A Chaos of Deep Passion

So in a random fit of organization I decided to make a list of all my tarot decks.

( Tarot Decks )

Day 7

In your own space, share something non-fannish about yourself. A passion or a hobby or a talent, something that people might not know about you. We are more than just our fandoms. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I could babble on with this for ages. I'm a huge history and astronomy geek. One day I'm going to get hit by a car by stopping in the middle of the road to look up at the stars, I swear. Also, I have to frequently be gagged when seeing a historical drama movie because I'll be yelling stuff like "STIRRUPS? What are they doing with stirrups! Those aren't in use yet in this era!" or "WTF how can they imply that Isabella of France is pregnant with William Wallace's child? They never met, and her son was born seven years after Wallace died and she was NINE when he died to boot!" Fortunately eventually I can usually manage to turn my brain off and relax and enjoy the pretty. ;)

Day 5

Stretch yourself a little and try something new. Go play in a new fandom or with a new pairing. Try working in a new medium. Or consume different fanworks. Give that new fandom a go. Listen to a podfic or watch some vids if you haven’t before. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it.

I signed up for comics_bb to write Avengers fic (crossed over with DC), does that count?

Day 2
In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you did not create. Drop a link to your post in the comments. See if you can rec fanworks that are less likely to be praised: tiny fandoms, rare pairings, fanworks other than stories, lesser known kinks or tropes. Find fanworks that have few to no comments, or creators new to a particular fandom and maybe aren't well known or appreciated. Appreciate them.

I...have only the vaguest ideas as to what pairings are very rare, actually, or creators who are new, to be honest. I just hang out on the fringes of fandom. ;)

1. The Soul Cages, written for me by Annariel for Yuletide 2012. It's a future post-apocalyptic Bram Stoker's Dracula/Ladyhawke crossover.

2. tell them I ain't coming back by betternovembers -- I normally don't like RPF but it's a Women's soccer/Firefly AU. Really!

3. Fragile Flowers by notalwaysweak -- Black Jewels fic (and be warned it has the usual darkness of that series), a great story about Karla and an OFC.


Day 3
Comment to someone you haven't ever interacted with before or introduce yourself to someone you've interacted with and friend/follow them. Afterwards, leave a comment in this post with the equivalent of "I did it!"

Hahahaha no.

And it's here.

This day is called the Feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a-tiptoe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall see this day and live t'old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say "To-morrow is Saint Crispian":
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars
And say "These wounds I had on Crispin's day."
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now abed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

-- Shakespeare, King Henry V, Act IV, Scene III

( The Battle of Agincourt: October 25, 1415 )

For those who don't know:

Some people have affiliate codes for Amazon and other similar sites. This means when they link to an item on Amazon, if you buy it, they get a tiny portion of the cost. I don't believe it's much, but it can put a little change in your pocket.

So LJ has decided this is cool for THEM, so they've added a script to their code that adds their affiliate code to Amazon/eBay/etc links you post, so THEY get the reward. It won't strip your affiliate code if you happen to have one (supposedly), but it will check all your outbound links and tack on their affiliate code so they can profit. So if you've noticed "outboundlink.me" running on your LJ pages, that's what that is. (Please note their first run of this fucked things up and stripped users' affiliate codes AND messed up all sorts of links, and their latest update has apparently screwed up people's ability to ctrl-click to open a link in a new tab.)

If you're like me and run Firefox and NoScript (so much safer than Internet Explorer), then you may have noticed that the script is completely screwing with all links. If you click, they don't do anything. You have to right click | open in new tab, or if you click several times in a row, the link will eventually open.

There's a better explanation here (and here), but the jist is if you don't want LJ hijacking your links and redirecting them, you should do this:

* go to the admin console
* enter "set opt_exclude_stats 1" (without the quotes)
* hit execute

This will put an end to LJ's fuckery. (It puts an end to a lot of the crap LJ tries to slip in, actually.) This little known command is actually their official response to complaints. They won't comment on how this is extremely bad form on LJ's part. Not only is it a huge security risk, it's a terrible policy to go modifying your users' content (and altering links is modifying content) without telling them you're doing it, and while trying your best to hide the fact that you're doing it. It's even worse to make that policy, screw it up, take the script down, then go right back to your old tricks. I am extremely uncomfortable with LJ sending my links to a third party, particularly one that has a very sketchy reputation. LJ, I am disappointed.

I think I'm coming down with the flu. My body is aching and I'm coughing and sneezing. So I am taking a nap. But before I do, I must share this picture from Entertainment Weekly magazine:

( Slightly spoilery for The Vampire Diaries. But it's hawt. )

'Cuz half my flist did it.