Below are the most recent 10 friends' journal entries.

Sunday, December 6th, 2009
lore	7:10a	Natterings.... Ok, seriously, the suprised cat video makes me wanna cry. I can't be the only one.... Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter any damn time it pleases. *scowl* (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
lore	1:25a	day 1 of the rest of my posting life? At least now I don't have to live for Midnight anymore.... I think it was Ropo who said that when in doubt, post pictures. So, here are the Bones icons I made. What do you think? ______ Good? Bad? I've been trying to rehab the first icon, but to no avail. Booo! love, lore Current Mood: tired Current Music: whirrrr (Comment on this)
Monday, November 30th, 2009
lore	11:59p	BloMo30: Being a good reader & commenter in fandom gift exchanges.... OK, I said I would write on the good kind of commenting/feedback in fandom exchanges (and in general) for my final NaBloPoMo because tomorrow starts all the holiday gift exchanges. But, I have a tendency to babble about these things, which can be too much information in a messy pile of paragraphs. I should try to keep it simple, right?, so that those considering delurking to comment won't be overwhelmed by the very idea of it. To that end, here is one of my famous lists, the kind where my comments get longer as I go along. ^_^ 1. No heavy criticism - Most exchanges are anonymous; the creators can't defend themselves until the end of the month, so your comments sit out there making you look meeeen and the creator's friends froth at the mouth. 2. You just have to give one critical comment? - Say what you liked about the gift and that you have some critiques you'd like to pass on through the mods or that you will leave when the gifter is revealed. Something like, "I have some concrit for you, but I'll come back to leave it when you're able to address my comments as yourself," would be nice. 2.5. No flames! - Think you have the right to criticize anyway? Ok, I won't argue with you on that, fandom has been debating it for years. But be sure to address your issues with the gift without getting personal about it. The story sucks, not the author. 2.75. Don't impose your ideas on "how things should be" on creators during exchanges - Remember, they are creating a gift based on someone's specific wants and desires. If you think Remus would never wear a ponytail, don't complain about or disagree with Remus having a pony tail. That's a comment based on your preferences - which, really, never reflect well on you even outside of exchanges; they just look worse in the context of an exchange. 3. COMMENT ON YOUR GIFT - In the last two years, I've been seeing gifts go unacknowledged all over the place. I think this might be the height of rude in an exchange. You might not like your gift, but you should at least let the creator know you saw it. 3.5. So you hate your gift... - Fine, it happens. Not everyone is a strong creator. Pick out a phrase or two you like and note them, or choose an event in the fic you *did* like, and use that for your comment to your gifter. Say something positive and thank them. You don't have to squee. You don't have to lie. But an effort was made on your behalf and you should thank your gifter for that much. If your gifter sees through your good comments and knows you didn't like the gift, at least they know you saw it. Most creators are dying to know what her giftee thinks, and if it's good or bad, knowing is the most important thing. Plus, again, at least acknowledging your gift makes you look like less of an asshole. ^_^ 3.75. Lighten up on your gifter - Sometimes, it seems like people expect the perfect gift in an exchange. Try to remember that your creator isn't psychic (probably). Your gifter can only create based on what was in your sign-up. If some of the elements you asked for are in your gift, and no elements you specifically forbade, give your creator points for that and try to enjoy your gift as it's given. 4. If you read or looked, comment! - Lurkers, this one's for you. Say something, even if it's just "Enjoyed" or "Thank you". Exchange gifts are not like regular works where the creators control the entire piece from start to finish, and, therefore, should be happy with their result, regardless of how many comments it gets. Exchange gifts usually cause creators to step outside their comfort zones or to try something new. Most creators work hard to create just the right piece for someone, and on a deadline. In other words, there's usually more blood, sweat and tears in an exchange piece than usual. Make the extra effort. Comment. 5. Remember where you're posting - If you're reading a gift's replies and you see an icon you love, please don't tell someone you love her icon and then forget to comment on the gift. In other words, don't start up side conversations without first making sure you let the creator know what you thought of the gift. It's just another seriously rude thing I see both in exchanges and on posted creations in general. Now, please don't interpret the above as messages just for snupin_santa-ers. I've been in and watched all sorts of exchanges. I'm speaking from years of reading along, not as some targeted message to lupin_snape members. Also, please note, these are my suggestions for commenters and readers. There's no rule here you have to follow. That said? Don't forget to Stuff the Stockings... ~_^ love, lore Current Mood: creative Current Music: Star Trek DVD (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 29th, 2009
lore	11:57p	BloMo29: Dogs, fandoms and me.... Today is the last dogs day. Mostly, I'm relieved, because we were able to be around for them 24-7 while my sibling traveled, and that availability ends tomorrow. They're a lot of fun when you have time to devote to them (well, let's face it, the SO had more time to devote to them than I did, but still), but I'd feel bad having dogs full-time on our schedule. Still...*pang* ***** karasu_hime asked "How is it after all these years, you still have so much love for Lupin_Snape? Why not go to a new fandom? Why don't you branch out in other fandoms?" Good questions...get ready for some babble. My only other major fandom was X-Files, and I was pretty much a lurker, although my love for novel-length fic was solidified there. I put my toes in the participatory waters, but there was a lot I didn't understand about fandoms then. Luckily, XF was a starter fandom for 90% of the participants, so there was a lot of understanding to go around. I think I was so very into XF because the series was lacking for me in a lot of ways. I wanted to see Mulder and Scully happy, and, of course, they were miserable on TV. I firmly believed that they were building such a convoluted history with one another that they were ruined for other people. They'd have huge chunks of their lives they couldn't really explain to other people, kind of like soldiers who have seen combat - unless you've been there, it's very hard to understand. Anyway, that's why I kept seeking out the fan fic. XF fandom was big on post-episode fics, which helped fill a niche in a bad episode, and it was big on longer stories that tried to tie together all the diverging plot threads that we now know Chris Carter had no intention of tying together himself. There was *need* there. When I went looking for HP fic, the books were unfinished and I wanted to read more of the boy hero and his friends. I was jones-ing for some good fic to tide me over, and I thought HP fandom would be similar to XF. I was wrong - the early days of fandom saw a lot of bad writing and unfinished WiPs - but I was still able to ferret out some good stuff, of course. It was a long wait between GoF and OotP. Meanwhile, I tend to compartmentalize entertainment. I can find straight-up fiction off a book shelf. What I couldn't get (or couldn't figure out how to get) was a story with some actual sex between the characters that I wanted to have sex, dangit! So, I tended to gravitate toward the R and NC17 ratings when I looked for fic. That worked out fine in XF, but in HP, I was all about the kids when I first entered fandom, and after a while, reading sex adventures with kids started to bother me. Personally, I think 15-17 is a little young to be having sex, but stories that aged the kids up didn't always ring true to me. Then I accepted slash into my life. I love Snape and Lupin together because I haven't met two characters so well suited to being each others' happy endings. Writers often unconsciously create connections, themes and metaphors in their works, and I think Rowling didn't realise how well she had suited Snape and Lupin - two survivors of the first war, schoolmates, touched by darkness, lonely outsiders, half-bloods, impoverished, and Snape has practical skills that can help Lupin while Lupin has social skills that can help Snape. Maybe if I find two other characters that I feel desperately need to be with each other, I will go looking at another fandom. But I doubt I would ever love Snape and Lupin any less. In fact, I look for Snapes and Lupins in all the entertainment I peruse now. They've become baseline characters for me. To go back to Karasu's other questions, I seek out fandoms when the entertainment somehow commands my dedication without fully satisfing me. I watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer around the same time as XF, but I never went into the Buffy fandom because the show alone hit that spot inside me that said "this is enough". I think I've also stayed so long in HP because it's a book series. I was able to read to immerse myself in the world, learn the terminology and how it works through repetition of reading, which then gave me the confidence to eventually write in the HP world. Visual fandoms are much harder for me to become "proficient" at writing or discussing, so I'm more likely to end up lurking. Maybe now that I've had a taste of being social in a fandom, I'm less interested in going back to lurking. And as for adding other fandoms to the one I'm in now, I love grazing in real life when it comes to food, but not with fic. I want to read everything that pertains to a subject in which I'm interested. That's why I had to compartmentalize HP by eventually finding an OTP - there was far too much to read and see and I have the kind of grab-hands that want it all, now. Only, it's unrealistic for me to even try to enjoy all of fandom, so if I can't have it all, I'll just have this little OTP piece with occasional look-sees into the wider fandom. Splitting my focus among several fandoms would send me loopy. So, I guess if I can find a niche some day in a new fandom with a firm OTP and a canon in which I feel well-versed, I'll branch out. Until then...Snape/Lupin 4evah! love, lore Current Mood: curious Current Music: Storm Chasers (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, November 28th, 2009
lore	8:47p	BloMo28: Buying BL books.... I could go on and on and on about this, giving lots of details and links, but you know, after a couple years at this, I have a method that works for me: Put everything on pre-order at Amazon. Yes, I know Amazon has some potential lurking evil, but I am monitoring them and if their evil ever becomes full-fledged, then I'll figure out something new. Until then, pre-order works for me. I have a card I can dedicate to it, the titles come out sporadically enough that I'm not actually spending the total amount of my preorder at once (far from it), and Amazon guarantees that I'll receive the lowest price the book was at throughout the pre-order period. If I buy a book at $10, and at some point, it goes on sale for $9, I receive a $1 refund notice. Nice! And Amazon generally offers the BL books from 20% to 38% off. Not a bad deal when I still want to support the BL publishers by buying their books from a marketplace that gives them credit for the sale. I feel like I receive a discount and the publishers still make some money, which is a bit more fair to me than having to purchase the books full-priced from a publisher storefront like Akadot (which is DMP's store site). I know pre-ordering isn't ideal for everyone, and OMG you can end up with a lot of mail to follow from Amazon (you have to approve some delays and not others, and I have no idea why), but it is nice to have a new title or three show up every month, and it's nice to know you WILL get a copy if Amazon decides to order only the bare minimum of books from the publisher. Of course, this method works best for someone like me, who's likely to read or try to find most BL books eventually. I definitely became tired of hunting, hunting, hunting for the books and the best prices. Amazon lets me be lazy about it at a discount. Huzzah! ***** November 30's BloMo will be about making good comments/giving good feedback in holiday exchanges (and in general), because December 1 will see most holiday exchanges getting underway and there will be a rush of excited commenting. Also, the Snupin_Santa lurkers might want to try to come out and participate in Stuff the Stockings, so a confidence-boosting guidance post might help them. If you have any feedback/commenting tips you'd like me to consider for my post, please let me know what they are before November 30. love, lore Current Mood: working Current Music: dogs hacking (Comment on this)
Friday, November 27th, 2009
lore	11:57p	BloMo27: US BL publishers.... 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 Current Mood: predatory Current Music: P&P 2005 Soundtrack (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 26th, 2009
lore	5:09a	BloMo26: T-Day.... 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 Current Mood: hungry Current Music: dogs snoring (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
lore	11:59p	BloMo25: Song of the Moment and some doubts.... 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 snupin_santa readers this year called Stuff the Stockings. Interested? Check it out! love, lore Current Mood: listless Current Music: Matthew Good - Avalanche (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
lore	11:56p	BloMo24: OMG HOW DID IT GET THIS LATE?.... 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 Current Mood: silly Current Music: dogs farting (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
lore	11:53p	BloMo23: Doggies.... 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 Current Mood: anxious Current Music: because schnauzers have beards, get it? (1 Comment |Comment on this)