Living with Boys

In your own space, resurrect an old meme.

I looked through the list, and played around with a couple of them (apparently I Write Like Stephen King--I'll take that!). But I decided to do the Music Playlist Shuffle: "Go to your favorite source of music that can be shuffled. Hit shuffle. Write down the first line of the first twenty songs that come up. When people visit your journal, they have to guess what the songs are. Strike through the ones that have been guessed with the guessers name at the end of the line.

Easy, right? I used my trusty iPod, which I've been filling with music for about 8 years now. I think you'll get some of these right off the bat. But if some seem a bit eclectic or obscure, well, it's because I've been throwing albums on the thing willy-nilly for most of that time. (In other words, I didn't know the lyrics to all of these, either!) I also skipped things that had their titles in the first line, and there are no artist duplicates.

UPDATE: I'm adding in the answers, for any curious readers out there. (For the artists, I'm listing the singer or group, rather than the songwriters)--

1) We are young, Heartache to heartache we stand jj564 & enemytosleep "Love is a Battlefield", Pat Benatar
2) I met you on somebody's island, you thought you had known me before Steve Miller Band, "Jungle Love"
3) Here it comes again, it's going to happen to me The Byrds, "Lady Friend"
4) Standin on the water, Castin your bread Bob Dylan, "Jokerman"
5) Clouds are on fire today, time has taken you away Steve Carlson, "Radio in my Head"
6) In the merry month of May from me home I started, left the girls of Tuom nearly broken hearted borgmama1of5 - "Rocky Road to Dublin", traditional, my version is from the Chieftans & The Rolling Stones
7) Hang out my window and over your head Matchbox Twenty, "Soul"
8) I'm not a savior and I'm not a saint, the man with the answers I certainly ain't. Johnny Cash, "Singer of Songs"
9) You sure know how to hurt a girl, fewer hugs and no more kisses The Go-Go's, "Skidmarks on my Heart"
10) How pale is the sky that brings forth the rain, as the changing of seasons prepares me again Alison Kraus, "Get Me Through December"
11) Hush now don't you cry, wipe away the teardrops from your eye fanspired - "Silent Lucidity", Queensryche
12) She said, Darlin, I'm in love with your mind, the way you care for me is so kind Richard Thompson, "I Misunderstood"
13) Everybody dance now! silveradept "Gonna Make You Sweat", C+C Music Factory
14) Well, I heard some people talkin just the other day The Eagles, "Already Gone"
15) Don't you worry bout what's on your mind, oh my The Rollings Stones, "Let's Spend the Night Together"
16) When I had you to myself, I didn't want you around fanspired "I Want You Back", Jackson 5
17) On the field I remember you were incredible The Killers, "Andy You're a Star"
18) I'm not content to be with you in the daytime jj564 "All Day and All of the Night", The Kinks
19) Right, right, turn off the lights, we're gonna lose our minds tonight Komadori "Raise Your Glass", Pink
20) There's a place up ahead and I'm goin, just as fast as my feet can fly Credence Clearwater Revival, "Up Around the Bend"
As I was writing these out, some of the lines seemed to connect in that weird way that sometimes makes me think that my iPod has a sense of humor. Hanging together, they don't make a good song or poem, but some of the lines almost comment on each other.

Or maybe that's just me. Any guesses?

In your own space, create a wishlist

-I'd love to have fanart for one of my stories, of course. Maybe for "You Can't Always Get What You Want"? This was my first fic, and centers on a sort of rivalry between the Mark of Cain and the Samulet. Here's the link: https://tyrsibs.livejournal.com/10479.html

-The mod post mentions a new fandom as a possibility, and that intrigues me. While SPN will always have my heart, are there other fandoms out there that might fill the hole it left? Recs would be great!

-Along that same line, any recommendations for great book series in the urban fantasy or high fantasy realms? I've almost caught up on Dresden Files, have read The Name of the Wind, and just started Seanan McGuire's October Daye series. I know there's a lot out there--what's your favorite?

-Recs for a fanfic Big Bang or challenge to attempt? I've participated in Spring Fling, Summergen, and the Reversebang in the Supernatural fandom, and I've set myself a goal of working on a new challenge this year. I write genfic, somewhat angsty, and I like to focus on the characters and creepy atmosphere. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance--I hope to talk to some of you about these rec requests!

Challenge #5: In your own space, promote a canon/talk about a part of canon that you love.

Of course, I could talk SPN, which I love, or Firefly, which created a beautifully realized 'verse in 14 episodes and a movie, but I find myself wanting to dig a little deeper and talk about the first canon that I fell hard for. The Nero Wolfe mysteries by Rex Stout.

I discovered them in junior high through a book called "Murder Ink", which was a sort of a fan friendly compilation of articles, interviews, trivia lists and glossaries about the Mystery genre. (If you're a mystery fan, I recommend this book and its companion, "Murderess Ink". Between the two volumes I found my first fannish worlds). Even then a completist, I searched out a lot of the books that were discussed, and eventually I made my way to Wolfe. The first book I found was "Murder by the Book", and I still remember that the plot blurb on the back started with "Wolfe risks Archie's neck" to solve the case. What? I had to know what that meant, and by the time I was done with that first book, I had to spend more time in Wolfe's brownstone. Lucky for me, Stout wrote about Wolfe and Archie for 41 years, beginning in 1934 with "Fer-De-Lance" and ending in 1975 with the Watergate inspired "A Family Affair."

Nero Wolfe gets top billing, and I suppose that's only right since he is the genius detective who solves the murders, but his assistant Archie Goodwin is equally vital to the novels' success. Wolfe is eccentric, strict in his daily routine but lazy when it comes to taking on new work, an overweight gourmand and orchid lover, a New Yorker with a mysterious past that began in Montenegro. In some ways, he's the epitome of a detective from the Golden Age of the Mystery in all of his habits and his Holmes-like ability to see connections that others miss. Archie, on the other hand, is streetwise and smooth with the ladies, intuitive, a man of action--more along the lines of the hardboiled American heroes of the same era. He narrates the books as well, in an economical and very funny voice that makes him very good company, indeed. One of my favorite descriptions of any character, anywhere, comes from Archie's assessment of one of Wolfe's longtime hired hands, Fred Durkin: "Fred was as honest as sunshine, but he wasn't so brilliant as sunshine." That sums up a lot of what you need to know about our Fred in 13 words.

Wolfe and Archie bicker and needle each other through their cases--in fact, Archie contends that the main reason Wolfe keeps him around is because Archie continually pressures him to work when he would prefer to spend time in the kitchen with his chef Fritz or up in his orchid rooms on the roof or just reading and drinking beer. They fight, but underneath all the irritation, each has absolute loyalty to the other. Their relationship is the backbone of the novels, the real reason to keep reading, though Stout also surrounds them with a memorable cast of side characters, and describes their world in comforting detail.
Wolfe's office is fully furnished in my imagination, and stands forever in a timeless version of New York, somewhere down West 35th Street.

Hmm-this is beginning to sound a little bit familiar---Maybe I have a type?

Challenge #3: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

In your own space, tell us who, from one of your fandoms, would you most want to have dinner with (or tea, or a random afternoon visit), And why? This could be a creator, an actor, a costumer, a set designer, a director, a character, a composer, anybody! What would you talk about? What are you dying to know?

Well, this is harder to answer than it should be, but the first name that popped into my head is Neil Gaiman. But I think it would only work if someone else was at the table with us, so that I could mostly just listen to his voice and nod along to his ideas about stories and gods, or about how the sky looked during his walk. (I can almost hear it now!)

If we are talking fictional characters and I'm wandering around the Supernatural world, I'd show up on Bobby Singer's porch, with the beer, and we'd sit in his dusty study talking lore until he got to reminiscing about the boys. Yes, in this scenario, we are old, trustworthy friends--

Who's doing this year's Snowflake Challenge on Dreamwidth? I'm going to try--

In your own space, post self-recs for at least three fanworks that you created.

There's so much to choose from! (jk--I am not prolific). A lot of what I've done so far involves secondary characters in the Supernatural verse--whenever the story leaves them behind, some part of me wants to see more about their lives, and fic ensues. In terms of rec'ing my own stuff, I guess I'd like to show off the ones that completed that task most satisfactorily. The fics that I'm proudest of are the ones that the characters sort of took over--the stories that were just there, waiting for me.

The first of these is Never Have to Go to War No More. This is the aftermath of SPN Season 10's "Dark Dynasty" from Charlie's point of view, up to and including an interaction with the Winchesters. I always felt like, in spite of the lovely montage that the show gave her in the next episode, Charlie deserved more--a better send-off, so this is my attempt to provide that.

Second might be Slivers, a first person POV about Ramiel and my head-canon version of what his relationship with Azazel might have been like. I'm not sure exactly where this one came from, but it was almost too much fun to write from his perspective. (This was written between s. 12 and s. 13, and the show went a different way with another little piece of speculation that I used in here, but I'd like to think it still works.).

The last one I'd like to rec is Sparks Dancing in the Darkness, which is a sort of expansion of s. 11's finale. This one is a bit of a departure for me, with a more formal tone and emphasis on description, but I loved writing it. In fact, this one has gotten me thinking--it might be fun to use this idea as a sort of comment meme! What do you think--who did I miss? Would anyone like to add a paragraph or two in the comments?

In your own space, promote three communities, challenges, blogs, pages, Twitters, Tumblrs or platforms and explain why you love them.

I have spent a lot of time at The Sheila Variations, a blog that belongs to movie critic Sheila O'Malley. She posts movie reviews, essays on film stars and writers, book reviews--and she always has something interesting to say. I've learned a lot about acting and film composition. What drew me there was a massive essay on Jensen Ackles that she wrote after she started watching the show. She has done recaps of the first 2 1/2 seasons as well, and all of it is well worth reading! (Cautionary note--she is not enamored of Andrew Dabb's seasons, so your mileage may vary with regard to the newer episode discussions.)

Another Supernatural page that I visit belongs to (bnf) Lynn Zubernis, who has co-written or edited at least 5 books on the show, fandom, and the psychology behind both. Her site is Fangasm and it's great for episode reviews and con reports, generally with a positive spin.

On the broader topic of geeky pursuits, I really like the podcast Imaginary Worlds. Every other week, they post a new show which could be about anything from fanfiction to Magic, from LARPing to old school radio serials. It's a lot of fun to listen to!

With regards to challenges, I want to push myself to participate more, but for the last 3 years I've joined spn_summergen, and it's always a great mix of stories and artwork. Every year I have been amazed by my own gift, and "cherish" is not too strong for the experience I've had with this community.

Rec at least three fanworks that you didn’t create.

I read a little SPN fanfic almost every morning, so sorting out just a couple of favorites? Really not easy! Here's a few, anyway:

I'm inordinately fond of crossovers, and I love hells_half_acre's Demented verse. Supernatural x Harry Potter really shouldn't work as well as it does here, but it's both exciting and full of emotion because the author takes the time to really develop the characters' relationships with each other. The 'verse is extensive, but one of my favorite stories is a one-shot in which George Weasley visits Dean and Lisa sometime in the year between SPN s.5 and s.6, To Being Half a Person.

One of the best stories I read recently is the very creepy Death Rattles by emmbrancsxx0 on A03. It's Destiel, a haunted house story, in which Dean and Cas go to an abandoned Men of Letters outpost to catalog its library, but Cas starts seeing and experiencing ominous things--did I mention it's creepy? Be prepared...

SPN Summergen is my favorite challenge of the year, and I'd like to rec the story I received, which brought me to tears in the breakroom at work: marciaelena's scenes from a highway at the edge of night I don't want to say too much about it--go read it! It's wonderfully written and, yes, sad.

So there you go--I could honestly keep going on and on--