wanderings

I am returning to my social bookmarking-less past until Maciej sorts it so that exports are functional and I can actually move to pinboard (yes, I was still with delicious, yes, I should have moved years ago) - for now, a link dump wherein I reread nothing while releasing a bunch of fandom tabs I have on my browser:

Boom Clap (The Sound of My Heart) by femmequixotic and noe
Harry Potter | Rating: NC-17 | 39, 547 words | Harry/Draco
Summary: Post-war Hogwarts has been energized by its new teaching fellows program. Where once bitter enmity divided the wizarding community, Malfoy and Potter chummily patrol hallways together whilst Granger and Zabini seek lost parts of the castle at McGonagall’s behest and Chang supervises Quidditch when not lecturing in Charms. It’s a veritable wizarding utopia and life is predictable for the first time in years. Which is, of course, when everything blows apart as the result of a drunken dare and Malfoy’s life is ruined beyond his capacity to repair it. Ever. In a million years.
One of my joys this past year has been a slight resurgence in Harry/Draco works - they weren't one of my pairings in the sort of height or golden age of that fandom and pairing, but it was a lot of fun to be discovering the dynamic through new works something like a decade later. I have zero memory of this fic scanning through it, but that means nothing - I often have to get, like, a page into a work before I can tell whether or not I've read it before.

A better man might by lowriseflare and threeguesses
Pitch | Rating: NC-17 | 9,397 words | Ginny/Mike
Summary: The day Mike realizes he’s actively looking for Baker’s ass in the dugout is the day he decides he should probably stop slapping it.
This is like, age gap, and sports culture and gender, and sex and kink, a little. (I think a lot of shit is inherently kinky - from G to NC-17 - and am not using that word as code for BDSM; I can't remember the specifics of any sex scenes in this but I do know that I really liked this fic and I think the sex is pretty integral.)

places to be by Sixthlight
Rivers of London | Rating: PG-13 | 6,314 words | Beverley/Peter, Beverley/Peter/Thomas
Summary: Tolstoy was wrong: every happy family is happy in its own way.
Accidental co-parenting and kidfic with a poly bent. Sixthlight tends to write themes that I care about and write really well; I remember this fic as a delight.

the slow pace of geologic time by westerrnredcedar
Check Please! | Rating: PG-13 | 4,258 words | Alicia, Bitty
Jack looks at her and then puts her luggage down and leans in, grabs her into a full-body hug, right there on the sidewalk, holding her so close. She can’t remember when he last hugged her this hard. “He told his parents. About being gay. About us,” he says into her shoulder. “They were awful.”
It's about that, about Jack calling his mom for help, after, and her supporting her son and his partner, being there for Bitty, physically, and her reflecting on parenthood and time, a bit. It's pretty great.

Pants on Fire by Helenish
Inception | Rating: NC-17 | 15,169 words | Arthur/Eames
"Ah," Yusuf says, lifting a reproving hand, "are we calling less than 24 hours of memory loss amnesia now?"
Excellent use of tropes - there's almost a secret identity component with the amnesia - and character and relationship exploration.

Easy Open by Helenish
Mission Impossible | Rating: R | 6,262 words | Benji/Ethan
"So you and Hunt are a package deal these days,” Bryson says.
“Uh,” Benji says, jerking his head up from his computer, ballpoint in his mouth.
I did not expect to like this and buy this pairing but this story was compelling for me.

Desperado by fightingarrival
Star Wars | 3:06 | Poe/Finn/Rey
Summary: There ain’t nothing here for me anymore, but I don’t want to be alone. (A WisCon 41 premiere)
I'm not anywhere near finished processing this vid, so I have nothing on this.

Of Hangovers and Coffee by Madlyie
Les Miserables | Rating: G | 1,514 words | Enjorlas/Grantaire
Summary: prompt: “accidentally broke into your apartment because i was drunk AU”; You would actually expect Grantaire to wake up in an unknown apartment but things don’t always happen like expected.
I don't know that I actually finished reading this, I think I got about a paragraph in and went No! This is not the BNL song AU that I need in my heart of hearts and kind of want to write now and I need to hold onto this fic because it has inspired me.

be yourself my ally by imperfectcircle
Wonder Woman | Rating: G | 15,531 words | Etta/Diana
Summary: “That’s all very flattering,” Etta says when Diana has finally run out of steam, “but surely you have more qualified candidates than me?”
“You are of the world of men.” Diana looks a little embarrassed. “But not a man.”
-- Diana and Etta go back to Themyscira.
I think there's a thing, sort of, where we are, all of us, Darcy Lewis. I think we are also all Etta Candy, and, you know, that's a pretty fantastic vicarious experience in this fic. There's a a fake relationship in this fic. There are rituals and festivities. A+ I mean, there's also some world building if you're into that kind of thing, but I am basically entirely *chinhands* about Etta and Diana dating and the tropes here. (There are kittens in this! There are, like, alien shenanigans. It is fantastic.)

Resource Sharing by rsadelle
James Bond | Rating: NC-17 | 3,476 words | Q/Alec/James, Q/Alec, Q/James
Summary: Q experiences what it means when James says he and Alec share everything.
I remember this basically as filthy porn. Tags include d/s and double penetration.

World Ain't Ready by idiopathicsmile
Les Miserables | Rating: PG-13 | 185,796 words | Enjorlas/Grantaire
Summary: Enjolras presses his lips together. He already looks pained, and Grantaire hasn't even opened his mouth yet. That's got to be a record, even for them.
"I need a favor," he says at last.
"With what?" says Grantaire. "Ooh, are you forming a cult? Can I join? I'd be awesome at cults, I just know it." He ticks off his qualifications on his fingers. "I love chanting, I look great in robes—"
(High school AU. Grantaire the disaffected stoner is pulled into a cause bigger than himself. Or: in which there are pretend boyfriends for great justice.)
Yeah. It's exactly what it sounds like. The really long high school fake dating AU with pining and miscommunication and all of the teenaged things, basically. Solid supporting cast business with other story lines.

Penetration Testing by Toft
Person of Interest | Rating: NC-17 | 8,886 words | Harold/John
Summary: The CIA wants to know what Harold Wren is building for Nathan Ingram, so they set a honey trap. They bait it with John Reese.
God, this fic is basically what I love about John Reese as a character, and makes me want to write meta about kink, and here I definitely mean with reference to d/s. He's like the murder sub? And he just wants to be taken care of and loved and challenged?

The Real Thing by sevenfists
Hockey RPF | Rating: NC-17 | 34,892 words | Evgeni/Sid
Sitting at the table was Sid: Sid as Zhenya had first known him, almost a decade before: dorky, long-haired Sid, his cheeks round with baby fat. He couldn’t have been older than twenty, and even that was generous.
“Wow,” baby Sid said. “Are you Evgeni Malkin?”
I think the thing that got me with this fic - it's a pretty typical set-up and hockeyrpf loves themselves some age-regression - was the relationships that the present day Sid and Geno have with the time traveler. There's some tension, and a very real vulnerability that the younger Sid has because of his age that's I think really present in his relationship with Geno at this time and adds another layer to their interactions, as well as the interactions that Sid has with his younger self; I think it's a really interesting exploration of the sort of vulnerability of youth in this fic, and also power dynamics in relationships to some extent, and the dynamics of relationships in general and the tensions that exist in them, even when you are on even footing.

Under Yellow Moons by skoosiepants
Teen Wolf | Rating: PG-13 | 17,127 words | Derek/Stiles
Summary: They stare at each other, half-grinning, and Derek knows it’s definitely the absolute wrong time for this, but he wants. He wants to grin at Stiles over dinner every day for the rest of his life, baffled over yams and Moon Pie Day, and, god, crap, goddamn, when the fuck did he have time to fall in love?
Or
The life and times of Deputy Stiles and Supernatural Foster Dad Derek Hale
Some day I need to talk about how much I love skoosiepants, like, coding those italics just then made me so happy, and there's a kind of bandom style to her work, which is just fun - I've been enjoying this adult human Stilinski-Hale business she's been getting up to lately.

So that's my tabs cleared out, and, like step one in catch-up - I owe a few people some things I need to finish sorting.

The Power of Myth by mosca
Gilmore Girls
Rating: PG-13; ~2,500 words; Paris/Rory
There is a different President today than there was yesterday. That alone makes it a good day to be Paris Geller. When interviewed, she will say that she didn't have much to do with it, because she was busy exhorting people to educate themselves about local candidates and campaigns.
This is future!fic that was posted back in 2005, before the final two seasons of the show aired. It is wonderful. Paris becomes a pundit and attends the 2012 Inaugural Ball. The future building is really interesting, because it is an AU, and we're not so many months off from that time now and the reality is different; there are things that have and haven't happened. Paris as a pundit is also this really perfect concept; I love where she and Rory end up and I love how things aren't perfect, how, just like the series finale, there wasn't that kind of neat ending. I love the reality of this piece and I love how Rory and Paris talk to each other. I love how they interact, how Joseph Campbell is this thing for them, I love them. I love how this fic brings them together.

The Wrath of The Whatever From High Atop The Thing by amazingly_me
Inception
Rating: PG-13; 8,230 words; Arthur/Eames
“Pictures of Dom tonight, Eames,” Yusuf replies from the doorway. “Pictures of the man who is actually running for president or I swear to you, I will point out to Arthur that he has a stalker with no shame and a thousand dollar camera.”
I love this fic. It's an Eames-centric work and the writing is perfectly in synch with that. It's funny. There are some amazing lines and sections in this. I love how the characters talk to each other in this; I love the banter in this. I love the kind of affection that there is in that kind of speech. I love the things that Eames does to make other people smile and I love how Eames falls ridiculously in love with Arthur. It's the story of that, that relationship, and also Dom's campaign and Mal. There are some fantastic feelings in this. Dom is Dom, running for president; the characters are excellent, it's an excellent alternate universe.

Quod Gratis Asseritur, Gratis Negatur by summerstorm
American Idol RPF
Rating: PG-13; 2,869 words; Adam/Kris
"I can't leave yet, can I?" Kris asked when Adam walked by his desk, voice dry and resigned. Adam was pretty sure it was just him and Kris left in a four-room radius, so it wasn't a strange way for Kris to react to seeing him there.
Adam is the Deputy Chief of Staff and Kris is his assistant. (I think that this is a pretty straight-up Josh/Donna West Wing AU; some day I may watch an episode of the show and know whether or not that is true.) It features an Adam that is kind of boisterous, unsubtle, and has a lot of affection for Kris. There are also long hours and general ridiculousness and inappropriate conversations. I love the argument that Adam and Kris have in this; they have an argument about their anniversary. It is kind of the most amazingly fluffy and squishable thing ever. There's also a fair amount going on in the background of the fic, so that the work feels like this really quick snapshot into this universe.

Editing. GRARGH. On the bright side, I've dealt with all of the canon stuff I need to for yuletide and can actually get into the research bits now. Those bits may be interesting; I get the feeling that I am going to be learning a lot of rather random things.

...and storytime-type recs:

IT IS AN OWL AND A PUSSYCAT. THEY ARE FRIENDS. FOR REAL.

25 Lives by s2b2
This is some really fantastic original art. The illustration style reminds me strongly of some Children's Reader's Digest Magazines from the 1960s that I've read through. The artist's concept is gorgeously executed.

ALIVE by desticex
This is bandom art that I have absolutely no context for. It is brilliant, though - dark and vibrant. It looks like it's made of rorschach blots, brown paper bags, lace, and the future. I'm really not doing it justice; it's awesome and fascinating, this wonderful, distinct, other world.

Dalek Cupcakes - shiny and evil-looking!

A Wizard of Tea by ursulav
This is original art, the subject of which is exactly what it says on the tin. It's childish and magic and wonderful. I love how the wizard wears her craft.

(A Cup of Proper Coffee) In a Copper Coffee Pot by edoraslass
Inception
Rating: G
She describes her setting as one "which appears to be a world of airships and magic, sailing ships and unspecified wars". It is the fic wherein Arthur is a coffee pot. It is fantastic. It's this glorious story. It's quiet and wonderful and adorable, quirky and happy-making.