xojemmaxo | Reading

birdylion posting in

Fandom: Leverage
Pairings/Characters: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Rating: M
Length: 61264 word long series (first work with 20345 words, second with 40919)
Creator Links:

vexedquestion
Theme: food & cooking, bisexual/pansexual characters, polyamory, series

Summary:
part 1: you do not have to be good.
Come hell or high water, Eliot is going to figure this out.

part 2: your place in the family of things
He's here, he's queer, he's sort of getting used to it, or, Eliot realizes that he still has some work to do on understanding himself. With bonus new!team members.

Reccer's Notes:

Bisexual/pansexual Characters

This story features an Eliot Spencer who might have, in the back of his mind, known that he wasn't fully straight, but didn't let it sink in until he got close to having a relationship with Parker and Hardison. Growing up with the background homophobia of his childhood, and then the Don't Ask, Don't Tell of the military, he didn't think about it, didn't apply labels such as "bisexual" to himself. So realizing that he indeed wants a relationship with Parker and with Hardison leads to some serious reconsidering and soul-searching as he works through that. It is very much a "coming out later in life" story. The first part focuses on coming out to himself and his partners, and the second part focuses on finding his place in the wider queer community.

Food & Cooking

These stories feature a copious amount of food metaphors in the likes of "bretzels", actually co-owning a brewpub, and Eliot working through his feelings in late-night visits to the kitchen, and showing Parker and Hardison he loves them by cooking them food. The second part of the series especially is set in the brewpub as kind of a home base and develops the location as a legit place of business. For example Eliot creates longdrinks for the pub that convey his feelings, and they each are described at the end of chapter, it's delightful.

Polyamory

I like how the story portrays it as a multidimensional three-way-relationship: Each of the duos have their own relationship, and also the three of them function together in a way that's different than their two-way-relationships. Much like in canon, actually. Eliot is the POV character, and he has important scenes with Parker along, with Hardison alone, and with them both.
The first part is about figuring out how they work as a relationship together, about Eliot figuring out his queerness in relation to Parker and Hardison. The second part is about how that interacts with the outside world, portrayed through some very nicely flashed out side characters from the brewpub as well as another group of (rather young, very queer) criminals they're recruiting. In the second part especially, the focus is on their polyamory in that outsiders learn about it, and especially Eliot learns to show his love for his people.

Fanwork Links:
simple machines series link, ao3-locked
you do not have to be good. part one, ao3-locked
your place in the family of thingspart two, ao3-locked

full_metal_ox posting in

fancake

Fandom: À Rebours by Joris-Karl Huysmans; Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Pairings/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.)

glitteryv

A little under a week ago, Le Sserafim posted this cover of Selena's "Amor Prohibido" alongside a cute MV.

OK, firstly, kudos to them for tackling one of the most well-known songs for a Tejano LEGEND. Secondly, they did AMAZING--especially when it came to rolling their r's! Finally, it's pretty clear that they understood and respected the song AND Selena's legacy. <3 to my FIMMIES.

Watch on YouTube

turps

The gym was offering free Personal Trainer taster sessions this month, so I did one yesterday. ( cut for exercise and weight talk )

I've an ongoing situation atm where someone is fly tipping bags of rubbish near my house. The way things are set up, you walk out of my garden gate onto the public path, on the other side of the path there's a metal fence, then a steep bank with mature trees that goes down to the dual carriageway. For ages now someone has been coming and dumping rubbish at that spot, probably because between the trees on one side and the thick ivy on my fence, it's a place that's relatively hidden from view.

At first, it wasn't much, but lately it's been multiple big black bags full of rubbish, and pee'ed on puppy pads. I've had to add signs on the gate, and my neighbours has too, saying no flying tipping, CCTV in operation, and if it doesn't stop I'm seriously considering actually getting another ring doorbell for the back of the house.

I've talked to many neighbours about it, and we're all pretty sure who's doing it, it's just getting proof. The rubbish gets reported every time, and last time the council said they'd check through it to see if there's anything identifying. Hopefully, there is, as it's just scummy behaviour.

We went to see A Big Bold Beautiful Journey at the cinema a few days ago. Coming out the cinema guy asked people if we'd liked it, I said, it was okay, another woman said, that it was interesting and yeah, that sums it up.

James is back at work today, just a four-hour shift today, then two four-hour shifts next week, then gradually increasing time as the weeks go on. I'm walking to meet him at Home Bargains at lunchtime as we need cat litter, and I'm not about to carry a sack of that home by myself. But first, a catch-up on here.

runpunkrun posting in

fancake

Fandom: Star Trek: The Original Series
Characters/Pairings: James T. Kirk's nipples
Rating: Not rated, but G+ for fondant nipples
Creator Link:

jb612 &

violetnebula19
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

full_metal_ox posting in

fancake

Fandom: Mo Dao Zu Shi, Chen Qing Ling
Pairings/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)

Technomancer28; (DeviantArt)

Abyss-Valkyrie; (Dreamwidth)

abyss_valkyrie; (Tumblr)

abyss-valkyrie

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

glitteryv

Re-Reads. HUH.

None for now.

I DNF'd

I actually finished everything I started. O__O

Had an awesome time at first (but it all went downhill from there)

* Away Games by Misha Horne (M/M Romance) - A 35k novella that takes place a few months after the ending of Book 2. It has too much football (including an excess of practice and game scenes). The last chapter is a ridic (yet sweet) long porny scene between Caleb and Logan that segues into them talking abt their futures post-high school.

To me, the whole thing read like an epilogue draft since it didn't add anything new to Logan and Caleb's story and it wasn't far enough in the future (say, during their second year of university) to make any kind of impact. I gave this a 2 out of 5.

* She Didn't See It Coming by Shari LaPena (Mystery) - Bryden is happily married to Sam. They have pretty good careers, are the parents of a sweet 3-y.o., and seem to have a fab life. That is, until Bryden disappears...

Extremely readable novel. Good writing (no typos or weird turn of phrases.) Having read most of this author's books, I knew that I was in for domestic suspense, a whole lotta POVs (10 different characters in this novel), and some O___o kind of drama.

I wasn't AS taken with the mystery as I was with the MESSINESS of everything else.

Starting with 2 super chaotic evil characters who were fun to read abt. Even though they gave me the impression to have come in from a totally different book. There's also a 3rd character whose life went off the rails at some point...and that whole thing was never resolved?

Finally, a fourth character had a v. late in the book turn that made me ?????. And, to explain why, I gotta

dive into FULL SPOILERS

This fourth character is not only an abuser, but also a functional drug addict (Oxycontin). This is revealed in the next-to-last chapter and grants that character a full alibi (?!). This character--who has their own POV chapters--is never shown to be thinking abt drugs and/or getting high nor experience any type of physical withdraw from, again, their everyday usage.

It was v. odd that there were no hints abt this from the fourth character or anyone else who also had POVs. This was so UNBELIEVABLE that I 🙄 as the book came to a close.

Had I not been familiar with this author's usual style and that I had borrowed this from the library, I'd have probably DNF'd this book. Although I'm not quite putting this author on 'reader probation' yet, I will reconsider after reading whatever she publishes next. I gave this a 2.3 out of 5.

* Those We Run From by Fiona Zedde (F/F Romantic Suspense) - After finding out that Tilly, her ex-girlfriend from 20 or years ago, is on a hit list, almost-retired assassin Sterling heads to Miami to protect her and find out who wants her ex dead...

OTOH, this book had a v. diverse (in terms of race, sexuality, and gender) cast. I also really liked that the majority of the characters were 39+ years old. Oh, and the author can write actions scenes (including gunfights, knife fights, etc.) really well. She's got a knack for timing and describing the goings on.

OTOH, I had three issues with this 120-page novella.

1. The worldbuilding was incomplete. This story takes place in Miami (FL), the Bahamas, and southern Georgia. But there was no actual sense of place. Like, whenever the story moved to Miami, characters would inevitably think or say "wow, it's so hot/humid." And that was abt it. Same with the Bahamas.

2. Given the premise, i was ready for some goofiness plotwise. But then, a little near the halfway point, when the reason why Tilly has been targeted is revealed, the book moves on permanently to DEEPLY UNSERIOUS LAND. I mentally threw my hands in the air and said "I guess?!", NGL.

3. This last thing is the main reason why I gave it such a low ranking. This involves a mild spoiler w/r/t one of the MCs, but I don't consider it worthy of hiding behind a spoiler tag. Though, again, this is gonna be a MILD SPOILER.

So it turns out that Tilly has a twin sister named Nora. They've never gotten along and it's been a while since they've spoken with each other.

The book never uses words like autistic, autism, etc. However, it's clear that Nora is neurodivergent. The issue is the extremely negative way autism is shown. Especially when the chapter is from Tilly's POV.

Examples from Chapter 21 after Nora shows up. This is 100% from Tilly's POV (Emphasis mine):

It was bizarre seeing her sister again. Hearing her talk. They were identical in looks, but in temperament, in the way they processed things, were as different as dawn and midday. No doctor had been able to explain why. Nora was the analytical and brilliant one their parents never stopped praising. The one who was an ice cube but excelled at everything academic from her very first exam.

They start talking:

Tilly swallowed a few times. "What exactly do you mean by showing up here?"

"I made a gamble I shouldn't have and didn't factor in that I might have been gambling with your life, too." Nora faintly grimaced.

The scream crawled higher in Tilly's throat. "you talking to me like a robot isn't making the situation clearer."

"This is how i talk. There is no other way I can express myself."

That much was true. Tilly let out another sigh. [...]"

And the conversation continues with Nora talking and Tilly being judgy and on the defensive for no reason at all. The book does show Nora interacting with other characters just fine? There's one specific (but v., v. spoilery) convo Nora has with another character in which the other character never remarks on how 'odd' or 'robot-like' Nora is talking to them. So it's basically a Tilly-only issue, IMO.

At best, the way this book approaches a neurodivergent character is quite off-putting and, at worst, is truly worrisome and weird.

On top of that, it simply does not make any sense that Tilly, a 39-y.o. character who works with a variety of clients (she's a boudoir photographer) AND who has a really colorful group of friends AND gives the impression of being quite a worldly character wouldn't know or even consider the existence of autism. Especially in relation to her twin sister. Keep in mind that the story takes place in our world in contemporary times. That's all I'm saying.

ETA: I think I wouldn't have had as much of a problem if one of two things had happened:

1. If Tilly and Nora had been raised in an ultraconservative and super religious community. Since those types of groups tend to avoid/disregard anything that wouldn't be considered "normal".

OR

2. If the story has been set anywhere in the 1970s to 1980s. At those times, the general population's awareness of ADHD, dislexia, autism, etc was v. limited and prejudiced.

But that's not what happened here.

FTR, I was super grossed out by this part of the story, but it was such a short novella that I ended up. No idea if I'll read anything else by this author. I gave this a 1 out of 5.

Good vibes all around

* Comfort Me, Daddy by Misha Horne (M/M Romance) - the 444-age sequel to Hurt Me, Daddy. Logan has moved in with Caleb. There's a big chemistry test he HAS to pass if he wants his scholarship to continue AND some v. important football games he's gotta train for...

The writing continued to be good (no typos, no weird turn of phrase, etc.). There was enough space in the book for Logan to get some more character development. Which isn't to say that he became suddenly mature, but that he had changed (for the better) when it came to his self-esteem and relation to the world. Another thing that was v. clear was how much care this author had in creating all of the characters. Logan, Caleb, Walker, Ellis, and the rest of the guys had distinct personalities and behaviors and that made all of their interactions pretty interesting to follow along.

Most of the Logan/Caleb scenes (both in and out of bed) were fun and/or spicy.

OTOH, the author could've deleted 100-150 pages. Like, the author could've gotten rid of 8 or so chapters (out of 40) and tightened the story a lot.

Then there's a late-in-the-book dramarama involving Logan's mother. It felt kinda spliced into the book because there hadn't been anything working up to it. That said, I figured the author felt it necessary to give Logan some kind of closure regarding that aspect of his life? IDK.

Finally, I finished the book feeling quite dissatisfied with Caleb as an MC. There was so happening (and a lot of it being terrible) to Logan in the first book, that Caleb's steady and focused presence was v. welcomed. However, this book really showed that Caleb (both as a Daddy and as himself) had an infinite amount of patience (as well as all of the answers, I guess.) It flattened him as a character. I wish there had been at least one scene, moment, chapter in which Caleb had an off/bad day. If only to balance out all of the scenes of him being the perfect boyfriend.

Because, even though his care, love, and support of Logan made him a likable character, he didn't have anything else to him as a person. YMMV. I gave this book a 3.5 out of 5.

Current fic tally

Have picked up 160 fics, DNF'd 78

Some Thoughts

Not much in terms of satisfying reads, but I'm not actively regretting picking up most of the books (I still 😒 at Those We Run From, tho.) Thankfully, i have avoided falling into a reading slump, so I'm calling this a win (of sorts, LOL.)

Up Next...

Last time: "I'm now halfway thru the second book of the "The Brat and The Beast" duology, a mystery/thriller, a queer femdom (?) M/F set in space, and a historical paranormal that is NOT cozy."

Finished the first two books, am halfway thru the third one (which is NOT set in space)--though IDK if I'll finish it, and ended up renewing the fourth book before it was due back to the library. I'm also in the middle of another book which is the last one in a series. 🤞🏾 for good reading ahead!

mific posting in

fancake

Fandom: due South
Characters/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

mific posting in

fancake

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Radek Zelenka, Elizabeth, Carson, and other Stargate characters
Rating: General (later works in the series are explicit)
Length: 8467
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: Cesare on AO3, anatsuno on AO3, rhea314 on AO3, rhea314 on Audiofic Archive
Themes: Food and cooking, Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Series, Comfortfic, Complete AU

Summary: Grounded by an injury, John Sheppard leaves the Air Force and, at loose ends, takes up running the bakery he inherited from his mother's family in Colorado Springs.

Reccer's Notes:
This is the first story in a long series called Foster's Bakery. It's a "coffee shop" AU in which John's a baker, and Rodney is of course drawn in by the coffee he serves and becomes a friend, and then a lot more. The relationship is established in this initial fic, and is deepened in later stories in the series. It's a charming story, with the usual Stargate characters as regulars at the bakery - Radek even does a bit of matchmaking. The whole series is very much recommended.

Fanwork Links: A Place On The Corner, and the podfic read by

rhea314 is here

mific posting in

fanart_recs

Fandom: Red White and Royal Blue (RWRB)
Characters/Pairing/Other Subject: Henry/Alex
Content Notes/Warnings: none
Medium: digital art
Artist on DW/LJ: n/a
Artist Website/Gallery: xxnelli on tumblr
Why this piece is awesome: The boys holding hands, out for a walk. An impressive level of detail, lovely work.
Link: You know I love a London boy

glitteryv

Like most Kpop groups, Le Sserafim has their own variety show called Leniverse. There are almost 70 eps so far and I've enjoyed all of them.

This 2-parter (which first aired a few months ago) is a DELIGHTFUL way to spend some time for days when in need to watch something gentle (yet still funny.) The premise is that Le Sserafim takes care of 5 of HYBE's employees' doggies for a day. There are puppies and senior dogs with each doggo having introverted or extroverted personalities.

You legit don't need to know ANYTHING at all abt Le Sserafim and/or Kpop and just sit down to watch a LOLARIOUS 2-parter episode where the doggies are the stars.

Part 1

Watch on YouTube

Part 2

Watch on YouTube

turps

It was a day yesterday.

To start with there had been really heavy, non-stop rain from the early hours. It was also our first craft fair in our town, one we'd been trying to get a spot at for ages. Then Murphy started showing signs of having cystitis again, and not being able to pee, which of course would be an emergency if he had a blockage.

With it being Saturday, our own vet was closed, so we had to get him an appointment at the out of hours vet, which would mean an expensive bill. He's got excellent insurance, but what happens at the out of hours is we'd have to pay, and the insurance would eventually reimburse, as opposed to our vet where they bill the insurance company directly. ( cut for length tldr, Murphy is on the mend )

Friday was nearly a day, too. We've said we'll take my MiL out at least once a fortnight, so picked her up on Friday and had a drive to Barnard Castle to get eggs from the honesty stall at the farm and get delicious bread from a bakery we like. All was going well until we stopped for a coffee, and my SiL phoned saying her electric had gone off so my MiL would have to stay at our house that night.

Obviously, she would have been welcome, but none of the furniture had been moved, she had none of her meds or oxygen generator, and it just seemed to make more sense to wait for a bit to see if things could be fixed before taking her to our house.

To cut a long and frustrating story short, they managed to get the meter sorted and the electricity was back on within an hour, but not before a lot of stress from everyone.

Thursday we'd gone to see Caught Stealing. It's a bit more violent than my usual tastes, but I can say, Austin Butler is a very beautiful man.

One good thing about yesterday, Strictly was back, let the Nikita admiring begin for another year.

full_metal_ox posting in

fancake

Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia; No Reservations
Pairings/Characters: Gen; Anthony Bourdain, “Global” Alan Weeks, Todd Liebler, Tracey Godwin, Reepicheep, Aslan, and a cast of colorful Narnian OCs.
Rating: Teen and up (mostly for Bourdain-characteristic profanity.)
Length: 6,228 words; podfic 34:21
Content Notes: a vast variety of food, some narratively presented as off-putting; drunkenness; smoking; weed (that he doesn’t get to use); Bourdain’s typical abrasive impertinence; Author Showed Her Work.

Creator Links:
Fic: (AO3)

Edonohana; (Dreamwidth)

rachelmanija;
Cover art: (AO3):

moonblossom_graphics;
Podfic: (AO3):

duckgirlie

Theme: Food and Cooking, previously recced for Crossovers/Fusions, previously recced for Small Fandoms, Cultural Differences, Fandom Classics, Older Characters, Research, Worldbuilding

Summary: I’m crammed into a burrow so small that my knees are up around my ears and the boom mike keeps slamming into my head, inhaling the potent scent of toffee-apple brandy and trying to drink a talking mouse under the table.

Author’s Notes: ( Cut_for_length. )

Reccer's Notes: Okay; what’s the September 2025 Food & Cooking theme even for if this classic doesn’t circle around for a threepeat? (Twelve years since the last mention should be a sufficient interval.)

This brilliant crossover, all the more poignant in hindsight, nails both Bourdain’s voice and the Narnian sense of place, painstakingly hitting all the beats: Food Porn; Food Gorn (with the acknowledgement that the difference between the two is in the palate of the beholder); departure from what Diana Wynne-Jones would term the Guided Tour into Parts Unknown, with the aid of knowledgeable locals; hospitality in austere circumstances; martial arts (with thought given to the size logistics!); scary local politics; above all, food as a vehicle of cross-cultural understanding.

“No Reservations: Narnia” has the additional distinction of being RPF that not only reached but impressed the subject:

“This is astonishingly well written with an attention to detail that’s frankly a bit frightening…I’m both flattered and disturbed. I think I need a drink.”—Anthony Bourdain.

Fanwork Links: No Reservations: Narnia, by

Edonohana for

innocentsmith.

Inspired Works:
Cover art by

moonblossom_graphics
Podfic by

duckgirlie (also available on Jinjurly: https://audiofic.jinjurly.com/no-reservations-narnia)

Current Music: ”Parts Unknown”.

full_metal_ox posting in

fancake

Fandom: Mo Dao Zu Shi; Chen Qing Ling
Pairings/Characters: M/M; Song Lan | Song Zichen/Xiao Zingchen; Song Lan | Song Zichen, Xiao Xingchen
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 3,632 words
Content Notes: No Archive Warnings Apply, determinedly Taiwanese cuisine, Food Porn because the author inexplicably omitted that tag, racist microaggression (a character recounts getting renamed by his exchange host family.)
Creator Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Meetings, Taiwan, Street food, chinese diaspora feelings and food as love language, SongXiao Feast
Creator Links: (AO3)

Irrelevancy; (Tumblr)

touchmycoat
Theme: Food & Cooking, Cultural Differences, Fluff, Going Home, Identity, Modern AU, Slice of Life

Summary: Flirting and cultural reclamation via Taiwanese street food. Songxiao modern meet-cute.

Author’s Notes:
For the #songxiaofeast on twitter, thanks for organizing the event~!!!! There's so much great art in the hashtag *~* love me some food love....

Chinese glossary at end lolol, and is this all a shameless marketing ploy for Taiwan night markets? yes.

…The menu (a twitter thread w pictures) (Unfortunately no longer accessible—FMO.)

大腸包小腸 (dà cháng bāo xiǎo cháng): "little sausage wrapped around a big sausage" lol
蚵仔煎 (ó-à-tsiān): oyster pancake. I'm using the Taiwanese romanization here because it better captures that Hokkien pronunciation. Ningxia Night Market seriously has the best ones.
臭豆腐 (chò dò fǔ): stinky tofu!! I think it smells delicious; don't be like SL eat it normally without that crazy amount of sauce nkfsjdfds
肉圓麵線 (bà wán miàn xiàn): meatball & rice noodles. Two separate things but they're typically sold together. Meatball is always pronounced in Hokkien and sometimes rice noodle is too (mǐ suǎ)
豆花 (dòu huā): tofu pudding. It's not too sweet and it's sooooo refreshing to have on a hot taiwan evening with ice!
雞蛋糕 (jī dàn gāo): egg cake! They're seriously very good but a hit-or-miss from street vendors lmfao.

Drop a comment~! Happy feastings!!!!!!!

Reccer’s Notes: Taiwanese bartender Song Zichen, taking both pity on and a fancy to diasporic American tourist Xiao Xingchen, proceeds to initiate him into the ways of local street food (as both a welcome into his heritage and a courtship overture.) This fic, stuffed with delicious Unresolved Sexual Tension, serves as a reminder that the Sinosphere is a very big and diverse place, and brought an outpouring of nostalgic yearning for the Taste Of Home from diasporic commenters.

(And Ningxia Night Market needs to hire Irrelevancy as a publicist, dammit; I was fervently wishing my neighborhood had something like that up the alley!)

Fanwork links: Comfort Food / 有可能的夜晚 (AO3-locked.)

sinesofinsanity posting in

fancake

Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender
Pairings/Characters: Zuko, Iroh, the GAang in the background
Rating: G
Length: 2,889 words, 19min 30s
Creator Links: Haicrescendo
Theme: Food & Cooking, character development, family, families of choice, going home, missing scenes,

Summary:

[Zuko’s greatest failing, not his only but just one that stands out the most in a very long list, is that he’s never known quite what he had until it’s gone. Or, on the opposite hand, he covets the things that don’t matter, that seem to matter so much at the time and turn out, in the end, to be something that Zuko’s made up in his head.

And then Zuko finds, of all things after it all, that he misses Uncle Iroh’s tea.]

Or,

Zuko screws up his life and in the process of fixing it, figures out some tea wisdom along the way.

Reccer's Notes: This story is so beautiful and gentle. I absolutely love seeing how Zuko's growth and character development is mirrored with his finally learning to make a decent cup of tea. Plus the neat detail of how he despite learning from and trying to emulate his uncle, he makes it his own way. Zuko and Iroh's relationship is lovely in this too. Just an all around lovely story. klainelynch does a beautiful job with the podfic as well

Fanwork Links:
Heat, Wait, Steep, Repeat
and the Podfic both on AO3

full_metal_ox posting in

fancake

Fandom: Mo Dao Zu Shi; Chen Qing Ling
Pairings/Characters: Gen; M/M; Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian; Jin Zixuan, Wen Qing, Wen Ning, Nie Mingjue, Nie Huaisang, Jiang Fengmian, Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, Jiang Yanli, Lan Xichen, Lan An, Lan Wangji
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 1,209 words
Content Notes: No Archive Warnings Apply, arrant pedantry, Author Showed Her Work, Food Porn, gastrotravelogue, tea nerdery, Tumblr work
Creator Tags:
headcanon, the untamed 陈情令, cql, mo dao zu shi, mdzs, wei wuxian, lan wangji, nie huaisang, jin zixuan, wen qing, nie mingjue, wangxian headcanon at the very end because that's what i'm here for, tea, i really like tea, heicha, oolong, white tea, green tea, dragonwell, my ramblings, qi is a thing for some tea drinkers

Creator Links: (AO3)

Haoppopotamus; (Instagram)

haoppopotamus; (Tumblr)

watch-grok-brainrot (formerly ~~wangxianbunnydoodles~~)
Theme: Food & Cooking, Cultural Differences, Meta, Research, Worldbuilding

Summary: Since watching ep 3 for the first time (i.e. january), this has been knocking around in my brain. In ep 3, we see JZXuan waltzing into the same inn as the Yunmeng Trio, booting them, and then rejecting “bad tea”. Ever since, I’ve watched a lot of tea being poured in CQL. It got me thinking, what kind of tea would different sects prefer and what would different characters drink?

Reccer’s Notes: In which Haoppo uses her tea connoisseurship as a vehicle for characterization and worldbuilding (and invites her imaginary friends to illustrate and share her interest.) For the likes of me (with no claim to Asian cred by birth or upbringing, and whose blunted sensory range reduces almost all tea to hot leaf juice), this serves as a window into an unfamiliar area of interest and body of cultural reference frames (the idea that tea might possess qi, not necessarily related to its flavor, was a new one on me—but of obvious importance to cultivators.)

Fanwork Links: Tea Preferences by CQL Sects - a Headcanon

(The original post, preserved on the Wayback Machine, includes a beautiful and apropos GIF header: Tea Preferences by CQL Sects - a Headcanon (~~wangxianbunnydoodles~~)

Current Music: “Cha Ge”

runpunkrun posting in

fancake

Photograph of steel spoons and spices in a dramatic setting with added text that gives it the look of a gourmet magazine cover: September 2025. Food & Cooking, at Fancake. Steel teaspoons are arranged in an elogated oval to suggest a fish, with the bowls acting as scales and some of the handles left visible to create the fins and tail, giving the creature a spiky appearance. The concave bowls are dusted with a powdery orange spice for color and one spoon at the front of the fish is filled with a coarse black spice to create an eye. The fish is on a black surface with a rough texture and around it are three skinny green peppers, a mound of salt, a mound of orange spice, and a dipping bowl filled with a clear amber liquid.

mific posting in

fancake

Fandom: due South
Characters/Pairings: Diefenbaker
Rating: Gen
Length: n/a (artwork)
Content Notes: may induce donut cravings!
Creator Links: Wagnetic on AO3
Theme: Food and cooking, Happy endings, Crafts, Textiles

Summary: A bag featuring Dief and the imminent demise of some donuts.

Reccer's Notes:
I will never stop reccing this! An excellently crafted bag with a felt appliqué of Dief about to enjoy a stack of donuts. It's so good, and a perfect likeness of Dief with a "donuts incoming" gleam in his eye!

Fanwork Links: Hungry Like the Wolf

mific posting in

fanart_recs

Fandom: Red White and Royal Blue (RWRB)
Characters/Pairing/Other Subject: Henry/Alex
Content Notes/Warnings: none
Medium: digital art
Artist on DW/LJ: n/a
Artist Website/Gallery: elorberryart on tumblr
Why this piece is awesome: A classical romantic painting against the sunset, to celebrate five years of RWRB. Love the colours!
Link: Henry and Alex at sunset

runpunkrun posting in

fancake

Poll #33623 round 179 theme poll

This poll is closed.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 111

Pick the next theme of fancake:

Mystery & Suspense
38 (34.2%)

Platonic Relationships
34 (30.6%)

Uncommon Settings
39 (35.1%)

Profile

xojemmaxo

April 2013

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30

Page Summary

birdylion in fancake - Leverage: simple machines, by vexedquestion
full_metal_ox in fancake - À Rebours by Joris-Karl Huysmans; Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser: Black Feasts, by Idlewild Designs.
glitteryv - Fannish 50 S3 Post 40: Le Sserafim singing in Spanish!
turps - (no subject)
runpunkrun in fancake - Star Trek: Amok Time Cake, by jb612 and violetnebula19
full_metal_ox in fancake - Mo Dao Zu Shi, Chen Qing Ling: The Untamed cupcakes, by abyss_valkyrie.
glitteryv - More books. IDEK know myself, LOL.
mific in fancake - due South: Sunday Dinner by ArtConundrum (SpaceTimeConundrum)
mific in fancake - SGA: A Place On The Corner by Cesare, anatsuno
mific in fanart_recs - You know I love a London boy by xxnelli (SFW)
glitteryv - Fannish 50 S3 Post 39: Le Sserafim and doggies!
turps - (no subject)
full_metal_ox in fancake - No Reservations RPF, Chronicles of Narnia: No Reservations: Narnia, by Edonohana.
full_metal_ox in fancake - Mo Dao Zu Shi; Chen Qing Ling: Comfort Food / 有可能的夜晚, by Irrelevancy
sinesofinsanity in fancake - ATLA: Heat, Wait, Steep, Repeat by Haicrescendo
full_metal_ox in fancake - Mo Dao Zu Shi; Chen Qing Ling: Tea Preferences by CQL Sects - a Headcanon, by watch-grok-brainrot
runpunkrun in fancake - Theme Reminder: Food & Cooking
mific in fancake - due South: Hungry Like the Wolf, by Wagnetic
mific in fanart_recs - Henry and Alex at sunset by elorberryart (SFW)
runpunkrun in fancake - Round 179 Theme Poll

Style Credit

Style: Coffee and Cream for Modular by branchandroot
Resources: Black & White Photos

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