LJ Makes an Official Announcement In Regards to the Changes at LJ HQ: News at Eleven

As always LJ responds back to the community to debunk all media rumours days AFTER it's already taken place. A bad business move on their part, but needless to say, the post was met with mixed reactions.

Some sympathise with SUP, others are worried about the future of the site, its customers, and treatment of their US employees, and the rest blame the economy.

Either way, it's still not an excuse for a bad attempt at arse coverage. Is it just me, or is anyone else picking up a somewhat chauvinistic vibe from this recent news post?

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So I finished reading Watchmen a little while ago. The thing is, when I try out something that I know my friends like, I feel really weird and uncomfortable when/if it turns out that I don't like that thing as much as they do.

Sometimes, with fandoms like Due South or The Sentinel or Blade Runner, there's a bit of a left-out feeling; the idea that there's something really awesome there, and if I could just look at it the right way, like one of those 3-D pictures, I, too, could 'get it' and see the dolphin.

Sometimes, it's that people can feel really uncomfortable when they're all squeeful about something that their friends don't like. It's the fandom equivalent of dating the Bad Boyfriend; he makes you happy, you're ecstatically happy and, at the same time, your friends can't stand him and it's awkward. And I don't like the idea of imposing that feeling on anyone.

On the other hand, I really dislike the idea of self-censoring myself because I'm scared it could, possibly, at some point make someone feel bad. I don't extend that to mean that I need to air my opinion on everything I think about everything (else this journal would have a LOT more entries), but I also do a lot of my processing and thinking through the transmutative medium of writing things down and if I'm at a place where I want or need to process something, I don't want to deprive myself of that based on an ephemeral maybe.

Um. So take that as a disclaimer or something. I didn't hate Watchmen, by any means, but I don't love it, either and I'm trying to work that all out. So if that's going to harsh your squee, don't click the link, ne pas?

( Need I point out that this will be very spoilery? )

Current Mood: thoughtful

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• 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)

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Daily Count: 383
Weekly Count: 7,047
YTD: 7,047

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AKB 39: 159 words. I am SO OVER this creative dry well I have going on right now. Yeah, blah, blah, cycle...but okay. ENOUGH NOW. On the other hand, it's nice to get back (sorta) to Jared and Jensen being friends. It's something I've wanted to have more present and, as Jensen observed, something he hasn't had a lot of time for. I feel like I could spend ridiculous amounts of time exploring this world and these characters and the struggle is always in choosing the details that will keep the narrative tight and moving while not being so storyline oriented that I lose dimensionality.

On the other hand, this conversation between Jared and Jensen feels kind of limping and I can't tell if that's my writer-muse issues or whether it's actually limping. I suspect it's all me.

Appetite: 18 words. *cries* I MISS this story so badly. But at the same time, I feel like I've lost confidence in it in a big way and I don't know how to get it back. I open the file nearly every day and most days, I end up closing it unaltered. The fact that 18 words is a triumph makes me so sad. I don't know how to get my mojo back, but I'd really, really like to.

Rules of Attraction (Criminal Minds): 206 words. So I pimped wrenlet into Criminal Minds. And she, in turn, has re-pimped me into doing a rewatch. Despite my deep, craving yen for long, character-driven fic about two of the characters overcoming their many, many issues to grudgingly and gradually get together, my new fanon is that Hotch and Reid have been messing around since before the pilot. I don't know if I'm going to write anything (else) about it or if I'm going to post this little doodle (when/if I finish it), but it pleases me to think of it.

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What pleases me: They work with some of the smartest, most perceptive minds in the world. Profiling is their work, but it's also their hobby, it's a reflex. Even in normal workplaces, only about 26% of office romances remain hidden. Theirs is not a normal workplace.

What I'm reading: Still chugging through World War Z. I haven't really done any reading for the last couple days, though. *face* Need to get back to that.

Distractions: I think my biggest problem is a lack of words and that makes it easy for me to be distracted by whatever shiny blows past. But mostly I'm just staring at that cursor, watching it mock me. On the other hand, I have new FNL to watch and JDM's interview on Jimmy Kimmel to fill me with wild, crazy flail. Oh, JEFF. How do you be so wonderfully adorkable?

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Happy birthdays to fidelis5588, rei_c and zvi_likes_tv. I hope it's the most joyous of days for you all.

Current Mood: frustrated

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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 )

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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…”

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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.

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• 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)

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Anderson Cooper cameo in the newest issue of Buffy Season 8! (Um, I wouldn't say no to crossover fic.) (Harmony Bites, too.) And Doctor Who: The Forgotten #5 ... homg. *whimpers* Next issue pls?

Also, grow your own Tenth Doctor.

Lastly, reposting this pic where everyone can see it:



Annual homemade Christmas ornament from mom is awesome, click to enlarge.

Current Mood: tired

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And now that I'm done being angry about my fish, I'm really sad. :( This sucks bear balls.

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I go through all of the worm treatments and sound and fury and drama of getting the lone surviving apistogramma well enough to go in the Battlestar. I put her in and an hour later she's being eaten by a goddamn shrimp. A GODDAMN SHRIMP! She's still alive, but has no tail (like seriously, not just fin, tail itself) and is pretty much a dead fish swimming. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!

Apparently I am not meant to have apistos. I give up. No pretty little cichlids for me.

FUCKERS!

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HOLY GODS.

So my friends (niquerio and dreamsquirrel on lj) sent me a package for the holiday, with no note or card or anything: it held a USB external hard drive enclosure with a 250 GB SATA hard drive in it. Which was way, way more than they should have done, considering all they got from me was a box of reject books and a Christmas card with the Grinch on it. But I wasn't going to say no to 250 gigs of storage, considering my tendency to hoard mp3s and butterfly between fandoms, torrents in tow.

But then I finally got it hooked up tonight (note to self: make sure actual hard drive is actually connected to enclosure) and it's not a 250 gig spare drive: it's a 250 gig drive with 200 gigs of mp3s on it.

And this is the couple who probably have the best taste in music (and know more about it) of everyone I know, so it's all *good* music. Album upon album of early music, folk music of all kinds, geek rock, video games, world fusion, showtunes, 1930s swing ...

I don't have enough time left in my *lifespan* to listen to all of this!

Holy gods.

(um. Proper new-year update coming soon. Just. holy gods.)

Current Mood: *thud*

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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.

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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.

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Fandom: CWRPS
Pairing: None. Sort of Chris Kane/Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Rating: Adult
Warnings: Slave fic. Language. Abuse of RL events.
Disclaimer: This is in no way a true story.
Word Count: 2,744
AN: Another outtake from the AKB universe. Theoretically could stand alone, with basic knowledge of the universe. Takes place about 15 years before the current timeline. Big thanks to those who held my hand: beanside, meredevachon, mona1347 & nilchance. *mwah*

---

( I'll manage. Master. )

Current Mood: busy

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Daily Count: 1,560
Weekly Count: 6,664 (I'm changing my format for this to sync up with findyourwords, which statuses on Thursdays)
YTD: 6,664

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AKB: 1,560 words. OMG, that's more like it! Finished the Kane outtake; just need to polish it up and then I'll be posting it today. The "outtake" is now as long as any of the LONG chapters of AKB. *sighs* This just highlights my inability to judge how long it's going to take me to say anything. Of course, my initial ideas about the outtake were complicated by realizing what had "canonically" happend to JDM in the same time frame as the events of the outtake. As someone who likes to mess around with this whole writing thing, I don't know if there's a greater pleasure than the random, textural seeds I've dropped in the story coming together in ecstatic serendipity into something that feels both brilliantly inspired (at least in the eye of the beholder) and bigger than myself.

I talk a lot about my stories as an observer, a recorder, a transcriptionist and that's how I think about them, a lot of the time. Something that comes to me from elsewhere and that I only have the most ephemeral of control over: the choice of a director--to pick what details I want to illuminate and which I want to push to the background, the choice where to pick up or put down, the opening and closing of scenes. So when all these small details that I'm juggling (but have "no control" over) come together...it's like finding the final clue that solves the mystery. The one thing that brings into relief all the others, taking them from being mere details to being breadcrumbs along a path. And I full on LOVE that.

I don't know if the readers ever enjoy those moments as much as the writers do, but I also don't know that it matters. La Muse has be fully collared and shackled with no hope of escaping. But when it's good, he makes it DAMN GOOD.

Anyway. Not sure what I'm going to work on today. *pokes at WIPs*

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So I'm not really in popslash fandom, but I did have a brief, intense flirtation with it and became really enamored of Rhys' work (so much so that I borrowed her Chris for a cameo in The Killing Moon). I was telling nilchance and beanside about Book of Secrets and found out that her site has been suspended. O NOES! I don't even know if she has an LJ or if her work is available anywhere else. I would hate to lost Book of Secrets or MPREG...does anyone know if her work is available elsewhere?

Happy birthday to lostakasha, whose poetry-prose always leads me to embarrassing heights of fawning and despair that I'll ever be able to do with words what she does.

Current Mood: excited

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And now a bit of food science.

I was told in my p-chem class that the reason you add salt to boiling vegetables is because it bursts some of the outer cell walls and makes the veggies appear greener.

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

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Back when Strikethrough was happening, I started using Semagic, and found instructions on how to use it to post to more than one journal at once. Of course, I forgot how to set it up, and the directions I'd bookmarked were on Greatestjournal. I have a new computer and I'd like to be able to simulpost; does anyone know how I can set that up again?

Thanks in advance!

ETA: Copious thanks to whiteserpent and tephra!

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Oh, Nip/Tuck, how could I have forgotten you were back tonight??

Also, WHO HAS THE MARK RONSON cover/remix of The Smith's "Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before"? WANTSES.

Current Mood: happy

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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."

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( Random BabyPish picture )

No reason!

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