naposaurus

My brain isn't completely back on line as far as words are concerned, although I've been poking along with a beta. Between the antibiotics, the pain meds, and the cough meds, it's cloud city over here. However, it was a bad night for insomnia since I've been sleeping 12-16 hours a day for the past week and my body said enough of that.

Thankfully, there was my PDA loaded with all my favorites. One of last night's comfort fics was the Checkmate 'Verse by beadattitude. Transformation fics in SGA seem a natural with all those weird machines left behind by those wacky Ancients. Some transformation fics work for me, some don't.

I love this one.

It is, plain and simple, a love story. Yet, it's more. The interactions between a transformed John and the city's various inhabitants is explored wonderfully, adding another dimension to what could have been just Rodney takes care of John - he changes back - they live happily ever after. Rodney shines with his knowledge of cats, yet John the human is still very much there inside a different body, forcing Rodney to tread a very narrow line to avoid offense and future recriminations.

I wanted to create a cover for the series, but couldn't decide which of the several I roughed out to finish. I finally went with two.



Click for Full Size


Click for Full Size and Animation

On Saturday the 14th at 4AM UTC/GMT we will be upgrading the operating system of our network load balancers to a newer version, one that will allow us to use both CPUs! Nifty, because multiprocessing is nice.

Since we have 2 load balancers, the plan is to upgrade 1 at a time, and there really should be very little impact to our website. Hopefully you won't notice a thing and I'll get to go back to the hotel and watch some wonderful late night infomercials.

We've got a lot of exciting projects coming up for 2010 and we're hoping that we'll be able to deliver them all to you, that you will find it useful/cool/lovely and then you will use the site even more. Behind-the-scenes work like this will give us the capacity to handle the anticipated traffic, so expect a few more maintenance windows especially in the beginning of next year as we've got some neat ideas to improve performance around here! We had the recent 30-45 minute outage yesterday due to one of our logging databases filling up disk space -- not so great design coupled with my human error in handling the initial problem -- and it looks like we're going to finally have some resources to eliminate stuff like that. I can't wait!

As usual, I will be updating status.livejournal.org before and after, just in case you are not able to reach our main website during the work.

Title: To See in the Dark
Gaining Access: Unlocked at Catch My Snitch
Author: St Margarets
Length/Word Count: 5500
Alternate Links to Fic/Art: None that I can find.
Pairing: Harry/Ginny
Rating: NC-17
Author's Website: Her non-explicit fiction can be found at her journal: stmargarets. Also archived at Catch My Snitch, Phoenix Song, and Sink Into Your Eyes.
Why everyone should read this: With well-written smut, humor, and a little bit of conflict, there's something for everyone when Harry and Ginny are locked in the dark in George's storeroom. St Margarets knows Harry and Ginny so well and and writes them realistically. Despite it's steaminess, this is no polished sex-o-rama between two ludicrously skilled teenagers. Harry and Ginny are fumbling, sweet, and still learning about physical intimacy together.

( Excerpt )

A little early for Christmas, but this fic is my favorite of all time. :)

Title: Yorkshire Pudding
Gaining Access: Open
Author: karina4
Word Count: 14,100
Alternative Links to Fic: none
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Rating: Teen
Author's Website: Karina4 can be found on fanfiction.net on Here. Also, if you have a yahoo account, her yahoo page is Here

Why everyone should read this: Like a sleeping kitten, or a surprise flower delivered to my desk, this fic has proven time and time again to be an instant mood lifter, and not just around the holidays. Set two days before Christmas, Harry and Draco have a chance meeting in a grocery story aisle and fight over, you guessed it, Yorkshire Pudding. Hilarity and heart-break ensue in this delightful, charming, and utterly enchanting fic. This fic is non-magical AU, so it may not be everyone's cup of tea. But really, even if you never liked a non-magical fic before, this may change your mind. Please give the author much love!

( Excerpt )

Numbered post.

1. pj: When I see something like this in KKM fic headers, it always makes me WTF: "Pairing: Both of Yuuram & Wolfyuu".
pj: As if they were different pairings. Honestly.
lyssaphra: I'm guessing it stands for uke/seme dynamics. Common in lots of anime fandom.
pj: Yes, clearly does but honestly, it's not like it's carved in stone. Especially if you intend them to switch.
lyssaphra: But some people only read one variation and are seriously squicked by the other. Really common. Like, I refuse to read Duo x Heero, but can read Heero x Duo without problems.
lyssaphra: For me, it has less to do with the sex thing and more to do that depending on the seme/uke dynamics, the characters are written differently out of sex.
pj: Yes, I've seen some like this but still Wolfyuu and Yuuram look stupid. Say "Wolfram and Yuuri; they switch roles" or something.
lyssaphra: I'm sure the Japanese has better short forms. Western fangirls tend to have no clue how to form them really.
pj: "That depending on the seme/uke dynamics, the characters are written differently out of sex" -- this annoys me too. I mean, a character is the same character regardless of whether he likes it up his arse or buggering somebody else. Really. They stay the same person.
lyssaphra: Hey, I'm not protesting. I think it's stupid that Heero is written like a weepy weepy thing in Duo x Heero fic while Duo and Heero both get written strong in Heero x Duo fic.
pj: lol

2. Nobody is writing Scar slash still. Or even Scar het. WTF people?

3. I'm watching a Naruto fandom newsletter but still not reading or even clicking any fics from there. WTF self? Illogical much?

4. Should write reviews of Loveless, Ouran, Kuroshitsuji, and a dozen yaoi manga. Self, quit procrastinating.

5. =====

Light as Iron, Singed as Pearl, by Snegurochka_Lee #
Harry/Draco, NC-17, ~14K words. Summary: The owner of the elite BDSM club M had not gained his reputation as the most coveted Dominant on the scene by taking on just any riff-raff submissive who asked. It would take an unexpected letter to convince him to accept a new client, but it might turn out to be the biggest mistake he ever made. Warnings: BDSM. EWE.

Look, BDSM isn't my kink. S/M part of it is closer to my squick even but I admit I find D/s dynamics interesting, and trust Snegurochka to write D/s in a way that would keep me on tenterhooks all the way and get so intrigued as to feel it almost as if it were my kink. It's awfully, scorchingly hot and the pairing and power dynamics is to die for! Snegurochka, please be writing more H/D!


Black Coffee on a Lonely Night, by Femmequixotic #
Hary/Draco, past Draco/Astoria, NC-17, ~21,600 words. Summary: Draco owns a café in the city. Harry's an MP who comes in every morning, newspapers in one hand, BlackBerry in the other, and orders a triple espresso macchiato. Warnings: non-magical AU.

The fic is utterly charming! I don't think this Harry or Draco have much to do with their canon counterparts but I do advice you to give it a try because the story is absolutely magical, as only some of non-magical AUs happen to be sometimes. Lovely and delightful and written really wonderfully! I'll be rereading it when I want to feel good -- not because of fluff (there isn't any... or much; there's quite a bit of angst actually) but because of the sheer comfort and, again, charm of it.


Stay, by gypsyflame #
Sirius/Draco, NC-17, ~23K words, AU. Summary: War is coming, and Narcissa is scared for Draco. So she turns to the only person she can think of – Sirius Black. Warnings: Dubious consent; may be considered underage (Draco is 16).

My favourite rare pairing has got a new longish fic! The very fact is wonderful but the fic is wonderful in its own right too. It's hot and in character and plotty; it's a forced marriage fic with all the angst and tension the plot asks for. Draco is wonderfully helpless but still a scheming bastard, not without humanity or feelings though. Sirius who is forced into the position of a responsible adult is wonderfully torn between responsibility and his less admirable character traits. Harry -- we can't bypass Harry in a fic set post OotP, right? -- is also very Harry. But what I loved best about this story is that among the currently more trendy post-Hogwarts fics, this one reads as if it were written a few years back, only with the full canon knowledge making it seamlessly written into canon, not jossed.

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Feels Like Fading Away, by allira_dream []
Dai/Jaehee, PG, under 1K words. Warnings: Spoilers for the end of the manwha. Summary: If this was a movie, Dai would have been just there, across the street, not looking at him, perhaps listening to some music, perhaps looking at the TV's. A/N: Written for springkink: Let Dai, Dai/Jaehee: reunited - we aren't Romeo and Juliet.

I didn't want any fic after reading Let Dai. But now that several months have passed, I do. I want a long well-written fic set post series with lots of angst, drama, love, and a happy(ish) or hopeful ending. I haven't seen any. So I'll take a very short one. Say, this. There's one problem with this fic: needs editing for a few times where character names are confused (but Dai and Jaehee being one, in essence, it's understandable :D). Otherwise, it's written well, with the right balance of poetic, angsty, and charming, and reads very pleasantly. Do try it!

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Title: Tears Dripping
Gaining Access: Easily accessible on deviantart
Artist: Verdokai
Alternate Links to Art: unsure
Pairing: Ron/Hermione
Rating: PG     
Author's Website: Art by Verdokai
Why everyone should read this: Well not only is it well drawn and colored and awesome to just look at, its a beautifully drawn scene from Half Blood Prince that was stolen from us in the movies! Therefore, we have to get as much of this scene as we can in fan art. This artist draws a wonderful Ron and you should totally go to the gallery and check out all of the other things this artist has done! Very talented person :)


preview under cut

( Verra sad )

Title: Breaking Wind
Gaining Access: Unlocked on TQP
Author: I'm pretty sure its almond_joyz
Length/Word Count: <1000
Alternate Links to Fic/Art: at her fic journal
Pairing:Gen with hint or Ron/Hermione
Rating: PG-13 for swear words
Author's Website:  Stories from the college-rule notebook
Why everyone should read this: When I came across this story, most of the things being posted were depressing post-war stories, or totally non epilogue compliant stories, and I was sick of both at the moment. When I read this I just laughed so hard I almost did what Ron did in the story too :) It was a wonderful rare glimpse at the friendship and tom foolery that the Trio got up to in the tent during the Horcrux hunt. It couldn't have all been gloom and doom, they had to cut up a little. I love the Ron and Harry friendship banter here. Yes it is a bit juevenile, but they WERE teenagers, remember? Very typical teenager behavior! And Harry totally notices Ron checking out Hermione.

 

( short excerpt )

Okay, matthewhaldemantime.com should be back up soon.

Sorry about that.

I appreciate y'all's concern! It's great to know that you care, honestly. If my site went down and I were the only one who noticed, that would be even worse.

Title: To Conquer Her (water dragon)
Gaining Access: You need to register to view RS stories at OWL
Author: phoenix_fancies
Length/Word Count: 69,312
Alternate Links to Fic/Art: To Conquer Her at Granger Enchanted (sapphire_phoenix)
Pairing: Draco/Hermione
Rating: RS (NC-17)
Author's Website: water dragon's profile at OWL
Why everyone should read this:

It was my birthday yesterday, and this is my present to you. Creative writing, hot smut, a stubborn Hermione, and a thoroughly wicked Draco.

( teaser )

Sounds like every other MLC you've ever read, right? Not so much. Keep reading. Broken wand. Bonding tattoo. A colony of Mages and several other surprises (and did I mention the smut?) await you in "To Conquer Her." If we're very lucky, there will even be a sequel soonish.

Maybe by my birthday next year?

Title: Shift
Author: curia_regis
Length/Word Count: 1400
Alternate Links to Fic/Art: Originally posted at Weasley Fest
Pairing: Ron/Pansy
Rating: NC-17
Author's Website: Fic is archived at journal, access through tags
Why everyone should read this: Post-epilogue, Ron/Pansy is ripe for writing infidelity fics. This one, in which Ron is unable to stop comparing Hermione, his wife, with Pansy, his lover, really captures both relationships. Simultaneously hot and sad, it's a lovely depiction of people who are still trying to work out what they want.


( Excerpt includes sexual references )

Title: Mute Appeal
http://thetwobroomsticks.slashcity.net/sansa/MuteAppeal.html
Gaining Access:  To enter the website you must confirm that you are over 18.
Author: Sansa now libby_drew
Length/Word Count: 3,100 Words
Alternate Links to Fic/Art: None Available
Pairing: Snape/Harry
Rating:  NC-17
Summary: Harry's lost an important ability. He can't speak. But Snape can.
Author's Website:  http://thetwobroomsticks.slashcity.net/
Why everyone should read this:  I love this fic simply because it is funny and super hot and it makes you smile from beginning to end. 

Title:  By the Numbers
Author:  Anonymous
Word Count:  3500
Alternate Links to Fic:  none
Pairing:  Minerva McGonagall / Rufus Scrimgeour
Rating:  PG-13
Summary: Minerva learns that all the old stories about love were wrong.
Author's Website:  none
Why everyone should read this:  This fic traces Minerva's evolving relationship with Rufus Scrimgeour from the day of their Sorting until Rufus's death.  It's a spare and painful story about ambition and power and choices and something that might once have been love. 

( Minerva had never expected happiness to be frightening. )