All the RomCom of Qi Xi

I love my town. I chose to move to Tucson for many (and varied) reasons, not the least of which was the weather. More than the weather, though, is the relaxed atmosphere, the fantastic people and the fact that Tucson skews towards the higher educated and more liberal than the rest of the state of Arizona. It's got a small town mentality in a small city. People hold doors for other people. Random strangers ask how you are and you can tell they actually care.

So when I hear Keith Olbermann say "let's make sure another Tucson doesn't happen", it breaks my heart. I'm proud of the fact that Tucson was the only county, across all age groups, to vote against the marriage definition act a few years ago. I'm proud that Tucson has a vibrant artistic community. I'm proud that Tucson has a fairly liberal attitude about immigration reform and that our Sheriff has refused to enforce SB1070 (the "show me your papers" law) and that City of Tucson Police officers were the first to file suit AGAINST SB1070.

But more than my own pride in my chosen hometown, I have to say that Keith Olbermann's special comment today resonated. We have to do something about hate-filled vitriol. We have to do something to keep others from getting shot.

Because today was horrifying. It's been an emotionally draining day filled with ups and downs. This morning, my Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was shot, point blank, to the head. A 9 year old girl standing next to her at the meet-and-greet event was killed by a gunshot wound to the back. Five others, most of whom are senior citizens, were also killed. There are a total of 19 victims today.

Arizona has some issues, I freely admit it. We've got wacko concealed-carry laws, ironically passed with the idea that if any citizen can carry concealed, then these mass shootings won't happen because the citizenry can defend itself. We've got crazy immigration bills and Minutemen on the border (Minutemen who happen to like to sell drugs and murder people, too). We've got lots going on down here. I can see the warts.

Part of those warts are the hate-filled vitriol that happens on all levels and by all sorts of people. From Sarah Palin putting a target on Gabrielle Giffords to Jesse Kelly offering a fundraising opportunity complete with shooting weapons with taglines of getting rid of Gabby to the insurance adjustor who came out to look at my car and her comments that "what do a bunch of towelheads know about fixing cars", it's everywhere and it needs to stop.

And what is ironic is that those that are bemoaning how "the left" is leaping to conclusions that link hateful vitriolic nastiness to this shooter are the same people that think that the Arabic people have a hive-mind and all believe in the crazy ideologies that tell them to shoot their senators. The same people that are shouting the loudest that this guy has to be just some random fringe loony are the same people that say that all Mexicans are here to take our jobs, rape our women and kill our economy. And by "ironic", I mean double-standarded and ridiculous.

I don't think that Sarah Palin actually meant for people to pull guns and shoot people just like I don't think that Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck or Bill O'Reilly want it to happen, either. But when you're constantly encouraging violence, you can't be surprised when violence actually happens. And if it can happen in Tucson, it can happen anywhere.

I'm sitting in janicechess's house and I should be working. And I am if your definition of working is yelling at my computer as I read emails from my boss. Swear to god, that woman wouldn't remember to breathe without me there to pat her hand and remind her about the concepts of in and out.

I really do not want to go back to work. ( cut to spare the uninterested as I bitch about the amount of work waiting for me )

Anyway on to non-work related shit - I think there's a karmic rule about fandom and fic searches - only the worst stories ever get searched for (and having seen a couple of my "bad" fic get searched for, I fully embrace and participate in this philosophy). I normally click the link anyway cause I cannot stop myself due to my overactive trainwreck syndrome. I've been pleasantly surprised a few times and this time was one of them as I encountered some stunning Remus/Sirius. The fic search sounded ridiculous and I was totes ready to laugh and spork but, instead, I ended up with biting back tears at the way that the canon between these two was handled.

Being an Historical Record of Events Surrounding the Unfortunate game of Truth-or-Dare Game of February the Twenty-Second And Consequences thereof is the first. It's got a few SPAG errors, a couple moments that made me think "chick with dick" but, honestly? Don't let that fool you into not reading it. It's got quite a good sense of poignancy and beauty there, the way that they fumble around one another and slowly build into an interesting take on the fanon trope of how and why Sirius leaves Grimmauld Place.

I see a Darkness is the second part and just about broke my heart. It doesn't start where Being an Historical... stops. Instead, it's got a disparate timeline that weaves everything together in a broken misshapen lump of a relationship that works even when it doesn't. The author does a great job of getting everything out there, whether positive or negative. You can feel the way that Remus reacts to everything and it is an amazing piece of work.

geekerypookery is the author and I'm currently trolling her journal looking for more R/S because I love her dynamics of these two so much.

Moving on to the ramble, I love fic searches. I really do. ( cut for the rest as I ramble and ramble )

In other less rambly stuffs and postings - I'm working through my hp_yule_balls assignment. It's a tough slog (no offence to the mods or the recipient as it isn't their faults). Mainly it's a tough slog because I'm so wishywashy about whether or not my idea is a good one and if it's a good fit. So I'm being one of those tedious participants who need constant handholding and reassurance.

I'm also working on a story that currently has the summary of "the story where Remus is a street musician and Sirius is a stockbroker and Peter likes Tom Jones while James has his head up his arse and it works just don't ask me how or why or where this came from".

There are also my three non-HP claims at slashfest. I've about 5k into a Wolverine/Gambit post-X3 story and about 1k in to a PWP with Christian/Ollie at Verbotene Liebe. I have nothing into my Nightrunner claim but a good idea.