and i u n f o l d

Fandom can be a freaky place sometimes. There’s always some squabble going on, or some kind of drama. And LJ seems to be the hotbed of such activity.

Anyway. There was some drama going around in the Draco/Hermione ’ship and it got me thinking. And lucky you, I’m sharing my thoughts. (Your mileage may vary.)

A lot of fanfic is shipper-based. Romance (and angst) makes the fic world go round yo. So if you’re reading a Trory fic, you feel confident in thinking that the writer is a Trory shipper. And 9 times out of 10, that’s true. Why write a romance if you don’t support the couple/relationship? Why write about two characters falling in love if you hate one of them?

So, when the winner of best D/Hr fic at one of the award sites mentioned in her LJ that she’s not a shipper (she said, “the pairing makes me shudder”) and that she doesn’t like Hermione but wrote Draco/Hermione because she wanted to write a Draco fic. It baffled me. I give her kudos for writing a pairing that is squicky for her, but why? I personally, as a writer, don’t understand it. Because I have to feel to feel for the characters I’m writing, or else, it comes out forced and sounding bad.

And then came the drama because she was disqualified from a D/Hr fic award site that’s for shippers, and voted by shippers. I can understand why she was disqualified, after declaring she dislikes Hermione. I can understand why some D/Hr shippers were weirded out and turned off by the fact she won the award and then admitted that she hates one-half of the couple. I’d be pissed off too if someone won an award for best Trory fic and then admitted to hating Tristan. Why I don’t understand is why it was such a big deal (for her and her friend who was crusading for her). If the people who run the damn awards say you’re not qualified, then they have the right to do so. There are plenty award sites, getting disqualified from one doesn’t mean anything. Hell, in the grand scheme of things, winning one of those awards doesn’t mean anything. Yes, it makes you feel good, but award sites are as much decided by ‘talent’ as they are by popularity.

The other thing I notice has to do with popularity and being a fic writer. By popularity, I don’t even mean getting hundreds of reviews at fanfiction.net or wherever, but actually having a devoted (read: psychotic) following. The height of this all is having a fanlisting for fans of your fic. I’ve noticed this happens usually in large fandoms (example: *NSYNC and Harry Potter).

Popular fan fic writers seem to be lovely targets for the rest of the fandom. Granted, sometimes the criticism is justified and sometimes such writers get a very overinflated ego/opinion of themselves. Other times, it seems like being a popular writer necessarily means that you’re a bad one. Or that you’re “selling out” and writing for the masses instead of writing quality stuff. I don’t see why there needs to be a distinction between being good and being popular.

The problem (or so I think) with being a popular writer and having rabid fangirls is that your fangirls get way too sensitive when people diss your award-winning stuff. It’s like it’s *gasp* wrong to dislike a particular fic, or think that it’s bad. And then every attack on your writing is immediately translated into attacking you as a person… and next thing you know, all hell has broken loose. And then the kerfluffle spreads all through the fandom.

So. Fandom is a freaky place. You would have thought that sharing the same love for a band/tv show/book/whatever will unite people and all that happy blah-di-blah… but instead, you sometimes get stupid things happening.

Today has been a fun, do-nothing-at-all type of day. Read some Sarkney fic, while waiting for my OTH download to finish.

Seriously, the WB is milking the hell out of having James Lafferty and Chad on the same show. They pulled out the big guns and got both of them nekkid on the same episode. Low blow, man. Low blow. Chad is so skinny-looking, next to James! His hip-bones jut out! And the money tucked into his boxer shorts when they walked into the store made me snort.

The three hooligans named Thing, Thing1 and Thing3 cracked me up. Morons. Geez. But it was nice to see some brother-bonding. It’s great to see nice!Nathan. And nekkid brothers fighting is verra verra nice.

But nekkid Scott brothers aside, the episode was pretty good.

My shipper heart is just bursting with all the Nathan/Haley stuff. Wheeee! For a change, I’m shipping a couple that actually has a shot of happening. He invited her to the game! He gave her The Nod! Heehee. I usually find that kind of macho posturing a turn-off, but I can make an exception for Nathan. ;) And Haley all but admitted that she might be interested in Nathan but that her friendship with Lucas is a deterring factor. Then, Nathan reassured Lucas that he wouldn’t take advantage of her. Wooo!

Brooke is a riot. I love her. Not only is she a complete babe, but she’s just so much fun. Her pre-game conversation with Peyton cracked me up, especially when she said “Lucas looks even hotter in blue” (which is totally true, I think) and the whole Love Rectangle plus one thing. BWAH. Classic Brooke. DopedUp!Brooke was just too much. I’m hoping we’ll get some Lucas/Brooke action before the (barf-worthy) Lucas/Peyton is foisted off on us. And, I like their cheerleading uniform. Heh.

Dan is an irredeemable asshole. Keith and Karen are adorable. Peyton is bearable, since she ditched the whole angsty-tortured crap during the ep. And I like her skirt in that scene when Haley’s watching Brooke and her the next day at school.

Chad is hot yo. This show is just a Chad-fest for a fangirl like me. He looks all kinds of hot in the warm-up tracksuit.

After an Alias ep, I’m all about the David Anders love. But after an OTH ep, it’s all about Chad. *sniff* I feel so conflicted. (Not!) BWAH. There’s enough room for two hot blonde guys, really. ;)

This week is shaping up to be much, much less stressful… especially after the Weekend of Doom. I didn’t have school yesterday so I finally gave in and read Salvation by evonness. I first read it while she was still writing it, up til Chapter 12. Then I stopped keeping up with it, and once she was finished, I told myself I would read it. And finally, I did. It’s now probably my favourite Sarkney story; the Sarkney story. It’s so so good.

Anyway. Alias rocked, and not just because Sarkiepoo got more screentime. Heh. That Sark/Simon scene just about killed me though. Guh. And Sark! Guzzling from the bottle! There’s no reason why that should be hot but it is. Mmmm. Of course, just when I was starting to really like Justin Theroux, SpyDaddy had to off Simon. Ehhhh.

I swear, Cal and I have been speculating and speculating… but we just end up more confused than we were when we started. Oh well. I am so JJ’s bitch. Heehee.

* * *I got back my essay on Machiavelli today. Am a very happy camper ‘cos I got an A-. Woooo! Go me! This kinda makes up for my sucky B- for my Civil Society essay. Baaaaah.

I’m gunning for at least 2 As this semester: in Western Political Thought and International Relations. *crosses fingers* US history is pretty much touch and go after I screwed up the mid-term and rushed through the response paper. Government & Politics of Singapore is a mehhhhh module; I don’t know hw I’m gonna fare given that I’ve skipped half the lectures. If I do well on the essay assignment, I might end up with a B+. I’m hoping for a B+ for Civil Society too; I just need to be better in the next essay after my first B-.

So, yes. Three weeks to go before exams. And then, freeeeedoooommmm!

This is the Weekend of Doom. Gah.

I was up til about 4am yesterday, finishing my international relations essay. That was b’cos I was just a lazy bum and spent most of the day lounging around and reading fic. Then 9pm came along, and I was like “Shit. I need to get cracking on the essay!” And, of course, being the multi-tasker that I am *cough* my essay-writing was interrupted every so often to go online. Gaaaah. Plus, I had to go to school to hand in the essay just now. Waking up early on a Saturday morning is just not fun yo.

The worse part is that the weekend has only just begun! I have a 1500-word response paper due on Monday. I have to read as much as Locke as I can, since I’m meeting my presentation groupmates tomorrow to finish up the presentation.

I can’t believe I’ll actually be glad once Monday comes around.

* * *On a less gloomy note, thanks to Chad and Justin, this is also the Weekend of Dirty Thoughts. Heh.

To my everlasting fangirl happiness, I found a clip of Chad’s interview on Sharon Osbourne. :) It was barely ten minutes long and Chad was wearing that awful maroon-ish shirt with the white cuffs and collar but, being the fangirl that I am, seeing him just made me squee. Boy looked good. Really good. Had he strolled out of there without that ugly shirt and in just the wifebeater, I would have been ecstatic. But you take what you can get. ;)

I loved it when he threw back his head and laughed after the Hillary Duff question. I just wanted to lick his neck. And when he acting all coy after Sharon dubbed him a baby Brad Pitt, it was really fuckin’ hot. And Sharon ruffled his hair! Gah. I want to ruffle his hair.

Any. Way. The interview was nice, but didn’t learn anything new about him. He really is adorable though. *infused with Chad-love*

And Justin? He’s just a man whore. Seriously, one of these days, I should have a nekkid!Justin layout. God knows there are a million nekkid pics of him. (Not that I’m complaining, mind you)

* * *The only good thing about this weekend is a new Alias episode. More Sark! More Sark!

I was feeling reeaally crappy just now, I don’t know why exactly. Probably a mixture of lack of sleep, stress, and tiredness. I was thisclose to just going to bed at 10, but I decided to go online and amuse myself somehow. Alas, the OTH episode isn’t up for download yet… so instead I prowled around some JC sites.

Anyway, I found what I was looking for: mp3s of his performance on Wade’s show. So, Some Girls has been on repeat ever since. Love love love that song. So damn catchy. And, inevitably, JC’s crack-addled music has made me feel less sleepy. Heh.

So. I went surfing again and checked out some of my favourite sites that I haven’t been to recently. And I hit the jackpot, baby.

CMM.org has pretty, pretty photos from Chad’s photoshoot/article in Seventeen from way back when (the one where the lucky reporter girl hung out with him at NC). So I spent a good 20 minutes just staring at the pics, and sighing happily. I especially love this one, and let me say that I would so love to be the girl sitting opposite him. Sigh. Damn. He. is. so. fuckin’. cute. Guh.

*in a happy daze*

Time? 10.30pm. Essay? Done.

I am one productive kid today. Go me! *pats self on back* I’m actually a little meh about the essay itself, but I’ve been staring at it for the past half hour and I really can’t see how I can make it any better (save writing it all over again, which is so not an option). So, it stays as it is and I’ll just pray I’ll get (at least) a B. *crosses fingers*

* * *During one of my less productive moments very late last night, I finally downloaded a codec that allowed my OTH episode to play. Of course, I squealed like a little girl and put aside all thoughts of work for 40 minutes.

Chad in the shower? I like. Very much. Him shampooing his hair made me squee (and revived those thoughts about wanting to run my fingers through his hair… mmmmm). Heehee. And when he held his head over the sink and his mom was washing his hair? Um… *raises hand* can I have that job?

Any. Way. Chad is really shining in this role. My heart turned over when he had tears in his eyes after NathanTheAsshole played that videotape. Grrrr. For the life of me, I still think he’s too good for Peyton so all that crap between them made me go “Meeehhhh. Whatever.” However, Peyton was a smidgen more likeable, probably ‘cos she grew a spine and dumped Nathan’s sorry ass. But I fully expect her to return to the same unlikeable Peyton we’ve seen in the first three eps.

MamaScott rocks. She’s like the only sane and normal person in the family. And Brooke had some of the best lines. Her “You’re both so broody. You can both brood together” had me in stitches. Is it too much to hope for some Lucas/Brooke?

Nathan is such an asshole but I can’t quite decide which one is the real Nathan: AssholeNathan or the Nathan that we see when he’s with Haley. And really, James looks really cute when he’s smiling that little half-smile. I still love Nathan/Haley. There’s just something there, and they’re so much more interesting than all the Lucas/Peyton that gets shoved down our throats. *barf* And dude, that last scene with Lucas and Haley? Made me cackle like the evil person I am because I. Love. Conflict. And. Angst. Bring it on, I say!

I am so firmly convinced that there’s gonna be a Nathan/Haley/Lucas triangle. *crosses fingers*

* * *My brother has chickenpox! Thank goodness I’ve already suffered through it.

* * *So now that I’ve actually finished the essay, I have nothing else to do. Bored bored bored. Gaah.

*goes looking for fic to read*

I slept most of yesterday and today away. Heh. I love sleep.

But now, it’s time to get down to work and bullshit my way through a 2000-word essay. At least I’ve done most of my research so all that’s left is stringing it together in a coherent argument. Baaaah.

* * *Cal has a lovely, lovely new Sarkney layout at Passionfruit. I’ve been staring at it for God knows how long. Sarkney 4evah!

David is officially my new boy toy. He is so hot yo.

* * *Okay, enough procrastinating. Must resist urge to read more Sarkney fic. Must work on essay.

*sigh*

I’m late for school, but what the hell.

I’m a happy daze. Why? This and this. Lovely outtakes from “The Men of Alias” TVGuide photo shoot. I especially like #1, #2, #6 and #8. Preeeettty.

David Anders and Bradley Cooper. My day is made. Hot hot hot.

(And for those who are more Michael Vartan-inclined, a lot of them are of him.)

“The Counteragent” is quite easily my favourite Alias episode ever. It’s got hot!badass!conniving!Sark, dying!Vaughn, SarkneySpyBanter and Syd/Vaughn when they were still bearable and not barf-worthy. The downside? nekkid!Sloane. *shudder*

Anyway. I watched that episode twice yesterday on AXN (twice!) and *cough* will probably watch the repeat on Sunday too. Ah, the things I do for some Sark. Heh.

* * *I had dance just now, and I had a helluva time trying to learn last week’s choreography that I missed since I played hooky. Oy. My limbs just refused to do what they’re supposed to do. I felt like such a dud during the class.

But it was so much fun! And, as always, CuteDanceGuy was there. Hee! Seriously, guys who can dance well are so attractive (to me, at least).

* * *I love JC! Squee! I got the clips of his performance on Wade’s show. (Hmmm… Wade. How I have missed you.) It’s so great to see JC, after the Justin “I’m a superstaaa” overload.

“Some Girls” is such a kick-ass song. Love it, love it, love it. It was in my head all day. It’s so damn catchy. I have no idea what he was mumbling, but it’s got a great beat. My favourite bit is the “You know how I like it”. Hee. And the whole some girls dance with women to get some attention thing is SO true yo. I recall seeing girls get freaky with each other with the dancefloor, trying to look sexy and shit. Preach it, JC! Heh.

The dance break in ADIDAS was so dope. I have forgotten how good JC is. Justin and him share a similarity in that they both dance as well, if not better, than their dancers. I suspect that the dance break was choreographed by Wade ‘cos some bits of it look familiar.

JC is such a pervy, dirty boy. Heh. I like.

Note to JIVE: for the love of God, release his damn album already! Grrrr.

One little thing: I feel bad for his dancers. They’re being exploited yo. They’re being portrayed as sex objects! They have to wear itsy, bitsy shorts! That cannot be comfortable to dance in. (Heh)

But yes. I LOVE JC! (Forget you, Justin!)

* * *I don’t know exactly how it happened but I kinda, sort of, wrote a OTH fic: Weakness. I’m hoping this is a one-time deal only. Gaaah.

* * *I’ve actually started reading up and outlining my two essays that are due next week. I’m so proud of myself. *pats self on back* My parents are going to Malacca this weekend, and I’m half-tempted to go. BUT! Must do essays. And I have a make-up lecture on Saturday too. Oh well. It’s not like I haven’t been to Malacca before.

Mondays always come way too soon. I had planned on getting some work done during the weekend since I have, like, 3 essays to hand in soon… but, of course, I ended up sleeping a lot and reading romance novels. I embrace my laziness.

The only good thing about Mondays is Alias but S2 has just come to an end. No idea what’s gonna replace it, but I hope it’s something worth watching. At least I can look forward to the rerun of S1 Friends.

And ooh, I downloaded Alias 3.03 “Reunion”. Thoughts are behind the cutaway.
(more…)

Cal and I did go shopping on Wednesday. I skipped dance (gasp!) so that we could meet at around mid-afternoon. The funny thing is that whenever I’m out with Cal, I’m the one who always ends up buying stuff. And well, Wednesday was no different. I bought the CuteSkirt, the blue Adidas waterbottle I’ve been eyeing, and a top that has ‘Dance’ across the chest. :)

Had dinner with Hani after not seeing her for months. And, as usual, we did our bit for capitalism by drinking overpriced coffee at Starbucks. I swear, those caramel machiatos do not agree with me. Every time I drink them, I get a major headache the next day. It’s weird. Hmph.

* * *Alias rocks. Really. JJ Abrams is brilliant; I have no idea what he has up his sleeve but I have a feeling he’s gonna surprise everyone. And dude, Sark! Guh. So so freakin’ hot. I’m confirming my seat on the Sarkney love-train.

I’ve finally managed to download the OTH episode too. *evil grin* I still can’t get over the nekkidness. Heh. I like him clothed too, and for some reason, throughout the ep, I was wondering how soft his hair is and thinking about wanting to bury my fingers in his hair. [/fangirl] Damnit, Chad makes me feel like a teenie fangirl. Gaaah.

And Nathan/Haley! I am so on this ’ship. I like the scene by the dock, and for once, I really thought that James Lafferty looked cute and charming there. Hee. Never much thought about him as eye candy but that scene made me see the cuteness. Peyton still irks me (I have a feeling she will always, always irk me), but at least she got less screen time. And I much prefer Brooke/Lucas. Not only is Brooke a babe, but she’s got less excess baggage than Peyton. The flirting is just fun and light-hearted, which is great to watch. “It’s gonna be so great when he sleeps with me!” Amen, sista.

* * *I have a make-up lecture on Locke at noon. On a Saturday. Sigh. Going to school on a Saturday is so depressing.