Title: Giving off Sparks
Wordcount: 982 words
Fandom: Marvel Something-or-Other
Rating: T
Relationships: James “Bucky” Barnes & Clint Barton
Characters: Clint Barton, James “Bucky” Barnes
Warnings/Enticements: Alternate Universe - Vampires, Angst, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Hopeful Ending
Summary:
“Are you here to kill me?”
“You know I’m not.”
“Can’t blame a guy for hoping.”

So here’s my trickortreatex fic!

I got two gifts this year: Curd-Cutting by Fioment, which is an excellent exploration of an incident in Colin Provolone’s personal history with the Bulbian Church.

And venus febriculosa by summerstudie, which is a Carmilla fic which I also love and recommend, but it’s dark somnophilia from the rapist’s PoV, so don’t click unless you want that.

Hi! Thanks so much for writing for me, and congratulations on your evident good taste!

If you want to benignly internet-stalk me to get an idea of my interests, Tumblr and AO3 are probably a better idea than DW. However, my previous Yuletide-related posts are tagged here.

This year I requested Band Sinister by K. J. Charles, the Roaring Twenties Magic series by Allie Therin, and Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms by Mercedes Lackey. I am happy with any fic rating or length, and welcome treats.

A large and random list of things I like in general: worldbuilding, hurt/comfort, huddling for warmth, teamwork, competence, adventure, lesbians, ethical dilemmas, loyalty conflicts, people being clever, twisty plots, gender issues, sibling or sibling-like relationships, epistolary fic, backstory, pining, physical affection, queerness, philosophy, romance, UST, found families, mythological and literary allusions, polyamory, slash, het, femslash, passionate platonic friendships, hidden worlds, cities, banter, complicated plans, beautiful landscapes, angst, puns, magical realism, history, social class issues, older women with major roles, case fic, period accuracy, gen, smut, pwp, diversity of opinion, secret identities, fairy tales, specific sense of place... Feel free to use any of these, do not try to use all of them.

Dislikes: I do not want child- or pregnancy-focused fic, or high school AUs, or fic entirely centred around a wedding or wedding preparation. I'm not interested in incest or graphic depictions of rape or gore or torture.

Generally I am all for alternate universes, but in these fandoms the setting is a lot of the draw for me, so perhaps not wildly alternate ones.

Fandom specific thoughts and optional details:

( Band Sinister by K. J. Charles )

( Roaring Twenties Magic by Allie Therin )

( Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms by Mercedes Lackey )

I’ve been reading this off and on for about two months now, with speed depending on how comparatively gripping whatever I’ve got out from the library at the same time is. I haven’t read it before, but I do know some of the major spoilers.

For a while there it was going very slowly because it felt like an adventure novel crossed with a French farce, which actually would be a great idea if you did it on purpose. But now the title character is back on page and it’s going faster again.

It’s interesting, because of course The Prisoner of Zenda is a majorly influential work in Western literature (or at least Western pop culture) … which most people today haven’t actually heard of. And Rupert of Hentzau is unfortunately not a very satisfactory sequel. (Whereas the Scarlet Pimpernel series went on for over a dozen books.)

I want to blame it on Fritz being a weaker narrator than Rudolf, but that’s a cop-out, because of course Anthony Hope is writing both of them. And I can see how even just reordering the narrative in the middle would make everything way more suspenseful and remove the (perceived) need for Fritz’s defences of other characters acting on limited information.

Doesn’t pass the Bechdel test - lots of women, sometimes they even talk to each other, but there isn’t anything for them to talk about except men. But I am still disappointed that no one on AO3 has written Helga/Flavia fanfic, because Flavia deserves someone like that.

One of my few superstitions is that I don't want to talk about anything good until it has already happened, in case I jinx it, but today was my first day at work and everything is good, so I think I can say: DW, I have a job! A full time job! With benefits! Yay!

Apart from that, I have been liveblogging and writing various meta about Dimension 20: The Ravening War on Tumblr: Calorum, Amangeaux, Karna

I also wrote a poem which contains massive spoilers for A Court of Fey and Flowers.

Here is a very incomplete rec list for threesentenceficathon. The last post of my own fills is back here.

First of all, a few from 2022 since I had them sitting around: ( Read more... )

And this year’s. Both posts, random order, separated by fandom. Format is title [if any], fandom [if not specified above], characters, prompt.

( Narnia )

( Other )

The threesentenceficathon is now closed for prompts, but remains open for fills forever. Here’s some more of mine, in all different fandoms; I will eventually post the last bunch of them once I’m sure there’s not going to be any more.

( The Old Guard )

( Our Flag Means Death )

( Snow White (Disney) )

( Marvel Comics )

( This Is How You Lose the Time War (El-Mohtar & Gladstone) )

( Batman Comics )

( Goodbye Earl - The Chicks )

( Original D&D-ish fantasy )

I'm too tired to blog or read or socialize, but apparently not too tired to write this up.



So from one point of view this pattern is completely unnecessary. You could just wear wool socks in the first place.

But sometimes you weren't expecting to need wool socks today. And your toes are cold. (Whenever I start looking at sock yarn, my feet immediately feel cold, no matter what the actual temperature is.) And you don't want to get up.

Here is a quick way to use up scrap yarn, which you can then keep in your office and slip on over your cotton socks when it turns out to be colder than you expected. Mine have a little decorative rib pattern, but you can just knit k2p2 rib if you prefer.

( Read more... )

Ravelry link over here | Reblog on Tumblr

I got my booster shot yesterday, which has knocked me out like all the others. My immune system would like to know wtf I'm playing at.

Current pandemic obsession is embroidery, and at the moment specifically needlelace (modern explanation, Victorian explanation), which is something like embroidery without the cloth. It's also much more manageable than bobbin lace; if I tried to set up a lace pillow covered in pins and things hanging from strings around Pepper terrible things would happen.

I have been throwing myself into that with all the enthusiasm of someone who is avoiding preparing for the new semester and also has a bunch of Agatha Christie audiobooks on Libby, but in the interests of avoiding eyestrain, and also because I just had a shower and am now utterly out of energy, have a meme.

( AO3 Averages Meme )

First of all, the Retired Beekeepers of Sussex are no longer holding events, and while their journals are still archived online I thought I should put this on AO3:

Title: Discretion
Rating: G
Universe: ACD Holmes
Characters: Mrs. Hudson, Sherlock Holmes
Warnings/Enticements: Character Study, Victorian Attitudes
Summary: Mrs Hudson overhears something, and is thrown into an ethical dilemma.
Word Count: 722

On AO3

And here is a (very brief) second chapter to a fic from September:

Title: Far to Go
Rating: T
Universe: Marvel
Characters: Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton, Bucky Barnes
Warnings/Enticements: De-Aging, Implied Child Abuse, Canon-Typical Violence, Natasha Romanov Backstory, Angst, Paranoia, Hurt/Comfort, Natasha Romanov Needs a Hug, But She Certainly Wouldn't Accept One, Sign Language, Blizzards, Handcuffs, Unreliable Narrator
Summary: "You know the kind of thing: scientists make something, realize they have no use for it and no one sane would want it around, and then instead of destroying it like anyone sensible would they stick it in a high security containment facility and forget about it until someone steals it, and we have to go and steal it back. They say it’s only dangerous if you drink it, we say great, we’ll have it back by Tuesday, and then Natasha touches the bottle and loses twenty years."
--
It's a test. Of course it's a test. She must have been drugged. This must be a false mission set up by the Red Room. These men must be Red Room too. She just has to figure out how to pass the test.

Right?
Word Count: 5417

On AO3

And finally, from a shameless self promotion angle, if you are waiting impatiently for Yuletide to open, have a fic recommendation:

Title: Strike the Harp and Join the Chorus
Rating: T
Universe: The Hidden Almanac
Characters: Reverend Mord, Pastor Drom, George the Crow
Warnings/Enticements: Episode Style, History, Canon-Typical Weirdness, Mentions of Human Sacrifice, Mentions of RPF (Real Poultry Fiction), Characters Participating in Yuletide, Holidays, Humour
Summary: It was on this day that the gifts in a holiday fanfiction exchange were revealed. It is the Feast Day of Yuletide, and in the garden, there are stories.

Be Safe, and Remember: You Are Not Alone.
Word Count: 3400

On AO3