my friends

lore
User: [info]lore
Date: 2009-11-27 23:57
Subject: BloMo27: US BL publishers....
Security: Public
Mood:predatory predatory
Music:P&P 2005 Soundtrack
Tags:bl talk


A while back, I wrote an overview of the BL publishers that existed about two years ago. Time for a quick update!

DMP's BL imprints are June, 801 Media and Doki Doki.

June used to be known for pretty tame BL fare, but now it has become a better mix of tame-to-racy. 801 Media is still the imprint to go to for more explicit stories. Doki Doki is an imprint created to cater directly to a Japanese publisher. Most of the DD releases have been BL tales, but not all, and most of the BL titles have been the kind of tame June used to be known for. Still, people seem to appreciate the DD titles for what they are.

Aurora Publishing has the Deux line as well as the Luv Luv line for Girl Love titles.

I think if Deux existed on its own, it might still be a healthy company. As it is, Deux releases have slowed to a crawl with the rest of Aurora's titles, and I'm seriously worried for Aurora's survival. The Duex imprint put out some excellent titles over the years. You should look into them soon, before they all go out of print and everyone in the world starts chasing the titles for stupid prices.

Tokyopop's BL titles usually end up under the BLU imprint (this could confuse Snupin fans ~_^).

Tokyopop has admitted that their BLU titles always sell well, yet the company treats the imprint like a red-headed step-child (for those who don't recognize the saying, like it doesn't belong to them). The web site, long neglected, is just now showing signs of life this month, and releases have still been coming from the imprint, even if it's only about 1 title a month. BLU titles are rarely anthologies, and they usually have only mild BL content, although there are a couple exceptions to this.

Yaoi Press - the publisher's name kinda speaks for itself.

There is nothing but Original English Language BL to be found here, ranging from super-dark to sickeningly sweet - in fact, most of the YP titles exist at one of the two extremes.

Netcomics - This company has an interesting set-up. You can read chapters of a book online for very little money. When a title becomes popular enough (and, probably when Netcomics has gathered up enough capital in general), it is then printed and offered for sale as a book.

Netcomics has put out some eclectic work over the years, ranging from Korean titles with only implied BL to some fairly explicit works. You never quite know what you're going to see next from NC, and their release schedule is sporadic, with no titles for months and then three at a time. I'd say that this is the place to go for edgy material, exciting new artists and a-typical BL reads.

Yen Press began offering some BL titles late last year.

They seem to have taken to Lily Hoshino, and their other BL title so far is also fairly explicit, so I'm hoping for good things from Yen Press next year in terms of BL. They put out nice, compact little books.

Go! Comi thinks it sells BL titles.

No, seriously, Go! Comi's only true mature BL offering is Wendy Pini's Masque of the Red Death. Cantarella is considered mild BL at best and then the most recent books GC listed as BL this year were...not. They were general stories with very bishie characters. I'm not sure where Go! Comi is headed next with BL, but I'm hoping it will at least swerve back into true BL waters.

Media Blaster's BL book imprint is Kitty Media. I don't suggest going to the site. In fact, just go here, it will make your life easier.

Kitty media books are generally the most explicit tales out there, and while I hammered the company a couple years ago, I have to admit, the books have steadily improved at KM. Series are published from the beginning, rather than starting in the middle, and the translations and paper quality seem to have improved. The books themselves are still among the smallest in size, but good paper goes a long way toward readability.

Yaoi Generation is a new publisher, dating back to last year.

So far, YG has put out 4 volumes of a 5-book series over the past year and a half. It finally announced its next two titles around the time the 4th book came out. Honestly, I don't see this glacial pace as a bad plan. Sure, I'd love to have lots of new titles to pick and choose from, but I'd much rather the publisher take it slow and steady than to see it put out a bunch of work all at once and then fold from too much overhead. I was surprised when YG announced itself just as the economic crisis started, and even more surprised when the first book actually came out. YG seems to have a plan, and I think as long as the people behind YG stick to the plan, YG can become an exciting new company - one I'll still be talking about in two more years. ~_^

love, lore

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ponderosa121
User: [info]ponderosa121
Date: 2009-11-26 21:51
Subject: oh hell yes, I have a Snuggie
Security: Public
Mood:touched touched
Tags:rl:domestic, rl:school

We went down to Salinas to J's sister's new place, and holy crap is it huge. It's got a nifty layout, and infinitely more space than their old house. We hadn't seen Natalie since before she was walking so it took a while for her to stop giving J and I the suspicious eye, but by the end of the night it was lots of carry-me arms, and where Sophie is usually all about her Uncle J, somehow this time I ended up with her hanging on me more often than not. I suspect it was that I was wearing a pink shirt so that boosted my coolness rating. It's interesting to see the ways her personality has changed now that she's a big sister. Sometimes I wish we lived a bit closer in order to visit more often.

Anyway, we hung out, ate food, played with dolls, tried to devise a plan to steal their adorable pug, and at the end of the evening I got the bonus of belated b-day gifts. See subject. I have also increased my fuzzy scarf collection by one, so I should probably put out some of the ones I don't wear often out onto the curb.

The drive was nice, and J and I talked a lot about the ways in which we'd like to focus on our projects for school and general creative things. I'm back to having a solid idea of where to go with my current assignments so I'm feeling very rejuvenated about them. Which is good, as I need to be doubly-focused this weekend, since I didn't actually get any extra days off, and the lab is closed tomorrow which is typically my dedicated time to go in and work all day on my homework!

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lore
User: [info]lore
Date: 2009-11-26 05:09
Subject: BloMo26: T-Day....
Security: Public
Mood:hungry hungry
Music:dogs snoring


I wonder how many National Blog Posting Month entries today will be quickie "Happy Thanksgiving" notes, or will make Thanksgiving the topic or will just have Thanksgiving in it?

Because hey, no one loves to reduce a holiday down to math more than me.

Have a good one, loves. May Morimoto himself guide your hands if you're cooking. *gobble gobble*

love, lore

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lore
User: [info]lore
Date: 2009-11-25 23:59
Subject: BloMo25: Song of the Moment and some doubts....
Security: Public
Mood:listless listless
Music:Matthew Good - Avalanche


This will be hard, but I thought I'd talk about a song I've been pondering a while:

Meet Me on the Equinox lyrics and video link )

Ok, I can see Severus starting the song and Remus finishing it, but I don't necessarily like the "Everything ends" chorus. It's certainly a good canon song for them, and I can see around "everything ends" by it meaning something more elusive in the future or as Severus' doubts. But what do you all think? Add it to my mental Snape/Lupin soundtrack or not?

And we'll just forget what really inspired this song, natch. ~_^

*****
In other news, We've come up with a contest for [info] snupin_santa readers this year called Stuff the Stockings. Interested? Check it out!

love, lore

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lore
User: [info]lore
Date: 2009-11-24 23:56
Subject: BloMo24: OMG HOW DID IT GET THIS LATE?....
Security: Public
Mood:silly silly
Music:dogs farting


I have on "Glove You So Much" OPI nail polish. It's a lovely, wine colour with more brown than purple in the red, and it shimmers just a bit. Only I put it on too thick and have bubbles, which mar the effect.

Is there any way to put on more than one coat of nail polish without bubbling? Man!

love, lore

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lore
User: [info]lore
Date: 2009-11-23 23:53
Subject: BloMo23: Doggies....
Security: Public
Mood:anxious anxious
Music:because schnauzers have beards, get it?


We're watching my sister's dogs while the lucky biatch is in Italy.

They're Schnauzers, but one is 14 and on her last legs. She takes a ton of medicine, is all skin and bones, has to be walked on peril of accidents in the house and coughs like an old man. But she's kind of the family dog, because she started with my sister and father, then was just with my father, then went to my mother after he died, and is now back with my sister because she was too much for mom.

It's a little heartbreaking, and a lot smelly. ^_^ But it's nice to have this time with her before she goes.

*****
I meant to write about something else, but I ran out of time. *laugh*

love, lore

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ponderosa121
User: [info]ponderosa121
Date: 2009-11-22 16:55
Subject: in order to avoid homework
Security: Public
Tags:fandom:fringe, food, oh people, rl:work, squee:tv

bulletpoints!

- Although I managed surprisingly well on cards last year, there's no way I'm going to manage this year. I'm slightly bummed about this, but I think I'll just resolve to send more random letters throughout the year as that's way more fun to receive.

- I made adorable cupcakes at work again. I wish I had an excuse to make them at home, or a whole lot more people to foist them off on.

- The last two episodes of Fringe made me all excited and giddy, even with a brief Not Sure If Want moment in there. I need to get over my tendency to want to fit things neatly in canon and just write the smushy porn that I want to write.

- There is absolutely no way to reply to an anon thread with you as the subject without a) being a dick, b) encouraging the drama, and c) being a dick. I replied anyway.

- There is absolutely no way to blog/tweet/mention replying to an anon thread with you as the subject without encouraging the drama and being a bit of a dick, but it made me laugh. Oh, people.

- I had this big complicated adventure dream with JDM in it last night. It was awesome. Then I had to get up and go to work, which was less awesome, even though our new brunch cook made me Huevos for breakfast.

- Speaking of our new cook, she's been teaching J how to make stuff. Including this awesome grilled tomato salsa which is downstairs right now, calling to me. She's the best.

- I severely need a nap, but if I sleep now I'll wake up at the time which I should be going to bed. Conflict.

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lore
User: [info]lore
Date: 2009-11-22 07:10
Subject: Natterings....
Security: Public


  • Holy crap, these dogs are gassing me out! Air freshener, stat!

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter any damn time it pleases. *scowl*

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lore
User: [info]lore
Date: 2009-11-22 06:51
Subject: BloMo22: lore and Snupin, part II....
Security: Public
Mood:satisfied satisfied
Music:Lobstermen!


As I ended yesterday, I was preparing for my Epic Campaign to encourage more Snape/Lupin.

By Epic Campaign, I really mean that I decided to comment on every Snape/Lupin I came across, and that anytime I saw anyone offering drabbles or art, I would ask for Snape/Lupin. Now, you have to understand, the RPG was my first attempt at interacting with fandom. I don't think I had even commented on many journals then. So, when I say I started commenting and asking for drabbles/art, this was a big deal for me.

I made myself one ground rule: Don't say anything to anyone that I wouldn't want to hear myself as a creator. That meant not asking when the next chapter of a Work in Progress might be out or asking for a sequel, or commenting to someone else without actually commenting on the fic or art itself. Two years of lurking will at least teach you what not to do. There were times when I worried that some regular Snape/Lupin writers (*cough* McKay, Arion *cough*), were going to think I was a stalker, but I toughed it out in the name of more Snape/Lupin. ^_^

I'd like to think that my enthusiastic squee and encouragement helped inspire more Snape/Lupin in some small way, but I suspect Arion and McKay's April Showers challenge had more to do with it. Actually, what happened during that same month is that I had been thinking of asking to help out at [info - community] lupin_snape for quite a while, too shy and under-confident to act. But the renewed interest in the community and the mods' busy real lives made several other Snape/Lupin fans muse "aloud" in their journals about asking to mod at the community.

And yes, my ego has come far enough along now to admit that I thought I was the best person for the job at the time and that I'd better get on the stick before the others went from musing to asking. I was wrapping up the RPG, and I'd gained some experience managing a group of people with varying desires and needs from the game. I'd made plenty of mistakes, which helped to an extent, although I feel I've made plenty of mistakes at [info - community] lupin_snape, too. I guess I learned that I could make mistakes and only hold on to them quietly, rather than actively beating myself up over them. ~_^

But I had ideas, too, and, again, those two years of lurking showed me which communities thrived and which died out after the initial excitement waned. For just about 5 years, the ship has been running strong, mainly because there are mods obviously on-duty there. People want to know that other people are paying attention. What kind of a "community" runs steadily without a sense of togetherness?

My modding philosophy has been simple: It's Our community, not my community. A community is nothing without its members, and I've tried to run [info - community] lupin_snape as openly and all-inclusive as possible while maintaining that final "say" only because sometimes someone has to make the decision. I can't think of any time I've actually put my foot down, other than to protect the community from spammers, and to this day, I've never banned anyone except known "problem" accounts from back in the Russian Invasion LJ days. Anyone who tells you that they're not welcome at [info - community] lupin_snape is imposing her/his own exile.

I remember one of the people who wanted to mod (long gone from fandom now), talking about how she wanted to take over and then she could demand Marauders-era fic because that was her favourite era, which scared me to the bone. Snarry, even back then, had more than one "basic" community, and I knew the Snape/Lupin ship wasn't big enough to survive with a lot of splinter communities, which is what would have happened if LS (Lupin_Snape from now on) had become Marauders-focused. Eventually, someone unhappy with that focus would have gone and started Snape_Lupin_Adults or something, and the fans would have been scattered. The ship might have never grown.

Hum. I've meandered away from the question. It's because I love LS and its members so very much; I could go on about it all day. So, after being frightened into action, I consulted with a few friends for some final hand-holding and wrote the mods, offering to be the active mod. I was completely surprised when both women responded within the week with easy Yes'es, and my account was given mod status. Surprised, only because I thought it would be harder to convince anyone to take me on. ~_^

My first month was kind of rocky because I'd barely introduced myself when there was a major death in the family. But you know, in case anyone has the wrong impression, the original LS mod, [info - personal] makishef, has always been interested in the community and pairing, she just didn't have time to maintain a hands-on approach to the community. That month, she stepped right up and made sure the monthly challenge was issued and on-track while I was away. The other mod that was on board when I came on has since moved on, but she was always friendly and supportive as well. They're great gals, and I hope no one thinks anything but the best of them. We wouldn't have LS without them.

I was back by June with a new monthly challenge and there's been something new every month or two since then. I think people cross-posting their challenge-inspired works to their journals and other communities helped let people know that LS was an active, interesting place to be, as well as a treasure-trove of great Snape/Lupin content if they were interested in finding more. I think we hit 750 members by the end of the year and 1000 members a little over a year after the April Showers challenge. Somewhere along the line, "Snupin" became the preferred moniker for the pairing, and I stopped trying not to use it about a year after that. ~_^ I still use Snape/Lupin, though, when I go outside the community, if only because now that fandom is waning, new people coming in don't always get the squished nickname phenomenon.

So, that's it. That's how I came to be mod at LS. And while I answered why I shipped Snape and Lupin together before, in my normal fandoming I always point people here when they ask me why I ship Snupin. It's short and to the point, and I couldn't have said it better myself.

love, lore

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lore
User: [info]lore
Date: 2009-11-21 23:56
Subject: BloMo21: lore and Snape/Lupin, part I....
Security: Public
Mood:quixotic quixotic
Music:SNL - because I like to torture myself


[info] geri_chan asked how I got into Snupin and ended up as a mod for [info - community] lupin_snape.

I think I've sort of told this story in bits and pieces in different places over the years, but to have it all in one place....

Once upon a time, I was a fandom lurker. I'd drifted into HP from XF and after a couple years of lurking, some LJ friends were pimping a new RPG on their journals...over and over again. I started to wonder if I shouldn't give an RPG a try. I wanted to write again and I'd been reading an RPG avidly, so why not try it myself? From my reading experience at my fave RPG and checking out a few others, I was sure putting in an application so late in the casting period would net me a super-minor, low-maintenance character like Hannah Abbott or Stephen Cornfoot (remember him?); a student character not close to the main action. I said I'd take anyone. I received back: Snape.

Severus Snape? Are you kidding me? I don't care about the adult characters?! Arrgh!

But I said I'd take anyone, so I went on a research bender for Severus Snape. O....k. You know, when you bother to look beyond the surface, there's something up with Snape. He's not just the year-long red-herring; he's Albus' right-hand, he's powerful, he sees through Harry and when Voldemort comes back, Albus sent him off to re-join the Death Eaters (this RPG started in the weeks before OotP was released). I came to respect Severus Snape while looking at the facts. I fell in love with him when I started reading the fan fic.

RPGs are all about the shipping, did you know that? (*snicker*) I started to wonder with whom I could possibly ship Snape (even in a longing, unrequited way in the RPG). I ruled out the kids right away (I didn't even know what "cross-gen" was back then, but I don't like unequal relationships), and I realised there were no developed women in HP that were Severus' age either. I'd just had the slash light turned on by Aragorn/Boromir -- surely I could slash Snape! There were at least a few candidates around his age. With those limitations in mind, I hit the Snape FQF archive.

I read several pairings for Snape, but the character that I kept going back to was Remus. I read some great stories in many pairings, don't get me wrong. But much of the Sirius fic was hatesex or I didn't recognize Snape or Sirius in them, and Harry fics bothered me as much as I thought they would. Albus usually involved power games, the Weasleys weren't really in play back then, Kingsley wasn't on the horizon, James was dead, Lucius was a married bad guy and I wanted my Snape to secretly be good, etc.

Severus had real history with Remus. They were the same age, had held the same job, had gone to school together, had darkness tinging their souls. Snape had followed Remus' gang around school, Remus had almost killed him and Snape still made him Wolfsbane. Severus and Harry have history, but it's convoluted and uneven at best. Same with Albus. And Sirius, not so much. In fact, I've always found it hard to believe that Snape/Lupin wasn't a popular ship right off the bat. Maybe it seemed too easy to some people, I don't know.

ANYWAY, the more I explored Snape/Lupin, the more in love with the idea I fell, until Snape/Lupin was all I wanted to read. The problem I had was that there wasn't a whole lot of Snupin out there. After I went through the FQF, I found [info - community] lupin_snape, which, at the time, did not have much activity, and I scoured the journals and archives from there. Once I'd exhausted all the resources I could think of, I knew there was only one thing to do:

Go on an Epic Campaign to encourage more Snape/Lupin.

To Be Continued in the next post. I started this late for a reason....

love, lore

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lore
User: [info]lore
Date: 2009-11-20 23:59
Subject: BloMo20: Halloween....
Security: Public
Mood:indescribable indescribable
Music:Fringe


[info - personal] osmalic asked how I celebrate Halloween.

As a kid, I generally looked forward to trick-or-treating. I did that through age 14, and then I was officially too old for it. If only I'd have known then that most people ignore the age limit!

As an adult, I've tended to hold my own birthday/Halloween party. This is the first year we've had to cancel because of illness. Sometimes, when my birthday falls in the middle of the week, a party isn't as feasible. If the weather is good, we like to set up the candy in the front yard and make the kids walk through the leaves we refuse to rake. On occasion, we've also blared scary music.

I'm not really a great decorator or costumer. I kind of enjoy clever, low-labor costumes, but I had so many "that's lame" reactions that I stopped even doing those. In my house, it's pretty much Halloween year-round in terms of decoration, and my aunt always gives me something neat that's Halloween-themed, so while I have a huge pile of Halloween stuff in basement, I hardly ever get it all out. But I could deck this place out like the Adams Family mansion if I wanted to. *grin*

I love haunted houses, although I don't get out to them every year, but they're always on my mind each year. And I celebrate Friday the 13ths as kind of adjunct holidays to Halloween. When I'm particularly vexed, I take a hex for myself on Halloween.

Probably my best birthday was last year, turning over a decade and having all my friends and family around. It was a nice night and most of my friends got good and silly in front of a fire, which was different for us, but verrrrry entertaining. Worst that I care to document was definitely this year. ~_^

love, lore

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ponderosa121
User: [info]ponderosa121
Date: 2009-11-20 17:31
Subject: [FIC] Batman - Batman/Joker - The Frayed Ends
Security: Public
Mood:calm calm
Tags:character:bruce wayne, character:the joker, fandom:batman, pairing:batman/joker, pre-slash

Spam! Wrote this not long after TDK came out but never posted it. Since the evil twin just wrote Joker/Scarecrow with similar elements, I knew I had to post it as the same time as hers or I'd never do it. Team Porn does Arkham. Arharhrh.


The Frayed Ends
Batman. Batman/Joker. R. ~1000 words. Nolanverse. Violence.
Darkness gathers into a swarm around them and Bruce doesn’t want to let the bastard take one more goddamn breath.



Read Me. )

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ponderosa121
User: [info]ponderosa121
Date: 2009-11-20 14:31
Subject: [ART] Steve & Tony Warmup Drawing
Security: Public
Mood:geeky geeky
Tags:art:fanart, character:steve rogers, character:tony stark, fandom:marvel, pairing:steve/tony, slash

Just a little something to get me in the groove for doing homework. Done without access to my usual brushes so there are several big things that make me go DDDD:, but I didn't want to spend more than an hour on this. Warmup means warmup, Pondy.

Avengers. Steve/Tony. G.



Steve & Tony Warmup Drawing )

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lore
User: [info]lore
Date: 2009-11-19 23:47
Subject: BloMo19: Screw you, Runway!....
Security: Public
Mood:hot hot
Music:Top Chef


Here are a few thoughts about Project Runway tonight:

Whoever made up Heidi in that pink must be shot. Also, she looked like she had eye work done. But I hope not.

The wrong person won.

There was a costume-heavy line. Rosy was right when she said in chat that the hats made the models look like penises.

Tim Gunn spazzing out was adorable.

I wasn't so pissed off that I won't tune in come January, but it's a close thing.

*****
Good friend had a birthday today. We managed a small gift and short visit, and I'm glad because this friend isn't celebrated enough.

That's all I have for now. Maybe I better keep this up in December, just to get to all the topics I'm not hitting on yet.

love, lore

P.S. See the Bones icon? It needs help, but I'm not sure what....

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ponderosa121
User: [info]ponderosa121
Date: 2009-11-19 20:09
Subject: Things what I have been doing
Security: Public
Mood:accomplished accomplished
Tags:rl:work

Attended a benefit dinner last night with J, maiki, and Susan for a non-profit that we've done a lot of work for. Materials that both Susan and I had designed were all over the place and it was really nice to see it all out and looking snazzy. Susan's done a lot to get their informational materials/reports looking clean and professional. I did the benefit's programs, invites, and carried over from last year was a set of promotional posters which I'm still proud of. The project, per usual, made me gnash my teeth at times, but I do enjoy working for them, and it was flattering when people whom I didn't expect compliments from told me they were impressed by the invitations in particular. :D Leading up I had this worry about the pagination on the program booklet since I worked entirely remotely and never saw a proof (or even had time to run one myself!) but everything turned out beautifully and typo-free. By this point, I've done enough recent work to have a solid design portfolio again, so with so few classes left ahead of me it's nice to have that in addition to what's shaping up to go on my reel.

I didn't mingle much, as J and I were introduced to some great people early on and there was no incentive to bother straying away from the interesting conversation to rub elbows with people outside my industry. It was somewhat fascinating attending something like this after so long, and also after now having worked on catering from the serving end! The appetizers, by the way, were awesome. I wish we offered some of them on our own menu, especially the warm cranberries and almonds in phyllo cups. Yum.

My shoes were remarkably comfortable. I haven't worn actual heels in forever and it's nice to confirm that my knee can handle hours standing around in 3" heels.

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ponderosa121
User: [info]ponderosa121
Date: 2009-11-19 17:10
Subject: [FIC] X-men RPS - Hugh/Liev/Taylor - Boys' Club
Security: Public
Mood:lazy lazy
Tags:actor:hugh jackman, actor:liev schreiber, actor:taylor kitsch, fandom:rpf, fandom:x-men, pairing:hugh jackman/liev schreiber/tayl, slash

This was supposed to be anon commentporn, but then it wasn't fulfilling what the OP had asked for so I wrote it for Blue instead.

Boys' Club
X-men RPS. Hugh Jackman/Liev Schrieber/Taylor Kitsch. NC-17. 3400 words.
God, tonight he'd be a slut for it if that's what they wanted.


Read Me. )

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lore
User: [info]lore
Date: 2009-11-18 16:24
Subject: BloMo18: Tis the season of saving stories....
Security: Public
Mood:nostalgic nostalgic
Music:I've Got A Feelin' (whoo hooooo)


Anyone who knows me at all knows that I love a good, long fanfic (with lots of smex, but that's another post...). The holiday exchange season is creeping up on us, as it is the time of year when people start to evaluate their lives and think that it would be a good idea to pull all their fanfic off the internet (it's not!!).

If you are like me, and you want ALL the fan fic, saving stories off the internet to your hard drive is essential to your sanity.

I ran into a poster on LJ who didn't realise that if you save simple text files of journal and some web pages, you will get a text format that includes characters to show italics and bold (usually slashes: /italicized or bold text here/), essentially giving you the story in a format that can be easily transferred to most reading devices without losing the author's intended passages of emphasis. If you didn't know you could do this either, read on!

lore's nerdy file-saving tips

In your web browser, make the following choices:

File > Save Page As > Save As File Type

Choose .txt and then give the file a name. Hit Save.

If the person has NOT used Smart Quotes, you should get a story in all its texty glory, slashes for italics and all. Most saved journal pages are messy, with lots of gunk at the top and bottom in code, including comments. I used to clean up the files as I saved, and I recently stopped doing that. When I open the file again for reading, I'll clean it up then. Also, if I'm looking for sequels or more from the writer, there's plenty of hidden clues in the gunk at the top or bottom if I need it.

When I put a file on my Sony reader, I clean up the gunk. The lines break unevenly toward the end of paragraphs on the reader screen, but I don't find that the quirk makes the file unreadable. Also, I've never fiddled with a text file to try and fix that problem because it doesn't bother me, but you might be able to fix it. Maybe saving the text file with line wrap off? I'll have to try that sometime.

On Efiction web archives, you know there's a little printer icon at the top of the Table of Contents (also on the first chapter), and if you click it in the TOC, you get the entire story on one page, which you can then save as a text file. Again, no smart quotes means you'll get the /--/ for italics. Efiction is a VERY kind way to archive because people can choose to read by chapter or as a big chunk, and saving a multi-chaptered fic is one click of the printer icon (hint to those thinking of putting up their archive of their work!).

I'm sure other archive programs have functions like this, but not most of the online self-archives like FFN, Skyehawk, etc. Maddening. I've been known to scour the net for an hour hoping to find a fic in one file somewhere, rather than go through the hassle of putting together a 30-chapter, multi-part epic. On the wise advice of a friend, I've recently just started saving the chapters individually into a folder, but when you get past 10 chapters in a fic, even saving by chapter gets tedious.

I'm a fan of looooong fics, so I've obsessed about this quite a bit. And I like saving things off to my hard drive when I think the fic is special, because we never know when something or someone is going to up and disappear from the internet. Lately, I've been saving almost defensively, as the HP fandom winds down and drifts away. Archives and saving fics in a readable format are more important to me than ever.

Finally, there are some ways to possibly get around smartquotes, but I've only ever done it through experimentation, with no real consistency. You know you have a file with smartquotes, btw, when the quote marks and apostrophes all turn into question marks. Bleh!

love, lore

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lore
User: [info]lore
Date: 2009-11-17 23:44
Subject: BloMo17: random lore is random....
Security: Public
Mood:recumbent recumbent
Music:Dr Who


I fail to understand why Star Trek is not in this house yet. Mrrrrrr.

Bad news x 1.5 tonight. Will there be 1.5 more, or did the .5 mess the 3 Superstition up?

I have botched painting my nails so badly tonight that I fear going to bed for the smudging. The darn nail lengthener better work!! I tried using glitter this time to hide the flaws the lengthener creates (lotsa bubbles) and omggggg. Glitter splosion. And who wants glitter all over the covers and sheets? *stays up*

Holes are annoying.

Still feeling kinda gloaty about the Colts over the Patriots. Muah!

Need to look up the lyrics to Meet Me on the Equinox, evaluate for Snupin potential.

Watched Dr Who. Love the actress who played the captain; her face flashed right out of Mansfield Park at me. Good episode. Running is always goofy fun on Who. Ending a downer (in my opinion only), as usual. Expecting worst in December, that way, if I like it a little, bonus! Tennant cuuuuute. Is he growing more hair?

DeviantArt is insane if it thinks I am paying $15 on sale for cards from them. Also, just once, I wish an artist would make Scorpio pretty.

I made and even uploaded Bones icons, but I'm not quite pleased with them yet. Must fiddle some more.

Ironically, most days, I have even better random thoughts, but of course today I'm all blank. Need to answer comments. I've also stashed a few long comments from replies at other journals...might write them up. Questions have not been forgotten, but omg, I need to start earlier in the day.

Huh, that was a bit complain-y. I better lighten up! *smushes flist*

love, lore

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lore
User: [info]lore
Date: 2009-11-16 23:54
Subject: BloMo16: BL recs....
Security: Public
Mood:tired tired
Music:Planet Earth
Tags:bl talk


A while back, Deb Aoki at About.com asked her Twitter friends what their must-read BL mangas were. She compiled their suggestions into a list. I didn't agree with many of the choices, so I replied with my own list, which I'm reproducing here as a rec list.

BL recs )

I only suggested books that are in print, or recently were, or are easily obtainable used through Amazon or Ebay. I also noticed that I tended to favour adults over school aged boys, and that almost all of the books would be considered to have men who act like men (as opposed to the many BL books out there where one of the pair is feminized). After I post, I might go back and put in Amazon links.

It's not a comprehensive list of my faves by any means, as some of my must-reads were already listed, and I focused on series or books with one plot (as opposed to anthology books). But, if you have an interest in BL and were wondering where to start, my recs are solid reads that should be easy to find.

love, lore

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lore
User: [info]lore
Date: 2009-11-15 23:59
Subject: BloMo15: Thoughts on Chocolate & Asphodel....
Security: Public
Mood:excited excited
Music:Colts beat the Patriots! Nyah! ~_^


I pretty much spent all day getting the second volume of the Snupin zine, Chocolate & Asphodel out.

Some personal thoughts on it: )

love, lore

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August 2007