Andrew Shaw (aka Shawzer/Shawsy/Sauce/Mutt) is a tiny adorable fighty forward for the Chicago Blackhawks. Getting to the Blackhawks took him a while. It took him three rounds in the draft to get picked; he was passed over completely in his first two years and on his third go, the Blackhawks didn't take him until the fifth round.



But after starting the 2011-12 season with the Ice Hogs, Shaw finally got his call-up to the Blackhawks and played his first NHL game against the Flyers. On his first ever NHL shift, he got into a fight right off the whistle:



And after getting the huge bleeding gash in his forehead patched up, he came back in the second period to pull a Toews and score a goal off his first NHL career shot:



Like a lot of Hawks fans, I pretty much loved Shawsy at first fight, and through the rest of the season and a bunch more goals, fights and ridiculous antics with his teammates, it just got better.

( More fights, more goals, more piggybacks.Collapse )

This entry was originally posted at http://halfeatenmoon.dreamwidth.org/503597.html.

As much fun as it is going to Melbourne Ice games and meeting players and everything else jamethiel_bane and I have been getting up to, sometimes I just want to flail like a fangirl. And that's hard to do at the Harbourtown after a game when you can't say "OMG I LOVE JASON BACLIG" without a fair risk of Jason Baclig overhearing you. So this is kind of an opportunity to do that, as well as a primer about the Melbourne Ice and the individuals that make it up.

They play hockey in Australia?

Yes, we do! And the best of all the teams are the unimaginatively named Melbourne Ice. It's a semi-professional team (which basically means "they're really good but they don't make any money") and made up of mostly Australian players with a few imports. In this primer you will find all these things, along with beards, fights, aspiring musicians and my embarrassing crush on Doug Wilson Jr.

The team was formed ten years ago, but until 2010 had never won a championship. When they finally did they discovered it was so much fun that they did it again the next year.



( There may end up being a lot of photos of players with the cup, simply because they're the only photos including their faces.Collapse )

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK ME QUESTIONS, I COULD GO ON ABOUT THIS TEAM FOREVER.

Hi there! Thanks so much for offering to write for one of my not-primetime fandoms! Whatever fandom we matched on, I hope you have fun writing it. I know my fandoms look like a weird grab-bag of stuff, so I hope you don't get too stumped. Rest assured, my tastes are really, really varied, and I'll be delighted just to have something written for me in any of these fandoms.

General fic tastes
In terms of my general tastes in fic, I like gen, slash, femslash and het equally, so whatever you prefer to write is fine with me. I like stories about people living together, or travelling together, having adventures and finding the fun in their everyday lives. When it comes to pairing/romance fic I like a lot of things but have a particular fondness for stories about discovering one's sexuality or coming out, and unrequited love stories. (I have a really specific narrative kink for stories about two people who sleep together to comfort each other in the knowledge that they both have deep, unrequited feelings for other people. LOVE IT.)

As far as porn/kinks go, I'd be totally satisfied if you wanted to write a fic with no sex in it - I'm in fandom for stories and characters more than porn. But if you want to write something with sex, I like I like bondage, pain kink, possessiveness and ownership (though just in a play sort of way, not one partner controlling the other outside the bedroom) animal play and crossdressing or other kinds of gender play. I like kink scenes that are non-sexual too, and just about the power or pain or roleplay and the relief/freedom they bring rather than necessarily sex. I also have a weird fondness for tales of bad sex, or people walking in on others having sex, or sex scenes that are interrupted for some reason. Not a kink as such, I just find it entertaining.

Things I don't like: My biggest turn-off is character-bashing, especially of female characters. I don't like stories where the plot is driven by people misunderstanding each other or communicating badly (though I don't mind it in hockey RPF as long as the misunderstandings are caused by people like Sidney Crosby being bad at understanding feelings, not misunderstanding an overheard phone conversation or something) I also don't like stories where people are embarrassed or humiliated, or pressured into doing things they don't want to do, sexually or otherwise. Kink-wise, the only things I really hate are non-con, dub-con, ageplay and again, people being pressured into stuff.

Specific fandom requests (basically a copy & paste of my signup form)
Utena
I listed my favourite characters there, but I'm honestly fascinated by every character in this series, and I'm always open to fic that takes an interesting look at Utena characters, the fairy tale elements or how the weird world of Ohtori Academy works.

If you're open to writing sex scenes, I would give my left arm for some really dirty, physical Anthy/Utena porn. I've always wanted to see that flipside to Anthy's sweet, passive exterior, and what happens when her sexual and sexually experienced side meets Utena's relative naivety about sex. Would especially love to see a focus on it being sweaty and physical and not a perfect fairytale like so much of the rest of the series.

I'm really interested in Juri as a character, and what drives her. I love the unrequited love aspect of her storyline, but I'd be interested in seeing Juri later in her life, perhaps with the realisation that Shiori is manipulative and not such a nice person, or reconciling that with how much Juri loves her. I'm also interested in how she presents herself as somewhat masculine, why she wants to be a 'prince', and both what drives her and what could happen to her after the end of the series.

Kozue I have no particularly clear idea about what kind of fic I'd like to see, just that she fascinates me and I'd be very intrigued to know more about her, her relationship with Miki, the way she sees the duels and the Council and the way she sees Anthy, too. Just anything exploring her character.

West Wing
I struggled to pick characters for this, because I really do love everyone in the West Wing, and in the end I have to admit I just love all of them. I love politics and the political process, so I'd be happy with gen fic, or just pairing fic with a whole lot of politics thrown in.

That said, my favorite characters are mostly the women: Joey Lucas, Amy Gardner and CJ. As far as pairings go, my favourites are CJ/Danny, Josh/Sam, Josh/Santos, Jed/Leo, Josh/Joey, Josh/Donna, Josh/Amy and I have a strange fondness for Donna/Amy set back when neither of them were seeing Josh but both of them were interested in him. I really like my Jed/Leo to still include Abby, or at least acknowledge her, and with that kind of comfortable old married vibe.

Hockey RPF
I absolutely love every character who's been nominated in this challenge and I'd be happy with any combination of them. I love Kane/Toews, Richards/Carter and any combination of Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin and Semin. (If you can find a way to work them all in to one story I'd be damn impressed!) My favourite is Andrew Shaw; I don't have any real pairing preferences, I just like his small-dog-syndrome style of play and the fact that he's small enough for Bollig to give him piggyback rides, but if you wanted to write about his adorable bromance with Garrett Wilson which I only found out about after character nominations closed, that would make my day. I also like Duncan Keith/Brent Seabrook, although they weren't nominated characters; they tend to just appear as a side pairing in fic, but I've been hankering for some fic about them with a falling-in-love/dealing-with-sexuality/coming-out storyline, so if you're into them then that would be cool too.

I'm not really that into AU fic for this fandom, unless it's alternate timeline AUs - like what if Ovechkin got drafted to the Pens and Geno to the Caps, or what if TJ Oshie wound up with the Blackhawks instead of Toews so Oshie and Kane could terrorise Chicago with their drunken adventures? I'm into stories set in the hockey world, particularly coming out stories, or always-a-girl fic about what it would be like to be a woman in the NHL. The one thing that turns me off is in-text bashing; I know rivalries are a part of sports, and are part of what I love about sports, but I don't like individual players being made out to be completely irredeemably horrible. In particular, I love Kane/Toews TO DEATH, but it's a bit of a turn-off for me when TJ Oshie is just there to create conflict between them.

But basically I like a lot of things to do with hockey. Go nuts.

Ouran High School Host Club
My favourite characters from Ouran have always been the Haninozuka and Morinozuka families, and I'd love to get some fic about Hani and Mori's relationships with each other, but especially their relationships with their younger brothers, and the differences in the relationships between the two sets of brothers. But anything to do with those two families would be delightful - I'd love to see some stories about how Hani and Mori feel about the fact that they're expected to have a certain relationship because of their family ties.

I would also love anything at all exploring Haruhi's gender identity and sexuality, or any exploration of bisexuality in the series. Haruhi's ambivalence towards the whole idea of gender has always been fascinating to me, and I love the way she doesn't see her gender as very important and is just as happy presenting as male or female. And as much as I love her interactions with the boys I'd really love to see a story about Haruhi having a relationship with another girl, too.

I have been in Adelaide this weekend! Among other things, I went to a Melbourne Ice vs Adelaide Adrenaline game with masterpenguin82 yesterday, and it was one of the best days of LOL AIHL yet. There were some impressive antics in the other games this week too (bitter Ice Dogs fans, Mustangs/Knights water bottle shenanigans, Knights/Thunder goalie fight rematch etc) but I have enough to talk about just from Adelaide.

NHL jersey watch
First up: I was surprised to discover the most popular NHL team here seems to be the Colorado Avalanche. Not only did I spot several Avs fans at the game (along with a Kings fan and a Leafs fan) but I also met two Avs fans at an AVcon (anime and video games convention) party on Saturday night. It's partly explained by the fact that the Adelaide team used to also be called Avalanche, I guess, but still a suprise!

The rink
Here are the important features of the Adelaide rink:
- Half the seating was set up on top of the casual skate ice adjacent to the hockey rink. masterpenguin82 and I sat there. IT WAS COLD.
- On almost all sides, there was no glass above the boards, just netting, and it wasn't secured at the bottom. This meant that when someone checked Doug Wilson into the boards right in front of us early in the first on Sunday, he almost went right over and into the stands.
- It also meant that at one point a puck ended up in the stands, and the two little boys in front of us wrestled over it. When one of them one, he threw his arms up in victory, facing the stands, and we all clapped. Then his dad made him give it back to the refs.
Last, and most importantly, the penalty picnic tables:



TRAFFIC BARRIERS OF SHAAAAAME. I'm so disappointed we never saw players from opposing teams in the box at the same time, because it would have been VERY INTERESTING. (Given how thorough Adelaide's media team are, I'm sure that if there's ever a fighting call on that rink, there's going to be video. :D) We did, however, get to see two Ice players banished to the penalty table at once so we could call "Picnic in the penalty box!"

Saturday

I wasn't at the Saturday game, but I heard reports of Jason Baclig having to go off with a nasty cut to the face, then coming back and scoring two goals. Fuck yeah. Adelaide won 6-5 but it sounded like a well-fought game, and because their club are awesome there's a highlights video.

Sunday
MAN THAT GAME WAS FUN. I don't think my memory's good enough for a complete recap, and there's another highlights reel available if you want to see that, but there were some really great moments. Both goalies were really on form, so scores were much lower this time. Doug Wilson almost got thrown into the crouwd, as previosly mentioned. (I would totally take Doug Wilson home, but he kind of lives there anyway.)

There was a scary fall by Rezek from Adelaide; he took a clean hit from Jason Baclig, but he must have hit the ice hard because it looked like he was out cold for a few seconds and had to be helped off the ice. But he was back on later in the game and really freaking good, but more about that in a minute.

Cassian Delsar was another, ah, entertaining player from Adelaide; he took a late penalty and was SO ANGRY as he was being led off to the picnic table of shame. It continues to be nice to barrack for a team that can score power play goals for a change! Both Ice's goals on Sunday came off power plays, and Adelaide's first goal too. Melbourne were leading 2-1 going into the third and held it for almost the whole period, until Adelaide scored a late goal (I think by pulling their goalie off the ice) and we went to a shootout.

First round shootout, both teams scored; Rezek the previously unconscious for Adelaide and Joey Hughes for Melbourne. Both teams missed in the second round of shootouts. Then at the third round, Adelaide went first and missed. Then Jason Baclig, the TINY SHORTASS LIGHT OF MY LIFE, took the final shot and scored, and immediately disappeared under a pile of screaming teammates. Seriously, they screamed like girls and all piled on top of him. Before that goal I hadn't seen Australian players being all that physically affectionate, but they had no pretense at being manly Australian men that night, they were OVER THE MOON.

Then on the way out, we had to file past the locker rooms, and saw about half the Melbourne team, one of them shirtless, running out of their own locker room and straight into the Adelaide one. So, uh, I don't know what's going on there. But yay for (shirtless) inter-team cameraderie I guess?

AND HOORAY FOR MELBOURNE ICE! I LOVE MY RIDICULOUS AUSTRALIAN HOCKEY TEAM! And masterpenguin82 for coming with me.

I love that line from Fight Club about how you have to work for perfection and you can't expect it to last for more than a moment.

My Chemical Romance aren't my favourite band in the world. You could be forgiven for thinking they are, given how much I talk about them, but there are others that I love a little bit more and probably always will. But they are a band that I love very dearly and who have been important to me for a long time, and though I've had a somewhat tumultuous relationship with the band and their fans over the last year, I've just had three perfect days of MCR in a row and I couldn't ask for anything better. Ever.

( Bitterness and navel-gazingCollapse )

( Sunday, Big Day Out, and a moment to myselfCollapse )

( Monday, exhaustion and a signingCollapse )

( Tuesday, a headline show at last, fangirls and pure joyCollapse )

So that was probably just about the most useless gig review ever. But come on. These things have always been more for me than for you.

Though not entirely about me, because if it was there would be even more detail about dancing and ~feelings and how Mikeyway is the only member of the band I felt even slightly inclined to vault over the table and kiss. But some details have to stay aaaall mine.

Well that was amazing. Also, paaaaaain. I wish I could get away with NOT MOVING ALL DAY, wow.

A lot of things have made this year hard for BDO, and that makes me sad. I'm sad that Lees and West copped so much flack for booking Kanye West to headline the show, and that they took it so much to heart. I'm sad that Lees left the partnership after twenty years, and that West seems to be coping by slagging off AJ Maddah. I'm sad that Perth and Adelaide got stripped back and Auckland won't be happening at all from now on.

But really, music websites and blogs all over the country have had enough time to hash over it again and again, with every possible stupid variation. (In what way is Laneway Festival 'a good replacement'? No.) What I went to last night was a brilliant festival that BDO can be proud of. End of story.

( Papa vs Pretty, Frenzal Rhomb, Parkway Drive, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, The Getaway Plan, Hilltop Hoods, The Living End, My Chemical Romance, Regurgitator, Foster The People, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Collapse )

I think I need another shower even though I already had one last night. My skin still doesn't feel like my skin!

I don't think it's exactly the ideal time to be making a primer on Short Stack. It's 1am and I can't sleep and I'm drinking chamomile tea with a hefty slug of whisky in it to try to compensate and it's still not working. But Shaun Diviney is tweeting about MCR (omg his background is Teenage Mutant Ninja Squirtles) and it seems as good a time as any to do this. So. This won't be the most thoroughly researched primer ever because I can't be bothered digging up Twitter arguments from 2010 or combing the internet for the best of their 30-odd video diaries, but I do intend to show you why I love them even though most Ozrock fans like me hate them.

SHORT STACK

Short Stack are a band from Budgewoi, New South Wales, Australia. They're famous for their weird hairstyles, skintight jeans, being complete idiots and basically forming a band so that they could hang out with Good Charlotte.



Left to right: Bradie Webb (drums) Shaun Diviney (vocals) and Andy Clemmensen (bass)

Where's the guitarist? Shaun plays guitars for recordings and used to play guitar live, except that eventually he decided to get a tour guitarist because if he just did vocals at live shows then he could stick his hand down his pants more often.

( Below, the epic origin story of Short Stack, and stupid shit they've done.Collapse )

( ETA for any additional funny thingsCollapse )

It's Australia Day! Which means lots of things to lots of different people and is kind of a weird holiday no matter what, which I guess is why we have the Triple J Hottest 100, so that there's something to celebrate today other than our messy colonial past. I don't know if it's better or worse to kind of forget the reasons behind the holiday to listen to a music countdown, but I guess at least it's a change from the national pride vs black armband debates. Or something.

Nevertheless, Australia Day is always going to be about music for me, for reasons beyond just the Hottest 100, so here are some songs for your day.

( Four music videos under the cutCollapse )

And because I've said it before, but you know how fandom sometimes talks about id-fic? 'Somebody I Used To Know' is like my id-song. It has a slow build-up, it's about breakups and longing and guilt, it's a duet, there are two sides, there's ambiguity, and a bit of wailing in the chorus.

Anyway, hope you have a good day wherever you are. I'm going to be trying to get to two BBQs with a badass motherfucking salad I made last night while watching a Spiderbait concert.

These days, I look around fandom and see lots of well-planned, well-thought out, carefully edited fic. Which is great! I like that we all hold ourselves to high standards. But sometimes I just want to post something that I wrote in a quick, silly rush and maybe add more chapters later if I feel like it, just because.

And also the 'Employee of the month at Cafe Dewees' interview happened at least a week ago and SOMEBODY has to write the fic, even if it's a hastily written to-be-continued by someone who doesn't like coffee.

Title: Unintended Benefits
Fandom: Bandom (MCR)
Pairing: James/Ray, eventually, if I continue it, which depends entirely on how I feel
Summary: Ray is employee of the month at Cafe Dewees before he's even started.

( No, really, I know nothing about coffee.Collapse )

It's exactly nine months since I started working at Parliament, and while it's basically the best thing that's ever happened to me, I have to admit that it's significantly detracted from my ability to write LJ posts. There are heaps of things I want to post about (the true love of Ray Toro and James Dewees, for example, or the fact that I went to the last Spicks & Specks show ever and that is unbelievably sad and also Adam Hills dressed as Beyonce unf) but I haven't really been making the time to sit down and write a good post. All my 'sit down and write' time ends up being spent on fiction. So I only end up writing actual posts when I'm grumpy enough about something to rant.

( Dumb things that bother me, and also my fridgeCollapse )

In other news, I wrote a fic for the Canadian Shack challenge and to my utter amazement, some people have actually read it! A Typical Holiday, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Haruhi and Kyon go on a holiday to Canada and have to hide in a cabin during a blizzard, which Kyon things is the worst holiday ever and Haruhi thinks is awesome. For once I wish I could reply to kudos to thank people for reading anything in my tiny anime fandom.

At some point I need to get myself set up on Dreamwidth again but I am too lazy and worried about my fridge. :(