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+ Signups for crackthewip have started! The goal for this event is to finish a work in progress; posting closes June 30. I really like this event, so I'm glad it's running again. I think I will try to finish the rarepair WIP I started a few days ago. Maybe something else too, if I have time. Though I'm at the point where I'm like, "What do I even have in the WIP folder, anyway?" Going to have to, uh, take a look through that mess and see what's what.

+ I made bread for the first time! The recipe I used was Classic White Sandwich Bread by King Arthur Flour. It turned out pretty okay! Not perfect, but like, it's definitely edible bread. Turned out more heavy and dense than my liking, but I am going to assume that's to do with my exceptionally Beginner kneading. The instant yeast came in a package of 3, so I am definitely going to try to make bread 2 more times before deciding whether I enjoy making bread or not. Jury is currently out on that front, but I do feel pretty pleased with myself for actually trying it.

+ The set of Beam Paints watercolours I received the other day is just as nice as I'd hoped it would be! They're very vibrant and pigmented. Because the tin doesn't have a mixing surface, I have to be careful and mix directly on the paper - which is not bad, just a technique that I typically do not use. And just as I expected, the travel brush that came with the set is very, very good - perfect size for the postcard-sized sheets I prefer to work with. I'm so happy I decided to buy it; I mean, yeah, my tubes are nice, but this was a wonderful little treat and the quality is amazing.

+ Livejournal: A reminder to back up your LJ and/or import it to DW if you haven't already. Recent dust-ups in the RU side of LJ have led to speculation about the site's future. There is a thread about it by Rahaeli on Bluesky over here. I think I backed up everything the last time stuff looked shaky, but I'm going to have to check to see if I downloaded fics by my friends who didn't make the import. (I think I did, but where the heck did I save them? Who knows.)

+ I love the start of a new year. It feels so good to put together my annual to-do list and figure out all the new things I want to try, plus the stuff I already enjoy that I want to do more of. Happy 2026!

+ Dad came over and installed a new faucet. I now have a working kitchen sink, hooray.

+ Went to the Wood Buffalo Pride craft and chat session. Very fun! It was basically just a "bring along whatever you're working on, have a coffee, and talk to people" kind of thing. I worked on some bug drawings and they turned out pretty well. No idea when I will be able to get off my arse to scan them, but hey.

+ Watched The Tale of Princess Kaguya last night. Very beautiful movie! Definitely recommend!

My Go set came in. I opened it up, and it's perfect. Lightweight, good size, slightly magnetic. I do wish it was slightly smaller, but overall I'm happy with it. I've never actually owned a Go set, aside from the cardboard one I had as a kid, so this is a first. I just wish I had somebody to play it with. I'll try seeing if B is willing to try - it doesn't really seem her style, though.

Anyway.

The watercolour palette came in. It looks like it'll be pretty good. It's lightweight, about the same size as the ice cube tray I've been using, but with shallower wells. It also has a cover. I'm looking forward to using it. There's a chance I'll be able to do some plein air painting on Saturday, but we'll see.

I was digging around in my closet and found some of my art supplies. There are a few huge canvasses that I never really knew what to do with, and now I have some ideas for some abstracts.

It would involve using washi tapes of various widths, putting them across the canvass. And then painting over it in various colours, not necessarily actual gradients but maybe. And then removing the tapes to make straight, clean lines. I think it would look really cool. Fortunately I also have some small canvasses, so I'd be able to do an experimental version first.

First I'll have to dig around some more, though. I don't know what I have for acrylic materials, if I have the colours I want, or even if any of my acrylic paints are still good. And I also have some other supplies that it might be fun to play with; watercolour stuff and such. Actually I might mess with the watercolour stuff first, do some different projects unrelated to the washi tape stuff, just because I find watercolours easier to clean up after than acrylics. And it's easier to dump watercolour paper in the bin if I don't like the results.

I also want to pick up the bug drawing project again. That was fun. There's no reason not to continue with it.

Today was kind of blah, in addition to feeling unwell (still), so I'm just going to try to focus on the positive:

☆ Practised some driving today. Did Not Die. My turning is going more smoothly. Parallel parking is... uh... improving. Didn't go for very long today, but I'm pretty satisfied with how this session turned out.

☆ My glasses continue to amaze me. ...Probably more than they should, because I don't wear them as regularly as I should, since I only need them for distance. But. Y'know. It's still highly amusing to put them on and suddenly everything is in HIGH DEFINITION.

☆ The postcards that I mailed from Victoria are starting to arrive at their destinations. Yay!

☆ The inktober sketch that I doodled today turned out pretty much exactly the way I wanted it to. That almost never happens, so, yay. <3 I'll be posting these in batches... uh... when I can be bothered to scan them. Yes.

☆ Stephen King's IT continues to be a delight (I'm only about 1/3rd through it at this time). And it's really making me want to try my hand at writing horror again. Such a fun genre! So difficult to write! Well, we'll see.

I stumbled over a very interesting find in the bookstore today. Passage, a collection of poetry by Gwen Benaway. Now, the poetry collection at our local Chapters is tiny (about half a shelf). And the store doesn't generally carry a lot of work by indigenous writers, nor writers who fall under the LGBT2QA umbrella. So to find that they had something by Benaway, who is Two-Spirit and Anishinaabe/Metis, was a really pleasant surprise. ...Well, I really shouldn't be buying any more books, since I really don't have the shelf space, but fortunately poetry collections don't typically take up very much room. From the glances I've given, this one's pretty good; I'm happy to have it. "Cold River"* in particular is one I found especially beautiful. ("Sing the winter water / I've been promised / Be the killing cold / I was born in".... yes <3 )

...Anyway. So, that was nice.

Unfortunately, I've spent most of the day out, which means writing Did Not Happen (especially not on this very fun but also very challenging NoFM assignment) but maybe I'll make up for that tomorrow.

I picked up a stylus for my tablet, which means I can finally draw on it. And this... is interesting. It feels SO WEIRD to actually be able to... draw... on an electronic thing. Anyway, I like the ephemeral nature of it, so it's possible that I might end up sketching more often - after all, digital stuff can just be erased when you're done with it. It isn't as much fun as working with coloured pencils, but it probably won't press that feeling of "oh my god, you're wasting paper, stop wasting paper and supplies on garbage".

On a completely unrelated note, I love today's Small Trolls page update*. Veeti makes the most adorable grumpy-sulky expressions. <3 That kid has completely stolen my heart. (I MEAN, I love Jáhko too, a lot, but... ffff. Somehow, in "red + blue" duos, I always gravitate toward the "blue" one.)

☆ IT. IS. SO. SNOWY. Good lord, I just want to curl up with blankets and tea and movies and not come out until, like, April. It's too early for this shit. (I'm going to keep repeating that until December.)

☆ Been trying to work on some personal writing, just because it's been a little while since I've poked at something that isn't for an exchange. Guys, poetry is hard. WHY did I decide this one was a good idea? It's over 1k, which is way longer than what I'd usually do when it comes to poetry. And it's very... niche (basically, one of those things that's only of interest to me - OC nonsense) and I just, argh, why. It's a fun challenge, but geeze. On the upside, if I manage to get this thing the way I want it, then it'll be the long angsty eulogy that Tarja deserves, haha.

☆ I've discovered that I have more patience for drawing when I'm sketching inanimate objects purely in coloured pencil. No graphite, no erasing, no attempts to draw people. Interesting. I guess in such a situation, it's easier for my brain to stop worrying and just slap something down, because it accepts the fact that perfection is impossible. Not to mention that it avoids the subject that I find most frustrating (people, ugh). Plus, working with colour - that's something I love. We'll see how this goes. No clue whether I'll keep it up.

☆ Anti-rec: Children of the Corn (2009). I can put up with a lot when it comes to bad horror films, but this one was irredeemably bad. I couldn't get through more than half an hour of it. Which is a shame, because I have no issues with, say, the visuals or the pacing or the effects or anything like that - I actually rather like the way it was filmed, from what little I saw of it - but the protagonists were so utterly annoying, I absolutely couldn't stand them. And I have an irregularly high tolerance for horror film protagonists. ...Clearly, I should give the original a try; see if I like that one any better. I remember wayyyy back when, my mate Raylene used to make references to it sometimes - but our tastes didn't align perfectly, so who knows.

On a more positive subject - there just isn't anything like the feeling when someone says that they want to draw one of your original characters. Well, in this case a fandom-OC, but let's not get technical.

I'll have to get my hands on some drawing materials so that I can scribble down what Niko looks like. Been meaning to do that for a while, and kept putting it off because I don't actually enjoy drawing very much, but heeeyyyy since a friend brought it up, why not. ...I kind of want to do something with him in traditional clothing, but gah, research. Maybe only if I get really ambitious.

(And I should probably actually write something with him in it, heh. I did manage to write one short thing, but I never did get around to typing it up. And there are other stories I want to do, but - well, we'll see.)

...Anyway. It was a nice little thing in an otherwise frustrating day. orz

Today was pretty good, aside from the rain. I brought one of mum's apple pies to work, and of course everyone thought it was awesome, 'cause mum makes super awesome pies. (Though I do too, actually, but I haven't had time to do anything with pastry so far this autumn, and that makes me sad.)

Realized suddenly that I will probably have Monday off, which I didn't account for. Going to have to doublecheck on it, though. If so - that means I'll have a three-day work week next week. Awesome. Not that I mind work - I actually do like my job a lot - but it's nice to have a bit of extra time now and then, especially since my brain has been full to the brim with fandom stuff and I want to do so much writing.

Lately I've had a ton of feelings about Signe/Michael from the SSSS prologue, and I started writing up a post about that (not to mention planning out a fic, oho, let's hope this gets off the ground because if I do manage to write it, it'll be AWESOME AND GREAT). Haven't had time to finish it, though. Not sure what I'll do with it when I do finish it. Maybe I'll just slap it up here and backdate it if it's so gushy that I get embarrassed. Why do I always get so ridiculously invested in rare pairings?! These two are so cute, though. (And hey, at least it's canon? :D )

Also, I FINISHED THAT DRAWING that I've been working on since Friday. Well - mostly finished; I need to wait until Saturday before I can really call it done, because there are some fiddly adjustments that I need to use natural lighting to make. The evenings are so dark already that I just can't do it before then. But that's okay, because it's almost finished, like 99%. I'm so proud of myself. I hardly ever draw, and it's been years since I last drew something with a background, so this is really different from the usual for me. Downside is, I never want to draw something with a background EVER AGAIN, but eh, oh well. ;p

I can't be bothered to stuff it in the scanner yet due to the aforementioned adjustments that it needs, but I did take a picture of it.

( SSSS self-insert nonsense )

...So. Probably not going to draw again for a long, long time. Like I mentioned before, it's such a timesink, and not exactly my usual timesink-of-choice. But this little departure from the norm was fun, so.

Anyway! That's - actually, that's all for now, because I've been doing literally nothing else with my free time in the last few days except for working on that and listening to terrible/awesome/awesomely terrible Eurovision music. Where has the week gone?!

WOW so, I played the final story in Hatoful Boyfriend, and holy crap that was INTENSE. I'm glad that I left it until the weekend, because getting through everything took literally all day, and wow. It was very emotional. I cried a couple of times. I still feel as if I need to decompress from that experience.

Definitely going to be downloading and playing Holiday Star. That might be exactly what I need in order to relax next week.

... And after playing Hatoful, I pulled out my sketchbook for the first time in over a year and drew some fanart of my adorable nonsensical OTP. It was nice to do that, though I don't expect that I'll be doing it again any time soon. I actually really dislike drawing; it's colouring that I enjoy. So I don't do it often.

Though... birds are a lot less frustrating to draw than humans are, even if it can be hard to get the wings right, so maybe I'll try drawing cartoony birdies again. Maybe. If I get any ideas for anything that I want to draw RIGHT NOW.

I can't really figure out if the stuff that happens in route 11 is considered a spoiler or not. It's part of the "regular mode" game, but this route isn't available in the demo, and it only unlocks after a certain time. Well, I'll put my fic-related talk under a cut anyway, since it deals with that character.

( Not that it's a major thing anyway )

Anyway. Good times, good times. Highly unlikely to be writing fic in that fandom any time soon - not until I finish the second game and go through some of the supplementary material - but that doesn't matter. It's allllll good. Ah, it gives me so many happy feelings, though!

Prompts for the Whale Brothers fest go out soon, I think. Looking forward to receiving those, definitely. Hopefully I'll get something that will be easy to work with. The minimums are really short, so there's a good chance that I'll be able to get everything done just fine, but I won't know for sure until I get them and start working, I guess!