I'll find another lady and you will wreck another man
Creating statistics excel files with linking spreadsheets makes the baby jesus cry. No really, he is wailing his baby head off right now somewhere in Bethlahem, all because the person who had my job before me was so incompetent that I now have to go back to September and recreate all the statistics for the fiscal year. Apparently we are getting audited in the coming year because the state library is unhappy that we broke off from them to go non-profit. Anyway. *smites*
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This is going to be a post of gigantically random proportions. I have recs! Many recs. Or seven. Whatever.
01. [ Communication] by marinarusalka (gen): A beautifully written, heart-wrenching coda to 'Asylum.' I really love codas. I love fic that deals with the consequences of the episode, which is something that Kripke really hasn't learned how to do yet, although he's starting to get it with the last three or so episodes of the season. Because you know that after 'Asylum', there had to be some major uncomfortableness between Dean and Sam and this lets us see that. Quote: He sounded all of ten years old when he talked liked that. Except he wasn't ten years old. He was twenty-two, a man grown. Old enough to vote and drink and hunt, and to think his big brother was a pathetic loser. Old enough to aim a gun at the pathetic loser's face and pull the trigger.
02. [ for thou desirest not sacrifice] by maygra (gen): This is part of a series in which Sam is blind. I think it turns into wincest at some point, but this part is gen. It's a really nice character analysis of Sam and Dean and how they're forced to change their expectations, the way they live their lives, and their relationship now that Sam is blind. I'm making it sound really retarded, but seriously, it's good, go read it.
03. [ How to Save A Life] by trollprincess (Sam/Jess): I can't even describe how much I love Sam-at-college fics, especially when they're all about how Sam just can't HELP being a badass, he just IS. I like this because it's like a metaphor for actual college. Everyone goes thinking, "Okay, now I can start over, be someone new, I don't have to be the loser/cheerleader/loner/whatever I was in high school. I can be something totally different." Except that never REALLY happens, you know? Sure, you might get older and more mature and change, but the basic things that make you YOU, the inherent personality traits, aren't just going to go away. So what I'm trying to say is, Sam not being able to escape his badassery is like a big metaphor for me still being a giant dork in college. Except that everyone else was SO much dorkier than me it didn't matter. Thank god for the University of Chicago. Oh, and a quote, so this review isn't all about me: So Jess used to date this guy before she ever met Sam, right, this bastard named Keith whose pitbull of a mother sold real estate that could be yours for only eight figures. Sam suspects he hit Jess once but can never get her to admit it, the way she always changes the subject like she does, and Jess isn't the kind of girl who'd let herself get hit twice by anyone.
04. [ samson went back to bed] by endora_taylor (adult, sam/dean): A sort of what-if story. What if they didn't get hit by the semi? It reads almost like a fever dream. Sparsely written but so full of unspoken details that you get a complete picture anyway. I love the feeling of unease throughout the fic--it's got that itch like you know something's wrong, and they know something's wrong, and then.
05. [ You Must Remember This] by estrella30 (adult, Jensen/Jared): Jared loses his memory (there's a magical pendant involved, no seriously) and Jensen spends the next three days carting his ass around and trying to be a good friend while angsting over the fact that memory-imparied!Jared wants him and regular Jared doesn't. There are so many parts of this fic I love--the humor, the sex, the conflict--but mostly it's the characterizations that get me. I mean, I think everyone writes their RPP/RPF characters a little differently. We don't exactly have a real canon to go by and say, "Well, Jared would never REALLY say that," and if people do do that, they are retarded. But back to the rec and my point, which is that I love estrella30's versions of Jared and Jensen. They ring true to me, and she puts the work into her fics. It's not all hugs and puppies until someone gets their dick sucked, you know? There are girlfriend obstacles and the whole 'oh no I'm gay' thing, and she doesn't shy away from that.
06. [ Strangers In Another Town] by trollprincess (R, Sam/Jess, Dean/Cassie): Oh god, how can I describe the brilliance of this fic? Dean wakes up to find himself in like, this crazy suburban AU where he's married to Cassie and has the cutest kid in the world, and Sam is married to Jess, and Mary is alive and John is happy. It's like that episode of Angel where Lindsey is trapped in the suburban hell and every day he gets his heart ripped out, only, you know, less literal. What I love most about this? Is that Sam and Dean KNOW it's wrong. They know it's wrong, and they can't delude themselves and stay in this dream reality no matter how great it is. It's the whole blue pill-red pill dillema, but for Sam and Dean there's never even a question of what they'll choose. Quote: Dean Winchester doesn't own a gun or anything sharper than a steak knife. The only thing in the trunk of his Impala is a spare tire and a first aid kit that's on its last Band-Aid. Salt's on the shopping list on the fridge because they're down to what's in the shakers, and when he searches the kitchen drawers, he only finds a single matchbook that's probably older than Amelia. If the day so far is any indication, Dean Winchester's life will wear like a lie and play with the soundtrack of twisting metal and groans of pain.
07. [ Play Anything But Stairway to Heaven] by ethrosdemon (adultish, WBRPS): Sandy is a beard, and here's the explanation. What I love about this fic, and again it's all about the nature of RPS/F, is the way she characterizes everyone. First off, everyone is DIFFERENT. As in, from each other. Which is really hard to do when you're writing about people and you don't know what they're really like, only what they show to the cameras and the crazy shit they do. But each of her characters is a distinct person and I think I could probably pick out her writing based solely on the way she characterizes people. And her style rocks, the flow of it to the inevitable conclusion, and the ending always feels *right* even if it's not really how you'd choose for the fic to end. Plus, funny and hurty and all the things I love about fic. Quote: Like the fact that Jensen always takes his calls from Chris and Steve outside or lets them talk to his voicemail if he can't step away. Like the fact that Jared's caller ID for Chad is BFF, like some kind of teenaged girl, and it embarrasses Jensen to even think about asking what all that's about. Like the fact that Sandy calls Jensen Jared's husband, and Jared gets a little too angry about that-always off camera, off the record, away from anyone's ears but Jensen's.
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In other news, if you live in Austin and are cool like me, you will want to know that the Alamo Drafthouse is having a Buffy the Musical Sing-Along tomorrow and next Tuesday. I have been to the sing along before and can hoenstly say it is AWESOME and totally rules the fucking school, so come if you can. Tickets are on sale now and it usually sells out. I will be going to tomorrow's show. Usually they show another episode before 'One More With Feeling', but this time they are letting the audience choose the pre-show episode by popular demand. I can't even THINK which one to choose! I mean, I definitely have my favorites, but which one would I want to see on the big screen? Maybe 'The Wish', I really like that one. 'Becoming Part II', possibly. Not 'The Body', that's a downer. There's always 'Restless'. YEAH, 'Restless.' Because Giles sings and there's the freaky cheese guy.
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And finally, some Christian Kane stuff you might not have, because I'm an awesome friend:
01. [America High] // We went to see the mason man at old man James' store / And those rocking chairs weren't rocking / The answers are gone / And there's a sign that said "Closed" on the door.
02. [Let It Be] // Not much to say about this one. It's nice. I'm 80% sure it's Chris.
03. [L.A. Song] // He sings this in an episode of Angel and it's amazing, the end.
04. [Where Do I Go Now] // This song is OK. It's a little yelly. But I enjoy it.
And since yousendit AND my University server are being cunts today, that's all you get. Also, is anyone else having comment notification issues, or am I the lone asshat?
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This is going to be a post of gigantically random proportions. I have recs! Many recs. Or seven. Whatever.
01. [ Communication] by marinarusalka (gen): A beautifully written, heart-wrenching coda to 'Asylum.' I really love codas. I love fic that deals with the consequences of the episode, which is something that Kripke really hasn't learned how to do yet, although he's starting to get it with the last three or so episodes of the season. Because you know that after 'Asylum', there had to be some major uncomfortableness between Dean and Sam and this lets us see that. Quote: He sounded all of ten years old when he talked liked that. Except he wasn't ten years old. He was twenty-two, a man grown. Old enough to vote and drink and hunt, and to think his big brother was a pathetic loser. Old enough to aim a gun at the pathetic loser's face and pull the trigger.
02. [ for thou desirest not sacrifice] by maygra (gen): This is part of a series in which Sam is blind. I think it turns into wincest at some point, but this part is gen. It's a really nice character analysis of Sam and Dean and how they're forced to change their expectations, the way they live their lives, and their relationship now that Sam is blind. I'm making it sound really retarded, but seriously, it's good, go read it.
03. [ How to Save A Life] by trollprincess (Sam/Jess): I can't even describe how much I love Sam-at-college fics, especially when they're all about how Sam just can't HELP being a badass, he just IS. I like this because it's like a metaphor for actual college. Everyone goes thinking, "Okay, now I can start over, be someone new, I don't have to be the loser/cheerleader/loner/whatever I was in high school. I can be something totally different." Except that never REALLY happens, you know? Sure, you might get older and more mature and change, but the basic things that make you YOU, the inherent personality traits, aren't just going to go away. So what I'm trying to say is, Sam not being able to escape his badassery is like a big metaphor for me still being a giant dork in college. Except that everyone else was SO much dorkier than me it didn't matter. Thank god for the University of Chicago. Oh, and a quote, so this review isn't all about me: So Jess used to date this guy before she ever met Sam, right, this bastard named Keith whose pitbull of a mother sold real estate that could be yours for only eight figures. Sam suspects he hit Jess once but can never get her to admit it, the way she always changes the subject like she does, and Jess isn't the kind of girl who'd let herself get hit twice by anyone.
04. [ samson went back to bed] by endora_taylor (adult, sam/dean): A sort of what-if story. What if they didn't get hit by the semi? It reads almost like a fever dream. Sparsely written but so full of unspoken details that you get a complete picture anyway. I love the feeling of unease throughout the fic--it's got that itch like you know something's wrong, and they know something's wrong, and then.
05. [ You Must Remember This] by estrella30 (adult, Jensen/Jared): Jared loses his memory (there's a magical pendant involved, no seriously) and Jensen spends the next three days carting his ass around and trying to be a good friend while angsting over the fact that memory-imparied!Jared wants him and regular Jared doesn't. There are so many parts of this fic I love--the humor, the sex, the conflict--but mostly it's the characterizations that get me. I mean, I think everyone writes their RPP/RPF characters a little differently. We don't exactly have a real canon to go by and say, "Well, Jared would never REALLY say that," and if people do do that, they are retarded. But back to the rec and my point, which is that I love estrella30's versions of Jared and Jensen. They ring true to me, and she puts the work into her fics. It's not all hugs and puppies until someone gets their dick sucked, you know? There are girlfriend obstacles and the whole 'oh no I'm gay' thing, and she doesn't shy away from that.
06. [ Strangers In Another Town] by trollprincess (R, Sam/Jess, Dean/Cassie): Oh god, how can I describe the brilliance of this fic? Dean wakes up to find himself in like, this crazy suburban AU where he's married to Cassie and has the cutest kid in the world, and Sam is married to Jess, and Mary is alive and John is happy. It's like that episode of Angel where Lindsey is trapped in the suburban hell and every day he gets his heart ripped out, only, you know, less literal. What I love most about this? Is that Sam and Dean KNOW it's wrong. They know it's wrong, and they can't delude themselves and stay in this dream reality no matter how great it is. It's the whole blue pill-red pill dillema, but for Sam and Dean there's never even a question of what they'll choose. Quote: Dean Winchester doesn't own a gun or anything sharper than a steak knife. The only thing in the trunk of his Impala is a spare tire and a first aid kit that's on its last Band-Aid. Salt's on the shopping list on the fridge because they're down to what's in the shakers, and when he searches the kitchen drawers, he only finds a single matchbook that's probably older than Amelia. If the day so far is any indication, Dean Winchester's life will wear like a lie and play with the soundtrack of twisting metal and groans of pain.
07. [ Play Anything But Stairway to Heaven] by ethrosdemon (adultish, WBRPS): Sandy is a beard, and here's the explanation. What I love about this fic, and again it's all about the nature of RPS/F, is the way she characterizes everyone. First off, everyone is DIFFERENT. As in, from each other. Which is really hard to do when you're writing about people and you don't know what they're really like, only what they show to the cameras and the crazy shit they do. But each of her characters is a distinct person and I think I could probably pick out her writing based solely on the way she characterizes people. And her style rocks, the flow of it to the inevitable conclusion, and the ending always feels *right* even if it's not really how you'd choose for the fic to end. Plus, funny and hurty and all the things I love about fic. Quote: Like the fact that Jensen always takes his calls from Chris and Steve outside or lets them talk to his voicemail if he can't step away. Like the fact that Jared's caller ID for Chad is BFF, like some kind of teenaged girl, and it embarrasses Jensen to even think about asking what all that's about. Like the fact that Sandy calls Jensen Jared's husband, and Jared gets a little too angry about that-always off camera, off the record, away from anyone's ears but Jensen's.
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In other news, if you live in Austin and are cool like me, you will want to know that the Alamo Drafthouse is having a Buffy the Musical Sing-Along tomorrow and next Tuesday. I have been to the sing along before and can hoenstly say it is AWESOME and totally rules the fucking school, so come if you can. Tickets are on sale now and it usually sells out. I will be going to tomorrow's show. Usually they show another episode before 'One More With Feeling', but this time they are letting the audience choose the pre-show episode by popular demand. I can't even THINK which one to choose! I mean, I definitely have my favorites, but which one would I want to see on the big screen? Maybe 'The Wish', I really like that one. 'Becoming Part II', possibly. Not 'The Body', that's a downer. There's always 'Restless'. YEAH, 'Restless.' Because Giles sings and there's the freaky cheese guy.
*
And finally, some Christian Kane stuff you might not have, because I'm an awesome friend:
01. [America High] // We went to see the mason man at old man James' store / And those rocking chairs weren't rocking / The answers are gone / And there's a sign that said "Closed" on the door.
02. [Let It Be] // Not much to say about this one. It's nice. I'm 80% sure it's Chris.
03. [L.A. Song] // He sings this in an episode of Angel and it's amazing, the end.
04. [Where Do I Go Now] // This song is OK. It's a little yelly. But I enjoy it.
And since yousendit AND my University server are being cunts today, that's all you get. Also, is anyone else having comment notification issues, or am I the lone asshat?