Tuesday DE: Not again…
Jan. 27th, 2026 08:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bjornwilde posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ways_back_roomIs there something your character is very good at that they wish they weren’t so good at?
bjornwilde posting in ways_back_roomA Minor Oversight
Jan. 27th, 2026 02:00 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
cakewrecks_feedHere's one that's been languishing in my drafts folder for nearly a year, and it still makes me snort-giggle - but I can guarantee there is NO WAY you all will find it as amusing as I do. You just won't. Trust me. You'll think it's cute and adorable and I'm a terrible person for laughing.
Or you'll laugh, too, and then we can nod knowingly at each other from across crowded rooms, as if to say, "Yeah, I'm a terrible person, too. S'all good."
A Minor Oversight:
Sadly, God neglected to add air holes.
Thanks to Anony M., the first newly inducted member of the Terrible Person Club.
*****
If that made you snort-laugh, then I have the perfect baby shower gift for all your friends:
This book has over 2,000 5-star reviews and looks absolutely hysterical, definitely bookmark it for the next time you need a shower gift.
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
Fandom Snowflake Challenge #14
Jan. 27th, 2026 10:02 amreeby10 posting in snowflake_challengeIntroduction Post *
Meet the Mods Post *
Challenge #1 *
Challenge #2 *
Challenge #3 *
Challenge #4 * Challenge #5 * Challenge #6 * Challenge #7 * Challenge #8 * Challenge #9 * Challenge #10 * Challenge #11 * Challenge #12
Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time, or go back and do challenges you've missed.
( Fandom Snowflake Challenge #14 )
And please do check out the comments for all the awesome participants of the challenge and visit their journals/challenge responses to comment on their posts and cheer them on. You might just find your newest obsession!
And just as a reminder: this is a low pressure, fun challenge. If you aren't comfortable doing a particular challenge, then don't. We aren't keeping track of who does what.
Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time, or go back and do challenges you've missed.
( Fandom Snowflake Challenge #14 )
And please do check out the comments for all the awesome participants of the challenge and visit their journals/challenge responses to comment on their posts and cheer them on. You might just find your newest obsession!
And just as a reminder: this is a low pressure, fun challenge. If you aren't comfortable doing a particular challenge, then don't. We aren't keeping track of who does what.
While the US Freezes, Australia Boils and Burns
Jan. 27th, 2026 05:47 pmluthienIt looks like parts of western Victoria have recorded the state's hottest ever temperature today. Right now, it's 48.9C, or 120F in the old money.
The forecast is for 42C/107F here tomorrow, which will be bad enough. I'm really glad I don't have any appointments until Friday. I'm not planning to budge from the house. I'm worried about fires, though. Where I live is just far enough from bushland that I don't have to worry about them for myself, but god. There were 900 buildings lost and a big chunk of land all burnt out in the heatwave a few weeks ago, when there were dozens of fires burning across Victoria and New South Wales.
How many fires are there going to be in this sort of heat?
(And still we have politicians trying to say that this is normal. I saw one leader of a far right less-and-less-fringe party call climate change 'rubbish' today. I won't dignify her words by attaching her name to them, but if you're Australian I'm sure you know who I'm talking about.)
The forecast is for 42C/107F here tomorrow, which will be bad enough. I'm really glad I don't have any appointments until Friday. I'm not planning to budge from the house. I'm worried about fires, though. Where I live is just far enough from bushland that I don't have to worry about them for myself, but god. There were 900 buildings lost and a big chunk of land all burnt out in the heatwave a few weeks ago, when there were dozens of fires burning across Victoria and New South Wales.
How many fires are there going to be in this sort of heat?
(And still we have politicians trying to say that this is normal. I saw one leader of a far right less-and-less-fringe party call climate change 'rubbish' today. I won't dignify her words by attaching her name to them, but if you're Australian I'm sure you know who I'm talking about.)
(no subject)
Jan. 26th, 2026 10:41 pmskygiantsLike several other people on my reading list, including osprey_archer (post here) and troisoiseaux (post here, I was compelled by the premise of I Leap Over the Wall: A Return to the World After 28 Years In A Convent, a once-bestselling (but now long out-of-print) memoir by a British woman who entered a cloister in 1914, lived ten years as a nun, decided it wasn't for her, lived another almost twenty years as a nun out of stubbornness, and exited in 1941, having missed quite a lot of sociological developments in the interim! including talking films! and underwire bras! and not one, but two World Wars!
Obviously Baldwin did not know that WWI was about to happen right as she went into a convent, but she does explain that she came out in the middle of WWII more or less on purpose, out of an idea that it would be easier to slide herself back into things when everything was chaotic and unprecedented anyway than to try to establish a life for herself as The Weird Ex Nun in more normal times. Unclear how well this strategy paid off for her, but you can't say she didn't give it an effort. Baldwin was raised extremely upper-class -- she was related to former Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, among others -- but exited the convent pretty much penniless, so while she did have a safety net in terms of various sets of variously judgmental relations who were willing to put her up, she spends a lot of the book valiantly attempting to take her place among the workers of the world. And these are real labor jobs, too -- 'ex-nun' is not a resume booster, and most of the things she felt actually qualified to do for a living based on her convent experience (librarianship, scholarship, etc) required some form of degree, so much of the work she does in this book are things like being a land girl, or working in a canteen. She doesn't enjoy these jobs, and she rarely does them long, but you have to respect her for giving it the old college try, especially when she's constantly in a state of profound and sustained culture shock.
Overall, Baldwin does not enjoy the changes to the world since she left it. She does not enjoy having gone in a beautiful young girl with her life ahead of her, and come out a middle-aged woman who's missed all the milestones that everyone around her takes for granted. She does, however, profoundly enjoy her freedom, and soon begins to cherish an all-consuming dream of purchasing a Small House of her Very Own where she can do whatever the hell she wants whenever the hell she wants. After decades in a convent, you can hardly blame her for this. On the other hand -- fascinatingly, to me -- it's very clear that Baldwin still somewhat idealizes convent life, despite the fact that it obviously made her deeply miserable. She has long conversations with her judgmental relatives, and long conversations with us, the reader, in which she tries to convince them/us of the real virtues of the cloister; of the spiritual value of deep, deliberate, constant self-sacrifice and self-abegnation; of the fact that it's important, vital and necessary that some people close themselves away from work in the world to focus on the exclusive pursuit of God. It is good that people do this, it's spiritual and heroic, it's simply -- unfortunately -- the only case in which she's ever known the church to be wrong in assessing who does or does not have a genuine vocation after the novice period -- not for her.
Baldwin is a fascinating and contradictory person and I enjoyed spending time with her quite a bit. I suspect she wouldn't much enjoy spending time with me; she will keep going to London and observing neutrally that it seems the streets are much more full of Jews than they were before she went into the convent, faint shudder implied. At another point she confesses that although she'd left the convent with 'definite socialist tendencies,' actually working among the working people has changed her mind for the worse: 'the people' now impressed me as full of class prejudice and an almost vindictive envy-hatred-malice fixation towards anyone who was richer, cleverer, or in any way superior to themselves. Still, despite her preoccupations and prejudices, her voice is interesting, and deeply eccentric, and IMO she's worth getting to know. This is a woman, an ex-nun, who takes Le Morte D'Arthur as her beacon of hope and guide to life. Le Morte! You really can't agree with it, but how can you not be compelled?
osprey_archer (post here) and troisoiseaux (post here, I was compelled by the premise of I Leap Over the Wall: A Return to the World After 28 Years In A Convent, a once-bestselling (but now long out-of-print) memoir by a British woman who entered a cloister in 1914, lived ten years as a nun, decided it wasn't for her, lived another almost twenty years as a nun out of stubbornness, and exited in 1941, having missed quite a lot of sociological developments in the interim! including talking films! and underwire bras! and not one, but two World Wars! Obviously Baldwin did not know that WWI was about to happen right as she went into a convent, but she does explain that she came out in the middle of WWII more or less on purpose, out of an idea that it would be easier to slide herself back into things when everything was chaotic and unprecedented anyway than to try to establish a life for herself as The Weird Ex Nun in more normal times. Unclear how well this strategy paid off for her, but you can't say she didn't give it an effort. Baldwin was raised extremely upper-class -- she was related to former Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, among others -- but exited the convent pretty much penniless, so while she did have a safety net in terms of various sets of variously judgmental relations who were willing to put her up, she spends a lot of the book valiantly attempting to take her place among the workers of the world. And these are real labor jobs, too -- 'ex-nun' is not a resume booster, and most of the things she felt actually qualified to do for a living based on her convent experience (librarianship, scholarship, etc) required some form of degree, so much of the work she does in this book are things like being a land girl, or working in a canteen. She doesn't enjoy these jobs, and she rarely does them long, but you have to respect her for giving it the old college try, especially when she's constantly in a state of profound and sustained culture shock.
Overall, Baldwin does not enjoy the changes to the world since she left it. She does not enjoy having gone in a beautiful young girl with her life ahead of her, and come out a middle-aged woman who's missed all the milestones that everyone around her takes for granted. She does, however, profoundly enjoy her freedom, and soon begins to cherish an all-consuming dream of purchasing a Small House of her Very Own where she can do whatever the hell she wants whenever the hell she wants. After decades in a convent, you can hardly blame her for this. On the other hand -- fascinatingly, to me -- it's very clear that Baldwin still somewhat idealizes convent life, despite the fact that it obviously made her deeply miserable. She has long conversations with her judgmental relatives, and long conversations with us, the reader, in which she tries to convince them/us of the real virtues of the cloister; of the spiritual value of deep, deliberate, constant self-sacrifice and self-abegnation; of the fact that it's important, vital and necessary that some people close themselves away from work in the world to focus on the exclusive pursuit of God. It is good that people do this, it's spiritual and heroic, it's simply -- unfortunately -- the only case in which she's ever known the church to be wrong in assessing who does or does not have a genuine vocation after the novice period -- not for her.
Baldwin is a fascinating and contradictory person and I enjoyed spending time with her quite a bit. I suspect she wouldn't much enjoy spending time with me; she will keep going to London and observing neutrally that it seems the streets are much more full of Jews than they were before she went into the convent, faint shudder implied. At another point she confesses that although she'd left the convent with 'definite socialist tendencies,' actually working among the working people has changed her mind for the worse: 'the people' now impressed me as full of class prejudice and an almost vindictive envy-hatred-malice fixation towards anyone who was richer, cleverer, or in any way superior to themselves. Still, despite her preoccupations and prejudices, her voice is interesting, and deeply eccentric, and IMO she's worth getting to know. This is a woman, an ex-nun, who takes Le Morte D'Arthur as her beacon of hope and guide to life. Le Morte! You really can't agree with it, but how can you not be compelled?
Three Sentence Fics
Jan. 27th, 2026 01:31 pmluthienI wrote a couple of fills for threesentenceficathon. There could be more, but for now there's these two:
She Knows
Fandom: The Scarlet Pimpernel
Pairing: Percy/Marguerite
Rating: M
Prompt: she knows
( Read more... )
Rumours
Fandom: Heated Rivalry
Characters: Hayden & Shane (Shane/Ilya implied)
Rating: G
Prompt: Have you heard the rumors about us?
( Read more... )
threesentenceficathon. There could be more, but for now there's these two:She Knows
Fandom: The Scarlet Pimpernel
Pairing: Percy/Marguerite
Rating: M
Prompt: she knows
( Read more... )
Rumours
Fandom: Heated Rivalry
Characters: Hayden & Shane (Shane/Ilya implied)
Rating: G
Prompt: Have you heard the rumors about us?
( Read more... )
Heated Rivalry rec
Jan. 27th, 2026 12:46 pmluthienI've been intending to put together a Heated Rivalry recs post, but I think this one needs its own.
Haydenov Phone Swap by icopythefax is a series of three stories, and the premise is what it says on the tin:
After a mix-up leaves Hayden with the wrong phone for three days, he ends up learning more about Ilya Rozanov and his secret girlfriend, Jane.
The first story, I Like Jane For You, is told from Hayden's POV. Initially, I had to suspend my disbelief a bit that:
1. They would accidentally swap phones in a bar,
2. Neither phone had a passcode,
3. They would wait three days until they could meet up and swap the phones back, and
4. Neither of them saw fit to tell Shane about the phone swap.
HOWEVER, once you just roll with the premise, this story turns out to be an excellent outsider POV fic that is both humorous and heart touching.
But the second story, Do Not Text Jane, oh MAN. It's the same sequence of events as in I Like Jane For You, but told from Ilya's POV, and it is a fantastic character study of Ilya. As well as explaining WHY he didn't tell Shane about the phone swap, it also shows just how much he loves and misses and thinks about Shane ALL THE TIME, as well as his more general loneliness and need for some proper friends. (It's probably not too much of a spoiler to say that he ends up with some, though the number remains debatable in the third story. Don't worry, it will make sense once you get there.)
SO YES, then there's the third story, Please Be Normal About This, set a couple of years later:
After the events of I Like Jane For You, the public reacts to Rozanov and Pike as secret friends. Conveyed through text threads, social media, and news articles.
Okay, so this is hardly the first story in this sort of format that I've read in this fandom, but it's the only one I've read multiple times.![[tumblr.com profile]](https://www.tumblr.com/favicon.ico)
Samirant and I read it together in chat and kept exchanging quotes as we went. It's so clever, and utterly hilarious. Ilya's media statement in Chapter 2 in particular is one for the ages, but it's truly one of those stories that if I tried to quote all my favourite lines I'd be pretty much quoting the whole story.
I have a tag on tumblr called Read This - and yes, yes you should.
Haydenov Phone Swap by icopythefax is a series of three stories, and the premise is what it says on the tin:
After a mix-up leaves Hayden with the wrong phone for three days, he ends up learning more about Ilya Rozanov and his secret girlfriend, Jane.
The first story, I Like Jane For You, is told from Hayden's POV. Initially, I had to suspend my disbelief a bit that:
1. They would accidentally swap phones in a bar,
2. Neither phone had a passcode,
3. They would wait three days until they could meet up and swap the phones back, and
4. Neither of them saw fit to tell Shane about the phone swap.
HOWEVER, once you just roll with the premise, this story turns out to be an excellent outsider POV fic that is both humorous and heart touching.
But the second story, Do Not Text Jane, oh MAN. It's the same sequence of events as in I Like Jane For You, but told from Ilya's POV, and it is a fantastic character study of Ilya. As well as explaining WHY he didn't tell Shane about the phone swap, it also shows just how much he loves and misses and thinks about Shane ALL THE TIME, as well as his more general loneliness and need for some proper friends. (It's probably not too much of a spoiler to say that he ends up with some, though the number remains debatable in the third story. Don't worry, it will make sense once you get there.)
SO YES, then there's the third story, Please Be Normal About This, set a couple of years later:
After the events of I Like Jane For You, the public reacts to Rozanov and Pike as secret friends. Conveyed through text threads, social media, and news articles.
Okay, so this is hardly the first story in this sort of format that I've read in this fandom, but it's the only one I've read multiple times.
I have a tag on tumblr called Read This - and yes, yes you should.
You Don't Know Jack
Jan. 26th, 2026 02:00 pmcakewrecks_feedOnce Upon A Time...
...there was a boy named Jack:
...who used a lot of sunblock.
Jack lived with his mother in "The Hovel by the Phallic Fountain."
The hovel needed a new roof, but Jack and his mother had no money.
So they decided to sell their only cow, Boxy.
(Look, I don't know what it is, either, but this story is going to move along a lot better if we can all just agree it's a cow, OK? Moo.)
On the way to the market, though, Jack met:
...the Way Stuffed Cellulite Man.
Mr. Way Stuffed convinced Jack to trade him the "cow" for a tray of tragic spleens.
(Sure, they look happy now, but that's only because they don't recognize my masterful use of foreshadowing.)
Jack's mother was livid when he can home with the spleens, and made Jack give them a proper burial.
(See? Tragic.)
After a miserable night with no supper, Jack woke up to see a flowing vine where he'd buried the spleens:
Flows like a river.
The Tragic Spleenstalk reached all the way to the clouds. As Jack stood gaping, suddenly the Faceless Fairy appeared!
"Jack, climb the spleenstalk to find a magic chicken who lays golden eggs!" she projected telepathically.
(She doesn't have a mouth. Try to keep up.)
"But beware the ogre who guards the chicken!"
So Jack climbed the spleenstalk, and there was the chicken:
In a festive knit straitjacket.
Jack had just grabbed the bird when he heard a roar!
It was the ogre, Oh'Duh!
"Take the bird not you will!" Oh'Duh screeched.
Jack quickly fled down the spleenstalk, where his mother was waiting with a dump truck and a huge load:
...of dirt.
Before the ogre could follow, they knocked over the spleenstalk and buried it, trapping Oh'Duh in his cloud city.
With the money they made from the golden eggs, Jack and his mother were able to build a brand new home by the Phallic Fountain, complete with matching turrets.
(Those two really know how to use their heads.)
And they all lived happily ever after.
Well, OK, maybe not ALL of them.
Thanks to Amy, Giopi, Sarah J., Graham K., Sara E., moxie, Jenni Q., Shannon C., Becky C., Flowe L., Dani S., and Daniel C. for the fairy fail ending.
*****
I always like twisted fairy tails told from the villain's perspective, and this version - as told by the giant! - has rave reviews:
Trust Me, Jack's Beanstalk Stinks!
The Story of Jack and the Beanstalk as Told by the Giant
Only $7, too, if you'd like to add it to your kids' library.
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
Monday DE: Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
Jan. 26th, 2026 01:14 pmsplash_of_blue posting in ways_back_roomMrghhhhh. I never could get the hang of Mondays. (Or Tuesdays either, really.)
How confrontational is your pub? Are they better with their words than their fists(/superpowers/etc.)? Or do they hate any kind of confrontation at all?
How confrontational is your pub? Are they better with their words than their fists(/superpowers/etc.)? Or do they hate any kind of confrontation at all?
Fandom Snowflake Challenge #13
Jan. 25th, 2026 03:32 pmteaotter posting in snowflake_challengeIntroduction Post*
Meet the Mods Post
Challenge #1 * Challenge #2 * Challenge #3 * Challenge #4 * Challenge #5 * Challenge #6 * Challenge #7 * Challenge #8 * Challenge #9 * Challenge #10 * Challenge #11 * Challenge #12
Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time, or go back and do challenges you've missed.
( Fandom Snowflake Challenge #13 )
And please do check out the comments for all the awesome participants of the challenge and visit their journals/challenge responses to comment on their posts and cheer them on.
And just as a reminder: this is a low pressure, fun challenge. If you aren't comfortable doing a particular challenge, then don't. We aren't keeping track of who does what.
Meet the Mods Post
Challenge #1 * Challenge #2 * Challenge #3 * Challenge #4 * Challenge #5 * Challenge #6 * Challenge #7 * Challenge #8 * Challenge #9 * Challenge #10 * Challenge #11 * Challenge #12
Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time, or go back and do challenges you've missed.
( Fandom Snowflake Challenge #13 )
And please do check out the comments for all the awesome participants of the challenge and visit their journals/challenge responses to comment on their posts and cheer them on.
And just as a reminder: this is a low pressure, fun challenge. If you aren't comfortable doing a particular challenge, then don't. We aren't keeping track of who does what.
Weekly proof of life: reading, gaming (!), weather etc.
Jan. 25th, 2026 12:22 pmumadoshiThere's little I can say about the political landscape. The news is horrifying pretty much everywhere. US friends in particular right now, especially in ICE-besieged spots, you're in my heart.
Reading: I haven't picked up a new novel since I finished Inside Threat. I'm still slowly reading Braiding Sweetgrass. And for my first non-work manga read of the year, since I'd really like to get back to actually reading manga, I reread vol. 1 of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, chosen largely because a newish Bluesky friend loves it and it's been so long since I read any of the series. Before the huge lull in it being published in English*, it and Yotsuba&! were the only manga I was actively keeping up with in terms of actually reading, as opposed to a few things that I've still been buying. (Looking at you, once-a-year release of Kaze Hikaru, which I will someday actually read.) But I've basically forgotten everything, so back to the start I go.
*Publication finally--technically--resumed with omnibus editions, and am I still mildly annoyed that to get vol. 15, I had to buy the fifth omnibus, thus rebuying vol. 13-14? Yes. Has any more come out since then? Nope.
Watching:scruloose and I finished season 1 of Pluribus, which got even weirder than we expected, and in ways we wouldn't have guessed. Really, really good. (Also Yona watched the season finale with us, very intently tracking everything that happened onscreen. No idea why she was suddenly so fascinated.)
Playing: I put in a bit more time with I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, and it's not really clicking for me; I think this style of game (RPG? A story that unfolds differently depending on your choices, Choose Your Own Adventure-style?) may just not be my thing?
In huge-for-me game news, Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven has dropped. It's the first really major expansion (priced as a full game, which makes sense given the scope) after several smaller expansions, and I'm overwhelmed by the number of new things I suddenly need to do to keep my little cult happy and thriving, but am having fun.
Weathering/Householding: It's currently very cold by local standards, esp. with the windchill, and tonight we have a lot of snow rolling in that's expected to keep falling all through tomorrow and possibly into Tuesday. Yesterday NSP (the power corporation) (*hisses*) announced that the grid is under an unusually heavy load (presumably due to people heating their homes?) and asked everyone to try to minimize power usage. It is very cold, yes, but not freakishly so, and public sentiment about NSP is...uh...very fucking negative, what with their profits and their constantly skyrocketing fees and their data breach and, oh, the rickety fucking grid that we are all paying through the nose for while fully expecting to lose power every time a breeze picks up. So we're putting off laundry, at least (one of the usual Sunday chores), and I'd had notions of actually baking something (!), but that may not happen; if it does, it'll probably involve something like mixing up cookie dough and only baking a handful in the toaster oven, or seeing about doing the actual baking with supper also in the oven (less likely; we'll probably just avoid the oven entirely).
("Please use less power" is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but the combination of garbage infrastructure and the level of energy poverty in this province makes it insult to injury.)
Reading: I haven't picked up a new novel since I finished Inside Threat. I'm still slowly reading Braiding Sweetgrass. And for my first non-work manga read of the year, since I'd really like to get back to actually reading manga, I reread vol. 1 of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, chosen largely because a newish Bluesky friend loves it and it's been so long since I read any of the series. Before the huge lull in it being published in English*, it and Yotsuba&! were the only manga I was actively keeping up with in terms of actually reading, as opposed to a few things that I've still been buying. (Looking at you, once-a-year release of Kaze Hikaru, which I will someday actually read.) But I've basically forgotten everything, so back to the start I go.
*Publication finally--technically--resumed with omnibus editions, and am I still mildly annoyed that to get vol. 15, I had to buy the fifth omnibus, thus rebuying vol. 13-14? Yes. Has any more come out since then? Nope.
Watching:
scruloose and I finished season 1 of Pluribus, which got even weirder than we expected, and in ways we wouldn't have guessed. Really, really good. (Also Yona watched the season finale with us, very intently tracking everything that happened onscreen. No idea why she was suddenly so fascinated.)Playing: I put in a bit more time with I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, and it's not really clicking for me; I think this style of game (RPG? A story that unfolds differently depending on your choices, Choose Your Own Adventure-style?) may just not be my thing?
In huge-for-me game news, Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven has dropped. It's the first really major expansion (priced as a full game, which makes sense given the scope) after several smaller expansions, and I'm overwhelmed by the number of new things I suddenly need to do to keep my little cult happy and thriving, but am having fun.
Weathering/Householding: It's currently very cold by local standards, esp. with the windchill, and tonight we have a lot of snow rolling in that's expected to keep falling all through tomorrow and possibly into Tuesday. Yesterday NSP (the power corporation) (*hisses*) announced that the grid is under an unusually heavy load (presumably due to people heating their homes?) and asked everyone to try to minimize power usage. It is very cold, yes, but not freakishly so, and public sentiment about NSP is...uh...very fucking negative, what with their profits and their constantly skyrocketing fees and their data breach and, oh, the rickety fucking grid that we are all paying through the nose for while fully expecting to lose power every time a breeze picks up. So we're putting off laundry, at least (one of the usual Sunday chores), and I'd had notions of actually baking something (!), but that may not happen; if it does, it'll probably involve something like mixing up cookie dough and only baking a handful in the toaster oven, or seeing about doing the actual baking with supper also in the oven (less likely; we'll probably just avoid the oven entirely).
("Please use less power" is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but the combination of garbage infrastructure and the level of energy poverty in this province makes it insult to injury.)
Sunday Sweets: Watercolor Cakes
Jan. 25th, 2026 02:00 pmcakewrecks_feedApparently watercolors date back as far as the cave paintings of Paleolithic Europe. (Thanks Wikipedia!) It was done on things like stone, leather, papyrus, and now ...
(By AK Cake Design)
You guessed it! Cake!
Heck, maybe it was always done on cake, but everyone ate the evidence back in those days.
(By Nevie-Pie Cakes)
I mean, given the choice between a slice of beautifully watercolored cake such as this one, or a hunk of buffalo carcass, I'd go for the cake.
I probably wouldn't have survived very long back then.
But enough talk of carcasses. (Carcassi?) Back to the pretty cakes!
(By Hey There, Cupcake!, Photography by Siegel Thurston Photography)
And this pretty cake is particularly stunning. Look at all those bright beautiful colors!
I love the transparency here, almost like the cake was wrapped in tissue paper:
(By A's Exquisite Cakes & Chocolates; Photo by Jessica Schmitt Photography)
(Dear wreckorators: PLEASE do not go and actually wrap a cake in tissue paper. Please. No, really. Put. The paper. DOWN.)
Did your art teacher in school ever show you that trick of sprinkling salt over your watercolors? It gives it this super-nifty texture, kind of like... this!
(By neli)
It's like an ocean wave of the night sky, with pretty flowers for stars. Love it.
Of course, my watercolors all tended to be a drippy mess - but thanks to this next one, I know drips can be deeeeeLIGHTful:
(By The Art of Cake; Photo by Erik Hornung Photography)
Like rain down a window, or tears down a cheek, or something equally poetical and artsy.
Or how about a modern Jackson Pollack approach, with random splatters and splashes?
(By I Dream of Cake)
Bonsai!!
Edible paints are sweet, of course, but good ol' buttercream can also give you that soft watercolory look:
(By Miso Bakes)
It's like springtime on a plate! I love those dreamy pastel roses.
And how's this for a painting come to life?
(By CakeCentral member Panel7124)
Once again I'm not sure I could bear to let anyone actually CUT this cake. I just want to put it on a shelf and stare at it forever and always.
And finally, check out this frothy, watercolory wonderfulness:
(By Lucia Simeone Cake Design)
I dub thee... rhapsody in blue!
Happy Sunday, everyone!
******
P.S. If you've ever wanted to dabble in the arts, this is for you:
GenCrafts Portable Watercolor Kit
Comes with a pad of watercolor paper, 2 re-fillable brush pens, and a handy travel case.
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
Bits and pieces
Jan. 25th, 2026 10:12 pmluthienI've fallen behind with fandom snowflake this week. I'll have to see if I can catch up tonight. Oh well, it's meant to be a relaxed challenge, so it won't really matter to anyone except me if I finish it or not.
While I've been not doing snowflake, I HAVE been reading quite a bit of Heated Rivalry fic lately. It's been quite a while since I last just sat down and read a bunch of fic for a single fandom. It's been nice to just immerse myself like that. Not sure if I'll write anything. Even apart from all the hockey stuff, it's a very (North) American canon, and I haven't written for a fandom like that in a really long time. But maybe. We'll see. I do have the kernel of an idea. Maybe. Perhaps. If I have the strength, I'll do a recs post, at least.
(I did manage to write a three sentence fic forthreesentenceficathon today. I might write a few more if the mood strikes.)
One funny thing. I just left kudos on a HR fic, and noticed that half a dozen names along from mine was an old friend who hasn't had time for fandom for the last few years until very recently. Looks like we have a fandom in common again, for the first time in... fifteen years? More? I'm laughing at the way I found out, though, particularly given the sheer quantity of kudos a lot of the fics in this fandom get. What are the odds that we should leave kudos on the same fic at almost the same time? I guess we must have both followed the same rec, but STILL.
Meanwhile, the weather is being pretty brutal here. The other week, we had the most intense heatwave since the Black Summer six years ago, but this week's heatwave is going to be worse. It got to about 37 (98F) today, which felt like walking into an oven whenever I opened the front door, and it's going to be similarly hot for the next few days, but they're forecasting 43 (109F) for Wednesday. I'm super glad I don't have any appointments that day. I'm just going to batten down the hatches and stay in my nice, cool air-conditioned house until the temperature finally drops. It will be one of those days when it might still be around 30 at midnight, though, so I think the dog's chances of getting a walk that day are basically nil.
I still haven't made it to the beach this summer, mostly because of the weather. Every weekend it seems to be either a heatwave or else a post-heatwave storm, neither of which makes for fun travelling to the beach or being at the beach conditions. There were also four shark attacks in 48 hours along the coast last weekend, including one in Sydney Harbour. That NEVER happens, so everyone is a bit freaked out. The attacks occurred in the aftermath of a big storm, when a lot of storm water was washed into the sea and stirred it all up, though. That attracts bait fish, and the bait fish attract sharks - plus climate change has made the water temperature warmer, which means that the sharks hang around in the area for longer. I grew up a five minute walk from the beach, and my dad taught us from an early age that murky water is sharky water, so there's no way I would have gone swimming in those conditions. But it's clear that not everyone knows that rule. It might be time for the authorities to add a "don't go swimming in murky water" warning to the usual summer slip, slop slap (slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat) campaign.
I'm flying up to the Deep North in a few weeks to visit my mother, so maybe I'll get a chance for a swim while I'm there. She lives right on the coast, which makes it a lot easier than trying to have a day at the beach from here.
While I've been not doing snowflake, I HAVE been reading quite a bit of Heated Rivalry fic lately. It's been quite a while since I last just sat down and read a bunch of fic for a single fandom. It's been nice to just immerse myself like that. Not sure if I'll write anything. Even apart from all the hockey stuff, it's a very (North) American canon, and I haven't written for a fandom like that in a really long time. But maybe. We'll see. I do have the kernel of an idea. Maybe. Perhaps. If I have the strength, I'll do a recs post, at least.
(I did manage to write a three sentence fic for
threesentenceficathon today. I might write a few more if the mood strikes.)One funny thing. I just left kudos on a HR fic, and noticed that half a dozen names along from mine was an old friend who hasn't had time for fandom for the last few years until very recently. Looks like we have a fandom in common again, for the first time in... fifteen years? More? I'm laughing at the way I found out, though, particularly given the sheer quantity of kudos a lot of the fics in this fandom get. What are the odds that we should leave kudos on the same fic at almost the same time? I guess we must have both followed the same rec, but STILL.
Meanwhile, the weather is being pretty brutal here. The other week, we had the most intense heatwave since the Black Summer six years ago, but this week's heatwave is going to be worse. It got to about 37 (98F) today, which felt like walking into an oven whenever I opened the front door, and it's going to be similarly hot for the next few days, but they're forecasting 43 (109F) for Wednesday. I'm super glad I don't have any appointments that day. I'm just going to batten down the hatches and stay in my nice, cool air-conditioned house until the temperature finally drops. It will be one of those days when it might still be around 30 at midnight, though, so I think the dog's chances of getting a walk that day are basically nil.
I still haven't made it to the beach this summer, mostly because of the weather. Every weekend it seems to be either a heatwave or else a post-heatwave storm, neither of which makes for fun travelling to the beach or being at the beach conditions. There were also four shark attacks in 48 hours along the coast last weekend, including one in Sydney Harbour. That NEVER happens, so everyone is a bit freaked out. The attacks occurred in the aftermath of a big storm, when a lot of storm water was washed into the sea and stirred it all up, though. That attracts bait fish, and the bait fish attract sharks - plus climate change has made the water temperature warmer, which means that the sharks hang around in the area for longer. I grew up a five minute walk from the beach, and my dad taught us from an early age that murky water is sharky water, so there's no way I would have gone swimming in those conditions. But it's clear that not everyone knows that rule. It might be time for the authorities to add a "don't go swimming in murky water" warning to the usual summer slip, slop slap (slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat) campaign.
I'm flying up to the Deep North in a few weeks to visit my mother, so maybe I'll get a chance for a swim while I'm there. She lives right on the coast, which makes it a lot easier than trying to have a day at the beach from here.
Prompt: Lan Wangji (and Three Sentence Ficathon)
Jan. 23rd, 2026 06:17 pmranalore posting in chenqing_100Though extra-canonical, MXTX has stated that January 23rd is Lan Wangji's birthday. Hence, this week's prompt is: Lan Wangji.
Also, for those interested,threesentenceficathon is now up and running again for this year. If you write a fill over there that fits the definition of a drabble format as linked below, please do post or link it here in the community. I have created a tag for use on such posts.
This week's prompt is one of our recurring annual prompts, which means that drabble sequences and drabble series are allowed, since these prompts have multiple or more complex concepts associated with them that warrant exploration in these longer formats. These formats are explained in this post, while the standard drabble formats are explained in the community rules.
You have until midnight your time on Friday, January 30, to answer this prompt. Please post your fills of the prompt as separate entries to the community (i.e. not replies to this entry), tagged with the prompt tag. You may post multiple standalone drabbles per entry in addition to drabble sequences and series.
As a reminder, this community has no official presence elsewhere. You are encouraged to share the prompt on social media, if you so desire. It may take me a bit to create the AO3 collection, so please be patient.
Also, I'm going to go ahead and drop a link to the prompt suggestions post here. New suggestions are always, always welcome.
Also, for those interested,
threesentenceficathon is now up and running again for this year. If you write a fill over there that fits the definition of a drabble format as linked below, please do post or link it here in the community. I have created a tag for use on such posts.This week's prompt is one of our recurring annual prompts, which means that drabble sequences and drabble series are allowed, since these prompts have multiple or more complex concepts associated with them that warrant exploration in these longer formats. These formats are explained in this post, while the standard drabble formats are explained in the community rules.
You have until midnight your time on Friday, January 30, to answer this prompt. Please post your fills of the prompt as separate entries to the community (i.e. not replies to this entry), tagged with the prompt tag. You may post multiple standalone drabbles per entry in addition to drabble sequences and series.
As a reminder, this community has no official presence elsewhere. You are encouraged to share the prompt on social media, if you so desire. It may take me a bit to create the AO3 collection, so please be patient.
Also, I'm going to go ahead and drop a link to the prompt suggestions post here. New suggestions are always, always welcome.
protest meets weather in a very real way
Jan. 23rd, 2026 11:05 amchanter1944I would very much like to attend a local rally in solidarity with Minnesota today - there are events planned nationwide - but it's currently -24C, which is -11F, and it feels like -32C, which is -26F. The wind is making my wind chimes do the intermittent mambo. Schools have closed all over the area, because it's not safe for kids to wait for buses in this. BRRRR! And not only BRRRR! It would be unsafe, in a very real way, for me to be outside for any length of time, even if I layered up.
... Do I head for a rally anyway, despite the horrible weather, or not? A large chunk of me is willing to risk it. I mean, the ICEDamns* aren't taking time off from intimidating and brutalizing people, are they?
*That's an admittedly clumsy play on ice dams i.e. what accumulate on a roof if there's heat escaping a house through the attic or similar, but I couldn't come up with anything better on short notice.
... Do I head for a rally anyway, despite the horrible weather, or not? A large chunk of me is willing to risk it. I mean, the ICEDamns* aren't taking time off from intimidating and brutalizing people, are they?
*That's an admittedly clumsy play on ice dams i.e. what accumulate on a roof if there's heat escaping a house through the attic or similar, but I couldn't come up with anything better on short notice.
Spam Poetry
Jan. 23rd, 2026 02:00 pmcakewrecks_feedUsually my spam filter is pretty accurate, but this week I've gotten three e-mails that read like some kind of post-modern word salad poetry. I'm assuming they're spam, but then again, maybe they're really some hip new literary project by postmodern word salad poets. Eh?
So in the spirit of artistic discovery, I've decided to illustrate these literary feats with the most appropriate cakes I could find. ENJOY.
Subject line: hey! :) My name is Margarito!
Artillery fray,
I must articulate smoothly, it is a terrible wise of many enemy,
this godson of tormenting children,
...and children cheerful.
èḥῥộ_ ḣûῂ?ṕẹvќћ (??)
[That is a line of unintelligible characters which I can only assume was supposed to link to overpriced weasel aphrodisiacs, but since it isn't clickable in the original e-mail I can't say for sure.]
And painting it I soothe said to exception:
"it is the riverside of the disadvantage
and He has sent it to flit my shipboard crustacean."
::flit flit flit::
Alternatively, here's a shoe board crustacean:
[bowing] Ah thank you, thankyouverramuch.
Subject line: Good day, my name is Nathanial :)
One notwithstanding
he did with more sincerity bluff so strange in Moscow,
a life of astounding but salutation,
(C'mon, what are the odds I'd find a cake of a butt salutation?)
(Oh, sorry was that just one "t"? My bad.)
Piping and plating, he was degenerating.
(You know what they say about small pens, right?)
(Smaller pocket protectors.)
Subject line: hey!! My name is Broderick!
The amass had feigned,
but coldly was some embody thereon.
Cuttlefish assureed merrily as jersey began talking,
amiably bashful,
with drowsy one sponge emerge at her foresight to unify its broth on her.
Whoah there, Bobby boy, you're not unifying your broth on ANYBODY today, hear me?
Thanks to Steve B., Shannon P., Candi F., Alexis I., Heitha B., Rachael E., Anony M., Kylie S., & Audra B. for the wreckiest cakes in all the 'verse.
*****
P.S. I see you appreciate poetry. Might I recommend...?
I Could Pee On This, And Other Poems By Cats
This hardcover gift book costs less than $10 and will have your friends feline fine.
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
Fandom Snowflake Challenge #12
Jan. 23rd, 2026 09:25 amscribblemoose posting in snowflake_challengeIntroduction Post* Meet the Mods Post
Challenge #1*Challenge #2 *Challenge #3*Challenge #4* Challenge #5 * Challenge #6 * Challenge #7 *Challenge #8 * Challenge #9 * Challenge #10 * Challenge #11
Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time, or go back and do challenges you've missed.
( Fandom Snowflake Challenge #12 )
And please do check out the comments for all the awesome participants of the challenge and visit their journals/challenge responses to comment on their posts and cheer them on.
And just as a reminder: this is a low pressure, fun challenge. If you aren't comfortable doing a particular challenge, then don't. We aren't keeping track of who does what.
Challenge #1*Challenge #2 *Challenge #3*Challenge #4* Challenge #5 * Challenge #6 * Challenge #7 *Challenge #8 * Challenge #9 * Challenge #10 * Challenge #11
Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time, or go back and do challenges you've missed.
( Fandom Snowflake Challenge #12 )
And please do check out the comments for all the awesome participants of the challenge and visit their journals/challenge responses to comment on their posts and cheer them on.
And just as a reminder: this is a low pressure, fun challenge. If you aren't comfortable doing a particular challenge, then don't. We aren't keeping track of who does what.