choo choo

Title: Better Days
Summary: Some things are inherited. Including a need to temper bad days with whiskey.
Characters: Simon Foster, Etta Bishop
Word Count: 875
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I disclaim everything beyond a sudden and passionate love for these two new characters. And an ongoing appreciation for Dunham Dinners.
Author's Note: The wise and influential ohvienna was requesting some Simon/Etta fic in the aftermath of Fringe's latest episode "Letters in Transit," and I wanted very much to oblige. (Although let's be honest, she was hardly the only one to be whacked across the face with that particular feelings stick. SHIPPING IT.) I set out to write a light and funny, Simon-and-Etta-Have-Dunham-Dinner-Fun-Times-and-then-Maybe-Hook-Up-a-Little drabble, and instead ended up writing Simon-and-Etta-Have-Dunham-Dinner-Morose-Feelings-Times-and-Do-Absolutely-No-Hooking-Up-At-All drabble. Basically because I am the worst. But at least I've set the bar nice and low for all Simon/Etta fics to follow. ;) Much thanks to fidesangelus for the quick beta!

( Yay whiskey! )

HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH, FOLKS.

So I've spent the better part of this week catching up on New Girl. I'd written it off from the pilot as being a bit too kitschy even for me, but a few recommendations--especially from the lovely noblealice whose taste has yet to steer me wrong--got me to give it a second try and... WORTH IT!

( TRUE AMERICAN )

In the meantime, I think my constant coughing is about to get me sent home from work, so I'm off to enjoy a ginger ale-y and pajama dress-code weekend. New episode of Fringe tonight, which I'm apprehensive about to say the least. I'm not about to quit on this show yet, but the choices in the last few episodes have just NOT made me happy. Ugh. Come back to me, my amazing Olivia Dunham show. Come back.

What a week. So much tv. So much kleenex. Of course I blame Downton Abbey for setting me off at the beginning of the week last sunday, but there was very little I didn't get at least a little emotionally wrought over. Castle? Check. Raising Hope (she's so big now and adorrrrrrable)? Check. Parks and Recreation? Abso-check-o-rama. (LESLIE KNOPE FACE'S CRUMBLED AND THEN SO DID I) And then although I missed Friday's tv on the night, you can believe for sure that FEELINGS happened in a big way when I caught up.

( Fringe - Neither Here Nor There )

( Haven - Business as Usual )

I hope that was as rambly and as inarticulate as I always am about my shows! And now I can just look forward to Downton setting me off on another week-long crying jag later. ISN'T TELEVISION THE BEST?

Sometimes an actor can be a character's greatest and most powerful advocate, and that is definitely the case with Astrid's actor, the amazingly multi-talented Jasika Nicole. Not only does Jasika do a fabulous job portraying Astrid, she is also an articulate and thoughtful spokesperson about her character. She understands Astrid, and sympathizes with her, and that brings so much more to the character's depth--even when we see her so little! Beyond Fringe Jasika is also a talented writer, artist, cartooner, blogger, comedian, singer, dancer, baker, knitter... god it exhausts me just thinking about it. She's also FREAKING ADORABLE. Basically, all around amazing human being.

But don't take my word for it--check out her words for yourself!

"I would like to see more Olivia and Astrid scenes. ‘Cause I had that awesome scene, and it was a few episodes back, when Olivia kind of opens up and is a bit vulnerable to Astrid for probably the first time ever. And it was so nice to have a scene like that with her because she’s [Anna] such a fantastic actress but her character is so—like, you just wanna give her a hug ‘cause she’s really pitiful sometimes. And I feel like Astrid can be her new BFF. And I want that to happen at some point in the future. I don’t know if it will, but that’s my wish."

Source.

"Interviewer: Does Alt!Astrid have an onset nickname like Fauxlivia and Walternate?

Jasika: Kickasstrid."

Source.

"Astrid’s lack of back­story has been a sen­si­tive spot for me, and a lot of her fans, for a while now. I am ecsta­tic to have been a part of the Fringe team from the very begin­ning, but I have fallen in love with Astrid and I want to see so much more of her. At the same time, it is impor­tant for me as an actor to rec­og­nize that Fringe is not about Astrid’s char­ac­ter, and that she is on the show to sup­port the big­ger story of the three main char­ac­ters. I have talked with the writ­ers about what I could expect from Astrid in this fourth sea­son, and while they admit­ted that they will not be explor­ing her back­story, they did say that there would be an Astrid-centric episode, and more impor­tantly, that her rela­tion­ships with the other char­ac­ters was going to be dif­fer­ent in this new Peter-less real­ity. I can only hope that if Astrid doesn’t get much more to do this sea­son, her own spin­off, Farnsworth P. I. will debut on Fox in the next few years to extremely high praise. And John Noble will guest star."

Source.

And if you're a fan of Jasika Nicole's (and why wouldn't you be by now?) please do read this wonderful article she wrote for The Advocate this May. While not specifically about Fringe and Astrid, Jasika writes so openly and frankly about being an American in Canada, about living as a Queer woman of colour, the differences and similarities between our two countries, about being in a committed relationship, being twenty-something, working, finding time for yourself. There's just really something I think everyone can relate to on some level and she's just so interesting. Read it!

"The United States is a work in progress, but it is still my home. It feels comfortable and easy, and even my struggle as a queer woman of color is necessary and important to the history and the future of the country. I have learned now that embracing one territory doesn’t mean I have to exclude the other one, and it is entirely possible, healthy even, to have an open relationship with both places."

Source.

For day two of my not-at-all-official participation in the womenlovefest--focusing on Fringe's fabulous FBI Agent Astrid Farnsworth--I thought it would be good to share a few of my favourite fics about Astrid. Funny, serious, or sad, all have great insight into Astrid's character.

1) Piece it Together
by danniisupernova
She knows that Olivia appreciates her more then most agents would. Olivia knows what backbone means and she knows that Astrid could pick an easier job, a better job. Or maybe she knows what the chain of command is like, especially for a woman.

2) The Wolf at the Door
by indiana_j
Astrid Farnsworth was actually an FBI agent, junior or no. Sometimes she thought people forgot that part (god only knew what Walter thought). She'd gone through the same training, the same field tests, as anyone else had. Just because she was a junior agent and current assistant/erstwhile babysitter to Walter didn't diminish that.

She had a badge, she had a weapon, she had the guts. She wouldn't have made it that far working with her current group if she had been lacking.

3) Everything in its Right Place
by littledust
“There is a sixty-eight percent chance that the perpetrator is located at the corner of Smith and West,” she says, enunciation crisp. The mathematics appear as green numerals on a black computer screen, but they exist in her mind as complex, crystalline structures, rather like snowflakes. Perfect, if perfection is a concept the human mind can ever grasp. (AltAstrid!)

4) The Art of Fugue
by BlackMamba
Astrid is a hero. The world may not know it, but she is.

Not everyone can say that. The average person doesn’t wake up each day with the power to change lives by pecking away at a keyboard or thrusting their hands into some gooey mass of bloody organic gunk that’s never been seen before. They don’t work with geniuses who ask for their opinion and actually listen when they give it.

5) Footnote
by prochytes
Astrid’s vision swims with asterisms (Walter would be so pleased); her knees buckle beneath her. Not... not long now. Her legs are kaput. You can’t fight without your footwork, Great-Uncle Farnsworth always said.

I've had this Haven fic stuck in my head for ages and it feels like it's never going to be written. So I thought I'd try the tested and true method of just ignoring it and flexing my atrophied writing muscles elsewhere. So if you want to leave me some prompts, I'll comment fic you back with 100 words or less (ish). Just to get some writerliness back into my self.

All my fandoms are fair game--check 'em out here or on my tumblr (same user name) if you'd like. And if you've left me any unfulfilled prompts in the past (yes, Carrie) then of course you can leave them again! But no promises. ;P

HOW ABOUT A FRINGE FINALE REACTION? MADE ENTIRELY OF SILLINESS AND RUDIMENTARY PHOTOSHOP SKILLS.

( And FRINGEYFRINGE folks? I think we're all deserving of some mad props for this one. )

CANNOT WAIT UNTIL SEASON FOUR!

Look, I can be reactionary here too! AND behind a cut. Take that, tumblr. ;D

( 6:02 AM EST )

Title: Unrequitedness
Summary: Lincoln figures it's time to come clean to Olivia. Coming clean to a new mum just means he needs to work on his perfect timing.
Words: 1,344
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Timeline: Post-3x18 "Bloodline"
Disclaimer: Somewhere there is a universe where I own it all. But alas, it is not this one.
Author's Note: So yes, technically this also qualifies as babyfic. But could not be helped. I have hormones and they have needs, people. I APOLOGIZE FOR NOTHING. :D
Thanks as always to the best beta ever, noblealice. As an homage to her wit and keen insight, this is also secretly titled "WELCOME TO ADORABLE TOWN. POPULATION: LINCOLN LEE."

( He was doing a poor job of convincing himself he wouldn’t regret this.  )

How about a Fringe reaction that is in no way coherent, comprehensive, and is mega mega shallow? For a change, you know?

( Spoilers for 'Os' )