Below are the most recent 25 friends' journal entries.

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Saturday, December 5th, 2009
limyaael	12:55p	Reviews of a few of the books I finished recently ( Ilona Andrews, Magic Bites ) ( Cindy Pon, Silver Phoenix ) ( Caroline Stevermer, When the King Comes Home ) Current Mood: accomplished (4 Comments |Comment on this)
zephre	9:50a	Drawble: Magical Baby (Merlin/Morgana, G) I did this drawble for the Merlin/Morgana Love thread at Camelot_Fleet on Dreamwidth, for their episode 2.10 party, to answer miarrow's prompt of "Pretty. Magical. Babies." Yeah, I used pretty much the same profile reference photos as in "Chasing a Dream", because they were, you know, there. Title: Magical Baby Fandom: Merlin Characters: Merlin/Morgana, OC Rating: G Medium: photoshop ( full size over here ) (Comment on this)
Friday, December 4th, 2009
naodrith	6:22p	( Rose @ AM ) (Comment on this)
naodrith	7:29a	Ugh, I am having the worst time picking someone to app at AM. I need help. That is what I have you guys for! ( Options under the cut ) (10 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
kuchehexe	4:54p	GIP GIP. Because it had to be done. Image and text from here. (Yoinkable with creds) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
yayforjae	2:40p	Beatles! or How I learned to stop worrying and love RPS Let me preface this by saying that The Beatles are my favorite band. Ever. They are the best band. Ever. I could on for ages, complete with jumping up and down and waving my arms wildly and probably convulsing on the floor, about how phenomenal they are, how they invented modern music, how important they are not just to rock and roll, but to the entire musical industry. HELL THE ENTIRE WORLD. John Lennon. Paul McCartney. Are awesome. Their relationship. Christ, I don't even know how to articulate the beautiful complexity of Lennon/McCartney. Lifting Latches by thinkpink20 Pairing: John Lennon/Paul McCartney Rating: NC-17 for sex HOLY SHIT JESUS CHRIST THIS IS THE BEST STORY EVER WRITTEN. When Beatles Rock Band came out, I started joining Beatles communities on LJ. I worked my way through them all and eventually ended up reading RPS of the lads. It was mostly for the lol factor; I'd never been a fan - or even really interested by the concept - of RPS. For shits and giggles I started reading fics, though and I found "Lifting Latches." So, this is a review coming from someone who has a thorough knowledge of and love for the Beatles; and while is a slasher and is interested in homosexuality, bisexuality, and sexuality in general, was never a John/Paul fan (am now, of course; partially converted by this fic). SERIOUSLY, READ IT. Paul's shyness and desperation to impress the older John; John's need to maintain his influence over Paul coupled with his own insecurities... AWESOME. The natural fluctuation of teenage desire during a conservative time period, and the fears of social rejection for an "unnatural" interest... AWESOME. The bond between John and Paul and their need to strengthen and explore it... SO AWESOME. Besides that, this story is incredibly well written. thinkpink20 walks the delicate line between action and exposition. Her Paul is thoughtful and observant, but the story never slows under too much emotional analysis. At the same time, her action scenes are perfectly paced. And the sex scene is HOT. A lot of slash - hell, a lot of romance - falls into one of two categories: 1) too impersonal, insert-tab-a-into-tab-b sex, and 2) overwrought, over-fraught purple prose sex. Then there's the weird clinicalness that some sex scenes take on, where I feel like I'm reading the minutes from a physical exam, and it's counterpart the author-is-actually-a-virgin stuff where manroots pulsate into love canals. In short, writing convincing sex is hard. But thinkpink20 MASTERS it. Paul and John's scene together is smoking hot. Paul's desire underlines the whole story, and by the time they get into bed, the passion practically palpitating through the lines. Also, Paul is PERFECT. Fictional!Paul often suffers from acute weepy uke syndrome. This Paul is shy and uncertain, but he's often wiser than John, and while he's not as forward as John, Paul still knows what he wants and when they meet, they do so as equals. And what's best about this fic? IT HAS AN EVEN HOTTER SEQUEL: Sending Postcards. This. Story. Is. The. Fucking hottest thing. Ever. All the amazing things about the first story carry over to the second: great characterization, awesome Britishisms, flawless pacing. While the sex scene in "Lifting Latches" is incredibly satisfying, it can be (as Paul himself in the story reflects) interpreted as "just getting off." He - and the audience - worry that he/we read too much into it. But wow, the climax (hurrrrr) of this story blows (durrrrr) everything away. Again, the sex is perfect. Steamy and sensitive, it's both sexually arousing and emotionally satisfying. The first, second, and third times I read that part, I actually blushed. I won't spoil it, but John has a line that sets off Paul (and the reader, by extension) and it's so bloody perfect I want to tattoo it on my forehead. thinkpink20 deftly twists everything with that one little line - it's so perfectly John-like. The words aren't really profane, but the choice to use one term in particular is so effective: it's dirty and personal and raw and wow. I was explaining it all to Pete last night - or at least trying to; this rec is evidence that I'm barely lucid: Part of the reason I'm interested in slash is there's the conflict of man vs self, man vs man, and man vs society. Will man choose to put into danger his place in his world for love? Is his love strong enough to be tested by the illegality of his relationship with his lover? Slash stories don't always explore that; a lot of the time, I find that the whole social consequences of sodomy stuff is ignored. Which is fine, not every story needs to try to dismantle (or even acknowledge) the heteronormative establishment. And sometimes slash stories get too involved with it, so that I'm not reading romance as much as I am a dissociation. But once again, thinkpink20 does it perfectly. Toward the end of "Postcards," Paul stops himself from fantasizing a certain something because of how "queer" it could be. (And then, because thinkpink20 is a genius), he immediately worries about John. THIS SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR EVERYONE. Current Mood: eeeeee (1 Comment |Comment on this)
zephre	1:48p	a random rant + stuff Getting e-mail responses from my senators always makes my blood pressure skyrocket.  It's not that I don't understand that they are pretty much absolutely opposed to my views on just about everything, but I still get so peeved to get these long involved letters that pretty much tell me that I am an idiot. I may be over-sensitive here, but I wish they would just skip the overly text-heavy reply and just say that they received my message, some intern made a note somewhere of the general gist, and they are going to do what they want anyway. Better that than this ridiculous response in which they pretend to relate to me when it couldn't be more obvious that it's a canned platform response. They even say that it's because of citizens like me that they will keep blocking the very legislation I wrote in to support (or vice versa). Do they have no concept of a constituent writing in to disagree? Also, I don't appreciate the informal greeting, nor the generic "Friend".  I'm not a friend of my congresspeople, I am one of their many constituents.  Call me "Constituent" if you can't automate a Title and Surname off the e-mail form. Let's be real about our relationship. One good thing I can say is that so far I haven't gotten any letters. My old rep (Democrat, not that it seems to matter) used to send those canned, patronizing responses on expensive letterhead (sometimes two pages worth!) even after I asked the folks on the phone not to send me a response. At least the interns who answer my phone calls have so far been unfailingly polite. Maybe I should go have a drink and relax. I am obviously overthinking today.  Can I just say, too, while I'm ranting, SNOW?! In December? In Houston? Seriously, what is that? Oh, climate change, how we love you. The birds are going to be so flipping confused. Not to mention the trees. They all still have leaves!  Anyway... Lunchtime is over. Got stuff to do today and then I'm driving to Austin in the morning. Cons... there are some events when having a smartphone with web access would be quite useful. I'm going to add in a small squee, because I can: Merlin Series 3 got the green light from the BBC! w00t! Why must my only currently airing fandom be something none of my RL friends likes or has heard of? I need some folks to squee with...  oh, well.  Also, here, in pretty font this time: the ♥ fanart love ♥ meme (1 Comment |Comment on this)
naodrith	4:03a	( The Application ) (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
beccastareyes	10:41p	Something off my To-Do List Things learned: 1. One edit is never enough. 2. Reading things aloud really does catch errors, even if it takes a half hour to read one 3,000 word chapter (that's 100 words a minute). But, it's done. I finished my first multichapter fanfic in years -- I have a few, but the closest to done any of them are is 'rough draft'. Yes, I take this as Serious Writing, for all that it's fun stuff on the Internets. Anyway, I present a Fullmetal Alchemist Space Opera AU focusing on Winry and Sheska. Because clearly I don't care if anyone actually reads stuff I poured blood, sweat and tears into. (8 Comments |Comment on this)
zephre	7:52p	wednesday stuff glockgal has started a meme for fanartists to share the love. my fanart meme entry It's really cold here, which is weird. And I've discovered that I'm kind of unprepared, so I'd best go pick up some things before the end of the month when I go to Philadelphia. By the way, northeast folks - I'm going to be in Philadelphia for the end of the year. I'll probably have a day or an afternoon to meet with locals if you're in the area. Give me a call or drop me a line. Good lord, I have less than a month before I leave.  Eek eek eek. Art is proceeding well, but as usual my list of projects keeps growing ahead of my ability to finish anything. Writing not proceeding so well, but slow is ok as long as it gets done. Austin this weekend for SMOFCon, then next weekend is the election and then the next weekend is meeting and parties and when exactly was I hoping to get anything done again?  Hmm. Still making my way through Doctor Who, although I took some time to listen to the three episode commentaries on the Volume 1 DVD of Merlin Series 2.  Interesting.  I wish those DVDs could include deleted scenes, even (perhaps especially) ones played out against CGI stand-ins or greenscreen.  It would be so interesting. Plus we might see some of the characters that appear to have gotten pretty short shrift in the show as aired. (Hi, Morgana!) Right, gotta make art now. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
limyaael	7:38p	Signal boost Winterfox on LJ asked me to link to this post about a friend of hers who is facing eviction. This is what Winterfox says about it, since she explains the situation better than I can: A friend of mine, shuju_the_red (http://shuju-the-red.livejournal.com/) is facing eviction if she can't gather $2,500 within a few days. She lives in the Philippines and this amount is very, very hefty for her; combined that with the fact that she had to bribe the police to get her mother out of a military camp not long ago--it cost her $10,000--she's severely hard-pressed to dredge up more money right now. My own journal has limited exposure and I was hoping you might be willing to link to my friend's entry detailing Ju's circumstances, because every cent will help. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
maureenlycaon	9:11p	Two old scifi novels: "Dream Games", "War Games" Has anyone else out there ever heard of these two scifi novels by Karl Hansen? A post on Elf's LJ reminded of them. Published waaay back in the 1980s, they were two novels of pretty much the sort of thing I like to write and read now: morally ambiguously, extremely dark and even more disturbing, full of decadence, violence, and perversion. Oh, yes, and furries. Actually, in certain of their elements they're too unpleasant even for me. ( Cut for length and NSFW unpleasantness ) At the end of Dream Games, Mark explains that in the future, he sees his armies will have Terra under seige, but that then the Terrans will develop a terrible new weapon, and he does not know what will happen after that. I eagerly awaited the sequel, wondering what would happen. And waited. And waited. It was never published. To this day I sometimes wonder sadly what happened to Karl Hansen. It was this discussion in elfs LJ that brought this up in my mind over the past couple of days. Current Mood: pensive Current Music: Rammstein - Mein Herz Brennt (Comment on this)
beccastareyes	9:35p	Holidays, with a dose of Writing Emo The period of time from November 1st until I go on my holiday break always stinks, with the exception of Thanksgiving. I had a lovely time, by the way. I visited my aunt, and we had 17 people for dinner (my aunt Maryjean, her husband, two sons and one grandson, my uncle Bobby, his girlfriend, one daughter, one son-in-law and two grandkids, my uncle Donny, his wife and their two daughters, and my uncle Jay. Plus me.*) ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
limyaael	8:39p	Rant on avoiding a villain monologue I’m sorry to have been gone so long. Major health issues as well as writer’s block on the rants meant that I had little to post. While I think I’ll be posting more regularly again, I can’t promise it. _____________________________________________________________________________ This rant brought to you by Magic Bites, an urban fantasy novel that I read recently and liked well enough—with the exception of one major irritant. I bet you can guess right now what it is. ( This is a temptation, yes, but there is a difference between feeling it and giving in to it ) Villain monologues irritate me for the same reason that idiot plots do: there’s no reason for them to exist, not when you have so many interesting tricks to avoid them. (53 Comments |Comment on this)
maureenlycaon	6:38a	Testing, testing, one, two, three This is to see if I've fixed multiple-journal posting in Semagic. (Comment on this)
Monday, November 30th, 2009
yayforjae	11:13p	Whoohoo! All done! NaNo is over! This pleases the Beatles. Current Mood: accomplished (Comment on this)
yayforjae	9:55p	XD Current Mood: woot (Comment on this)
tigresslilly	12:40p	On Family and Other Sour Spots I hate family holidays. It's not as bad as it used to be. There isn't a mind numbing soul obliterating anxiety about them anymore as there used to be. There's just a dull ache of worry and some slight stomach tremors. Really the worst bit was that I thought I'd probably never have to go to a shin dig like this again. I would go one day, I just would never have to. I didn't want to talk about where I'd been what I'd been doing and how I was. I'm better but not so well that I can always talk about Zac or Wyoming or what was a fairy tale life that while childish and unsustainable was also beautiful. I just can't talk about it especially with people who don't get it and no one in my family gets it. Instead I gave short answers and listened to long unending diatribes of how awesome everyone else is. I was glad they were well but I could have done without the jabs at where they were compared to me. I sincerely hope I never did that to them or anyone else, though my successes are so few and far between, I'm sure I've had little opportunity to knock some else further down that way. In particular my cousin, who works at Fenway went on and on about how boring but glamorous her job was, how much she hated living at home (though she does nothing there but sleep and hang out), and how wonderful her parties and nights out were. I wanted her to be successful. I was prepared to hear about her success and joy so it didn't even sting that much when she kept slighting me and where I was or discarding some of the work I have to do like chores and house upkeep and whatnot. What did sting was to find out later that her job at Fenway pays $9/hr she works no more than 30hrs a week and she doesn't get benefits. She'd sat there and scorned my retail work as less and demeaning when we make the same hourly rate, I work full time and my job gives me benefits. I don't have an hours commute by public transportation to pay for or anything. In other more pleasant news my bro got a letter from Mass Maritime and we think it might be his acceptance *hopefully*. I've got to wait for him to come home and open it but I'm super hopeful for him. It's very exciting. Also, they've finally corrected the comp and literacy portions of the mtels, I should finally have results and hopefully a license on the 9th. Maybe I've be able to pick up some second term work or start vigorously looking for the fall. I'm apprehensive and excited. I don't know what I'll do if this doesn't work and my parents feel strongly I'll need several other back up plans that I'm not sure how to approach but I'll have to figure something out soon I guess. (Comment on this)
Sunday, November 29th, 2009
maureenlycaon	9:46a	If any of you not currently playing WoW are considering it . . . NOW is probably a good time to act. I should have posted this yesterday, but forgot to, alas. Just for this weekend -- meaning, until tomorrow -- World of Warcraft is on sale. The deal is: the original World of Warcraft game is available as an electronic download for only 5$. That's right, 5$. It's seldom sold in stores alone any more, but when it is, it's normally offered for $20. Now, with this original game, you cannot go to Outland or Northrend, you can only level your character to level 60, and you won't be able to make a death knight, period. I think you also will not be able to make a blood elf or a Dranei. It's painfully limited. The only thing this original edition of the game is truly suited for is for the timid beginner who wants to spend the bare minimum of money finding out if they really, actually do want to play in the World of Warcraft -- so cautious that they are less afraid of having to spend more money on the expansions later than they are of making a mistake now. Because, trust me, if you decide you do want to play, you WILL be buying The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King. HOWEVER, you will still be playing online with other people, and you will have ten days to play free. After that, you have to subscribe. WoW has various payment plans -- by the month, every two months, every three months, annually, or using time cards (even gift time cards). Take note of this, kiddies, as it will be a little important later on. The other big deal, which is the one I recommend even for beginners, is this: the World of Warcraft Battlechest edition. With this, you get the original, base game, AND the Burning Crusade expansion. You'll get to make blood elves and Dranei if you want, and you can go to Outland and level up to 70. You also get two thoroughly out-of-date little game manuals, at no extra cost. You still won't ever be able to make a death knight, or go to Northrend (which is a fantastic place, if you ask me). Normally, it's $30 in stores. Supposedly only this weekend, Blizzard is selling the BOXED EDITION ONLY (not the download edition) for $20. Again, if you stick with the game, you WILL eventually be buying Wrath of the Lich King. Trust me. Again, you'll have ten days to play for free. Current Mood: sleepy (Comment on this)
yayforjae	11:47a	More NaNoing SQ Working on: Rescuing Mari from the docks, bringing her back to Atlantic Ave for the final battle. Word for this chapter: 1560 Have somehow miscalculated my score so that I'm 1000 words behind my previously estimated word count. Am back from my folks' house, am clean and have on fuzzy socks, will be making a second cup of tea. Am certainly not wasting time futzing around on DreamWidth. Nope. Definitely not doing that. Current Mood: hopeful (Comment on this)
dsgood	12:34a	Tuesday November 10, 2009 Veteran's Eve. (Americans don't celebrate the day before Veteran's Day, but might in the future.) ***As I woke up, I thought out the opening for _Dreams Do Kill Themselves_. ***To Savers thrift store on Lake Street, which has a 40% senior discount on Tuesdays. A sign on the door advertised a Veterans Day 50% off sale, but only for clothing. On Tuesdays, the average age of Savers customers is older than on other days. I bought a couple of magazine holders. Also a portable CD player. On to Aldi supermarket, where I bought fruit and peanut butter. On my way back, stopped in at DreamHaven Books. Back home, threw out a small wire bookshelf which had become useless. ***MadCon 2010's Guest of Honor will be Harlan Ellison. Mr. Ellison is a difficult person and has been known to find other persons difficult. He has added unprogrammed excitement to several conventions. ***LOCUS makes me feel old. They report that Pocket Books will stop publishing hardcovers and trade paperbacks, and begin publishing mass market paperbacks. I remember when mass market paperbacks were called "pocket books." (LOCUS does say that Pocket Books used to be paperback publishers before they went upscale.) Possible future: Burger King stops serving hamburgers. And some time later, news stories will say that Burger King will be going to offer hamburgers. ***Culinary experiments: Toast with peanut butter and walnut pieces. Fried eggs with walnut pieces. Both okay, but not more than okay. ***Set down an opening for _Dreams Do Kill Themselves_; not the one which had seemed so right while I was waking up (Comment on this)
Friday, November 27th, 2009
maureenlycaon	9:46p	What I did today. I felt like I did nothing today and am getting nearly choked up and in tears about it. Getting choked up and in tears about my life is something that's happening distressingly often these days. Maybe it's menopause. Maybe . . . well, it gets into some personal stuff. Today I: 1.) Leveled up my little Dranei hunter on Moon Guard, and ended up helping another player who'd never run a hunter before. She has a warlock at 80, she's just never played a hunter. We ended up talking for more than an hour and friending each other. 2.) Writing two and a half hours in Battleworld with Manya. 3.) Went to the gym and worked out. 4.) Bought food. 5.) Went home and leveled a Night Elf hunter I have Alliance-side on Feathermoon, so he'll be high enough level that I can get to Stormwind and maybe watch this roleplay event tomorrow. 6.) Sat in bed and read a bit further and did some checkmarking in the cognitive-behavior therapy book my therapist gave to me. 7.) Lay down for a nap (at around 3:30PM) despite my better judgement and the fact that the lawn desperately needs mowing. 8.) Woke up at 9PM. In my lexicon, that's known as "crashing and burning". 9.) Commented on a few people's LiveJournals. Current Mood: depressed (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
mirisa_ardruna	12:59p	It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... The bad news is that it's been starting to look like it for WEEKS now. Seriously. WEEKS. As in there were still Halloween things up when Christmas stuff started popping up on people's houses and lawns and such, and being TURNED ON!! There have been lights LIT on O Street for weeks now! I've seen the Twelve Days of Christmas decorations up for ages now too--and one store had a toy soldier lit up. South Pointe's been Christmased up already too. *shakes head* And Christmas music is playing intermittently on the radio--although there was a distinct WTF moment for me when a Sirius station billed as "love songs" was playing nonstop Christmas music. Um. Yeah. They HAVE a Christmas-only station! What the hell are they taking over the love songs for?! Now, in Nebraska, since the weather is a game of Russian Roulette in November, it's reasonably understandable that people get things up early so they aren't trying to do it in snow. But having it up is one thing. Having it TURNED ON is quite another. Standard protocol states that Christmas decorations may be turned on and such after Thanksgiving, or on Thanksgiving night. That'd be TOMORROW, kids. Oy. Anyway, after tomorrow, Christmas me up. I'll take it then. But when you see turkeys AND candy canes up at the SAME HOUSE... it's a little weird. In the meantime, bright blessings on all your Thanksgivings out there. Current Mood: annoyed Current Music: Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Eve Sarajevo (1 Comment |Comment on this)
gwionfawyr	10:59a	Nano'd! Now on to the real work. 89185 / 75000 That is the final word count before my fingers fall the hell off. I hit the 50k, my original 75k and almost made it to 100k. Now I just have my last homework assignments to do, an essay to write for English, and some programs to finish coding. Icy/Hot, you are my friend today! Jenn Current Mood: crazy Current Music: U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (Comment on this)
naodrith	2:53a	Basically starting over again sucks. I am now in only one game that I was also in yesterday, yet five games total. Blech. NO MORE. Nobody ask me to join more. I shouldn't have been suckered into most of these. ( To-do list ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)

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