What's the plural of apocalypse, anyway?
First of all, it is important that everyone knows that the apocalyptothon fics are up. This is possibly my all-time favorite ficathon, and I don't even know why, but it is. Possibly because so many of the writers who participate are just soooo good. Or maybe there's something thrilling about taking characters from fandoms that are not normally dark and dystopian and inserting them into a dark, dystopian setting. I dunno. Either way, you should go read them. The collection is up at A03.
I haven't read them all yet, but so far my favorite is anr's Logan/Rogue story "Breathe", and if you know me, you know that's saying something, because I am not usually a Logan/Rogue girl. Funnily, the very first fic I ever read by anr was an amazing BSG apocalyptothon fic called "Aurora" that I beta-ed for her for several years ago and which is still, to this day, one of my favorite stories in any fandom ever. So there.
Speaking of apocalypses, I'm glad everyone on the East Coast seems to have survived the earthquake mostly unscathed, but now you all need to go put gas in your cars and get a supply of cash from the ATM and find your flashlights and check your battery supplies because there may be a hurricane coming and it's important to be prepared because hurricanes are one of the few natural disasters that have the courtesy to give you a little warning.
I don't know shit about earthquakes, but I know from hurricanes (see my Ike, Rita, and Katrina tags), so here are a few of my exclusive insider tips in case Irene starts bearing down on any of you (these are, of course, in addition to all the usual hurricane preparedness checklists):
- Don't waste your time buying bottled watered. Just fill up every pot, pitcher, bucket and large container you can find in the house with water. Also your bathtubs and washing machine if you have one. You'll want both potable and non-potable water on hand (the non-potable is for washing up, flushing the toilets, etc.) and you'll want to make sure that everyone in the house knows which is which.
- Put some of those filled up water containers in the freezer if you've got any space in there. The fuller your freezer is, the longer it will stay cold inside if the power goes out.
- If you're trying to stock up on food before the storm hits but the grocery stores are all empty and look like the apocalypse has already come and gone, try liquor stores, health food stores and gourmet food stores. People don't tend to think of those when they go into panic mode, so you can often find plenty of shelf-stable foodstuffs still on the shelves. Plus alcohol, because you're going to need it if the power's out for more than a day (but not beer, because warm beer sucks).
- If you've got screens on your windows, take 'em down and put them inside somewhere. You don't want the hurricane-force winds tearing holes in your screens because when the power's out and you've got no A/C and the mosquitoes are breeding like crazy in the floodwaters you're going to want those screens to be intact. Trust me. (And don't even bother taping your windows because that doesn't even work and you'll be scraping tape residue off the glass for the next ten years.)
Y'all stay safe, okay?
I haven't read them all yet, but so far my favorite is anr's Logan/Rogue story "Breathe", and if you know me, you know that's saying something, because I am not usually a Logan/Rogue girl. Funnily, the very first fic I ever read by anr was an amazing BSG apocalyptothon fic called "Aurora" that I beta-ed for her for several years ago and which is still, to this day, one of my favorite stories in any fandom ever. So there.
Speaking of apocalypses, I'm glad everyone on the East Coast seems to have survived the earthquake mostly unscathed, but now you all need to go put gas in your cars and get a supply of cash from the ATM and find your flashlights and check your battery supplies because there may be a hurricane coming and it's important to be prepared because hurricanes are one of the few natural disasters that have the courtesy to give you a little warning.
I don't know shit about earthquakes, but I know from hurricanes (see my Ike, Rita, and Katrina tags), so here are a few of my exclusive insider tips in case Irene starts bearing down on any of you (these are, of course, in addition to all the usual hurricane preparedness checklists):
- Don't waste your time buying bottled watered. Just fill up every pot, pitcher, bucket and large container you can find in the house with water. Also your bathtubs and washing machine if you have one. You'll want both potable and non-potable water on hand (the non-potable is for washing up, flushing the toilets, etc.) and you'll want to make sure that everyone in the house knows which is which.
- Put some of those filled up water containers in the freezer if you've got any space in there. The fuller your freezer is, the longer it will stay cold inside if the power goes out.
- If you're trying to stock up on food before the storm hits but the grocery stores are all empty and look like the apocalypse has already come and gone, try liquor stores, health food stores and gourmet food stores. People don't tend to think of those when they go into panic mode, so you can often find plenty of shelf-stable foodstuffs still on the shelves. Plus alcohol, because you're going to need it if the power's out for more than a day (but not beer, because warm beer sucks).
- If you've got screens on your windows, take 'em down and put them inside somewhere. You don't want the hurricane-force winds tearing holes in your screens because when the power's out and you've got no A/C and the mosquitoes are breeding like crazy in the floodwaters you're going to want those screens to be intact. Trust me. (And don't even bother taping your windows because that doesn't even work and you'll be scraping tape residue off the glass for the next ten years.)
Y'all stay safe, okay?