*happy dance*

I'm doing more tutoring! I got called in to do more tutoring in Germantown today.

And now I've been asked to work three days a week, starting December 1st.

Oh, wow. This is actually getting into hours that I can actually live off of.

I just finished watching season 1 of the television show Heroes and I can honestly say I’m a little obsessed. It’s not a great show but it is totally my kind of show, a sort of sprawling mishmash of elements from X-Men, Watchmen and the Manchurian Candidate and post 9/11 paranoia with lots of grandiose themes, moral ambiguity, family dysfunction and general angst.

I find myself particularly fascinated by the relationship between Peter and Nathan Petrelli. They’re brothers—Peter is a hospice nurse and Nathan is a lawyer running for Congress—but the intensity of their interactions makes them seem more like lovers.

I always wonder where stuff like (i.e. homoerotic and/or incestuous subtext) this comes from, is it intentional or just a quirk of chemistry? In some cases it’s conscious (on the DVD commentary for 28 Days Later for instance, Danny Boyle acknowledges that yet, Major Henry West is acting in a seductive manner towards Jim) I always wondered if while he was making Reservoir Dogs Quentin Tarantino told Tim Roth and Harvey Keitel to play Mr. Orange and Mr. White as a romance or if it just happened.

Some actors I’ve noticed just seem to have a particular gift for getting all over their male co-stars in a suggestive way. Viggo Mortensen (see him with William Hurt in A History of Violence or Vincent Cassel at the end of Eastern Promises) and Peter Stormare (Constantine, Prison Break, the Brothers Grimm) immediately come to mind but there are definitely others.

And speaking of slashy goodness…

Now that I’m done season 1 of Heroes I’ve started watching season 2 of the BBC show Merlin. Amusingly the season premiere starts off with scenes of Merlin rushing to a shirtless Arthur’s bedside and later Gwen doing the same for Morgana. In this series, I definitely think the homoerotic subtext is very conscious. There’s too much of it for it to be anything else.

I have mixed feelings about Merlin. On the one hand it feels like a rehash of the first couple seasons of Smallville in a medieval setting. Of course originality isn’t everything, but there’s a certain stagnancy to the show. It seems to tread water, never moving forward. Each episode seems to return it to a status quo. That said I do enjoy watching it because it’s so well done and beautiful to look at. The costumes and scenery and production design is wonderful. I’ve never seen a show with more vivid use of color. Katie Mcgrath and Angel Coulby, the young actresses who play Morgana and Gwen are absolutely exquisite. I could stare at Colin Morgan’s (Merlin’s) cheekbones all day and Anthony Stewart Head (Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is wonderful and magnetic as the very ambiguous King Uther.

I’m feeling much better than I was when I posted back on the 9^th.

My health insurance finally came through so I’m taking my medication at the proper dosage once again. I’ve also taken steps to get my daily calorie intake up to a level where I’m functioning instead of just surviving.

Other positive things—

After a couple weeks with nothing promising on the job front, about four positions have come up in the past few days that I’m going to apply for. Maybe something will work out. Not that I’m terribly eager to get back to work (because let’s face it, its work) but I’d feel a bit more secure with a steady income and some reliable health insurance coverage.

The weather is wonderfully mild for mid-November, temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s this last week.

I’m getting back into the habit of writing everyday, which is great. When I’m not writing I always feel sort of directionless. Practicing and honing my craft gives me a real sense of purpose and accomplishment.

I find taking care of my grandmother really rewarding. Since I moved in with her, I’ve taken over changing the bedding every week and yesterday she thanked me for that and was telling me what a terrible time she used to have doing it by herself and how much easier having me around made life for her. It really makes me feel good knowing I’m helping her even if it is in a very small and simple way.

Title: Behind the Green Door
Author: thewickednix
Pairing: Harry Potter/ Draco Malfoy
Rating: NC-17
Categories: Slash
Warnings: Dark, Coarse Language, Sexual Situations, Violence

Summary: In the midst of the Second Wizardning War, Draco Malfoy witnesses his father's capture of Harry Potter. Draco is given a mission: to watch the Boy Who Lived. But in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor, something besides hate and enmity is born between two desperate souls.

DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author's notes: Since someone asked, I can mention here that I am anticipating approximately 6 chapters.
May it be noted that this particular story is in Draco’s PoV, and just as a warning: he is not a nice man.

Part I
Part II
Part III

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01-49 BBC Robin Hood: 3.13 "Something Worth Fighting For pt2"
50-103 BBC Merlin 2.03 "Lancelot and Guinevere"

[plus wallpapers & fanvideos]

Teasers:



(at my journal in a multifandom post)

• 00:02 #Yuletide assignment is here. Gleeful wibbleness abounds. #
• 20:38 Missed #drwho but hope that jedward leave on # xfactor #
• 20:40 Jamie was not great last night on #xfactor but Lloyd has been a bit hit and miss #
• 20:50 @ciorstaidh #drwho will be watched ASAP once I've finished boggling at #xfactor #
• 20:56 @ciorstaidh Louis blatently did it out of spite towards Simon. #
• 21:20 @ciorstaidh I wonder what the spats were about. Simon's place or the idol house :P #

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[64] Emma (2009)
[22] The Tudors
[26] The Abduction Club
[07] Garrow's Law (ep.01)


Teasers:

More HERE @ my journal

I'm joining the posting frenzy at http://archiveofourown.org/, starting to upload my HP fics.


Now available:

Primer to the Dark Arts.
Harry learns he is to be given private (and secret) tutoring in the Dark Arts. His teacher? Professor Snape. Features ghost cats and cursed harps, spells that are supposed to go wrong and don't, a friendly sociopathic Death Eater. and Snape's naughty, naughty library. (Written 2002, post GoF.)

Cursed Artefacts For Sale.
Severus drags Harry to a Wizarding auction. "Collecting Cursed Artefacts is a registered form of madness in the Compendium of Wizarding Mental Disorders and Other Things That Make You Twitch," Severus said, "like most compulsions to collect. But it's very a popular one and I plan to beat everyone else to it."

( Merlin: spoiler, spoiler, spoiler, herein comes some spoilers. )

I love this show. And to think that if mom hadn't kept me up late I would have ... okay, I probably would've watched it Monday.

This week: the GRE.

I'm not ready for the math section. I haven't taken math -- I haven't so much as poked a stick at math -- in 20 years. But... I'll never be ready for it. So let's just do it.

For some reason crossposting isn't working on Dreamwidth for me.

It was. And now it isn't.

I wonder if I need to hit the backdate option ... hmn. *tries it*



ETA: Aha. I'd changed my LJ password but didn't update it here.

01] Please comment!
02] Credit mrbnatural or iconzicons if taking!
03] No hotlinking or altering, please!
04] I am no bird; and no net ensnares me.



JANE EYRE (1997): 118 Icons!

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Dear Yuletide Writer:
This is not my letter. I am traveling tomorrow and have a lot of last minute family stuff before I go, so I expect to be able to post my letter tomorrow. For now, I just really hope you like one of the things I included in my requests, and if not, hopefully what I post tomorrow will be more inspirational.

Thanks and hugs and friendliness in advance....
- Heidi

Do you believe in God? Have you ever wondered why we don't have the power of flight? I want the power of flight! Why didn't God give the birds something else, like beards?

I'm just wondering!

• 00:20 Despite the cunts, had a lovely night with the girls nursing my pint of scrumpy. #
• 00:50 @sayyidajaida that goes unsaid. But apart for trying to avoid them, what else can you do? #
• 01:10 U #
• 01:12 Oh I fail at technology. Especially when I'm squiffy v #

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This may be a long shot but figure I'll try anyway.

After 11 years of being put on a million different medications, my psych opted for Imipramine.

My question is: has anyone had any experience with this drug or know anyone who has? Do you have any PERSONAL information on it? (I went to various websites already so no need to tell me what it does or side effects you found through browsing)

Thank you so much in advance if anyone knows anything.

Just found out that Colin Firth & Jennifer Ehle will be working on the same film! She's joined the cast of "King's Speech" and will play the wife of Geoffrey Rush's character who is the speech therapist for King George VI (Firth). I love the other cast members as well ! (Helena Bonham Carter, Timothy Spall, Michael Gambon, Guy Pearce, Derek Jacobi)
I posted more info here: bit.ly/3ELhRY




MTA-I also found these 3 different videos on Youtube that show
videoclips comparing the 1940, 1995 and 2005 adaptations of P&P:
1-characters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyN_Vh8JTDw
2-ballroom scenes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k302kM7RPI
3-Mr. Darcy "she is tolerable"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8peZvdPeQV0

It's that time of year when I need to start writing cards. If you wish to have a Christmas/seasonal card and your address has changed from previous years, please leave it in comments. Or if I don't have your address. Comments are screened and check this tag to check previous addresses held.

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• 08:58 Friday 13th. It does not bode well with the way I'm feeling. Need sleep #
• 21:49 How is it we attract every twat in a 50 mile radius? #

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more here

SGA Big Bang is also ...

... on the rise.

Sorry, can't do that without this tune:



But ... Big Bang. Go read.

(Love this year's banner, too.)

Hey, at least my sga_santa fic is moving along.

The world of job hunting has changed.

It used to be I'd open the newspaper on Sunday (mid-week for the local papers) and start circling ads. Then get on the phone.

A quick trip to Kinko's to Xerox my res on 20# bond paper (it had to be quality paper to be professional). Strathmore Laid was nice.

Then the typing of cover letters. Mailing out resumes.

Waiting for a phone call. Or email. Later there were emails.

Doing follow-up calls. Getting a letter, sorry, the position is filled we'll keep your resume on file. Being called in for an interview. Temping in the meantime.

Now...

I'm online, scoping out job postings. Clicking on websites to learn about the company to customize my cover letters. Oh, huh. Raytheon is a military contractor. No thanks.

Rewriting my resume on the fly to suit the job. Oh, gee, they do property management, I temped for a property management firm for a year, better put that in. Tacking the res on as an attachment to an email, or uploading it to a website.

The black hole of waiting for a response. No phone numbers or human contact.

I'm thinking stopping by in person is a better way to go.

Yes!

An Archive Of Our Own is going into Open Beta!

The doors are open. Come on in, the water's great.



The fanfiction characters weigh in.

Snape, with a sneer: "What is this... archive?"

Harry, with a shrug: "People write stories. They put them on the internet."

Draco: "Do they get paid?"

Percy: "Is it public? Wait. Is it still elite if just anyone can join?"

John Sheppard: "Look, if it's free, I'm cool with it. Just don't ... scare the horses or anything."

Rodney McKay, with an eyeroll: "Please. It's an archive of fanfiction, of course they'll scare the horses. It's just like any other one out there."

Radek Zelenka: "Oh, it's more than that. It's an archive run by the fans themselves, one where they own the servers. It has incorporated some of the best features of archives plus the best features of tagging systems like Delicious. It's also very open in its policies, accepting virtually every type of fanfiction ... slash, non-con, chan, wincest ... but gives the writers themselves the option of making their stories only available to those who are members.

"Bottom line: this archive gives the fanfiction writers power over their own work. It began a couple years ago as a response to corporate entities like FanLib which attempted to wring a profit out of fandom.

"Better yet, it solves the problem of stories disappearing all over the internet. Unless the author chooses to remove it, the URL should remain stable. The archive is run by a board that is ongoing, changing as fandom changes. More stable than individual web pages, and multifandom."

John Sheppard: "You know, you know waaay too much about this for my comfort, Radek."

Colonel O'Neill: "Hey, I don't have a problem with it. Let the kids have their fun."

Daniel Jackson: "It's a fascinating social experiment."

Colonel O'Neill: "You would say that."

Dean Winchester: "Okay. What does this have to do with us?"

Sam Winchester: "Um. There are stories about us on there."

Dean: "What -- you mean 'us', us?"

Sam, cringes: ...

Dean: "We're taking this mother down, right now."

Radek: "I don't think you'll be able to do that. It has tremendous support among the fans."

Arthur: "Wait. 'The people' can read? Where did they learn to do that?"

Merlin: "Yes, they can! Isn't it great?"

Uther: "A populace that can read is a danger to the monarchy."

Gaius: "Oh, no sire. Think of the economic benefits of an educated citizenry."

Daniel Jackson: "Well, the ability to read has consistently come hand in hand with democracy."

Uther: "I see."

Daniel: "In this case I think fanfiction replaces the old pulps, which was a place where genre writers could write pretty much anything and get published, learning to write serial form, catering to their audience. The main difference is that fanfiction is available to us for free."

O'Neill: "You're not actually reading this stuff are you?"

Daniel: "I read a paper about it last week. There's a great deal of academic work being done in this area at the moment." [coughs] "And I may have read one or two fics. Strictly research. It's important to go back to original sources where possible."

O'Neill, eyebrows raised: "'Fics'?"

John Sheppard, leaning back in his chair: "We're getting off topic here. This archive thing is launching their open beta today. I say we have cake. To celebrate."

Rodney, brightens, nodding: "Cake is always good."