Holmes & the AO3

January 9, 2010, 3:09 pm

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1. Saw Sherlock Holmes today! Was awesome! Want sequel. Might start rereading canon now. I don't really have any spoilery comments - it was the slashiest movie ever, pretty good story, lovely soundtrack with lots of violins, nicely atmospheric, excellent (if unorthodox) character choices, very pretty credits sequence, go see it.

2. I would like to have a bookmarklet for bookmarking external works on AO3. melannen said she thought she saw one somewhere, but we haven't been able to find it; I spent some time earlier trying and failing to modify the delicious bookmarklet. Does anyone knew where such a think might be found?

2a. Is there a community anywhere in the world of LJ-clones for discussion of AO3 and other OTW projects, where it would be appropriate to post a question like that? I couldn't find anything but otw_news and fanlore. If there isn't one, I think there should be - someone should start it! (Not me, too busy. *touches nose*)

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Article 23

January 13, 2010, 7:55 pm

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1. Sherlock Holmes:
1.a. I have begun rereading Doyle - I started with The Hound of the Baskervilles, A Study in Scarlet, and The Sign of the Four. Hound of the Baskervilles - the first Holmes story I ever read - is not anywhere near as clever as I remember it being when I read it in seventh grade English. In fact, none of them are terribly clever, and I'm annoyed with how much Doyle relies on The Exotic and with Watson's endless devaluing of his own abilities.

1.b. melannen and I were talking the other day about the possibilities for updating Holmes to the present day - Watson can stay the same, right down to the Afghan war veteran status; Holmes on the other hand would be a virtuoso gamer and hacker, devoted to the science of investigating cybercrime. And instead of landlady-slash-housekeeper Mrs. Hudson could be the deliveryperson from their favorite take-away curry shop, so she is at their flat basically all the time. I want this, please.

1.c. Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes has placed himself in my brain right next to Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow. This is because - in addition to the fact that, let's face it, they are basically the same character - I really think Hans Zimmer pieced the Holmes score together out of stuff that got cut from the POTC soundtracks. It is that similar. Anyway now I also would like The Immortal Captain Jack Sparrow, The Equally Immortal Pirate King, and The Captain of the Flying Dutchman to be Implicated in a ~MYSTERIOUS MURDER~ at the London dockyards, and Hijinx to Ensue, preferably with Tentacle Monsters.

2. Picasa! We helped Mom sort through some old family photos the other day, which made me feel SHAME for the disorganized state of my digital photos. Since I really quite like Facebook's album and tagging setup (I KNOW SHUT UP), except for the fact that it's online, I decided to take another look at Picasa, and lo and behold, the new version has facial recognition *and* tagging support! So I have been slightly obsessed over the last day or so with tagging all the faces Picasa has found and grouped in my album folders. It is incongruously awesome to tag an uncle, and then a friend, and then Amanda Tapping, and then my sister, and then my cousin, and then Stephen Colbert .... I don't know if this will help me organize my photos or be at all useful in the long run, and the facial recognition is sometimes hilariously imperfect, but for now I'm enjoying it, and it is at least reminding me what pictures I have, so for now thumbs up.

3. Misunderstood Longcat is Misunderstood. And Also Long. THE ORIGINAL LONGCAT: DISCOVERED AT LAST. melannen would like Miss Madelyn Mack and Sherlock Holmes to discuss the Longcat; I endorse this idea.

4. I am back in Boston! Thanks for the Christmas card, marikology! Kitties and roomie both are pleased to see me! My cats once again FAIL at punishing me for leaving them. (I ordered curry for dinner and Bingley LIKED IT. Weird cat is weird.) The rest of the week is for LAUNDRY and GROCERY SHOPPING.

5. Ten/Jack: or anyway Immortal!Jack/Any!Doctor: I am enjoying it. I am now going to go read more. I rec everything by sahiya, and I hope that link works.

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Article 22

January 15, 2010, 3:03 pm

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I have spent ALL DAY DOING LAUNDRY AUGH. I need to get a) less clothes so I will have b) motivation to go to the laundromat more often than once every two months or so. The nearest laundromat (still not very near) is sort of crappy and expensive, but there's one two blocks farther on that has lots of seating, is cheaper, AND has free wifi, so at least I got to read fic all day in between hiking back and forth to my apartment. :D

Also, there's a new thrift store down the street! They have only clothes right now (which I do not need; see above), but the store is quite large and they have lots of empty shelves, so maybe they'll be bringing out books and other stuff soon. Yay! I advocate more thrift stores located closer to me!

Apparently there is a state-wide election next week! I'm sure I already realized this - it's to replace Ted Kennedy in the Senate - but it hadn't quite registered in my brain until I was assaulted by a series of obnoxious smear ads every fifteen minutes. On the radio. At the laundromat. All day. I'm rather pissed off at ALL of the candidates for that, especially the guy who put his daughters on the air to make him seem Innocent, Wholesome, and Wounded. *grits teeth*

melannen is brainstorming for con.txt panels! Yay! (hoshit, I hope I can go - the con's in mid-June, and my field school (which I don't have any definite schedule for yet) might span those days. D: WELL I WILL JUST HAVE TO MAKE IT WORK OUT, EH.)

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Article 21

January 17, 2010, 1:27 pm

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Everyone's going on about what they're doing with their three-day weekend. ... It appears I completely forgot that tomorrow is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. (In my defense, I can't remember the last time I didn't have school and/or work on both the Friday and Tuesday surrounding it.) So, um, guess I'm not going to school tomorrow, since campus is closed! So much for my plan of spending the entire week before classes start getting ahead on my research. :/ I hope this isn't a preview of things to come for the semester.

In general, I'm having a hard time getting back into the swing of things up here. I spent a huge amount of my winter break parked on mom's couch reading fic (which was wonderful, I actually read everything that interested me in yuletide this year, and then dove into Jack/Doctor* fic and mmmmmmmmm) - but now that I'm back it's been hard to tear myself away from the internet and start focusing in on school again. And I fear I've been terribly antisocial; I hope my roommate isn't too annoyed at me for hiding in my room pretty much constantly. :/

Well. Maybe I'll go to a museum, or something, tomorrow, instead of internetting all day again, and see if that snaps me out of it.


(*Jack/Doctor: I can't understand why I didn't fall for this pairing ages ago. After the finale, I was desperate for fic in which Ten deals with his issues, and after flailing around for a bit and poking a couple of recs out of melannen, I somehow ended up at A Wound in Time, which was just so completely wonderful that I immediately wanted more, and given that it's probably the *only* Jack/Ten/River fic in existence, Jack/Ten it was. And then Jack/Eleven, and Jack/Five ... not so much Jack/Nine or Jack/Nine/Rose though unless there are timeline shenanigans, because imo they can't truly operate as equals until after Jack's got a couple of centuries under his belt. But then - oh my goodness, I don't think there's anyone in the universe who could understand either of them so well as they do each other. Well, there's the Master, but there's so much hurt and pain and baggage there that I think Jack - even with all the separate neuroses between them - can keep the Doctor healthier and happier and let him just be - and vice versa, especially post-CoE, oh Jack and Ten ♥. Just - ♥, so much ♥, can't remember the last time I had this much ♥ for a pairing unless it was Jon/Stephen: ♥!! Anyway, have some recs.)

Also, you should join into_the_woods to keep my feet to the fire in my quest to re-watch the X-Files.


ETA: How could I forget to link to SHERLOCK HOLMES WITH IANTO-AS-WATSON, DINOSAURS, AND TENTACLE MONSTERS. Um. Can has?

And a Star Trek vid by skywaterblue which - really - everyone ought to watch, it says so much about the relationship of new canon to old canon, through Spock.

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Article 20

January 19, 2010, 7:45 pm

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I am very, very annoyed with the state of Massachusetts right now. I don't, in fact, have anything particularly coherent to say. I have just mentally backspaced over a pile of incoherence, in fact.

*bangs head into wall repeatedly*

... I think I have a job at the used book store, so there's that.

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Bones: A Rant

January 22, 2010, 9:02 pm

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Wow, this week's episode. I .. I don't even .. ( spoilers, NOT squee )

Booth was kind of a badass there at the end, though, that was pretty awesome.

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Signal boost

January 25, 2010, 10:06 pm

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If your computer recently got struck by a particularly insidious virus/malware and you couldn't determine the source, it probably came from a pop-under ad on LJ. This happened to melannen and some other people that I know - it's not just a rumor. I wish I could say I was surprised! If it's happened to you, you could also drop a comment here with details, and we'll see what happens.

Use Firefox with AdBlock, people. (Or the equivalent for your browser of choice.)

Alternatively, I still have plenty of Dreamwidth invites left! *dangles them*

******

Proper first day of school: excellent.

******

I OD'd on fanfic over the break. I admit it. Too much. I'm addicted again. This is bad.

How do I know it's bad? Since I blew through all the Ten/Jack I could find, I've .... been reading Harry/Draco epics. (I blame denise.)

Someone stop me before it gets worse.

(Hopefully school will stop me! I got assigned about ten zillion articles tonight.)

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Fic: Boston Legal: Rah Rah (drabble)

February 13, 2010, 3:18 pm

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I'm procrastinating, go away.

Title: Rah Rah
Fandom: Boston Legal
Summary: Shirley's thoughts re: Alan, Denny, and her cheerleading outfit.
Words: 100 (look, ma, a drabble!)

Shirley wonders if giving Denny and Alan her old uniform makes her complicit in their actual sickness. Or possibly an enabler.

Shirley, she asks herself, worrying the end of a pen between her teeth, are you getting off on them getting off on the trappings of your misspent youth?

No, she decides eventually. She's too old for that bullshit (not that they aren't). She's getting amused on it.

She wouldn't let just anyone laugh at her boys -- and they are her boys, because, for now, it's still Crane, Poole, and Schmidt.

Shirley leans back, chuckling.

And she's still Schmidt.

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AN UPDATE OF EPICNESS

February 14, 2010, 1:50 pm

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I finally have all my stories up at AO3, and as many links as possible on my website now lead either there or to DW! (Ah, the things I can do when I procrastinate hard enough ... )

Yes, this does include all the X-Files drabbles! I dithered for a while about what to do with them, thought about putting them up by challenge, but after I'd done so for a few challenges I realized there really had to be a more cohesive way to do it. So I've split them up into four different story files: The City and the Stars (the post-apocalypse series), And I Would Write A Hundred Words (in which I put all the vaguely-MSR drabbles in chronological order - 10,000 words of it, omg), Not the Drabbles You're Looking For (four stories that exist only to make jokes about Star Wars), and Monsters, Friends, and Aliens (where I put everything else, in chronological order). If anyone wants to read through them, please let me know if anything isn't clear now that I've stripped off the headers; I'll go in and add some footnotes.

Sometime, I think I would like to do a poll about where people prefer to read fic. Hrm.

halfamoon: 14 days of love for awesome female characters! It's about over now, but if you haven't been following it already, you should head over there now and check it out. Among other things, I now have so many incredible movies about magnificent ladies that I need to watch!

Also in News of the Fannish, I found in a thrift store last week a brown pinstriped skirt suit in exactly my size. It was a little expensive but I couldn't resist; can you blame me? I have got to make con.txt work out, if only so I can show up at the dance wearing *that*. And black converse, a blue shirt, a brown tie, blue sparkly socks, and a tan overcoat, with square glasses and messy hair. :D YES.

I was going to talk about Buzz, but I seem to have missed the boat on that. I think, if done well, I would be more likely to use it than Twitter or Facebook status; but first Google has to get un-evil enough that lots of the people I want to communicate with are willing to use the service. For more information, zellieh has a good round-up post.

My McAfee subscription just expired. I've always managed to get antivirus free through school before; I think this subscription actually came with the laptop, though. My current school, however, is too cheap and too computer-illiterate (still no VPN, what) to provide its students with free antivirus software, and while I did download an install file from my old school while I still had access, I decided to go with avast! instead. I like it fine so far. I'm also running Spybot, CCleaner, and MalwareBytes, and Firefox with AdBlock Plus, NoScript, FlashBlock, Ghostery, BetterPrivacy, Beacon Blocker, and Google's Advertising Cookie Opt-Out. I find that long list mildly ridiculous; how many hoops should we have to hop through to use our computers reasonably safely? And how many people *don't* use all those things?

I'm also trying out Mendeley Desktop, an organizer for PDFs, as the number of journal articles I have saved in various folders was starting to get unmanagable. I think it's going to be useful in the long run, though of course a lot of the files it found are either random non-article PDFs or need metadata added manually. I fear it will be rather like Picasa: a shiny new piece of software that will (dun-dun-dun-DAH) help me (reverb) GET ORGANIZED, except that ultimate organization still requires such a massive up-front time commitment that my interest, dedication, and use will peter out before much happens. Or, like iTunes, it will be a useful front-end for a hopeless mess.

According to a poll, 58% of Americans favor allowing gay men & lesbians to serve openly in the military. According to THE VERY SAME POLL, however, only 44% favor allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military. I find this an .... interesting commentary.

Barbie is now a computer engineer. That's awesome.

gfish has created a steampunk Jacob's Ladder. You need to go see it.

You also need to go see AXE COP, the only webcomic written by a five year old and drawn by his 29-year-old brother. AXE COP. HE'LL CHOP YOUR HEAD OFF. (Hat tip siegeofangels.) ( have a movie trailer )

The only other thing I have on my list to write about (I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but) is H/D ficrecs .. which might more properly be a meta post all on its own, so I'm just gonna highlight two (a few more are here).

Trajectories by bookshop, which is probably the fic that jump-started my desire to go look up more H/D in the first place. It posits an eighth year at Hogwarts after the war, so of course the student population - the eighth years in particular, and the Slytherins in particular - is greatly diminished. Draco's very alone. Harry's at loose ends. Hermione didn't come back to school. Ron is avoiding his grief. Magnificent, amazing, perfect and painful and bittersweet things happen with the portraits of dead students that have been commissioned for the front hall - Fred, Goyle, Colin. It's very believable and very well-crafted, and you should read it for the portraits if nothing else.

Eclipse, by PhoenixSong. It's very, very long, and very, very good, and the first fic in a *long* time that I actually, without meaning to, stayed up all night to read. After Draco kidnaps Harry for the Dark Lord and is given the task of guarding his cell, he starts to question what he's doing and why, and sort out his actual priorities, which he's never bothered to do before. Eventually there is derring-do and heroics and a long, grueling journey through the forest full of mutual rescues and shared secrets, and an epic battle for Harry's very soul. I just keep thinking about this one; it manages to hit most of my very favoritest things in fic. It's awesome, go read it.

Ok then - back to work I go!

Also, I have brownies.

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A Poll For Readers Of Fanfiction

February 14, 2010, 4:16 pm

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I've just been updating my website, and moving things to AO3, and contemplating fic archives. I've had fic on mailing lists, on fandom archives, on LJ and DW and JF, on sites run by other people who requested to archive my fic, and served as .txt files on my personal website. I think. There could be more. Of all these places, as a writer, I prefer AO3 - it's easy, it gives me control, everything is in one place, it forces me to be organized and to standardize headers. It has the awesomeness of LJ's comment system while being tailored specifically for fic, not for freeform entries. You can connect stories easily, as series or as remixes, and the collections are great.

But these are all mostly good things for writers, and that got me thinking about the actual reading experience. I also like to read on AO3, because I support its principles, and also because of things like the collapsible comments section and loading multi-chapters in a single page. The search/filter feature and the bookmarking could be a lot more functional, but it's better than most. But there are lots of other good places and ways to read fic, too, and I'm curious. Hence: a poll.

ETA: Just to clarify, if you both read and write fic, please try to answer only from your perspective as a reader.

ETA2: Non-DW users, login here with OpenID to fill out the poll.

View Poll: Fic-Reading Habits

Please feel free to elaborate in comments. And I'd love for this to get linked far and wide!

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In which my cat is weird

February 17, 2010, 7:01 pm

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I noticed recently that my cats have been getting very pointy toes. So I said to them, kitties, it is time to cut your claws, because pointy toes on kitties is not a happy thing for their people. But I could not find the claw clippers anywhere! I looked on the little dresser by my bed, where I usually put them, and I looked on and in my desk, and I looked on my big dresser and on my bookshelves and in the bathroom, and I could not find them! So I said, kitties, where are the clippers for your pointy toes? Where could they be? I do not want to buy a new one, but if I cannot find it, you must continue to have pointy toes until I can get to a store that sells clippers! Alas!

And then I went to the kitchen and washed dishes.

When I came back to the bedroom Bingley was rummaging around in the top drawer of the little dresser by my bed, so I said, Bings, sweetie, what are you doing? Are you trying to tell me something? Did little Jimmy fall down the well?

Well, it turns out that little Jimmy *did* fall down the well, or rather, the claw clippers fell into the top drawer of my dresser.

(I looked exactly like Ten does in my "impressed" mood icon on DW.)

So I said, kitty, you are very silly and very smart and apparently also have a fetish for getting your pointy toes clipped, but thank you very very much for showing me where they were! You are a good girl!

And then I schnoogled the kitties and clipped their pointy toes off, and Darcy sulked forever.

The End.

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Article 13

March 6, 2010, 8:59 pm

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I had my first real shift at the bookstore last night! I am so excited. (I fear it may be a sad commentary that working part-time at a used book store is truly the culmination of a life-long dream.) *bounces up and down with lots of books*

Then today was absolutely gorgeous outside, so I sat in the park and finished some readings for Monday, then came back and cleaned my room and swept the floors and washed dishes and made muffins (instant ones, but MUFFINS) and got clothes ready for laundry (tomorrow?). PRODUCTIVITY HURRAY!


... enough of that, have a meme.


( in which I answer questions about Boston Legal, Eureka, and SG1 )

Oh, by the way, if anyone wants a Dreamwidth code following the latest round of LJ is at worst evil and at best incompetent (more links to info here) -- I still have plenty of codes, just ask.

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State of the Computers

March 8, 2010, 8:22 pm

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I think my desktop has finally given up the ghost - or, more accurately I suppose, I've finally given up on it. I attempted to start it the other day, and it got to the "loading Windows" screen, where it sat .. and sat .. and sat, while making pitiful chirping sounds. I'm tired of it pulling stunts like this all the damn time; I don't use it often enough to be worth the futzing it inevitably takes to bring it back to life. I suppose it's about time - I've had it since ... 2002 or early 2003, something like that, and it's been through .. 5? 6? moves since then. I'll keep the monitor and speakers and probably pull the hard drive, but I don't think any of the rest of it is even worth salvaging. Unless someone wants a DVD-ROM drive or a wireless or wired ethernet card or a 3.5-in floppy drive or PS/2 mouse & keyboard. And maybe my mom could use the RAM, once I see what size it is. (I suspect the motherboard has issues and I don't particularly trust the power supply, either, so I don't really feel good about donating it to charity.) Then I just have to figure out where best to dispose of the remains ..

I spent a good chunk of yesterday pulling out and reformatting my old laptop. I restored it to the original Toshiba settings, removed all the excess crap, ran Windows Update a zillion times, installed Firefox, Avast, Office 2003, MalwareBytes, Spybot, and Vuze ... and it is still every bit as finicky and slow and apt to drop connectivity and/or suddenly freeze as it was before I reformatted. Which at least means the issue was not the accumulated software kluge of 4 years' heavy use, but instead something hardware related (or just that the processor is too slow for anything) and I feel rather less guilty now about buying a new laptop when the old one still kinda worked, but ... ugh, I was really hoping for improvement. It does start up faster now, at least.

And my *new*(ish) laptop BSOD'd on me while I was backing stuff up to DVD yesterday. SIGH. (But it came back okay! And it's still very very speedy compared to any other computer I have owned ever!)

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Oops.

March 14, 2010, 12:07 am

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I think perhaps it would have been smart of me to start worrying about my bike outside in the wind and rain, oh, at least seven hours ago, instead of at threefour o'clock in the morning.

It also would have been smart of me to not forget about daylight saving time, and to go to bed at a reasonable hour on this night, of all nights.

Next week is spring break, which would be lucky except that it's shaping up to be exactly like every other week only with two fewer classes.

Didn't make it to the grocery store or laundry today, either, because of the storm; nor did I do any homework. But I did work at the bookstore for two hours!

Ugh, need sleep. Hopefully my bike won't be completely trashed when I check on it tomorrow.

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Misc linkage and signal boosts

March 15, 2010, 7:41 pm

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1. coc_m_madness!

2. My awesome webhost, drak.net, just cut their prices! Go forth and purchase webspace. (Seriously awesome: I submitted a request to up-in-resources/down-in-price my account, and it was *done* in, like, ten minutes, you guys. I LOVE MY WEBHOST.) (Yes, melannen, this means you can upload more crap if you want since I have 10 G now. :D )

3. Make some fanart for the auction at con_txt! (Mine is .. coming along. *shifty eyes*)

4. DW non-fandom friending meme and Three Weeks for Dreamwidth!

5. stellar_dust <---- Look it goes to AO3! \o/

6. 8.8 micron USS Enterprise!

7. common_nature! starry_sea! good_ficday! poetry!

Spring break this week, but I'm more overwhelmed than relaxed: SO MUCH TO DO, and I didn't write the paper I told myself I'd have finished by tonight! *hopes the rain is gone tomorrow*

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Article 9

March 23, 2010, 9:03 pm

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*makes a small, delighted squeeing noise* The Deathless got recced on best_enemies! EEeeeeeee!

For the record, I would be *delighted* if someone wanted to remix that story! (Even though I'm not doing remix_redux due to lack of time, and in any case I don't *quite* have enough published words in DW to qualify for the fandom...)


... I should probably go post some prompts at lgbtfest before it closes, eh?

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Article 8

March 27, 2010, 3:30 pm

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So there's this volcano erupting in southern Iceland, and there's a live webcam. And it's dark over there right now, but there's. Um. Glowing. OMGWTFLAVAPLUME. Go see quick, before it quiets down again! (Is very pretty in the daytime too.)

Today I put a rack on the back of my bike and did laundry. Laundry in the city is much easier with a bike, a rack, and bungee cords than none of the above. Yay! Putting the rack on was a pain though, because my bike was not particularly designed with a rack in mind. Bah. But I made it work.

Haven't had time to look at lgbtfest prompts yet. I probably won't claim any, but it's always fun to look.

I have been watching the last couple Third Doctor serials. In the serials set on Peladon there's this character, the Federation Ambassador Alpha Centauri (I think that's his *name*, not his home), who is awesome. The character's coded female to the extent that a giant six-armed one-eyed cucumber with foot-fins can be gender-coded (voice and mannerisms are stereotypical tv-feminine) but uses male pronouns. And oh my goodness Sarah Jane Smith/Alpha Centauri OTP. I wish I'd thought of that in time for prompts, because someone needs to write it, preferably set during SJA. Watch the first 30 seconds.

I'm only halfway through Planet of the Spiders, so I haven't seen the regeneration yet, but I would like to note that Episode 2 contains the most ludicrous vehicular chase sequence in the history of ever.

( ludicrous chase sequence under here )

I have so much reading & writing to do this weekend ... *moan*

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Article 7

May 14, 2010, 9:18 am

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I just cancelled my registration for con_txt. Booo! If by some miracle I still manage to finish my cross-stitch, I'll get it there through melannen and donate all proceeds to the con charity. Uh, do feel free to call me from the con if something awesome happens or there's really good stuff from the dealers or on the swap table ....

*sigh*

I read the second Legacy of the Force book last night, and oh, Jacen Solo, you are breaking my heart. D: ( spoilers for star wars books? )

Uh, anyone who's read the whole series ... does this end happily for anyone, or am I just going to keep getting more and more depressed?? D:

(I'm still not really back - presentation today, final on Tuesday, and then hopefully I'll have a few weeks to get back into the swing of the internets before I run off again.)

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CAT PICTURES

May 25, 2010, 7:38 pm

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Busy day, busy life, blah blah, have some pictures of my cats. KITTIES. YES.

( KITTIES. SNUGGLE THEM. )

K, time to go finish packing for field school.

I did lots of very productive things today, but none of them were the research-related things I ought to have done! Blerg.

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Egil's Saga, Translated, Excerpt:

May 26, 2010, 9:10 pm

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"[The earl] granted a hearing to [Einar's] poem, and thereafter gave Einar a shield, which was a most costly work. It was inscribed with old tales; and between the writing were overlaid spangles of gold with precious stones set therein. Einar went to Iceland and lodged with his brother Osvif: but in autumn he rode east and came to Borg [Egil's farm], and was guest there. Egil was just then not at home, having gone to the northern part of the district, but was expected home. Einar waited for him three nights: longer than three nights it was not the custom to stay on a friendly visit. Then Einar made him ready to go; but when ready he went to Egil’s place in the hall, and there he hung up that precious shield, and told the house-carles that he left it a gift for Egil. Then he rode away.

"But on that same day Egil came home. And when he came in to his place, then he saw the shield, and asked whose was that costly work. It was told him that Einar Skala-glam had come there, and had left the shield as a gift for him. Then said Egil: ’The wretched man, to give it! He means that I should bide awake and compose poetry about his shield. Now, bring my horse. I must ride after him and slay him.’

"He was told that Einar had ridden away early in the morning. ’He will,’ they said, ’by this be come westwards to the dales.’ Soon after Egil composed a poem, whereof this is the beginning:

"Of shield, the ship’s bright guard,
To show the praise ’tis time,
Home to my hand is given
The treasure-sender’s gift.
Sure hath Skala-glam
To skilful guidance lent
(Speak, ye who list my lay)
The reins of minstrel lore.

"Egil and Einar remained friends so long as they both lived. But about the shield’s fortune at last this is told, that Egil took it with him to the wedding when he went north to Broadmoor with Thorkettle Gunnvald’s son and Red-Bjorn’s sons Trefill and Helgi. There the shield was spoilt by falling into a tub of sour whey. After this Egil had the outer ornaments taken off: and there were twelve ounces of gold in the spangles."

Egil/Einar OTP Y/N?

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I did not go to the Rally.

October 30, 2010, 10:48 pm

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Instead, I rolled out of bed at 8:30. I had breakfast and read my social evolution textbook until lunch, while drinking coffee and keeping half an eye on the #rallytorestoresanity tweets. At 11:30, the comedy central webcast began, and I watched it until 3, at which point I switched to the CSPAN post-analysis on mute and finished my textbook. And while I did all this I was not sitting on the roof of a port-a-potty! (I wasn't packed in like a sardine! I could hear every word!) I was in fact snuggling kitties, and occasionally pestering melannen and sailorptah with text messages.

I got out of my PJs at 5 PM, took a shower, changed into my old standby Starfleet uniform, and wandered off to my friend's Halloween party, where we watched silly movies and played video games while drinking craft beer and mixed drinks and bitching about school, and generally enjoyed ourselves immensely.

So, you know, I'm sorry I wasn't there? But on the other hand they so clearly did not need me, and I had a very relaxing day, and tomorrow I will be awake to read more anthropology.

Anyway, it was awesome. ♥. Go find some clips on youtube or something & watch it right now, and then read melannen's recap.

( spoiler flails )

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FIC: DW/ST: Q-niversal Constants

January 18, 2011, 9:43 pm

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≪ Previous: I did not go to the Rally.

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Hello World! I Live, and what is more I HAVE COMMITTED FIC.

This fic came into being because someone *cough*melannen*cough* gave me something I wanted for Christmas: namely, The Q Fan Collective DVD collection. This set contains just enough TNG/DS9/VOY to make me miss it desperately, and also more than enough Q to make me spend the weekend reading all the Picard/Q fic. (Recs forthcoming, if I get a round to it.)

But the more I read, the more I realized that although Q and Jean-Luc are certainly well-suited, this not a pairing of equals, nor a pairing that will stand the test of centuries. What I really needed was some Q/Doctor. Or, I soon realized, even better: Q/JACK HARKNESS. (Q loves humans, but they die! How shall we fix this?? O WAIT I KNO.)

O DEAR INTERNETS: there is no Q/Jack in your vaunted halls. ALAS. ... That is, UNTIL NOW. (Dun dun dun.)

Therefore: enjoy! Or not, as you wish.

(I am glad to be writing fic now, because I need need need to be writing my thesis; and writing fic always reminds me that things which are unclear now will inevitably become clear in the writing if the premise is sound. I need to keep this in mind for thesis, especially at the moment, when it seems like I will never pull everything together.)

NOTE: I'm going to wait a few days before posting this to comms and AO3, so please, if you have any comments/suggestions/feedback that will make it better, don't be afraid to let me know! I'm posting it to my DW now only because I have no patience and demand immediate gratification.

Title: Q-niversal Constants
Fandoms: New Who/Torchwood; Star Trek: TNG Era
Words: ~6500
Pairing: JACK HARKNESS/Q OF THE CONTINUUM. Because the internets failed me, so I wrote it myself. Background Picard/Q and Doctor/Jack.
Rating: R. (spoiler) the R-rated bit is Jack/noncorporeal entity, from Q's POV, so YMMV. OH MY BRAIN.
Warnings: See rating spoiler above. Also, offscreen character death (not Jack or Q), and one on-screen, non-graphic Jack death.
Beta: Thanks to melannen for reading it through and saying it was good!
Summary: Q discovers Jack. The results, as you might expect, span the universe in a most epic way.

Note: I've played fast and loose with the timelines here. Just go with it. It's not that important.
Also Note: For those unfamiliar with TNG: all Q are called Q. This does not confuse Q in the least. With any luck it will not confuse you either.

( Q-niversal Constants )

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Babbling about fandom

February 4, 2011, 8:18 pm

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Because oh my god it has been so long since I did that and I need to get it out of my system so that maybe, perhaps, one of these days, I will buckle down and work on my thesis.

1. People like my fic! YAY! Q-niversal Constants has been on AO3 for a while, btw, if anyone would rather read it there than DW. 34 more hits and it'll be my most-read story besides Yuletide! XD

2. Bones. Blatant product placement ... is blatant. But overall I am still rather more into this show than I really ought to be. I'm pretty sure Hannah won't last the season, and I'm looking forward to that with equal parts dread and amusement, because I don't see how it can be otherwise than tragic and ridiculous. I actually like her a lot, but it could not be more obvious (imo) that all the B/B shippers on the writing staff are setting her up to fall. XD (I'm fine with B/B but I am also fine with not!B/B, so, whatever.) bring back Zack and Goodman

3. How can they be making a Pirate movie with Penelope Cruz instead of Elizabeth Swann?? I wouldn't be so annoyed if she didn't look exactly like Kiera. I WANT MY PIRATE KING.

4. Scandinavia and the World! Seriously how did I not know about this comic before, it is the best thing. Iceland is a sparkly badass. And oh my goodness, NORWAY AND DENMARK. No, seriously, go waste a couple of hours on that. You will also learn things about Nordic history! (Some episodes are NSFW.) (There were some yuletide stories in the fandom this year, which you should also read.)

5. When did hulu start showing Jon and Stephen again? Is it related to the Comcast/NBC merger? Huh. I'm glad it's back, anyway, hulu is far superior to the Comedy Central flash player.

6. Sherlock! I watched the entire thing (all three episodes!) while waiting for and subsequently flying on my thrice-delayed post-holiday flight back to Boston. It is every bit worth the hype! ( SHERLOCKKKKKKKK )

7. Q OMG Q. Is this the promised list of Q recs? I THINK IT IS, I DO THINK SO. ( QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ )

Ok, I could swear there was something else, but last night's J&S are calling.

... 8. Oh right, Star Wars! I'm still working through Legacy of the Force and I sort of hate the premise and I really hate where it's headed (I'm spoiled) but I can't look away. It's hard to explain, but despite knowing that anything can happen in fic and anyway it is all just a story, these versions of Luke and Han and Leia and everyone who have lived through the whole official Lucasfilm-sanctioned EU are like, REAL, and. They are breaking my heart but I have to know what happens to them. ( cutting two sentences, just in case )

(I will probably have a whole rant and possibly fix-it handwaving after I finish the series, whenever that may be.)

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FIC: Don't Give Him Any Ideas, Sherlock/Torchwood/ST:TNG

February 9, 2011, 8:25 pm

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≪ Previous: Babbling about fandom

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queenfanfiction is entirely to blame for this, and I'm not writing any more. :P

(Incidentally, I'm going on informal LJ/DW hiatus until my thesis starts to look more like a thesis and less like a giant pile of crap and words.)

Don't Give Him Any Ideas, ~600 words, G

( Don't Give Him Any Ideas )

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help_japan

March 22, 2011, 3:58 pm

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FYI: I put my Doctor Who cross-stitch up for auction at help_japan.

It's getting NO LOVE. You should go bid! Or bid on something else, while you're there.

( Photo! )

(Kinda wish I'd put it up at help_japan instead, which oddly enough seems to be attracting more bids, but oh well, too late now. If you want it but don't wanna bid on LJ, let me know, and if it's still bidless by the 26th 30th whenever the auction ends (why does every post have a different end date on it, arg) we can work something out.)

.....

P.S. Mycroft/Lestrade is my new OTP.

P.P.S. fictionalaspect is dragging me to a Panic! at the Disco concert, OH GOD WHAT IF I GET INTO BANDOM D: D: :D?

P.P.P.S. THESIS THESIS THESIS THESIS, THESIS THESIS, THESIS

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