the game changed on this play
Oct. 5th, 2025 06:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Since I'm going to the office on Tuesday and my whole team is supposed to be in, I am finally going to be able to get some feedback on funfetti cupcakes. So today, I baked both the Sally's Baking Addiction recipe (black and white cupcake papers) and the Smitten Kitchen recipe (yellow and red cupcake papers) (pics), and I think the Sally's recipe is the winner. I particularly like that it uses melted butter instead of having to cream the butter and sugar, so it can be done easily by hand. (For Christmas, I will double the recipe, so I'll use the stand mixer anyway, but overall, I do like a recipe that can be made without one.) My plan is to make the SK frosting attached to that recipe (doubled, and potentially tripled if necessary since I have 72 cupcakes to frost (38 Sally's, 34 Smitten Kitchen - overall they made 40 and 36 mini cupcakes, respectively, but I ate 2 of each). Normally, I would go for cream cheese frosting for funfetti, but both my nephews have said they prefer buttercream, and since this is specifically for them (and to replace the vanilla cupcakes I've been making but have been unhappy with), I figured I'd go with their preference. We'll see how it goes.
In other news, I am so sad HGTV cancelled Bargain Block - I still have the last couple of post-New Orleans episodes to watch, but then it will be all over and I will miss Keith and Evan a lot. I heard they also cancelled Married to Real Estate, which I also enjoy but still have a couple of seasons I haven't seen, and that Unsellable Houses is probably also going to get canned, which is a shame because that is my other favorite HGTV show and I have already watched all that is available. On the plus side, it seems like Home Town will be coming back, and I do enjoy that one, plus the new season of Help! I Wrecked My House (now in Park City, UT) has started (though I haven't watched it yet). And of course, my Elementary rewatch continues.
*
In other news, I am so sad HGTV cancelled Bargain Block - I still have the last couple of post-New Orleans episodes to watch, but then it will be all over and I will miss Keith and Evan a lot. I heard they also cancelled Married to Real Estate, which I also enjoy but still have a couple of seasons I haven't seen, and that Unsellable Houses is probably also going to get canned, which is a shame because that is my other favorite HGTV show and I have already watched all that is available. On the plus side, it seems like Home Town will be coming back, and I do enjoy that one, plus the new season of Help! I Wrecked My House (now in Park City, UT) has started (though I haven't watched it yet). And of course, my Elementary rewatch continues.
*
due South: Real Life series by MSSalieri (Real Boys & Real Worlds)
Oct. 6th, 2025 01:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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Fandom: due South
Characters/Pairings: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Ray Vecchio, Diefenbaker, Frannie Vecchio, Margaret Thatcher, Armando Langoustini, Victoria Metcalf
Rating: Teen
Length: 60,820 (whole series) Real Boys is 22,820, Real Worlds is 38,000
Content Notes: Author "chose not to warn", but I don't think any AO3 warnings apply.
Creator Links: MSSalieri (aka Troyswann, Salieri): MSSalieri on AO3 and Salieri's old site on Wayback
Themes: Uncommon settings, Friends to lovers, Action/adventure, AU: Science Fiction, AU: robots & AI, Fandom Classics, Worldbuilding
Summaries: for Real Boys:
Ray looked out from between his fingers. The creature was there, on the other side of Mr. Thug, and it had lots of silvery fur and teeth that would be gleaming really nicely if the 'liner hadn't gone and taken most of the light with it. Between Mr. Thug and Ray, there was a pair of tall boots. Tilting his head back, Ray looked up, up past the red jacket all the way to the head, which was wearing a wide-brimmed hat. On the face under the hat there was a small smile.
"What the," Ray said. "Who the."
for Real Worlds:
"His existence is a violation of Armistice Statute—"
"God laws."
"Yes."
It took only one long stride for Ray to get into Thatcher's space and to her credit she didn’t back down. "You're gonna quote God laws at me?" He jabbed her with a stiff finger. "Who's playin God here, huh? You wave the fucking God laws at me while you got Fraser strapped to a table somewhere so you can put his fucking brains in a blender and take what he is? Look in a fucking mirror, lady."
"For some reason I can't fathom, Mr. Kowalski, I like you, so I'm going to give you a piece of advice." Her chin came up. "You might watch your words. Unless you want to join Fraser on charges of sedition."
"What?" Vecchio was incredulous. "You're yankin me, right? Fraser’s a kitchen appliance, but he's man enough to be brought up on charges? How the Jee does that compute?"
A sequel to Real Boys:
Three years raising sheep on Clementine, and it all comes crashing down in a skip storm, some consequential psychosis, a kidnapping and a global catastrophe. He may be the universe's punching bag, but Ray will fight for freak love. He's getting Fraser back, God Laws be damned.
Reccer's Notes: There are very few AUs that put the due South characters into spaaace! This is a fusion with the Bladerunner universe where Fraser's an android looking for the killers of his AI father and partners up with Ray Kowalski, a futuristic but very recognisable CPD cop. Salieri's a marvelous writer who takes aspects of the Bladerunner universe and expands on them with extraordinary worldbuilding to tell a complex and riveting tale. There's a gradually developing relationship between Ray and Fraser, nefarious villains, and anti-android laws that wrench the boys apart so that both Rays have to fight to get Fraser back. A triumph, and a due South classic. Here's a quote from a comment by Moth: "The other day I was talking to a friend about Philip K. Dick adaptations and I said that it was funny how one of the best adaptations out there was a due South fanfic. So I went and searched for it to see if it lived up to my memories and it actually exceeded them. This is the best type of AU, one that transplants the canon characters, storylines, and themes to a new universe, while also commenting on the both the canon as well as the nature of fiction." It's also a bloody good read!
Fanwork Links: Real Life series on AO3
Podfics of both stories: Real Boys read by Zabira & Real Worlds read by Luzula
Fanart for the series is here (scroll to the end)
Characters/Pairings: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Ray Vecchio, Diefenbaker, Frannie Vecchio, Margaret Thatcher, Armando Langoustini, Victoria Metcalf
Rating: Teen
Length: 60,820 (whole series) Real Boys is 22,820, Real Worlds is 38,000
Content Notes: Author "chose not to warn", but I don't think any AO3 warnings apply.
Creator Links: MSSalieri (aka Troyswann, Salieri): MSSalieri on AO3 and Salieri's old site on Wayback
Themes: Uncommon settings, Friends to lovers, Action/adventure, AU: Science Fiction, AU: robots & AI, Fandom Classics, Worldbuilding
Summaries: for Real Boys:
Ray looked out from between his fingers. The creature was there, on the other side of Mr. Thug, and it had lots of silvery fur and teeth that would be gleaming really nicely if the 'liner hadn't gone and taken most of the light with it. Between Mr. Thug and Ray, there was a pair of tall boots. Tilting his head back, Ray looked up, up past the red jacket all the way to the head, which was wearing a wide-brimmed hat. On the face under the hat there was a small smile.
"What the," Ray said. "Who the."
for Real Worlds:
"His existence is a violation of Armistice Statute—"
"God laws."
"Yes."
It took only one long stride for Ray to get into Thatcher's space and to her credit she didn’t back down. "You're gonna quote God laws at me?" He jabbed her with a stiff finger. "Who's playin God here, huh? You wave the fucking God laws at me while you got Fraser strapped to a table somewhere so you can put his fucking brains in a blender and take what he is? Look in a fucking mirror, lady."
"For some reason I can't fathom, Mr. Kowalski, I like you, so I'm going to give you a piece of advice." Her chin came up. "You might watch your words. Unless you want to join Fraser on charges of sedition."
"What?" Vecchio was incredulous. "You're yankin me, right? Fraser’s a kitchen appliance, but he's man enough to be brought up on charges? How the Jee does that compute?"
A sequel to Real Boys:
Three years raising sheep on Clementine, and it all comes crashing down in a skip storm, some consequential psychosis, a kidnapping and a global catastrophe. He may be the universe's punching bag, but Ray will fight for freak love. He's getting Fraser back, God Laws be damned.
Reccer's Notes: There are very few AUs that put the due South characters into spaaace! This is a fusion with the Bladerunner universe where Fraser's an android looking for the killers of his AI father and partners up with Ray Kowalski, a futuristic but very recognisable CPD cop. Salieri's a marvelous writer who takes aspects of the Bladerunner universe and expands on them with extraordinary worldbuilding to tell a complex and riveting tale. There's a gradually developing relationship between Ray and Fraser, nefarious villains, and anti-android laws that wrench the boys apart so that both Rays have to fight to get Fraser back. A triumph, and a due South classic. Here's a quote from a comment by Moth: "The other day I was talking to a friend about Philip K. Dick adaptations and I said that it was funny how one of the best adaptations out there was a due South fanfic. So I went and searched for it to see if it lived up to my memories and it actually exceeded them. This is the best type of AU, one that transplants the canon characters, storylines, and themes to a new universe, while also commenting on the both the canon as well as the nature of fiction." It's also a bloody good read!
Fanwork Links: Real Life series on AO3
Podfics of both stories: Real Boys read by Zabira & Real Worlds read by Luzula
Fanart for the series is here (scroll to the end)
i could've done better, but i don't mind
Oct. 2nd, 2025 06:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Ugh, I woke up at 3:30 this morning coughing my lungs out and didn't really sleep much after that. It's that itchiness in my throat and chest that make me think allergies, especially given that I haven't really been around people except at the dentist's office yesterday, so I don't think it's covid? But who knows at this point? My quest to get this year's flu/covid shots has been derailed a couple of times but I am off again next Friday, so that is going to be my next attempt.
In more fannish news, I read that Dungeon Crawler Carl has been optioned for tv, and now I want a Carl vid to Mike Ness's version of "Don't Think Twice."
*
In more fannish news, I read that Dungeon Crawler Carl has been optioned for tv, and now I want a Carl vid to Mike Ness's version of "Don't Think Twice."
*
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Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Pairings/Characters: Stede/Ed and Stede/Ed/izzy
Rating: G
Length: 2252 words
Creator Links: charlieloverboy
Theme: Uncommon settings, unconventional format & style
Summary: FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
Video title: “Blackbeard and the Gentleman Pirate Answer the Web's Most Searched Questions | WIRED”
From WIRED Entertainment
Reccer's Notes: This fic is written like it's the transcript of a WIRED interview, the ones where the celebrities answer google's most searched for questions about them. It's a modern AU where Ed and Stede are rock stars and its implied that Izzy is Ed's manager. I'm not sure how the author did it, but they got the tone and how most celebrities speak in these interviews spot on, while also telling us a narrative about Ed and Stede and heavily implying Ed/Stede/Izzy.
Fanwork Links: AO3
Pairings/Characters: Stede/Ed and Stede/Ed/izzy
Rating: G
Length: 2252 words
Creator Links: charlieloverboy
Theme: Uncommon settings, unconventional format & style
Summary: FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
Video title: “Blackbeard and the Gentleman Pirate Answer the Web's Most Searched Questions | WIRED”
From WIRED Entertainment
Reccer's Notes: This fic is written like it's the transcript of a WIRED interview, the ones where the celebrities answer google's most searched for questions about them. It's a modern AU where Ed and Stede are rock stars and its implied that Izzy is Ed's manager. I'm not sure how the author did it, but they got the tone and how most celebrities speak in these interviews spot on, while also telling us a narrative about Ed and Stede and heavily implying Ed/Stede/Izzy.
Fanwork Links: AO3
The breath that passed from you to me
Oct. 1st, 2025 07:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Rabbit, rabbit! Gotta start the month out right!
According to the dentist, my teeth are mostly fine but another old filling has started to crack so he wants to take it out and put a crown on it. Since I have money in my FSA because I didn't order new glasses, I said let's do it! So as long as he gets the approval from my insurance, I should be having that done on 10/22. I'll probably still have to pay about $500 out of pocket, but that's better than the whole $1500. As always, he marveled about the Maryland bridge I have, which has been in place since 1994; even when I got it, my dentist at the time said it would probably only last 5 years, so it's quite impressive. "Those dentists back then knew what they were doing!" he told me today, and I wanted to be like, "1994 wasn't that long ago," but it was 31 years ago apparently. That just seems wrong.
Anyway, I could barely stay awake on my way home, so I crawled into bed and ended up sleeping for THREE HOURS, which I was not expecting. I will take it though.
I made pancakes for dinner, but as I was mixing up my wet ingredients, I put what I thought was vanilla in the mixing cup, but as soon as I smelled it, I knew it was the wrong bottle. It turned out to be fior di Sicilia, which is lovely and smells like an Italian bakery, but is not what I wanted in my pancakes. Whoops. The vanilla bottle is the same size, so I have now rearranged that shelf so the vanilla remains in front and the fior di Sicilia is back behind a bunch of stuff. I also redid my wet ingredients - it was only an egg and some milk, so not a huge loss to start over.
Now I'm going to watch the new episode of Slow Horses and then later, the season premiere of Abbott Elementary.
*
According to the dentist, my teeth are mostly fine but another old filling has started to crack so he wants to take it out and put a crown on it. Since I have money in my FSA because I didn't order new glasses, I said let's do it! So as long as he gets the approval from my insurance, I should be having that done on 10/22. I'll probably still have to pay about $500 out of pocket, but that's better than the whole $1500. As always, he marveled about the Maryland bridge I have, which has been in place since 1994; even when I got it, my dentist at the time said it would probably only last 5 years, so it's quite impressive. "Those dentists back then knew what they were doing!" he told me today, and I wanted to be like, "1994 wasn't that long ago," but it was 31 years ago apparently. That just seems wrong.
Anyway, I could barely stay awake on my way home, so I crawled into bed and ended up sleeping for THREE HOURS, which I was not expecting. I will take it though.
I made pancakes for dinner, but as I was mixing up my wet ingredients, I put what I thought was vanilla in the mixing cup, but as soon as I smelled it, I knew it was the wrong bottle. It turned out to be fior di Sicilia, which is lovely and smells like an Italian bakery, but is not what I wanted in my pancakes. Whoops. The vanilla bottle is the same size, so I have now rearranged that shelf so the vanilla remains in front and the fior di Sicilia is back behind a bunch of stuff. I also redid my wet ingredients - it was only an egg and some milk, so not a huge loss to start over.
Now I'm going to watch the new episode of Slow Horses and then later, the season premiere of Abbott Elementary.
*
Round 179: Uncommon Settings
Oct. 1st, 2025 08:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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Our theme for October is uncommon settings!
These are places you don't commonly see represented in fanworks, either in a specific fandom or fandom in general.
The tag for this round is: theme: uncommon settings
If you're just joining us, be sure to check out our policy on content notes. Content notes aren't required, but they're nice to include in your recs, especially if a fanwork has untagged content that readers may wish to know about in advance.
( Rules! )
( Posting Template! )
( Promote this round! )
due South: A Balanced Diet by seascribble
Oct. 1st, 2025 06:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Fandom: due South
Characters/Pairings: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Diefenbaker
Rating: Teen
Length: 1929
Creator Links: seascribble on AO3
Themes: Food and cooking, First time, Friends to lovers, Domestic
Summary: Ray is actually starting to like oatmeal.
Reccer's Notes: Set towards the end of the quest to find the Hand of Franklin and afterwards, once their relationships's established, this story weaves together scenes featuring Ray Kowalski, Fraser, Dief, and food of various types - some delicious, some less so, and all telling the tale of their relationship. Lovely.
Fanwork Links: A Balanced Diet (or, Four Vaguely Interrelated Vignettes about Ray, Fraser, and Food)
Characters/Pairings: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Diefenbaker
Rating: Teen
Length: 1929
Creator Links: seascribble on AO3
Themes: Food and cooking, First time, Friends to lovers, Domestic
Summary: Ray is actually starting to like oatmeal.
Reccer's Notes: Set towards the end of the quest to find the Hand of Franklin and afterwards, once their relationships's established, this story weaves together scenes featuring Ray Kowalski, Fraser, Dief, and food of various types - some delicious, some less so, and all telling the tale of their relationship. Lovely.
Fanwork Links: A Balanced Diet (or, Four Vaguely Interrelated Vignettes about Ray, Fraser, and Food)
SGA: Vanilla by Punk
Oct. 1st, 2025 05:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Madison Miller, Jeannie Miller
Rating: G
Length: 1552
Creator Links: Punk on AO3
Themes: Food and cooking, First time, Humor
Summary: Rodney doesn't know whether he should go for the ice cream or Sheppard's mouth.
Reccer's Notes: A charming first time story where Rodney's lust for a real-vanilla ice cream cone is transmuted into lust for John, with Jeannie berating and cheering them on from the sidelines. Fun, and an excellent outcome for everyone except the ice cream!
Fanwork Links:
Text on AO3: Vanilla
Podfic read by Punk: Vanilla [podfic]
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Madison Miller, Jeannie Miller
Rating: G
Length: 1552
Creator Links: Punk on AO3
Themes: Food and cooking, First time, Humor
Summary: Rodney doesn't know whether he should go for the ice cream or Sheppard's mouth.
Reccer's Notes: A charming first time story where Rodney's lust for a real-vanilla ice cream cone is transmuted into lust for John, with Jeannie berating and cheering them on from the sidelines. Fun, and an excellent outcome for everyone except the ice cream!
Fanwork Links:
Text on AO3: Vanilla
Podfic read by Punk: Vanilla [podfic]
To the doubts that complicate your mind
Sep. 30th, 2025 07:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Pet-sitting over the weekend was ok, not great. Bleu was a good boy and a sweetheart. Brie was fine when we were inside, but once she got out, it took a couple of hours - repeatedly - to coax her back into the house, because even though she was happy to climb into my lap on the couch, she flinched away whenever I stood in the doorway and called her to come in. Even just sitting in a chair and propping the door open and putting down treats to lead her in took a while. So that was not great. Additionally, because of the cat, I had to take a ridiculous amount of allergy medication just to breathe and my throat and chest were itchy the whole time.
On the plus side, the pizza I ordered was delicious!
I took yesterday off and scheduled a grocery delivery, which never arrived. Apparently none of the drivers would take it? I don't know what that even means, but I took that personally. I cancelled the order, and then today, put in an Aldi order which arrived on time and only cost half as much. *hands*
I'm off again tomorrow for a dental appointment. We are battening down the hatches for a govt shutdown at work, but should be okay if it doesn't last too long. Otherwise, there could be furloughs.
If you, like me, want to escape into fanfic, here's this month's recs update:
unfitforsociety has been updated for September 2025 with 10 recs:
✭ 9 Batfamily and 1 Batfam/Spiderman crossover
***
On the plus side, the pizza I ordered was delicious!
I took yesterday off and scheduled a grocery delivery, which never arrived. Apparently none of the drivers would take it? I don't know what that even means, but I took that personally. I cancelled the order, and then today, put in an Aldi order which arrived on time and only cost half as much. *hands*
I'm off again tomorrow for a dental appointment. We are battening down the hatches for a govt shutdown at work, but should be okay if it doesn't last too long. Otherwise, there could be furloughs.
If you, like me, want to escape into fanfic, here's this month's recs update:
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
✭ 9 Batfamily and 1 Batfam/Spiderman crossover
***