Ruth Sadelle Alderson

Happy Halloween! Welcome to the fifth annual edition of virtual trick-or-treating.



Knock or ring the bell by leaving me a comment, and I'll reply with a treat of some sort. It might be a fic snippet, a picture, a song, or something else I come up with in the moment. I will be virtually handing out treats until around eight PM Pacific Time, but if I don't get to it by then, I'll give you a treat tomorrow, or by the end of the day Saturday at the latest. Lurkers and anonymous trick-or-treaters are welcome! (But if you want a treat specific to your interests, let me know something about why you know me.)

(Not my actual door. Photo by Flickr user derekskey, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.)

When I took requests for treats, Edit 12/27/12: a fangirl who has asked not to be named /edit asked for something with the Tylers. This is a picspam of them! This is not a primer. If you need a primer, littledivinity made one (I've heard tell there's a second part, but it's friendslocked). Edit 12/27/12: Links to another primer have been removed at the request of the author. /edit

( Onward to married bliss! )

Today's treat is a Mike and Lindsey mini-picspam. Because ♥ x a million for them.

( Three-picture picspam )

I'm too far away to give lakeeffectgirl actual hugs, but the good thing about living in the internet age is that there's always another picture of Mike Richards, so I made her a picspam instead. (Aren't picspams basically the fannish version of hugs anyway?) By way of introduction, a few caveats and whatnot: First, these are not new pictures. (Ha! Like I could ever find Carts or Richie pictures that lakeeffectgirl hasn't already seen.) The idea here was just to put a bunch of pictures together in one place. Secondly, although I snuck in some source citations (because our lives are full of jokes that require citations), this is not a primer. For that, you want either riadsala's fantastic primer/introduction or lakeeffectgirl's extensive primer/timeline. Thirdly, this ends on a tin-hat defying heterosexual note, so if that's not your thing, you might want to skip the last two pictures.

( Lots of pictures of these drunken, reunited married dudes. )

Sidney Crosby and the Russians Who Love Him

Fandom, take note: this man is not a robot:

( Picture )

I have to admit that I can barely handle this picture. Look how absolutely delighted he is to have that child in his arms. You know who else loves kids?

This guy:

( Geno! )

Also, this guy:

( Ovi! )

Where is the nanny AU where Sid has a baby and hires Geno or Alex to be the kid's nanny?


Danny Briere (with bonus Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin, Scott Hartnell, and Claude Giroux)

Whatever, like I was going to make a hockey post without including him. First, let's watch this:

( Video )

This is the video I tell people about when I'm trying to describe how unintentionally dirty hockey is. Barely legal draft prospects Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin visit the Flyers locker room where Danny tells them how hard or soft he likes his sticks and how many he goes through in a season. And then Tyler Seguin can't keep himself from commenting about how tiny Danny is.

The only bad thing about that video is that it's during playoff season, which means Danny has terrible facial hair. So let's look at him in the adorable hats the Flyers had for the Winter Classic:

( Adorable hat! )

And while we're on the subject of the Winter Classic, I may have watched this video a very large number of times today:

( Video )

It's titled "Flyers See Winter Classic Ice," but is actually just Scott Hartnell and the Briouxs checking it out. Hartsy greets all five of them with, "Hey, Brieres."


Carts+Richie 4-EVER (with bonus Staals!)

This gif floated around tumblr recently:

( Carts and Richie making hearteyes at each other. )

Mostly, it makes me want a college AU, but I can't say why it reads that way to me. Also, it comes from this video:

( Video )

The best thing about this video is that nearly all of the dialogue is just the Staals chirping people. Best Scandinavian trolls.


Tyler Seguin's House of Bros

I really mean it when I say that Segs and his husband and boyfriends are making my whole summer better.

First, his husband was upset that Segs and the dog were napping without him:

( Picture )

Then Segs took his other other boyfriend to see Magic Mike:

( Picture )

And then slept on him in public:

( Picture )

Also, it appears that someone in that house is sleeping in a bed with pink blankets:

( Picture )

Really, how does this kind of thing happen in real life?


Danny Briere's (ex?-)Husband's New Boyfriend

Let's just start with pictures of that time Claude Giroux took Paul Bissonnette as his date to the NHL Awards:

( Claude and Biz on the red carpet )

And lest you think that's fangirl exaggeration, allow me to assure you that every interviewer they met on the red carpet called Biz Claude's date, in those words. And then there's the video that the screencaps above come from. You may need a minute to prepare yourself for this. Keep in mind that it includes this exchange:

Alyonka Larionov: I'm just wondering, how did this relationship start?
Claude: I don't even know. When's the first time we met?
Biz: It's complicated.
Claude: My status on Facebook, "It's complicated."

Yeah, that happens:

( Let's go to the video tape. )

And don't forget the first red carpet interview where they talk about how they were hanging out together in Montreal when they decided Biz should be Claude's date:

( Video )

You have no idea how much I want Claude/Biz fic. And the fact that no one wants to break up Claude and Danny isn't going to stop me from talking about it. Possible plot bunnies:

The one where Danny's straight and Claude is not: Claude's young, but he's not completely stupid. He knows falling in love with an older straight man who already has a family isn't going to end well for him, so he moves out of Danny's house, gets his own place, gets over Danny, and hooks up with Biz.

The other one where Danny's straight and Claude is not: Danny really is just a friend. Claude tends to just hook up with people, and then he starts hooking up with Biz.

The one where they're poly: Claude and Danny have an open relationship. Possibly they're monogamous during the season and free to do whatever (or whomever) they want during the summer. This summer, Claude spends a lot of time hooking up with Biz.

The one where they fall in love: Biz is not into relationships. He just likes sex. And then there's Claude, and he thinks it's just hooking up. (This would be like that Taylor Hall/Ryan Whitney story with the part of Taylor Hall played by Claude and the part of Ryan Whitney played by Biz.)

The one I'm most likely to write: Claude and Biz casually hooking up in varying cities. (If I end up writing it, it's probably just going to be a sex scene that hinges on Claude asking, "Can I fuck you this time?" and Biz finding that he really likes being fucked.)

On December 3, 1984, a baby was born. Well, probably a lot of babies were born. But the one we're interested in grew up to be this:



That's Mike Carden. Happy 25th birthday Mike! I'm celebrating by talking about you on the internet.

Many people dislike Carden. I find him kind of fascinating. People who dislike him either dislike him because they like Tom or because they think he looks creepy. When I was first getting into bandom, one of the lectures I got about not liking William Beckett was from a friend who grudgingly allowed that I could like Bill as long as I didn't like Mike. I have a strong rebellious streak when it comes to fandom, so that probably contributed to my interest in Mike.

This was originally going to be a more general Mike Carden primer, but the reality is that there's a perfectly good, if older, one here (as of this moment, the pictures are no longer there, but the information is) and riorhapsody has written an excellent and excellently well sourced TAI primer. So this is going to be three things: interesting facts about Mike Carden, pictures I feel are worth sharing, and information about Mike Carden pairings. Enjoy!


Facts
In high school, Mike was on the swim team. He worked as a lifeguard during the summers. He was also captain of the debate team. (source, source)

Scurrilous internet gossip holds that Mike quit smoking in 2008 or so. (source)

Mike himself has said other things about living a healthier life these days:

Like Chislett, Carden also calls Los Angeles home when the band are off the road. He relocated from the Chicago suburbs to L.A. this past November, and has since taken to hiking, eating healthier and reading Nick Hornby novels. He also took some much-needed time away from his guitar. "There was a point where I probably put the guitar down for about two months, and I didn't want to see it and didn't have any interest," Carden says, having traded places with Bicket in the bus' lounge. "Then one day it just hit me. I'm like, 'I need to keep learning because that's part of it.' I think when you stop you kind of get uninspired and it's hard to move. It's like exercising the first few days - most people quit. So I think with guitar, it's breaking through that." (source)

People who met Mike on the AP Fall Ball tour described him as "chatty" and "quite the chatter box." (one source)

The Real Life Girlfriend

In about February of this year, someone or someones started posting anonymously that Mike is dating Jared Leto's assistant. (source) Her name is Emma Ludbrook. She was his date to Bob McLynn's wedding.

( Photo proof )

For those of you upset about privacy things, I am sympathetic. At the same time, Emma is a public enough figure that there is a magazine article about her:

( Scan of the article, plus more about Emma. )


Picture Time!
Let's start with a review of some of Mike's t-shirts. This might be an odd thing to fixate on, but I'm alternately baffled and intrigued. I can't figure out if these are things he chose for a reason, or if they're just shit he picked up at a thrift store.

( Mike and his t-shirts. )


Next, we move on to the section I like to call, "Bill likes to lean on people, including Mike."

( Bill leans on Mike )


Now let's take a look at Mike in his younger days.


( Younger Carden )


Mike Carden is a giant dork. This may or may not be a known fact. When I saw TAI on the Fall Ball tour, Mike waved at the crowd (and let me note that he waves like a little kid - that grasping kind of wave), then gave us a thumbs up, then waved again with both hands. At least one scurrilous internet gossip thread has a lot of conversation about him being awkward and/or thanking people a million times. (source)

( Mike being a dork )


This section is for pictures that didn't fit anywhere else. It includes Mike in bed, Mike in bathtubs, Mike on couches, Mike in a hat, Mike cuddling up to other people, Mike on stage, Mike being hot, and some other stuff.

( Other stuff )


Pairings
And now the part you're probably actually here for: pairings involving Mike Carden.

Mike/Kevin Jonas
Let's be honest: there's a good chance you've wandered over here thinking, "What the hell is up with this Jonas Brothers nonsense?" Well, let me tell you.

( Origins, questions, and recs. )

Tom/Mike

I don't read Tom Conrad fic (I know someone who knows him, so in my head, he's a friend of a friend, not a random guy in a band), so I don't actually have any recs for this. You might try the delicious tom/mike tag (read carefully; that's as likely to be Tom Welling/Mike Rosenbaum as it is Tom Conrad/Mike Carden), or perhaps someone who does read it will leave some recs in the comments.

If you don't know why you might want Tom/Mike, I recommend reading riorhapsody's TAI primer for more on their history. I will leave you with some pictures, though:

( Pictures! )

Mike/William

Remember that whole section up above where William was leaning on Mike? Why isn't there more fic about them?

( A little about them, a picture, and a rec. )

Mike/Sisky

Why would I tell you about this when dandylionsgirl has written a perfectly good primer? You should go read that.

Today there's this:

siskybusiness: I would like to take this time to wish a happy Birthday to my main man Mike Carden. I love you Santi. You are my worst best friend! Muah (source)

Then, if you want to read fic, you can browse through the delicious mike/sisky tag. There isn't that much there; you can read it all in an afternoon or so.

Mike/Michael Guy Chislett

Mike fell in mad guitar love with Michael the first time they met:

But, see, I knew Michael (Guy Chislett, Conrad's replacement), and Michael played with Butch, and I met Michael at the "Slow Down" video that we did for Almost Here. I sat down with the dude, we just talked about music, we played guitar. It's funny. I was with a friend that night, and I go back, we're shooting this video, and I go, "Dude, that dude Michael is awesome. I know I'm gonna play guitar with him someday. I just don't know when it's going to be." (source)

( Picture and recs )

TAI gsf

For whatever reason, there isn't much in the way of TAI gsf. I don't know why not; they're just as gay as any other band.

There's one here: Two boots and a spur on by modillian. I don't think I've read it, although I have read other things by her that were good.

William/Mike/Sisky

They're the three original members of the band. They used to go out for midnight pancakes together:

( Video where Mike and Sisky talk about pancakes while Mike clutches a throw pillow. )

There is one excellent William/Mike/Sisky story: Three Cheers by an anonymous author. (As far as I know, it's the only William/Mike/Sisky story.)

Except Sisky's got his tongue down Bill's throat and one hand on Mike's thigh. Bill's got one arm around Sisky's shoulders and his other hand between Sisky's legs, rubbing him through his sweatpants, and Sisky’s got one hand on Mike's thigh. Bill does something, either with his tongue or his hand (or possibly both at the same time) and Sisky gasps, squeezing Mike's thigh tightly, and Mike can't help but to gasp as well, because fuck.

Mike/Gabe

TAI went on tour with Midtown (Gabe's previous band) early in their career. Gabe was also at Mike's 23rd birthday party in Las Vegas. It's entirely possible this was because it was also Rob Hitt's 30th birthday party (Rob was also in Midtown), but Gabe and Mike clearly hung out together:

( Pictures, more source material, and a rec )

Mike/Greta Salpeter

I have no idea what the basis for this pairing is. My best guess is that it's because they're both musicians from Chicago and when you need a girl, your choices in bandom are relatively limited. That doesn't stop it from being adorable.

icanbreakthesky appears to be the main Mike/Greta writer. You should become LJ friends with her so you can read her locked entry with bits of a lovely Mike/Greta story in progress.

( More recs )

We've now come to the section of pairings that I think there should be fic about but isn't, at least to my knowledge.

Mike/Vicky-T

This does not just come from a limited choices in girls place. They clearly know each other - TAI and Cobra love to tour together - and there are a couple of pictures they're in together (and I swear there's one more out there that I can't find again:

( Pictures! )

I really want fic where they're not romantically involved, but they are friends and the sex is good, so they hook up when they're on tour together.

Mike/someone in Panic

They toured together. They're in pictures together.

( Picture that isn't up above. )

Mike said, "I like listening to Panic every night." (source) That's more than enough for their to be fic about them.

Mike/someone in Fall Out Boy

Did you know that Mike could have been a member of FOB?

BE: So I went and checked out your Wikipedia entry, and it says that you once turned down an offer to join Fall Out Boy. True?
MC: Well, I mean, "turned down"? (scoffs) I grew up with those dudes! I had another year of high school left, and they were talking about it, and Patrick used to just sing, and I knew Joe and Pete, and we joked about it, but I don't know that I really "turned it down." I guess the cards just didn't fall in the right place at the time. Which is totally cool. (laughs) (source)

I could totally go for some fic where he did join or where he didn't because one of them was an ex or where he hooked up with one (or more) of them.

Other Mike Recs

I have two other stories to rec to you that don't fit into any of the categories above.

( The last two recs )