This weekend seemed especially short. I woke up this morning with a headache and spent a couple of hours just lying down with my eyes covered, waiting for the Excedrin to kick in. Then I planned to make cranberry orange scones but my heavy cream was frozen, so that was delayed until it was liquid enough to pour. The funny part is that the recipe wants it to be almost frozen when you use it, but not quite as frozen as mine was.

Anyway, after waiting a bit, I made the scones and they turned out well (pic - that is also my new grey "spatter" pattern quarter sheet pan, lined with parchment).

I didn't make the glaze because I'd planned to sprinkle the scones with cranberry orange sugar, but then I forgot to do that. *hands* They still taste good!

I also made that garlic and bread soup again, but I got distracted and burned my croutons. *sadhair* Soup is still delicious, though. I wish I'd remembered to buy some arugula so I could have soup and salad, but alas, I didn't think of it when I was putting my grocery order together.

Speaking of grocery orders, when did Costco stop selling the 3 lb brick of Philadelphia cream cheese? I need it for the frosting for the red velvet cupcakes for Christmas, but I guess I will have to spend a little more and get what I need from Stop and Shop instead. *hands*

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I was so glad to log off last night and put a period on this work week. This morning, I had to be up for the cleaning service at 9 am, and they told me the company is closing, but the team who has been cleaning my place for the last 7 years is going out on their own and wants to keep me as a client, so I will get in touch with them in the new year to set up the new arrangement. I hope it all goes smoothly!

I also made another 2 lbs of candied pecans, so I have six jars filled and have to wash the other jars so they can also be filled.

Then I took a nap that felt way longer than it was, and so even though it's only like 8:20 I keep thinking it's 11:30 pm or something. Time is so weird.

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I don't actually ship Rex/Echo, but that doesn't stop me from wanting a Lord King Bad Vid to For Good for the very simple reason that Rex is going to be with Echo like a handprint on his heart.

I feel like this needs a good bunch of Bad Batch, which I have not seen, in much the same way that I have only seen Wicked on stage once, and haven't seen the movies.

I also can't listen to the song without tearing up because I've sung it at too many funerals.

Clearly I am highly qualified to care about this vid. I must've gotten someone else's inspiration particle.

Back in the day, the 213 things Skippy is no longer allowed to do in the U.S. Army made the rounds of the internet.

The one that stuck with me hardest:

87. If the thought of something makes me giggle for longer than 15 seconds, I am to assume that I am not allowed to do it.

This came to mind because I thought of a great tag that will baffle the good wranglers at the AO3, but which I will apply to the story forthwith, despite its having made me giggle for longer than 15 seconds.

Then I started wondering.

These are the fanworks on AO3 tagged with Skippy's List. Happily, various people have written Clone Wars versions so I don't have to.

Largely the same as before:

Currently trying to support a friend in a Very Bad Situation and it's desperately anxiety-inducing and my brain is trying to eat itself, which also makes me less useful as support, which is bad.

So if anyone would like to ask or discuss anything about Prophet or Dark Souls or IWTV or climbing or, you know, any of the somewhat cheering topics I sometimes ramble about, PLEASE DO. "More of a comment than a question" questions also very welcome.

I cannot guarantee replies in a timely or consistent manner (because of the Situation and also the bad state of my brain) but it would be deeply appreciated nonetheless.

Except that THANK FUCK my friend is now out of the Very Bad Situation (and please let him remain so, please please please).

My brain is just trying to eat itself because it's prone to doing that and it's been a very very hard year (and I'm having yet another IC flare-up, joy).

I keep meaning to post and then being too tired to string two thoughts together. Work remains stupidly busy, but I just need to get through Tuesday and it'll all be downhill from there. *crosses fingers* Even if so far only 6 board members have agreed to come in person to the suddenly in-person board meeting. I'm hoping a bad showing will discourage the folks who keep insisting we do stuff in person, but I guess we'll see what happens.

Outgoing CEO keeps trying to orchestrate the first half of 2026 and my boss and I are both like, wtf? but incoming CEO seems to be okay with going, nah, we're not doing that. I haven't been in those meetings, but the stuff coming out of it makes me feel like she's trying to prop up other internal candidate who wasn't chosen to be CEO, which would be 100% on brand for both of them.

In better news, my raise was in my check today, and allegedly the catch-up payment (it's retro to July 1) will be coming in the next pay period, just in time to start paying off Baby Miss L's Christmas gifts. I got a most delightful video of her singing "Let It Go" last night. <333 She's so cute!

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I do not keep up with DC Comics canon anymore. I haven't for a long-ass time. But people on my Tumblr dash do, and they share just enough to confuse me.

I remember when Bruce Wayne adopted Tim Drake because I immediately wrote a story about it in which a) they have sex and b) they have issues. I mean -- so many issues.

The punchline of that story has always been, for me, that Bruce has no goddamn business adopting the 16-year-old son of people he knew.

20 and a bit years on, Tim is 16 again despite the theoretical passage of time in comics, various other characters aging, and assorted other nonsense, and DC Editorial has him ( Cut for spoilers )

There was also a page that went by on my Tumblr dash recently that drew Tim with Shoulders and Muscles, from who knows when, which was also #notmytimdrake, but in a way that made my brain convinced that Bernard was cheating on Tim with Kon.

fancake is a thematic recommendation community where all members are welcome to post recs, and fanworks of all shapes and sizes are accepted. Check out the community guidelines for the full set of rules.

This theme runs for the entire month. If you have any questions, just ask!

rarefemslashexchange is a multi fandom exchange focused on f/f ships with two or more female characters (canon or genderbent) and/or genderqueer characters that you feel would fit in a f/f exchange, with less than 250 works on AO3- completed, in English, using the otp:true filter. The minimum requirements are either a 500 word fic or a nice sketch.

Nomination guidelines are here.

2025 Links

Tag Set | AO3 Collection | Rules & Guidelines

2025 Schedule

Nominations: December 1-10th (closes at 10PM PST) [ Countdown to nominations closing ] | [ In your timezone ]
Sign-Ups Open: December 13th
Sign-Ups Close: December 27th, 10PM PST
Assignments Out: approximately December 30th
Assignments Due: February 6th, 10PM PST
Assignments Revealed: February 13, 10PM PST
Creators Revealed: February 20th, 10PM PST

This Tumblr post has Salman Rushdie's account of meeting Umberto Eco and Mario Vargas Llosa after each of them had trashed the other two in the press, and discovering that they got along extremely well in person.

OT3!

Having read none of them save a little Vargas Llosa en español, I can't begin to write it, but I can Want it.

*puts it in the Maybe Someday Yuletide tag*

Meant to post this earlier, but got distracted, but I'm back now! November 2025 recs update:

unfitforsociety has been updated for November 2025 with 11 recs in 4 fandoms:

* 7 Batfamily, 1 Batfamily/Criminal Minds crossover
* 1 The Bear, 1 Star Wars, and 1 Stranger Things

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I also made a cute little chocolate cake with chocolate ermine frosting (pic). I'm happy with how it came out. It's just enough cake for 1 person for like 5 days (refrigerated).

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Stranger Things, season 5, episodes 1 - 4!

( spoilers )

I think this "drop 4 episodes, then do another 2-3 episodes 2 more times" is the worst of all possible distribution patterns, but I guess Netflix will never do a weekly series, which I can honestly say after years of binge-watching seems preferable to me. But at least it's all within a month instead of half in August and half in November or whatever. As much as I dislike the amount of time it's taken for them to put out each season, I am still enjoying the show and want to see how it all wraps up.

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