all my keysmash are belong to you

Mishaleckipalooza sign-ups close on March 20, people! Hop to!

Hop also to help_japan and help_japan, who are now open for offers and bids. I'm offering to make a mix here in any of the following: SPN, Merlin, Narnia, Nikita, The Good Wife, Avatar: The Last Airbender, aaaand non-fannish.

In the Garden by ygrawn | The Secret Garden | Mary/Dickon | PG | 6100 words
Everything I want from post-canon fic.

Reason in Exile by takadainmate | Supernatural | Balthazar & Castiel | PG | 1617 words
I just... *____* : Balthazar tells them, "He has changed," and, "I don't know him any more," and thinks that it might even be the truth. ... There is nothing Balthazar can do though except search with the others and not tell them how much Castiel likes high mountains and quiet places.

Miscalculation by luckyraeve | Supernatural | Sam, Dean, Cas | G | fancomic
AHAHAHAHAHAHA

( in which I am a downer about an SPN spoiler )

Gratuituous GIF of the Day

If you have the version that includes the ass slap, it is your duty to share with the class. ETA: cugami brings the goods like a boss.

Japan earthquake, 8.9 on the Richter, TSUNAMI, approx 300 dead. It has hit North America. Watch it live on BBC.

- The American Red Cross is taking donations.
- If you are in the US, texting 90999 to REDCROSS donates $10.
- Person Finder: Japan Earthquake 2011. If you are looking for or have information about people in Japan affected by the earthquake, try here. It's currently tracking 7200 records.
- help_japan. ETA: help_japan, not a DW mirror.

What is the deal with the increased frequency of geological disaster in recent years? What causes that? I'm looking at this list of killer quakes in the past century, and while I am irritated that last October's Indonesia double whammy has been left out, the list still shows a worrying trend. Why is our planet going tectonically insane? What the hell is going on?

Hang in there, Japan.

You've probably heard about this already. But. I guess you can stand to hear about it again.

HEY. HEY SOUTHEAST ASIA. CAN YOU LIKE. CALM YOUR SHIT DOWN. RING OF FIRE, CAN YOU TAKE A CHILL PILL, THAT'D BE GREAT. JFC.

1) VOLCANO, specifically Java's Mt. Merapi has claimed at least 33 lives, 17 injured, but WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
2) EARTHQUAKE roundabouts the Mentawai Islands, which caused a
2A) TSUNAMI. At least 311 people dead, 400 still missing. 20 villages leveled and approx 20,000 people displaced, because nature loves to kick Sumatra in the teeth.

This all happened in under 24 hours. I BELIEVE THE CORRECT PHRASE IS "WHAT THE EVERLOVING FUCK." I called my parents asking if our peeps in Yogyakarta (by Merapi) are okay - they're okay! - so yaaay. Also I guess Jakarta flooded the other day? As did West Papua. EVERY TIME I TURN AROUND, INDONESIA, YOU ALWAYS BE BLOWIN UP IN MY FACE.

PHILIPPINES, YOU ARE NOT OFF THE HOOK EITHER. I SEE YOU WITH YOUR SUPERTYPHOON OF 110 MPH WINDS. There were much fewer casualties with the supertyphoon because for the most part, people were on top of their shit with the warning systems, early detection, and evacuations. Food security's gonna go down the shitter a bit because the northern Philippines is the country's rice basket (the stairway to heaven in Banaue, natch), and that's the general area where Juan/Megi stormed through. The Merapi evacuations, eh, could've been better.

BUT LOOK AT YOUR LIFE, INDONESIA'S TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM! LOOK AT YOUR CHOICES!:

Indonesia's [tsunami early warning system], completed in 2008 with German aid, has since fallen into such disrepair that it effectively stopped working about a month ago, according to the head of the Meteorology and Geophysic Agency.

The system, which uses buoys to electronically detect sudden changes in water level, worked when it was completed, but by 2009 routine tests of it were showing problems, said the agency chief, who uses the single name Fauzi. By last month, he said, the entire system was broken because of inexperienced operators.

"We do not have the expertise to monitor the buoys to function as intended," he said.

As a result, he said, not a single siren sounded after Monday's quake. [source]

SO THAT HAPPENED. OR DIDN'T.

Surfaid International will take your donations to tsunami relief in Australian dollars. You can also call 1-800-257-957.

Do you guys know of other ways to help out? Other sites to donate to? Surfaid International is the only website I've found that has a specific focus on the Indonesian double whammy. Other websites just have like general donations to the organization. Like, there are some of those here, I guess...

ETA: mercredigirl posts links to some relief efforts we can donate to.

Things that happen in chat when you're supposed to be sleeping: Castielfest, ya'll! Raise your hand if you'd be interested in a Castiel-centric fic exchange. Gen, slash, het, whatever -- as long as Cas is top-billing. We're thinking sign-ups begin a few days after the S5 finale airs, stay open for a week or so, then participants have a month to write at least 1000 words upon receiving their assignments. vikki has a poll here to gauge interest, and it would be awesome if you could fill it out and let us know your questions/concerns/disagreements/suggestions.

It's Three Weeks For Dreamwidth time, trying to generate more Dreamwidth activity to celebrate its 1-year anniversary, hence the cross-posting. If you, like me, are still like "Dreamwhat?", it might behoove us to check out stepps's Lonely Planet guide to Dreamwidth. And, here's something cool that DW-clicking did for me recently: ephemere's thoughts on Filipino identity and writing about other cultures led me to the post that sparked it ('No Foreigners Allowed' by Charles Tan), which in turn led me to the sidebar of Charles Tan's blog, which is stuffed full of links to Filipino speculative fiction fkdjsfklkjk AWESOME.


This old meme:
1 - Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2 - I will respond; I'll ask you five questions.
3 - You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4 - You'll include this explanation.
5 - You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.

maboheme asked me five fannish questions ( under the cut. )

+ Do you guys like food? Sure you do! Get food, help Haiti. You don't hate headers or icons either, right? Of course you don't! Get graphics, help Haiti. HOW ABOUT MISCELLANEOUS STUFF, DO YOU GUYS LIKE MISCELLANEOUS STUFF? Get tarot readings/nail polish/hand-knit tribbles/Swarovski earrings(?!!), help Haiti.

Aaaaand for those of you who like Merlin. For those of you who want to donate traditionally. For those of you (in the USA) who are down with the texting: Text "HAITI" to 90999. $10 will be donated to the Red Cross. It'll get added to your next cell phone bill.

+ My fannish impulses re: Supernatural has thus far tended towards fusions and crossovers. Dean!Arthur, Sam!Morgana, John!Uther, and Castiel!Merlin? Or maybe the Winchesters and MacManus brothers team up and road trip it across the country fighting evil and crime, depending on which family you're in.

+ Same thing re: Psych. 'Cos maybe I just want Gus to be like "OMG MY PARTNER" and Watson is like "I KNOW." And when Shawn and Holmes barge in being like, "Trusty companion, we have a case!", Gus and Watson have left, leaving only a note that says "HAVE GONE ON HOLIDAY TO SEASIDE, DND KTHXBAI you self-centered pricks." And Shawn and Holmes make shifty-eyes at each other but SOMEONE has to solve this case, 'cos god knows Lestraud and Lassie could be all day.

+ And then maybe Mulder barges in yelling "THE CONSORTIUM IS BEHIND THIS" because why not.

+ "It's not that he's crazy," Scully muses, playing with the umbrella in her pina colada. Gus nods wisely and says, "I know what you mean." Also HUH, Watson and Scully are doctors, and Gus was in pharmaceuticals, so like. Is EVERYTHING based on Sherlock Holmes?

+ Art rec! Merlin crossover -- I would tell you which other fandom, but it would ruin the surprise.

+ Hey, remember the street food AU I was pitching a couple of posts ago, with the black market bureaucracy and insular politics? VINDICATED: The Street Vendors' Food Fight, now with additional trade gentrification. “These bakeries should focus on making better cupcakes, and not on stamping out the competition,” said Mr. Ekster, who, like many vendors, loudly proclaims his belief in free-market food fights. Thanks, lazaefair!

+ If I made a commentficathon meme on mordred_morgana, would you participate?

+ nixwiliams is calling for submissions for a Nonstandard Trans Narratives Collection. "We're trans people who want our histories back. We want to speak the complexities of our histories without fear or favour. We want to speak our histories without having to worry about how people will use them against us: to deny the reality of our identities, to deny us medical treatments, to deny us our humanity. We want to own our histories. We want to own us again. ... Written pieces - whether in the form of essays, prose fiction or poetry - are preferred, but we will also consider visual pieces for inclusion."

+ 811 words of Yuletide. At least this is going more smoothly than my Solstice was. And I should really stop looking over my Solstice fic because it makes me go "OMG I SHOULD HAVE CHANGED/REWRITTEN THIS THING" and it's kind of stressing me out.

+ New blogs on my greader: Fuck Yeah Desserts!!, Indonesian food are looove, and The Daily What.

+ be_themoon made a handy-dandy Supernatural primer rounding up the key episodes for an SPN newbie to watch!

+ Some awesome lady sells her right to marry on eBay. "I'm an unmarried heterosexual woman, and since I probably won't be using my right to get married, I would like to give it away. I would like to sell it to the highest bidder and donate the proceeds to an organization that supports LGBT rights."

Signal boost #1: Genderfail from Seventeen magazine. Well, more genderfail than usual. From the 'Letter campaign to Seventeen Magazine- WRITE NOW facebook group': "The November issue of Seventeen Magazine featured a story entitled "True Life Drama: My BOYFRIEND turned out to be a girl!" Rather than use this opportunity to educate readers about transgender issues, it never once even uses any terminology (well, unless you consider the slur "he-she" -_- ) but instead furthers the common transphobic assumption that someone who's gender does not match their sex assigned at birth is a deceptive liar and even compares them (at the bottom) to perverts, drug addicts, and older dad's trying to get someone young w/o disclosing their parental/age status.

Signal boost #2: If you are by Sacramento, won't you adopt some cats this Sunday? Bonus: these are tax-deductible cats!

I don't know why but someone made in-character Twitter accounts for Jonny Quest and Jessie Bannon, and I'm, uh, amused. Also, having just started Season 2 of JQ:TRA, ( prattlings of vague spoilers maybe ) Also I thiiiiiiiink I'm going to volunteer to write 'Ocean Girl' fic. I wish they'd stop ( vague spoiler sort of! )

I'm scrapping my Solstice idea again because it has once more turned into something I want to write instead of what the recipient wants to read. I am terrible, terrible at fluff.