wanderings

When rageprufrock published Drastically Redefining Protocol in 2008-2009 I gleefully read it, and when zoetrope posted their Drastically Redefining Protocol Trailer (2009, February 2) I made everyone I knew who had seen at least the first episode of Merlin and had some idea what fanfiction was watch it.

It ate my brain.

It's a minute and fourteen second long vid that uses a very small selection of footage from the show itself - it's mostly DVD extras, I think, and other sources that I've never seen. The footage has been worked with, worked into other footage, overlaid with other images. There's an ongoing theme of lights, which is such a nice match for the tinkly-ness that Badly Drawn Boy's Once Around the Block has. Like rageprufrock's fic, zoetrope's trailer follows the conventions of its genre, and it has the kind of endearing indy-ness to it that a mid to late noughts queer story has, with darker colours and soft focus in places.

Trailers are love:

• Realm of Dryads by newkidfan (2006, April 3) for Realm of Dryads by trinityofone (2006, January 18)
  
• Hindsight by zoetrope (2006, December 11) for Hindsight by rageprufrock (2005, August ?)
  
• No Parachute by newkidfan (2008, July 20) for No Parachute by aesc (2006, December 21)

Fanworks for fanworks fill me with glee - they're such a wonderful expression of creative community and I love the shorter format that trailers tend to. I cut my fannish writing teeth on drabbles and the focus of short formats is something that still appeals to me - I feel like it gives you the freedom to work and re-work as a creator without jeopardising completion, so you can spend time playing with and manipulating footage, and there's something breathtaking about a short work that gets it right.

The only vid mentioned in this post that I still have access to is zoetrope's Drastically Redefining Protocol Trailer, but I still remember how newkidfan's Realm of Dryads made me feel, something like fifteen years after my first watch and over a decade since my last. I remember trees and the suggestion of fog and the music like a knife. I remember a kind of breathlessness.

newkidfan's work continually threw me. I'd watch it and think to myself it's 40 seconds long - how are they doing this? And it was with instrumental music from soundtracks and working source footage, and I think integrating other footage (it's been a long time since I've seen a newkidfan vid), and building for emotion.

newkidfan's vids and fanwork trailers more generally have been foundational to how I understand and approach vidding.

The vids that have lived in my drafts have been set to instrumental music and all about building feeling. The vids that live earmarked in my imagination have a really annoying multi-source aspect. Some day, if I live long enough, I am going to crack, go on a Hewligan binge, and make that McShep AU fanvid, and it's going to be because I learned how to watch fanvids in SGA fandom.

(This post has been living in my drafts for fifteen years and popping back into a draft that's nearly old enough to vote is an experience. It's been a reminder to save the fanworks that I love when I can, of the precariousness of file hosting arrangements in general, and of the value of metadata. Sometimes metadata is the only thing you have left. Sometimes metadata is all that fans leave behind. They stop updating somewhere and don't leave behind their new address, so you wonder if they're still out there being fannish, if they're still out there at all.

I feel like it's a weird thing to be posting about fanworks that are inaccessible, that I don't have copies of, but I still care, so I am. I know that there are other people out here who will remember these vids, and I also know a kind of archivist's delight of sifting through pieces of the past that you will never know.)

Other Means by dewdropfae
Dresden Files | 31,952 words | NC-17 | Dresden/Marcone
Summary: Set post Battle Ground.
Harry negotiates, with interludes for beer and punching.
     + John approaches Harry for magic lessons. Obviously they end up fake dating and real fucking. Featuring a Harry with a bit more practicality than his younger self and a John that's about the same, really.

You Could Be the King, but Watch the Queen Conquer by phoenixyfriend
The Good Place | 11,161 words | PG-13 | Eleanor/Chidi, Tahani/Michael, Eleanor/Chidi/Tahani
Summary: When Tahani hears that her little sister is getting married, from what seems like every news site on the planet, she knows what's coming. She knows the media's focus on her will start to shift to why she isn't married yet, and her reputation can't afford another hit after Cleveland.
So she hatches a plan. Platonically marrying a man over twice your age is a good plan, right?
(Funnily enough, it works out perfectly.)
     + An absolute joy of a story wherein Tahani gets everything she wants, and so does just about everyone else.

Heal Thyself by astolat
Harry Potter | 46,905 words | PG-13 | Harry/Draco
"Are you going for the course?" Lovegood asked. "You have the NEWTs.
“What course?” Draco said, then, “No, don’t be ridiculous,” when he realized she meant the notice pinned up on the board he’d been staring at: Applicants To The Introductory Mediwizard Course For The Coming Term Shall Present Themselves In The Chief Mediwizard’s Office By August 24th.
“Oh, I thought you might,” she said. “Well, goodbye.” And off she wandered again in her addled way.
     + What I really enjoy about this fic is that it has Draco suffering, facing an uphill slog, recovering from his youth, and accidentally becoming a better person. I like the way that he stumbles into his choice and that things are hard for a long time before they get better, and that when things do get easier there are still bits of his life that he's dissatisfied with. It's comforting.

Party Invitations and Falling in Love with Your Sworn Enemy: A Tactical Guide by dustmouth
Harry Potter | 129 pages | PG-13 | Harry/Draco
Summary: Chronicling the trials and tribulations of one Draco Malfoy, employee of the Godric's Hollow Postal Office, and the events unfolding around the hottest local party in the calendar year. Featuring: Owlengitis, bingo-based plots, and Julie Bumble's questionable neighbourhood erotica.
     + A 129 page comic of small town enemies to lovers hijinks. The pencil drawings are charming. The character expressions have a Beaton-esque quality about them at times. Draco wears a ridiculous hat. One of the lines is: "It must, at this juncture, be acknowledged that the plan has gone a little awry." I am not sure what more you could want.

The Trouble with Wanting by waldorph
Harry Potter | 60,313 words | NC-17 | Harry/Draco
Summary: Draco Malfoy is cleared of all charges; this is what happens next.
     + Of tattoos and old curses and houses, the friends that are your family, and falling in love. A Draco-centric story with the surviving Slytherin friendships front and centre, about building, after Hogwarts and the war.

Waiting patiently... by Villanargh
Killing Eve | art | G | Eve
     + The colours in here are lovely and there is such expression on her face, and texture in her scarf.

“kate bishop. i’m pretty much an avenger. at your service.” by daisyann-jpg
Marvel | art | G | Kate & Lucky
     + Really hits the style of the comics. The poses here are evocative and the posters in the background are a nice touch.

Achievement Unlocked by miscellea
The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System | 51,283 words | PG-13 | Luò Bīnghé/Shěn Yuán;Shěn Qīngqiū
Summary: One day, after five years of reasonably peaceful marriage with only a few kidnappings and sex pollen incidents, Shen Yuan is sent back to his old body without warning. Luo Binghe makes a deal with an alien entity calling itself the System to perform a mission in exchange for the ability to bring his husband home.
The mission is simple; [Uncover secret transmigrator plotline and flesh out the character wiki!]
At least it will be once he figures out what the words ‘transmigrator’ and ‘wiki’ mean.
Or: That one where Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe don’t realize they’re in a domestic fluff bonus chapter.
     + One of the tags here is "Reverse Transmigration AU", which is always hilarious - there's something about storybook-type characters having to interact with some approximation of the real world that I find both comical and satisfying. There's also some great world-building in this, including fleshing out Shen Yuan's family the character wiki.

Starstruck by Camorra
The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System | 19,844 words | NC-17 | Luò Bīnghé/Shěn Yuán;Shěn Qīngqiū
Summary: His phone buzzes again and Shen Yuan scoops it up irritably. It’s another message from DemonHeart.
DemonHeart: you seem to be a Luo Binghe fan
DemonHeart: we can get you access to him
Shen Yuan scowls.
PeerlessCucumber: do I look like I was born yesterday?
The response is instantaneous. A picture pops up on screen. Shen Yuan vaguely recognizes the woman that plays the drums, still in full stage makeup. Next to her, arm slung around her waist, is a face Shen Yuan would know anywhere. Luo Binghe, giving a wry smile to the camera.
DemonHeart: he’s a fan, you know
PeerlessCucumber: where exactly would we be meeting
     + This one is tagged "Hannah Montana AU". A modern AU wherein Luo Binghe is an idol; Shen Yuan has been his fan for years and deals with being oblivious. Comedy.

AQ by x_los
The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System/Star Trek | 15,348 words | NC-17 | Luò Bīnghé/Shěn Yuán;Shěn Qīngqiū
Summary: Before he rose to captaincy, Shen Yuan attended a briefing given to all command level officers in Star Fleet that outlined the scope of the Q threat. According to Admiral Picard's report, the omnipotent Q are devious, amoral, unreliable, irresponsible and definitely not to be trusted
Orphaned stowaway Luo Binghe doesn't even know he is one.
     + A perfect fusion AU. Of course Luo Binghe is a Q. Of course there is eventual codependency and xenoporn. Startlingly like canon fic, which is basically the ultimate measure of fusion success.

Know All Your Enemies by BAMFspock
Star Trek | 351,857 words | R | Kirk/Spock
Summary: "The thing about being able to tell what people are feeling and thinking is that people generally don't like that."
Jim can't deal with his problems, so he deals with everyone else's instead. Spock can't deal with his emotions, so he pushes them all away. Starfleet can't deal with a post-Kelvin universe in any way except badly.
And what exactly is t'hy'la, anyway?
A story about dangerous conspiracies, doomed crusades, inadequate coping, imperfect control, important connections, and taking care.
     + The summary does a really good job of capturing the tone and style of this fic, which I quickly devoured in its entirety. Full of plot and feelings.

We are Stardust, We are Golden by idiopathicsmile
Stranger Things | 26,374 words | R | Steve/Eddie
Summary: It starts like this: Steve, waiting in his car to pick up Dustin and friends from a session of their Chutes and Ladders club or whatever. Waiting kind of impatiently, to be honest, even though it’s not like he has anywhere else to be because Robin’s busy tonight and, as he well knows by this point, saving the world doesn’t get you a girlfriend or glory or even a second age-appropriate friend, it just gets you another evening shift at Family Video and a long personal to-do list.
In the spring and summer of 1986, Steve Harrington contends with the biases of the day, hatches several plans, and finally really gets to know Eddie Munson.
     + I love this story because it has a character who calls out people's bigoted shit and rants a little. I love it because there's DnD as a teaching tool and queers finding each other and obliviousness and just a tiny bit of pining.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine originally aired 1993-1999 and it took me something like twenty years to discover Bashir/Garak and the show. I started watching DS9 during the height of the pandemic for Bashir/Garak, having been lured in through fic, and it's one of those ships where- look, it was the nineties, I was expecting the flirting to be less overt, and it is not, and it is a delight.

Dr. Bashir is brash and idealistic, and Garak is something out of his fantasies - a Cardassian spy - who he wants to unravel, and Garak is more than happy to play with him to pass the time. That Man by ellipsiss (G | 2:20) is a vid that does an excellent job of highlighting the foundations of their dynamic, including bits of dialogue and the thing where Garak makes Bashir *light up*. Also how Garak pursues their relationship, playing on Bashir's expectations and curiosity, showing his puzzle box self off to Bashir, and ultimately letting him inside.

They're both a combination of incredibly straight forward and made of twisty secrets, and it's delicious. the gift we cannot destroy by susiecarter (PG-13 | 5,793 words) is a fic that's a good example of that twisty-ness at play. In a universe where soulmarks are a thing, Garak recognises Julian as his soulmate, something to be approached cautiously. Because of expectations that Julian has, rooted in the secret that he keeps, he fails to recognise their bonding or to parse Garak's hints to him, which results in a delightful layering in their conversations.

Garak is incredibly flirty and Bashir is oblivious. There's this whole thing where arguments are flirtation for Cardassians that gets addressed in, so many fic, really, including ellethinthewoods's Red tulips (and their correct application) (PG-13 | 4,903 words) - where Keiko and Miles' somewhat inebriated takeaway from Miles' run-in with a flirtatious Cardassian is that they really, really need to fix Julian's love life.

The cultural differences between the two men lend themselves to some pretty excellent scenarios. Letters from the Northern Continent by thehoyden (NC-17 | 7,966 words) has Julian taking on Garak's culture, going to Cardassia, and picking up a few things he was oblivious of before. It's a post-war story that spins out all of that tension between them and neatly tidies it up, a wonderful UST-laden thing resolved.

The tension is strong in this ship. Undisclosed Desires by purplefringe (G | 3:57) is a vid that's- it's set to Muse, alright, it's all intense longing with a strong sexual component. There's care-taking, and interest, and acceptance of and a desire to see all of the other's bits- Garak's frustration and Julian's past. Just how much they clearly enjoy each other is great and the look that Julian gives Garak at the end - it's godsgrief's art, wait until the bit about how he really… wRANGLED with those weeds…… just, fuckin obliterated em… (PG), where Julian is literally *chinhandsing* and everything is soft around the edges and they are so much themselves. It's adorable.

The Rose of Terok Nor by cicak is another work that fills me with warm fuzzies, basically. It's tagged "screwball", which is what I want out of my fic, like, a significant chunk of the time, and a thing that Garak and Bashir are really great for. This fic also asks the question of: what if Garak wrote an epic pulp romance about himself and Bashir under a false name and it got really popular.

There's this wonderful sense of absurdity in a lot of the fanwork, like Mostly Tame, Track 3 of Blame It on the Stardust: A Star Trek Vid Album by BeatriceEagle. It's set to Kesha's Godzilla. (What do you get when you take Godzilla to meet your mom Starfleet captain?) ...and I think I forgot to mention that the alien bits of Cardassian physiology are modelled off of reptiles.

Garak is a giant lizard and he and the wunderkind are in love, they just- make each other so happy and I am here for it.

They argue about literature.

I just- ♥.

(This post was written for snowflake_challenge - details about the second challenge are here - and for fannish50, a 2023 posting challenge.)

a tempest, a cyclone, a goddamned hurricane by Dialux
Game of Thrones | 57,809 | PG-13 | Sansa
Summary: There’s nobody named Lyarra in Winterfell, according to her father; the last person who bore that name was his mother, and she was buried decades ago.
Sansa speaks to her the next week.
Sansa can speak to ghosts, and this changes everything.
     + It's been a while but I remember this as, basically, how things might have gone if someone had actually bothered to teach Sansa about people and politics and supported her instead of not doing any of those things. And her teachers were ghosts, with ghostly agendas. Highly enjoyable.

Out of the Woods by such_heights
Good Omens | 3:53 | PG -13| Aziraphale/Crowley
Are we in the clear yet?
Music: Out of the Woods by Taylor Swift
     + The vid that broke my avoidance of footage of the new series. This is wonderful and perfect, a delightful voyage.

Queens by thingswithwings
Killjoys | 2:52 | R | Aneela/Delle Seyah
I met a girl, I met a goddess
and there were stars just burning in her eyes
Music: Witch by Be Steadwell
     + More source material I've not seen. The tension in this is great. Tags include "murder lesbians", "women ruling the galaxy", and "magical pregnancy".

Battle Cry by absternr
Marvel | 1:01 | G | America
Summary: They can't do anything that you're about to.
Music: Battle Cry by Angel Haze
     + I'm always here for America Chavez punching things, and this vid packs a dose of feelings, too.

Stress by findmeinthealps
Marvel | 4:23 | PG-13 | Tony
Summary: Everybody's thinking 'bout me.
Music: Stress by Jim's Big Ego
     + It's very Tony - his personality, his lifestyle, and the trumpets. (He's a trumpets kind of guy.) Spans all the films.

When We're High by mithborien
Marvel | 3:57 | PG | Steve/Thor
Summary: "New haircut?"
"Noticed you've copied my beard."
A Steve/Thor vid.
Music: When We're High by LP
     + This is a lot of fun and I am very much still processing it - explosions to sexy beats, mainstream action heroes doing action things (and not) to the same, comedy, and the general epic-ness of their selves and stories.

The Sun at Noon by elissastillstands
Merlin | 29,479 | PG-13 | Gwen/Morgana
Summary: “Do you think me too ambitious?” Morgana asks when they part.
Gwen presses her lips to the corner of Morgana’s mouth. "I think you noble, my lady."Gwen and Morgana in Camelot; the slow entwining of their lives, and the people they meet along the way. The weight of anger, of destiny, of silk and iron.
     + Get-together fic that's plotty, with court intrigue, magical schemes, and several lesbians.

Game On by bironic
Multifandom | 5:04 | PG
Summary: Ready, set... sports movies.
Music: Drinkee by Sofi Tukker
     + Originally conceived for Club Vivid, and made of so many sports, with feature films and documentaries intermingled, and some diversity represented. This would be excellent to dance to.

Waters of March by Tafadhali
Multifandom | 3:42 | PG
Summary: And the riverbank sings / Of the waters of March / It's the promise of Spring / It's the joy in your heart
A celebration of the films of Hayao Miyazaki.
Music: Waters of March by Anya Marina
     + A love letter to these Studio Ghibli films, containing friendships, trials, wars, adventures, and those beautiful landscapes.

Diplomatic Complications by Sixthlight
The Old Guard | 14,412 words | NC-17 | Joe/Nicky
Summary: There can be no misinterpretation or confusion on Yusuf’s part when what Duke Nicolò says is “But I didn’t want a husband, what does my brother think he’s doing?”
     + Old timey arranged marriage fic wherein everyone figures out that they should be together before Nicolò does, and a plot or two is uncovered. (I haven't seen this source material.)

nothing here that is not sacred by Sixthlight
The Old Guard | 7,517 words | NC-17 | Joe/Nicky
Summary: “I don’t want to fuck anybody,” Yusuf said, starting bluntly to save them both the trouble of specifics. “Or almost all the time, I do not.” (or: the one with slutty Nicolò and confused demisexual Yusuf)
     + Domesticity, sex, and communication. Pre-film fic.

start over (reset) by condnsdmlk
Star Trek | 3:15 | G
Summary: Five things that never happened to Voyager's crew – and one thing that did.
Music: Burn the Pages by Sia
     + Time travel stories, all the things reversed, and another that went a bit differently. I have a lot of feelings about pocket stories that end and get swept away, and also this whole crew. Explosions, loss, and desperately trying to set things right.

Clean by cosmic_llin
Star Trek | 4:09 | G | Seven of Nine
Summary: Just because you’re clean don’t mean you don’t miss it.
Seven of Nine and Annika Hansen and everything in between.
Music: Clean by Taylor Swift
     + Seven's journey. The back and forth. Learning to be human and choosing not to be Borg.

One Prairie Outpost purplefringe
Star Trek | 3:29 | PG
Summary: Alone in a flatland 'tween the dream and the real
Music: One Prairie Outpost by Carbon Leaf
     + DS9, TNG, and Voyager. I haven't seen enough Star Trek to fully get this, but I like the kind of plaintive ship feel it has?

Ultralife such_heights
Star Trek | 2:24 | G | B'Elanna/Harry/Tom
Summary: I never could've asked for more.
Music: Ultralife by Oh Wonder
     + Straight-up charming OT3 vid.

Letters from the Northern Continent by thehoyden
Star Trek | 7,966 words | NC-17 | Bashir/Garak
Summary: It just figured that the first time Julian Bashir set foot on Cardassia after the war, it would be halfway around the world from Elim Garak.
     + It's a romance. Video recordings, flirtation, cultural differences, realisations, and confessions.

If You're the Captain thingswithwings
Star Trek | 2:44 | PG-13 | Kathryn Janeway
Summary: Everyone loves serving Janeway.
Music: I'd Love to Take Orders from You by Mildred Bailey & Her Swing Band
     + Accurate summary is accurate. Fun. Kinky.

The god of scraped knees. by spqr
The Witcher | 8,342 words | R | Geralt/Jaskier
Jaskier’s been pretending to be human for so long now that he hardly remembers what it feels like to be a sorcerer. He doesn’t want to remember what it feels like to be a sorcerer. But people still murmur his name with reverence in certain dim halls; Dandelion, Dandelion, destroyer of worlds.
     + Wherein Dandelion is a magic immortal god-adjacent being and pines for love and domesticity.

Adore You by Trelkez
The Witcher | 2:29 | R | Geralt/Jaskier
like it's the only thing I'll ever do
Music: Adore You by Harry Styles
     + This has the vibe of some of my favourite slash vids, like, constructed narrative and shipping thesis in one, melded flawlessly to the soundtrack with pining and suggestive glances, plus a dash of comedy. Solidly delightful.

Such a Loser by sandalwoodbox
Yuri!!! on Ice | 2:55 | G
Summary: In which people try and fail and try again. Keep up the good work!
Music: Such a Loser by Garfunkel & Oates
     + This is so heartwarming. A+.

(doing things in a pandemic is hard; there are still a lot of tabs)

Try Everything by walkthegale
Bon Appétit Test Kitchen | 3:24 | G | Claire
I won't give up, no I won't give in.
Music: Try Everything by Shakira
     + Curiosity, exploration, failure, despair, resilience, success, laughter, and friendship. It reminds me of Bake Off.

It's the Little Things by bessyboo
Buzzfeed | 2:31 | G | Ryan/Shane
Summary: ...that make perfect relationships.
Music: The Little Things You Do Together from the Company 2006 Broadway Revival soundtrack
     + Fun and charming; adorable light comedy.

Each Feather and Each Spangle by dogstar
Community | 2:39 | G | Dean Pelton
Summary: It's time to open up your closet. Dean Pelton and his love of costumes.
Music: I Am What I Am by John Barrowman
     + Gloriously celebratory. There's so much defiantly joyful queerness in this.

Fighter by runawaynun
The Expanse | 2:40 | G | Chrisjen/Bobbie
Don't leave me in the dark.
Music: Fighter by Joseph
     + Cross-class political conspirators full of yearning, I think. (I'm not familiar with the source.)

The Middle by turquoisetumult
Fleabag | 2:04 | PG-13 | Fleabag
Summary: You're in the middle of the ride. Everything, everything will be all right
Or Fleabag's path to self-acceptance.
Music: The Middle by Kina Grannis
     + Reflective and a bit angsty, about the struggle to settle into yourself and to be better, I think. I haven't seen this source but this vid is full of feeling.

Hustle by colls
Fried Green Tomatoes | 2:56 | G | Ruth/Idgie
Music: Hustle by Pink
     + I feel like the summary for this vid could have been "Oh yeah?" because there is a lot of that in this - people fucking with each other and alternately saying "screw that" or "alright then". It has heist/crime vibes.

you're in my blood like holy wine by magneticwave
Game of Thrones | 72,777 words | NC-17 | Jon/Sansa
Summary: Sansa finds it difficult to look at Jon’s face, with its weathered lines and cragginess. It is the face of the North and a face that northerners trust; the face of Sansa’s brothers and her father, who had been loved and respected by their tenants as their forefathers had been when they were kings. How can Sansa feel anything but resentment, looking into that face and knowing that all of her years of hard work will never earn her the respect that that profile engenders within seconds?
But she does. It is a small, burning coal of something that must be smothered.
     + Regency AU. I liked the way the politics of the source was transferred to the viciousness of the ton. This read a lot like a romance novel.

Grand Hotel by Trelkez
The Good Place | 2:57 | G | Eleanor, Michael, ensemble
Summary: "You're my friends, and I wanted to save you." Finding personal growth, a family, and each other.
Music: Grand Hotel by Regina Spektor
     + Bright, once again I don't go here, but I feel like it encapsulates Michael & Eleanor's journeys and their relationship together in this really lovely airy way.

Early Returns by rageprufrock
Inception | 15,565 words | R | Arthur/Eames
Summary: Thinking that a reporter genuinely likes you is pretty much on par with feeling like you really are special to that stripper.
     + I love Arthur's wounded and defensive hatefulness and how snappy this fic is.

Here Till It's Over by thingswithwings
The Lesser Blessed | 2:40 | R | Larry/Johnny/Juliet
Summary: Sometimes the right people come along at the right time in your life. An OT3 love story that, however brief, helps Larry to live again.
Music: Sweet Tuesday by iskwē
     + OT3 with native kids! Teenage romance, opens with a suicide attempt, delicate and hopeful.

Dawning Political Careers (and Other Public Disasters) by kristophine
Macdonald Hall | 11,196 words | PG-13 | Bruno/Boots
“Hey, Boots,” said Bruno.
There was a muffled thumping noise. “No.”
“You haven’t even asked what this is about yet!”
“I don’t need to. It is—” There was a pause while, presumably, Boots checked his clock. “Four forty-five A.M., as in in the morning, and I have never, in all our many years of acquaintance, known you to come up with a good idea between midnight and five A.M.”
"You’re correct. This isn’t a good idea. This is a great idea.”
     + Bruno runs for school board in 90s Toronto with gay election signs.

Call Me by thirdblindmouse
Marvel | 1:39 | PG-13 | Tony/Peter
Call me for some overtime.
Music: Call Me by Blondie
     + Peter's awkwardness, Tony's posturing, and the tentativeness of their relationship, slashed. Fun.

Chicken on a Raft by bironic
Moana | 1:23 | G
Summary: Sure, the song is about eggs on toast, but why pass up an opportunity for literal chickens at sea?
Music: Chicken on a Raft by Pyrates!
     + It's a sea shanty vid about Hei Hei's voyage; it's delightful.

some fashion pages of Daph and Velma by troubledmn
Scooby Doo | art | PG | Daphne/Velma
     + via Jodie of ladybusiness's rec. So gay. So fashion. Such detail. I love them and also Velma's patches and the BFU easter egg with Velma's book in Daphne's plate.

A Series of Discoveries by genarti
Sorcerer to the Crown | 5,734 words | PG-13 | Damerell/Rollo
The idea came to him like a bolt of lightning. (Rollo had personal experience with being struck by lightning, so he was confident in his simile. The weather in Fairyland is not only chancy but tends to the dramatic, and dragons are, in addition to being accustomed to fly through clouds in all weathers, more than usually conductive. Fortunately, they are also extremely difficult to damage.)
Living with his family was simply intolerable. Very well; so why not live somewhere else? Why not live somewhere quite distant from all his family? Why not, in fact, leave Fairyland altogether?
     + It's been some time since I've read this, but my lingering impression is that it was funny, cute, and a bit dark, nicely in line with the source material.

Indelible by shaenie
Stargate: Atlantis | 128,382 words | NC-17 | McKay/Sheppard
Summary: John has a useful gift for compartmentalization: he discards the irrelevant and moves on. Then Rodney makes an ill-considered move on a mission, John steps up to take responsibility for making reparations to the locals, and things take a turn for the complicated as Rodney, an alien society, and an armada of ships make standard operating procedure completely impossible.
     + I was cleaning out some drafts, found one that was a single sentence in quotes*, knew it had to be from an SGA fic but didn't recognise it, threw it in a search engine and then laughed out loud, because of course it is this fic. I'm pretty sure there was sgastoryfinders poetry written about it being this fic**. I remember in the days before search engines were any use with fic, in the height of SGA, people were forever looking for three or four different stories that were all this fic.
     *"If you weren't already the military commander of the expedition by the time I figured out how smart you are, I'd have tried to buy you, too."
     **I used this quote to find the fic with storyfinders back in the day (I checked), and then apparently proceeded to leave it lying around unlabelled so I could look for it again with even less context something like a decade later.

Eight at the Most by DramaticEntrance
Star Wars | 8,332 words | NC-17 | K-2SO/Luke
"How does sex work for you, anyway?" Luke asked. A moment later he turned bright red. "I'm sorry, that was an awful question, and I was definitely raised better than to ask something so intrusive."
"We were talking about sex. It's a logical request for additional information. I'd rank it a six out of ten, on the impertinent questions scale."
"I shudder to think what your ten would be," Luke said, giving K-2SO an easy smile.
     + Sarcasm and robot-human relationships.

turn towards the sun by Ariaste
The Untamed | 21,282 words | NC-17 | Lan Zhan/Wei Ying
Summary: Every student of House Mandrake is assigned a study partner, a counterpart from House Valerian
Lan Wangji suspects, with some outrage, that he's been given the troublemaker.
(Kushiel's Legacy fusion; you do not need to know anything about those books except for the bits of the worldbuilding that I explain in the author's note!)
     + There's something about the way BDSM plays out in their relationship that feels non-standard; I'm still chewing on it. (FYI: the author's note is both very long and also something that you can probably still get the fic without reading.)

number one fan by bonibaru
The Untamed | 3:25 | PG-13 | Lan Zhan/Wei Ying
Summary: so here's the bad news
I'm coming for everyone
and I'm coming on strong
wei wuxian :)
Music: Number One Fan by MUNA
     + Amazingly pop and fannish glee inducing. The bit where Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are mirrors and sword-fighting each other feels like such a classic move and fills me with joy. There's a lot of sword-fighting beats in this, also, and feelings.

plant a little happiness (let the roots run deep) by fleurdeliser
The Untamed | 47,638 words | NC-17 | Lan Zhan/Wei Ying
Summary: After thirteen years away, Dr. Wei Wuxian is back in Gusu. A car accident near his apartment brings someone unexpected back into his life and everything changes for the better.
     + Kidfic and hospital AU. Wei Wuxian is loved and oblivious and crushing hard, and it's charming and engrossing. There are currently two podfics of this work, which is indicative, I think.