I don't mean to nitpick, Tom, but is this really your plan?

update and giveaway

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:56:59 GMT

I just graded 99 papers about a baseball! Now on to mortgages.

Free to good home if you take ‘em all: Jack of Fables 1-16, Anita Blake 1, The Stand: The Night Has Come/Hardcases/No Man’s Land.

Distressing analysis of the US's military situation in Afghanistan.

Jay Smooth: “You've never paid dues, you barely pay taxes.”

( modern slave labor, corporate espionage, Bayes' theorem )

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Pretty Little Liars

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:23:07 GMT

( spoilers have a secret )

Good article on mass incarceration in America.

Fannish freecycle: The Guild, Seasons 1 & 2. Free to good home. Also free if you take the package, the following comics: Mice Templar 1-5, Back to Brooklyn full run, The Cross Bronx full run, and Smallville 1-6.

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Happy day!

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:10:36 GMT

Fandom feeds on the AO3! Great rejoicing! Helloooo, Revenge and Alphas. Also, subscriptions to individual works for WIPs!

Poison pen review by Evgeny Morozov of a book on privacy. Sample: “Had Jarvis written his book as self-parody—as a cunning attack on the narrow-mindedness of new media academics who trade in pronouncements so pompous, ahistorical, and vacuous that even the nastiest of post-modernists appear lucid and sensible in comparison—it would have been a remarkable accomplishment. But alas, he is serious. This is a book that should have stayed a tweet.” Also: “This is how Sarah Palin would read Habermas if she could read Habermas.” Good times!

( Life after economic collapse, psychopathy and reality, and fixing copyright )

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Fiction and vids

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:07:12 GMT

I enjoyed many of the Festivids, but the reason you should watch Propagation is to be recruited to Threshold, a short-lived but really neat sf alien invasion show where the aliens keep winning. Stars Carla Gugino, Peter Dinklage, and Brent Spiner, along with a very handsome military man with a mysterious backstory that sadly never got explored. Go, watch, then watch more!

Also, I don’t know if this Life vid works as a recruiter vid because the ways it employs canon to match with the lyrics are so good; watch it and find out!

( urban fantasy, sf Islam )

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Megaupload random thoughts

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:02:51 GMT

I was reading the Megaupload indictment, as you do, and found a couple of points of interest. First, an answer to a question about Megaupload that occasionally arose pre-shutdown: “On or about March 3, 2009, DOTCOM sent an e-mail to a reporter indicating ‘Whenever a user uploads a new file it is checked against our database and if we already have the exact same file the upload completes instantly. This way a complete system backup into the cloud only takes a fraction of the time it used to take. And the longer we exist, the more files we receive, the faster we get.’”

Also, Megaupload didn’t care about infringements of the little people’s works. No Hong Kong materials were allowed, because the company was based in Hong Kong, but one email directed an employee, in response to copyright complaints from Mexico, “In the future please do not delete thousands of links at ones from a single source unless it comes from a major organization in the US.”

Finally, several individual uploaders and premium members in the Eastern District of Virginia were identified by first and last initial, though they weren’t named as unindicted coconspirators. Still, that subpoena’s gotta be pretty terrifying.

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Have now caught up on SPN

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:29:37 GMT

( Very important question; LJ readers, please click through to DW to take poll. )

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Belated Eight Crazy Nights 6 3/3 (XF/Fringe, SPN/Firefly)

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:18:07 GMT

For wendelah1: Fringe/XFiles cross-over: Olivia has to consult Scully for some case that needs...consulting. Mulder can come too, of course.
( The old X designation )

For maraceles: more of that Supernatural/Firefly crossover, Angels in the Architecture. Gen or Sam/Dean. (Note: can be read either way. Also River/player to be named below.)

( spinning in infinity )

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Belated Eight Crazy Nights 6 2b/3 (SPN)

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:11:24 GMT

Entanglement
For avidrosette: SPN, Sam/Dean, during 5.22, what if Dean had thrown himself into the pit with Sam? NC-17; extends through S6.

( pit stop )

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Belated Eight Crazy Nights 6 2a/3 (TVD, SV)

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:08:59 GMT

For jadelennox: vampire diaries. Preferably something with Bonnie and Caroline and Elena being awesome. If you want more than that, how about, hmm, it's senior year, and in the midst of everything they still have to pass chemistry. (Or the class of your choice.)

( Will this be on the final? )

For thefourthvine: Clark/Lex, toga
( Clark didn't know where to look )

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Still behind on SPN

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:29:03 GMT

I’m now only 4 episodes behind in SPN (I was, briefly, seven episodes behind). ( My main reaction to the episodes I've just seen )

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Belated Eight Crazy Nights 6 1/3 (TVD, Revenge/Iron Man)

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:14:39 GMT

Still working on these:
for turnonmyheels: TVD, Alaric/Damon or Damon & Alaric, R for sexual references.

( buddy caper )

for intothespin: Nolan Ross/Tony Stark. Mergers & acquisitions. Or drunken hookups at cocktail parties, whichever is easier.

( bit of both? )

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Reviews and a music video teaser

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:44:40 GMT

Phoebe Tonkin in a Miles Fisher video: okay!

( Fair use, temporary lawyers, Hedy Lamarr the inventor, the Civil War of 1812, Henry Jenkins essays, population control, Jon Krakauer on a scam nonprofit )

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Miscellany

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:48:29 GMT

For those of you in the US: Fight SOPA. Phone calls really do work for Congress, if you can.

Department of “Yes, I see how that could have happened”: An earlier version of this article misspelled part of the title of a segment of “The Daily Show” that featured Colbert. It was “Even Stevphen,” not “Stephven.”

Awesome brush-off poem.

Ilona Andrews, Magic Gifts: ( short Kate story )

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Yuletide reveal, recs, etc.

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 18:26:13 GMT

My Yuletide story was Anna to the Infinite Power, Divergence to Infinity.

A couple of other things:

Mutant Rights, Marvel arguing that X-Men are monsters and not humans for tax purposes.

Sweet Eureka episodic goodness, Pterosaurs for All.

Haven, Duke Ex Machina, equally sweet in its own way.

The Middleman, The Infernal Celibacy Rededication. Roxy Wasserman! The Booty Chest!

Fannish freecycle: I now have an extra copy of The Hunger Games. Comment or email me at rivkat at gmail if you want it. Ties broken by randomness.

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SPN reversebang: Getting to Yes, Sam/Castiel

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 02:08:14 GMT

So, I picked up this pinch hit!

Getting to Yes
Sam/Castiel, NC-17
Prompt: Castiel is covetous of Sam, but thinks his feelings are purely possessive and asexual. He's an angel and therefore above all that earthly desire shenanigans (or so he assumes). Despite that, he wants Sam's fidelity which Sam would be okay with... if sex were part of the agreement. Sam suggests they experiment with what kind of sexy times Cas might be okay to compromise with. It turns out that Castiel is not as immune from those kinds of things as he originally thought. I'm not looking for any kind of d/s scene, but I would like Cas being toppy and Sam being pliant.
Note: Set in 5x03 (Free To Be You and Me) and ignores S6. With thanks for quick beta by giandujakiss.
Words: ~4700
Artist: chaosraven: see the lovely art here.

( Negotiated rapture )

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Podfic and another rec!

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:52:20 GMT

Etch out a Future of Your Own Design, by anonymous: Real Genius, Mitch/Jordan and then Chris/Mitch, but also about academia and disillusionment—a fantastic sequel to the movie with real pathos in with the humor, and a sweet little crossover tucked away (given the rest of the story, kind of like a hidden bomb, but okay!). I also suspect the author’s field because of the capitalization of the title, but that’s neither here nor there.

weimar27 recorded a podfic of Full Service Firm (J2 AU)!

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Embarrassment of riches

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:56:25 GMT

Thanks for the menorah, meret!

Also, thanks so much to everyone who works on the AO3, including Systems, Tag Wranglers, Support, ADT and the rest of the crew, as well as to the Yuletide mods. For Yuletide, I’m the proud recipient of one of the few extant Tower Prep stories, Any Given Tuesday, which has our heroes trying to figure out one of the more mundane mysteries of Tower Prep.

Then, for Yuletide Madness, I got Thick as Thieves, an Alphas story showing the delicate negotiations between Nina, Cameron and Rachel, and Undercover Alpha, in which Gary from Alphas wakes up at Tower Prep and reacts exactly as you think he would.

Other recs: surfing the Revenge tag (now I know my first subscription when the fandom subscription feeds roll out on AO3!):

Living by Antecedents, by vegarin: As gen as it can get, Nolan-centric but with interesting Amanda (she’s always Amanda to Nolan) and great Jack

First and Last, by anonymous: Nolan and Amanda backstory.

Nolan Ross’ Bedtime Stories, by anonymous: Nolan retells the story in classic fairytale terms. It works!

Other recs:

Elementary Murder Mystery Analysis, by anonymous. Community: The voices are excellent.

Semaphore, by devildoll. Avengers etc., Tony/Steve. Full of witty asides and ridiculous concepts that just work, like Cupcake Avalanche. Excerpt:

"Not at all,” Tony says. As painful as this conversation is, it almost feels good to get it out in the open. “Look, I already had one person I was pining after who wouldn’t sleep with me, and I didn't really have the time to fit in another one, so I had to cut you loose. It's nothing personal, it was just a time management issue." …

Steve looks over his shoulder at the busted remains of the Hot Topic door, then turns back toward Tony. "You really wanted...?"

"Yes," Tony repeats, this time a little grumpily. God, this is torture. It's like he keeps ripping off the band-aid only to find another band-aid.

And finally, some non-fic notes:

Bob Dole and my favorite joke form: An apocryphal Washington exchange. Gingrich: “Why do people take such an instant dislike to me?” Dole: “Because it saves them time.”

Abigail Nussbaum on Homeland (so very spoilery but great analysis if you’ve seen it). Nussbaum is Mikey from that commercial: she likes it (mostly)! She doesn’t like anything!

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Eight Crazy Nights five, SV edition

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 01:35:46 GMT

Note: work stuff means a delay for the rest of these, sorry. But they will come!

for jackycomelately: Smallville, Lex/Clark—spanking. Clark just loses it and puts Lex over his knee. He's mortified later, but Lex actually prefers it to another cold moralizing lecture. Note: strayed a bit from the prompt. Warnings: see prompt! PG-13.

( Hit or Miss )

for thefourthvine: Clark/ Lex, Sexting. AU: they’re still friends in Metropolis. NC-17.

( DYAC )

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Eight Crazy Nights five, SPN edition

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 01:31:42 GMT

for serrico: Supernatural: The cure for Dean's empty nest syndrome is giving him someone else to take care of--but even though Sam's happy Cas is back, he's a little worried about Dean falling back into old, actually-kind-of-problematic habits. Note: I’m 5 episodes behind, so this is a made-up scenario in S7.
( Can we keep him? Can we? )

for avidrosette: SPN, Sam/Dean, Dean Winchester's Guide for the Perplexed

( “A sensible man should not demand of me, or hope that when we mention a subject, we shall make a complete exposition of it.” )

for on_verra: SPN/Pretty Little Liars crossover! Maybe Sam and Dean come to Rosewood to investigate Ally's death and/or possible supernatural nature of "A." I guess there should be some kind of reference to S/D established relationship, because it is not possible for me to not want S/D.

( Got a secret ... )

for avidrosette: SPN x Hershel of Ostropol, what if Castiel transported Sam and Dean to the frozen shtetl (or, you know, deepest Brooklyn) to fight the Chanukah goblins that had been terrorizing the populace at this time of year for generations?

( Chag Sammy-ach! )

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Eight Crazy Nights four, TVD/SPN/Revenge edition

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 22:27:52 GMT

for giandujakiss: TVD, Bonnie/Damon. Where Bonnie is awesome. (Author’s note: my reaction was, “That’s easy. Is Bonnie in the story? There, done.”) Warning: Blood exchange.

( in which Bonnie has an idea, and Damon. )

for elliemurasaki: Supernatural. Female Jewish hunter, first encounter with demons.

( Maiden run )

for serrico, Revenge: Emily understands that part of the reason Nolan keeps pushing Jack at her is because Nolan knows he can't have Jack himself. It's a little awkward, but Emily's good at dealing with awkward things. PG-13 for language.

( Emily's a dish, served cold. )

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Eight Crazy Nights four, SV edition

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 22:22:31 GMT

for jakrar: Smallville, Clark/Lex, AU: After Lex pushes Lionel out of his office window, and the photographic evidence has been erased, Clark is determined to prove that Lex is a murderer. Accordingly, Clark goes digging for solid evidence that Lex had planned all along to kill Lionel, and instead finds evidence that Lionel was setting Lex up to be murdered if Lex couldn’t be dissuaded from investigating Veritas – and that Lex had almost certainly discovered the plot.

Note: No matter what I did, this stayed heavy. PG-13.

( Keeping the faith )

for svmadelyn: I would love yet ANOTHER sequel to my story from last year. (Epic Misunderstanding, in which the JL believes Clark & Lex are in a relationship, which they aren’t (at first).) Warning: someone throws up.

( I can explain ... )

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Eight Crazy Nights three: Chuck, TVD, SV, SPN

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:42:23 GMT

1. for daria234, Chuck: Ellie doing something she thought she would never do (maybe to protect Chuck?).
( First, do no harm )

2. for ceares, The Vampire Diaries--"It's okay to love them both, I did." Damon/Katherine/Stefan--what if things had played out like Katherine planned and she'd gotten to keep both boys with her. PG-13.

( What you always wanted )

3. for runpunkrun, something with Lois and Lex. Clark/Lois and much UST. Rating: R for dirty talk.

( Elephant in the room )

4. for roque_clasique, SPN, curtainfic in which Dean was injured badly enough that they had to stop hunting. Note: schmoooop. PG-13 only for pottymouth.

( It's curtains for Sam and Dean )

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Eight Crazy Nights two: Revenge, Fringe, SV

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:24:25 GMT

1. For mareen: Revenge: Nolan joins Jack and a couple of rich kids on a trip of the Amanda. They end up stranded on an island. Nolan is the least annoying of the bunch, to Jack's suprise. Could be the Rum though. Note: all sailing-related stuff is purely made up. Sorry!

( To Have and Have Not, PG-13 )

2. For margueritem: Fringe, Astrid kicking ass. ♥ G.

( Walter and Mulder sound a lot alike, don't they? )

3. For jakrar: What-If Fic, Smallville: After Clark destroys the spaceship at the end of season two, he flees the scene to steal the red-K ring in Chloe’s desk. Clark decides that if he’s leaving Smallville for better surroundings, he wants some entertaining company, and that (perhaps more importantly) he isn’t about to lose someone like Lex Luthor to some undeserving interloper like Helen Bryce. PG-13.
( Newlywed Blues (and Reds) )

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Eight Crazy Nights one: TVD and SV

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:00:06 GMT

Happy Hanukah!

For meret: Elena/Stefan/Damon. PWP (not just Elena in the middle). Very NC-17.
( Have some threesome. )

for samsom: Old school CLex, Clark's first grown up party. *is nostalgic* Very AU, schmoop.
( Definitely Not a Nashville Party, PG-13 )

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Yuletide avoidance edition

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:50:26 GMT

I usually avoid non-LJ comment sections, but this one from John Scalzi’s blog was too good, even if the commenter was using a Dilbert icon: “Trying to compromise with the current GOP is like trying to pick a restaurant when you would like Italian and the other person wants a ’53 Chevy up on blocks.”

( Obesity/bariatric surgery/stereotypes )

( American property law, Kevin Mitnick, Moynihan report )

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