Could you describe the ruckus, sir?

I discovered that BBC radio is available, like, everywhere, so I've been listening to some BBC Radio 1 because I'm generally curious about what's rocking the pop stations in places that aren't here.

And I had this moment, listening to Nick Grimshaw, where I went "wait... is he from Manchester?" and he is and I was so proud of myself for recognizing a regional accent from somewhere outside the United States.

Sad, I know. But still. So. Proud.

Was also reasonably sure that the people speaking Spanish behind me the other day were from somewhere in Spain rather than somewhere in the Americas, but I was too embarrassed to ask.

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On a not really related note except, you know, people:

There are these original fic series over on AO3 that are tagged in Hockey RPF because they put original characters on NHL teams. (I don't think any NHL folks appear, ever, but its possible that I've glossed over some references in the few that I've read.) They seem to be pretty tightly framed around things that "only" happen to professional hockey players, or maybe professional athletes at a stretch. There's been a bit of debate about it, but I was thinking last night about where similar fannish boundaries might be.

I know that people have written stories entirely peopled with original characters in a distinct universe - Star Wars or Harry Potter, say. So I'm wondering how mundane a fandom has to be before it just flat doesn't work anymore. Like setting something in the White Collar or Suits universe would just be... a story set in New York. Ditto, like, Actor RPF. If... NASA astronauts RPF suddenly was a thing, that seems like it'd have a unique enough setting with boundaries to play with.

Right. Off to wash dishes.

Fake Hockey News from Dave Lozo, by way of Backhand Shelf.

3. Staal brothers retire to start boy band.

THUNDER BAY, Ontario – Feeling they have accomplished everything they could in hockey, Eric, Jordan, Marc and…who’s the other one again? Oh right. …and Jared Staal announced at a joint press conference in Thunder Bay, Ontario, that they were giving up hockey to start a four-man musical act that will perform internationally.

“We call ourselves, It’s Staal Right,” said Eric, who along with his siblings took the stage in white shirts, white pants, white shoes, and delivered a four-minute choreographed dance routine before answering the question in a sing-song voice.

“We’ve done everything we can as professional hockey players,” said Jordan. “I have a Cup, Eric has a Cup, Marc has seen us with the Cup and Jared has several plastic souvenir cups he has taken home after watching our games. We have been playing hockey since we were kids, and we decided we need a new challenge.”

It’s Staal Right will begin a six-continent world tour in September. They will also no longer be referred to as their birth names, instead adopting the blueprint that made the Spice Girls so popular in the 1990s. Eric Staal is calling himself Sporty Staal; Jordan will go by Scary Staal; Marc’s new name is Posh Staal and Jared will now be known as Other Staal, making the transition easiest for him.

“Staal power,” the group exclaimed at the conclusion of their press conference which was followed by the first public performance of their song, “Brothers Gotta Hug.”

I think a bunch of you are newly on the hockey-rpf-as-original-fic bandwagon, or at least newly since part 2 of this series was published. I'm pretty sure I've never been more excited or anxious (because what if , for some bizarre reason, the author ruins everything?!?) to get a fic notification than I was this morning.

It's a glorious, dystopian au where hockey is the central thing but not at all the whole story, framed around the careers-to-date of Carter and Richards. If you're already in the fandom, you know what their story is. If not, but you feel like diving in, I almost don't want to spoil it, but I will if you'd rather have the Cliff notes on their lives. I'm sure I have a link to a primer, somewhere, or its an easy google. This is the final part of three, bringing the events up to "present" for when ionthesparrow started writing, which was sometime after last season's playoffs.

The Rebel League (55928 words) by ionthesparrow
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Hockey RPF, Sports RPF
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Jeff Carter/Mike Richards
Characters: Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Dustin Brown, Dustin Penner, Jonathan Quick, John Stevens
Additional Tags: Los Angeles Kings
Series: Part 3 of Hockey at the End of the World
Summary:

Rome wasn't burned in a day.

I remembered this existed today, and then I went to go re-read it, and then I clicked the Carter/Richards tag and sorted by hit count, and this wasn't at the top, which is a damn shame, so, fic rec! Heed the warnings in the author's note etc., but it's all pretty fanon-typical for dystopia fic.

Hockey at the End of the World (25386 words) by ionthesparrow
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Hockey RPF
Rating: Mature
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Jeff Carter/Mike Richards
Characters: Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Patrick Sharp
Summary:

Jeff has a plan: Get to camp, skate well. Make the team. Do well. Make the Orange. Survive. Win Cups. Get free.

Easy.

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If someone wants to validate my opinion of its awesomeness, I will perhaps go rec this on bestthingever. Or you can!

ionthesparrow is also the author of the Teen Wolf Written Works series, which I remember really liking all of, but I don't actually remember what happened to Derek and Stiles (and Lydia and everyone else) in the first two parts after reading the unexpected awesomeness of the Allison/Lydia third part.

Okay, maybe three things

Thing 1
Bullriding AU, which totally deserves words I don't have for it. Jared/Jensen, set in what at least feels like an authentic rendition of a really, really macho sport.
Verisimilitude. Which I type, and see written all the time, but have never said, or to my knowledge heard anyone say. Anyway, she certainly put her research in, and it's not like a spectator's-level view of bullriding is brain surgery or anything.

Thing 2
Geo Challenge on Facebook. It's a game, except with actual facts, facts that I feel like I should have been taught in school, and I totally wasn't. Brought to you by the producers of Who Has the Biggest Brain, to which I was similarly addicted, but that made me feel like a worse person for trying to improve my score.

Thing 3
So You Think You Can Dance - Canada. I've fallen a little out of love with Dancing with the Stars this season. Warren Sapp freaks me out, Maurice Green's interviews are painfully staged, I want to be excited for Lance Bass, but he's just not that great. Brook Burke is awesome, but not as much fun as Stacy Kiebler, cause Stacy had Maks. Anyway, am now getting my dancing fix from north of the border via youtube. This was the first week they swapped partners around, and everything sort of went to hell. I still think they kicked the wrong people off last week, cause that tiny ballroom guy? Sort of ticks me off.