The Trail of the Serpent, by M. E. Braddon
Jan. 20th, 2026 04:14 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
standardebooks_new_feedIn the town of Slopperton-on-the-Sloshy, the fate of Richard Marwood and Jabez North intertwine in a story of crime, intrigue, and redemption.
standardebooks_new_feedOn the Eve, by Ivan Turgenev
Jan. 20th, 2026 03:50 amstandardebooks_new_feedA young Russian woman falls in love with a Bulgarian patriot on the eve of the Crimean War.
When Songbirds Cry
Jan. 19th, 2026 02:05 amlittle_women_ao3_feedThe Hunger Games--a reminder of the Dark Days, before the Treaty of Treason ended the war and brought peace to the Capitol and its Districts.
Soon the sun will rise on the day of the First Quarter Quell, the 25th Hunger Games. For most within District 2, this is an honor... however for Mion Sonozaki, it is a reminder of her impending fate. To remind the districts of the choice they made to rebel, the Capitol has made it so that this year the tributes must be voted on by the entire district. After a horrible year as Mayor of District 2, Mister Sonozaki has painted the largest of targets on his back. When Mion finds herself caught up in the crossfire of this feud--she gets thrust into the role of tribute, and without any preparation she has to find a way to survive.
However what is there in surviving alone?
With every factor seemingly against her--Mion must maneuver the extravagancy of the First Quarter Quell and hold on to any hope of returning to her family alive. But when the extent of her circumstance is made evident.. she has to make a difficult decision.
Is it good enough simply to go home, or is there light beyond the void..?
Words: 13604, Chapters: 4/?, Language: English
Series: Part 1 of Ad Meliora
- Fandoms: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni | Higurashi When They Cry, Umineko no Naku Koro ni | When the Seagulls Cry, Little Women Series - Louisa May Alcott, Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene, Avatar: The Last Airbender (Cartoon 2005)
- Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
- Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
- Categories: Gen
- Characters: Sonozaki Mion, Josephine "Jo" March, Ryuuguu Rena, Maebara Keiichi, Ushiromiya Jessica, Coriolanus Snow, Sonozaki Shion, Sonozaki Akane, Houjou Satoshi, Nancy Drew, Ooishi Kuraudo, Lucretius "Lucky" Flickerman, Azula (Avatar)
- Additional Tags: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Crossover, Minor Character Death, Female Protagonist, Platonic Relationships, Child Death, Teenagers, Blood and Violence, Near Death, 25th Hunger Games, Panem (Hunger Games), Hunger Games, Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, District 2 (Hunger Games), Quarter Quell (Hunger Games), Coriolanus Snow Being an Asshole, Rebellion, Original Arena(s) (Hunger Games), Arena (Hunger Games), Aftermath of Violence, Hunger Games-Typical Death/Violence, Execution, District 12 (Hunger Games), District 4 (Hunger Games), District 3 (Hunger Games), Hinamizawa Syndrome (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni), Protective Siblings, Twins, Dystopia
An Annual "In Sickness and In Health"
Jan. 20th, 2026 02:36 amhouse_chase_ao3_feedby leester
Being bored and having a fellow who's borderline careless is a good recipe for... something.
Words: 3120, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English
- Fandoms: House M.D.
- Rating: Not Rated
- Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
- Categories: M/M
- Characters: Gregory House, Robert Chase (House M.D.)
- Relationships: Robert Chase/Gregory House
- Additional Tags: Medical Examination, Impromptu!, Talking, Fairly Canon Compliant, Crushes, Banter, Canon-Typical Behavior, Typical levels of House's Harassment
Divisional Roundup
Jan. 19th, 2026 06:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mayhapWe're running perilously short of football. Soon we will be entirely out.
( divisional games )
( championship games )
( divisional games )
( championship games )
Maxima culpa
Jan. 19th, 2026 09:55 pmslacktivist_feed"Sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That's what sin is."
Basic Apple Guy: Creator Studio Icon History
Jan. 19th, 2026 10:31 pmdaringfireballfeed_feedIs there anyone who doesn’t find this sad?
Menu Bar, Title Bar, What’s the Difference?
Jan. 19th, 2026 10:19 pmdaringfireballfeed_feedFrom Apple’s iPhone Mirroring documentation, boldface emphasis added:
Click to tap: Click your mouse or trackpad to tap. You can also swipe and scroll in the iPhone Mirroring app, and use your keyboard to type.
Open the App Switcher: Move your pointer to the top of the iPhone Mirroring screen until the menu bar appears, then click
to open the App Switcher.
Go to the Home Screen: If you’re in an app and want to return to the Home Screen, move your pointer to the top of the iPhone Mirroring screen until the menu bar appears, then click
.
It certainly sounds like these instructions are for users who, sadly, have the menu bar hidden by default. But there are no or buttons in the menu bar. These buttons are in the iPhone Mirroring window title bar, which is, for all users, hidden by default:
but which presents a proper window title bar when the mouse pointer is hovering in the area where the title bar will appear:
Since I’m feeling generous, I’ll chalk this up to an absentminded mistake on the part of Apple’s documentation team. If I were feeling cynical, I would instead suspect that Apple has so lost the plot on the Mac that they now employ documentation writers and editors who do not understand the difference between the menu bar and window title bars. (It doesn’t help that the iPhone Mirroring window title bar, like so many windows in Apple’s recent Mac apps, doesn’t have a title.)
For what it’s worth, this documentation is the same for both MacOS 15 Sequoia and 26 Tahoe.
A four-day weekend is so nice.
Jan. 19th, 2026 02:12 pmnewredshoesI am sitting in Gingko's favorite chair, which is an immensely comfortable yellow wingback that perfectly takes advantage of the sunny south-facing windows, which are extra sunny today because it is hideously cold and will continue to be so and worse for a week at least. Gingko is also sitting in this chair, which is not large enough for both of us, but my smart girl is making it work. This is a day where I am finally, after three days of ~decompressing, interested in things other than screens. Maybe it was taking that Adderall this morning? But I've been cleaning the leather accessories I've been collecting, plus polishing up some wood that's desperately thirsty (including a nice little cigar box from the thrift store!).
I'm spending so much time trying to find the next living spare where I'll land that I haven't made much effort to make the most of this one. ( Spaces, pruning, money... many thoughts )
But, okay, activities I prioritize and treasure and would like spaces for:
I'm spending so much time trying to find the next living spare where I'll land that I haven't made much effort to make the most of this one. ( Spaces, pruning, money... many thoughts )
But, okay, activities I prioritize and treasure and would like spaces for:
- Crafting — printmaking, paper-mache, watercolor, comics, collage, tunnel books, dioramas, so much!
- Tea and tea display, not just this big glorious shelf but an actual tea ceremony kind of spot (not low enough to the ground that Gingko could destroy it, though; sorry to any coffee tables, I don't think you're really in my foreseeable future)
- Altar and tarot table + display — the presence of household altars was something I learned from shadesofbrixton and visiting Santa Fe, which I absolutely loved, alongside this phenomenal altered wall cabinet at
![[instagram.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/profile_icons/instagram.png)
chicagoprintmakers that I can't find a photo of but trust me, I really want to replicate it - Music — I need to mount my banjo, ukuleles, accordion and other assorted instruments where I will see and want to play them!
- Yes, I have a rowing machine which I love and which is collecting so much dust, but once my arm is better, I want to get it down again, I freaking love using it and I want a regular space for it in the next place
- Reading nook!!!! With lots of plants!! What if!!!!
Matthew Butterick on the Copyrightability of Fonts
Jan. 19th, 2026 06:22 pmdaringfireballfeed_feedMatthew Butterick:
But more importantly, in practical terms — what would be the point? Since 2011, I’ve run a small font business. Not long after I release a font, it will be uploaded to some public pirate-software website. I can’t control that. Like every other kind of digital-media file, anyone who wants to pirate my fonts can do so if sufficiently motivated.
For that reason — and independent of copyright law — my business necessarily runs on something more akin to the honor system. I try to make nice fonts, price my licenses fairly, and thereby make internet strangers enthusiastic about sending me money rather than going to pirate websites. Enough of them do. My business continues. (Indeed, in terms of rational economic choice, I’ve argued that software piracy doesn’t exist.)
★ Crazy People Do Crazy Things
Jan. 19th, 2026 05:48 pmdaringfireballfeed_feedDonald Trump, in a message (I wouldn’t call it a letter) sent to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, confirmed by several news organizations:
Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT
There’s a simple explanation for this. Trump is in cognitive decline and it’s accelerating from age-related dementia. He lives in an imaginary world that is increasingly cleaved from reality. (Norway, it should be pointed out, is not Denmark, the country of which Greenland is a part.)
Trump’s Venezuela operation was brazenly illegal. But it wasn’t crazy. Venezuela was not a U.S. ally. President Nicolas Maduro lost an election but stayed in power. Venezuela was producing military drones for the hostile regime in Iran, a self-declared enemy of the U.S., NATO, and Israel. Venezuela had a burgeoning alliance with China, the U.S.’s primary geopolitical rival.
What Trump is threatening with Greenland is simply bonkers. Greenland is under no threat from China or Russia because it’s part of NATO, and thus — ostensibly — under the full protection of the entire NATO alliance including and especially the United States. If China or Russia attempted to take Greenland it would trigger a world war led by the United States. Compare and contrast with Ukraine and Taiwan. Ukraine, long before Vladimir Putin invaded, was known to be under threat of Russian invasion. Taiwan has long been known to be threatened by China. These threats have been in our geopolitical discourse for decades because the threats were real (and, unfortunately, came to pass in Ukraine).
No one has ever talked about Greenland being under threat of takeover by Russia or China because there is no such threat. It’s no more realistic than Russia taking over Alaska or China taking over Hawaii. It sounds nuts because it is nuts, and the threat only exists in Trump’s disintegrating mind.
Eight of our NATO allies have made clear, through action, not mere words, their intention to defend Greenland. Trump, obviously angry that our ostensible allies won’t just roll over and accede to his madness, is now petulantly turning to his favorite word, tariffs. If that’s “the hard way”, that’s pathetic. Stand up to bullies and they usually fold.
The threat to Greenland, and thus to NATO — and thus, quite literally, to the entire world — is not that Trump authorized an illegal military operation in Venezuela, so he might do it in Greenland too. Again, what the U.S. did in Venezuela was obviously illegal, and probably stupid, but it wasn’t crazy. Breaking up NATO and starting a war with Europe would be batshit crazy. The threat is that Trump is showing us, every day, that he is crazy. Crazy people do crazy things, and crazy cult leaders surround themselves with cultists. The rest of us need to stop sane-washing this. You cannot make sense out of nonsense.
If Trump declares that the U.S. is laying claim to all of the green cheese on the moon — say, to lower the price of dairy groceries — the news media should not respond with fact-finding articles with headlines like “How Much Cheese Is on the Moon?” They should respond with headlines like “How Many Marbles Are Left in Trump’s Dementia-Addled Head?” But threatening to take Greenland by military force is nuttier than laying claim to the moon’s cheese. Laying claim to non-existent green cheese wouldn’t trigger a shooting war that blows apart the most powerful alliance in military history.
Study Concludes That Americans Are the Ones Paying for Tariffs
Jan. 19th, 2026 03:54 pmdaringfireballfeed_feedTom Fairless, reporting for The Wall Street Journal (main link is a gift link; here’s a News+ link too):
The German research echoes recent reports by the Budget Lab at Yale and economists at Harvard Business School, finding that only a small fraction of the tariff costs were being borne by foreign producers.
By analyzing $4 trillion of shipments between January 2024 and November 2025, the Kiel Institute researchers found that foreign exporters absorbed only about 4% of the burden of last year’s U.S. tariff increases by lowering their prices, while American consumers and importers absorbed 96%. [...]
Rather than acting as a tax on foreign producers, the tariffs functioned as a consumption tax on Americans, the report said. “There is no such thing as foreigners transferring wealth to the U.S. in the form of tariffs,” said Julian Hinz, an economics professor at Germany’s Bielefeld University who co-authored the study.
This is what economists expected, but it’s always important to measure actual results, no matter how obvious the conclusions seem in advance. But this one feels like we could file it next to “Sun continues to rise in east, set in west.”
WorkOS Pipes
Jan. 19th, 2026 03:50 pmdaringfireballfeed_feedMy thanks to WorkOS for sponsoring DF last week. Connecting user accounts to third-party APIs always comes with the same plumbing: OAuth flows, token storage, refresh logic, and provider-specific quirks. WorkOS Pipes removes that overhead. Users connect services like GitHub, Slack, Google, Salesforce, and other supported providers through a drop-in widget. Your back end requests a valid access token from the Pipes API when needed, while Pipes handles credential storage and token refresh. That’s it.
DIVISIONAL ROUND CHAOS REPORT: God is Dead
Jan. 19th, 2026 08:01 amthedrawplay_feed
THE WEEK IN CHAOS
–That was honestly a fairly routine divisional round. Playoff football is just fun! Unless you root for the 49ers. You probably didn’t have much fun.
Bills/Boncos got us off to a good start with a classic. The Bills have a heartbreaking loss every year and somehow every one feels like it hurts worse than the last one. This was an extremely winnable game by Buffalo and they choked it. Josh Allen could not stop giving the ball away. If he doesn’t have that stupid fumble before halftime that gave Denver a free 3 points, Buffalo wins in regulation. I wish I could trade the Bills for Denver anyway, because the victory was pyrrhic for the Boncos. Poor Bo.
Then Seattle ran back the opening kick against the 49ers and it didn’t get better from there. It was our first true total ass-whooping of these playoffs. I think the injuries finally caught up with San Francisco and they got roasted by a very hungry Seattle team. Darnold didn’t even have to pass the ball.
As far as I’m concerned the Pats have justifiably answered the questions and there’s not much left to be skeptical of. Their offense has struggled these past two weeks but the defense has made up for the deficiencies. The Texans were without their best tackle and #1 WR, but even then the Texans offense was atrocious. We may have crowned Stroud too early. He had the yips and was throwing garbage balls over and over. He’d try to force passes and get picked off. He’d miss wide open guys. Meanwhile Bryce Young on the Panthers has made improvements year over year…did the Panthers do it right?
Then we have…well, you know the team.
CHAOS OF THE WEEK
–It breaks my heart to know we are now officially done with the chaos Bears miracle run. But they gave us one last show for the ages. When Chicago failed on 4th down with 3 minutes left, I could feel the chaos rising once more. There is electricity in the air. The Bears got the ball back and you could tell. Something was going to happen. Something wild. The Bears get stuck on 4th down, the Rams rush Caleb, he runs backwards 20 yards and heaves up a prayer that falls incomplete in every other game except this one, where Cole Kmet catches it to tie the game.
Overtime didn’t go well but man, thank you for this moment, Bears. One more miracle for the road.
CHAOTIC MOMENTS OF THE WEEK
–The best catch of the weekend and the instant any Houston chance evaporated
THE VIBE CHECK
– I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a playoff win get such an immediate gut punch like Denver did. The Bo Nix news came out so fast after the win it felt like whiplash, like someone had tweeted fake news and everyone bought it.
-THE NFL HAS AN OFFICIATING PROBLEM of the week
-The end of Bills/Broncos was classic ref inconsistency. After a pretty well-called game overall in which the refs largely let the guys play, we suddenly get TWO massive DPI calls on the Bills right after each other, the second of which more or less sealing the game. In a vacuum, both of these calls are acceptable. But penalties don’t happen in a vacuum, and considering what the refs had let happen without issue for 60+ minutes? They felt like horseshit. The Bills should have had a couple DPIs before this if these plays are the “standard”, and Denver should have had a couple too. But for whatever reason the Refs decide to pick late into overtime to suddenly change how they feel. Then instead of a thriller ending, we get a big wet fart where Denver walks it off with ease no thanks to their own play.
It just sucks to see another good playoff game end like this. In recent memory we can recall the Eagles/Chiefs 1st Super Bowl with the hold on Bradberry, or the Rams/Bengals with the similar penalty, both being penalties that were let go all game only to suddenly get flagged at the end. It’s one of the worst feelings to see a great game end in such a fashion, and it’s one of the things that has led people down the path of believing the NFL is rigged. The refs need to do more than get the calls right, they need to officiate with consistency as best they can so this shit doesn’t happen and we aren’t left with a sour aftertaste to a delightful meal.
CACKLES OF THE WEEK
–MOOSE NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING
BIG OOF OF THE WEEK
–CJ NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING
-Honestly basically every other Texans offensive play made me oof
CHAOS WATCH
–None of us have expectations for Jarrett Stidham, so this is his chance to do something very funny. Otherwise I think we can assume we are getting a SB with the new Patriots rematching two teams they’ve beaten before. Pretty boring result, even if these particular Patriots are all fresh out of the can and not part of the old dynasty.
FRAUD WATCH
–The Broncos do not scare me. They barely beat a Bills team that was very stupid.
GIANTS CORNER
–hell yeah
People clown on the Giants (rightfully so) for being smug about their historical significance as a franchise and being “classy” organization and whatnot, but I think that very reputation is one of the few things the team genuinely has going for it, deserving or no. I think it genuinely played a part in nabbing Harbaugh. Think about it. His other two main options appeared to be the Titans and Falcons. Do either of those franchises have much history to be proud of? Any culture to pretend they cultivate? Not really. When I saw Atlanta and Tennessee were the Giants main competition, I knew the Giants would have to fuck up to a historical degree to not win the bidding war. They did not.
I don’t know what to expect from Harbaugh and my expectations aren’t high. There’s just as much chance this goes poorly and we gave all this power to a guy who was overrated and bolstered by a smart front office, which we do not have.
But I’d be lying if I wasn’t also optimistic. Harbaugh is a culture shift hire. Even Joe Schoen is expendable now and likely reduced in power. If Harbaugh can build a good foundation in the org by showing what long, positive experience can bring, that’s something the team needs.
Maybe I’ll also get watchable football again.
SNUFF FILM OF THE WEEK
-I was very, very wrong about the 49ers having upset vibes. Holy moley. The Seahawks smoked em.
DISAPPOINTMENT DUCK
–I saw far too many people picking the Texans to win in Foxboro. I’ve been skeptical of the Pats all year and I still didn’t really see it. The Texans offense is awful. They have no line, no WRs, and Stroud sucks. So maybe the Texans didn’t personally disappoint me, but they sure disappointed a lot of other people who had far too much faith in pure defense.
MOST UNWATCHABLE TEAM OF THE WEEK
–49ers, thank you for knocking off Philly last week, that was cool of you. Now get off my screen, woof.
CARTOONS!
————————————————————
BETS FOR NEXT WEEK
RAMS @ SEAHAWKS
The first time these two met Sam had a meltdown in a winnable game. The second time they met the Seahawks pulled off a bullshit miracle win, maybe the best game of the year. So what now? If we have to go by Divisional round performance, nobody left looks better than Seattle.
If the Seahawks win, I will draw Sam Darnold, first to the top over Lamar, Baker, Allen, and Rosen
If the Rams win, I will draw Matthew Stafford as Goku
PATRIOTS @ BRONCOS
If Bo Nix was alive, I think the Broncos have the edge. With Jarett Stidham back there, this is just going to be the third game in a row the Patriots offense struggles but wins anyway because the defense shuts down the ineffective and shitty offense of the opponent.
If the Patriots win, I will draw Drake Maye slapping that Kayshon Boutte
If the Broncos win, I will draw Jarrett Stidham having a nice pint with Nick Foles and Jeff Hostetler.
The post DIVISIONAL ROUND CHAOS REPORT: God is Dead appeared first on The Draw Play.
in shocking news, my blorbo is the nerdy one
Jan. 18th, 2026 10:29 pmmarginalianaIt's not that all my fandoms involve funny British dudes, but there does seem to be a trend.
At least this one is a cooking channel? Sorted Food.
worth it (2321 words) by marginaliana
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sorted (Website) RPF
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ben Ebbrell/Barry Taylor
Characters: Barry Taylor, Ben Ebbrell
Additional Tags: First Time, Blowjobs, Safe oral sex, no families au
Summary:
At least this one is a cooking channel? Sorted Food.
worth it (2321 words) by marginaliana
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sorted (Website) RPF
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ben Ebbrell/Barry Taylor
Characters: Barry Taylor, Ben Ebbrell
Additional Tags: First Time, Blowjobs, Safe oral sex, no families au
Summary:
"Ebbs. Listen." But what could he say that wouldn't sound crass or a joke or both? He'd thought about it for days and decided in the end to wing it, only now he was here winging it and he still had no better idea. Maybe this was going to crash and burn no matter how he introduced the idea. Maybe he was going to ruin a friendship and none of this would be worth it. But something in him knew he had to try.
the world is wide / the time goes by
Jan. 19th, 2026 02:31 amnfl_rpf_ao3_feedAll he had wanted was to come home. That was it. Just come home, crawl into bed, let sleep take him before his mind could replay everything over and over again. He wanted to not think about what happened tonight, not think about the scoreboard, not think about the way the crowd had gone quiet, not think about the sound of that call being made. They lost. A bullshit call and they lost. The words echoed in his head, relentless, merciless. No matter how many times he told himself it was out of his control, that the call should never have been made, the weight still sat heavy on his chest.
Words: 3551, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English
- Fandoms: National Football League (US) RPF
- Rating: General Audiences
- Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
- Categories: M/M
- Characters: Trevor Lawrence, Josh Allen (American Football RPF), Joe Burrow
- Relationships: Josh Allen/Joe Burrow/Trevor Lawrence
- Additional Tags: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Throuples | Triad Relationships, After the Bills loss 1/17/26, Rare Pairings
Short Fiction, by Clark Ashton Smith
Jan. 18th, 2026 11:37 pmstandardebooks_new_feedA collection of short fiction by Clark Ashton Smith, ordered by date of publication.
Smart people saying smart things (1.18.26)
Jan. 18th, 2026 09:56 pmslacktivist_feedListen to Samuel Freedman, Angela Denker, David Dasharath Kalal, Christy Staats, Autistic Abby, an anonymous Minneapolis resident, and some dude who has to go to work in the morning.
We Made It Through the Darkest Night
Jan. 5th, 2026 08:26 pmhouse_chase_ao3_feedby slimypaws
House is no God. But Chase isn't either, so maybe they can work toward forgiveness together. No divine intervention needed.
Or
House leaves a little note and Chase follows it to House's apartment where a small surprise waits for him.
—
Part 3 of this Chouse Series. Could be read as a stand alone, but if you like context, check out the other parts first.
Words: 6969, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English
Series: Part 3 of O Father, my Father
- Fandoms: House M.D.
- Rating: Explicit
- Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
- Categories: M/M
- Characters: Robert Chase (House M.D.), Gregory House, Minor Characters
- Relationships: Robert Chase/Gregory House
- Additional Tags: Bottom Robert Chase, Top Gregory House, New Years, Apologies, Reconciliation Sex, Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Religion Kink, Degradation Kink, Praise Kink, Caning, (brief) - Freeform, mild impact play, mild bondage, Dom/sub Undertones, Established Relationship, Dirty Talk, Come play