FANtabulous. Now with chunks.

So. There were a couple of events happening on Friday. There was the Reality Rally in the Valley and the fans' picket at FOX. FOX is near me, a bunch of my friends were going to be there, and the other one had neither of these things going for it. Please don't get me wrong, I'm still not watching AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL (and who's that REALLY hurting?) since the last Reality unionization fiasco. You know, when reality writers were totally fucked over? So, I'm in full support of the Guild putting that little nugget (as well as animation) back on the table. I just couldn't face driving to the Valley AGAIN.

Plus. Let's be honest. Two words.

Joss and Whedon.

And Tim and Minear.

And Drew and Goddard.

And Jane and Espenson.

And...

The list goes on.

T'was awesome. Buffy sent Krispy Kreme (which gave me a bit of a tummy ache, so, uh, maybe the AMPTP sent 'em).

T'was overwhelming. About 200+ fans showed up. (Edit: Lexigeek has just informed me that it was more than 400 (!!!)) The circles in which we walked had to be widened. Then widened some more. Then widened again. Because it was just that many people. The fans? They are of the complete awesome. And they marched for the full four hours. And they came from far and wide (Australia is the furthest I encountered -- but that's, like, fucking far). And they were troopers.

The writers, the amazing writers, spent many many many moments with the fans. Never once seeming to mind it.

However, I did overhear this (rather unfortunate) exchange between fans and a writer:

Fan #1: Hey! You're *that* writer!

That Writer: I am.

Fan #1: I wanted to say something really clever to you. My friend here was supposed to come up with something really clever.

Fan #1 gestures toward her friend who's standing back a little. Looking painfully shy.

That Writer (jokingly): Why didn't you come up with something really clever???

Fan #1: Go easy on her. She just threw up.

(Note: Prior to this I was just hanging around in the b.g., I'm unashamed to say I moved a little closer at this point.) That Writer looks a little alarmed.

That Writer: She what?

Fan #2: I just threw up. See? It's on my shoe.

All eyes in the general vicinity travel to her shoe.

Yup.

There's a chunk.

That Writer tries, TRIES like the devil, to look... appreciative of Fan # 2's vomit.

Thankfully, conversation moves away from the vomit topic. That Writer deftly maneuvers through the conversation, and the girls leave satisfied. I have no idea how he did it. Because, frankly, I'm not that gracious. But then, I've never had a fanbase so rabid that they'd vomit at the idea of talking to me (don't get me wrong, there are folks out there who get nauseous at the idea of conversing with me, but that has nothing to do with fandom and everything to do with my being a bitch).

Basically, it was a really incredible (with some odd moments thrown in) event. And I'm now officially a fan of the fans (shhhh! I was a fan of fans before, but now it's official). And, the Pencils movement is incredible. The fans are a strong group. I know the AMPTP is worried -- and that has everything to do with the Fans. Capital F.

On a more sober note: Shit's happening all over the internet in regards to this strike. Major writers with blogs are feeling it's necessary to talk about the strike. One in particular has teased his next post ("gonna be a pretty grim one, I'm afraid"). THEN WHY ARE YOU FUCKING POSTING IT?

Whereas someone else has posted this at United Hollywood. You know what? That's totally what needs to happen. Picketers don't need the armchair quarterbacking from people who haven't deigned to step foot on the line until recently. What we need is morale boosting. At Warner, we keep that shit fun. Because, what's more worrisome to an Exec driving by?

A. A bunch of writers walking in retarded circles, staring at their toes. Or,

B. A bunch of writers who appear that they can totally hang forever. Until way past June.

Again, guys. Poker faces. Everyone needs to practice theirs.

Tomorrow, Star Trek Day! Woo fucking Hoo!