Happy birthday, ignipes!!! You're an awesome lady, from your finely tuned sense of glee and humor to your writing and science geekery. I hope to enjoy your insanity for years to come. ♥

Normally, I'd be throwing virtual confetti at a more sane hour, but I'm leaving to go camping at 7am. Whoops. I won't be back until Wednesday, and then I have a four-day job, so I probably won't be around much this week. *waves goodbye*

This week's fannish5:
Name 5 characters whose wardrobe you would love to have.

1) Penelope Garcia: Do I really need to justify this? *pervs on Kristen Vangsness*
2) Morgana: Rowr, gowns with pretty bodices and clean lines. (Though I expect Gwen's wardrobe would fit me better)
3) Sydney Bristow: All the wigs and stilettos I never knew I wanted to wear.
4) The Doctor: Fashion from across time and space, enough to fill a spiral staircase storage area. *wistful sigh*
5) Grace Kelly in To Catch A Thief

Anyone around willing to do a quick beta on a short Supernatural fic? My usual go-to girl twin has schoolwork.

More reasons to love Matthew Bomer:
1) He's from Texas (Houston; his dad was a Dallas Cowboy)
2) Went to high school with Lee Pace
3) Is openly gay
4) Was at one point the favorite to play Clark Kent in Superman Returns - man, that movie might have actually been good with him in it
5) Is friends with Zachary Quinto

All that (except for 3) just from browsing his Wikipedia page. Imagine what depths of awesomeness yet remain.

You know what would be truly awesome? If Neal turned out to be bi (Kate obsession notwithstanding). Not only would fandom explode - which is always funny - but it would *really* suit his character.

****

In other news, fall weather makes me weirdly nostalgic, so I went through my journal and tagged my entries. Also, locked some stuff that had more personal information than was wise.

( Some greatest hits of the past )

I held off on posting this until today because I didn't want to tempt inmyriadbits away from her paper, but OMG WHITE COLLAR. NEW FAVORITE.

Seriously, it's like someone took my favorite part of Catch Me If You Can and had a sweet, sweet orgy with Leverage, Burn Notice, and my favorite character types (clever conmen/thieves and competent law enforcement) to produce the beautiful snarky child that is White Collar.

( I have been watching my friends list explode, and I think it's warranted )

Also, the new conmen/tricksters/thieves comm thebigstore is just in time to catch the fannish wave, methinks. (ps, seekrit message to Lindsey - you should totally finish off your post on The Big Con and put it up there.)

***

I was at Best Buy earlier, and took some time to drool over the boxsets I cannot afford, like Supernatural. I was amused that all the cover art is basically the same: the boys, large and shiny against a dark backdrop (usually involving headstones somehow), with the Impala lurking behind. EXCEPT for the S4 boxset, which has Castiel lurking in the background. LMAO. (don't worry, darling Impala, Dean fandom still loves you best)

A trio of Winchester prank war fics, for your reading pleasure:

It's Got Bells On by lyra_wing
The events leading up to the Nair incident. A classic of the genre, full of creatively vicious pranks and brotherly immaturity.

That's Why A Duck by dotfic
More adolescent shenanigans, this time with bonus John, father-son bonding, and ducks!

Bragging Rights by the_ninth_bow
Adult shenanigans, this time with bonus Castiel, who is the best outsider POV on pranking ever. (listed as Dean/Castiel, but so mild it's nearly invisible)

If y'all have any more, please share! I do not have a pranking mind, so I enjoy vicarious prank wars.

Fannish Friday 5
Who are your 5 favorite non-humanoid characters?

1. Diefenbaker (Due South)
2. Hobbes (Calvin & Hobbes)
3. Appa (Avatar)
4. Pilot (Farscape)
5. Bernard & Bianca (The Rescuers)

This was more difficult than I originally thought, because I realized non-humanoid is not the same thing as non-human, which rules out 99% of Star Trek, Star Wars, and other aliens & monsters. The first three spots were easy, but competitors for the last two included Elda (Dark Lord of Derkholm), Bunnicula, the Disreputable Dog & Mogget (Abhorsen books), Faithful/Pounce (Tortall books), Aslan (Narnia), Kazul (Enchanted Forest Chronicles), the Cowardly Lion (Oz books), and the Beaver (I Want to Go Home!).

The problem with LJ: We all think we are so close, but really we know nothing about one another. So I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Ask away.

I've asked enough people questions; I should probably give them the same opportunity. :)

******

Yuletide noms closed yesterday, and all of the fandoms I submitted made it in! In case anyone was curious, they were:
Southland
Life
Korman - I Want to Go Home!
Sayers - Lord Peter
The Pretender
Montgomery - The Blue Castle

After musing on the subject, I have come to a Very Important Conclusion.

Ensemble shows are like poker hands.

Most of the time, you have one or two cards that aren't so good. Maybe you shuffle things around, hide the bad cards in back, and the hand looks a little stronger. If you're not too good at the game, you stick with what you have and your wimpy hand gets its ass kicked, or you fold. Maybe you ditch the weak cards and pick up a replacement or two. Sometimes that works out well (NCIS), sometimes not (SG-1). Sometimes you ditch a card that you REALLY wish you hadn't (House, from what I've heard).

And then there are the hands that you pick up and everything is lined up perfectly: four of a kind, royal flush, full house, straight. Shows like Firefly, Criminal Minds, The West Wing, Bones, Sports Night. What's *really* impressive is when they manage to replace a member of one of those casts and make it even better - kinda like dropping a card from a full house to draw four of a kind.

I have no real deep thoughts here. Except that I am debating whether to get a paid account because I crave icons, or see if anyone has Dreamwidth invite codes.

(The secretly funny thing about this post is that I don't even play poker. But bridge is not exactly metaphorically rich.)

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA

*wheezes* OMG, if you ever wanted to read about a deathmatch between a deinonychus and a rhino, (or even if you never knew you wanted that!), you NEED to read Something Primal (SPN, gen, crack). Especially when the dinosaur is possessed by an angel and the rhino is possessed by a demon.

SERIOUSLY. CASTIEL POSSESSING A FUCKING DINOSAUR. A WELL-RESEARCHED FUCKING DINOSAUR.

THE STORY IS ALSO CREEPY AND DISTURBING. IN A GOOD WAY.

And then go read the comments, mostly this thread. Equal amounts utter insanity, genius manips, and animal geekery.

....Hahah, oh, man, I think I pulled something.

Happy LJ-versary to meeeeeeee!!!

I totally meant to post earlier, but apparently six years on LJ has still not taught me to avoid TV Tropes and their seductively-titled pages about Bald of Awesome or MacGuffin Delivery Service. (Though I did clarify my love of Guile Heroes versus their villain counterparts, the Magnificent Bastards, and learned a new word for the whole team/crew/unit-that-acts-like-family trope that I love.) And four years of college still has not taught me that napping is a bad idea when I have plans, because I never wake up promptly.

But I have learned a lot of other useful things from my time in fandom, and I never regret falling in with you hooligans. My journal is a quiet one (I comment five times as much as I receive comments, and my profile tells me I average a post every fortnight or so) and my flist is small, but I love every one of y'all - even when you shame me into changing my spelling of y'all. (I finally admitted defeat, btw, in exchange for making Lindsey publicly correct Jon Walker's spelling)

Some special love has to go to bexless, who gave me an LJ code to get a journal back in the day, and thedorkygirl, who lured me over in the first place and gave me my default icon, which I have used for six years straight and still adore, and inmyriadbits, my eternal partner in crime and clone. But you all bring interesting things and words into my life, and I am a different, richer person for being in fandom.

So, as I am feeling hobbit-y and fond, I am offering presents! I have little money, but you can ask for ficlets, or recs, or you could force me to display my terrible art skills in public. If you've been searching for a song and suspect I might have it, want to see pictures of something, or need recipes for delicious soup, or play with my Tarot cards for you, just ask. If you want to trust me with your address (muahahaha), I can make you cookies or chocolate things, or send you a postcard. Because you are all worth it.

A few links of awesome for celli:

-A collection of funny protest signs: I think the first one is still my favorite.

-Hilarious analysis of response rates to online dating messages: I am especially amused that using the word "zombies" has a 40% response rate (above average).

-Information is Beautiful: a blog that analyzes information in pretty ways, or collects graphics from elsewhere. Like time travel in pop culture.

And to kill time before I have to start cleaning again, this week's fannish5: What 5 series would you resurrect if you could?
1) Firefly. Yes, I am still bitter, and probably always will be.
2) Life
3) The Middleman
4) Jake 2.0
5) Sports Night

Okay, what the hell? Were we even warned about LJ doing maintenance for two hours? I don't remember being notified, and there isn't anything in the news comm, but the little status thing said it was "scheduled". ARGH. I WANTED POST EP SQUEE. AND THE PEOPLE NEED THEIR DOWNLOADS.

ANYWAYS. Supernatural!

First off, the things I predict fandom in general will squee most about this week:
( Top Four )

The things the Dean/Cas shippers are going to pick out as slashy and squee about the most:
( Top Five )

( Random other thoughts: )

I'm somehow always surprised by my ability to lose myself in a really good story. I should know it's going to happen, but I start reading and then I finish and it's dark outside and I forgot to eat dinner or go to the bathroom or even spit out my gum.

Which is to say, you should all go read The Accompanist (SPN).

The premise of the story is that Mary taught Dean to play piano and he's kept playing secretly ever since, until he befriends an interesting old man in his senior year of high school. Piano-playing is the LAST thing I would have imagined working in a Dean fic but the author does an incredible job with Dean's POV that quickly erased any disbelief I might have had, maintaining his outer Dean-ness while still exploring all the vulnerable, contradictory things that we love him for. She's marked the story AU, but she integrates canon and Dean's future characterization so well that it wasn't really. It's a painful, beautiful coming-of-age story that had me in tears and hopeful at the same time.

But - to quote a master story-reccer - you don't have to take *my* word for it.

Uh, wow. ( spoilers for Free to Be You and Me )

Also: next week is going to hit about fifteen different story kinks of mine. Damn, I've missed being this excited about a TV show.

Hah! Jon Walker spells ya'll correctly! Take that, inmyriadbits!

(for those who are new around here - we've had this argument before)

*happy sigh* I love premiere season.

( Bones 5x01: The Harbingers in the Fountain (I can't believe it's season 5 already, yikes) )

*****

( Supernatural 5x02: Good God, Y'all (why does no one spell ya'll the right way?) )

I was going to do the quote-something-from-SPN meme that's going around, but decided the auspicious occasion of the season five premiere required me to dig this out of my WIP folder and post it. (only 97 minutes 37 minutes to go! [ETA: I fail at time zones] *bounces*)

Title: SNAFU
Fandom: Supernatural
Notes: gen, 266 words. Thanks to inmyriadbits for reading it over.
Warnings: ridiculousness
Summary: Bad puns, shotguns, and poultry in the middle of a hunt. Set vaguely in season one.

( Dean dove back behind the overturned table, narrowly missing Sam's boots with his face. )

I'm back from backpacking with only minor injuries (hurray!) and I have skinny dipping pictures of inmyriadbits at 11000 ft that I can't show anyone, because she has skinny dipping pictures of *me* at 11000 ft.

Hmmph. This blackmailing business is hard.

*****

I seem to have missed wishing liketheroad happy birthday, but I hope you had a lovely day, and will have an awesome week and month and year, because you give other people so much happiness and these things should balance out. <3

Also, happy birthday to marthawells! I'm on time for this one, happily. May the Texas sun be not-so-scorching for you today, and may you have a wonderful time. I'm going to celebrate by re-reading bits of your awesome Ile-Rien series. Er, again.

(If anyone on my flist hasn't read Martha's books, she writes awesome female characters in fast-paced, plotty fantasy with really cool world-building and plenty of humor, so why *haven't* you read them yet?)

*****

In the past couple of days, I've read so many awesome crossovers that I have to rec some. If I didn't know better, I'd say the internet missed me.

RECENT STUFF
This River's Full of Lost Sharks (SPN/Veronica Mars): Dean and Sam go to Neptune at Missouri's urging, and find zombies and tiny blonde trouble. Solid casefile that digs up a lot of past issues (on *both* sides) in a subtle, interesting way, top-notch banter and good use of both casts. (the author's style is *so* familiar, too, and it's driving me crazy that I can't place them. Grrr, anonymity.)

This Bitter Earth (SPN/Criminal Minds): The BAU team and the Winchesters investigate a series of murders on a southern plantation. Worth the price of admission for Hotch's interrogation of Dean alone.

Vertigo (MCR/Batman): Opens with Bob dangling off a building with a bomb attached to his ankle, while Batman tries to save him. AWESOME. Also, good follow-up on Bob's emotional state afterwards, and ends with cuddling.

OLDER STUFF
Write A New Apocalypse (SPN/Good Omens): Castiel goes to Aziraphale for advice on avoiding apocalypses. Smoothest merging of these universes I've seen yet, and interesting insights on Cas by Aziraphale.

That Kind of Crazy (Iron Man/West Wing): In which Pepper is friends with Donna, and she rants about Tony. Adorable, with Perry's usual insight and humor.

Ghost in the Machine (and sequel, linked at bottom) (SPN/Iron Man): Ahahaha, how did I miss this? Hilarious story where Dean and Sam help exorcise the suit.

It's always terribly disconcerting to find that favorite fictional characters are younger than you.

For instance, Elizabeth Bennett was 20 in Pride and Prejudice. Miles Vorkosigan was 23 in Brothers in Arms when he managed to talk his clone out of 17 years of assassin training (bless his heart). Veronica Mars was 16/17 when her best friend was murdered, Aang is 12 and expected to save the world in less than a year with almost no training, Smallville's Clark Kent started out as a 14 year-old who just found out he was a super-powered alien, reboot Jim Kirk is barely 25 and captain of a starship with hundreds of people in his care, Buffy was 16 and knew she was going to die, Harry Potter willingly sacrifices himself at 17.

When you're a teenager, all this seems quite natural and fun, and it's often not unbelievable as an adult, but it takes on certain wistful, heartbreaking aspect when you're 22 and comparing life stories.