you can tell i love you from the way i look at you

[meitachi]

All right, today was a somewhat productive day, so I feel justified in taking time off for LJ.

PRIMERO, the obligatory Tom Hardy fangirling. Y'all have seen pics from his new Dunhill shoot, right? Oh my god, his mouth. OH MY GOD HIS TIE HIS SUIT HIS EVERYTHING, UNF. And of course the new pics from the set of This Means War, where he's in a suit/kissing Reese/wearing cuff links/being a GQBAMF.

And if that's too much classy Tom for you (is there such a thing?), let's wander over towards http://tomhardyparty.com for the big guns x.

SEGUNDO, in a bit of kpop news, thundersquall and ch_ar_me alerted me to Heenim hanging out with Kibum. Kibum is alive! Freshly showered! Aw, Kichul friendship. Odds are good I won't see him at the Singapore SS3 but I'm holding my breath for a Zhou Mi/Henry/SJM perf instead, since I didn't get that in Seoul last year. Omg.

Speaking of Singapore, I'll be arriving on Jan 5 and leaving May 9. That means I should have time to meet up with you, catskilt, right? And any of the rest of y'all hanging out in Singapore, let me knooooow. I need to be shown the good foods and good times. ♥

TERCERO, back to Twitter: I no longer find Tom Felton that attractive (he was an adorable boy, okay, but as thyme_hawthorne's pointed out, that boy's forehead, what is going on) but oh my god he has the sweetest and funniest tweets.

Tom Felton Top 10 ‘Harry Potter’ Hotties: http://on.mtv.com/a0iCKK always had a huge crush on mtv!! glad the feelings mutual!! @hollywoodcrush

/smushes him. And he reminds me that HP7 PART 1 COMING OUT NEXT WEEK. WHO'S EXCITED?! Be excited!


In fact, rec me your favorite H/D fics in preparation of the big day! Man, I miss the classic plotty H/D stuff. And always, always excited for December and hd_holidays. HP is my seasonal thing~

I was thinking last night about how I sort of want to write again but I am never going to be able to do it again, woe. I have honestly not felt so apathetic about writing in such a long time, but it's really been a struggle lately. It's probably due to no longer having the excitement and commitment of any one fandom - not kpop, not Inception, and certainly not STXI or Merlin or DCU or AIRPS... I'm a bit of a free-floater right now in what I'm reading or paying attention to, which is apparently hell on my ability to write.

So while pondering reading, I get an email from someone who wants to translate one of my fics into French -- only it's a fic I wrote in 2004. Holy crap! I'm super flattered (this makes, what, six languages? I'll be JKR any day now haha) and go to reread the fic in question, which is a tiny little schmoopy ficlet. And here I realized how much I insert my own biased views of what ~true love~ and romance are into my fics.

It's a little bit personal experience and a little bit wish fulfillment and a little bit media influence, but it all comes down to a few staples:

- an emphasis on smiles, smiling at each other, smiling with their eyes, secretive smiles, helpless smiles, small instinctive curves of the mouth, indulgent smiles, joyful smiles that are broad and brimming with things that can't be put into words-- yes. I have a thing. also laughter, but that is related.
- hands and touch, not necessarily overt or sexual or even as obvious as hand-holding: sometimes it's just a hand on someone's shoulder or a thigh pressed against theirs, a little physical reminder that "hey, I'm here and you're not alone".
- related to that: having been with someone through the rough times, the hard times, having seen them at their lowest and worst, and still there and still caring.
- the little actions are the ones that indicate love: texting someone or remembering things that were mentioned casually before, etc.
- other symbols of how they've become two separate people who have chosen to commingle their lives: haphazard mess of their things mixing, having one person's favorite food in the other person's pantry, and so on.
- kisses! kisses kisses kisses: on the mouth, on the neck, on the palm, on the wrist oh my god the wrist. kisses are sweet and are hot and are on the whole much more interesting to me than full-on penetrative sex. (not that i don't love frottage and handjobs and semi-public-- er, but that's not an indication of ~true love~ and not so much for this post.)
- apparently I think leaving little notes for each other is the CUTEST THING EVER. on post-its, on scraps of paper, on cards, in letters or postcards, on the steam in the mirror, on twitter or online journals or whatever-- adorable.
- love being a scary feeling in your stomach, one that settles into something quiet and sure that doesn't need to be articulated. love meaning that you feel foolish and happy and not so worried what the world might think, but willing to take a risk and being okay with that.
- and I like making them make fun of each other (BEING BANTERY AND MEAN) and having a history and having in-jokes, yess.

Strangely, it wasn't until Inception that I started writing cuddling fic!

...I have completely lost my train of thought! So in addition to reccing me your favorite H/D fics, do you guys have any things you love to see as ~indicators of true love~ in fics (whether your own or someone else's)?

Comments

[meiface.livejournal.com]

hahaha SO EXCITED, I HAVE MY MIDNIGHT TICKETS ALREADY AND-- and I really want to reread some H/D but I can't commit to what I want to read! And I have no idea how to sort out what of the new stuff's good. Hard life is mine. ;_;

[coley-merrin.livejournal.com]

I'm all ears if you find new H/D stuff (...or...old H/D stuff. Wait, did you have a list of links?) *eyes fandom and the unfathomable kill-off-people habit* I think most of the stuff I got to coo over in the last year for STXI and HP were from you. XD

[meiface.livejournal.com]

ahhhh my list of links that I was perusing was this list of H/D classics (http://gossymer.livejournal.com/101912.html) but I'm not really feeling any of them at the moment, possibly because they were written so long ago that general fandom perception of the characters have changed? Thinking about looking into new H/D stuff but not sure where to start.

As for STXI, hm, there is this newish K/S (http://dreamlittleyo.livejournal.com/135036.html)! Sequel to this (http://dreamlittleyo.livejournal.com/99270.html), which is short-ish.

ETA: Or maybe by the first link I meant this one: http://sulky-rhino.livejournal.com/101987.html

[meiface.livejournal.com]

I adore adore banter, but I don't know if that's so much a signal of ~true love~ to me? I think it's because I see friends bantering too. But whatever, I love it. And distance and trust = yes, very much!

I'm going to Singapore on exchange for my last semester! So technically I'll have class, but mostly I am just there to go *______* at everything, haha. Concerts and food and shopping and just hanging out and maybe even traveling into nearby countries! Idk, in the midst of logistical planning right now, rawr.

[nyw.livejournal.com]

asjdkalsdj I am here excitedly waiting for your arrival \o/ okay that sounded pretty creepy stalker didn't it >.>

Also how do you intend to get tickets for SS3?

[meiface.livejournal.com]

I am excited that you will be there while I am there, unlike everyone else who is running away!

thundersquall (who is in SG) is going to buy our tickets. :) I sent her the money via Paypal so basically I am all set to just show up and go party haha.

[jibrailis.livejournal.com]

I HAVE MY HP TICKET! I am excited now, ahaha.

I love your list of indicators. I don't know if I have anything I can call an indicator off the top of my head, but your list is very sweet and I might just adopt it for my own.

Making fun of each other, for sure. It's not love until you can laugh at each other.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

YAY. Thinking of painting my nails silver and green for the movie - will have to go acquire these colors though haha. I do have red and gold already but that is not where my heart is. D:

DOES THIS MEAN I CAN MOCK YOU NOW N? Have we reached this point in our friendship?

[meiface.livejournal.com]

W-wait, you're not going to watch it until December?! I guess I am just too hooked on the midnight viewings/whatevers that makes up this fandom experience for me haha.

Yesss man I am such a huge sucker for smiles. I think everyone is automatically beautiful if they are truly smiling, and so attractive people smiling means they've tripled or quadrupled in nice-to-look-at with a genuine smile. :D So smiling at each other obviously equals true love!

[meiface.livejournal.com]

It will probably be less crowded if you don't go for the midnight showing - but still exciting! Sleep is important and, well, teaching, I guess... ;)

Omg I was Googling for HP7 pics and ahhhhhh Daniel Radcliffe is so tiny and short! But apparently he is super charming and smiley and talks a mile a minute. It's kind of adorable. :D

[catskilt.livejournal.com]

.........BB I'M LEAVING ON JAN 5.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

WHAAAAAAAT OUTRAGEOUS :(

Why did I think you weren't leaving 'til the 6th or 7th? Argh. I guess this makes sense since our semesters both start on the 10th...

[schesinger.livejournal.com]

When a character really ~knows someone~, and being able to understand how the other person is feeling/thinking from just a glance. IDK i think it is... terribly romantic... Also all of the above <33

Anyway, hi, I'm here because I love your inception discussions. I hope you can become inspired again! Any particular reason why you're not feeling the excitement anymore/thoughts for fans going forward?

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Yes, being able to talk without having to use words. I guess it's something that comes from really getting to know someone. ♥

Ahhh, hi! I'm so sorry I am so boring and not with Inception lately. It's partly the time of year (this point in the semester makes me tired and annoyed at everything, and also I blame the weather), but also partly just a waning interest. Everything was so shiny at the beginning, but I guess I can't maintain that kind of intensity for a closed canon? There is still plenty of fic and pic-spamming and such going on though! I, uh, could point you at some people if you haven't already found them on your own? :)

[cobweb-diamond.livejournal.com]

ok i would just like to say that i am so excited about harry potter now that it is like a PHYSICAL PAIN. if i watched the trailer rn i would probably just like, ascend to a different plane of existence. a sillier plane of existence. omgggggggggg I NEED TO BOOK TICKETS NOW.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

book your tickets, book them now! :DDDDD/ Ahh I can't believe everything is coming to an end though.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

HAHA KENDRA IT'S NOT FOR ANOTHER WEEK, KEEP THAT IN MIND.

lskdgh HP7 was such a camping trip + fanfic come to life haha, I really don't even remember. BUT SERIOUSLY, POSTERS ARE GORGEOUS. ♥

And my favorite is, god, either Draco or Narcissa. And not just the fanon versions; they are such interesting characters in-canon!

[chrestomanci]

love being a scary feeling in your stomach

OH GOD HIDE YO CHILDREN HIDE YO WIVES, IT'S HARRY'S CHEST MONSTER

okay no seriously, i'm just joking, but you can't have that and HP mentioned in the same post without me going there...

anyway i totally feel you on the fic thing. i just finished doing a preliminary upload of all my fics onto AO3 (got my account on monday~) and like. wow. i was really prolific in 2008 and then it just tapered off. it's really sad bc i loved writing and yet- i'm not inspired anymore.

(although i did write 1288 words of tyler lockwood fic for vampire diaries on sunday, oh god. it made me realize i've never been in a tv fandom before? which is like SO WEIRD bc the canon literally changes every week. prior to that i've only been in kpop and book fandoms.)

[meiface.livejournal.com]

hahahaha no you're quite right, that is very appropriate. Except his monster was less "scary feeling" and more "RAWR JEALOUSY". In all caps. Yes.

Yeah, it really sucks to lose the inspiration. :( It does seem like most people I know from kpop who wrote a ton just two years ago aren't writing as much anymore. I wonder what happened and why we're all going through a decline during the same time. Life happens, I guess?

:O Ongoing canons! Though kpop was kind of like that? But less dramatic changes to "canon" I guess since they still remain fairly consistent people in a fairly consistent world. This is why there are so many episoda coda fics in tv fandoms! Before they get Jossed in the next episode, lol.

[papered.livejournal.com]

1. TOM HARDY WEARING CUFFLINKS.

2. !!!! HARRY POTTER!!!!!

... that is basically my thoughts right now, hahaha. but omg. when am I going to get over those dunhill photos, mei? ): WHY IS HE SO GORGEOUS.

also, I am excited for hp eeee, even if I won't see it until ~a week after it comes out. UM UM. DH FICS? is it sad that I can't think of anything concrete at all? I feel like all I used to read were really old ones - not that I necessarily went looking for old ones, but so many H/D ~staple~ fics are from ages ago. which are lovely but utterly emotionally draining after you get through a handful. but maybe that's just how it is with epic longfics, hmm. IDK, I AM BABBLING. drowns in star trek fics.

YOUR INDICATOR LIST is very much like my own - those are all the little things I love seeing in fic because it goes beyond just telling - it shows that the characters are in love, and then I go a little starry-eyed, *___*. I love descriptions of smiles and crinkly eyes and dimples. also, we have discussed this already I think but yesyesyes to kisses to the hand/cheek. it is my indicator of ~true love~ okay, hehehe. also, scary fluttery feeling in your stomach + earlier parts of this post makes me think of HARRY'S CHEST MONSTER, :]]].

LET'S SEE WHAT ELSE. YAY FOR KIBUM EXISTING. SMUSHES TOM FELTON ALSO. oddly enough, I've never really thought of any of hp's actors as attractive (aside from like... the guy who played cormac mclaggen! but that was more like, exchanging looks with my friends in-theatre and going HEY HE WAS KIND OF HOT afterwards, haha. and wait, I might have had a rpattz phase. but it was more like I guess he is kind of attractive in a... certain way rather than good lord he's cute.). this is odd considering hp's cast list is ginormous, haha. IDK WHY IT'S LIKE THAT, IT JUST IS.

AND OH YEAH, FIC WRITING. I am with you on this also, ):. I think having too many fandoms at once is counterproductive to my writing because my attention gets divided - and although I have a ~main fandom atm~, the fact that it's inception and that everyone else's writing is heartbreakingly brilliant means my writing speed slows to a snail's pace. I want to write and yet am somehow apathetic at the same time (is that even possible). ;_;

THIS COMMENT IS SO LONG ALREADY OMG. I SHOULD SHUT UP NOW.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD THIS COMMENT, LIZ. I see you have a lot to say. :3 But I agree with basically everything haha - omggg Tom Hardy in a nice suit (http://i54.tinypic.com/1xxw5z.jpg) with cuff links and aldkghf just so attractive. I'm so happy he gets to live out his romcom dream. :D

How go the STXI fics? What have you loved so far? I apparently ran out of K/S fics that are long and plotty and meandered my way back to Merlin fics... Which will get me ranty again ahaha because I forgot how much I hate the Arthurian legends and dislike any in-canon fic. I NEED AUS. MODERN AUS. There must be a ton I'm missing. I just read syllic's rowing AU and that made me super happy, but now to find more...

Yeah I don't find the HP cast that attractive either, just kind of adorbs. And Tom Felton is completely adorable on Twitter. :D

What day are you flying back to Vancouver? Presumably after your test on Sunday...

[forochel.livejournal.com]

TOM AND HARRY MCFLY WATCHED THE PREMIER YESTERDAY NIGHT? :D? :D? idk what the relevance is. hp does not excite me. YOU KNOW WHAT EXCITES ME? XD


omg mei are you still reading solely h/d? because that is the one thing other than snarry that I don't read, um. I read this awesome harry/ron fic? with ptsd? slkdgkksls


sldkjlsjg the notes thing I totally get! it's like SBP!!! o/ and remembering casual things dropped in conversation! that is like -- it doesn't even have to be romantic; it's just a sign that someone cares, y'know? and warming and things.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

haha I suspect I know where your interests lie, Mishy. And yesss I am still reading only H/D because it was the defining HP experience for me and since then I've left the fandom unexplored and whenever I revisit it is only for nostalgic purposes! And my nostalgia is apparently all centered around that initial H/D. It's too late to deviate now!

SBP...what is it. I can only think of "student body president"? @_@ But, yeah, it is just little things showing care, not even ~romantic true love overtures~

[ojuzu.livejournal.com]

*ten-days-after-the-fact reply is ten days afterward*

My one big indicator is BEING RIDICULOUS TOGETHER. If they don't do weird stuff or say funny things with a straight face or make weird faces AT ALL when they're together, if they're just cool and awesome all the time, then it doesn't count. :[ (This is why Shin/Yankumi of Gokusen is my OTP forever.)

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Oh yessssss you must be comfortable enough with each other to be totally ridiculous together! Meaning being mean to each other or doing stupid shit together - whatever! I totally agree. Very awesome. :D

(Awww Gokusen!)