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    Monday, November 30th, 2009
    stele3
         		2:33p
    The bunnies have mutated, but their size remains.
    If I knew more about the personalities of Adam Lambert's band members (just enough to figure out their voices) I would write a Stonewall Riots AU.

    Adam would be the drag queen performer in the night club. He's an old hand at these raids, knows just how much to give up to stay out of jail, but not an inch more. Lisa's a fellow patron, a bull dyke who's involved in the local feminist chapter; she and Adam are best buddies and always dance close together so that when a raid starts they can quickly switch partners. Tommy's a hustler, a runaway living in the park nearby who isn't so much a fag as he is starving and living hand-to-mouth (or dick-to-mouth). Monte's a bartender in the Inn, a morally-compromised confidence man for the Mob owners. Longineu's a local civil rights activist who doesn't so much care about the fags until the riots start and he sees the police violence, and draws commonality to his own struggles.

    Or maybe I could start a community and other people could join in? This would be an epic project -- would anyone else be interested in participating?
    ptyx
         		6:54p
    Rainbow Award Covers, Round 6 (Not the Final One Yet)
    Hey, friends, it seems that I misunderstood the rules, and there will be one more round than I expected.

    Now we have 20 beautiful covers in the competition. At the end of this round, there will be just 10 contestants. And then we will have the final round.

    The cover of Clippings (art by [info]korekan, design by [info]morgan_d) is still competing, and everyone can vote again. Here.

    ♥

    Current Mood: hopeful
    ngaio 8:01p
    Day 30
    So I finished the second Gentleman Bastards book (by Scott Lynch). I'm not entirely sure how he's going to get out of that ending, but OK ...


    This is why I like the books:

    The setting. If I say 'they're fantasy novels' everyone expects large swords and dragons and warlocks. And that's not so. They are set in a non-Earth setting with an almost totally unexplored ancient history which is something I like, it's a good example of worldbuilding which doesn't hit you over the head with the world (Court of the Air I'm looking at you!) but which does describe a complete world. There are swords, and knives, and stilettos, and other sharp objects but no one is questing for anything and a sharp blade is less important than a sharp mind (generally). There is magic, just about, it's an important but also almost incidental facet of the first book and a very very minor plot point in the second book. This is not your swords and sorcery fantasy.

    The actual point of the stories. What the books are a (currently pair of) stories about conmen, about criminals who use their brains and plan and scheme and have fun doing what they do. The books are *capers*. Glorious twisting capers where it is impossible to predict the outcomes. Bluff, double bluff and triple bluff. Interconnected strands of plans, upsets to the plans, seemingly impossible situations.

    The characters. These people are human. Bad tempered, fallible, reckless. Neither perfect nor fatally flawed they are people we can have a lot of empathy for. Especially in the first book where, told via flashback, we are introduced to how this team of people came together, how they became a team and why they do what they do. While the first book is 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' and Locke is the greater focus of the tale the other characters are not there to be his foil, he is not necessarily the 'hero'. In the second book this becomes even more true.

    The intelligence. That's a bit of a vague term. You know in Leverage where they show you near the end how the caper actually worked? The Gentleman Bastards novels work in a similar way, we are told some of the plan as it happens, but also they reference throughout things which, if you remember them, may (or may not) contribute to the culmination of the plan, or its downfall. Who knows?!

    Women. None of the 'heroes' are women. But throughout both books, especially the second, there are good, strong female characters, strong both physically and mentally. They're human and flawed, but very real.


    They are not perfect books. No book is. Halfway through the first book I was worried I'd get bored with keeping track of all the plots and twists and thought I'd not care for the characters. When concentrating they can be a little tiring to read. But ultimately I enjoy them as intelligent and humorous and well worth the time.

    Current Mood: lethargic
    eeyore9990
         		9:50a
    Wheee!
    I just submitted the last of my official fest fics for the holiday season. One day early, whoot! I still have a few pinch hits due throughout December, but it feels good to have the "official" stuff out of the way. And one of the pinch hits is at about 75% complete, so yay!

    Today is going to be jam-packed with RL-ness, though, so hopefully I can carve out time tonight to finish THAT fic and then get started on the next one.

    I can't believe everything starts posting tomorrow! It seems like I've been waiting forever (and/or praying for deadlines to not approach so quickly). Okay, so if you want to catch my fics, they will be posted throughout December on the following communities/asylums:

    • [info]harry_holidays
    • [info]daily_deviant's Kinky Kristmas
    • [info]snapelyholidays
    • [info]snarry_swap
    • [info]severus_lucius's Romance Fest
    • [info]happy_trekmas

    And... I think that's it? There'll also be a couple of my fics in the Severus Shorts Birthday Celebration.

    Anyway YAY! Holiday fest season, whooooooooot!! What will y'all be following?
    bitterfig
         		11:57a
    current and future reading

    A couple of days ago I finished reading Jean Plaidy’s Rose Without a Thorn, a historical novel about Katherine Howard (5th wife of Henry VIII—beheaded) and I’ve just started Cornelia Funke’s Inkdeath, the 3rd and final novel in her Inkworld trilogy. Inkdeath is going to take me a while to read. It’s 663 pages long and even though it’s a young adult novel the prose is dense and rich like liqueur.

    Funke’s Inkworld series is all about books and reading. One of the characters, Fenoglio, is an author who is magically transported into his own book. However another character, Orpheus, has the ability to rewrite Fenoglio’s book and alter the reality therein.

    Fenoglio wonders, “…was there any worse fate than having to watch something else twist your own words, adding colorful touches—in very bad taste—to the world you’d made?” Reading this I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt as a writer of fan fiction. Like Orpheus, I delight in messing about with other people’s imagined worlds and adding lurid elements to their stories. I’ve always considered it quite a creative enterprise however Fenoglio’s dilemma does make me look at it from another perspective.

    One thing I can take some consolation in is the fact that nothing in the Inkworld series is clean cut. Fenoglio, with his sense of authorship towards the world around him, is a very ambiguous character not nearly so much in control of the world he created as he would like to be.

    When I finish Inkdeath, I’ve decided that I’m going to reread Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. I read it for the first time back in the fall of 2004 but I really plowed through it, I’d like to go back and do a more leisurely reading taking in more of the details.

    iulia_linnea
         		10:10a
    POLL: I'm taking prompts at LJ to up the year's fic count!
    I've posted my tentative yearly wrap-up for 2009, and I'm now polling for inspiration to meet last year's fic count. Drop on by! :)
    pornish_pixies
    [ snegurochka_lee ]
         		8:29a
    EXTRA LONG: Light as Iron, Singed as Pearl (H/D, NC-17)
    Title: Light as Iron, Singed as Pearl
    Author: [info]snegurochka_lee
    Pairing: Harry/Draco
    Rating: NC-17
    Word Count: ~13,800
    Warnings: Dom/sub. Bondage. EWE.
    Summary: The owner of the elite BDSM club M. had not gained his reputation as the most coveted Dominant on the scene by taking on just any riff-raff submissive who asked. It would take an unexpected letter to convince him to accept a new client, but it might turn out to be the biggest mistake he ever made.
    Notes: Written for [info]hd_career_fair last month for this prompt. "Thank you" does not begin to cover my gratitude to the divine [info]marguerite_26, whose handholding, beta work and modly prodding went well beyond the call of duty.

    Light as Iron, Singed as Pearl
    the_minx_17
         		6:20a
    Twilight =/= Crimial Minds. Really.
    As seen in a Morgan/Reid comm...

    ...because I'm a little obsessed with New Moon at the moment...

    Then, honestly, go look for Twilight comms. Because Reid doesn't even know what Twilight is (a canon fact that I heart totally) and I'd prefer to keep it that way.
    raaven
         		2:08a
    From Twitter 11-29-2009


    Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

    Sunday, November 29th, 2009
    stele3
         		9:19p
    Drumming diary: Mr. Brightside
    I had planned to do Zepp this week, but in looking at the notation I realized I need a double bass pedal. That'll have to wait until after Christmas.

    So, Mr. Brightside by The Killers it is. Drummer is Ronnie Vannucci Jr. Tempo's about 148, which will make it the fastest song I've played thus far.

    It's also probably the most complex, especially when it comes to the hi-hat. The verses have rapid-fire 16th notes on a tight hi-hat for this very harsh ticking noise; the chorus opens up the hi-hat and switches to fourth notes. Then there's a late bridge at 2:56 with eighth notes on the hi-hat. The bass drum is on its familiar place of one and three, except for when IT'S playing the eighth notes at the end of the second chorus or in the outro. The breaks jump onto the toms, too, which I'm happy about -- I need to move around the kit a bit more.

    It's a very chorus-happy song: there are only two of them, but they're 4 times as big as the verses or bridges. There's also a sizable intro and outro.

    Intro: 20 measures
    Verse 1: 8 measures
    Choruses 1 & 2: 32 measures each
    Bridge 1: 8 measures
    Verse 2: 16 measures
    Bridge 2: 8 measures
    Outro: 16 measures

    Total: 140 measures

    This is going to be a tough one. There isn't a stable "groove," per se - while the verse and chorus have a basic bass drum of 1 & 3 and snare at 2 & 4, almost every measure is slightly different. An extra bass here, a crash there. Everything's always changing. It'll be difficult to keep up, especially at that tempo.
    Monday, November 30th, 2009
    snapenews
    [ bewarethesmirk ]
         		1:21a
    Issue #793: Saturday/Sunday, November 28/29, 2009
    Hello and welcome to today's issue of [info]snapenews. Thank you all for your continuing support and useful links! Feel free to comment (either below or at snapenews@gmail.com) and let us know how we're doing!

    COMMUNITIES
    • [info]daily_deviant (on IJ) will begin posting their annual Kinky Kristmas fic and art on Dec 1.
    • [info]hds_beltane, the Snape, Harry and Draco fest, has announced that it will be running its fourth annual round of the fest. Sign-ups will open Tues, Dec 1. See rules & other info here.
    • [info]lupin_snape has modly announcements!

    NEWSLETTER/ARCHIVE UPDATES
    • [info]sshp_prophet update for Nov 22-28
    • Moonshadow, the Snape/Lupin archive, has been updated

    META/DISCUSSION/RANT
    • [info]randomneses has posted a brief follow-up to “In Defense of Lily Evans”

    CHALLENGES/CONTESTS
    • [info]snape100 Challenge #310: The Unwritten Pairing
    • [info]grangersnape100 Week 48 Challenge: Storage Cupboard
    • [info]snarry100 Challenge 190: Flourish and Blotts

    GRAPHICS/ICONS
    • [info]ng_x has created some icons, some of which are Snape

    DISCLAIMERS
    The warnings listed here are those given by the artist/author/poet. Please pay attention to all ratings and warnings when following links.

    We aim to bring you the latest Snape-centric items in the fandom but some might slip through the net! You can help to ensure this doesn't happen by sending us links via e-mail to snapenews@gmail.com). There are submission guidelines in the [info]snapenews user profile, but for the 'Today in' sections we just require the basic title/creator/rating/warnings/link info.
    Sunday, November 29th, 2009
    mirabile_dictu
         		8:13p
    Twenty-ninth day of writing
    xposted to IJ and LJ

    Word count: 1,327. Total so far: almost 22,800 words. ACK.
    raaven
         		11:00p
    Today's Tweets

    13:26 TOO.MUCH.FOOD! Donating to Feeding America in expiation: feedingamerica.org #

    Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
    celandineb
         		9:27p
    Humph
    Did grocery shopping, finished LIS reading, baked 28 mini loaves cranberry-nut bread, talked w/ my mom, checked work & school emails.

    Am grumpy for no discernible reason, unless maybe PMS. Or not wanting to have the last couple of weeks of the semester still to go. Perhaps I should go to bed early?

    Current Mood: grumpy
    Current Music: Juno sighing in the corner
    dementordelta
         		10:06p
    In Lieu Of An Actual Update...
    This makes me insanely happy--

    Santa Claus is Coming Out.

    Santa and Geppetto! Who knew?
    gueneiriol
         		9:31p
    Fic Rec
    Gasoline Days by Josei Asakura - X-Factor (Age of Apocalypse AU) Rictor/Shatterstar rating: R

    Summary: Even now, in this place they'd called home for so long, that's how it always began - tentative, never quite certain, even though it always ended up the same way.

    Current Mood: content
    icarusancalion
         		1:03p
    SGA Santa
    Uh-oh.

    My requestee for [info] sga_santa requested a rarepair which I couldn't resist.

    And it's ending up with a totally different rarepair in the final scene. Shit.

    Any volunteers for a beta? I've been chopping at this fic rather ruthlessly trying to solve quite a few problems.

    Current Mood: anxious
    iulia_linnea
         		12:54p
    Ouphe's/An Ouphe's fics *retires sub-pseudonyms*
    As I'm wont to do, I went away and played as someone else for a while. Now that I'm engaging in a fandom tidy-up, however, I thought that I'd move these fics here. I hope that you enjoy them. :)

    [info]fodirteg prompted me with Luna: purple, confidence, gurdy root. Originally posted under the sub-pseudonyms of ouphe (DW) and an_ouphe (LJ) on 23 August 2009.

    ( Ravenclaws Do It by the Book )

    [info]vegablack62 prompted me with Neville, Orange, bemused, Weasley grandfather clock with nine golden hands that told the condition of its members. Originally posted under the sub-pseudonyms of ouphe (DW) and an_ouphe (LJ) on 23 August 2009.

    ( The Tick-Tock of Fatherhood )

    [info]lalaith_niniel prompted me with Lucius: purple, envy, ever-bashing boomering. Originally posted under the sub-pseudonyms of ouphe (DW) and an_ouphe (LJ) on 24 August 2009.

    ( Splintering )

    [info]soberloki prompted me with George: red, despair, non-explodable luminous balloon. Originally posted under the sub-pseudonyms of ouphe (DW) and an_ouphe (LJ) on 24 August 2009.

    ( Fraternal Order )

    Title: Clarity without Mirrors
    Author: [info]iulia_linnea (Originally posted under the sub-pseudonyms of ouphe {DW} and an_ouphe {LJ} on 25 June 2009.)
    Character: Luna Lovegood
    Rating: PG
    Warnings (highlight to view): For light angst and mentions of past minor character death.
    Word Count: 1830
    Summary: A ten-year-old Luna teaches herself to scry (and banishes a "demon" in the process).
    Disclaimer: This piece is based on characters and situations created by J. K. Rowling, and owned by J. K. Rowling and various publishers, including but not limited to: Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books, Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended by the posting of this fic.
    Author's Note: Thank you, Kay, for beta'ing.

    ( Clarity without Mirrors )
    mirabile_dictu
         		7:05a
    Happy birthday, Lady of Asheru!
    xposted to IJ and LJ

    It's already afternoon in England, so let me post before it's too late: happy birthday to my beloved Lady of Asheru! I wish she didn't live so far away.

    Every year for her birthday I write a little story, so here is this year's. It is not the most appropriate of birthday gifts, I don't think -- for one thing, it's set after a favorite character has died. Great. My dear non-LJ friend Linda has given me a new rule: no deaths when writing stories for gifts. I will try to keep that in mind in the future.

    But this year, this is what it is.

    Title: Survived Their Fall
    Fandom: SG1 and SGA
    Pairing: Daniel Jackson/Jack O'Neill; Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
    Rating: PG-13
    Word Count: 2,525
    Summary: Daniel spent a lot of time not looking at what he was packing because every object and every book reminded him of Jack and their years together.

    A/N: For the Lady of Asheru on the occasion of her birthday.

    Warning: Major character death.

    ( Survived Their Fall )
    bitterfic
         		8:39a
    Monthly Round- November 2009
    I wasn't participating in NaNoWriMo but I still ended up cracking out a good deal during the month of November after a long period of writers block. I wrote a grand total 36 stories and drabbles in all -- 13 femslash, 14 slash, 5 gen, 3 het and 1 threesome-- I'd very much like to thank Fedink, my beta-reader, for proof-reading them all.

    Atonement

    Just Playing: Briony/Lola, R. Drabble.

    Crossovers

    True Blood/Mad Men)
    On The Veranda: Pam/Betty Draper, PG-13. Betty Draper had the perfect life. The woman offered her a way out…

    (Kill Bill/Revolutionary Girl Utena)
    Copperhead: Juri Arisugawa/Elle Driver, PG-13. IIf the girl wanted to surrender her ego, to learn to live without pride, Elle was more than willing to accommodate her.

    Dr. Who

    Away From the Mirror: Donna/Rose, PG-13. Set during the episode “Turn Left”, Rose helps Donna to deal with her fears.

    Not This Time: Doctor/Master, PG-13. Drabble.

    Lucy's Dress: Doctor/Master, NC-17 (rape): The rules of the game couldn’t have been simpler—whoever wore Lucy’s dress was supposed to be Lucy.

    Fight Club

    Fully Integrated: Marla/Narrator/Tyler. R. Drabble.

    Firefly/Serenity

    Iris, Messenger of the Gods: Inara/Saffron, PG-13. Set post-Serenity. Inara was delighted to gain the attention of Ariel’s progressive new Prime Minister, the mysterious Iris.

    Jewel and Star, Irana/Kayle, PG. Drabble.

    Heroes

    Best Interests, Peter/Nathan, R (incest). Nathan just wanted to stop Peter from doing anything he'd regret.

    Validation: Peter/Claude, NC-17.     Set during season 1. There was more to Peter than Claude was willing to see.

    Ready to Shine:     Monica/Camille, PG. Drabble.

    The One Who Picks Up the Pieces: Peter/Nathan, PG-13 (incest): Set a couple years before the series begins. In an effort to please his family, Peter is attending law school. Desperately unhappy, he increasingly turns to alcohol for relief. Nathan discovers this and intervenes.


    Historical

    A Ray of Sunlight: Anne of Cleves/Katherine Howard, PG. Drabble.


    Inglourious Basterds

    What You Don't Know Can't Hurt You: Donny Donowitz/Hugo Stiglitz, NC-17. A glimpse inside the world of Hugo Stiglitz.

    They Called Him the Gentleman: Hans Landa, PG. Drabble.

    Hanukkah Behind Enemy Lines: Aldo Raine, Smithson Utivich, Donny Donowitz, Shosanna Dreyfus, Marcel, Hans Landa. PG. Glimpses of the holidays from several perspectives.

    Inkheart

    Unlucky: Mo/Dustfinger, PG. Drabble

    Entangled: Dustfinger/Silvertongue, R. For hours Dustfinger had lain awake on the narrow bed, surrounded by towering boxes of books, hoping for and dreading Silvertongue’s arrival.

    Kill Bill

    The Art of the Poisoner, Elle Driver, PG. Drabble.

    Little Women

    A Rainy Day Adventure: Laurie/Jo, R. On a rainy afternoon, Jo decides she and Laurie should see what it’s like for him to be a girl and her a boy.

    Mad Men

    To Hell With the Right Thing: Sal, PG-13. Sal reflects on his lifelong discretion and where it’s gotten him.

    Merlin

    Inconstant Rose: Morgana/Guinevere (Gwen), PG. Morgana and Gwen go to a nearby kingdom to visit Morgana’s dearest childhood friend, Roshannon. Morgana is distressed to discover that their bond is no longer what it once was.

    Red Dragon

    After the Fact: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham. R. Drabble.

    Reservoir Dogs

    God Only Knows: Orange/White, R. Drabble.

    Mexico (What Could Have Been): Orange/White, R. Drabble.

    Revolutionary Girl Utena

    Persephone or Hades: Utena/Anthy, R. Utena dreamed that she wandered through an underworld of darkness and pain.

    Tarnished Gold: Touga/Nanami, PG-13 (incest). Years after they have parted, Nanami writes her Big Brother a letter.

    Runaways

    Diamond in the Sky: Nico/Karolina, PG. Drabble.

    A Song of Ice and Fire

    Sweeter Than Lemon Cakes: Daenerys/Sansa, PG. Drabble.

    Eat A Peach: Renly/Loras, R. Riding to meet with his stern and disapproving brother, Renly would have very much preferred to have been back in bed with Loras.

    Southern Vampire Mysteries

    Can't Help It: Sookie Stackhouse, PG.     Sookie reflects on her mixed feelings about motherhood.

    Sweeney Todd

    The Ghost Inside: Johanna (Benjamin)/Anthony, PG-13. Three years have passed since the events of Sweeney Todd. Passing as a boy, Johanna is now called Benjamin. She and Anthony are sailors together. When Anthony is accused of murdering the Captain of the vessel they’re sailing on it falls to Benjamin to save him.

    Torchwood

    Father Figures: Jack, PG. Father figures tend to let their children down.

    Watchmen

    I'm Sorry Too: Laurie Juspeczyk (Silk Spectre II)/Janey Slater, R. After Jon leaves, Laurie just can't shake the bitterness.


    X/1999

    Pretend: Seishirō/Subaru, PG-13. Drabble.
    raaven
         		2:07a
    From Twitter 11-28-2009

    Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

    Saturday, November 28th, 2009
    mirabile_dictu
         		10:11p
    Twenty-eighth day of writing
    xposted to IJ and LJ

    Word count: 3,466. Thank god, only two more days in this month and I can knock off this word count shit. Although I must say, feeling obligated to post did keep my word count up, and I'm very proud of what I did today.

    I got another email address, mirabile1dictu@gmail.com (note the "1" in the middle of Mirabile Dictu; that's because someone else has mirabile.dictu and mirabiledictu. Goddammit), so I could have a Google Wave account. Now, what does one do with a Google Wave account? Thanks to Winkingstar, I know a tiny bit more than I did; she linked to this two minute video explanation. Wave as a "hosted conversation" -- see, that makes sense to me.

    I currently have 86 g-wave invitations, so if you want one, please email me: mirabile1dictu@gmail.com.

    ( Cool links: )
    raaven
         		11:00p
    Today's Tweets

    16:26 WANT: bit.ly/5yK1sE #

    16:26 WANT: bit.ly/7oyw2K #

    Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
    snarry_holidays
    [ snarryhols ]
         		9:06p
    Delaying posting till Dec 1
    Hi everyone!

    Because so many people are in transit this weekend and we're still putting together our posting schedule, we're going to delay posting until the evening of Dec 1. Sorry for any inconveniences! We can't wait to get things started, and hope you all enjoy the fest!

    Best,
    Snarry Holidays mods
    celandineb
         		7:23p
    Stuff of a stufflike stuffness
    As we say in these parts. Another pretty mellow day; got up late, and decided not to grocery shop today since we had sufficient milk etc. to hold us till tomorrow, and fridge space was still at a premium with various leftovers occupying it. (We ate up a few things for dinner tonight.) Ran an errand or two, though, and have done almost all the LIS reading (1.5 more chapters to go) and posted in discussion for one class. Also hung out in the front yard with SO and the neighbors for a while.

    Tomorrow I'll grocery shop, then make a whole lot of cranberry nut bread mini-loaves for gifting, and make mashed potatoes for dinner with leftover turkey & gravy and more leftover veggies. Turkey Sun/Tues/Thurs, gumbo Mon/Wed/Fri, I think. Easy. Will just need to make more veg eventually. We're going to throw a little holiday party in a couple of weeks and I'm starting to plot food for that.

    Fic-stuff: [info]alisanne is modding [info]adventdrabbles at IJ again this year; she posts a daily prompt from December 1-24, but it's not required to use it, and ficlets as well as drabbles are welcome, in any fandom. [info]beren_writes mods [info]adventdrabbles at LJ, although doesn't do the prompts.

    Less than 2 weeks until [info]3fan_holidays ficlets are due, and I put up the header template post for that today. And [info]hd_holidays starts posting Tuesday, as will [info]daily_deviant's Kinky Kristmas, and I believe also [info]happy_trekmas. Whew - those are just the ones I'm participating in, too, and there are plenty of other fests kicking off shortly as well.

    Current Mood: excited
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