C'est M.O.I. Obviously Insane!

The holiday fest season is almost upon us, and along with it is the eternal question: "How do I give feedback on fest gifts?"

The answer is, there is no right or wrong way. The exception to that statement is when the fest in question has specific rules about feedback. The standard rule most fests have is "no flaming", which I think is a rule we can all get behind for obvious reasons.

"No con crit" is another rule I've seen popping up in fest rules lately, but I know that issue isn't as clear-cut as the flaming issue. Some people say gifts shouldn't be criticized while others say just because it's a gift doesn't mean it's exempt from critique. I don't really want to get into the pro/anti concrit argument, so we'll leave it at that.

So, yeah, as long as you're following the rules of the fest, there's not really a right or wrong way to give feedback. Now, that isn't to say that people won't complain or react negatively in other ways. For example, there are a few authors/artists who disdain squeeful comments and lament the lack of lengthy, "meaty" commentary, but they are in the distinct minority. The vast majority of authors/artists love feedback in any form they can get it, and "OMG that was awesome!!!" is just as welcomed as a 2 page treatise.

I think that more than any other time, fests - especially holiday fests - are a time to celebrate the joy of giving and to share in the pleasure of receiving. It's a time to be happy for the gifts being shared, not just with the recipient, but with everyone. Yes, that story/art was created for someone specific, but the rest of us are getting to enjoy it too, and I think that's part of the collaborative fun that fests generate. They give all of us more of what we want most, and I think we ought to express our thanks for that with a simple, "I enjoyed that. Thanks!" comment. It'll make that author/artist's holidays a little brighter.

With that in mind, I hope people will take the time to leave a comment on the gifts they enjoy in whichever fests they follow, especially people who are inclined to lurk the rest of the year. Fest authors/artists have been waiting for weeks, perhaps even months for their work to debut, so any feedback is a gift to them in return. As long as your response expresses your enjoyment, then there's no wrong way of expressing it. There's no such thing as too short or too simple, and you don't need a degree in English to leave good feedback. All you really need is enthusiasm!

For myself, I intend to do more reccing and commenting in December once things calm down at work and in RL, and I intend to continue into the new year, especially since I'm going to rec at crack-broom again in January!

This entry was originally posted at http://scribbulus-ink.dreamwidth.org/518269.html. It's cross-posted to LJ and IJ, and comments are enabled at all three journals.

Clicks?

Here's a piece of advice for anyone who is participating in any kind of LJ/IJ/DW based fest at any time of the year: when you email the mods, include your journal user ID, especially if your user ID isn't the same as your email address.

If your email address is the same as your journal ID, it makes things a little easier, but it would still be nice to include your ID nonetheless.

Here's the thing. Unless you communicate via email with the mods outside of the fest enough that it's reasonable to assume they know to associate that email address with you, chances are the mods will have no clue who's emailing them and will have to take the extra step of consulting a spreadsheet in order to figure it out.

When a fest mod is juggling 30+, 40+, 50+, or more fest participants, they are not going to remember who everyone is. They might not know you, they might not interact with you outside of the fest, or they might not remember. There are people who have participated in Snupin Santa just about every year, and I still wouldn't know them from an email address alone, much less know all the new people who rotate in and out each year.

So if a fest mod asks you to include your user ID and/or the name of your recipient in your emails, please try to remember to do it. It's not just a busy-work request; it can save the mod a little extra time (and let's be honest: a little extra irritation) if they know who they're dealing with straight-away instead of having to look it up. Trust me, trawling through a spreadsheet and looking for one person's email address out of 50-60 (or more) names is a pain in the ass.

This entry was originally posted at http://scribbulus-ink.dreamwidth.org/518068.html. It's cross-posted to LJ and IJ, and comments are enabled at all three journals.

Here are my dragons!

Title: The Needs of the Revolted
Pairing: Sarek/OFC
Rating: NC17
Words: ~800
Warning: dubious consent
Summary: The kink meme prompt was for Sarek to get tired of his people talking smack about Amanda and Vulcanishly telling them to stick it. However, as it was on the kink meme, there is sex.
A/N: I have fooled with this a bit more (largely for clarity) since posting it over there last night while I was taking a break from the more substantial fic that is currently taunting me.

I appreciate your industrious hacking away at the (somewhat-past-)due fic, but some of these errors of logic and departures from expectation as you go along are a bit ridiculous.

For instance, "building" and "bukkake" (of which there is none expected in this fic) are really quite not at all the same thing, and are not interchangeable.

Pls to type what (and only what) the brain says now.

Thx,
Me.

I originally posted this at http://florahart.dreamwidth.org/1005362.html. Comments may be left here or there; you can comment there with OpenID even if you don't have an account.

It's the Pilgrim's Bounty holiday in Azeroth, with food-related daily quests and themed garments offered as a reward for fulfilling the quests.

Why, yes, as a matter of fact I do bring my penchant for cross-dressing to Warcraft.

( My Blood Elf Death Knight in a dress: )

I did get a turkey caller as a quest reward, which I assume lets you summon a turkey to kill in order to help you make the required turkey meals for one of the quests. However, when you summon the turkey, it arrives with a great big heart over its head, which promptly shatters when it realizes you aren't a prospect turkey paramour, and it's labeled "lonely turkey". I couldn't kill a lonely turkey! I just let it wander free and haven't used the turkey caller again because I felt so guilty.

This entry was originally posted at http://scribbulus-ink.dreamwidth.org/517717.html. It's cross-posted to LJ and IJ, and comments are enabled at all three journals.

As I was basting the turkey about half way through the cooking time, I noticed that my oven's clock was still set on daylight savings time. So I reset it. When I went to check what should have been a finished turkey, I found that the oven had been turned off in the clock reset process. Everything is ready to serve but the turkey...

I apologized to my family. No one said that's ok. My nephew said, "I'm really, really hungry."

I feel like an idiot. How many years have I been cooking turkeys and never screwed up?

Edit: It was the best turkey I've ever made ... very, very moist. Maybe I should write down what I did! LOL!

LJ to the rescue!

I'm making the corn pudding recipe I made a few years back, but after a frantic search through my recipe files (and boy, I need to organize that!) proved fruitless.

But then I remembered I took some pictures of it with Boy2 because he really liked it. And lo and behold! I also had posted the recipe. *huggles LJ archives*

So it's about 9am here. I got up early to start defrosting the turkey in our never-fail hotwater method. We're also smoking a ham. Made an apple pie and a pumpkin cheesecake yesterday, as well as the dressing, a cranberry-orange relish and a chicken & butternut squash stew (for lunch today). Today I have to do, besides the turkey and ham, the corn pudding and the asparagus.

Boy2 has just gotten up; HeadBoy and Fred are still out and snuggling together. I think Boy1 is down at BlondBoy's house. We're watching the Macy's parade. Lordy, what cheese.

We stayed up late last night to watch 'Carriers'. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't the greatest movie I've ever seen. It was pretty bleak in terms of storyline. The best thing was that I figured out how to connect Albus to the TV, and it was awesome! I also found out by reading the TV user's manual (because I am female and I do that sort of thing) that our TV will connect to the internet by itself and will stream videos from Amazon. That's totally awesome. I still need to get that set up, but wow, so cool. [Hey, I remember black&white TVs with spin dials, no cable or satellite, and Star Trek when it was the most advanced show on TV.]

Went for a walk around the neighborhood yesterday, and today my left foot hurts like a mofo. Dammit.

I hope all my fellow Pilgrims have a great Thanksgiving Day. And I bid the rest of the world a very fine day.

Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate it! Happy almost-the-weekend to those who don't!

Real post later, if time and family allow. Count one fly-by, lore. ;)

This entry was originally posted at http://scribbulus-ink.dreamwidth.org/517550.html. It's cross-posted to LJ and IJ, and comments are enabled at all three journals.

I feel pervy for finding Adam Lambert, who is young enough to be my son, sexy and hot, but when he releases music videos like this one... Well, I'm only human!

This entry was originally posted at http://scribbulus-ink.dreamwidth.org/517343.html. It's cross-posted to LJ and IJ, and comments are enabled at all three journals.

Title: Always Hungry
Author: alisanne
Prompt: Written for harryron100's prompt: Hungry
Rating: PG
Word Count: 100
Category/Warnings: Romance, schmoop.
A/N: Yes, I like to use this last line to poke JK in the eye, why do you ask? *g*
Beta: sevfan
Disclaimer: The characters contained herein are not mine. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.

Always Hungry

dragons~

I thought it might be helpful for my fellow Snape/Lupin shippers who are in the mood for some new holiday RL/SS icons if I did a comprehensive round-up of where to find them.

Fan Art Based:
Happy holidays - bluecage

art by aleoninc, colored by innerslytherin

art by aleoninc, colored by almost-clara

art by aleoninc, colored by isildurs-babe

Animated art by karasu-hime, icon by whitestar


Photo Manips:
Animated with Rickman and Thewlis, by beaded-thistle

Animated with Rickman and Thewlis, by isildurs-babe. Some of these are racy.

Animated, by captain-tulip


And I asked about the icon that matches the following icon on lupin-snape, but no one responded, so I'll try my flist:

- made by kaleidoskope in 2006. There's a matching icon with Paul McGann as Remus in a Santa hat. Does anyone have it? If I snagged it at the time, I've lost it, and I'd love to have it.

This entry was originally posted at http://scribbulus-ink.dreamwidth.org/516668.html. It's cross-posted to LJ and IJ, and comments are enabled at all three journals.

Thanks for all your tea and sympathy about our boosted Blu-Ray player from Amazon. I'm going to go to the shipping office today to lodge a formal complaint and order a search and rescue. I'm really pissed about this.

Because people just don't wander past my house and think, 'Hey, I'm gonna take that package by the door.' Because they can't. Our house is perched up on a hill and has a long drive way. Even though there weren't any cars there, we come and go at odd hours, so someone watching the house wouldn't even begin to guess when we're there.

Then there's the Fred factor. Fred watches the neighborhood from the front deck. He's a barky dog, but only when someone invades his territory. And he goes nuts when anyone enters the yard.

Unless he was deeply asleep on our bed. In which case I need to have another employee meeting with him. He's falling down on the job.

After dealing with the lovely and very helpful customer service rep from Amazon who issued a refund, Boy1 and I went off to Best Buy, where, lo and behold!, the player I wanted was even less than the amazon price. So I bought it. Set up was incredibly easy OMG! so easy! and I settled in with Boy2 to finally FINALLY watch 'Star Trek'. And on our new HD tv--oh, such yummy goodness. So many details I missed watching it even in the theater *cough4timescough* HeadBoy commented on how much better it would've been on a 55" screen. *headsmack* In our small living room, 42" is a little overwhelming for me.

*sighs* Well, all's well that ends well. But I'm gonna get Amazon their money back.

Now you know what our Christmas gift is. That's it. The boys will have a few things in their stockings, and the chance to buy BR films for the library, but that was a HUGE chunk o'change. Add on top of that a trip to New Orleans, and we're tapped out for the holiday already.

Thanks mandebooks for linking this: