recs and links

Moneypenny and M, being awesome together.

Really lovely and sharp look at Irene, and how honest she forces herself to be within her own head. Attolia loves as she imagines the gods must have loved, when they mingled more intimately with mortals: her feelings are lightning bolts and transmutation and the endless rage of the sky against the sea. For the sake of the man asleep beside her she would uproot forests and send ash gushing down from mountains, if it lay within her power. This seems a blasphemous kind of thought, but it's not one that she could deny without lying.

"This is the second time this month. Fifteenth, if you count all of the replays." "But, yes, this is what I'm talking about," Mulan says. "You have a giant time-reversing hourglass. It is giant, and it reverses time. If you need our help, you shouldn't have to text us in the middle of a fight." "Yes, because I have plenty of other work cut out for me here," Jasmine protests. "You know that besides Jafar and that awful little Iago, I don't know what Ali's going to steal next--" Snow White coughs, the kind she lets out only when she wants everyone to know that when she was a living girl, she was made of purity and kindness and charity, and did not take up with master criminals. The Disney Princesses as superheroes. This is completely and utterly AWESOME.

Like Dean wouldn’t get it, like Sam doesn’t think he knows what it’s like to just give up one day, to hell with the whole mathematics of saving and killing. The ghost writing that always shows through, no matter how many drinks go to wipe the board clean when the equations don’t balance. “You saved plenty of people, Sam. You saved the fucking world. You don’t owe anyone. You don’t have to explain. You can quit, free and clear.” Sam doesn’t look convinced. He never will. They don’t buy it, either of them, but they can go on without. Dean stops hunting, and Sam doesn't, for a while. Bittersweet and achy, with an ending that feels true as well as happy. Made me happier than the show has in a while, anyway. (Wincest)

Lovely brief snips of Alfred interacting with each of the Robins. Alfred, needless to say, pwns all.

Nice take on Hades/Persephone. I like this version of Hades.

“A trinket?” “I believe you are the only woman who was ever consistently angered upon receiving them.” Sharp and lovely look at Gen and Irene's relationship.

If, like me, you were traumatized as a child by the story of the little girl who got locked in a closet for the hour that the sun shone on Venus, you need to read this story, because Margot grows up, and her childhood trauma drives her to change the world in the best kind of way.

Johnny wants Peter to hang out for his birthday. Dorky, adorable awkward bffs with mutual crushes on each other. Aw, boys.

Really well done back story for Omar. He be who he be, and ain’t nobody come at him. That, maybe, that what they call success.

Why she continued to bait and hurt him gently out of her own guilt, she did not know. Why he loved her despite it, she would no longer had the strength to question, that night at least. Love did not come easily to her. She had told him that before, and it was still true. But if her fondness, if the twisting inside of her, the palpitating of her heart at his smiles, no matter how wicked, at his injuries, no matter how slight...if that was love, she embraced it. Really sharp yet romantic look at Gen and Irene's relationship from Irene's POV.

Really nice look at alt!Astrid.

Wonderful look at LaDonna, her mother, and Toni. I wanted to tell her, "And who raised you, now, that you think I'm suddenly so weak?" In what soil did she think she'd sprung. She didn't get this from her daddy. She must know he was a soft man, like her two husbands, both soft men. She must think I'm old, to try to spare me this sort of news.

Coach visits Tim in prison. Pitch-perfect and heartbreaking. Oh, Tim.

Painful and pitch-perfect story of Alicia making some hard decisions when Diane asks her to come with her to Lockhart & Lee.

Velma and Scooby and the zombie apocalypse. Sharp and sad and shockingly believable.

Really lovely look at how Julie and Tim orbit each other and then finally fall together.

Really lovely fairytale very much in the style of LeGuin. Now, it came about that, in the days when there was still an Archmage on Roke, a restless spirit arose in the hills above Orrimy, and came down into the town with the winter. From dusk until dawn it wailed through the dark streets, turning milk sour and making cats miscarry. The burghers of Orrimy, tucked safely in warm beds behind high walls, felt the wailing creep into their dreams, casting them into formless and bloody nightmares. After a week of this, the leading merchants of the town summoned Samphire, the town's sorcerer, before their council. Samphire, who had already spent three nights chasing the spirit through the steep streets, told them, rather tersely, that he did not know how to lay the spirit to rest.

Adorable look at how AWESOME Max is, focusing on her 30th birthday. I especially like her banter with Bruce. And her facility with a tote bag full of ice cream.

Frasier and Niles Crane, demon hunters. *dies* Absolutely note-perfect (and utterly hilarious) fusion of Frasier with SPN. Niles swallowed convulsively, then managed to gird his loins to say, “I think we should do something about it.” “There’s no fundraising gala for demon awareness, Niles!” Frasier said, unwilling to credit his little brother’s sincerity or to question why his blood was pounding in his veins. “Frasier,” Niles said, sounding ludicrously calm as he brandished the goriest of Martin’s photographs. “We could make a difference - saving people, learning things.” Frasier gave in to the adrenaline coursing through his system. “With great intelligence comes great responsibility,” he said, letting his voice roll out dramatically. “This calls for sherry!”

Wonderful look at Susie looking back at her childhood adventures with Calvin.

Oh, jess. Oh, my heart. This is a gorgeous look at her optimism and determination. I just want her to get everythign she wants without getting hurt. And the scene with Coach is perfect, everything I love about him and this show all rolled into one brief conversation.

Lovely series of snapshots looking at Alexander and Hephaistion's relationship over the years. I especially like the final section, where Alexander basks in the certainty of Hephaistion's love for him. *happy sigh*

Fantastic look at how all that timeline jiggering must have screwed with Marty's head.

in which Jason gets in Dick's way and they snark and fuck instead of discussing the ungodly number of issues lying between them. It's as if the author plugged straight into my brain! So hot and achy! ♥

A lovely, fraught story about Rachel Seybolt on her own in Europe after Charlie sends her away for her own safety, and how they reconnect after Nevikov is no longer a threat. Exactly the kind of thing I was thinking of when I made the request!

Achy post-Under the Red Hood story about how Dick is dealing - or, really, not dealing - with Jason's return, how he's trying so hard to be the perfect son/partner/brother/superhero that he forgets that he needs someone to shore him up, as well. Oh, Dick. *pets him*

Not wearing the suit makes everything an act of bravery. It's *just* Tim doing things and people can see his face when he does them. The absence of a mask is supposed to be part of what makes his life simpler, but it so completely doesn't. Kon looks less exposed in a thin button-down shirt than Tim does in his sweater and jacket. Sharp and hot.

Adorable story in which Penny teaches Sheldon to drive.

The first in the Alt Country series. Angsty, schmoopy, hilarious Tim/Kon. *smishes them* "So, you and Rob are kissing now?" she asks. "Well, no, not if he thinks I'm evil," says Kon. "He's like-- Batman!" Which was the word he was looking for earlier. "Obviously," says Cissie. "You can't kiss anyone when they're being like Batman. Oh, Kon, I'm sorry. If he can't... I mean, he--" Kon dimly suspects that Cissie is getting hung up on her loyalty to Robin, but he doesn't really resent her for it. He'd choose the same.