screechfox | Network

What I’ve Just Finished Reading

I rounded out 2025 with Jacqueline Woodson’s Locomotion, the verse prequel to Peace, Locomotion. I thought Peace, Locomotion was ultimately a stronger book, but nonetheless I enjoyed spending more time with the characters.

Then I kicked off 2026 with the new Charles Lenox mystery, The Hidden City, in which Charles Lenox gently brushes against the life of the extremely poor! These books are always a good time, extremely readable, although I thought some of the backstory was unnecessarily convoluted, for reasons that I attempted to explain only for the explanation to quickly grow unwieldy. Too convoluted!

Finally - alert to my fellow Elizabeth Wein fans! She recently co-authored a book with Sherri L. Smith (of Flygirl fame), American Wings: Chicago’s Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Skies, which does what it says on the tin, plus some excursions to Ethiopia during the Italian invasion of 1936, during which time Pioneering Black Chicago Aviator John C. Robinson attempted to train an Ethiopian air force despite Ethiopia’s pitiful collection of woefully outdated aircraft. It’s not the final Lion Hunters novel but I’ll take what I can get.

What I’m Reading Now

Like Tolstoy, Solzhenitsyn starts out In the First Circle by introducing dozens of characters with about three names each, and in my confusion I was flagging a bit. But then! Then Solzhenitsyn stops dead for Stalin to recount his life story! And now Stalin is meeting with head of SMERSH Abakumov (SMERSH of course stands for “Death to Spies”) who begs Stalin to bring back the death penalty. It’s so hard to keep track of who you’ve executed when you’re not officially allowed to execute people! “You might be the first one we execute,” Stalin teases(what a wag!), and Abakumov murmurs anxiously that of course if it becomes necessary…

What I Plan to Read Next

Thanhha Lai has published a sequel to Inside Out and Back Again: When Clouds Touch Us. I couldn’t bring myself to check it out because I am generally suspicious of sequels, but I know that I won’t be able to resist for long.

bluapapilio

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Current Mood: hungry

forestofglory

2025 wasn’t my best year for writing, I was sleep deprived and not very inspired. But I did manage to write a few longer things so I thought I’d do a quick round up.

I wrote three things for

ladybusiness :
Adventures with Crossdressing Sword Girls
Domestic Labor and Community Building Rec List
Chill Chinese Reality Shows Rec List

I posted one short translation from Classical Chinese:
Magu

And I wrote an annotated bibliography for a friend:
Liao Biblography

geraineon posting in

cnovels

This is your weekly read-in-progress post~

For spoilers:

<details><summary>insert summary</summary>Your spoilers goes here</details>

<b>Highlight for spoilers!*</b><span style="background-color: #FFFFFF; color: #FFFFFF">Your spoilers goes here.</span>*

foxes_in_love_feed

https://foxes-in-love.tumblr.com/post/805086676959510528

A comic of two foxes, one of whom is blue, the other is green. In this one, Blue is sitting in deep focus with a calculator, an abacus, and several sketchbooks and papers scattered all around him.Blue: Each hot dog packet has 10 of them, and the buns come in packages of 12, so in order to-Green appears on the scene, with a bun of some sort hanging out of his mouth, peering at Blue's notebooks.Green: What are you calculating?Blue looks up to Green with an unreadable expression on his face. Green looks back to him, unsure of the situation.Blue raises an eyebrow, looking at Green with confusion.Blue: ...Are you eating a plain, dry hot dog bun?

https://foxes-in-love.tumblr.com/post/805086676959510528

scribblemoose

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scribblemoose

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rogueslayer452

++ We had rainstorms from Christmas all through New Years, which was a great present for me because, yay rain and thunder! Unfortunately, our backyard did get a little flooded because of how intense the downpour was (it cleared up within hours, don't worry) and a lot of stuff did get blown around the backyard....one item actually flew out from our backyard and across the street. So, that was fun to retrieve. With that being said, it was a pretty chill Christmas and we welcomed 2026 with minimal fireworks due to the rain.

++ There is a New Years friending meme currently up and active.

++ I will be participating in this years

snowflake_challenge, something I've enjoyed doing in previous years and last year was one that I was very active in commenting on other people's posts on various challenges which was fun. I'll be doing that again this year, I just need to find the right moment to do so because I've been kind of stressed this week alone with some personal things that I truly haven't had enough time to actually sit down and write something.

++ VERY IMPORTANT NEWS: I don't know how widespread this is at the moment, but it seems that LiveJournal is undergoing a recent change that will drastically affect all users, including Russian users.

denise has already made a post welcoming Russian users who are importing their journals from LJ to DW due to this situation, but she has also appeared in various individual places in fandom communities imploring all people who still have access to their LJ accounts (personal journals or communities) to backup/import them to DW immediately. This is quite literally an LJ Exodus 2.0, but this does seem like this could really be final for many people, especially if they're attempting to gatekeep the website from anyone who isn't Russian or complies with Russian law, which isn't surprising considering the way things have been going since the ownership change years ago but it's still devastating to witness all the same. The fact that LJ used to be incredibly lively and has, gradually overtime, turned into a virtual graveyard of what once was a rich and thriving website featuring various communities (fandom, personal, other subcultures) is heartbreaking, and to lose all of that history would be even more so.

If you still have an LJ account please back it up, and if you know someone who does still have access to their account(s) also please notify them of this so they can also back up their information while they still can. Either importing to DW, saving and transporting fanfic to AO3, using the Wayback Machine, whatever possibility is available to preserve LJ/fandom history.

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: XLOV - 1&Only

delphi

The actual-play audio drama podcast

worldsbeyondnumber just started a short science fiction campaign, Flight of the Icaron, and the first episode knocked it out of the park.

Official Summary:

This is the maiden voyage of the Icaron - Earth’s first S-Class Battle Station. This demonstration flight has been certified as routine by all relevant oversight bodies. Systems have been tested, personnel vetted, and contingencies reviewed. Passengers are reminded that the Icaron represents the highest standard of planetary defense engineering.

Please remain seated.

We have Aabria Iyengar as space mining mogul Kiki Davis, Brennan Lee Mulligan as engineer and father Andrei Dalca, and Erika Ishii as troubled young tragedy survivor Vera "Fishcakes" Lam—with Lou Wilson as GM, bringing some top-notch narration and NPC work that immediately has this feeling like a fully fledged universe full of characters with long histories and established relationships. There's a weight and rootedness to the worldbuilding and plot, but there's also still plenty of humour, especially in a recurring bit about trying to heist the good herbed Cheddar from a boring government party. I'm hooked, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!

Watch on YouTube

mistressofmuses

I am very pleased with how well I did in terms of reading last year. 68 books is more than I’ve probably read in the last five years combined, at least. (I would say last ten years, but maybe that’s an exaggeration. Or maybe it’s not. 2024 I was pretty ecstatic when I barely managed 20 books, and the years before that I feel like were closer to 10 each year. Maybe fewer than that.) Regardless, 68 is definitely a high point.

So now it’s time to sort out the reading goals for this year.

I’ve already talked about some of them (maybe too much!)

I’ve also talked a lot about the constant source of dismay that is my TBR list. That… has only grown, haha. (Both the list and the sense of dismay!) Now that I’ve been reading, I suddenly keep hearing more about other books; I see recommendations based on things I’ve read, or find more books by authors I like, or I give in to the desire to browse a bit and find a dozen things… I’ve also started actually adding things to my TBR list when my friends mention something they like, instead of just saying it sounds good and then pretending that my brain will retain that information, haha.

Figuring out how to read ebooks has certainly been a double-edged sword. I used to easily be able to completely ignore ebook sales! Now when something comes up for $1.99 or $2.99 and I know it’s something I’ve heard good things about, or thought about maybe wanting to read someday, it’s really difficult to resist grabbing it for later! (I often do not resist.) So that has certainly added pretty exponentially to the list. Like, really exponentially. I’ve gotta rein it in, because a couple bucks each still adds up to $$$ eventually.

My list last year was, I think, around 200 or so, once I factored in some most-of-a-bibliography bundles I had. Now that I’ve read 68 books, that list has shrunk down to… 321. :|
(To be fair, that includes some things that are on my wishlist or that aren’t out yet, so that I do not currently have available to me, but even so; those are things I plan to someday read. It does also include some rereads.)

Buuuut, because I figured I should have an accurate picture of things, I decided to also finally count up the indie and other miscellaneous ebooks that I have saved. (Lots of romance/erotica stuff from “stuff your kindle” events and such, some indie books that I bought to support an author I’d talked to/liked reading posts from/etc., the free “first reads” book per month that Amazon lets you pick, etc. ) I have resisted counting those up for years, now. Once I factor in all of those… the total list is at 509 books, and I want to cry a little bit.

Even at last year’s pace that I am very proud of, this is between five and ten years of reading, and I KNOW I will keep adding to the TBR at a pace that outstrips the actual reading that I’m capable of.

Welp. The only way out is through, and all that.

I remind myself again of what I settled on last year: it is a wonderful thing to have so many books that I want to read ahead of me. It is fine for it to be a list I may never reach the end of, because I would certainly never want to run out of things to read. How lucky to have these things available to me!

So what are my reading goals for 2026?

My goals!

The top-level one: read at least 50 books.

(Obviously, I’d like to read more than that, but 68 was a big stretch for me, while 50 is close to a book per week, which feels doable, but still an effort.)

Secondary goal: read more of the genre classics, specifically starting with Tolkien, Le Guin, and Pratchett.

This is one that I’ve talked about before, when I was talking about avoidance and feelings of shame. There are several classics of the fantasy and sci-fi genres that I haven’t read, or didn’t read when I was in a place to appreciate them. The biggest one is Tolkien. Two of the other authors on that list (who I happen to have humble bundles of books by), are Ursula K Le Guin, and Terry Pratchett. They’re authors I want to read, but because I’ve gone so long without doing so, I feel guilty, and then continue to avoid them because I feel bad. Which is, objectively, stupid haha. So this year, I want to at least start reading some of their work.

Additional secondary goal: reread The Murderbot Diaries in preparation for the new one coming out this year.

I love The Murderbot Diaries, and have wanted to reread them anyway. I’m excited we get another book this year, and so want to reread the series.

Less related to the reading itself, but a parallel goal: make sure I’m being consistent with how I rate books. (I’m planning on using that chart I posted a while back as a starting point, weighing the good parts against the less-good parts.) It feels a little wrong that most of what I read gets a 4, when theoretically 3s should be the most common rating. But I do try to curate my list based on what I expect to enjoy, so perhaps it’s not that surprising that I like more than I don’t. But I also should get over feeling like a 3 is “mean” or a bad rating. It’s just in the middle!

Also setting a few extra “stretch goals”:

- Read the 2025 Pride storybundle of ebooks (14 queer-themed ebooks)
- Read 75 books for the year
- Start incorporating some anthologies of short stories into my reading rotation

Some broader goals, which may or may not fully happen this year:

- Read a little more widely in terms of genre/subgenre/within my genres. I’m not sure I’ll branch out super far; I like my fantasy/sci-fi/horror/romance fiction, and I am perfectly fine sticking primarily to my genres of choice. However, a lot of my TBR is pretty strongly curated; it’s by authors I already know I like, or works that I feel fairly confident that I will enjoy. Yet one of the things I was happiest about with my 2025 reads was reading that horror bundle, including books I probably wouldn’t have picked up on their own. While I didn’t love everything in there, it let me discover some books I really did love and some authors I hope to read more of. So… especially when I give in to those $1.99 ebook sales, or when I get to pick a freebie at the beginning of the month, I want to pick some things that might be a bit to the side of what I’d usually read.

- Sort of related: some of the books now on the list are ones that I’ve heard very mixed things about, but that were pretty buzzy. I don’t want to hate-read, or buy books I know I’m not likely to enjoy, ~~fucking Fourth Wing, or fucking pull-to-publish HP fic~~, but there are some that have had surges of popularity and acclaim, and then backlash to the popularity, and that I’ve just never read. A few have come up in the aforementioned cheap sales, and so I’ve gone ahead and added them to my list, even though I don’t know if I’ll enjoy them. This could make for pleasant surprises, or perhaps they’ll balance out all those 4+ star ratings, haha.

(Unfortunate side note to the above: because I just keep adding my new acquisitions to the end of the list, those buzzy reads and such are really… not likely to be terribly relevant anymore by the time I reach them. I may have to figure out a way to rebalance the list a bit, so I can read things when they’re still being talked about, rather than five+ years after the fact. (Not that books become IRRELEVANT after release, and thinking they do is terrible! A good book can matter forever!) But in terms of like… discussion around a book, or seeing how people feel about it, sometimes it’s nice to not be years late to the party, y’know?)

- Allow myself to be a DNFer. I DNFed one book in 2025, and still feel very vaguely guilty about it. But with creeping-up-near-500 books waiting for me, I really don’t want to spend time on things I’m not enjoying or getting anything out of. I don’t intend to DNF just anything that I’m not loving (though maybe I should, considering the length of the list.) I can see value in reading things I don’t like, too. Sometimes it helps me figure out what specifically I don’t care for, which can help me identify why I enjoy the things I do. Sometimes it helps me clarify things for my own writing that I may want to keep in mind. So… I’m okay with reading things I don’t like, but if I’m having to force myself to keep reading, or it feels like it’s turning into a chore, then I’d rather DNF than kill my momentum for reading entirely.

So what is my plan for tackling the list in 2026?

My plans!

My plan for the year is similar to what I did in 2025. I plan to alternate between different “types” of book. I want to alternate between some of those classics I’m planning to read, those pride ebooks, and other books from the TBR list. (And the TBR list is a set list, that I have already picked an order for. This saves me from decision paralysis, haha. It also means that hopefully nothing just gets pushed perpetually to the bottom of the list.)

As before, I plan to have ebook side-reads. Now that I’ve actually counted them up, hoo boy, there are a bunch. (Though I actually have almost as many of miscellaneous genres as I do the romance/erotica ones that I thought dominated the list. Those do have the highest numbers, but not by the margin I expected.) Rather than picking quite at random, I’m also planning to alternate these; random genre ones alternating with the romance or erotica ones alternating with short story anthologies.

Another thing I’m doing for myself as a sort of incentive: when I do reach the end of a “group” of things I have as a goal (so… when I finish Lord of the Rings, or finish UKLG’s Earthsea books, or finish the Murderbot reread, etc.), then I get to pick something from anywhere on the TBR list. That way I can pick something I’m excited for, or that might be a newer acquisition, without throwing off the whole plan, haha.

I do also have seven 2026 releases (all continuations of existing series) that I’m looking forward to, and that will have permission to jump the line as soon as they come out:
Through Gates of Garnet and Gold by Seanan McGuire; the next Wayward Children book - January 06 This came out today!
Butterfly Effects by Seanan McGuire; the next Incryptid book - March 10
Platform Decay by Martha Wells; the next Murderbot book - May 05
Inkpot Gods by Seanan McGuire; the next Alchemical Journeys book - June 09
A Divided Duty by Seanan McGuire; the next October Daye book - September 29
Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo; the next Alex Stern book - September
Abdication by Jeff VanderMeer; the next Southern Reach book - October (rumored)

The initial tentative TBR:
- ~~finish Manhunt (the final Nightfire humble bundle horror ebook)~~ Done!
- Through Gates of Garnet and Gold (released today, and jumping the line!)
- Ninth House (has been on the TBR basically since it came out, keeps getting pushed back)
- What Feasts at Night (Christmas gift; sequel to What Moves the Dead)
- We’re Here: Queer Speculative Fiction Anthology 2023 (Pride storybundle ebook)
- Hell Bent (Christmas gift; sequel to Ninth House)
- What Stalks the Deep (Christmas gift; sequel to What Feasts at Night)
- Point of Dreams (Pride storybundle ebook)
- The Hobbit (Tolkien!)
- The Map and the Territory (Pride storybundle ebook)
- The Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien!)
- These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart (Pride storybundle ebook)
- The Two Towers (Tolkien!)
- Be the Sea (Pride storybundle ebook)
- Return of the King (Tolkien!)

Starting off with a couple that I just wanted to get to: the first two Alex Stern novels, and the next two Sworn Soldier novellas. Also starting to work in the queer ebooks, and then Tolkien.

That should get me through the first two or three months of the year! (I’d like that to be the first two months; I am guessing it may be closer to three or even four, since some will certainly not be quick reads.)

We’ll see how it goes from there!

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Location: my apartment

sixbeforelunch

Snowflake Challenge: A warmly light quaint street of shops at night with heavy snow falling.

Challenge #2: Pets of Fandom

I originally wasn't going to do this one because it got me thinking about Phoebe and I was sad, but then I decided I wanted to talk a little about Phoebe and let myself be sad.

( CN: Pet death )

Current Mood: melancholy

rhodochrosite

compilation of narrative parallels between jannik sinner & oscar piastri. quotes pulled from changeover - giri nathan & oscar piastri: the rookie - andrew van leeuwen.

also re/reading these books side by side was seriously hydrogen bomb vs coughing baby mr nathan are you interested in motorsports...

( my crossover machineshipping... )

senmut

AO3 Link | In the Demon's Claws (2219 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Drizzt Do'Urden & Vierna Do'Urden
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden
Additional Tags: Ensemble Cast, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Typical Violence, Resurrection
Summary:

Things in the Hall went slightly different, but still Drizzt chooses the road, and learns of one more quest.

In the Demon's Claws

Drizzt Do'Urden gazed out over the lands, thinking about everything endured. If Regis had not escaped sooner — no, it didn't bear thinking about. What he knew had let them disarm the trap, though not without personal cost for Drizzt himself. He had caused his father's death, brought about the deaths of his House from afar, and now… personally slain his sister, both by dam and sire.

His only consolation had been seeing her less a zealot, more sane in her eyes even, as the light faded, letting him cast true blame upon Lloth once more. It had been Catti-brie who supposed the entire raid had been concocted as but one thread of a web, given how near it had been to losing Wulfgar to the yochlol, how strange that they had chosen to come for Drizzt inside the dwarven stronghold rather than upon the road some night when he would be alone.

Bruenor had thundered, and Wulfgar had pledged support, with Regis managing advice based on his studying Artemis Entreri while the human consorted with drow. Aid had come from the region, and it would be a long time before Menzoberranzan could stir from its cesspool of hate and anger.

Catti and Wulfgar needed to work upon their relationship. Regis still had much recovery to make from his ordeal. Bruenor had a much expanded clan to lead to prominence.

Drizzt?

He looked back to the road for salvation from that which ate at his soul. A passing remark from one of the Harpells had reminded him of unfinished business concerning a crystal… and a demon that had been defeated once.

There had never been any chance of an ending that led anywhere but to the Demonweb Pits, Vierna had known. Either she would arrive in favor, and become one of Lloth's own servitors in some form —

— or she would arrive in full disfavor to be tortured.

She had learned three things as she endured the torture, and then the bartering deal with the balor.

Her father was not in the Demonweb Pits. This had been clear while she was still tortured under the servants of Lolth. He would have been an instrument in those tortures, as she had, again, fallen into that strange emotion surrounding Zaknafein, on seeing how true to himself her brother had remained.

There was the fact that Lloth had never been worth her devotion. This point — she'd had sight of it in the fall of her House — had clarified when the religious madness fell from her eyes even as her brother was lowering her body to the floor. If she had only managed to learn it earlier, and used her power to protect the two males she'd felt strong emotions over!

And, somehow, this balor intended to use her against her brother. Errtu could not keep himself from alternately salivating over his plans against Drizzt Do'Urden or raging in a froth of madness over what the impertinent drow had done to him.

She would just have to help her brother beat the demon at his own game. Vierna was looking forward to his death at Drizzt's hands.

Drizzt's concerns about the demon had proven too correct. He finished cleaning Icingdeath, his mind turning over the words spit at him by the fiend before its death. The gloating, brash taunts of what Errtu meant to do with him — after Errtu finished rending the soul of one that Drizzt cared for — had been too in line with what he knew of the balors. They were incapable of getting over a defeat that had been meted out to them.

Only? Errtu had an advantage over him. The only person's soul that could possibly be at risk to the demon was his own father. Drizzt would no more leave the soul in peril than he ever would have risked the man in life, had he but been a little wiser.

He didn't dare not follow up on this, no matter the source. Since Drizzt had left Mithral Hall, burdened by the suffering, deaths, and his own actions, he'd been seeking a purpose. He would recover the damnable crystal, and trek to a land known to hold the knowledge of the ages. Surely he could learn what was needed to save his father and destroy both threats if he but tried hard enough.

With resolve etched in every line of his body and soul, Drizzt plunged into the frozen north once more, intent on his goals.

The Crystal Shard couldn't be tricked by Drizzt. Nor could it offer him what he wanted, not in a way that ever tempted the drow. The psychic effect of merely carrying it in a quiescent state was enough to make Drizzt constantly question his own mind as he traveled. Guen, on her visits to the Material Plane, also kept a watchful eye on him.

It was a necessary evil, bait for the demon that was seeking vengeance. After the not-so-minor trouble of getting back to it, finding it, Drizzt was just as relieved to find his next destination after a stop in Longsaddle. He'd kept the artifact's presence carefully hidden, indulged Harpell curiosity as some were in residence now that he had not met before.

"If you're dead set against leaning into the alliances you've made in Silverymoon," Bella began, the brighter eye rolling with what she thought of that and the dull one fixed on him, "you need to head for Tethyr, a small kingdom down there with a cathedral being built.

"The priest of Deneir, Chosen they say, will point you to the knowledge you need to deal with this demon you need to be rid of."

"It seems I should see if Captain Deudermont will aid me in my journeys, then," Drizzt said, not keen on going so far south once again, but he was no priest nor wizard, to be able to banish the demon for good… and with luck, this cleric might well know how to rid the realms of the Crystal Shard.

With the right tools, Drizzt Do'Urden would be willing to wager against the evil ones, and try to reclaim his father's soul from the Abyss.

"You could become a cleric of sufficient rank in the decades you have left. Or a wizard of strength," Cadderly mused at Drizzt, even as the wizened Chosen walked beside Drizzt in the garden, aware that Pikel and Ivan both were still keeping an eye on the solitary drow.

"They say time stretches in the Abyss, and I feel that taking the time to do so would further torment the one I seek to rescue. Likewise, I will make no bargain with a Power to become a warlock."

Cadderly looked at Drizzt then, leaning on his staff as they paused. "And yet you refuse your goddess Her offer?"

Drizzt flushed, looking down, and Cadderly knew the ranger had not expected that to be known. When he looked up, it was with an expression of sadness. "She has been good to me, and I will serve Her so long as She walks the path I view as right.

"But I do not trust myself with a spark of who She is."

"Which is of course why She would most want it to be you, for that very distrust, but. You have closed that door — for now — and having a pressing need to save one you care for. The vile artifact's destruction is what you seek, but not before you are able to barter with and defeat the balor.

"A complicated task you have set yourself, but I will set people to the research of it."

"Thank you; it is all I can ask."

Vierna felt something change in her captor. He was eager, close to success of some kind? She felt weaker than she had even in the moments after Lloth forsook the House. How could she aid her brother like this?

When the demon back-handed her for daring to spit in his direction, she lolled in her bonds, feigning unconsciousness and made the choice to reach out to a different power. Never again would she submit to the divine… but bargain with one? That she could — and would! — manage.

~Vhaeraun son of Araushnee and Corellon, god of drow,~ she prayed, all of her singular focus on inviting the Named One to take notice of her. Even now, out of favor and having renounced her former goddess, the names burned in her mind, invoking pain.

Pain that she further used to fuel her call to the one that could make her plans work — she would not fail! Her brother, the boy she had taught and raised, needed her, and this time, she was embracing that.

Little did she know that her very need to aid a male sibling was the right spark to bring the god's attention to her.

"As long as your darkness holds," Danica coached, "the thing will be destroyed."

Drizzt looked past her to the rather unassuming man with them, very little giving away his draconic nature.

"And Icingdeath will guard me from the flames," he reminded himself.

"Yes, a superb frostbrand," Vaeros said, having inspected the magic on the blade to be certain.

"The breach of magic has made it possible for the balor to come to a simple summoning," Drizzt recited. "I will offer the artifact, and then we will be 'attacked', at which point the crystal will burn while I hold darkness — and evade the enraged demon while protecting my father."

"Presuming that the captive is brought, and that it is your father," Danica agreed. "Should be simple for the drow that decimated Menzoberranzan's might."

Drizzt stared at her, then saw the twitch of her lips, and gave into the laughter at that outrageous elaboration of his part in the war of Mithral Hall.

"We will do this, Ranger, on our shared love of the Wilds," Vaeros said, once the laughter had worn off, with the effect of living Drizzt lighter in spirit.

"So we shall."

It was not Zaknafein.

That small fact half-broke Drizzt's willpower at first. He wanted to angrily decry that he didn't care about Vierna.

His heart knew that for a lie.

She looked mangled in the grasp of the demon, and trickles of blood had formed where the clawed hand pierced flesh.

She was conscious, and her eyes locked on his.

Distantly, he could remember the plan even as the sealed case with Crenshinibon hung from an outstretched hand, the demon gloating within the summoning circle.

His mind toured over early, harsh lessons. He recalled the gentle touches that had been rare and treasured. He remembered that someone had to have told Zaknafein of his speed and skill with both hands. He recalled the look of sanity in her eyes, at the end of her life, blood spilling from a wound he'd made in her.

Something in her eyes told him she trusted him, and that she was ready for whatever came next.

"Let her go, and you can have what you want."

"You think I am unaware of the treachery lurking in your soul, drow?" Errtu demanded, hand closing more —

— and Vierna uttered a quick phrase in formal drow, one that called upon Vhaeraun, god of the male drow. The next moment, she was small, transformed into a bat that eluded the demon's grasp, fluttering valiantly into the hood of the cloak Drizzt wore.

He prayed that was enough to protect her, as he gave himself over to the Hunter, Icingdeath more than eager to drink the blood of this balor once more. Errtu had no chance to evade, or even dispel the darkness, as Drizzt furiously fought for his life, the crystal's end, and for the daughter of his father.

Vierna awakened at the feeling of healing being pushed into her, the kind that traced fire in her veins, counter to her very nature but helping abate the last tortures' marks upon her.

She found herself looking into the purple eyes that had entranced her since his birth.

"We're in a small cave. I didn't want to impose on my allies," he told her softly. "You turned back to drow after the fight ended."

"I did not ask for it to be a permanent change," Vierna said, but she reached for his hand on her shoulder. "You can heal?"

"If my patron agrees, yes," he said, taking her hand and shifting so he could sit more comfortably and hold it. "Vhaeraun?"

"I promised Him I would become a potent cleric for Him, if He let me aid my troublesome little brother against the balor."

Her smile on those words provoked one from him.

"I thought it was my — our father."

"And yet, you still pushed through with the plan you had made." She squeezed his hand. "We will have peace, Drizzt. I swear it on my continued life."

He contemplated her words a long moment, then laid down on the bedroll, sliding an arm under her neck, tucking close to give her the warmth he had.

"Good. There's been enough strife for us both, I think."

She closed her eyes, shifting a little to be comfortable, and decided that he was still strange to her.

But she had become something different and wanted to embrace the strangeness with him.

musesfool

Back at work, but thankfully 1. I don't have to commute, and 2. we are having no-meeting week, so I can just cross one major task off my list every day without adding new things like meeting notes or whatever.

I think the thing I've enjoyed most about the ancillary explosion of joy around Heated Rivalry is the two hockey podcasts that engaged fully and open-heartedly with it (well, and the proliferation of "Ilya gets added to the WAG chat" fic). Normally hockey podcast bros are not a species I have time for (aside from not being good at podcasts or audiobooks in general), but the Empty Netters dudes were super adorable in their reviews, and they also interviewed Ksenia Daniela with great excitement and are scheduled to have Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie on soon.

I also enjoyed What Chaos's less in-depth but still positive look at the show, and they have a couple of interviews with Jacob Tierney available that I haven't watched yet. I was also very pleased when, during a discussion about Shane's ginger ale habit, one of the dudes started talking about a restaurant(?) that lets you choose ginger ale or 7Up for your Shirley Temples, and I was like, "gotta go with ginger ale on that" and then the guy was like, "and the ones with ginger ale are great!" Because that is the legit truth, my friends. I'm not saying I won't drink a Shirley Temple with 7UP, but I am saying that the ones with ginger ale are 1. how we made them when I was a kid, and 2. better. I was reminded of how we ordered one every night at the free cocktail hour on that cruise we went on back in 2015, which definitely made an impression on the staff. *g* (Princess Donut also approves.)

So I feel like those were a great extender of joy, if you are in need. It's really lovely to see some cishet hockey dudes becoming fans of m/m romance.

In other fannish news, I just read that Sebastian Stan may be in Matt Reeve's The Batman, Part 2 and I don't want to get my hopes up or get fixated on a specific part for him to play, but like, wouldn't he be a fantastic Harvey Dent/Two-Face??? GIVE IT TO ME.

Scarlett Johansson has also been rumored to be involved somehow, and she'd have to be like, Poison Ivy, right? Though maybe they're going with more of a Mask of the Phantasm type thing and she'll be Andrea Beaumont? But I am not sure I buy Battinson as having a girlfriend before Selina, and also, why would you try to compete with Mask of the Phantasm? It's so good, you're just setting yourself up for not measuring up. (I guess she could be Talia, but I hope not.)

I guess we'll see what materializes! I'm kind of sad that they are not in continuity with James Gunn's Superman, because that would be fun to see.

*

Current Mood: hungry
Current Music: Hey Jack Kerouac - 10000 Maniacs

doranwen posting in

holiday_wishes

*sheepish look* 2026 has been here for nearly a week. (I have some good excuses for not posting at the time, but they're a bit long to explain here.) My sincerest apologies for the delay in getting this post out!

It is most definitely the end of wishlist posting time.

I want to encourage everyone to continue to fulfill wishes as they are inspired/able. The AO3 collection is always open for fanworks created to fulfill wishes.

If you requested people contact you regarding items being shipped, etc., please make sure to check your PMs and/or email so you don't miss any messages.

I know that everyone has been replying with thanks to comments fulfilling wishes, and appreciate that! (If you forgot, now is a good time to reply with your thanks.) If you received an anonymous gift during this wishlist season, you're welcome to leave a comment on this post to thank the gifter.

Thank you all for participating and fulfilling wishes, and best wishes for everyone in this new year!

I've enjoyed running this community for the 2025 season, and hope to see all of you again in November.

- Your mod, doranwen

bluapapilio

Used my manga TBR boardgame.

I finished 10/10 on my last board! I even read them all in order! It was a mix of 'great' and 'okay'.

Avatar:

Tanjirou (Kimetsu no Yaiba)
Skill: Move 2 extra tiles 1 time (trap tile if roll Even)

Roll #1:

An 8 and the generate from TBR tile oh boy trap tile would've been better. #1349. Okay that wasn't too bad actually, removed one manga and 1349 is a BL oneshot, Peeping Tom .

Roll #2:

A 7, prompt: amnesia. BL Ake Nure Goyou ni Furu Yuki wa.

Roll #3:

A 9, prompt: award-winning work. Too many good options! But I do want to get ahead more in Dr. Stone before the next anime season!.

Roll #4:

An 11, prompt: featuring a group of friends. Okay...I haven't read this one in too long but I'm gonna read more Mairimashita! Iruma-kun.

Roll #5:

A 12. I had really high roles this challenge, dang! The physical manga reread this time is Lover's→Flat.

~Manga TBR List~

[BL/Smut] Peeping Tom ✔️
[BL/Romance] Ake Nure Goyou ni Furu Yuki wa ✔️
[Sci-Fi/Adventure] Dr. Stone ✔️
[School Life/Fantasy] Mairimashita! Iruma-kun
[BL/Romance Lover's→Flat

x josei, x2 shounen, seinen, x3 BL

Current Mood: uncomfortable

abyssal_sylph

An anwser to one of our friend's question about (our) plurality. Note that this is just our expierance with it, others may have diffrent expierances &/or exprianced them diffrent.

{reblogable in Tumblr from here on our plurality blog

abyss-in-cahoots}

So we were intressted in plurality from a young age. We didn't know the words for it, let alone that it was that which we were intressted in. But ever since we knew of Jekyll & Hyde stories, we were intressted in "what if they were more morally complex?". Yes this often ended up looking like making Jekyll the bad guy while Hyde was good. But often as well were stories we made where they were both hurting, both needing of help and acceptance.

There were stories which didn't intend to portray plurality, even outright said it wasn't about it. But in a world where multiple people in the same body is usually treated like a horror story; stories like Sanders Sides & Inside Out, where such a thing was treated neutrally if not positively? They felt like a breath of fresh air we didn't understand we needed.

Though we only discovered that we were a system properly after we became adults. There was a server were we where, for the first time in our lives, knowlingly interacted with a system. It made us realize that plurality could be, real, happening to people who did jobs and school and had friends and things they enjoyed.

Yes we knew of D.I.D. before-hand, but it felt far away, only a thing that distressed, discribed in ways that could NEVER apply to us. But here they were, plural system after plural system (cause we've found out that like queers, plural systems draw eachother out), whom just, existed, who could feel more then suffering, who lived.

When some of our headmates interalized this, they demanded to be known.

Now, this distressted the then host Henry a lot. Mostly because he didn't want to fakeclaim. But also because he was afraid of being crazy, of being incapable of knowing what was happening in his head. But as we realized across our time accepting ourselves: to seek out help is to self-diagnose in the first place. That people will find reasoning after reasoning to be cruel regardless. We needed to be reconized as ourselves to some degree, cause it was hurting us to deny it.

bluapapilio

For my manga TBR list:

Read the BL Boku no Koe, rated it 6/10.

I (re)read the first 8 episodes of Men of the Harem and had fun!

Read the BL The Correlation Between Love and Heat, rated it a 7.

I read the BL Hana wa Saku ka and rated it 8/10.

Read Daydream ★ Nightmare, rated it 3.25/5.

(Re)read ch. 90 (vol. 12) of Mob Psycho 100!!

Read the BL 2-Week Summer Secret, rated it 6.5/10.

Read ch. 8-14 of Twisted Wonderland, will post later!

Read ch, 5 of Enidewi!.

(Re(read Living For Tomorrow, 8/10 -> 6.8/10.

Current Mood: busy

shadowhive

So I was gonna try and do this yesterday but lost focus (same with comments) oop.

So this is the post about the Stranger Things finale (I had meant to do icons today but alas didn’t have the focus + headache).

( Read more... )

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: Tv

bluapapilio

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: irritated

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Page Summary

osprey_archer - Wednesday Reading Meme
bluapapilio - 🌈BL Manga Check-in: "Peeping Tom"
forestofglory - 2025 in Review: Writing!
geraineon in cnovels - Read-in-Progress
foxes_in_love_feed - (no subject)
scribblemoose - Snowflake Challenge 2026: Challenge 3
scribblemoose - Snowflake Challenge 2026: Days 1 and 2
rogueslayer452 - Welcome 2026, let us preserve fandom history.
delphi - What's Making Me Happy Today: Flight of the Icaron
mistressofmuses - Reading goals for 2026:
sixbeforelunch - snowflake day 2: pets
rhodochrosite - when you're in a relentless rise to the top of the world competition and your opponent is
senmut - Fic: In the Demon's Claws
musesfool - her little boy lost in our little world that hated
doranwen in holiday_wishes - (A Very Belated) End of Holiday Wishes 2025
bluapapilio - January Manga TBR
abyssal_sylph - Plurality Stuff: "How Did You Know?"
bluapapilio - December+ Manga Wrap-Up 3
shadowhive - Last stramge adventure
bluapapilio - 🌈BL Manga Check-in: "Living for Tomorrow"

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starlings overhead

Network

Wednesday Reading Meme

🌈BL Manga Check-in: "Peeping Tom"

2025 in Review: Writing!

Read-in-Progress

(no subject)

Snowflake Challenge 2026: Challenge 3

Snowflake Challenge 2026: Days 1 and 2

Welcome 2026, let us preserve fandom history.

What's Making Me Happy Today: Flight of the Icaron

Reading goals for 2026:

snowflake day 2: pets

when you're in a relentless rise to the top of the world competition and your opponent is

Fic: In the Demon's Claws

her little boy lost in our little world that hated

(A Very Belated) End of Holiday Wishes 2025

January Manga TBR

Plurality Stuff: "How Did You Know?"

December+ Manga Wrap-Up 3

Last stramge adventure

🌈BL Manga Check-in: "Living for Tomorrow"

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