It’s been a busy few weeks recently, with a few more still to come, but I wanted to make a post about everything I've been up to lately - to remind myself of what’s been going on more than anything! Lots to cover so we’d best crack on... (Be warned - here be gratuitous wordage and pic spam!)

( Will Young in Cabaret at the Congress Theatre, Eastbourne... )

( Queensrÿche at the O2 Academy, Islington... )

( Hastings Bonfire Night Parade & Fireworks... )

( Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea at the Sanderson Hotel, London... )

Phew! Well done if you waded through all of that. TL;DR? Vic has been out and about doing stuff, and lots of it! In the coming weeks, I'm getting ready to perform in 'Calendar Girls' for the second time, while still rehearsing for 'Guys & Dolls' that goes on in March, and also rehearsing for 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' that goes on in April, plus rehearsing the electric band for our Christmas gig and getting the acoustic band ready for an open mic night before the end of the year. Occasionally I get an evening off, on which I get to go to Tesco!

Hope you're all keeping well. If you don't hear from me for a while, just assume that I'm rehearsing for something, and you'll probably be right…!

As September kicks off, so does my life! After the (relative) quiet of the summer holidays, the first couple of weeks of the new academic year are always hellish when you work in IT for schools, but this year we're a man down due to jury service so it's been particularly mental. I honestly didn't know whether I was coming or going for most of last week, and if it wasn't for gingerpig texting me snippets of Franklin & Bash porn, I might have gone totally bonkers!

And because I apparently don't know the meaning of the words "over-commited", I am also starting rehearsals for 'Guys & Dolls' (going on next March), restarting rehearsals for 'Calendar Girls' (going on again in November) and auditioning for 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' that, if I'm successful in getting a part, goes on next April. Oh, and rehearsing with two different bands (we've gone acoustic, baby!)

So yeah, busy is something of an understatement...

Which is naturally why my Peter and Jared muses have woken up and are now demanding all kinds of attention, hopping from plot bunny to plot bunny with little concern for the fact that from Monday I will be out for nine consecutive nights in a row! Thanks guys... I've been writing like a woman possessed all weekend though, in between a charity gig last night and making enough chicken stock to feed a small army today, and have at least managed to finish a short PWP and wrangle with another fic that's starting to get very long and plot-intensive.

You may catch me on Twitter (@rockqueenvic if you're on there) over the next few weeks, probably complaining about there not being enough hours in the day. In the meantime, I'll be over here, looking forward to my next free weekend... (Which my calendar tells me is actually December 21st/22nd - What the fuck?!)

*has no one to blame but herself*

Okay, so in between clapping like a seal every time a new picture is released from the Franklin & Bash Season 3 set (because barely-staying-on wetsuits require a *lot* of seal-clapping) I have been devoting most of my Google searches to the fabulous Nadia Giosia, star of Food Network UK's 'Bitchin' Kitchen'. When I watched the first episode of the show, I didn't have a clue what the hell to make of it. By the second episode, I was hooked! Nadia G (although born in Canada) uses a fierce Italian-American persona to deliver themed shows, like 'Breakup Bonanza' and 'Impress The In-Laws', while looking like a rock star in four-inch heels.

Basically, it's a cooking show with comedy. Or possibly a comedy show with cooking. Either way, from what I can gather online it's pretty much like Marmite (that's 'love it or hate it' for those of you not familiar with the British concept of Marmite)! Personally, I love it - the cooking isn't exactly groundbreaking, but then that's not really the point. For me, its mostly about watching a chef whose kitchen utensils are colour co-ordinated with her shoes, eyeshadow and nail varnish, and who says things like, "If you don't want to use Parmesan, you can always replace it with a sprinkle of go fuck yourself!"

Also, she's very, very pretty, which I'm not saying is essential but it sure doesn't hurt!

( See? See how pretty she is...? )

And she sings too (reason number eleventy-billion why I love her so much. So I shall leave you with the hilarious 'B*tch Nobody Cares About Your Wedding Blog' which is currently on repeat in my head. And if you like good food and hot chicks, check out the show...

I realise that I've been a little MIA over the last few months. In my defence, it was an unexpectedly busy summer at work (usually our downtime) and then it just proceeded to get busier in all areas of life as I hurtled uncontrollably towards Christmas. Having come out the other side, it doesn't look like things are going to let up much, what with one thing and another, so I thought I'd do a quick drive-by... [waves]

The main activity that’s currently occupying at least eighty percent of my waking thoughts (and a good proportion of my sleeping thoughts as well) is my upcoming performance in 'Calendar Girls' at my local theatre.

( 'So, you're in a play?' I hear you ask... )

( 'Can we see a picture?' I hear you ask... )

In fandom-ish news, I finished a fic... back in September - God knows why it's taken me this long to get around to posting it but it should be up soon. I remain as devoted as ever to Franklin & Bash, and I'm working on more fic ideas. Just very, very slowly! But they now appear to be filming season 3, which makes me want to jump up and down and clap like a seal.

Well, that's about it from me. I hope to manage another update or two as the year unfolds. I might even have something interesting to say... but you probably shouldn't hold your breath for that!

BEST! EPISODE! EVER!! Okay, all coherency has gone out the window this week because they gave us sooooo much in one episode it got kind of scary at one point. This morning I was irrationally angry because despite my best efforts I still had massive technology fail and the episode took over three hours to download. However, tonight I am one happy, happy fangirl!

( I'm really trying to have something other than 'OMGFLAIL!!' under here... )

Okay, this was a weird episode. Not un-enjoyable, just... weird. Other people thought it was weird, right? And directed by John Landis? Seriously?! Did someone at TNT pull some serious strings, or has the work dried up...?!

( This way for thoughts that are slightly more coherent than 'JARED'S FACE'... )

While I have long since come to terms with the fact that there will never be an episode of Franklin & Bash that I'm not excited about, I was looking forward to this one based on the title alone - anything that takes it's cue from an AC/DC song is okay by me!

( This way for... Oh, you know the drill! )

TITLE: Plausible Deniability
AUTHOR: vic_amy_z
EMAIL: victoriaamy76@hotmail.com
PAIRING: Jared / Colleen
RATING: PG-13
POV: Jared's
WORD COUNT: 1,837
SUMMARY: Jared would never lie to Peter. If Peter asked him something outright, he wouldn't hesitate to tell him the truth. That doesn't mean that Jared automatically tells Peter everything though...
NOTES: I blame gingerpig for this. And possibly jekesta for so beautifully rationalising Jared's attraction to Peter's mom! Written for this prompt on fbkink.
SPOILERS: Slight spoilers for episode 2.02 (Viper)
DISCLAIMER: Not mine, not making any money, no infringement intended. Just playing in the sandbox, I'll return them unharmed when I've finished. Probably.
FEEDBACK: Yes, please! Craved second only to oxygen and chocolate.
DEDICATION: For gingerpig, who totally enables me at every turn.

( Plausible Deniability... )