A Mighty Fine Life

So I don't know if you're all following the amazing Sims 2 + Newsies thread at The Refuge... But you should be. The always-fabulous ldhenson has created some frankly amazing Newsies Sims and has been sharing them with us. With her permission, here are some highlights. :D



( Recently, on All My Newsboys... (super duper image heavy) )

I was at work for ten and a half hours today.

I think the less said about that, the better.

Unrelated: my project for the last few days has been moving and organizing my delicious bookmarks, so that fannish things aren't under an account name that my coworkers could potentially run across. So, I did that.

If you are for some reason interested in perusing a massive list of HSM (and a less massive list of Newsies) fics I enjoyed enough to want to reread (the closes to a recs list I've got), it's over here.

Possibly it's especially useful if you're looking for pr0n.

This just happened in my head:

"Hey... Wait a second, Troy's dad (Jack?) and Ryan's dad (Vance?) are both referred to as U of A alumns... What if they went to college together? What if they were sekrit lovers? WAIT! Vance totally left Jack for Derby! Spurned and bitter, Jack married his horrible wife and eventually had Troy. He thought Vance was out of his life forever when the Evanses moved to Rhode Island, but many years later they came back with kids, and THAT'S the real reason he doesn't want Troy doing drama in the first movie. HE DOESN'T WANT TROY TO BEFRIEND THE EVANSES BECAUSE HE WAS THEIR DAD'S GAY LOVER."

And now brb, must go clorox my brain.

ZOMG I JUST MET DAVID MOSCOW.

Kind of. Accidentally.

ZOMG I HELD A DOOR FOR DAVID MOSCOW.

I was leaving work, and as I exited the building I paused to hold the door for the dude behind me, who looked passingly familiar but I didn't process why. He said, "Thanks," and went back to talking to the woman he was with; I believe what he said was, "It got cooooold," and that was what tipped me off to who it was was, because he sounds just like, you know...himself.

By that point he was too far away for me to say hi too without yelling or chasing him like a lunatic (and I do not do well with famous -- errrr, "famous" -- people. I met the bassist from my favorite band in 12th grade, and actually literally forgot my name when he offered to sign my ticket).

BUT STILL. I sort of met David! :D :D :D

(This is my only icon with D-mos actually in it, somehow. FAIL, SELF.)

A meme! From harmonyangel: Leave a comment asking me for commentary on any of my fics (or at least a chapter therein, 'cause damn, some of my fics are long). I will provide it! (Probably over at my writing journal.) Fun times. My Newsies fic is scattered about, but can mostly be found here; my master list of HSM fic is here.

Oh: regarding the last post... Heeheehee. Yes. $3 margaritas are very good things. \o/

Today is my six-year fandomversary in the Newsies fandom. More or less.

It's actually the sixth anniversary of me posting my very first fic on FFnet, though I'd been lurking around for a few months at that point. Y'see, my sister was living in Japan at the time, and she sent me the movie as a gag gift for Chanukah -- a wacky, "Hey, remember how we used to have every line of this movie memorized and would sing the songs in the car? Ha ha, it's on DVD now, lol" present. (Very specific, I know.) So I watched it. And then I watched it again that same night. And then I went in search of fic.

Rachel, presumably, did not intend to give me a gag gift to Change My Life. And it sounds corny to put it that way. But it's more or less true. Consider:

Were it not for fandom, I would not know several of my closest friends. harmonyangel was the first person from the internet I ever met IRL, back in junior year of college. Shortly thereafter, I met poisonivory through the drabble community; we met IRL that summer. My life would not be the same place without my Lohrists. ♥ (And while I obviously didn't meet second_batgirl through fandom, since we met in college, that was a huge part of what we bonded over when we first became friends.) And those are just people who I now hang out with offline -- a huge percentage of my friends list is fandom-based, and "friends" is the operative word there. You all make my life a better place, and were it not for my love of a silly but wonderful movie, I wouldn't know you.

There's more, too. You know that writing thing I do a lot? Hi, thanks fandom. :) I mean, yes, I've always written a lot, even in my pre-fandom days. (And between-fandom. My first fandom was actually Sailor Moon, back in middle school. Heh.) But it was very much the Newsies fandom where I've grown up as a writer, like, a lot. Maybe natural over the course of six years, but if it weren't for the amazing community and the encouragement... It makes a big difference. And I'm so proud of the writing I've done in fandom. "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" is 350 pages long, and it took four years, but it's the best thing I've ever written -- and the way my writing improved is definitely clear throughout. Even a year and a half after finishing, I pretty much glow with pride when I think about the last few chapters. (I managed to pull loose threads together into a coherent ending! I didn't know I could do that!)

It's a small fandom, and not one most people stay in for an extended period of time. (Fair enough: it's a closed, short canon.) I've seen lots of people come and go, and there are a lot of people I miss. And I've definitely been more out than in at times. But it's always been there for me, and I always come back to it. At some point, I think I described it as feeling like I was One True Fandom? I think so.

So here's to another six, and many happy returns. ♥

( #3: All Through the Night by Suzanne Brockmann (reread) )

Answers to the OTP meme!

1. Matching outfits for him and him: Blink/Mush from Newsies, guessed by harmonyangel, clio21000, and poisonivory (and probably also everyone who read it and didn't bother to comment). This was pretty clear, because for one thing, it was the title of the Blink/Mush manifesto I wrote. It's a reference to the last few scenes of Newsies, where the boys are wearing almost identical outfits, but Blink is in pink and Mush is in blue. This is also what they're wearing when Blink casually pats Mush on the tummy as he walks bye. 'Cause THAT'S a typical platonic gesture between two dudes, right.

2. One night to last a lifetime: Sarah Connor/Kyle Reese from Terminator. I'm not shocked no one guessed it, since it's one of the ones that isn't really a fandom of mine, per se, but I loooooove them. In the last scene of the movie, when recording a letter to John, Sarah says something along the lines of, "It may comfort you to know that while we only had one night together, we loved enough for a lifetime."

3. Pitcher/catcher: Chad/Ryan from HSM, harmonyangel, clio21000, and poisonivory. Obviously a reference to the Big Gay Baseball Dance Off. I know, I know, technically they both pitch during the dance number, but who can resist using baseball as a metaphor for gay sex? NOT ME! Besides which, I know I'm in the vast minority in the fandom, but I generally do write with the assumption that Ryan is pitching and Chad is catching. So to speak.

4. "Who's on top?" "Whichever one the blond wants to be.": Miguel/Tulio from The Road to El Dorado. This one is a bit in-joke-y, but basically, Leah and I were watching in our mod senior year, and our housemate Sam came in to watch with us. And commented, basically, "Usually I think you two are reading into things when you think everyone is gay, but WOW. They're in love." And when asked who would be on top, that was his answer.

5. (Almost) primary colors: Will/Warren/Layla from Sky High, guessed by poisonivory. The costuming in that movie is fantastic, especially the color coding of all the characters. Will is blue and Warren is red. Layla is green, unfortunately, not yellow. Otherwise they would be primary colors! (Also, I wrote a ficlet about that.)

6. At one point, they were locked in a closet together. In schoolgirl uniforms.: London/Maddie from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, guessed by poisonivory. Because, you know... at one point, they got locked in a closet together, while wearing schoolgirl uniforms. And then climbed all over each other trying to reach a ceiling vent or something to get out. They are really pretty much in love.

7. Fanon. Awesome, but fanon. No, srsly.: Spot/Race from Newsies, guessed by harmonyangel, clio21000, and poisonivory. Because, while an awesome and super-popular pairing, like I said. Spot/Race is entirely fanon. But still awesome!

8. "Anna Banana would like to hear 'Venus' by Bananarama. Banana.": Shawn/Gus from Psych, guessed by ienablu, poisonivory, and hilaryscribbles. What I really wanted was to post one of the awesome fake names Shawn gave Gus, but I couldn't think of any (except Magic Head). So instead I went with the line that got me hooked on the show.

9. Inconsistent accent/no accent except for one line!: Jack/David from Newsies, guessed by harmonyangel and poisonivory. Because Newsies was filmed well before Christian Bale learned how to actually do and hold an American accent, and so it's hilarious to listen to how many times he slips up. And because David doesn't have an accent at all, except for that one line in King of New York.

10. "I'm nice men.": Han/Leia from Star Wars, guessed by poisonivory. My all time favorite screen couple. YEAH.

11. Sex. In. The limo.: Jules/Robin from Suzanne Brockmann's Troubleshooters series (see the review at the top of the entry!), guessed by poisonivory. Because omg I LOVE THEM and yes, the first time they get it on is in the back of a limo. AND IT IS AMAZING.

12. They should both wear leather pants. Always.: Jon/Aeryn from Farscape. BECAUSE IT'S TRUE.

13. No one loves them. But they love each other!: Jackson/Cody from Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody respectively, guessed by poisonivory. What, you mean a cracky crossover pairing I've rarely ever discussed wasn't completely obvious?! Pshaw.

14. Passion fruit.: As implied by the footnote, there was no way for anyone by poisonivory to guess this one, since it's a joke from a scene that hasn't been written, about a pairing that doesn't actually happen, in a book we're cowriting. But trust me. It's hilarious!

- Pick up to 15 OTPs.
- Describe them in less than 15 words.
- Have your flist guess the OTP.
- PROFIT.

1. Matching outfits for him and him
2. One night to last a lifetime
3. Pitcher/catcher
4. "Who's on top?" "Whichever one the blond wants to be."
5. (Almost) primary colors
6. At one point, they were locked in a closet together. In schoolgirl uniforms.
7. Fanon. Awesome, but fanon. No, srsly.
8. "Anna Banana would like to hear 'Venus' by Bananarama. Banana."
9. Inconsistent accent/no accent except for one line!
10. "I'm nice men."
11. Sex. In. The limo.
12. They should both wear leather pants. Always.
13. No one loves them. But they love each other!
14. Passion fruit.*

[One fandom has multiple pairings there, and I wouldn't normally consider a lot of these my OTPs, just couples I really like; and also, I'm not in this many fandoms, so some of these are just things I like a lot but would never write. *shrug*]
*Apologies to people who aren't Jess.

And why the hell not? WIP meme.

( Chad/Ryan, frat!verse, maybe being written for SOMEONE'S birthday this weekend... )

( Chad/Ryan, future fic )

( Ortegaverse crossover (Chad/Ryan, Jack/David, Ryan/David. DON'T ASK.) )

( Newsies, G&D curtainfic )

( EYDW!Verse's next story arch )

In utterly unrelated news, I have a four-day weekend! Sat/Sun, holiday, and then inauguration day -- our company HQ is in DC, they can't get to the building because of the inauguration, so the whole company gets an extra day of PTO. Obama is making my life better before he's even sworn in!

Blink and Mush! Mostly.

Angst:
Mush didn't know why Blink had run away from home.

AU:
"Damn, depth perception's even more important with hovercars."

Crackfic:
Until very recently, the golden retriever had been a newsboy.

Crossover:
"Hey, a letter from my friend Dixie!" Medda exclaimed.

Episode Related:
The nightstick damn near took out his good eye.

First Time:
Boys weren't supposed to do this with each other.

Fluff:
No one noticed two newsboys holding hands in the crowd.

Humor:
It wasn't funny when people fell down. Except Snipeshooter.*

H/C:
"Don't worry none. I'll pay for lodging tonight."

Smut:
In the dead of night, Mush could touch Blink everywhere.

UST:
Mush didn't only scandalize ladies when he unbuttoned his shirt.

* Oh, come on. IT'S STILL FUNNY.

Really, no one on my friendslist has posted this? Shocking!



(From here via here via munkykiss. ♥)

From _bellisima and poisonivory: The Microfic Meme
Try to write different categories of fic (angst, fluff, UST, etc) in 10 words or less.

Angst:
Chad waited by the phone. Ryan hadn't called.

AU:
"Squire Chad, you shall be serving Sir Evans."

Crackfic:
Then Chad and Ryan had PixieStix and a pillow fight.

Crossover:
Ryan perused the headlines and sighed. "Need some improving."

Episode Related:
With a baseball in hand, the motions came back easily.

First Time:
After, Chad collapsed on Ryan's bed, remembering how to breathe.

Fluff:
Chad dunked Ryan; Ryan swore revenge, but kissed him instead.

Humor:
It wasn't funny when people fell down. Except Jason.

H/C:
The third day Chad missed school, Ryan appeared with soup.

Smut:
Ryan flicked his tongue and Chad couldn't stop moaning.

UST:
"What would you have me do?"
Ryan smirked to himself.

This was actually really hard, because I am the longest-winded ever. I might do Newsies tomorrow, though.

Psst! Refuge people! Secret Slash fics are up! Enjoy!

(♥ ♥ ♥ cymbalism219 ♥ ♥ ♥ )

ETA: *actually reads my fic* ♥ ♥ ♥ lielabell ♥ ♥ ♥

You guys!! I now own a light-up, quacking, rubber ducky key chain! And it goes on the same keychain where I already had my heart-shaped Chad charm, which means it is now a keychain OTP. ZOMG. *loves elvensorceress SO MUCH*

Yesterday was supposed to be my family's Chanukah party, but due to weather, it was canceled. I was both bummed and relieved by that; I wanted to see the fam, of course, but I was drop-dead exhausted and spent yesterday basically dead to the world, sitting on the couch staring at the wall. (The most productive I was all day was alphabetizing all the DVDs in our apartment. It was bugging me like whoa that they weren't.)

Today, however, was poisonivory's family Chanukah party! And she invited friends as well, so I met up with second_batgirl and we headed out to Jersey (and met up with harmonyangel there, of course). It was a nice, chill afternoon, full of delicious latkes and lots and lots of chocolate-covered pretzels. Which are, of course, DELICIOUS.

Aaaaand presents! I am such a flake that I forgot to bring anything with me, but Margot got me the new Mercedes Lackey book (!), and Jess combined my birthday and Chaunkah gifts and gave me a raccoon stuffed animal that she knitted herself (I just about cried -- long story), the first HSM on DVD (I know it seems odd that I didn't own it, but I didn't!) and Jump In!, which clearly I NEEDED.

And speaking of things I needed? Jen got me HSM candy canes. Chad is yellow (tropical fruit), Troy is blue (blue raspberry), Gabi is pink (strawberry or cherry, I forget) and Sharpay is green (green apple -- and why is Shar not pink?!). Sadly no Ryan or Taylor. But this is especially awesome because a) apparently, Jen is just fantastic at finding delicious HSM candy (she's also the one who gave me Ryan- and Chad-flavored bubble gum!), and b) you can imagine the dirty, dirty jokes about sucking Chad. *cough* *blush*

Work for the next three days is going to be killer. But then: VACATION. :D :D I'm not going anywhere (except Jersey, for the rescheduled family party, and Long Island, to visit Margot), or doing anything (except the afore mentioned visiting), but DAMN I am looking forward to spending a week and a half chilling on my couch with no stress. HUZZAH.

I broke up with f!s awhile ago, but I will admit, seeing this on my flist (thanks to Sita and Cym for reposting) did put a huge smile on my face. Er, the love part. (We always love new members, though. If you stumble across this, f!s person, play with us! ♥)



In other news, are Joel McHale and Kieth Olbermann just BFF? Because this is the second time Joel has been on Countdown since I started watching.

queenitsy: Did you see the trailer for Corbin's new movie?

poisonivory: Nay.

queenitsy: oh *man*. it looks terrible. I MUST SEE IT OPENING NIGHT. (Also in the interview about it, he apparently said he's "too busy to date" which, you know, is Hollywood for "is gay," I'm pretty sure.)
http://www.freestylemovie.com/

poisonivory: Oh man, even the first line of the trailer is terrible. I do think that casting Madison Pettis as his sister is perfect and adorable.

queenitsy: Agreed. And his dad plays his dad again. I believe.

poisonivory: Otherwise it would be too confusing for him. "WAIT, YOU'RE NOT MY DAD! WHO ARE YOU? DADDEEEEEE!"

queenitsy: I 'm a little surprised every character he plays isn't named Corbin to avoid confusion.

poisonivory: No, but they all seem to start with C.

queenitsy: and now I have a mental picture of teeny, tiny!Corbin singing "C is for Corbin" to the tune of "C is for Cookie". And my heart just exploded.

Disney is showing HSM 1 and 2, the "What's What" addition (AKA pop-up versions, with the exact same pop-up text in differently shaped bubbles). Anyway. Thing I just noticed: the pop ups explain how the papers that get thrown in the air in the opening of "Summertime" were actual student assignments found in the recycling bin, then in a pink bubble with kissy lips at the corner, "They made sure none of the papers were private love notes."

This is over the moment when Chad grabs his basketball from Ryan. :)

Whaaaaat, I am easily pleased.

(Oh, Chad. "Take that little hottie on a proper date," should not be the gayest line in the movie, and yet, IT IS. *pinches his cheeks*)

1) GIP! I can not stop watching this 15-second commercial. I love Corbin SO MUCH, you guys. (I know this comes as a shock.)

2) I've finally begun posting a multichapter HSM fic. It's over at temira. *cough* It picks up after HSM2, so it's not even spoilery for the third movie!

3) Umm. Speaking of, you know, HSM... I've never had a real custom layout for my LJ. (Picture me making a sadface.) If you're bored and layout-ly inclined, I would absolutely love a Chad/Ryan layout. NOT that I'm in a phase or have seen the third movie three times. But. You know. If someone is willing, I can totally write fic or something in return. (Now picture puppy dog eyes.)

4) Icon meme! It's sort of fannish-related, right? From _bellisima:

1; Reply to this post, and I will pick six of your icons.
2; Make a post (including this info) and talk about the icons I chose.
3; Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4; This will create a never-ending cycle of icon glee.

( My 6 icons )

harriet_vane and I have Pop-Up Video on VH1 classic on in the background as we chill on the couch. It's running classic 80s videos, currently Olivia Newton John's "Physical."

And according to the pop up bubbles, this video was TOTALLY choreographed by Kenny Ortega.

Oh, Kenny. Heeeeeee.

Via magickalmolly and idontdance, this morning I found this article, which includes (ahem):

And it’s not like the young audience to whom the HSM franchise is aimed doesn’t read between the lines. After AfterElton.com ran an interview with Simpatico and officially “outed” Ryan, one teen blogger linked to the story under the headline, “BREAKING NEWS! Ryan Evans is Gay! Also the Sun is Hot and the Sky is Blue!”

Oh hey, You think that means THIS blog entry? That I wrote? (Come on, no link love, AfterElton?) Uh, I'm 25, though.

Incidentally, if you don't read Tweenage (also: tween_wasteland, Jess and I are spending the week getting psyched up for Friday (tomorrow omg) by doing daily Top 10 lists. Writing them all has made me giggle, but my favorite so far has actually been Ryan's Top 10 Gayest Moments, so there you go, I guess.