finally given up the ghost. Considering that our dojo barely breaks even most of the time, uh, not good to need to replace that in the middle of winter. We shall see how paying for that ends up working, considering that it only broke like last Friday and we only got someone to look at it today, and they haven't provided a specific estimate yet (just a rough ballpark upon identifying the failed part). Fun times!
3.
It is WINTER and COLD now.
...yeah that's about it.
This does mean my cat will paw at the blanket I keep on my couch and then curl up in expectation that I shall Tuck Her In, which is absolutely adorable of her. <3
4.
I finished my Yuletide draft and made eyes at a friend who also knows the canon to beta-read it, so I don't need to worry about that until they get back to me. I had a lot of fun doing canon review for this one! One of those canons where I didn't have any particular ideas but did think it'd be fun to write for someone who had some prompts/thoughts about it, and: I was right!
5.
Talked to my dad yesterday about family and life and books, and it's very funny how at once I got so much of my taste in books from him and how much more willing he is to read moderately shitty epic fantasy than I am. Admittedly, this may just be a factor of age and that he grew up reading more stuff in that genre (by which I mean: Male Gaze Power Fantasy) than I did, and so has way more tolerance for it than I do. He's perfectly happy to read whatever else I place in front of him! And he enjoys it! He just also reads these. xD
6.
god, idk, did I have other things to say
work is work. it's fine. I would like more sleep. whatever.
7.
I'm still somehow keeping up with Critical Role: Araman? I zone out of combat (normal) but this mostly just means that I'm willing to listen to that while doing other things even moreso than the more story-centric content that I'll listen to while driving or doing dishes etc. I think the part I enjoy most is that they're doing multiple tables and focusing on one table at a time, but the opening scene for each episode is from one of the other groups, a teaser of what they're getting up to/going to be doing when the focus switches to them.
merry, merry, merry
Dec. 8th, 2025 11:35 pmAnyway, in case I don't get around to a more detailed post about any of this, 2025 was primarily the year of these things: falling back in love with pro wrestling (and baseball, although, as a Blue Jays fan, love hurts right now); getting a bike; visiting the US for the first time since I emigrated in 2016 (I finally got to meet
24 Things of Advent Day 8
Dec. 8th, 2025 10:47 amThis fic is still very much in progress, but it was inspired by the image of Zechs sitting on sunlit wooden floorboards with a shot of Wild Turkey in hand and the bottle on the floor next to him. I had no idea where he was meant to be, I thought the room looked like a yoga studio, but @bryony-rebb on tumblr suggested this was a still from the year he was presumed dead, and THEN she said she'd love a fic of this, and THEN neither my sleeping nor my waking brain could let either of those thoughts go. So now I have a new wip and others are taking a back seat for the foreseeable future XD !!
Tags: will evolve as the story does, but for now: Injury Recovery, Self-Loathing
Characters: Zechs, (next installment will have Heero, Pagan, and at the very last chapter, Lady Une; but none other than Zechs appear in the first chapter)
24 Things of Advent Day 7
Dec. 8th, 2025 10:45 amTags: early parenthood (drama), friends chatting about stressful things, while being sweet with babies
Relationships: Established 6x9, established 3x4
Characters: Noin, Zechs, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, baby Naina, baby Milou/Mille
This ended up being one of the wingtober2025 chapters (written for prompt: self-destruct) that I wrote in a mad hurry because I ended up not having as much down time during the day to work on it, so I daydreamt of it during the day, started writing whatever scraps I remembered of the daydreams at night on the treadmill (at a very slow pace, to be sure; safety first) and then typed up properly and smoothed out transitions etc right before bed.
Many Trailers
Dec. 8th, 2025 05:51 pmHere are some random TV/film things:
1. Outrageous, which I enjoyed very much in the summer on Drama, is now on the iPlayer, if you're in the UK and missed it. (Drama series about the Mitfords).
2. They did another minisode for the S21 trailer for Doctor Who - this time Five and Tegan together again, which was great. It's here.
3. I hadn't had any idea someone was doing a whole film of The Faraway Tree series till YT randomly threw this trailer my way the other day. I never expected that, and it looks like fun anyway.
4. Been enjoying watching Cooper & Fry on Ch5, which I watched mainly because it had DW's Mandip Gill in the lead, along with Downton's Rob James-Collier, and who doesn't always need yet more detectives in their lives? Anyway, it's been good so far - a bit more moodier than a cosy but nothing too grim, and I like the local folklore aspect that crops up (even if it's never real). Here's a trailer.
(I have been watching Ch5's The Forsytes, which is largely very pretty and easy and not much more, but I haven't watched the last 2 or 3 eps, because I went out and also I watched Cooper & Fry instead, because it was more interesting, lol).
Probably, as ever, also other things I am forgetting!
Clues By Sam (2025)
Dec. 8th, 2025 11:52 am
Clues By Sam is a logic game where you have to deduce who is a criminal and who is innocent in a grid of 20 people. Everyone tells the truth (i.e. criminals don't lie) and people's professions aren't hints (i.e. "sleuths" and "cops" can be innocents or criminals). Random guessing is not allowed; the game will only let you convict or exonerate someone if the clues you've uncovered give enough information to be certain.
I am not super great at this kind of formal logic puzzle, but I'm trying to get better, and I think this is a good one for people who are learning. The daily puzzles get harder throughout the week—Monday is the easiest—and if you're stuck you can get hints that highlight which clues you should focus on. There are options for better colorblind visibility (innocents are green and criminals are red by default) but I'm not sure if the game is compatible with screenreaders or not.
The game is free to play in your browser, but there are also two puzzle packs you can buy. If you sign up for the dev's email newsletter, there are also some free extra puzzles in there. Thanks to
FIC: Emorian borderland (Tempestuous Tours)
Dec. 8th, 2025 11:39 amThe Emorian borderland, like the remainder of the borderland, is famed for the friendliness of its villagers. Despite that, do not be surprised if you are asked to pay for your room and board. Past foreign visitors have often taken advantage of the villagers in order to escape the high price of inns elsewhere in Southern Emor.
In the westernmost villages, you will find a blend of Emorian and Daxion life; though no bards live here, villagers can often be heard singing. As you travel further east, the singing will slowly cease, replaced by talk of blood-lineages and the seven gods and goddesses. You are now in the portion of the Emorian borderland that lies north of Koretia.
The borderland is the only part of Emor where vineyards can be found. Despite the relative coolness of the Emorian borderland, Emor's wines are among the best in the Three Lands. Especially popular is sweetened wild-berry wine (don't try the unsweetened variety unless you enjoy bitter drinks, which you probably do if you're Koretian) and wall-vine wine, made of a mild-tasting grape that grows only in the Emorian borderland.
Farming is also common here. Eastern mainlanders who farm will find much to interest them in these lands that have been plowed since ancient times.
Travelling east, you will eventually reach a crossroads. To travel on to Emor's capital, turn left.
[Translator's note: Hidden Blade shows life in an Emorian borderland village.]
Happy FIAB Week!
Dec. 8th, 2025 08:49 am- Exchanges due in November/December (
fffx,
ficinabox part deux,
yuletide_admin + mystery pinch-hits and treats + future sign-ups): I'm still at 5/7, so YT did not in fact get done last week, and I'm running out of time. So it really better get done this week, hadn't it? I did do all my FIAB editing, and I read and commented on all my gifts (lovely! see below), and I'm now reading my way through the collection, since I love weird mediums, so this is one of my top yearly exchanges and I want to comment widely. So much good stuff, and so creative! - Check out these AMAZING gifts I received for FIAB! 😍
- Juan Corrida Murder Trial Megathread: Day 2 - Ace Attorney, with some Phoenix/Edgeworth stanning, but more importantly the most INCREDIBLE Reddit audience reaction to the Matt Engarde trial livestream. Seriously, this is fantastic and so well done!
- the desert winter - Far From Any Road - Handsome Family (Song), filk with further verses of the song. OMG, this author had meter down. This is also really well done!
- [Art] Fig. 8. Megafauna of the Southern Hemisphere - Original Work for 'Really Mega Megafauna', and it is gorgeous! The far future city, and the cute giant rhinos, and all the dinosaurs and giant birds! Also, be sure to check out the artist's replies to the comments, because their headcanons about this world are SO COOL! I want an entire sci-fi novel of this world, seriously.
- [Art] Silent Sand - Far From Any Road - Handsome Family (Song), absolutely gorgeous art of the song, OMG, it's so beautiful I don't even know where to begin! And the art fits the horror-y vibes so well!
- [Art] Excerpts from 'Field Guide to Woodgeists' (Interlibrary Loan) - Original Work for 'Forest Spirit', and OMG: I got pottery! 😍 The woodgeist is super SUPER cute and really well rendered, holy shit! And I love the field-guide notes around the pictures, too. This is just adorable, and I've been showing it to everyone I know, and now I want woodgeists to exist SO MUCH!
- AA, Yelp, and Other Noises of Surprise - Ace Attorney, some Phoenix/Edgeworth, but also lots of other great worldbuilding stuff too. Yelp reviews for all the various locations in the AA games are exactly as funny to read as you'd think they would be, and this author ran with the humor and puns perfectly, and I am in love with this fic, too!
Anyway, Sunday was absolute madness when I kept opening one gift, thinking "Okay, this one was SO GOOD that I should brace myself for disappointment for the others" but then every single subsequent gift was JUST AS GOOD, and my mind was officially blown! I have no idea how many different creators I have, whether it's one super-talented person or many, but in any case I SUPER lucked out! I am still pretty incoherent: Every time I think about how good one gift was and go back to it, I see another one, and then I get obsessed with that one again, and it's a whole vicious cycle. A WONDERFUL vicious cycle! ❤️❤️❤️ - Exchanges that will go into 2026:
au5k &
highadrenalineexchange. I'll take a look at the sign-ups for AU5K, but I'm pretty sure I'll treat rather than to sign-up myself. - Nope, nothing new on Femslash Salad Bar...
- BNHA: I'm through 8x09, so I just need to watch last week's episode. I do want to watch some of the movies/OVAs this week, too. I'd like to finish all the odds and ends of this canon this year, to have a tidy start to 2026. Still really enjoying it, though! (Especially Bakugo crying. 🤣)
- I also watched Raya and the Last Dragon this week, which I picked up from the library in case I had to pick up lingering PHs, which I did not, so I can disclose! It was actually a fun, cute movie! I've been meh on most of the recent Disney movies I've seen, so I was skeptical, but this one won me over and I quite enjoyed it! So thank you to the person requesting it, and who knows, maybe I'll write something for it sometime in the future.
- The Deer and the Cauldron by Louis Cha - I'm still reading my way through this, and would like to be done by New Year, but it is quite long (and I'm otherwise quite busy). Still enjoying the non-harem parts!
- Dear Door - I read a bunch on this last week. And it might actually be going in some vaguely interesting and/or surprising plot or characterization directions? Not sure, but there's still plenty of porn, in any case!
- And now for something COMPLETELY different: I've also gotten out of the library White Rural Rage: The Treat to American Democracy by Thomas Schaller, which I heard about eons ago and put in my backlog in hopes that it will offer some insight into WTF is going on. So far it's all stuff that I pretty much know, although there are some interesting statistics. I'm cruising through it, though, so I'll definitely finish this week (maybe even this evening). And it's kind of nice to take a break from all the fiction I've been reading for some non-fiction, like it resets my brain or something, lol.
Goals for next week: 1) Finish YT for real this time! 2) Read/Comment on cool FIAB stuff! 3) This week's ep of BNHA. 4) Read things!
“windy has stormy eyes / that flash at the sound of lies / and windy has wings to fly”
Dec. 8th, 2025 08:58 amNovember Night, Adelaide Crapsey
Listen …
With faint dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp’d, break from the trees
And fall.
Crapsey (1878-1914) was a teacher and prosodist as well as poet, and this was first published in her (posthumous) first collection, Verses. The form is a cinquain, a fixed syllabic stanza based on Japanese tanka that she developed in her last year of life, before dying of tuberculosis.
---L.
Subject quote from Windy,” The Association.
Like congrats on being unpleasant I guess
Dec. 7th, 2025 05:04 amGive me “goofy” characters instead. Give me “witty” characters. But above all, just please give me “kind” characters.
10trueloves Challenge Tracking
Dec. 7th, 2025 08:20 pmClaimed Character: Eliot Spencer (Leverage)
Current Progress: 0/10
Chosen Prompt Table (#4)
| 01. | Surprise. | 02. | Trust. | 03. | Noise. | 04. | Tears. | 05 | Mask. |
| 06. | Fight. | 07. | Accident. | 08. | Overprotective. | 09. | Broken. | 10. | Loss. |
Potential characters to pair (still deciding), probably a mix of & and /:
- Alec Hardison
- Parker
- Sophie Devereaux
- Mr. Quinn
- Molly Connell
- Maggie Collins
- Rey (Star Wars)
- Remus Lupin (Harry Potter)
- Keladry of Mindelan (Tortall)
- Samwise Gamgee (Lord of the Rings)
- Tiergan Alenefar (Keeper of the Lost Cities)
- Polites (EPIC the Musical)
- Galen (Saint of Steel)
(no subject)
Dec. 7th, 2025 07:44 pmDear Platonic Ideal Creator,
Dec. 7th, 2025 03:46 pm( More details under the cut. )
MimiHylea AU5k 2025 Letter
Dec. 7th, 2025 02:19 pm[In progress] Hello and thank you for creating for me! Treats are enabled and fic, art, or in-universe document treats are always welcome! (Other mediums might be as well, feel free to ask if not requested)
Some general notes/clarifiers:
- Prompts are always optional! I'm happy to receive anything you think I'd like.
- Depicting / ships without overt, on-page romance is welcome! What I'm looking for when I request / is that the characters are plausibly in a relationship or heading towards one. Pre-ship, becoming friends, queerplatonic dynamics, established relationship where they're not doing anything particularly romantic at the moment are all great.
- Depicting a ship I've requested as & with underlying queerplatonic and/or flirty vibes is generally welcome, as long as the characters involved are unrelated and peers (i.e., not canonically portrayed as teacher/student or adult/minor). What I'm looking for when I request & is that the primary focus be on non-romantic, non-sexual aspects of their relationship.
- Crossovers between any of my fandoms (requested here or listed below) are always welcome, even if I didn’t select a specific crossover freeform!
- I opt in to recursive works of and/or works inspired by my own works and/or other gifts I have received if the creator permits
General Likes:
Vibes/Themes: Fluff, Character studies, Deep friendships, Character growth, Cozy vibes, Hurt/comfort with focus on comfort, Teamwork/partnership, Loyalty, Found families, Kindness/empathy, Creative problem-solving, Familiarity, Happy/contented endings
Styles: Crossovers/fusions between requested fandoms (or other fandoms I enjoy), Missing scenes, Post-canon, Fix-it / canon-divergence that results in healthier/happier characters, X+1 formats, In-universe documents, Poetry, Letters/journal entries
Character Headcanons: Aroace-spectrum characters, Non-binary characters, Queerplatonic relationships and/or queerplatonic polycules, Neurodiverse characters, Gender-non-conformity/cross-dressing, Socially normalized queerness
Alternate Settings: High fantasy/D&D-esque, fairy tale, alien planet, steampunk, bakery/cafe, library, small town, ice cream shop, roommates/neighbors
Specific Content: Stargazing, Nature walks, Breakfast, Tea, Dancing, Woodland scenes/animals, Weird critters (especially raccoons, skunks, squids, octopodes, tardigrades), Folklore/fairytale elements, Banter, Hugs/cuddles, Parallel play, Domestic scenes, Acts of service, Teaching, Healthy processing of strong emotions and conflict, Learning each other's needs and love languages, Consensual fake dating and/or marriage of convenience (ie the people in the relationship all know and agree to it being as such), Symbolism/metaphors (especially ones used/realized by the characters, not just the narration), Puzzles, Holiday celebrations & traditions
Art: Pastels/soft color palettes, Water color aesthetics, Character-focused scenes, Cosplay / characters in costume, Pride flag aesthetics for relevant characters, Little details/references to things the characters are interested in, Optical illusions, Magical realism
General DNWs:
Higher than T rating, graphic depictions of violence or sex, underage sex, sexual harassment or non-consensual physical affection, mentions of pornography, kissing to decide if a relationship is worth it, / relationships between characters who are canonically teacher/student or adult/minor or related, kidnapping/stalking for romantic/sexual purposes (platonic crime purposes fine), abuse within requested relationships, characters portrayed as more sexual or sexualized than in canon, self-harm/suicidal thoughts, pregnancy, major character death if non-canonical, non-canon-typical violence or torture or body horror, insanity/delusions, parasites/serious disease, religion-bashing, modern or futuristic military or law enforcement AUs (historical or high fantasy are fine, as are characters who are canonically in such roles still being so), unrequested villain AUs (or other AUs where canonically good characters are portrayed as evil), hopeless endings
Audio DNW: sudden volume changes, sound effects/music during narration (intro/outro or transition effects/music are fine)
Song-based DNW: Firework by Katy Perry, As Long As You're Mine from Wicked
Fandom-Specific DNWs:
Ballet Shoes: Focus on RomanceKotLC: Fitz losing his temper
Tortall: []
Crossover: []
Big Bang Theory: [Sheldon-bashing (teasing and calling out is fine, but please don’t make him entirely unsympathetically)]
Leverage: []
Non-exhaustive list of fandoms I enjoy - feel free to crossover/fuse with any of my requests:
- Books: Ballet Shoes, Christmas Carol, Chronicles of Narnia (especially The Horse and His Boy), Ella Enchanted (and related books, but not the film), Emelan, Harry Potter, Keeper of the Lost Cities, Lord of the Rings, Princess and the Goblin, Saint of Steel (and others in this universe), Star Wars Legends: Junior Jedi Knights, Young Jedi Knights, New Jedi Order series, Tortall, Winnie-the-Pooh
- Movies: Clue, Disney/Pixar Animated, Footloose, High School Musical, Megamind, Muppets, Ocean's Eleven, Princess Diaries, Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarfs, Secondhand Lions, Star Wars
- TV Shows: Big Bang Theory, Big Leap, Bones, Buffy/Angel, Dancing with the Stars, Downton Abbey, Dragon Prince, DuckTales (2017), Eureka, Find Me In Paris, Leverage (OG and Redemption), Man on the Inside, Merlin (BBC), Miraculous Ladybug, Parks and Recreation, Star Trek TOS/Voyager/TNG, Stargate SG-1, White Collar
- Musicals/Theater: EPIC: The Musical, Hamilton, Legally Blonde: The Musical, Midsummer Night's Dream, Sound of Music, Twelfth Night
- Video Games: For the King, Legend of Zelda, Pokemon Gen 1 Video Games, Stardew Valley, Super Mario (especially Paper Mario)
- Other: Nessie, Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, Rigel Black Chronicles (fic series by murkybluematter), Rob Gonsalves' paintings, Sonata for Harp and Bicycle
Fandom Notes
( Ballet )
( Keeper )
( Tortall )
( Twelfth )
( Big )
( Leverage )
( Crossover )
Freeform Notes
If I requested a tag that’s not listed here, I am still interested in it! These are just the ones I happened to have extra thoughts/prompts about, in case you wanted more of a jumping off point than the tag itself
( Read more... )
