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I barely watch TV anymore. I don't go looking for new shows... I always seem to wind up dissatisfied. I haven't been out to the library in ages, so I've read no new books in just as long. I prefer to watch movies with somebody, so unless I can snag my parents to sit down and watch with me, I don't watch very many anymore. So, you'd think I'd be relatively safe from that terrifying monster that is sudden fandom obsession.
Hah.
I've explained elsewhere (I believe, possibly not here, possibly Facebook back when I still thought that was a good idea) about the layered factors that drew me toward Almost Human (in short: Karl Urban, angst, buddy cops, robots and Karl Urban), and I know I've mentioned a few of my unfinished fics for that fandom.
It was in working on one of these fics one day (a His Dark Materials-style daemon AU) that I found myself becoming stuck. Apparently, daemon!fic is just not as easy as it looks. I figured the best way to break my block on that story was to go looking at what other authors have done with daemons in other fandoms. I figured, it couldn't hurt to look.
I figured. Wrongly.
There are literally hundreds of daemon fics out there, but for some reason the one that called my was SailorPtah's story "He Says He's An Experimental Theologian". This fic was an unusual one for me to choose for three reasons: One, rather than being a short one-shot like so many daemon!fics, this story was not only a long multi-chaptered affair, but also a work in progress. I tend not to read those if I can avoid it. Two, it wasn't a standard daemon!AU of the sort I was intending to write, but an actual, honest to goodness His Dark Materials crossover. And, it is worth noting, I have never actually read those books myself. Third and finally, the crossover in question was "Welcome to Night Vale", a podcast that I likewise hadn't listened to.
But I had heard of Night Vale. Oh, had I ever...
See, being that I regularly and unashamedly paddle around in the weirder parts of AO3, I had seen several Night Vale fics pop up in the feed for so many of my favorite bizarre tags (Transformation, Body Horror, Tentacles, among others). And I had, naturally, developed a bit of curiosity. Naturally. So, seeing as I had come looking for daemons and a daemon!fic was presenting itself, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to finally indulge my curiosity. And I will say, not only has this story been an awesome and worthwhile read, but it also hurled me head-first into the beautiful and terrible void that is Night Vale fandom.
What is "Welcome to Night Vale"? Well, I've been trying to get just about everyone I know to listen to it ever since I started listening to it, and this is so far the best description I've managed to construct:
Imagine The Colbert Report, if Stephen Colbert was a community radio host living in Wonderland, only in an alternate dimension where Through the Looking Glass (not Alice in Wonderland, mind, Through the Looking Glass was much creepier) had been written by Philip K. Dick after a Lovecraft binge.
"Welcome to Night Vale" is kind of the perfect hybrid of horror and dark humor with an absurdist bent I really enjoy. They also feature some pretty great indy music in some of the episodes. It is also worth mentioning, merely because this journal is primarily for hosting my own slash fic, that the podcast features a canon slash pairing of radio host Cecil and in-over-his-head newcomer, Carlos the scientist.
And so, to summarize...
This is what I've been doing for roughly the past month while not writing fics. Also, will someone please give this a listen so I know I'm not insane for thinking this is the best thing ever? Or, if I am insane, can someone please be insane with me?
I'm lonely.
Edit to add: Oh, and I totally forgot, because I haven't gotten that far into the series yet, but one of the later episodes features a guest voice by Castle's Molly Quinn (Alexis Castle).
Hah.
I've explained elsewhere (I believe, possibly not here, possibly Facebook back when I still thought that was a good idea) about the layered factors that drew me toward Almost Human (in short: Karl Urban, angst, buddy cops, robots and Karl Urban), and I know I've mentioned a few of my unfinished fics for that fandom.
It was in working on one of these fics one day (a His Dark Materials-style daemon AU) that I found myself becoming stuck. Apparently, daemon!fic is just not as easy as it looks. I figured the best way to break my block on that story was to go looking at what other authors have done with daemons in other fandoms. I figured, it couldn't hurt to look.
I figured. Wrongly.
There are literally hundreds of daemon fics out there, but for some reason the one that called my was SailorPtah's story "He Says He's An Experimental Theologian". This fic was an unusual one for me to choose for three reasons: One, rather than being a short one-shot like so many daemon!fics, this story was not only a long multi-chaptered affair, but also a work in progress. I tend not to read those if I can avoid it. Two, it wasn't a standard daemon!AU of the sort I was intending to write, but an actual, honest to goodness His Dark Materials crossover. And, it is worth noting, I have never actually read those books myself. Third and finally, the crossover in question was "Welcome to Night Vale", a podcast that I likewise hadn't listened to.
But I had heard of Night Vale. Oh, had I ever...
See, being that I regularly and unashamedly paddle around in the weirder parts of AO3, I had seen several Night Vale fics pop up in the feed for so many of my favorite bizarre tags (Transformation, Body Horror, Tentacles, among others). And I had, naturally, developed a bit of curiosity. Naturally. So, seeing as I had come looking for daemons and a daemon!fic was presenting itself, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to finally indulge my curiosity. And I will say, not only has this story been an awesome and worthwhile read, but it also hurled me head-first into the beautiful and terrible void that is Night Vale fandom.
What is "Welcome to Night Vale"? Well, I've been trying to get just about everyone I know to listen to it ever since I started listening to it, and this is so far the best description I've managed to construct:
Imagine The Colbert Report, if Stephen Colbert was a community radio host living in Wonderland, only in an alternate dimension where Through the Looking Glass (not Alice in Wonderland, mind, Through the Looking Glass was much creepier) had been written by Philip K. Dick after a Lovecraft binge.
"Welcome to Night Vale" is kind of the perfect hybrid of horror and dark humor with an absurdist bent I really enjoy. They also feature some pretty great indy music in some of the episodes. It is also worth mentioning, merely because this journal is primarily for hosting my own slash fic, that the podcast features a canon slash pairing of radio host Cecil and in-over-his-head newcomer, Carlos the scientist.
And so, to summarize...
This is what I've been doing for roughly the past month while not writing fics. Also, will someone please give this a listen so I know I'm not insane for thinking this is the best thing ever? Or, if I am insane, can someone please be insane with me?
I'm lonely.
Edit to add: Oh, and I totally forgot, because I haven't gotten that far into the series yet, but one of the later episodes features a guest voice by Castle's Molly Quinn (Alexis Castle).
