Kellan is awesome. I just thought I'd share the love he's spreading.

Check out Kellan's exclusive interview for PETA!

Warning: Graphic images in video

Some of you may remember, about a week ago, a lovely greeneyedgirly posted a campfire here asking for someone to write up a story idea that she had but didn't want to write herself. Well, I took up that challenge and after discovering a really effin' amazing idea, we've worked hard together (greeneyedgirly is beta'ing for me) and we're proud to present.....

Born to be Mine: Six months after Jacob dies, Bella Black moves her young family to California to be with her brother. Meanwhile, across the country, Dr Edward Cullen is preparing for a similar move... AU AH OOC. Rated M

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5770627/1/Born_to_be_Mine

If you would like to have a read, and maybe leave us a little review, and if you like it, tell ALL your friends, that would be very nice.
Thanks :)

I have a sudden craving for Rose/Edward fics, and I wanted some recmomendations.

I've read Vamp R/E fics before, but I want some AH.

Any suggestions?

DIRTY LAUNDRY POST

mine is inside the post, come see my dirty laundry.

show me yours!

So, I have a couple of hours before I have to go to work, and I'm trying to make a dent in the mountain of laundry that I have been neglecting for... well, a while and I'm hungry.

WHAT SHOULD I EAT FOR LUNCH?

I'm leaning towards

Because really, how can you go wrong with KD?!!?

Tell me, what did you have for lunch, campers?

BEFORE ANYONE SAYS A POUTINE IE; LILLYBELLIS - I DON'T HAVE THE STUFF TO MAKE ONE, OR ELSE I WOULD.

If you could swap places with anyone in fandom for just one day...who would it be and why?

My answer below - I'm not giving up the goods that easy :)

Okay, CW&IA just got pulled today. I was starting to really get into it, and then pouf! Gone.

For the love of God, we have to react! How many fics have been the victim of the LU so far? How long are we gonna watch our favorites fics vanish into thin air an do nothing?

I say stop!

I think we (meaning, lots of people, because lil' ol' me doesn't have much leverage in the fandom) should get together with the Twilighted admins and adopt an emergency policy

Let's save our favorite fics!

I've been thinking about this (yes, I think about fics in RL. Shush. Judge me later)  and I don't think a lot of authors that get their stories pulled will re-upload them in twilighted, especially if the fic wasn't there in the first place. It would just take too much time to upload everything with the validation process. They won't (well, most of them) do it on LJ either because it's complcated and weird, and again, takes too much time.

So, yeah, I was thinking that just for a little while, maybe twilighted could lighten their validation process a bit? For example, with authors uploading a multi-chaptered fic that is, oh let's say... about 15 chapters in? Maybe the validation betas could only look at the first 3 chapters of the story and if the fic is okay grammatically speaking, maybe they could just abstain from checking all the other chappies, so that the validation process would be a lot faster?

Of course this could only be valid for authors who have a beta and for fics that have been or are about to get pulled of FF.

Obsviouly, the whole thing would necessit a lot of validation betas... So maybe we could institute a volontary particpation system with people who already are betas on FF, just not twilighted validation betas... It would take time to validate all the potential validation betas... But once that's done, every author could put their fics in twilighted easily and we (okay, I) woudn't constantly live in fear of getting the dreaded "Unable to locate story with id of xxxxxxx" message on our screen.

I don't know if all my propositions make sense, but at least that's up to discussion, right? We can't just stand there and do nothing...

Come on, campers! Shake your fists and let's stand up to the LU FFn anyone 's dictatorship! (Really. Just please, whatever higher power is up there, stop pulling fics)

Anyone? Any idea of how this could be done?

Edit: Okay, I may have gone overboard with the LU-hate. FF is pulling MA fics and I kinda got over excited over anyone I could pull the blame on. Sorry. The fact remains that people (and it could be random people) are reporting mature fics to FFn and they're getting pulled. And I just wanted to get ideas on what to do about that.

Oh wait. I am dead. No chance of that happening.

So it has come to my attention that British political candidates are tweeting about my alter-ego Robert Pattinson swaping spit with Kristen Stewart on the streets on London. Good to know what your campaign platform is all about-thanks for sharing.

Me-I am waiting for the sex tape which in my humble dead opinion will be lame. Why? Because Robert is NOT me and Kristen is NOT Bella. Got it? Are we clear? Good.

Now let's discuss the absurdity of this entire tiresome situation. Much lutz is desired.

Sometimes, taking a look at the most popular fics in this fandom, I wonder to myself-

Is their popularity really based on the quality of their content? Or does it have more to do with the shock value that these fics create?

Like in the case of MOTU, there’s rarely any plot development between chapters, and mostly, our beloved (insert sarcasm please) E/B are found canoodling in varied positions and scenarios. More than sixty chapters in, the plot is still trailing around, perhaps slower than a tortoise on crack.

But I digress…

There are other examples as well, where there’s fair amount of unlubed butsecks involved… or where they choose to do the dead in the most unique (read weird) and exclusive way (read uncomfortable/physically impossible). Or something or the else keeps on happening which might be shocking to us in RL scenarios, but is totally hot (sar-ca-sm) in these fics. (Like totally creepy sobriquets to each other’s genitals and such, ya know)

What I'm asking is, is that why these fics are so loved? That they give us the shock and awe treatment, and we are left numb its wake, uncaring towards the writing/plot/characterization/such things that show a nice story arc….?

Why is it so that I find that the better written fics have lesser reviews than these ‘popular’ ones? Has this fandom lost its patience? Or has it become deadened due to all the loud, flashy stuff being thrown at it constantly?

I mean, I don’t think anyone would disagree with the fact that fics like The Lost Boys, If love could light a candle (they are only two examples of many) are brilliant fics, with extensive character development and beautiful, descriptive prose, AND PLOT. Then why do they not achieve the feat of other highly pop fics?

I have seen that the average reviews for actually well written fics is around 3000-8000 (with a few exceptions, of course, but they only prove the rule, eh?)

It is something of an ongoing rumination of mine. What motivates the choice of readers, when they choose fics like MOTU over TLB or ILCLAC?

I’d like to know what others think…

Humor me.

Let's all go completely nerdy and delusional for a moment and pretend you are Bella.  What decisions would you have made?

Would you have chosen to become a vampire or remain human?

Would you have picked Jacob?

Would you have given Mike Newton a shot?

Does anyone know where Clipped Wings and Inked Armor went? I'd been putting off reading the last chapter, but finally clicked on the link to read it, and the story appears to be gone. Does anyone know why? Or where I can find it? Or possibly send me the last chapter if you have it?

I have a TON of work I need to do and this huge project that I have to finish by tomorrow, but I have ZERO motivation.  A little bit of pretty might help...so show me your best...

maybe if he looks like he's gonna bitch-slap me...ya think that might help?

***

These are for Tor... maybe some Billy will get me going... idk

Come on campers... Help a Sista out!!

i'mma setting down two rules for this campfire-

keep it twilight related.

no robsten. this includes rob and kristen.

anything else. go on ahead-

you wanna ship out other twilight star's, go on ahead. you wanna share eye-candy, go on ahead. whatever.

just nothing robsten. i think you're understanding the reason.

    It’s no secret that I love the Sookie Stackhouse Novels better than I love twilight (Please don’t kick me out). I was browsing thru some fics when I found some Sam/Sookie stories. I can’t stand the pairing. I’m purist. I think Sookie should ALWAYS and ONLY be with Eric. I came to like twilight when I started reading AH fics. Now I like the Vamp stories better. I haven’t read the books but I know all about them. I don’t mind and actually like some Jasper/Bella fics. My favorite is Afterlife by thatisastory.

    Is it the same for you when you see a Peter/Bella or Carlisle/Bella story?  What misconceptions am I making by having seen the Movies only? Are you a purist that has changed over time to like Jasper/Bella fics?

 Don't they look good together?

1st – Russian Roulette by Readingmama/Vampiremama

2nd – Take Care of My Heart by earthprincess4

2nd – A Life of Service by Kathysueme

3rd – Rights of the Fallen by DefinatelyStaying

Judges Choice – Always and Forever by LittleLea05

Judges Choice – The Day I Had by IrishLoveForever

Thank you to everyone that entered, that pimped the contest, and that voted. All the oneshots were amazing.

Congrats to all the winners!

-punkfarie & tuleangel-

p.s. it's over now, no more killing edward, ok everyone? for wolvesnvamps sake. hehe

I don’t know if this has happened to anyone or not, but I wanted to ask nonetheless. Has it ever happened, that you’re reading a fic, and it’s actually written well, but there’s this tiny bit of detail that is ever present within it… and it bothers you. So much that it distracts you from the fic, no matter how the good the story line or how amazing the prose.

I have to say one thing, I have nothing against the author or the story, but it’s just my own reaction, more instinctive reaction if I may say so.

It has happened to me when I was reading certain well known stories, namely, TB&TC and Elemental.

TB&TC… I know many people praise all the purple prose, but I just felt that it read like it had been given an overdose of purple prose steroids. It was so purple in certain areas that it completely distracted me from the story itself. And eventually, I found myself flouncing, because it was too purple for me.

Then there’s Elemental. I have read the first 10 chapters, but… the whole inbreeding between the 13 original families thing is kinda squicking me out, TBH. I mean, these families settled in Forks around 1870s, and then married within this coven of 13 families only. Which means, that after around 4 generations, a person from this coven would have a relative from each of these 13 families. So going by this assumption, Edward/Bella, Jasper/Alice and Em/Rose are somewhat distant cousins to each other? (I mean Edward is a distant cousin to Bella.)

I found it rather appalling. Even if not that, the fact that Lauren, Alice and Edward’s first cousin, was flirting and fawning over Edward, coveting him in a romantic kinda way. It was implied in that way in the writing.

So the fact that this Lauren character even had the audacity to think of her cousin as a future mate… really made me squirm, and not in a good way.

The story is very captivating otherwise, and I intend to read it. But this one thing is making uncomfortable. Maybe it’s because of my own background, where there’s a strict social rule that a person cannot marry another one who has the same last name as a relative from his/her past generation family connections. We also had covens, and no one married within their own coven, or it was punished with death. The rule is still there, though death is now removed. Phew…

So anyone else has the same problem as I am having with these stories?

Is Kellan Trying To.......

a) recreate a scene from Twilight.

b) send the paps a message with his book title.

c) run away from me crazed Twilight fans.

d) Aero, you don't know nothin', it's plain to see he's _________________.

this post dedicated to ms. kathy

gimme your all time, top 5 tv shows

post them in order- in picture/video form.

donut defend them, no explanations needed

and if you agree violently

or disagree violently

well, unleash in the comments

but be nice goddom

 So, there's this fic that I read a few weeks ago, but I didn't finish it. I don't know it it is an unfinished piece or not. But sometimes my computer just shuts off, and with it goes the stories I have up on my screen. :(  It's a sad life, but what are you gunna do?!

Anyways..

The story was E/B, and they new each other in their dreams. Bella lived with her dad who was demanding, and didn't pay attention unless he wanted something, and abusive in his own way. He was a drunk who didn't want here there. He dies and she going to live with Esme and Alice, then she gets taken by the state to go live with Carlisle and Jasper and Rosalie, her cousins? Rosalie hates her and tells her all these mean things. Meanwhile the only friend she has is Dreamward. 

Sound familiar? I could keep going but I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it.

This story just popped in my head again, and now I really wanna read it...

Any help? :)

So over Christmas break I was bored.  I mean, really, really bored.  The weather was gross, and there are only so many times you can hang out in Eric Yorkie’s basement watching the boys play Guitar Hero while hoping that Mike Newton notices that you are looking particularly cute for no particular reason.  Stupid boys.

So one day I agreed to babysit a kid down the block.  Which really just turned into me hanging out in HIS basement, watching HIM play Guitar Hero.  Ugh.  The difference, however, was that this kid had the entire series of Harry Potter books.  Don’t judge.  I said I was bored.  I picked up the first book in the series and thought I’d give it a go.  Two diet cokes, a half a bag of Doritos, and six hours later… I was hooked. 

I don’t know if you can really relate or not… to reading a book that you literally can not put down?  I felt like I was on crack.  I kept reading and reading and reading… And I know that probably makes me sound like the weirdest person on the planet.  I became like… obsessed with these freaking books!  By the time the kid’s Mom came home I was completely sucked into the world of witches and wizards, and was forced to ask her if I could borrow the rest of the books so that I could read them all.

She was cool, even though I rambled on like a psycho person about my newfound interest in all things magical.  But then she said something that totally got my attention.  She leaned forward- you know, like people do when they have a really juicy piece of gossip to share-  and she said, “Jessica… you don’t have to look to the books if you’re interested in witches and wizards.  Don’t you know that there are families that practice magic, right here in this area?”

Now- I am a serious journalist.  And I know that most gossip at least has SOME roots in the truth.  So I started asking around, and following leads.  Most of it was back-handed whispers.  But all of it led me to seeking out the following interview. 

***

(I walked into the diner at the edge of town, looking around for the guy who agreed to be interviewed this week.  It was a typical glass-front building with faux wood-paneled walls inside.  The beat- up hostess station in front was surrounded by a few really tall fake plants that were supposed to block the tables inside from view.  But they weren’t nearly tall enough to hide the large form of a guy that sat all alone at a booth in a section to my right.  He sat, playing with his silverware and smiling down at the graffiti on the tabletop in front of him.  I took a minute to look at him, before I summoned up a little courage and approached the booth.)

Me:  Emmett?  Emmett McCarty?

(The guy looked up when I spoke.  And whoa!  He quickly slid out of the booth to stand while he smiled.  Dude was huge.  I mean…  HUGE.  And young.  And completely gorgeous.  Dark, curly hair… blue eyes… dimples.  Did I mention the good manners?  He actually stood up!)

E:  Yes.  Are you Jessica?

Me:  Yes!  Hi…Yes.  I’m Jessica.  Thanks for agreeing to speak with me! 

(He reached out to shake my hand then.  And I really hoped my palm wasn’t sweaty or something completely gross like that.  Because this guy was like… wow.  And his grip on my hand was like, really firm.  But also gentle.) 

E:  It’s my pleasure. 

(He totally waited for me to slide into the booth before he moved to join me.  I think he probably would have like held out a chair for me or something.  Because this dude had seriously good manners already.  But we were, you know, sitting in a booth.  Like I said.  And it didn’t even matter that there were scratch marks all over the table-top, or a pathetic little wilted flower decorating the vase beside us. It was… really just kinda perfect.) 

Me:  Where did you get those dimples? 

(Okay.  SO didn’t mean to start the interview that way.  But he laughed. )

E:  From my mother.  Is that our first question? 

Me:  No.  Oh God.  I’m sorry.  Sometimes I just say the first thing that pops to mind. 

E:  Should make for a fun interview then. 

(He was completely smiling, a totally friendly sort of grin.  So I knew I didn’t offend him or anything with my weird girl-moment.) 

Me:  I was actually going to ask about this diner.  I saw you looking at some of these marks when I came in.  You looked kinda… nostalgic?  I was going to ask if this place had any special significance for you or something? 

(His hands came up and he traced his fingers over some of the marks.  I can’t believe I didn’t notice until right then that the guy wore a simple gold band on his wedding finger!  I made a mental note to ask him about that later.) 

E:  I just like the burgers here.  I can’t get anything like this back in Seattle. 

Me:  Oh!  That’s right!  You live in Seattle now, right?  And you’re back in town for the weekend, visiting? 

E:  Yes, my cousin just had her 18th birthday. We tend to celebrate those birthdays in style. 

Me:  Like totally MTV ‘My Sweet Sixteen’ kinda style?  Because I gotta tell you, I went to my friend's sixteenth birthday party and she asked her parents if they could get like a good band to perform and all they got her was a Clay Aiken impersonator.  Parties around here kinda suck. 

(He laughed before he spoke again.) 

E:  You're a funny one.  I like you already. That sounds like a good idea for practical joke for the next party. Get Clay Aiken to perform. My friend Edward would strangle me, but it might be worth it to see his face when Clay came on stage. Hey, do you think he could do Captain and Tenille's "Love Will Keep us Together"? 

Me:    Who?  Clay Aiken or your friend, Edward? 

(I think we confused each other. And he was obviously trying not to laugh again.) 

E:  Clay Aiken. 

Me:  I dunno.  Maybe they could do a duet!   (And now I decided to get us back on track and ask him about that ring he wore.)  Every Captain needs a Tenille.  Who is yours?  Your Tenille I mean?   

E:  Edward doesn't like to perform in public. 

(His smile dropped.  And he totally ignored my question.  Which pretty much made me determined to get my answer.) 

Me:  Poor Clay.  I guess he's out of luck as far as Edward goes.  And obviously... YOU are taken? 

(I got specific.  And this time, I pointed right at the ring on his hand.  He wasn’t going to get out of answering. I am a professional, damn it.) 

E:  Yes, I am.  Rose. 

(He was smiling again.  The awkward moment passed.) 

Me:  Rose?  That’s a pretty name.  Is she your wife? 

(Emmett sort of looked at me like he was trying to sum me up. But he stayed calm, and he kept smiling.  He just leaned forward a little and clasped his hands together on the table.) 

E:  Yes.  Rose is my wife, and she is as pretty as her name. 

Me:  Don't take this the wrong way dude... but like... aren't you kinda young?  I mean... maybe I shouldn't pry.  I know there are probably things you don't want to talk about in an interview and everything.  But I'm really good at keeping secrets.  I mean... you can ask any of my friends.  Once my friend Becky thought she was pregnant and I only told like three people. But it turns out she just had mono.

(Emmett burst out with laughing again before leaning back in his booth.) 

E:  Mono is terrible, I hear. 

Me:  Yeah.  But it doesn’t give you stretch marks.  Why did you decide to get married, so young? 

E:  Rose and I just knew we were meant to be. I love her and wanted to be with her. 

Me:  That's actually, like... sweet.  It's kinda weird... but sweet.  (He leaned forward, with his hands together again.  He was watching me with such a pleasant expression that I decided to just plunge into the real reason I had asked to meet with him.)  Speaking of kinda weird…that’s kinda why I asked to meet with you.  (He cocked his eyebrow, but didn’t interrupt.)  Not because of weirdness like in general.  Just... you know... some people talk.  Not me.  I don't gossip at all.  But you know… there are rumors... 

E:  Really?  (He kinda sounded like he was teasing me.  But I could tell he was interested.)

Me:  See... here's the deal.  I'm kind of a big fan of Harry Potter.  Not the  movies... but the books.  I mean, I saw pictures of that Daniel Radcliff guy when he was doing a play on Broadway and he was naked.  I saw WAY too much of Harry's wand ... if you get my drift.  But I really am interested in like... you know... wizards... and witches.....and I've heard some stuff... rumors…that maybe makes me think that you and I might have that in common.  Or something.  A little.  

(He chuckled and ducked his head.  But when he looked up, he had this sort of glint in his eye that told me he knew exactly where I was going with this, and he was amused.) 

E:  Seeing Daniel’s wand?  Or being Harry Potter fans? 

Me:  Despite our rather lengthy conversation about Clay Aiken, I assume that you aren't interested in Harry's wand.  I'm talking about... uh…Well... some people think that magic doesn't only exist in books.  How do you feel about that? 

E:  It depends on who you ask. Some people will say that they believe in magic. Like wishes coming true as a form of magic. As for flying broomsticks, as cool as I think that is, and man, Quidditch? I would totally would love to play that game, but I don't think that kind of magic is real. 

Me:  But you do think some of that stuff is real?  Cuz like... if one were to listen to gossip and rumors - which I don't-  there really are witches. Right here in this area.  I mean... I could totally be a witch and you wouldn't even know it.  I could be like... doing a magic thing on you right now.  I'd be all like "Hey Emmett... take off your shirt.” And you'd just like do it.

Which I have to say... would make my day a whole lot less boring. 

E:  (Laughing again.)  I would? Are you trying to get into my pants? 

Me:  I said shirt.  Wouldn't want to deal with the thorns on that Rose of yours, cowboy. 

E:  Ahhh...sorry. Thanks for the explanation. Well… I'm not feeling the urge to take my shirt off. Maybe you ride broomsticks or play Quidditch?  Like I said, that would be cool. 

Me:  Sorry to say, I don’t have any magical powers.  But what about you?  Any hidden abilities? 

(He stared up at the ceiling, pretending to think.  I could tell he was totally playing with me.) 

E:  Hmmm...let me think.  I can make good ‘Suicides’! The right amount of Coke to Cherry coke to Sprite needs to be just right. Rose asks me to make them for her all the time. 

Me:  I hope, for her sake, that's not your only hidden talent. 

E:  So...if you had a magic power, what would it be. You know, hypothetically? 

(I wasn’t entirely prepared for him to turn the questions to me.) 

Me: It sure as hell wouldn't be mixing up carbonated drinks!  Let me think…Oh!  I know!  I would love the ability to read my teacher's minds and know in advance what will be on my tests.  Oh-  and when they'll have pop quizzes.  And what the hell they are thinking when they wear some of the ugly clothes they do.  Because really it would be easier to concentrate at school if I wasn't distracted by the horrible fashion sense of those who are supposed to be leading my educational career. 

(Emmett laughed at my answer…  but not in a mean way.  Then he sorta turned his attention to that sad little pink rose at our table and touched it lightly, like he was being careful to not make any of the brown-edged petals fall off before he started talking again.) 

E:  What about something that would help people? Or even the planet? Maybe a way to reverse environmental damage? 

Me:  Are you saying that’s what you would do?  If you could? 

E:  (Shrugs) Sure.  Why not?   

(He was still playing with that flower, when we were interrupted by a loud ringing, coming from his jacket.  He pulled out his phone and apologized to me, before reading the screen.) 

E:  I’m sorry.  Rose needs me at home.  I gotta go. 

(I was just a little disappointed.  We were finally getting to the good stuff, and he stood up to leave.) 

Me:  Well… I appreciate you meeting with me today.  It’s always nice to meet another Harry Potter fan. 

E:  You know, Jessica… I always thought that real magic was something more subtle. That it's like the wind blowing, maybe water flowing, roasting marshmallows over a glowing fire. Even the bloom of a perfect flower… 

(With a dimpled and charming smile, he held his hand out and offered me a perfect pink rose.  My eyes flew to the empty vase at the table… then back up to his. For once… I was speechless.  I couldn’t even bring myself to say ‘goodbye’ as he left.) 

*** 

I sat back in the booth, staring at the flower while Emmett walked toward the door.  He was whistling “Love will keep us together”  and it made me smile. 

If you would have tried to tell me that I would spend the morning talking to such a gorgeous guy about Clay Aiken, Harry Potter, Captain and Tenille, and nudity in broadway plays, I would have thought you were insane.  But after this interview, I have started to realize that if you keep your mind open-  anything is possible.