Title: Somewhere that’s green
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 2,097 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 493 - Garden
Summary: Jack has a proposition for Ianto that includes something he’s never had before.

( Read more... )

Title: gardens
Fandom: none
Rating: G
Content notes: None apply
Summary: icons of pretty gardens


( gardens )

Villains Are Destined to Die, Vol. 1 by Gwon Gyeoeul

The original novel.

( Read more... )

Title: Uncle Spester
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Author: veronyxk84
Characters/Pairing: Buffy/Spike
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: some coarse language
Word count: 100 (Google Docs)
Spoilers/Setting: Set in a post-series future where Buffy and Spike are an established couple.
Summary: Buffy and Spike are decorating their house for Halloween as a treat for their niece Joyce (Dawn’s daughter).
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction created for fun and no profit has been made. All rights belong to the respective owners.

Challenge: #493 - Garden

Also for: Carve by anythingdrabble, End in -ay by 100words, Melodramatic + Uncle + Wednesday by sweetandshort

—
( READ: Uncle Spester )

Sanders' Union Speaker: Containing a Great Variety of Exercises for Declamation, Both in Prose and Verse by Charles Walton Sanders

Another collection of extracts for the scholar. This differs from his Union Readers and New Readers in that it is, overtly, aimed at performance before crowds. Some have directions on how they are to be staged, down to the observation that the poem about being a man is more comic when told by a young boy than an older one.

Many more comic pieces. Also, the time of publication is clear, since many pieces directly address the war. More speeches and poems and fewer essays. But its selection does cast quite a light on the times.

Title: Garden Party
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Explicit Sex
Fandom: S.W.A.T.
Relationships: Donovan Rocker/Molly Hicks
Tags: Getting Together, Monsterfucking, Succubus Molly, Human Rocker, Consensual Everything, Sounding, Anal Sex,
Summary: Rocker finds the garden alluring during the party, ready to get his deepest desires filled.
Word Count: 3,217

Minor spoilers below for One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

I didn't pick this book up so much as had it breathlessly thrust into my arms (along with the sequel) by a dear friend who I couldn't disappoint by refusing. I swore to give it a real chance, despite the fact that she and I frequently disagree about what is quality writing, and initially I was able to sink into the conceits of the story. I enjoyed the Nightmare and his relationship with Elspeth (although I suspected I would be disappointed that he did not end up being the love interest, and I was right about that), the general mystery of Blunder, and the way even the characters themselves seem to know little about how the magic of their world works.

The initial set-up chapters were the most enjoyable; once the real plot reared its head, the book started falling apart for me.

A significant part of that is the romance, which had me rolling my eyes at various points. You could make a drinking game out of how often Raven--sorry, Ravyn--is referred to as "the captain of the destriers" instead of his name. I don't mind that Elspeth and Ravyn's romance is telegraphed early and clear--sometimes you're into someone from the get-go--but as a love interest, Ravyn is a surly, controlling killjoy who believes he has the right to demand other people behave the way he wants them to. He intentionally keeps information from Elspeth and then gets angry with her for acting without that knowledge. Then again, maybe they fit, since they both seem to immediately dislike most other people around them.

The book wants Ravyn to be sexy with his competency and knowledge, but he often comes off as infuriatingly patronizing and Elspeth embarrassingly infantile. The hissy fit she throws when he doesn't want to pretend to be courting her was cringe-inducing. Girl maybe it's just not about you, a woman this guy has known for less than 48 hours.

The writing itself quickly becomes repetitive, and the author lives in terror we might forget a single character's eye color. The rhymes which begin each chapter get old, as they themselves are internally repetitive, and not very clever.

None of the characters are ever allowed to do anything embarrassing, because that might render them marginally less sexy. Elspeth is, as are so many female main characters in romance novels, a klutz, which gives her plenty of opportunity to be cutely embarrassed over absolutely nothing without doing anything that might actually be embarrassing. 

Blunder is a mishmash of European cultures and time periods without taking clear inspiration from any of them, which I could almost let pass, except that at any of the times which lend inspiration to Blunder, Elspeth would have scandalized by repeatedly and openly spending time alone with single adult men and no chaperone. The book clearly takes vibes inspiration only.

At the halfway mark where I ended my journey through Blunder, our little gaggle of card thieves does not seem particularly competent, and I can't say I have any interest in how their adventures resolve. I'll have to tell my friend they're just not for me.

Title: the beauty of dangerous things
Fandom: Thunderbolts (MCU)
Characters: Robert “Bob” Reynolds & John Walker
Length: 887 words
Rating: Teen
Warnings: vague suicidal ideation references, mental health issues, poisonous plants, hurt/comfort
Notes: written for fan_flashworks “garden” and Post-July Breaks Bingo “There’s something wrong with me.”
Summary: Bob finds John’s greenhouse filled with poisonous plants.

( the beauty of dangerous things )

Title: Fraser's Garden
Author: lucy_roman
Rating: Teen and up
Summary: Fraser has always loved gardens
Warnings: Death fic
Pairing: Fraser/RayK
Word count: 344

( Fraser's Garden )

Continuing the Mabinogion Tetrology discussion started here.

Walton's adaptation of the Fourth Branch of the Welsh Mabinogi is her first major book, written in the 1930s, and this may be why it's a bit rough. It also inherits an oddly structured, complex story and navigates it faithfully. It's an ambitious attempt at adding modern psychological depth and realism to this tale, and it's a great idea but not successfully executed, in my opinion. For me as a non-Welsh, lay reader, this is an endeavor that deserves to be redone. The potential is there, but the story falters for two main reasons: too much telling vs. showing and the fact that it's just hard to write a compelling story about unlikable characters.

See my previous post for a spoilery summary. Spoilery thoughts follow... ( Read more... )

Title: The Garden of Selene
Fandom: Ducktales (2017)
Rating: G
Summary: A drawing of the garden of Selene.

( Read more... )

Fandom: due South
Characters/Pairings: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Ray Vecchio, Diefenbaker, Frannie Vecchio, Margaret Thatcher, Armando Langoustini, Victoria Metcalf
Rating: Teen
Length: 60,820 (whole series) Real Boys is 22,820, Real Worlds is 38,000
Content Notes: Author "chose not to warn", but I don't think any AO3 warnings apply.
Creator Links: MSSalieri (aka Troyswann, Salieri): MSSalieri on AO3 and Salieri's old site on Wayback
Themes: Uncommon settings, Friends to lovers, Action/adventure, AU: Science Fiction, AU: robots & AI, Fandom Classics, Worldbuilding

Summaries: for Real Boys:
Ray looked out from between his fingers. The creature was there, on the other side of Mr. Thug, and it had lots of silvery fur and teeth that would be gleaming really nicely if the 'liner hadn't gone and taken most of the light with it. Between Mr. Thug and Ray, there was a pair of tall boots. Tilting his head back, Ray looked up, up past the red jacket all the way to the head, which was wearing a wide-brimmed hat. On the face under the hat there was a small smile.

"What the," Ray said. "Who the."

for Real Worlds:
"His existence is a violation of Armistice Statute—"
"God laws."
"Yes."
It took only one long stride for Ray to get into Thatcher's space and to her credit she didn’t back down. "You're gonna quote God laws at me?" He jabbed her with a stiff finger. "Who's playin God here, huh? You wave the fucking God laws at me while you got Fraser strapped to a table somewhere so you can put his fucking brains in a blender and take what he is? Look in a fucking mirror, lady."
"For some reason I can't fathom, Mr. Kowalski, I like you, so I'm going to give you a piece of advice." Her chin came up. "You might watch your words. Unless you want to join Fraser on charges of sedition."
"What?" Vecchio was incredulous. "You're yankin me, right? Fraser’s a kitchen appliance, but he's man enough to be brought up on charges? How the Jee does that compute?"

A sequel to Real Boys:
Three years raising sheep on Clementine, and it all comes crashing down in a skip storm, some consequential psychosis, a kidnapping and a global catastrophe. He may be the universe's punching bag, but Ray will fight for freak love. He's getting Fraser back, God Laws be damned.

Reccer's Notes: There are very few AUs that put the due South characters into spaaace! This is a fusion with the Bladerunner universe where Fraser's an android looking for the killers of his AI father and partners up with Ray Kowalski, a futuristic but very recognisable CPD cop. Salieri's a marvelous writer who takes aspects of the Bladerunner universe and expands on them with extraordinary worldbuilding to tell a complex and riveting tale. There's a gradually developing relationship between Ray and Fraser, nefarious villains, and anti-android laws that wrench the boys apart so that both Rays have to fight to get Fraser back. A triumph, and a due South classic. Here's a quote from a comment by Moth: "The other day I was talking to a friend about Philip K. Dick adaptations and I said that it was funny how one of the best adaptations out there was a due South fanfic. So I went and searched for it to see if it lived up to my memories and it actually exceeded them. This is the best type of AU, one that transplants the canon characters, storylines, and themes to a new universe, while also commenting on the both the canon as well as the nature of fiction." It's also a bloody good read!

Fanwork Links: Real Life series on AO3
Podfics of both stories: Real Boys read by Zabira & Real Worlds read by Luzula
Fanart for the series is here (scroll to the end)

Title: A Place To Relax
Fandom: Torchwood
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 641
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: The garden in the TARDIS is the ideal place for Ianto to relax when everything he’s dealing with starts to weigh him down.
Content Notes: Nada. Set in my Through Time and Space ‘Verse.
Written For: Challenge 493: Garden.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.

◊ my desk ♥ tired Tags: by: badly_knitted, c: garden, f: torchwood

The Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine, Vol. 3 by Grrr

Spoilers ahead for the earlier volumes.

( Read more... )

Stage-Land by Jerome K. Jerome

A work in which Jerome scores off the stereotypes of theater in his day. Those who have read Three Men And A Boat will recognize the style and humor.

Title: Autumn Gardening
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (ACD) - retirement era
Rating: G
Length: 585 words
Summary: Watson is missing the summer colours

Fandom: Nail Polish (Industry) (the AO3 tag, probably worded to disambiguate from at least two bands by that name. I’m calling it Nail Polish Blogosphere, since the characters are using and reviewing rather than manufacturing the nail polish.)
Pairings/Characters: Gen; OCs
Rating: General Audiences
Length: Only Once: 449; Only Once Remix: 1,960
Content Notes: modern in-universe folklore, nail polish connoisseurship, possible unreality, the sad beauty of transience
Creator Links: (AO3)Sineala; (Dreamwidth) sineala; (Tumblr) sineala; (AO3) woodpusher
Theme: Uncommon Settings, Folklore & Fairytales, Friendship, Magic, Social Media
Summary:

Sineala: The story of the most beautiful nail polish in the world.

woodpusher: Like a good manicurist, this story fills in some plot holes and smooths some rough edges from Only Once.

I was trying to boost my readership so welcome to the newly gifted.

Comments are welcome!

Author’s Notes: ( Cut_for_length. )

Sineala

Lysimache

woodpusher

Sineala

Meltha

kuramas30

Viridian5

Qem

Lysimache

Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Pairings/Characters: Stede/Ed and Stede/Ed/izzy
Rating: G
Length: 2252 words
Creator Links: charlieloverboy
Theme: Uncommon settings, unconventional format & style 

Summary: FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
Video title: “Blackbeard and the Gentleman Pirate Answer the Web's Most Searched Questions | WIRED”
From WIRED Entertainment

Reccer's Notes: This fic is written like it's the transcript of a WIRED interview, the ones where the celebrities answer google's most searched for questions about them.   It's a modern AU where Ed and Stede are rock stars and its implied that Izzy is Ed's manager.  I'm not sure how the author did it, but they got the tone and how most celebrities speak in these interviews spot on, while also telling us a narrative about Ed and Stede and heavily implying Ed/Stede/Izzy.

Fanwork Links: AO3

Our new challenge is:

GARDEN

fan_flashworks

treonb

ffw_social

ffw_social

The Wrench challenge is now closed. Here are the entries:

The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: A Difficult Decision by badly_knitted
S.W.A.T.: Fan Fiction: From Worst To Better by darkjediqueen
Discworld: Fanfiction: Ridcully and the Stuck Drawer by smallhobbit
Terraria: Fanfiction: Flames of the Heart by infinitum_noctem
Torchwood: Fanfic: Whodunnit by m_findlow
Unchained Love: fanfic: an irresistible force by teaotter
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Fanfic: Handyman by veronyxk84
Greek Myth: Fanfic: Homeward Bound by drabblewriter
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fan Fic: Two Ants by apachefirecat
垂涎 (Desire): Fanfic: small with insipidity (dripping with—) by bluedreaming
White Collar: fanfic: Thursday by highlander_ii

Also, congratulations to those who earned badges and name tags this round:

china_shop earned 25 Challenge Streak (SILVER), The Map Maker, The Map Maker (SILVER), The Prognosticator (SILVER), The Prognosticator (GOLD), and The Time Turner.

\o/ \o/ \o/

Thank you to everyone who participated! You're now free to post your entries to your journal or wherever else you'd like. If you're archiving on AO3, you can add your work to our fan_flashworks collection there.

The Community Report and Creator Report will be updated shortly with the entries from this round. See our FAQ for more details.

Next challenge coming right up.

Title: Thursday
Fandom: White Collar
Rating: PG-13
Length: short
Content notes: none apply
Summary: Mozzie needs help again

( Thursday )

Fandom: Hilda the Plus-Size Pinup
Pairings/Characters: Gen; Hilda
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 100
Creator Tags: IN SPACE!, Drabble, wonder, Yuletide Treat, Yuletide Madness, Drabble Invitational
Creator Links: (AO3) Missy; (Dreamwidth) bring_me_sugar

Theme: Uncommon Settings, Drabble, In Space, Old Fandoms, Sense Of Wonder, Small Fandoms

Summary: Hilda makes it to space - the universe is vast, but she's one with it.

Author’s Notes: For Topaz_Eyes.

Reccer's Notes: Hilda takes her exploration of The Great Outdoors to the next level. This is a gift-wrapped illo-op; I’m envisioning her in a brilliant red Latex Space Suit with an emergency backflap—in homage to her winter longjohns.

Fanwork Links: Here I Am, by Missy for Topaz_Eyes, for Yuletide Madness 2020.

Our theme for October is uncommon settings!

These are places you don't commonly see represented in fanworks, either in a specific fandom or fandom in general.

The tag for this round is: theme: uncommon settings

If you're just joining us, be sure to check out our policy on content notes. Content notes aren't required, but they're nice to include in your recs, especially if a fanwork has untagged content that readers may wish to know about in advance.

( Rules! )

Fandom: 垂涎 (Desire)
Mods please use the f: cdrama (category) tag
Rating: M
Length: 100 words
Content notes: blood, thoughts of injuring an antagonist physically, moderate(?) gore
Author notes: The title is from Amsterdam by Yao Feng, and EKELÖF'S DREAM by Peter Riley.
Summary: The episode 14 scene in the restaurant.

( Read more... )

Fandom: due South
Characters/Pairings: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Diefenbaker
Rating: Teen
Length: 1929
Creator Links: seascribble on AO3
Themes: Food and cooking, First time, Friends to lovers, Domestic

Summary: Ray is actually starting to like oatmeal.

Reccer's Notes: Set towards the end of the quest to find the Hand of Franklin and afterwards, once their relationships's established, this story weaves together scenes featuring Ray Kowalski, Fraser, Dief, and food of various types - some delicious, some less so, and all telling the tale of their relationship. Lovely.

Fanwork Links: A Balanced Diet (or, Four Vaguely Interrelated Vignettes about Ray, Fraser, and Food)