mtbc | Network

Challenge #14

In your own space, create a promo and/or rec list for someone new to a fandom. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it and include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

You've probably heard of Top Gun at this point. Yes, you - the generic you, the one reading this post right now. I'd be more surprised if it hasn't come up at this point, given the cultural footprint the movies hold, to the point that the first one was considered significant enough to be included in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry and the second one played in movie theaters for over six months in a time when that's practically unthinkable because people kept buying tickets. But maybe you haven't seen it. No shame in that. Maybe you know it's not for you. I can't speak to your tastes. Then again, maybe you're not sure. Maybe you need some enticement. Maybe you need to be told that it's more or less American live-action anime, down to having beach episodes. Maybe you need more than that.

Might I offer a homoerotic volleyball montage, voted "best movie scene" three years in a row by Suck magazine, a fact that made the director tremendously proud?

What about Val Kilmer snapping his teeth at Tom Cruise, a moment he confirmed was improvised?

How about one actor sneaking porn onto set and playing it during a scene, creating the conditions for someone to say "This gives me a hard on" and for someone else to respond "Don't tease me" and for that moment to be included in the final cut?

Were you aware that the first movie's aesthetic was largely inspired by Bruce Weber, noted gay photographer?

How about that for all its endorsement by the US military, it manages to be astonishingly gay by 1986 and contemporary standards, with Kilmer himself being the first Iceman/Maverick shipper?

Would it please you to know that between Top Gun Maverick and the Mission Impossible movies, combined with all the cumulative explosions from his movies, Tom Cruise qualifies as a Dekahelen?

Possibly you'd enjoy knowing that the sequel is a surprisingly somber meditation on aging, loss, regret, and reconciliation in addition to all the thrills of the practical stuntwork?

Or that together, both movies total just over four hours' runtime so it's not even a big commitment, and that all four of those hours are full of beautifully composed scenes and shots?

Maybe you've made up your mind a while ago. I'm cool with that. But if you haven't and you're willing to give it a shot, drop me a line and I can hook you up, no streaming services required.

two log cabins with snow on the roofs in a wintery forest the text snowflake challenge january 1 - 31 in white cursive text

Current Mood: giggly
Current Music: nothing now

rmc28

I managed to be awake to watch the livestream, and I'm very glad I did. My uncle and cousins spoke movingly, there was the most wonderful collection of photographs (some of which I recognised, many of which I did not), and a gratifyingly large number of people in attendance. Apparently they had to print extra service sheets and still ran out.

Helen was a creator: of quilts and crafts, of food, of community. I am sorry not to be there and see her needlecraft on the walls and hear the stories in the community centre where she ran playgroup, but I am so glad to have had this glimpse from afar of how she was valued in the place where she lived.

mecurtin posting in

fandom_checkin

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Thursday, January 29, to midnight on Friday, January 30 (8pm Eastern Time).

Poll #34145 Daily check-in poll

This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 27

How are you doing?

I am OK
16 (59.3%)

I am not OK, but don't need help right now
11 (40.7%)

I could use some help
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single
11 (42.3%)

One other person
10 (38.5%)

More than one other person
5 (19.2%)

Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.

musesfool

As a post-Christmas treat, I bought myself this Emile Henry dutch oven and the instructions say to boil milk in it (and then clean it out) before using it the first time? I've never heard of that, but my other dutch ovens are enameled cast iron, not ceramic. Has anyone heard of this/done this?

anyway, mainly I bought it because I want to try this no-knead everything bread but didn't want to deal with my 6 qt cast iron dutch oven, which is extremely heavy and also tucked away in a closet somewhere. My plan is to mix it up tomorrow after work since it needs an on-the-counter overnight rise, and then bake it Saturday morning. We'll see how it goes!

I might also make garlic and bread soup again this weekend, and also maybe some version of citrus and soy noodles (it's a ramen recipe but I'm just going to use angel hair instead since I already have it) for dinner tomorrow. Oh, and those orange cranberry scones again - the cranberries are still taking up too much room in my freezer and must be used up!

*

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Golden - Huntr/x

kaberett

Or at least I assume that's what the call I missed because [reasons this margin is too small to contain] was about, based on (i) the voicemail that said They'll Call Back Tomorrow, and (ii) the continued absence of the relevant test results in the NHS app.

I... think I am going to suggest that they ask my GP to issue a bloods request form, for me to pick up from the surgery and take up the hill to phlebotomy. Because! this is ridiculous! blood loss remains my job!!!

Other things today has contained include: TOKEN RIDICULOUS PUZZLE; Very Picturesque Bread; the Child assigning us all Pronouns and Genders and Sexualities more-or-less at random (from an LGBTQIA+ sticker book); PAKIDGES many and various Including another book on pain and box sets for the last two seasons of Elementary; lots of ridiculous windows in the general vicinity of Bank. I am very tired.

anais_pf posting in

thefridayfive

These questions were suggested by

twirlandswirl.

How many times a day do you . . .

1. Brush your teeth?

2. Shower?

3. Check your E-mail?

4. Check LJ? (or DW?)

5. Eat?

Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.

If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!

ranunculus

This recipe came from "The Swallow Family Heritage Cookbook" that my friend Lisa wrote. I have changed the recipe somewhat, mostly adding more spices and cooking them into a sauce. I'm almost happy with this version.

1 head cabbage, preferably red. Chop into chunks about 1 to 1/12 inch square. Read chop into easy to eat chunks.
3 baked or otherwise cooked potatoes in about 1 inch cubes, or to taste size wise. I like russets for this, but any potato is fine.
Knob fresh ginger grated or very finely chopped. Last time I used about a tablespoonful of finely chopped.
2 tsp of cumin seed.
1 tsp ground cumin.
1 Tbs + mustard seed
Small pinch cardamon seed cracked. You could certainly use a pinch of ground cardamon.
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 -3 tsp ground coriander
2 cloves Garlic, minced (I use garlic oil, or omit).
Chili powder or cayenne flakes or omit. I use a pinch of jalapeno flakes.
Salt to taste.

In a large pot, I use my 4 quart pan:
Bloom the spices in oil, seeds first, (heat for a moment until fragrant, usually a few seconds to a minute). Add about a cup of hot water and simmer slowly for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the sauce begins to smell really good and look more like a sauce and less like spices in water. The object is to get the seeds to soften and flavor the sauce. Water may need to be added during this process.

When sauce is ready add potatoes and cabbage and cover. Cook over a low heat until the cabbage is just beginning to soften, you want it to remain a little crunchy. Stir a couple of times and add a little water if it begins to stick. Overcooking the cabbage will remove the flavor, texture and sweetness of the cabbage.

I sometimes add 2-3 cups of diced corned beef to this mix. If the corned beef is very salty omit any extra salt.

ysabetwordsmith

Snowflake Challenge 15: How did it go?

How Did the Fandom Snowflake Challenge Go? Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it.

Did you get all you wanted to get from it? Are there things you're going to carry with you for as long as you can? Are you going to continue to challenge yourself? Continue to connect? We can't wait to hear.

Snowflake Challenge: A flatlay of a snowflake shaped shortbread cake, a mug with coffee, and a string of holiday lights on top of a rustic napkin.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

cosmolinguist

Today was a hard day, one of those where I'm just worn down I think.

Today I'd like to share this Letter From Minnesota. I keep thinking that Minneapolis, St. Paul, other Minnesotan cities have big populations of refugees, from Somalia and from the U.S.'s "secret war" in southeast Asia. Not just in living memory but people my age who arrived as children. My heart breaks that people who came to Minnesota specifically for safety and sanctuary (Renee Good among them) are now finding it so unsafe.

So. Anyway. Some good things:

I got a message saying my bloods are fine, which is especially exciting because this means I can finally (six months later than expected) get blood taken only every six months instead of every three months.
I went to the gym and actually felt the good brain chemicals from it this time. Also, an annoying charge that had been on my account for a month was just wiped out by the young person behind the counter, who didn't even give me a chance to explain why I thought it was unjust, he just sorted it right away!
Not only has a transphobic group been blocked from a transphobic attempt to keep trans women out of women's swimming places. More than 32,000 people said they wanted the ponds to remain trans inclusive – 86% of the respondents to the consultation on this. This followed previous votes overwhelmingly supporting trans pond users, and a petition with over 14,000 signatures asking to keep the ponds inclusive. Transphobes are disproportionately noisy and have too much access to power in the UK. But it's important to hang on to the reality which is how neutral-to-positive the majority of people are towards trans people.

case posting in

fandomsecrets

⌈ Secret Post #6964 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 09 secrets from Secret Submission Post #994.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

languagelog_feed

Posted by Victor Mair

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=72717&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-green-olives-do-to-black-olives

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=72717

"How to Print Lists in the Reminders App on an iPhone & iPad"

August Garry, iPhoneLife (10/02/25)

See the second item:

Why?

Selected readings

"Awesome foods" )2/23/15) — gǎnlǎn 橄欖 ("olive")
"Oil: a partial paradigm" (6/19/22)
"Tocharian words for oil" (6/22/22)

[h.t. François Lang]

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=72717&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-green-olives-do-to-black-olives

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=72717

arethinn

Screenshot from an online shop selling mead. A brown glass bottle the size of a beer bottle has a green label saying Emerald Fae. The text says it is 8.5% alcohol, 355 mL, a Metheglin style, and costs $12.00. The description is, Sparkling absinthe inspired mead with house distilled and individually blended hydrosols of botanical ingredients including sage, angelica, anise, hyssop, lemon verbena, fennel and tulsi. Sweetened back a touch with Oregon clary sage honey.

https://hierophantmeadery.com/shop/

tjs_whatnot posting in

snowflake_challenge

Introduction Post* Meet the Mods Post Challenge #1 * Challenge #2* Challenge #3* Challenge #4* Challenge #5 * Challenge #6 * * Challenge #7 Challenge #8 * Challenge #9 * Challenge #10 * Challenge #11 * Challenge #12 * Challenge #13 * Challenge #14

Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time, or go back and do challenges you've missed.

( Fandom Snowflake Challenge #15 ) And please do check out the comments for all the awesome participants of the challenge and visit their journals/challenge responses to comment on their posts and cheer them on.

And just as a reminder: this is a low pressure, fun challenge. If you aren't comfortable doing a particular challenge, then don't. We aren't keeping track of who does what.

tcampbell1000 posting in

scans_daily

The cover of Justice League America #37 is one of Adam Hughes’ best on the title (which is saying something), but it’s open to multiple interpretations.

( Don’t worry, it’s not a Magic Eye poster. )

princessofgeeks

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: impressed

olivermoss

* I am excited to watch the Kraken game tonight, especially since it should be a Joey start... but I have D&D tonight so no hockey watching.

* I just leveled my character and had to redo all my pages of combat notes... I will never not hate how D&D chooses to lay out information across their books in a way that makes you need to check multiple chapters to get all the info. People are like 'GURPS is such a complicated system!' No, it's not. The basic calculations are in numerical format and we have charts. D&D info is a word problem with the words spread out between pages 15 and 293.

* IDK what is going on with the Conjuring House right now. There is a typically fairly drama-loving clickbaity youtuber who was covering it, and in the absence of my usual sources I decided to watch his update... and his update was that the matter had devolved into so much doxxing and doing illegitimate copyright strikes and stuff that he's noping out of covering it for the time being. Jason Hawes did a video a bit ago not saying the full situation, but pointing out that a lot of other people's takes were fundamentally wrong. So, I am just going to go by whether he says anything or not until this resolves. I am sure enough that the doxxing, strikes, trying to drag in family members, etc does Not come from Jason's camp, it's against his. I am curious if it's coming from the Rife camp, but what it would take to look into with all of my known sources deciding it's too hot to touch... yeah, I've got better things to do with my time.

Just going to hope to wake up one day to the news that Jason got the house.

* Because I need someone not HR/hockey in my media diet to avoid burning out hard, I'm going to start a new Scarlet Hollow playthrough. Hopefully, the next chapter will be out by the time I get there. (It's a chaptered visual novel about going to town in Appalachia your family came from. Spooky, amazing, fantastic, but accounting for the very many possible branching paths means the final chapters are taking a bit. Chapter 5 of 7 should be out soonish, tho)

I need to decide what traits to do, because even though I have a couple of saves this will likely be the one I roll into the new content with.

kat_lair

***

Title: Pineapple Liqueur
Author:

kat_lair
Fandom: Hawaii Five-0
Pairing: Steve/Danny
Tags: Drabble, First Kiss
Rating: G
Word count: 100

Summary: Pineapple has never much been to Danny’s taste. Until now.

Author notes: For

fandomtrees I wrote five drabbles for

pushkin666. They were themed around the five senses. This one is taste.

Pineapple Liqueur on AO3

( Pineapple Liqueur )

***

ysabetwordsmith

Today is partly sunny and cold.

I fed the birds. I've seen a large flock of sparrows plus a male and a female cardinal separately.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/29/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I refilled the hopper feeder. I've seen lots more birds, including two starlings at the suet cage.

EDIT 1/29/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a mourning dove up in the trees.

EDIT 1/29/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a pair of cardinals and a wren.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

spikedluv

Best Medicine: I enjoyed this ep better than last week’s. ( spoilers )

Wild Cards: Good ep. ( spoilers )

jesse_the_k posting in

fancake

Fandom: Sherlock (BBC TV 2010)

Pairings/Characters: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson

Characters: Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes, Greg Lestrade, John Watson

Rating: Explicit

Length: 4400 words

Theme: Crack Treated Seriously

Summary: Sherlock and John swap bodies. John doesn't want to talk about it.

Creator Links: Rhuia

Reccer’s Notes Sex pollen on Earth requires some shenanigans, but add in body swap and we’ve got a deep dive into how this combo would affect these two’s self-knowledge and desire. Very explicit, very steamy, very funny.

Fanwork Link Once, Twice

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Mark T. B. Carroll

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Mark Carroll's Journal

thoughts and questions

Network

Mach it happen.

Funeral

Daily Check-In

you know together we're glowing

[healthwork, diarish] ... they... lost my blood again?

The Friday Five for 30 January 2026

Curried Cabbage

Snowflake Challenge 15: How did it go?

Three good things...eventually

[ SECRET POST #6964 ]

What green olives do to black olives

"absinthe" mead?! yoink

Snowflake Challenge #15

Catfights: JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #37, …EUROPE #13 (JLI 50)

Heated Rivalry rec

(no subject)

H50 Drabble: Pineapple Liqueur

Birdfeeding

TV Talk: Best Medicine & Wild Cards

SHERLOCK BBC: Once, Twice by Rhuia

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January 2026

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