Sugardy Candy

Betwixt and Between, Mycroft, Sherlock, John, Sherlock, by ivywatcher

An Empty Station, Lestrade, John, Sherlock, Reichenbach, by ivywatcher

All destinations approximate, general, humour, time-travel, Avengers, by jonesandashes, pollyrepeat

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Am still reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, as I have been for the last few weeks. It's not bad, definitely has a whiff of Judith Merkle Riley that I appreciate (except JMR wrote from the POV of female characters which I have an absolute soft spot for) and that I am sort of cognizant that Mantel is relating the events leading to a super-important part of Britain's history. And it's entertaining. But I definitely have to take it in small doses because present tense narratives - grrr. Do not like.

Picked up this book (haven't started it) John Saturnall's Feast by a (as one might guess) man called Lawrence Norfolk. Apparently A.S. Byatt said it's "Brilliant" on the cover, which reminds me that I really ought to take such recs with a liberal pinch of salt.

Apparently (from the blurb) the protagonist's mother once told her son of an ancient Feast, etc, and in the book the protagonist will one day serve such a feast. I was seduced by the idea of a man carrying out his mother's legacy and serving loads of lovely food. It was a moment of weakness.

I'm getting more and more leery as I browse through the book. Here's the third to fifth paragraphs from the first page: ( Read more... )

Non-western fandom friending meme from oyceter

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Slow Dancing In A Burning Room, Bond/Q, Skyfall, by feelslikefire.

Robot Trip or, Armed And Dangerous, Tony, Dummy, Steve, roadtrip, Avengers, by sam_storyteller

Acquisition crossover of Avengers/Sentinel, Sentinel 'verse, Sentinel!Clint + Guide!Coulson, WIP, by Aoife

But the Heart, Steve/Tony, Peter Parker, Avengers plus Spiderman, by kahn

Hikago Deathmatch round 3, theme of "umami":

Take One for the Team, Ochi, by akota

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Signed up for cottoncandy_bingo

( bingo card here )

I'm expecting to be very busy when school starts. Which is in two weeks. And yet here I am, signing up for a fic thingy. Well, well, well!

Updates make me so gleeful.

Previously recced: Four (or Five) Reasons for Kidnapping Tony Stark, Tony/Steve, Avengers, by scifigrl47. It is now completed and in addition to previous angst, now contains romance, crack, the hold-up of a yarn shop and knitting aliens.

ETA: Life as a Tree House, Avengers, by kellifer_fic

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One rant, from recent days of browsing fics:

If you have to apologise for your grammar, use a beta reader. That smacks hugely of hypocriticism, because I've never used a beta reader in my life. I mean, I'm fairly confident about my grammar, but that's just my own perception. Who knows how many times my grammar has caused people to wince? But the thing is, you can be like me: stupidly confident about my grammar and therefore never apologising for it. Apologising is a cry for help! So maybe it's better to just get help first and you can save your readers from wincing - or backbuttoning. I can stand a few typos and strange wording/grammar but there are limits.

There's something hilarious about the fact that my f-list is still happy about Avengers; it's been nearly four weeks. Deservedly so, but funny too.

Four (or Five) Reasons for Kidnapping Tony Stark, Avengers, Iron Man, WIP, by scifigrl47

By same author and in same fandoms: The Act of Creation Will be Your Salvation, Tony, Dummy, Jarvis.

Downstairs, in Baker Street, references to many fandoms, Sherlock, by bethan_b_bad

Only in fandom.

So, before my exams ended I had all kinds of plans for what to do after. I would knit! Read! Knit and read! Make jewellery*! Write! Watch TV! Write and watch TV!

And then exams ended and I became thoroughly unmotivated, content just to sit on my ass all day. (Although I must say the dream (nightmare)** about flunking exams didn't help.)

Anyway. Got some motivation back now. Sent Christmas cards. Cleaned desk. Knitted (and knitted). Read (and reading).

Fics:

Limited Release, X-Men (First Class), White Collar-ish AU, Erik/Charles, by rageprufrock

These Three Things Remain, Avengers, Steve/Tony,by Siria

When the Lights Go On Again, Avengers, Steve/Tony, link is to chapter 1 (19 chapters in all), completed, by seanchai and elspethdixon

Books:

Persuasion, by Jane Austen. Re-read, but in fairness, a very, very infrequent re-read, and it was in my kindle. (Sense and Sensibility is more my speed.) Fun to notice (again) all the details and all the swipes Austen takes at pretentious people.

Four Souls, by Louise Erdrich. Connected to Tracks, contains seriously scary Fleur Pillager and always hilarious Nanapush. A trifle wordier than I like, and perhaps a little too declaratory, but still awesome. I don't always like "lyrical writing" in my reading, but when Erdrich is good, it doesn't feel tedious or overwrought; it just works.

The Rich and the Dead, edited by Nelson DeMille. Collection of mystery short stories. Some interesting.


*Sort of. I'm an amateur amateur jewellery maker. My expertise extends only to making earrings by attaching pretty beads to earring hooks.

**I don't think my subconcious was being fair when it created a scenario where I flunked an exam on Shakespeare, and to be even more insulting, it was on Hamlet, a play which featured in my school career three times and which I still know pretty well.