11.27.2013

Happy Thanksgiving

Hello, Lovelies,

It’s the night before Thanksgiving here in the States (the rest of the planet probably regards this as one of the most annoying days of the year, probably along with the fourth of July, but oh well), and even though I think Thanksgiving is an incredibly problematic holiday for many reasons, I also love the principle behind it. It’s about togetherness and gratitude, and sometimes those things can feel like they’re in short supply. Especially from me. I haven’t been as communicative this year—my LJ and this blog in particular sometimes look like an abandoned wasteland—as I have been in the past, and part of that has been my health-related problems (it turns out I am sensitive to MSG and prone to migraines because of it, so I’m in the middle of a lifestyle adjustment) and part of it has just been general surliness. For all of those of you who stuck around through the days of Grumpy Frea, I have nothing but gratitude.

But I’m grateful for a lot of other things, too, so I thought I’d take a moment to list things.

I’m grateful for every review I receive (well, maybe not the angry ones, if I’m being honest). I’m grateful that somebody took time out of his/her day to leave me a small token that they had read my story, even if it was just “great job! Thanks!”

I'm grateful to the beta readers, to the cheerleaders, to anybody who encourages fanfiction writers and fanartists rather than tearing them down.

I’m grateful for every person who’s ever reached out to me, even if it’s just a simple, “How are you?”

I’m grateful for quistie64, who is such a joy to have in my life. I’m grateful that she finished her massive fic because it means I no longer bear the cross of have the longest story. But I’m grateful to her for all of her advice, her unrelenting humor and her fantastic worldview. I have never walked away from a conversation with her on any platform with less than a smile on my face. She is such an inspiration to me, you guys have no idea.

I’m grateful for Michael and Lindsay, who collectively have to be the nicest, kindest people on the planet. I’m a little glad the greater part of the Midwest separates these two because if they lived closer together, the entire earth might be sucked into a wormhole of niceness.

I’m grateful to my friend Ayefah. I’m sure she’s probably scratching her head in curiosity about why that is, BUT I HAVE MY REASONS (and am going to be super-mean and not share them here). (okay, fine, it’s because she made me realize the joy of all capitals, plus she always brings me spam whenever I get online and she’s a great person to talk to all the time. And she’s just neat. So there)

I’m grateful for Cat, who appears to me to live life with such unabashed and colorful joy. Another person who always makes me smile, and I envy her ability to live out loud like that. Also, I really should watch Friends sometime.

I’m grateful for the wonderful Wepdiggy, who I finally got the chance to meet this year and an entire room of Avengers fangirls didn’t scare him off, which was amazing. I’m grateful that he challenges my worldviews and brings his sense of humor into my life.

I’m grateful for Chris Bosman, and his excellent taste in music, his masterful use of hyperbole, and how crazy my Twitter timeline can sometimes get with him around. He keeps it fascinating.

I’m grateful for Supriya and Jessica and Jordan, who I met because of Downton Abbey and thankfully we outlasted the show together. These women are remarkable and sometimes flooding their DMs on Twitter with messages about Oliver Queen’s abs is the highlight of my week.

I’m grateful for Kris for bringing a lot of snark and Yvonne love to my life, and Kate for bringing a lot of snark and some truly amazing fanfiction. I’m not even saying that because she referenced Fates in her latest chapter (which you should go read)!

I’m grateful for the Joels: British Science Joel and Science Joel. From them, I’m guaranteed to learn something (or make BSJ facepalm by not remembering the actors for Artoo and Threepio), and I always relish that opportunity.

I’m grateful for SharpAsAMarble for the cheesiest of puns. I mean that literally.

I’m grateful for Grace for her talent and encouragement and the fact that she’s always there for a good fannish squeeing session.

I’m grateful for Don for always sending me such great questions on Tumblr and really, for reblogging every single piece of fanfiction I write. It always makes me smile.

I’m grateful for Crumby for being a troll.

…oh, I should probably say more about Crumby, huh. Oh, fine. She’s a troll, and I love it. And yes, getting to meet her in Prague this year is one of the highlights of my life. I don’t think it gets cooler than walking around Prague with a woman in a Ron Swanson T-shirt. I’m grateful I got the chance to meet Crumby and that she’s still willing to talk to me after that. And soon I shall watch Friday Night Lights, I promise!

I’m grateful to Dennis for being one of the nicest people on the planet. Even when we don’t see eye to eye, I’m amazed at the depths of kindness and the willingness to understand things that may not be familiar to him. Plus, I just admire his dedication to writing. Rock on, Dennis!

I’m grateful to Peter O for being such a positive light in my life, and for sharing his fantastic tunes with me. Dude has a song for everything, and I dig that.

I’m grateful to Karen for…I have no idea, I just adore her. She’s so fantastic and quirky and she’s got kickass Sarah Walker hair and the ability to love something in all capital letters. If I’m chatting with her online, I’m usually on the floor laughing. Granted, sometimes that’s because I’m messing with her and trying to get her to finish Curtain Call for me.

I’m grateful to Lucky. We only met in person in the airport in Chicago on our trip (which was fun to explain to random strangers), but it was like I’d known her for decades. I’ve never met anybody more accident prone but cheerful about it, and I find that utterly inspiring. Getting to spend two weeks gallivanting across Europe together was a fantastic experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. If you ever need sarcasm and positivity in the same sentence, Lucky’s your gal.

And finally, I’m grateful to Max. I don’t feel like giving a reason because that’s being too nice and I try not to do that because then he starts thinking he can get fresh with me and—oh, fiiiiine, if I must. Guys, Max is one of the greatest people I know. He’s one of my best friends. Meeting him a couple of years ago has helped me out in so many, incalculable ways. He was there for all of Fates and he’s been there for every big story since, always cheerleading me on and willing to read the crappiest of prose that I send his way (and trust me, I have sent some real stinkers his way; my taste for puns means you are NEVER SAFE). I’m so grateful every day that he considers me a friend and I get to share that honor.

But you want to know what I’m most grateful for, out of everything?

Mashed Potatoes. AW YISS. I’m gonna go home now and get me some.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Frea O’Scanlin

PS – there are a bunch of ebook downloads for you if you’re traveling this weekend and need something to read. All of ersk4’s Chuck stories are now up, and I’ve compiled my Badass Altitude Universe, and my Hyperfocal Distance Avengers Journalism AU onto the page, as well. Happy reading!

14 comments:

  1. I'm thankful for you, my friend, and your wonderful, fascinating brain. Thank you for sharing your incredible talents, your sense of humor and your unparalleled gift of writing with us mere mortals. Thank you for your generous spirit in helping me and talking me off the ledge on more than one occasion. I'm grateful for the joy you bring to my life.

    I wish I had something humorous to write, but it's late (10:15 MST--IT'S LIKE THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!) and at this point of the day my poor, middle-aged gray matter is only able to perform the autonomic functions that keep me alive. So, have a great Thanksgiving and junk and stuff.

    Q

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    1. Oh, wow, you crawled of the ancient cave of sleep in order to reply to this? I feel particularly honored. ;) Did you also shake your stick and tell some kids to get off your lawn??

      Hahahaha, thank you for all of the lovely stuff you said about me. I see paying my "Be Nice to Frea" dues (which is, coincidentally, almost as much as I make, so therefore I live in a cardboard box and steal internet from the library) has definitely...wait for it...paid off! But no, seriously, you're the greatest, and thank you.

      How was your Thanksgiving? I hope the Pecan Pie turned out better than ours did. Apparently Karo Syrup can go bad.

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  2. Science Joel! I like it. Or even Yank Science Joel.

    Anyway, Frea, I'm grateful for your Fics, of course, and for postcards, but especially for your blogging/reblogging on what makes a strong female character (i.e. a human being who is also female). It certainly has made me more critical of my own writing and has changed the last few chapters I've written. Even though I'm going to have to put writing down for a while (considering my current pace, I think that's already happened) it has also allowed me to appreciate those writers able to create good female characters in TV, movies, and fiction. That might sound like an oddly specific thing to be grateful for but you have no idea how it has changed my perspective. Happy mashed potatoes!

    YSJ

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    1. Yank Science Joel! DONE.

      Awww, thank you! And I had no idea I was influencing anybody with those posts, so I'm a little floored by that. I was just all, "I LIKE THE LADY CHARACTERS WHO KICK BUTT BUT MAYBE NOT LITERALLY BECAUSE STRENGTH" and I have to say, I am bouncing in my chair with happiness that I was able to help somebody else out with writing (even if you're totally understandably putting it down for awhile, which you gotta do what you gotta do!).

      And oddly specific things to be grateful are the best things to be grateful for. I have to get oddly specific to get Christmas presents. NO matter how many times I ask for world peace, my mom says I have to get more specific than that if Santa's gonna show up. So there.

      Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to you as well!

      ;)

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  3. Anonymous28.11.13

    As a part of the "rest of the planet" you know what I think of Thanksgiving, but oh, well, so this day is as good as any to say what I have been thinking for a while, that you are a very interesting person.
    Same goes to many of the people that you mentioned (at least, the ones that I interacted with), but most of them already know...
    Enjoy your mashed potatoes!
    H.

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    1. Haha. I would like to raise a toast and my leftovers: TO BEING INTERESTING! May we never be dull, may we never be flat, may our stories entertain and our jokes flow well into the night.

      Thank you very much, H!

      PS - the mashed potatoes were delicious.

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  4. Hee. I LOL'd at that first single line. :)
    When are we doing that Friday Night Lights thing, by the way? Although, what's that you said about Friends? This needs to be remedied as well. (You too, Max.)
    I'm grateful, too, for meeting you (in person) this year, Frea, thankful for the invitation and the welcome and what fun was that weekend?! Most definitely a highlight for me. :) And more generally, I'm grateful for the humor and smartness and joy you bring into my life pretty much everyday.
    Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

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    1. Haha, I am well aware of the effect of our rather problematic holiday on the rest of the world. But then, I am all for more people celebrating the excuse to get together and feast on the same day! And in turn, we can celebrate Diwali and Bastille Day and I can take more time off of work.

      I'm free in a couple of weeks for FNL. Or I might get the first season and rip it onto my computer because I've got some long car/train rides coming up over the next two weekends. Plus if I watch it on the plane, I'll be seeing Max right afterward and he can tease me in person about not having watched it.

      That weekend was fantastic. And awww, thank you! I'm glad I get to bring smartassness and joy to your life. I feel like that actually makes my life a little fuller. Plus, as you well know, the opportunity to be a smartass is an enriching one.

      And I wasn't kidding about the potatoes and the parole. I do eat them at other times in the year, but they're special on Thanksgiving! ;)

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  5. Excuse me while I melt! Such kind words, amiga! I'm grateful for all the snark and sweetness that is you! Also for all the entertainment you've brought to my life (yes, this includes ganging up on Max- he's the worst.) And your love of badass comic chicks, and most of all I'm grateful knowing there's someone in St. Louis who could down tequila with me when I visit, as well as happily submit to a mashed potato food coma. Heaven. Happy Turkey Day to you and your familia!

    PS: you really need to watch Friends and 30 Rock!

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    1. Awww, thank you. Max is totally the worst. He's over there sticking his tongue out at both of us and planning his revenge, you know. ;) I am so excited that some day you might get to visit St. Louis and down tequila and maybe have a mashed potato coma (Hey, if we have time, we can road trip down to Lambert's Cafe, which really will put us in a mashed potato coma, and they throw the rolls at you from across the restaurant). I hope your Thanksgiving was all kinds of awesome!!!!

      PS - I know, I know. So many things to watch. So few hours in the day to tear me away from Spider Solitaire. ;)

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  6. Anonymous2.12.13

    I'm grateful for Frea and her wonderful stories. I'm grateful for all of the work that she has put into her stories and all the work that she has put into making those and other writers' stories available for downloading with those wonderful covers. And I'm grateful for Castle Inanity which provides some nice things to cheer up a workday! Thank you!

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    1. Aww, thank you. :) I'm glad we could cheer up your workday! And there should be another download coming later on this week that I think you'll enjoy!

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  7. Anonymous3.12.13

    Thank you for the new downloads. Just curious: will your story "My Girl Sarah" be a download? I hope so!

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    1. Yes, eventually. I just realized last night that I hadn't put it up. :) Will try to get to it before my trip this weekend!

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