Arctic Light

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Over the last month or so, I've racked up a collection of things to rec and keep not posting them, so since I'm not sleepy yet and it's still almost Thursday, I'll collect a few of those here. Also, so it doesn't get buried since I've posted a bunch of stuff lately, don't miss my Yuletide reveals post and also end-of-year fics. I post nothing for ages and then drop a bunch of fic on people, it's how I roll ...


Recs - The Expanse

Six vids! The first two, I'm fairly sure, have seasons 1-2 footage only, and the top one is not really spoilery at all. The rest are spoilery as hell for seasons 3-4.

( 6 Expanse vids )


Recs - Torchwood

10 recent fics! All are season 1-2 era team, i.e. the Owen & Tosh-enabled team.

( 10 Torchwood fics )

Part One is here.

Expect several more of these posts; I've been reading a lot of Torchwood and bookmarking a bunch of it to rec, but never actually writing up any recs posts. So here's a smattering of not especially themed recs. Pretty much everything is season 1 & 2.

Torchwood fic

Snowdon by rivier
In the aftermath of season one's finale, Ianto tries to walk away, and Owen goes after him. Really lovely, detail-rich relationship-building; the fic is tagged Ianto/Owen but it's really more gen friendship with a lightly flirty vibe. I didn't realize 'til reading the author's notes that this was actually written just after season one, because the author does a fantastic job of anticipating the softer, more caring Owen from season two.

Does Africa Know A Song Of Me? by etmuse
Epistolary fic told in the form of letters exchanged between the team while Jack and Ianto are on location investigating alien shenanigans in Namibia. Set around mid-season-two but very slightly AU. Really fun banter and character interactions, with snark and friendship and a touch of h/c. Also, Martha. <3

Dancing in the Midnight Garden by Fionn_Sgeul
This is a really unusual and well-written AU of the first episode of season one, in which Gwen is actually an immortal being pretending to be human. I'm generally not fond of season rewrites that retread the plot of canon, so I loved this because it's not that; it's much more like an original episode than a do-over of 1x01, with a completely different plot, and Gwen is also a very different character, recognizably Gwen-like but also believably enigmatic and inhuman. It's full of clever and fun details, and different-from-canon interactions between the team and Gwen. This is the start of a series, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

Aftermath and In Between Days by Squash
These are two really lovely Owen-Ianto friendship fics, the first a series of emotionally hurt/comforty aftermath scenes from episodes from Cyberwoman through the end of season two; the second is a series of snippets after Owen's death. Both involve his canonical perma-death, so they're somewhat heartrending, but full of lovely relationship-building details as the two of them slowly evolve from prickly co-workers to close friends.

In general, I recommend checking out the rest of Squash's Torchwood fic if you like Owen-centric fic, and Owen & Ianto friendship; they really like writing both of these things. There is a caveat, however, which is that this author also doesn't shy away from dark and depressing subject matter, and some of it (though not, imho, the above-recced stories) is bleak.

Other fic of theirs I particularly liked: Hang On To The Thought Of Me (Ianto tells Maggie - the suicidal woman from "A Day in the Death" - about Owen's death post-2x13) and So We Wonder What Peace Of Mind Could Be Like (Owen & Ianto huddling for warmth). Their longest fic, In Losing What I Am, I Become Who We Are is plotty horror, very well written, with good team moments and probably THE MOST depressing ending I have ever read in any fanfic ever; "rocks fall, everyone dies" would have been positively cheery compared to what actually happens.

Beggars would ride and Mistaken for Home by Amand_r
Two gently sweet, well written, and ultimately heartbreaking team fics taking place from early season one to after the character deaths in season two, the first about a "birthday machine" that celebrates the team members' birthdays (and gets increasingly wrenching over time) and the second about an afghan that Gwen brings into the Hub when she's first hired.

I also generally recommend looking through the rest of Amand_r's Torchwood fic, though it is highly diverse in subject matter (they write a bunch of pairings and kinks), but there is a lot of it featuring a wide variety of different characters.

Vids, general

Human or Dancer by LilMissLola (Torchwood, Owen character study; link goes to Youtube)
This is from 2009 and the quality isn't that great, but it so completely hits the notes that I want from a vid study of Owen's post-undeath afterlife. I particularly love the way that his relationships with his teammates are showcased in this.

Burn Burn Burn by BeatriceEagle (A:TLA, Zuko character study; AO3 link)
A lovely Zuko character study to a really beautiful female-vocalist cover of the Johnny Cash song "Ring of Fire."

We Didn't Start the Fire by beccatoria (A:TLA & Legend of Korra, DW link)
A fun, fast-paced vid with clips from both shows.

Today I ran across this unexpectedly hard hit to the nostalgia feels: a Person of Interest vid set to Bon Jovi's "It's My Life."

I think it hit me in the way that it did because this was one of those songs that was used for approx. 50 million action-feelsy anime vids in the early 2000s, including a couple I really liked, combined with a show that I watched the first couple seasons of (and really liked at the time) but haven't thought about much at all since probably around the time this vid was made (2014). So the one-two punch of a nostalgia song plus a nostalgia show that I haven't thought about too much ... it was just - fun. I really enjoyed it.

I also appreciate how a decade and a half of non-exposure has made this song go from "That again?!" to "Awwww! Nostalgia!" I kinda want to make a vid of my own to it now, honestly.

(You know how many times I started to type an apology or disclaimer for my own musical taste into this post and stopped myself? Too many times. Yes, I like this song; I'd had a bit too much of it circa 2002 or so, but I like it, and I really like vids set to bouncy pop songs - they're one of my favorite kinds. Don't let anybody tell you that your music is wrong or that you can't like the things you like.)

I am just poking my head up from massive, massive book edits. Even proofreading a 130K book takes forever. WHY DID I DO THIS TO MYSELF. It should be out early next week, though.

So, a catchup post on various recent TV-related stuff.

First of all, a vid rec: Fringe - Walter - 1985 by jmtorres. I never, ever would've thought of using 1985 for Walter, but it's such a hilarious and perfect song choice for him. Now I have Fringe feels.

This week's Flash: was certainly an episode of TV that happened. ( Spoilers )

This week's Agents of SHIELD: continues to be my favorite thing on TV right now, and I STILL can't believe I'm saying that about THIS SHOW. ( Spoilers )

This week's Supergirl: made me have conflicted thoughts about my least favorite character(s). ( Spoilers )

After a week of being largely in a creative dry spell, my urge to write/draw/etc finally hit today ... right before I leave for a week+ of visiting with family, which means there's no time to finish ANYTHING and also I still have to pack. Thanks a lot, brain.

Still, I wrote a bunch today, both original and fanfic. The fanfic was White Collar, some of you may be surprised/pleased to know. I still find it fascinating how quickly and easily I can write those characters; I sit down at the keyboard and bam, 3000 words falls out of my head. I've only ever been able to do that with SGA. I love writing for the MCU, but progress is slow and hard, even though it really shouldn't be. (They are superheroes! Canon itself is ridiculous! Why am I holding myself to a higher standard than the actual comics writers?) And yet.

Now I have that pleasant mentally-wiped-out feeling from a good writing session and I want to be chatty online, except I shouldn't start conversations when tomorrow morning is probably the last time I'll be online for over a week. So I figured I'd collect a few more MCU-verse recs and post them. Assume spoilers for "Winter Soldier" in EVERYTHING.

( Music videos )

( Tumblr ficlet dump )

( And finally, a fic rec )

All the vids from vividcon are popping up all over the place! :D I haven't really been watching vids much lately -- I don't know, my head is just not in a vidspace -- but I have to rec this one that I can't stop watching; I swear I've watched it a dozen times since I downloaded it two days ago:

Some Nights by flummery (Person of Interest; ensemble; spoilers for all of seasons 1-2)

IT'S SO GOOD. It's a really interesting, atypically paced song, with fast and slow parts, and the vidder does an amazing job of picking clips to fit the different pacing and moods of the different parts of the song, with clips that are thematically related to the song but not 100% literal. And I think it's the first PoI vid I've seen that's truly ensemble-based, rather than focused on Reese and Finch -- not that there's anything wrong with that, but this one gives Fusco and Carter an equal share of the spotlight, with the emphasis on the characters interacting as a group rather than on the Reese/Finch relationship specifically. If you don't mind spoilers (and there ARE some major spoilers), I'd even recommend it if you haven't seen the show, because it's very nicely done and doesn't rely too intimately on canon knowledge to get most of it.

... basically it's an awesome vid that has almost no comments and deserves more love. :D

Fandom Appreciation Challenge, Day 2: Send or leave feedback on three fanworks that are more than six months old.

I decided this would be a PERFECT time to leave feedback on some vids! ... or at least that was the plan, although perhaps I'm less of a suckmonger at leaving vid feedback than I always thought, because now that I'm actively TRYING to find a favorite vid I haven't left feedback for ... I really had some trouble! (Also, digging through people's old tags and trying to find the posts for vids I downloaded years ago is really making me aware, once again, of how HARD it can be to find fanworks that are older than a couple of months! /o\ Some people use different names on LJ than they put on their vids. Some people don't have their vids tagged at all. Sometimes I would hunt all over someone's DW and then realize that the entry I was looking for was only on LJ! Aaaiiieeee. Not to mention that I kept getting sucked into, uh, watching vids. XD)

These are vids I feedbacked, which are also well worth a rec:

Affirmation by butterfly (New Doctor Who/Torchwood) Just a really lovely tribute to the universe and characters.

Footloose by china_shop (White Collar) Fun! Bouncy! Season one!

Rather than linking to a specific vid here, I'm linking to the whole site, since I ended up sending an email and leaving feedback on the whole site anyway: MaidaVids. I'd gone looking to leave feedback on a specific vid (it was the Due South "The River" vid from this page, then discovered that I'd actually downloaded a number of her vids over the years without realizing that they were from the same person. She has a TON of vids in many different fandoms -- especially if you're into "classic" fandoms from more than 10 years ago, her website is a great resource!

And for a bonus, although it doesn't count for challenge purposes because it isn't over 6 months old, I also took the opportunity to go leave fb on this one too:

Don't Stop, Just Dance by such_heights (Community, clips through the first half of season 3) So much fun!

michelel72 has three SGA tie-in novels looking for a new home (Death Game, Homecoming, The Lost); the linked post also includes links to her reviews of the books. (The books are free; a donation to an animal rescue charity would be appreciated but is not required.) ETA: Taken!

rachelmanija has a rather awesome ... well, I'm not sure whether to call it fanfic or classify it otherwise, but it's basically the diagnosis notes of Miles Vorkosigan's therapist, and if you are familiar with Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan books, it's a lot of fun, and sounds pretty much spot-on to me. *g* (I don't think you could pay me enough to be the Vorkosigans' therapist ...)

As a sci-fi fan, I'm pretty sure this is the best billboard ever. (What makes it awesome is that it's serious.)

Vid rec: these are the days (of miracle and wonder) by kaydeefalls (also on DW) - (X-Men, all movies) This vid made me SO HAPPY. Very well edited and just full of happy, bouncy nostalgic squee; it takes me right back to the delight of watching the first X-Men movie and seeing these characters that I'd loved since childhood come to life in a superhero movie that was actually good! I still haven't seen the most recent couple of movies, but enjoyed it anyway and didn't feel like I was missing anything.

ETA: kriadydragon, this rec's for you! Well, for any other interested parties as well, of course, but I think you'd particularly enjoy it, if you haven't already read it: Monsieur Vol du Furet - White Collar, absolutely adorable short-yet-plotty fic in which Neal + ferret = awesome.

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Streets of Gold by noiproksa (gen, ensemble, action)

noiproksa made a White Collar vid for me in the Fall Fandom Free-For-All, and it is wonderful! I asked for a fast-paced, cheerful ensemble vid, and this is PERFECT: great song choice and excellent editing and a whole slew of fun clips of the characters being their irrepressible, adorable selves. It made me smile so much, and now I need to go rewatch it A BUNCH, because it is made of happy. ♥

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HI INTERNET. I'm feeling chatty, I think, courtesy of way too much tea, and none of my writing projects offering me much inspiration at the moment ...

Posting stories to sga_genficathon by myself this year has not been a problem at all. I was reluctant to try it because the first year was such a nightmare (... some of you probably remember me sobbing on your virtual shoulder), and ever since then I've always tried to have at least one co-mod to help me, but this year has been a total breeze, even having added a whole new component to the fest (the artwork).

Partly it's because leesa_perrie, wonderful person that she is, stepped up to do the part I really didn't want to do ... matching artists and authors. But otherwise, I think it's just because a) I know what I'm doing now (seriously, posting stories is SUCH A BREEZE compared to how it used to be), and b) I've lightened up a LOT about chasing down defaulting writers and whatnot. The first year, I tried to cover every single defaulter with a pinch hitter; it took me a year or two to sit down and go "WHY ON EARTH AM I DOING THIS" ... since it's a prompt fest, not a fic exchange, there is no reason whatsoever to make more work and stress for myself by trying to arrange pinch hitters. And this year, I haven't even tried to chase down authors and ask them if they needed an extension, or any of the other things along those lines that I used to do that would always up my stress levels. I really appreciate the people who did write to let me know that they were going to drop out, but honestly, it's been SO low-stress for me and, I hope, for everyone else. Plus, using a dedicated Gmail address this year, I just file the emails from the authors and artists into their respective folders (rather than plucking out the fics and putting them in Google Docs or filing them on my hard drive like I used to). SO EASY!

Other stuff:

Check out this awesome Iron Man vid (first movie only). Very well-edited, and bouncy and exciting and fun. And if there ever was a more perfect song for Tony Stark, I can't imagine what it could be.

Here's a totally different cool thing: 385 Free Online Courses from Top Universities. Now I want to learn ALL the things!

This entry is also posted at http://friendshipper.dreamwidth.org/353178.html with comments.