36 Hours to Reveals
Dec. 23rd, 2025 10:06 pmTips
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Recipes for Hugo (part 1 of 1, complete)
Dec. 22nd, 2025 11:30 pmBy Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only):1653
[A few days before Christmas 2016]
:: Heron has assembled a complicated gift for his cousin Hugo. It sparks a surprising reaction in the younger man. Part of the Finn family and the Shiv/Omaha story arcs in the Polychrome Heroics universe, the story was written in the December 2025 prompt fest, with my deep thanks to the reader who suggested it. ::
“Recipes for Hugo.” The period at the end of the sentence grew irregularly, creeping from beneath the tip of the gel pen. Heron stared at it with a flat, narrow-eyed glare, and capped the pen silently before dropping it into the black fireproof trash can labeled, “Test to Destruction” with a strip of duck tape and red permanent marker.
That tiny noise nearly woke Mallory, asleep on the sofa.
( Read more... )
warm fuzzies on a rubbishy day that improved
Dec. 22nd, 2025 10:09 pmI'm getting a little writing of the fictional kind in, and then I'm going the heck to bed. ZZZZZZ!
Fannish 50 Challenge 2025: Post #45: "due South 2025 Christmas Chronicles" by ArcticBunny68
Dec. 22nd, 2025 06:37 pmHug!
Dec. 23rd, 2025 11:10 am
ION, writing is still stuck, ugh, but I did manage to finish off an M-rated Guardian masturbation flashfic set during ep 4, so there's that at least.
Our feelings for you haven't changed, Carol.
Dec. 22nd, 2025 10:22 pm+ Got to see the latest Avatar movie at the cinemas. My least favorite of the three, lacking the genuine awe and beauty of the world. What they did try just felt forced, and one character in particular should have been left to die in the second movie ugh.
+ Big plus for the cozy and hazily lit curtain fic promo trailer thingy they did before the movie. IYKYK. Kinda made me wish I had an ear to the ground in that fandom still.
+ I think I've successfully broken through my iconning block!! Shout out to dysfunctional vampires and dysfunctional lesbians.
+ BIG psa: Apple shifted Pluribus to air on the 24th, two days earlier than usual. I'll have to get up extra early to see it before 2 Nøtter Til Askepott, because if not I'll be thinking about it and wanting to all day lol. It's been such a good series for me to watch? There's this whole thing where there's two wolves inside of me, one appreciating the thought and care put into every decision, and how slow it's allowed to move, the second wanting to pick into every detail and tear through it. Both enjoyable in different ways!
I have watched every episode a minimum of twice. It may be my new comfort watch show?¯\_ (ツ)_/¯
Rec-cember Day 22
Pluribus ( I'd say spoilery for last week's episode. )
Series Rec: ClaireBell (2025)
Dec. 22nd, 2025 01:27 pm
(8 × ~45 minutes (TV version) or ~60 minutes (uncut version))
Claire and Bell meet in a place no one enters by choice: prison. Wrongly convicted of drug possession, Bell begins her fifteen-month sentence only to find herself targeted by a powerful group within the grounds. Even the warden turns a blind eye to their actions. Her only path to safety is to go to Claire, a violent inmate no one dares mess with. Nothing is as easy as she'd hoped. As their bond deepens, their path reaches a crossroads and they must choose between life and love. (MyDramaList)
( Read more... )
the inevitable commentfic
Dec. 22nd, 2025 01:54 pmSholio's fic (second one down)
( 1400 words of waking up after being presumed dead (Biggles gen) )
cheap sushi
Dec. 22nd, 2025 10:49 pmIf there's one food that's cheaper in Japan, it's low-end sushi. Supermarket had a tray of 8 seafood nigiri: 2 salmon, 2 tuna, mackerel, shrimp, the big roe, and some pink gel. 598 yen. $6 by PPP, which is already good deal; $4 by exchange rate. Probably would be $12 in a Philadelphia supermarket, or $15.
But! I actually got it at 50% discount, near closing time. So 8 nigiri for $2.
...maybe I should be more aggressive about walking off with as much discount sushi as I can carry...
2025 short stuff rec list
Dec. 22nd, 2025 05:51 amOf course I hope you've enjoyed my short fiction and poetry (and nonfiction!) this year. But other people have been absolutely lighting the place up as well, and here are my recommendations for speculative short fiction and poetry for 2025. Even I can't read everything, so please do not take this as a comprehensive list! I'm sure there's great stuff out there I've missed, and if you want to comment with it, that's great. Spread the joy.
Heritage/Speaker | Hablante/Herencia, Angela Acosta (Samovar)
The Witch and the Wyrm, Elizabeth Bear (Reactor)
Thirteen Swords That Made a Prince: Highlights From the Arms & Armory Collection, Sharang Biswas (Strange Horizons)
Biologists say it will take at least a generation for the river to recover (Klamath River Hymn), Leah Bobet (Reckoning)
Watching Migrations, Keyan Bowes (Strange Horizons)
Bestla, James Joseph Brown (Kaleidotrope)
Mail Order Magic, Stephanie Burgis (Sunday Morning Transport)
With Only a Razor Between, Martin Cahill (Reactor)
As Safe As Fear, Beth Cato (Daikajuzine)
And the Planet Loved Him, L. Chan (Clarkesworld)
“To Reap, to Sow,” Lyndsey Croal (Analog Mar/Apr 25)
Atomic, Jennifer Crow (Kaleidotrope)
Flower and Root, J. R. Dawson (Sunday Morning Transport)
Six People to Revise You, J. R. Dawson (Uncanny)
The Place I Came To, Filip Hajdar Drnovšek Zorko (Lightspeed)
Understudies, Greg Egan (Clarkesworld)
All That Means or Mourns, Ruthanna Emrys (Reactor)
Holly on the Mantel, Blood on the Hearth, Kate Francia (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
The Jacarandas Are Unimpressed By Your Show of Force, Gwynne Garfinkle (Strange Horizons)
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Gorgon, Gwynne Garfinkle (Penumbric)
The Otter Woman’s Daughter, Eleanor Glewwe (Cast of Wonders)
In the Shells of Broken Things, A.T. Greenblatt (Clarkesworld)
In Connorville, Kathleen Jennings (Reactor)
Michelle C. Jin, Imperfect Simulations (Clarkesworld)
What I Saw Before the War, Alaya Dawn Johnson (Reactor)
The Name Ziya, Wen-yi Lee (Reactor)
Barbershops of the Floating City, Angela Liu (Uncanny)
Kaiju Agonistes, Scott Lynch (Uncanny)
The Loaf in the Woods, David Marino (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
One by One, Lindz McLeod (Apex)
10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days, Samantha Mills (Uncanny)
Everyone Keeps Saying Probably, Premee Mohamed (Psychopomp)
Liecraft, Anita Moskát (trans. Austin Wagner) (Apex)
The Orchard Village Catalog, Parker Peevyhouse (Strange Horizons)
Lies From a Roadside Vagabond, Aaron Perry (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
Last Tuesday, for Eternity, Vinny Rose Pinto (Imagine 2200)
The Horrible Conceit of Night and Death, J. A. Prentice (Apex)
The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For, Cameron Reed (Reactor)
Ghost Rock Posers F**k Off, Margaret Ronald (Sunday Morning Transport)
Regarding the Childhood of Morrigan, Who Was Chosen to Open the Way, Benjamin Rosenbaum (Reactor)
No One Dies of Longing, Anjali Sachdeva (Strange Horizons)
Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything, Effie Seiberg (Diabolical Plots)
Orders, Grace Seybold (Augur)
Unbeaten, Grace Seybold (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
After the Invasion of the Bug-Eyed Aliens, Rachel Swirsky (Reactor)
“Holy Fools,” Adrian Tchaikovsky (Of Shadows, Stars, and Sabers)
A Random Walk Through the Goblin Library, Chris Willrich (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
“An Asexual Succubus,” John Wiswell (Of Shadows, Stars, and Sabers)
Phantom View, John Wiswell (Reactor)
Brooklyn Beijing, Hannah Yang (Uncanny)
Unfinished Architectures of the Human-Fae War, Caroline Yoachim (Uncanny)
The Day in Spikedluv (Sunday, Dec 21)
Dec. 22nd, 2025 06:38 amI finished the second Jack Reacher book and watched the Bills game. Another close game, but they pulled off the win! Secrets of the Zoo was my evening background tv.
Temps started out at 35.4(F). It went up about a degree, then started going back down. It hovered around the 29 degree mark most of the day. We had a lot of wind (which made it feel more like the temp was in the teens), but not as much snow as they were calling for, thankfully.
Mom Update:
Mom sounded about the same when I called her. ( more back here )
Thai BL Icons
Dec. 22nd, 2025 02:01 pm76 icons from various Thai BL dramas ( 4 minutes , Jack & Joker , KinnPorsche , Love in the air , Love mechanics , Manner of Death , Only Friends , Sotus, The Heart Killers , Triage )
Want to make art for WisCon?
Dec. 21st, 2025 11:49 pmHere is the form: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11nAnzOsm2GlY1B03mJ1hmntB-V1CYRX0/view

#WisCon #WomeninSFF #feministconvention #art #artist #submission
Exceptional Return (part 1 of 1, complete)
Dec. 21st, 2025 10:54 pmBy Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1568
[21 December 2016]
:: An hour after Summer left the diner, the teleporter returned. She couldn’t have predicted that, so everything that followed was utterly flabbergasting, in the best of ways. Part of the Polychrome Heroics universe, and written for the December of 2025 Giftmas event. This is a gift for the solstice, on the solstice. This is for all those readers who hate getting lumped in with “Well it’s almost Christmas anyway.” ::
Summer Longacre was still trying to wring the water out of her hair after her fifteen-minute shower, when the distinctive z-z-z-zziiip echoed through the front door. She peered through the peephole at the broad concrete landing where snow and ice clung to the black enameled railing made of common square stock. The winter breeze pushed through the area so fiercely that no one was allowed to leave outdoor gear next to the entryway.
She looked down, checking her long teal caftan and nodded. Someone rapped on the door just as her fingers brushed the knob, making her jump back. “Right here,” she called through the door. Her breath whistled in the back of her throat.
( Read more... )
How To Avoid The Holidays
Dec. 21st, 2025 09:02 pmSummary: Ema hasn't enjoyed Christmas in a long time. Neither has Franziska.
Fandom: Ace Attorney
Characters: Ema Skye/Franziska von Karma
Rating: T
Warnings: Angst, offscreen character death
Notes: Written for AA Holiday Rarepair Week, prompt "Traditions"!
( That’s the Skye sisters for you: they haven’t had a happy holiday since Ema was fourteen, and it doesn’t seem likely to change anytime soon. )
(no subject)
Dec. 21st, 2025 06:24 pmMe, a few hours and 3300 words later: so that was a lie
Vacation doesn't stop me from being a fanfic overachiever, I guess...
All clean for 2026; a note on Original Works
Dec. 21st, 2025 05:45 pmI'm starting to notice that some people are using this community in an attempt to find an editor for their full, original novels - works 50,000+ words or more. I worry that
After some thought, I've decided the rule is, if you are intending to publish your writing with the goal of making money, it does not belong here on
If you are publishing your work with the intent of making money, you should be paying an editor for a professional pass. This is for three reasons:
- If you are trying to make money on your work, asking someone else for free work so that you can profit is unjust and disrespectful.
- Frankly speaking, it is extremely unlikely that you are going to find any editors who are willing to edit a piece of that length for free. Even 10k can be exhausting, especially if you are expecting a professional level editing job.
- If you are publishing in a commercial capacity, then your work should get a more professional type of editing pass than what we here in this community can give for free. The amount of effort an editor is going to give a story of over 50,000 words, to a stranger, for characters they don't even know and aren't guaranteed to enjoy reading about, for free, is minimal. You and your readers deserve more than the bare minimum.
I myself have worked as a professional freelance editor for over 15 years. I made this community because I love editing and I love fandom, and I want to support both. Using this community to find free editing for commercial projects feels like you're not respecting editors and our craft. Editing, just like writing or art, is a skill that is honed through years of effort.
With that said, I am not banning original fiction, and any novel-length works posted to
Thank you for reading, and thank you for always supporting this small community. Best wishes to your writing and editing adventures in the new year.