Yuletide recs, part III
but first they must catch you, The Long Walk (2025), Stebbins & Garraty & McVries, 8k. The last three are rescued from the long walk and start trying to build a new life on a decrepit farm in Vermont. This is so lovely and aching and hopeful, full of small moments of Stebbins continuing to live that slowly grow into a life over the course of a fic, or at least the beginning of one.
Disspelled, Carrie - Stephen King, Sue Snell & Carrie White, 1.4k. Sue Snell is writing a history report on the Salem Witch Trials. A really intriguing little canon divergence fic about Sue cottoning on to some things about Carrie just a little bit earlier.
homophrosyne, The Odyssey, Penelope gen, drabble series. This is absolutely gorgeous, and every drabble here is a gem. Just spectacular.
cut it out and then restart, Hockey RPF, Carter/Richards, 4k. Finally, after hockey is over for both of them, they can begin. This ship is a real blast from the hockey past, and this is an achingly beautiful look at them, finally touching each other as they've wanted for twenty years.
vanishing point, Crash (1996), Catherine/James/Vaughan, 2.3k. All their interactions hinge around the moment of future collision. I am in awe of how well the author captures the feverish sensuality of the movie, lingering on all these physical details that somehow become erotic in combination and through the framing.
Hypnos on the Primrose Isle, 19th C Poets RPH, Keats/Shelley, 6k. John Keats seeks solitude on the Isle of Wight to work on Endymion... but neither his work, nor his sleep, will be as solitary as he expects. I enjoyed the overall poetic perspective here from both of them and how they are both so attuned to beauty and romantic framings of their experiences and surroundings. Poor peevish beleaguered Keats, who in the end so enjoys being courted and seduced. :')
burned in kind , True Detective, Marty/Rust, 13k. Post-canon, post-recovery, Marty comes to Rust for help with a case of group suicide, and it might not even just be because he wants to keep an eye on Rust. I always love a casefic that acts as character development for the characters as well, and some kind of creepy entity that lures people to suicide is both right in line with the series' ambiguously-supernatural darkness and laser-pointed at Rust's issues in particular. Great voices all around and a great character arc.
all men will be sailors then, Jaws, Martin/Matt, 4k. Martin survived. Now there was just the matter of learning how to live with it. I always love some good post-horror trauma, and this was a great look at Martin trying to find his way to some kind of normal, making the best out of some bad options. His hookup with Matt feels exactly right, and all their interactions are great.
of wild honey, The Blue Castle, Barney/Valancy, 8k. Five times Valancy Stirling surprises Barney Snaith. In which we get to relive some of the key moments of the book from Barney's point of view, beautifully told, with a lot of lovely lines and bits of insight.
Привет! LiveJournal imports may be slow
Привет and welcome to our new Russian friends from LiveJournal! We are happy to offer you a new home. We will not require identification for you to post or comment. We also do not cooperate with Russian government requests for any information about your account unless they go through a United States court first. (And it hasn't happened in 16 years!)
Importing your journal from ЖЖ may be slow. There are a lot of you, with many posts and comments, and we have to limit how fast we download your information from ЖЖ so they don't block us. Please be patient! We have been watching and fixing errors, and we will go back to doing that after the holiday is over.
I am very sorry that we can't translate the site into Russian or offer support in Russian. We are a much, much smaller company than LiveJournal is, and my high school Russian classes were a very long time ago :) But at least we aren't owned by Sberbank!
С Новым Годом, and welcome home!
EDIT: Большое спасибо всем за помощь друг другу в комментариях! Я ценю каждого, кто предоставляет нашим новым соседям информацию, понятную им без необходимости искать её в Google. :) И спасибо вам за терпение к моему русскому переводу с помощью Google Translate! Прошло уже много-много лет со школьных времен!
Thank you also to everyone who's been giving our new neighbors a warm welcome. I love you all ❤️
i haven't met a locked door yet that i couldn't beat
* 5 Batfamily
* 2 Dungeon Crawler Carl
* 2 The Pitt
* 2 Star Wars
* 1 Slow Horses/Rivers of London crossover and 1 Ted Lasso vid
I haven't read much of anything from
I didn't do much fannishly this year - the recs continue, and I still reblog a metric fuckton of stuff on tumblr, but my brain hasn't sparked to write again, though I think it might be inching closer, thanks to, of all things, Dungeon Crawler Carl. I also loved loved loved The Pitt and am so excited season 2 is coming so soon!
Now, I've got a new episode of Percy Jackson and the series finale of Stranger Things to watch, and then I have to wash my hair.
I hope everyone is celebrating New Year's Eve in their chosen fashion. <333
*
- currently reading,
- currently watching,
- japanese bl,
- media update,
- show:burnout syndrome,
- show:clairebell,
- show:dare you to death,
- show:goddess bless you from death,
- show:heated rivalry,
- show:interminable,
- show:kinnporsche,
- show:me and thee,
- show:me and who,
- show:mystique in the mirror,
- show:runaway,
- show:school trip joined a group i'm not,
- show:thundercloud rainstorm,
- thai bl,
- thai gl
Media update 31122025
This sure has been… a year… and I don’t want a repeat. Not that it’s possible, but you know what I mean. Here’s to better things in 2026: fewer shitty non-curses, fewer mental breakdowns, less poverty, more joy.
I can say that besides my kid’s existence and needs (and not wanting to traumatize him further), this ridiculous endeavor of mine to watch as many BL dramas as possible is one of the things that has kept me alive this year. And for that… I don’t know if I should say I’m grateful, but here I am… for better or worse.
I want to apologize for being a dark presence instead of a ray of sunshine or hope. I’m really sorry if I made you feel down or sad at any point this year with my stories or whatever. I’m only human, and sometimes I need to let things out or I’m at risk of exploding, iykwim.
Anywaaaaaaaay, the update:
Finished watching
Dramas
- Me and Who (Thai BL) – 10 episodes
- Mystique in the Mirror (Thai BL) – 8 episodes
- ClaireBell (Thai GL) – 8 episodes
- Thundercloud Rainstorm (Korean BL) – 8 episodes
- Heated Rivalry (Canadian mini series) – 6 episodes
- School Trip: Joined a Group I’m Not Close to (Japanese BL) – 10 episodes
- Love Sea: The Home for Lovers (Japanese BL) – 12 episodes
- 10Dance (Japanese film)
- Dangerous Drugs of Sex (Japanese film)
Currently writing
- Khemjira Fic - 5795 words (Whaaaaaat???!!!)
- Secret omegaverse story - 1578
Currently reading
- SVSSS Vol. 4 - Chapter 26
- Counterattack - Chapter 198
- Panguan - Chapter 40
Currently watching
Dramas
- Goddess Bless You From Death (Thai BL) – Fridays – 9/13 episodes
- Interminable (Thai BL) – Fridays – 8/11 episodes
- Me and Thee (Thai BL) – Saturdays – 7/10 episodes
- Burnout Syndrome (Thai BL) – Wednesdays – 5/10 episodes
- KinnPorsche (Thai BL) – No Schedule – 3/14 episodes
- Dare You To Death (Thai BL) – Thursdays – 2/10 episodes
- Runaway (Thai GL) – No schedule – 2/8 episodes
Documentary
- Debo, puedo y quiero: Juan Gabriel (Mexican documentary) – No Schedule – 3/4 episodes
Anime
- Sanrio Danshi – No schedule – 8/12 episodes
Reality show
- DMD Friendship Reality, the Third Chapter – No schedule – 2/10 episodes
On hold
Anime
- Komi Can’t Communicate – No schedule – 4/24 episodes
- Rokuhōdō Yotsuiro Biyori – No schedule – 2/12 episodes
Dramas
- The Bangkok Boy (Thai BL) – No schedule – 2/12 episodes
- Perfect 10 Liners (Thai BL) – No schedule – 4/24 episodes
- The Long Ballad (Chinese Drama) – No schedule – 5/49 episodes
- Theory of Love (Thai BL) – No schedule – 2/12 episodes
It’s been a month since the last update, and I’ve finished a lot of shows… partly taking advantage of my free time (winter break at my job; working for a “university” has its hidden blessings). That helped, and I wanted to watch more, but these are busy days and everybody seems to want to hang out, so it hasn’t been possible.
I’ve also been writing, and feeling down or overwhelmed, depending on my hormones, the weather, or my family… you know how it is. December is an overwhelming month. I don’t like it that much, honestly, but what am I gonna do? I really can’t just hibernate, as much as I’d love to… lol.
Anyway, I’m going to try to be brief, or I won’t finish this today.
First of all, the ones I finished:
Me and Who. This one was so fun and sweet. I honestly had a great time watching it week to week, even though some things really didn’t make sense or lacked explanation… and I love knowing everything. I really wanted to know about Ya’s family mind reading ability, for example. I also liked BigPark’s chemistry; they’re adorable and sweet, and now I want to watch Monster Next Door thanks to them. Also, I don’t know if lately I’ve just been in the mood for silly and sweet or what, because usually I’m more inclined toward plot heavy or darker stories, but I’ve been enjoying the silliness and the romance, despite being very averse to it irl :D
Mystique in the Mirror. This one kept me intrigued from start to end. I really didn’t want to venture too many theories about what was really going on, but I suspected it, and in the end I cried. It was good, and I liked it a lot despite a few things that felt a bit unnecessary (like the second couple… don’t get me wrong, they were kind of sweet, but I didn’t feel like their romance added something to the main story, and it took me out of it sometimes). I really don’t want to go into much detail because almost everything can qualify as a spoiler for this one. Just, if you are too sensitive to mental illness and death, maybe stay away.
ClaireBell. This is officially the first GL I’ve ever watched, and it became one of my favorite dramas of this year! Now I really want to explore more GLs, so I’ll take recommendations. I loved so many aspects of this one. For starters, that it’s set in prison, which meant there was going to be violence, sadness, injustice, and morally questionable characters… and it didn’t disappoint. A surprise was seeing Pond Ponlawit in it; he’s an actor I’ve come to admire this year after watching Reset. But I’m digressing. I really enjoyed seeing the characters develop, not just Claire and Bell. I loved seeing their stories and their evolution. I also loved the mix of sweetness and sadness in Claire and Bell’s relationship. Of course I cried a couple of times, and not just for them. Another aspect I really liked was the cinematography. I don’t know, I just enjoyed it so much. These women are incredibly talented. As an aside, I randomly discovered that Farida (Duen) speaks a little Spanish, and she seems like such a sweet girl.
Thundercloud Rainstorm. I enjoyed the first half more, where it was messier, angstier, and darker. Not that it became incredibly fluffy in the second half or anything, but the mood kind of switched a bit. But I like it overall.
Heated Rivalry. I almost don’t want to mention it because this one seems to be starting to divide opinions, and not in a good way, but I enjoyed it a lot. I said on fedi that maybe I feel like if I weren’t as horny as I am (horny not as a transitory state but as an inherent quality of my being) and if I hadn’t read so much horny fanfiction over the years, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much as I did… It made me feel things, and I always appreciate that. Do I think of it as groundbreaking? Not really, no. But I see why some people are so marveled by it, being their first contact with a certain kind of story… Maybe a couple of years ago, before I delved into Asian BL, my reaction would have been different (like many other people who mostly watch Western dramas), or maybe I would have avoided it because anything that’s highly hyped makes me almost immediately not want to watch it (see GoT, Stranger Things… etc.). Anyway, I liked it. I enjoyed it. I get why people don’t.
School Trip: Joined a Group I’m Not Close to. It was sweet, cute, charming, and I adored every bit of it. It very much reminded me of My Love Mix-Up and I Cannot Reach You. I loved Watarai and Hioki so much. I still need to watch the special episode, but I suppose that will have to wait until 2026 :D I mentioned this as the sweetest romance I watched this year in the End of the Year Challenge over on fedi.
Love Sea: The Home for Lovers. This one is an adaptation of a Thai series. It’s written by MAME, and I haven’t watched the original, but judging by the comments, I don’t know if I’m going to. I enjoyed this one. I don’t know if I could endure 10 episodes of that plot but twice as long. The NC scenes were good, too, imo.
10Dance. Edited the post because how did I forget this one? I watched it the day it came out. There was so much hype around it, but as always, I tried to keep my expectations low. I enjoyed it… it’s visually stunning, and the dances are mesmerizing. Also, Machida Keita. The thing is, the source material (the manga it’s adapted from) is still ongoing, so this story felt a bit incomplete. I liked the way they ended it, but the competition mentioned in the title (the 10 dance didn’t happen in the movie. So I don’t know; maybe they’re planning to wait for the manga to finish to adapt a sequel? Another thing that left me with a weird aftertaste was the romanticization of Latin America, especially as a Latin American.
Dangerous Drugs of Sex. I watched this because one of my mutuals elsewhere mentioned they’d seen it and listed the trigger warnings, so of course I was going to give it a try: very toxic, very graphic, non-con, kidnapping, captivity, bondage, manipulation, psychological torture, grief, trauma, suicidal ideation… I liked it. A lot. It helped me get out of a very dark mood yesterday, and I don’t know what that says about me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Now the ones I’m watching:
Goddess Bless You From Death. I like this one. It has been consistently spooky. Right now I’m a bit confused by the plot, but I’m just going with the flow, waiting for events to be explained at some point (not trying too hard to come up with theories) and enjoying the supernatural elements. That’s still my favorite part. I’m having a lot of fun.
Interminable. I keep watching, but it’s very slow. Very. Sometimes it feels like a chore. There are three episodes left, so I’m gonna finish it, but I didn’t think it would live up to its name ToT Billy and Babe are gorgeous in it, though.
Me and Thee. I adore it. I love Theerakit Kian Lee with all my heart. He’s so extra and so out there. And it’s so funny. I laugh a lot, but it’s had very sweet moments too. It genuinely makes me so happy, and I look forward to every episode each week.
Burnout Syndrome. I’m enjoying this one very much. Every single episode makes me feel a lot of things, and it’s visually beautiful, very artsy. And goddammit, I wish they would give us DewGun for real and not just tease us with it. It’s like they’re edging us, but the frustrating part is that there will be no reward, you know? I know it in my bones. I’m still loving it. I’ve seen people who struggle with it because they don’t feel like they can root for any of the characters, and I get it… but that’s precisely the kind of story that makes me go feral. I’ve also seen people say they won’t like it if they redeem Koh (Off’s character), but I have a whole lot to say about that tendency to hate when they forgive characters in Asian dramas : ) Not here, though… somewhere, someday…
KinnPorsche. I finally started watching it. I’ve only watched three episodes since I wanted to finish the Japanese dramas before the year ended. I watched the first one very drunk, while drinking a lot of water, trying to get less drunk before going to bed to avoid a disaster. And I enjoyed it. I remember I tried to watch it even before I watched The Untamed. I got a monthly subscription to iQIYI and was exploring the options without really knowing much about Thai BL, but I wasn’t ready. Now I’ve watched Shine (one of my favorite dramas of this year) and Man Suang (back then I didn’t know who Mile or Apo were, so I went in blind, and I don’t remember much of it), so I thought it would be a good idea to watch this classic of Thai BL, and I’m enjoying it. If I have the mental energy, maybe I can finish it this week, before going back to work next Monday.
Dare You To Death. It’s not good so far. We’ll see if I finish it or drop it. It’s a shame because I’m fond of JoongDunk, but it’s just not doing it for me.
Runaway. Need to get back to this one. But maybe I’m going to restart it.
Ah, yes. I'm also watching a reality show... DMD Friendship The Third Chapter. I'm rooting for my adopted son, Pung Phirunwat. Also, now all the other boys are my nephews, except Porsche Sitha, who can be my compadre.
Look, my list isn’t very long now, and I’m very proud of myself, but I don’t know how long I’ll resist before adding a ton more shows to watch lol. I want to watch more older shows and shows from different countries, like the Philippines or Vietnam. I also want to get back to the ones I have on hold. And watch more anime, and write more, and and and… I don’t do New Year’s resolutions; I just try to do my best and all that.
If 2025 was a shitty year for you, I hope 2026 is better.
See you on the other side, with more updates… at some point.
9 vid recs
See the recs here!
but I've got the fastest set of wheels in town
buy back the secrets by
5 times Superboy saves Tim Drake, and one time Tim Drake saves Superboy. Wonderful! <333
Jason and the Three Terrors by
One moment, Jason was peacefully sleeping, perfectly content with his life with the League of Assassins. Okay, so maybe not content content, but he wasn't unhappy, either. Then Talia woke him up at 2 am, threw three children at him, and told him to get them to America and far away from Ra's al Ghul.
What the fuck.
The last thing he wanted was to see Bruce. But with three brats relying on him and no Talia, there weren't many options for sanctuary. He just didn't expect the kids to grow on him so much in two short weeks. EPIC (326K words) AU where Talia sends Jason away from the League with Damian, Athanasia, and Mara, and their many adventures on the way home to Gotham. Engrossing read, highly recommended.
Life Alert by
Fantastic outsider POV on Red Hood and Batman. <333
Puzzles Made of Broken Glass by
Timmy Drake's parents go missing. He's the only one who notices. This is a long, entertaining, engrossing story about how Tim joins the Batfamily early. Oh, Tim. Highly recommended. <333
Resurgam by
Bored during her pregnancy leave from being Spoiler, Steph decides to follow Robin and ends up in a cemetery. Only, something follows her home. <333
✭
the summer of searching the underworld
13 Ways of Looking at a Lit Fuse by
Carl, as others see him. Exactly what it says on the tin. Lovely. And Donut's voice is absolute perfection!
I Should Have Let Him In by
Bea's POV leading up to and during the confrontation on Odette's show. Fascinating look at what Bea might have been thinking.
✭
I said, "I've been there too a few times."
2:00 AM by orphan_account
"I don't understand why you're letting that asshole crash at your place," Santos says, flopping back on the couch in the break room. "Seriously, Mel. There's a reason his wife kicked him out." I enjoyed this.
Scenes from a Lavender Marriage by
Trinity shrugged. "So marry me."
Whitaker stared at her. "You're a lesbian and I'm the opposite of a lesbian."
"Like that's stopped people before," Trinity said. Santos and Whitaker get married so he can get a scholarship. It works out for them. <333
✭
she's a promise in the year of election
Twilight on Owl Creek Bridge by
SUBJECT: Regarding Senate Guard Objectives For Today
This is a polite reminder to all guardsmen that patrol schedules for the Senate vote ratifying dictatorships are posted in the breakroom. I am also issuing a warning to linear time that days should follow sequentially and are not intended to repeat. Please cease repeating. I am getting a headache.
Additionally, I'd like to remind all guardsmen that it is illegal to harbor invisible women in the Senate. If you see a ghost claiming to be Leia Organa, please remove her from the premises. She will be making a scene.
Thank you for your cooperation in preserving the peace of the Republic, and all hail the Empire.
FOX
Fox and Leia get caught up in some timey-wimey Force shenanigans. Oh my heart...
and the AU where it's a more traditional time travel type story: Fox & Leia's Star Wars Holiday Special
✭
lost hope and found need
Rivers of London/Slow Horses
The Spirit of Regent's Park by
Newly minted First Desk Diana Taverner visits the Folly to find out who this Thomas Nightingale fellow is, and learns a few things about London that are closer to home than she expects. Excellent crossover! Now I want all the crossovers between all these characters!
✭
Vids
Ted Lasso
In The Middle by
Super cute Jamie/Keeley/Roy vid.
✭
2025 Books Read
I would like to thank Hoopla, Overdrive, and my local public library for helping me read an absolutely ridiculous number of books this year: 113 books by 62 authors, of which 33-36 books were re-reads. (Re-reads marked with an asterisk, or a question mark on the three I couldn't remember whether I had read before or not.) Goodreads calculated my top genres as Fantasy, Romance, and Science Fiction. According to my lifetime-books-read spreadsheet, the top three most-read authors this year were KJ Charles, Cat Sebastian, and Terry Pratchett. Four-way tie for fourth place: T. Kingfisher, Rex Stout, P.G. Wodehouse, Isaac Asimov.
I also tried to classify all 941 books in my spreadsheet by genre and found some predictable differences in the average number of books by the same author I read in each genre. Averages are for all-time, not this year alone:
romance - 4 books per author
fantasy - 3
sf - 2.7
horror - 2.3
mystery - 1.9
general fiction - 1.4
nonfiction - 1.2
I succeeded by the numbers, but failed some of my content goals: only 2 histories; only 1-3 new-to-me 19th century classics; and 3 works by Indigenous authors and 4 works by Black authors doesn't sound like a lot compared to the total. Categorizing books by the identity of the author was also fraught, as the information is not always easily accessible, not to mention the question of how these identity categories are even defined and who "counts". Plus, the whole point of the exercise for me was to find books with different settings and perspectives and maybe learn something new. I went with citizenship/tribal enrollment for the Native American authors, so as a result, I ended up dropping some of the most recommended titles from my TBR list. However, I enjoyed the books I did read, and have several left on my TBR list, so maybe I'll try the same goal in 2026. I also added a bunch of novels in translation to my TBR list, so I'm hoping to make headway on those next year. Plus all the history books and pre-20th century classics I didn't read this year.
And finally, I need to find some more book-themed user icons.
Fanart recs from Doodle 4 Doodle
Fandoms include:
The Complete Tales of Peter Rabbit and Friends by Beatrix Potter
Critical Role: Exandria
Final Fantasy X
Hollow Knight / Silksong:
Legend of Zelda (Breath of the Wild / Tears of the Kingdom; Link's Awakening)
Original work
Sailor Moon
Sherlock Holmes
Soulcalibur
Spy x Family
Stargate Atlantis
W.I.T.C.H.
