Hi! So, I have been in Japan for a WHOLE month! It was amazing but very exhausting. I didn't read or listen to things anywhere near as much as I thought I would, mostly because any free moment of time was spent flat out sleeping. However, there were a few things I did read/listen to that I would like to share.

Podcast
The Twenty Percent True Podcast by Carolyn Rahaman.

Season 1 is called 'Modern Monsters' and is complete. These are essentially short stories, read by the author, about 'monsters' like mermaids, vampires, gargoyles, etc, and the modern world. They are all intensely imaginative and beautifully drawn. Some are upsetting (the author warns at the beginning of the episode), some are funny, and some are deeply thought prevoking, and all are impeccably written. My favourite is The Roommate about a tired grad student meeting a Vampire for a roommate interview. I would read 1000000000K about these two and their roommate shenanigans (*cough* romance *cough*).

Podfic
Wizarding by consent by Lazulus written by sixthlight - Rivers of London - Peter Grant/Thomas Nightingale - 5 hours 45 minutes

Fifteen years after a headless body was discovered in Covent Garden, Thomas Nightingale is still the last wizard in Britain, and Peter Grant, the newly appointed Commander for Community Engagement in the Metropolitan Police Service, has just learned the truth about the existence of the Folly.

He has one or two questions.

This podfic is super awesome. The story completely spins the established dynamics from the books, and this gives the podfic an opportunity to do such fun things with the characters voices. Nightingale is so long suffering and hilarious, but his affection still shines through. The way he calls Peter 'Commander' is nominally a sign of respect, but within the narration, it highlights it as a slightly inside joke and an insult. I love how the listener gets to see a little bit of his pettiness. Nightingale is outside his comfort zone and doesn't have the comforting veil of authority he has in the books to cover up how upsetting he finds change. Lazulus does a great job showing the slow build of the relationship and how Nightingale changes over time. Peter, even as a 40-ish police Commander, is still an enthusiastic magic/science puppy, I love how the tone of the dialogue can switch so effectively between Peter being serious and him being adorkable.

The side characters are also done particularly well. Tyburn is so posh and dramatic, Abigail is so determined, and Beverly is such a delight.

You will, obviously, get more of out of this podfic if you know the source material. HOWEVER, because it is a complete canon divergent AU from the very beginning (as in, what if they met 15years later than in canon), you can definitely enjoy this podfic without canon knowledge.


Fic
With Great Power, Something Something by Sharksdontsleep - Spider-Man: Homecoming - Michelle Jones/Peter Parker - 15978 words

Hey Liz,
Apparently, I'm the captain of the Decathlon team. Or something. I was just wondering if you had any quizzes or guides that I could use.
Thanks,
MJ

MJ is soooo great! She has to deal with being team captain, spider-man drama, and relationships! Life is hard. I really love that her connection with Liz is used as a framework for the story, I'm glad Liz wasn't just swept away. The ensemble cast is adorable too.

Book
Bloodline by Claudia Gray is a Leia centric Star Wars novel, set about 40yrs after the end of Return of the Jedi and, I think, 6yrs before The Force Awakens (for context, Leia is a senator, and Ben is still off training with Luke). It is a tense, political thriller full of action and intrigue, but also hits great emotional notes. It does a great job bridging the original trilogy with the new, especially with regards to how the political landscape changed, and how the First Order came to be. I occasionally found a few too many parallels with some current events.

Leia is done so well, she is super competent, she kicks ass and takes names, but the novel also allows a great insight into her emotional landscape. Despite being a highly plotted and action packed novel, the story still touches on her relationships: with Han, her son, Luke; but also engages with her grief over her adoptive father, Bail Organa, and her home planet of Alderaan. I personally loved how the novel dealt with her inability to truly reconcile with the idea of Darth Vader as her biological father, and how she was unable to make the distinction Luke (and the movies) make between Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader.

Sometimes the hindesight I had from TFA made reading it painful, because I knew what must be coming, the book plays with that knowledge in interesting ways. I had Leia feelings ALL over the place. This is, so far, the only Star Wars novel I've read and I highly recommend it if you have any strong feelings about Leia.

1) [Podfic] Jess & Tanya by readbyanalise010, text written by anna_unfolding - 2014 NHL commercial - Jess/Tanya (original characters) - 7 min
Summary (mine):Twitter!fic: hockey rivalries.

I loved this a ton. I remembered loving the story when it was being told over twitter, but resigned myself to never seeing it again. This made it extra exciting to see the podfic when it was posted, not to mention that it was read by readbyanalise010. The performance is subtle and nuanced, and for such a short podfic, it manages to capture the wistful atmosphere really well. I particularly loved how the snide little rivalry comments were performed, always a bit mean, but never malicious. As I know well, sport rivalries amongst friends and family have to walk a fine line. I can be mean to my brother's football team ONLY when they are playing my team, that is a definite rule. This podfic is very short and it is well worth watching the advert first (linked above), but it is not necessary.

2) [Podfic] A Congenial Task by Sunquistadora, text written by girlmarauders - Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Amy Santiago/Rosa Diaz - 27 min
Summary: Amy & Rosa participate in the oldest casefic cliché of the century by having to pretend to be dating in order to infiltrate a gay bar.

Brooklyn nine-nine is one of my new favourite shows and I want ALL the Rosa/Amy in the land. This is SO amazing! It's a delightfully written story, and the performance continually made me smile and laugh. Sunquistadora does such a brilliant job with Amy's inner monologue, my favourite line is probably: 'Maybe Amy should take a seminar on voice projection', it had perfect comic timing and was so good I nearly spat out my tea in laughter.


3) [Art] Rosa & Amy by Kisariiem - Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Rosa/Amy

This art work, made for the Rare Pair Fest is awesome! There are two pieces, one is glossy and sharp, and the other is cute and sweet. Both are super adorable.

4) [Art] Cello by lynndyre - Young Avengers - Kate Bishop/America Chavez
Summary: Kate plays for America.

A beautiful piece and you can really see the affection between the two characters. America is bare foot, and Kate is wearing stripy socks and that detail just make them look so comfortable with each other.

5) [Fic] somewhere, someone must know the ending by maleficently - Once Upon a Time - Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Summary: “I’m here because... I think my kid is having some kind of delusional breakdown because he can’t cope with the fact that ... Mayor Mills and I split up.”

Dr. Hopper pushes his glasses up his nose in a measured movement. “What makes you think that?”

“Well, among other things, he thinks his mother is about to cut Mary Margaret Blanchard’s heart out of her chest, before pulverizing it and sending her into a coma that only her true love can rescue her from.”

[AU; here, 'fairy tale land' is merely a product of Henry's imagination during a difficult time.]

Amazing! I saw this highly reced on twitter, and decided to give it a go and OMG SO MANY FEELINGS! The story begins with the two broken up due to infidelity, which is usually a huge no go for me, but it's handled SO WELL, the forgiveness and slow build towards trust is beautiful.

I thought I'd share some things I've enjoyed lately.

1) [Fic] Don't Speak Against the Sun by zeffyamethyst - Original fic - OFC/OFC - 22K
Summary: adversus solem ne loquitor.

Sometimes it's not about winning, but how you play. Other times it's about doing whatever it takes to come out on top. Like, literally on top because Sarah enjoys holding Tish down.

This is such an enjoyable story, and is filled with lovely things that I adore - fuck buddies to more, misunderstandings, obliviousness, secret pining, team feels, women being awesome at things, and more. It's based on a fictional sport, which made for great world building. The characters have particularly well written dialogue and zeffyamethyst makes the obliviousness and misunderstandings believable. I have read this story at least 3 times, and I highly recommend it.

2) [Podfic] Serious read by exmanhater, written by Toft - Legally Blonde - Vivian Kensington/Elle Woods - 55min.
Summary: Elle's always noticed women. Elle, Enid, and Vivian, lovers and friends in law school, learning how to be who they are.

Legally Blonde \o/ It's a really well written story and it's brilliantly read. exmanhater gets Elle's tone down pat and made for a really fun listen. Elle is such an interesting character to me, she has so many layers and I loved how this podfic reflected that.

3) [Fic] I can tell that we are gonna be friends by dollsome - Bomb Girls - Kate Andrews/Betty McRae - 1701 words
Summary: Betty’s new chemistry lab partner is named Kate Andrews. She’s new at Victory High School, with uncontrollable red curls and eyes that remind Betty of a squirrel from a Disney movie. (Is there a Disney movie with a squirrel in it? It’s been awhile since Betty checked.)

High School AU \o/ These girls are so cute, and this story gives them nice things :) Milkshakes \o/ Cuteness \o/ I wish I was more coherent about this, but oh well, just read it. They are going to have a 'friend adventure' *star eyes*

4) [Podfic] It's Going Down (I'm Yelling Tinder) read by exmanhater, written by hapakitsune - Hockey RPF - Hilary Knight/Amanda Kessel - 19min
Summary:Hilary finds Amanda on Tinder.

Hockey girls being awesome and cute \o/ *swoon* exmanhater does a great job of capturing Hilary's energy and Amanda's vulnerability. This story is a really fun one and the performance elevates it to the level of: FAVOURITE for me. It's sweet and sexy and an A+ listening choice.

5) [Fic] No One Thinks About Eternity by impertinence - Hockey RPF - Amanda Kessel/Hilary Knight - 43K
Summary:It's the Griner signing that starts everything, really, propelling Amanda into the NHL; but for Amanda, the thing with Hilary starts a few years before.

Hockey ladies being awesome! This story imagines Amanda Kessel playing in the professional league of the NHL - there is great attention to detail, which I appreciated. Amanda is a well developed character, with ambition and strength, but also vulnerabilities. The romantic sub plot, is very much a sub plot, but it is fun and also very hot.

I would love some more f/f recs, both fannish and not <3