Too cold

Jan. 5th, 2026 01:06 pm
cimorene: A drawing of a person in red leaving a line of blue footprints in white snow (winter)
[personal profile] cimorene
We've had a cold snap, and we also were dogsitting for four days, which is a hassle because we still have to keep the cats separated from each other and they're both afraid of the dog (who is a sweetheart, but very anxious and clingy), and the dog always has a persistent smell of artifical perfume from my BIL's house that threatens to overwhelm me if it gets too close to my face.

The dog left yesterday, though, and the cats are both extremely relieved. It's still below freezing outside (-13° C/+9° F), so I'm just moving around the house from blanket to blanket basically. Like the cats, actually. And it's still January and every day is a depressing struggle for that reason, although the sun did break through the clouds today.

In the game of life

Jan. 5th, 2026 05:15 am
viridian5: From a 2009 <i>Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion</i> window display at Bergdorf Goodman. (Mannequin)
[personal profile] viridian5 posting in [community profile] threeforthememories
There was a lot of stress for me in 2025, but it had its good moments too.


9480_edit
This shot was an accident that I thought turned out fun! The day my youngest niece, the girl with the pink and blonde hair, graduated from high school was so hot and bright that my camera phone was having a lot of trouble and the screen kept darkening, so I was shooting blind. Also, I was feeling like crap due to the heat. But the colors in all the photos really popped. The bouquet in the corner here is the one her parents gave her. (Seeing my nieces becoming adults is still weird to me; aren't they still kids?!)


more from 2025 )

New Years Book Meme

Jan. 5th, 2026 10:20 am
swingandswirl: text 'tammy' in white on a blue background.  (tammy)
[personal profile] swingandswirl
 Ganked from [personal profile] muccamukk

01. Grab the nearest book.
02. Turn to page 126
03. The 6th full sentence is your life in 2026.

So the closest book to me was Indian Christmas: Essays | Memories | Hymns, about how the nearly 30 million Christians in India celebrate the festival. 

Sentence #6 on page 126 is from the chapter 'Did Your First Christmas Cake Come Out Of An Ammunition Box, Too?' by Estherine Kine. 

Mrs Tanquist baked her cakes in a big mud oven, but her students ingeniously used ammunition boxes after the men discovered they were airtight and preserved head very well.

So for context, cooking on gas ranges rather than wood- or kerosene-fired stoves only came to India in 1965, and even then, it was limited to larger urban areas. Electric ovens came even later - my mother, born in 1961, has stories of my grandma baking cakes in a 'sand oven' -  a large pot filled with sand that was heated over a flame, functioning as a sort of bain-marie. Even now, gas is standard in any home that can afford it rather than wood or kerosene. Electric stoves are not common, or are used as a sort of secondary cooking device, since power cuts are pretty common even in big cities.

The ammunition boxes mentioned were left by British troops when they quit the subcontinent in 1947. Mrs Tanquist, the wife of a missionary, taught the author's mother and her friends how to bake Christmas cakes, among other things. 

Given the state of the world around us, let's hope this sentence heralds a transition to peace after years of conflict. We can hope, right? 

(For my own sanity, I am choosing not to delve into RL politics on DW. Let's keep it that way in the comments, please.)



Snowflake Challenge #2

Jan. 4th, 2026 08:35 pm
snickfic: Miss Kitty Fantastico stalking (Miss Kitty)
[personal profile] snickfic
Snowflake challenge #2: Post about your pets, pets from your canon, anything you want!

The theme of this post is Gallaghers Being Cute With Animals. It's Mucca's fault, she enabled me.

Noel professes very much NOT to be an animal person, but look at him.

This is Boots, whom Noel wanted to name Mr. Whiskers. Not that he cares! Definitely not.

Meanwhile, Liam is an animal person all day long. He currently has cats Sid and Nancy and a dog named Buttons, who he adopted from a rescue in Thailand. He submitted an application through the regular channels, and the people there were half-convinced it was a hoax. The whole story is very cute.


Liam asleep with Buttons.


Liam awake with Buttons.

When he adopted Sid from a shelter in 2018, that was pretty cute, too. Liam Gallagher: can't resist rubbing his face all over a kitten, any more than the rest of us can.


In conclusion, a recent tweet:

D.O.P.-T.

Jan. 4th, 2026 08:04 pm
weofodthignen: selfportrait with Rune the cat (Default)
[personal profile] weofodthignen
It was raining seriously when I got up; the newspaper was bagged, but was sitting in water, and when I came back with it, Mama Violet looked up from her scarfing but didn't bother withdrawing off the porch into the wet. It was raining when I took my morning walk: full gutters on every street, and one stretch of pavement/sidewalk was flooded to the point where I had to wade even after taking a couple of detours onto private property. I think the sun came out for 10 minutes. The bucket in the back porch is approaching half full. Last night the moon was shining through the clouds and I went out into the back garden and the tussocks of native grass were looming like islands; one of them looked 2 feet high. They will now be 3 feet.
sholio: (B5-station)
[personal profile] sholio
New B5 fic, this one's just pure self-indulgence.

A Map on the Skin (Londo/G'Kar, 1700 wds, scars)

I have been thinking about how to handle posting material from the script books. There are 14 of them and scripts for all the episodes, plus alternate versions of some, so it's like. A lot. I figured I'd do a poll about what you want to see most. (Poll is under the cut for mild spoilers.)

Poll about what you'd like to see from the books )

assorted fandom, mostly happy

Jan. 4th, 2026 04:22 pm
snickfic: Oasis: Liam and Noel Gallagher, text "Some Might Say" (Oasis)
[personal profile] snickfic
* I'm really delighted that there were fantastic Yuletide fics about Stebbins from The Long Walk for both the novel AND the show. I love Garraty and McVries, obviously, but Stebbins always intrigued me in the novel, and I think he might actually be my favorite from a fanworks perspective? I don't know why it's never occurred to me before to look for fic about him.

* [community profile] threesentenceficathon prompts open Jan 17. I am so excited. I've started each of the past two years with tiny fics, and I'm ready for a third year.

* I wrote 200 more words yesterday on some self-indulgent Gallaghercest. When things suck, the OTP is here for me.

* from [staff profile] denise: If you have an old #LiveJournal account, and it has things you still care about in it, download it or import it to Dreamwidth SOON. 🧵 On her ffa thread, she added: 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.
michelel72: Suzie (Default)
[personal profile] michelel72 posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Batman
Pairings/Characters: Kyle Rayner/Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Everyone
Rating: Teen
Length: 90k words
Creator Links: AddictedApple at AO3
Theme: crack treated seriously

Summary: Jason Todd discovers that he can travel through the multiverse (on top of his usual weirdness, ie, immortality) and chaos ensues.

Reccer's Notes: I recently fell hard into the Batman fanfic space, and this story bowled me right over. It takes Jason's canon resurrection (and the bizarre canon explanation for it), then posits a slow growth of powers from there -- from a recurring inability to stay dead, through the ability to skip universes, and beyond. All the canon reboots become a part of the story, and the pairing is a hilarious portrait of two guys being oblivious. Each chapter's notes contain extensive canon citations, which adds another level of awesomeness. Great fun and very affecting.

[Edited to add] Content note: The starting author notes include, "I will now put a blanket trigger warning for everything that happens in DC canon." That should be taken very seriously; the cited DC canon gets dark, and many abusive canon events are included in this story.

Fanwork Links: Journey to the Center of the Multiverse

Project Round Up

Jan. 31st, 2026 05:23 pm
senmut: Bud in the foreground, Lindsey behind as the sub filled with water (The Abyss: Bud Lindsey)
[personal profile] senmut
Fanfic Projects

Dreams of Her Own - https://archiveofourown.org/works/71432751

Sequel prompts from [profile] ukiacatdragon - Eilistraee, the shroud of Lolth, Corellon, Arvandor's overwhleming goodness, plotting to nullify Lolth's plots via Sharr, the raid being brought up, Tall Ones finding Ellifain early, closure for drow and elf child, quest

0 words




Something for Rex/Fives/Echo:

save Fives from his fate, save Echo, Rex throwing himself into helping them adapt.
~ Potential angst - "I'm the last one of my batch standing. You just got one back. Don't throw that away because you can't help but see what's lost instead of helping find a future."

~ Other idea is Ahsoka doesn't make it out of the Citadel but Echo does. Evolution of the trio with guilt over losing one of their Jedi. (Side note of Tarkin died there, Ahsoka isn't dead)

450 words




Padme and the Force Baby

Anakin's visions send HER to the temple where she declares there is no father, must be the force, cue shenanigans.

0 words




HLH shortcuts sequel - https://archiveofourown.org/works/74116516

Joe and Rachel meet in Seacouver

0 words




Exchange Assignment

REDACTED

0 words




[community profile] 10trueloves - 2/10 3/10 written / [community profile] genprompt_bingo 0/25 written






Original projects
No progress on the original projects

Myth of Man - https://sylph-and-asp.dreamwidth.org/tag/universe:+myth+of+man

"it's dangerous they've advanced so much" / "The reasons were grave" / "We are merely protecting our many peoples"



Unwanteds - https://sylph-and-asp.dreamwidth.org/tag/universe:+unwanteds

~ Decide if the two bits I managed to write so far for the sequel work, continue if so
~ prequel dammit, for the crystal and the Bright Flames origin story





Finished from list

Vierna Resurrection:
Wulfgar not die, it's Vierna in Errtu's grasp, Passage to Dawn plot
almost 1700 words
READY FOR POSTING


Poetry Fiction entry: Set against Legacy of the Silver Marches - https://squidgeworld.org/series/1870
Drizzt and Alustriel, under their disguises, before they reach Silverymoon.
350 words
- READY FOR POSTING



2025 Review/2026 Visions

Jan. 4th, 2026 11:27 pm
extrapenguin: Northern lights in blue and purple above black horizon. (Default)
[personal profile] extrapenguin

AO3 Stats


Stat20252024 then2024 nowAll years
User Subscriptions:295269--
Kudos:88441059957624
Comment Threads:129991043547
Bookmarks:1345910513732
Subscriptions:21131503
Word Count:4504792389238957299
Hits:1518335506166598872


45k! Much better than last year. Still not close to my 2018-2021 heyday of 100k+/year, but, uh, idk. I guess I need to learn to forgive myself. Or just get into a new fandom. The large numbers came from mostly Guardian fandom (RIP, for all I can remember is the fucking trashfire harassment campaign), bracketed by MDZS at the start (before my flist got anywhere near it, ofc) and Star Wars at the end.

I posted 49 things to AO3 in 2025. Again, mostly for Battleship – some fic, some art, a few vids, one fanmix.

Popularity


Read more... )

Self-recs


Art/Comics
Hard to pick, this year! I decided against the art listed above, and instead have a mermaid:
Moongazer

(Honorable mention to Die Before You Wake, an OW F/M M-rated comic that is peak cdrama trope)

Fanmix
As is by now tradition, I made an Expanse fanmix! This one's about Laconia, and I uhhh got a bit fancy-ass about the formatting. I long to make a fanmix where the pull lines make a CYOA poem like Obligations 2 (image) by Layli Long Soldier, but, uh, at what point does a fanmix stip being a fanmix and instead become something else? Anyway, this is a regular, linear fanmix, but with the songs plonked into columns based on whether they are about the Leader, the People, or the Planet.
Write the History

Vid
I only published three this year (made a fourth, have one missing like 15 seconds, and then there's my festivids draft). My favorite is actually one of the unpublished ones, I think, but of the published ones I choose this one:
Sister Moon (Side Story of Fox Volant)
Yuan Ziyi is peak and I love the fight scenes and also how she does not compromise her principles for a man.

Fic

Best Title is shared between Breast Foot Forward (OW, F/M, making the most of being forcibly remarried to an Emperor young enough to be your son) and Ka-BOOB (OW, F/F, having your way with the concubine you've been told to breast expand), both of which are lactation kink boob expansion Battleship fics.

"But Pingu, did you write anything other than boob-focused OW porn?" Oh yes I did! This year the theme seems to have been "understated, maybe wistful, potentially hopeful". Have three, with escalating positivity:
Watching the world come undone (MDZS, Wei Wuxian/Jiang Yanli, 1.1k) post-apocalyptic, making the most of a bad situation
Horizons Deep (SWTOR, Acina/Sith Inquisitor, 1k) "What does one want when the wanting is done?" wistful yearning-ish
End of Exile (Expanse, Filip Nagata, 1.3k) post-canon, hopeful ending
(+ OW on the mood: With Eyes Wide Open, F/M steampunk ritual sex)

"But surely you wrote something weird this year????" A bit less weirdery than is typical of me, but I did write something on the unusual end:
reborn (MDZS, Wei Wuxian/OFC, 1.8k)
Wei Wuxian gets resurrected by ... matriarchal necromancers?

I did so much research for this, considering that it's for Battleship, speed writing event extraordinaire. The ruling clans bear the Eight Great Surnames of Chinese Antiquity and then I went on a deep dive of what other Chinese surnames have the woman radical in them. (Spoiler: exclusively the Wei of Wei Wuxian. He was made for this!)

"Pingu, I want something dumber!" OK, have this
The Emperor's New Woes (OW, F/M, 2.1k)
Emperor Zhao Yiqin has, to the consternation of all of his ministers and his eunuch friend Lan He, bought a stack of talismans (which obviously won't work, come on, Your Majesty) from a Daoist (charlatan) in an effort to guarantee conception of a son and heir. Things don't quite go as anyone expected...

Emperor hires Daoist to guarantee that he'll conceive a son with the Empress; ends up being the one carrying the baby. Smut is Emperor/Empress, emotionally the core relationship is Emperor/Head Eunuch (who is plotting to mpregnate the Emperor later).


2025 Resolutions & did I do them



Write 10k
Yes! I wrote over 40k! That's as many as four tens!

Be more present on DW
Uhhhhhh no. Did not really happen. I think I need some level of fannish fixation/new and improved energy.

But on the community front, I did befriend [personal profile] tavina via battleship! (Like the one (1) good thing that happened relating to the battleship 2025 mod team. Jesus fuck was that a clusterfuck.) And I got the rest of Team Pear! Tower and Volcano just bye'd off, but now I have a new community of peeps in the After Pearty. One quarter of a point?

Get a new [community profile] vid_bingo card and make at least one vid
This also didn't happen! However, this didn't happen because the new round didn't start, so I'm pleading force majeure.

2026 Resolutions



Go to a Cultural Event at least once a month
The opera. Ballet. Some other dress-up event. I am giving myself permission to skip July, as I will probably be back home, and idk if there's anything in August, but the goal is 12 events.

Community in fandom, part 1
I think I need to get into a new fandom. Does anyone on DW want to suggest a new fandom for me? Science fiction books and historical/scifi cdramas preferred. In addition to my love for worldbuilding and weird stuff, I love significant female characters that don't have romance-related plots. Must have a fandom on DW that is not just me. (No Murderbot, Guardian, MDZS.) I just want the 2018 Guardian fandom energy and idk, I guess the chance to fall in love with something new. I only need like 2-3 other people, I think, if they're willing to fall in and be active about timeline posts and fanmixes and stuff.

Community in fandom, part 2
I am a member of the fanwork exchange community and shall continue with that. I have [community profile] space_swap, but also, I am (with some friends) building a replacement for battleship. Please welcome [community profile] taggle to the world! Everything is still under construction, and none of what we have is on DW, but we're tentatively thinking about an early summer date and should have things up in ... a few months?

Real announcements will, of course, wait for us to have something to announce; consider this an executive pre-announcement.

Fandomtrees due Jan 10

Jan. 4th, 2026 10:08 am
kingstoken: (Christmas tree outside)
[personal profile] kingstoken posting in [community profile] pinchhits
Event: fandomtrees
Event link: [community profile] fandomtrees
Pinch hit link: Google Spreadsheet 
Due date: Jan 10

We have 18 trees with no gifts and we could use some help filling them. The minimum is only 100 words for fic or a simple sketch for art. Please see the community for rules and FAQs.
  1. mastershield's Tree: f:astro boy, f:balan wonderland, f:kingdom hearts
  2. aftonheir's Tree: f:five nights at freddys, f:kingdom hearts, f:portal
  3. edgeofmysoul's Tree: f:elden ring, f:game of thrones, f:soul calibur, f:super mario brothers, f:vermintide
  4. memobu's Tree: f:karaoke iko, f:mahotsukai no yskusoku, f:nu carnival, f:tiger and bunny
  5. plicate's Tree: f:head on, f:set it off, f:succession
  6. ladymonotone's Tree: f:jujutsu kaisen, f:love and deepspace, f:original fiction/artwork, f:predator badlands, f:redacted asmr/audio, f:transformers
  7. soricel's Tree: f:les miserables, f:little women, f:raven cycle
  8. badass_tiger's Tree: f:discworld, f:hades, f:original fiction/artwork
  9. kalloway's Tree: f:brave nine, f:crossovers, f:fire emblem, f:granblue fantasy, f:gundam, f:kingdom of heroes, f:super robot heroes
  10. fantasticwinter08's Tree: f:attack on titan, f:demon slayer, f:honkai star rail, f:zenless zone zero
  11. sandrine's Tree: f:another country, f:dare project, f:eye candy, f:hadestown, f:in the flesh, f:the accountant, f:the firm
  12. whoremoantreatments' Tree: f:advance wars, f:bleach, f:hypnosis mic, f:kuroko no basket, f:pokemon, f:tales of berseria, f:the world ends with you
  13. zukkaoru's Tree: f:avatar the last airbender, f:boku no hero academia, f:bungou stray dogs, f:jujutsu kaisen, f:link click
  14. Grayswandir's Tree: f:deer and the cauldron, f:duke of mount deer, f:lost tomb, f:movie/tv/game/vid recs, f:non-fandom icons, f:old miao myth, f:the rebel
  15. kay_obsessive's Tree: f:ace attorney, f:dishonored, f:fruits basket, f:legend of zelda, f:psychonauts, f:spyro the dragon
  16. Cat2000's Tree: f:alice in borderland, f:demon slayer, f:legend of zelda, f:mcu, f:x/1999
  17. marquisguyun's Tree: f:guardian, f:hikaru no go, f:love me love my voice, f:nirvana in fire, f:sha po lang
  18. tigerlily's Tree: f:black magician, f:buffy/angel, f:wicked, f:witch

Sunday Sweets For Roy G. Biv

Jan. 4th, 2026 02:00 pm
[syndicated profile] cakewrecks_feed

Posted by Jen

I don't know if you've noticed lately, but the sun is kind of awesome.

(By The Cupcake Lady)

 

It gives off all this bright, pure light - but refract that light though a prism, like a crystal...

(By Ron Ben-Israel Cakes)

 

...and you get magic.

(By Yuma Couture Cakes)

That's right, it's our old friend, Roy G. Biv!

 

Red like rubies:

(By Antonella Di Maria Torte & Design)

 

Orange like... um... oranges:

(By CakeCentral member Nunuk)

 

The always cheerful Yellow:

(By Wild Orchid Baking Company)

 

And a Green to make you green with envy:

(By Couture Cakes by Rose)

 

With Sweets like this, you could never be Blue

(By Sweet Disposition Cakes)

 

Even if you never hear much about Indigo these days:

(By Elizabeth Hodes

 

Because here on Sunday Sweets, even a blushing Violet can steal the show:

(By Ruelo Patisserie)

 

So here's to the sun, for giving us rainbows:

(By Zucchero Magie)

 

And here's to rainbows, for making our lives just a little more magical: 

(By Design Cakes)

Happy Sunday and Happy New Year!!!

*****

I used this 84-pc set to make a rainbow butterfly wreath for John's room, and I know you crafters are gonna love them:

(3D Butterfly Wall Magnet Set)

They're double-sided and come with both magnets and stickers. Definitely browse the projects in the reviews, there are so many pretty ideas!

******

And from my other blog, Epbot:

sasheneskywalker: (Default)
[personal profile] sasheneskywalker posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs
Pairings/Characters: Fyodor Dostoyevsky & Nikolai Gogol & Sigma, Armed Detective Agency Ensemble & Sigma, Decay of Angels Ensemble & Decay of Angels Ensemble, Dazai Osamu & Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Minor Fyodor Dostoyevsky/Nikolai Gogol, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Length: 18,403
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] valleykey
Theme: crack treated seriously, au - modern, social media, pov outsider, trans & non-binary characters

Summary: “Yeah I don’t really use much social media besides LinkedIn,” Sigma says sheepishly. “I post way too much on that app. Of course I have mutuals I like, but...”

A sudden silence.

“What?” Says Atsushi. At the same time that Dazai says, “Mutuals?”

Sigma frowns. “I...post on LinkedIn? What? It's a social media app. Of course I post? And have mutuals?”


/// the one where Sigma has 1.2 million followers on LinkedIn.

Reccer's Notes: An amazing fic that combines modern AU, social media, and crack treated seriously, with thoughtful explorations of characters and relationships that stay true to their canon selves. It’s engaging and will definitely make you laugh <3

Fanwork Links: everyone has a social media addiction

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jennaria: Woman with mask, as drawn by Brian Froud (Default)
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