Happy Gay Friday & My 3 Favorite Pastimes

Thanks to my Queer As Folk addiction that started a few months ago, I've discovered the wonderful (and sometimes awful) world of fan fiction. There are thousands and thousands of stories out there on websites dedicated to fan fiction about the characters of QAF alone. So, while I was partly incapacitated because of the lower back pain I not only rewatched all 5 seasons but also spent some time catching up with all the Brian and Justin fanfic stories I saved to my Instapaper. It was the perfect way to make the forced rest time in my internetless bedroom slightly bearable.

I've especially enjoyed an elaborate series of 'post 5.13' episodes called 'After the End (aka 514-526)' by Rachael (bloodyrose82) that give a longer and different ending to Justin and Brian's love story. The episodes start here (at the bottom is the link for the next episode, and so on). 
It took me some time to get used to the narrator's voice, which tells the stories not in first or third person but in second: Brian and Justin are 'you' during their alternating POV's. It's quite intriguing. And I think the author managed to stay very close to Brian and Justin's personalities as created in the show.

There are more QAF fanfic stories that I really liked, yet there are still so much more to discover. Here are few links to sites that have nice collections:

• QAFvault, this is where I found ‘After the End’ as well
• Ten favorite stories on qaf-fic.comqaf-fic.com
• Kiss the Pig QAF fan fiction
• Fanfiction.net’s QAF page which still has new QAF fanfic almost every day.
• Queer Eyes, a database that’s in the process of being rebuilt.

Aside from the fanfic there were a couple of books that kept me from going insane all alone in my bedroom. I mainly picked books that didn't need to get reviewed per se, because sitting up to type was a PITA. And I happened to choose some fabulous books. One of them was AL Turner's I Just Play One On TV. This is not such a surprising choice in the light of my QAF obsession, because like the title says, it's about a couple of actors playing together in a TV show and falling in love. Their roles on screen have a gay subtext and in real life one of the actors is a deeply closeted gay while the other one is kind of openly gay. This book surprised me with its depth and intensity. I loved it and I appreciated that it never became predictable. I have to thank Mariana from Hips Like Mine for making me get this book after I read this post of her.

No matter how much I enjoyed myself with QAF, fanfic and good books during the first weeks of the new year, I'm really glad to be pain free and able to move again.
The lazy watching and reading is fun for a short period of time but gets old very fast, especially when it's not voluntarily and during busy times at work. Did you know that you can feel stressed while doing nothing? Well, you can, when you think about all the work that's waiting for you when you finally get back to the office, knowing that it only gets worse the longer you stay away. And now that I’m working again I’m even more stressed than before because I can’t seem to get a grip on my work and I ended up staying way too long at the office the entire week.

So, what a way to start 2012, right? Thank goodness for sweet hubbies to bring change. Mine takes me away for the weekend to Bruges (Belgium). We're going to relax, enjoy each other and quietly celebrate my Birthday together. He perfectly sensed that I was not up for a house full of guests to remember me of my age, and he booked this nice weekend away for the two of us. After a few weeks of mishap I can finally say that I'm in my happy place again!

Happy Gay Friday everyone!

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