US Flight routes
Jan. 8th, 2026 11:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maevedarcy posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
little_detailsHello, everyone!
So, I'm writing a fic where a plane disappears in the US. As in, it drops from all radars for a few minutes and it's presumed down for a few hours. I need to know any plausible flight routes within the US from Boston where this could happen. Any stretches of land where a pilot could make an emergency landing and the plane still be presumed down for like an hour or three is good for me.
So, I'm writing a fic where a plane disappears in the US. As in, it drops from all radars for a few minutes and it's presumed down for a few hours. I need to know any plausible flight routes within the US from Boston where this could happen. Any stretches of land where a pilot could make an emergency landing and the plane still be presumed down for like an hour or three is good for me.
2025
Jan. 8th, 2026 06:40 pmmomijizukamoriA new year means time for one of my six posts a year here, lol. I'm most active on Bluesky at the moment but 90% of it is reposting TKRB fanart and replying to friends.
2025 was weird in that I kept being like 'wait how is it [date] already???' but also there is stuff where I'm like 'wait that was this year????'. Time, man. Anyway!
* Big thing this year - top surgery! Was early June, and everything went smoothly, so all the initial healing has been done for a few months and it's now the long tail of like, nerve regrowth and scar remodeling. I was also extremely lucky in that my health insurance covered basically all of it!
* Related to the above, I did my first truly shirtless cosplay at Dragon*Con, which was also my first time trying to do fake facial hair - Goro Majima from Yazuka for an 'oops all Majima group with friends'. We also got badge ribbons made to hand out for the first time.
* After years of refusing to care about 2.5D stuff, I made new sword friends at Katsucon who convinced me to give it a go and two months later I had watched basically all the Musical Touken Ranbu back catalogue and I now own more blu-rays that I'm sure I want to admit. Half the songs are like 'these lyrics are so dumb but this melody line slaps so hard'
* I bought a kit to copperplate 3d prints - I've only done a few small things so far, so my technique still needs a lot of refinement, but it's very neat to be able to basically turn things into actual metal.
* I took an intro blacksmithing class! It was offered through the community education program at a localish vocational high school and was very resonably priced. It was really need and got me interested in learning more, even if most of my creations from the class are extremely janky-looking (no, we didn't get to make knives, being at a school meant no weapons)
* Went outside the US for the first time in... probably close to a decade? Only as far as Montreal to visit family for Christmas, but look, the world's been weird. Managed to forget cellphone roaming was a thing, but we spent most of the time inside watching movies and playing with cats anyway.
* Got around to setting up my lathe, and turned one extremely messy test piece out of some scrap pine I had, then realized I needed better safety gear before getting more into it. So more to come on that this year hopefully.
* Signed up for an e-learning course on sewing machine servicing and maintenence, in part because the place I used to take my machines to closed and in part because I want to Learn All The Things.
* I finally saw Labyrinth. Yes, the 1986 Jim Henson film. Yes, I somehow managed to have not seen it before. It was delightful, I want most of Jareth's clothes, and afterwards we watched the making-of featurette filmed at the same time as the movie and it was super-cool to see all the stuff that went into the puppets and effects.
* Bought a smart ring in September, which feels hopelessly tech-bougie of me, but I wanted some fitness/heartrate tracking and the one I have (Oura) is particularly good at tracking sleep as well as having good privacy policies. We'll see how useful it ends up being.
2025 was weird in that I kept being like 'wait how is it [date] already???' but also there is stuff where I'm like 'wait that was this year????'. Time, man. Anyway!
* Big thing this year - top surgery! Was early June, and everything went smoothly, so all the initial healing has been done for a few months and it's now the long tail of like, nerve regrowth and scar remodeling. I was also extremely lucky in that my health insurance covered basically all of it!
* Related to the above, I did my first truly shirtless cosplay at Dragon*Con, which was also my first time trying to do fake facial hair - Goro Majima from Yazuka for an 'oops all Majima group with friends'. We also got badge ribbons made to hand out for the first time.
* After years of refusing to care about 2.5D stuff, I made new sword friends at Katsucon who convinced me to give it a go and two months later I had watched basically all the Musical Touken Ranbu back catalogue and I now own more blu-rays that I'm sure I want to admit. Half the songs are like 'these lyrics are so dumb but this melody line slaps so hard'
* I bought a kit to copperplate 3d prints - I've only done a few small things so far, so my technique still needs a lot of refinement, but it's very neat to be able to basically turn things into actual metal.
* I took an intro blacksmithing class! It was offered through the community education program at a localish vocational high school and was very resonably priced. It was really need and got me interested in learning more, even if most of my creations from the class are extremely janky-looking (no, we didn't get to make knives, being at a school meant no weapons)
* Went outside the US for the first time in... probably close to a decade? Only as far as Montreal to visit family for Christmas, but look, the world's been weird. Managed to forget cellphone roaming was a thing, but we spent most of the time inside watching movies and playing with cats anyway.
* Got around to setting up my lathe, and turned one extremely messy test piece out of some scrap pine I had, then realized I needed better safety gear before getting more into it. So more to come on that this year hopefully.
* Signed up for an e-learning course on sewing machine servicing and maintenence, in part because the place I used to take my machines to closed and in part because I want to Learn All The Things.
* I finally saw Labyrinth. Yes, the 1986 Jim Henson film. Yes, I somehow managed to have not seen it before. It was delightful, I want most of Jareth's clothes, and afterwards we watched the making-of featurette filmed at the same time as the movie and it was super-cool to see all the stuff that went into the puppets and effects.
* Bought a smart ring in September, which feels hopelessly tech-bougie of me, but I wanted some fitness/heartrate tracking and the one I have (Oura) is particularly good at tracking sleep as well as having good privacy policies. We'll see how useful it ends up being.
The Firebird
Jan. 8th, 2026 10:50 pmextrapenguinDidn't, like, actually go to the ballet, but I wanted to see the Firebird and uhhhh good luck seeing that outside of Russia. So I turned to YouTube, and found this recording, in all its 360p glory. It's a short ballet, less than 50 min long, and the music is by Stravinsky.
As for who performed it, well, I also found this recording of what looks to be the same production (with more close-ups) that says it's from the Bolshoi Ballet.
This one (same props etc) claims to be Mariinskiy, though. It also has more pixels if you absolutely require 1080p. They made some changes to where the Firebird is during the bit where Ivan is taunting Koschei with the egg which I don't like (in the original, the effect is that she's really enjoying it; the revision, not especially).
The Firebird: woman in red
Ivan Tsarevich: dude in red
Tsarevna: of the women in white, the one with the special costume
Koschei the Deathless: evil sorcerer dude with the staff
Ok so. Ivan is a prince, going to this enchanted wood (either to hunt the Firebird, investigate WTF is going on, or just to hunt). There, he sees the Firebird by golden apple tree and manages to capture her. She struggles to free herself, but he prevails. Then he realizes that the Firebird cannot live in captivity, and he sets her free. As thanks, she gives him her feather, with the promise that if he wields it, she will return.
Next it is dusk and thirteen princesses, captives of Koschei the Deathless, come to play with the golden apples of the tree. Ivan enters and has a Moment(TM) with the youngest, Tsarevna; they fall in love. Then trumpets summon the princesses back. Ivan wants to follow but is warned off. (The wall has a bunch of dudes who tried and were turned to stone.)
Of course our heroic prince doesn't care and opens the gates, setting off 198751834 alarms and all of Koschei's demons come at him. He fights some off before being subdued. Koschei himself then appears and tries to turn Ivan into stone. Ivan, in the nick of time, summons the Firebird.
The Firebird knows exactly what to do. She saves Ivan and makes all under Koschei's spell dance until they're exhausted and fall asleep. Then she tells Ivan the key to Koschei's immortality: he has his soul hidden in an egg that is hidden in a box.
Ivan, of course, immediately sets out to get this box. He gets out the egg, waking up Koschei, and taunts him for a moment before making the omlet.
Final scene: the warriors from the wall have been de-petrified, and reunite with their lovers, the twelve princesses. Group wedding! Ivan and the Tsarevna appear and also get married. They open the gates and walk away from the forest.
Anyway! I really like the Infernal Dance section, but also just the Firebird herself. She's sharp and powerful and her language of motion is so completely different from all the "classic" ballet protagonists that I can't help but love her.
As for who performed it, well, I also found this recording of what looks to be the same production (with more close-ups) that says it's from the Bolshoi Ballet.
This one (same props etc) claims to be Mariinskiy, though. It also has more pixels if you absolutely require 1080p. They made some changes to where the Firebird is during the bit where Ivan is taunting Koschei with the egg which I don't like (in the original, the effect is that she's really enjoying it; the revision, not especially).
Pingu, I do not ballet; plz give synopsis
The Firebird: woman in red
Ivan Tsarevich: dude in red
Tsarevna: of the women in white, the one with the special costume
Koschei the Deathless: evil sorcerer dude with the staff
Ok so. Ivan is a prince, going to this enchanted wood (either to hunt the Firebird, investigate WTF is going on, or just to hunt). There, he sees the Firebird by golden apple tree and manages to capture her. She struggles to free herself, but he prevails. Then he realizes that the Firebird cannot live in captivity, and he sets her free. As thanks, she gives him her feather, with the promise that if he wields it, she will return.
Next it is dusk and thirteen princesses, captives of Koschei the Deathless, come to play with the golden apples of the tree. Ivan enters and has a Moment(TM) with the youngest, Tsarevna; they fall in love. Then trumpets summon the princesses back. Ivan wants to follow but is warned off. (The wall has a bunch of dudes who tried and were turned to stone.)
Of course our heroic prince doesn't care and opens the gates, setting off 198751834 alarms and all of Koschei's demons come at him. He fights some off before being subdued. Koschei himself then appears and tries to turn Ivan into stone. Ivan, in the nick of time, summons the Firebird.
The Firebird knows exactly what to do. She saves Ivan and makes all under Koschei's spell dance until they're exhausted and fall asleep. Then she tells Ivan the key to Koschei's immortality: he has his soul hidden in an egg that is hidden in a box.
Ivan, of course, immediately sets out to get this box. He gets out the egg, waking up Koschei, and taunts him for a moment before making the omlet.
Final scene: the warriors from the wall have been de-petrified, and reunite with their lovers, the twelve princesses. Group wedding! Ivan and the Tsarevna appear and also get married. They open the gates and walk away from the forest.
Anyway! I really like the Infernal Dance section, but also just the Firebird herself. She's sharp and powerful and her language of motion is so completely different from all the "classic" ballet protagonists that I can't help but love her.
Write Every day 2026: January, Day 8
Jan. 8th, 2026 10:10 pmtrobadora- As usual (and as I hoped for), fandomtrees has a one-week delay, so now I have a much better chance of finishing more than one thing, heh. Here is the latest admin post with the trees that still need gifts.
- Also, candyheartsex sign-ups have closed, and three more people in my fandoms signed up after I had already gone to bed! Can't wait to find out what my actual assignment will be.
Today's writing
I worked a little on one
fandomtrees treat, started planning another, and did some brainstorming for candyheartsex. It's still all slower going than I'd like, but I'm feeling much better, so there's that.WED Question of the Day
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 19
If I have multiple works I want/need to finish by the same deadline, I ...
View Answers
write and finish them one after the other
11 (57.9%)
work on multiple things in parallel
7 (36.8%)
something else
1 (5.3%)
When I'm working on things without deadlines, I ...
View Answers
work on one thing until I finish or give up
6 (31.6%)
work on multiple things in parallel
13 (68.4%)
something else
0 (0.0%)
When I have tickyboxes, I ...
View Answers
tick one
5 (27.8%)
tick them all
6 (33.3%)
tick whichever ones I like
15 (83.3%)
something else
2 (11.1%)
Tally
( Days 1-5 )
Day 6:
alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilmeDay 7:
badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, shadaras, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, trobadora Day 8:
china_shop, trobadoraLet me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
2025 in Review: Media!
Jan. 8th, 2026 10:25 amforestofgloryTime to reflect a little on the media I read and watched in 2025. My reading goal for 2025 was “Reading Joyfully”. I think this worked out ok – I started out putting a lot of pressure on myself about it and stressing out, but then I backed off and used it as an excuse to think about how reading fits into my life these days.
I was somewhat hoping I could get back to really engaging with new to me SFF, and for the most part that didn’t happen. There were a couple of weeks in there where I was sleeping way better than I generally manage these days and I read several new to me books! It was great! So I think part of my problem is that I’m just not well rested enough to engage with new to me stuff very much. Which is sad, but pushing isn’t going to make me happy either.
Then after the thing with the flood damage, when the whole house was a mess, I was struggling to focus on much of anything. I ended up just reading a ton of fic, so much fic.* Which has been delightful. The comfort of the same thing again but different this time is really not appreciated enough by critics. This reading phase has been very joyful!
In 2025 I read even fewer books than I read the last several years (57) but unlike the last couple of years I don’t feel bad about it. Which was the real point of my reading joyfully goal. I’m more at peace with who I am as a reader these days and that’s really nice, even if I might never be the same kind of reader I was before the pandemic happened.
Another trend that defined my 2025 media was crossdressing girls. I love, love, love the trope of girls who disguise themselves and boys to go out into the world and do things that they wouldn’t be allowed to do. This is a trope that English language media hasn’t really been doing much with recently, but luckily for me it's popular in Asian dramas. It’s such a comfort trope for me, and I decided to really dive into this trope and watched many dramas featuring it. (And read a couple of books too)
I also continue to watch many silly Chinese reality shows, another thing that I find relaxing. Media has really was a source of comfort for me in 2025.
In terms of goals for 2026, I’m going to continue to not have a numerical goal for total books. I find those more stressful than fun. Having a theme for my media last year worked out really well though so for the first quarter of 2026 my media theme is going to be “comfort” . Then I can see I want to keep that theme or change at the end of the quarter. I also want to push myself a bit harder on reading Mandarin so I’m going to make it a goal to read six graded readers this year, which feels very doable.
*Me, very stressed out: I’ll just read this cute sounding fic in a fandom I’m not in. It will be relaxing. Me, several days, and I don’t know how many fics in that fandom latter: I guess I have a new fandom now, opps?
I was somewhat hoping I could get back to really engaging with new to me SFF, and for the most part that didn’t happen. There were a couple of weeks in there where I was sleeping way better than I generally manage these days and I read several new to me books! It was great! So I think part of my problem is that I’m just not well rested enough to engage with new to me stuff very much. Which is sad, but pushing isn’t going to make me happy either.
Then after the thing with the flood damage, when the whole house was a mess, I was struggling to focus on much of anything. I ended up just reading a ton of fic, so much fic.* Which has been delightful. The comfort of the same thing again but different this time is really not appreciated enough by critics. This reading phase has been very joyful!
In 2025 I read even fewer books than I read the last several years (57) but unlike the last couple of years I don’t feel bad about it. Which was the real point of my reading joyfully goal. I’m more at peace with who I am as a reader these days and that’s really nice, even if I might never be the same kind of reader I was before the pandemic happened.
Another trend that defined my 2025 media was crossdressing girls. I love, love, love the trope of girls who disguise themselves and boys to go out into the world and do things that they wouldn’t be allowed to do. This is a trope that English language media hasn’t really been doing much with recently, but luckily for me it's popular in Asian dramas. It’s such a comfort trope for me, and I decided to really dive into this trope and watched many dramas featuring it. (And read a couple of books too)
I also continue to watch many silly Chinese reality shows, another thing that I find relaxing. Media has really was a source of comfort for me in 2025.
In terms of goals for 2026, I’m going to continue to not have a numerical goal for total books. I find those more stressful than fun. Having a theme for my media last year worked out really well though so for the first quarter of 2026 my media theme is going to be “comfort” . Then I can see I want to keep that theme or change at the end of the quarter. I also want to push myself a bit harder on reading Mandarin so I’m going to make it a goal to read six graded readers this year, which feels very doable.
*Me, very stressed out: I’ll just read this cute sounding fic in a fandom I’m not in. It will be relaxing. Me, several days, and I don’t know how many fics in that fandom latter: I guess I have a new fandom now, opps?
i'll give you three guesses what the animal's going to be, and the first two don't count
Jan. 7th, 2026 07:27 pm
Write Every day 2026: January, Day 7
Jan. 7th, 2026 10:13 pmtrobadoraThe headache is gone today! My head still feels a bit like it's been through the wringer, but otherwise I feel human again. Phew!
Today's writing
Slow to start, but I hope to write some more tonight. And hopefully tomorrow things will be fully back to normal. Fingers crossed!
Tally
( Days 1-5 )
Day 6:alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme
Day 7:china_shop, trobadora
Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
Today's writing
Slow to start, but I hope to write some more tonight. And hopefully tomorrow things will be fully back to normal. Fingers crossed!
Tally
( Days 1-5 )
Day 6:
alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilmeDay 7:
china_shop, trobadoraLet me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
2025 in Review: Writing!
Jan. 7th, 2026 09:02 amforestofglory2025 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 forladybusiness :
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
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
Fannish December
Jan. 7th, 2026 03:58 pmtinnyHeated Rivalry dominated December:
Heated Rivalry! It was so good! It's on HBO Max and Crave. I really liked the first two episodes, there was a ton of sex, and other people much more eloquently explained why that's not a bad thing: the sex is the plot!
I hated ep three, depriving me of the main pairing I love, but I see how it's necessary as context for later episodes. Since I knew that going in, I waited until I was ready for it and just treated it like a different show. That worked for me. I loved the last three episodes again, there was a ton of romance. *A lot* of thought went into the show, and it's all intentional, and that's such a change from the things I usually watch where I rant at the writing all the time. Here, there's almost nothing to rant at. Plus, it's pretty much exactly what I'm most looking for in a tv show: m/m sex and m/m romance. \o/ I will probably read some of the books this year, and likely write up a review for the show if I find the time.
For now, let me direct you to
* my friendmachinistm's heated rivalry tag
* the heated rivalry commgamechangerhr
* the hockey podcast "What Chaos!" reacting to every single episode with genuine enthusiasm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us7Pok5nDRc
Love on the Turquoise Land (17/32) - a modern fantasy/horror cdrama with Dilraba Dilmurat as a mystical sword fighter. I started watching for her, and by now probably would still be watching even if she wasn't on it. It's ... not good, exactly, but I love it anyway? I got over halfway through it in a few weeks. The horror aspect is not my thing at all, but it was only strong in the first episodes, and after that it started focusing more on vampire rituals and a general good vs evil fight and the horror took a backseat. I'm happy with that! I am very much enjoying Dilraba's actual voice (yay! she doesn't usually get to dub herself! This is cool!) and seeing her fight monsters. I am ranting at how illogical all the vampire lore is (they're called Earth Fiends but everything screams vampire to me), but fwiw once you disengage your science brain, it's fine. Giving the vastly overpowered FL a damsel-in-distress moment made me grit my teeth, but it did lead to the ML taking care of her for three eps straight, and I am not complaining about that at all. The character interactions are really good! I love the fighting, bantering, h/c, and budding romance between the ML and FL. The central mystery sounds interesting, and even though I don't trust the book author (who also wrote Parallel World) to plot herself out of a wet paper bag, the plot seems to hold together so far. Since Heated Rivalry has finished, this is the show I'm most motivated to watch right now. It's on viki.
Our Times (03/38), a 90s retro "IT students go professional" cdrama with Wu Lei and Hou Minghao. The costumes are amazing (bell bottom jeans and corduroy jackets galore), and I really am enjoying the retroness of it all, especially the way the cut scenes are interspersed with actual old footage from Chinese cities, e.g. the construction of the tower in Shanghai. I immediately imprinted on Wu Lei's character (who is a bit of an arrogant asshole but gets beaten up twice in the first episode woah, see another cap). I only watched three eps so far, but liked those a lot. The only downside is that the show triggers my embarrassment squick (they are so incompetent as computer salesmen omg!), so I have to go through it slowly with many breaks. We'll see. It's on wetv and youtube.
Still The Long Ballad (43/48), I don't want it to end. omg why do I love this show so much? I haven't loved a historical cdrama this much since Lost You Forever. Whenever Ashile Sun is on screen I go awwwwww. I'll enjoy the rest of the drama at a slow pace, while it continues to give me life. <3
I haven't dropped A Moment But Forever yet, but also haven't watched a whole ep this month.
I got halfway through Love at Night, and once the leads got together, which always makes me happy and is the main reason I watch anything, I immediately lost my motivation to continue, lol. I guess it just wasn't otherwise good enough. I might pick it up again, once I'm done with Turquoise Land? Maybe? I'm not holding my breath, though.
I realized that To My Shore is airing now, a Chinese BL (one of those sneaky international China-Thailand co-productions), and I watched half an ep, but I think it's too dark for me. For whatever reason, they keep picking the non-con ones to produce. *sigh* I prefer my romance consensual.
Extraordinary, a shorty cdrama with 20 15-min episodes about a computer nerd who transmigrates into a playboy in the past and basically transforms his family into the richest family around using his modern knowledge of business and weaponry. There's a cross-dressing FL (who he immediately sees through, lol), but otherwise it's mostly comedy of the type I'm not too fond of, and I dropped it again after a few eps.
The HPI watchalong finished season 5. Unfortunately, there are no subs (yet) except French ones. We tried auto-translated English ones *once* and then decided that French will have to do. We enjoyed it very much but now it's over. *sob*
We started Nothing But You after that. Now on episode 6 already, we're going through it fast because we don't want to spend a year on it. So far looking good in the *show everyone how good this cdrama is* department. \o/
Still watchalong-ing When A Snail Falls in Love with my other friend, and will move on to Nothing But You after that as well.
TV finished
Heated Rivalry! It was so good! It's on HBO Max and Crave. I really liked the first two episodes, there was a ton of sex, and other people much more eloquently explained why that's not a bad thing: the sex is the plot!
I hated ep three, depriving me of the main pairing I love, but I see how it's necessary as context for later episodes. Since I knew that going in, I waited until I was ready for it and just treated it like a different show. That worked for me. I loved the last three episodes again, there was a ton of romance. *A lot* of thought went into the show, and it's all intentional, and that's such a change from the things I usually watch where I rant at the writing all the time. Here, there's almost nothing to rant at. Plus, it's pretty much exactly what I'm most looking for in a tv show: m/m sex and m/m romance. \o/ I will probably read some of the books this year, and likely write up a review for the show if I find the time.
For now, let me direct you to
* my friend
machinistm's heated rivalry tag * the heated rivalry comm
gamechangerhr* the hockey podcast "What Chaos!" reacting to every single episode with genuine enthusiasm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us7Pok5nDRc
TV new (ongoing)
Love on the Turquoise Land (17/32) - a modern fantasy/horror cdrama with Dilraba Dilmurat as a mystical sword fighter. I started watching for her, and by now probably would still be watching even if she wasn't on it. It's ... not good, exactly, but I love it anyway? I got over halfway through it in a few weeks. The horror aspect is not my thing at all, but it was only strong in the first episodes, and after that it started focusing more on vampire rituals and a general good vs evil fight and the horror took a backseat. I'm happy with that! I am very much enjoying Dilraba's actual voice (yay! she doesn't usually get to dub herself! This is cool!) and seeing her fight monsters. I am ranting at how illogical all the vampire lore is (they're called Earth Fiends but everything screams vampire to me), but fwiw once you disengage your science brain, it's fine. Giving the vastly overpowered FL a damsel-in-distress moment made me grit my teeth, but it did lead to the ML taking care of her for three eps straight, and I am not complaining about that at all. The character interactions are really good! I love the fighting, bantering, h/c, and budding romance between the ML and FL. The central mystery sounds interesting, and even though I don't trust the book author (who also wrote Parallel World) to plot herself out of a wet paper bag, the plot seems to hold together so far. Since Heated Rivalry has finished, this is the show I'm most motivated to watch right now. It's on viki.
Our Times (03/38), a 90s retro "IT students go professional" cdrama with Wu Lei and Hou Minghao. The costumes are amazing (bell bottom jeans and corduroy jackets galore), and I really am enjoying the retroness of it all, especially the way the cut scenes are interspersed with actual old footage from Chinese cities, e.g. the construction of the tower in Shanghai. I immediately imprinted on Wu Lei's character (who is a bit of an arrogant asshole but gets beaten up twice in the first episode woah, see another cap). I only watched three eps so far, but liked those a lot. The only downside is that the show triggers my embarrassment squick (they are so incompetent as computer salesmen omg!), so I have to go through it slowly with many breaks. We'll see. It's on wetv and youtube.
TV continued
Still The Long Ballad (43/48), I don't want it to end. omg why do I love this show so much? I haven't loved a historical cdrama this much since Lost You Forever. Whenever Ashile Sun is on screen I go awwwwww. I'll enjoy the rest of the drama at a slow pace, while it continues to give me life. <3
I haven't dropped A Moment But Forever yet, but also haven't watched a whole ep this month.
TV (dropped)
I got halfway through Love at Night, and once the leads got together, which always makes me happy and is the main reason I watch anything, I immediately lost my motivation to continue, lol. I guess it just wasn't otherwise good enough. I might pick it up again, once I'm done with Turquoise Land? Maybe? I'm not holding my breath, though.
I realized that To My Shore is airing now, a Chinese BL (one of those sneaky international China-Thailand co-productions), and I watched half an ep, but I think it's too dark for me. For whatever reason, they keep picking the non-con ones to produce. *sigh* I prefer my romance consensual.
Extraordinary, a shorty cdrama with 20 15-min episodes about a computer nerd who transmigrates into a playboy in the past and basically transforms his family into the richest family around using his modern knowledge of business and weaponry. There's a cross-dressing FL (who he immediately sees through, lol), but otherwise it's mostly comedy of the type I'm not too fond of, and I dropped it again after a few eps.
Rewatches/Watchalongs
The HPI watchalong finished season 5. Unfortunately, there are no subs (yet) except French ones. We tried auto-translated English ones *once* and then decided that French will have to do. We enjoyed it very much but now it's over. *sob*
We started Nothing But You after that. Now on episode 6 already, we're going through it fast because we don't want to spend a year on it. So far looking good in the *show everyone how good this cdrama is* department. \o/
Still watchalong-ing When A Snail Falls in Love with my other friend, and will move on to Nothing But You after that as well.
Guardian pinch-hit for Amperslash
Jan. 7th, 2026 01:58 pmtrobadora posting in sid_guardianamperslashexchange is an exchange for ambiguous relationships. It has two pinch-hits left, including one for the Guardan novel, Guardian drama and Guardian RPF. The current deadline is January 9, 11:59 PM UTC. Here are the exchange rules, and you can claim a pinch-hit here if you can help out!
Things learned in December
Jan. 7th, 2026 11:46 amtinnyI was unfortunately not very consistent about writing down things in December. Once I realized on December 6 that I'd already forgotten three things again that I'd failed to note down, my motivation dropped considerably for the next two weeks. Which is why there are now only
( 8 (+2 related) things I learned in December )
( 8 (+2 related) things I learned in December )
Snowflake Challenge #1 + Cultivativity
Jan. 6th, 2026 10:59 pmtinny
I had expected the first Snowflake Challenge to be "update your intro", so I did that. :D It wasn't quite that, though. The first part of the challenge was "introduce yourself", so I guess close enough. :D Snapshot of my current dw profile page:
I only updated the icon comms and changed a few icons in the color bars. Nothing much new, really.
The second part was "why do you do the challenge and what you you hope to gain from it"? Idk? I'll just see which challenges speak to me and then I do them. I did this in previous years as well, and it suits me fine. I usually just pick a few challenges that I like, no more than five, usually, and then I do those.
Here's my post from 2025: challenges 2-6 challenges 14+ and my own
Here's my post from 2024: only challenge 5, the icon scavenger hunt
Here's my post from 2023: challenges 5-10, 12 and 13
Lets see what this year brings, shall we? :D
What I'll also do this year is try and think about my creative process, and there's a new comm for that:
cultivativityI'm looking forward to this, too!
Write Every day 2026: January, Day 6
Jan. 6th, 2026 09:20 pmtrobadoraThird headache day in a row; this sucks. (Today is a bit better than yesterday, but I want it to go away! *kicks it*)
Today's writing
Just a littlefandomtrees work, but I'm really losing momentum here. :(
(I did finish mycandyheartsex letter last night, at least. Now I just have to hope someone requests something I can write ... Sign-ups are still open until tomorrow, btw!)
Tally
Day 1:alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, philomytha, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme
Day 2:alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme
Day 3:alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme
Day 4:alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme
Day 5:badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme
Day 6:china_shop, trobadora
Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
Today's writing
Just a little
fandomtrees work, but I'm really losing momentum here. :((I did finish my
candyheartsex letter last night, at least. Now I just have to hope someone requests something I can write ... Sign-ups are still open until tomorrow, btw!)Tally
Day 1:
alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, philomytha, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilmeDay 2:
alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilmeDay 3:
alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilmeDay 4:
alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilmeDay 5:
badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilmeDay 6:
china_shop, trobadoraLet me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
Dear Candy Hearts creator
Jan. 6th, 2026 12:06 amtrobadoraDear candyheartsex creator,
thank you so much for writing a story or creating art for me! I've requested and received all of these fandoms before - some I've requested for many, many years, and often with the same prompts, because when I really enjoy something, I immediately want fifty more takes on the same thing. *g* So don't worry about repeating things! I'll be absolutely thrilled about anything you can create about the relationships I requested.
Everything important is in the requests themselves, but if you'd like even more info, general likes etc., here you go.
My AO3 account is![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
Trobadora, and it's set to welcome treats.
General Preferences
( Likes & Dislikes/DNWs )
Fandoms and relationships
In somewhat alphabetical order - note that some sections are expanded compared to the sign-up form:
Jump directly to:
( 绅探 | Detective L: Huo Wensi/Luo Fei, Huo Wensi/Luo Fei & Qin Xiaoman )
( Grimm: Nick/Renard, Renard/Juliette, Nick/Renard/Juliette, Renard & Elizabeth, Renard & Henrietta, Elizabeth/Kelly )
( 镇魂 | Guardian (TV): Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, Ya Qing/Zhu Hong, Shen Wei & Ya Qing )
( Grimm/Guardian crossovers: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan & Renard, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan & Juliette, Shen Wei & Juliette, Nick/Renard/Juliette & Shen Wei, Renard & Shen Wei, Renard & Ya Qing, Renard/Ya Qing )
( Legend of the Seeker: Cara/Darken Rahl )
( Once Upon a Time in Wonderland: Anastasia/Jabberwocky )
( Sherlock (BBC): Jim Moriarty/Sherlock Holmes, Jim Moriarty/Sherlock Holmes & Eurus Holmes )
( Time Engraver Crossovers: Time Engraver/Zhao Yunlan, Time Engraver/Jiang Yang, Time Engraver/Luo Fei )
( 天涯客 | Faraway Wanderers - priest: Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu )
( 山河令 | Word of Honor: Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu, Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu & Luo Fumeng )
( 长公主在上 | Eldest Princess On Top: Li Yunzhen/Gu Xuanqing )
candyheartsex creator,thank you so much for writing a story or creating art for me! I've requested and received all of these fandoms before - some I've requested for many, many years, and often with the same prompts, because when I really enjoy something, I immediately want fifty more takes on the same thing. *g* So don't worry about repeating things! I'll be absolutely thrilled about anything you can create about the relationships I requested.
Everything important is in the requests themselves, but if you'd like even more info, general likes etc., here you go.
My AO3 account is
General Preferences
( Likes & Dislikes/DNWs )
Fandoms and relationships
In somewhat alphabetical order - note that some sections are expanded compared to the sign-up form:
Jump directly to:
- 绅探 | Detective L: Huo Wensi/Luo Fei, Huo Wensi/Luo Fei & Qin Xiaoman
- Grimm: Nick/Renard, Renard/Juliette, Nick/Renard/Juliette, Renard & Elizabeth, Renard & Henrietta, Elizabeth/Kelly
- 镇魂 | Guardian (TV): Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, Ya Qing/Zhu Hong, Shen Wei & Ya Qing
- Grimm/镇魂 | Guardian (TV) crossovers: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan & Renard, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan & Juliette, Shen Wei & Juliette, Nick/Renard/Juliette & Shen Wei, Renard & Shen Wei, Renard & Ya Qing, Renard/Ya Qing
- Legend of the Seeker: Cara/Darken Rahl
- Once Upon a Time in Wonderland: Anastasia/Jabberwocky
- Sherlock (BBC): Sherlock/Moriarty, Sherlock/Moriarty & Eurus
- Time Engraver Crossovers: Time Engraver/Zhao Yunlan, Time Engraver/Jiang Yang, Time Engraver/Luo Fei
- 天涯客 | Faraway Wanderers - priest: Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu
- 山河令 | Word of Honor: Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu, Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu & Luo Fumeng
- 长公主在上 | Eldest Princess On Top: Li Yunzhen/Gu Xuanqing
( 绅探 | Detective L: Huo Wensi/Luo Fei, Huo Wensi/Luo Fei & Qin Xiaoman )
( Grimm: Nick/Renard, Renard/Juliette, Nick/Renard/Juliette, Renard & Elizabeth, Renard & Henrietta, Elizabeth/Kelly )
( 镇魂 | Guardian (TV): Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, Ya Qing/Zhu Hong, Shen Wei & Ya Qing )
( Grimm/Guardian crossovers: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan & Renard, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan & Juliette, Shen Wei & Juliette, Nick/Renard/Juliette & Shen Wei, Renard & Shen Wei, Renard & Ya Qing, Renard/Ya Qing )
( Legend of the Seeker: Cara/Darken Rahl )
( Once Upon a Time in Wonderland: Anastasia/Jabberwocky )
( Sherlock (BBC): Jim Moriarty/Sherlock Holmes, Jim Moriarty/Sherlock Holmes & Eurus Holmes )
( Time Engraver Crossovers: Time Engraver/Zhao Yunlan, Time Engraver/Jiang Yang, Time Engraver/Luo Fei )
( 天涯客 | Faraway Wanderers - priest: Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu )
( 山河令 | Word of Honor: Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu, Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu & Luo Fumeng )
( 长公主在上 | Eldest Princess On Top: Li Yunzhen/Gu Xuanqing )