01/16
Jan. 16th, 2026 10:30 pmThe time is ten in the evening. I get a notification on Discord. It's an announcement in the a cappella group server. The first line of the announcement goes: "ICE spotted in [the neighborhood my college campus is in] RIGHT NOW"
Fic: Camping
Jan. 17th, 2026 07:40 amRatings & Warnings: G
Fandom: Kemutai Hanashi
Relationship(s): Takeda/Arita
On AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/77809831
( Read more... )
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Jan. 16th, 2026 11:39 pmAs you finalize or submit your signup, remember to check out Uncategorized Fandoms for crossovers and other fandoms you might have missed! Here's the requests app that may be easier to browse than AO3.
As usual, there will be a 12-hour grace period after signups close during which you can ask us to add tags to your requests/offers.
Daily Happiness
Jan. 16th, 2026 05:26 pm2. We walked down to the Italian deli this morning to get sandwiches for lunch. Also a nice part of working from home! We knew it would be pretty hot today, so rather than walk there at lunch time, we went right after Carla woke up, when it wasn't too hot and there was still some shade for most of the walk.
3. I changed the bandage on my tattoo this morning and cleaned it up. It's looking really good! After changing it, there is still some fluid coming out, but doesn't seem to be any blood. They said to use the clear "second skin" bandage for up to a week, so I actually ordered some more off Amazon (she gave me enough for one change) in case I need to change it sooner. With the amount of fluid under it right now, I might.
4. Upon closer inspection it looks like Tuxie is missing some fur on his forehead, so I think he might have been in a fight while he was gone, but he seems fine otherwise. Better than that time he got a chunk of his ear ripped out.

Weekly Reading
Jan. 16th, 2026 03:38 pmPeril at the Exposition
Second in the Captain Jim and Lady Diana mystery series. I was disappointed to see that this one doesn't take place in India, so I hadn't jumped right on it after finishing the first, but my backlog of audiobooks was going down, so I decided to give it a go. It was fine. I'll probably read more in the series at the same pace, but it's also not really what I'm wanting in a mystery (and that was the same with the first one).
Deeds and Words
Another second book in a mystery series, though it seems like this is also the final book. It was also just all right.
Riot Baby
Set in a slightly more dystopic alternate reality, this tells the story of a girl with psychic powers and her brother, who was born after the LA riots, thus being nicknamed Riot Baby, in alternating POVs. I liked this, but it felt like the two POVs weren't really well integrated.
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street
In the late 1800s England, a man gets a mysterious watch that saves him from a bomb exploding, and then is tasked with finding out if the watchmaker, a Japanese man who can remember the future, is the one who set the bomb. I didn't much like this at all. The first half or more was extremely boring, and then once the action seemed to finally get going, the characters got worse and worse, especially the lone female character, who seems to exist only as a plot device to make everything horrible for the men.
Little Monsters vol. 1-2
Two volume comic series about child vampires living in an empty city after an apocalypse. I liked it all right. The ending was good.
Sakura, Saku vol. 8
The Charm, Such As It Is, of the Charmera
Jan. 16th, 2026 10:23 pm
Kodak did a brisk business over the holidays with their meme camera, the Charmera, which is tiny enough to fit on a key chain and takes deeply lofi photos, especially in low light. But it cost $30 and as it happens I do need a keychain, so I thought I would try one out and see what I thought.
Inasmuch as every camera must be inaugurated with a picture of a cat, here is the very first photo out of the camera:

And here is a picture of me, with said camera, in my bathroom mirror.

These pictures are pretty terrible! But admittedly they are also inside my house where the lighting is not great. What happens when we go outside?

Nope, still pretty terrible.
Which is to be expected, as this thing comes with a 1.6 megapixel sensor (1440×1080), and the sensor itself is likely the size of a pinhead. You’re not taking pictures with this camera for high fidelity. You’re taking them for glitchy lo-res fun, in as good of lighting as you can get. This also had video, at the same resolution, but you know what, I’m not even going to bother.

In addition to the primary color mode the Charmera has other “fun” modes including ones that add frame and goofy pixel art to your picture, which, you know, okay, why not. You need to bring along your own micro memory card, and it’s a real pain in the ass to get it in, so you will probably never take it out (you can connect it to your computer via USB, which is also how it’s charged), but once it’s in you can take effectively infinite number of pictures because the individual image files are so small.
The UI is not great, the little screen on the back of the camera is too tiny to be of much use, and quite honestly I’m not sure what the use case of this thing is, other than to have it, and possibly give it to an 8-year-old so they can run around taking pictures without running the risk of them damaging anything valuable, like your phone or a real camera.
But, I mean, as long as you know all that going in, yeah, it’s kind of fun. And for $30(ish) bucks, not a huge outlay for trendily pixellated photos. I’ve made worse purchases recently.
— JS
Dungeon Crawlers: kill, kill, kill
Jan. 16th, 2026 11:13 pmUnfortunately the ebook versions of books 3-7 are only available on amazon from what I've seen and I try to avoid giving them money when I can, so I joined the author's Patreon instead and am now reading the unedited versions of the other books. It's very hard to stop reading! There's always just one more thing I want to see how it goes, and then the next.
I enjoy the LitRPG and power-up fantasy aspects, but I think my favorite angle is the reality TV death game. Reminds me of the Hunger Games in that aspect, with bonus corporate politics in the background. I also like the characters, the main cast and the supporting cast, and I enjoy the crazy plans. Can't wait to see where it goes! ...except I have to because of chores and classes etc. etc. and I should also try to get enough sleep. Boo.
Not really a snowflake challenge entry
Jan. 16th, 2026 10:03 pmANYWAY all this is a long-winded way to ask for music recs.
Fanworks Stats Meme
Jan. 16th, 2026 12:30 pmGo to your Works page on AO3, look at the tags, and see what the answers to these questions are. (Or any other site that has tags)
I'm going to go off both my fic journal (
- What rating do you write most fics under?
DW: Teen.
AO3: Teen and Up Audiences. - What are your top 3 fandoms?
DW: Band of Brothers, Marvel 616 & tie of Babylon 5 and The Pacific.
AO3: Band of Brothers, Marvel 616 (then several subcategories thereof), The Pacific. - What is your top character you write about?
DW: Don't tag for characters.
AO3: Richard Winters (BoB) - What are the 3 top pairings?
DW: Nixon/Winters (BoB), Steve/Tony (Marvel), Band of Brothers Rarepair.
AO3: Nixon/Winters (BoB), Steve/Tony (Marvel), Andy/Eddie (The Pacific). - What are the top 3 additional tags?
DW: Drabbles!, PWP, Canon-Era H/C.
AO3: Canon Era, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon. - Did any of this surprise you? e.g. what turned out to be your top tag.
Only giving each fic one genre each on DW skewed the tags much differently from AO3, for the last question. I've also posted a bunch of drabbles to DW that didn't make it to AO3, so that probably also moves the numbers (like tying B5 with The Pacific). If one includes HBO War and Marvel comics each as one fandom, it would go HBO War, Marvel Comics, Babylon 5.
It also leaves out some of my most popular fic, which are for fandoms I didn't write for as much, but got a couple one hit wonders that sailed to the top of my stats page.
(Any word on DW figuring out what's wrong with the AO3 user profile logo? I gather it's some kind of import problem.)
Code for anyone who wants to gank:
The Huntress, by Kate Quinn
Jan. 16th, 2026 11:41 am
In this engrossing historical novel, three storylines converge on a single target, a female Nazi nicknamed the Huntress. During the war, we follow Nina, one of the Soviet women who flew bomber runs and were known as the Night Witches. After the war, we follow Ian, a British war correspondent turned Nazi hunter, who has teamed up with Nina to hunt down the Huntress as Nina is one of the very few people who saw her face and survived. At the same time, in Boston, we follow Jordan, a young woman who wants to be a photographer and is suspicious of the beautiful German immigrant her father wants to marry...
In The Huntress, we often know what has happened or surely must happen, but not why or how; we know Nina somehow ended up facing off with the Huntress, but not how she got there or how she escaped; we know who Jordan's stepmom-to-be is and that she'll surely be unmasked eventually, but not how or when that'll happen or how the confrontation will go down. There's a lot of suspense but none of it depends on shocking twists, though there are some unexpected turns.
Nina and Jordan are very likable and compelling, especially Nina who is kind of a force of nature. It took me a while to warm up to Ian, but I did about halfway through. Nina's story is fascinating and I could have read a whole novel just about her and her all-female regiment, but I never minded switching back to Jordan as while her life is more ordinary, it's got this tense undercurrent of creeping horror as she and everyone around her are being gaslit and manipulated by a Nazi.
This is the kind of satisfying, engrossing historical novel that I think used to be more common, though this one probably has a lot more queerness than it would have had if it had been written in the 80s - a woman/woman relationship is central to the story, and there are multiple other queer characters. It has some nice funny moments and dialogue to leaven a generally serious story (Nina in particular can be hilarious), and there's some excellent set piece action scenes. If my description sounds good to you, you'll almost certainly enjoy it.
Spoilers! ( Read more... )
Quinn has written multiple historical novels, mostly set during or around WW2. This is the first I've read but it made me want to read more of hers.
Content notes: Wartime-typical violence, gaslighting, a child in danger. The Huntress murdered six children, but this scene does not appear on-page. There is no sexual assault and no scenes in concentration camps.
celebrity20in20 Round 19
Jan. 16th, 2026 01:37 pm
Link: Round 19 Sign Ups | Round 19 Themes
Description:
Schedule: Round 19 sign ups are open NOW. Icons are due February 5, 2026.
Six stories for six fandoms
Jan. 16th, 2026 05:50 pmI am too lazy to cross-post these to any fandom-specific comms today, so advance apologies if I eventually muster the stamina to do so and you see them again sometime.
Creator: bluewoodensea
Title: The Autumn Leaves
Fandom: Hornblower
Rating: T
Word count: 2k
Pairings: Horatio/Clayton
Notes/Warnings: Angst, grief, death; contains spoilers
Link: AO3 / DW
Creator: bluewoodensea
Title: Meerüberrauscht
Fandom: 1899
Rating: M
Word count: 6k
Pairings: Eyk/Sebastian
Notes/Warnings: Alcoholism, bereavement; contains spoilers
Summary: Non-linear relationship study, partially real memories (unshared) and partially false memories (shared)
Link: AO3 / DW
Creator: bluewoodensea
Title: The Book; His Reader
Fandom: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Rating: M
Word count: 4k
Pairings: Childermass/Vinculus
Notes/Warnings: Spoilers
Summary: Post-novel; Childermass and Vinculus leave York
Link: AO3 / DW
Creator: bluewoodensea
Title: All the World
Fandom: The Forsyte Saga
Rating: G
Word count: 200
Characters: June Forsyte
Notes/Warnings: Mild spoilers
Summary: Just a short character study (in defence of June Forsyte’s happiness)
Link: AO3 / DW
Creator: bluewoodensea
Title: The Ways of Silence
Fandom: The Borgias
Rating: T
Word count: 600
Characters: Micheletto & the taxidermist
Notes/Warnings: (eg. spoilers, triggers; choose not to warn)
Summary: Why Micheletto Corella didn’t murder anyone this time
Link: AO3 / DW
Creator: bluewoodensea
Title: Poor Monster
Fandom: Twelfth Night
Rating: G
Word count: 400
Pairings: Viola/Olivia
Summary: I’ll be honest, it’s a post-canon fix-it
Link: AO3 / DW
Fic: a love that is hopeless (Friends, Chandler/Joey, M)
Jan. 17th, 2026 04:42 amRating: Mature
Fandom: Friends
Relationship(s): Chandler Bing/Joey Tribbiani
Word Count: 653
Summary: They didn’t talk about it. This thing between them was never spoken about, never acknowledged anywhere other than the privacy of their bedrooms in the middle of the night. If they talked about it, brought it out into the open, it would become real, and Chandler was almost certain that neither of them were ready for that.
Read it on AO3 here.
F: The Professionals M: Fic
Jan. 16th, 2026 02:23 pmFandom:The Professionals
Rating:Teen and up
Word Count:991
Pairing:Bodie/Doyle
Summary:It takes Bodie almost dying for Doyle to realise how he feels
Read on AO3
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, Sirat, The Bride!, The Wrecking Crew, Fiume o morte!
Jan. 16th, 2026 11:04 amHighly chaotic time travel mockumentary about a musical duo (Matt Johnson, Jay McCarrol) that is desperately failing to book a gig at the storied Toronto venue The Rivoli. When their plan goes horribly wrong, Matt and Jay accidentally travel back to the year 2008. It's also written and directed by Johnson (BlackBerry, Operation Avalanche) and McCarrol.
It's apparently based on a web series and a TV show that I'm not familiar with, but this looks very funny. An earlier teaser trailer: HD720p 22MB.
Sirat HD720p 28MB
Apocalyptic thriller set in the Moroccan desert in which a father (Sergi López) and his son arrive at a rave deep in the mountains. They are searching for Mar — daughter and sister — who vanished months ago at one of these endless, sleepless parties. Surrounded by electronic music and a raw, unfamiliar sense of freedom, they hand out her photo again and again. Hope is fading, but they push through and follow a group of ravers heading to one last party in the desert.
Was already released in many European countries months ago, it's Spain's official Oscar entry. An earlier teaser: HD1080p 56MB.
The Bride! HD720p 32MB
Second trailer for another unconventional dark monster horror thriller. A lonely Frankenstein (Christian Bale) travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious (Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman and The Bride (Jessie Buckley) is born. What ensues is beyond what either of them imagined: Murder! Possession! A wild and radical cultural movement! And outlaw lovers in a wild and combustible romance. Peter Sarsgaard, Jake Gyllenhaal and Penélope Cruz are also part of the cast. Directed and adapted for the screen by Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter).
The Wrecking Crew HD720p 36MB
Action comedy about two estranged half-brothers (Dave Bautista, Jason Momoa) who reunite after their father's mysterious death. As they search for the truth, buried secrets reveal a conspiracy threatening to tear their family apart. Stephen Root, Morena Baccarin, Jacob Batalon, Claes Bang and Temuera Morrison are also part of the cast. Directed by Angel Manuel Soto (Blue Beetle).
That's a lot of man meat and muscles. The movie at least seems to be aware of it. Will start streaming on Amazon Prime January 28th.
Fiume o morte! HD1080p 37MB
Documentary that's Croatia submission for Best International Feature Film. On 12 September 1919, a troop of some three hundred soldiers under the leadership of the flamboyant war loving Italian poet Gabriele D’Annunzio swooped into the Northern-Adriatic port town of Fiume, now Rijeka, wanting to annex the city to Italy. Over the course of the next 16 months, during what is regarded as one of the most bizarre militant sieges of all time his official photography team captured over 10,000 images. A century later, Croatian filmmaker Igor Bezinovic, along with some three hundred citizens, orchestrates a direct-action history lesson focused on the siege and its modern-day implications.
Looks very fascinating, bewildering and scary. It's also timely.
Yuu. Fic writer & book lover. M/Canada.