RhymePhile's Rat Race

( Master fic list behind the cut )

No doubt by now you've all heard about the "Fifty Shades of Grey" ebook/book hullabaloo, that's it's this amazing story and women love it because it's so erotic and sexy and OMG PEOPLE IT'S TWILIGHT FANFIC, don't you realize?

Thing is, most people I've mentioned it to don't even know what fan fiction is. They think the story is some great work of art. Ahem. To each their own of course. The real point I'm bringing up here is not that a fanfic author can make it big, but that she can essentially simply change the names on her work and sell it.

I've actually stumbled across this in Supernatural fandom today, in which a Big Bang author changed the character names and is now selling the story instead of allowing people to read it for free the way it was originally written. Isn't one of the rules of Big Bangs (in general) that they must be permanently accessible?

Of course, it helps that the story "Fifty Shades of Grey" was based on and the aforementioned SPN fic were AUs, which makes conversion simpler.

Using motivations, characterizations, and thought processes from an already established universe is infinitely easier than creating your own. Why try to imagine what the characters would say or do when you already know it from watching five seasons of television or reading a book or watching a movie?

It helps when you have a built-in fanbase already, too. You could write fic, have it get really popular, get hundreds of comments, and then yank it down to change all the names in order to sell it.

Is it just me? I feel like doing something like that has a tinge of ethical wrongness about it.

Visited Mom for Mother's Day this weekend, and we went to Kohl's so I could buy a pair of Skechers sneakers. When they didn't have my size at the first location, the nice shoe department lady called the other location in the next town and asked them to hold the shoes for me.

We arrived at the other location and after shopping around for a bit, Mom found a blouse and some sandals, and I had a pair of black pants and the sneakers.

When we got to the checkout, the clerk removed the plastic security tag thingy from my sneakers, scanned in Mom's blouse, sandals, and my pants, but he somehow forgot to scan the sneakers.

Being an honest sort of person but accepting a windfall when I can get it, I noticed right away but didn't say anything. I hurried Mom out of the store, excited to be getting $60 worth of free sneakers.

Until later, that was. Dad said what I did wasn't right, my girlfriend said she would have said something right away, and I realized I did a shitty thing. The clerk that rung me up wouldn't have been penalized, since he never actually scanned the sneakers. It would have turned up eventually missing from inventory I suppose. Still. Shitty.

But I thought that maybe he *might* get in trouble, or the nice ladies that helped me in both shoe departments would get bitched out for having a $60 missing pair of sneakers.

That night, before we went to bed, I told Mom we had to go back and pay for the sneakers. I felt guilty as hell.

After I got to the store and explained what had happened to the customer service lady, she gave me 30% off for coming back. Mom already had a 30% off coupon so the additional discount wouldn't apply, but it was nice for her to offer anyway.

So there you are, Internet. Proof that there still are some honest people in the world, even though it took me a few extra hours to realize it. I promise to do better next time.

(not spoilery)

When Tony walks onto the bridge and is spouting snark, I was the only person in the theatre to laugh when he said, "And that guy is playing Galaga!"

Am I really that old? Was I the only one old enough in the theatre to have played that video game back in the '80s? Good Lord.

I'm sure all the teens on Tumblr were confused.

I saw it today as planned. Spoilers and such behind the cut.

( Hulk? Smash. )

Okay people, tomorrow is discount matinee at the theatre so I guess I'll go see that superhero movie everyone and their sister has been squeeing about over for the last week. My other choice is Hunger Games, but I'd rather spend my poor-person money on something where I don't know the ending.

Then while I'm at the mall I'm going to put in applications at whatever retail store is hiring. I have to keep telling myself it's only for the short term until we move out to Chicago to get my head around it, because otherwise I will spiral even deeper into depression than I already am. And that's pretty darn deep! I've come to the point where any money is good money (I'd sell drugs but I'm shit at math), as I'm running out of savings.

I've basically given up on getting a "real" job now. I'm into subsistence at this point.

I hope at least some of the stores are hiring and can look past my college degree (I'm not even kidding) to give me some work. I'm desperate.

God.

Okay, so I was crying at one point, and my girlfriend had to soothe me!

( Gah )

I have something Daenerys Targaryen needs behind the cut.

( It's a book )

Yes, I am creative when it comes to names. Butternut Squash Blossom because every cat out there is named "Pumpkin," and Morning Star because I brought her home on the anniversary of Custer's Last Stand (in which I have taken long-term historical interest), and that was the nickname the Lakota gave him.

My chunky furball is eleven years old today! She got a new collar, a fancy mousey, and a harness and leash for when we make the long trek in the car to Chicagoland.

Here she is, posing for the camera:



( Attacking the mousey scenes behind the cut )

spicedrum, this is actually more fun than I thought! I wish the second book would come along though.

Why must Flobberworm Mucus be so hard to pick up??? It took me like 20 tries to brew the Sleeping Draught. It's brewing right now. I wonder if there's a second page in the Potions Book. If I screw it up I'm gonna be pissed. Obviously Potions isn't my specialty.

I also dueled some Gryffindor who had won over 700 House points Wizard Dueling, and I came to a draw. Not bad!

I've never cheered for any of the Houses one way or the other. I guess now I will.

I'm not sure what this says about me, but deep down I had a feeling this is where I would be sorted. The Sorting Hat can sense that, I guess. Wow.

Fear me, witches and wizards! Bwahahahahahahahaaaaaaa! I use my idol, Lucius Malfoy, in my icon.

I was lying in bed this morning when I got a call for a showing. It was 11:36 and they wanted to come between 12-12:30. AHHHHHHHH!

It turns out the showing for yesterday in which no one bothered to come (or call to say they weren't coming) worked out for the best because everything was clean. I had to run around and neaten up, though. For example, I have nice towels out in the kitchen and bathroom, but we put our old ones on top of those so they don't get dirty. And I have a sheet down over the new carpet we bought, and I have to make my bed and put away all Butternut's toys. I have to say I'm getting better at it!

I made it in time, packed up Butternut, and went to sit down in the garage. Then, around 1 pm I came back up. I put my ear to the door, and lucky I did because the people were still here. I went back downstairs and chatted with the old lady in the laundry room.

Boy, this is going to be a long process.

We had a call yesterday afternoon about showing the apartment today from 4 pm to 5 pm. We were all: EXCITE!

My girlfriend is traveling on business today. So we got up and cleaned and straightened for about an hour and a half before she had to leave. I did stuff last night too, like reorganizing the linen closet. I refolded towels, people!

I set up all my staging, including the martini glasses on the bar with fresh lemons and limes in a decanter, and packed Butternut into her new carrier. It's from a company called Pet Gear and it can be a backpack, a rolling case, carried by a handle, or over the shoulder. It also can be used as a car seat.

The reason I wanted to take her out of the apartment is because The B is extremely friendly and social, which can be off-putting to people who either don't like or are allergic to cats. Sable, my GF's cat, is afraid of people and always hides when strangers are around.

Anyway, I grabbed the Sunday paper, some water, snacks, and The B and went down into the basement garage. If it wasn't raining like cats and dogs out there I would have sat outside or taken a walk with The B. It was a little awkward sitting there when people came down to take their cars out, but it was my only option. If my GF was here we would have driven off in her car, and if it were any other day than Sunday I would have hung out in the laundry room.

I left around 3:45 and came back around 5:30. And honestly? I don't think anyone was even here. The reason I say that is because there are no wet marks in the hallway, like from people coming in from the rain with dripping umbrellas. There were no wet marks on the tiled entrance in the apartment either. The other reason is that when I came back in, Sable was asleep in her favorite spot, the sock drawer. That tells me she wasn't startled by strangers. Otherwise she would have hid.

Of course, I could be wrong and maybe someone did come. But I doubt it. All signs point to no.

I'm more annoyed that I didn't get a cancellation call or email and we spent a stressful time this afternoon making everything look perfect.

*siiiiiiiiiiigh*

There has been an extremely large tanker truck idling outside my window since 10:30 this morning (at 8:30 there was beeeeeep beeeeeep beeeeeeping as it moved into position), spewing fumes while it cleans the heating oil tank of the apartment building. Apparently it's some giant vacuum cleaner-like machine. It is idling idling idling revving revving revving and it stinks and I can't open the windows AND I AM GOING MAD.

Helpfully, we were alerted to this last night via a notice taped to the inside of the elevator:



Now, the superintendent of this building (who is an asshole and hates women and expects you to pay him for even little things he needs to do) speaks English as a second language. His accent is only slightly tinged with his original Albanian, so I know he's been in this country for a long time. But there is no excuse, BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY HE IS USING A WORD PROCESSING PROGRAM. Did he think all those little red squiggly lines under his artfully chosen words were decoration?

The other thing is that this building has over 100+ apartments, and is managed by a company. If he was unsure of his spelling, he could have easily contacted the management office and had them type it up.

I'm still gonna laugh at it.

So. It only took two and a half months, but we finally finished fixing and staging the apartment. Huzzah!

For your enjoyment, I have some before and after photos. The before ones are taken from a video I shot for my mom, so she could see where I was living (and which had like 180-something hits on my Photobucket account...who's looking at me out there?), which means most of them are blurry.

The after shots were taken today after the Realtor left. Those are 1064 x 768 and I left them full size behind the cut. Be patient while they load.

( Come see everything we've done )

I've been lazy/busy and not updating, so here's some stuff happening around here.

blue_fjords and I have been playing Draw Something. We are both pretty awesome artists. (Your werewolf was damn good, BTW). Come play with me! Just add my email rhymephile at hotmail dot com.

I have finally, finally, FINALLY finished updating the apartment and staged everything. I still need to do little things like clean the oven, but I'll get to that eventually. The other day I removed the last throw rug and put down a new one to show off the hardwood floors, and we got all the art hung. I spent approximately 12 hours all together re-coloring and sealing the grout in the shower. The Realtor is coming Friday to take photos and then this place will be for sale ~anxiety~

I stayed home for Easter and had pierogies and kielbasa by myself because my mom and dad went to my aunt's, which I could have taken two trains and a bus to get to, but meh. It's one day.

I have four-berry pie.

We fixed the toilet tonight after the flapper thingy came disconnected from the arm thingy. Our toilet is from like 1965 and its insides are different than all the replacement parts at Home Depot. We jerry-rigged the thing.

I was at the mall last weekend and there was a dude that had a table full of baseball cards. I picked up a few Gary Carter ones I didn't have, which then precipitated me going on eBay and buying lots of cards for 99 cents. Deal!

Justified was awesome. Ringer had an out-of-left-field lesbian plot. Game of Thrones was all talking this week. I continue to enjoy Awake, and not just because my boyfriend Lucius Malfoy stars. I don't care about Glee anymore (but I half-watch because my girlfriend does), but I downloaded that Darren Criss/Matt Bomer duet from the end of Tuesday's episode. YouTube Downloader is the free way to do it. Amazon only sells the whole album, and I won't buy DRM-encrusted crap from the iTunes store anymore.

I think that's everything. How's by you?

Happy Birthday to the X-Files-lovin', Harry Potter-watchin', yoga-exercisin' foxestacado! (Lucius up there in my icon is swishing his hair in excitement)

I hope you have a great day and a healthy and happy birthday year!

Who wants to challenge the mighty me in that Draw Something game?! Hmmmm???!!! Who?? Because right now I'm just playing against my girlfriend and we're mostly of one brain and we guess each other's stuff easy.

Except! I'm not on Facebook, so you have to add me via email, rhymephile at hotmail dot com to start a game. Please please please? It's like Pictionary but you play on your mobile device.

I've downloaded it for the Kindle Fire (it's not in the Kindle app store, but I figured a way around that), which was my girlfriend's Christmas gift from her parents, but since she's in love with Siri I get the Kindle. I haven't bought any books yet because I can't get around the idea that I could spend $12 for a new paperback and have it in my hand forever, or $9.99 and have it on the Kindle. It feels wrong.

I like that I get to explore some Android apps with the Kindle while my GF downloads stuff for her iPhone. I rely on her to keep up with technology since I've been prevented from doing that due to non-jobness.

And in other news, I am trying to come up with a sequel to my 2010 Big Bang in order to sign up for the 2012 deancasbigbang. It's probably crazy because we might be moving right in the middle of it, but my original story is nearing 10,000 hits at AO3 and I feel like I need to, like, give back to everyone who has read it? I dunno. I'm conflicted and lacking ideas. If I can get on a good plot I could pound it out way ahead of schedule, maybe. ~thinkies~

Y'know the one.

( Right under here )

As you may recall from a week or so ago, a Russian-speaking fan of my work wrote me and asked if she could translate my Dean/Castiel Big Bang, "In This Secluded Spot I Respond As I Wouldn't Dare Elsewhere" into her native language. As you can see from the subject up there, it's been completed. One of her readers even created accompanying art! Her readers offered suggestions in the translation, making it an all-around group effort.

Russian speakers, here is the full header and link to translator -Wintersnow-'s diary at Diary.ru. It is split into nine parts. Please feel free to leave comments over there, or, if you'd like, you can leave comments on this post. Наслаждайтесь!

-Wintersnow-, if there is a better link you want me to use, comment or message me :-)

В этом укромном месте я откликаюсь так, как больше не рискну нигде. (Мастерпост)
Read in one file at AO3
Оригинальное название: In This Secluded Spot I Respond As I Wouldn't Dare Elsewhere
Автор: RhymePhile
Бета: самовычитка
Рейтинг: R
Категория: слэш
Жанр: romance
Пейринг: Дин/Кастиэль
Предупреждения: АУ, ООС, физическое насилие, нецензурная лексика, гомофобская лексика.
Размер: макси/`31000
Дисклеймер: ни мне, ни автору ничего не принадлежит
Переводчик: мое, разрешение есть.

Саммари: На дворе 1995-й год. Обучение Кастиэля в высших классах школы Флур Блафф обречено быть трудным: обучавшийся на дому до восьмого класса, он был неловким, застенчивым и социально неадаптированным. Странный парнишка со смешным именем в итоге изолируется ото всех и спасается от ежедневных издевательств тем, что рисует в альбоме, который постоянно носит с собой. Положение только усугубляется в предвыпускном классе, когда он отличается на курсах ведения домашнего хозяйства, приготовив идеальное суфле из шпината; что привело к тому, что капитан бейсбольной команды Аластар стал еще жестче третировать его, обзывая геем.
Потом в школе появляется новый студент Дин Винчестер, который становится соучеником Кастиэля на многих занятиях. Кастиэль знает парней такого типа - красивые, спортивные, заносчивые и, естественно, самые популярные ребята в школе. Но в конце концов Кастиэль узнает, что у него и Дина гораздо больше общего, чем он мог подумать, и между ними завязывается столь невероятная дружба.

First, I did this to myself this evening after cleaning the shower and tub with Soft Scrub and Comet cleansers:



The cleansers splash on my face once in a while, but I never thought much of it until my girlfriend literally gasped at me when I was done. I've never looked in the mirror before, but apparently this must happen every time -- my girlfriend just isn't around to see it. I guess I'll have to try wearing goggles. With no window and little ventilation, this is also why I wear a mask and gloves and try not to clean the shower and tub as regularly as I should.

And yeah, dig them eyebrows! I don't care muthafuckas, I'm not adding more pain to my life by getting them waxed or some shit. I'll find my awesome shaver and stick the little eyebrow attachment on and make them less caterpillar-y eventually.

In other non-bloodshot news, I updated all my email job alerts to focus on Chicago now instead of New York, and I swear it's like the same jobs that I still feel I'm inadequate for! GAH.

March 20th is also the 11 year "birthday" of my mom surviving her cardiac arrest. I called her tonight to wish her a Happy Birthday :-)

My FiOS DVR is failing, and I had to call for a replacement. Channels are disappearing from my menu guide, I missed Once Upon a Time on Sunday because it didn't record, and the DVR keeps telling me I'm out of space despite there being only 19% filled on my hard drive. They're sending a new one via UPS.

Quarles on Justified keeps getting weirder and weirder! And tonight's episode had two Supernatural stars and one True Blood one. Synergy!

Speaking of TB, I'm looking forward to the new season, mostly because of the One Vampire To Rule Them All coming back, aka King Russell. Can't wait. And Game of Thrones can't start soon enough! Mad Men is also on my hurry-up-I-can't-wait list. Hell, it's only been off the air two years.

Oh, and I will watch The Killing until they tell me who the fuck killed Rosie, then I'm out of there. I don't know how they expect me to keep track of all the twists and turns and build up of evidence from last goddamn season! I was so pissed off they 1) ended last season without telling us, and 2) made Joel Kinneman seem to be a bad guy. I swear, if it's someone they retcon in in the new season, I am going to be royally pissed off.

I was guilted into going into Manhattan tonight to go out to dinner with my girlfriend and her two childhood friends, one of whom is moving to North Carolina in two weeks.

Usually, I am an extremely bad girlfriend and don't like to go, because I have social anxiety and self-esteem issues and dislike bars and that whole scene etc etc etc. I am not a social butterfly. In fact, I hate it. A lot. This time though, I couldn't bow out because it was the last time my GF would see her friend for a while, and as part of a couple, I must do couple-y things. Argh.

This entailed going into Manhattan on the most dreaded of all days next to New Year's. St. Patrick's Day: Where everyone is Irish no matter your ethnicity, but everyone is a drunk asshole.

I have never seen so many people incapable of standing upright and walking on their own in my life. Unbelievable. And then on the train home the back section was like Party Part II. We thought we had found a relatively quiet section, until some dumb young kid and his girlfriend sat down and started drunkily making out like a foot from my face. OH GOD. I was not putting up with that for the 20 minutes it took to get home.

Luckily we moved to another car and had a more serene trip.

I hate spending St. Patrick's Day anywhere else other than my couch watching The Quiet Man and Darby O'Gill and the Little People.

I got an email today from a collectibles company I purchased from every once in a while (not anymore, since I'm poor), telling me that they have a new OFFICIAL Supernatural Chevy Impala. Like so:



Cool, right? Except it's still wrong, because the Impala the boys drive on the show is a four-door. Didn't anyone think to get a company that could replicate the car exactly? Ever since the show began I've looked for a replica that's, y'know, an exact replica. I already have a version of this car. But it bugs me because it's incorrect. They don't drive a coupe, nor do they drive an SS, which has also been advertised as their car.

And...well. Does anyone even watch this show anymore?

It's still Friday for me because I'm up so late, so Happy Birthday to my lovely friend marciaelena. Hope you had a great day and an even better year.

And a big Happy Birthday to the craftiest gal I know, mrs_sweetpeach. Have a wonderful day and many happy returns for the year to come.

♥ ♥ ♥

I received a PM this evening from a Russian-speaking fan asking if I would give her permission to translate my Dean/Cas Big Bang "In This Secluded Spot I Respond As I Wouldn't Dare Elsewhere" (and I *did* try to title it something shorter and couldn't think of shit at the time) into Russian.

I agreed, and I have to say good luck to her to go about translating 33,000 words of story. Wow. How flattering!

I asked for the link to the end result. I've had stories translated in the past, but I was never asked permission before. It's kinda nice.

Anyway. If there are any Russian-speaking Dean/Cas fans out there who'd like to read my story, I'll be happy to post a link once the translation is done.