recs and links

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Lily could take the piss with the best of them, but she was never cruel. James could say no and Lily would understand, and they might still even have sex in a more familiar manner. Saying no to Lily wasn’t something James made a habit of, though. He wanted, more than anything, to make Lily happy. And if what Lily needed to be happy was to strap on a magic dong and dish out a good, hard spot of bumfucking then by Merlin’s beard he, James Potter, was the man to let her have at it. Lily pegs James. Hot, sweet, and hilarious. (And I really want the story of Sirius taking Lily shopping for sex toys.)

Thor and Loki and a quiet reconciliation in the aftermath. Lovely.

All the kids and the teens road tripping to stop the apocalypse. Hilarious.

“I lost my arm, and now there’s this thing wired into my brain. How do I know this is really a good idea?” she asked, deciding at the last minute not to mention that her shiny new hand had disemboweled a teddy bear this morning. “Well, Danny was involved, so I see your concern,” Claire conceded. Colleen shot them a sharp look, then shook her head. “I really can’t defend his planning skills, but trust me, signing the check was the limit of his involvement.” Misty looked at Claire. “That sound reassuring to you?” Colleen sighed. “Alright, how’s this? I don’t think your arm is evil, but if it is, I promise to cut it off.” “Really?” Misty asked. Some of the tension slid out of her shoulders at last. Colleen nodded. “My teacher cut off your arm while he was trying to cut off Claire’s head. Amputation is the least I owe you.” Colleen and Claire help Misty get used to her (possibly evil) robot arm.

Leia goes to live with Vader as a young girl. He has some things to learn about parenting. Oh my heart.

Leia Organa and Han Solo married three times, and only planned one of those occasions. Exactly what the summary says. Oh my heart. *sobs*

Steve shows up to pick up Dustin after the Snow Ball, and ends up with a car full of kids.

Alicia grapples with motherhood and meets her son's new best friend at his first Parents' Weekend at Samwell. Oh my heart.

"You can leave if this is weird," Nancy said anxiously into the dark and the quiet, once they'd finally stopped moving around. "Who were you talking to?" Jonathan asked into her hair. "Either of you." "It is weird," Steve said, and after a moment, "But not, like, bad weird." The funny thing was, that actually made sense, maybe only because they were all so tired that anything would make sense by now. Jonathan and Nancy invite Steve back in. Oh heart.

“Nancy?” her brother asks. Over his shoulder she can see that Mike’s hand is still tangled with El’s. “What?” “This feels…” he stops, and when Mike starts again it’s quieter than the wind, quieter than El’s breathing. “It feels like we’re a family.” Nancy bites back a giggle. What, so Hopper’s the dad and Joyce is the mom and the rest of them are all brothers and sisters? Like they’d be so lucky. Lovely coda to season 2.

Lyrical and lovely look at how Nancy weaves her way into the Byers family. (s2 spoilers)

Eleven and Hopper and breakfast. Oh heart.

Sometimes Bucky wishes he could zip himself into Steve’s jacket, all the way up over his head. Tuck himself into Steve, warm and dark. Steve would let him. Steve wouldn’t have to worry about him, not when he’s so close. Daisypuff would be there too, all of them stacked in together like a nesting doll of suspicious bitey assholes. And Bucky could just close his eyes, and relax his grip, and deal with absolutely nothing that isn’t petting Daisypuff or getting pet by Steve. I enjoyed this a lot (2nd in a series; I also recommend the first story).

When Barnes stumbles into a small town in Maine at summer's end, he's been running a long time and doesn't expect to stay. But as weeks pass, he starts wondering whether all this time he hasn't been running away from, but towards something - the kindness of strangers, quiet fields, and a curious, yellow-eyed goshawk. Bucky takes up falconry during his recovery. Soft and lovely.

He was determining his own protocols. It was an ongoing process, and kind of a mess. Bucky slowly learns how to be a person again. Lovely.

After finding himself alone for the first time in decades, the Winter Soldier learns how to be a person again. Mostly through caring for an orphaned kitten, countless rounds of YouTube roulette, and stalking Captain America. Or: Bucky Barnes, accidental millennial. I enjoyed this a lot.

Bucky writes during the war, and it helps him find his way back after. Lovely

Eliot, Parker and Hardison steal themselves a Winter Soldier. Oh heart.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Really lovely version of Steve and Diana's night together.

Exactly what it says on the tin, with demon!Vicky and vampire!Eleanor making life exciting for watcher!Chidi and slayer!Tahani.

Eleanor watches the tape. Sweet and hot.

Tahani and Eleanor break into Michael's office and get drunk. Really nails the voices.

"C'mon, Buck," he says. "Do you remember... we used to climb onto the roof on the nights it got too hot to sleep. Up over the fire escape." Bucky stays just behind him as they work their way upward. "I don't remember," he says, not unkindly but wanting to be honest. "I don't remember much." I don't know if I'm him, he wants to say. I don't know if the shape of me fits with the shape of him - with the shape of you. One morning, I'm afraid you'll look at me and realize I'm a stranger and your friend is dead and then where will I be. He can't see Steve's face in the dark so they just climb. Steve gets captured and experimented on, so the Avengers pull back together to rescue him. tightly plotted, suspenseful, and full of feels. Heed the warnings, though.

Natasha vets Sam before the start of CATWS. Quite thoroughly. *g*

When they lay together at night, skin to skin and legs tangled, Chirrut's habit was to run his hands down Baze's back—to listen to the sounds of the temple and the sleeping city around them, to feel the alleys and streets and by-ways and squares in colours and etched lines beneath his palms. It was the kind of mantra that would have scandalised their old masters, but it made smiles come as readily as prayers to Chirrut's lips. Baze's faith burned bright for years. NiJedha and its temple stood for a thousand generations. And then: gone, all of it. So sad and lovely. *sobs*

Anakin, Ahoska, and Rex have some downtime after a mission. Aw, this is so soft and sweet.

When Inej woke later, startled awake by the scrape of rope against her wrists, she looked across to find his hands gripping hers in his sleep. The sight of their fingers tangled together made her want to weep, or scream, or laugh. Here were two of the deadliest people in the Barrel, holding onto each other in the middle of the night like children afraid of monsters under their bed. Those children had died a long time ago. They had become monsters themselves and raged wars because of it. But Inej had learned from her years on the Wraith that even the sea, great and furious and wild as it was, grew calm. It ebbed and flowed under the call of the moon. It lulled into soft pushes and pulls. Was this how you learned to love being a monster? By holding another monster between your hands like they are walls, like you might fall apart if you let go? Inej returns to Ketterdam, harder and darker after three years at sea, but she and Kaz find their way back to each other anyway.

Jessica helps Foggy clean up Matt's apartment. *sniffle*