The Secretary Will Disavow Any Knowledge

So. A bit earlier, I mentioned Being Human. The show was a one-off commissioned (as I understand and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) by the BBC as part of some kind of contest or theme or something like that. But the POINT is that it ended up being a really awesome pilot about a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost and the Beeb has since picked it up and is making a 6 episode series from it because it is SO AWESOME.

And now, my humble attempt to share the awesome with you. (And you know this must be true, because in the normal run of things, I am FAR TOO LAZY to be bothering with picspammage)

( LOTS OF GRAPHICS OF PRETTY PEOPLE BELOW THE CUT! )

There! Now don't you feel all excited and energized about Being Human? And, to continue the love, let me show you some of the LJ comms for the show: beinghuman_fans, beinghuman_fic and beinghumanslash...and then vampwolf_love for your George/Mitchell specific needs. There are probably others; these are just the one's *I* found. This has been your helpful Oscillating Fan Report. Good luck, and godsspeed. :D

So, as you all know, I'm sick. Which means that, instead of getting any writing done or anything remotely useful, I lurked a lot and drifted around various links posted by various people. And now I repost them all here, for your possible reading pleasure.

From anonymous_sibyl: Your Friends Are Not Watching The Same Show you Are (And That's Okay) This is SO TRUE, and one of the main reasons I skip episode reactions, because I inevitably end up with the "OMG, someone on the internet is WRONG" reaction and have to step away for my own peace of mind. And yes, I AM watching the "Don't Fuck With the Teaboy Show", thank you kindly.

sparkeymonster posted about the Adipositivity Project, which I'd never heard of and thought was a wonderful idea...until she pointed out that, of 157 images, only two are (apparently) women of color. For an artist based in NYC, I find that rather reprehensible. So...fat is in, as long as it's white fat?

Here, dragonladyk wrote a GREAT "rant" about the reasons why the Criminal Minds episodes "Lucky" and "Penelope" REALLY didn't work for me and why (though I think they're cute and all) the pairing of Penelope/Kevin doesn't quite work for me.

A bunch of people on my flist have just seen Cloverfield. Despite my issues with the movie, I am fascinated by the mythos of it and this site is not discouraging me in that at all. Other people have sex dreams about CW stars. I have the dreams where Slusho fucks us all up to a point where societal, familial and social connections break down into a kind of hive mind. And then you wonder why I write the things I do.

catdancerz emailed me this story, prompting me to go find the link myself. 'Sex Pest' Seal Attacks Penguin, the sad story of a sexually frustrated seal's effort to get some satisfaction from a poor unsuspecting King Penguin. On the one hand...HILARIOUS. On the other hand, anyone want to guess that sometime soon, someone will use this to argue that rape is a biological imperative? And catdancerz? The answer is NO. I'm bent, but I'm not yet ready to write Penguin!Winchesters fic yet. :D

And then finally, a little fic. turnonmyheels recced this story: I Nothing But To Please His Fantasy, which I can say without reservation is the Torchwood story I have been WAITING for someone to write. It's dark, it's brutal, and it's so freaking plausible, it should be canon. It's Jack/John, during the time loop and it's one of the best uses of second person I've ever seen, pro or amateur. Seriously.

In all my blathering about, I forgot to pimp the latest addition to Sundownverse, Best of A Bad Situation, which brynwulf wrote for without_me for Sweet Charity. I know that I'm hopelessly biased (especially because she let me help), but I really think it's a stunning addition to the 'verse and well worth checking out.

For anyone interested, my mom is doing better. She's responded to antibiotics and they're going to release her from the hospital. Thank you for the concerned texts and emails. I'm grateful this wasn't more serious, but with an immune-compromised person, even little stuff is just kind of...terrifying. *sighs*

In happier news, the reveal for Remix is on Saturday (tomorrow) and I will be able to unmask myself and repost my stories here. I am a proprietary little cuss and I always like having all my things in one place. *laughs* I have to admit to some amusement/consternation that my pinch hits seemed better received than the remix I was assigned, but I still think I did solid work on all of them and I did get really lovely feedback on all of them, so it's all good. And not a single one of you even TRIED to guess which remixes were mine. *single emo tear*

In truly EXCELLENT news, nilchance has written another piece of our conjoined Vet!Dean universe: Until Morning, which follows Amends to the Dead and Prometheus (Up From Ashes). The Winchester boys and kittens is such a lovely, happy place. Go. Read. I'm sure you'll agree.

And then finally, an open letter to Adrian Pasdar and Milo Ventimiglia:

I WISH I COULD QUIT YOU.

Everytime I think I'm out...they pull me back in again.

Okay, so I know I'm a little helter-skelter with my recs. I don't do it regularly, there are a lot more stories that I'd like to rec than I actually DO and I worry quite frequently about the "politics" of reccing. And I worry just a little bit about reccing this particular story, because it deals with some very uncomfortable subjects, but I think it's so well written that it deserves more attention than it's gotten.

Torn Together by lonelywalker. It's from the movie Crazy/Beautiful and it's Nicole/Tom (father-daughter incest). With pregnancy.

Reccing incest stories is always so problematic in the first place and I think it's especially so with parental incest stories. Contrary to what my fiction might say, I'm not all "YAY INCEST!" I think it's an interesting dynamic to explore and I don't try to undercut the wrongness of it. To paraphrase one of my critics, I don't write happy, fluffy incest.

This is not happy, fluffy incest. But it is deeply compelling incest. One of the deep issues I have with parental incest is the power dynamic; that it is nigh impossible to write parental incest in a way that the child is not at a horrible, squicky disadvantage. And I'm not saying that lonelywalker completely avoids that, but she does play with that power inequality in very interesting ways. I think the whole story is really intriguing.

This is what I wrote to her as feedback. ( Mildly spoilery for the story. )

I found the story disturbing in a number of ways (the aforementioned squick) but I also found it to be a fascinating story and, as I said, I think it deserves more attention than it's gotten. If you read and enjoy the story, please consider letting the author know.

Today started out a very no-good, rotten day but I have to say that right now, it feels like things are looking up. New Supernatural, new Make Me a Supermodel...and a really awesome burst of creativity that has me jazzed and energized in a way I haven't felt in a long time. Here's hoping it lasts!

But. I am not really here to talk about ME. What I am here to talk about is FIC.

Earlier today, I sent derryderrydown a rather frantic SOS asking her if she could Britpick the Torchwood story I was writing. She was happy to and asked me if I could take a gander at the story she was working on at the same time. I'm a more than a little embarrased to say how very little work I had to do on hers, considering the huge overhaul she had to do on mine, but I suppose that's why I fangirl her so damn much.

MINOR SPOILERS FOR 2.01: First Date by derryderrydown.

God. I only wish I could capture banter the way she does, sharp and sparkling and very much in the right 'voice'. It's sweet, tender and funny and very much what Jack/Ianto fics aspire to be.

On the other hand, I almost wish that technosage hadn't posted the following fic today. Firstly, because after the glowing rec she gave me, it feels a bit like ass-kissing, but given how much I've been fawning over this story as she's shown me pieces of it (and the fact that I just don't ROLL like that) has me feeling that my conscience is clear. Secondly, I worry that this will get overlooked on this High Holy Day, Rex Manning Day, SPN Day and it deserves so much better than that.

Honestly, I don't remember if I've talked about Allie's Break Loose Ranch before, but it's steadily become a favorite and this latest entry is no exception. You know how I love my broken Jensen. I've talked about it to no end and Allie's Jensen's a little more broken than that, but still stubborn and proud, glued together over the breaks and so deeply NEEDY. Her Jared is--in her own words--a toppy bastard, but with such kindness, care and tenderness that it takes my breath away. And this installment is no exception. Oh, and did I mention the HOT?

Some random thoughts:

I continue to watch The L Word, despite the stroke-inducing fury that Jenny Schecter brings to my life. Remarkably enough, it wasn't Jenny who pissed me off in the most recent episode, it was Alice. What really bugs me about it is that they seem to be playing it as if Alice was correct in her behavior (is this being unspoilery enough? Should I be hiding this behind a cut?) ( Okay, fine, let's cut to be safe and cut to brass tacks here. )

One completely unspoilery thing that has me thinking is that this is the second episode this season that they've used a song by The Heart Throbs, a somewhat obscure "girl-band" (fronted by sisters) from the 90's; they used "Kiss Me When I'm Starving" in, IIRC, the season opener, and last night they used "Calavera", which makes me wonder if a) the music director is a big Heart Throbs fan, because I think their CDs are even out of print at this point and b) if this is building up to them making new music, which makes me bounce and squee, because OMG, I love the Heart Throbs. And the funny thing is, since they used "Kiss Me When I'm Starving", I've had the Heart Throbs on my mind (and wondering if there's any way to find/get/gank the radio version of that and "She's in a Trance", because the album versions are slightly different arrangements) and I've been wondering if I should upload their albums for you guys because I DO love them and I think that, even though their time has passed, their music should not. So I may do that.

I just finished watching the first five episodes of In Treatment, an HBO half-hour drama starring Gabriel Byrne and I'm just…so excited about it. Is anyone else watching this? I hadn't even really seen any promotion for it, it just kind of showed up one day. The premise is that Gabriel Byrne is a therapist and each episode is a session with one of his patients (stars like Melissa George, Blair Underwood, Josh Charles—oh, Josh Charles hello).

It's filmed like a two-person, one-act play and it's just… From a writing/acting standpoint, I think it's rather extraordinary. I mean, there are no exterior sets to speak of. There's almost no movement, between the therapist in his chair and the patient in theirs. Which means the acting really has to carry the whole piece, because it's just the two of them, looking at each other and talking for twenty-five minutes. And though their lives are supposed to be in progress and extend both forward and backward from this moment in time, in reality, the actor has to convey the complete personality, life and history of the person involved, including their self-deceptions. I really loved what I've seen so far and I can't wait to see how it goes from here. Does anyone know how many episodes are in the season? I seem to be under the impression that it's only eight (*cries*) but I have no concrete anchor for that notion.

Okay, so I watched all of Dark Angel before I was really fannish. And though there are things I adore about it and I consider myself a fan of the show, I've never been overly fannish about it. I don't read fic about it unless it's by someone I know and/or it's been recced by someone I trust. And I never really formed an OTP for it, because…well, because it's All About Alec for me and I never found anyone I wanted to pair him with that much. I don't really like Max. Pairing him with Original Cindy (my other favorite) would be a crime against both characters, I like the notion that Logan sekritly pervs on Alec (which feeds into the DA/SPN crossover I may, at this rate, never write) but I don't really ship them and I can't really see away to make Ames (third on the list of favorites) and Alec work…not that I've given it deep thought. So. There the matter rested.

Well. (And this is where I find that my shame is ALIVE AND WELL and just hiding out in the back corners of my mind) Then acidquill said she was reading and Ames/Alec mpreg that was breaking her into pieces. And… *facepalm* I asked for the link, which she helpfully provided. The thing is…I opened the link and saw that a) the story is really long (which is usually my BANE) and b) the author had also written Alec/Joshua. And. Oh gods. Okay. The thing about weird, rare pairings like that is I get this little voice going "How would that even WORK?" and morbid curiosity has executive command over my mouse-clicking finger, it would seem. So I opened the link to the Alec/Joshua and started reading. And.

*sighs* I think I have an OTP. And. It kind of squicks me just a little bit, because Joshua is so much more PHYSICALLY animalistic than the other transgenics…but then that little voice cuts in again and points out that NONE of the transgenics are exactly…pure. It's all bestiality, just a little bit. Ahem. And the thing is, I really really liked the way the author explored Joshua's character and fleshed him out in a way that makes sense to me, seems pretty canonical and just… DUDE. IT WAS LOVE, OKAY? JUST DIRTYBADWRONG LOVE. *headdesks* I mean, I have rational reasons, but the bottom line is that the author was REALLY GOOD (he even made me overlook the use of the word 'lover' and y'all know how I feel about that word in anything but an ironical sense) and made me buy the pairing in a way I never ever would've thought about before and dammit, that's what I'm into fanfic for.

( More, because I really did like the story a LOT. And there may be minor spoilers and stuff. )

Anyway. Yes. Um. I may have to ponder this further. And now I'm sort of afraid to look for any Alec/Joshua because when your first is SO GOOD, everything else is bound to be a bit of a letdown.

But for those interested, here's the Alec/Joshua: Gettin' Busy and here's the Alec/Ames, which I have yet to read: Chimera, both by jaguarcaine.

Alas for me (us) my friend jebbypal doesn't write that often. She's been too busy getting her doctorate and being a Real Girl. But man. When she does write, the girl packs a whallop.

Some time ago, she wrote Left Behind, a wibble inducing story about John leaving Sam and Dean with his parents for a while. Truly, it's heartbreaking, just heartbreaking.

But in that way that makes you ask for more.

So when she did the time stamp meme, I asked her to expand some on the middle of the story, during the year that Sam and Dean are there. I knew it would hurt, because that's how she ROLLS, but I also knew it would be worth it.

AND IT SO IS.

I just... I run out of words when I try to explain this story, but...Jebby has this way of just putting her finger on that feeling of what it's like to be Dean. She gets the anger, the abandonment issues, the refusal to accept nourishment from anyone or anything outside of John and/or Sam...and it's heartbreaking all over again. Because she NAILS that feeling. And she makes you want to take that tiny Dean and make it BETTER. Right now.

Alone. Go read it. Seriously. It's short and gen and you won't be sorry. You'll be BROKEN, but you won't be sorry.

So I'm spammy. It's 1am on the weekend. I feel pretty safe. ANYWAY.

I was chatting with txtequilanights (as you do) and we were talking about the piece I just wrote for her, Suriname and Sam, which is a 5 year later time stamp on The Killing Moon. And Rachel said that she was thinking about how she wanted Chris to find out that Sam and Dean are brothers. And *I* said "OMG, Rachel, WRITE IT. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!" (except with a lot more "pleases".)

AND THEN SHE DID.

This Is As Existential As It Gets, Kids by txtequilanights, featuring Angsty!Sammy and Fab!Chris.

Because Rachel doesn't only love ME, she loves us ALL. *nods*

Okay. I have stuff.

Nice Boy by kellifer_fic. RPF. Jared Padalecki/Milo Ventimiglia.

A while ago I wrote a synopsis for a story that has a ONE LINE mention of Jared and Milo having lots of angry sex at the point in time that Jared was being shoved phased out of GG. And Kink (gods love him) must have put some mojo on that idea, because it sparked something beautiful in kellifer_fic's brain. And broke her RPS cherry when she wrote a beautiful little sniplet here. Well, then I begged and groveled for more and as she is a KIND AND GIVING SOUL, Kel wrote me more. It's delightfully funny (confused!Jared! HelpfullyDouchey!Chad! Evil!Milo!), VERY hot and...oddly sweet. Well worth the read.

(AND IF YOU TELL HER SO, MAYBE KEL WILL WRITE MORE!!)


Speaking of kind and giving souls, romantical wrote Conceit for me. BSG. Zak Adama/Helo. Laura writes the best Crazy!Zak out there and some of the scorchingist porn ever. She and inlovewithnight also write some of the best Maggie (Racetrack) out there. So with the combination of Zak, Helo, Maggie and WARGAMES (not to mention the porn!), romanticalgirl couldn't have written anything better for me if... Well. I don't have an if. It's awesome. And you should read it.

I asked halfshellvenus for schmoopy boys and "warmth", she wrote me the beautiful Until You Feel It, a sweet drabble that could be Sam/Dean or Sam & Dean...which is as it should be. :D


I have missed a ton of birthdays (as I am wont to do) and I have periodic pangs of guilt about it, I'd like to wish VERY BELATED birthdays to __tiana__, meret, jdsampson, coniraya, inalasahl, viciouswishes, lunardreamed, my very own fleshlycherry (Ch-ch-Cherry!) and a current happy birthday to blazeorfade and way2busymom! Please accept my very best wishes for love and happiness!

So I know I've talked about this series before. In fact, I think I have recced it every time it comes out with a new chapter. THAT IS HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS SERIES. I just wrote embarassing five-part feedback to the author: THAT IS HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS SERIES.

Okay, so here's how it goes. idyll wrote this series called The Hollow. It's an Angel (Jossverse) AU where Lindsey is a hustler. (Have we talked about my hookerfic kink? Because HELLO.) Gunn runs into him and things spiral--boy, howdy DO THEY--from there. The series is Dom!Gunn/Sub!Lindsey (why HELLO, that IS another kink of mine, thank you!) but that's really deeply understating and limiting the nature of the relationship they build throughout the series. One of the things I said to idyll today was that it was like she found an encyclopedia of PT's kinks and then just wrote them all out.

Here. Because there may be a microscopic fraction of y'all that have missed my previous pimps, I'ma give you a taste:

( From Part 3 )

Still with me? I'll give you a second.

And the truth is, you really don't need to know the Angel universe, Gunn or Lindsey for this to just REALLY FUCKING WORK.

So anyway, because I am now CANCER FREE (WOOT!), idyll asked me if I would like a ficlet. And I gave her a choice! I'd like to state that up front, because I'm not quite as stalkery as it might otherwise appear! *coughs* And she wrote a new piece of the Hollow! A gorgeous, sexy, unBELIEVABLY HOT new piece of the Hollow:

The Hollow, Pt. 10

Go. Check it out. You don't have to fawn like I did, for sure, but go. You'll like it. *shivers*