allyndra

Angles Thus and So by copperbadge

I don't often read het, so when I say how much I adored this story, know that it had to overcome my initial hesitation. And it overcame that hesitation completely. This story is McKay/Weir and McKay/Sheppard, covering everything from The Storm to the end of season four. And it does it well, incoporating canon in a way that makes sense but always expanding, always giving us more than we saw on the screen. The characters ring true, both in their dialogue and in their points of view. There is humor and emotion and even a little bit of sneaky romance. It's a long read that kept me entertained and involved all the way through.

The author's summary is: The city belongs to Sheppard and McKay, and the boys belong to Elizabeth -- especially Rodney. I think a better summary would be: Elizabeth, Rodney, and John discover the ways they belong to each other. Set aside some time and gives this a read.

So, I've been reading a lot of blogs about race, both in general and in fandom, and I'm trying to become aware of and confront my own skanky race issues. I remember discussion over the fact that people don't ship characters of color as much as white characters. And it drew me up short, because I don't. Chad/Ryan was my first inter-racial OTP, and that's pretty darn recent. All the approval-seeking by Ford never made me want to ship him with John, and even though Ronon is the hottest character ever to grace SGA, I take Rodney over him every time. I do like Gunn (and want him slashed with Xander), but I tend to overlook him. But I could, to some extent, brush this off. Everyone has favorite characters and pairings, and the fact that my pairings tended to exclude characters of color could just be a coincidence.

Then I watched Iron Man. I don't think I'm spoiling anything when I say that Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) and James Rhodes (Terence Howard) had a close friendship. And lately, I watch everything through slash goggles. Still, despite Tony and Rhodes showing emotional connection, long-term friendship, and a willingness to express affection physically, I didn't have any urge to slash them. And that bothers me. If Rhodes had been played by an attractive white man instead of an attractive person of color, I would probably be frantically searching for the Iron Man slash.

The thing is, if I'm just dismissing interesting, attractive characters out of hand because of their color, how do I fix that? Awareness is usually considered the first step, but what is the second? Should I challenge myself to write more characters of color? Make an extra point of giving fic featuring those characters a chance? I'm going to try both of those, but if anyone has other suggestion, let me know.

First of all, Iron Man was freakin' awesome. It wasn't just a good comic book movie, it was a good movie. Full stop. It was what I wanted from Spiderman and didn't get: excellent acting, snappy dialogue, humor, drama, plot. Robert Downey, Jr. did an amazing job of making Tony Stark obnoxious and charming, simultaneously, and even Gwyneth Paltrow (whom I generally don't care for) was very good as Pepper Potts. The CGI very rarely made me feel like I was watching a video game. And where most American action movies have no problem unapologetically casting Muslims as evil incarnate, this movie did a decent job of avoiding some of that bigotry, with sympathetic Afghani characters and multi-racial (though primarily coded as Muslim, so the film-makers don't get a complete pass) villains.

Second of all, Free Comic Book Day! Yay!

That is all.

I don't know if y'all recall my nearly obsessive love for the film Across the Universe, but it's still going strong. And, like a genie who magically produces fic to feed my addiction, dancinbutterfly has written a fabulous Across the Universe fic. It's Max/Jude (which, seriously, how can you not go there?), and the pairing is really the only turn she takes away from canon. Go read Hello Goodbye and see how gorgeous this pairing can be.

And in other news, the icon battle is underway in the mcshep_match Pre-Season Friendly. I think I'm too over-committed to write for it this year, but I made a few simple icons for the Home Team. Hop over here and vote on which team you think has the best icons. You don't have to be a member of the comm to vote, and there are some pretty cool entries.

So, I was over in Customer Service earlier, and one of the women who works there is doing an internship at the Arizona State Legislature. She was sharing with us tales of this man who keeps introducing racist bills to the legislature (like, kids who were born in the US, and therefore are legal citizens, should have to pay back all funds that went toward their education if their parents were illegal immigrants). And it set us talking about the upcoming Presidential Campaign. I'm ready for it. I'm registered, I voted in the primary, and I'm excited to see some actual debate once we have both candidates.

But.

The whole thing keeps making me think of this video.

I've had a bad week. When I logged on, I thought maybe I'd write a post all about it (I got hurt, I got sick, my husband had emotional issues, and then a friend died), but I don't think I will. Sometimes venting and crying helps, but sometimes I just need to think about something else. So.

Tell me three strange things about yourself. They don't have to be feakish, and they don't have to be secrets, just things that make other people go, "Huh?" I'll start.

1. I fingerspell things to myself for no reason. While I'm driving, while I'm walking, while I'm waiting in lines. I fingerspell song lyrics, or thoughts I'm having, or just my name. I'm not a good signer, and I actually can't read it very well when other people fingerspell at me; it's just a habit.

2. I love old Burma-Shave jingles. I'm way too young to remember them (my parents are too young to remember them), but I think they're awesome. I get really angry when I see the Burma-Shave nostalgia merchandise in stores, because they seem to think the way to convey "old" is with a shaving brush and mug. Hello! The whole point of Burma-Shave was that it didn't require a brush. "Shaving brush/ so wet and hairy/ I've passed you up/ for sanitary/ Burma-Shave." (that might be an inaccurrate quote; it was off the top of my head)

3. I am addicted to Chap-Stick. Not lip balm, Chap-Stick, particularly the cherry kind. I feel uncomfortable if I don't have any on, so I usually have a Chap-Stick in my purse, on my desk, and beside my bed. In order to enable this addiction, my husband get me ten tubes of cherry Chap-Stick every year and puts them in my Christmas stocking.

Okay, so now that I sound extra weird, share something distracting and odd about yourself. If you can't think of three, I'll take fewer.

dancinbutterfly was asking for an Entourage mood theme, and I thought that was a great idea. So I hunkered down with my still shiny Photoshop and a whole lot of image downloads and made one.



My first mood theme. *sniffs* I'm so proud.

Full preview here.

Download if you want it for yourself.

Instructions, if you need them

Images taken from:
Daydreaming
Oxionensis
HBO website

I just saw the trailer for Stop Loss on TV again, and I have to ask: Does anyone else keep expecting the soldiers to grab each other and start making out? Because I really do, every time I see it. And I would be totally okay with Ryan Phillipe hooking up with the kid from Third Rock From the Sun, or with one of the other soldiers. Totally okay.

It is so hot here. So hot. My son was home sick today, so I spent a lot of time sitting around being very quiet (so as not to wake up my husband, who works nights) and pondering ways to cool down. It's just not right to need the air conditioner in March.

Title: Cap and Gown
Author: Allyndra
Fandom: Entourage
Pairing: Vince/Eric
Rating: PG-13?
Disclaimer: If they were mine, all that simmering subtext would be text, dammit.
Summary: Graduation day. Prompted by dancinbutterfly

( Cap and Gown )

Dear Allyndra,

When you run out of counter space, do not put the cake in the oven to keep it out of the way. Seriously. Don't. You will forget about it, and you will turn the oven on, reducing the cake to a mess of melted frosting and dried out crumbs. So just. put the cake on the bookcase or in the fireplace or on the floor in the corner, but not in the oven, thanks.

Sincerely,

Me