a conspiracy of cartographers

+ There is the most amazing gelato place in town. Seriously, this gelato is so good that I dreamt of it.

+ I have been having lots of anxiety dreams. (Not about gelato.) Calm the fuck down, brain.

+ Remember that excellent animated show X-Men: Evolution? I missed it when it was actually airing, but the spark of fannishness set off by XMFC prompted me to watch it, and it is lovely. (Kurt is my forever boy, and Rogue is my forever girl, but I already knew these things.) Now that I have run out of that show, I seem to be watching Downton Abbey, which is also lovely but does have a dearth of mutants. I wonder what Maggie Smith's mutant power would be.

+ I never actually paid much attention to the HP films while they were happening, but apparently now they are over I mildly care? So tumblr has sent me down a rabbit hole of interviews with Dan Radcliffe. And this kid is delightful. The cognitive dissonance of being fannish about everything, though, means that I'm having the twin reactions of "I want to be your friend!" and "I want to track down all the RPF about you being BFFs with Gary Oldman."

+ Because my brain is back in the fandom groove re: HP but it's been years and there's so much fic and I don't know where to start, I have instead been reading the old fic I wrote which is still on my hard drive. And by old fic, I mean things I wrote when I was thirteen and hilarious. Seriously, when I was thirteen I had no idea how to write human emotions. Everyone reads like a cheerful sociopath! I was so popular with the other thirteen-year-olds, too. I just. I am so glad I kept all the old stuff; it greatly cheers me to see how much I have improved.

+ Aaaand, okay, I am writing a novel now. Like, a proper not-fic maybe-publishable sort of novel, that has actual characters and an outline and a plot, and a het romance (that will not become a triad I swear) (also there are lesbians) and I don't even know, you guys, I am mostly reminding myself to have fun instead of trying to write something publishable, because I suspect that's the quickest way to make it torture. Right now I really like it! So that's what I'm up to. Ahhhh.

+ Last night oliviacirce and I actually made some Pietas on the Beach. Let me tell you, internet, they are disgusting and delicious, and they got us really, really drunk. I do not recommend them at all, but I would totally drink them at all the fannish parties.

+ Olivia and I also watched the newest iteration of film Jane Eyre, this one starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender. We both pretty much adored it; it made me desperately want to reread the book, which I haven't read since high school, because this Jane had a wonderful inner life and I want to know her thoughts. Olivia and I also agree that Michael Fassbender was weirdly perfect and very beautiful, and we may hate him a little, because he's really not the sort of dude one wants to have an actorcrush on.

+ My laptop does not believe in connecting to the internet in Olivia's apartment, for whatever stupid reason, so in order to do internet things I have to borrow hers. I am amassing a collection of tabs and emailing them to myself for safekeeping, which will be terribly exciting in a few days. In the meantime, one bit of figurative tab-closing: The Boy Who Lived Forever, Lev Grossman's article on fandom. I am fairly impressed by how well he covers the basics without ever falling into the typical fallacies, and I am particularly pleased with how he doesn't put forward any idiotic theories on why women write slash, and instead lets them actually speak for themselves. It's definitely worth a read.

+ I am -- really happy right now, I think. It is very much a living-in-the-now sort of happiness; I have no idea what I am going to be up to anytime soon, except writing writing writing, but my nearly-done vacation has been delightful. Navel-gazing later, perhaps -- right now it is time to order in dinner and eat too many cupcakes and brainstorm Thor fic and just be.

+ The response I've already got to the Loki fic is making me clutch my face with glee. It is magical to be in an active fandom. (It is also magical to know there are lots of people who share my Loki FEELINGS.) Now I just have to convince myself that not everything needs a plot, and that it is okay if I write Sif/Darcy without apology. I also have to convince myself that I am capable of writing Tony Stark, but this may, in fact, be a lie.

+ Speaking of Starks, I have the first episode of Game of Thrones sitting on my computer. Taunting me. Daring me to watch it, even though I have an inner voice wailing that I shouldn't dare watch it without reading the books first. Shut up, little voice, you coped with True Blood, you can cope with this. (Oh HBO, why you gotta keep half-seducing me into watching bits of your shows.)

+ I cannot stop listening to the gay mutant disco love song from the First Class credits. It has become the soundtrack in my mind. I am having such a strange relationship with First Class fandom! Like, on the one hand Erik/Charles is my pairing type FOREVER, and I am so, so glad that it has suddenly become fandom's thing du jour. On the other hand, the more I think about the film the more issues I have with a bunch of its basic structures and assumptions, and navigating unknown fic is a minefield of avoiding Holocaust-related hurt/comfort or the assumption that Charles is actually a good and correct person, oh god how many times have I hit the back button. On the mutant (haha) third hand, a lot of excellent writers and people I know are doing so, so right by it, and so I keep reading fic, and feeling mildly bewildered, and listening to the gay mutant disco love song yet again.

+ I went to see Midnight in Paris yesterday. It is unutterably charming, you guys. I have a low tolerance for Woody Allen films, but this one was great. I originally went to see it on the promise of Tom Hiddleston as F. Scott Fitzgerald, and he was indeed pretty delightful (although oh god he had an American accent, cognitive dissonance, WHAT IS HAPPENING) but the best part was actually Ernest Hemingway, who had me basically rolling in my seat laughing. If you like jokes about 1920s writers, watch the hell out of this.

+ I seem to be rereading American Gods; this is great fun, because I get to clutch my face and cackle when it talks about Shadow's cellmate Low Key and his scarred smile, and also I keep going, "Oh, ODIN," when no one is in the room. But I think I should warn you all: don't read Neil Gaiman late at night. Just don't do it. I used to know this, but last night I foolishly forgot, and for my transgression I dreamed that I was Shadow and had to talk with Laura while she was a half-decayed corpse; I was pretty chill about this, but there was SCREAMING INSIDE, believe me. Why you gotta do this, brain? I would have taken Aziraphale and Crowley over this. I would've taken Loki over this! Oh well. In conclusion, Neil Gaiman, late nights, no. I imagine this applies even harder if the reading in question is Sandman.

+ ...I am really tempted to watch a trio of Xena episodes in which, wiki tells me, Xena is Odin's most feared Valkyrie, Gabrielle hangs out with Brunhilda, Xena helps Beowulf defeat Grendel and ends up married to Hrothgar, and then there is girlkissing. On the other hand, if I try to watch it I might actually start laughing too hard to see.

Today I saw X-Men: First Class! Lots of other people have said lots of things about its various fails and issues and layers, and all of that is awesome, but I can offer nothing of the kind, because I am in FULL SQUEE MODE.

( Spoilers need to find the point between anger and serenity. And then have lots of gay sex. )

I am pretty sure that is all my addled brain has right now! In related news, I ... may have two Marvelverse movie kinkmemes open in tabs. What has my life become.