Consistently, predictably, dependably, unwaveringly ERRATIC

Day 11

In your own space, share a favorite piece of original canon (a TV episode, a song, a favourite interview, a book) and explain why you love it so much. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

The O.C. was hardly a brilliant show but it had some fantastic moments, some heartbreaking moments, some hilarious moments - and many of the last involved Taylor Townsend (the gorgeous Autumn Reeser) who went from neurotic, possibly mean girl, socially awkward antagonist of S3 to the more confident and delightfully odd protagonist and love interest of S4.

I watched The O.C. casually during S1 but it became all too angsty and all drama, all the time, and I just can't deal with that. (If a show like that finally lets two characters get married, you can guarantee that either both will move away or one will have a nervous breakdown/get cancer/die. I start yelling at the screen, 'JUST LET THEM BE HAPPY FOR A FEW EPISODES, WHAT IS SO WRONG WITH THAT?!?!?!?!' Ahem. There was a reason I was so into procedurals for years, until I burnt out on the crime.)

But I watched the S3 finale to see how they'd write out Marissa (I cried, even though I didn't like her) and then watched the first couple of S4 episodes to see the reaction of the other characters. Once I'd stopped laughing incredulously (cage-fighting? Really?), I realised to my surprise that this odd, fast-talking character I'd barely been aware of had hooked me in. And the show was getting good again. And then it became awesome. And I found of my few OTPs in Ryan/Taylor. I went out, bought the first three seasons, watched them all, possibly killed brain cells on S2&3 (Summer was really the only redeeming feature), learned to my disgust that S4, the final season, was being cut short (we do not talk about the utter bullshit of the 'Ryan's dad' storyline okay? I can't remember if it was speculation or statement that it would have played out differently if the season hadn't unexpectedly been cut short but it was BULLSHIT. Otherwise, S4 was ridiculous magic. And feautured Ryan's biceps. Always a plus.) and watched the finale and sobbed happily at the utter fanservice of the flashbacks and final montage.

Also, Captain Oats/Princess Sparkle 4EVA!


 

In your own space, create a fanwork. A drabble, a ficlet, a podfic, or an icon, art or meta or a rec list. A picspam. Something. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

A rec list!

During the worst months of my headaches haze last year, I fell down more than one fannish black hole in my efforts to distract myself (fanfic and rereads of Agatha Christie were my main sanity saviours last year.) Thanks to fancake, love of harriet_vane's Bandom fic and my own need for fluff at that time, I managed to fall into reading Social Network RPF - despite never having seen the movie, having no desire to see the movie, and having only a vague idea that the Andrew guy was the crazy-haired new Spiderman? Maybe?

But there was fic filled with adorable boys being adorable and neurotic at each other, Emma being scarily awesome, Justin being drunk and awesome, and usually cats as well. Really, it was all so ridiculously sweet and exactly what I needed just then. So here are five fics that I read over and over again and will most likely continue to read over and over again when I need a smile, starting with the fic that started it all and finishing up with quite possibly THE MOST ADORABLE FIC OF ALL TIME. Even if you don't read it just check out the pictures. The giraffe! The little mouse! All the hearts! 


Stay Awake When I'm Asleep (35442 words) by harriet_vane
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Social Network (2010) RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jesse Eisenberg/Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone/Justin Timberlake
Summary:

Andrew Garfield inherits a surprise baby.

In which Andrew accidentally names Jesse's foster kitten, Jesse second guesses himself a lot, and Emma thinks someone needs to explain phone sex to Jesse.


Nowhere Else On Earth That I Would Rather Be (21549 words) by torakowalski
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Social Network (2010) RPF, American Actor RPF, British Actor RPF
Rating: Explicit
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jesse Eisenberg/Andrew Garfield
Characters: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Matt Smith, Emma Stone, Justin Timberlake
Series: Part 1 of Socks and Kittens 'Verse
Summary:

“So,” Matt says, dragging it out.  “Your neighbour actually knitted you some socks?  Is she a ninety-year-old grandmother?”
 

 Andrew shrugs. “No, he’s um.  He’s about my age, I think.  I don’t know, maybe it wasn’t him, but I was telling him how I didn’t have any socks left and now I have socks, so.”

 Matt hums.  “That’s an interesting courtship ritual,” he says.  “In some cultures, that may even mean you’re married.”

From the kinkmeme prompt: Some sort of AU vaguely based on Shelter! For whatever reason, Jesse has to take care of Hallie and give up his dream of being an actor. He ends up working in a dead end job when former, now successful friend (Andrew) returns home. They fall in love, etc, only Jesse can't go away with him because he has a responsibility to his family. CUE ANGST.


The Giraffe Notes (18562 words) by jeyhawk
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Social Network (2010) RPF
Rating: Explicit
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jesse Eisenberg/Andrew Garfield
Characters: Emma Stone, Justin Bartha, Joe Mazzello
Summary:

The impossible love story of a mouse and a giraffe featuring a crush that last a decade, a very grateful movie star, the fine art of falling in love over the internet, a possibly naughty tattoo, three awesome friends, cats, nerves, and a spectacular first date.

It's hot. And there are bugs. At least the Christmas beetle season seems to be over? *eyes windows warily* (Mum doesn't mind them but I tell her I don't want the damn things zooming around me, hitting my arms or tangling in my hair and startling me while I'm trying to cook! I don't want them landing in the food either. They haven't done so yet but they've landed on the stove and in the sink multiple times.)

It should be, we took the Christmas decorations down today. *sadface* Well, Mum dismantled the tree this morning, before it got too hot, and left the ornaments for me too pack away this evening after it cooled down (so about 10p.m.)

Snowflake Challenge Day 3 - working on it!

Snowflake Challenge Day 4

In your own space, create a list of at least three fannish things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a fannish wish-list of sorts. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your wish-list if you feel comfortable doing so. Maybe someone will grant a wish. Check out other people's posts. Maybe you will grant a wish. If any wishes are granted, we'd love it if you link them to this post.

I was honestly drawing a blank on this - it's just too bloody hot for thinking - but then I realised I had a couple of questions for my flist/circle re: imadeathing and hey, I had a fic prompt last year I'd still love to see ...

1) What photohosting site would you recommend? I'll need to post some pics of my imadeathing projects plus I'd like to start posting some photos here as well.

2a) When you think of Mikeyway, what are the first two or three colours that come to mind?

2b) When you think of Ray Toro, what are the first two or three colours that come to mind?

3) I'd love to read this as a fic.

I think I was reading AlwaysAGirl!Gee/Frank when I had an image of a girl!Frank that I hadn't yet come across. Imagine Danger Days-era Gee/girl!Frankie having kids. Pregnant Frankie slouching around in hoodies she steals from the guys, hair getting longer and wavier than it has since she was a kid and looking remarkably soft and glowing and Madonna-like (when she's not feeling huge and tired and queasy and dammit, she has to pee again.)

Then the babies (I keep thinking twins) are born and it's exhausting and amazing and they do the Killjoys vids with Frankie's hair in funky braids or something. But at some point after that, she realises that babies like to grab. And pull. And ow, it hurts, okay?! So she shaves her head. Much less fuss all around. And she tries to convince Gee that he could shave his hair off too! (It doesn't work. And the babies like his bright hair, okay?)

But that's the image that I had - shaven-headed Frankie carrying her babies around. I think she'd look fabulous! 

Sort of 4) And I still have lots of my Psy-Changeling/Bandom fusion written down and in my head. I'm hoping that as the headaches improve, the brainfog will also improve and I'll be able to do something with it, including talk to people about it. Same with my original fic, too ...

 

Day 14

In your own space, ask for help. Need a beta? Always wanted to learn how to make a vid? a fanmix? icons? Maybe you’d want to have someone cheering for you while you work on an upcoming big bang or fannish bingo?

Already asked. *g* And thank you so much to the people who responded!

Day 15

In your own space, share a favorite memory about fandom: the first time you got into fandom, the last time a fanwork touched your heart, crazy times with fellow fans (whether on-line or off-line), a lovely comment you’ve received or have left for someone.


I still remember my sheer delight at finding Dark Angel fanfic. That must have been ... 2002? 2003? Not sure when it aired here. Good grief, where did the time go ... I'd gone online hoping that what I'd heard about cancellation wasn't true. Well, it was but I found someone writing a virtual Season 3. And there was Max/Alec fic! And then I found fanfic for the promising but infuriating Roswell (including Michael/Liz fic!) and fanfic for the awesome but horrifically programmed Farscape ...

It took a good 3-4 years before I worked up the nerve to interact with any of these crazy-talented people who all seemed to know each other. And I've always had a tendency to drop back into lurkerdom. But fandom's been a part of my life for about a decade now (ye gods) and I still remember how amazing it was to find out that other people made up their own stories based on tv shows. Holy shit! It's not just me!

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” ~ C. S. Lewis

Imagination. Enthusiasm. Encouragement. Delight. That says fandom to me.
 

I woke up this morning and went "... huh. I feel alive again!" Okay, the headache returned last night with a vengeance and I didn't fall asleep until 8:30a.m. or wake up until 5p.m. but when I woke up I felt better. Still headache-y but far more alert. I immediately wanted to do All The Things and had to remind myself that doing so would render me unable to do Anything At All the next day.

When I have a bad week like this, I try to just deal with it but part of me is always going, oh fuck, is it a relapse, what did I do, oh fuck, oh fuck, it's not getting better, is this my new normal, oh fuck, was this already my normal and I was just being delusional, oh fuck.

And then I woke up today and felt better. And I was very relieved.

*
On a lighter note:

Day 11

In your own space, ask for recs. Something as simple as "I like XYZ (where XYZ is a kink, a pairing, a trope, etc) - please rec me some."

Any recs for Bandom genderswap? (Not sexswap.) ETA: Didn't mean to be confusing! I meant I'd like 'always-a-girl', not 'woke-up-a-girl' recs. This masterlist led me to some fantastic fics but it hasn't been updated since 2008. So if you know of something more recent, that would be excellent! MCR is my main preference for this but other bands welcome.

 

In your own space, create a fanwork. A drabble, a ficlet, or an icon, art or meta or a rec list. A picspam. Something.

Okay, lately I've been trying to kickstart my writing by trying to write a little fic (original or fanfic) for every non-fiction book I read ...  the bandom boys do keep showing up.

I have some sailor!Bob/mapmaker!Mikey (iceberg dancing!) & naturalist!Gerard/explorer!Frank (hypothermia!) on the way. When I reread Evolution's Captain, I tried to see if I could write some captain!Bob/naturalist!Gerard for turlough ... didn't work but I did manage a little bit of Lieutenant!Bob/artist!Gerard.

423 words of historical fluff, not to be taken seriously. *g*
 

Day 5

In your own space, share something non-fannish you are passionate about with your fannish friends.

The word passionate kind of throws me. There are times when I'm envious of people who can find something they love and sustain a long-term, focused interest in it. That's more what I think of as passionate. I tend to drift from interest to interest, unable to main a long-term focus (granted, brain fog has something to do with that.)

Cooking? Yes, I like cooking, I like being competent at cooking, I like trying new foods, I like collecting recipes. But I listen to people who are really passionate about food ... and that's not quite me. I guess my longest term interest, something that I don't even think of seeing as a passion because it's just a part of me, is reading.

It utterly baffles me that there are people who don't have bookshelves (including, until recently, my brother and sister-in-law.) I was an avid reader from an early age; developing CFS and winding up mostly housebound only encouraged my readaholic tendencies. I never go a day without reading some kind of book. I tend to walk around the house not looking where I'm going because I'm reading (which is fine provided Mum doesn't rearrange the furniture) and I can do many tasks one-handed because I work with a book in the other hand. The times when the brain fog has been so bad that I couldn't read anything remotely complicated or even new were horrid.

What kind of books do I read? Well, back when we had Borders, a visit there would involve a look at fantasy & sci-fi, romance, crime, classics, maybe YA and very occasionally general fiction. Non-fiction? HISTORY! Sociology, religion, biography, science, but in the end it boils down to history. Not the grand, sweeping view but the personal. The daily lives of people in other times and places, how they thought and worshiped and ate and fought. I like to be able to understand why people acted the way they did and you need to know about all of their life before you can. Not always possible but I like to try. (It's possibly why I increasingly have very little interest in current news - it's so ephemeral and how do you sort out what's important in the long-term?)

I haven't posted my reading round-up from last year yet (I don't know why I stopped doing monthly posts. *frowns*) but going by Goodreads, I read at least 119 new books, fiction and non-fiction. Reread at least 60 others, probably more.

I'm not even going to guess at my to-read pile. And I don't think I have a lot of books, really ...