astridv

metafic rec (Yuletide Madness again): I have, in the past, waxed poetic about my epic hatred dislike of non-canonical freeform tags. But now someone took those useless things and turned them into a shiny poem. Yes, there is now a poem made up entirely of tags.

Title: Somebody had to write this (so why not me?) by Anonymous
Summary: This is a stupid fanfiction and I shouldn't have written it. I have no shame. Don't like, don't read.

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Okay, I clicked on one of the tags out of idle curiosity... they work. /o\

Mergers
omg! i can't believe i wrote this has been merged into Oh My God for filtering. Works and bookmarks tagged with omg! i can't believe i wrote this will show up in Oh My God's filter.

Avengers:
Amateur Theatrics by galaxysoup
Gen; PG-13; team & Loki; 26586 words
Summary: In which Thor’s primary problem-solving method (a mighty blow from Mjolnir) fails to have the desired effect on a magical artifact, and his secondary method (a mightier blow from Mjolnir) proves to be actively disastrous.

Bodyswap hijinks with fun team interaction and a cool plot. The ending veered a teensy bit close to Loki apologism for my taste but still, I thoroughly enjoyed this story, including kid!Loki.


Leverage:
with your progress stretched out for miles by abvj
Sophie/Nate; genre: backstory/character study/romance; PG-13; 30,353 words
Summary: Sophie Devereaux from age eleven onward. Some years were better to her than others. (Or, alternatively: my love letter to Sophie Devereaux.)

A beautiful character study that does these messed-up characters and their far-from-fairytale relationship justice.


MI4: Ghost Protocol
The Runner by x_art
Brandt/Ethan, Benji, Jane; Rating ~R; 15681 words

“As I was saying, I was just joking.”
Ethan gave him a long, searching look. “And I’m not. This is the mission, should you—”
He waved away the words. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He knew his big mouth would get him into trouble sooner or later, but sooner seemed a hell of a lot, well, sooner.

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Anybody got recs for humor team fic? I don't read Natasha or Clint paired with other characters or Loki/anyone - other than that I'm a happy multishipper, and Gen's of course great too. Also looking for Fury and Hill. (I can't wait till AO3 becomes tag-searchable.)

Two time loop fics:
A Year of Wednesdays by tuesday (The A-Team)
Murdock/B.A. and team; Rating: mature; Genre: time loop; 5517 words
Summary: Murdock has super powers! Or he is stuck in a time loop. Maybe both!

Face smiled in that not-really-reassuring way he had and said, "Things'll look better in the morning." It wasn't anything he hadn't said forty times before, wasn't any more or less patronizing than a hundred other ways he'd tried to sympathize with the bad days and utterly failed.
Murdock punched him right in the jaw.

The Shortest Week by shinysylver (Avengers movieverse)
Gen; characters: Tony, Steve, Thor, Fury; time loop; 15375 words
Summary: It doesn’t take Tony long to realize that he’s stuck in a time loop, doomed to relive the same crappy day over and over again. Every day he wakes up hung over—whether or not he drinks—has to deal with giant robots and, even worse, a pissed off Captain America. Tony has to figure out how to stop the cycle before he goes crazy and in the process maybe he and Steve can come to an understanding.

Leveraging the Odds by LadyArin (Leverage/Hunger Games)
8108 words; Gen; characters: Nate, Sophie, Eliot, Hardison, Parker

I was sceptical (though naturally intrigued) when I read the premise - the Leverage characters transplanted into the Hunger Games world - but I really like the result. Interesting crossover which makes good use of the specific character traits.

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During the last two days I got no work done. Zero. But I went outdoor bouldering yesterday and then I met an English native speaker at a friend's place; it was fun to chat in English again. So I consider that day seized, if not exactly productive. And today... well, I just now mastered the art of frying eggplant slices. Yes: I've achieved that elusive stage between raw and burnt. They were tasty.
But not much to show for my day. It's 11pm... still time to get started on the next page, I guess.
At least I finished another page of sketches on Thursday, and more importantly I'm finally getting a feeling for the book. So I'm making slow but steady progress.
[eta: 23:44 now... yeah, not looking good on the productivity front]

Still I Rise by Mizzy (Hunger Games)
AU; 20,042 words; mostly Gen with a hint of K/P; Characters: Katniss, Haymitch, Peeta, Prim, Finnick, Johanna
Summary: Katniss didn't use the proper protocol for volunteering to take Prim's place.Her plea was denied.
So Katniss has no choice. No one has ever broken out of the Hunger Games arena before ...but maybe Katniss can be the first to break in.

Very compelling, fast-moving AU!

To the Victor, The Spoil by Annakovsky (The Hunger Games)
Katniss/Haymitch; NC-17; characters: Katniss, Haymitch, Finnick, Cinna; 13,360 words
Hightlight to read warnings; spoilers for books 2/3: Prostitution, possibly underage sex (Katniss is 17)
Summary (spoilers for the end of book 1): No berries, no mockingjay, no rebellion. Katniss killed Peeta in the arena, and now she has to live with herself like every other victor.

Not a happy fic... it's relentlessley honest and bleak (even bleaker than the books, I thought) and after reading it I needed a lighthearted story as an antidote. But it was incredibly captivating, really well written.

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Been checking compulsively to see if one of the Leverage WIPs I'm following has updated. I'm really in the mood for a new teamy casefic. *twitches* Think I'll reread an old teamy casefic for the cravings. ;)

I forgot who on my circle it was that recced the Hunger Games trilogy the other days but, thank you. :) I stayed up till half past five last night and finished book one. It's probably a good thing that book two is still in the mail because I'd like to get some actual drawing done today...

(I'm 100% unspoiled beyond book one so please no one tell me anything!)

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Oh, and here's the Leverage/Hunger Games fusion that finally prompted me to order the book. The fic gives just enough of an idea of the world of THG to pique ones curiosity without spoiling the plot of the books.

superpower by Birdhouse
558 words; characters: Nathan Ford; Genre: AU
Summary: At first they think he's no threat at all...

"Incredibly, chance does seem to bend itself to his bizarre mechinations..."
"That's his superpower."

Inner Beauty, My Arse by anguis_1 (Harry Potter)
Dudley/Luna; PG-13; 5,039 words
Summary: Missing the year prior to sitting one’s A-levels would have been quite difficult for a student of average ability, but for a student of Dudley’s calibre, it was downright disastrous.

Written for dudley_redeemed, the story does a convincing job of doing just that - not through a magic instant fix-it, but by showing the changes he goes through over time. I stumbled across this fic by coincidence and really enjoyed it.

Attention, Shoppers by amand_r (Highlander)
Characters: Methos, Amanda, Duncan. Joe, OCs; Mostly Gen with a touch of M/A/D; 10,765 words; Humor
Summary: Rollback in aisle three: gemstones, cheap liquor and pickaxes.

The story of how three immortals end up working at Walmart in order to case the joint. Methos' narrative voice alone is worth the price of admission here.

yuletide rec: A Stingray fic! Not the puppet series, the 80s show about the mysterious ninja vigilante who helps people in exchange for a future favor which he uses to help other people. I'd forgotten how much I was into that show. And there seems to be virtually no fic so this story was even more of a surprise treat.

For Barter Only by AnDelenDir (Stingray)
Gen-ish; characters: Daphne Delgado, Ray; 1188 words
Summary: Daphne Delgado is a judge now, but when she is asked about a stranger who noted down her name for barter she is intrigued.