recs and links

Lovely look at River growing up.

Four years and three days after their arrangement becomes official, Peter and Neal sign their names about fifty different times on the bottoms of a whole ream worth of papers, Jones cuts Neal’s ankle tracker for the last time, and Neal is officially a free man. Wistful and lovely and in character.

It made it feel like she could breathe more easily, knowing she could open every door wherever she was. Really smart backstory for Parker.

"Wait, what?" Sirius demanded, shoving his magazine aside. He narrowed his eyes at James, and James flipped him the two-fingered salute. "You weren't having me on?" / "No, I wasn't. I'm meeting her at Puddifoots, at noon." James sighed heavily. "And I'm doomed." / "Oh, Puddifoots isn't all that bad," Peter ventured, taking a long and thoughtful bite of his sandwich. "It's a little stuffy, and that, but the biscuits are all right, and there'll be mistletoe about the place, because it's Christmas." / James waved him off sharply. "That's not what I meant. Just, I've finally got a date with her, and I'll probably ruin it by... oh, I don't know. By saying something stupid, or spilling ruddy biscuits everywhere, or falling down." / "By being yourself, then?" Sirius offered. / "Yes," James said, throwing up his hands. "Exactly!" / Remus coughed like he was trying not to laugh. "You probably shouldn't wear the pirate costume." Absolutely hilarious and adorable James/Lily. *hearts*

he always catches up with her just when she thinks she's getting over him Nice Nicky POV.

Sam and Dean and books over the years. funny and sweet and heartbreaking in turns. (Wincest)

Nice look at Ellie growing up.

Adorable Wendy/Lacey/Noser snippet: "But the history books will not forget about us," Lacey said, grinning and ruffling her fingers through the bright green feather boa around Wendy's neck. / "On the contrary," Noser said, turning on his side and fitting his thumb into the hollow of Wendy's hip, "if they burn the books our names will still be writ in smoke."

Most series, indeed most dramas, rely on clear objectives, daunting impediments and a satisfying resolution. "Friday Night Lights," like life itself, has none of these. The objectives are uncertain, the impediments nearly metaphysical and no resolutions are in the offing. Without this clarity, there is something ineffably sad and tearful about "FNL," which is why, along with those football highs, it may have the greatest emotional range of any series ever on television. It can be at turns triumphant and heartbreaking, though heartbreaking prevails.

Peter and Neal fight zombies while El pwns in Brooklyn. Plus, a coda: http://giglet.livejournal.com/454467.html

Enjoyable sequel to "The Time Has Come to Be Gone" (previously recced), in which the Winchesters try to hand a case off to the BAU, but things don't go as smoothly as they'd hoped. I especially enjoyed Dean's and Prentiss's interactions. Oh, and Reid's research into the occult. Heh.

If books can show him a way out, Sam doesn’t want to miss a single word. wee!Sam and books. Lovely and wistful.

Temporarily taking care of an abandoned baby has implications for Max and Alec, both political and personal. Lovely slice of life look at Max and Alec, as they deal with the present and start looking towards the future.

Sam gets drunk and reveals that he's tested out whether Lucifer can really bring him back or not. Dean's freaked, to say the least. Nicely done. (Ignore the author's notes at the top.)

i am the worst at decorating cakes. eep.

Sam and Dean stopped the apocalypse. OR DID THEY? Sam can't tell because Dean's being all NICE to him, and it's freaking him out even more than the fact that he's in love with his brother. Plus, there is a trip to Disney and a hilarious interlude with a magic 8-ball. Awesome! (wincest)

So Gus and Shawn have this agreement. "I believe the deal was that in the event of almost certain death, you would have sex with me." Jules is present when they think they're going to die, so they expand it into a hot threesome. Hilarious. *heart*

This is how it happens: / There is a crossroads conveniently located a little more than a mile from the house, and its surface is conveniently of packed earth and scattered gravel and not of asphalt. / When she slips out of her window it’s a quarter to midnight, and she discovers that oak trees are harder to climb when you’re fourteen and six years out of practice than when you’re eight. / She has a spoon in her pocket, stolen from the school cafeteria during lunch, and she uses it now to help her dig. It’s not terribly effective: four nails are split to the quick by the time she deems the small hole deep enough, and she’s vaguely aware that the latticework of cuts her hands have acquired will sting in the shower. Brilliantly realized, beautifully written backstory for Bela.

After Tim gets out of prison, he visits Frank. Quiet and heartbreaking and so perfectly them. I especially love Olivia in this.

Smart, hot Neal/Elizabeth/Peter.

Dean does know it—the world is coming to an end, most of the people Dean loves are dead, and Sam is sorry. Good to know some things never change. Post-Abandon All Hope, Sam goes on a bender. Dean takes care of him. *sniffle*

Look, Penny sort of gets science. She gets experiments. As a kid, she tried to build a jet pack out of two fire extinguishers and a box of firecrackers. (It didn't work. Boy, did it not work.) So when she starts dating Leonard, she tells herself it's an experiment. (It doesn't work. Boy, does it ever not work.) Leonard kind of gets short shrift here, but I really like Penny in this, and also Raj's cameo.

Title of vid: Mother Mary Vidder: fan-eunice Recipient: Barkley Fandom: China Beach (TV) Music: "Mother Mary" by Joshua James Summary: Your bottle is empty, and there's blood on the floor. (Colleen McMurphy) Warnings: war, blood, violence Length: 4:47 (signed) See the vid here .

Adorable OT3 fic. Neal woos Peter by picking his pocket.

Eat Your Books is the only website that provides you with a sophisticated search engine that searches for your recipes in your own cookbooks in a variety of ways. We have indexed over 200,000 recipes from the most popular cookbooks over the last 15 years. Indexing information includes the name of the recipe, the main ingredients it uses, and very detailed classification of the recipe, such as recipe type and ethnicity. Once you find the recipe you want then you use your own cookbook to get ingredient quantities and method. Check it out - see what cookbooks they have indexed

Wonderful and achy story set during Sam's time at Stanford, in which a banged up Dean ends up in Palo Alto on a case, and gets an inkling that maybe Sam misses him a little too.

interesting interview with Ed Bernero (I facepalmed a little at his 'It's hard to get a show for men on TV' shtick, but he has some interesting things to say about the show itself, and on interacting with fans)

I've spent the last few weeks rewatching the whole of Band of Brothers in 720p HD (unfff) and capping the shit out of it in preparation for what may be an epic picspam if I ever get my act together. I really have spent far too many waking hours on this project, but you know, it's really not hard on…

Really nice look at Kate Beckett and how she spends her Christmas.

*sniffle* This story paints a bright, hopeful, activist future for Baby and Johnny.