recs and links

Frankie has always had that effect on Grace, even before they liked each other, even before they made a home together: she makes Grace daring—a little too much, sometimes. So it was Grace who pushed back, this time. And Frankie didn’t meet her there. this is really lovely.

A really lovely series of snapshots of live in the Good Place.

This time, it was The Daily Bugle Online that had betrayed him. SPIDER-MAN AND HUMAN TORCH SHARE GROUNDSHAKING MOMENT “Uncle Johnny…” Franklin said. “You’re not dating Spider-Man, right? You would have told us?” “Of course I would have told you,” Johnny assured him. He looked at the picture again. Everyone thinks Spider-Man and Human Torch are dating. Johnny is not handling it well.

Peter is called to a break-in at just about the last place he expects, and soon discovers that the intruder's identity is even less expected. Engaging casefic with perfect voices for everyone.

The Tale of a Tour; featuring mysterious van smells, broken strings, lost merchandise, unexpected teenagers, disaster, triumph, and aunties. Oh, and a Kiss. Lady Parts goes on tour (or, really, "tour") and it goes about as well as you'd expect. I enjoyed this SO MUCH. It's exactly what I was hoping for with my request.

While on a mission, Obi-Wan encounters a mysterious young woman with a secret. Obi-Wan meets time-traveler Leia while on a mission.

AU where Jason goes home at the start of his career as Red Hood, and it changes quite a lot. Long, compelling read.

Five times that Iroh serves Zuko tea, and one time that Zuko serves Iroh tea. this is a really lovely look at how much Iroh loves his nephew.

Roy called Keeley and this time she picked up. "Hey babe!" she said, and Roy wasn't sure he'd ever get used to how it felt to hear her voice and remember her smile and know that she was in love with him. "You having fun?" "Jamie Tartt's out in the garden," Roy said evenly, lying back on the bed. Jamie had started talking about how he needed somewhere with good light to take some pictures for Instagram, just to maintain the brand, yeah?, and Roy had tuned out long before Jamie produced one of those stupid fucking selfie sticks. "Why is Jamie Tartt in the garden of the villa I rented for my first proper holiday in for-fucking-ever?" Jamie joins Roy in Marbella at Keeley's direction. This is hilarious and sweet.

“Now you are suitable – completely untouched. Pure as new snow. All that trapped fire, in more ways than one… The perfect sacrifice.” Johnny’s face had gone bloodless, his mouth hanging open. It took Peter a second for the reason to catch up to him, busy as he was, but then it hit him like the proverbial freight train: he’d said it himself, after all. He made a poor sacrifice because he wasn’t a virgin. Johnny, apparently, was. -- An encounter with some cultists leads Peter to an interesting revelation about Johnny that he can't stop thinking about. Another encounter at Security College gives him something to do about it. Aw, this is a lot of fun.

At some point, it stops being startling to find an immortal warrior in his living room. James does wish they would learn to call ahead, though. That's right, it's the Copley-centric found family fic everyone's been clamoring for! I enjoyed this.

"The bat symbol on his chest was red," Dick continues, as if Jason didn't speak. "He came out of nowhere and I tried to stop him, but it was dark. He was quick and ruthless, and – he moved exactly like Bruce." What happened was this: Years ago, a father and son went to Ethiopia. Only the son came back. Or so they thought. Excellent AU where it's Bruce who dies (OR DOES HE?) in Ethiopia, and Dick and Jason are left to pick up the pieces.

Alfred bonds with each of the Wayne children through baking.

Cass, Damian, and a winter afternoon. A really love slice of life story about them.

Jason calls Bruce when he's in deep trouble and Bruce answers.

“People are saying I’m fake?” Could they really not compare his recent photos to the newsreels and article photos and his films from the war? “They’re saying I was never found and I’m just…some guy wearing a Cap uniform?” Steve discovers modern day conspiracy theories about Captain America. Oh Steve.

To keep Han out of an alien prison, Luke and Leia have to pretend to be married to him. This is only the beginning of their problems. Aw, this is a lot of fun.

In which Dick and Bruce catch up in the kitchen sometime after episode 11, "Not It," Dick peppers his speech with condiment-related puns, and Bruce is sort of amazed by his life sometimes.

The Red Hood didn't have anything urgent to do after breaking into Titans Tower to fight the new Robin. Winning the fight was easy. Kidnapping Robin was easy. What to do next was more of a problem. Jason has second thoughts about kidnapping Robin. Bruce just wants his sons home safe.

Perhaps Petunia Evans had looked at Vernon Dursley as a rebellion, perhaps as an escape. Either way, it hadn’t been Petunia’s best moment, and now she stood on her little sister’s doorstep with nothing but bad news and a baby. I enjoyed this AU where Petunia breaks up with Vernon and reconciles with Lily (and magic).

Really fun and excellently edited Crows vid.

Dick does not like filling in as Batman when Bruce is in space again. Damian wants to be taken seriously and resents the implication that he should be cheerful as Robin. So they switch. Adorable!

Red Hood doesn't know that Stephanie Brown is the new Robin. Tim Drake doesn't know anything about Red Hood or why he wants to fight Robin. All Tim knows is that a man in a red helmet just broke into his house. Jason needs to figure out what's going on, Tim needs a dad, and Stephanie needs to figure out just how long she's going to last as Robin.

Tim Drake knows that Batman needs a Robin. When Bruce and Dick aren't interested in what he has to say, Tim makes his way to the cemetery to say a few words to the boy he's trying to replace. Tim has the chance to say far more than he expected when Jason digs himself out of his grave that night. Tim does his best to get Jason home to Bruce. The League of Assassins finds them first. I enjoyed this a lot!

Damian gets hit with some kind of truth serum and Tim helps him out. This felt really true to both of them and I enjoyed it.

Batman needs a Robin and Batman has a Robin. Tim is just extraneous now, vestigial. He’s a bandage over a healed wound. He doesn’t know what he’s hanging on to. Or: Tim didn’t expect his exit strategy from the Batfamily to involve quite so much bonding time with Damian over Wayne Enterprises bureaucracy. Oh Tim.

Upon realizing any gifts he or his sons receive for Christmas would be more than superfluous, Bruce decides that all the presents exchanged this year will be handmade and from the heart. It goes about as well as you'd expect. Hilarious!

Damian finds a litter and decides to take care of the orphans. It's not like Wayne Manor hasn't seen its share of those. ADORABLE.

Since leaving Henrietta after high school, Gansey and Blue have been bouncing around the world looking for a place that fits. After more than ten years, they are almost ready to make some decisions, but first they decide to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail together. Along the way, Gansey revisits memories of the childhood that turned him into a lover of forests, mysteries, and traveling the world. Meanwhile, Ronan and Adam are creating their own family back at the Barns. Thoughtful and wistful look at Gansey as he and Blue make their way back home.

Another AU branching off "My Sun Sets to Rise Again" (previously recced), where Sirius goes back to 1994, clears his name, and takes Harry away from the Dursleys. Long, inventive and engrossing read.