#Fabulous February

[70ssmut4]

[deanwinchesterswitch]

February 2025 Monthly Fic Recs

Loads of lovely fics from February's readings.

Have Fun and Enjoy!

Many of these blogs and fics are NSFW-18+. Please honor any requests from a blog regarding no minors. I am not responsible for the content you choose to consume; heed the warnings for each fic.

~MCU~

Moving Faster to a New Disaster ~ @justagirlinafandomworld. Author's Summary: None (Drabble; Steve Rogers x Reader)

Prank War ~ @princessmisery666. Author’s Summary: Sam and Bucky take the prank war too far.

Prank War - Part 2 ~ Author's Summary: Someone will be crowned King or Queen of Pranks 2025.

Reputation ~ @justagirlinafandomworld. Author's Summary: None (Drabble; Biker!Bucky Barnes x Female Reader)

~RPF~

Seek Shelter ~ @cleighwrites. Author's Summary: Briana gets caught in a sudden downpour and seeks shelter under a bus stop awning and gets some unexpected company (Briana x Jensen)

What Are The Odds? ~ @impala-dreamer. Author’s Summary: A chance encounter. A dangerous moment. A blossoming romance. Sometimes facing your fear leads to something incredible… (Sebastian Stan x Reader)

~Sunshine~

Another Sunrise ~ @navybrat817. Author's Summary: Each sunrise is a new promise with James.

~Supernatural~

Before I Fall ~ @stusbunker. Author's Summary: None (Ficlet; Dean x Reader)

Deep ~ @thoughtslikeaminefield. Author's Summary: Dean shows her more about pleasure than ‘deep’.

Five Finger Discount ~ @talltalesandbedtimestories. Author's Summary: It’s supposed to be a simple case. A little undercover. A little burglary. A little spell. Dash of salt and burn. No muss, no fuss. So, why the hell are you getting these uncontrollable thoughts about Dean’s… hands?

How Much Can I Take ~ @wayward-and-worn. Author's Summary: She meets him in a bar while he’s running recon.  Just a one night stand for Dean.

Take It All (How Much Can I Take-Chapter 2) ~ Author's Summary: Part 2 to How Much Can I Take. So much for a One Shot. 

Can't Take Any More (How Much Can I Take-Chapter 3) ~ Author's Summary: Round two of a one night stand. 

Imagine those moments... ~ @supernaturalfreewill. Author's Summary: None (Drabble; Dean Winchester x Reader)

One Finger ~ @rizlowwritessortof. Author's Summary: None (Dean Winchester x Female Reader)

Picking Up The Pieces ~ @impala-dreamer. Author's Summary: Sometimes life pushes you down, but Dean’s always there to lift you back up…

Valentine's Dean ~ @wayward-and-worn. Author's Summary: This is the follow up to “New Year’s Dean,” I thought it would be fun to check in on the new lovers. 

Wicked Desire ~ @impala-dreamer. Author's Summary: There’s never any promise in a one-night-stand, never any certainty when you catch a stranger’s eye. It’s dangerous, but there was never any question when Dean asked you to join him for a drink…

~On Patreon~

Rebekah Jordan (Impala-Dreamer)

Below the Surface ~ Author's Summary: None (Ficlet; Dean Winchester x Reader)

Rivers & Roads Away ~ Author’s Summary: None (Russell Shaw x Reader)

[westallenisloveandlife]

[isupportzaynxliamxziam]

💌 Tuesday, 4 February 2020

Liam poses with a fan

credits: fan's Instagram

Mark Hayman, who did the photoshoot for Fabulous Magazine in 2013, posts about it

credits: Mark Hayman's Instagram

[fridaypacific]

The Fabulous Baron Munchausen on Letterboxd

[leupagus]

Tuesday's House Budget Vote and what you may not have heard about

I'm reposting this from a reblog of a really great post about the work that Representatives Mullin and Pettersen did in voting against the GOP budget on February 25th, because I don't want to detract from that message.

Instead, I want to talk about the larger implications of H. Con. Res. 14 itself, and why the Democrats risked so much (in Mullin's and Pettersen's cases, actual harm) in order to show up for this vote.

The vote in question is starting the first of quite a few votes for the upcoming GOP budget; it's not a done deal by any means, this was just the vote to get it started, so to speak. But it was still a very, very, VERY important vote, because not only would failure be catastrophic, but so would a win that just barely squeaked by.

And this one squeaked like a fucking mouse in Murray's Cheese Shop.

Speaker Johnson has been waffling on putting this to a vote because there were several outspoken GOP members who talked a big game about opposing it. Usually this doesn't matter, since most bills get some bipartisanship, but at present the House is in GOP hands with only a three-member margin of error, with two seats vacant (note: those two vacancies are FL 1 and 6, which are holding their special elections on April 1 — lol — and which are EXTREMELY unlikely to flip but hey miracles happen! Donate or phonebank if you'd like!). And Democratic representatives have been voting in a bloc against...well pretty much everything the GOP's been pushing through since Trump took office. Not only that, but this budget is legit unpopular with a number of Republicans, so much so that Johnson pulled the vote at first on Tuesday because he knew it would fail if the GOP members who'd threatened to vote against it actually went through with it. What he needed was to either convince them all to fall in line, or resort to cheating.

So he did both!

He and Trump strongarmed all but one of the GOP holdouts into voting yes (Congressman Massie is in many ways a turd in a toilet, and his reasons for voting no were bad, but he did stick to his guns, I'll give him that). Reports of Trump actually screaming at one of the (female, naturally) GOP holdouts are...well, unsurprising, but that's how panicked they were about getting this bill started. Usually the Whip does this work, but Tom Emmer's been laughably bad at it and so they had to get Trump to actually do some work. Which is itself sort of astonishing. But even then, they weren't sure they could get it done.

Which leads us to part two of Johnson's plan: blatant cheating. During Pelosi's last session as Speaker, she allowed for proxy voting in light of COVID and, you know, the general state of things, but the second the GOP got back the gavel they nixed it right in the bud. This puts the Dems at a disadvantage right now because at least three of them are out for medical reasons — Mullin and Pettersen, as well as Congressman Raúl Grijalva who's fighting cancer at present. (He was the only Democrat who couldn't get to the floor for this vote, fwiw, and anyone who insists he should've can suck my left tit.)

So Johnson adjourned the House for the evening, sending everyone home, but told the GOP members to stay and then tried to rush through the vote before the Dems realized what was happening. His hope was that enough Dems would be caught flat-footed/not see the recall notice/be asleep watching Taskmaster (whoops that was me) by the time they got the message to get back to the floor. That way he could lose the holdouts but still pass the budget onto the next phase.

However! While Nancy Pelosi no longer rules the Democratic caucus with her iron fist and fabulous coats, my man Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries learned quite a lot from her (and is pretty fucking genius himself). Not only did he and the other House leadership expect this kind of chicanery from Johnson, they had planned on it.

Because here's the thing: Mullin and Pettersen didn't get on a plane at the last minute on Tuesday; they'd gotten to DC on Monday, without telling anyone they were in town. They actually hid from the GOP members all day Tuesday in order to lull Johnson into thinking he had more of a margin than he did; if the GOP holdouts really had voted against the budget, then it would've failed. Which would have been a biiiiiiig problem for Johnson and Trump.

As it is, it's still a biiiiiiig problem for Johnson and Trump, because now they know just how razor-thin their margin is. More importantly, they also now know that the Dems will fuck with them just as much (if not more) as they will fuck with Dems. Congress (and the USA in general) has operated for years on the assumption that Democrats operate in good faith, while taking it for granted that of course the GOP ratfuck as much as humanly possible.

This moment is a chilling one for the GOP; they can't assume anymore that Dems will play fair or fight clean. Which seems like a very small thing in the larger picture right now, I know, and I also know that people would love for their Democratic representatives and senators to be more vocal and angry in public ways. I get that!

But this move on Tuesday night? Is actually going to have far bigger consequences than any meme or viral video or clever soundbite from a politician. Democrats are no longer playing by the rules that the GOP's ignored for years (if not decades); they're playing by the GOP's own rules, and they just might win.

[dcafanzine]

Happy March Update!

Everyone on the mod team has been busily getting our ducks in a row!

There's been a lot of behind the scenes progress. We've ordered and received fresh test copies to our EU team members to ensure that the zine in it's final print is the highest, consistent quality we can provide all across the globe!

We also were able to check out the scratch resistant matte covers... they are so nice and durable! We were able to include this upgrade thanks to you all surpassing our goal in dramatic fashion, a performance worthy of the Fazbear Threater stage.

Special Extra Surprise!

As an added bonus to all backers, our fabulous merch artist lil-lemon-snails made these fazeriffic Coloring Pages!

These bonus pages will be included for FREE in our digital pack of goodies, more thank you's for your amazing support!

Questions About Digital Rewards

Some backers have asked about the digital items and why they haven’t been sent yet and there are a few reasons for this.

Firstly, we don’t want spoilers for our backers who pledged to receive physical items. We feel this would be unbalanced and not fair.

Secondly we have been making tweaks to the files prior to the final printing. It wasn’t quite ready just yet when the campaign closed.

We are planning on sending the digital rewards around the time we are shipping everything. More details will be revealed in a future update.

Backer Surveys & Shipping

We will be sending Backer Surveys out closer to when we start fulfilling pledges (now estimated Late Spring-Early Summer 2025). This will ensure that we have the correct addresses and information to get your goodies to you.

Updated Fazwatch Timeline

What's happening next?

Here's the up to date estimated outline as of March 2025!

February-March 2025: Printing and manufacturing is underway!

We have received the funds from Kickstarter and are in the process of finalizing our order details and sending all of the amazing art to our manufacturers. Proof and Production times can vary, but we will send updates to backers as details are finalized and items go into production.

April-May 2025 (estimated): Items arrive and fulfilment begins!

Once all items have arrived from the manufacturers, we will send out Backer Surveys to confirm everyone's shipping details.

June-August of 2025 (estimated): Packages are Shipped!

Once we have confirmed where everything needs to be shipped, we will begin to send out packages in waves. This does mean that everyone's packages will not arrive around the same time, but this in unavoidable with how many of you there are!

It will be during this time we plan to send out the digital rewards.

More detailed information will be coming in future updates.

These are estimated dates that we’ll be able to further refine as we get farther along in the process. These may change depending on manufacturing, and other factors we have done our best to plan for.

If anything is delayed we will inform everyone via Kickstarter updates.

That's it for our March update!

If you have any questions, or comments feel free to DM or comment on the campaign. You can also reach out on tumblr via asks.

Please keep in mind that we are volunteering our time to do this, and we will be as transparent as possible. We are just a bunch of fans (with day jobs) who have a passion for Daycare Attendants like you all!

Thank you Superstars!

[glowettee]

2025 Glow-Up Goals: Aesthetic & Intentional Goal-Setting (Part 1)

Hi besties! It's Mindy, since the new year is coming up in a few days! Here's a new mini series for the new year! 2025 is your year to shine like the It Girl you are, and I’m here to help you set some aesthetic and intentional goals that feel magical and achievable. 💕

Step 1: Reflect like the main character you are: Write a heartfelt love letter to your 2024 self. What did you learn? What are you most proud of? This is your chance to honor how far you’ve come and get all the warm, fuzzy feels. 📝✨

Step 2: Create dreamy goal categories: Think about all the areas of your life you want to upgrade. Is it your skincare routine? Your Pilates habit? Your morning rituals? Divide your goals into categories like aesthetics, health, career, and lifestyle so it feels organized and oh-so-chic. 🌸

Step 3: Build the vision board of your dreams: Pull up Pinterest and curate a board that screams your dream life. Fill it with stunning images, soft pink sunsets, luxurious study setups, outfits that scream "rich girl energy." Then print it out or save it to your phone for daily inspo. 🎨💭

Step 4: Set a timeline that’s cute and do-able: Break your glow-up into manageable steps. January can be all about revamping your skincare routine, while February might be perfect for upgrading your wardrobe. The key is consistency. little steps lead to big magic! ✨📆

Step 5: Plan with aesthetics in mind: Use Notion, a digital planner, or a pastel journal to map out your goals. Add adorable stickers, pastel highlights, and maybe a touch of glitter to make the process fun and fabulous. Bonus: the cuter your tools, the more inspired you’ll feel! 💖

Here’s the thing, babe: you don’t have to glow up overnight. Be patient with yourself, celebrate every tiny win, and remember that this journey is all about becoming the most authentic and radiant version of YOU. 2025 is already looking so good on you! ✨

[merryslilhobbit]

Dando. The 2024 Edition.

Note: I was going to wait until New Year's Eve to post this but I think some people might appreciate it now.

Well this year definitely didn't turn out how I expected. But the Dando love held strong throughout. This is just a little reminder of some of their fabulous moments from this year.

January

Yes, Lando really went "I didn't like where I was holidaying, so I randomly rocked up at Daniel's farm that no one else has ever been to. We had a great time. I'm gonna talk about it at every opportunity. But it wasn't romantic."

Edit: Adding this beauty thanks to Martin G.

February

Whatever the hell this was. Definitely not padel.

March

Ricciardo t-shirt in Lando's video. Because even when they're not together, they're thinking of each other.

May

The Win. The Hug. The utter softness and love right there. They have such a soft spot for each other. Seriously though, the contrast between his hugs with other drivers that day and this one??? Killing me here boys!

Credit 1st 2: Mark Thompson

Bonus Monaco shot where they're inseparable. Again.

June

Behaving like children on the fan stage at Barcelona. Return of the gossip bus (though does it count as a return when they're always together on it?).

Plus Daniel having to touch Lando whenever in reach.

July

Hat signing pre-British gp. Dando fandom winning again. This was honestly so precious to me. I bet Lando still has that hat.

Credit: Peter Fox

August

"It was actually a really shit lap yesterday" at the Dutch GP. See that smile? That's Lando's special Daniel smile.

Plus some post-win congratulations in the Netherlands. And there it is again, that smile.

September

Baku. The One Where Lando Couldn't Resist.

Lando really felt the need to remind Daniel/everyone of how much he loves him by following up with this resurrection of the .jpg account a couple of days later. Team Daniel. Yes, yes he is.

I wasn't going to include this, because sad times, but ❤️

October

Daniel's first post-departure social media post. Of course he'd include Lando.

Lando arriving at COTA in what could only be a tribute to Daniel (you can't convince me otherwise) ❤️

Daniel's jpg account giving us the ♥️💔♥️, taken after his last race in Singapore.

December

Gone but not forgotten, Lando taking the opportunity to mention his man whenever possible. I confess that while this video did the rounds a few weeks ago, I'm not sure of its origin/date. So on that basis, and as I hadn't seen it before, I'm including it here.

In summary, love never dies.

And what the fuck happened on that farm?!

[camelotremix]

Camelot Remix is back for 2025! But what’s a remix, you ask?

A remix is where a fanwork creator takes another person’s fanwork and creates a new fanwork which is based upon the original work.

How does this whole thing work?

Never fear, we have plenty of resources which you can find linked below on our carrd website:

✨What’s a remix? ✨FAQs & Rules

TIMELINE: Sign ups Open: Saturday 8 February Sign ups Close: Saturday 22 February Assignments Sent: on or before Sunday 2 March Submissions Due: Sunday 1 June Posting Begins: Saturday 7 June Reveals: TBD (July)

Please reach out if you have additional questions.

We’re excited to see what all our fabulous remixers create for this year’s fest!

[codywanfirstkissbingo]

We're as antsy as you are to see all your industrious work starting this Saturday. It's sure to be an enormous hill of fabulous fic, amazing art, and maybe some playlists or podfics with lots of panache!

Codyw-ant bingo-ers, get ready to start posting!!! Posting is open Feb. 1 through the 14th, and the Codywan First Kiss Bingo 2025 AO3 collection will go live at 12:00 AM February 1 for all your cross-posting needs!

[animenostalgia]

News - Sailor Moon: The Super Live will be getting a North American tour, starting in March 2025! After it's stop in the UK for their London showings, the Japanese musical will be making stops in the following US cities:

March 12: Pittsburgh, PA — Byham Theater

March 15: Austin, TX — Bass Concert Hall

March 18: San Antonio, TX — Majestic Theater

March 19: Sugarland, TX — Smart Financial Center

March 25: Seattle, WA — Paramount Theater

March 27: Spokane, WA — First Interstate Center

March 29: Portland, OR — Keller Auditorium

April 1: Dallas, TX — Winspear Opera House

April 3: Midland, TX — Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center

April 6: Minneapolis, MN — Orpheum Theater

April 8: St. Louis, MO — The Fabulous Fox

April 11: Dayton, OH — Schuster Center

April 13: Louisville, KY — The Kentucky Center

April 15: Chicago, IL — Chicago Theater

April 16: Milwaukee, WI — Riverside Theater

April 18: Newark, NJ — NJPAC

April 22: Philadelphia, PA — Miller Theater

April 25-26: New York — Palladium Times Square

The musicals will be performed in Japanese with "English subtitles" (most likely screens on the stage with text.) Tickets will be going on sale January 31st, 2025.

[bcacstuff]

Caitríona Balfe presenting the IFTA award for Best Drama to the cast and crew of BAD SISTERS. Congratulations to the ‘Garvey Sisters’ (Sharon Horgan, Eve Hewson, Eva Birthistle, Sarah Greene, Anne-Marie Duff and honourary ‘sister’ Fiona Shaw) as well as the whole cast and crew of this fabulous show!

Caitríona is styled by @karlawelchstylist (who also styled #ruthnegga, shown in the crowd). Caitríona and Sharon’s hairstylist is @garethbromell

🎥 IFTA / RTÉ One Special thanks to @heatherz_photo

via balfe.nation IG, posted 16 February 2025

[cityofmeliora]

Terzo + being old 👴

PAPA EMERITUS III: Well… I’m not perfect when it comes to remembering lyrics, as you’ve noticed. I’m sorry about that. It’s an age thing, y'know? But I’m sure some of you know the lyrics for this song. The last song. But you know, for an old guy, I’m not very different. My hearing is really, really bad. So I need you to sing really loud if you know the lyrics. Silver Spring, Maryland, USA (September 22, 2015)

PAPA EMERITUS III: So where are you going afterwards? The night is young. Hm? Alright. My hearing is not what it used to be, sorry. I see you moving, and I hear shit, but… Anyways! Orlando, Florida, USA (October 10, 2015)

PAPA EMERITUS III: I am not as young as I look. But I can still tango. But y'know, after a quick, tasty start like this– I mean, we did quite good to start with, right? But you need to know, if I'm gonna stand up for one and a half hours and then... lay down... for even longer, I need to– I need a little break. So now we're gonna do a slow song for you. Malmö, Sweden (February 25, 2016)

PAPA EMERITUS III: Right now, I'm just babbling so the other ones can have a little break. That's the thing– we're not as young as we look. Detroit, Michigan, USA (October 3, 2016)

last quote is hidden because Terzo says a slur. (yes, i also was shocked he said this)

TW: ableism, R slur

PAPA EMERITUS III: Good evening, Los Angeles. The classic Wiltern, eh? So nice to see so many of you here tonight. This is getting a little bit of a nice habit, seeing each other like this, huh? I, for one, like it. How do you like this? Fabulous. Alright. I'm uh. I'm not talking this slow because I'm retarded, but because I'm not really as young as you think I am. Los Angeles, California, USA (October 20, 2016)

[wolfliving]

Dead AI IoT

Humane AI finally shuts down, HP pays $116m for the pieces — not including the Ai Pin

By David Gerard on 19 February 2025

Humane, creator of the fabulous and literally nonfunctional Ai Pin gadget — that's "Ai," not "AI" — has finally thrown in the towel.

After Humane took $230 million in venture funding and tried and failed to sell itself for $1 billion, Hewlett-Packard is paying $116 million to acqui-hire most of the team and get Humane’s software and patents. [Humane, archive]

There was also some burbling from HP about “an intelligent ecosystem across all HP devices from AI PCs to smart printers and connected conference rooms,” which probably means floundering a bit then selling the software on once again, as they did with Palm and WebOS.

We’re sure that Humane’s venture capital backers — including Sam Altman, Microsoft, and Marc Benioff — will be delighted that minus-50% is now the expected realized return on AI investments in the bubble.

HP is notably not taking on the Ai Pin itself — probably because it’s completely useless and doesn’t work. The hardware overheats and fails, the projected display isn’t visible in sunlight, and the software chains together LLMs to fail to understand or translate conversations. Also, it might catch fire.

The remaining Ai Pins will work until February 28, when the back-end servers at Humane shut down. After that date, you can ... check the battery level? Pretty good for a $700 gadget with a $24/month subscription. We’re sure both customers will be delighted. ]Humane, archive; Humane, archive]

[charmsandtealeaves]

2024 Year in Review

This year marks three years since I started doing these year in review posts, and bloody hell what an up and down year this one has been. @jilymicrofics ran again this year with lots of fabulous fics and events. I was given the honour of getting to mod masquerade for @jilytoberfest. I also had to tell myself to SLOW THE F**** DOWN and take a step back for my mental health (thank you to @annabtg & @eastwindmlk for making that possible), which also meant saying goodbye to my longstanding @jilychallenge streak. But looking back at the goals I set myself at the end of last year… I achieved most of them. I’m going to take that as a win. 

The AO3/Tumblr Breakdown:

A decrease from last year.

Ongoing Fics:* currently in a hidden collection Wake Me Up When September Ends The Cohabitation Agreement

Completed Multi-chapters: Spitting Image

Completed One-Shots: A Problem Solved

Jilychallenges: January, Fight or Flight Response February, The Grey Carpet Area March, The Stag Prince Across The Sea  April, Knight In Shining Armour May, Hockey and Headaches June, Take Up An Oar July,  The Cohabitation Agreement

Ladies of HP: Galentine’s Day (Ginny Weasley), Hothead Harpies Molly Weasley, Hands of Time

Jilytoberfest: A Homage to Jily Fandom (31 prompts, 31 authors, 31 microfics)

Goals for 2025:

Learn to be okay with letting other people take the reins for a bit

Work on fics in hidden collection and reveal them again

Write more outside jily

Work on Godric’s Hollow, and Spitting Image Sequel