Paste, paste, paste...

I just came back from watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which opened yesterday. Went into it with medium expectations and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. :) Go watch! :D

A Song of Ice and Fire / Game of Thrones
Pride and Pack by ghostrelic (Sansa Stark / Tywin Lannister AU, kudos to telanu)
"Tywin Lannister marries Sansa Stark himself, instead of giving her to Tyrion."

I was pleasantly surprised at the twists and turns this story had. The story structurally felt a little familiar (Snape/Hermione?, Lucius/Hermione?) and I was troubled by several of the sections--please read the trigger warnings as it does mention torture among other things--but it was a gripping read. For those who are new to this genre it's easier to take in if you've finished watching season 2 or later.

Avengers (No Winter Soldier spoilers)
A Widow's Tale by mhalachai (Stargate Atlantis x-over, AU)
This series starts with Steve revisiting Natasha's deep cover past as a Russian spy during the cold war, and deals with its consequences.

A very nice interweaving of the two different fandoms.

Give A Girl A Moment And She'll Take You For All You've Got and the sequel The Right Hand Knows Not by tielan
"Coulson had once made the observation that Darcy Lewis’ ability to beg, bribe, or bully people into her plans was almost a superpower in and of itself. Considering she was walking down a tattered Tribeca street with four women she either barely knew or didn’t socialise with for drinks on a Friday night, Maria could well believe it." The sequel has really awesome action sequences.

Speaking in Foreign Tongues by Rainne (Natasha/Kate Beckett, Castle x-over)
“Sometimes when I am bored, I go to Glechik Café in Little Odessa and pretend to be Muscovite.”

Interesting narrative.

Tomb Raider
Primer: Tetraninja's Tomb Raider Let's Play playlist for eneri and others who's never seen the awesome epic storyline for Yamatai. XD

Gathering Storms by zerrat (Lara Croft/Sam Nishimura)
"In the aftermath of Yamatai, Sam struggles to return to her normal life. Her emotions spinning wildly out of control, Sam finds herself unravelling as the fragments of Himiko's soul within her begin to consume everything that she is."

A nicely written action/adventure that follows the ending sequence of Tomb Raider.

For eneri, who finally has time to read. :D

Recs
Avengers, The
Freezer Burn series by domarzione (gen)
A series of character-explorations which revolve around Natasha, Steve, and Bucky.

This explores in an epic way how the Winter Soldier movie might play out. :]

Run Like We're Awesome 'Verse by themonkeycabal (gen)
What if Tony was Darcy's dad?

Interesting premise and it's been done before but I think this one is quite well executed.

Second Fiddles by concertigrossi (Phil/OFC) (kudos to cyprinella)
A story about Phil and his cellist.

Interesting exploration.

Have a good weekend!

Recs
Avengers
Exclusive by copperbadge (gen)
"Heroes In Manhattan: From Captain America's Hidden Talents To The Truth About The Hulk, We Debunk The Myths And Expose The Daily Lives Of The Avengers."

Interesting take.

I Shall Not Want Honour In Heaven by sam_storyteller (aka copperbadge) (Peggy/Gabe Jones)
"Peggy Carter's life after the war: Howard Stark, Gabriel Jones, SHIELD, and a little boy named Nicholas." (alternative link: AO3)

Saw this work on pinboard's popular fandom bookmarks, and it's well worth the read. I think it comes together a little too neatly and/or easily for certain segments (the secret meetings as a way to move the plot forward are a little lazy) but it has its merits, nonetheless.

Devil Wears Prada, The
When the Night Falls on You by fewthistle (Andy/Miranda AU)
Andy decides to stay with Miranda after Paris.

I'm not quite sure how I missed this one back in 2010 but I'm happy to rectify this error. The build up is relatively slow-paced (compared to other fics) but the interactions feel a little more substantive.

Pacific Rim
Saw this last week, the giant robots were fun (pushed some buttons for me as I'm a big Patlabor / Neon Genesis Evangelion fan), but I wanted to see more of Sasha and Aleksis. The following are some interesting world building fics as well as an exploration into the backstories of some of these minor characters. As with some early fandom writing, there's some confusion about which is the female and which is the male (eg: Blaise in Harry Potter). Sasha is reportedly male and Aleksis/Aleksandra is female on IMDB, but the male actor said on a Youtube that he was Aleksis/Aleksandra, and his wife was Sasha. *shrugs*

those who run with wolves by epistolic (Aleksis/Sasha)
"She’s matched him from the start, blow for blow, move for move, and for the first time since he saw her six months ago he realises that Aleksandra Dmitriyeva is beautiful."

Volchitsa by epistolic (Aleksis/Sasha)
It had not been a marriage for love, but he loves her.

you're my apocalypse by epistolic (Raleigh/Mako)
"The entire world believes they are in love, but this is not true."

Listening to some deep house:

Reading
Rule 63 & #femslash february
Is genderswapping a male/male (or less commonly, a female/male) pairing in the spirit of the femslash february celebration? girlgay members chime in.

Shousetsu Bang*Bang Special Issues
For those who don't know, "Shousetsu Bang*Bang is a webzine for original gay fiction/boy's love oneshot stories." Anyway, the special issues in this webzine are focused on original yuri! :DD I've seen a couple of good stories rec'ed on pinboard. I thought I'd show some love, as I'm looking forward to the next issue next month, Tea for Two. (sign-up info)

Recs
10 Things I Hate About You
Priceless by impertinence (Kat/Missy, Bring It On x-over)
"Kat's looking forward to a calm second year at Sarah Lawrence. Her new roommate makes that less than easy."

Written for Yuletide! Hot, awkward, and cute in its fumblings, it also had some very smart writing...

Avengers, The
fighting fire with firewood by siria (Natasha/Clint)
"Natasha was not the kind of person to be curious."

This was an interesting character study.

James Bond
Untouchable by telanu (M/James Bond)
"Sometime between Quantum of Solace and Skyfall, Bond and M have been drugged with an aphrodisiac."

I'm not sure that this got on enough people's radars when it came out, but this ought to be showcased as a master class in how to maintain knife-edged tension in a scene. Don't be misled by its premise; I think my brain short circuited on how hot and awesomely written it was.

Recommendations
The Avengers

I'm Gonna Be A Part Of It (Whether I Want To Or Not) by fringedweller (Darcy/Bruce)
"Relocated against her will to New York, Darcy Lewis has to juggle working as an admin monkey for SHIELD, covertly finishing her degree and falling in love. Only one of these things is easy, and it's not the one that she thinks it will be."

For those who don't remember, Darcy Lewis is the girl who majored in Political Science and was Jane Foster's assistant in Thor. She's the one who was hired because she was the only one who applied, and had her ipod taken by S.H.I.E.L.D. I don't know why there are so many fics dedicated to her and Bruce but this one was amusing and shows off the author's potential. It's not without it's problems (some of the ideas border on the ridiculous--and the author knows it), but I enjoyed it as the fun read it was meant to be.

Kick Off Your Sunday Shoes⁷ by leiascully (Natasha/Steve, WIP)
"Natasha thought it was a shame that Steve had never been dancing (among other things)."

This was a very cute read and would be good for those who like to read about dancing and shameless smut. *chuckles and sighs* I miss Anik La Chev's Small Steps. ^^;

love is for children and other lies by fahye (Natasha/Clint, Natasha/Maria)
"War is the child's emptiness, the surrender of identity, the transformation into a simple system: purpose goes in, action comes out. (Natalia Alianovna Romanova, and everything that she became.)"

A nicely thought out story.

This will probably be my only post for November. My only excuse for the lack of recs is that a friend gave me his collection of Running Man (런닝맨) episodes earlier in the month and now I can't. Stop. Watching.

Reading
To make up for my lack of recs I'm unloading some of the WIP fics I've been reading. These fics represent some that have interesting AU world-building potential. Some have some grammar issues but a decent beta reader could iron those issues out fairly quickly.

Glee
I need a Medic¹⁷ by Gorshenin (AU, Army!Brittana)
"It's wrong on so many levels. It's fraternization, it's unprofessional, it could cost you your rank, your career, and worse-hers; but you can't stay away. You need her and it has nothing to do with the palpitations in your chest."

Legend of the Seeker
Destiny Does Not Send Us Heralds²⁵ by asianscaper (AU Kahlan/Cara)
"In an adventure gone awry, Cara and Kahlan are forced to examine their lives and priorities more closely."

Sherlock
Ingénue³³ by ebonlock (AU, Irene/"Anthea")
"Her safe word is 'enough', because as soon as she meets Irene she knows she's never going to need it again."

Rec
Avengers
a kingdom or a cottage or a grave by beardsley (Peggy Carter/Natasha Romanov)
"It doesn't matter where you're born. What matters is who you become. Peggy Carter as the Winter Soldier."

Such a cool concept and execution. :)

Recs
Avengers, The
a perception of sweethearts passing through by thingswithwings (Maria/Natasha, BDSM, caning) (kudos to katemonkey)
"Maria touches her forehead to the cool rough sheets, spreads her legs, and closes her eyes tight."

This PWP is so so sexy. XD Soooo glad Kate Bolin rec'ed it.

Managed to catch The Flowers of War (Youtube Trailer) at the movies this weekend. There's a lot of graphic violence, but it's beautifully directed and the acting is great. A very powerful film that made me reflect on humanity. Just, uh...remember to bring tissues.

( Femslash recs: Glee (1), Iron Man (3) (warning: not safe for work) )