forever we try

I got a very fun and bittersweet Treasure Planet fic featuring not-quite-post-canon Jim & Silver meeting up one last time and now feel very spoiled, not just because Treasure Planet is the near-and-dear movie of my heart (and the request I was secretly most excited about) but because after having to default I wasn't expecting a gift. 

Learn What's Never Shown: Jim Hawkins stumbles across an old friend while on a mission from the Intersteller Academy. 

Other great fics that jumped out during my first pass through the collection:

The Colors of Lorbanery (Earthsea): The woman who had once been Akaren stayed inside her house for several days, changing.

A wonderful, compassionate look at one of my favorite characters from The Farthest Shore. 

And stormy grew the sea (Sir Patrick Spens): They say that the King of Scotland will never touch wine.

A ghost story with gorgeous, folktale-style prose. 

Inauspicious Auguries (The Fantod Pack): Fragments of a life refracted.

Not a ghost story, but still creepy; this fic is based around Edward Gorey's Fantod Pack, an eerie and nonsensical deck of tarot cards. It's eerie and nonsensical, and also a total treat.

Flora's Adventures in Ghostland (The Turn of the Screw): An excerpt from the beloved children's novel. 

Henry James meets Alice in Wonderland. 

Finished Black Sails! ...And the fourth season (especially the season/series finale) was so good I can't think of much else to say; it was incredibly well-plotted and ridiculously satisfying and if you love pirates or Treasure Island or gritty, playing-fast-and-loose-with-the-facts period pieces or complicated, not-necessarily-heroic characters who grow and change over time or lots of canonically queer characters or unexpectedly hopeful endings or any of those things in any combination, just watch it. Do not pass go, watch it and then come back here and we can talk about how amazing it is.

I actually wanted to do a from-episode-one rewatch as soon as I finished the last episode, and luckily for me my sister also wanted to start watching it, so we're working through about an episode a night (she works and I'm heading back into classes next week). It's interesting, having just blown through season 4, to go back to season 1 and see how different everyone is starting out: Eleanor's more or less secure in her role as the head fence/pirate queen of Nassau, secure enough to be a little cocky about it; Max sure isn't guileless but she comes across as much more innocent. Silver is a little shit (enjoyably so, but still); Jack is either going through a rough patch or nowhere near as competent as he thinks he is (yet); Vane is also nowhere near as competent as he thinks he is; Anne is exactly as competent as she thinks she is but saddled with Jack and Vane (and also about to be thrown into a major tailspin re: Max). Season 1 is also a good bit funnier than, I think, any of the other seasons--there's that absolutely hilarious part during negotiations in the third episode when Gates has to keep pulling Flint outside to remind him to at least try to be diplomatic. Come to think of it, a lot of the humor in the first season is thanks to Gates. He's a wonderful character, and knowing how the season ends I'm appreciating him a lot more this time around. 

You get the sense in the first season that everyone is just starting to get a feel for these people and how they interact with each other and what their core characteristics are. Sure, the main pieces are already in place, but the tone is a little more unsettled and a little more fluid...is it a funny, swashbuckling adventure story (sort of a TV-MA Pirates of the Caribbean minus all the magic) with some darker undertones or are the darker undertones the whole point? I mean, obviously there are plenty of dark and tragic and horrible things going on from the beginning, and though the later seasons get darker none of them are hopeless or humorless, but the first season, and, say, the first three episodes of the first season especially (right up until the last couple scenes of episode 3) feel lighter by comparison in a way I obviously didn't catch on to when I first watched them.

Oh, and of course now I have an ungodly amount of Black Sails fics saved to my "Marked For Later" list on AO3; I've been working my way through and might try to have a rec post up at some point. So far this one is a great exploration of the Jack & Anne & Vane relationship pre-canon, and this one focuses on Abigail Ashe (one of my favorite minor characters) finding her way forward after season 2. 

Things have been busy and I'm coming home most days feeling like all the energy to read/write/comment/do anything but sleep or mess around on my phone has been sucked right out of me, but Monday I went swimming for the first time this summer and that honestly made up for a lot. I don't remember swimming AT ALL last summer, when I was pretty much just as busy, which is insane and awful because if there's one thing all this heat is good for, it's swimming.

Otherwise, I've been trying to get writing and reading done in random spurts; I did just finish one non-War and Peace book (Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) and started on another (An Untamed State by Roxane Gay). I can usually read during the breaks we get in my summer class and while I'm waiting in the hall for the class to start, but once I get home I've either got something else to do or I'm down for the count. I haven't been watching anything lately--I still need to finish Westworld. 

Anyway! Reveals happened for hurtcomfortex  and I got the most amazing fic ever, written by one of the most amazing friends ever:

A Road that Bends by acequeenking  (Hadestown): This fic was, essentially, me and my id getting repeatedly gut-punched and enjoying every minute of it. There's Hades and Persephone falling in love and out of love and back in love again, there's references to Greek mythology and Americana, there's angry sex and bittersweet-but-mostly-sweet reconciliation sex, there's Hermes being awesome and Demeter being wry and equally awesome, there's bitter old marrieds who do love each other but also deeply dislike each other and know exactly where to twist the knife, there's a genuine effort to make their relationship work, there's hope and an absolutely perfect ending...and there's over 20k words of it all. 20k. I feel ridiculously happy and blessed to have gotten this; it really is the gift fic of my dreams.

Unfortunately, I ended up having to default on my assignments, because business and poor planning and...okay, actually, business and poor planning were pretty much the extent of it. No more exchanges for me, at least for a while--for whatever reason I haven't been able to hack them lately, and if I can't I'd rather not sign up and maybe treat if I'm feeling up to it than leave someone hanging so close to the deadline.

...it's sometimes hard to believe that this show exists?? It's just such an over-the-top, more-is-more, capital-G-Gothic confection, and sure, it gets ridiculous in places, and the finale had its problems (there were parts I wasn't completely satisfied with, but no parts I was completely unsatisfied with, if that makes any sense), but when everything gels together and works...boy, does it work. I've watched shows with a really strong aesthetic and atmosphere that left me cold when it came to the characters, so for a long time I stalled out on the first two episodes or so of s1 figuring I'd have the same problem. The found-family dynamics that I love to bits did take a little while to get off the ground, but by the s1 finale I was hooked and s2 ended up being my personal high point for the show (specifically episode 3 of s2, because nothing will top the devastation of its last couple of scenes for me--NOTHING). If I had to pick a least favorite season, I'd have to go with s3, solely because it's the last one and I had to watch every episode knowing I was getting closer and closer to the absolute end. It's still a really lovely story, though, and brought everything to a (for me, anyway) mostly-satisfying close.

Then, of course, I went looking for fic. ( Spoilers? ) All of these stories focus on what became my favorite part of Penny Dreadful: the fact that, yes, so many of these characters have made less-than-perfect choices and become deeply screwed-up because of them, but they love each other, and rely on each other, and look out for each other because...well, if not them, then who else? And of course half the time they won't or can't admit how much they really do care for each other, but that's all part of the angsty, over-dramatic goodness that is this show. Gosh, I'm going to miss it.

(Since there'll be more as I work my way through the collection.)

Gifts for me!

Signal to Noise by incognitajones (Star Wars Sequel Trilogy): Rose and Kylo (plus hints of Force ghost!Luke) and all the funny, snarky, unexpectedly soft moments between them. I was really hoping for someone to fill this prompt, since Rose & Kylo is the friendship crack pairing of my dreams; this one met and exceeded my hopes in the best way. 

Minor Counterintelligence Operations by igrockspock (Star Wars Sequel Trilogy): A somewhat angsty but mostly sweet and funny Solo family fic. Ben is adorably precocious and observant, and Han and Leia are doing their best in their own very different ways. Han & Ben was my requested pairing for this one, so it was a wonderful surprise to get a fic that was also heavy on Ben & Leia feels. 

Gifts for other people!

Relax and Fly Casual by igrockspock (Star Wars Sequel Trilogy): Han smuggles spice (and other more legitimate items on the sly), dragging Ben along as his reluctant accomplice. Another sad-yet-funny fic with a perfect sucker punch of an ending.  

Your Tender Charm by ambiguously (Star Wars Sequel Trilogy): I love Reylo fics that capture their dynamic while lightening up on the angst a bit, and this one fit the bill perfectly! It's also another one with a truly beautiful ending.  

Situation: CAPTIVE by Selden (Star Wars Sequel Trilogy): A romance for the ages. I can't think of many fics I've read that are truly, laugh-out-loud hilarious, but this one is, along with being sweet and creative and capturing both characters wonderfully--not the easiest thing to do when you're writing about droids!

hver gæti mér orð þessi láð? by kimaracretak (Star Wars Sequel Trilogy): Two of my favorite taken-from-us-too-soon characters not only survive, but form a beautiful and mutually healing friendship! I love that this story is fairly light on angst but still carries a lot of emotional weight. Paige and Amilyn are both idealistic yet practical, and deeply compassionate--it's really no wonder that, if they'd had the time, they'd have ended up friends sooner or later.  

A few days ago sunlit_stone and I got to talking about Reylo and I promised some recs, then went to write them down and ended up with a fairly long and (most likely) annoyingly gushy list. They're tons more amazing stories out there, but I narrowed it down to my personal five essentials; I hope you find a story or two to enjoy here. :)
( Recs! )

Okay! I do have more but I figured starting with the gold standards would be less overwhelming (plus, I'm lazy).

I'm still finishing up the last of the edits on the big bang fic, so here are some quick and dirty fic recs:

Five Times by Davechicken: (GOTG) This one's been bookmarked on my AO3 profile for a while now. I can't believe I haven't mentioned it here before, because it has some of the best Peter-and-Yondu-related angst I've ever read. Period. It's also under 1,000 words, so if you're looking for a quick but heartwarming/heartbreaking read, I can't recommend it enough. 

Experiential Learning by significantowl: (Daredevil) Father Lantom somehow convinces Matt to volunteer as the arts-and-crafts teacher for Vacation Bible School. Honestly, isn't that all the recommendation you need?

In Search of Old Dreams by anaraine: (Labyrinth) Another short-but-sweet story focusing on Toby and his longing for a place and a person he barely remembers. This fic captures the magic and darkness of the movie so well. Plus, the writing's gorgeous. 
 
Tune My Heart to Sing Thy Grace by dynamicsymmetry: (The Walking Dead) A short, heartmeltingly adorable meeting between Daryl and Beth. This one's set around season 4, when everyone at the prison is trying to scrape together some sort of Christmas celebration and actually succeeding. Beth and Daryl have wonderful chemistry, and it's so refreshing to read a fic in this fandom where everybody's happy for once. 

Might or might not turn this into a monthly thing. I've read SO MUCH good stuff recently and figured it was time to share. It's mostly gen this time around. Also mostly Marvel. 

Tough Girl is What I Had to Be by angel_deux: (Daredevil) Set some time after season 2. I'm a sucker for Lisa Castle Lives AUs, and this is one of my absolute favorites. Lots of emotion and heartwarming father-daughter scenes. Plus, it ships Frank and Karen. What more could you want?

Kings Among Runaways by Viva Rocksteady: (Jessica Jones, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) The Jessica Jones/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt crossover you never knew you needed. Jessica is hard-edged and cynical, Kimmy is as adorable as they come, and their friendship comes off as surprisingly believable.

it's the skin and bones that keep me on the road by impossibleamypond: (Star Wars) A missing scene between Rey and Han. Incredibly well-written and bittersweet.

our lives umbilical by duchamp: (Logan) Set after the movie, and most definitely not an Everybody Lives AU. Laura moves on, but she never quite gets over Logan and what they could have had. Beautifully written. Also very, very sad.