Trabia Garden

Before I get into the traditional talking too much about karaoke, I should mention that the annual Three-Sentence Ficathon is underway! Here's the current post, if you want to prompt or write anything.


Here is a very belated post about our karaoke-focused New Year's celebrations! Part of the reason this post was taking so long was because it's a pain to link to all the songs on YouTube, so I eventually abandoned the effort; I apologise for how spotty the linking is as a consequence.

It will surprise no one to learn that our household celebrated the turn of the year with karaoke on New Year's Eve. Here are the songs I performed!

- The Glee version of 'Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah', because New Year's Eve coincided with the seventh night of Hanukkah. A carefully calculated song choice; it's a Hanukkah song, so it was a way of saying 'happy Hanukkah!' to Rei, but it's a Glee song, so it was also a way of saying 'I want to affectionately inflict psychological damage upon you.' Rei responded by singing 'How Do You Spell Channukkahh' by the LeeVees.

- 'You and Me (But Mostly Me)', from The Book of Mormon. I modified the lyrics slightly to make this a solo, which frankly I think is in the spirit of the song. There was a lot of laughter at this one, and my housemates broke into applause at the end. 'Yes!' I declared, opening my arms to the sky. 'I deserve this!'

- At Rei's suggestion, the two of us duetted on 'Guy Love' from the Scrubs musical episode. Tem had not seen Scrubs and probably found the experience slightly puzzling.

- I was concerned that 'Dylan' by Emmy the Great might be too fast, but it turned out to be really fun to sing! This is a song I picked up from my time living with th_esaurus; she used to listen to it a lot.

- 'Last Surprise -Scramble-' from Persona 5 Strikers was also fast and fun! Everyone joined in on the too many 'oooooh's at the end.

- Rise Against songs are always both extremely intimidating and an absolute blast to sing, and 'Help Is On the Way' is no exception. I struggled with the 'RIGHT HERE' screams but had an earnest crack at them.

- Singing Gackt's 'Last Song' with Rei was a very nostalgic experience. I was nervous about singing in Japanese, but I think it went okay. It's amazing how the songs you listened to as a teenager stick with you, even if they're in a language you don't speak.

- Tem and I like to wait until everyone's let their guard down and then throw a duet from Death Note: The Musical into proceedings. On this occasion, the duet in question was 'The Way It Ends', so I got to play smug Light, one of my favourite Light Yagami modes (all of Light's modes are my favourite Light modes).

- I ran out of songs I was confident in, so I had to venture into my 'this is probably a bad idea' picks, which is how I ended up singing 'Big Enough' by Kirin J Callinan. There were incredible reactions from the room when the screaming cowboy kicked in. The fun thing about doing this song for karaoke is that, although it's a meme, only a very specific part of it is well known, so the audience may not suspect you're singing a meme song until you throw your head back and go AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH.

- Rei joined me for RichaadEB's metal cover of Touhou's 'Bad Apple', which is fortunate, because I don't think I would have been capable alone! That song really doesn't give you any breathing room.

- I enjoyed singing 'Body' by Marah! I'm always surprised by the vanishingly low viewcount on Marah's songs on YouTube; for a long time I struggled to find their songs on there at all. My brother listened to them a lot when we were teenagers, and I always assumed they were well known, but apparently not; he'd just got into an incredibly niche band, and landed me with a fondness for their songs as a consequence!

And a few others I don't have much commentary on: 'Burning in the Skies' by Linkin Park, 'This Old Sin' by Koethe, a repeat of the sea shanty version of 'Rockstar' by Nickelback.

My favourite performances by Rei included 'Don't Be a Lawyer' from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, the unfortunately named 'JAP' by the perplexingly named abingdon boys school, 'Fight Club' by Fitzy, and a couple of Tom Lehrer songs: 'Smut' (with relish) and 'The Masochism Tango' (Rei and Tem briefly tangoed together during this one, although fortunately they didn't follow the song's instructions to the letter).

Rei also performed 'Mother Mary' by Tom Auton, and the lyrics made me suspicious. 'Is this on your Billcifer playlist?' I asked, and Rei hastily shushed me. (Billcifer is Rei's Lucifer-inspired Bill/Dipper Gravity Falls AU; it's here, and I can strongly recommend it if that sounds like your thing! It's been great to see Rei's enthusiasm for working on it.)

My favourite of Tem's performances included 'Gettin' Bi' from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, 'Hurricane' from Death Note: The Musical (always a delight; Tem always puts such passion into 'I AM THE GOD OF A BRAVE NEW WORLD'), 'Godless, Lawless & Non-Monogamous' by New Here, and 'Monochrome' by BABYMETAL (with me and Ginger singing backup vocals).

I'm noting my favourite performances down in part so I can look up the original songs at some point, for those I wasn't familiar with already. One of the fun aspects of karaoke is getting to discover cool new music! However, there's always the risk that I'll seek out the original and go '...actually, I prefer this song when my friends are singing it.'

Rei, Tem and I did a couple of songs as a trio towards the end: 'Wait for It' from Hamilton and 'Six Feet' by Patent Pending. I was afraid that the Hamilton song would be too ambitious, but I think it worked out!

Tem and Rei did a magnificent duet of Sarah and the Safe Word's 'Something Is Afoot on Old Man McGrady's River', and wrapped up with the occasion-appropriate 'This Year' by the Mountain Goats. A great way to see 2024 out!

I've been having a good time with the Final Fantasy Kiss Battle!

I've received some great responses to my prompts. necrophilia wrote me Edea/Seifer, and requiems wrote me Serah/Hope. (necrophilia and I actually both prompted Edea/Seifer at the same time, because we are both terrible people with great taste.)

I've also written a couple of ficlets myself. Here they are!


( Debts, Final Fantasy XV, Prompto/Ignis, 800 words )


( Across the Distance, Final Fantasy VII/Final Fantasy X, Aerith/Yuna, 900 words )


('Riona, did you name your Aerith/Yuna fic Across the Distance after Celene Dion's "My Heart Will Go On"?'

N-no. No. No, of course not. No.)

SOMEONE IS WRITING FANFICTION FOR VISITORS. Someone is writing fanfiction for my Assassin's Creed fanfiction. This is so weird and I'm delighted.

Even better: someone is writing Visitors fanfiction with Shay/Aveline. Somehow I accidentally caught this 'ship (which there was literally no fanfiction for) while writing Visitors. They never canonically interact, but they could, theoretically; they were only born sixteen years apart. And there's definitely the potential for a really intriguing dynamic; they're kindred spirits in being pushed to doubt the Creed by their mentors, but they fight on different sides.

I'm glad someone else is carrying on the Visitors universe, because all my further ideas for it are unwritably ridiculous. I'm desperately trying to restrain myself from attempting Visitors (Gratuitous Wish-Fulfilment Edition): exactly the same concept, only everyone is constantly cuddling and falling asleep on each other. It would be terrible and deeply implausible. You don't know how much effort it took to keep myself from ending the 'traumatised post-hanging Ezio meets Desmond for the first time' scene with the two of them platonically bed-sharing. I keep going 'BUT SHAY'S TIMELINE OFFERS SO MUCH SCOPE FOR HUDDLING FOR WARMTH' and then having to drag myself away.

(I really want Shay to be warm. It's very important to me. I accidentally fell into freezing water in Rogue and couldn't find a way out and he froze to death and it was horrible.)

I'm not even a fluff writer most of the time, but apparently all I want to see from Assassin's Creed is this collection of mass-murderers snuggling up to each other.

And also Shay/Aveline. Seriously, I couldn't have ended up 'shipping two characters from the same game?

...aaaaand now I've written the below. Wow. This is embarrassing. I'm sorry that this journal has turned into nothing but weird self-indulgent AU fanfiction for a fandom none of you are in.


Title: Visitors (Gratuitous Wish-Fulfilment Edition)
Fandom: Assassin's Creed
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Shay Cormac/Aveline de Grandpré
Wordcount: 9,000
Summary: Visitors was a collection of scenes from a universe in which most of the Assassin's Creed protagonists kept meeting through involuntary time-travel. This is the same, only now they all cuddle and fall asleep on each other. Don't give me that look.
Notes: These side-stories may occasionally conflict with the established Visitors timeline. It's the gratuitous wish-fulfilment edition and everything is permitted.


( Visitors (Gratuitous Wish-Fulfilment Edition) )


Part Two

I've discovered a new appreciation for Chuck on this Supernatural rewatch. He never really struck me before, but he's delightful in 'The Real Ghostbusters'. His awkward interactions with Becky, in particular, really make me smile.

I love that Supernatural introduced a ridiculous, exaggerated character representing its creator and a ridiculous, exaggerated character representing its fandom, and then paired them up. Supernatural 'ships itself with us. I think that's sort of wonderful, if unsettling.

(If you want some ridiculous, meta-filled Chuck/Becky fanfiction, incidentally, I laughed all the way through If on a winter's night a fangirl by trinityofone.)

Of course, the ridiculous 'Sam and Dean attend a Supernatural convention' episode is immediately followed by 'Abandon All Hope', the most emotionally devastating episode in the entirety of Supernatural. When I'd finished the episode, I turned off the television and then stared unhappily at the blank screen for a while. Quite a weird comedown from all the 'Real Ghostbusters' giggling.


I don't have the nerve or the video equipment to compete myself, but sign-ups are currently open for GISHWHES, Misha Collins's huge ridiculous scavenger hunt, if you fancy spending a week at the mercy of Collins's twisted imagination. Past items to scavenge have included 'an orchestra playing Carry On Wayward Son' and 'a photograph of a fireman dressed entirely in kale'.

Oh, Misha Collins. I have to admire anyone who, upon gaining a devoted fanbase, has the following thought process:

You know, I actually have a lot of power over these people.

Power I could potentially abuse.

I'm going to make them build dinosaurs out of sanitary towels.

(He's also made people design romance novel covers depicting him and the Queen. At the risk of being arrested for treason, here are a couple of my favourites: one, two.)

Here, because it amused me, is Jensen Ackles telling the tale of how he found out about GISHWHES (it involves a portrait made out of Skittles) and the accompanying photograph.


Incidentally, whilst looking for GISHWHES item examples, I stumbled across this tweet from Collins:

Breaking News... Season 8 is official! Fun fact: If Jensen got Jared pregnant when they first met, they would have a 7 year-old.

MISHA.

Well, I wasn't expecting Megumi Ogata to show up in Full Moon wo Sagashite. Izumi spoke his first line offscreen and for a bizarre second I thought Komaeda had somehow found his way into this previously Komaeda-free anime.

I'd be interested to see that, actually. I think I'd be interested to see Komaeda in most things.

Full Moon wo Sagashite also contrived a situation in which Mitsuki and Takuto were going to have to kiss, and then Meroko interrupted at the last moment. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS SHOW WANTS FROM ME. All the evidence and every single dramatic convention says that Takuto must have been Mitsuki's father in his human life, surely, but on the other hand this show clearly doesn't want me to stop 'shipping them. I fear there's no danger of that.

I thought from the title that 'The Old Man on the Swing' would just be more substanceless filler, but it turned out to be a really good episode. Full Moon wo Sagashite is at its strongest when it focuses on the shinigami aspect of the storyline; it's a shame that the vast majority of it focuses on the magical pop star aspect instead. (There's one episode where the entire plot is 'Mitsuki is going to give a concert! Let's watch a big montage of her promoting the concert! OH NO, THE VENUE BOOKING HAS FALLEN THROUGH. They hold the concert somewhere else! The end.')

I've realised that, whenever Takuto is on the screen, I watch him exclusively. It doesn't matter whether he's the focus of the scene or in the background, saying nothing at all; my eyes are always on Takuto (possibly, I'll confess, watching for the occasional hint of how painfully in love with Mitsuki he is). I hope I'm not missing anything important. For all I know, the other characters could all break into a lively jig whenever Takuto's about.


ALMOST TOTAL CHANGE OF SUBJECT TIME: oh my God, I just came across this Super Dangan Ronpa 2 fic (spoilers for the first trial) and it is exactly the weird Hinata/Komaeda I wanted. I can't believe how perfect it is. And yet it only makes me crave more! What a simultaneously hope- and despair-inducing find.

The first chapter of Super Dangan Ronpa 2 has left me in the frustrating state where I want to write fanfiction of my own but, alas, there isn't enough canon available for me to get the characters' voices down. I don't even know what I'd write; I'm just itching to write something. Probably weird Hinata/Komaeda, let's be honest.

In my last entry, I mentioned the subject of inappropriate stories for Disney to adapt (Disney's The Human Centipede, for example). kadrin, because he is magnificent, posted this work of genius in the comments.

Unfortunately, that work of genius did indirectly lead to the following incident, also known as How reipan Ruined My Life:

(We are at a party hosted by our mutual friend Yuffie and her boyfriend. Also in attendance are various friends, acquaintances and people I have never previously met. I have brought along a printout of the above-linked work of genius and shown it around. Someone asks where it came from.)
Riona: Well, I have a blog, and—
Rei: She's kind of Internet famous.
Riona: I'm not Internet famous; I just—
Rei: She's Internet famous. I have met people who have heard of her.
Partygoer: What are you Internet famous for?
Riona: I'm not—
Rei: Top Gear fanfiction.
Riona: ...oh, God, really?
Rei: Yep. Sorry, but it's what most people know you for.
Riona: (trying to salvage the situation) You write one story in which the Top Gear team— (I am going to say 'train Pokémon')
Rei: Have sex with cars.
Riona: ...
Riona: ...
Riona: ...well, actually, I wrote more than one story about that.
Riona: ...
Riona: I'm - I'm going to leave now.

REI. People did summon me back when I attempted to escape, though, so I suppose I'm not ostracised? (Rei later, having observed that one of the guests had a wonderfully rich voice, made him read an extract from Fifty Shades of Grey aloud for our amusement. She's wonderful really. BUT ALSO TERRIBLE.)

I don't feel remotely capable of writing X-Men: First Class fanfiction myself, but it's still quite fun to speculate on stupid AU ideas. Erik and Charles could found Hogwarts together! I thought at first that they might fall out because Erik was uncomfortable with accepting Muggle-born students, but of course that wouldn't work; this is presumably a world in which magic is a genetic mutation and has been hidden by individuals who believe themselves to be alone, so pure-bloodedness/half-bloodedness/Muggle-bornedness wouldn't really exist as concepts. Maybe Charles has dreams of a world in which magic and Muggles coexist, whilst Erik thinks they'll only survive if they create their own community unknown by Muggles, parallel but separate, much like the wizarding world in the actual Harry Potter books.

Also, there should be a Misfits crossover in which Charles recruits the ASBO Five and finds himself completely incapable of keeping them in line. Whenever Erik claims that mutants are superior beings, it's a struggle for Charles not to cast his eyes significantly in Nathan's direction.

It doesn't matter that I can't write any ideas I might have, really, because the best possible X-Men: First Class fic already exists. It is a Groundhog Day-inspired reworking of the beach scene, and it is over here, and it is amazing. Written by amazingly_me and highly recommended.

Also, I'm obviously totally biased about this because it was written for my prompt, but here is a fabulous little work of Erik/Raven(/Charles) smut in which Charles is a guilt-ridden psychic voyeur and it is everything I could have hoped for and more. (Bit selfconscious about confessing to the prompt, but I thought I'd better be honest about the possibility of bias; besides, if I'd posted the rec on its own there would have been the possibility of someone scrolling down to the OP's response and going 'hang on, this abundance of italics looks awfully familiar', and I'd rather unmask myself than be unmasked.)


Today, I spent quite some time searching for a male Seviper in Pokémon White just so I could nickname it 'Severus Snake'.

Well, 'Sev Snake', because sadly 'Severus Snake' wouldn't fit within the character limit. But you and I know what I meant.

I have absolutely no right to be this pleased with myself.

So I finish my course, and what do I do? I start writing essays for fun, it seems. Oh, dear.

Here is a manifesto for the Mark/Jeremy pairing in Peep Show! I've put in an application on ship_manifesto, but it hasn't been accepted yet; this will probably be crossposted there eventually.

(I am ridiculously invested in Mark/Jeremy. Why is it in a fandom that barely exists? Oh, yes: because I'm me.)


Title: Not Sick, Not Well
Fandom: Peep Show
Pairing: Mark Corrigan/Jeremy Usborne*
Wordcount: about 2,000
Notes: This is an essay on the pairing, not a fic. It's written to be accessible to people who haven't watched Peep Show, but it does contain spoilers up to the end of the fifth series. There are some pictures, but it's not massively image-heavy.

* spelling of surname canonically variable


( and I'm so hot 'cause I'm in hell )

Hey, fanfiction.net now has a section for Peep Show! The website isn't known for quality, of course (although the one other person writing for the section at the moment has a very good grasp of Jeremy), and there's not much there yet, but I'm hoping that the existence of a section for it will make people think 'hey, perhaps I could write for that'. (I've stuck Atypical Flatmate Behaviour* up there in the hope that enlarging the section will make it more appealing to other writers. It feels a bit weird and uncomfortable; I haven't posted to fanfiction.net in three and a half years, and I'm afraid to reread most of the works on my account because I'm sure they'll make me cringe, but I couldn't resist contributing to the cause of a Peep Show section. I REALLY, REALLY WANT PEOPLE TO WRITE PEEP SHOW FANFICTION, IF THAT'S NOT CLEAR. Mark/Jeremy, ridiculous and mutually destructive though it may be, is genuinely one of my favourite pairings ever.)

* er, not trying to show off; just making sure the Livejournal link is accessible, in case people haven't read it and might otherwise read the fanfiction.net version, because I prefer LJ comments to reviews on ff.net where possible.

I should probably write more myself, of course. The problem with writing Peep Show fanfiction, for me, is the fact that Peep Show is so very focused on the everyday that crackfic doesn't seem to work. Most of the things I write stem from the thought 'I wonder whether I could throw the characters into this ridiculous scenario without compromising their personalities or the tone of the source material?', but much of the tone of Peep Show is lost the moment one ventures into the impossible. Having Jeremy impregnate poor Mark could potentially be hilarious, but I cannot imagine actually writing it. I can't even consider which Pokémon Mark and Jeremy would have. It just doesn't work.

I suppose it might be good for me to try to write something that isn't crack, tricky though I may find it. In any case, I should try to write more Mark/Jeremy, because it is such a wonderful pairing: disastrous and hilarious and, in a bizarre way, sort of heartbreaking. Jeremy is the one for you, Mark, whether you like it or not.

(Actually, I find Mark/Big Suze strangely adorable as well. Perhaps there should be fanfiction for that. Nothing requited; just Mark obsessing over her and desperately trying to suppress or at least hide it. Oh, Mark, you are so romantically doomed. I'd embark on a horrible car-crash of a relationship with you any day.)

If anyone else is desperately seeking Peep Show fanfiction, may I recommend dafnagreer's Ten Years Later (Mark/Jeremy, R, in which Jeremy is delightfully hopeless at seduction and Mark's reaction at the ending does odd things to my heart) and Succession (gen, PG, post-series six, spot-on voices and wonderful Mark-narration)? Also, Schemes by scarffetish, sort-of Mark/Jeremy, PG-13, in which Jeremy is typically awful, Mark is typically long-suffering and I laugh extremely hard.

I cannot find any Mentalist fanvids set to 'Read My Mind' by The Killers. You disappoint me, fandom.

(I also cannot find any Jane/his entire team fanfiction! Come on, guys, don't make me cry. Although, as I have just stumbled across a Patrick Jane/Tony Stark fic, I think I may have to forgive you. I SHALL EXPECT JANE/EVERYONE AT SOME POINT, HOWEVER. (And possibly Pepper Potts/Van Pelt.))


Something that interests me: although I have written very little Mentalist fic so far, I have already noticed that I tend to gravitate towards Van Pelt's point of view. I have no idea why. I suppose it makes sense that I'm not writing from Jane's point of view, despite the fact that he is easily my favourite character, because the actual show tends to obscure his intentions from us for most of the episode and so we're always kept at a slight distance from him, but why Van Pelt specifically? There are aspects of her character - her faith, her very careful morality - that make me worry about whether I'll be able to write her well, but somehow hers is still the perspective into which I naturally fall. Odd.


I have now seen the first two episodes of the second season! And, oh, the beginning of 'Redemption' was all about the team having become Jane's family and his inability to admit it to himself. I love the amount of support The Mentalist offers for the pairing of Jane/everyone. I'm not sure how genuinely I believed it when I came up with the theory, but then every episode reinforced it and now I can't help thinking of 'Jane is deeply in love with every member of his unit' as canon. Best canon ever.

Minor spoilers for the episode; highlight to read: AND HE HUGS LISBON. ♥! Just Cho and Van Pelt to go! I mean, it's totally okay if Jane wants to hug any member of his team more than once, but he certainly has to at least give them a hug each. (And, oh, when he says 'I have nothing else to do' and literally means that the job is the only thing that has any meaning in his life, augh.)

NUMBER ONE ON THE LIST OF THINGS I AM ABSOLUTELY NOT ALLOWED TO FIND HOT: PATRICK JANE SNIFFING A DEAD BODY AHDHSHHDDFJFGH RIONA STOP REWINDING TO REWATCH IT WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU


Regarding 'The Scarlett Letter': I love how rubbish Jane is at running. Possibly a weird character detail of which to become fond, but I love it. I love that, if there is any way he can possibly avoid running, he'll take it. I love that, if he is forced to run, he's so half-hearted about it that he looks like he's moving in slow motion. I love that he's out of breath in seconds.

I also love that he thinks of the couch as 'his couch' and is far too protective of it. Aww! (Jane was so cute in this episode.)


I want to see an episode in which Jane completely screws up. I know he's screwed up before, not generally in a 'reaching the wrong conclusion' sense but in an 'approaching things the wrong way and getting the suspect killed' sense, but what I want is an episode in which he screws up and as a result a member of his team is almost killed.

I am sorry that I want so many horrible angstful things to happen to you, Jane, but I can't help it. This wouldn't happen if you weren't so good at having horrible angstful things happen to you.


EDIT: I just started watching The Mentalist: Revealed, and Simon Baker said, 'Call me a sex symbol all you like, 'cause sometimes, when I wake up, I wouldn't want to sleep with me,' and I immediately wanted so much Jane/Jane fanfiction.

Oh, dear.

(ALSO THIS IS A REALLY WEIRD EXPERIENCE. A man with Patrick Jane's face is speaking with an Australian accent! Rigsby's actor is British! I do not know what to think any more. (Yeoman's accent startled me so much that I had to rewatch what he was saying a couple of times before the similarly disconcerting fact that Rigsby's actor was talking about how attractive Jane's actor is sunk in.))


EDIT AGAIN:

Owain Yeoman: I clearly have a crush on [Baker]. I've just literally just told you I love him! (giggles)

Oh, help. Who wants to take bets on how long it'll be before I'm writing RPF? I love this documentary already.