Ugh, my throat is sore and I'm coughing a lot. Also feel that strange wooziness you get when you get a cold or a bug of some kind. I woke up like this today. Aaargh, what if it's the flu that dare not speak its name? :O

In any case, Yuletide posted, and if my reply delays, dear author of mine, It's Not You, It's Me (Or Possibly The Flu D:). Will also be dragged off to Christmas lunch at grandma's (we were to Christmas Eve dinner at some unpleasant relatives today, ugh).

***

Er, I mean: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Cheerful Yuletide!

And please write me a treat if you're inspired by one of my prompts. :D (Help and instructions.)

!!!Very important Yuletide announcements that everybody involved with Yuletide should read!!!

AO3 Invites and Uploading

Instructions for Uploading Your Story to AO3

If you want to gift me something fannish, you can stuff my stocking here! :D (Er, that sounded vaguely naughty. No naughtiness required!)

Happy (belated) birthday, littlemimm! *hugs* I blame the insomnia of the past week for making me forget the day itself.

Happy (actual) birthday, x5_536! *hugs* *pats you manly on the back*

So, I've been so busy wrangling the FLOOD of tags on the Archive since Open Beta, that I forgot to advertise... OPEN BETA! :D

I know I don't post often about the OTW and Archive of Our Own, especially since lately I've worked less on it because of health issues, but still, there's a wee bit of my contribution there too, and now it's open for all to use. :D

Archive of Our Own


(Cat macro swiped from samvara, our fearless leader.)

Any and all fandoms are invited to this party!

Bear in mind that Open Beta is still Beta: there are still bugs, stuff could be clearer in some sections, and features may change according to feedback, so if sites that don't work like a Swiss watch rise your blood pressure, you might want to wait a little longer.

If, on the other hand, you are as enthusiastic as we are, and if you want to help us improve by enduring the occasional dripping paint and giving us feedback, please come in! Request an invite, and depending on site performance you too shall soon be able to upload your fic to the AO3.

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Courage! We love the same tiny fandom(s) - that's a great start. :D I hope you have fun writing - it's very important that you enjoy the experience, because that's how the best fics get written. Things I included below shouldn't be seen as a grocery list to be checked off, but rather as inspiration floating about.

( fandom-specific (RH Plus, Neal Stephenson - The Baroque Cycle, Traveler, 747 (Strangers in the Night) (song)) )

( general likes/dislikes )

I have massive Yuletide angst. ( yadda-yadda )

So you won't say I never have anything good to say or show about Bucharest. ;-)

This is from the evening when I've been to the Atheneum to a harpsichord recital. I was surprised how beautiful a building it really is. (I hadn't been there in years.)

( a few number of them )

It be my fannish duty to inform you that Yuletide signups are open!

Yuuuuuletiiiiiide!

(If you're not already familiar with this challenge, better read the admin post first.

The signups will be done on the old site, with the old code, with the hope that the actual posting and reveal will be done on the currently-being-built Archive of Our Own (soon to be in Open Beta).

Since coming to my aunt and grandma's place, I kept hearing, on rare mornings and once at night, a screechy metallic voice calling "I love you!" Now, I know that my aunt enjoys all sorts of kitschy annoying toys that do exactly that, so I assumed that for some reason she wanted to hear the dubious endearment that morning and that night, and that she didn't know I could hear it and it woke me up. (I have a very easily disturbed sleep.) I forgot to mention it to her, because it didn't repeat itself often.

Until this morning, when it just wouldn't shut up.

I don't know about others, but screechy toys declaring their love are not my kind of fun.

( A tale of interrupted morning sleep and suspicion follows )

( edible Merlin, or fandoms as pastry )

This reminds me of the Boromir breadcake and Naruto croissant, and makes me hopeful for other fandoms as well in the future. Say, the Arthur chocolate or Sam and Dean sugar canes? :D

In other fandom news, why had no one told me before that Matt Bomer of Traveler fame (or, well, lack of it, poor cancelled show) was Bryce in Chuck? This would have bumped it way up the "to maybe catch up with" list!

White Collar has been obtained and watched instead, and as much as I usually don't care for thieves and thievery (with the obvious exception of Dorian, but Dorian is exceptional in every way :P), I might have to watch this show for Matt Bomer alone. Even though his character is miles away from Jay Burchell, and I'm still not over Traveler, but the slashbait is strong in this one.

Grrrrrarfgh@!

A radiator tap exploded.

My whole living-room and dad's room were sewers poor man's Venice.

( the whole sorry saga )

So that's my frakking day so far.

Gah, of course I'm freezing: there are a measly 17.5°C in this stupid room! Ugh. (To add insult to injury, my aunt wears short or medium sleeved blouses and suffers not. To her it must feel roomy and cozy.) Ughhh. (Articulated sounds waste heat.)

Well, time to get a lot of use of my Daniel "I hate cold" icon again...

Quick but spoilery reaction to Supernatural 5x06: ( I want )

At least, according to NY Times!

(For posterity, just on the off-chance that they notice and correct it: http://pics.livejournal.com/enigel/pic/003pc4k8)

(The government did collapse, and oh how much did I care - I was at the doctor's, then with the kitties at home, then back at my aunt's. It's just that the capital city of Romania is still Bucharest. [Alas...])

I ended up watching TV last night (strange experience! when I wanted to go to the bathroom I kept trying to hit the space bar to pause VLC...). I wanted to catch Legend of the Seeker on Pro7, only to discover that the TV package my aunt has doesn't include Pro7 anymore.

So I stumbled upon Eureka on a Romanian channel, and it was episode 2x03. Zelenka! Zelenka without a Czech accent, because he wasn't a Czech in this one! *g* Cute episode, although the Jack/Allison scenes reminded me why I stopped watching (among others).

(And earlier I caught the tail end of a Cleopatra 2525 episode, and was shocked to recognise Zoe - I mean Gina Torres - in one of those extra-tacky male fantasy suits. Brr.) There's Gina Torres on FlashForward too - much more dignified.

Also, you know what a mobile phone should not do under any circumstances?

• Beep an alert when it's at battery low, even though you've set the evil thing on silent

• Beep an alert when it's finished charging, even though you've found and set the alerts at the previous bullet item to silent!

At 4am I want to frakking sleep, not be informed of the dis- or fully charged state of my stupid cell phone! Grr, argh.

There's still time to

• leave prompts for the Stargate Rare Pairings Ficathon!

This year it's not an exchange, but a simple gathering of prompts that anyone can leave and answer, so if the exchange format put you off before, now's your time! Rare pairing = NOT (McKay/Shep OR Shep/Weir OR Jack/Daniel OR Jack/Sam OR Daniel/Vala OR Shep/Teyla).

• take part in the Castiel comment fic meme!

A lot of crack, some seriousness.

• participate in the Fall Fandom Free-for-all

Fulfill someone's unique wish for a sparkly pony Sylar icon! Make your own unique request for a ten fandoms crossover! (Actually, you get a maximum of 10 wishlist items.) My thread, ahem, not that I'm suggesting anything...

***

I've suddenly felt the impulse to watch Tin Man (I kept hearing about it through fandom osmosis), so I did. I liked it. I like reimaginings like this, and while not exactly top brilliant acting, it was lovable and just the pick-me-up I needed.

And heh, I knew why I was suspicious of Cain's cold blue eyes - he was Jack Freed (a bad guy) on Traveler! Small TV world.

***

What should I obtain and watch next, dear flist? These are things I keep seeing mentions of and sort of possibly intrigue me:

Chuck
Legend of the Seeker
Burn Notice

( stuff I've watched and read recently (no spoilers) )

Also, I declare this Indulgence Day. Therefore I feel free to paste the link to my Fandom Free-for-all wishlist. If, you know, anyone feels the need to write / vid / draw one or two or all of my wishes... *scuffs feet*

Later I might post cat photos too, since that's what a typical decent self-indulgent blogger does. ;)