It Started with a Journal

I've caught up on Teen Wolf after the midseason hiatus, and I am happy to report that so far it's been just as good as the first half of the season! Yay! I just really enjoy watching it, and I'm a lot more interested in the characters now that they're no longer forcing boring ships (Scott/Allison) down my throat.

In fact, I am pretty pleased with the canon ships right now. They're taking it slow and steady with them, especially the Stydia, and I think it's totally the right choice. Unfortunately, I think they still think Scott/Allison is end game, but for now I'm enjoying the fact that they're not together.

I should actually be finishing up my writing quota for the day, but instead I made some Teen Wolf gifs that I should actually be posting to Tumblr... but I haven't posted anything there in so long that I don't know how to get the layout to be what I want and I can't be bothered to fiddle with it right now. Anyway, I'm really pleased with the way they turned out... in general, screencaps from TV shows seem to appear really dark, which doesn't look good for gifs, and Teen Wolf, given the subject matter, is particularly dark (like The Vampire Diaries). So I followed some Photoshop coloring tutorials, and they worked! Mostly. I'm not super happy with one of the Stydia ones, but oh well.

( Teen Wolf ship gifs! )

I have a few videos to share with you guys!

adelagia, accordingtomel and I caught Catching Fire today, and ahead of the movie, we got a trailer for Divergent, the best one I've seen yet. It actually makes me really excited for the movie. Four and his tattoos, omg. When he takes off his shirt and shows her his tats I'm like fdsalfhaljdsh;shfds It is quite refreshing to actually find one of the guys they're casting in these types of movies actually attractive.



Have you guys read Divergent yet? This is what I'll say about it... I think it's good. Maybe not as good as The Hunger Games or Mortal Instruments, but it's solid. I read it over two years ago. My mom had been hospitalized for a ruptured aneurysm, and I was not in the best frame of mind. I went through a YA book phase (similar to the one I'm going through now), and must have read dozens of them. Divergent was basically the only book I liked well enough to recommend. So I suppose that's not too shabby a rec.

I feel like I might've shared this next video with y'all at some point, but can't find it because I just really suck at being consistent with my tagging. But it's awesome, so even if it's the second time I've shared it, it's worth watching again! It's a fan-made Game of Thrones S3 trailer. And yes, I know, S3 has come and gone. That doesn't make this any less awesome of a trailer.



Finally... I don't know a lot of people who watch Teen Wolf. It took until S3 for it to get into its groove, I think, because S3 was awesome. Anyway, even from the beginning, I found the show enjoyable for one reason -- Stiles (Dylan O'Brien). He's the best. akscully keeps getting Stiles mixed up with Derek, so I told her that Stiles was the one with the boyish charm, and to prove it to her, I sent her this YouTube vid, in which Stiles is sure to charm the pants off you in 3 minutes or less. So if you've kind of wondered what all the fuss is about wrt Stiles, or Teen Wolf, and you have 3 minutes, watch this vid and you might very well start adoring him yourself!



(And if you enjoyed that, here's another one you might like.)

I've just found out something crazy. Lady Gaga is 5'1". :O I freaking love her "Bad Romance" video and I watched it again recently and was just noticing randomly to myself that she's super thin but not in a "I work out all the time" way, and it got me wondering if she was actually just a small person. And SHE IS. But I had no idea she was THAT small, she's even shorter than me! Weird. Talk about someone with a big personality.

The Avengers and Green Day's newest album are coming out on the same day. I feel like I should be taking a personal holiday or something. I already have the new album ("Oh Love" is still the best song from it), and I know my Avengers Blu-ray is on its way. With any luck I might even get it early (today)!

I. am. exhausted. 90% of that has to do with work, because of reasons. The other 10% is because I have recently read THREE awesome Avengers stories and must rec the snot out of them. Which isn't the best mental image but you should read them anyway. They're all so meaty and satisfying.

- White Blank Page by allisnow. For the last month or so I've been really hankering to read a long, satisfying, plotty fic with in-character Avengers and gorgeous Clint/Natasha, and that need has finally been met. You don't need the summary (it's not going to tell you much anyway), just go read it. To tell you the premise would be to give something away that I think is better to learn by reading. Just trust me, OK? I'm really glad I waited until it was fully done posting, though, because I'm a wallower, and boy did I enjoy being able to gorge myself on it in one long sitting, wallowing happily.

- Two for the Show by mousie tongue. Fuck. This story. Ohmygod. My heart was in my throat the ENTIRE TIME. I was like, "If this doesn't end well, I am going to destroy everything in my house." Clint. CLINT. He makes me want to stuff him in a little backpack and carry him around with me everywhere. I really enjoy stories where he's being abused and tortured, apparently. I don't know how other writers do it; I can't bear to do it myself, but I'll read the heck out of it. Anyway, this is a high school AU wherein Natasha ends up in the same group home that Clint's in. It's complete, but I'd give up my first-born child for one more chapter. This story blows my mind because Clint and Natasha are completely chaste. It's like an Asian drama, practically, because they don't fucking hold hands or kiss or outright state what they mean to each other... And yet. AND YET. YOU JUST KNOW. This could be like an instructional example of how to show and not tell, in storytelling.

- A Widow's Tale (series) by Mhalachai. OK, I reaaaallllly liked this series, but I don't rec it as qualm-lessly as I do the above two, because a) there's Clint/Natasha, but it's a very small part of the overall story (and you see/hear of Natasha with /Others, though not while she's with Clint); and b) it's a Stargate Atlantis crossover, which might not appeal to everyone, though it didn't make a single difference to me that I'd never seen a single Stargate show/movie/whatever. Also, I'm not sure that the series is actually done, though "Widow's Letters" totally has a satisfactory ending and could totally be seen as "the end" whether or not there are more stories forthcoming. The premise of this story is unique in that it keeps to Natasha's original comic book background -- she's a child in the 1940s and doesn't age due to the experiments that were performed on her (the vast majority of stories I've read simply bump her timeline up, so that she's the same age as Scarlett Johansson), a la Wolverine. Anyway, one of her deep cover assignments early on involved being married to Patrick Sheppard, with whom she had a son, John Sheppard (of Stargate Atlantis). The series is primarily about re-establishing their relationship after 30 years. The Clint/Natasha happens very, very gradually, and it's pretty fun to read a story where the tables are turned on the age difference between them, because even though Natasha LOOKS young, she literally has a son who is ONE YEAR OLDER than Clint. Sheppard actually refers to Clint as Natasha's 'boytoy' at one point. TEE.HEE. The best/meatiest story (and when C/N shows up) is the fourth story in the series, "Widow's Letters." I don't think you have to read the first three to understand it (as long as you know the premise), but it's nice to have the backstory, too.

All three stories above have very liberal doses of delicious angst. On the opposite end of that spectrum, I'm two scenes away from finishing a story, but it's a very silly AU that's going to need some significant pre-beta work. >.>

I'm rereading Wuthering Heights, because I absolutely loved it as a teenager and haven't read it since then. I don't know why, maybe I've been afraid that it wouldn't hold up or something. Anyway, of the Bronte sisters' works, it's my favorite, and it's always annoyed me that it doesn't get the same kind of accolades that Jane Eyre, which I've never cared for, has. I also find myself wondering about a chicken/egg situation -- do I love literary assholes because of Heathcliff, or did I love Heathcliff because I've always been attracted to literary assholes? *ponders deep thoughts*

And... I've also been watching a lot of TV. A lot. ( Don't be frightened. )

I've also been doing some minor exercise, which for me, is huge. I haaaaaaaaaate exercising. I used to go to the gym, and I dreaded it. DREADED IT. Renner apparently feels the same, which just makes him even more perfect. And obviously has way more discipline than I do, given his freaking body. -.-

( GIFs. May not be safe for work, depending on how prudish your coworkers are. )

Went to a Seattle Sounders game this weekend. Unlike baseball, I enjoy watching soccer even when I'm not really following the team. I mean, you have agile guys in nylon shorts running up and down a field, what's not to like? I really didn't want to go (as adelagia can attest to, as I kept bitching about it), because it was with work people and I felt like it was cutting into MY weekend, but I ended up having fun. People have to fight tooth and nail to make me overcome my hermit tendencies. >.>