I’ve spent a lot of time at the Pit and elsewhere (mainly LiveJournal) lately reading stories from various fandoms.  Mixed among all the crap (which will soon see its own entry) there are some really great stories.  Below are five of my recent favorites.

Beyond Good and Evil: An in-progress story set (mostly) after the events of Final Fantasy VII.  The pairing of Reno and Tifa is very well-done and believable. Contains spoilers for various parts of the Compilation, especially Advent Children. [Final Fantasy VII Compilation]

Dumbledore’s Army and The Year of Darkness: An epic story about Neville and the rest of the D.A. during Year 7.  Spoilers for Deathly Hallows.  Focuses mainly on “minor” characters.  [Harry Potter]

Durc: The story of the Clan of the Cave Bear after Ayla’s departure.  Extremely long and detailed. Almost feels like it was written by Auel herself.  Spoilers for most of the series.  [Earth's Children]

Sowing the SeeDs: Set several years before the events of Final Fantasy VIII.  Told mainly from Xu’s perspective.  An example of original characters being done well. [Final Fantasy VIII]

Where Your Book Begins: “High school is over. As they enter a new stage in their lives, the girls will discover joy, sorrow, betrayal, love, and strength as they have never experienced it before. They’ll soon discover what they need to survive is love and faith in each other.” A bit much on the tragedy, but definitely still worth reading. [Babysitters Club]

This is the second in (hopefully!) a long series of interviews. The questions were randomly selected from a list of more than sixty questions using Random.org’s number generator. If you’re interested in participating, please leave a comment on this entry. This week’s interviewee is Clem.

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Note: This is not a step-by-step recipe.

1. No Generics: There is often a difference in taste and overall quality. It’s worth it to spend the extra money (usually less than a dollar) for a higher quality product. Buy organic juices and yogurt if you can afford them.
2. Good Fruit: Once again, buy organic if you can afford it. Local and organic is optimal. Fresh is best, but frozen will do if necessary. Watch out for added sugar in the frozen ones and be sure to wash all fresh fruit thoroughly before use.
3. Never use ice: Overpriced smoothie chains have a tendency to do this. It’s a trick to save ingredients and money that dilutes the smoothie and makes it taste disgusting.
4. Balance: If you make a mixture that’s nearly all orange juice, strawberries, and apple juice, you’ll have a rather harsh and tangy drink. Mix in more neutral tasting ingredients like bananas.
5. Experiment!: Try different combinations of ingredients and amounts to find ones you like. Play with different settings on the blender to change the texture. Don’t be afraid to put in seemingly unusual ingredients. Some won’t work, but most will.

My favorite smoothie is made with strawberries, bananas, apple juice, and vanilla yogurt. My least favorites were one my partner made that had ground coffee in it (I hate coffee) and one from the smoothie shop on campus that was about 65% ice and cost nearly $5. What are yours?

Several updates around the site, most notably in the More section.

This is the first in (hopefully!) a long series of interviews. The questions were randomly selected from a list of more than sixty questions using Random.org’s number generator. If you’re interested in participating, please leave a comment on this entry. This week’s interviewee is Vera. One more thing, this entry is the 100th post published on this site!
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