Feeling a lot more confident and happier now that Narumi also showed up. It's surprising how much easier I find it to write such a little clown of a character.

...perhaps because I, too, was actually a clown all along? 😮🤡

Warm as life | Kaijuu No. 8 | Kafka/Reno/Narumi, Reno/Iharu, Kafka/Hoshina | 3.8k words (WIP, 2/7) | rated M

Summary: The new threat posed by No. 9 weighs heavily on everyone. Under these circumstances, emotions run high and what starts as a way of relieving stress can easily bloom into unexpected feelings. Some people find that easier to admit than others.

Read it on Dreamwidth or AO3.

vriddy

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

lassarina

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

corpsebrigadier

Welp. I made it through 2025, and it was--within the narrow scope of my personal life and outside of the realm of the present political moment--a pretty good year.

( What I did during it )

Current Mood: happy

yuletidemods posting in

yuletide_admin

End of Event
We have revealed creator names at the main 2025 collection and the 2025 Madness collection. (Reveals seems to be working as intended - fingers crossed!) The New Year's Resolutions 2026 collection will shortly open for posting. The structured parts of this year's event are over - but you can keep posting recs at

yuletide and commenting on works to let their creators know you enjoyed them.

Please comment!

Please check that you have commented on any gifts you received - you can search on your username at the Yuletide 2025 collection, or the Yuletide Madness 2025 collection, or check your own personal AO3 gifts page. We understand not everyone can comment immediately due to late-December commitments or unforeseen events, but please comment when you can to acknowledge the gifts you requested. Comments and kudos on other Yuletide works are also very welcome.

Thank you from mods and team
Thank you to everyone who took part in Yuletide 2025: writers, requesters, betas, pinch hitters, community coordinators, chatters, hippos and the hippo pool.

Thank you from mods to the tagmod team: these are the assistants who research and process tags, proofread announcements, brainstorm author questions, contribute specific fandom knowledge, check stories, and discuss how to solve problems.

We look forward to running Yuletide again in 2026!

And now
There's a reveals post up at the participant community, if you want to chat about your writing process now that you can.

New stories can be posted to the New Year's Resolutions 2026 collection.

Feedback
As always, general feedback is welcome!

This year, we increased the nominations allowance from 4 fandoms to 5 fandoms. Since that worked okay, we anticipate continuing that next year.

We introduced a limited Do-Not-Match system. That was manageable so we're interested in repeating the same process next year - though it's possible it could grow beyond our capacity, so we don't want to guarantee it indefinitely.

We changed the deadline time and the reveals times. Those changes were based on mod availability, and it was really helpful to us to have multiple mods awake at the point of deadline and reveals. We'll need to base future deadline and reveals times on that priority, but since that isn't the only factor making deadlines and reveal times effective, we're interested to hear feedback too.

Next Yuletide, we may review franchise rules to make sure we're being consistent and fair. We may also specifically review rules for music videos.

As requested by a participant, we will also be adding a section to our rules on AO3 listing what you can expect from the mod team’s communications and conduct. We have had an internal Code of Conduct for several years but agree it would be helpful to share a public version.

Again, feedback on these or other topics is also welcome.

Thank you for helping to make Yuletide 2025 a wonderful event.

deemoyza

This is really just an excuse to use my Bubble icon. XP I know the changing of a calendar really doesn't change anything else, but I sincerely hope that we all experience moments of pure joy and security and, most importantly, hope in the coming year.

Stay safe, everyone. 💕

Current Mood: apathetic

vriddy

It pains me that I couldn't make the first half of the story as strong and funny as the rest (and therefore no one might get to the jokes I love the most orz), but that's okay, everything's a learning experience, etc, etc, and also I expected this to be 4-5k words and it's nearly 13k by now so let's leave it at that!!

In general, this has been an interesting exercise for me because while I have written OT3s, OT4s and OT5s in which everyone loves everyone else equally, this is the first time I write a polycule where some of the relationships are not shared with everyone else. This canon just has so many lovely ships, it worked out that way. Also I'm surprised no one sees the potential in Kafka/Reno/Narumi, with the competitiveness between Reno and Narumi, and how their different approaches and ways to care about Kafka. This might just be my headcanons talking, though XD

Warm as life | Kaijuu No. 8 | Kafka/Reno/Narumi, Reno/Iharu, Kafka/Hoshina | 2.4k words (WIP, 1/7) | rated M

Summary: The new threat posed by No. 9 weighs heavily on everyone. Under these circumstances, emotions run high and what starts as a way of relieving stress can easily bloom into unexpected feelings. Some people find that easier to admit than others.

Read it on Dreamwidth or AO3.

kalloway

The Updating of Things-
- Lemonade Cafe - front page updated
-

lemonadecafe - sticky post updated
-

spring_renewal - noAI on profile, added schedule to my organizer for April, will update instructions/guidelines then
-

octobercest - noAI on profile, and just opened up the community to be a fest all year, because sure why not
- printed out a new copy of canon-level pages for quick refresher reasons
-

no_true_pair - note in organizer to post schedule later in month, added noAI to profile
-

small_fandoms - already updated, dates for Drabblethon in organizer

Archiving-
- four new pages on the Lemonade Cafe and ten fics posted! (Also on

lemonadecafe.)

General-
- unsubscribed from a handful of communities (just freeing up some mental bandwidth)
- cleaned a bit in the bathroom and the linen closet (+ a tote bag filled with towels to donate to the animal shelter)

renegadefolkhero

i evidently published more books than i finished reading last year :/ which is a pretty terrible look sorry everyone
i did a horrible job keeping track of what i read on storygraph and now i dont get a nice 2025 wrapped infograph so maybe i'll learn my lesson this time. the most enjoyable book i read was the tainted cup by robert jackson bennett which is fantasy nero wolfe basically.
whenever i read a blurb with so and so's "adult epic fantasy debut" i immediately stop, ponder did this person used to write ya?, and then assume they did and scroll. is that wrong? AITAH? just kidding i don't care.
i can't enjoy dark erotica because whenever they do something unhinged i'm like no they should have done this depraved thing you're doing it WRONG and then i'm like ffs do i have to write everything and--no. please, no. i just want to vibe with an author who knows when to be soft and when to give someone a urine enema. and sadly nobody threads the needle quite like me. i may have to start reading fanfic again? undecided.
tumblog on dw just means i was gonna pop off on tumblr and instead i'll pop off here

vriddy

Via

synecdochic, and also what I see happening based on the latest post on

dw_maintenance and comments there:

synecdochic: Please spread this far and wide so as many people see it as possible, because I really don't see English-language LJ continuing in its present form for much longer, and I know some people may still have things they care about there. It doesn't matter how you get it backed up, but it's absolutely crunch time for getting it backed up.

I saw this import FAQ being linked in the

dw_maintenance comments for how to import into Dreamwidth, if that's the option you choose. So I take it this is working again, I remember there were issues a couple of years back, but better act quickly before that's no longer the case.

Link: Get anything you have left on LJ backed up ASAP by

synecdochic
Link: How do I import my journal from another site? (dreamwidth.org)

vriddy

Candy Hearts sign-ups are OPEN!!! You can find the schedule here, and the sign-up info post there, and here's for a direct link to the sign up form, and to the tagset!

You will never guess which fandom is included in my sign-up... and which canon I wrote a canon promo comment for ;D Haha. I'm actually signing up with tiny beloved polyships in 3 fandoms this time (K-9, Wind Breaker, Kaijuu No. 8) and I'm seriously excited about receiving any of them. It's the first time I do a sign-up like this haha, in that normally I try to be serious or close enough, but instead this is just me kind of jumping around about "THEM" whichever THEM it happens to be about XD :D I'm excited. It's also the first time I sign up for an exchange so early I think!! Normally I procrastinate until dangerously late because I worry about forgetting something. I also linked to the K-9 primer in my request... XD

Anyway, I love

candyheartsex (and its predecessor

chocolateboxcomm), it's a chill exchange with a small minimum (300 words fic or podfic, art) that reveals on Valentine's Day (but doesn't have to be valentine-themed, at all). Because of the low word count maybe, there's usually a fantastic treating culture around it, and it's just sweet and delightful fun all around. I'm really glad to be participating this year! I'll have to remember to check in a few days that I can match as well. I see BNHA and Wind Breaker people are starting to sign up so it should be fine :D Maybe see you there??

smoothbores

Watch on YouTube

She's one of the best—her performance, her voice.

( Read more... )

lassarina

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

vriddy

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

Over the last week...

Commented on senzenwomen.

Commented on anime_manga.

Promoted fandom50challenge.

Cross-posted the K-9 primer to PLACES! :D That I want to promote a bit individually, so here we go:

Cross-posted to fanifesto, which is a comm I always enjoy seeing posts on (and wish that happened a bit more often!🕯️). The rules are so good ("This thing is amazing. Here's why.") Incidentally, years ago I pledged to make a post there as part of the snowflake_challenge, which I thought would be about Hawks and DabiHawks, and although I'm ahem 3 or 4 years late I'm glad I have done it now :D K-9, K-9, K-9!
Cross-posted to anime_manga (and at least one person mentioned they read all of K-9 based on it >:D \o/)
Cross-posted to fourormore with even more OT4 pics XD Spoilers warnings I guess.

Then I linked to a couple of my K-9 fics on polyamships and sneaked in a link to the primer too. Teehee :D

Signal boosts:

Since I mentioning the snowflake_challenge above, it's returning for 2026! I know I have a few newer-to-dreamwidth folks in my circles and want to say, this is a lovely and chill challenge that runs through January, and a great way to meet and make new friends on Dreamwidth. I found many friends there and warmly recommend it!

candyheartsex

Signups are now open!

Please consult the tagset for the list of fandoms and relationships you can request and offer. If you can't find a canon you nominated, make sure to check Uncategorized Fandoms, which is where fandoms will be listed if they haven't appeared on AO3 yet or if I've had to alter the canonical tag.

Important: While the Relationships field on the signup form has a dropdown that, when you start typing, should connect with the tagset, AO3 always doesn't display all nominated relationships for a fandom. If the relationship you're trying to request/offer is in the tagset but not appearing as a selection that you can make, please copy-paste it directly from tagset into your signup form. This will let the system recognize that it's the same tag.

Remember, Character A & Character B is platonic, Character A/Character B is romantic/sexual.

There's a letters post, if you want to link your letter there, and you'll also be able to browse requests either on AO3 or the app.

Signups will be open until January 7, 11:59PM EST. Please see the signup rules here.

You can comment here or contact the mod email--candyheartsex at gmail dot com--if you have any questions.

candyheartsex

If you've written a Candy Hearts letter, you can link it here for easy perusal! These letters are optional, and your creator isn't obligated to adhere to them (though they must abide by any do-not-wants listed in your actual signup), but they can provide helpful extra details--prompts, general likes, descriptions of how you see the requested relationships, etc.

Please do not post a link to your letter here unless it is complete and unlocked.

For ease of reference, please record your details as follows:

AO3 Name:
Letter link:

Fandom #1:
Art &/or Fic &/or Podfic:
Relationship(s):

Fandom #2:
Art &/or Fic &/or Podfic:
Relationship(s):

And so on!

eff_ess_oe

Everybody does these. I have done them ever since being on Dreamwidth in 2022. I'm doing one again. Here goes.

( year end review/future plans )

Current Mood: festive

candyheartsex

If you want to promote your fandom or the relationships you want to request/create for, this post is for you!

How you write your your recommendations, enthusiastic squeeing, or manifestos is up to you, but please put the name of your canon in the subject line of your comment. Here--with liberal borrowing from Yuletide's promo setup--are some other things you may want to include:

Title
Medium (e.g., Book Series, Podcast, TV Show, etc.)
Approximate Length (e.g., page count, runtime, etc. This is also a good place to mention if only a specific installment of the canon is relevant to the relationship(s) you're requesting.)
Where to (Legally) Find It
Brief Description
What You Love About the Canon
What You Love About Your Ship(s)
Kinds of Things You're Planning to Ask For
Content Notes (e.g., incest, period-typical attitudes, noncon, torture, etc. These notes are optional and may not cover everything even if they're included.)

Please post a separate comment for each promo you do, so the canon title can always be highlighted in the subject line.

candyheartsex

Signups will open at 12:01 AM EST on January 1! I'll put up a Fandom/Relationship Promo Post in a few minutes, and the letters post will go up soon after signups open.

The tagset is here.

Final Notes

Solo character nominations have been removed.

Fandom nominations without relationships have been removed.

Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker —> approved under The Mandalorian (TV).

Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda —> approved under The Mandalorian (TV).

Li Family Gen (Perfect Match) approved as Li Family Member(s) & Li Family Member(s).

Final Fantasy X nominations are now under Final Fantasy X Series.

女王的游戏：盛世天下 | Road to Empress (Video Game) nominations are now under 女王的游戏 | Road to Empress (Visual Novel).

Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World (Anime) nominations are now under Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 | Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World (Anime).

renegadefolkhero

It's that time again. This year put almost everyone through the wringer, I think. I was a whiny wah-wah for a while but I got my shit together and changed my goals for this publishing thing.

What kinda year was it? Welllllllllllllll

( Read more... )

Me me me me

I saw the writing on the wall mid-year and recalibrated my estimated yearly earnings from $10k to $7k. Assuming something completely crazy doesn't happen the last day of the year (One year I sold around 200 books on 12/31 for reasons still unknown to me and THAT WAS AWESOME), I made about $7,500 this year before taxes and expenses. My royalties increased by $500 this year, which was less than I expected for my backlist and amount published (2 novels, 2 novellas, 5 shorts, and a bundle).

My bestselling book is my newest novel, which made $440 over the last 6 months. I pulled $1,000 on my best erotica bundle, and I had 3 books cross the $1,000 lifetime threshold which for me is a nice milestone. A while back I set extremely modest "earn out" thresholds of $2k for novels, $1k for novellas and $200 for shorts. I've had some bombs (one book only made $53 even though my superfans lost their minds over it) but generally speaking, the novellas and shorts usually hit those targets in about 2 years if they sell at all.

After really struggling with my SFF projects, and beating myself up about not fully crawling out of the romance/erotica pit, I've decided to embrace the creative wisdom I am where I need to be.

I am where I need to be. I will get there. In the meantime, I've drastically overhauled my short/mid term goals.

Writing is officially a hobby now. It is not a business, it is a thing that accidentally makes money sometimes, and I will make it as stress-free as possible.
Consequently, I am scaling back admin to basically zilch.
My genre is now AO1 (audience of one, aka books for myself). I write what my heart desires and accept it's what I need to be working on at the moment no matter how weird or gooey or difficult to cat it might be
My goal is to finish up the ghosts hanging around (languishing WIPs) and build up a backlog of unpublished books to trickle out once or twice a year.

This is very different from goal list I set last year or even six months ago, but right now the focus is writing consistently and enjoying myself. I adopted this mindset in mid-November. So far so good.

Profile

Rynling R&D

January 2026

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Page Summary

vriddy - Kaijuu No. 8 fic update: Warm as life (Kafka/Reno/Narumi, Reno/Iharu, Kafka/Hoshina) - WIP 2/7
vriddy - New K-9 fic: A bit of a break (Hidaka/Shigure)
lassarina - 2025 Goals Roundup
corpsebrigadier - Sure was a year, huh?
yuletidemods in yuletide_admin - Yuletide 2025 Wrap-Up
deemoyza - Look, it's another year. Yay.
vriddy - New (first!) Kaijuu No. 8 fic: Warm as life (Kafka/Reno/Narumi, Reno/Iharu, Kafka/Hoshina) - WIP 1/7
kalloway - A Reckoning of Swords 1
renegadefolkhero - #just 2026 things <3
vriddy - Signal boost: If you still have things you care about on LiveJournal, now is a good time to backup
vriddy - Sign-ups for the Candy Hearts Exchange are OPEN!
smoothbores - What is this?! What planet did this creature come from?
lassarina - What Are You Playing Wednesday
vriddy - Community Thursday, FIRST OF THE YEAR LET'S GOOO
candyheartsex - Signups Open!
candyheartsex - Letters Post
eff_ess_oe - obligatory year end post thingamabob.....
candyheartsex - Fandom/Relationship Promo Post
candyheartsex - Final Notes
renegadefolkhero - 2025 Writing Roundup

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Style: Neutral Good for Practicality by timeasmymeasure

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Page generated Jan. 2nd, 2026 02:38 pm

Rynling R&D

Reading

Kaijuu No. 8 fic update: Warm as life (Kafka/Reno/Narumi, Reno/Iharu, Kafka/Hoshina) - WIP 2/7

New K-9 fic: A bit of a break (Hidaka/Shigure)

2025 Goals Roundup

Sure was a year, huh?

Yuletide 2025 Wrap-Up

Please comment!

Look, it's another year. Yay.

New (first!) Kaijuu No. 8 fic: Warm as life (Kafka/Reno/Narumi, Reno/Iharu, Kafka/Hoshina) - WIP 1/7

A Reckoning of Swords 1

#just 2026 things <3

Signal boost: If you still have things you care about on LiveJournal, now is a good time to backup

Sign-ups for the Candy Hearts Exchange are OPEN!

What is this?! What planet did this creature come from?

What Are You Playing Wednesday

Community Thursday, FIRST OF THE YEAR LET'S GOOO

Signups Open!

Letters Post

obligatory year end post thingamabob.....

Fandom/Relationship Promo Post

Final Notes

2025 Writing Roundup

Me me me me

Profile

January 2026

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