ratcreature | Network

redsnake05 posting in

I love loaves, and am always on a quest to find good, exciting recipes for them. This is my most recent favourite, incorporating delicious dates. It is quite sweet (this is the original recipe, but I always cut back the sugar), and tends to be sensitive to burning on the bottom so the tin definitely needs lining.

( Recipe! )

ysabetwordsmith

Wolf quilt.

Current Mood: busy
Crossposts: http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/2843475.html

versaphile

Finished chapter 8! I had some bonus free time due to a nap, and plowed on through. Gauntlet count is now up to 113 pp / 49k words. I need to mull a bit on how to tackle chapter 9, since 8 left things in such a mess. Got some great OT4 action done, in fact all the main cast except the dragon. Now I need to figure out how to piece Merlin and Arthur back together.

In fact, now that I'm nearing the last third of the story, I'm going to have to start fleshing out all the vaguer outlined sections. I have a few very strong scenes tightly planned, some of them even in first draft form, but there's a bunch of stuff that needs to be properly approached. It will depend on how 9 goes.

Given the sheer amount of stuff that still needs to happen, I can already tell my length estimate is off. I'm averaging around 14pp / 6k per chapter, and if I keep to around that length, there's probably enough story for another, uh, 6 chapters at minimum, maybe 8? I don't have the whole battle stuff in detailed enough form to be sure. So yeah, probably 100k, not 80k. There's enough plot in this thing for three fics, but it just needs to be all in one.

Current Mood: accomplished
Crossposts: http://versaphile.livejournal.com/1972404.html

torachan

1. I got Monday off! Monday is Memorial Day, which is one of the federal holidays my work considers paid holidays for full-time employees. We don't get overtime if we work on a holiday, but if we work that day we can get another day off with pay, or if we don't work that day, we will still get paid for it. Because it's a Monday, I figured I wouldn't be able to get it off, since that's usually order day and I have to be there to print POs. But it looks like all the companies we order from are off, so ordering will be moved to Tuesday and I can have Monday off. I already have Sunday off, but I'm going out with Alexander that day, so this will be nice to have a day off after that to be able to just completely rest without going anywhere or seeing anyone.

2. I wasn't thrilled about working tonight on my day off, but I got to take home a ton of free meat, so that was a nice bonus. (I posted a picture on Twitter of my haul.)

chagrined

SO I FINALLY MADE MYSELF ONE SHINGEKI ICON 2 START WITH LOL. and it's not even snk proper, it's the high school humor parody spin-off hahaha. CLOSE ENOUGH :'D

I have also watched a lot more SnK OP parodies since the last time I posted some. SO I DECIDED TO POST ALL THE ONES I'VE ENJOYED SO FAR! so some are reposts and some are new. mostly from youtube b/c I can embed from there (the youtube ones are often reposts from niconico), but a few I couldn't find on yt so they are niconico links. you need an account to watch videos there but they're free/etc. so IF YOU ENJOY THESE YOU SHOULD MAKE ONE, THERE ARE LOTS ON THERE!

( ones I had already watched on/before may 2nd, most of which I already linked here )

( ones I watched since then and haven't linked here yet )

esteefee

So, I know folks have been chatting on the Internets about this Amazon Kindle Worlds thing (read Scalzi's thoughts on the matter), and I find the whole phenom interesting on a meta level, because it really was just a matter of time before someone figgered out a way to cash in on fanfiction, somehow, someway.

It really is quite ingenious, and it's all contained in this one little clause

"By using the platform, authors give all rights to the work to Amazon, who can then license your elements to other authors with no compensation to the original poster."

They're not trying to sugar-coat it at all. It's a straight-up, bare-bones IP theft type dealie, the kind of thing Big Media has been doing to comic book illustrators, musicians, and other artists since copyright first was invented, but even worser. Pennies, pennies will they offer to pay fanfiction writers for their brilliant plots and 'verses and OCs, because Hollywood has been out of ideas since 1965 and has been rehashing the same ol' since then.

If I have to see another remake of the A-Team or Tron, I'll eat my left sock.

So here it is: we are a gold mine, and they want to cash in by putting some pasty interns on the job of hashing through the heaps of fanfiction that impoverished writers will publish on the new service because they, you know, what to eat and stuff. One of these writers will make maybe $54 all-told on their fabulous 150K wd AU where, I dunno, some glittery vampire has a meet-cute with a barista at the magical coffee shop on the corner when he has an allergic reaction to her Chai latte. Which turns into the next mega hit for MGM starring Jennifer Lawrence and Ryan Gosling.

Writer goes to the movie, pays for the ticket out of her meager budget and gets to see her characters on the screen. But doesn't see her name on the ending scroll, or get paid a single penny.

Repeat ad infinitum.

Awesome.

Crossposts: http://esteefee.livejournal.com/144939.html

zarhooie

There were a lot of fascinating character tidbits to be teased out of IM3, but this is the one that's kept my attention for the better part of a month: The Creator vs The Mechanic.

( a whooooole lotta Tony Stark Meta. Cut for mild IM3 spoilers )

Crossposts: http://zarhooie.livejournal.com/1866932.html

blueraccoon

We had a fun day today--headed into Seattle to visit the EMP and meet up with a couple OTW staffers who live in the area (and who I will not name for anonymity reasons) and we had fun. We explored the museum, got a bite in the Pop bar/cafe in the museum, wandered around Seattle Center, went back to the Pop to sit and talk for hours, and eventually left around quarter to seven. sanders and I came home, relaxed for a bit, then hit Olive Garden (there's one in Lynnwood, about ten minutes from here) and then went to my old pharmacy for a prescription I hadn't known I was getting (more on that in a bit). All in all a good day although I could have done without the weird sugar crash/shaky/nauseated/ravenous thing I got after we wandered Seattle Center--either I had one weird sugar crash, and I say weird because I'd had plenty of protein and complex carbs for lunch, or the doxycycline made me reeeeeally sun sensitive and I got some kind of sun sickness (I thought it just made you more sensitive to getting sunburned but I could be wrong). Either way, after a Snickers and two LARABARs and some time just sitting with my eyes closed I was back to normal.

Re the prescription: I called both my neurologist and my PCP today and left messages with them--with the neuro I just asked if he wanted to see me because this headache thing isn't really getting better, or if he wanted to prescribe something I could take until it breaks or TO break it. However, I forgot to call until about a little before 4pm, so odds on him getting back to me before Tuesday are pretty much nil, given that I haven't gotten a call back yet. I also left a message with my PCP saying that one medication he gave me was discontinued and the other (keterolac, maybe?) just wasn't working at all, so what should I do. I did not get a call back from the doctor's office. I did, however, get an email notification from Walgreens letting me know I had a prescription ready for Fioricet. I've taken that before; it works pretty well, so I have that and hopefully it'll get me through until hopefully the doxycyline kills the sphenoid sinus infection I have going, if I even still have it; I can't tell anymore, all I know is that my head still hurts. If I have to see my doctor again I'm going to ask for a CT scan or MRI to show if I still have sphenoid sinusitis or not. That way at least I know what I have to deal with.

sigh. But I bought a really pretty colorful elephant mobile today at Folklife so that was something. And my dad was able to get me a free ticket to go home in July so yay on that.

Current Mood: awake

maddowblog_feed

Posted by Will Femia

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/05/25/18480922-decryptomaddowlogical-59

Tonight Rachel explained that the reason the I-5 bridge over the Skagit River collapsed was because its design consists of "fracture critical" members that share the burden of the bridge's load such that if one piece fails, the whole structure falls apart. As strong as all those beams and girders look, ultimately

Need help? Need to shout out the answer without spoiling anyone else's game?

There's a thread for that.

*Remember to mention the number of the puzzle you're talking about.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/05/25/18480922-decryptomaddowlogical-59

alchemise

I've been offhandedly watching Revolution and every time Mark Pellegrino appears, I automatically assume he's someone's hallucination of Lucifer.

It's making this show both rather confusing and more interesting than it really is.

Crossposts: http://alchemise.livejournal.com/203850.html

kate

( Cut for spoilers. )

We're up in Boston at the moment (

soleta is sleeping already, naw) and heading to Massachusetts Sheep and Wool Festival tomorrow (sheepdogs FTW!). What, you thought I went for the yarn? Nah, that's

soleta's bag. But I do like to pet it.

ng_photooftheday_feed

Posted by USER ID: 460860

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photo-of-the-day/coral-reef-roatan/

This Month in Photo of the Day: The Stories Behind Your Shots

After snorkeling with my family in the breathtaking coral reefs of Roatan, Honduras, I sat outside the balcony of the cruise ship we were traveling on to admire the life and beauty of the ocean. I took the photo with a Nikon D3100 with an 18-55mm lens while the boat was lifting the anchors of the cruise ship just before we sailed away. —Jessica Karcz

This photo and caption were submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.

Get tips for finding a fresh point of view »
See more pictures of coral »

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photo-of-the-day/coral-reef-roatan/

elf

TUG, which stands for The Untitled Game (because the designers want to focus on player-driven creativity rather than telling them what kind of game to play) has less than a week to go on its kickstarter.

It needs just over $50k, which seems like a stretch but not a horribly unreasonable one. $15 is the basic "digital copy of game" level, which won't have DRM, and has both a solo option and the shared server options. They're planning on having several servers with different options, including some no-PVP ones. (Maybe someday someone will convince me there's a value in PVP, but that day is not likely to happen this year.) I'm at the $45 beta-access level; $65 is where alpha access kicks in.

The computer requirements are fairly troublesome: Windows 7 or 8 only; 4GB RAM; Quad-core Intel® or AMD processor; DirectX® 11 compatible card with 1 GB of memory, nVidia® 4XX+/AMD 5XXX+. I don't have one of those but I need to upgrade my home system in the next few months anyway.

The K'start daily updates are worth reading; the official site has active forums (badly arranged so you can't see them or switch between them easily) that are worth looking at. I've become convinced the dev team is dedicated to diversity and creativity, and they've been very gracious in the face of suspicion and cynicism. I'm hoping they get funded because I love the artwork and what little bits I've seen of the world; I'd love to play this game. (If they don't get funded, I believe they'll still produce it; it'll just take much longer, and they might need a corporate sponsor.)

ysabetwordsmith

This story is a sequel to "Love Is for Children," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," and "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," and "Birthday Girl."

Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanova, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Hulk, Steve Rogers, Betty Ross, JARVIS, Bucky Barnes, Nick Fury.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Mind control. Inferences of past child abuse and other torture. Current environment is supportive.
Summary: A mission in Russia introduces the Avengers to the Winter Soldier. Steve wants Bucky back and will stop at nothing to make that happen. Everyone else helps however they can.
Notes: Asexual character (Clint). Aromantic character (Natasha). Asexual relationship. Sibling relationships. Fix-it. Teamwork. Canon-typical violence. BAMF!Avengers. Vulgar language. Drama. Rescue. Hurt/Comfort. Emotional whump. Survivor guilt. Friendship. Confusion. Mind control. Memory loss. Slow recovery. Nick Fury makes stupid-ass decisions. Fear of loss. Arc reactor. Fluff. Nonsexual ageplay. Making up for lost time. Tony Stark has a heart. Games. Trust issues. Safety and security. Howard Stark's A+ parenting. Obadiah Stane's A+ parenting. Food issues. Multiplicity/Plurality. Sleep issues. Non-sexual touching and intimacy. Yoga. Personal growth. Family of choice. ALL THE FEELS. #coulsonlives.

Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

breezeshadow posting in

fucking_meds

Dear Zoloft,

So I missed a few days of you because I ran out and my doctor was out of town, and I figured I could last a few days without you. Which I did.

But it seems you took that opportunity to whack me with side effects again. The exhaustion is okay since caffeine helps, but I'm trying to lower my caffeine intake since, you know, withdrawal headaches.

That's not my real problem though. My REAL problem is the string of OMGWTFBBQ dreams. I've always had them since I was in sixth grade. But they usually don't involve me eating T-shirts. Or reporting car accidents. Or whatever the hell else has happened this week in my sleep.

Brain and Zoloft? Stop this "Let's make her sleeping useless by making her dream about being served a T-shirt with her meal but deciding she was full and would wear it instead!" nonsense. Or at least limit it to only a few days a week like was semi-normal in HS and college. I want to get a bit of rest.

Passing out at 10PM,

Brittany

Dear Levsin,

Where have you BEEN all of my life? And I seriously mean all of it, since I was a colicky baby of epic proportions.

Tonight for whatever stupid reason my intestines began their "cramp, cause nasty pain, and bloat like I'm pregnant" charade yet again, and though disappointed I had to take you the same day you were prescribed, I did. And holy shit.

The pain went away. The bloating went away. I didn't clutch at my stomach and want to double over standing up. Why the fuck wasn't I given this at my old clinic when I complained of IBS? Why do I keep getting MORE evidence of how terrible they were?

The weird vision I had when driving home may have been you though. It wasn't anything dangerous but you know, I have bad enough vision. Don't make it worse. And DEFINITELY don't make me hallucinate.

Otherwise though, I already love you. Let's continue this relationship.

<3,

Brittany

Current Mood: exhausted

sara

These cats are so far up in my business that it has ceased to be mine and instead become theirs.

alchemise

This show really is the tragic love story of Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter. Like, that just is the story they're telling. I am so glad was Bryan Fuller wasn't even kidding a little bit about that.

Will and Hannibal may be my favorite fucked up relationship on TV, and that's saying something.

( spoilers! )

Crossposts: http://alchemise.livejournal.com/203730.html

metaphortunate

So toilet training, unsurprisingly, began with me freaking out. ( Cut to spare those who do not wish to read a huge long thing about toilet training. )

Crossposts: http://metaphortunate.livejournal.com/47408.html

mrkinch

( You're about to view content which the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

james_davis_nicoll

What is the most horrifyingly ancient and decrepit piece of infrastructure on which you are forced to depend?

Crossposts: http://james-nicoll.livejournal.com/4374311.html

heresluck

I'm sitting here looking at this hot mess of a vid draft and realizing that I honestly have no idea whether the problem is that these are all the wrong clips or that they're the right clips in the wrong order. Or both. Probably some of both. Dammit.

I think it's officially time for bed.

Crossposts: http://heresluck.livejournal.com/388214.html

maddowblog_feed

Posted by Will Femia

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/05/24/18478489-links-for-the-524-trms

The many citations for Friday's show are listed after the jump.

Modern Marvels: St. Lawrence Seaway

US interstate highway map

Steel truss bridges

Span wasn't built to take critical hit

Security video captures I-5 bridge collapse

Interstate 5 Bridge Collapses After Being Hit by Truck

Sequestration Hits Memorial Day Events Nationwide

Three big federal agencies to close Friday

4 federal agencies to shut Friday

IRS To Be Closed May 24, Four Other Days Due to Budget and Sequester; Filing and Payment Deadlines Unchanged

IRS Gets Friday Off – Without Pay

Lerner Replaced on Acting Basis Day After Not Testifying

IRS news poised to slow — leaving questions of what's next

IRS Safeguards Toothless in Tea Party Nonprofit Cases

Health Canada

Ken Cuccinelli, seeking governor's seat, stands to get an edge with Va. GOP's switch to convention

E.W. Jackson: Pro-Gay Rights Liberals 'Have Done More to Kill Black Folks' than the 'Ku Klux Klan'

The 20 Craziest Tweets From The Man Who Could Be Virginia's Next Lt Governor

MAJORITY OF SENATE REPUBLICANS AND HALF OF HOUSE REPUBLICANS REFUSE TO VOTE YES ON GAY JUDGE- UPDATED

Reports of fetal deaths; medical certification; investigation by medical examiner; confidentiality of information concerning abortions. (pdf)

E.W. Jackson a wild card in Va. GOP campaign

McDonnell being investigated over disclosure statements

New documents raise more questions about financing of McDonnell's daughter's wedding

Cuccinelli discloses more gifts from Star Scientific CEO

FBI looking into relationship between McDonnells, donor

McDonnell mum on chef's claims

McDonnell says he's still able to govern

For Sale: A Video of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Smoking Crack Cocaine

Geographic Boundaries of United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts (pdf)

Rob Ford in 'crack cocaine' video scandal

This story has it all: the mayor of North America's fourth largest city, a crack den, a hidden camera, and a missing tipster

Rob Ford Crackstarter

Rob Ford crack scandal: Gawker's 'Crackstarter' campaign hits snag as it nears $200,000 goal, editor says

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/05/24/18478489-links-for-the-524-trms

james_davis_nicoll

Crossposts: http://james-nicoll.livejournal.com/4374166.html

revolutionaryjo

( You're about to view content which the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

icarus

In Kindle Worlds

flourish hits every point where Amazon's new effort is different from Fanlib.

Except one.

Amazon agrees to compensate fanfic writers. Not Fanlib's vague "hey, we're connected to publishing companies that might, somehow, benefit you as a writer. We think. Use your imagination how!"

With Kindle Worlds there's actual cash money going to the fic writers.

Problems with it? Oh, heck yeah, I'm sure. I haven't researched it much yet (read: at all). But I'm willing to bet plenty of broke fic writers will be sniffing around this offer.

I'm tempted. Four years of working part time with no benefits? A temple where we're going to be doing practice outside with the cicadas? Yeah. Cautious. But interested. And I don't even write those fandoms.

I never expected anything like this, not in my wildest "the truth is we're out here" posts.

Personally, I credit The Organization of Transformative Works for the fast and recent shift in attitudes about fan writers, treating us as writers, wow.

Remember, it was only 2003 when Raincoast Books sent Cease & Desist orders to The Restricted Section for its NC-17 Harry Potter fic. In 2004, Yahoo Groups TOS'd one fanfic Yahoo Group after another, driving fans to Livejournal. In 2007 came Fanlib, which hoped to profit (from ads? it was never clear how) and exploit fanfic writers but viewed them as teenyboppers complete with their "Hey, Kids!" Disney layout. OTW got off the ground almost immediately afterward, and the archive went into beta testing in 2008.

By 2011, 50 Shades Of Gray was able to openly acknowledge its fanfic roots. That's a big change, very, very quickly. It's not all OTW. We have the aca-fen and new generation that's grown up on the internet coming of age. But I believe that the newly positive attitudes toward fanfic have a lot to do with the OTW.

I need to renew my membership.

ETA: Scalzi weighs in on the downsides for writers. His perspective is not the fanwriters, but the lowering of standards for prowriters. Right off the bat (I may change my mind), it seems to me that the prowriters need to stop sneering at the fanfic writers and include them in their union (how? I don't know how...) or risk watering down the protections that writers get in general. I'm pro-union and these are hard-won protections. We need to not have a lower class of writer called "fanfic writer" ripe for exploitation.

Here the work-for-hire authors who were contracted to participate ahead of the release weigh in. They consider it standard ghost writing and are pretty positive about their experience.

Current Mood: contemplative

carthaginians posting in

poetry

( cw: death, depression )

edenfalling

I am over the minimum wordcount for my Ladystuck Dark fic, but I am not finished by a long shot. I have... *checks outline* ...three more scenes to write. Maybe four, depending on how the last two play out in practice -- they are the ones that start to break the previously established pattern so who knows what might happen when the words hit the page!

This story is definitely in line with the dark!fic theme of this Ladystuck iteration, but I can't help finding it utterly ridiculous as well, if only because it is stolen lock, stock, and barrel from a hodge-podge of things I've previously written -- and which I will gleefully link to once authors are revealed.

Ah well, back to the salt mines!

---------------

ETA, 1:15am - Success! Okay, so I missed the deadline by ten minutes -- I threw up an almost finished version ten minutes to 1 o'clock and then wrote the last 250 words or so in a frantic rush (and fixed some of the previous ones while I was at it), but hopefully that is close enough.

I think I may have ended up with more "creepy" than "dark," but again, that should be close enough.

Now I shall reward myself with milk and cookies, since I've already had quite enough alcohol for the night, whoops.

Current Mood: ever-so-slightly tipsy
Current Location: ithaca, ny
Crossposts: http://edenfalling.livejournal.com/691455.html

moetushie

I bought music! This is notable because I don't really ever buy music. But yes, the National's new album, Trouble Always Finds Me, is mine to own. I like it, I don't regret buying it. But, of course, High Violet > all of their other albums. Though apparently Boxer is more popular? What do I know? (Just what I like.)

-( Body TMI )

- There is a gang of feral cats that live in the woods behind my house, and I think they're trying to intimidate me. They lounge about in the yard, looking louche. And staring at me when I go to the balcony. But among them is a chocolate brown kitten, a beautiful creature, I think we really have a ~connection, but yeah, I'm not getting involved with a feral cat yo.

- Also a thing about the new house. It's on a dead end street. At the beginning of the street, there is a sign, noting this. So how come there are at twenty-plus cats coming down this street and then seeing, oh no lie, this is a dead end street, and then turning around and going back? (And the streets here have no shoulders, surprising, really) so they have a difficult time of it. PEOPLE. Read road signs! Or listen to your GPS. Yes, this street is very close to the main road, but no cigar.

- This photoessay about grandmothers, love, and food, is, not surprisingly, making me miss my own Nani really, really badly. Of course, Nani (that is to say, my maternal grandmother) was a great cook, all of her dishes were delicately flavored and wonderfully prepared. I learned cooking from her, and my parents were really surprised when I told them that because I was really young at the time? But I was there, and I remember. No one could make dal like my Nani could.

So, flist, what was your grandma's specialty?

Current Mood: sad
Crossposts: http://moetushie.livejournal.com/649799.html

ysabetwordsmith

LiveJournal user Baaing_tree is hosting the Homeathon. Leave prompts on the theme of "home" and get flash fiction. There are individual and collective perks for donations.

Current Mood: busy
Crossposts: http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/2843242.html

edenfalling

As seen in many places:

I currently have 66 works archived at the AO3. Pick a number from 1 (the most recently posted) to 66 (the first thing I posted there), and I’ll tell you three things I currently like about it.