Atlantis Big Bang

Look, sometimes fic is great. Like, absolutely SPECTACULAR.

Great plot, amazing characterisation, good description, immersive prose.

And then sometimes it's...okayish. Very 'ish'.

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Did I ever talk about amazing Harry Potter (yes, I know) fic where Harry, angry and frustrated by the Wizarding World's intractability on certain bigoted points, goes Dark Lord? I can't remember.

He hunts down the Death Eaters (including Lucius Malfoy), swears an Unbreakable Vow to Hermione (basically to keep him in check from going full Voldie, etc.), and basically Neville and the rest of DA get involved.

It's long, but so good. So so good.

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I found this one Zutara fic which is basically Katara, Aang, Zuko, and Toph all (collectively, together) form The Avatar spirit and it is stupendous. So much character, so much plot...quite a lot of angst, actually. And perhaps the best (and worst) thing about it is that everyone makes bad choices in it. So frustrating! But so good, too!

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Anyway, I aspire to write anything like that, but the closest I got was 'And Baby Makes Eight' for the MCU, which has over 1000 kudos.

These fics have, like 1o000 kudos. One - the one I mentioned above? 17000. SEVENTEEN THOUSAND. I cannot even.

Anyway, I'm...kind-of? enjoying reading fic again. But, yeah, there are ones where you just slip through the story like a fish through water, and ones where it's a pretty solid freestyle, and then ones where you get by with a doggy paddle.

Metaphorically speaking.

Made some throw-together pasta - fettucine, tomatoes and garlic (fried together), a couple of shredded basil leaves, a small tin of tunafish (chilli and mango), and a tablespoon of feta cheese to salt it and give it that cheesy richness.

Not bad.

I made bean soup for dinner. The soup is pretty basic, in fact, but the addition of a picada - a Catalan nut-herb mix not unlike pesto - apparently makes the soup.

And then I'm thinking of making some blondies - dulce du leche blondies - since I have the ingredients and baking is usually pretty easy. And I think blondies freeze well, so I could bake a whole tray and freeze some and defrost them later. Maybe even make some pecan pie squares.

Hockey training got cancelled due to rain: also, I wasn't going to go because I pushed my back/butt muscles a bit too much (we drew 2-2 against a more skilled team, even if they weren't as young) and I need to rest them. Maybe even take a nice long bath with salts...

So many things to do, only one night to do them in!

1. How often do you hear live music?

Not very often. I never have been much of one to go see bands or even concerts. A few musicals. The occasional concert by an artist I enjoy. And sometimes bands on a Saturday night down at the pub back in university days.

These days? Very rarely.


2. What was your favorite live musical performance ever?

I don't know if I remember this one with fondness so much as just it's the strongest memory I have. One night after university computer lab, a couple of the people I'm working and doing uni with say they're going to a bar in town to celebrate the 18th birthdays of a couple of the guys we work with. The two of them room together, and their birthdays are back-to-back. It's not my usual scene, but I figure I should really do more socialising with this group, so I agree to go along.

It's a dive bar. On a Wednesday night. In a university town. Kinda quiet, but there's a band on stage that's doing rock covers from the 80s. The floor is an old nylon carpet and we're not going to think about how it's slightly sticky underfoot. The lighting is dim, there's about a half-dozen of us, and after a drink or two, we're singing along with the band who takes it pretty well.

They invite the birthday boys up to sing the Eagle Rock, but somehow end up singing Hotel California. I am served a triple-rum-and-coke having admitted to the others that I don't really drink, and they think that it's hilarious to get me an excessively alcoholic drink for my 'first drink'. The 2xrum&coke is foul, and someone else ends up drinking it. I go for a wine cooler, which is sweeter and easier on my palate. We bawl songs until it's midnight and it's the birthday of the second guy, and then we keep going for another hour.

TBH, the performers weren't standout. But I remember the night the best, simply for the hanging out and the friendships.


3. Do you play an instrument, or sing?

I play piano, I learned flute and tuba, and I sing - happy birthday, at church, in the car, on the karaoke machine.


4. Have you ever performed music onstage?

Does karaoke count? But even without that, yes, I've performed at concerts and eisteddfods when I was younger. Not for three decades now, but then it might even be years since I've touched a piano.


5. Who is your favorite musician?

That's a tricky one. Modern or classical? Artist or musician? Live, recorded, without autotune?

I can't choose. I love them all - Beethoven and his Ninth, Elgar and the Engima variations, Chopin's Impromptus and the haunting notes of Tchaikovsky's opening to Swan Lake. There's Queen's Rhapsody and P!nk singing about falling into trust, there's Billy Joel crooning smooth and sweet and Deborah Harry declaring she wants that man, there's Rihanna singing about being unfaithful and Anna of Cleves rmeinding us that she's the Queen of the Castle... I remember going to see Roxette and Offspring, singing with U2 in the car - raised by wolves | stronger than fear | when I close my eyes | you disappear...

You can't make me choose. I carry it all in my heart.

I'm trying to organise a weekend away, first weekend in June. Only had the idea last week, sent an email out, got about a half-dozen interested people, but the price of accomodation is going to be the sticking point.

Just sent out another email to check budgets, will have to wait to hear back. I'm pretty sure at least two women, and at least one couple will come - their finances are reasonably in order. The others... I'm not sure.

Oh well, if it all collapses, I could drag a couple of friends out maybe. Just do a day trip on the Saturday instead maybe.