*squeeee* I woke up this morning to find six months of paid time in my inbox. THANK YOU SO MUCH, PAID ACCOUNT FAIRY! ♥

The rest of my ontdai_wishes wish list is over here. Whoever came up with this idea is awesome. I don't do Christmas gift exchanges with my friends or family, so I love being able to give people whatever I can.

Here, have a Merlin rec to make up for the boring post: Something Fragile (When You Hold Your Breath) by ras_elased. It's a WIP (;___;) with only one chapter, but the first chapter is a masterpiece. Strip club? Check. Lap dance? Yup. Struggling-artist!Merlin who spends his night giving lap dances in said strip club? YOU BETCHA.

I feel like I've reached the point where I've finally read every good fic Merlin fandom has to offer. I've gone through all of aeroport_art's rec posts, I've scoured all the del.icio.us rec lists, I've checked all the kinkme_merlin and reel_merlin submissions. This is a huge problem. If I don't have anything to read, I might have to resort to writing, and I REALLY do not want to do that. (I'm pretty sure Merlin fandom doesn't want me to either.) So if any Merlin writers are reading this, PLEASE keep writing for our fandom's sake.

The good thing about this situation is I feel like I can write a master list of must-reads in Merlin fandom without feeling like I'm missing something big. So, here it is. You'll probably notice the same writers' names popping up over and over again... well, what can I say? When I find something I like, I stick with it.

( My top 25 Merlin fics )

Guys, I've finally found the best author in Merlin fandom. derryere should not be allowed to write anymore, because her Merlin fics SUCK YOU IN AND EAT YOUR SOUL. I can't speak for her HP fics, though I think she's fairly well-known in HP fandom (she wrote Exodus Honey), but I've read all of her Merlin fics and they've consistently blown my mind. She's like the frayach/furiosity/femmequixotic of Merlin fandom or some shit. She wrote Best Intentions Aside, Freedom Hangs Like Heaven, At least it would seem that we don't, Accidental Memory in the Case of Death, and that really awesome Bradley/Colin RPS fic with no official title. If you haven't heard of any of those, sorry about your life, and you should probably start fixing that RIGHT NOW.

The main reason I'm actually getting off my e-ass and reccing her is because I just read Accidental Memory in the Case of Death, her epic BB Merlin fic (which is 75k -- no, seriously), and now I'm a quivering mass of tears and stupid, uncontrollable love for my fandom. I have a love/hate relationship with reincarnation fics, and though this one took a while to grow on me, I'm glad I pushed through my sluggishness at the beginning, because the fic is perfect. Arthur and Merlin are reincarnated in Anthony, a cocky, beer-chugging tool, basically, and Emory, a sardonic, skateboard-riding, chainsmoking social outcast (I know). Their relationship is intercut with flashes of Arthur and Merlin's relationship, which are at once adorable and heartbreaking. The fic is so gorgeous and skillfully put together that my incredibly short attention span never once wandered. Please do yourself a favour and read this fic, regardless of how you feel about Merlin. It's a valuable addition to Merlin fandom, but more importantly, it's a fantastic piece of writing.

In other news, I'm disgustingly busy right now. I just drove back from a weekend trip to San Francisco to watch the Cal vs. USC game, and my workload is staggering (hence my desperate escape into this fic for 4 hours). And now I feel guilty acknowledging how behind I am, so I'm off to try to be productive (which will probably just lead to me watching Saturday's episode of Merlin eventually). I'll try to put together another rec post with all the great Merlin fics I've read recently sometime soon.

I've found a new favourite Merlin fic: Fame and Fortune by melusinahp (AU, NC-17, ~42k).

HOW DID IT TAKE ME SO LONG TO FIND THIS? Holy crap, it's made every other Merlin fic out there unreadable for me. I've read so many Merlin fics that everything's starting to blur together, and even stories written by the best authors in the fandom are tedious to get through. melusinahp's fic had me captivated the entire time. Maybe it's because I live in LA and I'm interning in the film industry so I relate to Merlin's situation, but this fic just felt so real to me. Despite it being AU, Merlin and Arthur were impressively true to their characters. The pacing of their relationship -- which I'm always picky about -- was perfect. I seriously can't pick out a single flaw. Go read this fic right now!

ETA: Does anyone know which HP fandom writers have written Merlin fic? I need authors to stalk :)

I just read on merlinxarthur that Merlin has been booked for five more seasons of filming.

...

IS THIS REAL LIFE?

I've been catching up on a lot of Merlin fanfic lately, and it made me realise how much I miss fandom. AI fandom isn't the same, because tbh, as much as I love reading Kradam fic it doesn't really touches me, plus most AI fic is god awful. Then I decided to go back to H/D fic for a bit. I just reread A Thousand Yesterdays and bawled through the entire thing.

I'm trying to write SKOM for what feels like the millionth time. It's hard -- I was a different person when I wrote that fic, and I can't reconnect with the mindset I was in back then. I don't know if this attempt will be successful, but we'll see. If it is, I should have a chapter up by tonight.

Meanwhile, check out this amazing Merlin fic: Until the Pieces Fit

Originally posted on ontd_ai; reposting this here.

I went to both of these shows; my review + pics + videos are under the cut. (By the way, I wrote this last night so "today" means the day of the Ontario show, and "yesterday" means the day of the LA show.)

( More on the not-proposal, Kratt ass slappage, and the insane post-show signings )

Omg, this movie is AMAZING. I usually don't like indie movies (yes, even the gay ones), but this movie was weird but adorable at the same time. There's glitter and fairies and costumes and hot boys (most of whom are gay irl, yay). It's like Glambert: The Movie. Bonus: the main guy looks a lot like ZEfron.

( Some caps to inspire you to watch the movie )

THREE WORDS: ROLLING STONE & KRADAM

PRETTY SURE nowheretogo26, choco_carebear, abusing_sarcasm, AND aki_hoshi ARE THE ONLY PEOPLE ON MY FLIST WHO CAN APPRECIATE THIS POST. MAYBE THERE ARE MORE, SORRY, I'M BASING THIS OFF OUR TWITTER CONVERSATIONS.



"I was like, 'Oh, s--t, they put me with the cute guy.' Distracting! He's the one guy that I found attractive in the whole group on the show: nice, nonchalant, pretty and totally my type except that he has a wife. I mean, he's open-minded and liberal, but he's definitely 100 percent straight."

*CRIES*

I have a confession to make: I'm addicted to Adam Lambert's penis. I can't stop watching this video:



Also, has anyone been keeping up with SYTYCD? I'm loving this season so far. So happy to see Ricky & Asuka, Brandon, Natalie, and Phillip (+ his girlfriend!) back again. I'm also loving the Hawaiian guy with the crazy name and Nathan, the adorable 17 year old who's coming back next season. I haven't watched the second auditions episode yet (been too busy working... will watch this weekend), but I noticed Evan was back, which I'm also ridiculously excited about.

Guys... we're going to find out the California court's final ruling on Prop 8 tomorrow. This is it. Holy crap. I need someone to hold my hand right now.

Here's hoping they make the right decision.

(This message is endorsed by Bradam)

The Crown of the Summer Court by astolat (NC-17, ~25k)

This is BY FAR the best Merlin fic I've come across since I joined the fandom, not to mention one of the best fics I've ever read, period. The author's writing style is impeccable. I read one of her shorter fics, The Tower, and was curious to see if she had written a fic in which Merlin's characterisation was more in line with my preferences. Well, I found it. The Crown of the Summer Court is about Merlin unwillingly competing to become king of the elves with Arthur as his champion. Along the way, Merlin has to reveal his magic in order to win against the other elves. The story is written with such attention to detail that it's impossible not to fall into the world. Merlin and Arthur's relationship is just... omg. The author weaves Merlin's magic into their relationship seamlessly, and the way it leads into the sex is HOT. I'm seriously in awe of this author. *reads her other Merlin fics*

ETA: OMG I just realised this author writes Archucook fics too. AND I just stalked down her LJ and she's an Adam fan! She's officially my favourite person in the world right now *_*

ETA 2: OJFLKDSJFLSA SHE WRITES KRADAM FIC TOO.

I come bearing Kradam .gifs! (okay, and a few self-indulgent pictures from the AI8 finale, too...)



( Epic bromance this way )

Working on my paper, and I've run into a spot of trouble.

If anyone has ever read Textual Poachers by Henry Jenkins, you might remember he outlines the four stages of first time slash fics. The stages are:

1. Initial relationship (often the two male characters are already in relationships, but they’ve always had repressed feelings for each other)

2. Masculine dystopia (when one man realizes his feelings for the other, he struggles with traditional ideas of masculinity; the more he struggles the more attracted he is to the other man)

3. Confession (one character finally confesses. Sometimes the other responds by backing away, but eventually they get together. This part is emotionally powerful because writers typically emphasize the impossibility of their love)

4. Masculine utopia (the physical release)

I want to apply these stages to a well-known slash fic. Can anyone think of an H/D (or other pairing) fic that follows this narrative trajectory? I was thinking Beautiful World or Irresistible Poison, but if anyone has better suggestions, let me know :)

(Sorry I've been asking you guys for help so much lately. There might be a few more of these posts later today, but I'll promise they'll stop after tonight!)

ETA: One more question -- can anyone point me towards popular fics with good sex scenes that focus more on the emotional connection between the characters than the actual physical act?

Just read the most amazing James/Scorpius fic, rec'd by aldehyde. Getting There by leashy_bebes actually made me forget my dislike of drama-free, straightforward plots, it was so good. I usually need twist after twist to keep me interested, but this one was pretty much 59k of adorable shippy moments and really hot smut, and I couldn't stop reading. Sorry I can't say more; I'm not good at this reccing thing. Go read it, though!

HOUSE TONIGHT. DISCUSS.

1. LOVE Adam Lambert. He handled the hint at his sexuality so well. I kinda wish he'd been out with a guy, though -- that would've made every headline on the internetz.

2. Danny Gokey is adorable. I know that's an unpopular opinion, but there it is. I wish I'd been at the Grove when he was there :(

3. Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson gross me out. They both come off as hardcore white trash, idk. The constant smoking/perpetual air of wastedness/looking like they just fucked in back of a club stuff totally rubs me in the wrong way. I hate that it's ~cool~ among teenage girls to aspire to be like them.

I've been having issues figuring out housing for next year, but other than that, things have been going well for me today. Went to a luncheon for Annenberg's Communication Leadership Scholars today and found out I'll get the opportunity to work with Maria Shriver on an upcoming project about the modern woman's place in society next year. Exciting stuff :D Also nabbed an interview for an internship at Metromix! The guy who called me to let me know asked whether I watch AI, which of course led to an awesome discussion about Adam Lambert.

Hope you guys are doing well ♥ I've been getting a lot of emails and messages about SKoM lately -- I promise I'll work on it as soon as I get settled down into my summer routine.

First of all, this basic account thing is totally not working for me. I went ahead and paid for the next month. Whether or not I get the full year will depend on whether I can get a job this summer :x

I have to say, I'm a little embarrassed posting after such a long break :"> I'm so sorry, guys! I promise I'll return after all the craziness of this semester calms down. I'll be staying in Los Angeles over the summer doing an internship, so I should have lots of free time to write (and hopefully finish SKoM, which has been hanging over my head like a horrible storm cloud for months).

The main reason for this post is (unfortunately) school related. I have to write a big final research paper for my Advanced Writing class, and I chose feminism within slash fandom as my topic. It's actually been fun -- I got to talk to Henry Jenkins, who's a huge fandom scholar, and I found out he's going to be a professor in my major here at USC next fall! -- but now the deadline is approaching and I need to actually start writing.

Before I get into the theoretical stuff, though, I want to give a short introduction to our LJ branch of slash fandom. I was wondering if you guys could fill out this poll for me. It's got ten simple multiple choice questions (with one short answer), and it shouldn't take too long. If you don't want to fill out the whole thing, please at least answer the last two questions.

Also, if you guys could pass this on to people on your flist, I would really appreciate it! I want to reach as many as possible, in case my flist is too selective of a sample.

Thanks! ♥♥♥

( Fandom poll )

1. Turned down ICS and a guaranteed spot in London Fall 2009 in hopes of getting into London Spring 2010 :x If I don't get in, I will be most upset. I'm kind of nervous, but I really can't afford to go right now, so I guess this is the best I can do.

2. I have two internship interviews this week! One's for a field marketing position at Universal Pictures (basically... everything) and the other's for a creative development position at Valhalla Motion Pictures (Armageddon, The Incredible Hulk). I really, really want the field marketing internship at Universal. I met Erik Gonzalez, one of the heads of the department, at an Annenberg event. Hopefully he remembers me :x

3. This season of AI = amazing. A top 5 of Adam, Matt, Kris, Allison, and Danny would make my LIFE.

4. I think I have strep throat :(

5. Follow me on Twitter!

I miss fandom :( I want to get back into writing. I meant to this spring break, but I didn't have any time. A recent surge of new friends (which I'll assume is SKOM-related -- whoever recced me, thank you ♥) made me look back at my fics, and now I miss H/D. I really want to finish SKOM, but I don't even know where to start. Oh, and I miss Merlin. A lot. I might even write a Merlin ficlet tonight, if I can get this application finished in time.

Update on my summer study abroad plans: I was one of 16 people accepted to the ICS program (the one that goes to London, Paris, Prague, and Rome in a month), but my parents balked and went back on their promise to pay when they saw how much the plane tickets alone are going to cost ($2,000 -- the whole program will cost about $6,000, and that's with my scholarship paying for tuition). I don't know if I'll be able to go now :( I considered paying for it myself, but as of now I don't know my financial aid results for next year, so I don't know if I'll be able to get a job to pay back whatever loan I take out. If I can't find a way to pay, I guess I'll have to cross my fingers and hope the film development internship I interviewed for last week still wants me :S

Meanwhile, I've got American Idol slash to keep me entertained...



Kradam ♥♥♥