Then I tilt my head the other way and let go of my lip, because talking like that makes me sound kind of stupid.

You're so adorable. *pets*

It is different. I think it's sad that some folks are choosing to leave/move on, but I guess that's life. I'm fairly certain that I'm going to be here for a looooong time. These people *points around* are such a huge part of my life. This fandom formed because of a show, but the things that I've learned, the experiences that I've had, and the relationships I've developed are what truly count.

That being said, it always makes me happy when we've got good fic. I love it when something new comes out because people latch on and pimp the hell out of it. The fandom gets energized again and that's a wonderful thing.

Okay. Time to check out the fics. :-)

BTW, I really dig your icon.

LOL, I'm glad you like the icon, xknickstax made it for me one night when we were joking around, I love it!

Hope you enjoy the fics!

Read 1 and 3, not the second, but definitely good!

Three in a day? I think that it prolly has something to do with Mercury in retrograde. Or possibly the second coming of Assbaby!Jesus (Gus for short).

ZOMG, the second coming of assbaby!Jesus (Gus for short)!

DOES THAT MAKE THIS JUDGEMENT DAY?

Thanks for mentioning "Coming Home." I hadn't seen it. But I did read the other two. All three worthy fics, even if one is a bit, uh, different than might be expected... :)

And don't forget allie_quixotic just posted chapter 1 of her new fic After the Smoke Clears yesterday.

I'm so glad I steered you to something new!

I haven't read allie's fic, I'll check it out. :)

Xie

Have I mentioned how lovely I think you are lately? Because, if I haven't, I'm doing so now.

You're lovely. And I thank you.

Awwww! You're very welcome, but I should thank you for giving me so much happiness while I was reading your story!

Thanks for the recs. Will read one and two tomorrow when I'm awake. Read the third one earlier today--just fantastically funny. I had read the first couple of chapters of its "inspiration," if you can use that word under the circumstances, before starting to retch.

Yes, teary is one of the funniest people I've ever known. I had tears rolling down my face.

She had me at "And then *he* came along."

Xie

I just got into the fandom about six months ago when I first discovered QAF. It makes me sad that didn't get into it earlier.

That being said I can't really comment on how the fandom has changed over time. But, I find it enjoyable and energized everyday, especially for a show that is not airing anymore. I continue to enjoy great fic and other things that people have to offer in this fandom.

I also have to say that this fandom is truly the best because not only is it filled with talented people, it is filled with genuinely wonderful indivduals. I have made some really great friends through this fandom.

I have to say, having first come here around 8 months ago - where the first place I landed was teary's LJ, god help me - that I've found this fandom to be wonderful and welcoming and very vibrant.

Of course, I'm sure it was much much better in the golden age, but we weren't here so.... pfft. ;)

Xie

I really loved *Coming Home*.I was beautiful written.
What can I say about teary's story....demented,crazy,wrong?I loved it,LOL.
And I know which story it is based on,which by the way I hate.

I'm so glad you liked them, it really gave me such joy today to find three such wonderful - and er, DIFFERENT, at least in the case of one of them - stories!

I would love fandom much much more if I had a new chapter of Risks in my hot little hands.

I'm just saying.

Oooh, recs!!! K, thanks. If you rec them, I will come...er...read. Yeah.

And yeah, teary_eyed2 is one sick woman. I told her so. I think she likes it when we tell her that...

Well, darlin', my muses got skeert this weekend and they've been hiding in the cave, but I think they might be venturing out soon.

I joined smack dab in the middle. Season 3 was airing when I rented my first disc of Season 1. I didn't have Showtime so I would have to log on to the Shoboards every Sunday evening to read everyone's comments. Then I would anxiously await Danny's recap which usually appeared around Tuesday. It really was a magical time and I do miss it.
However, when it comes to fic I fail to see what is so bad about the current state of affairs. The great old stuff is still out there and we continue to attract new, talented writers. Personally, I have so little time to read that I'd have to live to be 100 to get to it all anyway! Plus, as Pep wrote, the fandom, for those who stuck with it has developed into so much more.
The show was wonderful, B/J love will live forever in my heart, but the friends I have gained and the experiences we continue to share because of this crazy little show is the true payoff for me.

So true... it's how I met YOU!

Xie

Well, the wank's about the same, maybe not as nasty as it used to be.

The fandom actually started off LJ on the Boards like Yahoo and TWoP (before TWoP banned QAF threads 4evah for being the wankiest wank to ever wank). When it moved to LJ, a lot of the debate, for better or worse, ended because 1) people got to choose their friends and not run into anyone else if they chose not to and 2) locking really kept the discussions much more private. It made a big difference. I started out on the Sho Boards, which were really annoying because there were more than one sanctimonious didact who seemed to think we all needed to be educated, and more than one person who hated all fanfic and everyone who wrote it.

The thing that's really different for me is the fic, though. The old stuff really dissected the possibilities of the relationships and explored what was possible, and that was cued by the show, of course. A lot of people who left after the show did so, I think, because the ending ended what was possible - and the imagery/enactment of and by G/R defined the parameters of the possible.

For me, fanfic that wants to explore those possibilities of the B/J relationship needs to ignore big clues of the final separation - because there's nothing at the end of S5 that really allows one to think Justin's coming back, or Brian will follow him. I've been more interested in AUs lately because stuff based on the show doesn't work for me anymore - there's not enough that works the older seasons, either; I find myself like S1-3 fics, but not a lot of those.

But also, I think, there's a LOT more focus on the fucking and the pretty bodies, at times to the exclusion of the story itself. And while I like the pretty as much as the next person, that's not my primary interest.

Anyway, I'm babbling and I need to go to bed.

Oh, yeah, and, the B/Mers are history. I don't miss them, that's for sure.

Thanks for the fic recs! I would say something about how you said there would be another chapter of Risks soon and how happy that would make a lot of fangirls, but then protective!happier_bunny might show up again and accuse me of nagging her wife and I am very, very, skeered of protective!HB. So I'll just be quiet and read these fics while NOT setting bunny snares.

I would say something about how you said there would be another chapter of Risks soon and how happy that would make a lot of fangirls, but then protective!happier_bunny might show up again and accuse me of nagging her wife and I am very, very, skeered of protective!HB.

Don't worry, I said it for you. It's okay, she knows where I live, so she'll just beat me up instead of you. *snort*

Thanks for your recommendations, Xie. I've been reading fanfic for about a year now and I am nowhere near being finished with it. There are just so many wonderful stories which I have read and others which are waiting to be discovered. Please continue posting your finds as I really appreciate the pointers.

Hardly anything makes me happier than sharing good things that bring me happiness!

Xie

The oldtimers look at each other knowingly, and at me condescendingly, and answer, "It's the fic."

Who knew, at 26, I'd be called an oldtimer! ;)

It makes us sound elitist, but yeah, we usually can look at other 'oldtimers' and know what it was like. I think it also goes beyond the fic, there were great discussions like Jane said, and oh dear god the wank was the best! Oh how I miss the various boards and the written smack-downs that occurred!

I get in moods where I enjoy a good tussle, but really, I am here for THE LOVE!

THANK YOU....finally some good reading, that is until we get our last chapter of RISKS!!! :)

Nicole

LOL, Risks 6 is coming soon, my muses just got a little overwhelmed with all the lights and noise and gunfire this weekend.

Those were great recs.

I am stuck at home with the flu with nothing to do, so these really hit the spot.

I couldn't find anything new to read that did not annoy me after a few pages. I finally started re-reading Rizebeau's twin stories. While I love her stories, they are crack pure and simple and I am taking enough drugs right now.

LOL, I am owned body and soul by New Year, Spring Break, Caprice, and Ritorna a Me. I haven't read the twins stories, I'm afraid they'd be too much even for crack. But oh my, I do love me some blinfolded escort!Justin!

These are lovely fics, and I understand there will be a sequel to "I Quit" on Friday!

Hope you feel better soon,

Xie

You're so cute.

I can count on one hand the number of QaF authors I still read. Personally I think it's kind of crazy there are still so many people writing and obsessing, not that those are bad things, but I've moved on so much and so have many of my friends...it's nice the fandom is still alive though.

The summer of 2003 and onwards was the real high point of fandom, I think. Tons of GOOD fics every day. Fandom was moving from messageboards to LJ, and LJ fandom was tiny for a long time. It was really great.

Also, have you seen the Grocery challenge website? I'm sure it's still around here somewhere. It was the first real fic challenge on LJ and all the worthwhile LJ writers participated (myself included, I'm not saying I'm worthwhile, but you know what I mean). That was a big moment in fandom.

I'm relatively new to QAF (6 months) and very new to fanfic (1 month), but I find I prefer to hang out with the newly converted. The fresh blush of innocent enthusiasm suits me better than the "good grief, do we HAVE to discuss that again?" tone I sometimes see in old timers. Not all of them, of course.

Due to my fandom youth, I can't really compare the current state of affairs with the QAF halcyon days, but it does make me wonder how long I (and we) can maintain this blissful state. My own opinion is that Brian and Justin are a timeless and enduring couple (and I totally agree, xie, they ARE real) who will live on in our consciousness long after the last lesbian has written the last Post 513 chapter. They are the Scarlett & Rhett / Romeo & Juliet / Heathcliff & Catherine of our generation, and in a way, it doesn’t matter if I met them 6 years ago, 6 months ago or 6 years from now.

OMG, you're another one of the lesbians in love with Brian and Justin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE ARE TAKING OVER THE WORLD!

Everything you said made me smile hugely. I know you have zero posts in your journal (you should change that) but I friended you anyway, just because.

Do you like my icon?

First: Thanks for the links. Really good fic is rare--in any fandom--and highly appreciated.

Second: I wanted you to know that I totally love your entries, even if I don't reply to many. But reading them puts a goofy grin on my face. That is a good thing. ;)

Why do people have to bemoan the fandom? I would like to think we could all just enjoy things as they are, not get caught up in all the red-tape. I do thank you for rec-ing those stories, but I don't have to be convinced about the strength of the fandom.

One of the main reasons I got really curious about QaF was because I kept seeing B/J icons all over the place - that was when I was mainly an HP fan - and so I found out what it was about and bought all of the episodes.

Currently, I'm really getting interested in another fandom, but that doesn't mean I forgot the other one(s) I'm interested in. I may not be as active in QaF as I was last month, but I still love the show and I still want to see things about it. And I'll be participating in the vidding contest, so... *shrugs*

I don't know what the fandom bemoaning thing is about. I think some people just miss the days when there were new, unseen episodes, things yet to come, and higher volumes of good fic.

However, while I'm sure there were ways in which the "heyday" was better than now, now suits me more. I'm really grateful I only came to the show when it was already completed, because I don't have the right temperament to watch something like this as a WIP... the stress would have killed me. I know there are a lot of people who think I'm speaking figuratively... and of course, I don't mean kill me in a medical sense, LOL... but I really couldn't have taken it. I'm much happier treating Queer as Folk as a five-season unit, than watching it in dribbles. It would have ruined my enjoyment of it, and I'd have stopped watching because it would have been too hard on me.

I also enjoy hanging out with so many newcomers to the fandom, and focusing more on the story and less on the behind the scenes stuff as I think a lot of oldtime fans tend to do... "No, that scene can't be interpreted that way, because six of us went to the filming in Toronto and we asked the makeup girl and she told us." I'm just like... whatever. Kills my buzz. ;)

And there ARE so many newcomers, and so many people who really love Brian and Justin but don't even know there IS a fandom, but hopefully will find us one day. I don't know, again, I wasn't here and can't really say, but things seem good to me. Different, but good.

LJ land definitely offers a wonderful life. (Love the icon.)

I saw the first fic.

I do have the theory that there is much lovely fic out there it all just pops up simultaneously. (I didn't read the other comments so others may have said this already.) The challenges and the gift x-change give us a HUGE amount of fic. I bet if I wasn't so darn greedy, I could read 2-3 a day and that would spread out for quite a long time. But I'm just too damn hungry for fic when I see it.

BTW--When's your next chapter? I'm chomping at the bit.

*waves*

I woke up this morning feeling quite fictional, so assuming nothing happens to upset my muses... who knew they were such fragile flowers? .... the next chapter of Risks will be very soon. If you knew how close I am a final draft, you'd chain me to my computer. ;)

Xie

Thanks for the recs. I have read 1 and 3, will read 2 tonight after work. I too am a newbie to this fandom but I think that all fandoms experience their ups and downs. I guess because I am new that I haven't experienced a lack of quality fics. And there are still plenty of people writing and posting new and wonderful fics every day.

Looking forward to your next chapter of Risks.

So, my fandom friends who've been around a long time often grumble and moan about the current state of the fandom, and I, being new here, tilt my head adorably to the side, bite my lip, and ask, tremulously, "But the fandom seems fine to me, and there are lots of new people every day, and everywhere I go I meet people who love Brian and Justin, including lots of other lesbians."

I completely agree with you! Of course, I joined the fandom a mere month or so before you. ;)
I think it's the *new* blood keeping it going strong. :D

Thank you for the fic recs! I'd only read Teary's masterpiece. I'll read the others tonight.

I had NO IDEA you were almost as new as I am! I love that! YAY!

And I'm so glad I helped you find new fic. :)

Xie

Thanks for the recs. I’ll check them out tonight. You even got me to join qaf_crackfic, which I’ve been resisting for some reason.

I’m definitely new to the QAF fandom, having been here probably less than a year. What amazes me is that, even though the show has stopped airing, there are still so many lively and involved discussions going on. Some fans may have moved on, but the fandom is still very active. That’s such a good thing, because those of us who were late to the party, but have just been blown away by the love, have places to go to share and connect with other people who just “get it”. I can’t imagine what life would have been like if I had just watched the show and had nowhere to turn after that. QAF and B/J especially have had such a strong impact that, for me, participating in the fandom, even in a small way, is a necessity.

And, I’m with you. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for those who watched 122 and then had to wait to find out what happened. It kills me to even think about it.

~Ellen

I think we talked about this in New York, at breakfast, didn't we? That the fandom seemed very lively to us, as newcomers?

I can't sit around weeping over what was, and honestly, I mean it when I say I'm more temperamentally suited to come to this fandom after the show was finished making new episodes. My head would have exploded and I'd have been totally poisoned by wank. As it was, it took me months to shake off the second-generation wank I got over ONE season. I can't imagine what five years of it would have done to me, LOL.

Xie

Thank you very dearly for the recs. I have now just spent a little over an hour, which I should have been working, reading great fic.

The way I look at it it is a good mental health practice to get the day started right.

I think you're very wise to try to come up with a rationalization for doing this right.

It's interesting because I've been around this fandom since the beginning of S2, but I've never been involved IN fandom. I've stayed pretty quiet, never contributed much (maybe a wallpaper or icon here or there) and as a result I never got involved emotionally like many others have. I will say that I do feel a bit sad over how much things have changed, but that's expected since the show ended 2 years ago. At the same time, it's nice to see new fans come along (like yourself) and bring excitement and some life back into a rather worn fandom that's had many ups and downs.

As for the fic, yea there used to be some amazing ficcage going on, almost daily. Which was one of the major contributing factors that kept this fandom on it's feet during those rough patches. So it's very refreshing when new authors (who can actually string two sentences together) come along and keep things going.

And I think I lost my point in the middle of this post, so I think I just shut up now. lol.

I love that your username is "loud" and you are trying to convince me that you're really just a lurker at heart. ;)

Xie