false promises & outright lies

something i've been considering for some time now.

2008-01-27T03:41:57Z

So, things. I'm not doing very well off-line, which you may or may not have noticed, and I've been fairly unresponsive on-line, which you've probably noticed. What it comes down to is this: I'm tired. I'm doing what I can to manage things off-line and now I'm doing what I need to do on-line.

As of today, memlu should be considered either a temporary or a permanent archive. I may very well return to this journal one day and I'd certainly like to, but right now I can't handle it. It's ridiculous, but there you go.

I'm making another go of things at mekosuchinae, so I won't be leaving livejournal. I just want to, you know. Start over. I said it was ridiculous, okay! This post here has some more information about it, though not much. It'll have to do.

Please know that I will not be adding back everyone who friends mekosuchinae and that does include people on this journal's f-list. If you wish to add mekosuchinae, then you should certainly feel free to do so! But understand I may not add you back. Most if not all fannish posts will be public and only the very boring stuff (job, home, angst) will be under f-lock. I like all of you and I enjoy reading your posts, but I cannot keep up with a large f-list and I am no longer comfortable making my f-locked posts available to so many people. I'm sorry.

(Conversely, if you've been waiting for an opportunity to dump my ass on the curb, THIS IS IT. Don't waste the moment! You may only have this one chance! Go, go, go!)

Regular posting will begin at mekosuchinae in the next few days.

Comments on this post are disabled on account of how I'm a coward.

NOW WE KNOW WHO HIDES BEHIND THE NAME "ANONYMOUS" AND WHO WEARS IT LIKE A BADGE.

2008-01-24T02:45:15Z

This is so much more important than any stupid hiatus:

4Chan has declared war on the Church of Scientology. (Warning for Encyclopedia Dramatica.)

Guys.

Guys.

They Rickrolled the Scientologists.

ON THE PHONE.

memlu @ 2008-01-21T19:24:00

2008-01-22T00:23:45Z

Hiatus until I can write a post that sounds like me; that is, ridiculous, immature and unintentionally rude. If I write one more serious sentence I will throw myself out a window, and then you'll be like, oh, what did you do that for, and I'll be like, don't ask me, I'm dead / in a coma / otherwise incapacitated.

BE AWESOME.

memlu @ 2008-01-19T20:02:00

2008-01-20T01:01:09Z

Provide a fandom and I will Sort each character (or as many of the characters as I care to Sort) into the appropriate Hogwarts House. Because I'm a nerd, I will also detail their adventures at Hogwarts. The excitement! The danger! The romance. It may take me some time to respond to your comment, as this is the sort of thing that requires very serious and very intense deliberation, but I shall do my best to respond quickly, honestly, and with the gravity the subject matter requires.

Furious debates re: the Sorting of a character are not only acceptable, but encouraged. Bonus points for snobbery! You know: "As for the matter of the Sorting, I can scarcely believe one such as yourself is at all qualified for the position; a hat could do no worse." And then we can duke it out like nerds. Awesome!

Play with meeeee.

i'm exciting! wait, no, the other thing.

2008-01-19T05:01:37Z

I think ... yes. I am 100% on the Zelenka/Carter train.

I am also 100% certain I sprained some vital part of my anatomy during the McKay's password scene. Okay, and Batman. That was pretty good, too. Also hilarious: Ronon, Keller, and Jaws. "It's a lot stronger than a shark." kklsdj;fsksdf.

I'll try to bullshit a more intelligent entry about this episode some time tomorrow, and when I say "some time tomorrow," I mean "maybe." I recognize my flaws and accept them for what they are! DO NOT JUDGE ME.

*
Bookstores are my greatest weakness! I don't -- I don't know what happens. I think what happens is this: I walk in to the store. Overexcited by the selection of books present before me, I black out in the store. An indeterminate amount of time later I wake outside the store, my wallet empty and a totebag filled with books cutting off the circulation to my arm. On the plus side: hey! Books! It's not like I needed that money for anything important, anyway. You know. Like food.

:|

And now, of course, I will list the books I purchased in a thinly veiled attempt to trick well-read members of my f-list into sharing their general and non-spoilery opinions, ha ha! Witness:

Stargate Atlantis: Entanglement by Martha Wells. (Ordered: Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary, also by Martha Wells.) HA HA HA, SHUT IT. Seriously. I don't want to hear it and I am totally prepared to point at you in a menacing fashion. Over the internet. Yeah. Bet you'll think twice next time, won't you? So there.
In the Night Garden and In the Cities of Coin and Spice by Catherynne M. Valente.
Snake Agent, The Demon and the City, and Precious Dragon by Liz Williams. (I remember a few people on my f-list talking about the Inspector Chen series several months ago, but I can't recall if the general consensus was "Fun times!" or "Liz Williams don't know shit!" I saved the receipt, at any rate. ~~SHARE YOUR OPINIONS WITH ME.~~)

I also purchased the Borders Classics editions of every Jane Austen novel, with the exception of Northanger Abbey, which they did not have in stock (cry). I guess, uh, technically I already own all these books, but. They're really pretty, you guys, so I'm counting this as a victory.

*
Why am I so boring these days? I hereby resolve to be more awesome, starting tomorrow or possibly Sunday. Maybe Monday. I'm thinking, first I sleep for three days, then I start working on upgrading to a more awesome Mem. Game plan! All right!

memlu @ 2008-01-15T11:56:00

2008-01-15T16:56:10Z

Holy crap, it's snowing! And it's snowing hard, too. Half the parking lot's covered and I swear to God it wasn't snowing five minutes ago. I AM SO EXCITED. And so upset! Why is it snowing when I'm at work? Stupid snow. Stupid, awesome, delightful snow. Whiting out the windows, covering up the streets. Filling me with sorrow.

12:46PM: It stopped. *sadface*

01:22PM: And now the sun is shining! I'M CALLING FOUL.

it took me an hour to write this post. sadface

2008-01-12T04:53:09Z

Do you have any or know where I might find recipes for nutritious dishes that could be prepared at home in -- hum, thirty minutes to an hour? I'm trying to incorporate healther and more filling meals into my daily routine by, uh, preparing healthy, filling lunches to bring to work the night before I go to work. Any help would be wonderful and totally welcome!

(I am 87% certain I will kill myself if I eat another meal consisting of one or more of the following: easy mac, instant ramen, powdered potatoes, chocolate glazed donuts, foodstuffs purchased at 7-Eleven, foodstuffs purchased at McDonald's, pizza. Woman cannot live off grease alone! Or, you know, at all. SAVE ME FROM MYSELF.)

memlu @ 2007-12-31T23:46:00

2008-01-01T04:46:53Z

D'you know what you need to read but likely haven't? The Alchemists' Revenge. It's the (gorgeous, hilarious, positively amazing and entirely perfect, and I am neither exaggerating nor lying as it is everything and more) story I received for Yuletide and it is far and away one of the best Christmas presents I've ever received. If you've read the first two installments of Mr Philip Reeve's Larklight trilogy and enjoyed them, you need to read this story IMMEDIATELY. Right now. I am fully prepared to glare at you until you do so.

All you need to know is this: it is hilarious and delightful, and long and plotty, and absolutely perfect in every possible way. I can't even -- there are so many things I love! All of the things! Everything! And I don't want to spoil anything, so you really need to read it right now, for my sake if not your own.

(Speaking of spoilers! The Alchemists' Revenge is set not long after Starcross, so if you haven't read the second book yet, you really ought to steer clear of this story. For the time being, I mean. What you really ought to do is read Starcross, then read this fic, but for now you might want to step carefully.)

In conclusion, oh, gosh, I love this story so much I can't stand it. I printed it out on Christmas Day and now all the pages are wrinkly from me hugging it to my chest and heaving huge, girlish sighs over each page, and if you do not do the same after reading it, then I just do not know if we should ever speak again. Just -- oh! I love it and it is my professional opinion that you should read it and love it as well.

*glares*

memlu @ 2007-12-31T00:35:00

2007-12-31T05:34:11Z

meyerlemon just linked to this:

Pretty Bird Woman House has raised the $70K needed to purchase and fix up a new home and then some. They think all the donations made might even add up to a whopping eighty thousand dollars.

Guys! This is wonderful! They can buy the house and set up a security system and a fence, and they can buy furniture and clothing and -- guys, they did it! You did it.

I just. This is wonderful.

memlu @ 2007-12-30T11:00:00

2007-12-30T15:58:08Z

Wikipedia did indeed correct Anonymous Fan No. 1's contribution to Joe Quesada's wikipage, but never fear! Another nameless fan has made his or her contribution in the name of petty vandalism for justice and personal satisfaction. Behold!

Joseph "Joe" Quesada, colloquially known as The Idiot Who Ruined Spider-Man.

Oh, fandom. You make me feel so squishy.

memlu @ 2007-12-29T20:35:00

2007-12-30T01:33:59Z

Hahaha omg. Sometimes, comics fandom is pretty okay. WITNESS. (In the likely event that Wikipedia corrects this, I've uploaded a screencap.)

Here are some things you ought to know:

years

convention

In a surprise move that, well, isn't very surprising, Quesada has ignored these fans (read: his customers) and gone ahead with a story arc in Amazing Spider-Man entitled One More Day, in which Peter Parker literally makes a deal with the devil, the cost of which is the negation of his marriage to Mary Jane and his memory of it. And it isn't just his marriage, either: it's his entire relationship with Mary Jane. The past twenty-some years canon have been retconned to excise Mary Jane from Peter Parker's life.

And you know what? I am pissed. Mary Jane isn't some albatross around Peter Parker's neck. Mary Jane shouldn't be the scapegoat for every idiotic editorial decision made over the last twenty years and she shouldn't be wiped aside so quickly and so casually, like her life and her marriage and her struggles and her happiness are nothing more than a handful of sand, easily scattered and easily forgotten.

¹ It isn't just fans who're upset by Joe Quesada's decision. J. Michael Straczynski, longtime writer of Amazing Spider-Man and co-writer of One More Day (alongside, you guessed it, Joe Quesada), very seriously considered requesting his name be taken off the final issues of his run.

memlu @ 2007-12-11T22:05:00

2007-12-12T03:05:36Z

1. Christmas songs! Classics, hymns, new pop songs and novelty recordings -- do you have any? Would you, um, mind sharing them with me? This is my Christmas wish!

I've felt very weepy and stupid and disconnected from my favorite seasonal and religious celebration of my year, and I've only just realized this is 'cause I'm riding the bus regularly and thus do not have the opportunity to listen to the local radio station's annual holiday music bonanza, like, at all.

So ... I guess what I'm trying to say is, I am a ridiculous person and you should ignore me.

(GIVE ME YOUR MUSIC.)

(Please?)

2. Holiday love meme! I ain't ashamed.

3. Okay, I'm ashamed.

4. Finals. :(

memlu @ 2007-12-10T14:06:00

2007-12-10T19:06:27Z

Panic re: Yuletide: RESOLVED.

And now, a meme, as stolen from, uh, everyone, pretty much:

memlu @ 2007-12-08T12:50:00

2007-12-08T17:52:38Z

When I was seven years old, I took a marker to my bedroom wall and wrote [MY NAME] + SPEED RACER beside my pillow, then drew a giant heart around our names. He was the first man I ever loved and no other man can ever truly compete with him. Who could? He has the most awesome ride in the history of the universe. He attended his own funeral, then sought justice on those who had tried to kill him. He can and he will slug it out with sleazeballs, cheats, thugs, thieves, and mad scientists, and oh, oh my gosh, YOU GUYS, there was this one time when he crashed in the jungle and he lost his shirt, and you have no idea how big a deal this was to Memlu, Age Eight. Speed Racer! In the jungle! Thrashing dinosaurs and battling madmen!

SHIRTLESS.

This is an awful introduction.

Anyway, what you need to know is this: I have loved Speed Racer for thirteen years of my life, I have been skeptical of the upcoming movie for months and months and months, and I am now officially recanting everything I have ever thought or ever said in criticism of the film.

This shit is real:

brb, guys, I need to go scribble Speed Racer's name all over my binder.

memlu @ 2007-12-07T20:35:00

2007-12-08T01:37:24Z

Via meyerlemon: LJ bans some interests by removing their searchability. You may also find the original post by elfwreck useful as it details a number of interests which are and are not searchable.

LJ has made no announcements regarding this decision.

*
Remember Pretty Bird Woman House? It's a women's shelter located on the South Dakota side of Standing Rock Reservation. Arsonists destroyed the shelter earlier this year, leaving the battered women and children of Standing Rock Reservation nowhere to go when other shelters hours away have no space for them. Pretty Bird Woman House also risks losing sorely needed funding: a number of the grants they are dependent upon stipulate that PBWH must provide shelter for these women and their children. If they cannot provide this shelter, the grants will be withdrawn and they will receive no money.

Pretty Bird Woman House has raised 56% of the $70K needed to purchase a new shelter, install a security system, and refurbish the house. And that's wonderful; that's amazing. In the span of a month and a half, enough people have donated enough money for Pretty Bird Woman House to put in a bid for a new home.

But there's still more that needs to be done. The bid they've made isn't much, and they still need the money to make the house safe. If you can donate, please do so. You can donate money on-line here. If you cannot donate money, please consider donating material goods such as clothing, toiletries, furniture, and toys. The new house will be completely unfurbished, and a number of thefts prior to the fire left Pretty Bird Woman House with very little. Good and personal checks can be mailed to either of the following addresses:

USPS ships to:

FedEx, UPS and DHL ship to:

Please spread the word!

(FIFTY-SIX PERCENT, YOU GUYS.)

*
And on a personal, stupid note, I am crazy addicted to Phase. CRAZY ADDICTED. It's like Guitar Hero, only I'm good at it! ALSO: I, I can play Solitaire ... on my iPod?

Anyway, it's a good thing I don't have a social life, 'cause that shit would seriously be cramping my game time.

work, finals, family crisis, yuletide, PANIC.

2007-12-04T00:06:05Z

An emergency hiatus has been declared for this livejournal and all outlying regions. An announcement will be made when the hiatus is lifted. Until such time, please remain calm. Stay indoors. Do not agitate the wildlife.

This is not a drill.

memlu @ 2007-12-01T17:00:00

2007-12-01T22:00:14Z

1. What is up, family crisis! It's good to see you again, old friend. Please feel free to exit the premises immediately.

2. Pretty Bird Woman House has raised 50% of the funds needed to establish a new shelter. Fifty percent! And it gets better, too: the Board of Directors for Pretty Bird Woman House has decided it's enough to start the process to purchase the desired house. Guys! This is fantastic news. (FIFTY PERCENT.)

If you're at all capable of donating something to PBWH, please consider doing so! They've another two months to reach the $70K needed and every little bit counts. (I know. I know. I couldn't think of a sharper way to phrase that sentiment and it's true, anyway, that every little bit counts. So. So there!)

3. Each time I pick my duck up he squawks and hunches his shoulders, and in my head I hear Daffy Duck hissing, "Sabotage!"

I felt this needed to be shared.

4. My Christmas wishlist is as follows:

Snow.
Snow!
SNOW.

Don't you hold out on me, winter! *stern glare*

(PS Anybody complaining about snowfall can feel free to send every snowflake in my direction. I would be more than happy to take the ice and the slush and the beautiful, wonderful, TOTALLY AWESOME snow off your hands.)

5. Weekend, weekend, yay yay yay!

memlu @ 2007-11-29T22:40:00

2007-11-30T03:40:34Z

Well, now I'm just grossed out.

memlu @ 2007-11-26T22:22:00

2007-11-27T03:22:18Z

I am so ashamed.

Also: wow, my phone sucks so hard. I'm ... actually kind of amazed by how hard it sucks.

memlu @ 2007-11-25T17:22:00

2007-11-25T22:22:03Z

YULETIDE HAS CONSUMED MY LIFE. If I do not post often and if I do not reply to comments within a reasonable period of time, it is not because I have died or do not like you. It's 'cause I've caught a serious case of nervous breakdown.

*
This list is for my own reference! Also, it's sort of -- it's protection. You know. In case some other writer type goes and writes a story about Nancy teaching Edward of the wonders of sex. So!

The list:

That Famous Happy Ending | Ridiculously Lengthy Genfic (with Giselle/Robert)
Giselle moves in with Robert and Morgan, figures out what she wants in life, and goes for it. Or: yay, empowered women! Yay, small business owner! Yay, family! Yay, sexual tension!

Boys Only Want One Thing | Pooooooooorn, Possibly With Plot? (Giselle/Robert)
Kind of a porny supplement to That Famous Happy Ending? Giselle cobbles together a patchwork knowledge of sex from romance novels, arty smut films, sex ed books aimed at fifth graders, and a series of awkward conversations with Robert. And then she totally jumps him.

The Only Things That Touch | Porn, Actually With Plot (Nancy/Edward)
Nancy edumacates Edward on the joys of sex! (I will bet you money the folks of Andalasia reproduce via stork.) Also there is something about stabilizing the throne and Nancy adjusting to a new world and the two of them learning to live together and blah blah blah. SEX.

Little Miss Nancy Tremaine | Genfic (with Nancy/Robert, Nancy/Edward)
Nancy Tremaine's life as told in the style of a fairy tale.

That Old Black Magic | Genfic
How Narissa got the king, killed the king, got the throne, and put Andalasia on the map.

Fairy Tale Princess | AU (Nancy/Giselle)
What if Nancy found Giselle before Morgan and Robert did? (I -- shut up, okay! SHUT UP.)

*

I'm so tired, aaaaaargh. Matt/Mohinder romance novel AUs still the highlight of my day. Weekend fulfilling, yet also a wash. Completely opposed to the very idea of going back to work tomorrow morning.

*mills around aimlessly*

memlu @ 2007-11-22T00:25:00

2007-11-22T05:24:03Z

I am not writing fic for Disney's Enchanted. I am not writing fic for Disney's Enchanted. I am not writing fic for Disney's Enchanted. But if I were writing fic for Disney's Enchanted...

That is to say, hot damn, these four themes at 31_days are kind of -- guys, seriously, I do not have time for this. omg Yuletide! omg school. NO TIME.

(The following items will not be terribly comprehensive. It is late and I am tired! So tired. SO TIRED. omg.)

November 25. born under a bad sign: NARISSA IS AWESOME.
November 26. forget love, do it for the money: Giselle becomes a legal resident, opens her shop in place of Nancy's, and moves in with Robert and Morgan, although not necessarily in that order.
November 27. green, I want you green: Giselle explores her newfound sexual awareness.
November 29. all that and then some: The story of Nancy Tremaine! *sekritly loves on Nancy*

So all in all, it's a good thing I'm not writing fic for Enchanted. Right?

...right?

PS OMG MY BROTHER CAME HOME FOR THANKSGIVING. JOHN IS HOME FOR THANKSGIVING. He's sitting in the living room playing video games right now! I haven't seen him for months and months! He's one of my best friends in the entire world and he's home, he's home, he's home.

PROBABILITY THAT I WILL EXPLODE INTO A SHOWER OF HEARTS OVER THE WEEKEND: 83%

memlu @ 2007-11-20T19:25:00

2007-11-21T00:23:07Z

Five out of somethingsomething doctors agree: a meme is a delicious complement to any meal.

If you had me under your command and could make me write anything, regardless of whether or not I know the fandom or if anybody even writes fic in that fandom and no matter how crack-addled it might be, what would you love to see me write?"That story you promised me" is not a valid response.

(What? Generate ... my own content? I am opposed to this idea on at least three different levels. Possibly four!)

(Holy crap I am so freaking lame.)

memlu @ 2007-11-18T18:50:00

2007-11-18T23:49:27Z

Lots of people have been talking about pruning their f-lists, and though I do not wish you to think I am sitting here actively hoping for people to defriend me, I do want you to know that it is a-okay to do so, that you are under no obligation to explain your decision, and that I will probably not totally freak out like some kind of crazy person should you defriend my journal.

Conversely, if you sekritly wish to friend my journal, please feel free to do so. I am always interested in meeting new people! Also, I am pretty sure you are awesome. I have a moderately okay track record with regards to meeting awesome people on the internets, and while it is always possible you are not actually awesome, I doubt it.

Also, I have recently friended a number of people. Hello, people! Please do not feel as though you ought to friend me back. As with the previous points, it is totally cool. :)

Or, HELLO, LURKERS. Tell me what is up with you!

*
Some fannish things I love kind of a lot right now:

Hot Fuzz! You know how sometimes you buy or rent a movie, then watch it (as you do), and not even ten minutes into the movie you're like, damn, I kind of wish I'd seen this in the theatre; why didn't I see it in the theatre? That is how I feel right now. TIMES A BILLION. Water fowl! Glorious and fantastically satirical shootouts! Simon Pegg flying through the air and kicking an old woman in the face! (I know that sounds awful, but you need to see it.) "By the power of Greyskull!" Point Break! DANNY'S UNBEARABLY ADORABLE CRUSH ON ANGEL OH MY GOSH.

*rewatches for billionth time*
Matt/Mohinder! I don't care what this fandom says, Matt Parkman is totally dreamy. (A million of his babies! That is how many I would have.) They share significant looks! They snipe at each other! (Guys, the SNIPING. It is such real, nasty, domestic sniping! *feels weird for enjoying it so much*) And they both love Molly, Their Daughter, so much omg. And Mohinder cooks, and Matt wishes Mohinder would be more reliable, and they are so totally going to get married.

This is my fondest desire.
Matt/Mohinder romance novel AUs! Yes. Romance novel AUs. Plural. Three things: one, shut up. Two, shut up. Three, I KNOW. But omg! You guys! SO RIDICULOUS AND YET SO MUCH FUN. Caribbean vacations! Whirlwind summer romances! Paranormal dramas! Spies! (omg.)

I want to write a whole set of these novel-length Matt/Mohinder AUs. "Five Romance Novels Starring..." And then, like, the billing would vary according to the story, like on one you would have "Matthew Parkman as Single Father and Regular Cop" and "Mohinder Suresh as Government Operative Undercover as a Junior Professor at Cornell," and the next one would be like, a college AU, so you'd have "Matthew Parkman as Criminal Sciences Major" and "Mohinder Suresh as Brilliant Law Student" and oh, maybe Janice is a law student, too, and that's how they meet, and omg. I think I just accidentally threw myself into a fit of helpless hand flapping.

Man, I -- I'm seriously considering doing this after Yuletide.

I mean, just...

SO MUCH FUN.
I honestly can't remember what else I'm excited about. That, uh, last point kind of ... it overloaded my glee center a little.
Azula/Sylar! STILL AWESOME. anenko wrote this absolutely fabulous follow-up to her earlier fic, and you totally need to check it out immediately. I mean, dude, just read this opening:
sdkjfkl. I HOPE YOU ARE READING THE REST OF IT NOW.
Seriously, I had this whole list planned out in my head and now I can't remember anything that isn't something like "omg so, um, the mutants are publically known if not publically accepted, and have been for ages and ages, and Matt Parkman is still a cop, but he's in a special unit for telepaths and clairvoyants, informally known as The Ghost Corps, and Mohinder works at a federally funded school/lab intended to nurture and study the talents of children and adolescents from around the globe, and when Molly Walker's parents are murdered--" and I haven't worked out the rest of it, yet, but I am having so much fun worldbuilding, guys, it's not even -- I am a little excited, maybe! A little lot.

(SAVE ME FROM MYSELF.)

*glees*

*

In other, non-fannish news, I think -- well, I'm pretty sure I have successfully beaten back my depression! For the first time in nearly eleven months I feel like the person I am supposed to be: that is, ridiculous and overbearingly cheerful and kind of obnoxious, but okay with that. I'm annoying and also happy! This is the burden I must bear.

*
I AM A NERD THE END.

memlu @ 2007-11-14T20:18:00

2007-11-15T01:18:50Z

Guys! Guys, guys, guys. Check out this RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME FICLET anenko wrote. GUYS. It is Sylar. IN AVATARVERSE. And it is awesome.

And now, a drabble!

So, uh, in my sekrit headcanon, Sylar is an infamous serial killer in the Earth Kingdom, one recently imprisoned beneath Lake Laogai in a small metal chamber (the walls of which are several feet thick) at [the bottom of a deep metal well/end of a long metal tunnel] to keep him from earthbendin' his way out. Azula would learn of him from Long Feng during the transitional period between season two and season three, and the story would very quickly turn to AU (as if ... Sylar in Avatarverse is not already AU enough?) as she drafts Sylar into her personal employ. Wacky hijinks ensue! And when I say wacky hijinks, what I mean is serial murder + crazy-hot and inappropriate sexings. So, yeah, wacky hijinks.

Disclaimer: I CANNOT WRITE SYLAR WORTH BEANS. Okay! I just thought you should know this before I get started. And now you know! So here goes.

(show me what makes you special)

The Dai Li closed the door behind Azula and her throne, a metal door closing on a metal room, locked and barred from the earth. The prisoner watched her as she ran her hand along the gilded arms. He stared at her as she perched on the metal seat, then crossed her legs. As she smiled at him.

"I imagine they're right outside this door," she said, "waiting to hear what you will do. Long Feng hopes you'll kill me. He has great faith in you. It's nearly touching."

His fingers twitched minutely.

"Would you like me to free you?" she said.

He stilled.

Her smile darkened and deepened. "Would you like to kill me?"

"I'm a very dangerous man," he said. His voice rasped oddly, raw from disuse and a lack of water, and he coughed once, hard enough to rattle the chains. His breathing filled the cell.

"Oh, don't worry about me," she said. "I'm quite capable of taking care of myself."

After a long moment the man lifted his head, tipping it slightly. He smiled at her.

Azula unfolded her legs. "Would you care for a demonstration?" she said.

"Oh, yes," he said.

Azula smiled.

...and then they made out!

*
Speaking of ridiculous AUs, how badly do I want to write a Matt/Mohinder romance novel AU? Answer: kind of a lot! KIND OF A LOT.

I will talk about this later. Right now I have commitments to honor! I advise you to take this time to brace yourselves for my return.

memlu @ 2007-11-13T20:40:00

2007-11-14T01:40:17Z

rayemars posted about Pretty Bird Woman House, a women's shelter located on the South Dakota side of the Standing Rock Reservation. It is very, very important that you read her post as well as this very informative post by Andy T at Daily Kos. I am indebted to both for much of this post.

*
On January 5^th, 2006, after years of effort on the parts of Jackie Brown Otter, Georgia Little Shield, and the women who supported them, Pretty Bird Woman House opened. The shelter is understaffed and poorly funded, but in the nearly two years that it has existed, it has not once closed.

In recent weeks the shelter has suffered a number of damaging and potentially final setbacks. The phone lines were cut, then eventually repaired. A group of unknown men vandalized and raided the shelter, walking out with clothing, toiletries, computers, anything they could carry with them. After a second break-in the staff deemed the house temporarily unsafe. They relocated to unheated, donated office space.

The day after they moved, arsonists set fire to Pretty Bird Woman House.

PBWH is dependent on a number of grants, some of which require that they provide shelter to battered women and their children. If Pretty Bird Woman House cannot provide this shelter, they will lose the money they need to continue helping the women of Standing Rock Reservation.

*
Standing Rock Reservation is not a terribly safe place for women. An Amnesty International report has this to say:

(Text c/o Amnesty International's Maze of Injustice: The failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA.)

The reservation's night patrol consists of two police officers responsible for 2.3 million acres, and the legal environment is nothing short of a nightmare:

Tribal and federal authorities have concurrent jurisdiction on all Standing Rock Sioux Reservation lands over crimes where the suspected perpetrator is American Indian. In instances in which the suspected perpetrator is non-Indian, federal officials have exclusive jurisdiction. Neither North nor South Dakota state police have jurisdiction over sexual violence against Native American women on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. State police do, however, have jurisdiction over crimes of sexual violence committed on tribal land in instances where the victim and the perpetrator are both non-Indian.(Text c/o Amnesty International's Maze of Injustice: The failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA.)

What this means is that many, many cases of rape and sexual assault will be lost, forgotten, or never addressed as the police agencies fight over whose responsibility it is to investigate the crime. Even worse, this negligence has contributed to something known as rape tourism, in which "non-Native perpetrators ... seek out a reservation place because they know they can inflict violence without much happening to them" (Andrea Smith, Assistant Professor of Native Studies, University of Michigan).

These women are the women Pretty Bird Woman House exists to help.

*
Andy T at Daily Kos writes:

Pretty Bird Woman House cannot serve the women who need help now - if neighboring shelters are full battered women and rape victims needing a place to go have nowhere at all.
the lack of a shelter disqualifies Pretty Bird Woman House from many grants.
the situation requires Pretty Bird Woman House to stretch its resources to the breaking point - it cannot be sustained.

Please, please consider making a donation. You can do so here. Currently PBWH has collected 18% of the $70,000 needed. They have until January 31^st of 2008 to collect the remaining eighty-two percent.

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