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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!

+ I did a shitload of chores this weekend and I STILL haven't wrapped the Christmas presents. Guess I'll have to figure out some moment to do that in between, well, everything else.

+ Mom brought me a ~chocolate wine~ the other day. Supposedly it's a digestif made up of chocolate and red wine, but it doesn't taste like wine at all. It tastes kind of like chocolate milk mixed with rum or something like that. Very interesting drink; probably not something I'd pick up myself mind you, as it's a little gimmicky (and was probably expensive), but interesting.

+ [Event] beagoldfish is a fandom event taking place from Jan 01 to Feb 28. It's centred around short works - there's a 1k maximum. It sounds fun! I think I might try to whip up a short work for it, or finish off a draft (if I can find something suitable). It's been a while. I like that it's a fest rather than an exchange - I don't have enough fandoms these days to do multifandom exchanges like Candy Hearts, but a fest is definitely something I can participate in.

+ I didn't set a wordcount goal for myself for 2025. On the one hand, I found it much easier to work around my schedule than previous years, which is good. On the other hand, I didn't get much writing done (though I did do some!). I'm wondering what I should do this year... Like, should I set a (low, manageable) wordcount goal, or should I set a goal to finish a handful of specific fics? Hard to say! I'm going to have to take a look at my WIPs before I make any decisions.

+ I really miss Hetalia roleplaying. ;~; I was thinking back on some of the threads I've done over the years, and feeling very nostalgic. Playing Nor was a total blast - but it's also very important that I had some really awesome partners. ;~; Folie, Wald, Chi, Jay... They were all so good at their characters. (And all seem to have dropped out of my orbit and/or fandom in general in some cases, unfortunately). Sometimes I feel like seeking out new people to play with, but the thought of trying is so daunting, I wouldn't even know where to start. Plus, I doubt I'd be able to commit.

+ And also I think in general I miss having random places to braindump Hetalia thoughts. Finding a good fit for me is hard. Probably too nostalgic for the LJ/DW era.

+ Stumbled across newyearcntdown, which is a prompt fest for December. It sounds fun! I haven't decided whether to sign up, though - I've been feeling very creatively quiet lately, probably because I have so much going on. But maybe I'll give it a go anyway. :V (Who knows.)

+ Counted the bottles of wine in my pantry. Guys, I have 14 bottles. That's way more than one person needs. Anybody want to come over and help me drink all this? ;V Most of it wasn't even purchased; my mom makes wine as a hobby, and gives me a bottle every time she finishes a batch. It's pretty good stuff, too! But I don't drink often. Maybe I should look up some recipes that use it? orz

+ Discovered a huge amount of bluish-grey yarn in my stash. I must have had a plan for this stuff, because I wouldn't order something in this quantity without intending to do something specific with it, but for the life of me I can't remember what. It's 10 balls of River City Epic, a tough wool yarn in worsted weight that I've used before and really like. That's enough to make a blanket, so... that's probably what I'll do with it! (After I finish my current project.) Maybe something by Fifty Four Ten; I really like their patterns. Anyway, this has convinced me that I really need to get into the habit of writing down what I intend to do with my yarn; put a sticky note on the label or something. 'Cause, geeze.

Candy Hearts Exchange is complete. Creators revealed today!

I'm still going through the collection; there are a whole lot of works that look interesting to me (with over 900 written for this, I would hope so!). So far I did take a look at some of the art, and a lot of it is great!

Anyway, I received:

Sunset to Dusk by Beleghir. Promare, Lio/Gueira/Meis, 18+, 2.1k.
Author's summary: Lio, Meis and Gueira no longer have the Promare holding them together, but they're building new ways of staying close.

This was some lovely postcanon domestic coziness, and exactly the kind of thing I love for these guys. <3 Worth a read if you like this ot3.

As for me, I wrote:

Turning inward, no last thoughts for Razzaroo. Hetalia, Denmark/Netherlands, 18+, ~850 words. Established relationship, set some time during the 1600s.
No plot here; just a night together.

It's been a while since I wrote some DK/NL, so I'm really glad there was a request for it. <3

+ Whew, finished a draft for Candy Hearts Exchange! What I ended up with isn't as elaborate or cool as my original idea, but the upside is that my recipient can't see inside my head, so they won't know what they're missing. ;V

(If I end up with extra time, I'm going to try to write the more complicated idea too - maybe they'll get a nice extra.)

+ goreswap is in its final day of the noms period; signups start Jan 24. Not participating, but will keep my eye on this in hopes that something Super Cool will get written.

As an aside, it's too bad this exchange didn't exist at the height of SSSS fandom. I bet we would've had a blast.

+ seasonsofdrabbles is in the nom stage for this year's winter round. Hooray! Nice to have a fresh clean tagset. I wonder what people are planning to request for this one.

+ I wonder if crackthewip is running again this year. No mention of a schedule for 2023, but who knows. I always did like "finish your stuff" kind of events - exchanges are fun, but I have so many half-finished things that aren't for an exchange, and an external deadline is nice. ;V

+ It's the kind of day where I managed to get up early and accomplish six different tasks before lunch time. I'm pretty pleased with myself!

+ Finished signing up for Candy Hearts. And somehow managed to rope Tik into it, too. That's a first.

+ Received a nice package from Lumiere yesterday. <3 Prints and pins and other trinkets. And a pin with the logo for her fanbook group, haaa. I guess I'm ~officially~ a (small) part of it, now. (Kidding, kidding, but it does feel nice). Really, the whole package was so nice and unexpected - I knew she was sending something, but I thought it would just be a postcard!

+ Discovered that there is a place in the city that sells lokum; it's just allllll the way downtown. Regardless, I now have a box of rose-flavoured goodness, mmm. <3

+ Wrote a few pages today. This fic is almost done, aughhh! (...And then it's all over but the editing. Ew.)

Happy Sunday!

+ Yuletide Exchange's fics have been revealed. 1027 fandoms, whoo! Holy shit, this thing has been going on for 20 years, what?!!

There's 17 works for Nirvana in Fire, and I'm really looking forward to those. It's probably going to be over the rarity limit next year.

+ Multifandom Doodle has revealed artworks for this round. This exchange is great, lots of fun and creative stuff typically - I find I love looking through all of it, even when I don't know the fandoms.

+ Candy Hearts Exchange* is in the nomination stage* until the end of the 27th. This is a one-off stand in for Chocolate Box Exchange, which won't be running for 2023. Looks like I'll have to figure out my requests! (Maybe I'll have a fanart-only slate this year? I dunno.)

Works for multifandomdoodle revealed today. This is an art exchange that welcomes all skill levels.

I was reaaally hoping to participate in this round, but the scheduling just didn't work out. Maybe next time.

There's a lot of awesome stuff in the collection, though! Fandoms list is here. I've mostly been looking through the original works so far, since I don't know most of the fandoms this round; I'll get to the fandom works later. (I don't read fic outside of my fandoms, but I can always enjoy good art, even without context. :V )

Of the original works, my favourites so far are:

+ Fancifowl (Song sparrow in a fancy hat)
+ Chickvalry (Knight on a chicken steed)
+ Church of St. Ivan Rilski (There are several 'sunken churches' paintings in the collection, I'm guessing the same artist, all of them great. This one is my favourite)
+ Ghosts in the plumbing (Whimsical haunted bathroom)

Thinking about participating in rarestofpairs! It's a rarepair fest with a long-term due date of Dec 31st.

It runs a little differently from the fests on DW that I've participated in. They're using the Ao3 prompt meme function, and they're building a tag set for it. Then prompts are posted on Ao3, and you can self-fulfill by claiming your own, or claim someone else's. So, nominations for the tag set are open until July 14th, and then prompting/claiming will be July 15-Dec 31.

Threw in some noms, might try to think of a few prompts... I have vague ideas floating around for some RO/BG, so I might try writing that. (Due to attempting to find something to read and not coming across anything to my taste - goddamnit Hetalia fandom, looks like I gotta' cook my own food again.) I have no idea what to do with Bulgaria's characterization, but a low-pressure event like this sounds like a good way to figure it out.

The good thing about having such a far-off due date: Lots of time to work on it! Might even be able to write multiple fics!

The downside: ...I might forget about it altogether, whoops. Hopefully not. Mind like a sieve, I have it. Claiming prompts adds them to your Claimed Prompts list on Ao3, so that will probably help.

Got my prompt card for comment_bingo. Some of them might be a bit challenging, but I think I can work with this.

Now, can I find time to read fic? That sure is the question. xD

( Prompt table for comment-bingo under the cut )