Title: Wardrobe Necessities
Rating: G
Fandom: Burn Notice/NCIS
Pairing: Tony/Ziva
Summary: They’d taken a table at a sidewalk café, making small talk. Prompt 14 [Black].

( She'd laughed. )

Title: Breath
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A breath. She closes her eyes. Prompt 32 [Sunset].
Spoilers: 6x25 ("Aliyah")

( For now, she is home. )

Title: Adjustment
Rating: G
Fandom: Burn Notice/NCIS
Summary: Her shivering rather ruins the effect. References to Capricious Providence. Prompt 61 [Winter].

( He can't help bursting out laughing. )

Title: Flexibility
Rating: PG
Pairing: Ziva David/Jenny Shepard
Summary: Her job has made her flexible. Prompt 63 [Summer].

( Ziva just chuckles and raises her wineglass. )

Title: Adrenaline Rush
Rating: R
Pairing: Ziva David/Jenny Shepard
Summary: "Forget I said anything." Prompt 89 [She].

( Ziva cuts her partner off with a kiss. )

Title: Empty
Rating: T
Pairing: Hotch/JJ
Summary: Her voice cracking makes it feel like a lie. Prompt 14 [Black].

( It's helplessness and tears and silent accusations. )

Title: Realisation
Rating: R
Summary: Fear was something he learned later. Prompt 16 [Purple].
Warnings: child abuse

( The ingenuity of youth. )

Title: Surrender
Rating: G
Pairing: Hotch/Prentiss
Summary: This is, without a doubt, his team. Prompt 26 [Teammates].

( He makes the mistake of meeting Emily's eye. )

Title: Apologies
Rating: T
Summary: He can't tell them not to grieve. Prompt 72 [Fixed].

( He has no way out. )

Title: Contrast
Rating: T
Summary: He owes her an apology, but he chose differently. Prompt 86 [Choices].

( His finger tightens almost of its own volition. )

For the Mac users: the LifeHacker Pack for 2009.

For the Windows users: the LifeHacker Pack for 2009.


It's essentially a list of open source software these guys recommend. Some of it I already use--like Firefox or the Unarchiver (the latter is one of the more reliable programs I've used to open compressed files); others I've since adopted--like Dropbox (I rely abundantly on flash drives) or Smultron--or happen to be considering, like Adium and Postbox.

In a nutshell, it's a useful list. Take a look. :)

Wanted to throw out a heads-up that there's a new discussion up at magnified_crime. Applies to Numb3rs, CSI, Flashpoint, CSI: New York, The Mentalist, Bones, and Criminal Minds.

afteriwake, cae_prince, and I are trying to get back onto a regular discussion schedule, so help us spread the word?

Written in about four or five hours. I blame boosette for my lack of sleep tonight. But, here you are: Ziva David and Michael Westen in Lebanon, as requested. Thoughts and opinions, even if you don't know the fandoms, would be really, really appreciated, because I have no idea if this works.

Title: Capricious Providence
Author: eternal_sadist
Fandom: Burn Notice/NCIS
Rating: PG-13
Summary: They’re two strangers having a casual conversation, but he’s itching to call her bluff. It's summer in Lebanon in the 1990s, and two undercover operatives find themselves keeping strange company.
Spoilers: Burn Notice 3x01 (“Friends & Family”)
Disclaimer: They are not mine. If you thought they were, you either have intel I want or need more help than I thought.
Notes: Set pre-show for both fandoms. For boosette, who watched the third season premiere and asked for crossover fic with Ziva and Michael in Lebanon. I don't think this is quite what she expected--truthfully it's not quite what I expected, either--but here you are.

(She throws her lime at him because he’s too far away for her to hit without climbing over the table.")

So my moodtheme viewing problem? Fixed. LJ Support pointed out the custom stylesheet had removed moodtheme images, which resulted in lots of ::facepalm:: on my part. Thank you, afteriwake for figuring this out before me, as I stole your source code in order to figure out what on earth I had to change. That said, for anyone who winds up using this journal theme, my PSA for the month:


I use this layout (the extra wide [960 px] version) on a MixIt base. If you want your moodtheme images to show up, paste the CSS into a standard text document and do a search for:

.lj-currents img {display: none;}

Delete "none" (i.e. it should read ".lj-currents img {display: ;}", copy and paste it into your custom CSS, and you have mood images. And proof that I'm a moron. At least I did the legwork for you. :P

Since I haven't written in ages...

Disclaimer: They are not mine. If you thought they were, you either have intel I want, or you need more help than I thought.

Title: Acclimation
Fandom: NCIS
Rating: R
Summary: She's learned not to be human at work anymore.
Notes: for drabbles100; prompt 1 [Beginning]
Word Count: 167

It should have been a distance kill.)


Title: Oasis
Fandom: NCIS
Rating: PG-13
Summary: She's been Mossad practically all her life.
Notes: for drabbles100; prompt 10 [Years]
Word Count: 115

(She can't have any of it back.)


Title: Stasis
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Rating: PG
Summary: "Do you really want this?"
Spoilers: general show; no specifics
Notes: for drabbles100; prompt 1 [Beginning]
Word Count: 153

(It's the noose that's hung there since they started this.")

Some promotion:

nycsu_bulletin || nycsu_bulletin || nycsu_bulletin || nycsu_bulletin || nycsu_bulletin

afteriwake and I are pleased to release nycsu_bulletin, a weekly newsletter devoted to CSI: New York. The first issue has been posted as of today, so please head over and take a look if you feel so inclined. :)

I'm dead on my feet and will respond to comments later--and try to do things like, you know, actually post something substantial, but I did want to say this:

cae_prince, afteriwake, and I are reviving magnified_crime, and we're pleased to announce its reopening as of today.

magnified_crime || magnified_crime || magnified_crime || magnified_crime

This week's discussions centre on trust in both CSI: New York and The Mentalist; if you're interested in either topic, please head over and take a look!

We've refined the list of shows we intend to cover, expanding to include The Mentalist, Bones, and In Plain Sight, among others, and intend to keep working at that list. Please help us spread the word if you feel so inclined and you follow any of our covered fandoms; I'd really like to see this community get off the ground this time, so any help with advertising would be much appreciated!

Apple's recently released their new 24" LED monitors; even more recently, they released the new generation of Mac Pros, lowering the baseline price and providing two levels of base configuration. What they didn't tell consumers during the initial release was the monitors, initially created as presentation displays for the MacBook Pro, were incompatible with older generations and required special configuring with the Mac Pros.

Unlike the commercial standard DVI connections that most monitor manufacturers apply, Apple's newest release uses a mini Display Port (as opposed to the standard Display Port, DVI, VGA, or any other sort of connector)*. The new MacBook Pro has USB, mini Display Port, and power on the same side (left, if you're facing it); the previous generation has power and USB on that side, but no mini Display Port, rendering anything but the newest generation completely incompatible. The adapter required to fix this problem would be a male DVI to female mini Display Port; this adapter does not exist (confoundingly enough, they're perfectly happy manufacturing a female DVI to male mini Display Port; go figure).

For anyone who ordered the new Mac Pro directly after its release and wanted to run more than one monitor, they probably spent over a thousand dollars on a second monitor that isn't compatible. Now, approximately three weeks after its release, there is a notice saying consumers who wish to run two 24" LED monitors must order a second NVIDIA GE Force graphics card; those who wish to run two 30" LED monitors must order the dual-DVI adapter. (Which means anyone wanting the higher-end ATI Radeon graphics card and two 24" monitors is fresh out of luck.) Both graphics cards have one mini Display Port and a dual-DVI. Apple advertises the ability to run up to eight monitors on four graphics card. With the new configuration, this is notably impossible.

This notice was not available to early orders, nor was the information clear as to which connectors were applicable in a given configuration. I placed a call to Apple this evening after I saw this notice, because I'd gone to a local store to pick up the existing DVI to mini Display Port adapter. In trying to space out the monitors (I have both monitors in my possession, but not the machine itself), I realised they only run mini Display Port (the male end) out. Previous experience with Apple's tech support line has always been favourable, as the people working those phone lines are generally very well versed in computer technology. This time, the technician was not even aware of the notice, much less the problem, and was as confused as I was. He had no idea how to resolve the situation, said he would put in a note asking some questions about the specifications, and told me to call back if I got the machine and still couldn't operate the second monitor.

Now, I'm a little irritated, as I've generally had good service from Apple but just spent $800 on a monitor I may not be able to use. My options are to get my graphics card swapped from ATI Radeon to two NVIDIA, see if the system has the power to run a second ATI Radeon, or return the second monitor. I lack the space for two 30" monitors, prefer two when I can make it work, and chose the higher-end graphics card for the level of work I do and as a long-term investment. That Apple lacks a simple adapter (and cannot use industry standard) to make this work is a little frustrating, and I'm prepared to wrangle with them to see if they're willing to provide some compensation.

To anyone possibly looking at running one of the new systems or wanting a 24" display for an older generation MacBook Pro, keep this in mind when you make your purchase--you may want to talk to someone or consider a full upgrade, or else keep an eye out and start asking for the adapter. Keep an eye out for an update once I have the machine; I'm not holding my breath, but there's the chance there might be a miracle solution in the box.



*I do not know if this applies to the 30" monitors, as I have not personally worked with them.

Over at csi_bigbang:

--forms for writer sign-ups are up here for your perusal; comments are disabled, but sign-ups begin 1st March

--forms for artists, betas, and fanmixes (fanmixers?) are up as well, including samples; comments are again disabled, but sign-ups for these positions begin 15th March

--any additional questions, please see the FAQ post, and if we haven't already answered your questions, please feel free to ask!

I've been fiddling about in Photoshop CS3 for a couple of weeks now. I felt bad stealing icons from makers and having only one or two of my own in my icon collection, and I spent some time making graphics for a birthday gift, so I thought I'd post some of the icons here and see what you guys think.

If you have a minute, feedback would be much appreciated--good, bad, midline, stop trying... that sort of thing. I have some base photos I want to play around with from a picspam last year, but I don't know when that's going to happen, so...

( Criminal Minds, NCIS, CSI: Miami, Tolkien, Miscellaneous )

So I'm a touch behind my fellow conspirators--afteriwake and zeldaophelia--in the whole unveiling process, but we've been plotting fiendishly over the last week or two, and our efforts have yielded this:


We present csi_bigbang.

csi_bigbang is a comprehensive challenge community, asking writers to write a 15K fic over the span of a few months, and for fan artists and vidders to create accompanying graphics and fanvids for each fic. We are also looking for betas and general cheerleaders who will help encourage the writers. This is open to all three CSI shows, and crossovers within the franchise are allowed.


Now I need to ask a favour: we want to advertise this as much as possible. If you run a CSIverse community, can get in touch with mods at a CSIverse community you're a member of, want to post a notice on your own journal if you have CSIverse fans on your friendslist, or anything of the sort, please, please post an advert in the respective place. We can probably cover the NY fandom pretty well, but we need an extra hand in getting word to the other two shows.

So... please? Help spread the word?

First of the week--and oh my God I am on time--is the review for Burn Notice, linked to sidereal_fire and cross-posted to burnnotice. For now, until I figure out if this is going to be a weekly thing, I will keep linking them here. If I get into a cycle, I may actually just post at the other journal and leave it at that.

I have non-fandomy things to say in a minute, but for now...

The non-spoilery review? ::flail:: Spectacularly done. The spoilery review is behind the fake cut.

(Burn Notice 2x11: Hot Spot)

I'm also redoing tags in my journals and community, so if things look a little strange, that would be why

Title: Fear of Silence
Author: eternal_sadist
Fandom: CSI: New York
Rating: PG
Summary: Neither of them wants to face the silence. Perhaps this year they don't have to.
Notes: Merry Christmas, cae_prince!
Disclaimer: They are not mine. If you thought they were, you either have intel I want or need more help than I thought.

(Shall we let ourselves stop being afraid of silence?)

Finally, practically two years late, the remainder of the alphabet prompts...


For afteriwake:

Zakath/Cyradis, W is for Wedding



For nyktohrodon:

Jed/Abbey, H is for Hopeless



For rainbowstevie:

Gibbs/Abby, T is for Twilight

Title: Transience
Author: eternal_sadist
Fandom: NCIS
Rating: PG-13
Summary: There’s a bitter sadness underlying the anger that keeps her from lashing out at him in return. Somewhat angsty Tiva post-ep.
Spoilers: 6x08 ["Cloak"]
Disclaimer: They are not mine. If you thought they were, you either have intel I want, or you need more help than I thought.

(Even though she made him relearn betrayal, too, he still wants to find that again; he just wants it to be real this time.)

Because I have been horribly remiss, my writing community has finally been updated. Pieces are linked below, and I'm doing my best to come back and actually write a sufficient update of my own at some point!

Details are available at the links to avoid a ten-page post, but brief summaries are offered here.

CSI: New York
Devil's Advocate: Just before telling Mac to cancel his leave, Danny and Adam have a chance to talk. [PG; missing scene from 5x06, "Enough"]
More than Enough: His offer of dinner at an Argentinian restaurant isn't quite on par with Buenos Aires itself, but it ends up being more than enough compensation. [PG-13; fluffy M/S post-ep for 5x06, 'Enough"]
Relics and Memories: They're just memories. Memories fade; they stop hurting--they stop being ghosts. And just like that, their harmony was restored. [PG-13; somewhat angsty Mac/Stella fluff; post-ep for 5x04, "Cost of Living"]
About Time: "I will keep worrying about you until I die of old age, assuming I live that long!" [PG; M/S post-ep for 5x07, "Dead Inside"]
Confession: When he got upset, his accent made him harder to understand than Danny. [PG-13; angsty Flack/Angell post-ep for 5x07, "Dead Inside"]

To Trigger the Bleeding has finally been transferred here, though the inability to backdate community posts means the dates are correct, but the posts all take precedence at the top of the first page. First chapter is here, and all subsequent chapters follow in numerical order above it.


NCIS
Verdict's Aftermath [2]: It was as if having former Director Jenny Shepard lying in a drawer in the morgue was not enough, for her replacement had now resolutely dismembered her primary team. Perhaps that was when the scales had finally tipped. [PG-13; conclusion of fifth season post-ep]
Cherry: Oh, the chaos that ensues from one tiny piece of fruit! [PG; fluffy Tiva humour]
Casualties of War: He wants to fix something for once, instead of breaking everything he touches. "War casualties happen." [PG-13; angsty Tony/Ziva, whether romance or friendship, post-ep for 6x09, "Dagger"]

As proof to all who think I have disappeared off the face of the planet that I still live, I give you fic. Whee. (No, not really.)

I'm alive, honestly. New York has kind of eaten my life (and is still eating it), but now that I've been back on the West Coast for a bit and my brain is slightly less thoroughly baked than it was, I've had a chance to write. I also now have more ideas than I have writing time but that is herein irrelevant. Existence has been crazy, among work and moving and pondered equine transport and my questionable love life and the desire to kill other people who don't understand what "involved" means and dealing with old injuries and wanting to fall over and go back to not existing. But I ramble (as usual). I think I'll try for a more coherent update a little later, but this is the preemptive strike that says I really am still here! Hope you are all doing well (or are at least slightly less insane than I am), and without further rambling (and unnecessary parentheticals), I give you writing.


Linked to miasmicextracts:

Title: Verdict's Aftermath
Author: eternal_sadist
Fandom: NCIS
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It was as if having former Director Jenny Shepard lying in a drawer in the morgue was not enough, for her replacement had now resolutely dismembered her primary team. Perhaps that was when the scales had finally tipped. [All-season spoilers; post 5x18; references to my previous fic Cold Burning]
Notes: This is conversation I wish they would have, but one I know we will never see—the one that happens when there are no others present and they can speak freely. I spent some time fiddling with perspective, so it starts wide and narrows to focus on Tony and Gibbs (this piece is two chapters long and completed). The comments from Ziva about the Mossad, as well as the quote, are credited to and based on Victor Ostrovsky’s By Way of Deception; dates are taken from season numbers and episode air dates (if anyone has specifics or corrections, please let me know).
Disclaimer: They're not mine. If you thought they were, you either have intel I want or need more help than I thought.

(And objective went out the window, because everything led back to the damned white polar bear currently inhabiting NCIS.)