À Rebours by Joris-Karl Huysmans; Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser: Black Feasts, by Idlewild Designs.
Sep. 25th, 2025 05:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
full_metal_ox posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fancakePairings/Characters: Gen; Duc Jean des Essientes, Gray Mouser
Rating: General Audiences (although most of the beverages might be deemed Mature, depending on your country.)
Length: 542
Creator Links: Idlewild Designs (archived); I’ve not succeeded in recovering a name for the site owner.
Theme: Food & Cooking, Book Fandoms, Meta, Pre-AO3 Works, Research, Old Fandoms, Small Fandoms
Summary: The two literary passages cited serve that purpose:
Dining off black-bordered plates, the company had enjoyed turtle soup, Russian rye bread, ripe olives from Turkey, caviare, mullet botargo, black puddings from Frankfurt, game served in sauces the color of liquorice and boot-polish, truffle jellies, chocolate creams, plum-puddings, nectarines, pears in grape-juice syrup, mulberries and black heart cherries. From dark-tinted glasses they had drunk the wines of Limagne and Roussillon, of Tenedos, Valdepeñas and Oporto. And after coffee and walnut cordial, they had rounded off the evening with kvass, porter and stout.
— a black feast held to mourn the loss of the Duc des Esseintes's virility in A Rebours, by Huysman
The collation on the little ebony table beyond the coffin consisted entirely of black foods. By sight and then by nibbling and sipping the Mouser discovered their nature: thin slices of a very dark rye bread crusted with poppy seeds and dripped with black butter; slivers of charcoal-seared steak; similarly broiled tiny thin slices of calf's liver sprinkled with dark spices and liberally pricked with capers; the darkest grape jellies; truffles cut paper thin and mushrooms fried black; pickled chestnuts; and of course, ripe olives and black fish eggs—caviar. The black drink, which foamed when he poured it, turned out to be stout laced with the bubbly wine of Ilthmar.
— Fritz Leiber, "Bazaar of the Bizarre"
Reccer's Notes: With Halloween impending, this seemed an apropos topic.
Idlewild Designs was a 2000’s Geocities purveyor of Gothic, fantasy, literary, occult, rustic, Art Nouveau, and otherwise Bohemian aesthetic living tips; here they expand and elaborate upon the two literary feasts described, with potential ingredients listed by category and outlinks to recipes. (The site was still very much under construction by the time Geocities shut down; I’m assuming the business, at least in that stage, is by now as dead as Bela Lugosi and that this post doesn’t violate the OTW’s advertising ban.)
( Literary_context. )
So what items might you add to the list? Some suggestions of my own:
( Continue. )
Fanwork Links: Black Feasts, by Idlewild Designs (archived.)
celebrity20in20 Round 17
Sep. 25th, 2025 04:45 pmreeby10 posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_community_promo
Link: Round 17 Sign Ups | Round 17 Themes
Description:
celebrity20in20 is a 20in20 community dedicated to making icons of actors and actresses. You have 20 days to make 20 icons about a celebrity of your choice, based on a set of themes for the round.
Schedule: Round 17 sign ups are open NOW. Icons are due October 13, 2025.
Don't MAKE Me Count To Threeth
Sep. 25th, 2025 01:00 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
cakewrecks_feed
Remember the old saying?
"Twice is a coincidence...
"Three times is a pattern...
"And four times means there's some kind of voodoo curse involved."
Jennifer N., Amber D., Tara A., & Brynna R., you guys get the rooster tears, and I'll fetch a bucket of sprinkles. Meet back here at oh threeth hundred.
*****
I found a baking book just for us, minions:
Procrasti-Baking:100 Recipes for Getting Nothing Done in the Most Delicious Way Possible
I FEEL SEEN
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
Check In: Day 24
Sep. 24th, 2025 09:06 pmfleetsparrow posting in writethisfanficWas today a writing day?
Yes
3 (50.0%)
No
2 (33.3%)
Kind of?
0 (0.0%)
It will be
1 (16.7%)
Today was a break; but tomorrow!
0 (0.0%)
So, visit one of those today! And please share with the class~ 👀👀
The Gift Of Encouragement
Sep. 24th, 2025 01:00 pmcakewrecks_feedI remember the first time I told my Mom the publisher wanted me to go on a book tour for Cake Wrecks. She responded by telling me about an author she'd seen at a big warehouse store the previous weekend, sitting alone behind a card table and looking desperate.
"I just don't want that for you," she said.
...
Motherly concern aside, you could say my mom has a real gift for encouragement.
Kind of like these people:
"Oh, and happy engagement. I guess."
This is your moment. Enjoy it.
Q: What do you get the birthday girl who's allergic to birthday cake?
A: A birthday cake with an apology. ("More cake for us! Woot!")
As we get older, we look for signs from our loved ones that age is really just a number, it's about staying young at heart, etc, etc.
"Well, sure, NOW I am."
And there's nothing quite so encouraging as ill-concealed shock at your personal accomplishments:
"We had you guys pegged at two years, tops. Wow!"
And finally:
"Note that we haven't expressed any sadness over this fact, or stated whether Kyle is happy regarding his imminent departure. However, the fact that we're having cake would seem to indicate a celebration of Kyle's coming absence."
"Wow, you got all that from four words?!"
"No, I'm reading the card."
Thanks to Edmund H., Rachael G., Kim K., Sarah C., G.D., & Kyle C. for the encouraging words.
*****
Oh hey, this seems like a good time to remind you this exists:
Cake Wrecks, THE BOOK
It's totes hilarz, and I don't say things like "totes hilarz" in it even once.
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
Check In: Day 23
Sep. 23rd, 2025 09:01 pmfleetsparrow posting in writethisfanficAre ya writin', friends?
If you have written today--Open the first WIP you find and write one (1) word.
If you have not written today--Open the first WIP you find and write one (1) word.
It doesn't have to stay in the final version. It doesn't need to make sense. Just add one word.
I believe in you!
October sign up
Sep. 23rd, 2025 07:46 pmlilly_c posting in writethisfanficSign-ups will be open until the end of October.
Level of challenge: 1 chapter, 1000 words, 1 fic finished, whatever you like
Fandom(s) involved: if you know at this point
What you're looking for from the challenge: this could be as vague or specific as you like: someone to be accountable to, someone to remind you to write, someone to bounce ideas off, etc.
What you could offer other participants yourself: ditto!
How people should contact you: DW message, e-mail, IM etc.
Time zone: useful for seeing who might be up for a writing session at a time convenient to you
Copypaste below:
The post for hosting the daily check-in is here and thanks to everyone who helps out with this. If you're interested in helping out and there are still slots available the post remains open until the last week of the month and we generally run our week Sunday to Saturday, I'm happy to chat via PM on DW for anyone who might need it.
If you have ever completed a fic through this challenge we have a collection on AO3 and on SquidgeWorld both collections are open and unmoderated. Should there be an issue with adding a work, let me know and I'll see if there's a fix for it.
Volunteers for October
Sep. 23rd, 2025 07:45 pmlilly_c posting in writethisfanficWeek 1: 5th to 11th
Week 2: 12th to 18th
Week 3: 19th to 25th
Week 4: 26th to 1st
linaewenStar Trek: Amok Time Cake, by jb612 and violetnebula19
Sep. 23rd, 2025 08:04 amrunpunkrun posting in fancakeCharacters/Pairings: James T. Kirk's nipples
Rating: Not rated, but G+ for fondant nipples
Creator Link:
Theme: Food & Cooking, (Not Really) Character Death
Summary: A birthday cake.
Reccer's Notes: Our founder
jerakeen once lamented that we hadn't ever had a fancake recced on the comm. Now that we've had The Untamed cupcakes, it reminded me I've had this rec sitting in my drafts for literal years, so: Please enjoy this beautifully rendered cake of James T. Kirk's nipple window as seen on TV in the episode Amok Time, 1967.Fanwork Link: Star Trek Amok Time Cake
"Perfectly" Punctual
Sep. 23rd, 2025 01:00 pmcakewrecks_feedYesterday we covered parentheses and quotation marks. Today, THE WORLD.
Or maybe just some extra apostrophes:
This Beth belongs to Congratutation.
The booties are anyone's guess.
I see lots of apostrophes where quotation marks should be, but I have to admit, this is the first time I've seen it the other way around:
I blame whatever madness drove the baker to add that L.
You might think periods would be easy to deal with, but if so, you're obviously a man with a death wish.
Or this baker:
I don't really know who St. David is, but I'm hoping against hope he's the patron saint of punctuation.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the three period run, or if you want to get all technical about it, the ellipsis:
Because nothing conveys sincerity quite like trailing off mid...
With all these confusing options, you might be tempted to skip punctuation entirely, bakers. But that path has its own perils:
Yeah, way to go, Bob. I mean, that was soooo great, that thing you did. Scha.
My personal favorite, though, is the wild card mish-mosh of punctuation patter:
I dare you to do a dramatic reading of this cake.
And finally, the colon cake you've been waiting for:
Come back after we slice it for the semi-colons.
Thanks to Elizabeth C., Miriam A., Doreen L., Ariel F., Sarah C., Gernez, & Kim T. for the excuse to link to Victor Borge's phonetic punctuation.
Check In: Day 22
Sep. 22nd, 2025 08:23 pmfleetsparrow posting in writethisfanficThe writing, friends. Was it productive?
Of course it was! (genuine)
3 (60.0%)
...Of course it was! (lie)
1 (20.0%)
Let's not get lost in the weeds of "productivity" here
1 (20.0%)
It was a break and/or life day and that's fine!
1 (20.0%)
Umami...the fifth answer.
1 (20.0%)
And sometimes, even when you have the energy for writing and no other tasks that need to get done instead, you still just don't want to write. And that's OK, too. Our brains need rest the same as our bodies. Besides, when you come back to your writing, you'll be that much fresher and eager to do it.
Mo Dao Zu Shi, Chen Qing Ling: The Untamed cupcakes, by abyss_valkyrie.
Sep. 22nd, 2025 09:19 pmfull_metal_ox posting in fancakePairings/Characters: Gen; Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng, Lan Xichen, Jiang Yanli, Jin Zixuan
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 26 photos
Creator Tags: char: jiang cheng, char: jiang yanli, char: jin zixuan, char: lan wangji, char: lan xichen, char: wei wuxian, fanwork: other
Creator Links: (AO3)
![[deviantart.com profile]](https://i.deviantart.net/icons/favicon.png){kind=icon}
Abyss-Valkyrie; (Dreamwidth) abyss_valkyrie; (Tumblr) Theme: Food and Cooking, Non-Fic Recs: Crafts
Summary: So I spent all of yesterday and the night before making cupcakes and I wanted to try making some MDZS/Untamed character themed ones so these were very self indulgent and made me happy,lol.
Reccer's Notes: Exactly what it says on the tin: various characters from The Untamed, as symbolized by a photospread of fluffily ornate cupcakes; my own favorite is the Jiang Cheng one in fluorite swirls of violet and teal.
Fanwork Links: The Untamed cupcakes
Can I Quote You On That?
Sep. 22nd, 2025 01:00 pmcakewrecks_feedWoohoo!! National Punctuation Day is coming!
You know what to do!
I stand corrected.
Bakers, contrary to popular belief, those curved thingies are not sideways "happy hugs" for your text; they're parentheses. But I'll make this easy for you: YOU WILL NEVER NEED PARENTHESES ON YOUR CAKES. So don't use them. Ever.
No, not even for a name in all caps.
And not for anniversaries, either.
Gosh. I bet "Mom" is really feeling like part of the family right now.
Which brings me to my next point:
STOP IT WITH THE QUOTATION MARKS ALREADY.
Why are these numbers in quotes? Are they euphemisms or something? Are these people not really 13 and 59? And why does this keep happening, anyway?
Oh.
Thanks to Monica, Debb D., Tamara M., Alyssa V., Amy C., Rachel C., and Aurora C. for helping me cover parentheses and quotation marks. Tomorrow: COLONS! (You'll have to check back to see which kind.)
*****
P.S. And here's the official t-shirt of National Punctuation Day:
Punctuation Saves Lives
Proof that educating can also be entertaining!
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
due South: Sunday Dinner by ArtConundrum (SpaceTimeConundrum)
Sep. 23rd, 2025 01:44 ammific posting in fancakeCharacters/Pairings: Benton Fraser, Ray Vecchio, Diefenbaker, Francesca Vecchio, Ma Vecchio, Vecchio family
Rating: Gen
Length: three-panel comic
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: ArtConundrum (SpaceTimeConundrum) on AO3
Themes: Food and cooking, Family, Domestic
Summary: Dinner at the Vecchio house is always an adventure.
Reccer's Notes: An excellent set of panels with Dief and Ma Vecchio cooking, Fraser feeding the smallest Vecchio, and all of them at the dinner table. It's cheerfully domestic and perfectly captures the warm chaos of a Vecchio family dinner.
Fanwork Links: Sunday Dinner