![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
Fandom: no fandom
Rating: G
Content notes: None apply
Summary: icons of mules and their big ears, made from images found on the interwebs
( they've got ears )
"Hi, I'd like to order a birthday cake, but I want the lettering to be big. Can you do that?
"No, I mean really big."
"Hmm, ever done anything bigger?"
"Wowza. On second thought, how are you with smaller stuff?
"Not bad, not bad - but it's still not working for me. Tell you what, let's skip the writing entirely and just do a mini birthday cake, you know, something small and cute."
***
***
***
Thanks to Sandy C., Jessica S., Katie B., Katrina S., & Meghan B. for the Mickey Mouse operation.
*****
P.S. Since we're talking about a variety of sizes, let me give a quick shout-out my favorite wire-free bra. I have three of these - just bought a fourth today! - and they're all I've been wearing lately:
Warner's Easy Does It Seamless Wireless Bra
Up 'til last year I ONLY wore wired bras - usually Warners - and it took buying-and-returning over a dozen different brands and styles before I found a wireless one I liked. This one averages $25-30 Prime, but I watch the listing and buy any color that goes on sale for less than $20. Today "Lilac" is on sale for $18, so I just snagged one of those.
I love the under-arm smoothing panel - no dig or pinch! - and like most Warners, these are incredibly comfortable. Be sure to check the image gallery for a better idea of how they look on larger tracts of land.
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: Uncomfortable Scrutiny
Jul. 7th, 2026 01:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
badly_knitted posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fan_flashworksTitle: Uncomfortable Scrutiny
Fandom: The Fantastic Journey
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Willaway, Varian, Fred, Liana.
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Setting: Funhouse.
Summary: Willaway wishes his friends would stop looking at him like that. He’s fine!
Word Count: 654
Content Notes: Nada.
Written For: Challenge 520: Ear.
Disclaimer: I don’t own The Fantastic Journey, or the characters. They belong to their creators.
Note: This post is not appropriate for young children. And the older ones will be all, "Ooooohh! I'm gonna tell DADDY!!" so you might lock them out, too.
Spider-Man's dirty little secret revealed:
Now that's a Dynamic Duo.
Here's one of the lesser-known heroes, Essenem Man:
He may not be much of a fighter, but he is always on the ball.
GRRAAA!! HULK TENSE!!
HULK TRY RELIEVE TENSION.
The good news: little Ryder had no idea why his mom was in such a hurry to cut the cake.
The bad news: everyone else at the party did.
Liz D., Kristen C., Mark F., & Rebecca J., I would tell you who my favorite superhero is, but I'm afraid it's a three-way tie.
Note: If you're wondering, the second cake is supposed to be Batman. Obviously.
*****
P.S. Something about Ryder's cake reminded me of those shiny blue balls that keep your produce fresh. Have you seen these?
Blueapple Freshness Saver Balls
Just pop one in your crisper drawer and the other in your fruit bowl, and these will absorb the ethylene gas that quickens ripening, so all your fruits and veg stay fresh longer. Seems like witchcraft, I know, but go check the thousands of rave reviews: apparently they really work! Each set lasts 3 months, and you get 2 apples for $18.
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
Heated Rivalry: Fan Fiction: Hard Time Adjusting
Jul. 6th, 2026 09:16 amdarkjediqueen posting in fan_flashworksRating: PG-13
Warnings: No Warnings Apply
Fandom: Heated Rivalry
Relationships: Ilya Rozanov/Shane Hollander
Tags: Angst, Shane and the Centaurs Adjust To Each Other, It Goes Bad At First
Summary: Shane has a harder time joining Ilya on the Centaurs than he thought he would.
Word Count: 8,090
Author Notes: Do I think anything like this could happen? No. I just needed to write something where Shane's still messed up a little bit from TLG and mix it with the show verse.
The Pitt: Fanfic: keep on whispering in my ear
Jul. 5th, 2026 10:18 pmapinchofcyanide posting in fan_flashworksFandom: The Pitt
Pairing: Jack Abbot/Dennis Whitaker
Rating: M
Word Count: 671
Content Notes: Brief sexual content, no on-screen sex.
Summary: Dennis's boyfriend is being a nuisance.
( Read more... )
Person of Interest: Fanfiction: Hello, Sweetie
Jul. 5th, 2026 03:30 pminfinitum_noctem posting in fan_flashworksFandom: Person of Interest
Pairings: Root/Sameen Shaw
Characters: Root, Sameen Shaw
Rating: G
Length: 76 words
Summary: After it's all over, Shaw and Fusco are left to handle the Numbers.
( Read more... )
Happy July, fellow Sweets lovers!
With America's Independence Day this weekend, you know I had to find some pretty red, white, and blue numbers:
(By Sugar Hero, who has a complete tutorial on her site)
Plus this one has a drool-worthy surprise inside!
WOWIE. Our flag has never looked more delicious.
And look how sweet this old-fashioned bunting is:
(By Wild Orchid Baking Company in New Hampshire, now closed)
Ahhh, but I have some goodies for my non-American friends, too. Check it out, rainbow fireworks!
(By Victorious Cupcakes in the UK)
So pretty! I like the abstract take on them, and the silhouettes are perfect.
I love the way Glory (yes, her name is Glory!) took these ice cream cookies:
...and stacked them to look like triple-deckers!
(By Glorious Treats, online only)
SO CUTE.
Oooh, I may have spoken too soon on that last flag cake; this one ALSO looks darn tasty:
(By For Goodness Cakes in Charlotte, NC)
I'm loving the thick textured buttercream on top; can't you just FEEL that crunching ever-so-slightly, then melting in your mouth?
Ooof, I really want some cake now.
Hang on, here comes another one that's not helping:
(By b. sweet dessert boutique, online only)
Alllll the grabby hands. Gimmie.
Of course I couldn't pass up a chance to feature another Captain America cake, right?
(By Chocomoo Cakes in Sheffield, inspired by Mighty Mugs)
Look how clean and perfect that fondant work is! So good.
Now, let's end this post with a bang:
(By Adrienne & Company Bakery in Jeffersonville, IN)
Fireworks cake! I love all those bright neon colors together.
This one looks like an oil painting:
(By Katja Seaton in the UK)
Look how the fireworks spill over the edge:
I think that's my favorite part; the way the fallout looks so shimmery near the bottom.
Big finale!
(Baker unknown; Google Image Search has failed me. Anyone recognize it?)
Simple, but wow does that pack a punch.
Happy Sunday, everyone!
*****
P.S. Need a cool gift for the person who has everything? Then how about a card that transforms into a bouquet:
Fresh Cut Paper Pop-Up Flowers
I sent this one to my Mom for her birthday last month, and it looks just like this! Even better, it ships free with Prime, so no extra postage needed.
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
I. OTW CODE OF CONDUCT
On June 7, 2026, Board approved a new OTW Code of Conduct. This policy comes as the result of months of collaboration between Board Assistants Team, Organizational Culture Roadmap, and Volunteers & Recruiting (including their Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution subcommittee).
This policy update was a goal on the internal culture roadmap created and announced in 2024. As part of the update process, the policy underwent several rounds of review, including one by all OTW volunteers. Thank you to all OTW volunteers who provided feedback!
Volunteers & Recruiting is now at work rolling out the updated policy and getting agreements from all OTW volunteers.
II. ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN
In June, we celebrated AO3 reaching 11 million registered users. \o/
Accessibility, Design & Technology (AD&T) deployed several bug fixes, including quality-of-life and security improvements. They’ve also continued to make progress on their ongoing work to internationalize AO3.
Open Doors announced that Kraith Collected, a collection of Star Trek zines set in the Kraith universe, will be added to AO3. This month, their import assistants also finished importing all unfilled prompts from the Library of Moria!
In May, Policy & Abuse (PAC) received 4,814 tickets; Support received 4,125 tickets; and User Response Translation completed 77 requests from PAC and Support.
In June, Policy & Abuse worked with AD&T to publish updates to the Terms of Service FAQ, which includes new answers to common questions like how to find out what’s allowed on AO3. You can view the differences here! We hope you find it helpful!
Tag Wrangling wrangled over 650,000 tags in May, or approximately 1,400 tags per wrangling volunteer. They also collaborated with Communications to publish a Tumblr post about updates to the Assassin’s Creed fandom tree and a news post announcement of “No Fandom” changes, including 23 new canonicals.
III. ELSEWHERE AT THE OTW
Communications also established an OTW RedNote (小红书) account in June. This will be a second platform for us to connect with Chinese-speaking fandom (along with our existing Weibo account). If you use RedNote or know anyone who’d be interested in OTW announcements in Chinese on the platform, pass it along!
At the end of May, Fanlore wrapped up their Public Do-May, a public domain fandoms-themed month. They also ran their annual Bingo Challenge with tasty pastry-themed badges for editors to collect.
On June 15, 2026, TWC released Issue 48, a special issue on “Disability and Fandom” guest edited by Olivia Johnston Riley and Lauren Rouse. The essays in this issue focus on disability both as a marginalized identity and as a critical scholarly approach to fandom and fan studies.
IV. GOVERNANCE
Elections announced candidates for the 2026 OTW Board. This year’s election will be uncontested, as there are three candidates running for four open seats. Platforms for each candidate can be viewed on the Elections website. They also provided the public an opportunity to submit questions to the candidates which will be published soon, refer to the Elections Timeline page for specific dates. Translation is working alongside Elections to make election-related content available in as many languages as possible.
Meanwhile, Development & Membership has begun working on premiums for the October Membership Drive.
Board, Board Assistants Team, and Organizational Culture Roadmap also continued to collaborate on developing procedures to handle compromised volunteer accounts and other situations that necessitate urgent access removal.
Board also approved signing-on to a letter opposing the overbroad NO FAKES Act, which could negatively impact fan art and artists.
V. OUR VOLUNTEERS
From May 24 to June 22, Volunteers & Recruiting received 204 new requests and completed 189, leaving them with 87 open requests (including induction and removal tasks listed below). As of June 22, 2026, the OTW has 1,037 volunteers. \o/ Recent personnel movements are listed below.
New AD&T Volunteers: marcus8448 (Senior Software Developer)
New Communications Volunteers: Caitlynne, callmeri, and 4 other Posting Volunteers, belana, Bianca Sevidal, and Xiao Yi (Social Media Moderators)
New Elections Volunteers: Jahnavi and 1 other Communications Specialist, 1 Candidate Liaison, and 1 Chair Track Volunteer
New Fanlore Volunteers: Hobgirl, Minty, and 2 other Chair Track Volunteers
New Legal Volunteers: asatistic (Paralegal) and Kat M (Trademark Specialist)
New Open Doors Volunteers: elusivefalsehoods (Import Assistant)
New Policy & Abuse Volunteers: Anam (Volunteer)
New Tag Wrangling Volunteers: Beth B, Lululu, and tomurai (Supervisors)
New Translation Volunteers: artemissmythe, Karasu, madinator, and 3 other Volunteer Managers, and 1 Translator
Departing AD&T Volunteers: marcus8448 (Software Developer)
Departing Communications Volunteers: Aditi Paul, Caitlynne, callmeri, and 2 other Media Outreach Volunteers, 1 Chair Assistant, 1 Posting Specialist, 1 Report Writer, and 1 Social Media Moderator
Departing Communications News Post Moderation Volunteers: 1 News Post Moderator
Departing Fanlore Volunteers: 1 Policy & Admin
Departing Open Doors Volunteers: 2 Technical Volunteers and 3 Import Assistants
Departing Policy & Abuse Volunteers: 1 Chair Assistant
Departing Tag Wrangling Volunteers: Erica L., Wond3rland, and 4 other Tag Wranglers
Departing Translation Volunteers: 1 Translation Volunteer Manager, Alisé, and 3 other Translators
Departing User Response Translation Volunteers: Kseniia and 1 other Translator
Departing Volunteers & Recruiting Volunteers: 2 Volunteers
For more information about our committees and their regular activities, you can refer to the committee pages on our website.
Ear: Julius Caesar - Shakespeare: Fanfic: After the Speech
Jul. 4th, 2026 03:35 pmsmallhobbit posting in fan_flashworksFandom: Julius Caesar - Shakespeare
Rating: G
Length: 300 words
Summary: What happens after Mark Antony's famous speech. Pure crack, inspired, probably unintentionally, by
highlander_ii Today, we celebrate Independence Day with...the American Flag.
O-oh, say can you SEEEE? BYYY the bakery light?
How so soundly they failed... to give our flag any meaning:
Those brown stripes and blob "stars" ARE a scurr-i-lous sight!
And the RED parts they botched... are so def'nitely leaning:
And what's that O-VER THEEEERE?!
[cymbal crash!!]
Did the BAKER NOT CARE?
[slide whistle!]
A goof, what a sight - it's more THAN I can bear.
(Yes. Really.)
No WAY does thi-is new-fangled airbru-ush yet blaa-aaaave!
[You know, "to blave?" It means "to bluff."]
[Now, someone fetch me an MLT!]
[Ahem]
For the BAND of the THREEEEEE (red stripes)...
And the hoooome...of theeeee....WAAAAAAAVE!
(Before you ask: all of today's wrecks were sold right here in the good ol' US of A, on or around American holidays. I also have LOTS more where these came from. [proffering tissue] Tissue, teachers?)
Thanks to ToniAnn B., Trace L., Stephanie P., Sarah C., Kelly S., Sharon E., Lori A., Lin Q., & Daniel K. for their flagging enthusiasm.
Happy Independence Day!
*****
P.S. I agree, you COULD do a better job yourself. So have you seen these new silicone "piping bulbs?"
8 Pc Bulb Decorating Kit
Y'all. Go read the reviews; these things are apparently total game-changers. Easy to fill, clean, no more leaking piping bags, AND they fit all the Wilton metal tips we already have! I don't do much cake decorating these days, but I do pipe caulking for crafts, so I'm excited to try these out.
In April, we deployed improvements to tag search and several security fixes. We also made some progress on making more parts of AO3 translatable. And of course, AO3 officially exited open beta in April as well!
In addition to the milestones above, we also had several new contributors to the AO3 codebase this month. Thanks and welcome to Aya Sayadi, bre-nana, Jesse Malark, kinnerapriyap, Kylie, and Ling-Yi!
Credits
- Coders: Aya Sayadi, Bilka, bre-nana, Brian Austin, caitlin, Danaël / Rever, EchoEkhi, Jesse Malark, kinnerapriyap, Kylie, Ling-Yi, marcus8448, not-varram, ömer faruk, sarken, Scott Venkataraman, Tom Milligan, Xiang Rassul Li
- Code reviewers: Bilka, Brian Austin, james_, marcus8448, redsummernight
- Testers: Berix, Bilka, Brian Austin, C. Ryan Smith, calamario, choux, Dre, james_, lydia-theda, marcus8448, megidola, mumble, ömer faruk, pk2317, Tal, therealmorticia, TinaOe
Details
0.9.469
On April 2, we removed the “beta” note from our site header! End of an era.
0.9.470
On April 3, we deployed a quick security fix.
- [AO3-7372] – We made sure that when removing images from comments we didn’t leave potentially dangerous HTML in their placeholders.
0.9.471
We deployed a couple more fixes related to image embeds on April 4.
- [AO3-7373], [AO3-7374] – We made sure that when we disable embedded images in comments, the restrictions can’t be bypassed with creative HTML.
0.9.472
Our April 13 deploy included an improvement to our tag search and a bunch of other miscellaneous fixes.
- [AO3-7244] – We prepared the help pop-ups about our rich text editor and HTML mode for translation.
- [AO3-7283] – We added a configuration option for the number of shards that Elasticsearch data for pseuds and tags is stored in.
- [AO3-7293] – We added two more options to the Wrangling Status section of our Tag Search.
- [AO3-7326], [AO3-7327] – Your statistics page and your preferences page now have your username in the browser’s page title!
- [AO3-7339] – The way we’d structured the translatable portions of our password reset emails wasn’t compatible with future translation work, so we made sure the wording will work in different languages.
- [AO3-7348] – We removed the word “Archive” from the success message “You are now using the default Archive skin again!”
- [AO3-7355] – To build the dropdown menu for each user, we now only query the database once if the user has special permissions that require another menu item, and then save that information. Much nicer to the database servers!
- [AO3-7359] – When a site admin is viewing their two-step verification backup codes, there is now a button at the bottom of the page to copy the codes to the clipboard.
- [AO3-7360] – Updated a link on our Privacy Policy page.
- [AO3-7368], [AO3-7369] – The browser page title now reflects whether you’re on the page listing our public site skins or public work skins.
- [AO3-7370], [AO3-7371] – Gem updates.
0.9.473
Another grab bag of fixes and improvements went out on April 24.
- [AO3-6229] – We now make sure the 404 Page Not Found error always looks like it’s part of AO3, and not just a blank white page.
- [AO3-6281] – On pages listing gifts for recipients without an AO3 account, apostrophes in a recipient’s name wouldn’t be properly displayed. Now it all looks tidy.
- [AO3-6531] – On some works, if there were replies to a now-deleted comment, the whole comment section wouldn’t load. We fixed the way we handle deleted comments in a thread, so everything should display as expected.
- [AO3-6604] – Admins can create banners (the informative blue, red, or yellow text boxes at the top of all pages) and save them for later, or delete outdated ones. It’s now impossible to accidentally delete the banner currently in use.
- [AO3-7080] – If an account was suspended, we now make sure the email address associated with that account can’t be used to leave guest comments.
- [AO3-7140] – When creating a draft work to eventually fulfill an assignment, the page listing your assignments would display some contradictory information about the status of your work. (Is it a draft? Was it accidentally posted?) The work title now contains the word “(Draft)” and we display the date it was created.
- [AO3-7165] – We now make sure you can pick a different site skin from the list of options in the footer even if you have disabled JavaScript.
- [AO3-7295] – We cleaned up some old code that would be unsafe to rerun now.
- [AO3-7322] – When a tag wrangler visits the tag wrangling assignment page, the filter selection now defaults to their name.
- [AO3-7333] – The page listing your challenge claims now has your username in the browser’s page title!
- [AO3-7351] – If a character or relationship tag belonged to several fandoms (such as the book and the movie version of a franchise), and you entered all the applicable fandoms when posting your work, the character or relationship would show up several times in the autocomplete suggestions. The autocomplete has now calmed down a bit and won’t show you duplicates of the same tag anymore.
- [AO3-7377], [AO3-7381] – Gem updates.
Author:
lucy_romanRating: Teen and up
Summary: After the day he's had Ray just wants to relax. Set after the episode Dead Guy Running.
Pairing: Fraser/RayK
Word Count: 164
( A Little Rest )
When the edible images only stick to icing, but you're too lazy to frost the whole cookie:
We don't talk about the first one.
I'm pretty sure they mean the soda, but tell me you don't want to drop this off in the break room when no one's looking:
::evil grin::
This next one isn't cake, but someone turned 4 pineapples into the members of KISS, soooo....
Please note Gene Simmons' tongue made out of watermelon rind.
That is all.
Thanks to Sarah A., Mike, John A., & Diane G. for the KISS and tell.
*****
P.S. For those of you who *haven't* kicked the habit:
12-Can Stackable Soda Organizer
These have LIDS, minions, so you can either stack them or use the tops for extra storage! Ahhh, this makes my organizing-loving heart so happy.
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
Big news! We have a brand new archive page! Now you can SCROLL ENDLESSLY through the archive, or type in a comic number and read from there! I think it's very cool, and much better than the old "giant list of 6000 comics" version.