Just An Earth-Bound Misfit

Title: The Invitation
Author: joanwilder aka RaeWhit
Pairing: Harry/Severus
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Word Count: 707
Disclaimer: It all belongs to J.K.R.
Summmary: A long-standing invitation is finally accepted.
A/N: Written for angela_snape for correctly guessing my entry in snarry_ldws. She requested Snarry with a Yule theme.

( The Invitation )

( WriSoMiFu Day 29 - Recs for Fics synonymous with hot )

• 11:35 we're currently trying to fix the heater in my car so i don't freeze to death in it like i did yesterday morning on the way to work. omgbrr! #
• 21:21 I just generated my #TweetCloud out of a month of my tweets - w33.us/2jk #
• 21:22 @achtung_meggie @the_nini i'm like a lemming, guys. following you all over the place #
• 21:33 @achtung_meggie well it's true, frank is always followed by leaving for my bunk. ;) #
• 21:44 Top 3 weekly #lastfm artists: My Chemical Romance - 11. Taking Back Sunday - 7. Weezer - 7. bit.ly/7K5Qnl #
• 22:00 just voted "The Grinch " on "What Is Your Favorite Christmas Movie?" vote too ➔ bit.ly/8rpgc6 #

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The holiday fest season is almost upon us, and along with it is the eternal question: "How do I give feedback on fest gifts?"

The answer is, there is no right or wrong way. The exception to that statement is when the fest in question has specific rules about feedback. The standard rule most fests have is "no flaming", which I think is a rule we can all get behind for obvious reasons.

"No con crit" is another rule I've seen popping up in fest rules lately, but I know that issue isn't as clear-cut as the flaming issue. Some people say gifts shouldn't be criticized while others say just because it's a gift doesn't mean it's exempt from critique. I don't really want to get into the pro/anti concrit argument, so we'll leave it at that.

So, yeah, as long as you're following the rules of the fest, there's not really a right or wrong way to give feedback. Now, that isn't to say that people won't complain or react negatively in other ways. For example, there are a few authors/artists who disdain squeeful comments and lament the lack of lengthy, "meaty" commentary, but they are in the distinct minority. The vast majority of authors/artists love feedback in any form they can get it, and "OMG that was awesome!!!" is just as welcomed as a 2 page treatise.

I think that more than any other time, fests - especially holiday fests - are a time to celebrate the joy of giving and to share in the pleasure of receiving. It's a time to be happy for the gifts being shared, not just with the recipient, but with everyone. Yes, that story/art was created for someone specific, but the rest of us are getting to enjoy it too, and I think that's part of the collaborative fun that fests generate. They give all of us more of what we want most, and I think we ought to express our thanks for that with a simple, "I enjoyed that. Thanks!" comment. It'll make that author/artist's holidays a little brighter.

With that in mind, I hope people will take the time to leave a comment on the gifts they enjoy in whichever fests they follow, especially people who are inclined to lurk the rest of the year. Fest authors/artists have been waiting for weeks, perhaps even months for their work to debut, so any feedback is a gift to them in return. As long as your response expresses your enjoyment, then there's no wrong way of expressing it. There's no such thing as too short or too simple, and you don't need a degree in English to leave good feedback. All you really need is enthusiasm!

For myself, I intend to do more reccing and commenting in December once things calm down at work and in RL, and I intend to continue into the new year, especially since I'm going to rec at crack-broom again in January!

This entry was originally posted at http://scribbulus-ink.dreamwidth.org/518269.html. It's cross-posted to LJ and IJ, and comments are enabled at all three journals.

Clicks?

As we say in these parts. Another pretty mellow day; got up late, and decided not to grocery shop today since we had sufficient milk etc. to hold us till tomorrow, and fridge space was still at a premium with various leftovers occupying it. (We ate up a few things for dinner tonight.) Ran an errand or two, though, and have done almost all the LIS reading (1.5 more chapters to go) and posted in discussion for one class. Also hung out in the front yard with SO and the neighbors for a while.

Tomorrow I'll grocery shop, then make a whole lot of cranberry nut bread mini-loaves for gifting, and make mashed potatoes for dinner with leftover turkey & gravy and more leftover veggies. Turkey Sun/Tues/Thurs, gumbo Mon/Wed/Fri, I think. Easy. Will just need to make more veg eventually. We're going to throw a little holiday party in a couple of weeks and I'm starting to plot food for that.

Fic-stuff: alisanne is modding adventdrabbles at IJ again this year; she posts a daily prompt from December 1-24, but it's not required to use it, and ficlets as well as drabbles are welcome, in any fandom. beren_writes mods adventdrabbles at LJ, although doesn't do the prompts.

Less than 2 weeks until 3fan_holidays ficlets are due, and I put up the header template post for that today. And hd_holidays starts posting Tuesday, as will daily_deviant's Kinky Kristmas, and I believe also happy_trekmas. Whew - those are just the ones I'm participating in, too, and there are plenty of other fests kicking off shortly as well.

The uploading continues apace. I am almost ready to stop for the evening and maybe try to write. Or something. I miss writing. It's been days since I did any. Sigh.

I was uploading a lot of the codas I wrote in season 2, when I was still in the first flush of fandom love, and wow, season 2 was good for codas. I think I wrote at least one (sometimes more than one) for almost every episode. I miss that, too.

*

Tonight for dinner I made a roast loin of pork. It was very tasty. I combined garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and basil in about a tablespoon of olive oil (for easy spreading), along with a couple of teaspoons of brown sugar and a large splash of vanilla (for years, I wouldn't tell my mother about the brown sugar and vanilla, and she couldn't replicate the taste. Heh.). Rub that on, top with a few pats of butter, and then cook until the internal temperature is 160°F. It was very tasty and juicy and good.

*

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/100853.html. people have commented there.

By the way, hearkening back to my earlier post--this doesn't spoil anything, since you can see on the Yuletide list of requested fandoms that no one asked for it--I did not get assigned to write for Richard Adams's The Plague Dogs. I decided, when I accidentally included it in the list, that rather than redo my list I'd just go read the book once and for all, even before the assignments came out, so I got it from the library.

I got through Ulysses easier than this. This is...guys, I have written some interesting metaphors myself in my time, some of them admittedly more purple than should be seen outside of crackfic, but this takes them all:

...Rowf's rump slid suddenly forward as smoothly as a turd from a healthy anus...

I can't even facepalm. It's too squicky.

Did online holiday shopping tonight too. Now have only a couple of minor gifts yet to find/buy, plus stocking stuff, plus sew waistcoat for SO (which won't happen till the semester is over, but also doesn't have to be shipped anywhere). And I think he's decided on and possibly ordered something for me already. So basically - we are done with gift organizing. Wow. Now, whether we can get in gear with cards/letter remains to be seen.

It is, however, nearly 1 am so I think I'd better head for bed!

I love sga_storyfinders.

And cheesecake.

And look, I have both.

In fact, every sentence ends better if you add "... with cheesecake."

( WriSoMiFu Day 28 -Let's talk about your first time )

• 16:53 today was the longest day of work EVER #

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I don't really care about so much about the plots on White Collar. They just keep giving me tasty OT3 stuff and I'm content.

I've spent most of the day uploading stuff to the AO3. It allows me to feel productive when I can't write. I have too many goddamn stories, though. angelgazing pointed out that I will never be done uploading because I write faster than I upload. Though possibly this is no longer the case. I don't know. I have been having my usual late autumn/early winter problems getting motivated. Since the archive takes so long to upload, I am also rereading some favorite stories (I don't have to pay as close attention to rereads - I can skim and skip and be interrupted without losing anything, 'cause I've already read them before). I keep getting errors, unfortunately, which is slowing things down even more.

Technology is not my friend.

I know lots of people are excited by tagging their stories in all sorts of ways, but I am doing what I find useful and that's it. As long as I get the characters/pairing on there, and maybe if it's a casefile or an episode tag, that's about the extent of my interest. Maybe if I upload my HP stuff, I'll split the Remus/Sirius out by era, like I have it in my tags on LJ, but mostly I don't care about the tags. *hides*

Also, I wish there were a place in the profile to link to a warnings policy, and that that link could just automatically be included on every story. Because I am just using the "No Primary Warnings Apply" which isn't the same as "no warnings needed" but 99% of my stuff is "no warnings needed" and I'd like to be able to say that somewhere, since it isn't a choice on the warnings field. I guess I could make it a tag, but I never think of it. I wish it were automatic.

Hmm...

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/100505.html. people have commented there.

Here's a piece of advice for anyone who is participating in any kind of LJ/IJ/DW based fest at any time of the year: when you email the mods, include your journal user ID, especially if your user ID isn't the same as your email address.

If your email address is the same as your journal ID, it makes things a little easier, but it would still be nice to include your ID nonetheless.

Here's the thing. Unless you communicate via email with the mods outside of the fest enough that it's reasonable to assume they know to associate that email address with you, chances are the mods will have no clue who's emailing them and will have to take the extra step of consulting a spreadsheet in order to figure it out.

When a fest mod is juggling 30+, 40+, 50+, or more fest participants, they are not going to remember who everyone is. They might not know you, they might not interact with you outside of the fest, or they might not remember. There are people who have participated in Snupin Santa just about every year, and I still wouldn't know them from an email address alone, much less know all the new people who rotate in and out each year.

So if a fest mod asks you to include your user ID and/or the name of your recipient in your emails, please try to remember to do it. It's not just a busy-work request; it can save the mod a little extra time (and let's be honest: a little extra irritation) if they know who they're dealing with straight-away instead of having to look it up. Trust me, trawling through a spreadsheet and looking for one person's email address out of 50-60 (or more) names is a pain in the ass.

This entry was originally posted at http://scribbulus-ink.dreamwidth.org/518068.html. It's cross-posted to LJ and IJ, and comments are enabled at all three journals.

In the event SO and I did do a little holiday shopping today. Both of our cars went in to the dealer/mechanic this morning - I needed an oil change and tire rotation, and it turned out that I'd picked up a nail in one sidewall, so also ended up getting a new tire; SO had to get an underneath piece replaced. So that all took a while, and then we went and had a burger for lunch, and decided to check out a couple of galleries/shops in the art district afterward. We now have gifts for all parental units and siblings (although not my BIL and niblings yet). So go us! SO also went to the good local independent bookstore to pick up something he'd ordered, but there was no going to malls or anything of that sort.

I've now written the last quiz for my lower-div class, so that means IIRC I have no more prep in either class to do, though I do have some reading and grading. Also have both reading and work to do for LIS classes, though, which I hope to get to tonight/tomorrow. I could have started on some of it, but I finished a novel instead. Also have started thinking about holiday cards/letters, though haven't gotten very far with that yet.

Turkey breast is roasting and smelling yummy. I'll temp it shortly, and once it's done the dressing goes into the oven (my tiny oven will not hold both a bird and another dish at once). Then make gravy, and all the rest is leftover veggies. *mouth is watering* We had a very nice time with J., C., and F. yesterday, and good food, but I do like having leftover turkey of our own.

( WriSoMiFu Day 27 - Aunt Accio really needs a nap )

Here are my dragons!

( But still spam nonetheless )

Title: The Needs of the Revolted
Pairing: Sarek/OFC
Rating: NC17
Words: ~800
Warning: dubious consent
Summary: The kink meme prompt was for Sarek to get tired of his people talking smack about Amanda and Vulcanishly telling them to stick it. However, as it was on the kink meme, there is sex.
A/N: I have fooled with this a bit more (largely for clarity) since posting it over there last night while I was taking a break from the more substantial fic that is currently taunting me.

• 00:06 dearest internets: you are taking FOREVER. stop that. kisses, me. xoxox ps: i'm bored now, gimme something shiny. #
• 08:53 Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Gobble, gobble. :) #
• 10:32 is thankful for many things today, but most of all...I'm thankful I'm not a turkey. #
• 17:37 @the_nini don't be hatin' on my 'Boys, now. :P #
• 20:45 @achtung_meggie it's totally legal during the holiday season, i think. #
• 20:58 @achtung_meggie ilu 2 bb. <3 #

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