#But worth it!

[spirk-trek]

Interstat Fanzine | Teri Meyer, Ray Lamb, Cheryl Newsome, Carol Waterman, Don Harden, Amy Harlib, Melinda Shreve-Reynolds (1978-83)

[chicgeekgirl89]

YOU AND YOUR BEAUTIFUL SOUL 😍

[daughter-of-winterfell]

My Own Dancing Body

- for the Jonsa Valentine's Day Event 2024 ❤️

“Let me make you some tea,” Jon entreats her, matching her half step. The suggestion is a perfect one and Sansa’s eyes, of their own accord, dart to his. Sincerity lies in wait there with the warmth of banked coals, and hides whatever else he must think, finding her in this bedraggled way. - Sansa returns to East 61st Street close to tears and is met by her cousin Jon. There, he makes her lemon tea and they talk gently with one another.

This is written with great haste/love for @jonsa-valentine, and is the first fanfic I have really written in years! I have posted it 41 minutes past midnight but emotionally, I did this on the 13th ❤️

The types of love in this fic are: Philia (deep friendship) and Storge (familial love).

In this, (as is custom it seems), only the younger Starks are alive and only Sansa travelled to New York to stay with her Aunt Lyanna and Cousin Jon for a season.

To read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53760841

I am the angel who sweep air in and out my own dancing body.

- Angela Jackson, Angel

The hem of her day dress – which her mother had once so painstakingly let down and secured – is dripping and unsalvageable. Sansa could cry, the tears already clawing up her throat and pricking at her insides. The puddle in the foyer only grows as it seems the entirety of the brief shower has been dragged inside on her ragged hem, and the pale pink has been left a murky grey.

Sansa sniffs dismally. She is alone, blessedly so after that, and so wipes her nose with her soaked gloves.

It must be a portent. That on the very first day she no longer wears her clutching, tight-laced mourning dresses, Mr Hardyng decides to propose and the heavens open. Her hands shiver, where they are pressed against her roiling stomach.

And she’d so longed to wear pink again. How girlish and unseemly, but black is not her colour – it drains her features when they’d been drained enough. All life had been scraped from her in the past year. Black lace only meant that all the twittering aunts and ladies could easily spy it for themselves.

Lyanna had said, “Oh, my dear,” when Sansa had arrived in her black cloistered dress, sweating and breathless, on the steps of her East 61st Street home. Her pity was piercing and bright when she rubbed the back of Sansa’s glove.

They had not been able to make it to the funeral, but Lyanna still wore a black pin above her heart for her brother and his family, and her own husband, lost at sea.

The melancholy sweeps through her then with a tidal ebb. An ever-deep sorrow for her mother, Father, Robb. For Bran, travelling far from them with so few letters returned. The dear ache of missing Arya and Rickon, safely ensconced in Riverrun.

Undeniably, a spare ounce of it is for her ruined dress and sodden gloves.

 She is not crying but her face is tight and disgustingly, humiliating damp.

“Miss Stark?”

Hastily, she sniffs in a shockingly unladylike manner and dips her neck, tipping the brim of her hat to somewhat shield herself. Embarrassment coils itself about her ankles and Sansa can only shuffle in the lake she is procuring for herself in Mrs Snow’s pristine hallway.

 It couldn’t be Bannister who found her, or Jeyne. It had to be –

 “Sansa, my dear-”

Jon cleaves his words in two, his footsteps halting an eternity away. She can’t look at him with her burning eyes and pink cheeks, in her poor, piteous state. Sansa hates herself then. What other state has Jon seen her in, since their introduction this season? Piteous and poor and weeping. On their doorstep that first day, when being snubbed by his haughty Targaryen aunt and uncle.

Yet, who else could see her in such a way? Could be allowed to? Whatever is in his eyes – which she assiduously avoids meeting now – there has never, not once, been pity.

He had been the first to wrap his arms around her in months. To dare not murmur any condolences at all.

The first she wishes to reach for, at each luncheon and ball and dinner.

Though she does not now. But the brim of her hat is no match for the hand he extends, bearing a white handkerchief. Sansa takes it from his fingers and dabs at the stinging corners of her eyes.

“Such terrible weather” – Sansa sighs in a manner suited to the stage, determined to seem somewhat unaffected - “I remember you saying I would not need my parasol today.”

His chuckle is a whiskey shot that steals her living breath.

“You would not listen to my counsel, dear cousin.”

The softening of his vowels, the tapping of his shoes – her affectations are whisps of smoke he merely blows apart. He has caught her. Thawing in the hall, in her favourite dress, almost in tears. The dance of custom would be to retreat once the white flag had been offered and accepted and reasoned away.

Jon crosses an inch of the wooden floor.

“I shall dry off and escape this chill,” Sansa declares, taking half a step to the right, towards the solitude offered by the Snow’s guest bedroom.

“Let me make you some tea,” Jon entreats her, matching her half step, “as you do so.”

The suggestion is a perfect one and Sansa’s eyes, of their own accord, dart to his. Sincerity lies in wait there with the warmth of banked coals, and hides whatever else he must think, finding her in this bedraggled way.

She inclines her head, agreeing to the tea, and endeavours not to scuttle away like some anxious creature as Jon remains at the foot of the stairs, one hand outstretched on the banister.

“If I asked,” Jon asks, cradling a cup of tea in his steady hands, perched opposite her cross-legged, straight-spined position at the dining room table, “would you tell me?”

Tell me of what happened to bring you to such a poor and piteous state, in my hallway.

Or more likely, as it is her Jon asking, tell me what made you cry.

“The rain brings out the dreariness in me,” she blusters, half afraid of what may fall from her mouth, “Please, do not worry.”

The crease between his brows tells her his thoughts like a worn book; he worries about me, regardless of what I say.

Her news will not ease that burden for him, yet it spills from her in a heaving rush. How Mr Hardyng had invited her with such grace to his opening of the new rose garden and how she had – foolishly – shed her mourning clothes with a great sigh to attend as the man’s acquaintance. How it was an orchestrated ambush and he had gripped her hands between his and declared her his fiancée when met with her astonished silence.

How no one had spoken a word when she broke that silence and torn her hands from his and the rain poetically chose to drench the entire gaping party. And her pink dress, the one her mother had always loved, was now speckled with mud and puddle-water.

“He should not have taken your hands in that way.”

Jon’s gruff disapproval of the matter of Hardyng overstepping her bodily comforts does not grate as it ought. He shakes his head, dislodging an inky curl from its manicured hold. Likely thinking of how he could have removed Hardyng’s hands from her with a degree of force, as he had done at too many of the balls they had attended at one another’s side this season.

“It is no serious matter.”

He says her name, feather-soft.

“If that was the entirety of it, perhaps it would be, but Jon -” Sansa’s breath hitches and she releases her teacup with a clatter. Oh god.

Without seeming to listen, Jon is consumed, swirling his lemon tea. It is his turn to avoid her gaze.

“He should not have asked at all,” he mutters darkly.

She has just left the black behind so it is not seemly to pounce upon her so, but Jon seems to frown more fiercely than Hardyng’s faux pas deserves.

Swallowing the dismay of her own recollections, she ignores his scowls and continues, chin high and trembling. “Jon, I turned him down, vehemently. What other man will forget that?”

He stills.

Her hands shake against the dining room table as Jon, purposely and with the expression of a man pierced through and through, meets her eyes. Covers her hand with no weight at all.

“I do not need to forget. If – I asked…”

Courage deserts him with a fell swoop and Sansa turns her hand over in careful inches. Soon lacing their tea-warmed hands into one. And she is free, miraculously, of the prickling, shaking, nausea that poisoned her in the hall. It is just her, and her Jon.

“We’re family,” Jon manages, the embers in his gaze alight again and like a looking glass, Sansa knows him, knows his meaning. We could be a family.

They could be. They could dance with one another that inch closer and share lemon tea as dusk falls and they dream of spring.

 Her heartbeat swells, a symphony, and lulls into a new pleasant calmness.

“More tea, my dearest Jon?”

He does not release her hands and her laughing offer is not accepted. Rather, the hearth of his heart opens and the teacups are forgotten as their foreheads touch, gentle across the scant table cloth that rudely divides them.

Lemon tea and dancing can come later. For now, Sansa is held and is warm.

[yullalightk]

Made a drawing of my 5⭐️Rivals AU Puzzles in class and I posted it on the Mr. Puzzles' Fanclub so I'm gonna post it here now.

Also bonus comic✨

Their reactions:

Puzzles in my AU pays close attention even at the tiniest details, since it's a trait of his. But he also apologises a lot and take what he said pretty quickly.

[violant-apologia]

took me long enough

[weevmo]

Have you ever worked at any sort of animation company?

Yes! Actually currently! Magnetic Dreams Animation.

I am a Storyboard Artist, Character Designer, and make prop designs too! It is one thing I'm very proud of, that I got to do what I've always wanted to straight out of college.

I worked on Sesame Street as a character designer, On a movie called 'Die in a Gunfight' as an animatic artist, various music videos, Storyboarded for 'Lauren's Kids' (upcoming educational program for schools), and currently! My favorite thing:

Bedtime Defenderz, an upcoming kids' Youtube series by Scentco! I had the opportunity to design the main kid characters and have boarded for several eps so far.

I boarded the pilot AND redesigned Magnus for television here:

But I've only worked in the industry for a year and a bit now! Still have a long ways to go.

[legendlarkpod]

hey! i noticed recently that episode one doesn’t have any mention of errol’s name change was that intentional or did it slip through the cracks?

ERROL HERE! EEEEERRRRGGHHH PODCASTING IS HARD!!! I guess we'll probs have to get to it at some point? Man, you change your name and then there's all this stuff you gotta fix up. Appreciate your consideration! But yeah, I keep finding places all over the place in my non-podcast life where I need to update, too. You think you got 'em all but there's always more, haha.

[seancosy]

i'm on a work trip to a desert town and it's surreal

the streets are empty. i can walk for 15+ minutes before coming across another pedestrian.

the book shop had maybe 15 books, about half of which were explicitly queer-focused. which is really weird because grindr is dead here

the florist only sells plastic plants

the pub food is some of the worst food i've eaten in my life. but i risked trying fish and chips from the local shop (we are >500 away from the ocean), and it was amazing??

the swimming pool -- newly built; perfect for 40 degree heat -- is basically empty each time i visit. when in any other town it would be humming with swimmers and families.

every surface has a coating of soft red dust on it

some people speak in such thick accents that we can't understand understand each other

there is no infrastructure for handling rain, so apparently the town regularly floods and the locals just go on with their lives like it's not a big deal

i have seen no snakes and no spiders. but about 547839872 flies.

it isn't safe to drive at night because kangaroos, emus, and feral goats will try and kill themselves in front of your car. (baby emus are adorable btw. i went for a run and a family of emus ran beside me!)

[bisquitly]

My feet and toes are dead... but finally after 6h inside🥲😭

[sparklemotiongalaxy]

Ficlet time for the No Gem Roads AU! AU by @vinylroadsjunction This time about…

Leschenaultia or otherwise known as “First Love’s Grass” in Japanese!

Leschenaultia: Yinu and her family

(Note: Mama and Papa’s personalities… are… wildly HCs here...)

Without further ado, enjoy!

It is evening. The moon shines down on you as you make your way home. Alone, not that you ever minded the existential dread that comes with it. No matter how many times you come to the view of the Natura district, it is spectacular. The paved roads, the splendid houses, the fountains, the flower shops... you could go on!

If it weren't for the explosions that occurred just a few hours ago. The paved road was slightly damaged, with cracks all over. One fountain was leaking, water trickling down the basin. Must get Timmy to help you fix everything, you note.

It is already rumored to be the fault of the new-fangled Rock duo, Bunk Bed Junciton. You never had an affinity for rock, but you appreciated how much sheer energy they brought to Vinyl City.

Then you notice a child that will change your life.

You realize the child is lost. All dirty. With scrapes all over their body. And without their parent. In the middle of the city.

But most of all, you know that look in a child's eyes. That red, messy sobby eyes.

You are a busy man. You understand that. Still, you bend down to greet the child.

"Do you need any help?"

The child, wearing strange blue robes, flinches. Then she dashes away.

"No no! I will not hurt you!" Although running after a child who is clearly afraid of you is illogical, you do so anyways.

Pitter patter!

After running down the hill marked with buildings oh so familiar to you, the tiny footsteps come to a halt.

The glowing light makes the child glow in almost an angelic manner.

"Please... I need help! I'm lost... and I need my Red Coral!"

The child's already large eyes widen, desperate for any sort of kindness. Hopefully.

"Who is this 'Red Coral?'" People nowadays have such strange names. Not that you mind, of course.

The child gasps and covers their mouth as if they'd said something wrong. But their eyes go back to a neutral state as they continued.

"Red Coral and I came here for an important job. I can't tell you what it is but- we lost. And now Red- Red Coral is gone!"

Whoever this Red Coral is, that person is quite important to this child. Which only means-

“I will help you find them. Can you tell me what they look like?”

"Ummm... tall. Golden eyes. Gem on the back of her head. Long hair head. A dress! Blue like mine!"

Gem? Like the gem monsters that surround this city? But if she is... sentient like the child in front of you, how?

"Let's set off. Take my hand. You might get lost."

The child hesitates for a split second but listens. You feel the small hand, cold, in yours. Making sure you don't accidentally squish it, you hold it tenderly.

"Now... where could she be?"

The artificial lights of the district brighten the road you two walk on. It casts a shadow of two people. One tall, one short. Just like a father and his child. No. This child will find this Red Coral, and they'd leave. Like they always do.

You were passing by the flower shop when they gasped.

"Did you spot her?"

"No... but I found something! Are those- flowers? Actual flowers?"

This child is surprised about seeing flowers. Not to be judgemental... but how odd.

"Yes. They are roses. Do you want some?"

"May I?"

You walk to the cashier and ask for the yellow and red rose bouquet. Adorned with blue flowers on the sides. He happily places the beautiful thing on the other hand once you pay and tips him.

"Always come back! Maybe this time bring someone... important, okay?" He flashed a cheeky grin.

"I'm not looking for dates! I'm going to give it to this child!" you tell him as you give the flower bouquet to the child.

"I'll gift you these."

The child lets out a smile, for the first time. It looks precious. Especially the way she had dimples. Then the smile faded.

"I can have them? But I didn't deserve this... I haven't done anything to do so."

"People always deserve flowers. Especially for those who are feeling...blue." You say, pointing at the child's outfit.

It earned you another small smile, so it's worth it.

You wave goodbye to the flower shop employee. As you walk hand in hand, you meet Amal.

Like always, he was on all fours, while wearing his blue unicorn outfit.

"Amal... I know you are a unicorn right now, but we need help. Have you seen a woman in a blue dress, with golden eyes, and-"

"Red." The child cuts in while still admiring the bouquet.

"..."

"Amal, please. No horsing around now!" You said another pun.

"Yeah. I kinda think she went to Metro Division. Looked like she was really searching for something."

"That's her! Thank you, Amal!" The child suddenly perked up.

You had to get there fast. Metro Division was much larger and more... chaotic than here, so it would take much.

"Is it okay if I pick you up? A piggyback?"

"What's that?" This child also doesn't understand piggybacks.

"It is when a person picks up another person... and puts them on their shoulder!"

The child let out an excited breath but flinched again. "I'm not that high ranking!" Even more strange words.

"You are my first priority now! Besides, we must get you to the Divison."

"... okay."

Your back may hurt for a while, but this was worth it.

You pick the child up. Surprisingly light.

As you feel the breeze run through your hair, you run past that flower shop, across the bridge, and enter the bask of the bright Neon lights of Metro Division. Not as bright as before, but still. Quite fancy.

Then you spot her.

As the child (wonder what their name is) suddenly yells for her, she looks back. The broken carousel makes a stark contrast between her blue dress.

Red Coral has sparkling golden eyes. The world glimmers in those eyes as she lunges toward you and the child.

"DID YOU KIDNAP MY GOLDEN CORAL? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!"

Her eyes pierce through you.

She had a beautiful voice, too.

The child jumps down from your shoulder and stands between you and her, arms wide open as if to protect you.

"No! Red, he helped me find you! He- gave me this, too."

The child, no, Golden Coral, hands Red the bouquet.

"What?" Now with an astonished look, she gingerly takes the bouquet. She turns it around and examines it.

"Actual flowers?" Once again, an odd response.

"Yes!"

Her look melts, as she kneels down to meet your gaze.

"I am deeply sorry for my past words. And I must thank you for helping me unite with my protege." Now she looked mortified by her past action, eyes glistening.

You let out an assuring smile. "No worries! I would be scared too if I was lost in another place and separated from my family! Do you have a place to stay?"

"... no."

"If so, I can invite you to my house. We have more flowers. And a roof over our heads."

Golden Coral tugs at Red's skirt. "We can see more flowers? We should go, Red!"

Red Coral lets out the sweetest smile known to humankind. "If you insist. Then I must accept such an offer."

Whatever happens with these two from now on, you were going to be involved too. And something told you, it was going to be big.

But this was going to be a good big change.

The Neon lights shined down on you and the Corals. It made the two look as if they were glowing more under it.

You take a deep breath. Time to introduce yourself to them. "Nice to meet you. My name is-"

[mathlann]

Back from NOLA baby shower day trip. Hair smells like soju. I remember why I hate airports. I'm so tired I may not wake up until Wednesday. ALSO got scammed out of my full bet earnings because of voter fraud (people voting without putting down money).

[tricoufamily]

Heyyy! Just saw your paranormal investigators post and I was wondering, how do you make the light and shadows look like that? I didn't see any hashtag that says render or edit, is it a reshade? Cause it looks so good man and your sims are gorgeous <3

yeah, that's reshade, thanks! that's a custom shader called niceguy lamps

[kitkatwinchester]

SCILES FOR THE WIN!!!

Okay okay, I know we totally broke Liam's leg, so, like, that's a big oopsie, and Scott is gonna feel guilty about that for the rest of his life, but this is BONDING for all of them, okay? And Liam becomes a werewolf soon anyways, so it'll be fine.

So with that out of the way...

F*CKING SCILES MAN!!! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!

I am so sorry, you're gonna have to strap in again, because we are going through this whooooole thing, okay?

But I HAVE TO!!!

It's literally just ten minutes of PURE friendship goals, okay?? Like, it literally made its way into the top five of my "Best Sciles Moments" list (it's #5 lol) just because of how absolutely pure and wonderful ALL of that was.

Follow along with me, now. We're gonna keep the same format as usual, but it's gonna go ON for a bit, so just bear with me, okay? XD

I JUST CANNOT WITH THEM I MEAN--

The fact that Scott is freaking out to Stiles about Kira is adorable and I love him and I love Stiles in all of his somehow still supportive judgement? Literally such best friends, we love them.

The fact that Stiles is just watching Scott and Liam so closely and he sees Liam react all smugly to the "all positions are open" and just glares with all of the protectiveness of a best friend.

The fact that Scott literally picks Stiles up off the ground when he falls after they finish the race and is just, like, casually holding him up while Stiles continues to be angry about Liam, followed by "I'm gonna puke, take me somewhere." "Okay, come on." Friendship literally doesn't get better than that.

The fact that Stiles glares at Liam any chance he gets and continues to hate how "perfect" he is completely on Scott's behalf, followed by the fact that Scott tries to convince Stiles that he doesn't have to hate him until Stiles reminds him that the reason he hates him is because Scott's position is at stake. Get yourself a best friend who hates people purely for your benefit.

The fact that the only person who's allowed to make fun of Scott is Stiles, because the way he says "Shut up" to Garrett is literally the best and we love a protective best friend who would shut down anyone who so much as looks at you funny.

The fact that Stiles isn't afraid to call Scott out for how bad he's doing, but in the process builds him up by reminding him he can and has done so much better and that he deserves that captain status and he doesn't want it to get taken away from him after everything he's done and all the work he's put in. "Yes, that is because I am terrible, though, Scott. You...you are the Alpha." "Not on the field. I'm a human on the field." "Well, human you is kind of sucking at the moment, so do you think there's any way you could use just use like a little tiny bit of wolf power?" "It's cheating." "I KNOW it is. I just...I hate seeing this little...FRESHMAN come in and steal all your glory after you worked your tushie off. I hate it." And then his eyes glow because Stiles is totally right (because he's always right lol) and I love Liam, but ain't no way you're getting that title if Sciles has anything to say about it.

The fact that Coach pairs them up together for the two-on-ones, probably because he knows that they're better together, is literally perfect, and then he gets SO excited when they make the takedown and calls them his boys and says they're like sons to him because they REALLY ARE!! <3 <3

The fact that this entire sequence is literally the ULTIMATE friendship goals!! I mean, the way they play together… They can read each other like a book, and they know each other's every move, and they have each other's back every time, and they're always on the same page, and they f*cking kick BUTT. And then the handshakes, the winks, the head butts, the shoulder pats, and the belly bumps that they do in between (and the way Scott reaches for Stiles in concern when he bumps him a LITTLE too hard XD) to congratulate and build each other up I CANNOT!!!

The fact that Malia was so quick to request that do-over, despite Stiles not wanting her to get involved, putting her money on her boys, because literally everyone in the pack knows that nobody is a match for Sciles.

The fact that, even after everything, when they took it a LITTLE too far on accident, Scott and Stiles were just as quick to work together to pick Liam up and get him to safety and taken care of, because no matter how competitive they got, and how threatened they felt, Liam's still their future a child, and even with his smugness, he didn't QUITE deserve that, and they both feel bad about it, but are quick to work together to do what they can to make it right.

That sequence was just seriously THE BEST, and even though Liam got hurt, like I said, it'll all work out in the end, and they become their own little family in what has to be not very many episodes, so I'm not that worried about it, and I will TOTALLY TAKE that Sciles win and Sciles bonding, because LET'S GO BOYS!!!

THOSE ARE MY BOYS!!!

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!

This post is gonna have soooo many gifs attached, but I literally don't care, because we need them ALL, okay?!

ALL OF THEM!!!

ALL ARE REQUIRED!!!

WE MUST REPRESENT THE BEAUTY OF THAT SEQUENCE AS MUCH AS WE POSSIBLY CAN!!!

BECAUSE IT WAS PERFECT!!!

I LOVE SCILES I LOVE SCILES I LOVE SCILES I LOVE SCILES I LOVE SCILES I LOVE SCILES I LOVE SCILES I LOVES SCILES I--

..anyways.

Quick aside, looks like Kira gets to be on the team with them, and that's a major yay as far as I'm concerned! Also I feel like Scott is gonna get to keep his team captain status, despite all of that, simply because of how much Coach loves him and how he was still able to prove himself, so that's good too.

And ultimately, Sciles and Liam are gonna be an adorable little family, so this'll all be fine, and I can continue to be SO UTTERLY PLEASED with that entire sequence.

I'm sorry, Liam. I do love you already. I do. But...I HAD to side with Sciles here, okay? I JUST HAD TO!!

And I KNOW that post was SUPER long, and I'm sorry that the last couple posts have been so long, but HOW COULD I NOT BABBLE ABOUT SCILES FOREVER?!

I MEAN!!!

LOOK AT THEM!!! <3 <3 <3 <3

(LOOK AT THEM THEY ARE LITERALLY THE BEST BEST FRIENDS EVER AND NO ONE CAN EVER TAKE THAT TITLE AWAY!! <3 <3 <3)

[mako-tachi]

Yo, brother/sister, u still looking for yaoi to read, i’d love to share and also receive recs 🤩

lol, i am always looking for yaoi to read!

i feel like some good classics i rec to people are

honto yajuu

sasaki and miyano

mask danshi

shokkan harassment

gurume no fukurami

docchi mo docchi

love stage!

yata & momo

neon sign amber

puchitto hajiketa

[gamingdotcom]

Trick or treat!

omg hiiiiiii night!!! <3

for you my beloved poundcake recipe (from food columnist Leslie Land-- I tweaked one thing: the alcohol of choice in our family has ALWAYS been cognac. trust me on this.)

1 pound (2 cups) sugar 3-inch piece vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Butter for pans 4 ½ cups twice-sifted cake flour (a little less than one pound) 10 eggs at room temperature 1 pound of the best butter you can get, at room temperature ½ teaspoon salt (only if butter is unsalted) ¼ teaspoon mace (optional) ¼ cup cognac

========================

If you use vanilla beans instead of extract, you’ll need to combine the seeds from the beans and some of the sugar to make vanilla sugar. Here’s how. Place 2 tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl. Split the vanilla bean with a sharp knife and scrape the seeds from the interior into the sugar. They will be a gummy black paste that sticks to everything. Use the sugar to clean everything off and rub it around inside the beans to get as many seeds as possible. Rub the mixture between your fingertips until the vanilla is well distributed. The improvement in the taste is far larger than the hassle involved. Skip this step if you use extract.

Butter a large tube pan or 2 standard loaf pans or 5 mini-loaf pans. Line the pan bottoms with paper. Measure roughly 4 cups of cake flour, sift it twice, then measure 4 ½ cups of the result onto a sheet of paper or into a bowl.

Separate the eggs, putting the whites into a grease-free bowl big enough to allow plenty of room for beating and expansion. Rinse a small bowl with cold water before putting the yolks in it, so they don’t stick. Have on hand a very large bowl, kettle or dishpan for the final folding and preheat the oven to 350 F.

Cream the butter and the sugar until the mixture is very light, white, and fluffy. Add the vanilla sugar (or extract), the mace and salt, if you’re adding salt. Thoroughly beat in the egg yolks, two at a time. 

Beat in the flour, about one cup at a time. Be sure each addition is thoroughly mixed in before adding the next. By the end of the flour, the batter will be very stiff, almost like dough. Slowly add the brandy or rum, beating the dough all the while.

Now, take the phone off the hook. Beat the egg whites until they form stiff but still shiny peaks. Mix about a third of the beaten whites into the batter to lighten it, then turn the whole works into the big bowl for the final mixing.

Gently, rapidly fold the remaining whites into the batter. Turn the batter into the prepared pan(s) and shake them gently from side to side to distribute any large air bubbles. Put the cake(s) into the oven and lower the heat to 325 F. (It’s okay to put the phone back on the hook now).

After about half an hour, turn the cake(s) around and cover the tops with foil if they seem to be browning too fast. The minis take about 50 minutes, loaf cakes take about 1 ¼ hours, and a big tube pan make take 1 ½ hours or more. They’re done when the edges have shrunk from the pan, the tip is very brown, and the cake sounds hollow when tapped. (A toothpick will emerge clean even before these other criteria have been met).

It is better to overbake than underbake, in this case.

Cool the pound cake in the pan(s) for 10 minutes or so, then turn them out onto a rack and finish cooling there completely. Wrap the cooled cake tightly in foil and let it age a day before you cut it. This will set the texture and round the flavor.

This cake has a specific gravity somewhere between lead and uranium. Good though. Serve it cut in very thin slices, two or three to a portion.