+ I'm actually not sure as many people on my flist posted about the 2004 presidential election as they have the lj election, but it worked: I voted with all 200 of my sockpupet journals, and have been disgusted by jameth et al's lulzy anti-fandom campaign.

+ I had LASIK last week, it's pretty crazy to not have glasses on after wearing them from fourth grade until last week. My face feels empty! Still, it's pretty rad to have peripheral vision again, and to know that I'm not dependent on a breakable object if I want to see anything. In the interests of resting my eyes though, I've gotten into a new corner of fandom: podslash and fanfic audio books, specifically. I had heard of the community before, but hadn't ever tried listening to any fanfic turned podcast before. It's so cool to hear it read aloud! Favorites include:

• Weight and Motion, written by sevenfists and read in an amazing Australian accent by dodificus which is an inventive Supernatural/Firefly crossover with a Dean/Mal twist. Fantastic!
  
  
• Anything read by fanfic_read_by, especially unperfectwolf's J² apocalyptic plague AU Terracotta Shattered (And the World Comes Tumbling Down) and esohpe's The Jared Padalecki Untitled Project which I had actually remembered reading before, and loved experiencing it again in a new format.

+ I'm also proving to be a sucker for a great many of the current pop/r&b hits and in the interests of sharing the love, have uploaded a zip file of many of them. [ download ] -- zip, 219mb, 36 songs all 224kpbs

Highlights include: Chris Brown, DJ Felli Fel, Gnarls Barkley, Jane Jackson, Jordin Sparks, Leona Lewis Lil Mama, Madonna, Mariah, Natasha Bedingfield, Nelly, Rihnanna, and Usher. Enjoy!

So with discussions like this one in azewewish's journal about bulletproof kinks, and incredibly smutty stories featuring a Christian Kane so hot I want to lick the sweat off of his neck getting rimmed by Jensen fucking Ackles, I am thinking it would be good for people to rec their favorite gloriously smutty, dirty, kink-filled stories.

I will start with one of my bulletproof kinks, which, no matter the fandom, no matter the pairing, never fails to turn me on. Exhibitionist masturbation. omg. Just Reach Out (Supernatural, Dean/Sam) by sevenfists is the perfect example of this. Dean's driving the metallicar and Sam just. Goes for it.

The singer wails about sex and decadence. Sam's warm and drowsy and a little turned on from the possessive heat in Dean's eyes, and it's easy to slouch down even further, feel the beat of the music turn into a sweet throb in his balls.

He spreads his thighs apart a little, giving his dick more room. Dean's chewing on a hangnail, not paying any attention. Sam rubs two fingers over his fly, not quite hard yet but getting there, relishing the slow curl of arousal in his gut.

And, you know, maybe to help with the mood, here's a song which has the exact same effect on me. [ Prince - Cream ] -- mp3, 5.8mb

iamtheenemy made a list of 15 things she likes to read in a sex scene. I love this idea because we all seem to have wildly different kinks if the fic is anything to go by and I'm all about encouraging that kind of diversity *g* Here's my list (in no particular order, with recs when I can think of a fitting story):

( mmmmmmsex )

I'm supposed to go to a party tonight, the theme is "fuck me I'm famous" and therefore, everyone is to dress up as someone famous. I'm stumped. I don't really look like anyone famous, and not enough famous people have one specific style that will always evocate that one person when worn by others. So I was thinking I'd do a quasi-harry potter thing, you know, short grey pleated skirt, white button up, red and gold tie with the lightening bolt on my forehead. Either that or I'll just go for the generic messy hair big sunglasses coked-out movie star thing.

I read a really good Constantine story the other day (and then went out and bought the movie because I've been waiting for it for what feels like a year.) The story is Second Chances by truwest. It's Constantine/Balthazar. And truwest just really captured their voices. If you're interested in reading it start here and just keep going to the next entry. (the story is in 16 parts, completed.)

I also read a brilliant Harry Potter story this week called Severus and the Crup by josanpq. It's Harry/Severus. Post-Hogwarts futurefic. The magic in this is fantastic. I saw it recced on crack_van, but I'm really surprised I'd not heard of it until the other day. The war is over, but all of the magic in Britain is gone with it. How do the characters cope living as muggles, can they ever rebuild what's been lost?

Here's the 4th in the Long Way Round miniseries. Please remember to right click and choose save as. Previous episodes can be found here.

[ Ewan McGregor - The Long Way Round - Episode 4 ] -- avi, 350mb

I am bored beyond words. I'm really in the mood for fanfic, something long and plotty, fandom and pairing be damned. Anyone have any suggestions?

See, it all started yesterday with this really hot movie of two emo boys making out that megolas and bexless linked to. See: their posts. [ yousendit link to the movie ]

And then megolas issued a challenge. And then there was fic. Fic in fandoms that I don't even read! So: some OC recs.

Unlucky at Pinochle by wearemany. The OC: Seth/Ryan.

untitled by ethrosdemon. The OC: Seth/Ryan.

powrhug started it, but I've been meaning to post about this for a while.

Make-Up/Skin Care Recs

Face: I have pretty heavily combination skin. Oily in the t-zone, dry cheeks, the works. And I've always been a big fan of skin care products, I used to use Clinique, but I've moved on to Origins in the last couple years. The have a great line for combination skin (and I can only assume the same for other skin-types.)

Cleanser: I start with Checks and Balances which is a great face wash that isn't too drying or damaging to sensitive skin.

Toner/"balancing tonic": United States. I don't always use this one but I think it does help to use it before moisturizing.

Moisturizers: Make A Difference. Hands down the best moisturizer I've ever used. It's expensive but one sub will last you at least 6 months, you can use it daily and nightly, and it's just. heavenly. I finish with Have A Nice Day it's SPF-15 and is night and lightweight. I use it every morning and it definitely helps.

Foundation: I use MAC's Select Tint SPF 15 It's liquid which is perfect for me since compact-style foundation doesn't work with my dry skin, but it's not oily or heavy like too many liquid foundations are.

Eyes: I'm a complete MAC girl. I use their eyeshadows pretty much exclusively. I also don't use eyeliner anymore, instead I use one of their superthin brushes to apply eyeshadow over my lash line. I've found that it looks a LOT better than traditional liner does, all the noticeability without the unnaturalness. Mascara: I'm not too picky about mascara honestly, my eyelashes have never given me too many problems, and I don't curl them but I've been using Neutrogena's Full Volume Mascara for the last 6 months or so and I love it. It's got great volume and it never clumps. Also, it's totally safe for sensitive eyes.

Lips: Oh man, I've always just been a chapstick/lip gloss kind of girl and I've found the PERFECT lip gloss. It's Bath and Body Works' Tutti Dolci Lip Gloss. It comes in 6 flavors of varying tints and I'm absolutely in love with the Chocolate Fondue. Not only does it taste better than any lipgloss ever has in the entire world, it lasts FOREVER and its goes on smooth and light. It's honestly the perfect lip gloss. You should ALL try it. Seriously, I went to the store, tried it on, licked my lips, and went holy shit I need to make out with someone my lips taste so good!

Cheeks: I don't use blush but I went to Sephora the other week and while my friend was trying on various products I accidentally fell in love with this horribly expensive blush by Tarte. It's amazing. I've never looked good with blush on but I just dabbed the Blushing Bride on (no technique required!) and all of a sudden I had fabulous cheekbones! I resisted buying it but I've been thinking about it all week so I think I should go back and get it.

Body I use some sort of body something every day. My regular body soap is by Lush, it's called Demon in the Dark. It's green and it smells amazing, it's perfect for waking up. It's hmm, the website says minty but I've never found it to be overly minty. I've always found it to be fun and kicky. When I'm really treating myself though I go for my Bath and Body Works Relax Sugar Scrub. It's the sandalwood rose scent and it's absolutely amazing. The scent is incredibly relaxing, and it lasts long after you get out of the shower. Everytime I use it at least one person tells me that I smell good. Stuff like this makes me wish that the internet was scratch and sniff because there's no way to accurately describe the fabulousness that is the sandalwood rose scent.

Sunscreen: I've got really, really fair skin. I burn within 15 minutes of going outdoors if I don't have sunscreen. My whole life could probably be described as a quest to find the perfect sunscreen. And I've done it. It's Ocean Potion SPF 50. It has Parsol 1789 in it which is the KEY ingredient for protecting against sunburns, it's oil free and not at all greasy, and best off, it smells fantastic. It doesn't smell anything like sunscreen. You'll never feel gross and sunscreen-sticky again if you use this stuff. Seriously, it's fan-fucking-tastic.

Anyone else have recs?

One of my favorite things about going on vacation is the fact that I always seem to have time to read books. My trip to New York was no exception and I ended up reading the first volume of Neil Gaiman's Sandman Series Preludes and Nocturnes which is brilliant (as expected) and deliciously creepy and moody.

I also read Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn for the first time. I've read some of his other books, The Fortress of Solitude and Amnesia Moon are both great books but there was something about Motherless Brooklyn that just blew me away. It's a play on the typical crime novel/murder mystery/detective story in that the narrator is completely unexpected and Lethem used an amazing blend of humor with the more typical crime novel drama. First off, the main character has Tourette's syndrome and the book, written in his voice, is both hilarious and fascinating as a result. Seriously, everyone should read this book. Jonathan Lethem is a literary God. ( an excerpt: )

I was just compiling a list of useful programs and info for people new to Macs (and osx in particular) and thought some of you might find it useful as well so here's my list.

Best bittorrent program: Azureus

Good bittorrent websites:
btefnet
tvtorrents
novatina
torrent reactor
torrent spy
isohunt

best video player (plays all forms of video files): mplayer

peer2peer downloading (for mp3s and whatnot): Acquisition

best web browser (has tabbed browsing!): Firefox

best random utility programs:
Windowshade (lets you do all sorts of cool stuff with your open windows)

Quicksilver (the BEST program EVER helps you open applications/folders/songs in iTunes/whatever using only a few keystrokes)

Notational Velocity (much better than the sticky notes program)

Konfabulator (a program that uses tiny miniprograms called widgets which do any number of useful things) and the kofabulator widget gallery.

Growl (a notifier program (ex. it pops up a small info box whenever a new song starts in itunes that lists the song title and artist.))

useful keyboard tips and shortcuts:
Pressing the command key (the one with the apple and pound sign on it) and the tab key at the same time pops up a window with all of your open applications in it. If you continue to hold down the command key and press and release the tab button, each program will highlight. It allows you to switch programs without using the dock or your mouse by tabbing over to whatever program you want to switch to and then letting go of both the tab and the command key.

Pressing command and the h key will hide any program you have open.

In firefox command t will open a new tab and command w closes either a tab if you have multiples or the window if you don't. Actually command w will close whatever window you have open in all mac programs.

Also, pressing the command key and the key directly above the tab key (I forget what those symbols are called) will switch you between multiple windows in any one program.

Updated WIPs
In the Shadow of his Wings Part 11 by mirasfics. Harry Potter: Harry/Draco. I've recced previous parts of this story before. It's absolutely brilliant. The universe is intensely lush, the pacing is great, and the plot is fantastic. Mira's not even gotten to the textual slash yet and I'm already drooling for it. This is only one of two stories I'm willing to read as a WIP if that's any indication of how good it is.

Visiting Hours Part 5 by rageprufrock. Smallville: Clark/Lex. This is a sequel to Pru's fabulous Conflicts of Interest story. It's awesome and hilarious and oh man I really need the next part now because it's the absolute worst thing ever to be this addicted to anything. But it's so. good.

Completed
Everte Statum by circe_tigana and sparcck. Harry Potter: Harry/Draco. Mmmmm good blend of humour and smut. Harry is a Sex God. Draco is a Potions Genius. They collaborate.

His Body a Boat by romanyg. Angel the Series: Spike/Angel. The characters are really hard to get right, and the relationship, especially between Spike and Angel is intensely complex but romanyg has a good handle on their voices and writes them just the way I like it. Modern, I guess, not so much focused on the sire/childe thing (HATE that), and not too much on the past so much as who the characters are now which is for me, the most interesting aspect of the pairing. How do Angel and Spike help themselves (and each other) get past al of the history and the baggage? The show's writers didn't focus on the angst, they made the two interact humourously exchanging quips and whatnot. And romanyg stays true to that more than many other authors I've seen.

House Rules by romanyg. Angel: Spike/Angel. A fun bit of puppet!Angel fic. It's really lovely, just the right blend of humour and relationship intrigue.

Irreplaceable by rhyssj. Popslash: JC/Justin. Rhys is one of my Ultimate Popslash Writers, and she's prolific too, she's written a TON. And all of it, every last word and punctuation mark is fabulous. This story is no exception, it just happens to be my favorite pairing. JC and JUstin are very, very pretty and they do even prettier things to eachother while Chris celebrates his birthday. Great fic.

Somnambulist by sarahq. Popslash: JC/Justin. This story is... guh fucking amazingly detailed and creepy and SO COOL. It's an AU sort of story and dude. How did I now know about this story before? My god it's brilliant.

And now: it's confession time, Harry Potter fans: I used to think I was a one trick pony, Harry/Draco or nothing baby. But in a fit of homework procrastination last night, I ventured out into the untamed wilds of fandom and read a Harry/Snape story that had been recced to me by saturn92103 back in November. And lo! It was good. Um. So yes, I might possibly like Harry/Snape. And if I'm saying it's a sort of hot and intriguing pairing then that's saying a lot. All of this is leading me to:

Scratch and sequel The Holly and the Ivy by Aucta Sinistra. Harry Potter: Harry/Snape. Um. I'm still slightly freaked out that I even read a Harry/Snape story but the dynamic in this story is amazing. Harry's grown up enough to not freak me out and Snape is perfectly Snape, just a little more human. Also, this story is amazing. It's long and intese and detailed and best of all, plotted. And there's new magic! Aucta is an amazing writer, and evidently, one with quite a few stories up at the Inkstain archive. I can't wait until I have time to read the rest of her work; it's really just that good.

nuregwen has been posting gorgeous gorgeous pictures of many pretty people (including Norman Reedus and Jake Gyllenhaal) at tinalikesstuff. She deserves much petting and love for that.

celebritease is a constant source of pretty semi-naked celebrities.

I desperately want someone to write NSYNC into the Constantine/Hellblazer universe. God! That would be so cool!

So I read a couple stories by sarahq today. Foreshadow which was written for the reunion challenge, and Somnambulist which is... guh fucking amazingly detailed and creepy and SO COOL. It's a JC/Justin AU sort of story and dude. How did I now know about this story before? My god it's brilliant.

Also related to popslash, evidently there's a Religious Themed Index which I didn't know about before. Very cool.

Tipping Point is a nice little House/Wilson story.

I updated anti_recs the other day with some more recs. Uh, it's poorly named but don't let that distract you from the fact that I rec good stories there every so often.

And now, music I've been listening to lately which you should listen to also (right click save):

[ Colin Farrell covering I Fought the Law ] -- I think this is from the Intermission soundtrack.

[ David Usher - Black Black Heart ] -- This song is gorgeous, the melody, and the lyrics. Oh man it's just so well done. I have no clue where I got it though actually I got it from magician_sakura.

[ Interpol - Slow Hands ] -- Interpol has been categorized in the Snow Patrol/Killers/Franz Ferdinand indie-rock category, they're from New York and all gossip about their attitude and snottiness aside, I like this song.

[ Lenlow - To the Taxmobile! ] -- Found via boing boing: an awesome mashup of The Beatle's Taxman and the Batman theme song.

[ Louis XIV - Finding Out True Love is Blind ] -- Again with the Indie-Rock, they toured with The Killers last summer. This song is fun and danceable, but not particularly inspiring or progressive.

[ Snoop Dogg and Justin Timberlake - Signs ] -- So addicting!

[ The Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict a Riot ] -- Britpop/Indie Rock with a little bit of The Clash thrown in for fun. I really like these guys right now.

[ The Lovemakers - Dance ] -- The Lovemakers are a local band that've been getting some radio play lately, they're hmmm, sort of the female version of the Postal Service possibly, they're very electropop.

[ The Servant - Liquefy ] -- I have no clue where I got this song but I love it.

[ The Streets - Let's Push Things Forward ] -- I heard this song on the radio the other day and then spent two hours hunting the name of the group down because I promptly forgot all the lyrics and the group's name after I heard it. It's a gorgeously interesting blend of UK Garage, underground hip hop at it's best.