Ad hoc, ad loc, and quid pro quo! So little time! So much to know!

Dear James McAvoy,

Much as I adore you and long to take raunchy, unlawful liberties with your person, you and Fassbender really need to stop trolling the internet looking for things to say to fuck with the fangirls. It's not very nice, I'm just sayin'.

Oh, who am I kidding, I still love the both of y'all.

Best,
emerald_skies


On the other hands, comments like that wind up spawning gifs like this, so I can't hate too much, but still, it's the principle of the thing.

(Y'all are welcome, by the way)

Oof, this whole post has me making this face:



I'll just stop now while I still have some higher brain functioning.

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"Music is the soundtrack of your life..." -- Dick Clark

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Cheers.

P.S. - Happy birthday, actual Nate!

Just popping in to drop off the second half of Part 11 of Le Batfic.

Title: Celer, Silens, Mortalis (Part 11b)
Authors: emerald_skies and mcl4r3n
Summary: In which Nate has to remind Brad that underestimating him is a really bad idea and Brad learns that there can be benefits to admitting one's mistakes.

( When Brad originally thought of it, having Nate train with him and Rudy seemed like a great idea... )

I don't have a preview ready this time because this part stops where we stopped so far and we're still deciding what exactly will happen next (I may just save the preview for when I have the start of a next scene handy). Enjoy and (as usual) fell free to comment with as much (or as little) feedback as you like!

Cheers.

Sign #42 that I am a huge nerd fandom is taking over your life:

When you get incredibly excited upon discovering something called the Fick principle in your Physiology of Exercise textbook.

Granted, it was devised in a totally unrelated field by a totally different guy in who died about 70 years before Nate was even born, but still!



I know, I'm hopeless. I just felt like sharing that.

Stay tuned for more batfic (parts of it got hot enough yesterday that mcl4r3n and I had to take breaks -- it's gonna be good *g*)

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"I know how men in exile feed on dreams..." -- Aeschylus

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Cheers.

Things I learned from watching Zorro earlier this afternoon:

- Anything and everything Antonio Banderas does is sexy. Even getting into a shouting match with Catherine Zeta-Jones.

- Catherine Zeta-Jones uses the same mix of witchcraft and virgin blood as Stark to avoid obvious signs of aging.

- Grand, sweeping, Spanish-sounding orchestral arrangements make everything better. Everything.

- Rich people are bad (unless they are Zorro).

- Americans are worse (rich Americans are, by extension, the Antichrist).

This was the second movie but, now that I think of it, those pretty much apply to all of them.


Anyway, here's the long-promised first snippet of the GK Batman!AU mcl4r3n and I have been cooking up:

Title: Celer, Silens, Mortalis
Author(s): emerald_skies and mcl4r3n
Pairing: Brad/Nate
Rating: PG-13 so far (for language and violence)
Summary: A Batman AU featuring Brad as Batman, Ray as Alfred (yes, you read that correctly), Walt as Robin, and many others.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. No profit is being made, all non-original content is the property of its respective owners, no infringement is intended, etc.
Author’s note: Many thanks to everyone who gave feedback, helped with the little details, or just generally waved pom-poms in support of this little story that could. This story is for all of you <3

(  The weather forecast for the greater Gotham area promises that the thundershowers of earlier in the afternoon will melt off by nightfall… )

Happy (very late) birthday, pjvilar. Hope you like your present *g*


Cheers.

I blame Stumble for completely shooting my attention span to shit today (even worse than usual!). Argh. It led to discovering this, which is so me it's not even funny -- except when it's hilarious ("Clean all the things?")

Anyway, yet another random stuff post! \o/

1) Generation Kill ( Discs 2 and 3 re-watch )

2) So I have this really weird idea for a fic prompt but I'm not sure how to go about it since I haven't seen American Idiot. Basically, it'd be this AU where Tunny winds up in First Recon (God only knows how, but that's what AUs are for, right?) and what Nate and/or Brad (or others) make of him. It seems like it'd be a cool idea, but that could just be me. Anyone interested?

3) PLEASE READ AND PASS THIS ALONG IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY. It concerns a seriously creepy-ass motherfucker who's been trawling around LJ to stalk/harass/creep on mostly younger women.

That's all I've got for now. Stay tuned for True Blood and Supernatural reaction posts, and thanks for y'all's time! Rock on as usual, internets


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"The gods too are fond of a joke..." -- Aristotle

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Cheers.

*sigh* Ho boy. I've tried to wait as long as I could to give my temper a chance to cool down, but I just can't take it anymore. I need to say something.

fandomsecrets, I'd like a word with you. Or, as I clarified once before, a select few of you.

Someone posted this over in fandomsecrets:

Sometimes this place drives me fucking insane.

Why?

Because of the way the majority of the fans treat the subject matter.

The subject matter is a "dramatized" version of Marines in the Iraq war back in the early days.

What really gets my goat is them excusing their ignorance of the actual issues faced by the service members, and the state of current affairs in the war. That they refuse to read up on the news and truly understand why it was so much suck, and would rather go on fantasizing about making them fuck each other. The actors, of course. Not the real people. Because that would just be gauche.

Look, this isn't some silly fictional bullshit about space Marines flying into Io. You're disrespecting them by not acknowledging what they did, where they did it, and what it meant to their culture and the American culture. While you might get into high umbrage, and defend them/yourselves by saying, "Geez, it's just fandom/only fictional, lighten up," remember two things.

1.) This was NOT fictional.

2.) There is a saying among American servicemembers, particularly those who were deployed and in combat, regarding popular thought on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. "Thank you for protecting our right to go on not giving a fuck."

And that is exactly what you are avoiding: giving a fuck.

Because you don't want to make yourselves feel bad by reading nasty, disheartening accounts about the war, and the people in it, and just want to think about "fictional" Marines screwing each other in their ranger graves under Humvees.

...

First of all, I commend this 'nonnie for the vehemence of his/her opinion -- it's rare for me to actually feel the vitriol in something I read actually coming out of my computer screen.

(On the other hand, this could be the lack of sleep talking).

( Now... )

There's probably some redundancy or other variety of fail in there somewhere (I haven't slept in like 36 hours), and it's entirely conceivable that I've completely missed the mark in terms of what the comment was getting at, so don't be surprised if this post goes through some revisions and/or additions. I'm sorry if I got excessively angry, I'm extremely protective of the GK fandom and proud of how awesome it is, so someone judging it so hard kinda made me go into mama bear mode. I'm actually amazed I got such a coherent post out of the haze of anger and sleep-deprivation going on in my head right now.

Meanwhile, I'm insanely proud of how awesome the fandom is being about this (so far). Please continue being awesome, GK fandom, and know that

(I used the vuvuzela version because I think they're funny and wanted to lighten the mood a tiny bit)

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"Evil is whatever distracts..." -- Franz Kafka

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Cheers.

Edit to add: The 'nonnie speaks again!

To be sure I couldn't give a tinker's damn about what people think is sexy/handsome/hot/fap fodder and whatever. Have fun, it's not hurting anyone.

What I do have a problem with is a marked disinterest in the war outside of the original source material. They were originally published as a way to allow civilians an understanding of the war, and in some sense have it become part of our larger social and cultural story. In some way, it was supposed to introduce facts about the war to people who would otherwise have little to no basis on which to understand it.

This war is still happening now, and when people refuse to understand it outside of one isolated context, or refuse to understand it at all outside of the people (i.e. "characters") that are being fixated on, it verges on a brand of willful ignorance. Some people in fandom CHOOSE to remain ignorant of the war, and the problems that arise for servicemembers because of it. Either because the wars has little effect on them as an idividual, or because it just makes them feel bad reading about it. Not everyone ignores it, but those that do are those that this secret was about.

To those of you that DO go out of your way to learn more about the men and women and their situation both in Iraq and Afghanistan: thank you. People being knowledgeable about the war makes a huge difference in how it affects our society, as well as other countries' societies. The social climate is affected by everyone, not just soldiers and politicians, and the more we understand what it is that is happening, the more good can come out of it.

It's probably one of the biggest ways you can respect the people that are involved with the conflict. Just try to understand it, and be involved with how you understand it affects us.

Ignoring the war and the issues it causes in favor of making the Marines (in this case) do what you want them to, and pretend that this is somehow making you learn more about it is really just bogus.

Basically, if you really respect them, learn what you can about what you're doing. And not just by watching an HBO miniseries; that's a start, but don't stop there.


Because apparently the problem can now be summed up by "Learning about the military: you're doing it wrong". Nice mind change there, 'nonnie. ( My response is this: )

TL;DR - Just because people approach a topic differently than you doesn't make them ignorant or disrespectful or otherwise somehow inferior, and it doesn't make you better either. It just makes you sound snobby and condescending.

So, internets, I finally, finally finished reading One Bullet Away a couple of days ago, and I've been digesting some of my favorite bits -- most of them toward the end. For those of you who aren't feeling particularly literary today (which I totally understand), feel free to roll around in the Stark Picspam Extravaganza I cooked up to keep myself from the path of noble suicide (on account of my finals).

Anyway, book stuff!

1) "The sacred geometry of chance, sir."
"I like that."
"Espera and I talked about it earlier. We can do a lot to influence the outcome, but sometimes it's out of our hands," Rudy said, then mimed firing a rifle. "A running man shoots a burst into a moving Humvee. Why do some miss? Why do some hit? Why a flesh wound and not a femoral artery? Aim and skill have nothing to do with it. The difference between life and death out here is seconds and millimeters -- the sacred geometry of chance." He looked down at the AK bullet in his hand. "Pappy's time came. He was in Somalia and Afghanistan before this. You can only dodge for so long." (280-281)

- I love this concept so much I can't find words (or gifs) to describe it.
- If it's anything like this passage, I may have to give Rudy's book a chance after all (I've been avoiding it out of fear of being inundated with mindless moto bullshit)
- I LOVE YOU FRUITY RUDY!


2) "Look around. This great empire rose and fell. Everything rises and falls, nations and individuals, too," he said. Lacking a cigar to point with, [Espera] leaned back on his hands, "Sometimes I think these decisions are already made; the script already written, and we're the last to read it. Maybe the universe is like big watch: If you can crack the formula to the universal principles, then you can figure it all out." (356)

I love when Espera waxes philosophical about things that don't have to do with the white man's oppression (although those rants can be pretty awesome). This passage is part of why I fully intend to use this book to beat the shit out of anyone who says all Marines are stupid/brainless/meatheaded.


3) I thought I was losing my mind. The only way I knew I was still sane was that I thought I might be going crazy. Surely that awareness meant I was sane. Crazy people think they're sane. Only sane people can think they're crazy. I was reduced to taking comfort in a tautology. (363)

Oh Nate. Your crazy (yet sane, according to you) circular logic makes me ache for you in ways that make me want to cuddle you and give you a cookie and tell you it's all gonna be okay. Or maybe I could just get Brad to do it and then I could sit in the corner and write porn about it.


Christ almighty, I loved this book. It's easily my favorite war book that I've read so far (and I've read a few) -- it offers a fairly approachable insight into military life and thinking without resorting to sounding like a field manual (an unfortunately common tactic in war books). Plus it gives readers a fair, relatively balanced insight into Nate's views and into Nate himself; he made me laugh at some points, and made me legitimately ache for him in others (particularly watching the slow death of his idealism). I encourage anyone who hasn't read this already to give it a try -- even those of you who aren't really into military stuff.

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"Anyone who looks with anguish on evils so great must acknowledge the tragedy of it all; and if anyone experiences them without anguish, his condition is even more tragic, since he remains serene by losing his humanity..." -- Augustine of Hippo

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Cheers.

Internets, meeks00 has planted an idea for a new fic in my head but I'm somewhat torn over a specific plot point. Part of the story involves Alex nicking something from Stark's place for use in a long, elaborate prank, but I can't decide what he should steal.

So, I decided, since y'all are the ones who will be reading this, that I should pose the question to you, internets:

[Poll #1541122]

(I'm conflicted over the action figure because I can't decide if that's something real!Nate would conceivably do)

Anyway, I'm heading back to Le Flat shortly so I'll be off the grid (so to speak) for the next 4 hours or so. No worries though, I promise I'm alive.

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"Modesty is the conscience of the body..." -- Honore de Balzac

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Cheers.

Oh, internets, words elude me that could adequately describe how happy I am at being free from the soul-crushing grind of college (even if it is just for a week). I wish I could bottle this feeling and save it for later.

Anyway, some old(ish) business first:

1) Looks like ASkars beat out Stark in the drag race, which amuses me for reasons I can't quite identify. Having seen Kill Your Darlings recently, I will concede that ASkars made a pretty goddamn fierce transsexual.

2) NPR's Diane Rehm Show (22:39 - 31:12)
Nathaniel Fick discusses gay rights along with several other speakers
http://wamu.org/programs/dr/10/02/04.php

3) Read the third review down ("No Boyscouts Here"). Pay particular attention to the name on it. SURPRISE :D

4) My Kill Your Darlings review post (which uses a lot more capslock than usual for some reason...)

Aaaaand new business:

1) Reminder: The Flags of Our Fathers (re)watch post will be tomorrow (Sunday), March 14th, at 5 p.m. GMT

I'll be posting it an hour early though, just to give everyone a chance to settle in, pick their streaming links, pop popcorn, etc. Bring friends (my journal is open), and I encourage even those of you who don't have/can't get to the movie to come by and flail as well.

2) meeks00 has been writing a truly epic college!AU GK fic featuring student!Brad and professor!Nate (and Nate's equally sexy red pen of doom). I personally think it's fantastic and highly recommend it (it also features very well done Ray/Walt in the background).

3) queeniegalore has written easily the best Ray/Walt fic I've read so far (with bonus nicely handled Brad in the background). Ray/Walt is only my secondary GK ship, but I seriously love this. Give it a shot, even if you aren't so much into Ray/Walt, I can pretty much guarantee there's something for everyone to like.

4) I'm contemplating doing a massive GK fangirling post consisting of me trawling the internets for the hottest pics of the boys that I can find and posting them all here for y'all to flail over. Thoughts, internets?

Dancing!Shaq and dancing!Conan thank y'all for your time.


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"Every artist was first an amateur..." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Cheers.

So, internets, I'm having trouble sleeping and, as a result, was poking around on Google (uh-oh...) for new pics of/articles about Stark with which to amuse myself (or you guys). Behold the fruits of said poking:

( First the pics... )

And then this amusing article in which Stark talks about "fratty" behavior on the GK set. I was particularly intrigued by the "blood in the water" part (I am in the wrong fucking business, internets *__*)

(Side note: I know these are old generally, but I'm relatively new to the Stark/GK fangirling scene so they're new to me -_-)

I like how this journal went from a relative dry spell of Stark posts to the last few being nothing but. Isn't it fun when I'm bored and wandering around the internet? (Rhetorical question, y'all, please spare my tiny, fragile ego)

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"All life is an experiment..." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Cheers.

P.S. - Expect a Kill Your Darlings review post within the next 48 hours or so.

P.P.S. - Just in case y'all didn't think Nate Fick wasn't awesome enough already (gacked straight from generation_kill):

NPR's Diane Rehm Show (22:39 - 31:12)
Nathaniel Fick discusses gay rights along with several other speakers
http://wamu.org/programs/dr/10/02/04.php