Sat, Nov. 28th, 2009, 12:52 pm
[i]amanuensis1: Don't eat while reading this. Eeesh.

By the way, hearkening back to my earlier post--this doesn't spoil anything, since you can see on the Yuletide list of requested fandoms that no one asked for it--I did not get assigned to write for Richard Adams's The Plague Dogs. I decided, when I accidentally included it in the list, that rather than redo my list I'd just go read the book once and for all, even before the assignments came out, so I got it from the library.

I got through Ulysses easier than this. This is...guys, I have written some interesting metaphors myself in my time, some of them admittedly more purple than should be seen outside of crackfic, but this takes them all:

...Rowf's rump slid suddenly forward as smoothly as a turd from a healthy anus...

I can't even facepalm. It's too squicky.

Thu, Nov. 26th, 2009, 10:07 pm
[i]amanuensis1: Also, being by myself, I got to watch anything I wanted on tv, not football. Anime yaoi, ho!

I had to work part of the holiday, so I just counted the time I did have off as a good thing, and took it easy rather than make plans with others. I did make time to make a yummy dinner for myself from scratch:

Chicken with sun-dried tomatoes in dijon-riesling-cream sauce
Sesame noodles
Spicy peanut butter soup
Tart green salad with proscuitto and asiago and warm balsamic dressing
Warm butterscotch-maple pudding

I love mixing cuisines.

Fri, Nov. 27th, 2009, 12:04 am
[i]kennahijja: B-day wishes :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, [info - personal] snegurochka_lee!

Hope you had a great day, with lots of love 'cause you might just be one of the loveliest people I know, and HP fandom is *so* lucky to have you!

*hugs*

Tue, Nov. 24th, 2009, 12:40 am
[i]spark_of_chaos: Okay, so I caved. It's the blue eyes.

After I survived all the tide waves in fandom, all the TV series and shows and whatnot, all the things that sound cute but will eat my time with a spoon, I was defeated. By the prettiest thing that walked my laptop screen, opened his blue eyes wide and was devastated that his girlfriend left the wine bottle behind. (The wine-bottle story? D'awww, can I have you please? Promise not to lave you behind for the dude with the Malfoy crest pinky ring. Okay, maybe that was not entirely true but still, for no one besides the Malfoy crest-holder anyway)

Yes, it is White Collar.

OMG how gorgeous are all these actors? The FBI agent's assistant? His glorious and witty wife? The romantic side plots? The relationship-discussions taking place between the snark? I am so much in love it is embarrassing. :blush: And I've only watched the pilot, too. The FBI agent's superior Aren't You A Moron Now smirk is duh. The scene with half-naked Neil hugging a thick law book? Come here this instant, I will give you all the large books you can possibly want! Ahem. Yeah. Also I might have drooled a tiny little bit over the grand-daughter the Art student. I mean, didn't you? :P



Also, stolen from [info]cluegirl because it is totally hilarious:
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After I survived all the tide waves in fandom, all the TV series and shows and whatnot, all the things that sound cute but will eat my time with a spoon, I was defeated. By the prettiest thing that walked my laptop screen, opened his blue eyes wide and was devastated that his girlfriend left the wine bottle behind. (The wine-bottle story? D'awww, can I have you please? Promise not to lave you behind for the dude with the Malfoy crest pinky ring. Okay, maybe that was not entirely true but still, for no one besides the Malfoy crest-holder anyway)

Yes, it is White Collar.

OMG how gorgeous are all these actors? The FBI agent's assistant? His glorious and witty wife? The romantic side plots? The relationship-discussions taking place between the snark? I am so much in love it is embarrassing. :blush: And I've only watched the pilot, too. The FBI agent's superior Aren't You A Moron Now smirk is duh. The scene with half-naked Neil hugging a thick law book? <strike>Come here this instant, I will give you all the large books you can possibly want!</strike> Ahem. Yeah. Also I might have drooled a tiny little bit over the grand-daughter the Art student. I mean, didn't you? :P



Also, stolen from <lj user="cluegirl"> because it is totally hilarious:
<a href="http://&lt;embed src=" http://blip.tv/play/aygxlmic"="http://blip.tv/play/AYGxlmIC&quot;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="297" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed> "><lj-embed id="1" /> </a>



Off to bed now with me, because I suspect my arms and back will hate me tomorrow: I swam half a kilometre today. All alone. Well, I did drink a lot of water. But as the Cute Instructor (who was sadly absent and left me to fend for myself, :sadface:) the water is perfectly harmless for drinking. Even through your nose. It actually adds a thrill to it... ;)

Mon, Nov. 23rd, 2009, 06:54 pm
[i]spark_of_chaos: 3 kilometres a day ... no problem for the scatter-brained

I spent the day pretty much running about, and accomplished none of the things I planned. Oh, well. I suppose it's only to be expected after I went to be at three last night and had to be up and shining at 6.30. (Don't ask. It involves, as is usual for me, a gripping book, a protesting back and sore eyes. One day I will probably grow up and start behaving like a normal person, but it will be a difficult thing to force on me.) I plan to at least go swimming in an hour so that the day would not be a total loss.

Started a new rotation today, I think called Preventive Medicine in English. Hm. One the one hand, spending four weeks doing what I've done today I will pretty much end up in the loony bin of those who have perfected the art of staring into empty spaces for hours while they wait for something at all to happen: See, they allow no absences. Not more than a single one if you want the rotation signed and yourself allowed to the exam, and even that one after a permission has been granted to you. It's been a while since we saw such strict control :eyeroll: I have lots of words to say about strictness - funny how the most absurd departments enforce it the most fiercely. On the other hand, we had a few bright moments with the professor, among which features the discussion about Natasha Rostova's personal physician, who was accidentally a real person with his real name in the book, and did really contribute much about the disease mentioned in the book. Also, there was Dan Brown and his latest novel, an account how the Prof's grandson was born in the Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan and a lengthy examination of Peter the Great's interior and international politics. Notice how none of this is directly Preventive Medicine? It's no coincidence. :sigh: Also, to my quiet internal glee and despair ...

PROFESSOR: :tells us all about the summer of her second year when she devoured with great enthusiasm Dostoevsky's collected works, apparently 14 tomes:
BOY FROM TWIN GROUP: All of them? Like, for that one summer?
PROF: :from over her half-moon glasses, sternly: I'll have you know, you clearly illiterate clearly non-lover of classic Russian prose young man, that my norm of reading was a hundred pages even during revision sessions. FYI, textbook reading pace is the slowest of one's spectrum.
MY GROUP: :have had a chat about who reads how much a day during session not five minutes before:
SPARK: :in my mind: Please, please...
BOY 2 FROM MY GROUP: Ha, this is how much Spark reads, too!
SPARK: :blush and eyeroll: Yes, say that louder, maybe someone somehow missed I breathe books.
PROF: GIRLS OF THE WORLD UNITE FOR LEADERSHIP!
SPARK: FINE THEN I ADMIT IT IS TRUE! Ahem.
GROUP: :chortle:

Regardless, I have never tried Dostoevsky. Maybe it is time? After I finish the latest vampire urban fantasy? ...Dear Reading Diary, shockingly, there are no werewolves at the bottom of Crime and Punishment...


:off to the pool:

Sun, Nov. 22nd, 2009, 12:21 pm
[i]swtalmnd: Sunday Meanderings

In the form of a list!
  • Deadline to sign up for a holiday card from me is December 7 -- that's when the art supply place claims it will deliver my blank cards, heh.

  • I launched my fine art site and totally forgot to tell y'all -- Antemortem Arts is open, and I've even put stuff in my Etsy shop.

  • I have exactly 3 pieces of fan art left to do, and then those commitments are fulfilled. Since they're all due for Xmas (2 HP Holiday Card Exchange cards, and my own HP Xmas card), I'll be all done by the end of the year. Weird!

  • I found betas for [info]accioslash's LLM fic, and it will be posting in [info]santas_lap along with the Sirius/Neville I still have to finish, oops.

  • I've been making some quiet writing progress on various things, including a certain person's incredibly belated prize fic (one more scene and it's done!), a chapter of the no-longer-New Thing that I probably ought to post to [info]swtalmnd_nano, and little dribs and drabs to my other three WiPs that aren't for any fest or person or anything.

  • Coconut Cocoa Tea ftw.

Sun, Nov. 22nd, 2009, 09:35 am
[i]jordangrant: Owned (HP/DM) -- Post 103



Title: Owned
Rating: Adult
Summary: The Malfoys have always been owned by the Potters. HP/DM. Deathly Hallows compliant although the epilogue is ignored.
Warnings: Slavery, dominance/submission, slash, angst, romance. Since this story spins off of canon, Harry's in a relationship with Ginny when we begin.
Disclaimer: Based on JK Rowling's Harry Potter works, the full canon except the DH epilogue. No infringement intended and not for profit.
Feedback: Yes, please.


---- This story is based on a prompt provided by [info]lothy.
---- Latin incantation and translation provided by [info]fabula_rasa.
---- Owned banner art by [info]quill_lumos.
---- Thanks to [info]triomakesmehot, [info]quill_lumos, [info]hogwartshoney and [info]clauclauclaudia for the feedback and valuable comments.

Continue Reading )

Sun, Nov. 22nd, 2009, 04:04 pm
[i]kennahijja: Highlander Fic Search (yeah, fat chance...)

Ok, this is weird, old, and not a little twisted but I just rewatched scenes from the 'Horsemen' episodes on Youtube...

You out there who once dabbled in 'Highlander' - ever come across fic pairing Kronos and Richie? I've been wanting this ever since Kronos turned up, and there seems to be *nothing* out there I can find, and it's just a crime against darkfic!

Halp!?!

Sat, Nov. 21st, 2009, 09:07 pm
[i]the_con_cept: WOO-HOO!

LOOK AT MY NEW JOURNAL HEADER ARTWORK! JUST LOOK AT IT! IT WAS DONE BY THE INCOMPARABLE MASTEROFMERCURY AND IT IS THE MOST AWESOMEST THING EVER EVER EVER! I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO USE IT AND TONIGHT I ASKED IF I COULD AND SHE SAID YES AND I AM HAPPY CONCEPT, HAPPY, HAPPY CONCEPT!

It is so awesome, in fact, that when she gave me permission to use it I promptly flailed and knocked over my tequila--three times.

I'm so happy it's not even funny. It's even better than seeing a house I liked. For serious. That says something about my priorities, but what the hell. It's so pretty it could even go with For a Reasonable Fee or Comes at a Cost.

This is the happiest day EVAR.

Now go read Naughty Girl. It's the teeny ficlet I did a few years ago for this pic. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Fri, Nov. 20th, 2009, 11:24 pm
[i]the_con_cept:

Oh, jeez. I just got hit with a silly idea for a follow up in my Pink!verse. I wonder if I can sustain it? It would be short, but I think I may need to write it. More flamingo!Harry! :D Super silly fun.

Fri, Nov. 20th, 2009, 12:29 pm
[i]fourth_rose: I seem to have misplaced my fannish monogamy

Wow, that "Buffy vs. Edward" vid I stumbled upon a while ago has triggered a veritable avalanche of fannish obsessions...

First, it sucked me into all things "Buffy" (and subsequently, "Angel") to an almost unhealthy degree. Then I came across the rumour that David Boreanaz is actually capable of getting through a whole TV episode without whining if he's not in Wheydonverse, so I went to check out "Bones".

What can I say? I'm halfway through season 4 at this point, and I'm seriously hooked. Diehard vampire fan that I've always been, I still have to admit that some actors obviously work better without fangs.

In other news, I've got myself an "Archive of Our Own" account, but the uploading process is a right pain in the ass, so I'll probably wait until some of the bugs get sorted out.

And now back to that fest fic... *eyes deadline*

Thu, Nov. 19th, 2009, 02:49 pm
[i]the_con_cept:

Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."

• I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity

• Update your journal with the answers to the questions

• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.

[info]aeryun asked me:

Wed, Nov. 18th, 2009, 09:41 pm
[i]the_con_cept:

Oh my God, why the hell do I suddenly have Green Jelly's song "Three Little Pigs" stuck in my head? That's gotta be a sign of impending psychosis.

*off to answer comments*

Wed, Nov. 18th, 2009, 05:01 pm
[i]swtalmnd: Mini-Commisions: Twice the Snarry, Twice the Fluff!

Aaand, belatedly, we have the last of the mini-commissions! RL trickled down to screw up my past few weeks, so they took longer than intended, but they're ready go go out with tomorrow's mail. All of my commissions lists are officially closed at the moment, as of this posting. Whee!

Snape and Harry Fluff Redux )

Thu, Nov. 19th, 2009, 12:20 am
[i]spark_of_chaos: The things they teach you...

A cookie goes to anyone who can guess what is the common thing between Florence Nightingale, Henry VIII and Van Gogh. A hint: I read it -wait for it- in a textbook.

Normal broadcasting will hopefully resume on Friday evening, and I will finally get around to answering all those comments. Keep your fingers crossed for me. :)

Wed, Nov. 18th, 2009, 10:08 pm
[i]painless_j: Anime rec: Piano no Mori

piano no mori The Piano Forest (Piano no Mori) (Perfect World of Kai) (2007) #
Genres: drama, tournament. Themes: music, piano.
Status: OVA (101 min)
Anime Start/End Chapter: Starts at Vol 1, Chap 1. Ends at Vol 6, Chap 41.
Director: Masayuki Kojima
Summary: Amamiya Shuuhei transfers to Moriwaki elementary filled with hope and ambition. But it doesn't take long before he gets picked on by the class bullies, and gets involved in a dare to play the mysterious piano in the forest. Igniting his meeting with an equally enigmatic child that goes by the name of Ichinose Kai, who seems to be the only one capable getting sound out of the thought to be broken piano.
Found: saw it shared in some anime comm and thought the summary looked intriguing.
Manga BU page.
Mangaka: Isshiki Makoto
Genre: Comedy Drama Seinen Slice of Life
Status: 17 Volumes (Ongoing), scanlation ongoing.
Summary: from KEFI: A tranquil tale about two boys from very different upbringings. On one hand you have Kai, born as the son of a prostitute, who's been playing the abandoned piano in the forest near his home ever since he was young. And on the other you have Syuhei, practically breast-fed by the piano as the son of a family of prestigious pianists. Yet it is their common bond with the piano that eventually intertwines their paths in life.
Download: I've watched it at Youtube.


My notes: I must say it at the very beginning that contrary to my usual way of getting familiar with a new animanga, I haven't read the manga this time. I only watched the anime, so please take into account that everything I'll be saying is only about the anime.

This is a pleasant story: while not action/adventure, it has enough plot to keep your attention, especially around the climax. The boys are likeable. Kai's pretty wild and brash but also kind and has this inner purity and honesty that sometimes accompany raw talent and that influence people around him. I liked his practical reasons for learning things. He can't read score; he plays what he has heard. Once he found that he couldn't reproduce a particular piece of Chopin's, he plays scales to learn to play this particular piece, not because one must learn scales first, nor to become a good pianist in general. And so on. I absolutely adored his literal-mindedness about Mozart. The crowd of Mozarts made me laugh every time they appeared. In other words, Kai is lovely and very refreshing. Shuuhei is a bit more boring because he's very straight-laced for a boy his age and he plays the piano for all the wrong reasons, but doesn't it often happen this way? The two boys meet and gradually change each other. The best about their relationship, as for me, was the ways it didn't go. I can't say much more here but I liked how the dramatic side of it was downplayed rather than milked for all it's worth. It makes Piano no Mori a soothing story.

I think animation and drawing are good. I hear that the main problem people have with the manga is the drawing style. Am not able to say anything about that yet but I can't see what's not to like in the anime, if to speak of the visual side. It's neither cheap nor banal, and it's the only anime so far where a character playing the piano didn't make me cringe.

This leads me to why I give it only one star if I like everything. Not quite everything, as it turns out. You see, it's piano this and piano that, piano this and piano that. In more coherent speak, the story is fine and lovely but, I don't know, very narrow. Not unlike Hikaru no Go. But HnG was much more emotionally affecting and the story was much bigger than just about Go in the end. It sort of turned me inside out, made me live it for months. Here somehow I didn't have the impression that the story is bigger than the main theme. Pleasant? Yes. Interesting? Yes, enough. Can I relate? Nope. Apart from that, I repeat, it's a lovely story. I doubt you'd regret spending 1.5 hours on it, so give it a try!

*Sorry if you have seen some (a lot) of this post before. I accidentally posted the draft :/

Wed, Nov. 18th, 2009, 09:28 am
[i]the_con_cept: AO3

I'm now Abstractconcept on an Achive of Our Own for the beta stages. (If you want an account there, put in your email address and they will send you one when it becomes available. I only had to wait a couple of days. Of course, right now it's in testing, not yet a sleek and perfect archive). There are only a few things I'm confused about so far. The warnings they have are not really enough, so one person suggested using tags to supplement, which I've been doing. I'm just not sure if I'm sort of abusing the tags. I'm trying to use them to suggest the flavor of my story. But I think the suggestion that we use them for warnings makes me feel like maybe I shouldn't put things in there willy-nilly. I only use a few tags per fic, though. At any rate, I'll follow the discussion as it continues to happen. My ONLY other real complaint is that it's great with formatting my html from other sites--except for scene breaks. My oOoOoOos never stay centered, so I unfailingly have to go in and put the html for that. But I haven't figured out if this is a problem on my end--I tend to code strangely or forget certain things. So I need to look into that. Other than that, it seems pretty good. I haven't had a lot of time to play with it--only about an hour, in which I uploaded five fics. I love that it can pretty much code for me (GOD, how I love that) and I love that you can break things into chapters if you want, but it can also handle large fics.

I'm curious to see how it will work out feedback-wise. That's one of the main things I like about journal sites as opposed to archives--journals foster conversation and feedback MUCH better than archives do. But I do like having somewhere to keep all my stuff and so far this is pretty slick, though there's room for improvement in the warnings.

Of course, playing with it helps you figure lots of things out--you can put notes in as well, so you could also put warnings there. No big deal. And it does your wordcount for you! Isn't that fun? :D I'll play with it more tonight if I have a chance. I want to search other people and fics and things and see how that works.

Tue, Nov. 17th, 2009, 11:57 pm
[i]kennahijja: FICLET: Resurrection (Rose, Albus, Scorpius, PG)

Title: Resurrection
Characters: Rose, Albus, Scorpius, and… well, you'll see :)
Rating: PG
Note: Written for [info] melfinatheblue for the prompt "Next Gen, a New War" (and this was the most fun of the three to write, I have to admit, *g*). About 1330 words.

Resurrection )

Wed, Nov. 18th, 2009, 12:44 am
[i]painless_j: Music: Japanese: J-Rock

Part 3 of my Japanese music favourites. Today's topic is J-Rock. As usual, some songs are more rocky than others and the range is from Speed Metal to Pop-rock to anything I've found similar enough or fitting, with a generous dash of anime music and some hip-hop. It just means that on the whole, today's selection is gloomier and heavier than the two before it. I've shared three of these songs with you already but not the rest of them.

Files are uploaded to Box.net, which means that you can listen to them before/as well as download(ing). Box.net tends to mess up the sequence of the uploaded files, so I've added links to each song as well as to the folder. I did make it with the proper sequence in mind, so that one song flows into the other smoothly. But in any case, hope you like a few of them! So, with thanks to [info]lyssaphra and [info]kyuuketsukirui for sharing music with me, on to the music!

*Nitemare and Nightmare is the same band. I just kept the song tags as they were :)

Song title Length Singer/Band Album (where it was already in the tags)

Crucify My Love 4:36 X Japan
Curtain Call 5:34 GLAY Beloved
Wind 3:40 Akeboshi STONED TOWN
Kenji 3:51 Fort Minor The Rising Tied
I.V. 4:55 X Japan Saw IV OST
Moshimo Piano ga Hiketa Nara 3:53 Plastic Tree Baka ni Nattanoni
Jisatsu Ganbou 4:39 Due le quartz Best of Due le Quartz
Eternally Beyond 4:25 Moi dix Mois Beyond the Gate
Brave Love: Galaxy Express 999 5:16 The Alfee
Dancing Yooderu Night (Leorio) 3:36 Gouda Hozumi Hunter X Hunter Singles Collection
The World 3:47 Nightmare Death note anime soundtrack
Haiiro no Hitomi 4:24 Shiina Ringo & Kusano Masamune Utahite myouri [disc 1]
Shangri-La 4:37 Angela Soukyuu no Fafner OP/ED Single
Again 4:15 YUI FMA:B 1st OP
D-tecnoLife 3:53 UVERworld D-tecnoLife
Monochrome no Kiss 4:00 SID Monochrome no Kiss (Kuroshitsuji OP)
Coming Closer 5:14 L'Arc~en~Ciel Smile
Kaze no Uta 3:40 Motoda Minako Hunter X Hunter Singles Collection
Kasou 5:09 L'Arc~en~Ciel
Bokutachi no Yukue 4:33 Takahashi Hitomi Bokutachi no Yukue
Alumina (Tv size) 1:13 Nitemare Death note anime Soundtrack
Desire 4:24 Luna Sea Style
Hologram ANIME Ver. 1:41 NICO Touches the Walls Hologram (FMA:B OP)
Talkin' 2 myself 4:53 Hamasaki Ayumi Talkin' 2 myself
MY LONELY TOWN 3:38 B'z
Drink It Down 2:51 L'Arc~en~Ciel Trailer Rip
Blessing 4:34 FictionJunction YUUKA Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto Intro Theme - Koya Ruten OP/ED
Still Doll 3:20 Kanon Wakeshima Vampire Knight
Shinkai no Kodoku 3:58 Kuwashima Houko Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED DESTINY ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK II
God Knows... 4:38 Hirano Aya, Goto Yuhiko Oricon 2006-07-03 Single Weekly Best 30
Rolling star 3:09 YUI Rolling star
Kimi Dake wo 5:26 Spitz Crispy
Ain't Afraid to Die 7:15 Dir en Grey Ain't Afraid to Die
Kaze ni Fukarete 4:16 Elephant Kashimashi Ashita ni Mukatte Hashire -Tsukiyo no Uta-
Separation 4:49 Angela Soukyuu no Fafner OP/ED
Memorial Address 3:56 Hamasaki Ayumi Memorial Address
Forever Love (Acoustic Version) 7:54 X Japan X




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