flamebyrd | Reading

My definition of "MCU" includes the tv shows (that I've seen). With this in mind, in no particular order:

1) Agatha Harkness & "Teen" ( spoilery identity is spoilery )
, Agatha All Along: I adored this show in 2024 when it was released and I still adore it, and have rewatched it three times already. There are many reasons why, but the relationship between these two characters is most definitely one of them. It has different layers, not least because the characters are both holding back information about each other and their true reason for the show's quest for a considerable time, and yet they bond in a very real way even before the various reveals. It ends up as mentor/protegé, with a sideline of odd couple and sort of, kind of, family. And I really hope that whatever the MCU future brings, we will see these two together again.

2) Jessica Jones & Matt Murdoch, (The Defenders): speaking of combinations I hope to see again - The big crossover miniseries of the Netflix Marvel shows was flawed in several ways, but the various combinations of characters were all gold, and I loved the Mattt & Jess combo most of all. To put it as unspoilery as possible: their different ways of reaching the top of a building had me in stitches. And the serious character scenes were fantastic. That neither of them was sexually interested in the other might have been why they got along so well, given both characters have a really messy love- and sex life.

3) Tony Stark & Bruce Banner, (The Avengers): their scenes were such an unexpected delight. Very differnet personalities, and yet a meeting of the minds, so to speak, and great chemistry to boot. We hardly saw them in the same room again after Age of Ultron, which I regretted, but given the ensembles grew larger and larger, it was probably inevitable. (Also, the writing for Bruce Banner changed a lot.)

4) Yelena Belova & Alexei Shostakov, (Black Widow, Thunderbolts): I was torn between this and Yelena & Natasha, and Yelena & Kate Bishop, but Alexei wins with a combination of the relationship being showcased in two different movies and the way we see it change through said movies. Also: Alexei may have been a deadbeat (spy) dad, but he can make Yelena smile (intentionally, I mean, not just when he's being goofy) in an incredibly touching way. Again in both movies.

5) Nebula & Gamora (both of them), Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Infinity Wars and Avengers: Endgame: pace Yelena & Natasha, but these are my favourite sisters in the MCU. They get introduced as a seemingly straightforward rendition of bad girl and good bad girl, the evil and the heroic sister - and then it gets complicated. Given their incredibly screwed up childhood and youth (Thanos trying his best to win the worst Dad competition in the MCU), it's a miracle they had non-hostile feelings for each other to begin with, and yet they do. The moment in Guardians 2 when we find out what Thanos did each time Gamora beat Nebula in a match is absolutely gut wrenching. And when we see them connect and change through sevearl movies, it is both touching and absolutely cheerworthy.

6) Mark Spector & Steven Grant, Moon Knight: that they're both played by Oscar Isaacs is the least of it. The miniseries was so clever in the way it introduced us to them which turns certain tropes on their head because ( it gets spoilery )The result is a sort of "unknown and seemingly very different brothers find each other" tale which also manages to be self exploration and offers moments of grace, support and love in the last three episodes that still make me reach for my hankerchief upon rewatch.

Not included: Peggy Carter & Dottie Underwood (Agent Carter), because the subtext is barely sub, and I definitely ship them, which makes them disqualified for a list of platonic relationships (which I want to remain platonic). But they definitely had "my best enemy" potential in that show. And fantastic chemistry.

The other days

Current Mood: mellow
Current Location: Bad Wiessee

badly_knitted posting in

fan_flashworks

Title: Wishful Thinking
Fandom: FAKE
Author:

badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Like Like Love.
Summary: There’s nothing worse than an outdoor murder scene in the middle of a New York winter.
Word Count: 1215
Content Notes: Nada.
Written For: Challenge 502: Sand.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

( Wishful Thinking... )

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: my desk

trobadora posting in

sid_guardian

amperslashexchange 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!

toothpastepancake posting in

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scaramouche

I got this book ages ago but shoved it to the back of the drawer because I'd read another book by the author, Amy Licence, that was filled with silly but annoying mistakes. I'd put the author on my No Go list, but I already had this book in the pile, is the problem.

When I finally picked it up to read, I was already not inclined to be generous. Second impressions are even worse because the title is already obnoxious -- the book isn't about royal babies around the world, but royal babies in the UK, from Empress Matilda in the post-Conquest, down to the George, the eldest of the latest batch. Then the spread of births is uneven, too, with Licence skipping whole generations but then specifiying three of Henry VIII's kids: the short-lived Henry, Elizabeth, and Edward. Because Tudor supremacy, I guess. This isn't bad in itself, but just added to my annoyance of a bias.

It's a quick read, though! There is a throughline there of how royal births and birthing procedures evolved over the centuries, with Licence mentioning new expertise and publications that changed the way births were handled. There's the tug-of-water between male surgeons and female midwives, which eventually led to male midwives but also female midwives becoming more outspoken and publishing their own works. Then the horror of the Victorian era where all the nitty gritty of giving birth becomes taboo(ish), and the modern era with its overexposure to a ravenous public. But this throughline isn't consistent, as there are some chapters where Licence skips the birth details entirely to focus on the political situation of the baby's parents and the significance said baby would have or could have had (like if Henry VIII's first son with Catherine had lived). It's an okay book but I was not inclined to be nice about it.

Current Mood: sick

delphi

The actual-play audio drama podcast

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

Official Summary:

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

Please remain seated.

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

Watch on YouTube

tielan

I shall miss the stars.

Not that I shall stop looking
as they pattern their wild will each night
across an inchoate sky, but I must see them with a different awe.
If I trace their flames’ ascending and descending –
relationships and correspondences –
then I deny what they have just revealed.
The sum of their oppositions, juxtapositions, led me to the end of all sums:
a long journey, cold, dark and uncertain,
toward the ultimate equation.
How can I understand? If I turn back from this,
compelled to seek all answers in the stars,
then this – Who – they have led me to
is not the One they said: they will have lied.

No stars are liars!
My life on their truth!
If they had lied about this
I could never trust their power again.

But I believe they showed the truth,
truth breathing,
truth Whom I have touched with my own hands,
worshipped with my gifts.
If I have bowed, made
obeisance to this final arithmetic,
I cannot ask the future from the stars without betraying
the One whom they have led me to.

It will be hard not ask, just once again,
see by mathematical forecast where he will grow,
where go, what kingdom conquer, what crown wear.
But would it not be going beyond truth
(the obscene reduction ad absurdum)
to lose my faith in truth once, and once for all
revealed in the full dayspring of the sun?

I cannot go back to night.
O Truth, O small and unexpected thing,
You have taken so much from me.
How can I bear wisdom’s pain?
But I have been shown: and I have seen.

— Madeleine L’Engle

sholio

candyheartsex signups close tomorrow! I was going to try to do it this year, but ... I just don't think it's a good idea. I'm starting to really need a break from exchanges, so I'm going to take a couple months off (aside from the ones I already have, which will be over when Festivids wraps up at the end of January) and then show up again when H/C-ex signups open in March.

Amperslash is still looking for two pinch hits! You can find the details here at the Amperslash comm.

• PH 3 - 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018) RPF, 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018), 镇魂 | Guardian - priest

• PH 9 - Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn, Honor Harrington Series - David Weber, The Goblin Emperor Series - Katherine Addison

If any of those sound like you might want to write them, the exchange has already had several delays and fingers crossed it'll be able to get them filled and open on time! I know there used to be some Guardian people around here; I don't know if anyone's still actively writing in it, or might be able to advertise the PH in Guardian-centric fandom spaces?

writtenwordsaloud posting in

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musesfool

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*

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

infinitum_noctem posting in

fan_flashworks

Title: A Prize to be Won
Fandom: Terraria
Rating: G
Length: 36 words
Summary: The player completes fishing quests for the Angler.

( Read more... )

shadaras

Over the last ~week,

hafnia and I went "sooooo what if we ran a multifandom remix event" and now it is up and ready for signups! We're hoping it'll be a fun time, and we'd love to have you join us. <3

Remix Through the Seasons is a quarterly, trope-based multifandom event hosted on ao3.

Participants will write one new story (between 1-5k) and then be assigned another story written for the event to remix. These stories can be in any fandom (including Original Work). Matching will be based on the stories' tropes (and creator DNWs) rather than pairings/fandoms. Remixing works from one fandom into another is allowed (even expected).

Schedule:
Signups open: Now!
Signups close: January 24
Assignments sent: January 31
Original works revealed: January 31
Remix works due: March 14
Remix works reveals: March 21
All author reveals: March 28
All due dates etc are at 11:59pm GMT on the listed date

DW Comm:

seasonalremix
Ao3 Collection

(getting everything finalised involved spending a couple hours on a discord call editing the gdoc full of rules and only occasionally getting distracted talking about other things, which tbh is pretty good for how many moving parts there can be for stuff like this and how easy it can be to get sidetracked talking to your bestie. we think the rules are clear! ask questions [preferably on the comm] if they aren't! <3)

wavesagainstrocks posting in

fancoded

Hello! I'm hoping someone here could answer my admittedly really silly question.

I've dabbled in coding and have used websites like Neocities to host my site in the past, which was all fine and well! But I had come across an entry here on DW regarding a Shrine Challenge. I looked through a lot of the published shrines and they all looked like they had "multiple" sites under the same domain (not on anything like Neocities). Is this something you pay for? Are there any free hosts out there able to do this too?

I can give some examples if this question doesn't make sense, haha! I'm having a hard time explaining it, but I didn't wanna just post someone's site link without permission or anything like that!

Thanks so much!

snickfic

Clearing out the last of my movies watched last year.

We Bury the Dead (2026). After an American experimental weapons accident kills every human and animal on Madascar, an American woman (Daisy Ridley) comes to help identify bodies and search for her husband who was on a work retreat there. Also sometimes the dead don't stay dead.

As someone who is pretty over zombie movies, I liked this one quite a bit. First of all, it's Australian, and boy can you feel it. This is not your Hollywood zombie blockbuster or even your Danny Boyle zombie blockbuster. For starters, we spend relatively little time running from or fighting zombies. In fact, these are the most ambiguously threatening zombies I can remember seeing in a long long time, and I liked how much that complicated the story. It's also beautifully shot with great atmosphere and a score that really adds to the mood of the whole thing. And I really appreciated how our understanding of the central couple's married relationship gets more complicated as the film goes on.

That said, ( spoilers )

This movie feels like it invites comparison to 28 Years Later, if only by accident, given the timing. I know 28 Years Later has a lot of fans, and I didn't hate it, but overall I liked this a lot better for the indie feel, the focus on a female character, and honestly because I liked the cinematography better.

Anyway, it's out in theaters now. If it sounds fun, I recommend it!

--

Red Rooms (2023). A French-Canadian film about two female true crime fans following the trial of a man accused of raping and murdering underage teen girls. This movie is beautifully made, and with really visible care and precision. The director knew what he wanted to make, and he went for it. The result is moody and fucked up without ever feeling exploitative (to me); this is very much about the groupies, not about the man on trial, and we never seen the horrifying footage at the center of the trial.

It's also shippy as hell. Our main gal Kelly-Anne is a wealthy model and computer hacker who professes herself to be "not bad with numbers," who's obsessed with the trial for reasons that are to some extent left to the viewer, while Clementine is a less well-heeled diehard apologist for the man at the center of the trial and is convinced he's innocent. Somehow out of these two, it's Clementine who feels like the more well-adjusted person; it's questionable whether Kelly-Anne has any friends at all, and yet maybe Clementine becomes one. As a friend of mine described it, "Clementine’s more open neediness draws out a reciprocal vulnerability from Kelly-Anne."

High rec from me. If any of this sounds appealing to you, definitely check it out.

chacusha posting in

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rachelmanija

Once upon a time, the moon Panga was industrial and capitalist and miserable. Then robots suddenly and inexplicably gained self-awareness. They chose to stop working, leave human habitation, and go into the wilderness. The humans not only didn't try to stop them, but this event somehow precipitated a huge political change. Half of Panga was left to the wilderness, and humans developed a kinder, ecologically friendly, sustainable way of life. But the robots were never seen again.

That's all backstory. When the book opens, Sibling Dex, a nonbinary monk, is dissatisfied with their life for reasons unclear to themself. They leave the monastery to become a traveling tea monk, which is a sort of counselor: you tell the monk your troubles, and the monk listens and fixes you a cup of tea. Dex's first day on the job is hilariously disastrous, but they get better and better, until they're very good at it... but still inexplicably dissatisfied. So they venture out into the wilderness, where they meet a robot, Mosscap - the first human-robot meeting in hundreds of years.

I had previously failed to get very far into The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this novella. It's cozy in a good way, with plenty of atmosphere, a world that isn't quite perfect but is definitely one I'd like to live in, and some interesting philosophical exploration. My favorite part was actually Dex's life as a tea monk before they meet Mosscap - it's very relatable if you've ever been a counselor or therapist, from the horrible first day to the pleasure of familiar clients later on. I would absolutely go to a tea monk.

I would have liked Mosscap to be a bit more flawed - it's very lovable and has a lot of interesting things to say, but is pretty much always right. Mosscap is surprised and delighted by humanity, but I'm not sure Dex ever shakes up its worldview in a way it finds true but uncomfortable, which Mosscap repeatedly does to Dex. Maybe in the second novella, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy.

And while I'm on things which are implausibly neat/perfect, this is a puzzling backstory:

1) Robots gain self-awareness and leave.

2) ????

3) ~~PROFIT!~~ Society goes from capitalist hellscape to environmentalist paradise.

Maybe we'll learn more about the ???? later.

But overall, I did quite like the novella. The parts where Dex is a tea monk, with the interactions with their clients and their life in their caravan, are very successfully cozy - an instant comfort read. And I liked the robot society and the religious orders, as well as a lot of the Mosscap/Dex relationship. I'll definitely read the sequel.

prisca posting in

fic_promptly

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rionaleonhart

This was so much fun to write.

Title: The Fic That Goes Wrong
Fandom: The Goes Wrong Show
Rating: G
Wordcount: 1,400

Good evening, and welcome to another edition of 'Fic of the Week'. I am Chris Bean, the author.

Tonight’s story is a classic tale of huddling for warmth. The cast is a little tighter than most of our works, but I think that will ultimately make for a more focused piece. I have taken every possible measure to ensure that everything will run smoothly.

Please enjoy tonight’s work of fanfiction, 'Two’s Company'.

( The Fic That Goes Wrong )

watersword

I'm not dead; I've taken today & tomorrow off work and would not be surprised if I call in sick Thursday & Friday as well; I'm in less pain than I was, but I'm still pretty uncomfortable; mostly stopped coughing but my head is full of goo, which may honestly be worse. I felt marginally better yesterday, and thank goodness I took advantage of it to change my bedlinens and run the robovac, because today the prospect of taking the dirty linens down to the basement to wash them is making me quail. (ETA: 1/3 accomplished.) Naptime now.

marthawells

I updated my sticky post with: PSA: if you get an email out of the blue that is supposedly from me, offering to help you with marketing or other publisher services, or asking for money, it is not me, it is a scammer. Also, if you see me on Facebook or Threads or XTwitter, that's not me either.

This is a very common scam now, one of the many scams aimed at aspiring and new writers.

***

I'm still sick, ugh

***

Nice article on Queen Demon on the Daily KOS:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/1/5/2361356/-The-Language-of-the-Night-Martha-Wells-takes-on-colonization

One of Wells’ most compelling gifts as a writer is the way she interrogates trauma, and trauma is very much in evidence in her recent works, especially in both Murderbot and The Rising World. Where the Murderbot stories form an enslavement narrative as personal journey and healing, the Rising World series applies a wider cultural lens to trauma and loss.

Kai has seen his world ripped apart twice: the way to the underneath, the world of his birth, is shut off; the world of his above existence, the world of the Saredi, is also gone, both of them murdered by the Hierarchs. (You could argue that the third traumatizing loss-of-world is losing Bashasa, but that lies in the gap between past and present narratives.) In the past narrative, a vanquished Kai himself is imprisoned in the Summer Halls until Bashasa frees him and he joins the ad hoc rebellion.

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Random Thoughts

Reading

January Meme: Six Favourite Platonic Relationships in the MCU

FAKE: Fanfic: Wishful Thinking

Guardian pinch-hit for Amperslash

Multifandom: 100femslash

Book Log: 25 Royal Babies That Changed the World

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

poetry: "One King’s Epiphany" by L'Engle

Fandom things

HAZBIN HOTEL: Smokescreen 2026

her little boy lost in our little world that hated

Terraria: Quatrain: A Prize to be Won

(no subject)

Website/Shrine Question

Movies: We Bury the Dead, Red Rooms

Quodo Mini-fest VI - sign-ups open!

A Psalm for the Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers

Challenge Week 01/2026 - Day 2

Fanfiction: The Fic That Goes Wrong (The Goes Wrong Show)

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