recs and links

Adorably schmoopy Mako/Raleigh kidfic.

The blonde behind him says, “You know, if the point of this operation is to get close to Venetia Flynn you are really gonna have to work on your flirting. Also just your people skills in general! Which are distinctly rusty. Not that I don’t get it, because mine were too. You know, when I came back.” Jason stops short. “Personally, I think we oughta start a club,” she adds. And when he still doesn’t move: “Hey. You don’t get to ignore me, Robin.” OK, that cuts kinda deep. He turns, sighing. She’s standing on the bottom step so they’re almost of a height. She’s wary of him, but he’s pretty sure that underneath she thinks it’s funny as hell that she’s caught him out like this. She’s wearing sleeves and long pants just like he is: they hide the scars. The shape of her face, her stance; her knuckles, scarred over as unattractively as his own. Jason and the Batgirls, who are likely to understand him best. Oh my heart. Too bad canon never seemed interested, because these relationships are fascinating, and this story gets them spot-on.

"Some scientists speculate that Drift partners experience some after-effects from the neural connection – little pieces of memories that aren’t theirs, traits and characteristics from their partner, shared dreams. It hasn’t been studied enough, though.” The frown of concentration eases, and her eyes meet his, soft with understanding. “And now we’re the last two.” Wryly, he smiles as he says, “Not quite the last two." Soft, quiet, lovely post-movie Mako/Raleigh.

Four and a half times Tony did housework (or, five times Rhodey wasn't sure Tony Stark was cut out to survive in the real world.) Tony's lucky he's got Rhodey.

per the summary: Steve and Bucky are at a gay bar in the 30s, and some guy offers them money to take pictures of them as they fuck. They need the money, they say yes, and pretty much forget about it afterwards. The pictures come out years later. I enjoyed this, though it needs a beta.

Joan starts to spend more time with the bees. She’s still not always comfortable around them, even with her suit that makes her look like a low budget astronaut. But she likes to watch them, in their frantic scramble for food, in their obsessive devotion to the queen. Sherlock has set aside a hive just for their fledgling subspecies, and Joan spends most of her time there, watching them construct meticulous honeycombs. She changes the sugar water most days, even if Sherlock handles the collecting of the honey and the inspections for parasites. But she changes the sugar water, and it feels like she’s helping them. Like she’s contributing to the hive in her own small way. A lovely history of Joan, Sherlock, and the bees.

“This Nick Gage that Jim mentioned the other day,” said Father. “Who is he?” It was a completely superfluous question. Damian was sitting on the sideboard behind Father’s chair and had a full and unobstructed view of Father’s computer screen: he was already hacking the GCPD files and reading up on Detective Nicholas Gage. “I understand he and Miss Barbara have – stepped out, as the expression goes,” said Pennyworth. “He’s on the force. Miss Stephanie has worked with him a time or two.” “Hmmph,” said Father, sounding disgruntled. (Not that Father had ever, in Damian’s limited experience of him, sounded particularly… gruntled. Was that a word? On second thoughts, Damian suspected not.) “So he’s an inferior knockoff.” “Inferior knockoff of what?” said Damian. “Of Dick,” said Father, and shut the computer with a sharp gesture. Damian tries his hand at matchmaking. Oh, honey.

It’s funny how they’re so good with each other it’s like romance in reverse: they never really had that steep learning curve where they had to figure each other out and dance around their feelings because they couldn’t find the words. He’d just known he loved her and it was mutual and everything else was secondary after that. Love is something you learn by doing, and inside the Jaeger he’d shed his skin and laid in her arms while she touched him all over until she’d known him. It feels like a lifetime ago, but being with her has never felt like something he had to make any effort to be good at. He just knew how to do it. Soft, lovely post-movie Mako/Raleigh.

"We must do what we can, as long as we can. To cease fulfilling our duties to one another, to cease doing that which we feel is right and good – that is a death surer than any stilling of the heart. You said to me a few days ago that a swift death is preferable to a prolonged one, and I entirely agree. I will not give in. I will not surrender.” Joan’s first thought is that nobody has said those words in far too long. Her second thought is that they’ve been echoing within her, unspoken for the belief that no one else would understand. “If we are to die – and I know well that we may die, Watson, no matter how far and fast we run – if we are to die, let us die as we have lived.” He turns and faces her, there in the small space within the crates, the two of them together in the shadows. Sherlock raises one hand in front of him, closing it into a fist as though taking hold of something unseen. “Let us defend what we valued. Let our last act be one that stands for something, even the value of one human life this close to the end." Lovely, melancholy Elementary story based on "The Last Policeman" by Ben H. Winters.

Natasha Romanov is the Dark Lord's best assassin...until she's sent to kill the best fighter of the Order of the Phoenix, Clint Barton. Cool Avengers/HP fusion where Natasha gets recruited to the side of the good guys in a slightly different way.

Raleigh likes being handcuffed, Mako likes Raleigh. Porn. yeah, pretty much exactly what it says in the summary. Hot.

Hot Mako/Raleigh pegging fic.

Helena Wayne, in her own home universe, never had any brothers but one, and he was so many years older than she that he counted closer to a favourite uncle. But Helena Wayne was never born into this Gotham, and when Dick Grayson laid aside the Robin costume for good he had no baby sister to promise it to; it went to someone else entirely. Helena Wayne (from Earth-2 I think?) finds herself in Gotham (pre-reboot), and ends up forming a relationship with Jason. It works for them, somehow.

Really lovely Steve/Bucky AU where even though they didn't grow up together or serve in the war together, and don't even know each other, there's still a connection between them and they dream about it all the time. *happy sigh*

Inspired by a quote from Welcome to Night Vale "Whisper a dangerous secret to someone you care about. Now they have the power to destroy you, but they won’t. This is what love is." Steve gets Bucky back. *happy sigh*

So after the first time - that disastrous drift - part of him is relieved. She's an incredible pilot, an incredible fighter and after flying for his whole life with Yancy, he's never really had to deal with the challenges of the three and free at all. (In the mess, there are a few jibes that float down from a few tables over, a few smirks. Raleigh knows that Mako must know what they're talking about - she's been living too long on a base to avoid finding out - and he's also sure that Stacker knows, too. And, all in all, his general goal is to try to avoid pissing the Marshal off and stay alive, and these things all seem to be related.) Hot, hot Mako/Raleigh first time sex.

Mako dyes her hair and Raleigh is awkwardly interested. Adorable.

Really wonderful look at Raleigh and Mako after the movie. I love how much Raleigh loves Mako. (though Pentecost comes after Easter (50 days after!). I'm just saying.)

Mako doesn’t need to ask him what he wants — she can feel it in him, the desire to give her what she needs, until she’s boneless and sated and happy. That’s what twists him up inside, what gets him hard. That’s what he wants. Sweet, hot Mako/Raleigh.

It's not how Batman and Robin are supposed to go but they're papering over the cracks and they're making it up as they go along. Let's face it, Cass should have been the one who took on the cowl while Bruce was gone, and this story is a great exploration of why. ♥CASS♥

“Do you know why you always were such a bad dancer?” Bucky asks softly, his mouth close to Steve’s ear. “Because I was about as tall as a Hobbit?” Steve asks and Bucky chuckles. “No,” he answers, “The reason why you were such a bad dancer is easy: you love music too much. You got so distracted by the tune and the lyrics and the voices that you kept losing track of the steps.” Steve swallows past a lump in his throat that wasn’t there just seconds before. He hadn’t even thought about it that way, but trust that James Buchanan Barnes manages to see something beautiful even in something as silly as Steve’s two left feet. Lovely bit of domestic Steve/Bucky schmoop.

Surprisingly adorable for what is mostly a PWP in which Bucky helps Steve learn about butt stuff. (Could use a good line edit; the lack of commas was distracting to me.)

"All that time living in the past, I never thought about the future until now. My timing has always been terrible." Mako and Raleigh after the end of the movie. Lovely.

The Kaiju side of the story. Really well done.

Her name isn’t really Darcy, of course: her true name is something much older and a damn lot more powerful. Norse gods weren't the only supernatural beings in New Mexico when Thor was there. Clever and adorable Avengers/Good Omens fusion. There's also a sequel: http://archiveofourown.org/works/903203 Against a Common Enemy

Really hot pre-serum Steve/Bucky.

Crockpot Slow Cooker Recipes by NYT Best-Selling Author Stephanie ODea from "Make it Fast, Cook it Slow" and "A Year of Slow Cooking" (crockpot365).

Dick has not really considered himself Rom in – in some ways, not ever, if he’s honest. It’s – it’s complicated, OK, and not like his father made that many overt efforts to include Dick in that world and that life. Sometimes he wonders if something had ever – happened. Or been said. (He thinks his maternal grandparents live(d?) in Maine. One day he might get up the courage to go find out.) Though yes, he speaks Romani, Welsh Romani in fact – or he did, once. A long time ago. You unlearn languages so quickly when you’re a kid. Dick and Damian and languages, among other things.

Avengers/Trek Reboot fusion with some good banter. In which Tony gets excited by alien tech.

Kill me, she thinks, empty gun trained right between his eyes. She is so tired. He lowers his weapon. Natasha hates him for that for years. Really good look at Clint and Natasha in the early stages of their relationship.