Reading

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DecRecs 2025 days 11-17

I intended to wait less time before cross posting these. Oh well, it's here now

Day 11
So I'm not sure how big the overlap of people who know about Mo Willems Pigeon books and Nirvana in Fire is -- but if you are in that group you owe it to yourself to read "Don't Let the Strategist Plan the Party" by

aegtx
200 words of pure delight!
https://archiveofourown.org/works/67708406

Day 12
I'm enjoying how this year #DecRecs has been turning into a mini low stakes year in review project for me as I focus on reccing things I loved this year.
And this year I have watched a lot of chinese reality show so today I want to talk about The Truth season 3!
The Truth is show where participants play and game that's like a very elaborate cross between a murder mystery dinner party and an escape room. There's puzzles and mysteries and tunnels to crawl through
This year they really leaned into my two favorite things about the show -- the costumes and the group dynamics!
The costumes are so much fun! Wildly over the to, colorful and with fun themes! And this season featured even more of them than last season with at least one set per case!
Here's the cast in one of my favorite sets

And the teamwork! In season three they manged to have the same six people in all but one case: Bai Yu, Jin Jing,
Dilraba, Liu Yuning, Zhang Linghe and Zhou Keyu. So several people I like by themselves -- but the whole group together is great! loved watching them tease each other and think through problems together!
Quick content note: many of the offscreen backstories involve upsetting things like child death or queerphobic violence. They also at one point discover a (fake) skeleton of a child in a suitcase.
I had so much fun watching this show! I don't usually watch things as they air but I eagerly awaited each new episode of The Truth Season 3 and watched all the behind the scenes extras!

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Current Mood: tired
Current Location: my desk

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BtVS: Safety Measures [Amnesty 48, and Challenge 476: Sunset]

Title: Safety Measures
Fandom: BtVS
Author:

badly_knitted
Characters: Buffy.
Rating: PG
Written For: Challenge 480: Amnesty 48, using Challenge 476: Sunset.
Spoilers/Setting: The Wish.
Summary: Everyone knows how to stay safe, except Cordelia.
Disclaimer: I don’t own BtVS, or the characters.
A/N: Double drabble.

Safety Measures

Current Mood: drained

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Reading Wednesday 12/17/25 | Has anyone listened to the Queen's Thief audiobooks?

What I Just Finished Reading: Legendborn (Tracy Deonn) and Season of Love (Helena Greer), both of which fall into the category of "I enjoyed this but I don't feel any urge to pick up the sequel".

And not that recent, but I did finish Anne Lamott's Almost Everything: Notes on Hope not terribly long ago.

What I am Currently Reading: Llinos Cathryn Thomas' Advent novella All is Bright, one chapter per day. And

scruloose and I are a few chapters into the audiobook of System Collapse.

What I Plan to Read Next: Very possibly The Dark is Rising, with solstice nipping at our heels.

Bonus TV note:

scruloose and I have finished season 2 of Silo!

When we finish System Collapse, that'll be the end of Murderbot listening until sometime after the new book comes out. Listening to the audiobooks together has cut way into our shared TV watching, but does have the advantage of being easier to drop in and out of if we don't have a lot of time in an evening, so I've been trying to see what our iteration of Hoopla has that

scruloose might be into. It does have Gideon the Ninth, which they might get a kick out of, but that's a significantly longer book, and we already had to check Network Effect out twice to get through it.

Last night it occurred to me that the Queen's Thief books are on the shorter side, and lo, Hoopla has them all! Have any of you listened to them? Any comments on how their reader is? It remains possible that finding out that I really like the Murderbot audiobooks isn't a sign of anything other than that I like that narrator in particular. ^^;

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Three-Part "Messiah" Podcast

Making Messiah on Freakonomics. There's a transcript as well.

The podcast does have some advertisements.

Current Mood: busy

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Signup Post: Fannish 50 in 2026

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Hallucinations Are Very Much A Recurring Theme.

Every so often, I post an analysis of how I chose my recent fic titles! We're nearing the end of the year, which seems an appropriate time for another roundup.

In reverse chronological order, my fic titles since July:

( Rambling about why I chose fic titles. )

What's really striking me here isn't actually anything about my titling habits; it's the fact that my last twelve fics in a row have been shipfics! That's very unusual; about half of my fics tend to be gen. I'll have to come up with some gen ideas!

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: my desk

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Check-In Post - Dec 16th 2025

Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.

Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?

There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.

This Week's Question: Does anyone have any plans for making Christmas gifts or cards?

If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.

I now declare this Check-In OPEN!

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: my desk

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FAKE: Wintry Weather [Amnesty 48, using Challenge 3: Wind]

Title: Wintry Weather
Fandom: FAKE
Author:

badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo.
Rating: PG
Written For: Challenge 480: Amnesty 48, using Challenge 3: Wind.
Setting: After Like Like Love.
Summary: On a snowy, windy day, Ryo and Dee are grateful they don’t need to leave their apartment.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
A/N: Double drabble.

Wintry Weather

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Multifandom Exchange: Traumatic Experiences

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[ ICONS ] TSUKINO USAGI, SAILOR MOON R

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[ ICONS ] SOARA, SOARA AND THE HOUSE OF MONSTERS

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Some recent Guardian fanworks

All Guardian drama, no archive warnings apply. :-)

Title: The Mouse and the Dragon (1559 words) [General Audiences]
Characters: Guo Changcheng, Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei
Additional Tags: Background pre-relationship Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, Missing Scene, Episode 4, Guo Changcheng interrogates Shen Wei, zhao yunlan pov, Community: fan_flashworks, Prompt: Fish
Series: Part 1 of The rest of the SID team interrogate Shen Wei (episode 4)
Summary:

Zhao Yunlan watched Shen Wei closely. Could his unflappable demeanour survive Xiao-Guo’s naïve bluntness?

Title: Analysis and Verification (838 words) [General Audiences]
Characters: Lin Jing, Shen Wei, Wang Zheng
Additional Tags: Background pre-relationship Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, Missing Scene, Episode 4, Lin Jing "interrogates" Shen Wei, Wang Zheng too
Series: Part 3 of The rest of the SID team interrogate Shen Wei (episode 4)
Summary:

Lin Jing stuffed his dark-energy detector into his pocket and arranged his sweatshirt to cover it as he headed next door. When he passed the boss in the hallway, they exchanged nods, and then Lin Jing was leaning into the interview room. “Professor Shen, I’ll see you out.”

Title: not close enough (300 words) [General Audiences]
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Flirting, Timeloop feels, Episode Related, Episode 6, Yearning, Triple Drabble
Summary:

Zhao Yunlan is across from him, slouching forward with sleeves pushed up, making inroads into Shen Wei’s space.

Title: Sartorial Evidence (550 words) [General Audiences]
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei, Shen Wei's clothes
Additional Tags: Episode Related, Episode 4, Dixing Powers, Clothing, Shen Wei POV, UST, Zhao Yunlan touches Shen Wei A LOT, Community: fan_flashworks, Prompt: First Aid
Summary:

The morning after he’s found at a crime scene and taken to the SID to be interviewed, Shen Wei opens his armoire and—stops.

Title: Crudité (4183 words) [Mature]
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Episode 22, Post-Blindness Arc, Missing Scene, Porn Without Plot, First Time, vegetable sex, Oral Fixation, Non-Penetrative Sex, Unorthodox Seduction Techniques
Summary:

As the clatter of food preparation starts up in the kitchen, Zhao Yunlan folds his arms behind his head. Just how unambiguous does he need to be to override Shen Wei’s reservations? What will it take to get them what he knows they both want? If he’s as weird and over-the-top as his apartment, will that turn Shen Wei on or turn him off?

Title: Hard at work [General Audiences]
Relationships: Da Qing & Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Beginner Art, This is how Zhao Yunlan runs the SID, Ably assisted by his deputy, Episode 2, Fanart, Community: fan_flashworks, Prompt: Boss
Summary: Coloured pencil & ink sketch of Zhao Yunlan lying on the SID couch with cat Da Qing on the table next to him.

Title: The Gondolier of Dixing [General Audiences]
Characters: Chu Shuzhi
Notes: Beginner art (colour pencil, ink, a little digital messing about).
Summary: What if Dixing were flooded and became a city of canals?

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awards: hugo awards

Winds in the East...Mist Coming In... (Hugo Season Approaches)

It's almost nomination time for the Hugo Awards! As someone invested in recommendations as a type of critique/conversation, I'm thriving.

Worldcon in 2026 will be in LA. If you'd like to nominate for the 2026 Hugo Award, you can do so by being a member of the Seattle Worldcon or purchasing at least a WSFS membership from LAcon V. There's a medium-length guide here on the whole process. Nomination is step one: Seattle and LA WSFS members build the short lists as a collective.

However! Even if you don't plan to become a member (the membership fee is $50 and times are hard), everyone can share the things they would nominate if they could via the Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom, or make their own lists and post them on socials with the #HugoAward tag. Lots of people (it's me; I'm people) have gaps on their nomination forms and are looking for cool stuff to check out. Consider making a rec list/thread!

A disclaimer: the following are my personal nominations that I'll submit next year, not official Hugo finalists. I know the nominations/finalist language can be confusing. ( Read more... )

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The Godfather, Part II [1974]

The Godfather, Pt. II (1974)
[ al pacino ]

[ here @

axisandallies ]

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movies: misc

michael corleone | the godfather, pt. ii [1974]

CANON: The Godfather, Part II (1974)
CHARACTERS: Michael Corleone
ADDITIONAL INFO: 265 icons.
CREDIT TO:

axisandallies

[ here @

axisandallies ]

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Christmas In Another Life (The Way Home), Amnesty 48 (In Another Life: 277_

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cartoon,
television

113 Hazbin Hotel - episode 2x01 ("New Pentious") icons, batch 1

See the rest here at

kommsussertod

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hazbin hotel / helluva boss

113 Hazbin Hotel icons

CANON: Hazbin Hotel
CHARACTERS: Baxter, Charlie Morningstar, Cherri Bomb
ADDITIONAL INFO: 113 icons from the first half of season 2 episode 1 ("New Pentious"). Also includes Angel Dust, Husk, Katie Killjoy, Niffty, Vaggi, the Vees, the unnamed sinner girl from the "Hazbin Guarantee (Trust Us)" sequence, and others.
CREDIT TO:

kommsussertod