The posting period for the Winter 2009 Ficathon is open starting today until the end of the month. The Déjà Lu Ficathon continues to be open for both sign-ups and posting until the 3rd.

taste_buds
Holidays provide a built-in excuse for indulgent entertaining. This all-purpose foodie community covers everything from homemade hangover cures to dinner party menus. Need quick advice? Get five-minute snack suggestions, low-fat ingredient substitutes, and even measurement conversions. Delicious recipes garnished with humorous advice. Yum.

naturesbeauty
Always on the lookout for compelling images, we were delighted to discover this flourishing community of artists who share a love of nature. Honoring the subject with photographs, paintings, sketches, prose, poetry, and other creative works, you'll be simultaneously riveted to your monitor and inspired to run helter skelter towards the nearest wooded dale.

For inexplicable reasons, this is one of my favorite pics of them. So, I figured I might as well...

( As a matter of fact, Bleighton did receive three stars in the Michelin Guide. )

A Guide To Life In Flowchart Form, By Leighton Meester, Age 23.5

( cut! )

Call ceiling cat and get yourself a cheezburger, because it's time for the weekly Bleighton macro challenge squeesta fiesta!
( Read Me: Info + Rules. )
Submit a pic!
This week's picture is

A quick warning - if you do what I do, i.e., never shut your computer down and merely unhibernate it every time you use it, be careful with the countdown on the main page. It will start counting again from where it left off, not from the current count - which is why, if you're me, you've been thinking you had twelve days to go for the last three days.

Be less fail than me! Close your tabs occasionally!

Kiss These Stars
Ed/Chace/Leighton
rated hard R
apartment!fic. because there can never be enough of that. set vaguely in the first season.

leighton is the first person to bring them a housewarming gift.

backpacking
Want to embrace your wanderlust on the cheap? If you're tall on adventurous spirit, but short on funds, this community can help you plan a trip to anywhere. Offering plentiful tips on how to travel light, you can post about bargain hotels and hostels if you're into urban exploration or discuss camping gear and mosquito netting for the great outdoors. Hitch your backpack, pitch your tent, and carpe diem!

Hi all! Once again, I am not-a-mod. Watch yuletide_admin for modly announcements, such as —

"Thursday, 11:59 pm Eastern US time is the deadline for defaulting without penalty!"

→ → → Will you be away from Yuletide during Reveal? Scroll down, this post is for you!

Here are the roll call links for:

• Beta Post


• Proxy Uploaders ("If you are signed up for Yuletide (or if you aren't, but already have an AO3 account), you can be a proxy uploader")


• Dear Yuletide Writer Post

Here are the links to timeanddate.com for the deadline (please correct me if these are wrong!):
· Five minutes before deadline (fixed)
· One minute before deadline (countdown)
· (And in case you find it helpful): 10 Days Before Deadline

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Please do come in and enjoy Yulechat! And please avail of the Hippos. They are not in any way official or scary or too busy to help. The Hippos are there to shield your anonymity as a Yuletide gifter. They're there for you! It's an all-volunteer thunder of Hippos who can talk to you in private messaging and then ask for resources (read: beta readers) from the chat. They can be anyone: Yuletide writer or supportive bystander — anyone who can dance, really.

( Resources include... )

Chat is pretty much open 24-7, so if you want to be one of those heroic, resourceful betas, it's a nice place to hang out. We have blankets and drinks and unexpectedness.

Should you need a Hippo: when in doubt, ask the Hippos first in private messaging. If you ask chat first, all and sundry will work out that it's you! The main chat can help work out the twists of IRC. ( Hippos keep your secrets; chat does *not*. Your recipient might be in the main chatroom. )

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Dear Writer, I'll be AFK:

Last but not least, comment section is open for anyone who will be AWAY between archive opening and author reveals. Though it is in the spirit of Yuletide to lavish gratitude upon your writer whilst they are anonymous, some recipients are not able to do so. Here is where you can let them know: it's not you, it's me.

'Tis not tempting tardiness, oh no, just a place to leave word for your fearless writer that though your love for Yuletide burns deep and true, zombie tentacles may thwart your internet presence during the Big Reveal.

Please title your comments with your Yule name!

No specifics necessary!

I shall be regularly cataloging this post for your convenience. :) ( list! )

This post is the place to post if you are willing to be a proxy uploader for someone. If you are signed up for Yuletide (or if you aren't, but already have an AO3 account), you can be a proxy uploader: you will upload through your own account, listing the author as co-author on the work, then remove yourself from the story as co-author, leaving the actual author as the "owner" of the work.

Please leave contact info in your comment, if you're willing to be a proxy, and get full information, as listed below. Required info is in red!

• The story text (see format info below)
  
• Author name
  
• Recipient Name
  
• Rating
  
  • Not Rated
    
  • General Audiences
    
  • Teen and Up Audiences
    
  • Mature
    
  • Explicit
• Warning (see note below)
  
  • Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings
    
  • No Archive Warnings Apply
    
  • Graphic Depictions Of Violence
    
  • Major Character Death
    
  • Rape/Non Con
    
  • Underage
• Fandoms
  
• Category
  • F/F
    
  • F/M
    
  • Gen
    
  • M/M
    
  • Multi
    
  • Other
• Pairings (autofills for existing)
  
• Characters (autofills for existing)
  
• Tags (autofills for existing)
  
• Title
• Summary (max 1250 characters)
  
• Author notes (max 5000 characters), and whether you want them to display at the beginning or the end of the story (these will not display until after authors are revealed)

Story Formatting

You'll have the option of uploading rich text or plain text with limited html.

Available html: a, abbr, acronym, address, alt, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, cite, class, code, col, colgroup, datetime, dd, del, dfn, div, dl, dt, em, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, height, hr, href, i, img, ins, kbd, li, name, ol, p, pre, q, samp, small, span, src, strike, strong, sub, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, title, tr, tt, u, ul, var, width

About Warnings

'Archive Warnings' are defined as the four specific warnings on the list - Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage. The Archive of Our Own enforces those warnings, so you must choose either the specific warning or choose 'Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings'. If your story doesn't contain any of those four things, you can use 'Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings' or "No Archive Warnings Apply'. You can then use the Tags field for any other information you wish to give about your story, including additional warnings if you want.

Adding Images to Your Story

If you want to embed a picture in your story, you can use the standard tag. It's a good idea to create a fresh anonymous account on an image site to store them in so your recipient can't figure out who you are by looking at the source. (Don't go with photobucket/imageshack as your bandwidth will quickly get used up; skitch.com or flickr or some similar account where your pictures won't vanish quickly is a good plan.)

Additional information like your website or LJ/DW/blog URL will go into your bio, although there may eventually be fields for them.