recs and links

The search only lasts a minute, because the bastard is in the patch of grass out back, barefoot and wearing only his sleeping shorts and undershirt. He appears to be doing someone’s closest approximation of tai chi, if that someone had only ever seen tai chi performed from eight thousand yards away through a pair of opera glasses. It’s like watching a construction crane try to do yoga. Soldier considers the likelihood of a psychotic break, first for Captain and then for himself. Unfortunately there is probably no applicable psychological testing scale for either of them, Soldier due to his optimizations and Captain due to being a fucking alien from goddamn Mars. Whatever inscrutable ritual he’s executing is probably immune to any kind of intervention. An AU that mashes up Bucky's comics backstory with CATWS for GREAT HILARITY.

AU where Steve joins Doctors without Borders and the Winter Soldier is still sent to assassinate him, but makes a different choice. I enjoyed this.

sequel to the dogfather, or prequel, actually, since it is about how Sirius comes back to Remus and they start searching for baby Harry.

Circe stays with Penelope and sends the boys on the quest instead. This is the ending I was hoping for from the book, and it captures the language and cadences beautifully.

Batman made a noise. Sort of like a grunt but more gravely. Definitely judgmental. But most of his noises were. “You need training,” he announced like a teacher assigning more homework, before adding, “and adult supervision,” like it was a forgone conclusion that any rational person would already have assumed. “Hey!” Peter yelped. “Do not! Granted, today might not have been my best day, but I’ve got this! And I’m getting training. Sort of. Plenty of on the job training at least, but I’m working on it. I don’t need supervision. Maybe you need supervision,” he told Batman’s back as if it wasn’t half a foot taller than Peter and probably a full foot wider. “I am an adult,” Batman intoned, like he was imparting great words of wisdom. “I am too!” Batman stopped and turned slowly to face him for the first time since they started this wonderful performance review. “You,” Batman told him, “are a minor. And you are going to get yourself killed.” “Am not! I’m not either of those things!” This is adorable.

Long engrossing read about how Jim Gordon comes to work with the vigilante known as Batman.

I love that Han is able to say what Luke needs to hear at Vader's funeral pyre.

Jason gets deaged and it changes everything. Long, thoughtful, funny, and heartbreaking.

GROSS SOBBING

Mon Mothma has some news for Darth Vader. This is so great because I have always wondered how much she knows and whether she ever said anything to Luke (or Leia).

If there were magic lucky talking fish in the world, she thought as she climbed the stairs, then ... well, first of all, the world didn't work how she used to think it did -- (The world contains aliens and bulletproof guys and assholes who can control minds; what do you THINK the world is, Jones?) -- and second, they didn't dispense fishy wisdom peppered with fish jokes; they just didn't. This is adorable teamfic.

Misty and Colleen, using arm wrestling to flirt. Excellent.

Nancy, Jonathan and Steve go on a road trip to track down another instance of the Upside Down and also find each other in the aftermath. Lovely.

Jefferson wants to talk to Miles about this whole Spider-Man thing. It takes a few tries. Oh heart. #precious spiderbabies

Peter B., Miles & Gwen have an interdimensional group chat. Oh heart. #precious spiderbabies

“Bucky,” Steve said, still helplessly smiling, “I mean, we’ve met, right? You know I have to do everything the hard way. It’s the fundamental fact of my nature.” Bucky sighed. “Well, obviously," he said, and sounded just a little bit exasperated, but one corner of his mouth was tilting up. Oh Steve. Oh Bucky. This is lovely.

Claiming to own L3 seemed like a good way out of a bad situation, but Lando's beginning to regret it. Lovely little bit of Lando/L3.

BORTLES!

Steve and Bucky are (fake) fake dating. This is killing their teammates. Hilarious.

Perfect snippet of M/McGonagall.

Beautiful, heartbreaking, weaving between past and present as Remus remembers what is and what was. Some great insights into Remus, into Sirius, into the whole MWPP dynamic.

Oolong tea is so uncommon in the West we don't even have an English word for it, and that's a shame, because when it comes to tea, no category offers more diversity of flavor, complexity, and body than oolongs. And no style better shows what carefully manipulated processing can do to a tea leaf.

Dan/Natalie is such a rare pair and this is a great story for them.

Lightbulbs. Penguins. Velcro. Claymation. The moon made out of cheese. Tap dancing. Yoga. Twizzlers. Mountain Dew. Jello. Colors she can eat with her eyes. Methamphetamine. Bud Lite. T-shirts. Thin and soft, they pass from person to person, men to women, each owner slipping into a team—Yankees, Warriors—and out again with no bloodshed, no thought to… Continue reading Shit Cassandra Saw That She Didn’t Tell the Trojans Because at that Point Fuck Them Anyway

This is really adorable Hermione/Cho.

Bruce is diagnosed with a brain tumor. the family pulls together to face it. Oh my heart. This has so many great moments between Bruce and his kids, between the kids themselves, with Alfred, with Clark, with Selina. Excellent Batfamily drama with a happy ending. #i'm not crying you're crying

“Do you trust him?” Jim asked. “Yes,” said Batman, unhesitating. He didn’t know if he would ever like Red Hood. He didn’t know if he would ever be able to like working with him. He wanted to arrest the man. But if Batman trusted him, that would have to be enough for Jim. Jim Gordon's evolving perspective on Red Hood. Oh this is so good. The last section is like a punch to the heart.

Jason plays a long game and gets his revenge in a most unexpected way.

You can’t turn the cop brain off just because you’ve clocked out for the day, though, and he zeroes in on the outlier almost at once. The only man sitting alone at the bar is young. He really is. Jim would be surprised if the kid’s seen twenty-five. He’s young, but if you’re in the habit of reading people by posture and movement, more than physical details like smooth skin and muscles that have just finished filling in, you don’t notice that right away. Because he takes up space like a tiger just recently out of a cage, and his back is bowed over the bar like he’s a hundred years’ worth of tired. Jim has a drink with Jason. *sobs*