daasgrrl | Entries tagged with fic rec

Saw Star Wars, like everyone else. I guess I enjoyed it? I'm REALLY not a Star Wars person - I remember falling asleep when I was taken to see the first one many years ago, and since then onscreen deserts always make me sleepy. Not even kidding *g*. There was a kid, some robots, a hologrammatic projection (help me Obi-Wan, you're my only hope!), possibly some light sabers, and I distinctly remember waking up at the end when people were flying around in little ships and the Death Star exploded (only I had no idea what it was at the time, let alone its relevance to the story. It was a thing that exploded). I also think it was one of my first exposures to movies not specifically made for children, and the cuts from place to place and the sheer variety of characters confused the hell out of me. I have seen the movies since, but on TV, where it's easy to drift into another room and neglect to come back *g*. I'm a Star Trek girl through and through.

That said - I probably enjoyed it as much as I could have done. It actually felt, oddly, like a 'remix' of Star Wars, in that every single component I vaguely remember from the original was present and accounted for, only in a slightly altered way. Same settings, same humans, same aliens, same planets, same scenes, same robots, same factions, same ships. Just... redressed. So that was a bit bizarre, but at least I felt like I was on familiar ground? Some general thoughts:

( Read more... )

I honestly haven't given it a great deal of thought, so if you'd like to talk to me about Star Wars, please go ahead!

And I've really been enjoying people's Cabin Pressure fic, because something about it really lends itself to that Christmassy feeling. It's probably because poor pitiable Martin is Tiny Tim incarnate. Or something. Anyway

indybaggins has been writing a lovely five-part fic about food and friendship (and more?) called "To Think of Cinnamon" (posted up to 4/5), and

splix has just written the one-shot Christmas fic "Mistel". Maybe I'm just in a particularly sappy mood - it's Christmas! - but they both just made me exceedingly happy.

Anyway, it's Christmas Eve here, and I'm off the computer tomorrow (family day), so if I don't talk to you before then, have a very Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays! I'll probably be back by the time everyone ELSE is celebrating, anyway - such is the magic of time zones *g*

I started this in October, but never quite got around to making a post about it, probably because I wasn't sure what I was doing. I still don't, but at least I'm making progress :)

Title: A Difficult Relationship
Status: WIP
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters/Pairings: Mycroft Holmes/Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes/OMC
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 10,100 (parts 1-4)
Warnings/contents: Sibling incest, angst. pining, slash, romance, mentions of underage (not explicit, not main pairing)
Notes: Episodic fic, spanning childhood to canon.

Summary: "We have what you might call... a difficult relationship." The long and winding road to Holmescest, and beyond.

Mycroft wanders on the edge of sleep, the pleasant twilight of the mind when all things seem possible. His room is still and calm; there’s only the low, steady tick of the clock and the occasional shift and snap from the banked fire in its grate. He lies on his left side, one hand under the pillow, the other lightly resting on the crotch of his pyjama bottoms. He thinks of school, his mind’s eye summoning up the invisible threads of friendship, competitiveness and hatred that join his fellow eighth-grade students and himself in a tangled web. A snip here, a twist there, and with a little time and encouragement he hopes he might yet shape the threads according to his will.

Read at: AO3.

***

While I'm here, I also want to strongly rec Blood Brothers, a fic written for Holmestice by

dioscureantwins ~~an as-yet-unnamed author (who is blatantly identifiable, imo *g*)~~. It's a Crimson Peak/Sherlock Holmescest fusion, which is just EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED IN A FIC, am I right? Or maybe that's just me *g*. Mycroft and Sherlock suffer childhood tragedies that set them on a very dark path, and find that all they can really depend on is each other. Fantastically gothic setting and detailed backstory, and I loved the melding of the two universes into something that becomes quite distinct unto itself, and uses the m/m aspect to give the original story a different twist. Adored it.

Election day tomorrow. I'm pretty much resigned that Abbott will be PM, and bleah, whatever, if that means no more photos of him in budgie smugglers, ever, I'll have to consider that a win. My one source of amusement (all right, apart from The Hamster Decides) has been passing this poster every weekday. It's just so very... weird. Like, who thought up that pose? It's like: Assange goes bogan - people of Australia, he's one of YOU. Of course the video of him pretending to be Johnny Farnham singing "You're the Voice" is even weirder. It must get boring there in "Ecuador".

Saw The World's End last week - of course Martin Freeman is in it, but that was really just a bonus. I'd mentally classed it as "mindless English comedy" (in the good way), but it turned out to not be quite as mindless as I was anticipating. I think it'd have been even better if the trailer hadn't given away the cross-genre element - it really starts off firmly sounding all the requisite notes for what could just as easily have been a standard old-friends-reunite-for-an-unfinished-business-pub-crawl comedic film that I think would have been perfectly enjoyable, if not particularly thrilling, even as is. I have to say I love what they did with it - the paper only gave it 6/10, but I'd give it at least another mark or two for the fight scenes alone and the bizarre-yet-appropriate ending. Will need to borrow it on DVD to inflict on other people.

Fic: I'm quite predictable when it comes to what kind of fic I generally enjoy - short, porny, plot optional but appreciated. Kink is even better (but no mpreg or omegaverse). I generally don't read kid!fic, novel-length fic, or anything with less than an R rating. I don't like WIPs, either. Of course there have been exceptions, but they're fairly rare, and are usually along the lines of fandom classics. So I'm surprised to have fallen in love with

dioscureantwins' This Is Where I Began series which is basically all of the things I hate combined - 180,000 mostly smut-free words (and counting... sigh) of Mycroft and Sherlock's childhood. I have to admit I only started reading it after bonding with her over Mycroft/Sherlock, but the world-building of their childhood home, family relationships, staff, etc. is so lovingly detailed, combined with some nice flashes of Sherlock and John in the present day, showing how Sherlock's childhood made him who he is today. And I adore Mycroft, even if it's really all about Sherlock. It's been a bit of an acquired taste, but I've definitely... acquired it *g*

Really not been watching much of anything lately, except Dexter. Still gamely plodding through Season 2 of Person of Interest, about a decade behind everyone else. I did finish Hawaii 5-0, though! I really want A New Show, but I'm out of ideas. I did try half of Welcome to Night Vale, but... nah. I've heard a lot of buzz about Orange is the New Black, but the scenario's not grabbing me. The universe at large keeps telling me to watch Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Wire and/or Downton Abbey, and I keep refusing, although I suspect I'll cave and watch Downton Abbey if I get truly desperate. Is there something else brilliant that I'm missing?

It's ANZAC Day today, so I will start off with a remembrance poppy before segueing awkwardly into fandom. Lest We Forget.

Why is it that I personally can't stand fawnlock or catlock or (god forbid) tunalock, but batjohn seems like a really good idea? What is brain? Anyway, I've been adoring Salsify's Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Very Small Flatmate series, based on the whole "this makes sense on tumblr" thing. It's on hiatus for now, but it's episodic anyway and doesn't really suffer for it.

Also in things that really shouldn't work but do: Martin Crieff/Iron Man (LJ/AO3) by flawedamythyst (as recced by killerweasel). I'm not a particular Iron Man or Avengers fan at all, but it turns out what Martin needs is a technology-obsessed billionaire who finds him irresistibly sexy when he blushes. I was a little put off by the PG rating (because I'm just that shallow) but it just means that the smut is only mentioned in passing, which works just as well for the purposes of the fic.

I swear that I decided to see Iron Man 3 today pretty much due to the influence of those fics. Okay, granted, there was also very little else on I could be bothered with (I'd already attempted to muster up enthusiasm for Trance or Oz the Great and Powerful, without much success). I'd seen 1 and 2, but wasn't particularly interested in 3 (hadn't even seen a trailer before I went, so I knew absolutely nothing about it save the cinema blurb). However, Robert Downey, Jr., Rebecca Hall and Ben Kingsley are always drawcards. Anyway, I enjoyed it so much more than I'd expected, mostly thanks to some very, very nice writing.

( spoiler-free ramblings )

Cabin Pressure is back! And for those of you odd people who maybe rather quite like it but whose lives don't revolve around fangirling BC (what is wrong with you...), it's available to listen to worldwide for the next 7 days at the BBC site here.

Review of sorts: ( Timbuktu )

Quick fic rec: I've been developing a small thing for Sherlock/Lestrade (yes, in addition to everything else), and am hopelessly enamoured of Consolation by

mildred_bobbin (LJ/AO3). I've read it three times in as many days. I think that every time I first get into a pairing I long for a single fic that captures exactly what I wanted to see from them, and for Sherlock/Lestrade, this one is it. The trickiest thing for Sherlock/Lestrade for me is that John is an immovable part of Sherlock's universe. I don't have a problem with this for Mycroft/Sherlock, because the two of them have a long shared history John has had no part in. Sherlock/Lestrade pre-John is also quite plausible. But a post-Reichenbach one has to work for it, and I love the way Sherlock and John end up fully acknowledging what they are to each other without betraying the people they've in effect 'chosen' to love. Lestrade is perfect here - he understands he's a substitute for John, at least to begin with, but refuses to let Sherlock have it both ways, so to speak. No-one gets particularly sappy or overly possessive, or acts in a way I find unlikely - Lestrade simply gives Sherlock the freedom to work out what he really wants, but insists that he acknowledge it as well. I just loved it; I suppose I do have a weakness for this kind of emotional complexity in fic.

Also spent time watching the Rupert Graves highlights of Maurice on Youtube. For reasons. I've always loved that movie - I saw it at the cinema when it was first released, bought the book, later the video. At one point I could probably have outlined it to you scene by scene. It's still gorgeous, after all these years (as is Rupert Graves).

I think there are a few Bowie peeps around - what did you think of Where Are We Now? I like the overall sound of it but am a) seriously weirded out by the video and b) find the lyrics veering wildly from 'vaguely interesting' to 'banal'. I still love his voice, though.

Finally got hold of a library copy of Deep Blue Sea (Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston). I realised last night that I hadn't quite finished watching it, but thought I had. That probably sums it up for me. TH is obviously very pretty, and the acting was excellent all around, but there are times when 'slow' in movie reviews actually means 'deep, contemplative, thoughtful', and times when it simply means... slow. Hester (Rachel Weisz) is torn between her stuffy middle-aged judge husband (Simon Russell Beale) and a wild young RAF pilot (Tom Hiddleston) who treats her badly. It's the kind of thing I think I would normally enjoy, but in this case I just wish I cared more.

Oh, and I loved this pic, firstly because the green is gorgeous, but also because, lol, antlers. Fine, I'm 12 :P

( BC and Matt Smith )

Okay, after mainlining a series or two of League of Gentlemen, I have apparently started fangirling Mark Gatiss as well. This I can cope with; in fact, it feels so tremendously familiar and comfortable, it just makes me pretty much completely happy. Right age; right look; right type. Or, to quote the great sage Arthur: "Like, for instance, when you get into a bath quickly and it's just the right temperature, and you go 'ooooh'. I mean, really, no one gets any happier than that." I mean, there's already a handy mental niche right there between Chris Barrie and Paul McDermott and directly above Hugh Laurie, so I don't even have to rearrange the furniture.

( cut for me being ridiculous )

But, Mark Gatiss, people. Yes. What a gorgeous, funny man. Let me love you. Sedately *g*

The lovely and very systematic Val Denton	Mr Chinnery, the so-not-Herriot (or Tristan, even)
Mickey, the sweet, hapless job-seeker	Iris the charlady
Phil from 'educational' theatre group Legz Akimbo	Brian attempts to tell the Mao-Mao joke

( Pretty men in tuxes singing, and if Hamlet were a soccer match... )

Fic site rec: Because sometimes I feel like a Jaded Fandom Hag, I loved going through http://sherlockoddfic.tumblr.com/ for the weird and wonderful in Sherlock fic. Tentacles, dragons, awesomely smutty six-inch high John (Microphilia), and even one where a certain part of Sherlock's anatomy is kept separately from the rest of him, in a bedside drawer (Olisbos). Yeah, it took me three passes before I was even game to click on that last one, because I figured it couldn't really be good, and if it really were good, it couldn't be hot, not with a ridiculous premise like that. Wrong on both counts. It's on that site for a reason. Ack.

Fic I didn't know I needed until I read it: The Case of the Suicidal Brother by

starjenni (no incest). Mycroft ends up in hospital - but what really happened? I think the title makes it sound much more potentially clunky and melodramatic than it is; it's written with a light hand and semblance of plot rather than being gratuitous angst, which I appreciated. But mainly I didn't realise until reading it how it's always Sherlock everyone worries about (now that I think about it, it was the same with Mulder. Some things never change). This one's for Mycroft.

Fic I adored against all my usual instincts: Not a fan of 'when characters were children' fic, generally, but I loved Ducks All In A Row by

kirstenlouise (who also wrote the magnificent Mycroft Manifesto). Eight-year-old Sherlock has already decided who he's going to marry when he grows up. Don't look at me like that; I can see you rolling your eyes from here. But it truly is lovely (and innocent). And it's even better if you either read the manifesto or were observant enough to notice that Mycroft does wear that mysterious ring *g*

Lots of things I'd theoretically like to do, but when it comes to actually doing them, not so much.

I have decided that I am definitely enamoured of BBC!Mycroft, though. My inner canon purist spent two full seasons complaining 'but he's not faaaat' and 'vanity casting, much?' (I understand that that apparently wasn't the case, but that's what I was thinking) and managing to overlook that fact that he's exactly my usual type - tall, unconventionally handsome power-wielding men who look good in suits. Yes, that IS a type. With a side order of 'government employee', usually.

I was also thinking about XF, which is where I started online so long ago (and still know people from - hi! *g*). Because while I do adore Sherlock the character, he simultaneously manages to annoy me in almost exactly the same way Mulder used to. John is a Scully character variant, complete with medical qualifications, Moriarty is the charismatically crazy Krycek, Lestrade is the I'm-too-sensible-for-this-show Doggett, and of course that would make Mycroft Skinner - protective, caring, frequently exasperated.Which would make my 'natural' (only so very not) pairing Mycroft/Sherlock, which is what I've finally ended up realising when it should have been blatantly obvious from the beginning *g*

I'm holding BC responsible for single-handedly destroying my incest!squick. He just has way too much ridiculous chemistry with his screen 'brothers'. He's an only child, right? Because there's a difference between, you know, brotherly love, and brotherly love XD

Now that I've spent some time on AO3, I love it (I know you can read as a 'guest', I just... never did?). Thanks again bironic for the invite! Fic I've enjoyed recently (all explicit):

Through Which I Run by dogpoet (Amazing Grace, William Pitt the Younger/William Wilberforce). Because you just KNOW there had to be post-running-across-the-fields slash. And this is so beautifully written. Cathedrals, indeed.

Back Under by berry (Frankenstein RPS, Benedict Cumberbatch/Jonny Lee Miller). Sometimes when you think Frankenstein fanfic might be an interesting idea, you end up reading RPS instead. I used to have an RPS squick too, but Robert Sean Leonard already took care of that one.

Bunting by bobross (Sherlock BBC, Mycroft/Sherlock). So much wrong. So much hot.

Have not disappeared off the face of the earth, but way behind on lj, planning to catch up shortly so there may be random commentage. I understand some people somehow manage to keep a balance between their online and offline lives, but I've always been fairly bad at multitasking to begin with *g*

ANYWAY, I've really drifted away from House, as has been apparent, but last week a couple of unexpected moments brought me temporarily back again.

1. Four years back - what, 2006? Really? Eek! - you may remember there was this entire mytharc about House, and his pills, and this cop guy called Tritter, who I initially hated with a passion.With the help of plottage from

evila_elf, I wrote the rather nasty Wilson/Tritter fic Rough Justice. And then some people asked for a sequel, which I had no intention of writing, so

brynnamorgan offered to step in. I gratefully accepted. Eventually I did end up writing a sequel after all (Tender Mercies) and assumed

brynnamorgan's had fallen by the way, as these things so often do. But then just a couple of weeks back she announced that she'd actually written it after all! LOLOL. Surprisefic! I was thrilled that the idea had stayed with her long enough to bear fruit, and I was so curious to see what she'd done with it.

Warning: while it's a thoroughly gripping and delicious read I personally would say it's even darker and nastier than Rough Justice, which is saying something. And she takes it in a completely different direction. I only wrote a sequel because my feelings changed towards Tritter and I started rather liking him. Her sequel keeps the hate burning bright and runs with it all the way to its unnatural conclusion *shudder*. I don't want to give too much away, but... yeah, you probably don't want to get on her bad side *g*

Taps by

brynnamorgan

2. And, and, if that wasn't enough, a little while back I acquired

queenzulu's *cough* services in exchange from a donation to the

hl_bday_drive. I wanted canon-based Wilson/Foreman, and smut, and she delivered in style. It's a subtle and detailed fic, written in a way I think suits their personalities beautifully - she draws out the connections and similarities between them and makes it believable, and it's about the characters as much as the smut (not that I'm complaining about that either!). I believe she's announced publically that there's a Foreman/Taub on the way as well, which I mention only because it sounds awesome *g*

Finding James by

queenzulu

Yes, it was something of a fictastic week and I'm very happy ♥♥♥

Finally, since I seem to be on a House roll: so, how 'bout that new season, then?

( random burblings on new season )