Patron Saint of Falling Over Things

First up, I got a treat in Yuletide Madness, yay!

Tinseltown
Signing an air-tight contract that greenlights a biopic based on his life just might be the worst one yet.
So funny, so adorable and very, very Indiana. It's like, Hollywood AD for Indiana Jones.


Other recs under the cut.
( Yuletide recs: Miss Fisher, Killjoys, Dig, Cornetto 40-Love, IWC Portofino A Sparkle to the Wrist Commercial, Belgariad/Mallorean series, Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfeild, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, We need to talk about Annika - Simon Stålenhag, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Lucky - Britney Spears (Music Video), Ms Marvel, Ladyhawke, Jane the Virgin, Pushing Daisies, A Knight's Tale, Sense8, Selfie, Supergirl, Bad Blood (Taylor Swift) )

July was sucky, in a broad spectrum way, spanning from cat sick on the doona to an emergency hospital visit. I seem to be consistently making and sending sympathy cards, too, which can stop any time now.

I need to take said doona to the dry cleaners but life keeps getting in the way, and it just sits there, all crumpled up and judging me. I think I am that doona. I am that sad, suspiciously stained, sunken-in-the-middle doona that nobody will help.

*massive le sigh*

On the other hand, I just found a note to myself in email drafts about a fic plot point that I had completely forgotten, and it fixes a problem very neatly. Clever past!me.

Ooh, and clearly I meant to put this in a post and then lost it in the morass of drafts:
AWESOME CUSTOMER REPORT:
Customer: I'd like these scripts filled, please. *is a dear little old lady in her eighties, wearing a black cardigan*
Me: Sure! That will be about ten minutes.
Customer: *turns to browse giftware. Her black cardigan has ELVIS' FACE KNITTED INTO THE BACK.*
Me: ELVIS!
Customer: *gives me a sly little wink*

Later, when she is collecting her scripts:
Me: And now you can take Elvis up to the counter.
Customer: And then Elvis will leave the building.

My customers. Seriously. Love 'em.

I must go through these email drafts more often - there are treasures in here.


( As We Go blanket progress )

Fic recs:

The Haunting of Captain America (2309 words) by celeste9
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Avengers Team
Characters: Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes, Thor (Marvel), Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov
Additional Tags: Ghosts, Alternate Universe, Canonical Character Death, Friendship, Team, Remix
Summary:

Steve's being haunted by the ghost of his best friend. The other Avengers find out.

This is super cute, and surprisingly lacking in angst considering Bucky is an actualfax ghost.

The Cage is Full, The Day is New (7738 words) by banerries
Chapters: 10/?
Fandom: Orange is the New Black, The Walking Dead (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Characters: Joel Luschek, Wanda Bell - Character, Scott O'Neill - Character, Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson, Cindy "Black Cindy" Hayes, John Bennett (Orange is the New Black), Maritza Ramos, Marisol "Flaca" Gonzales, Gloria Mendoza, Dayanara "Daya" Diaz, Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett, Carrie "Big Boo" Black, Galina "Red" Reznikov, Brook Soso, Poussey Washington, Eliqua Maxwell, Nicky Nichols, Lorna Morello, Piper Chapman, Maria Ruiz, Blanca Flores, Erica "Yoga" Jones, Angie Rice, Janae Watson, Mei Chang (Orange is the New Black)
Additional Tags: Friendship, Female Friendship, Ensemble Cast, Survival, Zombies, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions
Summary:

As the zombie apocalypse quickly overruns the world around them, the women of Litchfield must rely on each other to survive.

I don't normally rec WIPs, but I love this too much to wait. Practical and in character and frustrating in the right way (Caputo's first instinct at a zombie outbreak is to immediately keep the news from the inmates, for example.)

the family evans (3529 words) by dirgewithoutmusic
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Petunia Evans Dursley & Harry Potter, Petunia Evans Dursley & Lily Evans Potter, Petuna Evans Dursley & Remus Lupin, Dudley Dursley & Harry Potter
Characters: Petunia Evans Dursley, Harry Potter, Dudley Dursley
Additional Tags: What-If, Family
Series: Part 4 of boy with a scar
Summary:

What if, when Petunia Dursley found a little boy on her front doorstep, she took him in? Not into the cupboard under the stairs, not into a twisted childhood of tarnished worth and neglect—what if she took him in?

Petunia was jealous, selfish and vicious. We will not pretend she wasn’t. She looked at that boy on her doorstep and thought about her Dudders, barely a month older than this boy. She looked at his eyes and her stomach turned over and over. (Severus Snape saved Harry’s life for his eyes. Let’s have Petunia save it despite them).

Let’s tell a story where Petunia Dursley found a baby boy on her doorstep and hated his eyes—she hated them. She took him in and fed him and changed him and got him his shots, and she hated his eyes up until the day she looked at the boy and saw her nephew, not her sister’s shadow. When Harry was two and Vernon Dursley bought Dudley a toy car and Harry a fast food meal with a toy with parts he could choke on Petunia packed her things and got a divorce.

I love all of these AUs, but this one is my favourite by far. Amazing Petunia, still very much herself, but with all that ferocity tapped and sent in a more positive direction. (And thanks, dine for the rec!)

Today was the first real scorcher of summer: 41 degrees C and an extreme fire risk. There was a nasty, scary fire in the north of the state, and a closer but smaller and better controlled one at Framlingham, but they're both coming under control as the evening rolls in. Our visitors went home yesterday, which was a wise choice. I wouldn't want to be on the roads today through the Otways, with the fire risk this high.

I don't really know how the new house behaves in the heat, but so far, with the shades down and the lights off, it seems to be holding at a nice temperature. The ceiling fans really help, too.



Fic for 2014:

I didn't write as much as I wanted to, but I did post two big bangs, both of which I'm really proud of.

( 64K words, but only 8 fics )




WIPs:

I've got 50K of Winter Soldier fic just waiting to be jossed by Agent Carter in a week or so. *le sigh* It's worth it for more Peggy canon.


OMG, I just found a file in my WIP folder, entitled "Warehouse 13 a/b/o plan". Um.

( I honestly cannot remember this chat happening so I'm really glad I c&p'd it into a doc: )


This closet is full of awesome crap!! This was for... something Warehousey:


( snippet: Five Times the Warehouse Called on the Sanctuary )

There's 3K of this, with pirates. Later, Helena murders someone with a vole.




TV and Movies:

Winter Soldier! Oh, man, I mean, I'd read the comics, and I liked the story, but the movie punched me in the feels big time.

X-Men: Days of Future Past: Surprisingly did not get fannish about this. I mean, I liked it. I loved it. But I did not write for it.

Person of Interest: We have inhaled two seasons, and are launching into the third. Love it! It took me a while to get into, and I still find Mr Reese deeply odd. I haven't investigated the fic department of this fandom, but do people write him as, like, the embodiment of the Machine? I find him easier to deal with if I can tell myself that somehow Finch built a walking, talking, empathy-impaired android. (Now I'm ear-wormed with a creepy Cliff Richard song.) Although we've just had the episode where Root identifies the Machine as female. But anyway, I strongly suspect I'm going to be all about Shaw/Root. Also I love Carter. Also I know what happens.

- Battlestar Galactica: I mainlined this while we were moving. I had to do it alone, because it's hellishly handheld and vertigo inducing, plus lilacsigil doesn't do apocalyptic fandoms. (Although I'll argue it becomes less apocalyptic in later seasons, though not less handheld.) One of the benefits of watching a show long after it has finished is being able to google for the really bad episodes and skip over them.

Oh, my love for the ladies of this show. Oh, my incredible crush on Katee Sackhoff's shoulders.


- Longmire: I'm midway through season 2. I started this for Katee Sackhoff (omg, she needs to be in it more, what a waste!) but I'm staying for Lou Diamond Philips. I did not honestly expect to enjoy it as much as I am. But it needs more ladies, lots more ladies. I can ship Walt/Henry with no difficulty, but I really need some lady ships.

- Sleepy Hollow. I would not have picked you as my DNF show this year. Seriously, what a freaking disaster you turned into. I am so sad for your clever, media-savvy actors who know the ship is going down.

- Doctor Who, you lost me when Twelve told Clara she was fat. What the actual fuck was that. Not that I won't keep coming back - I am always going to come back, it's a lifelong thing.

Ugh, that finished up depressing. I will cheer myself up by looking to the future. I am looking forward to Agent Carter. So very much. Please don't suck, please don't be gross and weird. I have The Librarians ready to watch as soon as my schedule settles down a little. Person of Interest Season Three is fun so far. *hugs self gently* It's okay, bb.



Comics

I was so glad to come back to comics this year! Not that I think the stupidity and grossness of the industry has lessened, but my volcanic rage at the stupidity and grossness has simmered down enough that I can now enjoy the good things.

Ms Marvel! So adorable, and so full of ridiculousness and glorious heroism.

Hawkeye. So unexpectedly droll, so unexpectedly leading me into using a smush name for a ship. America wasn't even in it, and yet I am team Amerikate.

Young Avengers. For the Amerikate!!

Loki: Agent of Asgard. I'm only six issues in, but it's awesome. (I am apparently supposed to read Journey into Mystery, but I remember when lilacsigil read the last issue and something SO AWFUL happened that she walked around the house randomly bursting into tears. So I'm never going to read that, because I don't do sad endings.)

Thor! I'm only two issues in, but I love lady!Thor! Also Malekith is walking around with dude!Thor's arm wrapped around his neck like a stole, and it's hilarious and camp. I feel like he'd be great on Project Runway.

I also did a re-read of the Winter Soldier arc in Captain America, because of my many feels about the movie.




Fic Read

I read and recced a lot this year, for me. *proud* Two standouts:

This, You Protect (64326 words) by owlet
Chapters: 33/33
Fandom: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers
Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Natasha Romanov, Tony Stark, Jarvis (Iron Man movies), Pepper Potts, Clint Barton
Additional Tags: Humor, I hope humor anyway, cursing, Protection, Strong feelings about coffee, slightly off-canon, Steve is sassy, sam is sassy, Bucky is sassy, Everyone has their sassy pants on, just accept that grilled cheese is the perfect food, old people are Team Bucky
Summary:

The mission resets abruptly, from objective: kill to objective: protect

Ugh, it's over. *gross crying* Where am I going to get my pick-me-up now? A new chapter seemed to come just when I was feeling miserable or cranky. And now it's over. Which is great. But sad.


Life of Crime (35399 words) by neveralarch
Chapters: 8/8
Fandom: Marvel 616, Hawkeye (Comics)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton, Clint Barton/Carol Danvers, Clint Barton & Kate Bishop, Kate Bishop/America Chavez, Barney Barton & Clint Barton
Characters: Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes, Carol Danvers, Kate Bishop, Barney Barton, Maya Lopez, Steve Rogers, Tracksuit Mafia, Lester | Bullseye
Additional Tags: Deaf Clint Barton, Edgeplay, Consensual Kink, Polyamory, Supervillain AU, also lots of other characters and implied pairings but these tags were starting to get out of hand
Summary:

As a supervillain supercriminal contract worker with a morality deficit, Clint Barton leads a glamorous life. You know, stolen cars, dangerous women, a really confusing relationship with a meddling do-gooder, the works. It's pretty awesome. Except for, uh, medical bills, the mob, and being on the run all the time. That part isn't all that awesome.

(A supervillain AU where Clint shoots arrows at people and gets beat up a lot. So, not really that much of an AU.)

This is the one that brought me back to comics, so I really have to nominate it as the best fic I read this year. It's why I had to read Young Avengers and Hawkeye. I think I'm going to go re-read it now.



Yay, it's cooler here now, finally! And I have coffee jelly and vanilla ice-cream. And tomorrow is going to be slightly less scorching than predicted! 2015, you're not so bad, so far.

It has been
730ish
21
7
0 days since my last panic attack.

Which is to say that there is medical stuff of the 'It's probably nothing' variety and it has done my brain in. I am getting better at dealing with these panic attacks, but at the same time, they're kind of intense this time around. Today at work, I thought I was going to black out. Lots of zippy little black dots and a feeling of imminent doom. It is a crapballs way of coping with stress and I am miserable that it is back on my mental menu of cope.


On the other hand, I can get my shoulders well and truly off the mat when I do an abs crunch. Like, right up there, shoulder blades clear off the mat. I used to just be able to lift my head. That is 100% my work of the past two years. I am very proud of this. Do not harsh me on it even if this sounds like a piddling effort to regular folk. I am on a hair trigger and I have a fork handy.


Reading:

Still reading heaps of fic, still wallowing in Winter Soldier feels. Also reading the Winter Soldier arc in Captain America - I had forgotten how much detail was transposed directly to screen. ("Who the hell is Bucky?", oh, my poor heart.)

Revenant (73471 words) by stele3
Chapters: 11/11
Fandom: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Characters: Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes, Natasha Romanov, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Thor (Marvel), Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Maria Hill, Nick Fury, Bruce Banner
Additional Tags: Dubious Consent, Dehumanization, Hostage Situations, Torture, Ableism, Suicidal Thoughts, Canon-Typical Violence, Post-Movie(s), slightly AU, Suicide Attempt, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Body Horror, Panic Attacks, Mind Control, Period-Typical Homophobia, Bisexuality
Summary:

Post-movie AU in which Bucky didn’t just leave Steve on a river bank...he took him.

Many thanks to rennemiles and sansets for beta-reading this and being willing to talk at length with my incoherent ass. I will be posting a chapter a week.

This chapter contains no sexual content, but future chapters include several scenes of varying dubious consent. I will make note of that and the exact situations in the chapters that it applies to. If anyone spots anything else in the fic that I should have tagged for but did not, please do not hesitate to tell me.

I still have one chapter to go in this one, but since I'm probably not going to be posting for a bit, I wanted to rec it - I have loved ten of the eleven chapters I've read thus far. It's AU in the sense that Bucky takes Steve with him when he goes on the run. There are many good and bad feels in this, but also a satisfying amount of plot, and visits from many Marvel characters, including Agents of SHIELD. I hope the last chapter is good too - it seems to be heading to awesome places.



Slowed Me From My Ruining (5997 words) by galfridian
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sharon Carter/Steve Rogers
Characters: Sharon Carter (Marvel), Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov, Nick Fury, Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes
Additional Tags: Pre-Relationship
Summary:

After SHIELD falls, Sharon Carter joins the CIA and finds herself assigned to track down the Winter Soldier.

A hyper-competent Sharon Carter on mission to find Bucky. Lots of professional relationships, lots of weaving in and out of espionage circles, glimpses of what it is like to be Agent Peggy Carter's niece.



depends on where you're standing (4118 words) by dirgewithoutmusic
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Captain America (Movies)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Sharon Carter & Natasha Romanov, Sharon Carter &; Peggy Carter, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov
Characters: Sharon Carter (Marvel), Peggy Carter, Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers, Agent 13 (Marvel)
Additional Tags: Bechdel Test Fix, Aftermath, Idealistic little girls who grow up to be fierce women, coffee with an assassin, spies around the watercooler, SHIELD falls
Series: Part 1 of bringing the war home
Summary:

Sharon Carter expected to pull a gun in the line of duty. She didn’t expect to pull it here. SHIELD was her holy ground.

--

Some aunts take you to mass, but Sharon’s took her to the shooting range.

When Sharon finally met Captain Rogers, she was almost startled at his size. She’d read the comics, sure, but to Sharon, who had heard all the stories (and to Peggy, who had told them), Steve Rogers would always be 5’4” and breakable, had always been a hero.

Her mother had told her bedtime stories about Aunt Peggy saving the world. Her aunt had told her stories about a skinny kid who hated bullies, and a crew of wisecracking soldiers who followed his lead—about Steve and Bucky and all the Howling Commandos out to save the day and chase away each of Sharon’s nightmares.

Her father told her stories about talking elephants and singing mice who built treehouses together.

Sharon carried all of those with her, into the lies of pink nurses' scrubs and the chaos of SHIELD's fall, into everything that came afterwards.

But this came first.

(A Sharon Carter character study)

Ignore the annoying tags - this is excellent Natasha & Sharon friendship fic, and Sharon & Peggy mentorship fic. (I do not like that tagging style! I know it makes me sound curmudgeonly, especially since I use them on Tumblr, but I don't like them on AO3. I'm cranky and I know it.)



When I feel down, I want you above me (2706 words) by lanyon
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Avengers (2012), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Characters: Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes, Tony Stark
Additional Tags: Phone Sex, Unadulterated silliness, The Winter Soldier - Freeform
Summary:

In the twenty-first century, Steve Rogers still has inordinate difficult talking to women, or men, or anyone with a pretty face. Tony Stark suggests that he try calling a phone sex line. Under the influence of severe exhaustion, he does just that. He has no explanation for why he keeps calling, though.

Silly but hilarious and endearing.



He Who Pours Out Vengeance (148808 words) by Underground
Chapters: 26/26
Fandom: Hannibal (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Will Graham & Hannibal Lecter, Alana Bloom/Will Graham, Alana Bloom/Hannibal Lecter
Characters: Will Graham, Hannibal Lecter, Alana Bloom, Jack Crawford, Beverly Katz, Dr. Chilton, Jimmy Price, Brian Zeller
Additional Tags: Post-Season/Series, Drug Use, Cannibalism, Canon-Typical Violence, Mental Institutions, Emotional Manipulation
Series: Part 1 of The Better Angels
Summary:

Post-Savoureux. Will fights back.

Long and thinky, written between Hannibal S1 and S2, lots of Will behind bars doing his Will thing. It was really interesting to see how much of S2 must have been telegraphed in S1, because there were weird and satisfying areas of overlap between this suggested S2 and the canon one.



Odd One Out (27652 words) by thingswithwings
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Leverage
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker, Alec Hardison/Eliot Spencer, Parker/Eliot Spencer, Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer, Eliot Spencer/OC
Characters: Alec Hardison, Eliot Spencer, Parker, Sophie Devereaux (Leverage), Nathan Ford
Additional Tags: Partnership, Polyamory Negotiations, Threesome, Non-Equilateral Triangle, Aromantic Character, Bisexual Character, Polyamory, Food, Queerplatonic Relationships, there is also very briefly a monkey, and equally briefly a plot
Summary:

"We should talk about Eliot," Alec says, at the same time Parker says, "We should have sex in a hammock."

A very distinctive OT3! I really love the way Parker is clearly neuroatypical, but perfectly adult and able to negotiate relationships and needs. And is also the boss of everyone.



Life of Crime (35399 words) by neveralarch
Chapters: 8/8
Fandom: Marvel 616, Hawkeye (Comics)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton, Clint Barton/Carol Danvers, Clint Barton & Kate Bishop, Kate Bishop/America Chavez, Barney Barton & Clint Barton
Characters: Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes, Carol Danvers, Kate Bishop, Barney Barton, Maya Lopez, Steve Rogers, Tracksuit Mafia, Lester | Bullseye
Additional Tags: Deaf Clint Barton, Edgeplay, Consensual Kink, Polyamory, Supervillain AU, also lots of other characters and implied pairings but these tags were starting to get out of hand
Summary:

As a supervillain supercriminal contract worker with a morality deficit, Clint Barton leads a glamorous life. You know, stolen cars, dangerous women, a really confusing relationship with a meddling do-gooder, the works. It's pretty awesome. Except for, uh, medical bills, the mob, and being on the run all the time. That part isn't all that awesome.

(A supervillain AU where Clint shoots arrows at people and gets beat up a lot. So, not really that much of an AU.)

This is my favourite thing for ages! It made me check out Matt Fraction's run on Hawkeye, which was so much fun. Lookit me, reading comics and keeping up to date for the first time in years! Anyway, this is awesome, and it has Carol, and America Chavez (so I'm also checking out Young Avengers for the first time in ages) and it's basically lured me back into comics and that's a thing I never thought would happen again.



Clint Barton’s Home for Wayward Mind Wiped Assassins (5772 words) by roguewrld
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America (Movies)
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes, Clint Barton
Additional Tags: ficlet Friday, clint doesn't know #coulson lives, tony wants to get the band back together, but he's not in the fic
Summary:

“Where ever you were, whatever you did and whoever you did it for, it’s over. You need to pretend to be a person now, okay?”

So, Neveralarch's fic led me to Hawkeye comics, and the comics led me to this fic, and it's a really clever fusion of movieverse and comicsverse Clint, as he looks after post!Winter Soldier Bucky, and it's a WIP but I love it.


Hawkeye! Totally unexpected outcome! Once again, fanfic is a gateway to new canon.


Ugh I'm going to bed now.

GUYS GUYS GUYS! GUYS! GUYS! OMG, GUYS!

I love my fic! I love love love this fic! Go read it!

No, wait. First, open up this page: Julie Dillon's Zodiac art, click on Capricorn and gird your loins.

Then, go here: Zodiac: Your Guide to Fighting the Demon Invasion in Twelve Easy Steps.

Now be amazed at Yuletide and all its magic and how it is awesome that someone out there would write something so wonderful for someone they don't know.

*falls over ded*

If I could sum up this work day in one sentence, it would be "Don't perform surgery on your own face." Just go to the doctor, you utter moron. I don't know - I am fraying away like an old sock under the pressures of holiday trade. I hope there is something left of me by New Year.


More random recs. Maybe I should pool these together and post them to the Yuletide comm? If I get a minute to think, I certainly will.

( This got long! Recs for Iron - Woodkid, Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Kushiel's Legacy, Florence + the Machine, The Graveyard Book, Gemma - Noel Streatfeild, Ballet Shoes, Famous Five, Digger, Dance Academy, Middleman )

I just realised reveals aren't actually until later for me, since I live in the future. Whee! I might get some more recs out there before the blindfolds come off.

Happy New Year, people! I'll try 2013 on and let you know how it feels before it comes around to later time zones.

*switches flashlight on under chin*

Hello little children! Do you like scary stories? Doesn't matter, because scary stories like you!

Early this year, I was tooling around creepy pasta sites, as you do, and I realised that Candle Cove would make an awesome Yuletide fandom. So, for the first time in six Yuletides, I started a list in January, so I'd remember to nominate and request it.

(Candle Cove is a short story in chat log format, and you can read it at the author's website here.)

Fast forward to Yuletide 2012 and I have two Candle Cove stories of my own. Other people requested it, too! There are five Candle Cove fics for Yuletide this year. I love the Yuletide hive mind, and how they all took this short story to different and terrifying places.


My gifts:

Years Gone By (1591 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Candle Cove
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Characters, Janice (Candle Cove)
Summary:

Candle Cove's manifestation in two pre-television generations.

If a ghost story could be a postcard, this would be two deliciously scary pictures from the past. This one says a lot about the way that stories survive before we have TV to help us out. The format is two short vignettes, dealing with media other than television, and it gives the impression that Candle Cove has been here for a long time. It's gorgeous and thoughtful and eerie in the right measure.

---

Between 'Outerscope' and the Sleestaks (9846 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Candle Cove
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Janice (Candle Cove), The Skin-Taker, Horace Horrible, Pirate Percy
Summary:

You have to admit, some of those special effects were so scary-looking that you can understand why adults describe a great fondness for the shows of their childhood mixed with an overwhelming feeling of terror. In between discussions of the creepy puppets from "Outerscope" and the Sleestaks, "Candle Cove" comes up again and again.

This is epic. And awesome. It merges true crime with urban legend, and it's so well put together. There's world building, a fantastically solid concept for the faux-TV show that people remember from the story, there's a thorough and riveting investigation, and there's a thrilling ending. Really engaging POV character. Really scary stuff going on.

---

The other three fics that weren't for me but may as well have been because I love them:

On the Good Ship Laughingstock (1228 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Candle Cove
Rating: Mature
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Janice, Original Characters
Summary:

They tried to piece together the memories from the show that didn't exist. Then Janice started posting.

I can see this story unfolding on Reddit or somewhere like that. The scary stuff is scary because it's something you see happening online: people dropping off chats suddenly, family members showing up to explain what terrible thing had happened. Only, with eldritch horror.

---

Subject: Tiffany? (2357 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Candle Cove
Rating: Mature
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Summary:

Hey, Maria. I know you hate talking on the phone. And hi, Pam. I don’t think I have your new number? It’s been years, so you must have changed it. I just got off the phone with Lori. I don’t know what to say. This is awful!

This one plays with formatting in a way that, even though you know what is happening, still gives you a shock. Emails between friends after a tragedy, wondering if their past has something to do with it.

---

Bébé incassable (1654 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Candle Cove
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Summary:

Whatever Percy is made of, it has always sought the limelight.

(No graphic violence, but there is grossness not quite covered by available archive warnings.)

Major trigger warning for scary dolls. SCARY DOLLS OKAY? Not even joking about scary dolls. One of the characters in the supposed TV show has a baby doll for a head, and the author of this one takes it from there. Beautiful back and forth from the twenties to the seventies to 2012.

---

Thank you to my two mystery authors! I loved the stories you wrote, and I love your vision of Candle Cove.

*switches off flashlight, leave you in the dark*

Yeah, it's 42 degrees (107.6 for you Northerners) and there's a grass fire up the road. Life is rocking on in rural Australia.

I'm propping lilacsigil up with ice packs and icy poles. She's a hot little hamster right now. The air-conditioner isn't really cutting the mustard, though it's cooler in here than out there.

Hey, Aussies, what do you call one of these?


I grew up in Melbourne, and we always called them "frozens", as in "I'd really like a frozen." But the other day, when I said "Oh, we should get some frozens and put them in the freezer for the hot days" lilacsigil was very confused. Apparently in Gippsland, you call them by their proprietary name: Sunny Boy. I find these differences to be fascinating. Or maybe my brain has curdled in the heat. Tell me of your snow, people of the north. Tell me of the icicles and the frozen ponds and the need for woolly mittens.


In other news, Yuletide reveals are up!

I wrote The Infernal Celibacy Rededication (Or how Roxy decided she didn't need her groove back after all). (Check out my Roxy icon! The sum total of my creative effort in this heat!) I had so much fun reviewing canon for this fic - I even dug out the original comics to remind myself of certain aspects of Middleman history.

I also betaed lilacsigil's Famous Five fic, Anne and George of the Thirds. (Go read it, it's a glorious thing where Anne gets to be the competent one for a change.) lilacsigil did not have so much fun reviewing canon. We had a lot of conversations like this:

lilacsigil: Julian is such a prig!
Me (mishearing): Yes, Julian is an utter prick.
lilacsigil: That too.

If you have always thought Julian was a prick, go and read Anne and George of the Thirds. Julian isn't in it at all, and there are (not very) secret lesbians on the side.


Now, to get to work on fandom_stocking! *rubs hands together but not enough to make a spark*

ETA: Fire is out! That's really good news.

xmmficathon has been and gone! I wrote three stories, omg. Also got to write "fine freckled erection". Personally, I feel this to be my finest moment in fanfiction. Also my finest moment was not titling that fic "Spotted Dick". (Actually, my excellent and discerning beta said "Fuck, no!")


The fic written for me:

As Is by eva_roisin (Charles, a kind of one-sided Charles/Alex)
This is the year that passes after the events on the beach in Cuba: Charles adapting to life post-spinal injury, building up the school, dealing with the world at large. It's amazing - beautifully written, and so damn real that it hurts. Go read it, it's one of my favourite fics in the fandom.

And the two fics I betaed:
Wednesday by a_q (Henry, Raven)
This is set post-X3 but builds on the relationship between Hank and Raven. It's very bittersweet, but hopeful in the right amounts, too. You really get a feeling for the long, long road this particular friendship has been down.

Chase Your Shadow by lilacsigil (Ororo, Jean, Charles/Erik)
Ah ha ha, this is so deliciously timey-wimey that I can hardly bear it. A post-X3 fixit that fixes EVERYTHING, but in a satisfying, time-bending way. Storm POV, some lovely Charles/Erik moments, many cameos, and a wonderful Jean Grey.

And some recs I enjoyed, apparently in alphabetical order:

Laced Up Both My Boots by aphrodite_mine (Emma/Moira)
Smoking hot Emma/Moira femslash, very tense and edgy - this should have been in the movie. Or just in a movie by itself.

Stay by ion_bond (Mystique/Destiny, Erik/Charles)
I love Destiny fic at any time, but this is really good Destiny fic - beautiful and achy, in the way that things are with Destiny: you can take different paths, but things inevitably come around to the same point, and she knows it. A great feeling of the era, and how it shapes the X-Men and the Brotherhood.

The Heel by lonelywalker
Kurt! And Toad! The Munich Circus ventures forth to London, and with it, Kurt starts to look at the world, and also at his family and the role he has within the circus. This stitches the First Class universe to the previous movieverse in a really clever way. (And how much do I love that the first thing most of us older fans do is try to make the canons match?)

Imaginary Life Journey by renata_kedavra (Raven, Erik, Kurt, Charles)
This one caught my eye because renata had three language betas; I reasoned that had to make for an interesting story. And it did - two different might have beens for Kurt in the First Class universe, and how a variation in ideology can have a vast effect on the outcome of a meeting. Some excellent philosophical conversations in here, as well as a fantastic Erik/Mystique rapport.

Carry That Weight by selenak (Jessica Jones, Mystique)
JESSICA JONES omg. This is freaking awesome - if you've read the Alias comics, or come across Jessica Jones in the larger Marvelverse, you'll love it. If you don't know Jessica Jones, this is what you need to know: she's rude and she's brutally honest and she specialises in putting her finger directly on that ouchy place you don't want anyone to touch. She's a PI, she's involved in the superhero world in ways that are sometimes embarrassing and sometimes heartbreaking. Now go and read an awesome fic about her.

Soon to Become by sullensiren (Charles/Erik, Raven/Azazel)
Post-movie fic - Charles and Erik build their school - Erik bakes! - but domestic bliss aside, this is a really satisfying look at why the Erik/Charles dynamic eventually breaks down.

So many fics! Such a diversity of characters, too! The master list is here.

ETA: Wow, that's a lot of code. I'm sure to have borked something.

I've been feeling very down in the dumps, for various family-related reasons, and lilacsigil wrote me a tiny cheer-up ficlet. It's X-Men: First Class meets the Sanctuary crew in the sixties, and it's adorable:

No Sanctuary (G, spoilers for X-Men: First Class)

Also, it is a real drabble, old-skool style. 100 words. Of pure and adorable bliss.