+ Thanks to everyone who left me birthday wishes yesterday! Tweets, PMs, emails, v-gifts, facebook wall thingies, LJ posts and comments - I really rather love you guys. ♥♥♥♥ And I had a great day, btw. :D

+ miakun wrote me happy Merls fic what has Gwen/Morgana and OT4 at the same time! Go looky!

+ Yuletide signups! I'm excited but a little freaked out by them. I have the fandoms I nominated, but there are so many more to choose from and I don't know where to start! I'm going to think on it a bit more before I sign up for reals.

+ That's all for today. I have to give a presentation tomorrow at work, but I only have half a day to work on it because we all have to go to this award ceremony/holiday party/contract renewal celebration thing. Free food and the possibility of heading home early, always good.

Or, Beauty and the Beast, part deux.

Last week was the beast, this week was the beauty, y/y? (also omg I rambled a lot.)

( spoilers have definitely been hiding under your bed all this time )

+ Has anyone tried the Write or Die desktop app? Worth the ten bucks? I like the regular version.

+ I want to share this vid, most recently picked up at deepad's journal.



Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie giving a talk about 'The Danger of a Single Story'


On reading, writing, and how the stories we're exposed to can shape our perspectives. It's eighteen minutes long, but more than worth a listen.

The problem with the single story is this: it robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different, rather than how we are similar.

Word. I would quote the whole talk back at you if I could.

+ Back at work today, feeling fine. It's wet and icky outside, though.

+ zahrawithaz reviews Beauty and the Beast (Merls 2x05). Or rather, the characters of Merlin do. Better than the episode in some ways. *g* I love Merlin to extremes, I seriously do, but this reminds me how many people I know on my own f-list who could write a better show than we actually have.

It's kind of weird/funny that the shows and source material that need the most help are always the ones with the big fandoms. As much as I'd love to be able to roll around in Being Human fic all day for example, I have to admit that it's just a better show, it doesn't need holes filled in with fic and such, so people don't flock to it.

+ Glee fic continues to be better than the actual show. Giving Quinn and Kurt and Sue etc. much better treatment. I do wonder if there's any fic about Tina or Mercedes, though.

+ randomneses alerted me to this bullshit yesterday: Howard University's Hilltop mag has a staff editorial that details the ways students can prevent getting into dangerous situations at night. Money quote:

As well as making themselves look like easy targets by distractions or lack of awareness, female students are often guilty of another serious offense-strutting through the streets of Washington, D.C. in badly chosen attire (...) If walking through the streets in seductive club attire isn’t a blatant call for sexual harassment, then nothing is.

Do I even need to rant about the ways in which that passage is infuriating? Because yeah, you really want to send a message to college kids of all sexes that girls who dress however the hell they want to are asking for whatever happens to them. Fuck that.

+ That's all for today, must finish coursework for class later, and oh yeah also, am at work. :P

+ I am home from work today. Know how on Friday I was wondering if I was coming down with something? I WAS. :D Starting to feel better now though; I think it's just a cold and not the flu or anything.

+ If any of you remember Geocities, check xkcd's page today. Serious lulz, and memories. Oh god, the stars and scroll text and comic sans. COMIC SANS. I remember when almost all the fanfic I used to read was at Geocities or Angelfire. Animorphs slash? What Animorphs slash?

+ Two things I am newly watching: Emma (which is now over) and Parks and Recreation. I like this adaptation of Emma better than any I've seen; it's gorgeous and delightful and actually pretty hilarious. I wasn't sure I'd like Jonny Lee Miller as Knightly, but I was wrongggg, he is wonderful in it. And Parks and Recreation is just endless lols. And my crush on Rashida Jones is epic. Reminds me to do that massive picspam of my favorite female characters.

+ Mad Men seriously made me teary last night. Did anyone else wibble like a complete fool? Because I did. Don and Betty, Don and Betty. GAH. ALSO GO JOAN. But also aww, Joan. I want so much more for you. And Peggy had one line the whole episode, but if you're only going to get one line, it should definitely be "I can't turn it off; it's actually happening!" <333

+ Congratulations to everyone doing NaNoWriMo next month! I'll be cheering you on whilst NOT DOING IT. But! I did join wrisomifu (short for Write Something You Miserable Fuck), which sophinisba and briar_pipe pointed me to yesterday. You basically commit to writing anything for ten minutes of every day in the month of November. Literally anything; in my case, fanfic. And usually, if I can strap down and focus for ten minutes on something, it stretches out much longer than that. If anyone else wants to join me there, just comment here for an invite.

Must finish meme responses and get back to the fleet party, but first, Beauty and the Beast.

Hahahahaha.

What can I actually say?

( spoilers are as deep and profound as this week's episode )

Gah, this episode. I don't even know.

Spoilers under the cut. Also, one day I'll manage to write episode reviews that are coherent. I'm not sure today is that day. :P

( what the actual )

Working on two hours of sleep, so this post is likely to make little sense.

+ Signal Boost: zahrawithaz has an October Manifesto for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, about some of the realities of domestic violence that don't get talked about.

+ Moar signal boostage: glockgal has a post on the upcoming holiday that I very much appreciated. Because Halloween is almost here, and know what's not funny or cool? Dressing up as sexed-up caricatures or parodies of other races and cultures. Native Americans, black people, sexy!geishas/china dolls, etc; none of that shit is cute. Mocking peoples' cultures is not okay on any day; it's insulting and stereotyping and hurts people. Which is not to say that you guys would, but if you see it this Halloween (you probably will), call it out! Karma will smile on you.

***

Now for some Glee. I continue to find it equal parts DELIGHTFUL and irritating. But I'm with it as long as the music doesn't stop. Also, less racefail this week, that was good.

And slushies.

( spoilers in which I mostly wish everyone would just sing for 45 minutes )

+ I may have created a Katie/Angel/Morgana/Gwen tumblr, for picspamming and general sharing of prettified pics, quotes, videos, gifs, and whatever else concerning the girls. If you're on tumblr, follow it! With Flowers. :D

+ Fest season is in high gear and I am sitting on my hands. I definitely don't need to be signing up for Valensmut, Wizard Love, 3 Ships (man, 3 Ships is tempting) etc. when I have yet to finish Smutty_Claus or camelotsolstice and am definitely doing Yuletide. Also, the art that's being used in the banners for hp_nextgen_fest makes me want to sign up for it, it's so pretty. *cuddles Rose and Albus and Lily and Scorpius* But that is a ridiculous reason to sign up for an exchange if ever there was one, so I'm not, you know, going to. But you all should, if you're inclined, they look like much fun even if I don't think the stress would be good for me.

+ merlin_femslash. Need I say more? Also, merlin_cliche. Because magic unicorns made them do it, and it was good.

+ Art rec: Arthur/Gwen/Merlin film-noir THEY ARE SO HOT I CAN'T TAKE IT. And it's completely safe for work. The accompanying kinkmeme ficlet? Definitely not for the kids.

+ Fic rec: I've been reading a lot of lovely things lately, which reminds me how much I fail at my recs-listing, but here's one real quick: Please (NC-17) by blackmamba_esq. Kinky Arthur/Gwen. Dom!Gwen hits buttons I didn't even know I had.

+ I've been reading Glee fic. Kurt/Puck and Quinn/Rachel. Oh yeah. (Thanks, Inell.)

+ Apparently Christian Bale had TOM CRUISE in mind when getting into Patrick Bateman's character for American Psycho. brb loling forever.

+ I am having a good day at work. Stuff is working. :D Hope everyone is doing well - hugs to everyone who needs them. ♥

+ I'm in love with this photo essay of female farmers from all over the world, from the Shakesville blog. Love. ♥ (link stolen from ye old f-list, therefore you may have seen it already. But if you haven't, do run. :D)

+ Oerr, that's all for today. I should get some coursework done.

...but it's Friday, and at least I'm not nattering/rambling/squeeing/spamming about Merlin again for now?

Hat tip to sellthelie:



Tassels. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

There. Don't we all feel better?

+ Yuletide nominations! It's my first year participating, I'm pretty excited. The fandoms I nominated are nothing revolutionary or even particularly obscure as far as obscure fandoms go, BUT:

Jacqueline Carey - The Kushiels Legacy series
Mad Men
RPF - Merlin
Sons of Anarchy
Southland
The Wire

What, ya'll know I had to sneak some Merlin in there. *g* You can nominate here if you're thinking of participating. Any fandom that is tiny, old/inactive, or had its first season/book/premiere date in the past year. Except for Leverage apparently. *sadface*

+ That Merlin character meme was much fun. And my thread - I've been overwhelmingly dubbed Guinevere (yay!), with a dash of Morgana and a smidgen of Merlin to taste. And flowers. Which makes me GLEEFACE. You guys are the best in all the land. ♥♥♥

+ Welcome to new friends! I'm on Twitter too if for some reason you'd want more of my random babble. ;-)

What Merlin character am I most like?
MY THREAD

Do eeeet. And link me to yours! ♥

OH GOD YA'LL. MY HEART.

MY HEART.

AWESOME. SO MUCH OT4 WITH AN OPTION FOR FIVE.

LEMME 'SPLAIN.

( spoilers for Merls 2x04 and an open letter to fandom under the cut )

Obama's been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

DUDE.

DUDE.

!!!!!*\o/*!!!!!

(Also, yes, it is early. This is more of a show of good faith and belief that Obama can and will see his initial efforts (for de-nuclearization and his efforts at multi-lateral diplomacy which is not our usual pattern to say the least) through, and that the WORLD is going to hold him to that. And that? Is a huge fucking deal considering our standing in the world even a year ago. It's more of a "Yes, this, finally, you should really keep doing that" from the rest of the world.)

AND BASICALLY, GOBAMA.

Now I've got to get back to work. This news cycle should be ...interesting.

( SPN 5x05 teeny casting spoiler )

+ Also, that episode may or may not be my favorite of the season, weirdly. Felt more like old times. *g*

+ Oh! And hell, I'm kind of liking Vampire Diaries. Huh.

+ Actually, while I'm posting: NBC cancels Southland but Heroes is still on? LENO is still on???

I demand an explanation for this.

Not much to say, except to express my desire for Quinn/Rachel fic.

That is all.

*\o/*

+ The Vag Fest is back! Girl-centric, het and femslash only, any fandom. I haven't had time to read, write, or even leave prompts for it yet, but I'll get to it. :P

+ blackmamba_esq made an Angel Coulby comm! angel_coulby. I hadn't realised until now how sad I was that everyone in the cast had one but her. ♥

+ And while I'm pimping, beyond_camelot. Because everyone needs to write fic about Aglain now. Oh right, and obscure Arthurian characters that need to be Merlinized. (One day I will let the Colin Salmon thing go. Today is not that day.)

+ LOLtastic review for Merls 2x03. IDK, it made me feel better. ( spoilers in which I ramble a bit more about the ep )

+ Inell's trying to get me to try bridge2sickbay. She says I can write drabbles within 30-minute time constraints. Isn't that sweet, that she thinks I can do that? ILHER. ♥ Still, I'm considering it, because it looks like fun.

+ Dollhouse Friday was... hm. I don't know what to say about it right now.

+ OH BUT MAD MEN WAS AWESOME. DON AND BETTYYYY. JOANNNN. ♥

+ Okay, back to work with me. I hope everyone's getting their weeks off to a good start. Eventually I will post about something non-fannish. ♥

IDEK, guys.

Not sure where to start.

( spoilers for episode 2x03 )

Code jacked wholesale from themadlurker.

♥ Gwen/Morgana Kiss Meme ♥

Based on the

♥ Merlin/Arthur Kiss Meme ♥

This one's for the girls.

*\o/* brb, writing a li'l something.