sophia_sol: photo of a 19th century ivory carving of a fat bird (Default)
My recs for the month of February! This month included festivids getting posted so there are a lot of small-fandom vids in this batch, as well as the usual run of various mxtx fanfic plus other stuff. The lineup:

Romeo+Juliet – 2 vids
Taskmaster UK – 1 vid
Jesus Christ Superstar – 1 vid
Catherine Called Birdy – 1 vid
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – 1 vid
Moby Dick – 1 vid
the Knives Out series – 1 vid
Shakespeare’s As You Like It – 1 vid
Hikaru No Go – 1 fic
SVSSS – 3 fics
MDZS/CQL – 4 fics


Romeo+Juliet

Trust+Fall, by sandalwoodbox

- it's festivids time!!! this is probably the first of SEVERAL vids I will be reccing today

- this one is for the film Romeo+Juliet, and focuses on the Romeo/Juliet relationship

- set to the song "Parachute" which I previously knew from an extremely cute Leverage vid, so it was fascinating to see how this vid pulled out very different themes from the song and made a much darker, more painful vid, though cut through with moments of cuteness and levity, as the tension ramped upwards towards Romeo and Juliet's inevitable end

- it was so good!

- 2:52 in length. Music only, no added sounds/dialogue. No subtitles.


Magnetic, by sandalwoodbox

- another Romeo + Juliet vid, this one focusing on Mercutio

- it's about how magnetic a character and a person Mercutio is and like. YUP. AGREED.

- 0:58 in length. Music only, no added sounds/dialogue. Subtitles are available.



Taskmaster

Blood in the Cut, by findmeinthealps

- Taskmaster UK vid focusing on Alex and the uhhhh dynamics in the show that he created

- I love the way the editing turns so many of the weird visuals into something that the camera has an erotic focus on. it's so effective! and the song really amplifies it.

- 3:13 in length. music only, not added sounds/dialogue. no subtitles available.



Jesus Christ Superstar

Hope on Fire, by aguntoaknifefight (swirlingvoid)

- a Jesus Christ Superstar vid which draws on many different productions of the musical, both stage and film, to look at Judas's relationship with Jesus

- I love how it gets across how intense and agonising a relationship it is, and the use of many different sources helps hammer home the inevitability of its tragedy too

- 3:45 in length. music only, no added sounds/dialogue. subtitles are available.



Catherine Called Birdy

Jackrabbit, by Tafadhali

- vid for the movie Catherine Called Birdy, about Birdy and her relationship with her parents

- I haven't actually seen the movie but I have loved the book for many years!

- and this vid felt like it exactly captured the feel and the mood of the story. It's lovely.

- 3:24 in length. music only, no added sounds/dialogue. no subtitles.



Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Disaster Party, by Scribe

- so I have not actually seen the dungeons and dragons movie yet but this vid about the adventuring party was just so fun and charming to watch

- upbeat and loving look at the characters and their various misfortunes as they make mistakes and keep going

- 3:12 in length. music only, no added sounds/dialogue. no subtitles.



Moby Dick

Here it Goes Again, by eruthros

- Moby Dick vid featuring as many different adaptations and inspired-bys as the vidder could fit in

- here it goes again! the story keeps repeating itself! you can't escape it!

- so much fun and so impressive

- 3:01 in length. Music only, no added sounds/dialogue. Subtitles are available.



Knives Out series

'Til You Hit A Nerve, by stardust_rain

- about the heroines of Knives Out and Glass Onion

- idk that I have anything insightful or interesting to say about this one but it's a good vid! I liked it!

- 2:27 in length. Music only, no added sounds/dialogue. No subtitles.



As You Like It

Boys Keep Swinging, by Tafadhali

- a vid about Rosalind in many different productions of Shakespeare's As You Like It

- a vid that is just having SO much fun leaning into being as queer about gender as it can manage

- and I had just as much fun watching it!

- 2:00 in length. Music only, no added sounds/dialogue. No subtitles.



Hikaru No Go

Dragons and Other Metaphors, by esama

- canon divergence genfic about Akira's pov on Hikaru, and like, it's been SO long since I've been in this fandom that I've forgotten all the contextualization to recognize what the point of divergence is lol

- but it's a REALLY good fic about how large a figure Hikaru is in Akira's life, and the rivalry experience Akira is so committed to

- 3k words in length

- I saw this fic thanks to a rec from Rozzychan on fedi so thank you!



SVSSS

Small Fish in an Unsettled Pond, Violent_entertainment

- this is part of a series of unconnected works the author is writing, each one focusing on the relationship between Shang Qinghua and a different one of the various Cang Qiong peak lords

- today's is about Shang Qinghua and the Ku Xing Peak Lord! yes, one of the peak lords who doesn't even get a name in canon

- sqh and the kx peak lord are friends and unlikely allies in the effort to make sure lbh doesn't destroy the sect and mash the realms together

- I love how the author comes up with so many different backstories for sqh in the different fics

- and I love this vision of the kx peak lord! and what lbh would be like under this lord's tutelage!

- 4k words in length


stuffed with fluff (and blood and bones and rage), by nyoomerr

- it's always a good day when nyoomerr posts a new svsss fic!

- this one is about original lbh, beginning in his abyss years, visiting shen yuan in his dreams

- lbh can't move or act or speak in these dreams but he gets to hear/read about everything sy says about lbh

- over years lbh gets more and more obsessed with sy (obvs)

- I love watching lbh's growing realizations of the nature of his frustrations, mediated through getting to hear sy express things that are so different from what anyone in his waking life ever says

- I love how much he craves someone who SEES him like sy does, and yet sy can't see all of lbh because the parts of lbh's life he gets to see are all mediated through the nature of what a stallion novel will focus on!

- and the ENDING. it is perfect! I'm feral at the thought of what will happen next

- 17k words in length


Help! My Ex-Boyfriend Transmigrated And Now He's My Shixiong! by kitschlet

- just reread this fic and it's as fun as it was the first time!

- in which sqq and sqh were exes back in the real world

- they figure out who each other are and immediately fall to bickering over what actually happened in their relationship

- these two are SO FUNNY and SO RIDICULOUS and my heart gave a pang anyway! truly the magic of cumplane

- I love them and they're the worst <3333

- 2k words in length



MDZS/CQL

The light that he brings, by raitala

- mdzs/cql modern au where wwx reappears after many years and lwj wants to keep him in his life in whatever way he can

- I love! how much they care about each other, and how they try to navigate the new/old dynamics between them with the additional perspective that being older will bring

- though lwj still hasn't entirely figured out the framework to understand his attraction to wwx

- they're both trying so hard to not overstep boundaries between them but they can both agree that whatever is best for a-Yuan is worth doing

- watching them slide into intimacy and intertwined lives, and how lwj comes alive with wwx and a-yuan in his life! endless delight

- impeccable under-negotiated d/s vibes between them

- I love the glimpses into all the other people in their lives as well!

- ahhh there are so many things I could keep saying about this fic! it's so good

- 106k words in length


the beauty of maturity, by hisevilforest

- mdzs/cql

- look this is uhhh not a common ship so I just smooshed the names together for the hashtag and called it good

- Lan Jingyi and Xue Yang run into each other alone in all the fog of yi city

- their dynamics with each other are SO fun, neither of them trusting each other and yet both having a great time in their various ways

- jingyi's pov is GREAT

- I think the author's tags are a great look into what the fic is like: hostage situations, poisoning, making out, frottage, mind-games, mouthy jerks who escalate, sexy swordfighting, being walked in on by hanguang-jun specifically, blink and you miss it glimpses of xue yang's angst, but mostly humour

- this is a reread for me and it's just as worth it the second time (or third, or fourth, or --- )

- 6k words in length


moored, by fluffysocks

- mdzs/cql

- Because Of Reasons, wwx and jc are both married off to lwj after the destruction of lotus pier. wwx is blissfully happy about it; jc struggles with it on a NUMBER of fronts

- from jc's pov, about him figuring out how to have a successful relationship with his husband, with his place in his new sect, with his brother and co-spouse, with himself and his struggles in cultivation these days

- jc's pov obviously doesn't like to think about any of these things straightforwardly, he's too busy being tsundere about everything lol

- I love seeing him finding his own way, figuring out how to have a life that works for him even if it isn't what he would have chosen!

- 17k words in length

- (also: fuck jkr and all, but if you also fondly remember helenish's hp fic "theft of assets, destruction of property" then this is the fic for you!)


Lans Never Kiss and Tell, by FeelsForBreakfast

- mdzs/cql modern AU wangxian fic wherein wwx finds out that lwj has kissed all of their friends except him
- obviously he immediately goes insane about this

- I'm very charmed that this is a "mutual pining" trope fic wherein the two of them never doubt for even a moment that they are each other's most important person

- the writing is extremely funny. such good comedy bits overlapping with the genuine emotions in ways that make both parts better!

- 31k words in length
sophia_sol: photo of a 19th century ivory carving of a fat bird (Default)
Once again time for my monthly recs round-up! This month you will find:

9 mdzs/cql recs
2 nirvana in fire recs
5 svsss recs
1 tortall rec
1 word of honor rec
6 poetry/short story/novelette recs
1 youtube video essay rec
1 zine rec


MDZS/CQL
MDZS/CQL


Rule the World, by remellow

- cql fanvid about wei wuxian as the yiling laozu, set to the Lorde song Everybody Wants to Rule the World

- incredible ominous vibes threaded through with the pain of everything that happens

- beautifully edited! I was hooked from the start

- 2:33 in length

- thanks to lookitmychicken for the rec!


Tucked inside the heart of every nice girl, by phnelt

- I've read this fic before but today I had call to reread it and it's still SO good

- t4t jzx/jyl!!!! always into this, in every permutation

- cql/mdzs modern au jin zixuan is a trans woman finding her gender euphoria in the midst of the work of being a woman under patriarchy, and jiang yanli, in watching her, realises just how much every aspect of being a woman has been a burden and not a joy for herself

- the relationship jyl has with gender here is so good and makes so much sense for the character!

- I love how careful jyl is to not ever stifle jzx's baby trans joy, even as jyl is struggling

- 4k words in length


Borne, by Cordial

- cql fic

- after wen qing's execution, she ends up sharing jiang cheng's body!

- they're both dealing with so MUCH at this point in the narrative, and they're so careful with each other now that they are tied together like this, and it's so gorgeous

- 3k words in length


All I Really Want, by trelkez

- a cql vid about Wei Wuxian & Wen Qing

- ahhhhhh I have SO MANY feels about them and this vid GETS them

- ouchy in the best way

- audio is solely the music

- no subtitles

- 4:41 in length

- thanks to lesbianwangyibo for the rec!


Reunion Dinner | 团圆饭, by vivisextion

- mdzs/cql, post-canon, jiang cheng realises jin ling has never tasted his mother's soup

- cue the epic quest to learn how to recreate it, and the things he learns along the way

- lovely fic about family and about food

- 4k words in length

- thanks to stultiloquentia for the rec!


The Other Mountain, by nirejseki

- omggg I tore through this fic SO fast and had SO much fun with it

- mdzs lan qiren/wen ruohan arranged marriage!

- I'm always here for fic that's like "okay this ship might sound ridiculous but WHAT IF --" and then comes up with genius ways to make it plausible

- there's fun character interactions and fascinating plot and it does interesting things exploring the situation between Qingheng-Jun and his wife, and I love how much lan qiren loves rules and has carefully considered what they mean wrt right behaviour

- I love this vision of lqr so much, and I love how FUNNY the interactions between lqr and wrh are, and how well these interpretations of the characters work with each other and play off each other in mutually beneficial ways!

- the fic started off a little slow but once I was into it I was INTO IT and read every word with relish

- completely delightful. do recommend.

- 287,000 words in length


Spilled Pearls, by nirejseki

- another mdzs lan qiren/wen ruohan canon divergence au! and also wen ruohan/nie dad at the same time

- this one follows lqr from when he's a young teen and it's very fun to see his changing perspectives on wrh over time

- I enjoyed it a great deal, and also it's fun to see what is and isn't the same between this fic and the others by the same author featuring these characters and ships

- and I just want MORE!

- 89k words in length


Tricks of the Trade, by nirejseki

- a reread, just as fun the second time as the first

- mdzs, jin guangyao/lan qiren!

- jgy coming up with schemes to get hugs from lqr and accidentally developing a relationship of mutual respect and care which changes the trajectory of jgy's life goals

- it's so delightful

- getting bits of lqr's perspectives on the whole course of events at the end, in the form of excerpts from his diary, is incredible for recontextualising what was happening from his pov

- 31k words in length


of all the gin joints in all the world, by bloodletter

- cql, jiang cheng/nie huaisang

- a post-canon fic, running into each other at an inn and Not Talking About Things

- a wonderful little interlude of finding space to have a bit of something fun

- because sometimes the opportunity to not talk about things, and not even think about things, is what you want the most!

- even though everything that happened IS still there. but you're with someone else who knows and understands and has seen you since before anything went bad.

- it's great

- 1k words in length



NIRVANA IN FIRE
NIRVANA IN FIRE

Never knew a part of you / you didn't set in ink, by BromeliadDreams

- Nirvana in Fire fic about Cai Quan/Shen Zhui!!!!!! god I love these nerds

- Reading fic about their comfortable relationship with each other as they argue and work and engage in endless bureaucracy just filled me with enormous fondness for them both

- they should be a thriving ship in the fandom and it's a tragedy there's not more fic about them, but this one is GREAT.

- 3k words in length


our hands our hearts are empty, by egelantier

- NiF canon divergence fic where Jingyan is called back to the capital to an arranged marriage with a young maiden named Mei Changsu

- I love seeing what is and what is not different in the plans and in how the two of them relate to each other, in this changed context!

- some great cameos from other characters too

- what a fun and satisfying read!

- 10k words in length



SVSSS
SVSSS


Ignorance Leads to Bliss, by Tainaron

- An svsss qijiu canon divergence fic, about things that might have happened while lbh was still a very young disciple to change the course of events

- I love how small the things are that cause these changes, and that it's a small unthinking kindness from yqy to his own disciples that in a winding way leads to his own happiness

- as the author says, these two are freak4freak and I love it

- the desperation both of them feel about each other while being unable to talk about any of it!

- 11k words in length


petal and vine, by aibari

- an SVSSS bingqiu fanfic wherein sqq wakes up in his plant body with amnesia and makes a home in the small village nearby, blessing its crops

- lbh eventually comes through looking for his shizun, and sqq helps him

- trying to find the right words to describe the tone or flavour of a piece of writing can be so hard but imo that's one of the things this fic does best! it's got this like....distanced, fairy-tale, dreamy vibe that really drives home how disconnected sqq is from his life and his emotions here and it's so great

- (happy ending, of course!)

- 5k words in length


raised by winter winds, by nyoomerr

- this is a fic that really understands the fundamental problem with original sqq, which is that the child abuse is real but so is the tragic backstory. he contains multitudes! one feels complex and conflicting things about him!

- ok so the fic is a canon divergence fic where shen yuan is transmigrated in early as a disciple of og!sqq, and it's a bingqiu fic but also a fic about the master-disciple relationship between sy and sqq, and also about sy's relationship with his role as head disciple on the peak

- and it's so good at all of that! I love what it does, I love all the sides of sy you get to see and all the things he cares about and puts his energies into (... and what he doesn't), it's all so perfectly him

- and aughghhhhhh I have SO MANY FEELS

- I am very emotion. I highly recommend.

- 36k words in length


Toxic, by Prim_the_Amazing

- Ming Fan/OMC, where the OC is another disciple on Qing Jing Peak

- it's truly impressively horrible, the pov of this awful bully who manipulates Ming Fan into misery and encourages Ming Fan in all of his own worst bullying tendencies

- it's so well and believably done, and so compelling!

- mind the tags on this one, it means what it says. I enjoyed the fic a lot but it's not a kind fic!

- 13k words in length


Lost and Found in Limitless Clarity, by TGP

- bingqiu postcanon fic

- lbh is miserable because sqq has died again, permanently, and lbh blames himself

- this weird recluse Shang Yuan is a compelling mystery for lbh to investigate though......

- the fic is deliciously full of angst and misunderstandings and attempts to learn from the past

- 75k words in length



TORTALL
TORTALL


A Personal Challenge, by bobbiewickham

- fic for the Tortall books, in epistolary form

- Alanna was forbidden from challenging Wyldon to a duel because she was king's Champion, but obviously as soon as she's not anymore, she goes for it

- various people react

- it's perfect. it's delightful. it's everything.

- 2k words in length



WORD OF HONOR
WORD OF HONOR


A Little Bit Ghost Valley, by alpheratz_vids

- a Word of Honor vid focusing on Wen Kexing. I have never seen any of the show and do not know who any of these people are and it's still so fun!

- stylish and snappily edited and confident

- audio is solely the music

- subtitles available

- 2:04 in length

- thanks to lesbianwangyibo for the rec!



ORIGINAL POETRY/SHORT STORY/NOVELETTE
ORIGINAL POETRY/SHORT STORY/NOVELETTE


Merciful Even to Scorpions, by Kay Chronister

- in a village where people possessed by demons are turned into javelinas, cared for by a pig-boy for the rest of their lives, what happens when the new pig-boy has a little too much empathy for his charges?

- excellent use of fantasy alternate world to engage with questions of the failures of the justice system and the penal system, and the ways people become complicit with the system

- really well done pov character

- 5k words in length


Also, the Cat, by Rachel Swirsky

- an original story about ghosts and toxic family dynamics and feeling trapped

- the three sisters who are the main characters are all difficult people in their own way, and all fully-realized characters I truly believe in

- I loved that it's a story where the moral isn't "family should always stick together." family can be wonderful but it can also be awful, and sometimes you're better off apart

- 14k words in length


The Naming of Knots, by M.A. Carrick

- an original story that I believe to be set in the same world as Carrick's Rook & Rose trilogy, which I haven't read yet but which is on my tbr list

- having read this story and enjoyed it definitely increases my interest in that trilogy!

- this one's about a thief who gets talked into helping a legend steal information to get back at people who misuse their positions of power

- the importance of public infrastructure! the usefulness of recordkeeping! the will to carry out audacious crime!

- fun and interesting and I want to know more about this world

- 9k words in length


I'll Be Your Mirror, by Rebecca Schneider

- an original story about AI personhood, and about the bond between one AI who is different from the others, and their bond with a human who is different from other humans

- it's also about the difficulties of caregiving during a pandemic, and the toll it takes

- a beautiful, quiet, tender story about finding where you belong, no matter what others think

- and ultimately, in my read, about a neurodivergent robot and a queerplatonic relationship, which like. AS ALWAYS, TAKE ME TO THERE. I'm here for it.

- 6k words in length


Then Came the Ghost of My Dead Mother, Antikleia, by Nadia Radovich

- about grief and loss; losing a parent young, and losing access to that parent's culture and language; and about holding on to what things you can

- the story isn't specific about exactly what happened in the disaster when the main character was a young child but the hints are enough to be pretty dark

- beautiful, longing, sharp and bittersweet

- second person pov

-1k words in length


My Last Duke, by Jess Nevins

- narrative poetry from the pov of a dead woman to her terrible husband's new wife

- really fun and compelling to read on in a vacuum, but also it is clearly written in response to Browning's famous poem "My Last Duchess" and is from the pov of the dead woman that poem is about!

- also seems to be an alternate history narrative? again you don't need to know this to appreciate the poem but after reading it I had to look up the characters involved. POV character is Lucrezia de' Medici, her terrible husband is Alfonso II d'Este, but as far as I can tell the new wife is someone who in irl history died in infancy: Isabella, daughter of Charles III of Savoy.

- and now I really want to know more about the history of the time period and the ways that this would have affected things and why the author made these choices for the story of the poem!

- anyway. I like the poem. it's good.

- 1k words in length



YOUTUBE VIDEO ESSAY
YOUTUBE VIDEO ESSAY


Ranking Every 2023 Historical Drama on Costume Accuracy, by Bernadette Banner

- bernadette banner on youtube has been in the habit for a few years of putting out a video rating the historical accuracy of costumes from tv/movies of the previous year, and each year the video gets longer and includes more guest experts for other cultures she's not as intimately familiar with, and this year's video for 2023 was SO much fun!

- I loved hearing about all these different time periods in different parts of the world from people who know what they're talking about, and seeing how very wrong (or right!) various media gets the details

- no subtitles

- video is 2 hr 20 min long



ZINE
ZINE


Fucking Trans Women, by Mira Bellwether

- I have never read a piece quite like this before and it's incredible

- the structure, the way she arranges the order in which she leads you through her thoughts!

- the many informative details, and the encouragement, and the desire for a conversation!

- and I love the way she talks about bodies, and celebrating the things about bodies that are soft and that require a delicate touch

- 80 pages long; word count hard to calculate
sophia_sol: photo of a 19th century ivory carving of a fat bird (Default)
[personal profile] lirazel expressed interest in a rec list of some of my favourite vids and I am very suggestible when it comes to rec lists so here you go! :D Unfortunately a few of the older vids that I remember fondly are no longer available online for me to share with you (the batman vid set to johnny cash's cover of hurt! the highlander vid about methos/lord byron! and more!), but there are still plenty of excellent vids up and about, and new ones worth watching keep being made!

Yes this rec list is 22 vids long, shush, I couldn't cut any of these out. I just got so emotional in the process of making this rec list at how wonderful an artform the fanvid is! It can do so many different things! It can be so powerful in such a brief space of time!

I've ordered the list below alphabetically by fandom. I go through a lot of different fandoms here!

And it was so fun too to work on practicing my skills at describing a vid and explaining what's good about it; I have many years of practice at talking about written narratives, but interpreting and talking about visual media is still a skillset that I'm not instinctively good at and don't have as much experience with. But I think I did pretty good with these vids. I hope you enjoy them!

cut for length )
sophia_sol: photo of a 19th century ivory carving of a fat bird (Default)
I was having a conversation with some folks on mastodon a little while ago about the practice of reading fics for fandoms you're not familiar with, and why it works for some people and not others. I understand both approaches, but I am firmly in the camp of being happy to read a fic whether I know the fandom or not, as long as it looks interesting to me!

The particular pleasures are different, but both ways are good: fic about fandoms you know is pleasurably wallowing in an ongoing conversation about something you love (...or love to hate), whereas fic for unfamiliar fandoms is having fun eavesdropping on someone else's conversation and working out a puzzle while enjoying a good story.

But some fics work better than others for reading without canon to contextualize them, and although I'm up for some challenges, you don't actually have to play this game on hard-mode. So I'm here to provide a rec list of fics I have enjoyed without canon knowledge that I think are more broadly successful for that purpose. I hope you find some to enjoy here too!

Arranged alphabetically by fandom.


The Improbable Future, by marycontraire

6k words, not rated

The fandom: crossover between Boy Meets World and Girl Meets World, which are presumably related to each other, though I don't even know what medium they are in.

The fic: A story about family, especially the relationship between a preteen girl and the surrogate father figure in her life. Extremely heartwarming!


Sentimental Reasons, by Frostfire

16k words, rated T

The fandom: Casablanca, one of those famous classic black and white movies, about war

The fic: focuses on the story of a character who is a minor character in the original movie, which allows you to follow the story easily without knowing the original. All Sam wants to do with his life is play music, but racism and war have a tendency to intervene. The story revolves around his relationship with another man, Richard. I love Sam, and I love his pov in this fic. It's an incredible read!


One More Time With Feeling (or, Charlie Brooker and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day), by marginaliana

50k words, rated E

The fandom: british comedians rpf, ft. comedians I've never heard of

The fic: Timeloop! The classic groundhog day experience! And this was a really impressively done timeloop fic. I was particularly impressed with how well the character arc for the protagonist went from totally-an-appalling-asshole to only-normal-level-sympathetic-asshole, and how it shows some of the ways that being in a timeloop can be really awful. And yet - happy ending! Impressive.


The Retirement of Gabriel Argent, by Sixthlight

5k words, rated T

The fandom: Daniel Blackland, which is, I believe, a book series?

The fic: is about two characters who are not Daniel Blackland. It's about finding a way to live a peaceful life that actually makes you happy, when you never thought such a thing would be possible. It's lovely!


go pick out a white dress, by novembersmith

1k words, rated G

The fandom: Deepwater Bride, by Tamsyn Muir, which I'm guessing is a short story.

The fic: a delightful uhhhh one-sided romance about an eldritch sea monster who is really into a human, much to the dismay of, well, everyone. But the eldritch being will not be disheartened! Such a charming voice.


Hesitation Waltz, by cranialaccessory

20k words, rated T

The fandom: From Eroica With Love, which I know literally nothing about

The fic: Two cold war era spies have to pretend to be married for a case. One of them is flamboyant and foppish, the other is grouchy and bad at acting. Together they learn things about teamwork and trust! (and that they're into each other.)


confirmation bias, by novembersmith

14k words, rated E

The fandom: Integrate, which I'm guessing is a book

The fic: This is the fic that instantly came to mind when I first thought of making this rec list. I love it. It's a totally adorable alien/human interspecies romance, from the pov of the alien, who of course finds the human the alien one. Every single thing in the fic is a delight.


Get Up, and Go Forth, by Frostfire

15k words, rated T

The fandom: the tv show Kings, which I once tried and failed to watch, but is loosely based on the biblical story of David and Jonathan

The fic: Hey, it works just fine as bible fanfic instead! (I'm afraid I don't know how it would read if you aren't familiar with the biblical story. My parents were rigorous about making sure I would be biblically literate.) The fic focuses on the Jonathan character, here called Jack, as he explores what it means to be on David's side instead of his father's. I have reread this fic so many times. It's just so well done!


A Divinely Attractive Arrangement, by Fahye

6k words, rated T

The fandom: the movie Love and Friendship. I've read the book Love and Freindship [sic] but the movie, despite the name, is not actually based on the book!

The fic: featuring the pov of the most amiably oblivious person in the absolutely entire world as he settles into his recent marriage. He's so genuinely happy about everything in his life! Even as it is obvious to the reader how much the other characters in the story are manipulating him. I love him very much.


This Episode Brought To You By, by ryfkah

6k words, rated T

The fandom: a kdrama, Mr. Queen. Going in I did in fact know a very slim amount about the actual canon, which I believe is a useful starting point for reading the fic: it's a show about a modern chef who transmigrates into Korean history, into the body of a queen; the queen, meanwhile, ends up in the future in the chef's body.

The fic: is about both the chef and the queen, as they explore their identity and their desires through the medium of food, and it is a complete delight.


Sweet In the Gale Is Heard, by Toft

11k words, rated T

The fandom: Pegasus, by Robin McKinley, a novel I've never read despite generally being a McKinley fan because I heard it ends on a cliffhanger and the sequel was never published.

The fic: A fixit for the cliffhanger! Interspecies romance between a human and a pegasus, and absolutely lovely.


Things Which Catch the Eye, by petrichoral

3k words, rated G

The fandom: The Pillow Book, by Sei Shonagon, which is a book I have heard of often over the years but have never actually read.

The fic: ships Sei Shonagon with another woman who presumably appears in the book as well, showing the arc of their relationship in short snatches that come together skilfully. Truly excellent.


you wait and you wonder who'll take on your odds, by paperclipbitch

138k words, rated E

The fandom: The Queen's Gambit, a tv show which I gather is about chess

The fic: An "exes to friends to spouses to lovers" marriage of convenience story. I love how well balanced this is between all the different aspects of things going on: the feelings between Beth and Benny, the working out how to make a life together (separate from the feelings), the chess, the simmering sexual attraction, the other people in Beth's life who are important to her, and Beth's understanding of herself. Really good!


Lebenswerk, by Serena

10k words, rated T

The fandom: Sunset Boulevard, a classic movie about movie-making

The fic: A director's relationship with his star actor, and the things he does and doesn't choose to prioritize over the years. It is interesting, and also rather uncomfortable in places, in ways that are entirely fitting to the story. I was really captivated by it!


Moab, by Parhelion

13k words, rated G

The fandom: an old-school sci-fi book series called The People, by Zenna Henderson

The fic: reads like a lovely, quiet, thoughtful, and kind original scifi story itself, about a human-looking space alien orphan stranded on earth with supernatural powers he has to hide, raised by a woman he calls Aunt, as he finds his place in the world of the early 20th century.


Transformers Works, by astolat

331k words, ratings ranging from T to E

The fandom: Transformers. A tv show (or multiple?) and toys and possibly other media as well? About robot war.

The fic: this is actually a link to all of astolat's fics about transformers. Pretty much every transformers fic Astolat has written is basically: given different base assumptions about how the universe works, how to end the war. And I love all of it, omg, both the different choices of worldbuilding in each fic and also the commitment to ending the war. Pick and choose between the fics for what you want to read!


Variations on a Theme from Turandot, by Ada Hoffman

7k words, not rated

The fandom: Turandot, which I'm guessing is an opera, or maybe a ballet?

The fic: A professionally published story which also happens to be fanfic. Does what it says on the tin! I'm not quite sure I followed the ending, but somehow it works like that even so. I found it so interesting.


A Good Bargain, by Neery

11k words, rated E

The fandom: Word of Honor, a wuxia-genre tv show that I have heard goes as hard on gay themes as it possibly could within the censorship rules it was produced under.

The fic: Does the thing where someone enters a marriage of convenience, but takes their marriage vows seriously and is now firmly working on the side of their spouse. And in this case the spouse knows this about them and planned it on purpose! DELIGHTFUL. I adore it.

Vid recs

Mar. 29th, 2020 12:24 pm
sophia_sol: photo of a 19th century ivory carving of a fat bird (Default)
One of the things I've been doing lately is rewatching older vids, so I thought I'd take the time to share some of the ones that have hit the spot recently.

(This is not intentionally a themed rec set, except that the kinds of vids that have hit the spot recently do....tend to fall in one of a few specific categories. As you might notice.)

1. Landsailor, by Raven
multifandom
"We're gonna need a bigger boat." I only know one of the fandoms that goes into this vid, but it does a clear job telling the story/stories such that you don't actually need to be familiar. It's so beautiful and optimistic about the things people do together to make things happen.

2. Soon Love Soon, by usuallyhats
Master and Commander
"To be a part is to be truly whole." I mean. That. And it does an amazing job of building the song and visuals together to create something really moving.

3.  Change You Like a Remix, by bessyboo
The Lego Movie and lego of all types and fandom as a whole
"No, I think it looked a little better on me." A fascinating vid that starts out looking like a vid about the Lego Movie, then moves into being about Lego media in general and then into, like, fandom. About creativity and creation and being inspired to do things.

4. Work This Body, by cherryice
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
"Maybe the real Jumanji was the friends we made along the way." IDEK I just am endlessly charmed by this vid, which I watched well before I ever saw the movie. It's fun and upbeat and great, and I watched it an unconscionable number of times even before I ever saw the movie.

5. Do You Dance?, by AurumCalendula
Pride & Prejudice
"Do you dance, Mr. Darcy?" Rare for me in that it's a lyric-less vid that I nonetheless really enjoy.I love the mirroring of their movements in the dance to the movements of their relationship throughout the movie, as the two are interwoven.

6. All In Together, by odessie
The Great British Bake Off
"Celebrate your oddities, your art, your own insanity." This vid was delightful when I first watched it, before I'd ever seen GBBO, and now that I've obsessively watched many seasons' worth it's even more delightful. The vid manages to capture in just a few minutes so much of what's lovely about the show.

7. Parachute, by thingswithwings
Leverage
"I don't need a parachute, baby, if I've got you." I love this ot3 a lot (Hardison/Parker/Elliot) and this vid is wonderfully them. So lovely. I love how much of the focus of the vid is on them being there for each other and supporting each other.

8. C'mon, by rhoboat
Inside Out
"What would my head be like?" Many feelings. Very yes.

9. Even If It Hurts, by pollyrepeat
Star Wars sequel trilogy
"It's darkest before the dawn." Focuses on Poe, Paige, Rose, Finn, Rey, and Leia, facing the hard things as they do what needs to be done.

10. Show Me your Teeth, by Dogstar
Hieronymous Bosch
"Tell me something that'll save me." Look, it's a vid about the weirdness of Hieronymous Bosch's art. It's weird and amazing.
sophia_sol: photo of a 19th century ivory carving of a fat bird (Default)
When I posted Scenarios I mentioned maybe doing a set of PUBLIC TRANSIT fic recs. Here it is! Because it is a glorious trope, and all of the following are glorious examples of the trope at its best. (okay, so some of them don't fit the standard trope pattern EXACTLY, but they still involve public transit so WHATEVER I'm including them anyways BECAUSE I CAN)

(I'm not including airplanes in forms of public transit for the purpose of this recs-set because it's not something I thought to tag as being this, but upon reflection it kind of is. Please forgive this lapse on my part.)

11 recs for SGA, CW RPF, Doctor Who, Inception, BtVS, AI RPF, and bandom )

IN SPACE

Oct. 16th, 2011 08:53 pm
sophia_sol: photo of a 19th century ivory carving of a fat bird (Default)
A recs-set of space AUs! Because they're ridiculously awesome. And to make it a challenge for myself, I'm doing it only of fics that aren't actually set on spaceships. Just because I can!

The extremely AU nature of these means that most of the following fics are quite welcoming for people who are unfamiliar with the fandoms. In fact, I'd say that all but the last one are.

(and, er, I'm terribly sorry, but a disproportionate number of these are bandom, because I didn't do a very good job of tagging for space back in my pre-bandom days...)

Bring me that horizon, by [livejournal.com profile] cupiscent. Bandom; Pete/William. This is the fic that inspired me to do this post, because it's just so fantastically imaginative in its SF setting. I love it dearly and would happily read a novel set in this universe! In which William is the translator assigned to the new owners of a planet.

Robots Need Love Too, by [personal profile] toft. Mythbusters RPF; Jamie, Adam. A space AU recs-set would be incomplete without this fic, because it is super amazing in all the ways. In which Jamie and Adam are neuro-atypical elementary school kids in space, and everything is heartwarming forever.

Concatenation, the Birth of Babel, and Other Acoustic Rebellions, by [archiveofourown.org profile] swanswan. Bandom; Pete/Patrick, Andy, Joe. Oh my god, ALL THE FEELINGS. Remember my post a few days ago about how much music means to me? Yeah. THIS FIC. Feelings about the importance of music are WHAT THIS IS ABOUT. In which Fall Out Boy comes together in an act of musical rebellion against the way that music has been regimented and controlled and stifled.

The Light from Our Bodies Precedes Us, by [livejournal.com profile] mxtape and [livejournal.com profile] fleurdeliser. Bandom; Gerard/Frank. Okay, this is a space AU in a slightly different way, in that it's historical fic about NASA. What, THAT STILL TOTALLY COUNTS. And it is excellent. In which there are nerdy scientisty types! Yays!

With The Stars In His Eye, by [personal profile] ptahrrific. Fake News; Jon/"Stephen". Just a short fic, but totally adorable! In which "Stephen" scores the last ever tourist trip to the International Space Station.
sophia_sol: photo of a 19th century ivory carving of a fat bird (Default)
I have a thing about William Carlos Williams. That is to say, I have an issue with him and his poems. So much so that I, um, have one of them memorized. In my defense it's really short and I didn't mean to? *headdesk*

So yeah.

"So much depends upon the red wheelbarrow glazed with rainwater beside the white chickens." Whatever, William Squared.

As a result I have been working on a collection of fannish poetry that has been written as a pastiche of or reaction to him, usually of the one about the plums. They are AWESOME. And here they are, as recs. If you know of any others, PLEASE do share! They make me strangely joyful, despite my antipathy towards William Carlos Williams himself.


This Is Just To Say, by [personal profile] toft. A Mythbusters version!
(ETA: And in the comments of the LJ version of Toft's, as a sort of sequel, a Mythbusters version of the wheelbarrow poem too, by [livejournal.com profile] shimere277!)

FORGIVE ME, WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS, by [livejournal.com profile] asimaiyat. A series of White Collar versions, that together form a fic!

An experiment in translation, by [livejournal.com profile] skalja. A lolcat translation!

With All Apologies To William Carlos Williams, by [archiveofourown.org profile] lannamichaels. A fandom version! Of both the plum poem and the wheelbarrow poem!

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