Yesterday was a very quiet day in terms of pilgrim interaction, they were all busily watching the Stations of the Cross for most of the day. I'm in two minds about the Stations of the Cross; on the one hand I am all for medieval theatre and there being public rituals in the life of a city that bind people together. On the other hand, it's a bit like watching a Mel Gibson production. And the bloke they had playing Jesus was an advertising executive, which I think is asking for it really.

Today I frankly hid. all of my pilgrim interactions were care of the news. SBS news showed a group of friendly protesters tossing condoms at the pilgrims, two rather fit lads bent down to pick some up, was it pure chance that they had Swedish flags on their backpacks? I think not. The other pilgrims called out 'Benedicto' to the protesters, who wore shirts condemning the pope's stances on birth control and homosexuality.

One pilgrim was taken away by police when he tried to assault a protester, but he was later released. I wonder if the reverse situation would have had the same result?

The pilgrims were marching for miles across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, through the city, to Randwick, where they are spending the evening camping at the racecourse before a large mass tomorrow (as you can see, those Swedes were forward-thinking). I am not a big fan of huge crowds, so stayed in Erko and Newtown, which were pilgrim free.

I finished my mainlining of Girl Genius webcomic, which I heartily recommend to anyone who is a fan of steampunk, big-busted girl heroines with ray guns, or heavily amusing graphic art (the first panel features an advert for frogs, 2p; sugar frogs, 5p, sugar sans frogs, 20p). Then we popped up the road for a bite to eat.

I was partially intelligent about this, slipping out of my flowery sundress and coat ensemble that had seen me through the day and into a woolen top and skirt with coat arrangement that is about four times warmer. Where I failed was in the shoe department, I had been pottering about in my  new Doc boots in a bid to break them in (being far too old to resort to the old thick socks and a bucket of hot water trick that I would have used the last time I had Doc boots, before half my flist was born).

Had you been standing in a quiet corner of Newtown earlier this evening you would have seen a short, black-clad woman unlacing a pair of red boots and stuffing her socks into them before setting off home in bare feet. Happily there was no broken glass, only cold, cold pavement. I can now tell you that fresh tarmac is warmer than old, concrete smoother than tarmac, and bricks best of all. Also, that no matter how much of your earlier life was spent barefoot and fancy free, none of that counts after a few years in sensible shoes.

This was not the only oddness of the evening. I had been curled up on the sofa with Girl Genius for a few hours when J bustled past me into the kitchen to make himself a coffee. Ten minutes later, he went out to see how the stovetop coffee maker was going. When he drew back the curtain* leading into the kitchen, a wave of acrid smoke poured out. He had turned on the element under the wooden chopping board rather than the one under the Bialetti, and it was cheerfully charcoaling. Luckily the smoke alarm is in the next room, and the curtain did its job holding in the smoke. It is one of the few times I have been happy to have an electric cooker. I had to explain to the cats that Daddy was trying to kill us, again, so they needed to stay out of the kitchen for a while. This involved the bag of milky treats and much tummy tickling. Like all cats, they can be bought.

Tomorrow we will add a new chopping board to the list of the day's missions. And I will brave a city full of worn-out, smelly pilgrims on their way back from their camp-out and mass in my bid to find a reasonably priced microphone for podficcing.

It's got to be safer than staying home ...


*Our house is small, and there is no room to mount a door, but it is also a freezing cold house in winter, and so you need to keep the rooms contained to hold any heat in. Thick curtains do the job admirably. And add a rakish, bohemian air. I am thinking of sewing up a quilted felt pirate flag to replace the current one at some point.

Doctor Horrible's Sing-along Blog....just...wow.

( these are not the hammer  )

Also, werewolf_lib I hope you had a wonderful birthday, I'm so sorry I'm late in sending my regards! *grovels*

 I've just remembered a fic I read a while ago, but I can't find it again :( Hopefully one of you can help me out .

I think the fic was placed in Remus and Sirius' after life. It starts out with the remembrance of their Hogwarts years, and when Remus wakes up, their older, and it ends with Sirius telling Remus that Harry needs them now. Remus follows, and that's about all I remember :P It's vague, but I hope some one recognizes what I'm talking about :D

Also, could anyone recommend some fics that ...

1. are placed in their afterlife?
2. are place in the suburbs, with nature and etc.
3. have either of them is seriously depressed and feels like their unworty or just not good enough for the other(<this one is just a crappy request, so I won't be disappointed if there weren't recs of these)

Newsletters, as always, please link to the fics themselves rather than this post. Thanks!

Title: When Love Took a Train Heading South
Team: Team Post-Hogwarts
Rating: R
Warnings: language, frotting, sexual references and wanking references (It all sounds so mild)
Summary: Non-magical AU.
"You're making me blush, Moony. You remember." Remus began to laugh harder. "Anyway," Sirius continued, "I'm not going to let some depraved old man get his hands on you. If anyone's touching your balls this weekend it's me."
Prompt: Taurus (April 21 -- May 20): Like a garden that has endured a long winter, your leaves have shriveled and your stems have withered. But with Venus now in your sign, your zest for life will return and inspire an old and nearly forgotten dream. A revival has begun.
Genre(s): AU, Romance/Fluff
Credits: HUGE love and kisses to my betas my Brit pickers, my team for suggestions and the support from any one I failed to mention. This is my first time ever writing a story of this sort on several fronts, I hope you all enjoy!

Read the Fic Here!


Title: The Fairly Accurate Predictions of Sirius Black, Fortune-Teller
Team: Team MWPP
Rating: PG-13 for sexual references and swearing
Warnings: None
Summary: Sometimes not knowing what the future holds is the answer you seek.
Prompt: Pisces (Feb. 20 -- March 20):You are in a situation that cannot be allowed to continue for much longer, and it won't. Rest assured, a long enduring melodrama will soon come to a satisfactory conclusion.
Genre(s): Romance/Humor

Read the Fic Here!

Title: The Fairly Accurate Predictions of Sirius Black, Fortune-Teller
Team: Team MWPP
Rating: PG-13 for sexual references and swearing
Warnings: None
Summary: Sometimes not knowing what the future holds is the answer you seek.
Prompt: Pisces (Feb. 20 -- March 20):You are in a situation that cannot be allowed to continue for much longer, and it won't. Rest assured, a long enduring melodrama will soon come to a satisfactory conclusion.
Genre(s): Romance/Humor

( The Fairly Accurate Predictions of Sirius Black, Fortune-Teller )

Title: When Love Took a Train Heading South
Team: Team Post-Hogwarts
Rating: R
Warnings: language, frotting, sexual references and wanking references (It all sounds so mild)
Summary: Non-magical AU.
"You're making me blush, Moony. You remember." Remus began to laugh harder. "Anyway," Sirius continued, "I'm not going to let some depraved old man get his hands on you. If anyone's touching your balls this weekend it's me."
Prompt: Taurus (April 21 -- May 20): Like a garden that has endured a long winter, your leaves have shriveled and your stems have withered. But with Venus now in your sign, your zest for life will return and inspire an old and nearly forgotten dream. A revival has begun.
Genre(s): AU, Romance/Fluff
Credits: HUGE love and kisses to my betas my Brit pickers, my team for suggestions and the support from any one I failed to mention. This is my first time ever writing a story of this sort on several fronts, I hope you all enjoy!

( When Love Took a Train Heading South )

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

Thanks to vorse for sending in today's Sue!


TITLE: The Serpent and the Eagle
PERPETRATOR: CrownOfLaurels
SUE-O-METER: (bad)

FULL NAME: Cassandra Trelawney
SPECIES: Witch
HAIR: "a cloud of storm-grey hair" at the age of 17.
EYES: "huge; giant amethyst orbs floating amongst skin as fine and transparent as lilies, albeit lilies that creased around her mouth and eyes". We haven't had "orbs" in such a long time!
MARKINGS: "Her nose was pert and delicate." She had "severe and thick" eyebrows. "Her jaw was square and chiselled, with a pleasantly shaped face." "She had been born with the mark of a Seer, a tiny birthmark on the inner left arm that faded minutes after birth."
POSSESSIONS: Class A Non-Tradeable magical herbs.

ORIGIN: She is a "regular" student at Hogwarts.
CONNECTIONS TO CANON: She is Professor Trelawney's great-great-grandmother. She was in Ravenclaw. For a time she was Dumbledore's mentor, and then they became friends, he smuggles her hallucinogenic herbs. He adores her, and kisses her by accident. She foresees the rise and fall of Lord Voldemort, but then she is taken to St. Mungos for the use of hallucinogenic herbs. Dumbledore never forgets her.
SPECIAL ABILITIES: She was the "the most attractive, most talented and most sought-after girl in all of Hogwarts". She is a seer, as well. She is excellent at Potions.

NOTES: Very, very, very purple prose here. The Suethor seems to like it, as her profile is written in the same sort of manner.

( Ooooo! So Special! )

A return actually took place a month ago when I finally published a new instalment of my huge WiP – here (only on The Pensieve Forum of TheDailySnitcher, which has resurrected the contents of the closed Snitch Forums). However, I left for Poland on the same day, having been distracted from following my flist regularly for a couple of weeks before that, too.

I’d be happy to hear what’s new in your lives, as well as what has happened to Remus and Sirius in the fandom.

Title: Crime and Punishment
Pairing: None, they're only 11 though, in my head, it's set in the Aftermath universe.
Summary: The first year Gryffindors are split in two camps. James and Sirius go on disliking each other and Remus is bewildered as to how he ended up Sirius' best friend.
Disclaimer: I didn't make them up. I wish I did but I didn't. I do get to play with them sometimes though, and I say 'play' because I don't get any money out of it so it cannot in any way be described as 'work'.
Warnings: None, unless you have some grand objection to eleven year olds yelling at each other.
It's sort of a sequel to a silly little drabbley thing I wrote where Remus meets Sirius and James for the very first time.

Wherein James and Sirius are still at each other's throats and Andromeda shows up!

I mean, The World Ends With You has been out for what, three months now? And already there's more bad than good fanfiction. Sheesh.

 Title: Let's Get Together: Part 2
Author: maroonladybug
Pairing: Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Rating: still PG ... though at some point it will be NC-17
Summary: Sirius Black is hopelessly in love ... let the madness begin.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters you recognize. J.K. Rowling does and she isn't inclined to share.
Dedicated To: This part is for the wonderful littlemissgg who writes, in my opinion, some of the best puppy stories on the internet. Go check out her journal!

Authour's Note: It's a bit of a cliffie ... a wee baby one, but I hope to have the rest up before I leave for vacation, so you won't have to suffer for too long. If you are just joining story time, follow the link and read the first part, in which Sirius confuses us all with his silent ranting and pacing.


Let's Get Together: Part 1

Everyone one the same page? Good ...

 

Hey! So...I have two requests.

The first one is a fic where all the marauders and Lily (and some other people) and playing truth or dare or something silly like that, and Lily dares Sirius to kiss the person he's currently dating, aka Remus but he gets a little embarrassed and doesn't want to do it and gets mad at Remus...blah blah blah happy ending. Right at the end Sirius says something like "I have the most sexy prefect as a boyfriend" or whatever.
This has been driving me crazy because I just can't find it!! I think it was posted on Ff.net

Also, any fics with either one of them reluctant to "come out" or acknowledge their relationship until they see the other one is hurt by this and does something about it. Happy endings please.

So yeah...that's all, I'll worship whoever helps me out XD

So, I work at a family owned Italian restaurant. We serve somewhat Americanized (but still amazing), expensive food, such as pizza, pasta, dinners, and paninis. Most of the money that my boss makes is through in-house, sit-down customers. We do, however, also offer to-go and delivery options. This is where I come in. My job is basically sitting in a small office (read: closet) and answering the phone whenever someone calls in to place a to-go or delivery order, which I then enter into the computer.

( And so it begins... )

Title: Bedtime Stories
Gaining Access: Must be 18 to access the Broom Shed at The Quidditch Pitch
Author: Potterhead37
Length/Word Count: 7,476 words
Alternate Links to Fic: N/A
Pairing: Ron/Hermione
Rating: NC-17
Author's Website: None that I found
Why everyone should read this: This story is smoking hot. I read it with my mouth agape throughout the entire thing. It is a wonderfully written, beautiful look into a married couple's attempt to reintroduce passion into their marriage. The excerpt under the cut is short because I didn't want to ruin it for you. A truly stunning piece of writing!

( Excerpt Under the Cut )

Do you guys know if they pre-decide the country they plan to go to each cycle on ANTM?
Like, do they pick the country before each season starts? Or after all the contestants are chosen?

The reason I'm asking is this: I remember that in cycle 7, Jaslene tried out and didn't make it. That's the season they went to Spain. If she HAD made it onto the show, would they still have gone to Spain? They had to do that commercial entirely in Spanish, and it would have been a little unfair since that's her first language.