Trabia Garden

reipan and I went to see Glee Live! at the O₂ last night! We were seated in what I think is called the Upper Tier but should really be called 'oh my God help why are we in the sky', so we were extremely high up and the performers looked tiny, but it was great fun! And it all sounded fantastic. I really don't know why Glee bothers with autotune.

All the performers stayed in character throughout. I loved that, even though we were so vertically far away from the stage, it was always possible to pick Kurt out of a group performance just from the way he moved. His dancing was ridiculous and delightful, and he could never just walk across the stage; he always sort of skipped.

Kurt also had a short skit in which he referred to the Queen as 'Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth the sequel' and became very excited indeed about being in 'ENG~laaaand!', bless him.

There was rather a lot of screaming from the audience, which was a negative (and at times quite a painful) point. Still, I can't really claim to be particularly mature, given my ridiculous dancing to 'Raise Your Glass'. I RAISED MY INVISIBLE GLASS. I PUNCHED THE AIR ENTHUSIASTICALLY WITH THE HAND HOLDING MY INVISIBLE GLASS, IN FACT, WHICH WAS PROBABLY NOT MUCH GOOD FOR THE EQUALLY INVISIBLE CONTENTS OF SAID INVISIBLE GLASS.

Prior to the show itself, a large screen began displaying quotes followed by images of the Glee characters who said them. It was interesting to see which characters got cheered the most. The fandom's favourites appear to be Kurt, Santana, Puck and the back of Blaine's head.


Today, I watched X-Men: First Class for a second time with reipan and my brother Joseph. I was a little afraid that upon watching it a second time I'd suddenly realise I didn't love it, but no; it may have its flaws, but I love this film. (And I 'ship Charles/Raven/Erik so much. Come on, fandom, let's have more of that.)

The post-film discussion somehow ended with me shouting 'I REFUSE TO WRITE FANFICTION IN WHICH MEWTWO IS THE LOVECHILD OF ERIK LENSHERR AND CHARLES XAVIER' at Rei in the middle of a restaurant.

(If, like me, you're not sure whether to spell Erik's surname 'Lensherr' or 'Lehnsherr' (both spellings have been used in different forms of X-Men canon), I noticed on this watching that it was 'Lensherr' in the subtitles. So I suppose that's the canon for the universe of this particular film? Oh, I don't know. I think I'm probably going to pointedly avoid mentioning his surname if I write any more fanfiction.)

Semi-relatedly: WHAT IS THIS VIDEO OF JAMES MCAVOY

WHY IS HE SO TERRIFYINGLY ATTRACTIVE TO ME


Family adventures:

Joseph: I've been juggling for people.
Riona's Father: Can you not manage five people?

I think my favourite part was how very pleased with himself my dad looked.

Also:

Joseph: ...I don't remember doing this. (holds up his donor card, on which is written, in red crayon, 'I LIKE BLOOD')

I hear gossip about you all over the place. It just makes me sigh, RAKUNI. How did you get so strong? Go for the world championship now! I'll always be cheering you on! Call you later! ...is that OK?

Juggler Irwin's crush on me in SoulSilver is a bit weird and creepy, but the 'is that OK?' really made me smile. Oh, Juggler Irwin.

SPEAKING OF UNEXPECTED POKÉMON SLASH (I always play as a boy; there was no female character option back in the days of Red, and so playing a Pokémon game as a girl would just feel wrong now):

'Give him a call when you feel like it. He can be overly confident, but he still needs company. He says he won't have any plans on Sunday nights... Giggle!'

I, er, I think Daisy Oak is trying to set me up with her brother. Sorry, Daisy, but when I call him he tells me to call when he's available for a battle or forget about it. I don't think he's interested.

...actually, I just called Blue to check exactly what he says, and he opens with 'Hello... Whatever... Don't worry about me. I'm doing peachy over here!' Does this mean that my character is enquiring after his well-being? Oh, Blue. I just want him to find a friend.

(Blue generally breaks my heart a little. I mean, yes, he's a bit of a git, but still. I was so distressed when I learnt that when he sees you at the Lavender Tower in the first game and asks 'What brings you here? Your Pokémon don't look dead' and then fights you, his Raticate is missing.

If the first-game rival's official name is Blue, does that mean his full name is Blue Oak? What a wonderfully daft name.)


So I recently stumbled across a quote from Darren Criss and immediately set about scouring the Internet until I found its source, because it was the most adorable thing I'd ever heard. Here is said source! The entire video is pretty cute, but Darren's bit starts forty-five seconds in (the video is only two minutes long in total). My face hurts from smiling. I particularly love the smug way he says 'and we hugged'. Why am I not married to him? I don't understand.

I would love to be friends with the Glee cast. They seem like such fun to be around.

Darren Criss and his perfectly triangular eyebrows perform an interview about his role as Blaine in song. No spoilers.

Darren Criss, you tremendous dorkface. Marry me immediately.


AND NOW I HAVE SEEN 'A VERY GLEE CHRISTMAS' AND KURT AND BLAINE ARE SO PRECIOUS

HERE IS A VIDEO OF THEM BEING PRECIOUS

(That clip has actually been floating around for a few days, but I managed to resist until the actual episode. I have willpower! So proud of myself. NOW WATCH IT (unless you are also a Glee fan waiting to see the episode itself), BECAUSE IT'S ADORABLE.

I mean, obviously you don't actually have to watch it, but if you are a fan of adorable boys adorably singing to each other I would highly recommend it.)


...yes, all right, this entry really does consist solely of two video links. I have had all the coherency knocked out of me. Seriously cannot remember the last time I 'shipped anything this hard. I hope you enjoy the clips, if you watch them! (Fear not; I'm sure I'll be back to posting excessively lengthy entries about things nobody watches before long.)

Last night, I watched the extended 'Health and Safety' episode of QI on a television with rather poor reception. The static and jumpy picture made it look as if Jeremy Clarkson leant over to make out with David Mitchell over the credits. I was deeply confused.

Typing that has made me realise that I sort of want fanfiction about Clarkson and Mitchell. Not necessarily Clarkson/Mitchell (not really a pairing I want to see, although were someone to write it I would be forced to read out of sheer curiosity), but stories in which they're thrown together somehow and forced to work with each other in spite of their differences. Take Mitchell's excessive caution and Clarkson's 'if it's not working, you haven't hit it with a hammer enough' approach, and then apply that combination to any extreme situation.

Seriously, this would be amazing. Clarkson and Mitchell are trapped in the Arctic! Clarkson and Mitchell in the zombie apocalypse! Clarkson the Hufflepuff (everyone at Hogwarts is as surprised that he's not a Slytherin as you, but I am irrationally convinced that he is a Hufflepuff) and Mitchell the Ravenclaw (I don't think there's any doubt on this point) trying to subdue the leaderless Death Eaters after Voldemort's defeat! I was going to say 'forget fanfiction; let's make it into a sitcom', but then I realised that would basically be Peep Show.


On an unrelated note, here is a video of Darren Criss putting on a surprise public performance of 'Part of Your World' from The Little Mermaid.

Darren Criss, you have made things so awkward for me by being my perfect man. I was already doomed never to find love, and now you've made my doom that much more certain by giving me extremely specific standards.

(I also have a bit of a crush on Blaine, his character in Glee, who is highly unlikely to reciprocate on account of being, amongst other things, fictional. WHEN WE FIRST MEET BLAINE, HE'S CHECKING A POCKETWATCH. IT'S ONLY VISIBLE FOR A MOMENT, BUT IT'S THERE. BLAINE HAS A POCKETWATCH, GUYS. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY THAT'S HOT, BUT IT IS.)

Here is an extract from an interview with Darren Criss:

PopWrap: [picks up phone] Hello?
Darren Criss: Hi, it's Darren Criss ... sorry I'm two minutes late, I was watching a YouTube video.
PW: That's more than OK, but as penance I need to know which one it was.
Darren: I was watching Brett Domino, who is this awesome British musician that does a lot of great covers and he has this song I love called "What Would You Do (If A Shark Started Eating You)?"
PW: Oh, well, what would you do?
Darren: Oh gosh, I’d probably scream, freak out and bleed to death.

OKAY, THIS GUY HAS POSSIBLY WON MY HEART SLIGHTLY. (The source is here; it contains spoilers for episode 2.06 of Glee and a song spoiler for episode 2.10.)


And now I'm going to talk more about episode 2.06, because Glee appears to have abruptly leapt up on my internal fandom scale from 'watch and enjoy' to 'MASSIVE EMOTIONAL INVESTMENT'.

( Further Glee ramblings! )