Fics and Recs and Stuff: A mishmash post
Jan. 10th, 2020 07:34 pmStuff
To get life stuff out of the way first, I did go to teach at the folk school in the mountains back in the second week of December, and it turned out better than I expected! I ended up with 6 students instead of the 4 the office had informed me of (lesson learned: call a few days ahead to see if any of the local/standby students have been admitted), which is an entirely respectable and teachable number, and they were ALL beginners. I have never taught a class there where everyone was starting from the same level, and it was actually quite relaxing by contrast. They all learned the same things at the same time! Amazing! Several of them were already planning to come back next year, so of course this will never happen again. (Also, I just got the course review sheets back, the big thing causing me anxiety from last year, and no one had anything negative to say about my teaching, only about the new chairs in the classroom, which was totally fair; I complained about them as well.)
*
Fics
I got basically nothing written over the holidays because M had shoulder surgery on Christmas Eve and then there were a bunch of family events as assorted out-of-town people came and went, most of which I wanted to go to (not least in part because it meant I didn't have to cook.) However, after holiday craziness was done, I finally managed two small things!
Beacon River - a Virgin River/Teen Wolf human AU mashup not!fic (Peter/Chris, with background Sterek and Berica mentioned)
This tiny ficlet/scene from my fiber witch!Dex Check Please AU, based on the tweet by the guy who tried to order a fisherman's sweater and ended up with a box of yarn instead (Nurseydex)
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Recs
So I have this self-inflicted problem where I know too much stuff, through both practical experience and osmosis from my spouse, about both guns and computers, to the point that I can't read most 00Q fic. But I have hit upon a blessed fic-writing duo who write magical 00Q fic that doesn't hit any of my weird "I have to x out of this now" thresholds: BootsnBlossoms & Kryptaria. Favorites so far:
Ordinary Numbers (the rec that sent me down this rabbithole via![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
swingandswirl), in which Q is a (very deliberately) ordinary government IT help desk minion that Bond gets routed to on mission by mistake rather than the actual MI6 support division. Then he keeps calling on purpose, of course, because Q is more helpful than any of them had ever been! And maybe also kind of wooing Q with, uh, unique trinkets from his travels...
Red Queen to Overwatch, a fabulous neighbors AU in which Q is the reclusive youngest Holmes brother and Bond moves in across the hall. Q starts looking into Bond just to confirm he wasn't someone sent to spy on/"protect" him for Mycroft, but then finds him actually interesting. Things progress from there... (Cameos by Mycroft, Sherlock, and John Watson, implied ace!Sherlock.)
Bewitched, a delightful Bewitched crossover in which Q is revealed to be Adam Stevens, Samantha and Darren's son from the show. His sister wants him to take a long-overdue vacation to come housesit for her, but a security threat means Q isn't allowed to leave without an escort. Bond gets assigned, of course, leading to them staying together in Tabitha's magical witch's cottage while Q tries desperately not to reveal that magic is real. The talking cats don't help.
And now some books. If you've been following the RWA implosion via Twitter, you'll understand the incredible glee I've taken in reading Adriana Herrera's Dreamer series, which follows a group of four friends, all sons of Afro-Latinx immigrants, as they grow into themselves and fall in love. The three books out so far are all m/m (looks like the last one with be m/f), and the first one's major stressor is the constant petty persecution of the two leads by the local Nice White Lady of exactly the sort the RWA has been dealing with; watching them deal with her is both relatable and satisfying. (Leads in that one: food truck owner and YA librarian, set in Ithaca.) The second one deals with the stressor of navigating income inequality, as well as different levels of white passing privilege. (Leads: millionaire philanthropist and social worker, set in NYC.) I haven't read the third one yet, but it's going to feature an activist professor and the ADA, with all the attendant law enforcement issues the previous two books have alluded to. (Set in Ithaca again.)
On the lighter and even tropier side, Jackie Lau's Holidays with the Wongs series of novellas has been utterly delightful to follow along with. If you like holiday romcoms, but wish they were more racially diverse, came with fewer surprise Christian morals in the second half, and were set in Canada, well, these are the books for you! They're just fun. Like the Dreamer series, there will be four of them, this time following a set of siblings whose parents and grandparents embark on a hilariously doomed plan to get all the kids set up. The first book's trope is a one-night stand that turns into more; the second one is some good old-fashioned exes snowed in together; the third one is fake dating with a side of suggestive Pictionary competition. I can't wait to see what the fourth one will bring!
To get life stuff out of the way first, I did go to teach at the folk school in the mountains back in the second week of December, and it turned out better than I expected! I ended up with 6 students instead of the 4 the office had informed me of (lesson learned: call a few days ahead to see if any of the local/standby students have been admitted), which is an entirely respectable and teachable number, and they were ALL beginners. I have never taught a class there where everyone was starting from the same level, and it was actually quite relaxing by contrast. They all learned the same things at the same time! Amazing! Several of them were already planning to come back next year, so of course this will never happen again. (Also, I just got the course review sheets back, the big thing causing me anxiety from last year, and no one had anything negative to say about my teaching, only about the new chairs in the classroom, which was totally fair; I complained about them as well.)
*
Fics
I got basically nothing written over the holidays because M had shoulder surgery on Christmas Eve and then there were a bunch of family events as assorted out-of-town people came and went, most of which I wanted to go to (not least in part because it meant I didn't have to cook.) However, after holiday craziness was done, I finally managed two small things!
Beacon River - a Virgin River/Teen Wolf human AU mashup not!fic (Peter/Chris, with background Sterek and Berica mentioned)
This tiny ficlet/scene from my fiber witch!Dex Check Please AU, based on the tweet by the guy who tried to order a fisherman's sweater and ended up with a box of yarn instead (Nurseydex)
*
Recs
So I have this self-inflicted problem where I know too much stuff, through both practical experience and osmosis from my spouse, about both guns and computers, to the point that I can't read most 00Q fic. But I have hit upon a blessed fic-writing duo who write magical 00Q fic that doesn't hit any of my weird "I have to x out of this now" thresholds: BootsnBlossoms & Kryptaria. Favorites so far:
Ordinary Numbers (the rec that sent me down this rabbithole via
swingandswirl), in which Q is a (very deliberately) ordinary government IT help desk minion that Bond gets routed to on mission by mistake rather than the actual MI6 support division. Then he keeps calling on purpose, of course, because Q is more helpful than any of them had ever been! And maybe also kind of wooing Q with, uh, unique trinkets from his travels...Red Queen to Overwatch, a fabulous neighbors AU in which Q is the reclusive youngest Holmes brother and Bond moves in across the hall. Q starts looking into Bond just to confirm he wasn't someone sent to spy on/"protect" him for Mycroft, but then finds him actually interesting. Things progress from there... (Cameos by Mycroft, Sherlock, and John Watson, implied ace!Sherlock.)
Bewitched, a delightful Bewitched crossover in which Q is revealed to be Adam Stevens, Samantha and Darren's son from the show. His sister wants him to take a long-overdue vacation to come housesit for her, but a security threat means Q isn't allowed to leave without an escort. Bond gets assigned, of course, leading to them staying together in Tabitha's magical witch's cottage while Q tries desperately not to reveal that magic is real. The talking cats don't help.
And now some books. If you've been following the RWA implosion via Twitter, you'll understand the incredible glee I've taken in reading Adriana Herrera's Dreamer series, which follows a group of four friends, all sons of Afro-Latinx immigrants, as they grow into themselves and fall in love. The three books out so far are all m/m (looks like the last one with be m/f), and the first one's major stressor is the constant petty persecution of the two leads by the local Nice White Lady of exactly the sort the RWA has been dealing with; watching them deal with her is both relatable and satisfying. (Leads in that one: food truck owner and YA librarian, set in Ithaca.) The second one deals with the stressor of navigating income inequality, as well as different levels of white passing privilege. (Leads: millionaire philanthropist and social worker, set in NYC.) I haven't read the third one yet, but it's going to feature an activist professor and the ADA, with all the attendant law enforcement issues the previous two books have alluded to. (Set in Ithaca again.)
On the lighter and even tropier side, Jackie Lau's Holidays with the Wongs series of novellas has been utterly delightful to follow along with. If you like holiday romcoms, but wish they were more racially diverse, came with fewer surprise Christian morals in the second half, and were set in Canada, well, these are the books for you! They're just fun. Like the Dreamer series, there will be four of them, this time following a set of siblings whose parents and grandparents embark on a hilariously doomed plan to get all the kids set up. The first book's trope is a one-night stand that turns into more; the second one is some good old-fashioned exes snowed in together; the third one is fake dating with a side of suggestive Pictionary competition. I can't wait to see what the fourth one will bring!
