The Fist & Ferret

(See what I did there?)

Anyway, Facebook has a new application, where you de-friend 10 of your facebook friends and get a free Whopper.

Considering how srz bzns friending can be, and to throw it all away for a sandwich, I predict WANK.

• flourish: What would I do if I were LJ? - My friend Mike Arauz got me thinking about what I would do if I were LiveJournal/SUP to start making money. -
  
  (tags: LJ)


• miriam_heddy: Why we do what we do: riding the wave - If I stick with a given fandom even after noticing it is racist or misogynist, even after being hurt by it, and my friends allow me to do so by providing a cushion of sorts that makes the unpalatable acceptable, then is this a good thing? Is it a positive thing? Are we becoming resistant readers to that racism and misogny, or merely callous toward it? -
  
  (tags: fandom gender race merlin)

If Edward were a real person, he'd freak out and shoot someone.

Probably not lulzy enough for sparklefield but I wanted to share.

The curious case of Omar González (some images NSFW), a Spanish-language fanartist whose art seems to have been entirely copied (though perhaps not traced) from other fanartists. Ho hum. The more surprising part: he charged $25-$150 commissions for his work.

Title: The Needs of the One
Fandom: Harry Potter
Warnings: It has that so-called fourth Marauder in it. You know, the unsmexy one.
Rating: NS/P for No Smut/No Slash/No Pairing
Disclaimer: JKR created the world and characters. Suck it up and deal.
Summary: Wormtail has to make a decision.


( The Needs of the One )

I found this on my hard drive. I can't remember if I wrote it, or if someone else did and I just snagged it. Anyway, I'm posting it. If it's yours, let me know so I can credit you. :D

***

Sometimes Muggle artifacts weren't all Arthur Weasley brought home from work.

Sometimes he brought home wizarding artifacts. He hadn't expected to find anything as unmagical as black roses hidden under the drawing room floor of the Malfoy house but there had been bushels of them down there. Black rose petals were only used to make satchels for keeping Doxies away from your knicker drawer. They were just terrifically unevil for a Malfoy.

The stack of bills, also found under the floorboards, told the rest of the tale. Arthur clucked his tongue in unwilling sympathy. The extensive renovations, all part of a misguided effort to turn a quite-nice house into a "manor;" the incredible amounts of cosmetics--the "Lush" bills alone would strain any man's income; the odd Muggle artifacts from "Wiccan" bookshops, whatever those might turn out to be--the Malfoys had obviously been living beyond their means for years.

Arthur had even found a veedeoh tape tucked behind a bag of crystals (for jewelry making?). It said The Craft across the top and featured scantily-clad Muggle women looking sultry. Nothing dangerous for the Ministry to take care of here. Tonks might like the veedeoh, though, and there was a witch in who made jewelry as a fund-raiser for St. Mungo’s who could use the crystals.

Of course, the real stunner had been the lockbox protected with an Out-Keeper Charm. He’d been a little confused as to why Malfoy would bother with such a thing; the Out-Keeper was something little girls used to keep snooping brothers from their diaries. Surely anything of the Dark Arts would be better protected than this! Arthur broke it easily, and opened the lockbox.

The contents were even more confusing: more lotions, and a book titled Tantric Magick. Arthur felt a twinge of disappointment. Muggles might be able to make airplanes stay up in the air, but apparently some of them couldn’t spell. He flipped through a few pages.

Arthur blinked. “Oh, my.” He flipped through a few more pages. “Really!” A pause. “You know, I think Molly would like some of these…”

A New Year's Day shooting in which a subway police officer fired a deadly shot into the back of an unarmed man has the San Francisco Bay Area demanding answers as authorities appeal for patience.

Bay Area Rapid Transit spokesman Linton Johnson told CNN affiliate KTVU-TV in Oakland, California, that the officer is presumed innocent and described him as devastated.

Attorney John Burris called the shooting "unconscionable" and said he filed a $25 million claim with BART on Tuesday, alleging wrongful death and violation of civil rights by use of excessive force. BART has 45 days to respond, Burris said.

"It's a clear shooting in the back that should not have taken place," Burris said, characterizing the incident as a case of "overagressiveness by police."

They have two videos of the officers forcing this guy to the ground and shooting him, and they call it 'overagressiveness by the police'? That's the understatement of the year. What really gets me is that further down in the article it says that he was trying to calm everyone down and get them to do what the police said.

Severus and Harry Potter

December Challenge: Snape and Harry

• sarken: A magic question? - So last night, as I lay in bed wondering, "What happens next?", I realized I was asking the wrong question. -
  
  (tags: writing fanfic)

Is LJ being exceptionally robust, or is it just me?  Vandalism by pissed-off ex-employees?

It's probably just me.  But I can't get to LJstatus to find out for sure, so I thought I'd post here.

Sorry to bother everyone (okay, I'm not.  Not really.)

Edited to add:  Okay, not just me, then.  On the one hand, Phew.  On the other hand...I bet this has the potential to become epic.  Even when it turns out to be just a hiccup.

Edited again to add:  Now when LJ comes up it shows the following message:  LiveJournal.com is currently unavailable due to emergency maintenance. Don't worry, this has nothing to do with our recent company layoffs! It's a technical problem, not a lack-of-personnel problem.

Thank you for your patience.

Final edit:  It's baa-ack.  And I'm going to the bookstore.

And GreatestJournal is dead.

http://www.greatestjournal.com

A week in the new year, and two journaling services are already dead? That's harsh. Check out the 403 error.

While gamer sites are doing the "Best/Worst of 2008" awards, Zero Punctuation decides to do one too... but a little bit differently.

http://ggymeta.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/working-on-my-birthday/

http://ggymeta.wordpress.com/?p=3581

I’m due on a flight for LA in about an hour; I’m worried about it-because we’ve lost two writers so far on the team due to cut-backs.  They were called out to California the same way, and the only writer left on the ghost-team that hasn’t been [and likely wont be] affected, is the guy [...]

1. So, now that Make it Rough is on sale (and excerpted at the Changeling Press blog, if you're curious), I'm doing other things.
Specifically, I'm writing and researching other things. Yes, more than one: I get more writing done when I can switch from project to project.
But one of the things I'm tentatively writing/researching/poking at is another doll-related fic, and the research for that is proving interesting. More interesting than usual. I am venturing into new, uncharted territory--or, at least, territory for which I personally haven't seen a chart--and talking to some new people.
Specifically, I've been communicating with a couple of the folks at CoverDoll. (If you're at work or there are children hanging around your screen, you probably shouldn't click these links). I asked them for input, and a couple have been kind enough to provide some. It's one of the more unusual conversations I've had in a long time. Check it out.

2. I would dearly love my own page at Fanlore, but I would feel like such an ass writing it up myself. Would anyone like to do a swap? I could give you my info, you could give me yours, and we could write up each others'? I don't know, that would just feel less weird to me.

3. Regarding flocked posts: I hate when people break flock, but that does remind me: possibly I should post unflocked sometimes. Not that anything I post is of urgent importance or anything, but if every single fandom opinion or burst of squee is locked down, it does make it more difficult for fandom to function, particularly for anyone trying to enter a new fandom. No, I'm not saying the growth in secrecy is any excuse for flock breaking; I'm just saying, it's a human thing for any community to want to talk about stuff, and if you never ever provide anything to talk about, then it's less of a community and more a series of enclaves.
And I have, like a lot of people, fallen into the habit of flocking everything, mostly just because meanspirited stupid gossip disinclines you to participate in communities, but...I don't know, possibly I should flock less.

Snapedom - Snape as a father

See also the comments to this fanfic by mary_j_59.

http://feeds.sfgate.com/click.phdo?i=5cb0589d58db9a125dffcaa5394e1952

I do not know you. I do not know your temperament or your cosmic calibration or what angle of disposition governs your very being. Not yet, anyway. I do not know, therefore, whether or not your heart allows or enjoys or for some ungodly reason really,...

Doubtless you saw this in Metafandom, but I thought I'd post it here too.
Portfollies.com poll

"Portfollies will be a social networking website where people can upload their portfolios (text, image, video and audio files), both original and fan works. The website will also offer communities/forums, and a variety of tools to help with creation and communication."

On Anime News Network's Chicks On Anime, this week's topic is censorship/editing in anime and manga. (Gee, this sure isn't going to cause wank at all.) The participants talk about different kinds of editing that North America and Japan do including nudity, violence, sexuality, smoking and alcohol, racism, AIDS, homophobia, loli/shota, and anything editors/publishers force the creators to change because they say so. It doesn't take long for the forum to become unfunny. (Ex-Answerman Zac is in there too. I am so surprised. Really.)

Speaking of censoring, ANN also posted about Kodomo no Jikan's second season promo being streamed. (Zac, the one blamed for KnJ being canceled for release in NA, in this one too.)

Edit: For anyone who wonders whether KnJ is pedo or not, all you have to do is look at the official merchandise. (Warning: Keep Brain and Eye Bleach near you, you'll need it. Oh God...)

( Water. And bubbles on water. Fun. )

BTW when I asked what people would see in the ice picture I was curious if I was the only one who would see the bovine face. Turns out it maybe wasn't as obvious as I thought, but I wasn't the only! \o/

This is pretty and elegant. And Chinese. Flowing. I wish the audience would save all that clapping for the end though. I mean, I can understand being excited, but still.

Look at those kittens from the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee.

I wanted to write more but I'm busy playing around with animated gifs, so maybe I'll attach an ETA or two later.

ETA: In a complete reversal of the way the things are, it turns out that P!cat makes great icon-sized animations, while D!cat's turn out lousy. I guess stripes just don't do the resizing so well. :P
( 6 animated gifs )