hogwarts gone wild

(No, don't ask me to pronounce it. I have more respect for the language than to try.)

I have a snake in my bathtub, soaking her skin off while her sister considers the nicities of snake metabolism, and hunger.

I have cats which I have not yet drowned in the aforementioned bathtub (through no lack of provokation on their part, I assure you.)

I have no more feliway spray left.

I do, however, have new, sparkly bookses.

I have leftovers from a celebratory lunch of which aquila_dominus and I partook today, which we shall be revisiting for dinner, most likely.

I have a sore ear, and tonsil to match on the left side.

I have a party approaching this saturday, for which I have neither cooked, nor cleaned a single thing.

I have an exercize machine leering at me from the other room, and a slice of cheesecake (shared,) to justify before I settle for the night.

And all of this falls to the wayside in the face of today's ACTUAL triumph:

I HAVE CLAPBOARD ON MY HOUSE!!!!!

It isn't painted, and the caulk may well take another week to cure in these temperatures, BUT IT'S UP! And despite the fact that the shoe room looks like a warzone from the inside, it no longer feels like Dis Pater's left nutsack in there! In fact, ironically enough, it's actually just a touch warmer inside the closed off room than elsewhere in the house. Which means we did the insulation, at least, right.

*High5's the Effin WORLD!*

And now? Octopi hijacking coconut shells. Because it's cute, is why!

http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/1232249.html

Just some links that might have got lost in the faily shuffle of the last post:

(Read more ...)

I haven't done the last few love memes that went around, but here I am in this year's holiday love meme.

Now to go through and leave some love of my own. Um. In a totally hygienic way. ♥

***

So last night I was making this orange-cranberry loaf, and as I put the pan into the oven, I looked up and saw the box of sugar sitting on the counter and I thought, Oh, shit, I didn't put the sugar in the batter. So I pulled the pan out of the oven and stirred the sugar directly into the batter. It turned out fine. I had it for breakfast this morning. But wow, talk about senior moments. Eek!

***

210 words on yuletide! I don't know that they are good words, but...words, I has them! Talking it out with fleurdeleo last night over dinner clarified some of the issues I was having - all tell and no show, basically - and hopefully now that I am working on fixing that (after I scrapped three separate opening paragraphs), the rest of the story will follow.

*crosses fingers*

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/106749.html. people have commented there.

I am home from the clinic! (for those of you reading on IJ and JF mirrors, I have a sprained/possibly torn MCL. No breaks!)

I'm to ice and elevate today. I got a prescription for vicodin and didn't check it before I filled it -- holy crap he gave me 30 500-mg tablets. So I'm taking half-tablets, which should be more than enough.

You can tell I was a little bit high when I filled the prescription. I bought vicodin, Calcium tablets (I was almost out), a spare Ace bandage, a toothbrush, two Snickers bars, and a jar of jam. I don't even remember buying the jar of jam.

I can't recommend Michigan Avenue Immediate Care highly enough, for those in Chicago who don't have a doctor or need to see a doctor NOW but don't want to go to the ER. I was seen within half an hour, they charge on a sliding scale so you can generally get fairly cheap medical care if you don't have insurance, and they have really nice doctors.

I did have to do the Walk Of Shame in my pyjamas, but that's why I wore pyjamas instead of just jeans, so I didn't have to keep taking off my pants; I could just wear my pjs and roll up the cuff. Undressing and taking off my shoes are the hardest thing right now.

I am going to go sit down forever.

Kristmas Wish Fulfilled for: celandineb
From: An Amazing Member!

Title:Who's on First?
Characters/Pairings: Harry/Percy
Rating: NC-17
Kinks/Themes Included: cross-dressing, delayed orgasm
Other Warnings: none

( Who's on First? [NWS Art!] )

Kristmas Wish Fulfilled for: lesyeuxverts
From: A Mischievous Member!

Title: “Veiled Science”
Characters/Pairings: Sirius/Teddy/Victoire
Rating: NC-17
Kinks/Themes Included: threesomes, bondage, gags, cockrings, pegging, piercing, voyeurism, breathplay, cockgagging, dirty talk, facials
Other Warnings: Pervy use of the Death Chamber and Veil?
Word Count: 4555
Summary/Description: Teddy has finally found an intimate connection to his parents -- in the Department of Mysteries. Victoire, on the other hand, has found an entertaining idea of what to do with it.
Author's Notes: I couldn't resist this prompt and its fantastic kinks, so whoever requested it has my love. :P And this just kept going into something far, far longer than I normally write, so I hope you enjoy it! :P Happy Kinky Kristmas!
(And thanks to C for her help!)

( Veiled Science )

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2009/12/14/-19

This week, Total Film magazine is releasing their newest issue with ten different covers as part of their special on best of the decade. Harry Potter will be featured on one of the covers (also here in our galleries) as "Franchise of the Decade." Coming in at number 8, the cover says about Harry Potter: "From page to screen, how Harry Potter made movie magic. Plus, first word on the epic final...

Heh, yesterday, in a locked post (locked because it was mostly about other kinds of content), I said something to the effect that we were now in the annual period of impatience, in which we wait for fic both by and for self to post at various fests.

This morning, fic for me is up at both Happy Trekmas [here] and Smutty Claus [here is the fic; the Smutty_Claus post at LJ is here].

Either I have a superpower (in which case, I probably should use it more directly for good rather than for making the world eject fic for me), or I am the beneficiary of entertaining serendipity.

:D

I originally posted this at http://florahart.dreamwidth.org/1013199.html, and you are welcome to comment there. OpenID and/or anon comments are allowed.

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2009/12/14/welcome-to-hogsmeade-photo-update-on-harry-potter-theme-park-construction

Construction continues at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park attraction in Orlando, Florida and we have several new batches of photos to show you today, including our first look at the Hogsmeade village sign right here. This comes courtesy of OrlandoParknews, which has some terrific large size photos as well of the entrance to Hogwarts Castle, the brick facade now in place on the sh...

Today's Bridge2Sickbay prompts were all images. I did some other drabbles and stuff, but here, you get one with babies, and one with ow.

Title: Child Development
Prompt: Spock, Uhura: a picture of two babies in a spilled-over box of packing peanuts
Words: 350, sappy.

( Child Development )

---

Title: Still Standing
Prompt: Author's choice (Kirk, McCoy): a picture of six blue and red darts that have all missed a yellow balloon.
Words: 400, ouchy.

( Still Standing )

I originally posted this at http://florahart.dreamwidth.org/1012755.html, and you are welcome to comment there. OpenID and/or anon comments are allowed.

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2009/12/13/harry-potter-cast-and-crew-interview-round-up-for-hbp-film

A slew of interviews with actors and producers from the Harry Potter films are now online in conjunction with the recent DVD release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  In the first of three articles from the Toronto Sun, Potter producer David Heyman comments on why the Half-Blood Prince DVD was produced with more special features than previous film released.  In part, he says:"I have v...

Er, no, there weren't supposed to be two parts to the Long-ish Weekend Recs of yesterday, because then you all get overwhelmed and angsty and start wringing your hands about how you don't have time to read long stories, and then you just start scrolling by my recs and flipping me a rude salute on your way past. I hear you. But people need to stop posting Awesomesauce Stuff I Like, okay. :/ I promise to go away for... at least a few days after this. :D

Darkstar by Anon at hd_holidays (Harry/Draco, NC-17: some warnings on fic that are all very, very mild, IMO, 23K)
After the Ministry of Magic decides that Harry's Auror position is a liability, they offer him an alternative: become part of an international covert operations initiative. Joining the project means Harry must forsake everything he cherishes and learn things he never wanted to know about himself.

Here is something about me you might not know: I adore the Jason Bourne series like crazy. CRAZY. This? Is HP meets Bourne. a;lskjdfl;sj. The action-adventure superspy plot of it had me totally riveted, and the universe the author develops is way cool and very well done. In one of the opening scenes, we see Harry's death reported in the Prophet. From there, he disappears underground in an unnamed city to take up his new training, back to basics, with an international special ops force that doesn't want Harry Potter, Expelliarmus expert with a conscience that can only get in the way; they want to create Harry Potter, gun-toting hit wizard who won't think twice about taking out the Minister for Magic if given the order. Hell yeah! Meanwhile, Draco has already been with this agency, Darkstar, for some time, and listen, every time he's onscreen the entire story pretty much ignites into giant flames of oh God, I don't even know -- sexual energy, assassin energy, authority energy, everything. Harry is amazing, the supporting cast is wonderful, but Draco not only completely steals the show, he gets it on its back, makes it beg, and then shoots it in the head.

... so to speak. :D I do have some minor quibbles with this story, such as a glut of exposition at the beginning that I wanted to slice out with a sharp scalpel, and a few lingering questions about the universe as a whole and how it works. But overall it is so insanely cool and well characterised and erotic as hell and so very, very memorable, that I find I can't dwell too much on a few little things. Persevere past the opening sequences and it becomes very awesome, very quickly. :)

Theft of Assets, Destruction of Property by helenish (Neville/Draco, NC-17, 23K)
Surely it is a mistake to allow a single youthful indiscretion to cloud an already promising career.

Grah, I've been meaning to rec this since I first read it about six weeks ago now. Many of you have probably already seen it by now; if not, I highly recommend setting aside some time for it. It's like nothing I've ever read before. It was conceived several years ago, the author says, and only finished this fall, but it definitely reads like pre-closed-canon fic. Both Neville and Draco are a little bit different than one might expect, but still entirely themselves. Well, perhaps I should amend that: for the fic to work, Draco is necessarily a bit lighter than I usually see him, but there are also reasons for that. In the end, it worked for me just fine. Neville is wonderful, and the world Helen creates surrounding Auror training as a mirror of graduate school, in a way, with Neville having to study his head off just to keep up, was a fascinating take on the training.

This is part forced marriage fic, part hurt/comfort, and part meta, to me -- on what, though, I'm still unsure. There is commentary on the possibilities involved in arranged marriages, I think, on the social currency attached to virginity, and definitely commentary on domesticity and gender roles. Helen beautifully captures a strained relationship in which one partner works outside the home and the other feels lonely, isolated, and unable (or unworthy) of his/her own work, and does it all from the vantage point of an m/m relationship. It's refreshing and nicely subversive, I thought, although I also found it a bit unnerving at times, because, does it only reproduce heteronormative gender roles? IDK, maybe I'm overthinking it. It's a fascinating study of all these issues, though, as well as just a beautifully told love story. It's hard to pin it down, but I love how it transcends genres. It's a story that will stick in your head for a long, long time.

All right, long!fic, begone with you! I'll focus on one-shots for the rest of the week. Maybe. ;)

Ugh. It was bad enough that I had to root for Philip Rivers today. Now the Giants are FAILLING (yes they fail so hard they get two Ls) against the Eagles. How is their tackling so bad? HOW? And how is their offensive play-calling so useless? And how come their receivers can make these huge plays one minute, and can't even hold onto the ball the next? Otoh, Eli can do these smart, smart things, and Bradshaw and Jacobs can make these runs but can't get out of bounds to stop the clock. Jesus. The agita is killing me.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/106343.html. people have commented there.

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2009/12/13/high-res-photos-from-one-day-in-the-life-of-daniel-radcliffe

A series of high res scans are now online from the upcoming photographic book of actor Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) by  photographer Tim Hailand, One Day In the Life of Daniel Radcliffe.  Available to view right here in our Image Galleries, the photos published in OK Magazine feature the young actor over the period one day during his Broadway run of the Peter Shaffer play Equus.  As readers ...

Thanks to everyone who responded to my last few posts. You are all so fabulous and I'm unbelievably fortunate to have you.

I had a very productive weekend, despite a small crimp in my plans last night. I got the entire house cleaned, some laundry done, the Christmas tree and decorations up, and ten dozen Pfeffernusse made. Also, a pot of 7 bean soup for lunches next week. Josh went over to a friend's to spend the night, and I was going to get some porn written, but just as I got back from dropping him off and opening a bottle of champagne, I got a call: Josh was barfing his guts out, poor boo. So I put the champagne back in the fridge, went and picked him up, then downloaded Merlin and watched it, instead.

I am really smitten with Merlin. I've been watching and reading, and I may just have to write in this fandom. Maybe. We'll see. I haven't got any ideas, yet, but I feel like the possibility is there, at least. Yay, Merlin!

I did get a little bit of something written this afternoon, though; it's a story I've been working on forever, just a little bit at a time, for a lovely someone on my flist. Here is an excerpt: it's a Prince of Tennis fic, D1, tentatively titled "Key Money".

( Practice usually takes it out of him but today's takes the cake )

I never watch TV, but we watched our tapes of Charlie Brown Christmas and Rudolph, and when they went off, Extreme Makeover was starting. I left the TV on, and have been crying on and off the whole time it's been on. Wow.

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I AM HOME. The shuttle took FOREVER because he decided to drive up Halsted. WHY? WHY NOT!

I am sitting in bed with my leg up on a pillow and an ice pack on it. Is anyone shocked I keep ice packs in the freezer for moments like this? Me neither.

The full story is, this morning I was going to walk my hosts' dog, because he loves me best and despite fearing the rain might actually pee if I walk him in it. So I was standing on the steps to their mud-room, and my host said, very clearly, "Be careful! The tile is slippery!"

"I will be extra-super-careful," I said, or words to that effect, and then put my foot down on the tile and tumbled headfirst to the ground.

I tried. I really did.

I'm sure the fall sounded worse than it was, considering I took a hall table with me and nearly took the dog out in the process. I'm sure I traumatised the poor dog, and probably my hosts as well. I felt ok at the time, so I picked myself up, walked the dog, carried my bag to the car, and went to the airport. I got on the plane, got a seat where I could elevate my leg, asked the flight attendant for an ice pack (btw, Southwest flight attendants are the coolest MacGyvers ever) and spent the entire two-hour flight elevating and icing in fifteen-minute increments.

When it came time to get off the plane, my knee felt...funny. And then it hurt. So I caught a shuttle home, yay door-to-door service, and put in a sick-call to work via email for tomorrow. I'd go to the ER tonight but I'd just sit there in uncomfortable dirty chairs for hours on end, when I could get a good night's sleep and go to the nice Immediate Care clinic tomorrow morning. I trust them more; they're the ones who had me see a specialist for my wrist after sending me off with a splint, when they didn't even have to call me again.

Dad Lucky thinks that it's either a really bad sprain or a fracture in the head of the tibia.

If my leg is broken again I'm going to laugh and weep simultaneously, just to scare the Immediate Care people. My New Year's Resolution was not to break any bones in 2010.

http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/1227910.html

From the annals of livejournal, I bring you, "Snape is a wonderful man and everyone around him was awful" wank.

(Read more ...)

( The Quibbler Report: Sunday, December 13, 2009 )

So our moggies have been particularly decorative recently.

Sirocco rocks the bow-head look...


But she also rocks the Kilroy look.


You must understand -- Sirocco loves this blankie. She chases it about the living room, and wedges it into various corners before burrowing under it to snooze and purr thunderously. Like this:

A kitty and her binky. A love story...

Cyrene brings Teh Cute.


Mithril brings Teh Ebil.


Hilfy and Godric have decided to have nothing whatsoever to do with the festivities this year, we have been informed. The Management remains unconvinced, and plans to keep the happysnap close to hand.