epershand

Even if they hadn't been posted on the same day in my timezone, I would almost certainly be reccing both sassbandit's and littlemousling's bandom big bang stories. But they are a delightful and fascinating pair of stories to read together, an experience I recommend even more than I recommend reading them individually.

-----

First, sassbandit's Forget About the Dirty Looks (18k words). It's a bandom story set in the world of Helenish's Take Clothes Off As Directed, where D/s roles are as wide-sweeping and normative as gender roles. Helenish's story is about role-essentialism and prejudice in the military; sassbandit's is about how the same dynamics work out in the context of the music industry.

The worldbuilding is brilliant (the newspaper excerpts throughout the story were, without fail, EXACTLY what the publications in question would be writing in that universe). And OH the characterizations. Gerard Way's quixotic quest to help lonely kids find themselves is one of the first things I fell in love with in Bandom, and to see him ranting about how collars are outdated expressions of role essentialism and telling kids to be what they are no matter what role they're assigned? Grew my heart a couple of sizes. The story's take on transrole and rolequeer identities was also great, and I just want to read five million words of it forever and ever.

-----

Second, littlemousling's Follow My Lead (30k words). This AU, set in something much closer to this universe, where Spencer is a pro dom and Brendon is the dancing instructor who teaches him to follow as well as to lead, is basically going to be a classic of the genre. (Both of these stories are going to be classics. I can't believe that the quirks of BBB meant that they got posted on the same day).

It's a great take on role essentialism within the D/s community, and watching Spencer's earnest struggle between his identity and what he actually wants in bed was heart-rending and beautiful. I don't think I've ever read as realistic a story about how much *work* a satisfying sex life can be. Through failed sex scene after failed sex scene, the two characters are so obviously in love, which makes it all the more satisfying to see them work things out in the end. My *heart*!

(And watching Spencer's identity struggle in this story when your brain is still framing things in the DirectedVerse? FASCINATING.)

-----

A third rec: I've been listening to the Abhorsen Trilogy audiobooks, as read by Tim Curry. This series has been one of my favorites since I was a teenager, and TIM CURRY.

TIM CURRY PLAYING MOGGAT. Just picture that, will you? I... think? I've always had a minor crush on Moggat, but Tim Curry turns everything about him into walking, purring, growling sex.

Anyway, I'm now about halfway through Abhorsen, and yesterday's combo of fic-reading and audiobook listening has just done some... uh, things, to the way I think about Moggat's collar. (If you have not read the series: Moggat is an elemental creature bound by a magical collar into the form of a cat. With the collar, he's the world's most sarcastic animal sidekick; without it he's almost single-mindedly bent on the death of the Abhorsens, to whom he's normally bound.)

It got me thinking about the degree to which everything in the Abhorsen trilogy is basically about exerting power over the universe, whether it be the weather, the Dead, elemental creatures, etc. And yet about the power that, in turn, the universe exerts over human beings ("does the walker choose the path or the path the walker?") (Side note: some day I want to write a massive essay about how the Destiny stuff in Lirael makes me cry. In a good way.) And it's also, more particularly, about female characters exerting power over male ones--Sabriel over Touchstone and Moggat (and Kerrigor) and Lirael over Sameth, Nicolas, and Moggat, and never over the Disreputable Dog.

(Edited to add: on reflection, I'm not 100% sure that Sabriel alone passes the Bechdel test, since all of the scenes with more than just Sabriel, Touchstone, and Moggat in them involve Sabriel instructing other women on how to fight Kerrigor. Lirael, though, is from a world where you don't even have to remember that the Bechdel test exists, because women talking to women about things other than men is as normal as it is in the real world.)

Um and now I want bell porn the end. >_<

In the meantime, today I keep reading/watching fanworks that bring me to the edge of tears.

First there was stele3's Timshel, this gorgeous piece of worldbuilding and heart-tugging, all wrapped up in a fairie tale package. She always does the most amazing things with PatD fandom, and this was no different.

And then there was lalejandra's heart-wrenching post-divorce GSF fic "The past is gone but something might be found to take its place."

And finally, silver_sandals's vid This is Everything is one of the most gorgeous things I've seen recently. Didn't realize how much *I* needed that catharsis for "all the queer Star Trek romances that never were." (Thanks for the rec, kuwdora)

... Maybe if I go to bed early tonight I'll be less emotionally fragile tomorrow?

ETA: ALSO, fifteendozentimes wrote this very excellent post about policing Spencer fucking Smith's gender presentation by calling him a lesbian and every word of it is truth.

*dragging self away from work email before I close every thread with "arguments without data bore me" or "clearly this can't be decided right now, but I'll take the action item of contacting the appropriate person to escalate it to" or "for future reference, can you please follow an actual procedure when you have this sort of question?"*

I am recovering from my week of doom. I still haven't gone back to the comments on the post of doom. But you know what?

Today is Festivids day!

Here, have some recs, in alphabetical order by fandom!

Space Oddity, Community.
Troy! And Abed! In space! (Abed, Abed, Abed...) This is a really fun and awesome vid about Troy going to space and Abed waiting behind at home. It's a really fun constructed reality, and I love it.

Jumpin' Jester, The Court Jester.
This is a really awesomely choreographed vid. I love the way it ties all the movement in the source together with the music to turn the whole story into one dance performance. I can't help but feel like Danny Kaye would approve whole-heartedly.

Friends, How I Met Your Mother.
The thing I always loved about HIMYM was the ridiculous dynamics of all the friendships on the show. Every single pair of people on the show just has so much chemistry. (Except for, frustratingly, the pairs that involved Ted.) This vid makes such good really use of that. Pairing them with Flight of the Conchords is just SO GOOD. But it's not quite the best song choice in Festivids, because that honor goes to...

They Want More, Jurassic Park.
THE ONE WHERE ALL THE DINOSAURS ARE LIKE CLAUDIA FROM THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES. I am so excited that this ridiculous song from this ridiculous musical has now had its time in the sun. Run, don't walk, and watch this. Especially you, militantgeek.

Resistance, Star Trek: First Contact (listed as Star Trek: TNG).
The hilarious Picard/Q vid is getting most of the Star Trek play today, but this vid to "The Song of Silence" is really gorgeous. Picard, and Data, and the Borg, and the challenges of choosing individuality and humanity over the dull mechanical uniformity of the modern age.

Jaded, Velvet Goldmine.
This vid. I just.... this vid. It's about Mandy, and Curt, and Arthur, and the way that Brian changed their lives, but it's totally and completely about THEM and not him. I suspect that I've been forever ruined for other Velvet Goldmine vids.

High School Never Ends, The West Wing.
Another hilarious vid. Because really, the West Wing characters are emotionally in high school, aren't they?

Possibly I veer towards the unusual. But that's what yuletide's all about, right? Anyway, as usual, this year's Yuletide has reaffirmed my faith in my own version of rule 34: If you think of an idea, someone has written Yuletide fic about it.

( Yuletide recs )