MizuKagami413

On Saturday the 14th at 4AM UTC/GMT we will be upgrading the operating system of our network load balancers to a newer version, one that will allow us to use both CPUs! Nifty, because multiprocessing is nice.

Since we have 2 load balancers, the plan is to upgrade 1 at a time, and there really should be very little impact to our website. Hopefully you won't notice a thing and I'll get to go back to the hotel and watch some wonderful late night infomercials.

We've got a lot of exciting projects coming up for 2010 and we're hoping that we'll be able to deliver them all to you, that you will find it useful/cool/lovely and then you will use the site even more. Behind-the-scenes work like this will give us the capacity to handle the anticipated traffic, so expect a few more maintenance windows especially in the beginning of next year as we've got some neat ideas to improve performance around here! We had the recent 30-45 minute outage yesterday due to one of our logging databases filling up disk space -- not so great design coupled with my human error in handling the initial problem -- and it looks like we're going to finally have some resources to eliminate stuff like that. I can't wait!

As usual, I will be updating status.livejournal.org before and after, just in case you are not able to reach our main website during the work.

Title: Southfarthing Tales 15 -  Like A Dose of Belladona
Author: Feather Silverymoon
Pairing: F/S
Rating: Rather bad language and implied slash, as always
Summary: Frodo returns to the Southfarthing to check in with Akron

Sometimes I use song lyrics for inspiration. I've posted the one relevant to this chapter after the cut.

 

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Due to bills [and other expenses] murdering my bank account, I NEED CASH MONIES! There's anime, manga, doujinshi, cosplay items, and other misc things I need to get rid of.

(Come, have a look-see! 8D)

[if not allowed, feel free to delete]

sixwordstories
Whether you're in the mood for a creative challenge or you're short on time or attention span, this semi-addictive community is perfect for those who find flash fiction way long. Once you get the hang of it, you won't be able to stop. The prince turned into a frog. The girl ran home to mother. Tough to write. Easy to read. It's a double threesome of fun.

dailyfoodie
Delicious, ambitious, and occasionally nutritious dishes make for an eclectic, all-you-can-eat feast. Whether you're searching for recipes for your next dinner party or you're jonesing for a late-night brownie fix, your cravings are sure to be well sated. A warm and inclusive community that welcomes all orientations, from carnivores to vegans, from gourmands to junk-food junkies. Guaranteed bias-free, food-positive, and pan-epicurian.

Artist: are_sensei
Rating: PG-13-ish? Not sure...who decides these ratings, anyway?
Pairing: Renji/Ichigo
Warnings: Boys kissing!
Notes: Hey, all...I've gotten so many comments over the course of writing the Stuck... series that people would love a copy of the Shinigami Women's Association calendar featuring our two favorite guys. Up until this point, I've had to *sigh* and agree that I'd like one, too, but that everyone will probably have to settle for me describing it.

Now, though, I wanted to let everyone know that the fabulous, wonderful, talented are_sensei has offered to draw the calendar! :D So, I'm happily posting the link to the first month she's completed:

May SWA calendar!

I've also added the calendar link to the appropriate Act here, if you want to click through following the description. Yay! All hail are_sensei!

I made this picture after eating haribo candies...(fruit ones http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2431/3660567969_12629e803c.jpg , not little bears coz my teeth hate those) and suddenly an image appeared in my mind... it´s not so good, i know that but i hope you will like it...

cucibest.deviantart.com/art/ya-ok-142780272

Dear all,
I'm taking orders for some D.Gray-man merchandise [[ here ]].
Please feel free to take a look~ Thank you! :)

Author: Elanor Fb.
Genre: slash, AU
Warnings: none



The Bounders

S.R. 1409


Chapter I.
An Unexpected Guest

Aldo Boffin sat at his usual place in the corner by the fire at the Blue Swan in Whitfurrows. It was mid-afternoon yet, and still harvest season, so the crowd was light. Aldo took a small sip from his pint of ale. He’d been nursing his first pint for an hour, while staring out the window and listening to the crackling of the embers from the fireplace. It was the last day of Winterfilth and Aldo had a lot on his mind. That morning he’d had a terrible row with his mother. His father, Baldo, had walked in during the middle of it when he came home from work for his luncheon. Baldo had raised his walking stick as if he were going to strike his son. He did not, but Aldo made a hasty and early exit from their smial anyway. Usually he waited until after tea to head for the Swan. His parents didn’t know what to do with him anymore, and the truth was, neither did he. Aldo’s sullenness and shyness was fine during his teens and early tweens, but he was in his late tweens now. He would turn thirty come next forelithe, and everyone seemed to feel it was high time he began to mature. His father wanted him to take over the family business. They sold goose-down comforters and pillows. His father managed ten employees, who collected the feathers from their flocks of geese, then sowed them into the finest cotton to make the best bedding in the Shire. It was a fine business, but Aldo wanted something… different…

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The empire strikes back

In recent weeks, we've taken huge steps towards blocking spam accounts on LiveJournal. In fact, we've suspended as many as 30,000 accounts in a single day! We've implemented several pre-emptive measures to prevent the creation of spam accounts, and we've honed our detection of suspicious content. Spam bots are a crafty lot, so we'll continue to refine our tactics and keep up the good fight to keep you safe from spam attacks on LiveJournal.

RSS feeds again

If you're addicted to xkcd_rss, icanhaschzbrgr, or other syndicated feeds, we're pleased to report that we've resolved the update error that was mucking up your RSS feeds. While content was being pulled correctly, it wasn't being posted to the feeds themselves. Late last week, we finally nailed down what we hope was the root problem, so content should post properly. We thank you for your patience.

Wii have killer CSI Deadly Intent contests!

c_s_i

If you're a gamer who loves CSI, have Wii got news for you! c_s_i is sponsoring killer contests. Simply post a question to a member of the CSI crew. The winner will get a free copy of CSI: Deadly Intent for Nintendo Wii (with a retail value of $39.99) and get their question answered by a member of the CSI writing team! There's also a fantastic monthly contest. To enter, join c_s_i, play the online version of CSI: Deadly Intent, and respond to a two-part query for a chance to win a Wii! Entries will be judged on composition and originality. Sorry, but you must be a U.S. resident and over 18 years old to participate. Check out the rules here.

Enveloped in postcards

Last week, we asked you to send in postcards to help us decorate our drab concrete walls. Here's a photo of the results so far! Thank you so much and please keep them coming! You can mail them to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. Be sure to include your username, since we'll be giving ten random users paid account credits.

Photos of the week

If you haven't visited our new LiveJournal photo community, you're in for an amazing visual trip. LiveJournal users from around the world will take you on a scenic journey to everywhere. Post your own pictures or kick back and enjoy at lj_photophile. You can view some of this week's awesome photos after the jump. Please start tagging with geographic location, since we'd like to track all the places around the world represented in this community. Keep on commenting too!
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Title: As the Sun Rises
Author: a1y_puff
Fandom: D.Gray-Man
Pairing: Kanda/Allen or Allen/Kanda XD
Genre: Angst/Romance
Word Count: 1301
Rating: Umm PG?
Warning: Vampire!AU, and… weird style? I’m experimenting again… oh, and death.
Summary: You were so strong. You still are. You've always been strong, but your body - your heart - isn't. It's failing you.
Disclaimer: Me owns neither Kanda nor Allen. They belong to each other. *cough cough*

A/N: This is the result of me staying up late until 2am and had a stuffy nose. Damn plotbunny jumping me at midnight and wouldn’t let me go until I wrote it down… And it was written at ungodly hours so I just hope it’ll be okay ^^;;

Oh, special thanks to mitsu_syusuke for preview-reading it, and to lafuego for doing a quick-beta for this, even when both of you don't know who these two I'm writing about are. Love you ladies much!

( I thought I did. I thought I'd cry tears of joy if ever I could get you to call me 'Allen'. But... )

Title : Falling Slowly
Rating : R
Characters : Allen-Kanda
Summary : Kanda-Allen. Taking things slow. Rated R for Allen's Mind (mind is so awesome it is Mind!)
Spoilers/Warnings : No spoilers.
Disclaimer : D.Gray-man be Hoshino's baby, I write fic for no sane reason.
A/N : So... I have internet wiring woes. I had horrible urge to read Allen-Kanda shiny fic with no plot and a sense of pretty slowness. The net went. I wrote fic and am posting it before I chicken out.

Title taken from the beautiful song 'Falling Slowly' by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova. (Wut, if I picked my own crazy titles it would be 'Slow, Mad, Sex and Mind' and then no one would read ;_;)


Link :
He traces Kanda's lips with his, slowly, gently, barely touching; skin on skin, no saliva, no wet heat, no urge to devour, to part lips and force tongues to touch; just little fleeting touches. It takes all the effort in the world not to laugh when Kanda growls in annoyance.

aiyatheydidnt
The Chinese version of ONTD, AIYA is a dynamic international community that welcomes users who share a love of contemporary Chinese pop culture. Dedicated to celebrity gossip and entertainment news, you'll enjoy gorgeous photos and breaking stories featuring the glitterati of mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

wendylady2
Designed to rescue fashion victims everywhere, this Brit-based community reads like a rag-ezine. Published once or twice weekly, you'll view bizarre highlights of the global fashion scene through captivating photos and delightfully snarky editorial. Sit tight for a virtual fashion tour from the runways of New York to Milan to Paris and back home again to London in homage to the adage: you can't buy good taste.