A Study in Contradictions

Please, have a cake. 

I'm laliandra , mostly shortened to Lal. I'm prone to rambling, spontaneous singing, sarcasm and absent-mindedness. I wish I could carry the whole of XKCD round with me to sum up my life. I would kind of like to be a con woman or a Blue Peter presenter when I grow up.

I have a livejournal account that I live at, a Twitter account (now locked but feel free to add me) that I mostly use to flail at people and an AO3 account that I love.

I write fanfiction and my Master List is under the cut. I feel so accomplished, you have no idea. This is literally the most organised thing in my entire life.

Um, my feeling about friending is, essentially, YAY FRIENDS \o/

Please, do friend me, and then leave me a comment so I know who you are and so we can get to know each other. This is the place to ask any questions that you might have or say hi or point out any terrible typos or bad Americanisms or general fails I have made in my fics. Seriously, it takes a village, you're welcome to join mine.

( MASTER LIST! )

More About The Author :D

Due a nomadic childhood I have a weird nowhere accent that confuses people. Once upon a time I was a student of French and History and I still love to talk languages (moods! Loan words! translation loss!) and how the people of the past are not the Other but just us, then. I recommend books both personally and professionally and inhabit a tiny London flat with my tiny girlfriend and a large stuffed octopus.
bookdeyada_clubmarmalade_fish

I love a lot of fandoms and a lot of things that I am not actively fanish about but would love to ramble and squee with you about!

So, yes, anything you want to know, just ask! Here are some suggestions which I have shamelessly stolen from other posts. Top Fives! Random Facts about one of my Fics (like DVD extras only ramblier)! The Inside The Actor's Studio Quiz! Or anything you like.

Hey lovely flist!

Sorry about the hugely long entry of meme-ish doom that was my last post. I had fun, though!

There are a few things that either got lost in the word onslaught or are just awesome and I wanted to share.

LIST OF AWESOME 

1. In case you missed my GLEEFUL TWITTERING or the fact that I mention it every other sentence, I'm going to America! WHEEEEEEEEEEEE! I have flights booked now and everything. And by everything I mean a snazzy dress to wear to the Jamboree and an approved visa waive thing.

So far the plan looks like this

23rd March - Fly to New York \o/

23rd March to 30ish March - BE IN NEW YORK. Hang out with brimtoast . Bake her and her boyfriend cupcakes. Keep their cats out of the frosting. Wander the park (or possible The Park).  See a show. Ride the A train. ??? . It's a vague plan. If anyone wants to come hang out, have coffee or a beverage of your choice, that would be awesome.

Travel to Boston

31st March to 1st April - FANDOM CONVENTION OMGOMGOMG. Or muskratjamboree as I believe people who are not one giant ball of squee are calling it *g*. Much Glomping! Fangirl sleepovers with brimtoast , shiningartifact , novembersmith and swiiftly (yes we are all sharing one hotel room. No, I do not think we will get a lot of sleep) Attend panels! Convert many people to the awesome of bookdeyada! Try not to make an idiot of myself in front of amazing many people! PROFIT!

At some point - Return to New York

5th April - Turn 24 (Oh my god)

6th April - Return home /o\

2. My work contract has been extended! Whoo! Until the end of February, possibly a bit longer. Which means that I will be able to sort out my finances and also be able to afford to actually do some things in New York. I mean, the thought of having this job for too much longer is kind of upsetting but NEVER MIND *thinks of the money*

3. The company I work for are having a ball to celebrate the company's 10th birthday and new product launch. Which means I get to go to a swanky do for free and drink swanky drinks and wear a very swanky dress. That is to say, my old prom dress that I am jazzing up for the occasion. I've dragged it from house to house for 5 years, it's good that it's finally getting some wear. Also that I get to be all, oh, this old thing, I just CUSTOMISED IT MYSELF *is the most hipster*

4. The ever fabulous kaiserkuchen drew amaaaaaaaazing The Hunger Games art for yuletart which everyone should go marvel at. My new goal in life is to have Kaz draw me beatiful and kickass outfits and then have someone make them for me. Look at those dresses, people! Paper dolls are made of WIN, I used to have sets and sets of them when I was younger. Plus this art is somehow fashionable, lovely and creepy as all hell so, you know, KUDOS TO HER.

5. I got a really incredible cupcake book for Christmas (my relatives know me so well! My Granny, as she tends to do, also bought me incredibly fabulous jewellery because she kind of rocks like that) and it has so many recipes in it that I just keep reading it over and over in a bakery daze. It's like porn. But I love it extra specially because it has a recipe for Tiramisu cupcakes! This is only truly exciting news to people who have read the Inception coffeeshop AU but OMG I CAN MAKE TIRAMISU CAKE. Now all I need is an Eames to make the coffee.

OKAY STOPPING NOW. How is everyone? Do you want to talk about cake?!

Oh, god, I haven't posted in forever and a day. Or, like, three weeks but whatever. The internet moves at the speed of light and all.

So, I suspect that y'all suspect me of having achieving great and marvellous things in my absence from your flists.

This is sadly not the case.

Sorry.

My boyfriend Nat has been working away, many miles away for the last month, only home at the weekends. So I've been Home Alone. I meant to get a lot of stuff done, mostly writing and maybe some recording. But mainly what I did was mope around the house, watching a lot of crap TV and eating biscuits. Sulkily.

I also went to work. Work sucks, I know, right? It's reached a stage with my co-workers which feels very Assimilate or Die. Like, I have next to nothing in common with any of them, and they are not interested in most of the things I am passionate about and. I can either keep myslef to myself and listen to the music that I like and podfic. Or I can feign an interest in things I really don't care about (can I fake it about fake tan?) and stop myself making sarcastic comments (I swear, I don't mean it badly, it's my sense of humour)  and using complicated words (which Karen [who thought that euthanasia was a country] accused me of doing to take the piss). Stop being the proper version of myself. I don't know. I think I've got so used to being with people like, well, like you guys. Who send me tweets supporting my choice to grin like an idiot while I rewatch clips of Glee on the train and who use words like, "proselytize" and who blame me and &hearts me and squee about sexy revelations with me and just GET ME. 

ANYWAY. Enough of my angstface/FANDOMADORATION. Seriously though. You guys. <3.

Let us focus on what I actually have achieved...

I made my Master List/ Introduction Post! VICTORY IS MINE AND IT COMES IN DELICIOUSLY LISTY FORM. It took me an upsettingly long time because livejournal hates my face and also my attempts at html. Oh, so very much html. So, new friends, old friends, lurkers, please feel free to go comment and ask anything you would like to (I have included suggestions but have no doubt you'll think of something much more awesome) or just marvel at the amount of of RPF I seem to have ended up writing \o?

I read Who Fears Death for bookdeyada and it was amazing and set in Africa and full of fabulous female characters and non Western mythology and, ugh, I loved it so much. I love it when you get to the end of a good book and you just feel this really bone deep feeling of satisfaction, you know? Shoe joy is all glitter shiny and instant but book joy is real fulfilment.

I recorded myself playing television theme tunes on the kazoo and singing show tunes for various people, thus proving that I probably shouldn't be left on my own for long periods of time.

I broke my laptop charger dancing to My Chemical Romance but now have a new, shiny one that actually works properly and not just in one special position which takes forever to find. My precious laptop, I have missed you so! *pets, gently* 

I signed up for Muskrat Jamboree which is a very very awesome fandom convention. In America. So, yeah. I AM GOING TO AMERICA and I am going to stay with brimtoast in New York and meet shiningartifact and novembersmith and swiiftly in Boston and we are going to a FANDOM CONVENTION and OMG I AM SO EXCITED CAN YOU TELL?!?! So, if you are in the New York or Boston area around the end of March/start of April we should totally meet up and have coffee or something. I plan on riding the A train and charming people with my accent!

I have been around on other parts of the internet, even though I have been a terrible poster. I have been on twitter, like, all the fricking time. I live on Twitter. How did I survive work without Twitter? I have a service that allows me to use Twitter like a text message, where I just write out the message and send it to a number, which I find extremely cool. I get to text people all over the  world for free! So I was discussing the Glee version of Teenage Dream as sung by AVPM's Darren Criss with kaiserkuchen  and she made an excellent point and so I replied

Yes, yes eye fucking, exactly \O/

You may notice the distinct lack of an @ at the beginning of that tweet (incidentally have I mentioned that I hate almost all the words associated with Twitter? Tweeting *shudders*) so of course it or rather Yes, yes eye fucking, exactly \O/
 showed up on EVERYONE's feed. There was some confusion, but mostly in a "Oh, Lal, what is it this time?" kind of way. Which I appreciated. I feel it is a fairly accurate summary of my feelings on the subject anyway. It is extra amusing to me because just a few days I had been telling Kaz that it is basically my greatest fear that one day I will accidentally text Twitter instead of my boyfriend... I mean, going on what most of our conversations are like it will be something about the weather or poorly spelled shop signs but YOU NEVER KNOW. 

I wrote a teeny tiny sequel to my Inception subway!AU fic, (AKA the fic of nothing but crosswords and snarkary, or My Subconscious Loves You, brimtoast) for bookshop 's fluff meme. I am well, well aware that this is NOT what I am supposed to be writing, but anyway, I did. This is because I am powerless to resist the lure of being ordered to write something delightful and schmoopy and because the fluff meme is like a big fuzzy blanket that I can wrap myself in after a particularly crappy day and because I wanted to do something nice for many reasons but mainly, as I said to C,  because sometimes people in fandom are dicks. There is a little more further down the thread, by the way, so scroll down if you feel your sugar levels can take it...

I also went dancing a lot, which remains awesome. We are doing a samba routine at a Carnaval club night in December and my friend is trying to persuade us all to wear bikinis. I will be on Team More Than Bikinis, Oh Please, For The Love Of God, but I suspect my team will not win. Possibly we need a snappier name. 

And you guys? How have you been? Didja miss me?! 

So!

I am 23.

It feels much as 22, only less symmetrical. I had a wonderful birthday yesterday, thank you so, so much for all the messages etc of good wishes and sprinkles and all that. I felt quite overwhelmed with love. You are all darlings of the highest order, and I feel very special having y'all as my flist. All other flists pale into insignificance.

Anyway, I had a lovely day. I went to a very excellent all day music festival on Sunday, so got up late and got cards and lovely things from the internet like virtual mix CDs and flower picspams.  There was some mooching, also some faffing, and making people do my bidding (MUHAHAHA). Plus phone calls from awesome people, and cards with umbrellas on them.

Then Nat took me out for a swanky meal, and I had a very large black forest gateau with cherry ice cream.

But, it turns out that my birthday is a Magic Day! So many random good things happened! I did not know I had such power. So, here are five very cool things that we can all enjoy together, in light of 5th April being lucky with extra luck sprinkles.

1. One of the bands that I saw on Sunday were Hope and Social. Check Them Out! They were amazing. They have a brass section. And they played this one song that I just fell in love with.

Red, Red Rose by Hope and Social. When they play it live, they do call and response with "Blue Skies..." and it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

2. So, I had this conversation with Nat during my birthday meal.

Nat: I don't really have a present for you. I don't know what you want! But. You know I was trying to get a ticket for the first day of Leeds?

Me: No? You were?

Nat: What? Because, you do know who is playing there on the Friday?

Me: No? Who?

Nat: You do know that the Libertines are reforming for Leeds Festival?

Me: NO. What? OMG, what? *nearly falls off chair*

Nat: But... How did? You live in the internet, how did you not know this? Anyway, would you like a ticket as your present?

Me: *looks around* This restaurant is such a bad place for an attack of flailing.

SO YES. Did you know this? The Libs. They broke my heart last time, they had better stay friends forever this time round. I am putting my faith in you, Pete Doherty, do not let me down. If you haven't heard of them, you should definitely get on board, they were, are, a great British band. And they will always be extra special to me because both my boyfriend and my best friend adored them for years, and then I got to introduce my campfire ladies to them. I think I was slightly dazed at poor Nat for a while because, surreal! So, yes. The LIBS.

3. My dearest mcollinknight is doing a LADIES ARE AWESOME post. You should all go play. It's a great idea and also a tiny bit for my birthday, so I feel like I can invite y'all to her place. Just be good, don't break anything, be nice about Canada.  We need more pictures and so on of awesome ladies being awesome!

4. Because pictures of cats are always amazing. This is Alfie, the unsubtle cat that I mentioned in my last post. He is ridiculous and likes to clomp around my Granny's house muttering to himself. He has tiger paws and the brain of a kitten...

 

5. My Dad got me a Good Deal of Amazon vouchers for my birthday. Which means that I will be set up to buy a book for bookdeyada for a good few months to come. And also that if anyone would really love to join but doesn't think that they can afford to buy a copy of this month's (really excellent) book, The Hunger Games, well, I could probably  gift you one. Because it's A FANDOM BOOKCLUB AND I WANT EVERYONE TO JOIN AND HAVE FUN TOO! Ahem. Sorry, I am still really excited about it...bookdeyada !

There we are! 5 awesome things for the 6th. A catrillion hearts to you all.