Fanart, Fanfiction and Fangirling

Taking a break from Snowflake to write down a short entry about journaling. I recently had to check some dates for something work-related, and I thought: "I wonder if I wrote about that on LJ/DW?" And, sure enough, I had written about those events. My DW/LJ posts tend to be mainly fandom-related these days, but I really should make an effort and at least write about things I want to remember in the future (or things that could be useful). I have a paper journal for personal stuff (which I rarely use, but it's there), but I should really get back to using DW/LJ more.

Other than that, I wanted to listen to "I heard it through the grapevine" this morning and found out I apparently know a lot of Creedence Clearwater Revival songs, even though I've never owned or listened to any of their albums. It must be because they're used in a lot of American films and TV shows. It was like the first time I watched a TV show about Depeche Mode, years and years ago: I knew almost every song, but had no idea they were Depeche Mode songs.

Right. Let's eat something and see if I can finish my drawing for Lunar New Year. I just love having days off during the week, a two-day weekend is never enough to do all the things I want to do.

I'll be spending next week in a small Ligurian town, eating too much focaccia and trying to relax and recharge my batteries, because the rest of the summer is going to be tough. Hopefully not as tough as last year, also because my attitude is quite different, but it's not going to be a walk in the park either. I never got around to writing about my long weekend at Cinque Terre (also in Liguria) at the end of May, but that was amazing too: that area is stunning, with crystal clear sea and some lovely hiking paths, I wish I'd visited sooner.

Things are still extremely busy at work, and in the middle of that, I had to fly to the U.S. with a two-day notice to attend my aunt's funeral at the end of June, bringing along my other aunt and uncle (my parents didn't feel like they could face such a big trip). I felt like a bit of a Transatlantic babysitter, but at least I could take a few days off work and see my cousins again.

And of course I fell into another fandom, as it often happens when I'm stressed. I wouldn't really call it an obsession, but Stranger Things has been my main fandom focus for the last few weeks. I posted a ficlet the other day and have something else I'm gonna post for Harringrove Week at the end of the month, but I'm mainly consuming content at the moment, not creating it.

But while I was browsing the harringrove tag on Tumblr, I stumbled upon some NSFW audio files and... Well. I had no idea that was even a thing, no f***ing clue. Damn. Is it possible to fall in love with a voice? Because I think I did. So I dug around online until I found the performer's page, on Reddit of all places. I haven't listened to all of his recordings, because, frankly, some of the themes are a little too extreme for me, but that voice... I should probably feel embarrassed, even ashamed, but it's so soothing.

Like, these two files? God, I could listen to them all day. They are 100% completely safe, btw. They're kind of ASMR, I guess?

https://soundgasm.net/u/UndertheMonstersBed/I-Came-As-Soon-As-I-Heard

https://soundgasm.net/u/UndertheMonstersBed/Its-Just-an-Audio-Aftercare

And I love the next one because he sounds so different when he plays the two characters. I wanted to become a voice actor when I was a teenager, so I'm always in awe when someone can use his/her voice like this. There are a few swear words and the dialogue is a bit allusive, but it should be quite safe.

https://soundgasm.net/u/UndertheMonstersBed/Phone-Call-and-Thank-You

Anyway. Nothing much to add, I'm just trying to survive the summer. And looking forward to seeing Die Ärzte in Berlin at the end of August. ♥

This CSI obsession is getting ridiculous. I'm now writing ficlets using an Advent Calendar prompt list (it was supposed to be a Good Omens prompt list but, hey, my brain decided I really must write CSI fanfiction now), I've already written 7 out of 24, send help.

Also, I've developed the biggest, most ridiculous crush on Greg Sanders and the actor who plays him, Eric Szmanda. Again, send help.

In my defense, I needed to compensate after seeing my RL unresolved crush after more than a year (thanks for the lockdowns, COVID-19) and finding out he's now dating a very pretty (and very young) French girl.

It was a bit depressing, but instead of moping around I got a haircut and bought an amazing pair of faux-leather trousers. Is this what mid-life crisis looks like?

Highlight of the week: yesterday and today I went to a recording studio to take pictures and videos of some friends who are recording an album. The quality is probably gonna be pretty low (I'd never taken "professional" videos before), but they just needed some material to put together a short teaser clip and some making-of photos.

I miss taking pics at concerts. I miss concerts in general.

At least it was a nice change from all the recent job-related stress.

I did manage to go on holiday: in the end I went to Pesaro, in central Italy. From there I visited Urbino and Frasassi's Caves, plus I spent three lovely days on the beach doing nothing. Well, that's not true, I finally read Neil Gaiman's "Trigger Warning", which I bought last year in Edinburgh and hadn't read yet. He's definitely one of my favourite authors.

I ate a lot (oh, how I love hotel breakfasts), walked a lot and relaxed. I also realised that, for the third year in a row, I visited UNESCO World Heritage Sites totally by chance. This could become my own personal tradition: visiting a new UNESCO site each year. It shouldn't be too difficult, given the amount of sites in Italy alone.

I also had some time to draw and write! I was inspired by the lovely DTIYS by MartinaH. over on Instagram. First I drew some fanart, then I wrote a short ficlet to go with it. They're both posted on AO3.

Anyway. Holidays are over, I've been back at work for a week. Thankfully things are still quiet, as most offices are still closed for summer holidays. We'll see how things go in the next couple of weeks.

Oh, man, I've just finished watching "Staged" and my cheeks hurt from laughing too much. David and Michael are brilliant in it, there were sad moments and surprise guests and... I loved it. Also, when I found out they were supposed to star in "Six characters in search of an author", which is an Italian play, I lost it a little bit.

Anyway. Yesterday I sent out the second piece for the Good Omens fanzine I'm in! I did it! It's the first time I've been invited to collaborate on a zine and I did two pieces! :D I also tried to work on one of my GO WIPs, but I just added a couple of paragraphs and did some minor edits, I wasn't really focused on it.

I'd like to finish it before I have to go back to the office full-time, which might happen sooner rather than later. We can technically apply to continue teleworking part-time once the emergency is over, but our boss doesn't seem too thrilled by the idea. He's actually very eager to have as many people as possible back in the office soon. I don't mind going back, and there are certain things I can only do from there, but working from home a couple of days a week would be nice.

Good Omens has been eating my brain. It used to be such a tiny, niche fandom, and now it's an explosion of articles, fanart and, I'm sure, fanfiction. I've only read a couple of new fics so far, but I'm sure there must be hundreds already. I also got an idea for a fic, maybe I'll write it.

At the moment, though, I'm obsessed with this piece of fanart. It's so, so beautiful and their expressions are just... Sigh. And as soon as I saw it, I thought back of a certain night with A, after the concert of a local band I love, when the DJ put on "Lullaby" by The Cure and we started slow dancing in the middle of the club. I don't regret ending things, it really wasn't working for me, but sometimes I miss those little things. Sigh.

I haven't updated this in ages. I'm getting lazier and lazier with my online activities, mostly because I really don't want to stare at my laptop screen in the evening. And whenever I do get online, I spend most of the time looking up flats. Which brings me to one of the activities that's occupied a good portion of my time lately: I've been looking for a flat for the last couple of months, but it's not easy. I've visited a few, both in Milan and in my hometown, but every time there's something that makes me go "No." I'll just have to keep looking, I suppose, but it's so frustrating. Also because Milan is notoriously very expensive (unless you choose a sketchy area, which I'm not going to do) and my hometown has become the second most expensive town in the whole province! T_T

Other than that, I started playing the bass again! I went to an Easy Cure concert last week and thought "Right, it's time to dig out the bass." I'm terribly rusty, but it's a start.

I should also finish the Mystrade fanfic I started writing last month, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

What else? I went to see Deadpool yesterday. I had no idea it was going to be so violent. I have to admit I've never read the comics, so it's my fault, but it was really too much. Or maybe I'm just getting more squeamish as I get older...

EDIT: I forgot to mention I also saw the LUPIN III film! My inner otaku has been squeeing ever since! #teamJigen 4EVAH! XD

I hope my boss will approve my holiday schedule tomorrow, so I can book my trip to London to see "Three days in the country" with Mark Gatiss and John Simm.


Picture source

Please, flist (that is, the handful of people who are still reading this), keep your fingers crossed for me!

So many pictures and quotes and general fandom squee from Sherlocked. I'm sure if I'd gone, I would have spent a small fortune on pictures. Not on photo shoots with the actors (I always look awful in photos), I mean I would buy ALL THE PROMO PICS. Especially these. Predictable? Who, me?

In other news, I survived the first week at work! \o/ I may add more in a locked post, but for the moment I'll just say I'm happy. Oh, and we had ice cream after a meeting on Friday. Yep, it's good to be back. :P