New year's review post o'doom
So, I haven't posted for a while. Sorry, sorry. I've been settling into to life back at school. (More on that in another post.) However, I have been keeping tabs on the events of the past week or so and jotting down some commentary too ;)
Consider this your opportunity to catch up on or re-enjoy all of the recent bandom insanity.
This Week Fortnight In Review:
1. sinuous_curve and I may or may not be writing a ridiculously long Ryan/OMC fic (with undertones of Ryan/Brendon just because). We are insane. Well, it’s mostly me who’s insane but she’s indulgent. I have a 2500 word plot summary written out *facepalm*
2. There’s this new community for celebrating bandom shipping called bandom_ships. I’m actually not quite sure how I feel about it. On one hand, it unites fans who share OTPs and could turn this whole shipping wank nonsense into something perhaps productive and warm. On the other hand, it may only serve to drive the wedge deeper between fans of different ships and reanimate the wank come February. I'm sincerely hoping it's the former not the latter.
3. TOM CONRAD READS YOUR PORN!
I know this issue has been beaten to death by now, but I was so amused - not just by the idea that he may read it but by the way the whole fandom went and exploded over this, half in hysterical laughter and half in sheer terror. People were (are?) talking about f-locking their fic etc etc but I personally still don’t get it. If all of this “reminding” of the boy's status as real people who could access our fanworks is squicking folks, does that mean people have been pretending otherwise? Because that's not exactly healthy, I don't think :p
Maybe it's because I’ve already done the whole “panicking about the nature of RPS thing” (I was adamantly against it for the longest time before entering this fandom), but bandom boys discovering my work doesn’t bother me in the least. I don’t think people should go around spamming them with links or encouraging them to read it - because if they want to maintain a polite ignorance, that’s their right too - but I write and participate in this fandom with full awareness that they could be reading entry this right now (as highly unlikely as that might be).
I say, if the boys want to read our fic, it's their right. It is about them, after all. And kudos to Empires for their awesome sense of humour.
4.
Jon Walker just WHAT are you doing? Oh dear God. I love my fandom.
5. And then we have shit like the whole Brendon/Lana fiasco. Oh god. That’s more drama than you can shake a stick at.
Do I think they had a thing? Yeah, probably. She’s not denying that and some of us have actually known about it for a while. Who knows if that blog was authentic but she certainly can't seem to keep her story straight and much of it was stuff I’ve heard before from other sources. We'll probably never know for sure.
If it is real, though, I’m positive that some of it (particularly the nastier things) was just the vengeful ranting of a woman scorned. Just take it with a grain of salt, really. Brendon isn’t perfect and, yeah, is probably a shitty boyfriend. It's not the end of the world.
What I do like is that it's forcing people to re-examine their characterizations of Brendon. I don't advocate painting him as a cracked-out asshole but hopefully people might start seeing that he's deeper than the hyper, childish facade he puts on for the cameras. He has layers and complexities and I would love to see more of them shine through in fic.
Speaking of good things to come out of Lana's bitching, let's talk about Shane Valdez.
Meet Shane.
This is the kid from the showering picture with Brendon. The "best friend" who Lana was referring to in her blog when she mentioned Brendon wanting to have a threesome. Brendon's 27-year-old, film-producing roommate. (shiola_shiola actually wrote this handy primer about him here.)
And guys, I DEMAND FIC IMMEDIATELY. It's just too perfect. They are so adorable together and practically joined at the hip! Shane is all artistic and actually filming a Panic documentary (he was at the cabin!). They live together. They are obviously boyfriends! You guys, I implore you to write fic about this RIGHT NOW.
6. We may have gotten a "joke" song and an album title title out of it, but first Panic had to torture us with those infernal website puzzles. I can't say I enjoyed being driven up the wall, but I'll give it an B+ in terms of viral marketing schemes. (It might have earned an A- if we'd actually been rewarded with a real song at the end, but it wasn't especially creative either way.)
Or possibly it would have been better if We're So Starving had been clearly marked as a joke to entertain the fans while we wait for the real stuff to break. I'm still not quite certain what they mean by "joke". Is it just a silly and light-hearted track or do they not intend to put it on the album at all? Because in the buzznet interview they mention it being an "intro." (Also, why is buzznet so impossible to navigate? My Management of Information Systems prof would fail them so hard.)
7. Anyhow, I like Pretty. Odd. for an album title. It's fitting and kind of adorable. Good job.
Sadly, now Panic has dropped the "!" from their name. I'm not heartbroken over it but I do mourn the loss. Mostly, though, I'm suspicious of why they felt the need to drop it. They say it was never meant to be part of their name anyhow, but I have the feeling it has more to do with them believing they've "outgrown" such childish things. They're all of 20 now, you guys. So mature :P
8. I ACTUALLY, LEGITIMATELY LIKE PANIC'S NEW MUSIC!
No one could be more surprised about this than me. I honestly haven't been able to stop listening to it! I have a lot more confidence now that this album may not indeed be such a catastrophic sophomore slump. Possibly. :D
I'm really feeling the refined acoustic version of When the Day met the Night (AKA Middle of Summer):
Such pretty imagery in that song. *sighs happily*
However, Ryan Ross, what on Earth were you wearing at that HCT press conference?
(Excuse the evil tags)
Someone desperately needs to burn that shirt. Also, is it just me or is Ryan's haircut vaguely reminiscent of Star Trek's Spock? (I'm still hunting for the right photo to properly make my case. Let me know if you find it.) It doesn't suit him at all.
I think we might just have to revoke that kid's privilege of dressing himself.
Strangely enough, even as his wardrobe increasingly resembles the moth-eaten rubbish in the back of your grandfather's closet, I haven't seen him look this young or feminine in ages! He's such an adorable little dear. (Even Perez Hilton noticed, lol)
Christ, that was long. The internet moves so fast. Some of this stuff seems like it happened AGES ago, lol
Consider this your opportunity to catch up on or re-enjoy all of the recent bandom insanity.
This Week Fortnight In Review:
1. sinuous_curve and I may or may not be writing a ridiculously long Ryan/OMC fic (with undertones of Ryan/Brendon just because). We are insane. Well, it’s mostly me who’s insane but she’s indulgent. I have a 2500 word plot summary written out *facepalm*
2. There’s this new community for celebrating bandom shipping called bandom_ships. I’m actually not quite sure how I feel about it. On one hand, it unites fans who share OTPs and could turn this whole shipping wank nonsense into something perhaps productive and warm. On the other hand, it may only serve to drive the wedge deeper between fans of different ships and reanimate the wank come February. I'm sincerely hoping it's the former not the latter.
3. TOM CONRAD READS YOUR PORN!
I know this issue has been beaten to death by now, but I was so amused - not just by the idea that he may read it but by the way the whole fandom went and exploded over this, half in hysterical laughter and half in sheer terror. People were (are?) talking about f-locking their fic etc etc but I personally still don’t get it. If all of this “reminding” of the boy's status as real people who could access our fanworks is squicking folks, does that mean people have been pretending otherwise? Because that's not exactly healthy, I don't think :p
Maybe it's because I’ve already done the whole “panicking about the nature of RPS thing” (I was adamantly against it for the longest time before entering this fandom), but bandom boys discovering my work doesn’t bother me in the least. I don’t think people should go around spamming them with links or encouraging them to read it - because if they want to maintain a polite ignorance, that’s their right too - but I write and participate in this fandom with full awareness that they could be reading entry this right now (as highly unlikely as that might be).
I say, if the boys want to read our fic, it's their right. It is about them, after all. And kudos to Empires for their awesome sense of humour.
4.
Jon Walker just WHAT are you doing? Oh dear God. I love my fandom.
5. And then we have shit like the whole Brendon/Lana fiasco. Oh god. That’s more drama than you can shake a stick at.
Do I think they had a thing? Yeah, probably. She’s not denying that and some of us have actually known about it for a while. Who knows if that blog was authentic but she certainly can't seem to keep her story straight and much of it was stuff I’ve heard before from other sources. We'll probably never know for sure.
If it is real, though, I’m positive that some of it (particularly the nastier things) was just the vengeful ranting of a woman scorned. Just take it with a grain of salt, really. Brendon isn’t perfect and, yeah, is probably a shitty boyfriend. It's not the end of the world.
What I do like is that it's forcing people to re-examine their characterizations of Brendon. I don't advocate painting him as a cracked-out asshole but hopefully people might start seeing that he's deeper than the hyper, childish facade he puts on for the cameras. He has layers and complexities and I would love to see more of them shine through in fic.
Speaking of good things to come out of Lana's bitching, let's talk about Shane Valdez.
Meet Shane.
This is the kid from the showering picture with Brendon. The "best friend" who Lana was referring to in her blog when she mentioned Brendon wanting to have a threesome. Brendon's 27-year-old, film-producing roommate. (shiola_shiola actually wrote this handy primer about him here.)
And guys, I DEMAND FIC IMMEDIATELY. It's just too perfect. They are so adorable together and practically joined at the hip! Shane is all artistic and actually filming a Panic documentary (he was at the cabin!). They live together. They are obviously boyfriends! You guys, I implore you to write fic about this RIGHT NOW.
6. We may have gotten a "joke" song and an album title title out of it, but first Panic had to torture us with those infernal website puzzles. I can't say I enjoyed being driven up the wall, but I'll give it an B+ in terms of viral marketing schemes. (It might have earned an A- if we'd actually been rewarded with a real song at the end, but it wasn't especially creative either way.)
Or possibly it would have been better if We're So Starving had been clearly marked as a joke to entertain the fans while we wait for the real stuff to break. I'm still not quite certain what they mean by "joke". Is it just a silly and light-hearted track or do they not intend to put it on the album at all? Because in the buzznet interview they mention it being an "intro." (Also, why is buzznet so impossible to navigate? My Management of Information Systems prof would fail them so hard.)
7. Anyhow, I like Pretty. Odd. for an album title. It's fitting and kind of adorable. Good job.
Sadly, now Panic has dropped the "!" from their name. I'm not heartbroken over it but I do mourn the loss. Mostly, though, I'm suspicious of why they felt the need to drop it. They say it was never meant to be part of their name anyhow, but I have the feeling it has more to do with them believing they've "outgrown" such childish things. They're all of 20 now, you guys. So mature :P
8. I ACTUALLY, LEGITIMATELY LIKE PANIC'S NEW MUSIC!
No one could be more surprised about this than me. I honestly haven't been able to stop listening to it! I have a lot more confidence now that this album may not indeed be such a catastrophic sophomore slump. Possibly. :D
I'm really feeling the refined acoustic version of When the Day met the Night (AKA Middle of Summer):
Click to view Such pretty imagery in that song. *sighs happily*
However, Ryan Ross, what on Earth were you wearing at that HCT press conference?
(Excuse the evil tags)
Someone desperately needs to burn that shirt. Also, is it just me or is Ryan's haircut vaguely reminiscent of Star Trek's Spock? (I'm still hunting for the right photo to properly make my case. Let me know if you find it.) It doesn't suit him at all.
I think we might just have to revoke that kid's privilege of dressing himself.
Strangely enough, even as his wardrobe increasingly resembles the moth-eaten rubbish in the back of your grandfather's closet, I haven't seen him look this young or feminine in ages! He's such an adorable little dear. (Even Perez Hilton noticed, lol)
Christ, that was long. The internet moves so fast. Some of this stuff seems like it happened AGES ago, lol