More threesentenceficathon fills! I keep thinking that I’m finally winding down, and then nope, I find myself with 3-5 more things that I still want to write, rewind, repeat. And yes… most of them continue to either be Volo/Akari or Cyrus/Dawn… I’m having many thoughts on the parallels between the two ships (and the characters involved) that I’d like to write some meta about at some point… but some point when I’m not busy using all of my limited remaining brain power after work to write 3SF fills instead. Maybe over the weekend…?

Another fun fact about this batch: I've written what I believe might actually be the first Mages of Mystralia fic posted to AO3? I hadn't realized it until I went to crosspost my ficlet. So that's exciting.

• Mages of Mystralia, Zia & the shifty talking spellbook <3, for the prompt every bright young hero needs a morally ambiguous mentor


• Pokémon Legends Arceus, Volo/Akari, for the prompt I'm not calling you a ghost, just stop haunting me


• Pokémon (Main Games), Cyrus/Dawn, for the prompt I will never surrender my mind / I will follow the path back to life


• Pokémon (Main Games), Cyrus/Dawn, for the prompt I had died the tiniest death / I spied the catch in your breath


• Pokémon Legends Arceus, Volo/Akari, for the prompt Just say when, I'd play again


• Naruto, Ino/Sakura, for the prompt drunk sex


• Pokémon (Main Games), Cyrus/Dawn, for the prompt No matter what they tell you / The future's up for grabs

Thursday 2/5/26

We still have lots of snow and cold. I had to stock up on more bird seed to keep up with demand.

Many Sparrows, Starlings, Blue Jays and Squirrels early today, plus some Juncos, Cardinals and Nuthatches.

Theme Prompt: #290 – Princess
Title: Princess For A Day
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: G
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1000
Summary: Meriel gets exactly the birthday party she wants, and Jack gets to dress up too.

Last time I posted one of these reading lists, asakiyume noted that I’d already read, like, half the books, and I decided that it might be the path of wisdom in the future to try to post these lists BEFORE I started reading the books on them. So! Behold! The authors I intend to revisit from my 2018 reading list!

Juliana Horatia Ewing - the university library has Mrs. Overtheway’s Remembrances (memories of early nineteenth-century England), The Story of a Short Life (unclear, but I think a child soldier dies valiantly?), and Lob Lie-by-the-fire ; Jackanapes ; Daddy Darwin's dovecot (three short stories, possibly fantasy). Any preferences?

Ngaio Marsh

Jerry Pinkney

Rosemary Sutcliff - We Lived at Drumfyvie, on the basis of regshoe’s review

Frances Hodgson Burnett - The Head of the House of Coombe

Roald Dahl - I’ve read the most famous ones (Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), plus his memoirs Boy and Going Solo. But I’ve barely skimmed the surface otherwise. Recs?

Caroline Dale Snedeker

M. T. Anderson - Nicked. Recced by multiple people!

D. E. Stevenson - Mrs. Tim Flies Home. The last of the Mrs. Tim quartet.

E. M. Delafield - technically The Provincial Lady in America is next, but I’d have to get it through ILL, whereas the library has The Provincial Lady in Wartime. Will probably get Wartime unless someone feels strongly the books must be read in order and/or the America is wonderful and I simply mustn’t risk missing it.

Elizabeth Enright - Spiderweb for Two. Wrapping up the Melendys!

Rick Bragg - I really liked his food memoir The Best Cook in the World: Tales from My Momma’s Table, so I meant to try some of his other books, but… I have not. Any suggestions?

Daphne Du Maurier

Edward Eager - Playing Possum (the last of his little-known picture books)

Deborah Ellis - One More Mountain, the newest Breadwinner novel, published in 2022

Fyodor Dosteovsky - The Brothers Karamazov. Thoughts which translation I should get?

Jacqueline Woodson

Eliza Orne White - I, the Autobiography of a Cat. I am including White on this list solely because the archive has this book, and how am I supposed to resist a title like that?

Zilpha Keatley Snyder

C. S. Lewis

Elizabeth Gaskell - Mary Barton or Ruth, probably.

Dorothy Gilman

E. Nesbit - The Wouldbegoods

Thanhha Lai - When Clouds Touch Us, the sequel to Inside Out and Back Again. Always nervous about sequels but going to give this a try.

Vera Brittain - Testament of Youth. Another book I’ve meant to read for AGES.

Last week, scytale commented in passing about how clingy these four are, which honestly is just a factual statement at this point, yet the universe immediately beamed a ficlet into my brain just based on that because this is what I am now.

---

Clingy | K-9 | Ren/Oboro/Fujimaru/Kagari | <850 words | rated M

Summary: This was all Fujimaru's fault. And Kagari's too. Maybe a little bit Yuushirou's, but he wasn't admitting to anything. Ren-san was perfect as always.

Yuushirou gets a boner during movie night.

Read it on Dreamwidth or AO3.

What are you thankful for this week?
· Photos are optional but encouraged.
· Check-ins remain open until the following week's post is shared.
· Do feel free to comment on others' check-ins but don't harsh anyone else's squee.

1. It looks like I might be going up north to help out at the new store for a few days after all. The store is still ridiculously busy and they need extra help throughout the rest of the month. Nothing's finalized yet, but maybe the week after next I'll go for 3-4 days. I am curious to see the new store (and check out our Cupertino store while I'm up there, which I've also never seen), so I don't mind going. I'm very glad I didn't have to go for the grand opening itself, though!

2. I took Carla to a doctor's appointment this afternoon and while I was waiting for her, I took a walk and stopped in at a little bakery nearby and got a delicious cardamom bun.

3. Tuxie was back this morning!

4. These boys were having some nice cuddle time yesterday. As usual, Ollie was more into it than Jasper lol.

Two more little guys from K-9 are really capturing my imagination at the moment. Look at 'em:


You can't just show me two characters that comfortably handsy with each other and not expect me to go "Oh 👀"?! For anyone familiar with Wind Breaker, their vibes are massively similar to Togame and Chouji, especially early on. They're scratching my "murderous protectiveness" itch in just the right way.

Yuu, the blond chibi, can transform into a cute sort of hybrid leopard and loves to fight.


Meanwhile Satsuki can create and control huge branches. He may appear calmer and more reasonable, but that mostly means his expression won't change as he threatens to crush you between branches or tear your limbs apart. That kinda guy.


Obviously, I love them. For many reasons, too. But also aren't their abilities kind of ridiculous?! This is a world in which only criminals get a superpower, one related to the crime they committed!! What kind of crime do you commit that you can transform into a leopard?!

And thus, having thought about it way too much, I'm writing what will apparently become my first K-9 multi-chapter fic. With zero members of my beloved OT4 showing up XD This series is just ridiculous. I love it. The author is clearly having a ton of fun, and I love that for them.

Community Thursday challenge: every Thursday, try to make an effort to engage with a community on Dreamwidth, whether that's posting, commenting, promoting, etc.

---

Over the last week...

Posted and commented on bnha_fans.

Commented on booknook.

Commented on getyourwordsout.

Signal boosts:

• For anyone who missed my previous post about it, if you're stuck about what to post about now that snowflake_challenge is over, have a look at the Stuff I Love: Top Ten Edition squee challenge for February that dreamersdare dreamt up ;D

Creator: sweetsorcery
Title: Sweeter than Honey and Bitter as Gall
Fandom: Aces High (1976)
Rating: T (for themes)
Word Count/size/length: 2,169
Characters/Pairings: Captain Sinclair/2nd Lt Stephen Croft
Notes/Warnings: WWI, RFC, Mutual Pining, Secret Wedding, First Kiss, Angst and Feels, Bittersweet

'If this were a different world, and we were free to do as we wished, I would ask you to marry me. Right here, in this lovely little church.' Captain Sinclair laughed softly; a warm, rumbling laugh. 'Aren't I silly?'

Stephen gave a sob of happiness. 'No, you're not! Why don't we pretend it's a different world? That everything is just as we want it to be. Ask me. Oh please, do ask.'

Link: Read on AO3.

Today is cloudy and cold.

I fed the birds. I've seen a large flock of sparrows, several cardinals, and a starling.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/426 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 2/426 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/02/04/come-with-me-if-you-want-a-painting/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59340

Me (peering at the painting on my dentist’s waiting room wall): This painting is new since the last time I was here.

Dentist: Probably.

Me: And done by the star of the Terminator films!

Dentist: What?

Me (points to the signature in the corner of the painting): Linda Hamilton.

Dentist: Dude, shut up.

For the record: Probably indeed not that Linda Hamilton. Probably also not the two Linda Hamiltons I found online who are primarily artists. One of them does “flower art” while the other does more abstract paintings. Her signature doesn’t match this one here. But in my deepest of hearts I will believe that my dentist has a painting of ducks and ponds done by the celebrated actress. Because life is more fun that way.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/02/04/come-with-me-if-you-want-a-painting/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59340

So since I moved here my living room tv, not a big one, and all the cable paraphernalia have been on the floor. I don't watch much in there and I didn't want to spend anything to get a table. It was far down on the list of things to buy. But I was eyeing a coffee table at the Fred Meyer's (grocery and department store in one) and there was a floor model very marked down.

The other day I said, if it's still there I'll get it. Original price about $150, bought for $42. That said, it's a wee bit too big for the space but the room has a less 'first apartment' vibe.

But the story (fascinating as it is) is even more interesting, because the same day I bought it I got a check in the mail for $53. A result of signing up for a class lawsuit suing somebody for something. A day of profit and a new table.

Behold, I have read a book!

1. Moniquill Blackgoose, To Shape a Dragon’s Breath – I did this as part of a sync read with lunasariel, cyanmnemosyne, and hidden_variable (though not all of us are yet finished), and you can see our in situ reactions as we read along here.

Back when this book first came out, a couple of flisters read it, and basically everything I learned about it from their write-ups made me feel like this book had been written just for me – magic school! dragons! learning to do chemistry with dragons at magic school! When I described this premise to L, her reaction was, “Did you black out and publish a novel?” So, yeah, this was incredibly well-suited to my interests, which raises the question of why it’s taken me nearly 3 years to read it, especially as I’ve owned a copy of this book for a while. And I liked it a lot! Not in an iddy way, which is a little bit of a surprise given just how well it aligns with some of my favorite tropes, but I’m both very glad that I finally read it and am curious to read more. (Book 2 is now out; let’s see if it takes me another 3 years to read it…)

( More, with spoilers )

*

I have also watched a thing:

The Goes Wrong Show: rionaleonhart started posting gloriously cracktasting ficlets which were intriguing to read canon-blind (I’m a sucker for rivals-to-lovers, and Chris/Robert was clearly that), and also were giving me vaguely Taskmaster-y vibes in the combination of absurdity and disaster. And then Riona posted a very helpful fandom primer, from which I learned more context and also that the show was only about 6 hours of content (i.e. within my “impulse binge” parameters) and available to me to watch on YouTube. And I have now binged it, and had a great time, and am even more able to appreciate Riona’s Chris/Robert fic, heh.

( More, with spoilers )

Great fun, and I’m sad there isn’t more to binge. (Well, I understand there are plays which predate the show, but I’d need to track them down somewhere.)

What I've recently finished reading:

The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo, which was enjoyable, although I really dislike the structure of having one POV in first person past and the other POV in third person present, it just feels weird to me. Basically a whodunnit with fox spirits. I liked the old lady the best!

The Hyena and the Hawk by Adrian Tchaikovsky - the conclusion of the Echoes of the Fall trilogy, and really not so much about the hyena and the hawk, but it does make for a nice alliteration. This was a great ending for the series, really fascinating worldbuilding, and as usual (for Tchaikovsky) it plays with the concepts of Us and The Other, and how to bridge the gap of understanding in order to appreciate The Other as Persons. Speaking of which,

What I'm reading now:

Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky, which so far (20% in) is very much like Alien Clay except also very much not like it.

What I'm watching now:

We're about halfway through Pluribus. It's very slick and clever, a bit slow, I'm not sure if I like it, but I will watch the whole season, anyway. I am particularly charmed by all the random extras looking very much like regular everyday people. Also, Albuquerque! That's not too far out of my backyard...

What I'm playing now:

Still Ghost of Tsushima. I've rescued my uncle and am on to the second part of the story!

⌈ Secret Post #6970 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


01.


( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 11 secrets from Secret Submission Post #995.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Fandom: YouTube RPF / Fantastic Foursome RPF
Pairings/Characters: Dan Howell / Phil Lester, PJ Liguori
Rating: Teen and Up
Content Notes: No AO3 warnings apply
Length: 147,120 words, 25 chapters
Creator Links: AO3 profile
Theme: Inept in Love, Enemies to Friends to Lovers

Summary: From AO3:

"Daniel Howell is 21 and Britain’s newest star. He’s just been cast in the much-anticipated film adaption of Last Man Standing, the popular teen fantasy novel with a huge fanbase hanging off his every tweet. In other words, Dan has made it big.

Phil Lester couldn’t care less. He’s a stressed out PHD student working part time at a bookshop while he struggles to get into post-production. He’s 26 and still lives in a tiny flat on the fifth floor of a building with a lift more broken than it is in use. He loves books, but he thinks big film adaptions screw with the plot too much.

Needless to say, Phil is less than impressed when Last Man Standing is getting filmed in his hometown. And he certainly doesn’t want anything to do with obnoxious, arrogant, so irritatingly perfect leading actor Daniel Howell."
 

Reccer's Notes: This is genuinely one of the best fanfic experiences I've ever had. Not only is it hilarious and heartwarming, it depicts Phil as asexual and explores that side of his identity really well, with lots of nuance and care. It was deeply meaningful for me to read as I came to grips with my own identity, and I have nothing but fondness for this story.

Fanwork Links: AO3 link.

Mods, may we add a YouTube RPF tag, and/or a Phan tag please? 😊

For day for of halfamoon, here's some behind the scenes photo icons of Renge and Akiko from the recent Kamen Rider Girls Remix special! (Original post here.) Six icons below the cut.



( Six Icons )