To let you back in, that would be violence (I wanna try it).
Dec. 10th, 2025 11:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
goodbyebirdI'm back at work for a couple of days, so throwing today's rec out early to avoid forgetting and ruining my ten (\o/) day streak.
Chosen by the very first hit of the Random Icon button... *drumroll*
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Rec-cember Day 10
Hawkeye / Thunderbolts
got me thinking she's so cool by![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
explosivesky (6,983 words). Cute, through and through. Since it's December and at one point presents are mentioned, do I get to put another notch under Christmas Recs?
“Yes, I know of Ikea,” Yelena says. “I have been all over the world. I know it is a furniture store.”
“Okay, but have you ever been inside one?” Kate pegs. She even leans closer, as if searching for the crack revealed by the question.
Yelena shifts between feet. “No,” she mumbles grumpily. “I have not been inside one.”
“They have meatballs. Swedish meatballs. They’re delicious. We can get you, like, maybe a bookshelf, or a corkboard, or - definitely a bedspread, I honestly thought that was a large decorative boulder for some reason–”
“You want to bring color into my room, Kate Bishop?”
Chosen by the very first hit of the Random Icon button... *drumroll*
Rec-cember Day 10
Hawkeye / Thunderbolts
got me thinking she's so cool by
“Yes, I know of Ikea,” Yelena says. “I have been all over the world. I know it is a furniture store.”
“Okay, but have you ever been inside one?” Kate pegs. She even leans closer, as if searching for the crack revealed by the question.
Yelena shifts between feet. “No,” she mumbles grumpily. “I have not been inside one.”
“They have meatballs. Swedish meatballs. They’re delicious. We can get you, like, maybe a bookshelf, or a corkboard, or - definitely a bedspread, I honestly thought that was a large decorative boulder for some reason–”
“You want to bring color into my room, Kate Bishop?”
It's kind of ironic: the more care you put into a murder, the harsher society judges you.
Dec. 9th, 2025 09:39 pmgoodbyebirdSooooo… if you read a spectacular fic but at the end see it has 880 whopping comments (🤯), is it still cool to add it to your rec list and assume there’s actually a person that hasn’t read it yet? Asking for a friend.
Toootally unrelated, I’ve been watching Welcome to Derry and my brain’s been having a great time being a bastard and making AUs where Claudia and Louis don’t make it to Europe but wind up in Derry instead. Bonus Armand in the sewers to be extra bastard about it.
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Rec-cember Day 9
Santa Clarita Diet
what all the troubles are for bythegatorgood (1,961 words). Aw man I miss the Hammonds, and this had me laughing repeatedly.
Dad cleared his throat. "How's your foot, honey?"
"It's funny," said Mom, "but it reminds me of that time your mother took us out to that French restaurant right before we got engaged, do you remember? There was a cheese that tasted like this."
She chomped down on a toe. Abby decided it was time to check in with Eric.
"You did what?" he asked, when she told him about their latest run-in with the law.
Et tu, nerdus? "I don't get what's such a big deal about it. I mean, Dad pointed a gun at someone's head for the tenth time, but somehow I'm in trouble for grabbing a can of Pringles."
"Because," said Eric, his face in the Skype window so worried it was almost cute, "in west Texas pulling a gun out is like saying, 'Hi, I have a gun!' But if you pull a gun out and take stuff they put you in jail for years."
"It was just a bunch of junk food!"
"So what, Jean Valjean? Armed robbery is armed robbery."
Toootally unrelated, I’ve been watching Welcome to Derry and my brain’s been having a great time being a bastard and making AUs where Claudia and Louis don’t make it to Europe but wind up in Derry instead. Bonus Armand in the sewers to be extra bastard about it.
Rec-cember Day 9
Santa Clarita Diet
what all the troubles are for by
Dad cleared his throat. "How's your foot, honey?"
"It's funny," said Mom, "but it reminds me of that time your mother took us out to that French restaurant right before we got engaged, do you remember? There was a cheese that tasted like this."
She chomped down on a toe. Abby decided it was time to check in with Eric.
"You did what?" he asked, when she told him about their latest run-in with the law.
Et tu, nerdus? "I don't get what's such a big deal about it. I mean, Dad pointed a gun at someone's head for the tenth time, but somehow I'm in trouble for grabbing a can of Pringles."
"Because," said Eric, his face in the Skype window so worried it was almost cute, "in west Texas pulling a gun out is like saying, 'Hi, I have a gun!' But if you pull a gun out and take stuff they put you in jail for years."
"It was just a bunch of junk food!"
"So what, Jean Valjean? Armed robbery is armed robbery."
Brr, it's cold out.
Dec. 13th, 2025 07:47 amconulyYou'd think we'd get snow, but no. Tomorrow's forecast thus far calls for a "wintery mix". The only wintery mix I want is cocoa and marshmallows, not whatever the hell happens to fall from the sky like soggy doom confetti.
19F, jesus. At least it'll be warmer tomorrow. Warm enough to get a fucking wintery mix instead of snow, which is what we really want.
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19F, jesus. At least it'll be warmer tomorrow. Warm enough to get a fucking wintery mix instead of snow, which is what we really want.
( Read more... )
Finished a relisten to Wolf 359
Dec. 12th, 2025 10:25 amconulySo much awful stuff happens to the protagonists in the last third of the show that I often don't make it all the way through. It's worth it, though - my favorite character suddenly gets enough growth to become my favorite character, and the villain dies in a very satisfying way, allowing me to say ( Read more... )
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Famous by Naomi Shihab Nye
Dec. 11th, 2025 04:14 amconulyThe river is famous to the fish.
The loud voice is famous to silence,
which knew it would inherit the earth
before anybody said so.
The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds
watching him from the birdhouse.
The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.
The idea you carry close to your bosom
is famous to your bosom.
The boot is famous to the earth,
more famous than the dress shoe,
which is famous only to floors.
The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.
I want to be famous to shuffling men
who smile while crossing streets,
sticky children in grocery lines,
famous as the one who smiled back.
I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do.
*********
Link
The loud voice is famous to silence,
which knew it would inherit the earth
before anybody said so.
The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds
watching him from the birdhouse.
The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.
The idea you carry close to your bosom
is famous to your bosom.
The boot is famous to the earth,
more famous than the dress shoe,
which is famous only to floors.
The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.
I want to be famous to shuffling men
who smile while crossing streets,
sticky children in grocery lines,
famous as the one who smiled back.
I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do.
Link
Will you be there when the flames are high?
Dec. 8th, 2025 04:19 pmgoodbyebirdI had an epic, long, convoluted mess of a Wheel of Time dream last night - maybe because I saw a video from the costume exhibit on Insta right before bed idk - clearly this means today's fandom has already been chosen.
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Rec-cember Day 8
Wheel of Time
the children we once were byQuickYoke (18, 083 words). Moiraine and Siuan, before the Tower. Both stories gripping tightly. Book!verse. Actually a prequel to a 60k fic, but I'll have to save that treat for later! Rec-Cember waits for no one ;)
When she turns a cramped corner in the crawlspace, a needlepoint of light greets her. It's small as a distant star in an otherwise ink black sky, but it is there. Moiraine shuffles forward and presses with all her might. The sound of a faint click, and an opening in the wall slides up to let her out.
Moiraine squeezes through and collapses on the other side, breathing heavily. When she sneezes, a plume of dust shivers off of her like a second skin. The floor beneath her is polished marble in a deep blue and gold pattern. Moiraine would recognise it anywhere. The air around her seems to hum, as though a glass had been struck with the flat edge of a knife and the sound is forever on the brink of fading. With dread rising in her throat, she looks up and climbs to her feet.
Early afternoon light streams through the windows of the throne room, tall and bursting in radiant patterns to mimic the rays that shine through them. Every surface is polished until it feels like standing upon a pane of glass or perhaps still water. The squared pillars and the arched midnight ceiling reflect perfect inversions of themselves down into the ground, so that it is less like walking through a chamber and more like being hung between the infinite space between mirrors; she is an insect suspended in a sea of abyssal amber.
The throne itself is ensconced atop a low-slung dais. Plain and unadorned but for an enormous disk of pure gold that enshrines the head of whosoever dares sit there in a halo. The chamber is empty, but still she wraps her arms around herself, glancing about for sign of any royal guardsmen lurking in the usual places. There are none.
Rec-cember Day 8
Wheel of Time
the children we once were by
When she turns a cramped corner in the crawlspace, a needlepoint of light greets her. It's small as a distant star in an otherwise ink black sky, but it is there. Moiraine shuffles forward and presses with all her might. The sound of a faint click, and an opening in the wall slides up to let her out.
Moiraine squeezes through and collapses on the other side, breathing heavily. When she sneezes, a plume of dust shivers off of her like a second skin. The floor beneath her is polished marble in a deep blue and gold pattern. Moiraine would recognise it anywhere. The air around her seems to hum, as though a glass had been struck with the flat edge of a knife and the sound is forever on the brink of fading. With dread rising in her throat, she looks up and climbs to her feet.
Early afternoon light streams through the windows of the throne room, tall and bursting in radiant patterns to mimic the rays that shine through them. Every surface is polished until it feels like standing upon a pane of glass or perhaps still water. The squared pillars and the arched midnight ceiling reflect perfect inversions of themselves down into the ground, so that it is less like walking through a chamber and more like being hung between the infinite space between mirrors; she is an insect suspended in a sea of abyssal amber.
The throne itself is ensconced atop a low-slung dais. Plain and unadorned but for an enormous disk of pure gold that enshrines the head of whosoever dares sit there in a halo. The chamber is empty, but still she wraps her arms around herself, glancing about for sign of any royal guardsmen lurking in the usual places. There are none.
Damn, I really have missed writing fanfic
Dec. 8th, 2025 10:07 pmtropicsbearI've finally finished this year's Saiyuki fic! Still has to go through a round or two of editing before I can post it, but I should have it up on the usual places before the end of the week.
The original plan was for the fic to be 100% lighthearted and/or funny. Some heavy backstory snuck in at the last minute, which shouldn't surprise me because it's happened multiple times before across different fandoms, and yet it did.
( Some thoughts about my writing style. )
All that to say, I almost took this year's Saiyuki fic in a completely different direction than I first wanted. But I decided to stick with the lighthearted vibe for this even if there is that one slightly heavier section. Personally, I think the slight deviation helps make everything else land better.
Linkage
Dec. 8th, 2025 12:51 pmtropicsbear⚠️ Discussions of complications related to childbirth, infant death, birth- and pregnancy-related medical issues
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
By 2024, it was becoming increasingly hard to deny how many babies were dying to FBS mothers. Deaths followed a pattern. First-time mothers – whose pregnancies are known to be higher-risk – attempting freebirths over many days, even a week, after wild pregnancies. Some women went to more than 44 weeks of pregnancy.
Most women who freebirth will have positive outcomes, and for healthy mothers the risks are low. But the radical version of freebirth Saldaya and Norris-Clark pioneered caused alarm even among freebirth advocates.
After I gave you the best 17 days of my life!
Dec. 7th, 2025 11:55 pmgoodbyebirdMelissa McCarthy hosted SNL again, and as always she was hilarious. Figured I'd share the holiday themed one!
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Rec-cember Day 7
ST Voyager
Crossing the Line byorphan_account (1,686 words). Excellent Janeway and Seven of Nine in this. Set after Dark Frontier.
She has leaned on Chakotay before, and taken his arm more times than she can count. She has hugged Kes like a mother, even if Kes is beyond their reach entirely now. She has put a steadying palm on B’Elanna’s shoulder, and leaned over Tom at the controls; she has put her arm around Harry, and placed her hand on Neelix’s as he hands her a mug of coffee. She has collapsed against Tuvok before and wept, deriving comfort of her own from his willingness to be close.
All of this is different, of course. Different relationships, different boundaries. But, in the end, it is the same. She is Captain to these people, but in the Delta quadrant, Captain cannot afford to be synonymous with distance.
The difference with Seven is that she is distant from everyone besides Kathryn. That’s a responsibility.
Rec-cember Day 7
ST Voyager
Crossing the Line by
She has leaned on Chakotay before, and taken his arm more times than she can count. She has hugged Kes like a mother, even if Kes is beyond their reach entirely now. She has put a steadying palm on B’Elanna’s shoulder, and leaned over Tom at the controls; she has put her arm around Harry, and placed her hand on Neelix’s as he hands her a mug of coffee. She has collapsed against Tuvok before and wept, deriving comfort of her own from his willingness to be close.
All of this is different, of course. Different relationships, different boundaries. But, in the end, it is the same. She is Captain to these people, but in the Delta quadrant, Captain cannot afford to be synonymous with distance.
The difference with Seven is that she is distant from everyone besides Kathryn. That’s a responsibility.
Dear fanfic writer:
Dec. 10th, 2025 06:54 amconulyI can see you're not a cook. You can't exactly dice thyme. The leaves are pretty tiny. If they're fresh, you just strip them from the stem. I suppose you can then chop them more finely, but dicing? You'd have more luck trying to dice time.
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(no subject)
Dec. 9th, 2025 09:53 pmconulyThe Trump administration’s NSS announces a dramatic reworking of the foreign policy the U.S. has embraced since World War II.
And that's not the most alarming thing about it.
And that's not the most alarming thing about it.
Now I Know What A TV Dinner Feels Like.
Dec. 6th, 2025 05:59 pmgoodbyebird+ Oh no I've pretty much eaten all my fancy chocolate :( I got a bag of random leftovers when I ordered a box for my mom for Christmas (Jentene På Tunet, BEST chocolate I've had in my life), and now there's only four pieces left. Rip.
+ I did pick up a packet of gf gnocchi yesterday, guess it's time for a very carb dinner :D
+ Decided to shuffle the list so I don't run out of femslash recs; today have a gen offering!
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Rec-cember Day 6
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Jewish Christmas byryfkah (632 words). Happy dancing whenever I find a cute holiday themed rec for this ;D
Ensconced in the supply closet, Jake told Amy, grimly, “Nutcracker Ballet.”
Amy gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.
“I thought it was bad when I caught her standing for 20 minutes staring at the tree in the front office --” Jake grabbed for Amy’s hands. “Babe, you gotta help me here. I am wildly unqualified to salvage Rosa’s Christmas. I have one single Christmas card to play, and while I’m obviously always happy to play that card --”
Amy winced, and shook her head. “You know Rosa still hasn’t forgiven Bruce Willis for A Good Day to Die Hard. Giving her a very Die Hard Christmas is just going to fill her with additional rage.”
+ I did pick up a packet of gf gnocchi yesterday, guess it's time for a very carb dinner :D
+ Decided to shuffle the list so I don't run out of femslash recs; today have a gen offering!
Rec-cember Day 6
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Jewish Christmas by
Ensconced in the supply closet, Jake told Amy, grimly, “Nutcracker Ballet.”
Amy gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.
“I thought it was bad when I caught her standing for 20 minutes staring at the tree in the front office --” Jake grabbed for Amy’s hands. “Babe, you gotta help me here. I am wildly unqualified to salvage Rosa’s Christmas. I have one single Christmas card to play, and while I’m obviously always happy to play that card --”
Amy winced, and shook her head. “You know Rosa still hasn’t forgiven Bruce Willis for A Good Day to Die Hard. Giving her a very Die Hard Christmas is just going to fill her with additional rage.”
(no subject)
Dec. 6th, 2025 02:09 pmtropicsbearThis was also discussed over at ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
anime_manga, but I wanted a link here for mirroring reasons as well.
Crunchyroll is destroying its subtitles for no good reason
There is only one conclusion that can be drawn from that: the Funimation-turned-Crunchyroll executives still do not have any respect for anime as a medium. In addition, they seem to be treating Crunchyroll and its ways of doing things as the ways of pirates – which isn’t entirely incorrect, as Crunchyroll’s use of Aegisub and ASS did originate from the ways of pirate fansubbers. But fansubbers deeply care about anime as medium (they wouldn’t be illegally subtitling it for free as a hobby otherwise), which in turn means that the ways fansubbers have developed to subtitle anime are in fact extremely efficient for the job – much better than basically any “industry standards” for subtitling, even.
Like the anime_manga OP says, I do remember a time when Crunchyroll was a piracy site. It's why I made an account over there in the first place 😂 (An account I promptly forgot about in favor of torrenting, only to log in again after so many years and be surprised to see that the site was now legit.)
If I were running Crunchyroll, I'd hire a bunch of fansubbers and have them use their preferred software to make high-quality subtitles then use that as my selling point versus other streaming platforms.
(no subject)
Dec. 5th, 2025 11:47 pmtropicsbear✒️ I know I've said multiple times that I want to delete my FF.net account ... but now I also want to start cross-posting stuff between AO3 and SqWA because of the fear that one of them might suddenly disappear one day. The urges directly oppose one another, but I think the main difference is that AO3 and SqWA give me control over my account—I can delete it if I want—while FF.net doesn't. I'm holding off for now because I'm not even done emptying my FF.net, but we'll see.
❓ Is the tiny AO3 username icon not working for anyone else? Or is it just me?
💄 I've cleaned out all my expired lipsticks (donated them to a funeral parlor) and now I don't have a nude lipstick anymore. I poked around the department store for a replacement and decided to try GRWM's lip booze sheer balm in the shade Whiskey and omg. It's so good! Not sticky, made my lips feel super hydrated, and it looks so nice! Now I want to nab the Weng-weng shade.
🐏 I decided it was time to switch up my journal layout again. There's some things I'm trying figure out with the spacing of list items, but other than that, I think it's the perfect layout for TadaAi. Creating the custom layout layer wasn't as difficult as I thought it'd be. Opens up a whole new avenue of layouts for use. (I've been avoiding the ones using custom layers because I was scared of the implementation 😆)
Tried a perfume oil at Ritual and it was a Mistake.
Dec. 5th, 2025 03:54 pmgoodbyebird+ I'm stuck waiting in the car at the mall, and I am SO HEAVILY SCENTED ugh. It was barely a dab! Rituals has made an enemy of me this day.
Plus side I've picked up a couple of Christmas presents, plus a half off face cream for myself.
If I hang my clothes up to dry when I get home and start the bedding, then empty the dishwasher? Not a whole day wasted, look at me go.
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Rec-cember Day 5
Xena for Fanart Friday =)
"Gabrielle, do it." by gabbiemara @ reddit. Delectable vampire piece.
badass feminist icons by![[instagram.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/profile_icons/instagram.png)
artbykristele. Fun portrait of Xena and Gabi in a fighting pose.
Good pals byrennerei. Legs around waist! Smooches! Aiaiaiaiaiii
Stay Down by laurenknight @ bsky. Xena being in charge, and Callisto is more than happy about it. So fun!
Plus side I've picked up a couple of Christmas presents, plus a half off face cream for myself.
If I hang my clothes up to dry when I get home and start the bedding, then empty the dishwasher? Not a whole day wasted, look at me go.
Rec-cember Day 5
Xena for Fanart Friday =)
"Gabrielle, do it." by gabbiemara @ reddit. Delectable vampire piece.
badass feminist icons by
artbykristele. Fun portrait of Xena and Gabi in a fighting pose. Good pals by
rennerei. Legs around waist! Smooches! AiaiaiaiaiiiStay Down by laurenknight @ bsky. Xena being in charge, and Callisto is more than happy about it. So fun!
Today's coworker is in college in the hopes of increasing her earnings
Dec. 7th, 2025 02:34 amconulyWhich, good for her, but she's not going to make the big bucks in social work, which is what she's getting her BS in. Well, best of luck to her anyway. (She does have her eyes wide open, because everybody has told her that. Unsurprising.)
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To be fair, the murder incest game also lets you find a pile of fluffy bunnies.
Dec. 4th, 2025 08:00 pmgoodbyebird+ Had vague plans of doing something useful today, but ended up playing an absurd amount of Crusader Kings 3 and the most recent update instead. CK3 having this reputation of being the murder incest simulator, meanwhile I spent two whole lives reading books, being beloved by all, and tending a garden. Zero intrigue until the game notified me I didn't have an heir and it would be game over... at which point my 57 year old chaste scholar dude was sent to slut his way across the kingdom. I died with eight legitimate heirs and several bastards lol.
After I've eaten I'll be setting off with my 22 year old, sitting on great stats and a pile of gold. By which I mean: studying and pilgrimages BOYAH. (I may not be the intended audience for this game? Or maybe that perception is warped by fun streamers? bc I want to write books and have a nice garden.)
+ Fingers crossed Pluribus drops before I get sleepy. It's really got a hold of me.
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Rec-cember Day 4
Gideon the Ninth
Skin Flick byJeanLuciferGohard (2,618 words). Oh, this is pitch perfect in every way, and the visual language! So tasty.
Harrow undresses like somebody stripping an engine for parts, shedding layer after of black with a choppy, vindictive momentum. With all the eroticism of somebody prepping a taxidermy specimen. Like a case study of all possible conjugations of the verb “to flense”.
And, no, as it turns out; no, Harrowhark Nonagesimus is not, in fact, wearing anything under all that, nothing at all interrupting the faintly ridged shadow of her spine. There’s a lot of shoulder action happening, a lot of sweeping, shallow curves that look longer than they are, a lot of feral skinniness that you’d need a certain kind of palate to appreciate.
So call her a fucking sommelier, because Gideon’s palate is developed , apparently.
She whistles.
After I've eaten I'll be setting off with my 22 year old, sitting on great stats and a pile of gold. By which I mean: studying and pilgrimages BOYAH. (I may not be the intended audience for this game? Or maybe that perception is warped by fun streamers? bc I want to write books and have a nice garden.)
+ Fingers crossed Pluribus drops before I get sleepy. It's really got a hold of me.
Rec-cember Day 4
Gideon the Ninth
Skin Flick by
Harrow undresses like somebody stripping an engine for parts, shedding layer after of black with a choppy, vindictive momentum. With all the eroticism of somebody prepping a taxidermy specimen. Like a case study of all possible conjugations of the verb “to flense”.
And, no, as it turns out; no, Harrowhark Nonagesimus is not, in fact, wearing anything under all that, nothing at all interrupting the faintly ridged shadow of her spine. There’s a lot of shoulder action happening, a lot of sweeping, shallow curves that look longer than they are, a lot of feral skinniness that you’d need a certain kind of palate to appreciate.
So call her a fucking sommelier, because Gideon’s palate is developed , apparently.
She whistles.