elrhiarhodan

Hi there, friends!

Haven't really posted anything personal in the last few weeks. I've been bitten by the writing bug (as you've undoubtedly seen) and every time I sit down to do one of these updates, I get distracted. Since this has gotten to be rather long and teal deerish, everything of note is under its own separate cut.

( Why I Am Freezing My Ass Off At Work )

( Stuff I Owe )

( Vacation Plans Have Been Made )

( The 2012 Fandom Meetup - Collaring in Chicago )

( Fandom News )

( Writing... )

( Things to Alert You About )

And in conclusion: GEORGE.

Okay, so technically it is now Day Three of one of the most awesome 72 hours of my life...and I've already posted a bit about our day...but it is worth saying a bit more (and I can ALWAYS say a bit more).

Breakfast at the hotel was...well, ummm...microwaved. No delicious soup - think of it as fuel for fic writing and you'll be able to swallow it.

hoosierbitch, afiawri and rabidchild67 reconvened at Collar Central (aka my suite), and pretty much no one left the room until after 5, when rabidchild67 and I went for a booze run (we ran out of the fixin's for prison sangria). But anyway...

The day started with relay writing a fic - which could have, which should have, which DID NOT turn out cracky. That is because the ladies who wrote it with me are filled with so much talent, it nearly blew the windows out. You can read this awesome effort here - easier things, which was very heavily influenced by the play we saw on Saturday night. And I am proud to say that White Collar fanfic CAN incorporate great literary influences (if you consider Edward Albee as such).

And from there, we descended into madness...or shall I say Madlibs. I have long desired to do this...but it took a comment from coffeethyme4me and afiawri 's labor of love (the transcripts of all of the White Collar eps), to make it happen.

Hilarity, needless to say, ensured. (Maybe the chocolate was a factor too...we did a fondue thing with Ghiradelli and fresh fruit). My belly still hurts from the laughter. And this is where the White Collar fandom is so fuckin' incredible. All of us except for hoosierbitch (*pokes her*), posted the results of the first round of MadLibs and you guys went to town on them. We came up for air to find that lionessvalenti did screen caps of the exact moment of scene and added the madlibbed dialogue (please see my userpic).

Although we were all slightly sloshed on Neal Caffrey's Delicious Prison Sangria (thanks to rabidchild67), or maybe because we were sloshed...we read each other's fic out loud. This was truly an amazing experience. Humbling and beautiful in ways that are hard to describe. We did two rounds, and captured the audio on iPhones - which will be cleaned up and hopefully posted soon.

OH...oh - I forgot to mention that we watched Front Man ... because (throws confetti), afiawri and hoosierbitch are writing a missing scene piece (that hopefully will not invoke the living spirit of Edward Albee) involving Neal, Wilkes and his crew, and the 8 hours between the time he was first tazed and when they pulled up to the travel agency. It has been called a "filth off" and I have high, high expectations.

And then...food. More madlibs...more writing (and more consumption of Neal Caffrey's Prison Sangria). We have talked and talked about writing, our processes, our preferences and methodologies. We have picked apart, pulled apart and put White Collar back together in ways that make our appreciation of the show and canon all the more enjoyable.

My peeps have been back in their rooms for a few hours...I've been reluctant to go to bed (something about writing at 3 am is very powerful, particularly when you're drunk).

This closes my entry for the Big White Collar Fandom Meetup. It's been awesome.

And bacony-soft.

You all remember Madlibs, right? That crazy party game where you randomly substitute words and create a (hopefully) crazy story. Well, we of the Winter 2011 Big Chicago Meetup took scenes from White Collar, using the transcripts provided by afiawri, and madlibbed them with insanely funny results (and I cracked up so hard, I hurt myself).

ETA: Many thanks to coffeethyme4me for the idea! She has an awesomely kinky and literate mind.

My madlib was the final scene between Peter and Neal - at the hanger, in Out of the Box.

( What follows below uses plenty of dirty words. The faint of heart and canon purists may be appalled. )