My Yuletide Stories
1 Jan 2026 19:17![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rachelmanijaI wrote three stories this Yuletide. The first two won't make much sense if you don't know the canons. With the third, all you really need to know is that mushi are magical creatures and Ginko solves people's mushi-related problems.
28 Years Later
Memento Mori. Dr. Kelson creates his masterpiece.
I really liked the movie, which is extremely different from the first one (also extremely different from the second, which I don't care for) and also extremely different from the brilliant trailer, which introduced me to the astonishing recording from 1915 (!) of actor Taylor Holmes reciting Kipling's poem "Boots." It's a post-apocalypse movie that's partly a coming of age story, partly an action/horror movie, and partly a beautiful and moving drama about life, death, and remembrance. And then there's the last two minutes, which are basically parkour Trainspotting.
I actually matched on The Leftovers, but I liked the 28 Days Later prompt so much that I wrote that instead.
Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Hunger. Both Lessa and Kylara are Searched for Nemorth's final clutch.
I just really enjoy writing in this canon. I love the dragons and McCaffrey created a lot of very interesting characters even if she often ended up not knowing quite what to do with them.
Mushishi
A Turn of the Wheel. Ginko encounters an unusual mushi in a village known for pottery.
Mushishi is an incredibly beautiful anime and manga with a dreamy, wistful atmosphere. I saw a prompt for mushi infesting a piece of pottery and could not resist. This story was also inspired by having recently visited Japan in the summer, a time of year I very much do not recommend for a visit if you can possibly avoid it. It's like living in a sauna. Now imagine doing a kiln firing in that sauna.
28 Years Later
Memento Mori. Dr. Kelson creates his masterpiece.
I really liked the movie, which is extremely different from the first one (also extremely different from the second, which I don't care for) and also extremely different from the brilliant trailer, which introduced me to the astonishing recording from 1915 (!) of actor Taylor Holmes reciting Kipling's poem "Boots." It's a post-apocalypse movie that's partly a coming of age story, partly an action/horror movie, and partly a beautiful and moving drama about life, death, and remembrance. And then there's the last two minutes, which are basically parkour Trainspotting.
I actually matched on The Leftovers, but I liked the 28 Days Later prompt so much that I wrote that instead.
Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Hunger. Both Lessa and Kylara are Searched for Nemorth's final clutch.
I just really enjoy writing in this canon. I love the dragons and McCaffrey created a lot of very interesting characters even if she often ended up not knowing quite what to do with them.
Mushishi
A Turn of the Wheel. Ginko encounters an unusual mushi in a village known for pottery.
Mushishi is an incredibly beautiful anime and manga with a dreamy, wistful atmosphere. I saw a prompt for mushi infesting a piece of pottery and could not resist. This story was also inspired by having recently visited Japan in the summer, a time of year I very much do not recommend for a visit if you can possibly avoid it. It's like living in a sauna. Now imagine doing a kiln firing in that sauna.
lannamichaelsMe: Oooh this new Mountain Goats song Cold At Night is so good!
Me, on repeated listens: hang on, who is that person doing backing vocals?
Me: That sounds like Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Me: That cannot be correct.
Anyway. Yes, it is Lin-Manuel Miranda.
God, what is it about the Mountain Goats and making me ache to write poetry. They really took up that space vacated by Leonard Cohen.
(no subject)
1 Jan 2026 20:28skygiantsAha! it's Yuletide reveals time!
So my Yuletide recipient this year wasgenarti, who is either just about to find out this fact from my post, or has known for weeks and is just biding her time to reveal her knowledge and I'm just about to find out that fact after she reads this. Stay tuned for breaking developments!
So, for her, I wrote The Villainous Princess Saves Her Kingdom, a fix-it fic for the kdrama Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born about the most dysfunctional lesbian of that whole cast of lesbians picking up various postcanon pieces of herself and incidentally the rest of the troupe.
HOWEVER, for obvious reasons, I had to immediately come up with a decoy fic, so from the beginning having readraven's Yuletide letter at the same time I happened to be rereading The Dispossessed I decided I was also going to write a treat for raven that I would present to genarti as my assignment, which ended up as More A Comment Than A Question, a strange little timebending fic about Shevek's daughter contacting Laia Aseio Odo through time and space and not really necessarily making the most of it.
Tangled webs, etc; after I had confidently reported submitting my decoy fic on deadline togenarti, raven's prompt went to the pinch-hit list and I had to frantically fake a different panic than the panic I was actually feeling -- ANYWAY. Hilariously, raven discovered my identity immediately due to the usernames reveal error whereas genarti was at church through that entire event and thus remained completely oblivious (unless, of course, she isn't, see first paragraph above.) A very chaotic Yuletide on several fronts! But I had a lot of fun writing both fics although I would prefer not to be wrangling quite this much deception every year.
So my Yuletide recipient this year was
genarti, who is either just about to find out this fact from my post, or has known for weeks and is just biding her time to reveal her knowledge and I'm just about to find out that fact after she reads this. Stay tuned for breaking developments! So, for her, I wrote The Villainous Princess Saves Her Kingdom, a fix-it fic for the kdrama Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born about the most dysfunctional lesbian of that whole cast of lesbians picking up various postcanon pieces of herself and incidentally the rest of the troupe.
HOWEVER, for obvious reasons, I had to immediately come up with a decoy fic, so from the beginning having read
raven's Yuletide letter at the same time I happened to be rereading The Dispossessed I decided I was also going to write a treat for raven that I would present to genarti as my assignment, which ended up as More A Comment Than A Question, a strange little timebending fic about Shevek's daughter contacting Laia Aseio Odo through time and space and not really necessarily making the most of it. Tangled webs, etc; after I had confidently reported submitting my decoy fic on deadline to
genarti, raven's prompt went to the pinch-hit list and I had to frantically fake a different panic than the panic I was actually feeling -- ANYWAY. Hilariously, raven discovered my identity immediately due to the usernames reveal error whereas genarti was at church through that entire event and thus remained completely oblivious (unless, of course, she isn't, see first paragraph above.) A very chaotic Yuletide on several fronts! But I had a lot of fun writing both fics although I would prefer not to be wrangling quite this much deception every year.(no subject)
1 Jan 2026 18:45shadarasIn non writing thoughts, by which I mean I wanted to talk about aikido and then realised that maybe I should mention watching a movie first, since I finally watched the new Benoit Blanc movie. xD
I watched Wake Up Dead Man today withhafnia, who had seen it once before and was like "I am BITING MY TONGUE not to point out the REALLY GOOD FORESHADOWING", paused the movie at two points to tell me about (a) her opinions that the reading list in-universe could've been better (with her suggestions) and (b) A Science Complaint (while going "this is the only thing that annoys me about this movie"), and was delighted to agree with me about how well they used LIGHT. The cinematography was gorgeous, the plot was very fun, and I adored Father Jud and Martha and enjoyed going "ughhhh" about how awful many other characters were. The film quotes/references I caught were also great!
also my twin messaged me right as I was finishing the movie to tell me about a post he'd seen saying that the opening scene of the movie was filmed at the same location as Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video, including a tweet (bsky version) (bweet, my brain wants to say, but I think it's skeet. or just, y'know. tweet.) from Rian Johnson going "yes, it was, and I was the only person on set excited about this fact", which I thought was very funny in its own right and also incredible timing.
anyway, AIKIDO
Last night we had a new year's eve practice, and there weren't many people there, but—
There is so much joy in doing aikido on a mat where the practice is meant as meditation, and there are few enough people that you don't need to worry about throwing anyone into anyone else (or off the mat), and the people who are there are all advanced and so you don't need to worry too much about taking care of them (because their ukemi will take care of them).
( let me save your reading pages from how much I'm talking about aikido )
Sensei also was like "you could take nidan tomorrow and be fine" when I said that it was sort of frustrating knowing that in this, the lead-up to when I'll be taking nidan (at the end of May), I'll probably not be practicing more than once a week on average. She's right! I know she's right! I could take it tomorrow if I were asked to!
But it'll be better with more practice and active reminders of the stuff we don't do very often. Reversals (uke becomes nage). Weapon take-aways. Some nage-holds-the-jo, maybe? I'm solid on everything else, I think, though it's always nice to review koshinage. Working with friends on shodan prep last year means that most of it's in my body via taking ukemi, anyway, which is good.
I watched Wake Up Dead Man today with
hafnia, who had seen it once before and was like "I am BITING MY TONGUE not to point out the REALLY GOOD FORESHADOWING", paused the movie at two points to tell me about (a) her opinions that the reading list in-universe could've been better (with her suggestions) and (b) A Science Complaint (while going "this is the only thing that annoys me about this movie"), and was delighted to agree with me about how well they used LIGHT. The cinematography was gorgeous, the plot was very fun, and I adored Father Jud and Martha and enjoyed going "ughhhh" about how awful many other characters were. The film quotes/references I caught were also great!also my twin messaged me right as I was finishing the movie to tell me about a post he'd seen saying that the opening scene of the movie was filmed at the same location as Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video, including a tweet (bsky version) (bweet, my brain wants to say, but I think it's skeet. or just, y'know. tweet.) from Rian Johnson going "yes, it was, and I was the only person on set excited about this fact", which I thought was very funny in its own right and also incredible timing.
anyway, AIKIDO
Last night we had a new year's eve practice, and there weren't many people there, but—
There is so much joy in doing aikido on a mat where the practice is meant as meditation, and there are few enough people that you don't need to worry about throwing anyone into anyone else (or off the mat), and the people who are there are all advanced and so you don't need to worry too much about taking care of them (because their ukemi will take care of them).
( let me save your reading pages from how much I'm talking about aikido )
Sensei also was like "you could take nidan tomorrow and be fine" when I said that it was sort of frustrating knowing that in this, the lead-up to when I'll be taking nidan (at the end of May), I'll probably not be practicing more than once a week on average. She's right! I know she's right! I could take it tomorrow if I were asked to!
But it'll be better with more practice and active reminders of the stuff we don't do very often. Reversals (uke becomes nage). Weapon take-aways. Some nage-holds-the-jo, maybe? I'm solid on everything else, I think, though it's always nice to review koshinage. Working with friends on shodan prep last year means that most of it's in my body via taking ukemi, anyway, which is good.
(no subject)
1 Jan 2026 18:14shadarasStart of a new year, fun! I hope it's a good year; certainly I'll try and work to make it good for me. <3
hafnia got me to sign up for ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
getyourwordsout with her this year, which should be fun. I'm doing it as a habit pledge, because that's usually not very hard for me and tracking wordcount seemed exhausting. (Which also means that Write Every Day folk will start seeing me around again in those posts. xD I have missed that since my writing brain plunged into a hole over the summer! I think I've crawled out of it now!)
anyway, VERY IMPORTANTLY, Yuletide creators have been revealed, so I can talk about what I wrote for it! :D
My assignment was forchina_shop, and we matched on The Spear Cuts Through Water, a book I adore and which I offered because I was like "okay if someone requests this fantastic book surely they will have ideas for what to write" and also the idea of having an excuse to read the book while thinking about the voice and feel of the prose was exciting.
I wrote a brief epilogue fic, barely over 1k: After the Moon Rose Anew (T, 1,048 words, Jun/Keema, post-canon)
Judging by all the lovely comments, I succeeded in my goal of matching the novel's prose! Most people commented on the voice! Considering how beautiful and lyrical the prose is, it's truly a joy and a relief to know I could match it for even a thousand words.
Also, it was just fun to reference as much as I could of what I found really cool about the prose: the layered POVs, the omniscient style that drifted between POV easily, the occasional brief asides to background POVs... Honestly, the poetics are easier for me to be confident in! I know I can do poetic prose; it's the smooth movement between heads that seems natural and is easy to follow that I wanted to learn from.
Andchina_shop liked it, of course, which is the most important part of a gift—especially one for a friend!
Which: The odds of matching to a friend in Yuletide are... not that low if you both know you're in the same tiny fandom and that you're both going to request it, but I hadn't realised thatchina_shop was going to request The Spear Cuts Through Water until after I'd already offered it, and she could of course not know I would offer it! Certainly we'd talked about the book before, but it's still very special to have this kind of match happen by chance. <3
The other fic I wrote for Yuletide was a pinch hit.wolffyluna went up for PH, and one of the fandoms requested was Oathsworn, an actual play podcast I love. I knew that if WolffyLuna had listened to it, it was because of my promo posting about it. So, y'know. The pinch hit went up one evening, and I told myself that if it was still up when I got home from work the next day I could claim it.
It was still up. So. I claimed it, and proceeded to spend the weekend mainlining episode transcripts and internally screaming about what even I was going to write, oh god, this would've been a lot easier if I'd gotten it as an assignment (which I could have! I'd also offered Oathsworn!) due to the time crunch.
I'm very pleased with what I came up with, especially considering the time pressure. And WolffyLuna liked it, especially the scenes I added post-deadline because I was like "WAIT I NEED THIS TOO", which made me very happy that I'd taken the time to write and add them. <3
I dream of what I'll become next life (3.5k, T, CNTW, Waloot-centric) is a character study of my favorite character, and also includes a dive into the chosen of the gods, a specific religion within the world, and also Waloot's whole deal of being an ordinary person who died, came back, and was one of the most magically powerful people in the area by the time the story concluded. She has a lot of angst. I gave her a bit of time with some weird horses (as WolffyLuna requested!) as part of helping her deal with that.
This, and the gift WolffyLuna wrote for me (my suspicion that we'd be trading Oathsworn fics also factored into taking the PH), are the first works for the fandom on ao3! Yay for Yuletide! It's very exciting! I hope more people take a chance on this COMPLETE actual play podcast! An ongoing apocalypse, a last stand against the oncoming hordes, and a lot of people desperately doing their best to survive and be in community with each other despite not always liking each other very much!
hafnia got me to sign up for getyourwordsout with her this year, which should be fun. I'm doing it as a habit pledge, because that's usually not very hard for me and tracking wordcount seemed exhausting. (Which also means that Write Every Day folk will start seeing me around again in those posts. xD I have missed that since my writing brain plunged into a hole over the summer! I think I've crawled out of it now!)anyway, VERY IMPORTANTLY, Yuletide creators have been revealed, so I can talk about what I wrote for it! :D
My assignment was for
china_shop, and we matched on The Spear Cuts Through Water, a book I adore and which I offered because I was like "okay if someone requests this fantastic book surely they will have ideas for what to write" and also the idea of having an excuse to read the book while thinking about the voice and feel of the prose was exciting.I wrote a brief epilogue fic, barely over 1k: After the Moon Rose Anew (T, 1,048 words, Jun/Keema, post-canon)
Judging by all the lovely comments, I succeeded in my goal of matching the novel's prose! Most people commented on the voice! Considering how beautiful and lyrical the prose is, it's truly a joy and a relief to know I could match it for even a thousand words.
Also, it was just fun to reference as much as I could of what I found really cool about the prose: the layered POVs, the omniscient style that drifted between POV easily, the occasional brief asides to background POVs... Honestly, the poetics are easier for me to be confident in! I know I can do poetic prose; it's the smooth movement between heads that seems natural and is easy to follow that I wanted to learn from.
And
china_shop liked it, of course, which is the most important part of a gift—especially one for a friend!Which: The odds of matching to a friend in Yuletide are... not that low if you both know you're in the same tiny fandom and that you're both going to request it, but I hadn't realised that
china_shop was going to request The Spear Cuts Through Water until after I'd already offered it, and she could of course not know I would offer it! Certainly we'd talked about the book before, but it's still very special to have this kind of match happen by chance. <3The other fic I wrote for Yuletide was a pinch hit.
wolffyluna went up for PH, and one of the fandoms requested was Oathsworn, an actual play podcast I love. I knew that if WolffyLuna had listened to it, it was because of my promo posting about it. So, y'know. The pinch hit went up one evening, and I told myself that if it was still up when I got home from work the next day I could claim it.It was still up. So. I claimed it, and proceeded to spend the weekend mainlining episode transcripts and internally screaming about what even I was going to write, oh god, this would've been a lot easier if I'd gotten it as an assignment (which I could have! I'd also offered Oathsworn!) due to the time crunch.
I'm very pleased with what I came up with, especially considering the time pressure. And WolffyLuna liked it, especially the scenes I added post-deadline because I was like "WAIT I NEED THIS TOO", which made me very happy that I'd taken the time to write and add them. <3
I dream of what I'll become next life (3.5k, T, CNTW, Waloot-centric) is a character study of my favorite character, and also includes a dive into the chosen of the gods, a specific religion within the world, and also Waloot's whole deal of being an ordinary person who died, came back, and was one of the most magically powerful people in the area by the time the story concluded. She has a lot of angst. I gave her a bit of time with some weird horses (as WolffyLuna requested!) as part of helping her deal with that.
This, and the gift WolffyLuna wrote for me (my suspicion that we'd be trading Oathsworn fics also factored into taking the PH), are the first works for the fandom on ao3! Yay for Yuletide! It's very exciting! I hope more people take a chance on this COMPLETE actual play podcast! An ongoing apocalypse, a last stand against the oncoming hordes, and a lot of people desperately doing their best to survive and be in community with each other despite not always liking each other very much!
2025 fanfic year in review
2 Jan 2026 10:24thawreckaI kept a document open all year to paste these in as I went, but you can probably tell when that started to go awry...
( List of all the fic I wrote in 2025 )
The writing year in review meme:
Total words posted in 2025: 25,495 words
Total stories posted in 2025: 21
Longest story: The Ordinary Ever After Part: 5,552 words
Shortest story: Purring: 126 words
Story with the most kudos in 2025: Everyday Life With a Menace of a Man, 217 kudos (more than I expected!)
Story with the most comment threads in 2025: On His Mind, 10 comment threads
Story with the most bookmarks in 2025: Everyday Life With a Menace of a Man, 37 bookmarks
Personal favourite from this year: Probably Going Home, the Bleach Ichigo&Ishida gen I wrote after rereading the series yet again. I like the vibe of it! Either that, or the Pluto pinch hit I wrote for RMSE, which I feel really captured all my Paul Duncan and North no 2 feelings.
Overall thoughts: Weird year again! Didn't write much, and a lot of what I wrote didn't get much of a reaction. I joined a lot more exchanges in 2025 than in previous years, and they were marked by constant delays and not much in the way of comments. Not sure I'll bother much in 2026.
( Stats )
( List of all the fic I wrote in 2025 )
The writing year in review meme:
Total words posted in 2025: 25,495 words
Total stories posted in 2025: 21
Longest story: The Ordinary Ever After Part: 5,552 words
Shortest story: Purring: 126 words
Story with the most kudos in 2025: Everyday Life With a Menace of a Man, 217 kudos (more than I expected!)
Story with the most comment threads in 2025: On His Mind, 10 comment threads
Story with the most bookmarks in 2025: Everyday Life With a Menace of a Man, 37 bookmarks
Personal favourite from this year: Probably Going Home, the Bleach Ichigo&Ishida gen I wrote after rereading the series yet again. I like the vibe of it! Either that, or the Pluto pinch hit I wrote for RMSE, which I feel really captured all my Paul Duncan and North no 2 feelings.
Overall thoughts: Weird year again! Didn't write much, and a lot of what I wrote didn't get much of a reaction. I joined a lot more exchanges in 2025 than in previous years, and they were marked by constant delays and not much in the way of comments. Not sure I'll bother much in 2026.
( Stats )
Jujutsu Kaisen: Love For The Strong: Getou Suguru Fest 2026
1 Jan 2026 23:00annadante posting in fandomcalendarDescription: A fest aimed to celebrate Getou Suguru's character from Jujutsu Kaisen. The fest allows all ships and headcanons and interpretations and is open for gen and platonic works too. The prompting period has been over already however the claiming period is open and we have crowdsourced 28 prompts to choose from. The claiming period has no deadline and it is open until the last day.
Schedule: Claiming open: 01/01/2026 | Works Due: 15/02/2026 | Work Reveals: 17/02/2026 | Creators Reveal: 24/02/2026
Links: Tumblr | AO3 Collection | Rules & FAQ
Schedule: Claiming open: 01/01/2026 | Works Due: 15/02/2026 | Work Reveals: 17/02/2026 | Creators Reveal: 24/02/2026
Links: Tumblr | AO3 Collection | Rules & FAQ
Yuletide, Snowflake, and fandom meme #2
1 Jan 2026 14:03hamsterwomanHappy New Year! I'm having a fairly pleasant 2026 so far, and hope you all are too! <3
Yuletide reveals! :D
I wrote two things this year (which, it's been a couple of years since I've managed a treat, and I'm very glad I was able to this year).
My assignment:
Voyages of the Valence: The Lanthanide Cluster Job (7862 words) by hamsterwoman
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Elements - Experiments in Character Design - Kaycie D., Object and Concept Anthropomorphism
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Vanadium (Experiments in Character Design), Chromium (Experiments in Character Design), Iodine (Experiments in Character Design), Rhenium (Experiments in Character Design), Sulfur (Experiments in Character Design), Carbon (Experiments in Character Design), Xenon (Experiments in Character Design), Helium (Experiments in Character Design), Dysprosium (Experiments in Character Design), Indium (Experiments in Character Design), Thulium (Experiments in Character Design), Rhodium (Experiments in Character Design), Yttrium (Experiments in Character Design)
Additional Tags: IN SPACE!, Space Opera
Summary:
( Blathering )
The days leading up to story reveals were spent frantically beta-ing a couple of fairly long fics that required a canon primer, so I had given up on the idea of writing a treat. But I felt so blessed by my last-minute crossover treat and the fact that my main gift was in a much rarer fandom than I’d been expecting, that it gave me a sort of second wind – after reveals, obviously, but there was still Madness. And thus:
FAQ: The “Snake Fight” Portion of Your Magical Practitioner Examination (581 words) by hamsterwoman
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: FAQ: The "Snake Fight" Portion of Your Thesis Defense - Luke Burns, Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Peter Grant (Rivers of London), Thomas Nightingale
Summary:
( Blathering )
Full text of the ficlet, with the missing bit: ( under here )
*
snowflake_challenge is back, with lovely new banners:
Challenge #1: The Icebreaker Challenge: Introduce yourself. Tell us why you're doing the challenge, and what you hope to gain from it.
My intro post from a year ago was mostly current but was missingElis & John a couple of things that feel too relevant not to mention, so, I’m including an updated one below. As for the other challenge questions:
I love the little bright splash of fannishness that Snowflake brings to the start of the year – it always leads to interesting fandom reflections (my own and other people’s), getting to read/watch/look at things I wouldn’t have come across or taken the plunge on otherwise (fic/vids but also trying new canons), creating things I otherwise wouldn’t have created (one tangible highlight: a couple of years ago I wrote a pantoum, a poetic form I hadn’t tried before, for Snowflake’s “try something new” day, and it was actually published this year, which is pretty cool!), and usually also new friends. Which I guess has also answered the question of what I hope to gain from it this year :)
( fannish me in 2026 )
*
YouTube now apparently also does a Wrapped: ( so here are my fairly predictable results )
*
( Fannish end-of-year meme #2 )
Yuletide reveals! :D
I wrote two things this year (which, it's been a couple of years since I've managed a treat, and I'm very glad I was able to this year).
My assignment:
Voyages of the Valence: The Lanthanide Cluster Job (7862 words) by hamsterwoman
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Elements - Experiments in Character Design - Kaycie D., Object and Concept Anthropomorphism
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Vanadium (Experiments in Character Design), Chromium (Experiments in Character Design), Iodine (Experiments in Character Design), Rhenium (Experiments in Character Design), Sulfur (Experiments in Character Design), Carbon (Experiments in Character Design), Xenon (Experiments in Character Design), Helium (Experiments in Character Design), Dysprosium (Experiments in Character Design), Indium (Experiments in Character Design), Thulium (Experiments in Character Design), Rhodium (Experiments in Character Design), Yttrium (Experiments in Character Design)
Additional Tags: IN SPACE!, Space Opera
Summary:
Elements IN SPACE!
( Blathering )
The days leading up to story reveals were spent frantically beta-ing a couple of fairly long fics that required a canon primer, so I had given up on the idea of writing a treat. But I felt so blessed by my last-minute crossover treat and the fact that my main gift was in a much rarer fandom than I’d been expecting, that it gave me a sort of second wind – after reveals, obviously, but there was still Madness. And thus:
FAQ: The “Snake Fight” Portion of Your Magical Practitioner Examination (581 words) by hamsterwoman
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: FAQ: The "Snake Fight" Portion of Your Thesis Defense - Luke Burns, Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Peter Grant (Rivers of London), Thomas Nightingale
Summary:
Nightingale was aghast at my lack of ophidian knowledge.
( Blathering )
Full text of the ficlet, with the missing bit: ( under here )
*
snowflake_challenge is back, with lovely new banners: Challenge #1: The Icebreaker Challenge: Introduce yourself. Tell us why you're doing the challenge, and what you hope to gain from it.
My intro post from a year ago was mostly current but was missing
I love the little bright splash of fannishness that Snowflake brings to the start of the year – it always leads to interesting fandom reflections (my own and other people’s), getting to read/watch/look at things I wouldn’t have come across or taken the plunge on otherwise (fic/vids but also trying new canons), creating things I otherwise wouldn’t have created (one tangible highlight: a couple of years ago I wrote a pantoum, a poetic form I hadn’t tried before, for Snowflake’s “try something new” day, and it was actually published this year, which is pretty cool!), and usually also new friends. Which I guess has also answered the question of what I hope to gain from it this year :)
( fannish me in 2026 )
*
YouTube now apparently also does a Wrapped: ( so here are my fairly predictable results )
*
( Fannish end-of-year meme #2 )
Rec-cember masterpost!
1 Jan 2026 18:58maevedarcy posting in recthethingTo end 2025, I took part in rec_cember and I wanted to crosspost the recs here in case people want to browse.
Rec-cember #1: works under 1000 words
Fandoms:
Fandoms:
Fandoms:
rec_cember and I wanted to crosspost the recs here in case people want to browse.Rec-cember #1: works under 1000 words
Fandoms:
- The Raven Cycle
- Doctor Who
- Carmilla
- The Hunger Games
- Teen Wolf
Fandoms:
- 9-1-1
- All for the Game
- Goncharov/The Magnus Archives
- Original Work
- Sense8
- Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Teen Wolf
- The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself
- The Raven Cycle
- Venom (movies)
Fandoms:
- Sense8
- Venom (movies)
- All for the Game
- League of Legends
- Doctor Who
- Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Game Changers/Heated Rivalry
- Teen Wolf
- Cunk on Earth/Interview with the Vampire crossover
(no subject)
2 Jan 2026 08:59thawreckaYuletide reveals:
My assignment:
Hand to Hand (1202 words) by thawrecka
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 永夜星河 | Love Game in Eastern Fantasy (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ling Miaomiao/Mu Sheng | Mu Ziqi, Ling Miaomiao & Mu Sheng | Mu Ziqi
Characters: Ling Miaomiao, Mu Sheng | Mu Ziqi
Additional Tags: Missing Scene, Holding Hands, Fluff, During Canon, Post-Canon
Summary:
Looks like my recip was double assigned. When I saw the other fic they got, they hadn't commented on that, either, but I haven't checked since. TBH, they had no likes/dislikes/prompts/DNWs in their signup, so I assumed they'd be a no show, so this isn't a surprise. We matched on Love and Redemption, but I couldn't think of what to write, so I wrote Love Game in Eastern Fantasy... which the other person assigned to them also wrote.
On to treats:
Strange Feminine Secrets (1431 words) by thawrecka
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Jennifer's Body (2009)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jennifer Check/Anita "Needy" Lesnicki
Characters: Jennifer Check, Anita "Needy" Lesnicki
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, back from the dead, Undead, Horror
Summary:
Probably my most successful fic of the exchange! After I posted it I did start to think of what I could have done better, should I have written a longfic that covered their whole murder rampage, etc. etc. but actually I think it's fine.
Two Coffees, One Tea (1372 words) by thawrecka
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Two Husbands One Wife
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shinpei/Mia/Takuzo
Characters: Satomura Shinpei, Yanoguchi Mia, Mitsuda Takuzo
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Fluff, Domestic Fluff
Summary:
I was so tired when I posted this that I somehow did not realise I posted it in Madness, not the main collection 🤣 Anyway, I was inspired by the prompt, especially as I'd just finished the show. Only one of my fics with a recip comment ❤️ Usually I just treat random people because I'm inspired by their prompts, but this is the first time I wrote a treat for a friend ❤️
I had a whole plan to write more treats than last but ended up writing fewer, because I was so tired. Kind of a quiet Yuletide, I think, though I might think that because my fic overall was less popular than usual. I think the delayed author reveals are also throwing me off.
My assignment:
Hand to Hand (1202 words) by thawrecka
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 永夜星河 | Love Game in Eastern Fantasy (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ling Miaomiao/Mu Sheng | Mu Ziqi, Ling Miaomiao & Mu Sheng | Mu Ziqi
Characters: Ling Miaomiao, Mu Sheng | Mu Ziqi
Additional Tags: Missing Scene, Holding Hands, Fluff, During Canon, Post-Canon
Summary:
Four moments in time when Ziqi and Miaomiao held hands.
Looks like my recip was double assigned. When I saw the other fic they got, they hadn't commented on that, either, but I haven't checked since. TBH, they had no likes/dislikes/prompts/DNWs in their signup, so I assumed they'd be a no show, so this isn't a surprise. We matched on Love and Redemption, but I couldn't think of what to write, so I wrote Love Game in Eastern Fantasy... which the other person assigned to them also wrote.
On to treats:
Strange Feminine Secrets (1431 words) by thawrecka
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Jennifer's Body (2009)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jennifer Check/Anita "Needy" Lesnicki
Characters: Jennifer Check, Anita "Needy" Lesnicki
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, back from the dead, Undead, Horror
Summary:
Post-canon, Jennifer and Needy find each other again.
Probably my most successful fic of the exchange! After I posted it I did start to think of what I could have done better, should I have written a longfic that covered their whole murder rampage, etc. etc. but actually I think it's fine.
Two Coffees, One Tea (1372 words) by thawrecka
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Two Husbands One Wife
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shinpei/Mia/Takuzo
Characters: Satomura Shinpei, Yanoguchi Mia, Mitsuda Takuzo
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Fluff, Domestic Fluff
Summary:
Scenes from Shinpei, Mia and Takuzo's life together.
I was so tired when I posted this that I somehow did not realise I posted it in Madness, not the main collection 🤣 Anyway, I was inspired by the prompt, especially as I'd just finished the show. Only one of my fics with a recip comment ❤️ Usually I just treat random people because I'm inspired by their prompts, but this is the first time I wrote a treat for a friend ❤️
I had a whole plan to write more treats than last but ended up writing fewer, because I was so tired. Kind of a quiet Yuletide, I think, though I might think that because my fic overall was less popular than usual. I think the delayed author reveals are also throwing me off.
Year in Fandom and Fannish End-of-Year Memes
1 Jan 2026 22:38tinnyI'm going to combine the Fannish End-of-Year Meme with the Year in Fandom Meme again this year.
1. Your main fandom of the year?
For the first half of the year: HPI
For the second half: OMG Wu Lei. How did this happen?
2. Your favorite film watched this year?
I watched quite a few more movies than last year. I think my favorite was Wild Robot, closely followed by Kpop Demon Hunters.
The post with all twelve movies (plus three from 2024) is here: https://tinny.dreamwidth.org/766993.html
3. Your favorite book read this year?
I failed my Mount TBR challenge for the first time in ages. I blame my workload. I was exhausted and am glad I survived the year. The two books I gave five stars this year was the first part of the Final Architecture series by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and the four Murderbot novellas.
The book review post isn't ready yet. I'll post it tomorrow probably.
4. Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?
Probably the Kpop Demonhunter soundtrack, and What It Sounds Like in particular.
Plus a certain Mike and the Mechanics song. I have not tired of it yet.
5. Your favorite TV show of the year?
Ooooh omg so hard. Nothing But You will take the cake, but I was extremely deep into the French show HPI as well, plus at the very end of the year, The Long Ballad and Heated Rivalry. All of these were superb.
Here's my tv review summary post with all shows for 2025: https://tinny.dreamwidth.org/767232.html
6. Your favorite LJ community of the year?
One of my icon communities, but hard to pick a fave.retro_icontest was fun as usual, but saw less participation than I would have liked. iconcolors was a constant source of joy this year.
7. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
WU LEI? WU LEI!
Also, Heated Rivalry exceeded everyone's expectations.
8. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
I have nothing.
9. Your fandom boyfriend of the year?
WU LEI!
the most boyfriend-y picture I could find
10. Your fandom girlfriend of the year?
The French fan I met through her stories on ao3 and who spent all of season 5 discussing HPI with me. She made this a wonderful fandom experience. <3<3<3
11. Your biggest squee moment of the year?
WU LEI? Anything to do with Wu Lei, I think.
12. The most missed of your old fandoms?
Not currently missing anything.
13. The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
Last year I said I'd be open for anything. And then Wu Lei happened. :D That was such a completely unpredictable surprise, that's the best reason to just be open for anything. I'll see what next year brings.
14. Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?
Idk? More Wu Lei things.
Favorite main character of 2024:
Song Sanchuan and Liang You'an.
Li Changge and Ashile Sun.
Shane and Ilya.
Favorite villain of 2025:
I can't think of one.
Favorite M/F couples of 2025:
Song Sanchuan and Liang You'an.
Li Changge and Ashile Sun.
Favorite F/F couples of 2025:
None watched, so no favorites.
Favorite M/M couples of 2025:
Shane and Ilya.
Favorite Crossover couples of 2025:
Hm. Probably the ZB48 pairing of the fic I betaed this year. I keep betaing more of them. :D
Favorite Polyships of 2025:
How could I forget about Ody3? It was canon for a while! I really did love it a lot while it lasted.
Fandom that you never expected to get into:
HPI, probably. I read an article about High Potential, then watched an ep of that, realized it's a remake, and then the original HPI sucked me in instead.
WU LEI omg. I did not even like him in Nirvana in Fire, and then Nothing But You completely bowled me over.
Fandom that made an unexpected comeback:
CDrama in general. I was out of that for the first half of the year, and happy about it, but then it pulled me back under. I don't regret it.
Last fandom of 2025:
Heated Rivalry. Also Wu Lei, still Wu Lei.
Year in Fandom
1. Your main fandom of the year?
For the first half of the year: HPI
For the second half: OMG Wu Lei. How did this happen?
2. Your favorite film watched this year?
I watched quite a few more movies than last year. I think my favorite was Wild Robot, closely followed by Kpop Demon Hunters.
The post with all twelve movies (plus three from 2024) is here: https://tinny.dreamwidth.org/766993.html
3. Your favorite book read this year?
I failed my Mount TBR challenge for the first time in ages. I blame my workload. I was exhausted and am glad I survived the year. The two books I gave five stars this year was the first part of the Final Architecture series by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and the four Murderbot novellas.
The book review post isn't ready yet. I'll post it tomorrow probably.
4. Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?
Probably the Kpop Demonhunter soundtrack, and What It Sounds Like in particular.
Plus a certain Mike and the Mechanics song. I have not tired of it yet.
5. Your favorite TV show of the year?
Ooooh omg so hard. Nothing But You will take the cake, but I was extremely deep into the French show HPI as well, plus at the very end of the year, The Long Ballad and Heated Rivalry. All of these were superb.
Here's my tv review summary post with all shows for 2025: https://tinny.dreamwidth.org/767232.html
questions 6-14
6. Your favorite LJ community of the year?
One of my icon communities, but hard to pick a fave.
retro_icontest was fun as usual, but saw less participation than I would have liked. iconcolors was a constant source of joy this year. 7. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
WU LEI? WU LEI!
Also, Heated Rivalry exceeded everyone's expectations.
8. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
I have nothing.
9. Your fandom boyfriend of the year?
WU LEI!
the most boyfriend-y picture I could find
10. Your fandom girlfriend of the year?
The French fan I met through her stories on ao3 and who spent all of season 5 discussing HPI with me. She made this a wonderful fandom experience. <3<3<3
11. Your biggest squee moment of the year?
WU LEI? Anything to do with Wu Lei, I think.
12. The most missed of your old fandoms?
Not currently missing anything.
13. The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
Last year I said I'd be open for anything. And then Wu Lei happened. :D That was such a completely unpredictable surprise, that's the best reason to just be open for anything. I'll see what next year brings.
14. Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?
Idk? More Wu Lei things.
Fannish End of Year
favorite characters/couples
Favorite main character of 2024:
Song Sanchuan and Liang You'an.
Li Changge and Ashile Sun.
Shane and Ilya.
Favorite villain of 2025:
I can't think of one.
Favorite M/F couples of 2025:
Song Sanchuan and Liang You'an.
Li Changge and Ashile Sun.
Favorite F/F couples of 2025:
None watched, so no favorites.
Favorite M/M couples of 2025:
Shane and Ilya.
Favorite Crossover couples of 2025:
Hm. Probably the ZB48 pairing of the fic I betaed this year. I keep betaing more of them. :D
Favorite Polyships of 2025:
How could I forget about Ody3? It was canon for a while! I really did love it a lot while it lasted.
Fandom that you never expected to get into:
HPI, probably. I read an article about High Potential, then watched an ep of that, realized it's a remake, and then the original HPI sucked me in instead.
WU LEI omg. I did not even like him in Nirvana in Fire, and then Nothing But You completely bowled me over.
Fandom that made an unexpected comeback:
CDrama in general. I was out of that for the first half of the year, and happy about it, but then it pulled me back under. I don't regret it.
Last fandom of 2025:
Heated Rivalry. Also Wu Lei, still Wu Lei.
FIC: Heart-Seed, Heart-Flower (Thermos "Flower Series") [Teen]
1 Jan 2026 22:23trobadoraYuletide author reveals have happened! I had one story in the regular collection and one in the Madness collection this year.
For my main fic, I matched on a request that I'd been eyeing for some years - for Zhu Yilong's Thermos Flower Series commercials. (Here is a nearly-complete playlist, lacking only the lily of the valley one, though the first on the list is a bit atypical.)
There's only one regular character in this series of commercials, but there is also a white cat that appears in several. So those were the two characters I decided to write about:
And I had a complete blast with this, worldbuilding and all! Tying things like the magically appearing flower decorations on the thermoses into the worldbuilding, inventing flower worlds of my own, and of course developing the relationship between the two characters - it really was a lot of fun. :D
And I did a fun thing with the narrative voice where the beginning of each chapter starts in a more distant/mythic, omniscient voice and then zooms in on the POV character, which I hope worked well!
I think this one's completely readablewithout canon knowledge, btw. Hardly anyone has read it (it really is niche even for Yuletide), but I hope a few more people will give it a chance. I'm pretty proud of how it came out!
**
Heart-Seed, Heart-Flower (8,465 words)
Fandom: Thermos "Flower Series" Commercials
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Characters: Zhu Yilong's Character (Thermos "Flower Series" Commercials), White Cat (Thermos "Flower Series" Commercials)
Content Tags: Magic Flowers, Magic Waters, Dragons, Cats, Shape-Shifters, Multiple Worlds, Lonely Wanderers, Magical Quests, Saving Worlds with a Magic Bottle
A/N: Many thanks tochina_shop for beta-reading, and to douqi for double-checking the character naming!
Summary:
The bottle was plain and unadorned, the lotus pattern that would have signalled the success of his quest nowhere in evidence.
He'd failed.
For my main fic, I matched on a request that I'd been eyeing for some years - for Zhu Yilong's Thermos Flower Series commercials. (Here is a nearly-complete playlist, lacking only the lily of the valley one, though the first on the list is a bit atypical.)
There's only one regular character in this series of commercials, but there is also a white cat that appears in several. So those were the two characters I decided to write about:
- Zhu Yilong's character, the man with the magical thermoses, who I decided is a dragon (with some canon support, given the little cartoon dragon on the thermoses :p), and whom I named Ao Xing (after the dragon kings of the four seas, who are all "Ao Something").
- the white cat - I decided this is a cat spirit, called him Xiao-Bai, and gave him a human form that - no surprise - looks like Bai Yu. (This Bai Yu, to be precise, which I knew my recipient would appreciate. *g*)
And I had a complete blast with this, worldbuilding and all! Tying things like the magically appearing flower decorations on the thermoses into the worldbuilding, inventing flower worlds of my own, and of course developing the relationship between the two characters - it really was a lot of fun. :D
And I did a fun thing with the narrative voice where the beginning of each chapter starts in a more distant/mythic, omniscient voice and then zooms in on the POV character, which I hope worked well!
I think this one's completely readablewithout canon knowledge, btw. Hardly anyone has read it (it really is niche even for Yuletide), but I hope a few more people will give it a chance. I'm pretty proud of how it came out!
**
Heart-Seed, Heart-Flower (8,465 words)
Fandom: Thermos "Flower Series" Commercials
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Characters: Zhu Yilong's Character (Thermos "Flower Series" Commercials), White Cat (Thermos "Flower Series" Commercials)
Content Tags: Magic Flowers, Magic Waters, Dragons, Cats, Shape-Shifters, Multiple Worlds, Lonely Wanderers, Magical Quests, Saving Worlds with a Magic Bottle
A/N: Many thanks to
china_shop for beta-reading, and to douqi for double-checking the character naming!Summary:
The bottle was plain and unadorned, the lotus pattern that would have signalled the success of his quest nowhere in evidence.
He'd failed.
Yuletide 2025 Wrap-Up
2 Jan 2026 10:14yuletidemods posting in yuletide_adminEnd of Event
We have revealed creator names at the main 2025 collection and the 2025 Madness collection. (Reveals seems to be working as intended - fingers crossed!) The New Year's Resolutions 2026 collection will shortly open for posting. The structured parts of this year's event are over - but you can keep posting recs atyuletide and commenting on works to let their creators know you enjoyed them.
Thank you from mods and team
Thank you to everyone who took part in Yuletide 2025: writers, requesters, betas, pinch hitters, community coordinators, chatters, hippos and the hippo pool.
Thank you from mods to the tagmod team: these are the assistants who research and process tags, proofread announcements, brainstorm author questions, contribute specific fandom knowledge, check stories, and discuss how to solve problems.
We look forward to running Yuletide again in 2026!
And now
There's a reveals post up at the participant community, if you want to chat about your writing process now that you can.
New stories can be posted to the New Year's Resolutions 2026 collection.
Feedback
As always, general feedback is welcome!
This year, we increased the nominations allowance from 4 fandoms to 5 fandoms. Since that worked okay, we anticipate continuing that next year.
We introduced a limited Do-Not-Match system. That was manageable so we're interested in repeating the same process next year - though it's possible it could grow beyond our capacity, so we don't want to guarantee it indefinitely.
We changed the deadline time and the reveals times. Those changes were based on mod availability, and it was really helpful to us to have multiple mods awake at the point of deadline and reveals. We'll need to base future deadline and reveals times on that priority, but since that isn't the only factor making deadlines and reveal times effective, we're interested to hear feedback too.
Next Yuletide, we may review franchise rules to make sure we're being consistent and fair. We may also specifically review rules for music videos.
As requested by a participant, we will also be adding a section to our rules on AO3 listing what you can expect from the mod team’s communications and conduct. We have had an internal Code of Conduct for several years but agree it would be helpful to share a public version.
Again, feedback on these or other topics is also welcome.
Thank you for helping to make Yuletide 2025 a wonderful event.
Schedule, Rules, & Collection | Contact Mods | Participant DW | Participant LJ | Pinch Hits on DW | Discord | Tag set | Tag set app
Please either comment logged-in or sign a name. Unsigned anonymous comments will be left screened.
We have revealed creator names at the main 2025 collection and the 2025 Madness collection. (Reveals seems to be working as intended - fingers crossed!) The New Year's Resolutions 2026 collection will shortly open for posting. The structured parts of this year's event are over - but you can keep posting recs at
yuletide and commenting on works to let their creators know you enjoyed them.Please comment!
Please check that you have commented on any gifts you received - you can search on your username at the Yuletide 2025 collection, or the Yuletide Madness 2025 collection, or check your own personal AO3 gifts page. We understand not everyone can comment immediately due to late-December commitments or unforeseen events, but please comment when you can to acknowledge the gifts you requested. Comments and kudos on other Yuletide works are also very welcome.Thank you from mods and team
Thank you to everyone who took part in Yuletide 2025: writers, requesters, betas, pinch hitters, community coordinators, chatters, hippos and the hippo pool.
Thank you from mods to the tagmod team: these are the assistants who research and process tags, proofread announcements, brainstorm author questions, contribute specific fandom knowledge, check stories, and discuss how to solve problems.
We look forward to running Yuletide again in 2026!
And now
There's a reveals post up at the participant community, if you want to chat about your writing process now that you can.
New stories can be posted to the New Year's Resolutions 2026 collection.
Feedback
As always, general feedback is welcome!
This year, we increased the nominations allowance from 4 fandoms to 5 fandoms. Since that worked okay, we anticipate continuing that next year.
We introduced a limited Do-Not-Match system. That was manageable so we're interested in repeating the same process next year - though it's possible it could grow beyond our capacity, so we don't want to guarantee it indefinitely.
We changed the deadline time and the reveals times. Those changes were based on mod availability, and it was really helpful to us to have multiple mods awake at the point of deadline and reveals. We'll need to base future deadline and reveals times on that priority, but since that isn't the only factor making deadlines and reveal times effective, we're interested to hear feedback too.
Next Yuletide, we may review franchise rules to make sure we're being consistent and fair. We may also specifically review rules for music videos.
As requested by a participant, we will also be adding a section to our rules on AO3 listing what you can expect from the mod team’s communications and conduct. We have had an internal Code of Conduct for several years but agree it would be helpful to share a public version.
Again, feedback on these or other topics is also welcome.
Thank you for helping to make Yuletide 2025 a wonderful event.
Please either comment logged-in or sign a name. Unsigned anonymous comments will be left screened.
The Friday Five for 2 January 2026
1 Jan 2026 14:13anais_pf posting in thefridayfiveThese questions were written by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tabular_rasa.
1. Do you mostly drink tap, filtered, or bottled water?
2. Is it safe/recommended to drink tap water where you live? If not, why?
3. What does the tap water taste/smell like where you live?
4. Do you collect rainwater? If so, what do you use it for?
5. Do you/have you ever had restrictions on water use where you live? What did you have to change about your lifestyle?
Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.
If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!
**Remember that we rely on you, our members, to help keep the community going. Also, please remember to play nice. We are all here to answer the questions and have fun each week. We repost the questions exactly as the original posters submitted them and request that all questions be checked for spelling and grammatical errors before they're submitted. Comments re: the spelling and grammatical nature of the questions are not necessary. Honestly, any hostile, rude, petty, or unnecessary comments need not be posted, either.**
tabular_rasa.1. Do you mostly drink tap, filtered, or bottled water?
2. Is it safe/recommended to drink tap water where you live? If not, why?
3. What does the tap water taste/smell like where you live?
4. Do you collect rainwater? If so, what do you use it for?
5. Do you/have you ever had restrictions on water use where you live? What did you have to change about your lifestyle?
Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.
If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!
**Remember that we rely on you, our members, to help keep the community going. Also, please remember to play nice. We are all here to answer the questions and have fun each week. We repost the questions exactly as the original posters submitted them and request that all questions be checked for spelling and grammatical errors before they're submitted. Comments re: the spelling and grammatical nature of the questions are not necessary. Honestly, any hostile, rude, petty, or unnecessary comments need not be posted, either.**
NiF art and two recs!
1 Jan 2026 19:31mekare posting in nirvana_in_fireCrossposting from my journal:
I made a thing for Nirvana in Fire Exchange!
nemainfothewater had an irresistible prompt for more Jingyan/& Lin Chen and I chose to go in the post-canon direction. Look, I find the idea of Lin Chen stealth-sending his pigeons directly to the Emperor very funny. You know, instead of sending them to the Royal Pigeon Tower or something. When pigeons no longer suffice, Langya Hall's master needs to attend to matters personally. He promised Mei Changsu, after all.
Title: The newly (self)appointed royal physician‘s prescription…
Previews:
( Read more... )
AO3 Link
I also got an amazing gift by MorkaisChosen!
Title: idle Hands, Loose Lips
Relationship: Nihuang & Meng Zhi
Summary: As the court's thoughts turn towards the upcoming tournament for Mu Nihuang's hand, her regular sparring partner faces his greatest foe yet: the rumour mill.
I was so happy someone took up my prompt for anything with Meng Zhi (and my sub prompt of them sparring).
Go read it here and leave comments!
I haven't actually managed to go through all NiF Exchange works yet, but wanted to leave a rec which impressed me a lot:
NiF poetry with contrapuntal poems by erumelde - so good and very knifey!
I made a thing for Nirvana in Fire Exchange!
nemainfothewater had an irresistible prompt for more Jingyan/& Lin Chen and I chose to go in the post-canon direction. Look, I find the idea of Lin Chen stealth-sending his pigeons directly to the Emperor very funny. You know, instead of sending them to the Royal Pigeon Tower or something. When pigeons no longer suffice, Langya Hall's master needs to attend to matters personally. He promised Mei Changsu, after all. Title: The newly (self)appointed royal physician‘s prescription…
Previews:
  |
( Read more... )
AO3 Link
I also got an amazing gift by MorkaisChosen!
Title: idle Hands, Loose Lips
Relationship: Nihuang & Meng Zhi
Summary: As the court's thoughts turn towards the upcoming tournament for Mu Nihuang's hand, her regular sparring partner faces his greatest foe yet: the rumour mill.
I was so happy someone took up my prompt for anything with Meng Zhi (and my sub prompt of them sparring).
Go read it here and leave comments!
I haven't actually managed to go through all NiF Exchange works yet, but wanted to leave a rec which impressed me a lot:
NiF poetry with contrapuntal poems by erumelde - so good and very knifey!
Books I Especially Enjoyed in 2025
1 Jan 2026 10:29rachelmanija2025: A horrible year! Except for reading.
I see that I got increasingly too busy to actually write reviews, and also that the better a book is, the harder and more time-consuming it is to review. I will try to review at least some of these this year, and also to be more diligent about reviewing books soon after I actually read them.
The Tainted Cup & A Drop of Corruption, by Robert Jackson Bennett. Very, very enjoyable fantasy mysteries set in a very, very odd world whose technology and science is biology-based magic and kaiju attack every monsoon. The detectives are a very likable odd couple thinker/doer in the tradition of Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin or Hercule Poirot/Hastings, except that the eccentric thinker is a cantankerous old woman.
The Daughter's War, by Christopher Buehlman. This is a prequel to Blacktongue Thief; I liked that but I loved this. A dark fantasy novel in the form of a war memoir by a woman who enlisted into the experimental WAR CORVID battalion after so many men got killed in the battle against the goblins that they started drafting women. War is hell and the tone is much more somber than the first book as Galva isn't a wisecracker, but her own distinct voice and the WAR CORVIDS carry you through. You can read the books in either order; either way, the ending of each will hit harder emotionally if you've read the other first.
Arboreality, by Rebecca Campbell. I like to sell this in my bookshop as a mystery parcel labeled, in green Sharpie, "A green book. A mossy, woodsy, leafy book. A hopeful post-apocalyptic novel of the forest."
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, by Shannon Chakraborty. The heroine is a middle-aged, single mom pirate dragged out of retirement for one last adventure, the setting is a fantasy Middle East, and it's just as fun as the description sounds.
The Bog Wife, by Kay Chronister. When the patriarch dies, the oldest son summons a wife from the bog to bear his children. Only the family is now in modern Appalachia rather than ancient Scotland, they're living in miserable conditions, and the last bog wife vanished under mysterious circumstances. Is there even a bog wife, or is this just a very small cult? (Or is there a bog wife and it's a very small cult?) A haunting, ambiguous, atmospheric novel.
The Everlasting, by Alix Harrow. This is probably my favorite book of the year. It's a time travel novel that's also an alternate version of the King Arthur story where most of the main characters are women, and it's also about living under and resisting fascism, and it's also a really fantastic love story with such hot sex scenes that it made me remember that sex scenes are hottest when they're based in character. (If you like loyalty/fealty kink, you will love this book.) It's got a lot going on but it all works together; the prose is sometimes very beautiful; it's got enough interesting gender themes that I'd nominate it for the Otherwise (Tiptree) award if I was a nominator. An excellent, excellent book.
King Sorrow, by Joe Hill. I've had mixed experiences reading Joe Hill but this book was fantastic. It's a big blockbuster dark fantasy novel that reads a bit like Stephen King in his prime, and I'm not saying that just because of Hill's parentage. Five college kids (and a non-college friend) summon an ancient, evil dragon to get rid of some truly terrible blackmailers. King Sorrow obliges, but they then need to give him another name every year. It's an enormous brick of a book and I'd probably only cut a couple chapters if I was the editor; it's long because there's a lot going on. Each section is written in the style of a different genre, so it starts off as a gritty crime thriller, then moves to Tolkien-esque fantasy, then Firestarter-esque psychic thriller, etc. This is just a blast to read.
Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones. Another outstanding horror novel by Jones. This one is mostly historical, borrowing from Interview with the Vampire for part of its frame story, in which a Blackfeet vampire named Good Stab tells his life story to a white priest. It's got a great voice, it's very inventive, it has outstanding set pieces, and it's extremely heartbreaking and enraging due to engaging with colonialist genocide, massacres, and the slaughter of the buffalo.
Hemlock & Silver , by T. Kingfisher. A very enjoyable fantasy with interesting horror and science fiction elements.
What Moves the Dead, What Feasts at Night, What Stalks the Deep, by T. Kingfisher. A set of novellas, the first two horror and the third mostly not, with a main character I really liked who's nonbinary in a very unique, culturally bound way. I particularly liked that this is lived and discussed in a way that does not feel like 2023 Tumblr. They're also just quick, fun, engrossing reads.
Lone Women, by Victor LaValle. An excellent historical fantasy with elements of horror, based on Montana's unique homesteading law which did not specify the race or gender of homesteaders, allowing black women to homestead. So Adelaide flees California for Montana, dragging with her an enormous locked steamer trunk, too heavy for anyone but her to lift, which she never, ever opens...
We Live Here Now, by Sarah Pinborough. What can I say? I really enjoy a good twist, and this has a doozy. Also, a great ending.
Pranksters vs. Autocrats: Why Dilemma Actions Advance Nonviolent Activism, by Srđa Popović. How to fight fascism with targeted mockery and other forms of nonviolent actions designed to put your opposition in an unwinnable situation. This costs five bucks, you can read it in less than two hours, and it was written by the leader of one of the student movements that helped overthrow Slobodan Milošević. This is not a naive book and it is very much worth reading.
Under One Banner, by Graydon Saunders. Commonweal # 4. Don't start here. I liked this a lot, hope to write about it in pieces when I re-read it, and was surprised and pleased to discover that it is largely about the ethics of magical neurosurgery and other forms of magical mental/neurological care/alteration.
Troubled Waters, by Sharon Shinn. A lovely, character-driven, small-scale fantasy. I wish this book had been the model for cozy fantasy, because it actually is one, only it has stakes and stuff happens. Also, one of the most original magic systems I've come across in a while.
Shroud, by Adrian Tchaikovsky. An outstanding first-contact novel with REALLY alien aliens.
Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir. I guess the premise is spoilery? ( Read more... ) That's not a criticism, I loved the book. Funny, moving, exciting, and a perfect last line. This is probably duking it out with The Everlasting for my favorite of the year.
I also very much enjoyed American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett, The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman, Dinotopia by James Gurney, Open Throat by Henry Hoke, When the Angels Left the Old Country, by Sacha Lamb, Elatsoe by Darcy Little Badger, The Bewitching & Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, Sisters of the Vast Black, by Lina Rather, Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, Liberated: The Radical Art and Life of Claude Cahun, by Kaz Rowe, Into the Raging Sea, by Rachel Slade, The Haar by David Sodergren, The Journey by Joyce Carol Thomas, Strange Pictures/Strange Houses by Uketsu, Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig, and An Immense World, by Ed Yong.
I'm probably forgetting some books. Sorry, forgotten books!
Did you read any of these? What did you think?
I see that I got increasingly too busy to actually write reviews, and also that the better a book is, the harder and more time-consuming it is to review. I will try to review at least some of these this year, and also to be more diligent about reviewing books soon after I actually read them.
The Tainted Cup & A Drop of Corruption, by Robert Jackson Bennett. Very, very enjoyable fantasy mysteries set in a very, very odd world whose technology and science is biology-based magic and kaiju attack every monsoon. The detectives are a very likable odd couple thinker/doer in the tradition of Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin or Hercule Poirot/Hastings, except that the eccentric thinker is a cantankerous old woman.
The Daughter's War, by Christopher Buehlman. This is a prequel to Blacktongue Thief; I liked that but I loved this. A dark fantasy novel in the form of a war memoir by a woman who enlisted into the experimental WAR CORVID battalion after so many men got killed in the battle against the goblins that they started drafting women. War is hell and the tone is much more somber than the first book as Galva isn't a wisecracker, but her own distinct voice and the WAR CORVIDS carry you through. You can read the books in either order; either way, the ending of each will hit harder emotionally if you've read the other first.
Arboreality, by Rebecca Campbell. I like to sell this in my bookshop as a mystery parcel labeled, in green Sharpie, "A green book. A mossy, woodsy, leafy book. A hopeful post-apocalyptic novel of the forest."
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, by Shannon Chakraborty. The heroine is a middle-aged, single mom pirate dragged out of retirement for one last adventure, the setting is a fantasy Middle East, and it's just as fun as the description sounds.
The Bog Wife, by Kay Chronister. When the patriarch dies, the oldest son summons a wife from the bog to bear his children. Only the family is now in modern Appalachia rather than ancient Scotland, they're living in miserable conditions, and the last bog wife vanished under mysterious circumstances. Is there even a bog wife, or is this just a very small cult? (Or is there a bog wife and it's a very small cult?) A haunting, ambiguous, atmospheric novel.
The Everlasting, by Alix Harrow. This is probably my favorite book of the year. It's a time travel novel that's also an alternate version of the King Arthur story where most of the main characters are women, and it's also about living under and resisting fascism, and it's also a really fantastic love story with such hot sex scenes that it made me remember that sex scenes are hottest when they're based in character. (If you like loyalty/fealty kink, you will love this book.) It's got a lot going on but it all works together; the prose is sometimes very beautiful; it's got enough interesting gender themes that I'd nominate it for the Otherwise (Tiptree) award if I was a nominator. An excellent, excellent book.
King Sorrow, by Joe Hill. I've had mixed experiences reading Joe Hill but this book was fantastic. It's a big blockbuster dark fantasy novel that reads a bit like Stephen King in his prime, and I'm not saying that just because of Hill's parentage. Five college kids (and a non-college friend) summon an ancient, evil dragon to get rid of some truly terrible blackmailers. King Sorrow obliges, but they then need to give him another name every year. It's an enormous brick of a book and I'd probably only cut a couple chapters if I was the editor; it's long because there's a lot going on. Each section is written in the style of a different genre, so it starts off as a gritty crime thriller, then moves to Tolkien-esque fantasy, then Firestarter-esque psychic thriller, etc. This is just a blast to read.
Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones. Another outstanding horror novel by Jones. This one is mostly historical, borrowing from Interview with the Vampire for part of its frame story, in which a Blackfeet vampire named Good Stab tells his life story to a white priest. It's got a great voice, it's very inventive, it has outstanding set pieces, and it's extremely heartbreaking and enraging due to engaging with colonialist genocide, massacres, and the slaughter of the buffalo.
Hemlock & Silver , by T. Kingfisher. A very enjoyable fantasy with interesting horror and science fiction elements.
What Moves the Dead, What Feasts at Night, What Stalks the Deep, by T. Kingfisher. A set of novellas, the first two horror and the third mostly not, with a main character I really liked who's nonbinary in a very unique, culturally bound way. I particularly liked that this is lived and discussed in a way that does not feel like 2023 Tumblr. They're also just quick, fun, engrossing reads.
Lone Women, by Victor LaValle. An excellent historical fantasy with elements of horror, based on Montana's unique homesteading law which did not specify the race or gender of homesteaders, allowing black women to homestead. So Adelaide flees California for Montana, dragging with her an enormous locked steamer trunk, too heavy for anyone but her to lift, which she never, ever opens...
We Live Here Now, by Sarah Pinborough. What can I say? I really enjoy a good twist, and this has a doozy. Also, a great ending.
Pranksters vs. Autocrats: Why Dilemma Actions Advance Nonviolent Activism, by Srđa Popović. How to fight fascism with targeted mockery and other forms of nonviolent actions designed to put your opposition in an unwinnable situation. This costs five bucks, you can read it in less than two hours, and it was written by the leader of one of the student movements that helped overthrow Slobodan Milošević. This is not a naive book and it is very much worth reading.
Under One Banner, by Graydon Saunders. Commonweal # 4. Don't start here. I liked this a lot, hope to write about it in pieces when I re-read it, and was surprised and pleased to discover that it is largely about the ethics of magical neurosurgery and other forms of magical mental/neurological care/alteration.
Troubled Waters, by Sharon Shinn. A lovely, character-driven, small-scale fantasy. I wish this book had been the model for cozy fantasy, because it actually is one, only it has stakes and stuff happens. Also, one of the most original magic systems I've come across in a while.
Shroud, by Adrian Tchaikovsky. An outstanding first-contact novel with REALLY alien aliens.
Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir. I guess the premise is spoilery? ( Read more... ) That's not a criticism, I loved the book. Funny, moving, exciting, and a perfect last line. This is probably duking it out with The Everlasting for my favorite of the year.
I also very much enjoyed American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett, The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman, Dinotopia by James Gurney, Open Throat by Henry Hoke, When the Angels Left the Old Country, by Sacha Lamb, Elatsoe by Darcy Little Badger, The Bewitching & Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, Sisters of the Vast Black, by Lina Rather, Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, Liberated: The Radical Art and Life of Claude Cahun, by Kaz Rowe, Into the Raging Sea, by Rachel Slade, The Haar by David Sodergren, The Journey by Joyce Carol Thomas, Strange Pictures/Strange Houses by Uketsu, Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig, and An Immense World, by Ed Yong.
I'm probably forgetting some books. Sorry, forgotten books!
Did you read any of these? What did you think?