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+ 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.

+ I was planning to participate in the Candy Hearts fanwork exchange, but when I was trying to outline my requests over lunch, I found myself thinking, "...I don't want to do this". So, looks like I won't be signing up after all. Will still keep my eye on the requests for treating, but yeah, if I'm feeling like that, best listen to myself!

+ ...Especially because I signed up for an intro to accounting course, which will be starting soon. Between work, judo, and the course, I'm going to be busy!

+ And it suddenly occurs to me that, every time I find myself slowing down, I feel the need to add something else to the pile. I don't know why that is, but I kind of wish my brain would Not. (On the other hand, I felt extremely stagnant during my vacation, so... Maybe I crave that stimulation, even if I'm going to be screaming about feeling overwhelmed later.)

+ 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.

Signups for crackthewip fest are open now!

The premise of this fest is that you finish a work that you've had in progress. If you haven't actually started it, that's fine - things that are currently in the planning stages also apply. ;) Posting is between May 01 and 07. More info.

I had a lot of fun with this last year, so I'm glad it's running again! Hopefully I'll be able to finish this Sasha/Michael fic that I've had kicking around for over a year.

+ 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

+ Managed to slide in with one final fic to just barely make my target wordcount for 2022 (and posted it!). Feel like Indiana Jones over here. Despite the low numbers, I'm actually pretty happy - I managed to complete more individual works than expected, including some that were written only for myself and not in connection with an event. That's nothing to sneeze at.

+ Offline life continues to be busy. Hopefully family, at least, will back off after Jan 01. That's the last formal dinner and (probably) the end of this season's Compulsory Family Fun Time. If there's anything after that, I'm gonna scream.

+ Need to put together my Candy Hearts Exchange signup. I'm really looking forward to this exchange, just as I always look forward to Chocolate Box. Deciding on my prompts is so hard, though. "Anything with the requested pairings would be nice, as long as it's cute!" is not enough for most people to work with, ha. As for other people's requests, I'm hoping to see Promare stuff, or some TMA with Michael, or maybe Hetalia, though that's a long shot. (I see you, person who put those Nordic 5 gen options in the tagset. What are you looking for, buddy, I want to know...!)

+ I feel so restless without judo class to go to. ;~; Keep hoping that next week I'll receive a text from Sensei saying that we received permission from the school to go back earlier than expected. Unlikely, though. (I'll just have to practice as much as I can at home in the meantime, I guess... But it's just not the saaaame.)

+ Kind of bummed that I don't know anyone offline who enjoys live theatre. There's a play that I want to see (it's a stage adaptation of Stephen King's Misery) and, well, I've never been someone who doesn't do something just because I have to do it alone, but stuff like this is always more fun when you're seeing it with someone else. Ah, well. :V

+ seasonsofdrabbles will be doing a round in October/November. Sounds fun! Unsure whether I'll be participating, but I'm going to keep my eye on it, anyhow.

+ Did some writing yesterday. Felt good! I didn't really write anything in September, but I'm going to try to get back on that again. There are so many things that I want to write (...and finish - that's the hard part) but it's just a matter of getting around to it. Kind of having some difficulty adjusting to my new schedule, I guess.

+ launchtheship: A multifandom fest where the goal is to write the first fic for a pairing. Signups open today; deadline is Oct 15th. I really like the idea of this - could be great for rare fandoms.

+ I'm thinking about dropping out of iddyiddybangbang. I love this event, but real life has been kicking my ass. I feel like I've been hit by a semi, and writing is the last thing that I want to do right now. Guess I'll decide whether I'm in or out at the next check-in.

+ Recently commissioned Kyuhu to draw me some fluffy Hetalia Est/Pol fanart! Ee, it is ever cute! So glad I jumped on the chance to grab one of her slots. I love the way she draws those two, and it reminded me of how much I used to love that pairing. (Well, I still like it a lot, but it's like I had only two EE/PL fics in me and now I'm totally out of ideas, haa.)

+ [Weather] Drizzly today. Feels pretty good. I opened up all the windows to let the nice cold air in. The ventilation in my place sucks, so I'm really glad that the heat has gone down enough for this.

+ [Cooking] Tried a new recipe yesterday; chicken cacciatore. Turned out great, which was a relief! I've been feeling kind of stagnant lately (just cooking the same things all the time) so it was nice to try something new. I'll post the recipe later if I remember.

+ [Family] The stressful real-life stuff that has been coming up is getting closer and more stressful. Aughhh, I just want it to be over with! /)_(\ I also don't want to talk about it in specifics, not until it's over. But the next few weeks are going to be Bonkers.

+ [IIBB] Need to get to work on my fic for iddyiddybangbang. I haven't looked at this thing in over a year and editing it will be such a pain in the ass. Are any of you signed up for it?

+ [Hetalia] There's been some talk about trying to revive the Hetalia Kink Meme. I expect it'll go the way these things always do - people talk about it, maybe poke around it a little, and then not much else. Though someone did post a few fills recently, and I think that's pretty awesome.

We just don't have the level of people in this fandom on DW to bring it to anything near the level that people usually mean when they say "active". The occasional prompt and fill, yes. But active... No. Then again, it could be that I'm misunderstanding things, and maybe the people having this discussion do mean "one or two prompts or fills per month", which I think is a realistic hope, though it does seem far-off at this point. But if they're comparing it to their nostalgic memories of the kink meme, which is the impression I usually get in these discussions - no. It's impossible to bring that back.

Though this discussion did remind me that I still have some old prompts bookmarked, and partially-finished drafts for a few of them, so maybe I'll post something there... eventually.

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.