2025 Goals in Review
Jan. 1st, 2026 12:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithI have reviewed my goals for 2025. Out of 74 goals and one blank, I met 68 plus 6 extra fill in the blanks -- one of them the extensive terrarium exploration -- only missing 6 goals. I did quite well, better than last year. \o/
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Snowflake Challenge
Jan. 1st, 2026 12:03 amysabetwordsmithIt's Snowflake time! :D Come one, come all, and join the fun. Do you know anyone new to Dreamwidth? Reach out and encourage them to participate in this event.
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Traditions, With You
Dec. 28th, 2025 09:58 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
oldfashioncupcake_feed“The sun is about to rise,” Togawa stroked Nozue's cheek with his knuckles. Once his eyes adjusted, he noticed the faint light streaming in from the windows; Togawa had parted the curtains at some point while he was napping.
“Oh!” he sat up, blanket sliding off his shoulders onto the floor. Togawa laughed at him, but he didn't care. He grabbed the man's hand, yanking them up into a standing position and tugging him in the direction of the window. Togawa followed without complaint.
Peering outside into the endless Tokyo cityscape, Nozue's breath caught in his throat.
He gripped the coin tightly until it was warmed by his body heat, before carefully dropping it in the offering box. Observing Nozue out of the corner of his eye, he tried to synchronize their double bow as best he could, rising into the pair of claps. The sound felt particularly loud against the quiet of the small, local shrine, but that added gravity to the action, in a way.
Eyes falling shut, his prayer rang clear as the growing daylight in his mind.
Togawa and Nozue partake in Hastuminode and Hatsumode for the first time as a couple.
Words: 1437, Chapters: 1/2, Language: English
Series: Part 3 of Nozue and Togawa: Holidays
- Fandoms: Old Fashion Cupcake (TV)
- Rating: General Audiences
- Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
- Categories: M/M
- Characters: Togawa Minoru, Nozue Sanae
- Relationships: Nozue Sanae/Togawa Minoru
- Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, New Years, New Year's Fluff, this focuses on them celebrating Hatsunhinode and Hatsumode in particular, I am not like. Doing college course level research on every single Japanese New Year tradition, Sleep, Sleepiness, Sunrises, Ice Cream, Traditions, Romance, Affection, Declarations Of Love, In the cheesey mundane way these guys are great at
today is "one day"
Jan. 1st, 2026 12:01 amstarandrea posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
chinesestudyHappy New Year!
My wish for all of us is, may we not wait. Do the thing. If you can't do the thing, do something else.
人生苦短，不要等待 ♥
祝你们新年厉害！
My wish for all of us is, may we not wait. Do the thing. If you can't do the thing, do something else.
人生苦短，不要等待 ♥
祝你们新年厉害！
The ocean is faithful and the Devil's a liar
Dec. 31st, 2025 11:50 pmsovayThat was the year that was no good. I kept up with my website and my presence on AO3 and slept terribly and spent six days in hospital.
I published one new piece of fiction, although a meaningful one to me:
"Hyperboloids of Wondrous Light" in Not One of Us #81, January 2025.
Very little new poetry:
"The Ghost Summer" in Weird Fiction Quarterly Winter 2025: Ghosts, April 2025.
"The Burnt Layer" in Not One of Us #84, September 2025.
"Below Surface" in Not One of Us #83, June 2025.
One reprint:
"Twice Every Day Returning" in Afterlives: The Year's Best Death Stories 2024 (ed. Sheree Renée Thomas), Psychopomp, December 2025.
Nearly as much fanfiction as all of the above, counting the fills I transferred to AO3 and the one I left in place:
"Fall from the Sky" (Repeat Performance), January 2025.
"Floriography" (M*A*S*H), January 2025.
"A Good Accountant, All Right" (I Walk Alone), January 2025.
Very much less than I had wanted for Patreon:
Cover Up (1949), January 2025.
Decoy (1946), January 2025.
Grand Jury Secrets (1939), February 2025.
Lost Boundaries (1949), February 2025.
A Bomb Was Stolen (S-a furat o bombă, 1962), February 2025.
Black Kitten Micro-Thon 2025 [Final Offer (2018), "Come Back Mrs Noah" (1977), "Contact" (1981), Other Other (2024), Once in a New Moon (1934)], February 2025.
"Poison" (Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 1958), March 2025.
No Publicity (1927), April 2025.
A Bell for Adano (1945), May 2025.
City of Fear (1959), June 2025.
Ladies (2024), June 2025.
The Sea Wolf (1941), July 2025.
None Shall Escape (1944), July 2025.
I Won't Play (1944), August 2025.
The Gaunt Stranger (1939), August 2025.
The Perfect Murder (1988), August 2025.
The Hot Rock (1972), September 2025.
The Innocents (1961), September 2025.
Heat and Dust (1983), September 2025.
The Immortal Story (1968), October 2025.
Marooned (1994), October 2025.
Girl Stroke Boy (1971), October 2025.
Fear in the Night (1972), November 2025.
Enys Men (2022), November 2025.
Blind Spot (1947), November 2025.
Defence of the Realm (1985), December 2025.
A View from a Hill (2005), December 2025.
My major achievement of the last twelve months looks like not dying. More than one member of my family could say the same. Happy New Year. A healthy year, a more than endured one. Mir zaynen af tselokhes.
I published one new piece of fiction, although a meaningful one to me:
"Hyperboloids of Wondrous Light" in Not One of Us #81, January 2025.
Very little new poetry:
"The Ghost Summer" in Weird Fiction Quarterly Winter 2025: Ghosts, April 2025.
"The Burnt Layer" in Not One of Us #84, September 2025.
"Below Surface" in Not One of Us #83, June 2025.
One reprint:
"Twice Every Day Returning" in Afterlives: The Year's Best Death Stories 2024 (ed. Sheree Renée Thomas), Psychopomp, December 2025.
Nearly as much fanfiction as all of the above, counting the fills I transferred to AO3 and the one I left in place:
"Fall from the Sky" (Repeat Performance), January 2025.
"Floriography" (M*A*S*H), January 2025.
"A Good Accountant, All Right" (I Walk Alone), January 2025.
Very much less than I had wanted for Patreon:
Cover Up (1949), January 2025.
Decoy (1946), January 2025.
Grand Jury Secrets (1939), February 2025.
Lost Boundaries (1949), February 2025.
A Bomb Was Stolen (S-a furat o bombă, 1962), February 2025.
Black Kitten Micro-Thon 2025 [Final Offer (2018), "Come Back Mrs Noah" (1977), "Contact" (1981), Other Other (2024), Once in a New Moon (1934)], February 2025.
"Poison" (Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 1958), March 2025.
No Publicity (1927), April 2025.
A Bell for Adano (1945), May 2025.
City of Fear (1959), June 2025.
Ladies (2024), June 2025.
The Sea Wolf (1941), July 2025.
None Shall Escape (1944), July 2025.
I Won't Play (1944), August 2025.
The Gaunt Stranger (1939), August 2025.
The Perfect Murder (1988), August 2025.
The Hot Rock (1972), September 2025.
The Innocents (1961), September 2025.
Heat and Dust (1983), September 2025.
The Immortal Story (1968), October 2025.
Marooned (1994), October 2025.
Girl Stroke Boy (1971), October 2025.
Fear in the Night (1972), November 2025.
Enys Men (2022), November 2025.
Blind Spot (1947), November 2025.
Defence of the Realm (1985), December 2025.
A View from a Hill (2005), December 2025.
My major achievement of the last twelve months looks like not dying. More than one member of my family could say the same. Happy New Year. A healthy year, a more than endured one. Mir zaynen af tselokhes.
Yuletide recs, part III
Dec. 31st, 2025 08:55 pmsnickficMy third and final recs post. Another great year full of great fic. Amazing work, everyone. <3
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.
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.
Daily Happiness
Dec. 31st, 2025 07:57 pmtorachan1. It's the start of another four day weekend! Very excited about that. I wish the forecast wasn't rainy for much of it, but hopefully it won't be too bad. It was supposed to rain from this morning, but didn't really end up raining until afternoon. Completely dry when I took my morning walk and drove to work, and only sprinkling slightly when I took my midday walk around eleven. It's been off and on the afternoon and evening, though it did stop long enough for us to take an evening walk (slightly sprinkly through the second half, though).
2. Our neighbor's cat has been missing for several days but she reported him back home today.
3. Look at that fluffy tum! He loves tummy rubs, no trap there!
2. Our neighbor's cat has been missing for several days but she reported him back home today.
3. Look at that fluffy tum! He loves tummy rubs, no trap there!
Happy New Year & Good Riddance to 2025
Dec. 31st, 2025 09:20 pmshadowkatI'd say Hasta La Vista - but that actually means goodbye and see you later, and I really have no interest in revisiting this nasty tediously painful extraordinarily long seemingly endless year. I plan on forgetting most of it. People wondered in person and online where the year had gone to, and how fast it sped by...not me, folks. I was aware of every stinking hour of it. It drug. And if felt mean.
Bye Bye 2025. Don't let the door smack you on the way out. With any luck 2026 will be more memorable and at the very least? Less painful.
Hopefully your mileage varied in far more positive ways.
***
In 2026, I turn 59, an inch closer to 60, and a couple inches closer to retirement. With any luck it will bring peace and prosperity in its wake.
***
End of the Year Memage:
1. Memorable Television Series of 2025 (I'd say favorite - but it's kind of a moving target at the moment, I'm going with memorable).
( memorable television series )
2. Memorable Films of 2025 (see above)
( memorable films of 2025 )
3. Fandom that you miss
The Buffy/Angel fandom, I'll always miss it.
4. Memorable Books of 2025 (well that I read or listened to in 2025 at any rate, they weren't necessarily published in 2025).
( memorable books of 2025 )
5. Memorable Music of 2025 (not necessarily written in 2025)
* Huddled Masses
* What is the Reason for it by David Byrne from his album Who is the Sky?.
* Just Like That by Bonnie Raitt
* Something Wicked (this way comes) by Siouxie and the Banshees
* Say a Little Word by Ellen McIlwaine
Question a Day Memeage - End of December
28. How much exercise have you had over the last few days?
Bad knee. Been doing knee exercises. Walking a lot - because it's my main mode of transportation outside of subways. I go up and down a lot of subway steps. Averaging 4,000-8,000 steps a day. Today just did knee exercises and a little walking.
29. In 1886, the dishwasher was patented. It was invented by Josephine Cochran, who lived in Shelbyville, Illinois. She constructed the first one and won a prize at the Chicago World Fair (and was used by the restaurant industry). Do you own a dishwasher or wash your dishes by hand?
No. Wash dishes by hand. I rent an apartment and it's not cleared for a dishwasher. Also I'm single - so not an issue.
30. It’s National Bacon Day! What’s your favourite way to eat bacon? Have you ever tried vegan ‘bacon’?
With eggs or with pancakes or waffles. I don't eat it now - it doesn't digest well and it tends to go bad before I eat all of it.
No, never had vegan bacon. Artificial yes - bacon bits. Won't do it again.
31. It’s New Year’s Eve – how would you sum up 2025 on a scale of one to ten? Let’s stay positive - what was the best thing that happened to you this year?
1, maybe 2. No definitely 1. Assuming of course 10 (is best) on this scale.
Moved my work place from Jamaica, Queens to Lower Manhattan, Battery Park, Tribeca/Financial District. Shorter Commute, and nicer area all around. Also have a window. And peace and quiet for the most part.
Happy New Year, hopefully regardless of how you ranked 2025 - 2026 will be a better or more positive year for us all around the globe.
Bye Bye 2025. Don't let the door smack you on the way out. With any luck 2026 will be more memorable and at the very least? Less painful.
Hopefully your mileage varied in far more positive ways.
***
In 2026, I turn 59, an inch closer to 60, and a couple inches closer to retirement. With any luck it will bring peace and prosperity in its wake.
***
End of the Year Memage:
1. Memorable Television Series of 2025 (I'd say favorite - but it's kind of a moving target at the moment, I'm going with memorable).
( memorable television series )
2. Memorable Films of 2025 (see above)
( memorable films of 2025 )
3. Fandom that you miss
The Buffy/Angel fandom, I'll always miss it.
4. Memorable Books of 2025 (well that I read or listened to in 2025 at any rate, they weren't necessarily published in 2025).
( memorable books of 2025 )
5. Memorable Music of 2025 (not necessarily written in 2025)
* Huddled Masses
* What is the Reason for it by David Byrne from his album Who is the Sky?.
* Just Like That by Bonnie Raitt
* Something Wicked (this way comes) by Siouxie and the Banshees
* Say a Little Word by Ellen McIlwaine
Question a Day Memeage - End of December
28. How much exercise have you had over the last few days?
Bad knee. Been doing knee exercises. Walking a lot - because it's my main mode of transportation outside of subways. I go up and down a lot of subway steps. Averaging 4,000-8,000 steps a day. Today just did knee exercises and a little walking.
29. In 1886, the dishwasher was patented. It was invented by Josephine Cochran, who lived in Shelbyville, Illinois. She constructed the first one and won a prize at the Chicago World Fair (and was used by the restaurant industry). Do you own a dishwasher or wash your dishes by hand?
No. Wash dishes by hand. I rent an apartment and it's not cleared for a dishwasher. Also I'm single - so not an issue.
30. It’s National Bacon Day! What’s your favourite way to eat bacon? Have you ever tried vegan ‘bacon’?
With eggs or with pancakes or waffles. I don't eat it now - it doesn't digest well and it tends to go bad before I eat all of it.
No, never had vegan bacon. Artificial yes - bacon bits. Won't do it again.
31. It’s New Year’s Eve – how would you sum up 2025 on a scale of one to ten? Let’s stay positive - what was the best thing that happened to you this year?
1, maybe 2. No definitely 1. Assuming of course 10 (is best) on this scale.
Moved my work place from Jamaica, Queens to Lower Manhattan, Battery Park, Tribeca/Financial District. Shorter Commute, and nicer area all around. Also have a window. And peace and quiet for the most part.
Happy New Year, hopefully regardless of how you ranked 2025 - 2026 will be a better or more positive year for us all around the globe.
53 Years Ago Today: The Dawn of a New Year’s Tradition with Dick Clark’s Rockin’ Eve
Jan. 1st, 2026 02:57 amcordcuttersnews_feedAs the glittering ball prepares to drop in Times Square tonight, marking the arrival of 2026, television viewers across America are gearing up for another edition of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest. But rewind the clock exactly 53 years to December 31, 1972, and you’ll find the humble beginnings of what […]
The post 53 Years Ago Today: The Dawn of a New Year’s Tradition with Dick Clark’s Rockin’ Eve appeared first on Cord Cutters News.
12/31/2025 Booker T Anderson Jr Park
Dec. 31st, 2025 07:14 pmmrkinchA couple of rarities have been hanging out at Booker T Anderson so U, Chris, and I went to see what we could find. Did not find what we'd hoped for but it's a really nice little park with a wooded stream and we had a good time. I saw my first Cedar Waxwings of the season! I've been looking for them, expecting them all Fall. There were only two, but that's a start. The primary birds in the Park were American Robins and Yellow-rumped Warblers, and some of the Robins were singing. The other surprise was a singing Purple Finch; seemed an unusual place for one, down in the flatland, but then there was one at Meeker Slough. ( The list: )
We were lucky that the very much expected rain didn't really get started until we were just about ready to leave. It's been raining since and may continue off and into Monday.
We were lucky that the very much expected rain didn't really get started until we were just about ready to leave. It's been raining since and may continue off and into Monday.
20 Multifandom Icons
Dec. 31st, 2025 06:57 pmimpala_chick posting in fandom_iconsFandoms:
-Winter Solstice stock
-Dune
-The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
-Smallville (from Lexmas and 5.17 Void)
-Babygirl.
20 icons over here
-Winter Solstice stock
-Dune
-The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
-Smallville (from Lexmas and 5.17 Void)
-Babygirl.
20 icons over here