snowynight

Hi! I love reading, writing, playing interactive fictions, collecting tabletop rpgs, and listening to music. I usually post about books, recipes, my favorite songs, tabletop RPG and interesting links.

My fanfic is on

snowynight . I'm (very slowly) backing them up on

archive_of_night

My original fic: writing: original
My To Read List

Journal layout credit:

myrtillenne

Access/subscription policy: Nothing is access-locked! Please read at your own discretion. I may or may not subscribe in return.

Warning Policy: Warnings may be found in the headers of all of my longer stories, but may be inconsistent on drabbles. I try to warn for content likely to trigger and squick readers. If you are concerned about a fic, please PM me, and I can tell you about it in more detail.

Transformative work policy:

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One cupful of cold boiled rice beaten light with one cupful of milk. Add one tablespoonful of melted butter, half a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little of the milk, two eggs well beaten, and enough flour, sifted in with one teaspoonful of cream tartar, to make a thin batter. Beat thoroughly and bake in well-greased waffle-irons. Cream tartar and spices are practically certain to be pure when bought of a druggist instead of a grocer. (Not knocking the groceryman.)

From The Myrtle Reed Cook Book by Myrtle Reed (1916 New York)

From: wikipedia: Myrtle Reed (1874 – 1911) was an American author, poet, journalist, and philanthropist. She wrote a number of bestsellers, including Lavender and Old Lace, Threads of Gray and Gold, A Weaver of Dreams and even published a series of cookbooks under the pseudonym Olive Green.

I. Spotlight:

TTRPGs for Trans Rights—Idaho: Buy 511 items for $5 to support TransAffirm Inc and Boise's The Community Center! TransAffirm Inc exists to expand access to life-saving resources, affirming care, education, advocacy, and community connection for transgender and gender diverse people in Idaho, especially those in rural and underserved areas. The Community Center (TCC) is devoted to the LGBTQIA+ and allied population. TCC is committed to uniting the LGBTQIA+ community through educational and developmental programs by providing resources to the LGBTQIA+ community. Offer ends in 17 days

Highlight includes:

A Visit To San Sibilia ($10): "a solo journaling game in which you roleplay a character chronicling their visit to the city of San Sibilia. The city manifests itself differently to every visitor." It has a strong invisible Cities vibe.

Rebels of the Outlaw Wastes ($15): "A rock-n-roll retro-dystopian tabletop roleplaying game fueled by stickers! IndieCade 2023 Nominee for innovation in Tabletop Design."

Anomaly Hunters ($10CAD): "a monster hunting tabletop roleplaying game, within which you play as the protagonist of an investigative reality TV show that tries to find weird creatures and get rid of them"

II.Tabletop RPG I have Read: Dimension Travel

Troika! : a surreal multiverse travel trpg based on the Fighting Fantasy gamebook 'system', Example character option: Fellow of the Sublime Society of Beef Steaks, Workshop Elf

Between the Skies is a cosmic fantasy game of travel and exploration across endless worlds. It has a massive number of tables to help you generate fantasy setting details. The first version is free on itch.io.

Disparateum is a trpg in progress that let you explore different worlds and dimensions through overlapping literal pieces of paper

Watch on YouTube

Cook the eggs in an omelet-pan; tilt them gently on to a dish, and trim them with a round fancy-cutter. Place each egg upon a round, thin piece of toast, and then cover them with foie-gras purée. Arrange them in the form of a crown, on a dish, and pour into the middle a garnish of calf’s kidneys cut into dice and sautéd, and truffles similarly cut, the latter being cohered by means of some dense half-glaze.

From A guide to modern cookery by A. Escoffier (1907 London)

grated peel of one lemon
¾ cup sweet butter
7 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
1¼ pounds flour

Cream butter, add sugar, lemon peel and soda. Mix well, add yolks and beat again. Add flour gradually, beating dough constantly until well blended. Chill.

Published in Recipes from American National

Edit: previously missing filling recipe thanks to

ehyde

FILLING

¾ cup ground walnuts
1 cup sugar
7 egg whites beaten stiff
2 grated apples

Mix nuts and sugar. Add them gradually to beaten egg whites. Then fold in apples. Roll out two-thirds of the dough and line sides and bottom of an ungreased baking pan. Add filling. Roll out remaining dough and lattice over top. Bake in 250 degree oven 45 minutes to one hour.

This mission generator is based on a specific quick transmigration sub-genre: deep dive into someone's mindscape and heal them through solving mysteries and adventures, while the diver also affected by the journey

So you go into/get stuck in someone' mind. Roll a dice to figure out the details, or pick and choose an option from each question.

Why do you go into this person's mind?

Out of obligation/assignment, because they are too important to be stuck in their mind.
It's the last step to get approval for our experimental MindTech. Our profit margin depends on you.
This person's mind sucks me in. I have no choice at all!
It's my best chance to get access to their knowledge/manipulate them.
They are haunting the place. It's the only way to understand their unfinished business/trauma and let them rest/recover.
It's the only way to save them from a psychic/alien/magical/rouge AI attack/trauma/etc

What kind of constraints are there?

You're on your own once inside. No back up.
Don't let the person discover your true identity. You have to blend in.
This person's mind is literally dangerous.
There's a time limit. Staying too long and you'll fail/get stuck
This's a new tech. We can only give a guess what you'll find there.
You have to follow/derail the dream script and find out how best to do it.

What kind of challenge you may face?

Figure out the person's mystery and secrets
Get their trust and favour.
Save them from danger manifested by their mind.
Concinve them that they need to wake up.
Figure out the situation and help them resolve problems
Hide/disguise your presence as well as possible.

What kind of complication is there?

The mission brief is incomplete/misleading.
You discover that you have a strong connection to the patient in real life.
You develop feeling about the patient/manifestation in their mind.
You're not the only one who has been to their mind.
You receive contradictory orders.
The patient's mind treated you as a threat.

Watch on YouTube

Ingredients

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Marinade

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Instructions:

Add marinade to the minced pork, stir well and set aside.
Heat the wok with 100ml of oil. Add sliced shallots, deep fry over medium high heat until golden and set aside.Reserve the fried shallot oil.
Leave a little oil in the wok, add minced pork and stir fry until half-cooked. Add minced ginger, shiitake mushrooms and ⅔ of the fried shallots and stir fry until fragrant. Add seasoning and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes.
Lastly, add ½ tbsp of fried shallot oil and remaining sliced shallots. Mix well and serve with rice.

No ICE in Minnesota

Buy 1,439 items (tabletop games, video games, zines, tools, and essays, etc) for $10 to support Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. ILCM provides free immigration legal representation to low-income immigrants and refugees in Minnesota and North Dakota. They also work to educate the community about immigration matters and advocates for public policies which respect the universal human rights of immigrants. Offer ends in 1 month.

Some Highlight:
Baba Is You (an award-winning puzzle video game, $14.99)
Escape from Dino Island (one shot tabletop RPG that ley you play jurassic park style adventure, $10),
Glitter Hearts (magical girl tabletop RPG, $15)
Fief (an extensive guidebook on everyday Medieval life, $19.95) etc

Solo But Not Alone 6

Buy 90 items for $10 to support Take This, a charity working to support mental health in the gaming community and industry by decreasing stigma and making supports available to people who need them. There's a helpful spreadsheet that list the summary and formats of the games. You can play alone, or use them to inspire your creative projects. Lots of games are not included in previous bundles. Offer ends in 1 month, 19 days.

Some Highlight:
O Patron Mine: a prompt based solo game about a mundane person, their encounter with a powerful entity, and the contract they entered into together. $10
Pirouette: a solo horror TTRPG about a ballet dancer performing for an amorphous eldritch horror. $10
Vandal Eyes: singleplayer dungeon crawler TTRPG that "you find yourself in a surreal network of concrete chambers, stalked by a wretch called the Cardinal."

To Pickle Oysters.

Take Oysters and wash them cleane in their own Liquor, and let them settle, then strain it, and put your Oysters to it with a little Mace and whole pepper, as much Salt as you please, and a little Wine-Vinegar, then set them over the fire, and let them boyle leisurely till they are pretty tender; be sure to skim them still as the skim riseth; when they are enough, take them out till the Pickle be cold, then put them into any pot that will lye close, they will keep best in Caper barrels, they will keep very well six weeks.

From The Compleat Cook by W. M. (1658 UK)

Challenge #12

Make an appreciation post to those who enhance your fandom life. Appreciate them in bullet points, prose, poetry, a moodboard, a song... whatever moves you!

Thank you to everyone who create fanwork, comment/kudo work, make rec lists/newsletters/etc, organize events, discuss the canon, or just generally have fun in fandoms! You all are awesome!

Challenge #9

Talk about your favorite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)

My favourite trope is pining, because it can lead to easily resolvable angst and heartbreak. I like when characters stoically pine from afar without feeling of entitlement. I like when characters have very good reasons to expect their feeling to be unrequited (and happily proven wrong).

My current fandom Conclave (2024) is ripe for pining when the main characters are all Catholic priests and nuns, who swear vows of chastity. So much delicious angst: do you want to break your lifelong vow? Do you really want to tempt your love interest from breaking their vow? Do they want to? Not to mention the power difference between the pope/cardinals; superiors/subordinates. So ripe for pining!

Challenge #8

Talk about your creative process.

When I come up with an idea, I ususally brainstorm a bit about scenes and form a vague idea about the ending. I also like doing research for inspiration and details. Then I put my notes and vague scene list into a plain text document for further reference.

I'm a panster and write out of order, because somehow my brain lose interest if I try to outline. I usually only know wht the next scene should be. When I get stuck (often), I rewrite and add other scenes to try to fix it. I'm always looking for a more effective proccess and writing advice.

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.

Challenge #7

LIST THREE (or more) THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF. They don’t have to be your favorite things, just things that you think are good. Feel free to expand as much or as little as you want.

I don't have known allergy nor nasty side effects to medication I have taken. This makes my life easier.
I can take pills without drinking water. It's handy when no water is available.
My mind often comes up with ideas that entertains me.

I fell into the Conclave (2024) movie rabbit hole in 2025. There are lots of talented artists in the fandom. Here are ten fanarts I love. Mostly SFW

Vincent Benítez/Goffredo Tedesco dancing by

nis_tema : I really like their smile!

Young!Thomas Lawrence & Raymond O'Malley with matching keychains by

ralphater : Love the warm colour,

Conclavification of diptych by Albrecht Durer by

asai_ne : it really looks like a medieval church painting.

the bright Morning Star by

asai_ne by : gorgeous Vincent Benítez in the desert

pumpkin head Vincent Benítez/Lawrence dancing by

ValeryMadHatter : so adorable!

Cornus Kousa by dambobodam7 : Vincent Benítez surrounded by lilies

I'm a heartless man at worst, babe / And a helpless one at best by

popekisser : Cardial Vincent Benítez/Pope Goffredo Tedesco kiss. It's very heartwarming!

Thomas Lawrence starring in a heartburn ad by

9179797778_may : It's really funny!

Let’s have a conclave by

deathcomequickly : impressive animated pixel fanart

Vincent Benítez catching a plushie by

bontmercy : so cute!

Challenge Day #5: In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts.

My wish list:

1. Recs for music with female vocallist, or music by female composers. I like a variety of music: metal, rock, Celtic, pop, bardcore, country, etc. Music in non-English languages are welcomed! A sampling of my favourite singers/bands: Loreena Mckennit, Dar Williams, Vienna Teng, Within Temptation, XG, etc.

2. Recs for interesting blogs to follow. Books, nature, history, cute animals, trivia, tabletop RPG, world building, art and craft, or anything you find interesting

3. Stolen from

kingstoken : Go to arab.org and "click to help", it's free. All raised money goes to UN agencies.

Snowflake Challenge: A warmly light quaint street of shops at night with heavy snow falling.

Challenge #4: Rec The Contents Of Your Last Page

"Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!"

Recently, I have fallen into a rabbit hole of old school tabletop RPG blogs. I really enjoy reading about different settings, character and bestiary ideas. It's a bit sad to land on a blog right long after posting stopped though.

Some interesting posts

d66 Character Creation Questions

REVANESCENCE_: an esoteric cyberpunk setting: "The Earth is a Kowloonesque megacity. It doesn't even resemble a proper planet anymore. Everyone worships the Lucky Golden Zodiac, a fivefold of modern demons that embody the pillars of boundless hypercapitalism. The bones of the planet have all broken under the weight of the mass of greasy blubber that is humanity. You've got as many lives as you can buy."

Marvelous Magical Mutations: a random magical mutation generator

[SWS] Hole in Your Soul, or Lack Thereof: exploration of reasons characters taking up cyberpunk implants

Hellwalkers: a dark fantasy setting that set after the demons' successful invasion of the kingdom

Lanthanide Horizon - Tied in the Strings of Dream : in a post apocalyptic society, the Sustainer Cells keep the majority of their members in cryosleep, switching bodies in dream

Cultivated Dreamers: "Their dreams could serve as vessels of the sublime, carefully managed spaces into which a noble dreamer could project to brush the realm of pure ideals."

How to Write a Module: An Incoherent Play-by-Play : good advice on writing RPG adventure modules

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

Dear fandom,

It's joyful to meet people who are enthusiastic about the same media /characters/etc! I love when you're creative and show me new ideas and insight. I am also thankful when you're supportive of my writings and ideas. I have a great time and hope you all enjoy yourselves!

With love,
Me.

The cats in my childhood media: Luna & Artemis (Sailor Moon); Garfield, Odie, Arlene & Nermel (Garfield & Friends). They will probably argue that they aren't pets though.

Luna (Sailor Moon)